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THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 CERF LIBRARY 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 REBECCA CERF '02 
 
 IN THE NAMES OF 
 
 CHARLOTTE CERF '95 
 
 MARCEL E. CERF *97 
 
 BARRY CERF *02 
 
 
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 y<6'i 
 
PLUTARCH'S LIVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MOST SELECT AND ILLUSTRIOUS CHARACTERS 
 OF ANTIQUITY. 
 
 EyamUWis Crom the 4^viQinal i^vctk ; 
 
 WITH 
 
 NOTES, HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN LANGHORNE, M. D. 
 
 AND 
 
 WILLIAM LANGHORNE, A. M. ^ 
 
 AJiD OTHERS. 
 
 B7 -WII^JmIATSL BIAVOR I.. Z.. D. 
 
 SECTOB OF STONEFIELD, VICAR OF HURLEY. CHAPLAIN TO THE EARL OF MOIRA, dtC. &,C. &C. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 
 
 ' To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity, u 
 to continue in a state of childliood all our days." 
 
 NE'W-TORK : 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY W. C. BORRADAILE, 40 WILLIAM-STREET, 
 
 NEAR WALL-STREET. 
 
 1832. 
 
 Stereotyped by Thomas SewajRd^ 
 
**Ki(TUKD according to Art of Oonfress. in the year 1831, br fViUiam C 
 JBorratUiiU, in the Clerk's Oflke of the District Court of the Soutbern Ota- 
 trici of New York.** 
 
 ^; 
 

 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 LORD FOLKESTONE. 
 
 MT LORD, 
 
 The style and genius of dedications, in general, 
 have neither done honour to the patron nor to the 
 author. Sensible of this, we intended to have pub- 
 lished a work, which has been the labour of jeare, 
 without the usual mode of solic iting protection. 
 An accident has brought us into the number of 
 dedicators. Had not you accompanied your noble 
 father to our humble retreat, we should still have 
 been unacquainted with your growing virtues, — your 
 extraordinary erudition, and perfect knowledge of 
 the Greek language and learning; and Plutarch 
 would have remained as he did in his retirement at 
 Chaeronea, where he sought no patronage but in the 
 bosom of philosophy. 
 
 Accept, my Lord, this honest token of respect, 
 from men, who, equally independent and unambi- 
 tious, wish only for the countenance of genius and 
 friendship. Praise, my Lord, is the usual language 
 of dedications : But will our praise be of value to 
 you.** — Will any praise be of value to you, but that 
 
 W570751 
 
b DEDICATION. 
 
 of your own heart ? Follow the example of the Earl 
 OF Radnor, jour illuBtrious father. Lik* him main- 
 tain that temperate spirit of pohcy, which consults 
 the dignity of governments while it supports the 
 liberty of the subject. But we put into your hands 
 the best of pohtical preceptors, — a preceptor who 
 trained to virtue the greatest monarch upon earth; 
 and, by giving happiness to the world, enjoyed a 
 pleasure something like that of the Benevolent Being 
 who created it. We are, My Lord, 
 
 Your LoRDSHlP^S 
 
 Most obedient, and 
 
 Very humble Servants, 
 
 J. k W. LANGHORNE. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 RomvJus ......... 1 
 
 Lycvrgus 25 
 
 Numa -.-.......44 
 
 Solon 54 
 
 Themistocles ...74 
 
 Camillus ....96 
 
 Pericles 116 
 
 Alcihiades 130 
 
 Timoleon ••-...... 158 
 
 Aristides -- - . . . . . . 182 
 
 CaU) the Censor - - - • . . . . 201 
 
 Pyrrhus ---16 
 
 Eumenes 240 
 
 Pompey 257 
 
 Alexander --•--••.. 296 
 Julius CcBsar ........ 339 
 
 Demosthenes ........ 371 
 
 Cicero - - - 387 
 
 Demosthenes and Cicero Compared ..... 422 
 An Account of Weights and Measures .... 426 
 Denominatijons of Money ..•••. 427 
 
 Table of Proper Names - . 1 .... 429 
 
PLUTARCH S LIVES. 
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE OF ROMUI.US. 
 
 Flourished 753 years before Christ. 
 
 From whom and for what cause, the city of Rome obtained a 
 name, the glory of which has diffused itself over the world, his- 
 torians are not agreed.* The account which deserves the most 
 credit, and has the most vouchers, is that published by Diodes the 
 Peparenthian, whom Fabius Pictor comm<»nly follows. The story 
 is this : The kings of Alba descending lineally from iGneas, the 
 succession fell to two brothers, Numitor and Amulius. The lat- 
 ter divided the whole inheritance into two parts, setting the trea- 
 sures brought from Troy against the kingdom ; and Numitor made 
 choice of the kingdom. Amulius then having the treasures, and 
 consequently being more powerful than Numitor, easily possessed 
 himself of the kingdom too^ and fearing the daughter of Numitor 
 might have children, he appointed her priestess of Vesta, in which 
 capacity she was always to live unmarried and a virgin. 
 
 Some say her name was Ilia, some Rhea, and others Sylvia. 
 . But she was soon discovered to be pregnant, contrary to the law 
 of the Vestals. Antho, the king's daughter, by much entreaty, 
 prevailed with her father that she should not be capitally punished. 
 She was confined, however, and excluded from societv. When 
 her time was completed, she was delivered of two sons of uncom- 
 mon size and beauty; whereupon AmuHus, siill more alarmed, 
 ordered one of his servants to destroy them. Pursuajit to his or- 
 ders, he put the children into a small trough or cradle, and went 
 
 * Such is the uncertainty of the origin of imperial Rome, and indeed of most 
 cities antJ nations that are of any considerable antiquiiv. That of Rome mighr be 
 the more uncertam, t)ecanse itj: l^rst inhabitants, heinj; a coUection of mean persons, 
 fugitives and outlaws from other nations, could not be supposed to leave histories 
 behmd them. Livy, however, and most of the Latin historians, agree that Rome 
 was built by Romulus, and both the city and people named after him: while the 
 vanity of the Greek writers wants to ascirltie almost every tbing, and Rome among 
 t)ie festt to a Greciao origma}. 
 
^ FOMUT.US. 
 
 down towards the river, with a design to cast them in ; but seeing 
 it verv rough, and running with a strong current, he was afraid to 
 approach it. He therefore laid them down near the bank, and 
 departed. The flood increasing continually, set the trniigh atloat, 
 and j^tirned it gently down to a pleasant place, toiiKriv cailed 
 Gerinanum, denoting that the two brothers arrived tit le. 
 
 Near this place was a wild fig-tree, which they called Rumina- 
 lis, either on account of Romulus, as is generally supposed, or 
 because the cattle there ruminated, or chewed the cud, during the 
 noontide, in the shade ; or rather because of the suckling of the 
 children there; for the ancient Latins called the breast rvma, and 
 the goddess who presides over the nursery Rumilia,* whose rites 
 they celebrated without wine, and only with libaiions of milk. 
 The iiifantH, as the stor} goes, lying there, were suckled by a sbe- 
 wolf, and fed and taken cure of bv a wood.pecker. These ani- 
 mals are sacred to Mars ; and the woodpecker is held in great 
 honour and veneration by the Latins. Such wonderful events 
 ContribuctMl not a little to gain credit to the mother's report, that 
 she had the children by Mars. Some say, th^ ambiguity of the 
 narhe's name gave occasion to the fable ; for the Latins called not 
 she-wolves, but prostitutes, lujxB ; and such was Acca Larentia, 
 the wife of Faustnlus, the foster-father of the children. 
 
 Faustulus, Amuiius's herdsman, brought up the children entirely 
 undiscovered ; or rather, as others with greater probability assert, 
 Numitor knew it from the first,"|" and privately supplied the neces. 
 saries for their maintenance. It is also said, that they were sent 
 to Gahii, and there insirticted in letters, and other branches of 
 education suitable to ilietr birth: that the\ had he names of Ro- 
 mulus and Remus, froin the teat of the wild animal which they 
 were seen to suck. The beaut\ and dignity of their |>erson8, even 
 in their childhood, promised a generous disposition ; and as they 
 grew up, they both discovered great courage and bravery, with 
 an inclination to hazardous attempts, and a spirit which nothing 
 could subdue. But Romulus seemed more to cultivate the powers 
 of reason, and to excel in political knowledge ; while b\ his de- 
 portment among his neighbours, in the department of pasturage 
 and hunting, he convinced them that he was bom to romnmnd 
 rather than to otiey. To their equals and inferiors they b<*haved 
 very courteously ; but they despised the king's bailifl's and chief 
 herdsmen, as not superirn* to themselves in courage, though they 
 were in authority, disregarding at once their threats and their an- 
 ger. They applied themselves to generous exercises and pursuits, 
 
 * Th« Romnntcalliid thai fnddMt. not Rumilia, but Rumiua. 
 
 f Nuintiur might build up n '- ho|t«>fl of bit r»>««iablwhmMil : bul hitkooir* 
 
 log ihff plac* wh«r« thv cin rmifthi up. and Mip^tiiit ihamwiUi^Msawi* 
 
 rw«. It quitn incnn«ittffni w ncr of tlieir dii0ov«ffy when grown up, which 
 
 it th« moat airaaable pnrt of Hit »tut j. 
 
ROMurxs. 9 
 
 looking upon idleness and inactivity as illiberal, but on hunting, 
 running, banishing or apprehending robbers, and delivering such 
 as were oppressed by violence, as the employments of honour and 
 virtue. By this conduct they gained great renown. 
 
 A dispute arising between the herdsmen of Numitor and Amu- 
 lius, and the former having driven away some cattle belonging to 
 the latter, Romulus and Remus fell upon them, put them to flight, 
 and recovered the greatest part of the booty. At this conduct 
 Numitor was highly offended ; but they little regarded his resent- 
 ment. The first steps they took on this occasion were to collect, 
 and receive into their company, persons of desperate fortunes, and 
 a great number of slaves ; a measure which gave alarming proofs 
 of their bold and seditious inchnations. It happened that when 
 Romulus was employed in sacrificing, to which and divination he 
 was much inclined, Numitor's herdsmen met with Remus, as 
 he was walking with a small retinue, and fell upon him. After 
 some blows exchanged, and wounds given and received, Numi- 
 tor*s people prevailed, and took Remus prisoner. He was car- 
 ried before Numitor, and had several things laid to his charge ; 
 but Numitor did not choose to punish him himself, for fear of his 
 brother's resentment. To him, therefore, he applied for justice, 
 which he had all the reason in the world to expect ; since, though 
 brother to the reigning prince, he had been injured by his ser- 
 vants, who presumed upon his authority. The people of Alba, 
 moreover, expressing their uneasiness, dnd thinking that Numitor 
 suflfered great indignities, Amulius, moved with their complaints, 
 delivered Remus to him, to be treated as he should think proper. 
 
 When the youth was conducted to his house, Numitor was 
 greatly struck with his appearance, as he was very remarkable 
 for size and strength, he observed, too, his presence of mind and 
 the steadiness of his looks, which had nothing servile in them, nor 
 were altered with the sense of his present danger ; and he was 
 informed, that his actions and whole behaviour were suitable 
 to what he saw. But above all, some divine influence, as it 
 seems, directing the beginnings of the great events that were to 
 follow, Numitor, by his sagacity, or by a fortunate conjecture, 
 suspecting the truth, questioned him concerning the circumstances 
 of his birth; speaking mildly at the same time, and regarding him 
 with a gracious eye. He boldly answered, " I will hide nothing 
 from you, for you behave in a more princely manner than Amu- 
 lius, since you hear and examine before you punish : but he has 
 delivered us up without inquiring into the matter. I have a twin- 
 brother, and heretofore we believed ourselves the sons of Faustu- 
 lus and Larentia, servants to the king. But since we were ac- 
 cused before you, and so pursued by slander, as to be in danger of 
 our lives, we hear nobler things concerning our birth. Whether 
 
10 ROMULt:?. 
 
 they arc true, the present crisis will show.* Our birth is said to 
 have been secret ; our support in our infancy miraculous. We 
 were exposed to birds and wild beasts, and by them nourished ; 
 suckled by a she.wolf, and fed by the attentions of a wood.pecker, 
 as wo lay in a trough by the groat river. The trough is still pre- 
 served, bound about with brass bands, and inscribed with letters 
 partly faded ; which may prove, perhaps, hereaAer very useful 
 tokens to our parents, when we are destroyed." Numitor hear- 
 ing this, and comparing the time with the young man's looks, 
 was confirmed in the pleasing hope he had conceived, and consi- 
 dored how he might consult his daughter about this affair ; for she 
 was still kept in close custody. 
 
 Meanwhile Faustulus, having heard that Remus was taken and 
 delivered up to puiu:$hment, desired Romulus to assist his brotlier, 
 informing him then clearly of the particulars of his birth ; for be- 
 fore, he had only given dark hints about it, and signified just so 
 much as might take off the attention of bis wards from every thing 
 that was mean. Ho himself took the trough, and in all the tu- 
 mult of concern and fcnr carried it to Numitor. His disorder 
 raised some suspicion in the king's guards at the gate, and 
 that disorder increasingwhile they looked earnestly upon him, and 
 perplexed him with their questions, he was discovered to have a 
 trough under his cloak. There happened to be among them one 
 of those who had it in charge to throw the children into the river> 
 and who was concerned in the exposing of them. This man 
 seeing the trough, and knowing it by its make and inscription, 
 rightly guessed the business ; and thinking it an affair not to be 
 neglected, immediately acquainted the king with it. In these 
 great and pressing difficulties, Faustulus did not preserve entirely 
 his presence of mind, nor yet fully discover the matter. He ac« 
 knowledged that the children were saved indeed, but said that 
 they kept cattle at a great distance from Alba; and that he was 
 carrying the trough to Ilia, who had of\en desired to see it, that 
 she might entertum the better hopes that her children were alive. 
 Whatever persons perplexed and actuated with fear or anger use 
 to suffer, Amulius then suffered ; for in his hurry he sent an 
 honest man, a friend of Numitor's, to inquire of him whether ho 
 had any account that the children were alive. 
 
 When the man was come, and taw Remus almost in the em- 
 braces of Numitor, he endeavoured to confirm him in the pertua- 
 aion that the youth was really his grandson ; begging him, at the 
 same time, immediately to take the best measures that could be 
 thought of, and offering his bett aMistanco to support their 
 party. Tlie occasion admitted of no delay, if they had been in- 
 
 * For if they were true, the p^od who miraculously piotcctH them in theur in. 
 fkne^, wouM deliver Remu* from his pretent d&i\|et 
 
KOMULUS. 11 
 
 clined to it ; for Romulus was now at hand, and a good number of 
 the citizens were gathered about him, either out of hatred or fear 
 of AmuHus. lie brought also a considerable force with him, di- 
 vided into companies of a hundred men each, headed by an offl. 
 cer who bore a handful of grass and shrubs upon a polo. These 
 the Latins call Manipuli; and hence it is, that soldiers of 
 the same compa,ny were called Manipulares. Remue then, 
 having gained those within, and Romulus assaulting the palace 
 without, the tyrant knew not what to do, or whom he should 
 consult, but amidst his doubts and perplexity, was taken and slain. 
 
 Amulius being dead, and the troubles composed, the two bro- 
 thers were not willing to live in Alba, without governing there ; 
 nor yet to tike the government upon themselves during their 
 grandfather's life. Having, therefore, invested him with it, and 
 paid due honours to their mother, they determined to dwell in a 
 city of their own, and, for that purpose, to build one in the place 
 where they had their first nourishment. This seems, at least, to 
 be the most plausible reason of their quitting Alba ; and perhaps 
 too it was necessary, as a great number of slaves and fugitives 
 was collected about them, either to see their affairs entirely 
 ruined, if these should disperse, or with them seek another habi- 
 tation ; for the people of Alba refused to permit the fugitives to 
 mix with them, or to receive them as citizens. 
 
 As soon as the foundation of the city was laid, they opened a 
 place of refuge for fugitives, which they called the Temple of the 
 Asylaen god.* Here they received all that came, and would nei- 
 ther deliver up the slave to his master, the debtor to his creditor, 
 nor the murderer to the magistrate ; declaring that they were di- 
 rected by the Oracle of Apollo to preserve the Asylum from all 
 violation. Thus the city was soon peopled ; for it is said that 
 the houses at first did not exceed a thousand. 
 
 While they were intent upon building, a dispute soon arose 
 about the place. Romulus having built a square, which he call- 
 ed Rome, would have the city there ; but Remus marked out a 
 more secure situation on Mount Aventine, which, from him, was 
 called Remonium.f The dispute was referred to the decision of 
 augury, and for this purpose they sat down in the open air, when 
 Remus, as they tell us, saw six vultures, and Romulus twice as 
 many. Some say that Remus's account of the number he had 
 
 * It is not certain who this God of Refuge was. Dionysius of Halicamassus tells 
 vs, that in his time, the place where the asylum had been, was consecrated to 
 Jupiter. Romulus did not at first receive the fugitives and outlaws within the walls, 
 but allowed them the hill Satumius, afterward called Capitolinus, for their 
 habitation. 
 
 f Most of the Trojans, of whom there still remained fifty families in Augustus'^ 
 time, chose to follow the fortune of Romulus and Remus, as did also the inhabitants 
 of Pallantium and Saturnia, two small towrts. 
 
1^ BXMVVUS. 
 
 seen was true, and tliat of Romulus not so ; but when Remus 
 came up to him, he did really see twelve. 
 
 When Remus knew that he was imposed upon, he was highly 
 incensed, and as Romulus was opening a ditch round the place 
 where the walls were to be buih, he ridiculed some parts of the 
 M'ork, and obstructed others. At last, as he presumed to leap 
 over it, some say he fell by the hands of Romulus, others, by 
 that of Celer, one of his companions ; Paustulus also fell in the 
 scufHe, and Plistinus, who being brother to Paustulus, is said to 
 have assi'Sted <n hnnging Rnmulus up. 
 
 Romulus buried his brother Remus, together with his foster. 
 fathers, in Remonia,*" and then built his city, having sent for per- 
 sons in Hetruria, who, according to stated ceremonies and written 
 rules, were to order and direct how every thing was to be done* 
 First a circular ditch was dug, and the first fruits of every thing 
 that is reckoned either good by use, or necessary by nature, were 
 cast into it ; and then, each bringing a small quantity of the earth 
 of the country whence he came, threw it in promiscuously.f This 
 ditch had the name of Mundus, the same with that of the universe. 
 In the next place they marked o»it the city like a circle round this 
 centre, and the founder having fitted to a plough a brazen plough- 
 share, and yoked a bull and cow, himself drew a deep furrow 
 round the boundaries. The business of those who followed was 
 to turn all the clods raised by the plough inwards to the city, and 
 not to suffer any to remain outwards. This line described the 
 compass of the city, and between it and the walls is a space call- 
 ed by contraction Pomcpnum, as lying behind or beyond the wall. 
 Where they designed to have a gate, they took the ploughshare 
 out of the groimd, and lifted up the plough, making a break for it. 
 Hence they look upon the whole wall as sacred, except the gate- 
 ways. If they considered the gates in the same light as the rest, 
 it would be deemed lawful either to receive the necessaries of life 
 by them, or to carry out what is unclean. 
 
 The day on which they began to build the city is universally 
 allowed to be the twenty.first of April, and was celebrated annu- 
 ally by the Romans as the birthday of Rome. At first we are 
 
 • Tb« Metruriaot or Tuicani had. at Fettus infnrins ut, a vort of ritual wbaraia 
 ware contained Uie cerenmniea that were to \m observed in buildiiw ciiie*. leinplat, 
 altarn. walls, and gates. Thry were inMrm-ird in au^tiry and religious rites by 
 Tsges, who IS said to have been taueht by Mircurr. 
 
 f Ovid does not sav it was a hondful of the earth each had brou«bt out of hit 
 own country, but of tb« earth each had taken f/om bis neighbours : which wa» dona 
 to signify that Rome would soon sub<iiie the npigbbourmg nations. Rut Isidorus 
 (lib XXV. rap. 2.) is of Ofiinion, that bv ihrowiiig the firf^fniiiw and a handful of 
 earth tntn the irenr.h, th«v adn-f »' ' hrads (»f the colony, that it ought to ba 
 tt>eir chief siiidv to procuri? for ritiaens all the r^invenienceeof life, to 
 
 maintain peace and union anioi i '■ cotne together frotn dKlefanl parts of 
 
 tha world, and by thU to form theui»«:lves into a body nevar to he diaohrtd. 
 
ROMULUS. 13 
 
 told, that they sacrificed nothing that had life, persuaded that they 
 ought to keep the solemnity sacred to the birth of their country 
 pure and without bloodshed. On that day too, we are informed, 
 there was a conjunction of the sun and moon, attended with an 
 eclipse, the same day that was observed by Antimachus the Teian 
 poet, in the third year of the sixth Olympiad. 
 
 When the city was built, Romulus divided the younger part of 
 the inhabitants into battalions. Each corps consisted of three 
 thousand foot, and three hundred horse, and was called a Legion, 
 because the most warlike persons were selected. The rest of 
 the multitude he called The People. An hundred of the most 
 considerable citizens he took for his council, with the title of 
 Patricians,* and the whole body was called the Senate, which 
 signifies an Assembly of Old Men. Its members were styled 
 Patricians, because as some say they were fatl^rs of freebora 
 children ; or rather, according to others, because they themselves 
 had fathers to show, which was not the case with many of the 
 rabble that first flocked to the city. But we shall be nearer the 
 truth, if we conclude that Romulus styled them Patricians, as 
 expecting these respectable persons would watch over those in 
 humble stations with a paternal care and regard ; and teaching 
 the commonalty in their turn not to fear or envy the power of 
 their superiors, but to behave with love and respect, both looking 
 upon them as Fathers, and honouring them with that name. For, 
 at this very time, foreign nations call the Senators Lords, but the 
 Romans themselves call them Conscript Fathers, a style of greater 
 dignity and honour, and withal much less invidious. At first, in- 
 deed, they were called Fathers only ; but afterwards, when more 
 were enrolled in their body. Conscript Fathers. With this vene. 
 rable title, then, he distinguished the senate from the people. He 
 likewise made another distinction between the nobility and the 
 commons, calling the former Patrons, and the other Clients, 
 which was the source of mutual kindness and many good offices 
 between them ; for the Patrons were, to those they had taken 
 under their protection, counsellors and advocates in their suits at 
 law, and advisers and assistants on all occasions. On the other 
 hand, the Clients failed not in their attentions, whether they were 
 to be shown in deference or respect, or in providing their daugh- 
 ters portions, or in satisfying their creditors, if their circumstances 
 happened to be narrow. No law or magistrate obliged the Patron 
 to be evidence against his Client, or the Client against his Patron. 
 But in after times, though the claims continued in full force, it was 
 
 * The choice of these three hundred persons was nor made by the king himself; 
 each tribe chose 'hree senator--, and each of the thirty curae the like number, which 
 'made in all the number of ninety nine ; so that RotDulus named only the hundredth, 
 who was the head, or prince of the senate, and the chief governor of the city, when 
 the king was in the field. 
 
 2 
 
14 liOMULUS. 
 
 law, and advisers and assistants on all occasions. On the other 
 hand, the Clients failed not in their attentions, whether they were 
 to be shown in deference and respect, or in providing their daugh- 
 ters portions, or in satisfying their creditors, if their circumstiuices 
 happened to be narrow. No law or magistrate obliged the Patroo 
 to be evidence against his Client, or the Client against his Patron. 
 But in after times, though the claims continued in full force, it was 
 looked upon as ungenerous for persons of condition to take money 
 of those below them. 
 
 In the fourth month, after the building of the city,* as Fabius 
 informs us, the rape of the Sabine women was put in execution. 
 Some say Romulus himself, who was naturally warlike, and per- 
 suaded by certain oracles, that the Fates had decreed Rome to 
 obtain her greatness by military achievements, began hostilities 
 against the Sabines, and seized only thirty virgins, being more 
 desirous of war than of wives for his people. But this is not likely. 
 For, as he saw his city soon filled with inhabitants, very few of 
 whom were married, the greatest part consisting of a mixed rabble 
 of mean and obscure persons, to whom no regard was paid, and 
 who were not expecting to settle in any place whatever, the 
 enterprise naturally took that turn ; and he hoped that from this 
 attempt though not a just one, some alliance and union with the 
 Sabines would be obtained, when it appeared that they treated 
 the women kindly. In order to this, he first gave out that he had 
 found the altar of some god, which had been covered with earth. 
 This deity they called Consus, or God of Counsel. 
 
 Upon this discovery, Romulus by proclamation appointed a day 
 for a splendid sacrifice, with public games and shows. Muhitudes 
 assembled at the time, and he himself presided, sitting among his 
 nobles clothed in purple. As a signal for the assault, he was to 
 rise, gather up his robe, and fold it about him. Many of his 
 people wore swords that day, and kept their eye upon him, 
 vatching^ for the signal, which was no sooner given than they 
 drew them, and rushing on with a shout, seized the daughters of 
 the Sabines, hut quietly suffered the men to escape. Some say 
 only thirty were carried off, who each gave name to a tribe ; but 
 Talerius Antias makes their number, five hundred and twenty, 
 seven, and according to Juba,t there were six hundred and eighty, 
 three, all virgins. This was the best a|)ology for Romulus: 
 for they had taken but one married woman, named Hersilia, who 
 vos afterwards chiefly concerned in reconciling them, and her 
 they took by mistake, as they were not incited to this violence by 
 lust or injustice, but by their desire to conciliate and unite the two 
 i^ations in the strongest tic. 
 
 • Gelliut layt, it wai in tn« tnurth vear. 
 
 f This w»» the aon of Jub«, king of Mauritania, who, iMiog biosglit very yvung a 
 
JROMULUS. 15 
 
 The Sabines were a numerous and warlike people, but they 
 dwelt in unwalled towns, thinking it became them, who were a 
 colony of the Lacedaemonians, to be bold and fearless. But as 
 they saw themselves bound by such pledges, and were very soli- 
 citous for their daughters, they sent ambassadors to Romulus with 
 moderate arid equitable demands — that he should return them the 
 young women, and disavow the violence, and then the two nations 
 should proceed to establish a correspondence, and contract alli- 
 ances in a friendly and legal way. Romulus, however, refused 
 to part with the young women, and entreated the Sabines to give 
 their sanction to what had been done, whereupon some of them 
 lost time in consuhing and making preparations. But Acron, king 
 of the Ceninensians, a man of spirit, and an able general, sus- 
 pected the tendency of Romulus's first enterprises ; and, when he 
 had behaved so boldly in the rape, looked upon him as one who 
 would grow formidable, and indeed insufferable to his neigh- 
 bours, except he were chastised. Acron therefore went to seek 
 the enemy, and Romulus prepared to receive him. When they 
 came in sight, and had well viewed each other, a challenge for a 
 single combat was mutually given, their forces standing under 
 arms in silence. Romulus on this occasion made a vow, that if 
 he conquered his enemy, he would himself dedicate his adver- 
 sary's arms to Jupiter ; in consequence of which, he both over- 
 came Acron, and after battle was joined, routed his army, and 
 took his city. But he did no injury to its inhabitants, unless it 
 were such to order them to demolish their houses and follow him 
 to Rome, as citizens entitled to equal privileges with the rest. 
 Indeed, there was nothing that contributed more to the greatness 
 of Rome, than that she was always uniting and incorporating with 
 herself those whom she conquered. 
 
 Romulus having considered how he should perform his vow in 
 the most acceptable manner to Jupiter, and withal make the pro- 
 cession most agreeable to his people, cut down a great oak that 
 grew in the camp, and hewed it into the figure of a trophy ; to 
 this he fastened Acron's whole suit of armour, disposed in its 
 proper form. Then he put on his own robes, and wearing a laurel 
 crown on his head, his hair graceftilly flowing, he took the trophy 
 erect upon his right shoulder, and so marched on, singing the 
 song of victory before his troops, which followed completely 
 armed, while the citizens received him with joy 'and admiration. 
 This procession was the origin and model of future triumphs. 
 The trophy was dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius, so called from 
 the Latin wordyenVe,* to smite; for Romulus had prayed that he 
 might have power to smite his adversary and kill him. 
 
 captive to Rome, was instructed in the Roman and Grecian literature, and became 
 an excellent historian. Dionysius of Halicarnassus has followed his account. 
 * Or fmm the word /crrc, to carry, becairee Romulus had himself caixicd to tH^ 
 
10 ROMULUS. 
 
 After the defeat of the Ceninenses, while the rest of the Sabines 
 were busied in preparations, the people of Fidens, Cnistamerium, 
 and Antemnse, united against the Romans. A battle ensued, in 
 which they were likewise defeated, ond surrendered to Romulus 
 their cities to be spoiled, their lands to be divided, and thcmseWes 
 to be transplanted to Rome. All the lands thus acquired he dis- 
 tributed among the citizens, except what belonged to the parents 
 of the stolen virgins ; for those he left in possession of their former 
 owners. The rest of the Sabines, enraged at this, appointed 
 Tatius iheir general, and carried war to the gates of Rome. The 
 city was difficult of access, having a strong garrison on the hill 
 where the capitol now stands, commanded by Tarpeius. Tarpcia, 
 the governor's daughter, charmed with the golden bracelets of the 
 Sabines, betrayed tho fort into their hands, and asked, in return 
 for her treason, what they wore on their left arms. Tatius agree- 
 ing to thb condition, she opened one of the gates by night, and 
 let in the Sabines. It seems it was not the sentiment of Antigo- 
 nus alone, who said " He loved men while they were betraying, 
 but hated them when they had betrayed ;" nor of Caesar, who 
 said, in 'the case of Rhymitalces the Thracian, " He loved the 
 treason, but hated the traitor;" but men arc commonly affected 
 towards villains, whom they have occasion for, just as they are 
 towards venomous creatures, which they have need of for their 
 poison and their gall. While they are of use they love them, 
 but abhor them when their purpose is effected. Such were the 
 sentiments of Tatius with regard to Tarpeia, when he ordered the 
 Sabines to remember their promise, and to grudge her nothing 
 which they had on their left arms. He was the first to take off 
 his bracelet, and throw it to her and with that his shield.* As 
 every one did the same, she was overpowered by the gold and 
 shields thrown upon her, and, sinking under the weight, expired. 
 Tarpeius, too, was taken and condemned by Romulus for treason, 
 as Juba writes, after Sulpitius Galba. 
 
 The Sabines thus possessed of the fort, Romulus in great fury 
 offered them battle, which Tatius did not decline, as he saw he 
 had a place of strength to retreat to, in case he was worsted ; and, 
 indeed, the spot on which he was to engage, being surrounded 
 with hills, seemed to promise on both sides a sharp and bloody 
 contest, because it was so confined, and the outlets were so nar. 
 row, that it was not easy either to fly or to pursue. It happened, 
 too, that a few days before, the river had oyerflowed, and lefl a 
 
 temple of Jupiter the armour of the kin^ ho had killed : or, mort probablj firom tb« 
 Greek wotd phereton^ which Liry calii in latin ^etflwm, which proptffly itpiiiisa 
 fropAy. 
 
 * neo and other historian! aay. that Tatiui treats her in this manner, t>f€auM 
 ftbe acted a double part, and endeavoured to betraj the Sttinet to Romohis, while 
 the wat pretending to iTetray the Roifiant to them. 
 
ROMULUS. 17 
 
 deep mud on the plain where the forum now stands, which, as it 
 was covered with a crust, was not easily discoverable- by the eye, 
 but at the same time was soft underneath, and impassible. The 
 Sabines, ignorant of this, were pushing forward into it, but by 
 good fortune were prevented. For Curtius, a man of high dis. 
 tinction and spirit, being mounted on a good horse, advanced a 
 considerable way before the rest ;* presently his horse plunged 
 into the slough, and for a while he endeavoured to disengage 
 him, encouraging him with his voice, and urging him with blows ; 
 but, finding all ineffectual, ' he quitted him, and saved himself. 
 From him the place, to this very time, is called the Curtian Lake. 
 The Sabines, having escaped this danger, began the fight with 
 great bravery. The victory inclined to neither side, though many 
 were slain, among the rest Hostilius, who, they say, was husband 
 to Hersilia, and grandfather to that Hostilius who reigned after 
 Numa. It is probable that there were many other battles in a 
 short time, but the most memorable was the last ; in which Ro- 
 mulus having received a blow upon the head with a stone was 
 almost beaten down to the ground, and no longer able to oppose 
 the enemy; then the Romans gave way, and were driven from 
 the plain as far as the Palatine Hill. By this time Romulus 
 recovering from the shock, endeavoured by force to stop the men 
 in their flight, and loudly called upon them to stand and renew 
 the engagement. But when he saw the rout was general, and 
 that no one had courage to face about, he lifted up his hands 
 towards heaven, and prayed to Jupiter to stop the army, and to 
 re-establish and' maintain the Roman cause, which was now in 
 extreme danger. When the prayer was ended, many of the fu- 
 gitives were struck with reverence for their king, and their fear 
 was changed into courage. They first stopped where now stands 
 the Temple of Jupiter Stator, so called from his putting a stop to 
 their flight. There they engaged again, and repulsed the Sabines 
 as far as the palace now called Regia, and the temple of Vesta. 
 
 When they were preparing here to renew the combat with the 
 same animosity as at first, their ardour was repressed by an as- 
 tonishing spectacle. The daughters of the Sabines, that had been 
 
 * Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassiis relate the matter otherwise. They teli us, 
 that Curtius at first repulsed the Romans; but being in his turn overpowered by 
 .Romulus, and endeavouring to make good hi« retreat, he happened to fall into the 
 lake, which from that time bore his name; for it was called Lacus Curtius, even 
 when it was dried up.' and almost in the centre of the Roman forum Procilius 
 says, that the earth having opened, the Aruspices declared it necessary, for the safety 
 of the republic, that the bravest man in the city should throw himself into the gulf ; 
 whereupon one Curtius, mounting on horseback, leaped (armed) into it, and the 
 gulf immediately closed. Before the building of the common sewers, this pool was 
 a sort of sink, which received all the filth of the city. Some writers think that it 
 received its name from Curtius the consul, colleague to M. Genucius, because he 
 caused it to be walled in, by the advice of the Aruspices, after it had been struck 
 xvith lightning. Vauo de Ling Lat. 1. 17, 
 
 c r 
 
18 BOMULUS. 
 
 forcibly carried off, rushed with loud cries and lamenutiooa, like 
 persons distracted, amidst the drawn swords, and over the dead 
 bodies, to come at their husbands and fathers, some carrying their 
 infants in their arms, and some darting forward with dishevelled 
 hair, but all calling by turns both upon the Sabines and Romans 
 by the tenderest names. Both parties were extremely moved, 
 and room was made for them between the two armies. Their 
 lamentations pierced to the utmost ranks, and all were deeply 
 affected, particularly when their upbraiding and complaints ended 
 in supplication and entreaty. " What great injury have we done 
 you,'* said they, " that we have suffered, and do still suffer ao 
 many miseries? We were carried off, by those who now have u^ 
 violently and illegally ; after this violence we were so long 
 neglected by our brothers, our fathers, and relations, that we were 
 necessitated to unite in the strongest ties with those that were the 
 objects of our hatred, and we are now brought to tremble for the 
 men that had injured us so much, when we see them in danger, and 
 to lament them when they falK For you came not tu deliver us 
 from violence while virgins, or to avenge our cause ; but now you 
 tear the wives from their husbaiids, and the mothers from their 
 children, an assistance more grievous to us than all your neglect 
 and disregard. Such love we experienced from them, and such 
 compassion from you. Were the war undertaken in some other 
 cause, yet surely you would stop its ravages for us, who have 
 made you fathers-in-law and grand. fathers, or otherwise placed 
 you in some near affinity to those whom you seek to destroy. 
 But if the war be for us, take us, with your sons-in-law and their 
 children, and restore us to our parents and kindred ; but do not, we 
 beseech you, rob us of our children and husbands, lest we becoiM 
 captives again." Hersilia having said a great deal to this purpose, 
 and oUiers joining in the same request, a truce was agreed upon, 
 and the generals proceeded to a conference. lo the mean time 
 the women presented their husbands and children to their fathen 
 and brothers, brought refreshments to those that wanted them, 
 and carried the wounded home to be cured. Hero they showed 
 them, that they had the ordering of their own houses, what atten- 
 tion their husbands paid them, and in what respect and indulffence 
 they were treated. Upon this a peace was concluded, the 
 conditions of which were, that such of the women as cboee to 
 remain with their huHbands should bo exempt from all labour and 
 drudgery except spinning ; that they city should be inhabited by 
 the Romans and Sabines in common, with the name Rome from 
 Horaulus ; but that all the citizens, from Cures, the capital of the 
 Sabines, should bo called Quirites -* and that the regal power, 
 
 * The word Quirit» in ihe ^^abine laofua^. si|ni6ed Iwtb • dart« aod a warlOte 
 rfeity arinmi with a d«Tt. It is nnrertaln whether Uie fp»d |a?e name to the dart, f»r 
 
ROMULUS. ^g 
 
 and the command of the army, should be equally shared bet-,vecn 
 them. 
 
 The city having doubled the number of its inhabitants, an 
 hundred additional senators were elected from among the Sabines, 
 and the legions were to* consist of six thousand foot, and six 
 hundred horse.* The people, too, were divided into three tribes, 
 called Rhumnenses, from Romulus ; Tatienses from Tatius ; and 
 Lucerenses, from the Lucus or Grove, where the asylum stood, 
 whither many had fled, and were admitted citizens. That they 
 were precisely three, appears from the very name of Tribes, and 
 that of their chief officers, who were called Tribunes. Each 
 tribe contained ten CuricB, or Wards, which some say were called 
 after the Sabine women. But this seems to be false, for many of 
 them have their names from the several quarters of the city which 
 were assigned to them. Many honourable privileges, however, 
 were conferred upon the women, some of which were these : 
 That the men should give them the way, wherever they met them : 
 that they should not mention an obscene word, or appear naked 
 before them ; that, in case of their killing any person, they should 
 not be tried before the ordinary judges ; and that their children 
 should wear an ornament about their necks, called Bulla,f from 
 its likeness to a bubble, and a garment bordered with purple. The 
 two kings did not presently unite their councils, each meeting, for 
 some time, their hundred senators apart ; but afterwards they all 
 assembled together. Tatius dwelt where the temple Moneta 
 now stands, and Romulus by the steps of the fair Shore as they 
 are called, at the descent from the Palatine Hill to the Great 
 Circus. 
 
 the dart to the god ; but however that be, this gorl Quiris or Quirinus, was either 
 Mars or some other gori of war, and was worshipped in Ron~.e till Romulus, who, 
 after his death, was honouted with the name Quirinus, took his place. 
 
 * Ruauld, in his animadversions upon Plutarch, has discovered two considerable 
 errors in this place The first is, that Plutarch affirms there were six hundred horse 
 put by Romulus in every legion ; whereas there never were, at any time, so many in 
 any of the legions. For there were at first two hundred horse in each legion ; after 
 that, they rose to three hundred, and at last to four hundred, but never came op 
 to six hundred. In the second place, he tells us, that Romulus made the legion to 
 consist of six thousand foot : whereas, in his time, it was never more than three 
 thousand. It is said by some, that Marius was the first who raised the legion to 
 six thousand ; but Livy informs us, that that augmentation was made by Scipio 
 Africanus, long tiefor.e Marius. After the expulsionof the kings, it was augmented 
 from three to four thousand, and some time after to five, and at last by Scipio (as 
 we have said) to six. But this was never done but upon pressing occasions. The 
 stated force of a legion was four thousand foot, and two hundred horse. 
 
 t The young men, when they took upon them the 7"oga vh-ilis, or man's robe, 
 quitted the Bulla, which is supposed to have been a little hollow ball of gold, and 
 made an offering of it to the Dii Lares, or houjehold gods. As to the Prcctexta, or 
 robe edged with purple, it was worn by girls, till their marriage, and by boys till they 
 were seventeen. But what in the time of Romulus was a maik of distinction for 
 the children of the Sabine women, became afterwards very common : for even the 
 children of the Liberfi, or freedmen, wore it. 
 
20 ROMULUS. 
 
 The Sabioes received the Roman months. All tbnt. w of 
 importance on this subject is mentioned in the hfe of Numa. 
 Romulus on the other hand, adopted their shields, making an 
 alteration in his own armour, and that of the Romans, who 
 before wore bucklers in the manner of the Greeks. They ma- 
 tually celebrated each other's feats and sacrifices, not ahohshiog 
 those of either nation, but over and above appointing some new 
 ones ; one of which was the Matronalia,* instituted in honour of 
 the women, fur their putting an end to the war, and another the 
 Carmentulia.f 
 
 In the fifth year of the reign of Tatius, some of his friends and 
 kinsmen meeting certain ambassadors who were going from Lau- 
 rentum to Rome,t attempted to rob them on the road, and, as they 
 would not sutfer it, but stood in their own defence, killed them. 
 As this was an atrocious crime, Romulus required that those 
 who committed it should unmediateiy be punished, but Tatius 
 hesitated and put it off! This was the first occasion of any open 
 variance between them ; for till now they had behaved themselves 
 as if directed by one soul and the administration had been carried 
 on with all possible unanimity. The relations of those that were 
 murdered finding they could have no legal redress from Tatius, 
 fell upon him and slew him, at Lavinium, as he was offering 
 sacrifice with Romulus :§ but they conducted Romulus back with 
 applause, as a prince who paid a proper regard to justice. To 
 the body of Tatius he gave an honourable interment, at Arroilus. 
 triuro,|{ on mount Aventine ; but he took no care to revenge his 
 death on the persons who killed him. Some historians write, 
 
 * During this feast, such of the Roman women as were married, served their 
 slaves at table, and received prekcuis from their huitMinds, as it>e husl>ands did frooi 
 their wives in itte time <*^ ihe Saturnalia. As the festival of the Matronalia ivas 
 not only observed m honour of the Sabme women, but consecrated to Mars, and, as 
 aoaie will have it, to Juno Lucina. sacrifices were offend to both these deities. This 
 feast wai the subject of Hurace's Ode. JHarttis ralebs ouid agam ealmili$. 6ic. and 
 Ovid HetrrilieH it ai lart^« in ttve Third liook «>f Fasti. Darier says, bjr mistake, that 
 this frnst wai» kept on the lit of April, instead of the 1st of March, and the IbraMr 
 Engltfcb aiinotatcir has foiiowed him. 
 
 f Thik IS a vrry solemn feast, kept on the 1 1th of January, under the Capitol, near 
 the Carnienial ^ate. They heKged of this foddesa to render their women fruitful, 
 and to give (Dem happy dehveries. 
 
 t DMinymuk of Haltcatnaaus says, they were amliassadors from l.aviuium. wIm> 
 had beeii'ai Hon e to complain of ilte incursions made by some of Taiius's friends, 
 upon their territories, and that ay ihey were returiiiiH(, the Sfebines lay lu wait Cm 
 Ihem on the road, stripped them, and killed several of Ibwn. Lavinium and Lsu- 
 rentum were neighbourinc towns in Ijitium. 
 
 { Frolmbiv ti is wai a MUirifice to Ihe Dii lodigenus of I.atium. in which Rons 
 was iiKlurted. Hut Licinus write». that Tatius wroi not ihither with Rcminiuk. not 
 on account of ihr sacrifice, tMit ibet he went alone to persuade the uihabitanti to 
 pardon Ihe murderert. 
 
 II The place wai so called, bccauMof a ceremony of ihe san.e name, relehrated 
 evrrv vear un the li^th of October, when the troops were muttered, and purified by 
 saeiifices. 
 
ROMULUS. 2X 
 
 that the Lauientians in great terror gave up the murderers of 
 Tatius: but Romulus let them go, saying, " Blood with blood 
 should be repaid." This occasioned a report, and indeed a 
 strong Ksuspicion, that he was not sorry to get rid of his partner in 
 the government. None of these things, however, occasioned any 
 disturbance or sedition among the Sabines ; but partly out of 
 regard for Romulus, partly out of fear of his power, or because 
 they reverenced him as a god, they all continued well affected 
 to him. This veneration for him extended to many other nations. 
 The ancient Latins sent ambassadors, and entered into a league 
 and alliance with him. Fidenae, a city in the neighbourhood of 
 Rome, he took, as some say, by sending a body of horse before, 
 with orders to break the hinges of the gates, and then appearing 
 unexpectedly in person. Others will have it, that the Fidenates 
 first attacked and ravaged the Roman territories, and were carry- 
 ing off considerable booty, when Romulus lay in ambush for them, 
 cut many of them off, and took their city. He did not, however, 
 demolish it, but made it a Roman colony, and sent into it two 
 thousand five hundred inhabitants on the thirteenth of April. 
 
 After this, a plague broke out, so fatal, that people died of it, 
 without any previous sickness ; while the scarcity of fruits, and 
 barrenness of the cattle added to the calamity. It rained blood 
 too in the city ; so that their unavoidable sufferings were increas- 
 ed with supernatural terrors : and when the destruction spread 
 itself to Laurentum, then all agreed it was for neglecting to do 
 justice to the murderers of the ambassadors and of Tatius, that 
 the Divine vengeance pursued both cities. Indeed, when those 
 murderers were given up and punished by both parties, their 
 calamities visibly abated ; and Romulus purified the city with 
 lustrations, which they tell us, are yet celebrated at the Ferentine 
 gate. Before the pestilence ceased, the people of Cameria* 
 attacked the Romans, and over-ran the country, thinking them 
 incapable of resistance by reason of the sickness. But Romulus 
 soon met them in the field, gave them battle, in which he killed 
 six thousand of them, took their city, and transplanted half its 
 remaining inliabitants to Rome ; adding, on the first of August, 
 to those he left in Cameria, double their number from Rome. So 
 many people had he to spare in about sixteen years time from 
 the building of the city. Among other spoils, he carried from 
 Cameria a chariot of brass, which he consecrated in the temple 
 of Vulcan, placing upon it his own statue crowned by Victory. 
 
 His affairs thus dourishing, the weaker part of his neighbours 
 submitted, satisfied, if they could but live in peace : but the more 
 powerful, dreading or envying Romulus, thought they should not 
 
 * This was a town which Romulus had taken before Its old inhabitants took 
 this opportunity to rise in arms, and kill the Reman garrison. 
 
'^ KQMULtS 
 
 by any means lut him go unnoticed, but oppose ana put a atop (o 
 his growing greatness. The Veientes, who had a strong city ami 
 extensive country,* were the first of the Tuscana who began the 
 war, demanding Fidensc as their properly. But it was not only 
 unjust, but ridiculous, that they who had given the people of 
 FidcnoB no assistance in the greatest extremities, but had sufTered 
 them to perish, should challenge their houses and lands now in the 
 possession of other masters. Romulus, therefore, gave them a 
 contemptuous answer; upon which they divided their forces into 
 two bodies ; one attacked the garrison of Fidenas, and the pther 
 vent to meet Romulus. That which went against Fidens, de-^ 
 feated the Romans, and killed two thousand of them ; but the 
 other was beaten by Romulus with the loss of more than eight 
 thousand men. They gave battle, however, once more at Fidens, 
 where all allow the victory was chiefly owing to Romuhia him. 
 self, whose skill and courage were then remarkably displayed 
 and whose strength and swiAness appeared more than human. 
 But what some report, is entirely fabulous, and utterly incredible, 
 that there fell that day fourteen thousand men, above half of 
 whom Romulus slew with his own hand. For even the Messe- 
 nians seem to have been extravagant in their boasts, when they tell 
 us Aristomenes offered a hecatomb three several times, for having 
 as of\en killed a hundred Lacedaemonians.f Afler the Veientes 
 were thus ruined, Romulus suffered the scattered remains to 
 escape, and marched directly to their city. The inhabitants could 
 not bear up af\er so dreadful a blow, but humbly sueing for a 
 peace, obtained a truce for a hundred years, by giving up a 
 considerable part of their territory called Septempagium, which 
 signifies a district of seven towns, together with the salt pits by 
 the river ; besides which, they delivered into his hands fifty of 
 their nobility as hostages. He triumphed for this on the fifteenth 
 of October, leading up, among many other captives, the general 
 of the Veientes, a man in years, who seemed on this occasion, 
 not to have behaved with the prudence which might have been 
 expected from his age. Hence it is, that, to this day, when they 
 offer a sacrifice for victory, they lead an old man through the 
 forum to the capitol, in a boy's robe, edged with purple, with a 
 bulla about his neck ; and the herald cries '* Sardiana to be sold ;*^ 
 
 * Veil, the capital of Tuicany, was situated no a cnoji rock, about oo« huodicd 
 furlon{i« from Rome ; and is compared by Dioiiysius of Halie«nia«us to Atbana Ibr 
 extent and riches. 
 
 f Pautania» confirms this account, mentiunmK both iba *mim and place of thase 
 •ehieveuientii, h« wril the h^raiombs uflered on account of lh«m to Jupiter Itbomatea. 
 Those wars between the Mt^sseuia^s and Spartans, were about the lime of Tullus 
 Uonilius. 
 
 X The Veientes. with tiie other Hetrurians. were a ookmy of Lydiaua, whoat 
 matiopolis was (he city of Sardis. Other writers data this custom from the lime of 
 (he conquest of Sardinia by Tiberius SemproolusCtraccLiw, when stich a numbei 
 
ROMULUS. 23 
 
 for the Tuscans are said to be a colony of the Sardians, and Veii 
 is a city of Tuscany. 
 
 This was the last of the wars of Romulus. After this he behaved 
 as almost all men do, who rise by some great and unexpected good 
 fortune to dignity and power ; for, exalted with his exploits, and 
 loftier in his sentiments, he dropped his popular affability, 
 and assumed the monarch to an odious degree. He gave the first 
 offence by his dress ; his habit being a purple vest, over which he 
 wore a robe bordered with purple. He gave audience in a chair 
 of state. He had always about him a number of young men 
 called Celeres,* from their despatch in doing business ; and before 
 him went men with staves to keep off" the populace, who also wore 
 thongs of leather at their girdles, ready to bind directly any person 
 he should order to be bound. 
 
 When his grandfather, Numitor, died in Alba, though the crown 
 undoubtedly belonged to him, yet; to please the people, he left the 
 administration in their own hands ; and over the Sabinesf (in 
 Rome) he appointed yearly a particular magistrate ; thus teaching 
 the great men of Rome to seek a free commonwealth without a 
 king, and by turns to rule and obey. For now the patricians had 
 no s&are in the government, but only an honourable title and 
 appearance, assembling in the senate-house more for form than 
 business. There, with silent attention, they heard the king give 
 his orders, and differed only from the rest of the people in this, 
 that they went home with the first knowledge of what was deter- 
 mined. This treatment they digested as well as they could ; but 
 when, of his own authority, he divided the conquered lands among 
 the soldiers, and restored the Veientes their hostages without the 
 consent or approbation of the senate, they considered it as an 
 intolerable insult. Hence arose strong suspicions against them, 
 and Romulus soon af\er unaccountably disappeared. This hap- 
 pened on the 7lh of July. 
 
 As no part of his body, or even his garments could be found, 
 some conjectured, that the senators who were convened in the 
 temple of Vulcan, fell upon him and killed him ; afler which each 
 carried a part away under his gown. Others say, that his death 
 did not happen in the temple of Vulcan, nor in the presence of 
 the senators only, but while he was holding an assembly of the 
 people without the city, at a place called the Goat's-Marsh. The 
 air on that occasion was suddenly convulsed and altered in a 
 
 of slaves was brought from that island, that none were to be seen in the market but 
 Sardinians. 
 
 * Romulus ordered the Curia to choose him a guard of three hundred men, ten 
 out of each Curiae ; and these he called Celeres, for the reason which Plutarch has 
 assigned. 
 
 f Xylandcr and H. Stephanus are rationally enough of opinion, that instead of 
 Sabines we sbonld read Albans : and so the Latin translator renders it. 
 
S^ ROMULtS. 
 
 wonderful manner ; for the light of the sun failed/ and they wer« 
 involved in an ustonishing darkness, attended on ever^ ' :ili 
 dreadful thundenngs, and tempestuous winds. Th* c 
 
 then dispersed and ded, but the nobility gathered into one budy. 
 When the tempest was over, and the light appeared again, the 
 people returned to the same place, and a very anxious inquiry was 
 made for the king ; but the patricians would not sufler them to 
 look closely into the matter. They commanded them to honour 
 and worship Ropiulus, who was caught up to Heaven, and who, 
 as he had been a gracious king, would be to the Romans a pro- 
 pitious deity. Upon this the multitude went away with great satis- 
 faction, and worshipped him, in hopes of his favour and protection. 
 Some, however, searching more minutely into the affair, gave the 
 patricians no small uneasiness ; they even accused them of im- 
 posing upon the people a ridiculous tale, when they had murdered 
 the king with their own hands. 
 
 While things were in this disorder, a senator, we are told of 
 great distinction, and famed for sanctity of manners, Julius Pro- 
 culus by nanie,f who cume from Alba with Rumulus, and had been 
 his faithful friend, went into the Forum, and declared upon the 
 most solemn oaths, before all the people, that as he was travelling 
 on the road, Romulus met him, in a form more noble and august 
 than ever, and clad in bright and dazzling armour. Astonished at 
 the sight, he said to him, *' For what misbehaviour of ours, O king, 
 or by what accident have you so untimely left us, to labour under 
 the heaviest calumnies, and the whole city to sink under unexpres* 
 sible sorrow !" To which ho answered, '* It pleased the gods, 
 my good Proculus, that we should dwell with men for a time ; and 
 ariter having founded a city which will be the most powerful 
 and glorious in the world, return to h«>aven, from whence he came. 
 Farewell then, and go, tell the Kuutans, that, by the exercise of 
 temperance and fortitude, they shall attain the highest pitch of hu- 
 man greatness, and I, the god Quirinus, will ever be propitious to 
 you. This, by the character and oath of the relater, gained credit 
 with the Romans, who were caught with the enthusiasm, as if they 
 had been actually inspired ; and far from contradicting what 
 they had heard, bade adieu to all their suspicions of the nobility, 
 united in the deifying of Quirinus, and addressed their devotions to 
 him. Romulus is said to have been tiHy.four years of aoe, and in 
 the thirty .eighth of his reign, when he was taken from the world. 
 
 * Cicero mentioni this remarkable dttkoeM iti a fftcineni of hi* «iiih book dt 
 Jiifub. And it appears from the astronnmiral table*, that tberr waa a graai aoUpas 
 of the tiio in the brat year of the fixtecnth Olympiad, auppoaed to be tiM jrear that 
 Romului died, on the 26th of May ; which, coniidering the little exactness tbert 
 was then in the Roman calendar, might very well cofatcide with the roooUi of 
 July. 
 
 t A descendant of lului, or Aacanlufr 
 
\-m 
 
 25 
 
 LYCURGUS.* 
 
 Flourished 777 years before CJirist. 
 
 Of Lycurgus, the lawgiver, we have nothing to relate that is 
 certain and uncontroverted. For there are different accounts of 
 his birth, his travels, his death, and especially of the laws and 
 form of government which he established. But least of all are 
 the times agreed upon when this great man lived. We shall 
 therefore endeavour to select such circumstances as are related 
 by authors of the greatest credit. 
 
 Simonides, the poet, tells us, that Prytanis, not Eunomus, was 
 father to Lycurgus. But most writers give us the genealogy of 
 Lycurgus and Eunomus in a different manner ; for, according to 
 them, Sous was the son of Patrocles, and grandson of Aristoderaus ; 
 Eurytion the son of Sous, Prytanis of Eurytion, and Eunomus of 
 of Prytanis; to this Eunomus was born Polydectes, by a former 
 wife, and by a second, named Dianassa, Lycurgus. Eutychidas, 
 however, says Lycurgus was the sixth from Patrocles, and the 
 eleventh from Hercules. The most distinguished of his ancestors 
 wa8 Sons, under whom the Lacedaemonians made the /feZote* their 
 staves,"!* and gained an extensive tract of land from the Arcadians. 
 Of this Sous it is related, that, being besieged by the Clitorians 
 in a difficult post where there was no water, he agreed to give up 
 all his conquests, provided that himself and all his army should 
 drink of the neighbouring spring. When these conditions were 
 sworn to, he assembled his forces, and offered his kingdom ti> the 
 man that would forbear drinking ; not one of them, however, 
 could deny himself, but they all drank. Then Sous went down to 
 the spring, and having only sprinkled his face in sight of the 
 enemy, he marched off, and still held the country, because all 
 had not drank. Though he was highly honoured for this, the 
 
 * The life of Lycurgus was the first which Plutarch published, as he himself 
 observes in the life of Theseus. He seems to have had a strong attachment to the 
 Soartans and their customs, as Xenopbon likewise had: for, besides this life, and 
 those of several other Spartan chiefs, we have a treatise of his on the laws and 
 customs of the Lacedaemonians, and another of Laconic Apophthegms. He makes 
 Lycurgus in all things a perfect hero, and alleges his behaviour as a proof, that the 
 wise man, so often described by the philosophers, was not a mere ideal character, 
 unattainable by human nature. Ft is certain, however, that the encomiums bestowed 
 upon him and his laws by the Delphic oracle, was merely a contrivance between 
 the Pythoness and himself; and some of his laws, for instance, that concerning the 
 women, were unexceptionable. 
 
 f The Helotes. or ilotes, were inhabitants of Helos, a maritime town of Laconia. 
 The Lacedaemonians having conquered and made slaves of them, called not only 
 them, but all the other slaves they happened to have, by the name of Helotes. It is 
 certain, howpver, that the descendants of the original Helotes, though they were ex- 
 tremelv ill treated, and some of them assassinated, subsisted many ages in Laconia. 
   n 3 
 
 ,n^. 
 
26 LYCURGUS. 
 
 fannly bad not. their name from him, but from his son were called 
 Eurytiomda :* and this, because Eurytion seems to be the first 
 who relaxed the strictness of kingly government, inclining to the 
 interest of the people, and ingratiating himself with them. Upon 
 this relaxation, their encroachments increased, and the succeeding 
 kings, either becoming odious, treating them with, greater rigour, 
 or else giving way through weakness, or in hopes of favour, for a 
 long time anarchy and confusion prevailed in Sparta ; by which 
 one of its kings, the father of Lycurgus, lost his life. For while 
 he was endeavouring to part some persons who were concerned 
 in a fray, he received a wound by a kitchen knife, of which he 
 died, leaving the kingdom to his eldest son Polydectes. 
 
 But he also dying soon after, the general voice called Lycurgus 
 to ascend the throne ; and he actually did so, till it appeared £at 
 his brother's widow was pregnant. As soon as he perceived this, 
 he declared that the kingdom belonged to her issue, provided it 
 were male, and he kept the administration in his hands only as 
 his guardian. Soon after the queen made him a private overture, 
 that she would destroy her child upon condition that he would 
 marry her when king of Sparta. Though he detested her wicked- 
 ness, he said nothing against the proposal, but, pretending to 
 approve it, charged her not to take any drugs lest she should 
 endanger her own health or life ; for he would take care-that the 
 child, as soon as born, should be destroyed. Thus he artfully 
 drew on the woman to her full time, when he sent persons to 
 attend and watch her, with orders, if it were a girl, to give it 
 to the women, but if a boy, to bring it to him, in whatever business 
 he might be engaged. It happened that he was at supper with the 
 magistrates when she was delivered of a boy, and his servants, 
 who were present, carried the child to him. VVhen he received 
 it, he is reported to have said to the company, Spartans, see here 
 your neiD-bom king. He then laid him down upon the chair of 
 state, and named him Charilaus, because of the joy and admira. 
 tion of his magnanimity and justice, testified by all present. Thus 
 the reign of Lycurgus lasted only eieht months. But the citizens 
 had a great veneration for him on ouer accounts, and there were 
 
 * It may be proper here to give the reader a short view of the nfal gpvaroaMnl of 
 Lacedaemon, under the Herculeao line. The Heraclid*) havuif driven ouiTiHUMiMa 
 the son of Orestes, Eurysthenes and Procles, the sons of ArtstodanMia, raigoad {■ that 
 kingdom. Under tbeifi the aovemment took a new form, and, inetaftd of oot aovareifn 
 became subject to two. Tbaaa two broibeni did not divide Um kingdom bttwata 
 them, neither did they agree to reign alternately, but they rtsolvad to govani jointly, 
 and with ei|ual power and authority What is iurpriiing la, that — -—•-•-- — -•= — 
 
 their mutual jealousy, this diarchy did not end with tbtM two broiban^ bol flOD- 
 tinued under a succession of thirty princes of the line of Eurytlbanii^ aod tW0A|f 
 seven of that of Prqples. Rurystbenat was tucceedad t>y his ton Afia, ban wImmi 
 all the descendants of that line ware Munamad Agida, at Iha other liaa look tba nans 
 ofEurytiooido^ from Eurytion, the giandion of noclei, Pauoclea, or Pcotodta^ 
 Pauian, Strab. at al. 
 
LYCURGUS. 27 
 
 more that paid him their attentions, and were ready to execute his 
 commands, out of regard to his virtues, than those that obeyed 
 him as a guardian to the king, and director of the administration. 
 There were not, however, wanting those that envied him, and 
 opposed his advancement, as too high for so young a man ; par- 
 ticularly the relations and friends of the queen-mother, who seemed 
 to have been treated with contempt. Her brother Leonidas one 
 day boldly attacked him with virulent language, and scrupled not 
 to tell him, that he vvas well assured that he would soon be king ; 
 thus preparing suspicions, and matter of accusation against Ly- 
 curgus, in case any accident should befall the king. Insinuations 
 of the sajne kind were likewise spread by the queen-mother. 
 Moved with this ill-treatment, and /earing some dark design, he 
 determined to get clear of all suspicion, by travelling into other 
 countries, till his nephew should be grown up, and have a son to 
 succeed him in the kingdom. 
 
 He set sail, therefore, and landed in Crete. There, having 
 observed the forms of government, and conversed with the most 
 illustrious personages, he was struck with admiration of some 
 of their laws,* and resolved at his return to introduce them into 
 Sparta. Some others he rejected. Among the friends he gained 
 in Crete, was Thales,t whom he had interest enough to persuade to 
 go and settle at Sparta. Thales was famed for his wisdom and 
 political abilites : he was withal a lyric poet, who, under colour oif 
 exercising his art, performed as great things as the most excellent 
 lawgivers. For his odes were so many persuasives to obedience 
 and unanimity ; as by means of melody and numbers they had 
 great grace and power, they softened insensibly the manners of 
 the audience, drew them off from the animosities which then 
 prevailed, and united them in zeal for excellence and virtue. So 
 that, in some measure, he prepared the way for Lycurgus towards 
 the instruction of the Spartans. From Crete Lycurgus passed to 
 Asia, J desirous to compare the Ionian expense and luxury with the 
 
 * The most ancient writers, as Ephorus, Calisthenes, Aristotle, and Plato, are 
 of opinion, that Lycurgus adopted many things in the Cretan polity. But Poly- 
 bius will have it that they are all mistaken : — '* At Sparta," says he (in this sixth 
 book,) " tlie lands are equally divided among all the citizens; weahli is banished ; 
 the crown is hereditary ; whereas in Crete the contrary obtains." But this does not 
 prove that Lycurgus might not take some good laws and usages from Crete, and leave 
 what he thought defective. There is, indeed, so great a conformity oetween the 
 laws of Lycurgus and those of Minos, that we must believe, with Sirabo, that the^e 
 were the foundation of the other, 
 
 f This Thales, who was a poet and musician, must be distinguished from Thales 
 the Milesian, who was one of the seven wise men of Greece. The poet lived 250 
 years before the philosopher. 
 
 t The lonians sent a colony from Attica into Asia Minor, about 1050 years before 
 the Christian era, and 150 before Lycurgus. And though they might not be greatly 
 degenerated in so short a time, yet our lawgiver could judge of the eflfect which the 
 climate and Asiatic plenty had upon them. 
 
28 LYCVROUS. 
 
 Cretan frugality and bard diet, so as to judge what effect each 
 had on their manners and governments ; just as phy<:icians compare 
 bodies that are %veak and sickly with the healthy and robust. 
 There also, probably,* he met with Homer's poems, which were 
 preserved by the posterity of Cleophylus. Observing that many 
 moral sentences and much political knowledge were intermixed 
 ^vith his stories, which had an irresistible charm, he collected 
 them into one body, and transcribed them with pleasure, in order 
 to take them home with him. For his glorious poetry was not 
 yet fully known in Greece ; only some particular pieces were in 
 a few hands, as they happened to be dispersed. Lycurgus was 
 the first who made them generally known. The Egyptians like- 
 wise suppose that he visited them ; and as of all their institutions 
 he was most pleased with their distinguishing the military men 
 from the rest of the people.f he took the same method at Sparta, 
 and, by sepaxating from these the mechanics and artificers, he 
 rendered the constitution more noble and more of a piece. This 
 assertion of the Egyptians is confirmed by some of the Greek 
 writers. 
 
 The Lacedaemonians found the want of Lycurgus when absent, 
 and sent many embassies to entreat him to return. For they 
 perceived that their kings had barely the title and outward appcn- 
 dages of royalty, but in nothing else differed from the multitude ; 
 whereas Lycurgus had abilities from nature to guide the measures 
 of government, and powers of persuasion, that drew the hearts of 
 men to him. The kings, however, were consulted about his return, 
 and they hoped that in his presence they should experience less 
 insolence amongst the peeple. Returning then to a city thus 
 disposed, he immediately applied himself to alter the whole frame 
 nf the constitution ; sensible that a partial change, and the intro- 
 ducing of some new laws, would be of no advantage ; but aa 
 in the case of a body diseased and full of bad humours, whoae 
 temperament is to be corrected and new-formed by medicines, it 
 was necessary to begin a new regimen. With these sentiments 
 he went to Delphi, and when he had offered sacrifice and consulted 
 the god,| he returned with that celebrated oracle, in which the 
 
 * He %AA% prcbahly^ because tome Greek authors have afBmied that I.jrcurgua taw 
 Homer himself, who was at that time at Chios. But Plutarch's opinion is more to in 
 relied on. Homer died before l^ycurgus was bom. Before the time of Lycurgus, ibej 
 had nothing in Greece of Homer, but some detached pieces, which were Mveral!y 
 named frnm the diflferent subjects treated of in them, such as, Tht Fmlour ^ Dio* 
 mede, /icclor's Ransom, and the hke. ^^ 
 
 f The ancient I>!^ypiians kept not only the priests and military men, whoconiiflted 
 chiefly of thp nobility, distinct from the rest of the people; but Uie other emfdoy* 
 rnenis, viz thnte of iiRrdsmen, shepherds, merchants, interpreters, and aeameo, de- 
 scended in particular iulntn from father to son. 
 
 \ A« Miiiof had perfiuadod the Cretins, that his laVi were delivered to him fVom 
 Jupiter, so Lycutgut, bin imitator, was willing to make the Spartans believe that be 
 did every thing by the direction of Apollo. Other legislators have fbund it very 
 
l^YCURGUS. 29 
 
 priestess called him, Belaoed of tJie gods, and rather a god than a 
 man. As to his request that he might enact good laws, she told 
 him, ApoWo had heard his request^ and promised that the constitution 
 he should establish would be the most excellent in the world. Tims 
 encouraged, heapplied to the nobility, and desired them to put 
 their hands to the work ; addressing himself privately at first to 
 his friends, and afterward by degrees, trying the disposition of 
 others^ and preparing them to concur in the business. When 
 matters were ripe, he ordered thirty of the principal citizens to 
 appear armed in the market-place by break of day, to strike terror 
 into such as might desire to oppose him. Upon the first alarm, 
 king Charilaus, apprehending it to be a design against his person, 
 took refuge in the Chalcioicose* or Brazen Temple. But he was 
 soon satisfied, and accepted of their oath. Nay, so farTrom being 
 obstinate, he joined in the undertaking. Indeed, he was so 
 remarkable for the gentleness of his disposition, that Archelaus, 
 his partner in the throne, is reported to have said to some who 
 were praising the young king, YeSf Charilaus is a good man to 
 he sure, who cannot find in his heart to punish the bad. Among the 
 many new institutions of Lycurgus^ the first and most important 
 was that of a senate; which sharing, as Plato says,t in the power 
 of the kings, too imperious and unrestrained before, and having 
 equal authority with them, was the means of keeping them 
 within the bounds of moderation, and highly contributed to the 
 preservation of the state. For before, it had been veering and 
 unsettled, sometimes inclining to arbitrary power, and sometimes 
 
 convenient to propagate an opinion thai their instiiunons were from tipe gods. For 
 that selMove in human nature, which would but ill have borne with tl)e superiority 
 of genius, that must have been acknowledged in an unassisted lawgiver, found an 
 ease and satisfaction in admitting his new regulations, when they were said to come 
 from heaven. 
 
 * That is, the brazen temple. It was standing in the time of Pausanius, who lived 
 in the reign of Marcus Antonius. 
 
 t The passage to which Plutarch refers, is in Plato's third book of laws, where he 
 is examining into the causes of the downfal of states. An Athenian is introduced 
 thus speaking to a Lacedaemonian : — " Some god, I believe, in his care for your state, 
 and in his foresight of what would happen, has given y-ou two kings of the samn 
 family, in order that reigning jointly, they might govern with more moderation, and 
 Sparta experience the greater tranquillity. After this, when the regal authority was 
 grown again too absolute and imperious, a divine spirit residing in human nature 
 (t. e. Lycurgus,) reduced it within the bounds of equity atul moderation, by the wise 
 provision of a senate, whose authority was to be equal to that of the kmgs." Aristotle 
 finds fault with this circumstance in the institution of the senate, that the senators 
 were to continue for life: for as the mind grows old with the body, bethought it 
 unreasonable to put the fortunes of citizens into the power of men who through age 
 might become incapable of judging. He likewise thought it very unreasonable that 
 they were not made accountable for their actions. But for the latter inconvenience 
 sufficient provision seems'to have been made afterward, by the institution of the 
 Ephori, who had it chiefly in charge to defend the rights of the people; and therefore 
 Plato adds, — " A third blessing to Sparta was the prince, who finding the power of 
 the senate and the kings too arbitrary and uncontrolled, contrived the aulhoiity 
 of the Ephori, as a restraint upon it," &c. 
 o 5f; • 
 
30 LYCURGUS. 
 
 towards a pure democracy ; but Ihia establishment of a senate, an 
 intermediate body, like ballast, kept it in a just equilibrium; the 
 twenty-eight senators adhering to the kings, vhenever (hep §aw 
 the peojSe too encroaching^ and on the other hand, supporting the 
 people, when the kings attempted to ntake themselves absolute. This, 
 according to Aristotle, was the number of Senators fixed upon, 
 because two of the \^.irty associates of Lycurgus deserted the 
 business through fear. Sphserus tells us, there were only twenty, 
 eight at first intrusted with the design. But I rather think, just 
 80 many senators wer^ created, that together with the two kings, 
 the whole body might consist of thirty members. 
 
 He had this institution so much at heart, that he obtained from 
 Delphi an oracle in its behalf, called rhetra, or the decree. This 
 was couched in very ancient and uncommon terms, which inter' 
 preted, ran thus : Wficn you have built a temple to the Syllanian 
 Jupiter, and the Syllanian Minerva,* divided the people into tribes 
 and classes, and established a senate of thirty persons, including the 
 txDO kings, you shall occxisiondlly summon the people to an assetMp 
 between Babyce and Cnacion, and they -shall have the determining 
 voice, Babyce and Cnacion are now called Oenus; but Aristotle 
 thinks, by Cnacion is meant the river, and by Babyce the bridfe. 
 Between these they held their assemblies, having neither halls, 
 nor any kind of buildings for that purpose. Tliese things, be 
 thought of no advantage to their councils, but rather a disservice : 
 as they distracted the attention, and turned it upon triHes, OQ 
 observing the statutes and pictures, the splendid roofs, and every 
 other theatrical ornament. The people, thus assembled, had no 
 right to propose any subject of debate, and were only authorized 
 to ratify or reject what might be proposed to them by the senate 
 and the kings.- But because, in process of time, the people, by 
 additions or retrenchments, changed the terms, and perverted the 
 sense of the decrees, the kings Polydorus and Thcopompus in- 
 serted into the rhetra this clause : Jf the people attempt to eomtpt 
 any law, the senate and chiefs shall retire: that is, they shall dissolve 
 the assembly, and annul the alterations. And they found means 
 to persuade the Spartans that this too was ordered by Apollo. 
 Though the government was thus tempered b> Lycurgus, yet soon 
 after it degenerated into an oligarchy, whose power was exercised 
 with such wantonness and violence, that it wanted indeed a bridle, 
 as Plato expresses it. This curb they found in the authority of 
 the Ephori,] about a hundred and thirty years after Lycurgus. 
 
 * At no Bonouni can bf> (ivrn of the meaning or \\\* word 5yttmMii, il If tuppoted 
 it should tx eitner read SrUasinn, from Sellama, a town of LMOote wpoe Um EuraUt ; 
 or else HtUanian, as much as to say, the (irrcian Jupiter, &c. 
 
 t Herodotus (I. i. c. 65,) and Xennphon {de lirpub Imc.) tells ut the Ephort war* 
 appointed by Lycurgus hinivrU. But the account whicii Pluurch givaa from AiNioila 
 (PoUt. 1. V.) and others, of their t}eiDg instituted long aAar, teemi mora agreeable to 
 
LVCURGUS. 
 
 31 
 
 Elatus was the first invested with this dignity in the reign of 
 Theopompus : who, when his wife upbraided him, that he would 
 leave the regal power to his children less than he received it, 
 replied, Nai/i hut greater, because mare lasting. And in fact, the 
 prerogative, so stript of all extravagant pretensions, no longer 
 occasioned either envy or danger to its possessors. 
 
 A second and bolder political enterprise of Lycurgus was a 
 new division of the lands. For he found a prodigious inequality, 
 the city overcharged with many indigent persons, who had no 
 land, and the wealth centred in the hands of a few. Determined, 
 therefore, to root out the evils of insolence, envy, avarice, and 
 luxury, and those distempers of a state still more inveterate and 
 fatal, I mean poverty and riches, he persuaded them to cancel all 
 former divisions of land, and to make a new one, in such a manner 
 that they might be perfectly equal in their possessions and way of 
 living. Hence if they were ambitious of distinction, they might 
 seek it in virtue, as no other difference was left between them, 
 but that which arises from the dishonour of base, and the praise of 
 good actions. His proposal was put in practice. He made nine 
 thousand lots for the territory of Sparta, which he distributed 
 among so many citizens, and thirty thousand for the inhabitants of 
 the rest of Laconia. Each lot was capable of producing (one 
 year with another) seventy bushels of grain for each man,* and 
 twelve for each woman, besides a quantity of wine and oil in pro- 
 portion. Such a provision they thought sufficient for health and a 
 good habit of body, and they wanted nothing more. A story goes 
 of our legislator, that some time after, returning from a journey 
 through the fields just reaped, and seeing the shocks standing 
 parallel and equal, he smiled, and said to some who were by, 
 
 reason; for itis not likely that Lycurgus. who in all things endeavoured to support 
 the aristocracy, and left the people only the right of assenting or dissenting to what 
 was proposed to them, would appoint a kind of tribunes of the people, to be mas- 
 ters as it were both of the kings and the senate. Some, indeed, suppose the Ephori 
 to have been at first the king's friends, to whom they delegated their authority when 
 they were obliged to be in the field. But it is very clear, that they were elected by the 
 people out of their body, and sometimes out of the very dregs of it; for the boldest 
 citizen, whoever he was, was most likely to be chosen to this office, which was in- 
 tended as a check on the senate and the kings. Tbey were five in number, like the 
 Quinqueviri in the republic of Carthage. They were annually elected ; and in order 
 to effect any thing, the unanimous voice of the college was requisite. Their autho- 
 rity, though well designed at first, came at length to be in a manner boundless. 
 They presided in popular assemblies, collected their suffrages, declared war, made 
 peace, treated with foreign princes, determined the number of forces to be raised, 
 appointed the funds to maintain them, and distributed rewards and punishments, in 
 the name of the state. They likewise held a court of justice, inquired into tbc con- 
 duct of all magistrates, inspected into the behaviour and education of youths, had a 
 particular jurisdiction over the Helotes^ and, in short, by degrees, drew the whole 
 administration into their hands. They even went so far as to put king Agis to death 
 under a form of justice, and were themselves at last killed by Cleomenes. 
 
 ^ By roan is meant a master of a family, whose household was to subskt upon 
 these seventy bushels. 
 
32 LYCURGUS. 
 
 How like is Laconia to an estate newly divided among wumy bro. 
 ihersf 
 
 Afler this ho attempted to divide also the moveables, in order 
 to take away all appearance of inequality ; but he soon perceived 
 that they could not bear to have their goods directly taken from 
 them, and therefore adopted another method, counter-working 
 their avarice by a stratagem.* First he stopped the currency of 
 the gold and silver coin, and ordered that they should make U8« 
 of iron money only, then to a great quantity and weight of this he 
 assigned but a very small value ; so that to lay up ten minttt^ a 
 whole room was required, and to remove it nothing less than 
 a yoke of oxen. When this became current, many kinds of in- 
 justice ceased in Laced^mon. Who would steal or take a bribe, 
 who would defraud or rob, when he could not conceal the booty-— 
 when he could neither be dignified by the possession of it, nor, if 
 cut in pieces, be served by its use? For we are told, that when 
 hot, they quenched it in vmegar, to make it brittle and unmalleable, 
 and consequently unfit for any other service. In the next j>lace, he 
 excluded unprofitable and superfluous arts ; indeed, if he had not 
 done this, most of them would have fallen of themselves, when the 
 new money took place, as the manufactures could not be disposed 
 of. Their iron coin would not pass in the rest of Greece, but was 
 ridiculed and despised, so that the Spartans had no means of 
 purchasing any foreign or curious wares, nor did any merchant 
 ship unlade in their harbours. There were not even to be found 
 in all their country either sophists, wandering fortune-tellers, 
 keepers of infamous houses, or dealers in gold and silver trinkets, 
 because there was no money. Thus luxury, losing by degrees 
 the means that cherished and supported it, died away of itself; 
 even those who possessed great riches had no advantage from 
 them, since they could not be displayed in public, but must lio 
 useless in unregarded repositories. Hence it was, that excellent 
 workmanship was shown in their useful and necessary fumiturey 
 as beds, chairs, and tables, aAd the Lacedaemonian cup called coUum 
 was highly valued, particulary in campaigns ; for the water which 
 
 • For a long time aAer Lycurgus. the Spartans gloriouily oppoaed the crowth of 
 avarice, insomuch ihat a young man, who bought an estaia at a great advantage, 
 was called to Hccmint for it, and a fine Mt upon him ; for, beaidea the injustice 
 be was guilty of, in buving a thing for lew man it was worth, they judged that be 
 was too desirous of gain, since his mtod was employed in getting at ao age wbeo 
 others think nf nothing but spendiiiK- 
 
 But when the Spartans, no longer satisfied with their own territories (tk Lytur|tM 
 had enjoined them to be) came to br enaaged in foreifn wart. Uieir money PO« b ewag 
 pataablein other rountries. they found tbemsekes oUifad to apply to the rimane, 
 whose gold and silver datiled their ryes ; and tbeu ooftloutneae grew at length to 
 infamoua, that it occnsmnad the proverb inentiooed bjr Plato, "One may see a 
 great deal of money carried into Laced»roon, but no one seet anj of it brougbl out 
 •l^n.** 
 
 t Tbirty-iwo pounds, fire sbilliogs, and ten pence sttrling. 
 
LYCURGUS. 33 
 
 mufit then of necessity be drank, though it would often otherwise 
 offend the sight, had its muddiness concealed by the colour of the 
 cup, and the thick part stopping at the shelving brim, it came 
 clearer to the lips. Of these improvements the lawgiver was the 
 cause ; for the workmen having no more employment in matters 
 of mere curiosity, showed the excellency of their art in necessary 
 things. 
 
 Desirous to complete the conquest of luxury, and exterminate the 
 love of riches, he introduced a third institution, which was wisely 
 enough and ingeniously contrived. This was the use of public 
 tables,* where all were to eat in common of the same meat, and 
 such kinds of it as were appointed by law. At the same time 
 they were forbidden to eat at home, upon expensive couches and 
 tables, to call in the assistance of butchers and cooks, or fatten 
 like voracious animals in private ; for so not only their natures 
 would be corrupted, but their bodies disordered. Abandoned to 
 all manner of sensuality and dissoluteness, they would require long 
 sleep, warm baths, and the same indulgence as in perpetual 
 sickness. To effect this was certainly very great ; but it was 
 greater still to secure riches from rapine, and from envy, as Theo- 
 phrastus expresses it, or rather by the eating in common, and by 
 the frugality of their table, to take from riches their very being. 
 For what use or enjoyment of them, what peculiar display of mag- 
 nificence could there be, where the poor man went to the same 
 refreshment with the rich ? Hence the observation, that it was 
 only at Sparta where Plutus (according to the proverb) was kept 
 blind, and, like an image destitute of life or motion. It must further 
 be observed, that they had not the privilege to eat at home, and so 
 to come without appetite to the public repast; they made a point 
 of it to observe any one that did not eat and drink with them, and 
 to reproach him as an intemperate and effeminate person who was 
 sick of the common diet. 
 
 The rich, therefore, were more offended with this regulation 
 than with any other, and, rising in a body, they loudly expressed 
 
 » Xenophon seems to have penetrated farther into the reason of this institution than 
 any other author, as indeed he had better opportunity to do The rest only say, that 
 this was intended to repress luxury; but he very wisely remarks, that it was also 
 intended to serve for a kind of school or academy, where the young were instructed 
 by the old, the latter relating the great things that had been performed within their 
 memory, and thereby exciting the growing generation to distinguish themselves by 
 performances equally great. 
 
 But as it was found impracticable for all the citizens to eat in common, when the 
 number of them came to exceed the number of the lots of land, Dacier thinks it 
 might have been better if the lawgiver had ordained that those public tables should 
 be maintained at the expense of the public, as it was done in Crete. But it must 
 be considered, that while the discipline of Lycui^us was kept up in its purity, they 
 provided against any inconvenience from the increase of citizens, by sending out 
 colonics; and Lacedaemon was not burdened with poor till the declension of that 
 state. E 
 
34 LYCURGCS. 
 
 their indignation ; nay, they proceeded so far as to aaiauh Ly- 
 curgus with stones, so that he was forced to fly from the assembly, 
 and take refuge in a temple. Unhappily, however, befoie he 
 reached it, a young man named Alcander, hanry m his resent- 
 ments, though not otherwise ill-tempered, came up with him, and, 
 upon his turning round, struck out one of his eyes with a stick. 
 Lycursus then stopped short, and without giving way to passion, 
 showed the people his eye beat out, and his face streaming with 
 blood. They were so struck with shame and sorrow at the sight, 
 that they surrendered Alcander to him, and conducted him home 
 with the utmost expressions of regret. Lycurgus thanked them 
 for the care of his person, and dismissed them all except Alcander. 
 He took him into his house, but showed him no ill treatment, either 
 by word or action, only ordering him to wait upon him, instead of 
 his usual servants and attendants. The youth, who was of an 
 ingenuous disposition, without murmuring, did as he was com- 
 manded. Living in this manner with Lycurgus, and having an 
 opportunity to observe the mildness and goodness of his heart, his 
 strict temperance and indefatigable industry, he told his friends 
 that Lycurgus was not that proud and severe man he might have 
 been taken for, but, above all others, gentle and engaging in his 
 behaviour. This then was his chastisement, and this punishment 
 he suffered — of a wild and head.strong young man to become a 
 very modest and prudent citizen. In memory of his misfortune, 
 Jjycurgus built a temple to Minerva OptUetiSj so called by him 
 from a term which the Dorians use for the eye. Yet Dioscorides, 
 who wrote a treatise concerning the Lacedaemonian government, 
 and others, relate that his eye was hurt, but not put out, and that he 
 built the temple in gratitude to the goddess for his cure. However, 
 the Spartans never carried staves to their assembUes aflerwards. 
 
 At the public repasts there were fifteen persons to a table, or a 
 few more or less. Each of them was obliged to bring in monthly 
 a bushel of meal, eight gallons of wine, five pounds of cheese, two 
 pounds and a half of figs, and a little money to buy flesh and fish. 
 If any of them happened to offer a sacrifice of first fruits, or to kill 
 venison, he sent a part of it to the public table; for, after a iacn« 
 ficc or hunting, he was at liberty to sup at home, but the rest were 
 to appear at the usual place. Children also were introduced at 
 these public tables, as so muu) schools of sobriety. There they 
 heard discourses concerning government, and were instructed 
 in the most liberal breeding. ' There they were allowed to jest 
 without scurrility, and wore not to take it ill when the raillerr was 
 returned. For it toas reckoned worthy of a Laeedmmoman to hear a 
 jest : but if any one's patience failed, he Had only to desire them 
 to be quiet, and they left off immediately. When they first entered, 
 the oldest man present pointed to the door, and said. Not a 
 
r 
 
 r 
 
 LYCURGUS. 35 
 
 Spoken in this company goes out there. The admitting of any man 
 to a particular table was under the following regulation : Each 
 member of that small society took a little ball of soft bread in his 
 hand ; this he was to drop without saying a word into a vessel 
 called caddos, which the waiter carried upon his head/ In case 
 he approved of the candidate, he did it without altering the figure; 
 if not, he first pressed it flat in his hand ; for a ^flatted ball was 
 considered as a negative. And if but one such was found, the 
 person was not admitted, as they thought it proper that the whole 
 company should be satisfied with each other. The dish that was 
 in the highest esteem amongst them was the black broth. The old 
 men were so fond of it, that they ranged themselves on one side 
 and ate it, leaving the meat to the young people. It is related of a 
 kingof Pontus,* that he purchased a Lacedaemonian cook for sake 
 of this broth. But when he came to taste it, he strongly expressed 
 his dislike, and the cook made answer. Sir, to make this broth relish, 
 it is necessary first to bathe in the river Eurotas. After they had 
 drank moderately, they went home without lights. Indeed they were 
 forbidden to walk with a light either on this or any other occasion, 
 that they might accustom themselves to march boldly and re- 
 solutely in the darkest night. 
 
 Lycurgus left none of his laws in. writing ; it was ordered in one 
 of the RhetrcR that none should be written. For what he thought 
 most conducive to the virtue and happiness of a city, were principles 
 interwoven with the manners and breeding of the people. These 
 would remain immoveable, as founded in inclination, and be the 
 strongest and most lasting tie : and the habits which education 
 produced in the youth, would answer in each the purpose of a 
 lawgiver. As for smaller matters, contracts about property, and 
 whatever occasionally varied, it was better not to reduce these to 
 a written form and unalterable method, but to suffer them to change 
 with the times, and to admit of additions or retrenchments at the 
 pleasure of persons so well educated ; for he resolved the whole 
 business of legislation into the bringing up of youth. And this, as 
 we have observed, was the reason why one of his ordinances for- 
 bade them to have any written laws. 
 
 Another ordinance levelled against magnificence and expense, 
 directed that the ceilings of houses should be wrought with no tool 
 but the axe, and the doors with nothing but the saw. For, as 
 Epaminondas is reported to have said afterwards of his table, 
 Treason lurks not under such a dinner ; so Lycurgus, prior to him, 
 perceived that such a house admits not of luxury and needless 
 splendour. Indeed no man could be so absurd, as to bring into a 
 dwelling so homely and simple, bedsteads with silver feet, purple 
 coverlets, golden cups, and a train of expense that follows these : 
 
 » This story is elsewhere told by Plutarch of Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily; and 
 Cicero confirms it, that he was the' person. 
 
36 LYCURGUS. 
 
 but all would necessarily have the bed suitable to the room, the 
 coverlet to the bed, and to that the rest of their utensils and fur- 
 niture. From this plain sort of dwelling proceeded the question 
 of Leotychidas the elder to his host, when he supped at Corinth, 
 and saw the ceiling of the room very splendid and curiously 
 wrouglit, Whether trees grew square in his country.* 
 
 A third ordinance of Lycurgus was, that they should not often 
 make war against the same enemy, lest, by being frequently put 
 upon defending themselves, ihey too should become able warriors 
 in their turn. And this they most blamed king Agesilntis for aAer- 
 wards, that by frequent and continued incursions into BQeotia,f he 
 taught the Thebans to make head against the Lacedaemonians. 
 This made Anlalcidas say, when he saw him wounded, The The. 
 bans pay you well for making tliem good soldiers^ who neither were 
 willing nor able to fight you before. These ordinances he called 
 Rhetr<B, as if they had been oracles and decrees of the Deity 
 himself. 
 
 Hippias the sophist tells us, that Lycurgus himself was a man 
 of great personal valour, and an experienced commander.:^ Phi- 
 losiephanus also ascribes to him the first division of the cavalry 
 into troops of fifty, who were drawn up in a square hoAy. But 
 Demetrius the Phalerian says, tliat he never had any military em- 
 ployment, and that there was the profoundest peace when he 
 established the constitution of Sparta. His providing for a cessa- 
 tion of arms during the Olympic games, is likewise a mark of the 
 humane and peaceable man. Some, however, acquaint us, that 
 Lycurgus at first had no communication with Iphitus ; but coming 
 that way, and happening to be a spectator, he heard behind him a 
 human voice (as he thought) which expressed some wonder and 
 displeasure that he did not put his countrymen upon resorting to 
 so great an assembly. He turned round immediately, to discover 
 whence the voice came, and as there was no man to be seen, con- 
 eluded it was from heaven. He joined Iphitus, therefore; and 
 ordering, along with him, the ceremonies of the festival, rendered 
 it more magnificent and lasting. 
 
 The discipline of the Lacedemonians continued after they were 
 arrived at years of maturity. For no man was at liberty to live as 
 he pleased, the city being like one great camp, where all had their 
 stated allowance, and knew their public charge, each man coneimd* 
 ing that he was bontf not for himself but for his country. Hence 
 
 « This it rradereri by the former En|lith trantlator, •• if lieoiycb idea's queetion 
 proceeded from ignorancr, whereei it wet really an arcb sneer upon tho sumptuous 
 and expensive buildmgs of Corinth. 
 
 f This appeared plainly at the battle of Leuctra* where the Lacedemonians wn 
 overthrown by Fpaminondas, and lost their king Cleombrotus, togeUier with tlw 
 flower of their army. 
 
 } Xenophon, in his treatise of the Spartan commonwealth, says, Lycurgus broa|ht 
 military discipline to great perfection, and gives us a detail of bi« regulations andim 
 provements in the art of war. 
 
LYCURGUS. 37 
 
 if they had no particular orders, they employed themselves in in- 
 specting the boys, and teaching them something useful, or in 
 learning of those who were older than themselves. One of the 
 greatest privileges that Lycurgus procured his countrymen was, 
 the enjoyment of leisure, the consequence of his forbidding them 
 to exercise any mechanic trade. It was not worth their while to 
 take great pains to raise a fortune, since riches there were of no 
 account : and the Helotes, who tilled the ground, were answerable 
 for the produce above mentioned. To this purpose we have a 
 story of a Lacedaemonian, who happening to be at Athens while 
 the court sat, was informed of a man who was fined for idleness ; 
 and when the poor fellow was returnmg home in great dejection, 
 attended by his condoling friends, he desiring the company to show 
 him the person who was condemned for keeping up his dignity. So 
 much beneath them they reckoned all attention to mechanic arts 
 and all desires of riches ! 
 
 Law-suits were banished from Lacedaemon with money. The 
 Spartans knew neither riches nor poverty, but possessed an equal 
 competency, and had a cheap and easy way of supplying their 
 few wants. Hence, when they were not engaged in war, their 
 time was taken up whh dancing, feasting, hunting, or meeting to 
 exercise or converse. They went not to market under thirty years 
 of age,* all their necessary concerns being managed by their rela- 
 tions and adopters. Nor was it reckoned a credit to the old to be 
 seen sauntering in the market-place ; it was deemed more suitable 
 for them to pass great part of the day in the schools of exercise, 
 or places of conversation. Their discourse seldom turned upon 
 money or business or trade, but upon the praise of the excellent, 
 or the contempt of the worthless, and the last was expressed with 
 that pleasantry and humour, which conveyed instruction and cor- 
 rection without seeming to intend it. Nor was Lycurgus himself 
 immoderately severe in his manner ; but as Sosibius tells us, he 
 dedicated in each hall a little statue to the god of laughter. He 
 considered facetiousness as a seasoning of their hard exercise and 
 diet, and therefore ordered it to take place on all proper occasions, 
 in their common entertainments and parties of pleasure. 
 
 Upon the whole, he taught his citizens to think nothing more 
 disagreeable than to live by or for themselves. Like bees they 
 acted with one impulse for the public good, and always assembled 
 about their prince. They were possessed with a thirst of honour, 
 and enthusiasm bordering upon insanity, and had not a wish but 
 for their country. These sentiments are confirmed by some of 
 their aphorisms. When Paedaretus lost his election for one of 
 
 * Tbis also is said to have been the age when they began to serve in the army. 
 D !t as they were obliged to forty years service before the law exempted them from 
 goine into the field, I incline to the opinion of those writers who think that the mili- 
 tary age is not well ascertained. 4 
 
3ij LYCURGUS. 
 
 (he three hundred^ he went away rejoicing that there were three huti' 
 dred better men than himself found in the city,* Pisistratidaa going, 
 with some others, ambassador to the king of Persia's lieutenants, 
 was asked whether they came with a pubhc commission, or on 
 their own account ; to which he answered. If successftd, for the 
 public ; if unsuccessful, for ourselves, Agrileonis, the mother of 
 Brasidas,f asking some AmphipoUtans who waited upon her at her 
 house, whether Brasidas died honourably and as became a Spar- 
 tan ; they greatly extolled his merit, and said, there was not such 
 a man left in Sparta ; whereupon she replied. Say not so, my 
 friends; for Brasidas was indeed a man of honour, but Lacedamon 
 can boast of many better men than he. 
 
 The senate, as I said before, consisted at first of those who were 
 assistants to Lycurgus in his great enterprise. Afterwards, to fill 
 up any vacancy that might happen, he ordered the most worthy 
 man to be selected, of those that were full threescore years old. 
 This was the most respectable dispute in the world, and the con- 
 test was truly glorious ; for it was not who should be swiftest among 
 the swift, or strongest of the strong, but who was the wisest and 
 best among the good and wise. He who had the preference was 
 to bear this mark of superior excellence through life, this great au- 
 thority, which put into his hands the lives and honour of the citi- 
 zens, and every other important affair. The manner of the election 
 was this : when the people were assembled, some persons appointed 
 for the purpose were shut up in a room near the place, where they 
 could neither see nor be seen, and only hear the shouts of the elec- 
 tors ; X for by them they decided this and most other affairs. Each 
 candidate walked silently through the assembly, one after another 
 according to lot. Those that were shut up had writing tables, in 
 which they set down in different columns the number and loudneM 
 of the shouts, without knowing whom they were for ; only they 
 marked them as first, second, third, and so on, according to the 
 number of competitors. He that had the most and loudest accla- 
 mations, was declared duly elected. Then he was crowned with a 
 garland, and went round to give thanks to the gods ; a number of 
 young men followed, striving who should extol him most, and the 
 women celebrated his virtues in their songs, and blessed his worthy 
 life and conduct. Each of his relations offered him a repast, and 
 their address on this occasion was Sparta honours you teith this coUa- 
 
 * Xenophon gaji, it wta the custom for the Epkori to appoint three oflkere, each 
 of whom was to lelect a hundred men, tlie beet he could ond ; tod it wae a point of 
 gr«*«t emulation to be one of theee three hundred. 
 
 i Braftidat, the Lacedieinonian general, defeated the AtHeniaiii in a battle foueht 
 near Amphipolii, a town of Macedonia on the banki of ibe Slrymoo, but lost nit 
 life in the mct'ton.—ThucyJid lib. v. 
 
 t Ai this was a tumultuary and uncertain way of deciding who had the maiority. 
 they were often obliged to separate the people and count the votes. Aristotle thinks, 
 that in such a case, persons should not offer themselves candidates, or solicit tb« office 
 or employment, but be called to it merely for their abilities and their merit. 
 
LYCURGUS. 39 
 
 iion. When he had finished the procession, he went to the common 
 table, and Hved as before. Only two portions were set before him, 
 one of which he carried away : and as all the women related to 
 him attended at the gates of the public hall, he called her for 
 whom he had the greatest esteem, and presented her with the por- 
 tion, saying at the same time, That which I received as a mark of 
 honour^ I give to you. Then she was conducted home with great 
 applause by the rest of the women. 
 
 Lycurgus likewise made good regulations with respect to buri- 
 als. In the first place, to take away all superstition, he ordered the 
 dead to be buried in the city, and even permitted their monuments 
 to be erected near the temples, accustoming the youth to such 
 sights from their infancy, that they might have no uneasiness from 
 them, nor any horror for death, as if people were polluted with 
 the touch of a dead body, or with treading upon a grave. In the 
 next place, he suffered nothing to be buried with the corpse, ex- 
 cept the red cloth and the olive leaves in which it was wrapt.* 
 Nor would he suffer the relations to inscribe any names upon the 
 tombs, except of those men who fell in battle, or those women who 
 died in some sacred office. He fixed eleven days for the time of 
 mourning : on the twelfth they were to put an end to it afler offer- 
 ing sacrifice to Ceres. No part of Hfe was lefl vacant and unim- 
 proved, but even with their necessary actions he interwove the 
 praise of virtue and the contempt of vice ; and he so filled the city 
 with hving examples, that it was next to impossible for persons 
 who had these from their infancy before their eyes, not to be 
 drawn and formed to honour. 
 
 For the same reason he would not permit all who desired it, to 
 go abroad and see other countries, lest they should contract foreign 
 manners, gain traces of a life of little discipline, and of a different 
 form of government. He forbade strangers, too, f to resort to 
 Sparta, who could not assign a good reason for their coming; not, 
 as Thucydides says, out of fear they should imitate the constitu- 
 tion of that city, and make improvements in virtue, but lest they 
 should teach his own people some evil. For along with foreign- 
 ers come new subjects of discourse ; ij: new discourse produces new 
 opinions : and from these there necessarily spring new passions 
 and desires, which, like discords in music, would disturb the es- 
 
 * iSlian tells us (1. vi. c. 6,) that not all the citizens indifferently were buried in 
 the red cloth and olive leaves, but only such as had distinguished themselves parti- 
 cularly in the field. 
 
 -)■ He received with pleasure such strangers as canne and submitted to his laws, and 
 assigned them shares of land, which they could not alienate. Indeed, the lots of all 
 the citizens were unalienable. 
 
 X Xenophon, who was an eye-witness, imputes the changes in the Spartan disci- 
 pline to foreign manners ; but in fact they had a deeper root. When the Lacedaeino* 
 nians, instead of keeping to their lawgiver's injunction, only to defend their own 
 country, and to make no conquests, curried their victorious arms over all Greece, and 
 into Asia itself, then foreign gold and foreign manners came into Sparta, corrupted 
 the simplicity of its institutions, and at last overturned that republic. 
 
40 LYCURGUS. 
 
 tablished government. He, therefore, thought it more expedient 
 for the city to keep out of it corrupt customs and manners, than 
 even to prevent the introduction of a pestilence. 
 
 When his principal institutions had taken root in the manners of 
 the people, and the government was come to such maturity as to be 
 able to support and preserve itself, then, as Plato says of the Deity, 
 that he rejoiced when he had created the world, and given it its 
 first motion, so Lycurgiis was charmed with the beauty and great, 
 ness of his political establishment, when he saw it exemplified in 
 fact, and move on in due order. He was next desirous to make 
 it immortal, so far as human wisdom could effect it, and to deliver 
 it down unchanged to the latest times. For this purpose he 
 assembled all the people, and told them, the provisions he had 
 already made for the state were indeed sufficient for virtue and 
 happiness, but the greatest and most important matter was still 
 behind, which he could not disclose to them till he had consulted 
 the oracle ; that they must therefore inviolably observe his laws, 
 without altering any thing in them, till he returned from Delphi ; 
 and then he would acquaint them with the pleasure of Apollo. 
 When they had all promised to do so, and desired him to set for. 
 ward, he took an oath of the kings and senators, and afterwards 
 of all the citizens, that they would abide by the present establish' 
 ment till Lycurgus came back. He then took his journey to Delphi. 
 
 When he arrived there he offered sacrifice to the gods, and 
 consulted the oracle whether his laws were sufficient to promote 
 virtue and secure the happiness of the state. Apollo answered, 
 that the laws were excellent, and that the city which kept to the 
 constitution he had established would be the most glorious in 
 the world. This oracle Lycurgus took down in writing, and sent 
 it to Sparta. He then offered another sacrifice, and embraced his 
 friends and his son, determined never to release his citizens from 
 their oath, but voluntarily there to put a period to his life ;* when 
 he was yet of an age when life was not a burden, when death was 
 not desirable, and while he was not unhappy in any one circum. 
 stance. He, therefore, destroyed himself by abstaining from food, 
 persuaded that the very deatli of lawgivers should have its use. 
 To him indeed, whose performances were so illustrious, the con. 
 elusion of life was the crown of happiness, and his death was lefl 
 guardian of those invaluable blessings he had procured his coun- 
 trymen through life, as they had taken an oath not to depart from 
 hit establishment till his return. Nor was he deceived in his 
 expectations. Sparta continued superior to the rest of Greece, 
 both in its government at home and reputation abroad, so long as 
 it retained the institution of Lycurgus ; and this it did during the 
 space of five hundred years, and the reign of fourteen successire 
 
 * Yet Luciao Mys that Lycurgui died at the tfe of eight jfi?e. 
 
LYCURGUS. 
 
 41 
 
 kings, down to Agis, the son of Archidamus. As for the appoint* 
 ment of the Ephoriy it was so far from weakening the constitution, 
 that it gave it additional vigor, and though it seemed to be estabhshed 
 in favour of the people, it strengthened the aristocracy.* 
 
 But in the reign of Agis money found its way into Sparta, and 
 with money came its inseparable attendant, avarice. This was 
 by means of Lysander, who, though himself incapable of being 
 corrupted by money, filled his country with the love of it, and with 
 luxury tor>. He brought both gold and silver from the wars,f 
 and thereby broke through the laws of Lycurgus. While these 
 were in force, Sparta was not so much under the political regula- 
 tions of a commonwealth, as the strict rules of a philosophic life : 
 and as the poets feign of Hercules, that only with a club and lion's 
 skin he travelled over the world, clearing it of lawless ruffians and 
 cruel tyrants ; so the Lacedaemonians, with a piece of parchment^ 
 and coarse coat, kept Greece in a voluntary obedience, destroyed 
 usurpation and tyranny in the states, put an end to wars, and laid 
 seditions asleep, very often without either shield or lance, and 
 only by sending one ambassador, to whose direction all parties 
 concerned immediately submitted. Thus bees, when their prince 
 appears, compose their quarrels and unite in one swarm. So much 
 did justice and good government prevail in that state, that I am 
 surprised at those who say, the Lacedaemonians knew indeed how 
 to obey, but not how to govern; and on this occasion quote the say- 
 ing of King Theopompus, who, when one told him, that Sparta was 
 preserved by the good administration of its JdngSy replied, Nay ratlier 
 by the obedience of their subjects. It is certain that people will not 
 continue pliant to those who know not how to command : but it is 
 the part of a good governor to teach obedience. He who knows 
 
 * After all this pompous account, Plutarch himself acknowledges, that authors ar« 
 not well agreed how and where this great man died. That he starved himself is im- 
 probable ; but that he returned no more to his country, seems to be perfectly agreea- 
 ble to his manner of acting, as well as to the current of history. 
 
 f Xenophon acquaints us, that when Lysander had taken Athens, he sent to Sparta 
 many rich spoils and 470 talents of silver. The coming of this huge mass of wealth 
 created great disputes at Sparta. Many celebrated Lysander's praises, and rejoiced 
 exceedingly at this good fortune, as they called it ; others, who were better acquainted 
 with the nature of things, and with their constitution, were of quite another opinion ; 
 they looked upon the receipt of this treasure as an open violation of the laws of Ly- 
 curgus ; and they expressed their apprehensions loudly, that in process of time they 
 might, by a change in their manners, pay infinitely more for this money than it was 
 worth. The event justified their fears. 
 
 X This was the scytale, the nature and use of which Plutarch explains in the life 
 of Lysander. He tells us. that when the magistrates gave their commission to any 
 admiral or general, they took two round pieces of wood, both exactly equal in breadth 
 and thickness (Thucydides adds that they were smooth and long;) one they kept 
 themselves, the other was delivered to their officer. When they had any thing of 
 moment which they would secretly convey to him, they cut a long narrow scroll of 
 parchment, and rolling it about their own staff, one fold close upon another they wrote 
 their business on it, when they had wrote what they had to say, they took off th« 
 parchment and sent it to the general ; and he applying* it to bis staff, the characters! 
 which before were confused and unintelligible appeared then very plainiy. 
 F 4« 
 
42 LTCURGUS. 
 
 how to lead well, is sure to be well followed : and as it is by the 
 art of horsemanship that a horse is made gentle and tractable, so 
 it is by the abihties of him who fills the throne that the people 
 become ductile and submissive. Such was the conduct of the 
 Lacedaemonians, that people did not only endure, but even desired 
 to be their subjects. They asked not of them either ships, money, 
 or troops, but only a Spartan general. When they had received 
 him, they treated him with the greatest honour and respect : as 
 Gylippus was revered by the Sicilians, Brasidas by the Calcidians, 
 Lysander, Callicratidas and Agesilaus by all the people of Asia. 
 These, and such as these, wherever they came, were called mo* 
 derators and reformers, both of the magistrates and people, and 
 Sparta itself was considered a school of discipline, where the 
 beauty of life and political order were taught in the utmost per- 
 fection. Hence Stratonicus seems facetiously enough to have said, 
 that he would order the Athenians to fiave the conduct of mysteries 
 and processions : the Eleans to preside in gamesy as their particuiiar 
 province ; and the Lacedaemonians to be beaten^ if the others did 
 amiss,* This was spoken in jest : but Antisthenes, one of the 
 scholars of Socrates, said more seriously of the Thebans, when he 
 saw them pluming themselves upon their success at Leuctra, They 
 were just like so many school-hoys rejoicing that they had beaten their 
 master. 
 
 It was not, however, the principal design of Lycurgus, that his 
 city should govern many others, but he considered its happiness^ 
 like that of a private man, as flowing from virtue and selfamsiS' 
 iency; he therefore so ordered and disposed it, that by the free- 
 dom and sobriety of its inhabitants, and their having a sufficiency 
 within themselves, its continuance might be the more secure. Pla- 
 to, Diogenes, Zeno, and other writers upon government, have 
 taken Lycurgus for their model, and these have attained great 
 praise, though they left only an idea of something excellent. Yet 
 he who, not in idea and words, but in fact, produced a most inimi- 
 table form of government, and by showing a whole city of phi- 
 losophers,'!' confounded those who imagine that the so much talked 
 of strictness of a philosophic life is impracticable ; he, I say, 
 stands in the rank of glory far before the founders of all the other 
 Grecian states4 Therefore Aristotle is of opinion, that the ho- 
 
 * B«cauie the teachers should be answerable for the faults of their pupils. The 
 pleasantry of the observation seems to be this : That as the Ljicedasnionians used to 
 punish the parents or adopters of those young people that behaved amiM; now that 
 they were the instructors of other nations, they should sufler for their faglta Bry- 
 an's Latin text has it, Uiat the Lacedemonians should b$ai thmn. But there it ao joka 
 in that. 
 
 f Aristotle and Plato differ in this from Plutarch. Even Polybius, who waa lo 
 graat an admirer of the Spartan government, allows, that though the Spartana, cob- 
 •idarad as individuals, were wise and virtuous, yet, in their collective capacity, they 
 paid but little rrcard to justice and moderation. 
 
 I Solon, though a person of different temper, waa no Itn ditiataraatad than Ljcor- 
 |tu> Ha tattled the Athenian commonweaJtb, refuttd ih« tOTtreignty wbw ontrad 
 
LYCURGUS. 43 
 
 nours paid him in Lacedaemon were far beneath his merit. Yet 
 those honours were very great ; for he had a temple there, and 
 they offered him a yearly sacrifice as a god. 
 
 Some say, Lycurgus died at Cirrha ; but Apollothemis will have 
 it, that he was brought to Elis and died there; and Timaeus and 
 Aristoxenus write, that he ended his days in Crete ; nay Aristox- 
 enus adds, that the Cretans show his tomb at Pergamia, near the 
 high road. We are told he left an only son named Antiorus, and as 
 he died without issue, the family was extinct. His friends and 
 his relations observed his anniversary, which subsisted for many 
 agea, and the days on which they met for that purpose they called 
 LycurgidcB, Aristocrates, the son of Hipparchus, relates, that the 
 friends of Lycurgus, with whom he sojourned, and at last died in 
 Crete, burned his body, and at his request, threw his ashes into 
 the sea. Thus he guarded against the possibility of his remains 
 being brought back to Sparta by the Lacedaemonians, lest they 
 should then think themselves released from their oath, on the pre- 
 tence that he was returned, and make innovations in the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 him, trayelled to avoid the importunities of his countrymen, opposed tyranny in his 
 old age, and when he found his opposition vain, went into voluntary exile. Lycur- 
 gus and Solon were both great men ; but the former had the stronger, the latter the 
 milder genius: the effects of which appeared in the commonwealths they founded. 
 
44 
 
 NUMA. 
 
 Flourishea 714 yeart before Christ. 
 
 NUMA was a native of Cures, a considerable city of the Sa* 
 bines, from which the Romann, together with the incorporated 
 Sabines, took the name of Quirites, He was the son of a person 
 of distinction named Pomponius, and the youngest of four brothers. 
 He was born the twenty-tirst of April, the same day on which 
 Rome was founded by Romulus. His mind was naturally disposed 
 to virtue, and he still farther subdued it by discipline, patience 
 and philosophy, not only purging it of the grosser and more infa- 
 mous passions, but even of that ambition and rapaciousness which 
 was reckoned honourable amongst the harharians, persuaded that 
 true fortitude consists in the conquest of appetite by reason. Oa 
 this account, he banished all luxury and splendour from his house 
 and both the citizens and strangers found in him a faithful coun- 
 sellor, and an upright judge. As for his hours of leisure, he spent 
 them not in the pursuits of pleasure, or schemes of profit, but in 
 the worship of the gods, and in rational inquiries into their nature 
 and their power. His name became at length so illustrious, that 
 Tatius, who was the associate of Romulus in the kingdom, having 
 an only daughter named Tatia, bestowed her upon him. He was 
 not, however, so much elated with this match as to remove to the 
 court of his father-in-law, but continued in the country of the Sa. 
 bines, paying his attentions to his own father, who was now grown 
 old. Tatia was partaker of his retirement, and preferred the calm 
 enjoyment of life with her husband in privacy, to the honours and 
 distinction in which she might have lived with her father at Rome. 
 Thirteen years after their marriage she died. 
 
 Numa then left the society of the city, and passed his time in 
 wandering about alone in the sacred groves and lawns, in the moat 
 retired and solitary places. Hence the report concerning the 
 goddess Egeria chiefly took its rise ;* and it was believed that 
 it was not from any inward sorrow or melancholy turn that he 
 
 * Numa*! inclination to tolituHe, and his cuatom of rciiriof into the aecrei placaa 
 of the forest of Aricia, gave rise to several popular opinions. Soma twlieved that tha 
 nymph Egaria herself dictated to him the laws, both civil and religious, which 
 he established. And. indeed, he declared so hitnseir. in order to procure a divina 
 aanction to them. But, as no great man is without aspartioaa, others have thought, 
 that, under this aflacted passion for woods and caves, was coooaale«l another. OMira 
 real and lens chaste This gave occasion to that sarcasm of Juvtnal, in speaking of 
 the grove of Egeria, (.Sat. iii. ver. 12,) 
 
 Hie, ubi noctumn Numa constituehat amic*. 
 
 Ovid says, that, to remove her grief for the loss of Numa, Diana changed her into a 
 iutiotain which still tiaars her name.— Metam. I. xv. 
 
UUMA. 45 
 
 avoided human conversation, but from his being admitted to that 
 which was more valuable and excellent, from the honour he had of a 
 familiar mtercourse with a divinity that loved him, which led him 
 to happiness and knowledge more than mortal. 
 
 In order to put a stop to the disturbances that arose in Rome 
 after the death of Romulus, it was agreed between the contending 
 parties, that one nation should choose a king out of the whole body 
 of the other. The Sabines leaving the Romans to their option, 
 they, preferrmg a Sabine king of their own electing to a Roman 
 king, chosen by the Sabines, fixed upon Numa, though not of the 
 number of those who had migrated to Rome. Numa was in his 
 fortieth year, when ambassadors came from Rome to make him an 
 offer of the kingdom. The speakers were Proculus and Velesus, 
 whom the people before had cast their eyes upon for the royal dig- 
 nity, the Romans being attached to Proculus, and the Sabines 
 to Velesus. As they imagined that Numa would gladly embrace 
 his good fortune, they made but a short speech. They found it, 
 however, no easy matter to persuade him, but were obliged to make 
 use of much entreaty to draw him from that peaceful retreat he 
 was so fond of, to the government of a city, born, as it were and 
 brought up in war. In the presence, therefore, of his father, and 
 one of his kinsmen, named Marcius, he gave them this answer: 
 "Every change of human life has its dangers : but when a man 
 has a sufficiency, and there is nothing in his present situation to be 
 complained of, what but madness can lead him from his usual track 
 of life, which, if it has no other advantage, has that of certainty, 
 to experience another as yet doubtful and unknown ? But the dan- 
 gers that attend this government are beyond an uncertainty, if we 
 may form a judgment from the fortunes of Romulus, who laboured 
 under the suspicion of taking off Tatius, his colleague, and was 
 supposed to have lost his own life with equal injustice. Yet Romu- 
 lus is celebrated as a person of divine origin, as supernaturally 
 nourished and most wonderfully preserved when an infant. For 
 my part, I am only of mortal race, and you are sensible my nurs- 
 ing and education boast of nothing extraordinary. As for my 
 character, if it has any distinction, it has been gained in a way 
 not likely to qualify me for a king, in scenes of repose and em. 
 ployments by no means arduous. My genius is inclined to peace, 
 my love has been long fixed upon it, and I have studiously avoided 
 the confusion of war : I have also drawn others, so far as my in- 
 fluence extended, to the worship of the gods, to mutual offices of 
 friendship, and to spend the rest of their time in tilling the ground 
 and feeding cattle. The Romans may have unavoidable wars left 
 upon their hands by their late king, for the maintaining of which 
 you have need of another more active and more enterprising. 
 Besides the people are of a warlike disposition, flushed with suc- 
 cess, and plainly enough discover their inclination to extend their 
 conquests. A person therefore who has set his heart upon pro- 
 
4d NOMA. 
 
 moting religion and justice, and drawing men off from the love of 
 violence and war, would soon become ridiculous and contemptible 
 to a city that has more occasion for a general than a king." 
 
 Numa in this manner declining the crown, the Romans, on the 
 other hand, exerted all their endeavours to obviate his objections, 
 and begged of him not to throw them into confusion and civil war 
 again, as there was no other whom both parties would unanimously 
 elect. When the ambassadors had retired, his father and his 
 friend Marcius, privately urged him, by all the arguments in their 
 power, to receive this great and valuable gift of heaven. " If, 
 contented," said they, " with a competence, you desire not riches, 
 nor aspire after the honour of spvereignty, having a higher and 
 better distinction in virtue ; yet consider that a king is the minister 
 of God, who now awakens, and puts in action your native wisdom 
 and justice ; decline not, therefore, an authority which to a wise 
 man is a field for great and good actions ; where dignity may be 
 added to religion, and men may be brought over to piety, in the 
 easiest and readiest way, by the influence of the prince. Tatius, 
 though a stranger, was beloved by this people, and they pay divine 
 honours to the memory of Romulus. Besides, who knows, as they 
 are victorious, but they may be satiated with war, and having no 
 farther wish for triumphs and spoils, may be desirous of a mild 
 and jnst governor for the establishing good laws, and settling peace? 
 But should they be ever so ardently inclined to war, yet is it not 
 better to turn their violence another way, and to be the centre of 
 union and friendship between the country of the Sabines and so 
 great and flourishing a state as that of Rome?" These induce- 
 ments, we are told, were strengthened by auspicious omens, and 
 by the zeal and ardour of his tellow.citizens, who as soon as they 
 had learned the subject of embassy, went in a body to entreat him 
 to take the government upon himself, as the only means to appease 
 all dissensions, and effectually incorporate the two nations intoone. 
 
 When he had determined to go, he offered sacrifice to the gods, 
 and then set forward to Rome. Struck with love and admiration 
 of the man, the senate and people met him on the way ; the wo- 
 men welcomed him with blessings and shouts of joy ; the temples 
 were crowded with sacrifices; and so universal was the satisfac 
 tion, that the city miffht seem to have received a kingdom, instead 
 of a king. When they were come into the Forums it was put to 
 the vote whether Numa should be king, and all the citizens agreed 
 to it with one voice. The robes and other distinctions of royalty 
 were then offered him, but he commanded them to stop, as his au. 
 thority yet wanted the sanction of heaven. Taking, therefore, 
 with him the priests and augurs^ ho went up to the Cayitoff \\ hich 
 the Romans, at that time called the Tttrpeian rock. There the 
 chief of the augurs covered the head of Numa,* and turned his 
 
 • So h it ia the tot of Plutarch, m$ it now itandt ; but it ■ppMn from Uvy, that 
 
NUMA. 47 
 
 face toward the south ; then standing behind him and laying his 
 right hand upon his head, he offered up his devotions, and looked 
 around him in hopes of seeing birds, or some other signal from 
 the gods. An incredible silence reigned among the people, 
 anxious for the event, and lost in suspense, till the auspicious birds 
 appeared, and passed on the right hand. Then Numa took the 
 royal robe, and went down from the mount to the people, who 
 received him with loud acclamations, as the most pious of men, 
 and most beloved of the gods. 
 
 His first act of government was to discharge the body of three 
 hundred men called Celeres,* whom Romulus always kept about 
 his person as guards ; for he neither chose to distrust those who 
 put confidence in him, nor to reign over a people that could dis- 
 trust him. In the next place, to the priests of Jupiter and Mars 
 he added one for Romulus, whom he styled Flamen Quirilanis. 
 
 Numa having settled these matters with a view to establish 
 himself in the people's good graces, immediately after attempted 
 to soften them, as iron is softened by fire, and to bring them from 
 a violent and warlike disposition, to a more just and gentle temper. 
 Persuaded that no ordinary means were sufficient to form and 
 reduce so high-spirited and untractable a people to mildness and 
 peace, he called in the assistance of religion. By sacrifices, reli- 
 gious dances, and processions, which he appointed, and wherein 
 himself officiated, he contrived to mix the charms of festivity and 
 social pleasure with the solemnity of the ceremonies. Thus he 
 soothed their minds, and calmed their fierceness and martial fire. 
 Sometimes, also, by acquainting them with prodigies from heaven, 
 by reports of dreadful apparitions and menacing voices, he inspired 
 them with terror, and humbled them with superstition. This was 
 the principal cause of the report that he drew his wisdom from the 
 sources of Pythagoras : For a great part of the philosophy of 
 the latter, as well as the government of the former, consisted in 
 religious attentions and the worship of the gods. It is likewise 
 said, that his solemn appearance and air of seuictity were copied 
 from Pythagoras. That philosopher had so far tamed an eagle, 
 that, by pronouncing certain words, he could stop it in its flight, 
 or bring it down ; and passing through the multitudes assembled 
 at the Olympic games, he showed them his golden thigh, besides 
 other arts and actions by which he pretended to something super- 
 natural. 
 
 But Numa feigned that some goddess or mountain-nymph fa- 
 
 the augur covered his own head, not that of Numa, Augur ad heoam^ ejus^ capita 
 velato, sedem cepit, &,c And. indeed, the augur always covered his head in a gown 
 peculiar to his ofiSce, called Lcence, when he made his observations. 
 
 * Numa did not make use of them as guards, but as inferior ministers, who were 
 to take care of the sacrifices, under the direction of the tribunes, who had commanded 
 them in their military capacity. 
 
48 MiMA. 
 
 voured him with her private regards, and that he had moreover 
 frequent conversations with the Muses. To the latter he ascribed 
 roost of his revelations ; and there was one in particular that he 
 called Tacita, as much as to say, the Muse of Silence^ whom 
 he taught the Romans to distinguish with their veneration. By 
 this, too, he seemed to show his knowledge and approbation of 
 the Pythagorean precept of silence. 
 
 His regulations concerning images seem likewise to have some 
 relation to the doctrine of Pythagoras; who was of opinion that 
 the First Cause was not an object of sense, nor liable to passion, 
 but invisible, incorruptible, and discernible only by the mind. 
 Thus Numa forbade the Romans to represent the Deity in the 
 form either of man or beast. Nor was there among them for- 
 merly any image or statue of the Divine Being: during the first 
 hundred and seventy years they built temples, indeed, and other 
 sacred domes, but placed in them no figure of any kind, persuaded 
 that it is impious to represent things divine by what is perishable, 
 and that we can have no conception of God but by the understand- 
 ing. His sacrifices, too, resembled the Pythagorean worship; for 
 they were without any cflfusion of blood, consisting chiefly of flour, 
 libations of wine, and other very simple and unexpensive things. 
 
 To Numa is attributed the institution of that high order of priests 
 called PontificeSf over which he is said to have presided himself. 
 To him is likewise ascribed the establishment of the Vestal Vir- 
 gins, and the whole service with respect to the perpetual fire, 
 which they watched continually. At first only two virgins were 
 consecrated by Numa, afterwards two others, to whom Servius 
 added two more. They were obliged to preserve their virginity 
 for thirty years, and were honoured by the king with great pri. 
 vilegcs. It is also said, that Numa built the Temple of Vesta 
 where the perpetual fire was to be kept. 
 
 Afler Numa had instituted the several orders of priests, be 
 erected a royal palace, called Regia^ near the Temple of Vesta; 
 and there he passed most of his time, either in performing some 
 sacred function, or instructing the priests, or, at least in conver- 
 sing with them on some divine subject. He had also another 
 house upon the Quirinitd mount. In all public ceremonies and 
 processions of (he priests, a herald went before, who gave notice 
 to the people to keep holiday. For, as they tell us, the Pythafo. 
 reans would not sufier their disciples to pay any homage or worship 
 to the gods in a cursory manner, but required them to come pre- 
 pared for it by meditation at home ; so Numa was of opinion, that 
 his citizens should neither see nor hear any religious service in a 
 slight or careless way, but, disengaged from other affairs, brinf 
 with them that attention, which an object of such importance r«> 
 quired. The streets and ways, on such occosions, were cleared 
 
NUMA. 
 
 49 
 
 t)f clamour and all manner of noise which attends manual labour, 
 that the solemnities might not be disturbed. 
 
 By this sort of religious discipline the people became so tract- 
 able, and were impressed with such a veneration of Numa's power, 
 that they admitted many improbable and even fabulous tales, and 
 thought nothing incredible or Impossible which he undertook. 
 Thus he is said to have invited many of the citizens to his table, 
 where he took care the vessels should be mean, and the provisions 
 plain and inelegant ; l?ut after they were seated, he told them, the 
 goddess with whom he used to converse, was coming to visit him, 
 when, on a sudden, the room was supplied with the most costly 
 vessels, and the table Avith a most magni^ent entertainment. 
 
 The most admired of all his institutions, was his distribution 
 of the citizens into companies, according to their, arts and trades 
 For the city consisting of two nations, or rather factions, who 
 were by no means willing to unite, or to blot out the remembrance 
 of their original difference, but maintained perpetual contests and 
 party quarrels ; he took the same method with them as is used to 
 incorporate hard and sohd bodies, which, while entire, will not 
 mix at all, but unite with ease when reduced to powder. To at- 
 tain his purpose, he divided, as I said, the whole multitude into 
 small bodies, who gaining new distinctions, lost by degrees the 
 great and original one, in consequence of their being thus broken 
 into so many parts. This distribution was made according to the 
 several arts or trades, of musicians, goldsmiths, masons, dyers, 
 shoemakers, tanners, brasiers, and potters. He collected the other 
 artificers also into companies, who had their respective halls, 
 courts, and religious ceremonies, peculiar to each society. By 
 these means he first took away the distinction of Sabines and Ro- 
 mans, subjects of Tatius, and subjects of Romulus, both name and 
 thing ; the very separation into parts mixing and incorporating the 
 whole together. 
 
 He is celebrated also in his political capacity for correcting the 
 law which empowered fathers to sell their children, excepting such 
 as married by their father's command or consent ; for he reckoned 
 it a great hardship, that a woman should marry a man as free, and 
 then live with a slave. 
 
 He attempted the reformation of the calendar too, which he 
 executed with some degree of skill, though not with absolute 
 exactness. In the reign of Romulus, it had neither measure nof 
 order, some months consisting of fewer than twenty days, while 
 some were stretched to thirty-five, and others even to more. They 
 had no idea of the diflTerence between the -annual course of the 
 sun and that of the moon, and only laid down this position, that 
 the year consisted of three hundred and sixty days. Numa then 
 observing that there was a difference of eleven days, three hup- 
 G 5 
 
50 M'MA 
 
 • 
 
 dred and tifly.four days making up the lunar year, and three 
 hundred and sixty .five the solar, doubled those eleven days, and 
 inserted them as an intercalary month, after that of February, 
 every other year. This additional month was called by the 
 Romans, Mercedinus. But this amendment of the irregularity 
 afterwards required a farther amendment. He likewise altered 
 the order of the months, making March the third, which was the 
 first ; January, the first, which was the eleventh of Romulus ; 
 and February, the second, which was the twelfth and last. Many, 
 however, assert, that the two months of January and February, 
 were added by Numa, whereas before they had reckoned but ten 
 months in the year. * 
 
 Of this we have a proof in the name of the last, for it is still 
 called December, or the tenth month; and that March was ibe 
 first, is also evident, because the fifth from it was called Qtmi. 
 tUiSt the sixth SextUis, and so the rest in their order. If January 
 and February had then been placed before March, the month 
 QuintUis would have been the fifth in name, but the seventh in 
 reckoning. Besides, it is reasonable to conclude, that the month 
 of March, dedicated by Romulus to the god Mars, should stand 
 first. Numa seems to me to have taken away the precedency 
 from March, which is denominated from the god of war, with a 
 design to show his preference of the political virtues to the mar- 
 tial. For JanuSf in the most remote antiquity, being remarkable 
 for his political abilities, and his cultivation of society, reclaimed 
 men from their rude and savage manners ; he is therefore repre- 
 sented with two faces, as having altered the former state of the 
 world, and given quite a new turn to life. He had also a temple 
 at Rome with two gates, which they called the gates of war. It 
 was the custbm for this temple to stand open in the time of war, 
 and to be shut in time of peace. The latter was seldom the case, 
 as the empire had been generally engaged in war, on account of 
 its great extent, and its having to contend with so many surround- 
 ing barbarous nations. It was, therefore, shut only in the reign 
 of Augustus Cscsar,* when he had conquered Antony : and before, 
 in the consulate of Marcus Attilius,t and Titus Manlius, a little 
 while ; for a new war breaking out, it was aoon opened again. 
 In Numa's reign, however, it was not opened for one day, but 
 stood constantly shut during the space of forty-three yean, while 
 uninterrupted peace reigned in every quarter. Not only the 
 people of Rome were softened and humanized by the justice and 
 
 * Auguftut shut the temple of Janui three WTeral limse; one of which wm in lbs 
 year of Rome 750, before the birth of our Saviour, Moordlof to Itaiah't propbaey, 
 that all tba world should be blest with peace, whan lbs Plrinoa of Peace was bom. 
 ^Tbli lsind»lkras alio shut by Vespasian after his trioaMk Oftr tbt Jawa. 
 I t failpl of Marcus we should read Caius AttillM Tltua Manliua, hitcoWispii, 
 Shut iHb ifmple of Janus at the conclusion of the finlPunle war. 
 
 I 
 
NUMA. 51 
 
 mildness of the king, but even the circumjacent cities, breathing, 
 as it were, the same salutary and delightful air, began to change 
 their behaviour. Like the Romans, they became desirous of 
 peace and good laws, of Cultivating the ground, educating their 
 children in tranquillity, and paying their homage to the gods. 
 Italy then was taken up with festivals and sacrifices, games and 
 entertainments; the people, without any apprehensions of danger, 
 mixed in a friendly manner, and treated each other with mutual 
 hospitality ; the love of virtue and justice, as from the source of 
 Numa's wisdom, gently flowing upon all, and moving with the 
 composure of his heart. Even the hyperbolical expressions of 
 the poets fall short of describing the happiness of those days. 
 
 Secure Arachne spread her slender toils 
 O'er the broad buckler eating rust consumed 
 The vengeful swords and once far gleaming spears: 
 No more the trump of war swells its hoarse throat, 
 Nor robs the eye lids of their genial slumber.* 
 
 We have no account of either war or insurrection in the state, 
 during Numa's reign. Nay, he experienced neither enmity nor 
 envy, nor did ambition dictate either open or private attempts 
 against his crown. He was an illusti -ous instance of that truth, 
 which Plato several ages after ventured to deliver concerning 
 government : That the only sure prospect of deliverance from the 
 evils of life idUI he, when the Divine Providence shall so order it, 
 that the regal power invested in a prince who has the sentiments of a 
 philosopher, shall render virtue triumphant over vice, A man of 
 such wisdom is not only happy in himself, but contributes by his 
 instructions to the happiness of others. There is, in truth, no 
 need either of force or menaces, to direct the multitude ; for 
 when they see virtue exemplified in so glorious a pattern as the 
 life of their prince, they become wise of themselves, and endea- 
 vour, by friendship and unanimity, by a strict regard to justice and 
 temperance, to form themselves to an innocent and happy life. 
 This is the noblest end of government ; and he is most worthy of 
 the royal seat who can regulate the lives and dispositions of his 
 subjects in such a manner. No one was more sensible of this 
 than Numa. 
 
 As to his wives and children, there are great contradictions 
 among historians. For some say, he had no wife but Tatia, nor 
 any child but one daughter named Pompilia. Others, beside that 
 daughter, gave an account of four sons. Pompon, Pinus, Calpus, 
 and Mamercus ; every one of whom left an honourable posterity, 
 the Pomponii being descended from Pompon, the Pinarii from 
 Pinus, the Calpurnii from Calpus, and the Mametcii from Mamfer- 
 
 * Plutarch took this passage from some exctellent verses of Bacchylides in praise of 
 peace, given us by Stobaeus. 
 
^ ■/, 
 
 m^ RUMA. 
 
 CU8. Theso wore mirnamed Rege^ or kings. But a third set of 
 writers accuse the former of forging these genealogies from Numa, 
 in order to ingratiate themselves with particular families. But 
 they tell us, that Pompilia, was not the daughter of Tatia, but of 
 Lucrctia, another wife, whom he married aHer he aricended the 
 throne. All, however, agree, that Pompilia, was married to Mar. 
 cius, son of that Marcius who persuaided Numa to accept the 
 crown ; for he followed him to Rome, where he wait enrolled a 
 senator, and, al\er Numa's death, was competitor with Tullus Ho8« 
 tilius for the throne ; but, failing in the enterprise, he starved 
 himself to death, ilia son Marcius, husband to Pompilia, remained 
 ip Rome, and had a son named Ancus Marcius, .Mho reigned 
 afler Tulius Hostilius. This son is said to have been but five 
 years old at the death of Numa. 
 
 Numa was not carried off by a sudden or acute distemper ; but, 
 as Piso relates, wasted away insensibly with old age, and a gentle 
 decline. He was a few years above eighty when he died. 
 
 The neighbouring nations that were in friendship and alliance 
 with Rome, strove to make the honours of his burial equal to the 
 happiness of his life, attending with crowns and othor public offer, 
 ings. The senators carried the bier, and the ministers of the gods 
 walked in procession. The rest of the people, with the women 
 and children, crowded to the funeral ; not, as if they were attend 
 ing the interment of an aged king, but as if they had lost one of 
 their beloved relations in the bloom of life ; for they followed it 
 with tears and loud lamentations. They did not burn the body,f 
 because (as we are told) he himself forbade it ; but they made two 
 stone coffins, and buried them under the Janiculum— the one con* 
 taining his body, and the other the sacred books which he had 
 written. Numa had taken care, however, in his life time, to in- 
 struct the priests in all that those books contained, and to impress 
 both the senso and practice on their memories. He then ordered 
 them to be buried with him, persuaded that such mysteries could 
 not safely exist in lifeless writing, influenced by the same 
 reasoning, it is said, the Pythagoreans did not commit their pre. 
 cepts to writing, but intrusted them to the memories of such as 
 they thought worthy of so great a deposit. And when they 
 
 * Rex was the Miriiame of the iCmiliani and Marciana, but not or the Pompooiana, 
 the Pinariana, or Mamerriant The Hmarii wer« deacetided from a family who wtr%. 
 
 priattt of Hefcukt, and more aneivnt than ihe tlmea of Numa. 
 
 4 lu ib9 moflt ancieot timet ihey coinmiiieJ the budiaa of tb« dead to tha ground, 
 ••appear! frnm the hiitorv of the patriarchs Hut the Kirvotmn*, from a tram de*ir« 
 of preserving their bodiet from corruption after deal' rmlMlmed : pcraona 
 
 of condition with rich spicaa, and even the poor ha<* rved with aali. TiM 
 
 Qrceka, to obviate the incoovepiBncea that migitt |H»M»iy nnppoa from corrupUoo, 
 burnt the tx>diet of the dead : tMit Pliny lelli ua, that .Sylla waa tha Ural Roman whoaa 
 body wai burnt. Whan paKaoiam waa abolished, tha burninf of daad bodica caaaad 
 with It; and in the belief of the returraciinn, Cbrictiant committed their detd witlt 
 dtie^are and honour to the earth, to repoae there lilt that great event. 
 
NUMA. 53 
 
 happened to communicate to an unworthy person their abstruse 
 problems in geometry^ they gave out that the gods threatened to 
 avenge his profaneness and impiety with some great and signal 
 calamity. Those, therefore, may be well excused who endeavour 
 to prove, by so many resemblances, that Numa was acquainted 
 with Pythagoras. Valerius Antius relates, that there were twelve 
 books written in Latin, concernmg religion, and twelve more of 
 philosophy, in Greek, buried in that coffin. But four hundred 
 years after,* when Publius Cornelius and Marcus Baebius were 
 consuls, a prodigious fall of rain having washed away the earth 
 that covered the coffins, and the lids falling off, one of them 
 appeared entirely empty, without the least remains of the body; 
 in the other, the boolcs were found. Petilius, then praetor, having 
 examined them, made his report upon oath to the senate, that it 
 appeared to him inconsistent both with justice and religion to make 
 them public ; in consequence of which all the volumes were carried 
 into the Comitiiim, and burnt. 
 
 Glory follows in the train of great men, and increases after their 
 death ; for envy does not long survive them ; nay, it sometimes 
 dies before them. The misfortunes, indeed, of the succeeding 
 kings added lustre to the character of Numa. Of the five that 
 came after him, the last was driven from the throne, and lived long 
 in exile ; and of the other four, not one died a natural death. 
 Three were traitorously slain. As for TuUus Hostilius, who reigned 
 nexi after Numa, he ridiculed and despised many of his best fnsti- 
 tutions, particularly his religious ones, as effeminate and tending 
 to inaction, for his view was to dispose the people to war : he did 
 not, however, abide by his irreligious opinions, but falling into a 
 severe and complicated sickness, he changed them for a supersti- 
 tion very different from Numa's piety : others too were infected 
 with the same false principles, when they saw the manner of his 
 death, which is said to have happened by lightning.f 
 
 * Plutarch probably wrote five hundred : for this happened in the year of Rome, 
 573. •• One Ferentius," says Varro, (ap. S. August, de. Civ. Dei.) " had a piece of 
 ground near the Janiculum ; a husbandman of his one day accidentally running over 
 Numa's tomb, turned up some of the legislator's books, wherein he gave his reasons 
 for establishing the religion of the Romans as he left it. The husbandman carried these 
 books'to the praetor, and the praetor to the senate ; who, after having read his frivo- 
 lous reasons for his religious establishments, agreed that the books'^fiould be destroyed, 
 in pursuance of Numa's intentions. It was accordingly decreed, that the praetor 
 should throw them into the fire." But though Numa's motives for the religion he es- 
 tablished might be trivial enough, that was not the chief reason for suppressing them. 
 The real, at least the principal reason, was the many new superstitions, equally tri- 
 vial, which the Romans had introduced, and the worship which they paid to images, 
 contrary to Numa's appointment. 
 
 f The palace of Tullus Hostilius was burnt down by lightning : and he, with bis 
 wife and children, perished in the fiames. Though some historians say, that Ancus 
 Marcius, who was the grandson of Numa, expecting to succeed to the crown, took 
 the opportunity of the storm to assassinate the king. 
 
64 
 
 SOLON. 
 
 FUmruhed 597 years before Chriti, 
 
 SOLON was the son of Ercestides, a man of moderate fortune 
 and power, but of the noblest family in Athens, being descended 
 from Codrus ; bis mother was cousin.german to the mother of Pi- 
 fiistralus. Solon *s father having injured his fortune,* by indulging 
 his great and munificent spirit, though the son might have been 
 supported by his friends, yet, as he was of a family that bad long 
 been assisting to others, he was ashamed to accept of assistance 
 himself; and therefore, in his younger years, he applied himself 
 to merchandise. Some, however, say that he travelled rather to 
 gratify his curiosity, and extend his knowledge, than to raise an 
 estate. For he professed his love of wisdom, and when far ad. 
 vanced in years made this declaration, / grow old in the pursuit 
 of learning. He was not too much attached to wealth, as we may 
 gather from the following verses : 
 
 The man who boasts of golden stores. 
 Of grain that loads hU bending floort, 
 or fields with freshening herbage green. 
 Where bounding steeds and herds are seen, 
 I call not happier than the twain 
 Whose limbs are sound, whose food ie plain, 
 Whose joys a blooming wife endears. 
 Whose hours a smiling ofispving cbeer& 
 
 Aud in another place he says 
 
 The flow of riches though desir'd, 
 Life*s real goods if well acquir*d. 
 Unjustly let me never gain. 
 Lest vengeance follow in their traiiv 
 
 Indeed, a good man, a valuable member of society, should neither 
 set his heart upon superfluities, nor reject the use of what is ne> 
 cditary and convenient. And in those times, as Hesiod informs 
 
 • Aristotle reckons Solon himself among the inferior citiuas, and qnoMt bUown 
 works to prove it. Tne truth it, that Solon was never rich, it may ba, t>e c au ee ba «vas 
 always honett In his youth, he was mightily addicted to poetry. And Plato (in 
 'J\nuto) says, that if tie had finished all hispioems, aud particularly the Hniory of 
 Uie AUantic Island, which be brought out of li^fvpt, and bad takao time to i«vne and 
 
 correct them, aa others did, neither Homer, Hesiod, dm aay olbar aaoisat poat, 
 would have been more famoua. It is evident, both from Iba lUbaod wrHtaf* oi ibb 
 freat man, that be was a person not only of exalted virtiM, twt of a pleaaaal and 
 ag raeabie temper. He considered men as men : and kaaping boUi tbeir capawity fi>r 
 vurtua, and their proneneu to evil, io his view, he adapted hislawa ao as tostrengtbea 
 aad support the one, and to check and keep under the other. His institutions are at 
 ramarkable for their sweetness and practicability, as Uioae of Lycurgus ate for barah* 
 ■•M and forcing buman nature. 
 
SOLON. • 55 
 
 us, no business was looked upon as a disparagement, nor did any- 
 trade cause a disadvantageous distinction. The profession of 
 merchanaise was honourable, as it brought home the produce of 
 barbarous countries, engaged the friendship of kings, and opened 
 a wide field of knowledge and experience. Nay, some merchants 
 have been founders of great cities ; Protus, for instance, who 
 built Marseilles. ' Thales also, and Hippocrates the mathemati- 
 cian, are said to have had their share in commerce ; and the oil 
 that Plato disposed of in Egypt,* defrayed the expense of his 
 travels. 
 
 If Solon was too expensive or luxurious in his way of living, 
 and indulged his poetical vein in his description of pleasure too 
 freely for a philosopher, it is imputed to his mercantile life : for, 
 as he passed through many and great dangers, he might surely 
 compensate them with a little relaxation and enjoyment. That 
 he placed himself rather in ihe class of the poor than the rich, is 
 evident from these lines. 
 
 For Vice though Plenty fills her horn, 
 And Virtue sinks in want and scorn ; 
 Yet never sure shall Solon change 
 His truth for Wealth's most easy range ! 
 Since Virtue lives, and Truth shall stand, 
 While Wealth eludes the grasping hand. 
 
 He seems to have made use of his poetical talent at first, not for 
 any serious purpose, but only for amusement and to fill up his 
 hours of leisure ; but afterwards he inserted moral sentences, and 
 interwove many political transactions in his poems. Some are of 
 opinion, that he attempted to put his laws too in verse, and they 
 give us this beginning : 
 
 Supreme of Gods, whose power we first address, 
 This plan to honour, and these laws to bless. 
 
 Like most of the sages of these times he cultivated chiefly that 
 part of moral philosophy which treats of civil obligations ; his phy- 
 sics were of a very simple and ancient cast. Thales seems to 
 have been the only philosopher who then carried his speculations 
 beyond things in common use, while the rest of the wise men 
 maintained their character by rules for social life. 
 
 We have a particular account of a conversation which Solon 
 had with Anacharsis,f and of another he had with Thales. Ana- 
 
 * It was usual to trade into Egypt with the oil of Greece and Judea. It is said in 
 the prophet Hosea (c. xii v. 1,) Ephraim carrieih oil into Egypt. 
 
 f Ihe Scythians long before the days of Solon, had been celebrated for their fruga- 
 lity, their temperance, and justice. Anacharsis was one of these Scythians, and a 
 prince of the blood. He went to Athens about the forty seventh Olympiad, that is 590 
 years before Christ. His good sense, his knowledge, and great experience, made him 
 pass for one of the seven wise men. But the greatest and wisest men have their in- 
 consistencies • for such it certainly was, for Anacharsis to carry the Grecian worshro, 
 
le T SOLON.. 
 
 cbaraif went to Solon's house at Athens, knocked at the door, and 
 saidf 'he was a stranger who desired to enter into engagements of 
 friendship end mtaual hospitality teith him. 8<>loo answered, 
 Friends fups are best formed at home. Then do you^ said Anachar- 
 flis, who are at home^ make me your friend and receive me into your 
 house. Struck with the quickness of his repartee, Solon pave him 
 a kind welcome, and kept him some time with him, bemg then 
 employed in public affairs and modelling his laws. When Ana« 
 charsis knew what Solon was about, he laughed at bis undertaking, 
 and at the absurdity of imagining he could restrain the avarice and 
 injustice of his citizens by written laws^ which in all respects resem- 
 bled spiders* webs, and wouldy like them, only entangle, and hold 
 the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful easily broke through 
 them. To this Solon replied. Men keep their agreements, when it 
 is an advantage to both parties not to break them ; and he would so 
 frame his laws, as to make it evident to the Athenians, that it would 
 be more for their interest to observe than to transgress them. The 
 event, however, showed, that Anacharsis was nearer the truth in- 
 his conjecture, than Solon was in his hope. Anacharsis having 
 seen an assembly of the people at At^iens said, I he was surprised 
 at this, that in Greece wise men pleaded causes, and fools dettermmed 
 lhem.\ 
 
 When Solon was entertained by Thales at Miletus, he expressed 
 some wondc that he did not marry and raise a family. To this 
 Thales gave no immediate answer ; but some days alter he in- 
 Btructed a stranger to say, That he came from Athens ten days 
 before. Solon inquiring. What news there was at Athens, the man, 
 according to his instructions said, None, except the funeral of a 
 young man, which was attended by the whole city. For he was the 
 son {as they told me) of a person of great honour^ and of the highest 
 reputation for virtue, who was then abroad upon his trwoels. What 
 a miserable man is he ! said Solon ; but what wm his name ? I have 
 heard his name, answered the stranger, but do not recollect it. All 
 I remember is that there was much talk of his wisdom and justice 
 Solon, whose apprehensions increased with every repK, was now 
 much disconcerted, and mentioned his own name, asking. Whether it 
 was not Solon's son that was dead f The stranger answering m the 
 affirmative, he began to beat his head, and to dn nnd say such 
 things as are usual to men in a transport of grief. "^ Then Thales, 
 taking him by the hand, said with a smile, These things which strike 
 
 the riiM of Cybele, ioto Scjrthis, coniranr to the Uw« of hH eountrt. TiMmgb he 
 perlbrmed thoie met privately in a woody part of the f»Miatry. a iiciithiaa hapfiened 
 to eee him, and acquainted the ktng with it, who came immadarialy aitd •hot Mm 
 with an arrow upon Um wpfiA.—Htfidot. I it. c 76. 
 
 • Whether on thii occasion, or on the real Iom of a ton. it imcertaia, Solqa, btim 
 desired not to we^ aiooe weeping would avail nothing ; ha antworad wtabiaocJi Ink 
 manity and good aanee, *• Antt for this cause I weep.** 
 
SOLON. 57 
 
 down so firm a man as Solon, kept me from marriage^ and from 
 having children. But take courage, my good friend, for not a word 
 of what has been told you is true. To neglect, however, the pro- 
 curing of what is necessary or convenient in life, for fear of 
 losing it, would be acting a very mean and absurd part. Her- 
 mippus says, he took this story from Pataecus, who used to boast 
 he had the soul of jEsop. 
 
 When the Athenians, tired out with a long and troublesome 
 war against the Megarensians, for the isle of Salamis, made a 
 law, that no one for the future, under pain of death, should either 
 by speech or writing propose that the city should assert its claim 
 to that island ; Solon was very uneasy at so dishonourable a decree, 
 and seeing great part of the youth desirous to begin the war again, 
 being restrained from it only by fear of the law, he feigned him- 
 self insane ;* and a report spead from his house into the city, that 
 he was out of his senses. Privately, however, he had composed 
 an elegy, and got it by heart, in order to repeat it in public ; thus 
 prepared, he sallied out unexpectedly into the market-place with 
 a cap upon his head.f A great number of people flocking about 
 him, he got upon the herald's stone, and sung the elegy which 
 begins thus : 
 
 Hear and attend ; from Salamis 1 came 
 To show your error. 
 
