c 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD
 
 31 
 
 ~S7 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK NINTH. v .4 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 
 
 Continued during the 
 
 FIRST FIFTEEN YEARS OF THE REIGN OF ARTAXEREES MNEMOtf . 
 
 Page 
 
 CHAP. I. Domellic Troubles of the Court of Periia, I 
 
 Sea. I. Coronation of Artaxerxes Mnemon. Cyrus at- 
 tempts to affailinate his Brother. Revenge of Statira. 
 Death and Charaaer of Alcibiades, il. 
 
 Sea. II. The Thirty exercife the moil horrid Cruelties at 
 Athens. They put Theramenes to Death. Thrafybu- 
 lus attacks the Tyrants^ is Mailer of Athens, and re- 
 ftores its Liberty, 9 
 
 Sea. III. Lyfander abufes his Power in an extraordinary 
 
 Manner. He is recalled to Sparta, 16 
 
 Chap. II. Young Cyrus, with the aid of the Grecian 
 Troops, endeavours to dethrone his Brother Artaxerxes. 
 He is killed. Famous Retreat of the Ten Thoufand, 19 
 Sea. I. Cyrus raifes Troops againil his BrotherArtaxerxes, 21 
 Sea. II. The Battle of Cunaxa. Cyrus is killed, 27 
 
 Sea. III. Eulogy of Cyrus, 35 
 
 Sea. IV. The King is for compelling the Greeks to deli- 
 ver up their Anns, 38 
 Sea. V. Retreat of the Ten Thoufand Greeks from the 
 
 Province of Babylon to Trefibond, 46 
 
 Sea. VI. The Greeks arrive upon the Sea Coafl oppdiite 
 
 to Byzantium. Xenophon joins Thimbron, 54 
 
 Sea. VII. Confequences of Cyrus's Death. Paryfatis's 
 
 Cruelty. Statira poifoned, 6l 
 
 Chap. III. The famous Peace of Antakides prefcribcd the 
 preeks by Artaxerxes Maeiuoo, 64 
 
 aij
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 OF THE PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. Page 
 
 Sect. I. Grecian Cities of Ionia implore Aid of Lacedae- 
 
 mon. Agefilaus el^fted King. His character, 64 
 
 Sect. II. Agefilaus goes to Alia. Lyfander falls out with 
 
 him, 74 
 
 Sect. III. Expedition of Agefilaus in Afia, 81 
 
 Sect. IV. Agefilaus recalled bj the Ephori to defend his 
 
 Country, 8$ 
 
 Sect. V. Agefilaus returns victorious to Sparta. APeace, 
 
 fliameful to the Greeks, concluded, 99 
 
 Sect. VI. War of Artaxerxes againft Evagoras, 106 
 
 Sect. VII. The Expedition of Artaxerxes againfl the Ca- 
 
 dufians. Hiftory of Datames the Carian, liS 
 
 Chap. IV. Hiftory of Socrates abridged, 126 
 
 Sect. I. Birth and Education of Socrates, 127 
 
 Seel- II. Of the Daemon, or Familiar Spirit of Socrates, 133 
 Sect. III. Socrates declared the Wifeft of Mankind by the 
 
 Oracle, 136 
 
 Seel:. IV. Socrates devotes himfelf entirely to the inftruc- 
 
 tion of the Youth of Athens 137 
 
 Seel;. V. Socrates applies himfelf to difcredit the Sophifts 
 
 in the Opinion of the young Athenians, 146 
 
 Sect. VI. Socrates is accufed of holding bad Opinions in 
 
 regard to the Gods. He is condemned to die, 149 
 
 Sect. VII. Socrates refufes to efcape out of Prifon. He 
 
 drinks the Poifon, 163 
 
 Sect. VIII. Reflections upon Socrates and the Sentence 
 
 patted upon him by the Athenians, 175 
 
 BOOK TENTH. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE PERSIANS AND GRECIANS, 
 
 Containing the 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GREEKS 
 
 CHAP. I. Of Political Government, 18* 
 
 Part I, Of the Government of Sparta, J&
 
 CONTENTS. j 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GREEKS. Page 
 
 Sea. I. Idea of the Spartan Government, 184 
 
 Seel. II. Love of Poverty inftituted at Sparta, 188 
 
 Sea III. Laws eftablifhed by Minos in Crete, loj 
 
 Art. II. Of the Government of Athens, 2,01 
 
 Sea. I. Foundation of the Government of Athens, 202 
 
 Seel. II. Of the Inhabitants of Athens, 205 
 
 Seft. III. Of the Council or Senate of Five Hundred, 208 
 
 Sea. IV. Of the Areopagus, 211 
 
 Seft. V. Of the Magiftrates, 213 
 
 Sea. VI. Of the Aflemblies of the People, 214 
 
 Sea. VII. Of Trials, 216 
 
 Sea. VIII. Of the Amphiayons, 218 
 
 Sea. IX. Of the Revenues of Athens, 221 
 
 Sea. X. Of the Education of the Youth, 222 
 
 Chap. II. Of War, 229 
 
 Sea. I. People of Greece in all Times very Warlike, ib. 
 Sea. II. Origin and Caufe of the Valour and Military 
 
 Virtue of the Lacedaemonians and Athenians, 230 
 Sea. III. Of the different kind of Troops which compofed 
 
 the Armies of the Lacedaemonians and Athenians, 234 
 
 Sea. IV. Of Maritime Affairs, Fleets, and Naval Forces, 238 
 
 Sea. V. Peculiar Character of the Athenians, 244 
 Sea. VI. Common Charaaer of the Lacedaemonians and 
 
 Athenians, 249 
 
 BOOK ELEVENTH. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF DIONYSIUS ELDER AND YOUNGER, TYRANTS 
 OF SYRACUSE. 
 
 I^HAP. I. The Hiftory of Dionyfius the Elder, 255 
 
 Sea. I. Means made ufe of by Dionyfius the Elder to pof- 
 
 fefs himfelf of the Tyranny, ib, 
 
 Sea. II. Commotions in Sicily and at Syracufe againft 
 
 Dionyfius. He finds Means to difpel them, 264 
 
 Sea. III. Dionyfiu? declares War againft the Carthagi- 
 nians. Various fuccefs of it, 275
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 OF DIONYSIUS ELDER AND YOUNGER. Page 
 
 Sed. IV. Violent Pafiion of Dionyfms for Poefy. His 
 
 Death and bad Qualities, 287 
 
 Chap. II. The Hiftory of Dionyfius the Younger, 300 
 Seft. I. Dionyfius the Younger fucceeds his Father. He 
 
 invites Plato to his Court, ib. 
 
 Seft. II. Banifliment of Dion, 310 
 
 Seft. III. Dion fets out to deliver Syracufe. His Death, 316 
 
 Seft. IV. Charafter of Dion, 340 
 
 Seft. V. Dionyfius the Younger reafcends the Throne, 342 
 Seft. VI. Timoleon reft ores Liberty to Syracufe, and in- 
 
 ftitutes wife Laws. His Death, 35- 
 
 BOOK TWELFTH. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 
 
 C/HAP. I. The Hiftory of Epaminondas and Pelopidas, 
 two illuftrious Theban Generals, 362 
 
 Seft. I. State of Greece from the Treaty of Antalcides, ib. 
 
 Seft. II. Sparta's Profperity. Charafter of two illuitrious 
 Thebans, Epaminondas and Pelopidas, 367 
 
 Seft. III. Sphodrias forms a Defign againft the Piraeus, 378 
 
 Seft. IV. New troubles in Greece. The Lacedaemonians 
 declare War againft Thebes, 383 
 
 Seft. V. The two Theban Generals, at their Return, are 
 accufed and abfolved. Sparta implores Aid of Athens, 396 
 
 Seft. VI. Pelopidas marches againft Alexander Tyrant of 
 Pherae. Is killed in a Battle. Tragical End of Alex- 
 ander, 402 
 
 Seft. VII. Epaminondas chofen General of the Thebans. 
 His Death and Charafter, 413 
 
 Seft. VIII. Death of Evagoras king of Salamin. Charac- 
 ter of that Prince, 426 
 
 Seft. IX. Artaxerxes Mnemon undertakes the Reduction 
 Of Egypt, 428 
 
 Seft. X. The Lacedaemonians fend Agefilaus to the Aid 
 of Tachos. His Death, 43*
 
 CONTENTS. 7 
 
 OF THE PERSIANS AND GRECIANS Page 
 
 Sect XI. Troubles at the Court of Artaxerxes concerning 
 his Succeflbr, Death of that Prince, 438 
 
 Seel. XII. Caufes of the frequent infurrections and Re- 
 volts in the Perfian Empire, 440 
 
 BOOK THIRTEENTH. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 
 
 SECT. I. Ochus afcends the throne of Perfia. His Cruel- 
 ties. Revolt of feveral nations, 444 
 Seel. II. War of the Allies againft the Athenians, 446 
 Sect. III. Demofthenes excites the Athenians for War. 
 
 Death of Maufolus. Grief of Artemifa his Wife, 453 
 Seel. IV. Expedition of Ochus againft Phoenicia, Cyprus, 
 
 and Egypt, 460 
 
 Sect. V. Death of Ochus. Arfes fucceeds him, 468 
 
 Seel. VI. Abridgement of the Life of Demofthenes, 471 
 Sect. VII. Digreffion on die manner of fitting out Fleets 
 
 by the Athenians, 478
 
 BOOK NINTH. ' 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PERSIANS AND GRECIANS, 
 
 Continued during tho 
 
 PIRST FIFTEEN YEARS OF THE REIGN OF ARTAXERXES MNEMON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 J. His chapter contains the domeftic troubles of the court of 
 .Perfia : The death of Alcibiades : The re-eftablifhment of the 
 liberty of Athens : And Ljfander's fecret defigns to make 
 himfelf king. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 CORONATION of ARTAXERXES MNEMON. CTRUS attempts to 
 
 qflajjinate Ms BROTHER. REVENGE of STATIRA. DEATH, 
 
 and CHARACTER of ALCIBIADES. 
 
 ARSACES, upon afcending the throne, afiumed the name of 
 Artaxerxes, the fame to whom the Greeks gave the furname 
 of * MNEMON, from his prodigious memory. a Being near 
 his father's bed when he was dying, he alked him, a few mo- 
 ments before he expired, what had been the rule. of his con- 
 duit during fo long and happy a reign as his, that he might 
 make it his example. " It has been," replied he, " to do 
 " always what juftice and religion required pf me :" Words 
 of deep fenfe, and well worthy of being fet up in letters of 
 gold in the palaces of kings, to keep them perpetually in, min<J 
 Volume IV. f A 
 
 * A. M. 3600. Ant. J. C. 404. Athen. 1. xii. p. 458. 
 
 * Which word Cgnifies in the. Greek, one of ? josd memory.
 
 2 HISTORY OF THE BGO& VIIl. 
 
 of what ought to be the guide and rule of all their actions. It 
 is 'not uncommon for princes to give excellent inftru&ions to 
 their children on their deathbeds, which would be more effi- 
 cacious if preceded by their own example and conduct ; with- 
 out which they are as weak and impotent as the fick man who 
 gives them, and feldom furvive him long. 
 
 b Soon after Darius's death, the new king fet out from his 
 capital for the city of * Pafargades, in order to his coronation, 
 according to cuftom, by the priefts of Perfia. There was in 
 that city a temple of the goddefs who prefided in war, in which 
 the coronation was folemnized. It was attended with very {an- 
 gular ceremonies, which no doubt had fome myfterious fenfe ; 
 though Plutarch does not explain it. The prince at his con- 
 fecration took off his robe in the temple, and put on that worn 
 by the ancient Cyrus, before he came to the throne, which was 
 preferred in that place with great veneration. After that he 
 eat a dry fig, chewed fome leaves of the turpentine tree, and 
 drank a draught compofed of milk and vinegar. This might 
 fignify, that the fweets of fovereign power are mingled with 
 the fours of care and difquiet ; and that, if the throne be fur- 
 rounded with pleafures and honours, it is alfo attended with 
 pains and anxieties. It feems fufficiently evident, that the de- 
 fign in putting the robes of Cyrus upon the ne\v king, was to 
 make him underftand, that he fliould alfo clothe his mind with 
 the great qualities and exalted virtues of that prince. 
 
 Young Cyrus, whofe foul was all ambition, was in defpair 
 upon being for ever prevented from afcending a throne his 
 mother had given him, and on feeing the fcepter which he 
 thought his right, transferred into the hands of his brother. 
 The blacked crimes coft the ambitious nothing. Cyrus re- 
 folved to afladiate Artaxerxes in the temple itfelf, and in the 
 prefence of the whole court, juft when he took off his own, 
 to put on the robe of Cyrus. Artaxerxes was apprifed of this 
 defign by the prieft himfelf, who had educated his brother, to 
 whom he had imparted it. Cyrus was feized, and condemn- 
 ed to die, when his mother Paryfatis, almoil out cf her fcnfc c , 
 
 b Plut. Artax. p. 1012. 
 
 * A city of Perfia built by Cyrus the Great.
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 3 
 
 flew to the place, clafped him in her arms, tied herfelf to him 
 with the treffes of her hair, fattened her neck to his, and by 
 her fhrieks, and tears, and prayers, prevailed fo far as to ob- 
 tain his pardon, and that he mould be fent back to his govern- 
 ment of the maritime provinces. He carried thither with him. 
 an ambition no lefs ardent than before, was animated belides 
 with refentment of the check he had received, and the warm 
 defire of revenge, and armed with an almoft unbounded power 4 
 Artaxerxes upon this occafion acted contrary to the moft com- 
 mon rules of policy, which do not admit * the nourifhing and 
 inflaming, by extraordinary honours, the pride and haughti- 
 nefs of a bold and enterprifing young prince like Cyrus, who 
 had carried his perfonal enmity to his brother fo far as to have 
 refolved to affaffinate him with his own hand, and whofe am- 
 bition for empire was fo great as to employ the mod criminal 
 methods for the attainment of its end. 
 
 c Artaxerxes had efpoufed Statira. Scarce had her hufoand 
 afcended the throne, when me employed the power her beauty 
 gave her over him, to avenge the death of her brother Teri- 
 teuchmes. Hiftory has not a more tragical fcene, nor a more 
 monftrous complication of adultery, inceft, and murder ; which, 
 after having occafioned great diforders in the royal family, ter- 
 minated at length in the moft fatal manner to all who had any 
 fhare in it. But it is neceffary, for the reader's knowledge of 
 the fact, to trace it from the beginning. 
 
 Hidarnes, Statira's father, a Perfian of very great quality, 
 was governor of one of the principal provinces of the empire. 
 Statira was a lady of extraordinary beauty, which induced Ar- 
 taxerxes to marry her, who was then called Arfaces. At the 
 fame time Teriteuchmes, Statira's brother, married Hameftris, 
 Arfaces's iifter, one of the daughters of Darius and Paryfatis ; 
 in favour of which marriage Teriteuchmes, upon his father's 
 death, had his government given him. There was at the fame 
 time another iifter in this family, no lefa beautiful than Statira, 
 
 Aij 
 
 c Ctef. c. li. lv. 
 
 * Ne quls mobiles adolefcentium anirnos praematuris hon oribus ad fuperbi?ra 
 extolkret. Tacit, Anna!. 1, iv. c. j 7.
 
 4 HISTORY OF THE Book Xt* 
 
 and who Tiefides excelled in the arts offhooting with the bow, 
 and throwing the dart. Teriteuchmes her brother conceived 
 a criminal paffion for her, and to gratify it, refolved to fet him- 
 felf at liberty by killing Hameftris, whom he had efpoufed. 
 Darius, having been informed of this project, by the force of 
 prefents and promises engaged Udiaftes, Teriteuchemes's inti- 
 mate friend and confident, to prevent fo black a defign, by 
 aflaffinating him. He obeyed, and had for his reward the . 
 government of him he had put to death with his own hands. 
 
 Amongft Teriteuchmes's guards was a fon of Udiaftes, called 
 Mithridates, very much attached to his matter. The young 
 gentleman, upon hearing that his father had committed this 
 murder in perfon, uttered all manner of imprecations againft 
 him ; and full of horror for fo infamous and vile an aftion, 
 feiz.ed on the city af Zaris, and openly revoking, declared for 
 the eftablifhment of Teriteuchmes's fon. But that young man 
 could not hold out long againft Darius. He was blocked up 
 in the place with the fon of Teriteuchmes, whom he had with, 
 him ; and all the reft of the family of Hidarnes were put in 
 prifon, and delivered to Paryfatis, to do with them as that 
 mother, exafpirated to the laft excefs by the treatment either 
 done or intended againft her daughter Hameftris, mould think 
 fit. That cruel princefs began by caufing Roxana, whofe 
 beauty had been the occafion of this evil, to be fawed in two, 
 and ordered all the reft to be put to death, except Statira, 
 whofe life flie granted to the tears and the moft tender and 
 ardent felicitations of Arfaces, whofe love for his wife made, 
 him {hare no pains for her prefervation, though Darius, his 
 lather, believed it neceflary, even for his own good, that fhe 
 iuould ftiare the fame fate with the reft of her family. Such 
 was the ftate of the affair at the death of Darius. 
 
 Statira, as foon as her hunSand was upon the throne, caufed 
 Udiafles to be delivered into her hands. She ordered his 
 tongue to be torn out, and made him die in the moft exqulite. 
 torments fhe could invent, to punifh the crime which had oc- 
 caiioned the ruin of her family. She gave his government to 
 Mithridates, in recompence for his attachment to the interefts 
 of l\|f family. Faryfatis on her fide took her revenge on the
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. j 
 
 fen of Teriteuchmes, whom me caufed to be poifoned ; and 
 we fliall fee that Statira's turn was not very remote. 
 
 We fee- here the terrible effefts of female revenge, and in 
 general of what .exceffes they are capable, who find themfelves 
 above all laws, .and have no other rule for their actions than 
 their will and paffions. 
 
 Cyrus, having refolved to dethrone his bother, employed 
 Clearchus the Lacedaemonian general to raife a body of 
 Orecian troops, under pretence of war, which that Spartan 
 was to carry into Thrace. I fhall defer fpeaking of this famous 
 expedition, and alfo of the death of Socrates, which happened 
 about the fame time ; intending to treat thofe two great events 
 in all the extent they deferve. It was without doubt with the 
 fame view, that Cyrus prefented Lyfander a galley of two cu- 
 bits in length, made of ivory and gold, to congratulate him 
 ,upon his naval vilory. That galley was confcrated to Apollo 
 in the temple of Delphos. Lyfander went foon after to Sardis, 
 charged with magnificent prefents for Cyrus from the allies. 
 
 It was upon that occafion Cyrus had the celebrated cbnver- 
 fation with Lyfander related by Xenophon, and which Cicero 
 after him has applied fo beautifully. That young * prince, 
 who piqued himfelf more upon his integrity and politenefs 
 than nobility and grandeur, pleafed himfelf with conducting 
 in perfon fo illuftrious a gueft through his gardens, and to 
 make him obferve the various beauties of them. Lyfander, 
 itruck with fo fine a profpecl, admired the manner in which 
 the feveral parts were laid out ; the height and proje&ipn of 
 
 * Narrat Socrates in eo libro, Cyrum miuorem, regem Pcrfarum, praeftantem 
 ingenio atque imperil gloria, cum Lyfander Lacedaemonius, vir fummde virtutu, 
 .venifiet ad eum Sardes, ciquc dona a fociis attuliTTet, et ceteris in rebus comem er- 
 ga. Lyfandrum at q tie humanum fuiffe, et ei quemdam confeptum agrum diligen- 
 ter tonCtum oftendifie. Cum autem admiraretur Lyfandcr et proceritates ar- 
 borum, et directos in quincunccm ordines, et humi m fuLaiflam atque puram, et 
 fuavitatem odoruni qui efflarentur e floribus ; turn cum di^iffc mirari fe non mo- 
 do diliger.tium, fed etium folertiam ejus, a quo eflent ilia dimenfa atque defcripta. 
 Et ei Cyrum rcfpondifle : Atqui ego ilia fum dimcnfus. niei funt ordines, meade- 
 fcnptio, multae etiani iilarum arborum mea manu funt fatae. Turn Lyfandrum, 
 jntuentem ejus purpuram et nitorem corporis, ornatumqne Perficum multo auro 
 multifque gemnais, dixiflc : Rec"le vero, te, Cyre, bcr.'v.ni fcvunt, Tioniam virtur' 
 tu;-.c foituua con'-uu^a cfl, Cic. dc S
 
 6 HISTOPvT OF IliL Book Fill, 
 
 the trees ; th*; neatnefs and difpofition of the walks ; the a- 
 bundance of fruits, planted with an art which had known how 
 to unite the ufeful with the agreeable ; the beauty of the par- 
 terres, and the glowing variety of flowers, exhaling odours 
 univerfally throughout the delightful fcene. " Every thing 
 " charms and tranfports me in this place," fa id Lyfander, ad- 
 clreflmg himfelf to Cyrus ; " but what ftrikes me moft, \ tiie 
 ** exquifite tafte and elegant induftry of the perfon who drew 
 *' the plan of the feveral parts of this garden, and gave it the 
 *' fine order, wonderful difpofiticn, and happinefs of fyrnme- 
 " try, which I cannot fufficiently admire." Cyrus, infinitely 
 pleafed with this difcourfe, replied, ** It was I that drew the 
 " plan, and entirely marked it out : and not only that ; many 
 *' of the trees which you fee were planted with my own 
 " hands." " What," replied Lyfander, confidering him from,, 
 head to foot, " is it pofllble, with thefe purple robes and fplen- 
 " did veftmeiits, thofe llrings of jewels and bracelets cf gold, 
 " thofe bufcins fo richly embroidered, that you could play the 
 " gardener, and employ your royal hands in planting tix-cs !" 
 " Does that fuprifeyou," faid Cyrus? " I fwear by the god 
 " * Mithras, that when my health admits, I never fit down 
 " to table without having made myfelf fweat with fume fc- 
 " tigue or other, either in military excrcifo, rural labour, or 
 " fome other toilfome employment, to which I apply with 
 l! pleafure, and without fparing myfelf." Lyfander was a- 
 inazed at his difcoarfe, and pre.Tiag him by the hand ; " Cy- 
 " rus," faid he, " you are truly happy, and deierve your 
 ** high fortune; becaufe you unite it \\ith virtue." 
 
 Alcibiades wn> at no fmall pains r '.he myil^ry of the 
 
 levies made by Cyrus, and wci-t '^>vince of Pharna- 
 
 Bafus, with defign to proceed to i' Perfia, and to ap- 
 
 prifc Artaxerxcs of the foh erne laid r.gaipft him. Had he ar- 
 rived there, a difcovery of fuel i i,nr,oriancc had infallibly pro- 
 Cured him the favour of t i!i_ aililtance he 
 wanted for the re-eftablifument of his country. But the Lace- 
 
 * The Perfians ado; 
 
 f Atxxij;, a Kv.'.i, -'. - '-i'.icli Cicero tranflatcs : 
 
 : o te, Cyrc, b?r.t;::v : 1 coujucla ett.
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AfrD GRECIANS. 7 
 
 daemonian partisans at Athens, that is to fay, the thirty tyrants, 
 apprehended the intrigues of fo fuperior a genius, as his, and 
 reprefentecl to their matters, that they were inevitably ruined, 
 if they did not find means to rid themfelves of Alcibiades. 
 The Lacedaemonians thereupon wrote to Pharnabafus, and 
 with an abjeft meannefs not to be excufed, and which Ihewed 
 how much Sparta had degenerated from her ancient manners, 
 made preffing inftances to him to deliver them at any rate 
 from fo formidable an enemy. The fatrap complied to their 
 wifh. Alcibiades was then in a fmall town of Phrygia, where 
 he lived with his concubine * Timandra. Thofe who were 
 fent to kill him, not daring to enter his houfe, contented them- 
 felves with furrounding and fetting it on fire. Alcibiades hav- 
 ing quitted it through the flames fword in hand, the Barbarians 
 
 , were afraid to flay to come to blows with him, but flying and 
 retreating as he advanced, they poured their darts and arrows 
 upon him, and he fell dead upon the fpot. Timandra took 
 up his body, and having adorned and covered it with the finefl 
 robes fhe had, me made as magnificent a funeral for it as her 
 prefent condition would admit. 
 
 Such was the end of Alcibiades, whofe great virtues were 
 flifled and fuppreiTed by ftill greater vices, f It is not cafy to 
 fay, whether his good or bad qualities were mod pernicious to 
 his country ; for with one he deceived, and with the other he 
 
 -opprefled it. In him diltinguifhed valour was united with 
 nobility of blood. His perfon was beautiful and finely made ; 
 he was eloquent, of great abuity in affairs, infinuating, and 
 formed for charming all mankind. He loved glory ; but with- 
 out prejudice to his inclination for pleafurc ; nor was he fo 
 fond of pleafure r.s to neglect his glory for it. He knew how 
 to give into, or abftract himfelf from it, according to the fitu- 
 r.tion of his affairs. JCever was there ductility of genius equal 
 LO his. Ke metamorphofed hirnfclf with incredible facility* 
 
 A iiij 
 
 * It wa: fhi.'. thr.t Lais the famous courtezan, culled the Corinthian, was the 
 daug-hter of t'ais Timandra. 
 
 f Cujus nefcio utrum bona an vitia patriae perni "!of;ora fuerint ; illis enim ci<?'* 
 Tuos dccepii;, his ?.fflixit. Val. Mat. !iii, c. i.
 
 HISTORY *F THE J5(30/l XI. 
 
 like a Proteus, into the moft contrary forms, and fupported 
 them all with as much eafe and grace as if each had been na- 
 tural to him. 
 
 This convertibility of character, according to occafions, the 
 cuftoms of countries, and his own interefts, difcover an heart 
 void of principles, without either truth or juftice. He did 
 not confine himfelf either to religion, virtue, laws, duties 
 or his country. His fole rule of action was his private ambi_ 
 bition, to which he reduced every thing. His aim was to pleafe, 
 to dazzle,, and be beloved, but at the fame time to fubject 
 thofe he foothed. He favoured them only as they ferved his 
 purpofes ; and made his correfpondence and focicty a means 
 for ingroffing every thing to himfelf. 
 
 His life was a perpetual mixture of good and evil. His fal- 
 lies for virtue were ill-fuftained, and quickly degenerated into, 
 vices and crimes, very little to the honour of the inftructions 
 of that great philofopher, who took no fmall pains to cultivate 
 him into a man of worth. His actions were glorious; but with- 
 out rule or principle. His character was elevated and grand; 
 but without connection and confiflence. He was fucceffively 
 the fupport and terror of the Lacedaemonians and Perfians. 
 He was either the misfortune or refuge of his own country, 
 according to his declaring for or againfl it. In fine, he was 
 the author of an univerfal deftructive war in Greece, from the 
 fole motive of commanding, by inducing the Athenians to be- 
 fiege Syracnfe, much lefs from the hope of conquering Sicily t 
 and afterwards Africa, than with the deiign of keeping Athene 
 in depcndeuce upon himfelf; convinced, that having to deal 
 with an inconflant, fufpicious, ungrateful, jealous people, a- 
 verfe to thofe that governed, it was ncceffary to engage them 
 continually in fome great affair, in order to make his Cervices 
 always neceflfary to them, and that they might hot be atleifure 
 to examine, cenfure, and condemn his conduct. 
 
 He had the fate generally experienced by perfons of his cha- 
 racter, and of which they cannot reafonably complain. He 
 never loved any one, himfelf being his fole motive ; nor ever 
 found a friend. Re mr.de it his merit and glory to amufe aU
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 9 
 
 men j and no body confided in, or adhered to him. His fole 
 view was to live with fplendor, and to lord it univerfally ; and 
 he periftied miferably, abandoned by the whole world, and 
 obliged at his death to the feeble fervices and impotent zeal of 
 one only woman for the laft honours rendered in his remains. 
 About this time died Democritus the philofopher, of whom 
 jnore will be faid elfewhere. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 The THIRTY exercife the horrid CRUELTIES at ATHENS, They 
 
 put THERAMENES to DEATH. 
 THRASYBULUS attacks the 'TTRANTS, is MASTER of ATHENS, 
 
 and re/tores its LIBERTY. 
 
 THE council of thirty d , eftablifhed at Athens by Lyfander, 
 committed the moft execrable cruelties. Upon pretence of 
 reftraining the multitude within their duty, and to prevent fe- 
 ditions, they had caufed guards to be afligned them, had arm- 
 ed three thoufand of the citizens for that fervice, and at the 
 fame time difarmed all die reft. The whole city was in the 
 utmoft terror and difmay. Whoever oppofed their injuftice 
 and violence, became the victims of them. Riches were a 
 crime that never failed of drawing a fentence upon their own- 
 ers, always- followed with death,.fartdthe confiscation of eftates ; 
 which the thirty tyrants divided amongft themfelves. They 
 put more people to death, fays Xenophon, fti eight months of 
 peace, than the enemies had done in a war of thirty years. 
 
 The two moft confiderable perfons of the thirty were Cri- 
 tias and Theramenes, who at firft lived in great union, and 
 siways aited in concert with each other. The latter had fome 
 honour, and loved his country. When he faw with what 
 an excefs of violence and cruelty his colleagues behaved, he 
 declared openly againft them, and thereby drew their refent- 
 men upon him. Critias became his moft mortal enemy, and 
 aled as informer againft him before the fenate, accufing him of 
 difturLing the tranquillity of the ftate, and of defigning to 
 d Xenoph. Rift. I. ii. p. 462. et 479. Diocl 1. xiv. p. 235 238. Juftin. L r. 
 
 . 8, 10.
 
 10 HISTORY OF THE Book VIII, 
 
 fubvert the prefent government. As he perceived that the de- 
 fence of Theramencs was heard with filcnce and approbation, 
 he was afraid that if the affair was left to the decifion of the 
 fcnate, they would acquit him. Having therefore caufed a 
 band of } r oung men, whom he had armed with poiniards, to 
 advance to the bar, he faid that he thought it the duty of a 
 iupreme magiftrate to prevent juilice from being abufed, and 
 that he fliould a6t conformable upon this occafion. " But," 
 continued he, " as the law does not admit, that any of the 
 *' three thoufand ihould be put to death without the confcr.t 
 " of the fenate, I exclude Theramenes from that number, and 
 " condemn him to die in virtue of my own and my colleagues 
 ** authority." Theramenes upon thefe words, leaped upon 
 the altar ; V I demand," faid he, " Athenians, that I may 
 ** be tried according to the laws ; which cannot be refufed 
 *' me without manifeft injuflice. Not that I imagine, that the 
 ** goodnefs of my caufe will avail me any thing, or the fanc- 
 " tion of altars protect me ; butl would mew at leaft, that my, 
 ** enemies refp*e& neither the gods nor men. What moft a- 
 44 ftonifhes me is, that perfons of your wifdom do not fee, 
 ** that your own names may as eafily be flruck out of the lift 
 " of the citizens, as that of Theramenes." Critias upon thu 
 ordered the officers of juftice to pull him down from the al- 
 tar. An univerfal filence and terror enfued upon the fight of 
 the armed foldiers, that furrounded the fenate. Of all the fe- 
 nators, only Socrates, whofe difciple Theramenes had been, 
 took upon him his defence, and oppofed the officers of juftice. 
 But his w*eak endeavours could net deliver Theramenes, who 
 was led to the place of execution, notwithftanding all he could 
 <to, through crowds of the citizens, who faw with tears, in the 
 fate of a man equally couiiderable for his love of liberty, and 
 ahe great fervices he had done his country, what they had to 
 fear for themfelves. When they prof, .-i.tr-.l him the hcmloc, 
 that is, the poifon, which was the manner of putting the cit'- 
 zcns of Athens to death, he 'i an intrepid air, nr. > 
 
 after having drunk it, he poured ; \ upon the 
 
 *6er the ufual manner cbferved in fcafb cr public rejoicings;
 
 Ckap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. II 
 
 faying, " This for the noble Critias." Xenophon relates this 
 circumilance, inconfiderable in itfelf, to fhew,fay3 he, the tran- 
 quillity ofTheramenes in his laft moments. 
 
 The tyrants, delivered from a colleague whofe prefence a- 
 lone was a continual reproach to them, no longer obferved any 
 meafures. Nothing pafled throughout the city but irnprifon- 
 ments and murders. * Every body trembled for themfelves or 
 their friends. The general defolation had no remedy, nor was 
 there any hope of regaining their liberty. Where had they 
 then as many fHarmodiufes as they had tyrants ? Terror had 
 taken entire poffeilion of their minds, whilft the whole city 
 deplored in fecret their lofs of liberty, without having one a- 
 monft them generous enough to attempt the breaking of its 
 chains. The Athenian people feemed to have loft that valour, 
 which till then had made them awful and terrible to their 
 neighbours and enemies. They feemed to have loft the very 
 ufe of fpeech ; not daring to vent the leaft complaint, left it 
 fhould be made a capital crime in them. Soci-at.es only con- 
 tinued intrepid. He confoled the afflidled fenlate, animated 
 the defponding citizens, and fet all men an admirable example 
 of courage and refolution ; preferving the liberty, and fuitaiu- 
 ing his port in the midft of thirty tyrants, who made all elfe 
 tremble, but could never make the conftancy of Socrates with 
 their menaces. c Critias, who had been his pupil, was the 
 firft to declare moft openly againft him, taking offence at the 
 free and bold difcourfes which he held againft the government 
 of the thirty. He went fo far as to prohibit his inftrucling 
 youth ; but Socrates; who neither acknowledged his authori- 
 ty, nor feared the violent effects of it, paid no regard to fo 
 unjuil an order. 
 
 c Xenoph. memorab. 1. i. p. 716, 717. 
 
 * Poteratne civitas ilia conquiefcere, in qua tot tyranni erant, quot fatellites ef- 
 fent ? Ne fpes quidem ulla recipiendac libci'tatis aniniis poterat offerri, nee ulli re- 
 medio locus apparebat contra tantam vim malorum. Unde enim miferae civitatl 
 tot Harmodius ? Socrates tamen in medio erat, et lugentes patris confolabatur, et 
 defperantes de rebublica exhortabatur et imitari volentibus magnum circumfe- 
 rebat exemplar, cum inter triginta doininos liber inceckret. Ssnec. de tranquil- 
 anim. c. 3. 
 
 f Harmodius formed a conspiracy for the deliverance of Athens from the ty- 
 f ?::r.y of the Pififtraditis.
 
 32 HISTORY OF TH& 00 jt: Jf7, 
 
 All the citizens of any confideration in Athens, and whore- 
 tamed thelove of liberty, quitted a place reduced to fo hard and 
 Ihamefujpi flavery, and fought elfe where an afylum and retreat, 
 ivhere'r'hey might live in fafety. At the head of thefe was 
 Thrafybulus, a perfon of extraordinary merit, who beheld 
 5lt mod lively affection t|j mifery of his country. The 
 Laced-Ssjj&nians had the inhumanity to endeavour to deprive 
 *liofe ifnh\appy fugitives of this laft refource. They publiihed 
 an edicl.fto prohibit the cities of Greece from giving them re- 
 uge,' decreed that they mould be delivered up to the thirty 
 tyrants, and condemned all fuch as>^>uld contravene the ex- 
 execution of this edict, to pay a fine of five talents. Only tv/o 
 cities rejected with difdain fo unjuft an ordinance, Megara and 
 Thebes ; the latter of which made a decree to punifh all per- 
 ibns whatsoever, who mould fee an Athenian attacked by his e- 
 nemies without doing his utmofl to affift him. Lyfias, an ora- 
 tor of Syracufe, who had been banithed by the thirty, * raifed 
 five hundred foldiers at his own expence, and fent them to the 
 aid of the common country of eloquence. 
 
 Thrafybulus loft no time. After having taken Phyla, a fmall 
 fort in Attica, he marched to the Piraeus, of which he made 
 himfelf mailer. The thirty flew thither with their troops ; 
 and a battle fufnciently warm enfued. But as the foldiers on 
 one fide fought with valour and vigour for their liberty, and 
 on tlze other with indolence and neglect for the power of 
 others, the fuccefs was not doubtful, but followed the better 
 caufe. The tyrants were overthrown. Critias was killed up- 
 on the fpot. And as the reft of the army we're taking to flight, 
 ut : " "Wherefore .do you fly from me as 
 
 ** from a vlaBK WtJKftthan affift me as the avenger of your 
 *' liberty ?*v,c%: ^cs, but fdlow-citiz.en3 ; nor have 
 
 " \ve declared war aga'mft df?rlty, bat againft the thirty ty- 
 *' rant.'..-' lie cr.ritinued \vith billing them remember, that they 
 liad the {h'rrie orwin, country, laws, and religion ; he exhort- 
 '..'tionate their exiled brethren, to reftore their 
 ]3frmtry to^ rt*:n, and refume their liberty thcmfelves. This 
 
 * Q:!r.gontos militrs, fiij-cndio fuo Indrudos, i: 
 .".t. Jr.nin. 1. v. c. 9.
 
 Clap. L PERSIANS AND GRECIA'KS. 1J 
 
 difcourfe had fuitable-- effects. The army, upon their return 
 to Athens, excelled the thirty, and fubflituted ten perfons to 
 govern in the^r room, whofe conduct proved no better than 
 theirs. ,^jj 
 
 It is ?, 4 c&mer of furprife, that fo fudden, fo univerfal, fo 
 tenacious, and fo uniform a confpiracy againft the public good, 
 fhould always actuate the feveral bodies of perfons eftablifliect 
 in the administration of this government. This we have feea 
 in the four hundred formerly chofen by Athens ; again in the 
 thirty ; and now in the ten. And what augments our won- 
 der is, that this paffion for tyranny mould pofiefs fo immediate- 
 ly republicans, born in the bofom of liberty, accuftomed to an 
 equality of condition, on which it is founded, and principled 
 from their earlieft infancy in an abhorrence of all fubje&ion and 
 dependency. * There muft be on the one fide in power and 
 authority fome violent impulfe to actuate in this manner fo 
 many perfons, of whom many, no doubt, were not without 
 fcntiments of virtue and honour ; and to banifh fo fuddenly 
 the principles and manners natural to them ; and on the other, 
 an excefiive propenfity in the mind of man to fubject liis 
 equals, to rule over them imperioufly, to carry them on to the 
 lafl extremes of oppreflion and cruelty, and to make him for- 
 get at once all laws, natu*^ and religion. 
 
 The thirty being fallen from their power and hopes, fent 
 deputies to Lacedaemon to demand aid. It was not Lyfander's 
 fault, who was fent to them with troops, that the tyrants were 
 not re-eftabliihed. But king Paufanias, moved with compaf- 
 fion for the deplorable condition, to which a city, once fo 
 flourifhing, was reduced, had the generofity to favour the 
 Athenians in fecret, and at length obtained a peace for them. 
 It was fealed with the blood of -the tyrants, who, having taken 
 arms to reinilate themfelves in the government, and being 
 prefent at a parley for that purpcfe, were all put to the fword. 
 and left Athens in the full poflefiicn of its liberty. All the ex- 
 iles were recalled. Thrafybulus at that time propofed the ce- 
 lebrated amnefty, by which the citizens engaged upon oath, 
 that all pail tranfa&ions fhould be buried in oblivion. The 
 
 * Vi dominationis convulfu?. Tacit.
 
 14 THE HISTORY OF THE Book l r lll. 
 
 government was rc-eftahliihed upon its ancient foot, the laws 
 reftored to their priftine vigour, and magiilratcs elected with 
 the ufual forms. 
 
 I cannot forbear obferving in this place the wifdom and mo- 
 deration of Thrafybulus, fo falutary and eflential after fo long 
 a continuance of domeilic troubles. This is one of the fineft 
 events in ancient hiftory, worthy the Athenian lenity and be- 
 nevolence, and has ferved as a model to fucceflive ages in 
 good governments. 
 
 Never had tyranny been more cruel and bloody than that 
 the Athenians had lately thrown off. Every houfe was in 
 mourning ; every family bewailed the lofs of fome relation. 
 It had been a feries of public robbery and rapine, in which 
 licence and impunity had authorifed all manner of crimes. 
 The people feemed to have a right to demand the blood of 
 all accomplices in fuch notorious malverfations, and even the 
 intereft of the flate to authorife fuch a claim, that by exemp- 
 lary feverities fuch enormous crimes might be prevented for 
 the future. But Thrafybulus riling above thofe fentiments, 
 from the fuperiority of his more extenfive genius, and the 
 views of a more difcerning and profound policy, forefaw, that 
 by giving in to the puniihment of the guilty, eternal feeds of 
 difcord and enmity would remain, to weaken the republic by 
 domeftic divifions, which it was neceflary to unite againil the 
 common enemy, and occafion the lofs to the ftate of a great 
 number of citizens, who might render it important fervices 
 from the view itfelf of making amends for paft mifbehavicur. 
 
 Such a concluS, after great troubles in a itate, has always 
 feemed, with the ableft politicians, the moil certain and ready 
 means to reflore the public peace and tranquility. * Cicero, 
 when Rome was divided into two factions upon the cccalion 
 of Caefar's death, who had been killed by the confpirators, 
 
 * In aedem Telluris convocati fumus; in quo templo, quantum in icefuit, jcci 
 fundamentum pacis; Athenienfiumque rcnovavi vctus excmplum, Graecum eti- 
 amf verbura ufurpavi, quod turn in fedandis difcordiis ufurpaverat civitas ii!a ; at- 
 que omnem memoriam difcordiarum oblivione fempiterna dt:!cnduiii ccnfui. Phi- 
 lip, i. n. I. 
 
 t Some believe that word was auitirla, ; but as it is not found in the hiftorians 
 who have treated this fact, it is more likely, that it was pr. /*w?ovxa*m<v, which 
 has the fame fsnfe, and is ufed by them all.
 
 Clap. L . PERSIANS AK3 GRECIANS. 1J 
 
 calling to mind this celebrated amnefty, propofed, after the 
 example of the Athenians, to bury all that had palled in eter- 
 nal oblivion. g Cardinal Mazarin obferved to Don Lewis de 
 Haro, prime miiiifter of Spain, that this gentle and humane 
 condud in France had prevented the troubles and revolts of 
 that kingdom from having any fatal confequences, and " that 
 " the king had not loft a foot of land -by them to that day;'* 
 whereas the inflexible feverity of the Spaniards " was the oc- 
 " cation, that the fubjects of that monarchy, whenever they 
 " threw off the mafic, never returned to their obedience but 
 " by the force of arms ; which fuii'iciently appears," fays he,. 
 " in the example of the Hollanders, who are in the peace- 
 " able pofle.Tion of many provinces, that not an age ago were 
 " the patrimony of the king of Spain." 
 
 DJ odor us Siculus takes occafion, from the thirty tyrants of 
 Athens,' whofe immoderate ambition induced them to treat 
 their country with the inoft exceilive cruelties, to obferve how 
 unfortunate it is for * perfons in power to want a fenfe of 
 honour, and to difregard either the prefent opinion, or the 
 judgment pofterity will form of their conduct : For, from the 
 contempt of reputation, the traniition is too common to that 
 of virtue itfelf. They may perhaps, by the awe of their power, 
 fupprefs for fome time the public voice, and impofe a forced 
 filence upon cenfure ; but the more conftraint they lay upoa 
 it during their lives, the more liberal will it be after their 
 deaths of complaints and reproaches, and the more infamy 
 and imputation will be affixed to their memories. The power 
 of the thirty was of a very Ihort duration ; their guilt im- 
 mortal, which will be remembered with abhorrence through- 
 out all ages ; whilfl their names \vill be recorded in hiftory 
 only to render them odious, and to make their crimes deteft- 
 able. He applies the fame reflection to the Lacedaemonions, 
 
 * Let. XV. of Card. Maz. 
 
 * Caetera principibus ftatim adefle : unum infatiabiliter parandum, profparant 
 fui mcmoriam ; nam contempta fama, contemn! virtutes Quo magis focorniant 
 eorum irrideri libet, qui praefenti potentia credunt extingui pofle etiam fequcntij. 
 aevi memoriam fuum cuitjue decus pofteritas rcpcnJit. Tacit. Annat. 1. i-i 
 c> 30 et 35.
 
 l6 HISTORY OF THE Book Xl,. 
 
 who, after having made themfelves mailers of Greece by a 
 wife and moderate condud, fell from that glory, through the 
 feverity, haughtinefs, and injuftice with which they treated 
 their allies. There is doubtlefs no reader, whom their abjeft 
 and cruel jealoufy in regard to Athens enflaved and humbled, 
 has not prejudiced againil them ; nor is there any refemblance 
 in fuch behaviour, of the greatnefs of mind and noble gene- 
 -rofity of ancient Sparta ; fo much power have the luft of d6- 
 minion and profperity over even virtuous men. Diodorus 
 concludes his reflection with a maxim, very true, though very- 
 little known : " The greatnefs and majefty of princes," fays 
 he, (and the fame may be faid of all perfons in high authori- 
 ty) " can be fupported only by humanity and juflice with 
 " regard to their fubje&s ; as on the contrary, they are ruin- 
 " ed and deftroyed by a cruel and oppreflive government, 
 " which never fails to draw upon them the hatred of theiv 
 " people." 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 LYSANBLR abufes Us POWER in an extraordinary MANNER. 
 He is recalled to SPARTA. 
 
 As Lyfander had the greateft (hare in the celebrated exploits h , 
 xvhich had raifed the glory of the Lacedaemonians to fo high 
 a pitch ; fo he had acquired a degree of power and authority, 
 of which there was no example before in Sparta; but he fuf- 
 fered himfelf to be carried away by a prefumption and vanity. 
 Hill greater than his power. He permitted the Grecian cities 
 to dedicate altars to him as to a god, and to offer facrifices, 
 and {ing hymns and canticles in honour of him. The Sami- 
 ans ordained by a public decree, ihat the feafts celebrated in 
 honour of Juno, and which bore the name of that goddefs, 
 mould be called '.' the Feafts of Lyfander." He had always a 
 crowd of poets about him, (who ai-e often a tribe of venal 
 flatterers), who emulated each, other in fihging his great ex- 
 ploits, for which they were magnificently paid. Praife is un~ 
 
 fc Phit. in Lyf. p. 443 445.
 
 Chap. /., PERSIANS AND GRECIAN'S. 17 
 
 donbtedly due to noble .deeds; but diminimes their luftre 
 when either forged or exceffive. 
 
 This fort of vanity and ambition, had he ftopt the"re, would 
 have hurt only himfelf, by expoling. him to envy and con- 
 tempt ; but a natural cenfequence of it was, that through his 
 arrogance and pride, in <rojun6lion with the "incelTant flatte- 
 ries of thofe around him, he carried the fpirit of command 
 and authority to an iafupportable excefs, and obferved no 
 longer any meafures either in rewarding or punifhing. The 
 abfolute government of cities with tyrannic power were the 
 fruits of his friendfllip, and the ties of hofpitality with him; 
 and only the death of thofe he hated, could put an end to his 
 refentment and difpleafure, without its being pouTble to efcape 
 his vengeance. What Sylla caufed to be infcribed upon his 
 tomb, might with equal propriety have been engraved upon 
 Lyfander's : That no man had ever furpaffed him in doing 
 good to his friends, or evil to his enemies. 
 
 Treachery and perjury cofh him nothing, whenever they 
 prompted his deiigns ; nor was he lefs cruel than revengeful ; 
 of which what he did at Miletus is a fufficient proof. Appre- 
 hending that-thofe who were at the head of the people would 
 efcape him, he fwore not to do them any hurt. Thofe un- 
 fortunates gave credit to his oath, and no fooner appeared in 
 public, than they were put to the fword with his confent by 
 the noblity, who killed them all, though no lefs than eight 
 hundred. The number of thofe in the party of the people, 
 whom he caufed to be maiTacred in the other cities, is incre- 
 dible ; for he did not only deilroy to fatiate his own refent- 
 ments, but to ferve in all places the enmity, malice, and ava- 
 rice of his friends, whom he fupported in gratifying their pat-; 
 fion by the death of their enemies. 
 
 There was no kind of injuftice and violence which the peo- 
 ple d"id not fuiFer under the government of Lyfand'er ; whilil 
 the Lacedaemonians, who were fufficiently informed of his 
 conduct, gave themfelves no trouble to prevent its effects. It 
 is too common for thofe iif power to be little affected \vith the 
 vexations and oppreffions laid upo'a perfons of low condition 
 Volume- IV.- B
 
 1 8 THE HISTORY OF THE Book XI. 
 
 and credit, and to be deaf to their juft complaints, though 
 authority is principally confided in them for the defence of 
 the weak and poor, who have no other protectors. But if 
 fuch remonftrances are made by a great or powerful perfon, 
 frcrn whom they may have any thing to hope or fear, the 
 fame authority that was flow and drowfy, becomes imme- 
 diately warm and officious ; a certain proof that it is not the 
 love of juftice that actuates it. This appears here in the con- 
 dut of the Lacedaemonian magiflrates. Pharnabafus, weary 
 of Lyfander's repeated injuftices, who ravaged and pillaged 
 the provinces under his command, having fent ambafiadors to 
 Sparta, to complain of the wrongs he had received from that 
 general, the Ephori recalled him. Lyfander was at that 
 time in the Hellefpont. The letter of the Ephori threw him. 
 into great confirmation. As he principally feared the com- 
 plaints and accufations of Pharnabafus, he made all the hafte 
 he could to come to an explanation with him, from the hope 
 of foftening him, and making his peace. He went for that 
 purpofe to him, and defired, that he would write another 
 letter to the Ephori, intimating a fatisfaftion in his conduct. 
 But Lyfander, fays Plutarch, in. fuch an application to Phar- 
 nabafus, forgot the * proverb, " Set a thief to catch a thief.'* 
 The fatrap promifed all he defired ; and accordingly wrote 
 fuch a letter in Lyfander's prefence as he had alked of him, 
 but prepared another to a quite different effecl:. When he 
 was -to feal it, as both letters were of the fame Cze and form, 
 he dexteroufly put that he had wrote in fecret into the place 
 of the other, without being obferved, which he fealed and 
 gave him. 
 
 Lyfander departed well fatisfied ; and being arrived at Spar- 
 ta, alighted t the place where the fenate ivas aflembled, 
 arid delivered Pharnabafus's letter to the Ephori. But he was 
 . flrangely furprifed when he heard the contents, and withdrew 
 in extreme confufion and diforder. Some days after he re- 
 turned to the fenate, and told the Ephori, that he was oblig- 
 ed to go to the temple of Ammon \o acquit himfelf of the fa- 
 
 * The Greek proverb is, Cretan againfl Cretan, from the people of Crete, Yvh 
 faCed for the gre-tcib cheau and liars in the .
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 1 9 
 
 orifices he had vcnved to that god before his battles. That 
 pilgrimage was no more than a pretence to cover the pain it 
 gave him to live as a private perfon in Sparta, and to fubmit 
 to the yoke of obeying ; he who till then had always govern- 
 ed. Accuftomed long to commanding armies, and to the flat- 
 tering diftinftions of a kind of fovereignty exercifed by him in 
 Afia, he could not endure the mortifying equality with the 
 multitude, nor reilrain himfelf to the innplicity of a private 
 life. Having obtained permiffion, not without great difficul- 
 ties, he embarked. 
 
 ; As foon as he was gone, the kings, reflecting that he held 
 all the cities in his dependence, by the means of their gover- 
 nors and magiftrates eflabliflied by him, to whom they were 
 alfo indebted for their unlimitted authority, and that he was 
 thereby effectually lord and m'after of all Greece, applied 
 themfelves vigorously to reftore the government of the people, 
 and to depofe all his creatures and friends from any mare in 
 it. This alteration occafioned great tumults at firft. About 
 the fame time Lyfander, being apprifed of the defign of Thra- 
 fybulus to re-eflablifh the liberty of his country, returned with 
 the utmoft diligence to Sparta, and endeavoured to engage 
 the Lacedaemonians to fupport the party of the nobility at 
 Athens. We have before obferved, that Paufanius, from a 
 more noble fpirit of equity and gnerofity, gave peace to 
 Athens, and by that means, fays Plutarch, clipped the wings 
 of Lyfander's ambition. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 Young CrRUS, with tie AID of the GRECIAN TROOPS, endeavours 
 
 to dethrone his BROTHER ARTAXERXES. 
 He is killed. Famous RETREAT of the ^EN THOUSAND. 
 
 ANTIOJJITY has few events fo memorable, as thofe I am about 
 to relate in this place. We -fee on one fide a young priace, 
 abounding otherwife with excellent qualities, abandoned to his 
 violent ambition, carry the war from far againft his brother 
 and fovereign, and go to attack him almoft in his own palace? 
 
 Bij
 
 10 HISTORY OF THE Book XL 
 
 with the view of depriving him at once of his crown and life, 
 We lee him, I fay, fall dead in the battle at the feet of that 
 brother, and terminate, by fo unhappy a fate, an enterprife 
 equally glaring and criminal. On the other hand, the Greeks 
 who follow him% defiitute of all fuccour after the lofs of 
 their chiefs, without allies, provifions, money, horfe, or arch- 
 ers, reduced to lefs than ten thoufancl men, with no refource 
 but in their own perfons and valour, fupported only by the 
 warm defire of preferving their liberty, and of returning to their 
 native countries ; thefe Greeks, with bold and intrepid refolu- 
 tion, make their retreat before a victorious army of a million 
 of men, traverfe five or fix hundred leagues, notwithstanding 
 vail rivers and innumerable pa.Ves, and arrive at laft in their 
 own country through a thoufand fierce and barbarous nations, 
 vi&orious over all obftacles in their way, and over all the dan- 
 gers which either concealed fraud or upon force reduce them 
 to undergo. 
 
 This retreat, in the opinion of the beft judges and moft ex- 
 perienced in the art of war, is the boldeft and beft conducted 
 exploit to be found in ancient hiftory, and is deemed a perfect 
 model in its kind. Happily for us, it is defcribed to the moft 
 minute circumftance by an hiftorian, who was not only eye- 
 witnefs of the fads he relates, but the firft mover, the foul of 
 this great enterprife. I fhall only abridge it, and abftracl its 
 moft material circumftance's ; but I cannot omit advifing young 
 perfons, who make arms their poflefiion, to confult the origi- 
 nal, of which there is a good tranflation extant in French, though 
 far fhort of the admirable beauties of the text. It is very dif- 
 ficult to meet with a more able mafter than Xenophon in the 
 art of war, to whom may be well applied here what Homer 
 fays of Phoenix the governor of Achilles, '* u That he was 
 " equally capable of forming his pupil for eloquence or arms. 1 ' 
 
 Mwfc n f*riif I/M 
 
 u Iliad, x. ver. 443. 
 
 * Poft mortem Cyri, neque armis a tanto exercitu vinci, ncquc dolo capi po- 
 tuerunt ; revertentefque inter tot indomita* nationes et Barbaras gentes, per tanta, 
 itincrii fpatiii, virtute fc ufque terminos pa.tr iae delcnderunt. Juftin. 1. v. c. II-
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 CrRUS raifes TROOPS again/I bis BROTHER ARTAXERXES. 
 
 VV E have already faid, that young Cyrus*, fon of Darius No- 
 thus and Paryfatis, faw with pain his elder brother Artaxerxes 
 upon the throne, and that at the very time the latter was taking 
 poffeflion of it, be had attempted tp deprive him of his crown 
 and life together. Artaxerxes was not infenfible of what 
 he had to fear from a brother of his enterprifing and ambi- 
 tous fpirit, but could not refufe pardoning him to the prayers 
 and tears. of his mother Paryfatis, who doated upon this young- 
 eft fen. He removed him therefore into -Alia to his govern- 
 ment ; confiding to him, contrary to all the rules of policy, 
 an abfolute authority over the provinces left him by the will 
 of the king his father. 
 
 As foonas he arrived there, his thoughts were folely intent up- 
 on revenging the fuppofed aiFront he had received from his bro- 
 ther, and to dethrone him y . He received all that came from the 
 court with great favour and affability, to induce them infenfihly 
 to quit the king's party and adhere to him. He gained alfo the 
 hearts of the Barbarians under his government : familiarizing 
 himfelf with them, and mingling with the common foldiery, 
 tho' without forgetting the dignity of their general ; thefe he 
 formed by various exercifes for the trade of war. He applied 
 particularly in fecret to raife from feveral parts, and upon dif- 
 ferent pretexts, a body of Grecian troops, upon whom he re- 
 lied much more than upon thofe of the Barbarians. Clearchus 
 retired to his court after having been banimed from Sparta, 
 and was of great fervice to him, being, an able;!experienced, 
 and valiant captain. z At the fame time feveral cities in the 
 provinces of TiiTaphernes revolted from their obedience in fa- 
 vour ot Cyrus. This incident, which was not an efFecl: of 
 e, but of the fecret practices of that prince, gave birth 
 
 Biij 
 
 A. M. 3600. Ant. J. C. 404. Died. 1. xiv. p. 243. 249. et 252. Juftin. 
 . c. i r. Xcaoph. de Cyri exped. 1. i. p. 243 248. 
 A, M. 3601. Ant. j. C. 403. * A. M. 3603. Ant. J, C. 403.
 
 12 THE HISTORY OF THE Book LY. 
 
 to a war between them. Cyrus, under the pretence of arming 
 againil Tiflaphernes, afiembled troops openly ; and to amufe the 
 court the more fpecioufly, fent grievous complaints to the king 
 againft that governor, demanding his protection and aid in the 
 moil fubrniffive manner. Artaxerxes was deceived by thefe 
 appearances, and believed that all Cyrus's preparations regarded 
 only TilTaphernes, and continued quiet, from the affurance of 
 having nothing to apprehend for hitnfelf. 
 
 * Cyrus knew well how to improve the imprudent fecurity 
 and indolence of his brother, which fome people conceived the 
 effect of his goodnefs and humanity. And indeed, in the be- 
 ginning of his reign he feemed to imitate the virtues of the 
 firft Artaxerxes, whofe name he bore : For he demeaned him- 
 felf with great mildnefs and affability to fuch as approached 
 him ; he honoured and rewarded magnificently all thofe whofe 
 fervices had merited favour ; when he palled fentence to pun- 
 ifli, it was without either outrage or infult ; and when he made 
 prefcuts, it was with a gracious air, and fuch obliging circum- 
 flances, as infinitely exalted their value, and implied that he 
 was never better pleafed than when he had an opportunity of 
 do'.ng good to his fubjecb. To all thefe excellent qualities it 
 had been very neceflary for him to have added one no lefs royal, 
 and which would have put him upon his guard againft the enter- 
 prifes of a brother, wLofe character he ought to have known ; 
 I mean a wife foresight, that penetrates the future, and renders 
 a prince attentive to prevent or fruftrate whatever may difturb 
 tue tranquillity of the ftatc. 
 
 The emifiaries of Cyrus at the court were perpetually dif- 
 perfing reports and opinions among ft the people, to prepare 
 their minds for the intended change and revolt. They faid 
 that the (late required a king of Cyrus's character ; a king, 
 magnificent, liberal, who loved war, and {Lowered his favours 
 upon thofe that ferved him ; and that it was necefiary for the 
 grandeur of the empire to have a prince upon the throne, fired 
 with ambition and valour for the fupport and augmentation of 
 its glory.
 
 Clap, I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 23 
 
 b The young prince loft no time on his fide, and haftened 
 the execution of his great defign. He was then twenty-three 
 years old at moil. After the important fervices he had done 
 the Lacedaemonians, without which they had never obtained 
 the victories that had made them mailers of Greece, he thought 
 he might fafely open himfelf to the r.. He therefore imparted 
 to them the prefent iituation of his affairs, and the end he had 
 in view ; convinced that fuch a confidence could not but in- 
 cline them the more in his favour. 
 
 In the letter he wrote %iem, he fpoke of himfelf in very 
 magnificent terms. He told them he had a greater and more 
 royal heart than his brother : that he was better verfed in phi- 
 lofophy and the * knowledge of the magi : and that he could 
 drink more wine without being difordered in his feaies ; a very 
 meritorious quality amongil the Barbarians, but not fo proper 
 to recommend him to the opinion of thofe he wrote to. The 
 Lacedaemonians fent orders to their fleet to join that of the 
 prince immediately, and to obey the commands of Tamos his 
 admiral in all things, but without the leaft mention of Artax- 
 crxes, or feeming in any manner privy to his defign. They 
 thought that precaution f neceflary for their juflincation with 
 Artaxerxes, in cafe affairs fhould happen to terminate in his 
 favour. 
 
 The troops of Cyrus, according to the review afterwards 
 made, confifted of thirteen thoufand Greeks, which were the 
 flower and chief force of his army, and of an hundred thou- 
 fand regular men of the barbarous nations. Clearchus the 
 Lacedaemonian, commanded all the Peloponnefian troops, ex- 
 cept the Achaeans, who had Socrates of Achaia for their lead- 
 er. Te Boeotians were under Proxenes the Theban, and the 
 Theffalians under Menon. c The Barbarians had Periian ge- 
 nerals, of whom the chief was Ariaeus. The fleet confifted 
 
 B iiij 
 
 b A. M. 3603. Ant. J. C. 401. c Xenoph. Cyri. expef. 1. i. p. zjz. 
 
 * By the knowledge of the Magi, amongft the Perfians, was meant the fcience 
 of religion and government. 
 
 f Qiiaerentes apud Cyrum gratiam; et npi'.d Arta^enicm, fi v-.-ifTct, veniae pa 
 i cum nihi! adv-rfus eum aperte JccrcviiTtnt. J'.ftLu. 1. v. c. II,
 
 24 HISTORY OF THE JBool IX. 
 
 of thirty -five flaps under Pythagoras the Lacedaemonian, and 
 of twenty-five commanded by Tamos the Egyptian, admiral 
 of tl.e whole fleet. It followed the land-army, coafting along 
 the fhore. 
 
 Cyrus had opened his defign only to Clearchus of all the 
 Greeks, forefeeing aright, that the length and boldnefs of the 
 enterprife could not fail of difcouraging and difgufling the 
 officers as well as foldiers. He made it his fole application to 
 gain their affections during the march, by treating them with 
 kindnefs and humanity, converling freely with them, and giv- 
 ing effectual orders that they mould want for nothing. Prox- 
 enes, between whofe family and Xenophon's an ancient friend- 
 fliip fubfifled, prefented that young Athenian to Cyrus d , who 
 received him very favourably, and gave him an employment 
 in his army amonft the Greeks. He fet out for Sardis at 
 length, and marched towards the upper provinces of Afia. 
 The troops knew neither the occafion of the war, nor into 
 what countries they were going. Cyrus had only caufed it 
 to be given out, that he {hould aft againft .the Pifjdians, who 
 had inf cited his province by their incurfions, 
 
 c Tifiaphernes, rightly judging that all thefe preparations 
 were too great for fo fmall an enterprife as againft Pifidia, had 
 fet out poll from Miletus to give the king an account of them. 
 This news occafioned great trouble at court. Paryfatis, the 
 mother of Artaxerxes and Cyrus, was looked upon as the prin- 
 cipal caufe of this war ; and all perfons in her fervice and in- 
 terelt were fufpefted of holding intelligence with Cyrus. Sta- 
 tira elpecialiy, the reigning queen, reproached her inceflantly 
 in the moft violent terms. " Where is now," faid. fhe to her, 
 " that faith you have fo often engaged for your fon's beha- 
 " viour ? Where thofe ardent prayers you employed to pre- 
 f ferve from death that confpirator againft his king and bro- 
 " ther ? It is your unhappy fondnefs has kindled this war, and 
 *' plunged us into an abyfs of misfortunes." The antipathy 
 and hatred of the two queens for each other was already very 
 great, and much inflamed by fuch warm reproaches. We 
 
 d Xenophon. 1. ii. p. 294. e Flut. in Artax. p. 101^
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 2J 
 
 fhall fee what confequences they have. Artaxerxes affembled 
 a numerous army to receive his brother. 
 
 f Cyrus advanced continually by great marches. What 
 troubled him moft on the way was the pafs of Cilicia, which 
 was a narrow defile between very high and fteep mountains, 
 that would admit no more than one carriage to pafs at a time. 
 Syennefis, king of the country, prepared to difpute this paf- 
 fage with him, and would infallibly hav fucceeded, but for 
 the diverlion made by Tamos with his fleet, in conjunction 
 with that of the Lacedaemonians. To defend the coafts againft 
 the infults of the fleet, Syennefis abandoned that important 
 poft, which a fmall body of troops might have made good 
 againfl the greateil army. 
 
 When they arrived at Tarfus, the Greeks refufed to march 
 any farther, rightly fufpecting that they were intended againfl 
 the king, and loudly exclaiming, that they had not entered in- 
 to the fervice upon that condition. Clearchus, who com- 
 manded them, had occafipn for all his addrefs and ability to 
 ftifle this commotion in its birth. At firfl he made ufe of au- 
 thority and force, but with very ill fuccefs, and defifted there- 
 fore from an open oppofition to their fentiments : He even af- 
 fe&ed to enter into their views, and to fupport them with his 
 approbation and credit. He declared publicly, that he would 
 not feparate himfelf from them, and advifed them to depute 
 perfons to the prince, to know from his own month againfl 
 whom they were to be led, that they might follow him volun- 
 tarily if they approved his meafures ; if not, that they might 
 demand his permiffion to withdraw. By this artful evafion he 
 appeafed the tumult, and made them eafy, and they chofe 
 him and fome other officers for their deputies. Cyrus, whom 
 he had fecretly apprifed of every thing, made anfwer, that he 
 was going to attack * Abrocomas his enemy, at twelve days 
 march from thence upon the Euphrates. When this anfwer 
 was repeated to them, though they plainly faw againfl whom 
 
 f Xenoph. 1. i. p. 248 361. 
 
 . * It is not faid where he commanded. It appeari to be upon the Euphrates. 
 He marched with three hundred thoufand men to join the king's army ; but dill 
 sot arrive till after the battle.
 
 *6 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 they were going, they refolved to proceed, and only demand- 
 ed an augmentation of their pay. Cyrus, inftead of one da- 
 lic * a month to each foldier, promifed to give them one and 
 a half. 
 
 Some time after, Cyrus was informed that two of the prin- 
 cipal officers, upon account of a private quarrel with Clear- 
 chus, had deferted with part of their equipage on board a mer- 
 chant-mip. Many were of opinion, that it was proper to fend 
 two gallies after them ; which might be done with great eafe, 
 and that when they were brought back, they mould be made 
 an example, by fuffering death in the fight of the whole ar- 
 my. Cyrus, convinced that favour f was the moft certain 
 means to the attainment of affe&ion, and that punilhments, 
 like violent remedies, ought never to be ufed but in extreme 
 neceffity, declared publicly that he would not fuffer it to be 
 faid, that he had detained any one in his fervice by force ; and 
 added, that he would fend them their wives and children, 
 whom they had left as hoflages in hi hands. An anfwer of 
 fo much wifdom and generofity had a furprifing effect ; and 
 made even thofe his firm adherents, who were before inclin- 
 ed to retire. This is an excellent leffon for all who govern. 
 There is in the mind of man a fund of natural generofity, 
 which it is necefiary to know and apply. Threats exafperate 
 them, and chaftifement makes them revolt, when endeavours 
 are ufed to force them to do their duty againft their will. 
 They defire a certain degree of confidence in their honour t, 
 and that the' glory of acquitting themfelves of it out of choice 
 be left in their power. To mew that you believe men faith- 
 ful, is often the beft means to make them fo. 
 
 Cyrus foon after declared, that he marched agranft Artax- 
 rrxes. Upon which iome murmuring was heard at fir ft ; but 
 it foon gave place to the exprefiions of joy and fat is faction, oc- 
 cafioned by that prince's magnificent promifes to the army. 
 
 * The daric was worth ten Hvr. 
 
 f Beneficiis potius quani mrtcdiis ingenia experiri placuit. Plin. in Traj. 
 | Nefcie an plus moribus confcrat princeps, qui bonas efle patitur, ouain <jui 
 cogit. Plin. ibid. 
 
 Pkrumque hubita 6des ip&m obligat fidem. Liv.
 
 Chap. /. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 27 
 
 8 As Cyrus advanced by long marches, he was informed 
 from all parts, that the king did not intend to come directly 
 to a battle, but had refolved to wait in the remote parts of 
 Perfia, till all his forces were afiembled ; and that to flop his 
 enemies, he had ordered an intrenchment to be thrown up in 
 the plains of Babylonia, with a fofie of five fathoms broad, 
 and three deep, extending the fpace of twelve * parafangas or 
 leagues, from the Euphrates to the wall of Media. Between 
 the Euphrates and the fofle a way had been left of twenty 
 feet in breadth, by which Cyrus paiTed with his whole army, 
 having reviewed it the day before. The king had neglected 
 to difpute this pafs with him, and fufFered him to continue his 
 march towards Babylon. It was Tiribafus who determined 
 him not to fly in fuch .a manner before an enemy, againfl 
 whom he had infinite advantages, as well from the number 
 of his troops as the valour of his generals. He refolved there- 
 fore to advance againfl the enemy. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 lie BATTLE of CUNAXA. CTRUS is killed. 
 
 1 HE place where the battle was fought h , was called Cunaxa, 
 about f twenty five leagues from Babylon. The army of Cy- 
 rus confifted of thirteen thoufand Greeks, an hundred thou- 
 fand Barbarians, and twenty chariots armed with fcythes. The 
 enemy in horfe and foot might amount to about twelve hun- 
 dred thoufand, under four generals, Tifiaphernes, Gobryas, 
 Arbaces, and Abrocomas, without including fix thoufand cho- 
 fen horfe, that fought where the king was prefent, and never 
 quitted his perfon. But Abrocomas, who had the command 
 
 Plut in Artax. p. 1014. Xenoph. 1. i. p. 261 266. 
 
 h Xenoph. in exped. Cyr. 1. I. p. 263 266. Diod. 1. xiv. p. 253, 254. Plut. 
 p. 10141017. 
 
 * The parafanga is a meafure of ways peculiar to the Perfians. It was com- 
 monly thirty ftadia, which make about a league and a half French. Some were 
 from twenty to fixty ftadia. In the march of Cyrus's army, I fuppofe the para- 
 funga only twenty fladia, or one league, for reafons I ihall give hereafter. 
 
 t Five hundred ftadia.
 
 *3 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 of three hundred thoufand men, did not arrive till five days 
 after the battle. In the king's army were only an hundred 
 and fifty chariots armed with fcythes. 
 
 Cyrus believed, from the enemy's not having defended the 
 pafs at the foffe, that there would be no battle ; fo that the 
 next day the army marched with great negligence. But on 
 the third, Cyrus being in his chariot, with a few foldiers in 
 their ranks before him, and the reft marching without any 
 order, or having their arms carried for them, an horfeman 
 came in full fpeed, crying out as he pafTed, that the enemy 
 approached in order of battle. Upon this, great confufion. 
 enfued, from the apprehenfion that they ihould not have time 
 to draw up the army. Cyrus, leaping from his chariot, put 
 on his arms immediately, and getting on horfeback with his 
 javelin in his hand, he gave orders univerfally tc the troops 
 to Hand to their arms, and fall into their ranks ; which was 
 executed with fo much expedition, that the troops had not 
 time to refrefh themf elves. 
 
 Cyrus polled upon his right a thoufand Paphlagonian horfe, 
 fupported by the Euphrates, and the light armed infantry of 
 the Greeks ; and next them, Clearchus, Proxenes, and the 
 reil of the general officers to Menon, at the head of their fe- 
 reral corps. The left wing, compcfed of Lydians, Phrygians, 
 and other Afiatic nations, were commanded by Ariaeus, who 
 had a thoufand horfe. Cyrus placed himfelf in the centre, 
 where the chofen troops of the Pedians 'and other Barbarians 
 were pofted. ' He had around him fix hundred horfemen, 
 armed at all points, as were their horfes, with head and breaft- 
 pieces. The prince's head was uncovered, as were thofe of 
 all the Pcrfians, whofe cuftom it was to give battle in that 
 manner. The arms of all his people were red, and thofe of 
 Artaxerxes were white. 
 
 A little before the onfet, Clearchus advifed Cyrus not to 
 charge in perfon, but to cover himfelf in the rear of the Gre- 
 cian battalions. " What is it you fay ?" replied Cyrus ; " At 
 " the time I am endeavouring to make myfolf king, would 
 ." you have me fhew myfelf unworthy of being fo ?" Tha
 
 Clap I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 2<? 
 
 wifeand generous anfwer proves, that "he knew the duty of a 
 general, efpecially on a day of battle. Had he withdrawn 
 when his prefence was rnoil neceffary, it would have argued 
 his want of courage, and intimidated others. It is neceiTary, 
 always preferving the due diftinction between the leader and 
 the troops r that their danger fhould be common, and no one 
 exempted from it, left the latter fhould be alarmed by a differ- 
 ent conduft. Courage in an army depends upon example, up- 
 on the defire of being diftinguifhed, the fear of difhonour^ 
 the incapacity of doing otherwife than the reft, and the equa- 
 lity of danger. The retiring of Cyrus had either ruined or 
 greatly weakened all thefe potent motives, by difcouragiug 
 as well the officers as foldiers of his army. He thought, 
 that being their general, it was incumbent upon him to dif- 
 charge all the functions of that office, and to fliew himfelf 
 worthy to be the leader and foul of fuch a number of valiant 
 men, ready to fhed their blood for his fervice. 
 
 It was now noon ; and the enemy did not yet appear. But 
 about three of the clock a great duft like a white cloud arofe, 
 followed foon after with a blacknefs that overcafl the whole 
 plain ; after which was feen the glittering of armour, lances, 
 and ftandards. Tifiaphernes commanded the left, which con- 
 lifted of cavalry armed with white cuirafles, and of light-arm- 
 ed infantry ; in the centre was the heavy-armed foot, a great 
 part of which had bucklers made of wood, which covered the 
 foldier entirely : thefe were Egyptians. The reft of the light- 
 armed infantry and of the horfe formed the right wing. The 
 foot were drawn up by nations, with as much depth as front 9 
 and in that order compofed fquare battalions. The king had 
 pofted himfelf in the main body, with the flower of the whole 
 army, and had fix thoufand horfe for his guard, commanded 
 by Artagerfes. Though he' was in the centre, he \vas beyond 
 the left wing of Cyrus's army; fo much did the front of his 
 own exceed that of the enemy in extent. An hundred and 
 fifty chariots armed with fcythes were placed in the front of 
 the army, at fome diftance from one anoter. The fcythes 
 were fixed to the axle downwards and aflant, fo as to cut 
 down and overthrow all before them.
 
 3 HISTORY OF THE Bool IX. 
 
 As Cyrus relied very much upon the valour and experience 
 of the Greeks, he bade Clearchus, as foon as he had beat the 
 enemies in his front, to take care to incline to his left, and 
 fall upon the centre, where the king was pofled j the fuccefs 
 of the battle depending upon that attack. But Clearchus. 
 finding it very difficult to make his way through fo great a 
 body of troops, replied, that he need be in no pain, and that 
 te would take care to do what was neceflary.' 
 
 The enemy in the mean time advanced flowly in good or- 
 der ; Cyrus marched in the fpace between the two armies, the 
 neareft to his own, and confidered both of them with great 
 attention. Xenophon, perceiving him, fpurred direcUy up to 
 him, to know whether he had any further orders to give. He 
 called out to him that the facrifices were favourable, and that 
 he mould tell the troops fo. He then h aliened through the 
 ranks to give his orders, and fliewed himfelf to the foldiers, 
 with fuch a joy and ferenity in his countenance as infpired 
 them with new courage, arid at the fame time with an air of 
 kindnefs and familiarity that excited their zeal and affeftion. 
 It is not eafy to comprehend what great effects a word, a 
 kind air, or a look of a general, will have upon a day of ac- 
 tion ; and with what ardour a common man will rufli into 
 danger, when he believes himfelf not unknown to his general, 
 and thinks his valour will oblige him. 
 
 Artaxerxes moved on continually, though with a flow pace, 
 and without noife and confuuon. That good order and exacl 
 difcipline extremely furprifed the Greeks, who expefted to fee 
 much hurry and tumult in fo great a multitude, and to hear 
 confufed cries, as Cyrus had foretold them. 
 
 The armies were not diftant above four or five hundred 
 paces, when the Greeks began to fmg the hymn of battle, and 
 to march on, foftly at firft, and with filence. When they 
 came near the enemy, they fet up great cries, ftriking their 
 darts upon their fhields to frighten the horfe ; and then mov- 
 ing all together, they fprung forwards upon the Barbarians 
 with all their force, who did not wait their charge, but took 
 to their heels, and fled univerfally ; except Tiffaphernes, who 
 Hood his ground with a fmall part of his troops.
 
 Chap. /. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 3! 
 
 Cyrus faw with pleafure the enemy routed by the Greeks, 
 and was proclaimed king by thole around him. But he did 
 not give himfelf up to a vain joy, nor as yet reckon himfelf 
 victor. He perceived that Artaxerxes was wheeling his right 
 to attack him in Hank, and marched directly r.ga:nit him with 
 his fix hundred horfe. He killed Artagerfes, who command- 
 ed the king's guards of fix thoufand horfe, with his own hand, 
 and put the whole body to flight. Difcovering his brother, 
 he cried out with his eyes fparkling with rage, " I fee him," 
 and fpurred againft him, followed only by his principal offi-/ 
 cers ; for his troops had quitted their ranks to follow the run- 
 aways, which was an eflential fault. 
 
 h The battle then became a fingle combat, in fome meafure, 
 between Artaxerxes and Cyrus ; and the two brothers were 
 feei, tranfported with rage and fury, endeavouring, like Ete- 
 ccles and Polynices, to plunge their fwords into each other's 
 hearts, and to allure themfelves of the throne by the death of 
 their rival. 
 
 Cyrus having opened his way through thofe who were 
 drawn up in battle before Artaxerxes, joined him, and killed 
 his horfe, that fell with hira to the ground. He rofe and was 
 remounted upon another ; when Cyrus attacked him again, 
 gave him a fecond wound", and was preparing to give him a 
 third, in hopes that it would prove his laft. The king, like 
 a lion wounded by the hunters, was only the more furious 
 from the fmart, and fprung forwards, impetuouily pufhing 
 his horfe againft Cyrus, whd, running headlong, and without 
 regard to his perfon, threw himfelf into the midft of a flight 
 of darts aimed at him from all fides, and received a wound 
 from the king's javelin, at the inftant all the reft discharged 
 upon him. Cyrus fell dead ; fome fay by the wound given 
 him by the king ; others afHrm that he was killed by a Carian 
 foldier. Mithridates, a young Perfian nobleman, afierted 
 that he had given him the mortal ftroke with a javelin, which 
 entered his temple, and pierced his head quite through. The 
 greateft perfons of his court, refolving not to furvive fo good 
 a matter, were all killed around his body ; a certain proof 
 fc Died. 1. xiv. p. 254.
 
 3 a HISTORY OF THE Ecok IX* 
 
 fays Xenophon, that he well knew how to choofe his friends 
 and that he was truly beloved by them. Ariaeus, who ought 
 to have been the firmed of all his adherents, fled with the left 
 wing as foon. as he heard of his death. 
 
 Artaxerxes, after having caufed the head and right hand of 
 his brother to be cut off by the eunuch Mefabates, purfued the 
 enemy into their camp. Ariaeus had not flopped there ; but 
 having pafled through it, continued his retreat to the place 
 where the army had encamped the day before, which was 
 about four leagues diftant. 
 
 Tiflaphernes, after the defeat of the greateft part of his left 
 wing by the Greeks, led on the reft againft them, and by the 
 fide of the river pafled through the light-armed infantry of 
 the Greeks, who opened to give him paflage, and made their 
 difcharge upon him as he pafled, without lofing a man. They 
 were commanded by Epifthenes of Amphipolis, who was 
 efteemed an able captain. Tiflaphernes kept on without return- 
 ing to the charge, becaufe he perceived he was too weak, and 
 went forward to Cyrus's camp, where he found the king, who 
 was plundering it, but had not been able to force the quarter 
 defended by the Greeks left to guard it, who faved their bag- 
 gage. 
 
 The Greeks on their fide, and Artaxerxes on his, who did 
 not know what had pafled elfewhere, believed each of them 
 that they had gained the victory ; the firft, becaufe they had 
 put the enemy to flight, and purfued them ; and the king, be- 
 caufe he had killed his brother, beat the troops he had fought, 
 and plundered their camp. The event was foon cleared up on 
 both fides. Tiflaphernes, upon his arrival at the camp, in- 
 formed the king, that the Greeks had defeated his left wing, 
 and purfued it with great vigour ; and the Greeks on their fide 
 learned that the king, in purfuing Cyrus's left, had penetrated 
 into the camp. Upon this advice, the king rallied his troops, 
 and marched in queft of the enemy ; and Clearchus, being 
 returned from purfuing the Perfians, advanced to fupport the 
 camp. 
 
 The two armies were foon very near each other, when by a
 
 Chap. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 33 
 
 movement made by the king, he feemed to intend to charge 
 the Greeks by their left, who, fearing to be furrounded on all 
 fides, wheeled about and halted with the river on their backs, 
 to prevent their being taken in the rear. Upon feeing that, 
 the king changed his form of battle alfo, drew up his army 
 in front of them, and marched on to the attack. As foon as 
 the Greeks faw him approach, they began to fing the hymn of 
 battle, and advanced againil the enemy even with more ardour 
 than in the firft aftion. 
 
 The Barbarians again took to their heels, ran farftier than 
 before, and were purfued to a village at the foot of an hill 
 upon which their horfe halted. The king's ftandard was ob- 
 ferved to be there, which was a golden eagle upon the top of 
 a pike, having its wing's difplayed. The Greeks preparing to 
 purfue them, they abandoned alfo the hill, fled precipitately, 
 with all their troops broken, and in the utmoft diforder and 
 confufion. Clearchus, having drawn up the Greeks at the 
 bottom of the hill, ordered Lycias the Syracufan and another 
 to go up to it, and obferve what pafled in the plain. . They re- 
 turned with an account that the enemies fled on all fides, and 
 that their whole army was routed. 
 
 As it was almoft night, the Greeks laid down their arms to 
 reft themfelves, much furprifed, that neither Cyrus, nor any 
 one from him, appeared ; and, imagining that he was either 
 engaged in the purfuit of the enemy, or was making hafle to 
 poiTefs himfelf of fome important place, for they were Hill 
 ignorant of his death, and the defeat of the reft of his army ; 
 they determined therefore to return to their camp, and found 
 the greateft part of the baggage taken, with all the provifions, 
 and four hundred waggons laden with corn and wine, which 
 Cyrus had exprefsly caufed to be carried along with the army 
 for the Greeks, in cafe of any preffing neceility. They paffed 
 the night in the camp, the greateft part of them without any 
 refreftiment, concluding that Cyrus was alive and victorious. 
 
 The fuccefs of this battle ihews the fuperiority of valour and 
 military knowledge to multitude without them. The fmall 
 army of the Greeks did not amount to more than twelve or 
 
 Volume IV. C
 
 24 
 
 HISTORY OF THE .JBoo 5 IX. 
 
 thirteen thoufand men ; but they were feafoned and difciplined 
 troops, inured to fatigues, accuftomed to confront dangers, 
 fenfible to glorv, and who, during the long Peloponnefian war, 
 had not wanted cither time or means to acquire, and complete 
 themfelves in the art of war, and the methods of battle. Ar- 
 taxerxes's fide was computed at a million of men ; but they 
 were foldiers only' in name, without force, courage, difcipline, 
 experience, or any fenfe of honour, Hence it was, that as 
 foon as the Greeks appeared, terror and diforder enfued a- 
 mongft'the enemy ; and in the fecond action, Artaxerxes him- 
 felf did not dare to wait their attack, but fhamefully betook 
 himfelf to flight. 
 
 Plutarch here blames Clearchus the general of the Greeks 
 very much, and imputes to him as an unpardonable neglecr, 
 his not having followed Cyrus's order, who recommended to 
 him above all things to incline and charge Artaxerxes's per- 
 fon. This reproach feems groundlefs. It is not eafy to con- 
 ceive, how it was poffible for that captain, who was polled on 
 the right wing, to attack Artaxerxes immediately, who, in the 
 centre of his own army, lay beyond the utmofl extent of the 
 enemy's left, as has been faid before. It feems that Cyrus, 
 depending as he did with great reafon upon the valour of the 
 Greeks, and defiring they lliould charge Artaxerxes in his 
 poft, ought to have placed them in the left wing, which an- 
 fwered directly to the part where the king was ; that is, to the 
 main body,'and not in the right, which was very remote from it. 
 
 Clearchus may indeed be reproached with having followed 
 the purfuit too warmly and too long. If after having put the 
 left wing, which oppofed him, into diforder, he had charged 
 the reft of the enemy in flank, and had opened his way to the 
 centre, where Artaxerxes was, it is highly probable, that he 
 had gained a complete viclory, and placed Cyrus upon the 
 throne. The fix hundred horfe of that prince's guard com- 
 mitted the fame fault ; and by purfuing the body of troops they 
 had put to flight too eagerly, left their mafter almolt alone, 
 and abandoned to the mercy of the enemy j without confider- 
 ing, that they were chofen from the whole army for the i'm-
 
 Clap. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. $$ 
 
 mediate guard of his perion, and for no other purpofe what- 
 foever. Too much ardour is often prejudicial ia a battle ; and 
 it is the duty of an able general to know how to reftrain and 
 dired it. 
 
 Cyrus himfelf erred highly in this refpeft, and abandoned 
 himfelf too much to his blind paffion for glory and revenge. 
 In running headlong to attack his brother, he forgot, that 
 there is a wide difference between a general and a private fol- 
 dier. He ought not to have expofed himfelf, but as it was 
 confiftent with a prince ; as the Lead, not the hand ; as the 
 perfon who was to give orders, and not as thofe who were to 
 execute them. 
 
 I fpeak in this manner after the judges in the art of war; 
 and would not choofe to advance my own opinion upon things 
 jout of my fphere. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 EULOGT of CTRUS. 
 
 XE.VOPHON gives us a magnificent character of Cyrus k ; and 
 that not upon the credit of others, but from what he faw and 
 knew of him in his own perfon. He was, fays he, in the opi- 
 nion of all that were acquainted with him, after Cyrus the 
 Great, a prince the mofl worthy of the fupreme authority, and 
 had the mofl noble, and moll truly royal foul. From his in- 
 fancy he furpaffed all of his own age in every exercife, whe- 
 ther it were in managing the horfe, drawing the bow, throw- 
 ing the dart, or in the chace, in which he diftinguiflied him- 
 felf once by fighting and killing a bear that attacked him. 
 Thofe advantages were exalted in him by the noblenefs of his 
 air, an engaging afpect, and by all the graces of nature, that 
 conduce to recommend merit. 
 
 When his father had made him fatrap of Lydia, and the 
 neighbouring * provinces, his chief care was to make the peo- 
 
 Cij 
 
 k De exped. 1. i. p. a66, 267. 
 * Great Phrygia and Cappadocia,
 
 36 HISTORY OF THE Bool IX. 
 
 pie fenuble, that he had nothing fo much at heart, as to keep 
 his word inviolably, not only with regard to public treaties 
 but the moft minute of his promifes ; a quality very rare a- 
 mongft princes, and which however is the bafis of all good go- 
 vernment, and the fource of their own, as well as their peo- 
 ple's happinefs. Not only the places under his authority, but 
 the enemy themfelves, repofed an entire confidence in him. 
 
 Whether good or ill were done him, he always defired to 
 return it double, and that he might live no longer, as he faid 
 himftlf, than whilit he furmounted his friends in benefits, and 
 his enemies in vengeance. (It had been more glorious for him 
 to have overcome the latter by the force of favour and bene- 
 volence.) Nor was there ever prince, that people were more 
 afraid to offend, nor for whofe fake they were more ready to 
 hazard their poffefiions lives, and fortunes. 
 
 Lefs intent upon being feared than beloved, his ftudy was to 
 make his greatnefs appear only where it was ufeful and bene- 
 ficial, and to extinguish all other fentiments, but thofe which 
 flow from gratitude and affection. He was induflrious to do 
 good upon ail occauons, to confer his favours with judgment 
 and in feafon, and to fhew, that he thought himfelf rich, 
 powerful, and happy, cnly as he made other's feniible of his 
 being fo by his benovelence and liberality. But he took care 
 not to exhauft the means by an imprudent profufion. He did 
 not * lavifti, but diftribute, his favours. He chofe rather to 
 make his liberalities the rewards of merit, than mere dona- 
 tions ; and that they ihould be fubfervient in promoting virtue, 
 and not in fupporting the loft and abject floth of vice. 
 
 He was particularly pleafed with conferring his favours upon 
 valiant men ; and governments and rewards were only be flowed 
 on thofe who had diftinguifhed themfelves by their actions. 
 He never granted any honour or dignity to favour, intrigue, 
 or faclion, but to merit only ; upon which depends not only 
 the glory but the profperity of governments. By thefe means 
 he foon made virtue eftJmable, and the purfuit of men, and 
 rendered vice contemptible and horrid. The provinces, ani- 
 
 * Habebit Cnum facilem non perforatum ex quo uita cxear.t, niiiil excidat. 
 >'c vit. beat. r. 23.
 
 Clap. II. PERS3IANS AXD GRECIAN'S. .37 
 
 mated with a noble emulation to deferve, furnifhed him in a 
 very fhort time with a confiderable immber of excellent fub- 
 jedts of every kind, who under a different government would 
 have remained unknown, obfcure, and ufclefa. 
 
 Never did any one know how to oblige with a better grace, 
 or to win the hearts of thofe who could fevve him with more 
 engaging behaviour. As he was fully fenfible that he flood 
 in need of the affiflance of others for the execution of his de- 
 figns, he thought juflice and gratitude required that he ihould 
 render his adherents all the fervices in his power. All the 
 prefents made him, whether of fplendid arms, or rich appa- 
 rel, be diflributed among his friends, according to their fe- 
 veral tafles or occafions : and ufed to fay, that the brightefl 
 ornament and mofl exalted riches of a prince, confided in 
 adorning and inriching thofe who ferved him well. In efFccl:, 
 fays Xenophon, to do good to one's friends, and to excel them 
 in liberality, does not feem fo admirable in fo high a fortune ; 
 but to tranfcend them in goodnefs of heart and fentiments of 
 friendftiip and affection, and to take more pleafure in confer- 
 ring than receiving obligations : in this I find Cyrus truly 
 worthy of efteem and admiration. The firfl of thefe advan- 
 tages he derives from his rank ; the other from himfelf, and 
 his intrinfic merit. 
 
 By thefe extraordinary qualities he acquired the univerfal 
 efteem and affeclion as well of the Greeks as Barbarians. A 
 great proof of what Xenophon here fays, is, that none ever 
 quitted the fervice of Cyrus for the king's ; whereas great 
 numbers went over every day to him from the king's party 
 after the war was declared, and even of fuch as had moil cre- 
 dit at the court ; becaufe they were all convinced that Cyrus 
 knew befl how to diflinguifh and reward their fervices. 
 
 It is mofl certain that young Cyrus did not want great vir- 
 tues, and a fuperior merit ; but. I am furprifed that Xenophon, 
 in drawing his character, has defcribed only the mofl beauti- 
 ful features, and fuch as are proper to excite our admiration 
 of him, without faying the leafl word of his defects, and 
 fefpecially of that immoderate ambition that was the foul of all 
 
 Ciij
 
 58 HISTORY OF THE sok IX, 
 
 his actions, and which at length put arms into his hands againll 
 his elder brother and king. Is it allowable in an hiftorian, 
 whofe chief duty it is to paint virtue and vice in their proper 
 colours, to relate at large an enterprise of fuch a nature, with- 
 out intimating the leafl diflike or imputation againil it ? But 
 with the Pagans, ambition was fo far from being confidered, 
 as a vice, that it. ofcen pafTed for a virtue. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 "Tlje KING it for compelling tie GREEKS to deliver up their .- 
 
 -I HE Greeks *, having learned, the day after the battle, that 
 Cyrus was dead, fent deputies to Ariaeus, the general of the 
 Barbarians, who had retired with his troops to the place from 
 whence they had marched the day before the a&ion, to offer 
 him, as victors, the crown of Perfia in the room of Cyrus. At 
 the fame time arrived Perfian heralds at arms from the king, 
 to fummon them to deliver up their arms ; to whom they an- 
 fwered with an haughty air, that they talked a ilrange lan- 
 guage to conquerors ; that if the king would have their arms, 
 he might come and take them if he could ; but that they 
 would die before they would part with them : That if he would 
 receive them into the number of his allies, they would ferve 
 him with fidelity and valour ; * but if he imagined to reduce 
 them into flavery as conquered, he might know they had 
 wherewithal to defend themfelves, and were determined to 
 lofe their lives and liberty together. The heralds added, that 
 they had orders to tell them, that if they continued in the 
 place where they were, they would be allowed a fufpenfion of 
 arms ; but if they advanced or retired, that they would be 
 treated as enemies. The Greeks agreed, and were niked by 
 the heralds what anfwer they mould report. Peace in conti- 
 nuing here, or war in marching, replied Clearchus, without 
 explaining himfelf further ; from the view of keeping the 
 king always in fufpenfe and uncertainty. 
 
 ' Xenoph. in exped. Cyr. 1. ii. p. 372 292. Diod. 1, xiv. p. 255 257. 
 
 * Sin ut viftis fcrvitium indiceretur, cfle fibi ferrum et juventutcm, et promptum 
 Hbertati aut ad mortem animum. Tacit, annal. 1. iv. c. 46.
 
 C.*uap. IL PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 39 
 
 The anfwer of Ariaeus to the Grecian deputies was, that 
 there were many Perfians more connderable than himfelf, who 
 would not fuffer him upon the throne, arid that he fhould fet 
 out early the next day to return into Ionia ; that if they would 
 march thither with him, they might join him in the night. 
 Clearchus, with the advice of the officers, prepared to depart. 
 He commanded from thenceforth, as being the fole perfon of 
 fufficient capacity ; for he had not been actually elected gene- 
 ral in chief. 
 
 The fame night, Milthocytes the Thracian, who commanded 
 forty horfe, and about three hundred foot of his own country, 
 went and furrendered himfelf to the king ; the reft of the 
 Greeks began their march under the conduct of Clearchus, 
 und arrived about midnight at the camp of Ariaeus. After 
 they had drawn up in battle, the principal officers went to wait 
 on him in his -tent, where they fwore alliance with him ; and 
 the Barbarian engaged to conduct the army without fraud. In 
 confirmation of the treaty, they facritlced a wolf, a ram, a boar, 
 and a bull ; the Greeks dipped their fwords, and the Barbari- 
 ans the points of their javelins, in the blood of the victims. 
 
 Ariaeus did not think it proper to return by the fame rout 
 they came ; becaufe, having found nothing for their fubfiftence 
 the lad feventeen days of their march, they imift have fuffered 
 much more had they taken the fame way back again. He 
 therefore took another ; exhorting them only to make long 
 marches at firft, in order to evade the king's purfuit ; which 
 they could not effect. Towards the evening, when they were 
 not far from fome villages where they propofed to halt, the 
 fcouts came in with advice, that they had feen feveral equi- 
 pages and convoys, which made it reafonable to judge that 
 the enemy were not far off: upon which they flood their 
 ground, and waited their coming up ; and the next day, be- 
 fore fun-rifing, drew up in the fame order as in the preceding 
 battle. So bold an appearance terrified the king, who fent he- 
 ralds, not to demand, as before, the furrender of their arms, 
 but to propofe peace and a treaty. Clearchus, who was in- 
 formed of their arrival, while he was bufy in drawing up his 
 
 C iiij
 
 40 HISTORY OF THE ^ Book IX r 
 
 troops, gave orders to bid them wait, and to tell them that he 
 was not yet at leifure to hear them. He affamed purpofelj 
 an air of haughtinefs and grandeur, to denote his intrepidity, 
 and at the fame time to mew the fine appearance and good 
 condition of his phalanx. When he advanced with the moft 
 fhewy of his officers, exprefsly chofen for the occafion, and 
 had heard what the heralds had to propofe ; he made anfwer, 
 that they mufl begin with giving battle, becaufe the army, be- 
 ing in ( want of provifions, had no time to lofe. The heralds 
 having carried back this anfwer to their mafter, returned im- 
 mediately ; which mewed, that the king, or whoever fpoke in 
 his name, was not very diftant. They faid they had orders 
 to conduct them to villages, where they would find provifions 
 in abundance, and conducted them thither accordingly. 
 
 The army ilaid there three days, during which TifTapher- 
 nes arrived from the king, with the queen's brother and three 
 other Perfian grandees, attended by a great number of officers 
 and domeftics. After having fainted the generals, who ad- 
 vanced to receive him, he told them by his interpreter, that 
 being a neighbour of Greece, and feeing them engaged in dan- 
 gers, out of which it would be difficult to extricate themfelves, 
 he had ufcd his good offices with the kidjg, to obtain permif- 
 fion to re-conducl: them into their own country ; being con- 
 vinced, that neither themfelves nor their cities would ever 
 be unmindful of that favour : That the king, without having 
 declared himfelf pofitively upon that head, had commanded 
 him to come to them, to know for what caufe they had taken 
 arms againft him ; and he advifed them to make the kingfuch 
 an anfwer as might not give any offence, and might enable 
 him to do them fervice. " We call the gods to witnefs," re- 
 plied Clearchus, " that we did not lift ourfelves to make war 
 " with the king, or to march againft him. Cyrus, conceal- 
 *' ing his true motives under different pretexts, brought us 
 ' almoft hither without explaining himfelf, the better to fur- 
 " prife you. .And when we faw him furrounded with dan- 
 " gets, we thought it infamous to abandon him, after the 
 " favours we had received from him. But as he is dead, we
 
 Chap. IL PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 4* 
 
 44 are releafed from our engagement, and neither defire to 
 " conteft the crown with Artaxerxes, nor to ravage his coun- 
 " try, provided be does not oppofe our return. However, 
 " if we are attacked, we fliall endeavour, with the affiftance 
 " of die gods, to make a good defence ; and fhall not be un- 
 " grateful in regard to thofe who render us any fervice.'* 
 Tifiaphernes replied, that he would let the king know what 
 they faid, and return with his anfwer. But his not coming 
 the next day gave the Greeks fome anxiety : He however ar- 
 rived on the third, and told them, that after much contra- 
 verfy, he had at length obtained the king's grace for them : 
 For, that it had been reprefented to the king, that he ought 
 not to fuffer people to return with impunity into their coun- 
 try, who had been fo infolent as to come thither to make war 
 upon him. " In fine," faid he, " you may now affureyour- 
 " felves of not finding any obilacle to your return, and of 
 " -being fupplied with provifions, or fuffered to buy them; 
 44 and you may judge that you are to pafs without commit- 
 " ting any diforders in your march, and that you are to take 
 " only what is neceflary, provided you are not furnifhed 
 " with it." Thefe conditions were fwom to on both fides. 
 Tiflaphernes and the queen's brother gave their hands to the 
 colonels and captains, in token of amity. After which Tifla- 
 phernes withdrew, to difpofe his affairs ; promifing to return 
 as foon as they would admit, in order to go back with them 
 into his government. 
 
 The Greeks waited for him above twenty days, continuing 
 encamped near Ariaeus, who received frequent vifits from his 
 brothers and other relations, as did the officers of his army 
 from the Periians of the different party ; who allured them 
 from the king of an entire oblivion of the paft ; fo that the 
 friendfhip of Ariaeus for the Greeks appeared to cool every 
 day more and more. This change gave them caufe of unea- 
 fmefs. Several of the officers went to Clearchus and the other 
 generals, and faid to them, " What do we here any longer? 
 " Are we not fenfible that the king defires- to fee us all 
 44 periih, that others may be terrified by our example ? Per-
 
 41 . HISTORY OF TtfE. Book IX i 
 
 " haps he keeps us waiting here, till he re-affembles his dif- 
 ** perfed troops, or fends to feize the pafles in our way ; for 
 " he will never fuffer us to return into Greece, to divulge 
 *' our own glory and his fliame." Clearchus made anfvver to 
 this difcourfe, That to depart without confulting the king, 
 was to break with him, and to declare war by violating the 
 treaty; that they fhould remain without a conductor in a 
 country where nobody would fupply them with provifiouo ; 
 that Ariaeus would abandon them ; and that even their friends 
 would become their enemies ; that he did not know, but there 
 might be other rivers to pafs ; and that, though the Euphrates 
 were the only one, they could not get over it, were the paf- 
 fage ever fo little difputed : That if it were neceflary to come 
 to a battle, they fhould find themfelves without cavalry againft 
 an enemy, that had a very numerous and excellent body of 
 horfe ; fo that if they gained the vi&ory, they could make no 
 great advantage of it, and if they were overcome, they were 
 utterly and irretrievably loft. " Befides, why mould the 
 " king who has fo many other means to deflroy us, engage 
 '* his word only to violate it, and thereby render himfclf exe- 
 " crable in the fight of gods and men !*' 
 
 Tifiaphernes however arrived with his troops, in order to 
 return into his government ; and they fet forward all together 
 under the conducl of that fatrap, who fupplied them with 
 provifions. Ariaeus, with his troops, encamped with the Bar- 
 barians, and the Greeks feparately at fome diflance, which, 
 kept up a continual diilruil amongft them. Befides which 
 there happened frequent quarrels for wood or forage, that 
 augmented their averfion for each other. After three days 
 march, they arrived at the wall of Media, which is an hund- 
 red feet high, twenty broad, and twenty leagues * in extent, all 
 built of bricks, cemented with bitumen, like the walls of Ba- 
 bylon, from which it was not very diftant at one of its extre- 
 mities. When they had patted it, they marched eight leagues 
 in two days, and came to the river Tygris, after having crof- 
 fed two of its canals, cut exprefsly for watering the country, 
 
 * Twenty Parafrnga.".
 
 Chap. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 43 
 
 They then paffed the * Tygris upon a bridge of twcnty-feven 
 boats near Sitacum, a very great and populous city. After 
 four days march they arrived at another city very powerful 
 alfo, called Opis. They found there a baftard brother of 
 Artaxerxes with a very considerable body of troops^ which 
 he was bringing from Sufa and Ecbatana to his aid. He ad- 
 mired the fine order of the Greeks. From thence, having 
 paffed the deferts of Media, they came, after a march of fix 
 days, to a place called the lands of Paryfatis ; the revenues of 
 which appertained to that princefs. Tiffaphernes, to infult the 
 memory of her fon Cyrus, fo dearly beloved by her, gave the 
 villages to be plundered by the Greeks. Continuing their 
 march through the defert on the fide of the Tygris, which 
 they had on their left, they arrived at Caenae, a very great 
 and rich city, and from thence at the river Zabates. 
 
 The occafions of diftruft increafed every day between the 
 Greeks ond Barbarians. Clearchus thought it incumbent on 
 him to come to an explanation once for all with Tiffaphernes. 
 He began with obferving upon the facred and inviolable na- 
 ture of the treaties fubfifting between them. " Can a man," 
 faid he, " ccnfcious of the guilt of perjury, be capable of 
 " living at eafe ? How would he flmn the wrath of the 
 " gods, the witneffes of treaties, and efcape their vengeance, 
 " whofe power is univerfal ?" He added afterwards many 
 things to prove, that the Greeks were obliged by their own 
 interefl to continue faithful to him, and that, by renouncing 
 his alliance, they muft firfl inevitably renounce not only all 
 religion, but reafon and common fenfe. Tiffaphernes feemed 
 to relifh, this difcourfe, and fpoke to him with all the appear- 
 ance of the moft perfect fincerity j infinuating at the fame 
 time, that fome perfon had done him bad offices with him. 
 " If you will bring your offices hither," faid he, " I will fliew 
 " you thofe, who have wronged you in their reprefentations." 
 
 * The march of the Greeks and the reft f the army, from the day after the 
 battle till the paffing of the Tygris, abounds in the text of Xenophon with very 
 great obfcurities, to explain which fully, requires a long diflertation. My plan 
 does not admit me to enter into fuch difcuflloos, which I muft therefore refer to. 
 thofe who arc more able than me.
 
 44 . HISTORY OF THE Book IJC. 
 
 \ 
 
 He kept him to fupper, and profefled more friendship for him 
 than ever. 
 
 The next day, Clearchus propofed in the aflembly, to go 
 with the feveral commanders of the troops to Tiflfaphernes. 
 He fufpecled Menon in particular, whom he knew to have 
 had a fecret conference with the fatrap in the prefence of 
 Ariaeus ; befides which, they had already differed feveral 
 times with each other. Some objected, That it was not pro- 
 per that all the generals fhould go to Tiflaphernes, and that 
 it did not confift with prudence to rely implicitly upon the 
 profeffions of a Barbarian. But Clearchus continued to infift 
 upon what he had moved, till it was agreed, that the four 
 other commanders, with twenty captains, and about two hund- 
 red foldiers, under the pretext of buying provifions in the 
 Perfian camp, where there was a market, mould be fent 
 along with him. When they came to the tent of Tiflapher- 
 nes, the five commanders, Clearchus, Mcnon, Proxenes, Agias 
 and Socrates, were fuffered to enter ; but the captains remain- 
 ed without at the door. Immediately, on a certain fignal be- 
 fore agreed on, thofe within were fei:&ed, and the others put 
 to the fword. Some Perfian horfe afterwards fcoured the 
 country, and killed all the Greeks they met, whether free- 
 men or flaves. Clearchus, with the other generals, was fent 
 to the king, who ordered their heads to be ftruck off. Xeno- 
 phon defcribes with fufEcierit extent the characters of thofe 
 officers. 
 
 Clearchus was valiant, bold, intrepid, and of a capacity for 
 forming great enterprifes. His courage was not rain, but di- 
 refted by prudence, and he retained all the coolnefs of his 
 temper and prefence of mind in the mid ft of the greateft dan- 
 gers. He loved the troops, and let them want for nothing. 
 He knew how to make them obey him ; but out of fear. Kis 
 mien was awful and fevere ; his language rough ; his punilh- 
 ments inftant and rigorous : He gave way fometimes to paffion, / 
 but prefently came to himfelf, and always chaftifed with juf- 
 tice. His great maxim was, that nothing could be done in an 
 army without a fevere difcipline ; and from him caiae the fay-
 
 Clap. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 45 
 
 ing, that a ibldier ought to fear his general more than the 
 enemy. The troop 3 * eileemed his valour, and did juftice to 
 his merit ; but they were afraid of his humour, and did not 
 love to ferve under him. In a word, fays Xenophon, the 
 foldiers feared him as fcholars do a fevere pedagogue. We 
 may fay of him with Tacitus, that by an excefs of feverity, he 
 made what had otherwife been well done by him, unamiable ; 
 " a Cupidine feveritatis, ia his etiam quae rite faceret, acer- 
 " bus." 
 
 troxencs was of Boeotia. From his infancy he afpired at 
 great things, and was induftrious to make himfelf capable of 
 them. He fpared no means for the attainment of inftmclion, 
 and was the difciple of Gorgias the Leontine, a celebrated 
 rhetorician, who fold his lectures at a very high price. When 
 he found himfelf capable of commanding, and of doing good 
 to his friends, as well as of being ferved by them, he entered 
 into Cyrus's fervice with the view of advancing himfelf. He did 
 not want ambition, but would take no other path to glory 
 than that of virtue. He had been a perfect captain, had he 
 had to do with none but brave and difciplined men, and it 
 had been only neceflary to be beloved. He was more appre- 
 henfive of being in his foldiers difpleafure than his foldiers in 
 his. H^ thought it fufHcient for a commander to praife good 
 actions, without puniihing bad ones ; for which reafon, he was 
 beloved by the worthy ; but thofe of a different charactei: 
 abufcd his facility. He died at thirty years of age. 
 
 f Could the two great perfons we have here drawn, after 
 Xenophon, have been moulded into one, fomething per feel: 
 might have been made of them ; retrenching their feveral de- 
 feels, and retaining only their virtues : But it rarely happens, 
 that the fame man, % as Tacitus fays of Agricola, behaves, ac- 
 
 a Tacit. Anna!, c. Ixxv. 
 
 * Manebat admiral viri et fama ; fed odenznt. Tacit hift. 1. ii. t. 6?. 
 
 t Egregium principatus temperamentum, fi, demptis utriufque vitiis, folae 
 tutes mifcerentur. Tacit, hiftor. 1. ii. c. 5. 
 
 \ Pro variis temporibus ac ncgotiis feverus ct comis nee illi, quod eft rarif- 
 fimum, aut facilitas auctoritatem, aut feveritas amorem, deminuit. Tacit, in 
 Agrh. c. is.
 
 4<> HISTORY OF THE 
 
 cording to the exigency of times and circumftances, fome- 
 times with gentlenefs, and fometimes with fe verity, without 
 leffening his authority by the former, or the people's affec- 
 tion by the latter. 
 
 Menon was a Theffalian, avaritious and ambitious, but am- 
 bitious only from the motive of avarice, purfuing honour and 
 eltimation for the mere lucre of money. He courted the 
 friendihip of the great, and of perfons in authority, that he 
 might have it in his power to commit injuflice and opprefllon 
 with impunity. To obtain his ends, all means with him were 
 virtue ; falfehood, fraud, perjury ; whilfl fincerity and integri- 
 ty of heart, ftood in his fcheme for weaknefs and uupidity. 
 He loved nobody ; and if he profefled friendfhip, it was only 
 to deceive. As others made their glory confift in religion, 
 probity and honour, he valued himfelf upon injuflice, deceit, 
 and treachery.- He gained the favour of the great by falfe re- 
 ports, whifpering and calumny ; and that of the foldiery by 
 licence and impunity. In fine, he endeavoured to render 
 himfelf terrible by the mifchief it was in his power to do, and 
 imagined he favoured thofe to whom he did none. 
 
 It was in my thoughts to have retrenched thefe characters, 
 which interrupt the thread of the hiftory. But as they are a 
 lively image of the manners of men, which in all times are 
 the fame, I thought retaining them would neither be ufelefs 
 nor difagreeable to the reader. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 RETREAT of tie TEN THOUSAND GREEKS from tie PROVINCE 
 of BABTLON to TREBISOND. 
 
 1 HE generals of the Greeks having been feized b , and the of- 
 ficers who attended them maflacred, the troops were in the 
 higheft confirmation. They were five or fix hundred leagues 
 from Greece, furrounded with great rivers and enemy nations, 
 without any fupplies of provifions. In this ftate of general 
 dejedlion, they could not think of taking either nourimment 
 or repofe. In the middle of the night, Xenophon, a young 
 fc Xenoph. in eipcd. Cyr. 1. iii. ct iv.
 
 I- PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 47 
 
 Athenian, but of prudence and capacity fuperior to his years, 
 went to fom= of the officers, and reprefented to them, that 
 they had no time to lofe : that it was of the laft importance to 
 prevent the bad dcligns of the enemy ; that, however fmall 
 their number, they would render themfelves formidable, if 
 they behaved with boldnefs and refolution ; that valour and 
 not multitude determines the fuccefs of arms ; and that it was 
 neceffary above all things to nominate generals immediately ; 
 bec^ufe an army without commanders is like a body without a 
 foul. A council was immediately held, at which an hundred 
 officers were prefent, and Xenophon being defired to fpeak, 
 deduced the reafons at large he had at firft but lightly touch- 
 ed upon ; and upon his advice commanders were appointed. 
 They were, Tim anon for Clearchus, Xan thicks for Socrates, 
 Cleanor for Agias, Philefius for Menon, and Xenophon for 
 Proxenes. 
 
 Before die break of day, they aflembled the army. The 
 generals made fpeeches to animate the troops, and Xenophon 
 amongft the reft. " Fellow foldiers," faid he, " the lofs of 
 " fo many brave men by vile treachery, and the being aban- 
 ** doned by our friends, is very deplorable : But we muft not 
 " fink under our misfortunes ; and if we cannot conquer, let 
 " us choofe rather to perifh glorioufiy, than to fall into the 
 " hands of Barbarians, who would inflict upon us the greateft 
 " miferies. Let us call to mind the glorious battles of Pla- 
 " taea, Thermopylae, Salamin, and the many others wherein 
 " our ar.ceftcrs, though with a fmall number, have fought and 
 " defeated the innumerable armies pf the Perfians, and there- 
 " bv rendered the name alone of Greek for ever formidable. 
 " It is to their invincible valour we owe the honour we pofiefs, 
 " of acknowledging no mailers upon earth but the gods, nor 
 " any happinefs but what coniifls with liberty. Thofe gods, 
 " the avengers of perjury, and witneffes of the enemy's trea- 
 " fon, will be favourable to us ; and as they are attacked in the 
 ** violation of treaties, and take pleafure in humbling the proud 
 " and exalting the low, they will alfo follow us to battle, and 
 " combat .for us. For the reft, fellow foldiers, as we have no
 
 4$ HISTORY OF THE jBoo& IX. 
 
 ** refuge but In viclor y, which muft be our hope, and will make 
 ** us ample amends for whatever it cofts to attain it ; I mould 
 *' believe, if it were jour opinion, that for the making a more 
 ** ready and lefs difficult retreat, it would be very proper to 
 '* rid ourfelves of all the ufelefs baggage, and to keep only 
 " what is absolutely necefiary in our march." All the foldiers 
 that moment lifted up their hands, to ngnify their approba- 
 tion and confent to all that had been faid, and without lofs of 
 time fet fire to their tents and carriages ; fuch of them as had 
 too much equipage giving it to others who had too little, and 
 deftroying the reft. 
 
 It was refolved to march the army without tumult or vio- 
 lence, if their return was not oppofed ; but otherwife to onen 
 themfeives a pafiage fword in hand through the enemy. They 
 began their march in the form of a great hollow fquare with 
 the baggage in the center. Chirifophus the Lacedaemonian 
 had the vanguard ; two of the oldeft captains the right and 
 left ; and Timaiion with Xenephon were pofted in the rear, as 
 the youngeft officers. The firil day was rude ; becaufe, having 
 neither horfe nor {lingers, they were extremely ha raffed by a 
 detachment fent againfl them : But they provided againft that 
 inconvenience by following Xencphon's advice. They chofe 
 two hundred men out of the Rhodians in the army, whom 
 they armed with flings, and augmented their pay for their en- 
 couragement. They could throw as far again as the Periians, 
 becaufe they difcharged balls of lead, and the others made 
 life of large flints. They mounted alfo a fquadron of fifty men 
 upon the horfes intended for the baggage, and fupplied their 
 places with other beails of burden. By tine means of this 
 fupply, a fecond detachment of the enemy -were very feverely 
 handled. 
 
 After fome days march, Tiffaphernes appeared with ail his 
 forces. He contented himfelf with harafSng the Greeks, 
 who moved en continually. The latter obferving the difficulty 
 of retreating in an hollow fquare in the face of the enemy, from 
 the unevennefs of ground,' hedges, and other obftacles, which 
 might oblige them to break it, changed their order of bat fie,
 
 Chap; II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 49" 
 
 and marched in two columns, with the little baggage they had 
 in the fpace between them. They formed a body oi referve 
 of fix hundred chofen men, whom they divided into fix com- 
 panies, and fub-divided by fifties and tens, to facilitate their 
 motions according to occafion. When the columns came clofc 
 to each other, they either remained in the rear, or filed off 
 upon the flanks on both fides, to avoid diforder ; and when 
 they opened, they fell into the void fpace in the rear between 
 the two columns. Upon any occafion of attack, thay imme- 
 diately ran where it was neceflary. The Greeks flood feveral 
 charges ; but they were neither confiderable, nor attended with 
 much lofs. 
 
 They arrived at the river Tygris. As its depth would not 
 admit them to repafs it without boats, they were obliged to crofs 
 the Carducian mountains ; becaufe there was no other way, and 
 the prifoners reported, that from thence they would enter Ar- 
 menia, where they might pafs the Tygris at its fource, and af- 
 terwards the Euphrates, -not very diftant from it, To gain 
 thofe defiles before the enemy could feize them, it was thought 
 proper to fet forwards in the night, in order to artive at the 
 foot of the mountains by the break of day ; which was done 
 accordingly. Chirifophus continued at the head of the ad- 
 vanced guard, with the troops armed with miffive weapons, 
 befides his ordinary corps ; and Xencphon in the rear, with 
 only the heavy-armed foldiers, becaufe at that- time there was 
 nothing to fear on that fide. The inhabitants of the country 
 had taken poflefiion of feveral of the heights, from whence it 
 was necefiary to drive them, which could not be done without 
 great danger and difficulty. - 
 
 The officers having held a council of war, were of opinion, 
 that it was proper to leave behind them all the beads of bur- 
 den not abfdlutely neceflary, with all the fiaves lately taken ; 
 becaufe both the one and the other would retard their march 
 too much in the great defiles they had to pafs ; befides which, 
 it required a greater quantity of provifions to fupport them, 
 and thofe who had the care of the beails were ufelefs in fight. 
 That regulation was executed without delay ; and they con* 
 
 Volume IF', D
 
 5<> HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 tinued their march, fometimes fighting, and fometimes halt- 
 ing. The paffing of the monntains, which took up feven days, 
 fatigued the troops exceedingly, and occafioned fome lofs ; but 
 at length they arrived at villages, where they found provifi- 
 ons in abundance, and' refted fome days, to recover the fevere 
 fatigues the army had fuffered ; in comparifon with which all 
 they had undergone in Perfia was trivial. 
 
 They found themfelves foon after expofed to new danger. 
 Almoil at the foot of the mountains, they came to a river, two 
 hundred feet in breadth, called Centrites, which flopped their 
 march. They had to defend themfelves againft the enemy, 
 who purfued them in the rear, and the Armenians, the foldiers 
 of the country, who defended the oppofite fide of the river. 
 They attempted in vain to pafs it in a place where the water 
 came up to their arm-pits, and xvere carried away by the rapi- 
 dity of the current, againft which the weight of their arms 
 made them unable to refift. By good fortune they difcovered 
 another place not fo deep, where the foldiers had feen the 
 people of the country pafs. It required abundance of addrefs, 
 diligence, and valour, to keep off the enemy on both fides of 
 them. The army however pafled the river at length without 
 much lofs: 
 
 They marched afterwards with lefs interruption ; pafled the 
 fource of the Tygris, and arrived at the little river Teleboa, 
 which is very beautiful, and has many villages- on its banks. 
 Here began the weftern Armenia, which was governed by 
 Tiribafus, a fatrap much beloved by the king, and had the 
 honour to help him to * mount on horfeback when at the 
 court : He offered to let the army pafs, and to fuffer the fol- 
 diers to take all they wanted", upon condition, that they fhould 
 commit no ravages in their march ; which propofal was ac- 
 cepted and ratified on each fide. Tiribafus kept always a fly- 
 ing camp at a fmall diftance from the army. There fell a 
 great quantity of fnow, which gave the troops fome incon- 
 venience ; and they learned from a prifoner, that Tiribafus had 
 a defign to attack the Greeks at a pafs of the mountains, in a 
 
 * The French tranflator of Xenophon fays, " He held the king's ftirrup when 
 " he got oa herfeback/' without coafiderinj, that the ancients ufed none.
 
 I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 5! 
 
 defile through which they muft neceflarily march. They pre- 
 vented him by feiz.ng that poft, after having put the enemy to 
 flight. After fome days march through deferts, they paffed 
 the Euphrates near its fource, not having the water above their 
 middles. 
 
 They fuflered exceedingly afterwards from a north wind, 
 which blew in their faces, and prevented refpiration ; fo that 
 it was thought neceffary. to facrifice to the wind, upon which 
 it feemed to abate. They marched on in fno*vV five or fix feet 
 deep, which killed feveral fervants and beafts of burden, be- 
 fides thirty foldiers. They made fires during the night, for 
 they found plenty of wood. All the next day, they continued 
 their march through the fnow ; when many of them, from the 
 excefs of hunger, followed with languor or fainting, continued 
 lying upon the ground, through weaknefs and want of fpirits. 
 When fomething had been given them to eat, they found 
 themfelves relieved, and continued their march. 
 
 They enemy flill purfued them ; of whom many, overtaken 
 by the night, remained on the way without fire or provifions, 
 fo that feveral died of their hardihips, and the enemy who fol- 
 lowed them took fome baggage. Some foldiers were alfo left 
 behind, that had loft their fight, and others their toes, by the 
 fnow. Againft the firft evil it was good to wear fomething 
 black before the eyes ; and againft the other, to keep the legs 
 always in motion, and to bare the feet at night. Arriving in. 
 a more commodious place, they difperfed themfelves into the 
 neighbouring villages, to recover and repofe after their fatigues. 
 The houfes were built under-ground, with an opening at top, 
 like a well, through which the defcent was by a ladder ; but 
 there was another entrance for cattle. They found there, fheep, 
 cows, goats, poultry ; with wheat, barley, and pulfe ; and for 
 drink, there was beer, which was very ftrong, when not 
 mingled with water, but was agreeable to thofe who were ufed 
 to it. They drank this with a reed out of the vefTels that 
 held the beer, upon which they faw the barley fwim. The 
 matter of the houfe where Xenophon lay, received him very 
 kindly, snd even fljewed him where he had concealed fome 
 
 Dij
 
 51 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 wine ; befides which he made him a prefent of feveral horfes. 
 He taught him alfo to faften a kind of hurdles to their feet, 
 and to do the fame to the other beafts of burden, to prevent 
 their finking in the fnow ; without which they would have been 
 up to the girth in it at every Hep. The army, after having 
 refted feven days in thefe villages, refumed their rout. 
 
 After a march of feven days, they arrived at the river Arax- 
 es, called alfo the Phafus, which is about an hundred feet in 
 bieadth. Two days after, they difcovered the Phafians, the 
 C a bes, and the Taochians, who kept the pafs of the moun- 
 tains, to prevent their defcending into the plain. They faw 
 it was impoffible to avoid coming to a battle with them, and 
 refolved to give it the fame day. Xenophon, who had obferv- 
 ed that the enemy defended only the ordinary paffage, and 
 that the mouatain was three leagues in extent, propofed the 
 fending of a detachment to take poffefiion of the heights 
 that commanded the enemy j which would not be difEcuL, as 
 they might prevent all fufpicion of their defign by a march in 
 the night, and by making a falfe attack by the main road, to 
 amufe the Barbarians. This was accordingly executed, the 
 enemy put to flight, and the pafs cleared. 
 
 They croffed the country of the Chalybes, who are the moft 
 valiant of all the Barbarians in thofe parts. When they killed 
 an enemy, they cut off his head, and carried it about in tri- 
 umph, fmging and dancing. They kept themfelves clofe {hut 
 up in their cities ; and when the army marched, fell fuddenly 
 upon the rear, after having carried every thing of value in the 
 country into places of fafety. After twelve or fifteen days 
 march, they arrived at a very high mountain, called Tecqua, 
 from whence they defcried the fea. The firft, who perceived 
 it, raifed great fhouts of joy for a confiderable time ; which 
 made Xenophon imagine, that the van- guard was attacked, 
 and go up with all hafle to fupport it. As he approached nearer, 
 tin cry of " the fea ! the fea !" was heard diftinctly, and the 
 alarm changed into joy and gaiety ; and when they came to 
 the top, nothing was heard but a confufed noife of the whole 
 army, crying out together, " the fea 1 die fea !" whilfl they
 
 Clap. II- PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 53 
 
 could not refrain from tears, nor from embracing their generals 
 and officers. And then, without waiting for orders, they heap- 
 ed up a pile of ftones, and creeled a trophy with broken buck- 
 lers and other arms. 
 
 From thence they advanced to the mountains of Colchis, 
 one of which was higher than the reft ; and of that the people 
 of the country had pofiefled themfelves. The Greeks drew 
 up in battle at the bottom of it to afcend, for the accefs was 
 not impra&icable. Xenophon did not judge it proper to march 
 in line of battle, but by files ; becaufe the foldiers could not 
 keep their ranks, from the inequality of the ground, that in 
 fome places was eafy, and in others difficult to climb, which 
 might difcourage them. That advice was approved, and the 
 army formed according to it. The heavy-armed troops amount- 
 ed to fourfcore files, each confiding of about an hundred men, 
 with eighteen hundred light-armed foldiers, divided in three 
 bodies, one of which was pofted on the right, another on the 
 left, and a third in the centre. After having encouraged his 
 troops, by reprefenting to them, that this was the lafl obftacle 
 they had to furmount, and implored the affiftance of the gods, 
 the army began to afcend the hill. The enemy were not able 
 to fupport their charge, and difperfed. They pafled the moun- 
 tain, and incamped in villages, where they found provifions in 
 abundance. 
 
 A very ilrange accident happened there to the army, which 
 put them into great confternation. For the foldiers finding 
 abundance of bee- hives in that place, and eating the honey, 
 they were taken with violent vomitings and fluxes, attended 
 with raving fits ; fo that thofe who were lead ill, feemed like 
 drunken _men, and the reft, either furioufiy mad, or dying 
 The earth was ftrewed with their bodies as after a defeat ; 
 however, none of them died, and the diftemper ceafed the next 
 day about the fame hour it had taken them. The third or 
 fourth day the foldiers got up, but in the condition people are 
 ufter having taken a violent medicine. 
 
 Two days after, the army arrived near Treblfond, a Greek 
 Colony of Sinopians, fituated upon the Euxine or Black fea, ip, 
 
 Diij
 
 54 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 the province of Colchis. Here they laj encamped for thirty 
 days, and acquitted themfelves of the vows they "had made to 
 Jupiter, Hercules, and the other deities, to obtain an happy 
 return into their own country. They alfo celebrated the 
 games of the horfe and foot races, wreftling, boxing, the 
 pancratium ; the whole attended with the greatefl joy and 
 folemnity. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 The GREEKS arrive upon tie SEA COASToppoJitc toBTZAX-TIl'M. 
 
 XENOPHON joins TXIMBRON. 
 
 XXFTZR having offered facrifices to the feveral divinities, and 
 celebrated the games, they deliberated upon the proper mea- 
 fures for their return into Greece c . They concluded upon go- 
 ing thither by fea ; and for that purpofe Chirifophus offered 
 to go to Anaxibius, the admiral of Sparta, who was his friend, 
 to obtain (hips of him. He fet out directly ; and Xenophon 
 regulated the order it was neceflary to obferve, and the pre- 
 cautions to be taken for the fecurity of the camp, proviiions, 
 and forage. He believed it alfo proper to make fare of fome 
 betides thofe that were expected, and made feme ex- 
 peditions againft the neighbouring people. 
 
 As Chirifophus did not return fo foon as was expected, and 
 proviiions began to be wanting, it was refolved to proceed by 
 land ; becaufe there was not a fufncient number of fhips to 
 tranfport the whole army, and thofe which the precaution of 
 Xenophon had procured, were allotted to carry the women, 
 the old and fick men, with all the unneceflary baggage. The 
 army continued its march, and lay ten days at * Cerafus, where 
 there was a general review of the troops, who were, found to 
 amount to eight thoufand fix hundred men, out of about ten 
 thoufand ; the reft having died in the retreat, of their wounds, 
 fatigues, or difeafes. 
 
 In the fmall time the Greeks continued in thefe parts, feve- 
 
 c Xenoph 1. iii. 
 
 * The city of Cerafus became famous for the cherry-trees, which Lucullus firft 
 brought into Italy, and \rhich from thence have been difperfed aU over thn 
 weftern world.
 
 Clap. 11. 'PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 55 
 
 ral divifions arofe, as well with the inhabitants of the country 
 as with fome of the officers, who were jealous of Xenophdn's 
 authoritj, and endeavoured to render him odious to the army. 
 But his wifdom and moderation put a ftop to thofe diforders ; 
 having made the foldiers fenfible that their fafety depended 
 upon preferving union and a good underftanding amongft 
 themfelves, and obedience to their generals. 
 
 From Cerafus they went to Cotyora, which is not very re- 
 mote from it. They there deliberated again upon the proper 
 meafures for their return. The inhabitants of the country re- 
 prefented the almoft infuperable difficulties of going by land, 
 from the defiles and rivers they had to pafs, and offered to 
 fupply the Greeks with ftiips. This feemed the beft expedient ; 
 and the army embarked accordingly. They arrived the next 
 day at Sinope, a city of Paphlagonia, and a colony of the Mi- 
 lefians. Chirifophus repaired thither with gallies, but with- 
 out money, though the troops expe&ed to receive fome. He 
 allured them that the army fliould be paid, as foon as they 
 were out of the Euxine fea ; and that their retreat was univer- 
 fally celebrated, and the fubjecl of the difcourfe and admira- 
 tion of all Greece. 
 
 The foldiers, finding themfelves near enough to Greece, de.- 
 fired to make fome booty before they arrived there, and with 
 that view refolved to nominate a general with full authority ; 
 whereas, till then, all affairs were determined in the council 
 of war by the plurality of voices. They caft their eyes upon 
 Xenophon, and caufed him to -be defired to accept that office. 
 He was not infenfible of the honour of commanding in chief ; 
 but he forefaw the consequences, and defired time to confider. 
 After having exprefied .the higheft fenfe of gratitude for an 
 offer fo much to his honour, he reprefented, that, to avoid 
 jealoufy and divifion, the fuccefs of affairs, and the intereft of 
 the army, feemed to require that they mould choofe a Lace- 
 daemonian for their general ; the Spartan Hate at that time 
 actually ruling Greece, and, in confideration of that choice, 
 would be difpofed to fupport them. This reafon was not re- 
 Efhed; and they objected to it, that they were far from in- 
 
 D iiij
 
 5" . HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 tending a fervile dependence upon Sparta, or to fubmit to re- 
 gulate their enterprifes by the plcafure or diflike of that ftate ; 
 and prefied him again to accept the command. He was then 
 obliged to explain himfelf fincerely, and without evafion ; and 
 declared, that having confulted the gods by facrifice, upon 
 the offer they made him, they had manifefled their will by 
 evident figns, from whence it appeared that they did not ap- 
 prove their choice. It was furpriimg to fee the impreffion 
 which the fole mention of the gods made upon the foldiers, 
 other wife very warm and tenacious ; and who befides are 
 commonly little affeded with the motives of religion. Their 
 great ardour abated immediately ; and, without making any 
 reply, they proceeded to elet Chirifophus, though a Lace- 
 daemonian, for their general. 
 
 His authority was of no long continuance. Difcord, as 
 Xenophon had forefeen, arofe amongfl the troops, who were 
 angry that their general prevented their plundering the Grecian 
 cities, by which they pafled. This diilurbance was princi- 
 pally excited by the Peloponnefians, who compofed one half 
 of the army, and could not fee Xenophon an Athenian in 
 authority without pain. Different meafures were propofed ; 
 but nothing being concluded, the troops divided themfelves 
 into three bodies, of which the Achaians and Arcadians, that 
 is, t-e Pclopcnnefians, were the principal, amounting to four 
 thoufvind five hundred heavy armed foot, with Lycon and Cal- 
 limachus for their generals. Chirifophus commanded another 
 party of about fourteen hundred men, beudcs fevcn hundred 
 light armed infantry. Xenophon had the third, almofl the 
 fame in number, of which three hundred were light armed 
 foldiers, with about forty horfe, which were all the cavalry cf 
 the army. The firfl having obtained iliips from the people of 
 * Heracba, to whom they had fent to demand them, fct out 
 before the reft to make fome booty, and made a defcent in the 
 port of Calpe. Chirifophus, who was fick, marched by land ; 
 but without quitting the ccaft. Xenophon landed at Heraclea, 
 and entered into the her.rt of the country. 
 
 New divifions arofe. The imprudence of the troops and 
 * A city of Pontiif.
 
 Clap. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 57 
 
 their leaders had involved them in ill meafures, not without 
 lofs ; from whence the addrefs of X'enophon extricated them 
 more than once. Being all re-united again, after various fuc- 
 cefs, they arrived by land at Chryfopolis in Caledonia, facing 
 Byzantium, whither they repaired fome days after, having puf- 
 fed the fmall arm of the fea which feparates the two conti- 
 nents. They were upon the point of plundering that rich and 
 powerful city, to revenge a fraud and injury which had been 
 done them, and from the hope of enriching themfelves once 
 for all ; when Xenophon made all pofiible hafte thither. He 
 admitted the juftnefs of their revenge ; but he made them fen- 
 iible of the fatal confequences which would attend it. " Af- 
 " ter your plundering this city, and destroying the Lacedae- 
 " monians eftabliftied in it, you will be deemed the mortal 
 " enemies of their republic, and of all their allies. Athens, 
 " my country, that had four hundred gallies at fea and in the 
 " arfenals, when it took up arms againft them, great fums of 
 *' money in its treafury, a revenue of a thoufand talents, and 
 " was in poffeffion of all the ifles of Greece, and of many 
 " cities in Europe and Afia, of which this was one, has never- 
 " thelefs been reduced to yield to their power, and fubmit to 
 " their fway. And do you hope, who are but an handful of 
 " men, without generals, provilions, allies,' or any refource, 
 " either from TuTaphernes, who has betrayed you, or the 
 ** king of Perfia, whom you have attempted to dethrone ; can 
 *' you hope, I fay, in fuch a condition, to make head againft 
 " the Lacedaemonians ? Let us demand faiisfac~lion from the 
 " Byzantines, and not avenge their fault by a much greater 
 " of our own, which muft draw upon us inevitable ruin." 
 He was believed, and the affair accommodated. 
 
 d From thence he led them to SalmydeiTa, to ferve Seuthes 
 prince of Thrace, who had before folicited him by his envoys 
 to bring troops to his aid, in order to his re-eftablimment in 
 his father's dominions, cf which his enemies had deprived 
 him. He had made Xenophon great promifes for himfelf and 
 his trcops ; but when they had done him the fervicehe wanted, 
 he was fo far from keeping his- word, that he did not give 
 
 <t >I-noph. 1. TJi,
 
 5$ HISTORY OF TKE Sooi 7JT. 
 
 them the pay agreed upon. Xenophon reproached him ex- 
 ceedingly with this breach of. faith ; imputing his perfidy to 
 his minifter Heraclides, who thought to make his court to his 
 mailer, by faving him a fum of money, at the expence of juf- 
 tice, faith, and honefty ; qualities which ought to be dearer 
 than all others to a prince, as they contribute the moft to his 
 reputation, as well as to the fuccefs of affairs, and the fecurity 
 of a ftate. But that treacherous minifter, who looked upon 
 honour, probity, and juftice, as mere -chimeras, .and that 
 there was nothing real but the pofleflion of much money, had 
 jio thoughts, in confequence, but of enriching himfelf by any 
 jneans whatfoever, and robbed his mailer firft with impunity, 
 and all his fubjedls along with him. *' However," continued 
 Xenophon, " every wife man, especially in authority and com- 
 *' mand, ought to regard juflice, probity, and the faith of 
 ." engagements, as the moft precious treafure he can poflefs ; 
 " and as an afiured refource, and an infallible fupport in all 
 ** .the events that can happen." Heraclides was the more in 
 the wrong for acting in this manner with regard to the troops, 
 zs he was a native of Greece and not a Thracian ; but ava- 
 rice had extinguifhed all fenfe of honour in him. 
 
