POPILIUS, LÆNAS, Roman ambassador to Antiochus, king of Syria. He was commissioned to order that monarch to desist from hostilities against Ptolemy, king of Egypt, ally of Rome. Antiochus attempted to elude him by evasive answers; but Popilius, with a stick in his hand, made a circle round him in the sand, and charged him, in the name of the Roman senate and people, not to go beyond it till he gave a decisive answer. This boldness intimidated Antiochus, who immediately withdrew his garrisons from Egypt, and desisted from his hostile attempts against Ptolemy.