acted with him as allies in the war, they
insisted, "that he was utterly mistaken, if he supposed that he
could leave the peace with the Romans, or the liberty of Greece, on a
permanent footing, unless Philip was either put to death or banished
from his kingdom; both which he could easily accomplish, if he chose
to pursue his present success." Quinctius, in reply, said, that "the
Aetolians, in giving such advice, attended not either to the maxims of
the Roman policy, or to the consistency of their own conduct. For,
in all the former councils and conferences, wherein the conditions of
peace were discussed, they never once urged the pushing of the war to
the utter ruin of the Macedonian: and, as to the Romans, besides that
they had, from the earliest periods, observed the maxim of sparing the
vanquished, they had lately given a signal proof of their clemency
in the peace granted to Hannibal and the Carthaginians. But, not
to insist on the case of the Carthaginians, how often had the
confederates met Philip himself in conference, yet that it had never
been urged that he should resign his kingdom: and, because he had
been defeated in battle, was that a reason that their animosity should
become implacable? Against an armed foe, men ought to engage with
hostile resentment; towards the vanquished, the loftiest spirit was
ever the most merciful. The kings of Macedonia were thought to be
dangerous to the liberty of Greece. Suppose that kingdom and nation
extirpated, the Thracians, Illyrians, and in time the Gauls, (nations
unsubjugated and savage,) would pour themselves into Macedonia first,
and then into Greece. That they should not, by removing inconveniences
which lay nearest, open a passage to others greater and more
grievous." Here he was interrupted by Phaeneas, praetor of the
Aetolians, who solemnly declared, that "if Philip escaped now, he
would soon raise a new and more dangerous war." On which Quinctius
said,--"Cease wrangling, when you ought to deliberate. The king shall
be bound down by such conditions as will not leave it in his power to
raise a war."

13. The convention was then adjourned; and next day, the king came
to the pass at the entrance of Tempe, the place appointed for a
conference; and the third day following was fixed for introducing him
to a full assembly of the Romans and allies. On this occasion Philip,
with great prudence, intentionally avoided the mention of any of those
conditions, without which p