<head>Epirot Statesman to Perseus</head>Cephalus, who now came from Epirus, had previously had relations with the royal house of Macedon, and was now forced by circumstances to take the part of Perseus.
The reason for what happened was as follows. There was a certain Epirot called Charops, a man well principled in general and a friend of the Romans. At the time when Philip held the passes to Epirus, it was by his agency that the king had to abandon Epirus, and that Flamininus became master of it and worsted the Macedonians.
He had a son named Machatas who had a son also named Charops.
Upon the death of his father this Charops, while still a boy, was sent by his grandfather Charops with a retinue that befitted his rank to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> to learn to speak and write Latin.
The boy made many acquaintances, and returned home after a certain time.
The elder Charops soon departed this life; and the young man, who was naturally ambitious and full of all kinds of cunning, became presumptuous and tried to thwart the leading men.
At first no notice was taken of him, but Antinous and the others, his superiors in age and reputation, administered public affairs as they thought best.
But when the war with Perseus broke out, the young man at once began to traduce these statesmen to the Romans, taking advantage of their former relations with the house of Macedon,
and now by scrutinizing all their actions, and putting the worst interpretation on all they said or did, suppressing some things and adding others, he made out a plausible case against them.
Cephalus, who was in general a wise and consistent man, had now also at this crisis adopted the very best attitude.
For at first he had prayed to Heaven that there should be no war and no such decision of the issues;
and now, during the course of the war, he desired to act justly by <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> according to the terms of their alliance, but beyond this neither to fall foul of the Romans by any unworthy action nor to be unduly subservient to them.
When Charops continued to be active in his accusations against Cephalus, and represented everything that occurred contrary to the wish of the Romans as the result of his deliberate malice, Cephalus at first made light of it, as he was not conscious of having acted in any way in a manner inimical to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a>;
but when he saw that Hippolochus, Nicander, and Lochagus the Aetolians were arrested and carried to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> after the cavalry action for no valid reason, and that credence was given to the false accusations brought against them by Lyciscus, who was pursuing in Aetolia the same course as Charops in Epirus;
then foreseeing what would happen, he took thought for his own safety. He resolved, in consequence, to take any measures rather than allow himself to be arrested and sent to <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a> without trial, owing to the false accusations of Charops.
This is why, against his conviction, Cephalus found himself compelled to side with Perseus.
Walbank Commentary