THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FROM THE LIBRARY OF JIM TULLY GIFT OF MRS. JIM TULLY THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS, CARTHAGINIANS, ASSYRIANS, BABYLONIANS, MEDES AND PERSIANS, MACEDONIANS AND GRECIANS. BY CHLAJRI/ES Late Principal of the University of Paris, Professor of Eloquence in the Royal College, and Member of the Itoyal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOLUME I. FROM THE LATEST LONDON EDITION, Carefully Revised and Corrected. NEW YORK: JOHN WURTELE LOVELL, 24 BOND STREET. APPROBATION. PARIS, SEPTEMBER 3, 1729. 1 HAVE read, by order of the lord-keeper, a manuscript, en- titled, The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Macedonians, and Greeks, &c. In this work appear the same principles of religion, of probity, and the same hnppy endeavors to improve the minds of youth, which are so conspicuous in all the writings of this author. The present work is not confined merely to the instruction of young people, but may be of service to all persons in general, who will now have an opportunity of reading, in their native tongue, a great number of curious events, which before were known to few except the learned. SECOUSSE. a 7: r-y TO THE PUBLIC. To attempt any labored panegyric of an author of so dis- tinguished celebrity as ROLLIN, would be an arduous as well as superfluous undertaking. His profound erudition, the benevolence of his intentions, but above all, the piety of his sentiments, which clash with no sect or party among Christians, have already placed him high in the annals of fame, and have procured his writings an universal perusal. A peculiar felicity has attended Rollin as an author. His various performances have not only been perused with avidity by the public at large ; they have also merited the applause of the learned and ingenious. Writers of the most enlightened and of the most refined taste in polite literature, such as Voltaire, Atter- bury, &c., have honored him with the l.ighest and most deserved encomiums. So various is our author's information, and so consummate his knowledge in every subject which occupied his pen, that, viewing him in this light, we would be ready to imagine he had seldom stirred abroad from the studious and cloistered retirement of a college ; but, on the other hand, when we consider the easy ele- gance for which his style is so remarkabh, we are apt to conclude that he past part of his time in courts. A circumstance which reflects the nighest honor upon this author, is his uncommon modesty. Learning, wliich too often elates the mind, and produces a haughty air of superiority, had *, no such effect on Rollin. This great man, so far from delivering his sentiments in a dictatorial tone, ever speaks in terms the most unassuming. Xo preceptor ever studied so carefully the genius and disposi- tions of youth, or adapted his information so successfully fortheii J^ -- improvement, as our author. In all his works, it is not the peda gogue who instructs, but the fond parent the amiable friend. 7S9928 A LETTER, Written by the Right Reverend Dr. Francis Atterbury ; late Lord Bishop of Rochester , to j\J. Rollin. REV. ATQUE ERUDITISSIMK VIR, CUM, momente amico quodam, qui juxta aedes tuas habitat, scirem te Parisios revertisse ; statui salutatum te ire, ut primum per valetu- dinem lice ret. Id officii, ex pedum infirmitate aliquandiu dilatum, cum tandem me impleturum sperarem, frustra, fui ; domi non eras. Restat, at quod eoram exequi non potui, scriptis saltern literis prjestem ; tibique ob ea omnia, quibus a te auctus sum, beneficia, grates agam, quas habeo certe, et semper habiturus sum, maximas. Revera munera ilia librorum nuperis a te aniiis editorum egregia ac perhonoriftca mihi visa sunt. Multi eiiim facio, et te, vir praestan- tissime, et tua omnia quaecunque in isto literarum genere pcrpolita sunt ; in quo quidem te caeteris omnibus ejusmodi scriptoribus facile antecellere, atque esse eundem et dicendiet sentiendi niagistrum opti- mum, prorsiis existimo ; cumque in excolendis his studiis aliquantu- lum ipse et operas efc temporis posuerim, libere taiuen profiteer me, tua cum legam ac relegam ; ea edoetum esse h te, non solum quae n^s- ciebam prorsus, sed etiam quae antea didicisse mihi visus sum. Mo- deste itaque nimium de opere tuo sentis, cum juventuti tnntum instituendaa elaborafcum id esse contendis. Ea certe scribis, quae a viris istiusmodi rerum haud imperitis, cum voluptate et f ructu legi possunt. Vetera quidem et satis cognita revocas in memoriam ; sed ita revo- cas, ut illustres, ut ornes ; ut aliquid vetustis adjicias quod novum sit, alienis quod omnino tuum : bonasque picturas bona in luce collo- cando efficis, ut etiam iis, a quibus ssepissime conspectaj sunt, elegan- tiores tatnen solito apparent, et piaceant magis. Certe, dum Xenophontem saepius - versas, ab illo et ea quae ate plurimisin locis narrantur, et ipsum ubique narrandi modum videris traxisse, stylique Xenophontei nitorum ac venustam simplicitatem non imitari tantum, sed plane assequi : ita ut si Gallice scisset Xenophon, non aliis ilium, in eo argumento quod tractas, verbis usurum, non alio prorsus more scripturum judicem. Hsecego, haud assentandi causa ( quod vitium procul a me abest,) sed vere ex animi sententiadico. Cum enimpulchris ate donisditatussim, quibus in eodem, aut in aiio quopiam doctrinse genere referendis impa- rem me sentio, volui tamen propensi erga te animi gratique testimonium proferre, et te aliquo saltern munusculo, etsi perquam dissimili, re- munerari. Perge, vir docte admodum et venerande, de bonis literis, quse nunc neglects passim et spretae jacent, bene mereri ; perge juventutem Gallicam (quando illi solummodd te utilein esse vis) optimis et praecep- tis et exemplis informare. Quod ut facias, annis aetatis tuaa elapsis multos adjiciat Deus ! iisque decurrentibus sanum te praastet atque incolumem. Hoc ex animo optat ac vovet, Tui observantissimus, FRANCISCUS ROFFEXSIS. Pransurnm te mecum post festa dixit mihi amicus ille noster qui tibi vicinus est. Cum statueris tecum quo die adfuturus es, id illi significabis. Me certe annis malisque debilitatum, quandocunque veneris, donji invenies. 6 KAL. JAX. 1731. 4 TRANSLATION OF THE FOREGOING LETTER. REVEREND AND MOST LEARNED SIR, WHEN I was informed by a friend who lives near you, that you were return- ed to Paris, I resolved to wait on you, as soon as the state of my health would permit. After having been prevented by the gout for some time, I was in hopes ut length of paying my respects to you at your house, and went thither, but you were not at home. It is incumbent on me, therefore, to do that in writing, which I could not in person, and to return you my acknowledgments for all the favors you have been pleased to confer upon me, of which, I beg you will be assured, that I shall always retain the most grateful sense. And indeed I esteem the books you have lately published, as presents of ex- ceeding value, and such as do me very great honor. For I have the highest regard, most excellent sir, both for you and for every thing that conies from so masterly a hand as yours, in the kind of learning you treat :. in which I must believe that you not only excel all other writers, but are at the same time the best master of speaking and thinking well ; and I freely confess, that though I had applied some time and pains in cultivating these studies, when I read your volumes over and over again, I was instructed iu things by you, of which I was not only entirely ignorant, but seemed to myself to have learned before. You have therefore too modest an opinion of your work, when you declare it com- posed solely for the instruction of youth. What you write may undoubtedly be read with pleasure and improvement, by persons not unacquainted with learning of the same kind. For, while you call to mind ancient facts, and things sufficiently known, you do it in such a manner, that you illustrate, you embel- Jish them ; still adding something new to the old, something entirely your own to the labors of others ; by placing good pictures in a good light, you make them appear with unusual elegance and more exalted beauties, even to those who have seen and studied them most. , Iu your frequent correspondence with Xenophon, you have certainly extracted from him, both what you relate in many places, and everywhere his very man- ner of relating ; you seem not only to have imitated, but'attained the shining elegance and beautiful simplicity of that author's style ; so that, had Xeuophou excelled in the French language, in my judgment, he would have used no other words, nor written in any other method, upon the subject you treat, than you have done. 1 do not say this out of flattery, which is far from being my vice, but from my real sense and opinion. As you have enriched me with your fine presents, which I know how incapable I am of repaying either in the same, or in any other kind of learning, I was willing to testify my gratitude and affection for you, and at least to make you some small, though exceedingly unequal return. Goon, most learned and venerable sir, to deserve well of sound literature, which now lies universally neglected and despised. Go on in forming the youth of France, since you will have their utility to be your sole view, upon the best precepts and examples. i Which that you may effect, may it please God to add many years to your life, and during the course of them to preserve you in health and safety. This is the earnest wish and prayer of Your most obedient servant, FRANCIS ROFFEN. P.S. Our friend, your neighbor, tells me you intend to dine with me after the holidays. When you have fixed upon the day, be pleased to let him know it Whenever you come, you will certainly find one, so weal: with age and ills a I am, at home. December 26, 1731. 5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. PAGE. THK utility of Profane History, especially with regard to Religion, - 13 Of Government, ----------- 35 Geography of Asia, ----------37 Of Religion, 40 Of the Feasts, -- 42 The Panathenea, Feasts of Baa hus, ----------45 The Feasts of Eleusis, --------- 4(j Of Auguries, Oracles, &c. --------- 51 Of Auguries, ...-------- 52 Of Oracles, - - - 54 Of tlie Games and Combats, -------- 64 Of tlie Atliletie, or combatants, -------- C9 Of Wrestling, 71 Of Boxing, or the Cestus, -.--_-_-- 73 Of the Pancratium, - - - - - _ . ; - - - 74 Of tlie Discus, or Quoit, . - - - -:tt.h. : * : -, : _ - - 75 Of tlie Pentatlilum, .-.-'- - - 70 Of Roses, - - <- : 70 Of the Foot-Race, - - - - - . -.- : - - - - 77 Of the Horse-Races, - - - . // sA* ----- 79 Of tlie Chariot-Races, --------- 79 Of the Honors and Rewards granted to the Victors, 83 Tiie different Taste of the Greeks and Romans in regard to the Public Shows, 86 Of the- Prizes of Wit, and the Shows and Representations of the Theatre, 89 Extraordinary passion of the Athenians for the Entertainments of the Stage. Emulation of tlie Poets in disputing the Prizes of those Representations. A short Idea of Dramatic Poetry, 91 The Origin- and -Progress of Tragedy. Poets who excelled in it at Athens : ^Escliyl us. Sophocles, and Euripides, .-/./..,,:- - 93 Of the Ancient, Middle and New Comedy, : i->. >':?{. :- - - 104 The Theatre of the Ancients described, - -!::. .+-. ;:- - - 111 Fondness for the Representations of the Theatre one of the Principal causes of the Decline, Degeneracy, and Corruption of the Athenian State, 116 Epochs ef the Jewish History, - . .- v*;;>l *.ft ' v: * 125 Romas History, - ... *<{/, >! };..;- 125 The Origin and Condition of the Elotse, or Helots, - - - 126 Lvcurgus. the Lacedaemonian Lawgiver, ------ 127 War between the Argives and the Lacedaemonians, - Wars between tlie Messeniaus and Lacedaemonians, - - - - 129 The First Messenian War, - - - - -- - - 129 The Secon Messeuian War, -------- 134 The kingdom of Egypt, -- 142 ' Syria, ------ .^n:m',1 .ati r . > 142 Macedonia, ------- ,w^.-. 143 Thrace, and Bithynia, &c. - -A.-...,: ^ :>:!;'. - 144 O CONTEXTS. PAGE. Kings of Bithynia, ------____ 144 --- Pergauius, .......... 145 - Poutiis, ------__-__ i4(j Cappadoeia, --------- " ' Armenia, Epirus, Tyrants of Heraclea, ------_.__ 149 Kings of Syracuse, -----.-.__ 151 Other Kings, --------.... 151 BOOK I. THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE EGYPTIANS. PART I. DESCRIPTION of Egypt, with an account of whatever is most cinious arid remarkable m that country, ------- 553 Chap. I. Thebais, -------_._ 154 - T-I1. Middle Egypt, or Heptauorais, --..._ 155 Sect. I. The Obelisks, ......... 156 - -II. The Pyramids, ----____. 15^ - Ill.Tlie Labyrinth, - - - - - _ . .'_ igQ - - ^IV. The Lake-of Meeris, ----_.__ jfjj V. Tl Inundations of the Nile, --..__ 103 1. Tlie Sources of the Nile, ----.____ 103 .2. The Cataracts of the Nile, -------- x& .3. Cases of the Iniuidationsof the Nile, --_.__ 104. '4. The time and tsontimiance of the iuundations, - 165 5. The Height ef the inundations, ---.___ 1(55 6. The Canals of the Nile, and Spiral -Pumps, - - ... 167 7. The Fertility caused by the -Nile,- -----._. ifjg .8. The different Prosi^ect's exhibited by the Nile, - - U _ 169 9. Tli Caital formed by tiie Nile, by wlrich a communication is made between tl>e Two Seas, -- _ . _^_ _ _ 170 Chap. III. Lower Egypt, - -i.sjr! :;*;><.* -;: !*- . _ 171 PART TI. Of the Manners and Customs of die Egyptians, ----- 175 Chap. I. Concerning the Kings and Government, - 176 - II. Concerning the Priests and Religion of the Egyptians, - 181 !Sec. -I. The worship of the various Deities. ' - - - - - 183 - II. The Ceremonies of the Egyptian Funerals, - 188 Chap. IH. Of the Egyptian Soldiefs'and war, ----- 191 -- IV. Of their Arts and Sciences. ...... -193 - V. Of their Husbandmen, Shepherds, and Artificers, - - 195 - VI. Of the Fertility of Egypt, ....... 198 PART III. The History of the Kings of Egypt, ------- 201 The Kings of Egypt, ......... -206 Twelve Kings, ---- ....... 222 BOOK II. THE HISTORY OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. PART I. CHARACTER, Manners, Religion, and Government of the Cartha- ginians, ------------ 237 Sec. I. Carthage formed after the Model of Tyre, - - - - 237 CONTEXTS. 9 PAGE. Sect. II. The Religion of the Carthaginians, ----- 238 III. Form of the Government of Carthage, - - - - 243 The Suffetes, 244 The Senate, 245 .The People, 246 The Tribunal of the Hundred, - 246 Defects in the Government of Carthage, ------ 248 "Sect. IV. Trade of Carthage, the first source of its Wealth and Power, 250 V. The Mines of Spain, the second source of the Riches and Power of Carthage, -------- 251 VI. War, - 253 VII. Arts and Sciences, -------- 256 ^III. The Character, Manners, and Qualities of the Carthagin- ians, ----------- 259 PART II. The History of the Carthaginians, - - 261 Chap. I. The foundation of Carthage, and its Progress till the time of the first Punic War, 262 Conquests of the Carthaginians in Africa, ----- 264 Sardinia, &c. - 266 Spain, 267 Sicily, 269 Chap. II. The History of Carthage, from the first Punic War to its Destruction, 298 ARTICLE I. The first Punic War, - -"- - - 298 The Libyan War, or War against the Mercenaries, - 318 ARTICLE II. The second Punic War, --------- 328 The remote and more immediate Causes of the second Punic War, - 329 War proclaimed, ----------- 335 The beginning of the second Punic War, ----- 335 Passage of the Rhone, ---------- 337 The March after the Battle of the Rhone, 339 The Passage over the Alps, --------- 341 Hannibal enters Italy, - ^ ;,;.;-, _, - - - 344 Battle of the Cavalry near the Ticinus, -- J-.'.-,'* "*.<-'. ..- - 345 Battle of Trebia, -&.' . -'- " -'\i*i>'< r.\ .n '" "...:- 348 Battle of Thrasyinene, rt^-'fv: ~ - S 52 Hannibal's conduct with respect to Fabius, - - - - - 354 The state of Affairs in Spain, - ': -),*''! -\f.i \>tt'\i 'i'~- - - - ^58 The Battle of Cannae, 359 Hannibal takes np his Winter-quarters in Capua, " .- - - 365 The Transactions relating to Spain and Sardinia, - - i- -- -. 367 The ill success of Hannibal. The Sieges of Capua and Rome, - - 368 The Defeat and Death of the two Scipios in Spain, - - - - 369 Asdrubal, 371 Scipio conquers all Spain. Is appointed Consul, and sails into Africa. Hannibal is recalled, ---------- 374 The Interview between Hannibal and Scipio in Africa, followed by a Battle, 377 A Peace concluded between the Carthaginians and the Romans. The end of the second Punic War, -------- 379 A short Reflection on the Government of Carthage in the time of the second Punic War, --------- 383 10 CONTEXTS. PAGE. The interval between the Second and Third Punic War?, - 384 Se.c. I. Continuation of the History of Hannibal, - 384 Hannibal undertakes and completes the reformation of the Courts of Justice, and the Treasury of Carthage, - 384 The Retreat and Death of Hannibal, - 387 The Character and Eulogium of Hannibal, ------ 3D4 Sect. II. Dissensions between the Carthaginians and Masiuissa, King of Numidia, " - .",-,- - - - - - - 397 AKTJCLE III. The Third Pnnic War, - - - 403 A digression on the Manners and Character of the Second Scipio Af ri- canus, --------- -._ 423 The History of the Family and Posterity of Masinissa, - 430 BOOK III. THE HISTORY OF THE ASSYRIANS. CHAP. I. The First Empire of the Assyrians, ----- 441 Sect. I. Duration of that Empire, - 'i' : ' ;-' ' - .- - - 441 1. The Walls, - - - - ---'-- ; - - - - - 448 2. The Quays and Bridges, ---- 449 3. The Lake, Ditches, and Canals, made for the draining of the river, 450 4. The Palaces and the hanging Gardens, ------ 451 5. The Temple of Belus, 452 Chap. II. The Second Assyrian Empire, both of Xineveh and Babylon, 462 Kings of Babylon, -* - - - - - '*- '-'*-'- . 462 Nineveh, 462 Chap. III. The History of the Medes. 476 Lvdiaus, 488 - jV.Ui. -.;-: li\'ll iU ... if I'..: BOOK IV. THE FOUNDATION OF THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS, BY CYRUS, Containing the Reigns of ' {.'.[',',; CYRUS, CAMBYSES. AND SMERDIS THE MAGIAN. CHAP. I. The History of Cyrus, - - - ,;._'- - -499 . ARTICLE I. The History of Cyrus, from his Infancy to the Siege of Babylon, - 500 Sect. I. Education of Cyro, - - - - "'' '" - - - 500 II. Journey of Cyrus to his Grandfather Aslyages, and his return into Persia, -- - - - - - - . - - 502 III. The First campaign of Cyrus, who goes to succor his' Uncle Cyaxares against the Babylonians, - - - - - 506 IV. The Expedition of Cyaxares and Cyrus against the Babylo- nians. The first Battle, - - .518 V. The Battle of Thymbria, between Cyrus and Croesus, VI. The Taking of Sardis and of Croesus, ----- 543 ARTICLE II. The History of the Besieging and Taking of Babylon by Cyrus, - 546 Sect. I. Predictions of the Principal Circumstances relating to the Siege and the Taking of Babylon, as they are set down in different places of the Holy Scriptures, - 547 1. The Prediction of the Jewish Captivity at Babylon, and the Time of its Duration, -------- 547 2. The Causes of God's Wrath against Babylon, ... - 547 CONTEXTS. 11 PAGE. 3. The Decree pronounced against Babylon. Prediction of the calami- ties that were toi'all upon her, and of her utter Destruction, - 548 4. Cyrus called to destroy Babylon, and to deliver the Jews, - - 541) 5. God gives the Signal to the Commanders, and to the Troops, to march against Babylon, _-__-___ 550 f>. Particular circumstances set down, relating to the Siege, and the taking of Babylon, --------- 551 Sect. II. A description of the Taking of Babylon, - 555 III. The Completion of the Prophecy which foretold the total Ruin and destruction of Babylon, ----- 558 IV. What followed upon the taking of Babylon, - 561 AltTICLE III. The History of Cvrns, from the taking of Babylon to the time of his death, *-----"-" 5GS Sect. I. Cyrus takes a Journey into Persia. At his Return from thence to Babylon, he forms a Plan of Government for the whole Empire. Daniel's Credit and Power, - 509 II. The Beginning of the united Empire of the Persians and Modes. The Famous Edict of Cyrus. Daniel's Prophecies, 571 Reflections on Daniel's Prophecies, - ' - - - - - - 574 Sect. III. The last > ears of Cyrus. The Death of that Prince, - 578 Character and Eulogy of Cyrus, -------- 580 Sect. IV. Wherein Herodotus and Xenophon differ in their Accounts of Cvrns, ---------- 586 Chap. II. The History of Cambyses. 588 III. The History of Smerdis the Magian, - 599 IV. The Manners and Customs of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Lydians, Medes aijd Persians, - 604 ARTICLE I. Of their Government, --------- 604 Sect. I. Their Mouarchial Form of Government. The respect they paid to their Kings. The manner of Educating their Children, - - -- - -- - - - 604 II. The public Council, wherein the affairs of State were con- sidered, - - " - - ''"i 1 ' 1 - ''' 'i : ' r 'i : _ 607 III. The Administration of Justice, - . - r - - - 610 IV. The care Of the Provinces, - ;l . ' ! '-' ''' '-''" : - ' - - 614 The invention of Posts and Couriers, - '- ;:!i /i. ''"_-' -'' - - 018 Sect. V. Administration of the Revenues, - - - - '',-' 621 ARTICLE II. Of their War, ----- 624 1. Their entering into the Service, or into Military Discipline, - 624 2. Their Armor, - '' \ '- '" - - 625 3. Chariots armed with Scythes, - - -*' **'- l " '*""' ;-'*; '''- 627 4. Their Discipline in peace as well as in War, -. r" ,'' ~ ~ 628 5. Their Order of Battle, ------ - : _._ 629 6. Their Manner of Attacking and Defending strong places, - - 631 7. The condition of the Persian forces after the time of Cyrns, - 634 ARTICLE III. Arts and Sciences, ----------- 636 Sect. I. Architecture, --------- 637 II. Music, 637 III. Physic, 639 IV. Astronomy, , i p , sacred and profane though proiane history treats only ot nations history. wn o had imbibed all the chimeras of a super- stitious worship, and abandoned themselves to all the irreg- ularities of which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became capable ; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of the Almighty, his power, his justice, and, above all, the admirable wisdom with which his providence governs the universe. If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, ac- cording to Cicero's observation,! the Romans above all other nations ; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, than to see in a manner imprinted in almost every page of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great truth, viz. : that God disposes all events as supreme Lord and Sovereign ; that he alone determines the fate of kings, and the duration of empires; and that he, for reasons inscrutable to all but himself, transfers the government of kingdoms from one nation to another. God presided at We discover this important truth in going the dispersion of k ac k to the most remote antiquity, ami the men, after the .. . . _ IT flood. origin of proiane history ; 1 mean to the dis- * Vol. III. and IV. of the method of teaching and studying the Belles Let- tres, &c. t Pietate ao religione, atqne hao una sapientia quod d^omm immortaluim nurnine omnia regi gubernarique perspeximus, omnes gentes nationesque super- aviraus. Orat. de Arusjj. Kesp. n. u. INTRODUCTION. 15 persion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different choice which men made in their various migrations. But the scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and con- fusion that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah's descendants, God presided invisibly over all their councils and deliberations ; that nothing Avas transacted but by the Almighty's appointment ; and that he alone guided and settled all mankind* agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice. The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the earth.\ We must therefore consider as anindispu- God only has fixed , ... . -, i if -i the fate of ;ill em- table prmciple,and as the basis and foundation pires, both with to the study of profane history, that the provi- J*gj* to ^ 8 t ^ dence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, reign of his son. appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the order and wonderful harmony of its several parts, as particularly with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight. Known to the Lord are all his works from the beginning. $ God has vouchsafed to discover to us in holy Scripture, a part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people ; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those nations, of w T hom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish pride, their impious and cruel ambition ; they reveal the true causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows ; of the grandeur and declension of nations ; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us what judgment the Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them. Not to mention Egypt, that served at first Powerful kings as the cradle (if I may be allowed the expres- ?pp 5 te.,,/, J. , i r V 18h or protect Is- sion) ot the holy nation ; and which after- raei. * The ancients themselves, according to Pindar (Olyrnp. Od. vii.), retained some idea, that the disoersion of men was not the effect of chance, but that they bad been settled in different countries by the appointment of Providence. t Geu. xi. 8, 9. } Acts xv. IS. 16 INTRODUCTION. wards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it ; * and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favor of Israel : not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thou- sand proofs of the truth here advanced. Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pilesar, Salma- nazar, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were in God's hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people. He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders.^ He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed tlieir marches daily. He breathed courage and ardor into their soldiers : made their armies indefatigable in labor, and in- vincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps. The rapidity of their conquests ought to 1 ave enabled them to discern the invisible hand that conducted them. But, says one of these kings $ in the name of the rest, J3y the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my icis- dom ; for I am prudent : And I have removed the bonds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my /land hath found as a nest the riches of the people / and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth or peeped. But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how did he appear in that of the Almighty ? Only as a subaltern agent, a servant sent by his master : The rod of his anger, and the staff in his hand. || God's design was to chastise, not to extirpate his children. But Sennacherib had it in his heart to destroy and cut off all nations.^ What then will be the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God and those of his prince ? ** At the time that he fancied himself already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single blast, disperses all his proud hopes ; destroys, in one night, a hundred fourscore and five thousand of his forces ; and putting a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips ft (as though he had been a wild beast,) he leads * I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage. Exod. vi. 6. Out of the iron furnace, even out ot Egypt. Deut. iv. 29. t Isai. v. 26, 30 ; x. 28, 34 ; xiii. 4, 5. J Sennacherib. Isai. x. 13, 14. Illsui. x. 5. IT Ibid. v. 7. ** Ibid. vei. 12. ft Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, INTRODUCTIONS 17 him back to his own dominions, covered with infamy, through the midst of those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his pride and haughtiness. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly governed by a Providence, to which he himself is an entire stranger, although it presides over all his delibera- tions, and determines all his actions. Being -come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Kab- bah, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not know- ing which of them would be best for him to strike into, debates for sometime with himself, and at last casts lots.* God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced against that city ; viz. : to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity. One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view, viz. : that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well fortified a city ; nevertheless, a superior will had de- creed the siege of Tyre.f God designed, on one side, to humble the pride of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel, whose fame was spread over the whole East ; and ascribing entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself that he was a god, and sat in the seat of God. J On the other side, he also designed to chastise the lux- ury, the voluptuousness, and the pride of those haughty merchants, who thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over crowned heads ; and especially that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which prompted God himself to lead Ne- buchadnezzar to Tyre ; and to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands. IDCIRCO ECCE EGO ADDUCAM ad Tyrum Nebuchodonosor . To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty had caused to serve a great service against Tyre jj (these are God's own words) ; and to compensate the Babylonish troops, for the grievous toils they had sustained during a therefore I will put my hook into thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thoti earnest. II. Kings xix. 28. * Ezek. xxi. 19, 23. t Ezek. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii. J Ezek. xxviii. 2. This incident is related more at large in the history of the Egyptians, under the reign of Amasis. U Ezek. xxix. 18, 20. m 18 INTRODUCTION. thirteen yeai's' siege : I will give, saith the Lord God, the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon ; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages of his army* The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten the glory of his conquests by his splendor and magnificence, in embellishing the capital of his empire Avith pompous edifices, and the most sumptuous ornaments. But Avhile a set of adulating courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honors and immense riches, make all places resound Avith his name, an august senate of Avatchful spirits is formed, Avho weigh, in the balance of truth, the actions of kings, and pronounce upon them a sentence from Avhich there lies 'no appeal. The king of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in Avhich there presides a Supreme Judge, who, to a A'igilance which nothing can elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity. Vigil et sen ic- tus. In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's actions, Avhich were the admiration and Avonder of the public, are examined with rigor ; and a search is made into the imvard recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden thoughts. How Avill this formidable inquiry end? At the instant that Nebu- chadnezzar, walking in his palace, and revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur and magnifi- cence, is saying to himself, 1$ not this great JBwbi/lon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ? t in this very in- stant, Avhen, by vainly flattering himself that he held" his power and kingdom for himself alone, he usurped the seat of the Almighty: a voice from heaven pronounces his sen- tence, and declares to him, that, hi* kingdom was departed from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling be with the beasts of the Jic'.d, until he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever he would. \ This tribunal, Avhich is for ever assembled, though in- visible to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan Avorld, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, considered themseh'es as the sole authors of their exalted fortune ; as independent of authority of every kind, and as not holding of a superior pOAver. Dan. iv. 1-34. t Dan. iv. 30. t Dan. iv. 31, 32. INTKODUCTIOIf. 19 As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his vengeance, lie made others the dispensers of his good- ness. He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people ; and to enable him to support Avith dignity so glorious a function, he endued him with all the qualities which con- stitute the greatest captains and princes ; and caused that excellent education to be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though they neither knew the author nor the true cause of it. We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his views and designs ; his greatness of soul, his noble gen- erosity; his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, in them, the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in profane history : but we do not perceive the secret principle of so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set them in motion. But Isaiah affords us this light, and delivers himself in words suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired him. He represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading Cyrus by the hand, marching before him, conducting him from city to city, and from province to prov- ince ; siibduing nations before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron, throwing down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places. * The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these events.f It was in order to punish Babylon, and to deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by step, and gives success to all his enterprises. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways, for Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect.\ But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his Master,- nor remember his benefactor. I have surnamed thee, though thoic Jiast not knoicn me; I girded thee, though thoii hast not known me. * "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him ; and 1 will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates, and thegaies shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight : 1 will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou niayest know that I th Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the (rod of Israel." fsa. xlv. 1-3. t Isai. xlv. .3, 14. t Isai. xlv. 13, 14. Isai. xlv. 4. 5. ZU INTRODUCTION. A fine image of Men seldom form to themselves a right the regal office. judgment of true glory, and the duties es- sential to regal power. The Scripture only gives us a full idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful manner,* under the image of a very large and strong tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend to the extremities of the earth. As its foliage is very abundant, and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful shade, and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind ; animals, both Avild and tame, are safely lodged under its hospitable branches ; the birds of heaven dwell in the boughs of it, and it supplier food to all living creatures. Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not consist in that splendor, pomp, and magnificence which sui round it ; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which are paid to it by subjects ; but in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, whose support, defence, security, and asylum it forms (both from its nature and in- stitution), at the same time that it is the fruitful source of terrestrial blessings of every kind ; especially with regard to the poor and weak, who ought to find, beneath the shade and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity not to be interrupted or disturbed ; while the monarch himself sacrifices his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests from which he shelters others ? Methinks the reality of this noble image, and the execu- tion of this great plan (religion only excepted), appears in the government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. He has there specified a great number of nations, which, though far distant one from another, and differing widely in their manners, customs, and language, were how- ever all united by the same sentiments of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government they wished, if possible, to have continued forever, so much happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it. t A just idea of the To tn ^ s amiable and salutary government, conquerors of an- let us oppose the idea which the sacred wri- tings give us of those monarchs and conquerors, so much boasted by antiquity, who,, instead of making the Dan. iv. 7, 9. t ESutojOrj iiriBviiiav fifia.\eiv TOtTa.VTt\v TOV Travras avrcu xapit plied the want of those graces which might have been ex- pected from the style and composition. But I have not the same advantage in the present work, the choice of the subjects not being entirely at my discre- * The method of teaching and studying the Belles Lettres, &c. The English translation (in four volumes) of this excellent piece of criticism, has gone through several editions. INTRODUCTION". 27 tion. In a series of history, an author is often obliged to introduce a great many things that are not always very in- teresting, especially Avith regard to the origin and rise of empires ; these parts are generally overrun with thorns, and offer very few flowers. However, the sequel furnishes mat- ter of a more pleasing nature, and events that engage more strongly the reader's attention; and I shall take care to make use of whatever is most valuable in the best authors. In the mean time, I must entreat the reader to remember, that in a widely extended and beautiful region, the eye does not everywhere meet with golden harvests, smiling meads, and fruitful orchards ; but sees, at different inter- vals, Avild and less cultivated tracts of land. And to use another comparison after Pliny,* some trees in the spring emulously shoot forth a numberless multitude of blossoms, which, by this rich dress (the splendor and vivacity of whose colors charm the eye), proclaim a happy abundance in a more advanced season ; while other trees, f of a less gay and florid kind, though they bear good fruits, have not, however, the fragrance and beauty of blossoms, nor seem to share in the joy of reviving nature. The reader will easily apply this image to the composition of history. To adorn and enrich my own, I will be so ingenuous as to confess, that I do not scruple, nor am ashamed, to rifle wherever I come ; and that I often do not cite the authors from whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I take to make some slight alterations. I have made the best use in my power of the solid reflections that occur in the second and third parts of the Bishop of Meaux's $ Universal His- tory, which is one of the most beautiful and most useful books in our language. I have also received great assistance from the learned Dean Prideaux's Connection of the Old and JVew Testament, in which he has traced and cleared up, in ;in admirable manner, the particulars relating to ancient history. I shall take the same liberty with Avhatever comes in my way that may suit my design, and contribute to its perfection. I am A'ery sensible, that it is not so much for a person's reputation thus to make use of other men's labors, and that * Arborum flos, est pleni veris indicium, et ainii renascentis flos gamlium ar- borum. Tutic se ;io\as, aliasque q;iam simt, ostendunt. tune vaviis eolorum pic- turis in eertamen usque luxuriant. Sed hoc nag;itum plerisque. Non enim omnes florent, et sum tristes qusedam, quseque uon semiant gaudia anndVum ; nee ullo tiore exhilarantnr, uaialesve poniorum reeursus annuos versicolori nun- cio pronijttunt. Pliu. Nat. Hist 1. xvi. c. 25. t As the lig- trees. jMons. Bossuet. 28 INTKODUCTIOX. it is in a manner renouncing the name and quality of author. But I am not over-fond of that title, and shall be extremely well pleased, and think myself very happy, if I can but de- serve the name of a good compiler, and supply my readers with a tolerable history, who will not be over-solicitous to inquire what hand it comes from, provided they are pleased with it. Students, with a very moderate application, may easily go through this course of history in a year, without inter- rupting their other studies. According to my plan, my work should be given to the highest form but one. Youths in this class are capable of pleasure and improvement from this history ; and I would not have them enter upon that of the Romans, till they study rhetoric. It would have been useful, and even necessary, to have given some idea of the ancient authors from whom I have extracted the following materials. But the course itself of the history will show this, and naturally give me an oppor- tunity of producing them. The judgment ^ u ^ ne meiln time it may not be improper we ought to form to take notice of the superstitious credulity of the auguries. i -\ , e .-, ,1 ,! prodigies, and or- objected to most oi these authors, with re- ciefits f the a " S arc l to auguries, auspices, prodigies, dreams, .and oracles ; and, indeed, we are shocked to see writers, so judicious in all other respects, lay it down as a kind of law, to relate these particulars with a scrupulous accuracy, and to dwell gravely on a tedious detail of trifling and ridiculous ceremonies, such as the flight of birds to the right or left hand, signs discovered in the smoking entrails of beasts, the greater or less greediness of chickens in peck- ing corn, and a thousand similar absurdities. It must be confessed, that a reader of judgment cannot, without astonishment, see the most illustrious persons among the ancients, for wisdom and knowledge ; generals who were the least liable to be influenced by popular opinions, and most sensible how necessary it is to take advantage of auspicious moments ; the wisest councils of princes perfectly well skilled in the arts of government ; the most august as- semblies of grave senators ; in a word, the most powerful and most learned nations in all ages ; to see, I say, all these so unaccountably weak as to make the decision of the great- est affairs, such as the declaring war, the giving battle, or pursuing a victory, depend on the trifling practices and customs above mentioned ; deliberations that were of the INTRODUCTION. 29 utmost importance, and on which the fate arid welfare of kingdoms frequently depended. But, at the same time, w r e must be so just as to own, that their manners customs and laws, would not permit men in these ages to dispense with the observation of these prac- tices ; that education, hereditary tradition transmitted from immemorial time, the universal belief and consent of dif- ferent nations, the precepts and even examples of philoso- phers ; that all these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable in their eyes ; and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever they may appear to us, and are really so in themselves, constituted part of the religion and public worship of the ancients. Theirs was a false religion, and a mistaken worship; and yet the principle of it was laudable, and founded in nature ; the stream was corrupted, but the fountain wJiS pure. Man, when abandoned to his own ideas, sees nothing beyond the present moment. Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the most eagle-eyed, the most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he may fix his views, or form any resolution with certainty. He is equally feeble and im- potent with regard to the execution of his designs. He is sensible that he is dependent entirely on a Supreme Power, that disposes all events with absolute authority, and which, in spite of his utmost efforts, and of the wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by only raising the smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it impossible for him to execute his measures. This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to a superior knowledge and power : he is forced, both by his immediate wants, and the strong desire he has to suc- ceed in all his undertakings, to address that Being, who he is sensible has reserved to himself alone the knowledge of futurity, and the power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly directs prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if possible, with the Deity to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles, or other signs, which may manifest his will ; fully convinced that nothing can happen but by the divine appointment, and that it is a man's greatest interest to know this supreme will, in order to conform his actions to it. This religious principle of dependence on, and venera tion of, the Supreme Being, is natural to man : it is im- printed deep in his heart ; he is reminded of it by the inward 30 INTRODUCTION. sense of his extreme indigence, and by all the objects which surround him ; and it may be affirmed, that this perpetual recourse to the Deity is one of the principal foundations of religion, and the strongest band by which man is united to his Creator. Those who were so happy as to know the true God, and were chosen to be his peculiar people, never failed to ad- dress him in all their wants and doubts, in order to obtain his succor and the manifestation of his will. He accord- ingly was so gracious as to reveal himself to them ; to con- duct them by apparitions, dreams, oracles, and prophecies ; and to protect them by miracles of the most astonishing kind. But those who were so blind as to substitute falsehood in the place of truth, directed themselves, for the like aid, to fictitious and deceitful deities, who were not able to answer their expectations, nor recompense the homage that mortals paid them, in any other way than by error and illusion, and a fraudulent imitation of the conduct of the true God. Hence arose the vain observation of dreams, which, from a superstitious credulity, they mistook for salutary warnings from heaven ; those obscure and equivocal answers of oracles, beneath whose veil the spirits of darkness con- cealed their ignorance ; and, by a studied ambiguity reserved to themselves an evasion or subterfuge, whatever might be the issue of the event. To this are owing the prognostics, with regard to futurity, which men fancied they should find in the entrails of beasts, in the flight and singing of birds, in the aspect of the planets, in fortuitous accidents, and in the caprice of chance ; those dreadful prodigies that filled a whole nation Avith terror, and which, it was believed, nothing could expiate but mournful ceremonies, and even sometimes the effusion of human blood ; in fine, those black inventions of magic, those delusions, enchantments, sor- ceries, invocations of ghosts, and many other kinds of divination. All I have here related was a received usage, observed by the heathen nations in general ; and this usage was founded on the principles of that religion of which 1 have given a short account. We have a signal proof of this in the Cyropsedia, * where Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, gives that young prince such noble instructions, instructions admirably well adapted to form the great captain and great prince. He exhorts him above all things, to pay the highest *Xeoph. in Cyrop. 