 Whilft the difpute between Seuthes and Xenophon was 
 wanneft, Charminus and Polynices arrived, as ambafladors 
 from Lacedaemon, and brought advice, that the republic had 
 declared war againft Tifiaphernes and Pharnabafus ; that Thim- 
 bron had already embarked with the troops, and promifed a 
 daric a month to every foldier, two to each officer, and four 
 to the colonels, who mould engage in the fervice. Xenophon 
 accepted the ofier ; and having obtained from Seuthes, by the 
 mediation of the ambafladors, part of the pay due to him, he 
 ?.vent by fea to Lampfacus with the army, which amounted at 
 that time to almoft fix thoufand men. From thence he ad- 
 vanced to Pergamos, a city in the province of Troas. Having 
 met near Parthenia, where ended the expedition of the Greeks, 
 a great nobleman returning into Perfia, he took him, his wife 
 and children, with all his equipage, and by that* means found 
 himfelf in a condition to bellow great liberalities among ft the
 
 Clap. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS." 59 
 
 foldiers, and to make them a fatisfa&ory amends for all the 
 lofles they had fuftained. Thhnbron at length arrived, who 
 took upon him the command of the troops, and having joined 
 them with his own, marched againfl ThTaphernes and Phar- 
 nabafus. 
 
 e Such was the event of Cyrus's expedition. Xenophon rec- 
 kons from the firft fetting out of that prince's army from the 
 city of Ephefus to their arrival where the battle was fought, 
 five hundred and thirty parafangas or leagues, and fonrfcore 
 and thirteen days march ; { and in their return from the place 
 of battle to Cotyora, a city upon the coaft of the Euxine 
 or Black fea, fix hundred and twenty parafangas or leagues, 
 and an hundred and twenty days march. And adding both 
 together, he fays, the way, going and coming, was eleven, 
 hundred and fifty-five * parafangas or leagues g , and two 
 hundred and fifteen days march ; and that the whole time the 
 army took to perform that journey, including the days of reft, 
 was fifteen months. 
 
 It appears by this calculation, that the army of Cyrus 
 marched daily, one day with another, almoft fix parafangas f 
 or leagues in going, and. only five in their return. It was na- 
 tural that Cyrus, who defired to furprife his brother, mould 
 ufe all poffible diligence for that purpofe. 
 
 c Xenoph. de exped. Cyr. 1. ii. p. 276. 
 
 f Ibid. 1. iii. p. 355. 8 Ibid. 1. vii. p. 427. 
 
 * I add, five, which are left out in the text, to make the total agree with tht 
 two parts. 
 
 f The parafanga is a meafure of the ways peculiar to the Perfians, and confifts 
 of three ftadia. The ftadium is the fame with the Greeks, and contains, accord- 
 ing to the moft received opinion, one hundred and twenty-five geometrical paces ; 
 twenty of which in confequence are required to the common French league. And 
 this has been my rule hitherto ; according to which the parafanga is a league and 
 a half. 
 
 I obferve here a great difficulty. In this calculation, we find the ordinary days 
 marches of Cyrus, with an army of more than an hundred thoufand men, would 
 have been one day with another nine leagues, during fo long a time ; wh.ch, ac- 
 cording to the judges in military affairs, is absolutely impoflible. This is what has 
 determined me to compute the parafanga at no more than a league. Several au- 
 thors have remarked, and indeed it is not to be doubted, that the ftadium, and all 
 the other meafures of ways of the ancients, have differed widely according te 
 time* and places, as they ftill do amongfl us.
 
 6e BISTORT OF THE Book IX. 
 
 This retreat of the ten thoufand Greeks has always pafied 
 amongft the judges in the art of war,' as I have already obferv- 
 ed, for a perfect model in its kind, and never had a parallel. 
 Indeed no enterprife could be formed with more valour and 
 bravery, nor conducted with more prudence, nor executed 
 with more fuccefa. Ten thoufand men, five or fix hundred 
 leagues from their own country, who had loft their generals 
 and beft officers, and find themfelves in the heart of the ene- 
 my's vail empire, undertake,' in the fight of a victorious and 
 numerous army, with the king at the head of them, to retire 
 through the feat of his empire, and in a manner from the 
 gates of his palace, and to rraverfe a vaft extent of unknown 
 countries, almoft all in arms againft them, without being dif- 
 mayed by the profpeft of the innumerable obftacles and dan- 
 gers to which they were every moment expofed ; pafles of 
 rivers, of mountains and defiles ; open attacks ; fecret ambuf- 
 cades from the people upon their rout ; famine almoft inevit- 
 able in vaft and defert regions ; and above all, the treachery 
 they had to fear from the troop?, who feemed to be employed 
 in efcorting them, but in reality had orders to deflroy them. 
 For Artaxerxes, who was fenfible how .much the return of thofe 
 Greeks into their country would cover him with difgrace and 
 decry the majefty of the empire in thefenfe of all nations, had 
 left nothing undone to prevent it -, and he defired their deftruc- 
 tion, fays Plutarch, more paffionately than, to conquer Cyrus 
 litmfelf, or to preferve the fovereignty of his eftates. Thofe 
 ten thoufand men, however, notwithftanding fo many obftacles, 
 carried their point, and arrived, through a thoufand dangers, 
 victorious and triumphant, in their own country. b Anthony 
 long after, when purfued by the Parthians almoft in the fame 
 country, finding himfelf in like danger, cried out in admira- 
 tion of their invincible valour, " Oh the retreat of the ten 
 " thoufand !" 
 
 And it was the good fuccefs of this famous retreat which 
 
 filled the people of Greece with contempt for Artaxerxes, by 
 
 demonftrating to them that gold, filvcr, luxury, voluptuouf- 
 
 Jiefs, and a numerous feraglio of wome.n, were the foleme- 
 
 J> Plut. in Anto. r- ! J ;
 
 Chap. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 6 1- 
 
 rit of the grsnd monarch ; but that as to the reft, his opulence 
 and all his boafted power were only pride and vain oftentation. 
 It was this prejudice, more univerfal than ever in G reece after 
 this celebrated expedition, that gave birth to thofe bold enter- 
 prifes of the Greeks, of which we fhall foon treat, that made. 
 Artaxerxes tremble upon his throne, and brought the Perfiaa 
 empire to the very brink of definition. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 CONSEQUENCES of CYRUS'S DEATH. PARTTSATIS'S CRUELTT. 
 STATIRA poifoned. 
 
 I RETURN to what paffed after the battle of Cunaxa in the 
 court of Artaxerxes '. As he believed that he killed Cyrus 
 with his own hand, and looked upon that action as the mofl 
 glorious of his life, he defired that all the world fhould think 
 the fame ; and it was wounding him in the moft tender part 
 to difpute that honour, or endeavour to divide it with him. 
 The Carian foldier, whom we mentioned before, not content- 
 ed with the great prefents the king had made him upon a 
 different pretext, perpetually declared to all that would hear 
 him, that none but himfelf had killed Cyrus, and that the 
 king did him great injuftice in depriving him of the glory due 
 to him. The prince, upon being informed of that infolence, 
 conceived a jealoufy equally bafe and cruel, and had the weak- 
 nefs to caufe him to be delivered to Paryfatis, who had fwora 
 the deftruction of all thofe that had any {hare in the death of 
 her fon. Animated by her barbarous revenge, me command- 
 ed the executioners to take that unfortunate wretch, and to 
 make him fuffer the moft exquilite tortures during ten days ; 
 then, after they had torn out his eyes, to pour melted brafs 
 into his ears, till he expired in that cruel mifery ; which 
 was accordingly executed. 
 
 Mithridates alfo having boafted in an entertainment where 
 he had heated his brain with wine, that it was he gave Cyrus 
 his mortal wound, paid very dear for that fottifh and impru- 
 dent vaaity. He was condemned to fuffer the punilhraeat of 
 i Plut, in Artsx, p. loiS JC2T.
 
 64 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 the * troughs, one of the moft cruel that was ever invented ; 
 and after having languilhed in torment during feventeen days, 
 died at laft (lowly, in exquifite mifery. 
 
 There only remained, for the final execution of her projeft, 
 and fully to fatiate her vengeance, the punifhinent of the king's 
 eunuch Mefabates, who, by his matter's order, had cut off the 
 head and hand of Cyrus. But as there was nothing to take 
 hold of in his conduft, Paryfatis laid this fnare for him. She 
 was a woman of great addrefs, had abundance of wit, and 
 excelled in playing at a certain game with dice. After the 
 war, fhe had been reconciled with the king ; played often with 
 him ; was of all his parties ; had an unbounded complaifance 
 for him ; and far from contradicting him in any thing, pre- 
 vented his defires, did not blufh at indulging his.paffions, and 
 even at fupplying him with the means of gratifying them. But 
 ihe took a fpecial care never to lofe fight of him, and to leave 
 Statira as little alone .with him as me could, defiring to gain 
 an abfolute afcendant over her fon. 
 
 One day feeing the king entirely unemployed, and with no 
 thoughts but of diverting himfelf, (he propofed playing at dice 
 with him for a thoui'and darics f , to which he really con- 
 fettled. She fuffered him -to win, and paid down the money. 
 But affe&ing regret and vexation, fhe prefled him to begin 
 again and to play with her for an eunuch. The king, who 
 fufpe&ed nothing, complied, and they agreed to except five 
 of the favourite eunuchs on each fide, that the winner fhould 
 take their choice out of the reft, and the lofer be bound t 
 deliver him. Having made thefe conditions, they fat down to 
 play. The queen was all attention to the game, and made ufe 
 of all her (kill and addrefs in it ; befides which the dice fa- 
 voured her. She won, and chofe Mefabates ; for he was not 
 one of the excepted. As foon as fhe got him into her handsy 
 before the king could have the lead fufpicion of the revenge 
 fhe meditated, fhe delivered him to the executioners, and com- 
 manded them to flea him alive, to lay him afterwards upon three 
 
 * See the defcription of this torture in the third volume of this hiAorjjv 
 f The dark was worth ten livrcs.
 
 Chap. IL PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 6$ 
 
 crofs bars *, and to ilretch his ikin at large before his eye* 
 upon two flakes prepared for that purpofe ; which was per- 
 formed accordingly. When the king knew this, he was very 
 forry for it, and violently angry with his mother. But with- 
 out giv'ng herfelf any further trouble about it, me told hint 
 with a fmile, and in a jefling way, " Really you are a great* 
 " lofer, and mull be highly in the right, to be fo much out of 
 " humour for a decrepit wretch of an eunuch, when I, who 
 " loft a thoufand good darics, and paid them down upon the 
 " fpot, do not fay a word, and am fatisfied." 
 
 All thefe cruelties feem to have been only effays and prepa- 
 rations for a greater crime Paryfatis meditated. She had retain- 
 ed at heart a violent hatred for queen Statira, which fhe had 
 fuffered to, efcape her upon many occafions. She perceived 
 plainly, that her credit with the king her fon was only the ef- 
 feft of his refped and confideration for her as his mother; 
 whereas that for Statira was founded in love and confidence, 
 the befl fecurity of credit with him. Of what is not the jea- 
 loufy of an ambitious woman capable ! She refolved to rid 
 herfelf, whatever it cofl her, of fo formidable a rivaL 
 
 For the more certain attainment of her ends, fiie feigned a 
 reconciliation with her daughter-in-law, and treated her with 
 all the exterior marks of fincere friendihip and real confidence. 
 The two queens, appearing therefore to have forgot their form- 
 fufpicions and differences, lived well together, faw one an- 
 other as before, and eat at each other's apartments. But as 
 both of them knew how much the friendmips and carefles of 
 the court were to be relied upon, efpecially amongft the wo- 
 men, they were neither of them deceived in the other ; and the 
 fame fears always fubfifting, they kept upon their guard, and 
 never eat but of the fame diflies and pieces. Could one believe 
 it poflible to deceive fo attentive and cautious a vigilance ? Pa- 
 ryfatis one day, when her daughter in law was at table with 
 her, took an extremely exquifite bird, that had been ferved 
 up, cut it in two parts, gave one half to Statira, and eat the 
 other herfelf. Statira foon after was feized with {harp pains, 
 and having quitted the table, died in the moft horrible con- 
 
 * Plutarch explains this circumflance no farther,
 
 64 HISTORI OF THE Book 1}. 
 
 vulfions, not without infpiring the king with the moft violent 
 fufpicions of his mother, of whofe cruelty and implacable and 
 revengeful fpirit he was fufficiently fenfible before He made 
 the ftri&eft inquiry into the crime. All his mother's officers 
 and domeflic's were feized and put to the queftion ; when 
 Gygis, one of Paryfatis's women and confidents, confeffed the 
 whole. She had caufed one fide of a knife to be rubbed with 
 poifon ; fo that Paryfatis, having cut the bird in two, put the 
 found part into her own mouth dire&ly, and gave Statira the 
 other that was poifoned. Gygis was put to death after the 
 manner the Perfians punifKed poifoners, which is thus : They 
 lay their heads upon a great and very broad ftone, and beat 
 upon it with another till they are entirely crufhed, and have 
 no remains of their former figure. As for Paryfatis, the king 
 contented himfelf with confining her to Babylon, where me 
 demanded to retire, and told her that he would never fet his 
 foot within it whilfl ihe was there. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE principal contents of this chapter are, the enterprifes of 
 the Lacedaemonians in Afia Minor, their defeat at Cnidos, the 
 re-eflablifhment of the walls and power of Athens, the fa- 
 mous peace of Antalcides prefcribed the Greeks by Artaxerxes 
 Mnemon, the wars of that prince againfl Evagoras king of 
 Cyprus, and the Cadufians. The perfons, who are moft con- 
 fpicuous in this interval, are Lyfander and Agefilaus on the 
 fide of the Lacedaemonians, and Conon on that of the Athe- 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 GRECIAN CITIES of IONIA implore AIT> of LACED AEMON.- 
 AGESILAUS elefted KING. His CHARACTER. 
 
 THE cities of Ionia *, that had taken party with Cyrus, appre- 
 hending the refentment of TiffapherHes, had applied to the 
 Lacedaemonians, as the deliverers of Greece, for their fup- 
 port in the poflefiion of the liberty they enjoyed, and to pre- 
 
 k Xenoph. hift. Grace. L ili. p. 479 487.
 
 . HI' PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 65 
 
 vent their country from being ravaged. We have already faid 
 that Thimbron was fent thither, to whofe troops Xenophon 
 had joined his, after their return from Perfia. l Thimbron 
 was foon recalled upon fome difcontent, and had for his fuc- 
 ceffor Dercyllidas, furnamed Sifyphus, from his induftry in 
 finding refources, and his capacity in inventing machines of 
 war. He took upon him the command of the army at Ephe- 
 fus. When he arrived there, he was apprifed that there was 
 a difference between the two fatraps, who commanded in -the 
 country. 
 
 The provinces of the Perfian monarchy,~of which feveral, 
 fituated at the extremity of the empire, required too much ap- 
 plication to be governed immediately by the prince, were con- 
 fided to the care of the great lords commonly called Satraps. 
 They had each of them in their government an almoft fove- 
 reign authority, and were, properly fpeaking, not unlike the 
 viceroys we fee in our days in fome neighbouring ftates. They 
 were fupplied with a number of troops fufficient for thu de- 
 fence of the country. They appointed all officers, difpofed of 
 the governments of cities, and were charged with levying and 
 remitting the tributes to the prince. They had power to raife 
 -troops, to treat with neighbouring flates, and even with the 
 generals of the enemy ; in a word, to do every thing neceffary 
 to the good order and tranquillity of their governments. They 
 were independent of one another ; and though they ferved 
 the fame mafler, and it was their duty to concur to the fame 
 ends, neverthelefs each being more affected with the particu- 
 lar advantage of his own province than the general good of 
 the empire, they often differed among themfelves, formed op- 
 pofite defigns, refufed aid to their colleagues in necefiity, and 
 fometimes even acted entirely againft them. The remotenefs of 
 the court, and the abfcnce of the prince, gave room for thefe 
 diiTentions ; aud perhaps a fecret policy contributed to keep 
 them up, to elude or prevent confphacies, \vhich too good 
 an omderflar.ding amcr.gil: the governors might have excited.
 
 66 HISTORY OF THE Book /Jjf. 
 
 Dercyllidas having heard therefore that Tiffaphernes and 
 Pharnabafus were at variance, made a truce with the former, 
 that he might not have them both upon his hands at the fame 
 time, entered Pharnabafus's province, and advanced as far as 
 
 Zenis the Dardanian had governed that province under 
 the fatrap's authority ; and as after his death it was to have 
 been given to another, Mania his widow went to Pharnaba- 
 fus with troops and prefents, and told him, tjhat having been 
 the wife of a man who had rendered him great fervices, flic 
 defired him not to deprive her of her hufband's reward ; that 
 flie mould ferve him with the fame zeal and fidelity ; and that 
 if flie failed in either, he was always at liberty to take her go-. 
 verment frpm her. She was continued in it by this means, 
 and acquitted herfelf with all the judgment and ability that 
 could have been ezpedled from the moil ccnfummate perfon 
 in the arts of ruling. To the ordinary tributes which her huf- 
 band had paid, ihe added prefents of an extraordinary magni- 
 ficence, and when Pharnabafus carre into her province, fhe en- 
 tertained hjm more fplendidly than any of the other governors. 
 She was not contented \vith the confervation of the cities com- 
 mitted to her care ; Ihe made new conquefts, and took * La- 
 riiTa, Amaxita, and Colona. 
 
 Hence we may obferve, that prudence, good fenfe, and cou- 
 rage, are of all'fexes. Mie was prefent in all expeditions in a 
 chariot, and in perfon decreed rewards and punifhments. None 
 of the neighbouring provinces had a finer army than her's, in 
 which me had a great uumber of Greek foldiers in her pay. 
 She even attended Pharnabafus in all hid enterprifes, and was 
 of no common fupport to him. So that the fatrap, who knew 
 all the value of fo extraordinary a merit, did more honour to 
 this lady than to all the other governors. He even admitted 
 her into his council, and treated her with fuch a diftin&ion, 
 as might have excited jealoufy, if the modefty and affability of 
 that lady had not prevented bad effects, by throwing in a man- 
 ner a veil over all her perfections, which foftened their luilre, 
 and let them only appear to be the objects of acrniratic::, 
 * From the Lydiaas and P-Ciiians.
 
 Clap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 67 
 
 She had no enemies but in her own family. Midias her 
 fon-in-law, ftung with the reproach of fuffering a woman to 
 command in his place, and abufmg the entire confidence (he 
 repofed in him, which gave him accefs to her at all times, 
 flrangled her with her fon. After her death, he feized two 
 fortreffes, wherein ihe had fecured her treafures ; the other 
 cities declared againft him. He did not long enjoy the fruits 
 of his crime. DercyUidas happily arrived at this junfture. All 
 the fortreffes of .^Eolia, either voluntarily or by force, furren- 
 dered to him ; and Midias was deprived of the poffeffions he 
 had fo unjuftly acquired. The Lacedaemonian general having 
 granted Pharnabafus a truce, took up his winter quarters in 
 Bithynia, to avoid being chargeable to his allies. 
 
 m The next year, being continued in the command, he march- 
 ed into Thrace, and arrived at the Cherfonefus. He knew 
 that the deputies of the country had been at Sparta to repre- 
 fent the neceffity of fortifying the lilhmus w r ith a good wall 
 againft the frequent incurfions of the Barbarians, which pre- 
 vented the cultivation of the lands. Having meafured the 
 fpace, which is more than a league in breadth, he diftributed 
 the work amongft the foldiers, and the wall was finifhed in 
 -the autumn of the fame year. Within this fpace were inclofed 
 eleven cities, feveral ports, a great number of arable lands and 
 plantations, with paflure of all kinds. The work being finiih- 
 ed, he returned into Afia, after having reviewed the cities, and 
 ibund them all in good condition. 
 
 n Conon the Athenian, .after lofing the battle of ^Egofpota- 
 tnos, having condemned himfclf to a voluntary baniihment, 
 continued in the ifle of Cyprus with king Evagoras, not only 
 for the fafcty of his perfon, but in expectation of a change in 
 affairs ; like one, fays Plutarch, who waits the return of the 
 tide before he embarks. He had always in view the re-efta- 
 blifhment of the Athenian power, to which his defeat had 
 given a mortal wound ; and full of fidelity and zeal for his 
 country, though little favourable to him, perpetually medjtat- 
 
 Eij 
 
 ra A. M. ;,6o6. Ant. J- C. ; /; S. Xaioph. p. ; f *2,3. 
 >' I'lut. in .V;ar ; p. icui.
 
 68 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 ed the means to raife it from its ruins, and reftore it to its 
 ancient fplendor. . 
 
 The Athenian general, knowing the fuccefs of his views, 
 had occafion for a powerful fupport, wrote to Artaxerxes to 
 explain his proje&s to him, and ordered the perfon who car- 
 ried his letter to apply himfelf to Ctefias, who would give it 
 to the king. It was accordingly delivered to that phyiician, 
 who, it is faid, though he did not approve the contents of it, 
 added to what Conon had wrote, '* that he defired the king 
 " would fend Ctefias to him, bein$ a perfon verj capable of 
 ** his fervice, efpeciallj in maritime affairs/' Pharnabafus, 
 in concert with Conon, -was gone to court to complain againfl 
 the conducl of Tiflaphernes, as too much in favour of the La- 
 cedaemonians. Upon the warm inftances of Pharnabafus, the 
 king ordered five hundred talents * to be paid him for the 
 equipment of a fleet, with in ft ructions to give Conon the 
 command -of it. He fent Ctefias into Greece, who, after hav- 
 ing vifited Cnidos, his native country, went to Sparta. 
 
 p This Ctefias was at firft in the fervice of Cyrus, whom he 
 had followed in his expedition. He was taken prifoner in the 
 battle wherein Cyrus was killed, and was made ufe of to drefs 
 the wounds Artaxerxes had received, of which he acquitted 
 himfelf fo well, that the king retained him in his fervice, and 
 made him his firft phyfician. He pafled feveral years in his 
 fervice in that quality. Whilft he was there, the Greeks, up- 
 on all their occafions at 'the court, applied themfelves to him ; 
 as Conon did on this. His long refidence in Perfia, and at 
 the court, had given him the necelTary time and means for 
 his information in the hiftory of the country, which he wrote 
 in three-and-twenty books. The firft contained the hiftory 
 of the Aflyrians and Babylonians, from Ninus and Semiramis 
 down to Cyrus. The other fevcnteen treated of the Perfian 
 affairs, fromjthe beginning of Cyrus's reign to the third year of 
 the ninety-fifth Olympiad, which agrees with the three huu- 
 
 Diod. 1. xiv. p. 167. Juftin. 1. iv. c. i. 
 
 P Strab. 1. xiv. j>. 656. Pint, in Artax. p. 1014 1017 1020. Diod 1. xiv. 
 p. 27.;. Arift. de hill, ar.im. 1. viii, c. 28. Phot. Cod. kii. 
 
 * Five hundred thou&nd crowns, or aLout L. H2,coo Sterlirg.
 
 Clap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 69 
 
 dred and ninety-eighth before JESUS CHRIST. He wrpte alfo an 
 hiftory of India. Phothius has given us feveral extracts of both 
 thefe hiflories, which are all that remain of Cteiias. He often 
 contradicts Herodotus, and differs fometimes alfo from Xeno- 
 phon. He was in no great eftimation with the ancients, who 
 fpeak of him as of a very vain man, whofe veracity is not to 
 be relied on, and who has inferted fables, and fometimes even 
 lies, in his hiftory. 
 
 q Tiflaphernes and Parnabafus, thcugh fecretly each o- 
 ther's enemies, had upon the king's orders united their troops, 
 to oppofe the enterprifes of Dercyllidas, who had marched<m- 
 to Caria. They had reduced him to poll himfelf fo difadvan- 
 tageoufly, that he muft inevitably have periilied, had they 
 charged him immediately, without giving him time to look 
 about him. Pharnabafus was of this opinion : But Tiflapher- 
 nes apprehending the valour of the Greeks, who had been of 
 Cyrus's army, which he had experienced, and to whom he 
 conceived all others refembled, propofed an interview, which 
 was accepted. Dercyllidas having demanded that the Gre- 
 cian cities {hould continue free, and Tiflaphernes, that the ar- 
 my and generals of Lacedaemon mould retire ; they made a 
 truce, till the anfwers of their refpective mafters could be 
 known. 
 
 r Whilft thefe things pafled in Alia, the Lacedaemonians re- 
 folved to chaftife the infolence of the people of Elis, who, not 
 content with having entered into an alliance with their ene- 
 mies in the Peloponnefian war, prevented their difputing the 
 prizes in the Olympic games. Upon pretence of the non- 
 payment of a fine by Sparta, they had infulted their citizens 
 during the eames, and hindered Agis from facrificing in the 
 temple of Jupiter Olympius; That king was charged with this 
 expedition, which did not terminate till the third year after. 
 He could have taken their city Olympia, which had no works, 
 but contented himfelf with plundering the fuburbs, and the 
 
 E iij 
 
 i A. M. 3607. Ant. J. C. 397. Xenoph. hid. Grace. L iii. p. 489, 490, 
 Diod. 1. xiv. p. 267. 
 r Diod, 1. xiv. p. 293.
 
 7.0 HISTORY OF THE Book IJT. 
 
 places for the exercifes, which were very fine. They demand- 
 ed peace, which was granted, and were differed to retain the 
 fuperintendency of the temple of Jupiter Olympius, to which 
 they had not ranch right, but were more worthy of that ho- 
 nour than thofe who difputed it with him. 
 
 s Agis in his return fell fick, and died upon arriving at Spar- 
 ta. Almoft divine honours were paid to his memory , and af- 
 ter the expiration of fome days, according to the cuilom, Leo- 
 tychides and Agefilaus, the one fon, and the other brother of 
 the deceafed, difputed the crown. The latter maintained 
 that his competitor was not the fon of Agis, and fupported his 
 afTertion by the confeffion of the queen herfelf, who knew beft, 
 and who had often, as well as her hufband, acknowledged as 
 much. In effect there was a current report that fhe had him 
 by Alcibiades l , as has been related in its place, and that the 
 Athenian general had corrupted her by a prefent of a * thou- 
 fand darics. Agis protefted the contrary at his death. Leo- 
 tychides having thrown himfelf at his feet all bathed in his 
 tears, he could not refufe the grace he implored of him, and 
 owned him for his fon before all that were prefent. 
 
 Moll of the Spartans, charmed with the virtue and great 
 merit of Agefilaus, and deeming it an extraordinary advantage 
 to have a perfon for their king, who had been educated amongft 
 them, and pafled like them through all the rigour of the Spar- 
 tan education, fupported him with their whole power. An 
 ancient oracle, that advifed Sparta to beware of " a lame reign," 
 was urged againft him. Lyfander only made a jefl of it, and 
 turned its fenfe againft Leotychides himfelf ; endeavouring to 
 prove, that as a baftard, he was the lame king the oracle 
 intended to caution them againft. Agefilaus, as well by his 
 own great qualities, as the powerful fupportof Lyfander, car- 
 ried it againft his nephew, and was declared king. 
 
 As by the laws, the kingdom had devolved to Agis, his 
 brother Agefilaus, who feemed to be deftined to pafs his life as 
 a private perfon, -was educated like other children in the Spar- 
 
 * Xenoph. L iii. p. 493. Plut. ia Lyf. p, 445. In Aged. p. 597. 
 
 * Athen. 1. xii. p. 534. 
 ** Ont thoufand piftoks.
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 7! 
 
 tan discipline, which was a very rough manner of life, and full of 
 laborious exercife, but * taught youth obedience perfectly well. 
 The law difpenfed with this education only to fuch children as 
 were deligned for the throne. Agefilaus therefore had this 
 in peculiar, that he did not arrive at commanding, till he had 
 firft learned perfectly well how to obey. From thence it was, 
 that of all the kings of Sparta he beft knew hew to make his 
 fubjeds love and efteem him, f becaufe that prince, to the great 
 qualities with which nature had endowed him for command- 
 ing and the fovereignty, had united by bis education the ad- 
 vantage of being humane and popular. 
 
 It is furprifing that Sparta, a city fo renowned in point of 
 education and policy, fhould conceive it proper to abate any 
 thing of its feverity and difcipline in favour of the princes who 
 were to reign ; they having moil need of being early habitu- 
 ated to the yoke of obedience, in order to their being the bet- 
 ter qualified to command. 
 
 u Plutarch obferves, that from his infancy Agefilaus was re- 
 markable for uniting qualities in himfelf, which are generally 
 incompatible ; a vivacity of fpirit, a vehemence, an invincible 
 resolution in appearance, an ardent paflion for being firft and 
 furpaffing all others, with a gentlenefs, fubmiffion and docility, 
 that complied at a fingle word, and made him infinitely fen- 
 fible of the lighteft reprimand ; fo that every thing might be 
 obtained of him from the motives of honour, but nothing by 
 fear or violence. 
 
 He was lame ; but that defecl was covered by the gracefulnefs 
 of his perfon, and ftill more by the gaiety with which he fup- 
 ported and rallied it firft himfelf. It may even be faid, that 
 the infirmity of his body fet his valour and paliion for glory in 
 a ftronger liglit; there being no labour nor enterprife, however 
 difficult, that he would refufe upon account of that inconve- 
 nience. E iiij 
 
 u In Ageffl. p. 596. 
 
 * Hence it was, that the port Simonides called Sparta, " the tamer of men," 
 IsLpturipfyvrov as that of the Grecian cities, which rendered its inhabitants by good 
 habits the rr.oft active and vigorous, and at the fame time the moft obedient to 
 the laws, of ail mankind, us (M\I?O. S<rv '&*> TV; mA/raj n~s vafttT; 
 
 f Tw fvni r,yt(Uvix,Z x*J ttti)j*a fftffKnta.^^ itVf, TJjf iytrfif ft
 
 72 HISTORY Of THE -00$ IX. 
 
 * Praife, without an air of truth and fiiiccrity, was fo far 
 from giving him pleafure, that it offended him, and was never 
 received by him as fuch, but when it came from the mouths of 
 thofe, who upon other occafions had represented his failings tcr 
 him with freedom. He would never fuffer during his life that 
 his piclure fhould be drawn, and even in dying, exprefsly for- 
 bad any image to be made of him, either -in colours or relievo. 
 y His reafon was, that his great adioas, if he had done any, 
 would fupply the place of monuments ; without which, all the 
 ft'atues in the world would'do him no manner of honour. We 
 only know that he was of fmall ftature, which the Spartans did 
 not afFeft in their kings ; and Theophraftus affirms, that the 
 Ephori laid a fine upon their king Archidamus, the father of 
 him we'fpeak of, for having efpoufed a very little woman : 
 " *For,"faid they, "{he will give us puppets inftead of kings." 
 
 r It has been remarked", that Agefilaus, in his way of living 
 with the Spartans, behaved, better with regard to his enemies 
 than his friends ; for he never did the leaft wrong to the for- 
 mer, and often violated juftice in favour of the" latter. He 
 would have been afhamed not to have honoured and rewarded 
 his enemies, when their actions deferved it ; and was not able 
 to reprove his friends, when they committed faults. He 
 would even fupport them when they were in the wrong % 
 and upon fuch occafions looked upon the zeal for juflice as a 
 vain pretence to cover the refufal of ferving them. And in 
 proof of this, a mort letter is cited, written by him to a judge 
 In recommendation of a friend. The words are : " If Nicias be 
 " not guilty, acquit him for his innocence ; if he be, acquit 
 " him for my fake ; but however it be, acquit hi-m." 
 
 It is underflanding the rights and privileges of friendship 
 very ill, to be capable of rendering it in this manner the ac- 
 complice of crimes, and the protcdlrefs of bad actions. It is 
 the fundamental law of friendship, fays Cicero, never to aflc 
 of or grant any thing to friends, that does not confifl with 
 
 x Pint, in moral, p. jj. J Ibid p. 191. 2 Plut. iu Agefil. p. 598. 
 a Plut. in Agefil. p. 605.
 
 Clap. III. PERSSIANS AND- GRECIANS. 37 
 
 juftice and honour : " b Haec prima lex in amicitia fanciatur, 
 " ut nerue rogemus ves turpes, nee faciamus rogati,'* 
 
 Ageiilaus was not fo delicate in this point, at leaft in the 
 beginning, and omitted no occafion of gratifying his friends, 
 and even his enemies. By this officious and obliging conduct, 
 ted by his extraordinary merit, he acquired great credit, 
 and almofh absolute power in the city, which ran fo high as 
 to render him fufpefted by his country. The Ephori, to pre- 
 vent its effects, and give a check to his ambition, laid a fine 
 upon him ; alleging as their fole reafon, * that he attached 
 the hearts of the citizens to himfclf alone, which were the 
 right of the republic^ and ought not to be poflefied 1 'but in 
 
 When he was declared king, he was put into pofieffion of 
 the whole eftate of his brother Agis, of which Leotychides 
 was deprived as a baftard. But feeing the relationa of that 
 prince, on the fide of his mother Lampito, were all very poor, 
 he divided the whole inheritance with them, and by that a& 
 of gene roii ty acquired great reputation, and the good will of 
 ail the world, inftead of the envy and hatred he might have 
 drawn upon himfelf by the inheritance. Thefe fort of facri- 
 fices are glorious, though rare, and can never be fufficiently 
 efteemed. 
 
 Never was king of Sparta fo powerful as Agedlaus ; and it 
 was only, as Xenophon fays, by obeying his country in every 
 thing, that he acquired fo great an authority ; which feems a 
 kind of paradox, thus explained by Plutarch. The greateft 
 power was veiled at that time in the Ephori and fenate. The 
 office of the Ephori fubfifled only one year ; they were initi- 
 tuted to limit the too great power of the kings, and to ferve 
 as a barrier againft it, as we have. oLfervcd elfewhere. For 
 this reafon the kings of Sparta, from their eitabliilament, had 
 always retained a kind of hereditary aversion for them, and 
 continually oppofed their meafures. Agefilaus took a quite 
 contrary method. Inflead of being perpetually at war with 
 them, and claming upon all occafions with their meafures r he 
 
 * "On rcl; xoivolf rXiVa?, IVIULS, *~i*rxi. 
 
 -'' De iniicit. n. 40 .
 
 74 HISTORY or int Book IX 
 
 made it his bufinefs to cultivate their good opinion, treated 
 them always with the utmoft deference and regard, never en- 
 tered upon the leaft enterprife without having firfl communi- 
 cated it to them, and upon their fummons quitted every thing, 
 and repaired to the fenate with the utmoft promptitude and 
 refignation : Whenever he fat upon his throne to adminifter 
 juftice, if the Ephori entered, he never failed to rife up to do 
 them hononr. By all thefe inflances of refpeft, he feemed to 
 add new dignity to their office, whilft in reality he augmented 
 his own power without its being obferved, and added to the 
 fovereignty a grandeur the more folid and permanent, as it was 
 the efiecl ef the people's good will and eiteem for him. The 
 greateft cf the Roman emperors, as Auguftus, Trsfan, and 
 Marcus Antonius, were convinced, that the utmoft a prince 
 could do to honour and exalt the principal magiftrates, was 
 only adding to his own power, and ftrengthening his authority, 
 which neither fliould nor can be founded in any thing but 
 juftice. 
 
 Such was Agefilaus, of whom much will be faid hereafter, 
 and with whofe character it was therefore neceffary to begin. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 AGESILAUS goes to ASIA. LTSANDER falls out with kirn. 
 
 A.GESILAUS had fcarce afcended the throne e , when accounts 
 came from Afia. that the king of Perfia was fitting out a great 
 fleet with intent to deprive the Lacedaemonians of their em- 
 pire at fea. Conon's letters, feconded by the remonftrances 
 of Pharnabafus, who had in concert represented to Artaxerxcs 
 the power of Sparta as formidable, had made a ftrong impref. 
 fion upon that prince. From that time he had it feribuflv in 
 his thoughts to humble that proud republic, by raiting up its 
 rival, and by that means re-eftablifhing the ancient balance 
 between them, which alone could affure his fafcty, by keep- 
 ing them perpetually employed againft each ether, and there- 
 by prevented from uniting their forces againft him. 
 
 c A. M. 3608. Ant. J. C. 396. Xenoph. hift. Grace. 1. iii. p. 49,% 496. 
 Ikid. de Ageul. p. 6<a. Piut. ki AgeHl. p. 598. In Lyfand. p. 446,
 
 Chap. HI- PERSIANS AND GRECIANS, 75 
 
 Lyfander, who defired to be fent into Afia, in order to re- 
 ftablilh his creatures and friends in the government of the 
 cities, from which Sparta had removed them, ftrongly difpofcd 
 Agefilaus to take upon himfelf the charge of the war, and to 
 prevent the Barbarian king, by attacking him remote front 
 Greece, before he fhould have rmifhed his preparations. The. 
 republic having made this propofal to him, he could not re- 
 fufe it, and charged himfelf with the expedition againil Artax- 
 rrxes, upon condition that thirty Spartan captains -fhould be 
 granted him, to ailift him and compofe his council, with two 
 thoufand new citizens to be chofen out of the haelots who had 
 been lately made freemen, and fix thoufand troops of the allies, 
 which was immediately refolved. Lyfander was placed at the 
 head of the thirty Spartans, not only upon account of his 
 great reputation, and the authority he had acquired, but for 
 the particular friendfliip between him and Agefilaus, who was 
 indebted to him for the throne, as well as the honour which 
 had been lately conferred upon him, of being elected genera- 
 lifUmo. 
 
 The glorious return of the Greeks who had followed Cyrus, 
 and whom the whole power of Perfia was not able to prevent 
 from retreating into their own country, had infpired all Greece 
 with a wonderful confidence in their forces, and a fupreme 
 contempt for the Barbarians. In this difpofition of the people, 
 the Lacedaemonians conceived it would reproach them, to 
 neglect fo favourable a conjuncture for delivering the Greeks 
 in Afia from their fubjection to thofe Barbarians, and for 
 putting an end to the outrages and violences with which they 
 were continually opprefling them. They had already at- 
 tempted this by their generals Thimbron and Dercyliidas ; but 
 all their endeavours having hitherto proved ineffectual, they 
 referred the conduct of this war to the care of Agefilaus. He 
 promifed them either to conclude a glorious peace with the 
 Perfians, or to employ them fo effectually as ihould leave 
 them neither leifure nor inclination to carry the war into 
 Greece. The kin? had great views, and thought of nothing 
 lefs than attacking Artaxer:;es in Perfia itfelf. 
 
 When he arrived at Ephefus, TifTaphemes fent to demand
 
 7# HIStORY OF THf! Book IX. 
 
 v'hat reafon had induced his coming into Afia, and why he 
 had taken up arms. He replied, that he came to aid the 
 Greeks who inhabited there, and to re-eftablifh them in their 
 ancient liberty. d The fatrap, who was not yet prepared, pre- 
 ferred art to force, and affured him, that his mailer would 
 give the Grecian cities of Afia their liberty, provided he com- 
 mitted no acts of hoflility till the return of the couriers. A- 
 gefilaus agreed ; and the truce was fworn on both fides. Tif- 
 faphernes, who laid no great ftrefs upon an oath, took the 
 advantage of this delay to aflemble troops on all fides. The 
 Lacedaemonian general was apprifed of it, but however kept 
 his word ; being convinced, that in affairs of ftate, the breach 
 of faith can have but a very fhort and precarious fuccefs ; 
 whereas a reputation eftablifhed upon inviolable fidelity in the 
 obfervance of engagements, which the perfidy itfelf of other 
 contracting parties has not power to alter, will eftablifh a cre- 
 dit and confidence equally ufeful and glorious. In effect, 
 Xenophon remarks, that this religious obfervation of treaties 
 gained him the univerfal eileem and opinion of the cities ; 
 whilft the different conduct of Tiflaphernes entirely loft him 
 their favour. 
 
 Agefilaus made ufe of this interval in acquiring an c exacl 
 knowledge of the ftate of the cities, and in making fuitable 
 regulations. He found great diforder every where, their go- 
 vernment being neither democritical, as under the Athenians, 
 nor ariftocritical, as Lyfander haft eftabliihed it. f The peo- 
 ple of the country h'ad no communication with Agefilans, nor" 
 had ever known him ; for which reafon they made no court 
 to him, conceiving that he had the title of general for form's 
 fake only, and that the whole power was really veiled in Ly- 
 fander. As no governor had ever done fo much good to his 
 friends, or hurt to his enemies, it is not wonderful, that he 
 was fo much beloved by the one and feared by the other. 
 All therefore were eager to pay their homage to him, were 
 every day in crowds at his dcor, and made his train very nu- 
 
 i Xencph. p. 496, ct 652. 
 
 e A. M. 3609. Am. J. C. 395. 
 
 1 Plut. in Agefil. p 59?, 6oc. In Lyfand. p. 447.
 
 Clap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 77 
 
 merous when he went abroad ; whilft Agefilaus remained al- 
 moft alone. Such a conduct could not fail of offending a 
 general and king, extremely feniible and delicate in what re- 
 garded his authority ; though otherwife not jealous of any 
 one's merit, but on the contrary, much inclined to diftinguifh 
 it with his favour. He did not diflemble his difguft. He paid 
 no regard to Lyfander's recommendations, and ceafed to em- 
 ploy him himfelf. Lyfander prefently perceived this altera- 
 tion in regard to him. He difcontinued his applications for 
 his friends to the king, defired him not to vifit them any 
 more, nor attach themfelves to him, but to addrefs them- 
 felves dire&ty to the king, and to cultivate the favour of thofe 
 who in the prefent times had power to ferve and advance their 
 creatures. The greatefl part of them gave over importuning 
 him with their affairs ; but did not ceafe to pay their court to 
 him. On the contrary, they were only more afiiduous than 
 ever about his perfon, attended him in throngs when he took 
 the air abroad, and regularly afiifted at all his exercifes. Lyfan- 
 der, naturally vain, and long accuftomed\to the homage and 
 fubmiffion that attended abfolute power, did not take fuffi- 
 cient care to remove the bufy crowd from his perfon, that 
 continually made their addreffes to him with more application 
 than ever. 
 
 This ridiculous affectation of authority and grandeur grew 
 flill more and more offenfive to Agefilaus, and feemed as if 
 intended to infult him. He refented it fo highly, that having 
 given the moft confiderable commands and beft governments 
 to private officers, he appointed Lyfander ccmmiiTary of the 
 ftores, and diilributor of proviiions ; and afterwards, to infult 
 and deride the lonians, he told them, '* that they might now 
 " go and confult his mafter-butcher." 
 
 Lyfander thought it then incumbent upon bim to fpeak, 
 and to come to an explanation with him. Their converfation 
 was brief and laconic. " Certainly, my lord," faid Lyfander, 
 " you very well know how to deprefs your friends." " Yes, 
 -** when they would fet themfelves above me ; but when they 
 f are irudious of my dignity, I know alfo how to let them
 
 ^S HISTORY OF TfeE Bool IX. 
 
 " fhare in it." " But perhaps, my lord," replied Lyfander, 
 ** I have been injured by falfe reports ; and things I never did 
 ** have been imputed to me. I muft beg therefore, if it be 
 * fc only upon account of the ftrangers, who have all of them 
 44 their eyes upon us, that you would give me an employment 
 *' in your army, wherein you mall think me leaft capable of 
 *' drfpleafing, and moft of ferving you effectually." 
 
 The effet of this converfation was the lieutenancy of the 
 Hellefpont, which Agefilaus gave him. In this employment 
 lie retained all his refentment, without however neglecting 
 any part of his duty, or of what conduced to the fuccefs of 
 affairs. Some imall time after, he returned to Sparta, with- 
 out any marks of honour and diilin&ion, extremely incenfed 
 jigainft Agefilaus, and with the hope of making him perfectly 
 fenfible of it. 
 
 It muft be allowed that Lyfander's conduct, as we have 
 here reprefented it, denotes a vanity and narrownefs of mind 
 on his fide, much unworthy of his reputation. Perhaps A- 
 gefilaus carried too far his fenfibility and delicacy in point of 
 honour, and he was a little too fevere upon a friend and 
 benefactor, whom fecret animadversions, attended with open- 
 fiefs of heart and expreffions of kindnefs, might have reclaim- 
 ed to. his duty. But as finning as Lyfander's merit, and as con- 
 fiderable as the fen-ices he had rendered Agefilaus might be, 
 they could not ail of them give him a right, not only to an 
 equality with his king and general, but to the fuperiority he 
 affefted, which in fome meafure tended to making the other 
 infignificant. He ought to have remembered that it is never 
 allowable for an inferior to forget himfelf, arid fo exceed the 
 fcounds of a juft fubordination. 
 
 * Upon his return to Sparta, he had it ferioufly in his thoughts 
 to execate a project which he had many years revolved in his 
 mind. At Sparta there was cnly two families, or rather 
 branches, of the pofterity of Hercules, who had a right to 
 the throne. When Lyfandcr had attained to that high de- 
 gree cf pov/cr which his great aclions had acquired him, he 
 began to fee with pain a city, whofe glory had been fo muck 
 S Plut. in Lyfajid. p. 447, 448. Died. 1. xix. p. 144- 245-
 
 Chap I1L PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. . 79 
 
 augmented by his exploits, under the government of princes, 
 to whom he gave place neither in valour nor birth ; for he 
 defcended, as well as themfelves, from Hercules. He there- 
 fore fought means to deprive thofe two houfes of the fole fuc- 
 cefCon to the crown, and to extend that right to all the other 
 branches of the Heraclides, and even according to fome, to 
 all the natives of Sparta ; nattering himfelf, that if his defign 
 took effect, no Spartan could be capable of difputing that ho- 
 nour with him, and that he fliould have the preference to all 
 others. 
 
 This ambitious project of Lyfander {hews, that the greateH 
 captains ar<- often thofe from whom a republic has moft to 
 apprehend. Thofe haughty valiant fpirits, accuftomed to ab- 
 folute power in armies, bring back with victory a daring lofti- 
 nefs of mind, always to be dreaded in a free liate. Sparta, 
 in giving Lyfander unlimited power, and leaving it for fo ma- 
 ny years in his hands, did not fufficiently confider, that no- 
 thing is more dangerous than to confide to perfons of fuperior 
 merit and abilities, employments of fupreme authority, which 
 naturally expofes them to the temptation of rendering them- 
 felves independent, and abfolute mafters of power. Lyfander 
 was not proof againft it, and pralifed fecretly to open him- 
 felf a way to the throne. 
 
 The undertaking was bold, and required long preparations. 
 He thought it impoffible to fucceed without firft making ufe 
 of the fear of the divinity, and the terrors of fuperflition, to 
 amaze and fubdue the citizens into a more eafy difpofition to 
 receive what he wanted to have them underftand ; for he 
 knew that at Sparta, as well as throughout all Greece, no- 
 thing of the leaft importance was determined, without the 
 oracle's being previoufly confulted. He tempted with great 
 prefents the prieils and priefteffes of Delphos, Dodona, and 
 Ammon, though ineffectually at that time ; and the latter 
 event fent ambaffadors to Sparta, to accufe him of impiety and 
 facrilege ; but he extricated himfelf from that bad affair by 
 Jjis credit and addrefs. 
 
 It \vas neceflary to fet other engines at work. A woman in the
 
 3fo HISTORY or THE Book IX, 
 
 Jungdom of Pontue, affirming that flic was with child by A- 
 jpollo, had been delivered fome years before of a fon, to whom 
 the name of Silenus was given ; and the greateft perfons of that 
 nation had difputed the honour of miffing and educating him. 
 Lyfander, taking this wondrous birth for the commencement, 
 and in a manner the foundation of the piece he miditated, 
 iupplied the reft himfelf, by employing a good number of per- 
 fons, and thofe not inconfiderable, to difperfe, by way of pro- 
 logue to the performance, the miraculous birth of this infant ; 
 whereby no affectation appearing in them, people were dif- 
 pofed to believe it. This being done, they brought certain 
 xlifcourfes from Delphos to Sparta, which were induflrioufly 
 fpread abrocd every where : That the priefts of the temple had 
 an their cuflody fome books of very ancient oracles, -which 
 they kept concealed from all the world, and of which it was 
 not permitted, either for them or any other perfcn whatfo- 
 ^ver, to have any knowledge : And that only a fon of Apollo^ 
 T,-ho was to come in procefs of time, after having given un- 
 doubted proofs of his birth to thofe who had the books in 
 .their keeping, was to take and carry thern away. 
 
 All this beirg well premifed, Silenus was to prefent himfelf 
 lo the priefts, and demand thofe oracles as the fon of Apollo ; 
 and the priefts, who were in the fecret, as aclors well prepared 
 and fully inftru&ed in their parts, were on their fide to make 
 ihe moft exat and circumilandal inquiry into every thing, not 
 without affecting great difficulty, and alking endlefs que;i:iou5 
 for the full proof of his birth. At length, as abfolutely con- 
 vinced, that this Silenus was the real fon of Apollo, they were 
 to produce the books, and deliver them to him ; after which, 
 this fon of Apollo was to read the prophecies contained in 
 them, in the prefence of all the world ; aad particularly that 
 for which the whole contrivance had been cooked up. The 
 fenfe of this was, ** That it was more expedient and advanta- 
 " geous for the Spartans to elect no king for the future, but 
 <; the moft worthv of their citizens." Lylander in conlc- 
 quence was to meant the tribunal, to harrangue the citizens, 
 an,d induce them to make this alteration. Cleon of Halic^r-
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 8 1 
 
 naffus, .a celebrated rhetorician, had compofed a very eloquent 
 difcourfe for him upon this fubjecl, which he had got by heart. 
 Silenus grew up, and repaired to Greece in order to play his 
 part; when Lyfander had the mortification to fee his piece mif- 
 carry, by the timidity and defertion of one of his principal 
 adtors, who broke his word, and difappeared at the very in- 
 ilant it was to have been performed. Though this intrigue had 
 been carried on a great while, it was tranfacled with fo much 
 fecrecy to the time it was to have made its appearance, that 
 nothing of it was known during the life of Lyfander. How 
 it came to light after his death we mail foon relate ; but mufl 
 at prefent return to Tifiaphernes. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 EXPEDITION of AGESILAUS in ASIA. 
 
 Vv HEtfTiffaphernes had received the troops affigned him by the 
 king h , and draivn together all his foi-ces, he fent to command 
 Agelilaus to retire out of Afia, and declared war againft him 
 in cafe of refufal. His officers were all alarmed, not believing 
 him in a condition to oppofe the great arrr/y of the Perfian 
 king. For himfelf, he heard Tiffaphernes's heralds with a gay 
 and eafy countenance, and bade them tell their mailer, that 
 he was under a very great obligation to him " for having made 
 " the gods, by his perjury, the enemies of Perfia, and the 
 " friends of Greece." He promifed himfelf great things from 
 this expedition, and would have thought it an exceeding dif- 
 grace for him, that ten thoufand Greeks, under the command 
 of Xenophon, mould have paffed through the heart of Alia to 
 the Grecian feaj and beat the king of Perfia, as often as he 
 appeared againtt them ; and that he, who commanded the 
 Lacedaemonians, whofe empire ex'tended all over Greece by 
 fea and land, fliould not execute fome exploit worthy of glory 
 and remembrance. 
 
 At firft, therefore, to revenge the perfidy of Tifiaphernes 
 Volume IV. F 
 
 h Xenoph. hift. Grace. 1. iii, p. 497 joj. Idem, de Agefil. p. 652$ 656. 
 Plut. in Agefil. p. 600.
 
 82 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 by a juft and allowable deceit, he made a feint of inarching 
 his army into Caria, the refidence of that fatrap ; and as foon 
 as the Barbarian had caufed his troops to march that way, he 
 turned fhort, and fell upon Phrygia, where he took many 
 towns y and amafled immenfe treafures, which he diftributed 
 amongft the officers and foldiers ; letting his friends fee, fays 
 Plutarch, that to break a treaty, and violate an oath y is to 
 defpife the gods themfelves ; and that, on the contrary, to 
 deceive an enemy by the ilratagems of war, is not only juft 
 and glorious, but a fenfible delight, attended with the greateft 
 advantages. 
 
 The fpring being come, he affembled all his forces at Ephe- 
 fus ; and to exercife his foldiers, he propofed prizes both for 
 the horfe and foot. This fmall inducement fet every thing in 
 motion. The place for exercifes* was perpetually full of all 
 kind of troops ; and the city of Ephefus feemed only a palef- 
 tra, and a fchool of war. The whole market place was filled 
 with horfes nnd arms, and the mops with different kinds of 
 military equipage. Agefilaus was feen returning from the ex- 
 ercifes, followed by a crowd of officers and foldiers, all of 
 them crowned with wreaths, which they were going to depo- 
 fite in the temple of Diana, to the great admiration and delight 
 of all the world. For, fays Xenophon, where piety and difcip- 
 line are feen to flourifli, the beft hopes muft be conceived. 
 
 To give his foldiers new valour from the contempt of their 
 enemies, he made ufe of this contrivance. He ordered the 
 commifTaries, who had charge of the booty, to ftrip the pri- 
 foners, arid expofe them to fale. There were abundance of 
 buyers for their habits ; but for themfelves, their bodies were 
 fo foft, white and delicate, having been nurtured and brought 
 up in the fliade, that they laughed at them, as of neither fer- 
 vice nor value. Agefilaus took this occafion to approach and 
 fay to his foldiers, pointing to the men, " See there againft 
 " whom ye fight ;" and fhewing them their rich fpoils, " and 
 " there for what you fight." 
 
 When the feafon for taking the field returned, Agefilaus gave 
 out, that he would march into Lydia. Tiflaphernes, who had
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 83 
 
 not forgot the firft ftratagem he had ufed in regard to him, and 
 was not willing to be deceived a fecond time, made his troops 
 inarch direftly for Caria ; not doubting but at this time Age- 
 filaus would turn his arms that way j the rather, becaufe it 
 was natural for him, as he wanted cavalry, to endeavour to 
 make a rough and difficult country the feat of aclion, which 
 might render the horfe of an enemy ufelefs and unserviceable. 
 But he deceived himfelf; Agefilaus entered Lydia and ap- 
 proached Sardis. Tiflaphernes haflened thither with his horfe, 
 with intent to relieve the place. Agefilaus, knowing that his 
 infantry had not had time to arrive, thought proper to take the 
 advantage of fo favourable an opportunity to give him battle, 
 before he had re-afTembled ftll his troops. He drew up his 
 army in two lines j the firft he formed of his fquadrons, whofe 
 intervals he filled up with platoons of the light armed foot, 
 and ordered them to begin the charge, whilft he followed 
 with the fecond line, compofed of his heavy armed infantry. 
 The Barbarians did not fuftain the firft fhock, but took to 
 their heels immediately. The Greeks purfued them, and 
 forced their camp, where they made a great flaughter, and a 
 ftill greater booty. \ 
 
 1 After this battle, the troops of Agefilaus were at entire li- 
 berty to plunder and ravage the whole country of the Perfi- 
 ans, and at the fame time had the fatisfa&ion to fee that prince 
 inflicl an exemplary punifhment upon TifTaphernes, who was 
 a very wicked man, and the moft dangerous enemy of the 
 Greeks. k The king had already received abundance of com- 
 plaints againft his conduct. Upon this bccaiion he was accu- 
 fed of treafon, as not having done his duty in the battle. 
 Queen Paryfatis, always actuated by her hatred and revenge 
 againft thofe who had any fhare in the death of her fon Cy- 
 rus, did not a little contribute to the death of Tiffaphernes^ 
 by aggravating with all her power the charges againft him ; 
 for fhe had been entirely reftored to favour by the king her 
 fon. 
 
 Fij 
 
 i Xenoph. p. 501 et 657. Plut. in Artax. p. 1033. Ct In Agefil. p. 6ol, 
 * Diod. 1. xiv. p. 299. Polyaen. Stratag. 1. vii.
 
 84 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 As Tiffaphernes had a great authority in Afia, the king xvas 
 afraid to attack him openly, .but thought it neceffary to take 
 fuitable precautions, in feizing fo powerful an officer, who 
 might have proved a dangerous enemy. He charged Tithrauf- 
 tes with that important commiffion ; and gave him two letters 
 at the fame time. The firft was for Tiffaphernes, and con- 
 tained the king's orders in regard to the war with the Greeks, 
 with full power to a& as was requiiite. The fecond was ad- 
 dreffed to Ariaeus, governor of LariiTa ; by which the king 
 commanded him to affift Tithrauftes with his counfel, and all 
 his forces, in ieizing Tiflaphernes. He loil no time, and fent 
 to defire Tiffaphernes would come to him, that they might 
 confer together upon the operations of the enfuicg campaign. 
 TijTaphernes, who fufpe&ed nothing, went to him with only 
 a guard of three hundred men. Whilft he was in a bath, 
 without fabre or other arms, he was ieized and put into the 
 hands of Tithrauftes, who caufed his head to be ftruck off, 
 and fent it immediately to Perfia. The king gave it to Pary- 
 fatis ; an agreeable prefent to a princefs of her violent and 
 vindictive temper. Though this condu& of Artaxerxes feems 
 little worthy of a king, nobody lamented the death of that 
 fatrap, who had no veneration for the gods, nor any regard 
 for men ; who looked upon probity and honour as empty 
 names ; who made a jeft of the mod facred oaths, and believ- 
 ed the whole ability and policy of a ftatefman confided in 
 knowing how to deceive others by hypocrify, fraud, perfidy, 
 and perjury. ' 
 
 Tithrauftes had a third writing from the king, whereby he 
 was appointed to command the armies in the room of Tiffa- 
 phernes. e After having executed his commiffion, he fent 
 great prefents to Agefilaus, to induce him to enter more rea- 
 dily into his views and intereft ; and ordered him to be told, 
 that the caufe of the war being removed, and the author of 
 all differences put to death, nothing oppofed an accommoda- 
 tion ; that the king of Perfia confented, that the cities of 
 Afia fliould enjoy their liberty, paying him the cuftomary tri- 
 bute, provided he would, withdraw his troops, and return in- 
 * Xenopli, hijft. Grace. L Hi. p. joi. Plut. in AgefiL p. 601.
 
 Clap. HI. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 85 
 
 to Greece. Agefilaus replied, that he could conclude nothing 
 without the orders of Sparta, upon whom alone depended the 
 peace j that as for him, he was better pleafed with enriching 
 his foldiers than himfelf ; that the Greeks beiides thought it 
 more glorious and honourable to take fpoils from their ene- 
 mies than to accept their prefents. However, as he was not 
 unwilling to give Tithrauftes the fatisfaction of removing out 
 of his province, and of expreffing his gratitude to him for 
 having punifhed the common 'enemy of the Greeks, he march- 
 ed into Phrygia, which was the province of Pharnabafus. 
 Tithrauftes had himfelf propofed that expedition to him, and 
 paid him thirty talents for the charges of his journey. 
 
 Upon his march, he received a letter from the magiftrates 
 of Sparta, with orders to take upon him the command of the 
 naval army, and power to depute whom he thought fit in his 
 ftead. By thefe*new powers, he faw himfelf abfolute com- 
 mander of all the troops in that ftate in Afia both by fea and 
 land. This resolution was taken, in order that all operations 
 being directed by one and the fame head, and the two armies 
 acting in concert, the plans for the fervice might be executed 
 with more uniformity, and every thing confpire to the fame 
 end. Sparta till then had never done the honour to any of 
 their generals, to confide to him at the fame time the com- 
 mand of the armies by fea and land. So that all the world 
 agreed, that he v/as the greateft perfonage of his time, and 
 beft fuftained the high reputation he enjoyed. But he was a 
 man, and had his failings. 
 
 The firft thing he did was to eftablifh Piiander his lieute- 
 nant in the fleet ; in which he feemed to have committed a 
 f onfiderable fault .; becaufe, having about him many older and 
 more experienced captains, without regard to the fervice of 
 ""the public, to do honour to an ally, and to pleafe his wife, 
 who xvas Pifander's filler, he intrufted him with the command 
 of the fleet ; that employment being much above his abilities, 
 though iae was not without his merit. 
 
 This is the common temptation of perfons in power, who 
 believe they poffefs it only for themfelves and their families ; 
 
 F iij
 
 '86 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 as if the advantage of relation to them was a fufncient title 
 and qualification for pofts which require great abilities. They 
 do not reflect, that they not only expofe the affairs of a ftate 
 to ruin by their private views, but facrifice befides the inte- 
 refts of their own glory, which cannot be maintained but by 
 fuccefles it were inconfiftent to expect from inftruments fo ill 
 chofen. 
 
 'Agefilaus continued with his army inPhrygia, upon the lands 
 of Pharnabafus's government, where he lived in the abundance 
 pf all things, and amafied great fums of money. From thence 
 advancing as far as Paphlagonia, he made an alliance with 
 king Cotis, who paffionately defired his amity, from thefenfe 
 of his faith in the obfervance of treaties, and his other vir- 
 tues. The fame motive had already induced Spithridates, 
 one of the king's principal officers, to quit the fervice of Pharna- 
 bafus, and to go over to Agefilaus, to whom from his revolt he 
 had rendered great fervices ; for he had a great body of 
 troops, and was very brave. This officer, having entered 
 Phrygia, had laid wafte the whole country under Pharnaba- 
 fus, who never dared to appear in the field againft him, nor 
 even to rely upon his fortrelTes : But carrying away whatever 
 was moil valuable and dear to him, he kept flying continually 
 before him, and retired from one place to another, changing 
 his camp every day. Spithridates at length, taking with him 
 fome Spartan troops with Herippidas, the chief of the council 
 of thirty fent by the republic to Agefilaus the fecond year, 
 watched him one day fo clofely, and attacked him fo fucccff- 
 fully, that he made himfelf mailer of his camp, and of all the 
 rich fpoils wirh which it abounded. But Herippidas, injudi- 
 cioufly fetting himfelf up as an inexorable comptroller, was for 
 bringing the booty that had been funk to an account ; forced 
 even the foldiers of Spithridates to reftore what they had 
 taken ; and by vifiting their tents, and fearching them with au 
 unfeafonable exactitude and feverity, affronted Spithridates to 
 fuch a degree, that he withdrew directly to Sardis with his 
 Paphlagonians. 
 
 It is faid, that in this whole expedition nothing fo fenfibly 
 
 I A. M. 3710. Ant. J. C. 3904. Xcnoph, hift. Grace. 1. iv. p. 507. 510,
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 87 
 
 affe&ed Agefilaus as the retreat of Spitaridates : For, befides 
 his being very forry for the lofs of fo good an officer, and fo 
 good troops, he apprehended being reproached with mean and 
 fordid avarice : A vice equally difhonourable to himfelf and his 
 country, and of which he had taken pains to avoid the flight- 
 eft fufpicion during his whole life. He did not think it con- 
 flilent with the duty of his office to Ihut his eyes, through 
 flothful eafe and indolence, againft all the malverfations that 
 were committed under him ; but he knew at the fame time, 
 that there is an exactitude and feverity, that by being carried 
 too far, degenerate into minutenefs and petulancy, and which, 
 through an extreme affectation of virtue, becomes a real and 
 dangerous vice. 
 
 m Some time after, Pharnabafus, who faw his country ravaged, 
 demanded an interview with Agefilaus, which was negociatcd 
 by a common friend of them both. Agefilaus arrived firft with 
 his friends at the place agreed on, and fat down in expectation 
 of Pharnabafus upon the turf under the made of a tree. When 
 Pharnabafus arrived, his people fpread ikins upon the ground 
 of exceeding foftnefs from the length of their hair, with rich 
 carpets of various colours, and magnificent cushions. But when 
 he faw Agefilaus fitting fimply upon the ground, without any 
 preparation, he was p.mamed of his effeminacy, and fat down 
 alfo upon the grafs. On this occafion the Perfian pride was 
 feen to pay homage to the Spartan modefty and fimplicity. 
 
 After reciprocal falutatians, Pharnabafus fpoke to this ef- 
 fect : That he had ferved the Lacedaemonians in the Pelopon- 
 nefian war to the tttmoft of his power, fought feverai bat-ties 
 for them, and fupported their naval army, without giving 
 jgny room to reproach him with fraud or treachery, as Tifia- 
 phernes had done : That he was furprifed at their coming to 
 attack him in his government ; burning the towns, cutting 
 down the trees, and laying wafte the whole country : That if 
 it was the cullom with the Greeks, who made profemon of 
 honour and virtue, to treat their friends and benefactors in 
 fuch a manner, he did not know what they might mean by 
 
 Fiiij 
 Xcnoph. hift. Grace. 1. iv. p. 510 512. Plat, in Ajjcfii. p 12.
 
 88 HISTORY OF THE Book IX> 
 
 juft and equitable. Thefe complaints were not entirely with- 
 out foundation, and were uttered with a modeft but .pathetic 
 air and tone of voice. The Spartans, who attended Age- 
 filaus, not feeing how they could be anfwered, caft down their 
 eyes, and kept a profound filence. Agefilaus, who obferved 
 it, replied almofi in thefe terms : " Lord Pharnabafus, you 
 " are not ignorant that war often arms the befl friends 
 " agamft each other for the defence of their country. Whilft 
 " we were fuch to the king your mailer, we treated him as a 
 " friend ; but as we are become his enemies, we make open 
 " war againft him, as it is juft we fhould, and endeavour to 
 " hurt him by what we act againft you. However, from the 
 " inftant you ihall think, fit to throw off the yoke of bondage, 
 " and prefer being called the friend and ally of the Greeks, 
 " before the name of the king of Perfia's (lave, you may rec- 
 " kon that all the troops you fee before your eyes, our arms, 
 *' our (hips, our perfons, to the laft man of us, are only here 
 " to defend your pofieffions, and fecure your liberty, which of 
 ?' all bleffings is the rnoft precious and dciirable." 
 
 Pharnabafus anfwered, that if the king fent another gene- 
 ral in his place, and fubjected him to the new-comer, he 
 ftiould very willingly accept his offer ; that otherwile he would 
 not depart from the faith he had fworn to him, nor quit his 
 fervice. Agefilaus then taking him by the hand, and rifing 
 with him, replied, " That it were the pleafure of the gods, lord 
 " Pharnabafus, with fuch noble fenthnents, that you were 
 " rather our friend than our enemy !" He promifed to with- 
 draw from his government, and never return into it whilil 
 he could fubfift clfewherc, 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 dGESILAUS recalled by tie EPHORI io defend Us COUNTRY 
 
 AGESILAUS had b?en two years at the head of the army n . and 
 had already made the moft remote provinces of Afia tremble 
 at his name, and refound with the fame of his great wifdom, 
 
 n A. M. 3610. Ant. J. C. 394- Plut. in Agefil. p. 603, 604. Xenojh. ij| 
 . p. 657.
 
 Coap. 1IL PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 89 
 
 difintereftednefs, moderation, intrepid valour in the greateft 
 dangers, and invincible patience in fupporting the rudeft fa- 
 tigues. Of fo many thoufand foldiers under his command, 
 not one was worfe provided or lay harder than himfelf. He 
 was fo indifferent as to heat or cold, that he feemed * formed 
 only to fupport the moft rigorous feafons, and fuch as it pleaf- 
 ed God to fend : Which are Plutarch's exprefs words. 
 
 The moft agreeable of all lights to the Greeks fettled In 
 Afia, was to fee the lieutenants of the great king, his fatraps, 
 and other great lords, who were formerly fo haughty and un- 
 tractable, foften their note in the prefence of a man meanly 
 clad, and at his fingle word, however fhort and laconic, 
 change their language and conduct, and in a manner tranf- 
 form themfelves into different creatures. Deputies from all 
 parts were fent by the people to form alliances with him, and 
 his army increafed every day by the troops of the Barbarians 
 that came to join him. 
 
 All Afta was already in motion, and moft of the provinces 
 ready to revolt. Agefilaus had already reftored order and 
 tranquillity in all the cities, had reinftated them in the pof- 
 feffion of their liberty under reafonable modifications, not only 
 without ihedding of blood, but without even banifhing a fingle 
 perfon. Not content ^with fuch a progrefs, he had formed 
 the defign of attacking the king of Perfia in the heart of his 
 dominions, to put him in fear for his own perfon and the 
 tranquillity he enjoyed in Ecbatana and Sufa, and to find him 
 fo much bufinefs, as mould make it impracticable for him to 
 embroil all Greece from his cabinet, by corrupting the orators 
 and perfons of greateft authority in its cities with its prefents. 
 
 Tithrauftes, who commanded for the king in Afia, fee- 
 ing the tendency of Agefilaus's defigns, and defiring to pre- 
 vent their effects, had fent Timocrates of Rhodes into Greece, 
 with great fums of money to corrupt the principal perfons in 
 the cities, and by their means occafion defections againft Spar- 
 ta. He knew that the haughtinefs of the Lacedaemonians, 
 for all their generals did not refcmble Agefilaus, and the im- 
 
 Xenoph. hift. Grace. 1. iii. p. 502 508. Piut. in Lyfand. p. 449 451,
 
 5 HISTORY OF THE * Book IX, 
 
 perious manner with which they treated their neighbours and 
 allies, efpecially iince they coniidered thcmfelvcs as the maf- 
 ters of Greece, had univerfally difgufted the people, and ex- 
 cited a jealoufy that waited only an occafion to break out 
 againft them. This feverity of governing had a natural caufe 
 in their education, Accuilomed from their infancy to obey 
 without delay or reply, firft to their tutors, and afterwards to 
 their magiftrates, *hey exacted a like fubmiflion from the ci- 
 ties in their dependence, were eafily incenfed by the leafl op- 
 pofition, and by this exceffive feverity rendered themfelves 
 infupportable. 
 
 Tithrauftes therefore did not find it difficult to draw off the 
 allies from their party. Thebes, Argos, Corinth, entered in- 
 to his meafures : The deputy did not go to Athens. Thefe 
 three cities, influenced by thofe that governed them, made 
 a league againft the Lacedaemonians, who on their fide 
 prepared vigorouily for the war. The Thebans at the fame 
 time fent deputies to the Athenians, to implore their aid, 
 and that they would enter into the alliance. The deputies, 
 after having {lightly pafled over their ancient divifions, in- 
 fifted flrongly upon the confiderable fervice they had ren- 
 dered Athens, in refufing to join its enemies, when they 
 endeavcured its final deftruclion. They reprefented to them 
 the favourable opportunity that offered for reinftating them- 
 felves in their ancient power, and to deprive the Lacedae- 
 inoaians 6f the empire of Greece. That all the allies of 
 Sparta, either without or xvithin Greece, were weary of their 
 fevere and unjuft fway, and waited only the fignal to revolt. 
 That the moment the Athenians fliould declare themfelves, 
 all the cities would roufe up at the found of their arms ; and 
 that the king of Perfia, who had fworn the ruin of Sparta, 
 would aid them with all his forces both by fca and land. 
 
 ThrafybuluSj whom the Thebans had fupplied with ann? 
 and money, when he undertook the re-dUbliihmcnt of the 
 Athenian liberty, fcccndcd their dcrnai;d with great vigour, 
 snd the aid was unanimously refolved. The Lacedaemonians 
 on their fide took the f M v/iiLo-.,: ; 1', cf time, and entered 
 
 , v/ho commanded ou^
 
 Clap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 91 
 
 of the two armies, to give him notice to march early the next 
 day to Haliartus, which he defigned to beliege, and that he 
 fhould be there himfelf at fun-rife. The letter was intercept- 
 ed. Lyfander, after having waited his coming up a great 
 while, was obliged to engage, and was killed in the battle, 
 Paufanius received this bad news on his way ; but however 
 continued his march to Haliartus, and called a council of war 
 to coniider upon a fecond battle. He did not think it con- 
 fiflent with prudence to hazard it, and contented himfelf with 
 making a truce, to remove the bodies of thofe who had fallen 
 in the former fight. Upon his return to Sparta, he was cited 
 to give an account of his conduct ; and, refuting to appear, was 
 condemned to die. But he avoided the execution of that fen- 
 tence by flight, and retired to ' Tegeum, where he pafled the 
 remainder of his life under the ihelter and protection of Mi- 
 nerva, to whom he had rendered himfelf a fuppliant, and 
 died of difeafe. 
 
 Lyfander's poverty having been difcovered after his death, 
 did great honour to his memory ; when it was known, that of 
 all the gold and riches which had pafled through his hands, 
 of a power fo extenfi ve as his had been, of fo many cities un- 
 der his government, and which made their court to him, in a 
 word, of that kind of dominion and fovereignty always exer- 
 cifed by him, he had made no manner of advantage, for the 
 advancement and enriching of his houfe. 
 
 Some days before his death, two of the principal citizens of 
 Sparta had contracted themfelves to his two daughters ; but 
 when they knew in what condition he had left his affairs, they 
 refufed to marry them. The republic did not fuffer fo fordid ' 
 a bafenefs to go unpuniftied, nor Lyfander's poverty, which 
 was the ftrongeft proof of his juftice and virtue, to be treated 
 as an obftacle to allying into his family. They were fined in 
 a great fum, publicly difgraced, and expofed to the contempt 
 of all perfons of honour. For at Sparta there were penalties 
 eftablifhed, not only for fuch as refufed to marry, or married 
 too late, but alfo for thofe who married arnifs : And thofe e- 
 fpecially were reckoned of this number, who, inftead of allying
 
 92 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 into houfes of virtue, and with their own relations, had no 
 motive but wealth and lucre in marriage : An admirable law, 
 and highly tending to perpetuate probity and honour in fami- 
 lies, which an impure mixture of blood and manners fel- 
 dom fails to alter and efface ! 
 
 It muft be owned that a generous difintereftednefs in the 
 midft of all that could inflame and gratify the luft of gain, is 
 very rare, and well worthy of admiration ; but in Lyfander, 
 it was attended with great defefts, which entirely obfcure its 
 luftre. Without fpeaking of his imprudence in introducing 
 gold and filver into Sparta, which he defpifed himfelf, though 
 he rendered it eftimable to his country, and thereby occasioned 
 its ruin, what opinion can we have of a man, brave indeed, 
 well read in men, Ikilful in affairs, and of great ability in the 
 arts of government, and what is commonly called policy ; but 
 who regards probity and juftice as nothing ; to whom falfehood 
 fraud, and perfidy, appear legal methods for the attainment 
 of his ends ; who does not fear, for the advancement of his 
 friends, and the augmenting of his creatures, to commit the 
 moft flagrant injuftice and oppreffions, and is not aftiamed to 
 profane whatever is moft facred in religion, even to the cor- 
 rupting of priefts, and forging of oracles, to fatiate the empty 
 ambition of being equal to a king, and of afcending the throne ? 
 
 P When Ageiilaus was upon the point of leading his troops 
 into Perfia, the Spartan Epicydidas arrived to let him know 
 that Sparta was threatened with a furious war ; that the 
 Ephori recalled him, and ordered him to return immediately 
 for the defence of his country. Ageiilaus did not deliberate 
 a moment, but returned this anfwer immediately to the Epho- 
 ri, which Plutarch has tranfmitted to us. '* *> Agefilaus to 
 44 the Ephori, greeting. We have reduced part of Ana, put 
 *' the Barbarians to flight, and made great preparations for 
 war in Icnia : But as you order me to return, I am not far 
 " behind this letter, and mould prevent it if poffible. I re- 
 ceived the command not for myfelf, but my country, and 
 " its allies. I know that a general does not deferve or pof- 
 
 P Xer.oph. hift. Grace. 1. ir. p. 51;,. Idem in Aped!, p. 657. I'lut. in Aged, 
 p. 603, 604. 1 Piut, in A]>oph. Laconic, p 211.
 
 Chap. HI. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 93 
 
 " fefs that name really, but as he fubmits to the laws and 
 '* the Ephori, and obeys the magiilrates." 
 
 This ready obedience of Agefilaus has been much admired 
 and applauded, and not without reafon. Hannibal, though 
 deprefied with misfortunes, and driven almoft entirely out of 
 Italy, obeyed his citizens with great reluctance, when they 
 recalled him to deliver Carthage from the dangers that threat- 
 ened it. Here a victorious prince, ready to enter the enemy's 
 country, and to attack the king of Perfia even upon his throne, 
 almoft allured of the fuccefs of his arms, on the firft order of 
 the Ephori, renounces the mod foothing hopes, and the rnoft 
 exalted expectations. He demonftrates me truth of what was 
 faid, " That at Sparta the laws ruled men, and not men the 
 " laws." 
 
 On his departure he faid, " that thirty thoufand of the 
 *' king's archers drove him out of Afia ;" alluding in thofe 
 words to a fpecies of Perfian coin, which had on one fide the 
 figure of an archer, thirty thoufand of which pieces of money 
 had been difperfed in Greece to corrupt the orators and per- 
 fons of greateft power in the cities. 
 
 r Agefilaus, in quitting Afia, where he was regretted as the 
 common father of the people, appointed Euxenes his lieute- 
 nant, and gave him four thoufand men for the defence of the 
 country. Xenophon went with him. He left at Ephefus, 
 with Megabyfus the guardian of Diana's temple, half the gold 
 he had brought with him from his expedition into Perfia with 
 Cyrus, to keep it for him in truft, and in cafe of death to 
 confecrate it to the goddefs. 
 
 s In the mean time the Lacedaemonians had raifed an ar- 
 my, and given the command of it to Ariflodemus, tutor to 
 king Agefipolis, then an infant. Their enemies aflembled to 
 concert the operations of the war. Timolaus of Corinth faid, 
 the Lacedaemonians were like a river that grew larger as it 
 removed from its fource : or to a fwarm of bees, which it is 
 eafy to burn in their hive, but difperfe thernfelves a great way 
 when they fly abroad, and become formidable by their {lings. 
 'Xenoph. hift. Grace. 1. iv. p. 513. Xenoph. de cxped. Cyr. 1. v. p. 350. 
 * Xenoph. p. 5 14- JI7-
 
 94 HISTORY OF THE JBool IA*. 
 
 He was therefore of opinion, that it was proper to attack them 
 in their capital ; which was approved and refolved. But the 
 Lacedaemonians did not give them time. They took the field, 
 and found the enemy near Nemaea, a city not very remote 
 from Corinth, where a rude battle enfued. The Lacedae- 
 monians had the advantage, which was very confiderable. 
 Agefilaus having received this news at Amphipolis, as he was 
 haftening to the relief of his country, fent it directly to the 
 cities of Afia for their encouragement, and to give them 
 hopes of his fpeedy return, if the fuccefs of affairs would ad- 
 mit it. 
 
 * When the approach of Agefilaus was known at Sparta, the 
 Lacedaemonians who remained in the city, to do him honour 
 for the ready obedience he had paid to their orders, caufed 
 proclamations to be made by found of trumpet, that all young 
 perfons who were willing to aid their king, might come and 
 lift themfelves for that purpofe. Not one of them failed to 
 enter himfelf immediately with the utmoft joy. But the Epho- 
 ri chofe only fifty of the braveft and moft robuft, whom they 
 fcnt him, and defired that he would enter Boeotia with the 
 utmoft expedition ; which he did accordingly. 
 
 u About the fame time the two fleets came up with each 
 other near Cnidos, a city of Caria. That of the Lacedaemo- 
 nians was commanded by Pifander, Agefilaus's brother-in-law, 
 and that of the Perfians by Fharnabafus and Conon the Athe- 
 nian. The latter, obferving that the king of Perfia's fupplies 
 came flowly, and occafioned the lofs of many opportunities, 
 had refolved to go in perfon to the court, to lolicit the king's 
 affiftance. As he would not proilrate himfelf before him, ac- 
 cording to the Perfian cuftom, he could not explain himfelf 
 but by the intervention of others. He reprefented to him, 
 with a force and a fpirit feldom pardoned in thofe who treat 
 with princes, that it was equally fhameful and aftonifhing, 
 that his minifters, contrary to his intention, fliould fuffer his 
 affaifs to be difconcerted and ruined for want of the necefiary 
 expences ; that the richeil king in the world fliould give pla.cs 
 
 1 Plut. in Agefil. p. 605. 
 B Xenoph. hiH. Grace. 1. iv. j>. ,518. Died. 1. xiv. p. 30 j. Juftin, 1. vi, c. 2, et 3
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 95 
 
 to his enemies in the very point he was fo infinitely fuperior 
 to them ; that is, in riches ; and that for want of remitting 
 the fums his fervice required to his generals, all their defigns 
 were rendered abortive. Thefe remonilrances were free, but 
 juft, and folid. The king received them perfectly well, and 
 {hewed, bj his example, that truth may often be fpoken to 
 princes with fuccefs, if courage were not wanting. Conon. 
 obtained all he demanded, and the king made him admiral of 
 his fleet. 
 
 It was compofed of more than fourfcore and ten gallie?, to- 
 which the enemy's was fomewhat inferior in number. * They 
 came in view of each other near Cnidos, a maritime city of 
 Alia Minor. Conon who had in fome meafure occafioned the 
 taking of Athens by the lofs of the fea-fight near ./Egofpota- 
 mos, ufed extraordinary efforts in this to retrive his misfor- 
 tune, and to obliterate by a glorious victory the difgrace of 
 his former defeat. * He had this advantage, that in the bat- 
 tle he was going to give, the Perfians would be at the whole 
 expence, and bear all the lofs themfelves ; whereas the entire 
 fruits of the vidory would redound to the Athenians, with- 
 out hazarding any thing of their own. Pifander had alfo 
 ftrong motives to mew his valour upon this occalion, that he 
 might not degenerate from the glory of his brother-in-law, 
 and to juftify the choice he had made in appointing him ad- 
 miral. In effeft, he behaved with extreme valour, and had 
 at firft fome advantage ; but the battle growing warm, and 
 the allies of Sparta betaking themfelves to flight, he could not 
 refolve to follow them, and died fvvord in hand. Conon took 
 fifty gallies, and the reft efcaped to Cnidos. The confequence 
 of this victory was the revolt of almoft all the allies of Sparta ; 
 feveral of whom declared for the Athenians, and the reft re- 
 fumed their ancient liberty. After this battle the affairs of 
 the Lacedaemonians daily declined. All their actions in Afia 
 were no more than the feeble efforts of an expiring power, 
 till the defeats of Leuctra and Matinea completed their 
 downfal. 
 
 * Eo fpeciofius quod ne ipforum quidem Athenienfium, fed alien! imperii viri- 
 us dimicet, pugnaturus periculo regis, victurus praemio patriae. Jufiin.
 
 $6 HISTORY OF THE Bool IX. 
 
 x liberates makes a very juft refie&ion. upon the revolutions 
 of Sparta and Athens, which had always their fource and ori- 
 gin in the infolent profperity of both tliofe republics. The 
 Lacedaemonians, who were at firft acknowledged matters of 
 Greece without oppofition, fell from their authority only by 
 their enormous abufe of it. The Athenians fucceeded them 
 in power and at the fame time in pride ; aid we have feen 
 into what an abyfs of misfortunes it precipitated them. Sparta 
 having gained the faperiority by the defeat of the Athenians 
 in Sicily, and the taking of their city, might have improved 
 in their meafures from the double experience of the pait ; as 
 well in regard to what had befallen themfelves, as from the 
 recent example of their rival ; but the moft affbfling examples 
 and events feldom or ever occafion a people to change their 
 conduct. Sparta became as haughty and untra&able as be- 
 fore ; and fo experienced the fame deftiny again. 
 
 To warn the Athenians again (I this misfortune, Ifocrates 
 puts them in mind of the paft, and of the times wherein they 
 were fuccefsful in every thing. " You imagine," fays he, 
 " that provided with a numerous fleet, abfolute mailers at 
 " fea, and fupported by powerful allies always ready to 
 *' gi ye J ou "*"*, vou h ave nothing to fear, and may enjoy in 
 * repcfe and tranquillity the fruits of your victories. For my 
 " part, indulge me to fpeak with truth and freedom, I think 
 " quite otherwife. The caufe of my apprehenfion is, my 
 " having obferved, that the decline of the greateft republics 
 " has always been at the time they believed themfelves moft 
 ' powerful, and that their very fecurity has prepared the pre- 
 " cipice into which they have fallen. The reafon of this is 
 *' evident. Profperity and adverfity never come alone, but 
 " have each their train of very different effects. The firft is 
 ** attended with vain-glory, pride, and infolence, which daz- 
 " zle the mind, and infpire ralh and extravagant meafures : 
 " On the contrary, the companions of adverfity, are modef- 
 " ty, felf diffidence, and circumfpe&ion, which naturally ren- 
 " der men prudent, and apt to amend from their own failings. 
 44 So that it is hard to judge which of the two conditions "we 
 
 1 Ifoc. in Orat. Areop p. 278 280.
 
 Clap III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 97 
 
 " ought to defire for a city ; as that which appears unhappy, 
 " is an almoft certain path to profperity ; and the other fo 
 " flattering and fplendid, generally leads on to the greateft 
 " misfortunes." The blow which the Lacedaemonians re- 
 ceived at the battle of dados is a mournful proof of what he 
 fays. 
 
 y Agefilaus was in Boeotia, and upon the point of giving 
 battle when this bad news was brought him. Apprehending 
 that it might difcourage and deter his troops, he caufed it to 
 be reported in the army, that the Lacedaemonians had gained 
 a confiderable viftory at fea , and appearing in public with a 
 wreath of flowers upon his head, he offered a facriiice of 
 thankfgiving for the good news, and fent part of it in prefents 
 to his officers. z The two armies, almofl equal in ftrength, 
 were in view of each other upon the plains of Coronaea, when 
 they drew up in battle. Agefilaus gave the left wing to the 
 Orchomenians, and took the right himfelf. On the other fide, 
 the Thebans were upon the fight, and the Argives on the 
 left. Xenophon fays, that this was the moft furious battle in 
 his time j and may be believed, as he was prefent in it, and 
 fought near the perfon of Agefilaus, with whom he had re- 
 turned from Afia. 
 
 The firfl charge was hot very obflinate, nor of long conti- 
 nuance. The Thebans foon put the Orchomenians to flight ; 
 and Agefilaus overthrew and routed the Argives. But both 
 parties having learned that their left wing had been very fe- 
 verely handled, and fled, returned immediately ; Agefilaus to 
 oppofe the Thebans", and to wrefl the vidory out of their hands ; 
 and the Thebans, to follow their left wing, which was retired 
 to Helicon. Agefilaus at that moment might have aflured 
 himfelf of a complete victory, if he would have let the The- 
 bans pafs on, and had charged them after in the rear ; but 
 carried away by the ardour of his courage, he refolved to 
 Hop them with an attack in front, and to beat them by pure 
 Volume IV. G 
 
 y Plut. in Agefil. p. 605. 
 
 z Ibid. Xenoph. hift. Grace, p. 518 5iO. et in Agefd. p. 659, 669,
 
 98 HISTORY OF THE Book IX* 
 
 force. In which, fays Xenophon, he {he-wed more valour 
 than prudence. 
 
 The Thebans, feeing Agefilaus advance agalnft them, drew 
 all their foot immediately into one body, formed a hollow 
 fquare, and waited his coming up in good order. The engage- 
 ment was Iharp and bloody on all fides, but particularly where 
 Agefilaus fought at the head of the fifty young Spartans fent 
 him by the city. The valour and emulation of thofe young 
 men were of great fervice to Agefilaus, and may be faid to 
 have faved his life ; for they fought around him with exceed- 
 ing ardor, and expofed themfelves foremoft in all dangers for 
 the fafety of his perfon. They could not however prevent his 
 receiving feveral wounds through his armour from pikes and 
 fwords. Notwithftanding, after an exceeding warm difpute, 
 they brought him off alive from the enemy, and making their 
 bodies a rampart for him, facrificed a great number of The- 
 bans to his defence. Many of thofe young men were alfo left 
 upon the field. At length, finding it too difficult to break the 
 Thebans in front, they were forced to have recourfe to what 
 they had at firft rejected. They opened their phalanx to let 
 them pafs ; which when they had done, as they marched af- 
 terwards in more diforder, they charged them again upon the 
 flanks and rear. They could, however, neither break them 
 nor put them to flight. Thofe brave Thebans made their re- 
 treat continually fighting, and gained Helicon, elate with the 
 fuccefs of the battle, wherein on their fide they had alwavs 
 remained invincible. 
 
 Agefilaus, though very much weakened by the great num- 
 ber of his wounds, and the quantity of blood he had loft, would 
 not retire to his tent, till he had been carried to the place where 
 his phalanx was drawn up, and had feen all the dead bodies 
 removed even upon their own arms. He was informed there, 
 that many of the enemy had taken refuge in the temple of 
 Minerva Itonienfis, which was not very diilant from the field 
 of battle, and afked what he would have done with them. 
 As he was full of veneration for the gods, he gave orders to 
 let them go, and even fent them a guard to efcort them in 
 fafety wherever they thought fit.
 
 . III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 99 
 
 The next morning Agefilaus, to try whether the Thebans 
 would have the courage to renew the battle, commanded his 
 troops to crown themfelves with flowers, and the mufic of the 
 army to play, whilft a trophy was erefted and adorned in ho- 
 nour of his viftory. At the fame inftant, the enemy fent he- 
 ralds to demand his permiffion to bury their dead ; which he 
 granted, with a truce ; and having confirmed his victory by 
 that act of a conqueror, he caufed himfelf to be carried to 
 Delphos, where the Pythian games were then celebrated. He 
 made there a folemn proceffion, which was followed by a fa- 
 ciifice, and confecrated the tenth part of the booty taken in 
 Alia to the god, which amounted to an hundred talents *. 
 Thefe great men, no lefs religious than brave, never failed to 
 exprefs by prefents their gratitude to the gods for their fuc- 
 cefles in arms ; declaring, by that public homage, that they 
 believed themfelves indebted for their victories to their pro- 
 tection. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 AcESILAUS returns victorious to SPARTA. A PEACE, JJjame- 
 ful to the GREEKS, concluded. 
 
 AFTER the feflival*, Agefilaus returned to Sparta. His citizens 
 received him with all the marks of the moft real joy, and be- 
 held him with admiration, when they obferved the fimplicity of 
 his manners, and the conftant frugality and temperance of his 
 life. At his return from foreign countries, where pomp, lux- 
 ury, floth, and the love of pleafures entirely prevailed, he was 
 not infected with the .manners of the Barbarians, as moft of 
 the other generals had been : He made no alteration in his 
 diet, bath, equipage of his wife, ornaments of his arms, or 
 furniture of his houfe. In the midft of fo mining a reputation, 
 and the univerfal applaufe, always the fame, or rather more 
 modefl than before, he diftinguimed himfelf from the reft of 
 the citizens, only by a greater fubmiflion to the laws, and 3 
 
 Gij 
 
 a Plut. in Agefil. p. 606. 
 
 * An hundred thoufand crowns; about L. a*, 500.
 
 100 HISTORY OF THZ Book IX. 
 
 more inviolable attachment to the cuftoms of his country ; 
 convinced, that he was only king to be the brighter example 
 of thofe virtues to others. 
 
 b He made greatnefs confift in virtue only. Hearing the 
 Great King, fo the kings of Perfia ufed to call themfelves, 
 fpoken of in magnificent terms, and his power extremely ex- 
 tolled ; " * I cannot conceive," faid he, " wherein he is greater 
 " than me, unlefs he be more virtuous." 
 
 There were at Sparta fome citizens, who, vitiated by the 
 prevailing tafte of Greece, made their merit and glory coniift 
 in keeping a great number of horfes for the race. He per- 
 fuaded his lifter Cynifca to difpute the prize in the Olympic 
 games, in order to mew the Greeks, that thofe victories on 
 which they fet fo high a value, were not the efFe&s of valout 
 and bravery, but of riches and expence. She was the firft of 
 her fex who fhared in this honour. He had not the fame 
 opinion of the exercifes which contributed to render the body 
 more robufl, and inure it to labour and fatigue ; and to place 
 them in greater eftimation, would often honour them with his 
 prefence. 
 
 Some time after Lyfander's death, he difcovered the con- 
 fpiracy formed by that captain agairifl the two kings, which 
 till then had not been heard of, and came to light by a kind of 
 accident, in the following manner : c Upon fo'^ne affairs, which 
 related to the government, it was neceflary to confuk Lyfan- 
 der's papers, and Agefilaus went to his houfe for that purpofe. 
 In running them over, he fell upon the meets which con- 
 tained at large the harangue of Cleon for the new method of 
 proceeding in the election of kings. Surprifed at perufing it, 
 he gave over his fearch, and went away abruptly to commu- 
 nicate that oration to the citizens, and to let them fee what 
 manner of man Lyfander was, and how much they had been 
 deceived in regard to him. But Lacratidas, a wife and prudent 
 perfon, and prefident of the Ephori, interpofed, by telling 
 him, That it was highly improper to raife Lyfander from the 
 dead ; on the contrary, that it was neceiTary to bury his ha- 
 
 b Pint, de fui laud, p 555. c Pint, in AgcOl. p. 606, 
 * T ip* yt fu'^M uiftut, u f& MI
 
 C'hap. 111. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. IOI 
 
 jangue in the fame grave with him, as of dangerous tendency, 
 from the great art with which it was compofed, and the force 
 of perfuaiion that univerfally prevailed in it ; againft which it 
 might prove no eafy matter to refift. Agefilaus was of the 
 fame opinion, and the peace was configned to filence and ob- 
 livion, as the beft ufe that could be made of it. 
 
 d As his credit was very high in the city, he caufed Telu- 
 tias, his brother by the mother's fide, to be declared admiral 
 of the fleet. It were to be wifhed, that hiftory, to juftify this 
 choice, had mentioned any other qualities in that commander, 
 than his nearnefs of blood to the king. Agefilaus foon after 
 let out with his land-army to befiege Corinth, and took die 
 long walls, as they were called, whilft his brother Telutias 
 attacked it by fea. He did feveral other exploits againft the 
 people of Greece at war with Sparta, which always argue in- 
 deed the valour and experience of the general, but are neither 
 very important nor decifive, and which we thought, for that 
 reafon, might be omitted. 
 
 e At the fame time Pharnabafus and Conon, having made 
 themfelves mafters at fea, ravaged the whole coaft of Laconia. 
 That fatrap, returning to his goverment of Phrygia, left Co- 
 non the command of the naval army, with very confiderable 
 fums for the re-eftablifhment of Athens. Conon, victorious 
 and crowned with glory, repaired thither, where he was re- 
 ceived with universal applaufe. The fad profpecl of a city, 
 formerly fo ilouriming, and at -that time reduced to fo melan- 
 choly condition, gave him more grief, than he felt joy in fee- 
 ing his beloved country again, after fo many years abfence. 
 He loft no time, but fell immediately to work, employing, be- 
 fides mafons and the ufual artifans,.the foldiers, mariners, citi- 
 zens allies ; in a woid, all who were well inclined to Athens ; 
 .providence decreeing, .that this city, formerly deftroyed by the 
 Perfians, mould be rebuilt by their own hands ; and that having 
 -been difmantled and demoiiflied by the Lacedaemonians., it 
 
 G iij 
 
 d Plut. in Agefil. p. 606. 
 
 e A. M. 3611. Ant. J. C. 393. Xencph. hift. Grace. \, iv. p. 534 53; 
 xiv. p. 363. Juftin. 1. vi, c. 5. *
 
 102 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 fhould be reinftated at their own coft, and by the fpoils taken 
 from them. V/hat a viciffitude and alteration was this ! Athens 
 at this time had thofe for its allies, which had formerly been 
 its moft violent enemies, and for enemies, thofe with whom 
 before it had contracted the moft ftricl and moft confirmed 
 union. Conon, feconded by the zeal of the Thebans, foon 
 rebuilt the walls of Athens, reftored the city to its ancient 
 fplendor, and rendered it more formidable than ever to its 
 enemies. f After having offered to the gods a whole heca- 
 tomb, that is to fay, a facrifice of an hundred oxen, as a. 
 thankfgiving for the happy re-eftablilhment of Athens, he 
 made a feaft, to which all the citizens without exception 
 were invited 
 
 s Sparta could not fee without extreme afHiflion fo glorious 
 a revolution. It looked upon the grandeur and power of a 
 city, its ancient rival and almoft continual enemy, as its own, 
 ruin, which made the Lacedaemonians take the mean refolu- 
 tion of avenging themfelyes at once upon Athens, and Conon 
 its reftorer, by making peace with the king of Perfia. With 
 this view they difpatched Antalcides to Tiribafus. His com- 
 miflion confided of two principal articles. The firft was, to 
 accufe Conon to that fatrap of having defrauded the king of 
 the money, which he had employed in the re-eftablifhment; 
 of Athens ; and of having formed the defign of depriving the 
 Perfians of ^ilolia and Ionia, and to fubjedt them anew to the 
 republic of Athens, upon which they had formerly depended, 
 By the fecond, he had orders to make the moft advantageous 
 propofals to Tii ibafus his mafter could defire. Without giv- 
 ing himfelf any manner of trouble in regard to Afia, he Popu- 
 lated only, that all the ifiands and other cities ihould enjoy 
 their laws and liberty. The Lacedaemonians thus gave up to 
 the king, with the greateft injuftice and the utmoft bafcnefs, 
 all the Greeks fettled in Afia ; for whofe liberty Agefilaus had 
 fo long fought. It is true, he had no iliare in this moft infa- 
 mous negotiation ; the wliole reproach of which ought to fall 
 on Antalcides, who, being the fworn enemy of the king of 
 
 f Athen. 1. i. p. 3. 
 
 t Xenoph. hift. Grace. 1. iv. p. 537, 538. Plut. in Agefil. p. 609.
 
 Chap. Ill* PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 103 
 
 Sparta, hailened the peace by all manner of means, becaufe 
 the war augmented the authority, glory, and reputation of 
 Agefilaus. 
 
 The moft confiderable cities of Greece had fent deputies at 
 the fame time to Tiribafus ; and Conon was at the head of thofe 
 from Athens. All of them were unanimous in rejecting fuch 
 propofals. Without fpeaking of the interefts of the Greeks of 
 Afia, with which they were extremely affected, they faw them- 
 felves expofed by this treaty ; the Athenians, to the lofs of 
 the ifles of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros ; the Thebans, to 
 abandon the cities of Boeotia, of which they were in pofieffion, 
 and which would thereby regain their independence ; and the 
 Argives, to renounce Corinth, with the lofs of which Argos 
 itfelf would foon, in all probability, be attended. The depu- 
 ties therefore withdrew without concluding any thing. 
 
 Tiribafus fcizcd Conon, and put him in prifon. Not daring 
 to declare openly for the Lacedaemonians, without an exprefs 
 order to that purpofe, he contented himfelf with fupplying 
 them underhand with confiderable fums of money for fitting 
 out a fleet, in order that the other cities of Greece might not 
 be in a condition to oppcfe them. After having taken thefe 
 precautions, he fet out directly for the court, to give the king 
 an account of the flate of his negociation. That prince was 
 well Satisfied with it, and direfted him in the ilrongeft terms 
 to put the laft hand to it. ' Tiribafus alfo laid before him the 
 Lacedaemonians accufation of Conon. Some authors, accord- 
 ing to Cornelius Nepos, have written that he was carried to 
 Sufa, and there executed by the king's order. The filence of 
 Xenophon, who was his cotemporary, in regard to his death, 
 makes it doubtful whether he did not efcape from prifon, or 
 fuflfer, as has been faid. 
 
 Whiiil this treaty was negociating, feveral aftions little con- 
 fiderable pafled between the Athenians and Lacedaemonians. 
 It was alfo at the fame time that Evagoras extended his con- 
 quefts in the ifland of Cyprus, of which we ihall foon treat. 
 
 h Tiribafus at length, upon his return, fummoned the depu- 
 
 G iiij 
 3617. Ant. J. C. 387. Xenoph. 1. r. p. 548 J5J,
 
 104 HISTORY OF THE Bool IX. 
 
 ties of the Grecian cities to be prefent at the reading of the 
 treaty. It imported, that all the Grecian cities of Afiaihould 
 remain dependant on the king, and that the reft, as well fmall 
 as great, fhould have full pofleffion of their liberty. The king 
 further referred to himfelf the ifles of Cyprus and Clazomena, 
 and left thofe of Scyros, Lemnos, and Imbros, to the Atheni- 
 ans, to whom they liad long appertained. By the fame treaty ' 
 he engaged to join with fuch people as came into it, in order 
 to make war by fea and land againft all who Ciould refufe to 
 agree to. it. We have already laid it was Sparta itfelf propoied 
 thefe conditions. 
 
 All the other cities of Greece, or at leafc the greateft part 
 of them, rejefted fo infamous a treaty with horror. However, 
 as r they were weakened and exhaufted by domeftic divifions, 
 and not in a condition to fupport a war againft fo powerful a 
 prince, who threatened to fall with all his forces upon thofe 
 who mould refufe to come into this peace, they were obliged 
 againft their will to comply with it ; except the Thebans, who 
 had the courage to oppofe it openly at firft, but were at length 
 reduced to accept it, with the others., by whom they found 
 themfelves univerfally abandoned. 
 
 Such was the fruit of the jealoufy and divifions which armed 
 the Grecian cities againft each other, and was the end propofed 
 by the policy of Artaxerxes, in diftributing fums of money 
 amongft the feveral ftates ; invincible in arms, and to the 
 fword, but not to the gold and prefents of the Perfians ; fo 
 remote were they in this refpeft from the character of the an- 
 cient Greeks their forefathers. 
 
 To comprehend aright how much Sparta and Athens differed 
 from what they had been in former times, we have only to 
 compare the two treaties concluded between the Greeks and 
 Perfians ; the former by Cimon the Athenian J under Artax- 
 erxes Longimanus above fixty years before, and the latter by 
 Antalcides the Lacedaemonian, under Artaxerxes Mnemon. 
 In the firft, Greece, victorious and triumphant, allures the li- 
 berty of the Ailatic .Greeks, gives the law to the Perfians, im- 
 pofes what conditions it ple?.fes, and prefcnbes bounds and li- 
 i Died. 1. xii. p. 74, 75-
 
 Clap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 105 
 
 inits, by prohibiting them to approach nearer to the fea with, 
 their troops than the diftance of three days march ; or to ap- 
 pear with long veflels in any of the feas between the Cyanaean 
 and Chalidonian iflands ; that is to fay, from the Euxine to the 
 coafts of Pamphilia. In the fecond, on the contrary, Perfia, 
 grown haughty and imperious, takes pleafure in humbling its 
 conquerors, in depriving them, with the lingle ftroke of a pen, 
 of their empire in Alia Minor, in compelling them to abandon 
 bafely all the Greeks eflablifhed in thofe rich provinces, to 
 fubfcribe to their own fubje&ion, and to confine themfelves in 
 their turn within the narrow bounds of Greece. 
 
 From whence can fo ftrange an alteration arife ? Are there 
 not on both fides the fame cities, the fame people, the fame 
 forces, and the fame intereft ? No doubt there are ; but they 
 are not the fame men, or rather, they have no longer the fame 
 principles of policy. Let us recall thofe happy times of Greece, 
 ib glorious for Athens and Sparta, when Perfia came pouring 
 like a deluge upon this little country with all the forces of the 
 Eaft. What was it that rendered the two cities invincible, and 
 Superior to fuch numerous and formidable armies ! Their 
 union and good underftanding. No duTenfion between the 
 tw r o flates, no jealoufy of command, no private view of in- 
 tereft ; in fine, no other contefts between them but of honour, 
 glory, and the love of their country. 
 
 To fo laudable an union may be added an irreconcileable hatred 
 for the Perfians, which became a kind of nature in the Greeks, 
 and was the moft diftinguiftiing character of that nation. k It 
 was a capital crime, and puniihed with death, only to mention 
 peace, or propofe any accommodation with them; and an 
 Athenian mother was feen to throw the firfl ftone at her fon, 
 who had dared to make fuch a motion, and to fet others the 
 example of floning him. 
 
 This ft rift union of the two ftates, and declared abhorrence 
 of the common enemy, were a long time the potent barriers 
 of their fecurity, rendered them invincible, and may be faid to 
 have been the fource and principle of all the glorious fuccefies 
 jvhich raifed the reputation of Greece to fo high a pitch. But 
 k Ifoc, in Paiwgyr. p. 14 j.
 
 106 HISTORY OF THt 3ook IX, 
 
 by a misfortune common to the moft fiourifhing ftates, thofe 
 very fuccefles became the caufe of its ruin, and prepared the 
 vay for the difgraces it experienced in the fequel. 
 
 1 Thefe two flates, which might have carried their victorious 
 arms into the heart of Perfia, and have attacked in their turn 
 the great king upon his throne itfelf ; inftead of forming in 
 concert fuch an enterprife, which would at once have crowned 
 them with glory, and laden them with riches, have the folly to 
 leave their common enemy at repofe, to embroil themfelves 
 with each other upon trivial points of honour, and intereils 
 of little importance, and to exhauft the forces ineffectually 
 *gainit themfelves, which ought to have been employed folely 
 againft the Barbarians, who could not have refilled them. For 
 it is remarkable that the Perlians never had any advantage over 
 the Athenians or Lacedaemonians, whilil they were united 
 with each other, and that it was their own divifions only 
 \vhich fupplied them with the means to conquer both alter- 
 jiately, and always the one by the other. 
 
 Thefe diviiions induced them to take fuch meafures as nei- 
 ther Sparta nor Athens would ever have otherwife been capable 
 of. We fee both the one and the other difhonour themfelves 
 by their mean and abject flatteries, not only of the king of Per- 
 iia, but even of his fatraps ; pay their court to them, eameftly 
 folicit their favour, cringe to them, and even fuffer their ill 
 humour ; and all this to obtain fome aid of troops or money, 
 forgetting that the Perfians, haughty and infolent to fuch as 
 feemed afraid of them, became timorous and little to thofe 
 who had the courage to defpife them. But in fine, what did 
 they gain by all thefe mean condefcenfions ? The treaty which 
 gave occafion for thefe reflections, and will for ever be the re- 
 proach of Sparta and Athens. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 WAS of JRTAXERXES again/I EVAGGRAS. 
 
 vv HAT I have faid upon the facility with which the Greeks 
 might have rendered themfelves formidable to cheir enemies, 
 will be more evident, if \ve conadc-r, on" one fide, the diverilgr 
 '.Hoc. in Pacegyr. p. ija 137. In Pacath. p. J2.<, j~j.
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. IO} 
 
 of people, and extent of country, which compofed the vail em- 
 pire of the Perfians, and on the other, the weaknefs of the go- 
 vernment, incapable of animating fo great a mafs, and of f up- 
 porting the weight of fo much bufinefs and application. At 
 the court every thing was determined by the intrigues of wo- 
 men, and the cabals of favourites, whofe whole merit often 
 confifted in flattering their prince, and foothing his paffions. 
 It was upon their credit officers were chofen, and the firft dig- 
 nities difpofed of ; by their opinion the fervices of the generals 
 of armies were judged, and their rewards decided. The fe- 
 quel will mew, that from the fame fource arofe the infurrec- 
 tion of provinces, the diftruft of the greateft part of the go- 
 vernors, the difcontent and confequential revolt of the bed 
 officers, and the ill fuccefs of almoft all the enterprifes that 
 were formed. 
 
 Artaxerxes, having got rid of the care and perplexity which 
 the war with the Greeks had occafioned, applied himfelf to 
 the terminating that of Cyprus, which had lafted feveral years, 
 but had been carried on with little vigour, and turned the 
 greateft part of his forces that way. 
 
 m Evagoras reigned at that time in Salamin, the capital city 
 of the ifle of Cyprus. He was defcended from Teucerof * Sa- 
 lamin, who at his return from Troy built this city, and gave 
 it the name of his country. His descendants had reigned there 
 from that time ; but a ftranger of Phoenicia, having difpofleff- 
 ed the lawful king, had taken his place, and to maintain him- 
 felf in the ufurpation, had filled the city with Barbarians, and 
 fubjecled the whole ifland to the king of Perfia. 
 
 Under this tyrant Evagoras was born, of whofe education 
 great care was taken. He was diftinguifhed among the youth 
 by the beauty of his afpecl, the vigour of his body, and more 
 by the modefty and innocence of his manners f, v/hich are the 
 greateft ornaments of that age. As he advanced in years, the 
 greateft virtues, valour, wifdom, and juftice, were obferved to 
 
 m Ifocrat. inEvag. p. 380. 
 
 * This Teucer was of Salamin, a little ifland near Athens celebrated for the 
 famous battle under Xerxes. 
 
 t Et qui orcat aetatem, pudor, Cic.
 
 loS HISTORY OF THE Book IX, 
 
 trighten in "him. He afterwards carried thefe virtues to fo con. 
 fpicuous an height, as to give jealoufj to thofe that governed ; 
 who perceived juftly that fo fliining a merit could not continue 
 in the obfcurity of a private condition ; but his modefty, pro- 
 bity, and integrity, reaflured them, and they repofed an en- 
 tire confidence in him, to which he always anfwered by an in- 
 violable fidelity, without ever meditating their expulfion from 
 *he throne by violence or treachery. 
 
 A more juftifiable -means conducted him to it, divine pro- 
 vidence, as Ifocrates fays, preparing the way for him. One 
 of the principal citizens murdered the perfon upon the throne, 
 and had contrived to feize Evagorag, and to rid himfelf of him, 
 in order to fecure the crown to himfelf ; but that prince efcap- 
 ing his purfuit, retired to Solos, a city of Cilicia. His banifli- 
 jnent was fo far from abating his courage, that it gave him 
 new vigour. Attended only with fifty followers, determined 
 like himfelf to conquer or tlie, he returned to Salamin, and 
 expelled the nfurper, though fupported by the credit and pro- 
 teftion of the king of Perfia. Having re-eftabliIHed himfelf 
 in Salamin, he foon rendered his little kingdom mofl nouriih- 
 ing, by his application to the relief of his fubjefts, and by pro- 
 tecting them in all things ; by governing them with juftice and 
 benevolence ; by making them active and laborious ; by in- 
 fpiring them wi-th a tafte for the cultivation of lands, the breed- 
 ing of cattle, commerce, and navigation. He formed them al- 
 fo for war, aad made them excellent foldiers. 
 
 He was already very powerful, and had acquired great re- 
 putation, when Conon the Athenian general, after his defeat 
 at Egofpotamos, took refuge with him ^ l not thinking it pof- 
 fible to find a fafer afvlum for himfelf, nor a more powerful 
 fupport of his country. The refemblance of their manners 
 and fentiments foon made them contract a ftricl amity with 
 each other, which continued ever after, and proved equally 
 advantageous to both. m Conon was in great credit at the 
 king of Perfia's court, which he employed with that prince, 
 
 j A. M. 3597. Ant. J. C. 405. Ifocrat. in Evig. p. ;>)3- 395- 
 m A. M. j6cj. Ant. J. 399.
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS ANI> GRECIANS. 109 
 
 by the means of Ctefias the phyfician, to accommodate his 
 differences with his hoft Evagoras, and happily aiFc&ed it. 
 
 Evagoras and Conon, with the great defign of fubverting, 
 or at leafl of reducing the great power of Sparta, which had 
 rendered itfelf formidable to all Greece, concerted together the 
 means for the attainment of that end. They were both citi- 
 zens of Athens \ the latter by birth, and the other by right 
 of adoption ; which his great fervices, and zeal for that repub* 
 lie had deferved. tt The Satraps of Afia faw with pain their 
 country ravaged by the Lacedaemonians, and found themfelves 
 in great difficulties, from not being in a condition to make 
 head againft them. Evagoras remonftrated to them, that it 
 was necefTary to attack the enemy as well by lea as land j and 
 he did not contribute a little, by his credit with the king of 
 Perfia, to Conon's being appointed general of his fleet. The 
 celebrated victory over the Lacedaemonians at Cnidos was the 
 confequence, and gave the mortal wound to that republic. 
 
 p The Athenians, in acknowledgment of the important fer- 
 vices Evagoras and Conon had rendered them with Artaxerxes, 
 creeled ilatues in honour of them. 
 
 q Evagoras on his fide, extending his conquefls from city to 
 city, endeavoured to make kimfelf rnafter of the whole ifland. 
 The Cypriots had recourfe to the king of Perfia. Thnt prince, 
 alarmed by the rapid progrefs of Evagoras, of which he ap- 
 prehended the effefts, and confcious of what importance it 
 was to him to prevent an ifland's falling into the hands of aa 
 enemy, fo favourably fituated for holding Afia Minor in awe, 
 promifed them an immediate and powerful fupport, without 
 declaring openly however againft Evagoras. 
 
 ' Being employed elfewhere by more important affairs, he 
 could not keep his word with them fo foon as he expected, 
 and had engaged. That war of Cyprus continued fix years ; 
 and the fuccels with which Evagoras fupported it againft the 
 great king, ought to have banifhed from the Greeks all terror 
 of the Fenian name, and united them againft the comm.oa 
 
 A. M. 3606. Ant. J. C. 398. A. M. 3610. Ant. J. C. 394, 
 
 f Paufan. 1. i. p. v. q Diod. 1. xiv, p. 311. 
 
 r A. M. 3614. Ant. J. C. 390. Ifvcrat.ln Paneg. p. jjf, 13$,
 
 Hd HISTORY OF THE Bosk IX. 
 
 enemy, It is true, the fuccours fent by Artaxerxes till then 
 were little confide rable, as they alfo were the two following 
 years. During all that time it was lefs a real war, than a pre- 
 paration for war : * But when he had difengaged himfelf from 
 the Greeks, he applied to it vigoroufly, and attacked Evago- 
 ras with his forces. 
 
 The army by land, commanded by Orontes his fon-in-law, 
 confided of three hundred thoufand men, and the fleet of three 
 hundred gallies ; of which Tiribafus, a Perfian of the higheft, 
 rank and greateft reputation, was admiral. Gaos his fon-in- 
 law commanded under him. Evagoras on his fide aflembled 
 as many troops and fhips as he could ; but they were an hand- 
 ful in comparifon with the formidable preparations of the Per- 
 fians. He had a fleet of only fourfcore and ten gallies, and 
 his army fcarce amounted to twenty thoufand men. As he 
 had abundance of light veflels, he laid fnares for thofe that 
 carried the provifions of the enemy, of which he funk a great 
 number, took many, and prevented the reft from arriving ; 
 which occasioned a famine amongft the Perfians, attended with 
 violent feditions, which could only be appeafed by the com- 
 ing of frefh convoys from Cilicia. Evagoras ftrengthened 
 his fleet with fixty gallies, which he caufed to be built, and 
 fifty fent him by Achoris king of Egypt, with all the money 
 and corn he could have occafion for. 
 
 Evagoras with his land-forces attacked immediately a part 
 of the enemy's army, which was feparate from the reft, and 
 entirely routed it. This firft a&ion was foon followed by an- 
 other at fea, in which the Perfians were worfted for fome 
 time, till, animated by the warm reproaches and remonftran- 
 ces of their admiral, they refumed courage, and obtained a 
 complete viftory. Salamin was immediately befieged by fea 
 and land. Evagoras, leaving the defence of the city to his 
 fon Pythagoras, quitted it in the night with ten gallies, and 
 failed for Egypt, to engage the king to fupport him vigorouf- 
 ly againft the common enemy. He did not obtain from him. 
 all the aid he expected. At his return he found the city in 
 exceeding diftrefs ; and finding himfelf without refourre o r 
 
 *A. M. 3618. Ant. J. C. .;86. Diod. 1. xv. p. 318 33:.
 
 Cfjap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. Ill 
 
 hope, he was obliged to capitulate. The propofals made to 
 him were, that he mould abandon ull the cities of Cyprus, 
 except Salamin, where he ftiould content himfelf to reign ; 
 that he mould pay an annual tribute to the king, and rein^ia 
 in obedience to him as a fervant to a mailer. The extremity 
 to which he was reduced obliged him to accept the other con- 
 ditions, hard as they were ; but he could never refolve to com- 
 ply with the laft, and perMed always in declaring, that ha 
 could only treat as a king with a king. Tiribafus, who com- 
 manded the fiege, \vculd abate nothing of his pretenfions. 
 
 Orontes, the other general, jealous of his colleague's glory, 
 had written fecretly to court againft hira, accufinghim, amongll 
 other things, of forming defigns againft the king, and ftrength- 
 ened his accufation from his continuing to hold a fecret intel- 
 ligence with the Lacedaemonians, and his manifeft endeavours 
 to make the chiefs of the army his creatures, by the force of 
 prefents, promifes, and a complacency of manners not natu- 
 ral to him. Artaxerxes, upon thefe letters, believed he had 
 no time to lofe, and that it was neceffary to prevent a confpi- 
 racy ready to break out. He difpatched orders immediately 
 to Orontes, to feize Tiribafus, and fend him to court in chains 
 which was inftantly put in execution. Tiribafus, upon his ar- 
 rival demanded to be brought to a trial in form ; that the 
 heads of the accufation mould be communicated to him, and 
 the proofs and witnefies produced. The king, employed in 
 other .cares, had no leifure at that time to take cognizance of 
 the affair. 
 
 Orontes in the mean time feeing that the befieged made a 
 vigorous defence, and that the foldiers cf the army, difcon- 
 tented with the removal of Tiribafus, quitted the fervice and 
 refufed to obey him, was afraid affairs would take a bad turn 
 with regard to him. r He therefore caufed Evagoras to be 
 fpoke to underhand ; the negotiation was refumed ; the offers 
 made at firft by the letter were accepted ; and the mortifying 
 article, which had prevented the concluiion of the treaty, re- 
 trenched. The fiege was raifed in conference. Evagoras 
 
 t A. M. 3619. Ant. J. C. 385,
 
 Ili HISTORY or THE Book 1%. 
 
 continued king of Salamin only, and engaged to pay an annu- 
 al tribute. 
 
 It appears that this prince lived twelve or thirteen years af- 
 ter the conclufion of the treaty ; for his death is dated in the 
 year of the world 3632. His old age was attended with a hap- 
 pinefs and tranquillity never interrupted with ficknefs or dif- 
 eafe, the ufual effect of a fober and temperate life. Nicocles 
 his eldeil fon fucceeded him, and inherited his virtues as well 
 as his throne. He celebrated his funeral with the utmoft 
 magnificence. The difcourfe, entitled Evagoras, compofed by 
 Ifocrates, to infpire the young king with the defire of tread- 
 ing in the fteps of his father, and from which I have extract- 
 ed the fubfequent eulogium, ferved for his funeral oration. 
 He alfo addreffed another tra& to Nicocles, which bears his 
 name, wherein he gives him admirable precepts for governing 
 well. I {hall perhaps have occafion to fpeak further of them 
 afterwards. 
 
 EULOGT and CHARACTER of EVAGORAS. 
 
 THOUGH Evagoras was only king of a little ftate r , Ifocrates, 
 who was well able to judge of virtue and merit, compares him 
 with the moft powerful monarchs, and propofes him as the 
 perfect model of a good king ; convinced that not the extent 
 of provinces, but extent of mind and greatnefs of foul, con- 
 ftitute great princes. He does in effect point out to us many 
 qualities truly royal to him, and which ought to give us a very 
 high idea of his merit. 
 
 Evagoras was not of the number of thofe princes, who be- 
 lieve, that to reign, it is fufficient to be of the blood royal, 
 and that the birth which gives a right to the crown, gives alfo 
 the merit and qualities necefiary for wearing it with honour. He 
 did not fancy, that it could be fuppofed, as every other con- 
 dition and ilation of life made a kind of apprenticeship necef- 
 fary to its fucccfs, the art of reigning, the mofl difficult and' 
 important of all, mould require no pains and preparation for 
 its attainment. He came into the world with the moft happy 
 difpofitions ; a great fund of genius, an eafy conception, a 
 y Ifocrat. in Evaj .
 
 . III. FERSIAttS AND GRECIANS. ll^ 
 
 lively and inftant penetration which nothing efcaped, a folidi- 
 ty of judgment, that immediately refolved what it was necef- 
 fary to at : qualities, which might feem to difpenfe with all 
 ftudy and application ; and yet, as if he had been born with- 
 out talents, and found himfelf obliged to fupply by ftudy 
 what he might want by nature, he neglected no means for 
 the embellimment of his mind, and devoted a * confiderable 
 part of his time in infmicTang himfelf, in reflecting, medita- 
 ting, and confulting the judgment and merit of others. 
 
 When he afcended the throne, his greateft care and appli- 
 cation was to know mankind, in which the ability of a prince, 
 and of thofe who are at the head of affairs, principally con- 
 fifts. He had no doubt prepared himfelf for that fcience by 
 the ftudy of hiftory, which gives a kind of anticipation of it, 
 fupplies the place of experience, and teaches us what the men 
 are with whom we live, by what they have been in other 
 ages. But we ftudy men quite differently in themfelves ; by 
 their manners, characters, conduct, and adions. The love of 
 the commonwealth rendered him attentive to all perfons who 
 were capable of ferving or hurting it. He applied himfelf to 
 the difcovery of their moil fecret inclinations and principles of 
 adion, and to the knowledge of their different talents and de- 
 grees of capacity, in order to aftlgn each his proper poft, to 
 beftow authority according to merit, and to make the private 
 and public good promote each other. He neither rewarded 
 nor punifhed his fubjects, fays Ifocrates, from the report of 
 others ; but folely upon his own knowledge and experience of 
 them ; and neither the virtues of the good, nor the vices of 
 the bad, efcaped his inquiry and penetration. 
 
 He had one quality very feldom found in thofe who poffefs 
 the firft rank in authority, efpecially when they believe them- 
 felves capable of governing alone : I mean a wonderful doci- 
 lity and attention to the fenfe of others, which arofe from a 
 diffidence in his own abilities. With his great qualities, he 
 did not feem to have occafion for recourfe to the counfel of 
 ethers, and neverthelefs made no refolution, and formed no" 
 
 Volume IV. H 
 
 * 'Ef vu &Tt'i\,
 
 114 HISTORY OF THE Book IX* 
 
 enterprife, without having firil confulted the wife perfens he 
 had placed about him in his court ; inftead of which, pride 
 and prefumption, the latent poifons of fovereign power, in- 
 cline the greateft part of thofe who arrive at thrones, either 
 to aik no counfel at all, or not to follow it when they do. 
 
 Intent upon difcovering the excellent in every form of go- 
 vernment and private condition of life, he propofed the unit- 
 ing of all their high qualities and great advantages in himfelf - f 
 affable and popular as in a republican flate ; grave and ferious 
 as in the councils of the aged and the fenate ; fteady and de- 
 cifive as monarchy after mature deliberation ; a profound po- 
 litician by the extent and rectitude of his views ; an accom- 
 plifhed warrior, from intrepid valour in battle directed by a 
 wife moderation ; a good father, a good relation, a good 
 friend j and what crowns all his praife *, in every circum- 
 ilance of his character, always great, and always himfelf. 
 
 He fupported his dignity and rank, not with an air of pride 
 and haughtinefs, but by a ferenity of afpect, and a mild and 
 eafy majefty, refulting from innate virtues, and the evidence 
 of a good confcience. He Won the hearts of his friends by 
 his liberality, and conquered others by a greatnefs of foul, to 
 which they could not refufe their efleem and admiration. 
 
 But whatj was moil royal in him, and attracted the entire 
 confidence of his fubjedts, neighbours, and even enemies, was 
 his fincerity, faith, and regard to all his engagements ; and 
 his hatred, or rather deteilation, for all difguifes, falfehood, 
 and fraud. A {ingle word on his fide had as much regard 
 paid to it as the moft facred oath ; and it was univerfally 
 known, that nothing was capable of inducing him to violate 
 it in the leail circumftance whatfoever. 
 
 It v/as by all thefe excellent qualities that he effectually re-, 
 formed the city of Salamin, and entirely changed the face of 
 its afi'airs in a very fhort time. He found it grofs, favage, and 
 barbarous, without any tafte either for learning, commerce, 
 or arms. What cannot a prince do who loves his people, and 
 is beloved by them ; who believes himfelf great and powerful 
 only to render them happy; and knows how to fet a jufl 
 value upon and do honour to their labours, induftvy, and
 
 . III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 115 
 
 merit of every kind ? He had not been many years upon the 
 throne, before arts, fciences, commerce, navigation, and mi- 
 litary difcipline, were feen to fiourifh at Salamin ; infomuch 
 that that city did not give place to the moft opulent of Greece. 
 Ifocrates often repeats, that in the praifes he gives Evago- 
 ras, of which I have only extracted a part, far from exagge- 
 rating any tiling, he always falls fhort of truth. To what cari 
 we attribute a reign fo wife, fo juft, fo moderate, fo conflant- 
 ly employed in rendering his fubjecb happy, and in promot- 
 ing the public good ? The condition of Evagoras, before he 
 came to govern, feems to me to have contributed very much 
 to it. The being born a prince, and the having never experien- 
 ced any other condition but that of mafter and fovereign, are, 
 in my opinion, great obftacles to the knowledge and practice 
 of the duties of that high flation. Evagoras, xvho came into 
 the world under a tyrant, had long obeyed before he com- 
 manded. He had born in a private and dependant life the 
 yoke of an abfolute and defpotic power. He had feen himfelf 
 expofed to envy and calumny, and had been in danger for his 
 merit and virtue. Such a prince had only to be told upon his 
 afcending the throne what was faid to a great emperor * ; 
 " f You have not always been what you now are. Adveriity 
 " has prepared you to make a good ufe of power. You have 
 " lived long amongft us, and like us. You have been in 
 " danger under bad princes. You have trembled for your- 
 " felf, and known by experience how virtue and innocence 
 " have been treated. What he had perfonally fuffered, 
 \vhat he had feared for himfelf or others, what he had feen 
 unjuft and unreafonable in the conduct of his predeceflbrs, had 
 opened his eyes, and taught him all his duty. It fufficed to 
 tell him. what the emperor Galba told Pifo, when he adopt- 
 ed him his affociate in the empire : " $ Remember what you 
 
 Hij 
 
 * Trajan. 
 
 f Quam utile eft ad ufum fecundorum per adverfa venifTe ! Vixifti nobifcum, 
 periclitatus cs, timuifti. Quae tune erat innocentium vita fcis, et expertus cs 
 Plin. in panegyr. 
 
 f Utilifiimus quidem ac breviflimus bonarum malarumque rerum delectus, ccv 
 gitari? quid aut nolueris fub alio principe, aut volueris. Tacit, hift. 1. i. c. 1 6,
 
 Il6 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 '* condemned or applauded in princes, when you were fi pri- 
 " vate man. You have only to confult the judgment you 
 " then pafled upon them, and to aft conformably to it, for 
 " your inftru&ion in the art of reigning well." 
 
 TRIAL of TIRIBASUS. 
 
 WE have already faid, that Tiribafus, having been accufed 
 by Orontes of forming a confpiracy againft the king, had been 
 fent to court in chains. Gaos, admiral of the fleet, who had 
 married his daughter, apprehending that Artaxerxes would 
 involve him in the affair with his father-in-law, and caufe him 
 to be put to death upon mere fufpicion, conceived he had no 
 other means for his fecurity than an open revolt. He was 
 very well beloved by the foldiers ; and all the officers of the 
 fleet were particularly at his devotion. Without lofs of time 
 he fent deputies to Achoris king of Egypt, and concluded a 
 league with him againft the king of Perfia. On another fide, 
 he folicited the Lacedaemonians warmly to come into that 
 league, with alTurances of making them matters of all Greece, 
 and of eftablifhing univerfally their form of government ; at 
 which they had long feemed to afpire. They hearkened fa- 
 ^ourably to thefe propofals, and embraced with joy this occa- 
 iion of taking arms againft Artaxerxes ; the rather, becaufe 
 the peace they 'had concluded with him, by which they had 
 given up the Greeks of Afia, had covered them with fhame, 
 and filled them with remorfe. 
 
 As foon as Artaxerxes had put an end to the war of Cy- 
 prus *, he thought of concluding alfo the affair of Tiribafus. 
 He was fo juft as to appoint for that purpofe three commiSion* 
 ers, who were great lords of Perfia of diftinguiihed probity, 
 and of the higheft reputation in his court. The affair came 
 to an examination, and an hearing en both fides. For fo con- 
 fiderable a crime as that of having confpired againft the 
 king's perfon, no other proofs were produced than the let- 
 ters of Orontes ; that is to fay, of a declared enemy, ftudious 
 to fupplant his rival. Orontes was in hopes, from his credit 
 
 * Diodorus refers the decifion of this affair, till aftei the war with the Ca- 
 dnfiaiu, of which we 2u!l foon fpeak : this fcems very improbable.
 
 Chap. 111. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 117 
 
 at court, that the affair would not have been difcuffed in the 
 ufual forms, and that upon the memorial fent by him, the ac- 
 cufed would have been condemned without further examina- 
 tion. But that was not the cuftom with the Periians. By an 
 anciently-eflablifhed regulation, to which amongfl other pri- 
 vileges they had a right by birth, no perfcn was ever to be 
 condemned, without being firft heard and confronted with 
 his accufers. This was granted to Tiribafus, who anfwered 
 to all the articles of the letter. As to his connivance with 
 Evagoras, the treaty itfelf concluded by Orontes was his apo- 
 logy ; as it was abfolutely the fame that prince had propofed 
 to him, except a condition, which would have done honour 
 to his mailer. As to his intelligence with the Lacedaemoni- 
 ans, the glorious treaty he had made them fign, fufficiently 
 explained whether his own or the king's interefts were his 
 motives for it. He did not deny his credit in the army ; but 
 apprehended it had not been long a crime to be beloved by 
 the officers and foldiers ; and concluded his defence, in repre- 
 fenting the long fervices he had rendered the king, with in- 
 violable fidelity ; and efpecially his good fortune in having 
 formerly faved his life, when he was hunting, and in great 
 danger of being devoured by two lions. The three commif- 
 fioners were unanimous in declaring Tiribafus innocent. The 
 king reftored him to his former favour ; and juftly enraged at 
 the black delign of Orontes, let the whole weight of his in- 
 dignation fall upon him. A fingle example of this kind 
 againft informers convi&ed of falfehood, would for ever fhut 
 the door againft calumny. How many innocents have been 
 deftroyed for want of obferving this rule, which even the Pa- 
 gans confidered as the bafis of all juftice, and the guardian of 
 the public tranquillity ! 
 
 JUij
 
 Il8 HISTORY OF THE Sool IX, 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Tie EXPEDITION of ARTAXERXES againjl tie CADUSIANS. 
 HISTORT of DATAMES the CARIAN. 
 
 \V HEN Artaxerxes had terminated the Cyprian war *, he en- 
 tered upon another againft the Cadufians, who it is probable 
 had revolted, and refufed to pay the cuftomary tribute ; for 
 authors fay nothing as to the occafion of this war. Thofe 
 people inhabited part of the mountains, fituated between the 
 Zuxine and Cafpian feas in the north of Media. The foil is 
 there fo ungrateful, and fo little proper for cultivation, that 
 no corn is fown upon it. The people fubfift almoft entirely 
 upon apples, pears, and other fruits of that kind. Inured 
 from their infancy to a hard and laborious life, they looked 
 upon dangers and fatigues as nothing ; and for that reafon 
 made excellent foldiers. The king marched againft them in 
 perfon, at the head of an army of three hundred thoufand 
 foot, and ten thoufand horfe. Tiribafus was with him in this 
 expedition. 
 
 Artaxerxes had not advanced far into the country, when 
 his army fuffered extremely by famine. The troops could 
 find nothing to fubiift upon ; and it was impoffible to bring 
 provifions from other places, the ways being difficult and im- 
 prafticable. The whole camp were reduced to eat their 
 carriage bcafts ; which foon became fo fcarce, that an afs's 
 head was valued at fixty drachms *, and was very hard to be, 
 got at that price. The king's table itfelf began to fall fhort, 
 and only a few horfes remained, the reft having been entirely 
 confumed. 
 
 In this melancholy conjuncture, Tiribafus contrived a ftrata- 
 gem, which faved the king and army. The Cadufians had two 
 kings, who were encamped feparately with their troops. Tiri- 
 bafus, who took care to be informed of all that pafled, had 
 been apprifed that there was fome mihmderilandirig between 
 them, and that their jealoufy of each other prevented their 
 
 3 Plut in Artax. p. p. $023, 1024- 
 * Thirty livrcs.
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. H 
 
 ading in concert, as they ought to have done. After having 
 communicated his defign to Artaxerxes, he went himfelf to 
 one of the kings, and difpalched his fon to the other. They 
 each of them informed the king to whom they applied, that 
 the other had fent ambaffadors to treat with Artaxerxes pri- 
 vately, and advifed him to lofe no time, but to make his peace 
 directly, in order that the conditions of it might be the more 
 advantageous ; promifing to affift them with their whole cre- 
 dit. The fraud fucceeded. The * Pagans thought it no crime 
 to ufe it with enemies. Ambafladors fet out from both 
 princes, with Tiribafus and his fon in their company. 
 