 This composition is entitled Salamis, and consists of a hundred 
 very beautiful lines. When Solon had done, his friends began 
 to express their admiration, and Pisistratus, in particular, exerted 
 himself in persuading the people to comply with his directions ; 
 whereupon they repealed the law, once more undertook the war, 
 and invested Solon whh the command. The common account of 
 his proceedings is this : He sailed with Pisistratus to Colias, and 
 having seized the women who, according to the custom of the 
 country, were offering sacrifice to Ceres there, he sent a trusty 
 person to Salamis, who was to pretend he was a deserter, and to 
 advise the Megarensians, if they had a mind to seize the principal 
 Athenian matrons, to set sail immediately for Colias, The Me- 
 garensians readily embracing the proposal, and sending out a body 
 of men, Solon discovered the ship as it put off from the island ; 
 and causmg the women directly to withdraw, ordered a number of 
 young men, whose faces were yet smooth, to dress themselves in 
 their habits, caps, and shoes. Thus with weapons concealed un 
 
 * When the Athenians were delivered from their fears by the death of Epaminondas, 
 they began to squander away upon shows and plays the money that bad been assigned 
 for the pay of the army and navy, and at the same time they made it death for any one 
 to propose a reformation. In that case. Demosthenes did not, like Solon, attack their 
 error under a pretence of insanity, but boldly and resolutely spoke against it, and by 
 ilje force of his eloquence brought them to correct it. 
 
 T None wore caps but the sick. 
 H 
 
58 SOLON. 
 
 der their clothes, they were to dance and play by the tea aide tfll 
 the enemy was landed, and the vessel near enough to be seized. 
 Matters being thus ordered, the Megarenstans were deceived with 
 the appearance, and ran confusedly on shore, striving who should 
 first lay hold on the women. But they met with so warm a recep. 
 tion, that they were cut off to a man : and the Athenians embark- 
 ing immediately for Salamis, took possession of the island. 
 
 The Athenians soon at\er relapsed into their old disputes con- 
 cerning the government ; for there were as many parties among 
 them as there were different tracts of land in their country. The 
 inhabitants of the mountainous part were for a democracy ; those 
 of the plains for an oligarchy ; and those of the sea-coasts con- 
 tending for a mixed kind of government, hindered the other two 
 from gainine their point. At the same time, the inequality between 
 the poor and the rich occasioned the greatest discord, and the state 
 was in so dangerous a situation, that there seemed to be no way 
 to quell the seditious, or to save it from ruin, but changing it to a 
 monarchy. So greatly were the poor in debt to the rich, that they 
 were obliged either to pay them a sixth part of the produce of the 
 land, or else to engage their persons to their creditors, who might 
 seize them on failure of payment. Accordingly some made slaves 
 of them, and others sold them to foreigners. Nay, some parents 
 were forced to sell their own children (for no law forbade it), and 
 to quit the city, to avoid the severe treatment of those usurers. 
 But the greater number, and men of the most spirit, agreed to 
 stand by each other, and to bear such impositions no longer. They 
 determined to choose a trusty person for their leader, to deliver 
 those who bad failed in their time of payment, to divide the land, 
 and to give an entire new face to the commonwealth. 
 
 Then the most prudent of the Athenians cast their eyes upon 
 Solon, as a man least obnoxious to either party, having neither 
 been engaged in oppressions with the rich, nor entangled in neces- 
 sities with the poor. Him, therefore, they entreated to aanst the 
 public in this exigency, and to compose their difierences. Pha- 
 nias the Lesbian asserts, indeed, that Solon, to save the state, 
 dealt artfully with both parties, and privately promised the poor a 
 division of the lands, and the rich a confirmation of their securi- 
 ties. At first he was loth to take the administration upon him 
 by reason of the avarice of some, the insolence of others ; but, 
 was, however, chosen archon next afier Philombrotua, and at the 
 same time arbitrator and lawgiver; the rich accepting of him rea- 
 dily, as one of themt and the poor, as a good and worthy man. 
 They tell us too, that a saying of his, which he had let faH some 
 time before, that "equality causes no war," was then much re- 
 peated, and pleased both the rich and the poor ; the latter expect- 
 ing to come to a balance bv their numbers and bv the measure of 
 
SOLON. 59, 
 
 divided lands, and the former to preserve an equality at least by 
 their dignity and power. Thus both parties being in great hopes, 
 the heads of them were urgent with Solon to make himself king, 
 and endeavoured to persuade him, that he might with better as- 
 surance take upon him the direction of a city where he had the 
 supreme authority. Nay, many of the citizens that leaned to 
 neither party, seeing the intended change difficult to be effected 
 by reason and law, were not against entrusting the government to 
 the hands of one wise and just man. Some, moreover, acquaint 
 us, that he received this oracle from Apollo, 
 
 Seize, seize the helm ; the reeling vessel guide, 
 With aiding patriots stem the raging tide. 
 
 His friends, in particular, told him it would appear that he wanted 
 courage, if he rejected the monarchy for fear of the name of ty- 
 rant ; as if the whole and supreme power would not soon become 
 a lawful sovereignty through the virtues of him who received it. 
 Thus formerly (said they) the Eubceans set up Tynnondas, and 
 lately the Mitylenaeans Pittacus for their prince.* None of these 
 things moved Solon from his purpose, and the answer he is said 
 to have given to his friends is this, " Absolute monarchy is a fair 
 field, but it has no outlet." And in one of his poems he thus 
 addresses himself to his friend Phocus: 
 
 If I spared my country, 
 
 If gilded violence and tyrannic sway 
 
 Could never charm me, thence no shame accrues ; 
 
 Still the mild honour of my name I boast, 
 
 Aud find my empire there. 
 
 Whence it is evident that his reputation was very great, before he 
 appeared in the character of a legislator. As for the ridicule he 
 was exposed to for rejecting kingly power he has described it in 
 the following verses : 
 
 Nor wisdom^s palm nor deep-laid policy. 
 Can Solon boast. For when its noblest blessings 
 Heaven poured into his lap, he spurned them from hiim 
 Where was his sense and spirit, when enclos'd 
 He found the choicest prey, nor deign'd to draw it ? 
 Who to command fair Athens but one day, 
 Would not himself, with all bis race, have fallen 
 Contented on the morrow f 
 
 Thus he has introduced the multitude and men of low minds, as 
 discoursing about him. But though he rejected absolute power, 
 
 » Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, made himself master of Mitylene ; 
 for which Aloeeus, who was of the same town, contemporary with Pittacus, and as a 
 poet, a friend to liberty, satirized him, as he did the other tyrants. Pittacus disre" 
 gardcd his censures; and having by his authority quelled the seditions of his citizens, 
 and established peace and harmony among them, he voluntary quitted his power, and 
 xestored his country to its liberty. 
 
0Oi SOLON. 
 
 he proceeded with spirit in the administration ; he did not make 
 any concessions in behalf of the powerful, nor, in the framing of 
 his laws, did he indulge the humour of his constituents. Where 
 the former establishment was tolerable, he neither applied reme. 
 dies, nor used the incision-knife, lest he should put the whole in 
 disorder, and not have power to settle or compose it afterwards in 
 the temperature he could wish. He only made such alterations 
 as he might bring the people to acquiesce in by persuasion, or 
 compel them to by his authority, making, (as he says) " force and 
 right conspire." Hence it was, that havine the question after- 
 wards put to him, ** Whether he had provided the best of laws for 
 the Athenians ?" He answered, " The best they were capable of 
 receiving." And as the Athenians used to qualify the harshness 
 of things by giving them soAer and politer names, calling tributes 
 contributions f garrisons guards, and prisons castles ; so Solon seems 
 to be the first that distinguished the cancelling of debts by the 
 name of a discharge. For this was the first of his public acts, 
 that debts should be forgiven, and that no man for the future 
 should take the body of his debtor for security. Though Andro- 
 tion and some others say, that it was not by the cancelling of 
 debts, but by moderating the interest, that the poor were relieved, 
 they thought themselves so happy in it, that they gave the name of 
 discharge to this act of humanity, as well as to the enlarging of 
 measures and the value of money, which went along with it. For 
 he ordered the mimB, which before went but for seventy. three 
 drachmas^ to go for a hundred ; so that, as they paid the same in 
 value, but much less in weight, those that had great sums to pay 
 were relieved, while such as received them were no losers. 
 
 The greater part of writers, however, affirm, that it was the 
 abolition of past securities that was called a discharge , and with 
 these the poems of Solon agree. For in them he values himself 
 on having taken away the marks of mortgaged kmdy* which before 
 toere almost every where set up, and made free those fidds which before 
 were bound: and not only so, but of such citizens as were seizabte 
 by their creditors for debt — " Some," he tells us, " he bad brought 
 back from other countries, where they had wandered so long, that 
 they had forgot the Attic dialect, and others he had set at liberty, 
 who had experienced a cruel slavery at home." 
 
 This affair, indeed, brought upon him the greatest trouble he 
 met with : for when he undertook the annulling of debts, and was 
 considering of a suitable speech and a proper method of introduc 
 mg the business, he told some of his most intimate friends, namely 
 Conon, Clinias, and Hipponicus, that he intended only to abolish 
 the debts, and not to meddle with the lands. These friends of hit 
 
 * The AihMiant had a cuttom of filing op billeta, to tbow tbat bouwt or landt 
 «Mis mortfifid. 
 
SOLON. 
 
 61 
 
 hastening to make their advantage of the secret before the decree 
 took place, borrowed large sums of the rich, and purchased estates 
 with them. Afterwards, when the decree was published, they 
 kept their possessions without paying the money they had taken 
 up ; which brought great reflections upon Solon, as if he had not 
 been imposed upon with the rest, but were rather an accomplice 
 in the fraud. This charge, however, was soon removed, by his 
 bemg the first to comply with the law, and remitting a debt of five 
 talents, which he had out at interest. Others, among whom is 
 Polyzelus the Rhodian, say it was fifteen talents. But his friends 
 went by the name of ChreocopidcB, or debt-cutters ^ ever after. 
 
 The method he took satisfied neither the poor nor the rich. 
 The latter were displeased by the cancelling of their bonds, and 
 the former at not finding a division of lands : upon this they had 
 fixed their hopes, and they complained that he had not, like Ly- 
 curgus, made all the citizens equal in estate. Lycurgus, however, 
 being the eleventh from Hercules, and having reigned many years 
 in Lacedaemon, had acquired great authority, interest, and friends, 
 of which he knew very well how to avail himself in setting up a 
 new form of government. Yet he was obliged to have recourse to 
 force rather than persuasion, and had an eye struck out in the 
 dispute, before he could bring it to a lasting settlement, and estab- 
 lish such an union and equality, as left neither rich nor poor in the 
 city. On the other hand, Solon's estate was but moderate, not 
 superior to that of some comm<'ners, and therefore he attempted 
 not to erect such a commonwealth as that of Lycurgus, consider, 
 ing it as out of his power ; he proceeded as far as he thought he 
 could be supported by the confidence the people had in his probity 
 and wisdom. 
 
 That he answered not the expectations of the generality, but 
 offended them by falling short, appears from these verses of his— 
 
 Those eyes, with joy once sparkling when they view'd me, 
 With cold, oblique regard behold me now. 
 
 And a little after— 
 
 —— — Yet who but Solon 
 
 Could have spoke peace to their tumultuous waves, 
 
 And not have sunk beneath them ? 
 
 But being soon sensible of the utility of the decree, they laid aside 
 their complaints, off*ered a public sacrifice, which they called sei. 
 sacthiat or the sacrifice of the discharge^ and constituted Solon 
 lawgiver and superintendent of the commonwealth, committing to 
 him the regulation, not of a part only, but the whole, tnagistracTes, 
 assemblies, courts of judicature, and senate ; and leaving him to 
 determine the qualification, number, and time of meeting for them 
 all, as well as to abrogate or continue the former constitutions at 
 his pleasure. 
 
 6 
 
First, then, he repealed the laws of Draco,* except those coo- 
 ceroing murder, because of the seventy of the punishments they 
 appointed, which for almost all ofiences were capital : even those 
 that were convicted of idleness were to suffer death, and such as 
 stole only a few apples or pot-herbs, were to be punished in the 
 same manner as sacrilegious persons and murderers. Hence a 
 saying of Dcmades, who lived long af\er, was much admired, that 
 " Draco wrote his laws not with ink, but with blood." And he 
 himself being asked, ** Why he made death the punishment for 
 most offences ?" answered, " Small ones deserve it, and 1 can find 
 «io greater for the most heinous." 
 
 In the next place, Solon took an estimate of the estates of the 
 citizens, intending to leave the great offices in the hands of the 
 rich, but to give the rest of the people a share in the other depart- 
 ments which they had not before. Such as had a yearly income 
 of five hundred measures in wet and dry goods, he placed in the 
 first rank, and called them PerUacosiomedimni: The second con- 
 sisted of those who could keep a horse, or whose lands produced 
 three hundred measures ; these were of the equestrian order, and 
 called Hippodatelounles. And those of the third class, who had but 
 two hundred measures, were called ZeugiUB, The rest were named 
 TheteSj and not admitted to any office ; they had only a right to 
 appear and give their vote in the general assembly of the people. 
 This seemed at first but a .slight privilege, but aflerwards becama 
 a matter of great importance : for most causes came at last to be 
 decided by them ; and in such matters as were under the cognizance 
 of the magistrates, there lay an appeal to the people. Besides, he 
 is said to have drawn up his laws in an obscure and ambiguous 
 manner, on purpose to enlarge the authority of the popular tribu- 
 nal. For as they could not adjust their differences by the letter 
 of the law, they were obliged to have recourse to living judges ; 
 I mean the whole body of citizens, who therefore had all contro- 
 versies brought before them, and were in a manner superior to the 
 
 * Draco was arrhon in ihe Mcond, ihouKh wm* tay in tbe Imat year of the thiitj- 
 ninth olympiad, about the year before (.'britt 623. Tbousii tba name of thii great 
 man occura frequently in hutory, yet we no where find ao much at tea linei tnfethar 
 ' ooocemiiM him and hit inttitutiont. He may be convidered ai the firat lagiahttor si 
 the Ath<>niant; for tke laws, or rather precepts, of Triptolemua were very fcw, iris. 
 Honour your partnta; yeorthif tkt god* ; hurl not tmimmUt Draco wat the firM of 
 the (irerk* that fiunikhed adultery with death: and be oaMSSMd inurdrr to high   
 criiite. that to imprint a deep ahhotrence of ii in the niiiida of men. he nrdamed that 
 pmcMe fthould be carried on even a|i«ii»t mammal*' thinK«, if Ihev arcidentaily cauaed 
 the death of any person Hut t»ritiiie« muriter and adolterv. which d<>»erver< deati^ 
 be made a number of smaller oflfence* capital ; and that brou|bt almost all his lateo 
 into disuM I'he extravacani severitv of them, like an edaa too Aaolv grouod, hm> 
 dereH his thumoi. as he called them, from striking deef» P ac p byi y (ir oMtemt) 
 has pnsaenred one of them eoacerniiif nivine worship: •*ll b oo •veraatinf law in 
 Attica, that the gods are to be worshipped and the heroes alto, aoeording to the cus- 
 tom of our ance«tora, and in private only with a proper addrtaa, ftm Iruita, and an- 
 Dual libations. *' 
 
SOLON. g3 
 
 laws. Of this equality he himself takes notice in these words : 
 
 By me the people held their native rights 
 Uninjured, unoppress'd — The great restrain'd 
 From lawless violence, and the poor from rapine, 
 By me, their mutual shield. 
 
 Desirous yet farther to strengthen the common people, he empu.^. 
 ered any man whatever to enter an action for one who was injured. 
 If a person was assaulted, or suffered damage or violence, another 
 if able or willing to do it, might prosecute the offender. Thus 
 the lawgiver wisely accustomed the citizens, as members of one 
 body, to feel and to resent one another's injuries. And we are 
 told of a saying of his agreeable to this law : being asked, " What 
 city was best modelled ?" he answered, " That where those who 
 are not injured are no less ready to prosecute and punish offenders 
 than those who are." 
 
 When these points were adjusted, he established the council of 
 the areopagus, which was to consist of such as had borne the office 
 ofarchorif and himself was one of the number. But observing 
 that the people, now discharged from their debts, grew insolent 
 and imperious, he proceeded to constitute another council or se- 
 nate, of four hundred, a hundred out of each tribe, by whom all 
 affairs were to be previously considered ; and ordered that no mat. 
 ter, without their approbation, should be laid before the assembly. 
 In the meantime the high court of the areopagus were to be the 
 inspectors and guardians of the laws. Thus he supposed the com. 
 monwealth, secured by two councils, as by two archons, would 
 be less liable to be shaken by tumults, and the people would be- 
 come more orderly and peaceable. Most writers, as we have 
 observed, affirm that the council of the areopagits was of Solon's 
 appointing : and it seems greatly to confirm their assertion, that 
 Draco has made no mention of the areopagites, but in capital causes 
 constantly addresses himself to the epheUe; yet the eighth law of 
 Solon's thirteenth table is set down in these very words, ^^ Who- 
 ever were declared infamous before Soloa's archonship, let them 
 be restored in honour, except such as, having been condemned in 
 the areopagits^ or by the ephetcBf or by the kings in the Prytaneuniy 
 for murder or robbery, or attempting to usurp the government, 
 had fled their country before this law was made." This, on the 
 contrary, shows, that before Solon was chief magistrate and de 
 livered his laws, the council o^ the areopagus was in being. 
 
 The most peculiar and surprising of his other laws, is that 
 which declares the man infamous who stands neuter in time of se- 
 dition. It seems, he would not have us be indifferent and unaf- 
 fected with the fate of the public, when our own concerns are upon 
 a safe bottom ; nor when we are in health, be insensible to the 
 distempers and griefs of our country. He would have us espouse 
 
ei SOLON. 
 
 the better and juster cause, and hazard every thing in defence of 
 it, rather than wait in safety to see which side the victory will in- 
 cline to. That law, too, seems quite ridiculous and absurd, which 
 permits a rich heiress, whose husband happens to neglect her, to 
 console herself with his nearest relations. In all other marriages, 
 he ordered that no dowries should be given : the bride was to bring 
 with her three suits of clothes, and some household stuff of i^mall 
 value. For he did not choose that marriages should be m>ide with 
 mercenary or venal views, but would have thai union cemented by 
 the endearment of children, and every other instance of love and 
 friendship. Nay, Dionysius himself, when his mother desired to 
 be married to a young Syracusan, told her, '* He had indeed, by 
 his tyranny, broke through the laws of bis country, but he could 
 not break through those of nature, by countenancing so dispropor- 
 tionate a match." And surely such disorders should not be tole- 
 rated in any state, nor such matches where there is no equality of 
 years, or inducements of love, or probability that the end of mar* 
 riage will be answered. 
 
 That law of Solon is also justly commended, which forbids men 
 to speak ill of the dead. For piety requires us to consider the de* 
 ceased as sacred : justice calls upon us to spare those that are not 
 in being ; and good policy, to prevent the perpetuating of hatred. 
 He forbade his people also to revile the living, in a temple, in a 
 court of justice, in the great assembly of the people, or at the pub. 
 lie games. He that ofiended in this respect, was to pay three 
 drachma* to the person injured, and two to the public. Never to 
 restrain anger is, indeed, a proof of weakness and a want of breed- 
 ing ; and always to guard against it, is very difficult, and to some 
 persons impossible. 
 
 His laws concerning wills has likewise its merit. For before 
 his time the Athenians were not allowed to dispose of their estates 
 by will ; the houses and other substance of the deceased were to 
 remain among his relations. But he permitted any one who bad 
 no children, to leave his possessions to whom he pleased ; thus 
 preferring the tie of friendship to that of kindred, and choice to 
 necessity, he gave every man the full and free disposal of his own. 
 Yet he allowed not all sorts of legacies, but those only that were 
 not extorted by frenzy, the consequence of disease or poisons, by 
 imprisonment or violence, or the persuasions of a wife. For he 
 considered inducements, that operated against reason, as no better 
 than force ; to be deceived was with him the same thing as to be 
 compelled ; and he looked upon pleasure to be as great a porverter 
 as pain. 
 
 He regulated, moreover, the journeys of women, their mourn- 
 ings and sacrifices, and endeavoured to keep them clear of all 
 disorder and excess. They were not to go out of town with mora 
 
SOLON. ^ 
 
 than three habits; the provisions they carried with them, were not 
 to exceed the .value of an obidiis ; their basket was not to be above 
 a cubit high ; and in the night they were not to travel but in a 
 carriage, with a torch before them. At funerals they were forbid 
 to tear themselves,* and no hired mourner was to utter lamentable 
 notes, or to act any thing else that tended to excite sorrow. They 
 were not permitted to sacrifice an ox on those occasions, or to bury 
 more than three garments with the body; or to visit any tombs be- 
 side those of their own family, except at the time of interment. 
 
 As the city was filled with persons who assembled from all parts, 
 on account of the great security in which people lived in Attica, 
 Solon, observing this, and that the country withal was poor and 
 barren, and that merchants who traffic by sea, do not use to im- 
 port their goods where they can have nothing in exchange, turned 
 the attention of the citizens to manufactures. For this purpose he 
 made a law, thaUiojon should he obliged ta maintain his father, 
 if he had not tajig^hLhlm, a jyi:ade."j: As for Lycurgus, whose city 
 AvaTcTear of strangers, and whose country, according to Euripides, 
 was sufficient for twice the number of inhabitants ; where there 
 was, moreover, a multitude of HeloteSf w ho were not only to be 
 kept constantly employed, but to be humbled and worn out by ser- 
 vitude : it was right for him to set the citizens free from laborious 
 mechanic arts, and to employ them in arms, as the only art fit for 
 them to learn and exercise. But Solon, rather adapting his laws 
 to the state of his country, than his country to his laws, and per- 
 ceiving that the soil of Attica, which hardly rewarded the husband- 
 man's labour, was far from being capable of maintaining a lazy 
 multitude, ordered that trades should be accounted honourable, 
 that the council of the areopagiis should examine into every man's 
 means of subsisting, and chastise the idle. 
 
 As Attica was not supplied with water from perennial rivers, 
 lakes, or springs, but chiefly by wells dug for that purpose, he made 
 a law, that were there was a public well, all within the distance of 
 four furlongs should make use of it : but where the distance was 
 greater, they were to provide a well of their own. And if they 
 dug ten fathoms deep in their own ground, and could find no wa- 
 ter, they had liberty to fill a vessel of six gallons twice a day at 
 their neighbour's. Thus he thought it proper to assist persons in 
 
 * Demosthenes (m Timocr.) recites Solon's directions as to funerals as follows :— - 
 " Let the dead bodies be laid out in the house according as the deceased gave order, 
 and the d-iy following, before sun rise, carried forth. "Whilst the body is carr)'ing to 
 the grave, let the men go before, the women follow. It shall not be lawful for any 
 woman to enter upon the goods of the dead, and to follow the body to the grave un- 
 der threescore years of age, except such as are within the degrees of cousins." 
 
 f He that was thrice convicted of idleness was to b*} declared infamous. Herodo- 
 tus (1. vii.) and Diodorus Siculus (I. i.) agree that a law of this kind was in use in 
 Egypt, it is probable, therefore, that Solon, who was thoroughly acquainted with (be 
 learning of that nation, borrowed it from them. 
 I 6* 
 
6J$ SOLON. 
 
 real necessity, but DOt to encourage idleness. His regulations with 
 respect to the planting of trees were also very judicious. He who 
 planted any tree in his field, was to place it at least five feet from 
 his neighbour's ground ; and if it was a (ig.tree or an olive, nine ; 
 for these extend their roots farther than others, and their neigh, 
 bourhood is prejudicial to some trees, not only as they take away 
 the nourishment, but as their effluvia is noxious. He that would 
 dig a pit or a ditch, was to dig it as far from another man's ground 
 as itvwas deep : and if any one would raise stocks of bees, be was 
 to place them three hundred feet from those already raised by 
 another. 
 
 Of all the products of the earth, he allowed none to be sold to 
 strangers, but oil ; and whoever presumed to export any thing else, 
 the archan was solemnly to declare him accursed, or pay himself a 
 hundred drachmas into the pubhc treasury. This law is in the 
 first table. And therefore it is not absolutely improbable, what 
 some affirm, that the exportation of figs was formerly forbidden, 
 and that the informer against the delmquents was called a 
 BycopharU. 
 
 He likewise enacted a law for reparation of damage received 
 from beasts. A dog that had bit a man was to be delivered up 
 bound to a log four cubits long ;* an agreeable contrivance for 
 security against such an animal. 
 
 But the wisdom of the law concerning the naturalizing of foreign- 
 era is a little dubious ; because it forbids the freedom of the city 
 to be granted to any but such as are for ever exiled from their 
 own country, or transplant themselves to Athens with their whole 
 fiunily, for the sake of exercising some manual trade. This we 
 are told, he did, not with a view to keep strangers at a distance, 
 but rather to invite them to Athens, upon the sure hope of being 
 admitted to the privilege of citizens: and he imagint>d the settle* 
 roent of those might be entirely depended upon, who had beea 
 driven from their native country, or had quitted it by choice. 
 
 That law is peculiar to Solon, which regulates the going to 
 entertainments made at the public charge, by him called poran- 
 tien. For he does not allow the same person to repair to them 
 often, and he lays a penalty upon such as refuse to go when in- 
 vited ; looking upon the former as a mark of epicurism, and the 
 latter of contempt of the public. 
 
 All his laws were to continue in force for a hundred years, and 
 were written on wooden tables, which might be turned round in the 
 oblong cases that contained them. The Senate, in a body, bound 
 
 • This law, and MTeral othort of Solon, when takM ioio tht l»«lv« hMm. In lb* 
 coMulate of T. Romiliui and C. Veiuriut. in Um jmi ct Roma, 199, Um Roowuw 
 ■ant deputiat to Atbans, to trantcriba hit lawa, aodT tlMMa of iIm oibar lawgHrtn ef 
 OrsSQfl. in order to (brm thareby a body of lawt for T 
 
SOLON. 37 
 
 themselves by oath to establish the laws of Solon ; and the ihesmo- 
 thet(Bf or guardians of the laws, severally took an oath in a parti- 
 cular form, by the stone in the market-place, that for every law 
 they broke, each would dedicate a golden statue at Delphi of the 
 same weight with himself. 
 
 Observing the irregularity of months, and that the moon neither 
 rose nor set at the same time with the sun, as it oftened happened 
 that in the same day she overtook and passed by him, he ordered 
 that day to be called hene kai nea (the old and the new) ; assign- 
 ing the part of it before the conjunction to the old month, and the 
 rest to the beginning of the new. He seems, therefore, to have 
 been the first who understood that verse in Homer, which makes 
 mention of a day wherein " the old month ended and the new be- 
 gan." The day following he called rhe new moon. After the 
 twentieth he counted not by adding, but subtracting, to the thir- 
 teenth, according to the decreasing phases of the moon. 
 
 When his laws took place,* Solon had his visitors every day, 
 finding fault with some of them, and commending others, or ad- 
 vising him to make certain additions or retrenchments. But the 
 greater part came to desire a reason for this or that article, or a 
 clear and precise explication of the meaning and design. Sensi- 
 ble that he could not well excuse himself from complying with 
 their desires, and that, if he indulged their importunity, the doing 
 it might give offence, be determined to withdraw from the diffi- 
 culty, and to get rid at once of their cavils and exceptions. For, 
 as he himself observes. 
 
 Not all the greatest enterprise can please. 
 
 Under pretence, therefore, of traffic, he set sail for another coun- 
 try, having obtained leave of the Athenians for ten years absence. 
 In that time he hoped his laws would become familiar to them. 
 
 His first voyage was to Egypt, where he abode some time, as 
 he himself relates. 
 
 On the Canopian sbore, by Nile's deep mouth. 
 
 * Plutarch has only mentioned such of Solon's la<^s as he thought the most singu^ 
 lar and remarkable: Diogenes Laertius, and Demosthenes have given us an account 
 of some others that ought not to be forgotten : — '* Let not the guardian live in the same 
 bouse with the mother of his wards. Let not the tuition of inmors be committed to 
 him who is next after them in the inheritance. Let not an engraver keep the im* 
 pression of a seal he has engraved. Let him who puts out the eye of a man who has 
 but one, lose both his own. If an archon is taken in liquor, let him be put to death. 
 Let hitn who refuses to maintain his father and mother, be infamous; and so let him 
 that has consumed his patrimony. Let him who refuses to go to war. flies, or behaves 
 cowardly, be debarred the precincts of the Jorum, and places of i^ublic worship. If 
 a man surprises his wife in adultery, and lives with her afterwards, let him be deemed 
 infamous. Let him who frequents the houses of icwd women, be debarred from speak- 
 ing in the assemblies of the people. Let a pander be pursued, and put to death if 
 taken. If any man steal m the day-time, let him he carried to the eleven officers; if 
 in the night, it shall he lawful to kill him in the act, or to wound him in the pursuit, 
 and carry him to the aJbresaid officers ; if he steals common things let him pay double, 
 and, if the convictor thinks fit, he exposed in chains five days; if be be guilty of saciir 
 l^ge, let him be put to death." 
 
es souxv. 
 
 There he conversed on points of philosophy, with Psenophis the 
 Ileliopohtan, and Senchiti the Saite, the most learned of the Kgyp« 
 tian priests ; and having an account from them ot* the Atkmtic 
 Island^ (as Plato informs us), he attempted to descrihe it to the 
 Grecians in a poem. From Egypt he sailed to Cyprus, and there 
 was honoured with the best regards of Phih tcy prus, one of the 
 kings of that island, who reigned over a small city huiU by D^mo- 
 phon the son of Theseus, near the river Clarius, in a strong situ- 
 ation indeed, but very indilferent soil. As there was an agreeable 
 plam below, Solon persuaded him to build a larger and pleunanter 
 city there, and to remove the inhabitants of the other to it. Ho 
 also assisted in laying out the whole, and building it in the best 
 manner for convenience Hnd defence : so that Pbilocyprus m a 
 short time had it so well peopled, as to excite the envy of the other 
 princes. And, therefore, though the former city was called Ai- 
 peiot yot in honour of Solon, he called the new one Soli, Ho 
 himself speaks of the building of this city, in his elegies, address, 
 ing himself to Philocyprus; 
 
 For you be long the Solon throne decreed ! 
 For ]rou, a race of prospeious aont mcceed ! 
 If in thoM Kcnes, to her to justly dear, 
 My hand a blooming city helped to rear. 
 May the sweet voice of uniling Venus bleei. 
 And lipeed me borne with honours and succeM ! 
 
 As for his interview with Croesus, some pretend to prove from 
 chronology that it is fictitious. But since the story is so famous, 
 and so well attested, nay (what is more), so agreeable to Solon's 
 character, so worthy of his wisdom and magnanimity, 1 cannot 
 prevail with myself to reject it for the sake of certain chronologi. 
 cal tables, which thousands are correcting to this day, without being 
 able to bring them to any certainty, ^lon, then, is said to have 
 gone to Sardis, at the request of Crcesus ; and when he came there, 
 he was affected much in the same manner as a person bom in an 
 inland country, when he first goes to see the ocean : for as he taket 
 every great river he comes to for the tea, so Soloo, as he 
 
 • Plaio finished this hutory from Solon*fl niMioira, as may be seen in hit Tima«M 
 and CriiiM. He pretends, that this Atlantis, an island situated in the Atlantic ocean, 
 srae bigger than Asia and Africa and that notwiihstandina its vast extent, it was 
 dnwaen in one dav and night Dindorus SkskIus sars, ibe Carthaginians, who di»> 
 oovatcd ii, made it death for any one to settle in it. Amidvi a nninber of conjeclurat 
 4saacerTiing it, one of the most prot»ar>le is. that in those days ihr Africans hart soma 
 fcaowledge of America Another opinion woith mpntiooing it, that the JiUtmhJt*. or 
 ilhrtunate islands, were what we now call the Canariasi Hmnar thus deacribef 
 
 Stem winter smiles on thai Huspiciousclinia: 
 
 The fields are florid with unfading prima. 
 
 From the bleak pole no winds inclaineni blow, 
 
 Moul'i ihit round hail, or flake iba fle«oy saow ; 
 
 fiut from thu breety deep the bleel inhala 
 
 The fragrant murmur* of tha wattaro fsl*. Pops. 
 
SOLON 
 
 69 
 
 through the court, and saw many of the nobiUty richly dressed, 
 and walking in great pomp amidst a crowd of attendants a^id guards, 
 took each of them for Croesus. At last, when he was conducted 
 into the presence, he found the king set off with whatever can be 
 imagined curious and valuable, either in beauty of colours, elegance 
 of golden ornaments, or splendour of jewels ; in order that the gran- 
 deur and variety of the scene might be as striking as possible. 
 
 Solon, standing over against the throne, was not at all surprised, 
 nor did he pay' those compliments that were expected ; on the 
 contrary, it was plain to all persons of discernment, that he despised 
 such vain ostentation and Httleness of pride. Croesus then ordered 
 his treasures to be opened, and his magnificent apartments and 
 furniture to be shown him: this was quite a needless trouble ; for 
 Solon, in one viev/ of the king, was able to read his character. 
 When he had seen all and was conducted back, Croesus asked 
 him, " If he had ever beheld a happier man than he ?" Solon an- 
 swered, " He had, and that the person was one Tellus, a plain, but 
 worthy citizen of Athens, who left valuable children behind him, 
 and who having been above the want of necessaries all his life, 
 died gloriously fighting for his country." By this time he appeared 
 to Croesus to be a strange uncouth kind of rustic, who did not mea- 
 sure happiness by the <|uantity of gold and silver, but could prefer 
 the life and death of a private and mean person to his high dignity 
 and power. However, he asked him again, " Whether, after 
 Tellus, he knew another happier man in the world ?" Solon an- 
 swered, " Yes, Cleobis and Biton, famed for their brotherly affec- 
 tion, and dutiful behaviour to their mother ; for the oxen not being 
 ready, they put themselves in the harness, and drew their mother 
 to Juno's temple, who was extremely happy in having such sons, 
 and moved forward amidst the blessings of the people. After the 
 sacrifice, they drank a cheerful cup with their friends, and then 
 lay down to rest, but rose no more ; for they died in the night 
 without sorrow or pain, in the midst of so much glory." " Well," 
 said Croesus, now highly displeased, " and do you not then rank us 
 in the number of happy men?" Solon, unwilling either to flatter 
 him, or to exasperate him more, replied, "King of Lydia, as God 
 has given the Greeks a moderate proportion of other things, so 
 likewise he has favoured them with a democratic spirit, and a liberal 
 kind of wisdom, which has no taste for the splendours of royalty. 
 Moreover, the vicissitudes of life suffer us not to be elated by any 
 present good fortune, or to admire that felicity which is liable to 
 change. Futurity carries for every man many various and uncer- 
 tain events in its bosom. He, therefore, whom Heaven blesses 
 with success to the last, is in our estimation the happy man. But 
 the happiness of him who still lives, and has the dangers of life to 
 jencounter, appears to us no better than that of a champion, before 
 
70 SOLO."<I. 
 
 the combat is determined, and while the crown is uncertaia.^ 
 With these words Solon departed, leaving Crcesus chagrined, but 
 not instructed. 
 
 At that lime iEsop, the fabulist, was at the court of Crcesus, 
 who had sent for him, and caressed him not a little. He was con. 
 eerned at the unkind reception Solon met with, and thereupon gave 
 him this advice : *' A man should either not converse with kmgs at 
 all, or say what is agreeable to them." To which Solon replied, 
 '* Nav, but he should either not do it all, or say what is useful to 
 them." 
 
 Though Croesus at that time held our law.giver in contempt, 
 yet when he was defeated in his wars with Cyrus, when his city 
 was taken, himself made prisoner, and laid bound upon the pile, 
 m order to be burnt, m the presence of Cyrus and all the Persians, 
 he cried out as loud as he possibly could, *' Solon ! Solon ! Solon!" 
 Cyrus, surprised at this, sent to inquire of him, " What God or 
 man it was whom alone he thus invoked under so great a cala- 
 mity V* Crcesus answered without the least disguise, ** He is one 
 of the wise men of Greece, whom I sent for, not with a design to 
 bear his wisdom, or to learn what might be of service to me, but 
 that he might see and extend the reputation of that glor}-, the loss 
 of which I find a much greater misfortune, than the possession of 
 it was a blessing. My exalted state was only an exterior advan- 
 tage, the happiness of opinion ; but the reverse plunges me into 
 real sufferings, and ends in misery irremediable. This was fore- 
 seen by that great man, who, forming a conjecture of the future 
 from what he then saw, advised me to consider the end of life, and 
 not to rely or grow insolent upon uncertainties." When this was 
 told Cyrus, who was a much wiser man than Croesus, finding So- 
 lon's maxim confirmed by an example before him, he not only set 
 Croesus at liberty, but honoured him with his protection as long 
 as he lived. Thus Solon had the glory of saving the life of one 
 of these kings, and of instructing the other. 
 
 During his absence, the Athenians were much divided among 
 themselves ; Lycurgus being at the head of the low country; Me- 
 gacles, the son of Alcoucon, of the people that lived near the sea 
 coast ; and Pisistratus, of the mountaineers ; among which last 
 was a multitude of labouring people, whose enmity was chiefly le- 
 velled at the rich. Hence it was that, though the city did obMrve 
 Solon's laws, yet all expected some change, and were desirous 
 of another establishment ; not in hopes of an equality, but with a 
 view to be gainers by the alteration, and entirely to subdue those 
 who differed from them. 
 
 While matters stood thus, Solon arrived at Athens, where ha 
 was received with great respect, and still held in veneration by all; 
 but, by reaaoD of his great age, be had neither the strength nor 
 
SOLON. 71 
 
 spirit to act or speak in public as he had done. He therefore ap- 
 plied in private to the heads of ihe factions, and endeavoured tO 
 appease and reconcile them. Pisistratus seemed to give hina 
 greater attention than the rest ; for Pisistratus had an afi'able and 
 engaging manner. He was a liberal benefactor to the poor ;* 
 and even to his enemies he behaved with great candour. He coun- 
 terfeited so dexterously the good qualities which nature had denied 
 him, that he gained more credit than the real possessors of them, 
 and stood foremost in the public esteem, in point of moderation 
 and equity, in zeal for the present government, and aversion to 
 all that endeavoured at a change. With these arts he imposed 
 upon the people : but Solon soon discovered his real character, 
 and was the first to discern his insidious designs. Yet he did not 
 absolutely break with him, but endeavoured to soften him, and ad- 
 vise him better ; declaring both to him and others, that if ambition 
 could but be banished from his'soul, and he could be cured of his 
 desire of absolute power, there would not be a man better disposed, 
 or a more worthy citizen in Athens. 
 
 About this time, Thespis b6gan to change the form of tragedy, 
 and the novelty of the thing attracted many spectators ; for this 
 was before any prize was proposed for those that excelled in this 
 respect. Solon, who was always willing to hear and to learn, and 
 in his old age more inclined to any thing that might divert and en- 
 tertam, particularly to music and good fellowship, went to see 
 Thespis himself exhibit, as the custom of the ancient poets was. 
 When the play was done, he called to Thespis, and asked him, 
 *' If he was not ashamed to tell so many lies before so great an 
 assembly ? Thespis answered, " It was no great matter, if he spoke 
 or acted so in jest." To which Solon replied, striking the ground 
 violently with his stajBT, '* If we encourage such jesting as this, we 
 shall quickly find it in our contracts and agreements." 
 
 Soon after this Pisistratus, having wounded himself for the pur 
 pose, drove in that condition into the market-place, and endea- 
 voured to inflame the minds of the people, by telling them, his 
 enemies had lain in wait for him, and treated him in this manner 
 on account of his patriotism. Upon this, the multitude loudly ex- 
 pressed their indignation : but Solon came up, and thus accosted 
 him. Son of Hippocrates, you act Horner^ s Ulysses but very indif- 
 ferently, for he wounded himself to deceive his enemies, but you have 
 done it to impose upon your countrymen. Notwithstanding this, the 
 rabble were ready to take up arms for him : and a general assem- 
 
 * By the poor we are not to understand such as asked alms, for there were none 
 such at Athens. — " In those days," says Isocrates, " there was no citizen that died'of 
 want, or begged in the streets, to the dishonour of the community." This was owing 
 to the laws against idleness and prodigality, and the care which the areopagvs topk 
 that every man should have a visible livelihood. 
 
7^ «OLON. 
 
 biy of the people being summoned, Ariston made a motion, thai A 
 body-guard of fifty club-men should be astigned him. Solon stood 
 up and opposed it with many arguroeots, of the same kind with 
 tboee he has led us in his poems : 
 
 You hang wiUi rapture oo bit booejr'd •oofM. 
 
 And again, 
 
 Tour heart to public interest ever blind. 
 Your fox like art Mill centres in yourselC 
 
 But when he saw the poor behave in a riotous manner, and deter- 
 mined to gratify Pisistratus at any rate, while the rich, out of fear, 
 declined the opposition, he retired with this declaration ; that be 
 had shown more wisdom than the former, in discerning what me- 
 thod should have been taken ; and more courage than the latter, 
 who did not want understanding, but spirit to oppose the establish- 
 ment of a tyrant. The people having made the decree, did not 
 curiously inquire into the number of guards which Pisistratus em- 
 ployed, but visibly connived at his keeping as many as he pleased, 
 till he seized the citadel. When this was done, and the city in 
 great confusion, (Vlegacles, with the rest of the Alcmseonidsc, iro* 
 mediately took to flight. But Solon, though he was now very old, 
 and had none to second him, appeared in pubUc, and addressed 
 himself to the citizens, sometimes upbraiding them with their past 
 indiscretion and cowardice, sometimes exhorting and encouraging 
 them to stand up fur their liberty. Then it was that he spoke those 
 memorable words. It would have been easier for them to repress the 
 advances of tyranny, and prevent its esfabiimment ; but now it was 
 established^ and grown to some height, it would be more gtoriou* to 
 demolish it. However, finding thai their fears prevented their at- 
 tention to what he said, he returned to his own house, and placed 
 his weapons at the street door, with these words, / have done all 
 in my power to defend my country and its laws. This was his last 
 public effort. Though some exhorted him to fly, he took no notice 
 of their advice, but was composed enough to make verses, in 
 which he thus reproaches the Athenians. 
 
 Iffeeror lolly has your rights betrayed, 
 
 IjKt not ihf> fault on righteons Heav'n be laid . 
 
 You gave ihem guards : you raii'd your tyrants high, 
 
 T impose the heavy yoke that draws the heaving sigh. 
 
 Many of his friends, alarmed at this, told him the tyrant would 
 certainly put him to death for it, and asked him what he trusted to, 
 that he went such imprudent lengths . he answered, Yb old age. 
 However, when Pisistratus had fully established himself, he made 
 his court to Solon, and treated him with so much kindness and re- 
 spect, that Soion became, as it were, his counsellor, and gave 
 sanction to many of his proceedings. He observed the greatest 
 part of Solon's laws, showing himself the example, and obliging 
 
SOLON. 73 
 
 his friends to follow it. Thus when he was accused of murder be- 
 fore the court of areopagus, he appeared in a modest manner to 
 make his defence ; but his accuser dropped the impeachment. He 
 likewise added other laws, one of which was, that persons maimed 
 in the warSy should be maintained at the public charge. Yet this, 
 Heraclides tells us, was in pursuance of Solon's plan, who had de- 
 creed the same in the case of Thersippus. But according to The. 
 ophrastus, Pisistratus, not Solon, made the law against idleness, 
 which produced at once greater industry in the country, and tran- 
 quillity in the city. 
 
 Solon, moreover, attempted in verse a large description, or rather 
 fabulous account of the Atlantic Island,* which he had learned of 
 the wise men of Sais, and which particularly concerned the Athe- 
 nians ; but by reason of his age, not want of leisure (as Plato 
 would have it), he was apprehensive that the work would be too 
 much for him, and therefore did not go through with it. These 
 verses are a proof that business was not the hindrance : 
 I grow in learning as I grow in years. 
 
 And again. 
 
 Wine, wit, and^ beauty, still their charms bestow, 
 Light all the shades of life, and cheer us as we go. 
 
 Plato, ambitious to cultivate and adorn the subject of the Atlantic 
 Island, as a delightful spot in some fair field unoccupied, to which 
 also he had some claim, by his being related to Solon,f laid out 
 magnificent courts and inclosures, and erected a grand entrance to 
 it, such as no other story, fable, or poem ever had. But as he 
 began it late, he ended his life before the work ; so that the more 
 the reader is delighted with the part that is written, the more regret 
 he has to find it unfinished. 
 
 Heraclides Ponticus relates that Solon lived a considerable time 
 after Pisistratus usurped the government ; but according to Phanias 
 the Ephesian, not quite two years. For Pisistratus began his ty- 
 ranny in the archonship of Comias ; and Phanias tells us Solon died 
 in the archonship of Hegestratus, the immediate successor lo 
 Comias. 
 
 * This fable imported, that the people of Atlantis, having subdued all Lybia, and 
 a great part of Europe, threatened Egypt and Greece; but the Athenians making head 
 against their victorious array, overthrew them in several engagements, and confined 
 them to their own island. 
 
 t Plato's mother was a descendant of the brother of Soloo. 
 
74 
 
 THEMI8T0CLES. 
 
 Flwrished 471 years before Christ, 
 
 THE family of Themistocles was too obscure to raise him to 
 distinction. He was the son of Neocles, an inferior citizen of 
 Athens, of the ward of Phrear, and the tribe of Leontis. By bis 
 mother's side, he is said to have been illegitimate,* according to 
 the following verses : 
 
 Though born in Thrace, Abrotonon my name, 
 My soo enrols me in the listfl of lame, 
 The great Themistocles. 
 
 Yet Phanias writes, that the mother of Themistocles was of 
 Caria, not of Thrace, and that her name was not Abrotonon, but 
 Euterpe. Neanthes mentions Halicarnassus as the city to which 
 she belonged. But be that as it may, when all the illegitimate 
 youth assembled at Cynosarges, in the wrestling rinc dedicated 
 to Hercules, without the gates, which was appointed for that pur- 
 pose, because Hercules himself was not altogether of divine ex- 
 traction, but had a mortal for his mother ; Themistocles found 
 means to persuade some of the young noblemen to go to Cynos- 
 urges, and take their exercise with him. This was an ingenious 
 contrivance to take away the distinction between the illegitimate 
 or aliens, and the legitimate, whoso parents were botli Athenians. 
 
 When a boy, he was full of spirit and fire, quick of apprehen- 
 sion, naturally inclined to bold attempts, and likely to make a 
 great statesman. His hours of leisure and vacation he spent not 
 like other boys, in idleness and play ; but he wus blways invent, 
 ing and composing declamations: the subjects of which wero 
 cither the impeachment or defence of some of his schooUfsUows : 
 so that his master would oflcn say, " Boy, you will bo lothing 
 common or indifferent ; you will either bo a blessing or a curse 
 to the community." As tor moral philosophy, and the polite arts, 
 he learned them but slowly, and with little satisfaction ; but in- 
 stnictions in political knowledge, and the administration of public 
 affairs, he received with an attention above his years : because 
 they suited his genius. When, therefore, he was laughed at, long 
 after, in company where free scope was given to railler)-, by per- 
 sons who passed as more accomplished in what was called genteel 
 breeding, he was obliged to answer them with some asperity : 
 " Tis true 1 never learned how to tune a harp, or play upon a lute, 
 
 • It was a law at Athens, Uiat every citizen who bad a fcttiMii lo b't mothar, 
 should be deemed a bastard, thott|h bom in wedlock, aad riMwd contequently bt 
 incapable of inhtriUog his father's estate. 
 
THEMISTOCLES. 75 
 
 but I know how to raise a small and inconsiderable city to glory 
 and greatness." 
 
 In the first sallies of youth, he was irregular and unsteady; as 
 he followed his own disposition without any moral restraints. He 
 lived in extremes, and those extremes were often of the worst 
 kind. But he seemed to apologize for this afterwards, when he 
 observed, that the " wildest colts make the best horses, when they 
 come to be properly broke and managed." 
 
 Themisiocles had an early and violent inclination for public bu- 
 siness, and was so strongly smitten with the love of glory, and an 
 ambition of the highest station, that he involved himself in trouble- 
 some quarrels with persons of the first rank and influence in the 
 state, particularly with Aristides, the son of Lysimachus, who al- 
 ways opposed him. Their enrnity began early, but the cause, as 
 Ariston the philosopher relates, was nothing more than their re- 
 gard for Ptesileus of Teos. After this, their disputes continued 
 about public affairs : and the dissimilarity of their lives and man 
 ners naturally to it. Aristides was of a mild temper, and of great 
 probity. He managed the concerns of government with uiflexible 
 justice, not with a view to ingratiate himself with the people, or to 
 promote his own glory, but solely for the advantage and safety of 
 the stale. He was, therefore, necessarily obliged to oppose The- 
 mistocles, and to prevent his promotion, because he frequently 
 put the people upon unwarrantable enterprises, and was ambitious 
 of introducing great innovations. Indeed, Themistocles was so 
 carried away with the love of glory, so immoderately desirous of 
 distinguishing himself by some great action, that, though he was 
 very young when the battle of Marathon was fought, and when the 
 generalship of Miltiades was every where extolled, yet even then 
 he was observed to keep much alone, to be very pensive, to watch 
 whole nights, and not to attend the usual entertainments : when he 
 was asked the reason by his friends, who wondered at the change, 
 he said, " The trophies of Miltiades would not suffer him to sleep." 
 While others imagined the defeat of the Persians at Marathon had 
 put an end to the war, he considered it as the beginning of greater 
 conflicts; and, for the benefit of Greece, he, was always preparing 
 himself and the Athenians against those conflicts, because he fore- 
 saw them at a distance. 
 
 And, in the first place, whereas the Athenians had used to share 
 the revenue of the silver mines of Laurium among themselves, he 
 alone had the courage to make a motion to the people, that they 
 should divide them in that manner no longer, but build with them 
 a number of galleys to be employed in the war against the Egi- 
 netae, who then made a considerable figure in Greece, and, by 
 means of their numerous navy, were masters of the sea. By sea- 
 sonably stirring up the resentment and emulation of his countrymen 
 
76 THEMiSTOCLES. 
 
 against these islanders, he the more easily prevailed with them to 
 provide themselves with ships, than if he had displayed the terrors 
 of Darius, and the Persians, who were at a greater distance, and 
 of whose coming they had no great apprehensions. With this 
 money, a hundred galleys with three banks of oars were built, 
 which afterwards fought against Xerxes. From this step he pro. 
 ceeded to others, in order to draw the attention of the Athenians 
 to maritime affairs, and to convince them, that, thoupli by land 
 they were not able to cope with their neighbours, yet with a naval 
 force they might not only repel the barbarians, but hold all Greece 
 in subjection. Thus of good land forces, as Plato says, he made 
 them mariners and seamen, and brought upon himself the asper- 
 sion of taking from his countrymen the spear and the shield, and 
 Bonding them to the bench and the oar. 
 
 Stesimbrotus writes, that Themistocles effected this, in spite of 
 the opposition of M iltiades. Whether by this proceeding he cor- 
 ruptcd the simplicity of the Athenian constitution, is a speculation 
 not proper to be indulged in here. But that the Greeks owed their 
 safety to these naval applications, and that those ships re-estab- 
 lished the city of Athens aHer it had been destroyed (to omit other 
 proofs), Xerxes himself is a sufficient witness. For, after his de- 
 feat at sea, he was no longer able to make head against the Athe- 
 nians, though his land forces remained entire : and it seems to me, 
 that he left Mardonius rather to prevent a pursuit, than with any 
 hope of his bringing Greece into subjection. 
 
 Some authors write, that Themistocles was intent upon the ac 
 quisition of money, with a view to spend it profusely : and indeed, 
 for his frequent sacrifices, he had need of a large supply. Yet 
 others, on the contrar>-, accuse him of meanness and attention to 
 trifles, and say he even sold presents that were made him for his 
 table. 
 
 In ambition, however, he had no equal. For when he was yet 
 young, and but little known, he prevailed upon Epicles of Her- 
 mione, a performer upon the lyre, much valued by the Athenians, 
 to practise at his house : hoping by this means to draw a great 
 number of people thither. And when he went to the Olympic 
 games, he endeavoured to equal or exceed Cimon, in the elegance 
 of his table, the splendour of his pavilions, and other expenses of 
 his train. These things, however, were not agreeable to the Greeks, 
 They looked upon them as suitable to a young man of a noble fa- 
 roily ; but when an obscure person set himself op so much above 
 his fortune, he gained nothing by it but the imputation of vanity. 
 He exhibited a tragedy* too at bis own expense, and gained the 
 
 * Trafedr al this timo was just arrived at perfection : and so great a taste bad the' 
 Athenians for this khid of entertainment, that the princifial persons in the common- 
 WStltb could not oblise them more, than t>v exhibiting the Imii in^v trhh the most 
 
THEMISTOCLES. 77 
 
 prize with his tragedians, at a time when those entertainments 
 were pursued with great avidity and emulation. In memory of his 
 success, he put up this inscription, "' Themistocles the Phrearian 
 exhibited the tragedy, Phrynicus composed it,* Adimantus pre- 
 sided." This gained him popularity ; and what added to it was, 
 his charging his memory with the names of the citizens ; so that 
 he readily called each by his own. He was an impartial judge 
 too, in the causes that were brought before him ; and Simonides 
 of Ceosf making an unreasonable request to him when archon, he 
 answered, " Neither would you be a good poet, if you transgressed 
 the rules of harmony ; nor I a good magistrate, if I granted your 
 petition contrary to law." Another time he rallied Simonides for 
 his absurdity in abusing the Corinthians, who inhabited so elegant 
 a city ; and having his own picture drawn, when he had so ill- 
 favoured an aspect. 
 
 At length, having attained to a great height of power and popu- 
 larity, his faction prevailed, and he procured the banishment of 
 Aristides by what is called the Ostracism.^ 
 
 The Modes now preparing to invade Greece again, the Athe. 
 nians considered who should be their general ; and many (we are 
 told) thinking the commission dangerous, declined it. But Epi- 
 cydes, the son of Euphemides a man of more eloquence than 
 courage, and capable withal of being bribed, solicited it, and was 
 likely to be chosen. Themistocles, fearing the consequence would 
 be fatal to the public, if the cly)ice fell upon Epicydes, prevailed 
 upon him by pecuniary considerations to drop his pretensions. 
 
 As soon as he had taken the command, he endeavoured to per- 
 suade the people to quit the city, to embark on board their ships, 
 and to meet the barbarians at as great a distance from Greece as pos- 
 sible. But many opposing it, he marched at the head of a great 
 army, together with the Lacedaemonians, to Tempe, intending to 
 
 elegant decorations. Public prizes were appointed for those that excelled in this re- 
 spect; and it was matter of great emulation to gam them. 
 
 * Phrynicus was the disciple of Thespis, who was esteen)ed the inventor of tragedy 
 He was the first that brought female actors upon the stage. His chief plays were Ac- 
 taeon, Alcestis, and the Danaides. ^schylus was his contemporary. 
 
 f Simonides celebrated the battles of Marathon and Salamis in his poems : and was 
 the author of several odes and elegies : some of which are still extant and well known. 
 He was much in the favour of Pausanias, king of Sparta, and of Hiero, king of Sicily. 
 Plato had so high an opinion of his merit, that he gave him the epithet of divine. He 
 aied m the first year of the 78th Olympiad, at almost ninety years of age: so that he 
 was very near fourscore when he described the battle of Salamis. 
 
 t It is not certain by whom the Ostracism was introduced : some say, by Pisistralus, 
 or rather by his eons; others, by Clistnenes- and others, make it as ancient as the 
 time of Theseus. By this, men, who became powerful to such a degree as to threaten 
 the state with danger, were banished for ten years: and they were to quit the Athe- 
 nian territories in ten days. The luethod of it was this ; every citizen took a piece of 
 broken prtt or shell, on which he wrote the name of the person he would have banished. 
 This done, the magistrates counted the shells; and, if they amounted to 6000, sorted 
 them ; and the man whose name was found on the greatest number of shells, was of 
 course exiled for ten vears. 
 
 7* 
 
78 THEMlSTOCLfiS. 
 
 cover Theasaly, which had not as yet declared for the Pcrsiaos. 
 When he returned without efiecting any thing, the ThessaUaot 
 having embraced the king's party, and all the country as far as 
 Boeotia following their example, the Athenians were more willing 
 to hearken to his proposal to fight the enemy at sea, and sent him 
 with a fleet to guard the straits of Artimisium.* 
 
 When the fleets of the several states were joined, and the 
 majority v/ere of opinion, that Eurybiadcs should have the chief 
 command, and with his Lacedaemonians begin the engagement, 
 the Athenians, who had a greater number of ships than all the rest 
 united,-!- thought it an indignity to part with the place of honour. 
 But Themistocles, perceiving the danger of any disagreement at 
 that time, gave up the command to Eurybiades, and satisfied the 
 Athenians, by representing to them, that, if they behaved like men 
 in that war, the Grecians would voluntary yield them the superi. 
 ority for the future. To him, therefore, Greece seems to owe her 
 preservation; and the Athenians in particular the distinguished 
 glory of surpassing their enemies in valour, and their allies in 
 moderation* 
 
 The Persian fleet coming up to Aphetae, Eurybiades was asto 
 nished at such an appearance of ships, particularly when he was 
 infcrmed that there were two hundred more sailing round Sciathus. 
 He therefore was desirous, without loss of time, to draw nearer to 
 Greece, and to keep close to the Peloponnesian coast, where he 
 might have an army occasionally to assist the fleet ; for he con- 
 sidered the naval force of the Persians as invincible. Upon this, 
 the EubcBans, apprehensive that the Greeks would forsake them, 
 sent Pelagon to negociate privately with Themistocles, and to offer 
 him a large sum of money. He took the money, and gave it (as 
 Herodotus writes) to Eurybiades.^ Finding himself most opposed 
 in his designs by Archtoles, captain of the sacred gaUey^f^ who had 
 
 * At the tame time that the Greeks thought of defending tb« pass of Thermnp>la' 
 by land, they sent a fleet to hinder the passage of the Persian navy through th« straits 
 of Eulxca, which fleet rendezvoused at Artetnisium. 
 
 t Herodotus tclis us, in the beginnmg of his eighth t)ook, that the Athenians fur> 
 nitbed 127 vessels, and that the whole complement of the rest of the Greeks amounted 
 to no more than 151 ; of which twenty belonged likewise to the Athcuiaos, who bad 
 lent them to the Chalcidians. 
 
 t According to Herodotus, the affair was thus:— The Euboeans, not being ablaio 
 prevail with Eurybiades to remain on their con«i till tbay could carry oflf tbtir wivM 
 and children, addressed themselves to Thrinittocifs, and made bin a praaant oMf thirty 
 talents. He took the money, and wiih five talents bribed Eurybiadas. Tbaa Adia- 
 manthus the Corinthian, being the only commanher who insisted on weighing aiKhor, 
 Themistocles went on Ixiard him, and told bim in a few words, — " Adiamanihus, you 
 shall not abandon us. for I will give you a greater present for doing your duly, than 
 the king of Me.if s would send you for deserting the Alliea ;** which he performad, by 
 tending him three talents on t>oard Thus he did what tba Euboeans rrquestad, and 
 saved twenty two talents fur himself. 
 
 } The $acred galley was that which the Athenians sant every year to Deloa, with 
 MCI i6ci!» for Apollo ; and they pretend it was the same in which Theseus carriad tba 
 iribute to Crete. 
 
THEMJSTOCLES. 
 
 d^9 
 
 not money to pay his men, and therefore intended immediately to 
 withdraw ; he so incensed his countrymen against him, that they 
 went in a tumuUuous manner on board his ship and took from him 
 what he had provided for his supper, Architeles being much pro- 
 voked at this insuit, Themistocles sent him m a chest a quantity of 
 provisions, and at the bottom of it a talent of silver, and desired 
 him to refresh himself that evening, and to satisfy his crew in the 
 morning ; otherwise he would accuse him to the Athenians of hav- 
 ing received a bribe from the enemy. 
 
 Though the several engagaments* with the Persian fleet in the 
 straits of Euboea A'ere not decisive, yet they were of great advan- 
 tage to the Greeks, who learned by experience, that neither the 
 number of ships, nor the beauty and splendour of their ornaments, 
 nor the vaunting shouts and songs of the barbarians, have any thing 
 dreadful in them to men who know how to fight hand to hand, and 
 are determined to behave gallantly. These things they were 
 taught to despise, when they came to close action and grappled 
 with the foe. In this case Pindar's sentiments appear just, when 
 he says of the fight at Artemisium, 
 
 ^Twas then that Athens the foundation laid 
 Of Liberty's fair structure. 
 
 Indeed, intrepid courage is the commencement of victory. 
 
 The news of what had happened at Thermopylae being brought 
 to Artemisium,f when the confederates were informed that Leonidas 
 was slain there, and Xerxes master of the passages by land, they 
 sailed back to Greece ; and the Athenians, elate with their late 
 distinguished valour, brought up the rear. As Themistocles sailed 
 aiouff the coasts, wherever he saw any harbours or places proper 
 for the enemy's ships to put in at, he took such stones as he 
 happened to find, or caused to be brought thither for the purpose, 
 and set them up in the ports and watering-places, with the follow- 
 ing inscription engraved in large characters, and addressed to the 
 loiiians : " Let the lonians, if it be possible, come over to the 
 Greeks, from whom they are descended, and who now risk their 
 lives for their liberty. If this be impracticable, let them at least 
 perplex tlie barbarians, and put them in disorder, in time of action." 
 
 * They came to three several engagements within three days, in the last of which 
 Cliteas, the father of Alcibiades. performed wonders. He had, at bis own expense, 
 fitted out a ship which carried two hundred men 
 
 t The last engagement at Thermopylae, wherein Xerxes forced the passes of the 
 mountains, by the defeat of the Lacedaemonians, Thespians, and Thebans, who had 
 been left to guard them, happened on the same day with the battle at Artimisium ; and 
 the news of it was brought to Themistocles by an Athenian called Abronichus. 
 Though the action at Thermopylse had not an immediate relation to Themistocles, jret 
 it would have tended more to the giory of that general, if Plutarch had taken greater 
 notice of it : since the advantage gamed there by Xerxes, opened Greece to him, and 
 rendered him much more formidable. Thermopyla; is well known to be a narrow 
 pass in the raountains near theEuripus. 
 
80 THEMISTOCLES. 
 
 By this he hoped either to bring the looians over to his side, or to 
 sow discord among them, by causing them to be suspected by the 
 Persians. 
 
 Though Xerxes had passed through Doris down to Phocis, and 
 was burning and destroying the Phocian cities, yet the Greeks 
 sent them no succours. And, notwithstanding all the entreaties 
 the Athenians could use to prevail with the confederates, to repair 
 with them into Bceotia, and cover the frontiers of Attica, as they 
 had sent a fleet to Artemisium to serve the common cause, no one 
 gave ear to their request. All eyes were turned upon Pelopon- 
 nesus, and all were determined to collect their forces within the 
 Jsthmust and to build a wall across it from sea to sea. The Athe- 
 nians were greatly incensed to see themselves thus betrayed, and, 
 at the same time, dejected and discouraged at so general a defec- 
 tion. They alone could not think of giving battle to so prodigious 
 an army. To quit the city, and embark on board their ships, was 
 the only expedient at present : and this the generality were very 
 unwUling to hearken to, as they could neither have any great 
 ambition for victory, nor idea of safety, when they had left the 
 temples of their gods and the monuments of their ancestors. 
 
 Themistocles, perceiving that he could not by the force of human 
 reason prevail with the multitudes,* set his machinery to work, as 
 a poet would do in a tragedy, and had recourse to prodigies and 
 oracles. The prodigy he availed himself of, was the disappearing 
 of the dragon of Minerva, which at that time quitted the holy place ; 
 and the priests finding the daily ofTerings set before it untouched, 
 gave it out among the people, at the suggestion of Themistocles, 
 that the goddess had forsaken the city, and that she offered to 
 conduct them to sea. Moreover, by way of explaining to the 
 people an oracle then received.f he told them, that, by toooden 
 wallet there could not possibly be any thing meant but ships ; and 
 that Apollo, now called Salamis divine^ not wretched and unfortu* 
 note as formerly, signified by such an epithet, that it would be pro- 
 ductive of some great advantage to Greece. His councils pre- 
 
 * He prevuled to effectually at last, that the Athenians itoned Cvntilus, an orator, 
 who vehemently opposed him : and urgeJ all the common topics of love to the plaot 
 of one's birth, and the affecttoi) to wives and balplaea influita. The woeeM, too, ID 
 show how far they were from desiring that the cause of Gieeca should sufler for than* 
 stoned his wife. 
 
 f This was the second oracle which the Athenian deputies received from Aristo> 
 nice, priesteM of Apollo. Many were of opinion, that, by the walls of wood which 
 sba advised them to have recourse to, was meant the citadel, because it was pettaaded ; 
 but others thought ii could intend ooihioa bat ships. The neinuiocrs of the former 
 opinion urged against such as supported the latter, that the Isn line hot one of the 
 oracle was directly against him. and that, without questloo, It portMided the deelfuo 
 tioo of the Athenian fleet near Salamis. Themistocles alleged ia ensver, that If the 
 oracle had Intended to foretell the destruction of the Athenlaas, it would not have 
 railed It the divine Salamis, but the unhappy ; and that, wbereai, the unfortunate hi 
 the oraele were styled the sons of women, it could mean MMMher than the Persian*, 
 wbo were eeandtlcutly effeminate. —Htnydot. I. vii. c. 143, 144 
 
• THEMISTCXJLES. 
 
 SI 
 
 vailed, and he proposed a decree, that the city should be left to 
 the protection of Minerva,* the tutelary goddess of the Athenians; 
 that the young men should go on board the ships ; and that every 
 one should provide as well as he possibly could for the safety of the 
 children, the women, and the slaves. 
 
 When this decree was made, most of the Athenians removed 
 their parents and wives to Trcezene, where they were received with 
 a generous hospitality. The Trcezenians came to a resolution to 
 maintain them at the public expense, for which purpose they al- 
 lowed each of them two aboli a day ; they permitted the children 
 to gather fruit wherever they pleased, and providing for their edu- 
 cation by paying their tutors. This order was procured by Nica- 
 goras. 
 
 The embarkation of the people of Athens was a very affecting 
 scene. What pity ! what admiration of the firmness of those men, 
 who, sending their parents and families to a distant place, unmoved 
 with their cries, their tears, or embraces, had the fortitude to leave 
 the city, and embark for Salamis ! What greatly heightened the 
 distress, was the number of citizens whom they were forced to leave 
 behind, because of their extreme old age.| And some emotions of 
 tenderness were due even to the tame domestic animals, which, 
 running to the shore with lamentable bowlings expressed their 
 affection and regret for the persons that had fed them. One of 
 these, a dog, that belonged to Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, 
 unwilling to be left behind, is said to have lept into the sea, and to 
 have swam by the side of the ship, till it reached Salamis, where, 
 quite spent with toil, it died immediately. 
 
 To these great actions of Themistocles may be added the fol- 
 lowing : he perceived that Aristides was much regretted by the 
 people, who were apprehensive that, out of revenge, he might join 
 the Persians, and do great prejudice to the cause of Greece ; he, 
 therefore, caused a decree to be made, that all who had been 
 banished only for a time, should have leave to return, and by their 
 council and valour assist their fellow-citizens in the preservation 
 of their country. 
 
 Eurybiades, by reason of the dignity of Sparta, had the com- 
 mand of the fleet : but as he was apprehensive of the danger, J he 
 proposed to set sail for the Isthmus, and fix his station near the 
 
 * But how was this, when he had before told the people, that Minerva had forsaken 
 the city ? 
 
 t In this description, we find strong traces of Plutarch's humanity and good na 
 tare. 
 
 X It does not appear that Eurybiades wanted courage. After Xerxes had gained 
 the pass of ThermopylED, it was the general opinion of the chief ofiacers of the con- 
 federate fleet assembled in council (except those of Athens,) that their only resource 
 was to build a strong wall across the isthmus, and to defend Peloponnesus against the 
 Persians. Besides, the Lacedaemonians, who were impartial judges of men and 
 things, gave the palm of valour to Eurybiades, and that of prudence to Themistocles. 
 
 L 
 
g2 THEMISTOCLES. * 
 
 Peloponnesian army. 'Fhemistocles, however, opposed it; and 
 the account we have of the conference on that occasion deserves to 
 be mentioned. When Eurybiades said,* *• Do not you know, The- 
 mistocles, that, in the pubhc games, such as rise up before their 
 turn are chastised for it 1" — " Yes," answered Themistocles ; " yet 
 such a9 are letl behind never gain the crown." Eur\'biades, upon 
 this, hfting up his staff, as if he intended to strike him, Themistocles 
 said, " Strike if you please, but hear me." The Lacedaemonians, 
 admiring his command of temper, bade him speak what he had to say : 
 and Themistocles was leading him back to the subject, when one 
 of the officers thus interrupted him, " It ill becomes you who have 
 no city, to advise us to quit our habitations and abandon our coun- 
 try." Themistocles retorted upon him thus : " Wretch that thou 
 art, we have indeed left our walls and houses, not choosing, for the 
 sake of those inanimate things, to become slaves ; yet we have 
 still the most respectable city of Greece, in these two hundred 
 ships, which are here ready to defend you, if you will give them 
 leave. But if you forsake and betray us a second time, Greece 
 shall soon find the Athenians possessed of as free a city, and as 
 valuable a country, as that which they have quitted." These 
 words struck Eurybiades with the apprehension that the Athenians 
 might fall off from him. We are told, also, that as a certain Ere- 
 trian was attempting to speak, Themistocles said, " What have you, 
 too, something to say about war, who are like the fish that has a 
 sword, but no heart." 
 
 While Themistocles was thus maintaining his argument upon 
 deck some tell us an owl was seen flying to the right of the f1eet,f 
 which came and perched upon the shrouds. This omen deter- 
 mined the confederates to accede to his opinion, and to prepare for 
 a sea-fight. But no sooner did the enemy's fleet appear advaoc 
 ing towards the harbour of Phalerus in Attica, and covering all the 
 neighbouring coasts, while Xerxes himself was seen marching 
 his land-forces to the shore, than the Greeks, struck with the sight 
 of such prodigious armaments, began to forget the counsel of The- 
 mistocles-, and the Peloponnosians once more looked towards the 
 IsUmtu, Nay they resolved to set sail that very night, and such 
 orders were given to nil the pilots. Themistocles, greatly con- 
 cerned that the Greeks were going to give up the advantage of 
 their station in the straits, and to retire to their respective coun- 
 tries, contrived that stratagem which was put in execution by 
 Sicinus. This Sicinus was of Persian extraction, and a captive, 
 but much attached to Themistocles, and llie tutor of his children. 
 
 * Herodotat nvt, tbii conversation paiwd betweM AdismanUuM, teoenl of Dm 
 CorioUiiaDt, Mid TiMniiitocles ; but Plutaich raUttt it with own prabtbilirr of Eurv- 
 biadet, who wm comoMinder in cbic/. 
 
 f The owl was nwred to Mioerra, the proioetrtn of the 
 
THEMISTOCLES. 83 
 
 On this occasion Themistocles sent him privately to the king of 
 Persia, with orders to tell him, that the commander of the Athenians, 
 having espoused his interest, was ihe first to inform him of the in- 
 tended flight of the Greeks ; and that he exhorted him not to suf- 
 fer them to escape ; but while they were in this confusion, and at a 
 distance from their land forces, to attack and destroy their whole 
 navy. 
 
 Xerxes took tliis information kindly, supposing it to proceed 
 from friendship, and immediately gave orders to his oflicers, with 
 two hundred ships, to surround all the passages, and to enclose 
 the islands, that none of the Greeks might escape, and then to fol- 
 low with the rest of the ships at their leisure. Aristides, the son 
 of Lysiniachus, was the first who perceived this motion of the 
 eneniy ; and though he was not in friendship with Themistocles, 
 but had been banished by his means, he went to him and told him 
 they were surrounded by the enemy. Themistocles, knowing his 
 probity, and charmed with his coming to give this intelUgence, ac- 
 quainted him with the affair of Sicinus, and entreated him to lend 
 him his assistance to keep the Greeks in their station; and, as they 
 had a confidence in his honour, to persuade them to come to an en- 
 gagement in the straits. Aristides approved the proceedings of 
 Themistocles, and going to the other admirals and captains, en- 
 couraged them to engage. While they hardly gave credit to his 
 report, a Tenian galley, commanded by Paraetius, came over from 
 the enemy to bring the same account ; so that indignation, added 
 to necessity, excited the Greeks to the combat.* 
 
 As soon as it was day, Xerxes sat down on an eminence to view 
 the fleet and its order of battle. He placed himself, as Phanodemus 
 writes, above the temple of Hercules, where the isle of Salamis is 
 separated from Attica by a narrow frith ; but according to Acesto- 
 dorus, on the confines of Megara, upon a spot called Kerata, *' The 
 Horns." He was seated on a throne of gold,! and had many se- 
 cretaries about him, whose business it was to write down the par- 
 ticulars of the action. 
 
 As to the number of the Persian ships, the poet ^Eschylus 
 
 * The different conduct of the Spartans and the Athenians on this occasion seems 
 to show how much superior the accommodating laws of Solon were to the austere dis- 
 cipline of Lycurgus. Indeed, while the institutions of the latter remained in force, the 
 I.acedajmonians were the greatest of all people. But that was impossible. The severity 
 of Lj'curgus's legislation naturally tended to destroy it. Nor was this all. From the 
 extremes of abstemious hardships, the next step was not to a moderate enjoyment of 
 life, but to all the licentiousness of the most effeminate luxury. The laws of Lycur- 
 gus made men of the Spartan women j when they were broken, they made women of 
 the men. "^-a.^^ 
 
 f This throne, or seat, whether of gold or silver, or both, was taken and carried to 
 Athens, where it was consecrated in the temple of Minerva, with the golden sabre of 
 Mardonius, which was taken afterwards in the battle of Platfea. Demosthenes calls it 
 a chair with silver feet. 
 
84 TH£M1ST0CLES. 
 
 speaks of it, in his tragedy entitled Persa, aa a matter ho was well as- 
 sured of. 
 
 A thousand ships (for well I know the number) 
 'I'lie Persian flag obeyed . two bundred mure 
 And seven overspread the seas. 
 
 The Athenians had only X)ne hundred and eighty galleys ; each 
 carried eighteen men that fought upon deck, four of whom were 
 arcliers, and the rest h^avy armed. 
 
 if 'I'hemistocles was happy in choosing a place for action, he 
 was no less so rn taking advantage of a proper time lor it ; for ho 
 would not engage the enemy, till that time of day when a brisk 
 wind usually arises from the sea, which occasions a high surf in 
 the channel. This was no inconvenience to the Grecian vessels, 
 tvhich were low built and well compacted ; but a very great une to 
 the Persian ships, which had high sterns and lofry decks, hiuI w»*re 
 heavy and unwieldy; for it caused them to veer in such a manner, 
 that their sides were exposed to the Greeks, who attacked them 
 furiously. During the engagement, great attention was given to 
 the motions of Themistocles, as it was believed he knew best how 
 to proceed. Ariamenes, the Persian admiral, a man of distinguished 
 honour, and by far the bravest of the king's brothers, directed bis 
 manoeuvres chiefly against him. His ship was very tall, and from 
 it he threw darts and shot forth arrows as from the wall of a castle. 
 But Aminias the Decolean, and Sosiclcs the Pedian, who sailed in 
 one bottom, bore down upon him with their prow, and both ships 
 meeting, they were fastened together by means of their brazen 
 bleaks ; when Ariamenes boarding their galley, they received him 
 with their pikes, and pushed him into the sea. Artemisiaf knew 
 the body amongst others that were floating with the wreck, and 
 carried it to Xerxes. 
 
 The flrst man that took a ship was an Athenian, named Lyco. 
 medes, captain of a galley, who cut down the ensigns from the 
 enemy's ship, and consecrated them to the laurelled Apollo. As 
 the Persians could come in the straits but a few at a time, and often 
 put each other in confusion, the Greeks equalling them in the line, 
 fought them till the evening, when they broke them entirely, and 
 gained that signal and complete victor)', than which (as Simonides 
 says) no other naval achievement, either of the Greeks or barbari- 
 ans ever, was more glorious. This success was owing to the valour, 
 
 * Artemisia, gueen of Halicarnassus, distinguished her>elf above all the ml of lh« 
 Persian forces, her ships being the last that fled ; which Xeriea obeenriof, triad 
 out, that the men behaved like woman, and the women with tba counifa WMl intia- 
 pidity of men The Athenians were so incented against bar, that tbey offerad a re- 
 ward of ten thousand drachmas to anyone that khould take har alive. This princrsa 
 must not be confounded with Utal Artemisia who was the wife of Mausolus, king of 
 Caria. 
 
THEMISTOCLES. g^ 
 
 indeed, of all the confederates, but chiefly to the sagacity and con- 
 duct of Themistocles.* 
 
 After the battle, Xerxes, full of indignation at his disappoint- 
 ment, attempted to join Salamis to the continent, by a mole so well 
 secured, that his land forces might pass over it into the island, and 
 that he might shut up the pass entirely against the Greeks. At 
 the same time Themistocles, to sound Aristides, pretended it was 
 his own opinion that they should sail to the Hellespont, and break 
 down the bridge of ships ; " For so," says he, " we may take Asia, 
 without stirring out of Europe." Aristidesf did not in the least re- 
 lish his proposal, but answered him to this purpose : " Till now we 
 have had to do with an enemy immersed in luxury ; but if we shut 
 him up in Greece, and drive him to necessity, he who is master of 
 such prodigious forces, will no longer sit under a golden canopy, 
 and be a quiet spectator of the proceedings of the war, but, awaked 
 by danger, attempting every thing, and present every where, he 
 will correct his past errors, and follow councils better calculated 
 for success. Instead, therefore, of breaking that bridge, we should, 
 if possible, provide another, that he, may retire the sooner out of 
 Europe," — " If that is the case," said Themistocles, " we must all 
 consider and contrive how to put him upon the most speedy re- 
 treat out of Greece." 
 
 This being resolved upon, he sent one of the king's eunuchs, 
 whom he found among the prisoners, Arnaces by name, to ac- 
 quaint him, " That the Greeks, since their victory at sea, were de- 
 termined to sail to the Hellespont, and destroy the bridge ; but 
 that Themistocles, in care for the king's safety, advised him to 
 hasten towards his own seas, and pass over into Asia, while his 
 friends Endeavoured to find out pretences of delay, to prevent the 
 confederates from pursuing him." Xerxes, terrified at the news, 
 retired with the greatest precipitation. J How prudent the manage- 
 ment of Themistocles and Aristides was, Mardonius afforded a 
 proof, when, with a small part of the king's forces, he put the 
 Greeks in extreme danger of losing all, in the battle of Plaia3a. 
 
 Herodotus tells us, that, among the cities, JEgina. bore away the 
 palm : but, among the commanders, Themistocles, in spite of envy, 
 was universally allowed to have distinguished himself most. For, 
 
 * In this battle, which was one of the most memorable we find in history, the Gre- 
 cians lost forty ships, and the Persians two hundred, besides a great many more that 
 were taken. 
 
 t According to Herodotus, it was not Aristides, but Eurybiades, who made this re- 
 ply to Themistocles. 
 
 '\ Xerxes, having left Mardonius in Greece with an army of three hundred thousand 
 men, marched with the rest towards Thrace, in order to cross tne Hellespont As 
 no provisions had been prepared' beforehand, his army underwent great hardships 
 during the whole time of his march, which lasted fiveand-forty days. 
 
^ 'rHEMISTOCLES. 
 
 when they came to the Isthmtis, and every oiTicer took a billet 
 from Ilie uUar, to inscribe upon it the names of those that had 
 done the best service, every one put himself in the first place, and 
 Theroistocles in the second. The Lacedaemonians, having con- 
 ducted him to Sparta, adjudged Eurybiades the prize of valour, and 
 Tliemistocles that of wisdom, honouring each with a crown of 
 olive. They likewise presented the latter with the handsomest 
 chariot in the city, and ordered three hundred of their youth to at- 
 tend him to the borders. At the next Olympic games, too, we are 
 told, that, as soon as Themistocles appeared in the ring, the cham. 
 pions were overlooked by the spectators, who kept their eyes upon 
 him all the day, and pointed him out to strangers with the utmost 
 admiration and applause. This incense was extremely grateful to 
 him ; and he acknowledged to his friends, that he then reaped the 
 fruits of his labours for Greece. 
 
 Indeed, be was naturally very ambitious, if we may form a con- 
 clusion from his memorable acts and sayings. For, when elected 
 admiral by the Athenians, he would not despatch any busineM, 
 whether pubhc or private, singly, but put off all affairs to the day 
 he was to embark, that having a great deal to do he might appear 
 with the greater dignity and importance. 
 
 One day, as he was looking upon the dead bodies cast up by the 
 sea, and saw a number of chains of gold and bracelets upon them, 
 he passed by them, and turning to his friend, said, ** Take these 
 things for yourself, tor you are not Themistocles." 
 
 I'o Antiphates, who had formerly treated him with disdain, but 
 m his glory made his court to him, he said, " Young man, wc arc 
 both come to our senses at the same time though a little too late.'' 
 
 He used to say, " The Athenians paid him no honour or sincere 
 respect ; but when a storm arose, or danger appeared, they shel- 
 tered themselves under him, as under a plane-tree, which, when 
 the weather was fair again, they would rob of its leaves and 
 branches." 
 
 When one of Seriphus told him, '* He was not so much honoured 
 for his own sake, but for his country's." " True," answered The- 
 mistoclos : " for neither should I have been greatly distinguished 
 if I had been of Seriphus ; nor you, if you had been an Athe- 
 nian." 
 
 Another ofticer^ who thouebt he had done the state some service, 
 setting himself up against Iriemistoclcs, und venturing to compare 
 his own exploits with his, he answered him with this fable: " There 
 once happened a dispute between the front -dap and the day after 
 thefeatt : Says tbe dtty after thefemt, I am full of bustle and trou- 
 ble, whereas, with you, folks enjoy at their ease everv thing ready 
 provided. You say right, says t\\e fcast-dapt hut if I had not been 
 
THEMIST0CLE3. 
 
 87 
 
 before you, you would not have been at all. So had it not been for 
 me, then, where would you have been now ?"* 
 
 His son being master of his mother, and by ^her means of him, 
 he said, laughing, " This child is greater than any man in Greece ; 
 for the Athenians command the Greeks, I command the Athenians, 
 his mother commands me, and he commands his mother." 
 
 As he loved to be particular in every thing, when he happened 
 to sell a farm, he ordered the crier to add, " that it had a good 
 neighbour." 
 
 Two citizens courting his daughter, he preferred the worthy man 
 to the rich one, and assigned this reason, '* He had rather she 
 would have a man without money than money without a man." 
 Such was the pointed manner in which he often expressed himself.f 
 
 After the greatest actions we have related, his next enterprise 
 was to rebuild and fortify the city of Athens. — Theopompus says, 
 he bribed the Lacedaemonian Ephoriy that they might not oppose 
 it ; but most historians say, he over reached them. He was sent, 
 it seems, on pretence of an embassy to Sparta. The Spartans com- 
 plained, that the Athenians were fortifying their city, and th^ go- 
 vernor of iEgina, who was come for that purpose, supported the 
 accusation. But Themistocles absolutely denied it, and challenged 
 them to send proper persons to Athens to inspect the walls ; at 
 once gaining time for finishing them, and contriving to have hos- 
 tages at Athens for his return. The event answered his expecta- 
 tion. For the Lacedaemonians, when assured how the fact stood, 
 dissembled their resentment, and let him go with impunity. 
 
 After this, he built and fortified the Piraeus (having observed the 
 conveniency of that harbour.) By which means he gave the city 
 every maritime accommodation. In this respect his poUtics were 
 very different from those of the ancient kings of Athens. They, 
 we are told, used their endeavours to draw the attentron of their 
 subjects from the business of navigation, that they might turn it 
 entirely to the culture of the ground: and to this purpose they 
 published the fable of the contention between Minerva and Nep- 
 tune, for the patronage of Attica, when the former, by producing 
 an olive tree before the judges, gained her cause. 
 
 Themistocles had something still greater in view for strength- 
 ening the Athenians by sea. After the retreat of Xerxes, when 
 the Grecian fleet was gone into the harbour of Pagasae to winter, 
 he acquainted the citizens in full assembly, " That he had hit upon 
 a design which might greatly contribute to their advantage, but it 
 was not fit to be communicated to their whole body." The Athe- 
 
 « There is the genuine Attic salt in most of these retorts and observations of The- 
 mistocles. His wit seems to have been equal to his military and political capacity. 
 
 + r,ce;o has preserved another of his sayings, which deserves mentioning^ When 
 Simonides oflfered to teach Themistocles the art of memory, he answered, Ah ! rather 
 ieach me the art of forgetting / for I often remember what I would not, and can not 
 forget whai 1 would. 
 
30 THEMISTOCLES. 
 
 nians ordered him to communicate it to Aristides only/ and, if he 
 approved of it, to put it in execution. Theroistocles then informed 
 him " That he had thoughts of burning the confederate fleet at 
 Pagasce." Upon which, Aristides went and declared to the people, 
 "That the enterprise which Themistocles proposed, was indeed 
 the most advantageous in the world, but, at the same time, the 
 most unjust." The Athenians, therefore, commanded him to lay 
 aside all thoughts of it. 
 
 About this time the Lacedaemonians made a motion in the as. 
 sembly of the AmphictyonSj to exclude from that council all those 
 states that had not joined it in the confederacy against the king of 
 Persia. But Themistocles was apprehensive, that, if the Thessa- 
 liana, the Argives, and Thebans, were expelled from the council, 
 the Lacedsmonians would have a great majority of voices, and 
 consequently procure what decrees they pleased. He spoke, there* 
 fore, in defence of those states, and brought the deputies off from 
 that design, by representing that thirty.one cities only had their 
 share of the burden of that war, and that the greatest part of these 
 were but of small consideration : that consequently it would be 
 both unreasonable and dangerous to exclude the rest of Greece 
 from the league, and leave the council to be dictated to by two or 
 three great cities. By this he became very obnoxious to the Lace- 
 dsemonians, who, for this reason, set up Cimon against him as a 
 rival in all the affairs of state, and used all their interest for his 
 advancement. 
 
 He disobliged the allies, also, by sailing round the islands, and 
 extorting money from them ; as we may conclude from the answer 
 which Herodotus tells us the Andrians gave him to a demand of 
 that sort. He told them, " He brought two gods along with him. 
 Persuasion and ForceJ*^ They replied, " They bad also two great 
 gods on their side, Potertj^ and Despair, who forbade them to 
 satisfy him." 
 
 As the Athenians, through envy, readily gave ear to calunmies 
 against him, he was often forced to recount his^own services, 
 vhich rendered him still more insupportable ; and ^b^n they ex- 
 pressed their displeasure, he said, " Are you weary of receiving 
 benefits often from the same band V* 
 
 Another ofTence he gave the peoplo, was, his building a temple 
 to Diana, under the name of Ariitoiiifc, or, Diana ofthebeit etmn- 
 ri/, intimating that ho had given the best counsel, not only to 
 Athens, but to all Greece. He built this temple near his own 
 house, in the quarter of Melita. There was a sUtue of Themis, 
 tocles in this temple, from which it appeared that this aspect was 
 as heroic as his soul. 
 
 • How glorioui ibii trstimnoy of the public r^rd to ArittidM, from « omoI* thau 
 •o (ttti, and with*) tn vrrtuout T 
 
THEMISTOCLES. 
 
 89 
 
 At last the Athenians, unable any longer to bear that high dis- 
 tinction in which he stood, banished him by the ostracism ; and 
 this was nothing more than they had done to others whose power 
 was become a burden to them, and who had risen above the equa. 
 lity which a commonwealth requires ; for ihe ostracism, or ten years 
 banishment, was not so much intended to punish this or that great 
 man, as to pacify and mitigate the fury of envy, who delights in 
 the disgrace of superior characters, and loses a part of her rancour 
 by their fall. 
 
 In the time of his exile, while he took up his abode at Argos,* 
 the affair of Pausanias gave great advantage to the enemies of 
 Theraistocles. The person that accused him of treason, was Leo- 
 botes, the son of Aicmason, of Agraule, and the Spartans joined in 
 the impeachment. Pausanias at first concealed his plot from 
 Theraistocles, though he was his friend ; but when he saw him an 
 exile, and full of indignation against the Athenians, he ventured 
 to communicate his designs to him, showing him the king of Per- 
 sia's letters, and exciting him to vengeance against the Greeks, 
 as an unjust and ungrateful people. Themistocles rejected the 
 solicitations of Pausanias, and refused to have the least share in 
 his designs; buf he gave no information of what had passed be- 
 tween them., nor let the secret transpire ; whether he thought he 
 would desist of himself, or that he would be discovered some other 
 way, as he had embarked in an absurd and extravagant enterprise, 
 without any rational hopes of success. 
 
 However, when Pausanias was put to death, there were found 
 letters and other writings relative to the business, which caused 
 no small suspicion against Themistocles. The Lacedaemonians 
 raised aT clamour against him ; and such of his fellow. citizens as 
 envied him, insisted on the charge. He could not defend himself 
 in person, but he answered by letter the principal parts of the accu- 
 sation. For, to obviate the calumnies of his enemies, he observed 
 to the Athenians, " That he who was born to command, and inca- 
 pable of servitude, could never sell himself, and Greece along with 
 him, to jen^mies and barbarians." The people, however, listened 
 to his accuser, and sent him with orders to bring him to his answer 
 before the states of Greece. Of this he had timely notice and 
 
 * The great Pausanias, who had beaten the Persians in the battle of Platsa. and 
 who on many occasions had behaved with great generosity as weU as moderation, at 
 last degenerated, and fell into a scandalous treaty with the Persians, in hopes, through 
 their interest, to make himself sovereign of Greece. As soon as he had conceived 
 these strange notions, he fell into the manners of the Persians, affected all their luxury, 
 and derided the plain customs of his country, of which he had formerly been so fond. 
 The Ephori waited some time for clear proof of his treacherous designs, and when 
 they had obtained it, determined to imprison him. But he fled into the temple of 
 Minerva Chalcioicos, and they beseiged him there. They walled up all the gates, and 
 his own mother laid the first stone. When they had almost starved him to death, 
 they laid bands on him, and by the time they bad got bun out of the temple, he ex- 
 pired. 
 
 M 8* 
 
90 
 
 THEMISTOCLSS. 
 
 over to the isle of Corcyra, the inhabitants of which had 
 great obligatioDS to him ; for a difference between them and the 
 people of Corinth had been referred to his arbitration, and he had 
 decided it by awarding the Corinthians to pay down twenty talents, 
 and the isle of Leucas to be in common between the two parties, 
 OS a colony from both. From thence he fled to Epirus ; and, find- 
 ing himself still pursued by the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, 
 he tried a very hazardous and uncertain resource, in imploring the 
 protection of Admetus king of the Molossians. Admetus had made 
 a request to the Athenians, which being rejected with scorn by 
 Themistocles, in the time of his prosperity and influence in the 
 state, the king entertained a deep resentment against him, and 
 made no secret of his intention to revenge himself, if ever the 
 Athenian should fall into his power. However, while he was thus 
 flying from place to place, he was more afraid of the recent envy 
 of his countrymen, than of the consequences of an old quarrel with 
 the king ; and therefore he went and put himself in his hands^ 
 appearing before him as a suppliant, in a particular and extraordi. 
 nary manner.* Ho took the king's son, who was yet a child, in his 
 arms, and kneeled down before the household gods. This manner 
 of offering a petition the Molossians looked upon as the most effec 
 tual, and the only one that can hardly be rejected. 
 
 At that time Epicrates, the Acarnanian, found means to convey 
 the wife and children of Themistocles out of Athens, and sent them 
 to him, for which Cimon afler^va^d8 condemned him, and put him 
 to death. Thucydides writes, that he went by land to the iEgean 
 sea, and embarked at Pydna : that none in the ship knew him till 
 he was driven by a storm to Naxos, which was at that time be- 
 sieged by the Athenians ; that, through fear of being taken, he 
 then informed the master of the ship and the pilot who he was; 
 and that, partly by entreaties, partly by threatening, he would de. 
 clare to the Athenians, however falsely, that they knew him from 
 the flrstj and were bribed to take him into their vessel, he obliged 
 them to weigh anchor, and sail for Asia. 
 
 The greatest part of his treasures were privately sent aAer him 
 to Asia by his friends. What was discovered and seized for the 
 public use, Theopompus says, amounted to an hundred talents, 
 Theophrastus fourscore ; though he was not worth three talents 
 before his being employed in the government.'!' 
 
 When he was landed at Cuma, he understood that a number of 
 people, particularly Ergoteles and Pythodorus, where watching to 
 take him. He was, indeed, a rich booty to those who wero deter- 
 
 * Ft was nothing particular for a suppliant to do hofloaft to tba hmntbold gods of 
 th« person to whom he had a request ; but to do it with the kinf*t eons in his armt 
 was an extraordinary circumstance. 
 
 t This is totally inconsistent with that splendour in which, according to Pltitaieli*! 
 ottn aecouni, he fired, before he had any public appointmentt 
 
THEMISTOCLES. 
 
 91 
 
 rained to get money by any means whatever ; for the king of Pers'a 
 had offered, by proclamation, two hundred talents, for apprehending 
 him.* He, therefore, retired to Mgas^ a little town of the iEolians, 
 where he was known to nobody but Nicogenes, his host, who was 
 a man of great wealth, and had some interest at the Persian court. 
 In his house he was concealed a few days ; and, one evening, after 
 supper, when the sacrifice was offered, Olbinus, tutor to Nicogenes' 
 children, cried out, as in a rapture of inspiration, 
 
 Counsel, O Night, and victory are thine. 
 After this, Themistocles went to bed, and dreamed he saw a dragon 
 coiled round his body, and creeping up to his neck, which, as soon 
 as it touched his face, was turned into an eagle, and, covering him 
 with his wings, took him up, and carried him to a distant place, 
 where a golden sceptre appeared to him, uporl which he rested 
 securely, and was delivered from all his fear and trouble. 
 
 In consequence of this warning, he was sent away by Nicogenes, 
 who contrived this method for it. The barbarians in general, es- 
 pecially the Persians, are jealous of the women, even to madness ; 
 not only of their wives, but their slaves and concubines ; for, besides 
 the care they take that they shall be seen by none but their own 
 family, they keep them hke prisoners in their houses; and when 
 they take a journey, they are put in a carriage close covered on 
 all sides. In such a carriage as this Themistocles was conveyed, 
 the attendants being instructed to tell those they met, if they hap- 
 pened to be questioned, that they were carrying a Grecian lady 
 from Ionia to a nobleman at court. 
 
 Thucydides, and Caron of Lamsacus, relate, that Xerxes was then 
 dead, and that it was to his sonf Artaxerxes that Themistocles ad- 
 dressed himself. But Ephorus, Dinon, Clitarchus, Heraclides, 
 and several others write, that Xerxes himself was then upon the 
 throne. The opinion of Thucydides seems most agreeable to chro- 
 nology, though that is not perfectly well settled. Themistocles, 
 now ready for the dangerous experiment, applied first to Artaba- 
 nusjij: a military officer, and told him, " He was a Greek, who 
 desired to have audience of the king about matters of great impor- 
 tance, which the king himself had much at heart." Artabanus 
 answered, " The laws of men are different ; some esteem one thing 
 
 * The resentment of Xerxes is not at all to be wondered at, since Themistocles had 
 not only beaten him in the battle of Salamis, but what was more disgraceful still, had 
 made him a dupe to his designing persuasions and representations. In the loss of vic- 
 tory, he had some consolation, as he was not himself the immediate cause of it: but 
 for his ridiculous return to Asia, bis anger could only fall upon himself an^i Themis- 
 tocles 
 
 + Themistocles, therefore, arrived at the Persian court in the first year of the seventy- 
 ninth Olympiad, 462 years before the birth of Christ ; for that was the first vear of 
 Artaxeixes' reign. 
 
 } vSon of that Artabanus, captain of the guards, who slew Xerxes, and persuaded 
 Artaxerxes to cut off his elder brother Darius. 
 
92 THEMISTOCLES. 
 
 honourable, and some another ; but it becomes all men to honour 
 and observe the customs of their own countn**. With you the 
 thing most admired, is said to be liberty and equality. We 
 have many excellent laws ; and we regard it as one of the roost 
 fndispensible to honour the king, and to adore him as the miage of 
 that Deity who preserves and supports the universe. If, therefore, 
 you are willing to conform to our customs, and to prostrate yourself 
 before the king, you may be permitted to see him and speak to 
 him. But if you cannot bring yourself to this, you must acquaint 
 him with your business by a third person. It would be an infrmge. 
 nient of the custom of his country, for the king to admit any one 
 to audience who does not worship him.'* To this Themistoclen 
 replied, ** My business, Artabanus, is to add to the king's honour 
 and power ; therefore, I will comply with your customs, ance the 
 God that has exalted the Persians, will have it so ; and by my 
 means the number of the king's worshippers shall be increased. 
 So let this be no hindrance to my communicating to the king 
 what I have to say." — " But who," said Artabanus, '* shall we say 
 3'ou are ? for by your discourse you appear to be no ordinary per- 
 son." Themistocles answered, ** Nobody must know that before 
 the king himself." 
 
 When he was introduced to the king, and after his prostration, 
 stood silent, the king commanded the interpreter to ask him who 
 he was. The interpreter accordingly put the question, and he 
 answered, " The man who is come now to address himself to you, 
 O king, is Themistocles the Athenian ; an exile, persecuted by the 
 Greeks. The Persians have suficred much by me; but it has been 
 more, than compensated by my preventing your being pursued, 
 when after I had delivered Greece, and saved my own country, I 
 had It in my power to do you also a service. My sentiments are 
 suitable to my present misfortunes, and I come prepared either to 
 receive your favour, if you are reconciled to me, or if you retain 
 any reacntment, to disarm it by submisdon. Reject not the testi> 
 iiiony my enemies have given to the services I have done the Per- 
 sians, and make use of the opportunity my misfortunes afford you, 
 rather to show your generosity, than to satisfy your revenge. If 
 you save me, you save your suppliant ; if you destroy me, you do- 
 etroy the enemy of Greece."* In hopes of influencing the king 
 by an argument drawn from religion, Themistocles added to this 
 speech an account of the vision Tie had in Nicogenes* house, and 
 an oracle of Jupiter of Dodona, who ordered him *' to go to one 
 who bore the same name with the god ;" from which he concluded 
 he was (tent to him, since both were called, and really were, grrat 
 Idnfig. 
 
 The king gave him no answer, though he admired his courage 
 
 • How Miremely abject «nd coniemptiMe it this peiUkio, wherein the ttippliant 
 Isuodi every erKument in his favour upon hu vic4$ .' 
 
THEMISTOCLES. 
 
 93 
 
 and magnanimity: but with his friends he felicitated himself upon 
 this, as the most fortunate event imaginable. We are told also, 
 that he prayed to Arimanius* that his enemies might ever be so 
 infatuated, as to drive from amongst them their ablest men ; that 
 he offered sacrifice to the gods, and immediately after made a great 
 entertainment : nay, that he was so affected by with joy, that when 
 he retired to rest, in the midst of his sleep he called out three times 
 " I have Themistocles, the Athenian." 
 
 As soon as it was nay, he called together his friends, and ordered 
 Themistocles to be brought before him. The exile expected no 
 favour, when he found that the guards, at the first hearing of his 
 name, treated him with rancour, and loaded him with reproaches. 
 Nay, when the king had taken his seat, and a respectful silence en- 
 sued, Roxanes, one of his officers, as Themistocles passed him, 
 whispered him with a sigh, " Ah ! thou subtle serpent of Greece, 
 the king's good genius has brought thee thither." However, when 
 he had prostrated himself twice in the presence, the king saluted 
 him, and spoke to him graciously, telUng him, " He owed him two 
 hundred talents; for, as he had delivered himself up, it was but 
 just he should receive the reward offered to any one who should 
 bring him." He promised him much more, assured him of his pro- 
 tection, and ordered him to declare freely whatever he had to pro- 
 pose concerning Greece. Themistocles rephed, " That a man's 
 discourse was like a piece of tapestry,f which, when spread open, 
 displays its figures ; but when it is folded up they are hidden and 
 lost ; therefore he begged time." The king, delighted with the 
 comparison, bade him take what time he pleased ; and he desired 
 a year : in which space he learned the Persian language, so as to 
 be able to converse with the king without an interpreter. 
 
 Such as did not belong to the court, believed that he entertained 
 their prince on the subject of the Grecian affairs ; but as there 
 were then many changes in the ministry, he incurred the envy ol 
 the nobility, who suspected that he had presumed to speak too 
 freely of them to the king. The honours that were paid him were 
 far superior to those that other strangers had experienced ; the 
 king took him with him a-hunting, conversed familiarly with him 
 in his palace, and introduced him to the queen-mother, who ho- 
 noured him with her confidence. He likewise gave orders for his 
 being instructed in the learning of the Magi. 
 
 We are told that Themistocles himself, in the midst of his great- 
 ness, and the extraordinary respect that was paid him, seeing his 
 table most elegantly spread, turned to his children, and said, " Chil- 
 
 * The goH of darkness, the supposed author of plagues and cnlamities, was called 
 Ahriman or Arimanius. 
 
 f In this he artfully conformed to the figurative manner of speaking in use among 
 the eastern nations. 
 
04 THEMISTOCLES. 
 
 dreOy we should have been undone, bad it not been for our undoing.'* 
 Most authors agree, that he had three cities given him, for bread, 
 wine, and meat ; Magnesia, Lampsacus, and Myus.* Neantbes of 
 Cyzicus, and Phanias, add two more, Percote and Paisescepas, for 
 his chamber and his wardrobe. 
 
 When he came to Sardis, he diverted himself with looking at 
 the ornaments of the temples ; and among the great number of 
 ofierings, he found in the temple of Cybele a female figure of brass, 
 two cubits high, called HydrophoruSy or the itater -bearer , which he 
 himself, when surveyor of the aqueducts at Athens, had caused to be 
 made and dedicated out of the fines of such as had stolen the water, 
 or diverted the stream. Whether it was that he was moved at see- 
 ing this statue in a strange country, or that he was desirous to show 
 the Athenians how much he was honoured, and what power he 
 had all over the king's dominions, he addressed himself to the go. 
 vemor of Lydia, and begged leave to send back the statue to Athens. 
 The barbarian immediately took fire, and said he would certainly 
 acquaint the king what sort of a request he had made him. The- 
 inistocles, alarmed at this, menace, applied to the governor's wo- 
 men, and, by money, prevailed upon them to pacify him. AAer 
 this he behaved with more prudence, sensible how much he had to 
 fear from the envy of the Persians. Hence, he did not travel about 
 Asia, as Theopompus says, but took up his abode at Magnesia, 
 where, loaded with valuable presents, and equally honoured with 
 the Persian nobles, he long lived in great security ; for the king, 
 who was engaged in the affairs of the upper provinces, gave but 
 little attention to the concerns of Greece. 
 
 But when Egypt revolted, and was supported in that revolt by 
 the Athenians, when the Grecian fleet sailed as far as Cyprus and 
 Celicia, and Cimon rode triumphant master of the seas, the king 
 of Persia applied himself to oppose the Greeks, and to prevent the 
 growth of their power. Ho put his forces in motion, sent out his 
 generals, and despatched messengers to Themistocles at Magnesia, 
 to command him to perform his promises, and exert himself against 
 Greece. Did he not obey the summons then 7 No: neither re- 
 sentment against the Athenians, nor the honour and authority in 
 which he now flourished, could prevail upon him to take the direc- 
 
 • The country about Magnesia wat so fertile, that it brought TbtmlMoclM   nf' 
 nue of fiAv talenii : Li«mpMcut had in ita neif^h hour hood ibe nobleai vinmrda of tb« 
 cait . and Mvut, or Myon, abounded in provntont. porticularty in Ath. It waa uMia) 
 with the eastern monarcht, instead of peoitnns to their ftivourttet. to ateiicn them 
 cities and provinces. Kven such provinces as the kings retained the revenue of. were 
 were under pHrncular awi^nnmus ; one prm'inca furnishing to much for erine. an* 
 other for victuals, a third for the privy pur»e. and a fourth for the wardrobe One of 
 the queens had all Zgypx for her clothing ; nnd IMeto talli (1 Aloibuid.) that mmnj of 
 the provinces were eppropriaied for the queen's wardrotM : OM for her ginlle, apolher 
 for her head-dress, and m> of the rest : and each provhioe bore the name of Uut pen 
 .")( the dreaa it waaio furnish. 
 
THEMISl'OCLES. 95 
 
 lion of the expedition. Possibly he might doubt the event of the 
 war, as Greece had then several great generals, and Cimon in par- 
 ticular was distinguished with extraordinary success. Above ail, 
 regard for his own achievements, and the trophies he had gained, 
 whose glory he was unwilling to tarnish, determined him (as the 
 best method he could take) to put such an end to his life as became 
 his dignity. Having therefore sacrificed to the gods, assembled 
 his friends, and taken his last leave, he drank bull's blood,* as is 
 generally reported ; or, as some relate it, he took a quick poison, 
 and ended his days at Magnesia, having lived sixty-five years, most 
 of which he had spent in civil or military employments. When 
 the king was acqainted with the cause and manner of his death, he 
 admired him more than ever, and continued his favour and bounty 
 to his friends and relations.f 
 
 Themistocles had by Archippe, the daughter of Lysander of 
 Alopece, five sons, Neocles, Diodes, Archeptolis, Polyeuctus, and 
 Cleophantus. The three last survived him. 
 
 The Magnesians erected a very handsome monument to him in 
 the market place ; and various honours and privileges were grant- 
 ed by them to the descendants of Themistocles ; for they were en- 
 joyed by one of his name, an Athenian, with whom I had a parti- 
 lar acquaintance and friendship in the house of Ammonius the phi- 
 losopher. 
 
 * Whilst they were sacrificing the bull, he caused the blood to be received in a cup, 
 and drank it whilst it was warm, which (according to Pliny) is mortal, because it 
 coagulates or thickens in an instant. 
 
 f There is, in our opinion, more true heroism in the death of Themistocles than in 
 the death of Cato. It is something enthusiastically great, when a man determines not 
 to survive his liberty ; but it is something still greater, when he refuses to survive his 
 honour. 
 
96 
 
 CAMILLUS. 
 
 FlourUhed 400 years before Christ. 
 
 THE family of the Furii* was not very illustriouM before the 
 time of Camillus ; he was the first who raised it to diflinction, 
 when he served under Posthumius Tabertus in the great battle 
 with the Equi and Volsci.f In that action, spurring his horse be- 
 fore the ranks, he received a wound in the thigh, when, instead of 
 retiring, he plucked the javelin out of the wound, engaged with 
 the bravest of the enemy, and put them to flight. For this, among 
 other honours, he was appointed censor, an office at that time of 
 great dignity4 There is upon record a very laudable act of his, 
 that took place during his office. As the wars had made many 
 widows, he obliged such of the men as Uved singly, partly by per- 
 suasion, and partly by threatening them with fines, to marry those 
 widows. Another act of his, which indeed was absolutely neces. 
 sary, was, the causing orphans, who before were exempt from 
 taxes, to contribute to the supplies ; for these were very large by 
 reason of the continual wars. What was then most urgent was 
 the siege of Veii. This city was the barrier of Tuscany, and in 
 the quantity of her arms and number of her military, not inferior to 
 Rome. Proud of her wealth, her elegance, and luxury, she had 
 maintained with the Romans many long and gallant disputes for 
 ^lory and for power. But humbled by many signal defeats, the 
 Veientes had then bid adieu to that ambition : they satisfied them- 
 selves with building strong and high walls, and filling the city with 
 provisions, arms, and all kinds of warlike stores; and so they 
 waited for the enemy without fear. The siege was long, but no 
 less laborious than troublesome to the besiegers than to ^iem. For 
 the Romans had long been accustomed to summer campaigns and 
 
 • Furiut wai the fomily name. Camiliui was an appellation of children of quality, 
 who oiiniitared in the temple of some god. Our Camillus was the first who retaioeid 
 it as a wmaiae. 
 
 f This was in the year of Rome 314. when Camillus might be about fourtaao or fif- 
 teen years of age (for in the year of Rome 389, be was near Ibuneort), tbougb 
 the Roman youth did not use to bear arms sooner than tervnteen. And thoa|b Plu- 
 tarch says, that his fallant behaviour, at that (ime. procured him the osoaoiwtp, yet 
 that was an oiBce which the Romans never conferred upon a young paraon; and, in 
 fact, Camillus was not censor till the year of Rome 353. 
 
 I The authority of the censors, in the time of tha npablie, waa vny ■iiaaeini. 
 They bad power to expel senators the housa, to dagrada tka Imigiiia, and to dieabie 
 the commons from giving their votes in the assanblMa of the pacola. But Uie empe- 
 rors took the ofltoa upon themselves: and. as many of Ibom abutap it, it lost its honour, 
 and sometimes lb« very title was laid aside. As to what Plutarch says, that Caaul* 
 lus, when eansnr, obliged many of the bachelors to marnr the widows of tl 
 had fallen In the wars; that was in pursuance of one of the powers of his 
 Qdtbttmtfrohibtnto '^ 
 
GAMILLUS. ^ 
 
 to winter at home ; and then for the first time their officers ordered 
 them to construct forts, to raise strong works about their camp, 
 and to pass the winter as well as summer in the enemy's country. 
 
 The seventh year of the war was now almost past, when the ge- 
 nerals began to be blamed ; and as it was thought they shewed 
 not sufficient vigour in the siege,* they were superseded, and others 
 put in their room ; among whom was Camillus, then appointed tri. 
 hune the second time. He was not, however, at present concerned 
 in the siege, for it fell to his lot to head the expedition a'gainst the 
 Falisci and Capenates, who, while the Romans were otherwise em- 
 ployed, committed great depredations in their country, and harassed 
 them during the whole Tuscan war. But Camillus falling upon 
 them, killed great numbers, and shut up the rest within their walls. 
 
 In the tenth year of the siege, the senate removed the other 
 magistrates, and appointed Camillus dictator, who made choice of 
 Cornelius Scipio for his general of horse. In the first place he 
 made vows to the gods, if they favoured him with putting a glo- 
 rious period to the war, to celebrate the great Circensian games to 
 their honour,* and to consecrate the temple of the goddess, whom 
 the Romans call Matuta, and the Greeks Leucothea. 
 
 After these vows, Camillus penetrated into the country of the 
 Falisci, and in a great battle overthrew them and their auxiliaries 
 the Capenates. Then he turned to the sieg6 of Veii ; and per- 
 ceiving that it would 4)6 both difficult and dangerous to endeavour 
 to take it by assault, he ordered mines to be dug, the soil about the 
 city being easy to work, and admitting depth enough for the 
 works to be carried on unseen by the enemy. As this succeeded 
 to his wish, he made an assault without, to call the enemy to the 
 walls: and in the mean time, others of his soldiers made their way 
 through the mines, and secretly penetrated to Juno's temple in the 
 citadel. 
 
 The city, thus taken by the Romans, sword in hand, while they 
 were busy in plundering it and carrying off" its immense riches, 
 Camillus beholding from the citadel what was done, at first burst 
 into tears : and when those about him began to magnify his hap- 
 piness, he lifted up his hands towards Heaven, and uttered this 
 prayer: "Great Jupiter, and ye gods that have the inspection of 
 
 * Of the six military tribunes of that year, only two, L. Virginius and Manius Ser- 
 ffius carried on the siege of V,eii. Sergius commanded the attack, and Virginms co- 
 vered the siege. While the army was thus divided, the Falisci and Capenates fell upon 
 Sergius. and at the same time, the besieged sallying out, attacked hira on the other 
 side The Romans under his command, thinking they had all the forces of Hetruria 
 to deal-with. began to lose courage and retire. Virginius could have saved his col- 
 league's troops, but as Sergius was too proud to send to hira for succour, he resolved 
 not to give hicn any. The enemy, therefore, made a dreadful daughter of the Romans 
 in their lines.— Z.iu. lib. v. c 8. 
 
 4- The year of Rome 357. 
 
 k These were a kind of tournartwait in the great circus 
 
gg CAMILLUS. 
 
 our good and evil actions, y^ know that the Romans, not without 
 just cause, but in their own defence, and constrained by necessity, 
 have made war against this city, and their enemies, its ui^just in- 
 habitants. It' we must have some misfortune in Heu of this 
 success, I entreat that it may fall not upon Rome or the Roman 
 army, but upon myself." Having pronounced these words, he 
 turned to the right, as the manner of the Romans is after prayer 
 and supplication, but fell in turning. His friends expressed great 
 uneasiness at the accident, but he soon recovered himself from the 
 fall, and told them, *'■ It was only a small inconvenience after great 
 success, agreeably to his prayer."* 
 
 Whether it was that Camillus was elated with his great exploit 
 in taking a city that was the rival of Rome, after it had been be. 
 sieged ten years, or that he was misled by his flatterers, he took 
 upon him too much state for a magistrate subject to the laws and 
 usages of his country : for his triumph was conducted with ex- 
 cessive pomp, and he rode through Rome in a chariot drawn by 
 four white horses, which no general ever did before or after him. 
 Indeed, this sort of carriage is esteemed sacred, and is appropriated 
 to the king and father of the gods.-f The citizens, therefore, con- 
 sidered this unusual appearance of grandeur as an insult upon them. 
 Besides, they were offended at his opposing the law by which the 
 city was to be divided. For their tribunes had proposed that the 
 senate and the people should be divided into two equal parts ; one 
 part to remain at Rome, and the other, as the lot happened to fall, 
 to remove to the conquered city, by which means they would not 
 only have more room, but, by being in possession of two consider- 
 able cities, be better able to defend their territories and to watch 
 over their prosperity. The people who were very numerous, and 
 enriched by the late plunder,«constantly assembled at the /omm, 
 and in a tumultuous manner demanded to have it put to the vote. 
 But the senate and other principal citizens considered this proposal 
 of the tribunes, not so much the dividing as the destroying of 
 Rorae,| and in their uneasiness applied to Camillus. Camillus was 
 afraid to put it to the trial, and therefore invented demurs and pre- 
 tences or delay, to prevent the bill's being oftered to the people, 
 by which he incurred their displeasure. 
 
 But the greatest and most manifest cause of their hatred was, 
 bis behaviour with respect to the tenths of the spoils : and if the 
 
 * This it a contioiiatioD of the former miiuke. Livy tails ua, it wms < 
 ftora the event, that thii fall of Camillus was a preaafe of bts coadmum^oa ami 
 banishment. 
 
 f He likewise coloured bis face with vermilion, the colour with which thrautiiM 
 of ihegods were commonly painted. 
 
 t Thty feared, that two such cities, would, t)y degrees, become two different state*, 
 which, after a destroctire war with each other, would at tangth fall a prer to UMk 
 common enemies. 
 
CAMIIXUS. gg 
 
 resentment of the people vfas not in this case altogether just, yet 
 it had some show of reason. It seems he made a vow, as he 
 marched to Veii, that if he took the city, he would consecrate the 
 tenths to Apollo. But when the city was taken, and came to be 
 pillaged, he was either unwilling to interrupt his men, or in the 
 hurry hacl forgot his vow, and so gave up the whole plunder to 
 them. After he had resigned his dictatorship, he laid the case be- 
 fore the senate, and the soothsayers declared, that the sacrifices 
 announced the anger of the gods, which ought to be appeased by 
 offerings expressive of their gratitude for the favours they had re 
 ceived. The senate then made a decree, that the plunder should 
 remain with the soldiers (for they knew not how to manage it other- 
 wise); but that each should produce upon oath the tenth of the 
 value of what he had got. This was a great hardship upon the 
 soldiers: and those poor fellows could not without force be brought 
 to refund so large a portion of the fruit of their labours, and to 
 make good not only what they had hardly earned, but now actually 
 spent. Camillas, distressed with their complaints, for want of a 
 better excuse, made use of a very absurd apology, by acknowledg- 
 ing he had forgot his vow. This they greatly resented, that having 
 then vowed the tenths of the enemies', goods, he should now exact 
 the tenths of the citizens. However they all produced their pro- 
 portion, and it was resolved that a vase of massy gold should be 
 made and sent to Delphi. But as there was a sfcarcity of gold in 
 the city, while the magistrates were considering how to procure it, 
 the Roman matrons met, and having' consulted among themselves, 
 gave up their golden ornaments, which weighed eight talents, as 
 an offering to the god. They then sent three of the chief of the 
 nobility ambassadors, in a large ship well manned, and fitted out 
 in a manner becoming so solemn art occasion. 
 
 And now the tribunes of the people attempted to bring the law for 
 removing part of the citizens to Veii once more upon the carpet : 
 but the war with the Falisci very seasonably intervening, put the 
 management of the elections in the hands of the patricians ; and 
 they nominated Camillus a military tribune,* together with five 
 others ; as affairs then requireda general of considerable dignity, 
 reputation, and experience. When the people had confirmed this 
 nomination, Camillus marched his forces into the country of the 
 Falisci, and laid siege to Falerii, a city well fortified, and provided 
 in all respects for the war. He was sensible it was likely to be 
 no easy affair, nor soon to be dispatched, and this was one reason 
 for his engaging in it ; for he was desirous to keep the citizens 
 employed abroad, that they might not have leizure to sit down at 
 home and raise tumults and seditions. This indeed was a remedy 
 
 * The year of Rome 361. Camillus was then military tribune the third time. 
 
100 
 
 GAUILLUS. 
 
 which the llomans always had recourse to, Hke f^ood physicians, 
 to expel dangerous humours from the body politic. 
 
 The Falenans, trustmg to the fortifications with which they were 
 surrounded, made so httle account of the siege, that the inhabi- 
 tants, except those who guarded the walls, walked the streets in 
 their common habits. The boys too went to school, and t!ie master 
 took them out to walk and exercise about the walls; for the 
 Falerians, like the Greeks, chose to have their children bred at 
 one public school, that they might betimes be accustomed to the 
 same discipline, and form themselves to friendship and society." 
 
 This schoolmaster, then, designing to betray the Falerians by 
 means of their children, took them every day out of the city to 
 exercise, keeping pretty close to the walls at first, and when their 
 exercise was over, led them in again. By degrees he took them 
 out farther, accustoming them to divert themselves freely, as if 
 they had nothing to fear. At last, having got them all together, 
 he brought them to the Roman advanced guard, and deliveredl 
 them up to be carried to Camillus. When he came into his pre* 
 sence, he said, ** He was the schoolmaster of Falerii, but preferriag 
 his favour to the obligations of duty, he came to deliver up thoM 
 children to him, and in them the whole city." This action ap. 
 peared very shocking to Camillus, and he said to those who were 
 by, *' War at best is a savage thing, and wades throuf^h a sea of 
 violence and injustice ; yet even war itself has its laws, which men 
 of honour will not depart from ; nor do they so pursue victory, at 
 to avail themselves of acts of villany and baseness. For a great 
 general should rely only on his own virtue, and not upon the 
 treachery of others." Then he ordered the lietart to tear oft* the 
 wretch's clothes, to tie his hands behind him, and to funiish the 
 hoys with rods and scourges, to punish the traitor, and whip him 
 into the city. By this time the Falerians had discovered the school, 
 muster's treason ; the city, as might be expected, was tnll of laroea- 
 tations for so great a loss, and the principal inhabitants, both nieo 
 and women, crowded about the walls and the gates like persons 
 distracted. In the midst of this disorder, they espied the boys whip* 
 ping on their master, naked and bound, and calling Camillus "their 
 god, their deliverer, their father." Not ojily the parents of those 
 children, but ull the citizens in general, were struck with admire. 
 tiou (It the spectacle, and conceived such an affection for the jus. 
 rice of Camillus, that they ilnmediately assembled in council, and 
 sent deputies to surrender to hmi both themselves and the city. 
 
 (*arnillu.s sent them to Rome : and when they were mtroduced 
 to the senate, they said* *' The Romans, in preferring justice to 
 ronqucHt, have taught us to ho satisfied with submiKsion instead of 
 liliorty. At the sanip tunc we declare we do not think oiintelves to 
 unich beuoath you in strength, as inferior in victue." 'J'he senate 
 
CAMILLUS. 101 
 
 referred the disquisition and settling of the articles of peace to 
 Camillus, who contented himself with taking a sum of money of 
 the Falenans, and having entered into alliance with the whole na- 
 tion of the Falisci, returned to Rome. 
 
 But the soldiers, who expected to have had the plundering of the 
 Falerii, when they came back empty-handed, accused Camillus to 
 their fellow-citizens as an enemy to the commonsu and one who 
 maliciously opposed the interest of the poor. And when the tri- 
 bunes again proposed the law for transplanting part of the citizen's 
 to Veii,* and summoning the people to give their votes, Gamilius 
 spoke very freely, or rather with much asperity against it, appear- 
 iag remarkably violent in his opposition to the people; who there- 
 fore lost their bill, but harboured a strong resentment against Ca- 
 millus. Even the misfortune he had in his family, of losing one 
 of his sons, did not in the least mitigate their rage ; though, as a 
 man of great goodness and tenderness of heart, he was inconsolable 
 for his loss, and shut himself up at home, a close mourner with 
 the women, at the same time that they were lodging an impeach- 
 ment against him. 
 
 His accuser was Lucius Apnleius, who brought against him a 
 charge of fraud with respect to the Tuscan spoils ; and it was 
 aliedged that certain brass gates, a part of those spoils, werp found 
 with him. The people were so much exasperated, that it was 
 plain they would lay hold on any pretext to condemn him. He, 
 therefore, assembled his friends, his colleagues, and fellow^sol- 
 diers, a great number in all, and begged of them not to suffer him 
 to be crushed by false and unjust accusations, and exposed to the 
 scorn of his enemies. When they had consulted together, and 
 fully considered the affair, tne answer they gave was, that they 
 did not believe it in their power to prevent the sentence, but they 
 would willmgly assist him to pay the fine that might be laid upon 
 him. He could not, however, bear the thoughts of so great an 
 indignity, and giving way to his resentment, determined to quit 
 the city as a volutary exile. Having taken leave of his wife and 
 children, he went in silence from his house to the gate of the 
 city.f There he made a stand, and turning about, stretched out 
 his hands towards the capitol, and prayed to the gods, " That if he 
 was driven out without any fault of his own, and merely by the 
 violence or envy of the people, the Romans might quickly repent 
 it, and express to all the world their want of Camillus, and their 
 regret for his absence." 
 
 « The patricians carried it against the bill only by a majonty of one tribe. And 
 now they were so well pleased with the people, that the very next rnoming a decreo 
 was passed, assigning six acres of the lands of Veii, not only to every father of a 
 family, but to every single person of free condition^ On tne other hand, the people, 
 delighted with this liberality, allowed the electing of consuls, instead of military tribunes. 
 
 t This was four years aifter the xakjng of Falerii. 
 
 9* 
 
IIM 
 
 CAMlLLUfl. 
 
 The Gauls were now besieging Clusium, a city of Tuscany. 
 The Clusians applied to the Romans, entreating them to send am- 
 bassadors and letters to the barbarians. Accordmgly they sent 
 three illustrious persons of the Fabian family, who had borne the 
 highest employments in the state. The Gauls received them cour- 
 teously on account of the name of Rome, and, putting a stop to 
 their operations against the town, came to a conference. But when 
 they were asked what injury they had received from the Clusians 
 that they came aganist their city, Brennus, king of the Gauls, smiled 
 and said, ** the injury the Clusians do us, is their keeping to them- 
 selves a large tract of ground, when they can only cultivate a small 
 one, and refusing to give up a part of it to us who are strangers, 
 numerous, and poor. In the same m^pner you Romans were 
 injured formerly by the Albans, the Fidenates, and the Ardeates, 
 and lately by the people of Veii and Capenae, and the greatest part 
 of the Falisci and the Volsci. Upon these you make war ; if they 
 refuse to share with you their goods, you enslave their persons, 
 lay waste their country, and demolish their cities. Nor are your 
 proceedings dishonourable or unjust; for you follow the most 
 ancient of laws, which directs the weak to obey the strong, from 
 the creator even to the irrational part of the creation, that are 
 taught by nature to make use of the advantage their strength affords 
 them against the feeble. Cease then to express your compassion 
 for the Clusians, lest you teach the Gauls in their turn to com- 
 miserate those who have been oppressed by the Romans." 
 
 By this answer the Romans clnarly perceived that Brennus 
 would come to no terms ; and therefore they went into Clusium, 
 where they encouraged and animated the inhabitants to a sally 
 against the barbarians, either to make trial of the strength of the 
 Clusians, or to show their own. The Clusians made the sally, and 
 a sharp conflict ensued near the walls, when Quintus Ambustus, 
 one of the Fabii, spurred his horse against a Gaul of extraordinary 
 size and figure, who had advanced a good way before the ranks. 
 At first he was not known, because the encounter was hot, and his 
 annour dazzled the eyes of the beholders : but when he had over- 
 come and killed the Gaul, and came to despoil him of his arms, 
 Brennus knew hiih, and called the gods to witness, ** That against 
 all the laws and usages of mankind which were esteemed the most 
 SQCfed and inviolable, Ambustus came as an ambassador, but acted 
 as an enemy." He drew off his men directly, and biddmg the Clu- 
 sians farewell, led his army towards dome. But that he might 
 not seem to rejoice that such an affront was offered, or to have 
 wanted a pretext to hostilities, he sent to demand the offender, in 
 order to punish him, and in the mean time advonced but slowly. 
 
 The herald being arrived, the senate was assembled, and many 
 spoke against the Fabii, particularly the priests called ftciadfM 
 
CAMILLUS. 1Q3 
 
 represented the action as an offence against religion, and adjured 
 the senate to lay the whole guilt and the expiation of it upon the 
 person who alone wis to blame, and so avert the wrath of heaven 
 from the rest of the Romans. The senate referred the matter to 
 the people, and the priests accused Fabius with some ardour before 
 them ; but such was the disregard they expressed for their persons, 
 and such their contempt of religion, that they constituted that very 
 Fabius and his brethren military tribunes.* 
 
 As soon as the Gauls were informed of this, they were greatly 
 enraged, and would no longer delay their march, but hastened for- 
 ward with the utmost celerity. Their prodigious numbers, their 
 glittering arms, their fury and impetuosity, struck terror wherever 
 they came; people gave up their lands for lost, not doubting that 
 the cities wouW soon follow ; however, what was beyond all expec- 
 tation, they mjured no man's property ; they neither pillaged the 
 fields, nor insulted the cities; and as they passed by, they cried 
 out, " They were going to Ronie, they were at war wit^ the Romans 
 only, and considered all others as their friends." 
 
 While the barbarians were going forward in this impetuous 
 manner, the tribunes led out their, forces to battle, in number not 
 infenorf (for they consisted of forty thousand foot), but the greatest 
 part undisciplined and such as had never handled a weapon before. 
 Besides, they paid no attention to religion, having neither pro- 
 pitiated the gods by sacrifice, nor consulted the soothsayers, as was 
 their duty in lirae of danger, and before an engagement. Another 
 thing which occasioned no small confusion, was the number of 
 persons joined in the command ; whereas, before, they had often 
 appointed for wars of less consideration a single leader whom they 
 called dictator J sensible of how great consequence it is to good 
 order and success, at a dangerous crisis, to be actuated as it were 
 with one soul, and to have the absolute command invested in one 
 person. Their ungrateful treatment of Cahiillus, too, was not the 
 least unhappy circumstance ; as it now appeared dangerous for the 
 generals to use their authority without some flattering indulgence 
 to the people. 
 
 In this condition they marched out of the city, and encamped 
 about eleven miles from it, on the banks of the river Allia, not far 
 from its confluence with the Tyber. There the barbarians came 
 upon them, and as the Romans engaged in a disorderly manner, 
 they were shamefully beaten, and put to flight. Their left wing 
 was soon pushed into the river, and there destroyed. The right 
 wing, which quitted the field, to avoid the charge, and gained the 
 hills, did not sufier so much, many of them escaping to Rome. 
 
 * The year of Rome 366 ; or. according to some chronologers, 365. 
 
 •j- They were inferior in number ; for the Gauls were seventy thousand ; and there- 
 fore the Romans, when they came to action, were obliged to extend their wings so as 
 10 make their centre very thin, which was one reason of their being soon broken. 
 
'^3 ^ 
 
 }Q4 CAM1LLU& 
 
 The rest that survived the carnage, when the enemy were satiated 
 with blood, stule by night to Veil, concluding that Rome was lost, 
 and its inhabitants put to the sword. 
 
 If, after so decisive a battle, the Gauls had immediately pursued 
 the fugitives, there would have been nothing to hinder the entire 
 destruction of Rome and all that remained in it; with such terror 
 was the city struck at the return of those who escaped from the 
 battle, and so filled with confusion and distraction ! but the Gauls, 
 not imagining the victory to be so great as it was, m the excess 
 of their joy, indulged themselves in good cheer, and shared the 
 plunder of the camp; by which means numbers that were for leaving 
 the city, had leisure to escape, and those who remained, had time 
 to recollect themselves, and prepare for ibeir defence. For, quit- 
 ting the rest of the city, they retired to the^ capitol, which they 
 fortified with strong ramparts, and provided well with arms. But 
 their first care was of their holy things, most of which they con. 
 veyed into the capito). As for the sacred fire, the vestal virgins 
 took it up, together with other holy relics, and fled away with it 
 along the side of the river, where Lucius Albinus, a plebeian, 
 among others that were making their escape, was carrying his wife 
 and children, and some of his most necessary moveables, in a wag- 
 con. But when he saw the vestals in a helpless and weary con. 
 dition, carrying in their arms the sacred symbols of the gods, he 
 immediately took out his family and goods, and put the virgins in 
 the waggon, that they might make their escape to some of the 
 Grecian cities. 
 
 As for the other priests, and the most ancient of the senators* 
 who were of consular dignity, or had been honoured with triumphs, 
 they Cwuld not bear to think of quitting the city : they, therefore, 
 put on their holy vestments and robes of state, and in a form dic- 
 tated by Fabius, the pontifex maximus, makins their vows to tho 
 gods,* devoted themselves for their country ; thus attired, they sat 
 down in the ivory chairs in the /orum,t prepared for the worst 
 extremity. 
 
 The third day after the battle, Brennus arrived ;ivith his army : 
 and finding the gates of the city opened, and the walls destitute of 
 guards, at first he had some apprehensions of a' stratagem or 
 ambuscade, for he could not think the Romans had so entirely 
 given themselves up to despair. But when he found it to be so in 
 reality, he entered by tho CoUine gate, and took Rome, a liule 
 more than three hundred and sixty years after its foundation. 
 
 Brennus, thus in pqMesston of Rome, set a tCroog guard aboiil 
 the Capitol, and himself went down into thefontm; where he 
 
 •The Romiot believed, that by iboM voluntary oooMcrauooi to Um tofcrnal gods, 
 ditof def and confuaioo were brought among the enemy. 
 tThe» ivory, or euruit chain wero uaed only by tbon who bad boms Um ami 
 
 honourable officei; tnti tbo penoni who bad a right to lit in tbtm bore also ivory staffSb 
 
CAMILLUS- 
 
 10^ 
 
 struck with amazement at the sight of so many men seated in great 
 state and silence, who neither rose up at the approach of "their 
 enemies nor changed countenance or colour, but leaned upon their 
 staves and sat looking upon each other without fear or concern. 
 The Gauls, astonished at so surprising a spectacle, and regarding 
 them as superior beings, for a long time were afraid to approach 
 or touch them. At last one of them ventured to go near Manius 
 Papirius, and advancing his hand, gently stroked his beard, which 
 was very long : upon which, Papirius struck him on the head, with 
 his staff, and wounded him. The barbarian then drew his sword 
 and killed him. After this, the Gauls fell upon the rest and slew 
 them, and, continuing their rage, despatched all that came in their 
 way. Then for many days together, they pillaged the houses and 
 carried off the spoil ; at last, they set fire to the city, and demolished 
 what escaped the flames, to express their indignation against those 
 in the Capitol, who obeyed not their summons, but made a vigorous 
 defence, and greatly annoyed the besiegers from the walls. This 
 it was that provoked them to destroy the whole city, and to des- 
 patch all that fell into their hands, without sparing either sex or age. 
 As by the length of the siege provisions began to fail the Gauls, 
 they divided their forces, and part stayed with the king before the 
 fortress, while part foraged the country, and laid waste the towns 
 and villages. Their success had inspired them with such confi- 
 dence, that they did not keep in a body, but carelessly rambled 
 about in different troops and parties. It happened that the largest 
 and best disciplined corps went against Ardea, where Camillus, 
 since his exile, lived in retirement. This great event, however, 
 awaked him into aciion, and his mind was employed in contriving, 
 not how to keep himself concealed and to avoid' the Gauls', but, if 
 an opportunity should offer, to attack and conquer them. Per- 
 ceiving that the Ardeans were not deficient in numbers, but cou- 
 rage and discipline, which was owing to the inexperience and 
 inactivity of their officers, he applied first to the young men, and 
 told them, " They ought not to ascribe the defeat of the Romans 
 to the valour of the Gauls, or to consider the calamities they had 
 suffered in the midst of their infatuation, as brought upon them by 
 men who, in fact, could not claim the merit of the victory, but as 
 the work of fortune. That it would be glorious, though they risked 
 something by it, to repel a barbarous enemy, whose end in con- 
 quering was, like fire, to destroy what they subdued : but that if 
 they would assume a proper spirit, he would give them an opportu. 
 nity to conquer, without any hazard at all." When he found the 
 young men were pleased with his discourse, he went next to the 
 magistrates and senate of Ardea ; and having persuaded them also 
 to adopt his scheme, he armed all who were of a proper age for it^ 
 
 Q 
 
^^ CAMILLAS. 
 
 • 
 
 and drew them up within the walls, that the enemy, w.io were but 
 at a small distance, might not know what he was abouU 
 
 The Gauls, having scoured the country, and loaded themselves 
 with plunder, encamped upon the plains in a careless and disor- 
 derly manner. Night found them intoxicated with wine, and silence 
 reigned in the camp. As soon as Camillus was informed of this 
 by his spies, he led the Ardeans out : and having passed the inter- 
 mediate space without noise, he reached their tamp about midnight. 
 Then he ordered a loud shout to be set up, and the trumpets to 
 sound on all sides, to cause the greater confusion ; but it was with 
 difllculty they recovered themselves from their sleep and intoxica- 
 tion. A few, whom fear had made sober, snatched up their arms 
 to oppose Camillus, and fell with their weapons in their hands ; 
 but the greatest part of them, buried in sleep and wine, were sur- 
 prised unarmed, and easily despatched. A small number, that in 
 the night escaped out of the camp, and wandered in the fields, 
 were picked up next day by the cavalry, and put to ihe sword. 
 
 The fame of this action soon reaching the neighbouring citiee, 
 drew out many of their ablest warriors. Particularly such of the 
 Romans as bad escaped from the battle of Allia to Veii, lamented 
 with themselves in some such manner as this : ** What a general 
 has Heaven taken from Rome in Camillus, to adorn the Ardeans 
 with his exploits! while the city which produced and brought up 
 80 great a man is absolutely ruined ; and we, for want of a leader, 
 sit idle Within the walls of a strange city, and betray the liberties 
 of Italy. Come then, let us send to the Ardeans to demand our 
 general, or else take our weapons and go to him : for he is no 
 longer an exile, nor we citizens, having no country but what is in 
 possession of an enemy. '^ 
 
 't'his motion was agreed to, and they sent to Camillus to entreat 
 him to accept of the command. But he answered, he could not 
 do it, before he was legally appointed to it by the Romans in the 
 Capitol.* For he looked upon them, while they were in being, aa 
 the commonwealth, and would readily obey their orders, but with* 
 out them would not be so officious as to interpose. 
 
 They admired the modesty and honour of Camillus, but knew 
 not how to send the proposal to the Capitol. It seemed indeed 
 impossible for a messenger to pais into the citadel, whilst the 
 enemy were in .possession of the city. However, a young man 
 named Pontius Cominius, not distinguished by his birth, but fond 
 of glory, readily took upon him the commission. He carried no 
 letters to the citizens in the Capitol, lest, if he should happen to 
 be taken, the enemy should discover by them the intentions of 
 
 • Livjr Mva, tb* Roman lokHert at Veii applied to ttaa imaisf of Um liiMls to Iks 
 Capiiol for leavo, before tbejrofliRtd the corainaod toCamUlm So mneli itnirf ktd 
 tkoee braee men for the cooetitutioa ol tbair country, ttiomk RosM then Utui si' 
 vtrj priTata man wae , indeed, a patriot. 
 
CAMILLUS. j^Y 
 
 Camillus. Having dressed himself in mean attire, under which 
 he concealed some pieces of cor|{, he travelled all day without 
 fear, and approached the city as it grew dark. He could not pass 
 the river by the bridge, because it was guarded by the Gauls ; and 
 therefore took his clothes, which were neither many nor heavy, 
 and bound them about his head, and having laid himself upon the 
 pieces of cork, easily swam over and reached the city. Then 
 avoiding those quarters where by the lights and noise he con- 
 eluded they kept watch, he went to the CarmerUal gatCy where 
 there was the greatest silencp, and where the hill of the Capitol is 
 the steepest and most craggy. Up this he got unperceived, by a 
 way the most difficult and dreadful, and advanced near the guards 
 upon the walls. After he had hailed hem and told them his name, 
 they received him with joy, and conducted him to the magistrates. 
 
 The senate was presently assembled, and he acquainted them 
 with the victory of Camillus, which they had not heard of before, 
 as well as of the proceedings of the soldiers at Veii, and exhorted 
 them to confirm Camillus in the command, as the citizens out of 
 Rome would obey none but him. Having heard his report, and 
 consulted together, they declared Camillus dictator, and sent Pon- 
 tius back the same way he came, who was equally fortunate in his 
 return ; for he passed the enemy undiscovered, and delivered to 
 the Romans at Veii the decree of the senate, which .they received 
 with pleasure. 
 
 Camillus, at his arrival, found twenty thousand of them in arms, 
 to whom he added a great number of the allies, and prepared to 
 attack the enemy. Thus was he appointed dictator the second 
 time, and having put himself at the head of the Romans and con- 
 federates, he marched out against the Gauls. 
 
 Meantime some of the barbarians employed in the sie^Q, hap- 
 pening to pass by the place where Pontius made his way by night 
 up to the Capitol, observed many traces of his feet and hands, as 
 he had worked himself up the rock, torn off what grew there, 
 and tumbled down the mould. Of this they informed the king, 
 who, coming and viewing it, for the present said nothing ; but in 
 the evening he assembled the lightest and most active of his men, 
 who were likeUest to climb any difficult height, and thus addressed 
 them : " The enemy have themselves shown us a way to reach 
 them, which we were ignorant of, and have proved that this rock 
 is neither inaccessible nor untrod by human feet. What a shame 
 would be then, after having made a beginning not to finish ; and 
 to quit the place as impregnable, when the Romans themselves 
 have taught us how to take it ? Where it was easy for one man to 
 ascend, it cannot be difficult for many, one by one ; nay, should 
 many attempt it together, they will find great advantage in assist 
 
\m 
 
 Camiums. 
 
 ing each other. In the mean time I intend great rewards and 
 honours for such as shall distinguish themselves on this occasion." 
 
 The Gauls readily embraced the king's ' proposal, and about 
 midnight a number of them together began to climb the rock in 
 silence, which, though steep and craggy, proved more practicable 
 than they expected. The foremost having gained the top, put 
 tliemrelves in order, and were ready to take possession of the wall, 
 and to fall upon the guards, who were fast asleep ; for neither 
 man nor dog perceived their coming. However, there were cer- 
 tain sacred geese kept near Juno's temple,* and at other times 
 plentifully fed, but at this time, as corn and the other provisions that 
 remained were scarce sufficient for the men, they were neglected 
 and m poor condition. This animal is naturally quif'k of hearing, 
 and soon alarmed at any noise ; and as hunger kept them waking 
 end uneasy> they irnmediately perceived the coming of the Gauls, 
 and running at them with all the noise they could make, they 
 awoke all the guards. The barbarians now perceiving they were 
 discovered, advanced with loud shouts and great fury. The Ro- 
 mans in haste snatched up such weapons as came to hand, and 
 acquitted themselves like men on this sudden emergency. First 
 of all, Manlius, a man of consular dignity, remarkable for bis 
 strength and extraordinary courage, engaged two Gauls at once ; 
 and, as one of them was lifting up his battle-axe, with his sword 
 cut off his right hand, at the same time he thrust the boss of his 
 shield in the face of the other, and dashed him down the precipice. 
 Thus standing upon the rampart with those who had come to his 
 assistance and fought by his side, he drove back the rest of tho 
 Gauls that had got up, who were no great number, and who p^r. 
 formed nothing worthy of such an attempt. Tho Romans having 
 escaped the danger that threatened them, as soon as it was light, 
 threw the officer who commanded the watch down the rock amongst 
 the enemy, and decreed Manlius a reward for his victory, which 
 liad more of honour in it than profit ; for every man gave him what 
 he had for one day's allowance. 
 
 AHer this, the Gauls began to lose courage ; for provisions were 
 scarce, and they could not forage for fear of Caniillus.f Sick, 
 ness too prevailed among them, which took its rise from the heaps 
 of dead bodies, and from their encamping amidst the rubbish of the 
 houses they had burned ; where there was such a quantity of ashes 
 as, when raised by the winds or heated by the sun, by their dry 
 and acrid quality, so corrupted the air, that every breatli of it was 
 
 • Geete were ever after hkd in honour at Rome, and a flock of ihem nlwayt kept 
 at the axpeiiM of ttie public. A golden image of u gooee wae eracied in nteinory o^ 
 ibem, andagoote rtery year carried in iriumfth upon S aoft litKr 6nely adoniadt 
 while dogi were held in nhhorrence by the RoniHnt. who every yaai impalrd uneolf 
 tiieai upon a bnnr.h of elder.— Pttn. et Plut. de Furtunm Ram. 
 
 f Cadiilliif being matter of the country, potted •t»ona guardt on alt thr roada, and, 
 in cflect, betieged the brtirj;e^i. 
 
CAMILLUS. 1Q9 
 
 pernicious. But what affected them most was, the change of cli- 
 mate ; for they had lived in countries that abounded with shades 
 and agreeable shelters from the heat, and were now got into 
 grounds that were low, and unhealthy in autumn. All this, to- 
 gether with the length and tediousness of the siege, which had 
 now lasted more than six months, caused such desolation among 
 them, and carried off such numbers, that the carcasses lay unburied. 
 
 The besieged, however, were not in a much better condition. 
 Famine, which now pressed them hard, and their ignorance of 
 what Camillus was doing, caused no small dejection ; for the bar- 
 barians guarded the city with so mlrch care, that it was impossible 
 to send any messenger to him. Both sides being thus equally dis- 
 couraged, the advanced guards, who were near enough to con- 
 verse, first began to talk of treating. As the motion was approved 
 by those who had the chief direction of affairs, Sulpitius, one of 
 the military tribunes, went and conferred with Brennus, when it 
 was agreed that the RomaHS should pay a thousand pounds weight 
 of gold,* and that the Gauls, upon receipt of it, should immedi- 
 ately quit the city and its territories. When the conditions were 
 sworn to, and the gold was brought, the Gauls, endeavouring to 
 avail themselves of false weights, privately at first, and afterwards 
 openly, drew down their own side of the balance. The Romans 
 expressing their resentment, Brennus in a contemptuous and insult- 
 ing manner took off his sword, and threw it, belt and all, into the 
 scale, and when Sulpitms asked what that meant, he answered, 
 " What should it mean, but woe to the conquered ?" which became 
 a proverbial saying. Some of the Romans were highly incensed 
 at this, and talked of returning with their gold, and enduring the 
 utmost extremities of the siege ; but others were of opinion, that 
 it was better to pass by a small injury, since the indignity lay not 
 in paying more than was due, but in paying apy thing at all ; a 
 disgrace only consequent on the necessity of the times. 
 
 While they were thus disputing with the Gauls, Camillus arrived 
 at the gates, and being informed of what had passed, ordered the 
 main body of his army to advance slowly and in good order, while 
 he with a select band marched hastily up to the Romans, who all 
 gave place, and received the dictator with respect and silence* 
 Then he took the gold out of the scales and gave it to the liclorSy 
 and ordered the Gauls to take away the balance and the weights, 
 and to be gone, telling them " it was the custom of the Romans to 
 deliver their country with steel, not with gold." And when Bren- 
 nus expressed his indignation, and complained he had great injus- 
 tice done him by this infraction of the treaty, Camillus answered, 
 *'That it was never lawfully made, nor could it be valid without 
 his consent, who was dictator and sole magistrate; they had, 
 * That is forty- five thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 10 
 
no 
 
 CAMiLLUS. 
 
 thereforo, act«d without proper authority: but they might makit 
 their proposals, now he was come, whom the laws had invested 
 with power cither to pardon the suppliant, or punish the guilty, it' 
 proper satisfaction was not made." 
 
 At this Brennus was still more highly incensed, and a skirmish 
 ensued ; swords were drawn on both sides, and thrusts exchanged 
 in a confused manner, which it is easy to conceive must be the 
 case, amidst the ruins of houses and in narrow sti*eets,' where there 
 was not room to draw tip regularly. Brennus, however, soon 
 recollected himself, and drew off his forces into the camp, with the 
 loss of a small number. In the night he ordered them to march 
 and quit the city ; and having retreated about eight miles from it, 
 he encamped upon the Gabinian road. Early in the morning 
 Camillus came up with them, his arms dazzling the sight, and his 
 men full of spirits and fire. A sharp engagement ensued, which 
 lasted a long time ; at length the Gauls were routed with great 
 slaughter, and their camp taken. Sdme of those who f{ed were 
 killed in the pursuit ; but the greater part were cut to pieces by 
 the people in the neighbouring towns and villages, who fell upon 
 them as they were dispersed.* 
 
 Thus was Rome strangely taken, and more strangely recovered, 
 after it had been seven months m the possession of the barbarians. 
 Camillus returned in triumph, as became the deliverer of his lost 
 country, and the restorer of Rome. Those that had quitted the 
 place before the siege, with their wives and children, now followed 
 his chariot ; and they who had been besieged in the capitol and 
 were almost perishing with hunger, met the others, and embraced 
 them, weeping with joy at this unexpected pleasure, which they 
 almost considered as a dream. The priests and ministers of the 
 gods bringing back with them what holy things they had hid or 
 conveyed away when they fled, afTorded a most desirable specta- 
 cle to the people ; and they gave them the kindest welcome, as if 
 the gods themselves had returned with them to Rome. Next, 
 Camillus sacrificed to the gods, and purified the city, in a form die. 
 tated by the pontiffs. He rebuih the former temples and erected 
 a new one to Aius Ijoquutius, the speaker or Warner^ upon the very 
 spot where the voice from heaven announced in the night to Mar- 
 cus Ceditius the coming of the barbarians. There was, indeed, 
 ■u small difficulty in discovering the places where the templet bid 
 stood, but it was effected by the zeal of Camillus and the industry 
 of the priests. 
 
