The council having once more met and the king having requested advice as to the measures to be taken against Molon, Epigenes was again the first to give his view of the situation, which was that, as he had advised,
there should have been no initial delay allowing the enemy to gain such advantages, but that now as before he maintained his opinion that the king must take the matter in hand with vigour.
Upon which Hermeias, flying for no reason into a violent passion, began to abuse him.
By singing his own praises in the worst taste, bringing against Epigenes a number of false and random accusations and adjuring the king not to desist from his purpose and abandon his hope of conquering <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Coele-Syria&groupId=484&placeId=908">Coele-Syria</a> for so slight a show of reason, he not only gave offence to most of the council,
but displeased Antiochus himself, and it was with difficulty that he was persuaded to put an end to the altercation, the king having shown great anxiety to reconcile the two men.
The general operation being that the action recommended by Epigenes was most to the purpose and most advantageous, the council decided that the king should take the field against Molon and make the matter his sole concern.
Upon this Hermeias, pretending that he had suddenly come round to the same opinion, said that it was the duty of everyone to give unhesitating support to this decision and showed himself very willing and active in making preparations for war.
Walbank Commentary