 As this double negotiation lafted fome time, Artaxerxes 
 began to fufpecl Tiribafus ; and his enemies taking that op- 
 portunity, forgot nothing to his prejudice that might ruin 
 him in the king's opinion. That prince already repented the 
 confidence he had repofed in him, and thereby gave room for 
 thofe who envied him, to vent their calumies and invectives. 
 Upon what does the fortune of the moft faithful fubje&s de- 
 pend with a credulous and fufpicious prince ? Whillt this paf- 
 fed, arrived Tiribafus on his fide, and his fon on the other, each 
 with ambafiadors from the Caduiians. The treaty being con- 
 cluded with both parties, and the peace made, Tiribafus became 
 more powerful than ever in his mafler's favour, and returned 
 with him. 
 
 The king's behaviour in this march was much admired. 
 Neither the gold with which he was covered, his purple robes, 
 nor the jewels that glittered all over him, and were worth iix- 
 and-thirty millions of livresf, prevented his having an equal 
 (hare in the whole fatigue with the meaneil foldier. He was 
 feen with his quiver at his back, and his fnield on his arm, to 
 difmount from his hotfe, and march foremoft in thofe rugged 
 and difficult countries. The foldiers obferving his patience 
 and fortitude, and animated by his example, became fo lighl^ 
 that they feemed rather to fly than walk. At length he arrived 
 at one of his palaces, where the gardens were in admirable or- 
 
 Hiiij 
 
 * Dolus an virtus,' quis in hofte recjuirat ?' Virgil 
 
 1 Twelve thoufand uler.ts.
 
 X20 HISTORY OF THE Book IX. 
 
 der, and there was a park of great extent and well planted, 
 which was the more furprifing, as the whole country about it 
 was entirely naked, and bore no kind of trees. As it was the 
 depth of winter, and exceffive cold, he gave the foldiers per- 
 miffion to cut down the wood in this park, without excepting 
 the fineil trees, either pines or cyprefies. But the foldiers 
 not being able to refolve to fell timber of fuch exceeding beau- 
 ty and ftatelinefs, the king took an ax, and began by cutting 
 the fined and largeft tree himfelf; after which the troops 
 fpared none, cut down all the wood they wanted, and kindled 
 as many fires as were neceflary to their paffing the night with- 
 out any inconvenience. When we reflect how much value 
 great perfons generally fet upon their gardens and houfes of 
 pleafure, we mufl confefs Artaxerxes's generofity in making 
 this facrifice, which argued a very laudable goodnefs of heart, 
 and a fenfibility for the diftrefies and fufferings of his foldiers. 
 But he did not always fupport that character. 
 
 The king had loft in this enterprife a great number of his 
 beft troops, and almoft all his horfes : And as he imagined 
 that he w r as defpifed upon that account, and the ill fuccefs of 
 his expedition, he became very much out of humour with the 
 grandees of his court, and put to death a great number of them 
 in the emotions of his wrath, and more out of diftruft, and 
 the fear of their attempting fomething againft him : For fear 
 in a fufpicious prince is a very definitive and bloody paffion ; 
 whereas true courage is gentle, humane, and averfe to all jea- 
 loufy and fufpicion. 
 
 b One of the principal officers that perifhed in this expedi- 
 tion againft the Cadufians, was Camifares, by nation a Carian, 
 and governor of Leuco-Syria, a province inclofed between 
 Cilicia and Cappadocia. His fon Datames fucceeded him in 
 that government, which was given him in confideration of the 
 good fervices he had alfo rendered the king in the fame expe- 
 dition. He was the greateft captain of his time ; and Corne- 
 lius Nepos, who has given us his life, does not prefer Amilcar 
 "and Hannibal to him amongft the Barbarians. It appears from 
 bis hiftory of it, that no one ever excelled him in boldness, 
 fr Cor. Nep. in vit. Datam's
 
 Chap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 121 
 
 valour, and ability in inventing fchemes and ftratagems, in 
 activity in the execution of his defigns, in prefence of mind to 
 refolve in the heat of action, and to find refources upon the 
 moft defperate occasions ; in a word, in every thing that re- 
 gards military knowledge. It feems that nothing was want- 
 ing to his having acquired a more illuftrious name, than a 
 noble theatre, and more exalted occafions ; and perhaps an hi- 
 ftorian to have given a more exteniive narration of his exploits : 
 For Cornelius Nepos, according to his general plan, could not 
 relate them but in a very fuccinc"l manner. 
 
 He began to diftinguilh himfelf particularly by the execu- 
 tion of a qommiffion, that was given him to reduce Thyus, a 
 very powerful prince, and governor of Paphlagonia, who had 
 revolted againft the king. As he was his near relation, he 
 thought it incumbent upon him at firfl to try the methods of 
 lenity and reconciliation, which almofl coft him his life, through 
 the treachery of Thyus, by the ambufcades he laid for him. 
 Having efcaped fo great a danger, he attacked him with open 
 force ; though he faw himfelf adandoned by Ariobaraanes, 
 fatrap of Lydia, Ionia, and all Phrygia, whom jealoufy pre- 
 vented from giving him aid. He took his enemy prifoner, 
 \vith his wife and children ; and knowing with what joy the 
 king would receive the news, he endeavoured to make it the 
 more fenfible by the pleafure of a furprife. He fet out with 
 his illuftrious prifoner, without giving the court any advice, 
 and made great marches, to prevent its being known from 
 rumour before his arrival. When he came to Sufa, he equip- 
 ped Thyus in a very fingular manner. He .was a man of a 
 very tall ftature, of an haggard and terrible afpecl, a black com- 
 plexion, with the hair of his head and beard very long. He dref- 
 fed him in a magnificent habit, put a collar and bracelets of gold 
 about his neck and arms, and added to this equipage all the 
 ornaments of a king, as he was in effect. For himfelf, in the 
 grofs habit of a peafant, and clad like a hunter, he led Thyus 
 upon the left in a leafh, like a wild beaft that had been taken 
 in the toils. The novelty of the light drew the whole city 
 after it : But nobody was fo much furprifed and pleafed as the
 
 131 HISTORY OF THE Book IX, 
 
 king, -when he faw them approach in that pleafant mafquerade. 
 The rebellion of a prince, very powerful in his country, had 
 given Artaxerxes great and juft alarm ; and he did not expect 
 to have feen him fo foon in his hands. So fudden and fuc- 
 cefsful an execution gave him an higher opinion than ever of 
 the merit of Datames. 
 
 To exprefs his fenfe of it, he gave him an equal lhare in 
 the command of the army deligned againft Egypt, with Phar- 
 nabafus and Tithrauftes, the two principal perfons in the ftate, 
 and eVen appointed him general in chief, when he recalled 
 Pharnabafus. 
 
 When he was upon the point of fetting out for that expe- 
 dition, Artaxerxes ordered him to march directly againft Af- 
 pis, who had made the country revolt, which he commanded 
 in the neighbourhood of Cappadocia. The commiffion was 
 little important for an officer who had been appointed gene- 
 ral, and betides very dangerous, becaufe it was necefiary to 
 go in queft of the enemy into a very remote country. The 
 king foon perceived his error, and countermanded him : But 
 Datames had fet out directly with an handful of men, and 
 marched night and day ; judging that diligence, without a 
 great number of troops, was all that was neceflary to furprife 
 and vanquifh the enemy. It happened according to his ex- 
 pectation ; and the couriers difpatched by the king, met Afpis 
 in chains upon the road to Sufa. 
 
 Nothing was talked of at the court but Datames. It was not 
 known which to admire moft, his ready obedience, his wife 
 and enterprifing bravery, or his extraordinary fuccefs. So 
 glorious a reputation gave offence to the courtiers in power. 
 Enemies in fecret to each other, and divided by a contrariety 
 .f interefts, and a competition in their pretenfions, they united 
 together againft a fuperior merit, which reproached their de- 
 fects, and was therefore a crime in their acceptation. They 
 confpired to ruin him in the king's opinion, and fucceeded but 
 too well. As they befieged him perpetually, and he was not 
 upon his guard agtunft perfons who appeared fo well affected 
 to his ftrvice, they infpired hi:n with jealoufy and fufpicion, 
 to the prejudice of thenio^l zealous and faithful of his ciHcczj.
 
 Clap. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. X2J 
 
 An intimate friend of Datames, who held one of the high- 
 eft pofts at the court, apprifed him of what pafied, and of the 
 confpiracy which had been formed againft him, and had al- 
 ready funk his credit conliderably with the king. * He re- 
 prefented to him, that if the Egyptian expedition, with which 
 he was charged, fhould take a bad turn, he would find him- 
 felf expofed to great dangers : That it was the cuftom with 
 kings to attribute good fucceffes to themfelves and their auf- 
 picious fortune only, and to impute the bad to the faults of 
 their generals, for which they were refponfible at the peril of 
 their heads : That he ran the greater rilk, as all that were 
 about the king's perfon, and had any afcendant over him, were 
 his declared enemies, and had fworn his deftruclion. 
 
 Upon this advice, Datames refolvetl to quit the king's fer- 
 vice, though without doing any thing hitherto contrary to the 
 fidelity he owed him. He left the command of the army to 
 Mandrocles of Magnefia, departed with l> : s own troops for 
 Cappadocia, feized Paphlagonia which joined it, allied himfelf 
 fecretly with Ariobarzanes, raifed troops, took pofleffion of 
 fortrefles, and put good garifons in them. He received ad- 
 vice that the Pifidians were arming againft him. He did not 
 wait their coming on, but made his army march thither under 
 the command of his youngeft fon, who had the misfortune to 
 be killed in a battle. However lively his affliction might be 
 upon that occafion, he concealed his death; left the bad news 
 mould difcourage his troops. When he approached near the 
 enemy, his firft care was to take pofiHSon of an advantageous 
 poft. c Mithrobarzanes, his father-in-law, who commanded 
 the horfe, believing his fon entirely ruined, determined to go 
 over to the enemy, Datames, without concern or emotion, 
 caufed a rumour to be fpread throughout the army, that it 
 was only a feint concerted between him and his father-in-law, 
 and followed him clofe, as if he defigned to put his troops in- 
 c DioJ. L xv. p. 399. 
 
 e Docet eum magno fore in pcriculo, fiquiJ, illo imperante, in Egypto adverfi 
 accidiflet. Namque cam effe corifuctudinem regnum, ut cafus adverfos hominibus 
 tribuant, fecundos fortunae fuae ; quo facile fieri, ut impellantur ad eormn per- 
 niciem, quorum du&u res male geftae nuncientur. Ilium hoc majore fore in dif- 
 crimine, quod, quibus rat maxime otedht, eos habeat inimiciflimos. Cor. Nep.
 
 124 HISTORY OF THE Book IX, 
 
 to a difpofition for charging the enemy in two different attacks. 
 The ftratagem had all the fuccefs he expected from it. When 
 they joined battle, Mithrobarzanes was treated as an enemy on 
 both fides, and cut to pieces, with his troops. The army of 
 the Pifidians was put to flight, and left Datames mafter of the 
 field, and of all the rich booty found in the camp of the con- 
 quered. 
 
 Datames had not till then declared openly againft the king, 
 the actions we have related being only againil governors, with 
 whom he might have particular differences, which we have 
 obferved before was common enough. His own eldeft fon, 
 called Scifmas, made himfelf his accufer, and difcovered his 
 whole defigns to the king. Artaxerxes was highly apprehen- 
 Cve of the confequence. He knew all the merit of this new 
 enemy, and that he did not engage in any enterprife without 
 having maturely confidered all its confequences, and taken 
 the neceflary meafijres to fecure its fuccefs ; and that hitherto 
 the execution had always anfwered the wifdom of his projects. 
 He fent an army againft him into Cappadocia of almoft two 
 hundred thoufand men, of which twenty thoufand were horfe, 
 all commanded by Autophradates. The troops of Datames 
 did not amount to the twentieth part of the king's : So that he 
 had no refource but in himfelf, the valour of his foldiers, and 
 the happy iituation of the poft he had chofen ; for in that 
 confided his chief excellence ; never captain having better 
 known haw to take his advantages and choofe his ground, when 
 he was to draw up an army in battle. 
 
 His poft, as I have obferved, was infinitely fuperior to that 
 of the enemy. He had pitched upon a fituation where they 
 could not furround him ; where, upon the leaft movement they 
 made, he could come to blows with them with very confider- 
 able advantage ; and where, had they refolved to fight, their 
 odds in number would have been abfolutely ufelefs to them. 
 Autophradates well knew, that according to all the rules of 
 xvar, he ought not to hazard a battle in fuch a conjuncture : 
 But he obferved at the fame time, that it was much to his dif- 
 honour, with fo numerous an army, to make choice of a re- 
 r to continue any longer in inaclioa before an handful
 
 Chap. IIL PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 12$ 
 
 of enemies. He therefore gave the fignal. The firft attack 
 was rude ; but the troops of Autophradates foon gave way, 
 and were entirely routed. The victor purfued them for fome 
 time with great {laughter. There were only a thoufand men 
 killed on the fide of Datames. 
 
 Several battles, or rather Ikirmiflies, were fought afterwards, 
 in which the latter was always victorious ; becaufe, perfectly 
 knowing the country, and fucceeding efpecially in the ftrata- 
 gems of war, he always pofted himfelf advantageoufly, and 
 engaged the enemy in difficult ground, from whence they 
 could not extricate themfelves without lofs. Autophradates 
 feeing all his endeavours ineffe&ual, and his fupplies entirely 
 exhaufted, and defpairing of ever being able to fubjed by 
 force fo artful and valiant an enemy, intreated an accomo- 
 dation, and propofed to him the being reftored to the king's 
 favour upon honourable conditions. Datames was not igno- 
 rant, that there was little fecurity for him in fuch a choice r 
 becaufe princes are feldom reconciled in earneil with a fubjecl:, 
 who has failed in his obedience, and to whom they fee them- 
 felves in fome fort obliged to fubmit. However, as only de- 
 fpair had hurried him into the revolt, and he had always re- 
 tained at heart the fentiments of zeal and affe&ion for his 
 prince, he accepted the offers with joy, which would put an 
 end to the violent condition his misfortune had engaged him 
 i.i, and afforded him the means of returning to his duty, and 
 of employing his talents for the fervice of the prince to whom 
 they were due. He promifed to fend deputies to the king ; 
 vpon which enfued a ceiTation of arms ; and Autophradates re- 
 tired into Phrygia, which was his government. 
 
 Datames was not deceived. Artaxerxes, furioufly enraged 
 pgainft him, had changed the efteem and affedion he former- 
 ly profelTed for him, into an implacable hatred. Finding him- 
 felf incapable of conquering him by the force of arms, he was 
 not afnamed to employ artifice and treachery : Means unworthy 
 every man of honour, and how much more fo of a prince ! He 
 hired feveral murderers to afiafTmate him ; but Datames was 
 fo happy as to efcape their ambufcades. At length Mithri- 
 Utes, the fon of Ariobarzanes, to whom the king had made
 
 126 KtSTORY OF THE Boo& IX. 
 
 magnificent promifes, if he could deliver him from fo formi- 
 dable an enemy, having infinuated himfelf into his friendship, 
 and having long treated him with all die marks of the mo 1 ^ 
 entire fidelity to acquire his confidence, took the advantage of 
 a favourable opportunity, when he was alone, and ftabbed him 
 with his fword before he was in a condition to defend himfelf. 
 
 Thus * fell this great captain in the fnares of a pretended 
 friendfhip, who had always thought it his honour to obferve 
 the moil inviolable fidelity, in regard to thofe with whom he 
 had any engagements. Happy, had he always piqued himfelf 
 alfo upon being as faithful a fubjecl, as he was a true friend 
 and if he had not in the latter part of his life, fullied the 
 luftre of his heroic qualities, by the ill ufe he made of them ; 
 which neither the fear of difgrace, the injuftice of thofe who 
 envied him, the ingratitude of his mafter for the fervices he 
 had rendered him, nor any other pretext, could fufficiently au- 
 thorife f . v 
 
 I am furprifed, that, comparable as he was to the greateft 
 perfons of antiquity, he has remained in a manner buried in fi- 
 lence and oblivion. His great actions and exploits are however 
 worthy of being preferved in hiftory : For it is in fuch fmall 
 bodies of troops as thofe of Datames, that the whole foul is ex- 
 erted, in which the highefi prudence is fliewn, in which chance 
 has no ihare, and the abilities of a general appear in their full 
 
 light. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HlSTOTT of SOCRATES abridged. 
 
 As the death of Socrates is one of the mofl confiderable events 
 of antiquity, I thought it incumbent on me to treat that fub- 
 
 * Ita vir, qm multos confilio, neminem pcrfidia cepcrat, fimulata captus eft anii- 
 sitia. Cor. Nep. 
 
 f This do&rine of Mr. Rollin's may do very well in France, where implicit obe- 
 dience to the grand monarch is the law of the land ; but it has too much of that 
 exploded abfurdity, paffive obedience, founded in an erroneous acceptation of reli- 
 gion, to be admitted in a free nation ; where, by the maxim* of the law, and the 
 conftituiion of the goverment, the fubje<5l in many inftances is difpenfcd from 
 his obed-ence, and may defend himfelf, even in arms, againft his prince ; viz. W 
 cafe* of life and liberty.
 
 Chap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 12J 
 
 jeQ. with all the extent it deferves. In this view I {hall pre- 
 mife fonie things, which are neceffary to the reader's having 
 a juft id?a of this prince of the philofophers. 
 
 Two authors will fupply me principally with what I have to 
 fay upon this fubjecl:, Plato and Xenophon, both difciples of 
 Socrates. It is to them pofterity is indebted for many of his 
 difcourfes, * that philofopher having left nothing in writing, 
 and for an ample account of all the circumftances of his con- 
 demnation and death. Plato was an eye-witnefs of the whole, 
 and relates, in his Apology, the manner of Socrates's accufa- 
 tion and defence ; in his Criton, his refufal to make his efcape 
 out of prifon ; in his Phaedon, his admirable difcourfe upon the 
 immortality of the foul, which was immediately followed by 
 his death. Xenophon was abfent at that time, and upon his 
 return after the expedition of young Cyrus againft his brother 
 Artaxerxes : So that he wrote his Apology of Socrates only 
 upon the report of others ; but his actions and difcourfes, in 
 his four books of memorable things, he repeats from his own 
 knowledge. Diogenes Laertius has given us the life of So- 
 crates, but in a very dry and abridged manner. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 BIRTH and EDUCATION of SOCRATES. 
 
 SOCRATES was born at Athens in the fourth year of th* feventj 
 feventh Olympiad a . His father Sophronifcus was a fculptor, 
 and his mother Phanarete a midwife. Hence we may obferve, 
 that meannefs of birth is no obftacle to true merit, in which 
 alone folid glory and real nobility confift. It appears from the 
 comparifons Socrates often ufed in his difcourfes, that he was 
 neither amamed of his father's or mother's profeilion, b He 
 was furprifed that a fculptor mould* employ his whole atten- 
 tion to mould an infenfible ftone into the likenefs of a man, 
 and that a man Ihould take fo little pains not to refemble an 
 
 a A. M. 3533. Ant. J. C. 471. Diog. Laert, in Socrat. p. ico. 
 b Ibid. p. no. 
 
 * Socrates, cujus ingenium variofque fermonee immortalitati fcrlntis fuis Plata 
 tradidit, literam nullara rcliquit. Cic. de orat. 1. iii. n. 57.
 
 1 18 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 infeniible (lone. c He would often fay, that he exercifed the 
 function of a midwife with regard to the mind, in making it 
 bring forth all its thoughts, which was indeed the peculiar ta- 
 lent of Socrates. He treated fubjedts in fo iimple, natural, and 
 pure an order, that he made thofe with whom he difputed fay 
 what he would, and find an anfwer themfelves to all the quef- 
 tions he propofed to them. He at firft learned his father's trade, 
 in which he made himfelf very expert. d In the time of Pau- 
 fanias, there was a Mercury and the Graces to be feen at A- 
 thens of his workmanihip ; and it is to be prefumed, thefe 
 ftatues would not have found place among it thofe of the great- 
 eft matters in the art, if they had not been thought worthy 
 of it. 
 
 e Criton is reported to have taken him out of his father's 
 {hop, from the admiration of his fine genius, and the opinion, 
 that it was inconfiftent for a young man, capable of the greateft 
 things, to continue perpetually employed upon ftone with a 
 chifel in his hand. He was the difciple of Archelaus who 
 conceived a great affection for him. Archelaus had been pupil 
 to Anaxagoras, a very celebrated philofopher. His firft ftudy 
 was phyfics, the works of nature, and the movement of the 
 heavens, ftars, and planets ; according to the cuftom of thofe 
 times, wherein only that part ofphilofophy was known, and Xe- 
 nophon f allures us of 'his being very learned in it. But * after 
 having found by his own experience, how difficult, abftrufe, 
 intricate, and at the fame time how little ufeful that kind of 
 learning was to the generality of mankind, he was the firft, 
 according to Cicero, who conceived the thought of bringing 
 down philofophy from heaven to place it in cities, and intro- 
 
 c Plat, in Theatct. p. 149, &c. d Pauf. 1. . p. 596, 
 Diod. p. ici. f Lib. iv. Mem. p. 710. 
 
 * Socrates primus philofophiam devocavit e coelo, et in urbibus collocavit, et 1:1 
 domes etiam introduxit, et coeget dc vita et moribus, rebufque bonis et ma!i< 
 ^uaerere. Cic Tufc. quaeft. 1. v. n. 10. 
 
 Socrates mihi videtur, id quod conftat inter omnes, primus a rebus occultis, et 
 ab ipfa natura involutis, in quibus omnes ante eum philofophi occupati fuerunt, 
 avocavifle philofophiam, et ad vitam communeni adduxiffe ; ut de virtutibus ef 
 vitiis, omninoque de bonis rebus et mails quaereret ; coeleltia autem vel procul 
 efTe a noftra cognitione cenfcret, vel fi niaxime cognita cffent, nihil tamen ad bent 
 vivcndum confcrrc. Cic acad. quaeft. i. n i ;-
 
 Clap. IV. HISTORf OF SOCRATES. 129 
 
 duce it into private houfes ; humanizing it, to ufe that expref- 
 fion, and rendering it more familiar, more ufeful in common 
 life, more within the reach of man's capacity, and applying 
 it folely to what might make them more rational, juft, and 
 virtuous, g He found there was a kind of folly in devoting 
 the whole vivacity of his mind, and employing all his time, 
 in inquiries merely curious, involved in impenetrable darknefs, 
 and abfolutely incapable of contributing to human happinefs ; 
 v.'hilll he neglected to inform himfelf in the ordinary duties of 
 life, and in learning what is conformable, or oppofite to piety 
 juftice and probity ; in what fortitude, temperance, and wif- 
 dom confift ; and what is the end of all government, what the 
 rules of it, and what qualities are neceffary for commanding 
 and ruling well. We hall fee in the fequel the ufe he made 
 of this ftudy. 
 
 It was fo far from preventing him to difcharge the duties of 
 a good citizen, that it was the means of making him the more 
 obfervant of them. He bore arms, as did all the people of 
 Athens ; but with more pure and elevated motives. He made 
 many campaigns, was prefent in many aclions, and always dif- 
 tinguifhed himfelf by his valour and fortitude. He was feen, 
 towards the end of his life, giving in the fenate, of which lie 
 was a member, the moft fhining proofs of his zeal for juflice, 
 without being intimidated by the greateft prefent dangers. 
 
 He had accuftomed himfelf early to a fober, fevere, labori- 
 ous life ; without which it feldom happens, that men are ca- 
 pable of difcharging the greateft part of the duties of good 
 citizens. It is difficult to carry the contempt of riches and the 
 love of poverty farther than he did. h He looked upon it as 
 a divine perfection to be in want of nothing ; and believed, the 
 lefs we are contented with, the nearer we approach to the di- 
 vinity. * Seeing the pomp and mew difplayed by luxury in, 
 certain ceremonies, and the infinite quantity of gold and filver 
 employed in them : " How many things," faid he, congratu- 
 Volume IV. I 
 
 g Xenoph. Memorab. 1. i. p. 710. h Ibid. p. 731. 
 
 * Socrates in pompa, cum magna vis auri argentique ferretur : Quara mults 
 coa defidero ! inquit. Cic.Tufc. Quaeil. 1. j.
 
 130 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX, 
 
 lating himfelf on his condition, " do I not want !" " Quanti* 
 " non egeo ! 
 
 1 His fathev left him fourfcore minae, that is to fay, four 
 thoufand livres, which he lent to one of his friends who had oc- 
 cafion for that fum. But the affairs of that friend having taken 
 an ill turn, he loft the whole ; and fuffered that misfortune 
 with fuch indifference and tranquility, that he did not fo 
 much as complain of it. k We find in Xenophon's Oecon- 
 mies, that -his whole eftate amounted to no more than five 
 rnin?e, or two hundred and fifty livres. The richeft perfons 
 of Athens were his friends, who could never prevail upon him 
 to accept any mare of their wealth. When he was in want of 
 any thing, he was not afhamed to declare it : " * If I had 
 " money," faid he one day in an affembly of his friends, " I 
 " fhould buy me a cloak." He did not addrefs himfelf to any 
 body in particular, but contented himfelf with that general 
 information. His difciples contended for the honour of mak- 
 ing him this fmall prefent ; which was being too flov. 
 Seneca ; their own obfervation ought to have prevented both 
 the want and the demand. 
 
 He generoufly refufed the offers and prefents of Archelaus 
 king of Macedonia, who was defirous cf having him at his 
 court ; adding, " that he could not go to a man, who could 
 *' give him more than it was in his power to return." Ano- 
 ther philofopher does not approve this anfwer. " Was it mak- 
 " ing a prince a fmall return," fays Seneca, " to undeceive him 
 " in his falfe ideas of grandeur and magnificence ; to infpirc 
 *' him with a contempt for riches ; to fhcw him the right ufe 
 " of them ; to inftruft him in the great art of reigning ; in * 
 " word, to teach him how to live and how to die ? But," con- 
 tinues Seneca, " the true reafon which prevented his going 
 " to the court of that prince, was, that he did not think it 
 " conliflent for him to feek a voluntary fervitude, whofe liberty 
 " a free city could not fuffer him to enjov." " Noluit ire ad 
 
 i I.iban in Apolog. Socrat. p. 640. k Xenoph. Oecon. p. 822. 
 
 * Socrates, amicis audientibus : F.miffem, inquit, pallium, fi nummos haberem. 
 :n popofcit, omnes admonuit. A quo acciperit, ambitus fuit Port hoc 
 quif^uis prorcravcrit, fere <Jat ; jam Sccrati defuit. Scncc. de benef. 1, vii. c. 14
 
 Chap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 13! 
 
 " voluntariarri fervitutem is cujus libertatem civitas libera ferre 
 " non potuit '." 
 
 m The peculiar aufterity of his life did not render him gloomy 
 and morofe, as was common enough with the philosophers 
 of thofe times. n In company and converfation he was always 
 gay and facetious, and the fole joy and fpirit of the entertain- 
 ment. Though he was very poor, he piqued himfelf upon the 
 neatnefs of his perfon and houfe, and could not fuffer the ri- 
 diculous affectation of Antifthenes, who always wore dirty and 
 ragged clothes. He told him once, that through the holes in 
 his cloak, and the reft of his tatters, abundance of vanity might 
 be difcerned. 
 
 One of the moft diftinguifhing qualities of Socrates, was a 
 tranquillity of foul, that no accident, no lofs, no injury, no ill 
 treatment, could ever alter. Some have believed, that he was 
 by nature hafty and paflionate, and that the moderation, to 
 which he had attained, was the effet of his reflehons and en- 
 deavours to fubdue and corred himfelf; which would ftill add 
 to his merit, Seneca tells us, that he had deiired his friends 
 to apprife him whenever they faw him ready to fall into a paf- 
 fion, and that he had given them that privilege over him, which 
 he took himfelf with them. * Indeed the beft time to call in 
 aid again ft rage and anger, that have fo violent and fudden a 
 power over us, is when we are yet ourfelves, and in cool blood. 
 At the firft fignal, the leaft animadverfion, he either foftened 
 his tone, or was filent. Finding himfelf in great emotion againft 
 a flave ; " I would beat you," fays he, " if I were not angry :" 
 " p Caederem te, nili irafcerer." Having received a box on 
 the ear, he contented himfelf with only faying, with a fmile ; 
 * 'Tis a misfortune not to know when to put on a helmet. 
 
 Without going out of his own houfe, he found enough to 
 exercife his patience in all its extent. Xantippe his wife put 
 it to the fevereft proofs by her capricious, paflionate, violent 
 
 lij 
 
 i Senec. de benef. 1. v. c. 6. m Xenoph. in conviv. 
 
 n ./Elian. 1. iv. c. II. et L ix. c. 35. Scnec, de Ira. 1. iii. c. IJ. 
 
 P Ibid. 1. iii. c. 15. q Ibid. 1. iii.c. II. 
 
 * Contra potens malum et apud nos gratiofatn, dum copfpicirrras, et noi^ri fu- 
 tnus, advocemus-
 
 132 HrSTORY OF SOCRATES. $00.t IX. 
 
 difpofition. It feems, before he took her for his companion, 
 that he was not ignorant of her character ; and he fays hiin- 
 felf in Xenophon, r that he had exprefsly chofen her, from the 
 conviction, that if he fhould be capable of bearing her infults, 
 there would be nobody, though ever fo difficult to endure, 
 with whom he could not'live. Never was woman of fo violent 
 and fantaftical a fpirit, and fo bad a temper. There was no 
 kind of abufe or injurious treatment, which he had not to ex- 
 perience from her. She would fometimes be tranfported with 
 fuch an excefs of rage, as to tear off his cloak in the open ftreet ; 
 and s even one day, after having vented all the reproaches 
 her fury could fuggeft, me emptied a pot upon his head ; at 
 which he only laughed, and faid, " That fo much thunder 
 *' muft needs produce a ihower." 
 
 1 Some ancient authors write, that Socrates married a fecond 
 wife, named Myrto, who xvas the grand-daughter of Ariftides 
 the juft ; and that he fuflfcred exceedingly from them both, 
 who were continually quarrelling with each other, and never 
 agreed, but in loading him with reproaches, and doing him all 
 the offence they could invent. They pretend, that during the 
 Peloponnefian war, after the peftilence had fwept of great part 
 of the Athenians, a decree was made, whereby, to retrieve the 
 fooner the ruins of the republic, each citizen was permitted to 
 have two wives at the fame time, and that Socrates took the 
 benefit of this new law. Thofe authors found this circum- 
 ftance folely upon a paflage in a treatife on nobility, afcribecl 
 to Ariftotle. Eut befides that, according to Plutarch himfelf, 
 Panetius, a very grave author, has fully refuted this opinion, 
 neither Plato nor Xenophon, who were well acquainted with 
 all that related to their mafter, fay any thing of this fecond 
 marriage of Socrates ; and on another tide, Thucvdides, Xe- 
 nophon, and Diodorus Siculus, who have treated at large all 
 the particulars of the Peloponnefian war, are alike iilent in re- 
 gard to the pretended decree of Athens, which permitted bi- 
 gamy. We may fee in the firfl volumes of the Memoirs of 
 the Academy of Belles Lettres, a diiTertation of Monfieur 
 
 r Xenoph. in conviv. p. 876. s Diog. in Socrat. p. 112. 
 
 t Plut. in Aiiftid. p. 335. Atheo. 1. xiii p. 555. Diog. Laert. in Socrat. p. lij
 
 Clap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 133 
 
 Hardion's upon this fubje6t, wherein he demonftrates, that the 
 fecond marriage of Socrates, and the decree upon bigamy, are 
 fuppolititious facts. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 Of tie DAEMON, or FAMILIAR SPIRIT of SOCRATES. 
 
 OUR knowledge of Socrates would be defective if we knew no- 
 thing of the genius, which, he faid, had affifted him with its 
 council and protection in the reateft part of his actions. It is 
 r.ot agreed amongft authors, what this genius was, commonly 
 called " The Daemon of Socrates," from the Greek word 
 Axt.usviif, that iignifies fomething of a divine nature, conceived 
 as a fecret voice, a fign, or fuch an infpiration as diviners are 
 fuppofed to have had. This genius diverted him from the ex- 
 ecution of his deligns when they have been prejudicial to him, 
 v.-ithout ever inducing him to act any thing ; " u Efle divinum 
 4t quoddam, quod Socrates daemonium appellat, cui femper 
 4 ' ipfe paruerit, nunquam impellent!, faepe revocanti." Plu- 
 tarch, in his treatife, intitled, " Of the Genius of Socrates," 
 repeats the different fentiments of the ancients upon the exift- 
 ence and nature of this genius. * I mail confine myfelf to 
 that of them which feems the moil natural and reafonable, 
 though he does not lav much ilrefs upon it. 
 
 We know that the divinity has a clear and unerring know- 
 ledge of futurity, that man cannot penetrate into its darknefs 
 but by uncertain andconfufed conjectures -, that thofe who fuc- 
 ceed beft in that refearch, are fuch, who by a more exat and 
 ftudied companion of the different caufes capable of influencing 
 future events, diftinguilh, with greater force and perfpicuity, 
 what will tie the refult and iflue of the conflict of thofe differ- 
 ent caufes in conducing to the fuccefs or miicarriage of an ef- 
 fect or enterpriie. This forefight and difcernment has fome- 
 thing of divine in it, exalts us above the reft of mankind, ap- 
 proaches us to the divinity, and makes us participate in fome 
 meafure in his councils and defigns, by giving us an infight and 
 prefcience, to a certain degree, of w at he has ordained con- 
 
 liij 
 
 C!; d: DIv.V.. 1. . . 112. " Pagr j8o.
 
 134 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX, 
 
 cerning the future. Socrates bad a jult and piercing judg- 
 ment joined with the moft exquifite prudence. He might call 
 this judgment and prudence, A*^>, " fomething divine," uf- 
 ing indeed a kind of equivocality in the expreffion, without at- 
 tributing to himfelf, however, the merit of his wifdom in con- 
 je&uring upon the future. The Abbe Fraguier comes very 
 near the fam2 opinion in the diflevtation he has left us upon 
 this fubjecl in the y Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Let- 
 tres. 
 
 2 The effect, or rather function of this genius, was to flop 
 and prevent his afting, without ever inducing him to act. He 
 received alfo the fame impulfc, when his friends were going to 
 engage in any bad affair, and communicated it to him ; and fe- 
 veral iuftancss are related, wherein they found themielves 
 very unfortunate from not having believed him. Now, what 
 other figaificr.ticn can be given to this, than that it implies, 
 under myfterious terms, a mind, which by its own lights, and 
 the knowledge of mankind, has attained a fort of infight into 
 futurity ? And if Socrates had not intended to lelTen in his own 
 pcrfon the merit of an unerring judgment, by attributing it to 
 a kind of inftinct, if at bottom he had defired any thing to be 
 underftood, betides the general aid of (he divine wifdom, which 
 fpeaks in every man by the voice of reafon, would he have 
 efcaped, fays Xenouhon % the cenfure of arrogance and falfe- 
 hood. 
 
 b God has always prevented me from fpeaking to you, fays 
 he to Alcibiades, whilft the weakncfs of your age would have 
 rendered my difcourfes ineffectual to you. But I conceive I 
 may now enter into difpute with vou, as an ambitious young 
 man, for whom the laws open a way to the dignities of the re- 
 public. Is it not vifible here, that prudence prevented Socrates, 
 from treating Alcibiades ferioufly, at a time when grave and fe- 
 yere covcrfation would have given him a difgufl, of which per- . 
 haps he might never have got the better? c And when, in his 
 dialogue upon the commonwealth, Socrates afcribes his avoid- 
 
 V Tom. IV. p. 368. 2 Plat, in Theag. p. 118. 
 
 3 Memorab. 1. i. p. 708. b Plat, in Alcib p. 10. 
 
 fc. R-.-p. p. 4/'. Apolog. Soc. p. 31, 3:.
 
 Clap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 135 
 
 ing public bufinefs to infpiration from above, does he mean any 
 thing more than what he fays in his Apology, that a juil and 
 good man, who intermeddles with the government in a corrupt 
 ftate, is not long without perifhing ? If, d when he appears be- 
 fore the judges who were to condemn him, that divine voice is 
 not heard to prevent him, as it was upon dangerous occafions, 
 the reafon is, that he did not deem it a misfortune for him to 
 die, efpecially at his age, and in his circumflances. Every 
 body knows what his prognoftication had been long before, 
 upon the unfortunate expedition of Sicily. He attributed it 
 to his daemon, and declared it to be the infpiration of that 
 fpirit. A wife man, who fees an affair ill concerted, and con- 
 dueled with paffion, may eafily prophefy upon the event of it, 
 without the aid of a daemon's infpiration. 
 
 It muft be allowed, however, that the opinion which gives 
 men genii and angels to direct and guard them, was not un- 
 known even to the pagans. e Plutarch cites the verfes of Me- 
 nander, in which that poet exprelsly lays, " That every man- 
 " at his birth has a good genius given him, which attends him. 
 " during the v. hole courfe of his life as a guide and director." 
 
 [t'j?ttyiuyos r\i 
 
 It may be believed with probability enough, that the dae- 
 mon of Socrates, which has been fo differently fpoken of, and 
 thereby made it a queftion, whether it was a good or bad 
 angel, was no more than the force and redlitude of his judg- 
 ment, which afting according to the rules of prudence, and 
 with the aid of a long experience, fupported by wife Deflec- 
 tions, made him forefee the events of thofe things, upon 
 which he was either confulted, or deliberated himielf. 
 
 I conceive at the fame time, that he was not forry the peo- 
 ple fhould believe him infpired, or that he knew futurity by 
 snv eiTeft of the divinity v/hstfoever. That opinion might ex- 
 sit him very much in the fenfe of the Athenians, and give 
 
 I iiij 
 
 Apolog. Sac. p. -50 c B,> OT.ISI. tranquil p. 474
 
 136 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 him an authority, of which the greateft * perfons of the pagan 
 world were very fond, and which they endeavoured to acquire 
 by fecret communications, and pretended conferences with 
 fome divinity : But it drew the jealoufy of many of the ci- 
 tizens' upon him. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 SOCRATES declared tie WISEST of MANKIND by tie ORACLE, 
 
 ' 1 HIS declaration of the oracle f , fo advantageous in appear- 
 ance for Socrates, did not a little contribute to the inflaming 
 envy and (lining up of enemies againll him, as he tells us 
 himfelf in his Apology, wherein he recounts the occafion and 
 true fenfe of that oracle. 
 
 Chaerephon, a zealous difciple of Socrates, happening to be 
 at Delphcs, demanded of the oracle, whether there was a wifer 
 man than Socrates in the world : The prieftefs replied there 
 was none. This anfwer puzzled Socrates extremely, who 
 could fcarce comprehend the fenfe of it. For on the one fide, 
 he well knew, fays he of himfelf, that there was neither much 
 nor little wifdom in him ; and on the other, he conld not fuf- 
 pecl the oracle of falfehood, the divinity being incapable of 
 tell-lng a lie. Re therefore confidered it attentively, and took 
 great pains to penetrate the fenfe of it. At firfl he applied 
 himfelf to a powerful citizen ; a ftatefrnan, and a great poli- 
 tician, who paffed for one of the wifeft men of the city, and 
 who was himfclf as much convinced of his own merit as any 
 body. He found by his converfation that he knew nothing, 
 and infinuated as much to himfelf in terms fufficiently intel- 
 ligible ; which made him extremely odious to that citizen, and 
 all who were prefent. He did the fame by feveral others cf 
 the fame profelhon ; and all the fruit of his inquiry was, to 
 draw upon himfelf a greater number of enemies. From the 
 
 f Plut. in Apolog. p. 21, 22. 
 
 * Lycurgus and Solon had recourfe to the authority of oracles to advance their 
 cr.'dit. Zeleucus pretended that his laws had been dictated to him by Minervi. 
 Numa Forr.Ttilius boafted his conferences with the goddefs Egeria. The fir'ft 
 S.-ipio Africa m.-- rrndc the people believe that the gods gave him fccret counfeU. 
 Even Sertorius* hind had fomething divine in it.
 
 Clap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 137 
 
 ftatefman he addreffed himfelf to the poets, whom he found 
 fUll fuller of felf-efteem, but really more void of knowledge 
 and wifdom. He purfued his inquiries to the artifans, and 
 could not meet with one, who, becaufe he fucceeded in his 
 own art, did not believe himfelf very capable, and fully in- 
 formed in all that was great befides j which prefumption was 
 the almoft univerfal failing of the Athenians. As they had 
 naturally abundance of wit, they pretended to be knowing in 
 every thing, and believed themfelves capable of pronouncing 
 upon all things. His inquiries amongfl ftrangers were not 
 .more fuccefsful. 
 
 Socrates afterwards entering into, and comparing himfelf 
 with all thofe he had queftioned *, difcovered that the dif- 
 ference between him and them was, that they all believed they 
 knew .what they did not know, and that for his part he fin- 
 cerely profeflfed his ignorance.' From thence he concluded, 
 that only God is truly wife ; and that the true meaning of the 
 oracle was to fignify, that all human wifdom was no great 
 matter, or to- fpeak more properly, was nothing at all. And 
 as to the oracle's naming me, it no doubt did fo, fays he, by 
 way of fetting me up for an example, as if it intended to de- 
 clare to all men, The wifeft amongft you is he, who knows, 
 like Socrates, that there is no real wifdom in him. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 SOCRATES devotes limfelf entirely to tie INSTRUCTION of tie 
 
 YOUTH of ATHENS. 
 
 AFTER having related fome particularities in the life of So- 
 crates, it is time to proceed to that in which his character 
 principally and peculiarly confifted ; I mean the pains he took 
 to inftrucl mankind, and particularly in forming the youth of 
 Athens. 
 
 2 Socrates in omnibus fere fcrmonibus fie difputat,ut nihil affirmet ipfe, refellat 
 alios : nihil fe fcire dicat, nifi id ipfum, eoque praeftare caeteris, quod illi, quae 
 nefciant, fcire fe putent ; ipfe fe nihil fcire id unum fciat, ob eamque rem fe arbi- 
 trari ab Apolline omnium fapientiffimum cffe diclum, quod haec effet una omnia 
 fapicntia, non arbitrari fe fcire quod nefciat. Cic acad. quaeft. 1. i. n. 15. 16.
 
 I3& HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Boot IX. 
 
 He feerned, fays Libanius, the common father ot the re- 
 public ; fo attentive was he to the happinefs and advantage of 
 "his whole country. But as it is very difficult to con-eft the 
 aged, and to make people change principles, who revere the 
 errors in which they have grown grey, he devoted his labours 
 principally to the in(lruHon of vouth, in order to fow the 
 feeds of virtue in a foil more fit to produce the fruits of it. 
 
 g He had no open fchool like the reft of the philofophers, 
 nor fet times for his lelTons. He had no benches prepared, nor 
 ever mounted a profeffor's chair. He was the philofopher of 
 all times and feafons. He taught in all places, and upon all 
 occafions. In walking, converfation, at meals, in the army, 
 and ra the midft of the camp, iu the public aiTemblies of the 
 fenate or people, in prifon itfelf, and when he drar.k the poi- 
 fon, he philofophifed, fays Plutarch, and inftrucled mankind. 
 And from thence the fame judicious author takes occalion to 
 eftablifh a grrat principle in point of government, which Se- 
 neca * before him had placed in all its light. To be a public 
 man, fays he, it is not neccrTary to be actually in office, to wear 
 the robe of judge or magiftrate, and to fit in the higheft tri- 
 bunals for the adminiftration of juitice. Many do this, who, 
 though honoured with the fine names of orators, praetors, and 
 fenators, if they want the merit of thofe characters, ought to 
 be regarded as private perfons, and often confounded with the 
 loweft and vileft of the populace. But whoever knows to give 
 wife counfcls to thofe who confult him, to animate the citizens 
 to virtue, and to infpire them with fentirnents of probity, 
 equity, generoilty, and love of their country ; this is, fays 
 
 5 In Apol. Socrat. p. 941. h pht. an feni fit. ger. refp. p. 796. 
 
 * Habet ubi fe etiam in privato late explicet ir.agaus animus. Ita cklituerit 
 (vir ilk) ut ubicunque otium fuum abfconderit, prodiffe velit et Sngv.li. et uni- 
 verlis, ingenio, vocc, confilio. Nee enim is folus reip. prodeft, qui camlidatos ex- 
 trahit, ct tuetur reos, et de pace belloque fer.fet, led qui juve:;tutjm exhortatur, 
 <jtii in tanto bonoruni praceptomm inopia virtu'.e inftruit aj..n".os, qui ad pe- 
 cuniam luxuriamque ,curfu ruentes prenfat ac retrahit, et ii nihil aliud certe 
 moratur, in privato publicum negotiuni aget. An iile phis ;-rae:"tat, qvi in- 
 ter peregrines et cives, aut urbanos praetor audeunti'ous adfeffbris verba pronnn- 
 'iT, quam qui docet, qnid lit Jullitia, quid pittas quid putieutia, quid fo- 
 qind mortis contcmptus, quid uiorum iutcik >_. 
 
 I T. dt trannnil ^nrm r ii"
 
 Clap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 139 
 
 Plutarch, the true magiflrate and ruler, in whatsoever condi- 
 tion or place he be. 
 
 Such was Socrates. The fervices he did the ftate, by the 
 instructions he gave their youth, and the difciples he formed, 
 are inexpreiiibly great. Never had mailer a greater number, 
 or fo illuftrioas. Plato, though alone, were worth a multi- 
 tude. ' Upon the point of death, he blefTed and thanked God 
 for three things ; that he had endued him with a rational foul, 
 that he was born a Greek and not a Barbarian, and that he 
 had placed his birth in the lifetime of Sccrates. k Xenophon 
 had the fame advantage. It is faid, that one .May Socrates met 
 him in the flreet, and flopping him with his ftaff, alked him 
 whether he knew where provilions were fold ? It was not dif- 
 ficult to anfwer this queftion. But Socrates having demanded 
 in what place men learned virtue, and feeing this fecond quef- 
 tion put him to a Hand : " If you defire to know it," con- 
 tinued the philofopher, " follow me, and you fliall be in- 
 " formed." Which be did immediately, and was afterwards 
 the firft who collected and publiihed his mailer's difcourfes. 
 
 1 Ariflippus, upon a conversation with Ifchomachus, in 
 which he had introduced fome ftrokes of Socrates's doctrine, 
 conceived fo ardent a paffion to become his difciple, that he 
 grew lean and wan in effect of it, till he could go to the foun- 
 tainhead, and imbibe his fill of a philofophy that taught the 
 knowledge and cure of evil. . 
 
 What is reported of Euclid the Megarian, explains flill bet- 
 ter how high the paffion of Socrates's difciples ran, to receive 
 the benefit of his inftr actions. m There was at that time an 
 open war between Athens and Megara, which was carried on 
 with fo much aniinofity, that the Athenians obliged their ge- 
 nerals to take an oath to lay wafle the territoiy of Megara 
 twice a year, and prohibited the Megarians to fet foot in At- 
 tica upon pain of death. This decree could not extinguifh nor 
 fufpend the zeal of Euclid. n He left his city in the evening 
 in the difguife of a woman, with a veil upon his head, and 
 came tc the houfe of Socrates in the night, where he conti- 
 
 i Pint, in Mario, p. 433. k Diog. in Xenoph. p. 110. J Plut. de curiof. 
 p. 316, m Plut, in PtricJ. p. 168. n Aul. Gel. Nod. Att I. vi. c. x^.
 
 14 HfSTORT OF SOCRATES. Book IX* 
 
 rued till the approach of day, when he returned in the fame 
 manner he came. 
 
 The ardor of the young Athenians to follow him was in- 
 credible. They left father and mother, and renounced all 
 parties of pleafure, to attach themfc-lves to him, and to hear 
 Ins difcouries. We may judge of this in the example of Al- 
 cibiades, the mofl ardent and fiery of all the Athenians. The 
 philofopher however never fpared him, and was always ready 
 to calm the fallies of his pafllons, and to rebuke his pride, 
 which was his great difeaie. I have before related fome in- 
 ftances of this temper of his. One day, when Alcibiades was 
 boafting of his wealth, and the great eftates in his poiTeifion, 
 which generally blow up the pride of young people of quality, 
 he carried him to a geographical map, and alked him to find 
 Attica. It was fo fmall it could fcarce be difcerned upon that 
 <Iraught ; he found it, however, though with fome difficulty : 
 But upon being deured to point out his own eftate there, " It 
 " is too fmall," fays he, " to be diiiinguifhed in fo little a 
 " fpace." " See then,'" replied Socrates, " how much you are 
 " affected about an imperceptible po'v t of land." This reafon- 
 ing might have been urged much further ftill. For what was 
 Attica compared to all Greece, Greece to Europe, Europe to 
 the whole world, and the world itfelf to the vaft extent of the 
 infinite orbs which furround it ? What an infect, what a no- 
 thing, is the mofl powerful prince of the earth in the midft 
 of this abyfs of bodies and iramenfe fpaces, and how much of 
 it does he occupy ! 
 
 The young people of Athens, dazzled with the glory of 
 Th.ewillocles, Cimon, and Pericles, and full of a wild ambi- 
 tion, a&er having received for fome time the leflbns of the 
 fophifls, ivho promifed to make them very great politicians, 
 conceived themfelves capable of every thing, and afpired at 
 the higheil employments. p One of thefe, named Glauco, had 
 taken it fo ftrongly into his head to enter upon the adminir 
 itration of the public affairs, though not twenty years old, 
 that none of his family or friends were able to .divert him 
 from a defign fo little confident with his age and capacity. 
 
 Aflian. 1. i;i. c. 28. -P Xenoph. mcmorab. 1. iii. p. 7/2 774.
 
 Chap. 1V> HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 14! 
 
 Socrates, who had an affection for him upon account of Plato 
 his brother, was the onlj perfon who could prevail upon him 
 to change his refolution. 
 
 Meeting him one day, he acceded him fo happily with dif- 
 courfe, that he engaged him to give him the hearing. " You, 
 " are defirous then to govern the republic," faid he to him. 
 " True," replied Glauco. " You cannot have a more noble 
 " defign," anfwered Socrates : " For if you fucceed, you 
 " will have it in your power to ferve your friends effectually, 
 " to aggrandize your family, and to extend the confines of 
 " your country. You will make yourfelf known not only to 
 " Athens, but throughout all Greece ; and perhaps your re- 
 " nown, like that of Themiftocles, may fpread abroad amongft 
 " the barbarous nations. In fhort, wherever you are, you will 
 " attract the refpeft and admiration of the whole world." 
 
 So fniooth and infinuating a prelude was extremely pleafing 
 to the young man, who was taken by his blind fide. He 
 (laid willingly, gave no occafion to preis him on that account, 
 and the converfation continued.- " Since you deilre to be 
 " efteemed and honoured, no doubt your view is to be ufeful 
 " to the public ?" " Certainly." " Tell me then, I beg you, 
 " in the name of the gods, what is the firft fervice you pro- 
 " pofe to render the ftate ?" As Glauco feemed at a lofs, and 
 meditated upon what he ihould anfwer, " I prefume," conti-' 
 nues Socrates, " it is to enrich it, that is to fay, to augment 
 " its revenues." " My very thought." " You are well verfed 
 " then undoubtedly in the revenues of the flate, and know 
 ' perfeclly to what they may amount : You have not failed to 
 " make them your particular ftudy, in order that if a fund 
 " mould happen to fail by any unforefeen accident, you might 
 " be able to f apply the deficiency by another." " I proteft," 
 replied Glauco, " that never entered into my thoughts.'' 
 " At leaft you will tell me to what the expences of the re- 
 " public amount ; for you muft know the importance of re- 
 " trenching fuch as are fuperfiuous." " I own I am as little 
 " informed in this point as the other." " You muft there-, 
 " fore refer your dcfign of enriching the ftate till another
 
 14^ HISTORY OF SOCRATES. oo IX. 
 
 " time ; for it is importable you mould do it, whilft you are 
 ** unacquainted with its revenues and expences." 
 
 ** But," faid Glauco, " there is Hill another means which 
 " you have not mentioned. A ftate may be enriched by the 
 " ruin of its enemies." ** You are in the right," replied So- 
 crates. " But that depends upon its being the ftrongeft ; 
 "* otherwife it incurs the danger of lofing what it has. For 
 " which reafon, he wlio talks of engaging in a war, ought to 
 " know the forces on both fides ; that if he finds his own par- 
 " ty ftrongeft, he may boldly advife the war, and if weakeft, 
 " diffuade the people from undertaking it. Now, do you 
 " know the ftrength of our republic and that of our enemies 
 " by fea and land ! Have you a ftate of them in writing ? 
 " Be fo kind as let me fee it." " I have it not at pre- 
 " fent," faid Glauco. " I fee then," faid Socrates, " that 
 " we fhall not prefently enter into a war, if you are charged 
 " with the government ; for you have abundance of inquires 
 " to make, and much pains to go through, before you will 
 " refolve upon it." 
 
 He ran over in this manner feveral other articles no lefs im- 
 portant, with which Glauco appeared equally unacquainted; 
 till he brought him to confefs, how ridiculous thofe people 
 were, who have the raftmefs to intrude into government with- 
 out any other preparation for the fervice of the public, than 
 that of an high efteem for themfelves, and an immoderate 
 ambition of riiing to the firil places and dignities. " Have a 
 " care, dear Glauco," faid he to him, " left a too warm de- 
 " fire of honours mould deceive you into purfuits that may 
 " cover you with lhame, by fetting your incapacity and flen- 
 " der abilities in full light." 
 
 Glauco improved from the wife admonitions of Socrates, 
 and took time to inform himfelf in private, before he ventur- 
 ed to appear in public. This is a leflbn for all ages, and may 
 be very ufeful to perfons in all ftations and conditions of life. 
 
 q Socrates did not urge his friends to enter early upon pub- 
 lic employments ; but firft to take pains for the attainment oT 
 the knowledge neceffary to their fuccefs in them. " r A man 
 1 Xenoph. Memorsb. J.iv. p. 800. T Ibid. p. 79*.
 
 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 14$ 
 
 " mall be very fimple," faid he, " to believe that the me- 
 " caanic arts are not to be acquired without the help of pro- 
 " per mailers, and that the knowledge requisite in governing 
 " ftates, which is the higheft degree of human prudence, dc- 
 " m.ands no previous labour and application." His great care 
 in regard to thofe who afpired at public employments, was 
 to form their manners upon the folid principles of probity and 
 juftice ; and efpecially to infpire them with a fmcere love of 
 their country, with the moft ardent pallion for the publ'.c 
 good, and an high idea of the power and goodnefs of the gods : 
 Becaufe, without thefe qualities, all other abilities farve only 
 to render men more wicktd, and more capable of doing evil, 
 Xenophnn has tranfmitted to us a converfation of Socrates 
 with Euthydemus, upon providence, which is one t*f the fineil 
 paffages to be found in the writings of the ancients. 
 
 " Did you never refiecl within yourfelf," fays Socrates to 
 Euthydemus, " how much care the gods have taken to beftow 
 " upon man all that is neceflary to his nature ?" " Never, I 
 " aiTure you," replied he. " You fee," continued Socrates, 
 " how neceflary light is, and how precious that gift of the 
 " gods ought to appear to us." " Without it," added Euthy- 
 demus, " we fliould be like the blind, and all nature as if it 
 " were not, or were dead : But becaufe we have occafion for 
 " fufpenfe and relaxation, they have alfo given us the night 
 " for our repofe." " You are in the right, and for this we 
 " ought to render them continual praifes and thankfgiving. 
 " They have ordained that the fun, that bright and luminous 
 " ftar, mould preiide over the day to diftinguifh its different 
 ** parts, and that its light mould not only ferve to difcover 
 " the wonders of nature, but to difpenfe univcrfd life and 
 ** heat; and at the fame time they have commanded the moon 
 " and ftars to illuminate the night, of itfelf dark and obfcure. 
 " Is there any thing more admirable than this variety and vi- 
 " ciffitucle of day and night, of light and darknefs, of labour 
 " and reil ; and all this for the convenience and good of 
 " man?" Socrates enumerates in like manner the infinite ad- 
 vantages we receive from, fire and water in the occaSons of life ;
 
 144 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Bool IJT, 
 
 and continuing to obferve upon the wonderful attention of pro- 
 vidence in all that regards us, " What fay you," purfued he, 
 " upon the fun's return after winter to reviiit us ; and that as 
 " the fruits of one feafon wither and decay, he ripens new 
 " ones to fucceed them ? that having rendered man this fer- 
 " vice, he retires, left he fhould incommode him by excefs 
 *' of heat j and then, after having removed to a certain point, 
 " which he could not pafs without putting us in danger of pe- 
 " rifhing with cold, that he returns in the fame track to re- 
 " fume his place in thofe parts of the heavens where his pre- 
 " fence is moft beneficial to us ? And becaufe we could nei- 
 " ther fupport the cold or heat, if we were to pafs in an in- 
 " ftant from the one to the other, do you not admire, that 
 " whilft this ftar approaches and removes fo flowly, the two 
 " extremities arrive by almoft infenfible degrees ? f Is it pof- 
 " Cble not to difcover, in this difpofition of the feafons of the 
 ". year, a providence and goodnefs, not only attentive to our 
 " neceffities, but even our delights and enjoyments ? 
 
 *' All thefe things," faid Euthydemus, " make me doubt^ 
 " whether the gods have any other employment than to mower 
 " down their gifts and graces upon mankind. There is one 
 " point, however, that puts me to a ftand, which is, that the 
 " brute animals partake of all thefe bleffings as well as our- 
 " felves." " Yes," replied Socrates : " but do you but obferve, 
 " that all thefe animals fubfift only for man's fervice ? The 
 " ftrongeft and moft vigorous of them he fubje&s at his will,- 
 " he makes them tame and gentle, and ufes them fuccefsfuliy 
 " in his wars, his labours, and the other occafions of life !" 
 " What if we confider man in himfelf." Here Socrates 
 examines the diverfity of the fenfes, by the miniftry of which 
 man enjoys all that is beft and moft excellent in nature ; the 
 vivacity of his wit, and the force of his reafon, which exalt 
 him infinitely above all other animals ; the wonderful gift of 
 fpeech, by the means of which we communicate our thoughts 
 reciprocally, publifh our laws, and govern ftates. 
 
 * From all this," fays Socrates, " it is eafy to difcern that 
 
 f Cipaf acut-rlvffaf iffti rSre zreLpiyrin, cu fipur w p'tin ui ZtoftiS* -ai).\a, xt 9r.
 
 Chap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 14 j 
 
 " there are gods, and that they have man in their parti- 
 " cular care, though he cannot difcover them by his fenfes. 
 " Do we perceive the thunder, whilft it ftrikes through all 
 " things which oppofe it ? Do we diftinguiih the winds, whilft 
 " they are tearing up all before them in our view ? Our foul 
 " itfelf, with which we are fo intimate, which moves and acls 
 " us, is it vifible ? can we behold it ? It is the fame with re- 
 " gard to the gods, of whom non? are viiible in the diftri- 
 " bution of their favours. The GREAT GOD himfelf j" thefe 
 words are remarkable and demonftrate that Socrates acknow- 
 ledged one fupreme God, the author of all being, and fupe- 
 rior to ail others, who were on y the minifters of his will ; 
 *' this great God, who has formed the univerfe, and fupports 
 " the ftupendous work, whofe every part is nniftied with the 
 " utmoft goodnefs and harmony ; he who preferves them per- 
 " petually in immortal vigour, and caufes them to obey him 
 " with a never-failing punctuality, and a rapidity not to be 
 " followed by our imagination; this God makes himfelf fuf- 
 " ficiently vilible by the endlefs wonders of which he is author ; 
 " but continues always invifible in himfelf. Let us not then 
 " refufe to believe even what we do not fee, and let us fup- 
 " ply the defects of our corporial eyes, by ufing thofe of the 
 " foul ; but efpecially let us learn to render the juft homage 
 " of refpecl and veneration to the divinity, whofe will it feems 
 " to be, that we mould have no other perception of him 
 " than by his effecls in our favour. Now this adoration, 
 " this homage, confifls in pleafmg him, and we can only 
 " pleafe him in doing his will." 
 
 $ In this manner Socrates inftrucled youth ; thefe are the 
 principles and fentiments he infpired into them ; on the one 
 fide a perfect fubmifiion to the laws and magiftvates, in which 
 he made juftice conilil ; on the other, a profound regard for 
 the Divinity, which coiiRitutes religion. In things furpaffing 
 our undci Handing, ha advifes us to confult the gods ; and as 
 they impart themfelves only to thofe that pleafe them, he re- 
 Gomni'jnds above all things the making of them propitious by * 
 
 . K 
 
 . ;:h. ir.fmorab. 1. iv. p. 803, et 3p5-
 
 146 HISTORY OF SOCRATES Book IX, 
 
 wife regularity of condudr. " * The gods are wife," fays he, 
 " and it depends upon them either to grant what we aik. or 
 " to give us diredly the reverfe of it." He cites an excel- 
 lent prayer from an anonymous poet : " Great God, give us, 
 " we befeech thee, thofe good things of which we ftand in 
 *' need, whether we crave them or not ; and remove from 
 " us all thofe, which nM^^W'tful to us, though we implore 
 " tham of you." The ^ fgaftrna^jined, that there are things 
 which the gods obferve, and others of which they take no 
 notice : But Socrates taught, that the gods obferve all our 
 actions and words ; that they penetrate into cur moil fecret 
 thoughts, are prefent in all our deliberations, and that they 
 infpire us in all our actions. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 SOCRATES applies Umfelfto difcredit tie SOPHISTS in the 
 OPINION of tie young ATHENIANS. 
 
 OOCRATES found it neceffary to prejudice the young people 
 againft a bad tafle, which had prevailed for fome time in 
 Greece. A fet of affuming men arofe, who, ranking them- 
 felves as the firtl lages of Greece, were entirely the reverfe in 
 their conduct. For, inftead of being infinitely remote from 
 all avarice and ambition, like Pittacus, Bias, Thales, and the 
 others, who made a fludy of wifdom their principal occupa- 
 tion, thefe men were ambitious and covetous, entered into 
 the intrigues and affairs of the world, and made a trade of 
 their pretended knowledge f . l They were called Sophifts, and 
 wandered from city to city. They caufed themfelves to be 
 cried up as oracles, and walked about attended by crowds of 
 tlieir difciples, who, through a kiml of enchantment, aban- 
 doned the Embraces of their parents, to follow thefe proud 
 teachers, whom they paid a great price for their inflruction. 
 
 t Plat. in. Apolog. p. 19, 20. 
 
 * '*/ Si."V ir/, Hunt, an jtai S/?J.2JT/' 0.1 
 Plut. in Alcib. 1. ii. p 148. 
 
 f Sic enim appellantur hi qui oflcatatioais aut quaeftus caufa philop^phantur. 
 Cic. in. Lucul. n. 129.
 
 Chap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 147 
 
 There was nothing thefe matters did not profefs : Theolo- 
 gy, phyfics, ethics, arithmetic, aftronomy, grammar, mufic, 
 poetry, rhetoric, and hiftory. They knew every thing, and 
 could teach every thing. Their greateil fuppofed fkill lay in 
 philofophy and eloquence. Moft of them, like Gorgias, va- 
 lued themfelves upon giving immediate anfwers to all queftions 
 that could be propofed to them. Their young difciples ac- 
 quired nothing from their precepts, but a filly efteem for 
 themfelves, and ah univerfal contempt for every body elfe ; fo 
 that not a fcholar quitted thefe fchools, but \vas more imperti- 
 nent than when he firft entered them. 
 
 It was neceflary to decry the falfe eloquence and bad logic 
 of thefe proud teachers in the fenfe of the young Athenians. 
 To attack them in front, and difpute with them in a direct 
 manner by a continued iifcourfe, was what Socrates could well 
 have done, for he pofleded in a fupreme degree the talents 
 of fpeaking and reafoning ; but this was no means to fucceed 
 againft great harar.guer?, \vhofe fole aim was to dazzle their 
 auditors with a vain gl'tter, and rapid flow of words. He 
 therefore took another ccurfe, and employing * the turns and 
 addrefs of irony, which he knew how to apply with wonder- 
 ful art and delicacy, he chofe to conceal, under the appear- 
 ance of fimplicity and the affectation of ignorance, all the beau- 
 ty and great force of his genius. Nature, which had given 
 him fo fine a foul, feemed to have formed his outfide exprefs- 
 ly for fuporting the ironic character. He was very ugly, and 
 befides that, fhad fomething very blockifli and itupid in hi* 
 phynognomy. The whole air of his perfon, which had no- 
 thing but what was very common and very poor in it, perfect- 
 ly correfponded with that of his countenance. 
 
 When t he happened into the company of foms one of the 
 fophifts, he propofed his doubts with a diffident and modeft 
 
 Kij 
 
 * Socrates in ironii cuiliir.ulaniiaq^ue longe omnibus lepore atque humanitate 
 jraeftitit. Cic. 1. ii. de orat. n. z/o. 
 
 f Z.opyrus phyfiognomon ftupidum efie Socratem dixit et bardum. Cic. dc 
 Fat. n. 10. 
 
 i Socrates de fe ipfe dctrahens in difputatione, plus tribticbat iis. quos volcbat re-
 
 148 - HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 air, afked fimple queftions in a plain manner, and, as if he had 
 been incapable of expreffing himfelf otherwife, made ufe of 
 trivial comparifons, and alluiions taken from the meaneit em- 
 ployments. The fophift heard him with a fcornful attention ; 
 and inftead of giving him a precife anfwer, fell into his com- 
 mon places, and talked a great deal without faying any thing 
 to the purpofe. Socrates, after having praifed (not to enrage) 
 his adverfary, entreated him to adapt himfelf to his weaknefs, 
 and to defcend fo low as him, by fatisfying his queftions in a 
 fv. \\ words ; becaufe neither his wit nor memory were capable 
 of comprehending or retaining fo many fine and exalted no r 
 tions, and that ail his knowledge was confined to queftion and 
 anfwer. 
 
 This paflld in a numerous affembly; and the fcientific 
 perfon could not recede. \Vhen Socrates had once got him 
 out of his intrenchment, by obliging him to anfwer his quef- 
 tions fuccinftly, he carried him on from one to another to 
 the mod abfurd coniequenccs ; and after having. reduced him 
 either to contradicT: himfelf, or be filent, he complained, that 
 the 'learned man would not vouchfafe to inftruft him. The 
 ycfiing people however perceived the incapacity of their matter, 
 and changed their admiration for him into contempt. Thus 
 the neme of Sophiil became odious and ridiculous. 
 
 It is ealy to judge, that men of the fophilt's character, of 
 which I have now fpoke, who were in high credit with the 
 great, who lorded it amongft the youth of Athens, and had 
 boen long celebrated for their wit and learning, could not be 
 attacked with impunity ; a: - .d the rather, becaufe they had 
 been taken in the two moll feafible points, tlieir fame, and 
 their intereft. u Socrates, for having endeavoured to unmalk 
 their vices, and difcredit their ialfe eloquence, experienced, 
 
 u Plat, in Apolog. p. 23. 
 
 L-lJerc. Ita, cum aliud dicertt atque ftntiret, libenter uti folium eft ilia difiiinula- 
 tione, quam Graeci &?xit:a.i vocart. Cic. Acad. Qnaeft. 1. iv. n. 15. 
 
 Sedet ilium qwem i;ominavi (Gorgiam) et caeteros fophiftas, ut e Platone in- 
 telligi poteft, lufos vidimus a Socrate. Is eniru pcrcontando atque interrogando 
 e'.icere folebat eon;m opiniones quibnfcum t'Jffercbat, ut ad ea, quae ii reipondii- 
 Jcnt, fi q-aid vlderetur, diccrct. Cic. dc Finib. 1. ii. n. 2.
 
 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 149 
 
 from thefe corrupt and haughty men, all that could be feared 
 or expected from the moft malignant envy, and the mod en- 
 venomed hatred ; to which it is now time to proceed. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 SOCRATES is accufed of holding bad OPINIONS in regard to tie 
 He is condemned to die. 
 
 OOCRATES was accufed a little before the firft year of 
 Olympiad, foon after the expuliion of the thirty tyrants out of 
 Athens, in the u linty-ninth year of his life ; but the profecu- 
 tion had been projected long before. The oracle of Delphos, 
 which had declared him the wifeft of mankind ; the contempt 
 into which he had brought the do&rine and morals of the fo- 
 phifls of his time, who were then in high reputation ; the li- 
 berty with which he attacked all vice ; the iingular attach- 
 ment of his difciples for his perfon and maxims ; had all con- 
 curred in alienating people againft him, and had drawn abun- 
 dance of envy upon him. 
 
 x His enemies having fworn his deftruclion, and perceiving 
 the difficulty of the attempt, prepared the way for it at a dif- 
 tance, and at firft attacked him in the dark, and by obfcure 
 and fecret methods. It is laid, that to found the people's 
 difpofition in regard to Socrates, and to try whether it would 
 ever be fafe to cite him before the judges, they engaged Ari- 
 ftophanes to bring him into the theatre in a comedy, wherein 
 the firft feeds of the accufation meditated againft him were 
 fown. It is not certain whether Ariftophanes was fuborned 
 by Anytus, and the reft of Socrates's enemies, to compofe 
 that fatirical piece againft him. It is very likely, that the 
 declared contempt of Socrates for all comedies in general, 
 and for thofe of Ariftophanes in particular, whilft he pro- 
 fefied an extraordinary efteem for the tragedies of Euripides, 
 might be the poet's true motive for taking his revenge of the 
 philofophef. However it were, Ariftophanes, to the difgrace 
 
 K iij 
 
 u A. M. 3602. Ant. J. C. 401. 
 
 x Aelian. 1. ii. c. 13. Plat, in Apolog. Socrat. p. 19,
 
 150 HISTORRY OF SOCRATES. Book IX, 
 
 of poetry, lent his pen to the malice of Socrates's enemies, or 
 his own refentment, and employed his whole genius and ca- 
 pacity to depreciate the befl and mofl excellent man that ever 
 the Pagan world produced. 
 
 He compofed a piece called " The Clouds," wherein he in- 
 troduced the philofopher, perched in a bafket, and hoifted up 
 amidft die air and clouds, from whence he vents maxims, or ra- 
 ther the mofl ridiculous iubtleties. A very aged debtor, who 
 defires to efcape the clofe purfuits of his creditors, comes to him 
 to be taught the art of tricking them at law ; to prove by un- 
 anfwerable reaibns that he owes them nothing; and, in a word, 
 of a very bad, to make a verv good caufe. But finding him- 
 felf incapable of any improvements from the fublime lef- 
 fons of his new mafler, he brings his fon to him in his {lead. 
 This young man ibon after quits this learned fchool fo well in- 
 flrufted, that at their firft meeting he beats his father, and 
 proves to him by fubtile, but invincible arguments, that he has 
 reafon for treating him in that manner. In every fcene where 
 Socrates appears, the poet makes him utter a thoufand imper- 
 tinences, and as many impieties againft the gods ; and in parti- 
 cular againft Jupiter. He makes him talk like a man of the 
 greatefl vanity and opinion of hi:r.felf, with an equal contempt 
 for all others, who out of a criminal curiofity is for penetrat- 
 ing what pafles in the heavens, and for diving into the abyfles 
 of the earth ; who boafts of having always the means to make 
 injuftice triumph ; and who is not contented with keeping thofe 
 fecrets for his own ufe, but teaches them to others, and there- 
 by corrupts youth. All this is attended with a refined rail- 
 lery, and a fait, which could not fail of pleafing a people of fo 
 quick and delicate a tafte as the Athenians, who were bei:dea 
 naturally invidious to all tranfcendant merit. They were fo 
 much charmed with it, that without waiting the conclulioii of 
 the reprefentation, they ordered the name of Ariilophanes to 
 be fet down above thcfe of all his competitors. 
 
 Socrates, who had been informed that he was to be acled in 
 the theatre, went thither upon the day to fee the comedy, con- 
 trary to his cuftom ; for it was not common for iiim to go t
 
 Clap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. jjl 
 
 thofe affemblies, unlefs when fome new tragedj of Euripides 
 was to be performed, who was his intimate friend, and whofe 
 pieces he eileemed, upon account of the folid principles of mo- 
 rality he took care to interfperfe in them. It was, however, 
 obfcrved, that he had not patience to wait the conclulion of 
 one of them, wherein the actor had begun with a dangerous 
 maxim, and went out immediately, without confidering the in- 
 jury his withdrawing might do his friend's reputation. He 
 never went to comedies, unlefs when Alcibiades and Critias 
 forced him thither againft his will, offended at the unbounded 
 licence which reigned in them, and incapable of feeing the re- 
 putation of his fellow. citizens publicly torn in pieces. He was 
 prefent at this without the leafl emotion, and without expreffing 
 any difcontent ; and fome ftrangers being in pain to know who 
 the Socrates z intended by the play was, he rofe up from his 
 feat, and mewed himfelf during the whole reprefentation. He 
 told thofe who were near him, and were amazed at his indif- 
 ferance and patience, that he imagined himfelf at a great en- 
 tertainment, where he was agreeably laughed at ; and that it 
 was neceflary to let raillery pafs. 
 
 There is no appearance, as I have already obferved, that 
 Ariftophanes, though he was not Socrates's friend, had entered 
 into the black confpiracy of his enemies, and had any thought 
 of occafioning his deftrudion. It is more probable, that a poet, 
 who diverted the public at the expence of the principal magi- 
 ftrates and moil celebrated generals, was alfo willing to make 
 them laugh at the expence of a philofopher. All the guilt was 
 on the fide of thofe who envied him, and his enemies, who 
 were in hopes of making great ufe of the reprefentation of this 
 comedy againft him. The artifice was indeed profound, and 
 conceived with ikill. In acling a man upon the ftage, he is 
 only reprefented on his bad, weak, or ambiguous fides. That 
 view of him is followed with ridicule : Ridicule accuftoms 
 people to the contempt of his perfon ; and contempt proceeds to 
 injuftice. For the world are naturally bold in infulting, abuf- 
 
 Kiiij 
 
 z Plut. de cduc. liber, p. 10,
 
 1 52 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 ing, and injuring a man, when once he becomes the object of 
 their general contempt. 
 
 Thefe were the firft blows ft ruck at him, and ferved as an 
 effay and trial of the great affair meditated againft him. It 
 lay dormant a long while, and did not break out in twenty years 
 afterwards. The troubles of the republic might well occafion 
 that long delay : For it was in that interval the enterpriie 
 againft Sicily happened, the event of which was fo unfortunate, 
 that Athens was befieged and taken by Lyfander, who changed 
 its form of government, and eftablifhed the thirty tyrants, that 
 were not expelled till a very fmall time before the affair we 
 fpeak of, 
 
 * Melitus then appeared as accufer, and entered a procefs 
 in form againft Socrates. His accufation confifted of two 
 heads. The firft was, that he did not admit the gods acknow- 
 ledged -by the republic, and introduced new divinities : The 
 fecond, that he corrupted the youth of Athens ; and concluded 
 with inferring, that fentence of death ought to pafs againft 
 him. 
 
 Never had accufation fo little probability, pretext, or foun- 
 dation as this. It was now forty years, that Socrates had made 
 it his profeffion to inftruct the Athenian youth. He had ad- 
 vanced no opinions in fecret and in the dark. His leflbns 
 were given publicly, and in the view of great numbers of audi- 
 tors. He had always obferved the fame conduct, and taught 
 the fame principles. What then could be Miletus's motive for 
 this accufation, after fuch a length of time ? How came his 
 zeal for the public good, after having been languid and drowfy 
 for fo many years, to awake on a fudden, and become fo vio- 
 lent ? Is it pardonable, for fo warm and worthy a citizen as 
 Melitus would appear, to have continued mute and inaftive, 
 whilft any one corrupted the whole youth of that city, by in- 
 ftilling feditious maxims into them, and by inipiring them with 
 a difguft and contempt for the eftablifhed government ? For he 
 who does not prevent an evil, when it is in his power, is equally 
 criminal with him that commits it. b Libanius fpeaks thus in 
 
 a A. M. 3603. Am. J. C. 401. 
 
 fc Libau. in Apolog. Socrat. p. 645 648.
 
 Clap tt r . HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 153 
 
 a declamation of his, called the Apology of Socrates. But, 
 continues he, though Melitus, whether out of dillradion, in- 
 difference, or real avocation of his afJUirs, never thought for fo 
 many years of entering an'accufation againft Socrates ; how 
 came it to pafs, that in a city like Athens, which abounded with 
 wife magiftrates, and what is more, with bold informers, fo 
 public a confpiracy as that imputed to Socrates, ihould efcape 
 the eyes of thole, whom either the love of their country, or 
 invidious malignity, render fo vigilant and attentive ? Nothing 
 was ever lefs fealible or more void of all probability. 
 
 c As foon as the confpiracy broke out, the friends of Socra- 
 tes prepared for his defence. Lyiias, the moil able orator of 
 his times, brought him an elaborate difcourfe of his compofing ; 
 wherein he had fet forth the reafons and meafures of Socrates 
 in all their light, and interfperfed the whole with tender and 
 pathetic ftrokes, d capable of moving the moil obdurate hearts. 
 Socrates read it with pleafure, and approved it very much ; but 
 as it was more conformable to the rules of rhetoric than the 
 fentiments and fortitude of a philofopher, he told him frankly, 
 that it did not fuit him. Upon which Lyiias, having aiked 
 how it was poflible to be well done, and at the fame time not 
 fuit him ; in the fame manner, faid he, uiing according to his 
 cuftom a vulgar comparison, that an excellent workman might 
 bring me magnificent apparel, or flioes embroidered with gold, 
 to which nothing would be wanting on his part, but which how- 
 ever would not fit me. He perfifted therefore inflexibly in the 
 refolution, not to demean himfelf by begging fuffrages in the 
 low abject manner common at that time. He employed nei- 
 ther artifice nor the glitter of eloquence. He had no recourfc 
 either to felicitation or entreaty. He brought neither his 
 wife nor children to incline the judges in his favour by their 
 iighs and tears. Neverthelefs, * though he firmly refufed 
 to make ufe of any voice but his ov r n in his defence, and to 
 
 c Cicer. 1. i. de orat. n. 231. 233. d Quint. 1. xi. c. i. 
 
 * His et talibus addudlus Socrates, nee patronum quaefivit ad judicium capitig, 
 nee judicibus fupplex fuit ; adhibuitque liberam contumaciam a magnitucline ani- 
 aai du&am, non a fuperbia. Cic. Tufc. Quaeft. lib. i.
 
 254 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX* 
 
 appear before his judges in the fubmimve poiturc of a fuppli- 
 ant, he did not behave in that manner out of pride, or contempt 
 of the tribunal. It was from a noble and intrepid affurance, re- 
 fulting from greatnefs of foul, and the confcioufnefs of his truth 
 and innocence. So that his defence had nothing timorous or 
 weak in it. His difcourfe was bold, manly, generous, without 
 paflion, without emotion, full of the noble liberty of a philofo- 
 pher, with no other ornament but that of truth, and brightened 
 univerfally with the character and language of innocence. Plato, 
 who was prefent, tranfcribed it afterwards, and without anj 
 additions compofed from it the work, which he calls The Apo- 
 logy of Socrates, one of the moil confummate mailerpieces of 
 antiquity. I ihall here make an extract from it. 
 
 e Upon the day affigned, the proceeding commenced in the 
 ufual forms ; the parties appeared before the judges, and Me- 
 litus fpoke. The worfe his caufe, and the lefs provided it 
 was with proofs, the more occafion he had for addreis and art 
 to cover its weaknefs. He omitted nothing that might render 
 the adverfe party odious ; and inftead of reafons, which could 
 not but fail him, he fubltituted the delufive ihine of a lively 
 and pompous eloquence. Socrates, in obferving that he could 
 not tell what imprefiion the difcourfe of his accufers might 
 make upon the judges, owns, that for his part he fcarce knexr 
 himfelf, they had given fuch artful colouring and likelihood 
 to their arguments, though there was not the leafl word of 
 truth in all they had advanced. 
 
 f I have already faid, that their accufation confided of two 
 heads. The firil regards religion. Socrates inquires, out of 
 an impious curiofity, into what pafles in the heavens, and in 
 the bowels of the earth. He denies the gods adored by his 
 country. He endeavours to introduce a new worflbip ; and, if 
 he may be believed, an unknown god infpires him in all his 
 actions. To make doit, he believes there are no gods. 
 
 The fecond head relates to the intereil and government of 
 the Hate. Socrates corrupts the youth by inflilling bad fenti - 
 
 e Plat. In Apolog. Socrat. Xenoph. in Apolog. Socrat. et in Memor. 
 * Plat, in Apolog. p. 24.
 
 Clap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 1JJ 
 
 ments concerning the Divinity into them, by teaching them 1 
 contempt of the laws, and the order eftabiifned in the repub- 
 lic ; by declaring openlj againft the choice of the magiftrates 
 by * lot ; by exclaiming againft the public aflemblies, whtre 
 he is never feen to appear; by teaching the art of making the 
 worit of caufes good ; by attaching the youth to himfelf out 
 of a fpirit of pride and ambition, under the pretence of in- 
 ilruding them ; and by proving to children, that they may 
 abufe their parents with impunity. He glories in a pretended 
 oracle, and believes himfelf the wifeft of mankind. He taxes 
 all others with folly, and condemns without referve all their 
 maxims and actions; conflituting himfelf by his own authoritj 
 the general cenfor and reformer of the ilate. Notwithftand- 
 ing which, the effects of his leffons may be feen in the per- 
 fons of Critias and Alcibiades, his moft intimate friends, who 
 Lave done great mifchiefs to their country, and have been the 
 moft wicked of citizens, and the moft abandoned of men. 
 
 This concluded with recommending to the judges to be very 
 much upon their guard againft the dazzling eloquence of So- 
 crates, and to fufpecl: extremely the infinuating and artificial 
 turns of addrefs which he would employ to deceive them. 
 
 6 Socrates began his difcourfe with this point, and declared 
 that he would fpeak to the judges as it was his cuftom to 
 talk in his common converfation, that is to fay, with much 
 furplicity, and no art. 
 
 h He then proceeds to particulars. Upon what foundation 
 can it be alleged, that he does not acknowledge the gods of 
 the republic ; he, who has been often feen to facrifice in his 
 own houfc, and in the temples ? Can it be doubted whether 
 he ufes divination or not, whilil it is made a crime in him to 
 report, that he received counfels iiom a certain divinity ; and 
 thence concluded that he aims t introducing new deities ? 
 
 S Plat. p. 17. h Plat. p. 37. Xenoph. p. 703. 
 
 * Socrates in reality did not approve this manner of clewing the magiftrates. 
 He obferved, that when a pilot, a rmifician, or an archite is wanted, nobody i* 
 willing to take him at a venture ; though the faults of thefe people are far from 
 being of the great importance of thofe errors which are committed in the admi- 
 Kiftmion of the republic. Xenoph. memcrab. 1. i. p. 712.
 
 156 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book I A". 
 
 But irrthis he innovates nothing more than others, who, put- 
 ting their faith in divination, obferve the flight of birds, con- 
 fult the entrails of viftims, and remark even words and acci- 
 dental encounters : Different means which the gods employ to 
 give mankind a foreknowledge of the future. Old or new, it 
 is ftill evident, that Socrates acknowledges divinities, by the 
 confeffion of even Melitus himfelf, who in his information 
 avers that he believes daemons, that is to fay, fubaltera fpi- 
 rits, the offspring of thegods. Now, every man who be- 
 lieves the offspring of the gods, believes the gods. 
 
 ' As to what relates to the impious inquiries into natural 
 things imputed to him ; without deipifing or condemning thofe 
 who apply themfelves to the ftudy of phyfics, he declares, that 
 as for him, he had entirely devoted himfelf to what concerns 
 moral virtue, the conduft of life, and the rules of government, 
 as to a knowledge infinitely more ufeful than any other ; and 
 he calls upon all thofe who have been his hearers, to couie 
 forth and belie him, if he does not fay what is true. 
 
 " I am accufed of corrupting the youth, and of inftilling 
 " dangerous maxims into them, as well in regard to the wor- 
 " fhip of the gods as the rules of government. You know,- 
 " Athenians, that I never made it my profeffion to teach ; nor 
 ** can envy, however violent againft me, reproach me with 
 " having ever fold my inftruftions. I have an undeniable evi- 
 " dence for me in this refpect, which is my poverty. Always 
 ** equally ready to communicate my thoughts either to the 
 " rich or poor, and to give them entire leifure to queftion or 
 44 anfwer me, I -lend myfelf to every one who is defirous of be- 
 *' coming virtuous ; and if amongft thofe "who hear me, there 
 " are any who prove either good or bad, neither the virtues 
 ** of the one, nor the vices of the other, to which I have not 
 '* contributed, are to be afcribed to me. My whole employ- 
 '* ment is to perfuade the young and old againft too much love 
 " for the body, for riches, and all other precarious things of 
 " whatfoever nature they be, and againft too little regard for 
 " the foul, which ought to be the objeft of their afte&ion - 
 
 i Xenoph. p. 710.
 
 Chap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATE3. I?} 
 
 " For I incefTantly urge to you, that virtue does not proceed 
 '* from riches, but on the contrary riches from virtue ; and 
 " that all the other goods of human life, as well public as 
 " r-ivate, have their fource in the fame principle. 
 
 *' If to fpeak in this manner be to corrupt youth, I con- 
 " fefs, Athenians, that I am guilty, and deferve to be punimed. 
 " If what I fay be not true, it is moft eafy to convict me of 
 " my falfehood. I fee here a great number of my difciples ; 
 " they h-ve only to appear. But perhaps the referve and. con- 
 " ndeiation for a mailer, who has inftrueled them, will pre- 
 them from declaring againft me : At leaft their fathers, 
 " brothers, and uncles, cannot, as good relations and good 
 " citizens, difpenfe with their not ftanding forth to demand 
 " vengeance againft the corrupter of their fons, brothers, and 
 " nephews. But thefe are the perfons who take upon them 
 " my defence, and intereft themfclves in the fuccefs of my 
 " caufe. 
 
 " k Pafs on me what fentence you pleafe, Athenians ; but 
 *' I can neither repent nor change my conducl. I muft not 
 " abandon or fufpend a funclion, which God himfelf has im- 
 " pofed on me, now he has charged me with the care of 
 " inftru&ing my fellow-citizens. If, after having faithfully 
 " kept all the polls wherein I was placed by our generals at 
 " Potidaca, Amphipolis, and Delium, the fear of death fliould 
 " at this time make me abandon that in which the Divine pro- 
 '' vidence has placed me, by commanding me to pafs my life 
 " in the fludy of philofophy for the inftruciion of myfelf and 
 " others ; this would be a moft criminal defertion indeed, and 
 " make me highly worthy of being cited before this tribunal, 
 " as an impious man \vho does not believe the gods. Should 
 " you refolve to acquit me, for the future, I mould not hefitate 
 " to make anfwer, Athenians, I honour and love you, but I 
 " fnall clioofe ratlier to obey f God than you ; and to my Ja-teft 
 " breath fhall never renounce my philofophy, nor ceafe to 
 44 exhoit and reprove you according to my cuftom, by telling 
 
 k Plut. p. 28, 29.
 
 Ij8 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book 7JT. 
 
 " each of you when you come in my wav, My f good friend, 
 4t and citizen of the mod famous city in the world for wifdom 
 * 4 and valour, are you not amamed to have no other thoughts 
 " than that of amafling wealth, and of acquiring glory, credt, 
 " and dignities, wltilft you negleft tlie treafures of prudence, 
 ** truth, and wifdom, and take no pains in rendering your 
 * foul as good and perfect as it is capable of being. 
 
 " l I am reproached with abjecl fear and meannefs of fpirit, 
 '* for being fo bufy in imparting my advice to every one in 
 44 private, and for having always avoided to be prefent in your 
 *' afTe,mblies, to give my counfels to my country. I think I 
 " have fufficicntly proved my courage and fortitude both in 
 ** the field, where I have bom arms with you, and in the fe- 
 " nate, when I alone oppofed the unjuft fentence you pro- 
 ** nounced againft the ten captains, who had not taken up 
 u and interred the bodies of thofe who were killed or drowned 
 *' in the fea-fight near the ifland Arginufae ; and when, upon 
 ** more than one occafion, I oppofed the violent and cruel or- 
 " ders of the thirty tyrants. What is it then that has prevent- 
 ** ed me from appearing in your afTemblles ? It is that daemon, 
 44 that voice divine, which you have fo often heard me men- 
 " tion, and Melitus has taken fo much pains to ridicule. That 
 " fpirit has attached itfelf to me from my infancy: It is a voice 
 " which I never hear, but when it would prevent me from 
 44 perfifting in fomething I have refolved ; for it never exhorts 
 " me to undertake any thing. It is the fame being that has 
 " always oppcfedme, when I would have intermeddled in the 
 * aiTairs of the republic ; and that with the greatest reafon ; 
 *' for I ihould have been amongft the dead long ago, had I 
 ** been concerned in the meafures of the flate, without efIV6t- 
 * 4 ing any thing in the advantage of myfelf or our country. Do 
 " not take it ill, I befeech you, if I fpcak my thoughts with- 
 41 cut difguife, and with truth and freedom. Every man who 
 " would generoufiy oppofe a whole people, either amongft us 
 " or elfewhere, and who inflexibly applies liimfelf to prevent 
 
 ' I PLt. r . 31. 
 '. k :lg:.ifics, Ob. -. --.
 
 Clap. 17. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 159 
 
 " the violation of the laws, and the practice of iniquity in a 
 " government, will never do fo long with impunity. It is 
 " abfolutely neceflary for him, who would contend for juftice, 
 *' if he has any thoughts of living, to remain in a private 
 " ftation, and never to have any lliai'e in public affairs. 
 
 13 For the reft, Athenians, if, in the extreme danger I 
 44 now am, I do not imitate the behaviour of thofe, who up- 
 " on lefs emergencies have implored and fupplicated their 
 " judges with tears, and have brought forth their children, 
 " relations snd friends, it is not through pride and obitina- 
 " cv, or any contempt for you, but folely for your honour, 
 " and for that of the whole city. You mould know, that 
 *' there are amongft our citizens thofe who do not regard 
 " death as an evil, and who give that name only to injuftice 
 " and infamy. At my age, and with the reputation, true or 
 " falfe, which I have, would it be confident for me, after all 
 " the leffons I have given upon the contempt of death, to 
 " be afraid of it myfelf, and to belie in my laft action all the 
 ** principles and fentiments of my paft life. 
 
 " But without fpeaking of my fame, which I mould ex- 
 " tremely injure by fuch a condudt, I do not think it allow- 
 " able to entreat a judge, nor to be abfolved by fupplications : 
 *' He ought to be perfuaded and convinced. 'The judge does 
 " net iit upon the bench to Ihew favour by violating the laws, 
 " but to do juftice in conforming to them. He does not fwear 
 " to difcharge with impunity whom he pleafes ; but to do 
 " juftice where it is due. We ought not therefore to ac- 
 *' cuftom you to perjury, nor you to fufier yourfelves to be 
 " accuftomed to it ; for in fo doing, both the one and the 
 " other of us equally injure juftice and religion, and both are 
 " criminals." 
 
 " Do not therefore expect from me, Athenians, that I 
 ' fhould have recourfe amongft you to means which I believe 
 *' neither honeft nor lawful ; efpecially upon this occafion, 
 " wherein I am accufed of impiety by Melitus. For if I mould 
 " influence you by mv prayers, and thereby induce you to 
 " violate your oaths, it would 02 undeniably evident that I 
 
 01 Plat. p. 34. 35.
 
 lo HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 4 * teach you not to believe in the gods ; and even in defend- 
 4 * ing and juftifying myfelf, fhould furnifh my adverfaries 
 " with arms againft me, and prove that I believe no divinity. 
 44 But I am very far from fuch bad thoughts. I am more 
 " convinced of the exiilence of God than my accufers, and 
 *' fo convinced, that I abandon myfelf to God and you, that 
 , ** you may judge of me as you mall deem beft for yourfejves 
 * fc and me." 
 
 " Socrates * pronounced this difcourfe with a firm and in- 
 trepid tone. His air, his aclion, his vifage expreficd nothing of 
 the accufed : He feemed the matter of his judges, from the 
 affurance and greatnefs of foul with which he fpoke, without 
 however lofing any thing of the modefty natural to him. So 
 noble and majeftic a deportment difpleafed and gave offence. 
 It is common for f judges, who look upon themfelves as the 
 abfolute difpenfers of life or death to fuch as are before them, 
 to expert, out of a fecret tendency of mind, that they mould 
 appear in their prefence with humble fubmiffion and refpect- 
 ful awe ; an homage which they think due to their fupreme 
 authority. 
 
 This was what happened now. Melitus however had not at 
 firft the fifth part of the voices. We have reafon to fuppofe 
 ihat the judges affembled upon this occafion might amount 
 to five hundred, without reckoning the preiident. The law 
 condemned the accufer to pay a fine of a thoufand drachms t, 
 if he had not the fifth part of the fufFrages. This law had 
 been wifely eilablifli^d to check the boldnefs and impudence 
 of calumniators. Melitus had been obliged- to pay this fine, 
 if ^.nytus and Lycon had not joined him, and prefented them- 
 felves alfo as ihe nccufers of Socrates. Their credit drew over 
 a great number of voices ; and there were two hundred and 
 fourfcore againit Socrates ; and in confequence only two hun- 
 dred and twenty for him. He warded no more than thirty- 
 
 * Socrates ita in juciicio capitis pro fe ipfc dixif, ut non fupplex ant reus, fed 
 tnaHfter aut domimis videretur eflc judicium. Cic 1. i. de orat. n. 231. 
 
 f- Odit jtidox fere litipantis fecuritatem ; . . 'ii inteUi^at, tacitusrc- 
 
 roltni-at. (>nint. 1. iv. c. i. 
 t Five Lundrtd livrcs.
 
 Chap- IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. l6l 
 
 one * to have been acquitted ; for he would then have had 
 two hundred and fifty-one, which .would have been the ma- 
 jority. 
 
 By this firft fentence the judges only declared Socrates 
 guilty, without decreeing him any f penalty. For when the 
 law did not determine the punifhment, and when a crime 
 againft the flate was not in queftion, in which manner I con- 
 ceive Cicero's terms, " fraus capitalis," may be underftood, 
 the perfon found guilty had a right to choofe the penalty he 
 thought he deferved. Upon his anfwer the judges deliberat- 
 ed a fecond time, and afterwards pafied their final fentence. 
 'Socrates was informed that he might demand an abatement of 
 the penalty, and change the condemnation of death into ba- 
 nimment, imprifonment, or a fine. He replied generoufly, 
 that he would choofe neither of thofe puniihments, becaufe 
 that would be to acknowledge himfelf guilty. " Atheni- 
 " ans," faid he, " to keep you no longer in fufpence, as you 
 " oblige me to fentence myfelf according to what I deferve, 
 " I condemn myfelf for having pafied my life in inftrudling 
 " yourfelves and your children ; for having negle&ed with 
 *' that view my domeftic aiTairs, and all public employments, 
 *' and dignities j for having devoted myfelf entirely to the 
 " fervice of my country, in labouring inceiTantly to render 
 *' my fellow-citizens virtuous. I condemn myfelf, I fay, to be 
 " maintained in the Prytaneum at the expence of the repub- 
 " lie for the reft of rny life.*' J This lad anfwer fo mucii 
 
 Volume ll r . i, 
 
 * The text varies in Plato ; it fays, thirty-4hree, or thirty ; whence it is pro- 
 bdbly defeclive- 
 
 f Primis fententiis flatuebant tantum judices damnarent an abfolverent. Erat 
 autcm Atheaia, rco dumnato, ii fraus capitalis nan efTet, qtnfi poenae aeftimatio. 
 TV i'-.-ntentia, cum judicious daretur, intcrrogabatur reus, quam quafi aeflimatio- 
 ncin conmicruiil'c fe niaxime coniitcretur. Cic. 1. i. de orat. n. 2,^1. 232. 
 
 t It appears in Placo, that, ufct-r thi s <lill'ourf,-, Socrates, -wiihout doubt to re- 
 move from him all vnv-i.-ati!!;: of pride and contumacy, modeiliy ofTerfd to pay a 
 fine proportionate to his indigence ; that is to fay, one mlna (f;f:y livres), and 
 that, at the int>ances of liis friends, who had bound themfelves for him, he rofe in 
 },is offer to thirty minae. * Plat, in Apolog. Socr.it. p. 38. Eat Xenophon pofi- 
 tively afferts rhe contrary, p. 705. This difference may be reconciled perhaps, by 
 : ,. that Socra: -.> , :' to m-.1:e any offer, and that he fuflered him- 
 
 i;iom of his fri,T.4b
 
 l62 HJSTCOR.Y OF SOCR4-TIS. Book IX, 
 
 offended the judges *, that they condemned him to drink thf 
 hemloc, a punifliment very much in ufe amongft them. 
 
 n This fentence did not Qiake the conftancy of Socrates in 
 the leaft. " I am going," faid he, addreffing himfelf to liis 
 judges with a noble tranquillity, " to fufier death by your or- 
 " der, to which nature had condemned me from the full 
 " moment of my birth ; but my accufers will fuffer no lefs 
 " from infamy and injuftice by the decrees of truth. Did 
 " you expect from me, that to extricate myfelf out of your 
 " hands, I fliould have employed, according to the cutlom, 
 " flattery and pathetic expreffions, and the timorous and 
 " creeping behaviour of a fuppliant ? But in trials, as well as 
 " war, an honeft ruan ought not to ufe all forts of means for 
 " the preservation of his life. It is equally dilhonourable 
 *' both in the one and the other, to ranfom it only by pray- 
 " ers and tears, and all thcfe other abjed methods you fee 
 *' every day pra&ifed by people in my prefeut condition." 
 
 Apoliodorus, who was one of his friends and diiciples, hav- 
 ing advanced to him to exprefs his grief for his dying inno- 
 cent : " What!" replied he with a fmile, " would you have 
 " had me die guilty ?" 
 
 Plutarch, to fliew that only our \veakeft part, the body, 
 is in the power of man, but that there is another infinitely 
 more noble part of us entirely fuperior to their threats, and. 
 inacceffible to their inflictions, cites thefe admirable words of 
 Socrates, which are more applicable to his judges than his 
 accufers : " Anytus and Melitus may kill me, but they can- 
 " not hurt me." As if he had faid, in the language of the 
 Pagans ; Fortune may deprive me of my goods, my health, 
 and my life ; but I have a treafure within me, of which no 
 violence can deprive me ; I mean virtue, innocence, fortitude, 
 and greatnefs of mind. 
 
 a Plat. p. 39. De anim. tranquil, p. 474. 
 
 * Cujus refponfo Cc judice* exarfeiujit, ut capitis hotninem innqcentilfimunfj 
 condeaonarent. Cic. 1. i. <k oral. n. 435.
 
 Chflp* IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 163 
 
 This great man *, fully convinced of the principle he had 
 fo often inculcated to his difciples, that guilt is the only evil 
 a wile man ought to fear, chofe rather to be deprived of fome 
 years which he might have to live, than to forfeit in an in- 
 ftant the glory of his whole pail life, in difhonouring himfelf 
 for ever by the fhameful behaviour he was advifed to obferve 
 with his judges. Seeing that his own times had but a flight 
 knowledge of him, he referred himfelf from it to the judgment 
 of pofterity, and by the generous facriiice of a very advanced 
 life, acquired and allured to himfelf the eileem and admiration 
 of all fucceediag ages. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 30CRATES refufes to efcape out of PRISON. He DRINKS tie 
 
 POISON. 
 
 AFTER the fentence had been paiTed upon him, f Socrates, 
 with the fame intrepid afpecl with which he had held the 
 tyrants in awe, went forward towards the prifon,' which loft 
 that name, fays Seneca, when he entered it, and became the 
 reudence of virtue and probity. His friends followed him 
 thither, and continued to vifit him during thiry days, which 
 paffed between his condemnation and death. The caufe of 
 that long delay was, the Athenians fent every year a fhip to 
 the ifle of Delos, to offer certain facrifices ; and it was pro- 
 hibited to put any perfon to death in the city, from the time 
 the priefl of Apollo had crowned the poop of this vefiel, as a 
 fignal of its departure, till the fame veflel (hould return. So 
 that fentence having been palled upon Socrates the day af- 
 ter that ceremony bep;an, it was necenary to defer the execu- 
 tion of it for_ thirty days, during the continuance of this voyage, 
 
 Lij 
 
 * Maluit vir Tapicntifiimus quod fupcreflet ex vita fibi perire, quani quod prae- 
 -ttvifTct : et quando ab Lominibus fui femporis parum intelligebatur, pofterorum 
 fe judiciis refervavit, brtvi cietrimento jam ultimae fencclutis aevum feculorum 
 oninium confecutis. Qiiint. i. i. c. i 
 
 f Socrates eodom il!o vultn, quo aliquan-lo folus triginta tyrannos in ordinem 
 redegerat, carcerem intravit, ignomiuiam ipfi loco detradurus. Neque enim po- 
 tcrat career videri, in quo Socrates erat. Senec. de confol. ad Helvet. c. xiii. 
 
 Socrates carcercm ii:t'-aiido purgavit, omnkjue hoiieaioneni curia rediJit, 14, 
 cl: vir. Vsa:. c. j->.
 
 164 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Boot IX. 
 
 In this long interval, death had fufficient opportunity to 
 prefent itfelf before his eyes in all its terrors, and to put his 
 conflancy to the proof, not only by *he fevere rigour of a 
 dungeon, and the irons upon his legs, but by the continual 
 profpet and cruel expectation of an event, of which nature 
 is always abhorrent. f In this fad condition, he did not ceafe 
 to enjoy that profound tranquillity of mind which his friends 
 had always admired in him. He entertained them with the 
 fame temper he had always exprefied ; and Crito obferves, that 
 the evening before his death, he flept as peaceably as at any 
 other time. He compofed alfo an hymn in honour of Apollo 
 and Diana, and turned one of Jop's fables into verfe. 
 
 The day before, or the fame day that the fhip was to ar- 
 rive from Delos, the return of which was to be followed by 
 the death of Socrates, Crito, his intimate friend, came to him 
 early in the morning, to let him know that bad news, and at 
 the fame time that it depended only upon himfelf to quit 
 the prifon ; that the jailor was gained ; that he would find the 
 doors open, and offered him a fafe retreat in Theflaly. So- 
 crates laughed at this propofal, and alked him, " whether he 
 ** knew any place out of Attica where people did not die ?*' 
 Crito urged the thing very ferioufly, and prefled him to take 
 the advantage of fo precious an opportunity, adding argu- 
 ments upon arguments to induc his coufent, and to engage 
 him to refolve upon his efcape. Without mentioning the ia- 
 confolable grief he mould fuffer for the death of fuch ^friend, 
 how mould he fupport the reproaches of an infinity of people ? 
 who would believe that it was in his power to have faved him, 
 but that he would not facrilice a fmall part of his wealth for 
 that purpofe ? Can the people ever be perfuaded that fo wife 
 a man as Socrates would not quit his prifon, when he might 
 do it with all poffible fecurity ? Perhaps he might fear to ex- 
 pofe his friends, or to occalion the lofs of their fortunes, or 
 even of their lives or liberty. Ought there to be any thing 
 more dear and precious to them than the prefervation of So- 
 crates ? Even flrangers themfelves difpute that honour with 
 them ; many of whom have come exprefsly with confiderable 
 
 P Plat, in Ciiton.
 
 Chap. II 7 , HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 165 
 
 fums of money to purchafe his efcape ; and declare, that they 
 Hiould think theinfelves highly honoured to receive him 
 amongft them, and to fupply him abundantly with all he fhould 
 have occafion for. Ought he to abandon himfelf to enemies, 
 who have occaiioned his being condemned unjuftly, and can. 
 he think it allowable to betray his own caule ? Is it not eiTen- 
 tial to his goodnefs and juftice, to fpare his fellow-citizens the 
 guilt of innocent blood ? But if all thefe motives ca"nnot alter 
 him, and he is not concerned in regard to himfelf, can he be 
 infenfible to the interefts of his children ? In what a condition 
 does he leave them ? And can he forget the father, to remem- 
 ber only the philofopher ? 
 
 Socrates, after having heard him with attention, praifed his 
 ^eal, and expreiTed his gratitude ; but before he could give 
 into his opinion, was for examining whether it was juft for 
 him to depart out of prifon without the confent of the Athe- 
 nians. The queflion therefore here is, to know, whether 
 a man condemned to die, though unjuftly, can without a 
 crime efcape from juftice and the laws ? I do not know, whe- 
 ther, even amongft us, there are not many perfons to be found 
 who believe that this may be made a queftion. 
 
 Socrates begins with removing every thing foreign to the 
 fubjecl:, and comes immediately to the bottom of the affair. 
 " I mould certainly rejoice extremely, moft dear Crito, that 
 " you could perfuade me to quit this place ; but cannot re- 
 " folve to do fo, without being firft perfuaded. We ought 
 " not to be in pain upon what the people fay, but for what 
 " the fole Judge of all that is juft or unjuft ihall pronounce 
 ' upon us ; and that alone is truth. All the coniideradons 
 " you have alleged, as to money, reputation, family, prove 
 " nothing, unlefs you {hew me, that what you propftfe is juft 
 " and lawful. It is a received and conftant principle with us, 
 " that all injuftice is fhameful and fatal to him who commits 
 " it, whatever men may fay, or whatever good or evil may 
 " be confequential of it. We have always reafoned from this 
 " principle even to our lateft days, and have never departed 
 " in the leaft from it. Would it be poffible, dear Crito,. that 
 
 Liij
 
 1 66 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX, 
 
 ** at our age our raoft ferious difcourfes fliould refemble thofr. 
 " of infants, who fay yes and no abnoft in the fame breath, 
 " and have nothing of fixed and determinate ?" At each pro- 
 pofiticn he waited Crito's anfwer and aiTent. 
 
 " Let us therefore refume our principles, and endeavour to 
 *' make ufe of them at this time. It has always been a maxim 
 " with us, that it is never allowable upon anv pretence what- 
 ** foever to commit injuflice, not even in regard to thofe who- 
 " injure us, nor to return evil for evil, and that when we 
 te have once engaged our word, we are bound to keep it in- 
 " violably ; no interefl being capable to difpenfe with it. Now,. 
 " if at the time I mould be ready to make my efcape, the 
 " laws and republic mould prefent themfelves in a body be- 
 *' fore me, what could I anfwer to the following queflions 
 *' which they might put to me ? What are you going to do, 
 " Socrates ? To- fly from juftice in this manner; is it aught 
 " elfebut ruining entirely the laws and the republic ? Do you 
 " believe, that a ftate fubufts, after juftice is not only no longer 
 " in force in it, but is even corrupted, fubverted, and trod 
 *' under foot by particulars ? But, fay I, the republic has 
 " done me injuitice, and has fentenced me wrong fully. Have 
 " you forgot, the laws would reply, that you are under an 
 " agreement with us to fubmit your private judgment to the 
 " republic ? You were at liberty, if our government and con- 
 " ftitutions did not fuit you, to retire and fettle yourfelf elfe- 
 " where. But a refideuce of feventy years in our city fufli- 
 " ciently denotes, that our plan has not difpleafed you, and 
 " that you have complied with- it from an entire know- 
 " ledge and experience of it, and out of choice. In efrc:t 
 " you owe all you are f and all you poflcfs, to it : Birth, nur- 
 " ture, education, and eftablilhment ; for all tbeie proceed 1 
 11 from the tuition and protection of the republic. Do you 
 " believe yourfelf free to break through engagements with 
 " her, which you have confirmed by more than one oatli ? 
 *' Though flie mould intend to deftroy you, can you render 
 " her evil for evil, and injury for injury ? Have you a right 
 ** to act in that manner with your father and mother : and
 
 Clap. If. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 167 
 
 " do you not know that your country is more confiderable, 
 " and more worthy of refpeft before God and man, than ei- 
 u ther father or mother, or all the relations in the world to- 
 " gether ; that your country is to be honoured and revered, 
 " to be complied with in her excefTes, and to be treated with 
 " tendernefs and kindnefs, even in her moft violent proceed- 
 " ings ? In a word, that me is either to be reclaimed by wife 
 " counfels and refpeclful remonurances, or to be obeyed in 
 " her commands, and fuffered without murmuring in all fhe 
 " fhall decree ? As for your children, Socrates; your friends 
 " will render them all the fervices in their power ; at leail 
 *' the Divine Providence will not be wanting to them. Re- 
 " lign yourfelf therefore to our reafons, and take the court- 
 " fel of thofe who have given you birth, nurture and edu- 
 " cation. Set not fo high a value upon your children, your 
 " life, or any thing in the world, as juftice ; fo fhall it come 
 " to pafs, that when you appear before the tribunal of Pluto, 
 " you will not be at a lofs to defend yourfelf in the prefence 
 " of your judges. But if you demean yourfelf otherwife, we 
 ** lhall continue your enemies as long as you live, without 
 " ever affording you relaxation or repofe ; and when you are 
 " dead, our fillers, the laws in the regions below, will be as 
 " little favourable to you ; knowing that you have been guilty 
 " of ufing your utmofl endeavours to deftroy us." 
 
 Socrates obferved to Crito, that he feemed to have a per- 
 fect fenfe of all he had faid, and that the force of his reafons 
 had made fo ftrong and irrefiftible an impreffion upon his 
 mind, that they entirely engrofled him, and left him neither 
 thoughts nor words to object. Crito agreeing in effect that 
 he had nothing to reply, continued filent, and withdrew from, 
 his friend. 
 
 q At length the fatal {hip returned to Athens, which was 
 in a manner the fignal for the death of Socrates. The next 
 day all his friends, except Plato, who was fick, repaired to 
 the prifon early in the morning. The jailor defired them to 
 wait a little, becaufe the eleven magiflrates, who had the di- 
 
 Liiij 
 ^ Piat. in Phaed. p. 59. &c
 
 1 63 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Boo!: 2. 
 
 reclion of the priions, were at that time fignifying to the pri- 
 foner, that he was to die the fame day. Frefently after, thov 
 entered, and found Socrates, whofe * chains had been taken 
 off, fitting by Xantipps his wife, who held one of his chil- 
 dren in her arms. As foon as me perceived them, fetting up 
 great cries, fobbing, and tearing her face and hair, fne made 
 the prifon- refound with her complaints : " Oh, my dear So- 
 '* crates, your friends are come to fee you this day for the 
 " laft time !" He derived that fLe might be taken away ; and 
 Hie was immediately carried home. 
 
 Socrates patted the reft "of die day with his friends ; and 
 difcourfed with them with his ufual cheerfulnefs and tran- 
 quillity. The fubjecl of converfation was the mod important, 
 and beil adapted to the prefent conjuncture, that is to fay, 
 the immortality of the foul. What gave occafion to this dif- 
 courfe, was a queflion introduced in a manner by chance, 
 whether a true philosopher ought not to delire and take pains- 
 to die ? This proportion, taken too literally, implied an opi- 
 nion, that a philofopher might kill himfelf. Socrates mews 
 that nothing is more unjufl than thvs notion, and that man,, 
 appertaining to God, who formed and placed him with his 
 own hand in the poft he pofieflcs, cannot abandon it without 
 his permiflion, nor depart from life without his order. Yv'hitt 
 is it then that can induce a philofopher to entertain this love 
 for death ! It can be only the hope of that happinefs, which 
 he expe&s in another life ; and that hope can be founded o'nly 
 upcn the opinion of the foul's immortality. 
 
 Socrates employed the laft day of his life in entertaining 
 his friends upon this great and important fubject; from wliic'i 
 converfaticn, Plato's admirable dialogue, intitled " The Phae- 
 " don," is wholly taken. He explains to his friend:, all the 
 arguments for believing the foul immortal, and refutes all the 
 objections againft it, which are very near the fame as are made 
 at this day. This treatife is too long for me to attempt :in 
 abftrad of it. 
 
 * At Athens, as focn as fentcnce was pronounced upon a criminal, he w 
 unbound, and confiikrcd as the vi&im of death,. '#hom it ivas no 
 to kcrp in chains.
 
 CliVp. IV. HISTORY OF 50CRATE?-. j6~rjf 
 
 * Before lie anfwers any of thefe objections, he deplores a 
 misfortune common enough aniongfl mcr., who, in confequence 
 of hearing ignorant perfonj, who contradict and doubt every 
 tuing, difpute, and believe there is nothing certain. " Is it 
 *' not a great misfortune, dear Phaedon, that having reafons 
 " which are true, certain, and very eaiy to be underftocd, 
 " there ihould however be thofe in the world who are not at 
 " all affected with them, from their having heard thoie fu- 
 *' volous drfput.es, wherein all things appear fometiaaes true 
 " and fometimes falfe. Tiicie ur.juit imd unreafouable men, 
 " inftead of blaming thcmfelves for theie doubts, or charging 
 " the narrownefs of their fenfe with them, from afcribing the 
 " defect to the reafons themfelves, proceed at length to a de- 
 *' teftation, of them ; and believe themfelves more knowing 
 *' and judicious than all others, becaufe they imagine they 
 " are the only perfons who comprehend that there is nothing 
 " true or certain in the nature of things." 
 
 Socrates demonftratcs the injuftice of this proceeding. He 
 obferves, that of two things equally uncertain, it conliils with 
 wifdom to choofe that which is moft advantageous with Icaft 
 hazard. " If what I advance," fays he, " upon the immor- 
 " tality of the foul, proves true, it is good to believe it ; ar.d 
 " if after my death it proves falfe, I mall always have tha 
 " advantage from it, to have been lefs fenlible here of the 
 " evils which generally attend human life." Thk reafoning 
 of Socrates *, which, " we are to fuppofe r " can be only real 
 and true in the mouth of a Chriilian, is very remarkable. If 
 what I fay is true, I gain all things, whilit I hazard very 
 little ; and if falfe, I lofe nothing ; on the contrary, I am ilill 
 a great gainer. 
 
 Socrates docs not confine himfelf to the mere fpeculation. 
 of this great truth, that the foul is immortal ; he draws uie- 
 ful and neceflary concluiions from it for the conduct of life ; 
 in explaining what the hope of an happy eternity demands 
 from man, that it be not fruftrated, and that, initead of at- 
 
 r Plut. p. 90. 91. 
 
 * Monfieur Pafcal has expatiated upon tLis reafouing in his fevec 
 an^ deduced from it a deiuonltrati:i of uifiaite ft ice.
 
 173 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 taining the rewards prepared for the good, they do not ex- 
 perience the punifhments allotted for the wicked. The phi- 
 lofopher here fets forth thefe great truths, which a conftant 
 tradition, though very much obicured by fiction and fable, had 
 always preferred amongft the Pagans : the laft judgment of 
 the righteous and wicked ; the eternal punifhments to which 
 great criminals are condemned ; a place of peace and joy with- 
 out end for the fouls that retain their purity and innocence, 
 or which, during this life, have expiated their offences by re- 
 pentance and fatisfaction ; and an intermediate flate, in which 
 they purify themfelves, for a certain time, from lefs confider- 
 abie crimes, that have not been atoned for during this life. 
 
 " ' My friends, there is ftili one thing, which it is very jufl 
 " to believe ; if the foul be immortal, it requires to be culti- 
 " vated with attention, not only for what we call the time of 
 " life, but for that which is to follow, I mean eternity ; and 
 * the leaft neglect in this point may be attended with endlefs 
 '* confequences. If death were the final diilblution of being, 
 *' the wicked would be great gainers in it, by being delivered 
 " at once from their bodies, their fouls, and their vices : But 
 " as the foul is immortal, it has no other means of being freed 
 " from its evils, nor any fafery for it, but in becoming very 
 ** good and very wife ; for it carries nothing away with it, 
 " but its good or bad deeds, its virtues or vices, which are 
 " commonly the confequences of the education it has received, 
 ** and the caufes of eternal happinefs or mifery. 
 
 " r When the dead are arrived at the fatal rendezvous of 
 *' departed fouls, whither their * daemon conducts them, they 
 " are all judged. Thofe who have pafled their lives in a 
 ** manner neither entirely criminal nor abfolutely innocent, 
 " are fent into a place where they fuffer pains proportioned 
 " to their faults, till being purged and clean fed of their guilt, 
 '* and afterwards reftored to liberty, they receive the reward 
 ' of the good actions they have done in the body. Thofe who 
 *' are judged to be incurable upon account of the greatnefs ot 
 
 * Plat. p. 107. l Ibid. p. 113. 114. 
 
 * Daemon is a Gre.k v.-orJ, which Cgnifie. fpirit, genius, and with' us angel
 
 Clap, IF. HISTO'RT OF SOCRATES. l~T 
 
 *' their crimes, who deliberately have eonui.itted facrikge* 
 ** and murders, and other fach great offences, the fatkl 
 " deftly , that pafles judgment upon them, hurles them in- 
 " to Tartarus, from whence they never depart. But thai* 
 " who are found guiltj^fbf crimes, great indeed, but worthy 
 *' of pardon ; who have committed violences in the transports 
 " of rage agr,inft their father or mother, or have killed fonxt 
 " one in a like emotion, and afterwards repented, thefe lufiFer 
 *' the fame puniihment, and in the fame place with tlie lalt ; 
 ** but for a time only, till by their prayers and fupplicatior.i 
 " they have obtained pardon from thofe they have injured. 
 
 " But for thofe who have palled through liie with peculiar 
 " fanftity of manners, delivered from their bafe earthly abodes 
 " as from a prifon, they are received on high in a pure re- 
 *' gion, which they inhabit ; and as philofophy has fufficiently 
 " purified them, they live * without their bodies, through all 
 " eternity, in a feries of joys and delights it is not eafy to de- 
 *' fcribe, and which the fhortnefs of my time will not permit 
 * 4 me to explain more at large. 
 
 " What I have faid will futEce, I conceive, to prove, that 
 " we ought to endeavour ftrenuoufly, throughout our whole 
 " lives, to acquire virtue and wifdom: For you fee how great 
 ' a reward, and how high an hope is propofed to us. And 
 '* though the immortality of the foul were dubious, inftead 
 " of appearing a certainty, as it does, every wife man ought 
 " to affure himfelf, that it is well worth his trouble to rifle his 
 " belief of it in this manner. And indeed can there be a 
 " more glorious hazard ? We ought to enchant ourfelves with 
 " this bk-ffed hope ; for which reafon I have lengthened this 
 *' difcourfe fo much." 
 
 Cicero exprefles rhefe noble fentiments of Socrates with hi* 
 cfual delicacy. }- Almoft at the very moment that he held 
 
 * The refarreflion of tLe l;oJy was unLnown to the Pagans. 
 
 + Cum pcne in manu j;im mortifcrum illud teneret poculum, locutus itaefl, nt 
 EC:I ad mortem uudi, vv.ruiu in cotlum videretur afoendere. Ita enim cenft-bat, 
 itaquc difleruit : duas cfle viasduplicefque cnrius aniraorutn e corpore escedentium. 
 Nam, qui fe hutnanis vitiis contaminafu.-nt, et le totos libidinibus dedidificnt, quibus 
 coardiiiti velut domefticis vitiis atque flagitiis fe inquinaffent, iis deviumquoddam 
 kcr effc, fccliifiiiu a. cor.fiiia d:orum : qui auuai It iiitf.gros -raiLofijuc fervavifient,
 
 i;t HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX* 
 
 the deadly draught in his hand, he talked in fuch a manner, 
 as fhewed that he looked upon death, not as a violence done 
 to him, but as a means bellowed upon him of afcending to 
 heaven. He declared, that upon departing out of this life, 
 two ways are open to us ; the one leads to the place of eternal 
 mifery, fuch fouls as have fullied themfelves here below in 
 ihameful pleafures and criminal aftions ; the other conduces 
 thofe to the happy manfions of the gods, who have retained 
 their purity upon earth, and have led in human bodies a life 
 almoft divine. 
 
 * When Socrates had done fpeaking, Crito defired him to 
 give him and the reft of his friends his laft inftrudions in re- 
 gard to his children, and other affairs, that by executing them-, 
 they might have the confolation of doing him fome pleafure. 
 " I fhall recommend nothing to you this day," replied Socra- 
 tes, " more than I have always done, which is to take care 
 " of yourfelves. You cannot do yourfelves a greater fervice, 
 " nor do me and my family a greater pleafure." Cvito having 
 alked him afterwards, in what manner he thought fit to be 
 buried ; " As you pleafe," faid Socrates, " if you can lay hold 
 " of rae, and I not efcape out of your hands." At the fame 
 *' time, looking upon his friends with a fmile ; " I can never 
 " perfuade Crito, that Socrates is he who converfes with you, 
 " and difpofes the feveral parts of his difcourfe ; for he al- 
 " ways imagines, that I am what he is going to fee dead in a 
 " little while. He confounds me with my carcafe ; and there- 
 " fore alks me how I would be interred." In fusing thefe 
 words he rofe up, and went to bathe himfelf in a chamber ad- 
 joining. After he came out of the bath, his children were 
 brought to him, for he had three, two very little, and the 
 other grown up. He fpoke to them for. fome time, gave his 
 orders to the women who took care of them, and then difmiiT- 
 ed them. Being returned into his chamber, he laid him down 
 upon his bed. 
 
 The fervant of the eleven entered at the fame inftant ; and 
 * Plat. p. 115 1 1 8. 
 
 quibufque fuiffet minima cum cOrporihus contapio, fefeqne ab his Temper fevocaf- 
 fent, effentque in corporihus humanis, vitam imitati deorum, his ad illos, a quibu, 
 effent profedi, redditum facilem M|ere. Cic. Tufc Quaeft. 1. i. n. 71. 71.
 
 Clap. IF. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 173 
 
 having informed him, that the time for drinking the hem- 
 loc was come, Which was at fun-fet, the fervant was fo much 
 affedted with forrow, that he turned his back, and fell a weep- 
 ing, " See," faid Socrates, " the good heart of this man ! 
 " Since my imprifonment he has often come to fee me, and 
 " to converfe with me. He is more worthy than all his fe!- 
 " lows." How heartily the poor man weeps for me." This is 
 a remarkable example, and might teach thole in an office of 
 this kind how they ought to behave to all prifoners, but more 
 efpecially to perfons of merit, when they are fo unhappy as tp 
 fall into their hands. The fatal cup was brought. Socrates 
 afked what it was neceffary for him to do. " Nothing 
 '* more," replied the fervant, " than, as foon as you have 
 " drunk off the draught, to walk about till you find your legs 
 " grow weary, and afterwards lie down upon your bed." He 
 took up the cup without any emotion or change in his colour 
 or countenance, and regarding the man with a fteady and af- 
 fured look, " Well, faid he, " what fay you of this drink ; 
 " may one make a libation out of it ? Upon being told that 
 " there was only enough for one dofe : " At leaft," conti- 
 nued he, " we may fay our prayers to the gods, as it is our 
 " duty ; and implore them to make our exit from this world, 
 " and our laft ftage happy ; which is what I moft ardently 
 *' beg of them." After having fpoke thefe words, he kept 
 filence for fome time, and then drank off the whole draught 
 with an amazing tranquillity, and a ferenity of afpeft not to 
 be exprefled or conceived. 
 
 Till then his friends, with great violence to themfelves, had 
 refrained from tears ; but after he had drank the potion, they 
 were no longer their own maflers, and wept abundantly. A*. 
 pollodorus, who had been in tears during almoil the whole 
 converfation, began then to raife great cries, and to lament 
 with fuch exceffive grief, as pierced the hearts of all who were 
 prefent. Socrates alone remained unmoved, and even reproved 
 his friends, though with his ufual mildaefs and good nature. 
 " What are you doing ?" faid he to them, " I admire at you. 
 " Ah ! What is become of vo;;r virtue ? W?.- ; .t put fcr tais
 
 7* HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book /JT, 
 
 " I fent away the women, that they might not fall into thefe 
 " weakneffes ? For I have always heard fay, that we ought 
 *' to die peaceably, and bleulng the gods. Be at eafe, I beg 
 " you, and mew more conftancy and refolution," Thefe words 
 llcd them with confufion, and obliged them to reflrain their 
 tears, 
 
 In the mean time he kept walking to and fro ; and when he 
 found his legs grow weary, he lay down upon his bed, as lit 
 had been directed. 
 
 The poifon then operated more and more. When Socrates 
 found it Legan to gain upon the heart, uncovering his face, 
 which -hed been covered, without doubt to prevent any thing 
 from diflurbing him in his bit moments, " Grito," faid he, 
 which were his la 11 y/ords, " \ve owe a cock to ^Hfculapius ; 
 ** difcharge that vow for me, and pray do not forget it ;" foon 
 after which he breathed his laft. Crito went to his body, and 
 clcfed his mouth and eyes. Such was the end of Socrates, in 
 the iiril }*ear of the 95th Olympiad, and the feventieth of his 
 age. Cicero * fays, he could uever read the defcription of his 
 ilealh in Plato without tears. 
 
 Plato, and the reft of Socrates's difcipks, apprehending the 
 rage cf his accufers was not fatiated by that victim, retired 
 to Megara, to the hcufe of Euclid ; where they ftaid till the 
 ilorm blew over. Euripides, however, to reproach the Athe- 
 nians with the horrible crime they had committed, in con- 
 demning the bed of men to die upon fuch flight grounds, com- 
 pofed his tragedy, called Palamedes, in which, under the name 
 of that hero, who was alfo deftroyed by a black calumniation 
 he deplored the misfortune of his friend. When the a&or 
 came to repeat this verfe, 
 
 .' You doom the juftcft of the Greeks to pcrLfc ; 
 
 tlie whole theatre, remembering Sociates in fo diftlnft an im- 
 age of him, melted into tears j and a decree palled, to prohibit 
 fpenking any more of him in j|bblic. Some believe Euripides 
 was dead before Socrates, and reject this circumilance. 
 
 However it were, the people of Athens did not open their 
 
 Q-i-3 dicfltn de Socrate, cujus morti illacryiuar: folco Platonera lr;em ? Q f , 
 . Ub. iii. n. 8j.
 
 Chap. IV. HISTORr OF SOCRATES. 175 
 
 eyes till fome time after the death of Socrates. Their hatred 
 being fadsfied, their prejudices expired; and time having given 
 them opportunity for reflection, the notorious injuilice of the 
 fentence appeared in all its horrors. Nothing was heard 
 throughout the city but difcourfes in favour of Socrates. The 
 academy, the Lycaeum, private houfes, public walks, and 
 market-places, feemed ftill to re-echo the found of his loved 
 voice. Here, faid they, he formed our youth, and taught our 
 children to love their country, and to honour their parents. 
 In this place, he gave us his admirable lefibns, and fometimes 
 made us feafonable reproaches, to engage us more warmly iu 
 the purfuit of virtue. Alas ! how have we rewarded him for 
 fuch important fervices ? Athens was in universal mourning 
 and confternation, The fchools were faut up, and all exer- 
 cifes fufpended. The^accufers were called to account for the 
 innocent blood they had caufed to be (hed. Melitus was con- 
 demned to die, and the reft banifhed. Plutarch obferves, that 
 all thofe who had any mare in this black calumny, were in 
 fuch abomination amongft the citizens, that no one would give 
 them fire, anfwer them any queftion, nor go into the fame bath 
 with them ; and had the place cleanfed where they had bathed, 
 left they mould be polluted by touching it ; which drove them 
 into fuch defpair, that many of them killed themfelves. 
 
 h The Athenians, not contented with having punifhed his 
 accufers, caufed a ftatue of brafs to be creeled to him, of the 
 workmanfhip of the celebrated Lyfippus, and placed it in one 
 pf the moft confpicuous parts of the city. Their refpecl and 
 gratitude rofe even to a religious veneration ; they dedicated 
 3, chapel to him, as to a hero and a demi-god, which they 
 called ?uxemn7<, that is to fay, " The Chapel of Socrates." 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 REFLECTIONS upon SOCRATES, and tie SEN-TENCE faffed upon 
 
 him ly the ATHENIANS. 
 
 : WE muft be very much furprifed, when on the one fide we 
 ccnfldcr the extreme delicacy of the people of Athens, as tp 
 
 h Dicg. p. lit
 
 ?7^ HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 
 
 ^ hat regards the worfhip of the gods, which ran fo high as to 
 occalion their condemning the moit eminent perfons upon the 
 Simple fufpicion of their failing in refpect for them ; and on 
 the other, when we fee the exceeding toleration, to call it no 
 worfe, with which the fame people hear comedies every day, 
 jn which all the gods are turned into ridicule, in a manner ca- 
 pable of infpiring the higheft contempt for them. All Ari- 
 Aophanes's pieces a'bound with pleafantries, or rather bufFoon- 
 cies, of this kind 4 and if it is true that this poet did net 
 know what it was to fpare the greateft men of the republic, it 
 jnav be faid alfo as juflly he was ftill ltf;> favourable to the 
 gods. 
 
 Such were the daily entertainments in the theatre, which 
 the people of Athens not only heard without pain, but with 
 fuch joy, pleafure, and applaufe, that they rewarded the poet 
 with public honours, who diverted them fo agreeably. What 
 was there in Socrates that came near this exce!Rve licence? 
 Never did any perfon of the pagnn v.'ovld fpeak of the Divi- 
 nity, or of the adoration due to him, in fo pure, fo noble, 
 and fo refpedful -A manner. He did not declare againft the 
 gods publicly received and honoured by a religion more an- 
 cient than the city ; he only avoided imputing to them the 
 crimes and infamous action?, whkh the popular credulity 
 afcribed to -them, and which were on-ly proper to depreciate 
 and decry them in the fcnfe of the people. He did not blame 
 the facrifices, feftivaJs, nor the other ceremonies of religion ; 
 lie only taught, that all that pomp and outward fliew could 
 not be agreeable to the gods, -without uprightnefs of intention 
 and purity of heart. 
 
 This wife, this illumined, this religious mkn, -however, with 
 all -his veneration and noble fentiments in regard to die Divi- 
 nity, is condemned as an impious perfcn, by the fuffrages of 
 almoft an whole people, without his accufers being able to iu- 
 Itance one fmgle avowed fac, or to produce any proof with 
 the lead appearance of probability. 
 
 From when' e could fo evident, fo uhrvcrfal, and fo deter- 
 minate a contrad". .-Liiord thv.
 
 Chap. 7F. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 177 
 
 abounding in other refpccb with wit, tafte arid knowledge, 
 mull without doubt have had their reafons, at leaft in appear- 
 ance, for a conduct fo different, and fentiments fo oppofks to 
 their general character. May we not fay, that the Athenians 
 considered their gods in a double light ? They confined their 
 real religion to the public ? folemn and hereditary worihip, as 
 they had received it from their anceftors, as it was eftablifhed 
 by the laws of the ftate, had been pradifed from immemorial 
 time, and especially confirmed by the oracles, augurs, offerings, 
 and faerifices. It is by this ftandard they regulated their piety ; 
 againil which they could not fuffer the leaft attempt whatib- 
 ever : It was of this worfhip alone they were jealous ; it was 
 for thefe ancient ceremonies they were fuch ardent zealots ; 
 and they believed, though without foundation, that Socrates 
 was an enemy to them. But there was another kind of reli- 
 gion, founded upon fable, poetical ficlions, popular opinions, 
 and foreign, cuftoms ; for this they were little concerned^ and 
 abandoned it entirely to the poets, to the reprefen cations of 
 the theatre, and common converfation. 
 
 c What groflnefs did they not attribute to Juno and Venus ? 
 No citizen would have been fatisfied, that his wife or daugh- 
 ters mould have refembled thofe goodeffes. Timotheus, the 
 famous mufician, having reprefented Diana upon the ftage of 
 Athens, tranfported with folly, fury and rage, one of .the 
 fpeftators conceived, he could not make a greater imprecation 
 againft him, than to wifti his daughter might become the like- 
 nefs of that divinity. It is better, fays Plutarch, to believe 
 there are no gods, than to imagine them of this kind ; open 
 and declared impiety being lefs profane, if we may be allowed 
 to fay fo, than fo grofs and abfurd a fnperftition. 
 
 However it be, the fentence, of which we have related the 
 circumftances, will, through all ages, cover Athens with in- 
 famy and reproach, that all the fplendour of its glorious ac- 
 tions, for which it is otherwife-fe juflly renoxvned, can never 
 obliterate, and mews at the fame time, what is to be expecled 
 from a people, gentle, humane, and beneficent at bottom, 
 
 foliime IF. M 
 
 c Plut. de fuperftit. p. 170.
 
 178 HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 for fuch the Athenians really were, but warm, proud, haugh- 
 ty, inconftant, wavering with every wind, and every impref- 
 fion. It is therefore with reafon, that their aftemblies have 
 been compared to a tempeftuous fea ; as that element, like 
 the people, though calm and peaceable of itfelf, is fubjed to- 
 be frequently agitated by a violence not its own. 
 
 As to Socrates, it mud be allowed that die pagan world ne- 
 ver produced any thing fo great and perfect . When we ob- 
 ferve to what an height he carries the fublimity of his fenti- 
 ments, not only in refpeft to moral virtue, temperance, fo- 
 briety, patience in adverfity, the love of poverty, and the 
 forgivenefs of wrongs ; but what is far more confiderable, in 
 regard to the Divinity, his unity, omnipotence, creation of 
 the world, and providence in the government of it ; the im- 
 mortality of the foul, its ultimate end and eternal deftiny ; 
 the rewards of the good, and the punifnment of the wicked ^ 
 when we confider this train of fublime knowledge, we alk our 
 reafon whether it is a pagan who thinks and fpeaks in the 
 manner, and can fcarce perfuade ourfelves, that from fo dark 
 and obfcure a fund as paganifm, fhould hine forth fuch living 
 and glorious rays of light. 
 