 As it was necessary to rebuild the city, which was entirely do- 
 
 "There is reason to qiieinioii the truth of tlie latter pari of this story. PiMlueh 
 
 Eie<i It from Livy. But rolybitit represents lim Gauls, m actually recaivioK Um 
 i frnifi (he Honians. and returiiinf in safety lo ttieir own counirv and this is con. 
 led by Justin, Suetonius, and eyen bv Livy hintali; in aaoUMf part of bis biitory. 
 
CAMJLLUS. Ill 
 
 molished, an heartless despondency seized the multitude and they 
 inventeo pretexts of delay. They were m want of all necessary 
 materials, and had more occasion for repose and refreshment after 
 their sufferings, than to labour and wear themselves out, when 
 their bodies were weak and their substance was gone. They had, 
 therefore, a secret attachment to Veii, a city which remamed en- 
 ure, and wos provided with every thmg. This gave a handle to 
 their demagogues to harangue them, as usual, in a way agreeable 
 to their inclinations, and make them listen to seditious speeches 
 against Camillus — "As if, to gratify his ambition and thirst of 
 glory, he would deprive them of a city fit to receive them, force 
 them to pitch their tents among rubbish, and rebuild a ruin that 
 was like one great funereal-pile, in order that he might not only 
 be called the general and dictator of Rome, but the founder, too, 
 instead of Romulus, whose right he invaded." 
 
 Before they had finished the laborious task of building, a new 
 war broke out. The iEqui, the Volsci, and the Latins, all at once 
 invaded their territories, and the Tuscans laid siege to Sutrium, a 
 city in alliance with Rome. The military tribunes, too, who com- 
 manded the army, being surrounded by the Latins near Mount 
 Marcius, and their camp in great danger, sent to Rome to desire 
 succours, on which occasion Camillus was appointed dictator the 
 third time. 
 
 Of this war there are two different accounts: that which is 
 approved by most historians, is as follows : Camillus, being ap- 
 pointed dictator the third time, and knowing that the army under 
 the miUtary tribunes was surrounded by the Latins and Volscians, 
 was constrained to make levies among such as age had exempted 
 from service. With these he fetched a large compass about 
 Mount Marcius, and, unperceived by the enemy, posted his army 
 behind them; and by lighting many fires signified his arrival. 
 The Romans that were besieged in their camp, being encouraged 
 by this, resolved to sally out and join battle. But the Latins and 
 Volscians kept close within their works, drawing a line of circum- 
 vallation with palisades, because they had the enemy on both sides, 
 and resolving to wait for reinforcement' firom home, as well as for 
 the Tuscan succours. 
 
 Camillus perceiving this, and fearing that the enemy might sur- 
 round him, as he had surrounded them, hastened to make use of 
 the present opportunity. As the works of the confederates con- 
 sisted of wood, and the wind used to blow hard from the mountains 
 at sun-rising, he provided a great quantity of combustible matter, 
 and drew out his forces at day-break. Part of them he ordered 
 with loud shouts and missive weapons to begin the attack on the 
 opposite side, while he himself, at the head of those that were 
 charged with the fire, watched the proper minute, on that side of 
 the works towards which tbe wind used to blow. When the sun 
 
112 CAMILLUS. 
 
 vas risen, the wind blew violently ; and the attack being begun 
 on the other side, he gave the signal to his own party, who poured 
 a mm. quantity of fiery darts, and other burning matter, into the 
 enemy's fortifications. As the flame soon caught hold, and was 
 fed by the palisades and oiher timber, it spread itself into all quar- 
 ters, and the Latms not being provided with any means of extin. 
 guishing it, the camp was almost full of fire, and they were reduced 
 to a small spot of ground. At last they were forced to bear down 
 upon that body who were posted before the camp, and ready to 
 receive them sword in hand. Consequently very few of them es- 
 caped, and those that remained in the camp were destroyed by 
 the flames, till the Romans extinguished them for the sake of the 
 pltmder. 
 
 Afler this Licinius Stolo raised a great sedition in the state, 
 putting himself at the head of the people, who insisted that, of the 
 two consuls, one should be a plebeian. Tribunes of the people 
 were appointed, but the multitude would sufler no election of con- 
 suls to be held.* As this want of chief magistrates was likely to 
 bring on still greater troubles, the senate created Camillus dictator 
 the fourth time, against the consent of the people, and not even 
 agreeably to his own inclination -f For he was unwilling to set 
 himself against those persons, who, having been ofien led on by 
 him to conquest, could with great truth aflirm, that he had more 
 concern with them in the military way, than with the patricians in 
 the civil : and at the same time was sensible that the envy of those 
 very patricians induced them now to promote him to that high 
 station, that he might oppress the people if he succeeded, or be 
 ruined by them if he failed in the attempt. He attempted, how. 
 ever, to obviate the present danger, and as he knew the day on 
 which the tribunes intended to propose their law, he published a 
 meral muster, and summoned the people from the /brwm into the 
 dd, threatening to set heavy fines upon those who should not 
 obey. On the other hand, the tribunes of the people opposed hira 
 with menaces, solemnly protesting they would fine him fifty thou- 
 sand drachmas, if ho did not permit the people to put their bill to 
 the vote. Whether it was that he was afraid of a second con- 
 demnation and banishment, which would but ill suit him, now he 
 
 * This confufion listed five veara, during whieli Uie tribuneeof Uie people pM> 
 vented ttte Comitia from beiog held, which were ntcmmtj fbr the election of toe cbitf 
 roegittraie*. It wu occasioned by a triflinf aoeideot. Fabhit Ambutnia havinc 
 loariii^d rut eldest daughter to Senriut Sulpicius, a patrioiaa, aad at Uib Uaia nttinursr 
 
 tribuno. and the younger to Licinius StoJo, a rich plebaian, it T 
 
 the younger sister was paying a visit to the elder, Sulpicittt eaaie booM from Iba 
 forum, nnd his lictors, with the staff of the fasces, UradUaiad at tba 
 
 fasces, UradHaiad at tba door. Tbt 
 
 voiinger sitter being friahtaned at the noisa, the elder laugM at htr, as a panoa tnili 
 JflMirant of high lifit. This aflroot gr«aUj afflicted her, and hir tukm, to conObrt W. 
 M bariMt be uMMjr, for she tbottld soon neas much stattaiharown booMiUhap 
 
 Mrpriaad bar at her siMar*s; 
 t Thajretroffioroea^. 
 
CAMILLUS. 113 
 
 Was grown old and covered wfth glory, or whether he thought he 
 Could not get the better of the pCopIe, whose violence Avas equal 
 to their power, for the present he returned to his own house, and 
 soon after, under pretence of sickness, resigned the dictatorship.* 
 The senate appointed another dictator, who, having named for his 
 general of horse that very Stolo who was leader of the sedition, 
 suffered a law to be made that was extremely disagreeable to the 
 patricians. It provided that no person whatsoever should possess 
 more than five hundred acres of land. Stolo havmg carried his 
 point with the people, flourished greatly fpr a while ; but not long 
 after, being convicted of possessing more than the limited number 
 of acres, he suffered the penalties of his own law.f 
 
 The most difficult part of the dispute, and that which they began 
 with, namely, concerning the election of the consuls, remaining 
 still unsettled, continued to give the senate great uneasiness, when 
 certain information was brought that the Gauls were marching 
 again from the coasts of the Adriatic, with an immense army to- 
 wards Rome. With this news came an account of the usual effects 
 of war, the country laid waste, and 5ach of the inhabitants as could 
 not take refuge in Rome dispersed about the mountains. The 
 terror of this put a stop to the sedition ; and the most popular of 
 the senators uniting with the people, with one voice created Ca- 
 millus dictator the fifth time. He was now very old, wanting very 
 little of fourscore ; yet seeing the necessity and danger of the 
 times, he was willing to risk all inconveniences, and, without 
 alleging any excuse, immediately took upon him the command, 
 and made the levies. As he knew the chief force of the barbari- 
 ans lay in their swords, which they managed without art or skill, 
 furiously rushing in, and aiming chiefly at the head and shoulders, 
 he furnished most of his men with helmets of well-polished iron, 
 that the swords might either break or glance aside : and, round the 
 borders of their shields he drew a plate of brass, because the wood 
 of itself could not resist the strokes. Besides this, he taught them 
 to avail themselves of long pikes, by pushing with which they 
 might prevent the effect of the enemy's swords. 
 
 When the Gauls were arrived at the river Anio with their ar^ny, 
 encumbered with the vast booty they had made, Camillus drew 
 out his forces, and posted them upon a hill of easy ascent, in which 
 were many hollows, sufficient to conceal the greatest part of his 
 men, while those that were in sight should seem through fear to 
 have taken advantage of the higher grounds. And'the more to fix 
 this opinion in the Gauls, he opposed not the depredations com- 
 
 * He pretended to find something amiss, in the auspices which were taken when he 
 was appointed. ^ , , . , , r 
 
 •}• It was eleven years after. Popilius Laenas fined him ten thousand sesterces for 
 being possessed of a thousand acres of land, in conjunction with his son, whom he 
 had emancipated for that purposc.^Liv lib. vii. c. 16. 
 
114 
 
 CATULLUS. 
 
 mitted in his sight, but remained quietly in the camp he bad lurti. 
 fied while he had beheld part of them djsperscd in order to plun 
 der, and ^art indulging themselves, day and night, in drinking and 
 reveUing. At last, he sent out the light-armed infantry before 
 day, to prevent the enemy's drawing up in a regular manner, and 
 to harass them by sudden skirmishing as they issued out of their 
 trenches ; and as soon as it was light he led down the heav)- 
 armed, and put them in battle-array upon the plain, neither few in 
 number nor disheartened, as the Gauls expected, but numerous 
 and full of spirits. 
 
 This was the first tiling that shook their resolution, for they con. 
 sidered it as a disgrace to have the Romans the aggressors. Then 
 the light-armed falling upon them before they could get into order 
 and rank themselves by companies, pressed them so warmly, that 
 they were obliged to come in great confusion to the engagement 
 Last of all, Camillus leading on the heavy-armed, the Gauls with 
 brandished swords hastened to fight hand to hand ; but the Ro- 
 mans meeting the strokes with their pikes, and receiving them on 
 that part that was guarded with iron, so turned their swords, which 
 were thin and soA-tempered, that they were soon bent almost 
 double ; and their shields were pierced and weighed down with 
 the pikes that stuck in them. They therefore quitted their own 
 arms, and endeavoured to seize those of the enemy, and to wrest 
 their pikes from them. The Romans seeing them naked, now be- 
 gan to make use of their swords, and made great carnage among 
 the foremost ranks. Mean time the rest took to flight and were 
 scattered along the plain ; for Camillus had beforehand secured 
 the heights ; and as in confidence of victory, they had lefl the 
 camp unfortified, they knew it would be taken with ease. 
 
 This battle is said to have been fought thirteen years af)er the 
 taking of Rome ;'*' and in consequence of this success, the Romans 
 laid aside, for the future, the dismal apprehensions they had enter- 
 tained of the barbarians. They had imagined, it seems, that the 
 former victory they had gained over the Gauls was owins to the 
 sickness that prevailed in their army, and to other unforeaeen 
 accidentt, rather than to their own valour : and so ffreat had their 
 terror been formerly, that they had made a law, " that the priests 
 should be exempted from military seivice, except in case ^f an in- 
 vasion from the. Gauls." 
 
 This was the last of Camillus's martial exploits. For the taking 
 of VelitrsB was a direct consequence of this victory, and it surrcn. 
 dered without the least resistance. But the greatest conflict he 
 ever experienced in the state, still remained : lor the people were 
 harder to deal with since they returned victorious, and they insisted 
 that one of the consuls should be chosen out of their body, con* 
 
 • Tbli biiMle wm fmtghx, not thirtaen, but twentr thrte TCtn tfter tbe tfikinf of 
 
CAMILLUS. J ^5 
 
 trary to the present constitution. The senate opposed them, and 
 would not suffer Camillus to resign the dictatorship, thinking they 
 could better defend the rights of the nobility under the sanction of 
 Jus supreme authority. But one day, as Camillus was sitting in 
 the forum, and employed in the distribution of justice, an officer, 
 sent by the tribunes of the people, ordered him to follow him, and 
 laid his hand upon him, as if he would seize and carry him away. 
 Upon this such a noise and tumult was raised in the assembly, as 
 never had been known ; those that were about Camillus thrusting 
 the plebeian officer. down from the tribunal, and the populace 
 calling out to drag the dictator from his seat. 
 
 In this case Camillus was much embarrassed : he did not, how- 
 ever, resign the dictatorship, but led ofiT the patricians to the senate 
 house. Before he entered it, he turned towards the Capitol, and 
 prayed to the gods to put an happy end to the present disturbances, 
 solemnly vowing to build a temple to Concord, when the tumult 
 should be over. 
 
 In the senate there was a diversity of opinions and great debates. 
 Mild and popular counsels, however, prevailed, which allowed ono 
 of the consuls to be a plebeian.* When the dictator announced 
 this decree to the people, they received it with great satisfaction ; 
 they were immediately reconciled to the senate, and conducted 
 Camillus home with great applause. Next day the people assem- 
 bled, and voted that the temple which Camillus had vowed to Con- 
 cord, should, on account of this great event, be built on a spot that 
 fronted the jforum and place of assembly. To those feasts which 
 are called Latin, they added one day more, so that the whole was 
 to consist of four days ; and for the present they ordained that the 
 whole people of Rome should sacrifice with garlands on their 
 heads. Camillus then held an assembly for the election of con- 
 suls, when Marcus ^milius was chosen out of the nobility, and 
 Lucius' Sextus from the commonalty, the first plebeian who at- 
 tained that honour. 
 
 This was the last of Camillus's transactions. The year follow, 
 ing a pestilence visited Rome, which carried off a prodigious num- 
 ber of the people, most of the magistrates, and Camillus himself. 
 His death could not be deemed premature, on account of his great 
 age and the offices he had borne, yet was he more lamented than 
 all the rest of the citizens who died of that distemper. 
 
 * The people" haying gained this point, the consulate was revived, and the military 
 tribuneship laid aside forever; but at the same tune the patricians procured the great 
 privilege that a new officer, called praetor, should be appointed, who was to be al- 
 ways one of their body The consuls had been generals of the Ronmn armies, and 
 «t the same time judges of civil affairs; but as they were often in the field, it was 
 thought proper to separafe the latter branch froni their office, and appropriate it to a 
 judge with the title o( prcetor, who was to be next in dignity to the consuls. About 
 the year of Rome 501, another jaraior was appointed to decide the differences among 
 foreigners. Upon the taking of Sicily and Sardinia, two moTcprmtors were created, 
 and as many more upon the conquest of Spam. 
 
116 
 
 PERICLES. 
 
 Flourished 430 years before Christ. 
 
 PERICLES was of the tribe of Acamantis, and of the ward of 
 Cholargia. His family was one of the most considentble in 
 Athens, both by the father and mother's side. His father Xan- 
 thippus, who defeated the king of Persia's generals at Mycale, 
 married Agaristc, the niece of CHsthenes, who expelled the family 
 of Pisistratus, abolished the tyranny, enacted laws, and established 
 a form of government tempered in such a manner as tended to 
 unanimity among the people, and the safety of the state. 
 
 The person of Pericles was in other respects well turned, but 
 liis head disproportionably long ; for this reason almost all his 
 statues have the heads covered with a helmet. But the Athenian 
 poets called him Schinoccphalus, or Onion-he4id, The person 
 who taught him music was called Damon, a politician, who, under 
 pretence of teaching music, concealed his great abilities from the 
 vulgar. He also attended the lectures of Zeno of Elea,"" who in 
 natural philosophy was a follower of Parmenides ; but the philo. 
 fiopher with whom ho was most intimately acquainted, who gave 
 him that force and sublimity of sentiment superior to all the dema. 
 gogues, who, in short, formed him to that admirable dignity of 
 manners, was Anaxagoras the Clazomenian. This was he whom 
 the people of those times call Nous^ or intellecty cither in admiration 
 of his great understanding and knowledge of the works of nature, 
 or because he was the first who clearly proved, that the universe 
 owed its formation, neither to chance nor necessity, but to a pure 
 and unmixed Mindt who separated the homogeneous parts from 
 the other with which they were conlbunded. 
 
 Charmed with the company of this philosopher, and instructed 
 by 4)im in the sublimest sciences, Pericles acquired not only an 
 elevation of sentiment, and a loftiness and purity of style, far re- 
 moved from the low expression of the vulvar, but likewise a gravity 
 of countenance which relaxed not into laughter, a firm and oven 
 lone of voice, an easy deportment, and a decency of dress, which 
 
 * This Zenn waj of Elea, a town of lirtly, nnH • Phocian enUntj, and munt ha 
 carefully difttiO((Uiiihrd from Z«nn. the founder of the tpcl of the Stoics.* Tba Zano 
 here tfiokeii ol was re«pectable for atti>niptiitK to mi hi« cotiniry of a ivrant l^ha 
 tyrant took him, ami caused hint to lir poundrd to drath in a mnrtar luit h\t death 
 ancAinplifhed what he could nut etiect in his lileiimc; for his ffllow ciiisrns were ao 
 tnuch incrnstd at the dreadful manner of it. that they fell upon the tyrant and stoned 
 him. As to his at);unient«, and those of hit master i'snnenides. prrtendrd to be an 
 in? iiM*.ible, one of tnein w*» tn prove there can he no surh ihiuf an mniion. si:»ce a 
 Hung can neilhttr move in the place where it ip, nor in the place wher»» it i» not But 
 Ibis anphisni is easily ir fnti**! ; for motion \i the passing of a thinj; oi jx'r<ion into a 
 Dew part uf space. 
 
PERICLES. 117 
 
 no vehemence of speaking ever put into disorder. These things, 
 and others of the like nature, excited admiration in all that saw 
 him. 
 
 Such was his conduct, when a vile and abandoned fellow loaded 
 him a whole day with reproaches and abuse : he bore it with pa- 
 tience and silence, and continued in public for the despatch of 
 some urgent affairs. In the evening he walked softly home, this 
 impudent wretch following and insulting him all the way with the 
 most scurrilous language ; and., as it was dark when he came to 
 his own door^ he ordered one of his servants to take a torch and 
 light the man home. The poet Ion, however, says he was proud 
 and supercilious in conversation, and that, there was a great deal 
 of vanity and contempt of others mixed with his dignity of man- 
 ner ; on the other hand he highly extols the civility, complaisance, 
 and politeness of Cimon. But to take no farther notice of Ion, 
 who perhaps would not have any great excellence appear without 
 a mixture of something satirical as it was in the ancient tragedy ; ■'' 
 Zeno desired those that called the gravity of Pericles pride and 
 arrogance, to be proud the same way, telling them, the very act- 
 ing of an excellent part might insensibly produce a love and real 
 imitation of it. 
 
 These were not the only advantages which Pericles gained by 
 conversing with Anaxagoras. From him he learned to overcome 
 those terrors which the various phenomena of the heavens raise 
 in those who know not their causes, and who entertain a torment- 
 ing fear of the gods by reason of that ignorance. Nor is there 
 any cure for it, but the study of nature, which, instead of the frightful 
 extravagancies of superstition, implants in us a sober piety sup- 
 ported by rational hope. 
 
 At first, to raise himself to some sort of equality vvith Cimon, 
 who was then at the height of glory, Pericles made his court to the 
 people. And as Cimon was his superior in point of fortune, which 
 he employed in relieving the paor Athenians, in providing victuals 
 every day for the necessitous, and clothing the aged ; and, be- 
 sides this, levelled his fences with the ground, that all might be 
 at liberty to gather his fruit ; Pericles had recourse to the expe- 
 dient of dividing the public tregisure, which scheme, as Aristotle 
 informs us, was proposed to him by Demonides of los.f Accord- 
 
 * Tragedy at first was only a chorus in honour of Bacchus. Persons dressed like 
 satyrs were the performers, and they often broke out into the most licentious raillery. 
 Afterwards, when tragedy took a graver turn, something of the former drollery was 
 Still retained, as in that which we call tragi-coraedy. In time, serious characters and 
 events became the subject of tragedy, witliout that mixture: but even then, after ex- 
 hibiting three or four serious tragedies, the poets used to conclude their contention for 
 the prize with a savirical one. Of this sort is the Cyclops of Euripides, and the only 
 one remaining. 
 
 f los was one of the isles called Sporades, in the iigean sea, and celebrated for 
 tilt; toinb of Homer, fiut some learned men are of opinion, that Demonides was not 
 <»i ih? ijlarui of los, but of Oia, v/hicb was a borough in Attica. 
 
12^ I'jLRiCLES. 
 
 ingly, by supplying the people with money for the public diver- 
 sions, and fur their attendance in courts of judicature,* and b\ 
 other pensions and gratuities, he so inveigled them an to avail him- 
 self of their interest aguinst the council of the Areopagus, of which 
 he had no right to be a member, having never had the fortune to 
 be chosen Archm, Thetmothetes, King of the Sacred Rites, or Pole- 
 march. For persons were of old appointed to these offices by lot, 
 and such as had discharged them well, and such only, were admK. 
 ted as judges in the Areopagus. Pericles, therefore, by his popu. 
 larity, raised a party against that council, and, by means of Epi- 
 altes, took from them the cognizance of many causes that had been 
 under their jurisdiction. He likewise caused Cimon to be banish- 
 ed by the Ostracism^ as an enemy to the people,t and a friend to 
 the Lacedaemonians ; a man who in birth and fortune had no supe- 
 rior, who had gained very glorious victories over the barbarians, 
 and filled the city with money and other spoils. Such was the 
 authority of Pericles with the common people. 
 
 The term of Cimon*s banishment, as it was by Ostracism, was 
 limited by law to ten years. Meantime, the Lacedaemonians, with 
 a great army, entered the territory of Tanagra, and the Athenians 
 immediately marching out against them, Cimon returned, and 
 placed himself in the ranks with those of his tribe, intending by 
 his deeds to wipe off the aspersion of favouring the Lacedsmo- 
 nians, and to venture his life with his countrymen ; but by a com- 
 bination of the friends of Pericles, ho was repulsed as an exile. 
 This seems to have been the cause that Pericles exerted himself in 
 a particular manner in that battle, and exposed his person to the 
 greatest dangers. All Cimon*s friends whom Pericles had accused 
 as accomplices in his pretended crime, fell honourably that day 
 together : and the Athenians, who were defeated u|>on their owte 
 borders, and expected a still sharper conflict in the summer, griev. 
 ously repented of their treatment of Cimon, and longed for his re. 
 turn. Pericles, sensible of the people's inclinations, did not hesi- 
 tate to gratify them, but himself proposed a decree for recalling 
 CimoD ; and, at his return, a peace was agreed upon through his 
 mediation. For the Lacedsonoonians had a particular regard for 
 him, as well as aversion f^)r Pericles, and the other demagogues. 
 But some authors write, that Pericles did not procure an order for 
 
 * There were several courts of judicature in Athens, compoeed of   certain ouos- 
 ber of the cifixeos. who sometinirs rrceived one obolu* each Uu eTery cause llM7 
 tried and sontetintes men who aimed at pop lUrity. procuiad this fee to ha iiwiaastn. 
 
 t (lis treason against the vlate was pr«)ieiided tu consist lo raceiviDf prataoia or 
 other gratifications fruni the Macedonians, whneby he *vm% prevailed iw to let slip tha 
 oppnrtunitv he had to enlan^e the Athenian conquests, after ha had taken the (old 
 inin^s of 'fhrace. Cimon an«v%«red, that he had prntiecuied the war to the utmost of 
 his power against the Thraciar.s end their other enemies: but that he had made no 
 inroads into Macedonia, berauce he did not conceive that he was to act en a pubib 
 enenty to mankind. 
 
PERICLES. 
 
 119 
 
 Cimon^s return, till they 4iad entered into a private compact, by 
 means of Cimon's sister Elpinice, that Cimon should have the 
 command abroad, and with two hundred galleys lay waste the king 
 of Persia's dominions, and Pericles have the direction of affairs at 
 home. 
 
 Cimon died soon after in the expedition to Cyprus. And the 
 nobility perceiving that Pericles was now arrived at a height of 
 authority which set him far above the other citizens, were desirous 
 of having some person to oppose him, who might be capable of 
 giving a check to his power, and of preventing his making him- 
 self absolute. For this purpose they set up Thucydides, of the 
 ward of Alopece, a man of great prudence, and brother-in-law to 
 Cimon. He had not, indeed, Cimon's talents for war, but was su- 
 perior to him in forensic and political abilities ; and, by residing 
 constantly in Athens, and opposing Pericles in the general assera- 
 bly, he soon brought the government to an equilibrium. For he 
 did not suffer persons of superior rank to be dispersed and con- 
 founded with the rest of the people, because, in that case, their 
 dignity was obscured and lost : but collected them into a separate 
 body, by which means their authority was enhanced, and sufficient 
 weight thrown into their scale.' There was, indeed, from the be- 
 ginning, a kind of doubtful separation, which, like the flaws in a 
 piece of iron, indicated that the aristocratical party, and that of the 
 commonalty, were not perfectly one, though they were not actu- 
 ally divided ; but the ambition of Pericles and Thucydides, and the 
 contest between them had so extraordinary an effect upon the city, 
 that it was quite broken in two, and one of the parts was called 
 the people, and the other the nobility. For this reason. Pericles, 
 more than ever, gave the people the reins, and endeavoured to in- 
 gratiate himself with them, contriving to have always some show, 
 or play, or feast, or procession in the city, and to amuse it with 
 the politest pleasures. 
 
 As another means of employing their attention, he sent out sixty 
 galleys every year, manned for eight months, with a considerable 
 number of the citizens, who were both paid for their service, and 
 improved themselves as mariners. He likewise sent a colony of 
 a thousand men to the Chersonesus, five hundred to Naxos, two 
 hundred and fifty to Andres, a thousand into the country of the 
 Bisaltffi in Thrace, and others into Italy, who settled in Sibaris, and 
 changed its name to Thurii. These things he did to clear the city 
 of an useless multitude, who were very troublesome when they 
 had nothing to do ; to make provision for the most necessitous ; 
 and to keep the allies of Athens in awe, by placing colonies like 
 so many garrisons in their neighbourhood. 
 
 That which was the chief delight of the Athenians and the won- 
 der of strangers, and which alone serves for a proof that the boa?t. 
 
12H) CAMILLUS. 
 
 cd power and opulence of ancient Greece is not an idle tale, wan 
 the magnificence of the temples and public edifices. Yet no part 
 of tlie conduct of Pericles moved the spleen of his enemies more 
 than this. In their accusations of him to the people, the> insisted, 
 "That he hod brought the greatest disgrace upon the Athenians 
 by removing the public treasures of Greece from Delos, and taking 
 them into his own custody : that he had not left himself even the 
 specious apology of having caused the money to be brought to 
 Athens for its greater security, and to keep it from being seized 
 by the barbarians : that Greece must needs consider it as the high- 
 est insult, and an act of open tyranny, when she saw the money 
 she had been obliged to contribute towards the war, lavished by 
 the Athenians in gilding their city, and ornamenting it with statues 
 and temples that cost a thousand talents/ as a proud and vain 
 woman decks herself out with jewels." 
 
 Pericles answered this charge by observing, "That they were 
 not obliged to give the allies any account of the suras they had re- 
 ceived, smce they had kept the barbarians at a distance, and 
 offectually defended the allies, who had not furnished either horses, 
 ships, or men, but only contributed money, which is no longer the 
 property of the giver, but of the receiver, if he performs the condi. 
 tions on which it is received : that as the state was provided with 
 all the necessaries of war, its superfluous wealth should be laid out 
 on such works as when executed would be eternal monuments of 
 its glory, and which, during their execution, would diffuse an uni- 
 versal plenty ; for as so many kinds of labour, and such a variety 
 of instruments and materials were requisite to these undertakings, 
 every art would be exerted, every hand employed, almost the whole 
 city would be in pay, and be at the same time both adorned and 
 supported by itself." Indeed, such as were of a proper age and 
 strength were wanted for the wars, and well rewarded for their 8er> 
 vices : and as for the mechanics and meaner sort of people, they 
 went not without their share of the public money, nor yet had they 
 it to support them in idleness. By the constructing of great edi- 
 fices, which required many arts and a long time to finish them, they 
 had e^uai pretensions to be considered out of the treasury (though 
 they stirred not out of the city,) with the mariners and soldiers, 
 guards and garrisons. For the different materials, such as ttone, 
 brass, ivory, gold, ebony, and cypress, furnished employment to 
 car()enters, masons, braziers, goldsmiths, painters, turners, and 
 other artificers ; tlie conveyance of them by sea employed roer- 
 chaiUs and sailors, and by land wheelwrights, waggoners, car- 
 riers, rope-makers, leather-cutters, paviers, and iron founders : 
 and every art had a number of the lower people ranged in proper 
 aubordinution to execute it like soldiers under the command of a 
 
 • The Psahenon, or ttniplt of Minenrt, if laid to have coat a tboonnd taltnts^ 
 
general. Thus by the exercise of these different trades, plenty 
 was diffused among persons of every rank and condition. Thus 
 works were raised of an astonishing magnitude, and inimitable- 
 beauty and perfection, every architect striving to surpass the mag- 
 nificence of the design with the elegance of the execution ; yet 
 still the most wonderful circumstance was the expedition with 
 which they were completed. Many edifices, each of whicb seems 
 to have required the labour of several successive ages, were finish- 
 ed during the administration of one prosperous man. 
 
 It is said, that when Agatharcus the painter valued himself upon 
 the celerity and ease with which he despatched his pieces, Zeuxis 
 replied, " If I boast, it shall be of the slowness with which 1 finish 
 mine." For ease and speed in the execution seldom give a work 
 any lasting importance, or exquisite beauty ; while, on the other 
 hand, the time which is expended in labour is recovered and repaid 
 in the duration of the performance. Hence, we have the more 
 reason to wonder, that the structures raised by Pericles should be 
 built in so short a time, and yet built for ages : for as each of them, 
 as soon as finished, had the venerable air of antiquity, so, now they 
 are old, they have the freshness of a modern building. A bloom 
 is diffused over them, which preserves their aspect untarnished by 
 time, as if they were animated with a spirit of perpetual youth and 
 unfading elegance. 
 
 Phidias was appointed by Pericles superintendant of all the pub. 
 lie edifices, though the Athenians had then other eminent archi- 
 tects and excellent workmen. The Parthenon, or temple of PaU 
 lasy whose dimensions had been a hundred feet square,* was re- 
 built by Callicrates and Ictinus. Corcebus began the temple of 
 Initiation at Eleusis, but only lived to finish the lower rank of 
 columns with their architraves. Metagenes, of the ward of Xypete^ 
 added the rest of the entablature, and the upper row of columns ; 
 and Xenocles of Cholargus built the dome on the top. The long 
 wall, the building of which Socrates says he heard Pericles pro- 
 pose to the people, was undertaken by Callicrates. The Odmm, 
 or music-theatre, which was likewise built by the direction of 
 Pericles, had within it many rows of seats and of pillars ; the roof 
 v;as V'i a conic figure, after the model of the king of Persia's pa- 
 vilion. 
 
 Tlie orators of Thucydides's party raised a clamour against 
 Pericles, asserting, that he wasted the public treasure and brought 
 the revenue to nothing. Pericles, in his defence, asked the people 
 in full assembly, " Whether they thought he had expended too 
 much ?" Upon their answering in the affirmative, "Then be it," 
 
 * It was called Hecatompedon^ because it had been originally a hundred fe^t 
 square ; one having been burnt by the Persians, it was rebuilt by Pericles, and rejftjip- 
 ed that name aftei it was greatly enlai^revf. 
 
 A n 
 
l3^ J^fiKiCLKjJ. . 
 
 said he, ** charged to my account,'^ not yours ; only let tbe oew 
 edifices be inscribed with my name, not that of the people of 
 Athens." Whether it was that they admired the greatness of his 
 spirit, or were ambitious to share the glory of such magnificent 
 vorks, they cried out, " That he might spend as much as he pleas- 
 ed of the public treasure, without sparing it in the least." 
 
 At last the contest came on between him and Thucydides which 
 of them should be banished by the ostracism : Pericles gained the 
 victory, banished his adversary, and entirely defeated his party. 
 The opposition now being at an end, and unanimity taking place 
 amongst all ranks of people, Pericles became sole master.of Athens, 
 and its dependencies. The revenues, the army, the navy, the 
 islands, and the sea, a most extensive territor>-, peopled by bar- 
 barians as well as Greeks, fortified with the obedience of subject 
 nations, the friendship of kings and alliance of princes, were all at 
 his command. 
 
 Frum this time he became a dififerent man ; he was no longer 
 so obsequious to the humour of the populace, which is as wild and 
 as changeable as tbe winds. The multitude were not indulged or 
 courted ; the government, in fact, was not popular ; its loose and 
 luxuriant harmony was confined to stricter measures, and it assu- 
 med an aristocratical, or, rather, monarchical form. He kept the 
 public good in his eye, and pursued the straight path of honour. 
 For the most part, gently leading them by argument to a sense of 
 what was right, and sometimes forcing them to comply with what 
 was for their own advantage ; in this respect, imitating a good 
 physician, who, in tlie various symptoms of a long disease, some- 
 times administers medicines tolerably agreeable, and, at other 
 times, sharp and strong ones, when such alone are capable of re- 
 storing the patient. He was the man that had the art of control- 
 ling those many disorderly passions which necessarily spring up 
 amongst a people possessed of so extensive a dominion. The two 
 engines he worked with were hope and fear ; with these, repress- 
 ing their violence when they were too impetuous, and supporting 
 their spirits when inclined to languor, he made it appear that rhe- 
 toric is, as Plato de/ined it, the art of ruling the minds of men, and 
 that its principal province consists in moving the passions and af- 
 fections of the soul, which, like so many strings in a musical in- 
 
 * It apDeart, from ft puM^e in TbucydidM, that tb« public stnck of Um AtbMitna 
 amountea to niae thoasand tevun hundred taJenti ^or oim oiiUkw eiibt bundrad and 
 gfeTenty five ihuutand oine hundred and fifty pounds iteriiii|,) of whicb Pariolft bad 
 laid out in those public building! tbrae thousand Mven bimdnd talanta. It it oalu. 
 ral, tberelbre, to ask, bow be could tell tbe peopla tbat it riiould be at bis own ax- 
 pMMM, especially since Plutarch tells us in Um seouel, that he had aoc in tbe least hn- 
 pioved the estate left him by bis lather. To wbicb the irua answer probably ts, that 
 rsrioiss tvas politician eooiikb to know that the ? anitjr of the Athaniaae would never 
 l«l thaoB agree that he should inscribe Uie new mainiacanl huildtafs with his name, in 
 asdosion of theirs ; or be nifht ventun to My any thta«, btiag taeoft of a m^fot^f 
 <Tf toQN tp tjngitOB as he pleased* 
 
PERICLES. 
 
 1^ 
 
 strument, require the touch of a masterly and delicate hand. Nor 
 were the powers cf eloquence alone sufficient, but, as Thucydid^s 
 observes, the orator was a man of probity and unblemished reputa- 
 lion. Money could not bribe him ; he was so much above the 
 desire of it, that, though he added greatly to the opulence of the 
 state, which he found not inconsiderable, and though his power 
 exceeded that of manykmgs and tyrants, some of whom bequeath, 
 ed to their posterity the sovereignty they had obtained, yet he ad- 
 ded not one drachma to his paternal estate. 
 
 Not that he was inattentive to his finances ; but, on the contra- 
 ry, neither negligent of his paternal estate, nor yet willing to havo 
 much trouble with it, as he had not much time to spare, he brought 
 the management of it into such a method as was very easy, at the 
 same time that it was exact. For he used to turn a whole year's 
 produce into money altogether, and with chi? he boug'it from day 
 to day all manner of necessaries at the market. This way of 
 living was not agreeable to his sons, when grown up, -^nd the al- 
 lowance he made the women did not appear to them a generous 
 one ; they complained of a pittance daily measured out with scru- 
 pulous economy, which admitted of none of those superfluities so 
 common in great houses and wealthy families, ar.d could not 
 bear to think of the expenses being so nicely adjusted to the in- 
 come. 
 
 By this time, the Lacedaemonians began to express some jeat- 
 ousy of the Athenian greatness, and Pericles, willing to advance 
 it still higher, and to make the people more sensible of iheir im- 
 portance, and more inclinable to great attempts, procured an or* 
 der, that all Greeks, wheresoever they resided, whether in Europe 
 or in Asia, whether their cities were small or great, should send 
 deputies to Athens, to consult about rebuilding the Grecian tem- 
 pies which the barbarians had burnt, and about providing thoss 
 sacrifices which had been vowed daring the Persian war, for the 
 preservation of Greece, and likewise to enter into such measures 
 as might secure navigation and maintain the peace. Accordingly 
 twenty persons, each upwards of fifty years of age, were sent with 
 this proposal to the different states of Greece. It took not effect, 
 however, nor did the cities send their deputies : the reason of 
 which is said to be, the opposition of the Lacedemonians ;* for the 
 proposal was first rejected in Peloponnesus. But I was wil- 
 ling to giye account of it, as a specimen of the greatness of 
 the orator's spirit, and of his disposition to form magnificent de- 
 sig'is. 
 
 His chief merit in war was the safety of his measures. He ne- 
 
 * It is no wonder that the LacedaBmonians opposed this undertaking, since the gir- 
 In^ way to it would have been acknowledging the Athenians as masters of all Gree(%; 
 indeed, the Athenians should not have attempted it without an onlei or deprep of t'he 
 i* mphiciyoms. 
 
124 rfilUCLES. 
 
 vcr williagly engaged in any uncertain or very dangerous e v 
 tion, nor hud any ambition to imitate those generals who are aonu 
 red as great men, because their rush enterprises have been atten- 
 ded with success; he always told the Athenians, *' That as far as 
 their fate depended upon him, they should be immortal." Percei. 
 ving that Tolmides, the son of TolnuBus, in confidence of his for- 
 mer success and military reputation, was preparmg to invade Ike. 
 otia at an unseasonable time, and that, over and above the regular 
 troops, he had persuaded the bravest and most spirited of the Athe- 
 nian youth, to the number of a thousand, to go volunteers in that 
 expedition, he addressed him in public and tried to divert him from 
 it, making use, amongst the rest, of those well-known words, "If 
 you regard not the opinion of Pericles, yet wait at least for the 
 advice of time, who is the best of all counsellors. This aaying, 
 for the present, gained no great applause, but when, a few days 
 niter, news was brought that Tolmides was defeated and killed at 
 Coronea,* together with many of the bravest citizens, it procured 
 Pericles great respect and love from the people, who considered it 
 as a proof, not only of his sagacity, but of his affection for his 
 countrymen. 
 
 The Lacedaemonians, persuaded that if they could remove Pe. 
 ricles out of the way they should be better able to manage the 
 Athenians, required them to banish all execrable persons from 
 among them : and Pericles (as Thucydides informs us) was, by 
 his mother's side, related to those that were pronounced execr^e, 
 in the affair of Cylon. The success, however, of this applicatioo 
 
 (roTed the reverse of what was expected by those who ordered it. 
 lutead of rendering Pericles suspected, or involving him in trou. 
 ble, it procured him the more confidence and respect from the 
 people, when they perceived that their enemies both hated and 
 dreaded him above all others. For the same reason he forewar. 
 ned the Athenians, that if Archidamus, when he entered Attica at 
 the head of the Peloponncsiuns, and ravaged the rest of the couu« 
 try, should spare his estate, it must be owing either to the rights of 
 hospitality that subisted between them, or to a design to furnish hit 
 enemies with matt(!r of slander, and therefore from that hour he 
 gave his Inndn nnd houses to the citv of Athens. The LacedBmo* 
 nians and confederates accordingly invaded Attica, with a greet 
 army under the command of Archidamus, and, laying waste all 
 before them, proceeded as far as Achame, where they encamped, 
 expecting that ihe Athenians would not be able tojcodure them to 
 near, but meet them in (he field, for the hoDOur and safety of their 
 counir . Hut it appeared to Penrks too hazurduus to ^ivt* bauie 
 
   Tbia defeat happened in tbe woomI jreer of the e^hiy ihUd 0)Ttnpt«4, f» irkeo* 
 drod ami forty-fiv<- )eari before Ihe Cbriilian em, and moat ilwii tWcmv >earti»9lbte 
 HMdeathof Periolr^i 
 
PliRlCLES. 125 
 
 to an army of sixty thousand men (for such was the number of the 
 Peloponnesians and Boeotians employed in the first expedition), 
 and by that step to risk no less than the preservation of the city 
 itself. As for those who were eager for an engagement, and un- 
 easy at his slow proceedings, he endeavoured to bring them to rea- 
 son by observing, " That trees, when lopped, will soon grow 
 again ; but, when men are cut off, the loss is not easily re- 
 paired." 
 
 In the mean time, he took care to hold no assembly of the peo- 
 ple, lest he should be forced to act against his own opinion. But, 
 as a good pilot, when a storm arises at sea, gives his directions, 
 gets his tackle in order, and then uses his art, regardless of the 
 tears and entreaties of the sick and fearful passengers ; so Peri- 
 cles, when he had secured the gates, and placed the guards in 
 every quarter to the best advantage, followed the dictates of his 
 own understanding, unmoved by the clamours and complaints that 
 resounded in his ears. Thus firm he remained, notwithstandipg 
 the importunity of his friends, and the threats and accusations of 
 his enemies — notwithstanding the many scoffs and songs sung to 
 vilify his character as a general, and to represent him as one who 
 in the most dastardly manner betrayed his country to the enemy. 
 Cleon,* too, attacked him with great acrimony, making use of the 
 general resentment against Perides, as a means to increase his own 
 popularity. 
 
 Pericles, however, regarded nothing of this kind, but calmly 
 and silently bore all this disgrace and virulence. And though he 
 fitted out an hundred ships, and sent them against Peloponnesus, 
 yet he did not sail with them, but chose to stay and watch over the 
 city, and keep the reins of government in his own hands, until the 
 Peloponnesians were gone. In order to satisfy the common peo- 
 ple, who were very uneasy on account of the war, he made a dis- 
 tribution of money and lands; for, having expelled the inhabitants 
 of iEgina, he divided the island by lot among the Athenians. Be- 
 sides, the sufferings of the enemy afforded them some consolation. 
 The fleet sent against Peloponnesus ravaged a large tract of coun- 
 try, and sacked the small towns and villages : and Pericles him- 
 self made a descent upon the territories of Mega ra,f which he 
 laid waste. Whence it appears, that though the Peloponnesians 
 greatly distressed the Athenians by land, yet, as they were equally 
 distressed at sea, they could not have drawn out the war to so 
 great a length, but must soon have given it up, (as Pericles fore- 
 
 * The same Cleon that Aristophanes satirized. By his harangues and political 
 intrigues, he got huDself appointed general. 
 
 t He did not undertake this expedition nntil autumn, when the Lacedasmonians 
 were retired. In the winter of this year, the Athenians solemnized, in an extraordi- 
 nary manner, the funerals of such as first died in the war. Pericles pronounced the 
 oration on that occasion, which Thucydides has preserved. 
 
j2e FERlCLi;^! 
 
 told from the beginning,) had not some divine power prevented the 
 effect of human counsels. A pestilence at thnt time broke out 
 which destroyed the flower of the youth and the strength of 
 Athens. And not only their bodies, but their very minds were af- 
 fected : for, as persons delirious with a fever, set themselves 
 against a physician or a father, so they raved against Pericles, and 
 attempted his ruin ; being persuaded by his enemies that the sick- 
 ness was occasioned by the multitude of out.dwellers flocking into 
 the city, and a number of people stuffed together in the height of 
 summer, in small huts and close cabins, where they were forced to 
 live a lazy inactive life, instead of breathing the pure and open air 
 to which they had been accustomed. They would needs have it, 
 that he was the cause of all this, who, when the war began, ad. 
 mitted withm the walls such crowds of people from the country, 
 and yet found no employment for them, but let them continue 
 penned up like cattle, to infect and destroy each other, without af- 
 fording the least relief or refreshment. 
 
 Desirous to remedy this calamity, and withal in some degree to 
 annoy the enemy, he manned an hundred and flf\y ships, on which 
 he embarked great numbers of select horse and foot, and was prc> 
 paring to set sail. The Athenians conceived good hopes of sue 
 cess, and the enemy no Ifcss dreaded so great an armament. 
 The whole fleet was in readmess, and Pericles on board of his 
 own galley, when there happened an eclipse of the sun. This 
 sudden darkness was looked upon as an unfavourable omen, and 
 threw them into the greatest consternation. Pericles, observing 
 that the pilot was much astonished and perplexed, took his cloak, 
 and having covered his eyes with it, asked him, *' If he found any 
 thing terrible in that, or considered it as a sad presage ?" Upon 
 his answering in the negative, he said, '* Where is the difTerence, 
 then, between this and the other, except that something bigger 
 than my cloak causes the eclipse V* 
 
 In this expedition Pericles performed nothing worthy of so great 
 an equipment. He laid siege to the sacred city of Epidaunis,* 
 and at first with some rational hopes of success; but the distemper 
 which prevailed in his army broke all his measures. For it not 
 only carried off his own men, but all who had intercourse with 
 them. This ill success set the Athenians against him ; he en- 
 deavoured to console them under their losses, and to aninMtc 
 them to new attempts. But it was not in his power to mitigate 
 their resentment, nor could they be satisfied, until they had show- 
 ed themselves masters by voting that he should bo deprived of 
 the command, and pay a fine, which, by the lowest account, was 
 fifteen talents; some make it fifty. 
 
 The public ferment, indeed, soon subsided, the people quitting 
 
 * This EpidaurtJi wai in Arfia. It was conMcrated to Atculapiui; and Plu- 
 
 \Mfeh call* It snered, to ditiingutsh ii from another lown of ihf umt nama in Uconta. 
 
 ^ 
 
PiaRIOLES. 
 
 127 
 
 their resentment with that blow, as a bee leaves its sting in the 
 wound ; but his private affairs were in a miserable condition, 
 for he had lost a number of his relations in the plague, and a mis- 
 understanding had prevailed for some time in his family. Xan- 
 thippus, the eldest of his legitimate sons, was naturally profuse, 
 and besides had married a young and expensive wife. He knew 
 not how to brook his father's frugality, who supplied him but spa- 
 ringly, and with a little at a time, and therefore sent to one of his 
 friends, and took up money in the name of Pericles. When the 
 man came to demand his money, Pericles not only refused to pay 
 him, but even prosecuted him for the demand. Xanthippus was 
 so highly enraged at this, that he began openly to abuse his father. 
 First he exposed and ridiculed the company he kept in his house, 
 and the conversations he held with the philosophers. He said, 
 that Epitimius the Pharsalian having undesignedly killed a horse 
 with a javelin, which he threw at the public games, his father 
 spent a whole day in disputing with Protogorus, which might be 
 properly deemed the cause of his death, the javelin or the man 
 who threw it, or the presidents of the games. Stesimbrotus adds, 
 that it was Xanthippus who spread the vile report concerning his 
 own wife and Pericles, and that the young man retained this im- 
 placable hatred agatn.<t his father to his latest breath. He was 
 carried off by the plague. Pericles lost his sister too at that time, 
 and the greatest part of his relations and friends, who were most 
 capable of assisting him in the business of the state. Notwith- 
 standing these misfortunes, he lost not his dignity of sentiment and 
 greatness of soul. He neither wept, nor performed any funeral 
 rites, nor was he seen at the grave of any of his nearest relations, 
 until the death of Paralus, his last surviving legitimate son. This 
 at last subdued him. He attempted, indeed, then to keep up his 
 usual calm behaviour and serenity of mind ; but in putting the gar- 
 land upon the head of the deceased, his firmness forsook him ; he 
 could not bear the sad spectacle ; he broke out into loud lamenta- 
 tion, and shed a torrent of tears — a passion which he had never 
 before given way to. 
 
 Athens made a trial, in the course of a year, of the rest of her 
 generals and orators, and finding none of sufficient weight and au- 
 thority for so important a charge, she once more turned her eyes 
 on Pericles, and invited him to take upon him the direction of 
 affairs both military and civil. He had for some time shut himself 
 up at home to indulge his sorrow, when Alcibiades, and his other 
 friends, persuaded him to make his appearance. The people 
 making an apology for their ungenerous treatment of him, he re- 
 assumed the reins of government, and being appointed general, 
 his first step was to procure the repeal of the law concerning bas- 
 tards, of which h^ l^jmself bad beeji the author ; fbr he was afraid 
 
I2B raucuca 
 
 that his name and family would be extinct for want of a auceeiBor. 
 The history of that law is as follows : 
 
 Many years before, Pericles in the height of his power, aod 
 having several legitimate sons, caused a law to be made, that none 
 shouia be accounted citizens of Athens, but those whose parents 
 were both Athenians.'^ AAer this the king of Kg)pt made the 
 Athenians a present of forty thousand medimni of wheat, and as 
 this was to be divided among the citizens, many persons were pro- 
 ceeded against as illegitimate upon that law, whose birth had never 
 before been called in question, and many were disgraced upon 
 false accusations. Near five thousand were cast and sold for 
 slaves ;t and fourteen thousand and forty appeared to be entitled 
 to the privilege of citizens4 Though it was unequitable and 
 strange, that a law which had been put in execution with so much 
 severity, should be repealed by the man who first proposed it, yet 
 the Athenians, moved at the late misfortunes in his family, by 
 which he seemed to have suffered the punishment of his arrogance 
 and pride, and thinking he should be treated with humanity, after 
 he had felt the wrath of heaven, permitted him to enrol a natural 
 son in his own tribe, and to give him his own name. This is he 
 who aflerwards defeated the Peloponnesians in a sea*fight at Ar- 
 ginusee, and was put to death by the people, together with his col- 
 leagues.§ 
 
 About this time Pericles was seized with the plague, but not 
 with such acute and continued symptoms as it genenilly shows. 
 It was rather a lingering distemper, which, with frequent intermis- 
 sions, and by slow degrees, consumed his body, and impaired the 
 vigour of his mind. Theophrastus has a disquisition in his Ethics, 
 whether men's characters may be changed with their fortune, and 
 with the soul so affected with the disorders of the body as to lose 
 her virtue ; and there he relates that Pericles showed to a friend 
 who came to visit him in his sickness, an amulet which the women 
 
 * According to Fluurch's account, at the btsLinntng or th« life of ThemieinclM, 
 this law waa made before the time of I'ericlee. rertcles, however, might put it mma 
 •txicily in execution than it had been before, from a spirit of oppoeition to Cinior, 
 vrhom children were only of the hallhlood. 
 
 f The illegitimacv did not reduce men to a itate of Mrtilude; itonljr plactd tham 
 in the rank oi Ktrnngert. 
 
 I A tmall number hideed. at a time whtn Athenf had dlired to think of tenciafC 
 out colonies, humbling her neighbours, Mibduing foreigMra. aod even of arectii^ an 
 univerfal monarchy. 
 
 } The Athenians had appointad ten cnmmanden on that occasion. After iher 
 had olitamed the victory, they wn triad, an<l eight of Ihtm WSTioapiially ecMMientnati, 
 of whom six that wore on tha S)>ot were px<>rule(l. and thin natural not) «!' Priiclei 
 was one of them. The only crii- - 
 the dead. Xenophon. in his Ot> 
 
 It happened undpr the archonkiii|i •>! ; .imas mr m-cuho vmi or mv i> , 
 Olympiad, twenty four years after tlie death uf I*ertcl9fl. .Socrates the pi 
 was at that time one of ihe prytanes, and resolutely refused to do bii ofbc^ 
 linle while after the madnetfl of the people turned the other war 
 
PERICLiiS. 129 
 
 had hung about his neclt, intimating that he must be sick: indeed, 
 since he submitted to so ridiculous a piece of superstition. 
 
 When he was at the point of death, his surviving friends and the 
 principal citizens sitting about his bed discoursed together con- 
 cerning his extraordinary virtue, and the great authority he had 
 enjoyed, and enumerated his various exploits and the number of 
 his victories ; for, while he was commander in chief, he had erect- 
 ed no less than nine trophies to the honour of Athens. These 
 things they talked of, supposing that he attended not to what they 
 said, but that his senses were gone. He took notice, however, of 
 every word they had spoken, and thereupon delivered himself au- 
 dibly as follows : ** I am surprised that while you dwell upon and 
 extol these acts of mine, though Fortune had her share in them, 
 and many other generals have performed the like, you take no no- 
 tice of the greatest and most honourable part of my character, that 
 no Athenian, through my means, ever put on mourning.^'' 
 
 Pericles undoubtedly deserved admiration, not only for the can- 
 dour and moderation which he ever retained, amidst the distrac- 
 tions of business and the rage of his enemies, but for that noble 
 sentiment which led him to think it his most excellent attainment* 
 never to have given way to envy or anger, notwithstanding the 
 greatness of his power, nor to have nourished an implacable hatred 
 against his greatest foe. In my opinion, this one thing, I mean 
 his mild and dispassionate behaviour, his unblemished iniegrit}'", 
 and irreproachable conduct during his whole administration, makes 
 his appellation of Olympius, which would be otherwise vain and 
 absurd, no longer exceptionable, nay, gives it a propriety. Thus 
 we think the divine powers as the authors of all good, and naturally 
 incapable of producing evil, worthy to rule and preside over the 
 universe. 
 
 The state of public affairs soon shev^ed the want of Pericles,"^ 
 and the A.thenians openly expressed their regret for his loss. Even 
 those, who, in his lifetime, could but ill brook his superior po\Ver, 
 as thinking themselves eclipsed by it, yet upon a trial of other ora- 
 tors and demagogues, after he was gone, soon acknowledged that 
 where severity was required, no man was ever more moderate; or, 
 if mildness was necessary, no man better kept up his dignity than 
 Pericles. And his so much envied authority, to which they had 
 given the name of monarchy and tyranny, then appeared to have 
 been the bulwark of the state. So much corruption, and such a 
 rage of wickedness broke out upon the commonwealth after his 
 death, which he by proper restraints had palliated, and kept from 
 dangerous and destructive extremities. 
 
 * Pericles died in the third year of the Peloponnesian war, that is, tba last ycsas &> 
 ihp eighty. seventh Olympiad, and 423 years before the christian era. 
 
Z30 
 
 ALCIBIADES. 
 Flourished 440 years before Chrisi. 
 
 THOS£ that h^ve searched into the pedigree of Alcibiades, gay, 
 that Euryeaces, the son of Ajaz, was founder of the family ; and 
 that by his mother's side he was descended from Alcmeon : for 
 Dinomachc, bis mother, was the daughter of Megacies, who was 
 of that line. His father Clinias gained great honour in the sea- 
 fight of Artemisium, where he fought in a galley fitted out at hit 
 own expense, and afterwards was slain in the battle of Coronea, 
 where the BoDotians won the day. Pericles and Ariphron, the 
 SODS of Xanthippus, and near relations to Alcibiades, were his 
 guardians. 
 
 As to the beauty cif Alcibiades, it may be sufficient to say, that 
 it retained its charms through the several stages of childhood, 
 youth and manhood. For it is not universally true what £ury- 
 pides says, 
 
 The very autumn of a form once fine 
 Retains its beauties. 
 
 Yet this was the case of Alcibiades, amongst a few others, by rea- 
 son of his natural vigour and happy constitution. 
 
 He had a lisping in his speech, which became him, and gave a 
 grace and persuasive turn to his discourse. His manners were far 
 from being uniform ; nor is it strange, that they varied according 
 to the many vicissitudes and wonderful turns of his fortune. He 
 was naturally a man of strong passions : but his rulmg passion was 
 an ambition to contend and overcome. This appears from what 
 is related of hm sayings when a boy. When hard pressed in 
 wrestling, to prevent his being thrown, he bit the hands of bis an- 
 tsgonist, who let go his hold, and said, *' You bite, Alcibiades, like 
 a woman." " No," says he, " like a lion." 
 
 One day he was playing at dice with other boys in the street ; 
 and when it came to his turn to throw, a loaded waggon came up. 
 At first he called to the driver to stop, because he was to throw m 
 the way over which the waggon was to pass. The rustic disre- 
 garding him and driving on, the other boys broke away ; but Alci- 
 biades threw himself upon his face directly before the waggon, 
 and stretching himself out, bade the fellow drive on if he pleased. 
 Upon this he was so startled, that he stopped bis horses, while 
 those who saw it, ran up to him with terror. 
 
 In the course of his education, he willingly took tho lessons of 
 his other masters, but refused learning to play upon the flute, which 
 bo looked upon as a mean art, and unbecoming a gentleman. 
 
ALCIBUDES. ]^31 
 
 Thus it lost its place in the number of liberal accomplishments, 
 and was universally exploded. 
 
 Many persons of rank made their court to Alcibiades, but it is 
 evident that they were charmed and attracted by the beauty of his 
 person. Socrates was the only one whose regards were fixed 
 upon the mind, and bore witness to the young man's virtue and in- 
 genuity, the rays of which he could distinguish through his fine 
 form ; and fearing lest the pride of riches and high rank, and the 
 crowd of flatterers, both Athenians and strangers, should corrupt 
 him, he used his best endeavours to prevent it, and took care that 
 so hopeful a plant should not lose its fruit, and perish in the very 
 flower. If ever fortune so enclosed and fortified a man with what 
 are called her goods, as to render him inaccessible to the incision- 
 knife of philosophy, and the searching-probe of free advice, surely 
 it was Alcibiades. From the first he was surrounded with plea- 
 sure, and a multitude of admirers determined to say nothing but 
 what they thought would please, and to keep them from all ad- 
 monition and reproof; yet by his native penetration, he distin- 
 guished the value of Socrates, and attached himself to him, reject- 
 ing the rich and great who sued for his regard. 
 
 With Socrates he soon entered into the closest intimacy ; and 
 finding that he did not, like the rest of the unmanly crew, want im- 
 proper favours, but that he studied to correct the errors of his 
 heart, and to cure him of his empty and foolish arrogance, 
 
 Then his crest fell, and all bis pride was gone, 
 He droop'd the conquer'd wing. 
 
 In fact, he considered the discipline of Socrates as a provision 
 from heaven, for the preservation and benefit of youth. Thus 
 despising himself, admiring his friend, adoring his wisdom, and re- 
 vering his virtue, he insensibly formed in his heart the image of 
 love, or rather came under the influence of thJiP power, who, as 
 Plato says, secures his votaries from vicious love. 
 
 Though Socrates had many rivals, yet he kept possession of 
 Alcibiades's heart by the excellence of his genius and the pathetic 
 turn of his conversation, which often drew tears from his young 
 companions. And though sometimes he gave Socrates the slip, and 
 was drawn away by his flatterers, who exhausted all the art of 
 pleasure for that purpose, yet the philosopher took care to hunt 
 out his fugitive, who feared and respected none but him ; the rest 
 he held in great contempt. 
 
 When he was past his childhood, happening to go into a gram- 
 mar-school, he asked the master for a volume of Homer; and upon 
 his making answer that he had nothing of Homer's, he gave him 
 a box on the ear, and so lefl; him. Another school-master telling 
 him he had Homer, corrected by himself; "How!" said Alcibi- 
 ades, " and do you emoloy your time in teaching children to read ? 
 
]^ ALCIBIADES. 
 
 you, who are able to correct Homer, might seem to bo fit to u)- 
 struct men." 
 
 One day, wanting to speak to Pericles, he went to his house^ 
 and being told there ihat he was busied in considering how to give 
 in his accounts to the people, and theretbre not at leisure ; he said 
 OS he went away, ** He had better consider how to avoid giving in 
 any account at all." 
 
 While he was yet a youth, he made the campaign at PotidsBO, 
 where Socrates lodged m the same tent with him, and was bis 
 companion in every engagement. In the principal battle they 
 both behaved with great gallantry ; but Alcibiades at last falling 
 down wounded, Socrates advanced to defend him, which be did 
 effectually in the sight of the whole army, saving both him and hvs 
 arms. For this the prize of valour was certainly due to Socrates, 
 yet the generqls inclined to give it to Alcibiades on account of his 
 quality ; and Socrates, willing to encourage his thirst after true 
 glory, was the first who gave his suffrage for him, and pressed 
 them to adjudge him the crown and the complete suit of armour. 
 On the other hand, at the battle of Delium, where the Athenians 
 were routed,*^ and Socrates, with a few others, were retreating on 
 foot, Alcibiades observing it, did not pass him, but covered his re- 
 treat, and brought him safe off, though the enemy pressed furiously 
 forward and killed great numbers of the Athenians. But this hap- 
 pened a considerable time afler. 
 
 To Hipponicus, the father of Callias, a man respectable both 
 for his birth and fortune, Alcibiades one day gave a box on the 
 ear ; not that he had any quarrel with him or was heated by pas- 
 sion, but purely because, in a wanton frolic, he had agreed with 
 his companions to do so. The whole city being full of the story 
 of his insolence, and every body (as it was natural to expect) ex- 
 pressing some dtoentment, early next morning Alcibiades went to 
 wait on Hipponicus, knocked at the door, and was admitted. As 
 soon as he came into his presence, he stripped off his garment, and 
 presenting his naked body, desired him to beat and chastise him 
 as he pleased. But instead of that, Hipponicus pardoned him, 
 and forgot all his resentment : nay, some time after, he even gave 
 biro his daughter Hipparete in marriage. 
 
 Hippareto made a prudent and afiectionate wife ; but at last 
 ^wing very uneasy at her husband's associating with such a 
 number of courtesans, both strangers and Athenians, she quitted 
 his house and went to her brother's. Alcibiades went on with his 
 debaucheries, and gave himself no pain about his wife ; but it was 
 necessary for her, in order to a legal separation, to give in a hill 
 
 • I<acheii. H* introducH by PUto. telU u«, that if oihert had Hon* ib«ir Hut^, ai 
 Socrates (M In", ilu* Ati.»nian« wnulri no* havt* liecn defraieit in ihr battle of Dclium. 
 That hattir was fought the first irear of tha eighijninth Oljrmpiod, right vMn after 
 tlie battle of Fotidvt. 
 
( 
 
 ALCIBIADES. 133 
 
 of divorce to the Archon, and to appear personally with it ; for the 
 sending of it by another hand would not do. When she came to 
 do this according to law, Alcibiades rushed in, caught her in his 
 arms, and carried her through the market-place to his own house, 
 no one presuming to oppose him, or to take her from him. From 
 that time she remained with him until her death, which happened 
 not long after, when Alcibiades was upon his voyage to Ephesus. 
 Nor does the violence used, in this case, seem to be contrary to 
 the laws either of society in general, or of that repubhc in particu- 
 lar. For the law of Athens in requiring her who wants to be di- 
 vorced to appear pubhcly in person, probably intended to give the 
 husband an opportunity to meet with her and recover her. 
 
 Alcibiades had a dog of an uncommon size and beauty, which 
 cost him seventy mincer and yet his tail, which was his principal 
 ornament, he caused to be cut off. Some of his acquaintance 
 found great fault with his acting so strangely, and told him, that 
 all Athens rung with the story of his foolish treatment of the dog, 
 at which he laughed, and said, " This is the very thing I wanted ; 
 for I would have the Athenians talk of this, lest they should find 
 something worse to say of me." 
 
 The first thing that made him popular, and introduced him into 
 the administration, was his distributing of money, not by design, 
 but by accidents Seeing one day a great crowd of people as he 
 was walking along, he asked what it meant ; and being informed 
 there was a donative made to the people, he distributed money too 
 as he went in amongst them. This meeting with great applause, 
 he was so much delighted, that he forgot a quail which he had un- 
 der his robe,* and the bird, frightened with the noise, flew away. 
 Upon this the people set up still louder acclamations, and many of 
 them assisted him to recover the quail. The man who did catch 
 it and bring it to him, was one Antiochus,f a pilot, for whom he 
 had ever after a particular regard. 
 
 He had great advantages for introducing himself into the man- 
 agement of public affairs, from his birth, his estate, his personal 
 valour, and the number of his friends and relations ; but what he 
 chose above all the rest to recommend himself by to the people, 
 was the charm of his eloquence. That he was a fine speaker the 
 comic writers bear witness ; and so does the prinqe of orators, in 
 his oration against Midias, where he says that Alcibiades was the 
 moat eloquent man of his time. And if we believe Theophrastus, 
 
 * It was the, fasbion in those days to breed quails. Plato reports, that Socrates 
 having brought Alcibiades to acknowledge, thai the way to rise to distinction among 
 the Athenians was to study to excel the generals of their enemies, replied with this 
 severe irony, ''No. no, Alcibiades. your only study is how to surpass Midias in the 
 art of breeding quails." — Pint in 1 Alcib. 
 
 . + The name of the man who caught the quail would hardly have been mentioned, 
 had not Alcibiades afterwards entrusted him with the command of the fleet iq bis 
 absence ; when he took the opportunity to fight, and was beatert 
 13 
 
X34 ALClBIADk:^. 
 
 a curious searcher into antiquity, and more versed in history ihaa 
 the other philosophers, Alcibiades had a pecuhar happiness of in. 
 vention and reudiness of ideas which eminently liistinguished him. 
 But as his care was employed qot only upon the matter, but the 
 expression, and he had not the greatest facility in the latter, he 
 often hesitated in the midst of a speech, not hitting upon the word 
 he warned, and stopping until it occurred to him. 
 
 Alcibiades was very young when he first applied himself to the 
 business of the republic, and yet he soon showed himself superior 
 to the other orators. The persons capable of standing in some 
 degree of competition with him, were Phseax the son of Erasis- 
 tratus, and Nicias the son of Niceratus. — The latter was advanced 
 in years, and one of the best generals of his time. The former 
 was but a youth, like himself, just beginning to make his way, for 
 which he had the advantage of high birth ; but in other respects, 
 as well as in the art of speaking, was inferior to Alcibiades. He 
 seemed fitter for soliciting and persuading in private, than for 
 stemming the torrent of a public debate ; in short, he was one of 
 those of whom Eupolis says, " True, he can talk, and yet he is no 
 speaker." There is extant an oration against Alcibiades and Phsax, 
 in which, amongst other things, it is alleged against Alcibiades, 
 that he used at his table many of the gold, and silver vessels pro* 
 vided for the sacred processions, as if they had been his own. 
 
 There was at Athens one Hyperbolus, of the ward of Perithois, 
 whom Thucydides makes mention of as a very bad man, and who 
 was a constant subject of ridicule for the comic writers. But he 
 was unconcerned at the worst things they could say of him, and 
 being regardless of honour, he was also insensible of shame. This, 
 though really impudence and folly, is by some people calivd for. 
 titude and a noble daring. Bui, though no one liked hmi, the 
 people, nevertheless, made use of him, when they wanted to strike 
 at persons in authority. At his instigation, the Athenians were 
 ready to proceed to the ban oi ostracism^ by which they pull down 
 and expel such of the citizens as are distinguished by their dignity 
 and power, therein consulting their envy rather than their fear. 
 
 As it was evident that this sentence was levelled against one of 
 the three, Phsax, Nicias, or Alcibiades, the latter took care to 
 unite the contending parties, and leaguing with Nicias, caused the 
 otiracism to fall upon Hyperbolus himself. 
 
 Alcibiades was no less disturbed at the great esteem in which 
 Nicias was held by the enemies of Athena, than at the respect 
 which the Athenians themselves paid him. The rights of hoepi. 
 taliiy had long subsisted between the family of Alcibiades and the 
 Lacedoemonians, and he had taken particular care of such of them 
 as were made prisoners at Pv'los ; yet when they found, that it waa 
 chiefly by means of Nicias that they obtained a peace and recovered 
 
ALCIBIADES. I35 
 
 the captives, their regards centered in him. It was a commoin 
 observation among the Greeks, that Pericles had engaged them in 
 a war, and Nicias had set them free from it ; nay, the peace was 
 even called the Nicean peace. Alcibiades was very uneasy at 
 this, and out of envy to Nicias determined to break the league. 
 
 As soon then as he perceived that the people of Argos both feared 
 and hated the Spartans, and, consequently, wanted to get clear of 
 all connection with them, he privately gave them hopes of assis- 
 tance from Athens ; and, both by his agents and in person, he 
 encouraged the principal citizens not to entertain any fear, or to 
 give up any point, ^)ut to apply to the Athenians, who were almost 
 ready to repent of the peace they had made, and would soon seek 
 occasion to break it. 
 
 But after the Lacedeemonians had entered into alliance with the 
 Boeotians, and had deUvered Panactus to the Athenians, not with its 
 fortifications, as they ought to have done, but, quite dismantled, he 
 took the opportunity, while the Athenians were incensed at this 
 proceeding, to mflamethem still more. At the same time he raised 
 a clamour against Nicias, alleging things which had a face of pro- 
 bability ; for he reproached him with having neglected, when 
 Commander in chief, to make that* party prisoners who were left 
 by the enemy in Sphacteria, and with releasing them, when taken 
 by others, to ingratiate himself with the Lacedaemonians. He 
 farther asserted, that though Nicias had an interest with the Lace- 
 dsemonians, he would not make use of it to prevent their entering 
 into the confederacy with the Boeotians and Corinthians ; but that 
 when an alliance was offered to the Athenians, by any of the 
 Grecian states, he took care to prevent their accepting it, if it were 
 likely to give umbrage to the Lacedaemonians. 
 
 Nicias was greatly disconcerted ; but at that very jun'cture it 
 happened that ambassadors from Lacedaemon arrived with mode- 
 rate proposals, and declared that they had full powers to treat and 
 decide all differences in an equitable w^y. The senate was satis- 
 fied, and next day the people were to be convened j but Alcibiades, 
 dreading the success of that audience, found means to speak with 
 the ambassadors in the mean time, and thus he addressfed them — 
 
 * After the Lacedaemonians had lost the fort of Pilos in Messenia, they left in the 
 isle of Sphacteria, which was opposite that fort, a garrison of three hundred and 
 twenty men, besides Helots, under the command of Epitades the son of Molobnis. 
 The Athenians would have sent Nicias, while commander-in chief, with a fleet against 
 that island, but he excused himself Afterwards Cleon, in conjunction with Demos- 
 thenes, got possession of it, after a long dispute, wherein several of the garrison were 
 slain, and the rest made prisoners, and sent to Athens. A mong those prisoners were 
 a hundred and twenty Spartans, who by the assistance of Nicias got released. The 
 Lacedaemonians afterwards recovered the port of Pylos : for Anytus, who was sent 
 with a squadron to support it, finding the wind directly against him, returned to 
 Athens ; upon which the people, according to their usual custom, condemned him to 
 die: which sentence, however, he commute- 1, by paying a vast sum of money, being 
 the firs.t who reversed a judgtnent in that manner. 
 
^^ ALCIBIADES. 
 
 " Men of Lacedsmon, what is it you are going to do ? Are you 
 not apprised thai the behaviour of the senate is always candid and 
 humane to those who apply to it, whereas, the people are haughty, 
 and expect great concessions? If you say that you are Cf.me with 
 full powers, you will find them untractable and extravagant in their 
 demands. Come then, retract that imprudent declaration, and if 
 you desire to keep the Athenians withm the bounds of reason, and 
 not to have terms extorted from you which you cannot approve, 
 treat with them as if you had not a discretionary commission. I 
 will use my best endeavours m favour of the Lacedeemonians." 
 He confirmed his promise with an oath, and thus drew them over 
 from Nicias to himself. In Alcibiades they now placed an entire 
 confidence, admiring both his understanding and address in business, 
 and regarding him as a very extraordinary man. 
 
 Next day the people assembled, and the ambassadors were 
 introduced. Alcibiades asked them in an obliging manner, what 
 their commission was, and they answered, that they did not come 
 as plenipotentiaries. Then he began to rave and storm, as if he 
 had received an injury, not done one ; calling them faithless, pre- 
 varicating men, who were come neither to do nor to say any thing 
 honourable. The senate was incensed ; the people were enraged ; 
 and Nicias, who was ignorant of the deceitful contrivance of 
 Alcibiades, was filled with astonishment and confusion at this 
 change. 
 
 The proposals of the ambassadors thus rejected, Alcibiades was 
 declared general, and soon engaged the Argives,* the Maiitineans 
 and Eleans as allies to the Athenians. Nobody commended the 
 manner of this transaction, but the effect was very great, since it 
 divided and embroiled almost all Peloponnesus, in one day lifted so 
 many amis against the Lacedaemonians at Mantinea, and removed 
 to so great a distance from Athens the scene of war, by which the 
 Lacedtemonians, if victorious, could gain no great advantage, 
 whereas a miscarriage would have risked the very being of their 
 state. 
 
 Soon af\er this battle at Mantinca,f the principal officers^ of this 
 Arffive army attempted to abolish the (mpular government in Argos, 
 and to take the administration into their own hands. The Lace- 
 daemonians espoused the design, and assisted them to carry it into 
 execution. But the people took up arms again, and defeated their 
 new masters ; and Alcibiades, coming to their aid, made the victory 
 more complete. At the same time lie persuaded them to extend 
 
 * He concliirled a l««gu« with Umm ftam for a buodred yaan 
 f Thai iMitle was foiigbt near Uust yaan after the ooocluiioe of tba ueaty «Hh 
 Argot. 
 
 \ Tboaa oflkart availed themwlvet of tha contteroatiOB tba psoplc of Arpis wan in 
 after the loea of the battle , and the Lacadainoaiam gladly tupportad tham, fhwi a 
 parMiaswo that if tha popular foveroroaot waia aboUahad, aod an tiiftocfaey (Uka 
 
ALCIBIADES. 137 
 
 their walls dpwn to the sea, that they might always be in a con- 
 dition to receive succours from the Athenians. From Athens he 
 sent them carpenters and masons, exerting himself greatly on this 
 occasion, which tended to increase his personal interest and power, 
 as well, as that of his country. He advised the people of Patrae, 
 top, to join their city to the sea by long walls : and somebody 
 observing to the Patrensians, " That the Athenians would one day 
 swallow them up;" " Possibly it may be so," said Alcibiades. 
 *' but they will begin with the feet, and do it little by little, whereas 
 the Laceda3monians will begin with the head, and eat it all at once." 
 He exhorted the Athenians to assert the empire of the land as well 
 of the sea, and was ever putting the young warriors in mind to show 
 by their deeds that they remembered the oath they had taken in 
 the temple of Agraulos.* The oath is, that they will <jonsider 
 wheat, barley, vine, and olives, as the bounds of Attica ; by which 
 It is insinuated that they should endeavour to possess themselves 
 of all lands that are cultivated and fruitful. 
 
 But these his great abilitfes in politics, his eloquence, his reach 
 of genius, and keenness of apprehension, were tarnished by his 
 luxurious living, his drinking and debauches, his effeminacy of 
 dress, and his insolent profusion. He wore a purple robe with a 
 long train, when he appeared in public. He caused the planks of 
 his galley to be cut away, that he might lie the softer, his bed not 
 being placed upon the boards, but hanging upon girths. And in the 
 wars he bore a shield of gold, which had none of the usualf ensigns 
 of his country, but, in their stead, a Cupid bearing a thunderbolt. 
 The great men of Athens saw his behaviour with uneasiness and 
 indignation, and even dreaded the consequence. They regarded 
 his foreign manners, his profusion and contempt of the laws, as so 
 many means to make himself absolute. 
 
 The truth is, his prodigious liberality, the games he exhibited, 
 and the other extraordinary instances of his munificence to the 
 people, the glory of his ancestors, the beauty of his person, and the 
 force of his eloquence, together with his heroic strength, his valour, 
 and experience in war, so gained upon the Athenians, that they 
 
 * Agraulos, ona of the daughters of Cecrops, had devoted herself to death for the 
 benefit of her country; it has been supposed, therefore, that the oath which the young 
 Athenians took, bound them to do something of that nature, if need should require; 
 though, as given by Plutarch, it implies only an unjust resolution to extend the Athe- 
 nian dominions to all lands that were worth seizing. Demosthenes mentions the oath 
 in his oration defals. Legat. but does not explain it. 
 
 f Both cities and private persons had of old their ensigns, devices, or arras. Those 
 f)f the Athenians were commonly Mmerva, the owl, or the olive. None but people of 
 figure were allowed to bear any devices ; nor even they, until they had performed 
 some action to deserve them; in the mean time their shields were plain white, 
 Alcibiades, in his device, referred to the beauty of his person and his martial prowess. 
 Mottos, too, were used. Capaneus, for instance, bore a naked man with a torch in his 
 hand, the motto this, Iwill burn the city. See more in yEschvlus' traced v of the Seven 
 Chiefs. . & . 
 
 s 12* 
 
13^ ALC1BIADE9. 
 
 connived at his errors, and spoke of them vrith all imaginable ten- 
 derness, calling them sallies of youth and good-humoured frolics. 
 In the time of Pericles,* the Athenians had a desire after Sicily, 
 and atler him they attempted it, frequently under pretence of suC' 
 counng their allies, sending aids of men and money to such of the 
 Sicilians as were attacked by the Syracusans. This was a step to 
 greater armaments. But Alcibiades inflamed this desire to an 
 irresistible degree, and persuaded them not to attempt the island 
 in part, and by little and Uttle, but to send a powerful fleet to sub- 
 due it. He inspired the people with hopes of great things, and 
 indulged himself in expectations still more lofty : for he did not, 
 like the rest, consider Sicily as the end of his wishes, but rather 
 as an introduction to the mighty expeditions he had conceived ; 
 and while Nicias was dissuading the people from the siege of 
 Syracuse, as an undertaking too difficult to succeed in, Alcibiades 
 was dreaming of Carthage and of Lybia, and after these were 
 
 Suned, he designed to grasp Italy and Peloponnesus, regarding 
 icily as little more than a magazine for provisions and warhke 
 stores. 
 
 The young men immediately entered into his schemes, and lis- 
 tened with great attention to those who, under the sanction of age, 
 related wonders concerning the intended expeditions, so that many 
 of them sat whole days in the places of exercise, drawing in the 
 dust the figure of the island, and plans of Lybia and Carthage. 
 However, we are informed, that Socrates the philosopher, and 
 Meton the astrologer, were far from expecting that these wars 
 would turn to the advantage of Athens. 
 
 Nicias was ap{)ointed one of the generals much against his 
 inclination ; for he would have delined the command, if it had 
 been only on account of his having such a colleague. 
 
 The Athenians, however, thought the war would be better 
 conducted, if they did not give free scope to the impetuosity of 
 Alcibiades, but tempered his boldness with the prudence of Nicias. 
 
 For, as to the third general, Lamachus, though well advanced in 
 yetirs, be did not seem to come at all short of Alcibiades in heat 
 and rashness. 
 
 When they came to deliberate about the number of the troops, 
 
 * Periclea, by hit prudence and authority, had restralperi ihit exiravannt aintiilioa 
 m the Atheniaos. He died the latt year of the eigbty<Mveoth Olympiaa. in the third 
 year uf (tie Feloponnesian war Two years after this, the AthentoM Mnt knm thipa 
 to Rlif^giuin, which were to go from thmce to the uiecour of Ills LMMtiasi^ who w«f« 
 attacked by the SyracuMni. The year foUowing, tbaj MOt t mHI freotor oumlier;' 
 and two yean after that, they ^iied out another fleet of a freater force ihaa tbe lex lotr; 
 but the Siciliant havins put an end to their ditrnkuM, aad by the adviea of Hanno* 
 crates (whoee s p ee c b Tbueydidaa, In bit Ibunb book, fifss m at larfa). bavbi| SUM 
 back iha fleet, tbe AtboaiaiM wato ao OBraftd ai ibair §mmni» Ibr not bavfav eoa* 
 ^uered Sicily, that tbay baniabad two of ibam, PjFtbodotvs and Sopboelaa, aad laid a 
 heavy fine upon Eurymedon. So iafatuatad were tbay bf tbair protparHy, that Ibfjr 
 ipra^tned thenseives irresistible. 
 
ALCIBIADES. 
 
 139 
 
 and the necessary preparations for the armament, Nicias again 
 opposed their measures, and endeavoured to prevent the war. But 
 Alcibiddes replying to his arguments and carrying all before him, 
 the orator Demostratus proposed a decree, that ihe generals should 
 have the absolute direction of the war, and of all the preparations 
 for it. When the people had given their assent, and every thing 
 was got ready for setting sail, unlucky omens occurred, even on a 
 festival which was celebrated at that time. Add to this, the 
 mutilating and disfiguring of almost all the statues of Mercury,* 
 which happened in one night, a circumstance which alarmed even 
 those who had long despised things of that nature. It was imputed 
 to the Corinthians, of whom the Syracusans were a colony ; and 
 they were supposed to have done it, in hopes that such a prodigy 
 might induce the Athenians to desist from the war. But the people 
 paid little regard to this insinuation, or to the discourses of those 
 who said that there was no manner of ill presage in what had hap- 
 pened, and that it was nothing but the wild frolic of a parcel of 
 young fellows, flushed with wine, and bent on some extravagance. 
 Indignation and fear made them take this event, not only for a bad 
 omen, but for the consequence of a plot which aimed at greater 
 matters ; and therefore both senate and people assembled several 
 times within a few days, and very strictly examined every sus- 
 picious circumstance. 
 
 In the mean time, the demagogue Androcles produced some 
 Athenian slaves and certain sojourners, who accused Alcibiades 
 and his friends of defacing some other statues, and of mimicking 
 the sacred mysteries in one of their drunken revels. The people 
 being much provoked at Alcihiades, and Androcles, his bitterest 
 enemy, exasperating them still more, at first he was somewhat 
 <Jisconcerted. But when he perceived that the seamen and soldiers 
 too, intended for the Sicilian expedition, were on this side, and 
 heard a body of Argives and Mantineans, consisting of a thousand 
 men, declare, that they were willing to cross the seas, and to run 
 the risk of a foreign war for the sake of Alcibiades, but that if any 
 injury were done to him, they would immediately march home 
 again ; then he recovered his spirits, and appeared to defend him- 
 self. It was now his enemies* turn to be discouraged, and to fear 
 that the people, on account of the need they had of him, would be 
 favourable in their sentence. To obviate this inconvenience, they 
 persuaded certain orators who were not reputed to be his enemies, 
 but hated him as heartily as the most professed ones, to move it to 
 the people, " That it was extremely absurd, that a general who 
 was invested with a discretionary power, and a very important 
 command, when the troops were collected, and the allies all ready 
 
 * The Athenians had statues of Mercury at the doors of iheir houses, made of stones 
 oCa cubical form. 
 
]4U ALCIBIAPBB. 
 
 to sail, should lose time, whUe they were casting loto for judges, 
 and filling the glasses with water, to measure out the time of his 
 defence. In the name of the gods let him sail, and when the war 
 is concluded, he accountable to the laws, which will still be the 
 same." 
 
 Alcibiadcs easily saw their mtUicious drill in wanting to pat off 
 (he trial, and observed, " That it uould be an intolerable hardship 
 to leave such accusations and calumnies behind him, and be sent 
 out with so important a commission, while he was in suspense as 
 to his own fate« That he ought to sutTer death, if he could not 
 clear himself of the charge ; but if he could prove his innocence, 
 justice required that he should be set free from all fear of false 
 accusers, before they sent him against their enemies." But he 
 could not obtain, that favour. He was indeed ordered to set sail,* 
 which he accordingly did, together with his colleagues, bavins 
 near a hundred and forty galleys in his company, five thousand 
 one hundred heavy.armed soldiers, and about a thousand three 
 hundred archers, slingers, and others light-armed, with suitable 
 provisions and stores. 
 
 Arriving on the coast of Italy, he landed at Rhegium. There 
 he gave his opinion as to the manner in which the war should be 
 conducted, and was opposed by Nicias : but as Lamachus agreed 
 with him, he sailed to Sicily, and made himself master of Catana.f 
 This was all he performed, being soon sent for by the Athenians 
 to take his trial. At first, as we have observed, there was nothing 
 against him but slight suspicions, and the depositions of slaves and 
 persons who sojourned in Athens. But his enemies took advantage 
 of his absence to bring new matters of impeachment, adding to the 
 mutilating of the statues his sacrilegious behaviour with respect to 
 the mysteries, and alleging that bo3i these crimes flowed from the 
 same source,^ a conspiracy to change the government. All that 
 were accused of being any ways concerned in it, they committed 
 to prison unheard ; and they repented exceedingly, that they had 
 not immediately brought Alcibiades to his trial, and got him con- 
 demned upon so heavy a charge. While this fury lasted, every 
 relation, every- friend and acquaintance of his, was very severely 
 dealt with by the people. 
 
 Among tho^te that were then imprisoned, in order to their trial, 
 was the orator Anducides, whom Hellaniciis the historian reckons 
 among the descendants of Ulysses. He was thought to be no 
 friend to a popular government, but a favourer of obligarchy. 
 
 • I'he second year of the ei(^hty firtt Olympiad, and wvantb oC tbt P a J o po imari an 
 war. 
 
 f By %urpti$n.-~Thuryd. lib. vL 
 
 i They gave out, that' he had enterrd into a eontpiraey to tMCfiT Iba etty to tha 
 Laeadmnoniany, and that he had persuaded th« Argirea to usdanaks NmetbRitto 
 thatr prrVifiic*-. 
 
 1 
 
ALCIBIADES. 
 
 141 
 
 What contributed not a little to his being suspected of having some 
 concern in defacing the Hermce, was, that the great statue of Mer- 
 cury, which was placed near his house, being consecrated to that 
 god by the tribe called the iEgeis, was almost the only one, 
 amongst the most remarkable, which was left entire. 
 
 It happened that amongst those who were imprisoned on the 
 same account, Andocides contracted an acquaintance and friend- 
 ship with one Timaaus ; a man not equal ni rank to himself, but of 
 uncommon parts and a daring spirit. He advised Andocides to 
 accuse himself and a few more ; because tiie decree promised 
 impunity to any one that would confess and inform, whereas the 
 event of the trial was uncertain to all, and much to be dreaded by 
 such of them as were persons of distinction. He represented that 
 it was better to save his life by a falsity, than to suffer an infamous 
 death as one really guilty of the crime ; and that with respect to 
 the pubUc, it would be an advantage to give up a few persons of 
 dubious character, in order to rescue many men from an enraged 
 populace. 
 
 Andocides was prevailed upon by these argmnents of Timaeus ; 
 and informing against himself and some others, enjoyed the impu- 
 nity promised by the decree ; but all the rest whom he named were 
 capitally punished, except a few that fled. Nay, to procure the 
 greater credit to his deposition, he accused even his own servants. 
 
 However, the fury of the people was not so satisfied ; but turn- 
 ing from the persons who had disfigured the Hermae, as if it had 
 reposed a while only to recover its strength, it fell totally upon 
 Alcibiades. At last they sent the Salaminian galley to fetch him, 
 artfully enough ordering their officer not to use violence, or to lay 
 hold on his person, but to behave to him with civility, and to 
 acquaint him with the people's orders that he should go and take 
 his trial, and clear himself before them. For they were apprehen- 
 sive of some tumult and mutiny in the army, now it was in an 
 enemy's country, which Alcibiades, had he been so disposed, might 
 easily have raised. Indeed, the soldiers expressed great uneasiness 
 at his leaving them, and expected that the war would be spun out 
 to a great length by the dilatory counsels of Nicias, when the spur 
 was taken away. Lamachus, indeed, was bold and brave, but he 
 was wanting both in dignity and weight, by reason of his poverty. 
 
 Alcibiades immediately embarked ;* the consequence of which 
 was, that the Athenians could not take Messena. There were 
 persons in the town ready to betray it, whom Alcibiades perfectly 
 knew, and as he apprised some that were friends to the Syracusans 
 of their intention, the affair miscarried. 
 
 As soon as he arrived at Thurii, he went on shore, and conceal. 
 ing himself there, eluded the search which was made after him. 
 
 * He prudently.emlrarkcd on a vessel of his own, and not on the Salaniinian galley- 
 
J42 ALCIBIADES. 
 
 But some person tcnowing him, and saying, " Will you not, then, 
 trust your country ?" he answered, " As to any thing else 1 will 
 trust her; bui with my hfe I would not trust even my mother, Icsi 
 ehe should mistake a black bean for a white one." AtUrwards 
 being lold that the republic had condemned him to die, he said, 
 <» But I will make them find that 1 am alive." 
 
 As he did not appear, they condemned him, confiscated his 
 soods, and ordered all the priests and priestesses to denounce an 
 execration against him ; which was denounced accordingly by all 
 but Theano, the daughter of Menon, priestess of the tenrrple of 
 Agraulos, who excused herself, allegmg that " she was a priestess 
 for prayer, not for execration." 
 
 While these decrees and sentences were passing against Alcibi. 
 ades, he wa^ at Argos : having quitted Thurii which no longer 
 afforded him a safe asylum, to come into Peloponnesus. Still 
 dreading his enemies, and giving up all hopes of being restored to 
 his country, he sent to Sparta to desire permission to live there 
 under the protection of the pubHc faith, promising to serve that 
 state more eflTectualiy, now he was their friend, than he had 
 annoyed them whilst their enemy. The Spartans granting him a 
 safe conduct, and expressing their readiness to receive him, he 
 went thither with pleasure. One thing he soon effected, which 
 was to procure succours for Syracuse without further hesitation or 
 delay, having persuaded them to send Gylippus thither, to take 
 upon him the direction of the war. and to crush the Athenian power 
 in Sicily. Another thing which he persuaded them to, was to 
 declare war against the Athenians, and to begin its operations on 
 the continent : and the third, which was the roost important o( all, 
 was to get Decnlia fortified ; for this being in the neighbourhood 
 of Athens, was productive of great mischief to the commonwealth.* 
 
 These measures procured Alcibiades the public approbation at 
 Sparta, and he was no less admired for his manner of living in 
 private. By conforming to their diet and other austerities, he 
 charmed and captivated the people. When they saw him close, 
 filiaved, bathing in cold water, feeding on their coarse bread, or 
 eating their black broth, they could hardly believe that such a man 
 rliad ever kept a cook in his house, seen a perfumer, or worn a robe 
 of Milesian purple. It seems, that, among his other qualifications, 
 he had the very extraordinary art of engaging the afiections of 
 
 * Agi*. kin? of Soarta, at th* h^ari of a v»»rv niiroerout armv of [ an*, 
 
 ^nrinthiaiin, and «Nhrr luilioiiii of lVto|)Onn«itnt>. iiivti<irH Aiiicji. nml i > tl>a 
 
 •dvicu wiiicb Alcii>!.i-'- • •■* --— • -•• * ' — •: -) l)«oalia. whKM ><i,.>.- m mn 
 
 fqi'Ml itiKtHnci; from whicb m«atiii itir AthcniaM 
 
 were now ili-privrf! ,„. renit of their laiiHt,aod of 
 
 th« MicoiHira oi I'm tnc |irt'utt.-<t iiiibforiuiie whirh happMMid IOIImi 
 
 Atheitiant, fr> i thn war lu (hit iiiii«, m%» that whr.h tofcl th«m Uilt 
 
 year in Sicily, . . nly lo«t ihe coiiquect ihey aimed at. toftetbcr wiib th* 
 
 reputation tbey bad m Ioiih inaintainrd, but tbeir §mu iMff anny, and iMr i 
 
ALCIBIADES. X43 
 
 those with whom he conversed, by imitating and adopting their 
 customs and way of Uving. Nay, he turned himself into all man- 
 ner of forms with more ease than the cameleon changes his colour. 
 It is not, we are told, in that animal's power to assume a white, 
 but Alcibiades could adapt himself to either good or baji, and did' 
 not find any thing which he attempted impracticable. Thus at 
 Sparta he was all for exercise, frugal in his diet, and severe in his 
 manners. In Asia, he was as much for mirth and pleasure, luxury 
 and ease. In Thrace, again, riding and drinking were his favourite 
 amusements ; and in the palace of Tissaphernes, the Persian gran- 
 dee, he outvied the Persians^ themselves in pomp and splendour. 
 Not that he could with so much ease change his real manners, or 
 approve in his heart the form which he assumed ; but because he 
 knew that his native manners would be unacceptable to those 
 whom he happened to be with, he immediately conformed to tho 
 ways and fashions of whatever place he came to. When he was 
 at Lacedaemon, if you regarded only his outside, you would say as 
 the proverb does, " This is not the son of Achilles, but Achilles 
 himself;" This man has surely been brought up under the eye of 
 Lycurgus ; but then if you looked more nearly into his dispositioa 
 and his actions, you would exclaim with Electra in the poet, *' The 
 same weak woman still !"* 
 
 After the miscarriage of the Athenians in Sicily, the people of 
 Chios, of Lesbos, and Cyzicum, sent to treat with the Spartans 
 about quitting the interests of Athens, and putting themselves 
 under the protection of Sparta. The Bceotians, on this occasion, 
 solicited for the Lesbians, and Pharnabazus for the people of 
 Cyzicum ; but, at the persuasion of Alcibiades, succours were sent 
 to those of Chios before all others. He likewise passed over into 
 Ionia, and prevailed with almost all that country to revolt, and 
 attending the Lacedaemonian generals in the execution of most of 
 their commissions, he did great prejudice t(> the x\thenians. 
 
 But Agis could not endure his glory and prosperity ; for most 
 of the present successes were ascriben o Alcibiades. The great 
 and the ambitious among the Spartans were indeed, in general, 
 touched with envy ; and had influence enough with the civil magis- 
 trates, to procure orders to be sent to their friends in Ionia to kill 
 him. But timely foreseeing his danger, and cautioned by his fears, 
 in every step he took he still served the Lacedaemonians, taking 
 care all the while not to put himself in their power. Instead of 
 that, he sought the protection of Tissaphernes, one of the grandees 
 of Persia, or lieutenants of the king. With this Persian he soon 
 attained the highest credit and authority : for himself a very subtle 
 
 * This is spoken of Hermione, in the Orestes of Euripides, upon her discovering 
 the same vanity and solicitude about her beauty, when advanced in years, that sh» 
 fa»d when she was young. 
 
^44 ALCIBIADES. 
 
 and inaiiicere man, he admired the art and keenness of Alcibiades. 
 Indeed, by the elegance of his conversation, and the charms of his 
 politeaess, every man was gained, all hearts were touched. Even 
 those who leared and envied him were not insensible to pleasure 
 in his company ; and while they enjoyed it, their resentment was 
 disarmed. Tissaphernes, in all other cases savage in his temper, 
 and the bitterest enemy that Greece experienced among the Per- 
 sians, gave himself up, notwithstanding, to the flatteries of Alcibf- 
 ades, insomuch that he even vied with and exceeded him in address. 
 For of all his gardens, that which excelled in beauty, which was 
 remarkable for the salubrity of its streams and the freshness of its 
 ineadcws, which was set oft* with pavilions royally adorned, and 
 retirements tiuished in the most elegant taste, he distinguished by 
 the name of Alcibiades ; and every one continued to give it that 
 appellation. 
 
 Rejecting, therefore, the interests of Lacedd;mon,and fearing that 
 people as treacherous to him, he represented them, and their king 
 Agis, in a disadvantageous light to Tissaphernes. He advised him 
 not to assist them effectually, nor absolutely to ruin the Athenians, 
 but to send his subsidies to Sparta with a sparing hand ; that so 
 the two powers might insensibly weaken and consume each other, 
 and both at last be easily subjected to the king. TiHsaphernes 
 readily followed his counsels, and it was evident to all the world 
 that he held him in the greatest admiration and esteem : which 
 made him equally considerable with the Greeks of both parties. 
 The Athenians repented of the sentence they had passed upon him 
 because they had suffered for it since ; and Alcibiades, on his side, 
 was under some fear and concern, lest, if their republic should bo 
 destroyed, he should fall into the hands of the Lacedcemonians who 
 hated him. 
 
 At that time, the whole strength of the Athenians lay at Samoa. 
 With their ships sent out from thence, they recovered some of 
 the towns which had revolted, and others they kept to their duty ; 
 and at sea they were in some measure able to make head against 
 their enemies. But they were afraid of Tissaphernes and the 
 and the Phcenician fleet of an hundred and fifly ships, which were 
 said to be coming against them ; for against such a force they 
 could not hope to defend themselves.^ Alcibiades, apprised of this, 
 privately sent a messenger to the principal Athenians at Samos, 
 to give them hopes that he would procure them the friendship of 
 Tiflsaphemes : not to recommend himself to the people, whom bo 
 could not trust, but to oblige the nobility, if they would but exert 
 their superiority, to repress the insolence of the commi)nahy, and, 
 taking the government into their own hands, by that means save 
 the country. 
 
 All the officers readily embraced this proposal, except Phryni- 
 
 I 
 
ALCIBIADES. I45 
 
 chus, who was of the ward of Dirades. He nlone suspected what 
 was really the case, that it Was a matter of very httle consequence 
 to Alcibiades, whether an ohgarchy or democracy prevailed in 
 Athens ; that it was his business to get himself recalled by any 
 means whatever, and that, therefore, by his invective against the 
 people, he wanted only to insinuate himself into the good graces of 
 the nobility. Upon these ^reasons proceeded the opposition of 
 Phrynichus ; but, seeing his opinion disregarded, and that iVlcibi- 
 ades must certainly become his enemy, he gave secret intelligence 
 to Astyochus, the enemy's admiral, of the double part which Alci- 
 biades acted, advising him to beware of his designs, and to secure 
 his person. But he knew not that while he was betraying he was 
 himself betrayed. For Astyochus, wanting to make his court to 
 Tissaphernes', informed Alcibiades of the affair, who, he knew, 
 had the ear of that grandee. 
 
 Alcibiades immediately sent proper persons to Samos with an 
 accusation against Phrynichus ; who, seeing no other resource, as 
 every body was against him, and expressed great indignation at 
 his behaviour, attempted to cure one evil with another and a great- 
 er. For he sent to Astyochus to complain of his revealing the 
 secret, and to offer to deliver up to him the whole Athenian fleet 
 and army. This treason of Phrynichus, however, did no injury to 
 the Athenians, because it was again betrayed by Astyochus, for he 
 laid the whole matter before Alcibiades. Phrynichus had the sa- 
 gacity to foresee and expect another accusation from Alcibiades, 
 and, to be beforehand with him, he himself forewarned the Athe- 
 nians, that the enemy would endeavour to surprise them, and there- 
 fore desired them to be upon their guard, to keep on board their 
 ships, and to fortify their camp. 
 
 While the Athenians were doing this, letters came from Alcibi- 
 ades again, advising them to beware of Phrynichus, who had un- 
 dertaken to betray their fleet to the enemy : but they gave no cre- 
 dit to these despatches, supposing that Alcibiades, who perfectly 
 knew the preparations and intentions of the enemy, abused that 
 knowledge to the raising of such a calumny against Phrynichus. 
 Yet, afterwards, when Phrynichus was stabbed in full assembly by 
 one of Hermon's soldiers who kept guard that day, the Athenians 
 taking cognizance of the matter, after his death, condemned Phry- 
 nichus as guilty of treason, and ordered Hermon and his party to 
 be crowned for despatching a traitor. 
 
 The friends of Alcibiades, who now had a superior interest at 
 Samos, sent Pisanderto Athens, to change the form of government, 
 by encouraging the nobility to assume it and to deprive the people 
 of their power and privileges, as the condition upon which Alcibi- 
 ades would procure them the friendship and alliance of Tissapher- 
 nes. This was the colour of the pretence made use of bv those 
 T 13 
 
146 
 
 ALLlUiADLS. 
 
 who wanted to lutroJucc an oligarchy. But wbeu tbattHxi^, whicii 
 were called the Jive thousand^ but in fact were only four mmdred,* 
 had got the power into their handtj, they paid little atteotioo to Al- 
 cibiades, and Carried on the war but slowly ; partly distrusting 
 the citiaxns who did not yet relish the new Ibrm of government, 
 and partly hoping that the Lacedaemonians, who were always in- 
 clined to favour an oligarchy, would not press them with their usi^al 
 vigour. 
 
 Such of the commonalty as were at home, were silent through 
 fear, though much ^gainst their will ; for ^i number of those who 
 had openly opposed the four hundred ^ere put to death. But when 
 they who were at Samos were informed of the affair, they were 
 highly incensed at it, and inclined immediately to set sail for the 
 Pyrajus. In the fir9t place, however, they sent for Alcibiades, and 
 having appointed him their general, ordered him to lead them 
 against the tyrants, and demohsh both them and their power. On 
 such an occasion, almost any other man, suddenly exalted by the 
 favor of the multitude, would have thought he niust have complied 
 with ail their humours, and not have contradicted those in any 
 Ihing, who, from ' a fugitive and a banished man, had raised him 
 to be coqamander in chief of such a fleet and army. But he beha- 
 ved as became a great general, and prevented their plunging into 
 error through the violence of their rage. This care of his evi. 
 dently was the saving of the commonwealth. For if they had sailed 
 home, as they promised, the enemy would have seized on Ionia 
 immediately, and have gained the Hellespont and the islands whh- 
 out striking a stroke ; while the Athenians would have been enga- 
 ged in a civil war, of which Athens itself must have been the seat. 
 All this was prevented chiefly by Alcibiades, who not only tried 
 what arguments would do with the army in general, and informed 
 them of their danger, but applied to them one by one, using en- 
 treaties to some and force to others^ in which he was atnated by 
 the loud harangues of I'hrasybulus of the ward of Stira, who at- 
 tended him through the whole, and had the strongest voice of any 
 man among the Athenians. 
 
 Another great service performed by Alcibiades was, his under- 
 taking that the Phoenician fleet, which the Lacedaemonians expect- 
 ed from the king of Persia, should either join the Athenians, or at 
 least not act on the enemy's side. In consequence of this promise, 
 he set out as expeditiously as possible, and prevailed upon Tissa- 
 
 * It was at first proposed that only ihe dr«|s of the people should loee their author- 
 ity, which was to1)e vested in five thousand of the most wealthy, who were for the 
 future to be reputed the people. But when Pisander and bis asMKiates found the 
 strength of their party, they carried it that the old form of government should be dis* 
 solved, and that five Prytanes should t>e elected ; that thrse five ihould cbooee a 
 hundred ; that each of the hundred should choose three ; that the fntit hundred thus 
 •lecied should become a senate with supreme powar, and should rnn<nilt the five 
 thousand oitly when and on such matters as tbey tbotiftn fit. 
 
ALCIBIADES. I47 
 
 phernes not to forward the ships, which were already come as far 
 as Aspendus, but to disappoint and deceive the Lacedcsmonians, 
 Nevertheless, both sides, and particularly the Lacedajmonians, 
 accused Alcibiades of hindering that fleet from coming to their aid: 
 for they supposed he had instructed the Persians to leave the 
 Greeks to destroy each other : and, indeed, it was obvious enough 
 that such a force, added to either side, would entirely have depri- 
 ved the other of the dominion of the sea. 
 
 After this, the/owr hundred were Soon quashed,* the friends of 
 Alcibiades very readily assisting those who were for a democracy : 
 and now the people in the city not only wished for him, but com- 
 manded him to return ; yet he thought it not' best to return with 
 empty hands, or without having effected something worthy of 
 note, but instead of being indebted to the compassion and favour 
 of the multitude, to distinguish his appearance by his merit. Par- 
 ting,, therefore, from Samos with a few ships, he cruised on the 
 sea of Cnidos, and a^out the i^le of Coos, where he got intelligence 
 that Mindarus, the Spartan admiral, had sailed with his whole fleet 
 towards the Hellespont to find out the Athenians. This made him 
 hasten to the assistance of the latter, and fortunately enough he 
 arrived with his eighteen ships at the very juncture of time, when 
 the two fleets having engaged near Abydos, continued the fight 
 from morning until night, one side having the advantage on the 
 right wing, and the other on the left.f 
 
 On the appearance of his squadron, both sides entertained a false 
 opinion of the end of his coming ; for the Spartans were encoura- 
 ged, and the Athenians struck with terror. But he soon hoisted 
 the Athenian flag on the admiral's galley, and bore down directly 
 upon the Peloponnesians, who now had the advantage, and were 
 urging the pursuit. His vigorous impression put them to flight, 
 and following' them close, he drove them ashore, destroying 
 iheir ships, and killing such of their men as endeavoured to save 
 themselves by swimming; though Pharnabasus succoured them 
 from the shore, and with an armed force attempted to save their ves- 
 sels. The conclusion was, that the Athenians having taken thirty 
 of the enemy's ships, and recovered their own, erected a trophy. 
 
 After this glorious success, Alcibiades, ambitious to show him- 
 self as soon as possible to Tissaphernes, prepared presents and 
 other proper acknowledgements for his friendship and hospitality, 
 and then went to wait upon him with a princely train. But he was 
 not welcomed in the manner he expected ; for Tissaphernes, who, 
 
 * The same year that i^iey were set up, which was the second of the ninety-second 
 Olympiad. Thfi reader (!>iis» carefully distinguish this faction of four hundred, from 
 the senate of four hundred established by SdIom, which these turned out the few 
 nionths.ttiey were in power. 
 
 •{• Thucydides does not speak of this arrival of Alf^i'J'ftf^^s : but probably he did 
 not live to have a clear account of this action, for he died this year. Xenophon, who 
 continued his historv, mentions it. 
 
14S ALCIBIAD^S. 
 
 for some time, bad b6en accused by the Lacccbemouians, and was 
 apprebensivu tbat tbe charge might reach the king's ear, thought 
 the coming of Alcibiadcs a very seasonable mcideni, and therel'ure 
 put him under arrest and confined him at Sardis, imagining tbat 
 injuriouti proceeding would be a means to clear himself. 
 
 Thirty days aAer, Alcibiades having by some means or other 
 obtained a horse, escaped from his keepers, and fled to CUzome- 
 li» ; and, by way of revenge, he pretended that Tissaphemes pri- 
 vately set him at liberty. From thence he passed to the place 
 Avhere the Athenians were stationed ; and being informed, tbat 
 Mmdarus and Pharnabazus were together at'Cyzicum, he showed 
 the troops tiiat it was necessary for them to flghi both by sea and 
 land, nay evep to fight with stone walls, if that should be required^ 
 in order to come at their enemies : for if the victory were not com- 
 plete and universal, they could come at no money. Then ho em- 
 barked the forces and sailed to Proconesus, where he ordered 
 tbem to take the lighter vessels into the middle of the fleet, and to 
 have a particular care that the enemy might not discover that be 
 vas couiin£ against them. A great and sudden rain, which hap- 
 pened to full at that time, together with dreadful thunder and dark- 
 ness, was of great service in covering his operations : for not only 
 the enemy were ignorant of bis design, but the very Athenians, 
 whom he had ordered in great haste on board, did not presently 
 perceive that he was under sail. Soon afler, the weather cleared 
 up, and the Peloponnosian ships were seen riding at anchor in the 
 road of Cyzicum : lest, therefore, the enemy should be alarmed at 
 the largeness of his fleet, and save themselves by getting on shore, 
 he directed many of the (officers to slacken sail, and keep out of 
 nght, while he showed himself with forty ships only, and challen- 
 ged the Lacedaemonians to the combat. The stratagem had its 
 effect ; for, despising the small number of galle>s which they saw, 
 they immediately weighed anchor and engaged ; but tbe rest of 
 tbe Athenian ships comm^ up during the engagement, the Lace- 
 demonians were struck with terror uud fled. Lpon that, Alcibia- 
 des, witti twenty of his best ships, breaking through the midst of 
 them, hastened to the shore, and having made a descent, pursued 
 those that fled from the ships, and killed great numbers of them. 
 He likewise defeated Mindarus and Pharnabazus, who came their 
 succour. Mindarus made a brave resistance and was slain ; but 
 Pharnabazus saved himself b> flight. 
 
 The Atbcmans remained masters of the field, and of the spoils, 
 and took all the enemy's ships. Having also possessed themselves 
 of Cysicum, which was abandoned by Pharnabazus, and deprived 
 of the HKsislance of the Pelo)M)nnefiianK, who were almost all cut off, 
 they not only secured the Hellespont, but entirely cleared the sea 
 of the Lacedicmpnians. 'J'he letter also was tnlercepted, which. 
 
ALCiBlADES. 14<, 
 
 iu the Laconic style, was to give the Ephori an account of their 
 misfortunes. " Our glory is faded. Mindarus is slain. Our sol- 
 diers are starving ; and we know not what step to take." 
 
 On the other hand, Alcibiades's men were so elated, and took so 
 much upon them because they had always been victorious, that 
 they would not vouchsafe even to mix with the other troops that 
 had been sometimes beaten. It happened, not long before, that 
 Thrasyllus having miscarried in his attempt upon Ephesus, tho 
 Ephesians erected a trophy of brass in reproach of the Aihenians.* 
 The soldiers of Alcibiades, therefore, upbraided those of Thrasyl- 
 lus with this affair^ magnifying themselves and their general, and 
 disdaining to join others, either in the place of exercise or in the 
 camp. . But soon after, when Pharnabazus, with a strong body of 
 horse and foot, attacked the forces of Thrasyllus, who were rava- 
 ging the country about Abydos, Alcibiades marched to their assis- 
 tance, routed the enemy, and, together with Thrasyllus, pursued 
 them until night. Then he admitted Thrasyllus into his company, 
 and with mutual civilities and satisfaction they returned to the 
 camp. Next day he erected a trophy, and plundered the province, 
 which was under Pharnabazus, without the least opposition. The 
 priests and priestesses he made prisoners, among the rest, but soon 
 dismissed them without ransom. Thence he intended to proceed 
 and lay siege to Chalcedon, which had withdrawn its allegiance 
 from the Athenians, and received a Lacedaemonian garrison and 
 governor ; but heing informed that the Chalcedonians had collec- 
 ted their cattle and corn, and sent it all to the Bithynians, their 
 friends, he led his army to the frontiers of the Bithynians, and sent 
 a herald before them, to summon them to surrender it. They, 
 dreading his resentment, gave up the booty, and entered into an 
 alliance with him. 
 
 Afterwards, he returned to the siege at Chalcedon, and enclosed 
 it with a wall which reached from sea to sea. Pharnabazus ad- 
 vanced to raise the siege, and Hippocrates, the governor, sallied 
 out with his whole force to attack the Athenians. But Alcibiades 
 drew up his army so as to engage them both at once, and he de- 
 feated them both ; Pharnabazus betaking himself to flight, and 
 Hippocrates being killed, together with the greatest part of his 
 troops. This done, he sailed into the Hellespont, to raise contri- 
 butions m the towns upon the coast. 
 
 In this voyage he took Selybria, but in the action- unnecessari- 
 ly exposed himself to great danger. The persons who promised 
 to surrender the town to him, agreed to give him a signal at mid- 
 night with a lighted torch ; but they were obliged to do it before 
 
 * Trophies before had been of wood, but the Ephesians erected this of brass, to 
 to perpetuate ihe infamy of the Athenians, and it was this new and mortifying cir- 
 cuin!>tauce with which Alcibiades's soldiers reproached those of Thrasvllus.— DtW. 
 lib. xiii 
 
 13* 
 
)50 ALCIBIADE?. 
 
 the time, for feat of some one that was in the secret, who suddenly 
 altered his mind. The torch, therefore, being held up before the 
 army was ready, Alcibiades look about thirty men with him, and 
 ran to the walls, having ordered the rest to follow as fast as pos. 
 si6le. The gate was opened to him, and twenty of the conspira- 
 tors, lightly Armed, joining his small company, he advanced with 
 great spirit, but soon perceived the Selybriahs, with their weap- 
 ons in their bands, coming forward to attack him. As to stand 
 and fight promised no sort of success, and he who to that hour bad 
 never been defeated, did not choose to fly, he ordered a trumpet 
 to command silence, and proclamation to be made, that the Sely. 
 hrians should not, under the the pain of the republic's high dis- 
 pleasure, take up arms against the Athenians. Their incHnation 
 to the combat was then immediately damped, partly from a suppo- 
 sition that the whole Athenian army was within the walls, and 
 partly from the hopes they concieived of coming to tolerable terms. 
 Whilst they were talking togethei of this order, the Athenian army 
 came up, and Alcibiades rightly conjecturing that the inclinations 
 of the Selybrians were for peace, was afraid of giving the Thra- 
 oians an opportunity to plunder the town. These last came down 
 in great numbers to serve under him as volunteers, from a particu- 
 lar attdchment to his person ; but on this occasion he sent them all 
 utof tho town, and, upon tho submission of the Selybrians, he sa. 
 vedthem from being pillaged, dertianding only a sum of money, 
 and leaving a garrison in the place. 
 
 Meantime, the other generals, who carried on the siege of Chal- 
 cedon, came to an agreement with Pharnabazus on these condi' 
 tions : namely, that a sum of money should be paid them by Phar- 
 nabazus ; that the Chalcedonians should return to their allegiance 
 to the republic of Athens ; and that no injury should be done to 
 the province of which Pharnabazus was governor, who undertook 
 that the Athenian ambassadors should be conducted safe to the 
 king. Upon the return of Alcibiades, Pharnabazus desired that 
 he too would swear to the performance of the articles, but Alci- 
 blades insisted that Pharnabazus should swear first. When the 
 treaty whs reciprocally confirmed with an oath, Alcibiades went 
 against Byzantium, which had revolted, and drew a line of circum- 
 vallation about tho city. While he was thus employed, Anoxilaus, 
 Lyrurgus, and some others, secretly promised to deliver up the 
 
 {»lace, on condition that he would keep it from being plundered, 
 loreiipon, he caused it to be reported, tliat certam weighty and 
 unexpected affairs called him back to Ionia, and in the day.time 
 he set sail with his whole fleet; but returning at night, he himself 
 disembarked with the land, forces, and posting thoni under tho 
 wails, commanded them not to make the lelist noise. At the same 
 tirro the <i\uyn inndo for the harbour, and the rrrw?» prcKsinc in 
 
^LCIBIADES. 151 
 
 with loud shouts and great tumult, astonished the Byzantines, who 
 expected no such matter. Thus an opportunity was given to those 
 within the walls, who favoured the Athenians, to receive them in 
 great security, while every body's attention was engaged upon the 
 harbour and the ships. 
 
 The affair passed not, however, without blows. For the Pelo- 
 ponnesians, Boeotians, and Megarensians, who were at Byzantium, 
 having driven the ships' crews back to their vessels, and perceiv- 
 ing that the Athenian land-forces were got into the town, charged 
 them too with great vigour. The dispute was sharp, and the shock 
 great, but victory declared for Alcibiades and Theramenes. • The 
 former of these generals commanded the right wing, and the latter 
 the left. About three hundred of the enemy, who survived, were 
 taken prisoners. Not one of the Byzantines, after the battle, was 
 either put to death or banished ; for such were the terms on which 
 the town was given up, that the citizens should be safe in their 
 persons and their goods. 
 
 Alcibiades, by this time, desirous to see his native country, and 
 still more desirous to be seen by his countrymen, afler so niany 
 glorious victories, set sail with the Athenian fleet, adorned with 
 many shields and other spoils of the enemy; ai great number of 
 ships that he had taken making up the rear, and the flags of many 
 more which he had destroyed, being carried in triurnph ; for all 
 of them together were not fewer than two hundi^ed. 
 
 When he was landed, the multitude that came out to meet him 
 did not vouchsafe so much as to look upon the other generals, but 
 crowding upon .him, hailed him with shouts of joy, conducted him 
 on the way, and such as could approach him, crowned him with 
 garlands, while those that could not come up so close, viewed him 
 at a distance, and the old men pointed him out to the young. Many 
 tears were mixed with the public joy, and the memory of past mis- 
 fortunes with the sense of their present success. For they con- 
 cluded that they should not have miscarried in Sicily, or indeed 
 have failed in any of their expectations, if they had left the direc- 
 tion of affairs, and the command of the forces, to Alcibiades ; since 
 now having exerted himself in behalf of Athens, when it bad al- 
 most lost its dominion of the sea, was hardly able to defend its own 
 'jiburbs, and was moreover harassed with intestine broils, he had 
 raised it from that low and ruinous condftion, so as not only to re- 
 store its maritime power, but to render it victorious every wheire 
 by land. 
 
 The people presently meeting in full assembly, Alcibiades came 
 in among them, and having in a pathetic manner bewailed his 
 misfortunes, he very modestly complained of their treatment, as- 
 cribing all to his hard fortune and the influence of some envious 
 demon. He then proceeded to discourse of the hopes and designs 
 
1^2 ALCIBIADES. 
 
 of their enomies, ogatost whom he used bis utmost endeavours to 
 animate them. And they were so much pleaded with his harangue, 
 that they crowned him with crowns of gold, and gave him the ab* 
 solute command of their forces, both by sea and land. They like* 
 wise made a decree that his estate should be restored to him, and 
 that the Eumolpidse and the heralds should take off the execrations 
 vrhich they had pronounced against him by' order of the people. 
 Whilst the rest were employed in expiations for this purpose, Theo- 
 doru9, the high priest, said, " For his part, he had never denounced 
 any curse against him, if he had done no injury to the common- 
 wealth." 
 
 Amidst this glory and prosperity of Alcibiadcs, some people were 
 still uneasy, looking upon the time of his arrival as ominous. For 
 on that very day was kept the jp/yn/ma,' or purifying of the god- 
 dess Minerva. It was the twenty-fifth of May, when the praxi. 
 ergidas perform those ceremonies which are not to be revealed, 
 disrobing the image, and covering it up. Hence it is that the 
 Athenians, of all days, reckon this the most unlucky, and take the 
 utmost care not to do business upon it ; and it seemed that the 
 goddess did not receive him graciously, but rather with aversion, 
 since she hid her face from him. Notwithstanding all this, every 
 thing succeeded according to his wish : three hundred gallies were 
 manned, and ready to put to sea again ; but a laudable zeal de- 
 tained him until the celebration of the mysteries.f For after the 
 Lacedicmonians had fortified Decelia, which commanded the roads 
 to Eleusis, the feast was not kept with its usual pomp, because 
 they were obliged to conduct the procession by sea ; the sacri- 
 fices, the sacred dances, and other ceremonies which had been 
 performed on the way, called holy, while the image of Bacchus 
 was carried in procession, being on that account necessarily omit- 
 ted. Alcibiades, therefore, judged it would be an act conducive 
 to the honour of the gods, and to his reputation with men, lo re« 
 store those rites to their due solemnity, by conducting the proces- 
 sion with his army, and guarding it against the enemy. By that 
 means, either king Agis would be humbled, if he suffered it to pass 
 unmolested, or if he attacked the convoy, Alcibiades would have a 
 fight to maintain in the cause of piety and religion, for the moet 
 venerable of its mysteries, in the sight of his country, and all his 
 fellow-citizens would be witnesses of his valour. 
 
 When he had dcterminod upon this, and communicated his de- 
 sign to the Eumolpida) and the heralds, he placed sentinels upon 
 
 * Oa that day, when the ttaiue of MinerTt wat wash«d, Um iMnplsa wt% •noon* 
 patted with a cord, to denoie that th«y w«r« ahut up, at wat cuMooMiry on all inaus* 
 pleioui dajrt. Tbey carried dried figt iti procettion, bMiiiat tfni ««t tiM f rtl/ruit 
 which wat eaten aAer acoma. 
 
 t The fcMival of Ceret and Pmaarpina continued dIm days. On tbo aixth day, 
 tbey Mrried in proce»k>n to Elsutit the atattw of ^chaa, whom they tupptMid to 
 ho the ton of Jupiter and Ceret. 
 
ALCiBlADES. I53 
 
 the eminences, and set out his advanced guard as soon as it was 
 light. Next he took the priests, the persons initiated, and those 
 who had the charge of initiating others, and covering them whh 
 his forces, led them on in great order and profound silence, ex- 
 hibiting in that march a spectacle so august and venerable, that 
 those who did not envy him declared he had performed not only 
 the office of a general, but of a high-priest : not a man of the ene- 
 my dared to attack hijn, and he conducted the procession back ia 
 great safety, which both exalted him in his own thoughts, and gave 
 the soldiery such an opinion of him, that they considered them- 
 selves as invincible while under his command ; and he gained 
 such an influence over the mean and indigent part of the people, 
 that they were passionately desirous to see him invested with ab- 
 solute power, insomuch that some of them applied to him in per- 
 son, and exhorted him, in order to quash the malignity of envy at 
 once, to abolish the privileges of the people, and the laws, and ta 
 quell those busy spirits who would otherwise be the ruin of the 
 state ; for then he might direct affairs and proceed to action, with- 
 out fear of groundless impeachments. 
 
 What opinion he himself had of this proposal we know not ; but 
 this is certain, that the principal citizens were so apprehensive of 
 his aiming at arbitrary power, that they got him to embark as soon 
 as possible, and the more to expedite the matter, they ordered, 
 among other things, that he should have the choice of his col- 
 leagues. Putting to sea, therefore, with a fleet of an hundred 
 ships, he sailed to the isle of Andres, where he fought and defeat- 
 ed the Andrians, and such of the Lacedaemonians as assisted them. 
 But yet he did not take the city, which gave his enemies the first 
 occasion for tiie charge which they afterwards brought against 
 him. Indeed, if ever man was ruined by a high distinction of 
 character, it was Alcibiades.* For his continual successes had 
 procured such an opinion of his courage and capacity, that when 
 afterwards he happened to fail in what he undertook, it was sus- 
 pected to be from want of inclination, and no one would believe it 
 was from want of ability ; they thought nothing too hard for him, 
 when he pleased to exert himself. They hoped also to hear that 
 Chios was taken, and all Ionia reduced, and grew impatient when 
 every thing was not despatched as suddenly as they desired. They 
 never considered the smallness of his supplies, and that having to 
 carry on a war against people who were furnished out of the trea- 
 sury of a great king, he was often laid under the necessity of 
 
 * It was not altogether the universality of his success that rendered Alcibiades 
 suspected, when he came short of public expectation. The duplicity of his charac- 
 ter is obvious, from the whole account of his life. He paid not the least regard to 
 veracity in political matters, and it is not to be wondered if such principles mado 
 \nm continually obnoxious to the suspicion of the people. 
 IT 
 
X54 ALClBIAOfiS. 
 
 leaving his camp, to go in search of money and provisionB for hiM 
 men. 
 
 This it was that gave rise to the last accusation againn him. 
 Lysander, the Lacedeemonian admiral, out of the money he re. 
 ceived from Cyrus, raised the wages of each mariner from three 
 oboU a day to four, whereas it was with difficulty that Alcibiades 
 paid his men three. The latter, therefore, went into Caria to raise 
 money, leaving the fleet in charge with Antiochus,^ who was an 
 experienced seaman, but rash and inconsiderate. Though he had 
 express orders from Alcibiades to let no provocation from the ene- 
 my bring him to hazard an engagement, yet in his contempt of 
 those orders, having taken some troops on board his own galley 
 and one more, he stood for Ephesus, where the enemy lay, and 
 OS he sailed by the heads of their ships, insulted them in the meet 
 insufferable manner, both by words and actions. Lysander sent 
 out a few ships to pursue him ; but as the whole Athenian fleet 
 came up to assist Antiochus, he drew out the rest of his, and gave 
 battle, and gained a complete victory. He slew Antiochus him. 
 self, took many ships and men, and erected a trophy. Upon this 
 news, Alcibiades returned to Samos, whence he moved with the 
 whole fleet to offer Lysander battle. But Lysander, content with the 
 advantage he had gained, did not think proper to accept it. 
 
 Among the enemies whom Alcibiades had in the army, Thra- 
 sybulus, the eon of Thrason, being the most determined, quitted 
 the camp and went to Athens to impeach him. To incense the 
 people against him, he declared in full assembly, that Alcibiades 
 had been the ruin of their affairs, and the means of losing their 
 ships by bis insolent and imprudent behaviour in command, and by 
 leaving the direction of every thing to persons who had got into 
 credit with him through the great merit of drinking deep and 
 cracking seamen's jokes ; whilst he was securely traversing the 
 provinces to raise money, indulging his love of liquor, or abandon- 
 ing himself to his pleasures with the courtesans of Ionia and Ahy. 
 dos ; and this at a time when the enemy was stationed at a small 
 distance from his fleet. It was also objected to him, that he had 
 built a castle in Thrace near the city of Bisanthe, to be made us0 
 of as a retreat for himself, as if he either could not, or would not 
 live any longer in his own country. The Athenians giving ear to 
 these accusations, to shew their resentment and dislike to him, 
 appointed new commanders of their forces.* 
 
 Alcibiades was no sooner informed of it, than, consulting his 
 
 own safety, he entirely quitted the Athenian army ; and having 
 
 collected a band of strangers, he made war on his own account 
 
 against those Thracians who acknowledged no king. The booty 
 
 * Thii w» b« who caught the quail for him. 
 t They appointed ten general*.— Ximof A. lib. I. 
 
ALCIBIADES. I55 
 
 he made raised him great sums ; and at the same time lie de- 
 fended the Grecian frontier against the barbarians. 
 
 Tydeus, Menander, and Adimantus, the new-made generals, 
 being now at iGgos Potamos,* with all the ships which the Athe- 
 nians had left, used to stand out early every morning and offer bat- 
 tle to Lysander, whose station was at Lampsacus, and then to re- 
 turn and pass the day in a disorderly and careless manner, as if 
 they despised their adversary. This seemed to Alcibiades, who 
 was in the neighbourhood, a matte^- not to be passed over without 
 notice. He therefore went and told the generals,! "He thought 
 their station by no means safe in a place where there was neither 
 town nor harbour ; that it was very inconvenient to have their pro- 
 visions and stores from so distant a place as Sestos ; and extremely 
 dangerous to let their seamen go ashore, and wander about at 
 their pleasure ; whilst a fleet was observing them, which was un- 
 der the orders of one man, and the strictest discipline. He there- 
 fore advised them to remove their statioii to Sestos." 
 
 The generals, however, gave no attention to what he said ; and 
 Tydeus was so insolent as even to bid him begqpe, for that they, 
 not he, were now to give orders. Alcibiades, suspecting that there 
 was some treachery in the case, retired, telling his acquaintance 
 who conducted him out of the camp, that if he had not been insult- 
 ed in such an insupportable manner by the generals, he would in 
 a few days have obliged the Lacedaemonians, however unwilling, 
 either to come to an action at sea, or else to quit their ships. This 
 to some appeared a vain boast ; to others it seemed not at all im- 
 probable, since he might have brought down a number of Thracian 
 archers and cavalry, to attack and harrass the Lacedaemonian 
 camp.j: 
 
 The event soon showed that he judged right of the errors which 
 the Athenians had committed. For Lysander falling upon them 
 when they least expected it, eight galleys only escaped,^ along 
 with Conon ; the rest, not much short of two hundred, were taken 
 and carried away, together with three thousand prisoners, who 
 were afterwards put to death ; and, within a short time after, Ly- 
 sander took Athens itself, burnt the shipping, and demolished the 
 long walls. 
 
 * Plutarch passes over almost three years ; namely, the twenty-fifth of the Pelopon- 
 nesian war; the twenty sixth, in which me Athenians obtained the victory at Argi- 
 nusae, and put six of the ten generals to death, upon a slight accusation of their col- 
 league, Theramenes ; and almost the whole twenty seventh, towards the end of which 
 the Athenians sailed to ^Egos Potamos, where they received the blow that is spoken 
 of m this place. 
 
 f The officers at the head of the Grecian armies and navy, we sometimes call gene- 
 rals, and sometimes admirals, because they commonly commanded both by sea and 
 land. 
 
 t "When a fleet remained some time at one particular station, there wasgenerally a 
 body of land-forces, and part of the mariners too. encamped upon the shore. 
 
 § There was a ninth ship, called Paralus, which escaped, and carried the ngwg of 
 their defeat to Athens. Conon himself retired to Cyprus. 
 
156 ALCIBIADIuS. 
 
 Alcibiadcs, alarmed at the success of the LaccdaBmonuui8» wlio 
 were now masters both at sea and land, retired into Bithynia. — 
 Thither he ordered much treasure to be sent, and took large sums 
 with him, but still left more behind m the castle where be resided. 
 In Bythynia he once more lost great part of his substance, being 
 stript by the Thracians there, whirh <i«t«rmificd iiinn to go to Ar- 
 tuxerxes, and entreat hie protection. He imagined that the king, 
 upon trial, would find him no less serviceable than Theraistocles 
 had been, and he had a better pretence to his patronage ; for be 
 was not going to solicit the king's aid against his countrymen, as 
 Theraistocles had done, but for his country against its worst ene- 
 mies. He concluded that Pharnabazus was most likely to procure 
 him a safe conduct, and therefore went to him in Phrygia, where 
 be stayed some time, making his court, and receiving marks of 
 respect. 
 
 It was a grief to the Athenians to be deprived of their power 
 and dominion, but when Lysander robbed them also of their liber- 
 ty, and put their city under the authority of thirty chiefs, they were 
 still more miserably afflicted. Now their atfairs were ruined, they 
 perceived with regret the measures that would have saved them, 
 and which they had neglected to make use of; now they acknow- 
 ledged their blindness and errors, and looked upon their second 
 quarrel with Alcibiades as the greatest of those errors. They had 
 casi him off" without any offence of his ; their anger had been 
 grounded upon the ill conduct of his lieutenant in losing a few 
 ships, and their own conduct had been still worse in depriving the 
 coromonweaUh of the most excellent and valiant of its generals. 
 Yet amidst their present misery, there was one alight glimpse of 
 hope, that while Alcibiudes survived, Athens could not be utterly 
 undone. For he, who before was not content to lead an mactive, 
 though peaceable life, m exile, would not now, if his own affairs 
 were upon any tolerable footing, sit still and see the insolence of 
 the Lacedaemonians, and the madness of the thirty tyrants, without 
 'mdeavouring at some remedy. Nor was it at all unnatural for the 
 multitude to dream of such relief, since those thirty chiefs them, 
 selves were so solicitous to enquire ailer Alcibiades, and gave so 
 much attention to what he was doing and contriving. 
 
 At laAt, Critias represented to Lysander, that the Lacedaemoni- 
 ans could never securely enjoy the empire of Greece till the Athe. 
 ninn democracy were absolutely destroyed ; and fbough the Athe* 
 iiians seemed at present to bear an oligarchy with some patience, 
 yet Alcibiades, if he lived, would not suffer them long to submit to 
 such a government. Lysander, however, could not be prevailed 
 ut>on by these arguments, until he received private orders from the 
 tu9(pstn(to8 of Sparta,* to get Alcibiades despatched ; whether it 
 • Tb0 Seytaltk «rat teot to him. 
 
ALCJBIADES. 257 
 
 was that they dreaded his great capacity and enterprising spirit, 
 or whether it was done in complaisance to king Agis. Ly sunder 
 then sent to Pharnabazus to desire him to put this order in execu- 
 tion ; and he appointed his brother Magacus and his uncle S.ut»a. 
 mithres to manage the affair. 
 
 Alcibiades at that time resided in a small village in Phiygia, 
 having his mistress Timandra with him. Those that were sent to 
 assassinate him, not danng to enter his house, surrounded it and 
 set it on fire. As soon as he perceived it, he got together large 
 quantities of clothes, and hangings, and threw them upon the fire 
 to choke it; then having wrapt his robe about his left hand, and 
 taking his sword in his right, he sallied through the fire, and got 
 safe out before the stuff which he had thrown upon it could catch 
 the fiames. At sight of him the barbarians dispersed, not one of 
 them daring to wait for him, or to encounter him hand to hand ; 
 but, standing at a distance, they pierced him with their darts and 
 arrows. Thus fell Alcibiades. The barbarians retiring after he 
 was slain, Timandra wrapt the body in her own robes,* and buried 
 it as decently and honourably as her circumstances would allow. 
 
 Some writers, though they agree as to the manner of Alcibiades's 
 death, yet they differ about the cause. They tell us, that catastrophe 
 is not to be imputed to Pharnabazus, or Lysander, or the Lace- 
 dajmonians; but that Alcibiades having corrupted a young wo- 
 man of a noble family in that country, and keeping her in his house, 
 her brothers, incensed at the injury, set fire in the night to the 
 house in which he lived, and upon his breaking through the flames, 
 killed him in the manner we have related.f 
 
 * She bulled him in a town called Meiissa ; and we learn from Athenaeus (inDeip' 
 tiosoph,) thaP'the monument remaii>ed to his time; for he himself saw it. The em- 
 peror Adrian, in memory of so great a man, caused his statue of Persian marble to 
 be set up thereon, and ordered a bull to be sacrificed to him annually. 
 
 f Epborus the historian, as he is cited by Diodorus Siculus (lib. xiv.) gives an ac- 
 count of his death, quite different from those recited by Plutarch. He says, that Al- 
 cibiades having discovered the design of Cyrus the younger to take up arms, informed 
 Pharnabazus of it, and desired that he might carry the news to the king : but Phar- 
 nabazus envying him that honour, sent a confidant of his own, and took all the merit 
 upon himself. Alcibiades, suspecting the matter, went to Paphlagonia, and sought to 
 procure from the governor letters of credence to the king, which Pharnabazus under- 
 standing, hired people to murder him. He was slain in the fortieth year of his age^ 
 
 14 
 
16B 
 
 TIMOLEpN. 
 
 Flourished 343 years before Christ. 
 
 THE parentage of Timoleon was noble on both sides, his ftthnr 
 Timodemus and his mother Demariste being of the best families 
 in Corinth. His love of his country was remarkable, and so was 
 the mildness of his disposition, though he bore an extreme hatred 
 to tyrants and wicked men. His natural abilities for war were so 
 happily tempered, that as an extraordinary prudence was seen in 
 the enterprises of his younger years, so an undaunted courage dis. 
 tinguished his declining age. He had an elder brother, named Ti- 
 mophanes, who resembled him in nothing ; being rash and indis. 
 creet, and utterly corrupted by the passion for sovereignty, infused 
 into him by some of his profligate acquaintance, and certain foreign 
 soldiers whom he had always about him. He appeared to be im- 
 petuous in war, and to court danger, which gave his countrymen 
 such an opinion of his courage and activity, that they frequently 
 entrusted him with the command of the army. And in these mat- 
 ters Timoleon much assisted him, by entirely concealing, or at 
 least extenuating his faults, and magnifying the good qualities 
 which nature haa given him. 
 
 In the battle between the Corinthians and the troops of Argos 
 and Cleone, Timoleon happened to serve among the infantry, when 
 Timophanes, who was at the head of the cavalry, was brought into 
 extreme danger ; for his horse being wounded, threw him amidst 
 the enemy. Hereupon, part of his companions were frightened, 
 and presently dispersed ; and the few that remained, having to 
 fight with numbers, with difficulty stood their ground. Timoleon, 
 seeing his brother in these circumstances, ran to his aMistancc, 
 and covered him as be lay, ivith his shield, and after having re. 
 ceived abundance of darts and many strokes of the sword upon his 
 body and his armour, by great < flbrts repulsed the enemy, and saved 
 him. 
 
 Some ttme after this the Corinthians, apprehensive that their cit}- 
 might be surprised through some treachery of their allies, resolved 
 to keep on foot four hundred mercenaries, and gave the command 
 of them to Timophanes. But he, having no regard to justice or 
 honour, soon entered into measures to subject the city to himself, 
 and, having put to death n number of the principal inhabitants 
 without form of trial, declared himself absolute pnnce of it. 'i^ 
 molcon, greatly concerned at this, and accounting the trcacheniup 
 proceedings of his brother his own misfortune, went to expostulate 
 with him, and endeavoured to persuade him to renounce this mad. 
 
TIMOLEON. 159 
 
 ness and unfortunate ambition, and to make his fellow-citizens 
 some amends for the crimes he had committed. But this admoni- 
 tion being rejected with disdain, he returned a few days after, ta- 
 king with him a kinsman named iEschylus, brother to the wife of 
 Timophanes, and a certain soothsayer, a friend of his, whom Theo- 
 pompus calls Satyrus, but Ephorus and Timseus mention by the 
 name of Orthagoras. These three standing round Timophanes, 
 earnestly entreated him yet to listen to reason ; but he at first 
 laughed at them, and afterwards gave way to a violent passion : 
 upon which, Timoleon stepped aside, and stood weeping, with his 
 face covered, while the other two drew their swords, and despatched 
 him in a moment.* 
 
 The matter being soon generally known, the principal and mogt 
 valuable part of the Corinthians extolled Timoleon's detestation of 
 wickedness, and the greatness of soul which, notwithstanding the 
 gentleness of his heart and his affection to his relations, led him 
 to prefer his country to his family, and justice and honour to in- 
 terest and advantage. While his brother fought valiantly for his 
 country, he had saved him ; and slain him when he had treache- 
 rously enslaved it. Those who knew not how to live in a demo- 
 cracy, and had been used to make their court to men in power, 
 pretended indeed to rejoice at the tyrant's death ; but at the same 
 time reviling Timoleon, as guilty of an horrible and impious deed, 
 they created him great uneasiness. When he heard how heavily 
 his mother bore it, and that she uttered the most dreadful wishes 
 and imprecations against him, he went to excuse it, and to console 
 her : but she could not endure the thought of seeing him, and or 
 dered the doors to be shut against him. He then became entirely 
 a prey to sorrow, and attempted to put an end to his life by ab- 
 staining from all manner of food. In these unhappy circumstances 
 his friends did not abandon him. They even added force to their 
 entreaties, till they prevailed on him to live. He determined, how- 
 ever, to live in solitude ; and accordingly he withdrew from all 
 public affairs, and for some years did not so much as approach the 
 city, but wandered about the most gloomy parts of his grounds, and 
 gave himself up to melancholy. Thus the judgment, if it borrows 
 not from reason and philosophy sufficient strength and steadiness 
 for action, is easily unsettled and depraved by any casual com- 
 mendation or dispraise, and departs from its own purposes. For an 
 action should not only be just and laudable in itself, but the princi- 
 
 * Diodorus, in the circumstances of this fact, diflfers from Plutarch. He tells us, 
 that Timoleon having killed his brother in the market-place with his own hand, a 
 great tumult arose among the citizens. To appease this tumult, an assembly was con- 
 vened ; and in the height of their debates the Syracusan ambassadors arrived, de- 
 manding a general. Whereupon they unanimously agreed to send Timoleon ; but 
 first let him know, that if he discharged his duty there well, he should be considered 
 as one that had killed a tyrant; if not, as the murderer of his brother.— -Diodor, Si- 
 rut. I. xvi. c. W. 
 
100 
 
 pie from which it proceeds, firm and immoveable, io order that our 
 conduct may have the sanction of our own approbation. Otherwise, 
 upon the completion of any undertaking, we shall, through our own 
 weakness, be filled with sorrow and remorse, and the splendid ideas 
 of honour and virtue that led us to perform it, will vanish ; just as 
 the glutton is soon cloyed and disgusted with the luscious viands 
 which he had devoured with too keen an appetite. Repentance tar. 
 nishcs the best actions ; whereas the purposes that are grounded 
 upon knowledge and reason never change, though they may hap- 
 pen to be disappointed of success. 
 
 As for Timoleon's extreme dejection in consequence of the late 
 act, whether it preceded from regret of his brother's fate, or the 
 reverence he bore his mother, it so shattered and impaired his spi. 
 rits, that for almost twenty years he was concerned in no important 
 or public afiair. He was at last drawn from his retirement on the 
 following occasion ; — 
 
 Dionysius having, after the murder of Dion, re-established him. 
 self in his dominions, became the master of those %vho had ex> 
 pelled him. All who remained in Syracuse, became slaves to a ty- 
 rant, who, at the best, was of an ungentle nature, and at that time 
 exasperated by his misfortunes to a degree of savage ferocity. But 
 the best and most considerable of the citizens having retired to 
 Icetes, prince of the Leontines, put themselves under his protec 
 tion, and chose him for their general. Not that he was better than 
 the most avowed tyrants ; but they h'ld no other resource ; and 
 they were willing to repose some confidence in him as being of a 
 Syracusan family, and having an army able to encounter that of 
 Dionysius. 
 
 In the meantime the Carthaginians appearing before Sicily with 
 a great fleet, and being likely to avail themselves of the disordered 
 state of the island, the Sicilians, struck with terror, determined to 
 send an embassy into Greece, to beg assistance of the Corinthians ; 
 not onlv on account of their kindred to that people,* and the many 
 services they had received from them on former occasions, but be- 
 cause they knew that Corinth was always a patroness of liberty, 
 and an enemy to tyrants, and that she had engaged in many con> 
 siderable wars, not from a motive of ambition or avarice, but to 
 maintain the freedom and independence of Greece. Hereupon 
 ICetes, whose intention in accepting the command was not so much 
 to deliver Syracuse from its tyrants, as to set up himself there in the 
 same capacity, treated privately with the Carthaginians, while in 
 public he commended the design of the Syracusans, and despatched 
 ambassadors along with theirs into Peloponoemis. Not that ho was 
 
 * Ttie Sjrracutani were • colony from Corinth, foundtd by Arcbias the Coriothiao, 
 in the teoond year of the eleventh Olvrnpiad, teven bundiM and thirty-three years 
 before th« CbriMJan era. Sicilv had been planted with Pbtanicians and oibar \m\^ 
 rous peopla, at tbe Grecian* called them, above th<ee InuuUcd yus$ tttftt^ 
 
TIMOLKt>I^^. iQi 
 
 desirous of succours from thence, but he hoped that if the Corin- 
 thians, on account of the troubles of Greece, and their engage- 
 ments at home, should, as it was likely enough, decline sending 
 any, he might the more easily incline the balance to the side of the 
 Carthaginians, and then make use of their alliance and their forces, 
 either against the %racusans, or their present tyrant. That such 
 were his views, a little time discovered. 
 
 When the ambassadors arrived, and their business was known, 
 the Corinthians, always accustomed to give particular attention to 
 the concerns of their colonies, and especially those of Syracuse^ 
 readily passed a vote that the succours should be granted. The 
 next thing to be considered was, who should be general ; when the 
 magistrates put in nomination such as had endeavoured to distin- 
 guish themselves in the state, but one of the plebeians stood up, and 
 proposed Timoleon, who as yet had no share in the business of 
 the commonwealth, and was so far from hoping or wishing for sucb 
 an appointment, that it seemed some god inspired him with the- 
 thought ; with, such indulgence did Fortune immediately promote 
 his election, and so much did her favour afterwards signalize hia 
 actions, and add lustre to his valour ! 
 
 When he was elected by the suffrages of the people, Teleclides^ 
 a man of the greatest power and reputation in Corinth, exhorted 
 him to behave well, and to exert a generous valour in the execu- 
 tion of his commission : " For," said he, " if your conduct be good, 
 we shall consider you as the destroyer of a tyrant ; if bad, as tht^ 
 murderer of your brother." 
 
 While Timoleon was assembling his forces, and preparing to set 
 sail, the Corinthians received letters from Icetes, which plainly 
 discovered his revolt and treachery. For his ambassadors were 
 no sooner set out for Corinth, than, he openly joined the Carthage- 
 nians, and acted in concert M'ith them, in order to expel Dionysius 
 from Syracuse, and usurp the tyranny himself. Fearing, moreo. 
 ver, lest he should lose his opportunity by the speedy arrival of the 
 army from Corinth, he wrote to the Corinthians to acquaint them, 
 '* that there was no occasion for them to put themselves to trouble 
 and expense, or to expose themselves to the dangers of a voyage 
 to Sicily ; particularly, as the Carthaginians would oppose them^ 
 and were watching for their ships with a numeious fleet ; and that 
 indeed, on account of the slowness of their motions, he had been 
 forced to engage those very Carthaginians to assist him agamst 
 the tyrant." 
 
 If any of the Corinthians before were cold and indifferent as to 
 the expedition, upon the reading of these letters they were one and 
 all so incensed against Icetes, that they readily supplied Timoleon 
 with whatever he wanted, and. united their endeavoups to expedite 
 ms sailing. 
 
 X 14* 
 
laS TIMOLCON. 
 
 Having obtained seven ships of Conntli^ two of Corcyra, and a 
 tenth fitted out by the Leucadians, he put to sea without delay. 
 The fleet ver>' soon made the coast of Italy. But the news brought 
 thitlier from Sicily much perplexed Timoleon, and disheartened 
 his forces. For Icetes having beaten Dionysius in a pitched bat- 
 tle/ and taken great part of Syracuse, had by a line of circumval. 
 lation, shut up the tyrant in the citadel and that part of the city 
 which is called the island^ and besieged him there. . At the same 
 time he ordered the Carthaginians to take care that Timoleon 
 should not land in Sicily ; hoping, when the Corinthians were dri- 
 yen off, without farther opposition, to share the island with his new 
 allies. The Carthaginians accordingly sent twenty galleys to Rhe- 
 gium, in which were ambassadors from Icetes to Timoleon, charged 
 with proposals, quite as captious as his proceedings themselves : 
 for they were nothing but specious and artful words, invented to 
 give a colour to his treacherous designs. They were to moke an 
 offer, " That Timoleon might, if he thought proper, go and assist 
 Icetes with his counsel, and share in his successes ; but that he 
 must send back his ships and troops to Corinth, since the war was 
 almost finished, and the Carthaginians were determined to prevent 
 their passage, and ready to repel force with force." 
 
 Timoleon, on this occasion, coming to an interview with the am. 
 hassadors and the Carthaginian commanders, mildly said, ** He 
 would submit to their proposal, for what could he gain by opposing 
 them ? but he was desirous that they would give them in publicly 
 before the people of Rhegium, ere he quitted that place, since it 
 was a Grecian city, and common friend to both parties. For that 
 this tended to his security, and they themselves would stand more 
 lirmly to their engagement, if they took that people Cor witnesses to 
 them." 
 
 This overture he made only to amuse them, intending all the 
 while to steal a passage, and the magistrates of Rhegium entered 
 lieartily into his scheme ; for they wished to see the affairs of Si- 
 rily in Corinthian hands, and dreaded the neighbourhood of the 
 Carthaginians. They summoned, therefore, an assembly , and shut 
 the gates, lest the citizens should go about any other business. 
 Being convened, they made long speeches, with no other view 
 than to gain time for the Corinthian galleys to |;et under sail ; and 
 the Carthaginians were easily detained in the assembly, having no 
 suspicion, because Timoleon was present, and it was expected every 
 moment that he would stand up and make his speech. But upon 
 secret notice that the other galleys had put to sea, and his alone 
 
 • Icetes riiidinf himcelf in want of provisions, wiibdnw from the *ie«e of Syracuse 
 lowaids tiis own country ; whereupon Dionysius marched out and attacked hit rear. 
 liat !cete« fHcinii atmut, defeated him, killed three Uiouiand of hb men, and purwtag 
 htm into the city, got posse»sion of part ot it. Our author otMervee, a liiUe t)aww,tbai 
 S>rraru«e iMing divided by strong walls, was at it wan an aieemblaite o( eHiaa. 
 
