During this year a large part of the Campanian district, which had been in many places appropriated by private individuals, was by the survey of the consul Postumius recovered for the State, and M. Lucretius, one of the tribunes of the plebs, gave notice of a proposal that the censors should let out the Campanian land for cultivation, a thing that had not been done through all the years since the fall of Capua, and as a consequence, the greed of private citizens took its course in the unoccupied land. War had now been determined upon, though not yet declared; the senate were waiting to see which of the monarchs would befriend Perseus and who would support them. Just at this time a mission from Ariarathes arrived, bringing with them the king's young son. They explained that the king had sent his son to be brought up in Rome, so that he might from his boyhood become familiar with Roman manners and Roman men. He asked that they would allow him to be not only under the charge of personal friends but also under the care and guardianship, so to speak, of the State. The senate were highly pleased with the proposal, and made a decree that Cn. Sicinius should hire a furnished house where the king's son and his suite could live. Envoys also from Thrace, with the Maedi and Astii, came to ask for alliance and friendship. Their request was granted and each received a present of 2000 ases. The Romans were especially glad that these peoples had been received into alliance, because Thrace lay at the back of Macedonia. But that the whole situation in Asia and the islands might be thoroughly investigated, Tiberius Claudius Nero and M. Decimius were sent with instructions to visit Crete and Rhodes, to renew friendly relations, and at the same time to find out whether the allies of Rome had been tampered with by Perseus.