 It is true, his reputation was not without alloy ; and it has 
 been affirmed, that the purity of his manners did not anfwer 
 thofe of his fentiments. c This queftion has been difcufied a- 
 mongft the learned ; but my plan will not admit me to treat 
 it in its extent. The reader may fee Abbe Fraguier's dilTer- 
 tation in defence of Socrates, againft the reproaches made him 
 on account of his conduct. The negative argument he. 
 makes ufe of in his j unification, feems a very ftrongone. He 
 obferves, that neither Ariflophanes in his comedy of the 
 Clouds, which is entirely againft Socrates, nor his vile accu- 
 fers in his trial, have advanced one word that tends to impeach 
 the purity of his manners : And it is not probable, that fuch 
 violent enemies as thofe would have neglefted one of the molt 
 likely methods to difcredit him in the opinion of his judges, 
 if there had been any foundation or appearance for the ufe of 
 it. 
 
 d Mem o ris de 1' Academic des Infcrip. Tom. IV. p. 371.
 
 Chap. ll r . HISTORY OF SOCRATES. 1 79 
 
 I confefs, however, that certain principles of Plato his dif- 
 ciple, held by him in common with his mafler, upon the nu- 
 dity of the combatants in the public games, from which at the 
 fame time he did not exclude the fair fex, and the behaviour 
 of Socrates himfelf, who wreftled naked man to man with Al- 
 cibiades, gives us no great idea of that philofopher's delicacy 
 in point of modefty and bafhfulnefs. c What mall we fay of 
 his vifit to Theodota, a woman of Athens of indifferent repu- 
 tation, only to aflure himfelf with his own eyes of her extra- 
 ordinary beauty, which was much talked of, and of the pre- 
 cepts he gave her, for the attraction of admirers, and the re- 
 taining them in her fnares ? Do fuch leffons coniifl much with 
 a philofopher ? I pafs over many other things in filence. 
 
 I am the lefs furprifed after this, that feveral of the fathers 
 have cenfured him in regard to purity of manners, and that 
 they have thought fit to apply to him, as well as to his dif- 
 ciple Plato, what St. Paul f fays of the philofophers ; that God 
 by a juft judgment has abandoned them to a reprobate fenfe, 
 and to the moft mameful lufts for their punifliment ; in that 
 having clearly known there was but one true God, they had not 
 honoured him as they ought, by publicly avowing their be- 
 lief, and were not alhamed to affociate with him an innumer- 
 able multitude of divinities, ridiculous and infamous even in 
 their own opinions. 
 
 And in this, properly fpeaking, coniifls the crime of Socra- 
 tes, who was not guilty in the eyes of the Athenians, but 
 gave occafion for his being juftly condemned by the eternal 
 Truth. It had illuminated his foul with the mofl pure and 
 fublime lights, of which the pagan world was capable ; for 
 we are not ignorant," that all knowledge of God, even natu- 
 ral, cannot come but from himfelf alone. He held admirable 
 principles with relation to the divinity. He agreeably rallied 
 the fables, upon which the ridiculous myfteries of his age 
 were founded. He often fpoke, and in the moft exalted 
 terms, of the exiilence of one only God, eternal, invifible, 
 creator of the univerfe, fupreme director and arbiter of all. 
 
 Mij 
 
 * Xcnrph. niemor, 1. ill. p. 787786, f Rcm. ch. i, ver. 1737-
 
 iSo HISTORY OF SOCRATES. Book IX. 
 
 events, avenger of crimes, and revvarder of virtues : But * he 
 d ; d not dare to give a public teftimony of thefe great truths. 
 He perfectly diicerncd the falfe and the ridiculous of the pa- 
 gan fyftem, and neverthelefs-, as Seneca fays of the wife man, 
 and acted bimfelf, he obferved exactly all the cuftoms and ce- 
 remonies, not as agreeable to the gods, but as enjoined by 
 the laws. He f acknowledged at bottom one only divinity, 
 and worfhiped with the people that multitude of infamous 
 idols, which ancient fuperftition had heaped up during a long 
 fucceffion of ages. He held peculiar opinions in the fchools, 
 but followed the multitude in the temples. As a philofopher, 
 he defpifed and detefted the idols in fecret , as a citizen of 
 Athens and a fenator, he paid them in public the fame adora- 
 tion with others : By fo much the more to be condemned, 
 fays St. Auguftin, as that wcrHiip, which was only external 
 and diilembled, feemed to the people to be the effect of iince- 
 rity and conviction. 
 
 And it cannot be faid that Socrates altered his conduct t-.t 
 the end of his life, or that he then exprefled a greater zeal for 
 truth. ,In his defence before the people, he declared, that he 
 had d\vays received and honoured the fame gods as the Athe- 
 nians ; and the laft order he gave before he expired, was to 
 facrince in his name a cock to ^fculapius. Behold then this 
 prince of the philafophers, declared by the Deiphic oracle the 
 xvifeil of mankind, who, notvvithftanding his internal convic- 
 tion of one only divinity, dies in die bofom of idolatry, ar.'i 
 with the profeiTion of adoring all the gods of the pagan theo- 
 logy. Socrates is the more ir.cxcufable in this 1 , that declaring 
 himfelf a man expref ;ly appointed by heaven to bear witnefi 
 to the truth, he fails in the moil eflential duty of the glorious 
 
 * Quae omnia (ait Seneca] fapiens fervabit tanquam legibus juffu, non tanq.uam 
 i Omncm irtam ignobikm deonim turbam, quam longo aevo longa fu- 
 ptrftitio congest, fie, inquit, adorabimus, ut nvmiiicrim\is cultimi ejus magis ad 
 morcm, quam ad rein, pertinere Sed ifte, quern philofophia quafi Hherum fccc- 
 fat, tamcn, quia ilTuftris fenator erat, colcbat quod reprehendebat, agebat quod 
 arguebat, quod culpabat adorabat co damnalwlius, quo ilia, quac mcndacirur 
 agebat, fie agcrct, ut eurn populus vcracitcr agere exiftimarct. St. Aug'i 
 vit. Dei. 1. vi. c. 10. 
 
 f- florrm f"j>ifijite<. quos pbilofophos vocant, fcho^as habcbant di/TeiuIcnii.s, c* 
 c. I.
 
 C.lap. IV. HISTORY OF SOCRATES. l8l 
 
 commimon he afcribes to himfelf. For if there be any truth 
 in religion, that we ought more particularly to avow, it is 
 that which regards the unity of the Godhead, and the vanity 
 of idol-worfhip. In this his courage had been well placed ; 
 nor would it have been any great difficulty to Socrates, deter- 
 mined belides as he was to die. But, fays St. Auguftin *, thefe 
 philofophers were not defigned by God to enlighten the world, 
 nor to bring men over from the impious worfhip of falfe dei- 
 ties to the holy religion of the .true God. 
 
 We cannot deny Socrates to have been the hero of the pa- 
 gan world in regard to moral virtues. But to judge rightly of 
 him, let us draw a parallel between this fuppofed here and 
 the martyrs of Chriftianity, who often were young children 
 and tender virgins, and yet were not afraid to fhed the laft 
 drop of their blood, to defend and confirm the fame truths 
 which Socrates knew, without daring to aflert in public ; I 
 mean, the unity of God and the vanity of idols. Let us al- 
 fo compare the fo much boafted death of this prince of phi- 
 lofophers, with that of our holy bifhops, who have done the 
 Chriflian religion fo much honour, by their fublimity of geni- 
 us, the extent of their knowledge, and the .beauty and excel- 
 lence of their writings ; a St. Cyprian, a St. Auguftin, and fo 
 many others who were all feen to d.ie in the "bofom of humi- 
 lity, fully convinced of their unworthinefs and nothingnefs, 
 penetrated with a lively fear of the judgments of God, and 
 expelling their falvation from his fole goodnefs and conde- 
 fcending mercy. Philofophy infpires no fuch fentiments ; they 
 could proceed only from the grace of the Mediator, which, 
 " we are taught to believe," Socrates did not deferve to 
 inmv. 
 
 M iij 
 
 * Non f.c iit, 
 rcr! D-:i a fi:nu! 
 freut.
 
 BOOK TENTH. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 PERSIANS AND GRECIANS, 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GREEKS. 
 
 MANNERS and CUSTOMS of tie GREEKS. 
 
 I KE mod eiTential part of hiftory, and which it concerns 
 the re~" know, is that which explains the character 
 
 and manners, as well or the people in general as of the great 
 perfons in particular, of whom it treats ; and this may be faid 
 to be in fome fort the foul of hiftory, of which the facls are 
 only the body. I have endeavoured, as occafion offered, to 
 paint in their true colours the mod illuftrious perfonages of 
 Greece ; it remains for me. to mew the genius and character 
 of the people themfelves. I mall confine myfelf to thofe of 
 Lacedaemou and Athens, who always held the tirft rank 
 amongft the Greeks, and fhall reduce what I have to fay upon 
 this fubjecl to three heads ; their political government, war, 
 and religion. 
 
 Sigoniu?, Meurfius, Potter, and feveral others, who have 
 written upon the Grecian antiquities, fupply me with great 
 lights, and are of equal ufe to me in the matters it remains 
 for me to treat.
 
 . L MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GREEKS. 183 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Of POLITICAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 THERE are three principal forms of government ; Monarchy, 
 in which a Jingle perfon reigns ; Ariftocracy, in which the 
 eldeft and wifefl govern ; and Democracy, in which the fu- 
 preme authority is lodged in the hands of the people. The 
 moil celebrated writers of antiquity, as Plato, Ariftotle, Po- 
 lybius, and Plutarch, give the preference to the firft kind, as 
 including the moil advantages with the fewefl inconvenien- 
 cies. But all agree, and it cannot be too often inculcated, 
 that the end of all government, and the duty of every one 
 in authority, in \vhatfoever manner it be, is to ufe his utmoft 
 endeavours to render thofe under his command happy and 
 juft, by obtaining for them, on the one fide, fafety and tran- 
 quillity, with the advantages and conveniencies of life ; and 
 on the other, all the means and helps that may contribute to 
 making them virtuous. As the pilot's end, fays Cicero *, is 
 to fleer his veffel happily into its port, the phyfician's to pre- 
 ferve or reftore health, the generals of an army to obtain vic- 
 tory ; fo a prince, and every man who governs others, ought 
 to make the utility of the governed his view and motive, and 
 to remember, that the fupreme rule of all juft government is 
 the good of the public, " * Salus populi fuprema lex eflo.'* 
 He adds, that the greateft and moft noble function in the 
 world is to be the author of the happinefs of mankind. 
 
 Plato in an hundred places efteems as nothing the moft 
 ihining qualities and aclions of thofe who govern, if they do 
 not tend to promote the two great ends I have mentioned, 
 the virtue and happinefs of the people ; and he refutes at. 
 large, in the firft b book of his Republic, one Thrafymachas, 
 
 M iiij 
 
 " J Cic. de leg. liii. n. 8. b Page 338 43. 
 
 * Tenefne igitur, modcratorem ilium reip. quo referre veliirms omnia ? U* 
 jrubcrnatori ci;rfus fecundus, medico fajus, imperatori vi<itoria, fie huic moderatori 
 reip. heata civiuin vita propofita eft, ut opibus firma, copiis locuphs, gloria ampla^ 
 irtute hom-fta fit. Hujus enim operis majdmi inter homines atque o ptimi i!llBi 
 ifls j erft&orem volo. Ad Attip. 1. yii:. efifi, 10.
 
 184 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X\ 
 
 who advanced, that fubjefts were born for the prince, and not 
 the prince for his fubjefts ; and that whatever promoted the 
 intereft of the prince and commonwealth ought to be deemed 
 juft and lawful. 
 
 In the diiHnftions which have been made upon the feveral 
 forms of government, it has been agreed, that would be the 
 moil perfect, which ihould unite in itfclf, by an happy mix- 
 ture of inilitutions, all the advantages, and exclude all the in- 
 conveniences of the reft ; and almoil all the ancients have be- 
 lieved c , that the Lacedaemonian government came neartd to 
 this idea of perfection. 
 
 ARTIC: E I. 
 
 Of the GOVERNMENT of SPARJA. 
 
 FROM the time that the Heraclides had re-entered Pcloponne- 
 fus, Sparta was governed by two kings, who were always of the 
 fame two families, defcended from Hercules by two different 
 branches ; as I have obferved elfewhere. Whether from pride, 
 or the abufe of defpotic power on the fide of the kings, or the 
 defire of independence, and an immoderate love of liberty on 
 that of the people, Sparta, in its beginnings, was always in-, 
 volved in commotions and revolts ; which would infallibly 
 have occafioned its ruin, as had happened at Argos and Mef- 
 fene, two neighbouring cities equally powerful with itfelf, if 
 the wife forefight of Lycurgus had not prevented fatal confe- 
 quences by the reformation he made in the (late. I have re- 
 lated it at large d in the life of that legiflator, and fliall only 
 touch here upon what regards the government. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 ! <-/ tie SPARTAN Gor. 
 
 LVCURGUS reftored order and peace in Sparta by the eflabliir)- 
 
 ment of th. tt confiitol of t\\ u;t;. -tight fenators, and 
 
 in it. This auguil council, formed ou: 
 
 d Bo.A v. S. :
 
 Clap. /, or THE GREEKS. 185 
 
 of the wifell and mofl experienced men in the nation, ferved 
 as a counterpoife to the two other authorities, that of the kings, 
 and that of the people ; and whenever the one was for over- 
 bearing the other, the fenate interpofed, by joining the weak- 
 efl, and thereby held the balance between both. At length, 
 to prevent this body itfelf from abufing its power, which was 
 very great, a kind of curb was annexed to it, by the nomina- 
 tion of five Ephori, who were elected out of the people, 
 \vhofe office lafted only one year, and who had authority, not 
 only over the fenators, but the kings themfelves. 
 
 The power of the kings was extremely limited, especially in 
 the city, and in time of peace. In war they had the command 
 of the fleets and armies, and at that time greater authority. 
 However d , they had even then a kind of infpeclors and com- 
 miffioners afligned them, who ferved as a necefiary council, 
 and were generally chofen for that office, from their being 
 out of favour with them, in order that there fhould be no 
 connivance on their fide, and the republic be the better ferved. 
 There was almoft continually fome fecret mifunderftand- 
 ing between the two kings ; whether it proceeded from a na- 
 tural jealoufy between the two branches, or was the effect of 
 the Spartan policy, to which their too great union might have 
 given umbrage. 
 
 The Ephori had a greater authority at Sparta than the tri- 
 bunes of the Roman people. They prefided in the election of 
 the magiftrates, and could call them to an account for their 
 adminiftration. Their power extended even to the perfons of 
 their kings, and of the princes of the blood-royal, whom they 
 had a right to imprifon, which they actually ufed in regard to 
 Paufanias. When they fat upon their feats in the tribunal, 
 they did not rife up when the kings entered, which was a mark 
 of refpecl paid them by all the other magiftrates, and feems to 
 imply a kind of fuperiority in the Ephori from their reprefent- 
 jng the people ; and it is obferved of * Agefilaus, that when he 
 xvas featcd upon his throne to difpenfe juftice, and the Ephori 
 came in, he never failed to rife up to do them honour. It is 
 
 d Arift. de rep. 1, ii. p. 3:1, e Piut. in Agefil. p. 597.
 
 XS6 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Sook X, 
 
 very probable, that before him it was not ufual for the kings 
 to behave in that manner, Plutarch relating this behaviour of 
 Agelilaus as peculiar to him. 
 
 All public buiinefs was propofed and examined in the fe- 
 nate, and refolutions pafled accordingly in the fame place. 
 But the decrees of the fenate were not of force, unlefs ratified 
 t>y the people. 
 
 There muft have been exceeding wifdom in the laws efla- 
 blifhed by Lycurgus for the government of Sparta, becaufe, as 
 long as they were exactly obferved, no commotions qr fedi- 
 tions of the people were ever known in the city, no change in 
 the form of government was ever propofed, no private perfon 
 tifurped authority by violence, 01 made himfelf tyrant ; the 
 people never thought of depriving the two families, in which 
 it had always been, of the fovereignty, nor did any of the kings 
 ever attempt to affume more power than the laws admitted. 
 This reflection f , which both Xenophcn and Polybius make, 
 fhews the idea they had of the wifdom of Lycurgus, in point 
 of his policy, and the opinion we ought to have of it. In ef- 
 fect, no other city of Greece had this advantage ; and all of 
 them experienced many changes and viciffitudes, for want of 
 the like laws to perpetuate their form of government. 
 
 The reafon of this conftancy and liability of the Lacedaemo- 
 nians in their government and conduct is, that in Sparta the 
 laws governed absolutely, and with fovereign authority ; 
 whereas the greatefl part of the other Grecian cities, aban- 
 doned to the caprice of private men, to defpotic power, to an 
 arbitrary and irregular fway, experienced the truth of Plato'j 
 faying 2 , That the city is miferable, where the magi llrate.s 
 command the laws, and not the laws the magiitrates. 
 
 The example of Argos and Meflene, which I have already 
 related, would alone fulHce to mew how jufl and true that re- 
 flection is. b After their return from the Trojan war, the 
 Greeks, diflinguifhed by the name of Dorians, eilablifhed 
 themfelves in three cities of Peloponncfus, Lacedaemon, Ar- 
 gos, and Mefftne ; and fwore alliance and proteflion of each 
 
 Xcr.opli. in Agcfil. p. 651. Pclyb. 1. vi. p. 4.C*. R I'lat. 1. iv. de leg. p. ; 
 & PUt. 1. iii. de log. p. 6?j 68<. Kt. in J.ycurj. n. 43.
 
 Clap. L OF THE GREEKS. 187 
 
 other. Tnefe three cities, governed alike by monarchical power, 
 had the fame advantages ; except in the fertility of the lands 
 where they were lituated, in which the two latter carried it ex- 
 tremely. Argos and Meflene however did not long preferve their 
 fuperiority. The haughtinefs of the kings, and the difobedience 
 of the people, occafioned their fall from the fiourifhing condi- 
 tion in which they had been at firft ; and their example proved, 
 fays Plutarch after Plato, that it was the peculiar favour of the 
 gods, which gave the Spartans fuch a man as Lycurgus, capa- 
 ble of prefcribing fo wife and reafonable a plan of government. 
 
 To fupport it without change, particular care was taken to 
 educate the youth according to the laws and manners of the 
 country, in order that they might^ become a fecond nature in 
 them, by being eagerly ingrafted into them, and confirmed by 
 long habitude. The hard and fober manner in which they 
 were brought up, infpired them during the reft of their lives 
 with a natural tafte for frugality and temperance, that diftin- 
 guifhed them from all other people, and wonderfully adapted 
 them to fupport the fatigues of war. ' Plato obferves, that this 
 falutary cuflom had banimed from Sparta, and all the territo- 
 ry in its dependence, drunkennefs, debauchery, and all their 
 confequential diforders ; infomuch that it was a crime punim- 
 able by law to drink wine to excefs even in the Bacchanalia, 
 which every where elfe were days of licence, whereon whole 
 cities gave themfelves up to the laft excefTes. 
 
 They alfo accuftomed the children from their earlieft in- 
 fancy to an entire fubmiffion to the laws, magiftrates, and all 
 in authority; and * their education, properly fpeaking, was no 
 more than an apprenticefliip of obedience. It was for this rea- 
 fon Agefilaus advifed Xenophon to fend his children to Sparta, 
 as to an excellent fchool f , where they might learn the greateft 
 and mod noble of all fciences, " to obey and to command," 
 for the one naturally leads on to the other. It was not only 
 the mean, the poor, and the ordinary citizens, who were fub- 
 
 I Plat. 1. de leg. p. 637. 
 
 * 'flf* rttr tntiS'.'ixr iJimi ^tXsrrv tv*i&i'w Plut. in Lycurg. p. 58. 
 f Mo3i;W4:wf TUI uaSiuxrui TI xfc.farcv, a*Yiff$xi *eci gv. Plut. in Agef 
 f. <k>6,
 
 I S3 MANNERS AtfD CUSTOMS JJoo/ X. 
 
 je6led in this manner to the laws ; but the rich, the powerful, 
 the magiftrates, and even kings ; and they did not diftinguifh 
 themfelves from the others in any thing but a more exat obe- 
 dience ; convinced that fuch behaviour was the fureft means to 
 their being obeyed and refpefted themfelves by their inferiors. 
 
 1 Hence came the fo much celebrated anfwers of Demaratus. 
 Xerxes could not comprehend how the Lacedaemonians, who 
 had no matter to controu! them, Ihould be capable to confront 
 dangers and death. " They are free and indpendent of all 
 " men," replied Demaratus ; " but the law is above them and 
 " commands them ; and that law ordains that they muft con- 
 " quer or die." m Upon another occafion, when fomebody 
 exprefied their furprife, that being king, he mould fufFer him- 
 felf to be banifhed: " It is," fays he, " becaufti at Sparta the, 
 ' laws are ftronger than the kings." 
 
 This appears evidently in the ready obedience of Agenlaus 
 o the orders of the Ephori, when recalled by them to the fup-r 
 port of his country ; a delicate occafion for a king and a con- 
 queror ; but to him it feemed more * glorious to obey his 
 country and the laws, than to command numerous armies, or 
 even to conquer Aria. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 LOVE of POVERTT inftituted at SPARTA. 
 
 J. o this entire fubmiffion to the laws of the ftate, Lycurgus ad- 
 ded another principle of government no Ids admirable, which 
 was to remove from Sparta all luxury, profufion, and magni- 
 ficence ; to decry riches abfolutely, to make poverty honour- 
 able, and al the fame time neceflary, by fubftituting a fpecies 
 of iron money to gold and filver coin, which till then had been 
 current. I have explained elfwhere the meafures that were 
 ufed to make fo difficult an undertaking fucceed, and fhall con- 
 
 ' Herod. 1. vit. cap. 145. 146. m Pint, in Apoph. Lacon. p. azo. . 
 
 n Idem, in Agefil. p. 603. 604. 
 
 * Multo gloriofius duxit, fi inftitutis patriae paruiflet, quam fi bello fv 
 Afiam. Co:-ncl. Ncp. in Agefil. c. iv.
 
 Clap. L OF THE GREEKS, l8p 
 
 fine myfelf here to examining what judgment fliould be palled. 
 on it, a:> it affects a government. 
 
 The poverty to which Lycurgus reduced Sparta, and which, 
 feemed to prohibit all conqueft, and to deprive it of all means 
 to augment its force and grandeur, was well adapted to ren- 
 dering it powerful and flourifhing. Such a constitution of 
 government, which till then had no example, nor has lince 
 been imitated by any Hate, argues a great fund of prudence 
 and policy in a legiflator ; and the medium conceived after- 
 wards under Lyfander, in continuing individuals in their po- 
 verty, and refloring to the public the ufe of gold and filver 
 coin, was it not a wife amendment of what was too drained 
 and excemve in that law of Lycurgus of which we are fp cak- 
 ing ? 
 
 It feems, if we confult only the common views of human 
 prudence, that it is juft to reafon in this manner ; but the 
 event, which is an infallible evidence and arbiter in this place, 
 obliges me to be of a quite different opinion. Whilft Sparta 
 remained poor, and periifted in the contempt of gold and iil- 
 ver, which continued for feveral ages, me was powerful and 
 glorious ; and the commencement of her decline may be dated 
 from the time when fhe began to break through the fevere 
 prohibition of Lycurgus againft the ufe of gold and filver 
 money. 
 
 The education which he inftituted for the young Lacedae- 
 monians, the hard and fober life which he recommended with 
 fo much care, the painful and violent exercifes of the body 
 prefcribed by him, the abftracUon from all other application 
 and employment, in a word, all his laws and inrlitutions fhew, 
 th&t }\{~, view was to form a people of foldiers, folely devoted 
 to arms and military functions. I do not pretend to juftify 
 abfolutely this fcbeme, which had its great inconveniencie;? ; 
 and I have exprefied my thoughts of it elfewhere. But ad- 
 fnitting it good, we mull confefs that legiflator iliewed great 
 wifdom in the means he took for its execution. 
 
 The almofl inevitable danger of a people folely trained up 
 for wtir, who have always their arms in their hands, and what
 
 Ijp MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Bool: X. 
 
 is mofl to be feared, is injuflice, violence, ambition-, the clefire 
 of increafmg their power, of taking advantage of their neigh- 
 bours weaknefs, of oppreffing them by force, of invading their 
 lands under falfe pretexts, which the lull of dominion never 
 fails to fuggeft, and of extending their bounds as far as poffible ; 
 all vices and extremes which are horrid in private perfons, 
 and the ordinary commerce of life, but which mep have thought 
 fit to applaud as grandeur and glory in the perfcns of princes 
 and conquerors. 
 
 The great care of Lycurgus was to defend his people againifc 
 this dangerous temptation. Without mentioning the other 
 means he made ufe of, he employed two, which could not fail 
 of producing their effecl:. The * firfl was to prohibit all navi- 
 gation and war at fea to his citizens. The fituation of his city, 
 and the fear leaft commerce, the ufual fource of luxury and de- 
 pravation, fhould corrupt the purity of the Spartan manners, 
 might have a fhare in this decree. But his principal motive 
 was to put it out of his citizens power to project conquefts, 
 which a people, fhut up within the narrow bounds of a pe- 
 ninfula, could not carry very far without being mailers at fea. 
 
 The fecond means, flill more efficacious, was to forbid all 
 ufe of gold or fil\ er money, and to introduce a fpecies of iron 
 coin in its (lead, which was of great weight and fmall value, 
 and could only be current at home. How with fuch money 
 fhould foreign troops be raifed and paid, fleets fitted out, and 
 numerous armies kept up either by land or fea ? 
 
 So that the delign of Lycurgus, in rendering his city war- 
 like, and putting arms into their hands, was not, as Polybius 
 obferves, and Plutarch after him, to make them illuflrious con- 
 querors, who might carry war into remote regions, and fubject 
 great numbers of people. His fole end was, that fhut up with- 
 in the extent of the lands and dominion left them by their 
 anceftors, they mould have no thoughts, but of maintaining 
 themfelves in peace, and defending themfelves fuccvfsfully 
 againfl fuch of their neighbours as fhould have the rafhnefs tw 
 
 Polyb. 1. vi. p. 491. Plut. de Lymrg. p. 59. 
 
 * 'Awti'rr ( : . ivui^tlv. Plui. in infiit. Lacon. p. 4^7
 
 , /, OF THE GREEKS. 19! 
 
 invade them ; and for this they had occafion for neither gold 
 nor filver, finding in their own country, and ftill more in their 
 fober and temperate manner of life, all that was fufficient for 
 the fupport of their armies, when they did not quit their own, 
 or the lands of their neghbours. 
 
 Now, fays Polybius, this plan once admitted, it mull be 
 allowed, that there is nothing more wife nor more happily 
 conceived than the inftitutions of Lycurgus, for the maintain- 
 ing a people in the poffeffioa of their liberty, and to fecure to 
 them the enjoyment of peace and tranquillity. In effect, let us 
 imagine a little republic, like that of Sparta, of which all the 
 citizens were inured to labour, accuftomed to live on a little ; 
 warlike, courageous, intrepid ; and that the fundamental prin- 
 ciple of this fmall republic, is to do no wrong to any one, nor 
 to difturb its neighbours, nor invade their lands or interefts, 
 but, on the contrary, to declare in favour of the oppreiTed 
 againft the injuftice and violence of oppreflbrs ; is it not certain 
 that fuch a republic, furrounded by a great number of flates 
 of equal extent, would be generally refpe&ed by all the neigh- 
 bouring people, would become the fupreme arbiter of all their 
 quarrels, and exercife an empire over them, by fo much the 
 more glorious and lafting, as it would be voluntary, and 
 founded folely in the opinion thofe neighbours would have of 
 its virtue, juflice and valour. 
 
 p This was the end Lycurgus propofed to himfelf. Con- 
 vinced that the happinefs of a city, like that of a private per- 
 fon, depends upon virtue, and upon being well within itfelf, 
 he regulated Sparta fo as it might always fuffice to its own 
 happinefs, and acl upon principles of wifdom and equity. From 
 thence arofe that univerfal efleem of the neighbouring people, 
 and even of ftrangers, for the Lacedaemonians, who aiked of 
 them neither money, mips, nor troops, but only that they 
 would lend them a Spartan to command their armies ; and 
 when they had obtained their requeft, they paid him entire 
 ebedience, with every kind of honour and refpeS. In this 
 manner the Sicilians obeyed Gylippus, the Chalcidians Brafi- 
 das, and all the Greeks of Alia, Lyfander, Callicratidas, and 
 P Plut. y. 58.
 
 I3 MAXJTERS AND CUSTOMS &00k JL. 
 
 Agefilaus ; regarding the city of Sparta as a model for all 
 others, in the arts of living and governing. 
 
 The epocha of the declenfion of Sparta begins with the open 
 violation of Lycurgus's laws. I do not pretend that thevhad 
 always been exactly obferved till that time, which was far 
 from the cafe ; but the fpirit and genius of thofe laws had al- 
 moil always prevailed with the majority of the perfons who 
 governed. No fooner had the ambition of reigning over all 
 Greece infpired them with -the deiign of having naval armies, 
 and foreign troops, and that money was necefiary for the fup- 
 port of thcfe forces, than Sparta, forgetting her ancient maxims, 
 faw herfelf reduced to have recourfe to the Barbarians, which 
 till then flie had detefted, and bafely to make her court to the 
 kings of Perfia, whom flie had formerly vanquiihed with fo 
 much glory ; and that only to draw from them fome aids of 
 money and troops againft their own brethren ; that is to fay, 
 againft people born and fettled in Greece like themfelves. 
 Thus had they the imprudence and misfortune to recall with 
 gold and iilver into Sparta, all the vices and crimes which the 
 iron money had banifhed ; and to prepare the way for the 
 changes which enfued, and were the caufe of their ruin. And 
 this infinitely exalts the wifdom of Lycurgus, in having fore- 
 feen at fuch a diftance what might ftrike at the happinefs of 
 his citizens, and provided fnlutary remedies againft it in the 
 form of government he eftablifhed at Sparta. Another legif- 
 lator, who had preceded him feveral ages, has a right to mare 
 this glory with him. 
 
 SECTION lit. 
 LAWS eftablifbed by MlNOS in CRETE. 
 
 .z\.LL the world knows that Lycurgus had formed the plan c*f 
 moft of his laws upon the mr.Jcl of thofe obferved in the iftand 
 of Crete, where he palled a confiderable time, for the bet- 
 ter iludying of them. It is proper I mould give iome idea of 
 
 * ITf 5? fuftrafa.1 rr.v ru-i J rzpiT'zrZi -r/P.iv, <LVr: j sra/Jayaryey ^i$x;za\> it/ruffes '
 
 'Chap. / OF THE GREEKS. lf>^ 
 
 them here, having forgot to do it in the place where it would 
 have been more natural, that is, when I fpol^ for the firfl 
 time of Lycurgus and his inftitutions. 
 
 Minos, whom fable calls the fon of Jupiter, was the author 
 of thefe laws. He q lived about an hundred years before the 
 Trojan war. He was a powerful, wife, and gentle prince, and 
 flill more ellimable for his moral virtues than his military abi- 
 lities. After having conquered the ifland of Crete, and feve- 
 ral others in its neighbourhood, he applied himfelf to ftrength- 
 en by wife laws the new ftate, of which he had poffefled him- 
 felf by the force of arms, r The end which he propofed in the 
 eftablifhment of thefe laws, was to render his fubjects happy by 
 making them virtuous. He baniihed idlenefs and voluptuoui- 
 nefs from his ftates, and with them, luxury and vicious plea- 
 fures, the fruitful fourc^ s of all vice. Weil knowing^ that li- 
 berty was juftly regarded as the moil precious and greatcft 
 good, and that it cannot fubfift without a perfect union of the 
 people, he endeavoured to eftablifti a kind of equality amongfl 
 them ; which is the tie und balls of it, and very proper to re- 
 move all envy, jealoufy, hatred, and diiTention. He did not 
 undertake to make any new divifior-s of lands, nor to pro- 
 hibit the ufe of gold and filver. He applied himfelf to the 
 uniting of his fubje&s by other ties, which feemed to him nei- 
 ther lefs firm nor lels reafonable. 
 
 He decreed, that the children {hotild be all brought up and 
 educated together by troops and bands ; in order that they 
 might learn early the fame principles and maxims. Their life 
 war hard and fober. They were accuftomed to be fatisfied 
 with little, to fuffer heat and cold, to walk over deep and 
 rugged places, to ikirmifh with each other in fmall parties, to 
 fuffer courageoufly the blows they received; and to exercife 
 themfelves in a kind of dance, in which they carried arms iu 
 their hands, and which was afterwards called the Pyrrhic ; in 
 order fays Strabo, that even to their diverfions, every thing 
 might breathe, and forrn, them for war. They were alfo made 
 to learn certain airs of mufic, but of a manly martial kind. 
 Volume ir. N 
 
 * A. M. 2720. Ant. J. C. 1184. T Strab. 1. z. p. 480.
 
 194 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 s They were not taught either to ride, or to wear heavy ar- 
 mour ; but in return, they were made to excel in drawing the 
 bow, wich was their moft ufual exercife. Crete is not a flat 
 even country, nor fit for breeding of horfes, as is that of the 
 Theflalians, who paffed for the bed cavalry in Greece j but a 
 rough, broken country, full of fh elves and high lands, where 
 heavy-armed troops could not exercife themfelves in the horfe 
 race. But as to archery and light-armed foldiers, fit to execute 
 the devices and ilratagems, of war, the Cretans pretended to 
 hold the foremofl rank. 
 
 Minos thought proper to eftablifh in Crete a community of 
 tables and meals. Befides feveral other great advantages which 
 he found in this inftitution, as to the introducing a kind of 
 equality in his dominions, the rich and poor having the fame 
 diet, the accuftoming his fubjecls to a frugal and iober life, 
 the cementing fnendfhipand unity between them by the ufual 
 gaiety and familiarity of the table, he had alfo in view the 
 cuilom of war, in which the foldiers are obliged to eat toge- 
 ther. l It was the public that fupplied the expences of thefe 
 tables. Out of the revenues of the ftate, a part was applied 
 to the ufes of religion, and the falaries of the magiftrates, and 
 the reft allotted for the public meals : So that the women, 
 children, and men of all ages, were fed at the coft, and in the 
 name of the republic. In this Ariftotle : gives the preference 
 to the meals of Crete before thofe of Sparta, wherein private 
 perfons were obliged to furnifh their proportion, and without 
 it were not admitted into the affemblies ; which was to ex- 
 clude the poor. 
 
 u After eating, the old men difcourfed upon the affairs of 
 the ftate. The conversation turned generally upon the hiftory 
 of the country, upon the actions and virtues of the great men 
 of it, who had diftinguifhed themfelves either by their valour 
 in war, or their wifdom in peace ; and the youth, who were 
 prefent at thefe entertainments, were exhorted to propoie. 
 thofe great perfons to themfelves as their models, for the 
 forming of their manners, and the regulation of their conduct, 
 
 s P'.at. de leg 1. i. p. 623. l Arift. de rep. 1. ii. c. ro. 
 
 ' A then. i. iv. p. (
 
 Clap. L OF THE GREEKS. 1 95 
 
 x Minos as well as Ljcurgus, is reproached with having no 
 other view in his laws than war ; which is a very great fault 
 in a legiflator. It is true, this appears to have been his prin- 
 cipal attention, becaufe he was convinced that the repofe, li- 
 berty, and riches of his fubje&s were under the protection, 
 and in a manner under the guard of arms and military know- 
 ledge ; the conquered being deprived of all thofe advantages 
 by the vi&or. But he ordained, that war fhould be only 
 made for the fake of peace ; and his laws are far from being 
 confined to that fole objed. 
 
 Amongft the Cretans, the cultivation of the mind was not 
 entirely neglected ; and care was i^ken to give the youth fome 
 tincture of learning. The works of Homer y , of much later 
 date than the laws of Minos, were not unknown amongft them, 
 though they fet fmall value upon, and made little ufe of, fo- 
 reign poets. a They were very curious in fuch knowledge 33 
 is proper to form the manners ; and, what is no fmall praife^ 
 they piqued themfelves upon thinking much and fpeaking 
 little. a The poet Epimenides, who made a voyage to Athens 
 in the time of Solon, and was in great eftimation there, wfcs 
 of Crete, and by fome placed in the number of the feven fages. 
 
 One of Minos's inftitutions, which Plato b admires the moit, 
 was to infpire early into the youth an high refpeft for the 
 maxims, cuftoms, and laws of the Hate, and not to fuffer 
 them to difpute or call in queftion the wifdom of their inili- 
 tuticn, but to confider them not as prefcribed and impofed 
 by men, but as emanations of the Divinity himfelf. Accord- 
 ingly he had induftrioufly apprifed the people, that Jupiter 
 himfelf had dictated them to him. He had the fame atten- 
 tion in regard to the magiilrates and aged perfons, whom he 
 recommended to honour in a peculiar manner ; and in order 
 that nothing might prevent the refpecl: due to them, he or- 
 dained, that if any defects were obferved in them, they ihould 
 never be mentioned in the prefence of the youth : A wife pre- 
 
 Nij 
 
 x Plat, de leg. 1. i. p. 626 ? Itid. 1. ii. p. 680. z Idem. 1. i. p. 64*, 
 
 a Plut. in Solon, p. 84. b De leg. 1. i- p. 634.
 
 195 MANNERS AKD CUSTOMS BOOK X, 
 
 caution, and which would be very becoming in the ordioarr 
 practice of life ! 
 
 The government of Crete was at firft monarchical, of whicb 
 Minos has left a perfect model to all ages. According to him, 
 as a mod great and excellent man * obferves, the king can do 
 every thing over the people, but the laws every thing over 
 him. He has an abfolute power to do good ; and his hands 
 are tied up from doing evil. The laws intruft the people in 
 his hands as the rr.oft facred of depofites, upon condition 
 that he ihall be their common father. The fame laws require, 
 that a fingle man by his wifdom and moderation fhall confti- 
 tute the felicity of an infinite number of fubje&s ; and not 
 that the fubje&a, by their mifery and abjeft flavery, (hall be 
 fubdituted to gratify the pride and low pafiions of a fingle man. 
 According to him, the king ought to be abroad the defender 
 of his country at the head of armies, and at home the judge 
 of his people, to render them good, wife, and happy. It is 
 not for himfelf that the gods have made him king, and he is 
 only fo for the fervice of his people. He owes them his 
 whole time, care, and affection ; and is worthy of the throne, 
 only as he forgets, and devotes himfelf to the public good. 
 Such is the idea c Minos had of the fovereignty, of which 
 he was a living image in his own perfon, and which He- 
 fiod has perfectly expreiTed in two words, by calling that 
 prince, " the moil royal of mortal kings," /WAiuWw &/r. (hi. 
 ei*.J*n ; that is to fay, that he poflefled in a fupreme degree all 
 royal virtues, and was a king of all things. 
 
 d It appears, that the authority of king was of no long dti- 
 ration ; and that it gave place to a republican government, as 
 Mi.ios had intended. The fenate, compofed of thirty fena- 
 tors, formed the public council. In that aflembly the public 
 affairs were examined, and resolutions taken ; but they were 
 of no force, till the people had given them their approbation, 
 and confirmed them by their fuffrages. The magiflrates, to 
 the number of ten, eflablifhed for maintaining good order in 
 
 c Plat, in Min.^p. 310, <1 Arift. ck rep. 1. ii. c 10, 
 
 * Monfictir de Fenclon, Archbifhop cf Cambry.
 
 Clap. /. OP THE GREEKS 197 
 
 the ftates, and therefore called Cofmi *, held the two other bo . 
 dies of the ftate in refpel, and were the balance between 
 them. In time of war the fame perfons commanded the ar- 
 my. They were chofen by lot, but only out of certain fami- 
 lies. Their office was for life; and they were not accountable 
 to any for their adminiftration. Out of this company the fe- 
 nators were elected. 
 
 The Cretans made the flaves and mercenaries cultivate their 
 lands, who were. obliged to pay them a certain annual fum. 
 They were called Perioeci, apparently from their being peo- 
 ple in the neighbourhood, whom Minos had fubjected. As 
 they inhabited an ifland, and confequently a country feparate 
 from all others, the Cretans had not fo much to fear from 
 thefe vaffals, as the Lacedaemonians from the Helots, who 
 often joined the neighbouring people aga'nft them. e A cuf- 
 tom anciently eflabliihed in Crete, from whence it was adopt- 
 ed by the Romans, gives us reafon to believe, that the vaf- 
 fals who manured the lands, were treated with great good- 
 nefs and favour. In the feafts of Mercury, the mafters wait- 
 ed on their flaves at table, and did them the f me offices as 
 they received from them the reft of the year ; precious re- 
 mains and traces of the primitive world, in which all men 
 were equal, that feetned to inform the mafters, that their fer- 
 vants were of the fame condition -with themfelveSj and that to 
 treat them with cruelty or pride, was to renounc^ humanity. 
 
 1 As a prince cannot do every tiling alone, and is obliged to 
 aflbciate co-operators with himfelf, for whofc .conduct he is 
 accountable, Minos charged his brother Rhadamanthus with a 
 iliare in the adminiftration of juftice in the capital city ; which 
 is the moft eflential and indifpenfible function of fovereignty. 
 lie knew his probity, difiatereftednefs, ability, and conftancy^ 
 and had taken pains to form him for fo important an office. 
 Another minifter had the care of the reft of the cities, who 
 made a circuit three times a-ycar, to examine whether the 
 v.uvs eftablifhed by the prince wtre duly obferved, and the in- 
 
 N iii
 
 198 MANNERS AKD CUSTOMS Ebok X. 
 
 ferior ra?.giflrates and officers religioufly acquitted themfelves 
 of their duty. 
 
 Crete, under fo wife a government, changed its afpeft en- 
 tirely, and feemed to have become the abode of virtue, pro- 
 bity, and juftice ; as we may judge, from what fable tells us 
 of the honour Jupiter did thefe three brothers, in making 
 them judges of t'ie other world ; for every body knows, 
 that fable is founded upon real hiftory, though difguifed un- 
 der agreeable emblems and allegories, adapted to recommend 
 truth, by the ornaments of fancy. 
 
 s It was, according to fabulous tradition, a law eftablilhed 
 from all times, that men in departing out of this life fliould 
 be judged, in order to their receiving the reward or punifh- 
 ment due to their good or evil adions. In the reign cf Sa- 
 turn, and in the firfl years of that of Jupiter, this judgment 
 was pronounced at the inftant preceding death, which left 
 room for very flagrant injuftices. Princes, who had been 
 cruel and tyrannical, appearing before their judges in all the 
 pomp and fplendor of their power, and producing witnefles 
 to depofe in their favour ; becaufe, as they were flill alive, 
 they dreaded their anger ; the judges, dazzled with this vain 
 {hew, and deceived by fuch falfe evidence, declared thefe 
 princes innocent, and difmified them with permifuon to enter 
 into the happy abodes of the juft. The fame may be faid in 
 regard to tha rich ; but for the poor and helplefs, calumny 
 and malice purfued them even to this lail tribunal* and found 
 means to have them doomed for ever as criminals. 
 
 Fable adds, that, upon reiterated complaints and warm re- 
 monftrances made to Jupiter upon this account, he changed 
 the form of thefe trials. The time for them was fixed to be 
 the very moment after death. Rhadamanthus and .&acus, 
 both fons of Jove, were appointed judges ; the firfl for the 
 Afiatics, the other for the Europeans ; and Minos over them 
 to decide fupremely in cafes of doubt and obfcurity. Their 
 tribunal is fituatcd in a place called " The Field of Truth," 
 becaufe neither falfehood nor calumny can approach it. The 
 greateft prince muft appear there, as foon as he has refigned. 
 
 2 Plat, in r. In Axioch. p 371.
 
 . I. OF THE GREEKS. 199 
 
 his laft breath, deprived of all his grandeur, reduced to his 
 naked felf, without defence or protection, filent and trembling 
 for his own doom, after having made the whole world tremble 
 for theirs. If he be found guilty of crimes, which are of 
 a nature to be expiated, he is confined in Tartarus for a cer- 
 tain time only, and with affurance of being releafed, as foon 
 as he (hall be fufficiently purined. But if his crimes are un- 
 pardonable, fuch as injuftice, perjury, and the oppreffion of 
 his people, he is caft into the fame Tartarus, there to fuffer 
 eternal miferies. The juft, on the contrary, of whatfoever 
 condition they are, are conducted into the bleffed abodes 
 of peace and joy, to partake of a felicity which iliall have no 
 end. 
 
 Who does not fee that the poets, under the cover of thefe 
 fictions, ingenious indeed, but little to the honour of the gods, 
 intended to give us the model of an accompliihed prince, 
 whofe firft care is to render juftice to his people ; and to 
 image the extraordinary happinefs Crete enjoyed under the 
 wife government of Minos ? This happinefs did not expire 
 with him. h The laws he eftablifhed fublifted in all their vi- 
 gour even in Plato's time ; that is to fay, more than nine 
 hundred years after. J And they were coniidered as the ef- 
 fect of his long * converfations for many years with Jupiter, 
 who had condefcended to become his teacher, to enter into 
 a familiarity with him as with a friend, and to form him in 
 the great art of reigning, with a fecret complacency, as a fa- 
 vourite difciple, and a tenderly beloved fon. It is in this 
 manner Plato explains thefe v/ords of Homer : k A f [uy&j, 
 I ay??,; , the moil exalted praife, according to him, that can 
 be given to a mortal, and which that poet afcribes only to 
 Minos. 
 
 Notwithftanding fo inining and folid a merit, the theatres of 
 
 N iiij 
 
 3'- Flat, in Min. p. 321. i Idem. j\ 319. k Odyff. T. ver. 179. 
 
 " Et Jovis arcanis Minos admiffus. Horat. 
 
 f This poetical fidlion is perhaps taken from the holy fcriptures, which fay of 
 
 AH fes : And the Lord fpake unte Alcfci face to f^ce, a r . a man fpcaketh nntp fyj 
 hi-jiul. Exod. xsxiii. II.
 
 223 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book ^ 
 
 Athens refounded with nothing fo much as imprecations 
 againft the memory of Minos ; and Socrates, in the dialogue 
 of Plato I have already often cited, obferves upon, and gives 
 the rcafon for them : But firft he makes a reflection well wor- 
 thy of being weighed. " When either the praifc or difpraife 
 " of great men is in quoftion, it is infinitely proper," fays hs, 
 " to ttcat them with circumfpection and wifdom ; bccaufe up- 
 " on that depends the idea men form tp themfelves of vir- 
 *' tue and vice, and the dill motion they ought to make be- 
 " tween the good and the bad. For," adds he, " God con- 
 " ceiyes a jutl indignation, when a perfon is blamed who re- 
 " fembles himfelf ; and on the contrary, another praifed who 
 " is reverfe of him. We muft not believe that nothing is fa- 
 *' cred but brafs and marble ; (he fpeaks of the flatues that 
 " were worfhipped :) The juft man is the moft facred, and the 
 *' wicked the moil deferable of all beings in this world." 
 
 After this reflection, Socrates obferves, that the fource and 
 eaufe of jhe Athenians hatred of Minos was the unjuit and 
 cruel tribute he irnpofed upon them, in obliging them to fend 
 him, every nine years, fcvca young men, and as many maids, 
 to be devoured by the Minotaur ; and he could not avoid re- 
 proaching that prince, with having drawn, upon himfelf the 
 abhorrence af a city like Athens abounding with learned men, 
 and of having Jharpened the tongues of the poets againit him ; 
 a dangerous and formidable race of men, from the poifoned 
 fhafts they never fail to }et fly againft their enemies. 
 
 It appears from what I have repeated, that P.'ato imputes to 
 Minos the impofition of that cruel tribute. Apollodorus, 
 Strabo, and Plutarch, feem to be of the fame opinion. ' Mcn- 
 fieur the Abbe Bauier alleges and proves that they are mif- 
 taken, and confound the firft Minos, of whom we tpeak, 
 with a fecond, his grandfon, who reigned after him in Crete, 
 and, to avenge the death of his fon Androgeus, killed in Atti- 
 ca, declared war againft the Athenians, and impofed that tri- 
 bute ; to which Thefeus put an end by killing the Minotaur. 
 It would indeed be- difficult to reconcile fo inhuman and bar- 
 ba^oua a conduct with what all antiquity relates of the good-
 
 Qlap. I, OF THE GREEKS. 2QJ 
 
 nefs, lenity, and equity of Minos, and with the magnificent 
 praifes it beftows upon the polity and inflitutions of Crete. 
 
 It is true the Cretans degenerated very much from their 
 ancient reputation, which at length they abfolutely loft by an 
 entire change of their manners, beccaning avaricious and felf- 
 interefted, to a degree of thinking that no gain was bafe, ene- 
 mies of labour and regularity of life, profefied liars and knaves; 
 fo that to Cretife became a proverb amongil the Greeks, im- 
 plying to lie and to deceive. Every body knows that * St. 
 Paul cites againil them as truth the teftimony of one of their 
 ancient poets, it is believed of Epimenides, who paints them 
 in colours much to their dishonour ; but this change of man- 
 ners, in whatever time it might arrive, does not at all affecT: 
 the probity of the ancient Cretans, nor the glory of Minos 
 their king. 
 
 1 The moft certain proof of that legiflator's wifdom, as Pla- 
 to obferves, is the folid and lafting happinefs, which was the 
 eirec! of the fole imitation of his laws by Sparta. Lycurgas 
 had regulated the government of that city upon the plan and 
 idea of that of Crete, and it fubfifted in an uniform manner 
 for many ages, without experiencing the viciilitudes and revo? 
 Jutions fo common in all the ether Hates of Greece. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 Of the GOVERNMENT o 
 
 THE government of Athens was neither fo permanent nor fo 
 uniform as that of Sparta ; but fuffered various alterations, 
 according to the diverfity of times and conjunctures. Athens, 
 after having long been governed by kings, and afterwards by 
 archons, affumed entire liberty, which gave place, however, 
 for fome years to the tyrannic power of the Piliftratides, but 
 was foon after re-eftablifhed, and fubfifted with fplendor till 
 the defeat in Sicily, and the taking of the city by the Lace- 
 daemonians. Thcfe fubjecled them to the Thirty Tyrants, 
 
 1 Plat. p. 320. 
 
 * K^TI; Lu -^ivfui, XCCKK Svfa, ya?it; *,'. The Cretans are always liars s 
 evil InaiH (low bellies. Tit. i, 12.
 
 ttOl MANNERS AKD CUSTOMS J 0^ JT. 
 
 whofe authority was not of long duration, and gave place again 
 To liberty, which continued amidfl various events, during a 
 long feries of years, till the Roman power had fubdued Greece, 
 and reduced it into a province. 
 
 I ihall confider in this place only the popular government, 
 and fhall examine in particular five or fix heads : The foun- 
 dation of government according to Solon's eftablifhment ; the 
 different parts of which the republic confifted ; the council or 
 fenate of the five hundred ; the aflemblies of the people ; the 
 different tribunals for the adminiflration of juftice ; the reve- 
 nues or finances of the republic. I Ihall be obliged to be more 
 extenfive upon what regards the government of Athens than 
 I have been upon that of Sparta, becaufe the latter is almoft 
 fufficiently known, from what has been faid of it in the life of 
 Lycurgus m . 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 FOUNDATION of tie GOVERNMENT of ATHENS. 
 
 SOLON was not the firfl who eftablifhed the popular govern- 
 ment at Athens n . Thefeus long before him had traced out 
 the plan, and began the execution of it. After having united 
 the twelve towns into one city, he divided the inhabitants in- 
 to three bodies ; . that of the nobility, to whom the fuperin- 
 tendence in religious affairs and all officers were confided ; 
 the labourers or hulbandmen ; and the artifans. He had pro- 
 pofed the eflablifhment of a kind of equality between the 
 three orders : For if the nobles * were confiderable by their 
 honours and dignities, the hulbandmen had the advantage of 
 their utility to the public, and the necefiity there was for their 
 labours ; and the artifans had the fupcriority to both the 
 other bodies in their number. Athens, to fpeak properly, did 
 not become a popular ftate till the eftablifhment of the nine 
 archons, whofe authority continued only t>.r one year, where- 
 as before it was for ten ; cud it was not till many years after, 
 that Solon, by the wifdom of his laws, inftituted and confirm- 
 ed this form of government. 
 
 B Book v. Art. 8. I in Thef. p. 10 ri.
 
 Chap. I. OF THE GREEKS. SDj 
 
 Solon's great principle was to eftablifh as much as pofil- 
 ble a kind of equality amongfl his citizens, which he regard- 
 ed with reafcn as the foundation and efiential point of liberty. 
 He refolved therefore to leave the public employments in the 
 hands of the rich, as they had been till then, but to give the 
 poor alfo fome fhare in the government, from which they 
 were excluded. For this reafon he made an eftimation of 
 what each individual was worth. Thofe who were found to 
 have an annual revenue of five hundred meafures, as well in 
 grain as liquid things, were placed in the firfl clais. and called 
 the Pentacofiomedimni, that is, thofe who had a revenue of five 
 hundred raeafures. The fecond clafs was compofed of fuch 
 as had three hundred, and could maintain a horfe for war; 
 thefe were called Horfemen or Knights. Thofe who had onlv 
 two hundred, were in the third ciafs, and were called * Zugitae. 
 Out of thefe three clafTes only the magiflrates and command- 
 ers were chofen. All the other citizens, who were below 
 thefe three dalles, and had lefs revenues, were comprifed un- 
 der the name of Thsti, hirelings, or workmen labouring with 
 their hands. Solon did not permit them to hold any office, 
 and granted them only the right of giving their fuffrages in 
 the afTemblies and trials of the people, which at firft feemed 
 a very flight privilege, but at length was found to be a very- 
 great advantage, as will appear in the fequel. I do not know 
 whether Solon forefaw it ; but he ufed to fay, p that the peo- 
 ple were never more obedient and fubmiffive, than when they 
 poffefled neither too much'nor too little liberty : Which comes 
 very near Galba's expreflion, q when to incline Pifo to treat 
 the Roman people with goodnefs and lenity, he defires him 
 to remember, f that he was going to command men who were 
 incapable of bearing either entire liberty or abfolute fubjec- 
 tion. 
 
 Plut. in Solon, p. 87. P Ibid. p. II o. q Tacit. Hift. 1. x. c. 16. 
 
 * It is believed they were fo called from their being ranked between the Knight* 
 and the Theti ; as in die gallies thole who rowed in the middle were termed Zu- 
 gitae ; their place was between the Thalamitae and Thranitae. 
 
 f Imperaturus es homirjbns, qui r.ec tctsrn fervitr.terr. pati poffunt, nee totarr 
 Jibertatem.
 
 r?4 MANNERS AXD CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 1 The people of Athens being become more haughty after 
 their victories over the Perlians, pretended to have a right to 
 fhare in all the public offices and the magiilracy ; and Ari- 
 flides, to prevent the diforders which too fenacious oppofition 
 might have occafioned, thought proper to give way to them 
 in this point. f It appears however from a paffage in Xeno- 
 phon, that the people contented themfelves with the offices 
 from whence fome profit arofe, and left thofe which related 
 more particularly to the government of the flate in the hands 
 of the rich. 
 
 1 The citizens of the three firft clafies paid every year a 
 certain fum of money, to .be laid up in the public treafury ; 
 the firft a * talent, the knights half a talent, and the Zugitae 
 ten f minae. ^ 
 
 As the proportion of revenue determined the order of the 
 clafles, as their revenues augmented, the people were allowed 
 40 rife to a fuperior clafs. 
 
 If u Plutarch may be believed, Solon formed two councils, 
 which were a kind of double limitation to fix and temper the 
 ailemblies of the people. The firft was the Areopagus : But 
 it was much more ancient than his inftitutions ; and he only 
 reformed it, and gave it new luflre by augmenting its power. 
 The fecond was the council of the Four Hundred, that is, an 
 hundred of each tribe ; for Cecrops, the firll king of the A- 
 thenians, had divided the people into four tribes. Clifthenes 
 long after him changed that order, and eftablifhed ten. It 
 was in this council of the Four Hundred all affairs were con- 
 fidered before they were propofed to the afiembly of the peo- 
 ple, as \ve fhall foon explain. 
 
 I do not mention here another diyifion of the people into 
 
 three parties or factions, which tiH-t'ne time of Pififtratus were 
 
 s. continual fource of troubles- artdy~editions. One of thefe 
 
 thre parties was formed out of thofp who inhabited the high 
 
 . and favoured popular government ; the other out of 
 
 r Plnt.jn Ari'lid. p. 333. f Xcnoph.de rep. /.then. p. f-'jl. 
 
 1 Pollux. 1. viii. c. 10. to Soj 
 
 * One thoufand French crowns. 
 '.\ hundred livrcs.
 
 Chap. I. OF THE GREEKS. 2CJ 
 
 thofe who lived in the plains, and they xvere for oligarchy ; 
 and the third out of the people upon the coaft, and theie held, 
 the mean between both. 
 
 It is necelTarj, for the better underftanding what we hav^ 
 now faid, to enter into a more particular account of the 
 Athenian people. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Of tie INHABITANTS of ATHENS. 
 
 1 HERE were three forts of inhabitants of Athens r ; citizeti, 
 flrangers, and fervants. In the account taken by Demetrius 
 Phalereus in the n6th Olympiad, their number amounted to 
 twenty-one thoufand citizens, ten thoufand ftrangers, and 
 forty thoufand fervants *. The number of citizens \vas almoit 
 the fame in the time of Cecrops, and lefs under Pericles. 
 
 I. Of tie CITIZENS. 
 
 A CITIZEN could only be fuch by birth or adoption. To be 
 a natural denizen of Athens, it was neceffary to be born of a 
 father and mother both free, and Athenians. y We have 
 feen that Pericles reilored this law to all its force, which had 
 not been exactly obferved, and which he himfelf fome fmall 
 time after infringed. The people could confer the freedom 
 of the city upon ftrangers ; and thofe whom they had fo 
 adopted, enjoyed almoft the fame rights and privileges as the 
 natural citizens. The quality of citizen of Athens was fome- 
 times granted in honour and gratitude to thofe who had ren- 
 dered great fervices to the ftate ; as to Hippocrates ; and even 
 kings have fometimes canvafled that title for themfelves and 
 their children. Evagoras, king of Cyprus, thought it much 
 to his honour. 
 
 When the young men attained the age of twenty, they were 
 inrolled upon the lift of citizens, after having taken an oath ; 
 and it w^as only in virtue of that public and fblemn act that 
 they became members of the ftate. The form of this oath is 
 
 * A. Tvl. 3690. Ant. J'. C. 314. Athen. 1. vi. p. 273. ? Book v. Art. 8. 
 
 * The text fays, [/.v^'uua.1 riffafuKwra, four hundred thoufand, which is a roani- 
 fcft error.
 
 2C6 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 exceedingly, remarkable, which Stobaeus and z Pollux have 
 preferved in the following words : " I will never difhonour 
 " the profefilon of arms, nor fave my life by a fhameful flight. 
 '* I will fight to my lafl breath for the religion and civil inte- 
 " refts of the ftate, in concert with the other citizens, and a- 
 '* lone if occafion be. I will not bring my country into a 
 " worfe condition than I found it, but will ufe my utmofl en- 
 *' deavours to make it more happy and fiourifhing. I will al- 
 " ways fubmit myfelf to the laws and magiftrates, and to all 
 " that fliall be ordained by the common confent of the peo- 
 *' pie. If any one (hall violate, or make void the laws, I will 
 " not difguife or conceal fuch an attempt, but will oppofe it 
 " either alone or in conjunction with my fellow-citizens ; and 
 " I will conftantly adhere to the religion of my forefathers. 
 " To all which I call to witnefs Agraulis, Enyalus, Mars, and 
 ** Jupiter." I leave the reader to his own reflections upon 
 this auguft ceremony, well adapted to infpire the love of their 
 country into the hearts of the young citizens. 
 
 The whole people at firft had been divided into four tribes, 
 and afterwards into ten. Each tribe was fubdivided into fe- 
 veral parts, which were called >'> Pagi. It was by thefe 
 two titles the citizens were defcribed in the public ats. " Me- 
 ** litus, e tribu Cecropide, e pago Pitthenli/' 
 
 II. Of the STRANGER s. 
 
 I CALL thofe by that name, who being of a foreign country, 
 came .to fettle at Athens, cr in Attica, whether for the fake 
 of commerce, or the exercifing any trade. They were term- 
 ed ftirtoui, Inquilini. They had no mare in the government, 
 nor votes in the afiembly of the people, and could not be ad- 
 mitted into any office. They put themfelvcs under the pro- 
 tection of fome citizen, as we find from a pafiage of * Te- 
 rence, and upon that account were obliged to render him cer- 
 tain duties and fervices, as the clients did at Rome to their 
 patrons. They were held to obferve all the laws of the re- 
 
 2 PoHnx, 1. viii. c. 9. 
 
 * Thais patri fe commedavit ic clientelam ct fidem : Nobis dedit fdfe. Eunuch 
 Aft 5. fee:: -i!t,
 
 Chap I. THE GREEKS. 2 Z~J 
 
 public, and to conform entirely to all its cuiloms. They paid 
 a yearly tribute to the Hate of twelve * drachms, and in de- 
 fault of payment were made {laves, and expofed to fale. a Xe- 
 nocrates, the celebrated, but poor, philofopher, was very near 
 experiencing this misfortune, and was carried to prifon ; but 
 Lycurgus the orator having paid the tax, releafed him from, 
 the farmers of the public revenues ; a kind of men who iu all 
 times have been very little fenfible to merit, with the excep- 
 tion of an exceeding few of their number. That philofopher, 
 meeting fome time after the fons of his deliverer, told them, 
 " I pay your father the favour he has done me with ufury t 
 " for all the world praifes him upon my account." 
 
 III. OftleSER VANTS. 
 
 THERE were two kinds of them. The one, who were free, 
 and not able to get their bread by their work, were obliged 
 by the bad ftate of their affairs to go into fervice ; and their 
 condition was eafy, and not laborious. The fervice, of the 
 other was forced and unavoidable ; thefe were flaves, who 
 had either been taken prifoners in war, or bought of fuch as 
 trafficked publicly in them. Part of their mailer's eftate con- 
 fifted in them, who difpofed abfolutely of them, but generally 
 treated them with great humanity. b Demofthenes obferves, 
 in one of his harangues, that the condition of forvants was in- 
 finitely more gentle at Athens than any where elfe. There 
 was in that city an afylum and place of refuge for flaves, where 
 the bones of Thefeus had been interred ; and that afylum fub- 
 fifled in Plutarch's time. How glorious was it for Thefeus, 
 that his tomb mould do that twelve hundred years after his 
 death which he had done himfelf during his life, and continue 
 the protector of the opprefled as he had been ! 
 
 c When the flaves were treated with too much rigour and 
 inhumanity, they had their action againft their matters, who 
 -were obliged to fell them to others, if the facl were fumciently 
 proved. c They could ranfom themfelves even againft their maQr. 
 
 a Plut. in Fiamin. p. 375. b Philip. 3. 
 
 c riaat. de fuperftit. p. 166. <* Plut, in Ciifin. 
 
 * Six livres.
 
 108 MANNEfcS AND CUSTOMS Book JF* 
 
 tcrs confent, when they had laid up money enough for that 
 purpofe. For out of what they got by their labour, after 
 having paid a certain proportion to their mailers, they kept 
 the remainder for themfelves, and made a flock of it at their 
 own difpofal. Private perfons, when they were fatisfied with 
 their fervices, often gave thefe ilaves their liberty ; and the 
 fame grace Was always granted them by the public, when the 
 neceffity of the times obliged the flate to arm and lift them 
 for the war amongft the citizens. 
 
 The humane and equitable ufage with which the Athe- 
 nians treated their fervants and flaves, was an effecl: of the 
 good temper natural to that people, and very remote from the 
 auilere and cruel feverity of the Lacedaemonians in regard to 
 their helots, which often brought their republic to the very- 
 brink of definition. c Plutarch, with great reafon, condemns 
 this rigour. He thinks it proper to habituate one's felf always 
 to mercy, even with regard to beafts, were it only, fays he, 
 to learn by that means to treat men well, and for the fake of 
 habituating humanity and benevolence. He relates upon this 
 occafion a very fingular facl, and very proper to explain the 
 character of the Athenians. After having finifhed the tem- 
 ple called Hecatonpedon, they fet all the beafts of burden at 
 liberty that had been employed in the work, and affigned 
 them fat pafturages as confecrated animals. And it was faid, 
 that one of thefe beafts having come to offer itfelf at the work, 
 and put itfelf at the head of thofe that drew the carriages to 
 the citadel, walking foremoft as if to exhort and encourage 
 them, the Athenians ordained by a decree, that the creature 
 dould be maintained at the public expence till its death. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Of tie COUNCIL or SENATE of FIVE HUNDRED. 
 
 IN confequence of Solon's inftitutions, the people of Athens 
 
 had a great mare and authority in the government. Appeals 
 
 might be brought to their tribunal in all caufes j they had * 
 
 c Plut. in Catcne, p. 338. 339,
 
 Cbap. / OF THE GREEKS. 2Op 
 
 right to cancel the old laws, and eftablifli new ones ; in a 
 word, all important affairs, whether relating to war or peace, 
 v/ere decided in their aflemblies. In oider to their determina- 
 tions being made with more wifdom and maturity, Solon had 
 inflituted a council, com ofed of four hundred ienators, an 
 hundred out of each tribe, which were then four in number ; 
 they prepared and digefted the affairs which were to be laid 
 b?fore the people, as we mail loon explain more at large. 
 Clifthenes, about a hundred years after Solon, having increaf- 
 ed the number of tribes to ten, augmented alfo that of the fe- 
 nators to five hundred ; each tribe fu. . \y ng fifty. This was 
 called the Council or Senate of the Five Hundred. They re- 
 ceived their ftipend out of the public treafury. 
 
 -They were chofen by lot, in which they made ufe of black 
 and white beans, which were mingled and fhaken in an urn, 
 and each tribe gave in the names of thofe who afpired to that 
 truft, and had the revenue affigned by the laws to qualify them 
 for it. None could be admitted under the age of thirty. After 
 inquiry made into the manners and conduct of the candid?.te, 
 iie was made to take an oath, whereby he engaged to give at 
 all times the beft counfel he could to the people of Athens, 
 and never to depart in the leaft from the tenor of the laws. 
 
 This fenate aflembled every day, except upon the days ap- 
 pointed for feftivals. Each tribe in its turn furnifhed thofe 
 who were to prefide in it, called * Prytanes ; and tliis rank was 
 decided by lot. This preflaency continued thirty-five days, 
 which being reckoned ten times, amounts to the number of 
 days, except four, of the lunar year folio wed at Athens. This 
 Time of the prelidency, or prytajiifm, was divided into five 
 \veeks with regard to the five tens of the Prytanes, who were 
 to prefide in them ; and every week feven cf thefe ten Pvytanes 
 drawn by lot pixiideJ, each their day, and were jdenoniinated 
 nj3 ?S i, that is to %' Prefidents. He f who was fo for the 
 day, prcfiued in tli2 allembly of the fenators and in that of the 
 people. He was charged with the public feal, 23 alfo with the 
 
 '.<f the citadel and treafury. 
 
 The fenators, 'before they afk-nbled, offered a fcicrifice 19 
 VOL. IV. O
 
 210 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 Jupiter, and Minerva, under the additional appellation of God- 
 defs of Good Counfel *, to demand the prudence and under- 
 Handing neceiTary in wife deliberations. The present propo- 
 fed the bufinefs which was to be coniidered in the afiembly. 
 Every one gave his opinion in his turn, and always Handing. 
 After a quellion had been fettled, it was drawn up in writ- 
 ing, and read with a loud voice. Each fenator then gave his 
 vote by fcrutiny, in putting a bean into the urn. If the num- 
 ber of the white beans carried it, the queftion paffed ; other- 
 wife it was rejected. This fort of decree was called Nfri^ce*, or 
 nferf;itt.a, as much as to fay preparatory refolution. It was 
 afterwards laid before the aflembly of the people, where, if it 
 was received and approved, it had the force of a law ; if not, 
 its authority fubfiited only one year. This fliev. s with what 
 \vii~dom Solon eflablifhed this council, to inform anddirecl: the 
 people, to fix their inconftancy, to prevent their temerity, and 
 to affiil their deliberations with a prudence and maturity not 
 to be expecled in a confufed and tumultuous alTembly, com- 
 pofed of a great number of citizens, moil of them without 
 education, capacity, or much zeal for the public good. The 
 reciprocal dependency, and natural intercourfe of the two bo- 
 dies of the ftate, which were obliged to lend each other their 
 authority, and remained equally without force when without 
 union and a good understanding, were betides a method judi- 
 cioufly contrived for fupporting a wife balance between the 
 two bodies ; the people not being able to inftitute any thing 
 without its being firft pro paled and approved b_y the fenate, 
 nor the fenate to pafj any decree into a law till it had been 
 ratified by the people. 
 
 \Ve may judge of the importance of this council by the 
 matters which were treated in it ; the fume, without any ex- 
 :i, as were laid before die people; wars, taxes, maritime 
 niTairs, treaties of peace, alliances ; in a word, whatever related 
 to government ; without mentioning the account which they 
 obliged the magiftrates to give on quitting their offices, and 

 
 Gt>0p. /. OF THE GREEKS. . 211 
 
 their frequent decifions and judgments upon the mofl fcrious 
 and important affairs. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of the AREOPAGUS. 
 
 THIS council took its name from the place where it aflembled, 
 called *The Quarter, or Hill of Mars, becaufe, according 
 to fome, Mars had been cited thither in judgment for -a mur- 
 der committed by him. It was believed to be as ancient as the 
 nation. Cicero and Plutarch attribute the inftitution of it to 
 Solon ; but he only re-eftablifhed it, by giving it more luftre 
 and authority than it had had till then, and for that reafon 
 was looked upon as its founder. The number of the fena- 
 .tors of the Areopagus was not fixed ; at certain times they 
 amounted to two or three hundred. Solon thought proper, 
 that only thofe who had borne the office of archon mould be 
 honoured with that dignity. 
 
 This fenate had the care of feeing the laws duly obferved, 
 of infpecling the manners of the people, and efpecially of 
 judging in criminal cafes. They held their fittings in an open 
 place, and during the night. The former, very probably to 
 avoid being under the fame roof with the criminals, and not 
 to defile themfelves by fuch a commerce with them ; the latter, 
 that they might not be foftened by the fight of the guilty, and 
 might judge according to juftice and the laws. It was for the 
 fame reafon, the orators were not permitted to ufe their exor- 
 dium on peroration, nor allowed to excite the paflions, and 
 were obliged to confine themfelves folely to the fubject matter 
 of their caufe. The feverity of their judgments was exceed- 
 ingly dreaded, particularly in regard to murder ; and they were 
 'highly attentive to infpire their citizens with horror for that 
 .crime. They f condemned a child to be put to death for mak- 
 ing it his paltirne to put out the eyes of quails ; conceiving this 
 
 Oij 
 
 * -4^ f"/- 
 
 f Nee mini videntur Aeropagitap, cum damnaverlrnt puernm oculos ccturni- 
 
 ru-jKtc:r.. ; !iud : ,-jd:caiL%quam id lignum effe psrnlciofiflimae mentis, mul- 
 . .- c ii/.uiv.i- fi auukvhret. Quint'.!, 1. v. c. y.
 
 212 MANNERS AXD CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 
 
 fanguinary inclination as the mark of a very wicked difpofi- 
 tion, which might one day prove fatal to many, if he were 
 fuffered to grow up with impunity .-- 
 
 The affairs of religion, as blafphemies againft the gods, con- 
 tempt of facred myileries, different fpecics qf impiety, and the 
 introduction of new ceremonies and new divinities, were alfq 
 brought before this tribunal. u \Ve read in Juilin Martyr, that 
 Plato, who in his travels in Egypt had acquired great lights 
 concerning the unity of God, when he returned to Athens, 
 took great care to diffemble and conceal his fentiments, for 
 fear of being obliged to appear and give an account of them 
 before the Areopagitae ; and we know that St. Paul was tra- 
 duced' before them, as teaching a new do&rine * and endea- 
 vouring to introduce new gods. 
 
 Thefe judges were in great reputation for their probity, 
 equity, and prudence, and generally refpe&ed. Cicero, in 
 writing to his friend Atticus, tjpon the fortitude, conftancy, 
 and wife feverity of die Roman fenate, thinks he makes a 
 great encomium upon it, in comparing it with the Areopagus. 
 " y Senatus, *A <r}-sj, nil conftantius,' nil feverius, nil for-. 
 " tins." Cicero mud have conceived a very advantageous idea 
 of it, to fpeak of it as he does in the firft book of his Offices *. 
 He compares the famous battle of Salamin, in which Themiilo- 
 cles had fo great a part, with the eftabliihment of the Areo- 
 pagus, that he afcribes to Solon ; and makes no fcruple to 
 prefer, or at leaft to equal the legiflator's fcrvice to that for 
 which Athens was obliged to the general of its army. "For 
 44 in reality," fays he, " that viftory was ufeful to the repub, 
 " lie only for once, but the Areopagus will be fo throughout 
 *' all ages ; as by the wifdom of that tribunal, the laws and 
 "ancient cuftoms of the Athenian Itate are preferved. The- 
 
 u Cohort, ad Grace. x Ads xvii. 18 zo. * Ad Attic. 1. i. cp. 13. 
 
 * Quamvjs Themiftocles jure laudetur, ct fit cjus nomen, q&am Solonis, illuf- 
 trius, citeturque Salamis dariflimae teftis victoriae, quae anteponatiir confilio So- 
 . quo primuru conftituit Areopagitas ; r.on minus praeclarum hoc, quan; 
 iliud judicandum eft. Jilud enim lemel profuit, hoc Temper proderit civitati : hoc 
 confilio kges A thcnienfium hoc majorum inftitiita fcrvantur. Et Themiftocles 
 quidem nihil dixerit, in quo jj-fc ^ reopagum juvcrit : at illc adjuvit. Thcmifto- 
 clem. Eft cnim brllum gciluin -fiiHiio fer.atu* this, qui a Solonc trut conftkutus. 
 Offir. 1. ;
 
 Chap. I. OF THE GREEKS. 213 
 
 " miftocles did no fervice to the Areopagus ; but the Areopa- 
 " gus abundantly contributed to the viftory of Themiflocles j 
 " becaufe the republic was at that time directed by the wife 
 " counfels of that auguft fenate." 
 
 It appears from this paflage of Cicero's, that the Areopagus 
 had a great mare in the government, and I do not doubt but 
 it was confulted upon important affairs. Cicero here perhaps 
 may have confounded the council of the Areopagus with that 
 ef the Five Hundred. It is certain, however, that the Areopa- 
 gitae were extremely aftive in the public affairs. 
 
 Pericles, who could never enter the Areopagus, becaufe 
 chance having always been againil him, he had not palTed 
 through any of the employments neceffary to his ad million, 
 attempted to weaken its authority, and attained his point : 
 Which is a great blot in his reputation. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Of the MAGISTRATES. 
 
 OF thefe a great number were eftablifhed for different func- 
 tions. I mail fpeak only of the archons, who are the mofl 
 known. I have obferved elfewherc, that they fucceeded the 
 kings, and that their authority at firft continued during life. 
 It was at length limited to ten years, and reduced at laft only 
 to one. When Solon was commiffioned to reform the govern- 
 ment, he found them upon this foot, and to the number of 
 nine. He did not abolifh their office j but he very much di- 
 minimed their power. 
 
 The firft of thefe nine magiflrates was called THE ARCHO^, 
 by way of eminence, and the year denominated from him : 
 " * Under fuch an archon fuch a battle was fought." The 
 fecond was called THE KING, which was the remains and foot- 
 fteps of the authority to which they had fucceeded. The third 
 Was THE POLEMARCH, who at firfl commanded the armies, and 
 always retained that name, though he had not the fame autho- 
 rity, of which he had fo long preferred fome part. For we 
 
 O iij 
 
 * From thence he was alfo called '
 
 214 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 have feen, in fpeaking of the battle of Marathon, that the pole- 
 msrch had a right to vote in the council of war, as well as the 
 ten generals then in command. The fix other archons were 
 called by the common name, THESMOTHETAE, which implies 
 that they had a particular fuperintendence over the laws, in 
 order to their being duly obferved. Thefe nine archons had 
 each of them a peculiar province, and were judges in certain af- 
 fairs allotted to their cognizance. I do not think it necefiary to 
 enter into the particulars of their duty, nor into thofe of many 
 other employments and offices, eltablifhed for the adminiftra- 
 tion of juftice, for the levying of taxes and tributes, for the 
 prefervation of good order in the city, for fupplying it with 
 provifions ; in a word, for every thing relating to commerce 
 and civil fociety. 
 
 SECTION VT. 
 Of tie ASSEMBLIES of tie PEOPLE. 
 
 THESE were of two forts, the one ordinary, and fixed to cer- 
 tain days ; and for thefe there was no kind of fummons : the 
 other- extraordinary, according to the different occafions that 
 arofe ; and the people were informed of it by exprefs procla- 
 mation. 
 
 The place for the affembly was not fixed. Sometimes it 
 was the public market-place, fometimes a part of the city near 
 the citadel, called n^'?, and fometimes the theatre of Bacchus. 
 
 The Prytanes generally afiembled the people. Some days 
 before the affembly, papers were fixed up, wherein the bufinefs 
 to be confidered was fet down 
 
 All the citizens, poor as well as rich, had a right to give 
 their fuftrages. They were liable to a penalty, who failed of 
 being prefent at the aflembly, or who came too late ; and to 
 induce their punctual attendance, a reward was annexed to it, 
 at firit of an obolus, which was the iixth part of a drachm, 
 then of three oboli, which made about fivepence French. 
 
 The aflembly always began with facriivces and prayers, m 
 order for the obtaining from the gods the knowledge and un- 
 derflanding neceilary to wife deliberations ; and they never
 
 Gbap> I. OF THE GREEKS. .215 
 
 failed to add the moft terrible imprecations againft fucli as 
 ihould wilfully advife any thing contrary to the public good. 
 
 The prefident propofed the affair upon which they were to 
 deliberate. If it had been examined in the fenate, and drawn 
 up there as a queftion, it was read ; after which, thofe who 
 would fpeak were invited to r.fce .d the tribunal, that they 
 might be the better heard b" the pe .'pie, and inform them in 
 the matter propofed. The oldeft general fpoke firft, and then 
 the reft according to their feniority. When the orators had 
 done fpeaking, and concluded that it was neceflary to approve 
 or rejel the decree of the fenate, the people proceeded to vote ; 
 and the moft common method of doing it was by holding up 
 their hands, to denote their approbation j which was called 
 z / ? rvrv. The alterably was fometimes adjourned till another 
 day, becaufe it was too late for the number of thofe who lift- 
 ed up their hands to be diftinguilhed, and the plurality de- 
 cided. After a refolution had -been formed in this manner, 
 it was reduced to writing, and read by an officer to the people 
 with a loud voice, who confirmed it again by holding up their 
 hands as before ; after which the decree had the force of a 
 law : And this was called vtparfta, from the Greek 'word sf>jf, 
 which fignifies " a pebble, or " fmall ftone," becaufe they 
 were fometimes ufed in giving fuffrages by fcrutiny. 
 
 All the great affairs of the republic were difcufTed in thefe 
 affemblies. It was in them new laws were propofed and old 
 ones amended ; the religion and woffhip of the gods examin- 
 ed ; magiftrates, generals, and officers created ; their behavi- 
 our and conduct inquired into ; peace or war concluded ; de- 
 puties and ambafiadors appointed ; treaties and alliances rati- 
 fied ; freedom of the city granted ; rewards and honours de- 
 creed for thofe who had diitinguiihed themfelves in war, or 
 rendered great fervices to the republic ; and puniihments or- 
 dained for thofe who had behaved themfelves ill, or had vio- 
 lated the laws of the flate, and were baniihed by oftracifm. 
 In fine, juilice was adminiftered, and judgment pafled there^ 
 upon the mofl important affairs. We fee from this account, 
 which is however very imperfect, how, far the people's power 
 extended ; and with what truth it may be faid that the go 
 
 Oiiij
 
 2l6 MANSERS AXD CUSTOMS Boot X, 
 
 vernment of Athens, though qualified \vith ariftocracy, and 
 the authority of the elders, was by its constitution democra- 
 tical and popular. 
 
 I fhall take occanon to ob-ferve in the fequel, of what weight 
 the a at of eloquence is in fuch a republic, and in what 
 manner orators ought to be confidered in it. It is not eafy to 
 conceive how they could make themfelves heard in lo nume- 
 rous an affembly, and where fuch a multitude of auditors were 
 prefent. We may judge how great that was, from what has 
 been faid of it in two inftances. The firft relates to oflm- 
 cifrn, and the ether to the adoption of a ftranger for a citizen, 
 On each of thefe cccafions, it was necelTary that no lefs than 
 fix thoufand citizens fll^uld be prefent in the affembly. 
 
 I referve for another place the reflections which naturally 
 arife from what I have already related, and what it remain? 
 for me to fay further upon the government of Athens. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 Of TRIALS. 
 
 1 HERE were different tribunals, according to the difference of 
 the affairs to be adjudged ; but appeals might be brought to 
 the people from all decrees of other judges ; and this it was 
 that rendered their power fo great and confiderable z . All 
 the allies, when they had any caufe to try, were obliged to re- 
 pair to Athens, where they often remained a confiderable 
 time, without being able to obtain audience, from the multi- 
 plicity of affairs to be adjudged. This law had been impofed 
 iipon them, in order to render them more dependent uporf 
 the people, and more fubmifiave to theh; authority ; initead of 
 whic.i, had they fent commiflioners to the places, they would 
 have been the fole perfons to whom the allies would" have 
 made their court, and paid their homage. 
 
 The parties pleaded their caufes either in perfon, or em- 
 ployed advocates to do it for them. The time allowed for the 
 hearing was generally fixed ; and a water-clock, called in Greek 
 , regulated its duration. The decree was paffed by plu- 
 Xenoph. de rep. Athen. p. 664.
 
 Chap. L OF THE GREEKS. it 7 
 
 rality of voices; and when the fuffrages were equal, the judges 
 inclined to the fide of mercy, and acquitted the accufed. Ic 
 is remarkable that a friend was not obliged to give evidence 
 againft a friend. 
 
 All the citizens, even the pooreft, and fuch as had no 
 eftates, were admitted into the number of the judges, provided, 
 they had attained the age of thirty, and were known to be 
 perfons of good morals. Whilft they fat in judgment, they 
 held in their hands a kind of fceptre, which was the mark, of 
 their dignity, and laid it down when they withdrew. 
 
 The judges falary was different at different times. They 
 had at firft only an obolus a-day, and afterwards tlwee, where 
 their fee remained fixed. It was but a Imali matter in itfelf, 
 but became in time a very great charge to the public, and ex- 
 haufted the treafury without much enriching particulars. W 
 may judge of this from what is related in Ariitophanes's comedy 
 of the Wafps, wherein that poet ridicules ths paiiion of the 
 Athenians for trying caufes, and their eager dtfire for the gain 
 ariiing from it, which protracted and multiplied fuits to infinity. 
 
 In this comedy, a young Athenian, who was to aft the part 
 I have mentioned, of turning the judges and trials of Athens 
 into ridicule, from a it ate of the revenues paid into the pub- 
 lic treafury, finds their amount to be two thoufand talents *. 
 He then examines how much of that fum falls to the ihare of 
 tfie judges, with whom Athens was over-run, at three obeli 
 a-head per day. This appears to be annually, including all 
 of them, only an hundred and fifty talents f . The calculation 
 is eafy. The judges were paid only ten months in the year, 
 the other tw T o being employed in feftivals, when all proceed- 
 ings at law were prohibited. Now, three oboli a-day paid to 
 fix thoufand men, makes fifteen talents a-month, and in eon- 
 fecjuence oue hundred and fifty in ten months. According to 
 this calculation, the moil affiduous judge gained only feventy- 
 ftve livres, about three guineas, a-year. " What then be- 
 " comes of the remainder of the two thoufand talents ?" cries 
 the young Athenian. " What," replies his father, who way 
 one of the judges, " it goes to thofe but let us not ex- 
 
 * About L.aSojCSs Sterling. f About JU ;oca Storjinjj.
 
 3l8 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X* 
 
 " pofe the mame of Athens ; let us always be for the peo- 
 " pie." The young Athenian goes on to explain that the re- 
 ma: vier went to fuch as robbed the public treafury ; to the 
 orators, who inceffantly flattered the people ; and to thofe 
 who were employed in the government and army. I have ex- 
 trafted this remark from the works of Father Brumoi the Je- 
 fuit, with which I fhall make very free, when I come to fpeak 
 of public mews and dramatic reprefentations. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 Of tie AMPHICTTONS. 
 
 1 HE famous council of the Amphicfcyons is introduced here, 
 though not particular to the Athenians, but common to all 
 ^preece, becaufe it is often mentioned in the Grecian hiftory ; 
 and I do not know whether I {hall have a more natural occa- 
 fion to fpeak of it. 
 
 The aiTembly of the Amphiftyons was in a manner the hold- 
 ing of a general affembly of the ilates of Greece. . The efta- 
 blifhment of it is attributed to Amphiclyon, king of Athens 
 and fon of Deucalion, who gave them his name. His princi- 
 pal view in the inftitution of this council, was to unite in the 
 facrcd band of amity the feveral people of Greece admitted 
 into it, and to oblige them by that union to undertake the de- 
 fence of each other, and be mutually vigilant for the happi- 
 nefs and tranquillity of their country. The Amphiclyons 
 were alfo created -to be the protectors of the oracle of Del- 
 phos, and the guardians of the prodigious riches of that tem- 
 ple ; and alfo to adjudge the differences which might arife be- 
 tween the Delphians, and thofe who came to confult the 
 oracle. This council was held at Thermopylae, and fometimes 
 at Delphos itfelf. It allembled regularly twice a-year, in the 
 fpring and autumn, and more frequently when affairs re- 
 quired. 
 
 The number of people or cities which had a right to lit in- 
 this aflembly is notprecifely known, and varied, without doubt, 
 at different times. When the Lacedaemonians^ in order to
 
 Clap. I. OT THE GREEKS. 21$ 
 
 pafs in it what decrees they thought fit, were for excluding 
 the Theffalians, Argives, and Thebans ; a Themiftocles, in 
 the fpeech he made to the Amphictyons to prevent that dc- 
 fign from taking effect, feems to infinuate, that there were only 
 one-and-thirty cities at that time which had this right. 
 
 Each city fent two deputies, and in confequence had two 
 votes in the council, and that without diilinction, or the 
 more powerful having any prerogative of honour or pre-emi- 
 nence over inferior flates in regard to the fuffrages j the liber- 
 ty upon which thefe people valued themfelves, requiring 
 that every thing mould be equal amongil them. 
 
 The Amphictyons had full power to difcufs and determine 
 finally in all differences which might arife between the Am- 
 phiclyonic cities, and to fine the culpable in fuch manner as 
 they thought fit. They could employ not only the rigour of 
 the laws in the execution of their decrees, but even raife 
 troops, if it were neceflary, to compel fuch as rebelled to fub- 
 mit to them. The three facred wars undertaken by their or- 
 der, of which I have fpoken elfewhere, are an evident proof 
 of this power. 
 
 Before they were inftalled into this body, they took a very 
 remarkable oath, of which ^Efchines b has preferved the form. 
 It runs to this effect : " I fwear that I will never deftroy any 
 " of the cities honoured with the right of fitting in the Am- 
 " phictyonic council, nor turn their running waters out of 
 " their courfe either in times of peace or war : If any people 
 ' mall make fuch an attempt, I hereby engage to carry the 
 *' war into their country, to demolilh their cities, towns and 
 " villages, and to treat them in all things as the moft cruel 
 *' enemies. Moreover, if at any time any perfons fhall dare 
 " to be fo impious as to fteal and take away any of the rich 
 " offerings preferved in the temple of Apollo at Delphos, or 
 *' abet any others in committing that crime, either by aiding 
 *' or only counfelling him therein, I will ufe my feet, hands, 
 " voice, in a word, all my powers and faculties, to avenge- 
 " fuch facrilege." That oath was attended with the molt 
 
 * Plut. in Themift. p. 122. 
 . fc Acfchin. in Oral, zrti rxff^'aixi.
 
 223 MANNERS AKD CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 terrible imprecations and execrations, " That if any one in- 
 " fringes any thing contained in the oath I have now taken, 
 " whether private perfcn, city, or people, may that perfon, 
 " city, or people, be deemed accurfed ; and in thrit accepta- 
 " tion, experience the whole vengeance of Apollo, Latona, 
 " Diana, and Minerva the foreknower. May their country 
 *' produce none of the fruits of the earth, and their women, 
 inftead of generating children refembling their fathers, bring 
 '* forth nothing but monfters ; may their animals mare in the 
 " fame curfe. May thofe facrilegious men lofe all fuits at 
 " law ; may they be conquered in war, have their houfes de- 
 " moliihed, and be themfelves and their children put to the 
 " fword." I am not aftoniihed, that after fuch terrible en- 
 gagements, the holy war, undertaken by the order of the Am- 
 phiftryons, mould be carried on with fo much ardour and fu- 
 ry. The religion of an oath was of great force with the an- 
 cients ; and how much more regard ought to be had to it in 
 the Chriftian world, which profefies to believe that the vio- 
 lation of it mail be puniflied with eternal torments ; and yet 
 how many are there amongft us who make a trifle of break- 
 ing through the moll folemn oaths ? 
 
 The authority of the Amphiclyons had always been of great 
 weight in Greece ; but it began to decline exceedingly from 
 the moment they condefcended to admit Philip of Macedon 
 into their body. For that prince, enjoying by this means all 
 their rights and privileges, foon knew how to fet himfelf 
 above all law, and to abufe his power, fo far as to prefide by 
 p/exy both in this illuftrious affembly, and in the Pythian 
 games ; of which games the Amphiclryons were judges and 
 Agonothetae in virtue of their office. This Demoflhenes re- 
 preaches him with in his third Philippic ; " When he does 
 ** not deign," fays he, " to honour us with his prefence, he 
 " fends HIS SLAVES to prefide over us :" An odious, but em- 
 phatical term, rind in the fpirit cf ths Grecian liberty, by 
 which the Athenian orator images the bafe and abject fubjec- 
 tion of the greateil lords in Philip's court. 
 
 If the reader defires a further knowledge of what relates ta
 
 Clap. I. OF THE GREEKS. S2J 
 
 the Amphiftyons, the diflertation of Monfieur Valois a may 
 be confulted, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres, 
 wherein this fubjecl is treated with great extent and erudition. 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Of tie REVENUES of ATHENS. 
 
 THE revenues % according to the paflage of Ariftophanes 
 which I have cited above, and in confequence as they flood iu 
 the time of the Peloponnefian war, amounted to two thouiand, 
 talents, that is to fay, to fix millions of livres. They were 
 generally reduced to four fpecies. 
 
 i. The firil relates to the revenues arifing from agriculture, 
 the fale of woods, the produce of mines, and other funds of 
 a like nature, appertaining to the public. Amongft thefe may 
 be included the duties upon the import and export of mer- 
 chandife, and the taxes levied upon the- inhabitants of the ci- 
 ty, as well natives as ftrangers. 
 
 The hiftory of Athens often mentions the filver mines of 
 Laurium, which was a mountain fituated between the Piraeum 
 and Cape Sunium ; and thofe of Thrace, from whence many 
 perfons extracted immenfe riches, f Xenophon, in a treatife 
 wherein he flates this matter at large, demonftrates how much 
 the public might gain by induftrioufiy working thefe mines, 
 from the example of the many perfons they had enriched. 
 Hipponicus b let his mines and fix hundred flaves to an under- 
 taker, who paid him an obolus ^ a-day for each flave, clear of 
 all charges, which amounted in the whole to a mina, about 
 two pounds five {hillings. Nicias, who was killed in Sicily, 
 farmed out his mines and a thoufand flaves in the fame man- 
 ner, and with the fame profit in proportion to that number. 
 
 z. The feccnd fpecies of revenue were the contributions 
 paid the Athenians by the allies for the common expences of 
 
 a Vol. III. b Pag. 925. 
 
 a T.X*. 
 
 f De ration, redituum. 
 I Six boli made a drachm, one hundred drachms a mina, and fixty roinae a
 
 C2Z MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. Book X* 
 
 the war. At firft, under Ariftides, they amounted only to 
 four hundred and fixty talents *. Pericles augmented them 
 almoft a third, and raifed them to fix hundred ; and fome 
 time after they were run up to thirteen hundred. Taxes, 
 which in the beginning were moderate and neceflary, became 
 thus in a little time excefiive and exorbitant, notwithftanding 
 all the proteftations made the allies, and the moil folcmn en- 
 g3gements to the contrary. 
 
 3. A third fort of revenue were the extraordinary capi- 
 tation taxes, levied upon the inhabitants of the country, as 
 well natives as ftrangers, in prefling occafions and emergen- 
 cies of the Hate. 
 
 4. The fines laid upon perfons by the judges for different 
 mifdemeanors, were applied to the ufes of the public, and laid 
 up in the treafury ; except the tenth part of them, which was 
 confecrated to Minerva, and a fiftieth to the other divinities. 
 
 The mofl natural and legal application of thele different re- 
 venues of the republic, was in paying the troops both by fea 
 and land, building and fitting out fleets, keeping up and re- 
 pairing the public buildings, temples, wails, ports, and cita- 
 dels. But the greateft part of them, efpecially after Pericles's 
 time, was misapplied to unneceflary ufes, and often confumed 
 in frivolous expences ; games, feafts, and {hews, which cofl 
 immenfe fums, and were of no manner of utility to the {late. 
 
 SECTION X. 
 Of tie EDUCATION of the YOUTH. 
 
 I PLACE this article under the head of government, becaufe 
 all celebrated legiflators have with reafon believed that the 
 education of youth was an effential part of it. 
 
 The exercifes that ferved for the forming of either the bodes 
 or minds of the young Athenians, and as much may be faid of 
 almoft all the people of Greece, were, dancing, mufic, hunt- 
 ing, fencing, riding, polite learning, and philofophy. It 
 may be obferved that I fpeak generally, and treat very flightly 
 thefe feveral artcles. 
 
 A talent was worth a thoufand crowns.
 
 Chap. I. OF THE GREEKS. 223 
 
 I. DANCING. Music. 
 
 J3ANCING is one of the exercifes cf the body, culivated by 
 the Greeks with great attention. It made a part of what the 
 ancients called the Gymnaftic, divided, according to * Plato, 
 into two kinds, the Orcheftric, which takes its name from the 
 dance, and the Palaeftric f, fo called from a Greek word which 
 fignifies wreftling. The exercifes of the latter kind principally 
 conduced to form the body for the fatigues of war, navigation, 
 agriculture, and the other ufes of fociety. 
 
 Dancing had another end, and taught fuch rules of motion 
 as were mod proper to render the ihape free and eafy ; to give 
 the body a juft proportion, and the whole perfon an uncon- 
 ftrained, noble, and .graceful air ; in a word, an external po- 
 litenefs, if we may be allowed to ufe that expreffion, which 
 never fails to prejudice people in favour of thofe who have 
 been formed to it early. 
 
 Mufic was cultivated with no lefs replication and fucccf;. 
 The ancients afcribed wonderful effects to it. They believed 
 it very proper to calm the paffions, foften the manners, and 
 even humanize people naturally favage and barbarous. c Po- 
 lybius, a grave and ferious hiftorian, and who is certainly wor- 
 thy of belief, attributes the extreme difference between two 
 people of Arcadia, the one infinitely beloved and efteemed for 
 the elegance of their manners, their benevolent inclinations, 
 humanity to flrangers, and piety to the gods ; the other/ on 
 the contrary, generally reproached and hated for their malig- 
 nity, biutality, and irreligion : Polybius, I fay, afcribes this 
 difference to the ftudy of mufic, I mean, faj-s he, the true 
 and noble mufic, induftrioufly cultivated by the one* and ab- 
 folutely neglecled by the other people. 
 
 After this, it is not furprifmg that the Greeks confidered 
 mufic as an effential part in the education of youth. % Socrates 
 himfelf, in a very advanced age, was net afhamed to learn to 
 play upon muiical Inftruments. Themiflocles, however other- 
 
 c Polyb. p. 288291. 
 * Op%i7<r3cu. Saltare. f naX)j. 
 
 t Socrates, jam fenex, inftitui lyra non erubcfcebat. Quintil. 1. i. c. 10,
 
 224 MANNERS AND CCSTOMS 
 
 wife efteemed, * was thought to be wanting in point of rrrerir, 
 becaufe at an entertainment he could not touch the lyre like 
 the reft of the company.' f An ignorance in this refpecl: was 
 deemed a defect of education ; on the contrary, a capacity in 
 it did honour to the greateli men. | Epaminondas was praifed 
 for dancing, and playing well upon the flute. We may obferve 
 in this place the different taftes and genius of nations. The Ro- 
 mans were far from hr.ving the fame opinion with the Greeks 
 in regard to muiic and'dancing, and fet no value upon them. 
 It is very likely the wifeft and moil knowing among ft the lat- 
 ter did not apply to them with any great induftry ; and Phi- 
 lip's expreilion to his Ion Alexander, who had (hewn too much 
 {kill in mufic at a feafr, induces me to be of this opinion ; 
 " Are you not sfhamed," faid he, " to fing fo well ?" 
 
 For the reft, this efceem for dancing andmulic had its foun- 
 dation. Both the one and the other were employed in the mod 
 auguft fcafls and ceremonies of- religion, to exprcfs their ac- 
 knowledgment to their gods with the greater force and dignity, 
 for the favour: they had vouchfafed to confer upon them. They 
 fcad generally the greateft fnare in their feafts and entertain- 
 ments, which feldora or ever begsn or ended, without fome 
 odes being fung in honour of the victors, in the Olympic games, 
 and on other the like occasions. They had a part alfo in war j 
 and we know that the Lacedaemonians marched to battle dan- 
 cing, and to the found of flutes. d Plato, the moft grave plii- 
 J'.lopher of antiquity, considered both thefe arts, not as limple 
 a-rmiements, but as the}- had a great ihnre in the ceremonies of 
 .religion and military exercifes. Hence we fee him very intent, 
 in his books of laws, to prefcribe rules upon dancing and mufic, 
 and to keep them within the bounds of utility end decorum. 
 
 They did not continue long within tlufc reltrktiqns. The 
 
 d De leg. !. v. : i. 
 
 * Tl.cmiftocles, cum in epulisrecufafict lyram, habitus eft indoicr. Ok. Ttiic. 
 Quaeft. !. i. r. 4. 
 
 ) Sumrnani truditionem Graeci fitam cenfebart in ncrvorum VOCUITKJKC canti- 
 lus dii":cb.itque idoirnes; nee ^ii nefcicbat, fatu excultus <5oclruia putabatw. 
 Jbid. 
 
 t In Epnnninondae vimitiVus ccmmerrojatum eft, f iltaffc cum commode, fci- 
 fnterque t : biis rantafTe fciiicct r.on e?-^tiri nninibus homiri furt r.'qnc n:rp,a, 
 fcdomhla niaj-jrum i.;. : t.uti? judlciin'ur. Corn. Ncp. Li praef.it. vit. Eram.
 
 Clap. L OF THE GREEKS. 22 j 
 
 licence of the Grecian ftage, on which dancing was in the 
 higheft vogue, and in a manner proflituted to buffoons and the 
 moft contemptible people, who made no other ufe of it, than 
 to fuggefl or fupport the moft vicious paflions ; this licence, 
 I fay, foon corrupted an art, which might have been of fome 
 advantage, had it been regulated by Plato's opinion. Mufic 
 had a like diftiny ; and perhaps the corruption of this did not 
 a little contribute to the depraving and perverting of dancing. 
 Voluptuoufnefs and fenfual pleafure were the fole arbiters con- 
 fulted in the ufes made of both ; and the theatre became a 
 fchool of every kind of vice. 
 
 e Plutarch, in lamenting that the art of dancing was fo 
 nmch fallen from the merit which rendered it eilimable to the 
 great men of antiquity, does not omit to obferve, that it was 
 corrupted by a vicious kind of poetry, and a foft effeminate 
 mufic, with which it was ill united, and which had taken place 
 of the ancient poetry and muiic, that had fomething npble, 
 majeftic, and even religious and heavenly in .them. He adds, 
 that being made fubfervient to low tafte andfenfuality, by their 
 aid, it exercifed a kind of tyrannical power in the theatres, 
 which were become ,the public fchools of criminal paflions and 
 grofs vices, wherein no regard was .had .to reafon. 
 
 The reader, without my obferviug upon it.to him, will make 
 the application of this paflage of plutarch to the fort of mufic 
 which engrofles our theatres at this day, and which, by its ef- 
 feminate and wapton airs, has given the laft -wound to the lit- 
 tle manly force and virtue that remained among us. Quintilian 
 defcribes the rnufic of his times in thefe terms : " f Quae nunc 
 " in fcenis effeminata, et impudicis modis fracla, non exparte 
 " minima, fi quid in nobis virilis roboris manebat, excidit." 
 
 II. Of tie oiler EXERCISES of the BOD2~. 
 
 The young Athenians, and the general all the Greeks, were 
 
 very intent upon forming themfelves to all the exercifes of 
 
 the body, and to go through their lefibns regularly with the 
 
 matters of the Palaeftrae. They called the places allotted for 
 
 Volum* IV. P 
 
 Sytnpof. 1. ix. <ju. ij. p. 748. I Quint.il. 1. i. c. I.
 
 ? l6 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 thefe cxercifes, Palaeftrae or Gymnafia ; which fcnfwers very 
 near to our academies. Plato in his books of laws, after hav- 
 ing fhewn of what importance it was in war to cultivate the 
 hands and feet, adds *, that far from banifliing from a well-regu- 
 lated republic the profeffion of the Athletae ; on the contrary, 
 prizes ought to be propofed for all exercifes, that conduce to 
 the improvement of military virtue ; fuch are thofe which ren- 
 der the body more adlive, and fitter for the race ; more hard, 
 robuft, and fupple ; more capable of fupporting great fatigues, 
 and effecting great enterprifcs. We mull remember, that there 
 was no Athenian, who ought not to have been capable of 
 handling the oar in the largeli gallies. The citizens them- 
 ielves did this office, which was not left to (laves ar.d crimi- 
 nals, as in thefe days. They were all deftined to the trade of 
 war, and often obliged to Wear arms of iron from head to foot, 
 of a great weight. For this reafon Plato, and all the ancients, 
 looked upon the exercifes of the body as highly ufeful, and 
 even abfolutely neceflary to the good of the public ; and there- 
 fore this philofoph~r excludes only thofe from them, who were 
 incapable of fervice in war. 
 
 h There were alfa matters, who taught the youth to ride, 
 and to handle their arms or fence ; and others whofe bufinefs 
 it was to inftruft them in all that was neceiTary to be known, 
 in order to excel in the art military, and to become good com- 
 manders. The whole fciencc of the latter conf.fteJ in what 
 the ancients called the Taclic, that is to fay, the art of draw- 
 ing up troops in battle, and of making military evolutions. 
 That fcience was ufeful, but did not fuffice. ' Xencphon 
 fhews its defect, in producing a young man lately come from 
 fuch a fchool, in which he imagined he had learned every 
 thing, though in reality he had only acquired a foolifh efteem 
 for himfclf, attended with perfect ignorance. He gives him, 
 by the mouth of Socrates, admirable precepts upon the bufi- 
 nefs of a foldier, and very proper to form an excellent officer. 
 Hunting was alfo confidcred by the ancients as a fit exercife 
 for forming youth to the ftratagems and fatigues of war. It 
 S Lib. viii. de k-g. p. S^, 833. h Plut. in Lachcte, p. 18:, 
 
 V.- morab. 1. iii. p. 76*, &c.
 
 Cbap.L OF THE GREEKS. 22) 
 
 is for this reafon Xenophon, who was no lefs a great general 
 than a great philofopher, k did not think it below him to write 
 a treatife exprefsly upon hunting, in which he defcends to 
 the loweft particular ; and obferves upon the coniiderable ad- 
 vantages confequential of it, from being inured to fuffer hun- 
 ger, thirft, heat, cold, without being difcouraged either by the 
 length of the courfe, the difficulty of the clifts and thickets, 
 through which it is often necefiary to prefs, or the fmall fuc- 
 cefs of the long and painful fatigues, which they often under- 
 go to no purpofe. He adds, that this innocent pleafure re- 
 moves others equally fhameful and criminal ; and that a wife 
 and moderate man would not however abandon himfelf fo 
 much to it as to negledt the care of his dotneftic affairs^ l The 
 fame author, in the Cryopaedia, frequently praifes hunting, 
 which he looks upon as a real exercife of war, and fliews, in 
 the example of his young hero, the good ufe that may be 
 made of it. 
 
 III. Of tie EXERCISES of tie MIND. 
 
 ATHENS, to fpeak properly, was the fchool and abode of 
 polite learning, arts, and faiences. The ftudy of poefy, elo- 
 quence, philofophy, and mathematics, were in great vogue 
 there, and much cultivated by the youth. 
 
 The young people were fent firft to learn grammar under 
 maflers, who taught them regularly, and upon proper princi- 
 ples, their own language ; by which they attained a know- 
 ledge of its whole beauty, energy, number, and cadence. 
 Hence m proceeded the univerfal fine tafte of Athens, where, 
 as hiftory informs us, a limple herb-woman diflinguimed Theo- 
 phraftus to be a llranger, from the affe&ation of a fingle 
 word in exprefling himfelf. And from; the fame caufe, the 
 orators were greatly apprehenfive of letting fall the leaft inju- 
 dicious expreflion, for fear of offending fo refined and deli- 
 cate an audience. It was very common for the young peo- 
 ple to get the tragedies reprefentcd upon the flage by heart. 
 
 Pij 
 
 fc Be venatione. 1 Cyrop. i. p. 5, 6. et. 1. ii. p. 59, 60. 
 
 m Cic. in Brut. n. 17:. Quintil. 1. v'ii. c. r. Plut. in. Peric. p. 156.
 
 228 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X* 
 
 We have feen, that after the defeat of the Athenians before 
 Syracufe, many of them, who had been taken prifoners and 
 made flaves, foftened their flavery by reciting the works of 
 Euripides to their mafters, who, extremely delighted with 
 hearing fuch fublime verfes, treated them from thenceforth 
 with kindnefs and humanity. The compofitions of the other 
 poets had no doubt the fame efrecfc : and Plutarch tells us, 
 that Alcibiades, when very young, having entered a fchool 
 In which there was not an Homer, gave the mafter a box on 
 the ear as an ignorant fellow, and one who difhonoured his 
 profeffion. 
 
 As for eloquence, it is no wonder that it was particularly 
 fludied at Athens. It was that opened the way to the higheft 
 offices, reigned abfolute in the afiemblies, decided the moft 
 important affairs of the ftate, and gave an almoft unlimited 
 power to thofe who had the talent of fpeaking in an eminent 
 degree. 
 
 This therefore was the great employment of the young ci- 
 tizens of Athens, efpecially of thofe who afpired to the high- 
 eft employments. To the ftudy of rhetoric they annexed 
 that of philofophy : I comprife under the latter, all the fciencs, 
 which are either parts of, or relate 'to it. The perfons, known 
 to antiquity under the name of So'phifts, had acquired a great 
 reputation at Athens, efpecially in the time Socrates. Thefe 
 teachers, who were as prefumptuous as avaricious, fet them- 
 felves up for univerfal fcholars. Their whole art lay in philo- 
 fophy and eloquence ; both of which they corrupted by the 
 falfe tafte and wrong principles they inftilled into their difciples. 
 I have obferved, in the life of Socrates, that philosopher's 
 endeavours and fuccefs in difcrediting them. 
 
 In Alcib. p. TO*.
 
 Coap. IL OF THE GREEKS. 22$ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF WAR. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 PEOPLE of GREECE in all TIMES very WARLIKE. 
 
 No poeople of Antiquity, I except the Romans, could difpute 
 the glory of arms and military virtue with the Greeks. Dur- 
 ing the Trojan war Greece fignalized her valour in battle, and 
 acquired immortal fame by the bravery of the captains me fent 
 thither. This expedition was however, properly fpeaking, no 
 more than the cradle of her infant-glory ; and the great ex- 
 ploits, by which fhe diflinguifhed herfelf there, were only her 
 firft eflays, and apprenticefhip in the art of war. 
 
 There were in Greece at that time feveral fmall republics, 
 neighbours to one another by their fituation. but extremely 
 remote in their cuftoms, laws, characters, and particulatly in 
 their interefts. This difference of manners and interefls was 
 a continual fource and occafion of divifions amongft them. 
 Every city, little fatisfied with its own dominion, was ftudious 
 to aggrandize itfelf at the expence of its next neighbours, ac- 
 cording as they lay moil commodious for it. Hence all thefe 
 little flates, either out of ambition, and to extend their con- 
 quefts, or the neceffity of a jufl defence, were always under 
 arms, and, by that continual exercife of war, formed in the 
 univerfal people a martial fpirit, and an intrepidity of courage 
 which made them invincible in the field ; as appeared in the 
 fequel, when the whole united forces of the Eaft came to in- 
 vade Greece, and made her fenfible what fhe was, and of what 
 capable. 
 
 Two cities diflinguifhed themfelves above the reft, and held 
 indifputably the firfl rank ; thefe were Sparta and Athens : In 
 confequence of which thofe cities, either fucceffively or toge- 
 ther, had the empire of Greece, and maintained themfelves 
 through a long feries of time in a power, which the fole fupe- 
 
 Piij
 
 230 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book }, 
 
 rioritj of merit, univerfally acknowledged by all the other 
 dates, had acquired them. This merit confifted principally in 
 their military knowledge and martial virtue ; of which they 
 had given the moft glorious proofs in the war againft the Per- 
 lians. Thebes difputed this honour with them for fome years, 
 by furprifing actions of valour, which had^ fomething of pro- 
 digy in them ; but this was but a fhort-lived blaze, which, af- 
 ter having fhone out with exceeding fplendor, foon difappear- 
 ed, and left that city in its original obfcurity. Sparta and A- 
 thens will therefore be the only objects of our reflections as to 
 what relates to war ; and we fliall join them together in order 
 to be the better able to diftinguifh their characters, as well in 
 they referable, as in what they differ from each other. 
 
 . SECTION II. 
 
 ORIGIN and CAUSE of the VALOUR and MILITART VIRTUE 
 of the LACEDAEMONIANS and ATHENIANS. 
 
 ALL the laws of Sparta and inftitutio;is of Lycurgus feem to 
 have no other object than war, and tended folely to the mak- 
 ing the fubjccls of that republic a body of foldiers. All other 
 employments, all other exerciies, were prohibited amongft 
 them. Arts, polite learning, fciences, trades, even hufbandry 
 itfelf, had no fhare Jn their applications, and feemed in their 
 eyes unworthy of them. From their earlieft infancy,, no other 
 tafte was inftilled into them but for arms ; and indeed the Spar- 
 tau education was wonderfully well adapted to that end. To 
 go barefoot, to lie hard, to fhift with little meat and drink, 
 to fuffer heat and cold, to exercife continually hunting, wreft- 
 ling, running on foot and horfeback, to be inured to blows 
 and wounds fo as to vent neither complaint nor groan j thefe 
 were the rudiments of the Spartan youth with regard to war, 
 and enabled them one day to fuppcrt all its fatigues, and to 
 confront all its dangers. 
 
 The habit of obeying, contracted from the moft early years, 
 refpect for the magiftrates and elders, a perfect fubmiffion to 
 the laws, from which no age nor condition was exempted, pre- 
 pared them amaiingly for military difcipline, which is in a
 
 Cbap. II. OF THE GREEKS. 23! 
 
 manner the foul of war, and the principle of fuccefs in all great 
 enterprifes. 
 
 Now, one of thefe laws was, to conquer or die, and never to 
 furrender to the enemy. Leonidas with his three hundred 
 Spartans was an illuflrious example of this ; and his intre- 
 pid valour, extolled in all ages with the higheft applaufes, and 
 propofed as a model to all poilerity, had given the fame fpirit 
 to the nation, and traced them out the plan they were to fol- 
 low. The difgrace and infamy annexed to the violation of this 
 law, and to fuch as quitted their arms in battle, confirmed the 
 observance of it, and rendered it in a manner inviolable. The 
 mothers recommended to their fons, when they fet out for the 
 field, to return either with or upon their bucklers. They did 
 not weep for thofe who died with their arms in their hands, 
 but for thofe who preferved themfelves by flight. Can we be 
 furprifed after this, that a fmall body of fuch foldiers, with 
 fuch principles, mould put an innumerable army of Barbari- 
 ans to a Hand ? 
 
 The Athenians were not bred up fo roughly as the people of 
 Sparta, but had no lefs valour. The tafle of the two people 
 was quite different in regard to education and employment ; 
 but they attained the fame end, though by different means. 
 The Spartans knew only how to ufe their arms, and were no 
 more than foldiers : But amongft the Athenians, and we muft 
 fay as much of the other people of Greece, arts, trades, huf- 
 bandry, commerce, and navigation, were held in honour, and 
 thought no difgrace to any one. Thefe occupations were no 
 obftacles to the valour and knowledge neceffary in war ; they 
 difqualified none for rifing to the greatefl commands and the 
 firft dignities of the republic. Plutarch obferves, that Solon, 
 feeing the territory of Attica was barren, applied himfelf to 
 turning the induflry of his citizens, upon arts, trades, and com- 
 merce, in order to fupply his country thereby with what it 
 wanted on the fide of fertility. This tafle became one of the 
 maxims of the government and fundamental laws of the flate, 
 and perpetuated itfelf amongfl the people, but without lefien~ 
 ing in the leaft their ardour for war. 
 
 P iiij
 
 332 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 The ancient glory of the nation, which had always diflin- 
 guifhed itfelf by military bravery, was a powerful motive for 
 not degenerating from the reputation of their ancefton The 
 famous battle of Marathon, wherein they had fuflained alone 
 the (hock of the Barbarians, and gained a figaal vi&ory over 
 them, infinitely heightened their courage j and the battle of 
 Salamin, in the fuccefs of which they had the gteateft {hare, 
 raifed them to the higheft pitch of glory, and rendered them 
 capable of the greateft enterprifes. 
 
 A noble emulation not to give place in point of merit to 
 Sparta, the rival of- Athens, and a lively jealoufy of their 
 glory, which during the war with the Perfians contained itfelf 
 within due bonds, were another ftrong incentive to the A- 
 thenians, who every day made new efforts to excel themfelves, 
 and fuilain their reputation. 
 
 The rewards and honours granted to thofe who had diftin- 
 guilhed themfelves in battle ; the monuments creeled in me- 
 mory of the citizens who had died in the defence of their 
 country ; the funeral orations publicly pronounced in- the midft 
 of the moil auguft religious ceremonies, to render their names 
 immortal ; all confpired infinitely to eternize the valour of 
 both nations, and particularly of the Athenians, and to make 
 fortitude a kind of law and indifpenlible neceffity to them. 
 
 n Athens had a law, by which it was ordained that thofe 
 who had been maimed in the war, fliould be maintained at 
 the expence of the public. The fame grace was granted to the 
 fathers and mothers', as well as the children of fuch as had 
 fallen in battle, and left their families poor, and not in a condi- 
 tion to fubfift themfelves. The republic, like a good mother, 
 generoufly took them into her care, and, with great regard to 
 them, fupplied all the duties, and procured all the relief they 
 could have expected from thofe whofe lofs they deplored. 
 
 This exalted the courage of the Athenians, and rendered 
 their troops invincible, though not very numerous. In the bat- 
 tle of Plataea, where the army of the Barbarians, commanded 
 by Mardonius, confifted of no lefs than three hundred thoufand 
 
 n Plut. in Solon, p. 96. Ibid, in Mennc. p. 248, 49- Diog. Laert. u 
 Solon, p. 37.
 
 Chap. II. * OF THE GREEKS. 2J3 
 
 toen, and the united forces of the Greeks of only one hundred 
 and eight thoufand two hundred men, there were in the latter 
 only ten thoufand Lacedaemonians, of which one half were 
 Spartans, that is to fay, inhabitants of Sparta, and eight thou- 
 fand Athenians. It is true, each Spartan brought with him 
 feven haelots, which made in all thirty-five thoufand men ; but 
 they were fcarce ever reckoned as foldiers. 
 
 This fhining merit in point of martial valour, generally ac- 
 knowledged by the other flates and people, did not fupprefs 
 in their minds all fentiments of envy and jealoufy, as appeared 
 once in relation to the Lacedaemonians. The allies, who were 
 very much fuperior to them in number, were in pain to fee 
 themfelves fubje&ed to their order, and murmured againft it 
 in fecret. Agefilaus, king of Sparta, without feeming to have 
 any knowledge of their difgufl, aflembled the whole army ; 
 and after having made all the allies fit down on one fide, and 
 the Lacedaemonians by themfelves on the other, he caufed 
 proclamation to be made by an herald, that all fmiths, mafons t 
 carpenters, and fo on, through the other trades, mould rife up. 
 Almoft all the allies did fo, and not one of the Lacedaemonians, 
 to whom all trades were prohibited. Agefilaus then fmiling, 
 " You fee," faid he, " how many more foldiers Sparta fur- 
 " nilhes, than all the reft of the allies together ;" thereby in- 
 timating, that to be a good foldier, it was neceflary to be only 
 a foldier ; that trades diverted the artifan from applying him- 
 felf wholly to the profefiion of arms and the fcience of war, 
 and prevented his fucceeding fo well in it as thofe who made 
 it their fole bufinefs and exercife. But Agefilaus fpoke and 
 ated in that manner from the prejudice of his opinion in fa- 
 vour of the Lacedaemonian education ; for indeed thofe whom 
 he was for having confidered only as fimple artifana, had well 
 demonflrated in the glorious victories they had obtained over 
 the Perfians, and even Sparta itfelf, that they were by no means 
 inferior to the Lacedaemonians, entirely foldiers as they were, 
 either in valour or military knowledge.
 
 S34 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 Of tie different hind of TROOPS which compofed tie ARMIES of 
 
 tie LACEDAEMONIANS and ATHENIANS. 
 
 1 HE armies both of Sparta and Athens were compofed of 
 four forts of troops : Citizens, allies, mercenaries, and flavcs. 
 The foldiers were fometimes marked in the hand, to diftin- 
 guilh them from the flaves, who had that character impreffed 
 upon their forehead. Interpreters believe, that in alluiion to 
 this double manner of marking, it is faid in the Revelation, 
 that all were obliged " to receive the mark of the beafl in their 
 ** right hand, or in their foreheads ;" and that St. Paul fays of 
 himfelf, " p I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jefus." 
 
 The citizens of Lacedaemonia were of two forts, either thofe 
 who inhabited Sparta itfelf, and who for that reafon were called 
 Spartans, or thofe who lived in the country. In Lycurgus's 
 time, the Spartans amounted to nine thoufand, and the others 
 to thirty thoufand. This number feems to have been fomewhat 
 diminifhed in the time of Xerxes, as Demaratus, fpeaking toh^m 
 of the Lacedaemonian troops, computes only eight thoufand 
 Spartans. The latter were the flower of the nation ; and we 
 may judge of the value they fet upon them, by the anxiety the 
 republic expreffed for three or four hundred, befieged by the 
 Athenians in die fraall ifland of Sphacteria, where they were 
 taken prifoners. The Lacedaemonians generally fpared the 
 troops of their country very much, and fent only a few of them 
 into the armies. When a Lacedaemonian general was afkcd, 
 how many Spartans there was in the army ? he anfwered, " As 
 ** many as are neceffary to repulfe the enemy." They ferved 
 the ftate at their own expence ; and it was not till after a length 
 of time that they received pay fiom the public. 
 
 The greateft number of the troops in the two republics were 
 compofed of the allies, who were paid by the cities which 
 fent them. 
 
 The foreign troops in the pay of the republic, to the aid of 
 which they were called in, were ftilcd Mercenaries, 
 Rev. xiii. 1.6. P Gal vi. i;.
 
 Chap. 21. OF THE GREEKS. 235 
 
 The Spartans never marched without haelots ; and we have 
 feen that in the battle of Plataea every citizen had feven. I 
 do not believe this number was fixed ; nor do I well compre- 
 hend for what fervice they were defigned. It would have been 
 very ill policy to have put arms into the hands of fo great a 
 number of flaves, generally much discontented with their maf- 
 ters harfh treatment of them, and who in confequence had 
 every thing to fear from them in a battle. Herodotus, how- 
 ever, in the paflage I have cited from him, reprefents them 
 carrying arms in the field as light-armed foldiers. 
 
 The infantry confifted of two kinds of foldiers. The one 
 were heavy-armed, and carried great bucklers, lances, half- 
 pikes, and fcimitars. The other were light-armed, that is to 
 fay, with bows and flings. They were commonly placed in the 
 front of the battle, or upon the wings as a firft line to ihoot 
 their arrows, and fling their javelins and ftones at the enemy ; 
 and when they had difcharged, they retired through the in- 
 tervals behind the battalions as a fecond line, and continued 
 their volleys. 
 
 * Thucydides, in defcribing the battle of Mantinaea, divides 
 the Lacedaemonian troops in this manner. There were feven 
 regiments of four companies each, without including the Squi- 
 riies, to the number of fix hundred ; thefe were horfemen, of 
 whom I (hall foon fpeak further. The company confifted, ac- 
 cording to the Greek interpreter, of an hundred and twenty- 
 eight men, and was fubdivided into four platoons, each of thir- 
 ty-two men. So that a regiment amounted to five hundred 
 and twelve men ; and the feven made together three thoufand 
 five hundred fourfcore and four. Each platoon had four men 
 in front and eight in depth, for that was the ufual depth of the 
 files, which the officers might change according to occafion. 
 
 The Lacedaemonians did not actually begin to ufe cavalry, 
 till after the war with Meffene, where they perceived their 
 want of it. r They raifed their horfe principally in a fmall city 
 not far from Lacedaemon, called Sciros, from whence thefe 
 troops were denominated Scirites, or Squirites. They were 
 
 *> Lib. v. p. 390. r Itid. p. 390,
 
 236 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Bool JL, 
 
 always on the extremity of the left wing ; and this was their 
 poft by right. 
 
 Cavalry was flill more rare amongft the Athenians : The fi- 
 tuation of Attica, broken with abundance of mountains, was the 
 caufe of this. It did not amount, after the war with the Per- 
 fians, which was the time when the profperity of Greece was 
 at the higheft, to more than three hundred horfe ; but increaf- 
 fed afterwards to twelve hundred ; a fmall body for fo power- 
 ful a republic. 
 
 I have already obferved, that amongft the ancients, as well 
 Greeks as Romans, no mention is made of the ftirrup, which 
 is very furprifing. They threw themfelves nimbly on horfeback. 
 
 -- Corpora faku 
 
 Subjiciunt in equos -- JEn. L li. vcr. 287. 
 
 " And with a leap fit fteady on the horfe." 
 
 Sometimes the horfe, broke early to that kind of manage, 
 would lloop down before, to give his mailer the opportunity 
 of mounting with more eafe -, 
 
 Inde inclinatus collum, fubmiflus et armos 
 De more, infkxis praebebat fcandere terga 
 Cruribus. SIL. ITAL. dc equo Coelii Equ. Rom. 
 
 Tliofe whom age or weaknefs rendered heavy, made ufe of a 
 fervant: in mounting on horfeback ; in which they imitated the 
 Perfians, with whom it was the common cuftom. Gracchus 
 caufed fine Hones to be placed on each fide of the great roads 
 of Italy at certain diftances from one another, to help travel- 
 lers to get on horfeback without the affiftance of any body *. 
 I am furprifed that the Athenians, expert as they were in 
 the art of war, did not diftinguifh, that the cavalry was the 
 moft effential part of an army, efpecially in battles ; and that 
 fome of their generals did not turn their attention that way, 
 as Themiflocles did in regard to maritime affairs. Xenophon 
 was well capable of rendering them a like fervice in refped to 
 the cavalry, of the importance of which he was perfectly ap. 
 prifed. He wrote two treatifes upon this fubject ; one of which 
 regards the care it is necelTary to take of hories, and how to 
 
 lup&ws. This word Jn&t.iu;, fignifies a fervant who helped 
 matter to mount on horfeback,
 
 Clap. II. OF THE GREEKS. $37 
 
 underftand and break them ; to which he adds the exercife 
 of the fquadron ; both well worth the reading of all who 
 prqfefs arms. In the latter he flates the means of placing the 
 cavalrv in honour, and lays down rules upon the art military 
 in general, which might be of very great ufe to all thofe who 
 are defigned for the trade of war. 
 
 I have wondered, in running over this fecond treatife, to 
 fee with what care Xenophon, a foldier and a pagan, recom- 
 mends the practice of religion, a veneration for the gods, and 
 the neceffity of imploring their aid upon all occafions. He 
 repeats this maxim in thirteen different places, of a tradl in 
 other refpefts brief enough ; and rightly judging that thefe 
 religious infinuations might give fome people offence, he makes 
 a kind of apology for them, and concludes the piece with a 
 reflection, which I mall repeat entire in this place. " If any 
 " one," fays he, " wonders that I inlift fo much here upon the 
 " neceffity of not forming any enterprife without firft endea- 
 *' vouring to render the Divinity favourable and propitious, 
 *' let him reflect, that there are in war a thoufand unforefeen 
 " and obfcure conjunctures, wherein the generals, vigilant to 
 " take advantages, and lay ambufcades for each other, from 
 " the uncertainty of an enemy's motions, can take no other 
 " counfel than that of the gods. Nothing is doubtful or ob- 
 " fcure with them. They unfold the future to whomfoever 
 " they pleafe, on the infpection of the entrails of beafts, by 
 " the finging of birds, by vilions, or in dreams. Now, we 
 " may prefume that the gods are more inclined to illuminate 
 " the minds of fuch as confult them, not ouly in urgent ne- 
 " ceffities, but who at all times, and when no dangers threa- 
 " ten them, render them all the homage and adoration of 
 " which they are capable." 
 
 It became this great man to give the moft important of in- 
 ftruftions to his fon Gryllus, to whom he addrefles the trea- 
 tife we mention ; and who, according to the common opinion, 
 was appointed to difcipline the Athenian cavalry.
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X, 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of MARITIME AFFAIRS, FLEETS, and NAVAL FORCES. 
 
 IF the Athenians were inferior to the Lacedaemonians in re- 
 fpet to cavalry, they carried it infinitely againfl them in naval 
 affairs ; and we have feen their abilities that way make them 
 mailers at fea, and give them a great fuperiority to all the 
 other ftates of Greece. As this fubjecl is very neceflary to the 
 tmderftanding many pafiages in this hiftory, I mall treat it 
 more extenfively than other matters, and mall make great life 
 of what the learned father Don Bernard de Montfaucon has 
 {hid of it in his books upon antiquity. 
 
 The principal parts of a fhip were the prow or head, the 
 poop or Hern, and the middle, called in Latin Carina, the 
 hulk or waiil. 
 
 The PROW was the part in the front of the waift or belly 
 of the mip ; it was generally adorned with paintings and diffe- 
 rent fculptures of gods, mee, or animals. The beak, called 
 Roftrum, lay lower, and level with the water ; It was a piece 
 of timber which projected from the prow> covered at the point 
 with brafs, and fometirnes with iron. The Greeks termed it 
 
 The other end of the {hip, oppofite to the prow, was called 
 the POOP. There the pilot fat and held the helm, which was 
 a longer and larger oar than the reft. 
 
 The WAIST was the hollow of the veflcl, or the hold. 
 
 The mips were of two kinds. The one was rowed with 
 oars, which were mips of war, the other carried fails, and 
 were veflels of burden, intended for commerce and tranfports. 
 Both of them fometirnes made ufe of oars and fails together, 
 but that verv rarely. The {hips of war are alfo very often 
 called Long Ships by authors, and by that name diflinguifhed 
 from veflels of burden. 
 
 The long mips were further divided into two fpecies : Thofe 
 which were called Acluariae Naves, and were very light veflels 
 like our brigantines; and thofe called only long {hips. The 
 firft were ufually termed Open Ships, becaufe they had n<j
 
 Clap. IL OF T H E GREEKS. 4 3 9 
 
 decks. Of tiiefe light vefiels there were fome larger than or- 
 dinary ; of which fome had twenty, fome thirty, and others 
 forty oars, half on one fide, and half on the other, all on the 
 fame line. 
 
 The long mips, which were ufed in war, were of two forts. 
 Some had only one rank of oars on each fide ; the others two, 
 three, four, five, or a greater number, to forty ; but thefe 
 laft were rather for fhow than ufe. 
 
 The long {hips of one rank, of oars were called Aphracti ; 
 that is to fay, uncovered, and had no decks : This diftinguifhed 
 them from the Cataphrafti, which had decks. They had only 
 fmall places to ftand on, at the head and flern, in the time of 
 action. 
 
 The fhips moil commonly ufed hi the battles of the ancients, 
 weiv thofe which carried from three to five ranks or benches 
 of oar?, and were called Triremes and Quinqueremes. 
 
 It is a great queflion, and has given occafion for abundance 
 of learned difiertations, how thefe benches of oars were dif- 
 poi'. d. Some will have it, that they were placed at length, 
 like the ranks of oars in the modern gallies. Others maintain, 
 that the ranges of the biremes, triremes, quinquerernes, and 
 fo on to the number of forty in fome veffels, were one above 
 another. To fupport this laft opinion, innumerable paflages 
 are cited from ancient authors, which feem to leave no man- 
 ner of doubt in it, and are conliderably corroborated by the 
 column of Trajan, which reprefents thefe ranks one above an- 
 other. Father Motfaucon, however, avers, that all the per- 
 fons of greateft fkill in naval affairs, whom he had confulted, 
 declared, that the thing conceived in that manner, feemed to 
 them utterly impoffible. But fuch a way of reafoning is a 
 weak proof againfl the experience of fo many ages, confirmed 
 by fo many authors. It is true, that in admitting thefe ranks 
 of oars to be difpofed perpendicularly one above another, it is 
 not eafy to comprehend how they could be worked ; but in 
 the biremes and triremes of the column of Trajan, the lower 
 ranks were placed obliquely, and as it were riling by degrees. 
 In ancient times, the fhips with feveral ranks of oars were 
 not known. : They made ufe of long fhips, in which the row-
 
 340 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. Book J5*. 
 
 rrs, of whatever number they were, worked all upon the 
 fame line. a Such was the fleet which the Greeks fent againft. 
 Troj. It was compofed of twelve hundred fail, of which the 
 gallies of Boeotia had each an hundred and twenty men, and 
 thofe of Philoftetes fifty ; and this no doubt intends the great- 
 eft and fmalleft veflels. Their gallies had no decks, but were 
 built like common boats ; which is ftill pra&ifed, fays Thucy- 
 dides, by the pirates, to prevent their being fo foon difcovered 
 at a diftance. 
 
 b The Corinthians are faid to have been the firft who 
 changed the form of fhips; and, inflead of fimple gallies, made 
 veflels with three ranks, in order to add by the multiplicity of 
 oars to the fwiftnefs and impetuofity of their motion. Their 
 city, advantageoufly fituated between two- feas, lay well for 
 commerce, and ferved as a ftaple for merchandife. From 
 their example the inhabitants of Corcyra, and the tyrants of 
 Sicily, equipped alfo many gallies of three benches, a little be- 
 fore the war againft the Perfians. It was about the fame time 
 the Athenians, at the warm inftances of Themiftocles, who 
 forefaw the war which fcon broke out, built fliips of the fame 
 form, the whole deck not being yet in ufe ; and from thence- 
 forth they applied themfelves to naval affairs with incredible 
 ardour and fuccefs. 
 
 The beak of the prow, Roftrum, was that part of the veffel 
 .of which moft ufe was made in fea-fights. c Arifton of Co- 
 rinth perfuaded the Syracufans, when their city was befieged 
 by the Athenians, to make their prows lower and fhorter ; 
 which advice gained them the viclory : For the prows of the 
 Athenian veffels being very high and very weak, their beaks 
 jtruck only the parts above water, and for that reafcn did lit- 
 tle damage to the enemy's fliips ; whereas the Syracufans, 
 whofe prows were ftrong and low, and their beaks level with 
 the water, at a fingle blow often funk the triremes of the A- 
 thenians. 
 