TIMOLEON. 163 
 
 was left behind, he slipped through the crowd, got down to the 
 shore, and hoisted sail* with all speed. 
 
 He soon arrived, with all his vessels, at Tauromenium in Sicily, 
 to which he had been invited some time before, and where he was 
 now kindly received, by Andromachus, lord of that city. This An- 
 dromachus was father to Timaeus the historian ; and being much 
 the best of all the Sicilian princes of his time, he both governed 
 his own people agreeably to the laws and principles of justice, arid 
 had ever avowed his aversion and enmity to tyrants. On this ac- 
 count he readily allowed Timoleon to make his city a place of 
 arms, and persuaded his people to co-operate with the Corinthians 
 with all their force, in restoring liberty to the whole island. 
 
 The Carthaginians at Rhegium, upon the breaking up of the as- 
 sembly, seeing that Timoleon was gone, were vexed to tind them- 
 selves outwitted ; and it afforded no small diversion to the Rhe- 
 gians, that Phoenicians should complain of any thing effecte^d by guile.-\ 
 They despatched, however, one of their galleys with an ambassa- 
 dor to Tauromenium, who represented the affair at large to An- 
 dromachus, insisting with much insolence that he should imme- 
 diately turn the Corinthians out of his tov/n ; and at last showing 
 him his hand with the palm upwards, and then turning it down 
 again, told him, if he did not comply with that condition, the Car- 
 thaginians would overturn his city, just as he liad turned his hand. 
 Andromachus only smiled, and, without making him any other an- 
 swer, stretched out his hand, first with one side up, and then the 
 other, and bade him begone directly, if fie did not choose to have his 
 ship turned upside down in the same manner, 
 
 Icetes, hearing that Timoleon had made good his passage, was 
 much alarmed, and sent for a great number of Carthaginian gal- 
 leys. The Syracusans then began to despair of a deliverance ; 
 for they saw the Carthaginians masters of their harbour,:|: Icetes 
 possessed of the city, and the citadel in the hands of Dionysius, 
 while Timoleon held only by a small border of the skirts of Sicily, 
 the little town of Tauromenium, with a feeble hope and an incon- 
 siderable force, having no more than a thousand men, and provi- 
 sions barely sufficient for them. Nor had the Sicilian states any 
 confidence in him, plunged as they were in misfortunes, and exas- 
 perated against all that pretended to lead armies to their succour, 
 particularly on account of the perfidy of Callippus and Pharax. 
 The one was an Athenian^ and the other a Lacedaemonian, and 
 both came with professions to do great things for the liberty of Si- 
 
 * The Carthaginians believed that the departure of those nine galleys for CorintJ) 
 had been agreed on between the officers of both parties, and that the tenth was left 
 beliiind to carry Timoleon to Icetes. 
 
 f Fraus Punica, PhoenicianyVaurf, had passed into a proverb. 
 
 i The Carthaginians bad a hundred and fifty men of war, fifty thousand foot, and 
 three hundred chariots. 
 
|e4 TIMOLEQflf. 
 
 cfly, and for demolishing the tyrants ; yet the Sfcilians soon found 
 that the reign of former oppressors was comparatively a golden 
 age, and reckoned those far more happy who died in servitude than 
 such as lived to see so dismal a kind of freedom. Expecting, there* 
 fore, that this Corinthian deliverer would be no better than those 
 before him, and that ihe deceitful hand of art would reach out to 
 them the same bait of good hopes and fair promises, to draw them 
 into subjection to a new master, they aM, except the people of Adra- 
 num, suspected the designs of the <Jorinthiaii8, and dechned their 
 proposals. Adranum was a small city, consecrated to the god Adra- 
 nusy* who was held in high veneration throughout all Sicily. Its 
 inhabitants were at variance with each other; some calling in icetefl 
 and the Carthaginians, and others applying to Timoleon. Both ge- 
 nerals, striving who should get there first, as fortune would have it, 
 arrived about the same time. But Icetes had five thousand men 
 with him, and Timoleon twelve hundred at the most, whom be 
 drew out of Tauromeniuni, which was forty -two miles and an half 
 from Adranum. The first day he made but a short march, and 
 pitched his tents in good time. The next d6y he marched forward 
 nt a great pace, though the road was very rtigged, and lowards eve- 
 ning was informed that Icetes had just reached the town, and was 
 encamped before it. At the same time his officers made the fore- 
 most division halt, to take sonie refreshment, that they might be 
 more vigorous in the ensuing engagement. This, however, was 
 ogainst the opinion of Timoleon, who entreated them to march for- 
 ward as fast as possible, and to attack the enemy before they were 
 put in order ; it being probable, now they were just come off their 
 march, that they were employed in pitching their tents and pre- 
 paring their sapper. He had no sooner given this order, than he 
 took his buckler and put himself at the head of them, as Icadmg 
 them on to undoubted victor)'. 
 
 His men, thus encouraged, followed him very cheerfully. As 
 soon as they came up, they fell upon the enemy, who were in great 
 confusion, and ready to fiy at their first approach. For this rea- 
 son not many more than three hundred were killed, but twice 
 OS many were made prisoners, and the camp was taken. Upon 
 this the people of Adranum opened their gates to Timoleon, and 
 several other cities, by their ambassadors, immediately entered 
 into an alliance with him. Mamercus, sovereign of Catana, a 
 warlike and wealthy prince, joined the confederacy. Dionysius 
 himself, having bid adieu to hope, and unable to hold out much 
 longer, despising Icetes, who was so shamefully beaten, and ad. 
 fniring th« bravery of Timoleon, offered to dehver up to him and 
 the Corinthians both himself and the citadel. 
 
 • Thii <1eity. by hit insignia, nfkerirardc mmtiOQtd, shouM fMm to bo Man. Hit 
 t»mpla wat guarded by a hundred do(i. 
 
TIMOLEON. 
 
 165 
 
 Timoleon accepted of this good fortune so superior to his hopes, 
 and sent Euclides and Teleraachus, two Corinthian officers into the 
 citadel, as he did four hundred men besides, not all together, nor 
 openly, for that was impossible, because the enemy were upon 
 their guard, but by stealth, and a few at a time. This corps took 
 possession of the citadel and the tyrant's moveables, with all that 
 he had provided for carrying on the war, namely, a good number 
 of horses, all manner of engines, and a vast quantity of darts ; they 
 found also arms for seventy thousand men, which had been laid up 
 of old, and two thousand soldiers with Dionysius, whom he deli- 
 vered up along with the stores to Timoleon. But the tyrant re . 
 served his money to himself, and having got on board a ship, he 
 sailed with a few of his friends, without being perceived by Icetes, 
 and reached the camp of Timoleon. 
 
 Then it was that he first appeared in the humble figure of a pri- 
 vate man,* and as such, he was sent with one ship, and a very mo- 
 derate sum of money to Corinth — he who was born in a splendid 
 court, and educated as heir to an absolute monarchy. He held it 
 for ten years ;| and for twelve more, from the time that Dion took 
 up arms against him, he was exercised continually in wars and 
 troubles, insomuch that the mischiefs caused by his tyranny were 
 abundantly recompensed upon his own head in what he suffered. 
 
 When Dionysius arrived at Corinth, there was hardly a man in 
 Greece who was not desirous to see him and discourse with him. 
 Some hating the man, and rejoicing at his misfortunes, came for 
 the plccisure of insulting him in his present distress ; others, whose 
 sentiments with respect to him were somewhat changed, and who 
 were touched with compassion for his fate, plainly saw the influ- 
 ence of an invisible and divine power displayed in the affairs of fee- 
 ble mortals. For neither nature nor art produced m those times 
 any thing so remarkable as that work of fortune,:): which showed 
 the man who was lately sovereign of Sicily, now holding conver- 
 sation in a butcher's shop at Corinth ; or sitting whole days in a 
 perfumer's ; or drinking the diluted wine of taverns ; or squabbling 
 in the streets with lewd women ; or directing female musicians in 
 their singing, and disputing with them seriously about the harmony 
 of certain airs that were sung in the theatre, § 
 
 Nevertheless, some sayings of his are recorded, by which k 
 
 * Dionysius was born to absolute power, whereas most other tyrants, Dionysius the 
 elder, for instance, had raised themselves to it, and some from a mean condition. 
 
 t For he began his reign in the first year of the hundred and third Olympiad, three 
 hundred and sixty six years before the Christian era. Dion took arms against him in 
 the fourth year of the hundred and fifth Olympiad; and he delivered up the citadel 
 to Timoleon, and was sent to Corinth, in the first year of the hundred and ninth. 
 
 I Plutarch adds, nor art, to give us to understand that the tragic poets had not re- 
 presented so signal a catastrophe in fable. 
 
 § Some writers tell us that the extreme poverty to which he was reduced, obliged 
 hirn to open a school at Corinth, where he exercised that tyranny over children which 
 he could no longer practise over men.— Ctc. Ttisc. Quest. \. iii. 
 
166 TIMOIJlON., 
 
 should seem that he did not bear his present fnisibrtunet in ao ab« 
 ject manner. When he arrived at Leucas, which was a Corinthian 
 colony as \^ell as Syracuse, he said, ** He found himself in aaitua* 
 tion Uke that of young men who h^d been guihy of some misde- 
 meanor. For as (hey converse cheerfully, notwithstanding, with 
 their brothers, but are abashed at the thought of coming before 
 their fathers, so he was ashamed of going to live in the mother city, 
 and could pass his days much more to his 6ati;)factiou with them.'' 
 Another time, when a certain stranger derided him, at Corinth, in 
 a very rude and scornful manner, for having, in the meridian of 
 his power, taken pleasure in the discourse of philosophers, and at 
 last asked him, " What he had got by the wisdom of Plato ?"— " Do 
 you think," said he, "that we have reaped no advantage from 
 Plato, when we bear in this manner such a change of fortune ?" 
 Aristozenus the musician, and some others, have inquired, ** What 
 was the ground of his displeasure against Plato ?" He answered, 
 " That absolute power abounded with evils : but had this great 
 infelicity above all the rest, that among the number of those who 
 call themselves the friends of an arbitrary prince, there is not one 
 who will speak his mind to him freely ; and that by such false 
 friends he had been deprived of the friendship of Plato." 
 
 Some one who had a mind to be arch, and to make merry with 
 Dionysius, shook his robe when he entered his apartment, as is 
 usual when persons approach a tyrant ; and he, returning the jest, 
 bade him, " Do the same when he went out, that he might not 
 carry off some of the moveables." 
 
 One day, over their cups, Philip of Macedon, with a kind of 
 sneer, introduced some discourse about the odes'" and tragedies 
 which Dionysius the elder leA behind him, and pretended to doubt 
 how he could find leisure for such works. Dionysius answered 
 smartly enough, " They were written in the time which you and I, 
 and other happy fellows, spend over the bowl." 
 
 If the ill fortune of Dionysius appeared surprising, the success 
 of Timoleon was no less wonderful. For within fifty days af\er 
 his landing in Sicily, he became master of the citadel of Syracuse, 
 and sent off Dionysius into Peloponnesus. The Corinthians, en- 
 
 * Dionytiui tlie elder valued himwlf upoA hin poetrv. trat hat been censured m the 
 trorst poet in the world. I'iloxenus who was himself no excellent povt, attempted to 
 underrive him in the favourable opinion he haf' of his own abilities Imji was sent to 
 the qiiames for the lihertv he tool However, the next day h« was tartorad to favour, 
 and Dionyniuft repeated to him some verses he had taken axu»ordinary pataia with, 
 rzpectini; his approbation : hut the port, msiead of (giving it. lookad round lo the 
 Riiards, and said to them very humnurouily,— ** Take me bmek to Uie qiiarrias.** Not- 
 withitanding ihia. Dionysius disputed the prize of poetry at the Olympic |[an>e» ; but 
 there he was hissed, and the rich pavilion he had sent torn io pieces. He had battar 
 succaaa, however, at Athens: for he gained the prixe of poairy at the cetabratad faaat 
 of Barchu« On this ocrat^ion he was in such rauturet that be drank to axoaaa, tod 
 
 such raptures that 
 
 the debauch threw him iiiiu violent paina, to allay which, ha asked for   loporathra; 
 and hit pbytteians gave bim one that laid him asleep, otit of which be never awaked 
 
TIMOLEON. 167 
 
 couraged with these advantages, sent him a reinforcement of two 
 thousand foot and two hundred horse. These got on their way as 
 far as Thurium ; but finding it impracticable to gain a passage from 
 thence, because the sea was beset with a. numerous fleet of Car- 
 thaginians, they were forced to stop there, and watch their oppor- 
 tunity. However, they employed their time in a very noble under- 
 taking. For the Thurians, marching out of th^ir city to war against 
 the Brutians, left it in charge with these Corinthian strangers, who 
 defended it with as much honour and integrity as if it had been 
 their own. 
 
 Meantime, Icetes carried on the siege of the citadel with great 
 vigour, and blocked it up so close, that no provisions could be got 
 in for the Corinthian garrison. He^ provided also two strangers to 
 assassinate Timoleon, and sent them privately to Adranum. That 
 general, who never kept any regular guards about him, lived then 
 with the Adranites, )vithout any sort of precaution or suspicion. 
 The assassins being informed that he was going to offer sacrifice, 
 went into the temple with their poniards under their clothes, and 
 mixing with those that stood round the altar, got nearer to him by 
 little and little. They were just going to give each other the sig- 
 nal to begin, when somebody struck one of them on the head with 
 his sword, and laid him at his feet. Neither he that struck the 
 blow kept his station, nor the companion of the dead man ; the for- 
 mer with his sword in hand fled to the top of a high rock, and the 
 latter laid hold of the altar, entreating Timoleon to spare his life. 
 on condition that he discovered the whole matter. Accordingly, 
 pardon was promised him, and he confessed that he and the per- 
 son who lay dead were sent on purpose to kill him. 
 
 Whilst he was making this confession, the other man was brought 
 down from the rock, and loudly protested, that he was guilty of no 
 injustice, for he only took righteous vengeance on the wretch who 
 had murdered his father in the city of Leontium.* And for tho 
 truth of this, he appealed to several that were there present, who 
 all attested the same, and could not but admire the wonderful ma 
 nagement of fortune, which, moving one thing by another^ bring- 
 ing together the most distant incidents, and combining those that 
 have no manner of relation, but rather the greatest dissimilarity., 
 makes such use of them, that the close of one process is always 
 the beginning of another. This happy escape had effects beyond 
 the present, for it inspired the Corinthians with high expectations 
 of Timoleon, when they saw the Sicilians now reverence and guard 
 him, as a man whos^ person was sacred, and whc was come as 
 minister of the gods, to avenge and deliver them. 
 
 When Icetes had failed in this attempt, and saw many of the Si- 
 cilians going over to Timoleon, he blamed himself for making use 
 
 * History can hardly afford a stronger instance of an interfering Providence. 
 
1^ TIMOLEOn. 
 
 of the Carthaginians -in small numbers only, and availioff hiniBelf 
 oftheir ai»istance as it were by stealth, and as if he were aahained of 
 It, when they had such immense forces at hand. He sent, there, 
 fore, for Mago their commander in chief, and his whole fleet, who, 
 with terrible pomp, took possession of the harbour with a hundred 
 and fifty ships, and landed an army of sixty thousand men, which 
 encamped in the eily of Syracuse. I'he Corinthians, who still 
 held the citadel, found themselves in very dangerous and difficult 
 circumstances : for besides that they were in want of provisions, 
 they were employed in sharp and continual disputes about the walls, 
 which were attacked with all manner of machines and batteries, 
 and for the defence of which they were obliged to divide them- 
 selves. Timoleon, however, found' means to relieve them, by send, 
 ing a supply of corn from Catana in small fishing boats and littlo 
 skifis, which watched the opportunity to mak6 their way through 
 the enemy's fleet when it happened to be separated by a storm. 
 Mago and Icetes no sooner saw this, than they resolved to make 
 themselves masters of Catana, from which provisions were sent to 
 the besieged ; and taking with them the best of their troops, they 
 sailed from Syracuse. Leo, the Corinthian, who commanded in 
 the citadel, having observed from the top of it, that those of the 
 enemy who stayed behind abated their vigilance, and kept but an 
 indifl'erent guard, suddenly fell upon them as if they were dispersed 
 and killing some, and putting the rest to flight, gained the quarter 
 called Ackradina, which was much the strongest ; for Syracuse is 
 an assemblage, as it were, of towns.* Finding plenty of provisions 
 and money there, he did not give up the acquisition, nor return into 
 the citadel, but stood upon his defence in the AchrcuHnOy having for. 
 tifled it quite round, and joined it by new works to the citadel. 
 Mago and Icetes were now near Catana, when a horseman, des. 
 patched from Syracuse, brought them tidings that the Achradina 
 'A'as taken ; which struck them with so much surprise, that they re- 
 turned in great hurry, having neither taken the place which they 
 went against, nor kept that which they had before. 
 
 Perhaps prudence and valour have as much right as fortune to 
 lay claim to these successes ; but the event that next ensued is 
 wholly to be ascribed to the favour of fortune. The corps of Co- 
 rinthians that were at Thuriuni, dreading the Carthaginian fleet, 
 which, under the command of Ilanno, observed their motions, and 
 fujding, at the same time, that the sea for many days was stormy 
 ruid tempestuous, determined to march through the country of the 
 lii'utians ; and partly by persuasion, partly by foree, they made 
 
 * There were four: the Isle, or the citadel, which wm t>etwMO tb* two pods: 
 Aehrtuima^ at a little Histatice fioin the citadel ; 7yA«, ao called from the temple of 
 Fartune; and JYeayoliSy ox the uew city. To these MMMenineat aiitbort (and r!u> 
 fiifrh i« nf the number^ add a fifth, whirh thev call J^jpotr. 
 
TCMOLKON. Tgc) 
 
 good their passage through the territories of the barbarians, and 
 came down to Rhegium, the sea still continuing rough as before. 
 
 The Carthaginian admiral, not expecting the Corinthians would 
 venture out, thought it was in vain to sit still : and having persuaded 
 himself that he had invented one of the finest stratagems in the 
 world, ordered the mariners to crown themselves with garlands, 
 and to dress up the galleys with Grecian and Phoenician bucklers, 
 and thus equipped, he set sail to Syracuse. When he came near 
 the citadel, he hailed it with loud huzzas, and expressions of tri~ 
 umph, declaring that he was just come fron? beating the Cormthian 
 succours, whom he had met with at sea, as they were endeavounng 
 at a passage. By this means he hoped to strike terror into the 
 besieged. While he was acting this part, the Corinthians got down 
 to Rhegium, and as the coast was clear, and the wind falling as it 
 were miraculously, promised smooth water and a safe voyage, they 
 immediately went on board such barks and fishing- boats as they 
 could find, and passed over into Sicily with so much safety, and in 
 such a dead calm, that they even drew the horses by the reins, 
 swimming by the side of the vessels. 
 
 When they had all landed, and had joined Timoleon, he soon 
 took Messana; and from thence he marched in good order to 
 Syracuse, depending more upon his good fortune than his forces, for 
 he had not above four thousand men with him. On the first news 
 of his approach, Mago was greatly perplexed and alarmed, and his 
 suspicions were increased on the following occasions : the marshes 
 about Syracuse,* which receive a great deal of fresh water from 
 the springs, and from the lakes and rivers that discharge them- 
 selves there into the sea, have such abundance of eels, that there 
 is always plenty for those who choose to fish for them. The com- 
 mon soldiers of both sides amused themselves promiscuously with 
 that sport, at their vacant hours, and upon any cessation of arms. 
 As they were all Greeks, and had no pretence for any private 
 animosity against each other, they fought boldly when they met in 
 battle, and in time of truce they mixed together, and conversed 
 familiarly. Busied at one of these times in their common diver- 
 sion of fishing, they fell into discourse, and expressed their 
 admiration of the convenience of the sea, and the situation of the 
 adjacent places. Whereupon one of the Corinthian soldiers thus 
 addressed those who served under Icetes : " And can you, who 
 are Greeks, readily consent to reduce this city, so spacious in 
 itself, and blest with so many advantages, into the power of the 
 barbarians, and to bring the Carthaginians, the most deceitful and 
 bloody of them all, into our neighbourhood, when you ought to 
 
 « There is one morass that is called Lysimelia, and another called Syraco. From 
 this last the city took its name. These morasses make the air of Syracuse very 
 unwholci^Pine. 
 
 X 15 
 
I7D IIMOLEUN. 
 
 vish that between them and Greece tliere were many Sicilies i Or 
 can you think that they have brought an armed force from the 
 pillars of Hercules and the Atlantic ocean, and braved the hazard 
 of war, purely to erect a principality for Icetes, who, if he had had 
 the prudence which becomes a general, would never have driven 
 oat his founders, to call into his country the worst of its enemies, 
 when he might have obtained of the Corinthians and Timoleon any 
 proper degree of honour and power ? 
 
 The soldiers that were in pay with Icetes, repeating their dia- 
 courses oilen in their camp, gave Mago, who had long wanted a 
 pretence to be gone, room to suspect that he was betrayed ; and 
 though Icetes entreated him to stay, and remonstrated upon their 
 great superiority to the enemy, yet he weighed anchor, uud sailed 
 back to Africa, shamefully and unaccountably suffering Sicily to 
 slip out of his hands. 
 
 Next day Timoleon drew up his army in order of battle before 
 the place ; but when he and his Corinthians were told thai Maso 
 ^as fled, and saw the harbour empty, they could not forbear laugh- 
 ing at his cowardice ; and by way of mockery, they caused pro- 
 clamation to be made about the city, promising a reward to any 
 one that could give information where the Carthaginian fleet was 
 gone to hide itself. Icetes, however, had still the spirit to stand a 
 iarther shock, and would not let go his hold, but vigourously de- 
 fended those quarters of the city which he occupied, and which 
 appeared almost impregnable. His soldiers, however, were over- 
 powered, and put to flight on every side. Now, that the city was 
 taken by assault, and suddenly reduced, upon the flight of the 
 enemy, we may justly impute to the bravery of the troops, and the 
 ability of their general ; but that not one Corinthian was either 
 killed or wounded, the fortune of Timoleon claims entirely to her- 
 self, willing, as she seems, to maintain a dispute with his valour, 
 and that those who read his story, may rather admire his happy 
 success, than the merit of his actions. 
 
 Timoleon, thus master of the citadel, did not proceed like Dioo, 
 or spare the place for its beauty and magnificence ; but guardiiiff 
 against the suspicions, which first slandered, and then destroy e3 
 that great man, he ordered the public crier to give notice, ** That 
 all the Syracusans who were wiUing to have a hand in the work, 
 should come with proper implements to destroy the bulwarks of 
 tyranny." Hereupon they came one and all, coosidenns that 
 proclamation and that day as the surest commencement of their 
 liberty ; and they not only demolished the citadel, but levelled with the 
 ground both the palaces and the monuments of the tyrants. Having 
 soon cleared the place, he built a common hall there for the seat 
 of judicature, at once to gratify the citizens, and to show that a 
 popular government should bo erected on the ruins of tvrannv. 
 
f 
 
 TIMOLEOiV. 17J 
 
 The city thus taken was found comparatively destitute of inhabi- 
 tants. Many had been slain in the wars and intestine broils, and 
 many more had fled from the rage of the tyrants. Nay, so little 
 frequented was the market-place of Syracuse, that it produced 
 grass enough for the horses to pasture upon, and for the grooms to 
 repose themselves by them. The other cities, except a very few, 
 were entire deserts full of deer and wild boars, and such as had 
 leisure for it, often hunted them in the suburbs and about the walls; 
 while none of those that had possessed themselves of castles and 
 strong holds, could be persuaded to quit them, or come down into 
 the city, for they looked with hatred and horror upon the tribunals 
 and other seats of government, as so many nurseries of tyrants. 
 Timoleon and the Syracusans, therefore, wrote to the Corinthians, 
 to send them a good number from Greece, to people Syracuse, 
 because the land must otherwise lie uncultivated, and because they 
 expected a more formidable war from Africa, being informed that 
 Mago had killed himself, and that the Carthaginians, provoked at 
 his bad conduct in the expedition had crucified his body, and were 
 collecting great forces for the invasion of Sicily the ensuing 
 summer. 
 
 These letters of Timoleon 's being delivered, the Syracusan 
 ambassadors attended at the same time, and begged of the Corin- 
 thians to take their city into their protection, and to become 
 founders of it anew. They did not, however, hastily seize that 
 advantage, or appproriate the city to themselves, but first sent to 
 the sacred games, and the other great assemblies of Greece, and 
 caused proclamation to be made by their herald : " That the Corin- 
 thians having abolished arbitrary power in Syracuse, and expelled 
 the tyrant, invited all Syracusans and other Sicilians to people that 
 city, where they should enjoy their liberties and privileges, and 
 have the lands divided by equal lots among them." Then they sent 
 envoys into Asia and the islands, where they were told the greatest 
 part of the exiles were dispersed, to exhort them all to come to 
 Corinth, where they should be provided with vessels, commanders, 
 and a convoy at the expense of the Corinthians, to conduct them 
 safe to Syracuse. Their intentions thus published, the Corinthians 
 enjoyed the justest praise, and the most distinguished glory, having 
 delivered a Grecian city from tyrants, saved it from the barbarians, 
 and restored the citizens to their country. But the persons who 
 met on this occasion at Corinth, not being a sufficient number, 
 desired that they might take others along with them from Corinth, 
 and the rest of Greece, as new colonists, by which means, having 
 made up their number full ten thousand, they sailed to Syracuse. 
 By this time great multitudes from Italy and Sicily had flocked in 
 to Timoleon, who finding their number amount to sixty thousand, 
 freely divided the lands among there, but sold the houses for a 
 
ns 
 
 TIMOLEON 
 
 thousand talenls. By this contrivance he both lefl it in the power 
 of the ancient inhabitants to redeem their own, and took occasion 
 also to raise a stock for the community, who had been so poor, and 
 9o little able to furnish the supplies for the war, that they had sold 
 the very statues, after having formed a judicial process a^inat 
 each, and passed sentence upon them, as if they had been so many 
 criminals. On this occasion wo are told, they spared one statue, 
 when all the rest were condemned, namely, that of Golon, one of 
 their ancient kings, in honour of the man, and for the sake of tho 
 victory* which he gained over the Carthaginians at Himera. 
 
 Syracuse being thus revived, and replenished with such a number 
 of inhabitants who Hocked to it from all quarters, Tiinuleon wa.^* 
 desirous to bestow the blessing of liberty on the other cities also, 
 and to extirpare arbitrary government out of Sicily. For this pur. 
 pose, marching into the territories of the petty tyrants, he com. 
 pelled Icetes to quit the interests of Carthage, to agree to demohsh 
 his castles, and to live among the Leontines as a private person. 
 Leptines also, prince of Apolionia and several other little towns, 
 finding himself in danger of being taken, surrendeied, and had bis 
 life granted him, but was sent to Corinth ; for Timoleon looked 
 upon it as a glorious thing, that the tyrants of Sicily should be 
 forced to live as exiles in the city which had colonized that island, 
 and should be seen by the Greeks in such an abject condition. 
 
 After this he returned to Syracuse to settle the civil government, 
 and to establish the most important and necessary law8,f along 
 with Cephalus and Dinarchus, lawgivers sent from Corinth. In 
 the meanwhile, willing that the mercenaries should reap some 
 advantage from tho enemies* country, and be kept from inaction, 
 he sent Dinarchus and Demaretus into the Carthaginian province. 
 Theso drew several cities from the puoic interest, and not only 
 lived in abundance themselves, but also raised money, from the 
 plunder, for carrying on the war. While these matters were 
 transacting, the Carthaginians arrived at Lilyba^um, with seventy 
 thousand land forces, two hundred galleys, and a thousand other 
 vessels, which carried machines of^ war, chariots, vast quantities 
 of provisions, and all other stores, as if they were now determined 
 not to carry on the war by piecemeal, but to drive tho Greeks 
 entirely out of Sicily. When the Carthagioiana, therefore, found 
 
 * He defeated Hamilcar. who landed in Sicily with three hundred 
 in the teeond year of the teventr fifth Olympiad. 
 
 f Among other wife inttituiiont. ht appointed h chief magiBUrate tobeoboeto jearijr, 
 whom thp Svracuttoe celled the Amplupolus of Jupiter Otjapia; tbue |tviB| bin a 
 kind of nacrr d character. The artt ^wtphtpolus was CommeMt. Heace aroee iIm 
 custom ainonfc the Syracusani to compute their yrart by the raapective fovenuMnig 
 of theae mafietratet : which cuftom continued in the time of DhMlonM Sieukia, tbat ia^ 
 In Um reign of A ucuitui, above thrf« hundred years after tbt oAcs of Awtfhipohu YfW 
 #rii imroduced.-OWwIor. .^icti/ I xv r i:. 
 
TIMOLEON. J73 
 
 that their Sicilian territories were laid waste, they marched, under 
 the command of Asdrubal and Hamilcar, in great fury against the 
 Corinthians. 
 
 Information of this being brought directly to Syracuse, the in- 
 habitants were struck with such terror by that prodigious armament, 
 that scarce three thousand, out of ten times that number, took up 
 arms and ventured to follow Timoleon. The mercenaries were 
 in number four thousand, and of them about a thousand gave way 
 to their fears, when upon their march, and turned back, crying out, 
 *' That Timoleon must be mad, or in his dotage, to go against an 
 army of seventy thousand men, v/ith only five thousand foot and a 
 thousand horse, and to draw his handful of men, too, eight days' 
 march from Syracuse ; by which means there could be no refuge 
 for those that fled, nor burial for those that fell in hattle." 
 
 Timoleon considered it as an advantage, that these cowards 
 discovered themselves before the engagement; and having en- 
 couraged the rest, he led them hastily to the banks o'f the Crimesus, 
 where the Carthaginians were drawn together. 
 
 The summer was now begun, and the end of the monih Thar- 
 gelion brought on the solstice ; the river then sending up a thick 
 mist, the field was covered with it at first, so that nothing in the 
 enemies' camp was discernible, only an articulate and confused 
 noise which reached the summit of the hill, showed that a great 
 army lay at some distance. But when the Corinthians had reached 
 the top, and lay down their shields to take breath, the sun had 
 raised the vapours higher, so that the fog being collected upon the 
 summits, covered them only, while the places below were all visible. 
 The river Crimesus appeared clearly, and the enemy were seen 
 crossing it, first with chariots drawn by four horses, and formidably 
 provided for the combat, behind which there marched ten thousand 
 men with white bucklers. These they conjectured to be Cartha- 
 ginians by the brightness of their armour, and the slowness and 
 good order in which they moved. They were followed by the 
 troops of other nations, who advanced in a confused and tumul- 
 tuous manner. 
 
 Timoleon, observing that the river put it in his power to engage 
 with what number of the enemy he pleased, bade his men take 
 notice how the main body was divided by the stream, part having 
 already got over, and part preparing to pass it, and ordered Dema- 
 retus with the cavalry to attack the Carthaginians and put them in 
 confusion, before they had time to arrange themselves in order of 
 battle. Then he himself descended into the plain with the infantry, 
 forming the wing out of other Sicilians, intermingling a ^qw stran- 
 gers with them ; but the natives of Syracuse and the most warlike 
 of the mercenaries he had placed about himself in the centre, and 
 stopped a while to see the success of the horse. While he saw 
 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 that they could not como up to a grapple with the CarthagiDians, 
 by reason of the chariots that ran to and fro before their army, 
 and that they were obliged oAen to wheel about, to avoid the dan- 
 ger of having their ranks broken, and then to rally again and return 
 to the charge, sometimes here and sometimes there, he took his 
 buckler, and called to the foot to follow him, and be of good cour. 
 ^e, with an accent that seemed more than human, so much was 
 it above his usual pitch. His troops answering with a loud shout, 
 and pressing him to lead them on without delay, he sent orders to 
 the cavalry to get beyond the line of chariots, and to take the 
 enemy in flank, while himself thickening his first ranks, so as to 
 join buckler to buckler, and causing the trumpet to sound, bore 
 down upon the Carthaginians. They sustained the first shock 
 with great spirit : for being fortified with breast-plates of iron and 
 helmets of brass, and covenng themselves with large shields, they 
 could easily repel the spears and javelins. But when the business 
 came to a decision by the sword, where art is no less requisite than 
 strength, all on a sudden there broke out dreadful thunders from 
 the mountains, mingled with long trails of lightning ; afier which, 
 the black clouds, descending from the tops of the liills, fell upon 
 the two armies in a storm of wind, rain and hail. The tempest 
 was on the backs of the Greeks, but beat upon the faces of the 
 barbarians, and almost blinded them with the stormy showers and 
 the fire continually streaming from the clouds. 
 
 These things very much distressed the barbarians, particularly 
 such of them as were not veterans. The greatest inconvenience 
 «cems to have been the roaring of the thunder, and the clattering 
 of the rain and hail upon their arms, which hindered them from 
 hearing the orders of their oflicers. Besides, the Carthaginians 
 not being light, but heavy armed, as I said, the dirt was trouble, 
 some to them ; and, as the bosoms of their tunics were filled with 
 water, they were very unwieldy in the combat, so that the Greeks 
 could overturn them with ease, and when they were down, it was 
 impossible for them, encumbered as they were with arms, to get up 
 out of the mire. For the river Crimesus, swoln partly by the rains, 
 and partly having its course stopped by the vast numbers that 
 crossed it, had overflowed its banks. The adjacent field, having 
 many CHvilies and low places in it, was filled with water which 
 settled there, and the Carthaginians falling into them, could not 
 disentjiage themselves without extreme difriculty. In short, the 
 storm continuing to beat upon them with great violence, and the 
 Greeks having cut to pieces four hundred men who composed theil 
 first ranks, their whole body was put to flight. Great numbers 
 were overtaken in the field, and put to the sword ; many took to 
 the river, and, jostling wiih those that were yet passing it, were 
 -carried down and drowned. The major part, who endeavoured to 
 
TiMOLE(iL\. 
 
 175 
 
 gain the hills, were stopped by the light-armed soldiers, and slain. 
 Among the ten thousand that were killed, it is said there were three 
 thousand natives of Carthage — a heavy loss to that city ; for none 
 of its citizens were superior to these, either in birth, fortune, or 
 character, nor have we any account that so many Carthaginians 
 ever fell before in one battle. As they mostly made use of Lybians, 
 Spaniards, and Numidians, in their wars, if they lost a victory, it 
 was at the expense of the blood of strangers. 
 
 The Greeks discovered by the spoils the quality of the killed. 
 Those who stripped the dead set no value upon brass or iron, such 
 was the abundance of silver and gold : for they passed the river, 
 and made themselves masters of the camp and baggage. Many 
 of the prisoners were clandestinely sold by the soldiers, but five 
 thousand were delivered in upon the public account, and two hun- 
 dred chariots also were taken. The tent of Timoleon afforded the 
 most beautiful and magnificent spectacle. In it were piled all 
 manner of spoils, among which a thousand breast-plates of exqui- 
 site workmanship, and ten thousand bucklers, were exposed to 
 view As there was but a small number to collect the spoils of 
 such a multitude, and they found such immense riches, it was the 
 third day after the battle before they could erect the trophy. With 
 the first news of victory, Timoleon sent to Corinth the handsomest 
 of the arms he had taken, desirous that the world might admire 
 and emulate his native city, when they saw the fairest temples 
 adorned, not with Grecian spoils, nor with the unpleasing monu- 
 ments of kindred blood and domestic ruin, but with the spoils of 
 barbarians, which bore this honourable inscription, declaring the 
 justice as well as valour of the conquerors, " That the people of 
 Corinth, and Timoleon their general, having delivered the Greeks 
 who dwelt in Sicily, from the Carthaginian yoke, made this offering 
 as a grateful acknowledgement to the gods." 
 
 After this, Timoleon lefl the mercenaries to lay waste the Car- 
 thaginian province, and returned to Syracuse. By an edict pub- 
 lished there, he banished from Sicily the thousand hired soldiers 
 who deserted him before the battle, and obliged them to quit Syra- 
 cuse before the sun set. These wretches passed over into Italy, 
 where they were treacherously slain by the Brutians. Such was 
 the vengeance which heaven took of their perfidiousness. 
 
 Afterwards, when Timoleon was laying siege to Calanria, Icetes 
 took the opportunity to make an inroad into the territories of Syra- 
 cuse, where he met with considerable booty ; and having made 
 great havock, he marched back by Calauria itself, in contempt of 
 Timoleon and the slender force he had with him. Timoleon suf- 
 fered him to pass, and then followed him with his cavalry and 
 light-armed foot. When Icetes saw he was pursued, he crossed 
 the Damyrias, and stood in a posture to receive the enemy on the 
 
176 TU^U^ON. 
 
 other side. What emboldened him to do this, was the difticuUy of 
 the passage, and the steepness of the banks on both sides. A 
 strange dispute uf jealousy and honour, which arose among the 
 officers of Timoleon, awhile delayed the combat : for there was 
 not one that was willmg to go after another, but every man wanted 
 to be foremost in the attack ; so that their fording was likely to be 
 rery tumultuous and disorderly by their jostling each other, and 
 pressing to get before. To remedy this. Timoleon ordered them 
 to decide the matter by lot, and that each for this purpose, should 
 give him his ring. He took the rings and shook them in the skirt 
 of his robe, and the first that came up, happening to have a trophy 
 for the seal, the young officers received it with joy, and crying out, 
 that they would not wait for any other lot, made their way as fast 
 as possible through the river, and fell upon the enemy, who, un- 
 able to sustain the shock, soon took flight, throwing away their 
 arms, and leaving a thousand of their men dead upon the spot. 
 
 A few days after this, Timoleon marched into the territory of 
 the Leontines, where he took Icetcs alive, and his son Eupolemus, 
 and Euthymus his general of horse, were brought to him bound by 
 the soldiers. Icetes and his son were capitally punished, as ty- 
 lants and traitors to their country. Nor did Euthymus find mercy, 
 though remarkably brave and bold in action, because he was ac> 
 cused of a severe sarcasm against the Corinthians. He had said, 
 it seems, in a speech he made to the Leontines, upon the Corin. 
 thians taking the field, '* That it was no formidable matter, if the 
 Corinthian dumes were gone out to take the air." Thus the gene. 
 lahty of men arc more apt to resent a contemptuous word than an 
 unjust action, and can bear any other injury better than disgrace. 
 Every hostile deed is imputed to the necessity of war, but satirical 
 and censorious expressions are considered as the effects of hatred 
 or malignity. 
 
 When Timoleon was returned, the Syracusans brought the wife 
 and daughters of Icetes to a public trial, who, being there oon* 
 demned to die, were executed accordingly. This seems to be the 
 roost exceptionable part of Timoloon's conduct ; for, if he had in- 
 terposed, the women would not have suffered. But he appears to 
 have connived at it, and given them up to the reeentment of the 
 people, who were willing to make some satitlkctioo to the mtm m 
 of Dion, who expelled Dionysius. For Icetcs was the man who 
 threw Arete the wife of Dion, his sister Aristomache, and his son, 
 who was yet a child, alive into the sea. 
 
 Timoleon then marched to Qatana againet Maroercus; who 
 waited for him in order of battle upon the banks of the Abolua.* 
 Mamercus was defeated and put to flight, with the loM of above 
 
 * Ptoleni) , and otben, call thii river, AtabMs^ AUHh or AlaboH, It it DWf Ryb^% 
 betwvfi) CBtaim and SyracOM. 
 
TIMOLEQPJ. 
 
 177 
 
 two thousand men, no small part of which consisted of* the Punic 
 succours sent by Gisco. Hereupon, the Carthaginians desired him 
 to grant them peace, which he did on the following conditions : 
 ** That they should hold only the lands within the Lycus ;* that 
 they should permit all who desired it, to remove out of their pro- 
 vince, with their families and goods, and to settle at Syracuse ; and 
 that they should permit all who desired it, to renounce all friend, 
 ship and alliance with the tyrants." — Mamercus, reduced by this 
 treaty to despair, set sail for Italy, with an intent to bring the Lus- 
 canians against Timoleon and the %racusans. But instead of that, 
 the crews tacking about with the galleys, and returning to Sicily, 
 delivered up^ Catana to Timoleon ; which obliged Mamercus to 
 take refuge at Mesfeena, with Hippo, prince of that city. Timo- 
 leon on coming upon them, and investing the place both by sea 
 and land, Hippo got on board a ship, and attempted to make his 
 escape, but was taken by the Messenians themselves, who exposed 
 him in the theatre ; and calling their children out of the schools, 
 as to the finest spectacle in the world, the punishment of a tyrant, 
 they first scourged him, and then put him to death. 
 
 Upon this Mamercus surrendered himself to Timoleon, agreeing 
 to take his trial at Syracuse, on condition that Timoleon himself 
 would not be his accuser. Being conducted to Syracuse, and 
 brought before the people, he attempted to pronounce an oration 
 which he had composed long before for such an occasion ; but be- 
 ing received with noise and clamour, he perceived that the assem- 
 bly were determined to show him no favour. He, therefore, threw 
 off his upper garment, ran through the theatre, and dashed his 
 head violently against one of the steps, with a design to kill him- 
 self, but did not succeed according^ to his wish ; for he was taken 
 up alive, and suffered the punishment of thieves and robbers. 
 
 In this manner did Timoleon extirpate tyranny, and put a period 
 to the wars. He found the whole island turned almost wild and 
 savage, s^» that its very inhabitants could hardly endure it, and yet 
 he so civilized it again, and rendered it so desirable, that strangers 
 came to s-^nle in the country, from which its own people had lately 
 f!ed ; the great cities of Agrigentum and Gela, which, after the 
 Athenian war, had been sacked and left desolate by the Carthagi- 
 nians, were now peopled again : the former by Megellus and Pe- 
 ristus from Elea, and the latter by Gorgus from the isle of Ceos, 
 who also collected and brought with him some of the old citizens. 
 Timoleon not only assured them of his protection, and of peaceful 
 days to settle in, after the tempests of such a war, but cordially en- 
 tered into their necessities, and supplied them with every thing, so 
 that he was even beloved by them as if he had been their founder. 
 « Plutarch probably took the name of this river as he found it in Piodorus; biit 
 other Historians call it the Halycus. Indeed, the Cartljaginians might possibly give it 
 the orrental aspirate fia which gigaifies no more than the panicle fjie. 
 
178 TIMOLCON 
 
 Nay, to thct degree did he enjoy the afiections of the Sieiliana in 
 general, that no war seemed concluded, no laws enacted, no lands 
 divided, no political regulations made, m a proper manner, except 
 it was revised and touched by him : he was the master-builder who 
 put the last hand to the work, and bestowed upon it a happy ele- 
 gance and perfection. Though at that time Greece boasted a number 
 of great men, whose achievements were highly di8tingui8hed,Timo- 
 theus (for instance), Agesilaus, Pelopidas, and Epaminondas, the 
 last of whom Timoleon principally vied with, in the course of glory, 
 yet we may discefn in tlieir actions a certain labour and sUaining, 
 which diminishes their lustre, and some of them have afforded 
 room for censure, and been followed with repentance ; whereas 
 there is not one action of Timoleon (if we except the extremities 
 he proceeded to in the case of his brother) to which we may not, 
 with Tirosius, apply that passage of Sophocles-— 
 
 What Vtnusj or what Lottf 
 
 Plac'd the fair parts in tbia harmooioui whole ? 
 
 For as the poetry of Antimachus* and the portraits of DionysiuSff 
 both of them Colophonians, with all the nerve and strength with 
 which they abound, appear to be too much laboured, and smell too 
 much of the lamp, whereas the paintings of Nicomachus^ and the 
 verses of Homer, besides their other excellencies, seem to have 
 been struck off with readiness and ease ; so, if we compare the ex. 
 ploits of Epaminohdas and Agesilaus, performed with infinite pains 
 and difficulty, with those of Timoleon, which, glorious as they were, 
 had a great deal of freedom and ease in them, when we consider 
 the case well, we shall conclude the latter, not to have been the 
 work of fortune indeed, but the effects of fortunate virtue. 
 
 He himself, it is true, ascribed all his successes to fortune. For 
 when he wrote to his friends at Corinth, or addressed the Syracu- 
 sans, he oflen said, he was highly indebted to that goddess, when 
 she was resolved to save Sicily, for doing it under his name* In 
 his house he built a chapel, and offered sacrifices to Chanett^ mnd 
 
 * Antimochut was an epic poet, who flourished io the days of Socratas and Plato. 
 Ha wrote a poem called the Thtbnid. QutntiliHO (x. 1.) says, he had a fore* and so- 
 lidity, iiigettier with an elevation of style, and had the secood |>lace |i*en bun by tbo 
 ^ramiiiarian* afier Momrr ; hut a» he failed in the passions, in the dnposhion of hb 
 table, and in the eafe and elegance of manner, thougn b* was second, he was 6r froai 
 coming near the first. 
 
 ^ Diimykius wns a portrait painter — PUn. xxsv. 10. 
 
 ) i'liuy lellf uo — '• Nicomachiis painted with a twiA u well as masterly hand : lod 
 that bis pieces sold for as much as a town was wonb.** Arisiratus the tymni of Swyon, 
 baving igraad with him for a piece of work which saenod to require • o o m ida is bls 
 liiM, Nicooiarhus did not appear till within a few days of that on wbicb ha bad afited 
 to finiah it Hrreupon the tyrant talked of punishing him ; but In those few days bo 
 eoanplofed ihe Wun^ m an admirable nvsnner, and entirely to his sotMacikin. 
 
 k When the ancienii ascribed any event lo/orftnu, Uity did not moan to dany tbo 
 operation of Uie l)eitv in it, hut only to exclude all hunao cooirimooe and posror : 
 md ill etrenu aschbeJ to cAance, they might poasibly mtan to oxclnda tbt stMcy of 
 «U rational beini^s, whether human or divine. 
 
TIMOLEON. 179 
 
 dedicated the house itself to Fortune; for the Syracusans had gi- 
 ven him one of the best houses in the city, as a reward of his ser- 
 vices, and provided him, besides, a very elegant and agreeable re- 
 treat in the country. In the country it was that he spent most of 
 his time, with his wife and children, whom he had sent lor from 
 Corinth : for he never returned home ; he took no part in the trou- 
 bles of Greece, nor exposed himself to public envy, the rock which 
 great generals commonly split upon in their insatiable pursuits of 
 honour and power, but he remained in Sicily, enjoying the bless- 
 ings he had established : and of which the greatest of all was to 
 see so many cities and so many thousands of people happy through 
 his means. 
 
 But since, according to the comparison of Simonides, every re- 
 public must have some impudent slanderer, just as every lark must 
 have a crest on its head, so it was at Syracuse ; for Timoleon was 
 attacked by two demagogues, Laphystius and Demaenetus. The 
 first of these having demanded of him sureties that he would an- 
 swer to an indictment which was to be brought against him, the 
 people began to rise, declaring they would not suffer him to pro- 
 ceed. But Timoleon stilled the tumult, by representing, " That he 
 had voluntarily undergone so many labours and dangers, on pur- 
 pose that the meanest Syracusan might have recourse, when he 
 pleased, to the laws." And when Demaenetus, in full assembly, 
 alleged many articles against his behaviour in command, he did 
 not vouchsafe him any answer ; he only said, " He could not suf- 
 ficiently express his gratitude to the gods, for granting his request, 
 in permitting him to see all the Syracusans enjoy the liberty of 
 saying what they thought fit." 
 
 Having then confessedly performed greater ihmgs than any Gre- 
 cian of his time, and been the only man who realized those glorious 
 achievements, to which the orators of Greece were constantly ex- 
 horting their countrymen in the general assemblies of the states, 
 fortune happily placed him at a distance from the calamities in 
 which the mother-country was involved, and kept his hands un- 
 stained with its blood. He made his courage and conduct appear 
 in his dealings with the foreigners and with tyrants, as well as his 
 justice and moderation, wherever the Greeks or their friends were 
 concerned. Very few of his trophies cost his fellow-citizens a 
 tear, or put any of them in mourning ; and yet, in less than eight 
 years, he delivered Sicily from its intestine miseries and distem- 
 pers, and restored it to the native inhabitants. 
 
 After so much prosperity, when he was well advanced in years, 
 his eyes began to fail him, and the defect increased so fast, that 
 he entirely lost his sight. Not that he had done any thing to oc- 
 casion it, nor was it to be imputed to the caprice of fortune,* but 
 
 * Plutaich here hints at an opinioo, which was very prevalent among the pagans, 
 
laO TIMOLiX»f. 
 
 it seems to have been owing to a family wcaknesa and diaortier. 
 which operated together with the course of time. For several of 
 his relations are said to have lost their sight in the same manner, 
 having It gradually impaired by years. Athanis tells us, that du> 
 ring the war with Hippo and Mumercus, and wthle he lay before 
 MillaB, a white speck appeared on his eye, which was a plain indi. 
 cation that blindness was coming on. However, this did not hin- 
 der him from continuing the siege, and prosecuting the war, until 
 he got the tyrants in his power. But when he returned to Syra 
 cuse, he laid down the command immediately, and excused him- 
 self to the people from any farther service, as he had brought their 
 aifairs to a happy conclusion. 
 
 It is not to be wondered, that he bore his misfortune without re- 
 pining; but it was really admirable to observe the honour and re 
 spect which the Syracusans paid him when blind. They not only 
 visited him constantly themselves, but brought all strangers who 
 spent some time amongst ihem, to his house in town, or to that in 
 the country, that they too might have the pleasure of seeing the 
 deliverer of Syracuse ; and it was their joy and their pride that he 
 chose to spend his days with them, and despised the splendid re- 
 ception which Greece was prepared to give him. Among the 
 many votes that were passed, and things that were done in honour 
 of him, one of the most striking was the decree of the people of 
 Syracuse, " That whenever they should be at war with a foreign 
 nation, they would employ a Corinthian general." Their method 
 of proceeding, too, in their assemblies, did honour to Timoleon ; 
 for they decided smaller matters by themselves, but consulted him 
 in the more difficult and important cases. On these occasions he 
 was conveyed in a litter through the market-place to the theatre ; 
 and when he was carried in, the people saluted him with one voice 
 as he sat. He returned the civility, and having paused a while to 
 ffive time for their acclamations, took cognizance of the* affair and 
 delivered his opinion. The assembly ^ave their sanction to it, and 
 then his servants carried the litter back through the theatre ; and 
 the people having waited on him out with loud applauses, despatch- 
 ed the rest of the public business without him. 
 
 With so much respect and kindness was the old age of Timoleon 
 cherished, as that of a common father ! and at last he died of a 
 alight illness co-operating with length of yeart.*^ Some time be- 
 ing given the Syracusans to prepare for his funeral, and for the 
 neighbouring inhabitants and strangers to assemble, the whole was 
 conducted with great magnificence. The bier, sumptuously adorn. 
 
 that if any penon wai tignaily favoured with tuccacs, there would toinr mivfortuna 
 happen 10 countartMilance it. This ihey imputed to the envy of MMne malignant 
 derooo. 
 
 * He died the last year of the hundred and tenth Olympiad, three hundred asd 
 thirty, five years before the Cbriftian era. 
 
TIMOLEON. 181 
 
 od, was carried by young men selected bj^ the people, over the 
 Cjroi'nd where the palace and castle of the tyrants stood, before 
 they were demolished. It was followed by many thousands of 
 men and women, in the most pompous solemnity, crowned with 
 garlands and clothed in white. The lamentations and tears, min- 
 gled with the praises of the deceased, showed that the honour now 
 paid him was not a matter of course, or compliance with a duty 
 enjoined, but the testimony of real sorrow and sincere afTcction. 
 At last, the bier being placed upon the funeral-pile, Demetrius, who 
 had the loudest voice of all their heralds, was directed to make pro- 
 clamation as follows ; *' The people of Syracuse inter Timoleon 
 the Corifilhian, the son of Timodemus, at the expense of two hun- 
 dred minoe : they honour him, moreover, through all time, with an- 
 imal games, to be celebrated with performances in music, horse- 
 racing and wrestling : as the man who destroyed tyrants, subdued 
 barbarians, repeopled great cities which lay desolate, ana restored 
 to the Sicilians their laws and privileges." 
 
 The body was interred, and a monument erected for him in the 
 market-place, which they afterwards surrounded with porticoes 
 and other buildings suitable to the purpose, and then made it a 
 place of exercise for their youth, under the name of Timoleonteum, 
 They continued to make use of the form of government and the 
 laws that he established, and this ensured their happiness for a 
 long course of years.* 
 
 * This prosperity was interrupted about thirty years after, by the cruelties of Aga- 
 thocles. 
 
 16 . 
 
182 
 
 ARISTIDES. 
 Fhurithed 460 years before Chrut. 
 
 ARISTIDES, the son of Lysimachus, was of the tribe of Anti- 
 oohis, and the ward of Alopece. Of his estate we have diflereut 
 accounts. Some say, he was always very poor, and that he left 
 two daughters behind him, who remained a long time unmarried, 
 on account of their poverty.* But Demetrius the Phaleriun con- 
 tradicts this general opinion in bis Socrates^ and says there was a 
 farm at Phalera which went by the name of Aristides, and that 
 there he was buried. But it is plain that Demetrius laboured to 
 take the imputation of poverty, as if it were some great evil, not 
 only from Aristides, but from Socrates, who, he says, besides a 
 house of his own, had seventy mincef at interest in the hands of 
 Crito. 
 
 Aristides had a particular friendship for Clisthenes, who settled 
 the popular government of Athens after the expulsion of the ty- 
 rants 4 yet he had, at the same time, the greatest veneration for 
 Lycurgus, the Lacedsemonian, whom he considered as the most 
 excellent of lawgivers : and this led him to be a favourer of aris- 
 tocracy, in which he was always opposed by Themistocles, who 
 listed in the party of the commons. Some, indeed, say, that being 
 brought up together from their infancy, when boys, they were all 
 at variance, not only in serious matters, but in their very sports 
 and diversions, and their tempers were discovered from the first by 
 that opposition. The one was insinuatmg, daring, and artful, 
 variable, and at the stfme time impetuous in his pursuits ; the other 
 was solid and steady, inflexibly just, incapable of using any false- 
 hood, flattery or deceit, even at play. 
 
 Themistocles, who was an agreeable companion, gained many 
 friends, and became respectable in the strength of his popularity. 
 Thus, when he was told that he would govern the Athenians ex- 
 tremely well, if he would but do it without respect of persons, he 
 said, *' May I never sit on a tribunal where my friends shall not 
 find more favour from me than strangers !" 
 
 Aristides, on the contrary, took a method of his own in conduet- 
 ing the administration. For he would neither consent to any in. 
 justice to oblige his friends, nor yet disoblige them by denying all 
 they asked ; and at he saw that many, depending on tl^eir interest 
 
 * And yet, •ccordioK to a law of Solon**. \\\t bride waa to carry with bar only lluaa 
 auitt of cknbea, aod a little houMlM»ld ttuffof imall value. 
 
 t The mioa, is equal to 100 drachnta»— £3 4*. 7d. •tariing—b ladanl noMf. 
 about |14 34. 
 
 I Theae tyimnti were PiuMratide. who were dnveo out about the tistyiixtb Olyai- 
 
ARISTIDES. -[83 
 
 an^ friends, were tempted to do unwarrantable things, he never en- 
 deavoured after that support, but declared, that a good citizen 
 should place his whole strength and security in advising and doinor 
 what is just and right. 
 
 In ilie changes and fluctuations of the government, his firmness 
 was wonderful. Neither elated with honours, nor discomposed 
 with ill success, he went on in a moderate and steady manner, per- 
 suaded that his country had a claim to his services, without the re- 
 ward either of honour or profit. Hence it was, that when those 
 verses of^schylus concerning Amphiaraus were repeated on the 
 stage : — 
 
 To be, and not to seem, is this man's maxim ; 
 His mind reposes on its proper wisdom. 
 And wants no other praise* 
 
 the eyes of the people in general were fixed on Aristides, as 
 the man to whom this great encomium was most applicable. In- 
 deed, he was capable of resisting the suggestions, not only of favour 
 and affection, but of resentment and enmity wherever justice was 
 concerned. For, it is said, that -when he was carrying on a pro- 
 secution against his enemy, and after he had brought his charge, 
 tlie judges were going to pass sentence, without hearing the person 
 accused, he rose up to his assistance, entreating that he might be 
 heard, and haye the privilege which the laws allowed. Another 
 time when he himself sat judge between two private persons, and 
 one of them observed, "that his adversary had done many injuries 
 to Aristides :" — "Tell me not that," said he, "but what injury he 
 lias done to thee ; for it is thy cause I am judging, not my own." 
 
 When appointed public treasurer, he made it appear, that not 
 only those of his time, but the officers that preceded him, had ap- 
 plied a great deal of the public money to their own use, and par- 
 ticularly Themistocles ; — 
 
 For he, with all his wisdom, 
 
 Could ne'er command his hands. 
 
 For this reason, when Aristides gave in his accounts, Themisto- 
 cles raised a strong party against him, accused him of misapplying 
 the public money, and got him condemned. But the principal and 
 most respectable of the citizens,! incensed at this treatment of 
 Aristides, interposed, and prevailed, not only that he might be ex- 
 cused the fincj but chosen again chief treasurer. He now pre- 
 tended that his former proceedings were too strict, and carrying a 
 gentler hand over those that acted under him, suffered them to pil- 
 
 « These verses are to be found in the *» Siege of Thebes by the Seven Captains.** 
 Tfiey are a description of the genius and temper of Amphiaraus, which the courier, 
 who brings an account of the enemy's attEkcks, ^nd of the characters of the com- 
 manders, gives to Eteocles. Plutarch has changed one word in them for another, 
 that suited his purpose better; reading jt/s<, instead o{ valiant. 
 
 7 The court of Areopagus interposed in his behalf. 
 
fer the public monoy, without seeming to find them out, or reckon- 
 ing strictly with them ; so that, fattened on the spoils of theii 
 country, they lavished their praises on Aristides, and heartily es- 
 pousing his cause, begged of the people to continue him in the 
 same office. But when the Athenians were going to confirm it to 
 him by their sutfrages, he gave them this severe rebuke : ** While 
 I managed your finances with all the fidelity of an honest man, I 
 was loaded with calumnies ; and now when I sufier them to be a 
 prey to public robbers, 1 am become a mighty good citizen ; but I 
 assure you, I am more ashamed of the present honour, than I was 
 of the former disgrace, and it is with indignation and concern that 
 I see you esteem it more meritorious to oblige ill men, than to take 
 proper care of the public revenue." By thus speaking and dis- 
 covering their frauds, he silenced those that recommended him 
 with so much noise and bustle, but at the same time received the 
 truest and most valuable praise from the worthiest of the citizens. 
 
 About this time Datis, who was sent by Darius, under pretence 
 of chastising the Athenians for burning Sardis, but in reality to sub. 
 due all Greece, arrived with his- fleet at Marathon, and began to 
 ravage the neighbouring country. Among the generals to whom 
 the Athenians gave the management of this war, Miltiades was 
 first in dignity, and next to him in reputation and authority was 
 Aristidcs. In a council of war that was then held, Miltiades voted 
 for giving the enemy battle,* and Aristides, seconding him, added 
 no little weight to his scale. The generals commanded by turns, 
 each his day ; but when it came to Aristides' turn, he gave up his 
 right to Miltiades, thus showing his colleagues, that it was no dis. 
 grace to follow the directions of the wise, but that, on the contrary, 
 it answered honourable and salut&ry purposes. By this means he 
 laid the spirit of contention, and bringing them to agree m, and fol. 
 low the best opinion, he strengthened the hands of Miltiades, who 
 now had the absolute and undivided command ; the other generals 
 no longer insisting on their days, but entirely submitting to his or. 
 clen.t 
 
 In this battle, the main body of the Athenian army was pressed 
 the hardest,:^ because there for a long time the Persians made their 
 
 • According to Herodotus (I. vi. c. 109.) th« g«mermls w«r^ v«rjr much dhficted w 
 tbeir ouiiiiona, ioin« were for fiKhtiog. others not ; MiltiadMobeevvins this. addrsmJ 
 hiiDf elf t<i CaltimachiiR of A phidiix, who was poltmareh^ and whoae powar was eoual 
 to trial of all the other (generals ('allimachtis. whose voice was daeiaivt ■eeofaiaf 
 to the Atheniao laws, joined directly with Miiiiadas, and daclarad for aivint baitla 
 immeditttel^. Possibly Aristides might hate some shaia hi bringing Calliinachus to 
 thin r<ti^liition. 
 
 t Yri he would n^t fi^ht antU his own proper day of command cam* sImniI, for 
 frar that, through any latent s|>arks of jealouiy and entry, any the genarala ibould ba 
 led not to do their duty. 
 
 t The Athenians and Platasana fought with such obatinala vfkwr on the right and 
 trft, thitt the harbarians waia foicad to fly on both Mm. Tba Persians and Saoa, 
 however, perceiving that tba Athenian cantre was waak, charged with sucb force, 
 that fh«>r brdir through it : this those on the right and left peiretved, hot tfkt not 
 
ARISTIDES. 
 
 185 
 
 greatest efibrts against the tribes Leontis and Antiochis ; and The 
 mistocles and Aristides, who belonged to those tribes, exerting them. 
 selves at the head of them, with all the spirit of emulation, behaved 
 ^vith so much vigour, that the enemy were put to flight, and driven 
 back their ships. But the Greeks perceiving that the barbarians, 
 instead of sailing to the isles, to return to Asia, were driven by the 
 wind and currents towards Attica,* and fearing that Athens, unpro- 
 vided for its defence, might become an easy prey to them, marched 
 home with nine tribes, and used such expedition, that they reach- 
 ed the city in one day.f 
 
 Aristides was left at Marathon with his own tribe, to ^uard the 
 prisoners and the spoils ; and he did not disappoint the public opi- 
 nion : for though there was much gold and silver scattered about, 
 and rich garments and other booty in abundance were found in the 
 tents and ships which they had taken, he neither had an inclina- 
 tion to touch any thing himself, nor permitted others to do it. 
 
 The year following, Aristides was appointed to the office of ar- 
 chon, which gave his name to that year ; though, according to De- 
 metrius the Phalerean, he was not archon till after the battle of Pla- 
 taea, a little before his death. 
 
 Of all the virtues of Aristides, the people were most struck with 
 his justice, because the public utility was the most promoted by it. 
 Thus he,_ though a poor man and a commoner, gained the royal 
 and divine title of the Justj which kings and tyrants have never 
 beenfond of. It has been their ambition to be styled Takers of 
 cities ; Thunderbolts ; Conquerors. Nay, some have chosen to be 
 called Eagles and Vultures^ preferring the fame of power to that of 
 virtue. The Deity himself, to whom they want to be compared, is 
 distinguished by three things, immortality, power and virtue ; and 
 of these, virtue is most excellent and divine. They desire only the 
 two first properties of the Deity ; immortality, which our nature 
 will not admit of; and power, which depends chiefly upon fortune ; 
 while they foolishly neglect virtue, the only divine quality in their 
 power, not considering that it is justice alone, which makes the life 
 of those that flourish most in prosperity and high stations, heavenly 
 and divine, while injustice renders it grovelling and brutal. 
 
 Aristides at first was loved and respected for his surname oithe 
 Justy and afterwards envied as much ; the latter, chiefly by the ma- 
 nagement of Themistocles, who gave it out among the people, that 
 
 attempt to succour it, till they had put to flight both the wings of the Persian army ; 
 then bending the points of the wings towards their own centre, they enclosed the 
 hitherto victorious Persians, and cat them in pieces. 
 
 * It was reported in those times, that the Alcmseonidse encouraged the Persians ta 
 make a second attempt, by holding up, as they approached the shore, a shield for a 
 signal. However, it was the Persian fleet that endeavoured to double the cape, of 
 Junium, with a view to surprise the city of Athens before the army could return.— 
 Herodot. 1. vi. c. 101, &c. 
 
 t From Marathon to Athens iis about forty miles. 
 2a' 16* 
 
lae ARISTlDiiS. 
 
 Aristides had abolished Uie courts of judicature, by drawing the ar- 
 bitration of all causes to himself, and so was insensibly gaining 80« 
 vereign power, though without guards and the other ensigns of it. 
 The people, elevated with tlie late victory, thought themselves c«. 
 pable of every thing, and the highest respect little enough for them. 
 Dneasy therefore at finding that any one citizen rose to such ex- 
 traordinary honour and distinction, they assembled at Athena from 
 all the towns in Attica, and banished Aristides by the ostracism ; dis. 
 guising their envy of his character under the specious pretence of 
 guarding against tyranny. 
 
 The ostracism was conducted in the following manner : eveiy 
 citizen took a piece of a broken pot, or a shell, on which he wrote 
 the name of the person he wished to have banished, and carried it 
 to a part of the market-place that was enclosed with wooden rails. 
 The magistrates then counted the number of the shells, and if it 
 amounted not to six thousand the ostracism stood for nothing ; if it 
 did, they sorted the shells, and the person whose name was found 
 on the greatest number, was declared an exile for ten years, but 
 with permission to enjoy his estate. 
 
 At the time that Aristides was banished, when the people were 
 inscribing the names on the shells, it is reported that an illiterate 
 burgher came to Aristides, whom he took for some ordinary person, 
 and giving him his shell, desired him to write Aristides uppn it. The 
 good man, surprised at this adventure, asked mm, " Whether Aris- 
 tides had ever injured him?" — "No," said he, "nor do I even 
 know him ; but it vexes me to hear him «very where called the 
 Jtut,** Aristides made no answer, but took the shell, and having 
 written his own name upon it, returned it to the man. When he 
 quitted Athens, he Ufled up his hands towards heaven, and, agree 
 ably to his character, made a prayer very different from that of 
 Achilles; namely, that the people of Athens mi^ht never see the 
 day, which should force them to remember Aristides." 
 
 Three years ader, when Xerxes was passing through Theasaly 
 and Boeotia by long marches to Attica, the Athenians reversed this 
 decree, and by a public ordinance recalled all the exiles. The 
 principal inducement was their fear of Aristides ; for they were ap 
 prehcnsive that he would join the enemy, corrupt great part of the 
 citizens, and draw them over to the interest of the Persians. But 
 they little knew the man. Before this decree he had been exciting 
 and encouraging the Greeks to defend their liberty ; and afler it, 
 when Themistocles was appointed to the command of the Athenian 
 forces, he assisted him both with his person and counsel, not dis- 
 daining to raise bis worst enemy to the highest pitch of glory for 
 the public good. For when Eury blades, Uie comnumder in chief, 
 )iad resolved to quit Salamis,* and before lie could put his purpoae 
 
 * Eurybisdet was for itaoding swsy for ih« gulf of Corinth, that he miflit bsossr 
 the land mrmy ; but Themiitooles closrly m^w that }n th« maitt of Salam^i they ooalH 
 
ARISTIDES. 287 
 
 ia execiuioD, the enemy's fleet, taking the advantage of the night, 
 had surrounded the islands, and in a manner blocked up the 
 straits, without any one perceiving that the confederates were so 
 hemmed in, Aristides sailed the same night from iEgina, and passed 
 with the utmost danger through the Persian fleet. As soon as he 
 reached the tent of Themistocles, he desired to speak with him in 
 private, and then addressed him in these terms : " You and I, The- 
 mistocles, if we are wise, shall now bid adieu to our vain and child- 
 ish disputes, and enter upon a nobler and more salutary contention, 
 striving which of us shall contribute most to the preservation of 
 Greece ; you in doing the duty of a general, and I in assisting you 
 with my service and advice. I find that you alone have hit upon 
 the best measures, in advising to come immediately to an engage, 
 ment in the straits ; and though the allies oppose your design, the 
 enemy promote it. For the sea on all sides is covered with their 
 ships, so that the Greeks, whether they will or not, mustccme to 
 an action and acquit themselves hke men, there being no room left 
 for flight." 
 
 Themistocles answered, " I could have wished, Aristides, that 
 you had not been beforehand with me in this noble emulation ; but 
 I will endeavour to outdo this happy beginning of your's by my fu- 
 ture actions." At the same time he acquainted him with the stra- 
 tagem he had contrived to ensnare the barbarians,* and then de- 
 sired him to go, and make it appear to Eurybiades, that there eould 
 be no safety for them without venturing a sea-fight there ; tor he 
 knew that Aristides had much greater influence over him than he. 
 In the council of war, assembled on this occasion, Cieocritus the 
 Corinthian said to Themistocles, "Your advice is not agreeable to 
 Aristides, since he is here present and says nothing." " You are 
 mistaken," said Aristides, " for I should not have been silent, had 
 not the counsel of Themistocles been the most eligible; and now I 
 hold my peace, not out of regard to the man, but because I approve 
 his sentiments." 
 
 Aristides, perceiving that the little island of Psy ttalia, which lies 
 
 in the straits over against Salamis, was full of the enemy's troops, 
 
 put on board the small transports a number of the bravest and most 
 
 resolute of his countrymen, and made a descent upon the island, 
 
 where he attacked the barbarians with such fury, that they were 
 
 all cut in pieces, except some of the principal persons, who were 
 
 made prisoners- After this Aristides placed a strong guard round 
 
 the island, to take notice of such as were driven ashore there, so 
 
 that none of his friends might perish, nor any of the enemy escape.f 
 
 fight the Persian fleet, which was so vastly superior in numbers, wiih much greater 
 advantage than in the gulf of Corinth, where there was an open sea. 
 
 * The stratagem was to send one to acquaint the enemy that the Greeks were going 
 to quit the straits of Salamis; and therefore, if the Persians were dtK»irous to crush 
 them at once, they must fall upon^them immediately, before they dispersed 
 
 + The battle of Salamis was fought in the year before Christ 48*) 
 
1{^ AlUi>IIDE& 
 
 For about Ps} ttalia the battle raged the most, aud the greatest et^ 
 foris were made, as appears from the trophy erected there. 
 
 When the battle was over, Themistocles, by way of aDUiidiDg 
 Artstides, said, ** That great things were already done, but greater 
 still remained ; for they might conquer Asia in Europe, by makiof 
 all the sail they could to the Hellespont, to break down the bridge. 
 But Aristides exclaimed against the proposal, and bade him think 
 no more of it, but rather consider and inquire what would be the 
 speediest method of driving the Persian out of Greece, lest, finding 
 himself shut up with such immense forces, and no way leO to e8> 
 cape, necessity might bnog him to 6ght with the most desperate 
 courage. Hereupon^ Themistocles sent to Xerxes the second time, 
 by the eunuch Arnaces, one of the prisoners,'^ to acquaint him pri- 
 vately, that the Greeks were strongly inclined to make the best of 
 their way to the Hellespont, to destroy the bridge which he had 
 left there ; but that, in order to save his royal person^ Themistocles 
 was using his best endeavours to dissuade them from it. Xerxes, 
 terrified at this news, made all possible hasio to the Hellespont, 
 leaving Mardonius behind him with the land.forces, consisting of 
 three hundred thousand of his best troops. 
 
 In the strength of such an army Mardonius was very formidable ; 
 and the fears of the Greeks were heightened by his menacing 
 letters, which were in this style : ** At sea ia your wooden towers 
 you have defeated landmen, unpractised at the oar ; but there are 
 still the wide plains of Thessaly and the fields of nouotia, where 
 both horse and foot may fight to the best advantage." To tho 
 Athenians he wrote in particular, being authorized by the king to 
 assure them that their city should be rebuilt, largo sums bestowed 
 upon them, and the sovereignty of Greece put in their hands, if they 
 would take no farther shaYe in the war.f 
 
 As soon us the Lacedaemonians had intelligence of these propo. 
 sals, they were greatly alarmed, and sent ambassadors to Athens, 
 10 entreat the people to send their wives and children to Sparta,i 
 and to accept from them what was necessary for the support of 
 such as were in years : for the Athenians having l(^t both their 
 <:i»y and country, were in great distress. Yet, when they had 
 hc'ird what the ambassadors had to say, they gave them such an 
 answer, by the direction of Aristides, as can never bo sufficiently 
 
 • This expedif ni answered two purpooet. By it be drove the king of Penis oat of 
 Kurofie, aitd in appeaniuce conferred an obligation upon liini, which ini^ht be icniitni* 
 bereft to the advantafs of Th«nu«toclet when he camato have ooeatmn for it. 
 
 f lie made these propoeali by Aleiandrr king of Macedno, wlio dalireied them in 
 a let aipeecb. 
 
 i They did not propose to the Athenlana to tend their wires and rhildren to Sparta, 
 bill only uflerrd «o maintain ihem during the war. They observed, that the original 
 quarrei was between the Persians and the Athenians ; that the Aihetiians %ve»a al- 
 ways wont to b# forenuMt in the cause of liberty ; and that there was no reasnti to 
 believe the Persians would observe aov terms whh a people Ihev hated. 
 
ARISTiptS. 189 
 
 admired. They said, " they could easily forgive their enemies 
 lor thinking that every thing was to be purchased with silver and 
 gold, because they had no idea of any thing more excelleni ; but 
 they could not help being displeased that the Lacedaemonians 
 should regard only their present poverty and distress, and, forget- 
 ful of their virtue and magnanimity, call upon them to fight for 
 Greece, for the palty consideration of a supply of provisions."' 
 Aristides having drawn up this answer in the form of a decree, and 
 cjjilling all the ambassadors to an audience in full assembly, bade 
 those of Sparta tell the Lacedaemonians, " That the people of 
 Athens would not take all the gold, either above or under ground, 
 for the liberties of Greece." 
 
 As for those of Mardonius, he pointed to the sun, and told them, 
 '•'As long as that luminary shines, so long will the Athenians carry 
 on war with the Persians for their country, which has been laid 
 waste, and for their temples, which have been profaned and burnt." 
 He likewise procured an order, that the priests should solemnly ex- 
 ecrate all that should dare to propose an embassy to the Medes, or 
 talk of deserting the alliance of Greece. 
 
 When Mardonius had entered Attica the second time, the Athe- 
 nians retired again to Salamis ; and Aristides, who, on that occa- 
 sion went ambassador to Sparta, complained to the Lacedsmonians 
 of their delay and neglect in abandoning Athens once more to the 
 barbarians, and pressed them to hasten to the succour of that part 
 of Greece which was not yet fallen into the enemy's hands. The 
 Ephori gave hmi the hearing,* but seemed attentive to jiothing but 
 mirth and diversion, for it was the festival of Hyacinthus.f At 
 night, however, they selected five thousand Spartans, with orders 
 to take each seven Helots with him, and to march before morning, 
 unknown to the Athenians. When Arisiides came to make his 
 remonstrances again, they smiled, and told him that he did but trifle 
 or dream, since their army was at that time as far as Orestium, on 
 ihcir march against the foreigners." Aristides told them, "It was 
 not a time to jest, or to put their stratagems in practice upon their 
 friends, but on their enemies." 
 
 Aristides was appointed to command the Athenians in the battle 
 that was expected, and marched with eight thousand foot to Pla- 
 taea. There Pausanias, who was commander in chief of all the 
 confederates, joined him with his Spartans, and the other Grecian 
 troops arrived daily in great numbers. The Persian army, whicli 
 was encamped along the river Asopus, occupied an immense tract 
 
 * They put off their answer from time to time, until they had gained ten days ; in 
 which lime they finished the wall across the isthmus, which secured them against the 
 barbarians. , 
 
 i- Among the Spartans, the feast of Hyacinthus lasted three days; the first aii(] 
 last were days of sorrow and mourning for Hyacinthus's death ; but the second was 
 a day of re'oicing, celebrated with all manner of diversiims. 
 
]9i) ARlSTIDIilS. 
 
 of ground ; and they bad fortifiQd a spot ten furlongs square, for 
 their baggage and other thingii of value. 
 
 While the fate of Greece was in suspense, the affairs of the Athe- 
 nians were in a very dangerous posture. For those of the best 
 families and fortunes, being reduced by the wars and seeing their 
 authority in the state and their distinction gone with their wealth, 
 and others rising to honours and employments, assembled private- 
 ly in a house at PlatsBa, and conspired to abolish the democracy, 
 and, if that did not succeed, to ruin all Greece, and betray it to the 
 Persians. When Aristides got intelligence of the conspiracy thus 
 entered into in the camp, and found that numbers were corrupted, 
 be was greatly alarmed at its happening at such a crisis, and unre- 
 solved at first how to proceed. At length he tietermined neither 
 to leave the matter uninquired into, nor yet to sill it thoroughly, be- 
 cause he knew not how far the contagion had spread, and thought 
 it advisable to sacrifice justice, in some degree, to the public good, 
 by forbearing to prosecute many that were guilty. He therefore 
 caused only eight persons to be apprehended, and, of those eight, 
 no more than two, who were most guilty, to be proceeded against, 
 iCschines of Lampra, and Agesias of Achamo;, and even they 
 made their escape during the prosecution. As for the rest, he dis- 
 charged them, and gave them, and all who were concerned in the 
 plot, opportunity to recover their spirits and change their senti. 
 ments, as they might imagine that nothing was made out against 
 them ; but he admonished them at the same time, *' That the bat- 
 tie was the great tribunal where they might clear themselves of 
 the charge, and show that they had never followed any counsels 
 but such as were just and useful to their country." 
 
 Afler this,* Mardonius, to make a trial of the Greeks, ordered 
 bit cavair}', in which he was strongest, to skirmish with them. The 
 Greeks were all encamped at the foot of Mount Cithtcron, in strong 
 and stony places ; except the Megarensions, who, to the number 
 of three thousand, were posted on the plain, and by this means 
 suffered much by the enemies* horse, who charged them on every 
 side. Unable to stand against such superior numbers, they des- 
 patched a messenger to Pausanias for assistance. Pausanias 
 hearing their request, and seeing the camp of the Megarensiaos 
 darkened with a shower of darts and arrows, and that they were 
 forced to contract themselves within a narrow compass, was at a 
 loss what to resolve on, for he knew that his heavy armed Spartans 
 were not fit to act against cavalry. He endeavoured, therefore, 
 
 * Th« baute uf I'latoea «i'at fought in th« year before Chriit 479. Uie vear after ibai 
 ofSalamk Henxlotui was then about nine or ten yearn old, aud liad bi> accounts 
 fron» pernoni that were preetiii in the Ijattir. And' be iuUxitm ut, thai tb« citcuof 
 M«rce» here related by I'luturch. happened before the Greeki left their cftaip at 
 Krythra^ in order to encamp round to Maicm, and bttiHt the coniett betwarn tbt 
 Teseta: and the Athcnian»».-!.lh. Is. c. 29, SO. *.c. 
 
ARJSTiDE3. 191 
 
 to awaken the emulation of the generals and other officers that 
 were about him, that they might make it a point of honour volun- 
 ranly to undertake the defence and succour of the Megarensians. 
 But they all decHned it, except Aristides, who made an offer of his 
 Athenians, and gave immediate orders to Olympiodorus, one of the 
 most active of his officers, to advance with his select band of three 
 hundred men and some archers intermixed. They were all ready 
 in a moment, and ran to attack the barbarians. Masistius, general 
 of the Persian horse, a man distinguished for his strength and 
 graceful mien, no sooner saw them advancing, than he spurred his 
 horse against them. The Athenians received him with great firm- 
 ness, and a sharp conffict ensued ; for they considered this as a 
 specimen of the success of the whole battle. At last Masistius' 
 horse was wounded with an arrow, and threw his rider, who could 
 not recover himself because of the weight of his armour, nor yet 
 be easily slam by the Athenians that strove which should do it first, 
 because not only his body and his head, but his legs and arms, were 
 covered with plates of gold, brass, and iron. But the vizor of his 
 helmet leaving part of his face open, one of them pierced him in 
 the eye with the staff of his spear, and so despatched him. The 
 Persians then left the body and fied. 
 
 The importance of this achievement appeared to the Greeks, 
 not by the number of their enemies lying dead upon the field, for 
 that was but small, but by the mourning of the barbarians, who, m 
 their grief for Masistius, cut off their hair, and the manes of their 
 horses and mules, and filled all the plain with their cries and groans, 
 as having lost the man that was next to Mardonius in courage and 
 authority. 
 
 After this engagement with the Persian cavalry, both sides for- 
 bore the combat a long time ; for the diviners, from the entrails of 
 the victimsj equally assured the Persians and the Greeks of victory, 
 if they stood upon the defensive, and threatened a total defeat to 
 the aggressors. But at length Mardonius, seeing but a few days 
 provision lefl, and that the Grecian forces increased daily by the 
 arrival of fresh troops, grew uneasy at the delay, and resolved to 
 pass the Asopus next morning by break of day, and fall upon the 
 Greeks, whom he hoped to find unprepared. For this purpose he 
 gave his orders over night. But at midnight a man on horseback 
 soflly approached the Grecian camp, and addressing himse'ii to the 
 sentinels, bade them call Aristides the Athenian general to hr.n. 
 Aristides came immediately, and the unknown person said, " I ara 
 Alexander king of Macedon, who, for the friendship I bear you, 
 have exposeci myself to the greatest dangers, to prevent your fight- 
 ing under the disadvantage of a surprise. For Mardonius will givd 
 you battle to-morrow; not that he is induced to it by any wejj- 
 grounded hope or prospect of success, but by the scarcity of pro« 
 
292 ARISTIDES. 
 
 visions/' Alexander having thus opened himseir to Arisudes, 
 desired him to take notice and avail himself of the intelligence, 
 but not to communicate it to any other person.* Aristtdes, how- 
 ever, thought It wrong to conceal it from Pausanias, who was 
 commander in chief; but he promised not to mention the thing to 
 any one besides, until aOer the battle, and assured him at the 
 same time, that if the Ureeks proved victorious, the whole army 
 should he acquainted with this kindness. The king of Maccdon 
 then returned to the Persian camp. 
 
 Aristides went immediately to the tent of Pausanias, apd laid the 
 whole before him : whereupon the other officers were sent for, and 
 ordered to put ^he troops under arms, and have them ready for 
 battle. At the same time, Pausanias informed Aristides of his 
 design to alter the disposition of the army, by removing the Athe- 
 nians from the left wmg to the right, and setting them to oppose 
 the Persians, against whom they wonld act with the more bravery, 
 because they had made proof of their manner of fighting, and with 
 greater assurance of success, because they had already succeeded. 
 As for the left wing, which would have to do with those Greeks 
 that had embraced the Median interest, he intended to command 
 there himself.y But the Thebans being informed of this by deser- 
 ters, acquainted Mardonius, who, either out of fear of the Athenians, 
 or from an ambition to try his strength with the Lacedeemonians, 
 immediately moved the Persians to his right wing, and the Greeks 
 that were of his party, to the left, opposite to the Athenians. This 
 change in the disposition of the enemies' army being known, Pau- 
 sanias made another movement, and passed to the right ; which 
 Mardonius perceiving, returned to the left, and so still faced the 
 Lacedspmonians. Thus the day passed without any action at all. 
 In the evening the Grecians held a council of war, in which they 
 determined to decamp, and take possession of a place more com* 
 modious for water, because the springs of their present camp were 
 disturbed end spoiled by the enemies' horse. 
 
 When night was come,J and the officers began to march at the 
 head of their troops to the place marked out for a new canip, the 
 soldiers followed unwillingly, and could not without great difficulty 
 be kept together ; for ihey were no sooner out of their first entrench- 
 ments, than many of them made off to the city of Platxea, and either 
 dispersing there, or pitching their tents without any resard to 
 disciphno, were in the utmost confusion. It happened that the 
 
 * According to HerotHirut, Alrxander bad excepted PMitsniet mil of thin charftof 
 •ecracy; and thi« it mon protMblr, becauie Pausanias was commanHar in chief. 
 
 f Herodotus sari tbc contrary ; namely, thai all tbe Atbeoiao uArcr* wtra ambi* 
 t>0*J3 of lliar p'lit, but did not think proper to propose it, (or fear of diaoblif ing tha 
 Spitrtans 
 
 j On this ocrasion Mardonius did oot Aiil to intuit Artitena. raproMbing ktai i 
 hif. 'jowardly prudence, «nd the false noiiOD be had coneeired of ilta Laeedsnnonl 
 who. Rs \ttt pretended, never fle<t before the enemr 
 
ARISTIDES. 193 
 
 LacedsBWionians alone were left behind, though against their will. 
 For Amompharetus, an intrepid man, who had long been eager to 
 engage, and uneasy to see the battle so often put off and delayed, 
 plainly called this decampment a disgraceful flight, and declared, 
 *' He would not quit his post, but remain there with his troops, and 
 stand it out against Mardonius." And when Pausanias represented 
 to him, that this measure was taken in pursuance of the counsel 
 and determination of the conliederates, he took up a large stone 
 with both his hands; and throwing it- at Pausanias' feet, said, 
 " This is my ballot for a battle : and I despise the tihiid counsels 
 and resolves of others." Pausanias was at a loss what to do, but 
 at last sent to the Athenians, who by this time were advancing, 
 and desired Jhem to halt a little, that they might all proceed in a 
 body : at the same time he marched with the rest of the troops 
 towards Plataea, hoping by that means to draw AmOmpharetus after 
 him. V 
 
 By this time it was day, and Mardonius,* who w^g not ignorant 
 that the Greeks had quitted their camp, put his army in order of 
 battle, and bore down upon the Spartans ; the barbarians setting up 
 such shouts, and clanking their arms in such a manner, as if they 
 expected to have only the plundering of fugitives, and not a battle: 
 and indeed it was like to have been so ; for though Pausanias, 
 upon seeing this motion of Mardonius, stopped, and ordered every 
 one to his post, yet, either confused with his resentment against 
 Amompharetus, or with the sudden attack of the Persians, he for- 
 got to give his troops the word ; and for that reason they neither 
 engaged readily, nor in a body, but continued scattered in small 
 parties, even after the fight was begun. 
 
 Pausanias in the mean time offered sacrifice ; but seeing no 
 auspicious tokens, he commanded the Lacedajmonians to lay down 
 their shields at their feet, and to stand still, and wait his orders, 
 without opposing the enemy. After this he offered other sacrifices, 
 the Persian cavalry still advancing. They were now within bow- 
 shot, and some of the Spartans were wounded : among whom was 
 CallicraKes, a man who for size find beauty exceeded the whole 
 army. This brave soldier being shot with an arrow, and ready to 
 expire, said, " He did not lament his death, because he came out 
 resolved to shed his blcod for Greece ; but he was sorry to die 
 without having once drawn his sword against the enemy. 
 
 * Having passed the Asopus, he came up with the Lacedeemoniatrs and Tegeta;, 
 Ts-'ho were separated from the '»ody of the army, to the number of fifty- three thousand. 
 Pausanias, finding himself thus attacked by the whole Persian anny, despatched a 
 messenger to acquaint the Athenians, who bad taken another route, with the danger 
 he was in. The Athenians immediately put themselves on their jr>arch to succour 
 their distressed allies, but were attacked, and to their great regret, prevented by those 
 Greeks who sided with the Persians. The batfle being thus fought in two different 
 places, the Spartans were the first who broke into the cenire of the Persian army, 
 «xk3, after a most obstinate resistance, put them to flight. 
 2b 17 
 
1^ ARISTIDES. 
 
 If the terror of this situation was great, the steadiness and pati- 
 ence of the Spartans was wonderful ; for they made no defence 
 against the enemies' charge, but waiting the time, of heaven and 
 their general, suffered themselves to be wounded and slain in their 
 ranks. 
 
 Pausanias, extremely afflicted at these circumstances, while the 
 priests otfered sacrifice upon sacrifice, turning towards the temple 
 of Juno, and with tears trickling from his eyes and uplif\ed hands, 
 prayed to that goddess the protectress of Citheeron, and to the 
 other tutelar* deities of the Plaiseans, ♦* That if the fates had not 
 decreed that the Grecians should conquer, they might at least be 
 permitted to sell their lives dear, and show the enemy by their 
 deeds, that they had brave men and experienced soldiers to deal 
 with. 
 
 The very moment that Pausaniaswas uttering this prayer, this 
 token so much desired appeared in the victim, and the diviners 
 announced him victory. Orders were immediately given the whole 
 army to come to action, and the Spartan phalanx all at once had 
 the appearance of some fierce animal, erecting his bristles, and 
 preparing to exert his strength. The barbarians then saw clearly 
 that they had to do with men who were ready to spill the last drop 
 of their blood ; and therefore, covering themselves with their tar- 
 gets, shot their arrows against the Lacedaemonians. The Lace- 
 daemonians moving forward in a close and compact body, fell upon 
 the Persians, and forcing their targets from them, directed their 
 pikes against their faces and breasts, and brought many of them to 
 the ground. However, when they were down, they continued to 
 give proofs of their strength and courage ; for they laid hold on 
 the pikes with their naked hands and broke them, and then 
 springing up, betook themselves td their swords and battle-axes, 
 and wresting away their enemies' shields and grappling close with 
 them, made a long and obstinate resistance. 
 
 The Athenians all this while stood still, expecting the Laceds- 
 demonians ; but when the iioise of the battle reached them, and an 
 officer, as we are told, despatched by Paus&nios, gave them an 
 account that the engagement was begun, they hastened to his 
 assistance ; and as they were crossing the plam towards the place 
 where the noise was heard, the Greeks, who sided with tlie enemy, 
 pushed against them. As soon as Aristides saw them, he advanced 
 a considerable way before his troops, and calling out to them with 
 all his force, conjured them by the gods of Greece, " to renounce 
 this impious war, and not oppose the Athenians, who were running 
 to the succour of those that were now the first to hazard their lives 
 for the safety of Greece." put finding that, instead of hearkening 
 to him, they approached in a hostile manner, he quitted his design 
 of going to oMJst the Lacedaemonians, and joined battle withtbete 
 
ARISTIDES. 195 
 
 Greeks, who were about five thousand in number. But the great- 
 est part soon gave way and retreated, especially when they heard 
 that the barbarians were put to flight. The sharpest part of this 
 action is said to. have been with the Thebans, among whom the 
 first in quality and power having embraced the Median interest, 
 by their authority carried Out the common people against their 
 inclination. 
 
 The battle thus divided into two parts, the Lacedaemonians first 
 broke and routed the Persians ; and Mardonius* himself was slain 
 by a Spartan named Arimnestus,'|' who fractured his skull with a 
 stone. The barbarians, flying before the Spartans, were pursued 
 to their camp, which they had fortified with wooden walls ; and 
 soon after the Athenians routed the Thebans, killing three hundred 
 persons of the first distinction on the spot. Just as the Thebans 
 began to give way, news was brought that the barbarians were 
 shut up and besieged m their wooden fortification ; the Athenians, 
 therefore, suffering the Greeks to escape, hastened to assist in the 
 siege, and finding that the Lacedaemonians, unskilled in the storm- 
 ing of walls, made but a slow progress, they attacked and took the 
 camp,J with a prodigious slaughter of the enemy. For it is said 
 that of three hundred thousand men, only forty thousand escaped 
 with Artabazus;§ whereas of those that fought in the cause of 
 Greece, no more were slain than one thousandHhree hundred and 
 sixty ; among whom were fifty -two Athenians, all, according to 
 Clidemus, of the tribe Aiantis, which greatly distinguished itself in 
 that actio'n. The Lacedaemonians lost ninety. one, and the Tegetse 
 sixteen. 
 
 This victory went near to the ruin of Greece. For the Athe- 
 nians, unwilling to allow the Spartans the honour of the day, or to 
 consent that they should erect the trophy, would have referred it 
 the decision of the sword, had not Aristides taken great pains to 
 explain the matter, and pacify the other generals, particularly 
 Leocrates and Mironides, persuading them to leave it to the judg. 
 ment of the Greeks. A council was called accordingly, in which 
 Theogiton gave it as his opinion, " that those two states should 
 give up the palm to a third, if they desired to prevent a civil war." 
 Cleocritus the Corinthian rose up, and it was expected he would 
 
 * Mardonius, moiiftted on a white horse, Signalized himself greatly ; and, at the head 
 of a thousand chosen men, killed a great number of the enemy, but when he fell, the 
 whole Persian army was easily routed. 
 
 fin some copies he is called Diaranestus. A rimnestus was general of the Plataeans. 
 
 \ The spoil was immense, consisting of vast sums of money, of gold and silver cups, 
 vessels, tables, bracelets, rich beds, and all sorts of furniture- They, gave the tenth of 
 all to Pausanias. 
 
 { Artabazus, who, from Mardonius's imprudent conduct, had but too well foreseen 
 the misfortune that befel him, after having distinguished himself in the engagement, 
 made a timely retreat v/iih the forty thousand men he had commanded, arrived safe 
 at Byaantium,'and from thence passed over into Asia. Besides these, only three thpii- 
 sand men escaped. — Herodot 1. ix. c. 31 — 69. 
 
196 ARISTIDES. 
 
 set forth the pretensionB of Corinth to the prize of valour, ai the 
 city next in dignity to Sparta and Athene ; but they were most 
 agreeably surprised, when they found that he spoke in behalf of 
 the Platseans, and proposed, *' That all disputes laid aside, the palm 
 should be adjudged to them, since neither of the contending parties 
 could be jeaiuus of them.'* Aristides was the first to give up the 
 point for the Athenians, and then Pausanias did the same for the 
 LacedsDmonians."' 
 
 The confederates thus reconciled, eighty talents were set apart 
 for the Plato^ans, with which they built a temple, and erected a 
 statue to Minerva, adorning the temple with paintings. Both the 
 Lacedaemonians and Athenians erected trophies separately. 
 
 In the first general assembly of the Greeks af\er this victory, 
 Aristides proposed a decree, '' That deputies from all the states of 
 Greece must meet annually at Platisa, to sacrifice to Jupiter /Ae 
 deliverer^ and that every fifth year they should celebrate the ^ame* 
 of liberty : that a general levy should be made through Greece of 
 ten thousand foot, a thousand horse, and an hundred s>hips, for the 
 war against the barbarians ; and thai the Platseans should be ex. 
 empt, being set apart for the service of the god, to propitiate him 
 in behalf of Greece, and consequently their persons to be esteemed 
 sacred." 
 
 These articles^ passing into a law, the Plataeans undertook to 
 celebrate the anniversary of those that were slain and buried in 
 that place. When the Athenians returned home, Aristides observing 
 that they endeavoured to make the government entirely democrati. 
 cal, considered on one side, that the people deserved some atten- 
 tion and respect, on account of their gallant behaviour, and on the 
 other that, being elated with their victories, it would be diflicult to 
 force them to depart from their purpose ; and therefore he caused 
 a decree to be made, that all the citizens should have a share in 
 the administration, and th^t the archons should be chosen out of 
 the whole body of them. 
 
 Themistocles having one day declared to the general assembly, 
 that he had thought of an expedient which was very salutnr)' at 
 Athens,! but ought to be kept secret, he was ordered tu commu> 
 nicaie it to Aristides only, and abide by his judgment. Accordmaly 
 he told him, his project was to burn the whole fleet of the confeae. 
 rates, by which means the Athenians would be raised to the 
 sovereignty of all Greece. Aristides returned to the assembly, 
 and acquainted the Athenians, '* That nothing could be more 
 
 * At to the individuals, wh^n they cante to detprmine which had t>eh«vad with moat 
 courage, they all gave judgment in fJavcMir of ArihttKiemus, who was ih<> oiilv on« ibat 
 had Kaved hiinftelfat TberuiopyUB, and now wiped off the hlemiaii of hi» furuiei coo* 
 duct by a glorious death. 
 
 J This wa» before the battle of Plstmi, at the liint wbto Xtrxtt wa« put to Olgbt, 
 driven bacl( into Alia. 
 
ARISTIDES. jg-y 
 
 advantageous than the project of Themistocles, nor any thing 
 more unjust :" And upon his report of the matter, they commanded 
 Themistocles to give over all thoughts of it. Such regard had that* 
 people for justice, and so much confidence in the integrity of 
 Aristides. 
 
 Some time after this,* he was joined in commission with Cimon, 
 and sent against the barbarians ; where, observing that Pausanias 
 and the other Spartan generals behaved with excessive haughtiness, 
 he chose a quite different manner, showing much mildness and 
 condescension in his whole conversation and address, and prevail- 
 ing with Cimon to behave with equal affability to the whole league 
 Thus he insensibly drew the chief command from the Lacedaemo- 
 nians, not by force of arms, but by his gentle and obliging deport, 
 ment. For the justice of Aristides, and the candour of Cimon, 
 having made the Athenians very agreeable to the confederates, 
 their regard was increased by the contrast they found in Pausanias's 
 avarice and severity of manners. 
 
 The sea-captains and land-officers of the Greeks therefore, 
 pressed Aristides to take upon him the command of the confederate 
 forces, and to receive them into his protection. He answered, that 
 he saw the necessity and justice of what they proposed, but that 
 the proposal ought first to be confirmed by some act, which would 
 make it impossible for the troops to depart from their resolution." 
 Hereupon Uliades of Samos, and Antagoras of Chios, conspiring 
 together, went boldly and attacked Pausanias's galley, at the head 
 of the fleet. 
 
 On this occasion, the magnanimity of the Spartan people ap. 
 peared with great lustre. For as soon as they perceived their 
 generals were spoiled with too much power, they sent no more, 
 but voluntarily gave up their pretensions to the chief command, 
 choosing rather to cultivate in their citizens a principle of modesty 
 and tenaciousness of the laws and customs of their country, than 
 to possess the sovereign command of Greece. 
 
 While the Lacedaemonians had the command, the Greeks paid 
 a certain tax towards the war : and now being desirous that every 
 city might be equally rated, they begged of the Athenians that 
 Aristides might take it upon him, and gave him instructions to in- 
 spect their lands and revenues, in order to proportion the burden 
 of each to its abihry. 
 
 Aristides, invested with this authority, which in a manner made 
 him master of all Greece, did not abuse it. For though he went 
 out poor, he returned poorer, having settled the quotas of the seve- 
 ral states, not only justly an^ disinterestedly, but with so much 
 tenderness and humanity, that his^ assessment was agreeable and 
 convenient to all. And as the ancients praised the time of Saturn, 
 * Eight years after. 
 
 17* 
 
X96 ARIST1DE8. 
 
 80 the allies of Athens blessed the settlements of Aristides, calling 
 it the "ihe happy fortune of Ureece ;** a compliment which soon 
 tiAer appeared still more just, when the taiation was twice or three 
 titnes as high. 
 
 The great and illustrious character which Aristides acquired by 
 the equity of this taxation, piqued Themistocles, and he endeavour, 
 ed to turn the praise bestowed upon him into ridicule, by saying, 
 " It was not the praise of a man, but of a money chest to keep 
 treasure without diminution." By this he took but a feeble revenge 
 for the freedom of Aristides. For one day Themistocles happen- 
 ing to say, ** That he looked upon it as the principal excellence of 
 a general to know and foresee the designs of an enemy." Aristi. 
 des answered, *' That is indeed a necessary quaUfication but there 
 is another very excellent one, and highly becoming a general, and 
 that is to have clean hands." 
 
 When Aristides had settled the articles of alliance, he called 
 upon the confederates to confirm ihem with an oath, which he 
 himself took on the part of the Athenians ; and, at the same time 
 that he uttered the execration on those that should break the arti- 
 cles, he threw red-hot pieces of iron into the sea.* However, 
 when the urgency of affairs afterwards required the Athenians to 
 govern Greece with a stricter hand than those conditions justified, 
 he advised them to let the consequences of the perjury rest with 
 him, and pursue the path which expediency pointed out.f Upon 
 the whole, Theophrastus says, that in all his own private concerns, 
 and in those of his fellow citizens, he was inflexibly just ; but, in 
 affairs of state, he did many things according to the exigency of the 
 case, to serve his country, which seemed often to have need of the 
 assistance of injustice. And he relates, that when it was debated 
 in council, whether the treasure deposited at Delos should be 
 brought to Athens as the Samians had advised, though contraiy to 
 treaties, on its coming to his turn to speak, he said, "It was not 
 just, but it was expedieni." 
 
 This must be said, notwiinstanding, that though he extended the 
 dominions of Athens over so many people, he himself continued 
 poor, nnd esteemed his poverty no less a glory than all the laurels 
 l;e had won. The following 'is a clear proof of it. Callias, the 
 torch-bearer, who was his near relative, waa prosecuted in a capi. 
 tal cause by his enemies. When they had alleged what they hnd 
 against him, which was iioihing very* flagrant, they launched out 
 
 • As much «• 10 lay. aa the fire tn these two piecf^n of iron If extingimhrd in   
 njomenu ■«» may their Hay* l»i> '><> break ihi» covenant 
 
 + 'rtiu« even the just, the i ,.|es. niwcJe a riittmction t)«t»een hU privata 
 
 and polifirHl ruimcience A vvhirk h-^ ... ■» lor of foundation »n truth 
 
 or leaton. «n«l which, m the end. wiU t)« prodn i rather than advuntaf* \ 
 
 ai ah tlMMe naiiont will find, who avail i)ieinMi . i o to lerve a ptewnt oc* 
 
 cavion For m much reputation it ho much power ; and ftatet ai well as private 
 peraottt, are retpectable on!y in their character. 
 
ARISTIDES. jgg 
 
 into something foreign to their own charge, and thus addressed the 
 judges — " You know Aristides, the son of Lysimachus, who is 
 justly the admiration of all Greece. When you see with what a 
 garb he appears in public, in what manner do you think he must 
 live at home ? Must not he who shivers here with cold for want of 
 clothing, be almost famished there, and destitute of all necessaries? 
 Yet this is the man whom Callias, his cousm-german, and the rich- 
 est man in Athens, absolutely neglects, and leaves, with his wife 
 and children, in such wretchedness ; though he has often made 
 use of him, and availed himself of his interest with you." Callias, 
 perceiving that this pomt affected and exasperated his judges more 
 than any thing else, called Aristides to testify before the court, 
 that he had many times offered him considerable sums, and strong- 
 ly pressed him to accept them, but he had always refused them in 
 such terms as these- " It better becomes Aristides to glory in 
 his poverty, than Callias in his riches ; for we see every day, ma- 
 ny people make a good as A^ell as a bad use of riches, but it is 
 hard to find one who bears poverty with a noble spirit ; and they 
 only are ashamed of it who are poor against their will." When 
 Aristides had given in his evidence, there was not a man in the 
 court, who did not leave it with an inclination rather to be poor 
 with him, than rich with Callias. 
 
 We have extraordinary instances of the candour with which he 
 behaved towards Themistocles. For though he was his constant 
 enemy in all affairs of government, and the means of his banish, 
 ment, yet when Themistocles was accused of capital crimes against 
 the state, and he had an opportunity to pay him in kind, he indul- 
 ged not the least revenge ; but, while Alcmaeon, Cimon, and many 
 others, were accusing him and driving him into exile, Aristides 
 alone neither did nor said any thing to his disadvantage ; for, as he 
 had not envied his prosperity, so now he did not rejoice in his 
 misfortunes. 
 
 As to the death of Aristides, some say it happened in Pontus, 
 whither he had sailed about some business of the state ; others 
 say he died at Athens, full of days, honoured and admired by his 
 fellow citizens. But Craterus, the Macedonian, gives us another 
 account of the death of this great man. He tells us, that after the 
 banishment of Themistocles, the insolence of the people gave en- 
 couragement to a number of villainous informers, who, attacking 
 the greatest and best men, rendered them obnoxious to the popu- 
 lace, now much elated with prosperity and power. Aristides him- 
 self was not spared, but, on a charge brought against him by Dia- 
 phantus of Amphitrope, was condemned for taking a bribe of the 
 lonians at the time he levied the tax. He adds, that being unable 
 to pay his fine, which was fifty minae, he sailed to some part of 
 Ionia, and there died. But Craterus gives us no written proof of 
 
200 ARIST1DE& 
 
 this aiseraon, nor does he allege any regitter of court, or decree 
 the people, thouffb od other occmaione he is full of such proofs, and 
 OooeiDnUy cites bis author. The other historians, without excep- 
 tioo, who have given us an account of the unjust behaviour of the 
 people of Athens to their generals, among many other instances, 
 dwell upon the banishment of Themntocles, the imprisonment of 
 Miltiades, the fine imposed upon Pericles, and the death of Pa- 
 ches, who, upon receiving sentence, killed himself in the judg. 
 ment hall, at the foot of the tribunal. Nor do they forget the 
 banishment of Aristides, but they nay not a word of his condem- 
 nation. 
 
 His monument at Phalerum is said to have been erected at the 
 public charge, because he did not leave enough tudefray the expen- 
 ees of his funeral. The city likewise provided for the marriage of 
 bis daughters, and each of them had three thousand drachms to her 
 portion out of the treasury ; and to his son Lysimachus, the peo. 
 pie of Athens gave an hundred minse'of silver, and a plantation of 
 as many acres of land, with a pension of four drachmae a day ;* 
 the whole being confirmed to him by a decree drawn up by Aici. 
 biades. 
 
 * Though this may teem do extraordinary matter to as, tMiog only about 55 1-2 
 cents of federal mooey, yet in those days it was ; for an ambnndor mma allotred 
 only two drachmx a day, as appears from the Aehamenaa of AriMopbanes. TIm 
 poet, indeed, speaks of one sent to the king of Persia, at whose coiiit an aati 
 
 was pretty sure to be enriched. 
 
201 
 
 CATO THE CENSOR 
 Flourished 640 years before Christ, 
 
 IT is said that Marcus Cato was born at Tusculum, of which 
 place his family originally was, and that before he was concerned 
 in civil or military affairs, he lived upon an estate which his father 
 left him near the country of the Sabines. Though his ancestors 
 were reckoned to have been persons of no note, yet Cato himself 
 boasts of his father as a btave man and an excellent soldier, and 
 assures us, that his grandfather received several military rewards, 
 and that having had five horses killed under him, he had the value 
 of them paid out of the treasury, as an acknowledgement of his gal. 
 lant behaviour. 
 
 Inured to labour and temperance, and brought up in camps, he 
 had an excellent constitution with respect to strength as well as 
 health. Considering eloquence not only useful but necessary for 
 every man who does not choose to live obscure and inactive, he 
 exercised and improved that talent in the neighbouring boroughs 
 and villages, but undertaking the causes of such as applied to him ; 
 so that he was soon allowed to be an able pleader, and afterwards 
 a good orator. 
 
 From this time all that conversed with him, discovered in him 
 such a gravity of behaviour, such a dignity and depth of santiment, 
 as qualified him for the greatest affairs in the most respectable go- 
 vernment in the world. For he was not only so disinterested as to 
 plead without fee or reward,* but it appeared that the honour to be 
 gained in that department was not his principal view. His ambi- 
 tion was military glory : and when yet but a youth, he had fought 
 in so many battles, that his breast was full of scars. He himself 
 tells us, he made his first campaign at seventeen years of age, 
 when Hannibal was laying Italy waste with fire and sword. In 
 battle he stood firm, had a sure and executing hand, a fierce coun- 
 tenance, and spoke to his enemy in a threatening and dreadful ac- 
 cent : for he rightly judged, and endeavoured to convince others, 
 that such a behaviour often strikes an adversary with greater ter- 
 ror than the sword itself. He always marched on foot, and car- 
 ried his own arms, followed only by one servant, who carried his 
 provisions. And it is said, he never was angry or found fault 
 with that servant, whatever he set before him ; but when he was 
 at leisure from military duty he would assist him in dressing it. 
 All the time he was in the army, he drank nothing but water, ex- 
 
 2c 
 
2(^ CATO TH£ CKNSOR. 
 
 cept that when almost burnt up with thirst, he would ask for a little 
 vioei^r, or when he found his strength and spirits exhausted, he 
 would take a little wine 
 
 Near his country-seat was a cottage which formerly belonged to 
 Manius Curius,^ who was thrice honoured with a triumph. Cato 
 often walked thither, and reflecting on the smallness of the &nn 
 and the meanness of the dwelling, used to think of the peculiar 
 virtues of Deiitaius, who, though he was the greatest man in 
 Rome, had subdued the most warlike nations, and driven Pyrrhus 
 out of Italy, cultivated this little spot of ground with his own hands, 
 and, afler tliree triumphs, lived in this cottage. Here the ambai> 
 sadors of the Samnites found him in the chimney corner dressing 
 turnips, and offered a large present of gold ; but he refused it and 
 gave them this answer : " A man who can be satisfied with such 
 a supper, has no need of gold ; and I think it more glorious to 
 conquer the owners of it, than to have it myself." Full of these 
 thoughts, Cato returned home, and taking a view of his own es- 
 tate, his servants, and manner of living, added to his own labour, 
 and retrenched his unnecessary expenses. 
 
 When Fabius Maximus took the city of Tarentum, Cato, who 
 was theiv very young,f served under him. Happening at that time 
 to lodge with a Pythagorean philosopher named Nearchus, he de- 
 sired to hear some of his doctrine ; and learning from him the same 
 maxims that Plato advances, ** That pleasure is the greatest incen- 
 tive to evil ; that the greatest burden and calamity to the soul is 
 the body, from which she cannot disengage herself, but by such a 
 wise use of reason as shall wean and separate her from all corpo- 
 real passions," he became still more attached to frugality and 
 temperance. Yet it is said that he learned Greek very late, and 
 was considerably advanced in years when he began to read the 
 Grecian writers, uiiioiig whom he improved his eloquence, some- 
 what by Thucydides, but by Demosthenes very greatly. Indeed, 
 his own writings are sufliciently adorned with precepts and exam- 
 ples borrowed from the Greek, and among his maxims and ten- 
 tences we find many that are literally translated from the stme 
 originals. 
 
 \tthat time there flourished a Roman nobleman of great power 
 and eminence, called Valerius Flaccus, whose penetration enabled 
 him to distinguish a rising genius and virtuous disposition, and 
 whose benevolence inclined him to encourage and conduct it in 
 
 * Maniut Cuiiut tHmtatu* triumnhmt twice in his firM contiiUie. in th« four bun* 
 drad and tixiy-third year of Rome, lirtt ovrr ibe Samnitetand afterwardaover Uw Ss- 
 binet. And cii^lit years aAer that, in hii third ronsulaie, he inuninbad ovtr PyrrlHta. 
 After this, he led up the leu triumph, called (hahon, for hit victory Of«r lbs Lo 
 caniant. 
 
   Fabiui Maximus iwik Tarenium in his fifth consulatt, in the jrcar of Rorm S44. 
 Cato was then twenty-three years old : Ittti he hmi i-^ndo hit f^m r«,npaigQ uatftr tbs 
 •snie Fatiiirs five yean before. 
 
CATO THE CENSOR. 203 
 
 the path of glory. This nobleman had an estate contiguous to 
 Cato's, where he often beard his servants speak of his neighbour's 
 laborious and temperate manner of life. They told him that he 
 used to go early in the morning to the little towns in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and defend the causes of such as applied to him ; that 
 thence he would return to his own farm, where, in a coarse frock, 
 if it was winter, and naked if it was summer, he would labour with 
 his domestics, and afterwards sit down with them, and eat the same 
 kind of bread, and drink the same wine. They related also many 
 other instances of his condescension and moderation, and mention- 
 ed severalof his short sayings that were full of wit and good sense. 
 Valerius, charmed with his character, sent him an invitaion to 
 dinner. From that time, by frequent conversation, he found in 
 him so niuch sweetness of temper and ready wit, that he consider- 
 ed him as an excellent plant, which wanted only cultivation, and 
 deserved to be removed to a better soil. He therefore persuaded 
 him to go to Rome, and apply himself to affairs of s.ate. 
 
 There his pleadmgs soon procured him friends and admirers; 
 the interest of Valerius, too, greatly assisted his rise to prefer- 
 ment ; so that he was first made a military tribune, and afterwards 
 quaestor. And having gained great reputation and honour in those 
 employments, he was joined with Valerius himself m the highest 
 dignities, being his colleague both as consul and as censor. 
 
 His excellence as a speaker awakened a general emulation 
 among the youth to distinguish themselves he same way : but few 
 were wiUing to imitate him in the ancient custom of tilling the 
 field with their own hands, in eating a dinner prepared vvithout 
 fire, and a spare frugal supper ; few, Uke him, could be satisfied 
 with a plain dress and a poor cottage ; or think it more honourable 
 not to want the superfluities of life than to possess them ; for the 
 commonwealth now no longer retained its primitive purity and in- 
 tegrity. Justly, therefore, was Cato entitled to admiration, when 
 the other citizens were frightened at labour, and enervated by plea- 
 sure, and he alone was unconquered by either, not only while young 
 and ambitious, but when old and grey-haired, after his consulship 
 and triumph ; like a brave wrestler, who, after he has been victo- 
 rious, observes the pommon rules, and continues his exercises to 
 the last. 
 
 He himself tells us that he never wore a garment that cost more 
 than a hundred drachmas ; that even when pnetor or consul, he 
 drank the same wine with his slaves ; that a dinner never cost him 
 from the market above thirty ases : and that he was thus frugal for 
 the sake of his country, that he might be able to endure the harder 
 service in war. 
 
 Some imputed these things to a narrowness of spirit, while others 
 supposed that he betook himself to his contracted manner of living; 
 
204 ^ATO THE CENSOIt 
 
 in Older to correct by his example the growing luxury of the age. 
 For my part^ I cannot but charge his using his servants like so 
 many beasts of burden, and turning them ot!', or selling them, when 
 grown old, to the account of a mean and ungenerous spirit, which 
 thinks that the sole tie between man and man is interest or neces. 
 sity. But goodness moves in a larger sphere than justice : the ob- 
 ligations of law and equity reach only to mankind, but kiodnets 
 aud beneficence Hhould be extended to creatures of every species. 
 A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while 
 they are young, but when old and past service. 
 
 fcaio was, however, a man of wonderful temperance. For, 
 when general of the army, he took no more from the public, for 
 himself and those about him, than three Attic medimni of wheat a 
 month ; and less than a midimnus and a half of barley for his hor> 
 8es. And when he was governor of Sardinia, though his predeces. 
 sors had put the province to a very great expense for pavillions, 
 bedding, and apparel, and still more by the number of friends and 
 servants they had about them, and by the great and sumptuous en- 
 tertainments they gave ; he, on the contrary, was as remarkable 
 for his frugality. Indeed, he put the public to no manner of 
 charge. Instead of making use of a carriage, he walked from one 
 town to another, attended by only one officer, who carried his robe 
 and a vessel for libations. But if in these things he appeared 
 plain and easy to those that were under his command, he preserved 
 a gravity and severity in every thing else. For he was inexorable 
 in every thing that related to public justice, and inflexibly rigid in 
 the execution of his orders ; so that the Roman government 
 had never before appeared to that people cither so awful or so 
 amiable.'" 
 
 Being persuaded that a man's disposition may be discovered 
 much better by his speech than by his looks, I shall set down some 
 of Cato*8 remarkable sayings. 
 
 One day, when the Romans clamoured violently and unreason, 
 ably for a distribution of corn, to dissuade them from it he thus be- 
 gan his address : " It is a difficult task, my fellow.citizens, to 
 speak to the belly, because it has no ears." Another time, com- 
 plaining of the luxury of the Romans, he said, ** It was a hard 
 matter to save that city from ruin, where a fish was sold for more 
 than an ox." On another occasion he said, " The Roman people 
 were like sheep, for as those con scarce be brought to stir singly, 
 but all in a body readily follow their leaders, just such are ye. 
 The men whose counsel you would not take as individuals, lead 
 you with eaae in a crowd." Speaking of the power of women, he 
 said, '* All men naturally govern the wfimen, we govern all men, 
 
 * Hitonlv •muwmeni WM to h«r ih« inatiuciiofit of the poet Enniu*. irod^r 
 «rhom h« iMfMri the (>reek ncieQcet. Ii« brniittied usurer* from bis provtncs, and 
 r9'tuc«(i ihe intarett upon loans •Imntt to nnthioK. 
 
CATO THE CENSOR. 305 
 
 and our wives govern us." Another of Cato's sayings was, " That 
 the Roman people fixed the value, not only of the several kinds of 
 colours, but of the arts and sciences : for," added he, "as the dy- 
 ers dye that sort of purple which is most agreeable to you, so our 
 youth only study and strive to excel in such things as you esteem 
 and commend." Exhorting the people to virtue, he said, "If it is 
 by virtue and temperance that you are become great, change not 
 for the worse ; but if by intemperance and vice, change for the 
 better, for you are already great enough by such means as these." 
 He found fault with the people for often choosing the same persons 
 consuls. " You either," said he, " think the consulate of little 
 worth, or that there are but few worthy of the consulate." Con- 
 cerning one of his enemies, who led a very profligate and infa- 
 mous hfe, he said, " His mother takes it for a curse and not a 
 prayer, when any one wishes this son may survive her." Point- 
 ing to a man who had sold a paternal estate near the sea.side, he 
 pretended to admire him, as one that was stronger than the sea it- 
 self : "For," said he, " what the sea could not have swallowed 
 without difficulty, this man has taken down with all the ease imagi- 
 nable." When king Eumenes* came to Rome, the senate receiv- 
 ed him with extraordinary respect, and the great men strove which 
 should do him the most honour, but Cato visibly neglected and 
 shunned him. Upon which somebody said, " Why do you shun 
 Euraenes, who is so good a man, and so great a friend to the Ro- 
 mans ?" " That may be," answered Cato, " but I look upon a 
 king as a creature that feeds upon human flesh,f and of all the 
 kings that have been so much cried up, I find not one to be com- 
 pared with an Epaminondas, a Themistocles, a Manius Curius, or 
 with Hamilcar, surnamed Barcas. 
 
 He used to say that his enemies hated him, because he neglected 
 his own concerns, and rose before day. to mind those of the pub- 
 lic. But that he had rather his good actions should go unreward- 
 ed, than his bad ones unpunished ; and that he pardoned every 
 body's faults sooner than his own." The Romans having sent 
 three ambassadors to the king of Bithynia, of whom one had the 
 gout, another had his skull treps^nned, and third was reckoned little 
 better than a fool, Cato smiled and said, " They had sent an em- 
 bassy which had neither feet, head, nor heart." When Scipio ap- 
 plied to him, at the request of Polybius, in behalf of the Achajanij: 
 
 * Eumenes went to Rome in the year of Rome 581. Cato was then thirty-nine 
 years old. 
 
 f This jest is taken from the first book of Homer's Iliad. 
 
 I The Achaeans, in the first year of the hundred and fifty third Olympiad, entered 
 into measures for delivermg up their country 'o the king of Persia, but being discov^ 
 ered, a thousand of them were seized and compelled to live exiles m Italy. There 
 they continued seventeen years : after which about three nundred, who were still 
 living, were restored ny a decree of the senate, which was particularly made in favour 
 of Polybius, who w^H one of the number. 
 18 
 
20§ CATO TJtth CENSOR. 
 
 exiles, and the matter was much canvassed in the senate, some 
 speaking for their heing restored, and some aguinst it, Cuto rose 
 up and said, ** As if we had nothing else to do, we sit here all day 
 debating, whether a few poor old Greeks shall be buried by our 
 ffravC'digffers, or those of our their country.'* The senate then 
 decreed, tnat the exiles should return home ; and Polybius, some 
 days after, endeavoured to procure another meeting of that respec- 
 table body, to restore those exiles to their former honours in Achaia. 
 Upon this affair he sounded Calo, who answered smiling, " This 
 is just as if Ulysses should have wanted to enter the Cy clop's cuve 
 again, for a hat and belt which he had left behind.*' It was a 
 saying of his, *' That wise men learn more from fools, than fools 
 from the wise : for the wise avoid the error of fools, while fools do 
 Dot profit by the examples of the wise." Another of his sayings 
 was, " That he liked a young man that blushed, more than one that 
 turned pale ; and that he did not Uke a soldier who moved his 
 hands in marching, and his feet in fighting, and who snored louder 
 in bed than he shouted in battle." Jesting upon a very fat man, 
 he said, ** Of what service to his country can 8uch a body be, which 
 is nothing but belly ?" When an epicure desired so be admitted 
 into his friendship, he said, '' He could not live with a man whose 
 palate had quicker sensations than his heart." He used to say, 
 ^'The soul of a lover lived in the body of another: and that in 
 all his life he never repented but of three things ; the first was, 
 that he had trusted a woman with a secret ; the second, that he 
 had gone by sea, when he might have gone by land ; and the third, 
 that he passed one day without having a will by him."* To an 
 old debauchee he said, *'Old age has deformities enough of its 
 own ; do not add to it the deformity of vice." A tribune of the 
 people, who had the character of a poisoner, proposing a bad law, 
 and taking great pains to have it passed, Oato said to him, *' Young 
 man, I know not which is most dangerous, to drink what you mix, 
 or to enact what you propose." Being scurrilously treated by a 
 man who led a dissolute and infamous life, he said, " It is upon 
 very unequal terms that I contend with you ; for you are accustom, 
 ed to be spoken ill of, and can speak it with pleasure; but with 
 me it is unusual to hear it, and disagreeable to speak it." Such 
 was the manner of his repartees and short sayings. 
 
 Being appointed consul along with his friend Valerius Flaccus, 
 the government of that part of Spain which the Romans call Cite- 
 rior, Uitheff fell to his lot.f While he was subduing some of the na- 
 
 • Thi« hat be«n mitiindcrataod by all the translaiors, who ^ava a(i«ad in render* 
 ft, ** thai h« had \m»wtd nnr riay idly." 
 
 f Ai Taro't troops coniisied fur the moM part of raw aelciiert. h« took great paint 
 Ut riiKiplinn thfm. rimaideniiK that they had to d«al wiUi ilM Spaniards, who, m tlieit 
 wart wiih the Hoinan* and ( ariiiaciniao*, had learned ihe mditary an. and wert 
 mCtfralty brave and couraneoui. Before be came to notion, be lent away hit fleot. 
 
CATO THE CENSOR. ^jgfr 
 
 tidtis there by arms, and winning others by kindness, a great army 
 of barbarians fell upoh him, and he was in danger of being driven 
 out with dishonour. On this occasion he sent to desire succours of 
 his neighbours the Celtibenans, who demanded two hundred talents 
 for that service. All the officers of his army thought it intolerable, 
 that the Romans should be obliged to purchase assistance of the 
 barbarians : but Cato said, " It is no such great hardship ; for if 
 we conquer, we shall pay them at the enemy's expense ; and if we 
 are conquered, there will be no body either to pay or make the de- 
 mand." He gained the battle, and every thing afterwards sue- 
 ceeded to his wish. 
 
 While he was settling the affairs of Spain, Scipio the Great, who 
 was his enemy, and wished to break the course of his success, and 
 have the finishing of the war himself, managed matters so as to get 
 himself appointed his successor, after which he made all possible 
 haste to take the command of the army from him. But Cato, hear- 
 ing of his march, took five companies of foot, and five hundred 
 horse, as a convoy to attend upon Scipio, and as he went to meet 
 him, defeated the Lacetanians, and took among them six hundred 
 Roman deserters, whom he caused to be put to death. And upon Sci- 
 pio's expressing his displeasure at this, he answered ironically, 
 " Rome would be great indeed, if men of birth would not yield the 
 palm of virtue to the commonalty, and if plebeians, like himself, 
 would contend for excellence with men of birth and quality." Be- 
 sides, as the senate had decreed, that nothing should be altered 
 which Cato had ordered and established, the post which Scipio had 
 made so much interest for, rather tarnished his own glory than that 
 of Cato ; for he continued inactive during that government. 
 
 In the mean time, Cato was honoured with a triumph. But he 
 did not act afterwards like those whose ambition is only for fame, 
 and not for virtue, and who having reached the highest honours, 
 borne the office of consul, and led up triumphs, withdraw from bu- 
 siness, and give up the rest of their days to ease and pleasure. On 
 the contrary, like those who are just entered upon business, and 
 thirst for honour and renown, he exerted himself as if he were be- 
 ginning his race anew, his services being always ready both for his 
 friends in particular, and for the citizens in general, either at the 
 bar or in the field. For he went with the consul Tiberius Sempro- 
 nius to Thrace and the Danube,* as his lieutenant ; and as a le- 
 gionary tribune, he attended Manius Acilius Glabrio into Greece, 
 in the war against Antiochus the Great, who, next to Hannibal^ was 
 the most formidable enemy the Romans ever had. For having re- 
 
 that his soldiers might place all their hopes in their valour. With the same view, 
 when he came near the enemy, he took a compass, and posted his army behind them 
 In the plain, so that the Spaniards were between him and his camp. 
 
 * The year after his consulship, and the second year of the hundred and foEty^xfh 
 Olympiad 
 
208 
 
 CATO THE CEWSQR. 
 
 covered almost all the provinces of Asia which Seleucut Nicmnor 
 bad possessed, and reduced many warlike nations of barbarians, he 
 was so much elated as to think the Romans the only match for him 
 in the field. Accordmgly he crossed the sea with a powerful army, 
 colouring his design with tbe specious pretence of restoring liberty 
 to the Greeks, of which, however, ihey stood in no deed, lor being 
 lately delivered by the favour of the Romans from the yoke of Phi- 
 lip and the Macedonians, they were free already, and were go- 
 verned by their own laws. 
 
 At his approach, all Greece was in great commotion, and unre. 
 solved how to act ; being corrupted with the splendid hopes in. 
 flised by the orators whom Antiochus had gained. 
 
 Antiochus having blocked up the narrow pass of Thermopylas 
 with his troops, and added walls and entrenchments to the natural 
 fortifications of the place, sat down there unconcerned, thinking the 
 war could not touch him. And indeed the Romans despaired of 
 forcing the pass. But Cato recollecting the circuit the Persians 
 bad taken on a like occasion, set out in the night with a proper de- 
 tachment. 
 
 When they had advanced a considerable height, the guide, who 
 .vas one of the prisoners, missed his way, and wandering about, 
 among impracticable places and precipices, threw the soldiers into 
 inexpressible dread and despair. Cato, seeing the danger, ordered 
 them to halt, while he with one Lucius Manlius, who was dexte- 
 rous in climbing the steep mountains, went forward with great dif. 
 ficulty and at the hazard of his hfe, at midnight, without any moon ; 
 scrambling among wild olive-trees, and steep rocks that still more 
 impeded his view, and added darkness to the obscurity. At last 
 they hit upon a' path whidi seemed to lead down to the enemy's 
 camp. They had marched but a little farther, when the path failed 
 tbem, and they saw notliing before them but a precipice, which 
 distressed them still more ; for they could not yet perceive that 
 they were near the enemy. 
 
 The day now began to appear, when one of them thought be 
 heard the sound of human voices, and a little aAer, they saw the 
 Grecian camp, and the advanced guord at the foot of the rock. 
 Cato, therefore, made a halt, and sent to acquaint the Firmians 
 that he wanted to speak with them in private.* These were troops 
 whose fidelity and courage he had experienced oo the most dan- 
 gerous occasions. They hastened into his presence, when he thus 
 addressed them : '* I want to take one of the enemy alive, to learn 
 of him who, and how many, compose this advanced guard, what is 
 the disposition and order of the whole army, and what preparatioos 
 they have made to receive us ; but the business reouires the speed 
 and impetuosity of lions, who rush into a herd of timorous beasts.*' 
 
 « Firroium wm» a Roman colony in tkt Ptoooe. 
 
CATO THE CENSOR. 209 
 
 When Cato had done speaking, the Firmians, without further 
 preparation, poured down the mountain, surpiised the advanced 
 guard, dispersed them, took one armed man, and brought him to 
 Cato. The prisoner informed him, that the main body of the army 
 was encamped with the king in the narrow pass, and that the de- 
 tachment which guarded the heights consisted of six hundred se- 
 lect iEtolians. Cato, despising these troops, as well on account of 
 their small number, as their negligence,^drew his sword, apd rushed 
 upon them with all the alarm of voices and triynpets. The ^Eto- 
 lians no sooner saw him descend from the mountains, than they 
 fled to the main body, and put the whole in the utmost confusion. 
 
 At the same time Manius forced the entrenchments of Antiochus 
 below, and poured into the pass with his army. Antiochus him- 
 self being wounded in the mouth with a stone, and having some of 
 his teeth struck out, the anguish obliged him to turn his horse and 
 retire. After his retreat, no part of his army could stand the shock 
 of the Romans. 
 
 Cato, who was never sparing in his own praises, and thought 
 boasting a naturjjil attendant on great actions, is very pompous in 
 his account of this exploit. He says, " That those who saw him 
 charging the enemy, routing and pursuing them, decFared that Cato 
 owed less to the people of Rome, than the people of Rome owed 
 to Cato ; and that the consul Manius himself, coming hot from the 
 fight, took him in his arms as he too came panting from the ac- 
 tion, and embracing him a long time, cried out in a transport of 
 joy, that neither he nor the whole Roman people could sufficiently 
 reward Cato's merit." 
 
 Immediately after the battle, the consul sent him with an ac- 
 count of it to Rome, that he might be first to carry the news of his 
 own achievements. With a favourable wind he sailed to Brundu- 
 sium ; thence he reached Tarentum in one day : and having tra- 
 velled four days more, arrived at Rome the fifth day after he land- 
 ed, and was the first that brought the news of the victory. 
 
 These are the most remarkable of Cato's actions :- and with re- 
 spect to civil affairs, he appears to have thought the impeaching of 
 offenders and bringing them, to justice a thing that well deserved 
 his attention. For he prosecuted several^ and encouraged and as- 
 sisted others in carrying on their prosecutions. 
 
 Cato, however, did not escape such attacks ; but when, in the 
 business of the state, he gave the least handle, was prosecuted, and 
 sometimes in danger of being condemned. For it is said that near 
 fifty impeachments were brought against him, and the last, when 
 he was eighty-six years of age : on which occasion he made use 
 of that memorable expression, " It is hard that I wh6 have lived 
 with men of one generation, should be obliged to make my defence 
 to those of another." Nor was this the end of his cor^tests at the 
 2$ 18* 
 
 / 
 
ilXO 
 
 CATO iUK CLiNSQK. 
 
 htLt ; for, ibor years afler, at the age of nuicty,* be impMcbed Sci. 
 viliufl Galba : so that, like Nestor, be lived tbree generaUons, and, 
 like him, waa always in action. After having constantly opposed 
 Scipio in matters of government, he lived until the time of young 
 Scipio, his adopted grandson, and son of Paulus i£miliu8} who coo* 
 quered Perseus and the Macedonians. 
 
 Ten years aller his cotisulship, Cato stood for the office of cen- 
 sor, which was the highest dignity in tlie republic. For, beside the 
 other power and authority that attended this office, it gave the ma« 
 gpstcate a right of inquiry into the hves and manners of the citi- 
 zens, and when Cato solicited it, the principal senators opposed him. 
 
 Having consulted and prepared thoir measures, they put up seven 
 candidates in opposition to Cato ; and imagining that the people 
 wished to be governed with an easy hand, they soothed them with 
 hopes of a mild censorship. Cato, on the contrary, without con. 
 descending to the least flattery or complaisance, in his speeches 
 from the rostrum professed his resolution to punish every instance 
 of vice : and loudly declaring that the city wanted great reforma- 
 tion, conjured the people, if they were wise, to choose, not the 
 mildest, but the severest physician. 
 
 The Roman people, on this occasion, shewed themselves truly 
 great, and worthy of the best of leaders : for, far from dreading 
 the severity of this inflexible man, they rejected those smoother 
 candidates who seemed ready to consult their pleasure in every 
 thing, and chose Valerius Flaccus with Cato ; attending to the lat^ 
 tsr not as a man who solicited the office of censor, but as one who, 
 already possessed of it, gave out his orders by virtue of his authority. 
 
 The first thing that Cato did, was to name his friend and col. 
 league Lucius Valerius Flaccus chief of the senate, and to expel 
 many others the house; particularly Lucius Quintus, who had been 
 consul seven years before, and, what was still a greater honour, 
 was brother to Titus Flaminiue,f who overthrew king Philip. 
 
 He was censured as having merely indulged his envy, when be 
 degraded Lucius, who was brother to Scipio ihe Great, and had 
 been honoured with a triumph ; for he took from him his horse ; 
 and it was believed he did it to insult the memory of Scipio Afri- 
 oanus. But what rendered him more generally obnoxious, was the 
 reformation he introduced in point of luxury. It was impossible 
 for him to begin his attacks upon it openly, bocause tbe whole 
 body of the people was infected, and therefore he took an indirect 
 
 • Plumrch here Iff DM cooiistent with himiel£ Towards the begi«iin| ot ikie life, 
 m my, thmt Cein wm but ■eeenieeB yean old at the line of Haaalbare Mocesi ia 
 iialy ; and at the conclutioo he lelli, that Cato died just at Uie bsghwiM of the thifd 
 Puoic war. But Hannihal came into Italy in the year of RoneSM , end the third 
 reale war broke out aeveotyyeartafker, hi Uie year of RssM 604. Aoootding lo tMi 
 MpmatkMi, Cato ooQld not be more than eightyeMreo yestt old when he died, sad 
 tmeMccNint if confirmed by Cicera ^^ 
 
 * Polyhlttf, lAry, andCtewo, make the tumame of thlt family Flamloiif 
 
CATO THE CENSOR. 211 
 
 method. He caused an estimate to be taken of all apparel, car- 
 riages, female ornaments, furniture and utensils ; and whatever 
 exceeded fifteen hundred drachmas in value, he rated at ten times 
 as much, and imposed a tax according to that valuation/ For every 
 thousand ases he made them pay three ; that finding themselves 
 burdened with the tax, while the modest and frugal, with equal sub- 
 stance, paid much less to the public, they might be induced to re- 
 trench their appearance. This procured him many enemies, not 
 only among those who, rather than part with their luxury, submit- 
 ted to the tax, but among those who lessened the expense of their 
 figure to avoid it. For the generality of mankind think that a pro- 
 hibition to shew their wealth is the same thing as taking it away, 
 and that opulence is seen in the superfluities, not in the necessaries 
 of life. 
 
 The people, however, appear to have been highly pleased with 
 his behaviour in this office. For when they erected his statue in 
 the temple of Health, they made no mention on the pedestal of his 
 victories and his triumph, but the inscription was to this effect: 
 " In honour of Cato the censor, who, when the Roman common- 
 wealth was degenerating into licentiousness, by good discipline 
 and wise institutions restored it." 
 
 Before this, he laughed at those who were fond of such honours, 
 and said, " They were not aware that they plumed themselves upon 
 the workmanship of founders, statuaries, and painters, while the 
 Romans bore about a more glorious image of him in their hearts." 
 And to those who expressed their wonder, that, while many per- 
 sons of little note had their statues, Cato had none, he said, " He 
 had much rather it should be asked, why he had not a statue, than 
 why he had one." In short, he was of opinion that a good citizen 
 should not even accept of his due praise, unless it tended to the ad-' 
 vantage of the community. Yet of all men he was the most for- 
 ward to commend himself: for he tells us, that those who were 
 guilty of misdemeanors, and afterwards reproved for them, used to 
 say, " They are excusable ; they were not Catos :" and that such 
 as imitated some of his actions, but did it awkwardly, were called 
 left-handed Catos. He added, " That the senate, in difficult and 
 dangerous times, used to cast their eyes upon him, as passengers 
 in a ship do upon the pilot in a storm :" and " That when he hap- 
 pened to be absent, they frequently put oflT the consideration of 
 matters of importance." These particulars, indeed, are confirmed 
 by other writers ; for his life, his eloquenee, and his age, gave him 
 great authority in Rome. 
 
 He was a good father, a good husband, and an excellent econo- 
 mist. He chose his wife rather for her family than her fortune ; 
 persuaded, that, though both the rich and the high-born have their 
 pride, yet women of good families are more ashamed of any base 
 
2^ CATO THE CENSOR. 
 
 and UD worthy action, and more obedient to their hufibandtf in every 
 ibing that is good and honourable. 
 
 Aa soon as the dawn of understanding appeared, Cato took upon 
 him the office of schoolmaster to his Hon, though he had a slave 
 named Chilo, who was a good grammarian^ and taught several other 
 children. But he tells us, he did not choose that his son should be 
 reprimanded by a slave, or pulled by the «ar8, if he happened to be 
 slow in learning ; or that he should be indebted to so mean a per. 
 son for his education. He was, therefore, himself bin |>rcceptor in 
 grammar, in law, and in the necessary exercises. For he taught 
 him not only how to throw a dart,4o fight hand to hand, and to ride, 
 but to box, to endure heat and cold, and to swim the most rapid ri> 
 ^ers. He farther acquaints us, that he wrote histories for him with 
 his own hand, m large characters, that without stirring out of his 
 father's house, he might gain a knowledge of the great actions of 
 the ancient Romans and of the customs of his country. He was 
 as careful not to utter an indecent word before his son, as he would 
 have been in the presence of the Vestal Virgins; nor did he ever 
 bathe with him. A regard to decency in this respect was indeed 
 at that time general among the Romans. 
 
 While Cato was taking such excellent measures for forming his 
 son to virtue, he found him naturally ductile both in genius and in. 
 clination ; but us his body was too weak to undergo much hardship, 
 his father was obliged to relax the severity of his discipline, and to 
 indulge him a little in point of diet. Yet, with this constitution, ho 
 was an excellent soldier, and particularly distinguished himself un. 
 der-Paulua i£milius in the battle against Perseus. On this occa- 
 sion, his sword happening to be struck from his hand, the moisture 
 of which prevented him from grasping it firmly, he turned to some 
 of his companions with great concern, and begged their assistance 
 in recovering it. He then rushQ4 with them into the midst of the 
 enemy, and having, with extraordinary efibrts, cleared the place 
 where the sword was lost, he found it, with much difficulty, under 
 heaps of arms, and dead bodies of friends, as well as enemies, piled 
 upon each other. Paulus iEmilius admired this gallant action of 
 the young man ; and tliere is a letter still extant, written by Cato 
 to his son, in which ho extremely commends his high sense of ho- 
 nour expressed in the recovery of his sword. The young man af- 
 terwards married Tertta, daughter to Paulus iEmilius, and sister to 
 young Scipio ; the honoUr of which alliance was as much owing to 
 his own as to his father's merit. Thus Cato's care in the educa- 
 tion of his sun answered the end proposed. 
 
 When Cato was far advanced in years, there arrived at Rome 
 two ambassadors from Athens, Carneades the Aeademk, and Dio- 
 genes the Stoic. They were sent to beg ofTa fine of five hundred 
 talents which had been im(>oeed on the Athenians for contumacy, 
 
CATO THE CEiNSOK. 213 
 
 by the Sic3'0Jiians, at the suit of the people of Oropus.* Upon the 
 arrival of these philosophers, such of the Roman youth as had a 
 taste for learning, went to wait on them, and heard them with won- 
 der and delight. Above all they were charmed with the graceful 
 manners of Carneades, the force of whose eloquence being great, 
 and his reputation equal to his eloquence, had drawn an. audience 
 of the most considerable and polite persons in Rome,. and the sound 
 of his fame, like a mighty wind, had filled the whole city. 
 
 The Romans were delighted to behold their sons thus fondly re- 
 ceive the Grecian literature ; but Cato, from the beginning, was 
 alarmed at it. He was afraid that the youth would turn their am- 
 bition that way, and prefer the glory of eloquence to that of deeds 
 of arras. But when he found that the reputation of these philoso- 
 phers rose still higher, and their first speeches were translated into 
 Latin, by Caius Acilius, a senator of great distinction, he had no 
 longer patience, but resolved to dismiss them upon some decent 
 and specious pretence. 
 
 He went therefore to the senate, and complained of the magis- 
 trates for detaining so long such ambassadors as those, who could 
 persuade the people to whatever they pleased. " You ought," said 
 he, " to determine their affair as speedily as possible, thaty return- 
 ing to their schools, they may hold forth to the Grecian youth, and 
 that our young men may give attention to the law s and the magis- 
 trates." Not that Cato was induced ta this by any particular pique 
 to Carneades, which some suppose to have been the case, but by 
 his aversion to philosophy, and his making it a point to show his 
 contempt of the polite studies and learning of the Greeks. Nay, 
 he scrupled not to affirm, " That Socrates himself was a prating 
 seditious fellow, who used his utmost endeavours to tyrannize over 
 his country, by abolishing its customs, and drawing the people over 
 to opinions contrary to the laws." And to ridicule the slow me- 
 thods of Isocrates's teaching, he said, " His scholars grew old in 
 learning their art, as if they intended to exercise it in the shades 
 below, and to plead causes there." And .to dissuade his son from 
 those studies, he told him in a louder tone than could be expected 
 from a man of his age, and, as it were, in an oracular and prophe- 
 tic way, " That when the Romans came thoroughly to imbibe the 
 Grecian hterature, they would lose the empire of the world." But 
 time has shewn the vanity of that invidious assertion ; for Rome 
 was never at a higher pitch of greatness, than when she was mos? 
 perfect in the Grecian erudition, and most attentive to learning.f 
 
 * The Athenians had phindered the city of Oropus. Upon complaint made by the 
 inhabitants, the afifair was referred to the determination of the Sicyonians ; and the 
 Athenians not appearing to justify themselves, were fined five hundred talents. 
 
 f Rome had, indeed, a very extensive empire in the Augugtan age, hut. at the same 
 time, she lost her ancient constitution and her liberty. Not thai the iearnmg of the 
 Romans contributed to that loss, but their irreligion, their luxury, and corruption, 
 occasioned it^ 
 
314 t'ATO THK CENSOR. 
 
 In his younger days he applied himself to agricnlture, with a 
 view to profit ; lor ho used to say, he had only t>*o ways of increa. 
 ing his income, labour and parsimony : but as he grew old, he 
 regarded it only by way of theory and amusement. He wrote a 
 book concerning country affairs/ in which, among other things, be 
 gives rules for making cakes, and preserving fruit : for he was 
 demrous to be thought curious and particular in every thing. He 
 kept a better table in the country than in the town; fbr he always 
 invited some of his acquaintance to sup with him. 
 
 With these he passed the time in cheerful conversation, making 
 himself agreeable, not only to those of his own age, but to the 
 young ; for he had a thorough knowledge of the world, and had 
 either seen himself or heard from others a variety of things that 
 were curious and entertaining. He looked upon the table as one 
 of the best means of forming friendships : and at his, the conver- 
 sation generally turned upon the praises of great and excellent 
 men among the Romans : as for the bad and unworthy, no mention 
 was made of them, for he would not allow in his company one word, 
 either good or bad, to be said of such men. 
 
 The last service he is said to have done the public, was the 
 destruction of Carthage. The younger Scipio indeed gave the 
 finishing stroke to that work, but it was undertaken chiefly by the 
 advice and at the instance of Cato. The occasion of this war was 
 this : The Carthaginians and Massinissa king of Numidia, being 
 at war with each other, Cato wblb sent into Africa to inquire into 
 the cause of the quarrel. Massinissa, from the first had been a 
 friend to the Romans, and the Carthaginians were admitted into 
 their alliance after the great overthrow they received from Scipio 
 the elder, but upon terms which deprived them of great part of 
 their dominions, and imposed a heavy tribute.f When Cato 
 arrived at Carthage, he found that city not in the exhausted and 
 hamble condition which the Romans imagined, but full of men fit 
 to bear arms, abounding in money, in arms, and warlike stores, 
 and not a little elated in the thought of its being so well provided. 
 He concluded, therefore, that it was now time for the Romans to 
 endeavour to settle the points in dispute between the Numidians 
 and Carthage ; and that, if they did not soon make themtelTM 
 masters of that city, which was their old enemy, and retained 
 strong resentments of the usage she had lately received, and which 
 had not wnly recovered herself afier her losses, but was prodigi. 
 ously increased in wealth and power, they would soon be •zpoted 
 
 « Thif it tlM ooly work of hit that remaint entire : of lbs i«l w« bsva oaly Ah* 
 menuL 
 
 f Scipio Afrieaousotiliged tbeCarthiixiniHnt, at theeoMokiaion of the imomI RnUe 
 war, tt> (Mirer up tbeir fleet to the Romans, yield to Muaialna pAit of Sjpkax** 
 dooiinioiM, sad pay the Rotnaot ten tbouHnd ulents Thle psaee was nade w tkm 
 third year of ttte hundred and fbrty. fourth Olympiad, two btrndivd ye«rt bafbra the 
 Cfariarian er»^ 
 
CATO THE CENSOR. 216 
 
 to all their former dangers. For this reason they returned in all 
 haste to Rome, where he informed the senate, " That the defeats 
 and other misfortunes which had happened to the Carthaginians, 
 had not so much drained them of their forces, as cured them of 
 their folly ; and, in all probability, instead of weaker, they had 
 made them a more skilful and warlike ^nemy i that their war with 
 the Numidians was only a prelude to future combats with the Ro- 
 mans; and that the late peace was a mere name, for they con- 
 sidered it only as a suspension of arms, which they were willing 
 to avail themselves of, till they had a favourable opportunity to 
 renew the war. 
 
 It is said, that at the conclusion of his speech he shook the lap 
 of his gown, and purposely dropped some Lybian figs ; and when 
 ho found the senators admired them for their size and beauty, ho 
 told them, " That the country where they grew was but three days 
 sail from Rome." But what is a stronger instance of his enmity to 
 Carthage, he never gave his opinion in the senate upon any point 
 whatever, without adding these words : " And my opinion is, that 
 Carthage should be destroyed." Scipio, surnamed Nksica, made 
 it a point to maintain the contrary, and concluded all his speeches 
 thus : "And my opinion is, that Carthage should be left standing." 
 It is very likely that this great man, perceiving that the people 
 were come to such a pitch of insolence, as to be led by it into tbo 
 greatest excesses (so that in the pride of prosperity they could not 
 be restrained \}y the senate, but by their overgrown power were 
 able to draw the government what way they pleased,) thought it 
 best that Carthage should remain to keep them in awe, and to 
 moderate their presumption. For he saw that the Carthaginians 
 were not strong enough to conquer the Romans, and yet too re- 
 spectable an enemy to be despised by them. On the other hand, 
 Cato thought it dangerous, while the people were thus inebriated 
 and giddy with power, to suffer a city which had always been great, 
 and which was now grown sober and wise through its misfortunes, 
 to lie watching every advantage against them. It appeared to him, 
 therefore, the wisest course, to have all outward dangers removed 
 from the commonwealth, that it might be at leisure to guard against 
 internal corruption. 
 
 Thus Cato, they tell us, occasioned the third and last war against 
 the Carthaginians. But eis soon as it began he died, having first 
 prophesied of the person that should put an end to it ; who was then 
 a young man, and had only a tribune's command in the army, but 
 was giving extraordinary proofs of his conduct and valour. The 
 news of his exploits being brought to Rome, Cato cried out, 
 
 •He is the soul of council ; 
 
 The rest are shadows vain. 
 
