self tells us that he had, in a letter which he wrote to
one of the princes of that region about this affair. He had three
thousand Italians, besides his main body, and five thousand who composed
the left wing. Besides these, Nasica took a hundred and twenty horse,
and two hundred of Harpalus's light troops, Thracians and Cretans mixed.
He began his march along the road towards the sea, and encamped near the
temple of Herakles, as though he intended to sail round to the other
side of the enemy's camp, and so surround him: but when the soldiers had
supped, and it was dark, he explained his real plan to his officers,
marched all night away from the sea, and halted his men for rest near
the temple of Apollo. At this place Olympus is more than ten furlongs
high: and this is proved by the epigram which the measurer wrote as
follows:

"The height of Olympus' crest at the temple of Pythian Apollo
consists of (measured by the plumb line) ten stades, and
besides a hundred feet all but four. It was Xenagoras, the son
of Eumelus, who discovered its height. King Apollo, hail to
thee; be thou propitious to us."

And yet geometricians say that neither the height of any mountain nor
the depth of any sea is above ten stades (furlongs). However, Xenophanes
did not take its altitude conjecturally, but by a proper method with
instruments.

XVI. Here then Nasica halted. Perseus in the morning saw Aemilius's army
quiet in its place, and would have had no idea of what was going on had
not a Cretan deserter come and told him of the flank march of the
Romans. Then he became alarmed, but still did not disturb his camp, but,
placing ten thousand foreign mercenaries and two thousand Macedonians
under the command of Milo, ordered him to march swiftly and occupy the
passes. Now Polybius says that the Romans fell upon these men when they
were in their beds, but Nasica tells us that a sharp and dangerous
conflict took place upon the heights. He himself was assailed by a
Thracian, but struck him through the breast with his spear. However, the
enemy were forced back; Milo most shamefully fled in his shirt, without
his arms, and Scipio was able to follow, and at the same time lead his
forces on to level ground. Perseus, terrified and despairing when he saw
them, at once broke up his camp and retreated. But still he was obliged
either to give battle before Pydna, or else to disperse his army among
the various cities of the kin