1. i. p. 25, 27. INTRODUCTION. 81 reverence to the gods ; and not to undertake any enterprise, whether important or inconsiderable, without first calling upon and consulting them ; he enjoins him to honor priests and augurs, as being their ministers, and the interpreters oi their will ; but yet not to trust or abandon himself impli- citly and blindly to them, till lie had first learnt every thing relating to the science of divination, of auguries and aus- pices. The reason he gives for the subordination and de- pendence in which kings ought to live Avith regard to the gods, and the necessity they are under of consulting them in all things, is this : how clear-sighted soever mankind may be in the ordinary course of affairs, their views are always very narrow and limited with regard to futurity; whereas the Deity, at a single glance, takes in all ages and events. "As the gods," says Cambyscs to his son, "are eternal, they know equally all things, past, present, and to come." " With regard to the mortals who address them, they give salutary counsels to those Avhorn they are pleased to favor, that they may not be ignorant of what things they ought, or ought not, to undertake. If it is observed, that the deities do not give the like counsels to all men, we are not to wonder at it, since no necessity obliges them to attend to the welfare of those persons on whom they do not vouchsafe to confer their favor." Such was the doctrine of the most learned and most en- lightened nations, with respect to the different kinds of divination ; and it is no wonder that the authors who wrote the history of those nations, thought it incumbent on them to give an exact detail of such particulars as constituted part of their religion and worship, and was frequently in a manner the soul of their deliberation, and the standard of their conduct. I therefore was of opinion, for the same reason, that it would not be proper for me to omit entirely, in the ensuing history, what relates to the subject, though I have, however, retrenched a great part of it. Archbishop Usher is my usual guide in chronology. In the history of the Carthaginians, I commonly set down four eras : the year from the creation of the world, which, for brevity's sake, I mark thus, A. M. ; those of the foundation of Carthage and Rome ; and lastly, the year that precedes the birth of our Saviour, which I suppose to be the 4004th of the world ; wherein I follow Usher and others, though they suppose it to be four years earlier. To know in what manner the states and kingdoms word 32 INTRODUCTION. founded, that have divided the universe ; the steps whereby they arose to that pitch of grandeur related in history ; by what ties families anjd cities were united, in order to consti- tute one body or society, and to live together under the same laws and a common authority ; it will be necessary to trace things back, in a manner, to the infancy of the world, and to those ages, in which mankind, being dispersed into different regions (after the confusion of tongues), began to people the earth. In these early ages, every father was the supreme head of his family; the arbiter and judge of whatever contests and divisions might arise within it ; the natural legislator over his little society ; the defender and protector of those who, by their birth, education, and weakness, were under his protection and safeguard. But although these masters enjoyed an independent au- thority, they made a mild and paternal use of it. So far from being jealous of their power, they neither governed with haughtiness, nor decided with tyranny. As they were obliged by necessity to associate their family in their do- mestic labors, they also summoned them together, and asked their opinion in matters of importance. In this man- ner all affairs were transacted in concert, and for the com- mon good. The laws which paternal vigilance established in this little domestic senate, being dictated with no other view than to promote the general welfare, concerted with such children as were come to years of maturity, and accepted by the inferiors with a full and free consent, were religiously kept and preserved in families, as an hereditary polity, to which they owed their peace and security. But different motives gave rise to different laws. One man, overjoyed at the birth of a first-born son, resolved to distinguish him from his future children, by bestowing on him a more considerable share of his possessions, and giving him a greater authority in his family. Another, more attentive to the interest of a beloved wife, or darling daughter, whom he wanted to settle in the world, thought it incumbent on him to secure their rights and increase their advantages. The solitary and cheerless state to which a wife would be reduced, in case she should become a widow, affected more intimately another man, and made him provide beforehand for the subsistence and comfort of a woman who formed his felicity. INTRODUCTION". 33 In proportion as every family increased, by the birth of children, and their marrying into other families, they ex- tended their little domain, and formed, by insensible degrees, towns and cities. From these different views, and others of the like nature, arose the peculiar customs of nations, as well as their rights, which are infinitely various. These societies, growing in process of time very numerous, and the families being divided into several branches, each of which had its head, whose different interests and charac- ters might interrupt the general tranquillity ; it was neces- sary to intrust one person with the government of the whole, in order to unite all these chiefs or heads under a single authority, and to maintain the public peace by a uni- form administration. The idea which men still retain of the paternal government, and the happy effects they had experienced from it, prompted them to choose from among their wisest and most virtuous men, him in whom they had observed the most tender and fatherly disposition. Neither ambition nor cabal had the least share in this choice ; probity alone, and the reputation of virtue and equity, de- cided on these occasions, and gave the preference to the most worthy.* To heighten the lustre of their newly acquired dignity, and enable them the better to put the laws in execution, as well as to devote themselves entirely to the public good, to defend the state against the invasions of their neighbors, and the factions of discontented citizens, the title of king was bestowed upon them, a throne was erected, and a sceptre put into their hands ; homage was paid them, officers were assigned, and guards appointed for the security of their persons ; tributes were granted ; they were invested with full powers to administer justice, and for this purpose were armed with a sword, in order to restrain injustice and pun- ish crimes. At first, every city had its particular king, who, being more solicitous to preserve his dominion than to enlarge it, confined his ambition within the limits of his native coun- try, f But the almost unavoidable feuds which break out between neighbors, jealousy against a more powerful king, the turbulent and resthss spirit of a prince, his martial dispo- sition, or thirst of aggrandizing himself, and displaying his *Quoa a(l fastigium hujus ma;iestatisnon ambitio popularis, sed spectata inter bonos mode ratio provideb.it.. Jus! in. 1. i. c. 1. t Fines imperil tueri nwgis quam proferre mos erat. lutra guam cuique pa- triam regna liniebantur. Ibid. 3 34 INTRODUCTION. abilities, gave rise to wars which frequently ended in the entire subjection of the vanquished, whose cities were by that means possessed by the victor, and insensibly increased his dominions. Thus, a first victory paving a way to a second, and making a prince more powerful and enterpris- ing, several cities and provinces were united under one monarch, and formed kingdoms of a greater or less extent, according to the degree of ardor with which the victor had pushed his conquests.* The ambition of some of these princes being too vast to confine itself within a single kingdom, it broke over all bounds, and spread universally like a torrent, or the ocean ; swallowed up kingdoms and nations, and gloried in depriv- ing princes of their dominions who had not done them the least injury; in carry ing fire and sword into the most remote countries, and in leaving, everywhere, bloody traces of their progress ! Such was the origin of those famous empires which included a great part of the world. Princes made various uses of victory, according to the diversity of their dispositions or interests. Some consider- ing themselves as absolute masters of the conquered, and imagining they were sufficiently indulgent in sparing their lives, bereaved them, as well as their children, of their pos- sessions, their country, and their liberty ; subjected them to a most severe captivity ; employed them in those arts which are necessary for the support of life, in the lowest and most servile offices of the house, in the painful toils of the field ; and frequently forced them, by the most inhuman treat- ment, to dig in mines, and ransack the bowels of the earth, merely to satiate their avarice ; and hence mankind were divided into freemen and slaves, masters and bondmen. Others introduced the custom of transporting whole na- tions into new countries, where they settled them, and gave them lands to cultivate. Other princes, again, of more gentle disposition, contented themselves with only obliging the vanquished nations to purchase their liberties, and the enjoyment of their laws and privileges, by annual tributes laid on them for that purpose ; and sometimes they would suffer kings to sit peaceably on their thrones, upon condition of their paying them some kind of homage. But such of these monarchs as were the wisest and * Domitis proximis, cum accessione virium fortior ad alios transiret, et prox- ima quseque victoria iiistrumentum sequentis easet totius orientis subegit. Ibid. INTRODUCTION". 35 ablest politicians, thought it glorious to establish a kind of equality between the nations newly conquered and their other subjects, granting the former almost all the rights and privileges which the others enjoyed. And by this means a great number of nations, that were spread over different and far distant countries, constituted, in some measure, but one city, at least but one people. Thus I have given a general and concise idea of man- kind, from the earliest monuments which history has pre- served on this subject, the particulars whereof I shall endeavor to relate, in treating of each empire and nation. I shall not touch upon the history of the Jews nor that of the Romans. I begin with the Egyptians and Carthagini- ans, because the former are of very great antiquity, and as the history of both is less blended with that of other nations ; whereas those of other states are more interwoven, and sometimes succeed one another. REFLECTIONS ON THE DIFFERENT SORTS OF GOVERNMENTS. The multiplicity of governments established among the different nations of whom I am to treat, exhibits, at first view, to the eye and to the understanding, a spectacle highly worthy our attention, and shows the astonishing va- riety which the sovereign of the world has constituted in the empires that divide it, by the diversity of inclinations and manners observable in each of those nations. We herein perceive the characteristic of the Deity, who, ever resem- bling himself in all the works of his creation, takes a pleasure to paint and display therein, under a thousand shapes, an infinite Avisdom, by a wonderful fertility, and an admirable simplicity ; a wisdom that can form a single work, and com- pose a whole, perfectly regular, from all the different parts of the universe, and all the productions of nature, notwith- standing the infinite manner in which they are multiplied and diversified. In the East, the form of government that prevails is the monarchical ; which being attended with a majestic pomp, and a haughtiness almost inseparable from supreme au- thority, naturally tends to exact a more distinguished re- spect, and a more entire submission, from those in subjec- tion to its power. When we consider Greece, one would be apt to conclude, that liberty and a republican spirit had breathed themselves into every part of that country, and do INTRODUCTION. had inspired almost all the different people who inhabited it with a violent desire of independence ; diversified, how- ever, under various kinds of government, but all equally ab- horrent of subjection and slavery. In one part of Greece the supreme power is lodged in the people, and is Avhat we call a democracy / in another, it is vested in the assembly of wise men, and those advanced in years, to which the name of aristocracy is given ; in a third republic, the gov- ernment is lodged in a small number of select and powerful persons and is called oligarchy / in others, again, it is a mixture of all these parts, or of several of them, and some- times even of regal power. It is manifest that this variety of .governments, which all tend to the same point, though by different ways, con- tributes very much to the beauty of the universe ; and that it can proceed from no other being than Him who governs it with infinite wisdom, and who diffuses universally an order and symmetry, the effect of which is to unite the several parts together, and by that means to form one work of the whole. For although in this diversity of govern- ments, some are better than others, we nevertheless may very justly affirm, that there is no power but of God ; and that the powers that be are ordained of God* But neither every use that is made of this power, nor every means for the attainment of it, are from God, though every power be of him ; and when we see these governments degenera- ting sometimes to violence, factions, despotic sway, and tyr- rany, it is wholly to the passions of mankind that we must ascribe those irregularities, which are directly opposite to the primitive institution of states, and which a superior wisdom afterward reduces to order, always making them contribute to the execution of his designs, full of equity and justice. This scene or spectacle, as I before observed, highly de- serves our attention and admiration, and will display itself gradually, in proportion as I advance in relating the ancient history,. of which it seems to rne to form an essential part. It is with the view of making the reader attentive to this object, that I think it incumbent on me to add to the account of facts and events, what regards the manners and customs of nations ; because these show their genius and character, which, we may call, in some measure, the soul of history. For to take .notice only of eras and events, and confine our *Rom. xiii. 1. INTRODUCTION". 37 curiosity and researches to them, would be imitating the imprudence of a traveller, who, in visiting many countries, should content himself with knowing their exact distance from each other, and consider only the situation of the several places, the manner of building, and the dresses of the people, without giving himself the least trouble to con- verse with the inhabitants, in order to inform himself of their genius, manners, disposition, laws, and goA r ernments. Homer, whose design was to give, in the person of Ulysses, a model of a wise and intelligent traveller, tells us, at the very opening of his Odyssey, that his hero informed him- self very exactly of the manners and customs of the several people* whose cities he visited.; in which he ought to be imitated by every person who applies himself to the study of history. A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF ASIA. As Asia will hereafter be the principal scene of the history we are now entering upon, it may not be improper to give the reader such a general idea of it, as may com- municate some knowledge of its most considerable provinces and cities. The northern and eastern parts of Asia are less known in ancient history. To the north are ASIATIC SARMATIA and ASIATIC SCYTHIA., which answer to Tartary. Sarmatia is situated between the river Tanais, which divides Europe and Asia, and the river JRha or Volga. /Scythia is divided into two parts ; the one on this, the other on the other side of mount Imaus. The nations of Scythia best known to us are the Sacce and the Mas- sagetce. The most eastern parts are, SERICA, Cathay ; SINARUM REGIO, China ; and INDIA. This last country was better known ancienuy than the two former. It was divided into two parts ; tlie one on this side the river Ganges, included between that river and the Indus, which now composes the dominions of the Great Mogul ; the other part was that on the other side of the Ganges. The remaining part of Asia, of which much greater mention is made in history, may be divided into five or six parts, taking it from east to west. I. THE GREATER ASIA, which begins at the river Indus. The chief provinces are, GEDROSIA, CARMAXIA, ARACHOSIA, 38 INTRODUCTION. DRANGTANA, BACTRTANA, the capital of which was Bactria ' SOGDIANA, MARGIANA, HYRCANIA, near the Caspian Sea ; PARTHIA, MEDIA, the city Ecbatana ; PERSIA, the cities of JPersepolis and Elymais ; SUSIANA, the city of /Susa ; ASSYRIA, the city of Nineveh, situated on the river Tigris ; MESOPOTAMIA, between the Euphrates and Tigris / BABY- LONIA, the city of Babylon on the river Euphrates. II. ASIA BETAVEEN THE PoNTUS EuXINUS AND THE CASPIAN SEA. Therein we may distinguish four provinces* 1. COLCHIS, the river Phasis, and mount Caucasus. 2. IBERIA. 3. ALBANIA ; which two last-mentioned provinces now form part of Georgia. 4. The greater ARMENIA. This is separated from the lesser by the Euph rates ; from Meso- potamia by mount Taurus ; and from Assyria by mount Niphates. Its cities are Artaxata and Tigranocerta ; and the river Araxes runs through it. III. ASIA MINOR. This may be divided into four or five parts, according to the different situation of its prov- inces. 1. Northward, on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus. PONTUS, under three different names. Its cities are Trapezus, not far from which are the people called Chalybes or Chaldcei ; Themiscyra, a city on the river Thermodoon, famous for having been the abode of the Amazons. PAPH- LAGONIA, BITHYNIA ; the cities of which are, Nicia, Prusa, Nicomedia, Chalcedon, opposite to Constantinople, and Heraclea. 2. Westward, going down by the shores of the ^Egean sea ; MVSIA, of which there are two. The LESSER, in which stood Cyzicus, Lampsacus, Parium, Abydos, oppo- site to Sestos, from which it is separated only by the Dardanelles ; Dardanum, Sig&um, Ilion, or Troy ; and almost on the opposite side, the little island of Tenedos. The rivers are the Arsepe, the Granicus, and the Si-moix. Mount Ida. This region is sometimes called Phrygia Minor, of which Troas is part. THE GREATER MYSIA. Antandros, TrajanopoUs, Adramyttium, Pergamus. Opposite to this Mysia is the island of LESBOS ; the cities of which are, Methymna, where the celebrated Arion was born ; and Mitylen-e, which has given to the whole island its modern name, Metelin. JEoLiA. Elea, Cuma, Phoccea. IONIA. Smyrna, Clazomence, Teas, Lebedus, Colophon^ Ephesus, Priene, Miletus. INTRODUCTION. 39 CARTA. Laodicea, Antiochia, Magnesia, Alabanda. The river Mwander. DORIS. JIalicarnassus, Cnidos. Opposite to these four last countries arc the islands CHIOS, SAMOS, PATMOS, Cos ; and lower towards the south, Rhodes. 3. Southward, along the Mediterranean : LYCIA. The cities of which are, Telmessus, Patara. The river Xanthus. Here begins mount Taurus, which runs the whole length of Asia, and assumes different names, according to the several countries through which it passes. PAMPHYLIA. Perya, Aspendus, Sida. CILICIA. Seleucia, Corycium, Tarsus, on tlie river Cyd- nus. Opposite to Cilicia is the island of Cyprus. The cities are Salamis, Amcithus, and Paphos. 4. Alonythe banks of the Euphrates, going up north ward: THE LESSER ARMENIA. Con/ana, Arabyza, Melitene, Satala. The river Melas, which empties itself into the Euphrates. 5. Inlands : CAPPADOCIA. The cities of which are, Neoccesarea, Comana, Pontica, Sebastia, Sebastopolis, Dioccesarea, Ccesarea, otherwise called Mazaca, and Tyana. LYCAONIA and ISAURIA. Iconium, Isauria. PISIDIA. Seleucia, and Antiochia of Pisidia. LYDIA. Its cities are, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia. The rivers are, Caystrus, and flermus, into which the Pactolus empties itself. Mount Sipylus and Timolus. PHRYGIA MAJOR. Synnada, Apamia. IV. SYRIA, now named Suria, called under the Roman emperors, the East, the chief provinces of which are, 1. PALESTINE, by which name is sometimes understood all Judea. Its cities are, Jerusalem, Samaria, and Ccesarea Palestina. The river Jordan waters it. The name of Palestine is also given to the land of Canaan, which extend- ed along the Mediterranean ; the chief cities of which are Gaza, Ascalon, Azotus, Accaron, and'Gath. 2. PHOENICIA, whose cities are, Ptolemais, Tyre, Sidon, and Berytus. Its mountains, lAbanus and Anti-Libanus. 8. SYRIA, properly so called, or ANTIOCHENA ; the cities Whereof are, Antiochia, Apamia, Laodicea, and Seleucia. 4. COMAGENA. The city of Samosata. 5. CCELOSYRIA. The cities are, Zeugma, Thapsacus ) Palmyra, and Damascus. 40 INTRODUCTION. V. ARABIA PETR^A. Its cities are, Petra and Bostra. Mount Casius DESERTA. FELIX. OF RELIGION. It is observable, that in all ages and regions, the several nations of the "world, however various and opposite in their characters, inclinations, and manners, have always united in one essential point ; the inherent opinion of an adoration due to a Supreme Being, and of external methods necessary to evince such a belief. Into whatever country we cast our eyes, we find priests, altars, sacrifices, festivals, religious ceremonies, temples, or places consecrated to re- ligious worship. In every people we discover a reverence and awe of the divinity; a homage and honor paid to him ; and an open profession of an entire dependence upon him in all their undertakings and necessities, in all their adver- sities and dangers. Incapable of themselves to penetrate futurity, and to ascertain events in their own favor, we find them intent upon consulting the divinity by oracles, and by other methods of a like nature ; and to merit his protection by prayers, vows,, and offerings. It is by the same supreme authority they believe the most solemn treaties are rendered inviolable. It is this that gives sanction to their oaths ; and, to it by imprecations is referred the punishment of such crimes and enormities as escape the knowledge and power of men. On their private occasions, voyages, jour- neys, marriages, diseases, the divinity is still invoked. With him their every repast begins and ends. No war is declared, no battle fought, no enterprise formed, without his aid being first implored ; to which the glory of the suc- cess is constantly ascribed by public acts of thanksgiving, and by the oblation of the most precious of the spoils, which they never fail to set apart as the indispensable right of the divinity. They never vary in regard to the foundation of this belief. If some few persons, depraved by false philosophy, presume from time to time to rise up against this doctrine, they are immediately disclaimed by the public voice. They continue singular and alone, without making parties, or forming sects: the whole weight of the public authority falls upon them ; a price is set upon their heads ; while they are universally regarded as execrable persons, the bane of civil society, with whom it is criminal to have any kind of com- merce. INTRODUCTION. 41 So general, so uniform, so perpetual a consent of all the nations of the universe, which neither the prejudice of the passions, the false reasoning of some philosophers, nor the authority and example of certain princes, have ever been able to weaken or vary, can proceed only from a first prin- ciple, which pervades the nature of man ; from an inherent sense implanted in his heart by the Author of his being, and from an original tradition as ancient as the world itself. Such Avere the source and origin of the religion of the ancients ; truly worthy of man had he been capable of per- sisting in the purity and simplicity of these first principles : but the errors of the mind and the vices of the heart, those sad effects of the corruption of human nature, have strange- ly disfigured their original beauty. There are still some faint rays, some brilliant sparks of light, which a general depravity has not been able utterly to extinguish ; but they are incapable of dispelling the profound darkness of the gloom which prevails almost universally, and presents nothing to view but absurdities, follies, extravagancies, licentiousness, and disorder; in a word, a hideous chaos of frantic excesses and enormous vices. Can any thing be more admirable than these maxims of Cicero ? * That we ought above all things to be convinced that there is a Supreme Being, who presides over all the events of the world, and disposes of them as sovereign lord and arbiter : that it is to him mankind are indebted for all tiie good they enjoy : that he penetrates into, and is con- scious of whatever passes in the most secret recesses of our hearts : that he treats the just and the impious according to their respective merits ; that the true means of acquiring his favor, and of being pleasing in his sight, is not by the use of riches and magnificence in his worship, but by pre- senting him with a heart pure and blameless, and by ador- ing him with an unfeigned and profound veneration. Sentiments so sublime and religious, were the result of the reflections of the few who employed themselves in the study of the heart ot man, and in tracing him to the first principles of his institution, of which they still retained some happy, though imperfect ideas. But the whole system of their religion, the tendency of their public feasts and * Sit hoc jum a principle persuasum clvlbus : domlnos esse omnium rernrn ac moderatores decs, eaque quse geruntur eovum geri judirio ac muniue ; eosdemque optima ile geiiere liominum merer! : et. quails quls'iue sit, quid agat, quid in tse admittat. qua mente, qua pietate religionrs colat, intueri ; pioyumque et impio. rum habere rationem. Ad divos adeunto caste, Pietateiu adliibeuto, opes amo- veuto. Cic. de Leg. 1. ii. u, 15 et 19t 42 INTRODUCTION. ceremonies, die soul of the pagan theology, of which the poets were the only teachers and professors ; the very example of the gods, whose violent passions, scandalous adventures, and abominable crimes were celebrated in their hymns or odes, and proposed in some measure for the im- itation, as well as adoration of the people ; these were cer- tainly very unfit means to enlighten the minds of men, and to form them to virtue and morality. It is remarkable, that in the greatest solemnities of the pagan religion, and in their most sacred and revered mysteries, far from perceiving any tiling to recommend virtue, piety, or the practice of the most essential duties of ordinary life ; we find the au- thority of laws, the imperious power of custom, the presence of magistrates, the assembly of all orders of the state, the example of fathers and mothers, all conspire to train up a whole nation from their infancy in an impure and sacrile- gious worship, under the name, and in a manner under the sanction, of religion itself: as we shall soon see in the sequel. After these general reflections upon paganism, it is time to proceed to a particular account of the religion of the Greeks. I shall reduce this subject, though infinite in itself, to four articles, which are, 1. The feasts. 2. The oracles, auguries, and divinations. 3. The games and combats. 4. The public shows and representations of the theatre. In each of these articles, I shall treat only of what appears most worthy of the reader's curiosity, and has most relation to this history. I omit saying any thing of sacrifices, having given a sufficient idea of them elsewhere.* OF THE FEASTS. An infinite number of feasts were celebrated in the several cities of Greece, and especially at Athens, of which I shall only describe three of the most famous ; the Pana- thenea, the feasts of Bacchus, and those of Eleusis. THE PAXATHENEA. This feast was celebrated at Athens in honor of Minerva, the tutelary goddess of that city, to which she gave her name,f as well as to the feast we speak of. Its institution was ancient, and it was called at first Athenea ; but after Theseus had united the several towns of Attica into one * Marnier of Teaching, &c., Vol. L t A0>j<. INTRODUCTION. 43 city, it took the name of Panathenea. These feasts were of two kinds, the great and the less, which were solemnized with almost the same ceremonies ; - the less annually, and the great upon the expiration of every fourth year. In these feasts were exhibited racing, the gymnastic combats, and the contentions for the prizes of music and poetry. Ten commissaries, elected from the ten tribes, pre- sided on this occasion, to regulate the forms, and distribute the rewards to the victors. This festival continued several days. The first day in the morning, a race was run on foot, each of the runners carrying a lighted torch in his hand, which they exchanged continually with each other without interrupting their race. They started from Cerarnicus, one of the suburbs of Athens, and crossed the whole city. The first that came to the goal, without having put out his torch, carried the prize. In the afternoon, they ran the same course on horseback. The gymnastic or athletic combats followed the races. The place of that exercise was upon the banks of the Ilissus, a small river, which runs through Athens, and empties itself into the sea at the Pirasus. Pericles first instituted the prize of music. In this dis- pute were sung the praises of Harmodius and Aristogiton, who, at the expense of their lives, delivered Athens from the tyranny of the Pisistratides ; to which was afterwards added the eulogy of Thrasybulus, who expelled the thirty tyrants. These disputes were not only warm among th( musicians, but much more so among the poets, and it was highly glorious to be declared victor in them. ./Eschylus is reported to have died of grief upon seeing the prize adjudged to Sophocles, who was much younger than himself. These exercises were followed by a general procession, vherein a sail was carried with great pomp and ceremony, on which were curiously delineated the warlike actions of Pallas against the Titans and giants. This sail was affixed to a vessel, which was called by the name of the goddess. The vessel, equipped with sails, and with a thousand oars, was conducted from Ciramicus to the temple of Eleusis, not by horses or beasts of draught, but by machines concealed in the bottom of it, which put the oars in motion, and made the vessel glide along. The march was solemn and majestic. At the head of it were old men, who carried olive branches in their hands, 44 INTRODUCTION. &attoft<>t were appointed to sing certain verses of Homer ; a manifest proof of their estimation of the works of that poet, even with regard to religion. Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, first introduced this custom. I have observed elsewhere, that in the gymnastic games of this feast, a herald proclaimed, that the people of Athens had conferred a crovn of gold upon the celebrated physician Hippocrates, in gratitude for the signal services which he had rendered the state during the pestilence. * Ov^t ffpoeipjjuei'Oi' r)ntp apiOaov ayveveiv JJ.QVOV, aAXa TOI> fiiov *-Demostli. in extrema Aristocrat.!*. INTRODUCTION. 45 In this festival, the people of Athens pnt themselves, and the whole republic, under the protection of Minerva, the tutelary goddess of their city, and implored of her all kinds of prosperity. From the battle of Marathon, in these public acts of worship, express mention was made of the Platseans, and they were joined in all things with the people of Athens. FEASTS OF BACCHUS. The worship of Bacchus had been brought out of Egypt to Athens, where several feasts had been established in honor of that god ; two particularly more remarkable than all the rest, called the great and the less feasts of Bacchus. The lat- ter were a kind of preparation for the former, and were cele- brated in the open field about autumn. They were named Lenea, from a Greek word that signifies a wine-press.* The great feasts were commonly called Dionysia, from one of the names of that god,f and were solemnized in the spring, within the city. In each of these feasts the public were entertained with games, shows, and dramatic representations, which were at- tended with a vast concourse of people, and exceeding mag- nificence, as will be seen hereafter : at the same time the poets disputed the prize of poetry, submitting to the judg- ment of arbitrators, expressly chosen, their pieces, whether tragic or comic, which were then represented before the people. These feasts continued many days. Those who were initiated, mimicked whatever the poets had thought fit to feign of the god Bacchus. They covered themselves with the skins of wild beasts, carried a thyrsus in their hands, a kind of pike with ivy leaves twisted round it. They had drums, horns, pipes and other instruments proper to make a great noise ; and wore upon their heads wreaths of ivy and vine-branches, and of other trees sacred to Bacchus. Some represented Silenus, some Pan, others the Satyrs, all dressed* in a suitable masquerade. Many of them were mounted on asses ; others dragged goats along, for sacrifices.^ Men and women, ridiculously transformed in this manner, appeared night and day in public, and imi- tating drunkenness, and dancing with the most indecent postures ran in throngs about the mountains and forests, * A>vo<:- t Dionysius. } Goats were sacrificed, because they spoiled the vines- 46 INTRODUCTION'. screaming and howling furiously; the women especially seemed more outrageous than the men, and, quite out of their senses, in their furious transports,* invoked the god whose feast they celebrated with loud cries ; i'jui lid/./:, or d> Vtf'z/i, or /Jo/yr, or lib Rdzjrs. This troop of Bacchanalians was followed by the virgins of the noblest families in the city, who were called za-srjtfopii; from carrying baskets on their heads covered with vine and ivy leaves. To these ceremonies others were added, obscene to the last excess, and worthy of the god who could be honored in such a manner. The spectators gave in to the prevailing humor, and were seized with the same frantic spirit. Noth- ing was seen but dancing, drunkenness, debauchery, and all that the most abandoned licentiousness could conceive of gross and abominable. And this an entire people, reputed the wisest of all Greece, not only suffered, but admired and practised. I say an entire people ; for Plato, speaking of the Bacchanals, says in direct terms, that he had seen the whole city of Athens drunk at once.f Livy informs us, that the licentiousness of the Bacchana- lians having secretly crept into Rome, the most horrid dis- orders were committed there under the cover of the night ; besides which, all persons, who were initiated into these impure and abominable mysteries, were obliged, under the most horrid imprecations, to keep them inviolably secret. The senate, being apprised of the affair, put a stop to those sacrilegious feasts by the most severe penalties ; and first banished the practisers of them from Rome, and afterwards from Italy.:): These examples inform us, how far a mistaken sense of religion, that covers the greatest crimes with the sacred name of the Divinity, is capable of misleading the mind of man. THE FEASTS OF ELEUSIS. There is nothing in all the pagan antiquity more cele- brated than the feast of Ceres Eleusjna. The ceremonies of this festival were called, by way of eminence, the Mys- teries, from being, according to Pausanias, as much above all others as the gods are above men. Their origin and in- * From this fury of the Bacchanalians, these feasts were distinguished by the name of Orgia/OpyT) ira, furor. 1 \laaav eSeacra/u.^i' ri\v iro\iv Trcpt TO Atoi-uucria ineOvKtrav Lib. i. de Leg. p. 637. t Liv. 1. xxxix. n. R. 18. $ Xihil in speoiem fallarius est quaiu prava religio, ubi deorum nuinen prae- tendltur sceleribus- Liv. xxxix. n. 16. INTRODUCTION". 47 stitution are attributed to Ceres herself, who, in the reign of Erechtheus, coming to Eleusis, a small town of Atticn, in search of her daughter Proserpine, whom Pluto had cur- ried away, and finding the country afflicted with a famine, invented corn as a remedy for that evil, with which she rewarded the inhabitants. She not only taught them the use of corn, but instructed them in the principles of probity, charity, civility, and humanity ; from whence her mysteries were called ftsffij.ojrrjs ovriav af itav eTroirTas- Orat. de Sacr. Lumi. t Ao6x os - t Kijpi'f . BaerAeus. || Ejri/iA)Tai. H 'lepowoiot. **Diogen. Laert. L vi. p. 339. INTRODUCTION. 49 by being initiated before his death " What," said he, " shall Agesilaus and Epaminondas lie among mud and dung, while the vilest Athenians, because they have been initiated, possess the most distinguished places in the regions of the blessed ? " Socrates was not more credulous ; he would not be initiated into these mysteries, which was per- haps one cause of rendering his religion suspected. Without this qualification, none were admitted to enter the temple of Ceres ; and Livy informs us of two Acarna- nians, who, having followed the crowd into it upon one of the feast-days, although out of mistake and with no ill de- sign, were both put to death without mercy.* It was also a capital crime to divulge the secrets and mysteries of this feast. Upon this account Diagoras the Melian was pro- scribed, and had a reward set upon his head. He intended to have made the secret cost the poet ^Eschylus his life, for speaking too freely of it in some of his tragedies. The disgrace of Alcibiades proceeded from the same cause. Whoever had violated the secret was avoided as a wretch accursed and excommunicated. f Pausanias, in several pas- sages, wherein he mentions the temple of Eleusis, and the ceremonies practised there, stops short, and declares he can- not proceed, because he had been forbidden by a dream or vision. | This feast, the most celebrated of profane antiquity, was of nine days continuance. It began on the fifteenth of the month Boedromion. After some pi-evious ceremonies and sacrifices on the first three days, upon the fourth in the evening began the procession of the Basket ; which was laid upon an open chariot slowly drawn by six oxen, and followed by great numbers of the Athenian women. They all carried mysterious baskets in their hands, filled with several things which they took great care to conceal, and covered with a veil of purple. This ceremony represented *Liv. 1. xxxi. n. 14. t Est et tideli tuta silentio Safe is the silent tongue, which Merces. Vetabo, qui Cereris sacrum none can blame ; Vulgavit arcana, sub iiadem The faithful becret merit fame : Sit Trabibus, fragilemque mecum Beneath one roof ne'er let him rest Solvat phaselum. with me, Hor. Od. 2. lib. iii. Who Ceres' mysteries reveals ; In one frail bark ne'er let us put to sea Nor tempt the jarring winds with spreading sails. t Lib. i. pp. 26, 71. Tardaque Eleusinse matrla volventia The Eleusinian mother's mystic plaustra. car Virg. Georg. lib. i. ver. 163. Slow rolling 4 50 INTRODUCTION. the basket into which Proserpine put the flowers she was gathering when Pluto seized and carried her oft'. The fifth day was called the day of the Torches ; be- cause at night the men and women ran about with them, in imitation of Ceres, who having lighted a torch at the fire of Mount vEtna, wandered about from place to place in search of her daughter. The sixth was the most famous day of all. It was called lacchus, the name of Bacchus, son of Jupiter and Ceres, whose statue was then brought out with great ceremony, crowned with myrtle, and holding a torch in its hand. The procession began at Ceramicus, and passing through the principal parts of the city, continued to Eleusis. The way leading to it was called the sacred way, and lay across a bridge over the river Cephisus. The procession was very numerous, and generally consisted of thirty thousand per- sons. The temple of Eleusis, where it ended, was large enough to contain the whole multitude ; and Strabo says its extent was equal to that of the theatres, which everybody knows were capable of holding a much greater number of people.* The whole way resounded with the sound of trumpets, clarions, and other musical instruments. Hymns were sung in honor of the goddesses, accompanied with dancing and other extraordinary marks of rejoicing. The rout before mentioned, through the sacred way and over the Cephisus, was the usual way ; but after the Lacedaemonians, in the Peloponnesian war, had fortified Decelia, the Athenians were obliged to make their proce ,sion by sea, till Alcibiades re-established the ancient custom. The seventh day was solemnized by games, and the gymnastic combats, in which the victor was rewarded with a measure of barley ; without doubt, because it was at Eleusis the goddess first taught the method of raising that grain, and the use of it. The two following days were employed in some particular ceremonies, neither important nor remarkable. During this festival, it was prohibited, under very great penalties, to arrest any person whatsoever, in order to their being imprisoned, or to present any bill of complaint to the judges. It was regularly, celebrated every fifth year, that is, after a revolution of four years : and no history observes that it was ever interrupted, except on the taking of Thebes *Her. 1. viii. c. 65. Strabo, 1. ix. p. 395. INTRODUCTION. ' 51 by Alexander the Great.* The Athenians, who were then upon the point of celebrating the great mysteries, were so much affected with the ruin of that city, that they could not resolve, in so general an affliction, to solemnize a fes- tival which breathed nothing but merriment and rejoicing, f It was continued down till the time of the Christian empe- rors: and Valentinian would have abolished it, if Praetex- tatus, the proconsul of Greece, had not represented, in the most lively and affecting terms, the universal sorrow which the abrogation of that feast would occasion among the people ; upon which it was suffered to subsist. It is sup- posed to have been finally suppressed by Theodosius the Great; as were all the rest of the pagan solemnities. OF AUGURIES, ORACLES, &C. Nothing is more frequently mentioned in ancient his- tory than oracles, auguries, and divinations. No war was made, or colony settled ; nothing of consequence was under- taken, either public or private, without the gods being first consulted. This was a custom universally established among the Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian, and Roman na- tions ; which is no doubt a proof, as has been already ob- served, of its being derived from ancient tradition, and that it had its origin in the religion and worship of the true God. It is not indeed to be questioned, but that God before the deluge did manifest his will to mankind in different meth- ods, as he has since done to his people, sometimes in his own person, ai\d viva, voce, sometimes by the ministry of angels, or of prophets inspired by himself, and at other times by apparitions or in dreams. When the descendants of Noah dispersed themselves into different regions, they carried this tradition along with them, which was every- where retained, though altered and corrupted by the dark- ness and ignorance of idolatry. None of the ancients have. insisted more upon the necessity of consulting the gods on all occasions by augurs and oracles, than Xenophon, and he founds that necessity, as I have more than once observed elsewhere, upon a principle deduced from the most refined reason and discernment. He represents, in several places, that man of himself is very frequently ignorant of what is advantageous or pernicious to him ; that far from being- capable of penetrating the future, the present itself escapei * Plut. iii Vit. Alex. p. 671. t Zozim. Hist. 1. iv. 52 INTRODUCTIOX. him : so narrow and short-sighted is he, in all his views, that the slightest obstacles can frustrate his greatest de- signs ; that the Divinity alone, to whom all ages are present, can impart a certain knowledge of the future to him ; that no other being has power to facilitate the success of his en- terprises ; and that it is reasonable to believe he will guide and protect those who adore him with the most sincere affection, who invoke him at all times with the greatest con- fidence and fidelity, and consult him with most sincerity and resignation. OF AUGURIES. What a reproach it is to human reason, that so luminous a principle should have given birth to the absurd reasonings and wretched notions in favor of the science of augurs and soothsayers, and been the occasion of espousing with blind devotion the most ridiculous puerilities ; should have made the most important affairs of state depend upon a bird's happening to sing upon the right or left hand ; upon the greediness of chickens in pecking their grain ; the inspection of the entrails of beasts ; the liver's being entire and in good condition, which, according to them, did sometimes entirely disappear, without leaving any trace or mark of its having ever subsisted ! To these superstitious observances may be added, accidental recounters, words spoken by chance, and afterwards turned into good or bad presages ; forebodings, prodigies, monsters, eclipses, comets, every ex- traordinary phenomenon, every unforeseen .accident, with an infinity of chimeras of the like nature. Whence could it happen, that so many great men, illus- trious generals, able politicians, and even learned philoso- phers, have actually given in to such absurd imaginations ? Plutarch, in particular, so estimable in other respects, is to be pitied for his servile observance of the senseless customs of the pagan idolatry, and his ridiculous credulity in dreams, signs, and prodigies. He tells xis somewhere, that he ab- stained a great while from eating eggs, upon account of a dream, with which he has not thought fit to make us farther acquainted. * The wisest of the pagans did not want a just sense of the art of divination, and often spoke of it to each other, even in public, with the utmost contempt, and in a * Sympos. lib. ii. Qusest. 3, p. 635. INTRODUCTION. 