 This Scipio soon confirmed by his actions. 
 
216 
 
 PYRRHUS. 
 
 Flourished 800 years before Christ, 
 
 THE Molossians rising against iEacides, the father of Pyrrhos, 
 deposed him, and brought in the sons of his cousin Neoptolemos. 
 On this occasion the friends of iEacides were taken and slain : only 
 Androclides and Angelas escaped with his infant son, though he 
 was much sought after by his enemies; and curried him off with 
 his nurses and a few necessary attendants. This train rendering 
 their flight difiicult and slow, they were soon overtaken. In this 
 extremity they put the child in the hands of Androclcon, Hippiaa 
 and Neander, three active young men whom they could depend 
 Upon, and ordered them to make the best of their way to Megars, 
 a town in Macedonia : while they themselves, partly by entreaty, 
 and partly by force, stopt the course of the puf>uers till evening ; 
 when, having with much difficulty got clear of them, they hastened 
 to join those who carried the young prince. At sun.set they thought 
 themselves near the summit of their hopes, but they met with a 
 sudden disappointment. When they came to the river that runs by 
 the town, they found it absolutely unfordable. Fpr the current 
 being swelled with the late rains, was very boisterous, and dark, 
 ness added to the horror. — ^They now despaired of getting the child 
 and his nurses over, without some assistance : when perceiving 
 some of the inhabitants of the place on the other side, they begged 
 of them to assist their passage, and held up Pyrrhus towards them. 
 But though they called out loud and entreated earnestly, the stream 
 ran so rapid and made such a roanng, that they could not be hoard. 
 Some time was spent, while they were crying out on one side, and 
 listening to no purpose on the other. At last one of Pyrrfaus's 
 company thought of peeling off a piece of oak-bark, and of expresm 
 iog upon it, with the tongue of a buckle, the necessities and fortunea 
 of the child. Accordingly ho put this in execution, and having 
 rolled the piece of bark about a stone, he threw it to the other 
 side. When the people on the other side had read it, and saw there 
 was not a moment to lose, they cut down trees, and made a raft of 
 them, and crossed the river upon it. It happened that the first 
 roan who reached the bank, was named Achilles. He took Pyr. 
 rbus in his arms, and conveyed him over, while his companions 
 performed the same ser\'ice for his followers. 
 
 Pyrrhus and his train, having thus got safe over, and escaped the 
 pursuers, continued their route till they arrived at the court of 
 Ghiucias king of Ulyria. They found the kiog sitting in his pall 
 
PYRRHUS. 217 
 
 with the queen his consorf,* and laid the child at his feet in the 
 posture of a supphant. The king, who stood in fear of Cassander, 
 the enemy of ^Eacides, remained a long time silent, considering 
 what part he should act. While Pyrrhus, of his own accord, creep- 
 ing closer to him, took hold of his robe and raising himself up to 
 his knees, by this action first excited a smile, and afterwards com. 
 passion ; for he thought he saw a petitioner before him begging his 
 protection with tears. For this reason he put him immediately in 
 the hands of the queen, and ordered her to bring him up with his 
 own children. His enemies^ demanding him soon after, and 
 Cassander offering two hundred talents to have him delivered up, 
 Glaucias refused to do it ; and when he came to be twelve years 
 old, conducted him into EJpirus at the head of an army, and placed 
 him upon the throne. 
 
 Pyrrhus had an air of majesty rather terrihle than august. In- 
 stead of teeth in his upper jaw he had one continued bone, marked 
 with small lines resembling the divisions of a row of teeth. 
 
 When he was about seventeen years of age, and seenved to be 
 quite established in his kingdom, he happened to be called out of 
 his own territories to attend the nuptials of one ofGlaucias's sons, 
 with whom he had been educated. On this occasion the Molos- 
 sians revolting again, drove out his friends, pillaged his treasures, 
 and put themselves once more under Neoptolemus. Pyrrhus hav- 
 ing thus lost the crown, and being in want of every thing, applied 
 to Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, who had married his sister 
 Deidamia. In the great battle of Ipsus, where all the kings of the 
 earth were engaged, f Pyrrhus accompanied Demetrius; and, 
 though but young, bore down all before him, and highly distin- 
 guished himself among the combatants. Nor did he forsake De- 
 metrius, when unsuccessful, but kept for him those cities of Greece 
 with which he was entrusted : and when the treaty was concluded 
 with Ptolemy, he went to Egypt as an hostage. There, both in 
 hunting and other exercises, he gave Ptolemy proofs of his strength 
 and abilities. Observing that among Ptolemy's wives, Berenice 
 had the greatest power, and was most eminent for virtue and un- 
 derstanding, he attached himself most to her. For he had a par- 
 ticular art of making his court to the great, while he overlooked 
 those who wer^ below him. And as in his whole conduct he paid 
 great attention to decency, temperance and prudence, Antigone, 
 who was daughter to Berenice by her first husband Philip, was 
 given him, in preference to many other young princes. 
 
 On this account he was held in greater honour than ever, and 
 
 * Justin calls this princess Beroa, and says she was of the family of the ^acidae: 
 which must have been the reason of their seeking refuge for Pyrrhus in that court. 
 
 f He says all the kings of the earth were engaged, because Lysimachus, Seieucus, 
 Ptolemy, Cassander, Antigonus, and Demetrius, were there in person. This baul« 
 was fought about three hundred years before Christ. 
 
 2e 19 
 
tU8 
 
 FYRKUi;^. 
 
 Antigone proving an excellent wife, procured bim men ami money, 
 which enabled him to recover his kingdom of Eptni*. At his ar- 
 rival there, his subjects received him with open arms ; for Neop. 
 tolemus was become obnoxious to the people, by his arbitrary and 
 tyrannical government. Nevertheless, Vy rrhus, apprehending that 
 Neoptolemus might have recourse to some of the other kings, came 
 to an agreement with him, and associated him in the kingdom, bat 
 in process of time privately sowed dissentions and jealousies be* 
 tween them, and Neoptolemus was taken off by assassination. . 
 
 In acknowledgment of the obligations he had to Berenice and 
 Ptolemy, he named his son by Antigone, Ptolemy, and called the 
 city which he built in the Chersonese of Epirus, Berenicis. From 
 this time he began to conceive many great designs, but bis first 
 hopes laid hold of all that was near home : and he found a plausi. 
 ble pretence to concern himself m the affairs of Macedon. Anti- 
 pater, the eldest son of Cassander, had killed his mother Thessa. 
 ionica, and expelled his brother Alexander. Alexander sent to 
 Demetrius for succour, and implored likewise the assistance of 
 Pyrrhus. Demetrius, having many affairs upon his hands, could 
 not presently comply ; but Pyrrhus came and demanded, as the 
 reward of his services, the city of Nympbsea,* and all the maritime 
 coast of Macedonia, together with Ambmcia, Acamania, and Am- 
 pbilochia, which were some of the countries that did not originally 
 belong to the kingdom of Macedon. The young prince agreeing 
 to the conditions, Pyrrhus possessed himself of these countries, 
 and secured them with his garrisons, a(\er which he went on con. 
 quering the rest for Alexander, and driving Antipater before him. 
 
 King Lysimachus was well inclined to give Antipater assistance, 
 but he was so much engaged with his own affairs, that he could 
 not find time for it. Recollecting, however, that Pyrrhus would 
 refuse nothing to his friend Ptolemy, he forged letters in Ptolemy'a 
 name, enjoining him to evacuate Macedonia, and to be satiaMd 
 with three hundred talents from Antipater. But Pyrrhiis no aoooer 
 opened the letters, than he perceived the forgery. For, instead 
 of the customary salutation, "The father to his son, greeting," they 
 began with, " King Ptolemy to king Pyrrhus, greeting." He in- 
 veighed against Lysimachus for the fraud, but listened, notwith- 
 standing, to proposals of peace ; and the three princes met to offer 
 ■acrifices on the occasion, and to swear upon the altar to the ar- 
 tides. A boar, a bull, and a ram, being led up as victims, the 
 ram dropt down dead of himself. The rest of the company laugh- 
 ed at the accident ; but Theonotus the diviner advised Pyrrhus not 
 to swear, declaring that the deity presignified the death of one of 
 the kings ; upon which he refiaeed to ratify the peace. 
 
 \ Dftcier Uitnks ApoUonia roiglii be called Nymptos, fton Nymphcuro, a otl»- 
 
 ay«fa» waiat>eespafte. TheiawasaeitycdMlfy^umfai tbtSff 
 ' ^" ' bm ttatconid not tw meant here. 
 
PYRRHUS. 2J9 
 
 Alexander's affairs were thus advantageously settled ;* neverthe- 
 less Demetrius came. But it soon appeared that he came now un- 
 requested, and that his presence excited rather fear than gratitude. 
 When they had been a few days together, in mutual distrust thev 
 laid snares for each other ; but Demetrius finding the first oppor- 
 tunity, was beforehand with Alexander, killed him, and got him- 
 self proclaimed king of Macedon. 
 
 He had for a long time had subjects of complaint against Pyr- 
 rhus, on account of the inroads which he had made into Thessaly. 
 Besides, that ambition to extend their dominions, which is a dis- 
 temper natural to kings, rendered their neighbourhood mutually 
 alarming. These jealousies increased after the death of Deida- 
 mia. At last each having possessed himself of part of Macedonia, 
 and having one object in view, the gaining of the whole, this pro- 
 duced of course new causes of contention. Demetrius marched 
 against the :^tolians and reduced them. After which he left 
 Pantauchus among them with a considerable force, and went him- 
 self to seek Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus, as soon as he was apprised of his 
 design, went to meet him ; but taking a wrong route, they inad- 
 vertently passed each other. Demetrius entered Epirus, and com- 
 mitted great ravages ; and Pyrrhus, falling in ,with Pantauchus, 
 gave him battle. The dispute was warm and obstinate on both 
 sides, especially where the generals fought. For Pantauchus, who 
 in dexterity, courage, and strength, stood foremost among the 
 officers of Demetrius, and was a man of a high and ambitious spi- 
 rit, challenged Pyrrhus to the cojmbat. And Pyrrhus, who was 
 behind none of the princes of his time in valour, and who was de- 
 sirous to appropriate to himself the honours of Achilles, rather by 
 his sword than by kindred, advanced through the first lines against 
 Pantauchus. They began with the javelin ; and then coming to 
 the sword, exhausted all that art or strength could supply. Pyr- 
 rhus received one wound, and gave his adversary two, one in the 
 thigh, and the other in the neck ; by which he overpowered him, 
 and brought him to the ground ; but before he could kill him, he 
 was rescued by his friends. The Epirots, elated with their prince's 
 victory, and admiring his valour, broke into and dispersed the Ma- 
 cedonian phalanx, and pursuing the fugitives killed great numbers 
 of them, and took five thousand prisoners. 
 
 This battle did not so much excite the resentment and hatred 
 of the Macedonians against Pyrrhus for what they suffered, as it 
 inspired them with an esteem of his abilities and admiration of his 
 valour. This furnished subject of discourse to all who were wit. 
 nesses of his exploits, or were engaged against him in the action. 
 For he recalled to their minds the countenance, the swiftness, and 
 motion of Alexander the Great : in Pyrrhus they thought they 
 » Alexander wai murdered soon after. 
 
 ^W^ 
 
230 PVRRHUS. 
 
 saw tho very image of hi& force and impetuosity. An^ whil« the 
 other kings represented that hero only in their \n\ " •<, in tho 
 
 number of guards, the bend of the neck, and lli! iiner of 
 
 speaking, the king of Epirus represented him m dced^ of arms and 
 personal achievements. And of his great skill in ordering and 
 drawing up an army, we have proof:) in the writings he left behind 
 him. It is also said, that Antigontis, being oRked, who was the 
 greatest general ? answered, Pyrrhus would be, if he lived to be old. 
 
 In the intercourse of life he was mild and not easily provoked, 
 but ardent and quick to repay a kindness. For this reason he was 
 greatly afflicted at the death of ittropus. "His friend," he said, 
 " had only paid the tribute to nature, but he blamed and reproach, 
 ed himself for putting off his acknowledgments, till, by these de. 
 lays, he had lost the opportunity of making any return. For those 
 that owe money, can pay it to the heirs of the deceased, but when 
 a return of kindness is not made to a person' in his life time, it 
 grieves the heart that has any goodness and honour in it." When 
 some advised him to banish a certain ill.tongued Ambracian, who 
 abused him behind his back — " Let the fellow stay here," said he, 
 "and speak against me to a few, rather than ramble about, and 
 give me a bad character to all the world." And some young men 
 having taken great liberties with his character in their cups, and 
 being afterwards brought to answer for it, he asked them — "Whe- 
 ther they really had said such things ?" — " We did, sir," answer- 
 ed one of them, " and should have said a great deal more, if wc 
 had had more wine." Upon which he laughed and dismissed i))em. 
 
 After the death of Antigone, he married several wives for the 
 purpose of interest and power : namely, the daughter of Autoleon, 
 king of the Pasonians ; Bircenna, the daughter of Bardyllis, king 
 of the lilyrians; and Lanassa, the daughter of Agathocles of Sy. 
 racuse, v/ho brought him in dowry the isle of Corcyra, which her 
 father had taken. By Antigone he had a son named Ptolemy ; 
 by Lanassa he had Alexander ; and by Bircenna, his youngest 
 •on Helenas. All these princes had naturally a turn for war, and 
 he quickened their martial ardour by giving them a suitable educa- 
 tion from their infancy. It is said, when he was asked by one of 
 them, who was yet a child, "To which of them he would leave his 
 kingdom ?" he said, " to him who has the sharpest sword." 
 
 After the battle Pyrrhus returned home distinffuished with glory, 
 and still more elevated in his sentiments. The EpiroU having 
 given him on this occasion the name of Eagle, be said, " If I am 
 an Eagle, you have made me one ; for it is upon your arms, upon 
 your wings, that 1 have risen so high." 
 
 Soon after, having intelligence that Demetrius lay dangerously 
 
 ill, ho suddenly entered Macedonia,*^ intending only an inroad to 
 
 • Id the third year of the hundred and twenty-third Olroipiad, t»o hundrect ■nd 
 stgliiy-foar yeart liefore ChrUi , 
 
 a 
 
PYRRHUS. 2^1 
 
 pillage the country. But he was very near seizing the whole, and 
 taking the kingdom without a blow. For he>pushed forward as far 
 as Edessa without nieeting with any resistance : on the contrary, 
 many of the inhabitants repaired to his camp and joined him. The 
 danger roused Demetrius, and made him act above his strength. 
 His friends too, and officers, quickly assembled a-considerabie body 
 of troops, and moved forward with great spirit and vigour against 
 Pyrrhus. But as he came only with a design to plunder, he did 
 not stand to receive them. He lost however a considerable num- 
 ber of men in his retreat, for the Macedonians harrassed his rear 
 all the way. 
 
 Demetrius, though he had driven out Pyrrhus with so much 
 ease, was far from slighting and despising him afterwards. But, 
 as he meditated great things, and had determined to attempt the 
 recovery of his paternal kingdom, he concluded a peace, that he 
 might turn his arms with more security against the other kings.* 
 The designs of Demetrius were soon discovered by this peace, and 
 by the greatness of his preparations. The kings were alarmed, 
 and sent ambassadors to Pyrrhus, with letters, expressmg their as- 
 tonishment that he neglected this opportunity to make war upon 
 Demetrius. They represented with how much ease he might 
 drive him out of Macedonia, thus engaged as he was in many trou- 
 blesome enterprises ; instead of which he waited till Demetrius had 
 despatched all his other affairs, and was grown so much more pow- 
 erful as to be able to bring the war to his own doors, and to put 
 him under the necessity of fighting for the altars of his gods, and 
 and the sepulchres of his ancestors, in Molossia itself; and this, 
 too, when he had just been deprived by Demetrius of the isle of 
 Corcyra, together with his wife. 
 
 The kings, at the same time that they wrote these letters, 
 took the field themselves. Pyrrhus advanced with the great- 
 est expedition, to attack Beroea. There he fixed his head- 
 quarters, and reduced the other cities by his generals, and, hav- 
 ing gained over the soldiers of Demetrius, became master of his 
 camp with out striking a blow, and was proclaimed king of Mace- 
 donia. 
 
 Lysimachus made his appearance soon after, and pretending 
 that he had contributed equally to the flight of Demetrius, deman- 
 ded his share of the kingdom. Pyrrhus, as he thought himself not 
 sufficiently established among the Macedonians, but rather in a 
 dubious situation, accepted the proposal, and they divided the cities 
 and provinces between them. This partition seemed to be of ser- 
 vice for the present, and prevented their going directly to war ; 
 but, soon after, they found it the beginning of perpetual com- 
 plaints and quarrels, instead of a perfect reconciliation. For, how 
 * Seleucus, Ptolemy, and Lysiraachus. 
 19* 
 
222 PYRRHUS. 
 
 is it possible that they whose ambition is not to be terminated by 
 seas and mountains and uninhabitable deserts, whose thimt lor do- 
 minion is not to be confined by the bounds that part Europe and 
 Asia, should, when so near each other, and joined in one lot, sit 
 down contented, and abstain from mutual injuries ? Undoubtedly, 
 they are always at war in their hearts, having the seeds of perfidy 
 and envy there. 
 
 Soon after this, he concluded a peace with Demetrius ; and yet 
 Demetrius was no sooner passed into Asia, than Pyrrbus, at the in- 
 stigation of Lysimachus, drew off Tbessaly from its allegiance, 
 und attacked his garrisons in Greece. He found, indeed, the Ma- 
 cedonians better subjects in time of war than in peace, besides 
 that he himself was more fit for action than repose. At last, De. 
 metrius being entirely defeated in Syria, Lysimachus, who bad 
 nothing to fear from that quarter, nor any other affairs to engage 
 him, immediately turned his forces against Pyrrbus, who lay in 
 quarters at Eklessa. Upon his arrival, he fell upon one of the 
 king's convoys, and took it, by which he greatly distressed his 
 troops for want of provisions. Besides this, he corrupted the 
 pnncipal Macedonians by his letters and emissaries, reproaching 
 them for choosing fur their sovereign a stranger, whose ancestors 
 had always been subject to the Macedonians, while they expelled 
 the friends and companions of Alexander. As the majority listen- 
 ed to these suggestions, Pyrrbus, fearing the event, withdrew with 
 his Epirots and auxiliary forces, and so lost Macedonia in the same 
 manner he had gained it. 
 
 When Pyrrbus had thus retired into Epinis, he had a fair occa- 
 sion given him by fortune to enjoy himself in quiet, and to go- 
 vern his own kingdom in peace. But ho was persuaded that 
 neither to annoy others, nor to be annoyed by them, was a life 
 most insufferably tedious. Like Achilles, he could not endure in- 
 action : 
 
 He pin'd in Hull repose ; bis heart indignant 
 
 Bade the scene change to war, to wounds, and death. 
 
 His anxiety for fresh employment was relieved as follows : — 
 The Romans were 'then at war with the Tarentines ; the lat- 
 ter were not able to support the contest, and yet the bold and 
 turbulent harangues of their leading men would not 8ufi*e/ them to 
 put an end to it. They resolved, therefore, to call in Pyrrbus, and 
 put their forces under his command, there being no other prince 
 who had then so much leisure, or was so able a general. The most 
 sensible of the citizens opposed this measure, but were overborira 
 by the noise and violence of the multitude ; and when they saw 
 this, they no longer attended the asseroblieis. 
 
 There was then at the court of Pyrrbus, a Thessalian namtd 
 (^neas, a man of sound sense, and who having been a disciple of 
 
PVRRHU^. 
 
 2^3 
 
 Demosthenes, was the only orator of his time that ]>resented his 
 hearers with a lively image of the force and spirit of that great 
 master. This man had devoted himself to Pyrrhus, and in all 
 the embassies he was employed in, confirmed/that saying of Eu- 
 ripides : ' 
 
 The gates that steel exclude, resistless eloquence shall enter. 
 
 This made Pyrrhus say, " That Cineas had gained him more 
 cities by his address, than he had won by his arms ;" and he contin- 
 ued to heap honours and employments upon him. Cineas now 
 seeing Pyrrhus intent upon his preparations for Italy, took an op- 
 portunity, when he saw him at leisure, to draw him into the follow- 
 mg conversation : 
 
 " The Romans have the reputation of being excellent soldiers, 
 and have the command of a great many warlike nations ; if it 
 please heaven that we conquer them, what use shall we make of 
 our victory." 
 
 " Cineas," replied the king, " your question answers itself. 
 When the Romans are subdued, there is no town whether Greek 
 or barbarian, that will dare oppose us ; but we shall immediately 
 be masters of all Italy, whose greatness, power, and importance, no 
 man knows better than you." 
 
 Cineas, after a short pause, continued — " But after we have con- 
 quered Italy, what shall we do next ?" 
 
 Pyrrhus, not yet perceiving his drift, replied — " There is Sicily 
 very near, and stretches out her arms to receive us — a fruitful and 
 populous island, and easy to be taken." 
 
 " What you say, my prince," said Cineas, " is indeed very 
 probable ; but is the taking of Sicily to conclude our expedi- 
 tions ?"• 
 
 " Far from it," answered Pyrrhus ; " for if heaven gmats us 
 success in this, that success shall only be the prelude to greater 
 things. Who can forbear Libya and Carthage then within reach ? 
 And when we have made such conquests, who can pretend to say 
 that any of our enemies, who are now so insolent, will think of re- 
 sisting us ?'* 
 
 " To be sure," said Cineas, ** they will not ; for so much pow- 
 er will enable you to recover Macedonia, and establish yourself 
 uncontested sovereign of Greece. But when we have conquered 
 all, what are we to do then ?" 
 
 " Why, then, my friend," said Pyrrhus, laughing, " we will take 
 our ease, and drink and be merry." 
 
 Cineas, having brought him thus far, replied — "And what hinders 
 us from drinking and taking our ease now, when we have already 
 those things in our hands, at which we propose to arrive through 
 seas of blood, through infinite toils and clangers, and through innu. 
 inemble calamities which we must both cause and suifer 7" 
 
5^ PVRKHtS. 
 
 This discourse of Cineas gave Pyrrbus pain, but produced no 
 reformation. He saw the crrt 'ipiness which he gave up, 
 but was not able to forego the h < flattered bis desires. In 
 
 In the first place, therefore, he seni c meas to Tarentuni with three 
 thousand foot : from whence there arrived, soon aAer, a great num- 
 ber of gnlleys, transports, and flat .bottomed .boats, on board of 
 which he put twenty elephants, three thousand horse, twenty thou- 
 sand foot, two thousand archers, and five hundred slingers. When 
 all was ready, he set sail, but as soon as he was got into the midst 
 of the Ionian, he was attacked by a violent wind at north, which 
 was unusual at that season. The storm raged terribly, but by the 
 skill and extraordinary efiforts of his pilots and mariners, his ship 
 made the Italian shore. The rest of the fleet could not hold their 
 course, but were dispersed far and wide. The king's ship, indeed, 
 by its size and strength, resisted the force of the waves, whde the 
 wind blew from the sea ; but that coming about, and blowmg di- 
 rectly from the shore, the ship, as she stood with her head against 
 it, was in danger of opening by th^ shocks she received. And yet 
 to be driven off again into a tempestuous sea, while the wind con- 
 tinually shifled from point to point, seemed the most dreadful case 
 of all. In this extremity Pyrrhus threw himself overboard, and was 
 immediately followed by his friends and guards. But the darkness 
 of the night, and the roaring and resistance of the waves, which 
 beat upon the shore, and were driven back with equal violence, ren- 
 dered it extremely difficult to save him. At last, by day-break, 
 the wind being considerably fallen, with much trouble he got ashore, 
 greatly weakened in body, but with a strength and firmness of mind 
 which bravely combated the distress. 
 
 At the same time the Messapians, on whose coast he wjis cast, 
 ran down to give them all the succour in their power. They 
 also met with some other of his vessels that had weathered the 
 storm, in which were a small number of horse, not quite two thou, 
 sand foot, and two elephants. Witli these Pyrrhus marched to 
 Tarentura. 
 
 When Cineas was informed of this, he drew out his forces, and 
 went to meet him Pyrrhus, upon his arrival at Tarentum, did not 
 have recourse to compulsion at first, nor to do any thing againat 
 the inclination of the inhabitants, till his ships were safe arrived, 
 and the greatest part of his forces collected. But, afler thi«, tee- 
 ing the Tarentines, so far from being in n <•<>"'<•• t'm to defend others, 
 that they would not defend themselves, < ry were driven to 
 
 it by necessity, and that they sat stiU at iidinr, uud spent their time 
 about the baths or in feasting and idle talk, expecting that he would 
 fight for them ; he shut up the places of exercise, and the walks, 
 where they used, as they sauntered along, to conduct the war with 
 words, fle also put a stop to their unseasonable entertainmeoCa, 
 
PYRRHUS 225 
 
 revels, and diversions. Instead of these he called them to arms, 
 and in his musters and reviews was severe and inexorable : so that 
 many of them quitted the place ; for being unaccustomed to be un- 
 der command, they called that slavery which was not a life of plea- 
 sure. 
 
 He now received intelligence that Laevinus, the Roman consul, 
 was coming against him with a great army, and ravaging Lucania 
 by the way :, and though the confederates were not come, yet look- 
 ing upon it as a disgrace (o sit still and see the enemy approach 
 still nearer, he took the field with the troops he had. But first he 
 sent a herald to the Romans, with proposals, before they came to 
 extremities, to terminate their differences amicably with the Greeks 
 in Italy, by taking him' for mediator and umpire. Laevinus an- 
 swered, *' That the Romans neither accepted Pyrrhus as mediator, 
 nor feared him as an enemy." Whereupon, he marched forward, 
 and encamped upon the plain between the cities of Pandosia and 
 Heraclea ; and having notice that the Romans were near and lay 
 on the other side of the river Siris, he rode up to the river to take 
 a view of them. When he saw the order of their troops, the ap- 
 pointment of their watches, and the regularity of their whole en- 
 campment, he was struck with admiration, and said to a friend who 
 was by, *' Megacles, the disposition of these barbarians has no- 
 thing of the barbarian in it : we shall see whether the rest will an- 
 swer to it." He now became solicitous for the event, and, deter- 
 mined to wait for the allies, feet a guard upon the river to oppose 
 the Romans, if they should endeavour to pass it. The Romans, on 
 their part, hastening to prevent the coming up of those force's, 
 which he had resolved to wait for, attempted the passage. The in- 
 fantry took to the fords, and the cavalry got over wherever they 
 could : so that the Greeks were afraid of being surrounded, and re- 
 treated to their main body. 
 
 Pyrrhus, greatlv concerned at this, ordered his foot oflicers to 
 draw up the forces, and to stand to their arms ; while he advanced 
 with the horse, who were about three thousand, in hopes of finding 
 the Romans yet busied in the passage, and dispersed without any 
 order. But when he saw a j^reat number of shields glittering above 
 the water, and the horse preserving their ranks as they passed, he 
 closed his own ranks and began the attack. Beside his being dis- 
 tinguished by the beauty and lustre of his arms, which were of very- 
 curious fabric, he performed acts of valour worthy the great repu- 
 tation he had acquired. For, though he exposed his person in the 
 hottest of the engagement, and charged with the greatest vig;our, 
 he was never in the least disturbed, nor lost his presence of mind ; 
 but gave his orders as coolly as if he had been out of the action, 
 and moved to this side or that as occasion required, to support his 
 ipen where he saw them maintaining an unequal fight. 
 
2*26 PYBRHUS. 
 
 Leonatus ofMacedon observed an Italian horseman very inteot 
 upon Pyrrhus, changing his post as he did, and regulating all his 
 motions by his. Whereupon he rode up, and said to him, "Do 
 you see, sir, that barbarian upon the black horse witli white feet ? 
 he seems to meditate some great and dreadful design. He keeps 
 you in his eye : full of fire and spirit he singles you out, and tikes 
 no notice of any body else ; therefore be on your guard against 
 him." Pyrrhua answered, " It is impossible, Leonatus, to avoid 
 our destiny. But neither this nor any other Italian shall have much 
 satisfaction in engaging with me." While they were yet speaking, 
 the Italian levelled his spear, and spurred his horse against Pyrr* 
 bus. He missed the king, but ran his horse through, as Lconatoa 
 did the Italiairs the same moment, so that both horses fell together. 
 Pyrrhus was carried otT by his friends, who gathered round him, 
 and killed the Italian, who fought to the very last. This brave man 
 bad the command of a troop of horse. Ferentum was the place of 
 bis birth, and his name Opiacus. 
 
 This made Pyrrhus more cautious : and now seeing his cavalry 
 give way, he sent his infantry orders to advance, and formed them 
 as soon as they came up. Then giving his robe and his arms to 
 Megacles, one of his friends, he disguised himself in his, and pro- 
 ceeded to the charge. The Romans received him with great firm- 
 ness, and the success of the battle remained long undecided ; it it 
 even said, that each army was broken ^eVen times, and rallied as 
 often. He changed his arms very seasonably, for that saved his 
 life, but had nearly lost him the victory. Many aimed at Megacles, 
 but the man who first wounded him and brought him to the ground 
 was named Dexous. Dcxuus seized his helmet and his robe, and 
 rode up to Lcevinus, showing the spoils, apd crying out that he had 
 slain Pyrrhus. The spoils being passed from rank to rank as it 
 were in triumph, the Roman army shouted for joy, while tliat of tho 
 Greeks was struck with grief and consternation, tilt Pyrrhus, ap 
 prised of what had happened, rode about uncovered, stretching out 
 his band to his soldiers, and giving them to know him by his voico 
 At last the Romans were worsted, chiefly by means of the elephants. 
 Pionysius writes, that near fifteen thousand Romans fell in this bat- 
 tle ; but Hieronymus makes the number only seven thousand. On 
 Pyrrhus's side, Dionysius says, there were thirteen thousand killed : 
 Hieronymus, not quite four thousand. Among these, however, 
 were the most valuable of his friends and officers, whose services 
 he had made great use of, and in whom he placed the highest con. 
 fidence. 
 
 Pyrrhus immediately entered the Roman camp, which he found 
 deserted. He gained over many cities w hich had been in alliance 
 with Rome, and laid waste the territorien of others. Nay, he ad- 
 r«rKv»d rt» within thirtv.seven miles of Rome itself. The Liicaniaiis 
 
PYRRHUS. 227 
 
 and the Samnites joined him after the battle, and were reproved 
 for their delay; but it was plain that he was greatly elevated and 
 delighted, with having defeated so powerful an army of Romans 
 with the assistance of the Tarentines only. 
 
 The Romans on this occasion, did not take the command from 
 Laevinus, though Caius Fabricius is reported to have said, " That 
 the Romans were not overcome by the Epirots, but Laevinus by 
 Pyrrhus :" intimating, that the defeat was owing to the inferiority 
 of the genferal, not of his troops. Then raising new levies, filling- 
 up their legions, and talkiiig in a lofty and menacing tone about the 
 war, they struck Pyrrhus with amazement. He thought proper, 
 therefore, to send an embassy to them first, to try whether they 
 were disposed to peace ; being satisfied that to take the city, and 
 make an absolute conquest, was aii undertaking of too much diffi- 
 culty to be effected by such an army as his was at that time ; where- 
 as if he could bring them to terms of accommodation, and conclude 
 a peace with them, it would be very glorious for him after such a 
 victory. 
 
 Cineas, who was sent with this commission, applied to the great 
 men, and sent them and their wives presents m his master's name. 
 But they all refused them ; the women as well as the men, decla- 
 ring, " That when Rome had publicly ratified a treaty with the 
 king, they should be ready to give him every mark of their friend- 
 ship and respect." And though Cineas made a vety engaging 
 speech to the senate, yet they lent not a willing ear to his proposi- 
 tions, although Pyrrhus offered to restore, without ransom, the pri- 
 soners he had made in the battle, and promised to assist them in 
 the conquest of Italy, desiring nothing in return but their friend- 
 ship for himself, and security for the Tarentines. 
 
 They voted, however, unanimously for the war, and dismissed 
 Cineas with this answer, *' That when Pyrrhus had quitted Italy, 
 they would enter upon a treaty of friendship and alliance with him, 
 if he desired it : but while he continued there in a hostile manner, 
 they would prosecute the war against him with all their force, though 
 he should have defeated a thousand Laevinuses." 
 
 It is said, that Cineas, while he was upon this business, took great 
 pains to observe the manners of the Romans, and to examine into 
 the nature of their government; and when' he had learned what he 
 desired by conversing with their great men, he made a faithful re- 
 port of all to Pyrrhus, among the rest, " That the senate appeared 
 to him an assembly of kings ; and as to the people, they were so 
 numerous, that he was afraid he had to do with a Lernsean hydra.^' 
 For the consul had already an army on foot twice as large as the 
 former, and had left multitudes behind in Rome of a proper age 
 for enlisting, and sufficient to form many such armies. 
 
 After this, Fabricius came ambassador to Pyrrhus to treat aboiit 
 
i^il^ r'VRRaUS. 
 
 the ransom and exchange of prisonera. Fabrictus, as Cineas in- 
 formed PyrrhuB, was highly valued by the Romans for his probity 
 and martiul abilitius, but he was extremely poor. Pyrrhus received 
 him with particular distinction^ and privately offered him gold, not 
 for any base purpose ; but ho begged him to accept of it as a pledge 
 of friendship and hospitality. Fabricius refusing the present, P\r> 
 rhus pressed him no farther ; but the next day wanting to surprise 
 him, and knowing that he had never seen an elephant, he ordered 
 the biggest he had to be urined and placed behmd a curtain in the 
 room where they were to be in C(»nference. Accordingly this was 
 done, and upon a sign given, the curtain drawn ; and the elephant 
 raising his trunk over the head of Fabricius, made a horrid and 
 frightful noise. Fabricius turned about, without being m the least 
 discomposed, and said to Pyrrhus, smiling, "Neither your gold 
 yesterday, nor your beast to-day, has made any impression upon 
 ine." 
 
 , After this, Fabricius being consul,''^ an unknown person came to 
 his camp with a letter from the king's physician, who offered to 
 take off Pyrrhus by poison, and so end the war without any far- 
 ther hazard to the Romans, provided they gave him a proper c<md. 
 pensation for his services. Fabricius detested the man's villaoy ; 
 and having brought his colleagues into the same sentiments, sent 
 despatches to Pyrrhus without losing a moment's time, to caution 
 him against the treason. 
 
 Pyrrhus punished the physician ; and, to show his gratitude to 
 Fabricius and the Romans, delivered up the prisoners without ran- 
 som, and sent Cineas again to negotiate a peace. The Romans, 
 unwilling to receive a favour from nn enemy , or reward for not con> 
 Renting to an ill thing, did indeed receive the prisoners at his hands, 
 but sent him an equal number of Tarentines and Samnites. As to 
 peace nnd friendship, they would not hear any proposals about it, 
 till Pyrrhus should have laid down his arms, drawn his forces out 
 of Italy, and returned to Epirus in the same ships in which he came. 
 
 His affairs now requiring another battle, he assembled his army, 
 and mnrched and attacked the Romans near Asculum. The ground 
 was very rough and uneven, and marshy also towards the river, so 
 that it was extremely inconvenient for the cavalry, and quite pre- 
 vented the elephants from acting with the infantry. Fur this rea. 
 son he had a greut number of men killed and wounded, and might 
 have been entirely defeated, had not night put an end to the battle. 
 Next day, contriving, by an act of generalship, to engug«* upon 
 even ground, where his elephants might come at the enemy, he 
 seized in time the difficult post where they fought the day before. 
 Then he planted a number of archers and slingers among his ele- 
 phants, thickened his other ranks, and moved forward in good or- 
 
 * Two hundred and MTeniy>tev«n jrcara tMfortChriit. 
 
PyRRBUS. ^CJ 
 
 der, though with great force and impetuosity, against the Romms. 
 The Romans, who had not now the advantage of ground for at- 
 tacking and retreating as they pleased, were obliged to fight upon 
 the pidm, man to man. They hastened to break the enemy's m- 
 fantry, before the elephants came up, and made prodigious efforts 
 with their swords against their pikes, not regarding themselves or 
 the wounds they received, but orily looking where they might strike 
 and slay. After a long dispute, however, the Romans were forced 
 to give way, which they did first where Pyrrhus fought in person : 
 for they could not resist the fury of his attack. Indeed, it was the 
 force and weight of the elephants which put them quite to the rout. 
 When they had all quitted the field, and Pyrrhus was congratulated 
 on the victory, he said, " Such another victory, and we are un- 
 done !" For he had lost great part of the forces which he had 
 brought with him, and almost all his friends and officers. He had 
 no others to send for to supply their place, and he found his con- 
 federates here very cold and spiritless. Whereas the Romans filled 
 up their legions with ease and despatch, from an inexhaustible 
 fountain which they had at home ; and their defeats were so far 
 from discouraging them, that indignation gave them fresh strength 
 and ardour for the war. 
 
 Amidst these difficulties, new hopes, as vain as the former, of- 
 fered themselves to Pyrrhus, and enterprises which distracted him 
 in the choice. On one side, ambassadors came from Sicily, who 
 proposed to put Syracuse, Agrigenium, and the city of the Leon- 
 tines into his hands, and desired him to drive the Carthaginians out 
 of the island, and free it from tyrants ; and on the other side, news 
 was brought him from Greece, that Ptolemy Ceraunus was slam in 
 battle by the Gauls, and that this would be a seasonable juncture 
 for him to offer himself to the Macedonians, who wanted a king.* 
 On this occasion he complained greatly of fortune, for offering him 
 two such glorious opportunities of action at once, and, afflicted to 
 think that in embracing one, he must necessarily give up the other, 
 he was a long time perplexed and doubtful which to fix upon. At 
 last the expedition to Sicily appearing to him the more important, 
 by reason of its nearness to Africa, he determined to go thither, and 
 immediately despatched Cineas before him, according to custom, 
 to treat with the cities in his behalf. He placed, however, a strong 
 garrison in Tarentum, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the 
 people, who insisted that he should either fulfil the purpose he 
 came fbr, by staying to assist them effectually m the Roman war, 
 or, if he would be gone, to leave their city as he found it. But he gave 
 them a severe answer, ordered them to wait his time, and so set sail. 
 
 t Ptolemy Ceraunus was slain three years before, during the consulate of Laevinus. 
 After him "the Macedonians had several kings m quick succession. Ail, therefore, 
 that the letters could import, must be. that the Macedonians would prefer Pyrrhus to 
 Aiitigonus, who at present was in possession. 
 
 20 , 
 
230 pyRRHtS. 
 
 When lie arrived in Sicily, he found every thing disposed tgree. 
 ably to his hopes. The cities rendily put themselves in his hands: 
 and wherever force was necessary, nothing at first made any con- 
 siderable resistance to his arms. Rut with thirty thousand foot, 
 two thousand five hundred horse, and two hundred sail of ships, he 
 advanced against the Carthaginians, drove iheni before him, and 
 ruined their province. Eryx was the strongest city in those parts, 
 and the best provided with men for its defence, yet he resolved to 
 take it by storm. As soon as his army was in readiness to give the 
 assault, he armed himself at all points, and advancing towards the 
 walls, made a vow to Hercules, of games and sacrifices in acknow. 
 ledgment of the victory, if in that dt^'s action he should distinguish 
 himself before the Greeks in Sicily, in a manner that hecame his 
 great descent and his fortune. Then he ordered the Signal to be 
 given by sound of trumpet ; and having driven the barbarians from 
 the walls with his missive weapons, he planted the scaling ladders, 
 and was himself the first that mounted. 
 
 There he was attacked by a crowd of enemies, some of whom 
 he drove back, others he pushed down IVom the wall on both sides; 
 but the greatest part he slew with his sword, so that there was quite 
 a rampart of dead bodies around him. In the mean time he him- 
 self received not the least harm, but appeared to his enemies in the 
 awful character of some superior being. When the city was taken, 
 he offered a mognifficent sacrifice to Hercules, and exhibited a 
 variety of shows and games. 
 
 The Carthaginians were now inclined to peace, and offered him 
 both money and ships, on condition that he granted them his friend- 
 ship. But, having farther prospects, he made answer that there 
 was only one way to peace and friendship, which was, for the Car- 
 thaginians to evacuate Sicily, and make the Libyan sea the boun- 
 dary between them and the Greeks. Elated with pro.<tperity and 
 his present strength, he thought of nothing but pursuing the hopes 
 which first drew him into Sicily. 
 
 His first object now was Africa. He had vessels enough for his 
 purpose, but he wanted mariners. And in the collecting of them, 
 he was far from proceeding with lenity and moderation. This was 
 not the conduct which he had observed at first ; for then he was 
 gracious and affable to an extreme, placed an entire confidence in 
 the people, and avoided giving them the least uneasinr.os. By these' 
 means he had gained their hearts. But now turning from a popular 
 prince into a tyrant, his austerity drew upon him the imputation 
 both of infrntitude and perfidiousness. Necessity, however, obliged 
 them to furnish him with what he demanded, thoug^h they were 
 little disposed to it. But what chiefiy alienated their affections, 
 wras his behaviour to 'I'hoiion and Soatratus, two pentons of the 
 greatest authority in Syracuse. These were the men who first 
 
invited him into Sicily, who upon his arrival immediately put their 
 city m his hands, and who had been the principal instruments of 
 the great things he had done in the island. Yet his suspicions 
 would neither let him take them with him, nor leave them behind 
 him. Sostratus took th^ alarm and fled Whereupon Thonon was 
 seized by Pyrrhus, who alleged that he was an accomplice with 
 Sostratus, and put mm to death. Then his affairs ran to ruin, not 
 gradually, and by little and little, but all at once ; and the violent 
 hatred which the cities conceived for him, led some 5f them to join 
 the Carthaginians, and others the Mamertines. While he thus saw 
 nothing around him but cabals, seditions, and insurrections, he 
 received letters from the Samnites and Tarentines, who being quite 
 driven out of the field, and with difficulty defending themselves 
 within their walls, begged his assistance. This afforded a hand- 
 some pretence for his departure, without its being called a flight 
 and an absolute giving up his affairs in Sicily, But the truth was, 
 that no longer being able to hold the island, he quitted it like a 
 shattered ship, and threw himself again into Italy. It is reported, 
 that, as he sailed away, he looked back upon the isle, and said to 
 those about him, " What a field we leave the Carthaginians and 
 Romans to exercise their arms in!" and his conjecture was soon 
 after verified. 
 
 The barbarians rose against him as he set sail ; and being 
 attacked by the Carthaginians on his passage, he lost many of his 
 ships — with the remainder he gained the Italian shore. The Ma- 
 mertines, to the number of ten thousand, had got thither before 
 him ; and, though they were afraid to come to a pitched battle, 
 they attacked and harassed him in the difficult passes, and put his 
 whole army in disorder. He lost two elephants, and a considerable 
 part of his rear was cut in pieces. But he immediately pushed from 
 the van to their assistance, and risked his person in the boldest 
 manner, against men trained by long practice to war, who fought 
 with a spirit of resentment. In this dispute h,e received a wound 
 in the head, whi'^.h forced him to retire a little, and animated the 
 enemy still more. One of them, therefore, who was distinguished 
 both by his size and arms, advanced before the lines, and with a 
 loud voice called upon hirn to come forth if he was alive. Pyrrhus, 
 incensed at this, returned with his guards, and, a visage so fierce 
 with anger, and so besmeared with blood, that it was dreadful to 
 look Upon, made his way through his battalions notwithstanding 
 their remonstrances. Thus rushing upon the barbarian, he pre- 
 vented his blow, and gave him such a stroke on the head with his 
 sword, that he cleaved him quite down, and in one moment the 
 parts fell asunder. This achievement stopped the course of the 
 barbarians, who were struck with admiration and amazement at 
 Pyrrhus, as at a superior being. He made the rest of hi« march, 
 
22U PYRRHUS. 
 
 therefore, wiihout disturbance, and arrived at Tarentum with twenty 
 thousand foot and three thousand horse. Then taking with him the 
 best troops that he fuund there, he advanced immediately agaimit 
 the Romans, who were encamped in ihe country of the Samniies. 
 
 The aifuirs of the Samnites were run to ruin; and their spirits 
 sunk, because they had been beaten in several battles by the Ro- 
 mans. There remained also in their hearts some resentment against 
 Pyrrhus on account of his leaving them to go to Sicily, so that few 
 of them repaired to his standard. The forces that he had, he 
 divided into two bodies, one of which he detached into Lucania, to 
 keep one of the consuls'^ employed, and hinder him from assisting 
 his colleague ; with the other corps he marched in person against 
 the other consul, Manius Curius, who lay safely intrenched near 
 the city of Bencventum, and dccUned fighting, as well in ezpecta. 
 tion of the succours from Lucania, as on account of his being 
 deterred from action by the augurs and sootlisay^rs. 
 
 Pyrrhus hastening to attack him before he could bo joined by 
 bis colleague, took the choicest of his troops and the most warlike 
 of his elephants, and pushed forward in the night to surprise his 
 camp. But as he had a long circuit to take, and the roads were 
 entangled with trees and bushes, his lights failed, and numbers of 
 his men lost their way. At day-break he was discovered by the 
 enemy descending from the heights, which caused no small disorder 
 in their camp. Mauius, however, finding the sacrifices auspicious, 
 and the time pressing, issued out of his trenches, attacked the van- 
 guard of the enemy, and put them to flight. This spread a con- 
 sternarion through their whole army, so that many of them were 
 killed, and some of the elephants taken. On the other hand, the 
 success led Manius to try a pitched battle. Engaging, therefore, 
 in the open field, one of his wings defeated that of the enemy ; but 
 the other was borne down by the elephants, and driven back to the 
 trenches. In this exigency he called for those troops that were 
 lofl to guard the camp, who were all fresh men and well armed. 
 These, as they descended from their advantageous 'situation, 
 pierced the elephants with their javelins, and forced them to turn 
 their backs ; and those creatures, rushing upon their own battalions, 
 threw them into the greatest confusion and disorder. This put the 
 victory into the hands of the Romans, and empire together with the 
 victory. For by the courage exerted, and the great actions per- 
 formed this day, they acquired a lofliness of sentiment, an enlarge- 
 ment of power, with the reputation of being invincible, which soon 
 goined them all Italy, and Sicily a little after. 
 
 Thus Pyrrhus fell from his hopes of Italy and Sicily, after he had 
 wasted six years in these expeditions. It is true, he was not 
 ■uccessful ; but amidst all his defeats he preserved his coura^^ 
 
 * Aulut Cornelius L«nlalii% 
 
PYRRHUS. 233 
 
 unconquerable, and was reputed to excel, in military experience 
 and personal prowess, all the princess of his time. But what he 
 gained by his achievements, he lost by tain hopes : his desire of 
 something absent, never suffered him effectually to persevere in a 
 present pursuit. Hence it was that Antigonus compared him to a 
 gamester, who makes many good throw^ at dice, but knows not how 
 to make the best of his game. 
 
 He returned to Epirus with eight thousand foot and five hundred 
 horse ; but not having funds to maintain them, he sought for a war 
 which might answer that end ; and being joined by a body of Gauls, 
 he threw himself into Macedonia, where Antigonus the son of De- 
 metrius reigned at that time. His design was only to pillage and 
 carry off booty : but having taken many cities, and drawn over two 
 thousand of Antigonus's men, he enlarged his views, and marched 
 against the king. Coming up with him in a narrow pass, he put 
 his whole army in disorder. The Gauls, however, who composed 
 Antigonus's rear, being a numerous body, made a gallant resistance. 
 The dispute was sharp, but at last most of them were cut in pieces : 
 and they who had the charge of the elephants, being surrounded, 
 delivered up both themselves and the beasts. After so great an 
 advantage, Pyrrhus following his fortune rather than any rational 
 plan, pushed against the Macedonian phalanx, now struck with 
 terror and confusion at their loss ; and perceiving that they refused 
 to engage with him, he stretched out his hand to the commanders 
 and other officers, at the same time calling them all by their names, 
 by which means he drew over the enemies' infantry. Antigonus, 
 therefore, was forced to fly : he persuaded, however, some of the 
 maritime towns to remain under his government. 
 
 About this time, Cleonymus the Spartan, came to entreat him 
 that he would march to Lacedssmon, and he lent a willing ear to 
 his request. Cleonymus was of the blood royal ; but being of a 
 violent temper and inclined to arbitrary power, he was neither 
 loved nor trusted by the Spartans, and Arcus was appointed to the 
 throne. This was an old complaint which he had against the citi- 
 zens in general. But to this we must add, that when advanced in 
 years, he had married a young woman of great beauty, named 
 Chelidonis, who was of the royal family, and daughter to Leoty- 
 chides. Chelidonis entertaining a violent passion for Acrotatus, 
 the sen of Areus, who was both young and handsome, rendered the 
 match not only uneasy but disgraceful to Cleonymus. These do- 
 mestic misfortunes added to his public ones, provoked him to apply 
 to Pyrrhus, who marched to Sparta with twenty-five thousand foot, 
 two thousand horse, and twenty -four elephants. 
 
 Cleonymus advised him to give the assault immediately upon 
 his arrival ; but Pyrrhus, fearing that his soldiers would plunder 
 th€ city if they took it by night, put him off, and said they would 
 g3 20* 
 
284 FYRRHU& 
 
 proceed to the assault the next day. For he knew there were but 
 few men within the city, and those unprepared ; and that Areus 
 the kins was absent, being gone to Crete to succour the Gortyoi- 
 ans. '1 he contemptible idea which Pyrrhus conceived of its weak- 
 ness and want of men, was the pnncipal thing that saved the city. 
 For supposing that he should not find the least, resistance, he or* 
 dered his tents to be pitched, and sat quietly down, while the friends 
 of Cleonymus busied themselves in adorning and preparing his 
 house, in expectation that Pyrrhus would sup with him there that 
 evening. 
 
 Night being come, the Lacedsemonians resolved to send off their 
 women to Crete, but they strongly opposed it ; and Archidamia 
 entering the senate with a sword in her hand, complained of the 
 mean opinion they entertained of the women, if they imagined they 
 would survive the destruction of Sparta. In the next place they 
 determined to draw a trench parallel to the enemy's camp, and at 
 each end of it to sink waggons into the ground as deep as the naves 
 of the wheels, that so being firmly fixed, they might stop the 
 course of the elephants. As soon as the work was begun, both 
 matrons and maids came and joined them ; the fo>-fTier with their 
 robes tucked up, and the latter in their under garments only, to 
 assist the older sort of nven. They advised those that were in- 
 tended for the fight, to repose themselves, and in the mean time 
 they undertook to finish a third part of the trench, which they ef- 
 fected before morning. 
 
 At day .break the enemy was in motion, whereupon the women 
 armed the youth with their own hands, and gave them the trench 
 in charge, exhorting them to guard it well, and reprvsentmg, *' How 
 delightful it would be to conquer in the view of their country, or 
 how glorious to expire in the arms of their mothers and their 
 wives, when they had met their death as became Spartans." Af 
 for Chelidonis, she retired into her own apartment with a rope 
 about her neck, determined to end her days by it, rather than fall 
 into the hands of Cleonymus, if the city was taken. 
 
 Pyrrhus now pressed forward with his infantry against the Spar- 
 tans, who waited for him under a rampart of shields. But, beside 
 that the ditch was scarcely passable, he found that there was no 
 firm footing on the sides of it for his soldiers, because of the loose* 
 ncss of the fresh earth. His son Ptolemy, seeing this, fetched a 
 compass about the trench with two thousand Gauls and a select 
 body of Chaonians, and endeavoured to open a passage on the 
 quarter of the waggons. But these were so deep fixed and close 
 locked, that they not only obstructed their passage, but made it 
 difiicult for the "Spartans to come up and make a close defence. — 
 The Gauls were now beginning to drag out the wheels and draw 
 the waggons into the river, when young Acrotatus, perceiving the 
 
PYRRHUS. 235 
 
 danger, traversed the city with three hundred men, and by the ad- 
 vantage of some hollow ways, surrounded Ptolemy, not being seen 
 till he began the attack upon his re^r, Ptolemy was now forced 
 to face about, and stand upon the defensive. In the cdnfusion 
 many of his soldiers runnmg foul upon each other, either tumbled 
 into the ditch, or fell under the waggons. At last, after a long 
 dispute and great effusion of blood, they were entirely routed. — 
 The old men and the women saw this exploit of Acrotatus ; and 
 as he returned through the city to his post, covered with blood, 
 bold and elated with his victory, he appeared to the Spartan women 
 taller and more graceful than ever, and they could not help envy- 
 ing Chelidonis such a lover. 
 
 Night parted the combatants ; and Pyrrhus, as he lay in his tent, 
 had this dream — he thought he darted lightning upon Lacedasmon, 
 which set all the city on fire, and that the sight filled him with joy. 
 The transport awaking him, he ordered his officers to put their 
 men under arms; and to some of his friends he related hi^ vision, 
 from which he assured himself that he should take the city by 
 storm. The thing was received with admiration and a general 
 assent, but it did not please Lysimachus. He said, that as no foot* 
 IS to tread on places that are struck by lightning, so the Deity by 
 this might presignify to Pyrrhus, that the city should remain inac- 
 cessiible to him. Pyrrhus answered: "These visions may serve 
 as amusements for the vulgar, but there is not any thing more un- 
 certain and obscure. While, then, you have your weapons in tour 
 hands, remember, my friends. 
 
 The best of omens is the cause of Pyrrhus." 
 So saying, he arose, and, as Soon as it was light, renewed the at- 
 tack The Lacedaemonians stood upon their defence with an 
 alacrity and spirit above their strength ; and the women attended, 
 supplying them with arms, giving bread and drink to such as 
 wanted it, and taking care of the wounded. The Macedonians 
 then attempted to fill up the ditch, bringing great quantities of ma- 
 terials, and throwing them upon the arms and bodies of the dead. 
 The Lacedaemonians on their part redoubled their efforts against 
 them. But, all on a sudden, Pyrrhus appeared on the side of the" 
 trench where the waggons had been planted to stop the passage, 
 advancing at full speed towards the city. The soldiers who had 
 the charge of that post cried out, and the women fled with loud 
 shrieks and wailings. In the mean time Pyrrhus was pushing on, 
 and overthrowing all that opposed him ; but his horse received a 
 wound in the belly from a Cretan arrow, ran away, and threw i»im 
 upon steep and slippery ground. As his friends pressed towards 
 him in great confusion, the Spartans came boldly up, and making 
 good use of their arrows, drove them all back. Hereupon Pyrrhus 
 put an entire stop to the action, thinking the Spartans would aj^ale 
 
286 PVRRHUS. 
 
 their vigour, now they were almost all wounded, and sucn great 
 numbers killed. Just us the hopes uf the Spartans were begin- 
 ning to expire, Aminius the Phocean, one of Antigonua*s ofKccrs, 
 came to their reht'tMroni Corinth with an anny of strangers; and 
 they had no sooner entered the town, hot Arcus their king arrived 
 from Crete with two thousand men more. 'I'be w«*nien now re- 
 tired immediately to their houses ; thinking it needless to concern 
 themselves any farther in the war ; the ofd men too, who, not. 
 withstanding their age, had been forced to bear arms, were dis- 
 missed, und the new supplies put in their place. 
 
 These two reinforcements to Sparta served only to animate the 
 courage of Pyrrhus, and make him more ambitious to take the town. 
 Finding, however, that he could effect nothing, after a series of 
 losses and ill success, he quitted the siege, and began to collect 
 booty from the country, intending to pass the winter there. But 
 fate is unavoidable. ThtTe happened at that time a strong conten- 
 tion at \rgos between the, parties of Aristcas and Aristippus; and 
 OS Aristippus appeared to have a connexion with Antigonus, Arie- 
 teas, to prevent him, called in Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus, whose hopes 
 grew as fast as they were cut olT, who, if he met with success, only 
 considered it as a step to greater things ; and if with disappoint, 
 roent, endeavoured to compensate it by some new advantage, would 
 neither let his victories nor losses put a period to his disturbing 
 both the world and himself. He began his march therefore imme- 
 diately for Argos. Areus, by frequent ambushes, and by possess, 
 ing himself of the difficult passes, cut off many of the Gauls and 
 Molossians who brought up his rear. In the sacrifice which Pyrr. 
 bus had offered, the liver was found without a head, and the diviner 
 had thence forewarned him, that he was in danger of losing some 
 person that was dear to him ; but in the hurry and disorder of this 
 unexpected attack, he forgot the menace from the victim, and or- 
 dered his son Ptolemy with some of his guards to the assistance of 
 the rear, whilst ho himself pui<hed on, and disengaged his main 
 body from those dangerous passages. In the mean time Ptolemy 
 met with a very warm reception : for he was engaged by a select 
 party of Lacedaemonians, under the command of Evalcus. In the 
 heat of action, a Cretan of Aptera, named OrcDsus, a man of re. 
 markable strength and swiftness, came up with the young prince, 
 OS he was fighting with great gallantry, and with a blow on the side, 
 laid him dead upon the spot. As soon as he fell, his party turned 
 their backs and fled. The Lacedaemonians pursued them, and in 
 the ardour of victory, inscnsibls advancing into the open plain, got 
 at a great distance from their infantry. P\rrhus, who by this time 
 had heard of the death of his son, and was greatly afflictt^d at it, 
 drew out his Molossiaii horse, and charging at the head of them^ 
 satiated himself with the blood of the Lacedsmonians. 
 
PYRRHUS. 
 
 237 
 
 Pyrrhus having thus sacrificed to the manes of his son, found 
 that he had vented much of his grief in the fury of hiscombat, and 
 marched more composed to Argos. Finding that Anugonus kept 
 the high grounds adjoining to the plain, he encamped near the town 
 of NaupHa. Next day he sent a herald to Antigonus, vVith a chal- 
 lenge in abusive terms to come down into the field, and fight with 
 him for the kingdom. Antigonus said, *' Time is the weapon that 
 I use, as much as the sword ; and if Pyrrhus is weary of his life, 
 there are many ways to end it." To both the kings there came am- 
 bassadors from Argos, entreating them to retire, and so prevent 
 that city from being subjected to either, which had a friendship for 
 them both. Antigonus agreed to' the overture, and sent his son to 
 the Argives as a hostage. Pyrrhus at the same time promised to 
 retire, but, sending no hostage, he was much suspected. 
 
 In the dead of night Pyrrhus approached the walls, and finding 
 one of the gates opened to him by Aristeas, he was not discovered 
 till his Gauls had entered and seized the market-place. But the 
 gate not being high enough to receive the elephants, they were 
 forced to take off* their towers ; and having afterwards put them on 
 again in the dark, it could not be done without noise and loss of 
 time, by which they were discovered. The Argives ran into the 
 citadel called Aspis* and other places of defence, and sent to call 
 in Antigonus. But he only advanced towards the walls, to watch 
 his opportunity, and contented himself with sending in some of his 
 principal officers and his son with considerable succours. 
 
 At the same time Areus arrived in the town with a thousand Cre- 
 tans and the most active of his Spartans. All these troops being 
 joined, fell at once upon the Gauls, and put them in great disorder. 
 Pyrrhus entered at a place called Cylarabis, with great noise and 
 loud shouts, which were echoed by the Guuls ; but he thought their 
 shouts were neither full nor bold, but rather expressive of terror 
 and distress. He therefore advanced in great haste, pushing for- 
 ward his cavalry, though they marched in danger from drains and 
 sewers, of which the city was full. Besides, in this nocturnal com- 
 bat, it was impossible either to see what was done, or to hear the 
 orders that were given. The soldiers were scattered about, and 
 lost their way among the narrow streets ; nor could the officers 
 rally them in that darkness, amidst such a variety of noises, and 
 
 * There was an annual feast at Argos, in honour of Juno, called Junonia, and also 
 Hecatombia, from the hecatomb of oxen then offered. Among other games, this prize 
 was proposed for the youth. In a place of considerable strength above the theatre, a 
 brazen buckler wae nailed to the waH. and they were to try their strength in plucking 
 it off. The victor was crowned with a myrtle garland, and had the buckler [in Greek 
 Aspis] for his pams Hence the name of the fort Not onlv the youjh of Argos, but 
 strangers, were admitted to the contest, as appears from Pindar, for, speak mg of Dia- 
 goras of Rhodes, he says, — 
 
 The Argive buckler knew him. Olymp Ode 7. 
 
238 PYRRHUS. 
 
 # 
 in such strait passages ; so that both sides continued without da> 
 ing any thing, And wailed for daV-Hght. 
 
 At the first dawn Pyrrhus was concerned to see the Aspis full of 
 armed men ; but his concern was changed into consternation, when 
 among the man\ figures in ihe market-place he beheld a wolf and 
 a bull in brass represented in the act of fighting. For he recoU 
 lected an oracle which had foretold, " That it was his destiny to 
 die when he should see a wolf encountering a bull." 
 
 Pyrrhus quite dispirited at the sight, and perceiving at the same 
 time that nothing succeeded according to his hopes, thought it best 
 to retreat. Fearing that the gates were too narrow, he sent orders 
 to his son Helenus, who was left with the main body without the 
 town, to demolish part of the wall and assist the retreat, if the ene* 
 my tried to obstruct it. But the person whom he sent, mistaking 
 the order in the hurry and tumult, and delivering it quite in a con. 
 trary sense, the young prince entered the gates with the rest of the 
 elephants and the best of his troops, and marched to assist his fa- 
 ther. Pyrrhus was now retiring ; and while the market-place af- 
 forded room both to retreat and fight, he often faced about and re- 
 pulsed the assailants. But when from that broad place he came to 
 crowd into the narrow street leading to the gate, he fell in with 
 those who were advancing to his assistance. It was in vain to call 
 out to them to fall back. Few could hear him ; and such as did 
 near, ana were most disposed to obey his orders, were pushed back 
 by those who came pouring in behind. Besides, the largest of the 
 elephants was fallen in the gate-way on his side, and lying there 
 and braying in a horrible manner, he stopped those who would have 
 got out. And among the elephants already in the town, one naiaed 
 Nicon, striving to take up his master who was fallen oflfwounded, 
 rushed against the party that was retreating, and overturned both 
 friends and enemies promiscuously, till he found the body. Then 
 he took it up with his trunk, and carrying it on his two teeth re- 
 turned in great fury, and trod down all before him. When they 
 were thus pressed and crowded together, not a man could do any 
 thing singly, but the whole multitude, like one close compacted 
 body, rolled this way and that altogether. They exchanged but 
 {ew blows with the enemy, either in front or rear, and the greatest 
 harm they did was to themselves. 
 
 Pyrrhus, seeing tl>e tempeHt rolling about him, took off the plume 
 with which his helmet was distinguished, and gave it to one of his 
 friends. Then trusting to the goodness of his horse, he rode in 
 amongst the enemy who were harrassing his rear, and it happened 
 that he was wounded through the brcast-plate with a javelin. The 
 wound was rather slight than dangerous, but he turned against the 
 man that gave it. who was an Argiveof no note, the son of a poor 
 old woman. This woman, among others, looking upon the fight 
 
PYRRHUS. 23d 
 
 from the roef of a house, beheld her son thus engaged. Seized 
 with terror at the sight, she took up a large tile with both hands, 
 and threw it at Pyrrhus. The tile fell upon his head, and notwith- 
 standing his helmet, crushed the lower vertebr<B of his neck. Dark- 
 ness in a moment covered his eyes, his hands let go the reins, and 
 he fell from his horse by the tomb of Licymnius. The crowd that 
 was about him did not know him, but one Zopyrus who served un- 
 der Antigonua and two or three others, coming up, knew him, and 
 dragged him into a porch that was at hand, just as he was begin- . 
 ning to recover from the blow. Zopyrus had drawn his Illyrian 
 blade to cut off his head, when Pyrrhus opened his eyes, and gave 
 him so fierce a look, that he was struck with terror : his hands trem- 
 bled, and between his desire io give the stroke, and the confusion 
 he was in, he missed his neck, but wounded him in the mouth and 
 chin, so that it was a long time before he could separate the head 
 from the body. 
 
 By this time his death was generally known, and Alcyoneus, the 
 son of Antigonus, came hastily up, and asked for the head, as if he 
 wanted only to look at it. But as soon as he had got it, he rode off 
 with it to his father, and cast it at his feet, as he was sitting with his 
 friends. Antigonus, looking upon the head, and knowing it, thrust 
 his son from hini : and struck him with his staff, calling him an im- 
 pious and barbarous wretch. Then putting his robe before his eyes, 
 he wept in remembrance of the fate of his grandfather Antigonus,* 
 and that of* his father Demetrius, two instances in his own house of 
 the mutability of fortune. As for the head and body of Pyrrhus, 
 he ordered them to be laid in magnificent attire on the funeral pile 
 and burnt. Afler this, Alcyoneus having met with Helenus m great 
 distress and a mean garb, addressed him in a courteous maunei; 
 and conducted him to his father, who thus expressed himself on 
 this occasion : — " In this, my son, you have acted much better than 
 before ; but still you are deficient : for you should have taken off 
 that mean habit, which is a greater disgrace to us who are victo- 
 rious, that it is to be vanquished." 
 
 Then he paid his respects to Helenus in a very obliging manner, 
 and sent him to Epirus with a proper equipage. He gave also the 
 same kind of reception to the friends of Pyrrhus, after he had made 
 himself master of his whole camp and army. 
 
 * Antigonus the First was killed at the battle of Ipsus, and Demetrius tfae First loDg 
 kept a prisoner by his son- in- law Seleucus. 
 
240 
 EUMENES. 
 
 Flourished 818 years before Christ. 
 
 DURIS the historian writes, that Eumeoes the Cardion was tim 
 •on of a waggoner in the Chersonesus, and yet that he had a libe^ 
 ral education both as to learning and the exercises then in vogue.* 
 He says that while he was but a lad, Philip happening to be in Car. 
 dia, went to spend an hour of leisure in seeing how the young men 
 acquitted themselves in the pancration,\ and the boys wrestling. 
 Among these Eumenes succeeded so well, and shewed so much 
 activity and address, that Philip was pleased with him, and took 
 him into his train. But others assert, with a greater appearance 
 of probability, that Philip preferred him on account of the ties of 
 friendship and hospitality there were between him and the father of 
 Eumenea. 
 
 After tne death of Philip, he maintained the reputation of being 
 equal to any of Alexander's officers in capacity, and in the honour 
 with which he discharged his commissions ; and though he had 
 only the title of principal secretary, he was looked upon in tm 
 honourable a light as the king's most intimate friends and coonsel- 
 lors, insomuch that he had the sole direction of an Indian expedition, 
 and upon the death of Hephsestion, when Perdiccas had the post of 
 that favourite, he succeeded Perdiccas. Therefore, when Neop. 
 tolemus, who had been the principal armour-bearer, took upon him 
 to say, after the death of Alexander, " That he had borne the shield 
 and spear of the monarch, and that Eumenes had only followed 
 with his escritoir," the Macedonians only laughed at his vanity, 
 knowing that, besides other marks of honour, Alexander had thought 
 Eumenes not unworthy his alliance. 
 
 Upon the death of Alexander a great quarrel broke out between 
 the phal/nuc and the late king's friends and generals. Eumenes, in 
 his heart sided with the phalanXj but in appearance, stood neuter, 
 as a per.ion perfectly indifferent, saying, it did not become him, 
 as a stranger, to interfere in the disputes of the Macedonians ; and 
 when the other great officers retired from Babylon, he staid there, 
 endeavouring to appease that body of infantry, and to dispose them 
 to a reconciliation. 
 
 After these troubles were past and the generals mot to consult 
 about the dividing the provinces and armies among them, the coun- 
 
   Tb«re were public tchooli, where cbildren of all coodhkNit were taught, wllhOi't 
 diuinction. • 
 
 f The jMmcrafion was a composition of wrettling and boxing 
 
KUMENES. 241 
 
 tries assigned Eumenes, were Cappadocia and Paphlagonia, and 
 the coast of the sea of Pontus, as far as Trapezus. These countries 
 were not then subject to the Macedonians, for Ariarathes was king 
 of them ; but Leonatus and Antigonus were to go wrth a great army, 
 and put £umenes in possession. Antigonus, now elated with power, 
 and despising all the world, gave no attention to the letters of Per- 
 diccas. But Leonatus marched down from the upper provinces in 
 Phrygia, and promised to undertake the expedition for Eumenes. 
 Immediately after this, Hecataeus, a petty tyrant in Cardia, applied 
 to Leonatus, and desired him rather to go to the relief of Antipater 
 and the Macedonians, who' were besieged in Lamia. Leonatus 
 being inclined to go, called Eumenes, and attempted to reconcile 
 him to Hecataeus. They had long had suspicions of each other on 
 account of a family difference in point of politics, in consequence of 
 which Eumenes had accused Hecataeus of setting himself up tyrant 
 in Cardia, and had entreated Alexander to restore that people to their 
 liberty. He now desired to be excused taking a share in the Gre- 
 cian expedition, alleging, he was afraid Antipater, who had long 
 hated him, to gratify himself as well as Hecataeus, would make 
 some attempt upon his life. Upon which Leonatus, placing an 
 entire confidence in him, opened to him all his heart. He told him 
 the assisting Antipater was nothing but a pretext, and that he 
 designed, as soon as he landed in Greece, to assert his claim to 
 Macedonia. At the same time he showed him letters from Cleo- 
 patra,* in which she invited him to Pella, and promised to give him 
 her hand. 
 
 Whether Eumenes was really afraid of Antipater, or whether 
 he despaired of any service from Leonatus, who was extremely 
 obstinate in his temper, and followed every impulse of a precipitate 
 ambition, he withdrew from him in the night with all his equipage, 
 which consisted of three hundred horse, two hundred of his domes- 
 tics, well armed, and all his treasure, amounting to five thousand 
 talents. With this he fled to Perdiccas ; and as he acquainted that 
 general with the secret designs of Leonatus, he was immediately 
 taken into a high degree of favour, and admitted to a share in his 
 councils. In a little rime, too, Perdiccas in person conducted him 
 into Cappadocia, with a great army, took Ariarathes prisoner, sub- 
 dued all the country, and established Eumenes in that government ; 
 in consequence of which, Eumenes put the cities under the direc- 
 tion of his friends, placed guards and garrisons, with proper officers 
 at their heads, and appointed judges and superintendents of the 
 revenue ; Perdiccas leaving the entire disposition of those things 
 to him. After this, he departed with Perdiccas, choosing to give 
 him that testimony of respect, and not thinking it consistent with 
 his interest to be absent from his court. But Perdiccas, satisfied 
 * The sister of Alexander, 
 
 b2 21 
 
iM2 
 
 Li^MKNE^t. 
 
 that he could himself execute the designs he was meditating, 
 and perceiving that those provinces he had IcA hehind re<{uired an 
 able and ruithlul guardian, sent back Eumenes when he had reached 
 Cilicia. The pretence was, that he might attend to the concerns 
 of his own government ; but the real intention, that he should secure 
 llie adjoining province of Armenia, which was disturbed by the 
 practices of Neopiolcmus. 
 
 Neoptoleinus was a man of sanguine pursuits and unbounded 
 vanity. Eumenes, however, endeavoured to keep him to his duty, 
 by soothing appUcations ; and as he saw the Macedonian infantry 
 were become extremely insolent and audacious, he applied himseU 
 to raising a body of cavalry, which might be a counterpoise agaiosi 
 them. For this purpose he remitted ttie taxes, and gave other im 
 munities to those of his province who were good horsemen. 
 
 About this time, Craterus and Antipater, having reduced Greece, 
 passed into Asia to overthrow the power of Perdiccas, and news 
 was brought that their first intention was to enter Cappadocia. 
 Perdiccas himself was engaged in war ^ith Ptolemy : he, therefore, 
 appointed Eumenes commander in chief of the forces in Armenia 
 and Cappadocia, and wrote to Alcetas and Neoptolerous to obey 
 the orders of that general, whom he had invested witH discretionary 
 powers. Alcetas refused to submit to that injunction, allei^ng that 
 the Macedonians would be ashamed to fight Antipater ; and, as for 
 Craterus, their affection to him was such, that they would receive 
 him with open arms. On the other hand, it was visible that Neop. 
 tolemus was forming some treacherous scheme against Eumenes ; 
 for, when called upon, he refused to join him, and, instead of that, 
 prepared to give him battle. 
 
 This was the first occasion on which Eumenes reaped the fruits 
 of his foresight and timely preparations ; for, though his infantry 
 were beaten, with his cavalry he put Neoptolemus to flight, and 
 took his baggage ; and while the phalanx were dispersed upon the 
 pursuit, he fell upon him in such good order with his horse, that 
 they were forced to lay down their arms, and take an oath to serve 
 him. Neoptolemus collected some of the fugitives, and retired with 
 them to Craterus and Antipater. They had already sent ambassa* 
 dors to Eumenes, to desire him to adopt their interests, in reward 
 of which they would confirm to him the provinces he had, and give 
 him others, with an additional number of troops ; in which case he 
 would find Antipater a friend instead of an enemy, and continue in 
 friendship with Craterus, instead of turning bis arms against him. 
 
 Eumenes made answer to these proposals—** That having long 
 been on a footing of enmity with Antipater, he did not choose lo be 
 his friend at a time when he saw him treating his friends at so 
 many enemies. As for Craterus, he was ready to reconcile him 
 to Pcrdirras. and to compromise matters between them upon just 
 
EUMEiNES. 243 
 
 and reasonable terms. But if he should begin hostilities, he would 
 support his injured friend while he had an hour to live, and rather 
 racnfice life itself than his honour." 
 
 When this answer was reported to Antipater and Craterus, they 
 took some time to deliberate upon the measures they should pur- 
 sue Meanwhile Neoptomelus amvmg, gave them an account of 
 the battle he had lost, and requested assistance of them both, but 
 particularly of Craterus. He said — " The Macedonians had so ex- 
 traordinary an attachment to him, that if they saw but his hat, or 
 heard but one accent of his tongue, they would immediately run to 
 him with their swords in their hands." Indeed, the reputation of 
 Craterus was very great among them, and, after the death of Alex- 
 ander, most of them wished to be under his command. They re. 
 membered the risks he had run of embroihng himself with Alexan- 
 der for their sakes : how he had combated the inclination for Per- 
 sian fashions which insensibly grew upon him, and supported the 
 customs of his country against the insults of barbaric pomp £ind 
 luxury. 
 
 Craterus now sent Antipater into Cilicia, and taking a consider- 
 able part of the forces himself, marched along with Neoptolemus 
 against Eumenes. If Eumenes foresaw his coming and was pre- 
 pared for it, we may impute it to the vigilance necessary in a ge- 
 neral. But when, besides his concealing from the enemy what 
 they ought not to discover, he brought his own troops to action, 
 without knowing who was their adversary, and made them serve 
 against Craterus, without finding out that he was the officer they 
 had to contend with ; in this we see charactenstical proofs of su- 
 perior genius. For he propagated a report, that Neoptolemus, as- 
 sisted by Pigris, was advancing again with some Cappadocian and 
 Paphlagonian horse. 
 
 When he came to give battle, he would not set any Macedonians 
 to engage Craterus, but appointed to that charge two bodies of fo- 
 reign horse, commanded by Pharnabazus, the son of Artabazus, and 
 Phoenix of Tenedos. They had orders to advance on the first sight 
 of the enemy, and come to close fighting without giving them time 
 to retire , and if they attempted to speak or send any herald, they 
 were not to regard it. For he had strong apprehensions that the 
 Macedonians would go over to Craterus if they happened to know 
 him. 
 
 Eumenes himself, with a troop of three hundred select horse, 
 posted himself in the right wing, where he should have to act 
 against Neoptolemus. When they had passed a little hill that se- 
 parated the two armies, and came in view, they charged with such 
 impetuosity, that Craterus was extremely surprised, and expressed 
 his resentment in strong terms against Neoptolemus, who, he 
 thought, had deceived him with a pretence that the Macedonians 
 
244 KUMENES. 
 
 would change sides. However, he exhorted his officers to behave 
 like brave men, and stood forward to the encounter. In the first 
 shock, which was very violent, the spears were soon broke, and 
 thoy were then to decide the dispute with the sword. 
 
 The behaviour of Craterus did no dishonour to Alexander. He 
 killed numbers with his own hand, and overthrew many oth«»rs who 
 assailed him in front. But at last he received a side blow from a 
 Thracian, which brought him to the ground. Many passed over 
 him without knowing him; but Georgias, one of Eumenes*s offi. 
 ccrs, took notice of him, and being well acquainted with his per' 
 son, leaped from his horse, and guarded the body. It was then, 
 liowever, too late ; he was at the last extremity, and in the ago. 
 Dies of death. 
 
 In the mean time, Neoptolemus engaged Eumenes : The most 
 violent hatred had long subsisted between them, and this day ad. 
 ded stings to it. They knew not one another in the two first en- 
 counters, but in the third they did ; and then they rushed forward 
 impetuously with swords drawn and loud shouts. The shock their 
 horses met with was so violent, that it resembled that of two gal- 
 lies. The fierce antagonists quitted the bridles, and laid hold on 
 each other ; each endeavouring to tear off the helmet or the breast- 
 plate of his enemy. While their hands were thus engaged, their 
 horses went from under them, and as they fell to the ground with- 
 out Quitting their hold, they wrestled for the advantage. Neopto- 
 lemus was beginning to rise first, when Eumenes wounded him in 
 the ham, and by that means got upon his feet before him. Neop- 
 tolemus being wounded in one knee, supported himself upon the 
 other, and fought with great courage underneath, but was not able to 
 reach his adversary a mortal blow. At last receiving a wound in 
 the neck, he grew faint, and stretched himself upon the ground. Eu- 
 menes, with all the eagerness of inveterate hatred, nastening to 
 strip him of his arms, and loading him with reproaches, did not ob. 
 serve that his sword was still in his hand ; so that Neoptolemus 
 wounded him under the cuirass, where it touches upon the groin. 
 However, us the stroke was but feeble, the apprehensions it gave 
 him were greater than the real hurt. 
 
 When he had despoiled his adversary, weak as he was wiib the 
 wounds he had received in his legs and arms, he mounted his horse 
 and made up to his lefr wing. There, being informed of the fate 
 of Craterus, ho hastened to him, and finding his breath and his 
 ■enses not quite gone, he alighted from his horse, wept over him, 
 and gave him his hand. One while he vented hit execrations upon 
 Neoptolemus, and another while lamented his own ill fortune, and 
 the cruel necessity he was under of coming to extremities with hit 
 most intimate friend, and either giving or receiving the fatal blow. 
 
 Eumenes won this battle about ten davs aAer the former ; and it 
 
E.UMENES. *^45 
 
 raised him to a high rank of honour, because it brought him the 
 palm both of capacity and courage, but at the same time it exposed 
 him to the envy and haired both of his aUies and his enemies. It 
 seemed hard to them, that a stranger, a foreign adventurer, should 
 have destroyed one of the greatest and most illustrious of the Ma- 
 cedonians, with the arms of those very Macedonians. Had the 
 news of the death of Craterus been brought sooner to Perdiccas, 
 none but he would have swayed the Macedonian sceptre ; but he 
 was slain in a mutiny in Egypt, two days before the news arrived. 
 The Macedonians were so much exasperated against Eumenes 
 upon the late event, that they immediately decreed his death. An. 
 tigonus and Antipater were to fake the direction of the war which 
 was to carry that decree into execution. Meantime Eumenes went 
 to the king's horses which were pasturing upon Mount Ida, and 
 took such as he had occasion for, but gave the keepers a discharge 
 for them. When Antipater was apprised of it, he laughed, and 
 said — " He could not enough ?idmire the caution of Eumenes, who 
 must certainly expect to see the account of the king's goods and 
 chattels stated either on one side or other. 
 
 Eumenes intended to give battle upon the plains of Lydia, near 
 Sardis, both because he was strong in cavalry, and because he was 
 ambitious to show Cleopatra what a respectable force he had : 
 however, at the request of that princess, who was afraid to give 
 Antipater any cause of complaint, he marched to Upper Phrygia, 
 and wintered in Celffina. There Alcetas, Polemon, and Docimus, 
 contended with him for the command ; upon which he said — ** This 
 makes good the observation, every one thinks of advancing him- 
 self, but no one thinks of the danger that may accrue to the public 
 weal." 
 
 He had promised to pay his army within three days, and as he 
 had not money to do it, he sold them all the farms and castles in 
 the country, together with the people and cattle that were upon 
 them. Every captain of a Macedonian company, or officer who 
 had a command in the foreign troops, received battering engines 
 from Eumenes ; and when he had taken the castle, he divided the 
 spoil among his company, according to the arrears due to each 
 particular man. This restored him the affection of the soldiers, 
 insomuch that when papers were found in his camp, dispersed by 
 the enemy, in which their generals promised a hundred talents and 
 great honours to the man who should kill Eumenes, the Macedo- 
 nians were highly incensed, and gave orders that from that time he 
 should have a body-guard of a thousand officer-like men always 
 about him, who should keep watch by tumsi and be in waiting day 
 and night. 
 
 Prosperity gives some appearance of higher sentiments even to 
 persons of mean spirit, and wc see something of grandeur and im- 
 2P 
 
240 bUMENtlS. 
 
 portance about them in the elevatior> where Fortune has placed 
 them. Bui he who is mspired by real fortitude and magoanimity, 
 will show It most by the dignity of his behaviour under lones, and 
 in the most adverse fortune. So did Eumencs. Having beeo de- 
 feated by Antigonus, and in the territory of ihe Orcynians in Cap. 
 pad<»oia, through the treachery of one of his officers, though he was 
 forced to fly himself, he did not snffer the traitor to escape to the 
 enemy, but hanged him upon ihe spot. In his flight be took a dif. 
 ferent way from the pursuers, and privately lurned round in such 
 a manner as to regain the held of battle. There he encamped, in 
 order to bury the dead ; whom he collected, and burnt with the 
 door.posts of the neighbouring villages. The bodies of the officers 
 and common soldiers were burnt upon separate piles, af d when he 
 had raised great monuments of earth over them, he decamped. So 
 that Antigonus coming that way afterwards, was astonished at his 
 firmness and intrepidity. 
 
 Another time he tell in with the baggage of Antigonus, and could 
 easily have taken it, together with many persons of free condition, 
 a great number of slaves, and all the wealth which had been arnas* 
 sed in so many wars, and the plunder of so many countries. But 
 he was afraid that his men, when possessed of such riches, would 
 think themselves too heavy for flight, and be too effeminate to bear 
 the haniship of long wandering fnrm place to place ; and yet time, 
 he knew, was his principal resource for getting clear of Antigonus. 
 On the other hand, he was sensible it would be extremely difficul. 
 to keep the Macedonians from flying upon the spoil, when it was 
 so much within reach : he therefore ordered them to refresh them< 
 selves, and feed their horses, before they attacked the enemy. In 
 the mean time he privately sent a messenger to Menander, who es. 
 corted the baggage, to acquaint him, " That Eumnnes, in consi> 
 deration of the friendship which had subsisted between them, ad- 
 vised him to provide for his safety, and to retire as fast as possible 
 from the plain, where he might easily be surrounded, to the foot of 
 the neighbouring mountain, where the cavalry could not ect, nor 
 any troops fall upon his rear." 
 
 Menander soon perceived his danger, and retired. After which, 
 Eumenes sent out his scouts in the presence of all the soldiers, 
 and commanded the latter to arm and bridle their horses, in order 
 for the attack. The scouts brought back an account that Menan. 
 der had gained a situation where he could not be taken : hereupon 
 Eunaenes pretended great concern, and drew off his forces. Wc 
 are told, that upon the report Menander made of this affair to An. 
 tigoiius, the Macedonians launched out in the praises of Eumenes, 
 and began to regard him with an eye of kindness, for acting so ge- 
 nerous a part, when it was in his power to enslave their children 
 and dishonour their wives. The answer Antigonus gave them was* 
 
EUMENES. 247 
 
 this — " Think not, my good friends, it was for your sake he let 
 them go ; it was for his own. He did not choose to have so manv 
 shackles upon him, when he designed to fly." 
 
 After this, Eumenes, being forced to wander from place to place, 
 spoke to many of his soldiers to leave him ; either out of care for 
 their safety, or because he did not choose to have a body of men 
 after him, who were but too few to stand a battle, and too many to 
 liy in privacy ; and when he retired to the castle of Nora,* on the 
 confines of Lycaonia and Cappadocia, with only five hundred horse, 
 and two hundred foot, there again he gave all such of his friends 
 free leave to depart, as did not like the inconveniences of the place, 
 and the meanness of diet,f and dismissed them with great marks 
 of kindness. 
 
 In a little time Antigonus came up, and, before he formed the 
 siege, invited him to a conference. Eumenes answered, " Antigo- 
 nus had many friends and generals to take his place, in case of ac- 
 cidents to himself; but the troops he had the care of, had none to 
 command or protect them after him." He therefore insisted that 
 Antigonus should send hostages, if he wished to treat with him in 
 person : and when Antigonus wanted him to make his application 
 CO him first, he said, " While I am master of my sword, I shall never 
 think any man greater than myself." At last Antigonus sent his 
 nephew Ptolemy into the fort as a hostage, and then Eumenes came 
 out to him. They embraced with great tokens of cordiality, hav- 
 ing formerly been intimate friends and companions. 
 
 In the conference, which lasted a considerable time, Eumenes 
 made no mention of security for his own life, or of an amnesty for 
 what was past. Instead of that, he insisted on having the gov- 
 ernment of his provinces confirmed to him, and considerable re- 
 wards for his services ; insomuch that all who attended on the oc- 
 casion, admired his firmness, and were astonished at his greatness 
 of mind. 
 
 During the interview, numbers of the Macedonians ran to see 
 Eumenes ; for, after the death of Craterus, no man was so much 
 talked of in the army But Antigonus, fearing they should 
 offer him some violence, called to them at a distance ; and, on 
 their still crowding in, ordered them to be driven off with stones. 
 At last he took him in his arms, and keeping off the multitude 
 with his guards, with some difficulty got him safe again into the 
 castle. 
 
 As the treaty ended in nothing, Antigonus drew a line of circum- 
 vallation round the place, and having left a sufiicient number of 
 troops to carry on the siege, he retired. The fort was abundantly 
 supplied with corn, water and salt, but in want of every thmg else 
 
 * It was only two hundred and fifty paQ^s in circumference. 
 ■f A hibdred left him upon this offer. 
 
248 
 
 EUMENfiS. 
 
 requisite for the table. Yet with this mean provision, Eumenei 
 furnished out a cheerlul entertainmeni for his friends, whom he 
 invited in their turns ; for he took care to season his provtiioDfl 
 with agreeable discourse and the utmost cordiality : his appear- 
 ance was, indeed, very engaging : his countenance had nothing of 
 a ferocious or war*worn turn, but was smooth and elegant — and the 
 the proportion of his limbs >vas so excellent, that they might 
 seem to have come from the chissel of the statuar} . And though 
 he was not very eloquent, he had a soft and persuasive way of 
 speaking. 
 
 He observed, that the greatest inconvenience to the garrison was 
 the narrowness of the space in which they were confined, enclosed 
 as it was with small houses, and the whole of it not more than two fur- 
 longs in circuit : so that they were forced to take their food without 
 exercise, and their horses to do the same. To remove the languor 
 which is the consequence of that want, as well as to prepare him 
 for flight, if occasion should offer, he assigned a room fourteen 
 cubits long, the largest in the fort, for the men to walk in, and gave 
 them orders gradually to mend their pace. As for the horses, he 
 tied them to the roof of the stable with strong halters ; then he 
 raised their heads and fore parts by a pulley, till they could scarce 
 touch the ground with their fore feet, but at the same time, they 
 stood firm upon their hind feet. In this posture the groomd plied 
 them with the whip and the voice, and the horses, thus irritated, 
 bounded furiously on their hind feet, or strained to set their fore 
 feet on the ground, by which efforts their whole body was exerci- 
 sed, till they were out of breath and in a foam. After this exercise 
 they had their barley given them boiled, that they might sooner 
 despatch and better digest it. 
 
 As the siege was drawn out to a considerable length, Antigonus 
 received information of the death of Antipater in Macedonia, and of 
 the troubles that prevailed there through the animosities between 
 Cassander and Polyperchon. He now bade adieu to all inferior 
 prospects, and grasped the whole empire in his schemes, in conse- 
 quence of which he wished to make Eumenes his friend, and bring 
 him to co-operate in the execution of his plan. For this purpose, 
 he sent to him Hieronymus,'*' with proposals for peace, on condi- 
 tion he took the oath that was offered to him. Eumenes made a 
 correction in the oath, and left it to the Macedonians before the 
 place, to judge which was the most reasonable. Indeed, Antigonus, 
 to save appearances, had slightly mentioned the royal family in the 
 beginning, and all the rest ran in his own name. Eumenes, there- 
 fore, put Olympias and the princes of the blood first ; •od be proi 
 
 • Hi«rnnyniuf was of Cardia, and therefor* a countrymao of Einnenca Ha wrota 
 ilM hifiory of thofe princai who divided Alannder*! dominioni amonK them, and of 
 (heir luccenQra. 
 
KUMENES. 249 
 
 posed to engage himself by oath of fealty not to Antigonus only^ 
 but to Olympias, and the princes her children. This appearing to 
 the Macedonians much more consistent with jusiice than the other 
 they permitted Eumenes to take it, and then raised the siege. 
 They likewise seqt this oath to Anagonus, requiring him to take it 
 on the other part. , ^, 
 
 Meantime Eumenes restored to the Cappadocians all the hosta- 
 ges he had in Nora, and in return they furnished him with horses, 
 beasts of burden, and lents. He also collected ^reat part of hts sol- 
 diers. who had dispersed* themselves after his defeat, and were 
 stratrgiing about the country. By this means he assembled near a 
 thousand horse,* with which he marched off as fis as possible, 
 ^*g^*'y judging he had much to fear from Antigonus. For that gen- 
 era] not only ordered him to be besieged ag^iu, and shut up 
 within a circular wall, but, in his le ters, expressed great re- 
 sentment against the Macedonians for admitting th^ correction of 
 the oath. 
 
 While Eumenes was flying from place to place, he received 
 letters from Macedonia, in which the people declared their appre- 
 hensions of the growing power of Antigonus; and others t>om 
 Olympias, wherein she invited him lo come and take upon him the 
 tuition and care of Alexander's son, whose life she conceived to be 
 in danger. At the same time, Polyperchon and King Philip sent him 
 orders to carry on the war against Antigonus with the forces m 
 Cappadocia. They empowered him also to take five hundred 
 talents out of the royal treasure ai Quinda for the re-establishment 
 of his own affairs, and as much as he should judge necessary for 
 the purposes of the war. Antigenes and Teutamus, too, who com- 
 manded the Argyraspides, had directions to support him. 
 
 These officers, in appearance, gave Eumenes a kind reception 
 but it was not difficult to discover the envy and jealousy they had 
 in their hearts, and how much they disdained to act under him. 
 Their envv he endeavoured to remove by not taking the money, 
 which he told them he did not want. To remove their obstinacy 
 and ambition for the first place, was not so easy an affair; for, 
 though they knew not how to command, they were resolved noi to 
 obey. In this case he called in the assistance of superstition : he 
 said, \lexander had appeared to him in a dream, and showed him 
 a pavilion with roval furniture, and a throne in the middle of it,^ 
 after which that prince declare — " If they would hold their 
 councils, and despatch business there, he would be with them, and 
 prosper every measure and action which commenced under his 
 auspices. •]• 
 
 • Dionorus *^iculus savs two thousan<l. 
 
 •{■ In c on-^eqiience of tnis. accornine; to Diodorus. Eumenes proposed to take a sum 
 out of the treasuiv. sufficient for making a throne of gold : to place «ipon hat throne 
 the diadem, the <ceptre and crown, and all the other ensigns of royalty tielongiog to 
 
 2i 
 
 • 
 
aSO EUMENES. 
 
 He easily persuaded Antigenes and Teutarous to believe he had 
 this vision. Thcv were not willing to wait upon him, nor tiid he 
 choo8e to dishonour his coniniission by going lo iheni. Th(*> pre. 
 pared, therefore, a royal pavilion, and a throne in it, which they 
 called the throne of Alexander, and thither tbe> repaired to consult 
 upon the moiit important affairs. 
 
 From thence they marched to the higher provinces, and, upon 
 the way, were joined by Peucestas, a friend of Kumenes, and other 
 governors ot provinces. Thus the Macedonians uere greatly 
 strengthened, both in point of numbers, and in the most mugniticent 
 provision of all the requisites of war. But power and attluenre had 
 rendered these governors so untractable in bociety, and so dissolute 
 in their way jof living, since the death of Alexander, and thev came 
 together with a spirit of despotism, so nurised by barbaric pride, 
 that they 9000 became obnoxious to each other, and no sort of 
 harmony could subsist between them. Besides, the\ flattered the 
 Macedonians without any regard to decorum, and supplied them 
 with money in such a manner, for their entertainmenis and sacri- 
 fices, that in a little time their camp looked like a place of public 
 reception for every scene of infempernnce : and ih"se *'**i#*ran9 
 were to be courted lor mditar> appointments as the people are for 
 their votes in a republic. 
 
 Eumenes soon perceived that ttn ne^. arrived grandees despised 
 each other, but were afraid of hini, and watched an opportunity to 
 kill him. He therefore pretended he was iii want of nione\, and 
 borrowed large sums of those that hared hini most,* in iirtler uuu 
 they might place some confidence in him, or at least might give uo 
 their designs upwn his life, out of regard to the money lent mm 
 Thus he found guards for himself, in the opulence of oth^rx ; and 
 though men in general seek to save their lives by giving, he pro- 
 vided for his safety by receiving. 
 
 While no danger was near, the Macedonians took bribes of all 
 who wanted to corruot them, and, like a kind of guards, diiilv 
 attended the^ates of those that aspired to the command. Bui nheii 
 Antigonus came and encamped over against them, and affairs railed 
 for a real jfeneral, Eumenes was applied to, not only by the soldier?, 
 but the "ery grandees who bed taken so much state upon them in 
 time of peace iind pleasure freely gave place to him, and took the 
 place he assigned them without murmuring. Indeed, when Anti 
 gonus attempted to pass the river Panitigris, not one of thr other 
 officers who were appointed to guard it, got any inul! 1 his 
 
 motions: Eumenes alone was at hand to oppose him, ;i 1 -_ aid it 
 
 that prince : tliat every mofnin( a Mcrifice sbould tM oflercd bim bv ell Uie oifeen • 
 •nd thHt all orders »houl<l lie iMueH in bit name. A Mfoke of policy ttiiied «> Ibe 
 
 gentut of Kiiinenet. 
 
 • Fmir hundred thoiiiand crowm. 
 
\ 
 
 EUMENES. T 25J 
 
 550 effectually, that he filled the channel with dead bodies, and made 
 four thousand prisoners. 
 
 The behaviour of the Macedonians, when Eumenes happened to 
 be sick, still more particularly showed, that they thought others 
 fit to direct m magnificent entertainments, and the soleinnnies of 
 peace, but that he was the only person among them qualified to 
 lead an armv. For Peucestas having feasted them in a sumptuous 
 manner in Persia, and given each man a sheep lor sacrifice, hoped 
 to be indulged with the command. A few days after, as they were 
 marching against the enemy, Eumenes was so dangerously ill, that 
 he was forced to be carried in a litter at some distance from the 
 ranks, lest his rest should be disturbed with the noise. They had 
 not gone far before the enemy suddenly made their appearance ; 
 for they had passed the intermediate hills, and were now descend, 
 ing into the plain. The lustre of their golden armour glittering in 
 the sun, ihe elephants with their towers on their backs, and the 
 purple vests which tlie cavalry used Ut wear when they were ad- 
 vancing to the combat, struck the troops that were to oppose them 
 with such surprise, that the front halted, and called out for Eume- 
 nes, declaring that they woijld not move a step farther, if he had 
 not the direction of them. 
 
 Eumenes no sooner heard this, than he advanced with the utmost 
 expedition, hastening the slaves that carried the Inter. He like- 
 wise opened the curtains, and stretched out his hand, in token of 
 hi,« joy. On the first sight o the general of their heart, the troops 
 saluted him in the Macedonian language^ clanked their arms, and, 
 with loud shouts, challenged the enemy to advance, thinking them. 
 selves invincible while he was at their head. - 
 
 Antigonus having learned from some prisoners, that Eumenes 
 was so extremely ill, that he was forced to be carried in a litter, 
 concluded he should find no great difficulty in beating the other 
 generals, and therefore, hastened to the attack. But when he came 
 to reconnoitre the enemies' army, and saw in what excellent order 
 it was drawn up, he stood still some time in silent admiration. At 
 last, spying the litter carried about, from one wing to the other, he 
 laughed out aloud, as his manner was, and said to his friends — 
 " Yon litter is the thing that pitches the battle against us." — After 
 this he immediately retreated to his entrenchments.* 
 
 * There are some particulars in Diodorus. which deserve to be inserted here. After 
 the two armies were separated without conning to .action, they encamped about three 
 furlongs distance from each other ; and Antigonus soon findmg the countrv where he 
 Iriv so much exhausted, tnat it would be very difficult for hicn to subsist, sent deputies 
 !o the confederate armv, to solicit them, especialiv the governors of provinces, and the 
 old Macedonian corps, to ries.ert Eumenes, and to join him ; which at this time, they 
 rejected with the highest inrlignation. After the deputies were dismissed. Eumenes 
 came into the assemblv. and delivered himself in the following fable: — " A lion once 
 frtlliii" in love with a young damsel demanded her in marriage of her father. The 
 tether made answer, That he looked 0:1 stich an alliance as a great honour to his 
 
252 
 
 The Macedonians had hardly recovered themselves from their 
 feari), before ibey began to behave again in a diHorderU and mu- 
 tinous manner lo their officers, and spread themselves over almost 
 all the provinces ol' Gabene tor winter quarters : mAOinuch, that 
 the tirsi was at a distance «if a ihousumi furlongs from the la^t. 
 Aniigonus being informed of this circumstance, iiioved buck Mgatnst 
 them, without losing a moment's time. He took a rugged road that 
 afiordtd no water because ii was the shortest, hoping, if he fell 
 upon them while thus dispersed, that it would be inip<i8iiible fur 
 their otficers to assemble them. 
 
 However, as soon as he had entered that desolate country, his 
 troops were attacked with such violent winds and severe frosts, 
 that It Was dithcult for them to proceed, and they found it necessary 
 to light many fires. Tor this reas(»n their march could noi be con- 
 cealed. The barbarians who inhabited the mooniains tha« over- 
 lookt d the desert, wondering what such a number of fires c^uld 
 meun, sent some persons upon dromedaries -to Peucestas with an 
 account of them. 
 
 Peucestas, distracted with terror at this news, prepared for flight, 
 intending to take with him such tro«>ps as he rotild collect on the 
 way. But Eumenes soon dispelled iheir fears and uneasiness, by 
 promising so to impede the enetnies* march, that ihey would arrive 
 three days later than they were expected. Finding that ihey lis- 
 tened lo him, he sent orders to the officers to draw all the troops 
 from their quarters, and assemble them with speed. \t the same 
 time he t<»ok his horse, and went with his colleagues to seek out a 
 lofty piece of ground, which miyht attract the attention ol the troops 
 marching below. Having found one that answered his purpose, 
 he measured it, and ttaused a number of fires to be lighted at pro- 
 per intervals, so as to resemble a camp. 
 
 family bui stood in fear of his claws and teetn. lest, upon any trifling dispute iliat 
 
 iiilKhl haptien brtwiten them after narriiige. he •night exercise tneui a liii<e 'OoiiM'»tilj 
 
 lutoii tiis daui^hier I'o remove this objection, the amnroiis lion cuuaao tHSh ••!» naiU 
 
 HIM) umh to iH! drawn iiiiiiie<iiHielv : whereupon the tether took a cu^tgel, aitd mmiii 
 
 ^nl xui of mt» ciieriiv — • This." Cfinumiert ne, •• is. the v«t\ thing aniiei m» ;u Xi.ti-,) 
 
 I1US, wiiu i»).beral in hi8 promiKeo. till he hHc marie himself n.aster of «n(jr i 
 
 (hen i>eM.Rrr of in» ie*-ih an(i imwh.'' \ low davs alter trns. Kuinenes ' avinK ' 
 
 that \nii«((»niiK intended in decaii>p in the night, preaentlv Kur»se<l tha> nl^ 
 
 to frk quarii-rsof refresh!' eiit for ins arm? in the rich rlistriciof Gabene. i 
 
 this. anrt. at ihe saxetime lo gain a tMisaite iniothaierMinirv. he in»fnirt>- 
 
 dier» to preiemi thev v< err deserirrs. and sent ihem into ine camp of \ 
 
 Ihey refMirted that Kuineneh inienrien irtatlark hiii> in hi» tmiche* ix <' 
 
 While 4nllKOnl<s'^ irooi>ii were under Nrn>s. FuiKenen marcben for (• < • 
 
 length Aiitig^>niis saspecie<l an<t havini^ given proper orders lo his foot. •• 
 
 mediately afier him with hisnavalrv. K^rlv in the •i>orning. fron- the lop 
 
 discerned Enmenes witli hm arn^ t>elow aiirl Ru» eiie* U|ion Mghi nf 
 
 conclodnig that the whole armv of Anii^onus Ma<. m imnri f.«crd «Im>ui. h 
 
 bis lr«MifM In order to baille. Thus KiMteneti n n^ necetveM im ht« tinn .. 
 
 •s A nttKomi«*» infantry ca>i.e up a sharp H) ><e »K•'l'r^ *eeM.ed 
 
 won aiMi lii>i Heverni liii>es Ai la«i. how< ^ the worst, beili( 
 
 ibrced to wtll>HrMu' nv Idtio innrrhe<i into ^ Will. 
 
EUMENE3. 25a 
 
 When Antigonus beheld those fires upon the heights, he was in 
 the utmost dishess. For he thought the enem\ w^re apprised of 
 his intention some time betore, and were come to meet him. Not 
 choosing, therefore, with forces so harassed and fatigued with their 
 march, to be obhged to fight troops that were perfectly fresh, and 
 and had wintered in agreeable quarters, he left the short road, and 
 led his men through the towns and villages, giving them abundant 
 time to refresh themselves. But when he found that no parties 
 came out to gall him in his march, which is usual when an enemy 
 is near, and was informed by the neighbouring inhabitants, that 
 they had seen no troops whatever, nor any thing but nres upon the 
 hills, he perceived that Eumenes had outdone him m point of 
 generalship ; and this incensed him so much, that he advanced 
 with a resolution to try his strength in a pitched battle. 
 
 Mean time the greatest part of the forces repairing to Eumenes, 
 in admiration of his capacity, desired him to take the sole com- 
 mand. Upon this, Antigenes and Teutamus, who were at the head 
 of the Argyraspides, \vere so exasperated with envy, that they 
 formed a plot against his life ; and having drawn into it most of the 
 grandees and generals, they consulted upon a proper time and 
 method to take him off. They all agreed to make use of him in 
 the ensuing battle, and to assassinate him immediately after. But 
 Eudamus, master of the elephants, and Phaedimus, privately in- 
 formed Eumenes of their resolution, not out of any kindness or 
 benevolent regard, but because they were afraid of losing the 
 money they had lent him. He commended them for the honour 
 with which they behaved, and retired to his tent. There he told 
 his friends — " That he lived among a herd of savage beasts," and 
 immediately made his will. After which he destroyed all his papers, 
 lest, afie/ his death, charges and impeachments should arise against 
 the persons who wrote them, in consequence of the secrets disco- 
 vered there. He then considered, whether he should put the enemy 
 in the way of gaining the victory, or take his flight through Media 
 and Armenia into Cappadocia ; but he could not fix upon any thing 
 while his friends staid with him. 
 
 After revolving various expedients in his mind, which was now 
 almost as changeable as his fortune, he drew up the forces and en- 
 deavoured to animate the Greeks and the barbarians. On the 
 other hand, the phalanx and the Argyr^ispides bade him be of good 
 courage, assuring him that the enemy would not stand the encoun- 
 ter. For they were veterans who had served under Philip and Al- 
 exander, and, like so many champions of the ring, had never had 
 a fall to that day. Many of them were seventy years of age, and 
 none less than sixty : so that when they charged the troops of An- 
 tigonus, they cried'out — "Villains, you fight against your fathers !" 
 Then they fell furiouslv upon his infantry, and soon muted them. 
 22 
 
TOI 
 
 254 TUMENES. 
 
 %Indeed, none of the battalions *cou Id stand the shock, and most of 
 them were cut in pu'cesupoii (lieMp<it. Km inoutfh Aiitigouuti had 
 such had Ruccfss in this (|Uarier, his cavuin were vict«iriuu8, 
 throutfh the weak and daHiardl\ behaviour ol Peucesiaii, and t«»ok 
 all the baggaige. Antigonus watt u man Mhu had excelleiti prec* 
 ence of mind on the most- trying occattions, and here ih** place 
 and occHHion befriended him. li wax a plain open country, the 
 soil neiihur deep nor hard, but, like ihe sea-nhore, covered with 
 a fine dry sand, which the i rumpling of .ho many men and horses 
 during the action reduced to a small white dust, thai like a 
 cloud of lime, darkened the air, and imerct pted the pr<»pect, 
 so that it was easy 'for Antigonus to take the baggage unper- 
 ceived. 
 
 After the battle was over, Teutamus sent some of his corp» to 
 Antigonus, to desire him to restore the baggage. He told iliem, 
 he would not only return the \rg\ la.spideH their baggage, uui treat 
 them in all respects with the greates* kindnesM, provided they 
 would put Kumenes in his hands. I'he Argyraspides came into 
 that abominable measure, and agreed to give up that brave man 
 alive to his enemies. In pur>uanct of this Mchpme,ihe\ appr(»ach« 
 cd him unsuspected, niid planted themselves about him. Some la- 
 mented the loss of their bH<;gage, some desired him to assume the 
 spirit of victory which he had gained, others accused the rest 
 of iheir commanders. Thus, witching their opportunit\ , they fell 
 t:pon him, took away his sword, and bound his hands behind him 
 with his own girdle. 
 
 Nicanor was sent by Antigonus to receive him. But as thev led 
 him through the midst of rhc Macedonians, he dewired rirsi to speak 
 to them, not for any re<(uest he had to make, but of mstlers of 
 great imnortance to thetn. Silence being made, he ascended an 
 eminence, and stretching out his hands, bound as ihe\ were, he 
 said. "What trophy, ye vilest of all the Mtxedonians! what tro- 
 phy could .Antioonus have wished to raise, like this Hhich \ou are 
 raising, by delivering up your general bound ? Was it not bate 
 enough to acknov* ledge yourselves beaten, merely for the sake of 
 your baggage, as if victory dwelt among your goods and chattels, 
 and not upon the points of your swords : but xou must also send 
 your general as a ransom for thjrt baggage ? For my part, though 
 thus led. I am not conquered. I have beaten the enem\, and am 
 ruined by my fallow soldiers. But I eonjnre you, by the god of 
 armies, and the awful deities who preside over oaths, to kill me here 
 with your own hands. If my life he taken by another, the (\i»ed 
 will still be yours. Nor will Antigonus complain, if \ou take the 
 work ou( of his hands ; for he wants not Kumenes alive, but Rq. 
 menesdead. If you choose not t(» be the immediate mstruinentti 
 loose but one of my hands and that shall do the iNWtiieM. If you 
 
EUMENE# 255 
 
 will not trust me with a sword, throw me, bound as I am, to wild 
 beasts. If you comply with this last request, 1 acquit )ou ol ail 
 guili with respect to me, and declare you have behaved to your 
 general like the best and honestest of men." 
 
 The rest of the troops received this speech with sighs and tears, 
 and t-ver\ expression of sor'row ; but the Argyra.>pides cried out, 
 *' Lead him on, and a lend not to his trilling. For it is no such 
 great niat.er, it an execrable Chersonesian, who ha> harrassed the 
 Macedonians with infinite wars, have cause to lam»mt his fate, as 
 it would be if the best of Alexander's and Philip'^ soldiers 
 should be deprived of the fruit of their labours, and nave their bread 
 to beff in their old age. And have not ou; wives already passed 
 three nights with our enemies?" So saying, they drove him for- 
 ward. 
 
 Antigonus, fearing some bad consequence from the crowd, (for 
 there was not a man lefi in his camp,) sent out ten ol his best ele- 
 phants and a corps of spearmen, who were Medes and Parthians, 
 to keep them off. He could not bear to have Eumenes brought 
 into tiis presence, because of the former friendly connexions there 
 had been between them. And when those who took the charge 
 of him asked, in what manner he would have him kept, he said — 
 " So as you would keep an elephant or a lion." Nevertheless, he 
 soon felt some impressions of pity, and ordered them to take off 
 his heavy chains, and allow him a servant who had been accus- 
 tomed to wait upon him. He likewise permitted such of his friends 
 as desired it, to pass whole days w ith him, and to bring him neces- 
 sary refreshments. Thus he spent some considerable time in de- 
 liberating how to dispose of him. and sometimes listened to the ap- 
 plications and promises of Nearchus the Cretan and his son Deme- 
 trius, vvho made it a poim to save him. But all the other officers 
 insisted that he should be put to death, and urged Antigonus to 
 give dire^ctions for it. 
 
 One day, we are told, Eumenes asked his keeper, Onomarchus, 
 " Why Antigonus, now that he had got his enemy into his power, 
 did not either immediately despatch him or generously rehase 
 him ?" Onoma rebus answered in a contemptuous manner — "That 
 in the battle, and not now, he should have been ready to meet 
 death." To which Eumenes replied — " By heaven, I was so ! — 
 ask those who ventured to engage me if I was not. I do not know 
 that I met with a better man than myself." " Well," said Ono- 
 marchus, " now you have found a Letter man than yourself, why 
 do you not patiently wait his time ?" 
 
 When Antigonus had resolved upon his death, he gave orders 
 that he should have no kind of food. By this means, in two ar 
 three days time he began to draw near his end : and then Antigo- 
 nus, being obliged to decamp upon some sudden emergency, sent 
 
256 A/MEKES. 
 
 in an executioner to despatch him. The body he delivered to his 
 friends, allowing them to bum it honourabi), and to collect the 
 ashes into a silver urn, m order to their being sent to his wife and 
 children. 
 
 Thus died Eumenes : and divine justice did not g<» far to secjc 
 instruments of venf[eance against the (tfiicere* and soldiers who 
 had betrayed him. AniigoiiUM himHelf, detesting the A rg\ raspides, 
 as impious and savage wretches, ordered lb\ rtius, governor of 
 Ararho8iu,t under whx)fce direction he put them, to take ever)' me- 
 th(»d to destroy them ; so that not one of them might return to 
 Macedftnia, or behold the Grecian Sea. 
 
 * Antii^nes. comiiiander in chief n( fhr Siivtr Shield, was, by order of Anngooui^ 
 put in a coffin, and burnt aliTe Eudainus ('elbanus, and many others of tlic enemiet 
 of Eumenes. eiperienced a like fate. 
 
 t A province of Fart&ia, near Bactriana. 
 
267 
 
 POMPEY. 
 
 FlourisJied 90 yeccrs before Christ. 
 
 THE people of Rome appear from the first to have been affect- 
 ed towards Pompey much m the same manner as Prometheus, in 
 jEschylus, was towards Hercules, when, alter that hero had deliv- 
 ered him from his chains, he said, 
 
 The sire 1 hated, but the son I love.* 
 
 For never did the Romans entertain a stronger and more rancour- 
 ous hatred for any general, than for Strabo, the father of Pompey. 
 While he lived, indeed, they were afraid of his abilities as a sol- 
 dier, for he had great talents for war ; but upon his death, which 
 happened by a stroke of lightning, they dragged his body from the 
 bier, on the way to the funeral pile, and treated it with the greatest 
 indignity. On the other hand, no man ever experienced from the 
 same Romans an attachment more early begun, more disinteres- 
 ted in all the stages of his prosperity, or more constant and fahh- 
 ful in the decline of his fortune than Pompey. 
 
 In his youth he had a very engaging countenance, which spoke 
 for him before he opened his lips- Yet that grace of aspect was 
 not unattended with dignity, and amidst his youthful bloom there 
 was a venerable and princely air. His hair naturally curled a lit- 
 tle before, which, together with the shining moisture and quick 
 turn of his eye, produced a stronger likeness of Alexander the 
 Great than that which appeared in the statues of that prince. So 
 that some seriously gave him the name of Alexander, and he did 
 not refuse it ; others applied it to him by way of ridicule. And 
 Lucius Philippus,t a man of consular dignity, as he was one day- 
 pleading for him, said — " It was no wondtr if Philip was a lover 
 of Alexander." 
 
 While he was very young, and served under his father, who 
 was carrying on the war against Cinna,:]: one Lucius Terentius 
 was his comrade, and they slept in the same tent. This Terentius, 
 
 * Of ihe tragedy oi PromeUieus Released, from which this line is taken, we have 
 onlv some frag.! ^enis remaining. Jupiter had chained Prometheus to the rocks of 
 Caucasus, and Hercules the son of Jupiter released him. 
 
 + Lucius Marcius Philippus. one of the greatest orators of his time. He #a8- father- 
 in-law to Augustus, having married his mother Attia Horace speaks of him, lib. i. 
 ep 7 
 
 t In the year of Rome 666. And as Pompey was born the same year with Cicero, 
 yii. in the yeai of Rome 647. he must, in this war with Cinna, have been uiueteee 
 years old. 
 
 2k 22* 
 
258 POMPBY. 
 
 gained by Ciona's money, undertook to asaaawiate Ponpey, while 
 others set fire to the general'ii tent. Pompey got infomiaiion of 
 this when he was at supper, and it did not put him in the least 
 confusion. Ho drank more freely, and caressed Terenlius more 
 than usual ; but when they were to have gone to rest, he stole out 
 of his tent, and planted a guard about his father. Thm done, he 
 waited quietly for the event. Terentius, as soon as he thought 
 Pompey was asleep, drew his sword, and stabbed the coverlets of 
 the bed in many places, imagining that he was in it. 
 
 Immediately ailer this, there was a great mutiny in the camp. 
 The soldiers, who hated their general, were determined to go over 
 to the enemy, and began to strike their tents and take up their 
 arms. The general, dreading the tumult, did not dare to make 
 his appearance ; but Pompey was every where. He begged of 
 them with tears to stay, and at last threw himself upon his face in 
 the gateway. There he lay weeping, and bidding them, if (hey 
 would £0 out, to tread upon him. Upon this they were ashamed to 
 proceed, and all, except eight hundred, returned and reconciled 
 themselves to their general. 
 
 After the death of Strabo, a charge was laid that he had con. 
 verted the public money to his own ush, and Pompey, as his heir, 
 was obliged to answer it. Upon inquiry, he found that Alexan« 
 der, one of the enfranchised slaves, had secreted most of the mo* 
 ney, and he took care to inform the magistrates of the particulars. 
 He was accused, however, himself of having taken some hunting 
 nets and books out of the spoils of Asculurn, and it is true his father 
 gave them to him when he took the place ; but he lost them at the 
 return of Cinnu to Rome, when that general's creatures broke into 
 and pillaged his house. In this uflTair he maintaiiu-d the combat 
 well with his adversary at the bar, and showed an acuteness and 
 firmness above his years, which gained him so much applause, 
 that Antistius, the pnetor who had the hearing of the cause, con. 
 ceived an affection for him, and offered him his daughter in mar. 
 riage. The proposal accordingly was made to his friends. Poaa- 
 pey accepted it, and the treaty was concluded privately. 
 
 Pompey in a little time married Antistia, and afterwards repair, 
 ed to Cinna*s camp ; but finding some unjust charges laid agaiost 
 them there^- he took the first opportunity to withdraw. At he was 
 no where to be found, a rumour prevailed in the army, that Cinna 
 had put the young roan to death ; upon which, numbers who hated 
 Cinna, and could no longer bear with his cruelties, attacked his 
 quarters. He fled for his life, and being overtaken by one of the 
 inferior^fiicers, who pursued him with a drawn sword, he fell upon 
 his knees, and offered him his ring, which was of no small value. 
 The officer answered with great ferocity — ** I am not come to sign 
 a contract, but to punish an impious and lawless tyrant,*' and then 
 killed him upon the spot. 
 
 1 
 
POMPEY. 259 
 
 Such was the end of Cinna ; after whom Carbo, a tyrant still 
 more savage, took the reins of government. It was not long, 
 however, before Sylla returned to Italy, to the great satisfaction of 
 most of the Romans, who, in their present unhappy circumstances, 
 thought the change of their master no small advantage. To such 
 a desperate state had their calamities brought them, that, no longer 
 hoping for liberty, they sought only the most tolerable servitude. 
 
 At that time Pompey was in the Picene, whither he had retired, 
 partly because he had lands there, but more on account of an old 
 attachment of the cities in that district to his family. As he ob- 
 serveH ♦hat the bes and most considerable of the citizens left their 
 houses, and took refuge in Sylla's camp as in a port, he resolved 
 to do the same. At the same time he thought it did not become 
 him to go like a fugitive who wanted protection, but rather in a 
 respectable manner at the head of an army : he therefore tried 
 what levies he could make in the Picene,* and the people readily 
 repaired to his standard, rejecting the applications of Carbo. 
 
 Thus Pompey, at the age of twenty-three, without a commission 
 from any superior authority, erected himself into a general ; and 
 having placed his tribunal in the most public part of the great city 
 of Auximum, by a formal decree commanded the Venditii, two 
 brothers who opposed him in behalf of Carbo, to depart the city ; 
 he enlisted soldiers ; he appointed tribunes, centurions, and other 
 officers, according to the established custom. So that in a little 
 time he raised three complete legions, and furnished himself with 
 provisions, beasts of burden, carriages, in short, with the whole ap- 
 paratus of war. 
 
 In this form he moved towards Sylla, not by hasty marches, 
 nor as if he wanted to conceal himself; for he stopped by the way 
 to harass the enemy, and attempted to draw off from Carbo all the 
 parts of Italy through which he passed. At last, three generals of 
 the opposite party, Carinna, Ccelius, and Brutus, came against 
 him, and hemmed him in with their three armies, in hopes to de- 
 molish him entirely. 
 
 Pompey, far from being terrified, assembled all his forces, and 
 charged the army of Brutus at the head of his cavalry. The 
 Gauhsh horse on the enemy's side sustained the first shock ; but 
 Pompey attacked the foremost of them, who was a man of prodi- 
 gious strength, and brought him down with a push of his spear. 
 The rest immediately fled, and threw the infantry into such disor- 
 der that the whole was soon put to flight. This produced so great 
 a quarrel among the three generals, that they parted, and took 
 separate routes. 
 
 In consequence of which, the cities concluding that the fear of 
 the enemy had made them part, adopted the interests of Pompey* 
 * Now the marcb of A ncnna. 
 
260 lOMPEY. 
 
 Not long after, Scipio, the conmil, advaflced to engage hin ; 
 but before the infantry were near enough to discharge their lances, 
 Scipio's soldiers saluted those of Pompey, and came over to them. 
 Scipio, therefore, was forced to Oy. At last Carbo sent a large 
 body of cavalry against Pompey, near the river Arsis. He gave 
 them so warm a rejception, that they were soon broken, and in the 
 pursuit drove them upon impracticable ground, so that finding it 
 impossible to escape, they surrendered themselves with their anne 
 and horses. 
 
 Sylla had not yet been informed of these transactions ; bat upon 
 the fir*'^ news of Pompey's being engaged with so many adversa* 
 ries, and such respectable generals, he dreaded the consequences, 
 and marched Avith all expedition to his assistance. Pompey hav- 
 ing intelligence of his approach, ordered Ins officers to sec that the 
 troops Here armed and drawn up in such a manner, as to make 
 the handsoniest and most gallant appearance before the com- 
 mander in chief. For he expected great honours from him, and 
 he obtained greater. Sylla no so«iner saw Pompey advancing to 
 meet him, with an army in excellent condition, both as to age and 
 size of the men, and the spirits which success had given them, than 
 he alighted ; and upon being saluted of course by Pompey as wi' 
 jterator, he returned his salutation with the same title. The rest 
 of his behaviour was as respectful as that in the first inter^'iew. 
 
 Pompey was not elated with these honours. On the contrary*) 
 wheit Sylla wanted to send him into Gaul, where Metellus had done 
 nothing worthy of the fotces under his direction, he said — " It was 
 not right to lake the command from a man who was his superior 
 both in age and character ; but if Metellus should desire his as- 
 sistance in the conduct of the war, it was at his service." Metel- 
 lus acrepted the proposal, and wrote to him to come ; whereupon 
 ho entered Gaul, and not only signalized his own valour and capa- 
 city, but excited once more the spirit of adventure in Metellus, 
 which was almost extinguished with age. 
 
 After Sylla had made himself master of Italy, and was declared 
 dictator, he rewarded his principal officers with riches and hot.ourt, 
 making them liberal grunts of whatever they applied for : but he 
 was most struck with the excellent qualities of Pompey, and was 
 persuaded that he owed more to his services than those of any 
 other man. He therefore resolved, if possible, to take him into his 
 alliance; and, as his wiA* Mtiella was wholly of his opinion, they 
 persuaded Pompey to divorce Antistia, and to marry >1?milia, the 
 daughter-in-law of Sylla, whom Metelia had by Scaurus, and who 
 was at that time pregnant by an<»iher marriage. 
 
 Nothing could be more tyrannical than this new contrnct ; it 
 was suitable indeed to the times of 8ylla, btit it ill became the 
 character of Pompey to take uf^milia, pregnant as she was, from 
 
POMPEY. 261 
 
 another, and bring her into his house, and at the same time to re- 
 pudiate Antistia, distressed as she must he for a father whom she 
 had lately lost on account of this cruel husband. For Antisiius 
 was killed in the senate house, because it was thought his regard 
 for Pompey had attached him to the cause of Sylla And her 
 mother upon this divorce, laid violent hands upon herself. This 
 was an additional scene of miseryin that tragical marriage, as it 
 was also the fate of iEmilia in Pompey's house, who died there in 
 childbed. 
 
 Soon after this Sylla received an account thai Perpenna had 
 made himself master of Sicily, where he atforded an asylum to the 
 party which opposed the reigning powers. Pompey was sent 
 against them with a considerable armamf^nt. He soon forced 
 Perpenna to quit the island; and having recovered the cities, which 
 had been much harrassed by the armies that Were there before his, 
 he behaved to them all with great humanirv, except the Mamer- 
 tines. That people had refused to a^pnar before his tribunal, and 
 to acknowledge his jurisdiction, alleging that thev siood excused 
 by an ancient privilege granted them by the Romans. He an- 
 swered — "Will Nou never have done with citing laws and privi- 
 leges to men who wear swords ?" His behaviour too, to Carbo, 
 in his misfortunes, appeared inhuman. For. if it was necessary, 
 as perhaps -it was, to put him to death, he should have done it im 
 mediately, and then it would have been the work of him that gave 
 orders for it. But, instead of that, he caused a Roman, who had 
 been honoured with three consulships, to be brought in chains be- 
 fore his tribunal, where he sat in judgment on him, to the regret of 
 all the spectators, and ordered him to be led off to execution. 
 
 He had resolved to chastise the Himereuns for attempting to 
 support his enemies, when rhe orator Sthenis told him — '' He 
 would act unjustly, if he passed by the person that was guilty, and 
 punished the innocent." Pompev asked him — " Who was the 
 guiltv pers*)n ?" and he answered — ^' I am the man. I persuaded 
 my friends, and compelled my enemies, to take the measures they 
 did." Pompey, delighted with his frank confession and noble spi- 
 rit, forgave him first, and afterwards all the people of Himera. 
 Being informed that his soldiers committed great disorders in their 
 excursions, he sealed up their swords, and if any of them broke 
 the seal, he took care to have them punished. 
 
 While he was making these and other regulations in Sicily, he 
 received a decree of the senate, and letters from Sylla, in which 
 he was commanded *to cross over to Africa, and to carry on the 
 war with the utmost vigour against Docniiius, who had assembled 
 a much more powerful army than that which Marius carried not 
 long before from Africa to Italy, when he made himself master of 
 Rome, and of a fugitive became a tyrant. Pompey soon finished 
 
262 FOMPET 
 
 bis preparatioDi for this expedition, and set sail with an hundred 
 and twenty ;irmed vessels, and eight hundred storeships, laden with 
 proviHions, arms, money and machines of war. Part of his fleet 
 landed at Utica, and part at Carthage, immediately after which 
 seven thousand of the enemy came over to him, and he brought 
 with him SIX legions complete. 
 
 Domitius advanced to meet him, and pat his troops in order of 
 battle. There happened to be a channel between them, craggy 
 and difficult to pass. In the morning it began moreover to raio, 
 and the wind blew violently ; insomuch that Domitius, not imagin. 
 ing there would be any action that day, ordered his army to retire. 
 But Pompey looked upon this as his opportunity, and he passed 
 the defile with the utmost expedition. The enemy stood upon 
 their defence, but it was in a disorderly and tumultuous manner, 
 and the reMistance they made was neither general nor uniform. 
 Besides, the wind and rain beat in their faces. The storm incom- 
 moded the Romans too, for they could not well distinguish eacL 
 other. Nay, Pompey himself was in danger of being killed by a 
 soldier, who asked him the word, and received not a speedy an. 
 swer. At length, however, he routed the enemy with great 
 slaughter, not above three thousand of them escaping out of twen. 
 ty thousand. The soldiers then saluted Pompey Imperafor^ but he 
 said he would not accept the title while the enemy's camp stood 
 untouched ; therefore, if they chose to confer such an honour upon 
 him, they must first make themselves masters of the intrenchinents. 
 
 At that instant they advanced with great fury against them. 
 Pompey fought without his helmet, for fear of such an accident as 
 ne had just escaped. The camp was taken, and Domitius slain, 
 in consequence of which, most of the cities immediately submitted, 
 and the rest were taken by assault. He took Jarbas, one of the 
 confederates of Domitius, prisoner, and bestowed his crown oo 
 Hienopsal. Advancing with the same tide of fortune, and whilo 
 his army had all the spirits inspired by success, he entered Numi- 
 dia, in which he contHiued his march for several days, and sub. 
 dued all that came in his way. 'I'he whole time he passed in Af 
 rica, they tell us, was not above forty days, in which he defeated 
 the enemy, reduced the whole country, and brought the affairs of 
 its kin^s under proper regulations, though he was only in his 
 twenty.fourth year. 
 
 Upon his return to Utica he received letters from Sylla, in which 
 lie^was ordered to send home the rest of his army, ard to wait there 
 with one legion onlv for a successor. This gftve him a great deal 
 of uneasiness, which he kept to himself, but the army expresMd 
 their indignation aloud ; insomuch that when he intreated them to 
 return to Italy, they launched out into abusive terms against Sylla, 
 and declared they would never abandon Pompey, or autl'er him to 
 
POMPEY. 002 
 
 trust a tyrant. At first he endeavoured to pacify them with mild re- 
 presentations ; and when he found these had no effect, he descend- 
 ed from the tribunal, and retired to his tent in tears. However, 
 they went and took him thence, and placed him again upon the tri- 
 bunal, where they spent great part of the day ; they insistmg that 
 he should stay and keep the command, and he in persuading them 
 to obey Sylla's orders, and to form no new faction. At last, seemg 
 no end of their clamours and importunity, he assured them with an 
 oath — " That he woul.d kill himself if they attempted to force him/' 
 And even this hardly brought them to desist. 
 
 The first news that Sylla heard was, that Pompey had revolted ; 
 upon which he said to his friends, — " Then it is my fate to have to 
 contend with boys in my old age." This he said, because Marius, 
 who was very young, had brought him into so much trouble and 
 danger. But when he received true information of the affair, and 
 observed that all the people flocked out to receive him, and to con- 
 duct him home with marks of great regard, he resolved to exceed 
 them in his regards, if possible. He, therefore, hastened to meet 
 him, and embracing him in the most affectionate manner, saluted 
 him aloud by the surname of Magnus^ or tfie Great; at the same 
 time, he ordered all about him to give him the same appellation. 
 Others say, it was given him by the whole army in Africa, but did 
 not generally obtain till it was authorised by Sylla. It is certain he 
 was the last to take it himself, and he did not make use of it till a 
 long time after, when he was sent into Spain with the dignity of 
 proconsul against Sertorius. Then he began to write himself, in 
 his letters and in all his edicts, Pompey the Great ; for the world 
 was accustomed to the name, and it was no longer invidious. In this 
 respect we may justly admire the wisdom of the ancient Romans, 
 who bestowed on their great men such honourable names and titles, 
 not only for military achievements, but for the great qualities and arts 
 which adorn civil life. Thus, the people gave the surname of Max- 
 imus to Valeriiis,* for reconciling them to the senate after a violent 
 dissension, and to Fabius RuUus, for expelling some persons de- 
 scended of enfranchised slave»,f who had been admitted into the 
 senate on account of their opulent fortunes. 
 
 When Pompey arrived at Rome, he demanded a triumph, in which 
 he was opposed by Sylla. The latter alleged, — " That the laws did 
 not allow that honour to any persoii who was not either consul or 
 praetor. J Hence it ^vas that the first Scipio, when he returned vic- 
 
 * This was Marcus Valerius, the orother of Valerius Publicola, who was dictator. 
 
 f It was not his expelling the descendants of enfranchised slaves the senate, nor 
 yet his glorious victories, which procured Fabius the surname of Maximus. out his 
 reducing the populace of Rome into four tribes, who before were dispersed among all 
 the tribes, and by that means had too much influence m elections and other public 
 affairs. These were called iribus urbanoe. — Liv. ix 46. 
 
 J Livy (lib. xxxi.) lells us, the senate refused L. Cornelius Leniulus a triumph for 
 the same reason, though they thought his achievements worthy of that honour. 
 
2d4 poMFcr. 
 
 torioufl from greater wars and conflictB with the Carthaginians in 
 Spain, did not demand a triumph ; for he was neither consul nor 
 pr«t«)r." lie added, — ** Tha if Pompey, who was yet httle hetter 
 than a beardless youth, and who was not of age to be admitted into 
 the senate, should enter the city in triumph, it would bring an odttm 
 both upon the dictator's power, and those honours of his friend." 
 These arguments Sylla insisted on, to shou him he would not allow 
 of his triumph ; and that, in case he persisted, he would chastise 
 hia obstinacy. 
 
 ^Pompey, not in the least intimidated, bade him consider — " That 
 more worshipped the rising than the setting sun^" intimating, that 
 his power was increasing, and Sylla's upon the aecline. SylLa did 
 not well hear what he said, but perceiving by the looks and gestures 
 of tne company, that they were strtick with the expression, he asked 
 what it was. When he was told it, he admired the spirit of Pom> 
 pey, and cried, — '* Let him triumph ! Let him triumph!" 
 
 As Pompey perceived a strong spirit of envy and jealousy on this 
 occasion, it is said, that, to mortify those who gave into it the more, 
 he resolved to have his chariot drawn by four elephants ; for he 
 had brought a number from Africa, which he had taken from the 
 kings of that country^ But finding the gate too narrow, he gave up 
 that design, and contented himself with horses. 
 
 His soldiers, not having obtained all they expected, were inclined 
 to disturb the procetiision, but he took no pains to satisfy them : he 
 said — **■ He hud rather give up his triumph, than submit to flatter 
 them." Whereupon Servilius, one of the most considerable men 
 in Rome, and one who had been most vigorous in opposing the tri- 
 umph, declared — '' He now found Pompey really the Great, and 
 worthy of a-triumph." 
 
 There is no doubt that he might then have been easily admitted 
 a senator, if he had desired it ; but his ambition was to pursue ho- 
 uour in a more uncommon track. It would have been nothing 
 strange, if Pompey had been a senator before the age fixed for it; 
 but it was a very extraordinary instance of honour, to lead up a tri* 
 umph before he was a nenator. And it contributed not a little to 
 gain him the affections of the multitude ; the people were delighted 
 to see him, after his triumph, class with the equestrian order. 
 
 Sylla was not without uneasiness at finding him advance »* fast 
 in reputation and p/iwer; yet he could not think of preventing it, 
 till, with a high hand, and entirely against his will, Pompey rained 
 Lepidus"** to the consulship, by assisting him with all Ins interest in 
 the election. Then Sylla, seeing him conducted home bv the peo- 
 ple through the forum, thus addressed him : — *' I sec, young man, 
 you are proud of your victory. And undoubtedly, it was a great 
 
 * MarciM iKmiliiM l^pidut. who by Pompcy't wtsitst was dsclsfcd consul witliQ. 
 LuiatiuR Catuluf, in the vear of Rome 675. 
 
POMPEY. 
 
 265 
 
 and extraordinary thing, by your management of the people, to ob- 
 tain for Lepidus, the worst man in Rome, ihe return before Catulus, 
 one of the worthiest and the best. But awake, I charge you, and 
 be upon your guard : For you have now made your adversary 
 stronger than yourself." 
 
 The displeasure Sylla entertained in his heart against Pompey, 
 appeared most plainly in his will : he left considerable legacies to 
 his friends, and appointed them guardians to his son, but he never 
 once mentioned Pompey. The latter, not>vitiistaiiding, bore this 
 with great temper and moderation ; and when Lepidus and others 
 opposed his being buried in the Campus Martius, and his having 
 the honours of a pubhc funeral, he interposed, and by his presence 
 not only secured, but did honour to the procession, 
 
 Sylla's predictions were verified soon after his death. Lepidus 
 wished to usurp the authority of a dictator, and' his proceedings 
 were not indirect, or veiled with specious pretences. He imme- 
 diately took up aims, and assembled the disaffected remains of the 
 factions which Sylla could not entirely suppress. As for his col- 
 league Catulus, the uncorrupted part of the senate and people were 
 attached to him, and, in point of prudence and justice, there was not 
 a man in Rome who had a greater character ; but he was more 
 able to direct the civil government, than the operations of war. 
 This crisis, therefore, called for Pompey, and he did not deliberate 
 which side he should take : he jomed the honest party., and was 
 declared general against Lepidus, who by this lime had reduced 
 great part of Italy, and was master of Cisalpine Gaul, where Bru- 
 tus acted for him with a considerable force. 
 
 When Pompey took the field, he easily made his way in other 
 parts, but he lay a long time before Mutina, which was defended by 
 Brutus. Meanwhile Lepidus advanced by hasty marches to Rome, 
 and, sitting down before it, demanded a second consulship. The 
 inhabitants were greatly alarmed at his nutnbers, but their fears 
 were dissipated by a letter from Pompey, in which he assured them 
 he had terminated the war without striking a blow. For Brutus, 
 whether he betrayed his army, or they betrayed him, surrendered 
 himself to Pompey ; and having a party of horse given him as an 
 escort, retired to a little town upon the Po. Pompey, however, sent 
 Geminius the next day to despatch him, which brought no small 
 stain upon his character. Lepidus, being soon driven out of Italy, 
 fled into Sardinia, where he died of grief. 
 
 At that time, Sertorius, an officer very different from Lepidus, 
 was in possession of Spain, and not a little formidable to Rome it- 
 self ; all the remains of the civil wars being collected in him, just 
 as in a dangerous disease all the vicious humours fiow to a distem- 
 pered part. 
 
 At this juncture Pompey, having an army without employment, 
 2h 23 
 
endeavoured to prevail with the senate to send him to the aBsistancA 
 of Meiellus, and though Calulus ordered him to dishand his forces, 
 he found various pretences for remaining \n arms m the neighbour- 
 hood «>f Rome, till at last he obtamed the command he wanted. 
 
 When Pompey arrived in Spain, new hopes were excited, as is 
 usual upon the appearance of. a new general of reputation ; and 
 such of the Spanish nations as were not very firmly attached to 
 Scrtorius, began to change their opinions, and to go over to the 
 Romans. Sertorius then expressed himself in a very insolent and 
 contemptuous manner with respect to Pompey : he said, — " He 
 should want no other weapons thaiT a rod and ferula to chastise the 
 boy with, were it not that he feared the old woman," meaning Me- 
 tellus. But in fact it was P<»rapey he was afraid of, and on his 
 account he carried on his operations with much greater caution. 
 
 The war was carried on with various success ; but Sertoriua 
 being assassinated by his own officers,* Perpenna, who was at the 
 head of the conspirators, undertook to supply his place. He had 
 indeed the same troops, the same magazines and supplies, but he 
 had not the same understanding to make a proper use of them. 
 Pompey immediately took the field, and having intelligence that 
 Perpenna was greatly embarrassed us to the meiisiires he should 
 take, he threw out ten cohorts as a bait for him, with orders to 
 spread themselves over the plain. When he found it took, and that 
 Perpenna was busied with that handful of men, he suddenly made 
 his appearance with the main body, attacked the enemy, and routed 
 him entirely. Most of the officers fell in the battle; Perpenna 
 himself was taken prisoner and brought to Pompey, who com- 
 manded him to he put to death. 
 
 Perpenna having got the papers of Sertorius into his hands, 
 showed letters by which some of the most powerful men in Rome, 
 who were desirous to raise new commotions, and overturn the 
 the establishment, had invited Sertorius into Italy. But Pompey, 
 fearing those letters might excite greater wars than that he was 
 then finishing, put Perpenna to death, and burnt the papers without 
 residing them. 
 
 A second triumph was decreed him,t together whh the consulship. 
 But the^e were not considered as the most extraordinary instances 
 of his power. The strongest proof of his greatness was, that 
 Crasbus, the richest, the most elo<^uent and most powerful man in 
 the administration, who used to look down upon Pompey and all 
 the world, did not venture to solicit the consulship without first 
 asking Pompey's leave. Pompey, who hud long wished for on 
 
 * ll *^*' '^"^ y^'^'* *^*' ^^^ comiiim* of Liioullut that Senuriuc was «9iaa«tMt«(L 
 
 + He triumpned tnwardi the end of the year of Ro«ne6tS and at the Mm« noM 
 
 waa decinred convut for iiie year enujiiiK Tint was a peculiar huoour. to gam tiKI 
 
 cootulate uiihoui fir»i bearin| the suhordinate oAoea: but hi« two uiumpht. Slid 
 
 |i«»t nrvkva, excused that deviation from the common rtilet. 
 
POMPEY. 267 
 
 opportunity to lay an obligation upon him, received the application 
 with pleasure, and made great interest with the people in his behalf, 
 declaring he should take their givmg him Crassus for a colleague, 
 as kindly as their favour to- himself. 
 
 Yet when they were elected consuls, they disagreed in every 
 thing, and were embroiled in all their measures; but were recon- 
 ciled before they laid down the consulship. Crassus had most 
 interest with the senate, and Pompey with the people. For he had 
 restored them the tribunitial power, and had suffered a law to be 
 made, that judges should again be appointed out of the equestrian 
 order.* However, the most agreeable spectacle of all to the people 
 was Pompey himself, when he went to claim his exemption from 
 serving in the wars. It was the custom for a Roman knight, when 
 he had served the time ordered by law, to lead his horse into the 
 forum, before the two magistrates called censors ; and after having 
 given an account of the generals and other officers und^r whom he 
 had made his campaigns, and of his own actions in them, to demand 
 his discharge. On these occasions they received proper marks of 
 honour or disgrace, according to their behaviour. 
 
 Gellius and Lentulus were then censors, and had taken their 
 seats in a manner that became their dignity, to review the whole 
 equestrian order, when Pompey was seen at a distance, with all 
 the badges of his office, as consul, leading his horse by the bridle. 
 As soon as he was near enough to be observed by the censors, he 
 ordered his lictors to make an opening, and advanced with his 
 horse in hand to the foot of the tribunal. The people were struck 
 with admiration, and a profound silence took place, at the same 
 time a jov, mingled with reverence, was visible in the countenances 
 of the censors. The senior censor then addressed him as follows 
 — " Pompey the Great, I demand of you, whether you have served 
 all the campaigns required by law ?" He answered with a loud 
 voice — " I have served them all ; and all under myself, as general." 
 The people were so charmed with this answer, that there was no 
 end of their acclamations. At last the censors rose up, and con- 
 ducted Pompey to his house, to indulge the multitude, who followed 
 him wah the loudest plaudits. 
 
 Crassus continued his former manner of life ; but Pompey now 
 seldom chose to plead the causes of those who applied to him, and 
 by degrees he left the bar. Indeed he seldom appeared m public, 
 and when he did, it Was always with a great train of friends and 
 attendants ; so it was not easy either to speak to him or see hinji 
 but in the midst of a crowd. He took pleasure in having a number 
 of retamers about him, because he thought it gave him an air of 
 
 » L. Aurelius Cotta carried that point when he was praetor; and Plutarch says 
 again, because Caius Graccbus had conveyed that privilege to the knights fifty years 
 before. 
 
268 noMPBY. 
 
 greatness and majesty, and he was per^iaded that dignity should 
 be kept from being soiled by the familiarity, and indeed by the 
 very touch of the many. For those who are raised to greatness 
 by arms, and know not how to descend again to the equality re- 
 quired in a republic, are very li&ble to tall into contempt when they 
 resume the rube ot peace. The soldier is desirous to preserve the 
 rank in the forum wliich he had in the field ; and he who cannot 
 distinguish himself in the field, thinks it intolerable to give place in 
 the administration too. When, therefore, the latter has got the 
 man who shone in camps and triumphs, into the assemblies at 
 home, and finds him attempting to maintain the same pre-eminence 
 there, he endeavours to humble him ; whereas, if the warrior pre- 
 tends not to take the lead in domestic councils, he is readily allowed 
 the palm of military glory. This soon appeared from the subse- 
 quent events. 
 
 The power of the pirates had its foundation in Cilicia. — ^Their 
 progress was more dniigerous, because at first it was little taken 
 notice of. In the Mithridatic war they assumed new confidence 
 and courage, on account of some services they had rendered the 
 king. Atler this, the Romans being engaged in civil wars at the 
 very gates of their capital, the sea was lefl unguarded, and the. 
 pirates by degrees attempted higher tilings ; they not only attacked 
 shi[)s, but islands and maritime towns. Many persons, distinguished 
 for their wealth, their birth, and their capacity, embarked with them, 
 and assisted in their depredations, as if their employment had been 
 worthy the ambition of men of honour. They had in various places 
 arsenals, ports, and watch towers, all strongly fortified. Their 
 fleets were not only extremely well manned, supplied with skilful 
 pilots, and fitted for their business by their lightness and celerity, 
 hut there was a parade of vanity about them more mortifying than 
 their strength, in gilded sterns, purple canopies, and plated oars, as 
 if they took a pride and triumph in their villainy. Music resounded, 
 and drunken revels were exhibited on every coast. Here genermb 
 were made prisoners ; there the cities the pirates had taken were 
 paying their ransom ; all to the great disgrace of the Roman power. 
 The number of their galleys amounted to a thousand, and the cities 
 they were master of to four hundred. 
 
 iTieir power extended over the whole Tuscan Sea, so that the 
 Romans found their trade and navigation entirely cut off. Tho 
 consequence of which was, that their markets were not supplied, 
 and I hey had reason to apprehend a famine. This, at last, put 
 them upon sending Pompey to char th«* sea of Pirates. Gabinius, 
 one of Pompey*s intimate friends, proposed the decree* which ere- 
 
 * Thif law was made in tha vear of Rom«t 6S6. The oraftv iritNiiie. witen he pio- 
 potcd it. did not name Pompey. PomM^y was now in ih« lhtrtv<niuih jrear of his ■(•• 
 Hit fnend Gabiniui, at appears from Cicero, was a man of inAiAKius oharafCtar. 
 
POMPEY. 
 
 '269 
 
 ated him, not admiral, but monarch, and invested him with absolute 
 power. The decree gave him the empire of the sea as far as the 
 Pillars of Hercules, and of the land for four hundred furlongs from 
 the Coasts. There were few parts of the Roman empire which this 
 commission did not take in ; and the mosi considerable of the bar- 
 barous nations, and most powerful kings were moreover compre- 
 hended in It. Besides this, he was empowered to choose out of 
 the senators fifteen lieutenants, to act under him, in such districts, 
 and with such authority, as he should appoint. He was to take 
 from the quajstors, and other public receivers, what money he 
 pleased, and equip a fleet of two hundred sail. The number of 
 manne forces, of mariners and rowers, was left entirely to his dis- 
 cretion. 
 
 When this decree was read in the assembly, the people received 
 it with inconceivable pleasure. 'I'he most respectable part of the 
 senate saw, that such an absolute and unlimited power was above 
 envy, but they considered it as a real object of fear. They there- 
 fore all, except Caesar, opposed its passing into a law : he was for 
 it, not out of regard for Pompey, but to insinuate himself into the 
 good graces of the people, which he had long been courting. The 
 rest were very severe in their expressions against Pompey ; and 
 one of the consuls venturing to say* — " If he imitates Romulus, he 
 will not escape his fate," was in danger of being pulled in pieces 
 by the populace. 
 
 The assembly broke up that day, without coming to any resolu- 
 tion. When the day came that they were to give their suflrages, 
 Pompey retired into the country ; and, on receiving information 
 that the decree was passed, he returned to the city by night, to 
 prevent the envy which the multitudes of people coming to meet 
 him, would have excited. Next morning at break of day he made 
 his appearance and attended the sacrifice. After which, he sum- 
 moned an assembly, and obtained a grant of almost as much more 
 as the first decree had given him. He was empowered to fit out 
 five hundred galleys, and to raise an army of a hundred and twenty 
 thousand foot, and five thousand horse. Twenty. four senators were 
 selected, who had all been generals or prdeiors, and were appointed 
 his lieutenants : and he had two quaestors given him. As the price 
 of provisions fell immediately, the people were greatly pleased, and 
 it gave them occasion to say—" The very name of Pompey had 
 terminated the war." 
 
 However, in pursuance of his charge, he divided the whole Me- 
 diterranean into thirteen parts, appointing a lieutenant for each, 
 and assigning him a squadron. By thus stationing his fleets in all 
 quarters, he enclosed the pirates as it were in a net, took great 
 numbers of them, and brought them into harbour. Such of their 
 * The consuls ot this year were Calpurnius Piso and AciUus Glabrio. 
 23* 
 
vessels as had dispersed and made off in time, or could escape the 
 general chase, reiir«?d lo Ciiicia, like st> many bees into a hive. 
 Against ihese he proposed to go himself wiih sixty of his best gal- 
 leys ; but first he resolved lo clear the Tuscan sea, and the coasts 
 of Africa, Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, of all practical adven. 
 turers, which he effected in fortv days, by his own indefatigable 
 endeavours and those of his lieutenants. But, as the consul Piso 
 was indulging Wis inuligniiy at home, in wasting his stores and dis. 
 charging hn* seamen, he sent his fleet round to Bnindusium, and 
 went himself by land through Tuscany fo Rome. 
 
