Book 3
2
At this point I shall pause in my narrative to introduce aFirst digression on the Roman Constitution. disquisition upon the Roman Constitution, in which I shall show that its peculiar character contributed largely to their success, not only in reducing all Italy to their authority, and in acquiring a supremacy over the Iberians and Gauls besides, but also at last, after their conquest of Carthage, to their conceiving the idea of universal dominion.
2
Along with this I shall introduce anotherSecond on Hiero of Syracuse. digression on the fall of Hiero of Syracuse.
2
After these digressions will come the disturbances in5. The attempted partition of the dominions of Ptolemy Epiphanes, B. C. 204. Egypt; how, after the death of King Ptolemy, Antiochus and Philip entered into a compact for the partition of the dominions of that monarch’s infant son. I shall describe their treacherous dealings, Philip laying hands upon the islands of the Aegean, and Caria and Samos, Antiochus upon Coele-Syria and Phoenicia.
3
Next, after a summary recapitulation of the proceedings of 6. War with Philip, B. C. 201-197. the Carthaginians and Romans in Iberia, Libya, and Sicily, I shall, following the changes of events, shift the scene of my story entirely to Greece. Here I shall first describe the naval battles of Attalus and the Rhodians against Philip; and the war between Philip and Rome, the persons engaged, its circumstances, and result.
