<έ•" ν^^ ^% -^yj. Λ^' ^^<^^. %. λ,. "Φ, ■^-/λ ^% %. >^^ .^^^ v^" y β V -^^. % 1— **^* '^^- ^ •w .4" '^e,. "^o» ^ "•i' '^>- PLUTARCH'S LIVES. TRANSLATION CALLED DRYDEN'S. Corrected from the Greek and Revised A. H. CLOUGH, SOMETIME FELLOW AND TUTOR OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND LATE PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. VOL. I, BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1885. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by Little, Brown, axd Company, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. TJxrvEnsiTY Press: John 'Wilsox axd Son, Cambridge. 3)ε7 pr V. LIBRARY GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. VOLUME I. Prefack and Life of Plutarch Life of Theseus .... Life of Romulus Comparison of Romulus with Theseus Life of Lycurgus Life of Numa Pompilius . Comparison of Numa with Lycurgus Life of Solon .... Life of Poplicola Comparison of Poplicola with Solon . Life op Themistocles . Life op Camillus .... Life of Pericles . Life of Fabius .... Comparison of Fabius with Pericles Appendix . . . . , PAGR V 1 89 78 83 127 160 168 203 226 231 26» 318 372 405 409 VOLUME 11. Life of Alcibiades .... Life of Coriolanus Comparison of Coriolanus with Alcibiades Life op Timoleon .... Life of .^^milius Paulus 1 52 101 107 155 8> GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. COMPARISOX OF iEMILIUS PaULUS WITH TiMOLEON Life of Pelopidas . . . . . Life of Marcellus .... Comparison of Marcellus with Pelopidas Life of Aristiuks ... . Life of Cato the Elder . . . . COMPARISOX of CaTO THE ElDER WITH ArISTIDES Life of Philop(emen . . • Life of Flamininus Comparison of Flamininus with Philopocmen . Appendix . . ... 198 201 238 276 280 316 353 860 384 413 417 VOLUME III. Life of Pyrrhus . . . . Life of Marius Life of Lysander Life of Sylla Comparison of Sylla with Lysander Life of Cimon Life of Lucullus Comparison of Lucullus with Cimon Life of Nicias .... Life of Crassus Comparison op Crassus with Nicias Life of Sertorius . Life of Eumenes . . . Comparison of Eumenes with Sertorius Appendix ..... I 48 104 141 192 198 227 284 289 331 376 382 416 441 445 VOLUME IV, Life of Agesilaus .... l^IFE OF POMPEY .... Comparison of Pompey with Agesilaus Life of Alexander 1 50 152 159 GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. Life of CjESAR ....... 256 Life of Phociox ....... 329 Life of Cato the Youngek ..... 370 Life of Agis ........ 445 Life of Cleomenes . . . . . . .467 Life of Tiberius Gracchus ...... 506 Life of Caius Gracchus ...... 531 Comparison of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus with Agis and Cleomenes ...... 553 Appendix ......... 559 VOLUME V. Life of Demosthenes . Life of Cicero .... Comparison of Cicero with Demosthenes Life of Demetrius .... Life of Antony .... Comparison of Antony with Demetrius Life of Dion ..... Life of IVIarcus Brutus . Comparison of Marcus Brutus with Dion Life of Aratus .... Life of Artaxerxes .... Life of Galea .... Life of Otho ..... Appendix ..... Index op Historical and Geographical Proper Names Index for reference as to the Pronunciation of Proper Names ........ (5) 1 . 1 35 . 89 95 . 155 240 . 245 302 . 362 867 . 421 456 . 487 507 )PER Name 3 . 515 609 ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF THE LIVES. JiMILIUS PaULUS Agesilaus Agis . Alcibiades Alexander . A-STONY . Aratus Aristides Artaxerxes . Brutus . Cesar Camillus Marcus Cato Cato the Youxger Cicero ClMON Cleomenes . coriolanus Crassus Demetrius Demosthenes Dion Eumenes Fabius Flamininus . Galba Caius Gracchus Tiberius Gracchus lucullus Lycurgus Lysander . Marcellus Marius NiCIAS NUMA POMPILIUS Volume l-agi II. 155 . IV. 1 IV. 445 . 11. 1 IV. 159 . V. 155 V. 367 . 11. 280 V. 421 . V. 302 IV. 256 1. 269 II. 316 IV. 370 V. 35 . III. 198 IV. 467 . II. 52 m. 331 V. 95 V. 1 . V. 245 • III. 416 I. 372 Π. 384 . V. 456 IV. 531 . IV. 506 111. 227 1. 83 Π1. 104 . Π. 238 III. 48 . Π1. 289 I. 127 (7> ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Otho Pelopidas Pkeicles . Philopcemex Pnocioii . POMPEY poplicola Pyrrhds Romulus . iSERTOKIUS Solon Sylla Themistocles Theseus TiMOLEON • • • • V. 487 IL 201 I. 318 IL 360 IV. 82» IV. 50 I. 203 m. 1 I. 39 lU. 382 I. 168 ni. 141 I. 231 I. 1 n. 107 ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF THE COMPARISONS. Agesilaus and Pompey Agis and Cleomenes and the Gracchi Alcibiades and Coriolanus Aristides and Marcus Cato CiMON AND LUCULLUS Demetrius and Antony Demosthenes and Cicero . Dion and Brutus . Lycurgus and Numa Lysander and Sylla NiCIAS AND CrASSUS . Pelopidas and Marcellus Pericles and Fabius Philopcemen and Flamlninus Sertorius and Eumenes Solon and Poplicola Theseus and Romulus TiMOLEON AND iEMILIUS PaULUS (8) Volume Page IV. 152 IV. 553 Π. 101 IL 353 in. 284 V. 240 V. 89 V. 362 L 160 111. 192 ΠΙ. 376 IL 276 I. 405 Π. 413 IIL 441 I. 226 I. 78 u. 198 PREFACE, CONTAINING A LIFE OF PLUTARCH. The collection so well known as " Plutarch's Lives," is nei- ther in form nor in arrangement what its author left behind him. To the proper work, the Parallel Lives, narrated in a series of Books, each containing the accounts of one Greek and one Roman, followed by a Comparison, some single lives have been appended, for no reason but that they are also biographies. Otho and Galba belonged, probably, to a series of E-oman Em- perors from Augustus to Vitellius. Artaxerxes and Aratus the statesman, are detached narratives, like others which once, we are told, existed, Hercules, Aristomenes, Hesiod, Pindar, Dai- phantus. Crates the cynic, and Aratus the poet. In the Parallel Lives themselves there are gaps. There was a Book containing those of Epaminondas and Scipio the younger. Many of the comparisons are wanting, have either been lost, or were not completed. And the reader will notice for himself that references made here and there in the extant lives, show that their original order was different fi-om the present. In the very first page, for example, of the book, in the life of Theseus, mention occurs of the lives of Lycurgus and Numa, as already written. (ix) χ PREFACE. The plain facts of Plutarch's ΟΛνη life may be given in a very- short compass. He was born, probably, in the reign of ClaudiuF, about A. D. 45 or 50. His native place was Chseronea, in Boeotia, where his family had long been settled and w^as of good stand- ing and local reputation. He studied at Athens under a phi* losopher named Ammonius. He visited Egypt. Later in life, some time before a. d. 90, he was at Rome " on public busi- ness," a deputation, perhaps, from Chaeronea. He continued there long enough to give lectures which attracted attention. Whether he visited Italy once only, or more often, is uncertain. He was intimate with Sosius Senecio, to all appearances the same who was four times consul. The acquaintance may have sprung up at Rome, where Sosius, a much younger man than himself,* may have first seen hhn as a lecturer ; or they may have previously known each other in Greece. To Greece and to Chaeronea he returned, and appears to have spent in the little town, which he was loth " to make less by the withdrawal of even one inhabitant," the remainder of his life. He took part in the public business of the place and the neighborhood. He was archon in the town, and officiated many years as a priest of Apollo, apparently at Delphi. He was married, and was the father of at least five children, of whom two sons, at any rate, survived to manhood. His greatest work, his Biographies, and several of his smaller writ- ings, belong to this later period of his life, under the reign of Trajan. Whether he survived to the time of Hadrian is doubt- ful. If A. D. 45 be taken by way of conjecture for the date of his birth, A. d. 120, Hadrian's fourth year, may be assumed, in like manner, as pretty nearly that of his death. All that is certain is that he lived to be old ; that in one of his fictitious • Unless the expression " my sons your companions " ought to be taken as a piece of pleasantry. LIFE OF PLUTARCH. xi dialogues he describes himself as a young man conversing on philosophy with Ammonius in the time of Nero's visit to Greece, a. d. 66-67 ; and that he was certainly alive and still writing in A. D. 106, the winter which Trajan, after building his bridge over the Danube, passed in Dacia. " We are told," he says, in his Inquiry into the Principle of Cold, "by those who are ηοΛν \vintering with the Emperor on the Danube, that the freezing of water will crush boats to pieces." To this bare outline of certainties, several names and circum- stances may be added from his writings ; on which indeed alone we can safely rely for the very outline itself. There are a few allusions and anecdotes in the Lives, and from his miscellane- ous compositions, his Essays, Lectures, Dialogues, Table-Talk, etc., the imagination may furnish itself with a great variety of curious and interesting suggestions. The name of his great-grandfather, Nicarchus, is incidentally recorded in the life of Antony. " My great-grandfather used," ne says, " to tell, how in Antony's last war the whole of the citizens of Chseronea were put in requisition to bring down corn to the coast of the gulf of Corinth, each man carrying a certain load, and soldiers standing by to urge them on \vith the lash." One such journey was made, and they had measured out their bur- dens for the second, when news arrived of the defeat at Actium.* Lamprias, his grandfather, is also mentioned in the same life. Philotas, the physician, had told him an anecdote illustrating the luxuriousness of Antony's life in Egypt. His father ia more than once spoken of in the minor works, but never men- tioned by his name. The name of Ammonius, his teacher and preceptor at Athens, * There appears, however, to be no grandfather, and hearing him tell the sure reason for saying that Plutarch story. himself remembered seeing his great- Xll PREFACE. occurs repeatedly in the minor works, and is once specially mentioned in the Lives; a descendant of Themistocles had stud- ied with Plutarch under Ammonius. We find it mentioned that he three times held the office, once so momentous in the world's histoiy, of strategus at Athens.* This, fike that of the Boeo- tarchs in Bceotia, continued under the Empire to be intrusted to native citizens, and judging from what is said in the little treatise of PoHtical Precepts, was one of the more important places under the Roman provincial governor. " Once," Plutarch tells us, " our teacher, Ammonius, observ- ing at his afternoon lecture that some of his auditors had been indulging too freely at breakfast, gave directions, in our pres- ence, for chastisement to be administered to his own son, be- cause, he said, the young man has declined to take his breakfast unless he has sour wine ivith it, fixing his eyes at the same time on the offending members of the class." The following anecdote appears to belong to some period a little later than that of his studies at Athens. " I remem- ber, when I myself was still a young man, I was sent in com- pany with another on a deputation to the proconsul ; my col- league, it so happened, was unable to proceed, and I saw the proconsul and performed the commission alone. Upon my re- turn, when I was about to lay down my office, and to give an account of its discharge, my father got up in the assembly and bade me privately to take care not to say /went, but loe went, nor /said, but we said, and in the whole narration to give my companion his share." * This may throw some doubt on the all the wisdom of the GriECO-Egj-p- statement (with which, however, it is tians ; see his treatise addressed to the perhaps not absolutely incompatible) learned lady Clea, on Isis and Osiris ; made by the Byzantine historian Euna- but he may, for any thing we know, pins, that " Ammonius, the teacher of have staid long and studied much a1 the divine Plutarch, was an Egyptian." Alexandria. Plutarch was certainly skilled in LIFE OF PLUTARCH. Xlll Of his stay in Italy, his visit to or residence in Rome, we know little beyond the statement which he gives us in the life of Demosthenes, that public business and visitors who came to see him on subjects of philosophy, took up so much of his time that he learned, at that time, but little of the Latin language. He must have travelled about, for he saw the bust or statue of Marius at Ravenna, as he informs us in the beginning of Mari- us's life. He undertook, he tells us in his essay on Brotherly Affection, the office, whilst he was in Rome, of arbitrating be- tween two brothers, one of whom Avas considered to be a lover of philosophy. " But he had," he says, " in reality, no legiti- mate title to the name either of brother or of philosopher. When I told him I should expect from him the behavior of a philosopher towards one, who was, fost of all, an ordinary per- son making no such profession, and, in the second place, a brother, as for the first point, replied he, it may be ιυβΙΙ enough, hut I don't attach any great importance to the fact of tiuo people having come from the same pair of bodies ; " an impious piece of freethinking which met, of course, with Plutarch's indignant rebuke and reprobation. A more remarkable anecdote is related in his discourse on Inquisitiveness. Among other precepts for avoiding or curing the fault, " We should habituate ourselves," he says, " when let- ters are brought to us, not to open them instantly and in a hurry, not to bite the strings in two, as many people will, if they do not succeed at once with their fingers ; when a messenger comes, not to run to meet him ; not to jump up, when a friend says he has something new to tell us ; rather, if he has some good or useftd advice to give us. Once when I was lecturing at Rome, Rusticus, whom Domitian afterwards, out of jealousy of his reputation, put to death, was one of my hearers ; and while I was going on, a soldier ca me in and brought him a let- ter from the Emperor. And when every one was silent, and I XIV PREFACE. stopped in order to let him read the letter, he declined to do so, and put it aside until I had finished and the audience with• drew; an example of serious and dignified behavior which excited much admiration." L. Junius Ai-ulenus Rusticus, the friend of Pliny and Tacitus, glorified among the Stoic martyrs whose names are written in the life of Agricola, was in youth the ardent disciple of Thrasea Pastus ; and when Peetus was destined by Nero for death, and the Senate was prepared to pass the decree for hia condemnation, Rusticus, in the fervor of his feelings, was eager to interpose the veto still attaching in form to the office, which he happened then to hold, of tribune, and was scarcely with- held by his master from a demonstration Avhich would but have added him, before his time, to the catalogue of victims. After performing, in the civil wars ensuing on the death of Nero, the duties of praetor, he published in Domitian's time a life of Thrasea, as did Senecio one of Helvidius, and Tacitus, prob- ably, himself, that of Agricola : the bold language of which insured his death. Among the teachers who afterwards gave instruction to the youthful Marcus Am'elius, we read the name of an Arulenus Rusticus, probably his grandson, united with that of Sextus of Chasronea, Plutarch's nephew, " who taught me," says the virtuous Emperor, " by his own example, the just and wise habits he recommended," and to whose door, in late life, he was still seen to go, still desirous, as he said, to be a learner. It does not, of course, follow from the terms in which the story is related, that the incident occurred in Domitian's time, and that it was to Domitian's letter that Plutarch's discourse was prefeiTcd. But that Plutarch was at Rome in or after Domitian's reign, seems to be fairly inferred from the language in which he speaks of the absurd magnificence of Domitian's palaces and other imperial buildings. LIFE OF PLUTARCH. XV His hvo brothers, Timon and Lamprias, arc frequently men- tioned