It was six-and-twenty years since the peace which Philip sought had been vouchsafed to him. [2] During all that time Macedonia had been undisturbed and a new generation had grown up, ripe for military service, and in the small wars with their Thracian neighbours, which exercised rather than exhausted them, they had been constantly trained and disciplined. [3] The prospect of a war with Rome, which had during the whole period been cherished by Philip and then by Perseus, had led to everything being in a state of readiness and efficiency. [4] The army performed a few movements, not as regular maneuvers, but simply in order to avoid the appearance of only standing under arms. Perseus then called them, armed as they were, to stand round on parade, and ascended the tribunal with his two sons by his side; [5] the elder one, Philip, his brother by birth, his son by adoption, the younger one, Alexander, his son by birth. He exhorted his soldiers to show their courage in the war, and enumerated the injuries which the Romans had inflicted on his father and on himself. [6] His father had been compelled by all the indignities he had suffered to resume hostilities; in the midst of his preparations he had been struck down by fate. [7] The Romans sent envoys to him (Perseus) to open negotiations and at the same time sent soldiers to occupy the cities of Greece. [8] Then the winter was wasted over a conference, ostensibly to bring about a peaceful settlement, but really to give them time to make their preparations. Now the consul was coming with two Roman legions, each with its complement of 300 cavalry and contingents furnished by the allies of about the same strength. Even if the troops sent by Eumenes and Masinissa were counted in, there would not be more than 7000 infantry and 2000 cavalry. [9] The king proceeded: "You have heard what the strength of the enemy is; [10] now look at your own army, its superiority in numbers and in the quality of the soldiers as compared with the raw conscripts hastily embodied for this war, soldiers who have from their boyhood been trained in the school of war, disciplined and hardened by so many campaigns. Lydians, Phrygians and Numidians are furnishing troops for the Romans; we have on our side the Thracians, and the most warlike of all nations the Gauls. [11] Their arms are just what each poverty-stricken soldier has provided himself with; you Macedonians are supplied from the royal arsenal with arms manufactured through all those years under my father's direction and at his cost. Their supplies will have to be brought from a distance and will be exposed to all the chances and accidents of the sea; we have for ten years been storing up money and corn in addition to the revenue from the mines. [12] Everything which has been provided by the kindness of heaven or by the care and forethought of their king, the Macedonians have in full and overflowing measure. [13] You must have the courage which your ancestors had when after subjugating the whole of Europe [14??] they crossed over to Asia and opened up by their arms an unknown world, and never ceased to conquer until they were hemmed in by the purple ocean and there was nothing more to conquer. Ay, but now it is not for the remotest shores of India but for the possession of Macedonia that Fortune has called us to this contest. [15] When the Romans were at war with my father they put forward the specious pretext that they were liberating Greece, now they are openly aiming at the enslavement of Macedonia in order that Rome may have no monarch on its borders, no nation glorious in war retaining possession of its arms. [16] These must be surrendered to your haughty and domineering masters, and your king and kingdom as well, if you are willing to lay aside all thoughts of war and execute their commands."
