58/115 From thence he ravaged the valley lying under Taygetus, and the country reaching as far as the sea. About the same time, Lucius Quinctius got possession of the towns on the sea-coast; of some, by their voluntary surrender; of others, by fear or force. Then, learning that the Lacedaemonians made Gythium the repository of all their naval stores, and that the Roman camp was at no great distance from the sea, he resolved to attack that town with his whole force. It was, at that time, a place of considerable strength; well furnished with great numbers of native inhabitants and settlers from other parts, and with every kind of warlike stores. Very seasonably for Quinctius, when commencing an enterprise of no easy nature, king Eumenes and the Rhodian fleet came to his assistance. |