in his Essays and Dialogues. They, also, appear to have been pupils of Ammonius. In the ti*eatise on AfFcction between Brothers, after various examples of the strength of this feeling, occurs the following passage : " And for myself," he says, " that among the many favors for which I have to thank the kindness of fortune, my brother Timon's affection to me is one, past and present, that may be put in the balance against all the rest, is what every one that has so much as met with us must be aware of, and our friends, of course, know well." His wife was Timoxena, the daughter of Alexion. The cir- cumstances of his domestic life receive their best illustration from his letter addressed to this wife, on the loss of their one daughter, born to them, it would appear, late in life, long after her brothers. " Plutarch to his wife, greeting. The messengers you sent to announce our child's death, apparently missed the road to Athens. I was told about my daughter on reaching Tanagra. Every thing relating to the funeral I suppose to have been already performed ; my desire is that all these arrange- ments may have been so made, as will now and in the future be most consoling to yourself. If there is any thing which you have \\'ished to do and have omitted, awaiting my opinion, and think would be a relief to you, it shall be attended to, apart fi-om all excess and superstition, which no one would like lesa than yourself. Only, my wife, let me hope, that you will main- tain both me and yourself Λvithin the reasonable limits of griefl What our loss really amounts to, I know and estimate for my- self. But should I find your distress excessive, my trouble on your account will be gi-eater than on that of our loss. I am not a ' stock or stone,' as you, my partner in the care of our numerous childi'en, every one of whom we have ourselves brought up at home, can testify. And this child, a daughter, born to your wishes after four sons, and affording me the oppor- XVI PREFACE. tunity of recording your name, I am well aware was a special object of affection." The sweet temper and the pretty Avays of the child, he pro- ceeds to say, make the privation peculiarly painful. " Yet why," he says, " should we forget the reasonings we have often addressed to others, and regard our present pain as obliterating and effacing our former joys ? " Those who had been present had spoken to him in terms of admiration of the calmness and simplicity of her behavior. The funeral had been devoid of any useless and idle sumptuosity, and her own house of all display of extravagant lamentation. This was indeed no won- der to him, who knew how much her plain and unluxurious living had surprised his philosophical friends and visitors, and who well remembered her composure under the previous loss of the eldest of her children, and again, "when our beautiful Charon left us." " I recollect," he says, " that some acquaint- ance fi-om abroad were coming up with, me from the sea when the tidings of the child's decease were brought, and they fol- lowed with our other friends to the house ; but the perfect or- der and tranquillity they found there made them believe, as I afterwards was informed they had related, that nothing had happened, and that the previous intelligence had been a mis- take." The Consolation (so the letter is named) closes with expres- sions of belief in the immortality of each human soul ; in which the parents are sustained and fortified by the tradition of their ancestors, and the revelations to which they had both been ad- mitted, conveyed in the mystic Dionysian ceremonies. There is a phrase in the letter which might be taken to im- ply that, at the time of this domestic misfortune, Plutarch and Timoxena were already grandparents. The marriage of their eon Autobulus is the occasion of one of the dinner parties recorded in the Symposiac Questions ; and in one of the dia- LIFE OF PLUTAECH. Xvii logues, there is a distinct allusion to Autobulus's son. Plutarch inscribes the little treatise in explanation of the Timaeus to his two sons, Autobulus and Plutarch. They must certainly have been grown up men, to have any thing to do with so difficult a subject. In his Inquiry as to the Way in which the Young should read the Poets, " It is not easy," he says, addressing Mar- cus Sedatus, " to restrain altogether from such reading young people of the age of my Soclarus and your Oleander." But whether Soclarus was a son, or a grandson, or some more dis- tant relative, or, which is possible, a pupil, does not appear. Eurydice, to whom and to Pollianus, her newly espoused hus- band, he addresses his Marriage Precepts, seems to be spoken of as a recent inmate of his house ; but it cannot be inferred that she was a daughter, nor does it seem likely that the little Timoxena's place was ever filled up.* The office of Archon, which Plutarch held in his native mu- nicipality, was probably only an annual one ; but very likely he served it more than once. He seems to have busied himself about all the little matters of the town, and to have made it a point to undertake the humblest duties. After relating the story of Epaminondas giving dignity to the office of Chief Scavenger, " And I, too, for that matter," he says, " am often a jest to my neighbors, when they see me, as they frequently do, in public, occupied on very similar duties ; but the story told about Antisthenes comes to my assistance. When some one expressed surprise at his carrying home some pickled fish from market in his own hands. It is, he answered, for myself. Con- versely, when I am reproached with standing by and watching while tiles are measured out, and stone and mortar brought up, This service, I say, is not for myself it is for my country." * That he had more than two sons speaks of his younger sons having staid who grew up, at any rate, to youth, too long at the theatre, and being, in appears from a passage where he consequence, too late at supper. XVlll PREFACE. In the little essay on the question, Whether an Old Man should continue in Public Life, written in the form of an exhor- tation to Euphanes, an ancient and distinguished member of the Areopagus at Athens, and of the Araphictyonic council, not to relinquish his duties, " Let there be no severance," he says, " in om* long companionship, and let neither the one nor the other of us forsake the life that was our choice." And, al- luding to his own functions as priest of Apollo at Dcdphi, " You know," he adds in another place, " that I have served the Pythian God for many pyVdads * past, yet you would not now tell me, ^ow have taken part enoug-h in the 8ασηβθ68, processions, and dances, and it is hig-h time, Plutarch, now you are an old man, to lay aside your garland^ and retire as superannuated from the oracleP Even in these, the comparatively few, more positive and matter-of-fact passages of allusion and anecdote, there is enough to bring up something of a picture of a happy domestic life, half academic, half municipal, passed among affectionate rela- tives and well-known friends, inclining most to literary and moral studies, yet not cut off from the duties and avocations of the citizen. We cannot, of com'se, to go yet further, accept the scenery of the fictitious Dialogues as historical ; yet there is much of it which may be taken as, so to say, pictorially just ; and there is, probably, a good deal here and there that is literally true to the fact. The Symposiac, or After-Dinner Questions, collected in nine books, and dedicated to Sosius Senecio, were discussed, we are told, many of them, in the company of Sosius himself, both at Rojne and in Greece, as, for example, when he was with them at the marriage festivities of Autobulus. Lam- prias and Timon, the author's brothers, are frequent speakers, * Periods of four years elapsing be- games, like the Olympiads for thf tween the celebrations of the Pythian Olympic games. LIFE OF PLUTARCH. xix each with a distinctly traced character, in these conversations ; the father, and the elder Lamprias, the grandfather, both take an occasional, and the latter a lively part ; there is one whole book in which Ammonius predominates ; the scene is now at Delphi, and now at Athens, sometimes perhaps, but rarely, at Rome, sometimes at the celebrations of the Games. Plutarch^ in his priestly capacity, gives an entertainment in honor of a poetic victor at the Pythia, there is an Isthmian dinner at Corinth, and an Olympian party at Elis. As an adopted Athe- nian citizen of the Leontid tribe, he attends the celebration of the success of his friend, the philosophic poet Serapion. The dramatis personce of the various little pieces form a company, when put together, of more than eighty names, philosophers, rhetoricians, and grammarians, several physicians, Euthydemus his colleague in the priesthood, Alexion his father-in-law, and four or five other connections by marriage, Favorinus the phi- losopher of Aries in Provence, afterwards favored by Hadrian, to whom he dedicates one of his treatises, and who in return wrote an essay called Plutarchus, on the Academic Philosophy. Serapion entertains them in a garden on the banks of the Cephi- sus. They dine with a iriendly physician on the heights of Hy- ampolis, and meet in a party at the baths of ^depsus. The questions are of the most miscellaneous description, grave some- times, and moral, grammatical and antiquarian, and often fes- tive and humorous. In what sense does Plato say that God uses geometry ? Why do we hear better by night than by day ? Wliy are dreams least true in autumn? Which existed first, the hen or the egg? Which of Venus' s hands did Diomed loound? Lamprias, the grandfather, finds fault with his son, Plutarch's father, for inviting too many guests to the parties given " when we came home from Alexandria." Ammonius, in office as general at Athens, gives a dinner to the young men who had distinguished themselves at a trial of sJdll in grammar, XX PREFACE. rhetoric, g(;ometry, and jDoetiy ; and anecdotes are told on the occasion of verses aptly or inaptly quoted. Of the other minor works, some look a good deal like lec- tures delivered at Rome, and afterwards published with little dedications prefixed. We have a disquisition on the Advan- tages we can derive from our Enemies, addressed to Cornelius Pulcher, a discourse On Fate, to Piso, and On Brotherly AfFeo• tion, to Nigrinus and Quintus. Many, however, are dialogues and conversations, with a good deal of the same varied scenery and exuberant detail which embellish the Table-Talk. In a conversation which he had been present at, " long ago, when Nero was staying in Greece," between Ammonius and some other friends, the meaning of the sti'ange inscription at Delphi, the two letters EI, is debated. A visitor is conducted by some of Plutarch's friends over the sacred buildings at Del- phi, and in the intervals between the somewhat tedious speeches of the professional guides, who showed the sights, a discussion takes place on the Nature of the Oracles. " It happened a little before the Pythian games in the time of Callistratus, there met us at Delphi two travellers, from the extremities of the world, Demeti'ius, the grammarian, on his way home to Tarsus from Britain, and Cleombrotus, the Lacedaemonian, just re- turned from a jom-ney he had made for his pleasure and insti-uc- tion in Upper Egypt, and far out into the Erythraean Sea." The question somehow or other occurs, and the dialogue. Of the Cessation of Oracles, ensues ; one passage of which is the famous story of the voice that proclaimed the death of the great Pan. Autobulus is talking with Soclarus, the companion of his son, about an encomium which they had heard on hunt- ing ; the best praise they can give it is, that it diverts into a less objectionable course the passion which finds one vent in seeing the contests of gladiators. Up come presently a large party of young men, lovers of hunting and fishing, and LIFE OF PLUTARCH. XXJ the question of the Superior Sagacity of Land or of Water Animals is formally pleaded by two selected orators. Stories are told of elephants ; and Aristotirnus, the advocate of the land animals, relates a sight (of the dog imitating in a play the effects of poison) which he himself, he says, saw in Rome, and which was so perfectly acted as to cause emotion in the specta- tors, the Emperor included; the aged Vespasian himself being present, in the theatre of Marcellus. It reads very much as if Plutarch, and not Aristotimus, had been the eye-witness.* Autobulus occurs again in the Dialogue on Love. At the request of his friend Flavianus, he repeats a long conversation, attended with curious incidents, in which his father had taken part on Mount Helicon, " once long ago, before we Avere born, when he brought our mother, after the dispute and variance which had arisen between their parents, that she might offer a sacrifice to Love at the feast held at Thespiae." The variance alluded to must clearly have been a fact. And, in general, though these playful fictions or semi-fictions, which form the machinery of the dialogues, are not indeed to be ac- cepted in a literal way, they possess an authenticity which we cannot venture to attiubute to the professedly historical state- ments about their author, given in later writers. Suidas, the lexicographer, repeats a mere romance when he tells us that Trajan gave him the dignity of consul, and issued orders that none of the magistrates in Illyria should do any thing without * Something also of a personal re- ered and put to death. Two sons were membrance of Vespasian's unrelent- born to them in their hiding-place, ingly severe temper may be thought "one of whom, says Plutarch, "was to appear in the story, related in the here with us in Delphi only a little Dialogue on Love, of the Gaulish while ago," and he is disposed, he rebel Sabinus, and his wife Eponina, adds, to attribute the subsequent ex- mentioned by Tacitus in his Histories, tinction of the race of Vespasian to who, after living in an underground divine displeasure at tliia cruel and concealment several years, were discov- unfeeling act. xxil PREFACE. consulting him. Syncellus, the Byzantine historian, under the record of one of the first years of Hadrian's reign, is equally of even more extravagant, relating that Plutarch, the philosopher of Chaeronea, was in his old age appointed by the emperor to the office of governor of Greece. Though the period of Trajan and the Antonines was the golden age of philosophers, whose brief persecution under Domitian seems to have won them for a while a sort of spmtual supremacy, similar to that which, aftei Diocletian, was wrested from them by the ministers of the new religion, still these assertions are on the face of them entirely incredible. There is a letter, indeed, given among Plutarch's printed works, in which a collection of Sayings of Kings and Com- manders is dedicated to Trajan; and though much doubt is entertained, it is not at all improbable that it is Plutarch's own writing. There is nothing remarkable in its contents, and it is most noticeable for the contrast in tone which it presents to another letter, undoubtedly spurious, first published in Latin by John of Salisbury, which is a very preceptorial lecture to Tra- jan, his pupil, by Plutarch, his supposed former teacher. A list of Plutarch's works, including many of which nothing remains, is also given by Suidas, as made by Lamprias, Plu- tarch's son ; and a little prefatory letter to a friend, whom he had known in Asia, and who had written to ask for the infor- mation, is prefixed to the catalogue. The catalogue itself may be correct enough, but the name of Lamprias occurs nowhere in all Plutarch's extant works as that of one of his sons ; and it cannot but be suspected that this family name was adopted, and this letter to the nameless friend in Asia composed, by Bome grammarian long after, who desired to give interest to an ordinary list of the author's extant writings. In reading