The commander sent to Illyria by the consul attacked two towns. He seized Cerenia and initially allowed the inhabitants to keep their belongings, in order to encourage the strongly fortified city of Carnuns to go over to him. However, he did not succeed and later sacked Cerenia. The other consul, Gaius Crassus, did not achieve much in northern Italy and tried unsuccessfully to go to Illyria and then attack Macedon. The senate was astonished that he left northern Italy exposed to possible attacks and sent envoys to warn him not to attack anyone without its authorisation.