strong post, he went forward in person with
some light troops, to view the nature of the country; and, on the day
following, held a council, in order to determine whether he should
attempt a passage through the defiles occupied by the enemy,
notwithstanding the great labour and danger which the proposal
involved, or lead round his forces by the same road through which
Sulpicius had penetrated into Macedonia the year before. The
deliberations on this question had lasted several days, when news
arrived, that Titus Quinctius had been elected consul; that he had
obtained, by lot, Macedonia as his province; and that, hastening his
journey, he had already come over to Corcyra. Valerius Antias says,
that Villius marched into the defile, and that, as he could not
proceed straight forward, because every pass was occupied by the king,
he followed the course of a valley, through the middle of which the
river Aous flows, and having hastily constructed a bridge, passed over
to the bank where the king's camp was, and fought a battle with him;
that the king was routed and driven out of his camp; that twelve
thousand of the enemy were killed, and two thousand two hundred taken,
together with a hundred and thirty-two military standards, and two
hundred and thirty horses. He adds, that, during the battle, a temple
was vowed to Jupiter in case of success. The other historians, both
Greek and Latin, (all those at least whose accounts I have read,)
affirm that nothing memorable was done by Villius, and that Titus
Quinctius, the consul who succeeded him, received from him a war which
had yet to be commenced.

7. During the time of these transactions in Macedonia, the other
consul, Lucius Lentulus, who had stayed at Rome, held an assembly
for the election of censors. Out of many illustrious men who stood
candidates, were chosen Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus and Publius
Aelius Paetus. These, acting together in perfect harmony, read the
list of the senate, without passing a censure on any one member; they
also let to farm the port-duties at Capua, and at Puteoli, and of the
fort situate were the city now stands; enrolling for this latter place
three hundred colonists, that being the number fixed by the senate;
they also sold the lands of Capua, which lie at the foot of Mount
Tifata. About the same time, Lucius Manlius Acidinus, on his return
from Spain, was hindered from entering the city in ovation by Marcus
Portius Laeca, plebeian tribu