Plutarch, the following points should be remera- LIFE OF PLUTARCH. xxui bered. He is a moralist rather than a historian. His interest is iess for politics and the changes of empires, and much more for personal character and individual actions and motives to ac- tion ; duty performed and rewarded ; arrogance chastised, hasty anger corrected ; humanity, fair dealing, and generosity tri- umphing in the visible, or relying on the invisible world. His mind in his biographic memoirs is continually running on the Aristotelian Ethics and the high Platonic theories, which formed the religion of the educated population of his time. The time itself is a second point; that of Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian ; the commencement of the best and happiest age of the great Roman imperial period. The social system, spread- ing over all the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, of which Greece and Italy were the centres, and to which the East and the furthest known West were brought into relation, had then reached its highest mark of advance and consummation. The laws of Rome and the philosophy of Greece were powerful from the Tigris to the British islands. It was the last great era of Greek and Roman literature. Epictetus was teaching in Greek the virtues which Marcus Aurelius was to illustrate as emperor. Dio Chrysostom and Arrian were recalling the mem- ory of the most famous Attic rhetoricians and historians, and while Plutarch wrote in Chseronea, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Martial, and Juvenal were writing at Rome. It may be said too, perhaps, not untruly, that the Latin, the metropolitan wri- ters, less faithfully represent the general spirit and character of the time, than what came from the pen of a simple Boeotian provincial, writing in a more universal language, and unwarped by the strong local reminiscences of the old home of the Senate and the Republic. Tacitus and Juvenal have more, perhaps, of the " antique Roman " than of the citizen of the great Med- iterranean Empire. The evils of the imperial government, as felt in the capital city, are depicted in the Roman prose and xxiv PREFACE. verse more vividly and more vehemently than suits a general representation of the state of the imperial world, even under the rule of Domitian himself. It is, at any rate, the serener aspect and the better era that the life and writings of Plutarch reflect. His language is that of a man happy in himself and in what is around him. His natural cheerfulness is undiminished, his easy and joyous sim- plicity is unimpaired, his satisfactions are not saddened or im- bittered by any overpowering recollections of years passed mider the immediate present terrors of imperial wickedness. Though he also could remember Nero, and had been a man when Domitian Avas an emperor, the utmost we can say is, that he shows, perhaps, the instructed happiness of one who had lived into good times out of evil, and that the very vigor of his con- tent proves that its roots were fixed amongst circumstances not too indulgent or favorable. Much has been said of Plutarch's inaccuracy ; and it cannot be denied that he is careless about numbers, and occasionally contradicts his own statements. A greater fault, perhaps, is his passion for anecdote ; he cannot forbear from repeating stories, the improbability of which he is the first to recognize ; which, nevertheless, by mere repetition, leave unjust impressions. He is unfair in this way to Demosthenes and to Pericles, against the iatter of whom, however, he doubtless inherited the prejudices which Plato handed down to the philosophers. It is true, also, that his unhistorical treatment of the subjects of his biography makes him often unsatisfactory and imperfect in the portraits he draws. Much, of course, in the public lives of statesmen can find its only explanation in their political position ; and of this Plutarch often knows and thinks little. So far as the researches of modern historians have succeeded in really recovering a knowledge of relations of this sort, so far, undoubtedly, these biographies stand in need of their correc- LIFE OF PLUTARCH. XXV tion. Yet in the uncertainty which must attend all modern restoiations, it is agreeable, and surely, also, profitable, to recur to portraits draΛvn ere new thoughts and views had occupied the civilized world, without reference to such disputable grounds of judgment, simply upon the broad principles of the ancient moral code of right and wrong. Making some little deductions in cases such as those that have been mentioned, allowing for a little over-love of story, and for some considerable quasi-religious hostility to the demo- cratic leaders who excited the scorn of Plato, if we bear in mind, also, that in narratives like that of Theseus, he himself confesses his inability to disengage fact from fable, it may be said that in Plutarch's Lives the readers of all ages will find instructive and faithful biogi'aphies of the great men of Greece and Rome. Or, at any rate, if in Plutarch's time it was too late to think of really faithful biographies, we have here the faithful record of the historical tradition of his age. This is what, in the second centmy of our era, Greeks and Romans loved to believe about their warriors and statesmen of the past. As a picture, at least, of the best Greek and Roman moral views and moral judgments, as a presentation of the results of Greek and Roman moral thought, delivered not under the pressure of ca- lamity, but as they existed in ordinary times, and actuated plain-living people in country places in their daily life, Plu- tarch's writings are of indisputable value ; and it may be said, also, that Plutarch's character, as depicted in them, possesses a natural charm of pleasantness and amiability which it is not easy to match among all extant classical authors. The present translation is a revision of that published at the end of the seventeenth century, with a life of Plutarch written by Dryden, whose name, it was presumed, Avould throw some reflected lustre on the humbler workmen who performed, better xxvi PREFACE. or worse, the more serious labor. There is, of course, a gieat inequality in their work. But the translation by Langhorne, for which, in the middle of the last century, the older volumes were discarded, is so inferior in liveliness, and is in fact so dull and heavy a book, that, in default of an entirely new translation, some advantage, it is hoped, may be gained by the revival here attempted. It would not have been needed, had Mr. Long not limited the series Λvhich he published, with very useful notes, in Mr. Knight's Shilling Library, to the lives con- nected with the Civil Wars of Rome. Dryden's Life of Plutarch is, like many of Dryden's writings, hasty yet well written, inaccurate but agreeable to read ; that by Dacier, printed in the last volume of his French translation, is, in many respects, very good. The materials for both were col- lected, and the references accumulated, by Rualdus, in his labo- rious Life appended to the old Paris folios of 1624. But every thing that is of any value is given in the articles in Fabricius'a Bibliotheca Graeca, and, with the most recent additions, in Pau- ly's German Cyclopaedia. Much that is useful is found, as might be expected, in Clinton's Fasti Romani, from which the follow- ing table is taken : — Date. A. D. OCCURRENCES. AUTH0B8. 41 Accession of Claudius. 54 Accession of Nero. 66 Nero comes into Greece; alluded to in Plutarch's Dialogue, On the EI at Delphi. 67 Nero celebrates the Isthmian Games ; alluded to in Plutarch's life of Flamininus. 68 Galba is Emperor. Civil wars. 69 Vitellius, Otho, \''e3pasian. 70 Taking of Jerusalem. 74 The Philosophers are expelled from Rome. 79 Death of Sabinus, the Gaul. Death of Vespasian, and accession of Titus. Eruption of Vesuvius ; alluded to by Plutarch, as a recent occurrence, in his Enquiry why the Py- thian Oracles are no longer delivered in verse. Seneca. Lucan. Persius. Death of Pliny the Elder. LIFE OF PLUTARCH. XXV U Date. &.D. 81 90 9Q 98 100 103 104 106 113 114 117 138 161 181 OCCURRENCES. Accession of Domitian. The Philosoi^hers are again expelled from Rome, ^ after the death of Rusticus. Accession of Nerva. Accession of Trajan. Pliny's Panegyric. Epictetus is teaching at Nicopolis, Arrian attend- ing him. Pliny in Bithynia. Trajan ΛνΙηΙβΓβ on the Danube ; alluded to by Plutarch, On the Principle of Οοΐφ Erection of Trajan's Column. Trajan's Parthian Victories. Plutarch had writ- ten his hfe of Antony before these. Accession of Hadrian. In Hadrian's third year, Plutarch, according to Eusebius, was still alive. Accession of Antoninus. Accession of Marcus Aurelius. Accession of Coramodus. AUTHORS. Quintilian. Statins. Silius Italicus. Martial. Dio Clirysostom, Tacitus, born about A.D. 60. Plutarch. Epitietus. Arrian. Pliny the Youd- ger, born, A.D. 61. Juvenal, born A.D. 59. Farorinus. Suetonius, born about A. D. 70 Ptolemy. Appian. Pausanias. Galen. Ltician. Alhenoius. Dion Cassius. Note. — The authors whose names are printed in italics are Greek writers. The fault which runs through all the earlier biographies, from that of Rualdus downward, is the assumption, wholly untenable, that Plutarch passed many years, as many, perhaps as forty, at Rome. The entire character of his life is of course altered by such an impression. It is, therefore, not worth while reprinting here the life originally prefixed by Dryden to the translations which, with more or less of alteration, follow in the present volumes. One or two characteristic extracts may be sufficient. The first may throw some light on a subject which to modern readers is a little obscure. Dryden is wrong in one or two less important points, but his general view of the dcemonic belief which pervades Plutarch's writings is tolerably to the purpose. XXVill PREFACE. " We can only trace the rest of his opmions from his philoso- phy, which we have said in the general to be Platonic, though it cannot also be denied that there was a tincture in it of the Electic * sect, which was begun by Potamon under the omph-e of Augustus, and which selected from all the other sects what seemed most probable in their opinions, not adher- ing singularly to any of them, nor rejecting every thing. I will only touch his belief of Spirits. In his two Treatises of Oracles, the one concerning the Reason of their Cessation, the othsr inquiring "Why they were not given in Verse as in former times, he seems to assert the Pythagorean doctrine of Trans- migration of Souls. We have formerly shown that he owned the unity of a Godhead ; whom, according to his attributes, he calls by several names, as Jupiter n'om his almighty power, Apollo from his wisdom, and so of the rest; but under him he places those beings whom he styles Genii or Dcemons, of a middle nature, between divine and human ; for he thinks it ab- surd that there should be no mean between the two extremes of an immortal and a mortal being; that there cannot be in nature so vast a flaw, without some intermedial kind of life, partaking of them both. As, therefore, we find the intercourse between the soul and body to be made by the animal spirits, so between divinity and humanity there is this species of dae- mons. Who,f having first been men, and followed the strict rules of virtue, have purged off the grossness and feculency of their earthly being, are exalted into these genii ; and are from thence either raised higher into an ethereal life, if they still continue virtuous, or tumbled down again into mortal bodies, and sinking into flesh after they have lost that purity which constituted their glorious being. And this sort of Genii are • He means the Eclectic, as it is apparently the word and should be more usually called. omitted in line 29, before sinking into i He means, I believe. Those who ; fiesh. LIFE OF PLUTARCH. XXIX those who, as our author imagines, presided over oracles ; spirits which have so much of their terrestrial principles remaining in them as to be subject to passions and inclinations; usually be- neficent, sometimes malevolent to mankind, according as they refine themselves, or gather dross, and are declining into mortal bodies. The cessation, or rather the decrease of oracles, (foi some of them were still remaining in Plutarch's time,) he attributes either to the death of those daemons, as appears by the story of the Egyptian Thamus, who was commanded to declare that the great god Pan was dead, or to their forsaking of those places where they formerly gave out their oracles, from whence they were driven by stronger Genii into banish- ment for a certain revolution of ages. Of this last nature were the war of the giants against the gods, the dispossession of Saturn by Jupiter, the banishment of Apollo from heaven, the fall of Vulcan, and many others; all which, according to our author, were the battles of these Genii or Daemons amongst themselves. But supposing, as Plutarch evidently does, that these spirits administered, under the Supreme Being, the affairs of men, taking care of the virtuous, punishing the bad, and sometimes communicating with the best, as, particularly, the Genius of Socrates always warned him of approaching dan- gers, and taught him to avoid them, I cannot but wonder that every one who has hitherto written Plutarch's Life, and partic- ularly Rualdus, the most knowing of them all, should so confi- dently affirm that these oracles were given by bad spirits, ac- cording to Plutarch. As Christians, indeed, we may think them so ; but that Plutarch so thought is a most apparent falsehood. 