Rome dictates terms after 3rd Macedonian War by Livy

[Ptolemy]

Livy (Titus Livius), XXXI.28 - XXXI.29
from LIVY. ROME AND THE MEDITERRANEAN
Translated by HENRY BETTENSON
PENGUIN CLASSICS


_Rome dictates terms after 3rd Macedonian War_


17 [167 B.C.]. The Senate appointed ten commissioners for Macedonia and five for Illyricum; on their advice Paulus and Anicius were to settle affairs in those countries. The members of the Macedonian commission were nominated first: they were .......... . The men who were being sent on the commissions were of a quality to justify the hope that on their advice the commanders would make no decisions inconsistant with the clemency and the dignity of the Roman people; nevertheless, there were discussions in the Senate about guiding principles of policy so that the commissioners should be able to convey from home to the generals the ground work of a settlement.

18. First of all, it was decided that the Macedonians and the Illyrians should be free; so that it should be evident to all peoples that the arms of the Roman people did not bring slavery to the free but, on the contrary,
freedom to the enslaved; so that nations which enjoyed freedom should feel that their liberty was assured in perpetuity under the protection of the Roman People, and that those people who lived under the rule of kings
should be convinced that for the present their rulers were more gentle and more just by reason of their respect for the Roman People, and that if ever their rulers should be at war with the Roman People, the result of that war would bring victory to the Romans and liberty to themselves.

It was also decided to do away with the leasing of the Macedonian mines,............................................ .. . Finally, fearing that a common legislative body for the whole nation might give a chance for some unscrupulous demagogue to pervert the freedom given by healthy moderation into the licence which is a plague to any commonwealth, the Senate
decided to divide Macedonia into four districts, each having its own governing body. It was also decreed that Macedonia should pay to the Roman people half the tribute which they had customarily paid to their kings. .................................................. ...... .

29. Paulus had given orders that on a certain day ten leading citizens from each city should present themselves at Amphipolis, that all official documents
deposited in different places should be collected by that time, and the king's money should be brought in. When the day arrived, Paulus, accompanied by
the ten commissioners, took his seat on his official platform, surrounded by the whole crowd of Macedonians. The Macedonians were accustomed
to the power of kings; but this new sovereign power was displayed to them in a fashion to inspire dread; the consul's seat of judgement, his entrance
after a path had been cleared, the herald, and the attendant - all these were novelties to their eyes and ears, and they were things that might have
frightened even allies, not to speak of conquered enemies. When the herald had imposed silence, Paulus announced in Latin the decisions of the
Senate, along with his own decisions, made on the advice of his council.
The praetor Gnaeus Octavius - for he too was there - translated these announcements into Greek and conveyed them to the Macedonians.

The provisions were as follows: first of all, the Macedonians were to be free, keeping their own cities and territories, enjoying their own laws, and electing annual magistrates; they were to pay to Roman people half the tax they had paid to their kings. In the next place Macedonia was to be divided into
four districts; one district, the first division would consist of the land between the rivers Strymon and Nessus; and to this division would be added, from across the Nessus to the east, the villages, fortified places, and towns which Perseus had held, except Aenus, Maronea, and Abdera, while on the nearer side of the Strymon, towards the west, there would be added all the country of the Bisaltae, including Heraclea (Heraclea Sintice as it is called). The second district was to consist of the part bounded on the east by the River Strymon, excluding Heraclea Sintice and the Bisaltae - and on the west by the Axius, and was to include the Paeonians dwelling near the Axius on the east bank of the river. The third district comprised the territory enclosed on the east by the Axius and on the west by the River Peneus - on the north Mount Bora forms a barrier; to this division was added the region of Paeonia
which extends along the west bank of the Axius; Edessa and Beroea were also assigned to this district. The fourth district was on the other side of
Mount Bora, one part of it bordering on Illyricum, the other on Epirus. The capitals of the districts, where their councils were to be held, were these:
for the first district, Amphipolis; for the second, Thessalonica; for the third, Pella; for the fourth, Pelagonia. The consul gave orders that a council for each district should be called in each of these places, and that in these places money should be brought in, and magistrates elected.

[Ptolemy]

Next he announced a decision that no one should have the right of marriage or of dealing in land or buildings outside the confines of his own district.
Moreover, the mines of gold and silver were not to be worked, although the working of iron and copper mines was allowed, the taxon those working
the mines was fixed at half the amount they had paid to the king. He forbade the use of imported salt. When the Dardanians asked for the restoration of Paeonia, on the ground that it had been theirs and that it adjoined their boundaries, Paulus announced that freedom was being given to all those who had been under the rule of King Perseus. But after refusing them Paeonia he gave them the right to import salt; he ordered the third district to convey salt to Stobi in Paeonia, and he fixed the price of this commodity. He forbade the Macedonians to cut timber for ships, or to allow others to do so. The districts with barbarians on their borders - all the districts, that is, except the third - were given leave to have armed guards along their frontiers.

30. The announcement of these provisions on the first day of the meeting aroused varied feelings. The unexpected granting of freedom, and the lightening of the annual tax, raised men's spirits; but to those whose commercial activities were interrupted by the division into districts their
country seemed cut into pieces, like an animal torn into separate parts, each of which needed the others; so unaware were the Macedonians themselves of the size of Macedonia, of the ease with which it could be divided, of the self-sufficiency of each part. The first district enjoys many advantages; it has the Bisaltae, first-class fighting men (they live beyond the Nessus, in the neighbourhood of the Strymon); it has crops of many kinds peculiar to the region, it has mines; and the strategic position of Amphipolis forms a barrier closing all approaches into Macedonia from the east. The second division has
the extremely populous cities of Thessalonica and Cassandrea, and it has besides, in Pallene, a fertile and fruitful territory; it is also provided with
maritime advantages in the shape of the harbours at Torone, Mount Athos, Aenea, and Acanthus, all in convenient positions, some facing Thessaly and the island of Euboea, others looking towards the Hellespont. The third region has the notable cities of Edessa, Beroea, and Pella; it includes the warlike
people of the Vettii, besides a large settlement of Gauls and Illyrians, who are energetic farmers. The fourth region is inhabited by the Eordaei, the Lyncestae, and the Pelagonians; added to these are Atintania, Tymphaeis, and Elimiotis. All this stretch of country is cold, difficult of cultivation and harsh; and it has inhabitants of a character resembling the land; and they are made fiercer by the wild tribesmen dwelling next to them, who sometimes give them practice in warfare, sometimes, in times of peace, an intermixture of their customs. The division of Macedonia thus demonstrated, by separating the advantages of the different parts, the greatness of the country as a whole.

31. After the dictation of the scheme for Macedonia, Paulus gave notice that he would also lay down laws. He then summoned the Aetolians to appear before him. In this examination ..................................................