28.  During  a  number  of  years  Mac'  edon,  Greece,  and  Western
Asia,  were  harassed  with  the  wars  excited  by  the  various  aspirants
to  power.     Lysim'  achus  was  defeated  and  slain  in  a  war  with  Se-
leu' cus ;    and   the   latter,    invading   Thrace,   was   assassinated   by
Ptol'  emy  Cerau'  nus,  who  then  usurped  the  government  of  Thra  e


CHAP.  IV.]  GRECIAN  HISTORY.  105

and  Mac'  edon.  In  this  situation  of  affairs,  a  storm,  unseen  in  the
distance,  but  which  had  long  been  gathering,  suddenly  burst  upon
Mac'  edon,  threatening  to  convert,  by  its  ravages,  the  whole  Grecian
peninsula  into  a  scene  of  desolation.
29.  A  vast  horde  of  barbarians  of  the  Celtic  race  had  for  some
time  been  accumulating  around  the  head  waters  of  the  Adriat'  ic,*
making  Pannonia3  the  chief  seat  of  their  power.      Influenced  by
hopes  of  plunder,  rather  than  of  conquest,  they  suddenly  appeared
on  the  frontiers  of  Mac'  edon,  and  sent  an  embassy  to  Cerau'  nus,
offering  peace  if  he  were  willing  to  purchase  it  by  tribute.      A
haughty  defiance  from  the  Macedonian  served  only  to  quicken  the
march  of  the  invaders,  who  defeated  and  killed  Cerau'  nus  in  a  great
battle,  and  so  completely  routed  his  army  that  almost  all  were  slain
or  taken.     (B.  C.  280.)     The  conquerors  then  overran  all  Mac' edon
to  the  borders  of  Thes'  saly,  and  a  detachment  made  a  devastating
inroad  into  the  rich  vale  of  the  Peneus.     The  walled  towns  alone,
which  the  barbarians  had  neither  the  skill  nor  the  patience  to  reduce
by  siege,  held  out  until  the  storm  had  spent  its  fury,  when  the  Celts,
scattered  over  the  country  in  plundering  parties,  having  met  with
some  reverses,  gradually  withdrew  from  a  country  where  there  was
little  left  to  tempt  their  cupidity.