'Tis enough to convince a reasonable man, that our author in his old age, (and that then he doted not, we may see by the treatise he has written, That old men ought to have the management of public affairs,) I say that then he initiated him- self in the sacred rites of Delphos, and died, for ought we XXX PREFACE. know, Apollo's priest. Now it is not to be imagined that he thought the God he served a Cacodcemon, or, as we call hini, a devil. Nothing could be further from the opinion and practice of this holy philosopher than so gross an impiety. The story of the Pythias, or priestess of Apollo, which he relates immedi- ately before the ending of that treatise, concerning the Cessa- tion of Oracles, confirms my assertion rather than shakes it; for 'tis there delivered, ' That going with great reluctation into the sacred place to be inspired, she came out foaming at the mouth, her eyes goggling, her breast heaving, her voice undis- tinguishable and shrill, as if she had an earthquake within her, laboring for vent ; and, in short, that thus tormented with the god, whom she was not able to support, she died distracted in a few days after. For he had said before that the divineress ought to have no pertm-bations of mind or impure passions at the time when she was to consult the oracle, and if she had, she was no more fit to be inspired than an instrument untuned to render an harmonious sound.' And he gives us to suspect, by what he says at the close of this relation, ' That this Pythias had not lived chastely for some time before it ; so that her death appears more like a punishment inflicted for loose living, by some holy Power, than the mere malignancy of a Spirit delighted nat- urally in mischief.' There is another observation which indeed comes nearer to their purpose, which I will digress so far as to relate, because it somewhat appertains to our own country. ' There are many islands,' says he, ' which lie scattering about Britain, after the manner of our Sporades ; they are unpeopled, and some of them are called the Islands of the Heroes, or the Genii.' One Demetrius was sent by the emperor (who by computation of the time must either be Caligula or Claudius*) to discover those parts, and arriving at one of the islands next * Undoubtedly much later. LIFE OF PLUTARCH. χχχΐ adjoining to the before mentioned, which was inhabited by some few Britons, (but those held sacred and inviolable by all their countrymen,) immediately after his arrival, the air grew black and troubled, strange apparitions were seen, the winds raised a tempest, and fiery spouts or whirlwinds appeared dancing to- wards the earth. When these prodigies were ceased, the islanders informed him that some one of the aerial beings, supe- rior to our nature, then ceased to live. For as a taper, while yet burning, affords a pleasant, harmless light, but is noisome and offensive when extinguished, so those heroes shine be- nignly on us and do us good, but at their death turn all things topsy-turvy, raise up tempests, and infect the air with pestilen- tial vapors. By those holy and inviolable men, there is no question but he means our Druids, who were nearest to the Pythagoreans of any sect ; and this opinion of the Genii might probably be one of theirs. Yet it proves not that all daemons were thus malicious, only those who were to be condemned hereafter into human bodies, for their misdemeanors in their aerial being. But 'tis time to leave a subject so very fanciful, and so little reasonable as this. I am apt to imagine the nat- ural vapors, arising in the cave where the temple afterwards was built, might work upon the spirits of those who entered the holy place, as they did on the shepherd Coretas, who first found it out by accident, and incline them to Enthusiasm and pro- phetic madness ; that as the strength of those vapors dimin- ished, (which were generally in caverns, as that of Mopsus, of Trophonius, and this of Delphos,) so the inspiration decreased by the same measures ; that they happened to be stronger when they killed the Pythias, who being conscious of this, was so unwilling to enter ; that the oracles ceased to be given in verse when poets ceased to be the priests, and that the Genius of Socrates (whom he confessed never to have seen, but only to XXXU PREFACE. have heard inwardly, and unperceived by others,) was no more than the strength of his imagination; or, to speak in the lan- guage of a Christian Platonist, his guardian angel." The concluding passage of the life may serve as a conclusion to this prefatory essay. It is as follows : " And now, with the usual vanity of Dutch prefacers, I could load our author with the praises and commemorations of writers ; for both ancient and modern have made honorable mention of him. But to cum- ber pages with this kind of stuff were to raise a distrust in com- mon readers that Plutarch wants them. Rualdus, indeed, has collected ample testimonies of them ; but I will only recite the names of some, and refer you to him for the particular quota- tions. He reckons Gellius, Eusebius, Himerius the Sophister, Eunapius, Cyrillus of Alexandria, Theodoret, Agathias, Photius and XiphUin. patriarchs of Constantinople, Johannes Sarisbe- riensis, the famous Petrarch, Petrus Victorius, and Justus Lipsius. " But Theodorus Gaza, a man learned in the Latin tongue, and a great restorer of the Greek, who lived above two hundred years ago, deserves to have his suffrage set down in words at length ; for the rest have only commended Plutarch more than any single author, but he has extolled him above all together. "'Tis said that, having this extravagant question put to him by a friend, that if learning must suffer a general shipwTeck, and he had only his choice left him of preserving one author, who should be the man he would preserve, he answered, Plu- tarch ; and probably might give this reason, that in saving him, he should secure the best collection of them all. " The epigram of Agathias deserves also to be remembered. This author flourished about the year five hundred, in the reign of the Emperor Justinian. The verses are extant in the Antho- logia, and with the translation of them I will conclude the LIFE OF PLUTARCH. XXxiii praises of our author ; havinfi first admonished you, that they are supposed to be written on a statue erected by the Romans to his memory. " Ch?eronean Plutarch, to thy deathless praise Does martial Rome this grateful statue raise, Because both Greece and she thy fame have shared, (Their heroes written, and their lives compared). But thou thyself couldst never write thy own; Their lives have parallels, but thine has none." PLUTARCH'S LIVES. (xxxv) rr THESEUS. As geographers, Sosius* crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect, that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, nnap- proachable bogs, Scythian ice, or a frozen sea, so, in this work of mine, in which I have compared the lives of the greatest men with one another, after passing through those periods which probable reasoning can reach to and real history find a footing in, I might very well say of those that are farther off. Beyond this there is nothing but prodigies and fictions, the only inhabitants are the poets and inventors of fables ; there is no credit, or certainty any farther. Yet, after publishing an account of Lycur- gus the lawgiver and Numa the king, I thought I might, not without reason, ascend as high as to Komulus, being brought by my history so near to his time. Considering therefore with mj^self Whom shall I set so great a man to face ? Or whom oppose ? who 's equal to the place ? (as ^schylus expresses it), I found none so fit as him that peopled the beautiful and far-famed city of Athens, to be * Sosius Senecio, Plutarch's friend at Rome, Avhom he addresses. VOL. I. 1 2 THESEUS. set in opposition with the father of the invincible and renowned city of Rome. Let ns hope that Fable may, in what shall follow, so submit to the purifying processes of Keason as to take the character of exact history. In any case, however, where it shall be found contumaciously slighting credibility, and refusing to be reduced to any thing like probable fact, we shall beg that we may meet with candid readers, and such as will receive with indul- gence the stories of antiquity. Theseus seemed to me to resemble Romulus in many particulars. Both of them, born out of wedlock and of uncertain parentage, had the repute of being sprung from the gods. Both warriors ; that by all the world 's allowed. Both of them united with strength of body an equal vigor of mind ; and of the two most famous cities of the world, the one built Rome, and the other made Athens be in- habited. Both stand charged Λνΐίΐι the rape of women ; neither of them could avoid domestic misfortunes nor jealousy at home ; but towards the close of their lives are both of them said to have incurred great odium with their countrymen, if, that is, Ave may take the stories least like poetry as our guide to the truth. The lineage of Theseus, by his father's side, ascends as high as to Erechtheus and the first inhabitants of Attica. By his mother's side he was descended of Pelops. For Pelops was the most powerful of all the kings of Pelo- ponnesus, not so much by the greatness of his riches as the multitude of his children, having married many daughters to chief men, and put many sons in places of command in the towns round about him. One of whom, named Pittheus, grandfixther to Theseus, was governor of the small city of the Troezenians, and had the repute of a man of the greatest knowledge and wisdom of his THESEUS. 3 time ; which then, it seems, consisted chiefly in grave maxims, such as the poet Hesiod got his great fame by, in his book of Works and Onys. And, indeed, among these is one that they ascribe to Pittheus, — Unto a friend suffice A stipulated price ; * which, also, Aristotle mentions. And Euripides, by call- ing Hippolytus " scholar of the holy Pittheus," shows the opinion that the world had of him. ^geus, being desirous of children, and consulting the oracle of Delphi, received the celebrated answer which forbade him the company of any woman before his return to Athens. But the oracle being so obscure as not to satisfy him that he was clearly forbid this, he went to Trcezen, and communicated to Pittheus the voice of the god, which Avas in this manner, — Loose not the wine-skin foot, thou chief of men, Until to Athens thou art come again. Pittheus, therefore, taking advantage from the obscurity of the oracle, prevailed upon him, it is uncertain whether by persuasion or deceit, to lie with his daughter ^thra. vEgeus afterwards, knowing her Avhom he had lain with to be Pittheus's daughter, and suspecting her to be with child by him, left a sword and a pair of shoes, hiding them under a great stone that had a hollow in it exactly fitting them ; and went away making her only * In the "Works and Days this claim, in justice, more than the proverb, as it now stands, certainly sum that had been first agreed means, "Stipulate your price before- upon. Before Hesiod, however, band Avith your friend." " Even," and perhaps originally in Hesiod, adds the following line, "in a bar- it may have simply been an injunc- gain with your brother, laugh, and tion to pai/ a friend fairly and call in a witness." Aristotle under- fully the price that at first was stood it to say, that no one can appointed. 4 THESEUS. privy to it, and commanding her, if she brought forth a son Avho, when he came to man's estate, should be able to lift up the stone and take away what he had left there, she should send him away to him with those things with all secrecy, and with injunctions to him as much as possi- ble to conceal his journey from every one ; for he greatly feared the Pallantidce, who were continually mutinjang against him, and despised him for his want of children, they themselves being fifty brothers, all sons of Pallas."^ When ^thra was delivered of a son, some say that he was immediately named Theseus, from the tokens which his father had piti-f under the stone; others that he received his name afterwards at Athens, Λvhen jEo;eus achiotvledged'\ him for his son. He was brought up under his grandfather Pittheus, and had a tutor and attendant set over him named Connidas, to whom the Athenians, even to this time, the day before the feast that is dedi- cated to Theseus, sacrifice a ram, giving this honor to his memory upon much juster grounds than to Silanio and Parrhasius, for making pictures and statues of Theseus. There being then a custom for the Grecian youth, upon their first coming to man's estate, to go to Delphi and offer first-fruits of their hair to the god, Theseus also went thither, and a place there to this day is yet named Thesea, as it is said, from him. He clipped only the fore part of his head, as Homer says the Abantes did.J And this sort of tonsure was from him named Theseis. The Abantes first used it, not in imitation of the Arabians, as some imagine, nor of the Mysians, but because they were a warlike people, and used to close fighting, and above all other nations accustomed to engage hand to hand ; as Archilochus testifies in these verses : — * Brother to -3igeus. take to oneself, to adopt or ac- t Thesis, putting; Thesthai, to knowledge, as a son. i The Euboeans of tlie Iliad. THESEUS. 6 Slings shall not whirl, nor many arrows fly, IVhen on the plain the battle joins ; but swords, Man against man, the deadly conflict try, As is the practice of Euboea's lords Skilled with the spear. Therefore that they might not give their enemies a hold by their hair, they cut it in this manner. They write also that this was the reason why Alexander gave command to his captains that all the beards of the Mace- donians should be shaved, as being the readiest hold for an enemy. jEthra for some time concealed the true parentage of Theseus, and a report was given out by Pittheus that he was begotten by Neptune ; for the Troezenians pa}^ Nep- tune the highest veneration. He is their tutelar god, to him they offer all their first-fruits, and in his honor stamp their money with a trident. Theseus displaying not only great strength of body, but equal bravery, and a quickness alike and force of un- derstanding, his mother ^thra, conducting him to the stone, and informing him who was his true father, com- manded him to take from thence the tokens that ^sreus had left, and to sail to Athens. He without any difficulty set himself to the stone and lifted it up ; but refused to take his journey by sea, though it was much the safer way, and though his mother and grandfather begged him to do so. For it was at that time very dangerous to go by land on the road to Athens, no part of it being free from robbers and murderers. That age produced a sort of men, in force of hand, and swiftness of foot, and strength of body, excelling the ordinary rate, and wholly incapable of fatigue ; making use, hoAvever, of these gifts of nature to no good or profitable purpose for mankind, but rejoi- cing and priding themselves in insolence, and taking the benefit of their superior strength in the exercise of inhu- 6 THESEUS. manity and cruelty, and in seizing, forcing, and commit- ting all manner of outrages upon every thing that fell into their hands; all respect for others, all justice, they thought, all equity and humanity, though naturally lauded by common people, either out of want of courage to commit injuries or fear to receive them, yet no way concerned those who were strong enough to Avin for themselves. Some of these, Hercules destroyed and cut off in his pas- sage through these countries, but some, escaping his notice while he was passing by, fled and hid themselves, or else were spared by him in contempt of their abject submis- sion ; and after that Hercules fell into misfortune, and, having slain Iphitus, retired to Lydia, and for a long time was there slave to Omphale, a punishment which he had imposed upon himself for the murder, then, indeed, Lydia enjoyed high peace and security, but in Greece and the countries about it the like villanies again re- vived and broke out, there being none to repress or chas- tise them. It was therefore a very hazardous journey to travel by land from Athens to Peloponnesus; and Pit- theus, living; him an exact account of each of these rob- bers and villains, their strength, and the cruelty they used to all strangers, tried to persuade Theseus to go by sea. But he, it seems, had long since been secretly fired by the glory of Hercules, held him in the highest estima- tion, and was never more satisfied than in listening to any that gave an account of him ; especially those that had seen him, or had been present at any action or saying of his. So that he was altogether in the same state of feel- ing as, in after ages, Themistocles was, when he said that he could not sleep for the trophy of Miltiades ; enter- taining such admiration for the virtue of Hercules, that in the night his dreams were all of that hero's actions, and in the day a continual emulation stirred him up to perform THESEUS. 7 the like. Besides, they were related, being born of cousina german. For ^thra was daughter ofPittheus, and Alcme- na of L^^sidice ; and Lysidice and Pittheus Avere brother and sister, children of Hippodamia and Pelops. He thought it therefore a dishonorable thing, and not to be endured, that Hercules should go out everywhere, and purge both land and sea from wicked men, and he himself should fly from the like adventures that actually came in his way; dis- gracing his reputed father by a mean flight by sea, and not shoΛγing his true one as good evidence of the great- ness of his birth by noble and worthy actions, as by the tokens that he brought with him, the shoes and the sword. With this mind and these thoughts, he set forward with a design to do injury to nobody, but to repel and revenge himself of all those that should offer any. And first of all. in a set combat, he slew Periphetes, in the neighborhood of Epidaurus, who used a club for his arms, and from thence had the name of Corynetes, or the club-bearer; who seized upon him, and forbade him to go forward in his journey. Being pleased with the club, he took it, and made it his Λveapon, continuing to use it as Hercules did the Hon's skin, on Λvhose shoulders that served to prove how huge a beast he had killed ; and to the same end Theseus carried about him this club ; over- come indeed by him, but now, in his hands, invincible. Passing on further towards the Isthmus of Pelopon- nesus, he slew Sinnis, often surnamed the Bender of Pines, after the same manner in Avhich he himself had destroyed many others before. And this he did without having either practised or ever learnt the art of bending these trees, to show that natural strength is above all art. This Sinnis had a daughter of remarkable beauty and stature, called Perigune, who, when her father was killed, fled, and \vas sought after everywhere by Theseus ; and ooming into a place overgroAvn with brushwood, shrubs. 