 As soon as the people were informed of his approach, they went 
 in crowds to r^eive him, in the same manner as they had done a 
 few days before, to conduct him on his way. Their extraordinary 
 joy was owing to the speed with which he had executed his com- 
 mission, so far bevond all expectation, and to the superabundant 
 plenty which reigned in the markets. Havuig provided such 
 things as he wanted, he went to Brundusium, and put to sea again. 
 Though he was straitened for. time, and iii his haste sailed by 
 man\ cities without calling, yet he stopped at Athens. He enter- 
 ed the town and sacrificed to the gods; af^er which he addressed 
 the people, and then prepared to re-embark immediately. 
 
 Some of the pirates who yet traversed the seas, made their sub- 
 mission : and as he treated ihem in a humane manner, when he 
 had them and their ships in his power, others entertaining hopes 
 of mercy, and avoiding the other officers, surrendered themselves 
 to P(»mpey, together with their wives and children. He spared 
 them all, and it was principally by their means that he found out 
 and took a number who were guilty of unpardonable crimes, and 
 therefore had concealed themselves. 
 
 Still, however, there remained a great number, and indeed the 
 most powerful part of these pirates, who sent their families, trea- 
 sures, and all useless hands, into castles and fortified towns upon 
 Mount Tiiurus. Then thev manned their ships, and waited for 
 Pompey at Coracesium, in (^ilicia. A battle ensued, and the pirates 
 were defeated, after which they retired into the fort. But they 
 bad not been long besieged before they capitulated, and surren- 
 dered themselves, together with the cities and islands which they 
 had conquered and fortified, and which by their works, as well as 
 situation, were almost impregnable. Thus the war was finished, 
 and the whole force of the pirates destroyed, within ihre« months 
 at the farthest. 
 
 Beside the other vessels, Pompey took ninety ships with beaks 
 of brass, and the prisoners amounted to twent\ thousand. He did 
 not choose to put them to death, and at the same time he thought 
 It wrong to suffer ihem to disperse, because they were not only 
 numerous, but warlike and necessitous, and therefore would pro« 
 
pompeV. 271 
 
 bably knit again and give future trouble. He reflected that man 
 by nature is neitlier a savage nor an unsocial creature, and when 
 he becomes so, it is by vices contrary to nature : yet even then he 
 may be humanized by changing his place of abode, and accustom- 
 ing him to a new manner of life. For this reason he removed the 
 pirates to a great distance from the sea, that they might taste the 
 sweets of civil life, by living in cities, and by the culture of the 
 ground. 
 
 When news was brought to Rome, that the war with the pirates 
 was finished, and that Pompey was bestowing his leisure upon 
 visiting the cities, Manihus, one of the tribunes of the people, pro- 
 posed a decree which gave him all the provinces and forces under 
 the command of Lucullus, adding likewise Bithynia, which was 
 then governed by Glabrio. It directed him to carry on the war 
 against Mithridates and Tigranes, for which purpose he was also 
 to retain his naval commcuid. This was subjecting at once the 
 whole Roman empire to one man. By this law, Lucullus was de- 
 prived of the honours he had dearly earned, and had a person to 
 succeed hiin in his triumph, rather than in the war ; but that was 
 not the thing which affected the patricians most. They were per- 
 suaded, indeed, that Lucullus was treated with injustice and in- 
 gratitude : but it was a much more painful circumstance, to think 
 of a power in the hands ef Pompey, which they, could call nothing 
 but a tyranny.* 
 
 Lucullus, of course, complained of this treatment ; and their 
 common friends were of opinion, that it would be best for them to 
 come to an interview ; accordingly they met in Galaiia. Phey 
 began with mutual compliments and congratulations ; but they 
 soon lost sight even of candour and moderation : they proceeded 
 to abusive language : Pompey reproaching Lucullus with avarice, 
 and Lucullus accusing Pompey of an insatiable lust of power, in- 
 somuch that their friends found it difficult to prevent violence. 
 After this, Lucullus gave his friends and followers lands in Gala- 
 tia, as a conquered country, and made other considerable grants. 
 But Pompey, who encamped at a little distance from him, declared 
 that he would not suffer his orders to be carried into execution, 
 and seduced all his soldiers, except sixteen hundred, who he knew 
 were so mutinous, that they would be as unserviceabte to him as 
 »,hey had been ill-affected to their old general. 
 
 In a little time Lucullus departed for Rome ; and Pompey hav- 
 ing secured the sea from Phoenicia to the Bosphorus, marched in 
 quest of Mithridates, who had an army of thirty thousand foot, and 
 two thousand horse, but durst not stand an engagement. That 
 
 • " We have then got at last," said they, "a sovereign ; the republic is changed 
 into a monarchv. the services of Lucullus, the honour of Glabrio and Marcius, two 
 lealous and worthy senators, are to be sacrificed to the promotion of Pompey. Sylla 
 never carried his tyranuy 80 fiir-" 
 
piinco was in poMestion of a strong and secure post upon a idquu- 
 tain, which he quitted upon Pompey's approacb, b^ause it waa 
 destitute of water. 
 
 Pompey rollowed him to his new camp, and drew a line of cir- 
 cumvallation round him. Mithridates stood a siege of forty.five 
 days, aAer which he found means to steal off with his best troops, 
 having first killed all the sick, and such as could be of no service. 
 Pompey overtook him near the Euphrates, and encamped over 
 against him ; but fearing he might pass the river unperceived, he 
 drew out his troops at midnight. At that time Mithridates is said 
 to have had a dream pretigurative of what was to befal him. He 
 thought he was upon the Pontic Sea, sailing with a favourable 
 wind, and in sight of the Bosphorus ; so that he felicitated hi.s 
 friends in the ship,^ like a man perfectly safe, already in harbour. 
 But suddenly he beheld himself in the most destitute condition, 
 swimming upon a piece of wreck. While he was in all the agita- 
 tion which the dream produced, his friends awaked him, and told 
 him that Pompey was at hand. He was now under a necessity of 
 lighting for his camp, and his generals drew up the forces with all 
 |K)S8ible expedition. 
 
 Pumpey seeing them prepared, was loth to risk a battle in the 
 dark : he thought it sufficient to surround them, so as to prevent 
 their flight ; and what inclined him still more to wait for day. light, 
 was the consideration that his troops were much better than the 
 enemy's. However, the oldest of his officers entreated him to 
 proceed immediately to the attack, and ut last prevailed. It was 
 not indeed very dark ; for the :iioon, though near her setting, gave 
 4lg\M enough to distinguish objects ; but it was a great disadvantage 
 to the King's troops, thai the moon was so low on the backs of the 
 Romans, because she projected their shadows so far before them, 
 tiiat the enemy could form no just estimate of the distances, but 
 tiiinking ihcni at hand, threw their javelins before the> could do 
 the IcoHt execution. 
 
 The Romaiiri perceiving their mistake, advanced to the charge 
 with all the alarm of voices. The enemy went in such a con- 
 sternation that they made not the least stand, and in their flight 
 vaxt numbers were slain. They lost above ten thousand men, and 
 their cump was taken. As for Mithridates, he broke through tho 
 Romans with eight hundred horse, in the beginning of the engage 
 ment. 
 
 In tho mean time Pompey entered Armenia, upon the invitation 
 o( young Tigranes, who had revolted from bis father, and waa 
 gone to nicei the Roman general at the liver Araxes. A) he mdo 
 up to the entrenchments, two of Pompey 's lictors came and order- 
 ed him to dismount and enter on foot, assuring him that no roan 
 was over seen on horseback in u Roman camp. Tigranet obey- 
 
POMPEY, 278 
 
 ed, and even took oft* his sword and gave it them. As soon as he 
 came before Pompey, he pulled off his diadem, and attempted to 
 lay It at his feet. Wtiat was still worse, he was going u) pros- 
 trate himself and embrace his knees , but Pompey perceiving it, 
 took him by the hand, and placed him on one side of him, and his 
 son on the other. Tben addressing himself to the father, he said — 
 "As to what you had lost before, you lost it to Lucallus. It was 
 he who took from you Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Gaiatia, and So- 
 phene. But what you kept till my time, I will restore you, on 
 condition you pay the Romans a fine of six thousand talents for 
 the injury you have done them. Your son I will make king of 
 Sophene. 
 
 Tigranes thought himself so happy in these terms, and in finding 
 that the Romans saluted him king, that in the joy of his heart he 
 promised every private half a inma, every centurion ten minas, and 
 every tribune a talent. But his son was little pleased at the deter- 
 mination, and when he was invited to supper, he said — " He had 
 no need of such honours from Pompey, for he could find another 
 Roman." Upon this he was bound and reserved for the triumph. 
 Not long after, Phraates, king of Parthia, sent to demand the young 
 prince as his son-in-law, and to propose that the Euphrates sii mid 
 be the boundary between him and the Roman empire. Pompey 
 aasvvered — "Thai Tigranes was certainly nearer to his father than 
 his father-in-law : and as for the boundary justice should direct it." 
 
 When he had despatched this affair, he left Afranius to take care 
 of Armenia, and mar<*hed himself to the countries bounding on 
 Mount Caucasus, through which he must necessarily pass, in search 
 of Mithridates. The Albanians at first granted Pompey a passage 
 but as winter overtook him in their dominions, they took the oppor 
 tunity of the Saturnalia, which the Romans observe religiously, te 
 assemble their forces to the number of forty thousand men, with, a 
 resolution to attack them, and for that purpose passed the Cyrnus.* 
 
 Pompey suffered them to pass the river, though it was in his 
 power to have hindered it ; and when they were all got over, he 
 attacked and routed them, and killed great numbers on the spot. 
 Their king sent ambassadors to speak for mercy : upon which Pom- 
 pey forgave him the violence he had offered, and entered into al- 
 liance with him. This done, he marched against the Iberians, who 
 were equally numerous and more warlike, and who were very de- 
 sirous to signalise their zeal for Mithridates, by repulsing Pompey. 
 The Iberians were never subject to the Medes or Persians ; they 
 escaped even the Macedonian yoke, because Alexander was obliged 
 to leave Hyrcania in haste. Pompey, however, defeated this peo- 
 ple too, in a great battle, in which he killed no less than nine thou- 
 sand, and took above ten thousand prisoners. 
 
 * Sirabo and Pliuy call this river Cyrus^ and so Plutarch probably wrote it. 
 2m: 
 
i^4 POMPEY. 
 
 Afler this, he threw himself into Colchis, and Servilius came and 
 joined him at the mouth of the Phasis, with the fleet appointed to 
 guard the Euxine sea. The pursuit of Mithridates was attended 
 with great difficulties ; for he had conceal»*d himself among the 
 nations settled about the Bosphorus and the Palus Mceotis. Besides, 
 news was brought Pompey, that the Albanians had revolted, and 
 taken up arms again. The desire of revenge determined him to 
 march back, and chastise them. But it waH with infinite trouble 
 and danger that it passed tUe Cymus again, the barbarians having 
 fenced it on their side with pallisades all along the banks. And 
 when he was over, he had a large country to traverse, which afford- 
 ed no water. This last dithculty he provided against, by filling 
 ten thousand bottles : and pursuing his march, he found the enemy 
 drawn up on the banks of the river Abas,"^ to the number of sixty 
 thousand foot, and twelve thousand horse, but many of them ilU 
 armed, and provided with no defensive armour but skins of beasts. 
 
 They were commanded by the king's brother named Cosis ; who, 
 at the beginning of the battle, singled out Pompey, and rushing in 
 upon him, struck his javelin into the joints of his breastplate. Pom> 
 pey in return ran him through with his spear, and laid him dead on 
 the spot. 
 
 After this action, Pompey designed to make his way to the Cas. 
 pian sea, and march by its coasts into Hyrcania ; but ho found the 
 number of venomous serpents so troublesome, that he was forced 
 to return, when three days march more would have carried him as 
 far as he proposed. The next route he took was into Armenia the 
 Less, where he gave audience to ambassadors from the kings of 
 the ElymaBans and M edes, and dismissed them with letters expres- 
 sive of his regard. Mean time the king of Parthia had entered 
 Gordyene, and was doing infinite damage to the subjects of Ti- 
 granes. Against him Pompey sent Afranius, who put him to the 
 rout, and pursued hirii as far as the province of Arbelis. 
 
 Among all the concubines of Mithridates that were brought be- 
 fore Pompey, he touched not one, but sent them to their parents or 
 husbands ; for nwst of them were either daughters or wives of the 
 great officers and principal persons of the kingdom. But Strato- 
 nice, who was the first favourite, and had the care of a fort where 
 the best part of the king's treasure was lodged, was the daughter 
 of a poor old musician. She sung one evening to Miihridat«»s at on 
 entertainment, and he was so much pleased with her, that he detain- 
 cd her in his palace, and sent the old man home in no very good hu- 
 mour, because he had taken his daughter without condescending to 
 apeak one kind word to him. But when he waked next morning, he 
 saw tables covered with vessels of gold and silver, a great retinue of 
 
 • Tim Mver takes iit uem in tbe moontaini of Albania, aud fells into the 
 %m. fmlfmv cmllji it j^lbanns. 
 
POMPEY. 275 
 
 eunuchs and pages, who offered him choice of rich robes, and be- 
 fore his gate, a horse with such magnificent furniture, as is pro- 
 vided for those who are called the king's friends. All this he 
 thought nothing but an insult and burlesque upon him, and there- 
 fore prepared for flight : but the servants stopped him, and assured, 
 him, that the king had given him the house of a rich nobleman late- 
 ly deceased, and that what he saw was only the first fruits, a small 
 earnest, of the fortune he intended him. At last he suffered him- 
 self to be persuaded that the scene was not visionary ; he put on 
 the purple, and mounted the horse, and as he rode through the city, 
 cried out — *' All this is mine." The inhabitants of course laughed 
 at him ; and he told them — '• They should not be surprised at this 
 behaviour of his, but rather wonder that he did not throw stones at 
 them." 
 
 From such a glorious source sprung Stratonice. 
 She surrendered to Pompey the castle, and made many magnifi- 
 cent presents : however, he took nothing but what might be an or- 
 nament to the solemnities of religfion, and add lustre to his triumph. 
 The rest he desired she would keep for her owh enjoyment. In 
 like manner, when the king of Iberia sent him a bedstead, a table, 
 and a throne, all of massy gold, and begged of him to accept them 
 as a mark of his regard, he bade the quaestors apply them to the 
 purposes of the public revenue. 
 
 In the castle of Caenon he found the private papers of Mithri- 
 dates., and he read them with some pleasure, because they disco- 
 vered that prince's real character. From these memoirs it appeared 
 that he had taken off many persons by poison, among whom were 
 his own son Ariarathes and Alcaeus of Sardis. His pique against 
 the latter took its rise merely from his having better horses for the 
 race than he. There were also interpretations both of his o\yn 
 dreams and those of his wives and the lascivious letters which had 
 passed between him and Monime. 
 
 From Caenon Pompey marched to Amisus, where his infatuating 
 ambition put him upon very obnoxious measures. He was passion- 
 ately desirous to recover Syria, and passing from thence through 
 Arabia, to penetrate to the Red Sea, that he might go on conquer- 
 ing every way to the ocean which surrounds the world. In Africa 
 he was the first whose conquests extended to the Great Sea ; in 
 Spain he stretched the Roman dominions to the Atlantic, and in his 
 late pursuit of the Albanians, he wanted but little of reaching the 
 Hyrcanian Sea. In order, therefore, to take the Red Sea too into 
 the circle of his wars, he besran his march ; the rather, because he 
 saw it difficult to hunt out Mithridates with a regular force, and that 
 he was much harder to deal with in his flight than in battle. For 
 this reason, he said — " He would leave him a stronger enemy than 
 the Romans to eope with, which was famine." In pursuance ©f 
 
276 
 
 this intention, he ordered a number of ships to cruise about, and 
 prevent any vessel from entering the Ro«<phorus with provieions, 
 and thnt death should be the punishment for such as were talcen in 
 the attempt. 
 
 Proceeding in the execution of his plan, he subdued the Arabians 
 about Mount Amanus by his lieutenant Afranius, and descended him- 
 tcif into Syria, which he converted into a Roman province, because 
 it bad no lawful king. He reduced Jxidaea, and took its king Aris- 
 tobulus prisoner : he founded some cities, and set others free, pu. 
 nishmg the tyrants who had enslaved them. But most of his time 
 was spent in niitninistering justice, and in deciding the disputes be. 
 tween cities and princes. Where he could not go himself, he sent 
 his friends : the Armenians and Parthians, for instance, having re- 
 ferred the difTerence they had about some territory to his decision, 
 he sent three arbitrators to settle the affair. His reputation as to 
 power was great, and it was equally respectable a^ to virtue and 
 moderation. This palliated most of his faulls, and those of his mi- 
 nisters. He knew not how to restrain or punish the oftences of 
 those lie employed, but he gave so gracious a reception to those 
 who came to complain of them, that they went away not ill satis, 
 fied with all they had suffj-red from iheir avarice and oppression. 
 
 I'he king of Arabia Petrsea had hitherto considered the Romans 
 in no formidable light, but he was really afraid of Pompey, and 
 sent letters to apquaint him, that he was ready to obey all his com- 
 mands. Pompey, to try the sincerity of his professions, marched 
 against Petru. Many blamed this expedition, looUi:i;^ upon it as no 
 better than a pretext to be excused pursuing Mithridates, against 
 ivhom they would have had him turn as against the ancient enemy 
 of Rome : an enemy, who, according to all accounts, had so far re- 
 covered his strength as to propose marching through Scythia and 
 Paeoiiia into Italy. On the other hand, Pompey was of opinion that 
 it was much easier to ruin him when at the head of an army, than 
 to take him in his flight, and therefore would not amuse himself 
 with a fruitless pursuit, but rather chose to wait for a new emer- 
 gency, and, in the mean time, to turn his anns to another quarter. 
 
 Fortune soon resolved the doubt. He had advanced near Pe- 
 tra, and encamped for that day, and was taking some exercise on 
 horseback without the trenches, when messengers arrived from 
 Pontus ; and it was plain they brought good news, because the 
 points of their spears were crowned with laurel. The soldiers 
 seeing this, (fathered about Pompey, who was inclined to finish 
 his exercise before he opened the packet ; but they were so ear- 
 nest ill their entreaties, that they prevailed upon him to alight and 
 take It. IK' entered the camp with it in his hand, and as there 
 Was no tribunal ready, and the soldiers were loo impatient to raise 
 one of turf, which was the common method, thoy piled a number 
 
of packsaddles one upon another, upon which Pompey mounted, 
 and gave them this information : " Mithndates is dead ; he killed 
 himself upon the revolt of his son Pharnaces. And Pharnaces has 
 siezed all that belonged to his father, which he declares he has 
 done for himself and the Romans." 
 
 At this news the army, as might be expecied, gave a loose to 
 their joy, which they expressed in sacrifices to the gods, and in 
 reciprocal entertainments, as if ten thousand of their en* mies had 
 been slam in Mithridates. Pompey having thus brought the cam- 
 paign and the whole war to a conclusion so happy, and so far be- 
 yond his hopes, immediately quitted Arabia, and traversed the pro. 
 vinces between that and Galatia with great rapidity, and soon ar- 
 rived at Amisus. There he found many presents from Pharnaces, 
 and several corpses of the royal family, among which was that of 
 Mithridates. 
 
 Pompey, having thoroughly settled the affairs of Asia, proceed- 
 ed in his retui*n ro Rome. People talked variously concerning his 
 intentions. But as soon as it was known that his troops were dis- 
 banded, an astonishing change appeared in the face of things. 
 The cities seeing Pompey the Great unarmed and attended by a 
 few friends, as if he were returning only from a common tour, 
 poured out their inhabitants after him, who conducted him to Rome 
 with the sincerest pleasure, and with a much greater force than 
 that which he had dismissed ; so that there would have been 
 no need of the army, if he had formed any designs against the 
 state. 
 
 The triumph was so great that, though it was divided into two 
 days, the time was far from being sufficient tor displaying what was 
 prepared to be carried in procession ; there remained still enough 
 to adorn another triumph. At the head of the show appeared the 
 titles of the conquered nations : Pontus, Armenia, Cappadocia, 
 Paphlagonia, Media, Colchis, the Iberians, the Albanians, S\ria, 
 Cilicia, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Palestine, Judaja, Arabia, the pi- 
 rates subdued both by sea and land. In these countries it was 
 mentioned that there were not less than a thousand castles, and 
 near nine hundred cities taken ; eight hundred gallies taken from 
 the pirates ; and thirty-nine desolated cities repeopled. On the 
 face of the tablets it appeared besides, that whereas the revenues 
 of the Roman empire, before these conquests, amounted to but fifty 
 millions of drachmas, by the new acquisitions they were advanced 
 to eighty-five millions ; and that Pompey had brought into the pub- 
 lie treasury, in money and in gold and silver vessels, to the value 
 of twenty thousand talents, besides vvhat he had distributed among 
 the soldiers of whom he that received least had fifteen hundred 
 drachmas to hi5 share. The captives who walked in the proces- 
 aion, (not to mention the chiefs of the pirates,) were the son of Ti- 
 24 
 
278 POMI'EY. 
 
 granes, king of Armenia, together with hin wife and daughter ; Zu- 
 sima, the ysife of Tigranes himself; Aristobuius, king of Judtea ; 
 the sister of Mithridates. with her five eoti§ ; and some Scythian 
 women. The hostages of the Albanians and Iberians, and of the 
 king of Commagene, also appeared in the train : and as many tro- 
 phies were extiibited a» Pompey had gained victories, either in 
 K^rson or by his lieutenants, the number of which was not small, 
 ut the most honourable circumstance, and what no other Roman 
 could boast, was, that his third triumph was over the third quarter 
 of the world, after his former triumphs had been over the other 
 two. Others before him had been honoured with three triumphs ; 
 but his first triumph was over Africa, his second over Europe, and 
 his third over Asia ; so that the' three seemed to declare him con- 
 queror of the world. 
 
 At this time Csesar returning from his province,* undertook an 
 affair which rendered him very popular at present, and in its con« 
 sequence!* gained him power, but proved a great prejudice to Pom- 
 pey and tathe whole commonwealth. He was then soliciting his 
 first consulship, and Cra8sus and Pompey being at variance, he 
 perceived that if he should join the one, the other would be his 
 enemy of course ; he theielore sei himself to reconcile them. To 
 this union Caesar oued his consulship : and he was no sooner ap- 
 pointed than he began to make his court to the indigent part of 
 the people, by proposing laws for sending out colonies, and for 
 the distribution of lands, by which he descended from the dignity 
 of a consul, and in some sort took upon him the office of a tnbune. 
 His colleague Bibulus opposed him, and Cato prepared to support 
 Bibuius in the most strenuous manner, when CoBsar placed Pom- 
 pey by him upon the tribunal, and asked him before the whole as- 
 sembly — '* Whether he approved his laws?" and upon his an- 
 swering in the affirmative, he put this farther question—'* Then if 
 any one shall with violence oppose these laws, will you come to 
 the assistance of the people ?" Pompey answered — " I will cer- 
 tainly come ; and against those who threaten to take the sword, I 
 will bring both swrird und buckler." 
 
 Pompey till that day had never said any thing so obnoxious ; 
 end his friends could only say, by way of apology, that it was ai 
 expression which had escaped him. * But it ap(>eiired by the suly 
 sequent events, that he was then entirely at C'csar's devotion. For 
 within a few days, tn the surprise of all the world, he married 
 Julia, Cipsar's dauebter, who had been promised Ui Cii;pi<», and 
 was upon the point of being married to him. To appeahe the re- 
 scniroent of Cffipio, he gave him his fiwn daughter, who had been 
 • It wan iini ii> fti(> ii.ii« (if I 'ici*ro*N «oin« inut exili-. titiif Cmtrnt irmrnefi frtMn liis 
 provinre of '^pain. whicit ne Imd novortirn m iih ih« iiiir nl pfWor tnii two vcari be* 
 fore Cicfiur returned in the year of Roaie 693, and Cictro qumecl Romt in Um 
 5riBarC9J>. 
 
POMPEY. 279 
 
 before contracted to Faustus, the son of Sylla ; and CfBsar mar 
 ried Calpurnia, the daughter ot Piso. 
 
 Pompey then filled the city with soldiers, and carried every 
 thing v/ith open force. The two Gauls on this and the other side 
 the Alps and lilyria were allotted to Caesar for five years, with 
 four complete legions. Piso, Cassar's father-in-law, and Gabinius, 
 one of the most abandoned flatterers of Pompey, were pitched upon 
 for consuls for the ensuing year. The whole care of providing 
 and iqsporting corn being committed to Pompey, he sent his depu- 
 ties and agents mto various parts, and went in person into Sicily, 
 Sardinia, and Africa, where he collected great quantities. When 
 he was upon the point of re-embarking, a violent wind sprung up, 
 and the mariners made a difficulty of putting to sea ; but he was 
 the first to go on board, and ordered them to weigh anchor, with 
 these decisive words — " It is necessary to go ; is it not necessary 
 to live?" His success was answerable to his spirit and intrepidi- 
 ty. He filled the markets with corn, and covered the sea with his 
 ships, insomuch that the overplus afforded a supply to foreigners, 
 and from Rome, as from a fountain, plenty flowed over the world. 
 
 In the mean time the wars m Gaul lifted Caesar to the first sphere 
 of greatness. He entered into a treaty with Crassus and Pompey, 
 by which it was agreed that they should apply for the consulship, 
 and that Caesar should assist them by sending a great number of 
 his soldiers to vote at the election. As soon as they were chosen, 
 they were to share the provinces, and take the command of armies 
 accordmg to their pleasure, only confirming Caesar in the posses- 
 sion of what he had, for five years more. Thus they obtained the 
 consulship by violence, and the rest of their measures were not 
 conducted with more moderation. For, in the first place, when 
 the people were going to choose Cato praetor, at the instant their 
 suffrages were to be taken, Pompey dismissed the assembly, pre- 
 tending that he had seen an inauspicious flight of birds.* After- 
 wards the tribes, corrupted with money, declared Antias and Vati. 
 nius praetors. Then, in pursuance of their agreement with Caesar, 
 they put Trebonius, one of the tribunes, on proposing a decree, by 
 which the government of the Gauls was continued for five years 
 more to Caesar ; Syria, and the command against the Parthians, 
 were given to Crassus ; and Pompey was to have all Africa, and 
 both the Spains, with four legions, two of which he lent to Caesar, 
 at his request, for the war in Gaul. 
 
 Crassus, upon the expiration of his consulship, repaired to the 
 province. Pompey, remaining at Rome, opened his theatre, and 
 
 * This was making religion merely an engine of state, and it often proved a very 
 convenient one for the purposes of ambition. Ciodius, though otherwise one of the 
 vilest tribunes that ever existed, was very right in attempting to put a stop to that 
 means of dismissing an assembly. He preferred a bill, that no magistrate shoiri<) 
 make any observations on the heavens while the people were assembled. 
 
280 fOMPKY. 
 
 to make the dedication more magnificent, exhibited a variety of 
 gymnastic games, entertainments of music, and battlea with wild 
 beasts, III which were lulled five hundred lion» ; but the battle of 
 elephantH afforded the most astonishing spectacle.'* These things 
 gained him the love and admiration of the public ; but he incurred 
 their displeasure again by leaving his provinces and armies en* 
 tirel> to his friends and lieutenants, and roving about Italy with 
 his wife from one villa to another. The strong attachment of Julia 
 ap{>eared on an election of tediles. 'llie people came to blows, 
 and some were killed so near Pompey, that he was covered with 
 blood, and torcedto change his clothes. There was a great crowd 
 an<> rumuit about his door, when his servants went home with tho 
 bloody rube : and Julia, who was with child, happened to see it, 
 fainted away, and was with difficulty recovered. However, such 
 was her terror and ttie agitation of her spirits, that she miscarried. 
 Afler this, those who complained most of Pompey's connexion with 
 CflBsar, could not find fault with his love of Julia. She was preg- 
 nant aOerwards, and brought him a daughter, but unfortunately 
 died in child. bed ; nor did the child long survive her. 
 
 Immediately after Julia's death, the people of Rome were in 
 great agitation, and there was nothing in their speeohes and ac- 
 tions which did not tend to a rupture. The alliance, which rather 
 covered than restrained the ambition of the two (ireat competitors 
 for power, was now no more. To add to the misfortune, news 
 was brought soon after, that Crassus was slain by the Parthians ; 
 and in him another great obstacle to a civil war wbh removed. Out 
 of fear of him, they had both kept some measures with each other. 
 But when fortune had carried off the champion who could take up 
 the conqueror we may say with the comic poet, 
 
 High •pirii of empriM 
 
 Folate* each chief: they oil their tMrawny linabt, 
 And dip their linniis in dust. 
 
 So little able is fortune to fill the capacities of the human mind, 
 when such a weight of power, and extent of command, could oot 
 satisfy the ambition of two men. 
 
 Yet Pompey, in an address to the people at that time, told them— ' 
 ** He had received every commission they had honoured him with, 
 sooner than he expected himself; and laid it down sooner than 
 was expected by the world." And indeed the dismission of his 
 troops always bore witness to the truth of that assertion. But now 
 being persuaded that Cu^^ar would nut disband his army, he en- 
 deavoured to fortify himself against him by great employments at 
 home, and this without attempting any other innovation. For ho 
 
 • Dio •nyi, the pV-' f-izht with armpd men Th<*f« " ••'- ••" l^ntthaneigblMo 
 
 iJilieiii; and he a t^ of them wemed to api ' • imji ciies, 10 tiM 
 
 t •> pip, who, in COM .tved their liven If we i)<.< >tni, an Mtll had 
 
 ttten rahpn before thi?y lefi Africa, thAtjio injury ihoukl be ilfwie thci" 
 
would not appear to distrust him ; on the contrary, he rather af- 
 fected to despise him. However, when he saw the great offices 
 of state not disposed of agreeably to his desire, but that the people, 
 were influenced, and his adversaries* preferred for money, he 
 thought it would best serve his cause to sufter anarchy to prevail. 
 In consequence of the reigning disorders, a dictator was much 
 talked of. Luciliius, ^ne of the tribunes, was the first who ven- 
 tured to propose it in form to the people, and he exhorted them to 
 choose Pompey dictator. Cato opposed it so effectually, that the 
 tribune was in danger of being deposed. Many of Pompey 's 
 friends then stood up in defence of the purity of his intentions^ apd 
 dedared he neither asked nor wished for the dictatorship. Cato 
 upon this paid the highest compliments to Pompey, and intreated 
 him to assist in the support of order and of the constitution. Pom- 
 pey could not but accede to such a proposal, and Domitius ^nd 
 Messala were elected consuls.* 
 
 The same anarchy and confusion afterwards took place again, 
 and numbers began to talk more boldly of setting up a dictator. 
 Cato, now fearing he should be overborne, was of opinion that it 
 was better to give Pompey some office whose authority was limited 
 by law, than to entrust him with absolute power. Bibulus, though 
 Pompey's declared enemy, moved in full senate, that he should be 
 appointed sole consul. " For by that means," said he, " the com- 
 monwealth will either recover from her disorder, or if she must 
 serve, will serve a man of the greatest merit." The whole house 
 was surprised at the motion ; and when Cato rose up, it was ex- 
 pected he would oppose it. A profound silence ensued, and he 
 said — " He should never have been the first to propose such an ex- 
 pedient, but as it was proposed by another, he thought it advisable 
 to embrace it ; for he thought any kind of government better than 
 anarchy, and knew no man fitter to rule than Pompey, in a time 
 of so much trouble." The senate came into his opinion, and a de- 
 cree was issued, that Pompey should be appointed sole consul, and 
 that if he should have need of a colleague, he might choose one 
 himself, provided it were not before the expiration of two months. 
 
 Pompey then went into the city and married Cornelia, the daugh- 
 ter of Metellus Scipio. She was a widow, having been married 
 when very young to Publius, the son of Crassus, who was latel}! 
 killed in the Parthian expedition. This woman had many charms 
 beside her beauty : she was well versed in polite literature ; she 
 played upon the lyre, and understood geometry ; and she had made 
 
 * In the vear of Rome 700. Such corruption now prevailed among the Romans, 
 that candidates for the curule offices brought their money openly to the place of elec- 
 tion, where they distributed it, without blushing, among the heads of factions: and 
 those who received it, employed force and violence in favour of those persons who 
 paid them : so that scarce an office was disposed of but what had been di&piued wltb 
 the swtmJ, and cost the lives of many citizens. '*- 
 
 2y 24* 
 
282 FQMPEY. 
 
 considerable improvemenU by the precepts of pbilosophy ; what ifl 
 more, she had nothing of that petulance and affectation, which mich 
 studies are apt to produce in women of her age. And her father's 
 family and reputation were unexceptionable. He took his father- 
 in-law for his colleague for the remaining five months. His go. 
 vemments were continued to him for four years more, and he was 
 allowed a thousand talents a year for the subsistence and pay of 
 his troopsv 
 
 Caesar's friends laid hold on this occasion to represent, that some 
 consideration should be had of him, too, and his many great and 
 laborious services for his country. They said, he certainly de- 
 served either another consulship, or to have (he term of his com- 
 mission prolonged. A dispute arising upon the affair, Pompev, as 
 if inclined to fence agauist the odium to which Csesar might be ex- 
 posed by this demand, said, he had letters from Coesar, in which 
 he declared himself willing to accept a successor, and to give up 
 the command in Gaul, only he thought it reasonable that he should 
 be permitted, though absent, to stand for the consulship.* Caio op. 
 
 fiosed this with all his force, and insisted — " That CoDsar should 
 ay down his arms, and return as a private man, if he had any fa- 
 vour to ask of his country." And as Pompey did not lat>our the 
 point, but easily acquiesced, it was suspected he had no real friend, 
 ship for Csesar. This appeared more clearly, when he sent for the 
 two legions which he had lent him, under pretence of wanting them 
 for the Parthian war. 
 
 Afler this, Pompey had a dangerous illness at Naples, of which, 
 however, he recovered. Praxagoras advised the Neapolitans to 
 offer sacrifices to the gods, in gratitude for his recovery. The 
 neighbouring cities followed their example ; and the humour 
 spreading itself over ItuK, there was not a town or village which 
 did not solemnize the occasion with festivals. No place could af. 
 ford room for the crowds that came from all quarters t«» meet him : 
 the high roads, the villages, t>te ports were filled with sacrifices 
 and entertainments. Many receivt^d htm with garlands on their 
 heads and torches in their hands, and, as ihey conducted him on 
 his way, strewed it with flowers. His returning with such pomp 
 afforded a glorious spectacle; but it is said to have been one of 
 4he principal causes of the civil war. For the joy he conceived on 
 this occasion, added to the high opinion he had i>f his achievements, 
 intoxicated him so far, that, bidding adieu to the caution and pni. 
 dence which had put his good fortune and the glory of his actions 
 upon a sure footing, he gave in to the most extravagant presump. 
 tion, and even contempt of Cssar, insomuch thai ho declared — 
 
 • Thaw wt« a law against any at)««ni peraon't beinf adimited a candidate: but 
 Ftanpav had added a claute. which empowered the people to except my man hf 
 
 ftotn nenonal att^nrianre. 
 
POMPEY* ' 283 
 
 "He had no need of arms, or any extraordinary preparations against 
 him, since he could pull him down with -much more ease than he 
 hid set him up." 
 
 Mean titne Caesar was exerting himself greatly : he wasnow at 
 no great distance from Italy, and not only sent his soldiers to vote 
 in the elections, but, by private pecuniary applications, corrupted 
 many of the magistrates. It is said, that when one of Ca3sar's offi- 
 cers, who stood before the senate house, waiting the issue of the 
 debates, was informed, that they would not give Caesar a longer 
 term in his command, he laid his hand upon his sword and said-*- 
 " But this shall give it." 
 
 Indeed, all the actions and preparations of his general tended 
 that way : though Curio's demands in behalf oJT Caesar seemed more 
 plausible.* He proposed, that either Pompey should likewise be 
 obliged to dismiss his forces, or Caesar suffered to keep his. " If 
 they are both reduced to a private station," said he, " they will 
 agree upon reasonable terms : or, if each retains his power, they 
 will be satisfied. But he who weakens the one, without doing the 
 same by the other, must double that force which he fears will sub. 
 vert the government."* Hereupon, Marcelliis the consul called 
 Caesar a public robber, and insisted, that he should be declared an 
 enemy to the state, if he did not lay down his arms. However, Cu- 
 rio, together with Antony and Piso, prevailed that a farther inquiry 
 should be made into the sense of the senate. He first proposed, 
 that such as were of opinion — " That Caesar should disband his 
 army, and Pompey keep his," should draw to one side of the house, 
 and there appeared a majority for that motion. Then he proposed^ 
 that the number of those should be taken, whose sense it was, 
 " That both should lay down their arms, and neither remain in 
 command ;" upon which question Pompey had only twenty-two, 
 and Curio all the rest. Curio, proud of his victory, ran in trans- 
 ports of joy to the assembly of the people, who received him with 
 the loudest plaudits, and crowned him with flowers. Pompey was 
 not present at the debate in the house ; for the commander of an 
 army is not alk)wed to enter the city. But Marcellus rose up and 
 said — " I will no longer sit to hear the matter canvassed : but, aS 
 I see ten legions have already passed the Alps, I will send a ,man 
 to oppose them in behalf of my country." 
 
 Upon this, the city went into mourning, as in a time of pubhc ca- 
 lamity. Marcellus walked through the forum, followed by the se- 
 nate, and when he was in sight of Pompey without the gate, he 
 said — " Pomoey, I charge you to assist your country ; for which 
 purpose you shall make use of the troops you have, and levy what 
 new ones you please. Lentulus, one of the consuls elect for the 
 
 * Cornelius Scipio, one of Pompev's friends, remonstraiecf, that, in the present case, 
 a great difterence was to be made between the proconsul of Spain and the proconsul 
 of Gau). since the terip of the former was not expired, whereas that of the latter was. 
 
2^ poMPiir. 
 
 next year, said the same. But when Pompey came to make the 
 new levies, some absolutely refused to enlist ; others gave in their 
 names in small numbers and with no spirit : and the greatest part 
 cried out — *^A peace! A peace! For Antony, notwithstanding the 
 iojiinctions of the senate to the contrary, had read a letter of C»- 
 92ir*H to the people, well calculated to gain them. He proposed, 
 that both Pompey and he should resign their governments and dis* 
 miss their forces, and then come and give an account of their con« 
 duct to the people. 
 
 At the same time news was brought, that Csesar had seized Ar- 
 menium, a considerable city in Italy, and that he was marcbmgdi- 
 rectly towards Rome with all his forces. Upon the first report of 
 this at Rome, the city was in greater disorder and astonishment 
 than had ever been known. Cato then advised that Pompey should 
 not only be appointed general, but invested whh a discretionary 
 power, adding, "that those who were the authors of great evib, 
 knew best how to cure them." So saying, he set out for bis pro- 
 vince of Sicily, and the other great officers departed for theirs. 
 
 Almost all Italy was now in motion, and nothing could be more 
 perplexed than the whole face of things. The terrors of the peo- 
 ple could not be removed, and no one would Hufler Pompey to lay 
 a plan of action for himself. According to the passion wherewith 
 each was actuated, whether fear, sorr<»w, or doubt, they endeavour, 
 cd to inspire him with the same, insumuch that he adopted difierent 
 measures the same day. He could gain no certain intelligence of 
 the enemy^s motions, because every man brought him the report he 
 happened to take up, and was angry if it did not meet with credit. 
 Pompoy at last caused it to be declared, by an edict in form, that 
 the commonwealth was in danger, and no peace to be expected. 
 After which he signified that he should look upon those who re. 
 maiiicd in the city as partisans of Csesar, and then quitted it in the 
 dusk of the evening. The consuls also fled, without oITenng the 
 sacrifices which their customs required, before a war. However, 
 in this great extremity, Pompey could not but be considered as 
 happy in the affections of his countr>men. Though many blamed 
 the war, there was not a man who hated the general. Nay, the 
 number of those who followed him out of attachment to his person, 
 vas greater than that of the adventurers in the cause of liberty. 
 
 A few days afler, Caesar arrived at Rome. When he was in pos. 
 session of the city, he behaved with great moderation in many re- 
 spects, and composed, in a go«»d measure, the minds of its romain> 
 ing inhabitants. Having taken what sums he wanted out of the 
 public treasury, he went in pursuit of Pompey, hastening to drive 
 him out of Italy before his forces could arrive fr«>in Spain. Pom. 
 pey, who was master in Brundusium, and had a sufficif*nt number 
 of transports, desired tho consuls to embark without loss of time, 
 
POMPEY. 285 
 
 and sent them before him with thirty cohorts to Dyrrhachium. At 
 the same time he sent his father-m-law Scipio, and his son Chneus, 
 imo Syria, to provide ships of war. He had well secured the gates 
 of the city, and planted the lightest of his slingers and archers upon 
 the walls ; and having now ordered the Brundusians to keep within 
 doors, he caused a number of trenches to be cut, and sharp stakes 
 to be driven into them, and then covered with -earth, in all the 
 streets, except two which led down to the sea. In three days all 
 his other troops were embarked without interruption, and then he 
 suddenly gave the signal to those who guarded the walls ; in con- 
 sequence of which, they ran swiftly down to the harbour, and got 
 on board. Thus having his whole complement, he set sail, and 
 crossed the sea to Dyrrhachium. This manoeuvre of Pompey was 
 commonly reckoned among the greatest acts of generalship. Cae- 
 sar, however could not help wondering, thai his adversary, who was 
 in possession of a fortified town, and expected his forces from Spain, 
 and at the same time was master of the sea, should give up Italy in 
 such a manner. 
 
 CsBsar having thus made himself master of all Italy in sixty days 
 without the least bloodshed, marched to Spain with an inten) to 
 gain the forces there. In the mean time Pompey assembled a great 
 army, and at sea he was altogether invincible. For he had five 
 hundred ships of war, and the number of his lighter vessels was 
 still greater. As for his land forces, he had seven thousand horse, 
 the flower of Rome and Italy,* all men of family, fortune, and cou- 
 rage. His infantry, though numerous, was a mixture of raw, un- 
 disciplined soldiers : he therefore exercised them during his stay 
 at Beroea, where he was by no means idle, but went through all 
 the exercises of a soldier, as if he had been in the flower of his 
 age. It inspired his troops with new courage, when they saw Pom- 
 pey the Great, at the age of fifty^eight, going through the whole 
 military discipline, in heavy armour, on foot ; and then mounting 
 his horse, drawing his sword with ease when at full speed, and as 
 dexterously sheathing it again. As to the javelin, he threw it not 
 only wiili great exactness, but with such force that few of the young 
 men could dart it at a greater distance. 
 
 Many kings and princes repaired to his camp, and the number 
 of Roman officers who had commanded armies was so great, that 
 it was sufficient to make up a complete senate. Labienus,j- who 
 
 * Caesar, on the contrary, says, that this bodv of horse was almost entirely com- 
 posed of strangers: — " Tt ere were six hund^red Galatians, five hunrired Cappado- 
 cians, as manv Thracians. two hundred Macedonians, five hundred Gauls or Ger- 
 mans, eight hundred raised out of his own et^taies, or out of his own retinue ;^^ and so 
 of the rest, whom he particularly mentions, and tells us to what countries they be- 
 longed 
 
 f It seemed very strane,e, saysDio, that Labienus should abandon Caesar, who had 
 loaded him with honours, and given him the command of all the forces on the other 
 side of the Alps, while he was at Rome But he ^ives this reason for it : — ••• Labienus, 
 elated with his immense wealth, and proud of his preferments, forgot himself to sucti 
 
o^ lUVIFKV 
 
 had been honournd with Csesar*^ friendship, and served under itim 
 io Gaul, now joined Pompev . Even Brutus, the snn of that Brutus 
 who was killed by him, not very fairly, in the Cisalpine Gaul,* a 
 tnan of spirit, who had never spoken to Pompey before, because he 
 considered him »s the murderer of his father, now ranged himself 
 nnder his banners, as the defender ot the liberties of his country. 
 Cicero too, though he had written and advised otherwise, was 
 ashamed not to appear in the number of those who hazarded their 
 lives for Rome. 
 
 After Pompey had assembled his senate, and at the motion of 
 Cato, a decree was made, *' that no Roman should be killed, except 
 in battle, Tior any city that was subject to the Romans be plun* 
 dered.". Pompey's party gained ground daily. Those who lived 
 at too great a distance, or were too weak to take a share m the 
 war, interested themselves in the cause as much as they were able, 
 and, with words at least, contended for it, looking upon those at 
 enemies both to the gods and men, who did not wish that Pompey 
 might conquer. 
 
 Not but that Caesar made a merciful use of his victories. He 
 nad lately made himself insister of Pompey's forces in Spain, and 
 though it was not without a battle, he dismissed the officers, and 
 incorporated the Iroopa with his own. After this, he passed the 
 Alps again, and marched through Italy to Brundusium, where he 
 arrived at the time of the winter solstice. There he crossed the 
 sea, and landed at Oricum : from whence he despatched Vibulliu8,f 
 one of Pompey's friends, whom he had brought prisoner thither, 
 with proposals of a conference between him and Pompey, •* In 
 which they should agree to disband their armies within three dayt, 
 renew their friendship, confirm it with solemn oaths, and then both 
 return to Italy." 
 
 Pompey took this overture for another snare, ond therefore drew 
 down in haste to the sea, and secured all the forts and places of 
 strength for land forces, as well as all the ports and other commo. 
 dious stations for shipping ; so that there was not a wind that blew, 
 which did not bring- him either provisions, or troops, or money. 
 
 a degree, as to asfuixe a character verv uiihecoming a p«r«on in his ciroumstanocti 
 He wan even for putting hinisell upon nn equality with Cctar, who ih«reupoa grew 
 cnoi lowardH hini, and treated him with tonie reserve, which Labienus reaeoieM, and 
 went over lo Pontuey." 
 
 • The former RngliHh irannlator renders this Oalatia. He ought !• hare renieiB« 
 bered. that this Bruiun wmw killed by (temmuit. in a viliafe n«ar tite Po. tn Pompey*! 
 order, afier he had accepten his 8iihn)ission. if not promised him his life, t* lie aUthort 
 of the UiDvercal Histnrv have copied the error. 
 
 f In ih«* printed text k \* Juhiu$ ; mm one of the nianuscriptt gives Oi FTfriUttw. 
 which Is ih« name lie had in Qcjar's Com lit), iii. Vihulliuf Rufue travelled Bifitt and 
 (lay, wiitioiil allowing hiiimeil any rent, nil he renolted Ponip»v*B camp, who had not 
 y«t received advice of <'Bi«r*s arrival, but was nn toooer mformed of ine takinf of 
 Ortcuin and Spollonte, than he iminadiatety decamped, and by long matcnaa raa c fcad 
 Orteiim before Cnsar. 
 
POMPEY. 
 
 287 
 
 On the other hand, Caesar was reduced to such straits, both by sea 
 and land, that he was under the necessity of seeking a battle. 
 Accordingly, he attacked Pompey's intrenchments, and barie him 
 defiance daily. In most of these attacks and skirmishes iie had 
 the advantage ; but one day was in danger of losing his whole 
 array. Pompey fought with so much valour, that he put Caesar's 
 whole detachment to flight, after having killed two thousand of 
 them upon the spot ; but was either unable or afraid to pursiie his 
 blow, and enter the camp- with them. CaBsar sdid to his friends on 
 the occasion — " This day the victory had been the enemy's had 
 their general known how to conquer."* 
 
 After this last engagement, Caesar was in such want of provi- 
 sions, that he was torced lo decamp, and he took his way through 
 Athamania lo Thessaly. This added so much to the high opinion 
 Pompey's soldiers had of themselves, that it was impossible to keep 
 it within bounds. They cried out wirh one voice — " Caesar is fled." 
 Some called upon their general to pursue: some, to pass over to 
 Italy. Others sent their friends and servants to Rome, to engage 
 houses near the forum, for the convenience of soliciting the great 
 offices of the state. And not a few went of their own accord to 
 Cornelia, who had been privately lodged in Lesbos, to congratulate 
 her upon the conclusion of the war. 
 
 On this great emergency, a council of war was called, in which 
 Afranius gave it as his opinion — " That they ought immediately to 
 regain Italy, for that was the great prize aimed at in the war. 
 Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Spain, and both the Gauls, would soon 
 submit to those who were masters there. What should affect Pom 
 pey still more was, that his native country just by, stretched out her 
 hands to him as a suppliant : and it could not be consistent with 
 his honour to let her remain under such indignities, and in so dis- 
 graceful a vassalage to the slaves and flatterers of tyrants." But 
 Pompey thought it would neither be for his reputation to fly a 
 second time from Caesar, aad again to be pursued, when fortune 
 put it in his power to pursue ; nor agreeable to the laws of piety, 
 to leave his father-in-law, Scipio, and many other persons of con- 
 sular dignity, in Greece and Thessaly, a prey to Caesar, with all 
 their treasures and forces. As for Rome, he should take the best 
 care of her, by fixing the scene of war at the greatest distance 
 from her; that, without feeling its calamities, or perhaps hearing 
 the report of them, she might quietly wait for the conqueror. 
 
 This opinion prevailing, he set out in pursuit of Caesar, with a 
 resolution not to hazard a battle, but to keep near enough to hold 
 him as it wei*e, besieged, and to wear him out with famine. This 
 he thought the best method he could take ; and a report was more- 
 over brought him, of its being whispered among the equestrian 
 order—" That as soon as they had taken nil Caesar, they could do 
 
K)MI»Ky. 
 
 nothing better than take off him too." Some say, thi^ was tiie 
 reason why he did not emplov Cato m any service of importance, 
 but upon his march agamst Cssar, sent him to the sea-coa«i, to 
 take care of the baggage, lest, alter he had destroyed Cesar, Cato 
 would soon oblige hini to la\ down his commission. 
 
 While be ttiu^ solUy followed the enemy's -steps, a complaint 
 was raised against hiai, and urged with much clamour, that he was 
 not exercising his generalship upon CsBsar, but upon the senate 
 and the whole coinmouwealth, in order that he might for ever keep 
 the command in his hands, and have t||}ose for hn guards and ser- 
 vants, who had a right to govern the world. Domains iCnobarbus 
 always called him Agamemnon, or king of kings. Favonius pit.ued 
 him no less wiih a jeAt, than others by their unreasonable severity ; 
 he went about crying, *' My friends, we shall eat no figs in Tuscu- 
 lum this year." And Lucius Afrunius, who lost the forces in Spain, 
 and was accused of having betrayed them into the enemy's hand, 
 now when he saw Pompe) avoid a battle, said, *' He was surprised 
 that his accuser should make any difficulty of fighting lhat mer< 
 chant (as they called him,) who trafficked for provinces.^' 
 
 These, and many other like sallies ot ridicule, had such an eflect 
 upon Pompey, who was ambitious of being spoken well of by the 
 world, and had too much deference for the opinions of his friends, 
 that he gave up his own better judgment, to follow them in ihe 
 career of their false hopes and prospects. This would have been 
 unpardonable in the pilot or master of a ship, much more in ihe 
 commander in chief of so many nations, and such numerous armies* 
 He had oflen commended the physician who gives no indulgence 
 to the whimsical longings of his patientN, aiid\vet he humoured the 
 sickly cravings of his army, and was afraid to give them pain, 
 though necessary for the preservation of their life and being. For 
 who can say that army was in a sound and healthy state, when 
 some of the officers went about the camp, canvassing for the 
 offices of consul and prsetor; and others, namely, Spinther, Domi- 
 tins, and Scipio, were engaged in quarrels and cabals, about Caesar's 
 high priesthood, as if iheir adversary had been only a Tigranes, a 
 king of Armenia, or a prince of the Nabathseans ; and not that Cesar 
 and that army, who had stormed a thousand cities, subdued above 
 three hundred nations, gained numberless battles of the Germans 
 and Gauls, taken a million of prisoners, and killed as many fairly in 
 the field ? Notwithstanding all this, they continued loud and luroul- 
 tuous in their demands of a battle, and when they came to the plains 
 of Pharsalia, forced Pompey to call a council of war. Labieous, 
 who had the command of the cavalry, rose up first and took an 
 oath, ** That he would not return from the battle, till he had put 
 the enemy to flight." All the other officers swore the same. 
 
 Cesar was preparing, at break of day, to march to Scotu* 
 
POMPEY. 28D 
 
 sa;* his soldiers were striking their tents, and the servants and beasts 
 of burden were already in motion, when his scouts brought intelH- 
 geiice, tnat they had seen arms handed about in the enemy's camp, 
 and perceived a noise and bustle which indicated an approaching 
 battle. After these, others came and assured him, that the hrst 
 ranks were drawn up. Upon this CaBsar said, " The long.desired 
 day is come, on which we shall fight with men, and not with want 
 and famine." Pompey placed himself in his ri^ht wing, over 
 against \ntony, and his father-in-law, Scipio, in the centre, oppo- 
 site Domitius Calvinus. Hi's left wing was commanded by Lucius 
 Domiiius. and supported by the cavalry ; for they were almost all 
 ranged on that side, in order to break in upon Caesar, arid cut off 
 the tQnth legion, which was accounted the bravest in his army, and 
 in which he used to fight m person. 
 
 Pompey having taken a view of the order of both armies, and 
 finding that the enemy kept their ranks with the utmost exactness, 
 and quietly waited for the signal of battle, while his own men, for 
 want of experience, were fluctuating and unsteady, he was afraid 
 they Would be broken on rhe first onset. He therefore commanned 
 the vanguard to stand firm in their ranks,f and in that close order 
 to receive the enemy's charge. Caesar condemned this measure, 
 as not only tending to lessen the vigour of the blows, which is 
 always greatest in the assailants, but also to damp the fire and 
 spirit of the men, whereas those who advance with impetuosity, 
 and animate each other with shouts, are filled with an enthusiastic 
 valour and superior ardour. 
 
 Caesar's army consisted of twenty-two thousand men, and Pom- 
 pey 's was something more than twice that number. When the 
 signal was given on both sides, and the trumpets sounded a charge, 
 each common man attended only to his own concern. But some 
 of the principal Romans and Greeks, who only stood and looked 
 on, when (he dreadful moment of action approached, could not help 
 considering to what the avarice and ambition of two men had 
 brought the Roman empire. The same arms on both sides, the 
 troops marshalled in the same manner, the same standards ; in 
 short, the strength and flower of one and the same city turned upon 
 itself! What could be a stronger proof of the blindness and infatu- 
 ation of human nature, when carried away by its passions ? Had 
 they been willing to enjoy the fruits of their labours m peace and 
 tranquility, the greatest and best part of the world was their own. 
 Or, if they must have indulged their thirst of victories and triumphs, 
 
 * Scotusa was a citv of Thessaly. (Caesar was persuaded that Pompey would not 
 come to nctioii, and therefore chose to march in search of provisions, as well as to 
 harass the enemy with frequent movements, and to watch bis opportunity, in some of 
 those movements, to fill upon them. 
 
 f Vide C<BS. ubi supra. This, however, must be said in excuse for Porapcy, th«i 
 generals of experience have sometimes done as be drd. 
 go 2S' 
 
.*290 POMF£r. 
 
 the Parthians and Germans were yet to be subdued ; Scj'thia and 
 India yet remained ; together wiib a vers plausible coU»ur for their 
 lust of new acquimtKins, the pretence of civilizih^j^ barbarians. 
 
 The plum of Pharsulia was now Ci>vered wiih men, and horaes, 
 and arms ; and ttie signal of battle being given on both Hides, tbo 
 iirsi on Cassur's side who advanced (o the charge, was Caius 
 Crustinus, who coiumanded a corps of a hundred an<i twenty men. 
 Man> followed to support hini. They ho^hi took to their swords, 
 and ntimbers were slain; but as Crasunus wus making his way 
 forward, and cutting down all beiore him, one of Pompe>'s men 
 stood to receive him, and pushed hiH sword in at his moudi wiUi 
 sucn force that it went through his neck. Crastmus thus killed, 
 the tight was maintained with equal advantage on both side^ 
 
 Pompey did not immediately bring on his right wing, but oi\en 
 directed his eyes to the left, and lost time in waiting to see what 
 execution his cavalry would do there. Meanwhile they extended 
 their squadrons to surround Caesar, and prepared to drive the few 
 horse he had placed in front, back upon the foot. At that instant 
 Caesar gave the signal, upon which his cavalry retreated a little ; 
 and the six cohorts, which consisted of three thousand men, and 
 had been placed behind the tenth legion, advanced to surround 
 Pompey's cavalry, who fled back with great dishonour. Caesar's 
 jmen took no care to pursue them, but turned their force upon the 
 enemy's infantry, particularly to that wing which, now stripped 
 of 'ts horse, lay open to the attack on all sides. The six cohorts, 
 therefore, took them in flank, while the tenth legion charged them 
 in front : and they, who had hoped to surround the enemy, and now 
 ■aw themselves surrounded, made but a short resistance, and then 
 took to a precipitate flight. 
 
 By the great dust that was raised, Pompe\ conjectured the fate 
 of his cavalry, and it is hard to say what passed in his mind at that 
 moment. He appeared like a man moon. struck and distracted, 
 and without considering that he was Pompey the Great, or speak- 
 ing to any one, he quitted the ranks, and retired step by step to- 
 wards his camp. 
 
 Having entered his tent, he sat down, and uttered not a word, 
 till at last, up<m finding that some of the enemy entered the cam(i 
 with the fugitives, he said, " What ! into my camp too !" After this 
 short exclamation, he rose up, and dressing himself in a manner 
 suitable to his fortune, privately withdrew.^ All the other legions 
 
 • CmuLT inlU ui, that the c<ihorti appointed to definid the camp ihade a vigoroof 
 raaiitance : but being at length nverpnwered, fled to a neighbouring mountain, wheni 
 ha raenlved to iovem 'hem. But before he had finiahoit hie i<ne». want at water 
 oMifed them to Hhannon th^t pu«t, aod retire toward* l^anMi f eear pursued the 
 fucitivre at 'he head of fom k^Nio*. (n«>i of ihe fourth lef mn, a« the authors of the 
 UfiiverMi History erroneontlv i^v.) and after six nillee march came up with them. 
 Bui the\ not daring io engage iroons flusiied with eieiorv. fled tor reAige to a higl hill, 
 the foot of which was watered by a iiule rrrer. Thomh Omsi's men were quite spent. 
 
rOMPEY 291 
 
 fled, and a great slaughter was made in the camp, of the servants 
 and others who had the care of the tents. But Asinius Polho, who 
 then fought on Caesar's side, assures us, that of the regular troops 
 there were not above six thousand men liilled.* * 
 
 Upon the taking of the camp, there was a spectacle which showed 
 in strong colours the vanity and folly of Pompey's troops. All the 
 tents were crowned with myrtle ; the beds strewed with flowers ; 
 the tables covered with cups and bowis of wine set out. In short, 
 every thing had the appearance of preparations for feasts and sacri- 
 6ces, rather than for men going out to battle. To such a degree 
 had their vain hopes corrupted them, and with such a senseless 
 confidence they took tke field ! 
 
 When Pompey had got a little distance from the camp, he quit, 
 ted his horse : he had very few people about him ; and, as he 
 saw he was not pursued, he went softly on, wrapt up in such 
 thoughts as we may suppose a man to have, who had been used for 
 thirty-four years to conquer and carry all before him, and noiw in 
 his old age first came to know what it was to be defeated and to 
 fly. We may easily conjecture what his thought must be, when in 
 one short hour he had lost the glory and the power which had 
 been growing up amidst so many wars and conflicts ; and he who 
 was lately guarded with such armies of horse and foot, and such 
 great and powerful fleets, was reduced to so mean and contemp- 
 tible an equipage, that his enemies, who were in search of him, 
 could not know him. 
 
 He passed by Larissa and came to Tempe, where, burning with 
 thirst, he threw himself upon his face and drank out of the river; 
 after which, he passed through the valley, and went down to the 
 sea-coast. There he spent the remainder of the night in a poor 
 fisherman's cabin. Next morning, about break of day, he went on 
 board a small river-boat, taking with him such of his company as 
 were freetnen. The slaves he dismissed, bidding them go to 
 Csesar, and fear nothing. 
 
 As he was coasting along, he saw a ship of burden just ready to 
 sail, the master of which was Peticius, a Roihan citizen, who, 
 though not acquainted with Pompey, knew him by sight. It hap- 
 pened, that this man the night before, dreamed that he saw Pom- 
 pey come and talk to him, not in the figure he had formerly known 
 him, but in mean and melancholy circumstances. He was giving 
 the passengers an account df his dream, as persons who have a 
 
 and ready to faint with the excessive heat and the fatigue of the whole day vet, by 
 hisQbhging inanner, he prevailed upon them to cut off the conveniency of the «^-ater 
 from the enemy by a trench. Hereupon the unfonnnate fugitives came to a capitula- 
 tion, threw down their arms, and implored the clemeiicv of the conqueror. This they 
 all did, except some senators, who, as it was now night escapen in the dark. Vide 
 Cm. Bell Civil, liv. iii. c 80. 
 
 » Caesar says, that in all there were fifteen thousand killed, and twenty-ftwr thou- 
 sand taken prisoners. 
 
9it POMPEY. 
 
 great deal of time upon thoir hands, love to discourse about sucfi 
 matters, when on a sudden one of the manners told him he saw a 
 little boat rowmg from the land, and the crew making signs, by sha- 
 king their garments and stretching out their hands. Upon this, 
 Peticious stood up, and could distinguish Pompey umotig ihem, in 
 the same form as he bad seen him in his dream. Then boHiiiig hi3 
 bend tor sorrow, he ordered the seamen to let do>*n ih^^ stiip's boat, 
 and held out his irdnd to Pompey to invite bim on board : tor by 
 his dress he perceived his change of fortune. Therefore without 
 waiting for any farther application, he took him up, and such of his 
 companions as he thought proper, and then hoisted sail. The per- 
 sons Pompey took with him were the two Lentuli and Favonius ; 
 and H little after they saw King Deiotarus beckoning to them with 
 great earnestness from the shore, and took him up likewise. The 
 master of the ship provided them the best supper he courd, and when 
 it was almost ready, Pompey, for want of a servant, was going to 
 wash himself, but Favonius seeing it, stepped up, and both washed 
 and anointed him. All the time he wan on board, he continued to 
 wait upo<i him in all the offices of a servant, even to the washing of 
 his feet and providing his supper, insomuch that one who saw the 
 uneflected simplicity and sincere attachment with which Favonius 
 performed these oflices, cried out, 
 
 The generous mind adds dignity 
 
 To every act, and nothing mitit)ecomes it. 
 
 Pompey, in the course of his voyage, sailed by Amphipolis, and 
 firom thence steered for Mitylene, to take up Cornelia and his son. 
 A» soon as his wife and his friends were embarked, he set sail, and 
 continued bis course, without touching at any port, except for wa- 
 ter and provisions, till he came to Attalia, a city o Pamphylia. 
 There he was joined by some Cilician galleys ; and beside collect- 
 ing a number of soldiers, be found in a little time rtixiy senators 
 about him. When he was informed that his fleet was still entire, 
 and that Cato was gone to Africa with a considerable body of men 
 which he h|id collected after their flight, he lamented to his friends 
 bis great error, in suffering himself to be fi»rced into an engage- 
 ment nt land, and making no use of those forces, in which h*- waa 
 confessedly stronger ; nor even taking care to fight near his fleet, 
 that, in case of meeting with a check at land, he might have beeo 
 supplied from sea with another army, capable of making head 
 against the enemy. 
 
 As it was necessary to undertake something with the small means 
 he had lefl, he sent to some cities, and sailed to others himself, to 
 raise money, and to get a supply of men for his ships. But know, 
 ing the extraordinary celerity of the enemy's motions, he was afraid 
 h« might be beforehand with him, and seise all that was preparing. 
 
PGMPEY. 293 
 
 He therefore began to think of retiring to some asylum, and pro- 
 posed the matter in ct>uncil ; where it was determined that tliey 
 should seek for refuge m Egypt. He accordingly set sad from Cy- 
 prus wuh Cornelia, in a Selucian galley ; the resi accompanied 
 him, some in ships of war, and some m merchantmen, and they 
 made a safe voyage. Being informed that Ptolemy M/ds with his 
 army at Pelusium, where he was engaged in war with hts sister, 
 he proceeded thither, and sent a messenger before him to notify 
 his arrival, and to entreat the king's protection. 
 
 Ptolemy was very young, and Phocinus, his prime minister, call- 
 ed a council of his ablest officers, though their advice had no more 
 weight than he was pleased to allow it ; he ordered each, however, 
 to give his opinion. But who can, without indignation, consider 
 that the fate of Pompey the Great was to be determined by Photi- 
 nus, an eunuch, by Theodotus, a man of Chios, who was hired to 
 teach the prince rhetoric,' and by Achillas, an Egyptian? For among 
 the king's chamberlains and tutors, these had the gnreaiest influence 
 over him, and were the persons he most consul ed. Pompev lay 
 at anchor at some distance from the place, waning the determina- 
 tion of this respectable board, while he thought it beneath him to 
 be indebted to Caesar for his safety. The council were divided in 
 their opinions, some advising the prince to give him an honoura-. 
 ble reception, and others to send him -an order to depart. But The- 
 odotus, to display his eloquence, insisied that both were wrong. 
 ** If you receive him," said he, " you will have Caesar tor your ene- 
 my, and Pompey for your master. If you order him off, Pompey 
 may one day revenge the affront, and Caesar resent youi not ha- 
 ving put him in his hands : the best method, therefore, is to send 
 for him and pu' him to death. By this means you will do Caesar 
 a favour, and have nothing to fear from Pompey." He added with 
 a smile, " Dead men do not bite." 
 
 This advice being approved of, the execution of- it was commit- 
 ted to Achillas. In consequence of which, he took with him Sep- 
 timus, who had formerly been one of Pompev 's officers, and Sal- 
 vius, who had also acted under him as a centurion, with three or 
 four assistants, and made up to Pompey 's ship, where his principal 
 friends and officers had assembled, to see how the affair went on. 
 When they perceived there was nothing magnificent in their re- 
 ception, nor suitable to the hopes which Theophanes had conceived, 
 but that a few men only, in a fishing-boat, came to wait upon them, 
 such want of respect appeared a suspicious circumstance ; and 
 they advised Pompey, while he was out of reach of missive wea- 
 pons, to get out to the main sea. 
 
 Mean time, he boat approaching, Septimus spoke first, address- 
 ing Pompey, in Latin, by the title of Imperator. Then Achillas 
 sialuted him in Greek and desired him to come into the boat, be- 
 25* 
 
(^94 FOiVlFlLV. 
 
 cause the water t?at very shallow towards the shore, and a galley 
 must Mtrike upon the »ttnds; at the Bam*: itme ihe\ saw several of 
 the king's Hhips getting ready, and the shore covered with troops, 
 so <hat if they would have changed their minds, it was then too laie; 
 benides, their distrust would have furnistied the assassins with a 
 pretf nee for.their injustice. He therefore embraced Corneha, who 
 lamented his sad exit before it happened; and ordered two centu- 
 rions, one of his enfranchised slavetj named PhiUp, and a servant 
 called Scenes, to get into the boat before him. When Achillas 
 had hold of his hand, and he was going to step in himself, he turned 
 to his wife and son, and repeated thai verse ol 8ophocles, 
 
 Seek'st thou a tyraot'i door? then feraweli fiwdoai ! 
 Ttio* /ree as air before. 
 
 These were the last words he spoke to them. 
 
 As there was a considerable distance between the galley and the 
 shore, and he observed that not a man m the boat showed him the 
 least civility, or even spoke to hiin, he looked at Septimus, and 
 said, ** Methiiiks 1 remember you to have been m\ fel low .soldier ;" 
 but he answered only with a nod, without testifying nny regaid or 
 friendship A profound Kilence again taking plac**, Ponipey took 
 out a paper, in which he had written a speech in Greek, that h« 
 designed to make to Ptolemy, and amused himself with reading it. 
 
 When they approached the shore, Cornelia, with her friends in 
 the galley, watched the event with great anxiety. She whh a Itule 
 encouraged, when she saw a number of th» king's great ofii<eri« co- 
 ming down to the strand, in all appearance to receive her husband 
 and to do him honour. But the moment Pompe> was taking hold 
 of Philip's hand, to raise him with more ease, Septimus cume be- 
 hind, and ran him through the body ; after which Salvius ano Achil- 
 las also drew their swords. Pompey took his robe in both hands, 
 and covered his face ; and without saying or doing the least thing 
 unworthy of him, submitted t(» his fate, only uttering a gnian, while 
 the\ despatched him with many blows. He was just then fifty-nine 
 years i>ld ; for he was killed the day aAer his birth.day.* 
 
 Cornelia, and her friends in the galleys, upon seeing him mur- 
 dered, gave a shriek that was heard to the shore, and weighed an. 
 chor immediately. Their flight was assisted by a brisk gale as they 
 got out more to sea ; so that the £g\ ptiana gave up their design of 
 pursuing them. 
 
 The murderers having cut offPnmpey's heed, threw the body out 
 of the boat naked, and left it exposed to all who weie denruua of 
 
 • Some (iivinet in saytnK thm Potnpey never pioepvred after M pretuined lo eo««v 
 the tanciimty In the temple «t Jerusalem, intimate, thai hiami»fori><nea wne owing 
 to that profnnanon ; txil we forbear, with Pimarch, to comment upon (he pioviO«n- 
 tial determ.iiatuNHi of the Supreme BfuiK hinerd hr tell a Mu-ti6c«< m a» vile a tet 
 of peiiule R. he ha<i tiefiire in»ulie<i . for ih*- Jew» excepted, ihrra wsi not on c»tth a 
 9 OMpicsble race of men than the cowardly cruel bf vptiane. 
 
POMPEY. 295 
 
 such a sight. Philip staid till their curiosity was satisfied, and then 
 wasiied ihe body with sea-water, and wrapped it one of his own 
 garments, because he had nothing else at hand. The next thing 
 was t«* look out for wood for the funeral pile : and casting his eyes 
 over the shore, he spied the old remains of a fishing boat, which, 
 though not large, would make a sufiicient pile for a poor naked 
 body that was not quite entire. 
 
 While he was collecting the pieces of plank and putting them to- 
 gether, ail old Riman, who had made some of his first campaigns 
 under Pompey, came up, and said to Philip, "Who are.vou that 
 are preparing the funeral of Pompey the Great.?" Philip answered, 
 "I am his freed-man." — " But you shall not," said the old Roman, 
 ** have this honour entirely lo yourself. As a work of piety offers 
 itself, let me have a share in it, that I may not absolutely repent 
 my having passed so many years in a foreign country ; but, to com- 
 pensate many misfortunes, may have the consolation of doing some 
 of the last honours* to the greatest general Rome ever produced." 
 
 Next day Lucius Lentulus, who knew nothing of what had pass, 
 ed, because he was upon his voyage from Cyprus, arrived upon 
 the Egyptian shore, and, as \ne was coasting along, saw the fune- 
 ral pile, and Phihp, whom he did not yet know, standing by it. 
 Upon which he said to himself, '* Who has finished his days, and 
 is going to leave his remains upon this shore ?" adding, after a 
 short pause, with a sigh, " Ah, Pompey the Great ! perhaps thou 
 mayest be the man." Lentulus soon after went on shore, and was 
 taken and slain. 
 
 Such was the end of Pompey the Great. As for Caesar, he arrived 
 not long qfter in Egypt, which he found in great disorder. When 
 they came to present the head, he turned from it, and the person 
 that brought it, as a sight of horror. He received the seal, but it 
 was with tears. The device was a lion holding a sword. The two 
 assassins, Achillas and Photinu>, he put to death ; and the king, 
 being defeated in battle, perished in the river. Theodotus, the rhe- 
 torician, escaped the vengeance of Caesar, by leaving Egypt; but 
 he wandered about, a miserable fugitive, and was hated wherever 
 he went. At last Marcus Brutus, who killed Caesar, tound the 
 wretch in the province of Asia, and put him to death, af^er having 
 made him suffer the most exquisite tortures. The ashes of Pom- 
 pey were carried to Cornelia, who buried them near Alba.f 
 
 * Of touching and wrapping up the body. 
 
 f Pompey has. in all appearance, and in all considerations of his character, bad 
 less justice done him by historians, than anv other man of his time. His popular hu- 
 raaniry, his military and political skill, his prudence, (which he sometimes unfor- 
 tunately gave up.) his natural bravery and generosity, his conjugal virtues, which 
 (though sometimes impeached) were both naturailv and morally great : his cause, 
 Which <v,is certainlv. m its nriKinal interests, the cause of Rome : all these circum- 
 stances entitled hnn to a more distinguished and more respectable character than any 
 of his historians have thought proper to afford him. 
 
2»d 
 
 ALEXANDER. 
 
 Flourished 355 years before Christ, 
 
 IT is allowed as certain, that Alexander was a descendant of 
 Herriiie.s by Caranus,* and of i£acus by Neoptolecnus. Hih fa- 
 ther Philip IS said to have been initiated, when very young, along 
 with Olympias, in the mysteries at Sa moth race ; and having con- 
 ceived an effectiun for her, he obtained her in marriage of her bro- 
 ther Arymbas, to whom he applied, becnuse she was left an orphan. 
 The night before the marriage, she dreamed that a thunderbolt fell 
 upon her head, which kindled a great fire, and that the flame ex- 
 tended Hself far and wide before ii dinappeared. 
 
 Alexanderf was born on the sixth of Hecatombseon^ (•'uly>) 
 which rhe Macedonians call Lous, the same day that the it^mple of 
 Diana at Ephe^us was burnt ; upon which Hegesias the Magnesiau 
 haM uttered a conceit frigid enough to have extinguished the Hames: 
 " It is no wonder," said he, " rhat the tempU* of Diana was burnt, 
 when she was at a distance employed in bringing Alexander into 
 the world." All the magi,.^ho were then at Ephesus, looked upon 
 the fire as a sign which betokened a much greater misfortune : they 
 ran about the town, beating their faces, and crying — ** Tha«. day 
 had brought forth the great scourge and destroyer of Asia." 
 
 Philip had just taken the city of Potid»a,§ and three messengers 
 arrived the same da> with extraordinary tidings. The first inform- 
 ed him that Parmenio had gained a great battle against the Illy, 
 rians ; the second, that his race horse had won the prize at the 
 Olympic games; and the third, that Olympias was brought to bed 
 
 * f-aranuft. the sixte^nili in descAnt from Hercules, made himtelf matter of Mace> 
 donia in ihe vear before Christ 1794. and Alexander the Great was the iwraty* 
 second in deoceni trom (^Hraniis. so thai from Hemilejitn Alexander lher« were 
 thirty eighi generations. The dehcent by his nintiirr'h kide ih noi ko clear, iltere beinf 
 mao\ filagrees wanting in it it isvnfficient to know thai Olympias was tba daufbter 
 of Neopioieiiius. and suter to Arymhas. 
 
 f In the firNt vear of liie hundred and sixth Olvnipiad. before Christ 354- 
 
 i vKlian {f^ar. Hist) 1. ii. c. 25.) says eipressiv. thai Alexander was born and dM 
 on the sixth dav of the month Tnargelion But supposing Pluiarrh nt;))! in |)!nciRg 
 his birth in the month liecatoiMDaMm. yet not thai ntonth. btii Boedf * an- 
 
 swered to the Macedonian nionih I oim, ah appears clearlv front a i> o't, 
 
 still preserved m the orations of Demosiheueh. (in Oro/. dt Otrona.) .i. »..<. (.iiitt, 
 indeed, the ntonth Ixiu* answered to HecaiomtNDon, which, without doubt, wattbt 
 causM of I'luiarch's inisuke. 
 
 \ I hi» IS another mistake. Hotidva was taken two ^Min before, vis. in the ihitd 
 vear of the hundred and third Olympiad: for which we have acam the auUwrtrf af 
 ^cmObthede^, who was Philip's cnnlemoomrv, ('in Orat. ennt. r^tttttifm^'s a« weH a« 
 r>iod«in»9 SiculUB, I. mi. 
 
ALEXANDER. 397 
 
 of Alexander. His joy, on that occasion was great, as might natu- 
 rally be expected ; and the soothsayers increased it by assuring him 
 that his son, who was born in the midst of three victories, must of 
 course prove invincible. 
 
 The statues of Alexander that most resembled him. were those 
 of Lvsippus, who alone nad his permission to represent him in mar- 
 ble. Tlie turn of his head, which leaned a little to one side, and 
 the quickness of his eye, in which many of his friends and succes- 
 sors most affected to imitate him, were best hit off by that artist. 
 Appelles painted him in the character of Jupiter armed with thun- 
 der, buf did not succeed as to his complexion. He overcharged 
 the colouting, and maoe his skin too brown ; whereas he was fair, 
 with a tinge of red in his face and upon his breast. 
 
 His continence show.ed itself at an early period. For though he 
 was vigorous, or rather violent in his other pursuits, he was not ea- 
 sily moved by the pleasures of the body ; and if he tasted them, it 
 was with great moderation. But there was son^ething superlatively 
 great and sublime in his ambition, far above his years. It wai;? not 
 all sorts of honour that he courted, nor did he seek it in every 
 track, like his father Philip, who was as proud of his eloquence as 
 any sophist could be, and who had the vanity to record his victo- 
 ries in the Olympic chariot race in the impression of his coins. 
 Alexander, on the other hand, when he was asked by some of the 
 people about him — " Whether he would not run in the Olympic 
 race ?" (for he was swift at foot,) answered — " Yes, if I had kings 
 for my antagonists." It appears that he had a perfect aversion to 
 the whole exercise of wrestling ;* for, though he exhibited many 
 other sorts of games and public diversions, in which he proposed 
 prizes for tragic poets, for musicians who practised upon the flute 
 and lyre, and for rhapsodists too; though he entertained the peo- 
 ple with the hunting of all manner of wild beasts, and with fencing 
 or fighting with the staff, yet he gave no encouragement to boxing 
 or to the Pancratium. f 
 
 Ambassadors from Persia happened to arrive in the absence of 
 his father Phihp, and Alexander receiving them in his stead, gained 
 upon them greatly by his politeness and solid sense. He asked 
 them no childish <*r trifling question, but inquired the distances of 
 places, and the ronds through the upper provinct-s of Asia ; he de- 
 sired to be informed of the character of their king, in what manner he 
 behaved to his enenies, and in what the strength and power of Per- 
 sia consisted. Tiie ambassadors were struck with admiration, and 
 looked upon the celebrated shrewdness of Philip as nothing in com- 
 parison of the lofty and enterprising genius of his son. Accord- 
 
 * Philopoenen, like tiim, had an aversion for wrestling, because all the exercises 
 which fit a man to excel in it tnake him unfit for war 
 
 f If it be asked how this show»that Alexander did not love wrestling, the answer 
 js, the Pano-atitim w 's a mixture of boxing and wrestling. 
 
 2p 
 
ALEXANDER. 
 
 ingly, whenever news was brought that Philip had taken soma 
 stroDg town, or won some great buttle, the young man, maiead of 
 appearing delighted with it, used to say to his comptfuiona— ** My 
 father will go on conquering, till there be nothing extraordinar> left 
 for you and me to do.'* As neither pleasure nor riches, but valour 
 and glory, were his great objects, he thought that, In proportion as 
 the dominions he was to receive from his father grew greater, there 
 would be less room for him to distinguish himself. Every new ac- 
 quisition of territory he considered as a diminution of his scene of 
 action ; for he did not desire to inherit a kingdom that would bring 
 him opulence, luxury, and pleasure, but one thai would afford bioi 
 wars, conflicts, and all the exercise of great ambition. 
 
 He had & number of tutors and preceptors. Leonidaa, a rela- 
 tion of the queen's, and a man of great severity of manners, was 
 at the head of them. He did not like the name of preceptor, though 
 the employment was important and honourable: and, indeed, his 
 dignity and alliance to the royal family gave him the title of the 
 princess governor. He who had both the name and business of 
 preceptor, was Lysimachus, the Acarnanian, a man who had 
 neither merit nor politeness, nor any thing to recommend him, 
 but his calling himself Phoenix ; Alexander, Achilles; and Philip, 
 Peleus. This procured him some attention, and the second place 
 about the prince's person. 
 
 When Philonicius, the Thessalian, offered the horse named Buce« 
 phalus in sale to Philip, at the price of thirteen talents,^ the king, 
 with the prince and many others, went into the field to see some 
 trial made of him. The horse appeared extremely vicious and un- 
 manageable, and was so far from suffering himself to be mounted, 
 that he would not bear to be spoken to, but turned fiercely upon all 
 the grooms. Philip was displeased at their bringing him so wild 
 and ungovernable a horse, and bade them take him away. But 
 Alexander, who had observed him well, said, *' What a horse arc 
 they losing, for want of skill and spirit to manage him !" Philip at 
 first t(K)k no notice of this ; but, upon the prince's of)en repeating 
 the same expression, and showing great uneasiness he said, ** Toung 
 man, you find fault with your elders, as if you knew more than thej, 
 or could manage the horse better,** — " And I certainly could,'* an- 
 swered the prince. " If you should not be able to ride him, what 
 forfeiture will yon submit to for your rashneM?" ** I i»ill pay the 
 price of the horse." 
 
 Upon this all the company laughed ; but the king and prince 
 
 agreeing as to the forfeiture, Alexander ran to the horse, and laying 
 
 * That i«, VtW. I5i. •teriins. Thii will appears modsrate price compared with 
 What we find in Varro. {D* R» RtuHe. Ub. iii. c 1) vie. that Q. Axiua. a aanaior. 
 fave four huntlred itiotinnd   eat aioa a for an ate; and ftiii more moderate whan eooi- 
 pared with the accouotof Tat aniiar, that aoina honas in Arabia were vaload at a 
 Hundred thounnd erownt. 
 
ALEXANDER. 299 
 
 hold on the bridle, turned him to the sun ; for he had observed, it 
 seems, that the shadow which fell betbre the horse, and continually 
 moved as he moved, greatly disturbed him. While his fierceness 
 and fury lasted, he kept speaking to him softly and stroking him, 
 after which he gently let fall his mantle, leaped lightly upon his 
 back, and got his seat very safe. Then, without pulling the reins 
 too hard, or using either whip or spur, he set him a-going. As soon 
 as he perceived his uneasiness abated, and that he wanted only to 
 run, he put him in a full gallop, and pushed him on, both with the 
 voice and spur. 
 
 Philip and all his court were in great distress for him at first, and 
 a profound silence took place. But when the prince had turned 
 him and brought him straight back, they all received him with loud 
 acclamations, except his fatuer, who wept for joy, and kissing him, 
 said, " Seek another kingdom, my son, that may be worthy of thy 
 abilities, for Macedonia is too small for thee." 
 
 Perceiving that he did not easily submit to authority, because he 
 would not be forced to any thing, but that he might be led to his 
 duty by the gentler hand of reason, he took the method of persua- 
 sion rather than of command. He saw that his education was a 
 matter of too great importance do be trusted to the ordinary mas- 
 ters in music, and the common circle of sciences ; and that his ge- 
 nius (to use the expression of Sophocles) required 
 
 The rudder's guidance, and the curb's restraint. 
 
 He therefore sent for Aristotle, the most celebrated and learned of 
 all the philosophers, and the reward he gave him for forming his 
 son, was not only honourable, but remarkable for its propriety. He 
 had formerly dismantled the city of Stagira, where that philosopher 
 was born, and now he rebuilt it, and re-established the inhabitants, 
 who had either fled or been reduced to slavery.* He also pre- 
 pared a lawn, called Mieza, for their studies and literary conversa- 
 tions, where they still show us Aristotle's stone seats and shady 
 walks. 
 
 Alexander gained from him not only moral and political know- 
 ledge, but was also instructed in those more secret and profound 
 branches of science which they call Acroamatic and Epoptic, and 
 which they did not communicate to every common scholar. f For 
 when Alexander was in Asia, and received information that Aris- 
 totle had published some books in which those points were dis- 
 cussed, he wrote him a letter in behalf of philosophy, in which 
 he blamed the course he had taken. The following is a copy 
 ofit ; 
 
 « Pliny the elder and Valerius Maximus tell us, that Stagira was rebuilt by Alex- 
 ander, and this when Aristotle was very old. 
 
 f The scholars in general were instructed only in the exoteric doctrines. Vide AxU. 
 Gell. lib. XX. chao. 6. 
 
300 ALflXANDER 
 
 ** Alexander to Aristotle, prosperity. You did wrong in pab* 
 lishing the Acroamatic parts of science* In what shall ^c differ 
 from others, if the sublimer kmrnledge which we |^ined from you 
 be made common to all the u orld f For mv part, 1 had rather ei- 
 eel the bulk of maiikiu'l m the superior parts of learning, than in 
 the extent of power and dominion Farewell." 
 
 Aristotle, in cunipliiiient to this ambition of the kibg, and by way 
 ofexciise, made answer, that those ptMiits were pu lished and not 
 published, in fact, his book of meiaphysics is wiitten m such a 
 manner that no one can learn that branch of science from it, much 
 less teach it others ; it serves only to refresh the memories of those 
 who have been taught by a master. 
 
 He loved polite learning too, and his natural thirst of knowledge 
 made, him a man of extensive reading. The iliad he thought, as 
 well as called, a portable ireaHure of military knowledge, and he 
 had a copy corrected by Aristotle, which is called the casket copy."!- 
 
 Onesicriius int'ornis us, that he used to la\ it under his pillow 
 with his sword. A»> he could not find man> other books in the 
 upper provinces ot Asia, he wroic to Hurpalu- for a supply, who 
 sent him the works of PhiUstus, most of the iiageduti of Euripides, 
 Sophocles, and iEschylus, and the Ditjiyrambics of Telestus:): and 
 Philoxenus. 
 
 Aristotle was the man he admired in his younger years, and, as 
 he said himself, he had no less affection for him than for his father. 
 "From the one he derived the blessing of life, from the other the 
 blessing of a good life." But afterwards he looked U|)on fiim with 
 an eye of suspicion. He never, indeed, did the philosopher any 
 harm ; but the testimonies of his regard being neither so extraor- 
 dinary nor so endearing as before, he discovered something of a 
 coldness. However, his love of philosophy, which he was either 
 born with, or at least conceived at an early period, never quitted 
 his soul ; as appears from the honours he paid Anaxarchus, the 
 fifty talents he sent Xenocrates,§ and his attentions to Dandarois 
 and Calaiius. 
 
 When Philip went upon his expedition against Byzantium, Al- 
 
 * Dtictnnet wtiicb were taught hy privatf communiciiiioo and deliveteti WM 
 
 VOCi. 
 
 *■ He kept it in a rtchca^kt^t louiid ainuog iiie spoilt of Dariut A correct copy of 
 thib ediuon. revtued Dy Anfttoiie. ( alliHilieues. ann Anaxarehut wh» piuiliniii'n after 
 the death of Alexander. •Dariut," said lexander. * uted lo kerp oioimenis in 
 thia ca»kei : but i, who have no iiiiie to aonoint myiclf. will convert ii lo a nolbht 
 u»e." 
 
 ] Telestus was poet of soma reputation, and a monunieoi was erected lohis mem* 
 ory by Arisiraiua. the *<icyoman lymni Proiogenea was sew lor to paini this m>oq« 
 unieiil. and not Mrrivmit wiihin the li)i>iifd time whs m riaii|i«r nf the lyraurt dii^ 
 pleasure, hut the ct>leniv and exrelleiice of t n taved hun t hiloxenes wm 
 
 nisM:hi>lar. I'hilutuh wHf an hi<<oriaii ol < I'luiaich 
 
 } The phi«osi>ph(!r luok hm a miihII uHri < : v. and sent the rest hack: tel> 
 
 lini^ the giver be bad more occasion for it buiisaU, because tit Had aXM« people to 
 maintain. 
 
ALEXANDER. 301 
 
 exander was only sixteen years of age, yet he was left regent of 
 Macedonia, and keeper of the seal.* The M^dari rebelhng during 
 his regency, he attacked and overthrew them, took iheir city,, ex- 
 pelled the barbarians, planted there a colony of people collected 
 from various parts, and gave it the name of Alexandropolis. He 
 fought m the battle of CnaBronea against the Greeks, and is 
 said to have been the tirst man that bruke the sacred band of 
 Thebans. 
 
 This early display of great talents made Philip very fond of 
 his son, S(» that it was with pleasure he heard the Macedonians 
 call Alexander king, and him only general. Bur the troubles 
 which his new marriage and his amours caused in his family, and 
 the bickerings among the women, dividing 'the whole kingdom in- 
 to two parties, involved him in many quarrels with his son, all 
 which were heightened hy Oiympias, who, being a woman of a 
 jealous and vindictive temper, inspired Alexander with unfavoura- 
 ble sentiments of his father. The misunderstanding broke out in- 
 to a flame on the f >llowing occasion. Philip fell in love with a 
 young lady named Cleopatra, at an unseasonable time of life and 
 married her. When they were celebrating the nuptials, her un. 
 cle \ttalus, intoxicated with liquor, desired the Macedonians to 
 entreat the gods, rhat this marriage of Philip and Cleopatra might 
 produce a lawful heir to the crown. Alexander, provoked at this, 
 said, " Whatj then, dost thou take me for a bastard ?" at the same 
 time he threw his cup at his head. Hereupon Philip rose up and 
 drew his sword, but, fortunately for them both, his passion and the 
 wine be had drank made him stumble and he fell. Alexander, ta- 
 king an insolent advantage of this circumstance, said — '* Men of 
 Macedon, see there the man who was preparing to pass from Eu- 
 rope into Asia ! he is not able to peiss from one table to another 
 without falling." After this insult, he carried off Olympius, and 
 placed her in Epirus. IllyHcum was the country he- pitched upon 
 for his own retreat. , 
 
 In the mean time Demaratus, who had engagements of hospital- 
 ity' with the royal family of Macedon, and who, on that account, 
 Could speak his mind freely, came to pay Philip a visit. After the 
 first civilities^ Philip asked him, " What sort of agreement subsis- 
 ted among the Greeks?" Demaratus answered, ''There is, 
 doubtless, much propriety in your inquiring after the harmony of 
 Greece, who have filled your own house with so much dis- 
 cord and disorder." This reproof brouglit Philip to himself, and 
 through the the mediation of Demaratus, he prevailed with Alex- 
 ander to return. 
 
 But another event soon disturbed their repose. » Pexodorus, the 
 
 * We know of no such people as the Meclari ; but a people (^Iled lVIa;di tiiere was 
 in Thrace, who, as Livy tells us, (1. xxxi.) used to make inroads into Macedonia, 
 
 26 
 
3U2 ALEXANDER. 
 
 Persian governor of Caria, being desirous to draw Philip into a 
 league ofTensive ond defensive, by means of an alliance beiHeen 
 their tkmiiies, offered his eldest daughter in marriage to Andtpus, 
 the sou of Philip, and sent AristocritiiM into Mucedonia to treat 
 about It. Alexanctei s friends and bis mother now lulused new 
 notions into him again, though perfectly groundless, that, by ao 
 noble a match, and the support consequent upon it, Philip design- 
 ed the crown for Aridaeus. 
 
 Alexander, in the uneasiness these suspicions gave him, sent one 
 Thessaius, a player, into Caria, to desire the grandee to pass by 
 Andsus, who was of spurious birth, and deficient in point ot uo- 
 dertitanding, and to take the lawful heir to the crown into his allt. 
 ance. Pexodorus was* infinitely more pleased wuh thisproposaL 
 But Philip no sooner had intelligence ot it than he went lo Alexan- 
 der's apartment, taking with him Philotas, the son of Parmenio, one 
 of his most intimate friends and companions, and, in his presence, 
 repn>ached him with his degeneracy and meanness of spirit, in 
 tbmkin? of being son-in-law to a man of Carta, one of the slaves of 
 a barbarian king. At the same time he wrote to the Connthians,* 
 insisting that they should send Thessalus to turn m chains. Har- 
 palus and Nearchus, Phrigius and Ptolem\, some of the other com- 
 panions of the prince, he banished; bui Alexander afterwards re- 
 called them, and treated them with great distinction. 
 
 Some time after the Carian negociation, Pausanias being abu- 
 sed by order of Attains and Cleopatra, and not having justice done 
 him for the outrage, killed Philip, who refused thai justice. Olym- 
 pias was thought to have been principnlly concerned in exciting 
 the young man to that act of revenge, but Alexander did not pass 
 uncensured. It must be acknowledged, however, that he caused 
 diligent search to be made ai\erthe persons concerned in the as- 
 sassination, and took care to have them punished ; and he expres- 
 sed his indignation at Olympiad's cruel treatment of Cleopatra in 
 his absence. 
 
 He was only twenty years old when he succeeded to the crown, 
 and he found the kingdom torn in pieces by dangerous pan tea and 
 implacable animosities. The barbarous nations, even those that 
 bordered upon Macedonia, could not brook subjection, and they 
 longed for their natural kings. 
 
 Philip had subdued Greece by his victorious arms, but not hav- 
 ing had time to accustom her to the yoke, he had thrown matters 
 into confusion, rather than produced any firm settlement, and ho 
 lef\ the whole in a tumultuous state. The young king's Macedo- 
 nian counsellors, alarmed at the troubles which threatened him, 
 advised him to gfve up Greece entirely, or at least lo make no at- 
 
 * ThesMlut, up«n Hit return Trom Alia, mutt hav« raiirtd to Coilath ; Ibr the Co> 
 tintbiant had nothing to do in Caria. 
 
ALEXANDER 303 
 
 tempts upon it with the sword ; and to recall the wavering barba. 
 rians in a mild manner to their duty, by applying healing measures 
 to the beginning of the revolt. Alexander, on the contrary, was 
 of opinion that the only way to security and a thorough establish- 
 ment of his affairs, was to proceed with spirit and magnanimity ; 
 for he was persuaded, that if he appeared to abate of his dignity in 
 the least article, he would be universally insulted. He therefore 
 quieted the commotions and put a stop to the rising wars among 
 the barbarians, by marching with the utmost expedition as far as 
 the Danube, where fought a great batUe with Syrmus, king of the 
 Triballi, and defeated him. 
 
 Some time after this, having intelligence that the Thebans had 
 revolted, and that the Athenians had adopted the same sentiments, 
 he resolved to show them he was no longer a boy, and advanced 
 immediately through the pass of Thermopylae. "Demosthenes,'* 
 •aid he,, "called me a boy when I was in Illyricum, but I will show 
 him before the walls of Athens that I am a man." 
 
 When he made his appearance before Thebes, he was willing 
 to give the inhabitants time to change their sentiments. He only 
 demanded Phoenix and Prothytes, the first promoters of the re- 
 volt, and proclaimed an amnesty to all the rest. But the Thebans, 
 in their turn, demanded that he should deliver up to them Philotas 
 and Antipater, and invited, by sound of trumpet, all men to join 
 them, who chose to assist in recovering the liberty of Greece. Al- 
 exander then gave the reins to the Macedonians, and the war be- 
 gan with great fury. The Thebans, who had the combat to main- 
 tain against forces vastly superior in number, behaved with a cou- 
 rage and ardour far above their strength. But when the Mace- 
 donian garrison fell down from the Cadmea, and charged them m 
 the rear, they were surrounded on all sides, and most of them cut 
 in pieces. The city was taken, plundered and levelled with the 
 ground. 
 
 Alexander expected that the rest of Greece, astonished and in- 
 timidated by so dreadful a punishment of the Thebans. would sub- 
 mit in silence. Yet he found a more plausible pretence for his 
 severity ; giving out that his late proceedings were intended to 
 gratify his allies, being adopted in pursuance of complaints made 
 against Thebes by the people of Phocis and Plataea. He exempt- 
 ed the priests, all that the Macedonians were bound to by the ties 
 of hospitality, the posterity of Pindar, and such as had opposed the 
 revolt ; the rest he sold for slaves, to the number of thirty thou- 
 sand. There were about six thousand killed in the battle. The 
 calamities which that wretched city suffered were various and hor- 
 rible. A party of Thracians demolished the house of Timoclea, a 
 woman of quality and honour. The soldiers carried off the booty; 
 and the captain, aft:er having violated the lady, asked her whether 
 
801^ ALEXAlfDBt 
 
 she had not some gold and silver concealed. She said she bad ; 
 and taking him alone into the garden, showed him a i^rII, into whieh 
 she told him, she had thrown every thing of value when the city 
 was taken. The officer sioope<i down to examine the well ; upoo 
 which she pushed him in, and ihen despatched him with stones. 
 The Thranans coming up, seized and bound her hands, and car- 
 ried her before Alexander, who immediately perceived by her look 
 and gait, and the fearless maimer in which she followed that sa- 
 vage crew, thai she was a woman of quality and superior senti- 
 ments. The king demanded, who she was ? she answered — *' I 
 am the sister of Theagenes, who, in capacity of general, fought 
 Philip for the liberty of Greece, and fell in the battle of Chero. 
 nea." Alexander, admiring her answer, and the bold action she 
 had performed, commanded her to be se: at liberty, and her chil- 
 dren with her. 
 
 As for the Athenians, he forgave them, though they expressed 
 great concern at the misfortune of Thebes. For, though they 
 were upon the point of celebrating the feast of the great mysteries, 
 they omitted it on account of the mourning that took place, and 
 received such of the Thebans as escaped the general wreck, with 
 all imaginable kindness, into their city. But whether his fury, 
 like that of a lion, was satiated with blood, or whether he had a 
 mind to efface a most cruel and barbarous action by an act of cle- 
 mency, he not only overlooked the complaints he had against 
 them, but desired them to looft well to iheir affairs, because if any 
 thing happened to him, Athens would give law to Greece. 
 
 A general assembly of the Greeks being held at the Isthmus of 
 Corinth, they came to a resolution to send their quotas with Alex- 
 ander against the Persians, and he was unanimously elected cap- 
 tain.gcneral. Many statesmen and philosophers came to coo. 
 gratulate him on the occasion ; and he hoped that Diogenes of 
 Sinope, who then lived at Corinth, would be of the number. Find- 
 ing, however, that he made but little account of Alexander, and 
 that he preferred the enjoyment of his leisure in a part of the su- 
 burbs called Cranium, he went to see him. Diogenes happened 
 to be lying in the sun ; and at the approach of so many people, ho 
 raised himself up a little, and fixed his eyes upon Alexander. The 
 kini; addressed him in an obliging manner, and asked him, **If 
 there was any thing he could serve him in ?" — ** Only stand a little 
 out of my sunshine," said Diogenes. Alexander, we are told, was 
 struck with such surprise at finding himself so little regarded, and 
 saw something so great in that carelessness, that while his cour- 
 tiers were ridiculing the philosopher as a monster, he said, ** If 1 
 were not Alexander I should wish to be Diogenes." 
 
 He chose to coiisuli the oracle about the event of the war, and 
 for that purpose wont to Delphi. Ho happened to arrive thereon 
 
ALEXANDER, 305 
 
 One of the days called inauspicious, upon which the law permitted 
 no man to put his question. At first he sent to the prophetess, to 
 entreat her to do her office ; but finding she refused to comply, and 
 alleged the law m her excuse, he went himself, and drew her by 
 force into the temple. Then, as if conquered by his violence, she 
 said, " My son, thou art invincible." Alexander hearinjs this, said, 
 " He wanted no other answer, for he had the very oracle he de- 
 sired." 
 
 As to the number of his troops, those that put it at the least, say, 
 he carried over thirty thousand foot, and five thousand horse : and 
 they who put it at the most, tell us, his army consisted of thirty-four 
 thousand foot, and four thousand horse. The money provided for 
 their subsistence and pay, according to Aristobulus, was only se- 
 venty talents. Duris says, he had no more than would maintain 
 them one month ; but Onesicritus affirms, that he borrowed two 
 hundred talents for that purpose. 
 
 However, though his provision was so small, he chose, at his em. 
 barkation, to inquire into the circumstances of his friends ; and to 
 one he gave a farm, to another, a village ; to this the revenue of a 
 borough, and to that of a post. 
 
 As soon as he landed, he went up to Ilium, where he sacrificed 
 to Minerva, and ofiered libations to the heroes. He also anointed 
 the pillar upon Achilles's tomb with oil, and ran round it whh his 
 friends, naked, according to the custom that obtains ; after which 
 he put a crown upon it, declaring, " He thought that hero ex- 
 tremely happy, in having found a faithful friend while he lived, and 
 after his death an excellent herald to set forth his praise." As he 
 went about the city to look upon the curiosities, he was asked, 
 whether he chose to see Paris's lyre ? " I set but little value," said 
 he, " upon the lyre of Paris ; but it would give me pleasure to see 
 that of Achilles, to which he sung the glorious actions of the 
 brave."* 
 
 In the mean time, Darius's generals had assembled a great ar- 
 my, and taken post upon the banks of the Granicus ; so that Alex- 
 ander was under the necessity of fighting there, to open the gates 
 of Asia. Many of his officers were apprehensive of the depth of 
 the river, and the rough and uneven banks on the other side ; and 
 some thought a proper regard should be paid to a traditionary 
 usage with respect to the time. For the kings of Macedon never 
 used to march out to war in the month Daisius. Alexander cured 
 them of this piece of superstition, by ordering that month to be 
 called the second Artemisius. And when Parmenio objected to his 
 * This alludes to that passage in the ninth l)Ook of the Iliad, — 
 
 ♦' Aiuus'd at ease the godlike man they found, 
 
 Pleas'd with the solemn harp's harmonious sound; 
 
 With these he sooths his angry soul, and sings 
 
 Th' imnmrtaJ deeds of heroes and of kings.'* Poj?*^ 
 
ALEXANbEIL 
 
 attempting a passai^e so late in the day, he Mid, " The Helleapoot 
 would blush, if, after having parsed it, he should be afraid of the 
 Granicus." At the same time he threw himself into the stream 
 with thirteen troops of horse ; and as he advanced in the face of 
 the enemN*8 arrows, in spite of the steep banks which were lined 
 with cavalry well armed, and of the rapidity of the river, which 
 often bore him down or covered him with its waves, his motions 
 seemed rather the eftects of madness than sound sense. He held 
 on, however, till, by great and surprising efforts, he gained the op- 
 posite banks, which the mud made extremely slippery and danger- 
 ous. When he was there, he was forced to stand an engagement 
 with the enemy, hand to hand, and with great confusion on his 
 part, because they attacked his men as fast as they came over, be- 
 fore he had time to form them. For the Persian troops charging 
 with loud shouts, and with horse against horse, made good use of 
 their spears, and, when those wer broken, of their swords. 
 
 Numbers pressed hard on Alexander, because he was easy to 
 be distinguishod both by his buckler aid by his crest, on each side 
 of which was a large and beautiful plume of white feathers. His 
 cuirass was pierced by a javelin at the joint. But he escaped un- 
 hurt. After this, Rhopsaces and Spithridaies, two officers of great 
 distinction, attacked him at once. He avoided Spithridates with 
 great address, and received Rhoesaces with such a stroke of his 
 spear upon his breastplate, that it broke in pieces. Then he drew 
 his sword to despatch him, hui his adversary still maintained the 
 combat. Mean time, Spithridates came up on one side of him, 
 and raising himself up on his horse, gave him a blow with his 
 battle>axe, which cut off* his crest, with one side of his plume. 
 Nay, the force of it was such, that the helmet could hardly resist 
 it ; it even penetrated to his hair. Spithridates was going to re- 
 peat his stroke, when Clitus prevented him, by running him 
 through the body with his spear. At the same time Alexander 
 brought Rhcesaces to the ground with his sword. 
 
 While the cavalry were fighting with so much fury, the Mace- 
 donian phalanx passed the river, and then the infantry likewise en- 
 gaged. The «'nemy made no great or long resistance, but soon 
 tumt'd their backs and ffed, all hut the Grecian emissaries, who 
 making a stand upon an eminence, desired Alexander to give his 
 word of honour that they should be spared. But that prince, in- 
 fluenced rather by his passion than his reason, instead of giving 
 them quarter, advanced to attack them, and was so warmly recei- 
 ved, that he had his horse killed under him. It was not, however, 
 the famous Bucephalus. In this dispute he had more of his men 
 killed and wounded, than in all the rest of the battle ; for here they 
 had to do with experienced soldiers, who fought with a courage 
 heightened by despair. 
 
 4 
 
ALEXANDEa 307 
 
 The barbarians, we are told, lost in this battle twenty thousand 
 foot, and iwo thousand five hundred horse ; whereas Alexander 
 had no more than thirty-four men killed,* nine of which were the 
 infantry. To do honour to their memory, be erected a statue to 
 each of them in brass, the workmanship of Lysippus. And that the 
 Greeks might have their share in the glory ot the day, he sent them 
 presents out of the spoil : to the Athenians, in particular, he sent 
 three hundred bucklers. Upon the rest of the spoils he put this pom- 
 pous inscription : — " Won by Alexander, the son of Philip, and the 
 Greeks, (excepting the Lacedaemonians, ) of the Barbarians in 
 Asia." The greatest part of the plate, and other things of thai 
 kind which he took from the Persians, he sent to his mother. 
 
 This battle made a great and immediate change in the face of 
 Alexander's affairs, insomuch that Sardis, the principal ornament 
 of the Persian empire on the maritime side, made its submission. 
 All the other cities followed its example, except Halicarnassus and 
 Miletus : these he took by storm, and subdued all tlie adjacent coun^ 
 try. After this he remained some time in suspence as to the course 
 he should take. At one time he was for going, with great expedi. 
 tion, to risk all upon the fate of one battle with Darius ; at another 
 he was for first reducing all the maritime provinces : that when he 
 had exercised and strengthened himself by those intermediate ac- 
 quisitions, he might then march against that prince. 
 
 He had staid some time at Phaselis ; and having found in the 
 market-place a statue of Fheodectus, who was of that place, but 
 then deatl, he went out one evening when he had drank freely at 
 supper, in masquerade, and covered it with garlands. Thus, m an 
 hour of festivity, he paid an agreeable compliment to the memory 
 of a man with whom he had formerly had a connection, by means 
 of Aristotle and philosophy. 
 
 After this he subdued such of the Pisidians as had revolted, and 
 conquered Phrygia. Upon taking Gordium, which is said to have 
 been the seat of the ancient Midas, he found the famed chariot, 
 fastened with cords, made of the bark of the cornel tree, and was 
 informed of a tradition, firmly believed among the barbarians, 
 " That the Fates had decreed the empire of the world to the man 
 who should untie the knot." Most historians say it was twislted 
 so many private ways, and the ends so artfully concealed within, 
 that Alexander, finding he could not untie- it, cut it asunder with 
 his sword, and so made many ends instead of two. But Aristobu- 
 lus affirms that he easily untied it, by taking out the pin which fas- 
 tened the voke to the beam, and then drawing out the yoke itself. 
 
 His next acquisitions were Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, and 
 
 * Arrian (47) says, there were about twenty five of thP king's friends killed, and of 
 
 the persons of less note, sixtv horse and thirty foot. Q. Curiius informs us, it was 
 
 only the twenty- five friends who had statues. They were erected at Dia, a city of 
 
 Macedonia, from whence Q. Metellus long after carried them to Rome. 
 
301 ALKXAIIDSL 
 
 there news was brought him of the death of Menrnon,*^ who was 
 the most respertable officer Dariiia had m the maritime parts of his 
 kingdom, and likely to have given the invader the most trouble. 
 This confirmed him in his resolution of marching into the upper 
 provinces of Asia. 
 
 By this time Darius had taken his departure from Susa. full of 
 contideiice in his numbers for his army consisted of no less than 
 six hundred thousand coiiibatanls. He was likewise more encou- 
 rnged by Alexander's long stay in Cilicia. which he lo4»ked upon as 
 the effect of his feiir. But the real cause of his stay was Kickness, 
 which some attribute to his great fatigues, and others to his bathing 
 in the river Cydnus, whose water is extremely cold. His ph\8i- 
 cians durst not give him medicines, because they thought them- 
 selves not HO certain of the cure, as of the danger they must incur 
 in the application : for the\ feared the Macedonians, if they did not 
 succeed, would suspect them of some bad practice. Philip, the Ar> 
 canian, saw how desperate the king's case was, as well as the rest ; 
 but, beside the confidence he had in his friendship, he thought it 
 the highest ingratitude, when his master was in so much danger, 
 not to risk something with him, in exhausting all his art for his re. 
 lief. He therefore attempted the cure, and found no difiicuhy in 
 persuading the king to wait with patience till his medicine was pre- 
 pared, or to take it when ready ; so desirous was he of a speedy 
 recovery, in order to prosecute the war. • 
 
 In the mean time Parmenio sent him a letter from the camp, ad- 
 vising him **to beware of Philip, whom, he said, Darius *liad pre- 
 vailed upon, by presents of infinite value, and the promise of his 
 daughter io marriage, to take him off by poison/' As soon as 
 Alexander had read the letter, he put it under his pillow, without 
 sliewing it to any of his friends. The time being come, Philip, 
 with the king's friends, entered the chamber, having the cup which 
 contained the medicine in his hand. The king received it freely 
 and w ithout the least marks of suspicion, and at the same time put 
 the letter into his hands. It was a striking situation, and more in. 
 teresting than any scene in a tragedy ; the one reading w hile the 
 other w as drinking. They looked upon each other, but with a very 
 
 * Dpon the rieath nf iMemimii, who hnd h4*i;un with Kreai vucceftt to r«duc« ihs 
 Grrrk itlaitdn. ard was on (tie point <>: la. Darius watt mi a Iota whoin 
 
 in ciiiplnx. While ha wa« in tlii> nntis. an ^(hrnian, who had 
 
 sitrved «viih great rrpiiiation nndrr I'l , i hut wa» nnw very smU«iu« fbr 
 
 ih« I'emtan interest, attempted lo set Uie kinc Mtiti ma miniKer* ri|{hi -— ■' While jrou. 
 fif ** fUiid hm to Darius, " are safe, the empire can never he in itreai daofer. I<«t ut% 
 li ' i-ver to exprMw your |iers<m. but to otaiie choice nf imne slrf* 
 
 St vnur enemy. <>ne hundred ihouaand men will tie more 
 II I 1 a third of them he merrenancii. to compel hiiM to atvinit«Mi 
 
 Uif t3iti«i|>iiii<' . unti it vou will honour me with ' "< *. { will lie acrouiitahle 
 
 for tlie siirces* of what t aiiviiw ** Dariiiii was << ' <)- to the uro|io«al. hut 
 
 t' "- • f* ....^ .....w. , .,., rt ireaannHhie de^ijpi. and 
 
 I wa« then iiwi Uie 1'hat afile 
 IV,., . />iwt Ac. I. xvii. 9 CWM. MU 
 
ALEXANDER. 3Q9 
 
 different air. The king with an open and unembarrassed counte- 
 nance, expressed his regard tor Philip, and the confidetice he had 
 in his honour; Phihp's look shewed his indiirnation at the calum. 
 iiy. One while he lifted up his eyes and hatids to heaven, protest- 
 ing his fidelity ; another while he threw himself down b> tne bed- 
 side, entreating his master to be of good courage and trust to his 
 care. 
 
 The medicine, indeed, was so strong, and overpowered his spi- 
 rits in such a manner, that at first he was speechless, and disco- 
 vered scarce any sign of sense or life. Bur afterwards he was 
 soon relieved by his faithful physician, and recovered so well that 
 he was able to show himself to the Macedonians, whose distress 
 did not abate till he came personally before them. 
 
 There was in the army of Darius a !VlH<edonian fugitive, named 
 Amyntas, who knew perfectly well the disposition of Alexander. 
 This man, perceiving that Darius prepared to march through the 
 straits in quest of Alexander, begged of him to remain where he 
 was, and take the advantage of receivmg an enemy, so much infe- 
 rior to him in number, upon large and spacious plains. D^trius an- 
 swered, *' He was afraid in that case the enemy would fly without 
 comincr to an action, and Alexander escape him." *' If that is all 
 your fear," replied the Macedonian, 'Met it give you no farther unea- 
 siness ; for he will come and seek you, and is already on his march." 
 However, his representations had no effect : Darius set out for Ci- 
 licia ; and Alexander was making for Syria in quest of him. But 
 happening to miss each other in the night, thev both turned back ; 
 and Alexander rejoicing in his good fortune, hastened to meet 
 Darius in the Straits, while Darius endeavoufed to disengage him- 
 self, and recover his former camp. For by this time he was sensi- 
 ble of his error in throwing himself into ground hemmed in by the 
 sea on one side, and the mountains on the other, and intersected by 
 the river Pinaris ; so that it was impracticable for cavalry, and his 
 infantry could only act in small and broken parties, while at he 
 same time, this situation was extremely convenient for the enemy's 
 inferior numbers. 
 
 Thus fortune befriended Alexander as to the scene of action ; 
 but the skilful disposition of his forces contributed still more to his 
 gaining the victory. As his army was very small in cdmnarison of 
 that of Darius, he took care to draw it up so as to prevent its being 
 surrounded, by stretching out his right wing farther than the ene- 
 my's left. In that wing he acred in person, and fiffhtins in the fore- 
 most ranks, put the barbarians to flight. He was wounded, how- 
 ever, in the thigh. 
 
 The victory was a very signal one ; for he killed above a hundred 
 and ten thousand of the enemy.* Nothing was wanting to complete 
 
 • Diodorus says a hundred and thirty thousand. 
 
910 ALLXANDEB. 
 
 it but the taking of Darius ; and that prince escaped narrowly, 
 having goi ihe wiart of hiH pur-ueni only Tor lour or five furiougs 
 Alexander luok inn churiot and inn bow, and returned with them 
 to hKs Macedeiiiunb. tie found iheni loudnig themselves with the 
 plunder of the enemy's camp, which was rich and various; though 
 Darius, to make his troops titter li»r action, had let) most of tbe 
 baggage in Damascus'. The Vlacedonians 'tiad reserved for their 
 master the tent of Dunus, in which he found ofliceis of the house* 
 hold magnificently clothed, rich turuilure, and great quautiiies of 
 gold and silver. - 
 
 As soon as he had put off his armour, he went to the bath, saying 
 to those about him, — '* Let us go and retresh ourselves after the 
 fatigues of the field, in the bath of Darius." '' Na\, rather," said 
 one of iiis friends, '' in the bath of Alexander, for the gm>ds of the 
 conquered are, and should be called the congueror's." When he 
 had taken a view of the basins, vials, boxes, and other vases, curi- 
 ously wrought in gold, smelled the I'ragrunt odours of essences, 
 and seen the -plendid furniture of spacious apartments, he turned 
 to his friends and said, " This, then, it seems, it v^as to be a king.*** 
 
 As he was silting d«>\Aii to table, an account was brought him, 
 that among the prisoners were the mother and wife oi Darius, and 
 two unmarried daughters; and thai upon seeing his chariot and 
 and bow, they broke out into great lamentations, concluding that 
 he was dead. Alexander, alter some pause, dtiriiig \«hich he waa 
 rather commiserating their misfortunes, than rejoicing in his own 
 success, sent Le<inatus l<> assure them, ' That Darius was n^t dead; 
 that the\ had nothing to fear trom Alexander, for his dispute with 
 Darius was only tor empire; and that the\ should find themselves 
 pntvided for in the same manner as when Darius was in his ifrealest 
 prosperity." If this message to the captive pniicesse.s was gracious 
 and humane, his acti<ms were still more so. He allowed them to 
 do the funeral honours to what Persians they pleased, and ftir that 
 purpose furnished them out of the spoils with robes, and all the 
 other decorations that were customary. They had as many do* 
 roestics, and were served in all respects in as honourablo a manner 
 as before ; indeed, their appointments were greater. But there was 
 another part of his behaviour to them still more noble and princely. 
 Though they were now cai»tives. he considered thai they were 
 ladies, not only of high rank, but of great mmlesty ^nd virtue, and 
 took care that tlie\ should not hear an indecent word, nor have the 
 least cause to suspect any danger to iheir honour. Nay, as if they 
 had been in a holy temple, or asylum ol virgins, rather than in an 
 enem.*s camp, they lived unseen and unapproachod in the most 
 sacred privacy. 
 
 •An if nit had Mid,— "C^iulfi a kinf place his ha^pineM iti '.mn enjfi^manti at 
 Th«te .'" For Alexander was not, till long after ihia, corrupted by itia T 
 
ALEXANDER. g|| 
 
 It is said, the wife of Darius was one of the most beautiful 
 women as Darius was one of ihe tallest and handsomest men in 
 the world, and thai their daughters much resembled them. But 
 Alexander, no doubt, thought ii more glorious and worthy of a king 
 to conquer himself, than to subdue his enemies, and therefore never 
 apprnactied one of them. As for the other female captives, though 
 they were tall and beautiful, Alexander took no further notice of 
 them than to say, by way of jest, " What eye-sores these Persian 
 women are !" 
 
 He was also very temperate in eating. Of this there are many 
 proofs ; and we have a remarkable one In what he said to Ada, 
 whom he called his mother, and had made queen of Carta.* Ada, 
 to express her afFeciionate regards, sent him every day a number 
 of excelleni dishes and a handsome desert ; and at last she sent 
 him some of her best cooks and bakers. But he said, *' He had 
 no need of them ; tor he had been supplied with better cooks by 
 his tutor Leonidas ; a march before day to dress his dinner, and a 
 light dinner to prepare his supper." He added, that " the same 
 Leonidas used to examine the chests and wardrobes in which his 
 bedding and clothes were put, lest something of luxury and super- 
 fluity should be introduced there by his mother." 
 
 Nor was he so much addicted to wine as he was thought to be. 
 It was supposed so, because he passed much of his time at table ; 
 but that time was spent rather in talking ihan drinking ; every cup 
 introducing some long discourse. Besides, he never made these 
 long meals but when he had abundance of leisure upon his hands. 
 When business called, he was not to be detained by wine, or sleep, 
 or pleasure, or honourable love, or the most entertaining spectacle, 
 though the motions of other generals have been retarded by some 
 of these thinijs. His life sufficiently confirms this assertion ; for, 
 though verv short, he performed in it innumerable great actions. 
 
 On his days of leisure, as soon as he was risen he sacrificed to 
 the gods; after which he took his dinner sitting. The rest of the 
 day he spent in hunting or deciding the differences among his 
 troops, or in reading and writing. If he was upon a march that 
 did not require haste, he would exercise himself in shooting and 
 darting the javelin, or in mounting and alighting from a chariot in 
 full speed. Sometimes also he diverted himself with fowHng and 
 fox-hunting, as we find by his journals. 
 
 On his return to his q larters, when he went to be refreshed with 
 the bath and with oil, he inquired of ttie stewards of his kitchen, 
 whether they had prepared every thing in a handsome manner for 
 
 * This princess, after the death of her eldest brother Mausolns. and his consort 
 Artemisia, who died without children, succeeded to the throne with her brother Hi- 
 dreus, to whom sne had been married. Hidreus dving before her, Pexodorus, her 
 third brother, dethroned her. and after his death, his son in-law, Orontes, seized thp 
 crown. Bui Alexander restored her to the possessroii of her dominioija. 
 
3lJt ALEXANDER. 
 
 •upper. It was not till late id the evening, and when night was 
 come oil, that he mok his meal, and then he eat in a recumbent 
 posture. He was ver> attentive lu his guests at table, that they 
 might be served equaUy, and iiuiie neglected. His entertainments, 
 as we have alrf^ady nbserved, lasted man\ hours ; but they were 
 iengheiied out rather b\ converHaiion than drinking. His coiiver* 
 sation, in many respecte, was more agreeable than that ot inost 
 princes, for he was not deficient in the graces of society. His 
 only t'ault was his retaining so much of the soldier, as to indulge a 
 troublesome vanity. He would not only t>oa8t of his own actions, 
 but j$utiered himself to* be cajoled by flatterers to an amazing 
 degree. 
 
 As to delicacies, he had so little regard for them, that when the 
 choicest fruit and fish w» re brought him from distant countries aad 
 seas, tie would send some to each of his friends, and he verv oAeo 
 left none for himsetf. Yet there was always a magnificence at bis 
 table, and the expcnce rose with his fortune, till it came to ten 
 thousand drachmas tor one entertainment. There it stood : and 
 he did not suffer those that invited him to exceed that sum. 
 
 It appeared to Alexander a matter of great importance, beibre 
 be went farther, to gain the maritime powers. Upr>n application, 
 the kings of Cyprus and Phcenicia made their submission : only 
 Tyre held out. He besieged that city seven months, during which 
 time he erected vast mounts of earth, plied it with his engines, and 
 invested it on the side next to the sea with two hundred galleys. 
 
 About the middle of the siege, he made an excursion against the 
 Arabians who dwelt about Antilibanus. There he ran a great ride 
 x>f his life on account of his preceptor Lysimachus, who insisted 
 'On attending hini ; being, as he alleged, neither older nor less vali- 
 ant than Phoenix. But when they came to the hills, and quitted 
 their horses, to march up on foot, the rest of the party got far 
 before Alexander and Lysimachus. Night came on, and, as the 
 etM^my was at no great distance, the king would not leave his pre. 
 ceptor borne down with futigue and the weight of years. There- 
 fore, while he was encouraging and helping hiro forward, he was 
 insensibly separated from his troops, and hud a dark and very ooM 
 night to pass in an exposed and dismal situation. In this perplexity 
 be observed at a distance a number of scattered fires which the 
 enemy had lighted : and depending upon his swifuess and activity, 
 as well as accustomed to extricate the Maoedonians out of every 
 difficulty, by taking a shace in the labour Ukd danger, ho ran to 
 the next fire. After having killed two of the barbarians that tat 
 watching it, he seized a lighted brand, and hastened with it to bis 
 party, who soon kindled a great fire. The sigbt of tins so intimi- 
 dated I he enemy, that many of them fled, and those who ventured 
 to attack him, were repulsed with considerable loss. 
 
ALEXANDER. 313 
 
 From thence he marched into Syria, and laid siege to Gaza, the 
 capital of that country. Having taken the city, he sent most of 
 the spoils to Olympias and Cleopatra and other of his friends. His 
 tutor Leonidas was not forgotten ; and the present he made him 
 had something particular in it. It consisted of five hundred talents 
 weight of frankincense,* and an hundred of myrrh, and was sent 
 upon the recollection of the hopes he had concf^ived when a boy. 
 It seems Leonidas one day had observed Alexander at a sacrifice 
 thrownig incense into the fire bv handtlils : upon which he said, 
 " Alexander, when you have conquered the country where spices 
 grow, you may be thus liberal of your incense ; but, in the mean 
 time, use what you have more sparingly." He therefore wrote 
 thus : " I have sent you frankincense and myrrh in abundance, 
 that you may be no longer a churl to he gods." 
 
 A casket being one day brought him, wtiich appeared one of the 
 most curious and valuable things among the treasures and the 
 whole equipage of Darius, he asked his friends what they thought 
 most worthy to be put in it? Different things were proposed, but 
 he said, " The Iliad most deserved -uch a case." This particular 
 is mentioned by several writers of crredit. And if what the Alexan- 
 drians say, upon the faith of Heraclides, be true. Homer was no 
 bad auxiliary or useless counsellor in the course of the war. They 
 tell us, that when \lexander had conquered Eg\ pt, and determined 
 to build rhere a city, which was to be peopled with Greeks, and 
 called after his own name, by the advice of his architects he had 
 marked out a piece of ground, and was preparing to lay the foun- 
 dation ; but a wonderful dream made him to fix upon another situ- 
 ation. He thought a person with grey hair, and a very venerable 
 aspect, approached him, and repeated the following lines : 
 
 Hijjh o'er h j^ulfv sea the F'nanan isle 
 Fronts ihe r\ee\} roar ot 'ise boguiiig Nile. 
 
 Alexander, upon this, immediately left his bed, and went to 
 Pharos, which at that time was an island lying a little above the 
 Canobic mouth of the Nile, but now is joined to the continent by 
 a Cfiuseway. He no sooner cast his eyes upon the place, than he 
 perceived the commodiousness of the situation. It is a tongue of 
 land, not unlike an isthmus, whose breadth is proportionable to its 
 length. On one side it has a great lake, and on the other the sea, 
 which there forms a capacious harbour. This led him to declare, 
 " That Homer, among his other admirable qualifications was an 
 excellent architect, and he ordered a city to be planned suitable to 
 the ground, and its appendant conveniences. For want of chalk 
 
 lb oz. dwt gr. 
 * Thp common Attic talent, in Troy weight, was - 56 11 17x 
 
 This talent consis^ted of BO mince ; but there was anoiher Attic talent, ' 
 
 bv some said to consist <»f 80, bv others of 100 mines. The mina 
 was - .'..-.... tl 7 162 
 
 The talent of Alexandria was 104 19 14^ 
 
 2r 27 
 
314 
 
 ALEXANDRIA 
 
 they made use of flour, which answered weh enough upon a black 
 soil, and they drew a hrie wiih it about the semicircular bay. The 
 nrnis ol this seniicircle were termmaied b> straight hues, to that 
 the whole wiis in the torm of a Macedonian cloak. 
 
 The execuiion of the plan be left to his archiiecUi, and went to 
 visit the temple ol Jupiter Ammon. It was a long and laborious 
 journey : and besides the faiigue, there were two greai dangers 
 attending it. The one was, that iheK water might fail, in a desert 
 of many day's journey w^hich afforded no supply ; and the other, 
 that they might be surprised by a violent so ih wind amidst the 
 wastes of sand, as it happened long before to the army of Cam> 
 byses. The wind raised the sand, and rolled it in such waves, 
 that it devoured tull fifty thousand! men. These difficulties were 
 considere«i and represented to Alexander : but it was not easy to 
 divert hint from any of his purposes. Fortune had sappitried him 
 in such a manner, that his resolutions were become invincibly 
 strong ; and his courage inspired him with such a spirit of adven- 
 ture, that he thought it not enough to be victorious in the field, but 
 ho must conquer both time and place. 
 
 When he had passed the desert, and was arrived at the place, 
 the minister of Ammon received him with salutations from the god, 
 as from a father. And when he inquired, *' Whether any of the 
 assassins of his father had escaped him ? the priest desired he 
 would not express himself in that manner, ** for his father »%as not 
 a mortal.'' Then he asked, *' Whether all the murderers of Philip 
 were punished ; , and whether it was given the proponent to be 
 the conqueror of the world ?" Jupiter answered, '* That he granted 
 him that high distinction ; and that the death of Philip was suffici- 
 enily avenged." Upon this, Alexander made Iih acknowleduments 
 to the god by rich offerings, and loaded the priests with presents 
 of great value. This is the account most historians give us of the 
 affair of the oracle ; but Alexander himself, in the letter he wrote 
 to his mother on that occasion only says, " He received certain 
 private answers from the (<racle, which he would communicate to 
 her, and her onl\, at his return." 
 
 He went to hear Psammo, an Egyptian philosopher, and the 
 saying of his that pleased him most was, '' That all men are go- 
 verned hy God, for, in every thing, that which rules and governs is 
 divine." But Alexander's own maxim was more agreeable to sound 
 philosophy : he said, '* God is the common father of men, but more 
 particularly of the good and virtuous." 
 
 When among the barbarians, indeed, he affected a \o(iy port, 
 such as might suit a man perfectly convinced of his divine original , 
 but it was in a small degree, and with great caution, that he as- 
 sumed any thing of divinity among the Greeks. We must except, 
 however, that he wrote to the Athenians concerning Samoa, ** It 
 
ALEXANDER. 
 
 315 
 
 was not I who gave you that free and famous city, hut your then 
 Lord, who was called my father," meaning Phihp.* Yet long after 
 this, when he was wounded with an arrow, and experienced great 
 torture from it, he said, my friends, this is blood, and not the ichor, 
 
 " Which blest iminortals shed." 
 
 At his return from Egypt to Phoenicia, he honoured the gods 
 with sacrifices and solemn processions ; on which occasion the 
 peopU were entertained with music and dancing, and tragedies 
 were presented in the greatest perfection, not only in respect of 
 the magnificence of the scenery, but the spirit of emulation in ihose 
 who exhibited them. In Athens persons are chosen by lot out of 
 the tribes to conduct those exhibitions ; but in ihis case the princes 
 of Cyprus vied with each other with incredible ardour ; particu- 
 larly Nicocreon king of Salamis, and Pa.sicrates king of Soli. 
 They chose the most celebrated actors that could be found ; Pasi- 
 crates risked the victory upon x\thenodorus, and Nicocreon upon 
 Thessalus. Alexander interested himself particularly in behalf of 
 the latter; but did not discover his attachment, till Athenodorus 
 was declared victor b\ all the suffrages. Then, as he left the 
 theatre, he said, " I commend the judges for what they have done ; 
 but I would have given half my kingdom rather than have seen 
 Thessalus conquered." 
 
 It was about this time that he received a letter from Darius, in 
 which that prince proposed, on condition of a pacification and 
 future friendship, to pay him ten thousand talents in ransom of the 
 prisoners, to cede to him all the countries on this side the Euphra- 
 tes, and to give him his daughter in marriage. Upon his commu- 
 nicating these proposals to his friends, Parmenio said, " If I were 
 Alexander, I would accept them." — " So would I," said Alexander,f 
 " It" I were Parmenio." The answer he gave Darius was, " That 
 if he would come to him, he should find the best of treatment : if 
 not, he mus! go and seek him." 
 
 In consequence of this declaration he began his march ; but he 
 repented that he had set out so soon, when he received information 
 that the wife of Darius was dead. That princess died in childbed ; 
 and the concern of Alexander was great, because he lost an oppor- 
 tuni y of exercising his clemency. All he could do was to return, 
 and bury her with the utmost magnificence. 
 
 Alexander having subdued all on this side the Euphrates, began 
 his march against Darius, who had taken the field with a million 
 of men. During this march, one of his friends mentioned to him, 
 as a matter that might divert hira, that the servants of the army 
 
 * He knew the Athenians were sunk into such meanness, that they would readily 
 admit his pretensions to divinity. So afterwards they deified Denteirius. 
 
 f Loiiginus takes notice of t.^is as an instance, that it is natural for men of genius, 
 even in their common disccurse, to let fall something great and sublime. 
 
3ie ALEXANDER. 
 
 liad divided themselves into two bands, and that each had chosen 
 a chief, one of whom they called AU-xaiider, and the nlhvT Darius. 
 They began to skirmisli with clods, and afterwards fought with 
 their lists; and, at last, heated with a d^-sire of victory, many of 
 them came to stoncM and sticks, insomuch thai they could hardly 
 be parted. The king, upon this report, ordered the two chieia to 
 fight m single c()ini>ai, and armed Alexander with his own hands, 
 while Plulotas did the same for Durius. The whole army sltMid 
 and looked on, considering the event of this combat as a presage 
 of the issue of the war. The two champions fought with great 
 fury ; but he who bore the name of Alexander proved victorious. 
 He was rewarded with a present of twelve villages, and allowed to 
 wear a Persian robe, as Eratothenes lells the story. 
 
 The £>reat battle with Darius whs not fought at Arbela,^ as most 
 historians will have it; but a> Gauo^amela, \vhich, in the Persian 
 toiitfue, i> said to signif\ the house of the canw.l;-\ so called, because 
 one of the ancient kings having escaped his enemies by the swift. 
 ness of his camel, ptaced her there, and appointed the revenue of 
 certain villages for her maintenance. 
 
 In the month of September there happened an eoli|p8e of the 
 moon ; about the beginning of the festivals <if the great in> steries 
 at Athens. The eleventh night after that eclipse, the t#b armies 
 being in view of each other, Darius kept his men under arms, and 
 took a general review of his troops by torch-light. Meantime 
 Alexander suffered his Macedonians to repose themselves, and 
 wi<h his soothsaver Aristander performed some private ceremonies 
 before his lent, an<l offered sacrifices 'o Fear.| The r>ldesl of his 
 friends, and Parmenio in pariicular, when the\ beheld the plain 
 between Niphates and the Gorusean mountains all illuminated with 
 the torches of ihe barbarians, and heard the tumultuous and appalU 
 ing noise from their camp, hke the bellowing of an immense sea, 
 were astonished at their numbers, and observed among themselves 
 how arduous an enterprise it would be to meet »iv\\ a torrent of 
 war ill open day. They waited upon the king, therefore, when he 
 had finished the sacrifice, and advised him to attack the enemy in 
 the night, when darkness would hide what was most dreadful m the 
 combat. Upon this he gave them that celebrated answer, — I wM 
 not steal a victory. 
 
 It is true, this answer has been thought by some to savour of the 
 vanity ni' n \oiing man who derided the most obvious dantfer: yet 
 Otherw have thought it not only well calculated to encourage his 
 
 * Bui a« GauKnniftlii wsc onlv • villsK* and Arbela   con«irlenihl« inwn stood 
 near it. ihr Ma«-«<1<>iMiiiif choke •«> r1i»i>M^ini(h ini* tMt<l«> b< ihc natui* of iih' lattar 
 f Dariu* (h« turn of lviita«p«Ki coMf^t inr lifwui" of**eMhf upon that rMmal 
 i Frar wa* imm wiihoui imr aliaio 'ri>^M*u« •M«cri6«*Ml !•• her •«. '%r have iMill la 
 hit Ufi» AnH Plit'srch trlU u» m the hf«» of K^i* and<'ii«» rn«>» mat the I ac^'asw 
 ninii- tuili a i« ok 4<t l<>ar whom ihey honoured, not ■• a pernicioua detuoa, b«il M 
 the bund of ail gpod gov«rnnient. 
 
ALEXANDER. 3I7 
 
 troops at that time, but polite enough in respect to the future ; be- 
 caust^, if Darius happened to be beaten, it lett hini no handle to 
 proceed to another trial, under pretence ihat night and darkness 
 hau been bis adversaries, as he had before laid the blame upon the 
 mountains, the narrow passes, and the sea. For in such a vast 
 empire it could never be the want of arms or men that would bring 
 Danus to give up the dispute ; but the rum of his hopes and spirits, 
 in consequence of the loss of a battle, where he had the advantage 
 of numbers and of day-light. 
 
 When his friends were gone, Alexander retired to rest in his 
 tent, and he is said to have slepi that night much sounder than 
 usual ; insomuch that when his officers came to attend him the next 
 day, they could not but express iheir surprise at if, while they were 
 obliged them«eives to giv^out orders to the troops to take their 
 mornmg refreshment. After this, as the case was urgent, Parme- 
 nio entered his apartment, and standing by the bed, called him two 
 or three times by name. Wiien he awaked, that officer asked him, 
 — " Why he slept like a man that had already conquered, and not 
 rather like one who had the greatest battle the world ever heard 
 of to fight ?" Alexander smiled al the question, and said, — " In 
 what light can you look upon us but as conquerors, when we have 
 not now to traverse desolate countries in pursuit of Darius, and he 
 no longer declines the combat ?" Ii was not, however, only before 
 the battle, but in the face of danger, that Alexander showed his 
 intrepidity and excellent judgment ; for the battle was «ome time 
 doubtful. The left wing, commanded by Parmenio, uas almost 
 broken by the impetuosity with which the Bactrian cavalry char- 
 ged ; and Mazasus had, moreover, detached a party of horse, with 
 orders to wheel round and attack the corps that was left to guard 
 the Macedonian baijgage. Parmenio, greatly disturbed at these 
 circumstances, sent messengers to acquaint Alexander, that his 
 camp and baggage would be taken if he did not immediately des- 
 patch a strong reinforcement from the front to the rear. The 
 moment that account was brought him, he was giving the right 
 wing, which he commanded in person, the signal to charge. He 
 stopped, however, to tell the messenger, — " Parmenio must have 
 lost his senses, and in this dis<irder must have forgot, that the con- 
 querors are always masters of all that belonged to the^ enemy ; and 
 the conquered need no! give themselves any concern about their 
 treasures or prisoners, nor have any thing to think of, but how to 
 sell their lives dear, and die in the bed of honour." 
 
 As soon as he had returned Parmenio this answer, he put on 
 his helmet ; for in other points he came ready armed out of his tent. 
 He had a short coat of the Sicilian fashion girt cl<»se about him, 
 and over that a breast. plate of linen sir.mgl." quilted, which was 
 found among the spoils at the battle of lssu«. His helmet, the 
 27* 
 
318 ALKXAiNDKR. 
 
 workmanship of Theophi)u.% was of iron, but so well polished, that 
 it slioiie like ihe tirtghles liitver. To thi«i wus tixed a gorget of 
 the saiuv iueial, not wiili precious sumes. His sword, the Wfupon 
 he generally used in buMe, was h present trom the king ol the 
 Cii leans, and could nt be excelled lor li^htiiesH or lor temper. 
 But the belt whicii he \«ore in ail engagements was more superb 
 than the rest ot nis armour. It Mas given him by the Klitidians us 
 a marn of their respect, and old Helicon hud exerted ail his art to 
 it. Ill dia\»ing up his army and in giving orders, as \%ell as exer- 
 cising and reviewing ir, lie spared Bucephalus on account of his 
 age, and rode another horse ; but he constantly charged upon him; 
 and tie had no sooner mounted him than the signal was always 
 given. 
 
 The speech he made to the Thess^ians and the other Greeks 
 was of some length on this occasion. When he found that ihey, in 
 their turn, strove to add to his contid* nee, and called nut to him to 
 lead inern against the barbarians, he shitted his javelin to his left 
 hanil, and stretching his ri^ia hand towards heaven, according to 
 Callistheiies, he entreated the gods, '' to delbnd and invigorate the 
 Greeks, li he really Has the son of Jupiter." 
 
 Anstander the soothsayer, who rode by Ins side, in a white robe, 
 and with a crown of gold upon hia head, ihen pointed out an eagle 
 flying over him, and din^cted his course against the enemy. The 
 sigtit of tnis so animated the troops, ihat, alter mutual exhortations 
 to bravery, the cavalry charged at full 8p« ed, and the phalanx 
 rushed on like a torrent. Before liie first ranks were well enga- 
 ged, tne barbarians gave way, and Alexander pressed hard upon 
 the fugitives, in order lo penetrate into the midst of the host where 
 Darius acted in person ; for he helield him at a distance, over the 
 foremost ranks, amidst his royal squadron; liesides that he was 
 mounted upon a lofty chanot, Dunns was easily distinguished by 
 his size and beauty. A numerous body of select cavalry stood in 
 clohe orrter about the chariot, and seemed well pre|>ared to receive 
 the enemy. Uui Alexander's approach seemed so terrible, as he 
 drove the fugitives upon tliose who still maintaihed their ground, 
 thai they were seizen with consternation, and the greatest part of 
 them dispersed. A few of the best and bravest of them, indeed, 
 met their deut^i before Ihe king's chariot, and falling in heaps one 
 upon another, strove to stop the pursuit; tor in the very pangs of 
 "death they clung to the Macedoniuns, and caught hold of their 
 horses' legs as they stood upon the ground. 
 
 Danihi had now the mo» dreadful dangers before his eyes. His 
 own forces, that w<;re placed in the front to defend him, were dri- 
 yen haek upon him; the wheels of his chariot were, morec»ver, 
 entungled among thr dead bodies, s<» that it was almost impossible 
 to turn it ; and the horses plunging araoAg heaps of the slain, 
 
ALEXANDER 319 
 
 bounded up and down, and ni» longer obeyed the hands of the 
 charioteer, in this extremity he quitted the chariot and his arms, 
 and fled, as they tell us, upon a mare which had newly foaled. But 
 in all probability he had not escaped so, if Parmenio had not again 
 sent some horsemen to desire Alexander to come to his assistance, 
 because great part of the enemy's forces still stood their ground, 
 and kept a good countenance. Alexander, though vexed at bemg 
 so stopped in his career, did not acquaint thf troops about him with 
 the purport of the message ; but under pretence; of being weary of 
 such a carnage, and of its growing dark, sounded a retreat. How- 
 ever, as he was riding up to that parr of his artny which had been 
 represented in danger, he was informed that the enemy were to- 
 tally defeated and put to flight. 
 
 The battle having -^uch an issue, the Persian empire appeared 
 to be entirely destroyed, and ATexander was acknowledged king 
 of all Asia. The first thing he did was to make his acknowledg- 
 ments to the gods by magni^cent sacrifices : and then to his friends, 
 by rich gifts of houses, estates, and governments. As he was par- 
 ticularly ambitKiUs of recommending himself to the Greeks, he sig- 
 nified by letter, that all tyrannies should be abolished, and that 
 they should be governed by their own laws, under the auspices of 
 freedom. To the Plataeans in particular he wrote, that their city 
 should be rebuilt, because their ancestors had made a prt^sent of 
 their territory to the Greeks, in order thiit they might fight the 
 cause of liberty upon their own lands. He sent also a part of tho 
 spoils to the Crotonians in Italy, in honour of the spirit and cou- 
 rage of their countryman Pnaylus, a champion o\ the wrestling- 
 ring, who, in the war with the Modes, when the rest of the Greeks 
 in Italy sent no assistance to the Greeks their brethren, fitted out 
 a ship at his own expence, and repaired to Salamis, to take a share 
 in ttie common danger. Such a pleasure did Alexander tnke in 
 every instance of virtue, and so faitht'ul a guardian was he of the 
 honour of all great actions ! 
 
 Alexander having madt- himself master of Susa, found in the 
 
 king's palace, forty thousand talents in coined money,* imd the 
 
 royal furniture and other richer were of inexpressible value. 
 
 Among other things, there was purple of Hermoine, worth fivo 
 
 thousand talents, which, though it had been laid up a hundred and 
 
 ninety years retained its first freshness and beauty. It is said he 
 
 found as much gold on his first entrance into Persia as he did at 
 
 Susa, and that there was such a quantity oi' other treasures and 
 
 rich movables, that it loaded ten thousand pair of mules and five 
 
 thousand camets.f 
 
 At Persepolis he cast his eyes upon a great statue of Xerxes, 
 
 * Q (kirnus, who magniAes every thing, says fifty thousand. 
 f Dioddrns says ttiree thousand. 
 
320 ALEXANDER 
 
 which had been thrown down from its pedestal by the crowd that 
 sild«icMii\ rushed in, and lay neglected on the ground. Upon this 
 he 8iupped« and addressed it as if it had been ahve. ** Shall we 
 leave >ou," said he, '' in this condition, on account of the war yoa 
 made u)>on Greece, or rear you again, for the sttke of your mag. 
 nanimity and other virtues?'* Alter he had »tood a long time con> 
 sidenng in silence which he should do, he passed by and let) it as 
 it was. To give his troops time to refresh themselves, he staid 
 there four monfhs^for ii was winter. 
 
 When he was upon ihe point of marching against Darius, he 
 made a ^reat entertainment for his friends, at which they drank to 
 a degree of intoxication ; and the women had their share in it, for 
 they came in masquerade to seek their lovers. The most celebra. 
 ted among their women was Thais, a native of Attica, and mistress 
 to Ptolemy, afterwards king of Egypt. When she had gained 
 Alexander's attention by her flsttery and humorous vein, she ad. 
 dressed him over her cups in a manner agreeable to the spirit of 
 her country, but far above a person of her stamp. *' i have under, 
 gone great fatigues," said she, '' in wandering about Asia ; but vhifl 
 das has brought me a compensation, by putting it in my power to 
 insult the proud courts of the Persian kings. Ah ! how much greater 
 pleasure would it be to finish iht^ carousal with burning the palace 
 of Xerxes, who laid Athens in ashes, and to set tire to it myself to 
 the sight of Alexander!* Then shall it be said in limes to come, 
 that the women of his train, have more signally avenged the cause 
 of Greece upon the Persians, than all that the generals itefore hira 
 could do by sea or land." 
 
 This spet^ch was received with the loudest plaudits and moat 
 tumuliory acclamations. All the company strove to persuade the 
 king to comply with the proposal. At last, yielding to then in. 
 stances, he leaped from his seat, <ind, with his garland on his head, 
 and a flambeau in his hand, led the wa> : the rest followed with 
 shouts of joy, and, dancing as they went, spreao themselves round 
 the palace. The Macedonians, who got intelligence of this frolic, 
 ran up with lighted torches, and joined them with great pleasure; 
 for they concluded, from his destroying the royal palace, that the 
 king's thoutfhts were turned towards home, and that he did not 
 design to fix his seat among the barbarians. Such is the account 
 most of the writers give us of the motives of this transaction. There 
 are not, however, wanting those who assert, that it was in conte. 
 quence of i^ool reflection ; but all agree that th^ king so<m repented, 
 and ordered the fire to be extinguiHhed. 
 
 * These ooniei were not reared toieU for regal niagnificence snd Ncurttr. but to 
 aid the appeute* of power and luxury, and lo kecrrtr the rnyal plaa»ur«« ftou* tham 
 that loiled to gtnxtfy them. Thui. m* thii noble struciure was poMibly raised not oaty 
 for vanity but for not . to. prohabty. by vanny inflamed by riot, ii fell — )i Mri^ii^ 
 uistasce of the insignificanfiy of human latMurs, and the depravity of human nM«oie. 
 
ALEXAiNDER. 321 
 
 As he was naturally munificent, that inciinatiou increased with 
 bis exiraorduiary acifuisitions ; and he had also a gracious manner, 
 which IS the only thuig which gives bounty an irresisfible charm. 
 With whar a free hand he showered his gifts upon his friends, and 
 those who attended upon his person, appears from one of the letters 
 of Olympias. " You do well," said she, " in serving your friends, 
 and It IS right to act nobly : but by making them all equal to kings, 
 in proportion as you put it in their powet- to make friends, \ou de- 
 prive yourself of that privilege." As for his mother, he made her 
 many magnifficent presents ; but he would not sutler her busy 
 genius to exert itself in state affairs, or in the least to controul the 
 proceedings of government. She complained of this as a hardship, 
 and he bore her ill- humour with great mildness. Antipater once 
 wrote him a long letter full of heavy compiamts against her; and 
 when he had read it, he said, " Awtipater knows not that one tear 
 of a mother can blot out a thousand such complaints." 
 