 Two forts of people ferved on board thefe gallies. The one 
 were employed in fleering and working the ihip, who were 
 
 a Thncyd. 1. 5. p. 3. b Ibid. p. 10. 
 
 c Died. !. xiii. p. 141,
 
 Clap. II- OF THE GREEKS, 241 
 
 the rowers, Remiges, and the mariners, Nautae. The reft 
 were foldiers intended for the fight, and are meant in Greek 
 by the word i-r//ST. This diftindion was not underftood in the 
 early times, when the fame perfons rowed, fought, and did 
 ail the neceffary work of the {hip ; which was alfo not wholly 
 difufed in latter days. For d Thucydides, in defcribing the ar- 
 rival of the Athenian fleet at the fmall iiland of Sphacleria, 
 obferves, that only the rowers of the lowed bench remained 
 in the mips, and that the reft went on {bore with their arms. 
 
 i. The condition of the rowers was very hard and labori- 
 ous. I have already faid, that the rowers, as well as mariners, 
 were all citizens and freemen, and not flaves or ftrangers, as 
 in thefe days. The rowers were diftinguiihed by their feve- 
 ral (lages. The lower rank were called Thalamitae, the mid- 
 dle Zugitae, and the higheft Thranitae. Thucydides remarks, 
 that the latter had greater pay than the reft, becaufe they 
 worked with longer and heavier oars than thofe of the lower 
 benches. * It feems that the crew, in order to aft in concert, 
 and with better efFeft, were fometimes guided by the finging 
 of a man, and fometimes by the found of an inftrument ; and 
 this grateful harmony ferved not only to regulate the motion 
 of their oars, but to diminifh and foothe the pains of their la- 
 bour. 
 
 It is a queftion amongft the learned, whether there was a 
 man to every oar in thefe great mips, or feveral, as in the 
 gallies of thefe days. What Thucydides obferves on the pay 
 of the Thranitae, feems to imply that they worked fingle. 
 For if others had ihared the work with them, wherefore had 
 they greater pay given them than thofe who managed an oar 
 alone, as the latter had as much, and perhaps more of the 
 labour than them ? Father Montfaucon believes, that in the 
 vefTels of five ranks there might be feveral men to one oar. 
 
 Volume IV. Q^ 
 
 * Thucyd. 1. iv p. 275. 
 
 * Muficam nafura ipfa videtur adtolcrandos facilius labores veluti tnnneri no- 
 bis dedifle. Siquidem et remiees cantus hortaflir ; nee foluin in iis operibus, ia 
 quibus plurimum conatus praeunte aliqua jucunda voce confpirat, fcdetiam fingu- 
 lorum fatigatio quamlibt fe rudi modulationc Iblatur. QmatH. 1. i. c. to.
 
 242 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Hoot X. 
 
 He who took care of the whole crew, and commanded the 
 veflel, was called Nauclerus, and was the principal officer. 
 The fecond was the pilot, Gubernator ; his place was in the 
 poop, where he held the helm in his hand, and fleered the 
 vefTel. His fkill confiiled in knowing the coafts, ports, rocks,, 
 {hoals, and efpecially the winds and ftars ; for before the in-^ 
 vention of the compafs, the pilot had nothing to direct him 
 during the night but the ftars. 
 
 2. The foldiers who fought in the mips, were armed al- 
 moft in the fame manner with the land-forces. 
 
 c The Athenians, at the battle of Salamin, had an hun- 
 dred and fourfcore veuels, and in each of them eighteen fight- 
 ing men, four of whom were archers, and the reft heavy- 
 armed troops. The officer who commanded thefe foldiers, 
 was called ?<'{*#,- and the commander of the whole fleet, 
 
 y <w*fZ>>i Or rytrnyn. 
 
 We cannot exactly fay the number of foldiers, mariners, 
 and rowers, that ferved on board each fhip ; but it generally 
 amounted to two hundred, more or lek, as appears from He- 
 rodotus's eftimate of the Perfian fleet in the time of Xerxes, 
 and in other places where he mentions, that of the Greeks. I 
 mean here the great vefiels r the triremes, which were the 
 fpecies moft ifc ufe. 
 
 The pay of thofe who ferved in thefe mips varied very 
 much at different times. When young Cyrus arrived in Afia f , 
 it was only three oboli, which was half a drachm, or five- 
 pence ; and the * treaty between the Perfians and Lacedae- 
 monians was concluded upon this foot ; which gives reafon to 
 believe, that the ufual pay was three oboli. Cyrus, at Lyfan- 
 der's requeft, added a fourth, which made fixpence half- 
 penny a-day. 8 It was often raifed to a whole drachm, about 
 tenpence French. In the fleet fitted out againft Sicily the 
 Athenians gave a drachm a-day to the troops. The fum of 
 
 e Plut. in Thcmift. p. 119. j* f Xencph. hift. 1. i. p. 441. 
 
 SThucyd. 1. vi.p.431. 
 
 * This treaty fiipulated, that the Peifiansfhould paythirty minae a month fo^ 
 each Ihip, which was half a talent; the whole amounted to three oboli a day for 
 every man that ferved on board.
 
 Chap. II. OF THE GREEKS. 243 
 
 fixty talents *, which the people of Egeila advanced the 
 Athenians monthly for the maintaining of fixty fhips, {hews 
 that the pay of each vefiel for a month amounted to a talent, 
 that is to fay, to three thoufand livres ; which fuppofes, that 
 tach {hip's company confided of three hundred men, each of 
 whom received a drachm or tenpence a-day. As the offi- 
 cers pay was higher, the republic perhaps either furnifhed the 
 overplus, or it was deducted out of the total of the fum ad- 
 vanced for a veflel, by abating fomething in the pay of the 
 private men. 
 
 The fame may be faid of the land-troops as has been faid 
 of the feamen, except that the horfe had double their pay. It 
 appears that the ordinary pay of the foot was thi-ee oboli a- 
 day, aud that it was augmented according to times and occa- 
 fions. ' Thimbron the Lacedaemonian, when he marched a- 
 gainft Tiffaphernes, promifed a daric a month to each foldier, 
 two to a captain, and four to the colonels. Now, a daric a- 
 rnonth is four oboli a-day. Young Cyrus, to animate his 
 troops, whom a too long march had difcouraged, inftead of 
 one daric, promifed one and a half to each foldier, which a. 
 mounted to a drachm, r tenpeqpe French a-day, 
 
 It may be afked how the Lacedaemonians, whofe iron coin, 
 the only fpecies current amongfl them, would go no where 
 elfe, could maintain armies by fea and land, and where they 
 found money for their fubfiuence. It is not to be doubted, 
 but they raifed it, as the Athenians did, by contributions from 
 vtjkeir allies, and {till more from the cities to which they gave 
 liberty and protection, or from thofe they had conquered from 
 their enemies.. Their fecond fund for paying their fleet and 
 armies was the ftids they drew from the king of Perfia, as we 
 have fesn on feveral occafions. 
 
 Qjj 
 
 * Thucyd. 1, vi. p. 415. i Xcnoph, Expcd. Cjrr. 1, yii* 
 
 * Abcx: L. 8400 Sterling
 
 244 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Peculiar CHARACTER of the ATHENIANS. 
 
 PLUTARCH furniihes us with almoft all the matter upon this 
 head. Every body knows how well he fucceeds in copying na- 
 ture in his portraits, and how proper a perfon he'was to trace 
 the character of a people, whofe genius and manners he had 
 ftudied with fo profound an attention. 
 
 I. " The k people of Athens," fays Plutarch *, " were ea- 
 " fily provoked to anger, and as eafily induced to refume their 
 " fentiments of benovoleuce and compaffion." Hiftory fup- 
 plies us with a infinity of examples of this kind. The fen- 
 tence of death patted againft the inhabitants of Mitylene, and 
 revoked the next day : The condemnation of the ten generals, 
 and that of Socrates, both followed with an immediate repent- 
 ance and the moil lively grief. 
 
 II. " They f were better pleafedwhh penetrating, and al- 
 " moft gueffing an affair of themfelves, than to give them. 
 " felves leifure to be informed of it thoroughly, and in aU 
 " its extent. 
 
 Nothing is more furprifing than this circumftance in their* 
 character, which is very hard to conceive, and feems almoft 
 incredible. Artiiicers, hufbandmen, foldiers, mariners, are 
 generally a dull, heavy ]f ind of people, and very grofs in their 
 conceptions ; but the people of Athens were of a quite dif- 
 ferent turn. They had naturally an- amazing penetration, vi- 
 vacity, and even delicacy of wit. I have already mentioned 
 what happened to Theophrnftus. J He was cheapening fome- 
 thing of an old woman at Athens that fold herbs : " No, Mr. 
 14 Stranger," faid we, " you fhall have it for no lefs." He 
 wa. ftrangely furprifed to fee himfelf treated as a ftranger 
 
 k Plut.in praecept. rep. ger. p. 793. 
 * 'O 3?!ju*f 'Al'flvai'fciy lUKttfitif Ift iroif a^yrit <vu.<T!z3iri; -rfi; t>.\tt, 
 
 f M*XX?iwf iwr-. 
 
 $ Cum Tlicophraftus percontaretur ex anicula qiiadam, quanti aliquid venc'erct, 
 et refpondiflct ilia, atque acldidiflet : Hofpes, non pote minc-ris ; tulit molefle, fe 
 D n efRigeiehofpitisfpccicm, cnm aetatcm agcret Athcnis, optimequc loqueretuc. 
 Cic. de tUr. orat. n. 17.
 
 Clap. II. OF THE GREEKS. 445 
 
 who had pafled almoft his whole life at Athens, and who 
 piqued himfelf upon excelling all others in the elegance of his 
 language. It was however from that me knew he was not of 
 her country. We have faid, that the Athenian foldiers knew 
 the fine paflages of Euripides by heart. Thefe artificers and 
 foldiers, from affifting at the public deliberations, were befides 
 verfed in affairs of ftate, and underflood every thing at half a 
 word. We may judge of this from the orations of Demofthe- 
 nes, whofe ftile, we know, is ardent, brief, and concife. 
 
 III. " As * they naturally inclined to relieve perfons of a 
 ** low condkion and mean circumftances, fo were they fond 
 *' of converfations feafoned with pleafantry, and proper to 
 *' make people laugh." 
 
 1 They affifted perfons of a mean condition, becaufe from fuch 
 they had nothing to apprehend in regard to their liberty, and 
 faw in them the characters of equality and refemblance with 
 themfelves. They loved pleafantry, and mewed in that they 
 were men ; but men abounding with humanity and indulgence, 
 who underftood raillery, who were not prone to take offence, 
 nor over delicate in point of refpedl: to be paid them. One 
 day, when the affembly was fully formed, and the people had 
 already taken their places and fat down, Cleon, after having 
 made them wait his coming a great while, appeared at laft 
 with a wreath of flowers upon his head, and delired the pea- 
 pie to adjourn their deliberations to the next day. " For to- 
 44 day," faid he, " I have buiinefs. I have been facrificing 
 " to the gods ; and I am to entertain fome ftrangers, my friends, 
 ** .at .fupper." The Athenians, fetting up a laugh, rofe and 
 ^ro'ke tip die afltmbly. At Carthage, fuch a pleafantry would 
 have coil any man his life, that had prefumed to vent it, and 
 to take fuch a liberty with a f proud, haughty, jealous, mo- 
 i-ofe people, of a genius averfe to complacency, and lefs in- 
 cljned to humour. Upon another occaiion, the orator Strato- 
 
 1 Xenoph. de Athcn.rep p. 6<;i. 
 
 "n.sTtl> <rut a^eeat ra~i SiooZpis xcti ru 
 
 al y<.\olx; a.fZfii^iTu.i 
 ^ ILxstv, fr,&ouifl*, Tgiff -?.i$lm xai %,'* i^u-rtv IM", fKt.tifiv
 
 246 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book X. 
 
 cles, having informed the people of a viclory, and in confe- 
 quence caufed facr-fices to be offered, three days after new:; 
 came of the defeat of the army. As the people expreffed their 
 difcontent and refentment upon the falfc information, he aiked 
 them, " of what they had to complain, and what harm he had 
 ** done them, in making them pafs three days more agreeably 
 " than they would elfe have done ?" 
 
 IV. " They * were pleafed with hearing themfelves praifed, 
 *' and could not bear to be railed at, or criticifed." The lead 
 acquaintance with Ariftophanes and Demofthenes will fheiv, 
 with what addrefs and effect they employ praifes and crificifm 
 with regard to the people of Athens. 
 
 tt When the republic enjoyed peace and tranquillity, fays 
 the fame Plutarch in another place, the Athenian people di- 
 verted themfelves with the orators who flattered them : But in 
 important affairs, and emergencies of the ftate, they became 
 ferious, and gave the preference to thofe, whofe cuilom it had 
 been to oppofe their unjuil deiires ; fuch as Pericles, Phocion, 
 and Demofthenes. 
 
 V. " They f kept thofe who governed them in awe, and 
 '* {hewed their humanity even to their enemies." 
 
 The people of Athens made good ufe of the talents of thofe 
 who diilinguiflied themfelves bv their eloquence and prudence ; 
 but they were full of fufpicion, and kept themfelves always on 
 their guard againil their fuperiority of genius and ability : they 
 took pieafars in retraining their courage, and leflening their 
 glory and reputation. This may be judged from the ofiracifm, 
 which was inftituted only as a curb on thofe, whofe merit and 
 popularity ran too high, and which fpared neither the great- 
 eft nor the mctl worthy perfons. The hatred of tyranny and 
 tyrants, which was in a manner innate of the Athenians, made 
 them extremely jealous and apprehenfive for their liberty with 
 regard to thofe who governed. 
 
 As to what relates to their enemies, they did not treat them 
 xvith rigour ; they did not make an infolent ufe of viclory, nor 
 
 m Plot, in Phocion. p. 746. 
 * TTj utt 'ffeutyfa ay-rev fwA/f %'"> m's %'. fxur<nifi tiKtfct cvff%itiii:t
 
 . II. OF THE GREEKS. 247 
 
 exercife any cruelty towards the vanquiflieJ. The amnelty 
 decreed after the tyranny of the Thirty, {hews that they 
 could forget the injuries v.'hich had been done them. 
 
 To thefe different characlcriilics, which Plutarch unites in 
 the fame pafiage of his works, fome others may be added, ex- 
 tracted principally from the fame author. 
 
 VI. It wr.5 from this fund * of humanity and benevolence, 
 of which I have now fpoken, and which v:a.o natural to the A- 
 thenians, that they were fo attentive to the rules of politenefs, 
 and fo delicate in point of juil behaviour; qualities one would 
 not expecl to find among the common people. n In the war 
 againfl Philip of Mscedon, having intercepted one of his cou- 
 riers, they read all the letters lie carried, except that of O- 
 Ivmpias his wife, v.'hich they returned feaied up and unopen- 
 ed, out of regard to conjugal love and fecrecy, the rites of 
 which are facrecl, and ought to be refpecled even amongft 
 enemies. The fame Athenians having decreed, that a ftricl: 
 fearch ihould be made after the prefents diilributed by Har- 
 palus amongfl the orators, would not fufFer the houfe of Calli- 
 cles, who was lately married, to be viuted, out of refpeft for 
 his bride, not long brought home. Such behaviour is not 
 very common ; and upon like occafions people do not iland 
 much upon forms ana politenefs, 
 
 VII. The tafte of the Athenians for ail arts and fciences is 
 too well known to require dwelling long upon it in this place. 
 Betides which, I ihall have occafion to fpeak of it with fome 
 extent eifewhcre. But we cannot fee without admiration a peo- 
 ple ccmpofed for the molt part, as I have faid before, of arti- 
 fans, hufbandmen, foldiers, and mariners, carry delicacy of 
 tafle in every kind to fo high a degree of perfection, which 
 feems the peculiar attribute of a more exalted condition and a 
 noble education. 
 
 VIII. It is no lefs wonderful, that this people f mould have 
 fuch great views, and rofe fo high in their pretenfions. In the 
 war Alcibiades made them undertake, filled with vail projects^ 
 
 QJ^ 
 
 n Pint, in Demetr. p. 898. 
 
 * ndrpcv Kvretf KO.} cvftQv $1 to Qj.K&ctffm. In Ptlcp. p. a8o. 
 f Miy $, ftiyalav ipy-fa. Plut.
 
 248 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS Book XI. 
 
 and unbounded hopes, they did not confine therafelves to the 
 taking of Syracufe, or the conquefl of Sicily, but had already 
 added Italy, Peloponnefus, Libya, the Carthaginian gates, and 
 the empire of the fea, to the Pillars of Hercules. Their enter- 
 prife failed, but they had formed it ; and the taking of Syra- 
 cufe, which feemed no great difficulty, might have enabled 
 them to put it in execution. 
 
 XI. The fame people, fo great, and one may fay, fo haughty 
 in their projects, had nothing of that character in other re- 
 fpe&s. In what regarded the expence of the table, drefs, fur- 
 niture, private buildings, and in a word, private life, they 
 were frugal, fimple, modeft, and poor ; but fumptuous and 
 magnificent in all things public, and capable of doing honour 
 to the Hate. Their victories, conquefts, wealth, and con- 
 tinual communication with the people of Afia Minor, introdu- 
 ced neither luxury, gluttony, pomp, nor vain profuiion a- 
 mongfl them, Xenophon obferves, that a citizen could not 
 be diftinguiihed from a flave by his drefs. The richeft inha- 
 bitants, and the moft famous generals, were not afhamed to 
 go to market themfelves. 
 
 It was very glorious for Athens to have produced and form- 
 fo many excellent perfons in the arts of war and govern- 
 ment ; in philofophy, eloquence, poefy, painting, fculpture, 
 and architecture : Of having furnifhed alone more great men, 
 in every other kind than any other city of the world ; if perhaps 
 we except Rome, which * had imbibed learning and arts from 
 her, aud knew how to apply her leffons to the beft advan- 
 tage ; of having been in fome fort the fchool and tutor of al- 
 moft the whole univerfe ; of having fervcd, and ftill continu- 
 ing to ferve, as the model for nations, which pique themfelves 
 mod upon the excellency of tafte ; in a word, of having taught 
 the language, and prefcribed the laws of all that regards the 
 talents and preclusions of the mind. The part of this hiilo- 
 
 DC rep, Athcn. p. 6^3. 
 Graecia canra ferum viclorem cepit, et artes 
 
 Ir.tulit agrcfti Lstio. HORAT. Epift, i. 1. z, 
 
 " Greece taken, tsok her favsge vigors hearts, 
 " And pollfl/d uitttc Latium with her arts."
 
 Clap. II. F THE GREEKS. 34$ 
 
 ry, wherein I fliall treat the fciences and learned men, that 
 rendered Greece illuftrious, with the arts alfo, and thofe who 
 excelled in them, will fet this in a clear light. 
 
 X. I fhall conclude this defcription of the Athenians with 
 one more attribute, which cannot be denied them, and ap- 
 pears evidently in all their actions and enterprizes ; and that 
 is, their ardent love of liberty. This was their darling paf- 
 fion and great principle of policy. We fee them, from the 
 commencement of the war with the Perfians, facrifice every 
 thing to the liberty of Greece,. They abandoned, without the 
 leafl regret, their lands, eftates, city, and houfes, and removed 
 to their {hips in order to fight the common enemy, whofe view 
 was to enflave them. What could be more glorious for Athens, 
 than, when all the allies were trembling at the vail offers made 
 her by the king of Perfia, to anfwer his ambaflador by the 
 mouth of p Ariftides, that all the gold and Giver in the world 
 v, r as not capable of tempting them to fell their own, or the li- 
 berty of Greece ? It was from fuch generous fentiments that 
 the Athenians not only became the bulwark of Greece, but 
 preferved the reft of Europe, and all the weftern world, from 
 the invaficn of the Perfians. 
 
 Thefe great qualities were mingled with great defe&s, often 
 the very reverfe of them, fuch as we may imagine in a fluctu- 
 ating, light, inconitant, capricious people, like the Athenians. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 Common CHARACTER of the LACEDAEDOMONIANS and 
 
 ATHENIANS. 
 
 I CANNOT refufe giving a place here to what Mr. Bofluetfays 
 upon the character of the Lacedaemonians and Athenians. 
 The paffage is long, but will not appear fo, and includes all 
 that is wanting to a perfect knowledge of the genius of both 
 thofe people. 
 
 Amongft all the republics of which Greece was compofed, 
 
 Athens and Lacedaemon were undoubtedly the principal. No 
 
 people could have more wit than the Athenians, nor more 
 
 folid fenfe than the Lacedaemonians. Athens affected plea- 
 
 9 Pint, in Ariflid p. 334.
 
 $50 TlIAK'.CEIiS AND CUSTOMS Scok X. 
 
 fure ; the Lacedaemonian way of life was hard and laborious. 
 Both loved glory and liberty; but the liberty of Athens tend- 
 ed to licence ; and ccutrollecl by fcvere laws at Lacedaemon, 
 the more reftrained it was at home, the more ardent it was to 
 extend itfelf in rule abroad. Athens was alfo for reigning, 
 but upon another principle, in which interefl had a fharc with 
 glory. Her citizens excelled in the art of navigation, and the 
 fovereignty at fea had enriched her. To continue in the fole 
 pofleflion of all commerce, there was nothing fhe would not 
 iiave fubje&ed to her power ; and her riches, which infpired 
 this pafiion, fupplied her with the means ef gratifying it. On 
 the contrary, at Lacedaemon money was in contempt. As all 
 ihe laws tended to make the latter a military republic, the 
 glory of arms was the fole objeft that engrofled her citizens. 
 From thence ihe naturally affefted dominion ; and the more 
 Ihe was above intereft, the more fce abandoned herfelf to 
 ambition. 
 
 Lacedaemon, from her regular life, was fleady and deter- 
 minate in her maxims and meafures. Athens was more lively 
 and active, and the people too much matters. Their laws and 
 philofophy had indeed the mod happy effects upon fuch ex- 
 quifite natural parts as theirs ; but reafon alone was not capa- 
 ble of keeping them within due bounds. q A wife Athenian, 
 who knew admirably the genius of his country, informs us, 
 that fear was neceffary to thofe too ardent and free fpirits ; and 
 that it was impoffible to govern them, after the victory at 
 Salamin had removed their fears of the Periians. 
 
 Two things then ruined them, the glory of their great ac- 
 tions, and the fuppofed fecurity of their prefent condition. 
 The magiftrates were no longer heard ; and as Periia was af- 
 flicted with cxccfiive flavery, fo Athens, fays Plato, experi- 
 enced all die evils of exceffive liberty. 
 
 Thcfc two great republics, fo contrary in their manners and 
 conduct, interfered with each other in the defigu they had 
 each formed of fubjefting all Greece ; fo that they were al- 
 ways enemies, more from the contrariety of their interefls, 
 Uian the incompatibility of their humours. 
 <i Pbt. I. ii : . de Leg.
 
 Clap. II. OF THE GREEKS. 25 f 
 
 The Grecian cities were againft fubmitting to the dominion 
 of either the one or the other ; for, v befides the defire of pre- 
 ferving their liberty, they found the empire of thofe two re- 
 publics too grievous to bear. That of the Lacedaemonians 
 was fevere. That people were obferved to have fomething al- 
 moft brutal in their character. r A government too rigid, and 
 a life too laborious, rendered their tempers too haughty, au- 
 flere, and imperious in power : Befides which, they could ne- 
 ver expect to live in peace under the influence of a city, which 
 being formed for war, could not fupport itfelf but by con- 
 tinuing perpetually in arms. s So that the Lacedaemonians 
 xvere capable of attaining to command; and all the world were 
 afraid they fhould do fo. 
 
 'The Athenians were naturally obliging and agreeable. No- 
 thing was more delightful to behold than their city ; in which 
 feafls and games were perpetual ; where wit, liberty, and the 
 various pafilons of men, daily exhibited new objefts : But the 
 inequality of their conduct difguiled their allies, and was flill 
 more infu.pportable to their own fubjefts. It \va3 impoiSble 
 for them not to experience the extravagance and caprice of a 
 flattered people, that is to fay, according to Plato, fomething 
 more dangerous than the fame exceffes in a prince vitiated by 
 flattery. 
 
 Thefe two cities did not permit Greece to continue in re- 
 pofe. We have feen the Peiopponnefian aird other wars, 
 which were always occaiioned or fomented by the jealoufy 
 of Laccdaernon and Athens. But the fame jealoufies which 
 involved Greece in troubles, fupported it in foice meafure, 
 and prevented its falling into the dependence of either the 
 one or the other of thofe republics. 
 
 The Perfians foon perceived this condition of Greece ; and 
 accordingly the whole myilery of their politics confiited in 
 keeping up thofe jealoufies, and fomenting thofe diviiions. 
 Lacedaemon, which was the moft ambitious, was the firfl that 
 gave them occafion to enter into the quarrels of the Greeks. 
 They engaged in them from the fole view of making them- 
 r Ariflot. Poiit. 1. i. p. 4. s Xcnoph. de rep. Lacon. 
 
 J Plat, de rep. 1. viii.
 
 -5* MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE GREEKS. Bori X. 
 
 felves mailers of the whole nation ; and indtlftrious to weaken 
 the Greeks by their own arms, they waited only the oppor- 
 tunity to crufh them altogether. u The ftates of Greece in their 
 wars already regarded only the king of Perfia, whom they 
 called the Great King, or " the King," by way of eminence, 
 as if they had already been of the number of his fubjefts. 
 But it was impofllble that the ancient fpirit of Greece Ihould 
 not revive, when they were upon the point of falling into fla- 
 very, and the hands of the Barbarians. 
 
 The petty kings of Greece undertook to oppofe this great 
 king, and to ruin his empire. * With a fmall army, but bred 
 in the difcipline we .have related, Agefilaus, king of Sparta, 
 made the Pcrfians tremble in Afia Minor, and {hewed it was 
 not impofliWe to fubvert their power. The divifions of Greece 
 alone put a Hop to his conquefts. The famous retreat of the 
 -ten thoufand, who, after the death of young Cyrus, made 
 their way in a hoftile manner through the whole Perfian em- 
 pire, and returned into their own country - 3 that action, I fay, 
 demonftrated to Greece more than ever, that their foldiery 
 was invincible, and fuperior to all oppofers ; and that only 
 thair domeftic divifions could fuhjeft them to an enemy too 
 weak to reftft their united force. 
 
 We lhall fee, in the feries of this hiftory, by what methods 
 Philip king of Macedon, taking advantage of theie divifions, 
 came at length, between addrefs and force, to make himfelf 
 little Icfs than the Sovereign of Greece, and to oblige the 
 whole nation to march under his colours againft the common 
 enemy. What he had only planned, his fon Alexander 
 brought to perfection ; and mewed the wondering world, ho\v 
 much ability and valour avail againft the moft numerous ar-, 
 nies and the moft formidable preparations. 
 
 * Plut. L iii. de Leg. Ifocrat. Panegyr. T Pulyb. I. iii.
 
 BOOK ELEVENTH. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O T 
 
 DIONYSIUS ELDER AND YOUNGER, 
 
 TYRANTS OF SYRACUSE. 
 
 OYRACUSE had regained its liberty about fisty years, by the ex- 
 pulfion of the family of Gelon. The events which pafled in 
 that interval, except the invafion of the Athenians, are of 
 no great importance, and littk known ; but thofe which fol- 
 low are of a different nature, and make amends for the 
 chafm ; I mean the reign of Dionyfius the father and fon, 
 tyrants of Syracufe ; the firil of whom governed thirty-eight, 
 and the * other twelve, in all fifty years. As this hiflory is 
 entirely foreign to what palled in Greece at the fame time, I 
 fhall relate it in this place altogether and by itfelf ; obferving 
 only, that the firfl twenty years of it, upon which I am now- 
 entering, agree almoft in point of time with the lafl preceding 
 twenty years. 
 
 This hiflory will prefent to our view a feries of the mofl o- 
 dious and horrid crimes, though it abounds at the fame time 
 with inftrudiion. When f on the one fide we behold a prince, 
 the declared enemy of liberty, jurtice, and laws, treading under 
 his feet the moft facred rights of nature and religion, inflid- 
 
 * After having been expelled for more than ten years, he reafcended the throne, 
 and reigned two or three years. 
 
 f Erit Dionyfins ilHc tyrannus.pibertatis, juflitiae, legum exitum. Alios uret, 
 alios verberabit, alios ob levem offenfam jubebit detruacari. Seiiec. de confoL 
 id Marc c. xvii. 
 
 Sanguine humano non tantum gaudet, fed pafcitur ; fed ut fupliciis omnium 
 aetarum cradc&UUm infatiibilem cxpkt. Id, de benef. 1. vii. c. l<j.
 
 254 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 ing the mod cruel torments upon his fubjecb, beheading fome, 
 burning others for a flight word, delighting and feafting him- 
 felf with human blood, and gratifying his favage inhumanity 
 with the fufferings and miferies of every age and condition : 
 I fay, when we behold fuch an object, can we deny a truth, 
 which the Pagan world itlelf hath confeiTed, and Plutarch takes 
 occafion to obferve in fpeaking of the tyrants of -Sicily ; that 
 God in his anger gives fuch princes to a people, and makes 
 ufe of the impious and the wicked to punilh the guilty and the 
 criminal. On the other fide, when the fame prince, the dread 
 and terror of Syracufe, is perpetuallj^anxions, and trembling 
 for his own life, and, abandonee! to : remorfe and regret, can 
 find no perfon in his whole (late, not even his wives or chil- 
 dren, in whom he can- confide; who will not think with Taci- 
 tus, " * That it is not without reafon the oracle of wifdom 
 ** has declared, that if the hearts of tyrants could be feen, 
 " we mould find them torn in pieces with a thoufand evils ; 
 " it being certain, that the body does not fuffer more from 
 " inflictions and torments, than the minds of fuch wretches 
 " from their crimes, cruelties, and thenju(lice and violence 
 " of their proceedings." 
 
 The condition of a good prince is quite different. He loves 
 his people, and is beloved by them ; he enjoys a perfect tran- 
 quillity witfiin himfelf, and lives with his fubjecls as a father 
 with his children. S^hifcgh he knows that the fword of juftice 
 is in his hands, he apprehends the ufe of it. He loves to turn 
 afide itsledge" and cA never refolve to evidence his power, 
 but with rfstreme ,reluclance, in the laft extremity, and with 
 all the forms and fanclion of the f laws. A tyrant punifhes 
 only from captice and paffion ; and believes, fays Plutarch 
 
 * Neque fruftra praeftanii^Imus fapientiae finnare folitns eft, fi re-h:chr.tur 
 tyrannoruin mentes, p'MTe afpici laniatus ct iftus; quando, ut corpora veiberibus. 
 itafaevitia, libidine, malis c rfjltis animus di!acerarttnr. Tacit. Annal. i. vi. c. (> 
 
 f Haec eft in maxima poteftate verifuma animi temperantia. non cupiJ.itate 
 iliqna,non temeritate inccndi ; n->n prior um principam exemphs corruptum, 
 quantum in cives fu'os liceat, eipcriendo tciltare ; fed hebetare acicra itnper;i 
 fui Quid intercft inter tyrannnni et regem, fpecies enim ipfa fortunae ac licen- 
 tia par eft, nifi qnod tyranni in voluptate facviuat, rcges non nifi ex caufa ct 
 reccffitate ? Sense, de clem. lib. i. c. 1 1.
 
 Clab. 1. DIOXYSIUS THE ELDER. 2JJ 
 
 upon Dionyfius, that he is not really f matter, and does not 
 aft with fupreme authority, but as he fets himfelf above all 
 laws, has no other but his will and pleafure, and fees him. 
 felf obeyed implicitly. Whereas, continues the fame author, 
 he that can do whatever he will, is in great danger of doing 
 what he ought not. 
 
 Befides thefe chara&eriftics of cruelty and tyranny, which 
 particularly diftinguifh the firft Dionyfius, we mail fee in his 
 hiftory, whatever unbounded ambition, fuftained by great va- 
 lour, extenfive abilities, and the neceffary talents for acquir- 
 ing the coufidence of a people, is capable of undertaking for 
 the attainment of fovereignty ; the various means he had the 
 addrefs to employ for the maintaining himfelf in it againft the 
 opposition of his enemies, ,and the odium of the public ; and 
 laflly, the tyrant's fuccefs in efcaping, during a reign of thir- 
 ty-eight years, the many confpiracies formed againft him, and 
 in tranfmitting peaceably the tyranny to his fon, as a legiti- 
 mate poiTeffion, and a right of inh6rkance. 
 
 '** 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THIS chapter contains the hiftory of Dionyfius the elder, who 
 
 reigned thirty-eight years. 
 
 " 
 
 SECTION 1. "* 
 
 MEANS made Jife of by DlOXTSIUS the ELDER to poffefs Urn- 
 
 felf of tie TTRANNT. 
 
 DIONYIUS was a native of Syracufe a , of noble and illuflrious 
 extraftion according to fome, but others fay his birth was bafe 
 and obfcure. However it was, he diftinguifhed himfelf by his 
 valour, and acquired great reputation in a war with the Car- 
 thaginians. He was one of thofe who accompanied Hermo- 
 crates, when he attempted to re-enter Syracufe by force of 
 arms, after having been banimed through the intrigues of his 
 
 d Died. I. xiii, p. 197. 
 
 * ' E0it rX p<iteK rri; af^ris iran fi^nf a. /SATJ **?. Msya? 
 u. ftti Jii, <rv a, ^>.ira, w;s7 ?W/vc>, Ad. princ indod. p. ?
 
 2^6 THE HISTORY 0* JoV XL 
 
 his enemies. The event of that eaterprife was not happy. 
 Hermocrates was killed. The Syracufans did not fpare his ac- 
 complices, feveral of whom were publicly executed. Dionjfius 
 was left among the wounded. The report of his death, de- 
 fignedly given out by his relations, faved his life. Providence 
 had fpared Syracufe an infinity of misfortunes, had he expired 
 cither in the fight, or by the executioner. 
 
 The Carthaginians had made feveral attempts to eftabliih 
 themfelves in Sicily, and to poiTefs themfelves of the principal 
 towns of that iflandj as we have obferved elfewhere b . Its hap- 
 py fituation for their maritime commerce, the fertility of its 
 foil and the riches of its inhabitants, where powerful induce- 
 ments to' fuch an enterprife. We may form an idea of the 
 wealth of its cities from Dicdorus Siculus's account of Agri- 
 gentum. 'The temples v/ere of extraordinary magnificence, 
 efpecially that of Jupiter Olyrhpius, which was three hundred 
 and forty feet in length, fixty in breadth, and one hundred 
 and twenty in height. The piazzas, or galleries, in their ex- 
 tent and beauty, anfwered to the reft of the building. On one 
 fide was reprefented the battle of the giants, on the other the 
 taking of Troy, in figures as large as the life. Without the 
 city was an artificial lake, which was feven ftadta, ebove a 
 quarter of a league, in circumference. It was full of alikind.i 
 of fifh, covered with fwans and other water-fowls, and afford- 
 ed the mofl agreeable rofpecl imaginable. 
 
 It was the time about which we fpeak, that Exenetes, vie- 
 tor in the Olympic games, ^er\tered the city in triumph in a 
 magnificent chariot, attended by three hundred more, all 
 drawn by white horfes. Their habits were adorned with goH 
 and filver;'and nothing was ever more iplendid than their ap- 
 pearance. Gellias, the moll wealthy cf the citizens of Agri- 
 gentum, creeled feveral large apartments in his houfe for the 
 reception and entertainment ofhis guefts. Servants waited by 
 his order at the gates of the city, to invite all ftrangers to lodge 
 at their mafters houfe, whither they conducted them. Hoi 
 pitality was much praclifed and efteerned by the generality a; 
 
 b In the Hiftory of the Carthaginians, Douk II. Part I. 
 * Died. 1, siii. p. 203, 3C*.
 
 Clap. I. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 257 
 
 that citj. A violent ftorm having obliged one hundred horfe- 
 meti to take fhelter there, Gellia^ entertained them all in his 
 houfe, and fupplied them immediately with dry clothes, of 
 which he had always a great quantity in his wardrobe. This 
 is underftanding how to make a noble ufe of riches. His cellar 
 is much talked of by hiflorians, in which he had three hun- 
 dred refervoirs hewn out of the rock, each of which contained 
 an hundred * amphorae. 
 
 This great and opulent city was beiieged, and at length taken 
 by the Carthaginians. Its fall fhook all Sicily, and fpread an 
 univerfal terror. The caufe of its being loft was imputed to 
 the Syracufans, who had but weakly aided it. Dionyfius, who 
 from that time had no other thoughts, but of his grand de- 
 figns, and was fecretly aftive in laying the foundations of his 
 future power, took the advantage of this favourable opportu- 
 nity, and of the general complaints of Sicily againft the Sy- 
 racufans, to render the magiftrates odious, and to exclaim 
 againft their adminiftration. In a public affembly, held to con- 
 lidcr of the prefent Hate of affairs, when nobody dared to open 
 their mouths for fear of the perfons at the helm, Dionyfius 
 xofe up, and boldly accufed the magiftrates of treafon ; adding, 
 that it was his opinion, that they ought to be depofed imme- 
 diately, without waiting till the term of their adminiftration 
 ihould expire. They retorted this audacity with treating him 
 as a feditious perfon, and adifturber of die public tranquillity, 
 and as fuch, laid a fine upon him according to the laws. This 
 was to be paid before he could be admitted to fpeak again, and 
 Dionyfius was not in a condition to difcharge it. Philiftus, 
 one of the richeft citizens, who wrote the hiftory of Sicily, 
 which is not come down to us, depofited the money, and ex- 
 horted him at the fame time to give his opinion upon the ftate 
 of affairs with all the liberty which became a citizen zealous 
 for his country. 
 
 Dionyfius accordingly refumed his difcourfe with more vi- 
 gour than before. He had long cultivated the habit of elo- 
 
 Vdmne IV. R 
 
 * An amphora contained about fcvcn gallons ; an hundred confcqnently C8ft- 
 4ittd of ftven hundred gallon s ; or elpten h-~>g!hed feven gal Ions,-
 
 2j8 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 quence, which he looked upon with rcafon as a very neceflary 
 talent in a republican government ; efpecially in his views of 
 acquiring the people's favour, and of reconciliating them to his 
 meafures. He b^gan with describing in a lively and pathetic 
 Banner the ruin of Agrigeaturn, a neighbouring city in their 
 alliance; the deplorable extremity to which the inhabitants had 
 been reduced, of quitting the place under the cover of the 
 night ; the cries and lamentations of infants, and of aged and 
 fick perfons, whom they had been obliged to abandon to a 
 cruel and mercilefs enemy ; and the confequential murder of 
 all who had been left in the city, whom the barbarous victor 
 dragged from the temples and altars of the gods, feeble re- 
 fuges againft the Carthaginian fury and impiety. He imput- 
 ed all thefe evils to the treachery of the commanders of the 
 army, who, inftead of marching to the relief of Agrigentum, 
 had retreated with their troops ; to the criminal protraction 
 and delay of the magiftrates, corrupted by Carthaginian bribes ; 
 and to the pride of the great and rich, who regarded nothing 
 but eftablifhing their own power upon the ruins of their coun- 
 try's liberty. He reprefented Syracufe as compofed of two 
 different bodies ; the one, by their power and influence, ufurp- 
 ing all the dignities and wealth of the ftate ; the other, ob- 
 fcure, defpifed, and trod under foot, bearing the fame yoke of 
 a fhameful fervitude, and rather Haves than citizens. He con- 
 cluded with faying, that the only remedy for fo many evils 
 was to elect perfons from amongft the people devoted to their 
 interefls, and who, not being capable of rendering themfdves 
 formidable by their riches and authority, would be folely em- 
 ployed for the public good, and apply in earneft to the re- 
 eilablilhment of the liberty of Syracufe. 
 
 This difcourfe was liilened to with infinite pleafure, as all 
 fpeeches are, which flatter the natural propenuty of inferiors 
 to complain of the government, and was followed with the 
 univerfa] applaufe of the people, who always give themfelvcs 
 *up blindly to thofe who know how to deceive them under 
 t!;e Ipecious pretext of ferving their inrertfi. All the magi- 
 ftrates were nepofed upon the fpot, and others fubftituted in 
 their rooai, with Dionvfius at ;he heed of them.
 
 Clap. I. DIO^YSIUS THE ELDER. 2 5 9 
 
 This was only the firft ftep to the tyranny, at which he did 
 not flop. The fuccefs of his undertaking inspired him wkh. 
 new courage and confidence. He had alfo in view the dif- 
 placing of the generals of the army, and to have their power 
 transferred to himfelf. The deiign was bold and dangerous, 
 and he applied to it with addrefs. Before he attacked them 
 openly, he planted his batteries againfl th?m at a diftance ; ca- 
 lumniating them by his emiilaries to the people, and fparing 
 no pains to render them fufpected. He caufed it to he whif- 
 pered among the populace, tliat thofe commanders held fecret 
 intelligence with the enemy ; that difguifed couriers were fre- 
 quently feen palling and re-pafling ; and that it was not to be 
 doubted, but fonie confpiracy was on foot. He affected on his 
 fide not to fee thofe leaders, nor to open himfelf to them at 
 all upon the affairs of the public. He communicated none of 
 his defigns to them ; as if he was appreheniive of rendering 
 himfelf fulpectcd by having any intercourfe or correfpondence 
 with them. Perfons of ferife and difcernment were not at a 
 lofs to difcover the tendency of thefe undermining arts ; nor 
 were they lilent upon the occaiion : Bat the common people, 
 prejudiced in his favour, inceiTantly applauded and admired 
 his zeal, and looked upon him as the fole protector and ailert- 
 or of their rights and liberties. 
 
 Another fcheme, which he fet at work with his ufual ad- 
 drefs, was of very great fervice to him, and exceedingly pro- 
 moted his deiigns. There was a great number of bamflied 
 perfons difperfed throughout Sicily, whom the faftion of the 
 nobility of Syracufe had expelled the city at different times, 
 and upon different pretences* He knew what an addition of 
 llrength fo numerous a body. of citizens would be to him, whom 
 gratitude to a benefactor, and rcfentment againft thofe who 
 had occauoned their baniuiment, the hope of retrieving their 
 affairs, and of enriching themfelves out of the fpoils of his e- 
 nemies, rendered moft proper for the execution of his defigns, 
 and attached unalterably to his perfon and intereft. He ap- 
 plied therefore earnefily to obtain their recall. It was given out, 
 tizat k was necelTary to raife a numerous body of troops to op- 
 
 Rij
 
 >6o 1HE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 pofe the progrefs of the Carthaginians ; and the people were in 
 great pain upon the expence, to which the ntw levies would a- 
 mount. Dionyiius took the advantage of this favourable con- 
 junfture, and the difpofition of the public. He represented, 
 that it was ridiculous to bring foreign troops at a great expence 
 from Italy and Peloponnefus, whilft they might fupply them- 
 felves with excellent foldiers, without being at any charge at 
 all : That there were numbers of Syracufans in every part of 
 Sicily, who, notwithftanding the ill treatment they had receiv- 
 ed, had always retained the hearts of citizens under the name 
 and condition of exiles ; that they preferved a tender affection 
 and inviolable fidelity for their country, and had chofe rather 
 to wander about Sicily without fupport or fettlement, than to 
 take party in the armies of the enemy, however advantageous 
 the offers to induce them to it had been. This cufcourie of 
 Dionyfius had all the effect upon the people he could have 
 wiihed. His colleagues, who perceived plainly what he had 
 in view, were afraid to contradict him ; rightly judging, that 
 their oppofition would not only prove ineffe&ual, but ia- 
 cenfe ihe people againft them, and even augment the reputa- 
 tion of Dionyfius, to whom it would leave the honour of re- 
 calling the exiles. Their return wa; therefore decreed; and 
 they accordingly came all to Syracufe without Jolii.g time. 
 
 A deputation from Gela, a city in the dependence of Syra- 
 cufe, arrived about the fame time, to demand that the garrifon 
 mould be reinforced. Dionyfius immediately marched thither 
 with two thoufand foot, and four hundred horfe. He found 
 the city in great commotion, and divided into two factions ; 
 one of the people, and the other of the rich and powerful. 
 The latter having been tried in form, were condemned by the 
 aflembly to die, and to have their eftates coniifcated for the 
 ufe of the public. This coniifcation was applied to pay off 
 the arrears, which had long been due to the former garrifons, 
 commanded by Dexippus the Lacedaemonian ; and Dionyfius 
 promifed the troops he brought with him to Syracufe, to double 
 the pay they were to receive from the city. This was attach- 
 ing fo many new creatures to himfelf. The inhabita fits o
 
 Clap. I. DIOKYSIUS THE ELDER. 261 
 
 Gela treated him with the higheft marks of honour, and fent 
 deputies to Syracufe to return their thanks for the important 
 fervice that city had done them in fending Dionyfius thither. 
 Having endeavoured in vain to bring Dexippus into his mea- 
 fures, he returned with his troops to Syracufe, after having 
 promifed the inhabitants of Gela, who ufed all means in their 
 power to keep him amongft them, that he would foon return 
 with more considerable aid. 
 
 He arrived at Syracufe jufl as the people were coming out 
 of the theatre, who ran in throngs about him, inquiring with 
 earneftnefs what he had heard of the Carthaginians. He an- 
 fwered with a fad and dejefted air, that the city nourifhed far 
 more dangerous and formidable enemies in her bofom ; that 
 whilft Carthage was making extrao dinary preparations for the 
 invafion of Syracufe, thofe who were in command, inftead of 
 rouiing the zeal and attention of the citizens, and fetting every 
 thing at work againft the approach of fo potent an enemy, 
 lulled them with trivial amufements and idle mews, and fuf- 
 fered the troops to want neceflaries ; converting their pay to 
 their private ufes in a fraudulent manner, deftrudlive to the 
 public affairs ; that he had always fufficiently comprehended 
 the caufe of fuch a conduct ; that however, it was not now upon 
 mere conjecture, but upon too evident proof, his complaints were 
 founded ; that Imikar, the general of the Carthaginians, had 
 fent an officer to him, under pretext of treating about the ran- 
 fom of prifoners, but in reality to prevail on him not to be too 
 ftrift in examining into the conduct of his colleagues; and that 
 if he would not enter into the meafures of Carthage, at leaft that 
 he would not oppofe them ; that for his part, he came to refign 
 his command, and to abdicate his dignity, that he might leave 
 no room for injurious fufpicions of his adling in concert, and 
 holding intelligence with traitors who fold the commonwealth. 
 
 This difcourfe being rumoured amongft the troops, and a- 
 bout the city, occafioned great inquietude and alarm. The 
 next day the afTembly was fummoned, and Dionyfius renewed 
 his complaints againft the generals, which were received with 
 nniverfal applaufe. Some of the afiembly cried out, that i* 
 
 R iij
 
 2^3 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 was uecefiary to appoint him generaliffimo, with unlimited 
 ; and thr.: it would be too late for fo falutary a recourfe, 
 when the enemy was at the gates of Svr.icuie; that the import- 
 ance of the war which threatened them, required fuch a 
 leader ; that it was in the fame manner formerly, that Gelon 
 i-'cted generamTimo, and defeated the Carthaginian army 
 at Himera, which cor.fiiled of three hundred thouland men ; 
 that as for the accufation, alleged againil the traitors, it might 
 be referred to another day ; but that the prefent affair would 
 admit no delay. Nor was it deferred in effect ; for the people, 
 \vho, when once prejudiced, run headlong after their opinion 
 without examining asy thing, elected Dionyfius general iilimo 
 w;th unlimited povfrer that inilant. In the fame aflembly he 
 caufed it to be decreed, that the foidiers pay iaould be doubled ;, 
 infinurting that the fhite would be amply reimburfed by the 
 icntiai of that advance. This being done,, 
 and the aflembly difmiiled, the Syracufans, upon cool. reflection 
 on what had palled, began to be in fome condensation ; as if 
 it had not been the efiect of their own choice ; and compre- 
 hended, thoiuTij too late, that from the defire of prefer \iiig 
 their liberty, they had given themfelves a ma-fter. 
 
 Dionyfius rightly judged the importance of taking his mea- 
 fares before the people repented what they had done. There 
 remained but one ilep more to the tyranny, which was to have 
 a body of gur.r Ja ailigned him ; and that he accomplifhed in 
 the moil artful and politic manner. He propofed, that all 
 the citizens under forty years of age, and capable of bearing 
 arms, mould march with provifions for thirty days to the city 
 of Leontium. The Syracufans were at that time in poflciuon 
 of the place, and had a garrifon in it. It was full of fugitive 
 and foreign foldiers, who w r ere very- fit perforts for the execu- 
 tion of his defigns. He juftly fufpecled, that the greatefl part 
 of the Syracufans would not follow him. He fet out, however, 
 and incamped in the night upon the plains near the city. It 
 was not long before a great noife was heard throughout the 
 camp. This tumult was raifed by perfons planted for that 
 purpofe by Dionyfius. He affected, that ambufcades had been
 
 Chap- I. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 263 
 
 laid with deiign to aftaiTinate him, and in great trouble and 
 alarm retired for refuge into the citadel of Leontium, where 
 lie Daded the reft of the night, afcer having caufed a great 
 number of fires to be lighted, and had drawn off fuch of the 
 troops as he moft confided in. At break of day the p'.-ople 
 aiTembled in a body, to whom, exprefling ftill great apprehen- 
 fion, he explained the danger he had been in, and demanded 
 pennillion to choofe himfelf a guard of fix hundred men for 
 the fecuritj of his perfon. Pifidratus had fet him the example 
 long before, and had ufed the fame ftratagem when he made 
 himfelf tyrant of Athens. His demand feemed very reafonable, 
 and was accordingly complied with. He chofe out a thonfand 
 men for his guard upon the fpot, armed them completely, e- 
 quipped thezn magnificently, and made them great promiies 
 for their encouragement. He alfo attached the foreign foldiers 
 to his intereft in a peculiar manner, by fpeaking to them with 
 great freedom and affability. He made many removals and 
 alterations in the. troops, to fecure the officers in his intereft, 
 and difmiued Dexippus to Sparta, in whom he could not con- 
 fide. At the fame time he ordered a great part of the garrifon, 
 which he had fent to Gela, to join him, and alfembled from 
 all parts fugitives, exiles, debtors, and criminals ; a" train 
 worthy of a tyrant. 
 
 With this efcort he returned to Syracufe, which trembled at 
 his approach. The people were no longer in a condition to 
 oppofe his undertakings, or to difpute his authority. The city 
 was full of foreign foldiers, and faw itfelf upon the point of 
 being attacked by the Carthaginians. To ftrengthen himfelf 
 the more in tyranny, he efpoufed the daughter of Hermocra- 
 tes, the moft powerful citizen of Syracufe, and who had con- 
 tributed the moft to the defeat of the Athenians. He alfo gave 
 his fitter in marriage to Polyxenus, brother-in-law of Hermo- 
 crates. He afterwards fummoned an arTembly, in which he 
 rid himfelf of Baphneus and Demarchus, who had been the 
 moft active in oppofing his ufurpation. In this manner Dio- 
 nyfius, from a iimple notary, and a citizen of the loweft clafs 
 
 Riiij
 
 264 THE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 made himfelf abfolute lord and tyrant of the greateft and moft 
 opulent city of Sicily. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 COMMOTIONS in SICILT and at STRACUSE againft DioNrsius* 
 
 Hejlnds MEANS to difpel them. 
 
 DIONYSIUS had a rude {hock to experience d in the beginning 
 of his usurpation. The Carthaginians having befieged Gela, 
 he marched to its relief; and after fome unfuccefsful endea- 
 vours againil the enemy, threw himfelf into the place. He 
 behaved there with little vigour ; and all the fervice he did the 
 inhabitants was to make them abandon their city in the night, 
 and to covw; their flight in perfon. He was fufpe&ed of aft- 
 ing in concert with the enemy, and the more, becaufe they 
 did not purfue him, and that he loft very few of his foreign 
 foldiers. All the inhabitants who remained at Gela were butch- 
 ered. Thofe of Camarina, to avoid the fame fate, followed their 
 example, and withdrew with all the effefts they could carry 
 away. The moving fight of aged perfons, matrons, young vir- 
 gins, and tender infants, hurried on beyond their ftrength, 
 ftruck Dionyfius's troops with compaffion, and incenfed them 
 againft the tyrant. Thofe he had rarfed in Italy withdrew to 
 their own country ; and the Syracufan cavalry, after having 
 made a vain attempt to kill him upon the march, from his be- 
 ing furrounded with his foreigners, made forwards, and hav- 
 ing entered Syracufe, went dire&ly to his palace, which they 
 plundered, ufmg his wife at the fame time with fo much vio- 
 lence and ill ufage, that fhe died of it foon after. Dionyfius, 
 who had forefeen their defign, followed them clofe with only 
 an hundred horfe, and four hundred foot ; and having marched 
 almoft twenty leagues e with the utmoit expedition, he arrived 
 at midnight at one of the gates, which he found (hut againft 
 him. He fet fire to it, and opened himfelf a paflage in that 
 manner. The richeft of the citizens ran thither to difpute his 
 entrance, but were furrounded by the foldiers, and almoft all 
 of them killed. Dionyfius having entered the city, put all to 
 
 d Diod. I, xiii, p. 227, 231. c Four hundred fladia,
 
 Ckrp. I. BIONYSIU5 THE ELDER. 2OJ 
 
 the fword that came in his way, plundered the houfes of his 
 enemies, of whom he killed a great number, and forced the 
 reft to leave Syracufe. The next day in the morning the whole 
 body of his troops arrived. The unhappy fugitives of Gela 
 and Camarina, out of horror for the tyrant, retired to the Le- 
 ontines. Imilcar having fent a herald to Syracufe, a treaty 
 Tvas concluded, as mentioned in the hiftory of the Carthagi- 
 ans f . By one of the articles it was ftipulated, that Syracufe 
 fhonld continue under the government of Dionyfius ; which 
 confirmed all the fufpicions that had been codfirmed of him- 
 This happened in the year Darius Nothus died S. 
 
 It was then he facriticcd every thing that gave umbrage 
 to his repofe and fecurity. He knew, that after having de- 
 prived the Syracufans of all that was dear to them, he could 
 not fail of incurring their extreme abhorrence ; and the fear of 
 the miferies he had to expect in confequerice, increafed in the 
 ufurper in proportion to their hatred of him. He looked up- 
 on all his new fubjects as fo many enemies, and believed, that 
 he could only avoid the dangers which furrounded him on all 
 fides, and dogged him in all places, by cutting off one part of 
 the people, to intimidate the other. He did not obferve, that 
 in adding the cruelty of executions to the oppreffion of the 
 public, he only multiplied his enemies, and induced them, af- 
 ter the lofs of their liberty, to preferve at leafl their lives by 
 attempting upon his. 
 
 h Dionyfius, who forefaw that the Syracufans would not 
 fail to take the advantage of the repofe, in which the treaty 
 lately concluded with the Carthaginians had left them, to at- 
 tempt the re-eftablifhment of their liberty, neglected nothing 
 on his fide in fuppcrt of his power. He fortified the part of 
 the city, called the Ifle, which was before very ftrong from 
 the nature of its fituation, and might be defended by a mode- 
 rate garrifon, He furrounded it with good walls, flanked at 
 due diftances with high towers, and leparated in that manner 
 from the reft of the city. To thefe works he added a ftrong 
 citadel, to ferve him for a retreat and refuge in caie of acci- 
 dent, and caufed a great number of fhops and piazzas to be 
 g A. M. 3600. Ant. J. C. 404. h Diod. p. 238, %^.
 
 266 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 erefted, capable of containing a confiderable multitude of in- 
 habitants. 
 
 As to the lands, he chofe out the beft of them, which he 
 bellowed upon his creatures, and the officers of his making, 
 and diftributed the reft in equal proportion afnongft the citi- 
 zens and ftrangers, including the flaves, \vho had been mr.de 
 free amongft the firft. He divided the houfes in the fame' 
 manner, referving tbofe in the Hie for fuch of the citizens as 
 he could moft confide in, and for his ftrangers. 
 
 After having taken thefe precautions for his fecurity, he 
 began to think of fubjefting feveral free ftates of Sicily, which 
 h^d aided the Carthaginians. He began with the fiege of 
 Herbefles. The Syracufans in his army, feeing their fwords 
 in their hands, thought it their duty to ufe them for the re- 
 eftabliftiment of their liberty. At a time when they met in 
 throngs to concert their meafures, one of the officers, who 
 took upon him to reprove them on that account, was killed 
 upon the fpot ; and his death ferved as a fignal for their revolt. 
 They fent immediately to Etna for the horfe, who had re- 
 tired thither at the beginning of the revolution. Dionyfius, 
 alarmed at this motion, raifed the fiege, and marched direclly 
 to Syracufe, to keep it in obedience. The revolters followed 
 him clofe, and having feized upon the fuburb Epipolis, bar- 
 red all communication with the country. They received aid 
 from their allies both by fea and land, and fetting a price upon 
 the tyrant's head, promifed the freedom of their city to fuch 
 of the ftrangers as mould abandon him. A great number 
 came over to them ; whom they treated with the utmoil fa- 
 vour and humanitr. They made their machines advance, 
 and battered the walls of the Ille vigorufly, with ant giving 
 Dionyfius the leaft refpite. 
 
 The tyrant finding himfelf reduced to extremities, aban- 
 doned by the greateft part of the ftrangers, and fhut up on 
 the fide of the country, aiTembled his friends to coniult with 
 them, rather by what kind of death he mould put a glorious 
 period to his career, than upon the means of faving himfeif. 
 They endeavoured to infpire him with new courage, and were
 
 Chap. I. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 267 
 
 divided ut their opinions ; but at laft the, advice of Philiihis 
 prevailed, which was, that he mould by no means renounce 
 the tyranny. Dionylius, to gain time, fent deputies to the 
 revolters, and demanded permiffion to quit the place with his 
 adherents, which \vas granted, and five mips to transport his 
 people and effects. He had however lent difpatches fecretly 
 to the Capanians, who garrifoned the places in the poffeflioa 
 of the Carthaginians, with offers of considerable reward, if 
 they would come to his relief. 
 
 The Syracuiaris, who, after the treaty, believed their bufi- 
 nefs clone, and the tyrant entirely defeated, had difarmed 
 part of their troops, and the reft acted with great indolence 
 and little clifcipline. The arrival of he Campanians, to th& 
 number of twelve hundred horfe, infinitely furprifed and 
 alarmed the city. After having beat fuch as difputed their 
 palTage, they opened themfehcs a way to Dionylius. At the 
 lame time, three hundred foldiers more arrived to his afliftance ; 
 The face of things was then entirely altered ; and terror and 
 dejection changed parties. Dionylius, in a fally, drove them 
 vigovoufly as far as that part of the city Neapolis. The 
 (laughter was not very confiderable, becaufe he had given or- 
 ders to fpare thofe who fled. He caufed the dead to be in- 
 terred, and gave thofe who had retired to JEtna to under- 
 Hand, that they might return with entire fecurity. Many 
 came to Syracufe ; but others did not think it advifeable to 
 confide in the faith of a tyrant. The Campanioiis were re- 
 \vcirded to their fatisfadion, and difmifled. 
 
 The Lacedaemonians at this time took fuch meafures in re- 
 gard to Syracufe, as were rncfl unworthy of the Spartan name. 
 They had lately fubverted the liberty of Athens, and declared 
 publicly in all the cities of their dependence againfl popular 
 government. They deputed one of their citizens to Syra- 
 cufe, to exprefs in appearance the part they took in the mif- 
 fortunes for that city, and to offer it their aid j but in realky 
 he was fent to confirm, Dionyfius in fupporting himfelf in tlie. 
 tyranny ; expecting, that from the increafe of his power he. 
 frould prove of great advantage and fupport to their own.
 
 268 THE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 Dionyfius faw, from what had fo lately happened at Syra- 
 cufe, what he was to expect from the people for the future. 
 Whilft the inhabitants were employed abroad in harvefl-work, 
 he entered their houfes, and feized upon all the arm- -.? could 
 find. He afterwards inclofed the citadel with an additional 
 wall, fitted out abundance of (hips, armed great nuu.Ners rf 
 Grangers, and took all poffible meafures to lecure himfelt 
 againft the difaffe&ion of the Syracufans. 
 
 After having made this provifion for his fafety at home, he 
 prepared to extend his conquefts abroad ; from whence he 
 did not only propofe the increafe of his dominions and reve- 
 nues, but the additional advantage of diverting his fubjects 
 from the fenfe of their loft liberty, by turning their attention 
 upon their ancient and always abhorred enemy, and by em- 
 ploying them in lofty projects, military expeditions, arid glo- 
 rious exploits, to which the hopes of riches and plunder would 
 be annexed. He conceived this to be alfo the means to ac- 
 quire the affection of his troops ; and that the eftee ,- ( of the 
 people would be a confequence of the grandeur and fuccefs of 
 his enterprifes. 
 
 Dionyfius wanted neither courage nor policy, and had all 
 the qualities of a great general. He took, either by force or 
 fraud, Naxos, Catana, Leontium, and fome l other towns in 
 the neighbourhood of Syracufe, which for that reafon were 
 very agreeable to his purpofes. Some of them he treated 
 with favour and clemency, to engage the efteem ami confi- 
 dence of the people : Others he plundered, to ftrike terror 
 into the country. The inhabitants of Leontium were tranf- 
 planted to Syracufe. 
 
 Thefe conquefts alarmed the neighbouring cities, v.hich 
 faw themfelves threatened with the fame misfortune. Rhe- 
 gio, fituated upon the oppofite coaft of the ftrait which divides 
 Sicily from Italy, prepared to prevent it, and entered into an 
 alliance with the Syracufan exiles, who were very numerous, 
 and with the Meffenians on the Sicilian fide of the ftrait, wha 
 were to aid* them with a powerful fupply. They had levied a 
 
 1 jtna. Enna,
 
 Clap. I. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 269 
 
 confiderable army, and were upon the point of marching 
 againll the tyrant, when difcord arofe amongft the troops, 
 and rendered the enterprife abortive. It terminated in a trea- 
 ty O T " ;cace and alliance between Dionyfius and the two cities. 
 
 He had long revolved a great defign in his mind, which 
 was to ruin the Carthaginian power in Sicily, a great obftacla 
 to his own, as his discontented fubje&s never failed of refuge 
 in the towns dependent upon that nation. The accident of 
 the plague, which had lately ravaged Carthage, and extreme- 
 ly dim* -iiihed its flrength, feemed to fupply a favourable op- 
 portunity for the execution of his defign. But, as a man of 
 ability, he knew that the greatnefs of the preparations ought 
 to r.nfwer that of an enterprife, to affure the fuccefs of it ; 
 ar.-i IK applied to them in a manner, which (hews the extent 
 of his views, and extraordinary capacity. He therefore ufed 
 uncommon pains and application for that purpofe ; confcious 
 that war, into which he was entering with one of the moll 
 powerful nations then in the world, might be of long dura- 
 tion, and have variety of confiderable events. 
 
 His firft care was to bring to Syracufe, as well from the 
 conquered cities in Sicily, as from Greece and Italy, a great 
 number of artifans and workmen of all kinds ; whom he in- 
 duced to come thither by the offer of great gain and reward; 
 the certain means of engaging the moft excellent perfons in 
 every profeffion. He caufed an infinite number of every kind 
 of arms to be forged ; fwords, javelins, lances, partifans, hel- 
 mets, cuirafles, bucklers ; all after the manner of the nation 
 by whom they were to be worn. He built alfo a great number 
 of gallies, that had from three to five benches of rowers, 
 and were of an entirely new invention ; with abundance of 
 other barks and veffels for the tranfportation of troops and 
 provifions. 
 
 The whole city feemed but one workfhop, and continually 
 refounded with the noife of the feveral artifans. Not only the 
 porches, piazzas, porticoes, places of exercife, and public places, 
 but private houfes of any extent, were full of workmen. Dio- 
 nyfius had distributed them with admirable order. Each fpe-
 
 170 THE HISTORY OF Bovk 'XI* 
 
 cles of artifts, divided by ftreets and diftrils, had their over- 
 ieers and infpcclors, who, by their prefence and direction, pro- 
 moted and completed the works. Dionyfuis himfelf was per- 
 petually nmongft the workmen, encouraging them with praife, 
 and rewarding their merit. He knew how to confer different 
 marks of honour upon them, according to their diilinguiihing 
 themfelves by their ingenuity and application. He would even 
 make fome of them dine with him at his own table, where he 
 entertained them with the freedom and kindnefs of a friend. 
 IT is juftly faid *, that honour nourishes arts and fciences, and 
 that men of all ranks and conditions are animated by the love 
 of glory. The prince, who knows how to put the two great 
 fprings and ftrongeft incentives of the human foul, intereft and 
 glory, in motion, under proper regulations, will loon make 
 all arts and fciences flonrifh in his kingdom, and fill it at a 
 fmall expence with perfons who excel in every profeflion. 
 And this happened now at Syracufe ; where a fingle perfon of 
 great ability in the art of governing, excited fuch ardor and 
 emulation amongft the artificers, as it is not eafy to imagine 
 or defcribe. 
 
 Dionyfius applied himfelf more particularly to the navy. He 
 knew that Corinth had invented the art of building galleys with 
 three and five benches of oars, and was ambitious of acquiring 
 for Syracufe, a Corinthian colony, the glory of bringing that 
 art to perfection, which he efFeclied. The timber for building 
 his galleys was brought, part of it from Italy, where it was 
 drawn on carriages to the fea-fide, and from thence fhippecl to 
 Syracufe ; and part from mount ./Etna, which at that time 
 produced abundance of pine and fir trees. In a fhort fpace a 
 fleet of two hundred galleys was feen in a manner to rife out of 
 ihe earth ; and an hundred others formerly built were refitted 
 by his order. He caufed alfo an hundred and fixty fheds to be 
 erec~led within the great port, each of them capable of contain- 
 ing two galleys, and an hundred and fifty more to be repaired. 
 
 The fight of fuch a fleet, built in fo fhort a time, and fit- 
 ted out with fo much magnificence, would have given reafon 
 
 * Honos alit artes, omnefque incenJantur ad fhjdia glo:5ae. Cic. Tufc. Qu?e.l. 
 L i. 0.4.
 
 . DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 271 
 
 to believe, that all Sicily had united its labours and revenues 
 in accomplishing fo great a work. On the other fide, the 
 view of fuch an incredible quantity of arms newly made, 
 would have inclined one to think, that Dionyiius had folely 
 employed himfelf in providing them, and had exhaufted his 
 treafures in the expence. They conMed of one hundred and 
 forty thouiand ihields, and as many helmets and fwords ; and 
 upwards of fourteen thoufand cuirafles, finifhed with all the 
 art and elegance imaginable. They were intended for the 
 horfe, for the tribunes and centurians of the foot, and for the 
 foreign troops, who had the guard of his perfon. Darts, ar- 
 rows and lances were innumerable ; and engines and machines 
 of war, in proportion to the reft of the preparations. 
 
 The fleet was to be manned by an equal number of citizens 
 and ftrangers. Dionyiius did not think of railing troops till 
 all his preparations were complete Syracufe and the cities in 
 its dependence fupplied him with part of his forces. Many 
 came from Greece, efpecially from Sparta. The confiderable 
 pay he offered brought foldiers in crowds from all parts to lift 
 in his fervice. 
 
 He omitted none of the precautions neceflary to the fuccefs 
 of his enterprife ; the importance as well as difficulty of which 
 was well known to him. He was not ignorant that every 
 thing depends upon the zeal and affediion of the troops for 
 their general, and applied himfelf particularly to the gaining 
 of the hearts, not of his own fubjefts only, but of all the in- 
 habitants of Sicily, and fucceeded in it to a wonder. He had 
 entirely changed his behaviour for fome time. Kindnefs, 
 courtefy, clemency, a difpolition to do good, and an infinuat- 
 ing complacency for all the world, had taken place of that 
 haxighty and imperious air, and inhumanity of temper, which 
 had rendered him fo odious. He was fo entirely altered, that 
 he did not feem to be the fame man. 
 
 Whilfl he was haftening his preparations for the war, and 
 applying to the attainment of his fubjeds affections, he medi- 
 tated an alliance with the two powerful cities, Rhegium and 
 Meffina, which were capable of difconcerting his great defigns
 
 27 a THE HISTORY 0? oa | Jf 
 
 by a formidable diverfion. The league formed by thofe cities 
 fome time before, though without any effeft, gave him fome 
 tmeafmefs. He therefore thought it necefiary to make fure of 
 the amity of them both. He prefented the inhabitants of Mef- 
 fina with a confiderable quantity of land, which was fituated 
 in their neighbourhood, and lay very commodioufly for them. 
 To give the people of Rhegium an inftance of his efteem and 
 regard for them, he fent ambafiadors to defire that they would 
 give him one of their citizens in marriage. He had lofl his 
 5rf! wife in the popular commotion, as before related. 
 
 Dionyfius, fenfible that nothing eftablifhes a throne more 
 effectually than the profpect of a fucceflbr, who may enter in- 
 to the fame defigns, have the fame interefts, purfue the fame 
 plan, and obferve the fame maxims of government, took the 
 opportunity of the prefent tranquillity of his affairs, to con- 
 tra6l a double marriage, in order to have a fuccefibr, to whom 
 he might transfer the fovereignty, which had coll him fo ma- 
 ny pains and dangers to acquire. 
 
 The people of Rhegium, to whom Dionyfius had firft ap- 
 plied, having called a counfe.1 to take his demand into confi- 
 deration, came to a refolution not to contract any alliance with 
 a tyrant ; and for their final anfwer returned, that they had 
 only the hangman's daughter to give him. The raillery was 
 home, and cut deep. We fhall fee in the fequel how dear that 
 city paid for their jeft. 
 
 The Locrians, to whom Dionyfius fent the fame ambaflfa- 
 4ors, did not fhew themfelves fo difficult and delicate, but 
 lent him Donis for a wife, who was the daughter of one of 
 their moft illuftrious citizens. He caufed her to be brought 
 from Locris in a galley with five benches of rowers, of extra- 
 ordinary magnificence, and fhming on all fides with gold and 
 filver. H married, at the fame time, Ariilomache, daughter 
 of Hipparinus, the mofl confiderable and powerful of the Sy- 
 racufan citizens, and filler of Dion, of whom much will bo 
 iaid hereafter. She was brought to his palace in a chariot 
 drawn by four white horfes, which was then a fingular mark 
 of diftinclion. The nuptials of both were celebrated the fame
 
 Clap. /. DIONTSIUS THE ELDER. 273 
 
 day with univerfal rejoicings throughout the whole city, and 
 was attended with f sails and prefents of incredible IT. 
 cence. 
 
 It was contrary to the manners and univerfal cuilom of the 
 wcitern nations, from all antiquity, that he efpoufed twi>-\vi\cs 
 at once ; taking in this, as in every thing elfe, the liberty ai'- 
 fumed bv tyrants of fetting themfelves above all laws. 
 
 Dionyfius feemed to have an equal affe&ion for the two 
 wives, without giving the preference to either, to remove all 
 caufe of jealoufy and difcord. The people of Syracufe report- 
 ed, that he preferred his own country-woman to the ftranger; 
 but the latter had the good fortune to bring her hufband the 
 fir ft fon, which fupported him not a little againft the cabals 
 and intrigues, of the Syracufans. Ariitomache was a long time 
 without any fymptorns of child-bearing; though Dionyfms de- 
 fired fo earneflry to have iiTue by her, that he put his Locri- 
 an's mother to death; acculing her of hindering Arilk 
 from conceiving by witchcraft. 
 
 Ariftomache's brother was the celebrated Dion, in great 
 eftimation with Dionyfius. He was at firil obliged for Lis 
 credit to his filler's favour ; but after diilinguiihing his great 
 capacity in many inilances, his own merit made him much 
 beloved and regarded by the tyrant. Amongil the other 
 marks Dionyfius gave him of his confidence, he ordered his 
 treasurers to fupply him, without further orders, with what- 
 ever money he mould demand, provided they informed him 
 the fame day they paid it. 
 
 Dion had naturally a great and moil noble foul. An happy 
 accident had conduced to ir.fpire and confirm in him the moil 
 elevated fentiments. It was a kind of chance, or rather, as 
 Plutarch fays, a peculiar providence, which at a diilance laid 
 the foundations cf the Syracuian liberty, that brought Plato, 
 the moil celebrated of philofophers, to Syracufe. Dion be- 
 came his friend and difciple, and made great improvements 
 from his leflons : For, though brought up in a luxurious and 
 voluptuous court, where the fupreme good was made to cv fi- 
 fing in pleafure and magnificence, he had no fooner hearu the 
 IP, S
 
 174 THE HISTORY OF So^Jt XL 
 
 precepts of his new mafler, and imbibed a taile of the philo- 
 fophy that inculcates virtue, than his foul was inflamed with 
 the love of it. Plato, in one of his letters, gives this glorious 
 teflimony of him \ that he had never met with a young man, 
 upon whom his difcourfes made fo great an impreflion, or who 
 had conceived his principles with fo much ardour and vivacity. 
 
 As Dion was young and unexperienced, obferving the faci- 
 lity with which Plato had changed his taile and inclinations, 
 he imagined, with fimplicity enough, that the fame reafons 
 would have the fame effects upon the mind of Dionyfius ; and 
 from that opinion could not reft till he had prevailed upon 
 the tyrant to hear, and converfe with him. Dionyfius con- 
 iented : But the luft of tyrannic power had taken too deep a 
 root in his heart to be ever eradicated from it. It was * like an 
 indelible dye, that had penetrated his inmoft foul, from whence 
 it was impoffible ever to efface it. 
 
 k Though the flay of Plato at the court made no alteration 
 in Dionyfius, he perfevered in giving Dion the fame inllances 
 of his eileem and confidence, and even to fupport, without 
 taking offence, the freedom with which he fpoke to him. Dio- 
 nyfius, ridiculing one day the government of Gelon, former- 
 ly king of Syracufe, and faying, in allufion to his name, that 
 he had been the " laughing-flock f" of Sicily, the whole court 
 fell into great admiration, and took no fmall pains in praifing 
 the quaintnefs and delicacy of the conceit, infipid and fiat as 
 it was, and indeed as puns and quibbles generally are. Dion 
 took it in a ferious fenfe, and was fo bold as to reprefent to him, 
 that he was in the wrong to talk in that manner of a prince, 
 whofe wife and equitable condud had been an excellent mo- 
 del of government, and given the Syracnfans a favourable 
 opinion of monarchical power. " You reign," added he, " and 
 " have been truiled for Gelon's fake ; but for your fake, no 
 si man will ever be trufled after you." It was very much, 
 
 k Plat. p. 960. 
 
 * Tn /?* iix. aiMinriK TT?J rvfantoot, in <rA.A*; f*y ou&nrua* turn* xtu 3i/*utwr. 
 ArifUv'Ss & nrttt \ai Su>4i xt*f** a* - r'?.*fi*>tf3r< /k:'yv Plut. in moral, p. 7"9- 
 f Tibet fignifies laugtiing-ftock.
 
 . I. DIOKT3IUS THE ELDER. 375 
 
 that a tyrant fliould fuffer himfelf to be talked to in fuch 
 manner with impunity. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 DlONTSIUS declares WAR again/I the CAKTBAGlKlANSi 
 Various SUCCESS of it. 
 
 UIONYSIUS feeing his great preparations were complete, and 
 that he was in a condition to take the field, publicly opened 
 his defign to the Syracufans, in order to intereft them the 
 more in the fuccefs of the enterprife, and told them that it 
 was againft the Carthaginians. He reprefented that people as 
 the perpetual and inveterate enemy of the Greeks, and efpe- 
 cially of thofe who inhabited Sicily ; that the plague, which 
 had lately wafted Carthage, had made the opportunity fa- 
 vourable, which ought not to be neglefted ; that the people 
 in fubjeftion to fo cruel a power, waited only the fignal to 
 declare againft it ; that it would be much for the glory of Sr- 
 racufe to reinftate the Grecian cities in their liberty, after hav- 
 ing fo long groaned under the yoke of the Barbarians ; that 
 in declaring war at prefent againft the Carthaginians, they on- 
 ly preceded them in doing fo for fome time ; fince, as foon as 
 they had retrieved their lofles, they would not fail to attack 
 Syracufe with all their forces. 
 
 The aflembly were unanimoufly of the fame opinion. Their 
 ancient and natural hatred of the Barbarians ; their anger a- 
 gainft them for having given Syracufe a mailer ; and the hope 
 that with arms in their hands they might find fome occailon 
 of recovering their liberty, united them an their fuffrages. 
 The war was refolved without any oppofition, and began 
 that very inftant. There were, as well in the city as the port, 
 a great number of Carthaginians, who, upon the faith of trea- 
 ties and under the peace, exerciied traffic, and thought them- 
 felves in fecurity. The. populace, by Dionyiius's authority, 
 upon the breaking up of the aflembly, ran to their houfes and 
 mips, plundered their goods, and carried off their effecl.9. 
 They met with the fame treatment throughout Sicily \ to 
 
 Sij
 
 270 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 v/ ich murders and ma^acres were added, by way of reprifo.1 
 for the many cruelties committed by the Barbarians on thofe 
 they conquered, and to mew them what they had to expect, 
 if they continued to make war with the fame inhumanity. 
 
 After this bloody execution, Dionyfius fent a letter by an he- 
 rald to Carthage, in which he figniued that the Syracuians de- 
 clai-ed war againft the Carthaginians, if they did not withdraw 
 their garrifons from all the Grecian cities held by them in Si- 
 cily. The reading of this letter at firft in the fenate, and after- 
 wards in the aflembly of the people, occalioned an uncommon, 
 alarm, as the peftilence had reduced the city to a deplorable 
 condition. However, they were not difmayed, and prepared 
 for a vigorous defence. They railed troops with the utmoil 
 diligence ; and Irrulcar fet; out immediately to put himfclf at 
 the head of the Carthaginian army in Sicily. 
 
 DionyfiUS on his fide loft no time, and took the field with 
 his army, which daily increafed by the arrival of new troops, 
 who came to join him from all parts. It amounted to fourfcorz 
 thoufand foot, and three thoufand horfe. The fleet confirmed 
 of two hundred gallies, and five hundred barks laden' with pro- 
 vifions, and machines -of war. He opened the campaign with 
 the fiege of Motya, a fortified town under the Carthaginians 
 near mount Eryr, in a little ifland fomething more than a quar<- 
 tcr of a league * from the continent, to which it was joined by 
 a fmall neck of land, which the beiieged immediately cut off, 
 to prevent the approaches of the enemy on that fide. 
 
 Dionyfitis having left the care of the fiege to Leptinus, who 
 commanded the fleet, went with his land forces to attack the 
 places in alliance with the Carthaginians. Terrified by the ap- 
 proach of fo numerous an army, they all furrendered except 
 five, which were Ancyra, Solos f , Palermo, Segefla, and En- 
 tella. The lail two places he befieged, 
 
 Imilcar, however, to make a diverfion, detached ten gallics 
 of his fleet, with orders to attack and furprife in the night all 
 the veflels which remained in the port of Syracufc. The 
 commander of this expedition entered the port according to \IK 
 orders without rcfiflance, and after having funk a great part of 
 *- Jix fkdia or furlongs. f Panonnvw.
 
 Chap. I. DIOKTSIUS THE ELBER. 2.7.7 
 
 the veflelsj which he found there, retired well fatisfhd with 
 the fuccefs of his enterprife. 
 
 Dionyfius, after having wailed the enemy's countrv, re- 
 turned, and fat down with his whole army before Motya; and 
 having employed a great number of hands in making dams 
 and moles, he reinftated the neck of land, and brought his 
 engines to work on that fide. The place was attacked and jde- 
 fended with the utmoil vigour. After the befiegers had paf- 
 fed the breach, and entered the city, the befieged pernded a 
 great while in defending themfelves with incredible valour ; fo 
 that it was necefTary to purfue and drive them from houfe to 
 houfe. The foldiers, enraged at fo obftinate a defence, put all 
 before them to the fword ; age, youth, women, children ; no- 
 thing was fpaved, except thofe who had taken refuge iu the 
 temples. The town was abandoned to the foldiers difcretion; 
 Dionyfins being pleafed with an occaiion of attaching the troops 
 to his fervice by the allurement and hope of gain. 
 
 The Carthaginians made an extraordinary effort the next 
 year, and raifed an army of three hundred thoufand foot, and 
 four thoufand horfe. The fleet under Mago's command con- 
 fifted of four hundred gallies, and upwards of fix hundred 
 veflels laden with provifions and engines of war. Imilcar had 
 given the captains of the fleet his orders foaled up, which were 
 not to be opened till they were out at fea. He had taken this 
 precaution, that his defigns might be kept fecret, and to pre- 
 vent fpics from fending advices of them to Sicily. The ren- 
 dezvous was at Palermo; where the fleet arrived without 
 much lofs in their pafiage. Imilcar took Eryax by treachery, 
 and fo'on after reduced Mctya to furrender. Meffina feemed 
 to him a place of importance ; becaufe it might favour the 
 landing of troops from Italy and Sicily, and bar the pafiage 
 ef thole that fhould come from Peloponnefus. After a long 
 and vigorous defence, it fell into his hands : and feme time af- 
 ter he entirely demolifhed it. 
 
 Dionyfius, feeing his forces extremely inferior to the enem , 
 retired to Syracufe. Almoft all the people of Siciiv, who lifted 
 tim from the beginning, and were only reconciled to him iu 
 
 Sig
 
 S7& THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 appearance, and out of fear, took this occaiion to quit his party, 
 and to join the Carthaginians. The tyrant levied new troops, 
 and gave the flaves their liberty, that they might ferve on board 
 the fleet. His army amounted to thirty thoufand foot, and 
 three thoufand horfe, and his fieet to an hundred and eighty 
 gallies. With thefe forces he took the field, and removed a- 
 bout eighteen leagues from Syracufe. Imilcar advanced per- 
 petually with his land-army, followed by his fleet, which kept 
 near the coaft. When he arrived at Naxos, he could not con- 
 tinue his march upon the fea-fide, and was obliged to take a 
 long compafs round mount vErna, which by a new irruption 
 had fet the country about it on fire, and covered it with aflies. 
 He ordered his fleet to wait his coming up at Catana. Diony- 
 fius, apprized of this, thought the opportunity favourable for 
 attacking it, whilft feparate from the land-fcrces, and whilll 
 his own, drawn up in battle upon the more, might be of fer- 
 vice to animate and fupport his fleet. The fcheme was wifely 
 concerted ; but the fuccefs not anfwerable to it. Leptinus his 
 admiral, having advanced inconfiderately with thirty gallies, 
 contrary to the opinion of Dionylius, who had particularly re- 
 commended to him not to divide his forces, at firft funk fe- 
 veral of the enemy's mips ; but upon being furrounded by the 
 greater number, was forced to fly. His whole fieet followed 
 his example, and was warmly purfucd by the Carthaginians. 
 Mago detached boats full of foldiers, with orders to kill all 
 that endeavoured to fave themfelves by fwimming to more. 
 The lani-army, drawn up there, faw them perifli miierabiv, 
 without being able to give them nnr ailiilance. The lofs on 
 the fide of the Sicilians was very great ; more than an hun- 
 dred galiies being either taken or funk, and twenty thoufaud 
 men perfhing either in the battle or the purfuit. 
 
 The Sicilians, who were afraid to fhut themfclve.. up in Sy- 
 racufe, where they could not fail of being bdieged very foon, 
 folicited Dionyfius to lead them againft Imilcar, whom fo bold 
 an enterprife might difconcert ; bdides which, they fiioulj 
 find his troops fatigued with their long and haliy march. The 
 prop of :il pleafcd him at fidt : but upon reflecting, that Mago, 
 with the victorious fleet, might notwithstanding -dvar.c- and
 
 Clap. I. DIOKYSIUS THE ELDER. 479 
 
 take Syracufe, he thought it more advifable to return thither $ 
 which was the occafion of his lofing abundance of his troops, 
 who deferted in numbers on all fides. Imilcar, after a march 
 of two days, arrived at Catana, where he halted fome days to 
 refrefh his army, and refit his fleet, which had fuffered ex- 
 ceedingly by a violent dorm. 
 
 He then marched to Syracufe, and made his fleet enter the 
 port in triumph. More than two hundred gallies, adorned 
 with the fpoils of their victory, made a noble appearance as 
 they advanced ; the crews forming a kind of concert by the 
 uniform and regular order the / obferved in the motion of their 
 oars. They were followed by an infinite number of fmaller 
 barks ; fo that the port, vaft as it was, was fcarce capable of 
 containing them ; the whole fea being in a manner covered 
 with fails. At the fame time, on the other fide appeared the 
 land -army, compofed, as has been faid, of three hundred thou- 
 fand foot and four thoufand horfe. Imilcar pitched his tent in 
 the temple of Jupiter, and the army encamped around, at fome- 
 what more than half a league's * diflance from the city. It is 
 eafy to judge the consternation and alarm which fuch a pro- 
 fpeQ: muft give the Syracufans. The Carthaginian general 
 advanced with his troops to the walls to offer the city battle, 
 and at the fame time feized upon the two remaining f ports by 
 a detachment of an hundred gallies. As he faw no motion on. 
 the fide of the Syracufans, he retired contented for that time 
 with the enemy's confeffing their inequality. For thirty days 
 together he laid wade the country, cutting down all the trees, 
 and deflroying all before him, He then made himfelf matter 
 of the fuburb called Achradina, and plundered the temples of 
 Ceres and Proferpina. Forefeeing that the fiege would be of 
 long duration, he intrenched his camp, and inclofed it with 
 firong walls, after having demoliihed for that purpofe all the 
 tombs, and amongft others, that of Galen and his wife Dema- 
 rate, which was a monument of great magnificence. He built 
 
 iiij 
 
 Diod. p. 185 296. 
 T-vrlre ftidia, 
 . + The littl? port. an<i that of Trojilus.
 
 28o THE HISTORY O? Book XL 
 
 three forts at feme diftance from each other ; the firft at Pem- 
 myra ; the fecond towards the middle of the port ; the third 
 near the temple of Jupiter ; for the fecurity of his magazines 
 of corn and wine. He fent alfo a great number of fmall 
 vclfels to Sardinia and Africa to fetch provifions. 
 
 At the fame time arrived Polexenus, whom his brother-in- 
 law Dionyfius had difpatched before into Italy and Greece for 
 all the aid he could obtain, and brought with him a fleet of 
 thirty fliips, commanded by Pharacides the Lacedaemonian. 
 This reinforcement came in very good time, and gave the Sy- 
 racufans new fpirit. Upon feeing a bark laden with provifions 
 for the enemy, they detached five gallies and took it. The 
 Carthaginians gave them chafe with forty fail, to which they 
 advanced with their whole fleet ; and in the battle carried the 
 admiral galley, damaged many others, took twenty-four, pur- 
 fued the reft to the place where their whole fleet rode, and 
 offered them battle a fecond time, which the Carthaginians, 
 difcouraged by the check they had received, were afraid to 
 
 The Syracufans, emboldened by fo unexpected a victory, re- 
 turned to the city with the gallies they had taken, and entered 
 it -in a kind of triumph. Animated by this fuccefs, which 
 could be only afcribcd to their valour ; for Dionyfius was then 
 abient with a fmall detachment of the fleet to procure provi- 
 fions, attended by L'eptinus ; they encouraged each other ; and 
 feeing they did not want arms, they reproached themfelves 
 \vith cowardice, ardently exclaiming, that the time was come 
 for throwing off the mameiul yoke of fervitude, and refuming 
 their ancier 
 
 WhiHl they were in the rnidit of thefe difcourfes, difperfed 
 
 in fmail parties, the tyrant arrived; and having fummoned an 
 
 a'lembly, he congratulated the Syracufans upon their late vie- 
 
 :..-,d prom:fed in a Ihort time to put an end to the war, 
 
 .liver them frc~i the enemy. He was going to difmifs 
 
 ben Thcodotus, one of the moll illuftrious of 
 
 zen?, a perfon of lerL and valour, to..!; upon him to 
 
 declare boldly for liberty. " We are told," faid. 
 
 k'-'j " Of : ttTinin:.:::^ the war, ::::;'. zi b".
 
 Chap. I. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 28 1 
 
 " livered from the enemy. What fignifies fuch language from 
 " Dionyfius ? Can we have peace in the wretched ftate of fla- 
 " very impcfed upon us ? Have we any enemy more to be 
 " dreaded than the tyrant who fubverts our liberty, or a war 
 *' more cruel than that he has made upon us for fo many years ? 
 * Let Imilcar conquer, fo he contents himfelf with laying a 
 " tribute upon us, and leaves us the exercife of our laws ! The 
 " tyrant that enf laves us, knows no other but his avarice, his 
 " cruelty, his ambition ! The temples of the gods, robbed by 
 " his facrilegious hands, our goods made a prey, and our lands 
 " abandoned to his inftruments, our perfons daily expofed to 
 " the moil ihameful and cruel treatment, the blood of fo many 
 " citizens fhed in the midft of us and before our eyes ; thefe 
 " are the fruits of his reign, and the peace he obtains for us ! 
 " Was it for the fupport of our liberties he built yon citadel, 
 " that he has inclofed it with fuch ftrong walls and high 
 " towers, and has called in for his guard that tribe of ftran- 
 " gers and Barbarians, who infult us with impunity ? How long, 
 " O Syracufans ! mall we fufFer fuch indignities, more infup- 
 " portable to the brave and generous than death itfelf ? Bold and 
 " intrepid abroad againft the enemy, fhall we always tremble 
 " like cowards in the pretence of a tyrant ? Providence, which 
 *' has again put arms into our hands, dire&s us in the ufe of 
 " them ! Sparta, and the other cities in our alliance, who hold 
 " it their glory to be free and independent, would deem us 
 " unworthy of the Grecian name if we had any other fenti- 
 " ments. Let us mew that we do not degenerate from our 
 " anceftors. If Dionyiius confents to retire from amongft us, 
 " let us open him our gates, and let him take along with him 
 " whatever he pleafes : But if he perfiils in the tyranny, let 
 " him experience what effects the love of liberty has upon the 
 " brave and determinate." 
 
 After this fpeech, all the Syracufans, in fufpenfe betwixt 
 hope and fear, looked earneftly upon their allies, and particu- 
 larly upon the Spartans. Pharacides, who commanded their 
 fleet, rofe up to fpeak. ]t was expected that a citiz.cn of Sparta 
 would declare in favour of liberty : but he did quite the reverfe ; 
 and told them, that his republic had lent him to the aid of
 
 S3i THE HISTORY OF oo& XI, 
 
 the Syracufans and DionySus, and not to make war upon Di- 
 onyfius, or to fubvert his authority. This anfvver confounded 
 the Syracufans ; and the tyrant's guard arriving at the fame 
 time, the aiTembly broke up. Dionyfius perceiving more than 
 ever what he had to fear, ufed all his endeavours to ingratiate 
 himfelf with the people, and to attach the citizens to his in- 
 ttrefls ; making prefents to fome, inviting others to eat with 
 him, and affefting upon all occafions to treat them with kind- 
 jiefs and familiarity. 
 
 9 It muft have been about this time, that Polexenus, Dio- 
 nyfius's brother-in-law, who had married his filter Thefta, 
 having without doubt declared againft'him in this confpiracy, 
 fled from Sicily for the preservation of his life, aad to avoid 
 falling iuto the tyrant's hands. Dionyfius fent for his fitter, 
 and reproached her very much for not apprizing him of her 
 hufband's intended flight, as me could not be ignorant of it. 
 She replied, without expreffing the lead furprife or fear, 
 " Have I then appeared fo bad a wife to you, and of fo mean 
 ' a foul, as to have abandoned my hufband in his flight, and 
 * not to have defired to ihare in his dangers and misfortnnes? 
 * No ! I knew nothing of it ; or I mould have been much 
 44 happier in being called the wife of Polexenus the exile, in 
 '* all places, than, is Syracufe, the filler of the tyrant." Dio- 
 nyfius could not but admire an anfwer fo full of fpirit and 
 generofity ; and the Syracufans in general were fo charmed 
 v/ith her virtue, that after the tyranny was fupprefied, the 
 fame honours, equipage, and train of a aueen, which fhe had 
 before, were continued to her during her life ; and after her 
 death, the whole people attended her body to the tomb, and 
 honoured her funeral with an extraordinary appearance. 
 
 On the fide of the Carthaginians, affairs began to take a 
 new face on a futldcn. They had committed an irretrievable 
 rrror in not attacking Syracufe upon their arrival, and in not 
 taking the advantage of the condensation, which the fight of 
 a fleet and army equally formidable had occafioned. The 
 plague, which was looked upon as a punifhment fent from 
 feeaven for the plundering of temples and demoliming of tombs, 
 
 P Plat, in Died. p. 966.
 
 Chap. /. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 283 
 
 had destroyed great numbers of their army in a fliort time. I 
 have defcribed the extraordinary fymptoms of it in the hifto- 
 ry of the Carthaginians. To add to that misfortune, the Sy- 
 racufans, being informed of their unhappy condition, attack- 
 ed them in the night by fea and land. The furprife, terror, 
 and even hafte they were in, to put themfelves into a pofture 
 of defence, threw them into new difficulty and confulion. 
 They knew not on which fide to fend relief ; all being equal- 
 ly in danger. Many of their veflels were funk, and others 
 almoft entirely difabled, and a much greater number deftroy- 
 ed by fire. The old men, women, and children, ran in 
 crowds to the walls, to be witnefles of that fcene of horror, 
 and lifted up their hands towards heaven, returning thanks to 
 the gods for fo fignal a protection of their city. The flaugh- 
 ter within and without the camp, and on board the veflels, 
 was great and dreadful, and ended only with the day. 
 
 Imilcar, reduced to defpair, offered Dionyfius fecretly three 
 hundred thoufand crowns * for permiffion to retire in the 
 night with the remains of his army and fleet. The tyrant, 
 who was not difpleafed with leaving the Carthaginians fome 
 refource, to keep his fubjecls in continual awe, gave his con- 
 fent ; but only for the citizens of Carthage. Upon which 
 Imilcar fet out with the Carthaginians, and only forty Ihips ; 
 leaving the reft of his troops behind. The Corinthians, dii- 
 covering from the noife and motion of the gallies, that Imil- 
 car was making off, fent to inform Dionyfius of his flight, 
 who affe&ed ignorance of it, and gave immediate orders to 
 purfue him : But as thofe orders were but flowly executed* 
 they followed the enemy themfelves, and funk feveral veffels 
 of their rear-guard. 
 
 Dionyfius then marched out with his troops ; but before 
 their arrival, the Sicilians in the Carthaginian fervice had re- 
 tired to their feveral countries. Having firft pofted his troops 
 in the pafles, he advanced directly to the enemy's camp, 
 though it was not quite day. The Barbarians, who faw 
 themfelves cruelly abandoned and betrayed by Imilcar and 
 
 * Three hundred talents.
 
 ^84 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 the Sicilians, loft courage and fled. Some of them were ta- 
 ken by the troops in the pafles ; others laid down their arms, 
 and alked quarter. Only the Iberians drew up, and fent an 
 herald to capitulate with Dionyfius, who incorporated them 
 into his guards. The reft were all made prifoners. 
 
 Such was the fate of the Carthaginians ; which mews, fays 
 the hiftorian', that humiliation treads upon the heels of pride, 
 and that thofe who are too much puffed up with power and 
 fuccefs, are foon forced to confefs their weaknefs and va- 
 city. Thofe haughty victors, mailers of almoft all Sicily, 
 who looked upon Syracufe as already their own, and entered 
 at firft triumphant into the great port, infulting the citizens, 
 are now reduced to fly fliamefully under the covert of the 
 night ; dragging away with them the fad ruins and miferable 
 remains of their fleet and army, and trembling for the fate of 
 their native country. Imilcar, who had not regarded the fa- 
 cred refuge of temples, nor the inviolable fanclity of tombs, 
 zfter having left one hundred and fifty thoufand men unbu- 
 ried in the enemies country, returns to perifti miferably at 
 Carthage, avenging upon himfelf by his death the contempt 
 he had exprefled for gods and men. 
 
 Dionyfius, who was fufpicious of the ftrangers in his fer- 
 vice, removed ten thoufand of them, and, under the pretence 
 cf rewarding their merit, gave them the city of Leontium, 
 which was in reality very commodioufly fituated, and an ad- 
 vantageous fettlement. He confided the guard of his perfon to 
 other foreigners, and the (laves he had made free. He made 
 feveral attempts upon places in Sicily, and in die neighbour- 
 ing country, efpecially againft Rhegium u . The people of 
 Italy, feeing, themfelves in danger, entered into a power- 
 ful alliance to put a flop to his conquefts. The fuccefs was 
 tolerably equal on both fides. 
 
 * About this time, the Gauls, who fome months before had 
 burned Rome, fent deputies to Dionyfius to make an alliance 
 with him, who was at that time in Italy. The advices he had 
 received of the great preparations making by the Carthagini- 
 ans for war, obliged him to return to Sicily. 
 
 ' Dicdorus Siculus. Diod. 1. xir. p. 304 j- * J uftin ' L **' 5 '
 
 Clap. I. DIOXYSIUS THE ELDER. 2% 
 
 The Carthaginians having fet on foot a numerous army unv 
 der the conduct of Mago, made new efforts againft Syracufe 
 but with no better fuccefs than the former. They terminated 
 in an accommodation with Dionyfius. 
 
 y He attacked Rhegium again, and at firft received no irrcon- 
 fiderable check. But having gained a great victory againft the 
 Greeks of Italy, in which he took more than ten thoufand pri- 
 foners, he difmifTed them all without ranfom, contrary to their 
 expectation ; with a view of dividing the Italians from the in- 
 terefts of Rhegium, and of diiTolving a powerful league, which 
 might have defeated his defigns. Having by this action of fa- 
 vour and generoiity acquired the good opinion of all the inha- 
 bitants of the country, and from enemies made them his friends 
 and allies, he returned againft Rhegium. He was extremelv 
 incenfed againft that city upon account of their refufing to givs 
 him one of their citizens in marriage, and the infolent anfv/er 
 with which that refufal was attended. The befieged, finding 
 themfelves incapable of refilling fo numerous an army as that 
 of Dionyfius, and expecting no quarter if the city were taken 
 by affault, began to talk of capitulating ; to which he heark- 
 ened not unwillingly. He made them pay three hundred thou- 
 fand crowns, deliver up all their veiTels, to the number of feven- 
 ty, and put an hundred hoftages into his hands ; after which, 
 he raifed the liege- It was not out of favour and clemency 
 that he acted in this manner, but to make their deftrudioa 
 fure, after having firft reduced their power. 
 
 Accordingly the next year, under the falfe pretext, and with 
 the reproach of their having violated the treaty, he befiegei 
 them again with all his forces, firft fending back their hoftages. 
 Both parties acted with the utmoft vigour. The defire of re- 
 venge on one fide, and the fear of the greateft cruelties on the 
 other, animated the troops. Thofe of the city were command- 
 ed by Phyto, a brave and intrepid man, whom the danger of 
 his country rendered more courageous. He made frequent 
 and rude fallies. In one of them Dionyfius received a wound,,, 
 of which he recovered with great difficulty. The fiege went 
 en flowly, and had already continued eleven months^ when - 
 A. M. 36ij, Ant. J. C. .389.
 
 286 THE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 cruel famine reduced the city to the laft extremities. A mea- 
 fure of wheat, of about fix bufhels, was fold for two hundred 
 and fifty livres * After having confumed all their horfes and 
 beaftsof carriage, they were obliged to fupport themfelves with 
 leather and hides, which they boiled ; and at laft to feed upon 
 the grafs of the fields like beafts ; a refource of which Diony- 
 fius foon deprived them, by making his horfe eat up all the 
 herbage around the city. Neceflity at length reduced them to 
 furrender at discretion ; and Dionyfms entered the place, which 
 he found covered with dead bodies. Thofe who furvived were 
 rather Ikeletons than men. He took about fix thoufand pri- 
 foners, whom he fent to Syracufe. Such as could pay fifty 
 livres f he difmified, and fold the reft for flaves. 
 
 Dionyfius let fall the whole weight of his refentment and 
 revenge upon Pyto. He began with ordering his fon to be 
 thrown into the fea. The next day he ordered the father to 
 be fattened to the extremity of the higheft of his engines for 
 a fpectacle to the whole army, and in that condition he fent to 
 tell him that his fon had been thrown into the fea. " Then he 
 *' is happier than me by a day," replied that unfortunate pa- 
 rent. He afterwards caufed him to be led through the whole 
 city, to be fcourged with rods, and to fuffer a thoufand other 
 indignities, whilft an herald proclaimed, " that the perfidious 
 " traitor was treated in that manner, for having infpired the 
 " people of Rhegium with rebellion." " Say rather," aufwer- 
 ed that generous defender of his country's liberty, " that a 
 " faithful citizen is fo ufed, for having refufed to facrifice his 
 *' country to a tyrant." Such an obje& and fuch a difcourfe 
 drew tears from all eves, and even from the foldiers of Diony- 
 fius. He was afraid his prifoner would be taken from him 
 before he had fatiatedhis revenge, and ordered him to be fiung 
 into the fea direclly. 
 
 * Fire ;s:nac. f One mina.
 
 / DIDNYSIUS THE ELDER. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 VIOLENT PASSION of DioNTsiusfor Pozsr. His DEATH and 
 
 lad DUALITIES. 
 
 AT b an interval which the fuccefs againft Rhegium had left, 
 Dicmyilus the tyrant, who was fond of all kinds of glory, and 
 piqued himfelf upon the excellence of his genius, fent his bro- 
 ther Thearides to Olympia, to difpute in his name the prizes 
 of the chariot race and poetry. 
 
 The circumftance which I am going to treat, and which re- 
 gards the tafte, or rather paffion of Dionyiius for poetry and 
 polite learning, being one of his peculiar chara&eriflics, and 
 having beiides a mixture of good and bad in itf^lf, makes it 
 requinte, for a right underftanding of it, to diftinguifh where- 
 in this tafte of his i-> either laudable or worthy of blame. 
 
 I fliall fay as much upon the tyrant's total character, with 
 whofe vices of ambition and tyranny many great qualities were 
 united, which ought not to be difguifed or inifreprefented j 
 the veracity of hiftory requiring, that juftice ILould be done 
 to the mod wicked, as they are not fo in every refpeft. We 
 have feen fcveral things in his character that certainly deferve 
 praife ; I mean in regard to his manners and behaviour : The 
 mildnefs with which he fufFered the freedom of young Dion ; the 
 admiration he exprefied of the bold and generous anfwer of 
 his filler Thefta upon account of her hufband's flight ; his gra- 
 cious and infmuating deportment upon feveral other occdions 
 to the Syracufans ; the familarity of his difcourfe with the 
 meanefl citizens, and even workmen ; the equality he obferved 
 between his two wives, and his kindnefs and refpeftfor them; 
 all which imply that Dionyfius had more equity, moderation, 
 affability and generofity, than is commonly afcribed to him. 
 He is not fuch a tyrant as Phalaris, Alexander of Pherae, Ca- 
 ligula, Nero, or Caracalla. 
 
 * But to return to Dionyfius's tafte for poetry. In his inter- 
 vals of leifure, he loved to unbend in the converfation of per- 
 fons of wit, and in the ftudy of arts andfcienccs. He was 
 
 * Diod. 1. xir. p. 31?.
 
 *88 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 particularly fond of veriifying, and employed himfelf in the 
 compofition of poems, efpecially of tragedies. Thus far this 
 paffion of his may be excufed, having fomething undoubtedly 
 laudable in it ; I mean in the tafte for polite learning, the e- 
 ileem he expreffed for learned men, his inclination to do them 
 good offices, and the application of his leifure hours. Was it 
 not better to employ them in the exerciie of his wit and the 
 cultivation of fcience, than feafting, dancing, theatrical amufe- 
 ments, gaming, frivolous company, and other pleafures flill 
 more pernicious? Which wife reflection Dionyfius the young- 
 er made when at Corinth. c Philip of Macedon being at table 
 with him, fpoke of the odes and tragedies his father had left 
 behind him with an air of raillery and contempt, and feemed 
 to be under fome difficulty to comprehend at what time of his 
 life he had leifure for fuch compofitions : Dionyfius fmartly 
 reparteed, " The difficulty is very great indeed ! Why, he 
 *' compofed them at thofe hours, which you and I, and an in- 
 " finity of others, as we have reafon to believe, pafs in drink- 
 " ing and other diveriions." 
 
 d Julius Caefar, and the emperor Auguflus, applied them- 
 felves to poetry, and compofed tragedies, Lucullus intended 
 to have written the memoirs of his military aclions in verle. 
 The comedies of Terence were attributed to Lelius and Sci- 
 pio, both great captains, efpecially the latter; and that report 
 was fo far from lellening their reputation at Rome, that it 
 added to the general efteem for them. 
 
 Thefe unbendings therefore were not blameable in their 
 own nature ; this tafte for poetry was rather laudable, if kept 
 within due bounds ; but Dionyfius was ridiculous for pretend- 
 ing to excel all others in it. He could not endure either a 
 .fuperior or competitor in any thing. From being in die foie 
 pofleflion of fupreme authority, he had accuftomed himfelf to 
 imagine his wit of the fame rank with his power: In a word, 
 he was in every thing a tyrant. His immoderate eilimation 
 of his own merit, flowed in fome meafure from the overbearing 
 turn of mind which empire and command had given him, 
 
 c Plut. in Timol. c. Ixxxv. p. 243. Hut. in Lucul. p. 491* 
 * Suet, in Cacf. c. hi. in Augufl.
 
 DIONYSltfS tHE ELDER. 289 
 
 The continual applaufes of a court, and the flatteries of thofe 
 who knew how to recommend themfelves by his darling foible, 
 were another fource of this vain conceit. And of what will 
 not a great man *, a minifler, a prince, think himfelf capable, 
 who has fuch incenfe and adoration continually paid to him ? 
 It is well known that Cardinal Richelieu, in the midft of the 
 greateft affairs, not only compofed dramatic poems, but piqued 
 himfelf on his excellency that way ; and what is more, his 
 jealoufy in that point rofe fo high as to ufe his authority by 
 way of criticifm upon the compofitions of thofe, to whom the 
 public, a juft and incorruptible judge in the queftion, had 
 given the preference againfl him. 
 
 Dionyfius did not rcfle.fr., that there are things, which, 
 though eilimable in themfelves, and which do honour to pri- 
 vate perfons, it does not become a prince to defire to excel in. 
 I have mentioned elfewhere Philip of Macedon's expreffion to 
 his fon, upon his having fliewn too much ikill in mufic at a 
 public entertainment : " Are not you afhamed," faid he, " to 
 " ling fo well ?" It was afting inconfiflcntly with the digni- 
 ty of his character. If Gaefar and Auguflus, when they wrote 
 tragedies, had taken it into their heads to equal or excel So- 
 phocles, it had not only been ridiculous, but a reproach to 
 them. And the reafon is ; becaufe a prince, being obliged by 
 an effential and indifpenfable duty to apply himfelf inceffant- 
 ly to the affairs of government, and having an infinitude of 
 varions bufinefs always recurring to him, he can make no 
 other ufe of the fciences, than to divert him at fuch fhort in- 
 tervals, as will not admit any great progrefa in them, and 
 the excelling of thofe who employ themfelves in no other 
 ftudy. Hence, xvhen the public fees a prince affect the firfl 
 rank in this kind of merit, it may juftly conclude, that he ne- 
 glects his more important duties, and what he owes to his 
 people's happinefs, to give himfelf up to an employment, 
 which waftes his time and application of mind ineffectually. 
 We muft however do Dionyfius the juftice to own, that lift 
 IV. T 
 
 * -Nihil efl quod credere de fe 
 
 Non poffit, earn laudatur diis aerjvu potefta 1 ;.
 
 300 THE HISTORY OF ;ie XL 
 
 never \va> reproachable for letting poei; to the pre- 
 
 judice of his great affairs, or that it made him lefs active and 
 diligent on any important occaiion. 
 
 c I have already faid, that this prince, in an, interval of 
 peace, had fent his brother Thearides to Olympia, to dif- 
 pute the prizes of poetry and the chariot-race in his name^ 
 When he arrived in the affembly, the beauty as well as num- 
 ber of his chariots, and the magnificence of his pavilion, em- 
 broidered with gold and ulver, attracted the eyes and admi- 
 ration of all the fpetlators. The ear was no lefs charmed 
 v.'hen the poems of Dionj-fius began to be read. He had cho- 
 fen exprefoly for the occafion * readers, with fonorous,. mufical 
 voices, who might be heard far and diftinctly, and who knew 
 how to give a jaft emphafis and numeroiitv to the verfes they 
 repeated. At firil this had a very happy effect, and the whole 
 audience were deceived by the art and fweetnefs of the pro- 
 nunciation. But that charm was foon at an end, and the 
 mind not long amufed by the ears. The verfes then appear- 
 ed in all their ridicule. The audience were afhamed of hav- 
 ing applauded them ; and their praife was turned into laugh- 
 ter, fcorn, and infult. To expref-s their contempt and indig- 
 nation, they toreDionyfrus's rich pavilion in pieces. Lycias, 
 the celebrated orator, who was come to the Olympic games 
 to diipute the prize of eloquence, which he had carried feve- 
 ral times before, undertook to prove, that it was inccmhlcn-. 
 with the honour of Greece, the friend and aflerter of liberty, 
 to admit an impious tyrant to mare in the celebration of the 
 facred games, who had no other thoughts than of fubjecling 
 all Greece to his power. Dionyfius was not affronted in that 
 manner then ; but the event proved as little in his favour. 
 His chariots having entered the lifts, were all of their, either 
 carried out of the courfe by an headlong impetuofity, or dafli- 
 ed in pieces againfl one another. And to complete the mil- 
 fortune, the galley, which carried the perfons Dioyiius had 
 ient to the games, met with a violent ftorm, and did not re- 
 turn to Syracufe without great difficulty j when the pilots ar- 
 
 * Diod. 1. xir. p. 318. 
 * Theft scaders were called E^?/.
 
 . L DIOKYSIUS THE ELDER. 29! 
 
 rived there, out of hatred and contempt for the tyrant, they 
 reported throughout the city, that it was his vile poems, 
 which had occafioned fo many vnifcarriages to the readers, 
 racers, and even the ihip itfelf. This bad fuccefs did not at 
 all difcourage Dionylius, nor make him abate any thing in hia 
 high opinion of his poetic vein. The flatterers, who abound- 
 ed in his court, did not fail to insinuate, that fuch injurious 
 treatment of his poems could proceed only from envy, which 
 always fallens upon what is molt excellent ; and that fooncr 
 or later the invidious themfelves would be convinced by de- 
 monftration, to do juftice to his merit, and acknowledge his 
 fuperiority to all ether poets. 
 
 f The extravagance of Dionyfius in that refpecfc was incon- 
 ceivable. He was undoubtedly a great warrior, and an excel- 
 lent captain ; but he fancied himfelf a much better poet, and 
 believed that his verfea were a far greater honour to him than 
 all his victories. To attempt to undeceive him in an opinion 
 fo favourable to himfslf, had been an ill way of making court 
 to him ; fo that all the learned men and poets, who eat at his 
 table in great numbers, feemed to be in an extacy of admira- 
 tion, whenever he read them his poems. Never, according 
 to them, was there any comparifon : All was great, all noble 
 in his poetry : All was majeitic, or, to fpeak more properly, 
 all divine. 
 
 Philoxenus was the only one of all the tribe, who did not 
 run with the ftream into exceffive praife and flattery. He wa3 
 a man of great reputation, and excelled in Dithyrambic poe- 
 try. There is a ftory told of him, which Fontaine has known 
 how to apply admirably. Being at table with Dionylius, and 
 feeing a very fmall fiih fet before him, and a huge one before 
 the king, the whim took him to lay his ear clofe to the little 
 nth. He was alked his meaning for that pleafantry : " I was 
 " inquiring," faid he, " into fome affairs that happened in 
 *' the reign of Nereus ; but this young native of the floods 
 " can give me no information ; yours is elder, and without 
 " doubt knows fomething of the matter," 
 
 Tij 
 
 * Diod, 1 xr, p. 3$:.
 
 492 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 Dionyfius having read one day fome of his verfes to Phi- 
 loxenus, and having prefTed him to give him his opinion of 
 them, he anfwered with entire freedom, and told him plainly 
 his real fentiments. Dionyfius, who was not accuflomed to 
 fuch language, was extremely offended ; and afcribing his 
 boldnefs to envy, gave orders to carry him to the mines ; the 
 common jail being fo called. The whole court were afflicled 
 upon this account, and folicited for the generous prifoner, 
 whofe rele<fe they obtained. He was enlarged the next day,, 
 and reflored to favour. 
 
 At the entertainment made that day by Dionyfius for the 
 fame guefts, which was a kind of ratification of the pardon, 
 and at which they were for that reafon more than ufually gay 
 and cheerful ; after they had plentifully regaled a great while, 
 the prince did not fail to introduce his poems into the conver- 
 fation, which were the mofl frequent fubjed of it. He chofe 
 fome pafTages, which he had taken extraordinary pains in 
 compofing, and conceived to be mafterpieces, as was very dif- 
 cernible from the felf-fatisfa&ion and complacency he expref- 
 fed whilfl they were reading. But his delight could not be 
 perfect without Philoxenus's approbation ; upon which he fet 
 the greater value, as it was not his cuftom to be fo profufe of 
 it as the reft. What had palled the evening before was a fuf- 
 ficient lefTon for the poet. When Dionyfius afked his thoughts 
 of the verfes, Philoxenus made no anfwer; but turning to- 
 wards the guards, who always flood round the table, he faid 
 in a ferious, though humourous tone, without any emotion j 
 " Carry me back to the mines *." The prince took all the 
 fait and fpirit of that ingenious pleafantry, without being of- 
 fended. The fprightlinefs of the conceit attoned for its free- 
 dom, which at another time would have touched him to the 
 quick, and made him excefTwely angry. He only laughed at 
 it now, and did not make a quarrel of it with the poet. 
 
 He was not in the fame temper upon a grofs jell of Anti- 
 phon's, which was indeed of a different kind, and feemed to 
 argue a violent and brutal difpofition. The prince in conver-
 
 Chap. I. DIONYSIUS THE ELDER. 293 
 
 fation alked, which was the beft kind of brafs. After the 
 company had given their, opinions, Antiphon faid, that was 
 the beft of which the ftatues of * Hermodius and Ariftogiton 
 were made. This witty expreffion s , if it may be called fo, 
 co ft him his life. 
 
 The friends of Philoxenus, apprehending that his too great 
 liberty might be alfo attended with fatal confluences, repre- 
 fented to him in the moft ferious manner, that thofe who live 
 with princes muft fpeak their language ; that they hate to 
 hear any thing not agreeable to themfelves ; that whoever 
 does not know how to diflemble, is not qualified for a court ; 
 that the favours and liberalities which Dionyfius continually 
 beftowed upon them, well deferved the return of complaif- 
 ance ; that, in a word, with his blunt freedom, and plain 
 truth, he was in danger of lofing not only his fortune, but 
 his life. Philoxenus told them, that he would take their good 
 advice, and for the future give fuch a turn to his anfwers, as 
 ihould fatisfy Dionvfius without injuring truth. 
 
 Accordingly fome time after, Dionyfius having read a piece 
 of his compofing upon a very mournful fubjer., wherein he 
 was to move companion and draw tears from the eyes of the 
 audience, addreffed himfelf again to Philoxenus, and afked 
 him his fentiments upon it. Philoxenus gave him for anfwer 
 one word h , which in the Greek language has two different 
 fignifications. In one of them it implies mournful, moving 
 things, fuch as infpire fentiments of pity and companion : In 
 the other, it exprefles fomething very mean, defective, piti- 
 ful, and mifcrable. Dionyfius, who was fond of his verfes, 
 and believed that every body muft have the fame good opi- 
 nion of them, took that word in the favourable conftrudlion, 
 and was extremely fatisfted with Philoxenus. The reft of the 
 company were not miftaken, but underftood it in the right 
 fenfe, though without explaining themfelves. 
 
 Nothing could cure his folly for verification. It appears 
 from Diodorus Siculus ', that having fent his poems a fecond 
 
 Tiij 
 
 * Plut. Moral, p. 78, ct "33. hOiWga. i Pag. 331. 
 
 Tiiey had delivered Athens from the tyranny vf the PiStfratides.
 
 $94 THE HISTORY or 00* XL 
 
 time to Olympia, they were treated with the fame ridicule and 
 contempt as before. That news, which could not be kept from 
 him, threw him into an excefs of melancholy, which he could 
 never get over, and turned foon after into a kind of madnefs 
 and phrenzy. He complained that envy and jealoufy, the 
 certain enemies of true merit, were always at variance with 
 him, and that all the world confpired to the ruin of his repu- 
 tation. Ke accufed his beft friends with the fame defign ; 
 fome of whom he put to death, and others he baniilied ; a- 
 mongft whom were Leptinus his brother, and Philiftus, who 
 had done him fuch great fervices, and to whom he was obli- 
 ged for his power. They retired to Thurium in Italy, from 
 whence they were recalled fome time after, and reinflated in 
 all their fortunes, and his favour : Leptinus, in particular, 
 who married Sionyfius's daughter. 
 
 k To remove his melancholy for the ill fuccefs of his verfes, 
 it was neceflary to find fome employment, with which his wars 
 and buildings fupplied Ivim. He had formed a defign of eftab- 
 lifhing powerful colonies in the part of Italy fituated upon the 
 Adriatic fea facing Epirus ; -in order that his fleet might not 
 want a fecure retreat, when he fhouid employ his forces on 
 that fide ; and with this view he made an alliance with the 
 Illyrians, and reflored Alcetes king of the Moloflians to his 
 throne. His principal defign was to attack Epirus, and to 
 make himfclf mafter of the immenfe treafures, which had 
 been for many ages amailing in the temple of Delphos. Be- 
 fore he could fet this project on foot, which required great 
 preparations, he feemed to make an effay of his genius for it, 
 by another of the fame kind, though of much more eafy exe- 
 cution. Having made a fudclen irruption into Tufcany, un- 
 der the pretence of purfuing pirates, he plundered a very rich 
 temple' in the iuburbs of Agylum, a city of that country, and 
 carried away a fum exceeding four millions five hundred thou- 
 fand livres *. He had occafion for money to fupport his great 
 expenccs at Syracufe, as well in fortifying the port, and to 
 make it capable of receiving two hundred gallies, as to inclofo 
 
 * Diod I xr. P . 336, 337 
 * Pit'iccn hi.licU talc:-, 1 5, or ab-'ut L JCC,c.C- St;rlin|.
 
 Clap. I. DioN'Ysius Tar: ELBER. 29-5 
 
 the whole city with good walls, erefl magniricent temples, and 
 build a place of exerctfe upon the banks of the river Anapus. 
 
 m At the fame time he formed the deiign of driving the 
 Carthaginians entirely out of Sicily. A firil victory which he 
 gained, put him almofl into a condition to accompliih his pro, 
 jeer,; but the lofs of a fecond battle, in which his brother Lep- 
 tinus was killed, put an end to his hopes, and obliged him to 
 enter into a treaty, by which he gave up feverd towns to tht; 
 Carthaginians, and paid them great fums of money to reim- 
 'burfe their expences in the war. An attempt which he made 
 upon them fome years after, taking advantage of the defolati'ou 
 occafioned by the plague at Carthage, had no better fuccefs. 
 
 Another victory of a very different kind, though not lefs 
 at his heart, made him amends, or at leaft comforted him for 
 the ill fuccefs of his arms. He had caufed a tragedy of his to 
 "be reprefented at Athens for the prize in the celebrated feail 
 of Bacchus, and was declared viclor. Such a viclory with the 
 Athenians, who were the belt judges of this kind of literature, 
 feems to argue the poetry of Dionyfius not fo mean and piti- 
 ful, and that it is very poffible, the averfion of the Greeks for 
 every thing which came from a tyrant, had a great fhare in 
 the contemptuous fentencc paffed upon his poems in the Olym- 
 pic games. However it was, Dionyfius received the news with 
 inexpreiuble tranfports of joy. Public thankfgivings were made 
 to the gods, the temples being fcarce capable of containing the 
 concourfe of the people. Nothing was feen throughout the 
 city, but feafting and rejoicing ; and Dionyfius regaled all his 
 friends with the moil extraordinary magnificence. Self-fatii- 
 fied to a degree that cannot be defcribed, he believed himfelf kt 
 the fummit of glory, and did the honours of his table with a 
 gaiety and eafe, and at the fame time with a grace and dignity 
 that charmed all the world. He invited his guefts to eat and 
 drink more by his example than expremons, and carried his 
 civilities of that kind to fuch an excefs, that at the clofe of the 
 !)anquet he was feiz.ed with violent pains, occafioned by an in- 
 
 T iiij 
 - Sec the Hiftory of the Carthasirua'-.s. B D : cd. p. 384, 3%j.
 
 Zf)6 THE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 digeflion, of which it was not difficult to forefee the confe- 
 quences. 
 
 Dionyfius had three children by IMS wife Doris, and four 
 by Ariftomache, of which two were daughters, the one named 
 Sophrofyne, the other Arete. Sophrofyne was married to hi:; 
 eldeft fon, Dionyfius the younger, whom he had by his Locrian 
 wife, and Arete efpoufed her brother Thcoridcs. But Thco- 
 rides dying foon, Dion married his wiiijvv Arete, who was hu 
 own niece. 
 
 As Dionyiius's diilemper left no hopes of his life, Dion took 
 upon him to difcourfe him upon his children by Ariiloinache, 
 who were at the fame time his brothers-in-law and nephews, 
 and to iniinuate to him, that it was juft to prefer the itTue of 
 his Syracufan wife to that of a ilranger. But the phyficians, 
 dclirous of making their court to voung Dionyfius, the Lo- 
 crian's fon, for whom the throne was intended, did not give 
 him time to alter his purpofe : For Dionyfius having demand- 
 ed a medicine to make him ileep, they gave him fo ftrong a 
 dofe, as quite flupified him, and laid him in a fleep that lailed 
 him for the reft of his life. He had reigned thirty-eight years. 
 He was certainly a prince of very great political and military 
 abilities, and had cccafion for them all in railing himfelf as he 
 did from a mean condition to fo high a rank. After having 
 held the fovereignty thirty-eight years, he tranfmitted it peace- 
 ably to a fucceiTor of his own iilue and election j and had efta- 
 bliflied his power upon fuch folid foundations, that his fon, 
 notwithftanding the fiendernefs of his capacity for governing, 
 retained it twelve years after his death. All which could not 
 have been effected without a great fund of merit as to his ca- 
 pacity. But what qualities could cover the rices, which ren- 
 dered him the object of his fubjecls abhorrence ? His ambition 
 knew neither law nor limitation ; his avarice fparcd nothing, 
 not even the moft facred places ; his cruelty had often no re- 
 gard to the affinity of blood ; and his open and profeflVd im- 
 piety only acknowledged the divinity to infult him. 
 
 In liL> return to byacufe with a very favourable wind from 
 plundering the temple of Prcferpinc at Locris, " See," laid he to 
 
 e Pint, in Dion. p. 9*0.
 
 Chap. I. DIONYSlUS THE ELDER, 297 
 
 his friends with a fmile of contempt, " how the immortal gods 
 " favour the navigation of the facrilegious." 
 
 p Having cccalion for money to carry on the war agaiiift the 
 Carthaginians, he rifled the temple of Jupiter, and took from 
 that god a robe of folid gold, which ornament Hiero the ty- 
 rant had given him out of the fpoils of the Carthaginians. He 
 even jefled upon that occafion, faying, that a robe of gold was 
 much too heavy in fummer, and too cold in winter ; and at 
 the fame time ordered one of wool to be thrown over the 
 god's ihouklers ; adding, that fuch an habit would be commo- 
 dious in all feafon-j. 
 
 Another time he ordered the golden beard of .^Efculapius 
 of Epidaurus to be taken off; giving for his reafon, that it was 
 very inconfiftent for the fon to have a beard *, when the fa- 
 ther had none. 
 
 He caufed all the tables of filver to be taken out of tha 
 temples ; and as there was generally infcribed upon them, ac- 
 cording to the cultom of the Greeks, TO THE GOOD GODS ; he 
 would, he faid, take the benefit of their GOODNESS. 
 
 As for lefs prizes, fuch as cups and crowns of gold, which 
 the flatues held in their hands, thofe he carried off without 
 any ceremony ; faying, it was not taking, but receiving them ; 
 and that it was idle and ridiculous to aik the gods perpetual- 
 ly for good things, and to refufe them, when they held out 
 their hands themfelves to prefent them to you. , Thefe fpoils 
 were carried by has order to the market, and fold at the public 
 fale : And when he had got the money for them, he ordered 
 proclamation to be made, that whoever had in their cuftody 
 any things taken out of facred places, mould reltore them en- 
 tire within a limited time to the temples from whence they 
 were brought ; adding in this manner to his impiety to the 
 gods, injuftice to man. 
 
 The amazing precautions that Dionyfius thought neceflary 
 to the fecurity of his life, mew to what anxiety and apprehen- 
 fion he was abandoned. q He wore under his robe a cuirais 
 of brafs. He never harangued the people but from the top 
 
 P Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1. xv. n. 8;,, 84. 1 Cic. Tufc. Qiiaeft. J. v. n. 5 7. 6 >. 
 * Appollo's ftatues had no beards.
 
 t9^ THE HISTORY OF Book JTA 
 
 of an high tower ; and thought proper to make himfelf invul- 
 nerable by being inacceffible. Not daring to confide in any 
 of his friends or relations, his guard was compofed of flaves 
 and ftrangers. He went abroad as little as poffible ; fear 
 obliging him to condemn himfelf to a kind of imprifonment. 
 Thefe extraordinary precautions regard without doubt, certain 
 intervals of his reign, when frequent confpiracies againfl him 
 rendered him more timid and fufpicious than ufual ; for at 
 other times we have feen that he converfed freely enough with 
 the people, and was acceflible even to familiarity. In thofe 
 dark days of diflruft and fear, he fancied that he law all man- 
 kind in arms againft him. r A word which efcaped his barber, 
 who boafted, byway of jeft, that he held a ra^or at the tyrant's 
 throat every week, coft him his life. From thenceforth, not 
 to abandon his head and life to the hands of a barber, he made 
 his daughters, though very young, do him that defpicable 
 office ; and when they were more advanced in years, he took 
 the fciflars and razors from them, and taught them to iinge 
 off his beard with nut-fnells. * He was at laft reduced to do 
 himfelf that office, not daring, k feems, to truil his own daugh- 
 ters any longer. He never went into the chamber of his wives 
 at night, till they had been firft fearched with the utmoft care 
 and eircumfpe&ion. His bed was furrounded with a very 
 broad and deep trench, with a fmall draw-bridge over it for 
 the entrance. After having well locked and bolted the doors 
 of his apartment, he drew up the bridge, that he might fleep 
 in fecurity. l Neither his brother, nor even his fons, could 
 fce admitted into his chamber without firfl changing their 
 clothes, and being vifited by the guards. Is paffing one's days 
 in fuch a continual circle of diflruft and terror, to live, to 
 reign ? 
 
 In the midft of all his greatnefs, poffeflfed of riches, and fur- 
 rounded with pleafures of every kind, during a reign of al- 
 moft forty years, notwithflanding all his prefents and profa- 
 fions, he never was capable of making a {ingle friend. He paff- 
 *d his life with none but trembling flaves and fordid flatter- 
 rs, and never tailed the joy of loving, or of being beloved* 
 Flut. de ganu!. r. 50?. ! Cic. dc offic. 1. ii. n. 55, l Hut. in Dion. f. 961.
 
 Clap. I. DIoNYSITJS THE ELDER. 2C) 
 
 nor the charms of focial truth and reciprocal confidence. This 
 he owned himfelf upon an accafion not unworthy of repetition. 
 
 u Damon and Pythias had both been educated in the prin- 
 ciples of the Pythagorean philofophy, and were united to each 
 other in the ftriftefl ties of friendfhip, which they had mutual- 
 ly fworn to obferve with inviolable fidelity. Their faith was 
 put to a fevere trial. One of them being condemned to die 
 by the tyrant, petitioned for permiffion to make a journey in- 
 to his own country, to fettle his affairs, promifing to return 
 at a fixed time ; the other generoufly offering to be his fecuri- 
 ty. The courtiers, and Dionyfius in particular, expected with 
 impatience the event of fo delicate and extraordinary an ad- 
 venture. The day fixed for his return drawing nigh, and he 
 not appearing, every body began to blame the rafh and im- 
 prudent zeal of his friend who had bound himfelf in fuch a 
 manner. But he, far from expreffing any fear or concern, 
 replied with tranquility in his looks, and confidence in his 
 exprefllons, that he was affured his friend would return ; as 
 he accordingly did upon the day and hour agreed. The ty- 
 rant, fir uck. with admiration at fo uncommon an inftance of fi, 
 dftKty, and foftened with the view of fo amiable an union, 
 granted him his life, and defired to be admitted as a third per. 
 fon into their friendfhip. 
 
 * He exprefied with equal ingenuity on another occafion 
 what he thought of his condition. One of his courtiers, nam- 
 ed Damocles, was perpetually extolling with rapture his trea- 
 fures, grandeur, the number of his troops, the [extent of his 
 dominions, the magnificence of bis palaces, and the univerfal 
 abundance of all good things and enjoyments in his pofTeffion ; 
 always repeating that never man was happier than Dionyfius. 
 " Eecaufe you are of that opinion," faid the tyrant to him 
 one day, " will you tafte, and make proof of my felicity in 
 * pei'fon ?" The offer was accepted with joy. Damocles was 
 placed upon a golden bed, covered with carpets of ineftimable 
 value. The fide boards were loaded with veflels of gold and 
 (ilver. The moft beautiful flaves in the moft fplendid habits 
 
 L Cic. de offic. 1. iii. n. 43. Val. Max. 1. iv, c. 7. 
 
 * C:ic Tufr. QuscH. 1. v. n, 6l, 62.
 
 3-ce SHE HISTORY c? foot Xh 
 
 flood around, watching the lead fignal to ferve him. The moll 
 extiuifke eflences and perfumes had not been fpared. The 
 table was fpread with proportionate magnificence. Damocles 
 was all joy, and looked upon himfelf as the happieft man in the 
 world j when, unfortunately calling up his eyes, he beheld over 
 his head the point of a fword, which hung from the roof only 
 by a fingle horfe-hair. He was immediately feized with a 
 cold fweat ; every thing difappearcd in an inltant ; he could fee 
 nothing but the i'word, nor think of any thing but his danger. 
 In the height of his fear he defired penniiBon to retire, and 
 declared he would be happy no longer : A very natural image 
 of the life of a tyrant. Ours reigned, as I have obferved be- 
 fore, thirty-eight years. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THIS chapter includes the hiflory of Dionyfius the younger, 
 tyrant of Syracufe, fon of the former ; and that of Dion his 
 near relation. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 BIGNTSIUS tbe YOUNGER fucceeds Ms FATHER. He invites 
 
 PLATO to his COURT. 
 
 DIOVYSIUS the elder y was fucceeded by one of his fons of his 
 own name, commonly called Dionyfius the Younger. After 
 his father's funeral had been folemnized with the utmoft mag- 
 nificence, he a trembled the people, and defired they would 
 have the fame good inclinations for him as they had profeffed 
 for his father. They were very different from each other in 
 their character : z For the latter was as peaceable and calm 
 in his- difpoiition, as the former was active and enterprising ; 
 which would have been no difadvantage to his people, had 
 that miklnefs and moderation been the effect of a wife and ju- 
 dicious underflanding, and net of natural (loth and indolence 
 of temper. 
 
 It. was fnrpriiing to fee Dionyfius the younger take quiet 
 
 ~ A. M. &3Z. AM. J. C. 37*. Hiod. 1. v-., , 
 * Id. 1. xvi. p. 4if
 
 Chap. IL DIONYSIUS THE YOCTXGER. jOl 
 
 poiTeffion of the tyranny after the death of his father, as of a. 
 right of inheritance, notwithflanding the paTion of the Syra- 
 cufans for liberty, which could not but revive upon fo favour- 
 able an occafion, and the weaknefs of a young prince undiilin- 
 guiihed by his merit, and void of experience. It feemed as if 
 the lad years of the elder Dionyfius, who had applied himfelf 
 towards the clofe of his life in making his fubje&s tafte the 
 advantages of his government, had in fome meafure recon- 
 ciled them to the tyranny ; efpecially after his exploits by fea 
 and land had acquired him a great reputation, and infinitely 
 exalted the glory of the Syracnfan power, which he had found 
 means to render formidable to Carthage itfelf, as well as to 
 the mofl potent flates of Greece and Italy. Bcndes which it 
 was to be feared, that mould they attempt a change in the go- 
 vernment, the fad confequences of a civil war might deprive 
 them of all thofe advantages : And at the fame time the gentle 
 and humane difpofition of young Dionylius gave them reafon 
 to entertain the mofl favourable hopes of the future. He there- 
 fore peaceably afcended his father's throne. 
 
 England has feen fomething of this kind in the famous 
 Cromwell, who died in his bed with as much tranquility as the 
 befl of princes, and was interred with the fame honours and 
 pomp as the mofl lawful fovereign. Richard his fon fucceeded 
 him, and was for fome time in equal authority with his father, 
 though he had not any of his great qualities. 
 
 * Dion, the braveft, and at the fame time the wifefl of the 
 Syracufans, Dionyfius's brother-in-law, might have been of 
 Teat fupport to him, had he known how to make ufe of his 
 counfels. In the nrft aflembly held by Dionyfius and all his 
 friends, Dion fpoke in fo wife a manner upon what was necef- 
 fary and expedient in the prefent conjuncture, as {hewed that 
 the reft were like infants in comparifon with him, and in re- 
 gard to a juft boldnefs and freeeom of fpeech, were no more 
 than defpicable Haves of the tyranny, folely employed in the 
 abject endeavour of pleafing the prince. But what furprifed 
 and amazed them mofl was, that Dion, at a time when the 
 whole court were ftrirck with terror at the profpecl of the 
 Pint, in Dion. p. 960. 961,
 
 30* THE HISTORY OF Boot XI. 
 
 ftorm forming on the fide of Carthage, and juft ready to break, 
 upon Sicily, fhould infill, that if Dionyiius defired peace, he 
 would embark immediately tor Africa, and difpel this temped 
 to his fatisfaclion ; or if he preferred the war, that he vrouid 
 furnifh and maintain him fifty galleys of three benches com- 
 pletely equipped for fervice. 
 
