ctory. And now a decree of the senate
was brought to him, containing a denunciation of war against Nabis
the Lacedaemonian. On reading it, Quinctius summoned a convention of
deputies from all the allied states, to be held, on a certain day, at
Corinth. Whither when many persons of the first rank came together,
from all quarters, forming a very full assembly, from which even the
Aetolians were not absent, he addressed them in this manner:--"The
Romans and Greeks, in the war which they waged against Philip, were
united in affections and councils, and they had each no less their
separate reasons for entering into it. For he had violated friendship
with the Romans; first by aiding our enemies, the Carthaginians; and
then by attacking our allies here: and, towards you, his conduct was
such, that even if we had been willing to forget our own injuries,
those offered by him to you would have constituted a sufficient
occasion of war. But the business to be considered this day has
relation wholly to yourselves: for the subject which I propose to your
consideration is, whether you choose to suffer Argos, which, as you
know, has been seized by Nabis, to remain under his dominion; or
whether you judge it reasonable, that a city of such high reputation
and antiquity, seated in the centre of Greece, should be restored to
liberty, and placed in the same state with the rest of the cities of
Peloponnesus and of Greece. This question, as you see, merely respects
yourselves; it concerns not the Romans in any decree, excepting so
far as the one city being left in subjection to tyranny hinders their
glory, in having liberated Greece, from being full and complete.
If, however, you are not moved by regard for that city, nor by the
example, nor by the danger of the contagion of that evil spreading
wider, we, for our parts, shall rest content. On this subject I desire
your opinions, resolved to abide by whatever the majority of you shall
determine."

23. After the address of the Roman general, the several deputies
proceeded to give their opinions. The ambassador of the Athenians
extolled, to the utmost of his power, and expressed the greatest
gratitude for the kindness of the Romans towards Greece, "in having,
when applied to for assistance, brought them succours against Philip;
and now, without being applied to, voluntarily offering assistance
against the tyrant Nabis." He at the same time severely censured
the conduct of some, who, in their d