 Finding that his great officers set no bounds to their luxury, that 
 they were most extravagantly delicate in their diet, and profuse in 
 other respects, he reproved their degeneracy with all the temper 
 of a philosopher. After this, he constantly todk the exercise of war 
 or hunting, and exposed himself to dangers and fatigue with less 
 precaution than ever ; so that a Lacedaemonian ambassador, who 
 ai tended him one day when he had killed a tierce lion, said, •' Alex- 
 ander, vou have disputed the prize of royalty gloriously with the 
 lion." ' 
 
 Thus Alexander hazarded his person, by way of exercise l^or 
 himsett', and example to others. But his friends, in the pride of 
 wealth, were so devoted to luxury and ease, that they considered 
 long marches and campaigns as a burden, and by degrees came to 
 murmur and speak ill of the king. As he first bore their censures 
 with great moderation, and used to say, " There was something 
 noble in hearing himself ill spoken of while he was doinjr well."* 
 Indeed, in the least of the good offices he did his friends, there were 
 great marks of affection and respect. We will give an instance or 
 two of it. He wrote to Peucestas, who had been bitt^n by a bear 
 in hunting, to complain, that he had given an account of the acci- 
 dent, by letters, to others of his friends, and not to him. " But 
 now," says he, ** let me know, however, how ^ou do, and whether 
 any of your company deserted you, that I may punish them, if such 
 there were." When Hephaestion happened to be absent upon busi- 
 ness, he acquainted him in one of his letters, that, as they were 
 diverting themselves with hunting the ichneumon,f Craterus had 
 
 * Voltaire says somewhere, that it is a noble thirig to make lugrates. He seems to 
 be indebted for this sentiment to Alexander. 
 
 + The Egyptian rat. called ichneumon, is of the size of a cat, with very rough hair, 
 spotted wiih white, jellow, and ash colour : its ni>se like that of a hog. with which it 
 digs up the earth, it has short black legs:, and a tail like a fox. It lives on i«ar#s, 
 
322 AEBXAIIDSB. 
 
 the misfortune to be mn tnrough the thighs with Perdiccas'a lance. 
 When Peucestas recovered of a dangerous ilinesH, be wrote n let- 
 ter with his own hand to Alexippus, the ph>Hician, to thaitk him 
 for his care. During the sickness of Craterus, the king h> d a 
 dream, in consequence of which he offered sacriiices for his re- 
 covery, and ordered him to do the same. Upon Pausanias the 
 physician's design to give Craterus a dose of hellebore, he wraie 
 to him, expressing his great anxiety about it, and desiring him to 
 be particularly cautious in the use of that medicine. He imprisoned 
 Ephialtes and Cissus, who brought him the Hrt>t news ot the flight 
 and treasonable practices of Harpalus, supposing their information 
 false. 
 
 When he marched against Darius again, he expected another 
 battle. But upon intelligence that Bessu8 had seiztrd the peraoo 
 of that prince, he dismissed the Thessalians, and sent them home, 
 after he had given them a gratuity of two thousand talents over and 
 above their pay. The pursuit was long and laborious, for he rode 
 three thousand three hundred furlongs in eleven davs.*^ As they 
 often suffered more for want of water than by fatigue, many of the 
 cavalry were unable to hold out. While they were upon the march, 
 some Macedonians had tilled their bottles at a river, and were 
 bringing the water upon mules. These people seeing Alexander 
 greatly distressed with thirst (for it was in ihe heat of the day,) 
 immediately filled a helmet with water, and presented it to him. 
 He asked them to whom they were carrying it? and they said, 
 " Their sons : but if out prince does but live, we shall get other 
 children if we lose them.'' Upon this, he took the helmet in his 
 bands ; but looking round, and seeing all the horsemen bending 
 their heads, and fixing their eyen upon the water, he returned it 
 without drinkiiiff. However, he praised the people that offered it, 
 and said, " If I alone drink, these good men will be dispirited." 
 The cavalry, who were witnesses to this act of temperance and 
 magnanimity, ciied out, " Let us march ! We are neither weary 
 nor thrsty, nor should we even think ourselves mortal, while under 
 the conduct of such a king." At the same lime th^y put spurt to 
 their horses. 
 
 They had all the same affection to the cause, but only sixty were 
 
 serpents, snnils, dcx. an(l*is ol great service in E^ypt. bj its naiurel inttioct of ninuim- 
 out and breaking ibe eggs of the crocodile, and thereby preveotiog too great • 
 crease of that dMtructive creature. Tne naturalists also say. that ii is so grern \ 
 the crocodile's liver, thai roUmK itself up in mud. it slipa do»n his ihri«t. whit« he 
 sleeps with his inoutb open, and gnaws his way out agmo. — Diod Siic p. St. 78. { 
 Plin I. viii c 24. 25 
 
 Tlie RgvpiiaoH worshipped the ichneumon for destroying the crocodiles. Ttiey 
 wordiippad the crocodile, too. probably as the Indians do the devil, that it mighl du 
 them no hurt. 
 
 • As this was no more than forty miles a-day, it is notbiaf wlien comparan to ( *liarie« 
 XI Ts inarch from Bendir thtpugb Oecmanj ; notbing to tbe expedition of llaBnibal 
 along <he African coast. 
 
ALEXANDER. 323 
 
 able to keep up with him till they reached the enemy's camp. 
 There they rode over the gold and silver that lay scattered about, 
 and passing by a number of carriages full of women and children, 
 which were in motion, but without charioteers, they hastened to 
 the leading squadron, not doubting thai they should find Darius 
 among them. \%, lasi, after much search, they found hmi extended 
 on his chariot, and pierced with many darts. Though he was near 
 his last m(»ments, he had strength to ask for something to quench 
 his thirst. A Macedonian named Polystratus, brought him some 
 cold water, and when he had drank, he said " Friend, this fills up 
 the measure of my misfortunes, to think I am not able to reward 
 thee for this act of kindness. But Alexander will not let thee 
 go without a recompense ; and the gods will reward Alexander 
 for his humanity to my mother, to my wife, and children. Tell 
 him, I give him my hand, for I give it thee in his stead." So say- 
 ing, he took the hand of Polystratus, and immediately expired. 
 When Alexander <ame up, he showed his concern for that event 
 by the strongest expressions, and covering the body with hia own 
 robe, ordered it should have all the honors of a royal funeral. 
 
 His next movement was into Hyrcania, which he entered with 
 the flower of his army. There he took a view of the Caspian Sea. 
 The barbarians here fell suddenly upon a party who were leading 
 his horse Bucephalus, and took him. This provoked him so much 
 that he sent a herald to threaten them, their wives and children, 
 witti utter extermination, if they did not restore the horse. But, 
 upon their bringing him back, and surrendering to him their cities, 
 he treated them with great clemency, and paid a considerable sum 
 by way of ransom, to those that took the horse. 
 
 From thence he marched into Parthia, where, finding no em- 
 ployment for his arms, he first put on the robe of the barbarian 
 kings : whether it was that he conformed a little to their customs, 
 because he knew how much a similarity of manners tends to re- 
 concile and gain men's hearts ; or whether it was by way of ex- 
 periment, to see if the Macedonians might be brought to pay him 
 the greater deference, by accustoming them insensibly to the new 
 barbaric attire and port which he assumed. This was a mortify- 
 ing sight to the Macedonians ; yet, as they admired his other vir- 
 tues, they thought he might be suffered to please himself a little 
 and enjoy his vanity. Some indulgence seemed due to a prince, 
 who, beside his other hardships, had lately been wounded in the 
 leg with an arrow, which shattered the bone in such a manner that 
 splinters were taken out ; who, another time, had such a violent 
 blow from a stone upon the nape of his neck, that an alarming 
 darkness covered his eyes, and continued for some time, and yet 
 continued to expose his person without the least precaution. On 
 the contrary, when he had passed the Orexartes, which he suppo- 
 
^ ALEXAiNDLK. 
 
 sed to be the Tanais, he not only attacked the Scythians and rout- 
 ed'them, but pursued them a hundred furlongs, in apite of what he 
 suifered at that time from a flux. 
 
 Afler this, he accommodated himself more than ever to the man- 
 ners of the Asiatics, and at the same time perwuaded ihem to adopt 
 some of the Maredoniun fashions ; for b> a mixture of both, be 
 thought an union might be promoted much bcUer ihan by force, 
 and hiH auihoriiy maintained wh^n he was at u distance: for the 
 sarr>e reason, he selected thirty thousand boys, and gave them 
 masters to iriMruct them in the Grecian literature, as well aa to 
 train them to arms in the Macedonian manner. 
 
 As for his marriage with Roxana, it was entirely the eflect of 
 love. He sav^ her at an entertainment, and found her charms ir- 
 resistible ; nor was ihe match unsuitable lo the situation of his af. 
 fairs. The barbanans placed greater contidence in him on ac- 
 count of that alliance, and his chastity gained their a^'ection : it 
 delighted them to think, he would not approach the only woman 
 he ever passionately loved, without the sanction of marriage. 
 
 Hephasstion and Craterus were his two favourites. The former 
 praised the Persian fashions, and dressed as he did ; the latter ad- 
 hered to the customs of his own country. He therefore employed 
 Hephsestion in his transactions with the barbarians, and Craterus 
 to signify his pleasure to the Greeks and Macedonians. The 
 one had more of his love, and the other more of his esteem. He 
 was persuaded, indeed, and he often said, *' Hephsestion loved Al- 
 exander, and Craterus the king." Hence arose private animosi- 
 ties, which did not fail to break out upon occasion. One day, in 
 India, they drew their swords and came to blows. The friends of 
 each were joining in the quarrel, when Alexander interposed. 
 He told HephsDstion publicly, ^* He was a fool and a madman, 
 not to be sensible, that without his master's favour he wt»uld be no- 
 thing." He gave Craterus also a severe reprimand in private, and 
 after having brought them together again, and reconciled them, be 
 Bwore by Jupiter Amnion and all the other gods, '' That he loved 
 them more than all the men in the world ; but if he perceived ihom 
 Qt variance again, he would put them both to death, or him at least 
 who began the puarrei." This is said to have had such an effect 
 npon them, that they never expressed any dislike to each other, 
 even lujest, aflefwards. '' 
 
 Among the Macedonians, Philotas, the ion of Parmenin, had 
 great atithority ; for he was not only valiant and indefatigable in 
 the field, but, aJ^er Alexander, no man loved his friend more, or had 
 a greater spirit of generosity . The loOiness of his pon was alto- 
 gether extravagant ; not tempered wi»h any natural graces, but 
 formal and uncouth, it exposed him both lo hatred and suspicion ; 
 insomuch that Pannenio one day aaid to bim, *' My soo, be len." 
 
ALEXANDEH- 3-25 
 
 He had long been represented in an invidioua light to Alexander. 
 In his cups he iridulged his vanity, and le^ many indiscreet ihiugs 
 escape him ; attributing all the great actions of the war to himself 
 and to his father. As for Alexander, he called hirn u boy, who by 
 their means enjoyed the title of conqueror. These things being 
 reported to the iving, he kept the matter private, and discovered no 
 tokens of aversion. But Philotas having refused admittance to the 
 person who gave information of the conspiracy of Limnus against 
 the life of Alexander, he began to give way to his suspicions, and 
 listen to innumerable accusations against Philotas, some of them 
 very groundless. He was apprehended and put to the torture, in 
 presence of the great officers of the court. After the execution of 
 Philotas, be immediately sent orders into Media, that Parmenio 
 should be put to death : a man who had a share in most of Philip's 
 conquests, and who was the phncipal, if not the only <jne, of the 
 old counsellors, who put Alexander the Great 4ipon his expedition 
 into Asia. 
 
 Soon after this happened the affair of Clitus, which, though very 
 shocking, seems to have been a misfortune ra; her than a deliber- 
 ate act. After they were warmed with drinking, somebody began 
 to sing the verses of one Pranicus, or, as otht;rs will have it, of Pi- 
 erio, written in ridicule of the Macedonian officers, who had lately 
 been beaten by the barbarians. The elder part of the company 
 were greatly offended at it, and condemned both the poet and the 
 singer ; but Alexander, and those about him, listened with pleas- 
 ure, and bade him go on. Clitus, who by this time had drank too 
 much, and was naturally rough and forward, could not bear their 
 behaviour. Fie said, " It was not well done to make a jest, and 
 that among barbarians and enemies, of Macedonians that were 
 much better than the laughers, ihough they had met with a misfor- 
 tune." Alexander made answer, "That Clitus was pleading his 
 own cause, when he gave cowardice the soft name of misfortune." 
 Then Clitus started up, and said, " Yet it was this cowardice that 
 saved you, son of Jupiter as you are, when you were turning your 
 back to the sword of Spithridates. ft is by the blood of the Mace- 
 donians and these wounds that you are grown so great, that you 
 disdain to acknowledge Philip for your fatner, and will needs pass 
 yourself for the son of Jupiter x4.mmon." 
 
 Irritated at this insolence, Alexander replied, " It is in this vil- 
 lanous manner thou talkest of me in all companies, and stirresi up 
 the Macedonians to mutiny ; but, dost thou think to enjoy it long ?" 
 "And what do we enjoy now ?" said Clitus ; "What reward have 
 we for all our toils ? Do we not envy those who did npt live to see 
 Macedonians bleed under Median rods, or sue to Persians for ac 
 cess to their king ?" While Clitus went on in this rash manner, 
 and the king retorted upoa him with equal bitterness, the old men 
 28 
 
320 ALLXAND£K. 
 
 interposed, and endeavoured lo altay the flame. Meao lime Aicx- 
 andei lurneU lu Xeiiocl«>chu8 theCardiaii, and Arteiiiiua me C«i)o. 
 
 Rhoiiiaii, Hiid said, " Do not the Greeks appear to )ou amoui: ihe 
 lacedoiiiaiis, like demigods among so maii\ wild beas » t" Cli- 
 tus, tar t'nim giving up the dispute, called upoM Alt-xaiider ** To 
 speak «)Ut what he had to say, or not lo invite Ireenieu to Ins table, 
 who would declare their sentiments without reserve. But perhaps," 
 continued he, " it were belter to pass \iiur life with barbarians and 
 slaves, who will worship your Persian girdle and v%biie robe with- 
 out scruple. 
 
 Alexander, no longer able to restrain his anger, threw an apple 
 at his face, and then looked about tor his sword. But Aristopha- 
 nes, one of his guards, had taken it away in time, ano the c«impa- 
 Dy gathered about him, and entreated him to be quiet. Th»^ir re. 
 monstrances, however, were vain. He broke from them, and call, 
 ed out in the Miicedonian language for his guards, wi.ich Has the 
 signal of a great tumult. At the same time he ordered the trum. 
 peter to sound, and struck him with his hst, upon his disctivering 
 an unwillingness to obey. This man was afterwards held in great 
 esteem, becaUHe he prevented the whole armv from being alar- 
 med. 
 
 As Clitus would not make the least submission; his friends, with 
 much ado, forced him out of the room. • But he soon returned by 
 another door, repeating, in a bold and disrespectful tone, those ver. 
 ses from the Andromache of Euripides : 
 
 Are these your customs ? Is it ttius that dreece 
 Rewards her cmnhatatits ? Snail one man claim 
 The trophies won riy thiiukands? 
 
 Then Alexander snatched a spear from one of the guards, and 
 meeting Clitus as he was putting by the curtain, ran him through 
 the body. He fell immediately to the ground, and with a dismal 
 groan expired. 
 
 Alexander's rage subsided in a moment ; and seeing his friends 
 standing in silent astonishment by him, he hastily drew the spear 
 out of the dead body, and was applying it to his own throat, when 
 hisifuards seized his handii, and carried him by force into his cliam. 
 ber ; and when he had wasted himself with tears and lamentations, 
 he lay in speechless grief, uttering only now and th*n a uroao. 
 His friends, alarmed at this melancholy silence, forced themselves 
 into the riNim, and attempted to console him. As he seemed a lit. 
 tie comforted, Callisthenes the philoHopher, Aristotle's near rela* 
 tion, and Anaxarchus the Abderite, were called in.* Callisthenes 
 
 * CaDisthene^ was of the ctty of Olvnihtis. and had been reoAmmenied to Alesan* 
 dar bv Aristntle. whose relation he was. He had too miieh of ^ne apihi of iib«ny to 
 tM fii for a court He did not show ii. however, m this inManee. Af>»MMi- hr^' 
 «rarned hnii. that if he wrnt on lo ireat (ho king with tb« frWKtom wbieh bitipirit 
 prooioced. It frouM OM dsy bs fetal to him. 
 
ALEXANDER. 827 
 
 began in a soft and tender mHniier, endeavouring to relieve him 
 without searching the wound. But Aiiaxarchus, wim had a par- 
 ticular walk in philosophy, and looked upon his fellow laDourers 
 in science with comempi, cried out, on entering the room, *' Is this 
 Alexander, upon whom the whole world liave their eyes? Can it 
 be he who lies extended on the ground, crying like a slave, in fear 
 of the law and the tongues of men, to whom he should himself be a 
 law and thf' measure of right and wrong ? What did he conquer for 
 but to rule and to comoiand, not servilely to suumit to the vam opi. 
 nions of men: know you not," continued he, "that Jupiter is re- 
 presented with Themis and Justice by his side, to show, that 
 whatever is done by supreme power is right ?" By this, and other 
 discourses of the same kind, he alleviated the king's grief m- 
 deed, but made mm more haugh y and unjus>. At the same time, 
 he insinuated himself into his favour in so extraordinary a manner, 
 that he could no longer bear the conversation of Callisthenes, who 
 before was not very agreeable on account of his forbidding aus- 
 terity. 
 
 When Alexander was upon, the point of setting out for India, he 
 saw his troops were so laden with spoils that they were unfit to 
 march. Thereft)re, early in the morning that he was to take his 
 departure, after the carnages were assembled, he first set fire to 
 his own baggage and that of his friends ; and then gave orders that 
 the rest should be served in the same manner. The resolution ap- 
 peared more diffi<^ult to take, than it was to execute. Few were 
 displeased at it, and numbers received it with acclamations of joy. 
 They freely gave part of their equipage to such as were in need, 
 and burnt and destroyed whatever was superfluous. This greatly 
 encouraged Alexander. 
 
 At the siege of Nysa,* the Macedonians made some difliculty of 
 advancing to the attack, on account of the depth of the river that 
 washed its walls, till Alexander said, " What a wretch am I, that 
 I did not learn to swim !" and was going to ford it with his shield 
 in his hand. After the first assault, while, the troops were refresh- 
 ing themselves, ambassadors came with an offer to capitulate ; and 
 along with them were deputies froai some other places. They 
 were surprised to see him in armour without any pomp or ceremo- 
 ny ; and their astonishment increased, when he bade the oldest of 
 the ambassadors, named Acuphis, take the sopha that was brought 
 for himself. Acuphis, struck with a benignity of reception so far 
 beyond his hopes, asked what they must do to be admitted into his 
 friendship ? Alexander answered, " It must be on condition that 
 they appoint you their governor, and send me a hundred of their 
 
 f A.rrian calls it Nysa; so indeed dcies the Vulcob Ms. That hiMorian places it 
 near Mount Vleris, and adds, that it was built by Dionysius or Baccbus. Hence it 
 had the name of Dionysiopolis. It is now called Nei^. 
 
828 ALEXANDER. 
 
 beat men for hostages." Acuphis smiled at this, and said, "I 
 should govern belter it' you wuuld take the worst instead of the 
 best." 
 
 It IS said, the dominions of Taxiles, in India, were as large as 
 E^ypt : they atibrded excellent paitturuge, and were the most fer. 
 tile in all respects. A» he was a man of great prudence, he waited 
 on. Alexander, and aOer the first compliments, thus addressed him : 
 *' What occasion is there for wars between you and roe, if you are 
 not come to take from us our water and other necessaries of life : 
 the only things that reasonable men will take up arms for 7 As to 
 gold and silver, and other possessions, if I am richer than yoa, I 
 am willing to oblige you with part ; if I am poorer, 1 have^no ob- 
 jection to sharing in your bounty." Charmed with his frankness, 
 Alexander took his hand, and answered, " Think you, then, with 
 all this civility, to escape without a conflict 7 You are much de- 
 ceived, if you do. I will dispute it with you to the last ; but it 
 shall oe in favours and beneiits ; for I will not have you exceed 
 me in generosity." Therefore, after having received great pre- 
 sents from him, and made greater, he said to him one evening, " I 
 drink to you, Taxiles, and as sure as you pledge me, you shall 
 have a thousand talents." His friends were offended at his giving 
 away such immense sums, but it made many of the barbahana 
 look upon him with a kinder eye. 
 
 The most warlike of the Indians used to fight for pay. Upon 
 this invasion they defended the cities that hired them, with great 
 vigour, and Alexander suffered by them not a little. To one of 
 the cities he granted an honourable capitulation, and yet seized 
 the mercenaries, as they were upon their march homewards, and 
 put ihem all to the sword. This is the only blot in his military 
 conduct ; all his other proceedings were agreeable to the laws of 
 war, and worthy of a king.* 
 
 The philosophers gave him no less trouble than the mercena- 
 ries, by endeavouring to fix a mark of infamy upon those princes 
 thai de<:lared for him, and by exciting the tree nations to take up 
 arms ; lor h hich reason he hanged many of them. 
 
 As to his war with Porus, we have an acconnt of it in hia own 
 letters. According to them, the river Hydaspes was between the 
 two armies, and Porus drew up his elephants on the banks oppcs 
 site the enemy, with their heads towards the stream, to guard it. 
 Alexander caused u great noise tmd bustle lo he made every day 
 in his camp, that the barbarians being accustomed to it, might not 
 be so ready to take the aJarm. This done, he look the advantage 
 
 • If WH< jiift anH Inwfitl. it itrrros. to tjn about hitriiMinK and Hi»strovini; ttmse im- 
 
 •"'I' which i.t' h Mtat 
 
 •^' ••>■ f>iii«r«t«l I' -ak 
 
 »»>«''' ■" L'L -L'-!;„ h. :-L- . .i.t.^c -;atlM»ruiii« «»'••-.   r 
 tlu'y h4<l ttiMHMr Htui bnucr piM — thvy w*nl to verk 
 
ALE^^ANDER. 
 
 329 
 
 of a dark and stormy night, with part of his infantry, and a select 
 body of cavalry, to gain a little island in the river, at some dis- 
 tance from the Indians. When he was there, he and his troops 
 were attacked with a most violent wind and rain, accompanied with 
 dreadful thunder and lightning. But, notwithstanding this hurrii 
 cane, in which he saw several of his men perish by the lightning, 
 he advanced from the island to the opposite bank. The Hydaspes, 
 swelled with the rain, by its violence and rapidity, made a breach 
 on that side, which received water enough to form a bay, so that 
 when he came to land, he found the bank extremely slippery, and 
 the ground broken and undermined by the current. On this occa- 
 sion he is said to have uttered that celebrated saying, " Will you 
 believe, my Athenian friends, what dangers I undergOj-to have you 
 the heralds of my fame ?" The last particular we have from Onesi- 
 critus : but Alexander himself only says, they quitted their boats, 
 and armed as they were, waded up the breach breast high ; and 
 that when they were landed, he advanced with the horse twenty 
 furlongs before the foot, concluding that if the enemy attacked him 
 with their cavalry, he should be greatly their superior, and that if 
 they made a movement with their infantry, his would come up 
 time enough to receive them. Nor did he judge amiss. The ene- 
 my detached against him a thousand horse and sixty armed cha- 
 riots, and he defeated them with ease. The chariots he took, apd 
 killed four hundred of the cavalry upon the spot. By this, Porus 
 understood that Alexander himself had passed the river, and there- 
 fore brought up his whole army, except what appeared necessary 
 to keep the rest of the Macedonians from making good their pas- 
 sage. Alexander, considering the force of the elephants, and the 
 enemy's superior numbers, did not choose to engage them in front, 
 but attacked the left wing himself, while Coenus, according to his 
 orders, fell upon the right. Both wings being broken, retired 
 to the elephants in the centre, and rallied there. The combat 
 then was of a more mixed kind ; but maintained with such ex- 
 traordinary obstinacy, that it was not decided till the eighth hour 
 of the day. 
 
 When Porus was taken prisoner, Alexander asked him, « How 
 he desired to be treated ?" He answered, " Like a king." "x\nd 
 have you nothing else to request ?" replied Alexaiider. " No," 
 said he, " every thing is comprehended in the word king." Alex- 
 ander not only restored him his own dominions immediately, which 
 he was to govern as his lieutenant, but added very extensive terri- 
 tories to them. Another country, three times as large, he gave to 
 Philip, one of his friends, who was also to act there as his lieuten- 
 ant. In the battle with Porus, Bucephalus received several wounds, 
 of which he died some time after. Alexander showed as much 
 regret, as if he had lost a faithful friend and companion. He es» 
 
 2t 28* 
 
390 ALEXANDER. 
 
 teemed him, indeed, at such ; and built a city near the Hydaupet, 
 io the place where he was buried, which he called nller him, Bu. 
 cepbalia. 
 
 The combat with Porus abated the apirit of the Macedoniaot, 
 and made them resolve to proceed no farther in India. It was 
 with difficulty they had defeated an enemy who brought only 
 twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse into the field ; and 
 therefore they opposed Alexander with great firiimess, when he 
 insisted that they should pass the Ganges,* which, they were in- 
 formed, was thirty-two furlongs in breadth, and in depth an hun- 
 dred fathom. The opposite shore too was covered with numbers 
 of squadrons, battalions, and elephants. For the kings of the Gan. 
 darites and Prtcsians were said to be waiting for them there, with 
 eighty thousand horse, two hundred thousand foot, eight thousand 
 chariots, and six thousand elephants trained to war. 
 
 Alexander's grief and indignation at this refusal were such, that 
 at first he shut himself up in his tent, and lay prostrate on the 
 ground, declaring '* that he did not thank the Macedonians in the 
 least for what they done, if they would not pass the Ganges ; for 
 he considered a retreat as no other than an acknowledgment that 
 he was overcome." His friends omitted nothing that might com- 
 fort him ; and at last their remonstrances, together with the cries 
 and tears of the soldiers, who were suppliants at his door, melted 
 him, aiul prevailed on him to return. However, he first contrived 
 many vain and sophistical things to serve the purposes of fame ; 
 among which were aims much bigger than his men could use, and 
 higher mangers, and heavier bits than his horses required, left scat- 
 tered up and down. 
 
 Alexander, in his march from thence, formed a design to see the 
 ocean ; for which purpose he caused a number of row-boats and 
 rails to be constructed, and upon them fell down the nvers at his 
 leisure. Nor was this navigation unattended with hostilities. He 
 made several descents by the way, and attacked the adjacent ci- 
 ties, which were all forced to submit to his victorious arms. How- 
 ever, he was very near beins cut ii^ pieces by the Malli, who are 
 called the most warlike people in India. He had driven some of 
 them from the wall with his niissive weapons, and was the first who 
 ascended it. But immediately at\er he was up, the scaling-ladder 
 broke. Finding himself and his small company much galled by 
 the darts of the barbarians from below, he poised himself, and leap- 
 ed down into the midst of the enemy. By good fortune he fell 
 upon his feet ; and the barbarians were so aatoDished at the flash- 
 ing of his arms as he came down, that they thought they beheld 
 lightning, or some supernatural splendour, lataing from bis body. 
 
 • The Gantet it the UrgMt of all ib« n?«rB in Um Umpss ooathMott, Um Indus tbs 
 
 "--' the Ni)« the third, and the Datiube the fomrtfa. 
 
ALEXAiSDER. 33] 
 
 At firet, therefore, they drew back and dispersed. But when they had 
 recollected themselves, and saw him attended by only two of his 
 guards, they attacked him hand to hand, and wounded him through 
 his armour with their swords and spears, notwithstanding the valour 
 with which he fought. One of them standing farther off, drew an ar- 
 row with such strength, that it made its way through his cuirass and 
 entered the ribs under the breast. Its force was so great, that he 
 gave back and was brought upon his knees, and the barbarian ran 
 up with his drawn scimetar to despatch him. Peucestas and Limnseus 
 placed themselves before him, but the one was wounded and the 
 other killed. Peucestas, who survived, was still making some re- 
 sistance, when Alexander recovered himself, and laid the barbai'ian 
 at his feet. The king, however, received new wounds, and at last 
 had such a blow from a bludgeon upon his neck, that he was forced 
 to support himself by the wall, and there stood with his face to the 
 enemy. The Macedonians, who by this time had got in, gathered 
 about him, and carried him off to his tent. 
 
 His senses were gone, and it was reported in the army that he 
 was dead. When they had, with great difficulty, sawed off the shaft, 
 which was of wood, and with equal trouble had taken off the cuirass, 
 they proceeded to extract the head, which was three fingers broad 
 and four long, and stuck fast in the bone. He fainted under the 
 operation, and was very near expiring ; but when the head was 
 got out, he came to himself. Yet, after the danger was over, he 
 continued weak, and a long time confined himself to a regular diet, 
 attending solely to the cure ot his wound The Macedonians could 
 not bear to be so long deprived of the sight of their king ; they assem- 
 bled in a tumultuous manner about his tent. When he perceived 
 this, he put on his robe, and made his appearance ; but as soon as 
 he had sacrificed to the gods, he retired again. As he was on his 
 way to the place of his destination, though carried in a litter by 
 the water side, he subdued a large tract of land, and many respect- 
 able cities. 
 
 In the course of this expedition, he took ten of the GymnosophistSy* 
 who had been principally concerned in instigating Sabbas to revolt^ 
 and had brought numberless other troubles upon the Macedonians. 
 As these ten were reckoned the most acute and concise in their an- 
 swers, he put the most difficult questions to them that could be 
 thought of, and at the same time declared, he would put the first 
 person that answered wrong to death, and after him all the rest. 
 The oldest man among them was to be judge. 
 
 f These philosophers, so called from their going naked, were divided into two lects, 
 the Brachmani and the Gertnani. The Brachmani were most esteemed, because 
 there was a consistency in their principles. Apnleiiis tells ns. that not only the scho- 
 lars,'but the younger pupils, were assembled about dinner time, and examined what 
 good they had done that day ; and such as could not point out some act of humanity, 
 or useful pursuit that they had been engaged in, were not allowed any dinner. 
 
332 ALEXAMDluR. 
 
 He demanded of the first, " Which were most numerous, the U. 
 ving or the dead ?" He answered, " The living ; for the dead no 
 longer exist."* 
 
 The second was asked, "Whether ihe earth or thes^a produced 
 the largest animals ?" He answered, '' The earth, for the sea is 
 part of it." 
 
 The third, " Which was the craAiest of all animals?"" That," 
 said he, "with which man is ndt yet acquainted. "f 
 
 The fourth, " What was his reason for persuading Sabbasto re- 
 volt ?" " Because," said he, " I wished him either to hve or die 
 with honour." 
 
 The fifth had this question put to him, " Which do you think 
 oldest, the day or the night ?" He answered, "The day, by one 
 day." As the king appeared surprised at this solution, the philo- 
 sopher told him, " Abstruse questions must have abstruse an- 
 swers." 
 
 Then addressing himself to the sixth, he demanded, " What are 
 the best means for a man to make himself loved ?" He answered, 
 "If possessed of great power, do not make yourself feared." 
 
 The seventh he asked, " How a man might become a god ?" 
 He answered, " By doing what is impossible for man to do. 
 
 The eighth, " Which is strongest, life or death ?" " Life," said 
 he, " because it bears so many evils." 
 
 The last question that he put was, " How long is it good (or 
 man to live V " As lon^," said the philosopher, " as he does not 
 prefer death to life." 
 
 Then turning to the judge, he ordered him to give sentence. 
 The old man said, " In my opinion, they have all answered one 
 worse than another." " If this is thy judgment," said Alexander, 
 " thou shalt die first." " No," replied the philosopher, " not ex- 
 cept you choose to break your word : for you declared the man 
 that answered worst should first sufiTcr." 
 
 The king loaded them with presents, and dismissed them. After 
 which he sent Onesicritus, a disciple of Diogenes, to the other In- 
 dian sages who were of most reputation, and lived a retired life, to 
 desire them to come to him. Onesicritus tells us, Calanus treated 
 liim with great insolence and harshness, bidding him to strip him- 
 self naked, if he desired to hear any of his doctrine ; " You should 
 not hear me on any other condition," said he, " though you came 
 from Jupiter himself." 
 
 Dandamis entered into no discourse with the messenger, but 
 only askod, " Why Alexander had taken so long a journey V* 
 Taxilcs prevailed with Calanus to go to Alexander. His truo 
 name was Sphines ; but because he addressed them with the word 
 
 * They did not bold in the inorulity, but the treeMiigraiion of the soul. 
 
 i This we suppose to mesn tneu hinitelf, as not being acquainted with himaalf. 
 
' ALEXAxNDER. 333 
 
 Cede, which is the Indian form of salutation, the Greek called him 
 Calanus. This philosopher presented Alexander with a good 
 image of his empire. He laid a dry and shrivelled hide before 
 him, anrd first trode upon the edges of it. This he did all round ; and 
 as he trode on one side, it started up on the other. At last, he fixed 
 his feet on the middle, and then it lay still. By this emblem he sliew- 
 ed him, that he should, fix his residence, and plant his principal 
 force, in the heart of his empire, and not wander to the extremities. 
 Alexander spent seven months in falling down the rivers to the 
 Ocean. When he arrived there, he embarked, and sailed to an 
 island which he called Scilloustis,*\but others call it Psiltoucis. 
 There he landed and sacrificed to the gods. He likewise con- 
 sidered tjhe nature of the sea and of the coast, as far as it was ac- 
 cessible. And after having besought Heaven, " That no man 
 might ever reach beyond the bounds of his expedition," he pre- 
 pared to set out on his way back. He appointed Nearchus admi- 
 ral, and Onesicritus chief pilot, and ordered his fleet to sail round, 
 keeping India on the right. With the rest of his forces he return- 
 ed by land, through the country of the Orites ; in which he was 
 reduced to such extremities, and lost such numbers of men, that 
 he did not bring back from India above a fourth part of the army 
 he entered it with, which was no less than a hundred and twenty 
 thousand foot, and fifteen thousand horse. After a march of sixty 
 days, he arrived at Gedrosia. There he found provisions in abun- 
 dance ; for besides that the land is fertile in itself, the neighbour- 
 ing princes and grandees supplied him. After he had given his 
 army some time to refresh themselves, he marched in Carmania 
 for seven days in a kind of Bacchanalian procession. His chariot, 
 which was very magnificent, was drawn by eight horses. Upon 
 it was placed a lofty platform, where he and his principal friends 
 revelled day and night. This carriage was followed by many 
 others, some covered with rich tapestry and purple hangings, and 
 others shaded with branches of trees, fresh gathered and flourish- 
 ing. In these were the rest of the king's friends and generals, 
 crowned with flowers, and exhilirated with wine. 
 
 In this whole company there was not to be seen a buckler, a 
 helmet, or spear ; but instead of them, cups, flagons, and gobldts. 
 These the soldiers dipped in huge vessels of wine, and drank to 
 each other, some as they marched along, and others seated at 
 tables, which were placed at proper distances on the way. The 
 whole country resounded with flutes, clarionets, and songs, and 
 with the dances and riotous frolics of the women. This disorder- 
 ly and dissolute march was closed, with all the licentious ribaldry 
 of the Bacchanals, as if Bacchus himself had been present to curry 
 on the debauch. 
 
 * Arrian here calls it Cilluta. Here they first observed the ebbing and flowing of 
 the sea, which surprised them not a little. 
 
3;M ALilXANDER. 
 
 Nearchut joined him again here, nud be was so much delif hted 
 with the account of hin voyage, that he formed a design to sail in 
 person from the Euphrates with a great fleet, circle ihe coast of 
 Arabia and Africa, and enter the Mediterranean by the Pillars of 
 Hercules. For this purpose he constructed, at Thapsacus, a num- 
 ber of vessels of all sorts, and collected mariners and pilots. But 
 the report of the diflicuhies he had met with in his Indian expcdi. 
 tion, and the supposition he would never return alive from the voy* 
 ngo he now meditated, excited his new subjects to revolt, and put 
 his generals and governors of provinces upon displaying their in* 
 justice, insolence, and avarice. In short, the whole empire was in 
 commotion, and ripe for rebellion. Olympias and Cleopatra, 
 leaguing against Antipater, had seized his hereditary dominions, 
 und divided them between them. Olympias took Epirus, and Cle- 
 opatra Macedonia. The tidings of which being brought to Alezan- 
 tier, he said, " His mother had considered right ; for (he Macedo- 
 nians would never bear to be governed by a woman." 
 
 In consequence of this unsettled state of things, he sent Nearchus 
 ugain to sea, having determined to carry the war into the maritime 
 provinces. Mean time he marched in person to chastise his lieu- 
 tenants for their misdemeanours. Oxyartes, one of the sons of Abu- 
 lites, he killed with his own hand, by a stroke of his javelin. Abu- 
 litcs had laid in no provisions for him ; he had only collected three 
 thousand talents in money. Upon his pre^nting this, Alexander 
 bade him ofler it to his horses ; and, as they did not touch it, he 
 feaid, " Of what use will this provision now be to me ?" and imme- 
 diately ordered Abulites to be taken into custody. 
 
 The first thing he did after he entered Persia, was to give mc 
 ncy to the matrons, according to the ancient custom of the kings, 
 who, upon their return to their Persian dominions, from any excur- 
 sion, used to give every woman a piece of gold. For this reason, 
 several of them, we are told, made it a rule to return but seldom ; 
 and Ochus never did : he banished himself to save his money. 
 Having found the tomb of Cyrus broke open, he put the author of 
 that sacniege to death, though a native of Pella, and a person of 
 some distinction. His name was Polymachus. After he had read 
 the epitaph, which was in the Persian language, he ordered it to be 
 inscribed alao in Greek. It was as follows : Oman! whotoeter 
 thou art, and whenccsoever thou earnest^ {for come J know thou wUt,) 
 I am CyruM, the fwrndtt of the Persian empire^ enty me mU'the lit- 
 tle earth that covert my body, Alexanders as much affected at 
 those words, which placed before him in so strong a light the un- 
 certainty and vicissitude of things. 
 
 When he arrived at Snsa, he married his friends to Persian la. 
 dies. He set them an example, by taking Stalira, the daughter of 
 Darius, to wife, and then distributed among his principal officers 
 
ALEXANDER. 335 
 
 the virgins of highest quality. As for those Macedonians who had 
 already married in Persia, he made a general entertainment in com. 
 memoration of their nuptials. It is said, that no less than nine thou- 
 sand guests sat down, and yet he presented each with a golden cup 
 for performing the libation. Every thing else was conducted with 
 the utmost magnificence ; he even paid off all their debts ; inso- 
 much that the whole expense amounted to nine thousand eight hun. 
 dred and seventy talents. 
 
 The thirty thousand boys, whom he left under proper masters, 
 were now grown so much, and made so handsome an appearance ; 
 and, what was of more importance, had gained such an activity and 
 address in their exercises, that he was greatly delighted with them. 
 But it was matter of uneasiness to the Macedonians; they were 
 apprehensive that the king would have less regard for them. There- 
 fore, when he gave the invalids their route to the sea, in order to 
 their return, the whole army considered it as an injurious and op- 
 pressive measure : " He has availed himself," said they, " beyond 
 all reason, of their services, and now he sends them back with dis- 
 grace, and turns them upon the hzuids of their country and their 
 parents, in very different condition from that in which he received 
 them. Why does he not dismiss us all ? Why does he not reckon 
 all the Macedonians incapable of service, now he has got this body 
 of young dancers ? Let him go with them and conquer the world?" 
 
 Alexander, incensed at this mutinous behaviour, loaded them 
 with reproaches ; and ^ordering them off, took Persians for his 
 guards, and filled up other offices with them. When they saw their 
 king with these new attendants, and themselves rejected and spurn, 
 ed with dishonour, they were greatly humbled. They lamented 
 their fate to each other, and were almost frantic with jealously and 
 anger. At last they repaired to the king's tent, without arms, in 
 one thin garment only ; and with tears and lamentations delivered 
 themselves up to his vengeance ; desiring he would treat them as 
 ungrateful men deserved. 
 
 He was softened with their complaints, but would not appear to 
 hearken to them. They stood two days and nights, bemoaning 
 themselves in this manner, and calling for their dear master. The 
 third day he came out to them ; and when he saw their forlorn con- 
 dition, he wept a long time. After a gentle rebuke for their mis- 
 behaviour, be condescended to converse with them in a freer mau- 
 ner ; and such as were unfit for service he sent home with magni- 
 ficent presents. At the same time, he signified his pleasure to An- 
 tipater, that at all public diversions they should have the most ho- 
 nourable seats in the theatres, and wear chaplets of flowers there : 
 and that the children of those who had lost their lives in his service, 
 should have their fathers' pay continued to them. 
 
 When he came to Ecbatana in Media, and had despatched the 
 
386 ALEXANDKJt 
 
 most urgent aflairs, he employed himself again in the celebration 
 of games and other public solenmities. But unfortunately Hephses- 
 Hon fell sick of a fever in the midst of this festivity, and died a few 
 days after. Alexander's grief on this occasion exceeded all bounds. 
 He immediately ordered the horses and mules to be shorn, that they 
 might have their share in the mourning, and with the same view 
 pulled down the battlements of the neighbouring cities. Glaucus, 
 Hephsestion's physician, he crucified. He forbade the flute and all 
 other niusic in his camp for a long time. He intended to lay out 
 ten thousand talents upon his tomb and the monumental ornaments, 
 which in workmanship, as well as design, should exceed the ex* 
 pense, great as it was. 
 
 As he was advancing towards Babylon, Nearchus, who was re- 
 turned from his expedition on the ocean, and come up the Euphrates, 
 declared he had been applied to by some Chaldseans, who were 
 strongly of opinion that Alexander should not enter Babylon. But 
 he slighted the warning and continued his march. Upon his ap- 
 proach to the walls, he saw a great number of crows fighting, some 
 of which fell down dead at his feet. Soon after this, bemg inform- 
 ed that Apollodorus, governor of Babylon, had sacrificed, in order 
 to consuh the gods concerning him, he sent for Pythagoras the di- 
 viner ; and, as he did not deny the fact, asked him how the entrails 
 of the victim appeared. Pythagoras answered, the liver was with- 
 out a head. " A terrible presage, indeed !'' said Alexander. He 
 lot Pythagoras go with itnpunity : but by this time he was sorry he 
 had not listened to Nearchus. He lived mostly in his pavilion 
 without the walls, and diverted himself with sailing up and down 
 the Euphrates. For there had happened several other ill omens 
 that much disturbed him. One of the largest and handsomest lions 
 that were kept in Babylon, was attacked and kicked to death by 
 an ass. One day he stripped for the refreshment of oil, and to 
 play at ball ; af\er the diversion was over, the young men who 
 played with him, going to fetch his clothes, beheld a man sitting in 
 profound silence on his throne, dressed in the royal robes, with the 
 diadem upon his head. They demanded who he was, and it was a 
 hns time before he would answer. At last, coming to himself, he 
 said, '' My name is Dionysius, and I am a native of Messene. Upon 
 a criminal process against me, I left the place and embarked for 
 Babylon. There I have been kept a long time in chains. But this 
 day the god Serapis appeared to me, and broke my chains ; after 
 which he conducted me hither, and ordered mc to put on this robe 
 and diadem, and sit here in silence." 
 
 After the man had thus explained himself, Alexander, by the ad- 
 vice of his soothsayers, put him to death. But the anguish of his 
 (nind increased : on one hand, he almost despaired of the succoura 
 of Heaven, and on the other distrusted his friends. He wat im)tt 
 
ALEXAWDER. 337 
 
 afraid of Anti pater and his sons; one of which, named lolaus,* 
 was his cupbearer ; the other, named Cassander, was lately arrived 
 from Macedonia ; and happening to see some barbarians prostrate 
 themselves before the king, like a man accustomed only to the Gre- 
 cian manners, and a stranger to such a sight, he burst out into a 
 loud laugh. Alexander enraged at the affront, seized him by the 
 hair, and with both hands dashed his head agamst the wall. Cas- 
 sander afterwards attempted to vindicate his father against his ac- 
 cusers : which greatly irritated the king. 
 
 When Alexander had once given himself up to superstition, his 
 mind was so preyed upon by vain fears and anxieties that he turn- 
 ed the least incident which was any thing strange and out of the 
 way, into a sign or a prodigy. The court swarmed with sacrificers, 
 purifiers, and prognosticators ; they were all to be seen exercising 
 their talents there. So true it is, that, though the disbelief of re* 
 ligion, and contempt of things divine, is a great evil ; yet supersti* 
 tion is a greater For as water gains upon low grounds, so super- 
 stition prevails over a dejected mind, and fills it with fear and folly. 
 This was entirely Alexander's case. However, upon the receipt 
 of some oracles concerning Hephaestion, he gave a truce to his 
 sorrows, and employed himself in festive sacrifices and entertain- 
 ments. 
 
 One day, after he had given Nearchus a sumptuous treat, he 
 went, according to custom, to refresh himself in the bath, in order 
 to retire to rest. But in the mean time Medius came and invited 
 him to take part in a carousal, and he could not deny him. There 
 he drank all that night and the next day, till at last he found a fe- 
 ver coming upon him. It did not however seize him as he was 
 drinking the cup of Hercules, nor did he find a sudden pain in his 
 back, as if it had been pierced with a spear. These are circum- 
 stances invented by writers, who thought the catastrophe of so no- 
 ble a tragedy should be something affecting and extraordinary. 
 Aristobulus tells us, that in the rage of his fever, and the violence 
 of his thirst, he took a draught of wine, which threw him into a 
 frenzy, and that he died the thirteenth of the month DcBsius, June. 
 
 B'lt in his journals the account of his sickness is as follows : 
 " On the eighteenth of the month Daesius, finding the fever on him, 
 he lay in his bath-room. The next day, after he had bathed, he 
 removed into his own chamber and played many hours with Medi- 
 us at dice. In the evening he bathed again, arid after sacrificing 
 to the gods, he ate his supper. In the night the fever returned. 
 The twentieth he also bathed, and, after the customary sacrifice, 
 pat in the bath-room and diverted himself with hearing Nearchus 
 give an account of his voyage, and all that was most observable 
 with respect to the ocean. The twenty-first was spent in the same 
 » Arrian and Cuitius call him loUas. Plutarch calls him lolas below. 
 
 2jj 29 
 
388 ALEXANDER. 
 
 manner. The fever increased, and he bad a very bad night. 'Hie 
 twcnty-second the fever was violent. He ordered his bed to be 
 removed and placed by the great bath. There he talked to his 
 generals about the vacancies m his army, and desired they might 
 be filled up %vith experienced officers. The twenty.fourth he was 
 much worse. He chose, however, to be carried, to assist at the 
 sacrifice. He likewise gave orders that the principal officers of 
 the army should wait within the court, and the oflicers keep watch 
 all night without. The twenty.fiflh, he was removed to his palace 
 on the other side of the river, where he slept a little, but the fever 
 did not abate ; and when his generals entered the room he was 
 speechless. He continued so the day following. The Macedon- 
 ians by this time thinking he was dead, came to the gates with 
 great clamour, and threatened the great officers in such a manner 
 that (hey were forced to admit them, and suffer them all to pass 
 unarmed by the bedside. The twenty .seventh. Python and Seleu- 
 cus were sent to the temple of Serapis, to inquire whether 
 they should carry Alexander thither ; and the deity ordered that 
 they should not remove him. The twenty .eighth, in the evening, 
 he died." The particulars are taken almost word for word from 
 his diary. 
 
 Roxana was now pregnant, and therefore had great attention 
 paid her by the Macedonians. But being extremely jealous of 
 Statira, she murdered both her and her sister, and threw their bo- 
 dies into a well, which she filled up with earth. Perdiccas was 
 her accomplice in this murder. Indeed, he had now the principal 
 power, which he exercised in the name of Aridsus, the son of 
 Philip, whom he treated rather as a screen than as a king. 
 
339 
 
 JULIUS CiESAR. 
 
 Flourished 40 years before Christ, 
 
 WHEN Sylla had made himself master of Rome, he enaeavour- 
 ed to bring Csesar to repudiate Cornelia, daughter to Cinna, one 
 of the late tyrants, and finding he could not effect it either by hopes 
 or fears, he confiscated her dowry. 
 
 Indeed, Caesar, as a relation to Marius, was naturally an enemy 
 to Sylla. Old Marius had married Julia, Caesar's aunt, and there- 
 fore young Marius, the son he had by her, was Caesar's cousin- 
 german. At first, Sylla, amidst the vast number of proscriptions 
 that engaged his attention, overlooked this enemy. The dicta- 
 tor afterwards thought of having him taken off.; and when some 
 said there was no need to put such a boy to death, he answered — 
 "Their sagacity was small, if they did not, in that, boy, see many 
 Mariuses." • * 
 
 This saying being reported to Csesar, he concealed himself a 
 long time, wandering up and down in the country of the Sabines. 
 At last, he escaped by sea, and sailed to Bithynia, where he sought 
 protection of Nicomedes, the king. His stay with him, however, 
 was not long. He re-embarked, and was taken, near the isle 
 of Pharmacusa, by pirates, who were masters of that sea, and 
 blocked up all the passages with a number of galleys and other 
 vessels. They asked him only twenty talents for his ran- 
 som. He laughed at their demand, as the consequence of their 
 not knowing him, and promised them fifty talents. To raise the 
 money, he despatched his people to diffetent cities, and in the 
 mean time, remained, with only one friend and two attendants, 
 among these Cilicians, who considered murder as a trifle. Caesar, 
 however, held them in great contempt, and used to send, whenev- 
 er he went to sleep, and order them to keep silence. Thus he 
 lived among them thirty-eight days, as if they had been his guards 
 rather than his keepers. Perfectly fearless and secure, he joined 
 in their diversions, and took his exercises among them. He wrote 
 poems and orations, and rehearsed them to these pirates : and when 
 they expressed no admiratio/n, he called them dunces and barbari. 
 ans. Nay, he often threatened to crucify them. They were de- 
 lighted with these freedoms, which they imputed to his frank and 
 facetious vein. But as soon as the money was brought from Mi. 
 letus, and he had recovered his liberty, he manned some vessels in 
 the port of Miletus, in order to attack these corsairs. He found 
 them still lying at anchor by the island, took most of them, togeth. 
 
340 JULH;SC^SAR , 
 
 er with the money, and imprisoned them at Pergamus. After 
 which he applied to Junius, who then commanded in Asia, because 
 to him, as prsetor, it belonged to punish them. Junius, having ao 
 eye upon the money, which was a conKiderable sum, demur, 
 red about the matter; and Caesar, perceivmg his* intention, re. 
 turned to Pergamus, and crucified all the prisoners ; as he had 
 often threatened to do at Pharmacusa, when they took him to bo 
 in jest. 
 
 When the power of Sylla came to be upon the decline, Cecsar's 
 friends pressed him to return to Rome. But first he went to 
 Rhodes to study under Apollouius, the son of Molo,* who taught 
 rhetoric there with great reputation, and was a man of irreproach. 
 able manners. Cicero also was one of his scholars. C«saria 
 said to have had happy talents from nature (or a public speaker, 
 and he did not want an ambition to cultivate them : so that un- 
 doubtedly he was the second orator in Rome ; and he might have 
 been the first, had he not rather chosen pre-eminence in arms. 
 
 Indeed, the eloquence he showed at Rome in defending persons 
 impeached^ gained him considerable interest, and his engaging 
 address and conversation carried the hearts of the people. For he 
 had a condescension not to be expected from so young a man. At 
 the same time, the magnificence of his expense, gradually increased 
 his power, and brought him into the administration. Those who en. 
 vied him imagined that his resources would soon fail, and there- 
 fore, at first, made light of his popularity, considerable as it was. 
 But when it was grown to such a height that it was scarce possi- 
 ble to demolish it, and had a plain tendency to ruin the constitu- 
 tion, they found out, when it was too late, that no beginnings of 
 things, however small, are to be neglected ; because continu- 
 ance makes them great ; and the very contempt they are held in, 
 gives them opportunity to gain that strength which cannot be re 
 sisted. 
 
 Cicero seems to be the first who suspected something formida- 
 bic from the flattering calm of Coesar's political conduct, and saw 
 deep and dangerous designs under the smiles of his benignity. **I 
 perceive," said the orator, **an inclination for tyranny in all he 
 projects and executes ; but, on the other hand, when I see bim 
 adjusting his hair with so much exactness, and scratching his head 
 with one finger, I can hardly think that such a man can conceive 
 so vast and so fatal a design as the destruction of the Roman com- 
 monwealth." 
 
 The first proof he had of the affection of tbe people, was when 
 he obtained a tribuneship in the armv, before bis cuinpetitor, Cai. 
 us Popiliuf. The second was more remarkable : it was on oc- 
 
 * It should tw Apollfltplus Molo, not Apolloniiii the lOo of Mola Accordin| to 
 guetoniut, Cbmi had studied nnder him tt Rome belorathit •dventiire ofttM pirttM. 
 
JULIUS C^SAR. 341 
 
 casion of his pronouncing from the rostrum the funeral oration of 
 his aunt Juha, the wife of Marius, in which he failed not to do 
 justice to her virtue. At the same time, he had tho hardiness to 
 produce the image of Marius, which had not been seen before du- 
 ring Sylla's administration ; Marius and all his adherents having 
 been declared enemies to the state. Upon this, some began to 
 raise a clamour against Caesar ; but they were soon silenced by 
 the acclamatioiis and plaudits of the people, expressing their admi- 
 ration of his courage in bringing the honours of Marius again to 
 light, after so long a suppression, and raising them, as it were, 
 from the shades below. 
 
 It had long been the custom in Rome, for the aged women to 
 have funeral panegyrics, but not the young. Caesar first broke 
 through it, by pronouncing one for his own wife, who died in her 
 prime. This contributed to fix him in the affections of the people : 
 they sympathized with him, and considered him as a man of great 
 good-nature, and one who had the social duties at heart. 
 
 After the funeral of his wife, he went out quaestor into Spain, 
 with Antistius Voter, the praetor, whom he honoured all his life 
 after ; and when he came to be praetor himself^ he acknowledged 
 the favour by taking Veter's son for his quaestor. When that 
 commission was expired, he took Pompeia to his third wife ; hav- 
 ing a daughter by his first wife Cornelia, whom he afterwards mar- 
 ried to Pompey the Great. 
 
 Many people who observed his prodigious expense, thought he 
 was purchasing a short and transient honour very dear; but, in* 
 fact, he was gaining the greatest things he could aspire to, at a 
 small price. He is said to have been a thousand three hundred 
 talents in debt before he got any public employment. 
 
 When he had the superintendence of the Appian Road, he laid 
 out a great deal of his own money ; and when aedile he not on!y 
 exhibited three hundred and twenty pair of gladiators, but in the 
 other diversions of the theatre, in the processions and public tables, 
 he far outshone the most ambitious that had gone before him. 
 These things attached the people to him so strongly, that every 
 one sought for new honours and employments, to recompense bis 
 generosity. 
 
 There were two factions in the state ; that of Sylla, which was 
 the strongest, and that of Marius, which was in a broken and low 
 condition. Caesar's study was to raise and revive the latter. In 
 pursuance of which intention, when his exhibitions, as aedile, were 
 in the highest reputation, he caused new images of Marius to be 
 privately made, together with a representation of his victories 
 adorned with trophies, and one night placed them in the capitol. 
 Some exclaimed, that Caesar plainly afiected the tyranny, by open- 
 ly producing those honours which the laws had condemned to dark- 
 29* 
 
343 JULIUS CJESAlt 
 
 nesfl and oblivion. On the other hand, the partisans of Marine, en- 
 couraging t^nch other, ran to the capitot in vast numbers, and made 
 it echo with their plaudits. The senate was assembled on the oc. 
 casion, and Lutatius Catulus, a man of the greatest reputation in 
 Rome, rose and accused Ciesar. CsBsar, however, defended his 
 cause so well, that the senate decided in his favour. 
 
 About this time died Metellus, the principal pontiff. " The office 
 was solicited by Isauricus and Catulus, two of the most illustrious 
 men in Rome, and of the greatest interest in the senate. Never- 
 theless, Caesar did not give place to them, but presented himself to 
 the people as a candidate. The pretensions and prospects of the 
 competitors seemed almost equal, and Catulus, more uneasy than 
 the others under the uncertainty of success, on account df his su- 
 perior dignity, sent privately to Caesar, and offered him large sums, 
 on condition that he would desist from his high pursuit. But he 
 answered, " He would rather borrow larger sums to carry his elec- 
 tion." 
 
 When the day of election came, Caesar's mother attending him 
 to the door, with her eyes bathed in tears, he embraced her and 
 said, " My dear mother, you will see me this day either chief pon- 
 tiff* or an exile." There never was any thing more strongly con- 
 tested ; the" suffrages, however, gave it for Caesar. The senate, 
 and others of the principal citizens, were greatly alarmed at this 
 success ; they apprehended that he would now push the people into 
 all manner of licentiousness and misrule. Therefore, Piso and Ca- 
 tulus blamed'Cicero much for sparing Ciesar, when Catiline's con- 
 spiracy gave him an opportunity to take him off*. 
 
 When Cicero, as consul, took the sense of the senators as to the 
 punishment that should be inflicted upon the conspirators ; they all 
 voted for death, till it came to Caesar's turn, who represented, 
 " That it seemed neither agreeable to justice, nor to the customs of 
 their country, to put men of their birth and dignity to death, with- 
 out an open triaV, except in cases of extreme necessity. But that 
 they should rather be kept in prison, m any of the cities of Italy 
 that Cicero might pitch upon, till Catiline was subdued; and then 
 the senate might take cognizance of the crimes of each conspira. 
 tor in full peace, and at their leisure." As there appeared some- 
 thing humane in this opinion, and it was powerfully enforced by the 
 orator, those who gave their voices atlerwards, and even many who 
 had declared for the other side of the question, came into it. But 
 (*ato and Catulus curried it for death. Cato, in a severe speech 
 against the opinion of Caesar, scrupled not to declare his suspicions 
 oi' him ; and this, with other arguments, had so much weight, that 
 the conspirators were delivered to the executioner. 
 
 Cato, fearing an insurrection of the indigent populace, who were 
 foremost in all seditions, and who had fixedtheir hopes npon Cettr, 
 
f 
 
 JULIUS C^SAR. 343 
 
 persuaded the senate to order a distribution df bread-corn among 
 them every mcfnth. This expedient certainly obviated the present 
 danger, by seasonably reducing the power of Caesar, who was now 
 praetor elect, and more formidable on that account. Caesar's prae- 
 torship, however, was not productive of any trouble to the common- 
 wealth ; and the government of Spain was allotted him after its ter- 
 mination. But his circumstances were so indifferent, and his credi- 
 tors so clamorous and troublesome when he was preparing for his de- 
 parture> that he was forced to apply to Crassus, the richest man in 
 Rome, who stood in need of Caesar's warmth and vigour to keep up 
 the balance against Pompey. Crassus, therefore, took upon him 
 to answer the most inexorable of his creditors, and engaged for 
 eight hundred and thirty talents ; which procured him liberty to set 
 out for his province. 
 
 It is said, that when he came to a little town, in passing the Alps, 
 his friends, by way of mirth, took occasion to say, " Can there here 
 be any disputes for offices, any contentions for precedency^ or such 
 envy and ambition as we see among the great ?" To which Caesar 
 answered, with great seriousness, " I assure you, I had rather be 
 the first man here, than the second man in Rome." 
 
 In like manner we are told, that when he was in Spain, he be- 
 stowed some leisure hours on reading part of the history of Alex- 
 ander, and was so much affected with it, that he sat pensive a long 
 time, and at last burst into tears. ' As his friends were wondering 
 what might be the reason, he said, " Do you think I have not suf- 
 ficient cause for concern, when Alexander, at nay age, reigned over 
 so many conquered countries, and I have not one glorious achieve- 
 ment to boast ?" 
 
 From this principle it was, that immediately upon his arrival in 
 Spain, he applied to business with great diligence, and having ad. 
 ded ten new-raised cohorts to the twenty he received there, he 
 marched against the Callaecians and Lusitanians, defeated them, 
 and penetrated to the ocean, reducing nations by the way that had 
 not felt the Roman yoke. His conduct in peace was not inferior to 
 that in war;, he restored harmony among the cities, and removed 
 the occasions of quarrel between debtors and creditors ; for he or- 
 dered that the creditor should have two-thirds of the debtor's in- 
 come, and the debtor the remaining third, till the whole was paid. By 
 these means he left the province with great reputation, though he 
 had filled his own coffers, and enriched his soldiers with booty, who 
 upon one of his victories, saluted him Imperator, 
 
 At his return to Rome, he found himself under a troublesome di- 
 lemma ; those who solicit a triumph being obliged to remain with- 
 out the walls, and such as sue for the consulship, to make their per- 
 sonal appearance in Rome. Caesar determined to give up the tri- 
 umph, and solicit the consulship. 
 
344 JULIUS CESAR. 
 
 Ai tooo as ho haid entered the city, he went to work upon an 
 expedient which deceived all the world except Cato. It was the 
 recoDCiling of Pompey and Crasaus, two of the most powerful men 
 in Rome. By making iheni friends, Csrsar secured the interest of 
 both to himself; and while he seemed to be only doing an ofiice of 
 humanity, he was undermining the constitution. For it was not 
 the disagreement between Cssar and Pompey that produced the 
 civil wars, but r|ither their union ; they first combined to niin the 
 authority of the senate, and when that was efiected, they parted to 
 pursue each his own designs. 
 
 Caesar walked to the place of election between Crassus and Pom* 
 pey ; and, under the auspices of their friendship, was declared con* 
 sul, with distinguished honour^ having Calpurnius Bibulus given him 
 for his colleague. He had no sooner entered upon his office, than 
 he proposed laws not so suitable to a consul, as to a seditious tri* 
 bune ; I mean the bills for a division of lands and a distribution of 
 com, which were entirely calculated to please the plebeians. At 
 the virtuous and patriotic part of the senate opposed them, he was 
 furnished with the pretext he had long wanted : he protested, with 
 great warmth, " That they threw him into the arms of the people 
 against his will, and that the rigorous and disgraceful opposition of 
 the senate, laid him under the disagreeable necessity of seeking 
 protection from the commons." Accordingly he did immediately 
 apply to them. 
 
 Caesar was willing to avail himself still farther of Pofnpey's inte* 
 rest. His daughter Julia was betrothed to Servilius Csepio : but) 
 notwithstanding that engagement, he gave her to Pompey : and 
 told Servilius he should have Pompey*s daughter, whose hand was 
 not properly at liberty, for she was promised to Faustus, the son of 
 Sylla. Soon after this, Caesar married Calpumia, the daughter of 
 Piso, and procured the consulship for Piso for the year ensuing. 
 Meanwhile Cato exclaimed loudly against these proceedings, and 
 called both gods and men to witness, how insupportable it was, that 
 the first dignities of the state should be prostituted by marriagee, 
 and that this traffic of women should gain them what governments 
 and forces they pleased. As for Bibulus, C»sar*s colleague, when 
 he found his opposition to their new laws entirely unsuccessful, and 
 that bis life, os well as Cato's, was oflen endangered in the public 
 assemblies, he shut himself up in his own house daring the remain* 
 der of the year. 
 
 Immediately after this marriage, Pompey filled the Fontm with 
 armed men, and got the laws enacted, which Cvear had propoeed 
 merely to ingratiate himself with the people. At the same thne, 
 the govemmeDi of Gaul, both on this ^nd the other side the Alpf, 
 was deoreed to Ccssar for five years ; to which was added lUyri- 
 cum, with four legions. 
 
JULIUS CfiSAR. 346 
 
 The most disgraceful step that Caesar took iii his whole consul- 
 ship, was the getting Clodius elected tribune of the people ; the 
 same who had attempted to dishonour his bed, and had profaned 
 the mysterious rites of the Good Goddess. He pitched upon him 
 to ruin Cicero ; nor would he set out for his government, before 
 he had embroiled them, and procured Cicero's banishment. For 
 all these transactions preceded his wars in Gaul. The wars he 
 conducted there, and the many glorious campaigns in which he re- 
 duced that country, represent him as another m.an ; we begin, as 
 it were, with a new life, and have to follow him in a quite different 
 track. As a warrior and a general, we behold him not in the least 
 inferior to the greatest and most admired commanders the world 
 ever produced. For whether we compare him with the Fabii, the 
 Scipios and Metelli, with the generals of his own time, or those 
 who flourished a little before him, with Sylla, Marius, the two Lu- 
 culli, or with Pompey himself, whose fame, in every raiUtary ex- 
 cellence, reached the skies, Caesar's achievements bear away the 
 palm. One he surpassed in the difficulty of the scene of action, 
 another in the extent of the countries he subdued ; this, in the num- 
 ber and strength of the enemies he overcame ; that, in the savage 
 manners and treacherous disposition of the people he humanized ; 
 one, in mildness and clemency to his prisoners; another, in bounty 
 and munificence to his trodps ; and all, in the number of battles 
 that he won, and enemies that he killed. For in less than ten 
 years' war in Gaul^ he took eight hundred cities by assault, con- 
 quered three hundred nations, and fought pitched battles at dif- 
 ferent times, with three millions of men, one million of which he cut 
 in pieces, and made another million prisoners. 
 
 Such, moreover, was the affection of his soldiers, and their at- 
 tachment to his person, that they who, under other commanders, 
 were nothing above the common rate of men, became invincible 
 where Caesar's glory was concerned, and met the most dreadful 
 dangers with a courage that nothing could resist. 
 
 This courage, and this great ambition, were cultivated and cher- 
 ished, in the first place, by the generous manner in which Caesar 
 rewarded his troops, and the honours which he paid them. His 
 whole conduct showed, that he did not accumulate riches, to minis- 
 ter to luxury, or to serve any pleasures of his own, but that he 
 laid them up in a common bank, as prizes, to be obtained by dis- 
 tinguished valour, and that he considered himself no farther rich, 
 than as he was in a condition to do justice to the merit of his sol- 
 diers. Another thing that contributed to make them invincible, 
 was their seeing Caesar always take his share in danger, and ne- 
 ver desire any exemption from labour and fatigue. 
 
 As for his exposing his person to danger, they were not sun 
 
346 JULIUS C.&SAIL 
 
 prised at it, because (hey knew his passion for glory ; but (hey 
 they were astonished at his patience under (oil, so far, in all ap- 
 pearance, above his bodily powers. For he was of a slender make, 
 lair, of a delicate constitution, and subject to violent headaches and 
 epileptic fits. He had the first attack of the falling sickness at 
 , Corduba. He did not, however, make these disorders a pretence 
 for indulging himself. On the contrary, he sought m war a reme- 
 dy for his infirmities, endeavouring to strengthen hi>^ constitution 
 by long marches, by simple diet, by seldom comui^ under cover. 
 Thus he contended with his distemper, and fortified iiimself against 
 its attacks. 
 
 When he slept, it was commonly, upon a march, either in a 
 chariot or a litter, that rest might be no hinderance to business. In 
 the day-time he visited the castles, cities, and fortified camps, with 
 a servant at his side, whom he employed, on such occasions, to 
 write for him, and with a soldier behind who carried his sword. 
 By these means be travelled so fast, and with so little interruption, 
 as to reach the Rhone in eight days ader his first setting out for 
 those parts from Rome. 
 
 •Of his indiflference, with respect to diet, they eive us this re- 
 xnarkable proof. Happening to sup with Valerius Leo, a friend of 
 his, at Milan, there was sweet ointment poured upon the aspara- 
 gus, instead of oil. Caesar ate of it freely notwithstanding, and 
 afierwards rebuked his friends for expressing their dislike of it. 
 '*It was enough," said he, *' to forbear eating, if it was di&agreea- 
 < ble to vou. He who finds fault with any rusticity, is himself a 
 rustic.^* 
 
 One day, as he was upon an excursion, a violent storm forced 
 him to seek shelter in a poor man's hut, where there was only one 
 room, and that scarce big enough for a man to sleep in. Turn- 
 ing, therefore, to his friends, he said, " Honours for the great, and 
 necessaries for the infirm," and immediately gave up the room to 
 Oppius, while himself and the rest of the company slept under a 
 shed at the door. 
 
 His first expedition in Gaul was against the Helvetians and the 
 Tigurini : who, ai\er having burnt twelve of their own towns, and 
 four hundred villages, put themselves under march, in order to 
 penetrate into Italy, through that part of Gaul which was subject 
 to the Romans, as the Cambri and Teutones would have done be- 
 fore them. The Helvetians suddenly attacked Caesar, as he was 
 upon the march to a confederate town. 
 
 It cost him a long and severe conflict to drive their army out of 
 the field ; but he found the greatest difficulty when he came to their 
 rampart of carriages : for not only the men made a most obstinate 
 stand there, but the very women and children fought till they were 
 cut in pieces. 
 
JULIUS CESAR. 347 
 
 To this great action he added a greater. He collected the bar- 
 bariahs who had escaped out of the battle, to the number of a 
 hundred thousand, and upwards, and obliged them to re-settle the 
 country they had relinquished, and to rebuild the cities they had 
 burnt. 
 
 His second war was in defence of the Gauls against the Ger- 
 mans, whom he pursued to the Rhine. The king of the Germans 
 reached the river time enough to get over with a few troops. The 
 number of killed is said to have amounted to eighty thousand. 
 
 After he had thus terminated the war, he left his army in winter 
 quarters in the country of the Sequani, and repaired to Gaul on 
 this side the Po, whifch was part of his province, in order to have 
 an eye upon the transactions in Rome. During his stay there, he 
 carried on a variety of state intrigues. Great numbers came from 
 Rome to pay their respects to him, and he sent them all away 
 satisfied ; some laden with presents, and others happy in hope. In 
 the same manner throughout all his wars, without Pompey's obser- [, _.^ 
 ving it, he was conquering his enemies by the arms of the Roman J " ^ 
 citizens, and gaining the citizens by the money of his enemies, v 
 
 As soon as he had intelligence that the BelgaB, who were the 
 most powerful people in Gaul, and whose territories made up a 
 third part of the whole country, had revolted and assembled a great 
 army, he marched to that quarter with incredible expedition, and 
 killed such numbers, that lakes and rivers were filled with the dead, 
 and bridges were formed of their bodies. 
 
 From thence he led his army against the Nervii, who live among 
 thick woods. After they had secured their families and mostvalu- 
 able goods, in the best manner they could, in the heart of a large 
 forest, at a great distance from the enemy, they marched, to the 
 number of sixty thousand, and fell upon Caesar, as he was fortifying 
 his camp, and had not the least notion of so sudden an attack.* 
 They first routed his cavalry, and then surrounded the twelfth and 
 seventh legions, and killed all the officers. Had not Caesar snatched 
 a buckler from one of his own men, forced his way through the 
 
 * As this attack was unexpected, Csesar bad, in a manner, every thing to do at the 
 same instant. The banner was to be erected, the charge sounded, the soldiers at a 
 distance recalled, tne army drawn up, and the signal given. In this surprise be ran 
 from place to place, exhorting his men lo attend to theii former valour; an<^ having 
 drawn them up m the best manner he could, caused the signal to be given- The legion- 
 aries made a vigorous resistance; but as the enemy seenricd deiemnned either to 
 conquer or die, the success was different in difTerent places. In the left wing :he ninth 
 and the tenth leg'ons did wonders, drove the Atrebates into a neighbouring river, and 
 made a great slaughter of them. In another place, the eighth end eleventh legions 
 repulsed the Vermandui, and drove them before them. But in the right wing, the 
 seventh and twelfth legions suffered extremely. They were (?ntirely surrounded by the 
 Nervii, all the centurions of tiie fourth cohort hemg slain, and most of the other oflS- 
 oers wounded. In this extremity, Cxsar snatched a buckler from one of the private 
 men, put himself at the head of his broken wing, snd being joined by the two legions 
 which he had left to guard the baggage, fell upon the Nervii, already fatigued, with 
 fresh vigour, and made a dreadful havock of tbem. 
 
348 Jt'UUS C£:!iAR. 
 
 combatants before bim, and ruahed upon the barbarians ; or had 
 not the tenth legion, seeing bis danger, run fro^n the heights nhere 
 they were posted, and mowed down tlie enemies' ranks, in att pro- 
 bability not one Roman would have survivjed the battle. But though, 
 encouraged by this bold act of Caesar, they fought with a spirit 
 above, tbeir strength, they were not able to make the Nervii tarn 
 their backs. Those brave men maintained their ground, and were 
 hewed to pieces on the spot. It is said, tbat out of sixty thousand 
 not above Ave hundred were saved, and. out of four hundred Ner- 
 vian senators not above three. 
 
 Upon the news of this great victory, the senate of Rome decreed 
 that sacrifices should be offered, and all manner of festivities kept 
 up, for fifteen days together, which was n longer term of rejoicing 
 than had ever been known before. Indeed the danger appeared 
 very great, on account of so many nutions rising ut once ; and 
 aa CKsar was the man who surmounted it, the aflfection the 
 people had for him made the rejoicing more brilliant. AOer he 
 had settled the affairs of Gaul, on the other side of the Alps, he 
 crossed them again, and wintered near the Po, in order to n>ain. 
 tain his interest in Rome ; where the candidates for the great ofH- 
 oes of state were snpplied with money out of his funds to corrupt 
 the people, and, afler they had carried their election, did every 
 thing to extend his power. 
 
 CaDsar, at his return to his army in Gaul, found another furious 
 war lighted up in the country ; the Usipetes and the Teuchteri, 
 two great German nations, having crossed the Rhine to make con- 
 qoMta. Of the invaders four hundred thousand were killed. The 
 few wha escaped, repassed the river, and were sheltered by a pec 
 pie of Germany called Sicambri. Cesar laid hold on this pretence 
 against that people, but his motive was an avidity of fame, to be 
 the first Roman that ever crossed the Rhine in an hostile manner. 
 In pursuance of his design, be threw a bridge over it. Having 
 laid waste the enemy's country with fire, and confirmed the 
 better-disposed Gennans in the interest of Rome, he returned 
 into GauL 
 
 AOer conquering Gaul, he undertook an expedition into Britain, 
 which discovered the most daring spirit of enterprise : for he was 
 the first who entered the Western Ocean with a fleet, and embark- 
 ing his troops on the Atlantic, carried war into an island whoae 
 very existence had been doubted. Some writers had repreeented 
 it so incredibly large, that others contested its being, and considered 
 both the name and the thing as a fiction. Yet Csaar attempted to 
 conquer it, and to extend the Roman empire beyond the bounds of 
 the habitable world. He sailed thither twice from the oppoeita 
 coast in Gaul, and fought many battles, by which the Britona m»t» 
 (bred troro than the Romans gained ; for there waa nothing worth 
 
JULIUS C^SAR. 349 
 
 taking from a people who were so poor, and lived in so much wretch- 
 edness.* He did not, however, terminate the war in the manner he 
 could have wished : he only received hostages of the king, and ap- 
 pointed the tribute the island was to pay^ and then returned to Gaul. 
 
 There he received letters, by which his friends in Rome in- 
 formed him of the death of his daughter, the wife of Pompey. 
 This was a great affliction both to Pompey and Caesar. Their 
 friends, too, were very sensibly concerned to feee that alliance dis- 
 solved which kept up the peace and harmony 6f the state, other- 
 wise in a very unsettled condition. The people took the body of 
 Julia, and carried it, notwithstanding the prohibition of the tribunes, 
 to the Campus Martius, where it was interred. 
 
 As Caesar's army was now very large,f he was forced to divide 
 it for the convenience of winter quarters ; after which he took the 
 road to Italy according to custom. But he had not been long gone, 
 before the Gauls rising again, traversed the country with consider, 
 able armies, fell upon the Roman quarters with great fury, and 
 insulted their intrenchments. The most numerous and the strong- 
 est body of the insurgents was under Ambiroix, who attacked Cotia 
 and Titurius in their camp, and cut them off with their whole party. 
 After which he besieged the legion under the command of Q. Ci- 
 cero, with sixty thousand men : and though the spirit of those brave 
 Romans made a resistance above their strength, they were very 
 near being taken, for they were all wounded. 
 
 Caesar, who was at a great distance, at last getting intelligence of 
 their danger, returned with -all expedition; and havmg collected a 
 body of men, which did not exceed seven thousand, hastened tb the 
 relief of Cicero. The Gauls, who were not ignorant of his motions, 
 raised the siege, and went to meet him ; for they despised the 
 smallness of his forccj and were confident of victory. Caesar, to 
 deceive them, made a feint as if he fled, till he came to a place 
 convenient for a small army to engage a great one, and there he 
 fortified his camp. He gave his men strict orders not to fight, but 
 to throw up a strong rampart, and to barricade their gates in the 
 securest manner ; contriving by all these manoeuvres to increase 
 the enemy's contempt of him. It succeeded as he wished ; the 
 Gauls came up with great insolence and disorder to attack his 
 trenches. Then Cassar making a sudden sally, defeated and de- 
 stroyed the greatest part of them. This success laid the spirit of 
 revolt in those parts ; and for farther security he remained all the 
 
 * It does not appear that there was much corn in Britain in Caesar's time ; for the 
 inhabitants, he says, lived chiefly on milk and flesh : Lactett came vivunt. 
 
 f This army consisted of eight legions, and as there was almost a famine in the 
 country, the consequence of excessive drought, Caesar was obliged to separate his 
 troops for their better subsistence. He was, therefore, under the necessitv of fixtng 
 the quarters at such a distance, which would otherwise have been impolitic. He tells 
 us, (lib V ) that ail the legions, except one, which was in a quiet country, were posted 
 within the compass of a hundred miles. 
 
 30 
 
3S0 JULIUS c^sar 
 
 winter in Gaul, visiting all the quarters, and keeping a sharp eyv 
 upon every motion towards war. Besides, he received a reinforce- 
 inent of three legions io the room of those be had lost ; two of 
 which were lent him by Pompey, and one lately raised in Cisalpine 
 Gaul. 
 
 After this, the seeds of hostilities, which had long before been 
 privately scattered m the more distant parts of the country by the 
 chiefs of the more warlike nations, shot up into one of the greatest 
 and most dangerous wars that was ever seen in Gaul. It was then 
 the most severe season in the year ; the rivers were covered with 
 ice, the forests with snow, and the fields overflowed : the roads 
 lay concealed in snow or in floods disembogued by the lakes and 
 rivers ; so that it seemed impossible for Cssar to march, or to pur- 
 sue any other operations against them. 
 
 The chief direction of the war was given to Vercingetorix, whose 
 father the Gauls had put to death, for attempting at monarchy. 
 Vercingetorix having divided his forces into several parts, and 
 given them in charge to his lieutenants, had the country at com- 
 mand as far as the Arar. His intention was to raiee all Chuil 
 against CsBsar, now when his enemies were rising agaimt him at 
 Rome. 
 
 Cssar, who knew perfectly how to avail himself of every advan. 
 tage in war, particularly of time, was no sooner informed of this 
 great defection, than he set out to chastise its authors ; and by the 
 rapidity of his march, in spite of all the difliculties of a severe 
 winter, he showed the barbarians that his troops could neither be 
 conquered nor resisted ; for where a courier could scarce have 
 been supposed to come in many days, Ctesar was seen with his 
 whole army, ravaging the country, destroying the castles, storming 
 the cities, and receiving the submission of such as repented. Thus 
 be went on, till the y£dui also revolted, who had styled themselves 
 brothers to the Romans, and had been treated with particular 
 regard. Their joining the insurgents spread uneasiness and dis- 
 may through Cssar's army. He, therefore, decamped in all haste ; 
 but the enemy followed him in prodigious numbers, and surrounded 
 him. Cesar, without being in the least disconcerted, sustained the 
 conflict, and after a long and bloody action, in which the Germans 
 were particularly serviceable to him, gave them a total defeat. 
 Most of those who escaped out of tlie battle, retired into Aleaa 
 with their king. Cesar immediately invested the town, though it 
 appeared impregnable, as well on account of the height of the walls, 
 as the number of troops there was to defend it. During the siege 
 be found himself exposed to a great danger from without. All the 
 bravest men in Gaul assembled from every quarter, and came 
 armed to the reUef of the place, to the niirobei of three hundred 
 thoiiHand ; and there were not less than seventy thousand comba- 
 
Jl/LIUS CiESAlL 861 
 
 lants withiu the walla., Thus shut up between two armies, he was 
 forced to draw two lines of circumvallation, the interior one against 
 the town, and that without against the troops that came to its suc- 
 cour ; for, could the two armies have joined, he had been abso- 
 lutely lost. This dangerous action of Alesia contributed to Caesar's 
 renown on many accounts. Indeed, he exerted a more adventu- 
 rous courage and greater generalship, than on any other occasion. 
 But what seems very astonishing, is, that he could engage and 
 conquer so many myriads without, and keep the action a secret to 
 the troops in the town.* It is still more wonderful that the Romans, 
 who were left before the walls, should not know it, till the victory 
 was announced by the cries of the men in Alesia, and the lamen- 
 tatrons of the women, who saw the Romans on each side of the 
 town bringing to their camp a number of shields adorned with gold 
 and silver, helmets stained with blood, drinking vessels, and tents 
 of Gaulish fashion. Thus did this vast multitude vanish and dis- 
 appear like a phantom, or a dream, thd greatest part being killed 
 on the spot. 
 
 The besieged at last surrendered. Their general, Vercingetorix, 
 armed himself and equipped his horse in the most magnificent man- 
 ner, and then sallied out at the gate. After he had taken some 
 circuits about Caesar as he sat upon the tribunal, he dismounted, 
 put off his armour, and placed himself at Caesar's feet, where he 
 remained in profound silence, till Caesar ordered a guard to take 
 him away, and keep him for his triumph. 
 
 Caesar had been some time resolved to ruin Pompey, and Pom- 
 pey to destroy Caesar ; for Crassus, who alone could have taken 
 up the conqueror, being killed in the Parthian war, there remained 
 nothing for Caesar to do, to make himself the greatest of mankind, 
 but to annihilate him that was so ; nor for Pompey to prevent it, 
 but to take off the man he feared. It is true, it was no long time 
 that Pompey had entertained any fear of him ; he had rather looked 
 upon him with contempt, imagining he could as easily pull him 
 down as be had set him up : whereas Caesar, from the first, design- 
 ing to ruin his rivals, had retired at a distance, like a champion, 
 for exercise. By long service and great achievements in the wars 
 of Gaul, he had so improved his army, and his own reputation too, 
 that he was considered as on a footing with Pompey ; and he found 
 pretences for carrying his enterprise into execution, in the times of 
 the misgovernment at Rome. These were partly furnished by Pom- 
 pey himself; and indeed all ranks of men were so corrupted, that 
 tables were publicly set out, upon which the candidates for offices 
 were professedly ready to pay the people the price of their votes ; 
 and the people came not only to give their voice for the man who 
 had bought them, bat with all manner of offensive weapons to fight 
 
 * C»aar says, that those in the to\'wi bad a distinct view of the battle. 
 
301 JtUUS CASAH. 
 
 for him. Hence it often happened, that they did not part withost 
 polluting the tribunal with blood and murder, and the city was a 
 perpetual scene of anarchy. In this dismal situation of tbin|r8, in 
 these storms of epidemic madness, wise men thought it would be 
 happy if they ended in nothing worse than monarchy. Nay, there 
 were many who scrupled not to declare publicly, that monarchy 
 was the only cure for the desperate di^rders of the state, and that 
 the physician ought to be pitched upon, who would apply that 
 remedy with the gentlest hand ; by which they hinted at Pompey. 
 
 Pompey, in all nis discourse, pretended to decline the honour of 
 a dictatorship, though at the same time every step he took was 
 directed that way. Cato, understanding his dnf>, persuaded the 
 senate to declare him sole consul ; that, satisfied with a kind of 
 monarchy more agreeable to law, he might not adopt any violent 
 measures to make himself dictator. The senate not only agreed 
 to this, but continued to him his governments of Spain and Africa, 
 the administration of which he committed to his lieutenants ; keep- 
 ing armies there, tor whose maintenance he was allowed a thou- 
 sand talents a year out of the public treasury. 
 
 Upon this, Cffisar applied, by his friends, for another consulship, 
 and for the continuance of his commission in Gaul, answerable to 
 that of Pompey. As Pompey was at first silent, Marcellus and Len- 
 tulus, who bated Caesar on other accounts, opposed it with great 
 violence, omitting nothing, whether right or wrong, that might re- 
 fleet dishonour upon him r for they disfranchised the inhabitants of 
 Novocomuni in Gaul, which had lately been erected into a colony 
 by Caesar ; and Marcellus, then consul, caused one of their sena- 
 tors, who was come with some complaints to Rome, to be beaten 
 with rodb, and telling him, " The marks on his back were so many 
 additional proofs that he was not a Roman citizen/* bade him go 
 show them to Csesar. 
 
 But, after the consulship of Marcellus, Csesar opened the trea- 
 sures he had amassed in Gaul, to all that were concerned in the 
 administration, and satisfied their utmost wishes. Pompey, now 
 alarmed at the increase of Casar's faction, openly exerted his own 
 interest, and that of his friends, to procure an order for a successor 
 to Caesar in Gaul. He also sent to demand the troops he had lent 
 him for his wars in that county, and Csesar returnea them with a 
 gratuity of two hundred aud fifty drachmas to each man. 
 
 Those who conducted these troops back, spread reports among 
 the people which were neither favourable nor fair with respect to 
 Caesar, and which ruined Pompey with vain hopes. They asserted 
 that Pompey had the hearts oi all Ca*sar*s army, and that if envy 
 and a corrupt administration hmdered him from gaining what he 
 desired at Rome, the forces in Gaul would declare for htm immo« 
 diately upon their entering Italy ; 00 obnosious was Ceair bocomet 
 
JbLlUS cjiSAlL 353 
 
 by hurrying them perpetually from one expedition to another, and 
 by the suspicions which they had of his ainning at absolute power. 
 Pompey was so elated with these assurcinces, tbat he neglected to 
 levy troops, as if he had nothing to fear, and opposed the enemy 
 only with speeches and decrees, which Caesar made no account of. 
 
 Caesar's requisitions had a' great appearance of justice and 
 honour. He proposed to lay down his arms, on condition Pom- 
 pey would do the same, and that they should both, as private citi- 
 zens, leave it to their country to reward their services. For to 
 deprive him of his commission and troops, and continue Pompey's, 
 was to give absolute power to the one, to which the other was un- 
 justly accused of aspiring. Curio, who made these propositions 
 to the people in behalf of Caesar, was received with the loudest 
 plaudits ; and there were some who even threw chaplets of flowers 
 upon him, as they would upon a champion victorious in the ring. 
 
 Antony, one of the tribunes of the people, then produced a letter 
 from Ca3sar to the same purport, and caused it to be read, notwith- 
 standing the opposition it met with from the consuls. Hereupon, 
 Scipio, Pompey's father-in-law, proposed in ihs senate, that if 
 Caesar did not lay down his arms by such a day, he should be 
 declared an enemy to the state ; and the consuls putting it to the 
 ijuestion, "' Whether Pompey should dismiss his forces?" and again, 
 " Whether Caesar should disband his?" few of the members were 
 for the first, and almost all for the second.* After which Antony 
 put the question, " Whether both should lay down their commis- 
 sions?" and all with one voice answered in the affirmative. But 
 the violent rage of Scipio, and the clamours of the consul Lentulus, 
 who cried out, that '^ Not decrees, but arms, should be employed 
 against a public robber," made ttie senate break up ; and on 
 account of the unhappy dissension, all ranks of people put on 
 black, as in a time of public mourning. 
 
 Soon after this, other letters arrived from Caesar with more 
 moderate proposals. Pompey was on the point of acceding to a 
 compromise, when Lentulus, the consul, rejecting it with disdain, 
 treated Antony and Curio with great indignity, and drove them out 
 of the senate-house. Thus he furnished Cassar with the most 
 plausible argument imaginable, and he failed not to make use of 
 it to exasperate his troops, by showing them persons of distinction, 
 and magistrates, obliged to fly in hired carriages, and in the habit 
 of slaves ;f for their fears had made them leave Rome in that dis- 
 guise. 
 
 Caesar had not then with him above three hundred horse and 
 five thousand fool. The rest of his forces were left on the other 
 
 * Dio says, there was not a man for the first questioa, whereas the whole house was 
 for the second, except Cselius and Curio. Nor is this to be wondered at ; Pompey was 
 men at the gates of Rome with his army. 
 
 - Cassius Longinus weut with them in the same di^uise. 
 
 y2 30* 
 
354 JULIUS Ci&SAR 
 
 side of the Alps, and he had sent them orders to joiu him. But he 
 saw the beginning o^ his enterprise, and the attack that he niedita* 
 ted did not require any great numbers : his enemies were rather 
 to be struck with consternation by the boldness and expedition with 
 which he began his operations ; for an unexpected movement would 
 be more likely to make an impression upon them then, than great 
 preparations afterwards. He, therefore, ordered his lieutenants 
 and other officers to take their swords without any other armour, 
 and make themselves masters of Ariminum, a great city in Gaul, 
 but to take all possible care that no blood should be shed or dis* 
 turbancc raised. Hortensius was at the head of this party. As 
 for himself, he spent the day at the public show of gladiators, 
 and a little before evening bathed, and then went into the apart- 
 ment where he entertained company. When it was growing dark, 
 he left the company, after having desired them to make merry till 
 his return, which they would not have long to wait for. To some 
 of his friends he had given previous notice to follow him, not alto- 
 gether, but by diilerent ways. Then taking a hired carriage, he 
 set out a different way from that which led to Ariminum, and turned 
 into that road atlerwards. 
 
 When he arrived at the banks of the Rubicon, which divides 
 Cisalpine Gaul from the rest of Italy, his reflections became more 
 interesting in proportion as the danger drew near. Staggered by 
 the greatness of his attempt, he stopped to weigh witii himself its 
 inconveniences ; and as he stood revolving in silence the argu- 
 ments on both sides, he many times changed his opinion. After 
 which he deliberated upon it with such of his friends as were by, 
 nmong whom was Asinius PoUio ; enumerating the calamities 
 which the passage of that river would bring upon the world, and 
 the reflections that might be made upon it by poitehty. At last, 
 upon some sudden impulse, bidding adieu to his reasonings, and 
 plunging into the abyss of futurity, in the words of those who em. 
 bark in doubtful and arduous enterprizes, he cried out, ''The die 
 is cast !" and immediately passed the river. He travelled so fast 
 the rest of the way, that he reached Ariminum before day.light, 
 and took it. 
 
 After the taking of Ariminum, as if war had opened wide ita 
 gates both by sea and land, and Ciesar, by going beyond the 
 bounds of his province, had infringed the laws of hia country ; not 
 individuals were seen, as on other occasions, wandering in distrac 
 tion about Italy, but whole cities broken up, and seeking refuge by 
 flight. Most of the tumultuous tide flowed into Rome, and it was 
 so filled with the hasty conflux of the circling people, that aroidat 
 the violent agitations it would hardly either obey the magistrate. 
 or listen to the voice of reason, but waa in the utmost danger of 
 fulling by its own violence. Pompey himself, who was already 
 
JtLiUS C^SAR. 355 
 
 confounded at the turn things had taken, was still more disturbed 
 by a variety of censures on his conduct. Fie, however, at that 
 time, was not inferior in numbers to Ca3sar, but his partisans would 
 not suffer him to proceed accordmg to his own opinion. By false 
 reports and groundjess terrors, as if the enemy were at the gates, 
 and had carried all before him, they forced him along with the 
 general torrent. He had it decreed, therefore, that things were 
 in a tumultuous stat.e, and nothing to be expected but hostilities, 
 and then left Rome, having first ordered the senate, and every man 
 to follow, who preferred his country and liberty to the rod of a 
 tyrant. The consuls fled with him, and most of the senators join- 
 ed in the flight. 
 
 CaBsar would have followed him immediately, but he wanted 
 ships. He therefore returned to Rome, with the glory of having 
 reduced Italy without spilling a drop of blood. Finding the city 
 in a more settled condition than he expected, and many senators 
 there, he addressed them in a mild and gracious manner, and de- 
 sired them to send deputies to Pompey to ofler honourable terms of 
 peace. But not one of them would take upon him the commis- 
 sion : whether it was that they were afraid of Pompey, whom they 
 had deserted, or whether they thought Caesar not in earnest in the 
 proposal, and that he only made it to save appearances. 
 
 Caesar's first movement was to Spain, whence he was resolved 
 to drive Afranius and Varro, Pompey 's lieutenants, and at\er hav- 
 ing made himself master of their troops and provinces, to march 
 against Pompey, without leaving any enemy behind him. In the 
 course of this expedition, his life was often in danger from ambus- 
 cades, and his army had to combat with famine ; yet he continued 
 his operations against the enemy, either by pursuit, or offering 
 them battle, or forming lines of circumvallation about them, till he 
 forced their camp, and added their troops to his own. The officers 
 made their escape, and retired to Pompey. 
 
 Upon his return to Rome, his father-in-law, Piso, pressed him 
 to send deputies to Pompey to treat of an accommodation ; but 
 Isauricus, to make his court to Caesar, opposed it. 
 
 The senate declared him dictator, and while he held that office, 
 he recalled the exiles ; he restored to their honours the children of 
 those who had suffered under Sylla ; and relieved debtors by can- 
 celling part of the usury. These, and a few more, were his acts 
 during his dictatorship, which he laid down in eleven days. After 
 this, he caused himself to be declared consul with Servilius Isau- 
 ricus, and then went to prosecute the war. He marched so fast 
 to Brundusium, that all his troops could not keep up with him. 
 However, he embarked with only six hundred select horse and five 
 legions; and crossing the Ionian, made himself master of Oricum 
 and Apollonia, and sent back his ships to Brundusium to bring 
 
3oC JUUUS CJKSAH. 
 
 over the forces that were lefl behind.^ Finding that these troop:) 
 delayed to join him, he undertook a most astonishing encerprise. 
 'i'hough the sea was covered wiih ihe enemy's fleets, he resolved 
 to embark in a vessel of twelve oars, without acquainting any per- 
 son with his intention, and sail to Urundusium. . In the night, there, 
 fore, he took the habit of » slave, and throwing himself into the 
 vessel like a man of no account, sat there in silence. They fell 
 down liie river Anias for the sea, where the entrance is generally 
 easy, because the land.wind rising in the morning, used to beat otf 
 the waves of the sea and smooth (he mouth of the river. But un- 
 luckily thut night a strong :;ea.wind sprung up, which overpowered 
 that from the land ; so that by the ra^eof the sea and the counter- 
 action of the stream, the river became extremely rough, the waves 
 dashed against each other with a tumultuous noise, and formed such 
 dangerous eddies, that the pilot despaired of making good his pas- 
 sage, and ordered the mariners to turn back. Caesar perceiving 
 this, rose up, and showing himself to the pilot, who was greatly 
 astonished at the sight of him, said, *' Go forward, my friend, and 
 fear nothing ; thou earnest CsBsar and bin fortune." The marl- 
 ners then forgot the storm, and plying tin ir oars with the utnnost 
 vigour and alacrity, endeavoured to overcome the resistance of the 
 waves. But such was their violence at the mouth of the river, 
 and the u'ater flowed so fast into the vessel, that Csesar at last, 
 though with great reluctance, permitted the pilot to turn back. 
 Upon his return to his camp, the soldiers met him in crowds, pour- 
 ing out Uieir complaints, and expressing tlie greatest concern that 
 he did not assure himself of conquering with them only, but, in 
 distrust of their support, gave himself so much uneasiness, and ex. 
 posed his person to so much danger on account of the absent. 
 
 Soon after, Antony arrived from Brundusium with the troops ;t 
 Caesar, then in the highest spirits, offered battle to Pompey, who 
 was encamped in an advantageous manner, and abundantly sup. 
 plied with provisions both from sea and land ; whereas Csssar at 
 first had no great plenty, and allerwards was in extreme want. 
 There were frequently skirmishes about Poropey's entrenchments^ 
 
 * He Mill them tMck under the conduct of Galenut. That officer loiinf %hm op- 
 }>ortunity of tt>e wind, fell lu with Bibulut who took thirty of nu snipe smI burut 
 them ail. together with thrir piioi» and inarioers, in order to iatiinidet«the reel 
 
 t \n(oiiv nitd Talrnus embarked on board the vesaelt which had ewap«d BitMilut, 
 eiichi hundred hoite and four legioiii : that n, three old oott, and ooe thai had bean 
 newly raiaad . aud when tbey irara landad. Antony laai back tae shipe tot Uia rati of 
 the force* 
 
 I Cvtwr obeer^red an old camp which be had occupiad in tba pUca whara Pninpty 
 
 wat encloeed, and afterward* abaodonad. Upon hie qutttiof it. Pompay bad takan 
 po*ae*»ion of ii, and left a legion to fuard it Thi* poai Caaar attem|>tcd to rad 
 and t< was m thi* attempt that ha suflared lo much losa. Ha loet nine hundra<i 
 
 sixty foot, four hundred h«»rM'. amonf whom there wara aavaral R-Mian knifht*. fiva 
 tribune*, and thirty two centurion*, ^e niaatiooad, joai now. that Pofipey was 
 encioced, a^in fact be wss on the land •ule, bv a line of circumvMllaiinn drawn bv 
 Ciesar 
 
JOLIL'S CiiuSAR. 357 
 
 and Caesar had the advantage in them all, except one, iu which his 
 party was iorced to fl> with such precipitation, that he was in dan- 
 ger of having hi^ camp taken. Pompey headed the attack in per- 
 son, and not a man couid stand before him. Ha drove them upo.'i 
 their own hnes into the utmost confusion, and filled their trenches 
 with ihe dead. 
 
 Caesar ran to meet them, and would have rallied the fugitives, 
 but it was not in his power. He laid hold on the ensign-staves to 
 stop them, and some left them m his hands, and others threw them 
 upon the ground, insomuch that no less than thirty-two standards 
 were taken. Caesar himself was very near losmg his life ; for 
 having laid hold of a tall and strong man, to stop him and make 
 him face about, the soldier, in his terror and contusion, lifted up 
 his sword to strike him ; but Caesar's armour-bearer prevented it 
 by a blow which cut off his arm. 
 
 Cassar saw his affairs thaX day in so bad a posture, that, after 
 Pompey, either through too much caution, or the caprice of for- 
 tune, instead of giving the finishing stroke to so great an action, 
 stopped as soon as he had shut up the enemy within their entrench- 
 ments, and sounded a retreat, he said to his friends, as he with- 
 drew, "This day victory would have declared for the enemy, if 
 they had had a general who knew how to conquer." He sought 
 repose in his tent : but it proved the most melancholy night of his 
 life, for he gave himself up to endless reflections on his own mis- 
 conduct in the war. He considered how wrong it was, when the 
 wide countries and rich cities of Macedonia and Thessaly were be- 
 fore him, to confine himself to so narrow a scene of action, and sit 
 still by the sea, while the enemy's fleets had the superiority, and 
 in a place where he suff*ered the inconveniences of a siege from 
 the want of provisions, rather than besiege the enemy by his arras. 
 Thus agitated and distressed by the perplexities and difficulties of 
 his situation, he resolved to decamp, and march against Scipio in 
 Macedonia ; concluding, that he should either draw Pompey after 
 him, and force him to fight where he could not receive supplies 
 as he had done from the sea ; or else that he should easily crush 
 Scipio, if he found him unsupported. 
 
 Pompey's troops and officers were greatly elated at this retreat 
 of CaDsar ; they considered it as a flight and an acknowledgnient 
 that he was beaten, and therefore wanted to pursue. But Pompey 
 himself was unwilling to hazard a battle of such consequence. 
 He was well provided with every thing requisite for waiting the 
 advantages of time, and for that reason chose, by protracting the 
 war, to wear out the little vigour the enemy had left. The most 
 valuable of Caesar's troops had, indeed, an experience and courage 
 which were irresistible in the field ; but age bad made them unfit 
 for long marches, for throwing up intrenchments, for attacking 
 
358 JUUUS CAISAR 
 
 walls, and pasaing whole nights under arms. They w#fe loo un- 
 wieldy to endui-e much fatigue, and their incHnation for labour les« 
 sened wiih their strength. Besides, there was said to be a conta' 
 ginuH distemper among them, which arose from their strange and 
 bad diet ; ami Cirsar warned both money and provisions, so that it 
 seemed as if he must shortly fall of himself. 
 
 These were Pompey's reasons for declining a battle ; but not a 
 man, except Cato, was of his opinion ; and he, only, because be 
 was willing to spare the blood of his countrymen ; for when he saw 
 the bodies of the enemy, who fell in the late action, to the number 
 of a tiiousand, lie dead upon the field, he covered his face, and re- 
 tired weeping. All the rest censured Pompey for not deciding the 
 affair immediately with the sword. 
 
 Piqued at these reproaches, Pompey, against his own judgment, 
 marched after Csesar, who proceeded on his route with great dif- 
 ficulty ;■ for on account of his late loss, all looked upon hmi with 
 contempt, and refused to supply him with provisions. When the 
 two armies were encamped opposite each other on the plains of 
 Pharsalia, Pompey returned to his old opinion. But the cavalry 
 testified the greatest iiiipHiience for a iiattle. Nor were the num- 
 bers of infant rv equal; for Pompey hod forty. five thousand, and 
 Caesar only twenty-iwo thousand. Ccesar called his soldiers to- 
 gether, and told them, " Thai Cornificus was well advanced on bis 
 way with two more legions, and that he had fi(\een cohorts under 
 the command of Calenus, in the environs of Megaraand Athens.'* 
 He then asked them, '* Whether the » chosu to wait for those troops 
 or to risk a battle without them .'" The\ answered aloud, " Let 
 us not wait ; but do you find out some stratagem to bring the ene- 
 my, as soon as possible, to un action." 
 
 The night before the battle, as ho walked the rounds about mid. 
 night, there appeared a luminous phenomenon in the air, like a 
 torch, which, as it passed over his camp, flamed out with great 
 brightness, and seemed to fall in that of Pompey. And in the mor- 
 ning, when the guards were relieved, a tumult was observed in the 
 enemy's camp, not unlike a panic terror. Cccaar, however, so lit- 
 tle expected an action that day, that he hod ordered his troope to 
 decamp and march to Scotusa.* 
 
 But, as they were striking their tents, his scouts rode up, and 
 told him the enemy were coming to give him battle. Happy in 
 the newM, he made his prayer to the gods, and il> tiis 
 
 army, which he di\ided into three bodies. Donui us 
 
 to coinmaiid the centre, Antony the left wins.and hiiuseirihc right, 
 where he intended to charge at the hcau of the tenth legion. 
 Struck with the number and magnificent appearance of the enemy's 
 
 * Cl«Mr hoptd. by hit fretiiiciu dfcitiiiniiiK*, lo jirovide bcwrt fnr hit Uoopf, and 
 pwaiip«, |(»iii a ravAtimMn O|*pofitiiiit\ ci Aghtihs: 
 
JULIUS CiiSAK. 359 
 
 cavalry, who were posted over against him, he ordered six cohorts 
 privately to advance from the rear. These he placed behind the 
 right wing, and gave them instructions what to do when the ene- 
 my's horse came to charge. 
 
 When the signal was ready to be given, Pompey ordered his 
 infantry to stand in close order, and wait the enemy's attack, till 
 they were near enough to be reached by the javelin. Caesar bla- 
 med this conduct. He said Pompey was not aware what weight 
 the swift and fierce advance to the first charge gives to every ' . 
 blow, nor how the courage of each soldier is inflamed by the rapid ^ ' 
 motion of the whole. '^ •: \ 
 
 He was now going to put his troops in motion, when he saw a 
 trusty and experienced centurion encouraging his men to distinguish 
 themselves that day. Caesar called him by his name, and said — 
 " What cheer, Caius Crassinus ? How think you do we stand ?" 
 " Caesar," said the veteran, in a bold accent, and stretching out 
 his hand, " The victory is ours. It will be a glorious one \ and 
 this day I shall have your praise, either alive or dead." So say- 
 ing, he ran in upon the enemy, at the head of his company, 
 which consisted of a hundred and twenty men. He did great ex- 
 ecution among the first ranks, and was pressing on with equal 
 fierceness, when one of his antagonists pushed his sword with 
 such force into his mouth, that the point came out at the nape of 
 his neck. 
 
 While the infantry were thus warmly engaged in the centre, the 
 cavalry advanced from Pompey's left wing with great confidence, 
 and extended their squadron to surround Caesar's right wing. 
 But before they could begin the attack, thesixcohorts which Caesar 
 had placed behind, came up boldly to receive them. They did not, 
 according to custom, attempt to annoy the enemy at a distance 
 with their javehns, nor strike at the legs and thighs when they 
 oame nearer, but aimed at their eyes, and wounded them in the 
 face, agreeably to the orders they had received. For Caesar ho- 
 ped that these young cavaliers, who had not been used to wars - 
 and wounds, and who set a great value upon their beauty, would 
 avoid, above all things, a stroke in that part, and immediately give ^ 
 way, as well on account of the present danger, as the fuuire defer- 'si 
 raity. The event answered his expectation. They could not bear j / 
 the spears pointed against their faces, or the steel gleaming upon / j 
 their eyes, but turned away their faces and covered them with / 
 their hands. This caused such confusion, that at last they fled m / 
 the most infamous manner, and ruined the whole cause. i 
 
 When Caesar entered the camp, and saw what numbers of the 
 
 * Caesar was so confident of success, that he ordered ;jis entrenchments to be 
 filled up, assuring his troops that they would be masters of the enemv's camp befort; 
 niaht. 
 
360 JULIUS CiKSAK. 
 
 eneniy lay dead, and those they were then despatching, he said, 
 wiih a sigh, ** This they would have ; to ihi* cruel-necessity they 
 reduced me : for, hiid Caesar dismii^sed his troops, aAer s<^ many 
 great and successful wars, he .vouid have been condcmoed as a 
 crimirifll." 
 
 Cesar granted the whole nation of Thcssaly their liberty, for 
 the sake of the victory he had gained there, and then went in pur- 
 suit of Pompey. He bestowed the same privilege on the Cnidi- 
 ans, in comphmenl to Theopompus, to whom we are indebted for 
 a collection of fables ; and he discharged the inhabitants of Asia 
 from a third part of their imposts. 
 
 Upon his arrival at Alexandria, he found Pompey assassinated ; 
 and when Theodotus presented the head to him, he turned from 
 the sight with great abhorrence. The signet of that general was 
 the only thing he took, and on taking it he wept. As uflen as any 
 of Pompey 's friends and companions were taken by Ptolemy, wan- 
 dering about the country, and brought to Ctesar, he loaded them 
 with tavours, and took them into his own service. He wrote to 
 his friends at Rome, *' That the chief enjoyment he had of his viC' 
 tory was, in saving every day one or other of his fellow citizens, 
 who had borne arms against him." 
 
 As for his Egyptian war, some assert that it was undertaken 
 without necessity, and that his passion for Cleopatra engaged him 
 in a quarrel which proved botli prejudicial to his reputation and 
 dangerous to his person. Others accuse the king's ministers, par. 
 ticuTarly the eunuch Photinus, who had the greatest influence at 
 court, and who, having taken off Pompey, and removed Cleopatra, 
 priNaielv meditated an attempt against Caesar. Hence, it is said, 
 that Crvn^r began to pass the night in entertainments among his 
 friends, for the greater security of his person. The behaviour, in- 
 deed, of this eunuch in pubhc, all he said and did with respect to 
 Cxsar, was intolerably insolent and invidious. The com he sup. 
 plied his soldiers with, was old and musty, and he told them "They 
 ought to be satisfied with it, since they lived at other people's 
 cost." He caused only wooden and eaithen vessels to be served 
 up at the king's table, on pretence that Coisar had taken all the 
 gold and silver ones for debt. For the father of the reigning 
 prince owed Cssar seventeen million five hundred thousand drach. 
 mas. Ca»ar had formerly remitted to his children the rest, but 
 thought flt to demand the ten millions at ihistime, for the maintc 
 nance of his army. Photinus, instead of paying the money, advi. 
 sed him to go and finish the great affairs he had upon his hands, 
 after which he should have his money with thanks. But Cictar 
 told him ** He had no need of Egyptian counsellors/' and privately 
 sent for Cleopatra out of the country. 
 
 This princess, taking only one frtood, ApoHodorus, the Siltcian, 
 
JULIUS C^SAk 361 
 
 with her, got into a small boat, and in the dusk of the evening 
 made for the palace. As she saw it difficult to enter it undisco. 
 vered, she rolled herself up in a carpet: Apollodorus tied her up 
 at full length, like a bale of goods, and carried her in at the gates 
 to Caesar. This stratagem of hers, which was a strong proof of 
 her wit and ingenuity, is said to have first opened her way to Cae- 
 sar's heart ; and the conquest advanced so fast by the charms of 
 her conversation, that he took upon him to reconcile her brother to 
 her, and insisted thai she ohould reign with him 
 
 An entertainment was given on account of this reconciliation, 
 and all met to rejoice on the occasion ; when a servant of Caesar's, 
 a timorous and suspicious man, who was his barber, led by his 
 natural caution to inquire into every thing, and to listen every 
 whereabout the palace, found that Achillas the general, and Pho- 
 tinus the eunuch, were plotting against Caesar's life. Caesar being 
 informed of their design, planted his guards about the hall, and 
 killed Photinus. Bur Achillas escaped to the armv, and involved 
 Caesar in a very difficult and dangerous war ; for, with a few troops 
 he had to make head against a great city and a powerful army. 
 At last, the king joining the insurgents, Caesar attacked and defeat- 
 ed him. Great numbers of Egyptians were slain, and the- king 
 was heard of no more. This gave Caesar an opportunity to esia- 
 bhsh Cleopatra queen of Egypt. Soon after, she had a son by 
 him, whom the Alexandrians called Caesario. 
 
 He then departed for Syria, and from thence marched into Asia 
 Minor, against Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, whom he defeat- 
 ed in a great battle near Zera, which deprived him of the kingdom 
 of Pontus, as well as ruined his whole army. In the account he 
 gave Amintius, one of his friends in Rome, of the rapidity and de- 
 spatch with which he gained this victory, he made use only of three 
 words : "I came, I saw, I conquered." 
 
 After this extraordinary success he returned to Italy, and arrived 
 at Rome as the year of his second dictatorship, an office that had 
 never been annual before, was on the point of expiring. He was 
 declared consul for the year ensuing. 
 
 Cato and Scipio, after the battle of Pharsalia, had escaped into 
 Africa, where they raised a respectable army, with the assistance 
 ofkingJuba. Caesar now resolved to carry the war into tbeir 
 quarters, and, in order to do it, first crossed over to Sicily, though 
 it was about the time of the winter solstice. To prevent his offi- 
 cers from entertaining any hopes of having the expedition delayed, 
 he pitched his own tent almost within the wash of the sea ; and a 
 favourable wind springing up, he re-embarked* with three thousand 
 
 * He embarked six legions and two tbousanri norse : but the pamber rnentioned 
 by Plutarch was all that he landed at first, many of the ships iiaviDg been sepamted 
 by a storm. 
 
 2ii 31 
 
aea julius c^sak 
 
 foot and a small body of horsd. After ho bad landed them aafe. 
 ly and privately on the African coast, he set sail again in quest of 
 the remuining part of his troops, whose numbers were more con- 
 siderable, and for whom he was undrr great concern. He found 
 them, however, on their way at sea, and conducted them ail to hij 
 African camp. 
 
 One day, when Cscsar*s cavalry had nothing else to do, they dt. 
 verted themselves with an African, who danced and pla\ed upon 
 the flute with great perfection. 'ITiey had left their horses to the 
 care of boys, and sat attending to the entertamment with great de. 
 light, when the enemy, coming upon them at once, kiiifd part and 
 entered the camp with others, who fled with great precipiiation. 
 Had not Ceesar himself and Asinius Pollio come to their assist, 
 ance and stopped their flight the war would have been ai an end 
 that hour. In another engagement, the enemy had the advantage 
 again, on which occasion it was, that Caesar took an ensign who 
 
 I was running away, by the neck, and making him face about, said 
 
 / ** Look this way for the enemy." 
 
 I Scipio, flushed with these successful preludes, was desirous to 
 come to a decisive action. Therefore, leaving Afranius ano Juba 
 in their respective camps, which were at no gr^at distance, ho 
 went in person to the camp above the lake, in the neighbourhood 
 of Thapsus, to raise a fortification for a place of arms and an oc 
 casionai retreat. While Sicpio wat constructing his wallb and 
 ramparts, Csesar, with incredible despatch, made his way through 
 a country almost impracticable, by reason of its woods and diffi. 
 cult passes, and coming suddenly upon him, attacked one part of 
 his army in the rear, another in the front, and put the whole to 
 flight. Then, making the best use of his opportunity, and of the 
 favour of fortune, with one tide of succetts he took the camp of 
 Afranius, and destroyed that of the Numidians ; Juba, their king, 
 being glad to save himself by flight. Thus, in a small part of one 
 day, he made himself master of three comps, and killed fiOy 
 
 (thousand of the enemy, while he sustained a loss only of hAy 
 men. 
 
 Many persons of consular and pnDtorian dignity escaped out of 
 the battle. Some of them being afterward.-* taken despatched them* 
 selves, and a numtier were put to death by Caesar. Having a 
 strong desire to take Cato olive, the conqueror hastened lu IMica,'* 
 which Cato had charge of, and for that reason was not in the bat. 
 lie. But by the way he was informed that ho had killed hmiselt*, 
 and his uneasiness at the news was very visible. As his officers 
 
 • Beforn ( etnr left Utica. hfl |ave order* for th« rebuilding of tarthane, •• b« did 
 •oon afier hu return to Itnly for the rebuilding oi Corinth to that thew "*•• ••.i.»« 
 were destroyed in the game year, and in the »ame year r<»i«ed out of t»). 
 which ibey had Uin nhout a hundred year*. Two vear» afur, iliev were 
 nW<\ with Hotnaii colonies 
 
f 
 
 JULIUS C^SAR. 3a3 
 
 were wondering what might be the cause of tliat nneasmess, he • 
 cried out, " Cato, I envy thee thy death, since thou enviedst me ; 7 
 the glory of giving thee thy life." 
 
 Ooesar, after his return from Africa to Rome, spoke in high terms 
 of his victory to the people. He told them he had subdued a coun^ 
 try so extensive, that it would bring yearly into the public stores 
 two hundred thousand Attic measures of wheat, and three million 
 pounds of oil. After this, he led up his several triumphs over 
 Egypt, Pontus, and Africa. In the title of the latter, mention was 
 not made of Scipio, but of Juba only. Juba, the son of that prince, 
 then very young, walked in the procession. It proved a happy 
 captivity for him; for of a barbarous and unlettered Numidian, 
 he became a historian worthy- to be numbered among the most 
 learned of Greece. The triumph was followed by large dona- 
 tions to the soldiers, and feasts and public diversions to the 
 people. 
 
 Being elected consul the fourth time, he marched into Spain, 
 against the sons of Pompey, who, though young, had assembled a 
 numerous army, and showed a courage worthy the command they 
 had undertaken. The great battle which put a period to that war 
 was fouglit under the walls of Munda. Caesar at first saw his men 
 80 hard pressed, and making so feeble a resistance, that he ran 
 through the ranks, amidst the swords and spears, crying, "Are 
 you not ashamed to deliver your general into the hands of boys ?" 
 The great and vigorous eff<»rts this reproach produced, at last made 
 the enemy turn their backs, and there were more than thirty thou, 
 eand of them slain, whereas Ceesar lost only a ihousand, but those 
 were some of the be.»t men he had. As he retired after the battle, 
 he told his friends, " He had often fought for victory, but that was 
 the first time he had fought for his life." The younger of Pom- 
 pcy's sons made his escape : the other was taken by Didius a few 
 days after, who brought his head to Caesar. 
 
 This was the last of his wars; and his triumph on account of it 
 gave the Romans more pain than any other step he had taken. He 
 did not now mount the car for having conquered foreign generals, 
 or barbarian kings, but for ruining the children and destroying the 
 race of one of the greatest men Rome had ever produced, though 
 he proved at last unfortunaie. All the world condemned his tri- 
 umphing in the calamities of his country, and rejoicing in things 
 which nothing could excuse, either before the gods or men, but ex- 
 treme necessity. And it was the more obvious to condemn it, be- 
 cause, after this, he had never sent any messenger or letter to ac- 
 quaint the public with any victory he had gained in the civil wars, 
 but was rather ashamed of such advantages. The Romans, how- 
 ever, bowing to his power, and submitting to the bridle, because 
 they saw no other respite from intestine wars and jijiseries, but the 
 
364 JULIUS CiESAR. 
 
 taking one man for th^ir master, created him dictator for life. Thit 
 was a complete tyranny, for to ab^oluic jiower ihey added per||9« 
 tuit> . 
 
 Cicero wan the first who proposi-d that the senate should confer 
 great honours upon Cucsur, bui honoura wiihiii the measure of hu- 
 manity. ThoM! who followed, coiittMiduig with each other who 
 should make hini the most extraordinary coiuplimenis, b\ the absur. 
 ditv and extravuKance of their decrees rendered lum <»diou8 and 
 unsupportabh* even to persons of candour. His eiie!iiie8 were sup- 
 posed io viti with his tlatterers in these sacrifices, that they might 
 have the beiier pretence, and the more cause, to uft up their hand* 
 against him. This is probable enough, bccuuse in otiier re8|>ccts, 
 al\er the civil wars were brought to an end, his conduct ^slb irre- 
 proachuhle : for he not onlv pardoned most of those who had ap- 
 peared against him in the field, but oit suine of them he iiestowed 
 honours and preferments ; on Brutus and Cassius lor uHunce : for 
 tbev Mere both prsetnrs. The statues of Pompey bad been thrown 
 down b\ his partisans, but he did not sutier them to he in that 
 posture ; he erected them again. On which occasion Cicero 
 said, *' That Caesar, bv rearing Pompey*s statues, had established 
 / his own." 
 
 His friends pressed him to have a guard, and many offered to 
 
 serve in that capacity, but he would not suffer it. For he said, **It 
 
 was better to die once, than to live alwa\8 in fear of death." He 
 
 -j esteemed the afiection of the people the most honourable and the 
 
 I safext guard, and therefore endeavoured to gain them by feasts and 
 
 / distril>utions of corn, as he did the soldiers by placing them in 
 
 agreeable colonies. 
 I The nobility he gained by promising them consulates and pre- 
 I torshipfl, or, if they were engaged, by giving them other places of 
 /i^ I honour and profit. T<» all he opened the pro8{»ecta of hope ; for 
 I be was desirous to reign over a willing people. 
 
 Ctesar had such talents for great attempts, and so vast an ambi. 
 tion, that the many actions he performed, b\ no meauM induced him 
 to sit down and enjoy the glor> he had ucquired; the\ rather whet- 
 ted his appetite for other conquests, produced new designs equally 
 gre.it, together with equal confidence of success, and inspired him 
 witii a passion for fresh renown, as if he had exhiiusied all the plea. 
 surcH of the old. This passion was nothing but h comest with him- 
 self, (as eager as if it had been with another man,) to makf^ his fu- 
 ture achievements outshine the pant. In this spirit he had foimed 
 a design, and was making preparations for war against the Par- 
 tbians. After he had subdued ih»'m. ho intended to iruverse Hyr- 
 cania, and marching along by the Cnspian Sea >ind Mount Cauca- 
 sus, to enter Scytbia ; to rnrry hn coiniuering arm*, through the 
 countries adjoining to Germany, and through Germany itself: and 
 
JULIUS C^SAR. 
 
 365 
 
 then to return by Gaul to Rome; thus finishing the circle of the 
 Roman eiiipire, as well as extending iis bounds to the ocean en 
 every side. 
 
 During the preparations for this expedition, he attempted to dig 
 through the Isthmus of (^orinth, and committed the care of that 
 work to Anienus. He designed also to convey the Tiber b\ a deep 
 channel direct from Rome to Circsei, and so into the sea near Tar- 
 racina, for the convenience as well as security of merchants who 
 traded to Rome. Another publicspirited work that he meditated, 
 was to drain all the marshes by Nomentum* and Setia, by which 
 ground enough would be gained from the water to employ many 
 thousands of hands in tillage. He proposed farther to raise bank's 
 on the shore nearest Rome, to prevent the sea from i)reakmg m 
 upon the land ; to clear the Ostian shore of its secret and danger- 
 ous obstructions, and to build harbours tit to receive the many ves- 
 sels that came in there. These things were designed, but did not 
 take effect. 
 
 He completed, however, the regulation of the calendar, and cor- 
 rected the erroneous computation of time,"|" agreeable to a plan 
 which he had ingeniously contrived, and which proved of the great- 
 est utility. 
 
 The principal thing that excited the public hatred, and at last 
 caused his death, was his passion for the title of king. It was ihe 
 first thing that gave offence to the multi ude, and it afforded his in- 
 veterate enemies a very plausible plea. Those who wanted to pro- 
 cure him that honour, gave it out among the people, thai it appear- 
 ed from the Sibylline boi)ks, " The Romans could never conquer 
 the Parthians, except they went to war under the conduct of a king." 
 And one day, when CaBsar returned from Alba io Rome, some of 
 his retainers ventured to salute him by that title. Observing that 
 the people were troubled at this strange compliment, he put oci an 
 air of resentment, and said, *' He was not called king, but Caesar." 
 Upon this, a deep silence ensued, and he passed on in no good hu- 
 mour. 
 
 Another time the senate having decreed him some extravaijant 
 honours, the consuls and praetors, attended by the whole body of 
 pa riciaiis, went to inform him of what they had done. When they 
 came, he did not rise to receive them, but kept his seat, as if they 
 had been persons in a private station, and his answer to their ad- 
 dress, was, *' That there was more need to retrench his honours, 
 than to enlars^e them." This haughtiness gave pain not only to the 
 
 * It appears from a passage in Suetonius. Vii Cces c. 4A, Siccarc Pomptinas pa- 
 ludes. as well as from am.tner m Strabo. Ed Par. I. v p. 231. V. D. that for JVbmen- 
 ium we snoiilfi here read Pomentium 
 
 f Forough means of tnat erroneois computation, the Roman calendar ha<i gained 
 near rnree months in th* lime of < aesar. Before this, endeavours had been used to 
 correct the irregularity \ but it never could be done with exactness. 
 31* 
 
300 JULIUS CiESAR. 
 
 senate, but the people, who thought th(* contempt of that body re* 
 fleeted dishonour upon the wh«>le coiniiion wealth ; lor all who could 
 decfUtly witlidiuw. went •)!!' ^really <lej» clt;d. 
 
 Perceiving the litlse siep he had taken, he retired immediately 
 to his uy^n iioijte ; and laxing his neck bare, told his IViendM, **Ue 
 was ready lor the tirsi hand that would slnke." lie then bethought 
 himseir ot' alleging his distemper as an excuse ; and asserted, that 
 those who are under its intluence, are apt to find iheir laculies tail 
 them, when they speak standing ; a irembling giddiness coming 
 upon tliem, which bereaves (hem of their senses. This, however, 
 was not really the case ; for it is said, he was desirous to rise to 
 the senate ; but Cornelius Balbus, one of his friends, or rather flat- 
 terers, held him, and had servility enough to say, ^ Will you not 
 remember that you are Ceesar, and sutfer them to pay their court 
 to you as their superior." 
 
 A few days after, his statues were seen adorned with royal dia- 
 dems ; and Flavms and Mnrullus, two of the tribunes, weni and 
 tore I hem ofl*. They also foumi out the persons who saluted Cae- 
 sar king, and committed them to prison. The people tbilowed with 
 cheerful acclamations and called them lirututesy because Brutus 
 was (he man who expelled the kings, and put the guverninenl in 
 the hands f>f the senate and people. 
 
 Upon this, many applied to Marcus Brutus, who, by the father's 
 side, was supposed (o be a descendam of (ha( ancient Brutus, and 
 whose mother was of the illustrious house of the Servilii. He was 
 also nephew and son. in-law to Caio. No man was more inclined 
 than he to lift his hand aguinsi moiiarchy. but he was withheld by 
 the honours and fuvours he had received irom Cssar, who had not 
 only given him his lite after the deteai of Pompey at Pharsalia, and 
 pardoned many of his friends at his request, but cimtinued lo ho. 
 nour him with his confidence. 'I'hat very year he had procured 
 him the most honourable prsBtorship, and he had named him f(»r the 
 consulship four years after, in preference to Cassius, who wtui his 
 competitor. On whieh ocoision Csesar is reported to have said, 
 "Cassius assigns the slronj^est reasons, but i cannot refuse Bru- 
 tus." Some impcHched Brutus, after the conspiracy was formed; 
 but, instead of listemiii; t<^thein, he laid his hand on his bod>,aiid 
 said, ** Brutus will wait (or this skin:" intimating, (hat, though the 
 virtue of Brutus rendered him worthy of empire, he would not be 
 guilty of any ingratitude or baseness to obtain it. Those, howe- 
 ver, who were desirous of a change, kept their eyes upon hini only, 
 or principally at leuNt ; iind as they durst not speak out plain, they 
 put billets night after night in the tribunal and seal which ho used 
 as praetor, mostly in these terms, ** Thou sleepest Bruius;" or, 
 *' Thou art not Brutus." 
 
 Cassms, perceiving his friend's ambition a littlo stimulated by 
 
JULIUS C^SAR. 367 
 
 these papers, began to ply him closer than bei'or^, and spur him on 
 to the great enterprise : for tie had a particular enmity ai>ainst Cae- 
 sar. Caesar, too. had some suspicion of inuj, and he even said one 
 day to his friends, " What think you of Cassms ? 1 do not like his 
 pale looks." 
 
 We are told, there were c-'trong signs and presages of the death 
 of Caesar. Many report, that a < ertam s«»'>ihsayer forewarned him 
 of a jjreat danger which threatened him on the ides of Mnrcb, and 
 that when the day was come, as he was going to the senate. hows?;, 
 he called to the soothsayer, and said iaughmg, "The ides of March 
 are come :" to which he answered softly, " Yes : but thev are not 
 gone." The evening before, he supped with Marcus Lepidus, and 
 signed, according to custom, a number of letters, as he sat at ta- 
 ble. While he was so employed, there arose a question, '* What 
 kind of death was the best ?" and Caesar answering before them 
 all, cried out, " A sudden one." The same night, as he was m bed 
 with his wife, the doors and windows of the room fle.' open at 
 once. Disturbed both with the noise and the light, he observed, 
 by moonshine, Calpurnia in a deep sleep, utteriritr broken words 
 and inarticulate groans. She dreamed that she was wt eping over 
 him, as she held him, murdered, m her arms. Be that as it may, 
 next mtirning she conjured Caesar not to go out that day, if he 
 could possibly avoid it, but to sojourn the senate, and, if he paid 
 no regard to her dreams, to have recourse to some other species 
 of divination, or to sacrifices, for information as to his fare. This 
 gave him some suspicion and alarm; for he had iiever known, be- 
 fore, in Calpurnia, any thing of the weakness or superstition of her 
 sex, though she was now so much affected. 
 
 He therefore offered a number of sacrifices, and as the diviners 
 found no auspieious token> in them he sent Antony to dismiss the 
 senate. In the mean time, Deems Brums,* surnamed Albinus, 
 came in. He was a person in whom Caesar placed such confidence, 
 that he had appointed him his second heir, yet he was engaged in 
 the conspiracy with «he othei Brutus and Cassius. This man, fear- 
 ing that if Caesar adjourned the senate to another day the affair 
 might be discovered, laughed at the diviners, and told Caesar he 
 would be highly to blame, if, by such a slight, he gave the senate 
 an occasion to complain against him. " For they were met/' he 
 said, " at his summons, and came prepared w»th one voice to ho- 
 nour him with the title of king in the provinces, and to grant that he 
 should wear the diadem both by land and sea every where out of 
 Italy. But if any one go and tell them, now they have taken their 
 places, they must go home again, and return when Calpurnia hap- 
 pens to have better dreams, what room will your enemies have to 
 
 » Plutarch finding a D prefixed to Brutus, took it f^i: Decius, but iiis name was 
 Decrrnus Brutus. See J]ppian and Suetonius. 
 
» I 
 
 359 JULIUS C£SAK. 
 
 launch out aurainst you ? Or who will bear your friend* when thev 
 attempt to show, that this m not an open wirviiude on the one hand, 
 and tyranny on the other? if you are absolutely persuaded that 
 this is an unlucky day, it is certainly better to go yourself, and tell 
 them \ ou have stroni; reasons tor putting off business till another 
 tiniH.** So saving, h^- took Cssar b> the hand, aitd led him out. 
 
 He was not gone far from the d<K)r, when a slave, who belonged 
 to some other person, utteinpted to get up to speak to him, but tind> 
 ing it impossible, by reason of the crowd that was about hint, he 
 made his way into the house, and putting himself into the bauds of 
 Calpurnia, desired her to keep him safe till Csesar's reium, beeame 
 he had matters of great importance to communicate. 
 
 Artemidorus the Ciiidian, who, by teaching the Greek eloquence, 
 became acquainted with some of Brutus's friends, and had got iq. 
 telligence of most of the transactions, approa<hed Caesar with a pa- 
 per, explaining what he had to discover. Observing that he gave 
 the papers, as fast as he received them, to his officers, he got up 
 us close as possible, and said, ** Cssar, read this to yourself, and 
 quickly ; for it contains matters of great consequence, and «if the 
 last concern to you." He took it, and attempted several limes to 
 read it, but was always prevented by one application or other. He 
 therefore kept that paper, and that only, in his own hand, when he 
 entered the house. 
 
 In the place where the senate was that day assembled, and which 
 proved the scene of that tragedy, there was a statue of Ponipey, 
 and it was an edifice which Pumpey had consecrated for an oma- 
 ment to his theatre. Even Cassius himself, though inclined to the 
 doctrines of Epicurus, turned his eye to the statue of Pompey, and 
 ftecretly invoked his aid, before the great attempt. Antony, who 
 was a faithful friend to Csesar, and a man of great strength, was 
 held in discourse without by Brutus Albinus, who had contrived a 
 long s'ory to detain him. 
 
 When Ctesar entered the house, the senate rose to do him ho- 
 nour. Some of Brutus's accomplices came up behind his chair, 
 and others before it, pretending to intercede, along with Metiliiot 
 Ciinbri,* for the recul of his brother from exile. They continued 
 their instances till he came to his seat. When he was seated, he 
 gave them a positive denial ; and as they continued their importu- 
 nities with an air of compulsion, he grew angry. Cimber, then, 
 with both hands, pulled his gown off his neck, which was the sig- 
 nal for the attack. Casca gave him the first blow. It was a stroke 
 upon the neck with his sword, but the wound was not dangerous : 
 
 * Metilliut 11 pininlv «corriipiion Su«inniU9 call* him Cmbtr T\ilUu$. In Ap- 
 pian hf> iH called JlntUiu$ Cimher. and ih«re is a medal whicn hean that name : bat 
 thai •»ertal it believed lo be iMMiriout. Some call him Mttellut Cimtwr j and oUMrs 
 mippoce we should /end M. TulliusCimber. 
 
JULIUS CiBSAR. 369 
 
 for in the beginning of so tremendous an enterprise he was proba- 
 bly in some disorder. Caesar therefore turned upon him, and laid 
 hold of his sword. At the same lime ihey both cried out, the one 
 in Latin, " Villam ! Casca ! what dost thou mean ?" and the other 
 in Greek, to his brother, " Brother, help !" 
 
 After such a begi.nnmj;, those who knew nothing of the conspi- 
 racy were seized with consternation and horror, insomuch that they 
 durst neither fly, nor as>ist, nor even utter a word. AH the conspi- 
 rators now drew their swords, and surrounded him in such a man- 
 ner, that whatever way he turned, he saw nothing but steel gleam- 
 ing in his face, and met nothing but wounds. Like some savage 
 beast attacked by the hunters, he foiind every hand lifted against 
 him, lor they all agreed to have a share m the sacrifice and taste 
 of his blood. Theretore Brutus himself gave hiin a stroke in the 
 groin. Some say, he opposed the resr, and coniinu»-d struggling 
 and crying out, till he perceived the sword of Brutus ; then he drew 
 his robe over his face, and yielded to his fate. Either by accident, 
 or pushed thither by the conspirators, he expired on the .pedestal of 
 Pompey's ssatue, and dved it with his blood : so that Pompey seem- 
 ed to preside over the work of vengeance, to tread his enemy un- 
 der his feet, and to enjoy his agonies. Those agonies were great, 
 for he received no less than three and twenty wounds. And many 
 of the conspirators wounded each other, as they were aiming their 
 blows at him. 
 
 Caesar thus despatched, Brutus advanced to speak to the senate, 
 and to assign his reasons for what he had done, but they could not 
 bear to hear him ; they fled out of the house, and filled the people 
 with inexpressible horror and dismay. Some shut up their houses; 
 others left their shops and counters. All were in motion : one was 
 running to see the spectacle ; another running back. Antony and 
 Lepidus, Caesar's principal friends, withdrew and hid themselves 
 in other people's houses. Mean time Bruti>s and his confederates, 
 yet warm from the slaughter, marched in a body with their bloody 
 swords in their hands, from the senate-house to the capitol, not like 
 men that flwl, bur with an air of gaiety and confidence, calling the 
 people to liberty, and stopping to talk with every man of conse- 
 quence whom they met. There were some who even joined them, 
 and mingled with their train ; desirous of appearing to have had a 
 share in the action, and hoping for one in the glory. Of this num- ; 
 ber were Caius Octavius and Lentulus Spinther, who afterwards/ 
 paid dear for their vanity ; being put to death by Antony and young 
 Caesar. So that they gained not even the honour for which they 
 lost their lives ; for nobody believed that they had any part in the 
 enterprise ; and they were punished, not for the deed, but for th© 
 will. 
 
 Next day Brutus, and the rest of the conspirators^ can»e do^vn. 
 3a 
 
3Y9 di/LIUS C£9A& 
 
 from the capitol, and addressed the people, who attended to thoir 
 discourse, without expressing either dit<hk«^ or approbation ut what 
 was done. But bv their silence it appeared that thit\ piiied.C'flesar 
 at the same time that they revered Brutus. The senate passed a 
 general amiiest\ ; and to reconcile all parties^ they decreed Ce. 
 ear divine honours, and confirmed all the acts of his dictatorship ; 
 while on Brutus and his friends they bestowed governmeuts, and 
 such honours as were suitable : so that it was geiieruUy imagined 
 the commonwealth was firmly established again, and all brought 
 into the best order. 
 
 But when, upon the opening of Ceesar^s will, it was found that he 
 had left every Roman citizen a considerable legacy, and tho\ be. 
 held the body, as it was carried through the forum, ail mangled 
 with wounds, the multitude could no longer be kept withm bounds. 
 They stopt the procession, and tearing up the benches, with the 
 doora and tables, heaped them into a pile, and burnt the corpse 
 there. Then snatching flaming brands from the pile, some ran to 
 burn the houses of the assassins, while others ranged the city, to 
 find the conspirators themselves, and tear them in pieces ; but they 
 had taken such care to secure themselves, that they could not meet 
 with one of them. 
 
 Caesar died at the age of fiAy-six, and did not survive Pompey 
 above four years. His object was sovereign power and authority, 
 which he pursued through innumerable dangers, and which by pro- 
 digious efforts he gained at last. But he reaped no other fruit 
 from it, than an empty and invidious title. It is true, the divine 
 power which conducted him 'hrough life, attended him after his 
 death, as his avenger pursued and hunted out the assassins oversea 
 and land, and rested not till there was not a man left, either of 
 those who dipt their hands in his blood, or of those who gave their 
 sanction to the deed. 
 
371 
 
 DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 Flourished 360 years before Christ. 
 
 Whoevee it was, my Sossius, that wrote the encomium upon 
 Alcibiades, for his victory in the chariot-race ai the Olympic games, 
 whether Euripides, (which is the common opinion,) or some other, 
 he asserts, that ** The first requisite to happiness is, that a man be 
 born in a famous city." But as to real happiness, which consists 
 principally in the disposition and habit of the mind, for my part, I 
 think it would make no difference though a man should be born in 
 an inconsiderable town, or of a mother who had no advantages 
 either of siz« or beauty : for it is ridiculous to suppose that Julis, 
 a small town in the isle of Ceos, which is itself not great, and 
 jEgina,* which an Athenian " wanted to take away, as an eye-sore 
 to the Piraeus," should give birth to good poets and players, and 
 not be able to produce a man who might attain the virtues of justice, 
 of contentment, and of magnanimity. Indeed, those arts, which 
 are to gain the masters of them considerable profit or honour, may 
 probably not flourish in mean and insignificant towns. But virtue, 
 like a strong anci hardy plant, will take root in any place, where it 
 can find an ingenuous nature, and a mind that has no aversion to 
 labour and discipline. Therefore, if our sentiments or conduct fall 
 short of the point they ought to reach, we must not impute it to the 
 obscurity of that place where we were born, but to our little selves. 
 
 These reflections, however, extend not to an author, who would 
 write a history of events which hapf)ened in a foreign country, and 
 carmot be come at in his own. As he has his materials to collect 
 from a variety of books dispersed in different libraries, his first 
 care should be to take up his residence in some populous town 
 which has an ambition for literature. There he will meet with 
 many curious and valuable books ; and the particulars that are 
 wanting in writers, he may, upon inquiry, be supplied with by those 
 who have laid them up in the faithful repository of memory. This 
 will prevent his work from being defective in any material point. 
 As to myself, I live in a little town, and I choose to live there, lest 
 it should become still less. When I was in Rome, and other parts 
 of Italy, I had not leisure to study the Latin tongue, on account of 
 the public commissions with which I was charged, and the number 
 of people that came to be instructed by me in philosophy. It was 
 not, therefore, till a late period in life, that I began to read the 
 
 « The poet Sioionides were of Ceos and Folos the aetnr was of.^gma. 
 
372 DLMOSTHENKS. 
 
 Roman authors. Tho process may seem strange, and yet it is vcrry 
 true. 1 did nor ho much gain the knowledge ot' ttiuigii by ttie words, 
 a:} words by the knowledge I had of thingn. 1 nhull only ad«i, that 
 to attain spch a skill in the languace'. as to be maxtpr of rhe beauty 
 and fluency of its expressions, with its tigures, its narmony, and ail 
 the other graces of its structure, would, wdedd, be an elegant and 
 agreeable uccoinphshmeut. But the prHcicf and pauis ii requires, 
 are more than 1 liave lime for, and 1 must leave the ambition to 
 excel in that walk to young mea. 
 
 We intend now to give the Lives of Demosthenes and Cicero, 
 and, from thetr actions and poliiicul conduct, we shall collect and 
 compare their manners and dispositions; but, for the reason already 
 assigned, we .vbuU not pretend to exiimine their orations, or to de- 
 termine which of them was the most agreeable speaker. For, as 
 Ion says, 
 
 What's the gay dulphin whmo be quits the waves, 
 Aud t)o«ii>ds upon ine shore f 
 
 Calius, a writer at all times much too presumptuous, paid little 
 regard to that maxim of the poet's, when he so boldl\ attempted a 
 comparison between Demosthenes and Cicero. But perhaps the 
 precept, Know thyself ^ would not be considered as divine, if ever)' 
 man could casilj reduce it to practice. 
 
 It seems to me that Demosthenes and Cicero were originally 
 formed by nature in tlie same mould, so great is tlie resemblance 
 in their disposition. The same ambition, the same love of liberty, 
 appears in their whole administration, and the same timidity amidst 
 wars and dangers. Nor did they less resemble each other in thoir 
 fortunes. For I think it impossible to 5nd two other orators, who 
 raised themselves from obscure beginnings to such authority and 
 po\yer ; who both opposed kings and tyrants; who both lost their 
 daughters ; were banished their country, and returned with honour ; 
 were forced (o fly again ; were taken by their enemies, and at last 
 expired the same hour with the liberties of their countrj. So that, 
 if nature and fortune, like two artificers, were to descend upon tho 
 Bcene, and dispute about their work, ii would be difHrult to decide 
 whether the former had produced a greater resemblance in their 
 dispttsitions, or the latter in the circumstances of their Uvr^ Wr; 
 shall begin with the more ancient. 
 
 Demosthenes, the father of Demosthenes, was one of liie pnn. 
 cipal citizens of Athens. Theoi>ompus tells us, he was called tho 
 sword.cutler, because he employed a great number of slaves in 
 that business. He had a large fortune \e\\ him by his father who 
 died when he was rmly seven years of aite ; the whole being e.sti. 
 muted at little less than fifteen talents. But he was greatly w rongcd 
 
 •Casrilius WHS a ceieiirnte'1 rneioricMin. who livrd m the iinie of AugUMuti H% 
 Wrt>i« a TfeeiiM on the StwhliMie, which is inentiunvd by Lonninus. 
 
DEMOSTHENES. 373 
 
 by his guardians, who converted part to their own use, and suffered 
 psyt to lie nejilected. Nay, they were vile enough fo deiVaud his 
 tutors of their salaries. This was the chief r^tason that he had not 
 those advantages of education, to which his quality entitled him. 
 His mother did not choose that he should be put to hard and labo- 
 ri'ius exercises, on account of the weakness and neluacy «»f his 
 frame ; and his preceptors, being ill paid, did not press him to 
 attend them. 
 
 His ambition to speak in pul^ic is said, to have taken its rise on 
 this occasion. Ttie orator Callistratus was (0 plead in the cause 
 which the city of Oropus* had depending ; and the expectation of 
 the public was greailv raised boih by the powers of the orator, 
 which were then in the highest repute, and by the importance of 
 the trial. Demosthenes hearing the goveritors and tutors agree 
 among themselves to attend the trial, with much importunity pre- 
 vailed on his master to take him to hear the pleadings. The mas- 
 ter having some acquaintance with the officers who opened the 
 court, got his young pupii a seat where he t-ould hear the orators 
 without being seen. Callistratus had great success, and his abilties 
 were extremely admired. Demosthenes was fired with a spirif of 
 emulation. VVhen he saw with what distinction the orator was 
 conducted home, and complimented by the people, he was struck 
 still more with the power of that commanding eloquence, which 
 could carry all before it. From this time, therefore, he badn adieu 
 to the <»iher studies and exercise in which boys are engaged, and 
 applied himself with great assiduity to declaiming, m hopes of being 
 one day numbered among the orators. Isasus was the man he made 
 use of HS his preceptor in eloquence, th«)Ugh Isocratesthen taught it. 
 When his minority was expired, he called his guardians to ac- 
 count at law, and wrote orations against them.. As they found 
 many methods of chicane and dela\ , he had great opportunity, as 
 Thucvdides says, to exercise his talents tor the bar.f It was not 
 without much pains and some risk that he gained his cause ; and, 
 at last, it was but a very small part of his patrimonv that he could 
 recover. By this means, however, he acquired a proper assurance, 
 and some experience ; and having tasted the honour and power that 
 go in the train of eloquence, he attempted to speak in the public 
 debates, and take a share in the adniinisi ration. 
 
 However, in his first address to the people, he was laughed at, 
 
 * Oropus was a town on the banks of the Euripus. on the frontiers of Attica The 
 Thebans. though they had been relieveri in iheirrtistress by Chabriasanri the Athenians, 
 forgot meir former services, anrt took Oropus from them C'habrias was suspecteri uf 
 treachery, and Callistratus. the orator was retained to plead ngainst him. Demos- 
 thenes mentions this in his orations against Phinias At the time of this trial, he was 
 about sixteen. 
 
 + He lost his father at the age of seven : and he was ten years in the hands of guar- 
 dians. He. tnerefore, began to plead in his eighteenth year, which, as it was only in 
 his own private affairs, was not forbidden by the laws. 
 ^2 
 
3^4 DEMOSTHE!«S. 
 
 and interrupted by their clamours : for the vioJettce of his manner 
 threw him into a confusion ot periods, and a dinortion ol his argu- 
 mem. Besides, he hud u weakm-ss and a siammering in his voice, 
 and a want ol' brea|h, which caused such a disirartioii in his dis« 
 course, ihni ir was difficult tor ihe audwiice to iindir^tand him. At 
 last, upon ius quMing the asstrniblx , tluiiomus the 'I'hriasian, a man 
 now extremely old, found him wauderiiig in a drjecied cundiiion 
 in Ihe Pirceus, and took upon him to sei him right. ** Vou,'* said 
 he, ** have a manner of speaking ver\ like that ot* Periclfs ; and 
 yet you lose yourseit' out of utere timidity and cowardice. Yoa 
 neither bear up against the tumults of a popular assembK, nor pre- 
 pare your bodj by exercise for he labour of the mstrum, but suffer 
 your parts to wither awa\ in negligence and indolence." 
 
 Another time, we are told, when his speeches had been ill recei- 
 ved, and he was going home with his head covered, and in great 
 distress, Satyrus the pla\er followed and went in with him. De- 
 mosthenes lamented to him, *' That, though he was the mi>st labo- 
 nous of all the orators, and had almost sacrificed his health tu that 
 upplicatntn, yet he could gam no favour with the pe<iple : but 
 dninken seamen, and other unlettered persons, were heard ; and 
 kept the rostrum, while he was entirel\ disregarded."* ** You say 
 true," answered Satyrus; ♦* but 1 will soon provide a remedy, if 
 you will repeat lo me some speech in Euripides or Soph cles," 
 When Demosthenes had done, Satyrus pronounced the same 
 speech ; and he did it with so much proprietv of action, and so 
 much in character, that it appeared to the «.rator quite a different 
 passage. He now understood so well how much grace and dignity 
 action adds to tfie best oration, that he thought it a Hmall matter to 
 premeditate and compose, though with the utmost care, if th« pro- 
 num-iation and propriety of gesture were not attended to. Tpon 
 this he built himself a subtrnmeous study, whither he repaired 
 every day, to form his action, and exercise his voice : and he 
 would often 8ta\ there for two or three months together; shaving 
 one side of his head, thai, if he should happen to be ever so desi- 
 reus of going ahroad, the shame of appearing in that condition 
 miffht keep him in. 
 
 When he did go out upon a visit, or received one, he would lake 
 something that passed in conversation, some business or fact that 
 was reported to him, for a subject to exercise himself upon. As 
 soon us he had parted from his friends, he went to his study, where 
 be repeated the matter in order as it passed, together with the 
 arguments for and against it. The substance of the speeches 
 which he heard, he committed to memory, and afterwards reduced 
 
 * This w«« tha pnviisf* of all demoemiic »uim Stmie Uiink that t>]r 
 psant Demsdw, wIkms pwimion was mat of a mariner. 
 
DEMOSTHENES. 375 
 
 them to regular sentences and periods,* meditating a variety of 
 corrections and new forms of expression, boih tor what others had 
 said to him, and he had addressed to them. Hence it was con- 
 cluded that he was not a man of much genius ; and that all his 
 eloquence was the effect oi labour. A strong proof of this seemed 
 to be, I hat he was seldom heard to speak aiiv thmg extempore, and 
 though the people often called upon him by name, as he sat in the 
 assembly, to speak to the point debated, he would not do it unless 
 he came prepared. For this many of the orators ridiculed him ; and 
 Pyiheas, in particular, t<ild him, " That all his arguments smelled 
 of the lamp." DenK)sthenes retorted sharply upon him. '* Yes, 
 indeed ; but your lamp and mine, my friend, are not conscious to 
 the same labours." To others he did not pretend to deny his pre- 
 vious application, but told them, •' He neither wrote the whole of 
 his orations, nor spoke without first committing part to writing." 
 Another proof they give us of his want of confidence on any sudden 
 occasion, is that when he happened to be put in disorder by the 
 tumultuary behaviour of the people, Demades often rose up to 
 support him in an extempore address^ but he never did the same 
 for Demades. 
 