8 THESEUS. and asparagus-thorn, there, in a chilcUike, innocent manner, prayed and begged them, as if they understood her, to give her shelter, with vows that if she escaped she would never cut them down nor burn them. But Theseus call- ing upon her, and giving her his promise that he would use her Λvith respect, and offer her no injury, she came forth, and in due time bore him a son, named Melanip- pus ; but afterwards was married to Deioneus, the son of Eurytus, the QEchalian, Theseus himself giving her to him. loxus. the son of this Melanippus who was born to Theseus, accompanied Ornytus in the colony that he carried with him into Caria, whence it is a family usage amongst the people called loxids, both male and female, never to burn either shrubs or asparagus-thorn, but to respect and honor them. The Crominyonian sow, which they called Phnsa, was a savage and formidable wild beast, by no means an enemy to be despised. Theseus killed her, going out of his way on purpose to meet and engage her, so that he might not seem to perform all his great exploits out of mere neces- sity ; being also of opinion that it was the part of a brave man to chastise villanous and Avicked men when attojcked by them, but to seek out and overcome the more noble wild beasts. Others relate that Phsea was a woman, a robber full of cruelty and lust, that lived in Crommyon, and had the name of Sow given her from the foulness of her life and manners, and afterwards was killed by The- seus. He slew also Sciron, upon the borders of Megara, casting him down from the rocks, being, as most report, a notorious robber of all passengers, and, as others add, ac- customed, out of insolence and wantonness, to stretch forth his feet to strangers, commanding them to wash them, and then while they did it, with a kick to send them down the rock into the sea. The writers of Megara, however, in contradiction to the received report, and, as Simonides THESEUS. 9 expresses it, " fighting with all antiquity," contend that Sciron was neither a robber nor doer of violence, but a punisher of all such, and the relative and friend of good and just men ; for -^acus, they say, was ever esteemed a man of the greatest sanctity of all the Greeks ; and Cychreus, the Salaminian, was honored at Athens Λvith divine worship ; and the virtues of Peleus and Telamon were not unknown to any one. Now Sciron was son-in- law to Cychreus, father-in-laΛV to ^acus, and grandfather to Peleus and Telamon, who were both of them sons of Endeis, the daughter of Sciron and Chariclo ; it was not probable, therefore, that the best of men should make these alliances with one who was worst, giving and recei- ving mutually Avhat was of greatest value and most dear to them. Theseus, by their accoimt, did not slay Sciron in his first journey to Athens, but afterwards, when he took Eleusis, a city of the Megarians, having circumvented Diodes, the governor. Such are the contradictions in this story. In Eleusis he killed Cercyon, the Arcadian, in a wrestling match. And going on a little farther, in Erineus, he slew Damastes, otherwise called Procrustes, forcing his body to the size of his own bed, as he himself was used to do with all strangers ; this he did in imitation of Hercules, who always returned upon his assailants the same sort of violence that they offered to him ; sacrificed Busiris, killed Antaeus in wrestling, and Cycnus in single combat, and Termerus by breaking his skull in pieces (whence, they say, comes the proverb of " a Termerian mischief"), for it seems Termerus killed passengers that he met, by running with his head against them. And so also Theseus proceeded in the punishment of evil men, λυΙιο underwent the same violence from him Avhich they had inflicted upon others, justly suffering after the manner of their own injustice. 10 THESEUS. As he went forward on his journey, and was come as tar as the river Cephisus, some of the race of the Phy- talidge met him and sakited him, and, upon his desire to use the pm-ifications, then in custom, they performed them with all the usual ceremonies, and, having offered propitiatory sacrifices to the gods, invited him and enter- tained him at their house, a kindness which, in all his journey hitherto, he had not met. On the eighth day of Cronius, now called Hecatom- bseon, he arrived at Athens, where he found the public affairs fidl of all confusion, and divided into parties and factions, ^geus also, and his whole private family, labor- ing under the same distemper : for Medea, having fled from Corinth, and promised ^geus to make him, by her art, capable of having children, was living Avith him. She fi.rst was aware of Theseus, Λvhom as yet ^geus did not know, and he being in years, full of jealousies and suspi- cions, and fearing every thing by reason of the faction that was then in the city, she easily persuaded him to kill him by poison at a banquet, to which he was to be invited as a stranger. He, coming to the entertainment, thought it not fit to discover himself at once, but, willing to give his father the occasion of first finding him out, the meat being on the table, he drew his sword as if he designed to cu t with it ; ^geus, at once recognizing the token, threw down the cup of poison, and, questioning his son, embraced him, and, having gathered together all his citizens, owned him publicly before them, who, on their part, received him gladly for the fame of his greatness and bravery; and it is said, that when the cup fell, the poison was spilt there where now is the enclosed space in the Delphinium, for in that place stood j^lgeus's house, and the figure of Mercury on the east side of the temple is called the Mercury of ^geus's gate. THESEUS. 11 The sons of Pallas, who before were quiet, upon expec- tation of recovering the kingdom after ^geus's death, who was without issue, as soon as Theseus appeared and was acknowledged the successor, highly resenting that ^geus first, an adopted son onlj' of Pandion, and not at all related to the family of Erechtheus, should be holding the kingdom, and that after him, Theseus, a visitor and stranger, should be destined to succeed to it, broke out into open war. And, dividing themselves into two companies, one part of them marched openly from Sphettus, with their father, against the city, the other, hiding themselves in the village of Gargettus, lay in ambush, with a design to set upon the enemy on both sides. They had with them a crier of the township of Agnus, named Leos, who discovered to Theseus all the designs of the Pallantidae He immediately fell upon those that lay in ambuscade, and cut them all off; upon tidings of which Pallas and his company fled and were dispersed. From hence they say is derived the custom among the people of the township of Pallene to have no marriages or any alliance with the j)eople of Agnus, nor to suffer the criers to pronounce in their proclamations the words used in all other parts of the country, Acouete Leoi (Hear ye people), hating the very sound of Leo, because of the treason of Leos. Theseus, longing to be in action, and desirous also to make himself popular, left Athens to fight with the bull of Marathon, Avhich did no small mischief to the inhabi- tants of Tetrapolis. And having overcome it, he brought it alive in triumph through the city, and afterwards sacri- ficed it to the Delphinian Apollo. The story of Hecale, also, of her receivino; and entertainino: Theseus in this expedition, seems to be not altogether void of truth ; for the townships round about, meeting upon a certain day, 12 THESEUS. used to offer a sacrifice, Avhich lliey called Hecalesia, to Jupiter Hecaleius, and to pay honor to Hecale, whom, by a diminutive name, they called Hecalene, because she, while entertaining Theseus, who was quite a youth, ad- dressed him, as old people do, with similar endearing diminutives ; and having made a vow to Jupiter for him as he was going to the fight, that, if he returned in safety, she would offer sacrifices in thanks of it, and dying before he came back, she had these honors given her b}^ way of return for her hospitality, by the command of Theseus, as Philochorus tells us. Not long after arrived the third time from Crete the collectors of the tribute which the Athenians paid them upon the following occasion. Androgens having been treacherously murdered in the confines of Attica, not only Minos, his father, put the Athenians to extreme distress by a perpetual war, but the gods also laid waste their coun- try ; both famine and pestilence lay heavy upon them, and even their rivers were dried up. Being told by the oracle that, if they appeased and reconciled Minos, the anger of the gods would cease and they should enjoy rest from the miseries they labored under, they sent heralds, and with much supplication were at last reconciled, entering into an agreement to send to Crete CA^ery nine years a tribute of seven young men and as many virgins, as most writers agree in stating ; and the most poetical story adds, that the Minotaur destroyed them, or that, wandering in the labyrinth, and finding no possible means of getting out, they miserably ended their lives there; and that this Minoiaur was (as Euripides hath it) A mingled form, where two strange shapes combined, And different natures, bull and man, were joined. But Philochorus says that the Cretans will by no means THESEUS. liJ allow the truth of this, but say that the labjiinth was only an ordinary prison, having no other bad quality but that it secured the prisoners from escaping, and that Minos, having instituted games in honor of Androgens, gave, as a reward to the \actors, these youths, λυΙιο in the mean time Λvere kept in the labyrinth ; and that the first that overcame in those games was one of the greatest power and command among them, named Taurus, a man of no merciful or gentle disposition, Λvho treated the Athenians that were made his prize in a proud and cruel manner. Also Aristotle himself, in the account that he gives of the form of government of the Bottiaeans, is man- ifestly of opinion that the youths Λvere not slain by Minos, but spent the remainder of their days in slavery in Crete ; that the Cretans, in former times, to acquit themselves of an ancient vow which they had made, were used to send an offering of the first-fruits of their men to Delphi, and that some descendants of these Athenian slaves were mingled with them and sent amongst them, and, unable to get their living there, removed from thence, first into Italy, and settled about Japygia ; from thence again, that they removed to Thrace, and were named Bottiteans • and that this is the reason why, in a certain sacrifice, the BottiiBan girls sing a h}• mn beginning Let us go to Athem. This may shoAV us how dangerous a thing it is to incur the hostility of a city that is mistress of eloquence and song. For Minos was always ill spoken of, and repre- sented ever as a very Λvicked man, in the Athenian thea- tres ; neither did Hesiod avail him by calling him " the most royal Minos," nor Homer, who styles him " Juj)iter''s familiar friend ; " the tragedians got the better, and from the vantage ground of the stage showered down obloquy upon him, as a man of cruelty and violence ; whereas, in fact, he ap])ears to have been a king and a lawgiver, and 14 THESEUS. Rbaclamanthus a judge under him, administering tlie statutes that he ordained. Now when the time of the third tribute was come, and the fathers who had any j^oung men for their sons were to proceed by lot to the choice of those that \vere to be sent, there arose fresh discontents and accusations against ^geus among the people, who were full of grief and indignation that he, who Λvas the cause of all their mise- ries, was the only person exempt from the punishment; adopting and settling his kingdom upon a bastard and foreign son, he took no thought, they said, of their de- stitution and loss, not of bastards, but lawful children. These things sensibly affected Theseus, who, thinking it but just not to disregard, but rather partake of, the suffer- ings of his fellow citizens, offered himself for one without any lot. All else were struck with admiration for the nobleness and with love for the goodness of the act ; and jEgeus, after prayers and entreaties, finding him inflexible and not to be persuaded, proceeded to the choosing of the rest by lot. Hellanicus, however, tells us that the Athe- nians did not send the young men and virgins by lot, but that Minos himself used to come and make his own choice, and pitched upon Theseus before all others; accord- ing to the conditions agreed upon between them, namely, that the Athenians should furnish them Avith a ship, and that the young men that Λvere to sail with him should carry no weapon of war ; but that if the Minotaur was destroved, the tribute should cease. On the two former occasions of the payment of the tribute, entertaining no hopes of safety or return, they sent out the ship Avith a black sail, as to unavoidable destruction ; but now, Theseus encouraging his father and speaking greatly of himself, as confident that he should kill the Minotaur, he gave the pilot another sail, THESEUS. 15 which was white, conim LYCURGUS. tolled for his goodness, he said, " Who can say he is any thing but good ? he is so even to the bad." Amongst the many changes and alterations Λvhich Ly- curgus made, the first and of greatest importance \vas the establishment of the senate, which, having a power equal to the kings' in matters of great consequence, and, as Plato expresses it, allaying and qualifying the fiery genius of the royal office, gave steadiness and safety to the com- monwealth. For the state, which before had no firm basis to stand upon, but leaned one while towards an ab- solute monarchy, when the kings had the upper hand, and another while towards a pure democracy, when the people had the better, found in this establishment of the senate a central weight, like ballast in a ship, Avhich always kept things in a just equilibrium; the twenty- eight always adhering to the kings so far as to resist de- mocracy, and, on the other hand, supporting the people against the establishment of absolute monarchy. As for the determinate number of tΛventy-eight, Aristotle states, that it so fell out because two of the original associates, for want of courage, fell ojBf from the enterprise ; but SphiBrus assures us that there Λvere but twenty-eight of the confederates at first ; perhaps there is some mystery in the number, which consists of seven multiplied by four, and is the first of perfect numbers after six, being, as that is, equal to all its parts.* For my part, I believe Lycur- gus fixed upon the number of twenty-eight, that, the two kings being reckoned amongst them, they might be thirty in all. So eagerly set was he upon this establishment, that he took the trouble to obtain an oracle about it from Delphi, the Rhetra, which runs thus : " After that you have built a temple to Jupiter Hellanius, and to Minerva Hellania, and after that you have pht/led the people into yhi/les, and ohdd them into ohes, you shall establish a coun- * 14, 2, 7, 4, 1, make by addition 28 ; as 3, 2, 1, make 6. LYCURGUS. 