And as being well skilled in the affairs of Greece, and not unacquainted with the Romans, he was admitted by the king into such a degree of intimacy, that he shared even in his secret councils.

As if the question to be considered were not, whether there should be war or not, but where and in what manner it should be carried on, he affirmed, that "he saw an assured prospect of victory, provided the king would pass into Europe and choose some part of Greece for the seat of war.

In the first place, the Aetolians, who lived in the centre of Greece, would be found in arms, ready to take the lead in the most perilous operations.

Then, in the two extremities of Greece, Nabis, on the side of Peloponnesus, would put every thing in motion, to recover the city of Argos, and the maritime cities, from which he had been expelled by the Romans, and pent up within the walls of Lacedaemon: while, on the side of Macedonia, Philip would be ready for the field the moment he heard the alarm sounded.

He knew," he said, "his spirit, he knew his temper; he knew that, (as in the case with wild beasts, confined by bars or chains,) for a long time past, he had been revolving the fiercest resentments in his breast.