 Dionyfius admiring and extolling his generous magr "mmity 
 to the fkies, profeffc-d the higheil gratitude to him for his zeal 
 and affection ; but the courtiers, who looked upon Dion's mag- 
 nificence as a reproach to themfelves, and his great power as 
 a leffening of their own, took immediate occaiion from thence 
 to calumniate him, and fpared no difcourfe that might influence 
 the young prince againfl him. They infinuated, thai: in mak- 
 ing himfelf ftrong at fea, he would open his way to the tyran- 
 ny ; and that he defigned to tranfport the iovereignty on board 
 his vefleh to his nephews, the fons of Ariliomache. 
 
 But what put them moft out of humour with Dion, was his 
 manner of life, which was a continual reproach to theirs. For 
 thefe courtiers having prefently infinuated themfelves, and got 
 the afcendant of the young tyrant, who had been wretchedly 
 educated, thought of nothing but of fupplying him perpetually 
 with new amufements, keeping him always employed in feafl- 
 ind, abandoned to women and all manner of fhameful plea- 
 fures. b In the beginning of his reign he made a debauch 
 which continued for three months entire ; during all which 
 lime, his palace, ihut againft all perfons of fenfe and reafon, was 
 crowded with drunkards, and refounded with nothing but low 
 buffoonery, obfcene jefts, lewd fongs, dances, mafquerades, 
 and every kind of grofs and diffolute extravagance. It is there- 
 fore natural to believe, that nothing could be more ofTeniive 
 aud difgufling to them than the prefence of Dion, who gave 
 into none of thefe pleafures. For which reafon, painting his 
 virtues in fuch of the colours of vice as were moll likely to 
 flifguife them, they found tneans to calumniate him with the 
 prince, and to make his gravity pafs for arrogance, and his 
 freedom of fpeech for infolence and fedition. If he advanced 
 ajiy wife cdunfel, they treated him as a four pedagogue, wh* 
 k Athco. 1. x-p 435-
 
 . IL DIONYSIUS TH YOUNGER. 305 
 
 took upon him to obtrude his lectures, and to fchool his prince 
 without being aiked ; and if he refufed to ihare in the debauck 
 with the reft, they called him a man-hater, a fplenetic me- 
 lancholy wretch, who from the fantaftic height of virtue look- 
 ed down with contempt on the reft of the world, of whom he 
 fet himfelf up for the cenfor. 
 
 And indeed it mult be confeffed, that he had naturally fome- 
 thing auflere and rigid in his manners and behaviour, which 
 feemed to argue an haughtinefs of nature, very capable not 
 only of difgufling a young prince, nurtured from his infancy 
 amid ft flatteries and fubmiffions, but the beft of his friends* 
 and thofe who were moft nearly attached to him. Full of ad- 
 miration for his integrity, fortitude, and noblenefs of fenti- 
 ments, they reprefented to him, that for a ftatefman, who- 
 ought to know how to adapt himfelf to the different tempers 
 of men, and how to apply them to his purpofes, his humour 
 was much too rough and forbidding. c Plato afterwards took 
 pains to co-rrecl that defect in him, by making him intimate 
 with a philofopher of a gay and polite turn of mind, whofc 
 converfation was very proper to infpire him with more eafy and 
 infmuating manners. He obferves alfo upon that failing, in a 
 letter to him, wherein he fpeaks to this effecl : " Conlider, I 
 " beg you, that you are cenfured of being deficient in point 
 " of good nature and affability; and be entirely aflured, that 
 " the mofl certain means to the fuccefs of affairs, is to be 
 " agreeable to the perfons with whom we have to tranfact. 
 " An * haughty carriage keeps people at a diftance, and re- 
 ** duces a man to pafs his life in folitude." Notwithftanding 
 this defedt, he continued to be highly conlidered at courts 
 where his fuperior abilities and tranfcendent merit made him 
 absolutely necefTary, efpecially at a time when the ftate was 
 threatened with great danger and emergency. 
 
 d As he believed that all the vices of young Dionyiius were 
 the effed of his bad education, and^entire ignorance of his duty, 
 
 c Plat. Epift. iv. 
 
 d Plut. in Dion. p. 962, Plat, Epift. vii, 327, 3*8. 
 
 * 'H$' a,^aSna ignp'ta. ZwiKtoi. M. Dacier renders thefe words, " Pride is alwaye 
 * the companion of foiitude." I have [hewn elfewherc wherein this veraa' 
 faulty, Art of teaching the Belles Letters, vol. 3. p. jcj,
 
 4 THE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 he conceived juftly, that the bell remedy would be to aflbciate 
 him if poffible with perfons of wit and fenfe, whofe folid, but 
 agreeable converfation, might at once inflruft and divert him : 
 For the prince did not naturally want parts and genius. 
 
 The fequel will (hew that Dionyfius the younger had a na- 
 tural propenfky to what was good and virtuous, and a tafleand 
 capacity for arts and fciences. He knew how to fet a value 
 upon the merit and talents by which men are diftinguifhed. 
 He delighted in converting with perfons of ability ; and from 
 his correfpondence with them, made himfelf capable of the 
 higheft improvements. He went fo far as to familiarize the 
 throne with the fciences, which of themfelves have little or no 
 accefs to it ; and by rendering them in a manner his favourites, 
 he gave them courage to make their appearance in courts. His 
 protection was the patent of nobility, by which he raifed them 
 to honour and diftinction. Nor was he infenfible to the joys 
 of friendmip. In private, he was a good parent, relation and 
 matter, and acquired the affection of all that approached him. 
 He was not naturally inclined to violence or cruelty ; and it 
 might be faid of him, that he was rather a tyrant by fucceilion 
 and inheritance, than by temper and inclination. 
 
 All which demonftrates, that he might have made a very 
 tolerable prince (not to fay a good one), had an early and pro- 
 per care been taken to cultivate the happy difpolition which he 
 brought into the world with him. But his father, to whom all 
 merit, even in his own children, gave umbrage, induftrioufly 
 fupprefled in him all tendency to goodnefs, and every noble 
 and elevated fentiment, by a bafe and obfcure education, with 
 the view of preventing his attempting any thing againft him- 
 felf. It was therefore neceilary to find a perfon of the cha- 
 racter before mentioned, or rather to infpire himfelf with the 
 defire of having fuch an one found. 
 
 This was what Dion laboured with wonderful addrefs. He 
 often talked to him of Plato, as the mod profound and illuf- 
 trious of philofophers, whofe merit he had experienced, and 
 to whom he was obliged for all he knew. He enlarged upon 
 the elevation of his genius, the extent of his knowledge, the
 
 Clap. IL DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 305 
 
 r.miablenefs of his charaSer, and the charms of his conver- 
 fation. He reprefented him particularly as the man of the 
 world moil capable of forming him in the arts of governing, 
 upon which his own and the people's happinefs depended. He 
 told him, that his fubjecls, governed for the future with lenity 
 and indulgence, as a good father governs his family, would 
 voluntarily render that obedience to his moderation and juitice, 
 which force and violence extorted from them againft their will; 
 and that by fuch a condud he would, from a tyrant, become a 
 juft king, to whom all fubmiffion would be paid out of affec- 
 tion and gratitude. 
 
 It is incredible how much thefe difcourfes, introduced in 
 converfation from time to time, as if by accident, without 
 affectation, or the appearance of any premeditated defign, in- 
 flamed the young prince with the defire of knowing and con- 
 verting with Plato. He wrote to him in the moft importunate 
 and obliging manner to that purpofe ; he difpatched couriers 
 after couriers to haften his voyage ; whilfl. Plato, who appre- 
 hended the confequences, and had fmall hopes of any good 
 effecl: of it, protracted the affair, and without absolutely re- 
 futing, fufficiently intimated, that he could not refolve upon 
 it, without doing violence to himfelf. The obflacles and dif- 
 ficulties, made to the young prince's requeft, were fo far from 
 difgufting him, that they only ferved, as it commonly happens, 
 to inflame his defire. The Pythagorean philofophers of, Graecia 
 Major in Italy joined their entreaties with his and Dion's, who 
 on his part redoubled his inftances, and ufed the ftrongefl ar- 
 guments to conquer Plato's repugnance. " This is not," faid 
 he, " the concern of a private perfon, but of a powerful 
 " prince, whofe change of manners will have the fame effect 
 " throughout his whole dominion, with the extent of which 
 " you are not unacquainted. It is himfelf who makes all 
 " thefe advances ; who importunes and folicits you to come 
 " to his affiftance, and employs the intereft of all your friends 
 " to that purpofe. What more favourable conjun&ure could 
 " we expect from the divine providence than that which now 
 " offers itfelf? Are you not afraid that your -delays' will give 
 
 Volume IK
 
 $2$ THE HISTORY OF Bonk JTT. 
 
 " the flatterers who furround the young prince, the oppot- 
 *' t unity of drawing him over to themfelves, and of feducin* 
 ' him to change his resolution ? What reproaches would you 
 " not make yourfelf, and what difhonour would it not be to 
 " philofophy, fhould it ever be faid, that Plato, whofe coun- 
 " fels to Dionyiius might have eftabliftied a wife and equitable 
 " government in Sicily, abandoned it to all the evils of tyran- 
 *' ny, rather than undergo the fatigues of a voyage, or from 
 " I know not what other .imaginary difficulties'" 
 
 e Plato could not refill felicitations of fo much force. Van- 
 quiihed by the confederation- of his own character, and to ob- 
 viate the reproach of his being a philofopher in words only, 
 without having ever {hewn himfelf fuch in his actions , and con- 
 fcious beiides of the great advantages which Sicily might ac- 
 quire from his voyage, he fuffered himfelf to be perfuaded. 
 
 The flatterers of the court of Dionyfius, terrified with the 
 refolution he had taken, contrary to their remonftrances, and 
 fearing the prefence of Plato, of which they forefaw the con- 
 fequences, united together againft him as their common ene- 
 my. They rightly judged, that if, according to the new max- 
 ims of government, all things were to be meafured by the 
 ftandard of true merit, and no favour to be expected from the 
 prince, but for the fervices done the Hate, they had nothing 
 further to expect, and might wait their whole lives at court 
 to no manner of purpofe. They therefore fpared no pains to 
 render Plato's voyage ineffectual, though they were not able to 
 prevent it. They prevailed upon Dionyfius to recal Philiftus 
 from banifhment, who was not only an able foldier, but a great 
 hiflorian, very eloquent and learned, and a zealous aflerter of 
 the tyranny. They hoped to find a counterpoife in him againft 
 Plato and his philofophy. Upon his being banifhed by Dio- 
 nyfius the elder, on fome perfonal difcontent, he retired into 
 the city of Adria, where it was believed he compofed the great- 
 eft part of his writings. f He wrote the hiftory of Egypt in 
 twelve books, that of Sicily in eleven, and of Dionyfius the ty- 
 rant in fix ; all which works are entirely loft. Cicero praifcs- 
 
 Plut. p. 96z. f Diod. 1. xiii. p. ill.
 
 . II. DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 36^ 
 
 him * much, and calls him Thucydides the Lefs, " pene pufil- 
 " lus Thucydides," to fignify that he copied after that author 
 not unhappily. The courtiers at the fame time made com- 
 plaints againft Dion to Dionyfius, accufing him of having held 
 conferences with Herodotus and Heraclides, the fecret enemies 
 of that prince, upon meafures for fubverting the tyranny. 
 
 s This was the ftate of affairs when Plato arrived in Sicily. 
 Ke was received with infinite careffes, and with the highefl 
 marks of honour and refpect. Upon his landing, he found one 
 of the prince's chariots, equally magnificent in its horfes and 
 ornaments, attending upon him. The tyrant offered a facrifice, 
 as if fome fingular inflance of good fortune had befallen him ; 
 nor was he mifiaken, for a wife man, who is capable of giving 
 a prince good counfels, is a treafure of ineilimable value to a 
 whole nation. But the worth of fuch a perfon is rarely known, 
 and more rarely applied to the ufes which might be made of it. 
 
 Plato found the moil happy difpolitions imaginable in young 
 Dionyfius, who applied himfelf entirely to his leffons and coun- 
 fels. But as he had improved infinitely from the precepts and 
 example of Socrates his mailer, the moil exquiiite of all the 
 pagan world, in forming the mind for a right tafte of truth, he 
 took, care to adapt himfelf with wonderful addrefs to the young 
 tyrant's humour, avoiding all direcl attacks upon his paffions ; 
 taking pains to acquire his confidence by kind and infinuating 
 behaviour ; and particularly endeavouring to render virtue 
 amiable, and at the fame time triumphant over vice, which 
 keeps mankind in its chains, by the fole force of allurements, 
 pleafures, and voluptuoufnefs. 
 
 The change was fudden and furprifing. The young prince, 
 who had abandoned himfelf till then to idlenefs, pleafure and 
 luxury, and was ignorant of all the duties of his character, the 
 inevitable confequence of a diffolute life, awaking as from 
 
 Uij 
 
 g Pint, in Dion. p. 
 
 * Hunc (Thucydidem) confecutus eft Syrr.cufus Philiftus, qui cum Dionyfii 
 tyranni familiariffimus eflet, otium fuum confumpfit in hiftoria fcribenda, max- 
 imeque Thucididem eft, ficut mihi videtur, imitatu?. Cic. dc orat. J. ii. n. ^7. 
 
 Siculus ille creber, acutus, brevis, per.s pufillus Thycydidef. Id. epift. xiii, ad
 
 308 THE HISTORY OP Book XL 
 
 a lethargic deep, began to open his eyes, to have fome idea of 
 the beautj of virtue, and to relifh the refined pleafure of con- 
 verfation equally folid and argreeable. He was now as paffion- 
 ately fond of learning and inflrudion, as he had once been a- 
 verfe and repugnant to them. The court, which always apes 
 the prince, and falls in with his inclinations in every thing, 
 entered into the fame way of thinking. The apartments of 
 the palace, like fo many fchools of geometry, were full of the 
 dufl made ufe of by the profeffbrs of that fcience in tracing 
 their figures ; and in a very fhort time the ftudy of philofophy, 
 and of every kind of literature, became the reigning and uni- 
 verfal tafte. 
 
 The great benefit of ihefe ftudies in regard to a prince, does 
 not confifl alone in ftoring his mind with an infinity of the 
 moft curious, ufeful, and often necefiary notions of things, but 
 has the further advantage of abflracling himfelf from idlenefs, 
 indolence, and the frivolous amufements of a court ; of habi- 
 tuating him to a life of application and reflection ; of infpiring 
 him with a paiiion to inform himfelf in .the duties of the fove- 
 reignty, and to know the characters of fuch as have excelled 
 in the art of reigning; in a word, of making himfelf capable 
 of governing the (late in his own perfon, and of feeing every 
 thing with his own eyes ; that is to fay, to be indeed a king ; 
 but that the courtiers and flatterers are almofi always unani- 
 mous in oppofing. 
 
 They were confiderably alarmed by a word that efcaped 
 Dionyfius, and {hewed how much he was affected with the dif- 
 courfes he had heard upon the happinefs of a king, regarded 
 -with tender affection by his people as their common father, 
 and the wretched condition of a tyrant, whom they abhor and 
 deteft. Seme days after Plato's arrival, was Hie anniverfary, 
 on which a folemn facrifice was offered in the palace for the 
 prince's profperity. The herald having prayed to this effeft, 
 according to cuftom, " That it would pleafe the gods to fup- 
 " port the tyranny, and preferve the tyrant :" Dionyfius, who 
 was not far from him, and to whom thcfe terms began to grow 
 odious, called out to him aloud, " Will you not give over
 
 Clap. II. DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 30$ 
 
 " curling me?" Philiftus and his party were infinitely alarmed 
 at that expreffion, and judged from it, that time and habit 
 mufl give Plato an invincible afcendant over Dionyfius, if the 
 correfpondence of a few days could fo entirely alter his difpo- 
 lition. They therefore fet themfelves at work upon new and 
 more effectual ilratagems againft him. 
 
 They began by turning the retired life which Dionyfius led 
 with Plato, and the ftudies in which he employed himfelf, into 
 ridicule, as if intended to make a phiiofopher of him. But 
 that was not all ; they laboured in concert to render the zeal 
 of Dion and Plato fufpected, and even odious to him. They 
 reprefented them as * impertinent cenfors and imperious pe- 
 dagogues, who affumed an authority over him, which neither 
 conlifled with his age nor rank, f It is no wonder that a young 
 prince like Dionyfius, who, with the moft excellent natural 
 parts, and amidft the beft examples, would have found it dif- 
 ficult to have fupported himfelf, fhould at length give way to 
 fuch artful infinuations in a court, that had long been infected, 
 where there \vas no emulation but to excel in vice, and where 
 he was continually befieged by a crowd of flatterers inceffantly 
 praifing and admiring him in every thing. 
 
 But the principal application of the courtiers was to decry 
 the character and conduct of Dion himfelf ; not feparately, 
 nor in the method of whifper, but all together, and in public. 
 They talked openly, and to whoever would give 'them the 
 hearing, that it was vifible, Dion made ufe of Plato's eloquence 
 to infinuate and enchant Dionyfius, with a defign to draw him 
 into a voluntary refignation of the throne, that he might take 
 pofleiHon of it for his nephews, the children of Ariilomache, 
 and eftablifli them in the fovereignty. They added, that it 
 was very extraordinary and afflicting, that the Athenians, who 
 had formerly invaded Sicily with great forces both by fea and 
 land, which had all periihed there without being able to take 
 
 Uiij 
 
 * Tri.les et fii^erc-liofjs alienas vitae cenfures, publicos paedigogos. Sen, 
 epilt, cxxiii. 
 
 t Vix artibus honeflis pudor retinetur, nedum iter certamina vitiorum pudi- 
 cltia, aut mocidlia, r.ut quidquarn prcbimoris icrvaretur. Tacit, annal, l,iv, c. 15.,
 
 310 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 Syracufe, fliould now with a fingle fophift attain their point, 
 and fubvert the tyranny of Dionyfius, by perfuading him to 
 difmifs the ten thoufand ftrangers of his guard ; to lay afide 
 his fleet of four hundred gallies, which he always kept in 
 readinefs for fervice ; and to difband his ten thoufand horfe, 
 and the greateft part of his foot ; for the fake of going to find 
 in the academy, the place where Plato taught, a pretended 
 iupreme good not explicable, and to make himfelf happy in 
 imagination by the ftudy of geometry, whilfl he abandoned to 
 Dion and his nephews a real and fubftantial felicity, confining 
 in empire, riches, luxury, and pleafure. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 'BANISHMENT of DlON. 
 
 JL HE courtiers, intent upon making the beft ufe of every fa- 
 vourable moment, perpetually befieged the young prince, and 
 covering their fecret motives under the appearance of zeal for 
 his fervice, and an affefted moderation in regard to Dion, in- 
 ceffantly advifed him to take proper meafures for the fecurity 
 of his life and throne. Such repeated difcourfes foon raifed 
 in the mind of Dionyfius the moft violent fufpicions of Dion, 
 which prefently increafad into fierce refentment, and broke 
 out in an open rupture. Letters were privately brought to 
 Dionyfius, written by Dion to the Carthaginian ambafladors, 
 wherein he tells them, " That when they fliould treat of peace 
 *' with Dionyfius, he would advife them not to open the con- 
 *' ferences but in his prefence ; becaufe he would affift them 
 " in making their treaty more firm and lafting." Dionyfius 
 read thele letters to Philiftus ; and having concerted with him 
 what meafures to take, h he amufed Dion with the appearance 
 of a reconciliation, and led him alone to the fea fide below 
 the citadel, where he fhewed him his letters, and accufed him 
 of having entered into a league againft him with the Cartha- 
 ginians. Dion would have juitined himfelf, but he refufcd to 
 hear him, and ms.de hirn immtdiately go on board a brig tin- 
 tin?, which had orders to carry him to the coaft of Italy, and 
 fe Li< d. J. xvi p. j-JOj /.\i.
 
 Vvaj>. IL DIONYSIUS THE -YOUNGER. yj. 
 
 to leave him there. Dion immediately after fet fail for Pelo- 
 ponnefus. 
 
 1 So hard and unjuft a treatment could not fail of making 
 abundance of noife, and the whole city declared againft it j 
 efpecially as it was reported, though without foundation, that 
 Plato had been put to death. k Dionyfius, who apprehended 
 the confequences, took pains to appeafe the public difconteiit, 
 and to obviate complaints. He gave Dion's relations two vef- 
 fels to tranfport to him in Peloponnefus his riches and numer- 
 ous family ; for he had the-equipage of a king. 
 
 As fcon as Dion was gone, Dionyfuis made Plato change his 
 lodging, and brought him into the citadel j in anpearance to 
 do him honour, but in reality to aflure himfelf of his perfon, 
 and prevent him from going to join Dion. In bringing Plato 
 near to him, he might alfo have in view -the opportunity of 
 hearing him more frequently and more commodiouuy. For, 
 charmed with the delights of his converfation, and fludious of 
 pleafmg him in every thing, and to merit his aiFeftion, he had 
 conceived an efleem, or rather paflion for him, which rofe even 
 to jealoufy, but a jealoufy of that violence, that could fuffcr 
 neither companion nor rival. He was for ingroffing him en- 
 tirely to himfelf, for reigning folely in his thoughts and affec- 
 tions, and for being the only object of his love and efteem : 
 he feemed content to give him all his treafures and authority, 
 .provided he would but love him better than Dion, and not 
 prefer the latter's friendihip to his. Plutarch has reafon to 
 call this paffion a tyrannic afleclion *. Plato had much to fuf- 
 fer from it ; for it had all the .fymptoms of the mod ardent 
 jealoufy. f Sometimes it was all frienduiip, caretfes, and fond 
 refpect, with an unbounded effufion of heart, and an endlefs 
 Iwell of tender fcntiments : Sometimes it was all reproaches, 
 menaces, fierce paflion, and wild emotion ; and foon after, it 
 
 U iiij 
 
 i Plat. p. 964. k plat. ep ifi. v ii. 
 
 n iparz. 
 
 f- In a ni ore haec omnia infant vitia ; fnfpiciones, inimicitue, injarue, indf;!r.c', 
 ix:lliim, pax rutfurn. Terent, in Eunucli. 
 
 Iji aroore hacc funt m&la, biiikm, pax rurfura. Herat.
 
 3T1 THE HISTORY OF Book XI, 
 
 funk into repentance, excufes, tears, and humble .entreaties of 
 pardon and forgivenefs. 
 
 About this time a war broke out very conveniently for Pla- 
 to, which obliged Dionyfius to reftore him his liberty, and 
 fend him home. At his departure, he would have laden him 
 with prefents ; but Plato refufed them ; contenting himfelf 
 with his promife to recall Dion the following fpring. He did 
 not keep his word, and only f;nt him his revenues, defiling 
 Plato in his letters to excufe his breach of promife at the time 
 prefixed, and to impute it only to the war. He affured him, 
 as foon as peace fliould be concluded, that Dion fhould re- 
 turn ; upon condition, however, that he mould continue quiet, 
 and not intermeddle in affairs, nor endeavour to leffen him in 
 the opinion of the Greeks. 
 
 Plato, in his return to Greece, went to fee the games at 
 Olympia, where he happened to lodge amongft Grangers of 
 diflin&ion. He eat and paffed \vhole days with them, behav- 
 ing himfelf in a plain and fimple manner, without ever men- 
 tioning Socrates or the academy, or making himfelf known 
 in any thing, except that his name was Plato. The ftrangers 
 were overjoyed with having met with fo kind and amiable a 
 companion ; but as he never talked of any thing out of com- 
 mon converfation, they had not the leaft notion, that he wa$ 
 the philofopher whofe reputation was fo univerfal. When 
 the games were over, they went with him to Athens, where 
 he provided them with lodgings. They were fcarce arrived 
 there, when they defired him to carry them to fee the famous 
 philofopher of his name, wh^o had been Socrates's difciple. 
 Plato told them, fmiling, that he was the man ; upon which 
 the ftrangers, furprifcd at their having pofleflfed fo ineftimable 
 a treafure without knowing it, were much difplcafed with, 
 and fecretly reproached themfelves for not having difcerned 
 the great merit of the man, through the veil of fimplicity and. 
 modefty he had thrown over it; whilil they admired him the 
 more upon that account. , 
 
 m The time Dion pafled at Athens was not loft. He em- 
 ployed it chiefly in the ftudy of philofophy, for which he had 
 
 -.in L'i.-n. p '/'.I.
 
 Chap. II. "DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER, 313 
 
 a great tafte, and which was become his paffion. * He knew 
 however, which is not verj eafy, to confine it within its juft 
 bounds, and never gave himfelf up to it at the expence of any 
 duty. It was at the fame time Plato made him contract a par- 
 ticular friendship with his nephew Speufippus, who, uniting 
 the eafy and infinuating manners of a courtier with the gravi- 
 ty of a philofopher, knew how to aflbciate mirth and inno- 
 cent pleafure with the moft ferious affairs, and by that cha- 
 racter, very rarely found amongft men of learning, was the 
 moft proper of all men to foften what was too rough and au- 
 ftere in the humour of Dion. 
 
 Whilft Dion was at Athens, it fell to Plato's turn to give 
 the public games, and to have tragedies performed at the feaft 
 of Bacchus, which was ufually attended with great magnifi- 
 cence and expence, from an extraordinary emulation which 
 had grown into faftiion. Dion defrayed the whole charge. 
 Plato, who was ftudious of all occafions of producing him to 
 the public, was well pleafed to refign that honour to him, as 
 his magnificence might make him {till better beloved and e- 
 ileemed by the Athenians. 
 
 Dion vifited all the other cities of Greece, where he was 
 prefent at all their feafts and afiemblies, and converfed with 
 the moft excellent wits, and the moft profound ftatefmen. He 
 was not diftinguimed in company by the loftinefs and pride 
 too common in perfons of his rank, but, on the contrary, by 
 an unaffe&ed, fimple, and modeft air ; and efpecially by the 
 elevation of his genius, the extent of his knowlege, and the 
 wifdom of his reflections. All cities paid him the higheft ho- 
 nours, and the Lacedaemonians declared him a citizen of 
 Sparta, without regard to the refentment of Dionyfius, tho* 
 he actually affifted them at that time with a powerful fupply 
 in their war againft the Thebans. So many marks of efteem 
 and diftindion alarmed the tyrant's jealoufy. He put a flop 
 to the remittance of Dion's revenues, and ordered them to be 
 received by his own officers. 
 
 * Retinnitque, quod eft difncilJimuzn, ex. fapientia modum. Tacit, ia vit. 
 
 Agric. n. 4,
 
 3X4 THE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 n After Dionyfius had put an end to the war he was enga- 
 ged in in Sicily, of which hiflory relates no circumftance, he 
 was afraid that his treatment of Plato would prejudice the 
 philosophers againft him, and make him pafs for their ene- 
 my. For this reafon he invited the mofl learned men of Ita- 
 ly to his court, where he held frequent aflemblies, in which, 
 out of a foolifh ambition, he endeavoured to excel them all in 
 eloquence and profound knowledge ; venting, without appli- 
 cation, fuch of Plato's difcourfes as he retained. But as he 
 had thofe difcourfes only by rote, and his heart had never 
 been rightly affected with them, the fource of his eloquence 
 was foon exhaufted. He then perceived what he had loft by 
 not having made a better ufe of that treafure of wifdom once 
 in his own pofleffion and under his own roof, and by not hav- 
 ing heard, in all their extent, the admirable lectures of the 
 greateft philofopher in the world. 
 
 As in tyrants every thing is violent and irregular, Dionyfius 
 was fuddenly feized with an exceffive defire of feeing Plato a- 
 gain, and ufed all means for that purpofe. He prevailed up- 
 on Architas, and the other Pythagorean philosophers, to 
 write to him, that he might return with all manner of fecuri- 
 ty ; and to be bound for the performance of all the promifes 
 which had been made to him. They deputed Archidemus 
 to Plato; and Dionyfius fent at the fame time two gallies of 
 three benches of rowers, with feveral of his friends on board, 
 to entreat his compliance. He alfo wrote letters to him with 
 his own hand, in which he frankly declared, that if he would 
 not be perfuaded to come to Sicily, Dion had nothing to ex- 
 pect from him ; but if he came, that he might entirely dif- 
 pofe of every thing in his power. 
 
 Dion received feveral letters at the fame time from his wife 
 and filler, who preiTed him to prevail upon Plato to make the 
 voyage, and to fatisfy the impatience of Dionyfius, that he 
 might have no new pretexts againft him upon that account. 
 Whatever repugnance Plato had to it, he could not refift the 
 ivarm felicitations made to him, and determined to go to Si- 
 cily for the third time, at feventy years of age. 
 3 Plat, cpifl vii. p. 338, 340. Plut. ic Dion. p. 994. 966.
 
 Chap. II. DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 315 
 
 His arrival gave the whole people new hopes, who flattered 
 themfelves, that his wifdom would at length overthrow the 
 tyranny, and the joy of Dionyfius was inexpreffible. He ap- 
 pointed the apartment of the gardens for his lodging, the moil 
 honourable in the palace, and hnd fo much confidence in him, 
 that he fuffered his accefs to him at all hours, without being 
 fearched ; a favour not granted to any of his beft friends. 
 
 After the firft careiTes were over, Plato was for entering in- 
 to Dion's affair, which he had much at heart, and which was 
 the principal motive of his voyage. But Dionyfius put it off 
 at firft ; to which enfued complaints and murmurings, though 
 not outwardly exprefled for fome time. The tyrant took great 
 care to conceal his fentiments upon that head, endeavouring 
 by all manner of honours, and by all pomble regard and com- 
 placency, to abate his friendfhip for Dion. Plato diflembled 
 on his fide ; and though extremely mocked at fo notorious a 
 breach of faith, he kept his opinion to himfelf. 
 
 Whilft they were upon thefe terms, and believed that no- 
 body penetrated their fecret, Helicon of Cyz-icum, one of Pla- 
 to's particular friends, foretold, that on a certain day there 
 would be an eclipfe of the fun ; which happening according 
 to his prediction exactly at the hour, Dionyfius was fo much 
 furprifed and aftoniflied at it, a proof that he was no great 
 philofopher, that he made him a prefent of a talent *. Ari- 
 flippus jefting upon that occafion, faid, that he had alfo fome- 
 thing very incredible and extraordinary to foretell. Upon 
 being preiTed to explain himfelf, " I prophefy," faid he, " that 
 " it will not be long before Dionyfius and Plato, who feem. to 
 " agree fo well with each other, will be enemies." 
 
 Dionyfius verified this prediction ; for being weary of the 
 conftraint he laid upon himfelf, he ordered all Dion's lands 
 and effects to be fold, and applied the money to his own ufe. 
 At the fame time he made Plato quit the apartments in the 
 garden, and gave him another lodging without the caftle in 
 the midft of his guards, who had long hated him, and would 
 have been glad of an opportunity to kill him, becaufe he had 
 gdvifed Dionyfius to renounce the tyranny, to break them, and, 
 * A thoufand crowns.
 
 31 6 THE HISTORY OF Book XI, 
 
 to live without any other guard but the love of his people. 
 Plato was fenfible, that he owed his life to the tyrant's favour, 
 who retrained the fury of his guard. 
 
 Architas, the celebrated Pythagorean philofopher, who was 
 the principal perfon, and fupreme magiftrate of Tarentum, had 
 no fooner heard of Plato's great danger, than he fent ambaf- 
 iadors with a galley of thirty oars to demand him from Dio- 
 nyfius, and to remind him, that he came to Syracufe only up- 
 on his promife, and that of all the Pythagorean philofophers, 
 who had engaged for his fafety ; that therefore he could not 
 retain him againil his will, nor fuller any infult to be done to 
 his perfon, without a manifeft breach of faith, and abfolutely 
 forfeiting the opinion of all honeil men. Thefe jufl remon- 
 ftrances awikened a fenfe of fhame in the tyrant, who at lail 
 permitted Plato to return into Greece. 
 
 a Philofophy and wifdom abandoned the palace with him. 
 To the converfations, as agreeable as ufeful, to that tafte and 
 pailion for the arts and fciences, to the grave and judicious re- 
 flections of a profoundly wife politician, idle tattle, frivolous 
 amufements, and a flupid indolence, entirely averfe to every 
 tiling ferious or reafonable, were feen to fucceed. Gluttony, 
 drankennefs, and debauchery, refumed their empire at the 
 court, and transformed it from the fchool of virtue, which it 
 had been under Plato, into the real flable of Circe. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 DlON fits out to deliver STRACUSE. His DEATH. 
 
 ^WHEN p Plato had quitted Sicily, Dionyfius threw off all rc- 
 ferve, and married his fitter Arete, Dion's wife, to Timocrates^ 
 one of his friends. So unworthy a treatment was, in a man- 
 ner, the fignal of the war. From that moment Dion refolved 
 to attack the tyrant with open force, and to revenge himfelf 
 of all the wrongs he had done him. Plato did all in hh 
 power to make him change his refolution; but finding his en- 
 deavours ineffectual, he foretold the misfortunes he wasabou f 
 
 Plat, in Moral, p. 5^. 
 
 P A. M. 3643. Ant. J. C. 361. P'.ut. in Dion, p. ;66, 968.
 
 Chap. IL DIONYS1US THE TOUN'GEK. 317 
 
 to occafion, and declared, that he mufl expect neither afliftance 
 nor relief from him ; that as he had been the guefl and com- 
 panion of Dionyfius, had lodged in his palace, and joined in 
 the fame facrifices with him, he mould never forget the duties 
 of hofpitality ; and at the fame time, not to be wanting to his 
 friendfhip for Dion, that he would continue neuter, always 
 ready to dilcharge the offices of a mediator between them, 
 though he mould oppofe their defigns, \vhen they tended to 
 the deftrufticn of each other. 
 
 Whether prudence or gratitude, or the convi&ion that Dion 
 could not jultifiably undertake to dethrone Dionyfius ; this was 
 Plato's opinion. On the other hand, Speufippus, and all the 
 reft of Dion's friends, perpetually exhorted him to go arid re- 
 ftore the liberty of Sicily, which opened its arms to him, and 
 was ready to receive him with the utmoft joy. This was in- 
 deed the difpofition of Syracufe, which Speulippus, during his 
 refidence there with Plato, had fufficiently experienced. This 
 was the univerfal cry ; whilft they importuned and conjured 
 Dion to come thither, defiring him not to be in pain for the 
 want of (hips or troops, but only to embark in the firft mer- 
 chant veffel he met with, and lend his perfon and name to the 
 Syracufans againft Dionyfius. 
 
 Dion did not hefitate any longer upon taking that resolution, 
 which in one refpeft coft him not a little. From the time that 
 Dionyfius had obliged him to quit Syracufe and Sicily, he had 
 led in his banifhment the moft agreeable life it was pofllble to 
 imagine, for a perfon, who like him had contracted a tafte for 
 the delights of ftudy. He enjoyed in peace the converfation 
 of the philofophers, and was prefent at their deputations ; 
 mining in a manner entirely peculiar to himfelf, by the great- 
 nefs of his genius, and the folidity of his judgment ; going to all 
 the cities of the learned Greece, to fee and converfe with the 
 moft eminent for knowledge and capacity, and to correfpond 
 with the ableft politicians ; leaving every where the marks of 
 his liberality and magnificence ; equally beloved and refpefted 
 by all that knew him ; and receiving, wherever he came, the 
 higheft honours, which were rendered more to his merit than
 
 gig THE HISTORY OF Sook XL 
 
 his birth. It was from fo happy a life that he withdrew him- 
 felf to go to the relief of his country, which implored his pro- 
 tection, and to deliver it from the yoke of a tyranny under 
 which it had long groaned. 
 
 No enterprife perhaps was ever formed with fo much bold- 
 nefs, or conducted with fo much prudence. Dion began to 
 raife foreign troops privately by proper agents, for the better 
 concealment of his deiign. A great number of confiderable 
 perfons, and who were at the head of affairs, joined with him. 
 But what is very furprifing, of all thofe the tyrant had banifh- 
 ed, and who were no lefs than a thoufand, only twenty-five 
 accompanied him in this expedition ; fo much had fear got 
 pofleflion of them. The ifle of Zacynthus was the place of 
 rendezvous, where the troops aiTembied, to the number of al- 
 moft eight hundred ; but all of them courage-proved on. great 
 occafions, excellently difciplined and robuft, of an audacity and 
 experience rarely to be found amongfl the moil brave and war- 
 like ; and in fine, highly capable of animating the troops which 
 Dion was in hopes of finding in Sicily, and of fetting them the 
 example of fighting with all the valour fo noble an enterprife 
 required. 
 
 But when they were to fet forwards, and it was known that 
 this armament was intended againft Sicily and Dionyfius, for 
 till then it had not been declared, they were all in a confler- 
 nation, and repented their having engaged in the enterprife, 
 which they could not but conceive as the effect of extreme raih- 
 nefs and folly, that in the lafl defpair was for putting every 
 thing to the hazard. Dion had occafion at this time for all 
 his resolution and eloquence to re-animate the troops, and re- 
 move their fears. But after he had fpoke to them, and with 
 an affured though modefl tone, had made them underfland r 
 that he did not lead them in this expedition as foldiers, but 
 as officers, to put them at the head of the Syracufans, and all 
 the people of Sicily, who had been long prepared for a revolt, 
 their dread and fadnefs were changed into fhouts of joy, and 
 they defired nothing fo much as to proceed on their voyage. 
 
 Dion having prepared a magnificent facrifice to be offered to-
 
 Clap. II' DIONTsrUS THE YOUNGER. 319 
 
 Apollo, put himfelf at the head of his troops completely arm- 
 ed, and in that equipage marched in proceffion to the temple, 
 He afterwards gave a great feaft to the whole company, at the 
 nd of which, after the libations and folemn prayers had been 
 made, there happened a fudden eclipfe of the moon. Dion, 
 who was well verfed in the caufes of fuch appearances, reaffured 
 his foldiers, who were at firft in fome terror upon that account. 
 The next day they embarked on board two trading veflels, 
 which were followed by a third not fo large, and by two barks 
 of thirty oars. 
 
 q Who could have imagined, fays an hiftorian, that a man 
 with two merchant- veflels mould ever dare to attack a prince, 
 who had four * hundred mips of war, an hundred thoufand 
 foot, and ten thoufand horfe, with magazines of arms, and 
 corn in proportion, and treafures fufficient to pay and main- 
 tain them ; who, befides all this, was in pofleflion of one of 
 the greateil and ilrongefl cities then in the world, with ports, 
 arfenals, and impregnable citadels, with the additional ftrength 
 and fupport of a great number of potent allies ? The event will 
 {hew, whether force and power are adamantine chains for re- 
 taining a ftate in fubjedion, as the elder Dionyiius flattered 
 himfelf ; or if the goodnefs, humanity, and juilice of princes, 
 and the love of fubjets, are not infinitely flronger and more 
 indiflbluble ties. 
 
 r Dion having put to fea with his fmall body of troops, was 
 twelve days under fail with little wind, and the thirteenth 
 arrived at Pachynus, a cape of Sicily, about twelve or fifteen 
 leagues from Syracufe. When they came up with that place, 
 the pilot gave notice, that they muft land directly, that there 
 
 1 Diod. 1. xvi. p. 413. 
 
 r Plut. in Dion. p. 968 972. Diod. !. xvi. p. 4f4 417. 
 
 * It is not cafy to comprehend, how the two Dionyfii were capable of entertain- 
 ing fo great a force by fea and land, their dominions being onljr a part of Sicily, 
 and confequentlyof no great extent. It is true, that the city of Syracufe had been 
 very mucli enriched by conyr.erce; and that thofe two princes received great con- 
 tributions both from the places of Sicily and Italy in their dependence: But it is Hill 
 no eafy matter to conceive how all this fhould fuffice to the enormous expenoes 
 of Dionyfuis the elder, in fitting out great fleets, raifing and maintaining numer- 
 ous armies, and creeling magnificent buildings. It were to be wifhtd, that hl(h- 
 rians had jivea us ibme better lights upon this head.
 
 320 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 -was reafon to fear an hurricane, and therefore not proper to 
 put to fea. But Dion, who apprehended making his defcent 
 fo near the enemy, and chofe to land further off, doubled the 
 cape of Pachynus, which he had no fooner pafled, than a furi- 
 ous florm arofe, attended with rain, thunder, and lightning, 
 which drove his fhips to the eaflern coafl of Africa, where 
 they were in great danger of dafhing to pieces againfl the 
 rocks. Happily for them, a fouth wind rifing fuddenly, con- 
 trary to expectation, they unfurled ail their fails, and after 
 having made vows to the gods, they flood out to fea for Sicily. 
 They ran in this manner four days ; and on the fifth entered 
 the port of Minoa, a fmall town of Sicily under the Carthagi- 
 nians, whofe commander Synalus was Dion's particular friend 
 and guefl. They were perfectly well received, and would have 
 ftaid there fome time to refrefh themfelves, after the rude fa- 
 tigues they had fuffered during the florm, if they had not been 
 informed that Dionyfius was abfent, having embarked fome 
 days before for the coafl of Italy, attended by fourfcore veflels. 
 The foldiers demanded earneflly to be led on againft the enemy j 
 and Dion, having defired Synalus to fend his baggrge after him 
 when proper, marched directly to Syracufe. 
 
 His troops increafed confiderably upon his route, by the great 
 number of thofe who came to join him from all parts. The 
 news of his arrival being foon knoxvn at Syracufe, Timocrates, 
 who had married Dion's wife, the filler of Dionyfius, to whom 
 he had left the command of the city in his abfence, difpatched 
 a. courier to him into Italy, with advice of Dion's progrefs. But 
 that courier, being almofl at his journey's end, was fo fatigued 
 with having run the befl part of the night, that he found him- 
 felf under the neceflity of flopping to take a little fleep. In 
 the mean time, a wolf, attracted by the fmell of a piece of 
 meat, which he had in his wallet, came to the place, and ran 
 away with both the fiefli and the bag, in which he had alfo 
 put his difpatches. Dionyfius was by tliis means prevented for 
 fome time from knowing that Dion vvas arrived, and then re- 
 ceived the news from other hands. 
 
 When Dion was near the Anapus, which runs about half a
 
 . IL BIONTSIUS THE YOUNGER. 321 
 
 league from the city, he ordered his troops to halt, and offered 
 a facrifice upon the river fide, addreffmg his prayers to the 
 rifing fun. All who were prefent, feeing him with a wreath 
 of flowers upon his head, which he were upon account of the 
 facrifice, crowned themfelves alfo in th ^ fame manner, as ani- 
 mated with one and the fame fpirit. He had been joined on 
 his march by at leaft five thoufand men, and advanced with 
 them towards the city. The moft conliderable of the inha- 
 bitants came out in white habits to receive him at the gates. 
 At the fame time the people fell upon the tyrant's friends, and 
 upon the ipies and informers ; an accurfed race of wretches, 
 THE ENEMIES OF THE GODS AND MENf, fays Plutarch, who made 
 it the buiinefs of their lives to difperfe themfelves into all 
 parts, to mingle with the citizens, to pry into all their affairs, 
 and to report to the tyrant whatever they faid or thought, and 
 often what they neither faid nor thought. Thefe were the firft 
 victims to the fury of the people, and were knocked on the head 
 with ftaves immediately. Timocrates, not able to throw him- 
 felf into the citadel, rode off on horfeback. 
 
 At that inftant Dion appeared within fight of the walls. He 
 marched at the head of his troops magnificently armed, with 
 his brother Megacles on one fide, and Callippus the Athenian 
 on the other, both crowned with chaplets of flowers. After 
 him came an hundred of the foreign foldiers, fine troops, whom 
 he had chofen for his guard. The reft followed in order of 
 battle, with their officers at the head of them. The Syracu- 
 fans beheld them with inexprefiible fatisfalion, and received 
 them as a facred proceffion, whom the gods themfelves regard- 
 ed with pleafure, and who reftored them their liberty with the 
 democracy, forty-eight years after they had been baniihed from 
 their city. 
 
 After Dion had made his entry, he ordered the trumpets to 
 found, to appeafe the noife and tumult ; and filence being made, 
 an herald proclaimed, that " Dion and Megacles were come to 
 " abolifh the tyranny, and to free the Syracufans and all the 
 " people of Sicily from the yoke of the tyrant." And being 
 
 Volume IV. X 
 
 f 'AvSwiVi anfivc xu, 3-17; ''/$?{;,
 
 22 THE HISTORY OF Book XI, 
 
 defirous to harangue the people in perfon, he went to the up- 
 per part, of the city, through the quarter called Achradina. 
 Wherever he patted, the Sjracufans had fet out, on both fides 
 of the ftreets, tables and bowls, and had prepared victims, and 
 as he came before their houfes, they threw all lores of flowers 
 upon him, addreding vows aad prayers to him as to a god. 
 Such was the origin of idolatry, which paid divine honours to 
 thofe who had done the people any great and fignal fervices. 
 And can there be any fervice, any gift, fo valuable as that of 
 liberty ! Not far from tke citadel, and below the place called 
 Pentapylae, flood a fun-dial upon a high pedeflal, erected by 
 Dionyfius. Dion placed himfelf upon it ; and in a fpeech to 
 the people, exhorted them to employ their utmoft efforts for 
 the recovery and prefervation of their liberty. The Syracu- 
 fans, tranfported with what he faid, and to exprefs their gra- 
 tituda and affection, elected him and his brother captain-ge- 
 nerals with fupreme authority ; and by their confent, and at 
 their entreaty, joined with them twenty of the mofl confider- 
 able citizens, half of whom were of the number of thofe who 
 had been banilhed by Dionyfius, and returned with Dion. 
 
 Having afterwards taken the caftle of Epipolis, he fet the 
 citizens who were priibners in it at liberty, and fortified it 
 with flrong works. Dionyfius arrived from Italy feven days 
 after, and entered the citadel by fca. The fame day a great 
 number of carriages brought Dion the arms which he had left 
 with Synalus. Thefe he diftributed amongft the citizens who 
 were unprovided. All the reft armed and equipped themfelves 
 as well as they could, expreffing the greatefl ardour and fatif- 
 faftion. 
 
 Dionyfius began by fending ambafladors to Dion and the 
 Syracufans, with propofals, which feemed very advantageous. 
 The anfwer was, that by way of preliminary, he mud abdi- 
 cate the tyranny ; to which Dionyfius did not feem averfe. 
 From thence he came to interviews and conferences ; which 
 were only feints to gain time, and abate the ardour of the Sy- 
 racufans by the hope of an accommodation. Accordingly, hav- 
 ing made the deputies, who were fent to treat with him, pri-
 
 L DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 323 
 
 foners, he fuddenly attacked, with a great part of his troops, 
 the wall with which the Syracufans had furrounded the cita- 
 del, and made feveral breaches in it. So warm and unexpect- 
 ed an afTault put Dion's foldiers into great confuficn, who 
 immediately fled. Dion endeavoured in vain to flop them ; 
 and believing example more prevalent than words, he threw 
 himfelf fiercely into the midfl of the enemy, where he flood 
 their charge with intrepid courage, and killed great numbers 
 of them. He received a wound in the hand from a fpear ; 
 his arms were fcarce proof againfl the great number of darts 
 thrown at him, and his fhield being pierced through in many 
 places with fpears and javelins, he was at length beat down. 
 His foldiers immediately brought him off from the enemy. 
 He left Timonides to command them ; and getting on horfe- 
 back, rode through the whole city, flopped the flight of the 
 Syracufans, and taking the foreign foldiers, whom he had left 
 to guard the quarter called Achradina, he led them on frcfh 
 againfl Dionylius's troops, who were already fatigued, and en- 
 tirely difcouraged by fo vigorous aad unexpected a refiilance. 
 It was now no longer a battle, but a purfuit. A great num- 
 ber of the tyrant's troops were killed on the fpot, and the reft 
 efcaped with difficulty into the citadel. This victory was fig- 
 nal and glorious. The Syracufans, to reward the valour of 
 the foreign troops, gave each of them a confide rable fum of 
 money ; and thofe foldiers, to honour Dion, preiented him 
 with a crown of gold. 
 
 Scon after came heralds from Dionyfius, with feveral let- 
 ters for Dion from the women of his family, and with one 
 from Dionyiius himfelf. Dion ordered them all to be read in 
 a full aflembly. That of Dionyiius was couched in the form 
 of a requeft and j unification, intermixed however with the 
 mod terrible menaces againfl the perfons who were dearefl to 
 Dion ; his fifler, wife, and fon. It was written with an art and 
 addrefs exceedingly proper to render Dion fufpected. Diony- 
 fius puts him in mind of the ardour and zeal he had formerly 
 exprefTed for the fupport of the tyranny. He exhorts him 
 at a diftance, and with fome cbfcurity, though eafy enough 
 
 Xij
 
 324 THE HISTORY OF Book XI, 
 
 to be underflood, not to abolifti it entirely ; but to preferve it: 
 for himfelf. He advifes him not to give the people their li- 
 berty, who were far from affecting him at heart ; nor to aban- 
 don his own fafety, and that of his friends and relations, to the 
 capricious humour of a violent and inconflant multitude. 
 
 c The reading of this letter, had the effect Dionyfias propo- 
 JTed from it. The Sjracufans, without regard to Dion's good- 
 nefs to them, and the greatnefs of his foul in forgetting his 
 deareft intereils, and the ties of nature to reftore them their 
 liberty, took umbrage at his too great authority, and conceived 
 injurious fufpicions of him. The arrival of Heraclides confirm- 
 ed them in their fentiments, and determined them to act ac- 
 coi'dingly. He was one of the baniftied perfons, a good fol- 
 dier, and well known amongft the troops, from having been 
 in considerable commands under the tyrant, very bold and am- 
 bitious, and a fecret enemy of Dion's, between whom and 
 himfelf there had been fome difference in Peloponnefus. He 
 came to Syracufe w r ith feven gallies of three benches of cars, 
 and three other veffels, not to join Dion, but in the refo- 
 lution to march with his own forces againit the tyrant, whom 
 he found reduced to fliut himfelf up in the citadel. His firft 
 endeavour was to ingratiate himfelf with the people 9 for which 
 an open and infinuating behaviour made him very fit, whilil 
 Dion's auftere gravity was offenfive to the multitude ; efpe- 
 cially as they were become more haughty and untractable from 
 the laft victory, and * expected to be treated like a popular 
 Hate, even before they could call themfelves a free people ; 
 that is to fay, in the full fenfe of the Greek terms, they were, 
 for being ufed with complaifance, flattery, regard, and a de- 
 ferencf to all their capricious humours. 
 
 What gratitude could be expected from a people, that con- 
 fulted only their paffions and blind prejudices ? The Syracufans 
 formed an affembly immediately upon their own accord, and 
 chofe Heraclides admiral. Dion came unexpectedly thither* 
 and complained highly of fuch a proceeding ; as the charge 
 conferred upon Heraclides, was an abridgment of his office ; 
 
 t Plut. in Dion. p. 972, 975. Died. I. xvi, p. c,i<), 4*Z. 
 * rty TV fauej Stxi, 70
 
 Cvap. II. DIONTSIUS THE YOUNGER. 325 
 
 that he was no longer generaliflimo, if another commanded at 
 fea. Thofe remonflrances obliged the Syracufans, againft their 
 will, to deprive Heraclides of the office they had fo lately con- 
 ferred upon him. When the aflembly broke up, Dion fent for 
 him, and after forue gentle reprimands for his ftrange conduct 
 with regard to him in fo delicate a conjuncture, wherein the 
 lead divifion amongft them might ruin every thing, he fum- 
 moned a new alfembly himfelf, and, in the prefence of the 
 whole people, appointed Heraelides admiral, and gave him a 
 guard, as he had himfelf. 
 
 He thought by the force cf kind offices to get the better of 
 his rival's ill-will, who, in his expreffions and outward beha- 
 viour, made his court to Dion, confeffed his obligations to 
 him, and obeyed his orders with a promptitude and punclua- 
 lity, which expreffed an entire devotion to his fervice, and a 
 delire of eccafions to do him pleafure. But underhand, by his 
 intrigues and cabals, he influenced the people againft him, and 
 oppofed his defigns in every thing. If Dion gave his confent 
 that Dionyfms mould quit the citadel by treaty, he was accufed 
 of favouring, and intending to fave him : If, to fatisfy them, 
 he continued the fiege without hearkening to any propofals of 
 accommodation, they did not fail to reproach him with the 
 deiire of protracting the war, for the fake of continuing in 
 command, and to keep the citizens in awe and refpect. 
 
 Philiftus, who came to the tyrant's relief with feveral gallies, 
 having been defeated and put to death, Dionyfius fent to offer 
 Dion the citadel with the arms and troops in it, and money to 
 pay them for five months, if he might be permitted by a treaty 
 to retire into Italy for the reft of his life, and be allowed the 
 revenue of certain lands, which he mentioned, in the* neigh- 
 bourhood of Syracufe. The Syracufans, who were in hopes 
 of taking Dionyfius alive, rejected thofe propofals ; and Dio- 
 nyfius, defpairing of reconciling them to his terms, left the 
 citadel in the hands of his eldeft fon Apollocrates, and taking 
 the advantage of a favourable wind u , embarked for Italy with 
 
 Xiij 
 
 '' A. M. 3644. Ant. j. C. 360.
 
 326 THE HISTORY OF Book XI, 
 
 his treafures and effects of the greatefl value, and fuch of his 
 friends as were dearefl to him. 
 
 Heraclides, who commanded the gallies, was very much 
 blamed for having fuffered him to efcape by his negligence. 
 To regain the people's favour, he propofed a new diftribution 
 of lands, insinuating, that as liberty was founded in equality, 
 fo poverty was the principle of fervitude. Upon Dion's oppof- 
 ing this motion, Heraclides perfuaded the people to reduce the 
 pay of the foreign troops, who amounted to three thoufand 
 men, to declare a new divifion of land, to appoint new gene-> 
 rals, and deliver themfelves in good time from Dion's infup- 
 portable feverity. The Syracufans agreed, and nominated 
 twenty- five new officers, Heraclides being one of the number. 
 At the fame time they fent privately to folicit the foreign 
 foldiers to abandon Dion, and to join with them, promifing to 
 give them a fhare in the government as natives and citizens. 
 Thofe generous troops received the offer with difdain ; and 
 then placing Dion in the centre of them, with a fidelity and 
 affection of which there are few examples, they made their 
 bodies and their arms a rampart for him, and carried him out 
 of the city without doing the leail violence to any body ; but 
 warmly reproaching all they met with ingratitude and perfidy. 
 The Syracufans, who contemned their frnall number, and at- 
 tributed their moderation to fear and want of courage, began 
 to attack them, not doubting but they fhould defeat, and put 
 them all to the fword, before they got out of the city. 
 
 Dion, reduced to the neceflity of either fighting the citizens, 
 or periihing with his troops, held out his hands to the Syra- 
 cufans, imploring them in the moil tender and affectionate 
 manner ,to defill, and pointing to the citadel full of enemies, 
 who faw all that palled with the utmoft joy. But finding them 
 deaf and infenfible to all his remonftrances, he commanded his 
 foldiers to march in clofe order without attacking ; which they 
 obeyed, contenting themfelves with making a great noife with 
 their arms, and railing great cries, as if they were going to 
 fiill upon the Syracufans. The latter were difmayed with thofe 
 appearances, and ran away in every ilreet v/ithont being pur.
 
 Chap. //, DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 327 
 
 fued. Dion haflened the inarch of his troops towards the 
 country of the Leontines. 
 
 The officers of the Syracufans, laughed at and ridiculed by 
 the women of the city, were defirous to retrieve their honour, 
 and made their troops take arms, and return to the purftiit of 
 Dion. They came up with him at the pafs of a river, and 
 made their horfe advance to fkirmim. But when they faw 
 that Dion was refolved in earnell to repel their infults, and 
 had made his troops face about with great indignation, they 
 were again feized with terror ; and taking to their heels in a 
 more fhameful manner than before, made all the hafte they 
 could to regain the city. 
 
 y The Leontines received Dion with great marks of honour 
 and efteem. They alfo made prefents to his foldiers, and de- 
 clared them free citizens. Some days after which they fent 
 ambaffadors to demand juflice for the ill treatment of thofe 
 troops to the Syracufans, who en their fide fent deputies to 
 complain of Dion. Syracufe was intoxicated with inconiide- 
 rate joy and infolent profperity, which entirely banifhed reflec- 
 tion and judgment. 
 
 Every thing confpired to fwell and inflame their pride. The 
 citadel was fo much reduced by famine, that the foldiers of 
 Bionyfuis, after having fuffered very much, refolved at lafl to 
 furrender it. They fent in the night to make that propofa], 
 and were to perform conditions the next morning. But at 
 clay-break, whilil they were preparing to execute the treaty, 
 Nypiius, an able and valiant general, whom Dionyfius had 
 fent from Italy with corn and money to the befieged, appeared 
 with his gallies, and anchored near Arethufa. Plenty fucceed- 
 ing on a fudden to famine ; Nypfius landed his troops, and 
 fummoned an affembly, wherein he made a fpeech to the fol- 
 diers fuitable to the prefent conjuncture, which determined 
 them to hazard all dangers. The citadel, that was upon the 
 point of furrendering, was relieved in this manner, contrary 
 to all expectation. 
 
 The Syracufans at the fame time hailened on board their 
 
 Pl.it. p. 975, 9?i. Diod p. 4Si, 4?3-
 
 328 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 gallies, and attacked the enemy's fleet. They funk fome of 
 their mips, took others, and purfued the reft to the (hore. 
 But this very vi&ory was the occalion of their ruin. Aban- 
 doned to their own difcretion, without either leader or au- 
 thority to command them, or counfel, the officers as well as fol- 
 diers gave themfelves up to rejoicing, feafling, drinking, de- 
 bauchery, and every kind of loofe excefs. Nypfius knew well 
 how to take advantage of this general infatuation. He at- 
 tacked the wall that inclofed the citadel ; of which having made 
 himfelf mafter, he demolifhed it in feveral places, and permit- 
 ted his foldiers to enter and plunder the city. All things were 
 in the utmoft confufion. Here the citizens, half afleep, had 
 their throats cut ; there, houfes were plundered; whilft the 
 women and children were driven off into the citadel, without 
 regard to their tears, cries and lamentations. 
 
 There was but one man who could remedy this misfortune, 
 and preferve the city. This was in every body's thoughts, 
 but no one had courage enough to propofe it ; fo much 
 afhamed were they of the ungenerous manner in which they 
 had driven him out. As the danger increafed every moment, 
 and already approached the quarter Achradina, in the height 
 of their extremity and defpair, a voice was heard from the 
 horfe and allies, which faid, " That it was abfolutely necef- 
 *' fary to recal Dion and the Peloponnefian troops from the 
 " country of the Leontines." As foon as any body had cou- 
 rage enough to utter thofe words, they were the general cry of 
 the Syracufans, who, with tears of joy and grief, made prayers 
 to the gods, that they would bring him back to them. The 
 hope alone of feeing him again, gave them new courage, and 
 enabled, them to make head againfl the enemy. The depu- 
 ties fet out immediately with full fpeed, and arrived at the 
 city of Leontium late in the evening. 
 
 As -foon as they r.lighted, they threw themfelves at Dion '3 
 feet, bathed. in their tears, and related the deplorable extremi- 
 ty to which the Syracufans were reduced. Some of the Le- 
 ontines, and fcvcral of the Peloponnefian foldiers, who had 
 /"ten them arrive, were r.Ircr.dy got round Dion, and conceiv-
 
 Clap, II. DTONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 329 
 
 ed righly, from their emotion and proftrate behaviour, that 
 Something \ery extraordinary had happened. Dion had no 
 fooner heard what they had to fay, than he carried them with 
 him to the auembly, which formed itfelf immediately ; for 
 the people ran thither with abundance of eagernefs. The 
 two principal deputies explained in a few words the greatnefs 
 of their diftrefs, and " implored the foreign troops to haften 
 " to the relief of the Syracufans, and to forget the ill treat- 
 " ment they had received ; and the rather, becaufe that un- 
 *' fortunate people had already paid a feverer penalty for it, 
 " than the mofl injured amongft them would defire to itn- 
 " pofe." 
 
 The deputies having iinimed their difcourfe, the whole 
 ' theatre, where the afTembly was held, continued fad and fi- 
 Jent. Dion rofe ; but as foon as he began to fpeak, a torrent 
 of tears fuppreffed his utterance. The foreign foldiers called 
 out to him to take courage, and exprefled a generous compaf- 
 lion for his grief. At length, having recovered himfelf a 
 little, he fpoke to them in thefe terms : " Men of Pelopon- 
 " nei'us, and you our allies, I have affembled you here, that 
 " you might deliberate upon what regards yourf elves ; as for 
 " my part, I muft not deliberate upon any thing when Syra- 
 " cufe is in danger. If I cannot preferve it, I go to perifh 
 " with it, and to bury myfelf in its ruins. But for you, if 
 " you are refolved to affift us once more ; us, who are the 
 " moft imprudent and mofl unfortunate of mankind ; come 
 " and relieve the city of Syracufe, from henceforth the work 
 " of your hands. If not, and the juil fubjech of complaint, 
 " which you have againfl the Syracufans, determine you to 
 " abandon them in their prefent condition, and to fuffer them 
 " to perilh ; may you receive from the immortal gods the 
 " reward you merit for the affe&ion and fidelity which you 
 " have hitherto exprefled for me. For the reft, I have only 
 " to deiire, that you will keep Dion in your remembrance, 
 *' who did not abandon you when unworthily treated by his 
 " country, nor his country, when fallen into misfortunes." 
 
 lie had no fooner ceafed fpeaking, when the foreign fol.
 
 330 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 diers rofe up with loud cries, and entreated him to lead them 
 on that moment to the relief of Syracufe. The deputies, 
 tranfported with joy, faluted and embraced them, praying the 
 gods to bellows upon Dion and them all kind of happinefs and 
 profperity. When the tumult was appeafed, Dion ordered 
 them to prepare for the march, and as foon as they had flip- 
 ped, to return with their arms to the fame place, being de- 
 termined to fet out the fame night, and fly to the relief of his 
 country. 
 
 In the mean time, at Syracu fe, the officers of Dionyfius, af- 
 ter having dohe all the mifchief they could to the city, retired 
 at night into the citadel with the lofs of fome of their foldiers. 
 This fliort refpite gave the feditious orators new courage, who, 
 flittering themfelves that the enemy would lie ftill after what 
 they had done, exhorted the Syracufans to think no further 
 of Dion, not to receive him if he came to their relief with his 
 foreign troops, nor to yield to them in courage, but to defend 
 their city and liberty wich their own arms and valour. New 
 deputies were inflantly difpatched from the general officers to 
 prevent his coming, and from the principal citizens and his 
 friends, to defire him to haften his march ; which difference 
 of fentiments, and contrariety of advices, occafioned his march- 
 ing flowly, and by fmall journies. 
 
 When the night was far fpent, Dion's enemies feized the 
 gates of the city, to prevent his entrance. At the fame in- 
 ilant Nypfius, well apprifed of all that pafled in Syracufe, 
 made a fally from the citadel with a greater body of troops, 
 and more determinate than before. They demclifhed the wall 
 that inclofed them entirely, and entered the city, which they 
 plundered. Nothing but {laughter and blocd was feen every 
 where. Nor did they flop for the pillage ; but feemed to have 
 no other view, than to ruin and deflroy all before them. One 
 would have thought, the fon of Dionyfius, whom his father 
 had left in the citadel, being reduced to defpair, and prompt- 
 ed by an excefs of hatred for the Syracufans, was determined 
 to bury the tyranny in the ruins of the city. To prevent 
 Dion's relief of it, they had recourfe to fire, the fwiiteft of
 
 Clap. IL DICNYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 33! 
 
 definitions ; burning with torches and lighted ftraw, all places 
 within their power, and darting combuftibles againit the reft. 
 The Syracufans, who fled to avoid the flames, were butchered 
 in the ftreets ; and thofe who, to fhun the all-murdering fword, 
 retired into the houfes, were driven out of them again by the 
 incroaching fire ; for there were abundance of houfes burning, 
 and many that fell upon the people in the ftreets. 
 
 Thefe very flames opened the city for Dion, by obliging 
 the citizens to agree in not keeping the gates fhut againft him. 
 Couriers after couriers were difp^tched to haften his march. 
 Heraclides himfelf, his mofl declared and mortal eiiemy, de- 
 puted his brother, and afterwards his uncle Theodotus, to 
 conjure him to advance with the utmoft fpeed, there being no 
 body befides himfelf to make head againfl the enemy, he be- 
 ing wounded, and the city almofl entirely ruined, and reduced 
 to afhes. 
 
 Dion received the news when he was about fixty * fladia 
 from the gates. His foldiers upon that occafion marched with 
 the utmoft diligence, and with fo good a will, that it was not 
 long before he arrived at the walls of the city. He there de- 
 tached his light-armed troops againft the enemy, to reanimate 
 the Syracufans by the fight of them. He then drew up his 
 heavy-armed infantry, and the citizens who came running to 
 join him on all fides. He divided them into fmall parties, of 
 greater depth than front, and put different officers at the head 
 of them, that they might be capable of attacking in feveral 
 places at once, and appear ftronger and more formidable to 
 the enemy. 
 
 After having made thefe difpofitions, and prayed to the 
 gods, he marched acrofs the city againft the enemy. In eve. 
 ry ftreet as he paiTed, he was welcomed with acclamations, 
 cries of joy, and fongs of victory, mingled with the prayers 
 and bleflings of all the Syracufans ; who called Dion their 
 preferver and their god, and his foldiers, their brothers and 
 fellow-citizens. At that inftant, there was not a fingle man 
 
 * Two or three leagues,
 
 332 THE HISTORY OF oo XL 
 
 in the city fo fond of life, as not to be much more in paia for 
 Dion's fafety than his own, and not to fear much more for 
 him than for all the reft together, feeing him march foremoft 
 to fo great a danger, over blood, fire, and dead bodies, with 
 which the ftreets and public places were univerfally covered. 
 
 On the other hand, a view of the enemy was no lefs ter- 
 rible: For they were animated by rage and defpair, and were 
 pofted in line of battle behind the ruins of the wall they had 
 thrown down, which made the approach very difficult and 
 dangerous. They were under the neceffity of defending the 
 citadel, which was their fafety and retreat, and dunl not re- 
 move from it, left their communication fhould be cut off. But 
 what was mod capable of difoidering and difcouraging Dion's 
 foldiers, and made their march very painful and difficult, was 
 the fire. For wherever they turned themfelves, they marched 
 by the light of the houfes in flames, and were obliged to go 
 over ruins in the midft of fires j expofing themfelves to being 
 crufhed in pieces by the fall of walls, beams and roofs of 
 houfes, which tottered half confumed by the flames, and under 
 the neceffity of keeping their ranks, whilfl they opened their 
 way through frightful clouds of fmoke mingled \vith duft. 
 
 When they had joined the enemy, only a very fmall num- 
 ber on each fide were capable of coming to blows, from the 
 want of room, and the unnevennefs "of the ground. But at 
 length, Dion's foldiers, encouraged and fupported by the cries 
 and ardour of the Syracufans, charged the enemy with fuch 
 redoubled vigour, that the troops of Nypfius gave way. The 
 greateft part of them efcaped into the citadel, which was very 
 near; and thofe who remained without, being broken, were 
 cut to pieces in the purfuit by the foreign troops. 
 
 The time would not admit their making immediate rejoi- 
 cings for their victory, in the manner fo great an exploit de- 
 fervedj the Syracufans being obliged to apply to the preferv- 
 ation of their houfes, and to pafs the whole night in extin- 
 guifhing the fire ; which however they did not effecl: without 
 great difficulty. 
 
 At the return of day, none of the feditious orators duril
 
 Clap. II. DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 333 
 
 flay in the city ; but all fled, felf-condemned, to avoid the pit- 
 nifhment dae to their crimes. Only Heraclides and Theodo- 
 tus came to Dion, and put themfelves into his hands, confefiT- 
 ing their injurious treatment of him, and conjuring him not 
 to imitate their ill condul : That it became Dion, fuperior 
 as he was in all other refpeclis to the reft of mankind, to fhew 
 himfelf as much fo in that greatnefs of foul, which could con- 
 quer refentment and revenge, and forgive the ungrateful, who 
 owned themfelves unworthy of his pardon. 
 
 Heraclides and Theodotus having made thefe fupplications, 
 Dion's friends advifed him not to fpare men of their vile and 
 malignant difpofition ; but to abandon Heraclides to the fol- 
 diers, and in. fo doing exterminate from the flate that fpirit of 
 fedition and intrigue ; a diilemper that has really fomething 
 of madnefs in it, and is no lefs to be feared, from its pernici- 
 ous confequences, than tyranny itfelf. But Dion, to appeafe 
 them, faid, " That other captains generally made the means 
 " of conquering their enemies their fole application ; that for 
 " his part, he had paffed much time in the academy, in learn- 
 " ing to fubdue anger, envy, and all the jarring paflions of 
 " the mind : That the fign of having conquered them, is not 
 " kiadnefs and affability to friends and perfons of merit ; but 
 " treating thofe with humanity who have injured us, and in 
 " being always ready to forgive them : That he did not de- 
 " fire fo much to appear fuperiour to Heraclides in power and 
 " ability, as in wifdom and juftice ; for in that, true and ef- 
 " fential fuperiority confifls. That if Heraclides be wicked, 
 " invidious, and perfidious, muft Dion contaminate and dif- 
 " honour himfelf with low refentment ! It is true, accord - 
 " ing to human laws, there feems to be lefs injuflice in re- 
 " venging an injury, than comrrkting it; but if we confult 
 " nature, we mall find both the one and the other to have 
 " their rife in the fame weakness of mind. Befides, there is 
 " no difpofition fo obdurate and favage, but may be vanquifh- 
 " ed by the force of kind ufage and obligations," Dion up- 
 on thefe maxims pardoned Heraclides. 
 
 His next application was to inclofe the citadel with a new
 
 334 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 work ; and he ordered each of the Syracufans to go and cut a 
 large ftake. In the night, he fet his foldiers to work, whilil 
 the Syracufans took their red. He furrounded the citadel in 
 this manner with a ftrong pallifade, before it was perceived ; fo 
 that in the morning, the greatnefs of the work, and the fud- 
 dennefs of the execution, were matter of admiration for all 
 the world, as well the enemy as the citizens. 
 
 Having finimed this pallifade, he buried the dead ; and dif- 
 jniffing the prifoners taken from the enemy, he fummoncd an 
 aflembly. Heraclides propofed in it, that Dion mould be e- 
 lefted generaliffimo with fupreme authority by fea and land. 
 All the people of worth, and the moft confiderable of the ci- 
 tizens, were pleafed with the propofal, and delired that it 
 might have the authority of the aflembly. But the mariners 
 and artifans were forry that Heraclides mould lofe the office 
 of admiral ; and convinced, that although he were little e- 
 flimable in all other refpecls, he would at leafl be more for 
 the people than Dion, they oppofed it with all their power. 
 Dion, to avoid difturbance and confufion, did not infift upon 
 that point, and acquiefced that Heraclides fhould continue to 
 command in chief at fea. But his oppofmg the diflribntion 
 of lands and houfes, which they were earned for having taken 
 place, and his cancelling and annulling whatever had been de- 
 creed upon that head, embroiled him with them irretrievably. 
 
 Heraclides, taking advantage of a difpofition fo favourable 
 to his views, did not fail to revive his cabals and intrigues ; 
 as appeared openly by an attempt of his to make himfelf maf- 
 ter of Syracufe, and to (hut the gates upon his rival : But it 
 proved unfuccefsful. A Spartati, who had been fent to the aid 
 of Syracufe, negotiated a new accommodation between Hera- 
 clides and Dion, under the ftricteft oaths, and the ftrongefl 
 aiTurances of obediences on the fide of the former ; weak ties 
 to a man void of faith and probity. 
 
 The Syracufans, having dilmifled their fea forces, who were 
 become unneceflary, applied folely to the fiege of the citadel, 
 and rebuilt the wall waich had been thrown down. A:, no 
 relief came to the befieged, and bread began to fall fhort with
 
 Clap. IL DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 335 
 
 them, the foldiers grew mutinous, and would obferve no dif- 
 cipline. The fon of Dionyfius, finding himfelf without hope 
 or refource, capitulated with Dion, to furrender the citadel, 
 with all the arms and munitions of war. He carried his mo- 
 ther and lifters awaj with him, filled five gallies with his 
 people and effects, and went to his father ; for Dion gave him 
 entire liberty to retire unmolefted. It is eafy to conceive the 
 joy of the city upon his departure. Women, children, old 
 people, all were paflionately fond of gratifying their eyes from 
 the port with fo agreeable a fpectacle, and to folemnize the 
 joyful day, on which, after fo many years fervitude, the fun 
 arofe for the firft time upon the Syracufan liberty. 
 
 Apollocrates having fet fail, and Dion begun his march to 
 enter the citadel, the princeflfes, who were there, did not ftay 
 till he arrived, but came out to meet him at the gates. Arifto- 
 mache led the fon of Dion ; after whom came Arete, his wife, 
 with her eyes fixed upon the ground, and full of tears. Dion 
 embraced his filler firft, and afterwards his fon. Ariftomache 
 then prefenting Arete to him, fpoke thus : " The tears you 
 " fee her flied, the fhame exprefied in her looks, at the time 
 " your prefence reflores us life and joy, her filence itfelf, and 
 " her confufion, fufficiently denote the grief me fuffers at the 
 " fight of an huflband, to whom another has been fubftituted 
 " contrary to her will, but who alone has always poffefled her 
 " heart. Shall flie falute you as her uncle, fhall fhe embrace 
 " you as her hufhand?" Ariftomache having fpoke in this 
 manner, Dion, with his face bathed in tears, tenderly embraced 
 his wife ; to whom he gave his fon, and fent them home to 
 his houfe ; becaufe he thought proper to leave the citadel to 
 the difcretion of the Syracufans, as an evidence of their liberty. 
 
 For himfelf, after having rewarded with a magnificence truly 
 royal all thofe that had contributed to his fuccefs, according 
 to their rank and merit, at the height of glory and happinefs, 
 and the object not only of Sicily, but of Carthage and all Greece, 
 who efteemed him the wifeft and moft fortunate captain that 
 ever lived, he conftantly retained his original Simplicity ; as 
 modeft and plain in his garb, equipage, and table, as if he had
 
 33^ THE HISTORY OF 
 
 lived in the academy with Plato, and not with people bred in 
 armies, with officers and foldiers, who often breathe nothing 
 but pleafures and magnificence. Accordingly, at the time Plato 
 wrote to him, " That the eyes of all mankind were upon him 
 alone ;" little affected with that general admiration, his thoughts 
 were always intent upon the academy, that fchool of wifdom 
 and virtue, where exploits and fucceiTes were not judged from 
 the external fplendor and noife with which they are attended, 
 but from the wife and moderate ufe of them. 
 
 Dion defigned to eftablifh a form of government in Syracufe, 
 compofed of the Spartan and Cretan, but wherein the arifto- 
 cratical was always to prevail, and to decide important affairs 
 by the authority, which, according to his plan, was to be 
 veiled in a council of elders. Heraclides again oppofed him 
 in this fcheme, ftill turbulent and feditious according to cuf- 
 tom, and folely intent upon gaining the people by flattery, 
 careffes, and other popular arts. One day, when Dion fent 
 for him to the council, he anfwered that he would not come ; 
 and that, being only a private perfon, he mould be in the af- 
 fembly with the reft of the citizens, whenever it was fummon- 
 ed. His view, in fuch behaviour, was to make his court to 
 the people, and to render Dion odious ; who, weary of his 
 repeated infults, permitted thofe to kill him he had formerly 
 prevented. They accordingly went to his houfe and difpatch- 
 ed him. We lhall fee prefently Dion's own fenfe of this ac- 
 tion. 
 
 The Syracufans were highly affe&ed for his death ; but as 
 Dion folemnized his funeral with great magnificence, follow- 
 ed his body in perfon at the head of his whole army, and after- 
 wards harangued the people upon the occafion, they were ap- 
 peafed, and forgave him the murder ; convinced, th.it it was 
 impoffible for the city ever to be free from commotions and 
 fedition, whilft Heraclides and Dion governed together. 
 
 z After that murder Dion never knew joy or peace of mind, 
 An hideous fpeclre, which he faw in the night, iilled him 'with, 
 trouble, terror, and melancholy. The phantom feemed a wo- 
 man of enormous ftature, who, in her attire, air, and haggard 
 z Plut. p. 981 983. Diod. p. 43:.
 
 Clap. IL DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 337 . 
 
 looks, refembled a fury fweeping his houfe with violence. His 
 fon's death, who for fome unknown grief had thrown himfelf 
 from the roof an houfe, paffed for the accomplifhment of 
 that ominous apparition, and was the prelude to his misfor- 
 tunes. Callippus gave the laft hand to them. He was an. 
 Athenian, with whom Dion had contracted an intimate friend- 
 fhip, whilft he lodged in his houfe at Athens, and with whom 
 he lived ever after with entire freedom and unbounded con- 
 fidence. Callippus having given himfelf up to his ambitious 
 views, and entertained thoughts of making himfelf mailer of 
 Syracufe, threw off all regard for the facred ties of friendfhip 
 and hofpitality, and contrived to get rid of Dion, who was the 
 fole obilacle to his defigns. Notwithftanding his care to con- 
 ceal them, they got air, and came to the ears of Dion's lifter 
 and wife, who loft no time, and fpared no pains, to difcover 
 the truth by a very ftricl inquiry. To prevent its effedls, he 
 went to them with tears in his eyes, and the appearance of be- 
 ing inconfolable, that any body mould fufpedt him of fuch a 
 crime, or think him capable of fo black a defign. They in- 
 iifted upon his taking the Great ath, as it was called. The 
 perfon who fwore it, was wrapped in the purple mantle of the 
 goddefs Proferpine, and holding a lighted torch in his hand, 
 pronounced in the temple the moft dreadful execrations againft 
 himfelf it is poffible to imagine. 
 
 The oath coft him nothing ; but did not convince the prin- 
 ceffes. They daily received new intimation of his guilt from 
 feveral hands, as did Dion himfelf, whofe friends in general 
 perfuaded him to prevent Callippus's crime by a juft and fudden 
 puniflwnent. But he never could refolve upon it. The death 
 of Heraclides, which he looked upon as an horrible blot in his 
 reputation and virtue, was perpetually prefent to his troubled 
 imagination, and renewed by continual terrors his grief and re- 
 pentance. Tormented night and day b}- that cruel remem- 
 brance, he profeffed, that he had rather die a thoufand deaths, 
 and prefent his throat himfelf to whoever would kill him, than 
 to live under the neceffity of continual precautions, not only, 
 againft his enemies, but the beft of his friends. 
 
 Folume IF, Y
 
 338- -HE HISTORY OF Bool XI, 
 
 Calippus ill deferved that name. Ke haflened the execu- 
 tion of his crime, and caufed Dion to be affaflinated in his own 
 houfe by the Zacjnthian foldiers, who were entirely devoted 
 to his intereft. The iiiler and wife of that prince were put in- 
 to prifon, where the latter was delivered of a fon, which flie 
 refolved to nurfe there herfelf. 
 
 a After this murder, Callippus was fome time in a fplendid 
 condition, having made himfelf mafler of Syracufe, by the 
 means of the troops, who were entirely devoted to his fervice, 
 in effeci of the gifts he bellowed upon them. The Pagans be- 
 lieved, that the divinity ought to puniih great crimes in a fucU 
 den and extraordinary manner in this life : And Plutarch ob- 
 ferves, that the fuccefs of Callippus occaiioned very great com- 
 plaints againft the gods T as fufFering,. calmly and without indig- 
 nation, the vilefl of men to raife himfelf to fo exalted a fortune 
 by fo deteftable and impious a method. But providence was 
 not long without juftifying itfelf ;. for Calippus foon fuffered 
 the punifhment of his guilt. Having marched with his troops 
 to take Catanea, Syracufe revolted againil him, and threw off 
 fo fhameful a fubjection. He afterwards attacked Meffina, 
 where he lolt abundance of men, and particularly the Zacyn- 
 thian foldiers, who had murdered Dion. No city of Sicily 
 would receive him ; but all detailing him as the moft execrable 
 of wretches, he retired to Rhegium, where, after having led 
 for forne time a miferable life, he was killed by Leptinus and 
 Polyperchon, and, it was faid, with the fame dagger with 
 which Dion had been affaflinated. 
 
 Hiftory has few examples of fo diftinct an atttention of provi- 
 dence to punifh great crimes, fuch as murder, perfidy, treafon, 
 either in the authors of thofe crimes themfelves, who com- 
 manded or executed them, or in the accomplices any way con- 
 cerned in them. The divine juftice evidences itfelf from time 
 to time in this manner, to prove that it is not unconcerned and 
 inattentive ; and to prevent the inundation of crimes, which 
 an entire impunity would occaiion ; but it does not always dif- 
 tinguifli itfelf by remarkable chaflifements in this world, to 
 a A. M, ;>6j6, Ant. J. C. 358.
 
 L DIONYSIU3 THE YOUNGER. 339 
 
 intimate to mankind, that greater punifimicnts arc referred for 
 guilt in the next. 
 
 As for Ariftomache and Arete, as fooh as they came out of 
 prifon, Icetes of Syracufe, one of Dion's friends, received them. 
 into his houfe, and treated them at firft with an attention, fi- 
 delity, and generofity of the mofl examplary kind, had he per- 
 fevered : But complying at laft with Dion's enemies, he pro- 
 vided a bark for them, and having put them on board, under 
 the pretence of fending them to Peloponnefus, he gave orders 
 to thofe who were to carry them, to kill them in the paflage, 
 and to throw them into the fea. He was not long without re- 
 ceiving; the chafliiement due to his black treachery ; for being 
 taken by Timoleon, he was put to death. The Syracufans, 
 fully to avenge Dion, killed alib the two fons of that traitor. 
 
 h The relations and friends of Dion, foon after his death, 
 had written to Plato, to confult him upon the manner in which 
 they ihould behave in the prefent troubled and fluctuating con- 
 dition of Syracufe, and to know what fort of government it 
 was proper to eftabliih there. Plato, who knew the Syracufans 
 were equally incapable of entire liberty, or abfolute fervitude, 
 exhorted them flrenuoufly to pacify all things as focn as pof- 
 iible ; and for that purpofe, to change the tyranny, of which 
 the very name was odious, into a lawful fovereignty, which 
 would make fubjecfcion eafy and agreeable. He advifed them, 
 a;;cl according to him it had been Dion's opinion, to create 
 three kings ; one to be Hipparinus, Dion's fon ; another Hippa- 
 rinus-, Dionylius theyounger's brother, who feemed to be well 
 inclined towards the people; and Dionyfius himfelf, if he 
 would comply with fuch conditions as ihould be prefcribed 
 him ; their authority to be not unlike that of the kings of 
 Sparta. By the fame fcheme, thirty-five magiftrates were to be 
 appointed, to take care that the laws ihould be duly obferved, 
 to have great authority both in times of war and peace, and 
 to ferve as a balance between the power cf the kings, the fe- 
 nate, and the people. 
 
 It dees not appear that this advice was ever followed, which 
 indeed had its great iaconveniencies. It is only known, that 
 
 Yij 
 
 Plat, epift. viii
 
 340 THE HISTORY OF Bovk XL 
 
 Pipparinus c , Dionyiius's brother, baring landed at Syracufe 
 \vitb a fleet, and confiderabte forces, expelled Callippus, and 
 exercifed tbe fovereign power two years. 
 
 The hiftory of Sicily, as related thus far, includes about 
 fifty years, beginning with DJonyfius the elder, who reigned 
 thirty-eight of them, and continuing to the death of Dion. I 
 faall return in the fequel to the affairs of Sicily, and {hall re- 
 late the end of Dionyfius the younger, and the re-eftablifh- 
 ment of the Syracufan liberty by Timoleon. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 CHARACTER of DION. 
 
 IT is not eafy to find fo many excellent qualities in one and 
 the fame perfon as were united in Dion. I do not coniider in 
 this place, his wonderful taile for the fciences, his art of alTo- 
 ciating them with the greateft employments of war and peace, 
 of extracting from them the rules of conduct, and maxims of 
 government, and ot making them an equally ufeful and hon- 
 oun.bis entertainment of his leifure : I confine myfelf to the 
 ftatefman and patriot ; and in this view, how admirably does 
 he appear \ Greatnefs of foul, elevation of fentiments, genero- 
 iit n beftowing his wealth, heroic valour in battle, attended 
 v."th n coolnefs of temper, and a prudence fcarce to be paral- 
 lel ird, a mind vail and capable of the higheft views, a con- 
 ftanc> not to be fhaken by the greateft dangers, or the moil 
 unexpected revolutions of fortune, the love of his country and 
 of the public good carried almoft to excefs : Thefe are part of 
 Dion's virtues. The defign he formed of delivering his coun- 
 try from the yoke of the tyranny, and his boldnefs and wif- 
 dom in the execution of it, explain of what he was capable. 
 
 But what J conceive the greateft beauty in Dion's character, 
 the moft worthy of admiration, and, if I may fay fo, the moft 
 above hvrman nature, is the greatnefs of foul, and unexampled 
 patience, with which he fuiTered the ingratitude of his country. 
 He had abandoned and facrificcd every thing to come to their 
 relief; he had reduc&d the tyranny to extremities, and was 
 
 c Died. 1. xvi. p. 446.
 
 . DIOVYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 34! 
 
 upon the point re-eftabliming them in the full poffeffion of 
 their liberty : In return for fuch great fervices, they {hamefully 
 expel him the city, accompanied with an handful of foreign 
 foldiers, whofe fidelity they had not been able to corrupt ; 
 they load him with injuries, and add to their bafe perfidy the 
 moil cruel outrages and indignity : To puniih thofe ungrateful 
 traitors he had only a iignal to give, and to leave tiie reit to 
 the indignation of his foldiers : Mailer of theiis, as well as his 
 own temper, he flops their impetuofity, and without difarming 
 their hands, reilrains their juft rage, fuffering them, in the 
 very height and ardour of an attack, only to terrify, and not 
 kill, his enemies, becaufe he could not forget that they were 
 his fellow-citizens and brethren. 
 
 There feems to be only one defeat that can be objected to 
 Dion, which is, his having fornething rigid and auilere in his 
 humour, that made him lefs acceffible and fociabie than he 
 ihould have been, and kept even perfons of worth and his beft 
 friends at a kind of diflance. Plato, and thofe who had his 
 glory fmcerely at heart, had often animadverted upon this turn 
 of mind in him : But notwithilandmg the reproaches which 
 were made upon his too auftere gravity, and the inflexible fe- 
 verity with which he treated the people, he flill piqued him- 
 felf upon abating nothing of them : Whether his genius was 
 entirely averfe to the arts of infinuation and perfuanon ; or that 
 from the view of correcting and reforming the Syracufans, viti- 
 ated and corrupted by the flattering and complaifant difcourfes 
 of their orators, he chofe that rough and manly manner of 
 behaving to them. 
 
 Dion was miilaken in the mod efTential point of governing. 
 From the throne to the loweil office in the date, whoever is 
 charged with the care of ruling and conducting others, ought 
 particularly to ftudy the * art of managing men's tempers, and 
 of giving them that bent and tarn of mind that may bed fuit his 
 meafures ; which cannot be done by afluming the fevere m?.f- 
 ter, by commanding haughtily, and contenting one's felf with 
 
 Yiij 
 
 * Which a;t the ancient poet called " fiexai\irm, at^r.-? omnium rogina rcrum 
 '' iH'iti"." CJc, 1, ', dc divb. n. ?o.
 
 54 4 THE HISTORY OF Ecok XI. 
 
 laying down the rule and the duty with inflexible rigour. 
 There is in the right itfelf, in virtue, and the exercife of all 
 functions, an exactitude and fteadinefs, or rather a kind of 
 rtiifnefs, which frequently degenerates into a vice when carried 
 into extremes. I know it is never allowable to break through 
 rales ; but it is always laudable, and often necefTary, to foften, 
 and make them more convertible ; which is befl effected by a 
 kindnefs of manners, and an insinuating behaviour ; not always 
 exacting the difcharge of a duty in its utmoft rigour ; over- 
 looking abundance of fmall faults, that do not merit much 
 notice, and obferving upon thofe which are more confiderable, 
 with favour and goodnefs ; in a word, in endeavouring by all 
 poflible means to acquire people's affection, and to render virtue 
 and duty amiable. 
 
 Dion's permiflion to kill Heraclidcs, which was obtained 
 with difficulty, or rather forced from him, contrary to his 
 natural difpofition, as well as principles, coft him dear, and 
 brought the trouble and anguifh upon him, that lafted to the 
 day of his death, and of which they were the principal caufe. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 DlOXTSIUS the TOUXGEX rc-afccr.ds the TllRONE. 
 
 CALLIPPUS b , who had caufed Dion to be murdered, and had 
 fubftituted himfelf in his place, did not pofiefs his power long. 
 Thirteen months after, Hipparinus, Dionyfius's brother, ar- 
 rivine u'lexnectedly at Svracufe with a numerous fleet, ex- 
 
 O * 
 
 pellt-d him from the city, and recovered his paternal fove- 
 reignty, which he held during two years. 
 
 Syracufc c and all Sicily being harafled by different factions 
 and intefline war, were in a miferable condition. Dionyfms, 
 ,ge of thofc troubles, ten years after he had 
 been obliged to quit the throne, had aflembled feme foreign 
 troops, and having overcome Nypfius, who had made ImnfcU 
 mafter of Syiaciife, ns rtinitatod hinifclf in the pofl'cu'ion of 
 his dominions. 
 
 bA M -46;. Ant. J. C. 3;:. Dioti, 1. ivi. p. 43^ 1&. 
 dA. M. ^4. Ant. J. C. 3jC.
 
 CJW7/>. //. DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 3-43 
 
 e It "was perhaps to thank the gods for his re-eflablimment, 
 and to exprefs his gratitude to them, that he fent ftatues of 
 gold and ivory to Oijmpia and Delphos of very great value. 
 The gallies which carried them were taken by Iphicrates, who 
 \vas at that time near Corcyra f with a fleet. lie wrote to 
 Athens to know in what manner he fliould difpofe of his fa- 
 cred booty, and was anfwered, not to examine fcrupuloufly for 
 what it was def.gned, but to make uie of it for the fubiiftence 
 cf his troops. Dionyfius complained exceflively of fuch treat- 
 ment to the Athenians, in a letter which he wrote them, 
 wherein he reproached with great warmth and juflice their 
 avarice and facrilegious impiety. 
 
 s A commander of pirates had acted much more nobly and 
 more religioufly in regard to the Romans about fifty years be- 
 fore. After the taking of Veii, which had been ten years be- 
 fieged, they fent a golden cup to Delphos. The deputies who 
 carried that prefent were taken by the pirates of Lipara, and 
 carried -to that ifland. It was the cuftorn * to divide all the 
 prizes they took as a common flock. The ifland at that time 
 was under the government of a magistrate more like the Ro- 
 mans in his manners than thofe he governed. He was called 
 Timalitheus -} ; and his behaviour agreed well with the fignifi- 
 cation of his name. Full of regard for the envoys, the facred 
 gift they carried, the motive of their offering, and more for 
 the rnajefty of the god for whom it was designed, he infpired 
 the multitude, that generally follow the example of thofe who 
 rule them, with the fame fentiments of refpeft and religion. 
 The envoys were received therefore with all the marks of dif- 
 dnction, and their expenccs bcrncby the public. Timafitheus 
 
 Yiiij 
 
 e niod. I. xvi. p. 4 jit. f Corfu, 
 
 f Tit. Liv, Dccad. i. 1. v. c. 28. Diod. 1, xiv. p. 307. 
 
 * Mors erat civitatis, velut pubiiro htrocinb, partem prae^am dividere. Forte 
 co anno in fummo rna^iftratu erat Timatheus quidam, Rorr.anis vir fimilior quam 
 fuis: qui ligatorem nomcn, donumque,-ct dcum mi rniueretur, tt doni caufam 
 veritus ipfe, multitudinem quoque, quae Temper ferme regsnti eft Hinilis, religionis 
 juftae implcvit ; addu^tofque in publicum hofpitium legates, cum praefidio etiam 
 navium Delphes profecutos, Romam inde fofpites refatuit. Hcfpitiwm cum c> 
 fenatus confulto eft faftum, donaquc publice data. Tit, Liv. 
 TimaHtheui fignifies one who honours the gods.
 
 344 THE HISTORY OF Book XI. 
 
 "convoyed them with a good fquadron to Delphos, and brought 
 them back in die fame manner to Rome. It is eafy to judge 
 how feniibly the Romans were affected with fo noble a pro- 
 ceeding. By a decree of the fenate, they rewarded Timafithe- 
 us with gxe'it prefects, and granted him the right of hofpita- 
 lity. And fifty years after, when the Romans took Lipara 
 from the Carthaginians, with the fame gratitude as if the ac- 
 tion had been but lately done, they thought themfelves obli- 
 ged to do further honour to the family of their benefactor, 
 and refolved that all his defendants fhould be for ever ex- 
 empted from the tribute irnpofed upon the other inhabitants 
 of that ifland. 
 
 This was certainly great and noble on both fides : But the 
 contrail does no honour to the Athenians. 
 
 To return to Dionjfius : Though he expreffed fome regard 
 for the gods, his actions argued no humanity for his fubjects. 
 His pail misfortunes, inftead of correcting and foftening his 
 difpofition, had only ferved to inflame it, and to render him 
 more favage and brutal than before. 
 
 ' The mod worthy' and confiderable of the citizens, not be- 
 ing able to fupport fo cruel a fervitude, had recourfe to Ice- 
 tas, king of the Leontines, and abandoning themfelves to his 
 conduct, elected him their general ; not that they believed he 
 differed in any thing from the moil declared tyrants, but be- 
 caufe they had no other refource. 
 
 During thefe tranfactions, the Carthaginians, who were al- 
 rnoft always at war with the Syracufans, arrived in Sicily v/ith 
 a great fleet ; and having made a great progrefs there, the Si- 
 cilians and the people of Syracufe refolved to fend an embaf- 
 fy into Greece, to demand aid of the Corinthians, from whom 
 the Syracufans were defcended, and who had always openly 
 declared againfl tyrants in favour of liberty. Icetas,who pro- 
 pofed no other end from his command than to make himfelf 
 tnafler of Syracufe, and had no thoughts of fetting it free, 
 treated fecretly wfth the Carthaginians, though in public he 
 affected to praife the wife meafures of the Syracufans, and e- 
 ven fent his dep'uties along with theirs. 
 
 I Diod. 1. xvi. p. 459, et 464. Plut. in Timol. p.' 236, et 143.
 
 Chap. II. DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 345 
 
 Corinth k received the ambaffadors perfe&ly well, and in> 
 mediately appointed Timoleon their general. He had led a 
 retired life for twenty years, without interfering in public. af- 
 fairs, and was far from believing, that at his age, and in the 
 circumftances he then was, he mould be thought of upon fuch 
 an occafion. 
 
 He was defcended from one of the nobleft families in Co- 
 rinth, loved his country paffionately, and difcovered upon all 
 occafions a fingular humanity of temper, except againft ty- 
 rants and bad men. He was un excellent captain : And as 
 in his youth he had all the maturity ef age, in age he had all 
 the fire and courage of the mofl ardent youth.. 
 
 He had an elder brother called Timophanes, whom he ten- 
 derly loved, as he had demonflrated in a battle, in which he 
 covered him with his body, and faved his life at the great 
 danger of his own ; but his country w r as flill dearer to him. 
 That brother having made himfelf tyrant of it, fo black a 
 crime gave him the fharpeft affliction. He made ufe of all 
 poffible means to bring him back to his duty ; kindnefs, friend- 
 ihip, affe&ion, remonftrances, and even menaces. But find- 
 ing all his endeavours ineffectual, and that nothing could pre- 
 vail upon a heart abandoned to ambition, he caufed his bro- 
 ther to be aflafimated in his prefence by two of his friends and 
 intimates, and thought, that upon fuch an occafion, the laws 
 of nature ought to give place to thofe of his country. 
 
 That adlion was admired and applauded by the principal ci- 
 tizens of Corinth, and by moft of the philosophers, who look- 
 ed upon it as the moft noble effort of human virtue ; and Plu- 
 tarch feems to pafs the fame judgment upon it. All the world 
 were not of that opinion ; and fome people reproached him as 
 an abominable parricide, who could not fail of drawing down 
 the vengeance of the gods upon him. His mother efpecially, 
 in the excefs of her grief, uttered the moft dreadful curfes and 
 imprecations againft him ; and when he came to confole her, 
 not being able to bear the fight of her fon's murderer, me 
 thruft him away with indignation, and fhut her doors againft 
 him. 
 
 A. M, 3^55. Ant J, C -S-J9,
 
 34(> THE HISTORY OF Beck Jf/. 
 
 He was then ftruck with all the horror of the mofl guilty ; 
 and giving himfelf up to the cruellefl remorfe, confidered Ti- 
 mophanes no longer as a tyrant, but as a brother, and refolved 
 to put an end to his life, by abflaining from all nourilhment. 
 It was with great difficulty his friends diffuaded him from that 
 fatal refolution. Overcome by their prayers and intreaties, he 
 was at length prevailed ugon to live , but he condemned him- 
 felf to pafs the reft of his days in folitude. From that moment 
 he renounced all public affairs, and for fcveral years never 
 came to the city, but wandered about in the mofl folitary and 
 defert places, abandoned to excefs of grief and melancholy ; 
 So true it is, that neither the praifes of flatterers, nor the falfe 
 reafonings of ploiticians, can fupprefs the cries of confcience, 
 which is at once the witnefs, judge and executioner of thofe 
 who prefume to violate the moft facred rights and ties of 
 nature. 
 
 He puffed twenty years in this condition. He did indeed 
 return to Corinth at the latter part of that time ; but lived 
 there always private and retired, without concerning himfelf 
 with the adminiflration of the government. It was not with- 
 out great repugnance that he accepted the employment of ge- 
 neral : but he did not think it allowable to refute the fcrvice 
 of his country; and his duty prevailed againfl his inclination. 
 
 Whilfl Timoleon aflembled his troops, and was preparing to 
 fail, the Corinthians received letters from Icetas, in which he 
 told them, " that it was not necefTary for them to make any 
 " further levies, or to exhaufl themfelves in great expences to 
 " come to Sicily, and expofe themfelves to evident danger ; 
 " that the Carthaginians, apprized of their defign, were wait- 
 " ing to intercept their fquadron in its paffage with a great 
 " fleet ; and that their flownefs in fending their troops, had 
 " obliged him to call in the Carthaginians themfelves to his 
 " aid, and to make ufe of them againfl the tyrant." He had 
 made a fecret treaty with them, by which it was ftipulated, that 
 after the expulfion of Dionyfius from Syracufe, he mould take 
 poiTeflion of it in his place. 
 
 The reading of thefe letters, far from cooling the zeal ot
 
 . U. EIOXYS1US THE YOUNGER. 347 
 
 the Corinthians, only inoenfed them more than at firft, and 
 haftcnecl the departure of Timoleon. He embarked on board 
 ten gallics, and arrived fafe upon the coaft of Italy, where the" 
 news that came from Sicily extremely perplexed him, and dif- 
 couraged his troops. It brought an account, that Icetas had 
 defeated Dionyfius, and having made himlelf mafter of the 
 greateft part of Syracufe, had obliged the tyrant to fhut him- 
 felf up in the citadel, and in that quarter called the Ifle, where 
 he bcfieged him ; and that he had given orders to the Cartha- 
 ginians to prevent Timoleon's approach, and to come on more, 
 that thev might make a peaceable partition of Sicily between 
 them, when they mould have reduced that general to retire. 
 The Carthaginians in confequence had fent twenty gallics 
 to Rhegium. The Corinthians, upon their arrival at that port, 
 found ambaiTadors from Icetas, who declared to Timoleon, 
 that he might come to Syracufe, and would be well received 
 there, provided he difmiffed his troops. The propofal was 
 entirely injurious, and at the fame time more perplexing. It 
 feemed impofuble to beat the veflels, which the Barbarians 
 had caufed to advance to intercept them in their paflage, be- 
 ing twice their force ; and to retire, was to abandon all Si- 
 cily to extreme diltrefs, which could not avoid being the re- 
 ward of Icetas's treachery, and of the fupport which the Car- 
 thaginians mould give the tyranny. 
 
 In this delicate conjuncture, Timoleon demanded a confer- 
 ence with the ambafladors, and the principal officers of the 
 Carthaginian fquadron, in the prefence of the people of Rhe- 
 gium. It was only, he faid, to difcharge himfelf, and for his 
 own fecurity, that his country might not accufe him of hav- 
 ing difobeyed its orders, and betrayed its interefls. The go- 
 vernor and magiftrates of Rhegium were of intelligence with 
 him. They defired nothing more than to fee the Corinthians 
 in poffeffion of Sicily, and apprehended nothing fo much as 
 the neighbourhood of the Barbarians. They fummoned there- 
 fore an aflembly, and fliut the gates of the city, upon pretence 
 of preventing the citizens from going abroad, in order to their 
 applying themfelves folely to the prefent affair.
 
 348 THE HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 The people being aflembled, long fpeeches were made of little 
 or no tendency ; every body treating the fame fubjed, and 
 repeating the fame reafons, or adding new ones, only to pro- 
 tract the council, and to gain time. Whilft this was doing, 
 nine of the Corinthian gallies went off, and were fuffered to 
 pafs by the Carthaginian velfels, believing that their departure 
 had been concerted with their own officers, who were in the 
 city, and that thofe nine gallies \verc to return to Corinth, the 
 tenth remaining to carry Timoleon to Icetas's army fit Syracufe. 
 When Timoleon was informed in a whifper, that his gallies 
 were at fea, he flipt gently through the crowd, which, to fa- 
 vour his going off, thronged exceedingly round the tribunal. 
 He got to the fea-fide, embarked dire&ly, and having rejoined 
 his gallies, they arrived together at Tauromenium, a city of 
 Sicily, where they were received with open arms by Andro- 
 machus, who commanded it, and who joined his citizens with 
 the Corinthian troops, to reinftate the Sicilian liberties. 
 
 It is eafy to comprehend how much the Carthaginians were 
 farprifed and afhamed of being fo deceived : But, as fome- 
 fcody told them, being Phoenicians, v/ho pafTed for the greateft 
 cheats in the world, fraud and artifice ought not to give them 
 (b much aflonifhment and difpleafure. 
 
 Upon the news of Timoleon's arrival, Icetas was terrified, 
 and made the greateft part of the Carthaginian gallies advance. 
 They had an hundred and fty long {hips, fifty thoufand foot, 
 and three hundred armed chariots. The Syracufans loft all 
 fcope when they faw the Carthaginians in poffcHion of the port, 
 Icetas matter of the city, jDionyfius blocked up in the citadel, 
 and Timoleon without any other hold in Sicily than by a nook 
 of its ccaft, the fmall city of T?uromenium, with little hope 
 and lefs force; for his troops did not amount in .ll to more 
 than a thoufand foldiers, and he had fcarce provifjons for their 
 fubnftence. Befides which, the cities placed no confidence in 
 him. The ills they had fuffered from the extortion and cruelty 
 that had been pradifed amongil them, had exafperated them 
 . againfl all commanders of troops, efpecially after the horrid 
 treachery cf Callippus and Pharax ; who being both feut, the
 
 Clap. 11. DIONY3IUS THE YOUNGER. 349 
 
 one from Athens, and the other from Sparta, to free Sicily 
 and expel the tyrants, made them conceive the tyranny gentle 
 and defirable, fo fevere were the vexations with which they 
 had opprefied them. They were afraid of experiencing th 
 fame treatment from Timoleon. 
 
 The inhabitants of Adranon, a fmall city belcv/ mcunt 
 JEtna, being divided among themfelves, one party had called 
 in Icetas and the Carthaginians, and the other had applied ta 
 Timoleon. The two chiefs arrived almoil at the fame time iu 
 the neighbourhood of Adranon ; the former with five thoufanl 
 men, and the other with only twelve hundred. Notwithftand* 
 ing this inequality, Timoleon, who juftly conceived that he 
 ihould find the Carthaginians in diforder, and employed ia 
 taking up their quarters, and pitching their tents, made his 
 toops advance, and without lofing time to reft them, as the 
 officers advifed him, he marched dire&ly to charge the enemy, 
 who no fooner few him, than they took to their heels. This 
 occafioned their killing only three hundred, and taking twice 
 as many priibners ; but the Carthaginians loft their camp, and 
 all their baggage. The Adranites opened their gates at the 
 time, and received Timoleon. Other cities fent their deputies 
 to him foon after, and made their fubmiilion. 
 
 Dionyfius himfelf, who renounced his vain hopes, and faw 
 himfelf at the point of being reduced, as full of contempt for 
 Icetas, who had fuffered himfelf to be fo fhamefully defeated, 
 as of admiration and efteem for Timoleon, fent ambaiTadors 
 to the latter, to treat of furrendering himfelf and the citadel 
 to the Corinthians. Timoleon, taking the advantage of fo 
 unexpected a good fortune, made Euclid and Telemachus, 
 with four hundred loldiers, file off into the caftle ; not all at 
 once, nor in the day-time ; that being impoffible, the Cartha- 
 ginians being mafters of the gate, but in platoons, and by 
 flealth. Thofe troops, having got fuccefsfnlly into the cita- 
 del, took pofieflion of it with all the tyrant's inoveables, and 
 proviiions of war. For he had a confiderable number of horfe, 
 all forts of engines and darts, belidcs fcventy thoufand fuits of 
 armour, which had been laid up there long before. Biony-
 
 350 THE HISTORY OF Jtfo.f XI. 
 
 {ius had alfo two thonfand regular troops, which with the reft 
 he furrendered to Timoleon. And for himfelf, taking with 
 him his money, and fome few of his friends, he embarked 
 unperceived by the troops of Icetas, and repaired to the camp 
 of Timoleon. 
 
 It was the firil time of his life that he had appeared in the 
 low and abjel flate of a private perfon, and a fuppliant ; he 
 who had been born and nurtured in the arms of the tyranny, 
 and had feen himfelf mailer of the moft powerful kingdom 
 that had ever been ufurped by tyrants. He had pofleiTed it 
 ten years entire, before Dion took armsagainft him, and fome 
 years after, though always in the midfl of wars and battles. 
 He was fent to Corinth ! with only one galley, without con- 
 voy, and with very little money. He ferved there for a fight, 
 every body running to gaze at him ; fome with a fecret joy of 
 heart, to feed their eyes with the view of the miferics of a man 
 whom the name of tyrant rendered odious ; others with a kind 
 of compaffion, from comparing the fplended condition from 
 which he had fallen, with the inextricable abyfs of diilrefs in- 
 to which they beheld him plunged. 
 
 His manner of life at Corinth did not long excite any fenti- 
 ments in regard to him, but thofe of contempt and indigna- 
 tion. He pafied whole days in perfumers ihops, in taverns, 
 or with a&refles and fingers, disputing with them upon the 
 rules of muiic, and the harmony of airs. Some people have 
 thought that he behaved in fuch a manner out of policy, not 
 to give umbrage to the Corinthians, nor to difcover any thought 
 or defire of recovering his dominions. But fuch an opinion 
 does him too much honour ; and it feems more probable, that, 
 nurtured and educated as he was in drunkennefs and debauch- 
 ery, he only followed his inclination ; and that he palled his 
 life in the kind of flavery into which he was fallen, as he had 
 done upon the throne, having no other refource or conlblation 
 In his misfortunes. 
 
 m Some writers fay, that the extreme poverty to which he 
 was reduced at Corinth, obliged him to open a Ichool there, 
 
 i A. M. 3657- Ant. J. C. 347- 
 n Cic. Tufc. Quaeft. 1. iii. n. J.
 
 Clap. II. DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 35$ 
 
 and to teach children to read ; perhaps, fays Cicero *, without 
 doubt jeftingly, to retain a fpecies of empire, and not abfo- 
 lutely to renounce the habit and pleafure of commanding. 
 Whether n that were his motive or not, it is certain that Dio- 
 nyiius, who had feen himfelf mailer of Syracufe, and of al- 
 mofl all Sicily, who had poffeiled immenfe riches, and had 
 numerous fleets and great armies of horfe and foot under his 
 command ; that the fame Dionyiius f , reduced now almoil to 
 beggary, and from a king become a fchoolmafter, was a good 
 lefibn for perfons of exalted ftations not to confide in their 
 grandeur, nor to rely too much upon their fortune. The La- 
 cedaemonians fome time after gave Philip this admonition. 
 That prince , having written to them in very haughty and 
 menacing terms, they made him no other anfwer but " Dio- 
 " nylius at Corinth." 
 
 An expreffion of Dionyfius, which has been preferved, feems 
 to argue, if it be true, that he knew how to make a good ufe 
 of his adverfity, and to turn his misfortunes to his advantage ; 
 which would be very much to his praife, but contrary to what 
 has been related of him before. p Whilft he lived at Corinth, 
 a ftranger rallied him unfeafonably, and with an indecent 
 groffnefs, upon his commerce with the philofophers during 
 his moft fplendid fortune, and alked him by way of infult, 
 Of what confequence all the wifdom of Plato had been to 
 him ? " Can you believe then," replied he, " that I have 
 " received no benefit from Plato, and fee me" bear ill fortune 
 " as I do ?" 
 
 " Val. Max. 1. vi. c. 9. Demet. Phaler. de eloq. n. 1. viii. 
 
 P Plut. in TimoL p. 243. 
 
 * Dionyfii Corinthi pueros docebat, ufque adeo imperio carere non poterat. 
 f Tanta mutatione majovcs natu, nequis nimis fortunae credcret, magiftcr ludi 
 fa6lus ex tyranno docuit,
 
 351 THE HISTORY OF oo XI, 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 TIMOLEON reft ores LlEERTT to SrRACUSE, and inftitutcs wife 
 LAWS. His DEATH. 
 
 AFTER the retreat of Dionyfius q , Icetas prefled the fiege of 
 the citadel of Syracufe with the utmoft vigour, and kept it fo 
 clofely blocked up, that the convoys fent to the Corinthians 
 could not enter it without great difficulty. Timoleon, who 
 was at Catana, fent them frequently thither. To deprive 
 them of this relief, Icetas and Mago fet out together with de- 
 fign to befiege that place. During their abfence, Leon the 
 Corinthian, who commanded in the citadel, having obferved 
 from the ramparts, that thofe who had been left to continue 
 the fiege, were very remifs in their duty, he made a fudden 
 furious fally upon them, whilft they were difperfed, killed part 
 of them, put the reft to flight, and feized the quarter of the 
 city called Achradina, which was the ftrongeft part of it, and 
 had been kail injured by the enemy. Leon fortified it in the 
 bed manner the time would admit, and joined it to the cita- 
 del by works of communication. 
 
 This bad news caufed Mago and Icetas to return immedi- 
 ately. At die fame time a body of troops from Corinth land- 
 ed fafe in Sicily, having deceived the vigilance of the Cartha- 
 ginian fquadron pofted to intercept them. When they were 
 landed, Timoleon received them with joy, and after having 
 taken pofleffion of Meflina, marched in battle array againfl 
 Syracufe. His army confifted only of four thoufand men. 
 When he approached the city, his firft care was to fend emif- 
 faries amongft the foldiers that bore arms for Icetas. .They 
 reprefented to them, that it was highly fhameful for Greeks, 
 as they were, to labour that Syracufe and all Sicily fiiould be 
 given up to the Carthaginians, the wickedefl and mod cruel 
 of all barbarians. That Icetas had only to join Timoleon, and 
 to aft in concert with him againft the common enemy. Thofe 
 foldiers, having fpread thefe insinuations throughout the whole 
 
 q A. M. 3658. Ant. J. C. 346. Plut. in Timol, p. 243 a48. Diod. 1. 
 xvi. p. 465, 61474.
 
 Clap. II. DlbNYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 3^ 
 
 camp, gave Mago violent fufpicions of his being betrayed ; 
 befides which, he had already for fome time fought a pretext 
 to retire. For thefe reafons, notwithttanding the entreaties 
 and warm remonftrances of Icetas, he weighed anchor, and 
 fet fail for Africa, fliamefully abandoning the conqne.il of 
 Sicily. 
 
 Timoleon's army the next day appeared before the place in 
 line of battle, and attacked it in three different quarters with 
 fo much vigour and fuccefs, that Icetas's troops were univ^rfal- 
 ly overthrown and put to flight. Thus, by a good fortune that 
 has few examples, he carried Syracufe by force in an inftam, 
 which was at that time one of the ftrongeft cities in the world. 
 When he had made himfelf matter of it, he did not al like 
 Dion in fparing the forts and public edifices for their beauty 
 and magnificence. To avoid giving the fame caufe of fufpi- 
 cion, which at firtt decried, though without foundation, and at 
 length ruined, that great man, he caufed proclamation to be 
 made by found of trumpet, that all Svracufans, who would 
 come with their tools, might employ themfelves in demoliih- 
 ing the forts of the tyrants. In cdnfequence of which, the 
 Syracufans confidering that proclamation and day as the com- 
 mencemeut of their liberty, ran in multitudes to the citadel, 
 which they not only demolifhed, but the palaces of the tyrant ; 
 breaking open their tombs at the fame time, which they alib 
 threw down and deftroyed. 
 
 The citadel being razed, and the ground made level; Timo- 
 leon caufed tribunals to be creeled upon it, for the difpenfa- 
 tion of juilice in the name of the people ; that the fame place, 
 from whence; under the tyrants, every day fome bloody edict 
 had iflued, might become the afylum and bulwark of liberty 
 and innocence. 
 
 Timoleon was matter of the city ; but it wanted people to 
 inhabit it : For fome having perifhed in the wars and feditions, 
 and others being fled to avoid the power of the tyrants, Syra- 
 bufe was become a defert, and the grafs was grown fo high in 
 the ftreets, that horfes grazed in them. All the cities in Si- 
 cily were almoft in the fame condition, Timcleon and the Sy- 
 
 ir, 7^
 
 354. I'HE HISTORY OF Book XL- 
 
 racufans therefore found it necelTary to write to Corinth, to de- 
 iire that people might be fent from Greece to inhabit Syracufc ; 
 that otherwife the country could never recover itfelf, and was 
 befides threatened with a new war. For they had received ad- 
 vke, that Mago having killed himfelf, the Carthaginians, en- 
 raged at his having acquitted himfelf fo ill of his charge, had 
 hung up his body upon a crofs, and were making great levies 
 to return into Sicily with a more numerous army than at the 
 beginning of the year. 
 
 Thofe letters being arrived with ambaffadors from Syracufe, 
 who conjured the Corinthians to take compafllon of their city, 
 and to be a fecond time the founders of it ; the Corinthians 
 did not confider the calamity of that people as an occafion of 
 aggrandizing themfelves, and of making themfelves mailers of 
 the city, according to the maxims of a bafe and infamous poli- 
 cy ; but fending to all the facred games of Greece, and to all 
 public afiemblies, they caufed proclamation to be made in theru 
 by heralds, that the Corinthians having aboliihed the tyranny, 
 and expelled the tyrants, they declared free and independent 
 the Syracufans, and all the people of Sicily, who mould return 
 into their own country ; and exhorted them to repair thither, 
 to partake of an equal and juft ditlribution of the lands amongll 
 them. At the fame time they difpatched couriers into Alia, 
 aud into all the illes, whither great numbers of fugitives had 
 ritired, to invite them to come as foon -as pomble to Corinth, 
 which would provide them veflels, commanders,, and a fafe 
 convoy to tranfport them into their country at its own ex- 
 pence. 
 
 Upon this publication Corinth received univcrfal praifes and 
 bleffings, as it juflly deferved. It was every where proclaimed, 
 that Corinth had delivered Syracufe from the tyrants, had pre- 
 ferved it from falling into the hands of the Barbarians, and re- 
 ilored it to its citizens. It is not neceflary to infifl here upon 
 the grandeur of fo noble and generous an action : The mere 
 relation of it mufl make the impreflion that always refults from 
 the great and noble ; and every body owned, that never conquer! 
 or triumph equalled the glory which- the Corinthians then ac- 
 quired by fo perfect and magnanimous a difintereflednefs-..
 
 IL DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 355 
 
 Thofe who came to Corinth, not being fufficiently numerous, 
 demanded an addition of inhabitants from that city and from, 
 all Greece, to augment this kind of colony. Having obtained 
 their requeft, and finding themfelves increafed to ten thou- 
 fand, they embarked for Syracufe, where a multitude of people 
 from all parts of Italy and Sicily had joined Timoleon. It was 
 faid their number amounted to fixty thoufand and upwards 
 Timoleou diftributed the lands amongft them gratis ; but fold 
 them the houfes, with which he raifed a very great fum ; leav- 
 ing it to the difcretion of the old inhabitants to redeem their 
 own : And by this means he collected a considerable fund for 
 fuch of the people as were poor, and unable to fupport either 
 their own neccffities or the charges of the war. 
 
 The flatutes of the tyrants, and of all the princes who had 
 governed Sicily, were put up to fale ; but firft they were 
 cited, and fentenced in the forms of law. One only efcaped 
 the rigour of this inquiry, and was preierved ; which was Ge- 
 lon, who had gained a celebrated victory over the Carthagi- 
 nians at Himera, and governed the people with lenity and juf- 
 tice ; for which his memory was ftill cherifhed and honoured. 
 If the fame fcrutiny were made in all ftatues, I do not know 
 whether many would continue in being. 
 
 r Hiftory has preferved another fentence pafled alfo in re- 
 gard to a ftatue, but of a very different kind. The fact is cu- 
 rious, and will excufe a digreflion. Nicon. a champion of */.Tha- 
 fos, had been crowned fourteen hundred times victor in the fo- 
 lemn games of Greece. A man of that merit could not fail of 
 being envied. After his death, one of his competitors infulted 
 his ftatue, and gave it feveral blows ; to revenge perhaps thofe 
 he had formerly received from him it reprefented. But the 
 ftatue, as if fenfible of that outrage, fell from its height upon 
 the perfon that infulted it, and killed him. The fon of him 
 who had been cruihed to death, proceeded juridically againil 
 the ftatue, as guilty of homicide, and punifhable by the law of 
 Draco. The famons legiflator of Athens, to infpire a greater 
 
 Zij 
 
 1- Suidas in K' Mtn Paufan. 1, vi. p. 364 
 An irtand in the JEgtan fc.i,
 
 356 TEE HISTORY Of Bool XI. 
 
 horror for the guilt of murder, had ordained that even inani- 
 mate things fhou;d be deftroyed, which ihould occairon the 
 death of a man by their fall The Thafians, conformable to 
 this law, decreed that the ftatue mould be thrown into the fea 
 Butfom years after, being afflicted with a great famine, and hav- 
 ing confulted the oracle of Delphos, they caufed it to be taken 
 out of the fea, and rtndcred new honours to it. 
 
 Syracufe being raifed in a manner from the grave, and people 
 flocking from all pans to inhabit it, Timoleon, defirous of free- 
 ing the other cities of Sicily, and finally to extirpate tyranny 
 and tyrants out of it, began his march ,with his army. He 
 compelled Icetas to renounce his alliance with the Carthagi- 
 nians, obliged him to demol'm his forts, and to live as a private 
 perfon in the citv ;:itines. Leptinus, tyrant of Apol- 
 
 lonia, and of feveral other cities and fortreiles, feeing him. 
 felf in danger of being taking by force, furrendered himfelf. 
 Timoleon fpared his life, and fent him to Corinth : For he 
 thought nothing more great and honourable, than to let Greece 
 fee the tyrants of Sicily in a flate of humiliation, and living 
 like exiles. 
 
 He returned afterwards to Syracufe, to regulate the govern- 
 ment, and to inftitute fuch laws as mould be moil important 
 snd neceiTary, in conjunction with Cephalus and Dionyfius, 
 two legiflators fent to him by the Corinthians : For he had not 
 the weaknefs to defire unlimited power, and fole adminifl ra- 
 tion. But on his departure, that the troops in his pay might 
 get fomething for themfelves, and to keep them in exercife at 
 the fame time, he fent them, under the command of Dinarchus 
 and Demaratus, into all the places fubjecl to the Carthaginians, 
 Thofe troops brought over feveral cities from the Barbarians 
 lived always in abundance, made much booty, and returned 
 with confiderable fums of money, which was of great fervice 
 in the fupport o' the war. 
 
 * About this time, the Carthaginians arrived at Lilybaeum, 
 
 under Afdrubal and Amikar, with an army of feventy thoufand 
 
 men, two hundred mips of war, a thoufand tranfports laden 
 
 with machines, armed chariots,, horfe?, amunition, and pro- 
 
 * Pint, in Timol. p. 248,
 
 Cbap. 11' BIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 357 
 
 vifions. They propofed no lefs than the entire expulfion of the 
 Greeks out of Sicily. Timoleon did not think fit to wait their 
 advancing ; and though he could raife only fix or feven thou- 
 fond men, fo great was the people's terror, he marched with 
 that fmall body of troops againft the formidable body of the 
 enemy, and obtained a celebrated victory near the river Cri- 
 mefus ; a$ account of which may be found in the hiftory of 
 the Carthaginians *. Timoleon returned to Syracufe amidft 
 ihouts of joy and univerfal applaufes. 
 
 He had before effected the conqueft and redu&ion of the 
 Sicilian tyrants, but had not changed them, nor taken from 
 them their tyrannical difpolition. They united together, and 
 formed a powerful league againfl him. Timoleon immediately 
 took the held, and foon put a final end to their hopes. He 
 made them all fuffer the jufl punilhment their revolt deferved. 
 Icetas, amongft others, with his fon, were put to death as ty- 
 rants and traitors. His wife and daughters, having been fent 
 to Syracufe, and prefented to the people, were alfo fentenced 
 to die, and executed accordingly. The people, without doubt, 
 defigned to avenge Dion their firft deliverer by that decree. 
 For it was the fame Icetas, who had caufed Arete, Dion's wife, 
 his filler Ariftomache, and his fon, an infant, to be thrown in- 
 to the fea. 
 
 Virtue is feldom or never without envy. The accufers funir 
 zncned Timoleon to aafwer for his conduct before the judges ; 
 and having affigned him a certain day for his appearance, de- 
 manded fureties of him. The people expreffed great indigna- 
 tion againfl fuch a proceeding, and would have difpenfed with 
 fo great a man's obferving the ufual formalities ; which he 
 ilrongly oppofed, giving for his reafon, "that all he had under- 
 taken had no other principle, than that the laws might have 
 their due courfe. He was accufed of malverfation during his 
 command of the army. Timoleon, without giving himfelf the 
 trouble to refute thole calumnies, only replied, " That he 
 " thanked the gods, who had heard his prayers, and that he 
 * 4 At length few the Syracufans enjoy an entire liberty of fay- 
 
 Ziij 
 
 1 iV
 
 358 THE HISTORY OF Book XT. 
 
 " ing every thing; a liberty abfolutely unknown to them un- 
 " der the tyrants, but -which it was juft to confine within due 
 " bounds." 
 
 That great man had given Syracufe wife laws, had purged 
 all Sicily of the tyrants which had fo long infefted it, had re- 
 eftablifhed peace and fecurity univerfally, and fupplied the ci- 
 ties ruined by the war, with the means of reinftating them- 
 felves. After fuch glorious actions, which had acquired him 
 an unbounded credit, he quitted his authority to live in retire- 
 ment. The Syracufans had given him the befl houfe in the 
 city in gratitude for his great fervices, and another very fine 
 and agreeable one in the country, where he generally refided 
 with his wife and children, whom he had fent for from Co- 
 rinth; for he did not return thither, and Syracufe was become ' 
 liis country. He had the wifdom, in refigning every thing, to 
 abflracl: himfeif entirely alfo from envy, which never fails to 
 attend exalted ftations, and pays no refpecl to merit, however 
 great and fubftantial. He fhunncd the rock on which the 
 greateft men, through an infatiate luft of honours and power, 
 are often Ihipwrecked ; that is, by engaging to the end of their 
 lives in new cares and troubles, of which age renders them in- 
 capable, and by choofitig rather to fink under, than to lay down, 
 the weight of them *. 
 
 Timoleon, who knew all the value off a noble and glorious 
 leifure, a&ed in a different manner. He pafied the reft of his 
 life as a private perfon, enjoying the grateful fatisfaftion of 
 feeing fo many cities, and fuch a numerous people, indebted to 
 him for their happinefs and tranquillity. But he was always 
 refpefted and confulted as the common oracle of Sicily. Nei- 
 ther treaty of peace, inftitution of law, divifion of land, nor 
 regulation of government, feemed well done, if Timoleon had 
 not been confulted, and put the laft hand to it. 
 
 His age was tried with a very fenfible affliction, which he 
 fupporred with aftoniihing patience ; it was the lofs of fight. 
 That accident, far from leflening him in the confideration and 
 regard of the people, ferved only to augment them. The Sy_ 
 
 * Malunt dcficere quam cefiiiere. Quiiuil. 
 f Otiuni cum dignitate. Cic.
 
 I. BIONYSIUS THE YOUKGER. 359 
 
 racufans did not content themfelves with paying him frequent 
 vifits ; they conducted all ftrangcrs, both in town and country, 
 to fee their benefactor and deliverer. When they had any im- 
 portant affair to deliberate upon in the afiembly of the people, 
 they called him in to their affiftance, who came thither in a 
 chariot drawn by two horfes, which crofled the public place 
 to the theatre ; and in that manner he was introduced into the 
 aflembly, amidft the fhouts and acclamations of joy of the whole 
 people. After he had given his opinion, which was always 
 religioufiy obferved, his domefiics re-condu&ed him crofs the 
 theatre, followed by all the citizens beyond the gates with con- 
 tinual fhcruts of joy and clapping of hands. 
 
 He had ftill greater honours paid to him after his death. 
 Nothing was wanting that could add to the magnificence of 
 the proceffion, which followed his bier ; of which the tears that 
 were flied, and the bleffings uttered by every body in honour 
 of his memory, were the nobleft ornaments. Thofe tears were 
 neither the efFeft of cuftom and the formality of mourning, nor 
 exacled by a piiblic decree ; but flowed from a native fourc"e, 
 lincere affe&ion, lively gratitude, and inconfolable forrow. A 
 law was alfo made, that annually for the future, upon the day 
 of his death, the mufic and gymnaftic games mould be cele- 
 brated with horfe-races in honour of him. But what was ftill 
 more honourable for the memory of that great man, was the 
 decree of the Syracufan people ; that whenever Sicily mould 
 be engaged in a war with foreigners, they mould fend to 
 Corinth for a general. 
 
 I do not know, that hiftory has any thing more great and 
 accomplifhed than what it fays of Timoleon. I fpeak not on- 
 ly of his military exploits, but the happy fuccefs of all his un- 
 dertakings. Plutarch obferves a characleriltic in them, whith 
 diftinguifhes Timoleon from all the great men of his times, 
 rind makes ufe upon that occafion, of a very remarkable com- 
 parifon. There is, fays he, in painting and poetry, pieces 
 which are excellent in themfelves, and which at the firft view 
 may be known to be the works of a matter : but fome of them 
 denote their having coil abundance of pains and application , 
 
 Z iiij
 
 36"e THE HISTORY OF 'goal JTL 
 
 whereas in others an eafy and native grace is feen, which adds 
 exceedingly to their value ; and amongft the latter, he places 
 the poems of Homer. There is fomething of this fort occurs, 
 when we compare the great actions of Epamincndas and Age- 
 filaus with thofe of Timoleon. In the former, we find them 
 executed with force and innumerable difficulties ; but in the 
 latter, there is an eafinefs and facility, which diitinguiili them 
 as the work, not of fortune, but of virtue, which fortune 
 feems to have- taken pleafure in feconding. It is Plutarch 
 who ftill fpeaks. 
 
 But not to mention his military actions ; what J admire moft 
 in Timoleon, is his warm and difinterefted paffion for the pub- 
 lic good, and his referring only fqr himfelf the pleafure of fee- 
 ing others happy by his fervices j his extreme remotenefs from 
 ambition and haughtinefs ; his honourable retirement into the 
 country ; his rnodefty, moderation, and indifference for the 
 honours paid him ; and what is ftill more uncommon, his 
 averiion for all flattery, and even jufl praifes. When * fome- 
 body extolled in his prefcnce, his wifdom, valour, and glory, 
 in having expelled 'the tyrants, he made no anfwer, but that 
 he thought himfelf obliged to exprefs his gratitude to the gods, 
 who having decreed to reflore peace and liberty to Sicily, had 
 rouchfafed to make choice of him in preference to all others 
 for fo honourable a miniftration : For he was fully perfuaded, 
 that all human events are guided and difpofed by the fecret 
 decrees of divine providence. What a treafure, what a hap- 
 pinefs for a flate is fuch a minifter ! 
 
 For the better underftanding his value, we have only to com- 
 pare the condition of Syracufe under Timoleon, with its flate 
 under the two Dionyfiufes. It is the fame city, inhabitants, and 
 people ; But how different is it under the different governments 
 we fpeak of ! The two tyrants had no thoughts but of making 
 themfelves feared, and of depreffing their fubje&s to render 
 them more paflive. They were terrible in effect, as they de- 
 
 * Cum fuas landes audiret praedicari, nunquatn aliud dixit, quam fe in ea re 
 iraximas diis gratias agerc et habcre, quod, cum Sicilian! recrearc conftituiffent, 
 turn fe potiffimum dncenn effe voluifient. Nihil enim rerum bumanarum fine 
 eleorum numine agi putabit. Cor. Ncp. in Timol. c. 4.
 
 Chap. 21. PIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER. 361 
 
 fired to be ; but at the fame time detefted and abhorred j and 
 had more to fear from their fubje&s, than the fubjects from 
 them. Timoleon, on the contrary, who looked upon himfelf 
 as the father of the Syracufan people, and who had no thoughts 
 but of making them happy, enjoyed the refined pleafure of 
 being beloved and revered as a parent by his children : And 
 lie wab remembered amongft them with bleffings, becaufe thej 
 could not reflect upon the peace and felicity they enjoyed, withi 
 out calling to mind at the fame time the wife legiflator, to 
 whom they were indebted for tfiofe ineftimable bleffings.
 
 BOOK TWELFTH. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1 HIS book contains principally the hiftory of two very illuf- 
 trious generals of the Thebans, Epaminondas and Pelopidas ; 
 the deaths of Agefilaus king of Sparta, and of Artaxerxes 
 Mnemon king of Perfia. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 STATE of GREECE from tie TREATT of ANTALCIDES. 
 
 1 HE peace of Antalcides a , of which mention has been made 
 in the third chapter of the ninth book, had given the Grecian 
 Hates great matter of difcontent and divifion. In effecl: of that 
 treaty, the Thebans had been obliged to abandon the cities of 
 Boeotia, and let them enjoy their liberty ; and the Corinthians, 
 to withdraw their garrifon from Argos, which by that means 
 became free and independent. The Lacedaemonians, who were 
 the authors and executors of this treaty, faw their power ex r 
 tremely augmented by it, and were induftrious to make further 
 additions to it. They compelled the Mantinaeans, againfl 
 \\honi they pretended to have many caufes of complaint in 
 the lad war, to demolilh the walls of their city, and to inha- 
 bit four different places, as they had done before. 
 
 11 The two kings of Sparta, Agefipolis and Agefilaus, \\er<- 
 
 a A. M. 3i;. Ant. J C. 387. Xenoph. hift. Grace. I. V. p, 550. 
 b Dio d. 1. xr. p. 341.
 
 Clap. I. HISTORY OF THE PERSIANS AttD GRECIANS. 363 
 
 ef quite different charafters, and as oppofite in their opinions 
 npon the prefent ftate of affairs. The firft, who was natural- 
 ly inclined to peace, and a flricl: obferver of juflice, was for 
 having Sparta, already much exclaimed againft for the treaty 
 of Antalcides, fuffer the Grecian cities to enjoy their liberties, 
 according to the tenor of that treaty, and not difturb their 
 tranquillity, through an unjuft defire of extending their domi- 
 nions. The other, on the contrary, reftlefs, a&ive, and full 
 of great views of ambition and conqueft, breathed nothing 
 but war. 
 
 b At the fame time, deputies arrived at Sparta from Acan- 
 thus and Apollonia, two very coniiderable cities of Macedonia, 
 in refpeft to Olynthus a city of Thrace, inhabited by Greeks, 
 originally of Chslcis in Euboea c . Athens, after the victories 
 of Salamin and Marathon, had conquered many places on the 
 fide of Thrace, and even in Trace itfelf. Thofe cities threw 
 off the yoke, as foon as Sparta (at the conclufion of the Pelo- 
 ponnefian war) had ruined the power of Athens. Olynthus 
 was of this number. The deputies of Acanthus and Apollo- 
 nia reprefented, in the general affembly of the allies, that O- 
 lynthus, fituated in their neighbourhood, daily improved in 
 ftrength in an extraordinary manner ; that it perpetually ex- 
 tended its dominions by new conquefts; that it obliged all the 
 cities round about to fubmit to it, and to enter into its mea- 
 fures ; and was upon the point of concluding an alliance with 
 the Athenians and the Thebans. The affair being taken into 
 confideration, it was unanimoufly refolved, that it was necef- 
 fary to declare war againft the Olynthians. It was agreed, 
 that the allied cities fhould furniin ten thoufand troops, with 
 liberty, to fuch as defired it, to fubftitute money, at the rate 
 of three oboli d a-day for each foot-foldier, and four times as 
 much for the horfe. The Lacedaemonians, to lofe no time, 
 made their troops march directly, under the command of Eu- 
 damidas, who prevailed with the Ephori, that Phaebidas his 
 brother, might have the leading of thofe which were to follow, 
 and to join him foon after. When he arrived in that part of 
 Macedonia, which is alfo called Thrace, he garrifoned fuch 
 
 & A. M. 36*1, Am. J. C- 383 c Died. 1. xv. p. 554, $5$-
 
 3^4 mstpRY or THE Book XTt. 
 
 plaees as applied to him for that purpofe, feized upon Potidaea, 
 a city in alliance with the Olynthians which furrendered with- 
 out making a:ny defence, and began the war againft Olynthus, 
 though (lowly, as it was neceflary for a general to aft before 
 his troops were all aflembled. 
 
 f Phaebidas began his march foon after, and being arrived 
 near Thebes, encamped without the walls near the Gymnafium 
 or public place of exercife. Ifmenius and Lecntides, both 
 Polemarchs, that is, generals of the army, and fupreme magi* 
 ftrates of Thebes, were at the head of two different factions. 
 The firfl, who had engaged Pelopidas in his party, was no 
 friend to the Lacedaemonians, nor they to him ; becaufe he 
 publicly declared for popular government and liberty. The 
 other, on the contrary, favoured an oligarchy, and was fup- 
 ported by the Lacedaemonians with their whole intereft. I am 
 obliged to enter into this detail, becaufe the event I am going 
 to relate, and which was a confequence of it, occafions the 
 important war between the Thebans and Spartans. 
 