91 c'll of thirty elders, the leaders included, and shall, from time to time, apellazein the people betwixt Babyca and Cnacion, there propound and put to the vote. The com- mons have the final voice and decision." By ijhjles and obes are meant the divisions of the people ; by the leaders^ the two kings ; apellazein, referring to the Pythian Apollo, signifies to assemble ; Babyca and Cnacion they now call CEnus ; Aristotle says Cnacion is a river, and Babyca a bridge. Betwixt this Babyca and Cnacion, their assem- blies were held, for they had no council-house or building to meet in. Lycurgus was of opinion that ornaments were so far from advantaging them in their counsels, that they Λvere rather an hinderance, by diverting their atten- tion from the business before them to statues and pic- tures, and roofs curiously fretted, the usual embellish- ments of such places amongst the other Greeks. TheV^ people then being thus assembled in the open air, it was not allowed to any one of their order to give his advice, but only either to ratify or reject what should be pro- pounded to them by the king or senate. But because it fell out afterwards that the people, by adding or omitting words, distorted and perverted the sense of propositions, kings Polydorus and Theopompus inserted into the Rhe- tra, or grand covenant, the following clause : " That if the people decide crookedly, it should be lawful for the elders and leaders to dissolve ; " that is to sa}'', refuse rati- fication, and dismiss the peoj^le as depravers and pervert- ers of their counsel. It passed among the people, by their management, as being equally authentic with the rest of the Rhetra, as appears by these verses of Tyr- taeus, — These oracles they from Apollo heard, And brought from Pytho home the perfect word : The heaven-appointed kings, who love the land, Shall foremost in the nation's council stand ; 92 LYCURGUS. The elders next to them ; the commons last ; Let a straiglit Rltetra among all be passed. Although Lycurgus had, m this manner, used all the qualifications possible in the constitution of his common- wealth, 3^et those who succeeded him found the oligarchi- cal element still too strong and dominant, and, to check its high temper and its violence, put, as Plato says, a bit in its mouth, w^hich was the power of the ephori, esta- blished an hundred and thirty years after the death of Lycurgus. Elatus and his colleagues were the first who had this dignity conferred upon them, in the reign of king Theopompus, who, when his queen upbraided him one day that he would leave the regal power to his child- ren less than he had received it from his ancestors, said, in answer, "No, greater; for it will last longer." For, indeed, their prerogative being thus reduced within rea- sonable bounds, the Spartan kings were at once freed from all further jealousies and consequent danger, and never experienced the calamities of their neighbors at Messene and Argos, who, by maintaining their preroga- tive too strictly, for want of yielding a little to the popu- lace, lost it all. Indeed, whosoever shall look at the sedition and mis- government which befell these bordering nations to whom they were as near related in blood as situation, will find in them the best reason to admire the wisdom and fore- sight of Lycurgus. For these three states, in their first rise, were equal, or, if there were any odds, they lay on the side of the Messenians and Argives, who, in the first allot- ment, were thought to have been luckier than the Spar- tans ; yet was their happiness but of small continuance, partly the tyrannical temper of their kings and partly the ungovernableness of the people quickly bringing upon them such disorders, and so complete an overthrow of all existing institutions, as clearly ^o^' show how truly divine a LYCUKGUS. 93 blessing the Spartans had had in that wise lawgiver who gave their government its happy balance and temper. But of this I shall say more in its due place. After the creation of the thirty senators, his next task, and, indeed, the most hazardous he ever undertook, was the making a new d ivis ion of tlieir lands. For there w^αs an extreme inequality amongst them, and their state was overloaded with a multitude of indigent and necessitous persons, while its whole wealth had centered upon a very iow. To the end, therefore, that he might expel from the state arrogance and envy, luxury and crime, and those yet more inveterate diseases of want and superfluity, he obtained of them to renounce their properties, and to con• sent to a new division of the land, and that they should live all together on an equal footing; merit to be their only road to eminence, and the disgrace of evil, and credit of worthy acts, their one measure of difference between man and man. Upon their consent to these proposals, proceeding at once to put them into execution, he divided the country of Laconia in general into thirty thousand equal .shares,^ and the part attached to the city of Sparta into nine thousand ; these he distributed among the Spartans, as he did the others to the country citizens. Some authors say that he made but six thousand lots for the citizens of Sparta, and that king Polydorus added three thousand more. Others say that Polydorus doubled the number Lycurgus had made, which, according to them, was but four thousand five hundred. A lot was so much as to yield, one year with another, about seventy bushels of grain for the master of the family, and twelve for his wife, with a suitable proportion of oil and wine. And this he thought sufficient to keep their bodies in good health and strength ; superfluities they were better without. It is reported, that, as he returned from a journey shortly 94 LYCURGUS. after the division of the lands, in harvest time, the ground being newly reaped, seeing the stacks all standing equal and alike, he smiled, and said to those about him, " Me- thinks all Laconia looks like one family estate just divided amonuf a number of brothers." ο Not contented with this, he resolved to make a division of their movables too, that there might be no odious di- stinction or inequality left amongst them ; but finding that it would be very dangerous to go about it openly, he took another course, and defeated their avarice by the following stratagem : he commanded that all gold and silver coin should be called in, and that only a sort of money made of iron should be current, a great weight and quantity of which was but very little worth ; so that to lay up twenty or thirty pounds there w^as required a pretty large closet, and, to remove it, nothing less than a yoke of oxen. With the diffusion of this money, at once a number of vices w^ere banished from Lacedaemon ; for who would rob another of such a coin ? Who wOuld unjustly detain or take by force, or accept as a bribe, a thing which it was not easy to hide, nor a credit to have, nor indeed of any use to cut in pieces ? For when it was just red hot, they quenched it in vinegar, and by that means spoilt it, and made it almost incapable of being worked. In the next place, he declared an outlaw^ry of all need- less and superfluous arts ; but here he might almost have spared his proclamation ; for they of themselves would have gone after the gold and silver, the money which remained being not so proper payment for curious work; for, being of iron, it was scarcely portable, neither, if they should take the pains to export it, would it pass amongst the other Greeks, Λνΐιο ridiculed it. So there was now no more means of purchasing foreign goods and small wares; merchants sent no shiploads into Laconian ports ; no rhe- LYCURGUS. 95 toric-niaster, no itinerant fortune-teller, no harlot-monger, or gold or silversmith, engraver, or jeweller, set foot in a country which had no money ; so that luxury, deprived little by little of that Avhich fed and fomented it, Λvasted to nothing, and died away of itself For the rich had no advantage here over the poor, as their wealth and abun- dance had no road to come abroad by, bat were shut up at home doing nothing. And in this way they became excellent artists in common, necessary things ; bedsteads, chairs, and tables, and such like staple utensils in a family, were admirably well made there ; their cup, particularly, was very much in fashion, and eagerly bought up by sol- diers, as Critias reports ; for its color was such as to pre- vent Avater, drunk upon necessity and disagreeable to look at, from being noticed ; and the shape of it was such that the mud stuck to the sides, so that only the purer part came to the drinker's mouth. For this, also, they had to thank their laAvgiver, who, by relieving the artisans of the trouble of making useless things, set them to show their skill in giving beauty to those of daily and indi- spensable use. The. third and most masterly stroke of this great law- giver, by Avhich he struck a yet more effectual blow against luxury and the desire of riches, Avas the ordinance he made, that they should all eat in common, of the same brea^ and same meat, and of kinds that were specified, and should not spend their lives at home, laid on costly couches at splendid tables, delivering themselves up into the hands of their tradesmen and cooks, to fatten them in corners, like greedy brutes, and to ruin not their minds only but their very bodies, which, enfeebled by indul- gence and excess, would stand in need of long sleep_, warm bathing, freedom from work, and, in a word, of as much care and attendance as if they were continually sick. It was certainly an extraordinary thing to have 96 LYCURGUS. brought about such a result as this, but a greater yet to have taken away from wealth, as Theophrastus observes, not merely the property of bemg coveted, but its very nature of being wealth. For the rich, being obliged to go to the same table with the poor, could not make use of or enjoy their abundance, nor so much as please their vanity by looking at or displa3-ing it. So that the com- mon proverb, that Plutus, the god of riches, is blind, was nowhere in all the ΛYorld literally verified but in Sparta. There, indeed, he Λvas not only blind, but like a picture, without either life or motion. Nor were they allowed to take food at home first, and then attend the public tables, for every one had an eye upon those who did not eat and drink like the rest, and reproached them with being vdainty and efieminate. This last ordinance in particular exasperated the wealth- ier men. They collected in a body against Lycurgus, and from ill words came to throwing stones, so that at length he was forced to run out of the market-place, and make to sanctuary to save his life ; by good-hap he outran all excepting one Alcander, a young man otherwise not ill accomplished, but hasty and violent, who came up so close to him, that, when he turned to see who was near him, he struck him upon the face with his stick, and put out one of his eyes. L^'curgus. so far from being daunted and dis- couraged by this accident, stopped short, and showed his disfigured face and eye beat out to his countrymen ; they, dismayed and ashamed at the sight, delivered Alcander into his hands to be punished, and escorted him home, witli expressions of great concern for his ill usage. Lycur- gus, having thanked them for their care of his person, dismissed them all, excepting only Alcander ; and, taking him with him into his house, neither did nor said any thing severely to him, but, dismissing those whose place it was, bade Alcander to w^ait upon him at table. The LYCURGUS. 97 young man. λυΙιο was of an ingenuous temper, without murmuring did as he was commanded ; and, being thus admitted to live with Lycurgus, he had an opportunity to observe in him, besides his gentleness and calmness of temper, an extraordinary sobriety and an indefatigable industry, and so, from an enemy, became one of his most zealous admirers, and told his friends and relations that Lycurgus was not that morose and illnatured man they had formerly taken him for, but the one mild and gentle character of the world. And thus did Lycurgus, for chas- tisement of his fault, make of a wild and passionate young man one of the discreetest citizens of Sparta. In memory of this accident, Lycurgus built a temple to Minerva, surnamed Optiletis ; optilus being the Doric of these parts for ophthalmiis, the eye. Some authors, ho\v- ever, of whom Dioscorides is one (who wrote a treatise on the commonwealth of Sparta), say that he was wounded, indeed, but did not lose his eye with the blow; and that he built the temple in gratitude for the cure. Be this as it will, certain it is, that, after this misadventure, the Lace- dijemonians made it a rule never to carry so much as a staff into their public assemblies. But to return to their public repasts; — these had several names in Greek ; the Cretans called them andria, because the men only came to them. The Lacedaemonians called them pMclitia, that is, by changing I into d, the same as luiUtia, love feasts, because that, by eating and drinking together, they had opportunity of making friends. Or perhaps from iMdo, parsimony, because they were so many schools of sobriety ; or perhaps the first letter is an addition, and the Λvord at first was editia, from edode. eating. They met by companies of fifteen, more or less, and each of them stood bound to bring in monthly a bushel of meal, eight gallons of wine, five pounds of cheese, two pounds and a half of figs, and some very small VOL. I. 7 98 LYCURGUS. sum of money to buy flesh or fish with. Besides this, Λvheπ any of them made sacrifice to the gods, tliey always sent a dole to the common hall; and, lilvewise, Avhen any of them had been a hunting, he sent thither a part of the venison he had killed ; for these two occasions were the only excuses allowed for supping at home. The custom of eating together Avas observed strictly for a great while afterwards ; insomuch that king Agis himself, after having vanquished the Athenians, sending for his commons at his return home, because he desired to eat privatel}'^ Avith his queen, was refused them by the polemarchs; which refusal Λvhen he resented so much as to omit next day the sacrifice due for a Avar happily ended, they made him pay a fine. They used to send their children to these tables as to schools of temperance ; here they Avere instructed in state affairs by listening to experienced statesmen ; here they learnt to converse with pleasantry, to make jests without scurrility, and take them without ill humor. In this point of good breeding, the Lacedaemonians excelled particularly, but if any man Avere uneasy under it, upon the least hint given there Avas no more to be said to him. It was customary also for the eldest man in the company to say to each of them, as they came in, " Through this " (pointing to the door), " no w^ords go out." "When any one had a desire to be admitted into any of these little societies ; he was to go through the following probation, each man in the company took a little ball of soft bread, which they were to throw into a deep basin, which a waiter carried round upon his head ; those that liked the person to be chosen dropped their ball into the basin without altering its figure, and those who disliked him pressed it betwixt their fingers, and made it flat ; and this sisrnified as much as a nesrative voice. And if there ο ο were but one of these flattened pieces in the basin, the LYCURGUS. 