While he was here, an eclipse of the moon took place, and the Gauls, who had all along been aggrieved by the hardships of the march — since they made the campaign accompanied by their wives and children, who followed them in wagons —
considering this a bad omen, refused to advance further.
King Attalus, to whom they rendered no service of vital importance, and who noticed that they detached themselves from the column on the march and encamped by themselves and were altogether most insubordinate and self-assertive, found himself in no little perplexity.
On the one hand he feared lest they should desert to Achaeus and join him in attacking himself, and on the other he was apprehensive of the reputation he would gain if he ordered his soldiers to surround and destroy all these men who were thought to have crossed to Asia relying on pledges he had given them.
Accordingly, availing himself of the pretext of this refusal, he promised for the present to take them back to the place where they had crossed and give them suitable land in which to settle and afterwards to attend as far as lay in his power to all reasonable requests they made.
Attalus, then, after taking the Aegosagae back to the <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Hellespont&groupId=620&placeId=1141">Hellespont</a> and entering into friendly negotiations with the people of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Lampsacus&groupId=666&placeId=1218">Lampsacus</a>, Alexander Troas, and <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Ilium&groupId=645&placeId=1183">Ilium</a>, who had all remained loyal to him, returned with his army to Pergamum.
Walbank Commentary