 This being the ftate of affairs at Thebes, Leontides applied 
 to Phaebidas, and propofed to him to feize the citadel, called 
 -Cadrnaea, to expel the adherents of Ifmenius, and to give the 
 Lacedaemonians pofTefHon of it. He reprefented to him, that 
 nothing could be more glorious for him, than to make himfclf 
 mailer of Thebes, whilft his brother was endeavouring to re- 
 duce Olynthus; that he would thereby facilitate the fuccefs of 
 fcis brother's enterprife; and that the Thebans, who had pro- 
 hibited their citizens by decree to bear arms againft the Olyn- 
 thians, would not fail, upon his making himfelf mafter of the 
 citadel, to fupply him with whatever number of horfe and foot 
 he fliould think proper, for the reinforcement of Eudamidas. 
 
 Phaebidas, vrho had much ambition and little conduct, and 
 who had no other view than to fignalize himfelf by fome ex- 
 traordinary a&ion, without examining the conferences, fuf- 
 fered himfelf lo be eafily perfuaded. Whilft the Thebans, 
 entirely fecured under the treaty of peace lately concluded by 
 Jthe Grecian dates, celebrated the feails of Ceres, and expected 
 
 * A. M. 3611. Ant J. C. 382. Xenoph. p. 556558. Pint, in /Vgcfil. 
 p. 608, 609. id. in Pel -p. p. 280. Diod. 1. xv. p. 341, 342.
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 36$ 
 
 nothing lefs than fuch an act of hoflility. Phaebidas, conduft- 
 ed by Leontides, took poffeffion of the citadel. The fenate 
 was then fitting. Leontides went to them, and declared, that 
 there was nothing to be feared from the Lacedaemonians, who 
 had entered the citadel j that they were only the enemies of 
 thcfe, who were for difturbing the public tranquillity ; that as 
 for himfelf, by the power his office of Polemarch gave him 
 of confining whoever caballed againft the ftate, he fliould put, 
 Ifmenius into a place of fecurity, who facYioufly endeavoured 
 to break the peace. He was feized accordingly, and carried 
 to the citadel. The party of Ifmenius feeing their chief a 
 prifoner, and apprehending the utmoft violence for themfelves, 
 quitted the city with precipitation, and retired to Athens, to 
 the number of four hundred and upwards. They were fcon 
 after banifhed by a public decree. Pelopidas was of the num- 
 ber; but Epaminondas remained at Thebes unmolefted ; being 
 difregarded, as a man entirely devoted to the fludy of philofo- 
 phy, who did not intermeddle in affairs of ftate ; and alfo from 
 his poverty, which left no room to fear any thing from him, 
 A new Polemarch was nominated in the room of Ifmenius, 
 and Leontides went to Lacedaemon. 
 
 The news of Phaebidas's enterprife, who at a time of gene- 
 ral peace had taken pofTellion of a citadel by force, upon which 
 he had no claim or right, had occalioned great murmurings 
 atfid complaints. Such efpecially as oppofed Agelilaus, who 
 xvas fufpecled of having fhared in the fcheme, demanded by 
 whofe orders Phaebidas had committed fo ftrange a breach of 
 public faith. Agefilaus, who well knew that thofe warm re- 
 proaches were aimed at him, made no difficulty of juftifying 
 Phaebidas, and declared openly, and before ajl the world, 
 " That the alion ought to be confidered in itfelf, in order to 
 " undei Hand whether it were ufeful or not ; that whatever was 
 " expedient for Sparta, he was not only permitted, but com- 
 " manded to a& upon his own authority, and without waiting 
 " the orders of any body :" Strange principles to be advanced 
 by a perfon, who upon other occafions had maintained, " That 
 * ju-ftice was the fupreme of virtues, and that without it, va-
 
 366" TKZ HISTORY OF Book XL 
 
 " lour itfelf, and every other great quality, were ufelefs and 
 ** unavailing." It is the fame man that made anfwer, wl'.e-:< 
 fomebody in his prefence magnified the king of Periia's gran- 
 deur ; " He whom you call the great king, in what is h 
 " greater than me, unleis he be more iuit ?" A truly noble 
 and admirable manim, THAT JUSTICE MUST BE THE RULE OF 
 WHATEVER EXCELS AND is GREAT ! But a maxim that he had 
 only in his mouth, and which all his actions contradicted, con- 
 formable to the principle of the generality of politicians, who 
 imagine, that a ftatefman ought always to have juftice in hia 
 mouth, but never lofe an occafion of violating it for the advan- 
 tage of his country. 
 
 But let us now hear the fentence, which the augufl allembly 
 of Sparta, f fo renowned for the wifdom of its counfels and the 
 equity of its decrees, is about to pronounce. The affair being 
 maturely confidered, the whole difcufled at large, and the man- 
 ner of it fet in its full light, the affembly refolved, that Phae- 
 bidas mould be deprived of his command, and fined an hun- 
 dred thoufand drachms* ; but that they mould continue to hold 
 the citadel, and keep a good garrifon in it. What a ilrange 
 contradiction was this, fays Polybius h ! what a difregard of 
 all juftice and reafon ! to punifh the criminal, and approve 
 the crime ; and not only to approve the crime tacitly, and 
 without having any fhare in it, but to ratify it by the public 
 authority, and continue it in the name of the ftate for the ad- 
 vantages arifing from it ! But this was not all : Commiffioners, 
 appointed by all the cities in alliance with Sparta, were dif- 
 patched to the citadel of Thebes to try Ifmenius, upon whom 
 they pafled fentence of death, which was immediately executed. 
 Such flagrant injuilice feldom remains unpunifhed. To aft 
 in fuch a manner, fays Polybius again, is neither for one's 
 country's intereft, nor one's own. 
 
 1 Telutias, Agefilaus's brother, had been fubftituted in the 
 place of Phaebidas to command the reil of the troops of the 
 allies defigned againfl Olynthus ; whither he marched with all 
 
 I> Lib. iv. p. 196. 
 
 i Xenoph. I v. p. 559565. Diod, 1. x?. p. 342, 343> 
 * About aoio 1. Sterling.
 
 Clap. I. FERSIA>^rHD GRECIANS. 36} 
 
 expedition. The city was ftrong, and furniflied with every 
 thing neceffary to a good defence. Several Tallies were made 
 with great fuccefs ; in one of which Teleutias was killed". The 
 next year, king Ageiipolis had the command of the army. The 
 campaign paffed in Ikirmifliing, without any thing decilive. 
 Ageiipolis died loon after of a difeafe, and was fucceeded by 
 his brother Cleombrotus, who reigned nine years. ' About 
 that time began the hundredtli Olympiad. Sparta made freflv 
 efforts to terminate the war with the Olynthians. Polybidas 
 their general prefled the liege with vigour. The place being 
 in want of provilions, was at lail obliged to furrender, and 
 was received by the Spartans into the number of their allies. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 SPARTA'S PROSPERITY. CHARACTER of two illuflrlous 
 THEEANS, EPAMINONDAS and PELOPIDAS. 
 
 1 HE k fortune of the Lacedaemonians never appeared with 
 greater fplendor, nor their power more flrongly eftablilhed. 
 All Greece was fubjeded to them either by force or alliance. 
 They were in poffellion of Thebes, a moft powerful city, and 
 with that of all Boeotia. They had found means to humble 
 Argos, and to hold it in dependence. Corinth was entirely 
 at their devotion, and obeyed their orders in every thing. 
 The Athenians, abandoned by their allies, and reduced almoft 
 to their own llrength, were in no condition to make head a- 
 gainft them. If any city, or people in their alliance, attempt- 
 ed to abftract themfelves from their power, an immediate 
 punilhment reduced them, to their former obedience, and ter- 
 rified all others from following their example. Thus, mailers 
 by fea and land, all trembled before them ; and the moft for- 
 midable princes, as the king of Perlia and the tyrant of Si- 
 cily, feemed to emulate each other in courting their friendihip 
 and alliance. 
 
 A profperity founded in injuftice, can be of no long dura- 
 tion. The greateft blows that were given the Spartan power, 
 
 5 A. M. 3624. Ant.J. 0.380. 
 fc Xenofb. p. 565. Diod. p. 334-
 
 368 JIISTORY CflTTTffe ool 
 
 came from the quarter where they had aed the higheft in- 
 juries, and from whence they did not feem to have any thing 
 to fear ; that is to fay, from Thebes. Two illuftrious citizens 
 of that ftate will make a glorious appearance upon the theatre 
 of Greece, and for that reafon deferve our notice in this place. 
 
 Thefe are Pelopidas and Epaminondas m ; both defcended 
 from the nobleft families of Thebes. Pelopidas, nurtured in 
 the greateft affluence, and whilft young, fole heir of a very 
 rich and flourifhing family, employed his wealth from thefirft 
 poffeffion of it in the relief of fuch as had occafion for it, and 
 merited his favour; mewing in that wife ufe of his richesj 
 that he was really their matter and not their (lave. For, ac- 
 cording to Ariftotle's remark, repeated by Plutarch *, moft 
 men either make no ufe at all of their fortunes out of avarice, 
 or abufe them in bad and trifling expences. As for Epaminon- 
 das, poverty was all his inheritance, in which his honour, 
 and one might almoft fay his joy and delight, confifted. He 
 was born of poor parents, and confequently familiarized from 
 his infancy with poverty, which he made more grateful and 
 cafy to him by his tafle for philofophy. Pelopidas, who fup- 
 ported a great number of citizens, never being able to prevail 
 on him to accept his offers, and to make ufe of his fortune, 
 refolved to {hare in the poverty of his friend, by making him 
 his example, and became the model as well as admiration of 
 the whole city, from the modefty of his drefs, and the fruga- 
 lity of his table. 
 
 n If Epaminondas was poor as to the goods of fortune, thofe 
 of the head and heart made him moft ample amends. ]\Jo- ' 
 deft, prudent, grave ; happy in improving occalions ; pofielT- 
 ing in a fupreme degree the fcience of war; equally valiant 
 and wife ; eafy and complaifant in the commerce of the world j 
 fuffering with incredible patience the people's, and even his 
 friends ill treatment ; uniting wijh the ardour for military ex- 
 ercifes, a wonderful tafte for iludj- and the fciences ; piquing 
 himfelf efpecially fo much upon truth and fmcerity, that he 
 
 m Pint, in Pelop. p. 279. n Cor. Ncp. in Epam. c. i j.
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 369 
 
 made a fcniple of telling a lie even in jeft, or for diverfton. 
 " Adeo veritatis diiigens, ut ne joco quidem mentiretur." 
 
 They were both equally inclined to \'irtue. But Pelopi- 
 das was beft pleaft-d with the exercifes of the body, and Epa- 
 minondas with the cultivation of the mind. For which rea- 
 fon, they employed their leifure, the one in the palaeftra and 
 the chace, and the other in converfation and the fludy of pht- 
 lofophy. 
 
 But what perfons of fenfe and judgment muft principally 
 admire in them, and which is rarely found in their high rank, 
 is the perfect union and friendLhip, that always fubiifted be- 
 tween them during the whole time they were employed toge- 
 ther in the adminiil ration of the public affairs, whether ia 
 war or peace. If we examine the government of Arillides 
 and Thgmiitocles, that of Cimon and Pericles, of Nicias and 
 Alcibiades, we mall find them full of trouble, diflfention, and 
 debate. The two friends we fpeak of held the fir ft offices in 
 the ftste ; all great affairs palled through their hands ; every 
 thing was confided to their care and authority. In fuch deli- 
 cate conjunctures what occalions of pique and jealoufy gene- 
 rally arife ? But neither difference of fentiment, diverfity of 
 intereft, nor the leafl emotion of envy, ever altered their 
 union and good underftanding. The rcafon of which was, their 
 being founded upon an unalterable principle, that ia, upon 
 virtue ; which in all their actions, fays Plutarch, occafioned 
 their having neither glory nor riches, fatal fources of flrife 
 and divifion, in view, but folely the public good, and made 
 them defire not the advancement or honour of their own fa- 
 milies, but to render their country more powerful and flour- 
 ifhing. Such were the two illuftrious men who are about to 
 make their appearance, and to give a new face to the affairs 
 of Greece, by the great events in which they have a princi- 
 pal mare. 
 
 p Leontides, being apprized that the exiles had retired to 
 
 Volume IV. A a 
 
 Plut. in Pelop. p. 479. 
 
 P A. M. 36z6. Ant. J. C. 378. Xenoph. hift. Or. 1. v. p. 566568. Plut. 
 in Pelop. 480284. Id. deSocrat. gen. p. 586 j88, et;94-r598. Diod.Lxv. 
 p. 344 346. Co/. Nep. in Pelop. c. i IT,
 
 37<3 HISTORT OF THE B<&k XII, 
 
 .Athens, v;heve th^y had been well received by the people, and 
 were in great efteem with all people of worth and honour, 
 lent thither certain unknown perfons to aiTailinate the moft 
 comlderable of them. Only Androclides was killed ; all the 
 yell efcaping the contrivances of Leontides. 
 
 At the fame time, the Athenians received letters from 
 Sparta, to prohibit their receiving or affifting the exiles, and 
 with orders to expel them their city, as thev were declared 
 common enemies by all the allies. The humanity and virtue, 
 peculiar and natural to the Athenians, made them reject fo 
 infamous a propofal with horror. They were tranfpcrred with 
 the occalion of exprePung their gratitude to the Thebans for 
 a previous obligation of the fame nature. For the Thebans. 
 had contributed moft to the re-eltablifhment of the popular 
 government at Athens, having declared in their favour by a- 
 public decree, contrary to the prohibition of Sparta ; and it 
 was from Thebes, Thrafybulus fet out to deliver Athens from 
 the tyranny of the thirty. 
 
 Pelopidas, though at that time very young, went to all the 
 exiles one after another, of whom Melon was the mod con- 
 fiderable. He reprefented to them, '* That it was unwcrthy 
 " of honeft men, to content themfelves with having faved. 
 " their own lives, and to look with indifference upon their 
 " country, enllaved and miferabie : That whatever good- will 
 " the people of Athens might exprefs for them, it was not 
 " fit that they mould fuffer their fate to depend upon the de- 
 " crees of a people, which their natural inconflancy, and the 
 " malignity of orators that turned them any way at will, might: 
 " foon alter : That it was necetury to haiard every thing, af- 
 " ter the example of Thrafybulus, and to fet before them his 
 " intrepid valour and generous fortitude as a model : That as 
 " he fet out from Thebes to fupprefs and deftroy the tyrants 
 *' of Athens, fo they might go from Athens to reftore The- 
 " bes its ancient liberty." 
 
 This difcourfe made all the impreffion upon the exiles that 
 could be expefted. They fent privately to inform their friends 
 at Thebes of their refolution, who extremely approved their
 
 ChdplL PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 371 
 
 defign. Charon, one of the principal perfons of the city, of- 
 fered to receive the confpirators into his houfe. Philidas found 
 means to get himfelf made fecretary to Archidas and Philip, 
 who were then Polemarchs, or f up re me magiftrates of the ci- 
 ty. As for Epaminondas, he had for fome time diligently 
 endeavoured to infpire the younger Thebans by his difcourfe 
 \viih a paffionate deiire to throw off the Spartan yoke. q He 
 was ignorant of nothing that had been projected ; but he be- 
 lieved, that he ought not to have any {hare it, becaufe, as he 
 laid, he could not refolve to imbrue his hands in the blood of 
 liis country; forefeeing that his friends would not keep with- 
 in the due bounds of the enterprife, however lawful in itfelf, 
 and that the tyrants would not perilh alone; and convinced 
 betides, that a citizen, who Ihould not appear to have taken 
 either party, would have it in his power to influence the 
 people with the better effeft. 
 
 The day for the execution of the project being fixed, the ex- 
 iles thought proper, that Pherenicus, with all the confpirators, 
 fhould Hop at Thriafium, a little town not far from Thebes, 
 r.nd that a fmall number of the youngeft of them fhould 
 venture into the city. Twelve perfons of the beft families of 
 Thebes, all united by a Uriel: and faithful friendihip with each 
 other, though competitors for glory and honour, offered them- 
 fclves for this bold enterprife. Pelopidas was of this number. 
 After having embraced their companions, and difpatched a 
 meiTer.ger to Charon, to give him notice of their coming, they 
 fet out drefled in mean habits, carrying hounds with them, 
 and poles in their hands for pitching of nets ; that fuch as 
 they met on the way might have no fufpicion of them, and 
 take them only for hunters, that had wandered after their 
 game. 
 
 Their meflenger being arrived at Thebes, and having in- 
 formed Charon, that they were fet out, the approach of dan- 
 ger did not alter his fentiments ; and as he wanted neither 
 courage nor honour, he prepared his houfe for their recep- 
 tion. 
 
 A a ij 
 1 Plut. de gen. Socrat. p. 594- i
 
 1fit HISTORY OF THE Book XII. 
 
 One of the confpirators, who was no bad man, loved his 
 country, and would have ferved the exiles with all his power, 
 but had neither the refolutiont nor conftancy neceilary for fuch 
 an enterprise, and could think of nothing but difficulties and 
 ebftacles, that prefented themfelves in crowds to his imagina- 
 tion : Much dilbrdered with the profpeft of danger, this per- 
 fon retired into his houfe without faying any tiling, and dii- 
 patchcd one of his friends to Melon and Pelopidas, to defire 
 them to defer their enterprife, and return to Athens till a, 
 more favourable opportunity. Happily that friend, not find- 
 ing his horfe's bridle, and loiing a great deal of time in quar- 
 relling with his wife, was prevented from going. 
 
 Pelopidas and his companions, diiguifed like peafants, and 
 having feparated from each other, entered the city at different 
 gates towards the clofe of day. It was then early in the win- 
 ter, the north wind blew, and the fnow fell ; which contri. 
 buted to conceal them, every body keeping within doors up- 
 on account of the cold weather; befides which, it gave them 
 an opportunity of covering their faces. Some, who were in 
 the fecret, received and conducted them to Charon's houfe ; 
 where, of exiles and others, their whole number amounted 
 to forty-eight. 
 
 Philidas, fecretary to the * Boeotarchs, who was in the plot, 
 had fome time before invited Archias and his companions to 
 (upper, promifing them an exquifite repaft, and the company 
 of fome of the fineft women in the city. The guefts being 
 met at the appointed time, they fat down to table. They had 
 been free with the glafs, and were almoft drunk, when it was 
 whifpered about, but not known where the report began, that 
 the exiles were in the city. Philidas, without fnewing any 
 concern, did his utmofl to change the difcourfe. Archias 
 however fent one of his officers to Charon, with orders to- 
 come to him immediately. It was now late, and Pelopidas 
 and the confpirators were preparing to fet out, and had put 
 on their armour and fwords, when, on a fudden, they heard a 
 
 >* The magistrates and generals who were charged with the government of 
 Thebes r were calkd Jiocotarchs, that is to fajr, commanders or governors oS 
 eotia
 
 Clap. L SERBIANS AND GRECIANS. 373 
 
 knocking at the door. Somebody went to it ; and being told 
 by the officer, that he was come from the magiil rates with 
 -orders for Charon to attend them immediately, he ran to him 
 half out of his wits tq acquaint him v/ith that terrible meffage. 
 They all concluded, that the confpiracy was difcovered, and 
 believed themfelves loft, before it would be poffible to execute 
 any thing worthy their caufe and valour. However, they were 
 all of opinion that Charon ihould obey the order, and prefent 
 himfelf with an air of affurance to the magiftrates, as void of 
 fear, and unconscious of offence. 
 
 Charon was a man of intrepid courage in dangers which 
 threatened only himfelf; but at that time, terrified for his 
 friends, and apprehending alib, that he mould be fufpeSed of 
 fome treachery, if fo many brave citizens, whom he had re- 
 ceived into his houfe, mould be deftroyed, he went to his 
 wife's apartment, and fetched his only fon, of fifteen years old 
 at moft, who in beauty and flrength excelled all the youths of 
 his age, and put him into the hands of Pelopidas, faying at 
 the fame time, " If you difcover that I have betrayed you, 
 " and have been guilty of treachery upon this -cccafion, re- 
 " venge yourfelves on me in this my only fon, whom, as dear 
 " as he is to me, I abandon to you, and let him fall a viftim 
 4t without mercy to his father's perfidy ." 
 
 Thefe expreffions wounded them to the heart ; but what 
 gave them the -Hioft fenilble pain, was his imagining there was 
 any one amongft them fo mean and ungrateful, as to form to 
 himfelf the lead fufpicion in regard to him. They conjured 
 him unanimoufly, not to leave his fon with them, but to put 
 him into fome place of fafety ; that his friends and country 
 might not want an avenger, if he fliould be fo fortunate as to 
 cfcape the tyrants. " No," replied the father, " he mall flay 
 " with you, and {hare your fate. If he muft perilh, what 
 " nobler end can he make, than with his father and beH 
 " friends ? For you, my fon,, exert yourfelf beyond your years, 
 *' and mew a courage worthy of you and rue. You fee here 
 " the moft excellent of the Thebans. Make under fuch maf- 
 * ters a noble e#ay O f glory, and learn to fight ; or if it znu& 
 
 A iij
 
 274 HISTORY OF THE Boot XI L 
 
 " be fo, to die, like them, for liberty. For the reft, I am not 
 " without hopes ; for I believe, that the juilice of our caufe 
 '" will draw down the favour and protection of the gods up- 
 " on us." lie concluded with a prayer for them j and after 
 embracing the confpirators, went out. 
 
 He took pains on his way to recover himfelf, and to compofe 
 his looks and voice, that he might not appear under any concern. 
 When he came to the door of the houfe where the feaft was 
 kept, Archias and Philidas came out to him, and aiked the 
 meaning of a report, that difaiFected people were arrived in 
 the city, aud were concealed in fome houfe. He feemed a- 
 flonithed ; and finding by their anfwers to his queftions, that 
 they had no precife information of any thing, he affumed a 
 bolder tone, and faid, " It is very likely the report you fpeak 
 " of is only a falfe alarm, intended to interrupt your mirth : 
 " However, as it ought not to be neglected, I will go im- 
 " mediately and make the ftri&eft enquiry poflible into it." 
 Philidas praifed his prudence and zeal ; and carrying Archias 
 back into the company, he plunged him again in the debauch, 
 and continued the entertainment, by keeping the guefts in per- 
 petual expectation of the women he had promifed them. 
 
 Charon, on his return home, found his friends all prepared, 
 not to conquer or to fave their lives, but to die gloriouily, and 
 to fell themfelves as dear as they could. The ferenity and joy 
 of his looks explained beforehand, that they had nothing to 
 fear. He repeated all that had paiTed ; after which, they had 
 no thoughts but of the inftant execution of a defign, to which 
 the leaft delav might occafion a thoufand obftacles. 
 
 In efFecl:, at that very inftant happened a fccond ftcrm, far 
 more violent than the firft, and which feemed as if it could not 
 poffibly fail of making the enterprife niifcarry. A courier from 
 Athens arrived in great hafte with n packet, which contained 
 a circumftantial account of the whole confpiracy, as was after- 
 wards difcoverecl. The courier was brought firft to Archias, 
 who was far gone in wine, and breathed nothing but pleafure 
 and the bottle. In giving him his difpatches, he faid, " My 
 " lord, the pcrfcn who writes you thefe letters, conjures you
 
 . I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 37.5 
 
 4 ' to read them immediately, being ferious affairs." Archiss 
 replied laughing, " * Serious affairs to-morrow," which words 
 were afterwards ufed by the Greeks as a proverb ; and taking 
 the letters, he put them f under his pillow, and continued the 
 converfation and debauch. 
 
 The confpirators were at this time in the ftreets, divided in- 
 to two parties ; the one with Pelopidas at their head, march- 
 ed againfl Leontides, who was not at the feaft ; the other 
 againfl Archias, under the command of Charon. Thefe had 
 put on women's habits over their armour, and crowned them- 
 Cdves with pine and popular wreaths, which entirely covered 
 their faces. When they came to the door of the apartment 
 v/here the feaft was kept, the guefts made a great noife, and 
 fet up loud ihouts of joy. But they were told, that the wo- 
 men would not come in till the fervants were all difmiffed, 
 which was done immediately. They were fent to neighbour- 
 ing houfes, where there was no want of wine for their enter- 
 tainment. The confpirators, by this flratagem, having made 
 themfelves matters of the field of battle, entered fword in hand, 
 and fhewi-ng themfelves in their true colours, put all the guefts 
 to the fword, and with them the magiftrates, who were full 
 of wine, and in no condition to defend themfelves. Pelopidas 
 met with more refiftance. Leontides, who was afleep in bed, 
 awaked with the noife that was made, and riling immediately, 
 armed himfelf with his fword, and laid fome of the confpira- 
 tors at his feet ; but was at laft killed himfelf. 
 
 This grand affair being executed in this manner with fo much 
 difpatch and fuccefs, couriers were immediately difpatched to 
 Thriafmm. The doors of the prifons were broke open, and 
 five hundred prifoners let out. The Thebans were called up- 
 pon to refume their liberty, and arms were given to all they 
 met. The fpoils affixed to the porticoes were taken down, and 
 the armourers and cutlers {hops broke open for that purpofe. 
 Epaminondas and Gorgidas came in arms to join them, with 
 fome old perfons of great eftimation, whom they had got to- 
 gether. A a iiij 
 
 * 'Qvxuv lit tiupioy, t<fn, TO. ftrvSaTa 
 $ The Greeks cat lying on beds.
 
 3?6 HISTORY OF THE Soo& XIL 
 
 The whole city was in great terror and confufion ; the houfes 
 all illuminated with torches, and the ftreets thronged with the 
 multitude patting to and fro. The people in a confternation at 
 what had happened, and for want of fufHcient information, 
 waited impatiently for the day to know their deftiny. The 
 Lacedaemonian captains were therefore thought guilty of a 
 very great error in not falling upon them during their difor- 
 der ; for the garrifon confifted of fifteen hundren men, befides 
 three thoufand, who had taken refuge in the citadel. Alarm- 
 ed hy the cries they heard, the illuminations they faw in the 
 houfes, and the tumult of the multitude running backwards 
 and forwards, they lay ft ill, and contented themfelves with 
 guarding the citadel, after having fent couriers to Sparta with 
 the news of what had happened, and to demand an immediate 
 reinforcement. 
 
 The next day at fun-rife the exiles arrived with their arms, 
 and the people were fummoned to affemble. Epaminondas 
 and Gorgidas conduced Pelopidas thither, furrounded with 
 all their facrifkers, carrying in their hands the fecret bandages 
 and fillets, and exhorting the citizens to affift their country, 
 and tp join with their gods. At this fight, the whole aflern- 
 bly rofe up with loud acclamations and clapping of hands, and 
 received the confpirators as their benefactors and deliverers. 
 The fame day, Pelopidas, Melon, and Charon, were elected 
 Boeotarchs. 
 
 Soon after the exiles, arrived five thoufand foot, and five 
 hundred horfe, fent by the Athenians to Pelopidas, under the 
 command of Demophoon. Thofe troops, with others which 
 joined them from all the cities of Boeotia, compofed an army 
 of twelve thoufand foot, and as many horfe ; and without lofs 
 of time befieged the citadel, that it might be taken before re- 
 lief could come from Sparta, 
 
 The befieged made a vigorous defence in hopes of a fpeedy 
 fuccour, and fecmed refolved rather to die than furrender the 
 place ; at leaft, the Lacedaemonions were of that opinion : But 
 they were not the greateft number of the garrifon. Whetx 
 provifions began to fall frier*"; and famine to prefs them, th
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 377 
 
 reft of the troops obliged the Spartans to furrender. The gar- 
 rifon had their lives granted them, and were permitted to re- 
 tire whither they thought fit. They were fcarce marched out, 
 when the aid arrived. The Lacedaemonians found Cleombro- 
 tus at Megara, at the head of a powerful army, which, with 
 a little more expedition, might have faved the citadel. But 
 this was not the firft time the natural flownefs of the Lace- 
 daemonians had occafioned the mifcarriage of their enterprifes. 
 The three commanders who had capitulated were tried. Two 
 of them were punifhed with death, and the third had fo great 
 a fine laid upon him, that not being able to pay [it, he baniih- 
 ed himfelf from Peloponnefus. 
 
 Pelopidas had all the honour of this great exploit, the moil 
 memorable that ever was executed by furprife and ftratagem. 
 Plutarch, with reafon, compares it to that of Thrafybulus. 
 Both exiles, deilitute in themfelves of all refource, and reduced 
 to implore a foreign fupport, form the bold defign of attack- 
 ing a formidable power with a handful of men, and over- 
 coming all obftacles to their enterprife folely by their valour, 
 had each of them the good fortune to deliver their country, 
 and to change the face of its affairs entirely. For the Athe- 
 nians were indebted to Thrafybulus for that fudden and hap- 
 py change, which freeing them from the oppreflion they groan- 
 ed under, not only reftored their liberty, but with it their an- 
 cient fplendor, and put them into a condition to humble, and 
 make Sparta tremble in their turn. We mall fee in like man- 
 ner, that the war which reduced the pride of Sparta, and de- 
 prived it of the empire both by fea and land, was the work 
 of this fingle night, in which Pelopidas, without taking either 
 citadel or fortrefs, and entering only one of twelve into a pri- 
 vate houfe *, unloofed and broke the chains impofed by the 
 Lacedaemonians on all the ether ftates of Greece, though it 
 appeared impradlicable ever to produce fuch an effect. 
 
 , tl Ii7 pfaftf* re fati&f UXM, favn xKitttxe^
 
 3 78 HISTORY OF THE Bo<& XII; 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 SPHOVRIAS forms a DESIGN againft tie PIRAEUS. 
 
 THE Lacedaemonians r , after the injury they pretended to 
 have received by the enterprife of Pelopidas, did not continue 
 quiet, but applied themfelves in earneft to their revenge. A- 
 gefilaus, rightly judging an expedition of that kind, of which 
 the end was to fupport tyrants, would not reflect much hon- 
 our upon him, left it to Cleombrotus, who had lately fucceeded 
 king Agefipolis, under pretence that his great age difpenfed 
 with his undertaking it. Cleombrotus entered Boeotia with 
 his army. The firfl campaign was not vigorous, and termi- 
 nated in committing fome ravages in the country ; after which 
 the king retired ; and detaching part of his troops to Spho- 
 drias, who commanded at Thefpiae, returned to Sparta. 
 
 The Athenians, who did not think themfelves in a condition 
 to make head againft the Lacedaemonians, and were afraid of 
 the confequences in which their league with the Thebans was 
 likely to engage them, repented their having entered into it, 
 and renounced it. Thofe who perfifted to adhere to the The- 
 ban party, were fome imprifoned, fome put to death, others 
 banifhed, and the rich feverely fined. The Theban affairs 
 feemed almoft defperate ; not having any alliance to fupport 
 them. Pelopidas and Gorgidas were then at the head of them, 
 and were ftudious of finding means to embroil the Athenians 
 with the Lacedaemonians ; and this was the ftratagem they 
 contrived. 
 
 Sphodrias the Spartan had been left at Thefpiae with a body 
 ef troops, to receive and protect fuch of the Boeotians as mould 
 revolt againft Thebes. He had acquired fome reputation a- 
 mongft the foldiery, and wanted neither courage nor ambition ; 
 but he was rafh, fuperficial, full of himfelf, and confequently 
 apt to entertain vain hopes. Pelopidas and Gorgidas fent pri- 
 vately a merchant of his own acquaintance to him with the of- 
 fer, as from himfelf, of a confiderable fum of money, and with 
 
 r A. M. 3627. Ant. J. C. 377. Xcnoph. 1. v. p. 568572. Flut- i-i 
 Ascf. p. 609, 610. Id. in Pelop. p. 284, 185.
 
 Clap. L PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 379 
 
 infmuations more agreeable to him than money, as they flat- 
 tered hi: vanity. " After having reprefented to him, that 
 " one of his merit and reputation ought to form fome great 
 " enterprife to immortalize his name; hepropofed to him the 
 " feizing of the Piraeus byfurprife, when the Athenians had 
 " no expectation of fuch an attempt: He added, that nothing 
 " could be more grateful to the Lacedaemonians, than to fee 
 " themfelves mailers of Athens ; and that the Thebans, en- 
 " raged at the Athenians, whom they confidered as traitors 
 ** and deferters, would lend them no affiilance." 
 
 Sphodrias, fond of acquiring a great name, and envying 
 the glory of Phaebidas, who, in this fenfe, had rendered him- 
 felf renowned and illuftrious by his unjuft attempt upon 
 Thebes, conceived it would be a much more mining and glo- 
 rious exploit to feize the Piraeus of his own accord, and de- 
 prive the Athenians of their great power at fea, by an unfore- 
 feen attack by land. He undertook the enterprife therefore 
 with great joy ; which was neither lefs unjuft nor lefs horrid 
 than that of the Cadmea, but not executed with the fame 
 boldnefs and fuccefs. Forhaving fet out in the night from Thef- 
 piae, with the view of furpriiing the Piraeus before light, the 
 day-break overtook him in the plain of Thriafium near Eleu- 
 fis ; and finding himfelf difcovered, he returned fliamefully to 
 Thefpiae with fome booty which he had taken. 
 
 The Athenians immediately fent ambafladors with their 
 complaints to Sparta. Thofe ambafladors found, that the Lace- 
 daemonians had not waited their arrival to accufe Sphodrias, 
 but had already cited him before the council to anfwer for his 
 conduct. He was afraid to obey that fummons, having juft 
 reafon to apprehend the iflue of a trial, and the refentment of 
 his country. He had a fon, who had contracted a Uriel: and 
 tender friendihip with the fon of Agefilaus. The latter foli- 
 cited his father fo earneftly, or rather tormented him with fuch 
 extreme importunity and perfevcrance, that he could not re- 
 fufe Sphodrias his protection, and got him fully abfolved. A- 
 gefilaus was little delicate, as we have feen already, in point of 
 juftice, when the fervice of his friends was in queftion. Hq
 
 3&0 HISTORY OF THE Book XJL 
 
 was befides, of all mankind, the moft tender and indulgent 
 father to his children. It is reported of him, that when thejr 
 were little, he would play with them, and divert himfelf with 
 riding upon a ftick amongft them ; and that having been fur- 
 prifed by a friend in that action, he defired him not to tell 
 any body of it till himfelf was a father. 
 
 * The unjuft fentence paffed in favour of Sphodrias by the 
 Spartans, exceedingly incenfed the Athenians, and determined 
 them to renew their alliance with Thebes immediately, and to 
 aflift them with all their power. They fitted out a fleet, and 
 gave the command of it to Timotheus, fon of the illuftrious 
 Conon, whofe reputation he well fuftained by his own valour 
 and exploits. It was he, whom his enemies, in envy of the 
 glory he had acquired by his great actions, painted lleeping, 
 with the Goddefs Fortune at his feet, taking towns in nets for 
 him t : But upon this occalion he proved that he was not 
 afleep. After having ravaged the coaft of Laconia, he attacked 
 the ifle of Corcyra u , which he took. He treated the inhabi- 
 tants with great humanity, and made no alteration in their 
 liberty or laws, which very much inclined the neighbouring 
 cities in favour of Athens. The Spartans on their fide made 
 powerful preparations for the war, and were principally intent 
 upon retaking Corcyra. Its happy fituation between Sicily and 
 Greece, rendered that ifland very important. They therefore 
 engaged Dionyfius the tyrant in the expedition, and demanded 
 aid of him. In the mean time they difpatched their fleet under 
 Mnafippus. The Athenians fent fixty fail againil them to the 
 relief of Corcyra, under Timotheus at firfl j but foon after, 
 upon his feeming to al too fiowly, Iphicrates was fubltituted 
 in his place. Mnafippus having made himfelf odious to his 
 troops by his haughtinefis, rigour and avarice, was very ill 
 obeyed by them, and loll his life in an engagement. Iphicrates 
 did not arrive till after his death, when he received advice that 
 the Syracufan fquadron of ten gallies approached, which he 
 attacked fo fuccefsfully, that not one of them efcaped. He 
 demanded, that the orator Calliftratus, and Chabrias, one of 
 
 * Xenoph. 1. v. p. 584589. Plut. in Agef. p. 6ro, 6ll. W. in Pclop. 
 p. a8j 288, * Plut, in Syl. p. 454- u Corfu.
 
 L TERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 381 
 
 the moil renowned captains of his time, fhould be joined in 
 commiffion with him. Xenophon admires his \vifdom and 
 greatnefs of foul upon that account, ia being fatisfied with ap- 
 pearing to have occafion for council, and not apprehending to 
 fliare the glory of his victories with others. 
 
 Agefilaus had been prevailed upon to take upon him the 
 command of the troops againft Thebes. He entered Boeotia, 
 where he did abundance of damage to the Thebans, not with- 
 out confiderable lofs on his own fide. The two armies came 
 every day to blows, and were perpetually engaged, though 
 not in formal battle, yet in Ikirmifhes, which ferved to inftruct 
 the Thebans in the trade of war, and to infpire them with 
 valour, boldnefs, and experience. It is reported that the Spar- 
 tan Antalcides told Agefilaus very juftly upon this head, when 
 he was brought back from Boeotia much wounded, " My lord 
 " Agefilaus, you have a fine reward for the leflbns you have 
 " given the Thebans in the art of war, which, before you 
 " taught it them, they neither would nor could learn." It 
 was to prevent this inconvenience, that Lycurgus, in one of 
 the three laws which he calls Rhetrae, forbade the Lacedae- 
 monians to make war often upon the fame enemy, left they 
 fhould make them too good foldiers, by obliging them to the 
 frequent defence of themfelves. 
 
 Several campaigns paiTed in this manner, without any thing 
 decifive on either fide. It was prudent in the Theban generals 
 not to hazard a battle hitherto, and to give their foldiers time 
 to inure and embolden themfelves. When the occafion was 
 favourable, they let themfelves loofe like generous hounds ; 
 and after having given them a tafle of victory by way of re- 
 ward, they called them off, contented with their courage and 
 alacrity. The principal glory of their fuccefs and this wife 
 conduct was due to Pelopidas. 
 
 The engagement at Tegyra, which was a kind of prelude to 
 the battle of Leuctra, added much to his reputation. Having 
 failed in his enterprife againft Orchomenos, which had joined 
 the Lacedaemonians, at his return he found the enemy ported 
 tq intercept him near Tegyra. As foon as the Thebans per-
 
 382 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ceived them from the defiles, fomebody ran in all hafte to Pe- 
 lopidas, and told him, " We are fallen into the enemy's hand . 
 " Ah !" replied he, " why mould we not rather fay, that they 
 " are fallen into ours !" At the fame time he ordered his ca- 
 valry, which were his rear guard, to advance to the front, that 
 they might begin the fight. He was affured, that his foot, 
 which were only three hundred, and were called the Sacred 
 Battalion, would break through the enemy, wherever they 
 charged, though fuperior in number, as they were bv at lead 
 two-thirds. The affault began where the generals of each party 
 were polled, and was very rude. The two generals of the 
 Lacedaemonians, who had charged Pelopidas, was prefentlv 
 killed ; all that were with them being either (lain or difperfed. 
 The reft of the Lacedaemonian troops were fo daunted, that 
 they opened a paffage for the Thebans, who might have march- 
 ed on to fave themfelves if they had thought tit : But Pelopi- 
 das, difdaining to make ufe of that opening for his retreat, ad- 
 vanced againft thofe who were ftill drawn up in battle, and 
 made fo great a flaughter of them, that they were all difmay- 
 ed, and fled in diforder. The Thebans did not purfue them 
 far, left they mould be furprifed. They contented themfelves 
 with having broken them, and with making a glorious retreat, 
 not inferior to a victory, becaufe through the enemy difperfed 
 and defeated. 
 
 This little encounter, for it can be called no more, was in 
 a manner the fource of the great actions and events we are 
 ubout to treat of. It had never happened till then in any war, 
 either againft the Barbarians or Greeks, that the Lacedaemo- 
 nians had been defeated with the fuperiority of number on 
 their fide, nor even with equal forces in battle array : For 
 which reafon they were infupportably proud, and their repu- 
 tation alone kept their enemies in awe, who never durft fhew 
 themfelves in the field before them, unlefs fuperior in number. 
 They now loft that glory, and the Thebans in their turn be- 
 came the terror and dread even of thofe who had rendered 
 themfelves fo univerfally formidable. 
 
 The enterprife of Artaxerxes Mnemon againft Egypt x > & ai 
 * A. M. 3617. Ant.J. C. 377.
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 383 
 
 the death of Evagoras king of Cyprus, ihould naturally come 
 in here. But I mall defer thofe articles, to avoid breaking in 
 upon the Theban affairs. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 New TROUBLES in GREECE. "The LACEDAEMONIANS declare 
 
 WAR againjl THEBES. 
 
 vVniLST y the Perfians were engaged in the Egyptian war, 
 great troubles arofe in Greece. In that interval the Thebans, 
 having taken Plataea z , and aftei'wards Thefpiae, entirely de- 
 moliflied thofe cities, and expelled the inhabitants. The Pla- 
 taeans retired to Athens with their wives and children, where 
 they were received with the utmoil favour, and adopted into 
 the number of the citizens. 
 
 a Artaxerxes, being informed of the flate of the Grecian 
 affairs, fent a new embafly thither to perfuade the feveral cities 
 and republics at war to lay down their arms, and accommo- 
 date their differences upon the plan of the treaty of Antalci- 
 des. By thcit peace, as has been obferved in its place, it was 
 concluded, that all the cities of Greece mould enjoy their liber- 
 ty, and be governed by their own laws. In virtue of this article, 
 the Lacedaemonians prefled the Thebans to reftore their liber- 
 ty to all the cities of Boeotia, to rebuild Plataea and Thefpiae 
 which they had demoliihed, and to reftore them with their de- 
 pendences to their ancient inhabitants. The Thebans on their 
 fide infilled alfo, that the Lacedaemonians mould give liberty 
 to all thofe of Laconia, and that the city of Meffene ihould be 
 reftored to its ancient poffeflbrs. This was what equity re- 
 quired ; but the Lacedaemonians, believing themfelves much 
 fuperior to the Thebans, were for impoiing a law upon them, 
 which they would not fubmit to themfelves. 
 
 All Greece being weary of a war, which had already lafted 
 feveral campaigns, and had no other end than the aggrandiz- 
 ing of that ftate, was ferioufly intent upon a general peace, and, 
 with that view, had fent deputies to Lacedaemon, to concert 
 
 y A. M. 3633. Ant- J. C. 371. Diod. 1. li. p. 361, 362. 
 
 z Plataea a city of Boeotia. Thefpiae of Achaia. 
 
 a Xenoph. hift. Graec. 1. vi. p. 590 503. Dion. p. 365, 366.
 
 3&4 HISTORY OF THE Bool XII. 
 
 together the means of attaining fo defirable an effect. b A- 
 mongil thofe deputies Epaminondas was of the firft rank. He 
 was at that time celebrated for his great erudition and profound 
 knowledge in philofophy ; but he had not jet given any very 
 diflinguifhe,d proofs of his great capacity for the command of 
 armies, and the adininiitration of public affairs. Seeing that 
 all the deputies, out of refpect for Agefilaus, who declared o- 
 penly for the war, were afraid to contradict him, or to differ 
 from his opinion in any thing ; a very common effect of too 
 imperious a power on one fide, and too fervile a fubmiflioa on 
 the other ; he was the only one that fpoke with a wife and 
 noble boldnefs, as became a ftatefman who had no other view 
 but the public good. He made a fpeech, not for the Thebans 
 alone, but for Greece in general ; in which he proved, that 
 the war augmented only the power of Sparta, whilft the reft of 
 Greece was reduced, and ruined by it. He infilled principally 
 upon the neceffity of eflablifhing the peace in equality and jui- 
 tice, becaufe no peace could be folid and of long duration, but 
 that wherein all parties fhould find an equal advantage. 
 
 A difcourfe like this, founded evidently upon reafon and 
 juflice, and pronounced with a grave and ferious tone, never 
 fails of making impreiiion. Agefilaus plainly diflinguuhed, 
 from the attention and filence with which it was heard, that 
 the deputies were extremely affected with it, and would not 
 fail to act conformably to his opinion. To prevent that effecl;, 
 he demanded of Epaminondas, " Whether he thought it jufl 
 " and reasonable, that Boeotia fhould be free and independ- 
 " ent ?" that is to fay, whether he agreed, that the cities of 
 Boeotia mould depend no longer upon Thebes. Epaminondas 
 immedately afked in his turn with great vivacity, " Whether 
 " he thought it jufl and reafonable, that Laconia fhould enjoy 
 " the fame independence and liberty ?" Upon which Agefi- 
 laus, rifing from his feat in great rage, imlfled upon his declar- 
 ing plainly, " Whether he would content that Boeotia fhould 
 " be free ?" Epaminondas retorted his queflion again, and 
 afked, " Whether, on his fide, he would confent that Laco- 
 *' nia ihould be free ? Agefilaus, who wanted only a pretext 
 
 * Plut. in Agefil. p. 6 1 !-
 
 Chap. /. PERSIANS AVD GRECIANS. 385 
 
 For breaking with the Thebans, ftruck them directly out of the 
 treaty of alliance, which they were about to conclude. The 
 reft f the allies figned it lefa out of inclination, than not to 
 offend the Lacedaemonians, whofe power they dreaded. 
 
 c In confequence of this treaty, all the troops in tbe field 
 were to be difbanded. Cleombrotus, one of the kings of 
 Sparta, was then at Phocis, at the head of the army. He 
 wrote to the Ephori to know the republic's refolutions. Pro- 
 thous, one of the principal fenators, reprefented, that there 
 was no room for deliberations ; for that Sparta, by the late 
 agreement, has made the recall of the troops indifpenfable, 
 Agefilaus was of a different opinion. Angry with the The- 
 bans, and particularly with Epaminondas, he was abfolutely 
 bent on the war for an opportunity of revenge ; and the prefent 
 feemed moil favourable, when all Greece was free and united, 
 and only the Thebans excluded the treaty of peace. The ad- 
 vice of Prothous was therefore rejected by the whole council, 
 who treated him as an hcneft *, well-meaning dotard, that 
 knew nothing of the matter ; the divinity, 'from thenceforth, 
 as Xenophon obferves, promoting their downfall. The Ephori 
 wrote immediately to Cleombrotus to marcli againfl the The- 
 bans with his troops; and fent orders at the fame time to all their 
 allies to affemble their forces, who were averfe to this \vsr, 
 and did not join in it but with great reluctance, and out of fear 
 of contradicting the Lacedaemonians, whom they did not yet 
 dare to difobey. Though no happy confequences could be 
 expected from a war, vifibly undertaken contrary to all reafon 
 and juilice, and from the fole motive of refentment and re- 
 venge ; the Lacedaemonians however, from the fuperiority of 
 their numbers, affured themfelves of fuccefs, and^ imagined 
 that the Thebans, abandoned by their allies, were in no con- 
 dition to oppofe them. 
 
 d The Thebans were much alarmed at firft. They faw them- 
 Volumt IV. B b 
 
 c Xenrph. 1. vi' p. 59359-. Diod. 1, XT. p. 365 371. Pint, in 
 p. 611, 612. Id. in Pclop. p. 2X8, 289. 
 * A. M. 3634. Ant. J.C. 370.
 
 386 HISTORY OF THE Sook XII. 
 
 fel ves alone, without allies or fupport, whilft all Greece looked 
 upon them as utterly loft ; not knowing that in a fingle man 
 they had more than armies. This was Epaminondas. He was 
 appointed general, and had feveral colleagues joined in com- 
 miffion with him. He immediately railed all the troops he 
 could, and began his march. His army did not amount to 
 fix thoufand men, and the enemy had above four times that 
 number. As feveral bad omens were told him to prevent his 
 fetting out, he replied only by a verfe of Homer's, of which 
 the fenfe is, " f There is but one good omen, to fight for 
 " one's country." However, to reaflure the foldiers, by na- 
 ture fupertfitious, and whom he obferved to be difcouraged, 
 lie inftructed feveral perfons to come from different places, 
 and report auguries and omens in his favour, which revived 
 the fpirit and hopes of the troops. 
 
 Pelopidas was not then in office, but commanded the Sacred 
 Batt-tlion. When he left his houfe to go to the army, his wife, 
 in taking her laft adieu, conjured him with a flood of tears to 
 take care of himfelf ; " That," faid he, " fhould be recommend- 
 ' ed to young people ; but for generals, they have no occafion 
 " for fuch advice; the care of others fhould be recommended 
 " to them." 
 
 Epaminondas had v/ifely taken care to fecure a pafs, by 
 which Cleornbrotus might have fhortened his march confider- 
 ably. The latter, after having taken a large compafs, arrived 
 at Leu&ra, a fmall town of Boeotia, between Plataea and Thef- 
 piae. Both parties confulted whether they mould give battle ; 
 which Cleornbrotus refolved by the advice of all his officers ; 
 who reprefented to him, that if he declined fighting with fuch 
 a fuperiority of troops, it would confirm the current report, 
 that he fecretly favoured the Thebans. The latter had an 
 eflential reafon for haftening a battle before the arrival of the 
 troops, which the enemy daily expefted. However, the fix 
 generals, who formed the council of war, differed in their fen- 
 timents. The feventh, who was Epaminodas, came in very 
 good time to join the three that were for fighting ; and his 
 
 f E.7 > *<r, KfttixiSxt n va.rynf. Iliad, xi, v. 443.
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 387 
 
 opinion carrying the queftion, the battle was refolved upon. 
 This was in the focond year of the icid Olympiad. 
 
 The two armies were very unequal in number. That of the 
 Lacedaemonians, as has been faid, confifted of twenty-four 
 thoufand foot, and fixteen hundred horfe. The Thebans had 
 only fix thoufand foot and four hundred horfe ; but all of them 
 choice troops, animated by their experience of the war, and 
 determined to conquer or die. The Lacedaemonian cavalry, 
 corrlpofed of men picked up by chance, without valour, and 
 ill difciplined, was as much inferior to their enemies in cou- 
 rage, as fuperior in number. The infantry could not be de- 
 pended on, except the Lacedaemonians ; the allies, as has been 
 faid, having engaged in the war with reludlance, becaufe they 
 did not approve the motive of it, and were befides difiatisfied 
 with the Lacedaemonians. 
 
 The ability of the generals on either fide fupplied the place 
 of numerous armies, efpecially of the Theban, who was the 
 moft accompliihed captain of his time. He was fupported by 
 Pelopidas at the head of the Sacred Battalion, compofed of 
 three hundred Thebans, united in a ftrift friendfhip and af- 
 feftion, and engaged under a particular oath never to fly, but 
 to defend each other to the laft drop of their blood. 
 
 Upon the day of battle the two armies drew up on a plain. 
 Cleombrotus was upon the right, confiding of Lacedaemoni- 
 ans, on whom he confided moft, and. whofe files were twelve 
 deep. To take the advantage, which his fuperiority of horfe 
 gave him in an open country, he polled them in the front of 
 the Lacedaemonians. Archidamus, Agefilaus's fon, was at the 
 head of the allies, who formed the left wing. 
 
 Epaminondas, who refolved to charge with his left, which 
 he commanded in perfon, ftrengthened it with the choice of 
 his heavy-armed troops, whom he drew up fifty deep. The 
 Sacred Battalion was upon his left, and clofed the wing. The 
 reft of his infantry were ported upon his right in an oblique 
 line, which, the farther it extended, was the more diftant 
 from the enemy. By this uncommon difpofition, his defign 
 was to cover his flank on the right, to keep off his right wing 
 
 Bbij
 
 3*8 HISTORY OF THE Boclk XII. 
 
 as a kind of referred body, that he might not hazard the e- 
 vent of the battle upon the weakeft part of his army ; and to 
 begin the ation with his left wing, where his beft troops were 
 pofted, to turn the whole weight of the battle upon king Cle- 
 ombrotus and the Spartans. He was allured, that if he could 
 penetrate the Lacedaemonian phalanx, the red of the army 
 would foon be put to the rout. As for his horfe, he difpofed 
 them after the enemy's example in the front of his left. 
 
 The action began by the cavalry. As that of the Thebans 
 were better mounted ?.nd braver troops than the Lacedaemo- 
 nian horfe, the latter r.ere not long before they were broke, 
 and driven upon the infantry, which they put into fome con- 
 fufion. Epamiuondas following his horfe clofe, marched fwift- 
 ly up to Cleombrotus, and fell upon his phalanx with all the 
 weight of his heavy battalion. The latter, to make a diver- 
 fion, detached a body of troops with orders to take Epami- 
 nondiD in flank, and to furround him. Pelopidas, upon the 
 fight of that movement, advanced with incredible fpeed and 
 fs at the head of the Sacred Batalion to prevent the e- 
 nemy's defign, and flanked Cleombrotus himfelf, who, by 
 that fudden and unexpected attack, was put into diforder. 
 The battle was verv rude and obftinate ; and whilft Cleombro- 
 tus could act, the victory continued in fufpence, and declared 
 for neither party. When he fell dead with his wounds, the 
 Thebans, to complete the victory, and the Lacedaemonians, 
 to avo-id the fliame of abandoning the body of their king, re- 
 doubled their efforts, and a great {laughter enfued on both 
 fides. The Spartans fought with fo much fury about the bo- 
 dy, that at length they gained their point, and carried it off. 
 Animated by fo glorious an advantage, they prepared to re- 
 turn to the charge, which would perhaps have proved fuccefs- 
 ful, had the allies feconded their ardour. But the left wing, 
 feeing the Lacedaemonian phalanx had been broke, and be- 
 lieving all loft, cfpecially when they heard that the king was 
 dead, took to flight, and drew ofF the reft of the army along 
 with tiurn. Eparninondas followed them vigoroufly, and kill- 
 ed a great number in the purfuit. The Thebans remained
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 389 
 
 matters of the field of battle, ere&ed a trophy, and permitted 
 the enemy to bury their dead. 
 
 The Lacedaemonians had never received fuch a blow. The 
 moft bloody defeats till then had fcarce ever coft them more 
 than four or five hundred of their citizens. They had been 
 ieen, however, animated, or rather violently incenfed againil 
 Athens, to ranfom, by a truce of fifty years, about three hun- 
 dred of their citizens, who had fufrered themfelves to be fhut 
 up in the little iiland of Spha&eria. Here the}' loft four thou- 
 fand men, of whom one thoufand were Lacedaemonians, and 
 four hundred Spartans *, out of feven hundred who were in: 
 the battle. The Thebans had only three hundred men killed ; 
 among whom were few of their citizens. 
 
 The city of Sparta celebrated at that time the gymnaftic 
 games, and was full of ftrangers, whom curiofrty had brought 
 thither, When the couriers arrived from Leuftra with the 
 terrible news of their defeat, the Ephori, though perfectly 
 fenfible of all the confequences, and that the Spartan empire 
 had received a mortal wound, would not permit the reprefen- 
 tations of the theatre to be fufpended, nor any changes in the 
 celebration of the feflival. They fent to every family the 
 names of their relations, who were killed, and ilayed in the 
 theatre to fee that the dances and games were continued with- 
 out interruption to the gnd, 
 
 The next day in the morning, the lofs of each family being 
 known, the fathers and relations of thofe who had died in the 
 battle, met in the public place, and faluted and embraced each 
 other with great joy and ferenity in their looks ; whilft the 
 others kept themfelves clofe in their houfes ; or if neceffity 
 obliged them to go abroad, it was with a fadnefs and dejection 
 of afpect, which fenfibly expreffed their profound anguifh and 
 aifliftion. That difference was flill more remarkable in the 
 women. Grief, filence, tears, diftinguilhed thofe who ex- 
 pefted the return of their fons ; but fuch as had loft their fons, 
 were feen hurrying to the temples, to thank the gods, and con- 
 
 B b iij 
 
 * Thofe were properly railed Spartans, who inhabited Sparta ; the Lacedae- 
 \vcre fettled in the country. '
 
 393 HISTORY OF THE B 
 
 gratulating each other upon their glory and good fortune. It 
 cannot be denied, but fuch fentiments argue great courage and 
 refolution : But I would not have them entirely extinguifh na- 
 tural tendernefs, and ihould have been better pleafed, had 
 there been lefs of ferocity * in them. 
 
 Sparta -was under no fmall difficulty to know how to acl in 
 regard to thofe who had fled from the battle. As they were 
 numerous, and of the moft powerful families in the city, it 
 was not fafe to inflict upon them the punifhments affigned by 
 the laws, left their defpair ftiould induce them to take fome 
 violent refolution fatal to the ftate. For fuch as fled were not 
 only excluded from all offices and emplcvments, but it was a 
 difgrace to contract any alliance with them by marriage. Any 
 body that met them in the ilreets might biuTet them, which 
 they -were obliged to fufier. They were befides to wear dirty 
 and ragged habits, full of patches of different colours. And 
 laflly, they were to fhave half their beards, and to let the 
 other half grow. It was a great lofs to the Spartans to be de- 
 prived of fo many of their foldiery, at the time they had fuch 
 prefling occafion for them. To remove this difficulty, they 
 chofe Agefilaus legiflator, with abfolute power to make fuch 
 alterations in the laws as he mould think fit. Agefilaus, with- 
 out adding, retrenching, or changing any thing, found means 
 to fave the fugitives without prejudice to the ftate. In a full 
 afiembly of the Lacedaemonians, he decreed, " That for the 
 " prefent day, the laws mould be fufpended, and of no ef- 
 " feel ; but ever after to remain in full force and authority." 
 By thofe few words he preferred the Spartan laws entire, and 
 at the fame time reflored to the ftate that great number of its 
 members, in preventing their being for ever degraded, and 
 confequently ufelefs to the republic. 
 
 e After the battle of Leuclra, the two parties were induftri- 
 
 e Xenoph. 1. vi. p. 598. Died. 1. zv. p. 375 378 
 
 * Mr. Roltin feerus to fpeak here en Francois. The fentiments of the Spartan* 
 have no exception, and are ftri<5tly confident with true greatnefs of foul. None 
 but flaves will deny, that the next glory and good fortune to defending their 
 country againft its enemies, when its ruin is at flake, i to die in its defence. 
 Slaves have no country. That and themfelvcs are t!;e tyrant 5 .
 
 Cbap. L PERSIAKS AND GRECIANS. 39! 
 
 oufly employed, the one in retrieving, and the other in im- 
 proving their victory. 
 
 f Agefilaus, to revive the courage of his troops, marched 
 them into Arcadia ; but with a full refolution, carefully to 
 avoid a battle. He confined himfelf to attacking fome imall 
 towns of the Mantinaeans, which he took, and laid the coun- 
 try wafte. This gave Sparta fome joy ; and they began to take 
 courage, from believing their condition not entirely defperate. 
 
 The Thebans, foon after their victory, fent an account of 
 it to Athens, and to demand aid at the fame time againft the 
 common enemy. The fenate was then fitting, which received 
 the courier with great coldnefs, did not make him the ufual 
 prefents, and difmiffed him without taking any notice of aid. 
 The Athenians, alarmed at the confiderable advantage which 
 the Thebans had gained over the Lacedaemonians, could not 
 diflemble the umbrage and diflatisfaction which fo fudden and 
 unexpected an increafe of a neighbouring power gave them, 
 which might foon render itfelf formidable to all Greece. 
 
 At Thebes, Epaminondas and Pelopidas had been elected 
 joint governors of Boeotia. Having aflembled all the troops 
 of the Boeotians and their allies, whofe number daily increaf- 
 ed, they entered Peloponnefus, and made abundance of places 
 and people revolt from the Lacedaemonians ; Elis, Argos, Ar- 
 cadia, and the greateft part of Laconia itfelf. It was then a- 
 bout the winter-folftice, and towards the end of the laft month 
 of the year ; fo that in a few days they were to quit their of- 
 fices ; the firft day of the next month being affigned by law, 
 for their refigning them to the perfons appointed to fucceed 
 them, upon pain of death, if they held them beyond that 
 term. Their colleagues, apprehending the badnefs of the fea- 
 fon, and more the dreadful confequences of infringing that 
 law, were for marching back the army immediately to Thebes. 
 Pelopidas was the firft, who, entering into the opinion of E- 
 paminondas, animated the citizens, and engaged them to take 
 the advantage of the enemy's alarm, and to purfue their en- 
 terpnfe in negleft of a formality, from the obfcrvance of which 
 
 B b iivj 
 
 i" plut. in AgefO. p 613615, J4. in Pelop.
 
 392 HISTORY OF THE 'Book XII. 
 
 they might juftly believe themfelves difpenfed by the ftate it- 
 felf, as the fervice of the ftate, when founded in juilice, is the 
 fovereign law and rule of the people's obedience. 
 
 They entered Laconia therefore at the head of an army of 
 feventy thoufand good foldiers ; of which the twelfth part were 
 not Thebans. The great reputation of the two generals was 
 tie caule that all the allies, even without order or public de- 
 cree, obeyed them with refpecliul filence, and marched with 
 entire confidence and courage under their command. It was fix 
 hundred years fince the Dorians had eilablifhed themfelves at 
 Lacedaemon ; and in all that time they had never fecn an ene- 
 my upon their lands ; not daring till then to fet foot in them, 
 and much lefs to attack their city, though without walls. The 
 Thebans and their allies, finding a country hitherto untouched 
 by an enemy, ran through it with fire and fword, deftroying 
 and plundering as far as the river Eurotas, without any oppc- 
 fition whatfoever. 
 
 Parties had been pofled to defend fome important paffes. 
 Ifcholas the Spartan, who commanded one of theie detach- 
 ments, diftinguifhed himfelf in a peculiar manner. Finding 
 it impoffible, with his fmalJ body of troops to fupport the 
 enemy's attack, and thinking it' below a Spartan to abandon 
 his poll, he fent back the young men, who were of age and 
 condition to ferve their country effectually, and kept flone with 
 him but fuch as were advanced in years. With thefe* devoting 
 himfelf, after the example of Leonidas, to the public good, they 
 fold their lives dear ; and after having defended themfelves a 
 long time, and made great flaughter of their enemies, they 
 all periflied to a man. 
 
 Agefilaus acted upon this occafion with great addrefs and 
 wifdom. He looked upon this irruption of the enemy as an 
 impetuous torrent, which it was not only in vain, but danger- 
 ous to oppofe ; whofe rapid courfe would be but of fhort du- 
 ration, and after fome ravages, fubfide of itfelf. He contented 
 himfelf with distributing his beft troops into the middle, and 
 nil the moil important parts of the city, flrongly fecuring all the 
 polls. He was determined not to quit the town, nor to hazard
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 393 
 
 a battle, and perfifled in that refolution, without regard to all 
 the raillery, infults, and menaces of the Thebans, who defied 
 him bj name, and called upon him to come out and defend 
 his country, who had alone been the caufe of all its fufferings, 
 in kindling the war. 
 
 But far greater afflictions to Agefilaus were the commotions 
 and diforders excited within the city, the murmurs and com- 
 plaints of the old men in the higheft affliction and defpair from 
 being witneffes of what they faw, as well as of the women, 
 who feemed quite diftracted with hearing the threatening cries 
 of the enemy, and feeing the neighbouring country all on fire ; 
 whilft the flames and fmoke, which drove almoft upon them, 
 feemed to denounce a like misfortune to themfelves. Whatever 
 courage Agefilaus might exprefs in his outward behaviour, he 
 could not fail of being fenfibly affected with fo mournful an 
 objecl ; to which was added, the grief of lofing his reputation ; 
 who, having found the city in a moft fiouriihing and potent 
 condition, when he came to the government, now faw it fall- 
 en to fuch a degree, and all its ancient glory loft under him ! 
 He was, befides, fecretly mortified at fo mournful a contradic- 
 tion of a bcaft he had often made, " That no woman of Spar- 
 " ta had ever feen the fmoke of an enemy's camp. 
 
 Whilft he was giving different orders in the city, he was 
 informed, that a certain number of mutineers had feized an 
 important poft, with a refclution to defend themfelves in it. 
 Agefilaus ran immediately thither j and as if he had been en- 
 entirely unacquainted with their bad defign, he faid to them, 
 " Comrades, it is not there I fent you." At the fame time 
 he pointed to different pofts to divide them ; to which they 
 went, believing their enterprife had not been difcovered. This 
 order, which he gave without emotion, argues a great pre- 
 fence of mind in Agefilaus, and fhews, that in times of trouble 
 it is not proper to fee too much, that the culpable may not 
 want time to renecl: and repent. He thought it more advifable 
 to fuppofe that fmall troop innocent, than to urge them to a 
 declared revolt by a too rigorous inquiry. 
 
 The Eurotas was at that time very much fwoln by the melt-
 
 Jfli K"70RT OF THE JBoo& XII, 
 
 ing of the fnows, and the Thebans found more difficulty in 
 paffing it than they expe&ed, as well from the extreme cold- 
 nefs of the water as its rapidity. As Epaminondis pafled at 
 the head of his infantry, fome of the Spartans ihewed him to 
 Agefilaus ; who, after having attentively confidered and fol- 
 lowed him with his eyes a long time, faid only, " Wonderful 
 ** man * I" in admiration of the valour that could undertake 
 fuch great things. Epaminondas would have been glad to have 
 given battle in Sparta, and to have creeled a trophy in the 
 midft of it. He did not however think proper to attempt the 
 forcing of the city; and not being able to induce Agefilaus to 
 quit it, chofe to retire. It would have been difficult for Spar- 
 ta, without aid, and unfortified, to have defended itfelf long 
 againft a victorious army. But the wife captain, who com- 
 manded it, apprehended that he mould draw upon his hands 
 the whole force of Peloponnefus, and ftill more, that he mould 
 excite the jealoufy of the Greeks, who would never have par- 
 doned his deftfoying fo potent a republic, and " pulling out," 
 as Leptinus fays, " one of the eyes of Greece," as a proof of 
 his ikill g . He confined himfelf therefore to the glory of 
 having humbled the proud, whofe laconic language added 
 new haughtinefs to their commands, and of having reduced 
 them to the neceffity, as he boafled himfelf, of enlarging their 
 ftile, and lengthening their xnonofyllables f. At his return 
 he again wafted the country. 
 
 b In this expedition the Thebans reinftated Arcadia into 
 one body, and took Meffenia from the Spartans, who had been 
 in poiTefuon of it J very long, after having expelled all its in- 
 habitants. It was a country equal in extent to Laconia, and 
 as fertile as the bell in Greece. Its ancient inhabitants, who 
 
 8 Arift. Rhet. !. Hi c. 10. h Pau-; !. iv. p. 267, 268. 
 
 * ft r5 (ityti\a*pvtLi**t vfc*<nr. The Greek expietfion is not eafily to be 
 trarifhted; it iigmries ; " Oh the after of grea deeds'." 
 
 f The Lacedaemonians fometin es anfwered the m< H important difpatches by 
 a firJe mcnofylhf le. Philip having wrote to them, " if I en'er your country t 
 ' I (hall pot -Al to fire and fword ." they replied, " If;" to fignify they fliould 
 take all pc ffible care to put it out of his power. 
 
 f The Mefllnians had been driven out of their country two hundred and 
 eighty icven years.
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 395 
 
 were difperfed in different regions of Greece, Italy, and Sicily, 
 on the firft notice given them, returned with incredible joy ; 
 animated by the love of their country, natural to all men, and 
 almoft as much as by their hatred of the Spartans, which the 
 length of time had only increafed. They built themfelves a 
 city, which, from the ancient name, was called Meflene. A- 
 mongft the bad events of this war, none gave the Lacedemo- 
 nians more fenfible difpleafure, or rather more lively grief; 
 becaufe from immemorial time an irreconcileable enmity had 
 fubfifted between Sparta and Meflene, which feemed incapable 
 of being extinguifhed but by the final ruin of the one or the 
 other. 
 
 ' Polybius reflects upon an ancient error in the conduft of 
 the Mefienians with regard to Sparta, which was the caufe of 
 all their misfortunes. This was their too great folicitude for 
 the prefent tranquillity, and through an exceflive love of peace, 
 their neglecting the means of making it fare and lafting. Two 
 of the mofl powerful Hates of Greece were their neighbours, 
 the Arcadians and Lacedaemonians. The latter, from their 
 firft fettlement in the country, had declared open war againft 
 them : The others, on the contrary, always joined with them, 
 and entered into all their interefts. But the Meflenians had 
 neither the courage to oppofe their violent and irreconcileable 
 enemies with valour and conftancy, nor the prudence to treat 
 with due regard their faithful and affectionate allies. When 
 the two Hates were either at war with each other, or carried 
 their arms elfewhere, the Meflenians, little provident for the 
 future, and regarding only their prefent repofe, made it a rule 
 with them never to engage in the quarrel on either fide, and 
 to obferve an exact neutrality. On fuch conjunctures they, 
 congratulated themfelves upon their wifdom and fuccefs in pre- 
 ferving their tranquillity, whilft their neighbours all around 
 them were involved in trouble and confufion. But this tran- 
 quillity was of no long duration. The Lacedaemonians, having 
 fubdued their enemies, fell upon them with all their forces ; 
 and finding them unfupported by allies, and incapable of de- 
 fending themfelves, they reduced them to fubmit, either to the 
 i Poljrb. 1. iv. p, 299, 300.
 
 396 HISTORY OF THE JBool XII. 
 
 yoke of a rigid flavery, or to banifli themfelves from their coun- 
 try. And this was feveral times their cafe. They ought to have 
 reflected, fays Polybius f, that as there is nothing more de- 
 firable or advantageous than peace, when founded in juftice and 
 honour ; fo there is nothing more fliameful, and at the fame 
 time more pernicious, when attained by bad meafures, and 
 purchafed at the price of liberty. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The two THEBAN GENERALS, at tleir RETURN, are accufedand 
 dbjofaed. SPARTA implores AlD of ATHENS. 
 
 IT might be expected, that the two Theban captains, on their 
 return to their country after fuch memorable aftions, ihould 
 have been received with the general applaufe, and all the ho- 
 nours that could be conferred upon them. Inftead of which, 
 they were both fummoned to anfwer as criminals againft the 
 flate ; in having, contrary to the law, whereby they were o- 
 bliged to refign their command to new officers, retained it four 
 months beyond the appointed term ; during which they had 
 executed in MefTenia, Arcadia, and Laconia, all thofe great 
 things we have related. 
 
 A behaviour of this kind is furprifing ; and the relation of it 
 cannot be read without a fecret indignation : But fuch a con- 
 duct had a very plaufible foundation. The zealous aflertors of 
 a liberty lately regained, were apprehenfive that the example 
 might prove very pernicious, in authorifmg fonie future ma- 
 giftrate to maintain himfelf in command beyond the eftablifhed 
 term, and in confcquence to turn his arms againft his country. 
 It is not to be doubted, but the Romans would have acled in 
 the fame manner ; and if they were fo fevere, to put an officer 
 to death, though victorious, for giving battle without his ge- 
 neral's orders, how would they have behaved to a general, who 
 ihould have continued four months in the fupreme command, 
 contrary to the laws, and upon his own authority ? 
 
 , fura ft.li fit 'Six.a.a xau xpvavrt;, *aXX<*- Ifi itf-fta, juu A*;.!,*rv
 
 Clap. L PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 597 
 
 k Pelopidas was the firft cited before the tribunal. He de- 
 fended himfelf with lefs force and greatnefs of mind than was 
 expected from a man of his character, by nature warm and firy. 
 That valour, haughty and intrepid in fight, forfook him before 
 the judges. His air and difcourfe, which had fomething timid 
 and creeping in it, denoted a man who was afraid of death, 
 and did not in the leaft incline the judges in his favour, who ac- 
 quitted him not without difficulty. Epamiaondas appeared, 
 and fpoke with a quite different air and tone. He feemed, if 
 I may be allowed the expreffiou, to charge danger in front 
 without emotion. Inftead of juftifying himfelf, he made a pa- 
 negyric upon his aclions, and repeated, in a lofty ftile, in what 
 manner he had ravaged Laconia, re-eftablilhcd MeiTenia, and 
 reunited Arcadia in one body. He concluded with faying, 
 that he mould die with pleafure, if the Thebans would re- 
 nounce the fole glory of thofe aclions to him, and declare that 
 he had done them by his own authority, and without their 
 participation. All the voices were in his favour ; and he re- 
 turned from his trial, as he ufed to return from battle, with 
 glory and univerfal applaufe. Such dignity has true valour, 
 that it in a manner feizes the admiration of mankind by force. 
 
 He was by nature defigned for great aclions ; and every thing 
 he did, had an air of grandeur in it. ' His enemies, jealous 
 of his glory, and with deftgn to affront him, got him elecled 
 Telearch ; an office very unworthy of a perfon of his merit. 
 He, however, thought it no diihonour to him, and faid, that he 
 would demonftrate, that * " the office did not only fliew the 
 " man, but the man the office." He accordingly raifed that 
 employment to very great dignity, which before confifted in 
 only taking care, that the ftreets were kept clean, the dirt car- 
 ried away, and the drains and common fewers in good order. 
 
 m The Lacedaemonians, having every thing to fear from an 
 enemy, whom the late fucceffes had rendered Hill more haughty 
 and entei-prifing than ever, and feeing themfelves expofed eve- 
 
 k Plut. t'e fui lande, p. 540, 1 Plut. de praecept, reip. ger. p, 8xi. 
 
 m Xeneph. 1. vi. p, 6cg 613, 
 * 'Oy pin* u.3XA a>ia ci.""xK/<n, AA mu *?%*,*
 
 398 HISTORY OF THE Book XI L 
 
 iy moment to a new irruption, had recourfe to the Athenians, 
 and fent deputies to them to implore their aid. The perfon 
 who fpoke, began with defcribing in the mod pathetic terms 
 the deplorable condition, and extreme danger to which Sparta 
 was reduced. lie enlarged upon the mfolent haughtinefs of 
 the Thebans, and their ambitious views, which tended to no- 
 thing lefs than the empire of all Greece. He infinuated what 
 Athejis in particular had to fear, if they were fuffered to ex- 
 tend their power by the increafe of allies, who every day went 
 over to their party, and augmented their forces. He called to 
 mind the happy times, in which the Uriel union betwixt Athens 
 and Sparta had preferved Greece to the equal glory of both 
 ftates ; and concluded with faying, how great an addition it 
 would be to the Athenian name, to aid a city, its ancient friend 
 and ally, which more than once had generoufly facrificed itfelf 
 for the common intereil and fafety. 
 
 The Athenians could not deny all that the deputy advanced 
 in his difcourfe ; but at the fame time they had not forgot the 
 bad treatment which they had fuffered from the Spartans on 
 more than one occafion, and efpeciaily after the defeat of 
 Sicily. However, their compaflion of the prefent misfortunes 
 of Sparta carried it againfl the fenfe of the former injuries, 
 and determined them to affill the Lacedaemonians with all 
 their forces. n Some time after, the deputies of feveral ilates 
 being ailembled at Athens, a league and confederacy was con- 
 cluded againil the Thebans, conformably to the late treaty of 
 Antalcides, and the intention of the king of Perlia, who con- 
 tinually made inftances for its execution. 
 
 A flight advantage gained by the Spartans over their ene- 
 mies, raifed them from the dejection of fpirit in which they 
 had hitherto remained, as it generally happens, when in a 
 mortal diftemper the leaft glimpfe of a recovery enlivens hope 
 and recalls joy. Archidamus, fon of Agefilaus, having re- 
 ceived aid from Dionyfius the younger, tyrant of Sicily, put 
 himfelf at the head of his troops, and defeated the Arcadians 
 
 n Xenoph. 1. viii. p. 613 616. 
 
 Plut. in Ajcfil. p. 614,615. Xenoph, 1. vii. p. Gly t 620,
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 399 
 
 in a battle, call-id " The Battb without Tears '", becaufe he did 
 net lofe a man, and killed a great number of the enemj. The 
 Spartans before had been fo much accuilomed to conquer, that 
 they became infallible to the pleafure of victory : But whea 
 the news of this battle arrived, and they faw Archidamus re- 
 turn victorious, they could not contain their joy, nor keep 
 within the city. His father was the firft that went out to meet 
 him, weeping with joy and tendernefs. He was followed br 
 the great oincers and magiilrates. The crowd of old men and 
 xvomen came down as far as the river, lifting up their hands to 
 heaven, and returning thanks to the gods, as if this a&ion had 
 obliterated the ihaine of Sparta, and they began to fee thofo 
 happy days again, in which the Spartan glory and reputation 
 had rifen fo high. 
 
 q Philifcus, who had been fent by the king of Perila to re- 
 concile the Grecian ftates, was arrived at Delphos, whither he 
 fummoned their deputies to repair. The god was not at all 
 coafulted in the affair difcuffed in that auembly. The Spar- 
 tans demanded, that MeiTene and its inhabitants mould return 
 to their obedience to them. Upon the Thebans refufal to 
 comply with that demand, the aflembly broke up, and Philifcus 
 retired, after having left confiderable fuins of money with the 
 Lacedaemonians for levying troops and carrying on the war. 
 Sparta, reduced and humbled by its loiTes, was no longer the 
 objeffc of the Periians fear or jealoufy ; but Thebes, victorious 
 and triumphant, gave them juft caufe of inquietude. 
 
 r To form a league againft Thebes with greater certainty, 
 the allies had fent deputies to the great king. The Thebans 
 on their fide deputed Pelopidas ; an extremely wife choice, 
 from the great reputation of the ambaffador, which is no in- 
 different circumftance in refpecl to the fuccefs of a negociation. 
 The battle of Leuctra had fpread its fame into the remoteil 
 provinces of Ana. When he arrived at the court, and appeared 
 amongil the princes and nobility, they cried out in admiratioa 
 of him, " This is he who deprived the Lacedaemonians of 
 " their empire by fea and land, and reduced Sparta to ccn&afi 
 
 P Died. 1. xv, p. 383. q Xenoph. p. 619. Diod. p. 581. 
 
 1 Xeiioph. L vii. p. 6j3 622. Plut. in Felop. p. 254,
 
 4^0 HISTORY OF TIl Book XIL 
 
 " itfelf between die Eurotas and Taygetus, that not long iince, 
 *' under its king Agefilaus, threatened no lefs than to invade 
 *' us in Suia. and Ecbarana." 
 
 Artaxerxv. j 5, extremely pleafed with his arrival, paid him ex- 
 traordinary honours, and piqued himfelt upon extolling him 
 highly before the lords of his court ; in efteem indeed of his 
 great merit, but much more out of vanity and felf-love, and 
 to iniinuate to his fubjeds, that the greateft and moil illuilri- 
 ous perfons made their court to him, and paid homage to his 
 power and good fortune. But after having admitted him to 
 audience, and heard his difcourfe, in his opinion more nervous 
 than that of the Athenian ambaffadors, and more fimple than 
 that of the Lacedaemonians, which was faying a great deal, he 
 efleemed him more than ever ; and as it is * common with 
 kings, who are but little accuilomed to conftraint, he did not 
 dilfemble his extreme regard for him, and his preference of 
 him to all the reft of the Grecian deputies. 
 
 Pelopidas, as an able politician, had apprized the king, how 
 important it was to the intereft of his crown, to protect an in- 
 fant power, which had never born arms againft the PerfianS, 
 and which, in forming a kind of balance between Sparta and 
 Athens, might be able to make an ufeful diverfion againft thofc 
 republics, the perpetual and irreconcileable enemies of Perfia, 
 that had lately coft it fo many loiTes and inquietudes. Tima- 
 goras, the Athenian, was the beft received after him ; becaufe, 
 being paffionately defirous of humbling Sparta, and at the fame 
 time of pleaung the king, he did not appear averfe to the views 
 of Pelopidas. 
 
 The king having preffed Pelopidas, to explain what favours 
 he had to afk of him, he demanded. " That MefTene mould 
 " continue free and exempt from the yoke of Sparta ; that 
 " the. Athenian gallies, which were failed to infefl the coaft 
 " of Boeotia, mould be recalled, or that war fhould be de- 
 " clared againft Athens ; that thofe who would not come 
 *' into the league, or march againft fuch as mould oppofe it, 
 " mould be attacked firft." All which was decreed, and the 
 Thebans declared friends and allies of the king. Leon, Ti- 
 
 * XLatM $ttfi\ixa* -ratio*.
 
 . PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 401 
 
 magoras's colleague, faid loud enough to be heard by Artaxerxes, 
 " Athens has nothing now to do but to find fome other ally." 
 
 Pelopidas, having obtained all he defired, left the court, 
 without accepting any more of the king's many prefents, than 
 what was neceffary to carry home as a token of his favour and 
 good will ; and this aggravated the complaints which were 
 made againft the other Grecian ambaffadors, who were not fo 
 referved and delicate in point of intereft. One of thofe from 
 the Arcadians faid on his return home, that he had feen many 
 flaves at the king's court, but no men. He added, that all his 
 magnificence was no more than vain oftentation ; and that the 
 fo-much-boafted * plantain of gold, which was valued at fo 
 high a price, had not made enough under it for a grafshopper. 
 
 Of all the deputies, Timagoras had received the moft pre 
 fents. He did not only accept of gold and filver, but of a 
 jnagnificent bed, and flaves to make it, the Greeks not feem- 
 ing to him expert enough in that office : Which fhews that 
 floth and luxury were little in fafliion at Athens. He receiv- 
 ed alfo twenty-four cows, with flaves to take care of them ; as 
 having occafion to drink milk for fome indifpofition. Laftly, 
 at his departure, he was carried in a chair to the fea-fide at 
 the king's expence, who gave four talents f for that fervice. 
 His colleague Leon, on their arrival at Athens, accufed him 
 of not having communicated any thing to him, and of having 
 joined with Pelopidas in every thing. He was brought to a 
 trial in confequence, and condemned to fuffer death. 
 
 It does not appear that the acceptance of prefents incenfed 
 the Athenians moft againft Timagoras. For Ipicrates, a fimple 
 porter, who had been at the Periian court, and had alfo re- 
 ceived prefents, having faid in a full aflembly, that he was of 
 opinion a decree ought to pafs, by which, inftead of the nine 
 archons annually elected, nine ambafladors mould be chofen 
 out of the pooreft of the people to be fent to the king, in or- 
 der to their being enriched by the voyage ; the aflembly only 
 
 Volume IV. C c 
 
 * It was a tree of gold, of exqnifite workmanfhip and great value, which peo- 
 ple went to fee out of curiofity. 
 | Four thoufand crowns.
 
 4O4 HISTORY OF THE Book XII, 
 
 laughed, and made a jcft of it. But what offended them more, 
 was the Thebans having obtained all they demanded. In which, 
 fays Plutarch, they did not duly confider the great reputation 
 of Pelopidas, nor comprehend how much ftronger and more 
 efficacious that was in perfuading, than all the harangues and 
 the rhetorical flourifhes of the other ambailadors ; efpecially 
 with a prince, accuftomed to carefs, and comply with the 
 flrongeft, as the Thebans undoubtedly were at that time, and 
 who befides was not forry to humble Sparta and Athens, the 
 ancieut and mortal enemies of his throne. 
 
 The efteem and regard of the Thebans for Pelopidas were 
 not a little augmented by the good fuccefs of this emban^ 
 which had procured the freedom of Greece, and the re-efta- 
 blilhment of Meffene : And he was extremely applauded for 
 his conduct at his return. 
 
 But Theflalia was the theatre, where the valour of Pelopi- 
 das made the greateft figure, in the expedition of the The- 
 bans againft Alexander tyrant of Pherae. I fiiall relate it en- 
 tire, and unite in one point of view all which relates to that 
 great event, without any other interruption than the journey of 
 Pelopidas into Macedonia, to appeafe the troubles of that court, 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 PELOPIDAS marches againjl ALEXANDER TfRANTofPHERAE, 
 h killed in a BATTLE. Tragical END of ALEXANDER. 
 
 THE reduced condition of Sparta and Athens l , which for 
 many years had lorded it over all Greece, either in conjunc- 
 tion or feparately, had infpired fome of their neighbours with 
 the defire of fupplanting thofe cities, and given birth to the 
 hope of fucceeding them in the pre-eminence. A power had 
 rifen up in TheflViy, which began to grow formidable. Jafon, 
 tyrant of Pherae, bad been declared generaliflimo of the Thef- 
 falians by the confent of the people of that province ; and it 
 was to his merit, univerfally known, he owed that dignity. 
 He was at the head of an army of about eight thoufand horfe, 
 
 t A. M. 3634. Ant. J. C, 3;c. Xcnoph. I. vi. p. 579583, ct jjS 6ci, 
 Dfad.].xv.p. 37 i 373 .
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 403 
 
 arid twenty thoufand heavy-armed foot, without reckoning the 
 light armed foldiers, and might have undertaken any thing 
 with fuch a body of difciplined and intrepid troops, who had 
 an entire confidence in the valour and conduct of their ge- 
 neral. But death prevented his defigns. He was aflaflinated 
 by perfons who had confpired his deftruclion. 
 
 His two brothers, Polydorus and Polyphron, were fubftku- 
 ted in his place ; the latter of whom killed the other for the 
 fake of reigning alone, and was foon after killed himfelf by 
 Alexander of Pherae u , who feized the tyranny, under the pre- 
 tence of revenging the death of Polydorus his father. Againft 
 him Pelopidas was fent. 
 
 As the tyrant made open war againft feveral people of Thef- 
 faly, and was fecretly intriguing to fubje& them all, the citi- 
 zens fent ambafladors to Thebes to demand troops and a ge- 
 neral. Epaminondas being employed in Peloponnefus, Pelo- 
 pidas took upon himfelf the charge of this expedition. He fet 
 out for Theflaly with an army, made himfelf mailer of Larif- 
 fa, and obliged Alexander to make his fubmifiion to him. He 
 there endeavoured by mild ufage and friendfhip to change his 
 difpofition, and from a tyrant, to make him become a juft 
 and humane prince ; but finding him incorrigible, and of un- 
 exampled brutality, and hearing new complaints every day of 
 his cruelty, debauched life, and infatiable avarice, he began 
 to treat him with warm reproofs and menaces. Thg tyrant, 
 alarmed at fuch ufage, withdrew fecretly with his guard , and 
 Pelopidas, leaving the TheiTalians in fecurity from any at- 
 tempts of his, and in good underftanding with each other, fet 
 out for Macedonia, where his prefence had been defired. 
 
 Amyntas II. was lately dead, and had left iffue three legi- 
 timate children, Alexander, Perdiccas, and Philip, and one 
 natural fon, called Ptolemy. Alexander reigned but one year, 
 and was fucceeded by Perdicca^ *, with whom his brother 
 
 C c ij 
 
 u A. M 3J. Ant. J . 369, 
 
 * Plutarch makes this quarrel between Alexander and Ptolemy; which cannot 
 apree with ^."dunes' account (de Fa!f. Legat. p 400.) of the affairs of Perdcca $ 
 utter Alexandei's death, which 1 fhall relate in the hiitory of Philip. AsA'fch'. 
 peswas their contemporary, I thought U proper to fuhflicute Perdiccasto Alexander.
 
 404 HISTORY OF THE Book XII. 
 
 Ptolemy difputed the crown. The two brothers Invited Pelo- 
 pidas either to be the arbitrator and judge of their quarrel, or 
 to efpoufe the fide on which he iliouid fee the moft right. 
 
 Pelopidas was no fooner arrived, than he put an end to all 
 difputes, and recalled thofe who had been baniflied by either 
 party. Having taken Philip, the brother of Perdiccas, and 
 thirty other children of the nobleil families of Macedonia for 
 hoftages, he carried them to Thebes ; to ftiew the Greeks how 
 far the authority of the Thebans extended, from the reputa- 
 tion of their arms, and an entire confidence in their juitice 
 and fidelity. It was this Philip who was father of Alexander 
 the Great, and afterwards made war againll the Greeks, to 
 fubjecT: them to his power. 
 
 The troubles and factions arofe again in Macedonia fome 
 years after, occafioned by the death of Perdiccas, who was 
 killed in a battle. The friends of the deceafed called in Pe- 
 lopidas. Being defirous to arrive before Ptolemy had time to 
 execute his projects, who made new efforts to eftablifh him- 
 felf upon the throne ; and not having an army, he raifed foine 
 mercenary troops in halte, with whom he marched againft 
 Ptolemy. When they were near each other, Ptolemy found 
 means to corrupt thofe mercenary foldiers by prefents of mo- 
 ney, and to bring them over to his fide. At the fame time, 
 awed by the reputation and name of Pelopidas, he went to 
 meet him as hi* fuperior and maiter, had recourfe to carefies 
 and entreaties, and promiled in the moil folemn manner to 
 hold the crown only as guardian to the fon of the deceafed, 
 to acknowledge as friends and enemies all thofe who were fo 
 to the Thebans ; and in fecurity of his engagements, he gave 
 his foil Philoxenus, and fifty other children who were educa- 
 ted with him, as hoftages. Thefe Pelopidas fent to Thebes. 
 
 The treachery of the mercenary foldiers ran very much in 
 his thoughts. He was informed, that they had fent the great- 
 eft part of their eflfecls, with their wives and children, into 
 the city Pharfalus *, and conceived that a fair opportunity for 
 being revenged of them for their perfidy. He therefore drew 
 together fome Theffalian troops, and marched into Pharfalu?, 
 * A citr of Theffaly.
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 405 
 
 where lie was fcarce arrived before Alexander the tyrant came 
 againft him with a powerful army. Pclopidas, who had been 
 appointed ambaffador to him, believing that he came to jufti- 
 fy himfelf, and to anfwer the complaints of the Thebans, 
 went to him with only Ifmenias in his company, without anv 
 precaution. He was not ignorant of his being an impious 
 wretch, as void of faith as of honour ; but he imagined, that 
 refpeft for Thebes, and regard to his dignity and reputation, 
 would prevent him from attempting any thing againfl his per- 
 fon. He was miftaken ; for the tyrant, feeing them alone and 
 unarmed, made them both prifoners, and feized Pharfalus. 
 
 Polybius exceedingly blames the imprudence of Pelopidas 
 upon this occalion x . There is in the commerce of fociety, 
 fays he, certain affurances, and as it were ties of mutual faith, 
 upon which one may reafonably rely : Such are the fan&ity of 
 oaths, the pledge of wives and children delivered as hoftages, 
 and above all, the confiflency of the paft conduft of thofe with 
 whom one treats : When, notwitliftanding thefe motives for our 
 confidence, we are deceived, it is a misfortune, but not a fault : 
 But to trull one's felf to a known traitor, a reputed villain, is 
 certainly an unpardonable inftance of error and temerity. 
 
 y So black a perfidy filled Alexander's fubjefh with terror 
 and diftruft, who very much fufpeded, that after fo flagrant 
 an injuftice, and fo daring a crime, the tyrant would fpare no- 
 body, and would look upon himfelf upon all occafions, and 
 with all forts of people, as a man in defpair, that needed no 
 farther regard to his conduct and actions. When the news 
 was brought to Thebes, the Thebans, incenfed at fa vile an 
 infult, immediately fent an army into Theflaly ; and as they 
 were diipleafed with Epaminondas, upon the groundlefs fuf- 
 picion of his having been too favourable to the Lacedaemoni- 
 ans upon a certain occaiion, they nominated other generals ; 
 fo that he ferved in this expedition only as a private man. 
 The love of his country and of the public good exdnguimed 
 all refentment in the heart of that great man, and would not 
 
 C c iij 
 
 X L1!% viii. p. 512. 
 
 ' Plut. in Pelop. p. 9, 293. Diod. 1. xv. p. 381, 383,
 
 406 HISTORY OF THE Book XII, 
 
 permit him, as is too common, to abandon its fervice through 
 any pique of honour, or perfonal difcontent. 
 
 The tyrant however carried Pelopidas to Pherae, and made 
 a fliew of him to all the world at firft, imagining that fuch a 
 treatment would humble his pride and abate his courage. But 
 PelopidSs, feeing the inhabitants of Pherae in great confterna- 
 tion, perpetually confoled them, advifing them not to defpair, 
 and alluring them that it would not be long before the tyrant 
 would be punimed. He caufed him to be told, that it was 
 as imprudent as unjuft to torture and put to death every day 
 fo many innocent citizens, that had never done him any wrong, 
 and to fpare his life, who, he knew, would no fooner be out 
 of his hands, than he would punifh him as his crimes deferv- 
 ed. The tyrant, aftonifhed at his greatnefs of foul, fent to 
 aik him why he took fo much pains for death ? " It is," re- 
 turned the illufcrioua prifoner, " that thou mayeft perilh the 
 " f.-cner by being ftill more detc-llable to the gods and men." 
 
 From that time the tyrant gave orders that nobody mould 
 fee or fpeak to him. But Thebe his wife, the daughter of 
 Jafon, who had alfo been tyrant of Pherae, having heard of 
 the conftancy and courage of Pelopidas from thofe who guard- 
 ed him, had a curionty to fee and converfe with him ; and 
 Alexander could not refufe her his permimon z . He loved 
 her tenderly, if a tyrant may be faid to love any body : But 
 notwithflanding that tendernefs, he treated her very cruelly 
 and was in perpetual diftruft even of her. He never went to 
 her apartment without a flave before him with a naked fword 
 in his hand, and fending fome of his guard to fearch every 
 coffer for concealed poinards. Wretched prince, cries Cice- 
 ro, who could confide more in a flave and a Barbarian, than 
 in bis own wife ! 
 
 Thebe therefore defiring to fee Pelopidas, found him in a 
 melancholy condition, drelTed in a poor habit, his hair and 
 beard neglected, and void of every thing that might confole 
 him in his diilrefs. Not being able to refrain from tears at 
 fuch a fight, " Ah unfortunate Pelopidas," faid me, " how I 
 " lament your poor wife !" " No Thebe," replied he, " it 
 Cic. dc Ofuc. 1. ii. n. aj.
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 467 
 
 " is yourfelf you mould lament, who can fuffer fuch a mon- 
 " fter as Alexander without being his prifoner." Thofe words 
 touched Thebe to the quick ; for it was with extreme reluc- 
 tance flie bore the tyrant's cruelty, violence, and infamous 
 way of living. Hence going often to fee Pelopidas, and fre- 
 quently bewailing before him the injuries flie fuffered, ihe 
 daily conceived new abhorrence for her hufband, whilft hatred 
 and the defire of revenge grew ftrong in her heart. 
 
 The Theban generals, who had entered Theflaly, did no- 
 thing there of any importance, and were obliged, by their in- 
 capacity and ill conduct, to abandon the country. The tyrant 
 purfued them in their retreat, harafled them fhamefully, and 
 killed abundance of their troops. The whole army had been 
 defeated, if the foldiers had not obliged Epaminondas, who 
 ferved as a private man amongil them, to take upon him the 
 Command. Epaminondas, at the head of the cavalry and light- 
 armed foot, pofted himfelf in the rear ; where, fometimes fuf- 
 taining the enemy's attacks, and fometimes charging them in 
 his turn, he completed the retreat with fuccefs 1 , and preferved 
 the Boeotians. The generals upon their return, were each of 
 them fined ten thouiand drachms *, and Epaminondas fubili- 
 tuted in their place. As the public good was his fole view, he 
 overlooked the injurious treatment and kind of affront which 
 he had received, and had full amends in the glory that at- 
 tended fo generous and dilinterefted a conduct. 
 
 Some days after, he marched at the head of the army into 
 Theflaly ; whither his reputation had preceded him. It had 
 fpread already both terror and joy through the whole country ; 
 terror amongft the tyrant's friends, whom the very name of 
 Epaminondas difmayed, and joy amongil the people, trom the 
 aflurance of being fpeedily delivered from the yoke of the ty- 
 ranny, and the tyrant punifned for all his crimes. But Epa- 
 minondas, preferring the fafcty of Pelopidas to his own glory, 
 inftead of carrying on the war with vigour, as he might have 
 done, chofe rather to protraft it ; from the appreheniion, that 
 the tyrant, if reduced to defpair, like a wild bead, would turn 
 
 C c iiij 
 * About L. 225 Sterling.
 
 408 HISTORY OF THE Book XII. 
 
 his whole rage upon his prifoner. For he knew the violence 
 and brutality of his nature, which would hearken neither to 
 reafon nor juflice ; and that he took delight in burying men 
 alive ; that fome he covered with the Ikins of bears and wild 
 boars, that his dogs might tear them in pieces ; or he fnot them 
 to death with arrows. Thefe were his frequent fports and di- 
 verfions. In the cities of Meliboea and Scotufa*, which were 
 in alliance with him, he called an affembly of the citizens, 
 and caufing them to be furrounded by his guards, he ordered 
 the throats of all their young to be cut in his prefence. 
 
 Hearing one day a famous adtor perform a part in the Tro- 
 ades of Euripides, he fuddenly went out of the theatre, and 
 fent to the aftor to tell him, not to be under any appreher.iion- 
 upon that account ; for that his leaving the place was not from 
 any difcontent in regard to him, but becaufe he was afhamed 
 to let the citizens fee him weep the misfortunes of Hercules 
 and Andromache, who had cut fo many of their throats with- 
 out any companion. 
 
 ' Though he was little fufceptible of pity, he was much fo of 
 fear at this time. Amazed at the fudden arrival of Epami- 
 nondas, and dazzled with the majefty that furrounded him, he 
 made hafte to difpatch perfons to him with apologies for his 
 eonduft. Epaminondas could not fuffer that the Thebans 
 fliould make either peace or alliance with fo wicked a man. 
 He only granted him a truce for thirty days ; and after having 
 got Pelopidas and Ifmenias out of his hands, he retired with 
 his troops, 
 
 " Fear is not a matter whofe leflbns make any deep and lad- 
 ing impreffion upon the mind of man. The tyrant of Pherae 
 foon returned to his natural difpofition. He ruined feveral ci- 
 ties of Theflaly, and put garrifons into thofe of Phthia, Achaea, 
 and Magnefia. Thofe cities ient deputies to Thebes to demand 
 a fuccour of troops, praying that the command of them might 
 be given to Pelopidas; which was granted. He was upon the 
 point of fetting out, when there happened a fudden eclipfe of 
 
 Plit. in Pclop. p. 155298. Xcnoph. 1. vl. p. 6cr-. 
 Cities of Magnefia,
 
 C/>/. /. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 409 
 
 the fun, by which the city of Thebes \vas darkened at noon* 
 day. The dread and confternation was general. Pelopidas 
 knew very well that this accident had nothing more than na- 
 tural in it.; but he did not think it proper for him to expofe 
 feven thoufand Tbebans agaiuft their will, nor to compel them 
 to march in the terror and apprehennon with which he per- 
 ceived they were feized. He therefore gave himfelf to the 
 Theffalians alone, and taking with him three hundred horie of 
 fuch Thebans and ftrangei-s as would follow him, he departed, 
 contrary to the prohibition of the foothfayers, and the opinion 
 of the mofl wife and judicious. 
 
 He was perfonally incenfed againft Alexander, in refent- 
 ment of the injuries he had received from him. What Thebe 
 his wife had faid, and he himfelf knew, of the general difcon- 
 tent in regard to the tyrant, gave him hopes of finding great 
 divifions in his court, and an univerfal difpofition to revolt. 
 But his ftrongeft motive was the beauty and grandeur of the 
 aftion in itfeli. For his fole deiire and ambition was, to fiiew 
 all Greece, that at the fame time the Lacedaemonians fent 
 generals and officers to Dionyfius the tyrant, and the Athe- 
 nians on their part were in a manner in the pay of Alexander, 
 to whom they had erected a ftatue of brafs, as to their bene- 
 factor, the Thebans were the only people that declared war 
 againft tyranny, and endeavoured to exterminate from amongft 
 the Greeks all unjufl and violent government. 
 
 After having afiembled his army at Pharfalus, he marched 
 againft the tyrant ; who, being apprifed that Pelopidas had 
 but few Thebans, and knowing that his own infantry was 
 twice as ftrong as that of the Theflalians, advanced to meet 
 him. Pelopidas being told by fomebody, that Alexander ap- 
 proached with a great army : " So much the better," replied 
 he, " we {hall beat the greater number." 
 
 Near a place called Cynocephalus, there were very high and 
 fteep hills, which lay in the midft of the plain. Both armies 
 were in motion to feize that pofl with their foot, when Pelo- 
 pidas ordered his cavalry to charge that of the enemy. The 
 borfe of Pelopidas broke Alexander's ; and whilft they purfued
 
 410 HISTORY OF THE Book 
 
 them upon the plain, Alexander appeared fuddenly upon the top 1 
 of the hills, having outftripped the Thenalians, and charging 
 rudely fuch as endeavoured to force thofe heights and retrench- 
 ments, he killed the foremoft, and repulfed the others, whom 
 their wounds obliged to give way. Pelopidas, feeing this, recall- 
 ed his horfe, and giving them orders to attack the enemy's foot, 
 he took his buckler, and ran to thofe who fought upon the hills* 
 
 He prefently made way through his infantry, and paffed in 
 a moment from the rear to the front, revived his foldiers vi- 
 gour and courage in fuch a manner, as made the enemies be- 
 lieve themfelves attacked by frefh troops. They fupported two 
 or three charges with great resolution ; but finding Pelopidas's 
 infantry continually gaining ground, and that his cavalry were 
 returned from the purfuit to fupport them, they began to give 
 way, and retired flowly, ftill making head in their retreat. 
 Pelopidas, feeing the whole army of the enemy from the top 
 of the hills, which, though it was not yet actually put to flight, 
 began to break, and was in great diforder, he flopped for fome 
 time, looking about every where for Alexander. 
 
 A.S foon as he perceived him upon his right wing, rallying 
 and encouraging his mercenary foldiers, he could contain him- 
 felf no longer ; but fired with that view, and abandoning to his 
 fole refer.tment the care of his life, and the conducl: of the 
 battle, he got a great way before his battalions, and ran for- 
 wards with all his force, calling upon and defying Alexander. 
 The tyrant made no aniwer to his defiance ; and not daring to 
 wait his coming up, withdrew to hide himfelf amongfl his 
 guards. The battalion Handing firm for fome time, Pelo- 
 pidas broke the firfl ranks, and killed the greateil part of the 
 guards upon the fpot* The reil continuing the fight at a dif- 
 tance, pierced his arms and breaft at length with their javelins. 
 The ThefTalians, alarmed at the danger in which they law him, 
 made all the hafle they could from the tops of the hills to his 
 amflance : but he was fallen dead when they arrived. The in- 
 fantry and the Thtban horfe, returning to the fight againfl 
 the enemy's main body, put them to flight, and purfued them 
 a great way. The plain was covered with the dead ; for more 
 than three thoufand of the tyrant's troops were killed.
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 41! 
 
 This action of Pelopidas, though it appears the effect ftf a 
 confuuimate valour, is inexcufeable, and has been generally con- 
 demned, becaufe there is no true valour without wifdom and 
 prudence. . The greateft courage is cool and fedate. It fparea 
 itfelf where it ought, and expofes itfelf when occafion makes it 
 neceffary. A general ought to fee every thing, and to have 
 every thing in his thoughts. To be in a condition to apply the 
 proper remedy on all occasions, he mull not precipitate himfelf 
 to the danger of being cut off, and of caufing the Icfe of his 
 army by his death. 
 
 b Euripides, after having faid in one of his pieces, that it is 
 highly glorious for the general of an army to obtain the victory 
 by taking care of his own life, adds, " That if it be neceffary 
 *' for him to die, it muft be when he reiigns his life into the 
 " hands of virtue ;" to fignify, that only virtue, not paffion, 
 anger, or revenge, has a right over the life of a general, and 
 that the firfl duty of valour is to preferve him who preferves 
 others. 
 
 c It is in this fenfe the faying of Timotheus is fo juft and 
 amiable. When Chares mewed the Athenians the wounds he 
 had received whilit he was their general, and his ihield pierced 
 through with a pike : " And for me," faid Timotheus, " when 
 " I befieged Samos, I was much afhamed to fee a dart fall very 
 " near me, as having expofed myfelf like a young man with-. 
 " out neceffity, and more than was confiftent for the general 
 " of fo great an army." Hannibal certainly cannot be fufpecl- 
 ed of fear; and yet it has been obferved, that in the great num- 
 ber of battles which he fought, he never received any wound, 
 except only at the liege of Saguntum. 
 
 It is therefore not without reafon, that Pelopidas is reproach- 
 ed with having facrificed all his other virtues to his valour, by 
 fuch a prodigality of his life, and with having died rather for 
 himfelf than his country. 
 
 Never was captain more lamented than him. His death 
 
 changed the victory fo lately gained into mourning. A profound 
 
 filence and univevfal affliction reigned throughout the whole 
 
 army, as if it had been entirely defeated. When his body was 
 
 b Phit. in Pelop. p. 317- ? Ibid. p. 278.
 
 41 Z HISTORY OF THE Book 
 
 *t 
 
 Carried to Thebes, from every city by which it paffed, the 
 people of all ages and fexes, the magiilrates and priefts, came 
 out to meet the bier, and to march in procciuon before it, 
 carrying crowns, trophies, and armour of gold. The Thefia- 
 lians, who were at the fame time highly afflicted for his death, 
 and equally fenfible of their obligations to him, made it their 
 requeft, that they might be permitted to celebrate at their fole 
 expence the obfequies of a general, who had devoted himfelf 
 for their prefervation ; and that honourable privilege could cot 
 be refufed to their grateful zeal. 
 
 His funeral was magnificent, efpecially in the fmcere afflic- 
 tion of the Thebans and ThelTalians : For, fays Plutarch, the 
 external pomp of mourning, and thofe marks of forrow, which 
 may be impofed by the public authority upon the people, are 
 not always certain proofs of their real fentiments. The tears 
 which flow in private as well as public, the regret expreued 
 equally by great and fmall, the praifes given by the general and 
 unanimous voice to a perfon who is no more, and from whom 
 nothing further is expected, are an evidence not to be queftion- 
 ed, and an homage never paid but to virtue. Such were the 
 obfequies of Pelopidas, and, in my opinion, nothing more great 
 and magnificent could be imagined. 
 
 Thebes was not contented with lamenting Pelopidas, bu* 
 refolved to avenge him. A final! army of feven thoufand foot 
 and feven hundred horfe were immediately lent againft Alex- 
 ander. The tyrant, who had not yet recovered the terror of 
 his defeat, was in no condition te defend himfelf. He was 
 obliged to reftore to the TheiTalians the cities he had taken from 
 them, and to give the Magnefians, Phthians, and Achaearts, 
 their liberty, to withdraw his garrifons from their country, and 
 to fwear that he would always obey the Thebans, and march 
 at their orders againft all the'ir enemies. 
 
 Such a punifhment was very gentle. Nor, fays Plutarch, did 
 it appear fufHcient to the gods, or proportioned to his crimes : 
 They had referved one for him worthy of a tyrant. Thebe 
 his wife, who faw with horror and deteftation the cruelty and 
 perfidy of her hulband, and had not forgot the leflbns and ad- 
 vice which Pelopidas had given her, whilil in prifon, entered
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 413 
 
 into a confpiracy with her three brothers to kill him. The 
 tyrant's whole palace was full of guards, who kept watch in the 
 night ; but he placed little confidence in them: As his life was 
 in fome fort in their hands, he feared them the moft of all 
 men. He lay in a high chamber, to which he afcended by a 
 ladder that was drawn up after his entrance. Near this cham- 
 ber a great dog was chained to guard it. He was exceeding 
 fierce, and knew nobody but his matter, Thebe, and the flave 
 who fed him. 
 
 The time pitched upon for the execution of the plot being 
 arrived, Thebe fhut up her brothers during the day-time, in 
 an apartment near the tyrant's. When he entered it at night, 
 as he was full of meat and wine, he fell into a deep deep im- 
 mediately. Thebe went out prefently after, and ordered the 
 flave to take away the dog, that he might not difturb her huf- 
 band's repofe ; and left the ladder mould make a noife when 
 her brothers came up by it, fhe covered the fteps of it with 
 wool. All things being thus prepared, me made her brothers 
 afcend, armed with daggers ; who, when they came to the 
 door, were feized with terror, and would go no farther. 
 Thebe, quite out of her wits, threatened to awake the tyrant 
 if they did not proceed immediately, and to difcover the plot 
 to him. Their fhame and fear reanimated them : She made 
 them enter, led them to the bed, and held the lamp herfelf, 
 whilft they killed him with repeated wounds. The news of 
 his death was immediately fpread through the city. His dead 
 body was expofed to all fort of outrages, trampled under foot 
 by the people, and given for a prey to the dogs and vultures ; 
 a juft reward for his violent oppreffions and deteftable cruelties. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 EPAMINONDAS clofen GENERAL of tie THEBANS. 
 His DEATH and CHARACTER. 
 
 I HE extraordinary profperity of Thebes d was no fmall fubjeft 
 of alarm to the neighbouring ilates. Every thing was at that 
 
 d A. M. 3641- Ant. J. C. 363. Xenopb. I vii. p. 641644. Pht. i 
 AgefiJ. p. 615. Died. p. 391, 392.
 
 414 BISTORT or THE Book Xll. 
 
 time in motion in Greece. A new war had fprung up between 
 the Arcadians and the Eleans, which had occalioned another 
 between the Arcadians themfelves. The people of Tegea had 
 called in the Thebans to their aid; and thole of Mantinea, the 
 Spartans and Athenians. There were befides feveral other al- 
 lies on each fide. The former gave Epaminondas the com- 
 mand of their troops, who immediately entered Arcadia, and 
 encamped at Tegea, with defign to attack the Mantineans, 
 crho had quitted their alliance with Thebes to attach them- 
 felves to Sparta. 
 
 Being informed that Agefilaus had begun his march with 
 fcis army, and advanced towards Mantinea, he formed the en- 
 terprife, which, he believed, would immortalize his name, and 
 entirely reduce the power of the enemy. He left Tegea in 
 the night with his army, unknown to th.^ Mantineans, and 
 marched directly to Sparta by a different route from that of 
 Agefilaus. He would undoubtedly have taken the city by fur- 
 prife, as it had neither walls, defence, nor troops : But hap- 
 pily for Sparta, a Cretan having made all pofiible hafle to ap- 
 prife Agefilaus of his defign, he immediately difpatched one 
 of his horfe to advife the city of the danger that threatened it, 
 and arrived there foon after in perfon. 
 
 He had fcarce entered the town, when the Thebans were 
 feen paffing the Eurotas, and coming on againft the city. E- 
 paminondas, who perceived that his defign was discovered, 
 thought it incumbent on him not to retire without fome at- 
 tempt. e He therefore made his troops advance, and making 
 cSt of valour inilead of ftratagem, he attacked the city at fe- 
 veral quarters, penetrated as far as the public place, and feiz- 
 ed that part of Sparta which lay upon the fide of the river. 
 Agefilaus made head every where, and defended himfelf with 
 much more valour than could be expected from his. years. He 
 faw well, that it was not now a time, as before, to fpare hira- 
 felf, and to at only upon the defeniive; but that he had need 
 of all his courage and daring, and to fight with all the vigour 
 of defpair; means which he had never ufed, nor placed his 
 confidence in before, but which he employed with great fuc. 
 " Polyb. 1. ix. p. 54;.
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 41 
 
 cefs in the prefent dangerous emergency. For by this happy 
 defpair and prudent audacity, he in a manner fnatched the 
 city out of the hands of Epaminondas. His fon Archidamus, 
 at the head of the Spartan youth, behaved with incredible va- 
 lour wherever the danger was greareft, and with his fmall troop 
 flopped the enemy, and made head againil them on all fides. 
 
 A young Spartan, named Ifadas, diftinguiflied himfelf par- 
 ticularly in this action. He was very handfome in the face, 
 perfectly well (haped, of an advantageous ftature, and in the 
 flower of his youth. He had neither armour nor clothes up- 
 on his body, which ihone with oil, and held a fpear in one 
 hand, and a fword in the other. In this condition he quitted 
 his houfe with the utmoft eagernefs, and breaking through 
 the prefs of the Spartans that fought, he threw himfelf upon 
 the enemy, gave mortal wounds at every blow, and laid all at 
 his feet who oppofed him, without receiving any hurt him- 
 felf. Whether the enemy were difmayed at fo aftonim;ng a 
 fight, or, fays Plutarch, the gods took pleafure in preferving 
 him upon account of his extraordinary valour, it is faid the 
 Ephori decreed him a crown after the battle in honour of his 
 exploits, but afterwards fined him a thoufand drachms * for 
 having expofed himfelf to fo great a danger without arms. 
 
 Epaminondas having failed of his aim, forefeeing that the 
 Arcadians would certainly hailen to the relief of Sparta, and 
 not being willing to have them with all the Lacedaemonian 
 forces upon his hands at the fame time, he returned with ex- 
 pedition to Tegea. The Lacedaemonians and Athenians, with 
 their allies, followed him clofe in the rear. 
 
 s That general confidering his command was upon the point 
 of expiring ; that if he did not fight, his reputation might fuf- 
 fer extremely ; and that immediately after his retreat, the ene- 
 my would fall upon the Theban allies, and entirely ruin them, 
 he gave orders to his troops to hold themfelves in readinefs 
 for battle. 
 
 The Greeks had never fought amongft themielves with 
 more numerous armies. The Lacedaemonians confuted of 
 Xenoph. 1. vii. p 645 64;. 
 
 f five hundred livrcs.
 
 <l6 HISTORY OF THE Book XII. 
 
 more than twenty thoufand foot and two thoufand horfe ; 
 the Thebans of thirty thoufand foot and three thoufand horfe. 
 Upon the right wing of the former, the Mantineans, Arca- 
 dians, and Lacedaemonians were ported in one line ; the Ele- 
 nns and Achaeans, who were the weakeft of their troops, had 
 the centre, and the Athenians alone compofed the left wing. 
 In the other army, the Thebans and Arcadians were on the 
 left, the Argives on the right, and the other allies in the cen- 
 tre. The cavalry on each fide were difpofed in the wings. 
 
 Ths Theban general marched in the fame order of battle 
 in whicli he intended to fight, that he might not be obliged, 
 when he came up with the enemy, to lofe, in the difpofition 
 of his army, a time which cannot be too much faved in great 
 enterprifes. 
 
 Ke did not march direcllv, and with his front to the, ene- 
 my, but in a column upon the hills, with his left wing fore- 
 mort, as if he did not intend to fight that day. When he was 
 over-againft them at a quarter of a league's diftance, he made 
 his troops halt and lav down their arms, as if he defigned to 
 encamp there. The enemy in efTecl were deceived by that 
 ftand, and reckoning no longer upon a battle, they quitted 
 their arms, difperfed themfelves about the camp, and fufter- 
 ed that ardour to extinguiuj, which the near approach of a 
 battle is wont to kindle in the hearts of the foldiers. 
 
 Epaminondas, however, by fuddenly wheeling his troops to 
 die right, having changed his column into a line, and having 
 drawn out the choice troops, whom he had exprefsly ported 
 in front upon his march, he made them double their files up- 
 on the front of his left wing, to add to its ftrenth, and to put 
 it into a condition to attack in a point the Lacedaemonian 
 phalanx, which, by the movement he had made, faced it di- 
 rectly. He ordered the centre and right wing of his army to 
 move very flow, and to halt before they came up with the e- 
 nemy, that he might not hazard the event of the battle upon 
 troops, of which he had no great opinion. 
 
 He expected to defide the victory by that body of chofen 
 troops, which he corntnaadssi in perfon, and which he had
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 417 
 
 formed in a column to attack the enemy in a point like a gal- 
 ley, fays Xenophon. He allured himfelf, that if he could pe- 
 netrate the Lacedaemonian phalanx, in which the enemy's 
 principal force confiiled, he fhould not find it difficult to rout 
 the reft of their army, by charging upon the right and left with 
 his victorious troops. 
 
 But that he might prevent the Athenians in the left wing 
 from coming to the fupport of their right againfl his intended 
 attack, he made a detachment of his horfe and foot advance 
 but of the line, and polled them upon the rifing ground in 
 readiuefs to flank the Athenians ; as well to cover his right, 
 as to alarm them, and give them reafon to apprehend being 
 taken in flank and rear themfelves, if they advanced to fuf- 
 tain their right. 
 
 After having difpofed his whole army in this manner, he 
 moved on to charge the enemy with the whole weight of his 
 column. They were ftrangely furprifed when they faw Epa- 
 minondas advance towards them in this order, and refumed 
 their arms, bridled their horfes, and made all the hafte they 
 could to their ranks. 
 
 \Vhilft Epaminondas marched againft the enemy, the caval- 
 ry that covered his flank on the left, the beft at that time in 
 Greece, entirely compofed of Thebans and Theflalians, had 
 orders to attack the enemy's horfe. The Theban general, 
 whom nothing efcaped, had artfully beftowed bowmen, {ling- 
 ers, and dartmen, in the intervals of his horfe, in order to 
 begin the diforder of the enemy's cavalry, by a previous dif- 
 charge of a mower of arrows, ftones, and javelins, upon 
 them. The other army had neglected to take the fame pre- 
 caution, and had made another fault, not lefs confiderable, 
 in giving as much depth to the fquadrons, as if they had been 
 a phalanx. By this means, their horfe were incapable of fup- 
 porting long the charge of the Thebans. After having made 
 feveral ineffectual attacks with great lofs, they were obliged to 
 retire behind their infantry. 
 
 In the mean time, Epaminondss, with his body of foot, had 
 charged the Lacedaemonian phalanx. The troops fought ori 
 
 Vohme Il r . D d
 
 418 HISTORY OF THE EaokXIL 
 
 both fides with incredible ardour ; both the Thebans and La- 
 cedaemonians being refolved to pcrifla rather than yield the 
 glory of arms to their rivals. They began by fighting with 
 the fpear ; and thofe firfl arms being foon broken in the fury 
 of the combat, they charged each other fword in hand. The 
 refiilance was equally obflinate, and the {laughter very great 
 on both fides. The troops, defpifing danger, and defiring on- 
 ly to diftinguifh themfelves by the greatnefs of their actions, 
 chofe rather to die in their ranks, than to lofe a ftep of their 
 groand. 
 
 The furious (laughter on both fides having continued a great 
 while without the victory's inclining to either, Epaminondas 
 to force it to declare for him, thought it his duty to make an 
 extraordinary effort in perfon, without regard to the danger 
 of his own life. He formed therefore a troop of the braveft 
 and mofl determined about him, and putting himfelf at the 
 head of them, he made a vigorous charge upon the enemy, 
 where the battle was moil warm, and wounded the general of 
 the Lacedaemonians with the firft javelin he threw. His troop, 
 by his example, having wounded or killed all that flood in their 
 way, broke and penetrated the phalanx. The Lacedaemoni- 
 ans, difruayed by the prefence of Epaminondas, and overpower- 
 ed by the weight of that intrepid party, were reduced to give 
 ground. The grofs of the Theban troops, animated by their 
 general's example and fuccefs, drove back the enemy upon his 
 right and left, and made a great flaughter of them. But fome 
 troops of the Spartans, perceiving that Epaminondas abandoned 
 hluifelf too much to his ardour, fuddenly rallied, and return- 
 ing to the fight, charged him with a fkower of javelins, Whilft 
 he kept off part of thofe darts, fhunned fome of them, fenced 
 off others, and was fighting with the mofl heroic valour, to 
 afiure the victory to his army, a Spartan, named Callicrates, 
 gave him a mortal wound with a javelin in the breafl acrofs his 
 cutrals. The wood of the javelin being broke off, and the 
 iron head continuing in the wound, the torment was infup- 
 portable, and he fell immediately. The battle began around 
 him with new fury ; the one fide ufmg their utmofl endeavours
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 419 
 
 to take him alive, and the other to fave him. The Thebans 
 gained their point at laft, and carried him off, after having put 
 the enemy to flight. They did not purfue them far ; and re- 
 turning immediately, contented themfelves with remaining 
 mafters of the field and of the dead, without making any advan- 
 tage of their victory, or undertaking any thing further, as if 
 they flayed for the orders of their general. 
 
 The cavalry, difmayed by the accident of Epaminondas, whom 
 they believed to be dead, and feeming rather vanquiihed than 
 victorious, neglected to purfue theirTuccefs in the fame manner, 
 and returned to their former poll. 
 
 Whilft this pafled on the left wing of the Thebans, the 
 Athenian horfe attacked their cavalry on the right. But as the 
 latter, befides the fuperiority of number, had the advantage of 
 being feconded by the light infantry pofled in their intervals, 
 they charged the Athenians rudely, and having galled them 
 extremely with their darts, they were broken and obliged to fly. 
 After having difperfed and repulfed them in this manner, in- 
 ftead of purfuing them, they thought proper to turn their arms 
 againfl the Athenian foot, which they took in flank, put into 
 diforder, and pumed with great vigour. Jufl as they were 
 ready to turn tail, the general of the Elean cavalry, who com- 
 manded a body of referve, feeing the danger of that phalanx, 
 came upon the fpur to its relief, charged the Theban horfe, 
 who expected nothing fo little, forced them to retreat and re- 
 gained from them their advantage. At the fame time, the 
 Athenian cavalry, which had been routed at firft, finding they 
 were not purfued, rallied themfelves ; and inflead of going to 
 the amftance of their foot, which was roughly handled, they 
 attacked the detachment pofled by the Thebans upon the 
 heights without the line, and put it to the fword. 
 
 After thefe different movements, and this alternative of lofles 
 and advantages, the troops on both fides flood flill and refted 
 upon their arms, and the trumpets of the two armies, as if by 
 confent, founded the retreat at the fame time. Each party 
 pretended to the viftory, and erefted a trophy ; the Thebans, 
 becaufe they had defeated the right wing, and remained maf- 
 
 Ddij
 
 420 HISTORY OF THE Boole Xll. 
 
 ters of the field of battle ; the Athenians, becaiife they cut the 
 detachment in pieces. And from this point of honour, both 
 fides refufed at firft to aik leave to bury their dead, which, 
 with the ancients, was confefling their defeat. The Lacedae- 
 monians, however, fent firft to demand that permilTion ; after 
 which, the reft had no thoughts but of paying the laft duties 
 to the {lain. 
 
 Such was the event of the famous battle of Mantinea. Xe- 
 nophon, in his relation of it, recommends the difpofition of 
 the Theban troops, and the order of battle, to the reader's at- 
 tention, which he defcribes as a man of knowledge and expe- 
 rience in the art of war. And Monfieur Follard, who juftly 
 looks upon Epaminondas as one of the greateft generals Greece 
 ever produced, in his difcription of the fame battle, ventures 
 to call it the mafterpiece of that great captain. 
 
 Epaminondas had been carried into the camp. The furgeons, 
 after having examined the wound, declared that he would ex- 
 pire as foon as the head of the dart was drawn out of it. Thofe 
 words gave all that were prefent the utmofl forrow and afflic- 
 tion, who were inconfolable on feeing fo great a man about to- 
 die, and to die without iffae. For him, the only concern he 
 exprefled, was about his arms, and the fuccefs of the battle. 
 When they (hewed him his fhield, and allured him that the 
 Thebans hod gained the vi&ory ; turning towards his friends 
 with a calm and ferene air ; " Do not regard," faid he, " this- 
 " day as the end of my life, but as the beginning of my hap- 
 " pinefs, and the completion of my glory. I leave Thebes 
 " triumphant, proud Sparta humbled, and Greece delivered 
 " from the yoke of fervitude. For the reft, I do not reckon 
 ** that I die without ifTue ; Leudra and Mantinea are two il- 
 " luftrious daughters, that will not fail to keep my name alive. 
 " and to tranfmit it to potlerity." Having fpoke to this effect, 
 he drew the head of the javelin out of his wound, and ex- 
 pired. 
 
 It may truly be faid, that the Theban power expired with 
 this great man ; whom Cicero * feems to rank above all the 
 
 * EpaBjiaondas, princeps, meojudicio, Graeciae. Acad. Qjaeft, L i.ii. 4
 
 Chap. /. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 421 
 
 illuftrious men Greece ever produced. * Juftin is of the fame 
 opinion, when he fays, That as a dart is no longer in a con- 
 dition to wound when the point of it is blunted ; fo Thebes, 
 after having loft its general, was no longer formidable to its 
 enemies; and its power feemed to have loft its edge, and to 
 be annihilated bj the death of Epaminondas. Before him, 
 that city was not diftinguifhed by any memorable aftion, and 
 afterwards, it was not famous for its virtues but misfortunes, 
 till it funk into its original cbfcurity ; fo that it faw its glory 
 take birth, and expire with this great man. 
 
 It has been f doubted whether he was a more excellent cap- 
 tain or good man. He fought not power for himfelf, but for 
 his country ; and was fo perfectly void of felf-intereft, that, at 
 his death, he was not worth the expcnces of his funeral. Truly 
 a philofopher, and poor out of tafte, he defpifed riches, with- 
 out aiTecling any reputation from that contempt; and if Juftin 
 may be believed, he coveted glory as little as he did money. 
 It was always againft his will that commands were conferred 
 upon him ; and he behaved himfelf in them in fuch a manner, 
 as did more honour to dignities, than dignities to him. 
 
 Though poor himfelf, and without any eftate, his very po- 
 verty, bv drawing upon him the efteem and confidence of the 
 rich, gave him the opportunity of doing good to others. One 
 of his friends being in great neceflity, Epaminondas fent him 
 to a very rich citizen, with orders to afk him for a thoufand 
 rrowns h in his name. That rich man coming to his houfe, 
 io know his motives for directing his friend to him upon fuch 
 
 Ddiij 
 
 Ji A talent. 
 
 *N~am ficuti teio, fi priman acie.-n praefrrgeris, reliquo fcrro vim noccndi 
 fufuileris ; f:c Jib vc!ut mucrone teli aM.no duce Thebanorum, rei quoque puhli- 
 c-ot vires hebetatae funt : ut non tarn ilium arr.ififfe, quam cum i!lo omnes inieriifle 
 vkk-rentur. Nam neque hunc ante durem ullum memorabile bcilum geflcie, r.tc 
 roftea viitutibus, fed cl-di'ous, inline* fueic : at rranifeftum fit, patriac gloriam 
 it natani et extinftam cum co fuif.e. J'.;ltin. 1. v:. c. 8. 
 
 f luit incertum, vir rr.elior an dux cfTc f . Nam impeiium non fib; fcmoer, fed 
 patrine quaefivit ; tt pecuniae Kdto pgrcws fuit, ut fumptus funeri defuerit. Glo- 
 iiae quoqne non cupidior, qnam pecuniae ; quippe recufatiti orr.nia imperia in- 
 gefta ibnt, honcrefquc ita gtffit.ut ornairectum ron accipcrc, fed dare ipfi d>?. 
 jiitati vidcrctur. Juftin.
 
 42 HISTORY OF THE Book X1L 
 
 an errand; " ' Why," replied Epaminondas, " it is bccaufc this 
 " honeil man is in want, and you are rich *." 
 
 He had f cultivated thofe generous and noble fentiments in 
 himfelf by the iludy of polite learning and philofophy, \vhich 
 he had made his ufual employment and fole delight from his 
 cailied infancy ; fo that it was furprifing, and a queftion fre- 
 quently alked, how, and at \vhat time, it was poinble for a 
 man, always bufy amongft books, to attain, cr rather feize, 
 the knowledge of the art military in fo great a degree of per- 
 fection. Fond of leifure, which he devoted to the ftudy of 
 philofophy, his darling paffion,he firunned public employments, 
 and made no intereft but to exclude himfelf from them. His 
 moderation concealed him io well, that he lived oblcure and 
 almofl unknown. His merit however difcovered him. He was 
 taken from his folitude by force, to be placed at the head of 
 armies ; and he demcniirated, that philofophy, though gene- 
 rally in contempt with thofe who afpire at the glory of arms, 
 is wonderfully ufeful in forming heroes. For bciides its being 
 a great advance towards conquering the enemy, to know how 
 to conquer one's felf, in this fchool | anciently were taught the 
 great maxims of true policy ; the rules of every kind of duty ; 
 the motives for a true difcharge of them ; what we owe our 
 country ; the right ufe of authority ; wherein true courage con- 
 fifts : In a word, the qualities that form the good citizen, ftatef- 
 man, and great captain. 
 
 He poiTefled all the ornaments of the mind : He had the ta- 
 lent of fpeaking in perfection, and was well veru-d in the moll 
 fublime fciencies. But a modell referve threw a veil over al\ 
 thofe excellent qualities, which ft ill augmented their value, 
 and of which he knew not what it was to be oflentatious. Spin- 
 thams, in giving his character, faid, " That he never had 
 " met with a man, who knew more and fpoke lefs." 
 
 It may be faid therefore of Epamincdas, that he falsified 
 
 i Plul. c!c praecep*. rtiyiuK ger. ;. k Flu:, ce u<Jir. p. ^9. 
 
 *'O X^' a 't t>' xi *> St'S *> -*t:r.s In- wot i, 
 
 f Jam liter?. rum llodnim, ji.n |>iiilofo;;lv.ac di.ctrina tar.ta, ut mirahile vlderetur, 
 vivie tarn ir!":;c.is rr.ilitiac (fitntia homini inter litcras nato. Jiifrir. 
 i T!ic \voiks of Plato, Xcnr.phon, and Arirtotlc, are proofs of this.
 
 Clap. L PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 423 
 
 the proverb, which treated the Boeotians as grofs and ftupid. 
 This was their common * charadleriftic, and was imputed to 
 the grofs air of the country, as the Athenian delicacy of tafte 
 was attributed to the fubtlety of the air they breathed. Horace 
 feys, that to judge of Alexander from his bad tafte of poetry, 
 one would fwear him a true Boeotian. 
 
 Boeotum in crafib jurarcs acre natum. Epift. i. 1, 2. 
 
 " In thick Boeotian air you'd fwear him horn." 
 
 When Alcibiades was reproached with having little inclina- 
 tion to mufic, he thought fit to make this excufe ; " It is for 
 ** Thebansf to ling as they do, who know not how to fpeak." 
 Pindar and Plutarch, who had very little of the foil in them, 
 and who are proof that genius is of all nations, do themfelves 
 condemn the flupidity of their countrymen. Epaminondas did 
 honour to his country, not only by the greatnefs of his mili- 
 tary exploits, but by that fort of merit, which refults from, 
 ekvation of genius, and the ftudy of fcience. 
 
 I mall conclude his portrait and character with a circum- 
 ftsnce, that gives place in nothing to all his other excellencies, 
 and which may in fome fenfe be preferred to them, as it ex- 
 preiies a good heart, and a tender and fenfible fpirit ; qualities 
 very rare amongft the great, but infinitely more eftimable than 
 all thofe fplendid attributes, which the vulgar of mankind 
 commonly gaze at with admiration, and feem almofl the only 
 objefts worthy either of being imitated or envied. The vic- 
 tory at Leu&ra had drawn the eyes and admiration of all die 
 neighbouring people upon Epaminondas, who looked upon him 
 as the fupport and reftorer of Thebes, as the triumphant con- 
 queror of Sparta, as the deliverer of all Greece ; in a word, as 
 the greateft man, and the moft excellent captain that ever was 
 in the world. In the midft of this univerfal applaufe, fo ca- 
 pable of making the general of an army forget the man for 
 the- viflor, Epaminondas, little ferfible to fo alTecling and fo 
 
 D d iiij 
 
 * 'rtfr locDrrrn r.aturas quantum intcrfit, videmus Athenic temie c^elum, ex 
 cuo acutiorcs ciium jiiitantm 1 Attici ; TslFiim Tlicbis, Il-iqnc \>\ igucs Tl.cbanj. 
 Cic. de fato, n. 7. 
 
 f Thc-y \\fvt grv'at w-
 
 424 HISTORY OF THZ Book XII, 
 
 deferved a glory, " ' My joy," faid he, " ariles from my fenfe 
 " of that, which the news of my victory will give my father 
 " and my mother." 
 
 Nothing in hiftory feems fo valuable to me as fuch fenti- 
 ments, which do honour to human nature, and proceed from 
 a heart, which neither falfe glory nor falfe greatnefs have cor- 
 rupted. I confefs it is with grief I fee thefe noble fentiments 
 daily expire amongfl us, efpecially in perfons whofe birth and 
 rank raife them above others, who, too frequently, are nei- 
 ther good fathers, good fons, good hufoands, nor gocd friends; 
 and who would thinji it a difgrace to them to exprefs for a 
 father and mother the tender regard, of which we have here 
 fo fine an example from a Pagan. 
 
