This, then, is what was said concerning the Romans and Carthaginians. As for the false Philip, at first the story seemed utterly inadmissible.
Here is a Philip fallen from the skies who appears in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Macedonia&groupId=723&placeId=428">Macedonia</a>, making light not only of the Macedonians but of the Romans too, with no plausible reason to show for his enterprise,
as it was well known that the real Philip died at the age of about eighteen at Alba in <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Italy&groupId=656&placeId=1199">Italy</a>, two years after the death of Perseus himself.
But when three or four months later the report came that he had defeated the Macedonians in a battle beyond the Strymon in the country of the Odomanti, some accepted the news as true, but most people still remained incredulous.
But when again, a short time after, it was reported that he had defeated the Macedonians on this side of the Strymon and was master of the whole of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Macedonia&groupId=723&placeId=428">Macedonia</a>, and when the Thessalians sent a letter and envoys to the Achaeans begging for their help, as they themselves were now in peril, the whole thing seemed most wonderful and extraordinary, for such an event had not previously seemed remotely probable or at all to be reckoned with.
Such was the state of opinion about these matters.
Walbank Commentary