99 Riiitor was rejected, so desirous were they that all the members of the company should be agreeable to each other. The basin was called caddicJms, and the rejected candidate had a name thence derived. Their most famous dish was the black broth, Avhich was so much valued that the elderly men fed only upon that, leaving Avhat flesh there was to the younger. They say that a certain king of Pontus, having heard much of this black broth of theirs, sent for a Lacedaemo- nian cook on purpose to make him some, but had no sooner tasted it than he found it extremely bad, which the cook observing, told him, " Sir, to make this broth relish, you should have bathed yourself first in the riveK Eurotas." ■ After drinking moderately, every man went to his home Λvithout lights, for the use of them was, on all occa- sions, forbid, to the end that they might accustom them- selves to march boldly in the dark. Such was the com- mon fashion of their meals. V' Lycurgus would never reduce his laws into writing ; nay, there is a Rhetra expressly to forbid it. For he thought that the most material points, and such as most directly tended to the public Λvelfare, being imprinted on the hearts of their youth by a good discipline, would be sure to remain, and would find a stronger security, than any compulsion Avould be, in the principles of action formed in them by their best lawgiver, education. And as for things of lesser importance, as pecuniary contracts, and such like, the forms of which have to be changed as occasion requires, he thought it the best way to prescribe no positive rule or inviolable usage in such cases, Avilling that their manner and form should be altered according to the circumstances of time, and determinations of men of sound judgment. Every end and object of law and enactment it was his design education should eifect. 100 LYCURGUS. One, then, of the Rhetras was, that their laws should not bo written ; another is particularly levelled against luxury and expensiveness, for by it it was ordained that the ceilings of their houses should only be wrought by '^ the axe, and their gates and doors smoothed only by the -; I'^aw. Epaminondas's famous dictum about his ΟΛνη table, that " Treason and a dinner like this do not keep com- pany together," may be said to have been anticipated by Lycurgus. Luxury and a house of this kind could not well be companions. For a man must have a less than ordinary share of sense that ΛτοηΗ furnish such plain and common rooms with silver-footed couches and• purple coverlets and gold and silver plate. Doubtless he had good reason to think that they would proportion their beds to their houses, and their coverlets to their beds, and the rest of their goods and furniture to these. It is reported that king Leotychides, the first of that name, was so little used to the sight of any other kind of work, that, being entertained at Corinth in a stately room, he was much surprised to see the timber and ceil- ing so finely carved and panelled, and asked his host whether the trees gre\v so in his country. A third ordinance or Rhetra was, that they should not make war often, or long, with the same enemy, lest that they should train and instruct them in war, by habitua- ting them to defend themselves. And this is what Agesi- laus Λvas much blamed for, a long time after ; it being thought, that, by his continual incursions into Boeotia, he made the Thebans a match for the Lacedaemonians ; and therefore Antalcidas, seeing him wounded one day, said to him, that he was very well paid for taking such pains 1o make the Thebans good soldiers, Avhether they would or no. These laws were called the Rhetras, to intimate that they were^ divi ne^anctions an4 -revelations. In order to the good education of their youth (which, LYCURGUS. 101 as I said before, he thought the most important and noblest work of a lawgiver), he went so far back as to take into consideration their very conception and birth, by regulating their marriages. For Aristotle is Avrong in saying, that, after he had tried all ways to reduce the women to more modesty and sobriety, he was at last forced to leave them as they were, because that, in the absence of their husbands, λυΙιο spent the best part of their lives in the wars, their wives, whom they were obliged to leave absolute mistresses at home, took great liberties and assumed the superiority ; and were treated with overmuch respect and called by the title of lad}^ or queen. The truth is, he took in their case, also, all the care that was possible ; he ordered the maidens to exer- cise themselves with w'restling, running, throwing the quoit, and casting the dart, to the end that the fruit they conceived might, in strong and healthy bodies, take firmer root and find better growth, and withal that they, with this greater vigor, might be the more able to undergo the pains of child-bearing. And to the end he might take away their over-great tenderness and fear of ex- posure to the air, and all acquired womanishness, he ordered that the young women should go naked in the processions, as well as the young men, and dance, too, in that condition, at certain solemn feasts, sino-ino- certain songs, whilst the young men stood around, seeing and hearing them. On these occasions, they now and then made, by jests, a befitting reflection upon those who had misbehaved themselves in the wars ; amLagaiiLjSang enco- miums upon those who had done any gallantr-aetion^ and by these means inspired the younger sort with an emula- tion of^their glory. Those that were thus commended went away proud, elated, and gratified with their honor among the maidens ; and those who were ralHed were as sensibly touched with it as if they had been formally 102 LYCURGUS. reprimanded; and so much the more, because the kings and the elders, as well as the rest of the city, saw and heard all that passed. Nor Λ\\α8 there any thing shameful in this nakedness of the young women ; modesty attend- ed them, and all wantonness was excluded. It taught them simplicity and a care for good health, and gave them some taste of higher feelings, admitted as they thus were to the field of noble action and glory. Hence it was natural for them to think and speak as Gorgo, for example, the wife of Leonidas, is said to have done, when some foreign lady, as it would seem, told her that the women of Laceda3mon were the only women of the world who could rule men ; " With good reason," she said, " for we are the only women who bring forth men." These public processions of the maidens, and their appearing naked in their exercises and dancings, were incitements to marriage, operating upon the young Λvith the rigor and certainty, as Plato says, of love, if not of mathematics. But besides all this, to promote it yet more effectually, those who continued bachelors Λvere in a degree disfranchised by law ; for they Avere excluded from the sight of those public processions in which the young men and maidens danced naked, and, in winter- time, the officers compelled them to march naked them- selves round the market-place, singing as they went a certain song to their own disgrace, that they justly suffered this punishment for disobeying the laws. More- over, they were denied that respect and observance which the 3^ounger men γύά their elders ; and no man, for example, found fault Avith what was said to Dercyllidas, though so eminent a commander ; upon whose approach one day, a young man, instead of rising, retained his seat, remarking, " No child of yours will make room for me." In their marriages, tlie husband carried off* his bride hy LYCURGUS. 103 a sort of force ; nor were their brides ever small and of tender years, but in their full bloom and ripeness. After this, she who superintended the wedding comes and cli]3S the hair of the bride close round her head, dresses her up in man's clothes, and leaves her upon a mattress in the dark ; after\vards comes the bridegroom, in his every-da_y clothes, sober and composed, as havhig supped at the common table, and, entering privately into the room where the bride lies, unties her virgin zone, and takes her to himself; and, after staying some time together, he returns composedly to his own apartment, to sleep as usual with the other young men. And so he continues to do, spending his days, and, indeed, his nights Λvith them, visiting his bride in fear and shame, and with circumspec- tion, Avhen he thought he should not be observed ; she, also, on her part, using her wit to help and find favorable opportunities for their meeting, when company was out of the way. In this manner they lived a long time, inso- much that they sometimes had children by their wives before ever they saw their faces by daylight. Their inter- views, being thus difficult and rare, served not only for continual exercise of their self-control, but brought them together Λvith their bodies healthy and vigorous, and their affections fresh and lively, unsated and unduUed by easy access and long continuance with each other ; Avhile their partings were alwaj's early enough to leave behind unex- tinguished in each of them some remainder fire of longing and mutual deliiiht. After cruardinii; marriag;e with this σ COO modesty and reserve, he was equally careful to banish empty and womanish jealousy. For this object, exclu- ding all licentious disorders, he made it. nevertheless, hon- orable for men to give the use of their wives to those whom they should think fit, that so they might have children by them ; ridiculing those in whose opinion such favors are so unfit for participation as to fight and shed 104 LYCURGUS. blood and go to war about it. Lycurgus allowed a man who was advanced in years and had a young wife to recommend some virtuous and approved young man, that she might have a child by him, who might inherit the good qualities of the father, and be a son to himself On the other side, an honest man who had love for a mar- ried woman upon account of her modesty and the well- fixvoredness of her children, might, without formality, beg her company of her husband, that he might raise, as it were, from this plot of good ground, worthy and well- allied children for himself And, indeed, Lycurgus Λvas of a persuasion that children were not so^uclTthe property of their parents as of the whole commonwealth, and, therefore, would not have his citizens begot by the first comers, but by the best men that could be found ; the laws of other nations seemed to him very absurd and in- consistent, where people would be so solicitous for their dogs and horses as to exert interest and pay money to procure fine breeding, and yet kept their wives shut up, to be made mothers only by themselves, who might be foolish, infirm, or diseased ; as if it were not apparent that children of a bad breed would prove their bad qualities first upon those λυΙιο kept and were rearing them, and well-born children, in like manner, their good qualities. These regulations, founded on natural and social grounds, were certainly so far from that scandalous liberty which was afterwards charged upon their women, that they knew not what adultery meant. It is told, for instance, of Geradas, a very ancient Spartan, that, being asked by a stranger what punishment their law had appointed for adulterers, he answered, " There are no adulterers in our country." " But," replied the stranger, " suppose there were ? " " Then," answered he, " the offender would haA'e to give the plaintiff a bull with a neck so long as that he might drink from the top of Taygetus of the Eurotas river LYCURGUS. 105 below it." The man, surprised at this, said, " Why, 't is impossible to find such a bull." Geradas smilingly re- plied, " 'T is as possible as to find an adulterer in Sparta." So much I had to say of their marriages. Nor Avas it in the power of the father to dispose of the child as he thought fit ; he was obliged to carry it before certain triers at a place called Lesche ; these were some of the elders of the tribe to which the child belonged ; their business it was carefully to view the infant, and, if they found it stout and well made, they gave order for its rearing, and allotted to it one of the nine thousand shares of land above mentioned for its maintenance, but, if they found it puny and ill-shaped, ordered it to be taken to what was called the ApothetiB, a sort of chasm under Taj'getus ; as thinking it neither for the good of the cliiid itself, nor for the public interest, that it should be brought up, if it did not, from the very outset, appear made to be healthy and vigorous. Upon the same ac- count, the women did not bathe the new-born children with water, as is the custom in all other countries, but \vith wine, to prove the temper and complexion of their bodies ; from a notion they had that epileptic and weakly children faint and waste away upon their being thus bathed, Λvhile, on the contrary, those of a strong and vigorous habit acquire firmness and get a temper by it, like steel. There \vas much care and art, too, used by the nurses ; they had no swaddling bands ; the children grew up free and unconstrained in limb and form, and not dainty and fanciful about their food ; not afraid in the dark, or of being left alone ; without any peevishness or ill humor or crying. Upon this account. Spartan nurses were often bought up, or hired by people of other coun- tries ; and it is recorded that she who suckled Alcibiadea was a Spartan ; who, howe\^er, if fortunate in his nin^e, was not so in his preceptor ; his guardian, Pericles, as 106 LYCURGUS. Pluto tells us, cliose a servant for that office cillecl Zopy. rus, no better than any common slave. Lycurgus was of another mind ; he would not have masters bought out of the market for his young Sj^artans, nor such as should sell their pains ; nor was it lawful, indeed, for the father himself to breed up the children after his own fancy; but^assooiijis they were seven years old they were to be enrolled in certain companies and classes, where they all lived under the same order and discipline, doing their exercises and taking their play to- gether. Of these, he who showed the most conduct and courage was made captain ; they had their eyes always upon him, obeyed his orders, and underwent patiently whatsoever punishment he inflicted; so that the whole course of their education Λvas one continued exercise of a ready and perfect obedience. The old men, too, Avere spec- tators of their performances, and often raised quarrels and disputes among them, to have a good opportunity of find- ing out their diiferent characters, and of seeing which would be valiant. Λvhich a coward, wdien they should come to more dangerous encounters. Reading and writing they gave them, just enough to serve their turnj thehi chief care Λ\\α3 to make them good subjects, and to teach them to endure pain and conquer in battle. To this end, as they grew in years, their discipline Λvas proportionably in- creased ; their heads Λvere close-clipped, they Avere accus- tomed to go bare-foot, and for the most part to play naked. After they -were twelve years old, they were no longer allowed to Λvear any under-garment ; they had one coat to serve them a year;"=' their bodies were hard and dry, Avith but little acquaintance of baths and unguents ; tliese human indulgences they Avere allowed only on some few * The cldton and the himation, spending in use to the Roman tunic one inside and one out, constituted and toga. the ordinary Greek dress ; corre- LYCURGUS. ^07 particular days in the year. They lodged together in Uttle bands upon beds made of the rushes which grew by tlie banks of the river Eurotas. which they were to break oiF with their hands without a knife ; if it were winter, they mingled some thistle-down with their rushes, Avhich it Λvas thought had the property of giving warmth. By the time they were come to this age, there was not any of the more hopeful boys who had not a lover to bear him company. Tlie old men, too, had an eye upon them, coming often to the grounds to hear and see them contend either in wit or strength with one another, and this as seriously and with as much concern as if they were their fathers, their tutors, or their magistrates ; so that there scarcely was any time or place Λvithout some one present to put them in mind of their duty, and punish them if they had neglected it. Besides all this, there was always one of the best and honestest men in the city appointed to undertake the charge and governance of them ; he again arranged them into their several bands, and set over each of them for their captain the most temperate and boldest of those they called Irens, λυΙιο were usually twenty years old, two years out of the boys ; and the eldest of the boj^s, again, were