 Until Epaminondas's time, two cities had exercifed alter- 
 nately a kind of empire over all Greece. The juftice and mo- 
 deration of Sparta had at firil acquired it a diilinguilhed pre- 
 eminence, which the pride and haughtinefs of its generals, 
 and efpecially of Paufanias, foon loft it. The Athenians, until 
 the Peloponnefian war, held the firil rank, but in a manner 
 fcarce difcernible in any other refper, than their care in ac- 
 quitting themfelves worthily, and in giving their inferiors juft 
 reafon to believe themfelves their equals. They judged at that 
 time, and very juftly, that the true method of commanding, 
 and of continuing their power, was to evidence their fuperio- 
 rity only by fervices and benefactions. Thofe times, fo glo- 
 rious for Athens, were of about forty-five years continuance, and 
 they retained a part of that pre-eminence during the twenty - 
 feven years of the Peloponnefian war, which make in ail the 
 fcventy-two or feventy-three years, which Demoflhenes gives 
 to the duration of their empire ra : But for this latter fpace cf 
 time, the Greeks, difgufted by the haughtinefs of Athens, 
 received no laws from that ciry without reluctance. Kence 
 the Lacedaemonians became again the arbiters of Greece, and 
 continued fo from the time Lyfander made himfelf rnafter of 
 Athens, until the firfl war undertaken by the Athenians, after 
 their re-eftabliihnient by Conon, to withdraw themfelves ?.nd 
 the reft of the Greeks frcm the tyranny cf Sparta, which wa* 
 I Plut. in Coriol- p. ?,' t. n Dennett. Philip. 51'. p. ??.
 
 CtHlp.I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 415 
 
 now grown more infolent than ever. At length, Thebes dif T 
 puted the fupremacy, and, by the exalted merit of a finglQ 
 man, faw itfelf at the head of all Greece. But that glorious 
 condition was of no long continuance, and the death of Epa- 
 minondas, as we have already obferved, plunged it again into 
 the obfcurity in which he found it. 
 
 Demofthenes remarks, in the pafiage above cited, that the 
 pre-eminence granted voluntarily either to Sparta or Athens, 
 \\-as a pre-eminence of honour, not of dominion, and that the 
 intent of Greece was to preferve a kind of equality and inde- 
 pendence on the other cities. Hence, fays he, when the go- 
 verning city attempted to afcribe to itfelf what did not belong 
 to it, and aimed at any innovations contrary to the rules of 
 jullice and eflablifhed cufloms, all the Greeks thought them- 
 felves obliged to have recourfe to arms, and without any mo- 
 tive of perfonai difcontent, to efpoufe with ardour the caufe 
 pf the injured. 
 
 I mall add here another very judicious reflection from Poly- 
 tius n . He attributes the wife conduct of the Athenians, in 
 the times I fpeak of, to the ability of the generals, who were 
 then at the head of their affairs ; and he makes ufe of a com- 
 parifon, which explains, not unhappily, the character of that 
 people. A veflel without a mafler, fays he, is expofed to great 
 dangers, when every one infills npon its being fleered accord- 
 ing to his opinion, and will comply with no other meafures. 
 If then a rude florm. attacks it, the common danger conciliates 
 and unites them; they abandon themfelves to the pilot's fkill; 
 and all the rowers doing their duty, the fhip is faved, and in 
 a flate of fecurity. But if the tempefl ceafes, and when the 
 weather grows calm again, the difcord of the mariners revives ; 
 if they will hearken no longer to the pilot, and fome are for 
 continuing their voyage, whilfl others refolve to flop in the 
 midft of the courfe ; if on one fide they loofe their fails, and 
 furl them on the other ; it oft^en happens, that after having 
 efcaped the mofl violent florms, they are ihipwrecked even in 
 the port. This, fays Polybius, is a natural image of the A- 
 hcnian republic. As long as it fuftered itfelf to be guided by 
 n FoVh !. vi', p. 4 S8
 
 4*6 HISTORY OF THE Book 
 
 the wife counfels of an Ariftides, a Themiftocles, a Pericles, 
 it came off victorious from the greatest dangers. But pro- 
 fperity blinded and ruined it ; following no longer any thing 
 but caprice, and being become too infolent to be advifed or 
 governed, it plunged itfelf into the greatefl misfortunes. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 DEATH of EVAGORAS KING of SALAMIN. Admirable 
 CHARACTER of tlat PRINCE. 
 
 1 HE third year of the loifl Olympiad , foon after the Thebans 
 had deflroyed Plataea and Thefpiae, as has been obferved be- 
 fore, Evagoras, king of Salamin in the ifle of Cyprus, of whom 
 much has been already faid, was aflaffinated by one of his eu- 
 nuchs. His fon Nicocks fucceeded him. He had a fine model 
 before him in the perfon of his father; and he feemed to make 
 it his duty to be entirely intent upon treading in his Heps p . 
 When he took pofiefiion of the throne, he found the public 
 treafures entirely exhaufted, by the great expcnces his lather 
 had been obliged to be at in the long war between him and 
 the king of Perfia. He knew that the generality of princes, 
 upon like occafions, thought every means juft for the re-eftab~ 
 lifhment of their affairs ; but for him, he acted upon different 
 principles. In his reign there was no talk of banimment, taxes, 
 and confifcation of eftates. The public felicity was his fole ob- 
 ject, and juilice his favourite virtue. He difcharged the debts 
 of the ftate gradually, not by crufhing the people with excef- 
 five imports, but by retrenching all iinnecelTary expences, and 
 by ufing a wife oeconomy in the adminiftration of his revenue. 
 " I am affured q ," faid he, " that no citizen can complain that 
 " I have done him the leaft wrong; and I have the fatisfaction 
 " to know, that I have enriched many with an unfparin^ 
 " hand." He believed this kind of vanity, if it be vanity, 
 might be permitted, in a prince, and that it was glorious f6r 
 him to have it in his power to make his fubjecls fuch a dc, 
 fiance. 
 
 A. M. 3630. Ant. J. C. 374. Diod. 1. xv. p. 363. 
 P Jfccrat. in N : coc. p. 6-;. *J Ibid. p. 65, 66.
 
 Clap. L PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 427 
 
 r He piqued himfelf alfo in particular upon another virtue, 
 which is the more admirable in princes, as very uncommon in 
 their fortunes ; I mean temperance. It is moft amiable, but 
 very difficult, in an age and a fortune, to which every thing 
 is lawful, and wherein pleafure, armed with all her arts and 
 attractions, is continually lying in ambuih for a young prince, 
 and preventing his delires, to make a long refiftance againft. 
 the violence and infinuation of her foft aflaults. Nicocles 
 gloried in having never known any woman befides his wife 
 during his reign, and was amazed that all other contracts of 
 civil fociety fliould be treated with due regard, whilft that of 
 marriage, the moft facred and inviolable of obligations, was 
 broke through with impunity ; and that men mould not blulh 
 to commit an infidelity in refpect to their wives, of which 
 fhould their wives be guilty, it would throw them into the 
 utmotl anguiih and defpair. 
 
 What I have faid of the juftice and temperance of Nico- 
 cles, liberates puts into that prince's own mouth ; and it is not 
 probable that he mould make him fpeak in fuch a manner, if 
 his conduct had not agreed with fuch fentiments. It is in a 
 difcourfe, fuppofed to be addrefled by that king to his people, 
 wherein he defcribes to them the duties of fubjects to their 
 princes ; love, refpecl, obedience, fidelity, and devotion to 
 their fervice ; and to engage them more effectually to the dif- 
 eharge of thofe duties, he does not difdain to give them an 
 account of his own conduct and fentiments. 
 
 5 In another difcourfe, which precedes this, Ifocrates ex- 
 plains to Nicocles all the duties of the Sovereignty, and makes 
 excellent reflections upon that fubject, of which I can repeat 
 here only a very fmall part. He begins by telling him, that 
 the virtue of private perfons is much better fupported than his 
 own, by the mediocrity of their condition; by the employment 
 snd cares infeparable from it ; by the misfortunes to which they 
 are frequently expcfed ; by their diftance from pleafures and 
 luxury ; and particularly, by the liberty which their friends 
 and relations have of giving them advice ; whereas the gene- 
 rality of princes have none of thefe advantages. He" adds, 
 
 '' !focrat, in Nicoc, P. f.<. * !'-' ad Nicoc.
 
 428 HISTORY OF THE . Book Xll. 
 
 that a king, who would make himfelf capable of governing 
 well, ought to avoid an idle and inactive life, mould fet apart 
 a proper time for bufinefs and the public affairs, fhould form 
 his council of the moft able and experienced perfons in his 
 kingdom, fhould endeavour to make himfelf as much fuperior 
 to others by his merit and wifdom, as he is by his dignity, and 
 efpecially acquire the love of his fubje&s, and for that purpofe 
 3ove them fincerely, and look upon himfelf as their common 
 father. " Perfift," faid he, " in the religion you have re- 
 " ceived from your forefathers ; but be aflured, that the mod 
 " grateful adoration and facrifice that you can offer to the 
 " Divinity, is that of the heart, in rendering yourfelf good 
 '* and juft. Shew, upon all occafions, fo high a regard for 
 " truth, that a fingle word from you may be more confided 
 " in than the oath of others. Be a warrior, by your ability 
 " in military affairs, and by fuch a warlike provifion as may 
 " intimidate your enemies ; but let your inclinations be pacific, 
 " and be rigidly exacl: in never pretending to, or undertaking 
 * any thing unjuftly. The only certain proof that you have 
 " reigned well, will be the power of bearing this teftimony to 
 " yourfelf; that your people are become both more happy, 
 " and more wife, under your government." 
 
 What feems to me moft remarkable in this difcourfe, is, that 
 the advice which Ifocrates gives the king is neither attended 
 with praifes, nor with thofe ftudied refervations and artificial 
 turns, without which fearful and modefl truth dares not ven- 
 ture to approach the throne. This is moft worthy ot applaule, 
 and more for the prince's than the writer's praife. Nicocles, 
 far from being offended at thefe counfels, receix*ed them with 
 joy; and to exprefs his gratitude to Ifocrates, made him a pre- 
 fent of twenty talents, that is to fay, twenty thoufand crowns r , 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 ARTAXERXES MNEMON undertakes the REDUCTION of EGTPT. 
 
 -A.RTAXERXES u , after having given his people a relaxation of 
 feveral years, had formed the defign of reducing Egypt, which 
 
 Plut. in vit. Ifoc. p. 838. 
 
 u A. M. 362;. Ant. J. C. 377. Diod. 1, XT. p. 328, et 347.
 
 Chap, I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 429 
 
 had (haken off the Perfian yoke long before, and made great 
 preparations for war for that purpofe. Achoris, who then 
 reigned in Egypt, and had given Evagoras powerful aid againft 
 the Perfians, forefeeing the ftorm, raifed abundance of troops 
 of his own fubjefts, and took into his pay a great body of 
 Greeks, and other auxiliary foldiers, of whom Chabrius had 
 the command*. He had accepted that office without the au- 
 thority of the republic. 
 
 Pharnabafus, having been charged with this war, fent to 
 Athens to complain that Chabrias had engaged himfelf to 
 ferve againft his mafter, and threatened the republic with the 
 king's refentment, if he was not immediately recalled. He 
 demanded at the fame time Iphicrates, another Athenian, who 
 was looked upon as one of the moft excellent captains of his 
 time, to give him the command of the body of Greek troops 
 in the fervice of his mafter. The Athenians, who had a great 
 intereft in the continuance of the king's friendship, recalled 
 Chabrias, and ordered him, upon pain of death, to repair to 
 Athens by a certain day. Iphicrates was fent to the Perfian 
 army. 
 
 The preparations of the Perfians went on fo flowly, that 
 two whole years elapfed before they entered upon a&ion. 
 Achoris y king of Egypt died in that time, and was fucceed- 
 ecl by Pfammuthis, who reigned but a year. Nephretitus was 
 the next, and four months after Neftanebis, who reigned ten 
 or twelve years. 
 
 z Artaxerxes, to draw more troops out of Greece, fent am- 
 baffadors thither, to declare to the feveralftates, that the king's 
 intent was, they fhould all live in peace with each other, con- 
 formably to the treaty of Antalcides ; that all garrifons mould 
 be withdrawn, and all the cities fuffered to enjoy their liberty 
 under their refpeclive laws. All Greece received this declara- 
 tion with pleafure except the Thebans, who refufed to con- 
 form to it. 
 
 a At length, every thing being in readinefs for the invafion 
 
 * Cor. Nep. in Chab. et in Iphic. ' Eufcb. in Chron. 
 
 z A. M. 3630. Ant. J, C. 374. Diod. 1. xv, p. 355. 
 a Diod.l, *v. p. 358. 359.
 
 43* . HISTORY OF T1IS E^J, X*. 
 
 of Egypt, a camp was formed at Acae, iince called Ptolemais, 
 in Palefline, the place appointed for the general rendezvous, 
 In a review there, the army was found to confifl of two hun- 
 dred thoufand Perfians, under the command of Pharnabafus, 
 and twenty thoufand Greeks under Iphicrates. The forces at 
 fea were in proportion to thofe at land ; their fleet confifting 
 of three hundred gailies, betides two hundred veflels of thirty 
 oars, and a prodigious number of barks to tranfport the ne- 
 ceiTary provifions for the fleet and army. 
 
 The army and fleet began to move at the fame time ; and 
 that they might act in concert, they feperated from each other 
 as little as poffible. The war was to open with the fiege 
 of Pelufium , but fo much time had been given the Egyp- 
 tians, that Neftanebis had rendered the approach to it imprac- 
 ticable both by fea and land. The fleet therefore, inflead of 
 making a defcent, as had been projected, failed forwards, and 
 entered the mouth of the Nile called Mendefuim. The Nile 
 at that time emptied itfelf into the fea by feven different chan- 
 nels, of which only two * remain at this day ; and at each of 
 thofe mouths there was a fort with a good garrifon to defend 
 the entrance. The Mendefium not being fo well fortified as 
 that. of Pelufium, where the enemy was expected to land, the 
 tlefcent was made with no great difHcultv. The fort was car- 
 ried fword in hand, and no quarter given to thofe who were 
 found in it. 
 
 After this fignal action, Iphicrates thought it advifable to 
 reimbark upon the Nile without lofs of time, and to attack 
 Memphis the capital of Egypt. If that opinion had been fol- 
 lowed before the Egyptians had recovered the panic, into 
 which fo formidable an invafion, and the blow already receiv- 
 ed, had thrown them, they had found the capital without any 
 defence, it had inevitably fallen inro their hands, and all E- 
 gypt been reconquered. But the grofs of the army not being 
 arrived, Pharnabafus believed it neceflary to wait its coming 
 Up, and would undertake nothing, till he had reaflembled all 
 his troops ; under pretext, that they would then be invincible, 
 
 Damietta and Rofcttr-.
 
 Chap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 43* 
 
 and that there would be no obftacle capable of whhftanding 
 them. 
 
 Iphicrates, who knew that in affairs of war efpecially, there 
 are certain favourable and decifive moments, which it is ab- 
 folutely proper to feize, judged quite differently, and in de- 
 fpair to fee an opportunity fuffered to efcape, that might ne- 
 ver be retrieved, he made preffing inftances for permiffion to 
 go at leaft with the twenty thoufand men under his command. 
 Pharnabafus refufed to comply with that demand, out of abjecl 
 jealoufy ; apprehending, that if the enterprife fucceeded, the 
 whole glory of the war would redound to Iphicrates. This 
 delay gave the Egyptians time to look about them. They 
 drew all their troops together into a body, put a good garri- 
 fon into Memphis, and with the reft of their army kept the 
 Held, and harraffed the Periians in fuch a manner, that they 
 prevented their advancing farther into the country. After 
 which came on the inundation of the Nile, which laying all 
 Egypt under water, the Periians were obliged to return intc* 
 Phoenicia, having (Irft loft ineffectually the bed part of their 
 troops. 
 
 Thus this expedition, which had coft immenfe fums-, and 
 for which the preparations alone had given fo much difficulty 
 for upwards of two years, entirely mifcarried, and produced - 
 no other eifed, than an irreconcileable enmity between the 
 two generals, who had the command of it. Pharnabafus, to 
 excufe himfelf, accufed Iphicrates of having prevented its fuc- 
 cefs ; and Iphicrates, with much more reafon, laid all the 
 fault upon Pharnabafus. But well allured that the Perfian 
 lord would be believed at his court in preference to him, and 
 remembering what had happened to Conon, to avoid the fate 
 of that illuftrious Athenian, he chofe to retire fecretly to 
 Athens in a fmall veiTel which he hired. Pharnabafus caufed 
 him to be accufed there, of having rendered the expedition 
 againft Egypt abortive. The people of Athens made anfwer, 
 that if he could be convifted of that crime, he mould be pu- 
 niftied as he deferved. But his innocence was too well known 
 at Athens to give him any difquiet upon that account. It does
 
 43* HISTORY OF THE Look XIL 
 
 not appear that he was ever called in queftion about it ; and 
 fome time after, the Athenians declared him fole admiral of 
 their fleet. 
 
 b Moft of the projeb of the Perfian court milcarried by 
 their flownefs in putting them in execution. Their generals 
 hands were tied up ; and nothing was left to their difcretion. 
 They had a plan of conduct in their inflruftions, from which 
 they did not dare to depart. If any accident happened, that 
 had not been forefeen and provided for, they mull wait for 
 new orders from court ; and before they arrived, the opportu- 
 nity was entirely loft. Iphicrates, having obferved that Phar- 
 nabafus took his refolutions with all the prefence of mind and 
 penetration that could be defired in an accomplifned general c , 
 .afked him one day, how it happened that he was fo quick in 
 his views, and fo flow in his a&ions ? " It is," replied Phar- 
 nabafus, " becaufe my views depend only upon me, but their 
 " execution upon my matter." 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 The LACEDAEMONIANS fend AGESILAUS to tie Aw of TACHOS, 
 
 His DEATH. 
 
 AFTER the battle of Mantinea d , both parties, equally weary 
 of the war, had entered into a general peace with all the other 
 ftates of Greece, upon the king of Perfia's plan, by which the 
 enjoyment of its laws and liberties were fecured to each city 
 and the Meflenians included in it, notwithftanding all the op- 
 pofition and intrigues of the Lacedaemonians to prevent it. 
 Their rage upon this occafion Separated them from the other 
 Greeks. They were the only people who refolved to conti- 
 nue the war, from the hope of recovering the whole country 
 of MefTenia in a fliort time. That refolution, of which Agefi- 
 laus was the author, occafioned him to be juftly regarded as 
 a violent and obilinate man, infatiable of glory and command, 
 who was not afraid of involving the republic again in inevita- 
 ble misfortunes, from the neceffity to which the want of mo- 
 
 b Diod. 1. xv. p. 358. e Ibid. p. 375- 
 
 d Pint in Agcfil. p. 616. 618. Diod. L xv, p. 397 401-
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GREGI1XS. 433 
 
 ney expofed them, of borrowing great furhs, and of levying 
 great imports, iaftead ot taking the favourable opportunity of 
 concluding a peace, and of putting an end to all their evils. 
 
 e \Vhillt this pa(Ted in Greece, Tachos, who had afceuded the 
 throne of Egypt, drew together as many troops as lie could, 
 to defend hirnfelf againft the king of Perfia, who meditated a 
 new invasion of Egypt, notwithstanding the ill fucccfs of his 
 pail endeavours to reduce that kingdom. 
 
 For this purpofe Tachos fent into Greece, and obtained a bo- 
 dy of troops from the Lacedaemonians, with Ageulaus to com- 
 mand them, whom he promiied to make generaliffimo of his ar- 
 my. The Lacedaemonians were exafperated againft Artaxcrx- 
 es, from his having forced them to include the Meuenians in 
 the late peace, and were fond of taking this occaiion to exprefs 
 their refentment. Chabrias went alfo into the fervice of Ta- 
 chcs, but of his own head, and without the republic's participa- 
 tion. This commifilon did Ageiilaus no honour. It was though^ 
 belcw the dignity of a king of Sparta, and a great captain, who 
 had made his name glorious throughout the world, and was 
 then more than eighty years eld, to receive the pay of an E- 
 gyptian, and to ferve a barbarian, who had revolted againft his 
 mafter. 
 
 When he landed in Egypt, the king's principal generals, 
 -and the great officers of his houfe, came to his ihip to receive, 
 and make their court to him. The reft of the Egyptians were 
 as folicitous to fee him, from the great expectation which the 
 name and renown of Ageiilaus had excited in them, and came 
 in multitudes to the more for that purpofe. But when, inftead 
 of a great and magnificent prince, according to the idea his 
 exploits had given them of him, they faw nothing fplendid or 
 majeftic either in his perfon or equipage, and faw only an old 
 man of a mean afpecl and fmsll body, without any appearance, 
 and drafted in a bad robe of a very coarfe fluff, they were feized 
 with an immoderate difpoiition to laugh, and applied the fable 
 of the mountain in labour to him. 
 
 Folume IV. E e 
 
 e A. AT. 1641. Ant, J. C, 363. Xenoph. dc rrj, Agefil. p. 663. Cor, Np. 
 in Agcfil. c, viii.
 
 434 HISTORY OF THE Book XII. 
 
 When he met king Tachos, and had joined his troops with 
 tliofe of Egypt, he was very much furprifed at not being ap- 
 pointed general of the whole army, as he expe&ed, but only 
 of the foreign troops ; that Chabrias was made general of the 
 fea forces, and that Tachos retained the command in chief to 
 himfclf ; which was not the only mortification he had experi- 
 enced. 
 
 Tachcs came to a refolution to march into Phoenicia, think- 
 ing it more advifeable to make that country the feat of the 
 war, than to expert the enemy in Egypt. Agefilaus, who 
 knew better, reprefented to him in vain, that his affairs were 
 not fnfficiently eflabliflied to admit his removing out of his 
 dominions ; that he would do much better to remain in them, 
 and content himielf with acting by his generals in the enemy's 
 country. Tachos defpiled this wife counfel, and exprelled no 
 lefs difrcgard for him on all other occafions. Agefilaus was fo 
 much incenfed at fuch conduct, that he joined the Egyptians, 
 who had taken arms againfl him during his abfence, and had 
 placed Ne&anebis his * coufm upon the throne. Agefilaus, 
 abandoning the king, to whofe aid he had been fent, and join- 
 ing the rebel, who had dethroned him, alleged in juflification 
 of himfelf, that he was fent to the affiftance of the Egyptians ; 
 and that they, having taken up arms againil Tachos, he was 
 not at liberty to ferve againft them without new orders from 
 Sparta. He difpatched expreffes thither ; and the inftruclions 
 he received, were to ai as he fhould judge moft advantageous 
 for his country. Ke immediately declared for Ne&anebis. 
 Tachos, obliged to quit Egypt, retired to Sidon, from whence 
 be went to the court of Perfia. Artaxerxes not only forgave 
 him his fault, but added to his clemency the command of his 
 troops againft the rebels. 
 
 Agefilaus covered fo criminal a conduct with the veil of the 
 pxiblic utility. But, fays Plutarch, remove that delufive blind, 
 .the mod juii and only true name which can be given the ac- 
 tion, ia that of perfidy and treafon. It is true, the Lacedae- 
 monians, making the Glorious and the Good confift princi- 
 pally in the fervice of that country which they idolized, knew 
 
 * Diodorus calls him his fon ; Plutarch,
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 43- 
 
 no other juilice than what tended to the augmentation of the 
 grandeur of Sparta, and the extending of its dominions. I am 
 furprifed fo judicious an author as Xenophon fhould endeavour 
 to palliate a conduct of this kind, by faying only* that Agefi- 
 laus attached himfelf to that of the two kings, who feemed 
 the belt affefted to Greece. 
 
 At the fame time, a third prince of the city of Mendes fet 
 up for himfelf, to difpute the crown with Neftanebis. This 
 new competitor had an army of an hundred thoufand men to 
 fupport his pretenfions. Agefilaus gave his advice to attack 
 them, before they were exercifed and difciplined. Had that 
 coanfel been followed, it had been eafy to have defeated a body 
 of people, raifed in hafte, and without any experience in war. 
 But Ne&anebis imagined, that Agefilaus only gave him this 
 advice to betray him in confequence, as he had. done Tachos. 
 He therefore gave his enemy time to difcipline his troops, who 
 foon after reduced him to retire into a city, fortified with good 
 walls, and of very great extent* Agefilaus was obliged to fol- 
 low him thither ; where the Mendefian prince befieged them. 
 Ne&anebis would then have attacked the enemy before the 
 works he hs.d begun were far advanced, and prefied Agefilaus 
 to that purpofe 5 but he refufed his compliance at firft, which 
 extremely augmented the fufpicions conceived of him. At 
 length, when he faw the work in a fufncient forwardnefs, and 
 that there remained only as much ground between the two 
 ends of the line, as the troops within the city might occupy, 
 drawn up in battle, he told Nectanebis, that it was time to 
 attack the enemy ; that their own lines would prevent their 
 furrounding him ; and that the interval between them was 
 exactly the fpace he wanted, for ranging his troops in fuch a 
 manner, as they might all al together effectively. The attack 
 was executed according to Agefilaus's expectation ; the befiegers 
 were beaten ; and from henceforth Agefilaus conducted all the 
 operations of the war with fo much fuccefs, that the enemy- 
 prince was always overcome, and at laft taken prifoner. 
 
 The following winter f , after having well eftablifhed Nccta~ 
 
 E c ij 
 f A.M. 3643* Ant. J. C. 361.
 
 436 HISTORY OF THE Book XII. 
 
 nebis, he embarked to return to Lacedaeinon, and was driven 
 by contrary winds upon the coall of Africa, into a place called 
 the Port of Menelaus, where he fell lick and died, at the age 
 of fourfcore and four years. He had reigned forty-one of them 
 at Sparta ; rad of thole forty-one, he had paiTed thirty with the 
 reputation of the greateft and moft powerful of all the Greeks, 
 and had, been looked upon as the leader and king of almoft all 
 Greece, till the battle of Leucrra. His latter years did not en- 
 tirely fupport the reputation he had acquired; and Xenophon, 
 in his eulogium of this prince, wherein he gives him the pre- 
 j to- all other captains, has been found to exaggerate his 
 v-irtues, and extenuate his faults too much. 
 
 The, body of Agefilaus was carried to Sparta. Thofe who 
 were about him not having honey, with which it was the Spar- 
 tan cuitora to cover the bodies they would embalm, made ufe 
 of wax in its Head. His fan Archidamus fucceeded to the 
 throne, which continued in his houfe down to Agis, who was 
 the fifth king of the line of Agefilaus. 
 
 Towards the end of the Egyptian war, the greateft part of 
 the provinces in fubjection to Perfia, revolted. 
 
 Artaxerx.es Mnernon had been the involuntary occafion of this 
 defection. That prince, of himfelf, was good, equitable, and 
 benevolent. He loved his people, and was beloved by them. 
 He had abundance of mildacfs and fweetnefs of temper in his 
 character j but that eafinefs degenerated into floth and luxury, 
 and particularly in the latter years of his life, in which he dif- 
 covered a diflike for all buiinefs and application ; from whence, 
 the good qualities, which lie otherwife poiTefied, as well as his. 
 beneficent intentions, became uielefs, and without effect. The 
 nobility and governors of provinces, abufing his favour and the 
 infirmities of his great age, oppreiTed the people, treated them 
 with inicience and cruelty, loaded them with taxes, and did 
 every thing in their power to render the Perfian yoke inlup- 
 portable. 
 
 The difbontent became general, and broke out, after long 
 fuffering, almcil at the fame time on all fides. Aiia Minor, 
 Syria, Phoenicia, and many other provinces, declared them-
 
 Clap. I. PERSIANS AND GRFCIANS. 437 
 
 :.~elves openly, and took up arms. The principal leaders of 
 the confpiracy were Ariobarzanes prince of Phrygia, Maufolus 
 kicg of Caria, Orontes governor of Mjfia, and Autophradates 
 governor of Ljdia. Datames, of whom mention has been 
 made before, and who commanded in Cappadocia, was alfo 
 engaged in it. By this means, half the revenues- of the 
 crown were on a fudclen diverted into different channels, and 
 the remainder did not fuffice for the expences of a war againfl 
 the revolters, had they a&ed in concert. But their union was 
 of no long continuance ; and thofe who had been the firfi and 
 moft zealous in lhaking off .the yoke, were alfo the foremofl 
 in refuming it, and in betraying the intereils of the others to 
 make their peace with the king. 
 
 The provinces of Alia Minor, on withdrawing from their 
 obedience, had entered into a confederacy for their mutual de- 
 fence, and had chofen Orontes governor of Myfia, for their 
 general. They had alfo refolved to add twenty thoufaud fo- 
 reign troops to thofe of the country, and had charged the fame 
 Orontes with the care of raifing them. But when he had got 
 the money for that fervice into his hands, with the addition 
 of a year's pay, he kept it for himfelf, and delivered to the 
 king the perfons who had brought it from the revolted pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 Reoraithras, another of the chiefs of Afia Minor, being fent 
 into * Egypt to negotiate fuccours, committed a treachery of a 
 like nature. Having brought from that country five hundred 
 talents and fifty fliips of war, he aiTembled the principal re- 
 volters at Leucas, a city of Afia Minor, under pretence of giv- 
 ing them an account of his negociation, feized them all, deliver- 
 ed them to the king to make his peace, and kept tiie money 
 he had received in Egypt for the confederacy. Thus this for- 
 midable revolt, which had brought the Perfian empire to the 
 very brink of ruin, diflolved of itfelf, or, to fpeak more pro- 
 perly, was fufpended for fome time. 
 
 E e iij 
 
 * DioJoras fays he was fent to Tachos ; but it ii more Ukely that it was Ne. 
 '.sac bis.
 
 43 S HISTORY OF THE Book A*//. 
 
 SECTION XI. il! 
 
 TROUBLE of tie COURT of ARTAXERXES concerning Us 
 SUCCESSOR. DEATH of that PRINCE. 
 
 THE end of Artaxerxes's reign abounded with cabals g . The 
 whole court were divided into factions in favour of one or o- 
 ther of his fons, who pretended to the fucceffion. He had 
 an hundred and fifty by his concubines, who were in number 
 three hundred and fixty, and three by his lawful wife Atoffa ; 
 Darius, Ariafpes, and Ochus. To put a ftop to thefe practices, 
 he declared Darius, the eldeft, his fucceffor. And to remove 
 all caufe of difputing that prince's right after his death, he 
 permitted him to aflume from thenceforth the title of king, 
 -and to wear the royal * tiara. But the young prince was for 
 having fomething more real. Betides which, the refufal of 
 Artaxerxes to give him one of his concubines, whom he had 
 demanded, had extremely incenfed him, and he formed a con- 
 fpiracy agaiuft his father's life, wherein he engaged fifty of 
 his brothers. 
 
 It was Tiribafus, of whom mention has been made already, 
 who contributed the mofl to his taking fo unnatural a refolu- 
 tion, from a like fubjecl: of difcontent againil the king ; who, 
 having promifed to give him firft one of his daughters in mar- 
 riage, and then another, broke his word both times, and mar- 
 ried them himfelf : Such abominable incefts being permitted 
 at that time in Perfia, the religion of the nation not prohibit, 
 ing them. 
 
 The number of the confp'irators were already very great, and 
 p.e day fixed for the execution, when an eunuch, well inform- 
 ed of the whole plot, difcovered it to the king. Upon that 
 information, Artaxerxes thought it would be highly impru- 
 dent to defpife fo great a danger by neglecting a ftrid inquiry 
 
 Plut, in Artax p. 1024 1017. Diod. 1. xv. p. 400. Juftin. 1. x. c. I, 2. 
 
 * T'r.is thra was a turban, or kind of head drefs, with the plume of feathers 
 fb-dirg upright upon it. The feven countellors had alfo plumes of feathers, 
 which they wore afiant, and before. All ethers wore them aflant, aud behind.
 
 Clap. L PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 439 
 
 into it ; but that it would be much more fo, to give credit to 
 it without certain and unqueftionable proof. He afTured him- 
 felf of it with his own eyes. The confpirators were fuffered 
 to enter the king's apartment, and then ftized. Darius and 
 all his accomplices were punifhed as they deferved, 
 
 After the death of Darius, the cabals began again. Three of 
 his brothers were competitors, Ariafpes, Ochus, and Arfames. 
 The two firft pretended to the throne in right of birth, being 
 the fons of the queen, The third had the king's favour, who 
 tenderly loved him, though onlvthe fon of a concubine. Ochus, 
 prompted by his reftlefs ambition, ftudied perpetually the means 
 to rid himfelf of both his rivals. As he was equally cunning 
 and cruel, he employed his craft and artifice againft Ariafpes, 
 and his cruelty againft Arfames. Knowing the former to be 
 extremely fimple and credulous, he made the eunuchs of the 
 palace, whom he had found means to corrupt, threaten him fo 
 terribly in the name of the king his father, that expecting every 
 moment to be treated as Darius had been, he poifoned him- 
 felf to avoid it. After this there remained only Arfames to 
 give him umbrage^ becaufe his father, and all the world, con- 
 fidered that prince as molt worthy of the throne, from his a- 
 bility and other excellent qalities. Him he caufed to be af- 
 fallinated by Harpates, fon of Tiribafus. 
 
 This lofs, which followed clofe upon the other, and the ejc- 
 ceeding wickednefs with which both were attended, gave the 
 old king a grief that proved mortal : Nor is it furprrfing, that 
 at his age he fhould not have ftrength enough to fupport fo 
 great an affliction. h He funk under it into his tomb, after a 
 reign of forty-three years, which might have been called hap- 
 py, if not interrupted by many revolts. That of his fucceflbr 
 will be no lefs diilurbed with them. 
 
 E e iiij 
 
 J A.M. 3643. Ant. T.C. 36*.
 
 44 
 
 HISTORY OF THE Book 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 CAUSES of tie frequent INSURRECTIONS and REVOLTS in the 
 PERSIAN EMPIRE. 
 
 I HAVE taken care, in relating the feditions that happened in 
 the Perfian empire, to obferve from time to time the abufes 
 which occafioned them. But as thefe revolts were more fre- 
 quent than ever in the latter years, and will be more fo, efpe- 
 cially in the fucceeding reign, I thought it would be proper to 
 unite here, under the fame point of view, the different caufes 
 of fuch infurreclions, which foretell the approaching decline 
 of the Perfian Empire. 
 
 I. After the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, the kings of 
 Perfia abandomed themfelves more and more to the charms of 
 voluptuoufnefs and luxury, and the delights of an indolent 
 and inactive life. Shut up generally in their palaces amongft 
 women, and a crowd of flatterers, they contented themfelves 
 with enjoying, in foft effeminate eafe and idlenefs, the plea- 
 fure of univerfal command, and made their grandeur confift 
 in the fplendid glare of riches, and an expenfive magnificence. 
 
 II. They were befides princes of no great talents for the 
 conduct of affairs, of fmall capacity to govern, and void of 
 tafte for glory. Not having a fufficient extent of mind to 
 animate all the parts of fo vaft an empire, nor ability to fup- 
 port the weight of it, they transferred to their officers the 
 cares of public bufinefs, the fatigues of commanding armies, 
 3nd the dangers which attend the execution of great enter- 
 prifes ; confining their ambition to bearing alone the lofty title 
 of the great king, and the king of kings. 
 
 III. The great officers of the crown, the government of the 
 provinces, the command of armies, were generally bellowed 
 Upon people without either fervice or merit. It was the credit 
 of the favourites, the fecret intrigues of the court, the folici- 
 tationa of the women of the palace, which determined the 
 choice of the perfons, who were to fill the moil important 
 polls of the empire ; and appropriated the rewards d,uc to the
 
 . I. PERSIANS AKD GRECIANS. 44! 
 
 officers \vho had done the ftate real fervice to their own crea- 
 tures. 
 
 IV. Thefe courtiers, often out of a bafe, mean jealoufy of 
 the merit, that gave them umbrage, and reproached their fmall 
 abilities, removed their rivals from public employments, and 
 rendered their talents ufelefs to the ftate. f Sometimes they 
 would even caufe their fidelity to be fufpecled by falfe infor- 
 mations, bring them to trial as criminals againft the ftate, 
 and force the king's mod faithful fervants, for their defence 
 againft their calumniators, to feek their fafety in revolting, 
 and in turning thofe arms againft their prince, which they had 
 fo often made triumph for his glory, and the fervice of the 
 empire. 
 
 V. The minifters, to hold the generals in dependence, re- 
 ftrained them under fuch limited orders, as obliged them to 
 Jet flip the occafions of conquering, and prevented them, by 
 attending new orders from pufhing their advantages. They 
 alfo often made them refponfible for their bad fuccefs, after 
 having let them want every thing neceffary to the fervice. 
 
 VI. The kings of Perfia had extremely degenerated from the 
 frugality of Cyrus, and the ancient Perfians, who contented 
 themfelves with creiTes and fallads for their food, and water 
 for their drink. The whole nobility had been infected with 
 the contagion of this example. In retaining the fingle meal 
 of their anceftors, they made it laft during the greateft part 
 of the day, and prolonged it far into the night by drinking to 
 excels : And far from being afhamed of drunkennefs, they 
 made it their glory, as we have feen in the example of young 
 Cyrus. 
 
 VII. The extreme remotenefs of the provinces, which ex- 
 tended from the Cafpian and Euxine, to the Red fea and E- 
 thiopia, and from the rivers Ganges and Indus to the vEgean 
 fea, was a great obftacle to the fidelity and affection of the 
 people, who never had the fatisfaftion to enjoy the prefence 
 of their matters ; who knew them only by the weight of their 
 taxations, and by the pride and avarice of their Satraps or go- 
 vernors ; and who, in tranfnorting themfelves to the Court, 
 
 { P.'isruabafus, Tiribafus, Datarr.cs, &c,
 
 44* BISTORT OF THE Book 
 
 to make their demands and complaints there, could not hope 
 to find accefs to princes, who believed it contributed to the 
 majefty of their perfons to make themfelves inacceflible and 
 invilible. 
 
 VIII. The multitude of the provinces In fubjecHon to Per- 
 fia, did not compofe an uniform empire, nor the regular bo- 
 ey of a ftate, whofe members were united by the common 
 ties of iriterefts, manners, language, and religion, and ani- 
 mated with the fame fpirit of government, under the guidance 
 of the fame laws. It was rather a confufed, disjointed, tu- 
 multuous, and even forced affemblage of different nations, for- 
 merly free and independent, of whom fome who were torn 
 from their native countries and the fepulchres of their forefa- 
 thers, faw themfelves with pain tranfported into unknown re- 
 gions, or amongfl enemies, where they perfevered to retain 
 their own laws and cuftoms, and a form of government pecu- 
 liar to themfelves. Thefe different nations, who not only 
 lived without any common tie or relation amongfl them, but 
 with a diverfity of manners and worfhip, and often with an- 
 tipathy of characters and inclinations, defired nothing fo ar- 
 dently as their liberty, and re-eftablimment in their own coun- 
 tries. All thefe people therefore were unconcerned for the 
 prefervation of an empire, which was the fole obftacle to their 
 fo warm and juft defires, and could not affect a government, 
 that treated them always as ftrangers and fubjecled nations, 
 and never gave them any (hare in its authority or privileges. 
 
 IX. The extent of the empire, and its remotenefs from the 
 court, made it neceffary to give the viceroys of the frontier 
 provinces a very great authority in every branch of govern- 
 ment ; to raife and pay armies ; to impofe tribute ; to adjudge 
 the differences of cities, provinces, and vafial-kings ; and to 
 make treaties with the neighbouring ftates. A power fo ex- 
 tenfivc and almoll independent, in which they continued ma- 
 ny years without being changed, and without colleagues or 
 council to deliberate upon the affairs of their provinces, ac- 
 cuftomed them to the pleafure of commanding abfqlutely, and 
 cf reigning. In conference of which, it was with great re-
 
 Chap- ! PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 443 
 
 pugnance they fubmitted to be removed from their govern- 
 ments, and often endeavoured to fupport themfelves in them 
 by force of arms. 
 
 X. The governors of provinces, the generals of armies, 
 and all the other officers and minifters, thought it for their 
 honour to imitate in their equipages, tables, moveables, and 
 habits, the pomp and fplendour of the court in which they 
 had been educated. To fupport fo deflrutive a pride, and to 
 furnim out expences fo much above the fortunes of private 
 perfons, they were reduced to opprefs the fubjecls under their 
 jurifdiftion with exorbitant taxes, flagrant extortions, and the 
 fhameful traffic of a public venality, that fet thofe offices to 
 fale for money, which ought to have been granted only to 
 merit. All that vanity lavilhed, or luxury exhaufted, was 
 made' good by mean arts, and the violent rapacioufnefs of an 
 infatiable avarice. 
 
 Thefc grofs irregularities, and abundance of others, which 
 remained without remedy, and which were daily augmented 
 by impunity, tired the people's patience, and occafioned a ge- 
 neral difcontent amongft them, the ufual forerunner of the 
 ruined flates. Their juft complaints, long time defpifed, were 
 followed by an open rebellion of feveral nations, who endea- 
 voured to do themfelves that juftice by force, which was re- 
 fufed to their remonftrances. In fuch a conduft, they failed 
 in the fubmiffion and fidelity which fubjefts owe to their fo- 
 vereigns ; but Paganifm did not carry its lights fo far, and 
 was not capable of fo fublime a perfection, which was referv- 
 ed for a religion that teaches that no pretext, no injuftice, no 
 vexation, can ever authorize the rebellion of a people againii 
 their prince.
 
 BOOK THIRTEENTH. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 
 
 SECTION L 
 
 OCHUS afcends the THRONE of PERSIA. His CRUELTIES. 
 REVOLT of fever al NATIONS. 
 
 JL HE more the memory of Artaxerxes Mnemon was honour- 
 ed and revered throughout the whole empire, the more Ochus 
 believed he had reafon to fear for himfelf ; convinced, that in 
 fucceeding to him, he flioiild not find the fame favourable dif- 
 pofitions in the people and nobility, of whom he had made him- 
 felf the horror by the murder of his two brothers. ' To pre- 
 vent that averfion from occafioning his excluiion, he prevailed 
 upon the eunuchs, and others about the king's perfon, to con- 
 ceal his death from the public. He began by taking upon him- 
 felf the adminifl ration of affairs, giving orders, and fealing de- 
 crees in the name of Artaxerxes, as if he had been ilill alive ; 
 and by one of thefe decrees, he caufed himfelf to be proclaim- 
 ed king throughout the whole empire, always by the order of 
 Artaxerxes. A.fter having governed in this manner almoft ten 
 months believing himfelf fufficiently eftablifhed, he at length 
 declared the death of his father, and afcended the throne k , 
 taking upon himfelf the name of Artaxerxes. Authors, how- 
 ever, moft frequentlyjgive him that of Ochus ; by which name 
 I fhall general! v call him in the fequel of this hiftory. 
 
 Ochus was the moft cruel and wicked of all the princes of 
 his race, as his actions foon explained. In a very fhort time 
 i J'olyaen. Strata^, vii. * A. M. 3644. Ant- J. C. slq.
 
 Seel. L PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 
 
 445 
 
 the palace and the whole empire were filled with his murders. 
 To * remove frsm. the revolted provinces all means of fetting 
 fome other of the royal family upon the throne, and to rid him- 
 felf at once of all trouble, that the princes and princefles of the 
 blood might occafion him, he put them all to death, without re- 
 gard to fex, age, or proximity of blood. He caufed his own fif- 
 ter Ocha, whofe daughter he had married, to be buried alive m , 
 and having fhut up one of his uncles, with an hundred of his 
 fens and grandfons, in a court of the palace, he ordered them 
 all to be fhot to death with arrows, only becaufe thofe princes 
 were much eileemed by the Perfians for their probity and va- 
 lour. That uncle is apparently the father of Syfigambis, the 
 mother of Darius Codomanus : n For Quintus Curtius tells 
 us, that Ochus had caufed fouricore of her brothers, with her 
 father, to be maflacred in one day. He treated with the fame 
 barbarity, throughout the whole empire, all thofe who gave 
 him any umbrage, fparing none of the nobility whom he fuf- 
 pected of the leaft difcontent whatfoever. 
 
 The cruelties exercifed by Ochus, did not deliver him 
 from inquietude. Artabafus, governor of one of the Aiiatic 
 proviaifes, engaged Cltares the Athenian, who commanded a 
 fleet and a body of troops in thofe parts, to affift him, and 
 with his aid defeated an army of feventy thoufand men fent 
 by the king to reduce him. Artabafus, in reward of fo great 
 a fervice, made Chares a prefent of money to defray the whole 
 expences of his armament. The king of Perfia refented ex- 
 ceedingly this conduct of the Athenians in regard to him. They 
 were at that time employed in the war of the allies. The 
 king's menace to join their enemies with a numerous army 
 obliged them to recall Chares. 
 
 p Artabafus, being abandoned by them, had recourfe to the 
 Thebans, of whom he obtained five thoufand men whom he 
 took into his pay, with Pamenes to command them. This 
 reinforcement put him into a condition to acquire two other 
 victories over the king's troops. Thofe two actions did the 
 
 1 Juftin. 1. x. c. 3. m Val. Max. 1. ix. c. 2. n Quint, Curt, 1, x. c-5> 
 A. M. 3648. Ant. J. C. 356. Diod, l.xvi.p. 433, 434* 
 
 * A. M. 3651. Ant. J, C. 353,.
 
 446 HISTORY OF THE Bock XII. 
 
 Theban troops, and their commander, great honour. Thebes 
 muft have been extremely incenfed againft the king of Perlia, 
 to fend fo powerful a fuccour to his enemies, at a time when 
 that republic was engaged in a war with the Phocaeans. It 
 was perhaps an effect of their policy, to render themfelves 
 more formidable, and to enhance the price of their alliance. 
 q It is certain, that foon after, they made their peace with the 
 king, who paid them three hundred talents, that is to fay, 
 three hundred thoufand crowns. Artabafus, deftitute of all 
 fupport, was overcome at laft, and obliged to take refuge 
 with Philip in Macedon. 
 
 Ochus being delivered at length from fo dangerous an ene- 
 *ny, turned all his thoughts on the fide of Egypt, which had 
 revolted long before. About the fame time, feveral confider- 
 able events happened in Greece, \vhich have little or no rela- 
 tion with the affairs of Perfia. I flnall infert them here; after 
 which I fhall return to the reign of Ochus, net to interrupt 
 the feries of his hiftory. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 WAR of tie ALLIES againft tie ATHENIANS. 
 SOME few years after the revolt of Afia Minor r , of which I 
 have been fpeaking, in the third year of the i5Oth Olympiad, 
 Chio, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium, took up arms againft 
 Athens, upon which till then they had depended. To reduce 
 them, they employed both great forces and great captains, 
 Chabrias, Iphicrates, and Timotheus. * They were the laft 
 of the Athenian generals, who did honour to their country ; 
 no one after them being diftinguifhed by merit or reputation. 
 s CHABRIAS had already acquired a great name ; when, hav- 
 ing been fent againft the Spartans to the aid of the Thebans, 
 and feeing himfelf abandoned in the battle by the allies, wh 
 
 ** Died. I. xvi. p. 438. * A. M. 3646. Ant. J. C. 3^8. 
 
 s Cor. Nep. in Chab. c. :. 
 
 * Hate extrema fuit actas irr.pcratorum Atheniennum, Iphicratis, Chabriae, 
 TSmothei : ncquc pod illorum obitum quh'quam dux in ilia urbe fuit dignus me- 
 itoria. C.T. Ncp. in Tiiroth. c. 4.
 
 Sefi. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 447 
 
 had taken flight, he fuflained alone the charge of the enemy; 
 his foldiers, by his order, having clofed their files with one 
 knee upon the ground covered with their bucklers, and pre- 
 fented their pikes in front, in fuch a manner, that they could 
 not be broke, and Agefilaus, though victorious, was obliged 
 to retire. The Athenians erected a ilatue to Chabrias in the 
 attitude he had fought. 
 
 IPHICRATES was of a very mean extraction, his father having 
 been a fhoemaker. But in a free city like Athens, merit was 
 the fole nobility. This perfon may be truly faid to be the foa 
 of his aclions. Having fignalized himfelf in a naval combat, 
 wherein he was only a private foldier, he was foon after em- 
 ployed with diftinction, and honoured with a command. In 
 a profecution carried on againft him before the judges, his ac- 
 cufer, who was one of the defcendants of Harmodius, and 
 made very great ufe of his anceilor's name, having reproached 
 him with the bafenefs of his birth ; " Yes," replied he, " the 
 " nobility of my family begins in me : That of yours ends ia 
 " you." He married the daughter of Cotys, king of Thrace. 
 
 1 He is f ranked with the greatefl men of Greece, efpecial- 
 ly in what regards the knowledge of war and military difci- 
 pline. He made feveral ufeful alterations in the foldiers ar- 
 mour. Before him, the bucklers were very long and heavy, 
 and, for that reafon, were too great a burden, and extremely 
 troublefome : He had them made fh.ort.er and lighter, fo that, 
 without exponng the body, they added to its force and agili- 
 ty. On the contrary, he lengthened the pikes and fwords, 
 to make them capable of reaching the enemy at a greater dii- 
 tance. He alfo changed the cuiraffes ; and inftead of iron and 
 brafs, of which they were made before, he caufed them to be 
 made of flax. It is not eafy to conceive how fuch armour 
 could defend the foldiers, or be any itcurity againft wonnds. 
 But that flax being foaked in vinegar, mingled with fait, 
 
 1 Diod. 1. xv. p. 360. Cor. Ncp. in. Iphic. c. i. 
 
 f Iphicratcs Ather.icnfis, non tarn magnitudine rcrum geftarum, quam difciplin* 
 militari nobilitatus eft. Fuit enim tails dux, ut non folum aetatis iuae cum prinm 
 eompararetar, fed nc dc majorlbus natu quidem quifquam ar.tcpontrretur. Cor* 
 Ncp.
 
 448 HISTORY OF THE Book XIIL 
 
 was prepared in fuch a manner, that it grew hard, and be- 
 came impenetrable either to fword or fire. The uie of it was 
 common amongft feveral nations. 
 
 No troops were ever better exercifed or difciplined than 
 thofe of Iphicrates. He kept them always in action ; and in 
 times of peace and tranquillity, made them perform all the 
 neceflary evolutions, either in attacking the enemy, or defend- 
 ing themfelves ; in laying ambufcades, or avoiding them ; in 
 keeping their ranks even in the puriuit of the enemy, v. ith- 
 out abandoning themfelves to an ardour which often becomes 
 pernicious ; or to rally with fuccefa, after having begun to 
 break and give way : So that when the battle was to be given, 
 all was in motion with admirable promptitude and order. The 
 officers and foldiers drew themfelves up without any trouble, 
 and even in the heat of action performed their parts, as 
 the moft able general would have directed them. A merit ve- 
 ry rare, as I have been informed, but very eilimable ; as it 
 contributes more than can be imagined to the gaining of a 
 battle, and implies a very uncommon fuperiority of genius in 
 the general. 
 
 Timotheus was the fon of Conon, fo much celebrated for 
 his great actions, and the important iervices he had rendered 
 his country, f He did not degenerate from his father's repu- 
 tation, either for his merit in the field, or his ability in the 
 government of the ftate ; but he added to thofe excellencies, 
 the glory which refults from the talents of the mind, having 
 diftinguiihed himfelf particularly by the gift of eloquence, and 
 a tafle for the fciences. 
 
 u No captain at firft ever experienced lefs than himfelf the 
 inconstancy of the fortune of war. He had only to undertake 
 an enterprife, to accornplifh it. Succefs perpetually attended 
 his views and defires. Such uncommon prolperity did not fail 
 
 u Plut. in Sylla, p. 454. 
 
 f Hie a patrc acceptam gloriam muttis auxit virtntibns. Fuit cnim difertus, 
 impiger, laboriofus, rci milita'ris peritus, neque minus civitalis regendae. C >r, 
 Nep. c. i. 
 
 Timctheus Cononis filius, cum belli laude non inftrior fuiflet quam pater, ad 
 tam laudem doftvinac ct ingenii gloriam acijecit. Cic. 1, i. dc offic. n. 116,
 
 S-;&. II. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 449 
 
 to excite jeaidufy. Thofe who envied him, as I have already 
 obferved, caafed him to be painted afleep, with Fortune by 
 him taking cities for him in nets. Timotheus retorted coldly, 
 " If I take places in my fleep, what In ill I do when I am a- 
 " wake ?" He took the thing afterwards more ferioufly, and, 
 angry with thofe who pretended to leifen the glory of his ac- 
 tions, declared in public, that he did not owe his fuccefs to 
 fortune, but to himfelf. That goddefs, fays Plutarch, offended 
 at his pride aad arrogance, abandoned him entirely, and ha 
 was never fuccefsful afterwards. Such were the chiefs em- 
 ployed in the war of the allies. 
 
 * The war and the campaign opened with the fiege of Chio. 
 Chares commanded the land, and Chabrias the fea forces. 
 All the allies exerted themfelves in fending aid to that ifland. 
 Chabrias, having forced the paffage, entered the port, not- 
 withftanding all the endeavours of the enemy. The other gal- 
 lies were afraid to follow, and abandoned him. He was im- 
 mediately furrounded on all ildes, and his veffel exceedingly 
 damaged by the aiTaults of the enemy. He might havefaved 
 himfelf by fwimming to the Athenian fleet, as his foldiers 
 did ; but from a miftaken principle of glory, lie thought it in- 
 confiftent with the duty of a general to abandon his velTel in 
 fuch a manner, and preferred a death, glorious in his fenfe, to 
 a fhameful flight. 
 
 This fcrft attempt having mifcarried, both fides applied 
 themfelves vigoroufly to making new preparations. The Athe- 
 nians fitted cut a fleet of fixty gallies, and appointed Chares 
 to command it, and armed fixty more under Iphicrates and 
 Timctheus. The fleet of the allies confided of an hundred 
 fail. After having ravaged feveral iflands belonging to the 
 Athenians, where they made a great booty, they fat down be- 
 fore Samos. The Athenians on their fide, having united all 
 their forces, befieged Byzantium. The allies made all pof- 
 fible hafte to its relief. The two fleets being in view of each 
 other, prepared to fight, when fuddenly a violent ftorm arofe ; 
 nctwithflanding which, Chares refolved to advance againit the 
 
 Volume IV. Ff 
 
 * Diod. 1. xvi. p. 414, Cor. Nep- '* n Chat. c. iv.
 
 &$y HISTORY OF THE 
 
 etiemy. The two other captains, who had more prudence 
 arid experience than him, thought it improper to hazard a 
 battle in fuch a conjuncture. Chares, enraged at their not 
 following his advice, called the foldiers to witnefs, that it was 
 not his fault they did not fight the enemy. He was natural- 
 ly vain, oftentatious, and full of himfelt"; one who exagge- 
 rated his own fervices r depreciated thofe of others, and arro- 
 gated to himfelf the whole glory of fuccefles. He wrote to A- 
 thens againU his two colleagues, and accufed them of cow- 
 ardice aiid-t?e?ibn^ Upon his complaint, the people, * capri- 
 cious, warm, fufpicious, and naturally jealous of fuch as were 
 diflinguilhed by their extraordinary merit or authority, recall- 
 ed thofe two generals, and brought them to a trial. 
 
 The faction of Chares, which was very powerful at Athens, 
 having declared againfl Timotheus, he was fentenced to pay 
 a fine of an hundred talents f ; a worthy reward for the noble 
 diiintereftednefs he had mewn upon- another occafion, in bring- 
 ing home to his country twelve hundred talents | of booty 
 taken from the enemy, without the leaft deduction for him- 
 felf. He could bear no longer the fight of an ungrateful city j 
 and being too poor to pay fo great a fine, retired to Chalcis. 
 After his death, the people, touched with repentance, miti- 
 gated the firie to ten talents, which they made his fon Conon 
 pay, to rebuild a certain part of the walls. Thus, by an 
 event fufficiently odd, thole very walls which his grandfather 
 had rebuilt with the fpoils of the enemy, the grandfon, to the 
 fljame of Athens, repaired in part at his own expence. 
 
 y Iphicrates was alb obliged to anfwer for himfelf befbre- 
 the judges. It was upon this occaiion, that Ariftophon, ano- 
 ther Athenian captain, accufed him of having betrayed and 
 fold the fleet under his command. Iphicrates, with the confi- 
 dence an eftablifhed reputation infpires, alked him, " Would 
 
 T Arif>. Rhct. !. ii. c. 43. 
 
 * Populns acer, fufpicax, mobilis, adverfaiius, invidns etiam potentiae, domuro 
 rcvocat. C r. Ncp. 
 
 f An hundred thoufand crowns. 
 
 $ Twelve hundred thcufand crowns,
 
 PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 45! 
 
 " you have committed a treafon of this nature ?" ** No," re- 
 plied Arillophon, " I am a man of too much honour for fuch 
 " an aclion !" " How !" replied Iphicrates, " could Iphicra- 
 " tes do what Ariftophon would not do?" 
 
 2 He did not only employ the force of arguments in his de- 
 fence ; he called in alfo the affiilance of arms. Inftrucled by 
 his colleague's ill fuccefs, he faw plainly that it was more ne- 
 eeffary to intimidate than convince his judges. He pofted 
 round the place where they aiTembled, a number of young per- 
 fons, armed with poniards, which they took care to {hew from 
 time to time. They could not refifl fo forcible and triumphant 
 a kind of eloquence, and difmifled him acquitted of the charge. 
 When he was afterwards reproached with fo violent a proceed- 
 ing; " I had been a fool, indeed," laid he, " if having made war 
 " fuccefsfully for the Athenians, I had neglected doing fo for 
 " myfelf." 
 
 Chares, by the recall of his two colleagues; was left fole 
 general of the whole army, and was in a condition to have 
 advanced the Athenian affairs very much in the Hellefpont, if 
 he had known how to refift the magnificent offers of Artabafus. 
 That viceroy, who had revolted in Alia Minor againft the king 
 of Perfia his mailer, befieged by an army of feventy thoufand 
 men, and juft upon the point of being ruined from the inequali- 
 ty of his forces, corrupted Chares. That general, who had no 
 thoughts but of enriching himfelf, marched directly to the 
 aflillance of Artabafus, effectually relieved him^ and received 
 a reward fuitable to the fervice. This adion of Chares was 
 treated as a capital crime. He had not only abandoned the 
 fervice of the republic for a foreign war, but offended the king 
 of Perfia, who threatened by his ambaffadors to equip three 
 hundred fail of mips in favour of the iflanders allied againft 
 Athens. The credit of Chares faved him again upon this, as 
 it had done feveral times before on like occafions. The A- 
 theniansj intimidated by the king's menaces, applied them- 
 fclves fenoufly to prevent their effects by a general peace. 
 Prior to thefe menaces, Ifocrates had earncflly recommend. 
 
 Ffij 
 
 * Polyaen, Stratag. 1. iii.
 
 452 HISTORY OF THE Lho& XI.lt. 
 
 ed this treaty to them in a fine cl'.fcourfe a , which is dill extant, 
 wherein he gives them excellent advice. He reproaches them 
 with great liberty, as does Demofthenes in almod all his ora- 
 tions, of abandoning themfelves blindly to the infinuations of 
 orators, who flatter their pafiions, whilft they treat thofe with 
 contempt, who give them the mod falutary counfels. He ap- 
 plied himfelf particularly to correct in them their violent paf- 
 flon for the augmentation of their power nnd dominion ever 
 the people of Greece, which had been the fource of all their 
 misfortunes. He recalis to their remembrance thofe happy 
 days, fo glorious for Athens, in which their anceilors, out of 
 a noble and generous diiinteredednefs, facrificed every thing 
 for the fupport of the common liberty, and the prefervation of 
 Greece, and compares them with the prefent fad times, wherein 
 the ambition of Sparta, and afterwards that of Athens, had '. uc - 
 ceffively plunged both Hates into the greateft misfortunes. lie 
 feprefents to them, that the real and lading greataefs of a date 
 does not confift in augmenting its dominions, or extending its- 
 eonqueds to the utmcd, which cannot be effected, without vio- 
 lence and injullice j but in the wife government of the people, 
 in rendering them happy, in protecting their allies, in being 
 beloved and edecmed by their neighbours, and feared by their 
 enemies. " A date," fays he, " cannot fail of becoming the 
 " arbiter of all its neigbcurs, when it knows how to unite in 
 " all its meafures the two great qualities, juftice and power, 
 " which mutually fupport each other, and ought to be infepar- 
 " able. For as power, not regulated by the motives of rea- 
 ** fon and judice, has recourfe to the mod violent methods 
 " to cHiih and fubvert whatever oppofes it ; fo judice, when 
 ** unarmed and without power, is expofed to injury, and nei- 
 " ther in a condition to defend itfelf, nor protect others." The 
 conclufion drawn by Ifocrates from this reafoning, is, that 
 Athens, if it would be happy, and in tranquillity, ought not 
 to aflfeft the empire cf the fea for the fake of lording it over 
 all other dates ; but fliould conclude a peace, whereby every- 
 city and people fliould be left to the full enjoyment of their 
 liberty ; and declare themfelves irreconcileable enemies of 
 *De pace, feu focialis.
 
 Seff. III. PERSIANS A:;D GRECIANS. ^r 
 
 thofe who ihculd preiume to diiturb that peace, or contravene 
 fuch rneafure?. 
 
 a The peace was concluded accordingly under fuch condi- 
 tions ; r.nd it was ftipulated, that Rhodes, Byzantium, Chio, 
 and Cos, fhould enjoy entire liberty. The \var of the allies 
 ended i:i this manner, afj-er having continued three years. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 DEMOSTHENES excites tie ^THLXIANS fir WAR. DEATH of 
 MAI:^L T CS. GRIEF of .-IRTEZIISA Us IViPL. 
 
 1 HIS peace did not entirely remove the apprehenfion of th e 
 Athenians with regai'd to the king of Perfia b . The great pre- 
 parations he was making gave them umbrage ; and they were 
 afraid fo formidable an armament was intended againft Greece, 
 and that Egypt was only a plaufible pretext with which the 
 king covered his real deling. 
 
 Athens took the alarm upon this rumour. The orators in- 
 creafed the fears of the people by their difcourfes, and exhorted 
 them to have an immediate recourfe to their arms, to prevent 
 the king of Perfia by a previous declaration of war, and to 
 nvjke a l:.^gv.e with all the people of Greece againft the com- 
 mon enemy. Demofthenes made his fail appearance in public 
 at this time, and mounted the tribunal for hnrrangues to give 
 In.-; opinion. Ke was twenty-eight years of age. I ihall fpeak 
 more extensively of him by and by. Upon the prefent occa- 
 iion, more wife than thofe precipitate orators, and having un- 
 doubtedly in view the importance to the republic of the aid of 
 eriians againft Philip, he c-arecl not indeed oppofe in a 
 inanr.tr their advice, left he fhould render himfelf fuf- 
 fpected ; but admitting as a principle from the tlril, that it was 
 neceflfary to confider the king of Perfia as the eternal enemy of 
 Greece, he reprefented that it was not confritent with prudence, 
 in aa affair of fuch great confequence, to precipitate any thing ; 
 that it was very improper, by a resolution taken upon light 
 
 ;;id uncertain reports, and by a too early declaration of war, 
 
 Ff iij 
 
 3 A M :' ;. Ant. J. C 356. b A. M. 3649 Ant. J. C. 355-
 
 454 HISTORY OF THE Bcoik XIIJ. 
 
 to rurnifh fo powerful a prince with a juft resfon to turn his 
 arms againft Greece ; that all which was ncceflary at prefent, 
 \vas to fit out a fleet of three hundred fail (in what manner, he 
 propofed a fcheme *), and to hold the troops in a readinefs and 
 condition to make an effectual and vigorous defence, in cafe 
 of being attacked ; that by fo doing, all the people of Greece, 
 without further invitation, would be fufficiently apprized of the 
 common danger to join them ; and that the report alone of iuch 
 an armament would be enough to induce the king of 'Periia to 
 change his meafures, admitting he fhould have formed any 
 defigns againft Greece. 
 
 F< r the reft, he was not of opinion, that it was neceflary to 
 levy any immediate tax upon the eftates of private perfons for 
 the expence of this war, which would not amount to a great 
 {urn, nor fuffice for the oc.cafign. " It is better," faid he, 
 " to rely upon the zeal and gcnerofli;y of the citizens. Our 
 " city may be faid to be almoft as rich as all the other cities of 
 " Greece together" (He had before obferved, that the efli- 
 mate of the lands of Attica amounted to fix thoufand ta- 
 lents, about eight hundred and fifty thoufand pounds Sterling.) 
 " When we {hall fee the reality and approach of the danger, 
 *' every body will be ready to contribute to the expences of 
 " the \vzf--y as nobody can be fo void of reafon, as to prefer 
 " the hazard of lofing their whole eftate with their liberty, to 
 " facrificing afmail part of it to their own, and their country's 
 " prefervation. 
 
 " And we ought not tp fear, as fome people would insinuate, 
 " that the great riches of the king of Perfia enabled him to 
 " raife a great body of auxiliaries, and render his army for. 
 " midable againft us. Our Greeks, when they are to march 
 " againft Egypt, or iDrontes and the other Barbarians, ferve. 
 " willingly under the Pedians ; but not one of them, I dare 
 " be aflured, not a fingle man of them, will ever refolve to 
 " bear arms againft Greece." 
 
 This diicourfe had all its effect. The refined and delicate 
 addrefj of the orator in adviiing the impolllion of a tax to be 
 
 * I refcrve this fcheme for the fcventii Adion. bein^ cnimH, -rd very proper 
 to explain in what manner the Athcr.iaas fitted cut, snd rubfifled their fleets.
 
 . 111. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 455 
 
 deferred, and artfully explaining, at the fame time, that it 
 would fall only upon the rich, was highly proper to render 
 Rbortive an affair, which had no other foundation than in the 
 over-heated imagination of fome orators, who were perhaps 
 interefted in the war they advifed. 
 
 f Two years after, an enterprife of the Lacedaemonions 
 againft Megalopolis, a city of Arcadia, gave Demofthenes 
 another opportunity -to fignalize his zeal, and difplay his elo- 
 quence. That city, which had been . lately eftabliftied ty the 
 Arcadians, who had fettled a numerous colony there from dif- 
 ferent cities, and which might ferve as a fbrtrefs and bulwark 
 againft Sparta, gave the Lacedaemonions great uneafinefs, and 
 alarmed them extremely. They refolved therefore to attack, 
 and make themfelves matters of it. The Megalopolitans, who 
 without doubt had renounced their alliance with Thebes, had 
 recourfe to Athens, and implored its protection : The other 
 people concerned, fent alfo their deputies thither ; and the af- 
 fair was debated before the people. 
 
 1 Demofthenes founded his difcoiufe from the beginning of 
 it upon this principle ; that it was of the laft importance to 
 prevent either Sparta or Thebes from growing too powerful, 
 and from being in a condition to give law to the reft of Greece. 
 Now, it is evident, that if we abandon Megalopolis to the La- 
 cedaemonians, they will foon make themfelves maftersof Mef- 
 fene alfo, tv/o ftrong neighbouring cities, which are a check 
 upon Sparta, and keep it within due bounds. The alliance 
 we mall make with the Arcadians, in declaring for Megalopolis, 
 is therefore the certain means'to prefe.rve foneceffary a balance 
 .between Sparta and Thebes ; becaufe, whatever happens, neither 
 -the one nor- the other will be able to hurt us, whiift the Arca- 
 dians are our allies, vhofe forces, in conjunction with ours, 
 will always be fuperior to thofe of either of them. 
 
 A weighty objection to this advice of Demofthenes, was the 
 .alliance actually fublifting between Athens and Sparta. For, 
 in fine, faid the orators who oppoitd Demofthenes, \vhat idea 
 
 F f iiij 
 
 Jf A.M. 3651. Ant. J. C, 353. Dioc'. ', xv, n, 401, 
 f JL'e.T.nl" 1 - Or*t. fro Megalcj:. ..-..
 
 456 HISTORY CV - 
 
 will the world have of Athens, if we change in fuch a manner 
 with the times ; or is it confident with juftice to pay no regard 
 to the faith of treaties ? " We ought," replied Demofthenes, 
 whofe very words I fliall repeat in this pkce, " we * oug".:i 
 " indeed always to have juftice in view, and to make it the 
 ^' rule of our conduct j but, at the fame time, our confer- 
 ** mity to it mould confift with the public good and die in. 
 ** tereft of the {late. It has been a perpetual maxim with us 
 " to affift the opprefied." He cites the Lacedaemonians thera- 
 felves, the Thebans and Euboeans as examples. " We have 
 *' never varied from this principle. The reproach of changing 
 *' therefore ought not to fall upon us, but upon thcfe whofe 
 " injuftice and ufurpation oblige us to declare againft the;::. ; ' 
 
 I admire the language of politicians. To hear them talk, 
 it is always reafon and the ftricleft juftice that determine them ; 
 but to fee them aft, makes it evident that intereft and ambi- 
 tion are the fole rule and guide of their conduct. Their dif- 
 courfe is an effect of that regard for juftice which nature has 
 implanted in the mind of man, and which they cannot entire- 
 ly fhake off. There are few who venture to declare againil 
 that internal principle in their exprefHons, or to contradict it 
 openly. But there are alfo few, who obfervc it with fidelity 
 and conftancy in their actions. Greece never was known to 
 have more treaties of alliance than at the time we are now fpeak- 
 ing of, nor were they ever lefs regarded. This contempt of 
 the religion of oaths in ftates, is a proof of their decline, and 
 often denotes and occafions their approaching ruin. 
 
 b The Athenians, moved by the eloquent diicourfe of De- 
 mofthenes, fent three thoufand foot, and three hundred horfe, 
 to the aid of the Megaiopolitans, under the command of f Pam- 
 ineues. Megalopolis was re-inftated in its former condition, 
 and its inhabitants, who had retired into their own countries, 
 were obliged to return. 
 
 The peace, which had put an end to the war of the allies, 
 
 & Diod. 1. xv. p. 402. 
 
 * A fxmreiv fut oat xcu -r^ir/wj TO. Vma.it>.' ffvijwafa<rr*fi* 2t, i-ru; upa. KKI c-vfiCfcctTr; 
 if i T~ 
 
 * This is not the P.'.mircnes of Thebes, of whom mention has been made befoif .
 
 Se&. ///. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 457 
 
 did not procure for all of them the tranquillity they had reafon 
 to expect from it. The people of Rhodes and Cos, who had 
 been declared free by that treaty, only changed their mafter. 
 Maufolus, king of Caria, who affifted them in throwing off 
 the Athenian yoke, impofed his own upon them. Having 
 publicly declared hinifclf for the rich and powerful, he enilav- 
 ed the people, and made them fuffer exceedingly. He died 
 the fecond year after the treaty of peace, having reigned twen- 
 ty-four years. i Artemifa his wife fucceeded him ; and as (he 
 was fupportetl with all the influence of the king of Perfia, {he 
 retained her power in the ifles lately fubjeded. 
 
 In fpeaking here of Artemifa, it is proper to obferve, that 
 fhe muil not be confounded with another Artemifa, who lived 
 above an hundred years before, in the time of Xerxes, and who 
 diftinguifhed her refolution and prudence fo much in the na- 
 val battle of Salannn. Several celebrated writers have fallen 
 into thi? er. 33 through inadvertency. 
 
 k j immortalized herfelf by the honours (he ren- 
 
 dered to the memory of Maufolus her hufband. She caufed 
 a. 1 1 ...cT^t monument to be erected for him in Halicarnaf- 
 ius, which was called the Maufolaeum, and for its beauty was 
 efteen.ed one of the wonders of the world, and gave the name 
 of Maufolaeum to all future great and magnificent ftruclures 
 of the fame kind. 
 
 1 She endeavoured alfo to eternize the name of Maufolus 
 by other monuments, which fhe believed more durable than 
 thofe of brafs or marble, but are often no better proof againft 
 the injuries of time ; I mean works of wit. She caufed ex- 
 cellent panegyrics to be made in honour of her huftand, and 
 propofed a prize of great value for the perfon whofe perform- 
 ance fnould be the belt. Amcngft many others, the celebrat- 
 ed Ifocrates, and Theopompus, his difciple, were competitors 
 for it. 
 
 Theopompus canied'it from them all, and had the weak- 
 nefs and vanity to boaft in public of having gained the prize 
 
 i A. M. 3650. Ant. J. C. 354. Died. 1. xvi. p. 435. 
 
 k Plin. 1. xxxvi. c. 5. 
 
 i Aul. Gel. 1, x. c, i, Plut, in Ifocrat. p. 838.
 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 is matter; preferring, as is too common, the fame of 
 ne parts to the glory of a good heart. He had reprefented 
 Maufolus in his hiflory as a prince moft fordidly avaricious, to 
 whom all means of amaffing treafure were good and eligible. 
 He painted him without doubt, in very different colours in 
 iis panegyric, or elfe he would never have pleafed the princefs. 
 
 m That illuftrious widow prepared a different tomb for Mau- 
 fohre, -than what I have been fpe^king of. Having gathered 
 fiis afbes, and had the bones beaten in * mortar, me mingled 
 fame of the powder every day in her drink, till he had drank 
 it all off; defiring by that means to make her own body the 
 fepulchre of her huiband. She furvived him only two years ; 
 and her grief did not end but with her life. 
 
 Inftead of tears, in which moft writers plunge Artemifa, dur- 
 ing her widowhood, there are fome who fay flie made very con- 
 derable conquelts. n It appears by one of Demofthenes's ora- 
 tions, that ihe was not confidered at Athens as a forlorn re- 
 lift, who aegle&ed the affairs of her kingdom. But we have 
 Something more decifive upon this head. Vitruvhis tells us, 
 that after the death of Maufolus, the Rhodians, offended rhat 
 . woman mould reign in Caria, undertook to dethrone her. 
 They left Rhodes for that purpofe with their fleet, and enter- 
 ed the great port of Halicarnaffus. The queen being informed 
 of their deiign, had given the inhabitants orders to keep within 
 *he Trails, and when the enemy mould arrive, to exprefs by 
 fhouts and clapping of hands a readinefs to furrender the city 
 to them. The Rhodians quitted 'their fhips, and went in all 
 hafte to the public place, leaving their fleet without any to 
 iguard it. In the mean time, Artemifa came out with her gal- 
 lies from the little port through a fmall canal, which (he caufed 
 to be cut on purpofe, entered the great port, feized the ene- 
 my's fleet without refinance, ami having put her foldiers and 
 mariners on board of it, {he fet fail. The Rhodians, having 
 jio means of efcaping, were all put to the fword. The queen 
 *!1 the while advanced towards Rhodes. When the inhabi- 
 tants faw their veflels approach, adorned with wreaths of lau- 
 
 Cic. Tuff. qra?fK !. i:-. n. 7. r . Val. Mar. !. iv. c. 6. 
 
 * Dcmoil. tie Litertat. Rho<'. p. i/jj. Vitruv. de Archite^. l.ii, c. 8.
 
 EeSi. III. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 455 
 
 icl, they raifed great fhouts, and received their victorious and 
 triumphant fleet with extraordinary marks of joy. It was fo 
 in effect, but in another fenfe than they imagined. Artemifa, 
 having met with no reiiftance, took pofleflion of the city, and 
 put the principal inhabitants to death. She had caufed a tro- 
 phy of her victory to be erected in it, and fet up two ftatues 
 of brafs ; one of which reprefented the city of Rhodes, and the 
 other Artemifa, branding it with a hot iron. Vitruvius adds, 
 that the Rhodians dared never demolilh that trophy, their re- 
 ligion forbidding it ; but they furrounded it with a building 
 which prevented it entirely from being feen. 
 
 All this, as Monfieur Bayle obferves in his Dictionary, does 
 not exprefs a forlorn and inconfolable widow, that pafled her 
 whole time in grief and lamentation ; which makes it reafon- 
 able to fufpect, that whatever is reported of exceffive in the 
 mourning of Artemifa, has no other foundation, but its being 
 advanced at a venture by foms writer, and afterwards copied, 
 by all the reft. 
 
 I mould be better pleafed, for the honour of Artemifa, if it 
 had been faid, as there is nothing incredible in it, that by a for- 
 titude and greatnefs of mind, of which her fex has many ex,. 
 amples, me had known how to unite the fevere affliction of 
 the widow with the active courage of the queen, and made the 
 affairs of her government ferve her inftead of confolatioq. 
 " p Negotia pro folatiis accipiens." 
 
 * The Rhodians being treated by Artemifa in the manner 
 jve have related, and unable to fupport any longer fo fevere 
 and mameful a fervitude, they had recourfe to the Athenians, 
 and implored their protection. Though they had rendered 
 themfelves entirely unworthy of it by their revolt, Demofthe- 
 nes took upon him to fpeak to the people in their behalf. He 
 began with fetting forth their crime in its full light j he en- 
 larged upon their injuftice and perfidy ; he feemed to enter into 
 the people's juft fentiments of refentment and indignation, and 
 it might have been thought was going to declare himfelf in the 
 ftrongeft terms againft the Rhodians : But all this was only the 
 art of the orator, to insinuate himfelf into his auditors opinion, 
 
 f^^it, <J AM. 3653. Ant. J.C. 351. Dwnoft. dc Libert. Rbod,
 
 4<>3 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 and to excite in them quite contrary fentiments of goodnefs 
 and compaffion for a people, who acknowledged their fault, 
 who confefled their unworihinefs, and who neverthelefs were 
 come to implore the republic's protection. He fets before them 
 the great maxims, which in all ages had conftituted the glory 
 of Athens ; the forgiving of injuries, the pardoning of rebels, 
 and the taking upon them the defence of the unfortun-ite. To 
 the motives of glory, he annexes thofe of intereft ; in {hew- 
 ing the importance of declaring for a city, that favoured the 
 democratic form of government, and of not abandoning an 
 ifland fo powerful as that of Rhodes : Which is the fubftance of 
 Demofthenes's difcourfe, intitled, For the liberty of the Rho- 
 dians. 
 
 q The death of Artemifa, which happened the fame year, it 
 is very likely, re-eftabliflied the Rhodians in their liberty, 
 She was fucceeded by her brother Idriaeus, who efpoufed his 
 own fifter Ada, as Maufolus had done Artemifa. It was the 
 cuftom in Garia for the kings to marry their fillers in this man- 
 ner, and for the widows to fucceed their hufbands in the throne, 
 in preference to the brothers, and even the children of the 
 defunct. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Expedition ofOcHUS againft PHOENICIA, CTPRVS, and EGTPT. 
 
 OCHUS r meditated in earnefl the reduction of Egypt to his 
 obedience, which had long pretended to maintain itfelf in in- 
 dependence. \Vhilfl he was making great preparations for this 
 important expedition, he received advice of the revolt of Phoe- 
 nicia. * That people, opprefled by the Perfian governors, re- 
 folved to throw off fo heavy a yoke, and made a league with 
 Ne&anebis king of Egypt, againft whom Perfia was marching 
 its armies. As there w r as no other paiTage for that invafion, 
 but through Phoenicia, this revolt was very feafonable for 
 Nectanebis, who therefore fent Mento the Rhodian to fup- 
 port the rebels, with four thoufand Grecian troops. He iu- 
 
 1 Strab. 1 xiv. p. 656, r A, M. 3653. Ant. T. C. 35?. 
 
 ? Died. 1. xvi. p. 439.
 
 Sett. IF". PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 461 
 
 tended by that means to make Phoenicia his barrier, and to 
 Hop the Periians there. The Phoenicians took the field with 
 that reinforcement, beat the governors of Syria and Cilicia, 
 that had been fent againft them, and drove the Periians en- 
 tirely out of Phoenicia. 
 
 * The Cyprians, who were not better treated than the Phoe- 
 nicians, feeing the good fuccefs which had attended this re- 
 volt, followed their example, and joined in their league with 
 Egypt- Ocaus fent orders to Idriaeus king of Caria, to make 
 war againft them ; who foon after fitted out a fleet, and fent 
 eight thoufand Greeks along with it, under the command of 
 Phocion the Athenian, and Evagoras, who was believed to 
 have been the fon of Nicocles. It is probable that he had 
 been expelled by his uncle Protagoras, and that he had embra- 
 ced with pleafure this opportunity of reafcending the throne. 
 His knowledge of the country, and the party he had there, 
 made the king of Perfia choofe him very wifely to command 
 in this expedition. They made a dsfcent ia the ifland, where 
 their army increafed to double its number by the reinforce- 
 ments which came from Syria and Cilic:a. The hopes of en- 
 riching themfeives by the fpoils of this ifland, which was very 
 rich, drew thither abundance of troops ; and they formed the 
 fiege of Salamin by fea and land. The ifland of Cyprus had 
 at that time nine cities, conliderable enough to have each of 
 them a petty king. But all thofe kings were however fubjecb 
 of Perfia. They had upon this occafion united together to 
 throw off that yoke, and to render themfeives independent 
 
 Ochus, having obferved that the Egyptian war was always 
 iinfuccefsful from the ill condud of the generals fent thither, 
 he refolved to take the care of it upon himfelf. But before 
 he fet out, he fignified his defire to the Hates of Greece, that 
 they would put an end to their divifions, and ceafe to make 
 war upon one another. 
 
 It is a juft matter of furprife, that the court of Perfia fliould 
 
 infill fo earneftly and fo often, that the people of Greece fhould 
 
 live in tranquillity with each other, and obferve inviolably the 
 
 articles .of the treaty of Antalcides, the principal end of which 
 
 1 Diod, I. xvi, p, 440, 441.
 
 4l HISTORY OF THE 
 
 v/as the eftablimment of a lafting union amongft them. It 
 had formerly employed a quite different policy. 
 
 From, the mifcarriage of the enterprife againfl Greece un- 
 der Xerxes, judging gold and iilver a more proper means for 
 fubjecling it than that of the fword, the Perfians did not at- 
 tack it with open force, but by the method of fecret intrigues. 
 They conveyed considerable fums into it privately, to corrupf 
 the perfons of credit and authority in the great cities, aud 
 were perpetually watching occasions to arm them againft each 
 other, and to deprive them of the leifure and means to invade 
 themfelves. They were particularly careful to declare fome- 
 times for one, fometimes for another, in order to fupport a 
 kind of balance amongft them, which put it out of the power 
 of any of thofe republics to aggrandize itfelf too much, and 
 by that means to become formidable to Perfia. 
 
 That nation employed a quite different conduct at this time r 
 in prohibiting all wars to the people of Greece, and com- 
 manding them to obferve an univerfal peace, upon pain of in-i 
 curring their difpleafure and arms, to fuch as mould difobey, 
 Periia, without doubt, did not take that refolution at a ven- 
 ture, and had its reafons to behave in fuch a manner with re- 
 gard to Greece. 
 
 Its defign might be to foften their fpirit by degrees, in dif- 
 arming their hands ; to blunt the edge of that valour, which 
 fpurred them on perpetually by noble emulation ; to extin- 
 guifh in them their paflion for glory and victory; to render 
 languid, by long inertion and forced eafe, the activity natural 
 to them ; and, in fine, to bring them into the number of 
 thofe people, whom a quiet and effeminate life enervates, and 
 who lofe in iloth and peace that martial ardour, which com- 
 bats and even dangers are apt to infpire. 
 
 The king of Periia who then reigned, h?.d a perfonal inte- 
 reft, as well as his predeceflor, in impofing thefe terms upon 
 the Greeks. Egypt had long thrown off the yoke, and given 
 the empire juft caufe of inquietude. Ochus had refolved to go 
 in perfon to reduce the rebels. He had the expedition ex- 
 tremely at heart, and negle&cd nothing that could promote
 
 ?<57. IV. PERSIANS 
 
 its fuccefs. The famous retreat of the ten thouumd, without 
 enumerating many other aftions of a like nature, had left a, 
 great idea in Perfia of the Grecian valour. That prince re- 
 lied more upon a fmall body of Greeks in his pay, than upon: 
 the whole army of the Perfiana, as numerous as it was ; and 
 he well knew, that the inteftine divifions of Greece would 
 render the cities incapable of iupplying the number of foldi- 
 ers he had occalion for. 
 
 In fine, as a good politician, he could not enter upon ac- 
 tion in Egypt, till he had pacified all behind him, Ionia efpe- 
 cially, and its neighbouring provinces. Now, the moft cer- 
 tain means to hold them in obedience, was to deprive then* 
 of all hope of aid from the Greeks, to whom they had always 
 recourfe vn times of revolt, and without whom, they were ia 
 no condition to form any great enterprifes u . 
 
 When Ochus had taken all his meafures, and made the ne- 
 ceflary preparations, he repaired to the frontiers of Phoenicia, 
 where he had an army of three hundred thoufand foot, and 
 thirty thoufand horfe, and put himfelf at the head of it. Men- 
 tor was at Sidon with the Grecian troops* The approach of 
 fo great an army daggered him, and he fent fecretly to Ochus, 
 to make him offers, not only of furrendering Sidon to him, 
 but of ferving him in Egypt, where he was well acquainted 
 with the country, and might be very ufeful to him.. Ochus 
 agreed entirely to the propofal ; upon which he engaged Ton- 
 nes king of Sidon in the fame treafon j and they furrendered 
 the place in concert to Ochus. 
 
 The Sidonians had fet fire to their ftiips upon the approach 
 of the king's troops, in order to lay the people under the ne- 
 ceffity of making a good defence, by removing all hope of any 
 other fecurity. When they faw themfelves betrayed, that the 
 enemy were matters of the city, and that there was no poffibi- 
 lity of efcaping either by fea or land, in the defpair of their 
 condition, they {hut themfelves up in their houfes, and fet 
 them on fire. Forty thoufand men, without reckoning wo- 
 men and children, perifhed in this manner. The fate of Ten~ 
 BCj their king was no better. Ochus, feeing himfelf mufter 
 Died. 1. xvi. p. 441 44j,
 
 4^4 HISTORY OF TKt Book XIII, 
 
 of Sidon, and having no further occation for aim, caufed him 
 to be put to death ; a juft reward of his treafon, and a 
 dent proof, that Ochus did not yield to him in perfidy. At 
 the time this misfortune happened, Sidon was immensely rich. 
 The fire having melted the gold and lilver, Ochus fold the 
 cinders for a confiderable fnm of money. 
 
 The dreadful ruin of this city caft fo great a terror into the 
 reft of Phoenicia, that it fubmitted, and obtained cor. 
 reafonable enough from the king ; Ochus made no great dif- 
 ficulty in complying with their demands, becaufe he would 
 not lofe the time there, he had fo much occaiion for in the 
 execution of his projects againft Egypt. 
 
 Before he began his march to enter it, he was joined by a 
 body of ten thoufand Greeks. From the beginning of this 
 expedition he had demanded troops in Greece. The Athe- 
 jiians and Lacedaemonians had excufed themfelves from fur- 
 nilhing him any at that time ; it being impoflible for them to 
 do it, whatever defire they might have, as they faid, to cul- 
 tivate a good correfpondence with the king. The Thebans 
 fent him a thoufand men under the command of Lachares - 
 The Argives three thoufand under Nicoftratus. The reil 
 came from the cities of Afia. All thefe troops joined him 
 immediately after the taking of Sidon. 
 
 * The Jews mufl have had forae mare in this war of the 
 Phoenicians againft Perfia ; for Sidon was no fooner taken, 
 than Ochus entered Judaea, and befieged the city of Jericho, 
 which he took. Betides 'which, it appears that he carried a 
 great number of Jewilh captives into Egypt, and fent many 
 others into Hyrcania, where he fettled them along the co?.!t 
 of the Cafpian fea. 
 
 y Ochus alfo put an end to the war with Cyprus at the fame 
 time. That of Egypt fo entirely engroffed his attention, that 
 in order to have nothing to divert him from it, he was fatis- 
 fied to come to an accommodation with the nine kings of Cy- 
 prus, who fubmitted to him upon certain conditions, and 
 were all continued in their little ftates. Evagoras demanded 
 to be reinftated in the kingdom of Salamin. It was evident!/ 
 * Solin. c. xxxv, Eufeb. in Chroc. &c. 1 Died. 1. xvi. p, 443-
 
 Sett. IV. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 465 
 
 proved, that he had committed the moft flagrant opprefiions 
 during his reign, and that he had not been unjuftly dethron- 
 ed. Protagoras was therefore confirmed in the kingdom of 
 Salamin, and the king gave Evagoras a remote government. 
 He behaved no better in that, and was again expelled. He 
 afterwards returned to Salamin, and was feized, and put to 
 death. Surprifing difference between Nicocles and his fon 
 Evagoras ! 
 
 2 After the reduction of the ifle of Cyprus, and the pro- 
 vince of Phoenicia, Ochus advanced at length towards Egypt. 
 Upon his arrival, he encamped before Pelufium, from whence 
 lie detached three bodies of his troops, each of them command- 
 ed by a Greek and a Periian with equal authority. The firft 
 was under Dachares the Theban, and Rofaces governor of 
 Lydia and Ionia. The fecond was given to Nicoflratus the 
 Argive, and Ariftazanes one of the great officers of the crown. 
 The third had Mentor the Rhodian, and Bagoas one of Ochus's 
 eunuchs, at the head of it. Each detachment had its parti- 
 cular orders. The king remained with the main body of the 
 army in the camp he had made choice of at firft, to wait events, 
 and to be ready to fupport thofe troops in cafe of ill fuccefs, or 
 to improve the advantages they might have. 
 
 Ne&anebis had long expected this invafion, the preparations 
 for which had made o much noife. He had an hundred thou- 
 fand men on foot, twenty thoufand of whom were Greeks, 
 twenty thoufand Lybians, and the reft of Egyptian troops. 
 Part of them he beftowed in the places upon the frontiers, and 
 pofted himfelf with the reft in the pafles, to difpute the enemy's 
 entrance into Egypt. Ochus's firft detachment was fent againfl 
 Pelufium, where there was a garrifonof five thoufand Greeks. 
 Lachares befieged the place. That under Nicoitratus, on board 
 of four-and-twenty ihips of the Perfian fleet, entered one of 
 the mouths of the Nile at the fame time, and failed into the 
 heart 01 Egypt, where they landed, and fortified themfelves 
 well in a camp, of which the fituation was very advantageous. 
 All the Egyptian troops in thefe parts were immediately drawn, 
 Volume IV. G g 
 
 * Diod. 1. *vi. p, 444, et 4i3
 
 466 HISTORY OF THE Bovk XIII, 
 
 together under Clinias, a Greek of the ifle of Cos, and prepared 
 to repel the enemy. A very warm aftion enfued, in which 
 Clinias with five thoufhnd of his troops were killed, and the 
 reft entirely broke and difperfed. 
 
 This aftion decided the fuccefs of the war. Neftanebis, 
 apprehending that Nicoftratus after this viclory would embark 
 again upon the Nile, and take Memphis the capital of the 
 kingdom, made all the hafte he could to defend it, and aban- 
 doned the paffes, which it was of the laft importance to lecure, 
 to prevent the entrance of the enemy. When the Greeks that 
 defended Pelufium, were apprifed of this precipitate retreat, 
 they believed all loft, and capitulated with Lachares, upon 
 condition of being fent back into Greece with all that belonged 
 to them, and without frittering any injury in their perfons or 
 effeftsv 
 
 Mentor, who commanded" the third detachment, finding the 
 rjafles clear and unguarded, entered the country, and made 
 himfelf mafter of it without any oppofition. For, after having- 
 caufed a report to be fpread throughout his camp, that Ochus 
 had ordered all thofe who would fubmit, to be treated with 
 favour, and that fuch as made reiiftance fhould be deftroyed, 
 as the Sidonians had been ; he let all his prifoners efcape, that 
 they might carry the news into the country round about. Thcfe 
 poor people reported in their towns and villages what they had 
 heard in the enemy's camp. The brutalitv of Ochus feemed 
 to confirm it ; and the terror was fo great, that the garrifons, 
 as well Greeks as Egyptians, ilrove which mould be the fore- 
 moft in making their fubmiffion. 
 
 a Neclanebis, having loft all hope of being able to defend 
 himfelf, efcaped with his treafures and beft effecls into Ethio- 
 pia, from whence he never returned. He was the laft king of 
 Egypt of the Egyptian race, fince whom it has always con- 
 tinued under a foreign yoke, according to the prediction of 
 
 Ochus, having entirely conquered Egypt in this manner, 
 difmantled the cities, pillaged the temples, and returned irr 
 triumph to Babylon, laden with fpoils, and efpecially with 
 a A. M. 3654. Ant. J. C. 350. b Ezek. xxix. 14, 15.
 
 Sefl. IV. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 467 
 
 gold and filver, of which he carried away imrnenfe fums. He 
 left the government of it to Pherendates, a Perfian of the firil 
 quality. 
 
 c Here Manethon finifhes his commentaries, or hiftory of 
 Egypt. He was a prieft of Heliopolis in that country, and 
 had written the hiftory of its different dynafties from the com- 
 mencement of the nation to the times we now treat of. His 
 book is often cited by Jofephus, Eufebius, Plutarch, Porphry, 
 and feveral others. This hiftorian lived in the reign of Ptote- 
 maeus Philadelphus king of Egypt, to whom he dedicates his 
 work, of which * Syncellus has preferved us the abridgement. 
 
 Neclanebis loft the crown by his too good opinion of him- 
 felf. He had been placed upon the throne by Agefilaus, and 
 afterwards fupported in it by the valour and c unfels of Dio- 
 phantes the Athenian, and Lamius the Lacedaemonian, who, 
 whilft they had the command of his troops, and the direction 
 of the war, had rendered his arms victorious over the Periians 
 in all the enterprifes they had formed againft him. It is a pity 
 we have no account of them, and that Diodorus is filent upon 
 this head. That prince, vain from fo many fuccefles, imagined, 
 in confequence, that he was become fufficiently capable of con- 
 ducting his own affairs in perfon, and difmifTed them to whom 
 he was indebted for all thofe advantages. He had time enough 
 to repent his error, and to difcover that the power does not 
 confer the merit of a king. 
 
 d Ochus rewarded very liberally the fervice which Mentor 
 the Rhodian had rendered him in the reduction of Phoenicia, 
 and the conqueft of Egypt. Before he left that kingdom, he 
 difmifled the other Greeks laden with his prefents. As for 
 Mentor, to whom the whole fuccefs of the expedition was 
 principally owing, he not only made him a prefent of an hun- 
 dred f talents in money, befides many jewels of great value, 
 but gave him the government of all the coaft of Afia, with the 
 
 c Syncel. p. a6j. Vo/T, de hift. Grace. 1. i. c. 14. 
 d A. M. 3655. Ant. J. C. 349. 
 
 - * George, a monk of Constantinople, fo called from his being Syncellu?, or vicar 
 to the Patriarch Tarafus, towards the end of the ninth century. 
 | An hundred thoufand crowns.
 
 468 HISTORY OF THE Book XIII. 
 
 direction of the war againft fome provinces, which had revolt- 
 ed in the beginning of his reign, and declared him generalif- 
 iimo of all his armies on that fide. 
 
 Mentor made ufe of his intereft to reconcile the king with 
 his brother Memnon, and Artabafus, who had married their 
 filler. Both of them had been in arms againft Ochus. We 
 have already related the revolt of Artabafus, and the victories 
 he obtained over the king's troops. He was, however, over- 
 powered at laft, and reduced to take refuge with Philip king 
 of Macedon; and Memnon, who had borne a part in his wars, 
 had alfo a (hare in his baniihment. After this reconciliation, 
 they rendered Ochus and his fucceffors fignal fervices ; efpe- 
 eially Memnon, who was one of the moft valiant men of his 
 times, and no lefs excellent in the art of war. Neither did 
 Mentor want his great merits, nor deceive the king in the 
 confidence he had repofed in him. For he had fcarce taken 
 poffeflion of his government, when he re-eftablifhed every 
 where the king's authority, and reduced thofe who had re- 
 volted in his neighbourhood to return to their obedience - t 
 fome he brought over by his addrefs and ftratagems, and o- 
 thers by force of arms. In a word, he knew fo well how to 
 take his advantages, that at length he fubje&ed them all to 
 the yoke, and reinftated the king's affairs in thofe provinces. 
 
 e In the firft year of the io8th Olympiad, died Plato, the 
 famous Athenian philofopher. I fhall defer fpeaking of him 
 t prefent, that I may not interrupt the chain of the hiftory. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 DEATH of OCHUS. ARSES fucceeds him. 
 
 OCHUS f , after the conqueft of Egypt, and reduction of the 
 revolted provinces of his empire, abandoned himfelf to plea- 
 lure and luxurious eafe during the reft of his life, and left the 
 care of affairs entirely to his minifters. The two principal 
 of them were the eunuch Bagoas, and Mentor the Rhodian, 
 who divided all power between them ; fo that the firft had all 
 
 e A M. 3656. Ant. J. C. 34?, f Diod. 1. xvi. p. 490.
 
 Sett. V. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 469 
 
 the provinces of the Upper, and the latter, all thole of the 
 Lower Alia under him. 
 
 * After having reigned twenty-three years, Ochus died of 
 poifon given him by Bagoas. That eunuch, who was by birth 
 an Egyptian, had always retained a love for his country, and 
 a zeal for its religion. When his mafter conquered it, he flat- 
 tered himfelf, that it would have been in his power to have 
 foftened the deftiny of the one, and protected the other from 
 infult. But he could not reftrain the brutality of his prince, 
 who acted a thoufand things in regard to both, which the eu- 
 nuch faw with extreme forrovv, and always violently refented 
 in his heart. 
 
 Ochus, not contented with having difmantled the cities, and 
 pillaged the houfes and temples, as has been faid, had befides 
 taken away all the archives of the kingdom, which were dc- 
 pofited and kept with religious care in the temples of the 
 Egyptians ; and in b derifion of their worfhip, he had caufed 
 the god Apis to be killed, that is, the facred bull which they 
 adored under that name. What gave occafion for this laft ac- 
 tion was, l that Ochus being as lazy and heavy as he was cruel, 
 the Egyptians, from the firft of thofe qualities, had given him 
 the mocking furname of the ftupid animal they found he re- 
 fembled. Violently enraged at this affront, Ochus faid that 
 he would make them fenfible that he was not an afs but a lion; 
 and that the afs, whom they defpifed fo much, mould eat their 
 ox. Accordingly he ordered Apis to be dragged out of his 
 temple, and facrificed to an afs. After which he made his 
 cooks drefs, and ferve him up to the oflicers of his houfehold. 
 This piece of wit incenfed Bagoas. As for the archives, he 
 redeemed them afterwards, and fent them back to the places 
 where it was the cuftom to keep them: But the affront which 
 had been done to his religion, was irreparable ; and it is be- 
 lieved, that was the real occafion of his matter's death. 
 
 k His revenge did not flop there : He caufed another body 
 to be interred inflead of the king's ; and to avenge his having 
 
 Ggiij 
 
 g A. M. 3666. Ant. J. C. 338. h Kan. 1- >* c. 8. 
 
 i Plut. de Ifid. et Ofir. p. 363. * ^lian. 1. \l c. 8,
 
 470 HISTORY OF THE Book XIII. 
 
 made the officers of the houfe eat the god Apis, he made cats 
 eat his dead body, which he gave them cut in fmall pieces ; 
 and for his bones, thofe he turned into handles for knives and 
 fwords, the natural fymbols of his cruelty. It is very pro- 
 bable, that fome new caufe had awakened in the heart of this 
 monfter his ancient refentment ; without which it is not to be 
 conceived, that he could carry his barbarity fo far in regard 
 to his mafter and benefactor. 
 
 After the death of Ochus, Bagoas, in whofe hands all power 
 was at that time, placed Arfes upon the throne, the youngeft, 
 of all the late king's fons, and put the reft to death, in order 
 to pofiefs, with better fecurity, and without a rival, the au- 
 thority he had ufurped. He gave Arfes only the name of 
 king, whilft he referved to himfelf the whole power of the fo- 
 vereignty. But perceiving that the young prince began ta 
 difcover his wickednefs, and took meafures to punifh it ; he 
 prevented him, by having him aflaflmated, and deftroyed his 
 whole family with him. 
 
 Bagoas, after having rendered the throne vacant by the 
 murder of Arfes, placed Darius upon it, the third of that 
 name, who reigned in Perfia. His true name was Codoma- 
 nus, of whom much will be faid hereafter. 
 
 We fee here in a full light the fad eSecl of the ill policy of 
 the kings of Perfia, who, to eafe themfelves of the weight of 
 public bufmefs, abandoned their whole authority to an eunuch. 
 Bagoas might have more addrefs and underftanding than the 
 reft, and thereby merit fome diftinftion. It is the duty of a 
 wife prince to diftinguifh merit ; but it is as confiftent for him 
 to continue always the entire mafter, judge, and arbiter of 
 his affairs. A prince, like Ochus, who had made the greateft 
 crimes his fleps for afcending the throne, and who had fup- 
 ported himfelf in it by the fame meafures, deferved to have 
 fuch a minifter as Bagoas, who vied with his mafter in perfidy 
 and cruelty. Ochus experienced their firft effecls. Had he 
 defired to have nothing to fear from him, he ihould not hava 
 been fo imprudent as to render him formidable, by giving him 
 an unlimited power.
 
 5SV#. VL PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 47! 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 ABRIDGEMENT of the LIFE of DEMOSTHENES. 
 As Demoftenes will have a great part in the hiftory of Phi- 
 lip and Alexander, which will be the fubjeft of the enfuing 
 volume, it is neceffary to give the reader fome previous idea 
 of him, and to let him know by what means he cultivated, and 
 to what a degree of perfection he carried his talent of elo- 
 quence ; which made him more awful to Philip and Alexan- 
 der, and enabled him to render greater fervices to his country, 
 than the higheft military virtue could have done. 
 
 1 That orator, born * two years before Philip, and two hun- 
 dred and fourfcore before Cicero, was not the fon of a dirty 
 fmoky blackfmith, as f Juvenal would feem to intimate, but 
 of a man moderately rich, who got coniiderably by forges. 
 Not that the birth of Demoftenes could derogate in the leaft 
 iVom his reputation, whofe works are an higher title of nobili- 
 ty than the moft fplendid the world affords. m Demofthenes 
 tells us himfelf, that his father employed thirty (laves at his 
 forges, each of them valued at three minae, or fifty crowns ; 
 two excepted, who were without doubt the moft expert in the 
 bufinefs, and directed the work ; and thofe were each of them 
 worth an hundred crowns. It is well known that part of the 
 wealth of the ancients confifted in (laves. Thofe forges, all 
 charges paid, cleared annually thirty minae, that is, fifteen 
 hundred crowns. To this firft manufactory, appropriated to 
 the forging of fwords and fuch kind of arms, he added another, 
 wherein beds and tables of fine wood and ivory were made, 
 which brought him in yearly twelve minae. In this only twen- 
 ty (laves were employed, each of them valued at two minae, 
 or an hundred livrts n . 
 
 G g iiij 
 
 1 A. M. 3623. Ant. J. C. 381. Plut. in Demoft. p. 8478*9. 
 m In Orat. i. coat. Aphob. p. 896. n About 4!. los. 
 
 .* The fourth year of the ninty-ninth Olympiad. 
 
 f Quern pater ardentis maffae fuligine lippus, 
 A carbone et forcipibus, gladiofque par^nte 
 Jncude, et luteo Volcano ad rhetora mini. Juv. 1
 
 47* HISTORY OF THE Bool Xlll. 
 
 Demofthenes's father died poffefled of an eftate of fourteen 
 talents *. He had the misfortune to fall into the hands of for- 
 did and avaricious guardians, who had no views but of making 
 the inoft out of his fortune. They carried that bafe fpirit fo 
 far as to refufe their pupil's mafters the reward due to them ; 
 So that he was not educated with the care which fo excellent 
 a genius as his required ; befides which, the weaknefs o his 
 conftitution, and the delicacy of his health, with the excefiive 
 fondnefs of a mother that doted upon him, prevented his 
 matters from obliging him to apply much to his ftudies. 
 
 The fchool of Ifocrates f, in which fo many great men had 
 been educated, was at that time the molt famous at Athens. 
 Sut whether the avarice of Demofthenes's guardians prevented 
 him from improving under a mailer, whofe price was very 
 high |, or that the foft and peaceful eloquence of Ifocrates 
 was not to his tafte, at that time he ftudicd under Ifaeus, whofe 
 character was flrength and vehemence. He found means how- 
 ever to get the principles of rhetoric taught by the former: 
 But || Plato in reality contributed the rnoft in forming Demof- 
 thenes ; he read his works with great application, and received 
 lellbns from him alfo.; and it is eafy to diftinguifh in the writ- 
 ings of the difciple, the noble and fublime air of the mailer. 
 
 q But he foon quitted the fchool of Jfaeus and Plato for 
 another, under a different kind of direction ; I mean, to fre- 
 quent the bar j of which this was the occaiion. The orator 
 Calliilratus was appointed to plead the caufe of the city Oropus, 
 fituated between Boeotia and Attica. Chabrias, having dif- 
 poied the Athenians to march to the aid of the Thebans, who 
 were in great diftrefs, theyhaftened thither, and delivered them 
 from the enemy. The Thebans forgetting fo great a fervice 
 
 q Aul. Gel. 1. Hi. c. 13. 
 
 * Fourteen hundred croons. 
 
 f Ifocrates cujus e ludo, tanquam ex equo Trojanc, innumcri principcs exie- 
 runt. De orat. n. 94. 
 
 \ About L. ^^ : i~ s. 
 
 || LeftitaviiTe Platonem ftudiofe audivifie etiam, Demofthenes dicltur; idque 
 apparel ex generc et granditate fcrmonis. Cic. in Brut. n. in. 
 
 Illud jusjiirandum, per caefos in Marathone ac Salamine propngnatores reip- 
 fatis manifelto docet, pracceptorem ejus Platonem fuifle. Quint. L xii. c 10.
 
 Sett. VI. fERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 473 
 
 took the town of Oropus, which was upon their frontier, from 
 the Athenians. r Chabrias was' fufpected, and charged with 
 treafon upon this occafion. Calliflratus was chofen to plead 
 againft him. The reputation of the orator, and the import- 
 ance of the caufe, excited curiofity, and made a great noiie in 
 the city. s Demofthenes, who was then fixteen years of age, 
 earneftly entreated his matters to carry him with them to the 
 bar, that he might be prefent at fo famous a trial. The orator 
 was heard with great attention ; and having had extraordinary 
 fuccefs, was attended home by a crowd of illuftrious citizens, 
 who feemed to vie with each other in praifing and admiring 
 him. The young man was extremely affected with the honours, 
 which he faw paid to the orator, and ftill more with the fu- 
 preme power of eloquence on the minds of men, over which 
 it exercifes a kind of abfolute power. He was himfelf fenfible 
 of its effefts ; and not being able to refift its charms, he gave 
 himfelf wholly up to it ; from henceforth renounced all other 
 ftudies and pleafures j and during the continuance of Calliflra- 
 tus at Athens, he never quitted him, but made all the improve, 
 ment he could from his precepts. 
 
 The firft eflay of his eloquence was againft his guardians, 
 whom he obliged to refund a part of his fortune. Encouraged 
 by this fuccefs, he ventured to fpeak before the people, but 
 with very ill fuccefs. He had a weak voice, a thick way of 
 fpeaking, and a very mort breath ; notwithftanding which, his 
 periods were fo long, that he was often obliged to Hop in the 
 midft of them for refpiration. This occafioned his being hiff- 
 ed by the whole audience ; from whence he retired entirely dif- 
 couraged, and determined to renounce for ever a function of 
 which he believed himfelf incapable. One of his auditors, who 
 had obferved an excellent fund of genius in him, and a kind 
 of eloquence which came very near that of Pericles, gave him 
 new fpirit from the grateful idea of fo glorious a refemblance, 
 and the good advice which he added to it. 
 
 He ventured therefore to appear a fecond time before the 
 people, and was no better received than before. As he with- 
 
 r Demoft. in Midi. p. 613. s A. M. 3639. Ant. J. C. 365.
 
 474 HKTORY OF THE Book XIIL 
 
 rew, hanging down his head, and in the utmoft confufion, 
 Satyrus, one of the moft excellent ators of thofe times, who 
 was his friend, met him, and having learned from him the caufe 
 of his being fo much dejected, he allured him that the evil was 
 not without remedy, and that the cafe was not fo defperate as 
 he imagined. He defired him only to repeat fome of Sopho- 
 cles or Euripides's verfes to him, which he accordingly did. 
 Satyrus fpoke them after him, and gave them fuch graces by 
 the tone, geflure, and fpirit, with which he pronounced them, 
 that Demoflhenes himfelf found them quite different from 
 what they were in his own manner of fpeaking. He perceiv- 
 ed plainly what he wanted, and applied hirufeif to the ac- 
 quiring of it. 
 
 His efforts to correct his natural defect of utterance, and 
 to pefect himfelf in pronunciation, of which his friend had 
 made him underfiand the value, feemed almofl incredible, and 
 prove, that an indufbrious perfeverance can furmount all things 
 s He flammered to fuch a degree, that he could not pronounce 
 fome letters, amongil others, that with which the name of the 
 art r he ftudied begins ; and he was fo fhort-breathed, that he 
 could not utter a whole period without flopping. He over- 
 came thefe obftacles at length, by putting fmall pebbles into his 
 mouth, and pronouncing feveral verfes in that manner with- 
 out interruption ; and that walking, and going up fleep and 
 cifficult places ; fo that at laft BO letter made him hefhate, 
 and his breath held out through the longeft periods. u He 
 went alfo to' the fea-fide ; and whilft the waves were in the 
 jnoil violent agitation, he pronounced harrangues, to accuftom 
 himfelf, by the confufed noife of the waters, to the roar of the 
 people, and the tumultuous cries of the public aflemblies. 
 
 * Demofthenes took no lefs care of his action than of his 
 voice. He had a large looking glafs in his houfe, which ferved 
 to teach him gefture, and at which he ufed to declaim, before 
 he fpoke in public. To correct a fault, which he had con- 
 traded by an ill habit of continually flirugging his fhoulders f 
 
 * Cic. 1. :. de orat. n. iSo, 361. * Rhetoric. 
 
 L-x.c. 2. * Ibid. 1. xi
 
 5V#. VI. PERSIANS AND GRECIAKS. 475 
 
 he praftifed (landing upright in a kind of very narrow pulpit 
 or roftrum, over which hung a halbert in fuch a manner, that 
 if in the heat of action that motion efcaped him, the point of 
 the weapon might ferve at the fame time to admonifti and cor- 
 reft him. 
 
 His pains were well beftowed ; for it was by this means, 
 that he carried the art of declaiming to the higheft degree of 
 perfection of which it was capable ; whence it is plain he 
 well knew its value and importance. When he was alked three 
 feveral times, which quality he thought moft neceffary in an 
 orator, he gave no other anlwer than Pronunciation ; infinuat- 
 ingj by making that reply * three times fuccefilvely, that 
 qualification to be the only one of which the want could be 
 leafl concealed, and which was the moft capable of conceal- 
 ing other defedls ; and that pronunciation alone could give con- 
 fiderable weight even to an indifferent orator, when without 
 it, the moft excellent could not hope the leaft fuccefs. He 
 muft have had a very high opinion of it, as to attain a perfec- 
 tion in it, and for the inftru&ion of Neoptolemus, the moft 
 excellent comedian then in being, he devoted fo considerable 
 a fum as ten thoufand drachms f, though he was not very rich. 
 
 His application to ftudy was no lefs furpriiing. To be the 
 more removed from noife, and lefs fubjecl: to diftra&ion, he 
 caufed a fmall chamber to be made for him under ground, in 
 which he fometimes ihut himfelf up for whole months, {having 
 on purpofe half his head and face, that he might not be in a 
 condition to go abroad. It was there, by the light of a fmall 
 lamp, he compofed the admirable orations, which were faid 
 by thofe who envied him to fmell of the oil ; to imply that 
 they were too elaborate. " It is plain," replied he, " yours 
 " did not ceft you fo much trouble." \ He rofe very early 
 in the morning, and ufed to fay, that he was forry when any 
 
 * Attio in dicendo una dominatur. Sine hac fummus orator cfle in numero 
 rullo poteft : mediocris hac inftruiftus fummos faepe fnperarf. Huic primas de- 
 difle Demoilhenes dicitur, cum rogaretur quid in diceiido cffet primum ; huic fc- 
 cundas, huic tertias. Cic. dcorat. i, Hi. n. 413- 
 
 t About 240 I. Sterling. 
 
 t Cui non funt auditae Demofthenis vigiliae ? qui dolere fc aiebat, fi quando 
 -:*ku:n antelucana vittus efTet induftria. Tufc. quaeft. 1. iv, n. 44.
 
 47$ HISTORY OF THE Book XIII. 
 
 workman was at his bufinefs before him. 2 We may judge 
 of his extraordinary efforts to acquire an excellence of every 
 kind, from the pains he took in copying Thucydides's hiftory 
 eight times with his own hand, in order to render the flyle of 
 that great man familiar to him. 
 
 Demofthenes, after having exercifed his talent of eloquence 
 in feveral private caufes, made his appearance in full light, and 
 mounted the tribunal of harangues, to treat there upon public 
 affairs j with what fuccefs we ftiall fee hereafter. Cicero * tells 
 us that fuccefs was fo .great, that all Greece came in crowds 
 to Athens to hear Demofthenes fpeak ; and he adds that merit, 
 fo great as his, could not but have had that efFecl. I do not 
 examine in this place into the character of his eloquence ; I 
 have enlarged fufficiently upon that elfewhere * j I only confi- 
 der its wonderful effects. 
 
 If we belierve Philip upon this head, of which he is certainly 
 an evidence of unqueftionable authority b , the eloquence of 
 Demofthenes alone did him more hurt than all the armies and 
 fleets of the Athenians. His harangues, he faid, were like 
 machines of war, and batteries raifed at a diftance againft him ; 
 by which he overthrew all his projects, and ruined his enter- 
 prifes, without its being poflible to prevent their effe&. " For 
 " I myfelf," fays Philip of him, " had I been prefent, and 
 '* heard that vehement orator declaim, fhould have concluded 
 ** the firft, that it was indifpenfably neceffary to declare war 
 " againft me." No city feemed impregnable to that prince, 
 provided he could introduce a. mule laden with gold into it : 
 But he confeffed, that to his forrow, Demofthenes was invin- 
 cible in that refpecl, and that he always found him inacceffible 
 to his prefents. After the battle of Chaeronea, Philip, though 
 wttor, was ftruck with extreme dread at the profpeft of the 
 great danger .to which that orator, by the powerful league 
 lie had been the fole caufe of forming againft him, expofed 
 himfelf and his kingdom. 
 
 a Lucian, Advcrf. Indofl. p. ^39. a Art of fludying the Belles Lettres, Vol. If, 
 * Lucian. in Encem. Demoft. p. 940, 941. 
 
 * Ke iJludquidem iutelligunt, non modo ita memoriae proditum eflb, fed itz 
 jrecefle fuifle, cum Demofthenes ditftmii diet, ut toncuifus, audiendi caufa, ex 
 tcta Graecij fiercnt. In Diuu n. zj.
 
 Sett. VL PERSIAKS AND GRECIANS. 47 / 
 
 c Antipater fpoke to the fame effeft of him. " I value not," 
 faid he, " the Piraeus, the gallies and armies of the Athe- 
 " nians : For what have we to fear from a people continually 
 " employed in games, feafts, and Bacchanals ? Dcmoilhenes 
 ** alone gives me pain. Without him the Athenians differ in 
 " nothing from the meaneft people of Greece. He alone ex- 
 " cites and animates them. It is he that roufes them from 
 " their lethargy and ftupefaftion, and ^puts their arms and oars 
 " into their hands almoft againft their will : Inceffantly repre- 
 " feuting to them the famous battles of Marathon and Sala- 
 *' min; he transforms them into new men by the ardour of his 
 " difcourfes, and infpires them with incredible valour and for- 
 " titude. Nothing efcapes his penetrating eyes, nor his con- 
 " fummate prudence. He forefees all our defigns ; he coun- 
 " termines all our projects ; and difconcerts us in every thing : 
 ,' and did Athens entirely confide in him, and wholly follow 
 " his advice, we were undone without remedy. Nothing can 
 " tempt him, nor diminifb. his love for his country. All the 
 gold of Philip finds no more accefs to him, .than that of 
 11 Perfia did formerly to Ariftides." 
 
 He was reduced by neceffity to give this glorious teftimony 
 for himfelf in his juft defence againft -^Efchines, his accufer 
 and declared enemy. " Whilft all the orators have fuffered 
 " themfelves to be corrupted by the prefents of Philip and 
 " Alexander, it is well known," fays he, " that neither deli- 
 " cate conjunctures, engaging expreffions, magnificent pro- 
 " mifes, hope, fear, favour, any thing in the world, have ever 
 " been able to induce me to give up the lead right or interefl: 
 of my country." He adds, that inftead of ading like thofc 
 mercenary perfons, who, in all they propofed, declared for fuch 
 as paid them beft, like fcales, that always incline to the fide 
 from whence they receive moft ; he, in all the counfels he had 
 given, had folely in view the interefl and glory of his country, 
 and that he had always continued inflexible and incorruptible 
 to the Macedonian gold. The fequel will ihew bow well he 
 fupported that character to the end. 
 
 c Lucian. in Eacom. Demoft. p. 934936-
 
 478 HISTORY OF THE Book XIII. 
 
 Such was the orator who is about to afcend the tribunal of 
 harangues, or rather the flatefman, to enter upon the admi- 
 niftration of the public affairs, and to be the principle and 
 foul of all the great enterprifes of Athens againft Philip of 
 Macedon. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 DIGRESSION on tie MANNER offtting out FLEETS by the 
 ATHENIANS. 
 
 THE fubjecl of this digreffion ought properly to have had 
 place in the fourth feclion of the tenth book, where I have 
 treated of the government and maritime affairs of the Athe- 
 nians. But at that time, I had not the orations of Demofthenes 
 which fpeak of them in my thoughts. It is a deviation from 
 the chain of the hiftory which the reader may eaiily turn over r 
 if he thinks fit. 
 
 The word Trierarchs * fignifies no more in itfelf than Com- 
 manders of galleys. But thofe cities were alfo called Trierarchs, 
 who were appointed to fit out the galleys in time of war, and 
 to furnifh. them with all things neceffary, or at leaft with part 
 of them. 
 
 They were chofen out of the richefl of the people, and there 
 was no fixed number of them. Sometimes two, fometimes 
 three, and even ten trierarchs were appointed to equip one 
 veffel. 
 
 d At length the number of trierarchs was eftablimed af 
 twelve hundred, in this manner. Athens was divided into ten 
 tribes. An hundred and twenty of the richefl citizens of each 
 tribe were nominated to furnifh the expences of thefe arma- 
 ments ; and thus each tribe furni filing fix fcore, the number of 
 the trierarchs amounted to twelve hundred. 
 
 Thofe twelve hundred men were again divided into two parts, 
 of fix hundred each ; and thofe fix hundred fubdivided into two 
 more, each of three hundred. The firfl three hundred were 
 chofen from amongfl fuch as were richeft. Upon prelling oc- 
 cafions they advanced tlae neceflary expences, and were reim- 
 
 * 7fix{ai%e{, <S Ulpian. in Olynth. ii. p. 33.
 
 &>c7. VII. PERSIANS AXD GRECIAKS. 479 
 
 burfed by the other three hundred, who paid their proportion, 
 as the flate of their affairs would admit. 
 
 A law was afterwards made, whereby thofe twelve hundred 
 were divided into different companies, each confifting of fix- 
 teen men, who joined in the equipment of a galley. That 
 law was very heavy upon the poorer citizens, and equally un- 
 juft at bottom ; as it decreed that this number of iixteeu 
 mould be chofen by their age, and not their eftates. It or- 
 dained that all citizens from twenty-five to forty, fhould be in- 
 cluded in one of thefe companies, and contribute one fixteenth ; 
 fo that by this law the poorer citizens- were to contribute as 
 much as the moft opulent, and often found it impotable to 
 fupply an expence fo much above their power. From whence 
 it happened, that the fleet was either not armed in time, or 
 very ill fitted out ; by which means Athens loft the moft 
 favourable opportunities for aclion. 
 
 { Demofthenes, always intent upon the public good, to re- 
 medy thofe inconveniencies, propofed the abrogation of this 
 law by another. By the latter, the trierarchs were to be 
 chofen, not by the number of their years, but by the value of 
 their fortunes. Each citizen, whofe eftate amounted to ten 
 talents *, was obliged to fit out one galley ; and if to twenty 
 talents, two ; and fo in proportion. Such as were not worth 
 ten talents, were to join with as many others as were neceflary 
 to complete that fum, and to fit out a galley. 
 
 Nothing could be wifer than this law of Demofthenes, which 
 reformed all the abufes of the other. By thefe means the fleet 
 was fitted out in time, and provided with all things neceflary; 
 the poor were considerably relieved ; and none but the rich dif- 
 pleafed with it : For, inftead of contributing only a fixteenth, 
 as by the firft law, they were fometimes obliged by the fecomi 
 to equip a galley, and fometimes two or more, according to the 
 amount of their eftates. 
 
 The rich were in confequence very much offended at De- 
 mofthenes upon this regulation ; and it was, without doubt, 
 an inftance of no fmall courage in him to difregard their coffl^ 
 
 f Demofl. in orat. de Claffib. 
 * Ten thoufand crowns.
 
 480 HISTORY OF THE Book XIII. 
 
 plaints, and to hazard the making himfelf as many enemies, 
 as there were powerful citizens in Athens. Let us hear him- 
 felf. " e Seeing," fays he, fpeaking to the Athenians, " your 
 " maritime affairs are in the greateft decline, the rich poffefled 
 *' of an immunity purchafed at a very low rate, the, citizens 
 " of middle or fmall fortunes eat up with taxes, and the re- 
 *' public itfelf, in confequence of thefe inconveniencies, never 
 " attempting any thing till too late for its fervice ; I had the 
 " courage to eftablifh a law, whereby the rich are reflrained 
 ** to their duty, the poor relieved from oppreffion, and, what 
 " was of the higheft importance, the republic enabled to make 
 " the neceffary preparations of war in due time." He adds, 
 that there was nothing the rich would not have given him to 
 forbear the propofing of this law, or at leaft to have fufpended 
 its execution : But he did net fuffer hirnfelf to be fwayed ei- 
 ther by their threats or promifes, and continued firm to the 
 public good. 
 
 Not having been able to make him change his refolution, 
 they contrived a itratagem to render it ineffectual : For it was 
 without doubt at their inftigation, that a certain perfon, named 
 Patroclus, cited Demoflhenes before the judges, and profecuted 
 him juridically as an infringer of the laws of his country. The 
 accufer having only the fifth part of the voices on his fide, 
 was according to cuftom fined five hundred drachms *, and De- 
 mofthenes acquitted of the charge ; who relates this circum- 
 ftance himfelf. 
 
 It is doubtful, whether at Rome, efpecially in the latter 
 times, the affair would have taken this turn : For we fee, that 
 whatever attempts were made by the tribunes of the people, 
 and to whatever extremity the quarrel arofe, it never was pof- 
 fible to induce the rich, who were far more powerful and en- 
 terprifing than thofe of Athens, to renounce the poiTeffion of 
 the lands, which ijiey had ufurped in manifeft contravention 
 of the inftitutions of the {late. The law of Demofthenes was 
 approved and confirmed by the fenate and people, 
 
 Demoft. pro. Ctefip. p. 419. 
 * A,bout L. 1 2 : 5 s.
 
 
 
 Sift. VII. PERSIANS AMD GRECIANS. 4 8l 
 
 We find, from what has been faid, that the trierarchs fitted 
 out the gallies and their equipage at their own expence. The 
 Hate paid the mariners and foldiers^ generally at the rate of 
 three oboli, or five pence a-day, as has been obferved elfewhere. 
 The officers had greater pay. 
 
 The trierarchs commanded the veffd, and gave all orders 
 on board. When there were two of them to a fb.ip, each 
 commanded fix months. 
 
 When they quitted their office, they were obliged to give 
 an account of their adminiftration, and delivered a ftate of the 
 veiTel's equipage to their fuccelTor, or the republic. The fuc- 
 ceiTor was obliged to go immediately and fill up the vacant 
 place ; and if he failed to be at his poll by a time atTigned him, 
 he was fined for his neglect. 
 
 As the charge of trierarch was very expenfive, thofe who 
 were nominated to it, were admitted to point out fome other 
 perfon richer than themfelves, and to demand that they mould 
 be put into their place ; provided they were ready to change 
 eflates with fuch perfon, and to act in the function of trie- 
 rarch after fuch exchange. This law was inftituted by Solon, 
 and was called the Law and Exchanges: 
 
 Befides the equipment of gallies, which muft have amounted 
 to very great fums, the rich had another charge to fupport in 
 the time of war ; that was the extraordinary taxes and imports 
 laid on their eftates ; upon which, fometimes the hundredth, 
 fometimes a fiftieth, and even a twelfth were levied, according 
 to the different occafions of the flate. 
 
 h Nobody at Athens, upon any pretence whatsoever, could 
 be exempted from thefe two charges, except the Novemviri, or 
 nine Archontes, who were not obliged to fit out gallies. J5o 
 that we fee, without mips or money, the republic was not in 
 a condition, either to fupport wars, or defend itfelf. 
 
 There were other immunities and exemptions, which were 
 granted to fuch as had rendered great fervices to the repub- 
 lic, and fometimes even to all their defcendants : A^ main- 
 taming public places of exercife with all things neceflary for 
 
 Illume IP. H h 
 
 * Demoft. ad vcrf, Lept. p. J45-
 
 482 HISTORY OF THE Book XIIl, 
 
 fuch as freqented them ; inftituting a public feaft for one O 
 the ten tribes ; and defraying the expences of games and mows ; 
 all which amounted to great fums. 
 
 Thefe immunities, as has already been faid, were marks of 
 honour and rewards of fervices rendered the ftate ; as well ag 
 ftatues which were erected to great men, the freedom of the 
 city, and the privilege of being maintained in the Prytaneum 
 at the public expence. The view of Athens in thefe honour- 
 able diftinftions was to exprefs their high fenfe of gratitude, 
 and to kindle at the fame time in the hearts of their citizens 
 a noble thirft of glory, and an ardent love for their country. 
 
 Befides the ftatues erefted to Harmodius and Ariflogiton, 
 the deliverers of Athens, their defcendants were for ever ex- 
 empted from all public employments, and enjoyed that honour- 
 able privilege many ages after. 
 
 1 As Ariftides died without any eftate, and left his fon Lyfi- 
 machus no other patrimony but his glory and poverty, the re- 
 public gave him an hundred acres of wood, and as much ar- 
 able land in Euboea, betides an hundred minae * at one pay- 
 ment, and four drachms, or forty pence a-day. 
 
 k Athens, in thefe fervices which were done it, regarded 
 more the good-will than the action itfelf. A certain perfon 
 of Gyrene, named Epicerdus, being at Syracufe when the A- 
 thenians were defeated, touched with compaffion for the un- 
 fortunate prifoners difperfed in Sicily, whom he faw ready to 
 expire for want of food, diftributed an hundred minae amongft 
 them, that is, about two hundred and forty pounds. Athena 
 adopted him into the number of its citizens, and granted him 
 all the immunities before mentioned. Some time after, in the 
 war againft the thirty tyrants, the fame Epicerdus gave the ci- 
 ty a talent f. Thefe were but fmall matters on either occa- 
 iion with regard to the grandeur and power of Athens ; but 
 they were infinitely afFe&ed with the good heart of a ftranger, 
 who without any view of intereft, in a time of public calamity, 
 exhaufted himfelf in fome meafure for the relief of thofe, with 
 
 1 Demoft. in Orat. ad Lep, p. 558. * Ibid, p. 757. 
 
 * L. aa: los. Sterling. 
 t A thousand crowns .
 
 Sefl. VII. PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 483 
 
 whom he had no affinity, and from whom he had nothing to 
 expeft. 
 
 1 The fame freedom of the city of Athens, grantee! an ex- 
 emption from cuftoms to Leucon, who reigned in the Bofpho- 
 rus, and his children, becaufe they yearly imported from the 
 lands of that prince a confiderable quantity of corn, of which 
 they were in extreme want, fubfifting almofl entirely upon 
 what came from other parts. Leucon, in his turn, not to be 
 outdone in generofity, exempted the Athenian merchants from 
 the duty of a thirtieth upon all grain exported from his domi- 
 nions, and granted them the privilege of fupplying themfelves 
 with corn in his country in preference to all other people. 
 That exemption amounted to a confiderable fum. For they 
 brought only from thence two millions of quarters of corn, of 
 which the thirtieth part amounted to almofl feventy thoufand. 
 
 The children of Conon and Chabrias, were alfo granted an 
 immunity from public offices. The names only of thofe il- 
 luflrious generals fufficiently juftify that liberality of the A- 
 thenian people. A perfon, however, called Leptinus, out of 
 a miflaken zeal for the public good, propofcd the abrogation 
 by a new law of all the grants of that kind, which had been 
 made from immemorial tim^ ; except thofe which regarded 
 the poflerity of Harmodius and Ariftogiton; and to enact, that 
 for the future, the people fhould not be capable of granting 
 fuch privileges. 
 
 Demofthenes flrongly oppofed this law, though with great 
 complacency to the pei-fon who propofed it ; praifing his good 
 intentions, and not fpeaking of him but with efteem ; a much 
 more efficacious manner of refuting, than thofe violent invec- 
 tives, and that eager and palTionate ftile, which ferve only to 
 alienate the people, and to render an orator fufpedted, who 
 decries his caufe himfelf, and fhews its weak fide, by fubfli- 
 tuting injurious terms for reafons, which are alone capable cf 
 convincing. 
 
 After having fhewn, that fo odious a reduction would prove 
 of little or no advantage to the republic, from the inconfider- 
 
 Hhij 
 I Demoft in Orat. ad Lept. p. 545, 546.
 
 484 HISTORY OF THE Boot XIII. 
 
 able number of the exempted perfons ; he goes on to explain 
 its conveniences, and fet them in a full light. 
 
 " It is firft," fays he, " doing injury to the memory of thofe 
 *' great men, whofc merit the ftate intended to acknowledge, 
 " and reward by fuch immunities ; it is in fome manner call- 
 " ing in queftion the fervices they have done their county; it 
 ** is throwing a fufpicion upon their great, a&ions, injurious 
 " to, if not deftruclive of, their glory. And were they now 
 *' alive, and prefent in this affembly, which of us all would 
 " prefume to offer them fuch an affront ? Should not the re- 
 " fpecl: we owe their memories make us confider them as air 
 " ways alive and prefent ? 
 
 " But if we are little affected with what concerns them, 
 *' can we be infenfible to our own intereft? Befides that can- 
 *' celling fo ancient a law, is to condemn the conduct of our 
 ^ anceftors ; what ftiame mall we bring upon ourfelves, and 
 " what an injury mall we do our reputation? The glory of 
 *' Athens, and of every well-governed ftate, is to value itlelf 
 " upon its gratitude, to keep its word religioufly, and to be 
 " true to all its engagements. A private perfon who fails in 
 " thefe refpeds, is hated and abhorred ; and who is not afraid 
 " of being reproached with ingratitude ? And mail the com- 
 " monwealth, in cancelling a law that has received the fanc- 
 " tion of public authority, and been in a manner confecrated 
 " by the ufage of many ages, be guilty of fo notorious a pre- 
 " varication ? We prohibit lying in the very markets, under 
 ?' heavy penalties, and require truth and faith to be obferved 
 " in them ; and fhall we renounce them ourfelves by the re- 
 " vocation of grants, pafled in all their forms, and upon 
 ?' which every private man has a right to infift. . 
 
 " To a& in fuch a manner, would be to extinguifh in the 
 " hearts of our citizens all emulation for glory, all defire to 
 f diflinguifh themfelves by great exploits, all zeal for the ho- 
 ** nour and welfare of their country ; which are the great 
 ?' fources and principles of almoft all the actions of life. And 
 ' it is to no purpofe to object the example of Sparta and 
 $* Thebes, which grant no fuch exemptions : Do we repent
 
 Sett. VII, PERSIANS AND GRECIANS. 485 
 
 f l our not refembling them in many things ? And is there any 
 ?* wifdom in propofing their defects, and not their virtues for 
 " our imitation ?" 
 
 Demoflhenes concludes with demanding the law of exemp- 
 tions to be retained in all its extent j with this exception, that 
 all perfons mould be deprived of the benefits of it, but thofe 
 who had a juft title to them ; and that a ftricl: inquiry fhould 
 be made for that purpofe. 
 
 It is plain that I have only made a very flight extract in this 
 place of an exceeding long difcourfe, and that I defigned to 
 exprefs only the fpirit and fenfe, without confining myfelf to 
 the method and expreffions of it. 
 
 There was a meannefs of fpirit in Leptinus's defiring to ob- 
 tain a trivial advantage for the republic, by retrenching the 
 moderate expences that were an honour to it, and no charge 
 to himfelf ; whilft there were other abufes of far greater im- 
 portance to reform. 
 
 Such marks of public gratitude perpetuated in a family, 
 perpetuate alfo in a Hate an ardent zeal for its happinefs, and 
 a warm defire to diftinguifh that paffion by glorious actions. 
 It is not without pain I find amongft ourfelves, that part of 
 the privileges granted to the family of the Maid of Orleans, 
 have been retrenched" 1 . Charles VII. had ennobled her, her 
 father, three brothers, and all their descendants, even by the 
 female line. In 1614, at the requeft of the attorney-general, 
 fhe article of nobility by the women was retrenched. 
 
 m Mezerai. 
 
 END OF VOLUME FOURTH.
 
 



 
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