53 manner sufficiently expressive of its ridicule. The grave censor Cato was of opinion, that one soothsayer could not look at another without laughing-. Hannibal was amazed at the simplicity of Prusias, whom he had advised to give battle, upon his being diverted from it by the inspection of the entrails of a victim. " What," said he, " have you more confidence in the liver of a beast, than in so old and experienced a captain as I am ? " Marcellus, who had been five times consul, and was augur, said, that he had discov- ered a method of not being put to a stand by the sinister flight of birds, which was, to keep himself close shut up in his litter. Cicero explains himself upon augury without ambiguity or reserve. Nobody was more capable of speaking pertinently upon it than himself (as Mr. Morin observes in his disserta- tion upon the same subject). As he was adopted into the college of augurs, he had made himself acquainted with the most concealed of their secrets, and had all possible oppor- tunity of informing himself fully in their science. That he did so, sufficiently appears from the two books he has left us upon divination, in which it may be said he has exhausted the subject. In his second, wherein he refutes his brother Quintus, who had espoused the cause of the augurs, he dis- putes and defeats his false reasonings with a force, and at the same time with so refined and delicate a raillery, as leaves us nothing to wish ; and he demonstrates by proofs, that rise upon each other in their force, the falsity, con- trariety, and impossibility of that art.* But what is very surprising, in the midst of all his arguments, he takes occa- sion to blame the generals and magistrates, who, on impor- tant conjunctures, had contemned the prognostics ; and maintains that the use of them, as great an abuse as it was in his own opinion, ought nevertheless to be respected out of regard to religion, and the prejudice of the people. All that I have hitherto said, tends to prove that pagan- ism was divided into two sects, almost equally enemies of religion: the one by their superstitious and blind regard for the augers, and the other by their irreligious contempt and derision of them. The principle of the first, founded on one side upon the * Errabat imiltis in rebus antiquitas : quain vel usu jam, vel doctrina, vel vetustnte iminulatam. vidimus Retinetur autem etad opinioneni vulgi, et ad mag- nas utilitates reip, nios, religio, disciplina, jus augurum, collegii uuctoritas. Nee vero on omui supplicio digui P. Claudius, I>- Jimi sconsules, qui coiura auspi- cia nayigarunt. Parendum enim fuit religion!, iiec patriusmostam contumacitet repudiaiidus. Divin. 1. li. 11. 70, 71. 54 INTRODUCTION. ignorance and weakness of man in the affairs of Kfe, and on the other upon the prescience of the Divinity, and his almighty providence, was true ; but the consequence deduced from it, in regard to the augurs, false and absurd. They ought to have proved that it was certain the Divinity himself had established these external signs, to denote his intentions, and that he had obliged himself to a punctual conformity to them upon all occasions ; but they had nothing of this kind in their system. Augury and soothsaying, therefore, were the effect and invention of the ignorance, rashness, curi- osity, and blind passions of man, who presumed to interro- gate God, and would oblige him to give answers upon every idle imagination and unjust enterprise. The others, who gave no real credit to any thing advanced by the science of th? augurs, did not fail, however, to ob- serve their trivial ceremonies, out of policy, for the better subjecting the minds of the people to themselves, and to reconcile them to. then own purposes by the assistance of superstition ; but by their contempt for auguries, and the entire conviction of their falsity, they were led into a dis- belief of the Divine Providence, and to despise religion itself ; conceiving it inseparable from the numerous absur- dities of this kind, which rendered it ridiculous, and conse- quently unworthy a man of sense. Both the one and the other behaved in this manner, because, having mistaken the Creator, and abused the light of nature, which might have taught them to know and to adore him, they were deservedly abandoned to their own darkness and absurd opinions ; and, if Ave had not been en- lightened by the true religion, even at this day we might have given ourselves up to the same superstitions. OF ORACLES. No country was ever richer in, nor more productive of oracles, than Greece. I shall confine myself to those which were the most noted. The oracle of Dodona, a city of the Molossians, was much celebrated ; where Jupiter gave answers either by vocal oaks or doves, which had also their language, or by resound- ing basins of brass, or by the mouths of priests and priest- esses.* * Certain instruments were fastened to the tops of oaks, which, being shaken by the wind or by somao; her means, gave a confused sound. Servius observes, that tlxe same word iu the Thessalian language siguilies dove andprop/ieleas, wUich INTRODUCTION". 55 The oracle of Trophonius in Boeotia, though he was a mere hero, was in great reputation.* After many prelimi- nary ceremonies, a"s Avashing in the river, offering sacrifices, drinking a water called Lethe, from its quality of making people forget every thing, the votaries went down into his cave, by small ladders, through a very narrow passage. At the bottom was another little cavern, of which the entrance was also very small. There they lay down upon the ground, with a certain composition of honey in each hand, which. they were indispensably obliged to carry with them. Their feet were placed within the opening of the little cave ; which was no sooner done than they perceived themselves borne into it with great force and velocity. Futurity was there revealed to them ; but not to all in the same manner. Some saw, others heard wonders. From thence they re- turned quite stupefied and out of their senses, and were placed in the chair of Mnemosyne, goddess of memory ; not without great need o her assistance to recover their remem- brance, after their great fatigue, of what they had seen and heard ; admitting they had seen or heard any thing at all. Pausanias, who had consulted that oracle himself, and gone through all these ceremo lies, has left a most ample descrip- tion of it, to which Plutarch adds some particular circum- stances, which I omit, to avoid a tedious prolixity. t The temple and oracle of the Branchidfe,| in the neighbor- hood of Miletus, so called from Branchus, the son of Apollo, was very ancient, and in great esteem with all the lonians and Dorians of Asia. Xerxes, in his return from Greece, burnt this temple, after its priests had delivered its treasures to him. That prince, in return, granted them an establish- ment in the remotest part of Asia, to secure them against the vengeance of the Greeks. After the war was over, the Milesians re-established that temple with a magnificence which, according to Strabo, surpassed that of all the other temples of Greece. When Alexander the Great had over- thrown Darius, he utterly destroyed the city where the priests Brbnchidae had settled, of which their descendants were at that time in actual possession, punishing in the chil- . dren the sacrilegious perfidy of their fathers. Tacitus relates something very singular, though not very had given room for the fabulous tradition of doves that spoke. It was easy to make those brazen basins pound by son re secret means, and to give what signifi- cation they pleased to a confused and inarticulate noiso. * Pa.is'an. 1. ix. p. 002, COL t Pint, de Gen. Socr. p. 509. 1 Herod. 1 . i. c. 157. -Strata. 1. xiv. p. 634. Ob INTRODUCTION". probable, of the oracles of Claros, a town of Ionia, in Asia Minor, near Colophon. " Germanicus," says lie, " went to consult Apollo at Claros. It is not a woman who gives the answers there, as at Delphos. but a man chosen out of cer- tain families, and almost always of Miletus. It suffices to let him know the number and names of those who come to consult him. After which he retires into a cave, and hav- ing drank of the waters of a spring within it, he delivei'S answers in verse upon what the persons have in their thoughts, though he is often ignorant, and knows nothing of composing in measure. It is said, that he foretold to Germanicus his sudden death, but in dark and ambiguous terms, according to the custom of oracles." * I omit a great number of other oracles, to proceed to the most famous of them all. It is obvious that I mean the oracle of Apollo at Delphos. He was worshipped thei*e under the name of the Pythian, a title derived from the ser- pent Python, which he had killed, or from a Greek word that signifies to inquire, KuQirrtia.'. because people came thither to consult him. From thence the Delphic priestess was called Pythia, and the games there celebrated, the Pythian games. Delphos was an ancient city of Phocis in Achaia. It stood upon the declivity, and about the middle of the moun- tain Parnassus, built upon a small extent of even ground, and surrounded with precipices, which fortified it without the help of art. Diodorus says, that there was a cavity upon Parnassus, from whence an exhalation rose, which made the goats dance and skip about, and intoxicated the brain. f A shepherd having approached it, out of a desire to know the causes of so extraordinary an effect, was immediately seized with violent agitations of body, and pronounced words which, without doubt, he did not understand himself; but which, however, foretold futurity. Others made the same experiment, and it was soon rumored throughout the neigh- boring countries. The cavity was no longer approached without reverence. The exhalation was concluded to have something divine in it. A priestess was appointed for the reception of its effects, and a tripod placed upon the vent, called by the Latins Cortina, perhaps from the skin that covered it.J From thence she gave her oracles. The city of Delphos rose insensibly round about this cave, \vhere a temple was erected, which at length became very magnifi- Tacit. Annal. ii. c. 54. + Lib. xiv. pp. 427, 428. t Corium. INTRODUCTION". 57 cent. The reputation of this oracle almost effaced, or at least very much exceeded, that of all others. At first a single Pythia sufficed to answer those who came to consult the oracle, not yet amounting- to any great number : but in process of time, when it grew into universal repute, a second was appointed to mount the tripod alter- nately with the first, and a third chosen to succeed in case of death or disease. There were other assistants besides these to attend the Pythia in the sanctuary, of whom the most considerable were called prophets ; * it was their busi- ness to take care of the sacrifices, and to inspect the victims. To these the demands of the inquirers were delivered, either by word of mouth, or in writing, and they returned the answers, as we shall see in the sequel. We must not confound the Pythia with the Sibyl of Delphos. The ancients represent the latter as a woman that roved from country to country, uttering her predic- tions. She was at the same time the Sibyl of Delphos, Erythrae, Babylon, Cumae, and many other places, from her having resided in them all. The Pythia could not prophesy till she was intoxicated by the exhalation of the sanctuary. This miraculous vapor had not that effect at all times, and upon all occasions. The god was not always in the inspiring humor. At first ne imparted himself only once a year, but at length he was prevailed upon to visit the Pythia every month. All days were not proper, and upon some it was not permitted to consult the oracle. These unfortunate days occasioned an oracle's being given to Alexander the Great, worthy of re- mark. He went to Delphos to consult the god, at a time when the priestess pretended it was forbidden to ask him any questions, and would not enter the temple. Alexander, who was always warm and tenacious, took hold of her by the arm to force her into it, when she cried out, Ah, my son, you are not to be resisted! or, my son, you are invin- cible /f Upon which words, he declared he would have no other oracle, and was contented with what lie had received. The Pythia, before she ascended the tripod, was a long time preparing for it by sacrifices, purifications, a fast of three days, and many other ceremonies. The god denoted his approach by the moving of a laurel, that stood before the gate of the temple, which shook also to its very foundations. < t &.VIKVOVTO irel u> rou. INTRODUCTION". As soon as the divine vapor,* like a penetrating fire, had diffused itself through the entrails of the priestess, her hair stood upright upon her head, her looks grew wild and furious, she foamed at the mouth, a sudden and violent trembling seized her whole body, with all the symptoms of distraction and frenzy.f She uttered at intervals some words almost inarticulate, which the prophets carefully col- lected. After she had been a certain time upon the tripod, she was re-conducted to her cell, where she generally con- tinued many days, to recover from her fatigue ; and as Lucan says, a sudden death was often either the reward or punishment of her enthusiasm. $ " Numinis ant pcena est mors immatura recepti, Ant pretium." The prophets had poets under them, who made the oracles into verses, which were often bad enough, and gave occasion to say, it was very surprising that Apollo, who presided over the choir of the muses, should inspire his prophetess no better. But Plutarch informs us, that the god did not compose the verses of the oracle. He inflamed the Pythia's imagination, and kindled in her soul that liv- ing light, which unveiled all futurity to her. The words she uttered in the heat of her enthusiasm, having neither method nor connection, and coming only by starts, to use that expression, from the bottom of her stomach, or rather from her belly, were collected with care by the prophets, who gave them afterwards to the poets to be turned into verse. These Apollo left to their own genius and natural talents ; as we may suppose he did the Pythia, when she composed -Cui talia fauti Ante fores, suhito 11011 vultus, non color unus, Kon coint* mansere coma; ; sed pecius anhulum, Et rabie fera corda tunient ; inajorque videri, Nee mortale sonans : aliiata est nuinine quiuido Jam propioiv; del. Virjr. ^En. 1. vi. v. 46-51 t Among the various marks which God has given us in the Scriptures to dis- tinguish his oracles from those of the devil, the fury or madness, attributed by Virgil to the Pythia, ' et rabisfera corda tument," is one. It is I, says Ciod, tha't show the falsehood of the diviner's predictions, and give to such as divine tl.e mo- tions of fury and madness; or, according to Isa. xliv. 25, ' that frustrateth the tokens of the liar, and luaketh diviners mad. Instead of which, the prophets of the true God constantly give the divine answers in an equal and calm tone of voice, and with a noble' tranquillity of behavior. Another distinguishing mark is, the demons giving their oracles in secret place*, by- wars, and in the obscurity of cuves ; whereas God gave his in open day. and before all the world : ' I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of (he earth." Isa. xlv. 19. ' I Irive not spoken in sec-et from the beginning." Isa. xiviii. 16. So ihat God did not per- mit the devil to imitate his oracles, without imposing such conditions upon him, as might distinguish between the true and false inspiration. t Lib. V. Eyya tnbclo reiiunciavit, quo supra diximus. Momeiito apud Lydiam f ucrat. Tertul. in Apolog. INTRODUCTION. 61 imposture in the answers of the oracles. For is not the devil the father and prince of lies ? In Grecian history we have seen more than once the Delphic priestess suffer her- self to be corrupted by presents. It was from that motive she persuaded the Lacedaemonians to assist the people of Athens in the expulsion of the thirty tyrants ; that she caused Demaratus to be divested of the royal dignity, to make way for Cleomenes; and dressed up an oracle to sitp- port the imposture of Lysander, when he endeavored to change the succession to the throne of Sparta. And I am apt to believe, that Themistocles, who well knew the im- portance of acting against the Persians by sea, inspired the god with the answer he gave, to defend themselves with walls of wood* Demosthenes, convinced that the oracles were frequently suggested by passion or interest, and sus- pecting, with reason, that Philip had instructed them to speak in his favor, boldly declared that the Pythia philip- pized, and bade the Athenians and Thebans remember, that Pericles and Epaminondas, instead of listening to, and amusing themselves with, the frivolous answers of the oracle, those idle bugbears of the base and cowardly, con- sulted only reason in the choice and execution of their measures. The same father Baltus examines, with equal success, the cessation of oracles, a second point in the dispute. Mr. Vandale, to oppose with some advantage a truth so glorious to Jesus Christ, the subverter of idolatry, had falsified the sense of the fathers, by making them say, that oracles ceased precisely at the moment of Christ's birth. The learned apologist for the fathers shows, that all they allege is, that oracles did not cease till after our Saviour's birth, and the preaching of his gospel ; not on a sudden, but in proportion as his salutary doctrines became known' to mankind, and gained ground in the world. This unanimous opinion of the fathers is confirmed by the unexceptionable evidence of great numbers of the pagans, who agree with them as to the time when the oracles ceased. What an honor to the Christian religion was this silence imposed upon the oracles by the victory of Jesus Christ ! Every Christian had this power. Tertullian, in one of his apologies, challenges the pagans to make the experiment, and consents that a Christian should be put to death, if he did not oblige these givers of oracles to confess themselves * Plut. iu Demosth. p. 854. 62 INTRODUCTION". devils.* Lactantius informs us, that every Christian could silence them by the sign of the cross. f And all the world knows, that when Julian the Apostate was at Daphne, a. suburb of Antioch, to consult Apollo, the god, notwith- standing all the sacrifices offered to him, continued mute, and only recovered his speech to answer those who inquired the cause of his silence, that they must ascribe it to the interment of certain bodies in the neighborhood. Those Were the bodies of Christian martyrs, among which was that of St. Babylas. This triumph of the Christian religion ought to give ua a due sense of our obligations to Jesus Christ, and, at the same time, of the darkn_.ss to which all mankind were abandoned before his coming. We have seen among the Carthaginians, fathers and mothers more cruel than wild beasts, inhumanly giving up their children, and annually depopulating their cities, by destroying the most florid of their youth, in obedience to the bloody dictates of their oracles and false gods.J The victims were chosen without any regard to rank, sex, age or condition. Such bloody executions were honored with the name of sacrifices, and designed to make the gods propitious. " What greater evil," cries Lactantius, " could they inflict in their most vio- lent displeasure, than to deprive their adorers of all sense of humanity, to make them cut the throats of their own chil- dren, and pollute their sacrilegious hands with such execra- ble parricides ! " A thousand frauds and impostures, openly detected at Delphos, and everywhere else, had not opened men's eyes, nor in the least diminished the credit of the oracles, which subsisted upwards of two thousand years, and was carried to an inconceivable height, even in the minds of the great- est men, the most profound philosophers, the most powerful princes, and generally among the most civilized nations, and such as valued themselves most upon their wisdom and pol- icy. The estimation they were in may be judged from the magnificence of the temple of Delphos. and the immense * Tertull, in Apolog. t Lib, de Vera Sapient, c. xxvii. J Tain barbaros. tarn imrnmies fuisso homines, nt jiarriciiliinii sumn, id est tetrum atque execrabile humaiio generi t'.-u inus, r-acrilicium vocarent. Cum tenet-its atque inuocentes animati, qu;e maxima- tsst iotas |>arentibus dulcior, sine ullo respeetu piet;ttis extiugiierunt, iminanitateniqiu; omnium bestiarvuu, qujyays (iaxT/o-ojieVov?, i7fi ea > ol TO ffepi XpiJ/iO liuv rov ayOtva. ITOIOVVTOLI, aAAa ircpi apeT/jf. INTRODUCTION. 67 It was from the same principle the Romans, while they bestowed upon other occasions, croons of gold of great value, persisted always in giving only a wreath of oaken leaves to him who had saved the life of a citizen. " O manners, worthy of eternal remembrance ! " cried Pliny, in relating this laudable custom ; " O grandeur, truly Roman, that would assign no other reward but honor, for the pre- servation of a citizen ! a service, indeed, all above reward ; thereby sufficiently evincing their opinion that it was crimi- nal to save a man's life from the motive of lucre and inter- est ! " * mores ceternos, que tanta opera honore solo donaverint ; et cum reliquas coronas auro commendarcnt, salutem civis in pretio esse noluerint, clara prqfessione servari quidem hominem nefas esse lucri causa ! Among all the Grecian games, the Olympic held unde- niably the first rank, and that for three reasons : they were sacred to Jupiter, the greatest of the gods ; instituted by Hercules, the first of the heroes ; and celebrated with more pomp and magnificence, amidst a greater concourse of spec- tators, attracted from all parts, than any of the rest. If Pausanias may be believed, women were prohibited to be present at them upon pain of death ; and during their continuance it was ordained, that no woman should approach the place where the games were celebrated, or pass on that side of the river Alpheus. One only was so bold as to vio- late this law, and slipped in disguise among the combatants. She was tried fqr the offence, and would have suffered for it, according to the law, if the judges, in regard to her father, her brother, and her son, who had all been victors in the Olympic games, had not pardoned her offence and saved her life.f This law was perfectly conformable to the Grecian man- ners, among whom the ladies were very reserved, seldom appeared in public, had separate apartments, called G-ynai- cea, and never ate at table with the men when strangers were present. It was certainly inconsistent with decency to admit them at some of the games, as those of wrestling and the Pancratium, in which the combatants fought naked. The same Pausanias tells us in another place, that the priestess of Ceres had an honorable seat in these games, and that virgins were not denied the liberty of being present at them.t For my part, I cannot conceive the reason of such inconsistency, which indeed seems incredible. * Plh). 1. xvi. c. 4. Pausaii. 1. v. p. 297. t Ibid. 1. vi. p. 382. 68 INTRODUCTION". The Greeks thought nothing comparable to the victory in these games. They looked upon it as the perfection of glory, and did not believe it permitted to mortals to desire any thing beyond it. Cicero assures us, that with them it was no less honorable than the consular dignity in its original splendor with the ancient Romans.* And in an- other place he says, that to conquer at Olympia was almost, in the estimation of the Grecians, more great and glorious, than to receive the honor of a triumph at Rome.f Horace speaks in still stronger terms upon this kind of victory. He is not afraid to say, that it exalts the victor above human nature / they were no longer meti, but gods.\ We shall see hereafter what extraordinary honors were paid to the victor, of which one of the most affecting was to date the year with his name. Kothing could more effect- ually enliven their endeavors, und make them regardless of expenses, then the assurance of immortalizing their names, which, for the future, would be annexed to the calendar, and in the front of all laws made in the same year with the victory. To this motive may be added, the joy of knowing that their praises would be celebrated by the most famous poets, and share in the entertainment of the most illustrious assemblies ; for these odes were sung in every house, and had a part in every entertainment. What could be a more powerful incentive to a people, who had no other object and aim than that of human glory ? I shall confine myself upon this head to the Olympic games, which continued five days ; and shall describe, in as brief a manner as possible, the several kinds of combats of which they were composed. M. Burette has treated this subject in several dissertations, printed in the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres ; wherein purity, perspicu- ity, and elegance of style, are united with profound eru- dition. I make no scruple in appropriating to my use the riches of my brethren ; and in what I have already said upon the Olympic games, have made very free with the late Abbe Massieu's remarks upon the odes of Pindar. The combats which had the greatest share in the solem- Oiymjiiorum victoria, Grsecis consulatus ille antiquus videbatur. Tuscul. Quest, lib. ii. 11. 41. t Olymplonleum esse apud Graecis prope majus fuit et gloriosus. quam Bomas triumphas-se. Pro Flacco, num. xxxi. -Palmaque nobilis Terrarum dominos evehit ad decs. Hor. Od. i. lib. 1. Sive quos Flea domum reducit Palma cselestes. Hoi. Od. ii. lib. 4. INTRODUCTION. 69 nity of the public games, were boxing, wrestling, the pan- cratium, the discus or quoit, and racing. To these may be added leaping, throwing the dart, and that of the trochus or wheel; but as these were neither important, nor of any great reputation, I shall content myself with having only mentioned them in this place. For the better methodizing the particulars of these games and exercises, it will be ne- cessary to begin with an account OF THE ATHLETE, OR COMBATANTS. The term athletes is derived from the Greek word fiflln^, which signifies labor, combat. This name was given to those who exercised themselves with design to dispute the prizes in the public games. The art by which they formed themselves for these encounters, was called gymnastic, from the athletae practising naked. Those who were designed for this profession, frequented, from their most tender age, the Gymnasia or Palaestra, which were a kind of academies maintained, for that pur- pose, at the public expense. In these places, such young people were under the direction of different masters, who employed the most effectual methods to inure their bodies for the fatigues of the public games, and to train them for the combats. The regimen they were under was very hard and severe. At first they had no other nourishment than dried figs, nuts, soft cheese, and a gross heavy sort of bread called //. They were absolutely forbidden the use of wine, and enjoined continence; which Horace expresses thus : Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metani Multa tulit fecit jue nuer ; sudavil et alsit, Abstinuit venere et vino. Who in the Olympic race the prize would gain Has borne from enrly youth fatigue and pain ; Excess of heat and cold has often try'd, Love's softness banish'd, and the glass denied.* St. Paul, by an illusion to the athletae, exhorts the Corin- thians, near whose city the Isthmian games were celebrated, to a sober and penitent life. Those who strive, says he, for the mastery, are temperate in all thinys : now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, we an incorruptible. Tertullian uses the same thought to encourage the martyrs. He makes a comparison from what the hopes of victory made the *Art. Poet. v. 412. 70 IXTRODUrTTOX. athletae endure. He repeats the severe and painful exercises they were obliged to undergo ; the continual denial and con- straint in Avhich they passed the best years of their lives ; and the voluntary privation which they- imposed upon them- selves of all that was most affecting and grateful to their passions.* It is true, the athletae did not always observe so severe a regimen, but at length substituted in its stead a voracity and indolence extremely remote from it. The athletae, before their exercises were rubbed with oils and ointments, to make their bodies more supple and vigorous. At first they made use of a belt, with an apron or scarf fastened to it, for their more decent appearance in the combats; but one of the combatants happening to lose the victory by this covering's falling off, that accident was the occasion of sacrificing modesty to convenience, and retrench- ing the apron for the future. The athletae were only naked in some exercises, as wrestling, boxing, the pancratium, and the foot-race. They practised a kind of novitiate in the Gymnasia for ten months, to accomplish themselves in the several exercises by assiduous application ; and this they did in the presence of such as curiosity or idleness conducted to look on. But when the celebration of the Olympic games drew nigh, the athletae who were to appear in them were kept to double exercise. Before they were admitted to combat, other proofs were required. As to birth, none but Greeks were to be received. It was also necessary that their manners should be unexcep- tionable, and their condition free. No foreigner was admit- ted to combat in the Olympic games ; and when Alexander, the son of Amyntas, king of Macedon, presented himself to dispute the prize, his competitors, Avithout any regard to the royal dignity, opposed his reception as a Macedonian, and consequently a barbarian and a stranger ; nor could the judges be prevailed upon to admit him till he had proved in due form, his family originally descended from the Ar- gives. The persons who presided in the games, called Ayono- thetaz, Athlotheta?,, and Hellanodicoe, registered the name and country of each champion ; and upon the opening of the games, a herald proclaimed the names of the combatants. They were then made to take an oath, that they would reli- giously observe the several laws prescribed in each kind of * Nempe enim et athletse segregantur ad strictioreni disciplinary ut robori sedificando vacent ; contiteiitur a luxuria, a cibis Iseiioribus, & poiu jucuudiore; coguniur, cruciautur, fatigantur. Tertul. ad Martyr. INTRODUCTION. 71 combat, and to do nothing contrary to the established orders and regulations of the games. Fraud, artifice, and excessive violence, were absolutely prohibited ; and the maxim so generally received elsewhere, that it is indifferent whether an enemy is conquered by deceit or valor, was banished from these combats.* The address of a combatant expert in all the niceties of his art, who knows how to shift and ward dexterously, to put the change upon his adversary with art and subtlety, and to improve the least advantages, must not be confounded here with the cowardly and knavish cun- ning of one, who, without regard to the laws prescribed, em- ploys the most unfair means to vanquish his competitor. Those who disputed the prize in the several kinds of combats, drew lots for their precedency in them. It is time to bring our champions to blows, and to run over the different kinds of combats, in which they exercised themselves. OF WRESTLING. Wrestling is one of the most ancient exercises of which we have any knowledge, having been practised in the time of the patriarchs, as the wrestling of the angel with Jacob proves. Jacob supported the angel's attacks so vigorously, that the latter, perceiving that he could not throw so rough a wrestler, was induced to make him lame, by touching the sinew of his thigh, which immediately shrunk up.f Wrestling among the Greeks, as well as other nations, was practised at first with simplicity, little art, and in a natural manner ; the weight of the body and the strength of the muscles having more share in it than address and skill. Theseus was the first that reduced it to method, and refined it with the rules of art. He was also the first who established the public schools called Palcestrce, where the young people had masters to instruct them in it. The wrestlers, before they began their combats, were rubbed all over in a rough manner, and afterwards anointed with oils, which added to the strength and flexibility of their limbs. But as this unction, by making the skin too slippery, rendered it difficult for them to take hold of each other, they remedied that inconvenience, sometimes by rolling them-." selves in the dust of the Palaestrae, sometimes by throwing a fine sand upon each other, kept for that purpose in the Xystae, or porticoes of the Gymnasia. * Dolus aii virtus, quis iu noste requirat ? t Gen. xxxii. 24 72 ' IXTKODUCTIOX. Thus prepared, the wrestlers began their combat. They were matched two against two, and sometimes several cou- ples contended at the same time. In this combat, the whole aim and design of the wrestlers was to throw their adver- sary upon the ground. Both strength and art were employ- ed to this purpose ; they seized each other by the arms, drew forwards, pushed backwards, used many distortions and twistings of the body ; locking their limbs into each other's, seizing by the neck, throttling, pressing in their arms, struggling, plying on all sides, lifting from the ground, dash- ing their heads together like rams, and twisting one another's necks. The most considerable advantage in the wrestler's art, was to make himself master of his adversary's legs, of which a fall was the immediate consequence. From whence Plautus says, in his Pseudolus, speaking of wine. He is a dangerous wrestler, he presently takes one by the heels* The Greek terms f>iti>ffxsh'^stv and -Krspvi^t^ and the Latin word supplantare, seem to imply, that one of these arts consisted in stooping down- to seize the antagonist under the soles of his feet, and in raising them up to give him a fall. In this manner the athletse wrestled standing, the combat ending with the fall of one of the competitors. But when it happened that the wrestler who was down drew his adver- sary along with him, either by art or accident, the combat continued upon the sand, the antagonists tumbling and twin- ing with each other in a thousand different ways, till one of them got uppermost, and compelled the other to ask quarter, and confess himself vanquished. There was a third sort of wrestling called 4xp tt X st P u T/w~i from the athlete's ui ing only their hands in it, without taking hold of the body as in the other kinds ; and this exercise served as a prelude to "the greater combat. It consisted in intermingling their fingers and in squeezing them with all their force ; in pushing one another, by joining the palms of their hands together ; in twisting their fingers, wrists, and other joints of the arm, without the assistance of any other member ; and the victory was his who obliged his opponent to ask quarter. The combatants were to fight three times successively, and to throw their antagonist at least twice, before the prize could be adjudged to them. Homer describes the wrestling of Ajax and Ulysses ; Ovid, that of Hercules and Achelous ; Lucan, of Hercules * Captat pedes priimim, luotator dolosus est. INTRODUCTION. 73 and Antaeus ; and Statins, in his Thebaid, that of Tydeus and Agylleus.* The wrestlers of greatest reputation among the Greeks, were Milo of Crotona, Avhose history I have related else- where at large, and Polydamas. The latter, alone and with- out arms, killed a furious lion upon Mount Olympus, in imitation of Hercules, whom he proposed to himself as a model in this action. Another time, having seized a bull by one of his hinder legs, the beast could riot get loose without leaving his hoof in his hands. He could hold a chariot be- hind, while the coachman whipped his horses in vain to make them go forward. Darius Nothus, king of Persia, hearing of his prodigious strength, was desirous of seeing him, arid invited him to Susa. Three soldiers of that prince's guard, and of that band which the Persians call immortal, esteemed the most warlike of their troops, were ordered to fall upon him. Our champion foiight and killed them all three. OP BOXING, OR THE CESTUS. Boxing is a combat at blows with the fist, from whence it derives its name. The combatants covered their fists with a kind of offensive arms, called cestus, and their heads with a sort of leather cap, to defend their temples and ears, which were most exposed to blows, and to deaden their violence. The cestus was a kind of gauntlet or glove, made of straps of leather, and plated with brass, lead, or iron. Their use was to strengthen the hands of the combatants, and to add violence to their blows. Sometimes the athletae came immediately to the most violent blows, and began their charge in the most furious manner. Sometimes whole hours passed in harassing and fatiguing each other, by a continual extension of their arms, rendering each other's blows ineffectual, and endeavoring in that manner of defence to keep off their adversary. But when they fought with the utmost fury, they aimed chiefly at the head and face, which parts they were most careful to defend by either avoiding or parrying the blows made -at them. When a combatant came to throw himself with all his force and vigor upon another, they had a surprising ad- dress in avoiding the attack, by a nimble turn of the body, which threw the imprudent adversary down, and deprived him of the victory. * Iliad. 1. xxiii. v. 708, &c. Ovid. Metani. 1. ix. v. 31, &c. Pliars. 1. iv. v. 712. Stat. i. vi. v. &47. 74 INTRODUCTION. However fierce the combatants were against each other, their being exhausted by the length of the combat would frequently reduce them to the necessity of making a truce, upon which the battle was suspended for some minutes, that were employed in recovering from their fatigue, and rubbing off the sweat in which they were bathed ; after which they renewed the fight, till one of them, by letting fall his arms through weakness, or by swooning awav, explained that he could no longer support the pain or fatigue, and desired quarter ; which was confessing himself vanquished. Boxing was one of the most rude and dangerous of the gymnastic combats ; because, besides the danger of being crippled, the combatants ran the hazard of their lives. They sometimes fell down dead, or dying, upon the sand ; though that seldom happened, except the vanquished person per- sisted in not acknowledging his defeat ; yet it was common for them to quit the fight with a countenance so disfigured, that it was not easy to know them afterwards ; carrying away with them the sad marks of their vigorous resistance, such as bruises and contusions in the f :ice, the loss of an eye, their teeth knocked out, their jaws broken, or some more considerable fracture. We find in the poets, both Latin and Greek, several descriptions of this kind of combat. In Homer, that of Epeus and Euryalus ; in Theocritus, of Pollux and Amycus ; in Appollonius Rhodius, the same battle of Pollux and Amycus ; in Virgil, that of Dares and Entellus ; and in Statius, and Valerius Flaccus, of several other combatants.* OF THE PANCRATIUM. The pancratium was so called from two Greek words, f which signify that the whole force of the body was necessary for succeeding in it. It united boxing and wrestling in the same fight, borrowing from one its manner of struggling and flinging, and from the other, the art of dealing blows, and of avoiding them with success. In wrestling it was not per- mitted to strike with the hand, nor in boxing to seize each other in the manner of wrestlers ; but in the pancratium, it was not only allowed to make use of all the gripes and arti- fices of wrestling, but the hands and feet, and even the teeth and nails, might be employed to conquer an antagonist. This combat was the most rough and dangerous. A * Dioscor. Idyl. xxii. Argonaut, lib. ii. ^Eneid. 1. v. Thabaid. 1. vii. At* gonaut. 1. iv. | Hoc Kpdro:. INTRODUCTION-. 75 pancratist in the Olympic games (called Arrichion, or Ar- rachion,) perceiving himself almost suffocated by his ad- versary, who had got fast hold of him by the throat, at the same time that he held him by the foot, broke one of his enemy's toes, the extreme anguish of which obliged him to ask quarter at the very instant Arrichion himself expired. The agonothette crowned Arrichion, though dead, and pro- claimed him victor. Philostratus has left us a very lively description of a painting, which represented this combat. OF THE DISCUS, OB QUOIT. This discus was a kind of quoit of a round form, made sometimes of wood, but more frequently of stone, lead, or other metal, as iron or brass. Those who used this exercise were called discoboli, that is, flingers of the discus. The epithet 7.a-tui>.fifti<>~, which signifies borne upon the shoulders, given to this instrument by Homer, sufficiently shows, that it was of too great a weight to be carried from place to place in the hands only, and that the shoulders were necessary for the support of such a burden any length of time. The intent of this exei*cise, as of almost all the others, was to invigorate the body, and to make men more capable of supporting the weight and use of arms. In war they were often obliged to carry such loads as appear excessive in these days, either of provisions, fascines, pallisades, or in scaling the Avails, when, to equal the height of them, several of the besiegers mounted upon the shoulders of each other. The athlete, in hurling tne discus, put themselves into the posture best adapted to add force to their cast. They advanced one foot, upon which, leaning the whole weight of their bodies, they poised the discus in their hands, and then whirling it round several times almost horizontally, to add force to its motion, they threw it off with the joint strength of hands, arms, and body, which had all a share in the vigor of the discharge. He that threw the discizs farthest was the victor. The most famous painters and sculptors of antiquity, in their endeavors to represent naturally the attitudes of the discoboli, have left posterity many master-pieces in their several arts. Quintilian exceedingly extoles a statue of that kind, which had been finished with infinite care and applica- tion by the celebrated Myron : What can be more finished, says he, or express more happily the muscular distortions 76 INTRODUCTION. of the body in the exercise of the discus, than the Discobolus of Myron?* OF THE PENTATHLUM. The Greeks gave this name to an exercise composed of five others. It is the common opinion, that those five exer- cises were wrestling, running, leaping, throwing the dart, and the discus. It is believed that this sort of combat was de- cided in one day, and sometimes the same morning; and that the prize, which was single, could not be given but to the victor in all those exercises. The exercise of leaping, and throwing the javelin, of which the first consisted in leaping a certain length, and the other in hitting a mark with a javelin, at a certain distance, contributed to the forming of a soldier, by making him nim- ble and active in battle, and expert in throwing the spear and dart. OF EACES. Of all the exercises Avhich the athletffi cultivated with so much pains and industry, to enable them to appear in the public games, running was in the highest estimation, and held the foremost rank. The Olympic games generally opened with races, and were solemnized at first with no other exercise. The place where the Athletaa exercised themselves in running, was generally called the stadium by the Greeks ; as was that wherein they disputed in earnest for the prize. As the lists or course for these games was at first but one stadium in length, it took its name from its measure, and was called the stadium,t whether precisely of that extent, or of a much greater. Under that denomination was in- cluded, not only the space in which the athletas ran, but also that which contained the spectators of the gymnastic games. The place where the athletas contended was called scamma, from its lying lower than the rest of the stadium, on each side of which, and at its extremity, ran an ascent or kind of terrace, covered with seats and benches, upon which the spectators were seated. The most remarkable Quid tain dis.ortum et elaboratum, quani est ille Discobolus Myronis? Quintil. lib ii. cap. 13. f The stadium was a hmd-measur. among the Greeks, and was, according to Herodotus, lib. ii. e. 149, six hundred feet in extent. Piiny says, lib. ii. c. i':'>, that it was six hundred and twenty-five. Those two authors perhaps agree, eon-ider- ins; the difference between ihe Greek and Roman foot ; besides which, the length of the stadium varies, acco.-diug to the difleroucj of times and places. INTRODUCTION". 77 parts of the stadium were its entrance, middle, and ex- tremity. The entrance of the course, from whence the competi- tors started, was marked at first only by a line drawn on the sand, from side to side of the stadium. To that at length was substituted a kind of barrier, which Avas ou\v a cord strained tight in the front of the horses or men that were to run. It was sometimes a rail of wood. The open- ing of this barrier was a signal for the racers to start. The middle of the stadium was remarkable only by the circumstance of having the prizes allotted to the victors set up there. St. Chrysostom draws a fine comparison from this custom. As the judges, says he, in the races and other games, expose in the midst of the stadium, to the mew of the champions, the croicns ichich they are to receive ; in like manner the Lord, by the mouth of his prophets, has placed the prizes in the midst of the course, ichich he de- signs for those who have the courage to contend for them* At the extremity of the stadium was a goal where the foot races ended ; but in those of the chariots and horses they Avere to run several times round it, without stopping, and afterwards conclude the race by regaining the other ex- tremity of the lists, from whence they started. There were three kinds of races, the chariot, the horse, and the foot-race. I shall begin with the last as the most simple, natural, and ancient. I. OF THE FOOT-RACE. The runners, of whatever number they were, ranged themselves in a line, after ha\ r ing draAvn lots for their places. While they \vaited the signal to start, they practised, by way of prelude, various motions to aAvaken their activity, and to keep their limbs pliable and in a right temper. | * Horn. lv. in Mattb. c. 16. t Tune rite citatos Explorant, acuimtque gradus, variasque per artes Instimulant docto languentia membra tinnultu. Poplite nunc flexo sidunt, iiunc lubriua forti Pectora eollidunt plausu ; mine ignea tolliint Crura, brevemque f ugam nee opino fine repomuit. Stat. Theb. lib. vi. v. 587, &c. They try, they rouse their speed, with various arts ; Their languid limbs they prompt to act their parts. Now with bent hams, amidst the practis'd crowd, They sit ; now strain their lungs, and shout aloud ; Now" a short flight with fiery steps threy trace. And with a suddeii stop abridge the mimic race. 73 INTRODUCTION. They kept themselves breathing by small leaps, and making short excursions, which were a kind of trial of their speed and agility. Upon the signal being given, they flew to- wards the goal, with a rapidity scarce to be followed by the eye, which was solely to decide the victory ; for the agon- istic laws prohibited, under the penalty of infamy, the at- taining it by any foul method. In the simple race, the extent of the stadium was run but once, at the end of which the prize attended the victor, that is, he who came in first. In the race called Jf'y/-, the competitors ran twice that length, that is, after having arrived at the goal, they returned to the barrier. To these may be added a third sort, called J^/r^oc, which was the longest of all, as its name implies, and was composed of several diauli. Sometimes it consisted of twenty-four stadia backward and forward, turning twelve times around the goal. There were runners in ancient times, as well among the Greeks as Romans, who were much celebrated for their swiftness. * Pliny tells us, that it was thought prodigious in Phidippides to run eleven hundred and forty stadia | be- tween Athens and Lacedasmon in the space of two days, till Anystis, of the latter place, and Philonides, the runner of Alexander the Great, went twelve hundred stadia $ in one day, from Sicyon to Elis. These runners were denomi- nated ijtj.puft(H>!).j-, as we find in that passage of Herodotus which mentions Phidippides. In the consulate of Fonteius and Vipsanus, in the reign of Nero, a boy of nine years old ran seventy-five thousand paces |j between noon and night. Pliny adds, that in his time there were runners, who ran one hundred and sixty thousand paces If in the circus. Our wonder at such a prodigious speed will increase, continues he,** if we reflect, that when Tiberius went to Germany to his brother Drusus, then at the point of death, he could not arrive there in less than four-and-twenty hours, though the distance was but tAvo hundred thousand paces,ff and he changed his carriage three times, |$ and went with the utmost diligence. * Plin. 1. vii. c. 20. T Fifty-seven leagues. t Sixty leagues. t Herod. 