 Wherefore, then, it may be said, did iEschines callhim an orator 
 of the mosf admirable assurance? How could he stand up alone 
 and refute Python the Bvzatitian,f whose eloquence poured against 
 the Athenians like a torreui ? And when Lama<-hus the .Vlvrrhene-anij: 
 pronounced at the Olympic games an encomium which he had 
 written upon Philip and Alexander ; and in which he had asserted 
 many severe and reproachful things against the Thebans and 
 Olynthians, how could Demosthenes rise up and prove, by a ready 
 deduction of facts, the many benefits for which Greece was indented 
 to the Thebans and Chalcidians, and the many evils that the flat- 
 terers of the Macedonians had brought upon iheir country ? This, 
 too, wrought such a change in the minds of the great audience, 
 that the sophist, his antagonist, apprehending a tumult, stole out of 
 the assembly. 
 
 * Cicero did the same, as we find in his epistles to Atticus. These arguments he 
 calls Theses Poltticct. 
 
 + This was one of the mosjt glorious circumstances in the life of Demosthenes. The 
 fate of his country, in a great measure, depended on his eloquence. After Plataca was 
 lost, and Philip threatened to march against Athens, the Athenians applied for succours 
 to the Boeotians. Wtien the league was established, and the troops assemhied at 
 Ohaeronea. Philip sent ambassadors to the council of Boeotia, the chief of whom was 
 Python, one of the ablest orators of his time When he had inveighed with all the 
 powers of eloquence against the Athenians and their cause. Demosthenes answered 
 him. and carried the point in their favour. He was so elevated with this victory, that 
 be nrentions it in one of his orations in almost the same terms that Plutarch has used 
 here. 
 
 t If we suppose this Lamachus to have been of Attica, the text should be altered from 
 Myrrhendan to Myrrhinusian ; for Myrrhimts was a borough of Attica. But there 
 jvas a town called Myrrhioe in .^oUa, and another in Leninog, and probably Lama- 
 chus wus of on« of thejSR 
 
S76 
 
 Upon the whole, it appears that Demosthenes did not take Peri- 
 cles entirel) for hi8 mod*-!. He oiiIn adopted hiH action asd delivery, 
 and iii^ prudent resolution not to make a practice of speaking from 
 a sudoen inipuUe, or on anv occasion thai might present Itself; 
 being persuaded, that it was to that conduct he owed his greatnass. 
 Yet, while he chose not often to trust the succesn of his powers to 
 fortune, he did not absolutelx negiect the reputation which may be 
 acquired bx speaking oii a tHiddt-n occaMion. Erat(»slhenes says, 
 that, ill his extemp4»raueouH harangues, he often spoke as lironi a 
 supernatural impulse ; and Deinetnus tell us, that, in an address 
 to the people, like a man inspired, he once, uttered this oath io 
 verse, 
 
 By csrth, by all her fountains, •irsamt, and floods. 
 
 As for his pergonal defects, Demetrius the Phalerian gives us an 
 account of the remedies he applied to them ; and he shvr he had 
 it front Demosthenes in his old age. The hesitation and fttanimer* 
 ing of his* u»iigue he corrected by practising to spenk with pebbles 
 in his mouth ; and he strengthened his voice by -running or walking 
 up-hill, and pronouncing some passage in an orntinn or a poem, 
 during the difficulty of breath whirti that caused. He hnd, more- 
 over, a lookiiig-glass in Um house, before which he used to declaim, 
 and a<iju>4t all Wit* motions. 
 
 It is said, that a man came to him one day, and desired hrm (o 
 be Wm advocate agaioHt a person from wh(»m he had suffered by 
 assault. ** Not you, indeed," said Demosthenes, ** you have suf. 
 fered iif) such thing." *• What !" said the man, raising his voice, 
 " hnve I not received those blows?" ** Ay, now," replied Demos. 
 fluiirs, •♦ you do speak like a person that has been injured." So 
 much, in his opinion, do the tone of voice and the action contribute 
 to gain the speaker credit in what he affirms. His action pleased 
 the commonalty much ; but people of taste (amotig whom was 
 Demetrius the Phalerian,) thought there was something in it low, 
 imiegant, and unmanly. Hermippus acquaints us, that if^ian 
 being asked his opmion of the ancient orators, and those of that 
 time, said, '* Whoever has heard the orators of former timen roust 
 admire the decorum and dignit> with which they spoke. Yet when 
 we read the orations of Demosthenes, we .must allow they have 
 more art in the composition, and greater force. In his written 
 orations, there was something extremely cutting and severe ; but, 
 in his f<udden repartees, there was also something of humour. 
 
 He telU ii.s himself, that he entered upon public business in the 
 time of the Pl.ocian war; and the same may be collected from his 
 Philippics. For 8<»me of the last of them were delivered aOer that 
 war was fininhed, and the former relate to the immediate transac 
 fions of it. It appears alto, that he w:i 1 thirty years old, 
 
 \\!irn he was preparing his oration ogu I >s: and yct^ot that 
 
DEMOSTHENES. ($77 
 
 time he had attained no name or power in the administration. This, 
 indeed, seems to be the reason of his droppmg the prosecution fox 
 a sam of money. For, 
 
 No prayer, no moving art, 
 
 E'er bent thai fierce, inexoraole heart. Pope. 
 
 He was vindictive in his nature, and implacable in his resent, 
 ments. He saw it a difficuh thing, and out of the reach of his m- 
 terest, to pull down a man so well supported on all sides, as Midias, 
 by wealth and friends : and therefore he listened to the application 
 in his behalf. Had he seen any hopes or pussibiUty of crushing 
 his enemy, I cannot think that three thousand drachmas could have 
 disarmed his anger. 
 
 He had a glor'ous subject for his political ambition, to defend the 
 cause of Greece against Philip. He defended it like a champion 
 worthy of such a charge, and soon gained great reputation both for 
 eloquence and for the bold truths which he spoke. He was ad- 
 mired in Greece, and courted by the king of Persia. Nay, Philip 
 himself had a higher opinion of him than the other orators ; and his 
 enemies acknowledged that they had to contend with a great man. 
 Panaetius, the philosopher, asserts, ttiat m(Kst of his orations are 
 written upon this principle, that virtue is to be chosen lor her own 
 sake only ; that, for instance, Of the Crown, ihat again** Arista. 
 crates, that For the Immunities, and the Philippics, ^'^ ^1' these ora- 
 tions, he does not exhort his countrym^" 'O that which is most 
 agreeable or easy, or advantageous,* but points out honour and 
 propriety as the first objects, an<i leaves the safety of the state as a 
 matter of inferior consideration. So that, if, beside that noble am. 
 bition which animated his measures, and the generous turn of his 
 addresses to the people, he had been blest with the courage that 
 war demands, and had kept his hands clean of bribes, he would 
 not have been numbered with such orators as Mirocles, Polyeuctus, 
 and Hyperides, but have deserved to be placed in a higher sphere 
 with Crinon, Thucydides,^nd Pericles. Though he bore up against 
 the assaults of corruption from Ptrilip aud the Macedonians, yet he 
 was taken by the gold of Susa and Ecbaiana : so that he was much 
 better qualified to recommend, than to imitate, the virtues of oup 
 ancestors. It must be acknowledged, however, that he excelled 
 all the orators of his time, except Phocion, in his life and conver- 
 sation. And we find in his orations, that he told the people the 
 boldest truths, that he opposed their inclinations, and corrected 
 their errors with the greatest spirit and freedom. When the Athe- 
 nians were for having him manager of a certain impeachment, and 
 insisted upon it in a tumultuary manner, he would not comply, but 
 rose up and said, " My friends, I will be your counsellor, whethep 
 you will or no ; but a false accuser 1 will not be, how much ga. 
 ever you wish it." 
 
 3b 82r£ 
 
978 DEMOSTHEiNES. 
 
 Demosthenes, through the whole course of his political conduci, 
 left none of the actions of the king of Macedun uudispuruged. 
 Even in time of peace, he laid hold on everv opportunity l«» raise 
 suspicions against him among the Athenians and to excite their 
 resentment. Hence, Philip l(»oked upon hini as a penxin ot the 
 greatest importance in Athens ; and when he went with nine other 
 deputies to the court of that prince, after having ^iven them all au> 
 dience, he answered the speech ot Demosthenes with greater care 
 than the rest. As to other marks of honour and respect, Demos- 
 thenes had not an equal 8hare in them ; thev were tiestuwed prin> 
 cipally upon iEschines and Philocrates. The>, therefore, praised 
 Philip on all occasions; and, insisted, in particular, on hitf elo* 
 qtience, his beauty, and even his being able t«i drink a great guan- 
 tity of liquor. Demosthenes, who could not bear to heai him com- 
 mended, turned these things off as triHes. *' The first," he said, 
 " was the property of a sophist, the second of a woman, and the 
 third of a sponge ; and not one uf them could dti any credit to a 
 king." 
 
 At>erwards it appeared, that nothing was to be expected but war, 
 for, on one hand, Philip knew not how to sit down in tranquillity ; 
 and, on the other, Demosthenes lutlamed the Athenians. In this 
 case, Uio first step the orator look, was to put the people upon send, 
 ing an armament to Eubcea, which was brought under the yoke of 
 Philip by its petty tyianta. Acrordmgly he iirew up an edict, in 
 pursuance of which they passed over to that penuisula, and drove 
 out the Macedonians. His second operation was the sending sue- 
 coursto the Byzantians and Permthians, with whom Philip was at 
 war. He persuaded the people lo drop ih«ir resentment, to forget 
 the faults which both those nations had conimittt:d m the confede- 
 rate war, and to send a body of troops to their assi>iaiice. They 
 did BO, and it saved them trom rum. Aftei this he went anibassa- 
 dor to I he AtateM of Greece, and, by his animating address, orouobt 
 them almost all to join in the league against Philip. Beside the 
 troops of the several cities, they took an army ot mercenaries, to 
 the number of fiHeen thousand foot, and two thousand horse, into 
 pay, and readily contributed to the charge. Theophrastus tells us. 
 that, when the allies desired their contributions might be settled, 
 Crobylus, the orator answered, *' That war could not be brought to 
 any set diet." 
 
 So powerful were the efforts of the orator, that Philip inunediaialy 
 sent ambassadors to Athens to apf>ly for peace; lircece > ^ I 
 her spirits, whilst she stood waiting for the event; and u> >t> 
 
 Athenian generals, but the governors of BoDotia were reudv to cz 
 ecute the commands of Demosthenes. All the asfiemblies,' as well 
 those of Theb<>s, as those of Athens, were under his direction ; ho 
 t^Qs equally beloved and powerful in both places : and, as Tbeo- 
 
DEMOSTHENES. 379 
 
 pompus shows, it was no more than his merit claimed. But the 
 superior power ot" tortune, which seems to have been working a re- 
 vohinoii, and drawing the hberties of Greece to a period, at that 
 time opposed and battled all the measures that Cfiuld be taken. 
 
 Demosthenes is said to have had such confidence m the Grecian 
 arms, and to have been so much elated with the courage and spi- 
 rit of so many brave men calling for the enemy, that he would not 
 sutler them to regard any oracles or prophecies. He told them, 
 thai he suspected he prophetess herself of Philippizing, He put 
 the Thebans in mind of Epaminondas, and the Athenians of Pe- 
 ricles, how they reckoned such things as mere pretexts of coward- 
 ice, an*l pursued the plan which their reason had dictated. Thus 
 far Demosthenes acquitted himself like a man of spirit and honour. 
 But ill the battle of Chajronea he performed nothing worthy of the 
 glorious thinjjs he had spoken. He quitted his post; he threw away 
 his arms; he tied in the most infamous manner; and was not 
 ashamed to bely the inscription which he had put upon his shield 
 in golden characters, to «ood fortune. 
 
 Iiiiinediately afier the victory, Philip, in the elation of his heart, 
 comtnitied a thousand excesses. He drank to intoxication, and 
 danced over the dead, making a kind of song of the first part of fhe 
 decree which Demosthenes had procured, and beating time to it— 
 Demosthenes, the PcBncan, son of Demosthenes, has decreed. But 
 when he came to be sober again, and considered the dangers with 
 which he had lately been surrounded, he trembled to think of the 
 prodigious force and power of that orator, who had obliged him to 
 put both empire and life on the cast of a day, on a few hours of 
 that day.* 
 
 The fame of Demosthenes reached the Persian court ; and the 
 king wrote letters to his lieutenants, commanding them to supply 
 him with money, and to attend to him more than to any other man 
 in Greece ; because he best knew how to make a diversion in his 
 favour, by raising fresh troubles, and finding employment for the 
 Macedonian arms nearer home. This Alexander afterwards* dis- 
 covered by the letters of D<}mosthenes which he found at Sardis; 
 and the papers of the Persian governors expressing the sums which 
 had been given him. 
 
 When the Greeks had lost this great battle, those of the contrary 
 faction attacked Demosthenes, and brought a variety of public ac- 
 cusations against him. The people, however, not only acquitted 
 him, but treated him with the same respect as before, and called 
 him to the helm again, as a person whom they knew to be a well- 
 wisher to his country : so that, when the bones of those who fell at 
 
 » Deinades the orator contributed to bring him to the right use of his reason, wHeo 
 he tcld him with such distinguished magnanimity. '• That fortune bad placed Iiira in 
 the character of Agamemnon, but that he chose to play the part of Thersites." 
 
3A DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 Cheronea were brought home to be interred, they pitched upon 
 Demusthenea to make the funeral oration. They were, ihtrelbre, 
 so far from beunng their misfortune mi a mean and ungentfro^t 
 manner, that, by the great honour they did the counsellor, ibey 
 showed they did not repent of having followed his auvice. 
 
 Demosthenes accordingly made the oration. But, after this, be 
 did not prefix his own nauie to h^s edicts, because he considered 
 fortune as inauspicious to him ; but sometimes that ot one friend, 
 sometimes that of another, till he recovered his spirits u\hju the 
 death of Philip, for that prince did not long survive bis victory at 
 Chaeronea. 
 
 Demosthenes had secret intelligt^nce of the death of Philip; and, 
 in order to prepossess the people with the hopes of s<}me good suc> 
 cess to come, he entered the assembly with u gay countenance, 
 pretending he hud seen a vision which announced something great 
 for Athens. Soon after, messengers came with an account of Phi« 
 lip*8 death. The Athenians immediately offered sacritices of ac 
 knowledgment to the gods for so huppy un event, and voted a cmwn 
 for Pausanias, who killed him. Demosthenes on this occasion, 
 made his appearance in magnificent attire, and with a garland oo 
 his head, though it was only the seventh day vfter his daughter's 
 death, as iEschines tells us, who, on thai account, reproaches liim 
 as an unnatural father. But he must himself have been of an un* 
 generous and effeminate disposition, if he considered leais and la- 
 mentations as marks of a kind and affectionate parent, and con. 
 demned the man who bore such a loss with moderation. On the 
 contrary, I commend Demosthenes, for leaving ihe tears and oiber 
 instances of mourning, which his domestic misfurtunes mighi claim, 
 to the women, and going ahnut such actions as h»* thought condu- 
 cive to the welfare of his country : for 1 think u man uf such firm- 
 ness and other abilities as a statesman ought to possess, should al- 
 ways have the common concern in view, and look upon his private 
 Qccid^ents or business as a consideration much inferior to the 
 public. 
 
 Demosthenes now solicited the states of Greece afcain, and they 
 entered once more into a league. The Thebans being furnished 
 with arms by him, attacked the garrison in their citadel, and killed 
 great numbers ; and the Athenians prepared lo joii< them in the 
 war. Demosthenes mounted the rostrum almost every day ; and 
 he wrote to the kin^ of Persia's lieutenants in Asia, to invite them 
 to commence hostilities from that quarter againsl Alexander, whom 
 he called a boy. 
 
 But when Alexander had settled the affairs of his own country, 
 and marched into Bceotia with all his forces, the pride of the Athe- 
 nians was humbled, and the spirit of Derooathenes died away. 
 Tli^y deserted the Tbobans ; and that unhappy people hed to stand 
 
DEMOSTHENES. 381 
 
 the whole fury of the war, in consequence of which they lost their 
 city. The Athenians were in great trouble and confusion ; and 
 they could think of no better measure, than sending Demosthenes, 
 and some others, ambassadors lo Alexander. But Demosthenes 
 dreading the anger of tha monarch, turned back at Mouni Cithae. 
 ron, and rehnquished his commission. Alexander immediately 
 sent deputies to Athens, who, (according toldoineneus and Duns,) 
 demanded that they would deliver up ten of their orators. Bin the 
 greatest part, and those the most repu.able of the historians say, 
 that he demanded only these eight, Demosthenes, Polyeuctus, Ephi- 
 altes, Lycurgus, Myrocles, Damon, Calisthenes, and Charidemus. 
 On this occasion, Demosthenes addressed the pe(»ple m the fable of 
 the sheep, who were to give up their dogs to the wolves, before they 
 would grant them peace : by which he msiimated, that he and the 
 other orators were the guards of the people, as the d<»gs were of 
 the flock : and that Alexander was the great wolf rhey had to treat 
 with. And again : " As we see the merchants carrying about a 
 small sample in a dish, by which they sell large quanities of wh- at, 
 so you, in us, without knowing it, deliver up the whole body of ci- 
 tizens." 
 
 The Athenians dehberated upon the point in full assembly ; and 
 Demades seeing ihem in great perpiexit\ , oflTered to go alone to the 
 king of Macedon, and intercede for the orators, on condition that 
 each of them would give him five talents ; whether it was that he 
 depended upon the friendship that prince had for him; or whether 
 he hoped to find him, like a li< n, satiated with blood. He succeed- 
 ed, however, in his application for the orators, and reconciled Alex- 
 ander to the city. 
 
 When Alexander returned to Macedon, the reputation of De- 
 mades, and the other orators of his party, greatl\ increased ; 
 and that of Demosthenes gradually declined. It is true, he rais- 
 ed his head a little, when Agis, king of Sparta, took the field ; 
 but it soon fell again ; for the Athenians refused to join hiin. 
 Agis was killed in battle, and the Lacedaemonians were eniiiely 
 routed. 
 
 About this time, the affair concerning the crovm* came again upon 
 the carpet. The information was first laid under the arehonship of 
 Chaerondas ; and the cause was not determined tnl ten years after, 
 under Anstophon. It was the most celebrated cause that ever was 
 pleaded, as well on account of the reputation of the orators, as the 
 generous behaviour of 'he judges ; for, though ihe prosiecutors of 
 Demosthenes were then in great power, as being entirely m the 
 Macedonian interest, the judges would not give their voices against 
 » De.nnstheiies reouih tne walls ol Athens at his own expense, for which the peo- 
 pte, at the luoiion of CUesiphon, decreed him a crown of gold I'ljis excited the envy 
 and jeal«)usy of /Escnines, who tticreupon brought that fa-nous impeachment against 
 Demosthenes, which occasioned his inimitable oration d» Corona, 
 
3bd DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 him ; but acquitted him so honourably, that iEacliines had not a 
 fifth part ot tiie ^ulfrage8.''' .£tichiiie» immediatt'K <|uiit(*d Athens, 
 and spent the rest of bis days in teaching rhetoric at Rhodex and 
 in iuina. 
 
 It was not. long after this, thai Harpalus came from Asia to 
 Atheiiti.| He had fled fr«»m the service of \lexaiider, b««fh beeauae 
 he was conscious of having betra\ed hia trust, and because he dread, 
 ed his master, who now was become terrible to his best ineiidtt. As 
 he applied to the people uf Athens for shelter, and desired protection 
 for his ships and treasures, most of the orators had an eye upon 
 the gold, and supported his application with all their interest De- 
 mosthenes at first advised them to order Harpalus off immediately, 
 and to be particular!) careful not to involve the city m war again, 
 without any just or necessary cause. 
 
 Yet a tew days after, \^hen thev were taking an account of the 
 treasure, Harpalus perceiving that Demosthenes was much pleased 
 with one of the king's cups, ai^d stood aiiniiring the workmanship 
 and fashion, desired hiin to take it in his hand, and feel 'he weight 
 of the gold. Deiiiosiheries being surprised at the Heii^ht and ask> 
 ing Harpalus how much it might bring, he smiled, and said, *' It 
 wilt hring you twenty talents." And as soon as it was night, he 
 sent him ihe cup with that sum : for Harpalus knew well how to 
 distiiiguisii a man's passion for gold, b\ his pleasure at the sight, 
 and the k*'en looks he cast upon it. Demosthenes could not resist 
 the temptation ; it made all the impression upon him that was ex- 
 peeled : he received the money, lik« a gariison into his house, and 
 went over to the lntere^t of Harpalus. Next day, he came inn> the 
 assembly with a «)uantity of wool and bandages about his neck ; 
 and when the people called upon him tt> get up and speak, he made 
 signs that he had h)8t his voice. U|>un which S4ime that were by, 
 said, ''It was no common hoarseness that he got in the night ; it 
 was a hoarseness occasioned by swallowing gold and silver." Af. 
 terwards, when ail the people were apprised of his taking the bribe, 
 and tie wanted to speak in his own defence, they would not sutfer 
 him, but raised a clamour, and expressed their indignation. \l the 
 same time, soniebody stood up and said sneeringly, '' Will you not 
 hsten to the man with the cup H The Athenians then immediaiely 
 sent Harpalus off; and, fearing they might be called to account 
 
 * This wa< a very innoMtiniouH circuuistHnce for if ihe aocuMr Had not a Alth 
 part of )ho tuffrai^fa, he wvh fine<i a ihuuMiiid (irachinaa. 
 
 f Hari>alM* hMit ine ctiar^r ol Aiexaii(irr*«i irciniure m Baoylon. Atui. flMneriim bun- 
 •elf that he wnulti nr^nr return frot)> hl^ InHmn fK|M>ni(ioii he gMV» in m an uaontr 
 of criiiifii an<i exce«>*<»'». A- • ^Mitier wa> reiilU rviuoiiof, 
 
 ■nil mat hr ioi»k A M'vert >ii»eil ne iiioufhi prupet lo 
 
 march off Hiih 5.000 trtirn' 
 
 1 Thii atUidei ii> a ruMOM. at inc aitcu iti» *i ii.tiu ItMStk, whera.ii ii was uminI lor 
 the cup lu pau fi(i<i. hand lu hand; and the peraon who Mid it MiDf a to»c, to wtiieb 
 the reat gave aiieniron. 
 
DEMOSTHENES. 383 
 
 for the money with which the orators had been corrupted, they 
 made a etrict inquiry after it, and searched all iheir houses. 
 
 At the same time, Demosthenes, seemingly with a design to 
 prove his mnocence, moved tor an order, that the affair should be 
 brought before the court of Areopagus, and all person?, punished 
 who should be found guilty of taking bribes. In consequence of 
 which, he appeared before that courtj and was one of the first that 
 were convicted. Being sentenced to pay a fine oi fifty talents, and 
 to be imprisoned till it was paid, the disgrace of his conviction, and 
 the weakness of his constitution, which could not bear close con- 
 finement, determined him to fly ; and this he did, undiscovered by 
 some, and assisted by others. It is said, that when he was not far 
 from the city, he perceived some of his late adversaries following,* 
 and endeavoured to hide himself. But they called to him by name ; 
 and when they came nearer, desired him to take some necessary 
 supphes of money, which they had brought with them for that pur. 
 pose. They assured him, they haa no other design m following ; 
 and exhorted him to take c »urage. But Demosthenes gave way to 
 more violent expressions of grief than ever, and said, *' What com- 
 fort can I have, when I leave enemies in this city more generoug 
 than it seems possible to find friends in any other ?" He bore his 
 exile in a very weak and effeminate manner. For the most part, 
 ne resided in iEgina or Trcezene ; where, wheneyei he looked to- 
 wards Atiica, the tears fell from his eyes. In his expressions, there 
 was nothing of a rational firmness ; nothing answerable to the bold 
 things he had said and done m his administration. When he left 
 Athens, we are told, he lifted up his hands towards the citadel, and 
 said, "O Minerva, goddess of those towers, whence is it that thou 
 delightest in three such monsters as an owl, a dragon, and the peo- 
 ple?" The young men who resored to him for instruction, he ad- 
 vised by no means to meddle with affairs of state. He told them, 
 *' That, if two roads had been shown him at first, the one leading to 
 the rostrum and the business of the assembly, and the other to cer- 
 tain destruction ; and he could have foreseen the evils that awaited 
 him in the political walk, the fears, the envy, the calumny and con- 
 tention; he would have chosen that road which led to immediate 
 death." 
 
 During the exile of Demosthenes, Alexander died.f The Greek 
 cities once more combining upon that event, Leosthenes perf<»rm- 
 ed great things ; and, among the rest, drew a line of circumvalla- 
 tion round Antipater, whom he had shut up in Damia. Pytheas, 
 the orator, with Callimedon, surnamed Carabus, left Athens, and 
 
 * [t is recorded by Phocius, that ^schines. when he left Athens, was followed in 
 like manner, and assisted by Demosthenes : and that when he offered him consola- 
 tions, tte made the same answer. Plutarch likewise mentions this circumstance in the 
 Lives of the ten Orators 
 
 -t Olymp. cxiv. Demosthenes was tbep in his fifty-eigbth year. 
 
384 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 going over to Antipater, accompanied his ambaitadors in their ap- 
 
 Rh<-ation8 to the Greekn, and in persuading ihem not to desert the 
 laredunian cause, not hsien to the Atheniuns. On the other hand, 
 Demosthenes joined the Athenian deputies, and exerted himself 
 greaiiy with them, in exhorting the Mates to fall with united efforts 
 upon the MaceaoniaiiK, and drive them out ot Greece. Ph\lar<hu8 
 tells us, that in one of the cities of Arcadia, P\theas and Demos, 
 thenesi spoke ^» ith acrimony ; the one in pleading tor the Macedo* 
 mans, and the olher for the Greeks. Pyiheas m reported to havo 
 said, "As some sickness is always supposed to be in the house in* 
 to which asH*8 miik ih brought, so the cit> which an Athenian em- 
 bassy enters must necessarily be in a sick and decaying condition.*' 
 Demosthenes turned the comparison against him, by sa\ing, **A« 
 ass's milk never enters but for curing the sick, so the Athenians 
 never appear but for remedying some disorder." 
 
 The people of Athens were so much pleased with this repartee, 
 that they immediately voted for the recal of Demosthenes. A gal> 
 ley was sent to lietch him from iEgina, and when he came up Irom 
 the Pyraeus to Athens, the whole body of citizens went to meet and 
 congratulate him on bin return ; insomuch that there was neither 
 a magiHtrate nor priest \et\ in the town. Demetrius of Magnesia 
 acquaints us, tha Demosthenes lifled up his hands towards heaven 
 in thanks for that happy day. '* Happier," said he, ** is my return • 
 than that of Alcibiades. It was through compulsion thai the Athe> 
 nians restored him, hut me they have recalled from a m«aive of 
 kindness." 
 
 The fine, however, still remained due ; for they could not ex- 
 tend their grace so far as to repeal his sentence. But they found 
 out a inethfKl to evade the law, while ihey seemed to comply with 
 it. It was the custom, in the sacrifices to Jupiter the Preserver, 
 to pay I he persons who prepared and adorned the altars. They, 
 therefore, appointed Demosthenes to this charge, and ordered that 
 he should have fifiy talents for his trouble, which waa the sum his 
 fine amounted to. 
 
 But he did not long enjoy his return to his country. The aflTairs 
 of Greece soon went to ruin. They lost the battle ofCrano in the 
 month of August, a Macedonian garrison entered Munychia in 
 September, and DemoHthenes lost his life in October. 
 
 it happened in the following manner : when news was brought 
 that Antipater and Craterus were coming to Athens, Demosthenes, 
 and those of his party, hastened to get out privately before their 
 arrival. Hereupon the people, at the motion of Demades, con- 
 demned them to death. As they fled different ways, Antipater 
 sent a company of soldiers about the country to seize Ihem. Ar- 
 chias, surnamed Phugadotheras, or the Exile-hunter, wh«i bad been 
 sometime a tragedion, was their captain. Bein;; informed that 
 
DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 3S5 
 
 Demosthenes had taken sanctuary in the temple of Neptune at 
 Calauria, he and his Thracian soldiers passed over to it row-boats. 
 A.S soon as he was landed, he went to the orator, and endeavoured 
 to persuade him to quit the temple, and go with him to Antipater ; 
 asssuring him he had no hard measure to expect. But it happen- 
 ed that Demosthenes had seen a strange vision the mght before. 
 He thought he was contending with Archias, which could play the 
 tragedian the best ; that he succeeded in his action, had the audi- 
 ence on his side, and would certainly have obtained the prize had 
 not Archias outdone him in the dresses and decorations in the the- 
 atre. Therefore, when Archias had addressed him with a great 
 appearance of humanity, he fixed his eyes on him and said, with- 
 out rising from his seat, " Neither your acting moved me formerly, 
 nor do your promises move me now." Archias tiien began to 
 fhreaten him, upon which he said, " Before you acted a part ; 
 now you speak as from the Macedonian tripod. Only wait a while, 
 till I have sent my last orders to niy family." So saying, he reti- 
 red into the inner part of the temple ; and, taking some paper, as 
 if he meant to write, he put the pen in his mouth, and bit it a con- 
 siderable time, as he used to do when thoughtful about his compo- 
 sition ; after which he covered his hfead, and put it in a reclining 
 posture. The soldiers who stood at the door, apprehendmg that 
 he took these methods to put off* the fatal stroke, laughed at him 
 and called him a coward. Archias then approachinij him, desired 
 him to rise, and began to repeat his promises of making his peace 
 with Antipater. Demosthenes, who by this time felt the operation 
 of the poison he had taken strong upon him, uncovered his face, 
 and looking upon Archias, " Now," said he, "you may act the 
 part of Creon,* in the play, as soon as you please, and cast out 
 this carcase of mine unburied. For mv part, O gracious Neptune, 
 I quit thy temple with my breath within me. But Antipater and 
 the Macedonians would not have scrupled to profane it with mur- 
 der." By this time he could scarcely stand, and therefore desired 
 them to support him ; but in attempting to walk out, he fell by the 
 altar and expired with a groan. 
 
 Aristo says he sucked the poison from a pen, as we have rela- 
 ted it. One Pappus, whose memoirs were recovered by Hermip- 
 pus, reports, that when befell by the altar there was found on his 
 paper the beginning of a letter — " Demosthenes to Antipater" — 
 and nothing more. He adds, that people being surprised that he 
 died so quickly, the Thracians who stood at the door, assured them 
 that he took the poison in his hand out of a piece of cloth, and put 
 it to his mouth. To them it had the appearance of gold. Upon 
 inquirv made by Archias, a young maid who served Demosthenes, 
 » Aiiudmg to that passage in the Antigone of Sophocles, where Creon forbids tl»e 
 body of Polv nices to be ouried. 
 
 3c 33 
 
Q^ BEMOSTHENES. 
 
 ■aid he had long worn that piece of cloth by way of amulet. Bra- 
 tOAthenes tells us, that he kept the poison in the hollow of a brace. 
 !et button which he wore upon his arm. Many others have writ- 
 ton upon the subject, but it is not necessary to give all their differ, 
 ent accounts. We shall only add, that Democharis, a servant of 
 Demosthenes, asserts, that he did not think his death owing to poi. 
 son, but to the favour of the gods and a happy providence, which 
 snatched him from the cruelty of the Macedonians, by a speedy 
 and easy death. 
 
 It was not long before the people of Athens paid him the hon. 
 ours that were due to him, by erecting his statue in brass, and de- 
 creeing that the eldest of his family should be maintained in the 
 Pr^'tanaeum, at the public charge. This ceiebi;ated inscription was 
 put upon the pedestal of his statue : 
 
 Divine in speech, in judgment, too, divine. 
 Had valour's wreath, D^mostiienet. heen thine. 
 Fair Greece had still her frpednm*s ensign borne, 
 And held the tcourge of Macedon in scorn ! 
 
 For no regard is to be paid to those who say that Demosthenes 
 himself uttered these hues .in Calauria, just before he took the 
 poison.* 
 
 • This inKriptioD, so far from doing Demosthenes honour, is the greatest disgrace 
 t^t the Athenians could have fastened on his memory. It reproaches him wiib i 
 weakness which, when the safety of his country was at stake, was such a deplonbltt 
 want of virtue and manhood, as no parts or talents could atone for. 
 
387 
 
 CICERO. 
 
 FhurisJied 60 years before Christ. 
 
 THE account we have of Helvia, the mother of Cicero, is, that- 
 her family was noble* and her character excellent. Of his father 
 there is nothing said but in extremes. For some affirm that he was 
 the son of a fuller,f and educated in that trade, while others deduce 
 his origin fn»m Attius Tuliius,J a prince who governed the Volsci 
 with great reputation. Be that as it may, I think the first of the 
 family that bore the name of Cicero, must have been an extraordi- 
 nary man ; and for that reason his posterity did not reject the ap- 
 pellation, but rather took it with pleasure, though it was a common 
 subject of ridicule : for the Latins call a vetch cicery and he had 
 flat excrescence on the top of his nose in resemblance of a vetch, 
 from which he got that surname. § A.s for the Cicero of whom we 
 arg writing, his friends advised him, on his first application to bu. 
 siness, and soliciting one of the great offices of state, to lay aside 
 or change that name. Bur he answered with great spirit, " That 
 he would endeavour to make the name of Cicero more glorious 
 than that of the Scauri and the CatuH," When quaestor in Sicily, 
 he consecrated in the temple, a vase or some other offering, in sil. 
 ver, upon which he inscribed his two first names, Marcus Tullius, 
 and, punning upon the third, ordered the artificer to engrave a vetch. 
 Such is the account we have of his name. 
 
 He was born on the third of January, || the day on which the 
 magistrates now sacrifice and pay their devotions for the health of 
 the emperor ; and it is said that his mother was delivered of him 
 without pain. It is also reported, that a spectre appeared to his 
 nurse, and foretold that the fchild she had the happiness to attend, 
 would one day prove a great benefit to the whole commonwealth 
 of Rome. These things might have passed for idle dreams, had 
 hi3 not soon demonstrated the truth of the prediction. When he was 
 of a proper age to go to school, his genius broke out with so much 
 lustre, and he gained so distinguished a reputation among the boys, 
 
 * Cinna was of this family. 
 
 ■{• Dion tells IIS, that Q. Calenus was the author of this calumny. Cicero, in bis 
 books de Legibus, has said enough to show that both his father and grandfather wara> 
 persons of property and of a liberal education. 
 
 X The same prince to whom Coriolanus retired four hundred years before. 
 
 5 Plinv's account of the origin of this name is more probable. He supposes thbt 
 the person who first bore it was remarkable for the cultivation of vetches. So Fabius^ 
 Lentulus, and Piso, had their names from beans, tares and peas. 
 
 IJ In the six hundred and forty seventh year of Rome . a hundred ?ind ibor years 
 before the Christian era. Pompey was born the same y«ar. 
 
b88 CICERO. 
 
 tliat the fathers of 8omo of them repaired to the schools to see Ci- 
 cero, and to have specimens of his capacity for literature ; but the 
 less civilized were angry with their Hons, wh«*n they saw iheiu take 
 Cirero in the middle of th«'m as they walked, and always give hun 
 the place of honour. He had that turn of genius and dispiisUioti 
 which Plato would have a scholar and a phihtsoplier to posseM. 
 He hud both rapacity and iiiciinution to learn all the arts, nor was 
 there any branch of science he despised ; yet he was most inclined 
 to poetry ; and there is still extant a poem entitled Pontius (iUm- 
 CVS* winch was wriiten by him when a boy, in teiraineter verse. 
 In process of tune, when he had studied ihis art wiih greater ap- 
 plication, he was looked upon us the best poet, as well as the great. 
 est orutor in Rome. His reputation for oratory still remains, not' 
 withstanding the consideruble changes that have since been 
 made in the language ; but, as many ingenious poets nave appear. 
 ed since his time, his poetry has lost its credit, aod is now neg. 
 Iccted.t 
 
 When he had finished those studies through which boys com- 
 monly pass, he attended the lectures of Philo the academician, 
 whom of all the scholars of Chtomachus the Romans most adrpi. 
 red for his eloquence, and loved for his conduct. At the Hame 
 he made great improvement in the knowledge of the law, under 
 Mucius Sca^vola, an eminent lawyer, and president of the senate. 
 He likewise got a taste of military knowledge under Sylla, in the 
 Marsian war.^ But afterwards, finding the conimf)nwealth enga. 
 ged in civil wars, which were likely to end in. nothing but absolute 
 monarchy, he withdrew to a philosophic and conieinplaiive life ; 
 conversing wiih men of letters irom Greece, and making farther 
 advances in science. This method of life he pursued mII Sylla 
 had made himself master, and there appeared to be some establish- 
 ed government again. 
 
 About (his tune Sylla ordered the estate of one of the citizens to 
 be sold at auction, in consequence of his being killed as a person 
 proscribed. When it waiM struck ofl' t<» Chrysogoniis, S> lla*s freed, 
 man, at the small sum of two thousand druchma), Roscius. the son 
 end heir of the deceused, expressed his indignation, and declared 
 that the estate was worth two hundred and tifiy talents. Sylla, 
 
 * Thit Glaucut wit   famous fi»h«rman. wtib. after aatinf of a e«rta*o karis 
 
 jiint|>e(1 into ihr mm, and ttacamr onn of tti« Kodii of thai alaifeat Aluchvlu* wrota 
 a tragedy nii tiie Miujnct. Cicrrn'ii porn- u loft. 
 
 f Plutarch wa« a verv iiidiffereiii jtutce oi l^tiii uoelry. aoU hit »prakin(i »ilh ao 
 much favour nfCicrrn'N. contmrv to the opinion of Juvfnui and niaii> oihera i» a 
 Mfon^ proof of It. tie iranalaied ^raiut into ver»n at the «n^ of apvnntrcn. an<t 
 wrote a fXMut in praiwi of ib« •ctioiit of Mar lua. which. Scavula Mid «<>uM liva 
 throiiKh innumerable tuir*. But he wa> nut in hinprophecv it hN» Iouk o««n dead. 
 Aiid ihf poem which h« wrote in thran books on hit own aonaultliip nan ttiarad tha 
 •ania faif^. 
 
 I In the eiKhieenth year of hii afe. 
 
CIGERO. 
 
 389 
 
 enraged at having his conduct thus publicly called in question, 
 brought an action against Roscius for the murder of his father, and 
 appointed Chrysogonus to be fhe managtir. In thts distress, he 
 applied to Cicero, and the friends of the young orator desired him 
 to undertake the cause ; thinking he could not have a more glori- 
 ous opportunity to enter the lists of fame. Accordingly, he under 
 took his defence, succeeded, and gained gr«;at applause.* But, 
 fearing Sylla's resentment, he travelled into Greece, and gave out 
 that the recovery of his health was the motive. Indeed, he was 
 of a lean and slender habit, and his stomach was so weak that he 
 was obliged to be very sparing in his diet, and not to eat till a late 
 hour in the day. His voice had a variety of inflections, but was 
 at the same time harsti and unformed ; and, as in the vehemence 
 and enthusiasm of speaking, he always rose into a loud key, there 
 was reason to apprehend that it might injure his health. 
 
 When he came to Athens, he heard Antiochus the Ascalonite, and 
 was charmed with the smoothness and grace of his elocution, 
 tRough he did not approve his new doctrines in philosophy : for 
 Antiochus had left the new Academy, as it is called, and the sect 
 of Carneades, either from clear conviction, and from the strength 
 of the evidence of sense, or else from a spirit of opposition to the 
 schools of Chtomachus and Philo, and had adopted most of the 
 doctrines of the Stoics. But Cicero loved the new Academy, and 
 entered more and more into its opinions ; having already taken his 
 resolution, if he failed in his design of rising in the state, to retire 
 from the forum and all political intrigues, to Athens, and spend his 
 days in peace m the bosom of philosophy. 
 
 But not long after, he received the news of Sylla's death. His 
 body by this time was strengthened by exercise, and brought to a 
 good habit. His voice was formed ; and at the same tin>e that it 
 was full and sonorous, had gained a siifBcient sweetness, and was 
 brought to a key which his constitution could bear. Besides, his 
 friends at Rome solicited him by letters to return, and Antiochus 
 exhorted him much to apply himself to public affairs. For wtiich 
 reason he exercised his rhetorical powers afresh, as the best en- 
 gines for business, and called forth his political talents. In short 
 he suffered not a day to pass without either declaiming, or attend- 
 ing the most celebrated orators. In the prosecution of this design, 
 he vsailed to Asia and the island of Rhodes. Amongst the rhetori- 
 cians of Asia, he availed himself of the instructions of Xenocles of 
 Adramyttium, Dionysius of Magnesia, and Menippus of Cana. At 
 Rhodes he studied under the rhetorician Apollonius Molo.f and the 
 philosopher Pdsidonius. It is said, that Apolionius not understand- 
 
 » In his Twentv seventh vear. 
 
 t Not Appollonius the son ofMola, but AppoUonitis Molo. The same mistake is 
 made dy oui author in the Life of Cajsar. 
 
 33* 
 
390 CICERO. 
 
 ing the Roman language, desired Cicero to declaim in Greek ; and 
 he readil> compiled, tmcause he thought b\ that means ht» laults 
 might the better be corrected. W hen he had ended hit» dpciama- 
 tion, the rest were astonished ai his performance, and strove who 
 should praise him uiosi ; but ApolloniUM showed no signs of plea* 
 sure while he was Hpeakiiig; and when he had done, he sat a long 
 while thoughtful and silent. At last, observing ihe uneasiness it 
 gave his pupil, he said, '* As for you, Cicero, 1 prais« and admire 
 you, but 1 am concerned for the fate of Greece. She had nothing 
 left her but the giorv of eloquence and erudition, and you are car- 
 lying that, too, to Rome." 
 
 Cicero now prepared to apply himself to public affairs with great 
 hopes of success. As he was naturally ambitious, and spurred on 
 besides by his father and his friends, he betook himself to the bar. 
 Nor was it by slow and inKensible degrees that he gained the palm 
 of eloquence ; his fume shot forth at once, and he was distinguished 
 above all the orators of Rome. Yet it is said that his action was 
 naturally as defec ive as that of Demosthenes, and therefore tft) 
 took all the advantage he could from the mstruction of Roscius, 
 who excelled in comedy, and of iCsop, whoMC talents lay in tragedy. 
 In consequence of these helps, Cicero found his powers of persua- 
 sion not a little assisted bv action and just pronunriaiion. But aa 
 for those orators who gave into a bawling manner, he laughed at 
 them, and said, '* Their weakness made them get up into clamour, 
 as lame men get on horseback." His excellence at hitting off a 
 jest or repartee, animated his pleadings, and therefore seemed not 
 foreign ti» the business of the forum ; but by bringing it much into 
 life, he offended numbers of people, and got the character of a 
 malevolent man. 
 
 He was appointed «|U8Bstor at a time when there was a great 
 scarcity of corn ; and having Sicily for his province, he gave the 
 the people a great deal of trouble at first, by compelling them to 
 send their corn to Rome. But afterwards when the\ came to 
 experience his diligence, hi.<' justice and moderation, they honoured 
 bim more than any queestor Rome had ever sent them. About that 
 time a number of Romans of noble families, \%ho lay under the 
 charge of having violated the rules of discipline; and not l>ehaved 
 with sufficient courage in time <if service, were sent back to the 
 protor of Sicil>. Cicero undertook their defence, and acquitted 
 himself of it with great ability and success. As he returned to 
 Rome, much elated with these advantages, he tells uh,^ he mei with 
 a pleasant adventure. As he was on the road through Campania, 
 meeting with a perHon of some eminence, with whom he was ac 
 quainted, he asked him, '* What they said and thought of his actions 
 
 • In hit oration far Plancui. 
 
CICEKO. 891 
 
 in Rome ?" imagining that his name and the glory of his achieve- 
 ments had filled the whole city. His acquaintance answered, 
 " Why, where have you bren then, Cicero, all ihis time "^'^ 
 
 This answer dispirited him extremely ; for he found that tho 
 accounts of his c.r.ducf had been lost in Rome, as in an immense 
 sea, and had made no remarkable addition to his reputation. By 
 mature reflection upon this incident, he was brought to retrench 
 his ambition, because he saw that contention for glory was an end- 
 less thing, and had neither measure nor bounds to terminate it. 
 Nevertheless, his immoderate love of praise, and his passion for 
 glory always remained with him, and often interrupted his best and 
 wisest designs. 
 
 When he began to dedicate himself more earnestly to public 
 business, he thought that, while mechanics know the name, the 
 place, the use of every tool and instrument they take in their hands, 
 though those things are maniraate, it would be absurd for a states- 
 man, whose functions cannot be performed but by means of men, 
 to be negligent in acquainting himself with the citizens. He, there- 
 fore made it his business to commit to memory not only their names, 
 but the place of abode of those of greater note, what friends they 
 made use of, and what neighbours were in their circle : so that 
 whatever road in Italy Cicero travelled, he could easily point out 
 the estates and houses of his friends. 
 
 Though his own estate was sufficient for his necessities, yet, as it 
 was small, it seemed strange that he would take neither fee nor pre- 
 sent for his services at the bar. This was most remarkable in the 
 case of Verres. Verres had been praetor in Sicily, and committed 
 numberless acts of injustice and oppression. The Sicilians prose- 
 cuted him, and Cicero gained the cause for them, not so tnuch by 
 pleading, as by forbearing to plead. The magistrates, in their 
 partiality to Verres, put off the trial by several adjournments to the 
 last day ;* and as Cicero knew there was not time for the advocates 
 to be heard, and the matter determined in the usual method, he rose 
 up, and said, " There was no occasion for pleadings." He there- 
 fore brought up the witnesses, and afler their depositions were 
 taken, insisted that the judges should give their decision immedi- 
 ately. 
 
 Yet we have an account of several humorous sayings of Cicero's 
 in this cause. When an emancipated slave, Caecilius by name, who 
 was suspected of being a Jew, would have set aside the Sicilians, 
 and taken the prosecution of Verres u()on himself,f Cicero said,—   
 " What has a Jew to do with swine's flesh ?" For the Romans call 
 
 * Not till the last day. Cicero broueht it on a/ew davs before Verres' friends were 
 to come into office : but of the seven orations which were composed on the occasion, 
 the two first only were delivered. A U 683 
 
 t Cicero knew that Caecilius was secretly a friend to Verres, and wanted bj this 
 lueans to bring him off. 
 
308 CICCAO. 
 
 a boar>pig verres. Aod when Verres reproaclut] Cirfro \\'ii\\ < .". 
 feminacy, he answered, — *• Why do you not fir»t rpprovr? y(.ur own 
 children ?" For Verres had a young son who was supposed to niako 
 an infamous use of hin advantages of person. Hortensius the uratoi 
 did not venture directly to plead the cause of Verres, but he was 
 prevailed on to appear for hini at the laying of the fine, and had 
 received an ivory sphinx from him by wa\ of consideration. In 
 this case, Cicero threw out several enigmatical hints against Hor- 
 tensius ; and when he said, — " He knew not how to solve riddles/' 
 Cicero retorted, — *' That is somewhat siraoge, when you have a 
 sphinx in your house." 
 
 Verres being thus condemned, Cicero set his fine at seven 
 hundred and tifiy thousand drachmae ; upon which it was said by 
 censorious people, that- he had been bribed to let him off so low.* 
 The Sicilians, however, in acknowledgment of his abSistance, 
 brought him when he was aedile, a number of things for hih games, 
 and ottier very valuable presents ; bui he was so far from con- 
 sidering his private advantage, that he made no other use of their 
 generosity, than to lower the price of provisions. 
 
 He had a handsome country .seat at Arpinum, a farm near 
 Naples, and another at Pompeii, but neither of them were very 
 considerable. His wife Terentia brought him a fortune of a huo. 
 dred and twenty thousand denarii, and he fell heir to something 
 that amounted to ninety thousand more. Upon this he lived in a 
 genteel, and at the same time a frugal manner, with men of letters, 
 both Greeks and Romans, about him. He rarely took his meal 
 before buiiset ; not that business or study prevented his sitting 
 down to table sooner, but the weakness of his stomach, he thought, 
 requireck that regimen. Indeed, he was so exact in all respects in 
 the cure of his health, that he had his stated hours for rubbing and 
 for the exercise of walking. By this management of his constitu. 
 tion, he gained a suflicient stock of health and str^pgtb for the 
 great labours and fatigues he afterwards underwent. 
 
 He gave up the town house which belonged to his family to his 
 brother, and took up his residence on the Palatine lull, that those 
 who came to pay their court to him might not have too far to go. 
 For he had a levco every day, not less than Crassus had for his 
 great wealth, or Pompey for his power and interest in the army ; 
 though they were the most followed, and the greatest men in Rome. 
 Poiiipey himself paid all due respect to Cicero, and found his po. 
 litical assistance very useful to him, both in reapect to )K>wer and 
 reputation. 
 
   Tai»6ae. inderH. wan verv incontMlvrabie. The Ipfial fine for exinriinn in nuch 
 caiMMIiiat uf Vvrret. wh» twice (he turn extorted. I he >ic)liaii» iai'i a cliaicr of 
 322.9KU. acainM Verres. inr fine mutt, Uierefiire, have been, 646.S3!!/ but 7.S0.U00 
 JrNchuia <A ei« DO mora than. 14,21 8t Plutsicti mint, Utnmfoin, mc.tn protwbly have 
 
 been iiiittaken. 
 
• CICERQ. 393 
 
 When Cicero became a candidate for the prastorship, he had 
 manv competitors who were persons of distinction, and yet he 
 was returned first. As a president in the courts of justice, ho 
 acted with integrity and honour. Licinius Macer, who had great 
 interest of his own, and was supported, besides, with that of Cras- 
 sus, was accused before him of some default with respect to money. 
 He had so much confidence in his own influence and the activity 
 of his friends, that when the judges were going to decide the cause, 
 it IS said he went home, cut his hair, and put on a white habit, as 
 if he had gained the victory, and was ab«)ut to return so equip- 
 ped to the forum. But Crassus met him in his court-yard, 
 and told him, that all the judges had given verdict against him ; 
 which affected him in such a manner, that he turned in again, 
 took to his bed, and died.* Cicero gained honour by this affair, 
 for it appeared that he kept strict watch against corruption in the 
 court. 
 
 There was another person, named Vatinius, an insolent orator, 
 who paid very little respect to the judges in his pleadings. It 
 happened that he had his neck full of scrofulous swellings. This 
 man applied to Cicero about some business or other, and as that 
 magistrate did not immediately comply with his request, bur sat 
 some time deliberating, he said, — •' I could easih swallow such a 
 thing, if I was praetor ;" upon which Cicero turned towards him, 
 and made answer, — •* But I have not so large a neck." 
 
 When there was only two or three days of his office unexpired, 
 an information was laid against Manilius for embezzling the public 
 money. This Manilius was a favourite of the people, and they 
 thought he was only prosecuted on Pompey's account, being his 
 particular friend. He des^ired to have a day fixed for his trial ; 
 and, as Cicero appointed the next day, the people were much 
 offended, because ii had been customary for the praetors to allow 
 the accused ten days at least. The tribunes therefore cited Cicero 
 to appear before the commons, and give an account of his proceed- 
 ing. He desired to be heard in his own defence, which was to this 
 effect: — " \s I have always behaved to persons impeached with 
 all the moderation and humanity that the laws will allow, I thought 
 it wrong to lose the opportunity of treating Manilius with the same 
 candour. I was master of only one day more in my office as prae- 
 tor, and consequently must appoint that ; for to leave the decision 
 of the cause to another magistrate was not the method for those 
 
 * The story is related differently tiy Valerius Maximus. He says that Macei was 
 in court waiting the i«sue. and perceiving that Cicero was proceeriing to give sentence 
 against him. he sent to inform hun that he was dead, and at the same time suffocated 
 hiiiiself with his handkerchief. Cicero, therefore, did not pronounce sentence against 
 him, by which means his estate was saved to his son Licinius Calvus. No'withstanding 
 this. Cicero himself, in one of his epistles to Atticus, says, that he actually condemned 
 him ; and in anoiher of his epistles, he speaks of the popular esteem this affair pro 
 cured hnn. Cic. Ep. ad. Aii. 1. J. c 3, 4. 
 
 St> 
 
get cichKu. 
 
 who were inclineU lo serve Manilius." This inuiie a wonderful 
 change in the people, the> were luvinh in their praise), and desired 
 bim to undertake the defence himself. This he readily complied 
 wiih ; his regard for Pompey, who wus absent, not being his lea>t 
 inducement. In consequence hereof, he presented himself before 
 the commons aguin, and giving an account of the whole afiair, 
 took opportunity to make severe reflections on those who favoureil 
 oligarchy, and envied the glory of Pompey. 
 
 Yet for the sake of their country, the patricians joined the ple> 
 beians in raising him to the consulship. The occasion was thtf, 
 the change which Sylla introduced into the constitution, at first 
 seemed harsh and uneasy, but by time and custom ii came to an 
 establishment which many thought not a bad one. At present there 
 M ere some who wanted to bring in another change, merely to gra- 
 tify their own avarice, and without the least view to the public good. 
 Pompey was engaged with the kings of Pontus and Armenia, and 
 there was no force in Rome sufficient to suppress the authors of 
 this intended innovation. They had a chief of a bold and enter- 
 prising spirit, and the most remarkable versatility of manners ; hia 
 name Lucius Catiline. Beside a variety of other crimes, he was 
 accused of killing his own brother. To screen himself from prose- 
 cution, he persuaded Sylia to put his brother among the proscribed^ 
 as if he had been still alive. These profligates, with such a leader, 
 among other engagements of secrecy and fidelity, sacrificed a man, 
 and eat of liis ilesh. Catiline had corrupted great part of the Ro. 
 man youth, by indulging their desires in every form of pleasure, 
 providing them wine and women, and setting no bounds to his 
 expences for these purposes. All Tuscany was prepared for a 
 revolt, and most of Cisalpine Gaul. The vast inequality of the 
 citizens in point of property, prepared Rome, too, for a change. 
 Men of spirit amongbt the nobility had impoverished themselves by 
 their great expences on public exhibitions and entertainments, on 
 bribing for offices, and erecting magnificent buildings ; by which 
 means the riches of the city were fallen into the hands of mean 
 people : in this tottering state of the commonwealth, there needed 
 no great force to overturn it, and it was in the power of any bold 
 adventurer to accomplish its ruin. 
 
 Catiline, however, before he began his operations, wonted a 
 strong fort to Hally out from, and with that view &(«>od for the con. 
 sulship. His prospect seemed very promising, because he hoped 
 to have Caius Antonius fur his colleague : a inun who had no firm 
 principles either ^ood or bad, nor any resolution of his own, but 
 would make a considerable addition to the power of him who led 
 him. Many persons of virtue and li- iingor, 
 
 put up Cicero for the consulship, aiui ,.ii witii 
 
 pleasure. Thus Catiline was b^ed, and Cu:cro and Cams Anto- 
 
CICERO. 395 
 
 nius appointed consuls ; though Cicero's father was only of the 
 equestrian order, and his competitors of patrician families. 
 
 Cariline's designs were not yet discovered to the people. Cice- 
 ro, however, at his entrance upon his office, had great affairs on 
 his hands, the preludes of what was to follow. On the one hand, 
 those who had beefi incapacitated by the laws of Sylla to bear 
 ofHces, being neither inconsiderable in power nor in number, be- 
 gan now to vsolicit them, and make all possible interest with the 
 people. On the other hand, the tribunes of the people proposed 
 Jaws which had the same tendency to distress the government ; for 
 they wanted to appoint decemmrs, and invest them with an unlimit- 
 ed power. This was to extend over all Italy, over Syria, and all 
 the late conquests of Pompey. They were to be commisioned to 
 sell the public lands in these countries ; to judge or banish whom 
 they pleased ; to plant colonies ; to take money out of the public 
 treasury ; to levy and keep on foot what troops they thought neces- 
 sary. Many Romans of h.igh distinction were pleased with the 
 bill, and in particular Antony, Cicero's colleague, for he hoped to 
 be one of the ten. It was thought, too, that he was no stranger to 
 Catiline's designs, and thar he did not disrelish them, on account of 
 his great debts. This was an alarming circumstance to all who 
 had the good of their country at heart. 
 
 This danger, too, was the first that Cicero guarded against ; 
 which he did by getting the province of Macedonia decreed to 
 Antony, and not taking that of Gaul which was allotted to himself. 
 Antony was so much affected with this tavour, that he was ready, 
 like a hired player, to act a subordinate part under Cicero for the 
 benefit of his country. Cicero having thus managed his colleague, 
 began with greater courage to take his measures against the sedi- 
 tious party. He alleged his objections against the law in the 
 senate, and effectually silenced the proposers.* They took ano- 
 ther opportunity, however, and coming prepared, insisted that the 
 consuls should appear before the people. Cicero, not in the least 
 intimidated, commanded the senate to- follow him. He addressed 
 the commons with such success, that they threw out the bill ; and 
 Ills victorious eloquence had such an effect upon the tribunes, that 
 they gave up other things which they had been meditating. 
 
 He was indeed the man who most effectually showed the Ro- 
 mans, what charms eloquence can add to truth, and that justice is 
 invincible, when properly supported. He showed also, that a ma- 
 gistrate who watches for the good of the community, should in his 
 actions always prefer right to popular measures, and in his 
 speeches know how to make those right measures agreeable, by 
 separating from them whatever may offend. Of the grace and 
 power with which he spoke, we have a proof in a theatrical regu- 
 
 * This was the first of his three orations, de Lege Agraria. 
 
inm 
 
 ClCl^O. 
 
 lation that took place in his consulship. Before, those of the 
 equestrian order nat mixed with the coinmonHiiy. Marcus Otbo 
 in his praetorship was the first who separated the kniiihtH from the 
 other ciiizfns, and appointed them seats which they still »-njo).* 
 The people locked upon (hit» at« a mark of dishonour, and hissed 
 und insulted Oiho when he appeared at the theatre. l*he knights, 
 on the other hnnd, received him with lnud plaudits. The people 
 repealed their hissing, and the knights their applause ; till at last 
 they came to mutual reproaches, and threw the whole theatre into 
 the utmost disorder. Cicero being informed of the disturbance, 
 came and called the people to the temple of Bellona, wheie, part- 
 ly by reproof, paitly by lenient applications, he so corrected them, 
 that they returned to the theatre, loudK teHiified i heir approbation 
 of Otho's conduct, and strove with the knights which should do 
 him the most honour. 
 
 Catiline's conspiracy, which at first had been intimidated and 
 discouraged, began to recover its Sf>irits. The accomplices aitsem- 
 bled, and exhorted each other to begin their operations with vigour, 
 before the return of Pompey, who was said to be already march- 
 ing homewards with his forces. But Catiline's chief motive for 
 action, was the dependence he had on Sylla's veterans. Though 
 these were scattered all over Italy, the greatest and most warlike 
 part resided in the cities of Eiruria, and in idea were plundering 
 and sharing the wealth of Italy again. They had Manlius for their 
 leader, a man who had served with great distinction under Sylla ; 
 and now entering into Catiline's views, they came to Rome to as. 
 sist in the approaching election ; for he solicited the consulship 
 again, and had resolved to kill Cicero in the tumult of that assembly. 
 
 The gods seemed to presigoity the machinations of these incen. 
 diaries by earthquakes, thunders and apparitions. There were also 
 intimations from men, true enitugh in themselve^, hut not suflicient 
 for the conviction of a person of Catiline's quality and power. Ci- 
 cero, therefore, adjourned t^he day (»f election ; and having sum- 
 moned Catiline before the senate, examined him upon the informa- 
 tions he had received. Catiline believing there were many in th$ 
 senate who wanted a change, and at the same time being desmius 
 to show his resolution to his aecomplices who were present, an- 
 swered with a calm firmness, ** As there are two bodies, one of 
 which is feeble and decayed, but has a head ; the oth« r stmng and 
 robust, but is without a head ; what harm am I doing, if 1 uive a 
 head to the body that wants ii ?" By these enigniniical expressions 
 he meant the senate and the pfopl^ ; consequentl) Cicero was still 
 more alarmed. On the day of election, he put on a coat of mail ; 
 the principal personages in Rome conducted him from his house, 
 
 • ^bout fmir v«>ra tMfora, under the OMMUlahip of Pig» sod ttlabrio. BotOiko 
 WS9 not tlien prieior ; he was tribune. 
 
ClCERO. 397 
 
 and great numbers of the youth attended him to the Campus Mar. 
 litis. There he threw back his robe, and showed part of ttie coat 
 of man, on purpose to point oui his danger. The people were in- 
 censed, and immediatel\ gathered about mm ; the consequence of 
 which was, that Catihne was thrown out agam, and Silanus and 
 Murena chosen consuls. 
 
 Not long after this, when the veterans were assembling for Ca- 
 tiline in Etruria, and the day appointed for carrying the plot niio 
 execution approached, three of the first and greatest personages in 
 Rome, Marcus Crassus, Marcus Marcellus, and Metellus Scipio, 
 went and knocked at Cicero^s door about midnight ; and havmg 
 called the porter, bade him awake his master and tell him who at- 
 tended. Their business was this : Crassus's porter brought him in 
 a pacquet of letters after supper, which he had received from a per- 
 son unknown. They were directed to different persons, and there 
 was one for Crassus himself, but without a name. This only Cras- 
 sus read ; and when he found that it informed him of a great mas- 
 sacre mtended by Catiline, and warned him to retire out of the 
 city, he did not open the rest, but immediately went to wait on Ci- 
 cero ; for he was not only terrified at the impending danger, but he 
 had some suspicions to remove, which had arisen from his acquaint- 
 ance with Catiline. Cicero having consulted with them what was 
 proper to be done, assembled the senate at break of day, and deli, 
 vered the letters according to the directions, desiring, at the same 
 time, that they might be read in public. They all gave the same 
 account of the conspiracy. 
 
 Quintus Arrius, a man of prsBtorian dignity, moreover, informed 
 the senate of the levies that had been made in Etruria, and assured 
 them that Manlius, with a considerable force, was hovering about 
 those parts, and only waiting for news of an insurrection in Rome. 
 On these informations, the senate made a decree, b\ which all af- 
 fairs were committed to the consuls, and they were empowered to 
 act in the manner they should think best for the preservation of the 
 commonwealth. This is an edict which the senate seldom issue, 
 and never but in some great and imminent danger. 
 
 When Cicero was invested with this power, he committed the 
 care of things without the city to Quintus Metellus, and took the 
 direction of all within to himself. He made his appearance every- 
 day attended and guarded by such a multitude of people, that they 
 filled great part of the/orMWi. Catiline, unable to bear any longer 
 delay, determined to repair to Manhusand his army ; and ordered 
 Marcius and Cethegus to take their swords, and go to Cicero's 
 house early in the morning, where, under pretence of paying their 
 compliments, they were to fall upon him and kill him. But Fulvia, 
 a woman of quality, went to Cicero in the night, to inform him of 
 his danger, and charged him to be on his guard in particular against 
 
 34* 
 
39S CICERO. 
 
 Cethegus. As soon aa it was light, tiie assassins came, and beio« 
 denied entrance, ihey grew veiy clamorous, which made mem the 
 more suspected. 
 
 Ci(;ero went out afterwards, and assembled th** senate iu the tem- 
 ple of Jupiter Utator. Caiihne came among the rest, as wiih a de- 
 sign to make his defence ; but there nas not a st natur who would 
 sit b\ him ; thev all It'ft the bench he had taken ; and uheu he be- 
 gan to speak, they interrupted him in such a manner, that be coold 
 not be heard. 
 
 At length Cicero rose up, and commanded him to depart the 
 city. ** For," said he, *' while I employ only words, and you wea- 
 pons, there should at least be walls between us." Catiline, upon 
 this, immt'diatel\ marched out with three hundred men well armed, 
 and with ihe fasces and other ensigns of authority, as if he had 
 been a lawful magistrate. Having joined Manlius, and assembled 
 an arm> of twenlv thousand men, he marched to the cities, in or- 
 der :o persuade them to revolt. Hostilities being thus openl> com- 
 menced, Antony, Cicero's colleague, was sent against Catiline. 
 
 Such as Catiline had corrupted, and ihoughi proper to leave in 
 Rome, were kept t(»geiher, and encouraged by CorneliuM Lentulus, 
 surnamed Sura, a man of noble birth, but bad life. He had been 
 expelled the senate for his debaucheries, but was then praetor the 
 second time ; for that was a customary qualitication, when ejected 
 persons were to be restored to their places in the senate.* As to 
 the surname of Sura, ft is said to have been given on this occasion: 
 When he was ijuiestor in the time of Sylla, he had lavi<ihed away 
 vast sums of the public money. Sylla, incensed at his behaviour, 
 demanded an account of him in full senate. Lentulus came up io 
 a very careless and disrespectful manner, and said, '' 1 havu no ac- 
 count to give, but I present you with the calf of m> leg;" which 
 was a common expression among the bo> s, when they missed their 
 stroke at tennis. Hence he had the surname of iS'nra, which is the 
 Roman word for the calf of the leg. Another time, being prose, 
 ciited for some great offence, he corrupted the judges. When ihey 
 had given their verdict, though he was acquitted onl> by. a maju- 
 nty of two, he .said, '* He had put himself to a needless expense in 
 bribing one of those judges ; for it would have been sufficieoi to 
 have had a majority of one." 
 
 6uch was the disposition of this man, who had not only been so- 
 licited by Catiline, but wa;* moreover infatuated with vain hopes, 
 which prognosticators and other impostors held up to him. They 
 forged verses in un oracular form, and brought him them, as from 
 the books of the Svbils. These lying prophecies signified the de- 
 cree of fute, " That three of the Cornelli would be monarch* of 
 
 * Whrn   Rotn«n Mnaior « an expellH, nn iippoiniHivni m pneionn) nfl&e« wat a 
 ^"lenl qiinnrii.-ntKin for him t(i rrsuttir Ins 9*A\. — l)ion. I. txxvii. 
 
CICERO. 399 
 
 Rome." They added, " That two had already fulfilled their des- 
 tiny, Cinna and Sylia; that he was the third Cornelius whom the 
 gods now offered the monarchy ; and that he ought, by all means, 
 to embrace his high fortune, and not ruin it by delays, as Catiline 
 had done." 
 
 Nothing little or trivial entered into the schemes of Lentulus. 
 He resolved to kill the whole senate, and as many of the other citi 
 zens as he possibly could, to burn the city, and to spare none but 
 the sons of Pompey, whom he intended lo seize, and keep as pledges 
 of his peace with that general. The conspirators had fixed on a 
 night during the feast of the saturnalia, tor the execution of their 
 enterprise. They had lodged arms and combustible matter in the 
 house of Cethegus. They had divided Rome into a hundred parts, 
 and pitched'upon the same number of men, each of which was al- 
 lotted his quarter to set fire to. As this was to be done by them all 
 at the same moment, they hoped that the conflagration would be ge- 
 neral : others were to intercept the water, and kill all who went to 
 seek it. 
 
 While tiiese things were preparing, there happened to be at 
 Rome two ambassadors from the Allobroges, a nation that had been 
 mu<:h oppressed by the Romans, and was very impatient under 
 their yoke. Lentulus and his party thought these ambassadors pro- 
 per persons to raise commotions in Gaul, and bring that country to 
 their interest, and therefore made them partners in the conspiracy. 
 They likewise charged them with letters to their magistrat^-s, and 
 to Catiline. To the Gauls they promised liberty, and they desired 
 Catiliiie to enfranchise the slaves, and march immediately to Rome. 
 Alonit with the ambassadors, they sent one Titus of Crotona. to 
 carry the letters to Catiline. But the measures of these inconsider- 
 ate men, who generally consulted upon their affairs over their wine, 
 and in company with women, were soon discovered by the indefa- 
 tigable diligence, the sober address, and great capacity of Cicero. 
 He had his emissaries in all parts of the city, to trace every step 
 they took ; and he had besides, a secret correspondence with 
 many who pretended to join in the conspiracy ; by which means 
 he got intelligence of their treating with those strangers. 
 
 In consequence hereof, he laid an ambush for the Crotonian in 
 the niijhf, and seized him and the letters ; the ambassadors them- 
 selves privately lending him their assistance.* Early in the morning 
 he assembled the senate in the temple of Concord, where he read 
 the letters, and took the depositions of the witnesses. Junius Sila- 
 nus deposed, that several persons had heard Cethegus say that three 
 consuls and four praetors would very soon be killed. The evidence 
 
 * These ambassadors had been solicited ny Uiuhieiius to join his party. Upon ma- 
 ture deliberation, thny thought it safest to abide by the stale, and discovered the plot to 
 Fabius Sanga, the patron ot their nation. 
 
400 CICERO 
 
 of Piso, a man of consular dignitv, contained circumstances of the 
 like nature ; and Cams Sulpiiius, one ol the prcetors, who was sent 
 to Ceihegua's house, found there a great quantity ot javelins, swords, 
 poniards, and other arms, all new lurhished. At last, the senate 
 givnig the Croionian u pronuse of uulemniiy, Lentulus xaw him- 
 self entirely delected, and laid down his office : he put ofl' his pur- 
 pie robe in the house, and took another mure suitable to hiH present 
 distress. Upon which, both he and Ins accomplices were delivered 
 to the prsetors, to be kept in custody, bui not in chains 
 
 By this time it grew late, aii" as ihe people were waiting with- 
 out in great numbers for the event of the day, Cicero went out and 
 gave them an account of it. When Cicero wa8 retired to the apart- 
 raents assigned hiin, with only a few friends, he began to consider 
 what puntshineiit he should iiiliici up<>n the criininalsi He was ex- 
 tremely loath to proceed to a capital one, which tjie UHiure of their 
 offence seemed to demand, as welt from the mildness of his dispo- 
 sition, as for fear of incurring the censure of making an extravagant 
 and severe use of his power against men v^ho were ot the first 
 families, and hail powerful connections in Rome. On the other 
 side, if he gave them a more gentle chastisement, he thought he 
 should still have something to fear from them. He knew that they 
 would never rest with any thing less ihan death, but would rather 
 break out into the most desperate villanies, when their former wick- 
 edness was sharpened with anger and resentment : besides, ho 
 might himself be branded with the mark of tnuidity and weakness, 
 and the rather because he was generally supposed not to have much 
 courage. 
 
 Before Cicero could come to a res<ilution, the women who were 
 sacrificing observed an extraordinary presage. When the tire on 
 the altar seemed to be extinguished, a strong and bright flame sud- 
 denly broke out of the embers. The other women were terrified 
 at the prodigy, but the vestal virgins ordered Terentia, Cicero's 
 wife, to go to him immediately, and command him from them, 
 *' Boldly t<» follow his best judgment in the service of his country ; 
 because the goddess, by the britehiness of this flame, promised him 
 not only safety but glory in his enterprise.'' Terentia was by no 
 means of a meek and tiinorouH disposition, but had her ambition, 
 and (as Cicero himself says) took a greater share with htm in po- 
 litics, than she permitted him to have in domestic business. 8he 
 now informed him of the prodigy, and exasperated him against the 
 criminals. His brother Uuinius, and Publius Niffidius, one of his 
 philosophical friends, whom he made great use of in the adminis- 
 tration, strengthened him in the same purpose. 
 
 Next day (he senate met to deliberate on the punishment of the 
 conspirators ; and Silanus, being first asked his opinion, gave it for 
 sending them to prison, and punishing them in the severest maDoer 
 
€1CER0. 401 
 
 that was possible. The rest in their order agreed with him, till it 
 came to Caius Caesar, who was afterwards dictator. Caesar, then 
 a young man, acid just in the dawn of power, both in his measures 
 and his hopes, was takmg that road which he continued in, till he 
 turned the common weal ih into a monarchy. This was not observed 
 by others ; but Cicero had strong suspicions of him. He took care, 
 however, not to give him a sufficient handle against him. Some 
 say the consul had almost gor tiie necessary proofs, and that Caesar 
 had a narrow escape. Others assert, that Cicero purposely neg- 
 lected the informations that might have been had against hira, for 
 fear of his friends and his great interest ; for, had Ccesar been 
 brought under the same predicament with the conspirators, it would 
 rather have contributed to save than to destroy them. 
 
 When it came to his turn to give judgment, he rose and declared, 
 "Not for punishing them capitally, but for confiscating their es- 
 tates, and lodging them in any of the towns of Italy that Cicerd 
 should pitch upon, where they might be kept in chains till Catilino^ 
 Was conquered."* To this opinion, which was on the merciful side, 
 and supported with great eloquence by him, Cicero himself added 
 no small weight : for in his speech he gave the arguments at large 
 for both opinions, first for the former, and afterwards for that of 
 Caesar. And all Cicero's friends, thinking it would be less invidious 
 for him to avoid putting the criminals to death, were for the lattef 
 sentence ; inscmiuch, that even Silanus changed sides, and excused 
 himself by saying, that he did not mean capital punishment, for that 
 imprisonment was the severest which a Roman senator could suffer. 
 
 The matter thus went on, till it came to Lutatius Catulus. Hd 
 declared for capital punishment ; and Cato supported him, express- 
 ing in strong terms his suspicions of Caesar ; which so roused the 
 spirit and indignation of the senate, that they made a decree fop 
 sending the conspirators to execution. Caesar then opposed the 
 confiscating their goods ; for he said, it was unreasonable, when 
 they rejected he mild part of the sentence, to adopt the severe. 
 As the majority still insisted upon it, he appealed to the tribunes. 
 The tribunes, indeed, did not put in their prohibition, but Cicero 
 himself gave up the point, and agreed that the goods should not 
 be forfeited. 
 
 After this, Cicero went at the head of the senate to the criminals, 
 who were not all lodged in one house, but in those of the several 
 praetors. First he took Lentulus from the Palatine hill, and led 
 him down the Via Sacra, and through the middle of the forum. 
 The principal persons in Rome attended the consuls on all sides 
 like a guird ; the people stood silent at the horror of the scene ; 
 and the youth looked on with fear and astonishment, as if they were 
 
 * Plutarch seems here to intimate, that after the defeat of Catiline they might In? 
 plit upon their trial . but it appears from J^allust, that Caersar had no euch intftrtiogj. 
 
 Sfe 34* 
 
iOd UCERO. 
 
 initiated that day io some awful ceremooies ot' aristocratic power 
 When he had passed the forum, and was come to the prison, he 
 dehvered Lentulus to the executioner. Afterwards he brought 
 Cethegus, and all the rest in their order, and they were put to 
 death. 
 
 By this time it grew late, and as he passed through the forum to 
 go to his own bouse, the people now did not condiiri him m a silent 
 and orderly manner, but crowded to hail him with loud accluma. 
 tions and plaudits, calling him the saviour and secono founder 
 of Rome. The streets were illuminated'*' with a inuitiiude of lamps, 
 and torches placed by the doors. The women held out lightH fioni 
 the tops of the houses, that they might behold, and pay a proper 
 compliment to the man who was followed with so much solemnity 
 by a train of the greatest men in Home, most of whom hatt distin- 
 guished themselves by successful wars, led up triumphs, and en- 
 larged the empire both by sea and land. All these, in their dis. 
 course with each other as they went along, acknowledged that 
 Rome was indebted to many generals and great men of that age 
 for pecuniary acquisitions, for rich spoils, for power : but for pre 
 flervation and safety to Cicero alone, who had rescued her fn»m so 
 great and dreadful a danger. Not that his quashing the enterprise, 
 and punishing the delinquents appeared so extraordinary a thing ; 
 but the wonder was, that he could suppress the greatest conspiracy 
 tbat ever existed, with so little inconvenience to the state, without 
 tbe least sedition or tumult : for many who had joined Catiline, left 
 bim on receiving intelligence of Lentulus and Cethegus ; and that 
 traitor giving Antony battle with tbe troops that remained, was 
 destroyed with his whole army. 
 
 Yet some were displeased with this conduct and success of 
 Cicero, and inclined to do him all possible injury. At the head of 
 this faction were the tribunes for the ensuing year, who would not 
 suffer him to address the people, but only to take the oath upon 
 laying down his ofBce.f Accordingly, when Cicero went up to tho 
 rostra, it was expected that he would take the customarv oath ; but 
 he adopted one that was new and singular. The purport of it was, 
 that '* he had saved his country, and preserved the empire :" and 
 all the people joined in it. This exasperated Caesar and the tri- 
 bunes still more ; and they endeavoured to create hiin new troubles. 
 Among other things, they proposed a decree for calling Pompey 
 bome with his army, to s^ippress the despotic power of Cicero, ft 
 was happy for him, and the whole commonwealth, that Cato was 
 
 * llluniinationi are of high antiquity. They came originallv ftoni tba noRiuroal 
 celebration of reliniouii niytteriet, aod on thai account cafftMd llM idM of vaoarMloa 
 and reitpect with them. 
 
 f The coniuU touk two oath* . one. on entcwinf into their office, that the« wouU 
 act Mpordknc to the laws ; and tbs other, on quuting it, ttiat they had not acted eoo- 
 irsj n> (ho mwi. 
 
GICERa 4Q3 
 
 then one of the tribunes ; for he opposed them with an authority 
 equal to theirs, and a reputation that was much greater, and con- 
 sequentiv brolte rheir measures with ease. He made a speech 
 upon Cicero's consulship, and represented it in so glorious a Hght, 
 that the highest honours were decreed him : and he was called the 
 father of his country : a mark of distinction which none ever gained 
 betbre. Cato bestowed that title on him before the people ; and 
 they confirmed it.* 
 
 The auttiority of Cicero in Rome at that time was undoubtedly 
 great ; but he rendered himself obnoxious and and burdensome to 
 many, not by ill action, but by continually praising and magnifying 
 himself. He never entered the senate, the assembly of the people, 
 or the courts of judicature, but Catiline and Lentulus were the 
 burden of his song. Not satisfied with this, his writings were so 
 interlarded with encomiums on himself, that though his style was 
 elegant and delightful, his discourses were disgusting and nauseous 
 to the reader; for the blemish stuck to him hke an incurable 
 disease. 
 
 But though he had such an insatiable avidity of honour, he was 
 never unwilling that others should have their share ; for he was 
 entirely free from envy ; and it appears from his works that he was 
 most liberal in his praises, not only of the ancients, but of those of 
 his own time. Vlany of his remarkable sayings, too, of this nature, 
 are preserved. Thus of Aristotle he said, " That he was a river 
 of flowing gold ;" and of Plato's Dialogues, *' That if Jupiter were 
 to speak, he would speak as he diid." Theophrastus he used to 
 call his" particular favourite ;"iand being asked which of Demos- 
 thenes's orations he thought the best, he answered, " The longest." 
 There was not one of his cotemporaries celebrated either for his 
 eloquence <>r philosophy, whose fame he did not promote either by 
 speaking or writing of him in an advantageous manner. He per- 
 suaded Caesar, when dictator, to grant Cratippus the Peripatetic 
 the freedom of Rome. He likewise prevailed upon the council of 
 Areopagus to make out an order, for desiring him to remain at 
 Athens, to instruct the youth ; and not deprive the city of such an 
 ornament. There are, moreover, letters of Cicero's to Herodes, 
 and others to his son, in which he directs them to study philosophy 
 under Cratippus. But he accuses Gorgias the rhetorician of 
 customing his son to a life of pleasure and intemperance, and **fere- 
 fore forbids the young man his society. Amongst his Gr(^^^®^^®^^> 
 this, and another to Pelops the Bvzantine, are all that /^^c^^®*" ^"7 
 thing of resentment. His reprimand to Gorgias plainly was right 
 and proper, if he was the dissolute man he p^^^^ed for; but he be. 
 trays an excessive meanness in his expo^J^^'^ns with Pelops, for 
 
 * Q. Catulus was the first who gave him tj>^title. Cato, as tribufie, cqnfianed )ft 
 before the people. 
 
4^ CIOERO. 
 
 neglecting to procure him certain honours from the city of By. 
 zantium. 
 
 These were the effects of his vanfty. Superior keenneMs of 
 expression, too, which he had at command, led him into many 
 violations of decorum. He pleaded tt)r Mnnatius in a cenaia 
 cause ; and his client M'as acquitted in consequence of his df fence. 
 Afterwards Munatius prosecuted Sahinus, one of Cicero's friends ; 
 upon which he was so muoh transported with anger, as to say, 
 " Thinkest thou it was the merit of thy caus» that saved ihee, and 
 not raiiier the cidud which I threw over thy crtm*M, and which 
 kept them from the sigia ui the court ?'* Ho had succeeded in an 
 encomium on Marcus Crassus from the rostrum; and a le^ da\s 
 after as publicly reproached him. " What!" said CraMUs, "did 
 you not lately praise me in the place where you now stand ?" 
 " True," answered Cicero ; " but J did it way of experiment, to see 
 what I could make of a bad subject." Crassus had once affirmed, 
 that none of his family ever lived above three. score years ; but 
 afterwards wanted to contradict it, and said, " What could 1 t>e 
 thinking of, when I asserted such a thing?" "You knew," said 
 Cicero, " that such an assertion would be very a^ireeable to the 
 people of Rome." Crassus happened one dsN to profess himself 
 much pleased with that maxim of the Stoics, "The good man is 
 always rich." " 1 imajiine," said Cicero, '* there is another more 
 agreeable to you, ' All things belong to the prudent ,* " for Crassus 
 was notoriously covetous. 
 
 Crassus hud two sons, one of which resembled a man called 
 Accius so much, that his mother was suspected of an intrigue with 
 him. This young man spoke in the senate with ^reat applause ; 
 and Cicero being asked what he thought of him, answered in 
 Greek, Axious Crassou."* An account was once bmughi Cirero 
 that Vatiiiius was dead, which being afterwards contradicted, he 
 said,-^" May vengeance seize the tongue that lold the lie?" 
 When Ca5sar proposed a decree for distributint; the lands in Cam- 
 pania among the soldiers, many of the senators were displeased 
 «t it ; and Lucius Gellius, in particular, who whs one of the oldept 
 of them, said, — " That shall never be while 1 live." ** L»t uu 
 wait a while then," said Cicero, ** for Gellius requires no very 
 i**»l( credit." There was one Octavius, who had it objected to hiin, 
 that Ve was an African. One day, when Cicero was pleading, this 
 roan saii ^e could not hear him. *' Tliat is simiewhat si range," 
 said Cicero, tt for you are not without a hole in \ our ear. "f When 
 Metellus Nepob *q\^ him, — " That he had ruined nM>re as an evu 
 dence than he haA guved as an advocate :" »' 1 grant it," said 
 
 • An ill-inaniiered pun, wh..», „-,„fiei eiiber lliai lh« vouiin man waa woniiv of 
 OraMut. or thai he whs the ion o. 5ccni». 
 
 + A mark of ilavArv ainon|it w)u-, nstiooi ; bat tbs AriioSDi wore p«ndanii in 
 fovn ears by wajr ot ornaroeoit. 
 
CICERO. 405 
 
 Cicero, " for I have more truth than eloquence." A young man> 
 who lay under the inipuiation of havinar given his father a poisoned 
 cake, talking m an nisolent manner, and threaiernng tha. (^icefo 
 should feel the vveighi of his reproaches, Cicero answered, — " I 
 had much rather have them than vour cake." Publius Sestius had 
 taken Cicero, among others, for his advocate, in a cause of some 
 importance ; and yet he w«)uld suffer no man to speak hut himself* 
 When it appeared that he would be act|Uitted, and the judges were 
 giving their verdict, Cicero called to him, and said, — *' Sestius, make 
 the best use of your time to-das, for to-morrow you will be out of 
 office."* Pubhus Cotta, who affected to be thought an able lawyer, 
 though he had neither learnin}; nor capacity, being called as a wit- 
 ness in a certain cause, declared, — " He knew nothing of the mat- 
 ter." " Perhaps," said Cicero, '* you think I am asking you some 
 question in law." Metellus Nepos, in some difference with Cicero, 
 often asking him, — '* Who is yrur father?" he replied, " Your 
 mother has made it much more difficult for you to answer that 
 question :" for his mother had not the mos unsulned tej-ua- 
 tion. This Metellus was himself a man of a light unbalanced 
 mind. He suddenly quitted the tribunitial office, and sailed to 
 Pompey in Syria ; and when he was there, he returned in a man- 
 ner still more absurd. When his preceptor Philagrus died, he 
 buried him in a pompous manner, and placed the tigure of a crow 
 in marble on his monument. f " This," said Cicero, * was one of 
 the wisest things you ever did ; for your preceptor has taught \ou 
 rather to fly than to speak. ":j: Marcus Appius having mentioned, 
 in the introduction to one of his pleadings, that his friend had de- 
 sired him to try every resource of care, eloquence, and fidelity in 
 his cause, Cicero said, — ** What a hard-hearted man \ou are, not 
 to do any one thing that your friend has desired of you !" 
 
 It seems not foreign to the business of an orator, to use this 
 cutting raillery against enemies or opponents : but his employing 
 it indiscriminately, merely to raise a laujih, rendered him extremely 
 obnoxious. To give a few instances, — He used to call Marcus 
 Aquiiius, Adrastus, because he had two sons-in-law who were both 
 in exile. § Lucius Cotta, a great lover of wine, whs censor when 
 Cicero solicited the consulship. Cicero in the course of his cativass, 
 happening to be thirsty, called for water, and said to his friends who 
 stood round him as he drank, — *' You do well to conceal ine, for 
 
 * Pronably Sestius. noi being a prnfessed advocate, would not be emuloyed to sneak 
 for anv bofly else . and. therefore, Cicero meant that he should indulge his vanity in 
 speaking for niinself. 
 
 + Ii was usual among tne ancients to place emblematic figures on the monuments 
 of the (lead ; and these were enher such iiistrumfnts as represented the profession of 
 the deceased, or such annuals as resembled them in disposition. 
 
 X \liuduig to the celeritv of his expeditions 
 
 } Because Adrastus had married his daughters to Eteocles and Polynices, who were 
 exiled. 
 
406 
 
 CICERO. 
 
 you are afraid that the censor will call roe to account for drinking 
 water." Meeting Vucuniua one da\ with three daughters, who 
 were very plain women, he <cned out, — 
 
 On init conception FhOBhii* never «iiiiled.» 
 
 Marcus Gelhus, who was supponed to be of servile extraction, 
 happeiiuig tu read some leiters in the senate with a loud and Hirong 
 voice, — * Di> no! be surpriMcd at ii," said Cicero, ♦* for there have 
 been t<ome public criers in the family." Faustus, the son of S>lla 
 the dictator, who had proscribed greai numbers ol Romans, having 
 run deHp in debt, and wusted great part of his estaif, was obliged 
 to put up putilic bills for the sale of it. Upon nhich Cicero said, 
 — *- 1 iike ihese bills much better than bin father's." 
 
 Many baled hiin for these keen sarcasms; which encouraged 
 Clodius and his faction to form their schemes against him. The 
 occasion was this : Clodius, who was of a noble family, young and 
 adventurous, entertained a pa.ssion for Pompeia, the wife of Cesar. 
 This induced him to get privately into his house, in the habit of a 
 female musician, when the women were otfering that mysterious 
 sacrifice which is kept from the sight and knowledge of men. But, 
 though no man is sufTered to assist in it, Clodius, who was very 
 young, and had his face yet smooth, hoped to pass through the 
 women to Pompeia undiscovered. As he entered a great house 
 in ihe night, he was puzzled to find his way, and one of the 
 women belonging to Aurelia, Cssar's mother, seeing him wan* 
 dering up and down, asked hini tiis name. Being now forced to 
 to S|>eak, he «aid he was seeking Abra, one ol Pompeia's maids. 
 The woman, perceiving that it was not a female vi>ice, shiieked 
 out and called the matrons together. They immediately made fast 
 the doorH, and searching the whole house, found Clodius skulking 
 in the apartment of ihe maid who introduced him. 
 
 As the affair made a great noise, Cesar divorced Pompeia, and 
 prosecuted Clodius for that act of impiety. Cicero was at that 
 time his friend ; for, during the conspiracy of Caiiline, he had been 
 ready to give him all the assistance in his power ; and even at. 
 tended as one of his guards. Clodius insisted in his defence, that 
 he was not then at Rome, but at a conniderablc distance in the 
 country. But Cicero attested, that he came that very day to bis 
 house, and talked with him about some particular business. This 
 was, indef^d, matter of fact ; yet probably it was not so much the 
 influence of truth, as the necessity of satisfying his wife Terentia 
 that induced him to declare it. She hated Clodius on account of 
 his sister Clodia ; for she was persuaded, that that lad\ wanted to 
 get Cicero for her husband, and that she managed the design by 
 one Tullus. Many other pemons of honour alleged against him 
 the crimes of perjury, of fraud, of bribing the people, and corrupt. 
 * A rene of $o|)hoclw, speaking of Laiui tbe Ikiher of ^dipus. 
 
©leERO. 407 
 
 ing the women. As the people set themselves both against the 
 witnesses and the prosecutors, the judgess were so lerntied, that 
 they thoujiht it necessar)- to piace a guard al>oui the court : and 
 most of them confounded the letters upon the tablets. He seem- 
 ed, however, to be acquitted by the majority ; but it was said to 
 be through pecuniary apphcations. Hence Catuhis, when he met 
 the judges, said, " You were right in desiring a guard tor your de- 
 fence ; for you were afraid tha somebody would take the im»ney 
 from vou." And when Clodius told Cicero that the judges did not 
 give credit to his deposition, " Yes," said he, " live and twenty of 
 them believed me, for so many condemned you ; nor did the other 
 thirty believe nou, for they did not acquit you till they had re- 
 ceived your mtmey." As to Caesar, when he was called upon he 
 gave no testimony against Clodius ; nor difl he affirm ttiat he was 
 certain of any injury done his bed. He only said, " H^ had di- 
 vorced Ponipeia, because the wife of Caesar ought not only to be 
 elear of such a crime, but of the very suspicion of it." 
 
 After Clodius had escaped this danger, and was elecied tribune 
 of the people, he immediately attacked Cicero, and left neither 
 circumstance nor person untried to ruin him. H" gained the peo- 
 ple by laws that flatfered their inclinations, and the consu s b\ de^ 
 creeing them large and wealthy provinces. He registered many 
 mean and indigent persons as citizens ; ^nd armed a number of 
 slaves for his constant attendants. Oi the great irium\ irate, Cras- 
 sus was an avowed enemy to Cicero. Pompey inditferently caress- 
 ed both parties, and Csesar was going to set out upon his expedi- 
 tion to Gaul. Though the latter was not his friend, but rather sus- 
 pected of enmity since the affair of Catiline, it was to him that he 
 applied. The favour he asked of him was, that he would take him 
 as his lieutenant ; and Caesar granted it.* Clodius perceiving that 
 Cicero would, by this means, get out of the reach of his thbunitiai 
 power, pretended to be inclined to a reconciliation. He threw 
 most of the blame of the late difference on Terentia ; and spoke 
 always of Cicero in terms of candour, not like an adversary vin- 
 dictively inclined, but as one friend might complain of another. 
 This removed Ci<^'ero's fears so entirely, that he gave up the lieu- 
 tenancy which Caesar had indulged him with, and began to attend 
 to business as before. f 
 
 Caesar was so much piqued at this proceeding, that he encour- 
 aged Clodius against him, and drew off Pompey entirely from his 
 interest. He declared too, before the people, that Cicero, in his 
 opinion, had been guilty of a flagrant violation of all justice antjl 
 law, in putting Lentulus and Cethegus to death, without any form 
 
 * Cicero savs that this heutenaucy was a voluntary offer of Caesar's — Ep. ad Ait. 
 
 t It does not appear that ( icero was influenced bv this conduct ot Clodius: he had 
 always expressed an indifference to the lieutenancy that was offered to tiim by 
 Caesar.— j;i». adAtt. 1. ii. c. 18. 
 
406 CICCRO. 
 
 of trial. This was the charge which he was summoned to answer. 
 Ciceio then put on mournnig, let his hnir grow, and with every 
 tok«'n ot distress, went about to supphcate the people. CModius 
 took care to meet him ever> where in the streets, with his auda- 
 cious and insolent crew, who insulted him on his change of diess, 
 and o(\en disturhed his applications by pelting him with dirt and 
 stones. However, almost all the equestrian order went into mourn, 
 ing with him ; and no tewer than twenty thousand young men, of 
 the best families, attended him with iheir hair dishevelled, and en. 
 treated the people for him. Afterwards the senate met, with an 
 intent to decree that the people should change their habits, as in 
 times of public mourning. Kui, as the consuls opposed it, and 
 Clodius beset ihe house ^ith his armed band of rufliuns, many of 
 the senators ran out, rending their garments, and exclaiming 
 against the outrage. 
 
 Bui this spectacle excited neither compassion nor shame, and it 
 appeared that Cicero must eithei go into exile, or decide the dig. 
 pute with the sword, in ihis extremity he applied to Pompey for 
 assistance; but he had purposely absented himse.t, and remained 
 at hih Alban villa. Cicero first sent his son-in.law Piso to him, 
 and afterwards went himself. When Pompey >*as informed of his 
 arrival, he could noi bear to look him in the ace. He was con- 
 founded at the thought of an interview with his injured friend, who 
 had fouglit such battles for him, and rendered him so man\ ser. 
 vices in tne course of his adinniisi ration. But being now snn.in* 
 law to CaBsar, ht- sacrificed his former obligations to that connec 
 tion, and went out at a back door to avoid his presence. 
 
 Cicen» thus betrayed and deserted, had recourse to the consuls. 
 Gabiiiius always treated him rudely ; but Piso behaved with soma 
 civility. He advised him to withdraw from the torrent of Clodius's 
 rage: to bear this change of ihe times with patience, and to be 
 once more the saviour of his country, which, for his sake, was in 
 all this trouble and commotion. 
 
 A(\er this answer, Cicero consulted with his friends. Lucullus 
 advised him to stay, and assured him he would be victorious. 
 Others were of opinion, that it was best to fly, because the people 
 would s<ion be desirous of his return, when they were weur> of the 
 extravagance and madnesN of Clodius. He approved of this last 
 advice; and taking a stame of Minerva, which he had long kept 
 in his house with great devotion, he carried it to the capitol, and 
 dedicated it there, with this inscription, to minrrva the protect. 
 BKss OF RoMK. About midnight he privately quitted the city ; and, 
 with some friends who attended to conduct him, took his route on 
 foot through Liicania, intending to pass from thence to Sicily. 
 
 It was no sooner known that he was fled, than Clodius procured ^ 
 o decree of banishment against biro, which prohibited hioi fire tod 
 
ClGEEa 4JQ9 
 
 water, and admission into any house within five hundred miles of 
 Ital). Bui such was the veneration the people had for Cicero, 
 that iu general there was no regard paid lo the decree. They 
 showeu hwn every sort of civility, and conducie him on his way 
 with the must cordial attention. Onlv at Hipponium, a city of Lu- 
 cania, now called Vibo, one Vibius, a native of Sicily, who had 
 particular obligations lo him, and, among other things, nad an ap- 
 pointment under him when consul, as surveyor of the works, now 
 refused to admit nun into his house ; but, at the same time, ac- 
 quainted him that he would appoint a place in the country for his 
 reception. And Caius Virginius, the praetor of Sicily, though 
 indebted to Cicero tor considerable services, wrote to forbid him 
 entrance into that isiand. 
 
 Discouraged at these instances of ingratitude, he repaired to 
 Brundusiuni, where he embarked for Dvrrhachium. At first he 
 had a favourable gale, but the next day the wind turned about and 
 drove him back to port. He set sail, however, again, as soon as 
 the wind was fair. It is reported, that when he was going to land 
 at Dyrrhachium, there happened to be an earthquake, and the sea 
 retired to a great distance from the shore. The diviners inferred 
 that his exile would be of no long continuance, for these were tokens 
 of a sudden change. Great numbers of people came to pay their 
 respects to him ; and the cities of Greece strov* which should show 
 him the greatest civilities ; yet he continued dejected and discon- 
 solate. Like a passionate lover, he often cast a longing look to- 
 wads Italy, and behaved with a littleness of spirit which could not 
 have been expected from a man that had enjoyed such opportuni- 
 ties of cultivation from letters and philosophy. Nay, he had often 
 desired his friends not to call him an orator, but a philosopher, 
 because he had made philosophy his business, and rhetoric only 
 .. the instrument of his political operations. But opinion has great 
 power to efface the tinctures of piiiiosophy, and infuse the passions 
 oT the vulgar into the minds of statesmen, who have a necessary 
 connexion and commerce with the multitude ; unless they tako 
 care so to engage in every thing extrinsic, as to attend to the 
 business only, without imbibing the passions that are the common 
 consequence of that business. 
 
 After Clodius had banished Cicero, he burnt his villas, and his 
 house in Rome ; and on the place where the latter stood, erected 
 a temple to liberty. His goods he put up to auction, and the crier 
 gave notice of it every day, but no buyer appeared. By these 
 means he became formidable to the patricians ; and having drawn 
 the people with hirn into the most audacious insolence and effronte- 
 ry, he attacked Pompej, and called into question some of his acts 
 and ordinances in the wars. As this exposed Pompey to some re- 
 flections, he blamed himself greatly for abandoning Cicero ; and 
 ^ 3r as 
 
410 
 
 ClCi^O. 
 
 entirely changing his plan, took every means fbr eflbdting ms re- 
 Uini. As Clodius constantly opposed them, tho senate decreed 
 that no public business of any kind should be despatched by their 
 body, till Cicero was recalled. ' 
 
 In the consulship of Lentulus, the sedition increased ; some of 
 the tribunes were wounded in the forum; and Quintus, the brother 
 of Cicero, was left tor dead among the slain. The people begau 
 now to change their opinion ; und Annius Milo, one of the tri- 
 bunes, was the first who ventured to call Clodius to answer for his 
 violation of the public peace. Many of the people of Rome, and 
 of the neighbouring cities, joined Pompey ; with whose assistance 
 lie drove Clodius out of the (brum ; and then he summoned tho 
 citizens to vote. It is said, that nothing wus ever carried among 
 the commons with so great unanimity ; and the senate, endeavour- 
 ing to give still higher proofs of their attachment to Cicero, de- 
 creed that their thanks should be given the cities which had treated 
 him with kindness and respect during his exile, and thai his towu 
 and country houses, which Clodius had demolished, should be re* 
 buih at the public charge."' 
 
 Cicero returned sixteen months after his banishment ; and such 
 joy was f^xpressed by the cities, so much eagerness to meet him 
 by all ranks of people, that his own account of it is less than the 
 truth, though he said, " That Italy had brought him on her shoul- 
 ders to Rome." Crassus, who was his enemy before his exile, 
 now readily went to meet him, and was reconciled. In this, he 
 said, he was willing to oblige his son Pubhus, who was a great ad- 
 mirer of Cicero. 
 
 Not long after his return, Cicero taking his opportunity, when 
 Clodius was absent,^ went up with a great company to the capitol, 
 and destroyed the iribunitial tables, in which were recorded all the 
 acts in Clodius's time. Clodiu^ loudly complained of this pro- 
 ceeding ; but Cicero answered, **That his appointment as a tribune 
 was irregular, because he was of a patrician family, and conse- 
 quently all his acts were invalid." Cato was displeased, and op- 
 posed Cicero in this assertion : not that he praised Clodius ; on the 
 contrary, he was extremely offended at his administration ; but he 
 represented, " That it would be a violent stretch of prerogative, 
 for the senate to annul so many decrees and acts, among which 
 were his own commission, and his regulations at Cyprus and By- 
 suintium." The diffVrence which this produced between Cato and 
 Cicero, did not come to an absolute rupture ; it only lessened the 
 warmth of their friendship. 
 
 * Tli« con«tilt decreed for rebuildiiif hit bout* in Ron* ncvr X11>000; for bit 
 Tuscan villa near j^3,000: and for hii Porinian villa about half iliai'auin, wbicU 
 Cicero called a very •e%nty eatmiaie. 
 
 t ('icrro had atteinpied ibii uace before, whon Clodius wa« ptoaaot ; but Caiut, 
 ih0 brtither of CMitit, beinf prstor, bv hit meant they wera rescued out of Ute bandi 
 ofCievm. 
 
GICERO. 411 
 
 After this, Milo killed Clodias ; and being arraigned for the fact, 
 he chase Cicero for his advocate. The senate, fearing that the 
 prosecution of a man of Milo's spirit and reputation might produce 
 some tumult in the city, appomted Pompey to preside at this and 
 the other trials ; and to provide for the peace of the city, and the 
 protection of the courts of justice. In consequence of which, he 
 posted a body of soldiers in the forum before day, and secured 
 every part of it. This made Milo apprehensive that Cicero would 
 be disconcerted* at so unusual a sight, and less able to plead. He 
 therefore persuaded him to come in a litter to the forum ; and to 
 repose himself there till the judges were assembled, and the court 
 filled : for he was not only timid in war, but he had his fear when 
 he spoke in public ; and in many causes he scarce left trembling 
 even in the height and vehemence of his eloquence. 
 
 When he came out of the litter to open the cause of Milo, and 
 saw Pompey seated on high, as in a camp, and weapons glittering 
 all around the forum, he was so confounded that he could scarce 
 begm his oration * for he shook, and his tongue /altered ; though 
 Milo attended the trial with great courage, ^nd hacl disdained to 
 let his hair grow, or to put on mourning. These circumstances 
 contributed not a little to his condemnation ; as for Cicero, his 
 trembling was imputed rather to his anxiety for his friend, than to 
 any particular timidity. 
 
 Qicero was appointed one of the priests called Augurs, in the 
 room of young Crassus, who was killed in the Parthian war. Af- 
 terward the province of Cilicia was allotted to him, and he sailed 
 thither with an army of twelve thousand foot, and two thousand 
 six hundred horse. He had it in charge to bring Cappadocia to 
 submit to king Ariobarzanes ; which he accomplished to the satis- 
 faction of all parties, without having recourse to arms ; and find- 
 ing the Cilicians elated on the miscarriage of the Romans in Par- 
 tliia, and the commotipns in Syria, he brought them to order by 
 the gentleness of his government. He refused the presents which 
 the neighbouring princes offered him ; he excused the province 
 from findmg him a public table, and daily entertained, at his own 
 charge, persons of honour and learning, not with magnificence in- 
 deed, but with elegance and propriety. He had no porter at his 
 gate, nor did any man ever find him in bed ; for he rose early in 
 the morning, and kindly received those who came to pay their 
 court to him, either standing or walking before his door. We are 
 told that he never caused any man to be beaten with rods, or to 
 have his garments rent ;* never gave opprobrious language in his 
 anger, nor added insult to punishment. He rec^jvered the pubhc 
 
 * This mark of ignominy was of great antiquity : " Wherefore Hanun took Da- 
 vid's servants, and shaved off one half of their beards, and cut off their gaun^nts to 
 the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away." — 2Siern. x.4. 
 
^2 GICERO. 
 
 money which had been embezzled, und enriched the cities with it ; 
 at the sume time, he was saiiKfied if those who had been gfiihv of 
 such frauds made restitution, and fixed no mark of infamy upon 
 them. 
 
 He had also a taste for war : for he routed the bands of robbers 
 that had possessed themselves of Mount Amanus, and was saluted 
 by his armv Jmperator* on that account. Caecilius,'!' the orator, 
 having desired him to send him some panthers from Cilina fur his 
 games at Rome, in his answer he could not forbear boasting of 
 his achievements. He said, '- There were no panthers left in Ci. 
 licia. Those uinmals, in their vexation to find that they were the 
 only objects of war, while every thing else was at peace, were fled 
 into Caria." "* 
 
 In his return from his province, he stopped at Rhodes, and aficr- 
 ^ard made some stay at Athens; which he did with great pleasure, 
 in remembrance of his former conversations at that place. He had 
 now the companv of all that were most famed for erudition ; and 
 visited his former friends and acquaintance. After he had re- 
 ceived all due honours and marks of esteem from Greece, he passed 
 on to Rome, where he found the fire of dissention kindled, and 
 every thing tending to a civil war. 
 
 When the senate decreed him a triumph, he said, " He had ra- 
 ther follow Caesar's chariot wheels in his triumph, if a reconcilia. 
 tion could be effected between him and Pompey." And in private 
 he tried every healing and conciliatory method by writing to Cdb- 
 sar and entreating Pompey^ After it came to an open rupture, 
 and Ceesar was on his march to Rome, Pompey retired with num. 
 bers of the principal citizens in his train. Cicero did not attend 
 him in his flight, and, therefore, it was believed he would join Coc. 
 Bar. It IS certain that he fluctuated greatly in his opinion, and 
 was in the utmost anxiety ; for he says, in his epistles, ** Whither 
 shall I turn ? P<»mpey has the more honourable cause ; but Cssar 
 manages his affairs with the greatest address, and is most able to 
 save himself and his friends : in short. 1 know whom to avoid, but 
 not whom to seek." 
 
 At last, one Trebatiiis, a friend of Cssar's, sifrnified to him by 
 loiter, that Csesar thought he had reason to reckon him of his side, 
 and to consider him as a partner of his hopes. But if his age would 
 not permit it, he might retire into Greece, and live there in tran- 
 quillitN, without any connexion with either party. Cicer»» was 
 surprised that Caesar did not write himaelf, and answered angrily, 
 
 • He not imly received thit mark of diMinodon. twt ; i k«««v"'K* w»r« or. 
 
 oered Mf Roiiie l«>r hm nuccnt and ihe peoolr *riit i < f »»>n. a inuinph. 
 
 Hi* •arvicet. iherelare, nni»t h«v« twitn coii»id»iah(e. m *mu» \o ipriiiioo 
 
 tham tofi ahKhtir. 
 
 t Not Cvciliui, t»wt CaliHiL Ha wai tban adila, and wantad tha panthara for bia 
 MiMiotlKtwa. 
 
GlCERa 413 
 
 " That he would do nothing unworthy of his political character." 
 Such IS the account we have of the matter in his. epistles. 
 
 However, upon Caesar's marching tor Spain, he crossed the sea, 
 and repaired to Pompey. His arrival was agreeable to the gene- 
 rality ; but Cato blamed him privately for taking this measure. 
 "As for me," said he, "it would have been wrong to leave that 
 party which I embraced from the beginning; but you might have 
 been much more serviceable to your country and vour friends, if 
 you had staid at Rome, and accommodated \ourself to events : 
 vvhereas now, without any reason or necessity, you have declared 
 yourself an enemy to Caesar, and are come to share in the danger 
 with which you had nothing to do." 
 
 These arguments made Cicero change his opinion ; especially, 
 when he found that Pompey did not employ him upon any consi- 
 derable service. It is true, no one was to be blamed for this but 
 himself; for he made no secret of his repenting. He disparas^ed 
 Pompey's preparations; he insinuated his dislike of his counsels, 
 and never spared his jests upon his allies. He was not, indeed, 
 inclined to laugh himself; on the contrary, he walked about the 
 camp with a very solemn countenance; but he often made others 
 laugh, though they were very little inclined to it. Perhaps it may 
 not be amiss to give a few instances : — When Domitius advanced 
 a man who had no turn for war, to the rank of capfain, and assign- 
 ed for his reason, that he was an honest and prudent man, *' Why 
 then," said Cicero, "do you not keo him for governor to your 
 children?" When some were commending Theophanes the Les- 
 bian, who was director of the board of works, for consoling the 
 Rhodians on the loss of their fleet, " See," said Cicero, " what it 
 is to have a Grecian director !" When Caesar was successful in al- 
 most every instance, and held Pompey, as it were, besieged, Len- 
 tulus said, " He was informed that Caesar's friends looked very 
 eour." "You m^an, I suppose," said Cicero, " that they are out 
 of humour with him." One Martius, newly arrived from Italy, told 
 ihem a report prevailed at Rome, that Pompey was blocked up in 
 his camp : " Then," said Cicero, " you took a voyage on purpose 
 to see it." After Pompey 's defeat, Nonnius said, there was room 
 yet for hope, for there were seven eagles left in the camp. Cicero 
 answered, " That would be good encouragement, if we were to 
 fight with jackdaws." When Labienus, on the strength of some 
 oracles, insisted that Pompey must be conqueror at last : "By 
 this oracular generalship," said Cicero, "we have lost our 
 camp." 
 
 After the battle of Pharsalia (in which he was not present on ac- 
 count of his ill health.) and after the flight of Pompey, Cato, who 
 had considerable forces, and a great fleet at D\ rrhachium, desired 
 Cicero to take the command, because his consular dignity gave 
 35* 
 
414 CICERU 
 
 bim a legal title to iU Cicero, however, not only declined it, but 
 absolutely refused taking anv farther share in the war. Upon 
 whicti >oung Pumpes and his triends called him traitor, drew their 
 swords, and would certauily have despatched him, bad not Cato in- 
 terposed and conveyed him out of the camp. 
 
 •He got safe to Brundusium, and staid there some time in ezpec* 
 tation of Cesar, who was detained by his affairs in Asia and Eg> pt. 
 When he heard that the conqueror was arrived at Tarentum, and 
 designed to proceed thence by land t<i Brundusium, he set out to 
 meet him ; not without hope, nor yet without some shame and re* 
 luctance at the thought of trying how he stood in the opinion of a 
 victorious enemy before so many witnesses. He had no occasion, 
 however, either to do or say any ihing beneath his dignity. Cssar 
 DO sooner beheld him at a considerable distance, advancing before 
 the rest, than he dismounted, and can to embrace him ; after which, 
 he went on discoursing with him alone for ipauy furlongs. He 
 continued to treat him with great kindness and respect ; insomuch 
 that when he had written an encomium on Cato, which bore the 
 name of that great man, Cssar, in his answer, entitled AiUicato, 
 praised both the eloi^uence and conduct of Cicero, and said be 
 greatly resembled Pericles and Theramenes. 
 
 When Qiiintus Liganus was prosecuted for bearing arms against 
 CcBsnr, and Cicero had undertaken to plead his cause, Caesar is re- 
 ported lo have said, ** Why may we not give ourselves a pleasure, 
 which we have not enjoyed so long, that of hearinie Cicero speak; 
 since I have already taken my resolution as to Ligarius, who is 
 clearly a bad man. as well as my enemy ?" But he was greatly 
 moved when Cicero began ; and his speech, as it proceeded, had 
 such a variety of pathos, so irresistible a charm, that his colour 
 changed ; and it was evident that his mind was torn with rtmflict- 
 ing passions. At last, when the orator touched on the battle of 
 Pharsalia, he was so extremely affected, that his whole frame trem- 
 bled, and he let drop some papers out of his hand. Thus conquer- 
 ed by the force of eloquence, he acquitted Ligarius. 
 
 The commonwealth being changed into a monarchy, Cicero 
 withdrew from the scene of public business, and bestowed his lei- 
 sure on the young men who were desirous to be instructed in phi. 
 losophy. As these were of the best families, b> his interest with 
 therii he once more obtained great authority in Rome. He made 
 it his business to compose and translate philosophical dialogues, 
 and to render the Greek terms of logic and natural philosoph% in 
 the Roman language. His ready turn for poetr) likewise afforded 
 bim amusement. As in this period he spent most of his time at his 
 Tusculan villa, he wrote to his friends, *' That he led the life of 
 Laertes ;*' either by way of raillery, as his cuMtom was, or from an 
 ambitious desire of public employment, and discontent in his pr«- 
 
GICERO. 416 
 
 sent situation. Be that as it may, he rarely went to Rome, and 
 then only to pay his court to Caesar. He was always one of the 
 first to vote him additional honours ; and forward to sav somethmg 
 new of him and his actions. Thus, when Caesar ordered Pompey's 
 statues, which had been pulled down, to be erected a^ain, Cicero 
 said, '* That, by setting up Pompey's statues, he had established 
 his own." 
 
 It is reported that he had formed a design to write the history of 
 his own country ; but he was prevented by many disagreeable cir- 
 cumstances, both public and private, into most of which he broijght 
 himself by his own indiscretiim ; for, in the first place, he divorced 
 his wife Terentia. The reasons he assigned, were, that she had neg- 
 lected him during the war; and even sent him out without necessa- 
 ries. Besides, after his return to Italy, she behaved to him with little 
 regard, and did not wait on him during his long stay at Brundusium. 
 Nay, when his daughter, at that time very young, took so long a 
 journey to see him, she allowed her but an indifierent equipage, 
 and insufficient supplies. Indeed, according to his own account, 
 his house was become naked and empty, through the many debts 
 which she had contracted. Terentia, however, denied alt these 
 charges : and Cicero himself made a full apology for her, by mar- 
 rying a young woman not long after. Terentia said, he took her 
 merely for her beauty ; but his freedman Tyro affirms, that he mar- 
 ried her for her wealth, that it might enable him to pay his debts. 
 She was, indeed, very rich, and her fortune was in the hands of 
 Cicero, who was left her guardian. As his debts were great, his 
 friends and relations persuaded him to marry the young lady, not- 
 withstanding the disparity of years, and satisfy his creditors out of 
 her fortune. 
 
 Antony, in his answer to the Philippics, taxes him with "repudia- 
 ting a wife with whom he was grown old ;"* and rallies hira on ac- 
 count of his perpetually keeping at home, like a man either unfit 
 for business or war. ^ Not long after this match, his daughter Tul- 
 lia, who after the death of Piso had married Lentulus, died in 
 childbed. The philosophers came from all parts t6 comfort him, 
 for his loss affiscted him extremely; and he even put away his new 
 bride, because she seemed to rejoice at the death of Tullia. In 
 this posture were Cicero's domestic affiiirs. 
 
 As to those of the public, he had no share in the conspiracy 
 against Caesar, though he was one of Briitus's particular friends ; 
 and no man was more uneasy under the new establishment, or more 
 desirous of having the commonwealth restored. Possibly they 
 feared his natural deficiency of courage, as well as his time of life, 
 at which the boldest begin to droop. After the work was done by 
 Brutus and Cassius, the friends of Caesar assembled to revenffe his 
 
 * Ciceso was then sixty- two. 
 
416 GICIRO. 
 
 death ; and it was apprehended that Rome would again be plunged 
 in civil war8. Amony, who wan couiiul, ordered a nieeiiiig of the 
 senate, and made a short speech on the neceiwity of union. But 
 Cicero expatiated in a manner suitable to the nccasiou ; and per. 
 suaded the senate to pass a general ainnesty as to alt that had beeo 
 done against Csesar, and to decree provinces to Brutus and Cas- 
 sius. 
 
 None of these things, however, took effect : for the people were 
 inclined to pity on this event; and when they beheld i he dead 
 bods ot (Caesar carried into the forum, where Antony showed ihem 
 his robe, stained with blood, and pierced on all sides with swords, 
 theN broke out into a transport (»f rage. The> sought all over the 
 forum for the actors in that tragedy, and ran wiUi lighted torches 
 to burn their houses. By their precaution they escaped this dan- 
 gei ; but as they saw others no less considerable impending, they 
 left the city. 
 
 Antony,, elated with this advantage, became formidable to all the 
 opposite party, who supposed that he woul^l aim at nothing less 
 than absolute power ; but Cicero had particular reason to dread 
 him ; for, being sensible that Cicero's weight in the administra- 
 tion was established again, and of his strong attachment to Brutus, 
 Antony could hardly bear his presence. Besides, there had long 
 been some jealousy and dislike between them on account of the 
 dissimilarity of their lives. Cicero, fearing the event, was in- 
 dined to go with Dolabella into S\ria, as his lieutenant. But af* 
 terwards Hirtius and Fansa, who were to be consuls after Antony, 
 persons of great merit, and good friends to Cicero, desired him not 
 to leave them ; and promised, with his assistance, to destroy An- 
 tony. Cicero, without depending much on their scheme, eave up 
 that of going with Dolabella, and agreed with the consuls elect to 
 pass the summer in Athens, and return when they entered upon 
 their office. 
 
 Accordingly, he embarked for that place without taking an^ 
 principal Roman along with him. But his voyage being acci. 
 dentally retarded, news was brought from Rome, (for he did not 
 choose to be without news,) that 'there was a wonderful change in 
 Antony ; that he took all his steps agreeably to the sense of the 
 senate ; and that nothing but his presence was wanting to bring 
 matters to the best establishment. He, therefore, condemned hia 
 excessive caution, and returned to Rome. 
 
 His first hopes were not diMappoimed. Such crowds came out 
 to meet liiin, that almost a whole day was spent at the gates, ami 
 oc his way home, in compliments and congratulations. Next day 
 Antony convened the senate, and sent for Cicero ; but ho kept hia 
 bed, pretending that he was indisposed with his journey. In rcali. 
 ty, he seems to have been afraid of assassination, in conscquenco 
 
r 
 
 GICERO. 4] 7 
 
 of some hints he received by the way. Antony was extremely in- 
 censed at these suggestions, and ordered a party ot soldiers either 
 to bring him, or to burn his house m case of refusal. However, 
 at the request of numbers who interposed, he revoked that order, 
 and bade them only bring a pledge from his house. 
 
 After this, when they happened to meet, they passed each other 
 in silence, and lived m mutual distrust. Mean time, young Caesar, 
 arr^vrng from ApoHonia, put in his claim as heir to his uncle, and 
 sued Antony for twenty-five million drachmas,^ which he detained 
 of the estate. 
 
 Hereupon, Philip, who had married the mother, and Marcellus, 
 who was husband to the sister of Octavius, brought him to Cicero. 
 It was agreed between them that Cicero should assist Caesar with 
 his eloquence and interest, both with the senate and the people ; 
 and that Caesar should give Cicero all the protection that his 
 wealth and military influence could afford : for the young man had 
 already collected a considerable number of the veterans who had 
 served under his uncle. 
 
 Cicero received the offer of his friendship with pleasure : for 
 while Pompey and Caesar were living, Cicero, it seems, had a 
 dream, in which he thought he called some boys, the sons of sena- 
 tors, up to the capitol, because Jupiter designed to pitch upon one 
 of them for sovereign of Rome. The citizens ran with all the 
 eagerness of expectation, and placed themselves about the temple ; 
 and the boys in iheir prcBtexia sat silent. The doors suddenly open- 
 ing, the boys rose up one b\ one, and, in their order, passed round 
 the god, who reviewed them all, and sent them away disappointed : 
 but when Octavius approached, he stretched out his hand to him, 
 and said, '* Romans, this is the person, who, when he comes to be 
 your prince, will put an end to your civil wars." This vision, they 
 tell us, made such an impression upon Cicero, that he perfectly- 
 retained the figure and countenance of the boy, though he did not 
 yet know him. Next day, he went down to the Campus Martius^ 
 when the boys were just returning from their exercises; and the 
 first who struck his eye, was the lad in the very form tliat he had 
 seen in his dream. Astonished at the discovery, Cicero asked him 
 who were his parents ; and he proved to be the son of Octavius, a 
 person n<»t much distinguished in life, and of Attia, sister to Cflssar. 
 As he was so near a relation, and Caesar had no children of his 
 own, he adopted him, and, by will, left him his estate. Cicero, 
 after his dream, whenever he met young Octavius, is said to have 
 treated him with particular regard ; and he received those marks 
 of his iriendship with great satisfaction. Besides, he happened to 
 be born the year that Cicero was consul. 
 
 » Plutarch is iiiiataken in the sum. It appears from Paterculus and others that it 
 WB8 seven times as uiuch- 
 
 36 
 
41S OlOERO. 
 
 These were pretended to be the causes of theur present connex- 
 ion. But the leading motive with Cicero was his hatred of Auto- 
 uy, and the next his natural avidity ot glory ; for he hoped to thruw 
 the weight of Octavius into the scale of the commonwealth ; and 
 the latter behaved to him with such a puerile deference, that he 
 even called him father. Hence Brutus, in his letters to Atticus, 
 expressed his indignation agamst Cicero, and said, " That, as 
 through fear of Antony, he paid his court to young Caesar, it was 
 pluiit that he took not his measures for the liberty of his countr)-, 
 but only to obtain a gentle muster for himself." Nevertheless, 
 Brutus finding the son of Cicero at Athens, where he was studying 
 under the philosuphers, gave him a command, and employed hini 
 upon many services, which proved successful. 
 
 Cicero's power at this time was at its greatest height ; he carried 
 every pomt that he desired ; insomuch that he expelled Antony, 
 and raised such a spirit against him, that the consuls Hirtius and 
 Pansa were sent to give him battle ; and Cicero likewise prevail- 
 ed upon the senate to grant Caesar the fasces^ with the dignity ot' 
 prsBlor, as one who wus fiuhting fur his country. 
 
 Antony indeed wus beaten ; but both tiie consuls falling in the 
 action, the troops ranged themselves under the banners of CaBsar. 
 Thu senate now fearing the views uf a young man, who was so 
 much favoured by fortune, endeavoured by honours and gifts to 
 draw his force> from him, and to diminish his power. They al- 
 leged, that, as Antony was put to Hight, there was no need to keep 
 such an army on foot. Csesar, alarmed ut these vigorous mea- 
 sures, privately sent some friends to entreat and persuade Cicero 
 to procure the consulship for them both ; promising, at the same 
 time., that he should direct all affairs, according to his better judg- 
 ment, and find him perfectly tractable, who was but a youth, and 
 had no ambition for any thing but the title and the honour. Coasar 
 himself acknowledged afterwards, that, in his apprehensions of be- 
 in^ entirely ruined and deserted, he seasonably availed himself of 
 Cicero's ambition, persuaded him to stand for the consulship, and 
 undertook to support his application with his whole interest. 
 
 In this case particularly, Cicero, old as he was, suflered him- 
 self to be imposed upon by this young man, solicited the people 
 for Kim, and brought the senate into his interest. Kis friends 
 blarned him for it at the time ; and it was not long before he waa 
 sensible that he had ruined him.tcif, and given up the liberties of 
 his country : for Caesar was no sooner strengthened with the con. 
 suliir authority, than he gave up Cicero ;♦ and reconciling himself 
 to Antony and Lepidus, he united his powers with theirs, and di. 
 vided the empire among them as if it had been a private estate. 
 At the same time they proscribed above two hundred pcrsouiS 
 * lactaad of tiikiiif him for bis colleague, he chotr Quinnu Padiu*. 
 
CICERO. 419 
 
 whom they had pitched upon for a sacrifice. The greatest diffi. 
 culty and dispute was about the proscription of Cicero ; for Anto- 
 ny would come to no terms, till he was first taken off. Lepidus 
 agreed with Antony in this preliminary ; but Caesar opposed them 
 both. They had a private congress for these purposes near the 
 city of Bononia, which lasted three days. Caesar is said to have 
 contended for Cicero the two first days ; but the third he gave him 
 up. The sacrifices on each part were these : Caesar was to aban- 
 don Cicero to his fate ; Lepidus, his brother Paulus ; and Antony, 
 Lucius CsBsar, his uncle by the mother's side. Thus rage and 
 rancour entirely stifled in them all sentiments of humanity ; or, 
 more properly speaking, they showed no beast is more savage than 
 man, when he is possessed of power equal to his passion. 
 
 While his enemies w^re thus employed, Cicero was at his Tus- 
 culan villa, and his brother Quintus with him. When they were 
 informed of the proscription, they determined to remove to Astyra, a 
 country house of Cicero's near the sea ; where they intended to 
 take a ship, and repair to Brutus in Macedonia ; for it was report, 
 ed, that he was already very powerful in those parts. They 
 were carried in their separate litters, oppressed with sorrow and 
 despair ; and often joining their litters on the road, they stopped to 
 bemoan their mutual misfortunes. Quintus was the more de- 
 jected, because he was in want of necessaries ; for, as he said, 
 he had brought nothing from home with him. Cicero, too, had but 
 a slender provision. They concluded, therefore, that it would be 
 best for Cicero to hasten his flight, and for Quintws to return to his 
 house, and get some supplies. This resolution being fixed upon, 
 they embraced each other with every expression of sorrow, and 
 then parted. 
 
 A few days after, Quintus and ^is son were betrayed by his ser- 
 vants to the assassins who c^me in quest of them, and lost their 
 lives. As for Cicero, he, was carried to Astyra ; where finding a 
 vessel, he immediately went on board, and coasted along to Cir- 
 caBum, with a favourable wind. The pilots were preparing imme. 
 diately to sail from thence ; but whether it was that he feared the 
 sea, or had not yet given up all his hopes in Caesar, he disembark- 
 ed, and travelled a hundred furlongs on foot, as if Rome had been 
 the place of his destination. Repenting, however, afterwards, he 
 left that road, and made again for the sea. He passed the night in 
 the most perplexing and horrid thoughts ; insomuch, that he was 
 sometimes inclined to go privately into Caesar's house, and stab 
 himself upon the altar of his domestic gods, to bring the divine ven- 
 geance upon his betrayer. But he was deterred from this by the 
 fear of torture. Other alternatives equally distressful, pre.-ented 
 themselves. At last, he put himself in the hands of his servant^, 
 and ordered them to carry him by sea to Cajeta, where be had a 
 
420 CIOERO. 
 
 <]elighirul retreat in the summer, when the Etesian winds set in. 
 There was a temple of Apollo on that roast, from which a flight of 
 crows came, with great noise towards Cicero's vessel, as it was 
 making land. They perched on both sides his sail yard, where 
 some sat croaking and others pecking the ends of the ropes. All 
 looked upon this as an ill omen ; yet Cicero went on shore, and, 
 enterinu his house, lay down to repose himself. In the mean time, 
 a numher of the crows settled in the chamber window, and croaked 
 in the most doleful manner. One of them even «*ntered it, and 
 alighting on the bed, attempted, with its beak, to draw ofTthe clothes 
 with which he had covered his face. On sight of this, the servants 
 began to repniach themselves. "Shall we," said they, " lemain 
 to be spectators of our master's murrter? JShall we not protect him, 
 so innocent and so great a sufferer as he is, when the brute crea. 
 tures give him marks of their care and attention ?" Then partly 
 by entreaty, partly by force, they got him into his litter, and car- 
 ried him towards the sea. 
 
 Mean time the assassins came up. They were commanded by 
 Hereiinius, a centurion, and P(»mpilius, a tribune, whom Cicero had 
 formerly defended when under a prosecution for parricide. The 
 doors of the house being made fast, they broke them open. Still 
 Cicero did not appear, and the servants who were left behind, said 
 they knew nothing of him. But a young man, named Philologiis, 
 his brother Quintus's freedman, whom Cicero had instructed in the 
 liberal arts and sciences, informed the tribune, that they were car- 
 rying the litter through deep shades to the sea side. The tribune, 
 taking a few soldiers ^^ith him, ran to the end of the walk where 
 he was to come out. But Cicero perceiving that Herennius was 
 hastening after him, ordered his servants to set the litter down, and 
 putting his left hand to his chin, as it was his custom to do, he 
 looked steadfastly upon his murderen.. Such an appearance of mi- 
 sery in his face, overgrown with hair, and wnsted with anxiety, so 
 much affected the attendants of Herennius, that ihev covered their 
 faces during the melancholy scene. That uflicer despatched him, 
 while he stretched his neck out of the litter to receive the blow. 
 Thus fell Cicero, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. Herennius 
 cut off his head, and, by Antony's command, his hands too, with 
 which he had written the Philippics. Such was the title he gave 
 his orations against Antony, and they retain it to this da>. 
 
 When these parts of Cicero's body were brought to Rome, An- 
 tony happened to be holding an assemblyfor the electicm of ma- 
 gistrates. He no sooner beheld them than he cried out, ** Now let 
 there be an end of all proscriptions. He ordered the head and 
 hnitds to be fastened up over the rostra, a dreadful spectacle to the 
 Roman people, who thought they did not so much see the face of 
 Cirf»ro HM a pictiirn of ^nf'>nv*8 soul. Yet ho did one act of justice 
 
GICEtlO. 421 
 
 on this occasion, which was the delivering of Philologus to Pompo- 
 nia, the wife of Qumtus. When she was mistress of his fate, be- 
 side other horrid punishments, she made him cut off his own flesh 
 by piecemeal, and roast and eat ir. This is the account some his- 
 torians give us ; but Tyro, Cicero's freedman, makes no mention 
 of the treachery of Philologus. 
 
 I am informed thai, a long time after, Caesar, going to see one of 
 his grandsons, found him with a book of Cicero's in his hands. The 
 boy, alarmed at the accident, endeavoured lo hide the book under 
 his robe ; which Caesar perceived, and took it from him ; and af- 
 ter haMng run most of it over as he stood, he returned it, and said, 
 *' Mv dear child, this was an eloquent man, mid a lover of his coun- 
 try." 
 
 Being consul at the time when he conquered Antony, he took 
 the son of Cicero for his colleague ; under whose auspices the se- 
 nate took down the statues of Anton\ , defaced all the monuments 
 of his honour, and decreed, that, for the future, none of his family 
 should bear the name of Marcus. Thus thedivme justice reserved 
 the completion of Antony's punishment for the house of Cicero. 
 36 
 
DEMOSTHENES AND CICERO 
 
 COMPARED. 
 
 THESE are the most memorable circumstances in the lives of 
 Deinusthenes and Cicero, that could be collected ironi the hisiori- 
 aoH which have come to our knowledge. Though 1 shall not pre- 
 tend to compare their talents fur speakutg, yet this, I thmk, 1 ought 
 to observe, that Dem«)Sthenes, by the exertion of all his powers, 
 both natural and acquired, upon that object oiil\, came to exceed, 
 in energy and strength, the most cel«-bruted pleaders of his time; 
 in grandeur and inagnihcence of style, all that were eminent for the 
 sul)liine ot' declamaiiou ; and in accuracy and art, the most able 
 professors of rhejonc. Cicero's studies were more general, and, 
 in his treasures of knowledge, he had a great variety. He has left 
 us H number of philosophical tracts, which he composed upon the 
 principles of the Academy. And we see something of ostentation 
 of learning in the very orations which he wrote for the forum and 
 the bar. 
 
 Tneir different tempers are discernible in their way of writing. 
 That of Demosthenes, without un\ einbellishinents of wit and hu> 
 mour, IS always grave and serious : nor does ii smell of the lamp, 
 as Pytheas tauntingly said, but of the water-drinker, of the man of 
 thought, of one who was characterized by the austerities of life. 
 But Cicero, who loved to indulge his vein of pleasantry, so much 
 affected the wit, that he sometimes sunk into the buffoon ; and, by 
 affecting gayety in the most serious things to serve his client, he 
 has offended a^^ainst the rules of propriety and decorum. Thus 
 in the oration of Cielius he says — '* Where is the absurdity, t^n 
 man with an affluent fortune at command, shall indulge himself 
 with pleasure ? It would be madness not to enjoy what is in his 
 power, particularly when some of the greatest philosophers place 
 man's chief good in pleasure ?"♦' 
 
 When Cato impeached Murena, Cicero, who %Ta8 then consul, 
 undertook his defence, and, in his pleading, took occasion to ridi- 
 cule several paradoxes of the Stoics, because Cato was of that 
 sect. He succeeded so far as to raise a laugh in the assembly, 
 and even among the judges. Upon which Caio smiled, and said 
 to those who sat by him, *' What a pleasant consul we have !" 
 Cicero, indeed, was naturally facetious; and he not only loved his 
 jetts, but bis countenance was gay and smiling: whereas Demos- 
 
 * Hlutarch hat noi quoted this pNttage with accuracy. Cicero apologiiM for th« 
 cscestet of youth, but doe* not defend or approve tiM pirtiiii of pleaaur*. 
 
DEMOSTHENES AND CICERO COMPARED. 423 
 
 iheiies had a care and thoughUuiness in his aspect, which he sel- 
 dom or never put off. Hence his enemies, as he confesses, called 
 him a morose lU-natured man. 
 
 It appears also from their writings, -that Demosthenes, when he 
 touches upon hi.^ own praise, does it with an moti'easive delicacy. 
 Indeed, he never gives into it at all, but when he has some great 
 point in view ; and on all other occasions is extremely modest; but 
 Cicero, in his orations, speaks in such high terms of himself, that 
 it is plain he had a most intemperate vanity. Thus he cries out — 
 
 Let arms revere the robe ; the warrior's laurel 
 Yield to the palm of eloquence. 
 
 At length he came to commend not only his own actions and 
 operations in the commonwealth, but his orations too, as well those 
 which he had only pronounced, as those which he had committed 
 to writing, as if, with a juvenile vanity, he were vying with the 
 rhetoricians Isocrates and Anaximenes, instead of being inspired 
 with the great ambition of gUiding the Roman people — 
 
 Fierce in the field, and dreadful to the foe. 
 
 It is necessary, indeed, for a statesman to have the advantage 
 of eloquence ; but it is mean and illiberal to rest on such a qualifi- 
 cation, or to hunt after praise in that quarter. In this respect De- 
 mosthenes behaved vvith more dignity, with u superior elevation of 
 soul. He said — :" His abihty to explain himself was a mere ac- 
 quisition, and not so perfect bur that it required great candour and 
 indulgence in the audience." He thought it must be, as indeed it 
 is, only a low and little mind that can value itself upon such attain- 
 ments. 
 
 They both, undoubtedly, had political abilities, as well as pow- 
 ers to persuade. They had them in such a degree, that men who 
 hafd armies at their devotion, stood in need of their support. 
 Thus Chares, Diopithes, and Leosthenes, availed themselves of 
 Demosthenes ; Pompey and young Caesar, of Cicero : as Caesar 
 himself acknowledges, in his Commentaries addressed to Agrippa 
 and Maecenas. 
 
 It is an observation, no less just than common, that nothing makes 
 so thorough a trial of a man's disposition, as power and authority ; 
 for they awake every passion, and discover every latent vice. 
 Demosthenes never had an opportunity for a trial of this kind. 
 He never obtained any eminent charge ; nor did he lead those ar- 
 mies against Philip, which his eloquence had raised. But Cicero 
 went quaestor into Sicily, and proconsul into Cilicia and Cappado- 
 cia; at a time, too, when avarice reigned without control; when 
 the governors of provinces, thinking it beneath them to take, a clan- 
 destine advantage, fell to open plunder ; when, to take another's 
 
424 DEMOSTMENKS AND CICERO COMPARED. 
 
 property, was thought no great crime, and he who took moderately 
 paaaed (or a mun of character. Yet ut «uch u iiine as this, Cicero 
 gave many proofs of bis coiitemp* for money ; many of his hu- 
 manity and goodness. At Rome, with the title only of consul, he 
 had an absolute and dictatorial power against Catiline and hm ac 
 complices: on which he veritied the prediction of Plato, ** That 
 every state will be delivered from its calamities, wnen, by the fa- 
 vour of fortune, great power unites with wisdom and justice m one 
 peraon." 
 
 1( IS mentioned to the disgrace of Demosthenes, that his elo- 
 quence wa.s mercenary ; that he privately composed orations both 
 for Phoriniu and Apollodorus, though adversaries in the same cause. 
 To which we may add, that he was suspected of receiving money 
 from the king of Persia, and condemned for taking bribes of Har. 
 palus. Supposing some of these the calumnies of those who 
 wrote agamst him, (and they are not a few,) yet it is impossible to 
 affirm that he was proof against the presents which were sent him 
 by princes, as marks of honour and respect. This was too much 
 to be expected from a man nho vested his money at inieredt upon 
 ships Cicero, on the other hand, had magnificent presents sent him 
 by the Sicilians, when he was cedile ; b\ the king of Cappadocia, 
 when proconsul ; and his friends pressed him to receive their bene- 
 factions, when in exile; yet, as we have already observed, he re- 
 fused I hem all. 
 
 The banishment of Demosthenes reflected infamy upon him; for 
 he was convicted of taking bribes: that of Cicero, great honour; 
 because he suffered for destroying traitors, who had vowed the 
 rain of their country. The former, therefore, departed without ex- 
 citing pity or regret : for the latter, the senate changed their habit, 
 continued in mourning, and could not be persuaded to pass an> act 
 till the people had recalled him. Cicero, indeed, spent the Utq^ 
 of exile in an inactive manner in Macedonia ; but with Demos- 
 thenes it was a busy period in his political character. Then it was 
 (as we have mentioned above) that he went to the several cities of 
 Greece, strengthened the common- interest, and defeated the de- 
 signs of the Macedonian ambassadors. In which respect he disco- 
 vered a much greater regard for his country than Tbemistocles and 
 Alcibiades, when under the same misfortune. After his return, he 
 pursued his former plan of government and continued the war 
 with Antipater and the Macedonians ; whereas Lffilius reproached 
 Cicero in full senate, with sitting silent, when (^.esai, who was not 
 yet come to years of maturity, applied for the consulflftiip contrary 
 to law. And Brutus, in one of his letters, charged him ** with 
 having reared a greater and more unsupportable tyranny, than that 
 which they had destroyed." • 
 
 As to the manner of their death we cannot think of Cicero's with- 
 
DEMOSTHENES AND CICERO COMPARED. 425 
 
 out a contemptuous kind pf pity. How deplorable to see an ola 
 man, for want of proper resolution, suffering himself to be carried 
 about by his servants, endeavouring to hide himself from death, 
 which was a messenger that nature would soon have sent him, and 
 overtaken notwithstanding, and slaughtered by his enemies ! The 
 other, though he did discover some fear, by taking sanctuary, is,ne. 
 vertheless,to be admired for the provision he had made of poison, for 
 the care with which he had preserved it, and his noble manner of 
 using it : so that, when Neptune did not afford him an asylum, he 
 had recourse to a more inviolable altar, rescued himself from the 
 weapons of the guards, and eluded the cruelty of Antipater. 
 
 •?" 36* 
 
-4 
 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OP 
 
 Weights, Measures, and Denominations of Money, mentioned hy 
 Plutarch. 
 
 (from the tables of dr. arbuthnot.) 
 
 WEIGHTS. 
 
 lb. oz. dwt. %r. 
 
 The Roman libra, or pound - - - 00 10 18 13f 
 The Attic mina, or pound - - - - 00 11 07 16f 
 The Attic talent, equal to sixty mins - - 56 11 07 17^ 
 
 DRY MEASURES OF CAPACITY. 
 
 peek. gal. pints*. 
 
 The Roman modius 1 Of 
 
 The Attic phoenix, one pint, 15,705A solid inches, nearly 1| 
 The Attic medimnus - 4 Qj\ 
 
 LIQUID MEASURES OF CAPACITY. 
 
 pints, solid inches. 
 
 The cotyle * - i 2,141^ 
 
 Thecyathus 1^ 0,356ii 
 
 Thechus. - 6 25,698 
 
 MEASURES OF LENGTH. 
 
 Eng. paces, ft in. 
 
 The Roman foot llf 
 
 The Roman cubit 1 5f 
 
 The Roman pace 4 10 
 
 The Roman furlong 120 4 4 
 
 The Roman mile 96t 
 
 The Grecian cubit 01 6| 
 
 The Grecian furlong . . * - - . 100 4 4^ 
 
 The Grecian mile 805 5 
 
 JV. B. In this computation the English pace is Jive feet. 
 
42B 
 
 WKIGUTS, MEASURES, too. 
 
 MONET: 
 
 £ 
 
 about 
 
 
 
 The quadrans ..... 
 
 The as - - ' 
 
 Thf^ sestertius 
 
 The sestertium, equal to 1000 sestertii - - 8 
 
 The denarius 
 
 The Attic obolus ------ 
 
 The drachma ...--- 
 Ttio mina» equal to 100 drachmtB . - . 3 
 The talent, equal to 60 minae - - . 193 15 
 
 The stater.aureus of the Greeks, weighing two 
 
 Attic drachms . - . . .0 
 
 The Btater-daricus 1 
 
 The R^man aureus was of different value at dif- 
 ferent periods. According to the propor- 
 tion mentioned by Tacitus, when it ex- 
 changed for twenty. five denarii, it was of 
 fbe same value as the Grecian stater - 16 1 8 
 
 16 
 12 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 6 
 7 
 1 
 7 
 7 
 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 U 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
A TABLE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MOST DIFFICULT PROPER NAMES 
 
 WHICH OCCUR IN THIS ORK. 
 
 Properly divided and a ented, for the Use of Persons who have 
 not had a Classical Education. 
 
 An-ti-ma-chus 
 
 An-ti.^o.nus 
 
 Aris-to-me-nes 
 
 Aris-to-de-mus 
 
 A-ge-si-la-ue 
 
 An-tal-ci-das 
 
 Ar-chi-da-mus 
 
 A-pol-lo-the-mis 
 
 A-re-o-pa-gus 
 
 A-bnuto-non 
 
 A-ris-ti-des 
 
 A-phe-t8B 
 
 Ar-chi-te-les 
 
 A-ces-to-do-rus 
 
 An-ti-pha-tes 
 
 A-ri^-to-bu-le 
 
 Ar-de-a-tes 
 
 An-do-ci-des 
 
 As-ty.o-chus 
 
 An-dro-ma-chus 
 
 A-dra-num 
 
 A-dran-i-tes 
 
 A-chra-fli-Ra 
 
 A-ris-to-ma-che 
 
 A-lo-pe-ce 
 
 A-mom-pha-re-tus 
 
 An.ta-go-ras 
 
 An-ti-o-chus 
 
 A-ga-tho-cles 
 
 A-cro-ta-tus 
 
 A-ri-ara.thes 
 
 An-ti.pa.ter 
 
 An-ti-go-nus 
 
 An-ti-ge nes 
 
 Aux.i-mum 
 
 A-lex-an-dro-po-lis 
 
 A-then-6-do-rus 
 
 Ari-mi-um 
 
 A-ris-to-phon 
 
 iEs-chl-nes 
 
 B 
 Be-re-nice 
 
 C 
 Cha.ri-la.us 
 Cle-o-phy-lus 
 Ce-le-res 
 Ghre-G-co-pi-dse 
 
430 
 
 A TABLE OF PROBER NAXBS. 
 
 Cle-o.bis 
 
 Ca-pe.na'tes 
 
 Ca-pe.nse 
 
 Cla-zo-mS-De 
 
 Ca4&.na 
 
 Cle o.crl-tus 
 
 CT.tli»-ron 
 
 Car-i)e.&.de8 
 
 Che.li.do.nis 
 
 Cy-la.r&*bus 
 
 Chse.ru.ne.a 
 
 Cam.by.ses 
 
 Cra te.rus 
 
 Cha-ri-de.mus 
 
 Cli.to-m&.chus 
 
 Ce-the.gus 
 
 D 
 Di-o.cles 
 Di-u8.co.ri.des 
 De.m&-de8 
 De.mo-iil-des 
 Di-no.in&-che 
 De.mo.str&.tus 
 Di-ra-des 
 De-nia.re.tus 
 Dci.o.ta.rus 
 De ma.ra.tU8 
 Da.ri.U8 
 E 
 Eu.no. rou8 
 Eu.ry.tT.on 
 Eu-ty.ch!.da8 
 Eu.ry.tio.ni.daB 
 Ep-ho-ri 
 
 E.la.tus 
 
 Eu.ro.tas 
 
 Eu.ry.bi.iUdes 
 
 Er.go.te.lea 
 
 E.ra.8is.tr&.tufl 
 
 Eu.i'li.des 
 
 Eu.me.nes 
 
 Eu.phra.te8 
 
 E.ra.to.8th^.ne8 
 
 F 
 Fi.de.n8B 
 Fi.de. na.tes 
 
 G 
 Ger.mft.num 
 Gym.no.so.phiats 
 Gan.da.ri.tes 
 
 H 
 He.lo.tes 
 Hip-po.nT.cus 
 He-r&.cll.de8 
 He.ro.dd.tu8 
 Hy.drn.ph6.rui 
 Hy.per bo.lus 
 Her.mi.5ne 
 
 I 
 Ice.tea 
 I.do.me.neuf 
 
 K 
 Ke.r&.ta 
 L 
 Le.o.nT.das 
 Le.o.ty.chI.da8 
 Ly.cuf.Ki.da) 
 Iie.o.bA.te8 
 
4 TABLE OF PROPEB NAMES. 
 
 431 
 
 Lam.psa-cus 
 
 Ly-si-ma-chus 
 
 Le-pi-dus 
 
 M 
 Ma.ni-pu-li 
 Ma-ni-pu-la.res 
 Mi-la-res 
 Me-ga-cles 
 Mii-ti-a-des 
 Ma.ra.thoa 
 My-ca-le 
 Me-ta-ge.nes 
 Me-ga-ra 
 Mi-thri-da-tes 
 
 N 
 Nu-mi-tor 
 Ne-o-cles 
 *Ni-ca-g6-ras 
 Ni-co-ge-nes 
 
 O 
 Ob.ti.le.tis 
 Or.tha-go-ras 
 0-ne.s!.cri-tU8 
 O-ri-cum 
 
 P 
 Pe-pa-re.thi-an 
 Pry-ta-nis 
 Po-ly-dec-tes 
 Po-ly-do-rus 
 Phi.lo-ste.ph&.nujS 
 Pae-da-re-tus 
 Pi-sis-tra-ti-das 
 Pon-ti-fi-ces 
 Pi-sis-tra-tus 
 
 Pit-ta.cu8 
 
 Pry-ta-ne-um 
 
 Pre-si-le.us 
 
 Phry-ni-chus 
 
 Pha-le-rus 
 
 Pe-lo-pi.das 
 
 Po-le-mon 
 
 Pex.o-do.rus 
 
 Pha-se-lis 
 
 Pa.si-crd..tes 
 
 Per-se-po-lis 
 
 Po-ly-mii.chus 
 
 Phi-lo-xa-nus 
 
 Q 
 
 Qui-ri-tes 
 
 R 
 Rhoe-sa.ees 
 
 S 
 Stra.to-m>cu8 
 Se-ri.phus 
 Sy.b&.ri8 
 Ste-sim-bro-tus 
 Sa-ty.rus 
 So-phe-ne 
 So-pho-cles 
 Spi-thri-da-tes 
 Sa-la-mis 
 Se-ra.pis 
 Sta-ti.ra 
 
 T 
 Tha-les 
 
 Thes-mo-the.t3B 
 The-mis-to-cleg 
 Ther-mo-py-lse 
 
432 A TABLE OF PROPER NAMBS. 
 
 Troe ze-ne Ti-gra-nes 
 
 Tol.iiii.des The-o-do-tus 
 
 Thcra-me.ncs Tax-T-les 
 Ti-mo.dc-mu8 U 
 
 Timo-ph&.ne8 U-li-i-des 
 Te-go.iaB X 
 
 Thes sa lo.ni.ca Xe-no-cles 
 
 Ten-ta-mus Xe no-do-chus 
 

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