Philip's failure to secure Lamia.一 Whilst the Romans were laying siege to Heraclea, Philip, as arranged with the consul, was attacking Lamia. He had gone to Thermopylae to offer the consul and the people of Rome his congratulations on the victory and at the same time to excuse himself on the ground of illness for not having taken part in the operations against Antiochus. Then the two commanders separated to carry on the siege of the two places simultaneously. These are about seven而les distant from each other, and as Lamia stands on rising ground and looks towards Mount Oeta the distance between them seems very short and all that goes on in the one place can be seen from the other. The Romans and the Macedonians were strenuously en gaged as , .though ih mutual rivalry in siege operations or in actual fighting night and day. But the Macedonians had the more difficult task owing to the fact that the Roman galleries and vineae and all their siege engines were above ground while the Macedonians conducted the attack by means of subterranean mines, and in difficult places they often came to rock upon which iron tools could make no impression. Finding that he was making little progress, the king held conferences with the leading men of the place in the hope that the townsmen might be induced to surrender. He felt quite certain that if Heraclea were taken first they would surrender to the Romans sooner than to him and that the consul would win their gratitude for having raised the siege. His surmise proved correct, for no sooner was Heraclea taken than a message reached him requesting him to abandon the siege, for as was the Romans who had fought the engagement with the Aetolians it was but fair that they should have the prize of victory. So Lamia was relieved and through the fall of a neighbouring city escaped a similar fate.5