1. vi. c, 106. || Thirty leagues. 1 More than 53 leagues. Val. Max. 1. v. c. 5. tt Sixty-seven leagues. tt He had only a guide and one officer with him. INTRODUCTIONS 79 IT. OF THE HORSE-RACES. The race of a single horse with a rider was less cele- brated by the ancients, yet it had its favorers among the most considerable persons, and even kings themselves, and was attended with uncommon glory to the victor. Pindar, in his first ode, celebrates a victory of this kind, obtained by Hiero, king of Syracuse, to whom he gives the title of A'lr]<;, that is, victor in the horse-race / which name was given to the horses carrying only a single rider, /IE'/TJTEC. Sometimes the rider led another horse by the bridle, and then the horses were called clesultorii, and their riders de- sultores / because, after a number of turns in the stadium, they changed horses, by dexterously vaulting from one to the other. A surprising address was necessary upon this occasion, especially in an age unacquainted with the use 'of stirrups, and when the horses had no saddles, which made the leap still more difficult. Among the African troops there were also cavalry called desultores, who vaulted from one horse to another, as occasion required, and these were gen- erally Numidians.* HT. OF THE CHARIOT-RACES. This kind of race was the most renowned of all the exercises used in the games of the ancients, and that from whence most honor redounded to the victors ; which is not to be wondered at, if we consider whence it arose. It is plain that it was derived from the constant custom of princes, heroes, and great men, of fighting in battle upon chariots. Homer lias an infinity of examples of this kind. This being admitted as a custom, it is natural to suppose it very agree- able to these heroes, to have their charioteers as expert as possible in driving, as their success depended, in a very great measure, upon the address of their drivers. It was anciently, therefore, only to persons of the first consideration, that this office was confided. Hence arose a laudable emu- lation to excel others in the art of guiding a chariot, and a kind of necessity to practise it very much, in order to" suc- ceed. The high rank of the persons who made use of chariots, ennobled, as it always happens, an exercise peculiar to them. *Xec omnes Nunridie indextro loeaticornu,sed quibus desultorum in modum bines tralientibus equos, inter acerrimam ssepe pugnam, in recenlem equum ex fesso armatis, transiiltare mos erat ; tanla velocitas ipsis, tamque docile equorum genus est. Liv. lib. xxiii. 80 , INTRODUCTION. The other exercises were adapted to private soldiers and horsemen, as wrestling, running, and the single horse-race ; but the use of chariots in the field was always reserved to princes and generals of armies. Hence it was, that all those who presented themselves in the Olympic games to dispute the prize in the chariot-races, were persons considerable either for their riches, their birth, their employments, or great actions. Kings themselves eager- ly aspired to this glory, from the belief that the title of victor in these games, was scarce inferior to that of conqueror, and that the Olympic palm added new dignity to the splendors of a throne. Pindar's odes inform us, that Gelon and Hiero, kings of Syracuse, were of that opinion. Dionysius, who reigned there long after them, carried the same ambition much higher. Philip of Macedon had these victories stamped upon his coins, and seemed as much gratified with them, as with those obtained against the enemies of his state. All the world knows the answer of Alexander the Great on this subject. When his friends asked him, whether he Avould dispute the prize of the races in these games ? Yes, said he, if kings were to be my antagonists.* Which shows that he would not have disdained these contests, if there had been competitors in them worthy of him. The chariots were generally drawn by two or four horses abreast ; bigce, quadriga?. Sometimes mules supplied the place ot horses, and then the chariot was called a-r^. Pindar, in the fifth ode of his first book, celebrates one Psau- mis, who had obtained a triple victory ; one by a chariot drawn by four horses, rsdp'.-x-w; another by one drawn by mules, a-Tj-sri ; and the third by a single horse, xl/j-t, which the title of the ode expresses. These chariots, upon a signal given, started together from a place called Carceres. Their places were regulated by lot, which was not an indifferent circumstance to the victory ; for as they were to turn round a boundary, the chariot on the left was nearer than those on the right, which in conse- quence had a greater compass to take. It appears from several passages in Pindar, and especially from one in Sopho- cles, which I shall cite very soon, that they ran twelve times round the stadium. He that came in first the twelfth round was victor. The chief art consisted in taking the best ground at the turning of the boundary ; for if the charioteer drove too near it, he was in danger of dashing the chariot to pieces ; * Plat, in Alex. p. 666. INTRODUCTION. 81 and if he kept too wide of it, his nearest antagonist might pass inside of him, and get foremost. It is obvious that these chariot-races could not be run without some danger : for as the motion of the wheels was very rapid, and grazed against the boundary in turning, the least error in driving would h ve broke the chariot in pieces, and might have dangerously wounded the charioteer.* An example of which we find in the Electra of Sophocles, Avho gives an admirable description of a chariot-race run by ten competitors. The false Orestes, at the twelfth and last round, having only one antagonist, the rest having been thrown out, was so unfortunate as to break one of his Avheels against the boundary, and falling out of his seat entangled in the reins, the horses dragged him violently forward along with them, and tore him to pieces ; but this very seldom happened. To avoid such danger, Nestor gave the following directions to his son Antilochus, who Avas going to dispute the prize in the chariot-races. " My son," says he, " drive your horses as near as possible to the goal ; for Avhich reason, ahvays inclining your body over your chariot, get the left of your competitors, and encouraging the horse on the right, give him the rein, while the near horse, hard held, turns the boundary so close to it, that the nave of the Avheel seems to graze upon it ; but have a care of running, against the stone, lest you would wound your horses, and dash the chariot in pieces." f Father Montfaucon mentions a difficulty, in his opinion, of much importance in regard to the places of those who contended for the prize in the chariot-race. They all started, indeed, from the same line, and at the same time, and so far had no advantage of each other ; but he whose lot gaA r e him the first place, being nearest the boundary at the end of the career, and having but a small compass to describe in turn- ing about it, had less Avay to make than the second, third, fourth, etc., especially when the chariots were draAvn by four horses, Avhich took up a greater space betAveen the first and the others, and obliged them to make a larger circle in coming round. This advantage twelve times together, as it must happen, admitting the stadium Avas to be run round tweh'e times, gaA r e such a superiority to the first, as seemed to as- vure him infallibly of the victory against all his competitors. To me it seems that the fleetness of the horses, joined with * Metaque fervidis evilata rotis. Herat. Od. i. lib. i. The goal shunn'd by the burning wheels. t Horn. Iliad. 1. xxiii. v. 334, &c. 6 82 INTRODUCTION. the address of the driver, might countervail this odds, either by getting before the first, or by taking his place, i-f not in the first, at least, in some of the subsequent rounds ; for it is not to be supposed, that in the progress of the race, the antagonists always continued in the same order in which they started. They often changed places in a short interval of time, and in that variety and vicissitude consisted all the diversion of the spectators. It was not required that those who aspired to the victory should enter the lists, and drive their chariots in person. Their being spectators of the 'games, or even sending their horses thither, was sufficient ; but in either case, it was pre- viously necessary to register the names of the persons for whom the horses were to run, either in the chariot or single horse races. At the time that the city of Potidaea surrendered to Philip, three couriers brought him advices ; the first, that the Illyr- ians had been defeated in a great battle by his general Parmenio ; the second, that he had carried the prize of the horse-race in the Olympic games ; and the third, that the queen was delivered of a son. Plutarch seems to insinuate, that Philip was equally delighted with each of these circum- stances.* Hiero sent horses to Olympia, to run for the prize, and caused a magnificent pavilion to be erected for them. Upon this occasion Themistocles harangued the Greeks, to persuade them to pull down the tyrant's pavilion, who had refused his aid against the common enemy, and to hinder his horses from running with the rest. It does not appear that any regard was had to this remonstrance ; for Ave find by one of Pindar's odes, composed in honor of Hiero, that he won the prize in the equestrian races.f Xo one ever carried the ambition of making a great figure in the public games of Greece so far as Alcibiades, in which he distinguished himself in the most splendid manner, by the great number of horses and chariots which he kept only for the races. There never was either private person or king that sent, as he did, seven chariots at once to the Olympic games, wherein he carried the first, second, and third prizes ; an honor no one ever had before him.t The famous poet Euripides celebrated these victories in an ode, of which Plu- tarch has preserved a fragment in Vit. Alcib. The victor, * Plut. in Alex. p. 666. t Plut. in Themist. p. 124. t Plut. in Alcibiad. p. 196. INTRODUCTION. 83 after having made a sumptuous feast to Jupiter, gave a mag- nificent feast to the innumerable multitude of the spectators at the games. It is not easy to comprehend how the wealth oi a private person should suffice for so enormous an expense ; but Antisthenes, the scholar of Socrates, who relates what he saw, informs us, that many cities of the allies, in emula- tion with each other, supplied Alcibiades with all tilings necessary for the support of such incredible magnificence ; equipages, horses, tents, sacrifices, the most exquisite pro- visions, the most delicate wines ; in a word, all that was necessary to the support of his table or train. The passage is remarkable ; for the same author assures us, that this was not only done when Alcibiades went to the Olympic games, but in all his military expeditions and journeys by land or sea. " Whenever," says he, ' ; Alcibiades travelled, he made use of four of the allied cities as his servants. Ephesus fur- nished him with tents, as magnificent as those of the Persians ; Chios took care to provide for his horses ; C yzicum supplied him with sacrifices, and provisions for his table ; and Lesbos gave him wine, with all the other necessaries for his house." I must not omit, in speaking of the Olympic games, that the ladies were admitted to dispute the prize in them as well as the men ; which many of them obtained. Cynisca, sister of Agesilaus king of Sparta, first opened this new path of glory to her sex, and was proclaimed conqueror in the race of chariots with four horses.* This victory, which till then had no example, did not fail of being celebrated with all possible splendor.f A magnificent monument was erected in Sparta in honor of Cynisca ; and the Lacedaemo- nians, though otherwise very little sensible to the charms of poetry, appointed a poet to transmit this new triumph to posterity, and to immortalize its memory by an inscription in verse. J She herself dedicated a chariot of brass, drawn by four horses, in the temple of Delphos, in which the charioteer was also represented ; a certain proof that she did not drive it herself. In process of time, the picture of Cynisca, drawn by the famous Apelles, was annexed to it, and the whole adorned with many inscriptions in honor of that Spartan heroine. || OF THE HONORS AND REWARDS GRANTED TO THE VICTORS. These honors and rewards were of several kinds. The * PaiiKan. 1. iii. p. 172. t Pag. 28. t/Pag. 172. Id. 1. v. p. 309. | Pausan. 1. vi. p. 344. 84 INTRODUCTION. acclamations of the spectators in honor of the victors were only a prelude to the reAvards designed them. These re- wards were different wreaths of wild olive, pine, parsley, or laurel, according to the different places where the games were celebrated. Those crowns were always attended with branches of palm, that the victors carried in their right hand ; which custom, according to Plutarch, arose, perhaps, from the nature of the palm-tree, which displays new vigor the more endeavors are used to crush or bend it, and is a symbol of the champion's courage and resistance in the at- tainment of the prize.* As he might be victor more than once in the same games, and sometimes on the same day, he might also receive several crowns and palms. When the victor had received the crown and palm, a herald, preceded by a trumpet, conducted him through the stadium, and proclaimed aloud the name and country of the successful champion, who passed in that kind of review be- fore the people, while they redoubled their acclamations and applauses at the sight of him. When he returned to his own country, the people came out in a body to meet him, and conducted him into the city, adorned with all the marks of his victory, and riding upon a chariot drawn by four horses. He made his entry, not through the gates, but through a breach purposely made in the walls. Lighted torches were carried before him, and a numerous train followed to do honor to the pro- cession. The athletic triumph almost always concluded with feasts made for the victors, their relations and friends, either at the expense of the public, or by particular persons, who regaled not only their families and friends, but often a great part of the spectators. Alcibiades, after having sacrificed to the Olympian Jupiter, which was always the first care of the victor, treated the whole assembly.! Leophron did the same, as AthenaBus reports ; who adds, that Empedocles of Agrigentum, having conquered in the same games, and not having it in his power, being a Pythagorean, to regale the people with flesh or fish, he caused an ox to be made of a paste, composed of myrrh, incense and all sorts of spices, pieces of which were given to every person present.^ One of the most honorable privileges granted to the athletic victors, was the right of precedence at the public, games. At Sparta it was a custom for the king to take * Sympos. 1. viii. qusest. 4. t Tlut. in Alcib. p. 196. t Lib. i. p. 3. INTRODUCTION. 85 them with him in military expeditions, to fight near his per- son, and to be his guard; winch, with reason, was judged very honorable. Another privilege, in which advantage was united with honor, was that of being maintained for the rest of their lives at the expense of their country.* That this charge might not become too expensive to the state, Solon reduced the pension of a victor in the Olympic games to five hundred drachms ; f in the Isthmian to a hun- dred ; $ and in the rest in proportion. The victor and his country considered this pension less as a relief of the cham- pion's indigence, than as a mark of honor and distinction. They were also exempted from all civil offices and em- ployments. The celebration of the games being over, one of the first cares of the magistrates who presided in them, was to inscribe, in the public register, the name and country of the athletoj who had carried the prizes, and to annex the species of com- bat in which they had been victorious. The chariot-race h \([ the preference over all other games. From whence the historians, who date occurrences by the Olympiads, as Thucydides, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus, and Pausanias, almost always express the Olympiad by the name and country of the victors in that race. The praises of the victorious athletae were, among the Greeks, one of the principal subjects of the lyric poetry. We find that all the odes of the four books of Pindar turn upon it, each of which takes its title from the games, in which the combatants signalized themselves whose victories those poems celebrate. The poet, indeed, frequently en- riches his matter, by calling into the champion's assistance, incapable alone of inspiring all the enthusiam necessary, the aid of the gods, heroes, and princes, who have any re- 1 ition to his subject ; and to support the flights of imagina- tion, to which he abandons himself. Before Pindar, the poet Simonides practised the same manner of writing, in- termingling the praises of the gods and heroes, Avith those of the champions whose victories he sang. It is related, upon this head, that one of the victors in boxing, called Scopas, having agreed with Simonides for a poem upon his victory, the poet, according to custom, after having given the highest praises to the champion, expatiated in a long digression to the honor of Castor and Pollux. Scopas, * Diog. Laert. in Solon, p. 37. t About $47. J About $9. Cic. Orat. 1. ii. n. 352, 353. Phaed. 1. ii. Fab. 24. Quintil. 1. xi. c. 2. 86 INTRODUCTION satisfied in appearance with the performance of Simonides, paid him, however, only the third part of the sum agreed on, referring him for the remainder to the Tyndarides, whom he had celebrated so well. And in fact he was well paid by them, if we may believe the sequel : for, at the feast given by the champion, while the guests were at table, a servant came to Simonides, and told him, that two men, covered with dust and sweat, were at the door, and desired to speak with him in all haste. He had scarce set his foot- out of the chamber, in order to go to them, when the roof fell in, and crushed the champion with all his guests to death. Sculpture united with poetry to perpetuate the fame of the champions. Statues were erected to the victors, espe- cially in the Olympic games, in the very place where they had been crowned, and sometimes in that of their birth also ; which was commonly done fit the expense of their country. Among the statues which adorned Olympia, were those of several children of ten or twelve years old, who had obtained the prize at that age in the Olympic games. They did not only raise such monuments to the champions, but to the A'ery horses to whose swiftness they were indebted for the agonistic crown ; and Pausnnias mentions one, which was erected in honor of a mare, called Aura, whose history is worth repenting. Phidolas, her rider, having fallen off in the beginning of the race, the mare continued to run in the same manner as if he had been upon her back. She outstripped all the rest, and upon the sound of the trumpets, which was usual towards the end of the race to animate the competitors, she re,L ibled her vigor and courage, turned round the goal ; and, as if she had been sensible that she had gained the victory, presented herself before the judges of the games. The Eleans declared Phidolas victor, with permission to erect a monument to himself, and the mare that had served him so well. * THE DIFFERENT TASTE OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS, IN REGARD TO PUI5LIC SHOWS. Before I make an end of these remarks upon the com- bats and games, so much in estimation among the Greeks, I beg the reader's permission to make a reflection which may serve to explain the difference of character between the Greeks and Romans with regard to this subject. * Lib. vi. p. 368. INTRODUCTION-. 87 The most common entertainment of the latter, at which the. fair sex, by nature tender and compassionate, were pres- ent in throngs, was the combats of the gladiators, and of men with bears and lions ; in which the cries of the wounded and dying, and the abundant effusion of human blood, sup- plied the grateful spectacle for a, whole people, who feasted their cruel eyes with the savage pleasure of seeing men murder one another in cool blood ; and in the times of the persecutions, with the tearing in pieces of old men and in- fants, of women and tender virgins, whose age and weak- ness are apt to excite compassion in the hardest hearts. In Greece these combats were absolutely unknown, and were only introduced into some cities, after their subjection to the Roman people. The Athenians, however, whose distinguishing characteristics were benevolence and human- ity, never admitted them into their city; * and when it was proposed to introduce the combats of the gladiators, that they might not be outdone by the Corinthians in that point, First throw down, cried out an Athenian f from the midst of the assembly, the altar erected above a thousand years ago by our ancestors to Mercy. It must be allowed in this respect, that the conduct and wisdom of the Greeks was infinitely superior to that of the Romans. I speak of the wisdom of pagans. Convinced that the multitude, too much governed by the objects of sense to be sufficiently amused and entertained with the pleasures of the understanding, could be delighted only with sensible objects, both nations were studious to divert them with games and shows, and such external contrivances as were proper to affect the senses. In the institution of which, each evinced and followed its peculiar genius and disposition. The Romans, educated in war, and accustomed to bat- tles, retained notwithstanding the politeness upon which they piqued themselves, something of their ancient ferocity ; and hence it was, that the effusion of blood, and the mur- ders exhibited in their public shows, far from inspiring them with horror, formed a grateful entertainment to them. The insolent pomp of triumphs flowed from the same source, and argued no less inhumanity. To obtain this honor, it was necessary to prove, that eight or ten thousand men at least had been killed in battle. The spoils, which * Lucian. in Vit. Drtmonact. p. 1014. + It was IhMiionax, a celebrated philosopher, whose disciple Lucian had been. He flourished ill the reign of Marcus Aurelius. INTRODUCTION. were carried with so much ostentation, proclaimed, that an infinity of worthy families had been reduced to the utmost misery. The innumerable troop of captives had been free persons a few days before, and were often distinguishable for honor, merit, and virtue. The representation of the towns that had been taken in the war, explained that they had sacked, plundered, and burnt the most opulent cities, and either destroyed, or enslaved their inhabitants. In fine, nothing was more inhuman than to drag kings and princes in chains before, the chariot of a Roman citizen, and to in- sult their misfortunes and humiliation in that public manner. The triumphal arches, erected during the reign of the emperors, where the enemies appeared with chains upon their hands and legs, could proceed only from a haughty fierceness of disposition, and an inhuman pride, that took delight in immortalizing the shame and sorrow of subjected nations.* The joy of the Greeks after a victory was far more modest. They erected trophies indeed, but of wood, a sub- stance which time would soon consume ; and these it was prohibited to renew. Plutarch's reason for this is admir- able. After time had destroyed and obliterated the marks of dissension and enmity that had divided the people, it would have been the excess of odious and barbarous animos- ity to have thought of re-establishing them, and to have perpetuated the remembrance of ancient quarrels, which could not be buried too soon in silence and oblivion. He adds, that the trophies of stone and brass since substituted for those of wood, reflect no honor upon those who intro- duced the custom. f I am pleased with the grief depicted on Agesilaus's countenance, after a considerable victory, wherein a great number of his enemies, that is to say, of Greeks, were left upon the field, and to hear him utter, with sighs and groans, these words, so full of moderation and humanity, " Oh ! un- happy Greece, to deprive thyself of so many brave citizens, and to destroy those who had been sufficient to conquer all the barbarians. J " The same spirit of moderation and humanity prevailed in the public shows of the Greeks. Their festivals had nothing mournful or afflictive in them. Every thing in those * Plut. in Qusest. Rom. p. 273. t "Ori roil xpo^v TO. trrj^ieia rij? Trpb? TOVS jrflAe/ouous iiaopas a.fioivpovvro<; avTOiit avaAauSafctf Kai icaivoirot'i' firi6ovoi' etrri' KO.L iAa7T^8^/oioi'. t Plut. in Lacon. Apophthegm, p. 211. INTRODUCTION". 89 feasts tended to delight, friendship and harmony ; and in that consisted one of the greatest advantages which resulted to Greece from the solemnization of these games. The re- publics, separated by distance of country and diversity of interests, having the opportunity of meeting from time to time in the same place, and in the midst of rejoicing and festivity, allied more strictly with one another, stimulated each other against the barbarians and the common enemies of their liberty, and made up their differences by the media- tion of some neutral state in alliance with them. The same language, manners, sacrifices, exercises, and worship, all conspired to unite the several little states of Greece into one great and formidable nation, and to preserve among them the same disposition, the same principles, the same zeal for their liberty, and the same fondness for the arts and sci- ences. OF THE PRIZES OF WIT, AND THE SHOWS AND REPRESEN- TATIONS OF THE THEATRE. I have reserved for the conclusion of this head another kind of competition, which does not at all depend upon the strength, activity, and address of the body, and may be called with reason the combat of the mind ; wherein the orators, historians, and poets, made trial of their capacities, and submitted their productions to the censure and judg- ment of the public. The emulation in this sort of dispute was most lively and ardent, as the victory in question might justly be deemed to be infinitely superior to all the others, because it affects the man more nearly, is founded on his personal and internal qualities, and decides the merit of his wit and capacity ; which are advantages we are apt to aspire at with the utmost vivacity and passion, and of which we are least of all inclined to renounce the glory to others. It was a great honor, and at the same time a most sen- sible pleasure, for writers who are generally fond of fame and applause, to have known how to unite in their favor the suf- frages of so numerous and select an assembly as that of the Olympic games, in which were present all the finest geniuses of Greece, and all the best judges of the excellency of a work. This theatre was equally open to history, eloquence, and poetry. Herodotus read his history at*the Olympic games to all Greece, assembled at .them, and was heard with such ap- 90 INTRODUCTION. plause, that the names of the nine Muses were given to the nine books which compose his work, and the people cried out wherever he passed, That is he who has written our history, and celebrated our glorious successes against the barbarians so excellently.* All who had been present at the games afterwards made every part of Greece resound with the name and glory of this illustrious historian. Lucian, who writes the fact I have related, adds, that after the example of Herodotus, many of the sophists and rhetoricians went to Olympia to read the harangues of their composing ; finding that to be the shortest and most certain method of acquiring a great reputation in a little time. Plutarch observes, that Lysias, the famous Athenian orator, contemporary with Herodotus, pronounced a speech in the Olympic games, wherein he congratulated the Greeks upon their reconciliation with each other, and their having united to reduce the power of Dionysius the tyrant, as upon the greatest action they had ever done.f We may judge of the passion of the poets to signalize themselves in these solemn games, from tkat of Dionysius himself. J That prince, who had the foolish vanity to believe himself the most excellent poet of his time, appointed read- ers, called in the Greek 'p'/.^toJin (rhapsodists}, to read several pieces of his composing at Olympia. When they began to pronounce the verses of the royal poet, the strong and harmonious voices of the readers occasioned a profound silence, and they were heard at first with the greatest atten- tion, which continually decreased as they went on, and turned at last into downright horse-laughs and hooting ; so miserable did the verses appear. He comfortetl himself for this disgrace by a victory he gained some time after in the feast of Bacchus, at Athens, at which he caused a tragedy of his composition to be represented. The disputes of the poets in the Olympic games were nothing in comparison with the ardor and emulation that prevailed at Athens ; which is what remains to be said upon this subject, and therefore I shall conclude with it ; taking occasion to give my readers, at the same time, a short view of the shows and representations of the theatre of the an- cients. Those who would be more fully informed on this * Lucian. in Herod, p. 622. t Plut. de Vit. Orat. p. 836- J Diod. 1. xiv. p. 318. Ibid. 1. xv. p. 384. INTRODUCTION". 91 subject, will find it ti-eated at large in a work lately made public by the reverend father Brumoi, the Jesuit ; a work which abounds with profound knowledge and erudition, and with reflections entirely new, deduced from the nature of the poems of which it treats. I shall make considerable use of that work, and often without citing it ; which is not uncommon with me. EXTRAORDINARY PASSION OP THE ATHENIANS FOR THE EN- TERTAINMENTS OF THE STAGE. EMULATION OF THE POETS IN DISPUTING THE PRIZES OF THOSE REPRESENTATIONS. A SHORT IDEA OF DRAMATIC POETRY. No people ever expressed so much ardor and eagerness for the entertainments of the theatre as the Greeks, and especially the Athenians. The reason is obvious ; no people ever demonstrated such extent of genius, nor carried so far the love of eloquence and poesy, taste for the sciences, just- ness of sentiment, correctness of ear, and delicacy in all the refinements of language. A poor woman who sold herbs at Athens, discovered Theophrastus to be a stranger, by a sin- gle word which he affectedly made use of in expressing himself.* The common people got the tragedies of Eurip- ides by heart. The genius of every nation expresses itself in the people's manner of passing their time, and in their pleasures. The great employment and delight of the Athe- nians wei-e to amuse themselves with works of wit, and to judge of the dramatic pieces that were acted by public authority several times a year, especially at the feasts of Bacchus, when the tragic and comic poets disputed for the prize. The former used to present four of their pieces at a time, except Sophocles, who did not think fit to continue so laborious an exercise, and confined himself to one perform- ance when he disputed the prize. The state appointed judges, to determine upon the merit of the tragic or comic pieces, before they were represented in the festivals. They were acted before them in the pres- ence of the people, but undoubtedly with no great prepara- tion. The judges gave their suffrages, and that performance which had the most voices was declared victorious, received the crown as such, and was represented with all possible * Attica anus Theophrastum, lioiniiiem a'ioqni ilisertissimum, armotata unius ailectatioue verbi, hospitem dixit, Quint. 1. viii. c. 1. 92 INTRODUCTION. pomp at the expnse of the republic. This did not, however, exclude such pieces as were only in the second or third class. The best had not always the preference ; for what times have been exempt from party, caprice, ignorance, and prejudice ? ./Elian is very angry with the judges, who in one of these disputes, gave only the second place to Euripides. He ac- cuses them of judging either without capacity or of suffering themselves to be bribed.* It is easy to conceive the warmth and emulation which these disputes and public rewards ex- cited among the poets, and how much they contributed to the perfection to which Greece carried scenic performances. The dramatic poem introduces the persons themselves, speaking and acting upon the stage ; in the epic, on the contrary, the poet only relates the different adventures of his characters. It is natural to be delighted with fine de- scriptions of events, in which illustrious persons, and whole nations are interested ; and hence the epic poem had its origin. But we are quite differently affected with hearing those persons themselves, with being confidants of their most secret sentiments, and auditors and spectators of their reso- lutions, enterprises, and the happy or unhappy events attend- ing them. To read and see an action are quite different things. We are infinitely more moved with what is acted, than what we merely read. Our eyes, as well as our minds, are addressed at the same time. The spectator agreeably deceived by an imitation so nearly approaching life, mis- takes the picture for the original, and thinks the object real. This gave birth to dramatic poetry, which includes tragedy and comedy. To these may be added the satyric poem, which derives its name from the satyrs, rural gods, who were always the chief characters in it, and not from the satire, a kind of abusive poetry, which has no resemblance to this, and is of a much later date. The satyric poem was neither tragedy nor comedy, but something between both, participating of the character of each. The poets who disputed the prize, generally added one of these pieces to their tragedies, to allay the gravity and solemnity of the one, with the mirth and pleasantry of the other. There is but one example of this ancient poem come down to us, which is the Cyclops of Euripides. I shall confine myself upon this head, to tragedy and * .Elian. 1. ii. c. 9. INTRODUCTION. 93 comedy, both which had their origin among the Greeks, who looked upon them as fruits of their own growth, of which they could never have enough. Athens was remark- able for an extraordinary appetite of this kind. These two poems, which were for a long time comprised under the general name of tragedy, received there by degrees such improvements as at length raised them to the highest per- fection. THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF TRAGEDY POETS WHO EX- CELLED IN IT AT ATHENS ; AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES, AND EURIPIDES. There had been many tragic and comic poets before Thespis ; but as they had made no alteration in the original rude form of this poem, and as Thespis was the first that made any improvement in it, he was generally esteemed its inventor. Before him, tragedy was no more than a jumble of buffoon tales in the comic style, intermixed with the singing of a chorus in praise .of Ba'cchus ; for it is to the feasts of that god, celebrated at the time of the vintage, that tragedy owes its birth. La tragedie, informe et grossiere en naissant, N'etoitqu' un simple chojur, oil chacun en dansant, Et du dieu des raisins entonaiit les louanges S'efforcpit d'attirerde ferules vendanges. La, le vin et la joieeveillant les esprits, Du plus habile cliantre un bouc etoit le prix.* Formless and gross did tragedy arise. A simple chorus, rather mad than wise ; For fruitful vintages the dancing throng Koar'd to the God of grapes a drunken song : Wild mirth and wine sustain'd the frantic note, And the best singer had the prize, a goat. Thespis made several alterations in it, which Horace de- scribes after Aristotle, in his Art of Poetry. The first was to carry his actors about in a cart, whereas before, they used to sing in the streets, wherever chance led them. Another was, *to have their faces smeared over with wine- lees, instead of acting without disguise, as at first, f He * Boileau Art. Poet. Chant, iii . t Ignotum tragic* genus invenisse Camenae Dii-itur, et plaust is vexisse poemata Thespis, Qui canerent agerentque, peruncti fsecibusora. Hor. de Art. Poet. When Thespin first expos'd the tragic muse, Rude were ih actors, and a cart the scene ; Where ghastly fares, -mear'd with lees of wine, Frighted the children, and amused the crowd. Roscom. Art of Poet. 94 INTRODUCTIONS also introduced a character among the chorus, who, to give the actors time to rest themselves and to take breath, re- peated the adventures of some illustrious person ; which recital at length gave place to the subjects of tragedy. Thespis fut le premier, qui barbouille tie lie, Promena par les bosirgs cette heureisse foiie, Et d'aeteiirs mal orr.es chargeant un tombercau, Ainusa les passans d'un spectacle nouveau.* First Thespis, smearM with lees, and void of art, The grateful folly vented from ;icart; Aii:s drove about, The sight was new and charmed the gaping rout. Thespis lived in the time of Solon.f That wise legis- lator, upon seeing his pieces performed, expressed his dis- like, by striking his staff against the ground ; apprehending that these poetical fictions, and idle stories, from mere theatrical representations, would soon become matters of importance, and have too great a share in all public and private affairs. It is not so easy to invent as to improve the inventions of others. The alterations Thespis made in tragedy gave room for ^Eschylus to make new and more considerable ones of his own. He was born at Athens in the first year of the sixteenth Olympiad. J He took upon him the pro- fession of arms, at a time when the Athenians reckoned almost as many heroes as citizens. Pie was at the battles of Marathon, Salamis, and Platasa, where he did his duty. But his disposition called him elsewhere, and put him upon entering into another course, where no less glory was to be acquired, and where he was soon without any competitors. As a superior genius, he took upon him to reform, or rather to create tragedy anew ; of which he has, in consequence, been always acknowledged the inventor and father. Father Brumoi, in a dissertation which abounds with wit and good sense, explains the manner in which JEschylus conceived the true idea of tragedy from Homer's epic. poems. That poet himself used to say, that his Avorks were only copies in relievo of Homer's draughts, in the Iliad and Odyssey. Tragedy, therefore, took a new form under him. He gave masks to his actors, adorned them with robes and trains, and made them wear buskins. Instead of a cart he created a theatre of modern extent, and entirely changed * Boileau Art. Poet. Chant, iii. t A. M. 3440. Ant. J. C. 564. Plut. in Symp. p. 95- t A.M. 3464. Ant. J. C. 540. A. M. 3514. Ant. J. C.490. INTRODUCTION. 1)5 their style ; which from being merry and burlesque, as at first, became majestic and serious. * Eschyle dans le chreur jetta les personages ; B'UH masque plushoimete habilla les visages; Sur les ais d'un theatre en public exhansse Fit paroitre 1'acteurd'uu brodequin ehausse.t Froin ^Eschylusthe chorus learnt new grace ; He veil'd with decent masks the actors face, Taught him in bnskins first to tread the stage, And rais'd a theatre to please the age. But that was only the external part or body of tragedy. Its soul, which was the most important and essential addi- tion of JEschylus, consisted in the vivacity and spirit of the action, sxistained by the dialogue of the persons of the drama introduced by him ; in the artful working up of the stronger passions, especially of terror and pity, that, by al- ternately afflicting and agitating the soul with mournful or terrible objects, produce a grateful pleasure and delight from that very trouble and emotion ; in the choice of a sub- ject, great, noble, interesting, and contained within 'the true bounds by the unity of time, place, and action ; in fine, it is the conduct and disposition of the whole piece, which by the order and harmony of its parts, and the happy con- nection of its incidents and intrigues, holds the mind of the spectator in suspense till the catastrophe, and then re- stores him his tranquillity, and dismisses him with satis- faction. The chorus had been established before ^Eschylus, as it composed alone, or next to alone, what was then called tragedy. He did not, therefore, exclude it, but, on the con- trary, thought fit to incorporate it, to sing as chorus between the acts. Thus it supplied the interval of resting, and was a kind of person of the drama, employed either in giving useful counsels and salutary instructions, in espousing the part of innocence and virtue, in being the depository of secrets, and the avenger of violated religion, or in sustain- ing all those characters at the same time, according to Hor- * Post hunc personse pallneque repertor hpnestse ./Eschylus, etinodicisinstravit pulpita tignis, Et docuit magnumque loqui, nitique cothurno. Hor. de Art. Pot. This .Esehylus (with indignation) saw. And built a stage, found out a decent dress, Brought vizards in laciviler disguise,) And taught men how to speak, and how to act. Koscom. Art of Poet, t Boileau Art. Poet. 90 IXTRODUCTIOX. ace.* The coryphaeus, or principal person of the chorus, spoke for the rest. In one of ^Eschyhis's pieces, called the Eumenides, the poet represents Orestes at the bottom of the stage, sur- rounded by the furies, laid asleep by Apollo. Their figure must have been extremely horrible, as it is related, that upon their waking, and appearing tuinultuously on the thea- tre, where they were to act as a chorus, some women mis- carried with surprise, and several children died of the fright. The chorus at that time consisted of fifty actors. After this accident it was reduced to fifteen, by an express law, and at length to twelve. I have observed, that one of the alterations made by ^Eschylus in tragedy, was the mask worn by the actors. These dramatic masks had no resemblance to ours, which only cover the face, but were a kind of case for the whole head, and which, besides the features, represented the beard, the hair, the ears, and even the ornaments used by women in their head-dresses. These masks varied according to the different pieces that were acted. They are treated of at large in a dissertation of M. Boindin's, inserted in the Me- moirs of the Academy of Belles Letters.! I could never comprehend, as I have observed else- where,:}: in speaking of pronunciation, how masks came to continue so long upon the stage of the ancients ; for cer- tainly they could not be used, without considerably flatten- ing the spirit of the action, which is principally expressed in the countenance, the seat and mirror of what passes in the soul. Does it not often happen, that the blood, accprd- Actoris partes chorus offieiumque virile Defemlat ; lieu quid medics iutercinat actus, Quod lion propos-ito conducat, et hasreat apte. Ille bonis faveatque, et coiicilietur amicis, Etregat iratos, et amet peccare timentes. Ille dapes laudet mensfe breyis : ille salubrem Juatitiam. legesque. et apertis otia portis. Ille tegat commissa. deosque preeetur et oret, Ut redeat niiseris, abeat fortuna t-uperbis. Her. de Art. Poet The chorus should supply what action wants, And hath a generous and manly part : Bridles wild rage, loves rigid honesty, And strict observance of impartial laws, Sobriety, security and peace : And begs the gods to turn blind fortunes wheel, To raise the wretched, and pull down the proud ; But nothing mils' be sung between the acts, But what some way conduces to the plot. Roscom. Art of Poetry. t Vol. IV. J Manner of Teaching, &c., Vol. IV. INTRODUCTION". 97 ing to its being put in motion by different passions, some- times covers the face with a sudden and modest blush, sometimes cnflames it with the heat of rage and fury, some- times retires, leaving it pale witii fear, and at others, diffuses a calm and amiable serenity over it ? All these affections are strongly imagined and distinguished in the lineaments of the face. The mask deprives the features of this enei'gy of language, and of that life and soul by which it is the faithful interpreter of all the sentiments of the heart. I do not wonder, therefore, at Cicero's remark upon the action of Roscius. " Our ancestors," says he, " were better judges than we are. They could not wholly approve even of Roscius himself while he performed in a. mask." * .JEschylus was in the sole possession of the glory of the stage, with almost every voice in his favor, when a young rival made his appearance to dispute the palm Avith him. This was Sophocles. He was born at Colonos, a town in Attica, in the second year of the 71st Olympiad. His father was a blacksmith, or one that kept people of that trade to work for him. His first essay was a masterpiece. When, upon the occasion of Cymon having found the bones of Theseus, and their being brought to Athens, a dispute between the tragic poets was appointed, Sophocles entered the lists with ^Eschylus, and carried the prize against him. The ancient victor, laden till then with the wreaths he had acquired, believed them all lost by failing of the last, and withdrew in disgust into Sicily to king Hiero, the protector and patron of all the learned in disgrace at Athens. He died there soon after, in a very singular man- ner, if we may believe Suidas. As he lay asleep in the fields, with his head bare, an eagle, taking his bald crown for a stone, let a tortoise fall upon it, which, killed him. Of ninety, or at least seventy tragedies, composed by him, only seven are now extant. Nor have those of Sophocles escaped the injury of time better, though one hundred and seventeen in number, and, according to some, one hundred and thirty. He retained, to extreme old age, all the force and vigor of his genius, as appears from a circumstance in his histoiy. His children, unworthy of so great a father, under pretence that lie had lost his senses, summoned him before the judges, iu order to obtain a decree, that his estate might be taken from him, * Quo melius jiqstri illi senes, qui personalum, ne Eosciuiu quidem, inaguo pere laudabaut. Lib. iii. de Orat. n. 221. 