Pausanias Analysis

At this point, Metellus and his fellow ambassadors urged the Achaeans not to disregard the Lacedaemonians, and it seemed good to them that those who currently held office should convene the Achaeans in council, so that they might publicly instruct them to deal more gently with matters relating to Sparta. However, those officials replied to them that they would call the Achaeans together neither for them nor for anyone else, unless that person held a decree from the Roman Senate authorizing the very matter for which he requested the assembly. Metellus and his associates, believing themselves outraged by the Achaeans, when they arrived in Rome made numerous accusations against the Achaeans in the Senate, not all of which were truthful.

Areus and Alcibiades brought many charges against the Achaeans, asserting that although they were Spartans and particularly distinguished among the citizens in Sparta, they had been treated unjustly by the Achaeans. For when these men had become exiles due to Nabis, the Achaeans had received them and, upon the death of Nabis, had restored the common people to Sparta against the wishes of the Lacedaemonians. Therefore, once returned and having secured high positions contrary to the will of the council, they pursued their enmity against the Achaeans most zealously. The Achaeans, however, after they had departed, sentenced them in an assembly to the penalty of death.

The Roman senate sent certain men, including Appius, to define what was just for the Lacedaemonians and Achaeans. Appius and those with him were bound to be displeasing to the Achaeans even before they appeared; for with them they brought Areus and Alcibiades, who at that time were thoroughly hateful to the Achaeans. They caused the Achaeans even greater irritation by attending their assembly and conducting their discourse harshly and with anger rather than persuasion.

Lykortas of Megalopolis, inferior to none of the Arcadians in dignity and having inherited from his friendship with Philopoimen a certain proud spirit, argued in a speech the justice of the Achaean cause, and within the same speech he also expressed some reproach against the Romans. Appius and those with him mocked Lykortas while he spoke, acquitted Areus and Alkibiadas of committing any injustice toward the Achaeans, and allowed the Lacedaemonians to send delegates to Rome, issuing a decision entirely opposite to the arrangements agreed upon by the Romans and the Achaeans; for it had been stipulated by the general accord of the Achaeans that envoys should proceed to the senate of Rome solely from their federal body, whereas it was forbidden for individual cities that were participants in the Achaean assembly to send embassies of their own.

After the Achaeans also sent envoys to the Lacedaemonians, and speeches from both parties had been delivered before the council, the Romans dispatched again to the Lacedaemonians and the Achaeans the same arbitrators as before—Appius and those who had previously come with him to Greece. They restored to Sparta both those who had been expelled by the Achaeans and those who, having left before their trial, had been condemned by the Achaeans in their absence; and they annulled the penalties imposed upon these men. They did not, however, exempt the Lacedaemonians from contributing to the Achaean League, yet they allowed them external courts of law to adjudicate matters involving capital charges. In all other accusations, however, the Lacedaemonians were still to undergo trials in the Achaean courts. Moreover, the Spartans rebuilt from its very foundations the wall encircling the city.

When the Lacedaemonians came down, planning various schemes against the Achaeans, they believed that they would particularly distress them by the following means. They persuaded certain Messenians, who were held responsible for the death of Philopoemen and had consequently been banished by the Achaeans on this charge, along with exiled Achaeans themselves, to journey to Rome. The Lacedaemonians accompanied these men themselves, advocating for their restoration. Moreover, since Appius was vigorously supportive of the Lacedaemonians and opposed the Achaeans in every matter, the petitions of the Messenians and exiled Achaeans seemed likely to succeed without difficulty. Indeed, letters from the Roman senate were immediately dispatched to Athens and Aetolia, instructing them to reinstate the Messenians and Achaean exiles to their homes.

This caused extreme distress to the Achaeans, since they felt they were unjustly treated by the Romans—though they had previously rendered assistance to them without gaining any benefit for themselves. For having campaigned first against Philip and the Aetolians, and again later against Antiochus, in loyalty toward Rome, they now found themselves subordinated to fugitives and men whose hands were unclean. Nevertheless, they decided it prudent to yield.