98 and put into their hands. He made iv> other defence than to read a tragedy he was at that time composing 1 , called CEdipus at Colonos, with which the judges were so charmed, that lie carried his cause unanimously : and his children, de- tested "by the whole assembly, got nothing by their suit, but the shame an infamy due to such flagrant ingratitude. He was twenty times crowned victor. Some say he expired in repeating his Antigone, for want of power to recover his breath, alter a violent endeavor to pronounce a long period to the end. Others, that he died of joy upon his being de- clared victor, contrary to his expectations. The figure of a hive was placed upon his tomb, to perpetuate the name of bee, Avhich had been given him from the sweetness of his verses ; Avhence, it is probable, the notion was derived, of the bees having settled upon his lips when in his cradle. He died in his ninetieth year the fourth of the ninety-third Olympiad,* after having survh r ed Euripides six years, who was not so old as himself. The latter was born in the first year of the seventy-fifth Olympiad,! at Salamis, whither his father Menesarchus and his mother Clito had retired, when Xerxes was prepar- ing for his great expedition against Greece. He applied himself at first to philosophy, and among others, had the celebrated Anaxagoras for his master. But the danger in- curred by that gveat man, who was very near being made the victim of his philosophical tenets, inclined him to the study of poetry. He discovered in himself a genius for the drain a, unknown to him at first ; and employed it with such success, that he entered the lists with the greatest masters, of whom we have been speaking. His works sufficiently denote his profound application to philosophy. $ They abound with excellent maxims of morality; and it is in that view, Socrates .in his time, and Cicero long after him, set so high a value upon Euripides. One cannot sufficiently admire the extreme delicacy ex- pressed by the Athenian audience on certain occasions, and their solicitude to preserve the reverence due to morality, virtue, decency, and justice. It is surprising to observe the warmth with which they unanimously reproved what- ever seemed inconsistent with them, and called the poet to * A . M. 3590. Ant. J. C. 405. t A. M. 3524. Ant, J. C. 4.-0. $ Sententiis densus. et id iis quse a Kapientibus sunt, pene ipsis cst par. Quin- tal, lib. x. c. 1. Epibt Cui (Euripidi 1 ) qnantara credas nescio ; ego ccrte singula testimonia puto- St. viii. 1. 1-i, ud Faiuil. INTRODUCTION-. 99 nn account for it, notwithstanding his having the best founded excuse, giving such sentiments only to persons no- toriously vicious, and actuated by the most unjust passions. Euripides had put into the mouth of Bellerophon a pompous panegyric upon riches, which concluded with this thought : Eiclies are the supreme good of the human race, and with reason excite the admiration of the gods and men. The whole theatre cried out against these expres- sions, and he would have been banished directly, if he had not desired the sentence to be respited till the conclusion of the piece, in which the advocate for riches perished mis- erably. He was in danger of incurring serious inconveniences from an answer he puts into the mo:ith of Hippolytus. Phrasdra's nurse represented to him, that he had engaged himself under an inviolable oath to keep her secret. My tonaue, it is true, pronounced that oath, replied \w, but nnj heart f/ave no consent to it. This frivolous distinction ap- peared to the whole people, as an express contempt of reli- gion and the sanctity of an oath, that tended to banish all sincerity and good faith from society and the commerce of life. Another maxim advanced by Eteocles in a tragedy called the Phoenicians, and which Caesar had ; Sways in his mouth, is no less pernicious. If justice may be violated at all, it is when a throne is in question; in other respects let it be duly revered* It is highly criminal in Eteocles, or rather in Euripides, says Cicero, to made an exception in that very point, wherein such violation is the highest crime that can be committed. Eteocles is a tyi-ant, and speaks like a tyrant, who vindicates his unjust conduct by a false maxim ; and it is not strange, that Caesar, who was a tyrant by nature, and equally unjust, should lay great stress upon the sentiments of a prince whom he so much resembled. But what is remarkable in Cicero, is his falling upon the poet himself, and imputing to him as a crime, the having ad- vanced so pernicious a principle upon the stage. Lycurgus, the orator, who lived in the time of Philip and Alexander the Great, to reanimate the 'spirit of the * Ipse autem socer (Cassar) in ore semper Gr.-Bcos versus Euripidis de Poe.iiissis habebat. quos clicum ut potero, incondite fortasse, sed tamen ut res pos^it intel- ligi : Nam, si violand'im est jns, regnandi gratia Violandum est ; aliis rebus pietatem coins. Capitalis Eteoclea vel potius Euripides, qni id ununi, quod omnium scelera- . tissi muin fueri-L, exceperit Offic. 1. iii. n. 32 100 INTRODUCTION. tragic poets, caused three statues of brass to be erected in the name of the people to /Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripi- des ; and having ordered their works to be transcribed, he appointed them to be carefully preserved among the public archives, from whence they were taken from time to time to be read ; the players not being permitted to represent them on the stage. The reader expects, no doubt, after what has been said relating to the three poets who invented, improved and car- ried tragedy to its perfection, that I should discourse upon the peculiar excellencies of their style and character. For that I must refer to Father Brumio, Avho will do it much better than it is in my power. After having laid down, as an undoubted principle, that the epic poet, that is to say, Homer, pointed out the way for the tragic poets, and having demonstrated, by reflections drawn from human nature, upon what principles, and by what degrees, this happy imi- tation was conducted to its end, he goes on to describe the three poets above-mentioned in the most lively and shining colors. Tragedy took at first, from JEschylus its inventor, a much more lofty style than the Iliad ; that is, the magnum loqui mentioned by Horace. Perhaps JEschylus, who was its author, was too pompous, and carried the tragic style too high. It is not Homer's trumpet, but something more. His pompous, swelling, gigantic diction, resembles rather the beating of drums and the shouts of battle, than the no- bler harmony and silver sound of the trumpet. The eleva- tion and- grandeur of his genius would not permit him to speak the language of other men, so that his muse seemed rather to walk on stilts, than in the buskins of his own in- vention. Sophocles understood much better the true excellence of the dramatic style ; he therefore copies Homer more closely, and blends in his diction that honeyed sweetness, from whence he was denominated the bee, with a gravity that gives his tragedy the modest air of a matron, compelled to appear in public with dignity, as Horace expresses it. The style of Euripides, though noble, is less removed from the familiar ; and he seems to have affected rather the pathetic and the elegant, than the nervous and the lofty. As Corneille, says M. Brumoi in another place, after having opened to himself a path entirely new and unknown to the ancients, seems like an eagle towering in the clouds, INTRODUCTION. 101 from the sublimity, force, unbroken progress, and rapidity of his flight ; and as Racine, in copying the ancients, in a manner entirely his own, imitates the swan, that sometimes floats upon the air, sometimes rises, then falls again with an elegance of motion, and a grace peculiar to herself ; so ^fEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, have each of them a particular and characteristic method. The first, as the inven- tor and father of tragedy, is like a torrent rolling impetu- ously over rocks, forests, and precipices ; the second re- sembles a canal, which flows gently through delicious gar- dens ; * and the third a river, that does not follow its course in a continual line, but loves to turn and wind its silver wave through flowery meads and rural scenes. This is the character M. Brumoi gives of the three poets to whom the Athenian stage was indebted for its perfection in tragedy, ^schylus drew it out of its original chaos and confusion, and made it appear in some degree of lustre ; but it still retained the rude unfinished air of things in their beginning, which are generally defective in point of art or method. t Sophocles and Euripides added infinitely to the dignity of tragedy. The style of the first, as has been ob- served, is more noble and majestic ; of the latter, more tender and pathetic ; each perfect in its way. In this diversity of character, it is difficult to decide which is most excellent. The learned have always been divided upon this head ; as we are at this day, in regard to the two poets of our own nation, whose tragedies have made our stage illus- trious, and not inferior to that of Athens. $ I have observed, that tenderness and pathos distinguish the compositions of Euripides, of which Alexander of Pherse, the most cruel of tyrants, gave a striking proof. The bar- barous man, upon seeing the Troades of Euripides acted, found himself so moved with it, that he quitted the theatre before the conclusion of the play, professing that he was ashamed to be seen in tears for the distress of Hecuba and Andromache, when he had never shown the least compas- sion for his own citizens, of whom he had butchered such numbers. * I know not whether the idea of n canal t that flows gently through delicious gardens, may pioperly describe the character of Sophocles, which is peculiarly distinguished by nobleness, grandeur, and elevation. That of an impetuous and rapid stream, whose vvaveo, from the violence of their motion, are loud and to be heard afar oil', seems to me a more suitable image of that poet. t Tra.gedias primus in lucem JEschylus protulit : sublimis, et gravis, et graiidi- loquussjepe usque ail vitiuin ; sed rudis in plerisque et incompositus. Quintil. 1. x. c. 1. t Corueille and Kacine. 102 INTKODUCTION. When I speak of tenderness and pathos, I would not Toe understood to mean a passion that softens the heart into effeminacy, and which, to our reproach, is almost solely confined to our stage, though rejected by the ancients and condemned by the nations around us of greatest reputation for their genius, and taste in science and polite learning. The two great principles for moving the passions among the ancients, were terror and pity.* And indeed, as we natu- rally determine everything from its relation to ourselves, or our particular evils, the fear of the like misfortunes, with which we know that human life is on all sides invested, seizes upon us, and from a secret impulse of self-love, we find ourselves sensibly affected with the distresses of others : besides which, the sharing a common nature with the rest of our species, makes us sensible to whatever befalls them.t Upon a close and attentive inquiry into those two passions, they will be found the most deeply inherent, active, exten- sive, and general affections of the soid ; including all orders of men, great and small, rich and poor, of whatever age or condition. Hence the ancients, accustomed to consult nature, and to take her for their guide in all things, con- ceived terror and compassion to be the soul of tragedy ; and for this reason, that those affections ought to prevail in it. The passion of love was in no estimation among them, and had seldom any share in their dramatic pieces ; though with us it is a received opinion, that they cannot be supported without it. It is worth our trouble to examine briefly in what man- ner this passion, which has always been deemed a weakness and a blemish in the greatest characters, got such footing upon our stage. Conieille, who was the first who brought the French tragedy to any perfection, and whom all the rest have followed, found the whole nation enamored to madness with the perusal of romances, and little disposed to admire any thing not resembling them. From the desire of pleas- ing his audience, who Avere at the same time his judges, he endeavored to move them in the same manner as they had been accustomed to be affected ; and by introducing love in his scenes, to bring them the nearer to the predominant taste of the age for romance. From the same source arose that multiplicity of incidents, episodes, and adventures, with which our tragic pieces are crowded and obscured, so con- trary to probability, which will not admit such a number of **6/3oy KO.L lAfos t Homo sum human! niliii ;t uiualiuiiuui puto. Ter. INTRODUCTION. 103 extraordinary and surprising events in the short space of four-and-twenty hours ; so contrary to the simplicity of nn- cleni tragedy, and so adapted to conceal, in the assemblage of so many different objects, the sterility of the genius of a poet, more intent upon the marvellous, than upon the probable and natural. Both the Greeks and Romans have preferred the iambic to the heroic verse in their tragedies ; not only because the first has a kind of dignity better adapted to the stage, hut while it approaches nearer to prose, retains sufficiently the air of poetry to please -the ear ; and yet has too little of it to put the audience in mind of the poet, Avho ought not to appear at all in representations, where other persons are supposed to speak and act. Monsieur Dacier makes a very just reflection on this subject. He says, that it is the mis- fortune of our tragedy to have almost no other verse than what it has in common with epic poetry, elegy, pastoral, satire, and comedy ; whereas the learned languages have a great variety of versification. This inconvenience is highly obvious in the French tragedy ; which necessarily loses sight of nature and prob- ability, as it obliges heroes, princes, kings, and queens to express themselves in a pompous strain in their familiar conversation, which it would be i-idiculous to attempt in real life. The giving utterance to the most impetuous pas- sions in a uniform cadence, and by hemistichs and rhymes, would undoubtedly be tedious and offensive to the ear, if the charms of poetry, the elegance of expression, the spirit of the sentiments, and, perhaps, more than all, the resistless force of custom, had not in a manner subjected our reason, and spread a veil before our judgment. It was not chance, therefore, which suggested to the Greeks the use of iambics in their tragedy. Nature itself seems to have dictated that kind of verse to them. In- structed by the same unerring guide, they made choice of a different versification for the chorus, better adapted to the motions of the dance, and the variations of the song ; because it was necessary for poetry to shine but in all its lustre, while the mere conversation between the real actors was suspended. The chorus was an embellishment of the repi'esentation, and a relaxation to the audience, and there- fore required more exalted poetry and numbers to support it, when united with music and dancing. 104 IXTRODFCTIOSr. OF THE AXCIENT, MIDDLE, AND XEW COMEDY. While tragedy was thus rising in perfection at Athens, comedy, the second species of dramatic poetry, and which, till then, had been much neglected, began to be cultivated with more attention. Nature was the common parent of both. We are sensibly affected with the dangers, distresses, misfortunes, and, in a word, with whatever relates to the lives and conduct of illustrious persons ; and this gave birth to tragedy. We are as curious to know the adventures, conduct, and defects of our equals, which supply us with occasions of laughing and being merry at the expense of others. Hence originated comedy, which is properly an image of private life. Its design is to expose defects and vice upon the stage, and by ridiculing them, to make them contemptible ; and consequently to instruct by diverting. Ridicule, therefore (or to express the same word by another, pleasantry), ought to prevail in comedy. This species of entertainment took, at different times, three different forms, at Athens, as Avell from the genius of the poets, as from the influence of the government ; which occasioned various alterations in it. The ancient comedy, so called by. Horace, and which he dates after the time of ^Eschylus, retained something of its original rudeness, and the liberty it had been used to take of coarse jesting and reviling spectators, from the cart of Thespis.* Though it was become regular in its plan, and worthy of a great theatre, it had not learnt to be more re- served. It represented real transactions, with the names, habits, gestures, and likeness in inasks, of whomsoever it thought fit to sacrifice to the public diversion. In a state where it was held good policy to unmask whatever carried the air of ambition, singularity or knavery, comedy as- sumed the privilege to harangue, reform, and advise the people, upon the most important occasions and interests. No one was spared in a city of so much liberty, or rather license, as Athens was at that lime. Generals, magistrates, government, the very gods, were abandoned to the poet's satirical vein ; and all was well received, providing the comedy was diverting, and the Attic salt not wanting. In one of these comedies, not only the priest of Jupiter determines to quit his service, because no more sacrifices are * Success! t vetusbis ConiocUia non sine multa. Laude. Hor. in Art. Poet. INTRODUCTION. ' 105 offered to the god ; but Mercury himself comes in a starving condition, to seek his fortune among mankind, and offers to serve as a porter, sutler, bailiff, guide, door-keeper ; in short, in any capacity, rather than to return to heaven.* In another, f the same gods, reduced to the extremity of fam- ine, from the birds having built a city in the air, whereby their provisions are cut off, and the smoke of incense and sacrifices prevented from ascending to heaven, depute three ambassadors in the name of Jupiter to conclude a treaty of accommodation with the birds, upon such conditions as they shall approve. The chamber of audience, where the three famished gods are received, is a kitchen well stored with excellent game of all sorts. Here Hercules, deeply smitten with the smell of roast meat, which he apprehends to be more exquisite and nutritious than that of incense, begs leave to make his abode, and to turn the spit, and assist the cook upon occasions. The other pieces of Aristophanes abound with strokes still more satirical and severe upon the prin- cipal divinities. I am not much surprised at the poet's insulting the gods, and treating them with the utmost contempt, from whom he had nothing to fear ; but I cannot help wondering at his having brought the most illustrious and powerful persons of Athens upon the stage, and that he presumed to attack the government itself, without any measure of respect or re- serve. Cleon, having returned triumphant, contrary to the general expectation, from the expedition against Sphacteria, was looked upon by the people as the greatest captain of that age. Aristophanes, to set that bad man in a true light, who was the son of a currier, and a currier himself, and whose rise was owing solely to his temerity and imprudence, was so bold as to make him the subject of a coniedy,^ without being awed by his power and influence: but he was obliged to play the part of Cleon himself, and appear- ed, for the first time upon the stage, in that character ; not one of the comedians daring to represent him, or to ex- pose himself to the resentment of so formidable an enemy. His face was smeared over with wine lees ; because no workman could be found that \vould venture to make a mask resembling Cleon, as was usual when persons were brought upon the stage. In this piece he reproaches him with embezzling the public treasures, with a violent passion * Plutus. t The birds. t The Knights. 106 IJfTRODUCTIOX. for bribes and presents, with craft in seducing the people, and denies him the glory of the action at Sphacteria, which he attributes chiefly to the share his colleagues had in it. In the Acharnians, he accuses Larnachus of having been made general rather by bribery than merit. He imputes to him his youth, inexperience, and idleness ; at the same time that he, and many others, whom he covertly designates, convert to their own use the rewards due only to valor and real services. He reproaches the republic with their pref- erence of the younger citizens to the elder in the govern- ment of the state, and the command of their armies. He tells them plainly, that when peace shall be concluded, neither Cleonymus, Hyperbolus, nor many other such knaves, all mentioned by name, shall have any share in the public affairs ; they being always ready to accuse their fellow-citizens of crimes, and to enrich themselves by such informations. In his comedy called the Wasps, imitated by Racine, in his Plaideurs, he exposes the mad passion of the people for prosecutions and trials at law, and the enormous injustice frequently committed in passing sentence and giving judg- ment. The poet, concerned to see the republic obstinately bent upon the unhappy expedition to Sicily, endeavors to excite in the people a thorough disgust for so ruinous a war, and to inspire them with the desire of a peace, as much the in- terest of the victors as the vanquished, after a war of sev- eral years' duration, equally pernicious to each party, and capable of involving all Greece in ruin.* None of Aristophanes's pieces explains better his bold- ness, in speaking upon the most delicate affairs of the state in the crowded theatre, than his comedy called Lysistrata. One of the principal magistrates of Athens had a wife of that name, who is supposed to have taken it into her head to compel Greece to conclude a peace. She relates how, during the war, the women inquiring of their husbands the result of their counsels, and whether they had not resolved to make peace with Sparta,, received no answers but impe- rious looks, and orders to mind their own affairs ; that, how- ever, they perceived plainly to what a low condition the government was declined ; that they took the liberty to remonstrate mildly to their husbands upon the rashness of their counsels ; but that their humble representations had * Ilie Peace. INTRODUCTION. 107 no other effect than to offend and enrage them ; that, in line, being confirmed by the general opinion of all Attica, that there were no longer, any men in the state, nor heads for the administration of affairs, their patience being quite ex- hausted, the women had thought it proper and advisable to take the government upon themselves, and preserve Greece, whether it would or not, from the folly and madness of its resolves. " For her part, she declares, that she has taken possession of the city and treasury, in order," says she, " to prevent Pisander and his confederates, the four hundred administrators, from exciting troubles according to their custom, and from robbing the public as usual." (Was ever any thing so bold ?) She goes on to prove, that the women only are capable of retrieving affairs, by this burlesque argu- ment, that, admitting things to be in such a state of perplex- ity and confusion, the sex, accustomed to untangling their threads, were the only persons to set them right again, as being best qualified with the necessary address, patience, and moderation. The Athenian politics are thus made in- ferior to those of the women, who are only 'represented in a ridiculous light, in derision of their husbands as administra- tors of the government. These extracts from Aristophanes, taken almost word for word from Father Brumoi, seemed to me very proper to give a right insight into that poet's character, and the genius of the ancient comedy, which was, as we see, a satire of the most poignant and severe kind, that had assumed to itself an independency in respect to persons, and to which nothing was sacred. It was no wonder that Cicero condemns so licentious and uncurbed a liberty. It might, he says, have been tolerable, had it only attacked bad citizens, and sedi- tious orators, who endeavored to raise commotions in the state, such as Cleon, Cleophone, and Hyperbolus ; but when Pericles, who for many years had governed the common- wealth both in war and peace with equal wisdom and author- ity (he might have added, and a Socrates, declared by Apollo the wisest of mankind), is brought upon the stage to be laughed at by the public, it is as if our Plautus, or Nae- vius, had attacked the Scipios, or Ciecilius had dared to re- vile Marcus Cato in his writings.* * Quem ilia non attigit, vel potius quern lion vexavit ? Esto, populates hom- ines, improbos, iii re nip seilitiosos, Cleonem, Cjboplumtem, Hyperbolum lass;t: pau.unui- Ses, et eos agi in scena, 11011 plus deenit, qimm si Plautus nosier volnissel, suit Nipvins P. et On. Scipioni, aut Cseoiliu.s M. Catuiii malodiceru. Ex. intgm. Cic. tie iiep. lib. iv. 108 INTRODUCTION. That liberty is still more offensive to its, who are horn in, and live under, a monarchical government, which is far from being favorable to licentiousness. But without intend- ing to justify the conduct of Aristophanes, which is certainly inexcusable, I think, to judge properly of it, it would be necessary to lay aside the prejudices of nations, and times, and to imagine we live in those remote ages in a state purely democratical. We must not fancy Aristophanes to have been a person of little consequence in his republic, as the comic writers generally are in our days. The king of Persia had a very different idea of him. It is a known story, that in an audience of the Greek ambassadors, his first inquiry was after a certain comic poet (meaning Aristophanes) that put all Greece in motion, and gave such effectual counsels against him.* Aristophanes did that upon the stage, which Demosthenes did afterwards in the public assemblies. The poet's reproaches were no less animated than the orator's. In his comedies he uttered the same sentiments as he had a right to deliver from the public rostrum. They were ad- dressed to the same people, upon the same occasions of the state, the same means of success, and the same obstacles to their measures. In Athens the whole people were the sov- ereign, and each of them had an equal share in the supreme authority. Upon this they were continually intent, were fond of discoursing upon it themselves, and of hearing the sentiments of others. The public affairs were the business of every individual ; in which they were desirous of being fully informed, that they might know how to conduct them- selves on every occasion of war or peace, which frequently offered, and to decide upon their own as well as upon the destiny of their allies or enemies. Hence arose the liberty taken by the comic poets, of discussing the affairs of the state in their performances. The people were so far from being offended at it, or at the manner in which those writers treated the principal pei*sons of the state, that they conceived their liberty in some measure to consist in it. Three poets particularly excelled in the ancient comedy ; Eupolis, Cratinus, and Aristophanes.f The last is the only * Aristoph. in Acharn. t Eupolis' atque Cratinus. Aristophanesqiie poetae, Atque alii, quorum Comcedia prisca virortim, est, Si quis eratdigiiusdescribi, quod mains aut fur, Quod moeohus forel , aut sioai his aut alioqui Famosus ; multa cum libertate notabant. Hor. Sat. iv.L i. With Aristophanes' satiric rasre, When ancient comedy amus'd the age, INTRODUCTION. 109 one of them whose pieces have come down to us entire, and out of the great number of those, eleven are all that remain. He flourished in an age when Greece abounded with great men, and was contemporary with Socrates and Euripides, whom he survived. During the Peloponnesian Avar, he made his greatest figure ; less as a writer to amuse the people with his comedies, than as a censor of the government, retained to reform the state, and to be almost the arbiter of his country. He is admired for an elegance, poignancy, and happiness of expression, or, in a word, that Attic salt and spirit, to which the Roman language could never attain, and for which Aristophanes is more remarkable than any other of the Greek authors.* His particular excellence was raillery. None ever touched what was ridiculous in the characters whom he wished to expose with such success, or knew better how to convey it in all its force to others. But it would be necessary to have lived in his times to judge with taste of his works. The subtle salt and spirit of the ancient raillery, according to M. Brumoi, is evaporated through length of time, and what remains of it is become flat and insipid to us ; though the sharpest part will retain its vigor through- out all ages. Two considerable defects are justly imputed to this poet, which very much obscure, if not entirely efface his glory. These are, low buffoonery and gross obscenity ; which de- fects have been excused to no purpose, from the character of his audience ; the bulk of which generally consisted of the poor, the ignorant, and dregs of the people, whom how- ever it was as necessary to please as the learned and the rich. The depravity of taste in the lower order of people, which once banished Cratinus and his company, because his scenes were, not grossly comic enough for them, is no excuse for Aristophanes, as Menander could find out the art of changing that grovelling taste, by introducing a species of comedy, not altogether so modest as Plutarch seems to in- sinuate, yet much less licentious than any before his time. Or Eupolis', or Cratinus's wit, And others that all-lioeus'd poem writ : None, worthy to be shown, escap'd the scene, No public knave, or thief of lofty mien ; The loose adult'rer was drawn forth to sight ; The secret murd'rer trembling lurk'd the night ; Vice plav'd itself and earh anfbitious spark, All boldly branded with the poet's mark. * Antiqua comoedia siueeram illam sermouis Attici gratiam prope sola reti- et. Quintil. 110 INTRODUCTION. The gross obscenities with which all Aristophane's com- edies abound, have no excuse ; they only denote an exces- sive libertinism in the spectators, and depravity in the poet. Had his works been remarkable for the utmost wit, which hoAvever -is not the case, the privilege of laughing himself, or of making others laugh, would have been too dearly purchased at the expense of decency and good manners.* And in this case it may well be said, that it were better to have no wit at all, than to make so ill a use of it.f M. Brumoi is very much to be commended for having taken care, in giving a general idea of Aristophanes's writings, to throw a veil over those parts of them that might have given offence to modesty. Though such behavior be the indis- pensable rule of religion, it is not always observed by those who piqne themselves most on their erudition, and some- times prefer the title of scholar to that of Christian. The old comedy subsisted till Lysander's time, who, upon having made himself master of Athens, changed the form of government, and put it into the hands of thirty of the principal citizens. The satirical liberty of the thea- tre was offensive to them, and therefore they thought fit to put a stop to it. The reason of this alteration is evident, and confirms the reflection made before, upon the privilege of the poets to criticise with impunity the persons at the head of the state. The whole authority of Athens was then invested in tyrants. The democracy was abolished. The people had no longer any share in the government. They were no more the prince ; their sovereignty had ex- pired. The right of giving their opinions and suffrages upon affairs of state was at an end ; nor dared they, either in their own persons or by the poets, presume to censure the sentiments or conduct of their masters. The calling persons by their names upon the stage was prohibited ; but the poetical ill nature soon found the secret of eluding the intention of the law, and of making itself amends f >r the restraint which was imposed upon it by the necessity of using feigned names. It then applied itself to discover the ridiculous in known characters, which it copied to the life, and from thence acquired the double advantage of gratify- ing the vanity of the poets, and the malice of the audience, in a more refined manner ; the one had the delicate pleasure of putting the spectators upon guessing their meaning, and * Nimiiim risus pretinm est, si Prpbitatis impendio constat. Quintil. lib. vi. c. Hi. t Non pejus duxerini tardi ingeiiii ease quam man. Quintil. lib. i. c. 3. INTRODUCTION". Ill the other of not being mistaken in their suppositions, and of affixing the right name to the characters represented. Such was the comedy since called the middle comedy, of which there are some instances in Aristophanes. It continued to the time of Alexander the Great, who having entirely assured himself of the empire of Greece, by the defeat of the Thebans, caused a check to be put upon the license of the poets, which increased daily. From thence the new comedy took its birth, which was only in imitation of private life, and brought nothing upon the stage but feigned names and fictitious adventures. Chacuii peint ayec art dans ce iiouveau miroir, S'y vit avec plaisir, ou crutne s'y pas voir. L'iivare ties premiers rit clu tableau lidele D'uii nvart: sou vent tract; surson modele. Et millefois im fat, linement expriin Mecoimut Je portrait sur lui-meme formed* In this new gla. s, while each himself swvey'd, He sat with pleasure, though himself was play'd. The miser grinn'd while .avarice was drawn, Nor thought the faithful likeness was his own ; Histnvn dear self no imag'd fool could find But saw a thousand other fops design 'd. This may properly be called fine come^dy, and is that of Menander. Of one hundred and eighty, or rather eighty plays, according to Suidas, composed by him, all of which Terence is said to ha/ve translated, there remain only a few fragments. The merit of the originals may be known by the excellence of their copy. Quintillian, in speaking of Menander, is not afraid to say, that with the beauty of his works, and the height of his reputation, he obsciired, or rather obliterated, the fame of all other writers in the same way. t He observes in another passage, that his own times were not so just to his merit as they ought to have been, which has been the fate of many others ; but that he was sufficiently compensated by the favorable opinion of pos- terity. \ And indeed Philemon, a common poet who flour- ished in the same age, though older than Menander, was preferred before him. THE THEATRE OF THE ANCIENTS DESCRIBED. I have already observed, that .^Eschylus was the first founder of a fixed and durable theatre, adorned with suit- * Boileau, Art. Poet. Chant, iii. t Atque ille quidem omnibus ejusdem operisauctorib^sabstulit nomen, etful- gore iiuodam suse claritatis tenebras obduxit. Quintil. lib. x. c. 1. t Quidam, sicut Menander, justiora posterorum, quam suse setatis. judic ia sunt conseeuti. Quintil. lib. iii. c. 6. 112 INTRODUCTIONS iJble decorations. It was at first, as well as the amphi- theatres, composed bf wooden planks, the seats of which rose one above another ; but those breaking down, by having too great a weight upon them, the Athenians, excessively enamored with dramatic representation, were induced by that accident to erect those superb structures, which were imitated afterwards with so much splendor by the Roman magnificence. What I shall say of them has almost as much relation to the Roman as the Athenian theatres ; and is extracted entirely from M. Boindin's learned dissertation upon the theatre of the ancients, who has treated the sub- ject in its fullest extent.* The theatre of the ancients was divided into three prin- cipal parts ; each of which had its peculiar appellation. The division for the actors was called in general the scene, or stage ; that for the spectators was particularly termed the theatre, which must have been of vast extent,f as at Athens it was capable of containing above thirty thousand persons ;,and the orchestra, which among the Greeks was the place assigned for the pantomimes and dancers, though at Rome it was appropriated to the senators and vestal virgins. The theatre utis of a semicircular form on one side, and square on the other. The space contained within the semi- circle was allotted to the spectators, and had seats placed one above another to the top of the building. The square part, in front of it, was appropriated to the actors ; and in the interval, between both, was the orchestra. The great theatres had three rows of porticoes, raised one upon another, which formed the body of the edifice, and at the same time three different stories for tHe seats. From the highest of these porticoes the women saw the representation, covered from the weather. The rest of the theatre was uncovered, and all the business of the stage was performed in the open air. Each of these stories consisted of nine rows of sent?, in- cluding the landing-place, which divided them from each other, and served as a passage from side to side. But as this landing-place and passage took up the space of two benches, there were only seven to sit upon, and consequently in each story there were seven rows of seats. They were from fifteen to eighteen inches in height, and twice as much in breath ; so that the spectators had room to sit with their * Memoirs of the Academy of Inscript. &c. vol. 1. p- 136, &c. Strab. Jib. ix. p. CK5. Herod, lib. viii. c. to. INTRODUCTION. 113 legs extended, and without being 'incommoded by those of the people above them, no foot boards being provided for them. Each of these stories of benches was divided in two different manners ; in their height by the landing-places, called by the Romans prc&cinctiones, and in their circum- ferences by several staircases peculiar to each story, which intersecting them in right lines, tending towards the centre of the theatre, gave the form of wedges to the ranges of seats between them, from whence they were called cunei. Behind these stories of seats were covered galleries, through which the people thronged into the theatre by great square openings, contrived for that purpose in the walls next the seats. Those openings were called vomitoria, from the multitude of the people crowding through them into their places. As the actors could not be heard to the extremity of the theatre, the Greeks contrived a means to supply that defect, and to augment the force of the voice, and make it more distinct and articulate. For that purpose they invented a kind of large vessels of copper, which were disposed under the seats of the theatre in such a manner, as made all sounds strike upon the ear with more force and distinctness. The orchestra being situated, as I have observed, be- tween the two other parts of the theatre, of which one was circular and the other square, it participated of the form of each, and occupied the space between both. It was divided into three parts. The first and most considerable was more particularly called the orchestra, from a Greek word that signifies to dance.* It was appropriated to the pantomines and dancers, and to all such subaltern actors as played between the acts, and at the end of the representations. The second was named fturi.gj.T}, from its being square, in the form of an altar. Here the chorus was generally placed. And in the third, the Greeks generally disposed their symphony or band of music. They called it >>-<>.<, from its being situated at the bottom of the principal part of the theatre, which they styled the scene. I shall describe here this third part of the theatre, called the scene ; which was also subdivided into three different parts. The first and most considerable was properly called the 114 INTRODUCTION. scene, and gave name to this division. It occupied the whole front of the building from side to side, and was the place allotted for the decorations. This front had two small wings at its extremity, from which hung a largo curtain, that was let down to open the scene, and drawn up between the acts, when any thing in the representation made it neces- sary. The second, called by the Greeks indifferently -n,,cj-/.y t v<.'s, and by the Romans proscenium, andpuipitum, was a large open space in front of the scene, in which the actors performed their parts, and which, by the help of the decorations, represented either the public place or forum, a common street, or the country ; but the place so represented was always in the open air. The third division was a part reserved behind the scenes, and called by the Greeks -apaffxyvtov. Here the actors dressed themselves, and the decorations were locked up. In the same place were also kept the machines, of which the ancients had abundance in their theatres. As only the porticoes and the building of the scene were roofed, it was necessary to draw sails, fastened with cords to masts, over the rest of the theatre, to screen the audience from the heat of the sun. But, as this contrivance did not prevent the heat occasioned by the perspiration and breath of so numerous an assembly, the auck nts took care to allay it by a kind of rain, conveying the water for that use above the porticoes, which falling again in form of dew through an infinity of small pores, concealed in the statues with which the theatre abounded, did not only diffuse a grateful coolness all around, but the most fragrant exhalations along with it ; for this dew was always perfumed. Whenever the representations were interrupted by storms, the specta- tors retired into the porticoes behind the seats of the theatre. The passion of the Athenians for representations of this kind, is inconceivable. Their eyes, their ears, their imagina- tion, their understanding, all shared in the satisfaction. Nothing gave them so sensible a pleasure in dramatic per- formances, either tragic or comic, as the strokes which were aimed at the affairs of the public, whether pure chance oc- casioned the application, or the address of the poets, who knew how to reconcile the most remote subjects with the transactions of the republic. They entered by that means into the interests of the people, took occasion to soothe their INTRODUCTION. 115 passions, authorize their pretensions, justify and sometimes condemn their conduct, entertain them with agreeable hopes, instruct them in their duty, in certain nice conjunctures; the effect of which was, that they often not only acquired the applauses of the spectators, but credit and influence in the public affairs and councils ; hence the theatre became so grateful, and so much the concern of the people. It was in this manner, according to some authors, that Euripides artfully adapted his tragedy of Palarnedes* with the sentence passed against Socrates, and explained, by an illustrious example of antiquity, the innocence of a philosopher, op- pressed by a vile malignity supported against him by power and faction. Accident was often the occasion of sudden and unfore- seen applications, which, from their appositeness were very agreeable to the people. Upon this verse of ^Eschylus in praise of Amphiaraus, 'Tis his desire Not to appear, but be the great and good, the whole audience rose up, and unanimously applied it to Aristides. f The same thing happened to Philopoeinen at the Nemasn games. At the instant he entered the theatre, these verses were singing upon the stage, He comes, to whom we owe Our liberty, the noblest good below. All the Greeks cast their eyes upon Philopoemen,^ and with clapping of hands, and acclamations of joy, expressed their veneration for the hero. In the same manner at Rome, during the banishment of Cicero, when some verses of Ac-cms, || which reproached the Greeks with their ingratitude in suffering the banish- ment of Telamon, were repeated by ^Esop, the best actor of his time, they drew tears from the eyes of the whole assem- bly. Upon another, though very different occasion, the Roman people applied to Pompey the Great some verses to this effect : 'Tis our uiihnppiness has made thee great : H * It is not certain whether this piece was prior or posterior to the death of Socrates. t Pint, in Aristid. p. 320. t Plut. in. Philopaem. p 362. Cie. in Orat. pro Sext. n. 120, 123. II O injtratifici Argivi, inanes Graii, immemores bencficii, Exulare sivistis, sivistis pelli, vulsuni patimini. f Cic. ad Attic. 1. ii. Epist. 19. Val.Max. 1. vi. c. 'Z, 116 INTRODUCTION. and then addressing the people, Tlie time shall come when you shall late deplore So great a power coniided to such hands ; the spectators obliged the actor to repeat these verses sev- eral times. FONDNESS FOR THEATRICAL REPRESENTATIONS, ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF THE DECLINE, DEGENERACY, AND CORRUPTION OF THE ATHENIAN STATE. WHEN we compare the happy times of Greece, in which Europe and Asia resounded with nothing but the fame of the Athenian victories, with the latter ages, when the power of Philip and Alexander the Great had in a manner subjected it, we shall be surprised at the strange alteration in the affairs of that republic. But what is most material is the investigation of the causes and progress of this declension ; and these M. de Tourreil has discussed in an admirable manner, in the elegant preface to his translation of Demos- thenes's orations. There were no longer at Athens any traces of that man- ly and vigorous policy equally capable of planning good, and retrieving bad success. Instead of that, there re- mained only an inconsistent loftiness, apt to evaporate in pompous decrees. They were no more those Athenians, who, when menaced by a deluge of barbarians, demolished their houses to build ships with the timber, and whose women stoned the abject wretch to death, that proposed to appease the grand monarch by tribute or homage. The love of ease and pleasure had almost extinguished that of glory, liberty, and independence. Pericles, that great man, so absolute that those who envied him treated him as a second Pisistratus, was the first author of this degeneracy and corruption. With the de- sign of conciliating the favor of the people, he ordained, that, upon such days as games or sacrifices were celebrated, a certain number of oboli should be distributed among them ; and that, in the assemblies in which affairs of state were to be discussed, every individual should receive a certain pecuniary gratification in right of being present. Thus the members of the republic were seen for the first time to sell their care in the administration of the govern- ment, and to rank among servile employments the most noble functions of the sovereign power. IXTKODUCTIOX. 117 It was not difficult to foresee where so excessive an abuse would end ; and to remedy it, it was proposed to establish a fund for the support of the war, and to make it capital to advise, upon any account whatsoever, the applica- tion of it to other uses ; biit, notwithstanding, the abuse always subsisted. At first it seemed tolerable, while the citizen, Avho Avas supported at the public expense, endeav- ored to deserve its liberality, by doing his duty in the field for nine months together. Every one was to serve in his turn, and whoever failed was treated as a deserter, with- out distinction ; but at length the number of the transgressors carried it against the law, and impunity, as it commonly happens, multiplied their number. People accustomed to the delightful abode of a city where feasts and games ran in a perpetual circle, conceived an invincible repugnance for labor and fatigue, which they looked upon as unworthy of free-born men. It was therefore necessary to find amusement for this indolent people, to fill up the great void of an inactive, use- less life. Hence arose principally their passion, or rather frenzy, for public shows. The death of Epaminondas, which seemed to promise them the greatest advantage, gave the final stroke to their ruin and destruction. " Their cour- age," says Justin,* "did not survive that illustrious Theban. Free from a rival, who kept their emulation alive, they sunk into a lethargic sloth and effeminacy. The funds for armaments by land and sea, were soon lavished upon games and feasts. The pay of the seaman and soldier was distributed to the idle citizen, enervated by soft and luxuri- ous habits of life. The representations of the theatre were preferred to the exercises of the camp. Valor and military knowledge were entirely disregarded. Great captains were in no estimation, while good poets and excellent comedians engrossed universal applause." Extravagance of this kind makes it easy to comprehend in what multitudes the people thronged -to dramatic per- formances. As no expense was spared in embellishing them, exorbitant sums were sunk in the service of the thea- tre. " If," says Plutarch,! " an accurate calculation were to be made, what each representation of the dramatic pieces cost the Athenians, it would appear, that their expenses in playing the Bacchanalians, the Phoenicians, CEdipus, Anti- gone, Medea, and Electra (tragedies written either by * Justin. 1. vi. c. 9. t Plut. de. Glor. Athen. p. 349. 118 INTRODUCTION. Sophocles or Euripides), were greater than those which had been employed against the Barbarians, in defence of the liberty, and for the preservation of Greece." ^ This gave a Spartan just reason to exclaim, on seeing an estimate of the enormous sums laid out in these efforts of the tragic poets, and the extraordinary pains taken by the magistrates who presided in them, " That a people must be void of sense, to apply themselves in so warm and serious a manner to things so frivolous. For," added he, "games should be only games ; and nothing is more unreasonable than to purchase a Jiort and trivial aimisement at so great a price. Pleas- ures of this kind agree only with public rejoicings and sea- sons of festivity, and were designed to divert people at their leisure hours, but should by no means interfere with the affairs of the public, nor the necessary expenses of the government." " After all," says Plutarch, in a passage which I have already cited, "of what utility have these tragedies been to Athens, though so much boasted by the people, and ad- mired by the rest of the world ? We find, that the pru- dence of Themistocles inclosed the city with strong walls ; that the fine taste and magnificence of Pericles im- proved and adorned it; that the noble fortitude of Mil- tiades preserved its liberty ; and that the moderate conduct of Cimon acquired it the empire and government of all Greece." If the wise and learned poetry of Euripides, the sublime diction of Sophocles, the lofty buskin of ^Eschylus, have obtained equal advantages for the city of Athens, by delivering it from impending calamities, or by adding to its glory, I am willing (he adds) that " dramatic pieces should be placed in competition with trophies of victory, the poetic theatre with the field of battle, and the compositions of the poets with the great exploits of the generals." But what a comparison would this be ? On the one side would be seen a few writers, crowned with wreaths of ivy, and dragging a goat or an ox after them, the rewards and victims assigned them for excelling in tragic poetry ; on the other, a train of illustrious captains, surrounded with colonies which they founded, the cities which they captured, and the nations which they subjected. It is not to perpetuate the victories of -^Eschylus and Sophocles, but in remembrance of the glorious battles of Marathon, Salamis, Eurymedon, and * Plut, Sympos. lib. vii. quest, vii. p. 710. INTRODUCTION. 119 many others, that so many feasts are celebrated every month with such pomp by the Grecians. The conclusion which is hence drawn by Plutarch, in which we ought to join him, is, that it was the highest im- prudence in the Athenians thus to prefer pleasure to duty, the passion for the theatre to the love of their country,* trivial representations to application to public business, and to consume, in useless expenses and dramatic entertain- ments, the funds intended for the support of fleets and armies. Macedon, till then obscure and inconsiderable, well knew how to take advantage of the Athenian indo- lence and effeminacy ; f and Philip, instructed by the Greeks themselves, among whom he had for several years applied himself successfully to the art of war, was not long before he gave Greece a master, and subjected it to the yoke, as we shall see in the sequel. I am now to open an entirely new scene to the reader's view, not unworthy his curiosity and attention. We shall see two states of no great consideration. Media and Persia, extend themselves far and wide, under the conduct of Cyrus, like a torrent or a conflagration, and with amazing rapidity, conquer and subdue many provinces and king- doms. We shall see that vast empire setting the nations under its dominion in motion, the Persians, Medes, Phreni- cians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians, and many others, and falling, with all the forces of Asia and the East, upon a country of very small extent, and destitute of all foreign assistance ; I mean Greece. When, on the one hand, we behold so many nations united together, such preparations for war, made for several years, with so much diligence, innumerable armies by sea and land, and such fleets as the sea could hardly contain ; and, on the other hand, two weak cities, Athens and Lacedsemon, abandoned by all their allies, and left almost entirely to themselves, have we not reason to believe, that these two little cities are going to be ut- terly destroyed and swallowed up by so formidable an enemy ; and that no vestiges of them will be left remain- ing ? And .yet we shall lind that they prove victorious, and, by their invincible courage, and the several battles they gained, both by sea and land, will make the Persian fteoLTpov. t Quibue rebus effectum est, ut inter otia Graeeorum, sordidum et obscurum anteaMacaedonum nomen emergeret : et Philippus, obsestrieimioThebi-i habitus. Epaminomlae et Pelopidae viriutibus eruditus, regnum Macedonia Grascia> et Asise cervicibus, velut jugum servitutis imponeret. Just. 1. vi. c. 9. INTRODUCTION. empire lay aside all thoughts of ever again turning their arms againsfc Greece. k The history of the war between the Persians and the Greeks will illustrate the truth of this maxim, that it is not the number, but the valor of the troops, and the conduct of the generals, on which depends the success of military ex- peditions. The reader will admire the surprising courage and intrepidity of the great men at the head of the Grecian affairs, whom neither all the world in motion against them could deject, nor the greatest misfortunes disconcert ; who undertook, with a handful of men, to make head against in- numerable armies ; who, notwithstanding such a prodigious inequality in forces, durst hope for success ; who even com- pelled victory to declare on the side of merit and virtue, and taught all succeeding generations what infinite resources and expedients are to be found in prudence, valor, and ex- perience ; in a zeal for liberty and our country, in the love of our duty, and in all the sentiments of noble and generous souls. This w: r of the Persians against the Grecians will be followed by another among the latter tnemselves, but of a very different kind from the former. In the latter, there will scarce be any actions, but what in appearance are of little consequence, and seemingly unworthy of a reader's curiosity, who is fond of great events ; in this he will meet with little besides private quarrels between certain cities, or some small commonwealths ; some inconsiderable sieges (excepting that of Syracuse, one of the most important re- lated in ancient history), though several of these sieges were of considerable duration ; some battles between ar- mies, where the numbers were small, and but little blood shed. What is it, then, that has rendered these wars so famous in history ? Sallust informs us in these words : " The actions of the Athenians doubtless were great, and yet I believe they were somewhat less than fame reports them. But because Athens abounded in noble writers, the acts of that republic are celebrated throughout the whole world as the most glorious ; and the gallantry of those heroes who performed them, has had the good fortune to be thought as transcendant as the eloquence of those who have described them." * * Atheniensium res gestaa, sicuti e T DATIONS OF THE NILE. The ancients have invented many subtle reasons for the Nile's great increase, as may be seen in Herodotus, Diod- orus Siculus, and Seneca. * But it is now no longer a matter of dispute, it being almost universally allowed, that the inundations^ of the Nile are owing to the great rains which fall in Ethiopia, from whence this river flo\vs. These rains swell it to such a degree, that Ethiopia first, and then Egypt, are overflowed ; and that Avhich at first was but a large river, rises like a sea, and overspreads the whole country. Strabo observes that the ancients only guessed that the inundations of the Nile were owing to the rains which fall in great abundance in Ethiopia ; but adds, that several travellers have since been eye-witnesses of it ; f Ptolemy Philadelphus, who was very curious in all things relating to navigia cpnscendunt, quorum alter navem regit, alter exhaurit. Deinde multum inter rapidam insaiiiam Nili et reciyroeos lluctus volutati, tandem tenuissimos cauales tenent, per quos angusta rupiuin eit'ugiimt ; et cum toto liumine uiTusi navigium rueiis manu ternperant, magnoque spectantium metu in caput nixi,cum jara adploraveris mersosqu atque obrutos tanta mole credideris, lonjre ab co in quern ceeiderant loco navigant, tormenti modo missi. Nee mergit eadens urula sed planis aquis tradit. Senec. Nat. Qusest. 1. iv. c. 2. * Herod. 1. ii. c. 19-27. Diod. 1. i. p. 35-39. Senec. Nat. Quaest. 1. iv. c. 1. el i. t Lib. xvii. p. 789. DESCRIPTION OF EGYPT. 165 the arts and sciences, having sent thither able persons, pur- posely to examine this matter, and to ascertain the cause of so uncommon and remarkable an effect. IV. THE TIME AND CONTINUANCE OF THE INUNDATIONS. Herodotus, * and after him Diodorus Siculus. and several other authors, declare that the Nile begins to flow in Egypt at the summer solstice, that is, about the end of June, and continues to rise till the end of September, and then de- creases gradually during the months of October and No- vember ; after which it returns to its channel, and resumes its wonted course. This account agrees very nearly with the relations of all the moderns, and is founded in reality on the natural cause of the inundation, viz. : the rains which fall in Ethiopia. Now, according to the constant testimony of those who have been on the spot, these rains begin to fall in the month of April, and continue, during five months, till the end of August and beginning of September. The Nile's increase in Egypt must consequently begin three weeks or a month after the rains have begun to fall in Abyssinia ; and, accordingly, travellers observe, that the Nile begins to rise in the month of May, but so slowly at the first, that it probably does not yet overflow its banks. The inundation happens not till about the end of June, and lasts the three following months, according to Herodotus. I must point out to such as consult the originals, a con- tradiction in this place between Herodotus and Diodorus on one side ; and between Strabo, Pliny, and Solinus on the other. These last shorten very much the continuance of the inundation ; and suppose the Nile to retire from the lands in three months, or a hundred days. And what adds to the difficulty is, that Pliny seems to ground his opinion on the testimony of Herodotus : In totum autem revocatur JVilus intra ripas in libra, ut tradit Herodotus, centesimo die. I leave the learned the reconciling of this contradic- tion. V. THE HEIGHT OF THE INUNDATION. The just height of the inundation, according to Pliny, is sixteen cubits, f When it rises but twelve or thirteen, a * Herod. 1. ii. c. 19. Diod. 1. i. p. 32. t Justum incrementum est enbitorum xvi. Minores aquse non omnia rigaut : ampliores detinent, tardiua recedendo. Has serendi tempora absumunt soloma- dente : illse non dant sitiente. Utrumque reputat provincia. In duodeo.ini cubi- tis famem sentit. in tredecim etiamnum esurit, quatuordecim cubita hilaritatem efferuet, quiudociin securitatem, sexdecim delicias. Pliu. 1. v, c. 9. 166 ANCJKXT HTSTOltV. famine is threatened ; and when it exceeds sixteen there is danger. It must be remembered that a cubit is a foot and a half. The emperor Julian takes notice, in a letter to Ecdicius, prefect of Egypt, that the height of the Nile's overflowing was fifteen cubits, the 20th of September, in 362. * The ancients do not agree entirely \vith one another, nor with the moderns, with regard to the height of the inunda- tion ; but the difference is not very considerable, and may proceed, 1, from the disparity between the ancient and modern measures, which it is hard to estimate on a fixed and certain foot ; 2, from the carelessness of the observers and historians ; 3, from the real difference of the Nile's in- crease, which was not so great the nearer it approached the sea. As the riches of Egypt depended on the inundation of the Nile, all the circumstances and different degrees of its increase were carefully considered ; and by a long series of regular observations, made during many years, the inunda- tion itself discovered what kind of harvest the ensuing year was likely to produce. f The kings had placed at Memphis a measure on which these different increases were marked ; and from thence notice was given to all the rest of Egypt, the inhabitants of which knew, by that means, beforehand, what they might fear or promise themselves from the har- vest. Strabo speaks of a well on the banks of the Nile, near the town of Syene, made for that purpose.} The same custom is observed to this day at Grand Cairo. In the court of a mosque there stands a pillar, on which are marked the degrees of the Nile's increase ; and common criers every day proclaim in all parts of the city, how high it is risen. The tribute paid to the grand signior for the lands, is regulated by the inundation. The day on which it rises to a certain height, is kept as a grand festival, and solemnized with fireworks, feasting, and all the demonstra- tions of public rejoicing ; and in the remotest ages, the over- flowing of the Nile was always attended with an universal joy throughout all Egypt, that being the fountain of its hap- piness. The heathens ascribed the inundation of the Nile to their god Serapis; and the pillar on which was marked the in- crease, was preserved religiously in the temple of that idol. The emperor Coristantine having cr.lered. it to be removed * Jul. epist. 50. t Diod. 1. i. p. 33. i Lib. xvii. p. 317. Socrat. 1. i. c. 18. Sozom. 1. v. c. 3. DESCRIPTION Or EGYPT. 1O/ into the church of Alexandria, the Egyptians spread a re- port, that the Nile would rise no more by reason of the wrath of Serapis ; but the river overflowed and increased as usual the following years. Julian, the apostate, a zealous protector of idolatry, caused this pillar to be replaced in the same temple, out of which it was again removed by the com- mand of Theodosius. VI. THE CAXALS OF THE NILE, AXD SPIRAL PUMPS. Divine Providence, in giving so beneficent a river to Egypt, did not thereby intend that the inhabitants of it should be idle, and enjoy so great a blessing, without taking any pains. One may naturally suppose, that as the Nile could not of itself cover the whole country, great labor was to be used to facilitate the overflowing of the lands ; and numberless canals cut, in order to convey the Avaters to all parts. The villages, which stood very thick on the banks of the Nile, on eminences, had each their canals, which were opened at proper times, to let the Avater into the country. The more distant villages had theirs also, even to the ex- tremities of the kingdom. Thus the waters were successively conveyed to the most remote places. Persons are not per mitted to cut the trenches to receive the waters, till the river is at a certain height, nor to open them altogether ; because otherwise some lands Avould be too much overflowed, and others not covered enough. They begin Avith opening them in Upper, and aftenvards in LoAver Egypt, according to the rules prescribed in a roll or book, in which all the measures are exactly set down. By this means the Avater is husbanded with such care, that it spreads itself over all the lands. The countries overflowed by the Nile are so extensive, and lie so low, and the number of canals is so great, that of all the waters which floAV into Egypt during the months of June, July, and August, it is believed that not a tenth part of them reaches the sea. But as, notwithstanding all these canals, there are abun- dance of high lands Avhich cannot receive the benefit of the Nile's OA r erfloAving ; this Avant is supplied by spiral pumps, Avhich are turned with oxen, in order to bring the water into pipes, Avhich convey it to these lands. Diodorus speaks of a similar engine, called Cochlea ^Egyptia, invented by Archimedes, in his traA r els into Egypt.* * Lib. i. p. 30 et lib. v. p. 313. 168 AXCIEXT HISTORY. Vn. THE FERTILITY CAUSED BY THE NILE. There is no country in the world where the soil is more fruitful than in Egypt ; which is owing entirely to the Nile. For whereas other rivers, when they overflow lands, wash away and exhaust their vivific moisture ; the Nile, on the contrary, by the excellent slime it brings along with it, fat- tens and enriches them in such a manner, as sufficiently com- pensates for what the foregoing harvest had impaired.* The husbandman, in this country, never tires himself with hold- ing the plough, or breaking the clods of earth. As soon as the Nile retires, he has nothing to do but to turn up the earth, and temper it with a little sand, in order to lessen its rankness ; after which he sows it with great ease, and at lit- tle or no expense. Two months after, it is covered with all sorts of corn and pulse. The Egyptians sow in October and November, according as the waters recede, and their harvest is in March and April. The same land bears, in one year, three or four different kinds of crops. Lettuces and cucumbers are sown first : then corn ; and, after harvest, several sorts of pulse, which are peculiar to Egypt. As the sun is extremely hot in this country, and rains fall very seldom in it, it is natural to sup- pose that the earth would soon be parched, and the corn and pulse burnt up by so scorching a heat, Avere it not for the canals and reservoirs with which Egypt abounds ; and which, by the drains from thence, amply supply wherewith to water and refresh the fields and gardens. The Nile contributes no less to the nourishment of cattle, which is another source of wealth to Egypt. The Egyptians begin to turn them out to grass in November, and they graze till the end of March. Words could never express how rich their pastures are, and how fat the flocks and herds (which, by reason of the mildness of the air, are out night and day) grow in a very little time. During the inundation of the Nile, they are fed with hay and cut straw, barley and beans, which are their common food. A man cannot, says Corneille le Bruyn in his Travels, f help observing the admirable providence of God to this country, who sends at a fixed season such great quantities of rain in Ethiopia, in order to water Egypt, where a shower of rain scarce ever falls ; and who by that means causes the abradit, _. undat, et q DESCRIPTION OF EGYPT. 169 driest and most sandy soil to become the richest and most fruitful country in the universe. Another thing to be observed here is, that, as the inhab- itants say, in the beginning of June, and the four following months, the north-east Avinds blow constantly, in order to kee.p back the waters, which would otherwise flow too fast ; and to hinder them from discharging themselves into the sea, the entrance to which these winds bar up, as it were, from them. The ancients have not omitted this circum- stance. The same Providence, whose ways are wonderful and in- finitely various, displayed itself after a quite different man- ner in Palestine, in rendering it exceedingly fruitful ; not by rains, which fell during the course of the year, as is usual in other places ; nor by a peculiar inundation like that of the Nile in Egypt ; but by sending fixed rains at two seasons, when his people were obedient to him, to make them more sensible of their continual dependence upon him.* God him- self commands them, by his servant Moses, to make this re- flection, f The I ind whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and icateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs : but the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. After this, God promises to give his peo- ple, so long as they shall continue obedient to him, the former and the latter rain : the first in autumn, to bring up the corn ; and the second in the spring and summer, to make it grow and ripen. VIII. THE DIFFERENT PROSPECTS EXHIBITED BY THE NILE. There cannot be a finer sight than Egypt at two seasons of the year. For if a man ascends some mountain, or one of the largest pyramids of Grand Cairo, in the months of July and August, he beholds a vast sea, in which num- berless towns and villages appear, with several causeys lead- ing from place to place ; the whole interspersed with groves and fruit-trees, whose tops only are visible, all which forms a delightful prospect. This view is bounded by mountains and woods, Avhich terminate, at the utmost distance the eye * Multiformis sapientia, Eph. iii. 10. t Duet. xiT 10-13. t Ilia fades puleherrima est, cum jfini se in a^ros Nilus ingessit. Latent campi, opertasque stint valles : oppida insularuiu m7J (cvpijcrai JIIJT* aAAoi' fiJiSiva. rbv iavre airo yevofitvov t }aj/ou. Herod. t Diod. 1. i. p. 71. S Idem. p. 72. Idem. p. 22. |j Herod. 1. ii. c. 20. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 181 The virtue in the highest esteem among the Egyptians, was gratitude. The glory which has been given them of being the most grateful of all men, shows that they were the best formed of any nation for social life. Benefits are the band of concord, both public and private. He Avho ac- knowledges favors, loves to do good to others ; and in ban- ishing ingratitude, the pleasure of doing good remains so pure and engaging, that it is impossible for a man to be insensible to it : but no kind of gratitude gave the Egyp- tians a more pleasing satisfaction, than that which was paid to their kings. Princes, while living, were by them hon- ored as so many visible representations of the Deity ; and after their death Avere mourned as the fathers of their coun- try. These sentiments of respect and tenderness, proceeded from a strong persuasion, that the Divinity himself had placed them upon the throne, as he distinguished them so greatly from all other mortals ; and that kings bore the most noble characteristics of the Supreme Being, as the power and will of doing good to others are united in their persons CHAPTER II. CONCERNING THE PRIESTS AND RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS. PRIESTS, in Egypt, held the second rank to kings. They had great privileges and revenues ; their lands were ex- empted from all imposts ; of which some traces are seen in Genesis, where it is said, Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only^ which became not Pha- raoh's* The prince usually honored them with a large share in his confidence and government, because they, of all his sub- jects, had received the best education, had acquired the greatest knowledge, and were most strongly attached to the king's person and the good of the public. They were at the same time the depositaries of religion and of the sci- ences ; and to this circumstance was owing the great respect which was paid them by the natives as well as foreigners, * Gen. xlvii. 2G. 182 ANCIENT HISTORY. by whom they were alike consulted upon the most sacred things relating to the mysteries of religion, and the most profound subjects in the several sciences. The Egyptians pretend to be the first institutors of festi- vals and processions in honor of the gods. One festival was celebrated in the city of Bubastus, whither persons resorted from all parts of Egypt, and upwards of seventy thousand, besides children, were seen at it. Another, surnamed the Feast of the Lights, was solemnized at Sais. All persons, throughout Egypt, who did not go to Sais, were obliged to illuminate their windows.* Different animals were sacrificed in different countries ; but one common and general ceremony was observed in all sacrifices, viz. : the laying of hands upon the head of the vic- tim, loading it at the same time with imprecations, and praying the gods to divert upon that victim, all the calami- ties which might threaten Egypt, f It is to Egypt that Pythagoras owed his favorite doc- trine of the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls. The Egyptians believed, that at the death of men, their souls transmigrated into other human bodies ; and that, if they had been vicious, they were imprisoned in the bodies of unclean or ill-conditioned beasts, to expiate in them their past transgressions : and that after a revolution of some centuries, they again animated other human bodies. $ The priests had the possession of the sacred books, which contained, at large, the principles of government, as well as the mysteries of divine worship. Both were commonly in- volved in symbols and enigmas, which under these veils made truth more venerable, and excited more strongly the curiosity of men. The figure of Harpocrates, in the Egyp- tian sanctuaries, with his finger upon his mouth, seemed to intimate that mysteries were there inclosed, the knowledge of which was revealed but to very few. The sphinxes, placed at the entrance of all temples, implied the same. It is very well known that pyramids, obelisks, pillars, statues, in a word, all public monuments, were usually adorned with hieroglyphics, that is, with symbolical writings ; whether these were characters unknown to the vulgar, or figures of animals, under which was couchedja hidden and parabolical meaning. Thus, by a hare was signified a lively and pierc- ing attention, because this creature has a very delicate sense Herod, l.ii.c. 60. t Idem. c. rtfl. t I>iod. 1. i. p. 8. Plut. de Isid. et Oiir. p. 361. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 183 of hearing.* The statue of a judge without hands, and with eyes fixed upon the ground, symbolized the duties of those who were to exercise the judiciary f unctions. f It would require a volume to treat fully of the religion of the Egyptians. But I shall confine myself to two arti- cles, which form the principal part of it ; and these are, the worship of the different deities, and the ceremonies relating to funerals. SECT. I. THE WORSHIP OF THE VARIOUS DEITIES. Never were any people more superstitious than the Egyptians. They had a great number of gods, of different orders and degrees, which I shall omit, because they belong more to fable than to history. Among the rest, two were universally adored in that country, and these were Osiris and Isis, which are thought to be the sun and moon ; and, indeed, the worship of those planets gave rise to idolatry. Besides these gods, the Egyptians worshipped a great number of beasts ; as the ox, the dog, the wolf, the hawk, the crocodile, the ibis, | the cat, etc. Many of these beasts were the objects of the superstition only of some particular ' cities ; and while one people worshipped one species of ani- mals as gods, their neighbors had the same animal gods in abomination. This was the source of the continual wars which were carried on between one city and another ; and this was owing to the false policy of one of their kings, who to deprive them of the opportunity and means of conspiring against the state, endeavored to amuse them, by engaging them in religious contests. I call this a false and mistaken policy, because it directly thwarts the true spirit of govern- ment, the aim of which is to unite all its members in the strictest ties, and to make all its strength consist in the per- fect harmony of its several parts. Every nation had a great zeal for their gods. " Among us," says Cicero, " it is very common to see temples robbed, and statues carried off ; but it was never known that any person in Egypt ever abused a crocodile, an ibis, a cat ; for its inhabitants would have suffered the most extreme tor- ments, rather than be guilty of such sacrilege." It was death for any person to kill one of these animals volunta- rily ; and even a punishment was decreed against him who should have killed an ibis, or a cat, with or without design. || * Pint. Sympos. 1. iv. p. 670. t Id. de Isid. p. 355. J Or the Ff^'ptian stork. De Nat. Deor. 1. i. 11. 82. Tus. Qu;uet. 1. v. 11. 76. || Herod, 1. ii. c. 65. 184 AXCIEXT HISTORY. Diodorus relates an incident, to which lie himself was an eye-witness, during his stay in Egypt. A Roman having inadvertently, and without design, killed a cat, the exasper- ated populace ran to his house, and neither the authority of the king, who immediately detached a body of his guards, nor the terror of the Roman name, could rescue the unfor- tunate criminal. * And such was the reverence Avhich the Egyptians had for these animals, that in an extreme famine they chose to eat one another, rather than feed upon their imagined deities. Of all these animals, the bull Apis, called Epaphus by the Greeks, was the most famous, f Magnificent temples were erected to him ; extraordinary honors were paid him, while he lived, and still greater after his death. Egypt went then into a general mourning. His obsequies were solemnized with such pomp as is hardly credible. In the reign of Ptolemy Lagus, the bull Apis dying of old age, J the funeral pomp, besides the ordinary expenses, amounted to upwards of fifty thousand French crowns. After the last honors had been paid to the deceased god, the next care was to provide him a successor, and all Egypt was sought through for that purpose. He was known by certain signs, i which distinguished him from all other animals of that spe- cies ; upon his forehead was to be a white spot, in form of a crescent ; on his back, the figure of an eagle ; upon his tongue, that of a beetle. As soon as he was found, mourn- ing gave place to joy ; and nothing was heard in all parts of Egypt but festivals and rejoicings. The new god was brought to Memphis to take possession of his dignity, and there installed with a great number of ceremonies. The reader will find hereafter, that Cambyses, at his return from his unfortunate expedition against Ethiopia, finding all the Egyptians in transports of joy for the discovery of their new god Apis, and imagining that this was intended as an insult upon his misfortunes, killed, in the first impulse of his fury, the young bull, who by that means had but a short enjoyment of his divinity. It is plain that the golden calf, set up near Mount Sinai by the Israelites, was owing to their abode in Egypt, and an imitation of the god Apis ; as well as those which were *TMod. 1. i. p. 74,75. t Herod, l.iii. f. 27, &c. Diod. 1. i.p. 70. Pliii. l.viii.o. 46. t Pliny a;iirins. that h*s was not allowed to exceed a certain torn of years, and was drowned in the priest's welt Non est fas emu oertos vitas excedere aimos, niersuraque in sacerdotum fonte enecantus Nat. Hist. 1. viii. c. 46. S.5,000. MANNERS AXD CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIAN'S. 185 afterwards set up by Jeroboam, who had resided a consid- erable time in Egypt, in the two extremities of the kingdom of Israel. The Egyptians, not contented with offering incense to animals, carried their folly to such an excess, ns to ascribe a divinity to the pulse and roots of their gardens. For this they are ingeniously reproached by the satirist : Who has not heard where Egypt's realms are named, What monster gods her frantic sons have framed ? . Here Ibis gorged with well-grown serpents, there The crocodile commands religious fear : Where Memnon's statue magic strains inspire With vocal sounds that emulate the lyre ; And Thebes, such, Kate, are thy disastrous turns, Now prostrate o'er her pompous ruins mourns ; A monkey god, prodigious to be told ! Strikes the beholder's eye with burnish'dgold : To godship here blue Triton's scaly herd, The river progeny is there preferr'd. Through towns Diana's power neglected lies, Where to her dogs aspiring temples rise : And should you leeks or onions eat, no time Would expiate the sacrilegious crime. Religious nations sure, and blest abodes, Where every orchard is o'er-run with gods !* It is astonishing to see a nation, which boasted its supe- ^riority above all others with regard to wisdom and learning, thus blindly abandon itself to the most gross and ridiculous superstitions. Indeed, to read of animals and vile insects, honored with religious worship, placed in temples, and maintained with great care at an extravagant expense ; f to read, that those who murdered them were punished with death ; and that these animals were embalmed, and solemnly deposited in tombs assigned them by the public ; to hear that this extravagance was carried to such lengths, as that leeks and onions were acknowledged as deities, were in- voked in necessity, and depended upon for succor and pro- tection ; are absurdities which we, at this distance of time, can scarcely believe ; and yet they have the evidence of all antiquity. You enter, says Lucian, $ into a magnificent * Quis nescit, Volusi Bithynice, qualia demens ./Egyptus portenta colat ? Crocodilon adorat v Pars haec : ilia pavet saturam serpentibus Ibin. Effigies sacri nitet aurea Cercopitheci, Dimidio magic* resonant ubi Memnone chordae, Atque vetus Thebe centum jacet obruta portis. Illic creruleos,hic piscem fluminis, ilhc Oppida tota canem venerantur,nemo Dianam. Pornim et cepe nefas violare, ac frangere morsu. O sanotas geutes, quibus haec nascuntur in hortis Numina ! Jiiven. Satir. xv. t Diodorus affirms, that in his time the expense amounted to no less than one hundred thousand crowns, or $110,000. Lib. i. p. 76. j hnag. 186 ANCIENT HISTORY. temple, every part of which glitters with gold and silver. You there look attentively for a god, and are cheated with a stork, an ape, or a cat ; a just emblem, adds that author, of too many palaces, the masters of which are far from be- ing the brightest ornaments of them. Several reasons are given for the worship paid to ani- mals by the Egyptians. * The first is drawn from fabulous history. It is pretended that the gods, in a rebellion made against them by men, fled into Egypt, and there concealed themselves under the form of different animals ; and that this gave birth to the worship which was afterwards paid to those animals. The second is taken from the benefit which these several animals procure to mankind : f oxen by their labor ; sheep by their wool and milk ; dogs by their service in hunting and guarding houses, Avhence the god Anubis was repre- sented with a dog's head ; the Ibis, a bird very much resem- bling a stork, was worshipped, because he put to flight the winged serpents, with which Egypt would otherwise have been grievously infested ; the crocodile, an amphibious creature, that is, living alike upon land and water, of a sur- prising strength and size, $ was worshipped, because he defended Egypt from the incursions of the wild Arabs ; the Ichneumon was adored, because he prevented the too great increase of crocodiles, which might have proved destructive to Egypt. Now, the little animal in question does this service to the country two ways. First, it watches the time when the crocodile is absent, and breaks his eggs, but does not eat them. Secondly, when he sleeps upon the banks of the Nile, which he always does with his mouth open, this small animal, which lies concealed in the mud, leaps at once into his mouth ; gets down to his entrails, which he gnaws; then piercing his belly, the skin of which is very tender, he escapes with safety ; and thus, by his address and subtility, returns victorious over so terrible an enemy. Philosophers, not satisfied Avith reasons, which were too trifling to account for such strange absurdities as dishonored the heathen system, and at which themselves secretly blushed, have, since the establishment of Christianity, sup- posed a third reason for the worship which the Egyptians paid to animals ; and declared that it was not offered to the *Diod.l. i. p. 77, &c. t Ipsi qui irritlentnr ^gyptii. nullam belliiam nisi ob alinnam utilitatem quani ex ea capereiit. ronsr-cravenim. rio. lib. i. l)e Katnra Beor. n. 101. i Which according t<> Herodotus, is more than 17 cubits in length, 1. ii. c. 68. MANNERS AXD CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 181 animals themselves, but to the gods of Avhom they are symbols. Plutarch, in his treatise, * Avherc he examines professedly the pretensions of Isis and Osiris, the two most famous deities of the Egyptians, says as follows : " Philoso- phers honor the image of God wherever they find it, even in inanimate beings, and consequently more in those which have life. We are therefore to approA'e, not the worship- pers of these animals, but those who, by their means, ascend to the Deity; they are to be considered as so many mirrors, which nature holds forth, and in which the Supreme Being displays himself in a wonderful manner ; or, as so many in- struments, which he makes use of to manifest outwardly his incomprehensible wisdom. Should men, therefore, for the embellishing of statues, amass together all the gold and precious stones in the world, the worship must not be re- ferred to the statues, for the Deity does not exist in colors artfully disposed, nor in frail matter destitute of sense and motion. Plutarch says in the same treatise, f that as the sun and moon, heaven and earth, and the sea, are common to all men, but have different names according to the difference of nations and languages ; in like manner, though there is but one Deity and one Providence, which governs the uni- verse, and which has several subaltern ministers under it, men give to the Deijty, which is the same, different names ; and pay it different honors, according to the laws and cus- toms of every country." But were these reflections, which offer the most rational vindication possible of idolatrous worship, sufficient to cover the absurdity of it ? Could it be called exulting the divine attributes in a suitable manner, to direct the worship- pers to admire and seek for the image of them in beasts of the most vile and contemptible kinds, as crocodiles, serpents, and cats ? Was not this rather degrading and debasing the Deity, of whom, even the most stupid usually entertain a much greater and more august idea ? And even these philosophers were not always so just, as to ascend from insensible things to their invisible Author. The Scriptures tell us, that these pretended sages deserve, on account of their pride and ingratitude, to be given over to a reprobate mind ; and while they professed themselves wise, to become fools, for having changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping * Herod. 1. ii. p. 382. t Idem. p. 377, 378. 188 AXCIEXT HISTORY. things. * To show what man is when left to himself, God permitted that very nation which had carried human wis- dom to its greatest height, to be the theatre in which the most ridiculous and absurd idolatry was acted. And, on the other side, to display the almighty pOAvcr of his grace, he converted the fruitful deserts of Egypt into a terrestrial paradise, by peopling them, in the time appointed by his providence, with numberless multitudes of illustrious her- mits, whose fervent piety and rigorous penance have done so much honor to the Christian religion. I cannot forbear giving here a famous instance of it ; and I hope the reader will excuse this kind of digression. The great wonder of Lower Egypt, says Abbe Fleury in his Ecclesiastical History, was the city of Oxyrinchus, peo- pled with monks, both within and without, so that they were more numerous than its other inhabitants, f The public edifices, and idol temples, had been converted into monasteries, and these likewise were more in number than the private houses. The monks lodged even over the gates, and in the towers. The people had twelve churches to as- semble in, exclusive of the oratories belonging to the mon- asteries. There were twenty thousand virgins and ten thousand monks in this city, every part of which echoed night and day with the praises of God. By order of the magistrates, sentinels were posted at the gates, to take notice of all strangers and poor who came into the city ; and the inhabitants A'ied with each other who should first receive them, in order to have an opportunity of exercising their hospitality towards them. SECT. II. THE CEREMOXIES OF THE EGYPTIAN FUXERALS. I shall now give a concise account of the funeral cere- monies of the Egyptians. The honors which have been paid in all ages and nations to the bodies of the dead, and the religious care taken to provide sepulchres for them, seem to insinuate an universal persuasion, that bodies were lodged in sepulchres merely as a deposit or trust. We have already observed, in our mention of the pyra- mids, with what magnificence sepulchres were built in.Egypt, for, besides that they Avere erected as so many sacred monu- ments, destined to transmit to future times the memory of * Kom. i. v. 22, 25. t Tom. v. p. 25, 20. MAXXEKS AXD CUSTOMS OV THE EGYPTIAXS. 189 grc.-it princes, they were likewise considere/1 as the mansions where the body was to remain during a long succession of ages ; whereas, common houses were called inns, in which men were to abide only as travellers, and that during the course of a life which was too short to engage their affec- tions. * When any person in a family died, all the kindred and friends quitted their usual habits, and put on mourning ; and abstained from baths, wine, and dainties of every kind. This mourning continued from forty to seventy days, prob- ably according to the quality of the person. Bodies were embalmed three different ways. | The most magnificent was bestowed on persons of distinguished rank, and the expense amounted to a talent of silver, or three thousand French livres. $ Many hands were employed in this ceremony. Some drew the brain through the nostrils, by an instrument made for that purpose. Others emptied the bowels and intestines, by cutting a hole in the side, with an Ethiopian stone -that was as sharp as a razor ; after which the cavities were filled with perfumes and various odoriferous drugs. As this evacuation (which was necessarily attended with some dis- sections) seemed in some measure cruel and inhuman, the persons employed fled as soon as the operation was over, and were pursued \vith stones by the spectators. But those Avho embalmed the body were honorably treated. They filled it with myrrh, cinnamon, and all sorts of spices. After a certain time the body was swathed in lawn fillets, which were glued together with a kind of very thin gum, and then crusted over with the most exquisite perfumes. By this means, it is said, that the entire figure of the body, the very lineaments of the face, and the hair on the lids and eye-brows, were preserved in their natural perfection. The body thus embalmed, was delivered to the relations, who shut it up in a kind of open chest, fitted exactly to the size of the corpse ; then they placed it upright against the wall, either in sepulchres, if they had any, or in their houses. These embalmed bodies are now what we call mummies, which are still brought from Egypt, nd are found in the cabinets of the curious. This shows the care which the Egyptians took of their dead. Their gratitude to their de- ceased relations was immortal. Children, by seeing the * Died. 1. i. p. 47. t Herod. 1. ii. c. 85. &c. J About $610. Diod. 1. i. p. 21. 190 ANCIEXT HISTORY. bodies of their ancestors thus presei-ved, recalled to mind those virtues for which the public had honored them ; and were excited to a love of those laAvs which such excellent persons had left for their security. We find that part of these ceremonies were performed in the funeral honors paid to Joseph in Egypt. I have said that the public recognized the virtues of de- ceased persons, because that, before they could be admitted into the sacred asylum of the tomb, they underwent a sol- emn trial. And this circumstance in the Egyptian funerals, is one of the most remarkable to be found in ancient history. It was a consolation, among the heathens, to a dying man, to leave a good name behind him, imagining that this is the only human blessing of which death cannot deprive us. But the Egyptians would not suffer praises to be bestowed indis- criminately on all deceased persons. This honor was to be obtained only from the public voice. The assembly of the judges met on the other side of a lake, which they crossed in a boat. He who sat at the helm was called Charon, in the Egyptian language; and this first gave the hint to Orpheus, who had been in Egypt, and after him to the other Greeks, to invent the fiction of Charon's boat. As soon as a man was dead, he was brought to his trial. The public accuser was heard. If he proved that deceased had led a bad life, his memory was condemned, and he was deprived of burial. The people admired the power of the laws, which extended even beyond the grave ; and every one, struck with the disgrace inflicted on the dead person, was afraid to reflect dishonor on his OAvn memory, and his family. But if the deceased person was not convicted of any crime, he was interred in an honorable manner. A still more astonishing circumstance in this public in- quest upon the dead, was, that the throne itself was no protection from it. Kings were spared during their lives, because the public peace was concerned in this forbearance ; but their quality did not exempt them from the judgment passed upon the dead, and even some of them were deprived of sepulture. This custom was imitated by the Israelites. We see in Scripture, that bad kings were not interred in the monuments of their ancestors. This practice suggested to princes, that if their majesty placed them out of the reach of men's judgment while they were alive, they would at last be liable to it, when death should reduce them to a level with their subjects MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 191 When, therefore, a favorable judgment was pronounced on a deceased person, the next thing was to proceed to the ceremonies of interment. In his panegyric, no mention was made of his birth, because every Egyptian was deemed noble. lo praises were considered as just or true, but such as related to the personal merit of the deceased. He was applauded for having received an excellent education in his younger years ; and in his more advanced age, for having cultivated piety towards the gods, justice towards men, gentleness, modesty, moderation, and all other virtues which constitute the good man. Then all the people shouted and bestowed the highest eulogies on the deceased, as one who would be received for ever into the society of the virtuous in Pluto's kingdom. To conclude this article of the ceremonies of funeral, it may not be amiss to observe to young pupils, the different manners in which the bodies of the dead were treated by the ancients. Some, as we observed of the Egyptians, ex- posed them to view after they had been embalmed, and thus preserved them to after ages. Others, as the Romans, burnt them on a funeral pile ; and others, again, laid them in the earth. The care to preserve bodies without lodging them in tombs, appears injurious to human nature in general, and to those persons in particular for whom this respect is designed ; because it exposes too visibly their wretched state and de- formity, since whatever care may be taken, spectators see nothing but the melancholy and frightful remains of what they once were. The custom of burning dead bodies has something in it cruel and barbarous, in destroying so hastily the remains of persons once dear to us. That of interment is certainly the most ancient and religious. It restores to the earth what had been taken from it ; and prepares our belief of a second restitution of our bodies, from that dust of which they were at first formed. CHAPTER III. OF THE EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS AND WAR. THE profession of arms was in great repute among the "Egyptians. After the sacerdotal families, the most illustri- ous, as with us, were those devoted to a military life. They 192 ANCIENT HISTORY. were not only distinguished by honors, but by ample liber- alities. Every soldier was allowed twelve arourse, that is, a piece of arable land, very nearly answering to half a French acre, * exempt from all tax or tribute. Besides this privi- lege, each soldier received a daily allowance of five pounds of bread, two of flesh, and a quart of wine, j This allow- ance was sufficient to support part of their family. Such an indulgence made them more affectionate to the person of their prince, and the interests of their country, and more resolute in the defence of both ; and, as Diodorus observes, it was thought inconsistent with good policy, and even com- mon sense, to commit the defence of a country to men who had no interest in its preservation. | Four hundred thousand soldiers were kept in continual pay, all natives of Egypt, and trained up in the exactest discipline. They were inured to the fatigues of Avar, by a severe and rigorous education. There is an art of forming the body as well as the mind. This art, lost by our sloth, was well known to the ancients, and especially to the Egyp- tians. Foot, horse, and chariot races, were performed in Egypt with wonderful agility, and the world could not slow better horsemen than the Egyptians. The Scriptures in several places speaks advantageously of their cavalry. || Military laws were easily preserved in Egypt, because sons received them from their fathers ; the profession of war, as all others, being transmitted from father to son. Those who fled in battle, or discovered any signs of coward- ice, were only distinguished by some particular mark of ig- nominy ; it being thought more advisable to restrain them by motives of honor, than by the terrors of punishment. But notwithstanding this, I will not pretend to say that the Egyptians were a warlike people. H" It is of little advan- tage to have regular and well-paid troops ; to haA'e armies exercised in peace, and employed only in mock-fights ; it is Avar alone, and real combats, Avhich form the soldier. Egypt loA'ed peace, because it loved justice, and maintained sol- diers only for its security. Its inhabitants, content with a * Twelve arourse. An Egyptian aroura was 10,001 square cubits, equal to three roods, two perches, 55 l-4th square feet of our measure. t The Greek is oii-ou reo-ffape? dpvsijpes, which some have made to signify a determinate quantity of wine, or any other liquid ; others, regarding the etymol- ogy of the word apva-rrio. have translated it by haiisfru-n. a bucket, as Lucretius, hb. v. i. 51 ; others, by Itaustutt, a draught or sup. Herodotus fwys 'his allowance was fdven only to the 'two thousand guards who attended annually on the kings. Lib. it. o. 168. J Lib. i, p. 67. Herod. 1. ii. c. 164, 168. || Cant. i. 8. Isa. xxxvi. 9. t Diod. p. 76. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 193 country which abounded in all things, had no ambitious dreams of conquest. The Egyptians extended their reputa- tion in a very different mariner, by sending colonies into all parts of the world, and with them laws and politeness. They triumphed by the wisdom of their counsels, and the superiority of their knowledge ; and this empire of the mind appeared more noble and glorious to them, than that which is achieved by arms and conquest. But nevertheless, Egypt has given birth to illustrious conquerors, as will be observed hereafter, when we come to treat of its kings. CHAPTER IV. OF THEIR ARTS AND SCIENCES. THE Egyptians had an inventive genius, and turned it to profitable speculations. Their Mercuries filled Egypt with wonderful inventions, and left it scarcely ignorant of any thing which could contribute to accomplish the mind, or procure eisse and happiness. The discoverers of any useful invention received, both living and dead, rewards worthy of their profitable labors. It is this which consecrated the books of their two Mercuries, and stamped them with a divine authority. The first libraries were in Egypt ; and the titles they bore, inspired an eager desire to enter them, and dive into the secrets they contained. They were called the " Remedy for the Diseases of the Soul," * and that very justly, because the soul was there cured of ignorance', the most dangerous, and the parent of all other maladies. As their country was level, and the air of it always serene and unclouded, they were among the first who observed the course of the planets. These observations led them to regulate the year, from the course of the sun ; for, as Diod- orous observes, their year, from the most remote antiquity, was composed of three hundred and sixty-five days and six hours. f To adjust the property of their lands, which were * Jivxys larpfiov- t It will not seem suvprising that Ui3 Egyptians, who were the most ancient observers of the celestial motion.-;, should have arrived to this knowledge, when it is considered, that the uuiar year, made use of by the Greeks and Romans, though it appears so inconvenient tuid irregular, supposed nevertheless a knowl- cd '"<' tha solar year, such as IModorus Siculus ascribes to the Egyptians. It will appear at first sixht, by calculating their intercalations, that those who first divided the year in this manner were not ignorant, that to three hundred and sixty-flve days some hours were to be added, to keep pace with the sun. Their only error lay in the supposition, that only six hours were wanting : whereat) an addition of almost eleven minutes more was requisite. 13 194 AXCIENT HISTORY. every year covered by the overflowing of the Nile, they were obliged to have recourse to surveys ; and this first taught them geometry. They were great observers of na- ture, which, in a climate so serene, and under so intense a sun, was vigorous and fruitful. By this study and application, they invented or improved the science of physic. The sick were not abandoned to the arbitrary will and caprice of the physician. He was obliged to follow fixed rules, which were the observations of old and experienced practitioners, and written in the sacred books. While these rules were observed, the physician was not answerable for the success ; otherwise a miscarriage cost him his life. This law checked, indeed, the temerity of empirics ; but then it might prevent new discoveries, and keep the art from attaining to its just perfection. Every physician, if Herodotus may be credited,* confined his practice to the cure of one disease only, one was for the eyes, another for the teeth, and so on. What we have said of the pyramids, the labyrinth, and that infinite number of obelisks, temples, and palaces, whose precious remains still strike us with admiration, and in which were displayed the magnificence of the princes who raised them, the skill of the workmen, the riches of the ornaments diffused over every part of them, and the just proportion and beautiful symmetry of the parts in which their greatest beauty consisted, seemed to vie with each other ; works, in many of which the liveliness of the colors remains to this day,, in spite of the rude hand of time, which commonly deadens or destroys them : all this, I say, shows the perfection to which architecture, painting, sculpture, and other arts, had arrived in Egypt. The Egyptians entertained but a mean opinion of that sort of exercise, which did not contribute to invigorate the body, or improve health ;f and of music,! which they con- sidered as a useless and dangerous diversion, and only fit to enervate the mind. * Lib. ii. c. 84. t Died. 1. i. p. 73. t 'I'lji* 8e i^ovcrLKT]v vofj.iovs i fKt>r]\vvova(. Tas r)iv\a.s- MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 195 CHAPTER V. OF THEIR HUSBANDMEN, SHEPHERDS, AND ARTIFICERS. HUSBANDMEN, shepherds, and artificers, formed the three classes of lower life in Egypt, but were nevertheless had in very great esteem, particularly husbandmen and shepherds.* The body politic requires a superiority and subordination of its several members ; for as in the natural body, the eye may be said to hold the first rank, yet its lustre does not d rt contempt upon the feet, the hands, or even on those parts which are less honorable; in like manner, among the Egyptians, the priests, soldiers, and scholars, were lis- tinguished by particular honors; but all professions, to the meanest, had their share in the public esteem, because the despising of any man, whose labors, however mean, were useful to the state, was thought a crime. A better reason than the foregoing, might have inspired them at the first Avith these sentiments of equity and moder- ation, which they so long preserved. As they all descended from Cham,f their common father, the memory of their still recent origin occurring to the minds of all in those first ages, established among them a kind of equality, and stamped, in their opinion, a nobility on every person derived from the common stock. Indeed, the difference of conditions, and the contempt with which persons of the lowest rank are treated, are owing merely to the distance from the common root ; which makes us forget, that the meanest plebeian when his descent is traced back to the source, is equally noble with the most elevated rank and title. Be that as it will, no profession in Egypt was considered as grovelling or sordid. By this means arts were raised to their highest perfection. The honor which cherished them, mixed with every thought and care for their improvement. Every man had his way of life assigned him by the laws, and it was perpetuated from father to son. Two professions at one time, or a change of that which a man was born to, were never allowed. By this means, men became more able * Diod. 1. i. p. 67, 68. t Or Ham. 196 ANCIENT HISTORY. and expert in employments which they had always exercised from their infancy ; and every man, adding his own expe- rience to that of his ancestors, was more capable of attain- ing perfection in his particular art. Besides, this wholesome institution, which had been established anciently throughout Egypt, extinguished all irregular ambition ; and taught every man to sit down contented with his condition, without aspir- ing to one more elevated, from interest, vain glory, or levity. From this source flowed numberless inventions for the improvement of all the arts, and for rendering life more commodious, and trade more easy. I could not believe that Diodorus was in earnest in what he relates concerning the Egyptian industry, viz.: that this people had found out a way, by an artificial fecundity, to hatch eggs without the sitting of the hen ; * but all modern travellers declare it to be a fact, which certainly is worthy our curiosity and is said to be practised in some places of Europe. Their relations inform us, that the Egyptians stow eggs in ovens, which are healed to such a temperature, and with such just proportion to the natural warmth of the hen, that the chickens produced from these-- means are as strong as those which are hatched the natural way. The season of the year proper for this opera- tion is, from the end of December to the end of April ; the heat in Egypt being too violent in the other months. Dur- ing these four months, upwards of three hundred thousand eggs are laid in these ovens, which, though they are not all successful, nevertheless produce vast numbers of fowls at an easy rate. The art lies in giving the ovens a due degree of heat, which must not exceed a fixed proportion. About ten days are bestowed in heating these ovens, and very near as much time in hatching the eggs. It is very entertaining, say these travellers, to observe the hatching of these chick- ens, some of which show at first nothing but their heads, others but half their bodies, and others again come quite out of the egg, these last, the moment they are hatched, make their way over the unhatched eggs, and form a diverting spectacle. Corneille le Bruyn, in his Travels,! has collected the observations of other travellers on this subject. Pliny likewise mentions it ; but it appears from him, that the Egyptians, anciently, employed warm dung, not ovens, to hatch eggs.J I have said, that husbandmen particularly, and those who took care of f ocks, were in great esteem in Egypt, some * Diod. 1. i. p. 67. t Tom. ii. p. 64. t Lib. x. c. 54. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OP THE EGYPTIANS. 197 parts of it excepted, where the latter were not suffered.* It was, indeed, to these two professions that Egypt owed its riches and plenty. It is astonishing to reflect what advan- tages the Egyptians, by their art and labor, drew from a country of no great extent but whose soil was made wonder- fully fruitful by the inundations of the Nile, and the labori- ous industry of the inhabitants. It will be always so with every kingdom, whose govern- ors direct all their actions to the public welfare. The culture of lands, and the breeding of cattle, will be an inexhaustible fund of wealth in all countries, where, as in Egypt, these profitable callings are supported and encouraged by maxims of state policy. And we may consider it as a misfortune, that they are at present fallen into so general a disesteem ; though it is from them that the most elevated ranks, as we esteem them, are furnished not only witli the necessaries, but even the luxuries of life. " For," says Abbe Fleury, in his admirable work ' Of the Manners of the Israelites,' where the subject I am upon is thoroughly examined, "it is the peasant who feeds the citizen, the magistrate, the gentleman, the ecclesiastic : and whatever artifice or craft may be used to convert money into commodities, and these back again into money, yet all must ultimately be owned to be received from the products of the earth, and the animals that it sus- tains and nourishes. Nevertheless, when we compare men's different stations of life together, we give the lowest place to the husbandman ; and with many people a wealthy citizen, enervated with sloth, useless to the public, and void of all merit, has the preference, merely because he has more money, and lives a more easy and delightful life. " But let us imagine to ourselves a country where so great a difference is not made between the several condi- tions ; where the life flf a nobleman is not made to consist in idleness and doing nothing, but in a careful preservation of his liberty, that is, in a due subjection to the laws and the constitution ; by a man's subsisting upon his estate with- out dependence on any one, and being contented to enjoy a little with liberty, rather than a great deal at the price of mean and base compliances : a country, where sloth, effemi- nacy, and the ignorance of things necessary for life, are held in just contempt, and where pleasure is less valued than * Swineherds, in particular, had a general ill-name throughout Egypt, as they had the cure of so impure an aniniMl. Herodotus, 1. ii. <. 47, tells us, that 1hcy were not permitted to enter the Egyptian temples, nor would any man give them his daughter in marriage. 198 ANCIENT HISTORY. health and bodily strength : in such a country, it will be much more for a man's reputation to plough, and keep flocks, than to waste all his hours in sauntering from place to place, in gaming, and expensive diversions." But we need not have recourse to Plato's commonwealth for in- stances of men who have led these useful lives. It was thus that the greatest part of mankind lived during near four thousand years ; and that not only the Israelites, but the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, that is to say, nations the most civilized, and most renowned for arms and wisdom. They all inculcate the regard which ought to be paid to agriculture and the breeding of cattle ; one of which (without saying any thing of hemp and flax, so necessary for our clothing,) supplies us, by corn, fruits, and pulse, with not only a plentiful but a delicious nourishment ; and the other, besides its supply of exquisite meats to cover our tables, almost alone gives life to manufactures and trade, by the skins and stuffs it furnishes. Princes are commonly desirous, and their interest cer- tainly requires it, that the peasant, Avho, in a literal sense, sustains the heat and burden of the day, and pays so great a portion of the national taxes, should meet with favor and encouragement. But the kind and good intentions of princes are too often defeated by the insatiable and merci- less avarice of those who are appointed to collect their revenues. History has transmitted to us a fine saying of Tiberius on this head. A prefect of Egypt, having aug- mented the annual tribute of the province, and doubtless with the view of making his court- t-> the emperor, remitted to him a sum much larger than was customary ; * that prince, who in the beginning of his reign thought, or at least spoke justly, answered, f A l K&6 it wac- his design not to flay, but to shear his sheep. ,f CHAPTER VI. OF THE FERTILITY OF EGYPT. UNDER this head I shall treat only of some plants peculiar to Egypt, and of the abundance of corn which it produced. PAPYRUS. This is a plant, from the root of which shoot *I>iod. 1. Ivii. p. 608. t KeipecrOai /J.ou ra Trpd/Sara a\\' oiiK a7rof vpecrOai /SoiAofiai. Diod. 1. Ivii MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OP THE EGYPTIANS. 199 out a great many triangular stalks, to the height of six or seven cubits. The ancients wrote at first upon palm leaves ; next, on the inside of the bark of trees, from whence the word liber, or book, is derived ; after that, upon tables cov- ered over with wax, on which the characters were impressed with an instrument called stylus, sharp-pointed at one end to write with, and flat at the other to efface what had been written ; * which gave occasion to the following expression of Horace : Saepe stylum vertas, iterum quse digna legi sint Scripturus. Sat. lib. ix. ver. 72. Oft turn your style, if you desire to write Things that will bear a second reading. The meaning of which is, that a good performance is not to be expected without many erasures and corrections. At last the use of paper f was introduced, and this was made of the bark of papyrus, divided into thin flakes or leaves, which were very proper for writing ; and the papyrus was like- wise called byblus. Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere*byblos ,,,, Noverat. Lucaii. Memphis as yet knew not to form in leaves The watery Byblus. Pliny calls it a wonderful invention, so useful to life, that it preserves the memory of great actions, and immor- talizes those who achieve them. $ Varro ascribes this in- vention to Alexander the Great, when he built Alexandria ; but he had only the merit of making paper more common, for the invention was of much greater antiquity. The same Pliny adds, that Eumenes, king of Pergamus, substi- tuted parchment instead of paper ; in emulation of Ptol- emy, king of Egypt, whose liberty he was ambitious to excel by this invention, which had the advantage over pa- per. Parchment is the skin of a sheep, dressed and made fit to write upon. It was called Pergamenum from Perga- mus, whose kings had the honor of the invention. All the ancient manuscripts are either upon parchment or vellum, which is calf-skin, and a great deal finer than the common parchment. It is very curious to see white fine paper wrought out of filthy rags picked up in the streets. The * Plm. 1. xiii. c. 11. t The papyrus was divided into fhin flakes, into which it naturally parted, which being laid on a table, and moistened with the glutinous waters of the Nile, were afterwards press. >d together, and aried in the sun. Postea promisuut! patuit nsus rei, qua ronstat immortalitas hominum Chart* usu maxiiue huuiaiiilas coiistat in memoria. 200 ANCIENT HISTORY. plant papyrus was useful likewise for sails, tackling, clothes, coverlets, etc.* LINUM. Flax is a plant whose bark, full of fibres or strings, is useful in making line linen. The method of mak- ing this linen in Egypt was wonderful, and carried to such perfection, that the threads which were drawn out of them, were almost too small for the observation of the sharpest eye. Priests were always habited in linen, and never in woollen ; and not only the priests, but all persons of dis- tinction, generally wore linen clothes. This flax formed a considerable branch of the Egyptian trade, and great quan- tities of it were exported into foreign countries. The man- ufacture of flax employed a great number of hands in Egypt, especially of the women, as appears from that pas- sage in Isaiah, in which the prophet menaces Egypt with a drought of so terrible a kind, that it should interrupt every kind of labor. Moreover, they that work in fine flax, and they that weave net-work, shall be confounded.^ We like- wise find in Scripture, that one effect of the plague of hail, called down by Moses upon Egypt, | was the destruction of all the flax which was then boiled. This storm was in March. BYSSUS. This was another kind of flax extremely fine and small, which often received a purple dye. It was very dear; and none but rich and wealthy persons could afford to wear it. Pliny, who gives the first place to the asbeston or asbestinum, i. e., the incombustible flax, places the byssus in the next rank ; and says, that it served as an ornament to the ladies. || It appears from the Holy Scrip- tures, that it was chiefly from Egypt cloth made from this fine flax was brought. fine linen with broidered work from Egypt. If I take no notice of the lotus or lote-tree, a common plant, and in great request with the Egyptians, of whose berries, in former times, they made bread. There was an- other lotus in Africa, which gave its name to the eotophagi or lotus-eaters, because they lived upon the fruit of this tree, which had so delicious a taste, if Homer may be credited, * Plin. 1. xix. c. 1. tlsa. xix. 9. t Exod. ix. 31. Plin. 1. xix. c. 1. II Proximus byssino mutter nn maxime dolifiis genito : inventuin jam est etiam (scilicet Limim) quod igiubus 11011 absumetur : vivuin id vocant, ardeii- tesque in focis convhiortim ex eo vidimus mapnas, sordi'ous exustis Bpleude*- centes igni magis quam possent aqnis. i.e. A liax is now found out, wlricii is proof against the violence of tire ; it is called living flax, and we have neen table- )i;ipkins of it glowing in the fires of our dining-rooms, and receiving a lustre and a cleanness from flames, which no water could have given it. H Ezek. xxvii. 7- MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 201 that it made the eaters of it forget all the sweets of their native country,* as CJlysses found to his cost on his return from Troy. In general, it may be said, that the Egyptian pulse and fruits were excellent ; and might, as Pliny observes, h:;ve sufficed singly for the nourishment of the inhabitants, such was their excellent quality, and so great their plenty. f And, indeed, working men lived then almost upon nothing else, as appears from those who were employed in building the pyramids. Besides these rural riches, the Nile, from its fish, and the fatness it gave to the soil for the feeding of cattle, fur- nished the tables of the Egyptians with the most exquisite fish of every kind, and the most succulent flesh. This it was which made the Israelites so deeply regret the loss of Egypt, when they found themselves in the Avilderness : Who, say they, in a plaintive, and at the same time seditious tone, shall give us fl-ish to eat? We remember the flesh which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and 'mel- ons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic. \ We sat by the flesh pots, and we did eat bread to the fid 1 .. But the great and matchless wealth of Egypt arose from its corn, which, even in an almost universal famine, enabled it to support all the neighboring nations, as it par- ticularly did under Joseph's administration. In later ages it was the resource and most certain granary of Rome and Constantinople. It is a well-known story, how a calumny raised against St. Athanasius, viz. : of his having menaced Constantinople, that for the future no more corn should be imported to it from Alexandria, incensed the emperor Con- stantino against that holy bishop, because he knew that his capital city could not subsist without the corn which was brought to it from Egypt. The same reason induced all the emperors of Rome to take so great a cai*e of Egypt, which they considered as the nursing mother of the world's metropolis. Nevertheless, the same river which enables this prov- ince to subsist the two most populous cities in the world, sometimes reduced even Egypt itself to the most terrible famine ; and it is astonishing that Joseph's wise foresight, * TV &' 6(TTi5 AIOTOIO dyoi ficAir)6ea Kapirbv, OOK eV djrayyelAai trd\<.v ^f\fv, ou8e i/ee<7ai. OdySS. ix. ver. 01 95. Mij Ttia TIS AU>TOM> ibayitv, i'd20. Ant. J. G. 2084. t A. M. 'J084. Ant. J. C. 1920. Gen. xti. 10-20. t A. M..2179. Ant. J. C. 18.-5. A. M. 2276. Ant. J. C. 1728. || Lib. xxxvi. c. 2. II Ju-tiii ascribes this gift of heaven to Joseph's skill in magical arts. Cum mairfcas ibi a>tes (Egypta soil.) solerti ingenio percepuiget, &c. ** A. M. 2298. Ant. J. C. 1706. tt Exod. i. 8. W A. M. 2427. Aut. J. C. 1577. Exod. i. 11, 13, 14. KINGS OF EGYPT. 209 treasure cities,* Pithon and JRaamses and the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field ; all their service wherein they made them serve, icas with rigor. This king had two sons, Amenophis and Busiris. Amenophis, the eldest, succeeded him. t He was the Pharaoh under whose reign the Israelites departed out of Egypt, and who was drowned in his passage through the Red Sea. Father Tournemine makes Sesostris, of whom we shall speak immediately, the Pharaoh who raised the prosecution against the Israelites, and oppressed them with the most painful toils. $ This is exactly agreeable to the account given by Diodorus of this prince, who employed in his Egyptian works only foreigners ; so that we may place the memorable event of the passage of the Red Sea, under his son Pheron ; and the characteristic of impiety ascribed to him by Herodotus, greatly strengthens the probability of this conjecture. The plan I have proposed to follow in this his- tory, excuses me from entering into chronological discus- sions. Diodorus, || speaking of the Red Sea, has made one re- mark very worthy our observation ; a tradition, says that historian, has been transmitted through the whole nation from father to son, for many ages, that once an extraordi- nary ebb dried the sea, so that its bottom was seen ; and that a violent flow immediately after brought back the waters to their former channel. It is evident that the miraculous pas- sage of Moses over the Red Sea is here hinted at ; and I make this remark, purposely to admonish young students, not to slip over, in their perusal of authors, these precious remains of antiquity ; especially when they bear, like this passage, any relation to religion. Archbishop Usher says, that Amenophis left two sons, one called Sesothis, or Sesostris, and the other Armais. The Greeks called him Belus, and his two sons, Egyptus and Danaus. Sesostris was not only one of the most powerful kings of Egypt, but one of the greatest conquerors that antiquity boasts of. If * Hel>. urbes thesaurorum. LXX. urbes munita*. These cities were appointed to preserve, as in a storehouse, the com, oil, and other products of Egypt. VataU. t A. M. 24-, o, ir, p, , % ', and Simonides, a long time after, invented the four otheis, namely T ( , ui, f , \p. t A. M. 25t7. Ant. J. (J. 1457. t Herod. 1. ii. c. 111. Diod. 1. i. p. 54. A. M. 280J. Ant. J C. 1201. Herod. 1. ii c. 112, 120. || I do not think myself obliged to enter here into a discussion, which would be attended with very perplexing (iiilicuUies, should I pretend to reconcile the eeries, or succession of the kin^s, as given by Herodotus with the opinion of archoishop Usher. This last supposes, with a great many other learned men, that Sesostris is the son of that Egyptian king who was drowned in the Red Sea, whoso reign must consequently have begun in the year of the world 2513, and continued till the yea 1 ' 2547. since it I'lsted thirty-three years. Should we allow fifty years to the rei fills it up with a great many kings ; and the same must be said of some of the following kings. 216 ANCIENT HISTORY. blood of strangers : that he would keep Helen, Avith all the riches that were brought with her, in order to restore them to their lawful owner : that as for himself (Paris), he must either quit his dominions in three days, or expect to be treated as an enemy. The king's order was obeyed. Paris continued his voyage, and arrived at Troy, Avhither he was closely pursued by the Grecian army. The Greeks sum- moned the Trojans to surrender Helen, and with her all the treasures of which her husband had been plundered. The Trojans answered, that neither Helen nor her treasures were in their city. And indeed, was It at all likely, says Herod- otus, that Priam, who was so wise an old prince, should choose to see his children and country destroyed before his eyes, rather than give the Greeks the just and reason- able satisfaction they desired ? But it was to no purpose for them to affirm with an oath, that Helen was not in their city ; the Greeks, being firmly persuaded that they \vere trilled with, persisted obstinately in their unbelief. The Deity, continues the same historian, being resolved that the Trojans, by the total destruction of their city and empire, should teach the affrighted world this lesson, THAT GREAT CRIMES ARE ATTENDED WITH EQUALLY GREAT AND SIGNAL PUNISHMENTS FROM THE OFFENDED GODS.* MeiieL'lUS, ill his return from Troy, called at the court of king Proteus, who restored him Helen with all her treasure. Herodotus proves from some passages in Homer, that the voyage of Paris to Egypt was not unknown to this poet. Pihampsinitus. The treasury built by this king, who was richer than any of his predecessors, and his descent into hell, as they are related by Herodotus, f have so much the air of romance and fiction, that they deserve no mention here. Till the reign of this king, there had been some shadow at least of justice and moderation in Egypt; but, in the two folloAving reigns, violence and cruelty usurped their place. Cheops and Cephrenus. $ These two princes, Avho Avere truly brothers by the similitude of their manners, seem to have strove which of them should distinguish himself most, by a barefaced impiety towards the gods, and a barbarous inhumanity to men. Cheops reigned fifty years, and his brother Cephrenus fifty-six years after him. They kept the * 'Or TO>I> i*fya.\, &c. II. Kings xxiv. 7. || A rivo JEgypti. This little river of Egypt, so often mentioned in Scrip- ture, as the boundary of Palestine towards Egypt, was not the >Trle, but a small river, which running throughout the deseit that lay between tl\<.s>- n;t;i<>iis, was anciently the common boundary of both. So far the land, which had been prom- ised to the posterity of Abraham, and divided among them by lot, extended- T A. M. 3404. Ant. J. C. 600. Herod. 1. ii. c. 160. ** Herod. 1. i. c. ICO KIXGS OF EGYPT. 229 been heard, which could be said in favor of this institution, the Eleans were asked, if the citizens and o viguers were admitted indifferently to these games ; to \vhieii ans\ver was made that they were open to every one. To this the Egyptians replied, that the rules of justice Avould have been most strictly observed, had foreigners only been admitted to these combats ; because it was very difficult for the judges in their award of the victory arid the prize, not to 1)3 prejudiced in favor of their fellow-citizens. Apries. In Scripture he is called Pharaoh-Hophra ; and succeeding his father Psammis, reigned twenty-five years.* During the first years of his reign, lie was as happy as any of his predecessors.! He carried his arms into Cyprus ; be- ,sieged the city of Sidon by sea and land; took it, aad made himself master of all Phoenicia and Palestine. So rapid a success elated his heart to a prodigious de- gree, and as Herodotus informs us, swelled him with so much pride and infatuation, that he boasted it was not in the power of the gods themselves to dethrone him ; so great was the idea he had formed to himself of the firm establish- ment of his own power. It was with a view to these arro- gant conceits, that Ezekiel put the vain and impious words following into his mouth : My river is mine own, and 1 have made it for myself. $ But the true God proved to him afterwards that he had a master, and that he was a mere man ; and he had threatened him long before by his prophets, with all the calamities he was resolved to bring upon him, in order to punish him for his pride. Shortly after Hophra had ascended the throne, Zede- kiah, king of Judah, sent an embassy, and concluded a mutual alliance with him ; and the year following, breaking the oath of fidelity which he had taken to the king of Baby- lon, he rebelled openly against him. Notwithstanding God had so often forbid his people to have recourse to Egypt, or to put any confidence in the people of it, notwithstanding the repeated calamities in which they had been involved for their having relied on the Egyptians, they still thought this nation their most sure refuge in danger, and accordingly could not forbear apply- ing to it. This they had already done in the reign of the holy king Hczekiah ; and which gave occasion to God's mes- sage to his people, by the mouth of his prophet Isaiah : | * A. M. 3410. Ant. J. C. 5D4. Jer xlif. 30. t Kerotl. 1. ii. c. 1C. Diod. 1. i. p. 62. t Ezek. xxix. 3. Kzek. xvi. 15. II Chap. xxxi. 1, 3. 230 AXOIEXT HISTORY. " Wo to them that go clown to Egypt for help, and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they arc many; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. The Egyptians are men, and not God ; and their horses flesh, not spirit : Avhen the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they shall fall together." But neither the prophet nor the king were heard ; and nothing but the most fatal experience could open their eyes, and make them see evidently the truth of God's threatening?. The Jews behaved in the very same manner on this oc- casion. Zedekiah, notAvithstanding all the remonstrances of Jeremiah to the contrary, resolved to conclude an alliance with the Egyptian monarch, who, puffed up with the suc- cess of his arms, and confident that nothing could resist his power, declared himself the protector of Israel, and prom- ised to deliver it from the tyranny of Xebuchodonosor. But God, offended that a mortal had thus dared to intrude himself into his place, expressed his mind to another proph- et, as follows : " Son of map, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. Speak and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in thy jaws," etc. * God, after comparing him to a reed, which breaks under the man who leans upon it, and wounds his hand, adds, f " Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee : and the land of Egypt shall be desolate, and they shall know that I am the Lord ; because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it." The same prophet, in several succeeding chapters, continues to foretell the calamities with which Egypt was going to be overwhelmed, $ Zedekiah was far from giving credit to these predictions. When he heard of the approach of the Egyptian army, and saw Nebuchodonosor raise the siege of Jerusalem, he fancied that his deliverance was completed, and anticipated a tri- umph. His joy, however, was but of short duration, for the Egyptians, seeing the Chaldeans advancing, did not dare to encounter so numerous and well-disciplined an army. They therefore marched back into their own country, and left the unfortunate Zedekiah exposed to all the dangers of a Avar in * Ezek. xxix. 2, 3, 4. t Ezek. xxix. 3, ?. J CLap. xxix, xxx, xxxi. xxxii. KINGS OF EGYPT. 231 which they themselves had involved him.* Xebuchodonoser again sat down before Jerusalem, took and burnt it, as Jere- miah had prophesied. Many years after, the chastisements with which God had threatened Apries (Pharaoh-Hophra) began to fall upon him ; f for the Cyrenians, a Greek colony which had settled in Africa, between Libya and Egypt, having seized upon, and divided among themselves, a great part of the country belonging to the Libyans, forced these nations, who wer& thus dispossessed by violence, to throw themselves into the arms of this prince, and implore his protection. Immedi- ately Apries sent a mighty army into Libya, to oppose the Cyrenian Greeks ; but this army being entirely defeated and almost cut to pieces, the Egyptians imagined that Apries had sent it into Libya only to get it destroyed, and by that means to attain the power of governing his subjects with- out check or control. This reflection prompted the Egyp- tians to throw off the yoke which had been laid on them by their prince, whom they now considered as their enemy. Apries, hearing of the rebellion, despatched Amasis, one of his officers, to suppress it, and force the rebels to return to their allegiance ; but the moment Amasis began to address them, they fixed a helmet upon his head, in token of the ex- alted dignity to which they intended to raise him, and pro- claimed him king. Amasis, having accepted the crown, staid with the mutineers, and confirmed them in their rebellion. Apries, more exasperated than ever at this news, sent Paterbemis, another of his great officers, and one of the prin- cipal lords of his court, to put Amasis under an arrest, and bring him before him; but Paterbemis, not being able to execute his commands, and bring away the rebel, as he was surrounded by the instruments of his treachery, was treated by Apries at his return in the most ignominious and inhuman manner; for his nose and ears were cut off by the command of that prince, who never considered, that only his want of power had prevented his executing his commission. So barbarous an outrage, committed upon a person of such high distinction, exasperated the Egyptians so much, that the greatest part of them joined the rebels, and the insurrection became general. Apries was now forced to retire into Upper Egypt, where he supported himself some years, dur- ing Avhich Amasis enjoyed the rest of his dominions. * A. M. 3416. Ant. J. C. 588. Jer. xxxvii. C, 7. t A. M. 3430. Ant. J. C. 574. Herod. 1. ii. c. Id, &c. Diod. 1. i. p. C2. 232 AXCIEXT niSTOKV. The troubles which thus distracted Egypt afforded Xebu- chodonosor a favorable opportunity to invade that kingdom ; and it Avas God himself who inspired him with the resolu- tion. This prince, who was the instrument of God's wrath (though he did not know himself to be so) against a people \vhom he had resolved to chastise, had just before taken Tyre, where himself and his army had labored under in- credible difficulties. To recompense their toils, God aban- doned Egypt to their arms. It is wonderful to hear the creator himself-revealing his designs on this subject. There are few passages in Scripture more remarkable than this, or which give a clearer idea of the supreme authority which God exercises over all the princes and kingdoms of the earth. " Son of man (says the Almighty to his prophet Ezekiel), Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus : * every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled : f yet he had no wages, nor his army, for the service he had served against it. J There- fore, thus saith the Lord God, behold I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall take her multitude, and take her. spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages of his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God." Says another prophet, " he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment, and he shall go forth from thence in peace." Tims shall he load him- self with booty, and thus cover his own shoulders, and those of his fold, with all the spoils of Egypt. Xoble expressions ! which show the ease with which all the power and riches of a kingdom are carried away, when God appoints the revo- lution ; and shift, like a garment to a new owner, who has no more to do but to take it, and clothe himself with it. The king of Babylon, taking advantage therefore of the intestine divisions which the rebellion of Amasis had oc- casioned in that king - lj;n, marched thither at the head of * Ezek. xxix. 18, 10. 20. t Th;; baldness of the hwxls of tho Babylonians wns owing to the pressure ox t'liir helmets: ami their jvoel^d shoulders to their carrying ba;;kets <>C earth, and larje pieces of timber, to join Tyre v> tha continent, fealduess \VP.S ii-ult' a- badge of slavery ; and, joined to tlio pouted shouhiers, shows th;\t the conqueror's army sustained CN-O'.J ilie most seivlto labor* in this mjiu..>.-:il>lj :4^e. t For the butter uttd--rstaudiiij of this I'assa;',, ',.-> are to know, that Xebu- clioiloi loso;- sus ained mbretfiblo h&rosblps at One eifefeft of '!' re : and thai when tho TyriaiK su\v themselves closely attacked, tin; nublrs c-oiive'-ed themselves, and their richest effects, on ship board, si \>\ retired into other islands. So that when Nebuchodonosor took the city r he found nothing to recompense his l-.-.-rs, and the troubles he had undergone iu this siege. S. llierou. Jereni. xliii 12 KIXOS OF EGYPT. 233 his army. He subdued Egypt from Migdol or Magdol, a town on the frontiers of the kingdom, as far as Syene, in the opposite extremity where it borders on Ethiopia. He made a horrible devastation wherever he came ; killed a great number of the inhabitants, and made such dreadful havoc in the country, that the damage could not be repaired in forty years. Nebuchodonosor, having loaded his army with spoils, and conquered the whole kingdom, came to an accommodation with Amasis ; and leaving him as his vice- roy there, returned to Babylon. Apries (Pharaoh-IIophra), * now leaving the place where he had concealed himself, advanced towards the sea- coast, probably on the side of Libya ; and, hiring an army of Garians, lonians, and other foreigners, he marched against Amasis, whom he fought near Memphis; but being over- come, Apries WLS taken prisoner, carried to the city of Sais, and there strangled in his own palace. The Almighty had given, by the mouth of his prophets., an astonishing relation of the several circumstances of this mighty event. It was he who had broken the power of Apris, which was once so formidable; and put the sword into the hand of Xebuchodonosor, in order that he might chastise and humble that haughty prince. " I am (said he) against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms which were strong, but now are broken ; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.f But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword into his hand. $ And they shall know that I am the Lord." He enumerates the towns which were to fall a prey to the victors : Pathros, || Zoan, No, called in the Vulgate, Alexandria, Sin, Aven, Phibeseth, etc. 1[ He takes notice particularly of the unhappy . .id to which the captive king should come. " Thus saith the Lord, behold I will give Pharaoh-IIophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life." ** Lastly, He declarts, that during forty years, the Egyp- tians shall be oppressed with every species of calamity, and. be reduced to so deplorable a state, " that there shall be no * Herod. 1. ii. e. 16S, 169. Diod. 1. i. p. 72. t Ezek. xxx. 22. t Ezek. xxx. 24. Ezek. xxx. 25. || Ezek. xxx. 1-1, 17. if I have given the names of these towns as they stand in our English ver- sion. In the margin are printed against Zoan, Tanis ; against Sin, Pelusium ; against Aven, Heliopolis ; against Phibeseth, Pubastiim (Bubaste,) and by these last names they are mentioned in the original French of M. Kolliiu ** Jc-rem. xliv. 30. 234 AXCIEXT HISTORY. more a pi-ince of the land of Egypt." * The event verified this prophecy. Soon after the expiration of these forty years, Egypt was made a province of the Persian empire, and has been governed ever since by foreigners. For, since the ruin of the Persian monarchy, it has been subject suc- cessively to the Macedonians, the Romans, the Saracens, the Mamelukes, and lastly to the Turks, who possess it at this day. God was not less punctual in the accomplishment of his prophecies, with regard to such of his own people as had retired, contrary to his prohibition, into Egypt, after the taking of Jerusalem, and forced Jeremiah along with thein.f The instant they had reached Egypt, and were arrived at Taphnis, or Tanis, the prophet, after having hid, in their presence, by God's command, stones in a grotto, which was near the king's palace ; he declared to them, that Nebu- chodonosor should soon arrive in Egypt, rnd that God would establish his throne in that very place ; that this prince would lay waste the whole kingdom, and carry fire and sword into all places ; that themselves should fall into the hand of these cruel enemies, when one part of them would be massacred, and the rest led captive to Babylon ; that only a very small number should escape the common desolation, and be at last restored to their country. All these prophecies had their accomplishment in the appointed time. Amasis. $ After the death of Apries, Amasis became peaceable possessor of Egypt, and reigned over it forty years. He was, according to Plato, a native of the city of Sais. As he Avas but of mean extraction, he met with no re- spect, and was contemned by his subjects in the beginning of his reign. || He was not insensible of this ; but never- theless thought it his interest to subdue their tempers by an artful carriage, and to win their affection by gentleness and reason. He had a golden cistern, in which himself, and those persons who were admitted to his table, used to wash their feet ; he melted it down, and had it cast into a statue, and then exposed the new god to public worship. The peo- ple hastened in crowds to pay their adoration to the statue. The king, having assembled the people, informed them of the vile uses to which this statue had once been put, which Ezek. xxx. 13. t Jerem. xliii. xliv. t A. M . 3435. Ant, ,T. C. 559 In Tim. II Herod. 1. ii. c. 172. KIXGS OF EGYPT. 235 nevertheless was now the object of their religious prostra- tions : the application was easy, and had the desired suc- ces ; the people thenceforward paid the king all the respect that is due to majesty. Pie always used to devote the whole morning to public affairs, in order to receive petitions, give audience, pro- nounce sentence, and hold his councils : * the rest of the day was given to pleasure; and as Amasis, in hours of diversion, was extremely gay, and seemed to carry his mirth beyond due bounds, his courtiers took the liberty to repre- sent to him the unsuitableness of such a behavior ; when he answered, that it was as impossible for the mind to be always serious and intent upon business, as for a bow to continue always bent. It was this king who obliged the inhabitants of every town to enter their names in a book kept by the magistrates for that purpose, with their profession, and manner of liv- ing. Solon inserted this custom among his laws. He built many magnificent temples, especially at Sais, the place of his birth. Herodotus admired especially a chapel there, formed of one single stone, and which was twenty-one cubits f in front, fourteen in depth, and eight in height ; its dimensions Within were not quite so large : it had been brought from Elephantina, and two thousand men were employed three years in conveying it along the Nile. Amasis had a great esteem for the Greeks. He granted them large privileges ; and permitted such of them as were desirous of settling in Egypt to live in the city of Naucratis, so famous for its harbor. When the rebuilding of the temple of Delphi, which had been burnt, was debated on, and the expense was computed at three hundred talents, t Amasis furnished the Delphians with a very considerable sum towards discharging their quota, which was the fourth part of the whole charge. He made an alliance with the Cyrenians, and married a wife from among them. He is the only king of Egypt who conquered the island of Cyprus, and made it tributary. Under his reign Pythagoras came into Egypt, being recommended to that monarch by the famous Poly crates, tyrant of Samos, who had contracted a friendship with * Herod- 1. ii. p. 72. t The cubit is one foot and almost ten incLe ; ;. Vide supra. J Or 258,075. 236 ANCIENT HISTORY. Amasis, and will be mentioned hereafter. Pythagoras, during his stay in Egypt, was initiated in all the mysteries of the country, and instructed by the priests in whatever was most abstruse and important in their religion. It was here he imbibed his doctrine of the metempsychosis, or trans- migration of souls. In the expedition in which Cyrus conquered so great a part of the world, Egypt doubtless was subdued, like the rest of the provinces ; and Xenophon positively declares this in the beginning of his Cyropaedia, or institution of that prince.* Probably, after that the forty years of desola- tion, which had been foretold by the prophet, were expired, Egypt beginning gradually to recover itself, Amasis shook off the yoke, and recovered his liberty. Accordingly we find, that one of the first cares of Cam- byses, the son of Cyrus, after he had ascended the throne, was to carry his arms into Egypt. On his arrival there, Amasis was just dead, and succeeded by his son Psam- menitus. Psammenitus.t Cambyses, after having gained a battle, pursued the enemy to Memphis ; besieged the city and soon took it : however, he treated the king with clemency, grant- ed him his life, an assigned him an honorable pension ; but being informed that he was secretly concerting measures to reascend his throne, he put him to death. Psammenitus reigned but six months, all Egypt submitted immediately to the victor. The particulars of the history will be related more at large when I come to that of Cambyses. Here ends the succession of the Egyptian kings. From this era the history of this nation, as was before observed, will be blended with that of the Persians and Greeks, till the death of Alexander. At that period, a new monarchy will arise in Egypt, founded by Ptolemy the son of Lagus, which will continue to Cleopatra, that is, for about three hundred years. I shall treat each of these subjects in the several periods to which they belong. * 'Ejrijpfe Se KCU. 'EAATJfioi' Ttav ev TTJ Acrto, naTaj3a? eSe ire fta.\a.TTa.v, KOI KvTrpi'aif KOJ. A.iyvTTvi.tai' J. 6 Edit. Ilutchinsoni. ' t A. M. 3479. Ant. J.C.5^5. BOOK SECOND. THK ANCIENT HISTORY OF Tl CARTHAGINIANS. PLAN. The following history of the Carthaginians is divided into two parts. In the first is given a general idea of the manners of *hat people, their character, govern- ment, religion, power, :MH! riches. In the second after relating, in few words, by what steps Carthage established and enlarged its power, there is an account of the wars by which it became so famous. PART FIRST. CHARACTER, MANNERS, RELIGION, AND GOVERN- MENT, OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. SECTION I. CARTHAGE FORMED AFTER THE MODEL OF TYRE, OF WHICH THAT CITY WAS A COLONY. THE Carthaginians were indebted to the Tyrians, not only for their origin, but their manners, language, customs, laws, religion, and the great application to commerce, as will appear from every part of the sequel. They spoke the same language with the Tynans, and these the same with the Ca- naanites and Israelites, that is the Hebrew tongue, or at least a language which was entirely derived from it. Their names had commonly some particular meaning : thus Hanno signified gracious, bountiful ; Dido amiable, or well beloved; Sbphpnisba, one who keeps fait/if ally her husband's secrets* From a spirit of religion, they likewise joined the name of God to their own, conformably to the genius of the Hebrews. Hannibal, which answers to Ananias, signifies aal (or the * Bochart. Fart. II. 1. ii. c. 1C. 238 AXCIEXT HISTORY. Lord) has been gracious to me. Asdrubal, answering to Azarias, implies the Lord will be our succor. It is the same with other names, Adherbal, Maharbal, Mastanabal, etc. The word Pceni, from which Punic is derived, is the same with PhcDiii or Phoenicians, because they came origi- nally from Phoenica. In the Pcenulus of Plautus is a scene written in the Punic tongue, which has very much exercised the learned.* But the strict union which always subsisted between the Phoanicians and Carthaginians is still more remarkable. When Cambyses had resolved to make war upon the latter, the Plioenicians, who formed the chief strength of his fleet, told him plainly, that they could not serve him against their countrymen ; and this declaration obliged that prince to lay aside his design. f The Carthaginians, on their side, were never forgetful of the country from whence they came, and to which they owed their origin. They sent regularly every year to Tyre a ship freighted with presents, as a quit- rent or acknowledgment paid to their ancient country ; and its tutelar gods had an annual sacrifice offered to them by the Carthaginians, who considered them as their protectors. $ They never failed to send thither the first fruits of their revenues, nor the tithe of the spoils taken from their ene- mies, as offerings to Hercules, one of the principal gods of Tyre and Carthage. The Tyrians, to secure from Alexander, who was then besieging their city, what they valued above all things, I mean their wives and children, sent them to Carthage, where, at a time that the inhabitants of the latter were involved in a furious war, they were received and en- tertained with such a kindness and generosity as might be expected from the most tender and opulent parents. Such uninterrupted testimonies of a warm and sincere gratitude do a nation more honor than the greatest conquests and the most glorious victories. SECTION II. THE RELIGION OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. IT appears from several passages of the history of Car- thage, that its generals looked upon it as an indispensable duty to begin and end all their enterprises with the worship * The first scene of the fifth act translated into Latin by Petit, in ihc second book of his Miscellanies t Herod. 1. iii. c. 17-19. t Polyb. 044. Q. Curt. 1. iv. c. 2, 3. THE CAKTHAGLXIAXS. 2o9 of the go.cls. Hamilcar, father of the great Hannibal, before he entered Spain in a hostile manner, offered up a sacrifice to the gods. And his son, treading in his steps, before he left Spain, and marched against Rome, went to Cadiz in order to pay the vows he made to Hercules, and to offer up new ones, in case that god should be propitious to him.* After the battle of Cannae, when he acquainted the Carthaginians with the joyful news, he recommended to them, above all things, the offering up a solemn thanksgiving to the im- mortal gods, for the several victories he had obtained. Pro his tantis tot^ue victoriis verum esse gratis diis immortali- bus agi haberique.'f Xor was this religious honoring of the deity on all occa- sions the ambition of particular persons only, but it was the genius and disposition of the whole nation. Polybius $ has transmitted to us a treaty of peace con- cluded between Philip, son of Demetrius king of Macedon, and the Carthagenians, in Avhich the great respect and veneration of the latter for the deity, and their inherent persuasion that the gods assist and preside over human affairs and particularly over the solemn treaties made in their name and presence, arc strongly displayed. Mention is therein made of five or six different orders of deities ; and this enumeration appears very extraordinary in a public instru- ment, such as a treaty of peace concluded betAveen two nations. I will here present my readers with the very words of the historian, ns it will give some idea of the Car- thaginian theology. This treaty was concluded in the pres- ence of Jupiter, Juno and Apollo / in the presence of the demon or genius (dat/zovo?) of the Carthaginians, of Hercules and lolaus / in the presence of Mars, Triton, and Neptune; in the presence of all the confederate gods of the Cartha- ginians, and of the sun, the moon, and the earth; in the presence of the rivers, meads, and waters ; in the presence of all those gods who possess Carthage. What would we now say to an instrument of this kind, in which the tutelar angels and saints of a kingdom should be introduced ! The Carthaginians had two deities, to whom they paid a more particular worship, and who deserve to have some men- tion made of them in this place. The first was the goddess Coelestis, called likewise Urania, or the moon, who was invoked in great calamities, and par- * Liv. 1. xxi. n. 1. Ibid. n. 21. t Liv. 1. xxiii. n. 11. t Lib. vii. j>. GOD edit. Gronov. 240 AJTCIEXT HISTOKV. ticularly in droughts, in order to obtain rain : that very vir- gin Ccelestis, says Tertullian, the promiser of rain, Is to ipsa virgo Coelestis, pluoiarum potticitatrix.* Tertullian, speaking of this goddess, and of xEsculapius, gives the her- thens of that age a challenge, which is bold indeed, but ;;L the same t:me very glorious to tl.e er.ut c <:f Christianity : and declares, that any Christian, who first comes, shall oblige these false gxls to confess publicly that they arc but devils ; and consents that this Christian shall be immediately killed, if he does not extort such a confession from the mouth of these gods. JVisi se dcemones confessi fiierlnt Christiana mentiri nonaudentes, ibidem illius Christiani procacissimi sanguinem fundite. St. Austin likewise makes frequent mention of this deity. What is now, says he,f become of Coelestis, whose empire was once so great in Carthage, / This was doubtless the same deiti/ whom Jeremiah calls the queen of heaven; $ and who Avas held in so much reverence by the Jewish women, that they addressed their vows, burnt incense, poured out drink-offerings, and made cakes for her with their own hands, ut faciant placentas regince cceli : and from whom they boasted their having received all man- ner of blessings, while they paid her a regular worship ; whereas, since they had failed in it, they had been oppressed with misfortunes of every kind. The second deity particularly adored by the Carthagin- ians, and in whose honor human sacrifices were offered, was Saturn, known in Scripture by the name of Moloch ; and this worship passed from Tyre to Carthage. Philo quotes a passage from Sanchoniathon, which shows, that the kings of Tyre, in great dangers, used to sacrifice their sons to appease the anger of the gods ; and that one of them, by this action, procured himself divine honors, and was worshipped as a god, under the name of the planet Saturn : to this doubtless was owing the fable of Saturn devouring his own children. Private persons, when they were desirous of averting any great calamity, took the same method ; and, in imitation of their princes, Avere so very superstitious, that such as had no children purchased those of the poor, in order that they might not be deprived of the merit of such a sacrifice. This custom prevailed long among the Phoenicians and (. < :r!i:i:ir- ites, from Avhom the Israelites borrowed it, though forbid- den expressly by Heaven. At first children Avere inhumanly burned, either in a fiery furnace, like those in the valley of * Apolog. c. xxiii t In Psalm, xcviii. t Jcr. vii. 18, xliv. 17 25. THE CAKTHAGIXIAXS. 24i Hinnom, so often mentioned in Scripture, or enclosed in a flaming statue of Saturn. The cries of these unhappy vic- tims were drowned by the uninterrupted noise of drums raid trumpets.* Mothers made it a merit, and a part of their religion, to view this barbarous spectacle with dry eyes, and without so much as a groin ; and if a tear or a sigli stole from them, the sacrifice was less acceptable to the deity, and all the effects of it were entirely lost, f This strength of mind, or rather savage barbarity was carried to such excess, that even mothers would endeavor, with embraces and kiss- es, to hush the cries of their children ; lest, had the victim been offered with an unbecoming grace, and in the midst of tears, is should anger the god ; i blanditiis et oscidis coui- primebant vagitum, ne flebilis hostia immolaretur. They afterwards contented themselves with making their children pass through the fire, in which they frequently perished, as appears from several passages of Scripture. |j The Carthaginians retained the barbarous custom of of- fering human sacrifices to their gods, till the ruin of their city : 1T an action which ought to have been called a sacri- lege rather than a sacrifice, JSacriiegium verius qiiam sa- crum. It was suspended only for some years, from the fear they were under of drawing upon themselves the indigna- tion and arms of Darius I. king of Persi ., who forbade them the offering up of human sacrifices, and i..e eating the fiesh of dogs ; but they soon resumed this horrid practice, since, in the reign of Xerxes, the successor to Darius, Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse, having gained a considerable victory over the Carthaginians in Sicily, ordered, among other con- ditions of peace, That no more human sacrifices should be * Plut. d -3 Superstit. p. 171. f Ilapci T II. i 5; r) jOLiJT .jj) aivyijTOS /cat ayTevzrjrK, &e. The cruel and pitiless mntli T stood by as an unconcerned spectator ; n &;roan or a. tear falling from her, would have beJa punished by a line ; aiid still the child must have been sacri- ficed. Plut. da Supsrstitione. t Tertul. in Apolog. Minut. Felix. l| Q. Curt. 1. iv. c. 5. If it appears f roni Turtullian'a Apology, that this barbarous custom prevailed in Africa, long after the reign of Carthage. Infantes penfei African! Saturuo im- znolabantur paL'ini usque ad procousulatum Tiberii, qui cootlem sacerdotes in eisdem arlioribna tcmplisui obumbrairieibus seelerum votivis crucibus exposuit, teste militia patrins nostr:e, qu;ic id ip.-ium niuijus ilii proconsitli fiincta est, i.e., Children were publicly sacriliced to Satur i, down to tha procoiisulslilp oE Tibe- rius, who hangad the safrilici-.ig priests themselves on the trees which shad -d thoir temple, ns on so many crosses, raised to expiate their crimes, of which the militia >* our country are witnesses, who were the actors, of this execution, utthe command of this proco-isul. Tortul. Anplog. c. <)_ Two learned mm are at vari- ance about the proconsul, and time oc his government. Salmasius confesses his ignorance of both, but rejects the authority of Sca-lijjer, who, for procotwula'urh, reads prncnnsufem Tiborii, and thinks Tertullian, wlien he wrote his Apology, had forgot his name. However this be, it is certain that the memory of the inci- dent here related bv Tertrdliau was then recent and probably the witnesses of it had not been loug dead. 16 242 ANCIENT HISTORY. offered to Saturn.* And, doubtless, the practice of the Carthaginians, on this very occasion, made Gelon use this precaution. For during the whole engagement, which lasted from morning till night, Hamilcar, the son of Ilanno their general, was perpetually offering up to the gods sacrifices of living men, who were thrown in great numbers on a flaming pile ; and seeing his troops routed and put to flight, he him- self rushed into it, in order that he might not survive his own disgrace ; f and to extinguish, says St. Ambrose, speak- ing of this action, with his own blood, this sacrilegious fire, when he found that it had not proved of service to him. $ In times of pestilence they used to sacrifice a great num- ber of children to their gods, unmoved with pity for a ten- der age, which excites compassion in the most cruel ene- mies ; thus seeking a remedy for their evils in guilt itself, and endeavoring to appease the gods by the most shocking barbarity. Diodorus || relates an instance of this cruelty, which strikes the reader with horror. At the time that Agathocles was just going to besiege Carthage, its inhabitants, seeing the extremity to which they were reduced, imputed all their misfortunes to the just anger of Saturn, because that, instead of offering up children nobly born, who were usually sacri- ficed to him, he had been fraudulently put off with the children of slaves and foreigners. To atone for this crime, two hundred children of the best families in Carthage were sacrificed to Saturn ; besides which, upwards of three hundred citizens, from a sense of their guilt of this pretended crime, voluntarily sacrificed themselves. Diodorus adds, that there was a brazen statue of Saturn, the hands of which were turned downwards, so that, when a child Avas laid on them, it dropped immediately into a hollow, where was a fiery furnace. Can this, says Plutarch,H"be called worshipping the gods? Can we be said to entertain an honorable idea of them, if we supposed that they are pleased with slaughter, thirsty of * Plut. I> avr)KocT, &< . 252 ANCIEKT HISTORY. selves masters of the country, they dug much deeper into the earth than the old inhabitants of Spain had done, v ho probably were content with what they could collect on the surface ; and the Romans, when they had dispossessed the Carthaginians of Spain, profited by their example, and drew an immense revenue from these mines of gold and silver. The labor employed to come at fiese mines, and to dig the gold and silver out of them, was incredible, for the veins of these metals rarely appeared on the surface ; they were to be sought for and traced through frightful depths, where very often floods of water stopped the miners, and seemed to defeat all future pursuits.* But avarice is as patient in undergoing fatigues, as ingenious in finding ex- pedients. By pumps, which Archimedes had invented when in Egypt, the Romans afterwards threw up the water out of these pits, and quite drained them. Numberless multitudes of slaves perished in these mines, which were dug to enrich their masters, who treated them with the utmost barbarity, forced them by heavy stripes to labor, and gave them no respite either day or night. Polybius,f as quoted by Strabo, says, that in his time, upwards of forty thousand men were employed in the mines near Nova, Carthctf/o, and furnished the Romans every day with twenty-five thousand drachms, or three thousand eight hundred and fifteen dollars and sixty-three cents. J We must not be surprised to see the Carthaginians, soon after the greatest defeats, sending fresh and numerous armies again into the field ; fitting out mighty fleets, and support- ing, at a great expense, for many years, wars carried on by them in far distant countries. But it must surprise us to hear of the Romans doing the same ; they whose revenues were very inconsiderable before those great conquests, which subjected to them the most powerful nations; and who had no resources, either from trade, to which they were absolute strangers, or from gold or silver mines, which were very rarely found in Italy, in case there were any ; and conse- quently, the expenses of which must have swallowed up all the profit. The Romans, in the frugal and simple life they led, in their aeal for the public welfare and love for their country, possessed funds which were not less ready or secure than those of Carthage, but at the same time were far more honorable to their nation. * Lib. iv. p. 312. &c. t Lib. iii. p. 147. t Twenty-five thousand drachms. An attic drachm, according to Dr. Ber- ard=8y 4 (Z. English money, consequently, 25,000=859^. Is. Gd. THE CARTHAGINIANS. 253 SECTION VI. WAR. CARTHAGE must be considered as a trading, and at the same time a warlike republic. Its genius, and the nature of its government, led it to traffic ; and from the necessity the Carthaginians Avere under, first of defending themselves against the neighboring nations, and afterwards from a desire of extending their commerce and empire, they be- came warlike. This double idea gives iis, in my opinion, the true plan and character of the Carthaginian republic. We have already spoken of its commerce. The military power of the Carthaginians consisted in their alliances with kings ; in tributary nations, from which they drew both men and money ; in some troops raised from among their own citizens ; and in mercenary soldiers, purchased of neighboring states, without their being obliged to levy or exercise them, because they were already well disciplined and inured to the fatigues of war ; for they made choice, in every country, of such soldiers as had the greatest merit and reputation. They drew from Numidia a nimble, bold, impetuous and indefatigable cavalry, which formed the principal strength of their armies ; from the Balearian isles, the most expert slingers in the world ; from Spain, a steady and invincible infantry ; from the coasts of Genoa and Gaul, troops of known valor; and from Greece itself, soldiers fit for all the various operations of war, for the field or the garrison, for besieging or defending cities. In this manner, the Carthaginians sent out at once powerful armies composed of soldiers which were the flower of all the armies in the universe, without depopulating either their fields or cities by new levies ; without suspend- ing their manufactures, or disturbing the peaceful artificer; without interrupting their commerce, or weakening their navy. By venal blood they possessed themselves of prov- inces and kingdoms ; and made other nations the instru- ments of their grandeur and glory, with no other expense of their own than their money, and even this furnished from the traffic they carried on with foreign nations. If the Carthaginians, in the course of the war, sustained 254 ANCIENT HISTORY. some losses, these were but as so many foreign accidents, which only grazed, as it were, the body of the state, but did not make a deep wound in the bowels or heart of the re- public. These losses were speedily repaired, by sums aris- ing out of a flourishing commerce, as from a perpetual sinew of war, by which the government was furnished with new supplies for the purchase of mercenary forces, who were ready at the first summons. And, from the vast ex- tent of the coasts which the Carthaginians possessed, it was easy for them to levy, in a very little time, a sufficient num- ber of sailors and rowers for the working of their fleets, and to procure able pilots and experienced captains to con- duct them. Biit, as these parts were fortuitously brought together, they did not adhere by any natural, intimate, or necessary tie. No common and reciprocal interest united them in such a manner as to form a solid and unalterable body. Not one individual in these mercenary armies Avished sin- cerely the prosperity of the state. They did not act with the same zeal, nor expose themselves to dangers with equal resolution, for a republic which they considered as foi cign, and which consequently was indifferent to them, as they would have done for their native country, whose happiness constitutes that of the several members who compose it. In great reverses of fortune, the kings in alliance with the Carthaginians might easily be detached from their interest, either by that jealousy which the grandeur of a more powerful neighbor naturally gives ; or from the hopes of reaping greater advantages from a new friend ; or from the fear of being involved in the misfortunes of an old ally. * The tributary nations, being impatient under the weight and disgrace of a yoke which had been forced xipon their necks, greatly flattered themselves with the hopes of finding one less galling in changing their masters ; or, in case servi- tude was unavoidable, the choice was indifferent to them, as will appear from many instances in the course of this history. The mercenary forces, accustomed to measure their fidelity by the largeness or continuance of their pay, were ever ready, on the least discontent, or the slightest expecta- tion of a more considerable stipend, to desert to the enemy with whom they had just before fought, and to turn their * As Syphax and Masimssa. THE CARTHAGINIANS. 255 arms against those who had invited them to their assist- ance. Thus the grandeur of the Carthaginians, being sustained only by these foreign supports, was shaken to the very foundation when they were taken away. And if, to this, there happened to be added an interruption of their com- merce, by which only they subsisted, arising from the loss of a naval engagement, they imagined themselves to be on the brink of ruin, and abandoned themselves to despondency and despair, as was evidently seen at the end of the first Punic war. Aristotle, in the treatise where he shows the advantages and defects of the government, of Carthage, finds no fault with its keeping up none but foreign forces ; it is therefore probable that the Carthaginians did not fall into this prac- tice till a long time after. But the rebellions which har- assed Carthage in its later years ought to have taught its citizens, that no miseries are comparable to those of a gov- ernment which is supported only by foreigners ; since nei- ther zeal, security, nor obedience, can be expected from them. But this was not the case with the republic of Rome. As the Romans had neither trade nor money, they were not able to hire forces, in order to push on their conquests with the same rapidity as the Carthaginians: but then, as they procured every thing from within themselves, and as all the parts of the state were intimately united, they had surer resources in great misfortunes than the Carthaginians. And for this i-eason, they never once thought of suing for peace after the battle of Cannae, as the Carthaginians had done in a less imminent danger. The Carthaginians had, besides, a body of troops, which was not very numerous, levied from among their own citi- zens; and this was a kind of school, in which the flower of their nobility, and those whose talents and ambition prompted them to aspire to the first dignities, learned the rudiments of the art of war. From among these were selected all the general officers, who were put at the head of the different bodies of their forces, and had the chief command in the armies. This nation was too jealous and suspicious to employ foreign generals. But they were not so distrustful of their own citizens as Rome and Athens ; for the Carthaginians, at the same time that they invested them with great power, did not guard against the abuse 250 ANCIENT HISTORY. they might make of it, in order to oppress their country. The command of armies Avas neither annual, nor limited to any time, as in the two republics above mentioned. Many generals held their commissions for a great number of years, either till the war or their lives ended ; though they were still accountable to the commonwealth for their conduct, and liable to be recalled, whenever a real oversight, a mis- fortune, or the superior interest of a cabal, furnished an op- portunity for it. SECTION VII. ARTS AND SCIENCES. IT cannot be said that the Carthaginians renounced CIK tirely the glory which results from study and knowledge. The sending of Masinissa, son of a powerful king,* thither for education, gives us room to believe, that Carthage was provided with an excellent school. The great Hannibal, who in all respects was an ornament to that city, was not unacquainted with polite literature, as will be seen here- after, f ^I;ig<> 5 another very celebrated general, did as much honor to Cartilage by his pen as by his victories. $ He wrote twenty-eight volumes upon husbandry, Avhich the Roman senate had in such esteem, that after the taking of Carthage, when they presented the African princes with the libraries founded there, another proof that learning w:is not entirely banished from Carthage, they gaA~e orders to have these books translated into Latin, though Cato had before Avritten books on that subject. There is still extant a Greek version of a treatise, dra\vn up by Hunno in the Punic tongue, relating to a voyage he made, by order of the senate, with a considerable ileet, round Africa, for the set- tling of different colonies in that part of the Avorld. || This Hanno is believed to be more ancient than that person of the same name Avho lived in the time of Agatho- cles. Clitomachus, called in the Punic language Asdrubal, was a greater philosopher. 1[ He succeeded the famous Car- * Kings of the Massyliausiu Africa. t Xepos in vita Ainiibalis. t Cie. da Orat. 1. i. n. 240. Plin. 1. xviii. c. 3. Thesj books were written by Mno in the Punic language, and translated into Greek by Ca>sius Dionysius of Utica, from whose version \v<> may ]>n>b;ibly suppose the Latin was made. I) VOMS. de Hist. Gr. 1. iv. M 1'lut. da i'orl. Aiex. p. 32d. Diog. Laert. in Clitoiu. THE CARTHAGINIAN'S. 257 neades, whose disciple he had been ; and maintained in Ath- ens the honor of the academic sect. Cicero says, that lie was a more sensible man, and fonder of study than the Carthaginians generally are.* He composed several books, in one of which was a treatise to console the unhappy cit- izens of Cartilage, who, by the ruin of their city, were reduced to slavery. f I might rank among, or rather place at the head of, the writers who have adorned Africa with their compositions, the celebrated Terence himself, being singly capable of re- flecting infinite honor on his country by the fame of his pro- ductions ; if, on this account, Carthage, the place of his birth, ought not to be less considered as his country than Rome, where he was educated, and acquired that purity of style, that delicacy arid elegance, which have gained him the admiration of all succeeding ages. It is supposed that he Avas carried off when an infant, or at least very young, by the Numidians in their incursions into the Carthaginian territories, during the war carried on between these two nations, from the conclusion of the second to the beginning of the third Punic war. $ Pie was sold for a slave to Teren- tius Lucanus, a Roman senator, who, after giving him an excellent education, freed him, and called him by his own name, as was then the custom. He was united in a very strict friendship with the second Scipio Africanus and Lae- lius ; and it was a common report at Rome, that he had the assistance of these two great men in composing his pieces. The poet so far from endeavoring to stifle a report so advantageous to him, made a merit of it. Only six of his comedies are extant. Some authors, according to Sueto- nius (the writer of his life), say, that in his return from Greece, whither he had made a voyage, he lost a hundred and eight comedies translated from Menander, and could not survive an accident which must naturally afflict him in a sensible manner ; but this incident is not very well founded. Be this as it may, he died in the year of Rome 594, under the consulship of Cneius Cornelius Dolabella and M. Fulvius, aged thirty-five years, and consequently was born anno 560. It must yet be confessed, notwithstanding all we have said, that there ever was a great scarcity of learned men in Carthage, since it hardly furnished three or four writers of reputation in upwards of seven hundred years. Although * Clitomachus nonio et acutus nt Pceims, et valde studiosus ac diligens. Academ. Quest. 1. iv. n. 98. t TUBC. Quaest. 1. iii. n. 54. t Suet, in Vit. Terent. 17 258 ANCIENT HISTORY. the Carthaginians held a correspondence with Greece and the most civilized nations, yet this did not excite them to borrow their learning, as being foreign to their vieAvs of trade and commerce. Eloquence, poetry, history, seem to have been little known among them. A Carthagenian phi- losopher \vas considered as a sort of prodigy by the learned. What, then, would an astronomer or a geometrician haA'e been thought? I knoAv not in Avhat reputation physic, which is so advantageous to life, was held at Carthage ; or jurisprudence, so necessary to society. As works of Avit Avere generally had in so much disre- gard, the education of youth must necessarily haA'e been A r ery imperfect and unpolished. In Carthage, the study and knowledge of youth Avere for the most part confined to writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and the buying and sell- ing of goods ; in a Avord, to whateA'er related to traffic. But polite learning, history, and philosophy, Avere in little re- pute among them. These Avere in later years, even prohib- ited by the laws, Avhich expressly forbade any Carthaginian to learn the Greek tongue, lest it might qualify them for carrying on a dangerous correspondence Avith the enemy, either by letter or Avord of mouth.* NOAV, what could be expected from such a cast of mind ? Accordingly, there Avas neA'er seen among them that ele- gance of behavior, that ease and complacency of manners, and those sentiments of virtue, Avhich are generally the fruits of a liberal education in all civilized nations. The small number of great men Avhich this nation has produced, must therefore haA'e OAved their merit to the felicity of their ge- nius, to the singularity of their talents, and a long expe- rience, without any great assistance from instruction. Hence it was, that the merit of the greatest men of Car- thage was sullied by great failings, IOAV A'ices, and cruel passions ; and it is rare to meet with any conspicuous virtue among them without some blemish; Avith any virtue of a noble, generous, and amiable kind, and supported by clear and lasting principles, such as is CA'eryAA'here found among the Greeks and Romans. The reader Avill perceive, that I * Factum senatus-consultumnequis posteaCarthaginiensisaut literis Grsecis aut sermoiii studeret, lie aut loqui cum hoste, aut scribere sine inlerprete posset. Justin. 1. xx. c. 5. Justin ascribes the reason of this law to a treasonable cor- respondence between one Suniatus, a powerful Carthaginian, and Dioiiysius the tyrant of Sicily ; the former by letters written in Greek, which afterwards f< 11 into the hands of (he Carthaginians, having informed the tyrant of the war de- signed against him by his country, out of hatred to Hanno the general, to whom be was an enemy. THE CARTIIAG1XIAXR. 259 here speak only of the heathen virtues, and agreeably to the idea which the pagans entertained of them. I meet with as few monuments of their skill in arts of a less noble and necessary kind, as painting and sculpture. I find, indeed, that they had plundered the conquered nations of a great many works in both these kinds, but it does not appear that they themselves had produced many. From what has been said, one cannot help concluding, that traffic was the predominant inclination, and the pecu- liar characteristic, of the Cai-thaginians ; that it formed in a manner the basis of the state, the soul of the commonwealth, and the grand spring which gave motion to all their enter- prises. The Carthaginians in general were skilful merchants ; employed wholly in traffic ; excited strongly by the desire of gain, and esteeming nothing but riches; directing all their talents, and placing their chief glory, in amassing them, though, at the same time, they scarce knew the pur- pose for which they were designed, or how to use them in a noble or worthy manner. SECTION VIII. THE CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND QUALITIES OF THE CARTHA- GINIANS. Ix the enumeration of the various qualities which Cicero * assigns to different nations, as their distinguishing charac- teristics, he declares that of the Carthaginians to be craft, skill, address, industry, cunning calliditas ; which doubtless appeared in Avar, but w r as still more conspicuous in the rest of their conduct ; and this was joined to another quality, that bears a very near relation to it, and is still less reputa- ble. Craft and cunning lead naturally to lying, hypocrisy, and breach of faith ; and these, by accustoming the mind insensibly to be less scrupulous with regard to the choice of the means for compassing its designs, prepare it for the basest frauds and the most perfidious actions. This was also one of the characteristics of the Carthaginians ; f and it * Quam volumus licet ipsi nos amemus, tamen nee numero Hispauos, nee robpre Gallos, iiec calliditate Pienos, sed pietate ac religione, &c., oinne.-t gentes nationesque superavimus. De Arusp. Resp. n. 19. t Carthaginiensis fraudulent! ctmeiKlaoes multis et varns mercatorum ad- venarumque sermonibus ad stadium i'alleudi qusestus cupiditate voeabantur. Cic. Orat. ii. in. Kull. 11. M. 260 ANCIENT HISTORY. was so notorious, that to signify any remarkable dishonesty, it was usual to call it, Punic honor, fides Punica ; and to denote a knavish deceitful mind, no expression was thought more proper and emphatical than this, a Carthaginian mind, Punicum inc/enium. An excessive thirst for, and an immoderate love of profit, generally gave occasion, in Carthago, to the committing of base and unjust actions. A single example will prove this. In the time of a truce, granted by Scinio to the earnest en- treaties of the Carthaginians, some Roman vessels, being driven by a storm on the coast of Carthage, were seized by order of the senate and people,* who could not suffer so tempting a prey to escape them. They were resolved to get money, though the manner of acquiring it were ever so scandalous. The inhabitants of Carthage, even in St. Aus- tin's time, as that father informs us, showed, on a particular occasion, that they still retained part of this characteristic. f But these were not the only blemishes and faults of the Carthaginians. $ They had something austere and savage in their disposition and genius, a haughty and imperious air, a sort of ferocity, which in its first starts was deaf to either reason or remonstrances, and plunged brutally into the ut- most excesses of violence. The people, cowardly and grovel- ling under apprehensions, were proud and cruel in their transports ; at the same time that they trembled under their magistrates, they were dreaded in their turn by their miser- able vassals. In this we see the difference Avhich education makes between one nation and another. The Athenians, whose city wns always considered as the centre of learning, were naturally jealous of their authority, and difficult to gOA'ern ; but still a fund of good nature and humanity made them compassionate the misfortunes of others, and be indul- gent to the errors of their leaders. Clcon one day desired the assembly in which he presided, to break up, because, as he told them, he had a sacrifice to offer, and friends to entertain. The people only laughed at the request, and * Magistrates senatum vocare, populus in curife vestibulofremere, ne larta ex oculis manibusque amitteretui' pneda. Consensum est ut, &o. Liv. 1. xxx. 11.24. t A mountebank had promised the citizens of Carthage to discover to them their mostsecret thoughts, in case they would come, on a day appointed, to hear him. Being all met. he told them t ey were desirous to buy cheap and sell dear. Every man's conscience pleaded guilty to the charge ; and the mountebank was dismissed with applause and laughter. Vili vultis emere, et care vendere ; in quo dicto levi.simi scenici omnes tamen conscientias invenerunt snas. eique vera et tamen improvisa discenti aduiiiabili favore plauserunt. S. August. 1. xiii. do Triiiit. c. 3. t Plut. de Gen. Rep. p. 739. TI1K OARTHAttmiAN'S. '261 immediately separated. Sucli a liberty, says Plutarch, at Carthage, would have cost a man his life. Livy makes a like reflection with regard to Terentius Varro.* That general, on his return to Rome after the battle of Cannae, which had been lost by his ill conduct, was met by persons of all orders of the state, at some distance from Rome, and thanked by them for his not having de- spaired of the commonwealth ; who, says the historian, had he been a general of the Carthaginians, must have expect- ed the most severe punishment: Cici, si Carthaginiensium cluctor fuisset, nihll recusandum snpplicii foret. Indeed, a court was established at Carthage, where the generals were obliged to give an account of their conduct ; and they were all made responsible for the events of the war. Ill success was punished there as a crime against the state; and when- ever a general lost a battle, he was almost sure at his return of ending his life upon a gibbet. Such was the furious, cruel, and barbarous disposition of the Carthaginians, who were always ready to shed the blood of their citizens as well as of foreigners. The unheard-of tortures which they made Regulus suffer, are a manifest proof of this assertion ; and their history will furnish us Avith such instances of it, as are not to be read without horror. PAKT SECOND. THE HISTORY OF THE CARTHAGINIANS. The interval of time between the foundation of Carthage and its ruin, included seven hundred years, and may be divided into two chapters. The first, which is much the longest, and is least known, as is ordinary with the beginnings of all states, extends to the first Punic war, and takes up five hundred and eighty-two years. The second, which ends at the destruction of Carthage, contains but a hundred and eighteen years. * Lib. xxii. n. 61. 262 AXCIEXT HISTORY. CHAPTER I. THE FOUNDATION OF CARTHAGE, AND ITS PROGRESS TILL THE TIME OF THE FIRST PUNIC WAR. ' CARTHAGE, in Africa, was a colouy from Tyre, the most renewed city at that time for commerce in the world. Tyre had long before transplanted another colony into that country, which built Utica,* made famous by the death of the second Cato, who for this reason is generally called Cato Uticensis. Authors disagree very much with regard to the era of the foundation of Carthage. f It is a difficult matter, and not very material, to reconcile them ; at least agreeably to the plan laid down by me, it is sufficient to know, within a few years, the time in which that city was built. Carthage existed a little above seven hundred years, t It was destroyed under the consulate of Cn. Lentulus and L. Mummius, the 603d year of Rome, 3859th of the world, and 145 before Christ. The foundation of it may therefore be fixed at the year of the world 3158, when Joash was king of Judah, 98 years before the building of Rome, and 846 be- fore our Saviour. The foundation of Carthage is ascribed to Elisa, a Tyrian princess, better known by the name of Dido. Ithobal, king of Tyre, and father of the famous Jezebel, called in Scrip- ture. Ethbaal, was her great-grandfather. She married her near relation Acerbas, called otherwise, Sicharbas and Sichae- us, an extremely rich prince, and Pygmalion, king of Tyre, was her brother. This prince having put Sichseus to death, in order that he might have an opportunity of seizing his immense treasures, Dido eluded the cruel avarice of her * Utica et Carthago ambre inclytoe, ambse a Pho3iricibus comlitfu : ilia fato Catonis insignia, hjecsuo Pompon. Mel. c. 07. Utica and Carihage both famous, and both built by Phoenicians ; the first renowned by Cato's fate, the last by its own. t Our countryman Howel endeavored to reconcile the three different ac- counts of the foundation of Carthage in the following manner. He say^. that the town consisted of three parts, viz. : Cothou, or the^port and buildings "adjoin- ing to it, which he supposes to have been firs; Vinit ; Mepara, built next, sind in respect of Cothon called the New Town, or Kartnada ; and Byrsa, or the citadel, built last of all, and probably by Dido. Cothon, to agr^e with Appian. was built fifty years before (he takingof Troy; Megara. to correspond with Eusebius, was h)>'(o fc hiinlr