Mell-Irens, as much as to say, λυΙιο would shortly be men. This young man, therefore, Avas their captain when they fought, and their master at home, using them for the offices of his house ; sending the oldest of them to fetch wood, and the weaker and less able, to gather salads and herbs, and these they must either go without or steal; which they did by creeping into the gardens, or conveying themselves cunningly and closely into the eating-houses ; if they Avere taken in the fact, they were Avhipped Avithout mercy, for thieving so ill and aAvkwardly. They stole, too, all other meat they could lay their hands on, looking out and watching all oppor- 108 LYCURGUS. tiinities, when people were asleep or more careless tlian usual. If they were caught, they were not only punished with whipping, but hunger, too, being reduced to their ordi- nary alloΛvance, which was but very slender, and so con- trived on purpose, that they might set about to help them- selves, and be forced to exercise their energy and address. This was the principal design of their hard fare; then^ was another not inconsiderable, that they might grow taller ; for the vital spirits, not being overburdened and oppressed by too great a quantity of nourishment, which necessarily discharges itself into thickness and breadth, do, by their natural lightness, rise ; and the body, giving and yielding because it is pliant, grows in height. The same thing seems, also, to conduce to beauty of shape ; a dry and lean habit is a better subject for nature's configuration, which the gross and over-fed are too heavy to submit to properly. Just as we find that women λυΙιο take physic whilst they are with child, bear leaner and smaller but better-shaped and prettier children; the material they come of having been more pliable and easily moulded. The reason, however, I leave others to determine. To return from whence we have digressed. So seri- ously did the Lacedaemonian children go about their stealing, that a youth, having stolen a young fox and hid it under his coat, suffered it to tear out his very bowels Avith its teeth and claws, and died upon the place, rather than let it be seen. What is practised to this very day in Lacedcemon is enough to gain credit to this story, for I myself have seen several of the youths endure whipping to death at the foot of the altar of Diana surnamed Or- thia. The Iren, or under-master, used to stay a little wath them after supper, and one of them he bade to sing a song, to another he put a question which required an advised and deliberate answer; for example, Who was LYCURGUS. 109 .the best man in the city? What he thouo-ht of such an yj action of such a man ? They used them thus early to pass a right judgment upon persons and things, and to inform themselves of the abilities or defects of their countrymen. If they had not an answer ready to the question Who was a good or Avho an ill-reputed citizen, they were looked upon as of a dull and careless disposition, and to have little or 110 sense of virtue and honor; besides this, they were to give a good reason for what they said, and in as few words and as comprehensive as might be ; he that failed of this, or answered not to the purpose, had his thumb bit by his master. Sometimes the Iren did this in the presence of the old men and magistrates, that they might see whether he punished them justly and in due measure or not ; and when he did amiss, they would not reprove him before the boys, but, when they were gone, he was called to an account and underwent correc- tion, if he had run far into either of the extremes of indulgence or severity. Their lovers and favorers, too, had a share in the young boy's honor or disgrace ; and there goes a story that one of them was fined by the magistrates, because the lad whom he loved cried out effeminately as he \vas fighting. And though this sort of love was so approved among them, that the most virtuous matrons w^ould make profes- sions of it to young girls, yet rivalry did not exist, and if several men's fancies met in one person, it was rather the beginning of an intimate friendship, whilst they all jointly conspired to render the object of their affection as accomplished as possible. They taught them, also, to speak with a natural and graceful raillery, and to comprehend much matter of thought in few words. For Lycurgus, who ordered, as we saw, that a great piece of money should be but of an inconsiderable value, on the contrary would allow no no LYCURGUS. discourse to be current Λvhich did not contain in few words a great deal of usefal and curious sense ; children in Sparta, by a habit of long silence, came to give just and sententious answers; for, indeed, as loose and incon- tinent livers are seldom fathers of many children, so loose and incontinent talkers seldom originate many sen- sible words. King Agis, when some Athenian laughed at their short swords, and said that the jugglers on the stage swallowed them Λνΐίΐι ease, answered him, " We find them long enough to reach our enemies Avith ; " and as their swords were short and sharp, so, it seems to me, were their sayings. They reach the point and arrest the atten- tion of the hearers better than any. Lj^curgus himself seems to have been short and sententious, if we may trust the anecdotes of him ; as appears by his answer to one λυΙιο by all means would set up democracy in Lace- doemon. " Begin, friend," said he, " and set it up in your family." Another asked him why he allowed of such mean and trivial sacrifices to the gods. He replied, "That we may always have something to ofier to them." Being asked what sort of martial- exercises or combats he ap- proved of, he answered, "All sorts, except that in which you stretch out your hands." '=" Similar answers, addressed to his countrymen by letter, are ascribed to him ; as, being consulted how they might best oppose an invasion of their enemies, he returned this answer, " By continuing poor, and not coveting each man to be greater than his fellow." Being consulted again Avhether it were requi- site to enclose the city with a wall, he sent them word, " The city is vfeW fortified which hath a w^all of men in- stead of brick." But whether these letters are counterfeit or not is not easy to determine. Of their dislike to talkativeness, the following apo- * The form of crying quarter among the ancients. LYCURGUS. Ill ptithegrns are evidence. King Leoniclas said to one λυΙιο held him in discourse upon some useful matter, but not in due time and place, "Much to the purpose. Sir, else- where" King Charilaus, the nephew of Ljcurgus, being asis;ed why his uncle had made so few laws, answered, " Men of few words require but few laws." When one blamed Hecatoeus the ^pliist because that, being invited to the public table, he had not spoken one word all sup- per-time, Archidamidas answ^ered in his Y'indication, " He who knows how to speak, knows also when." The sharp and yet not ungraceful retorts which I men- tioned may be instanced as follows. Demaratus, being asked in a troublesome manner bj^ an importunate fellow, Who was the best man in Lacedremon ? answered at last, " He, Sir, that is the least like jou." Some, in company where Agis was, much extolled the Eleans for their just and honorable management of the Olympic games ; " In- deed," said Agis, " they are highly to be commended if they can do justice one day in five years." Theopompus answered a stranger ν,Λιο talked much of his affection to the Lacedaemonians, and said that his countrymen called him Philolacon (a lover of the Laceda3monians), that it had been more for his honor if they had called him Phi- lopolites (a lover of his own countrymen). And Plistoa- nax, the son of Pausanias, when an orator of Athens said the Lacediemonians had no learning, told him, " You say true. Sir ; we alone of all the Greeks have learned none of your bad qualities." One asked Archidamidas what number there might be of the Spartans ; he answered, " Enough, Sir, to keep out wicked men." We may see their character, too, in their very jests. For they did not throw them out at random, but the very wit of them was grounded upon something or other worth thinking about. For instance, one, being asked to 112 LYCURGUS. go hear a man who exactly counterfeited the voice of a nightingale, answered, " Sir, I have heard the nightingale itself." Another, having read the following inscription upon a tomb, Seeking to quench a cruel tyranny, They, at Sehnus, did in battle die, said, it served them right ; for instead of trying to quench the tja^anny they should have let it burn out. A lad, being offered some game-cocks that would die upon the spot, said that he cared not for cocks that would die, but for such that would live and kill others. Another, seeing people easing themselves on seats, said, " God for- bid I should sit where I could not get up to salute my elders." In short, their answers jwere so sententious and pertinent, that one said well that intellectual much more truly than athletic exercise was the Spartan characteristic. Nor was their instruction in nmsic iind^serse less care- fully attended to than their habits of grace and good breeding in conversation. And their very songs had a life and spirit in them that inflamed and possessed men's minds Λvith an enthusiasm and ardor for action ; the style of them \yas plain and without affectation ; th e. sub jecF always serious ^nd moral ; most usually, it was in praise of such men asTEad'cried in defence o f th eir country, or in derision of those that had been cowards ; the former g^^^^^they declared happy and glorified; the life of the latter f^(r^ they described as most miserable and abject. There were -^y^M/yO also vaunts of what they would do, and boasts of what ^^i^CjA they had done, varying with the various ages, as, for example, they had three choirs in their solemn festivals, the first of the old men, the second of the young men, \ and the last of the children ; the old men began thus : AVe once were young, and brave and strong ; Ψ LYCURGUS. 113 the young men answered them, singing, And we 're so ηοΛν, come on and try ; the children came last and said, But we '11 be strongest by and by. Indeed, if we will take the pains to consider then- com- positions, some of which were still extant in our days, and the airs on the flute to which they marched when going to battle, we shall find that Terpander and Pindar had reason to say that m usic and valo r were allied. The first says of Lacediemon — The spear and song in her do meet, And Justice walks about her street ; and Pindar — Councils of wise elders here, And the young men's conquering spear. And dance, and song, and joy appear ; both describing the Spartans as no less musical than war- like ; in the words of one of their own poets — With the iron stern and sharp Comes the playing on the harp. For, indeed, before they engaged in battle, the king first did sacrifice to the Muses, in all likelihood to put them in mind of the manner of their education, and of the judg- ment that would be passed upon their actions, and there- by to animate them to the performance of exploits that should deserve a record. At_sitcli_times, too, the Lace- da3monians abated a little the severity of their inanners in fiivor of their young men, suffering them to curl and adorn their hair, and to have costly aims, and fine clothes; VOL. I <:U . ■ . ' δ ;^ι^'-Λ /σ-νν\«^ 114 LTCURGUS. and were well pleased to see them, like proud horses, neighing and pressing to the course. Ar.d therefore, as soon as they came to be well-grown, they took a great deal of care of their hair, to have it parted and trimmed, especially against a day of battle, pursuant to a saying recorded of their lawgiver, that a large head of hair added beauty to a good face, and terror to an ugly one. When they Λvere in the field, their exercises were gen- erally more moderate, their fare not so hard, nor so strict a hand held over them by their officers, so that they were the only people in the world to whom war gave repose. When their army was drawn up in battle array and the enemy near, the king sacrificed a goat, com- manded the soldiers to set their garlands upon their heads, and the pipers to play the tune of the hj^mn to Castor, and himself began the psean of advance. It was at once a magnificent and a terrible sio;ht to see them march on to the tune of their flutes, without any dis- order in their ranks, any discomposure in their minds or change in their countenance, calmly and cheerfully mov- ing with the music to the deadly fight. Men, in this tem- per, were not likely to be possessed with fear or any transport of fury, but with the deliberate valor of hope and assurance, as if some divinity were attending and conducting them. The king had always about his per- son some one Λvho had been crowned in the Olympic games ; and upon this account a Lacedaemonian is said to have refused a considerable present, which was ofiered to him upon condition that he would not come into the lists ; and Λvhen he had with much to-do thrown his anta- gonist, some of the spectators saying to him, "And now, Sir Lacedsemonian, what are you the better for your vic- tory ? " he answered smiling, " I shall fight next the king." After they had routed an enemy, they pursued him till they were well assured of the victory, and then they LYCURGUS. 115 sounded a retreat, thinking it base and unworthy of a Grecian people to cut men in pieces, who had given up and abandoned all resistance. This manner of dealing with their enemies did not only show magnanimity, but was politic too ; for, knowing that they killed only those who made resistance, and gave quarter to the rest, men generally thought it their best way to consult their safety by flight. Hippias the sophist says that Lycurgus himself was a great^soldier and an experienced commander. Philoste- phanus attributes to him the first division of the cavalry into troops of fifties in a square body ; but Demetrius the PhaleriarTsays quite the contrary, and that he made all his laws in a continued peace. And, indeed, the Olympic holy truce, or cessation of arms, that was procured by his means and management, inclines me to think him a kind- natured man, and one that loved quietness and peace. Notwithstanding all this, Hermippus tells us that he had no hand in the ordinance ; that Iphitus made it, and Ly- curgus came only as a spectator, and that by mere acci- dent too. Being there, he heard as it were a man's voice behind him, blaming and wondering at him that he did not encourage his countrymen to resort to the assembly, and, turning about and seeing no man, concluded that it was a voice from heaven, and upon this immediately went to Iphitus, and assisted him in ordering the ceremonies of that feast, Λγhich, by his means, were better established, and with more repute than before. To return to the Lacedaemonians. Their discipline continued still after they were full-grown men. No one was allowed^ to live after his ΟΛνη fancy ; but the city Avas a sort of camp, in which every man had his share of pro- visions and business set out, and looked upon himself not so much born to serve his own ends as the interest of his country. Therefore, if they were commanded noth• 116 LYCURGUS. mg else, they went to see the boys perform their exei- eises, to teach them something viseful, or to learn it them- selves of those who knew better. And, indeed, one of the greatest and highest blessings Lyciirgns procured his peo- ple was the abundance of leisure, which proceeded from his forbidding to them the exercise of any mean and me- chanical trade. Of the money-making that depends on troublesome going about and seeing people and doing business, they had no need at all in a state where wealth obtained no honor or respect. The Helots tilled their ground for them, and paid them yearly in kind the ap- pointed quantity, Avithout any trouble of theirs. To this purpose there goes a story of a Lacedaemonian who, hap- pening to be at Athens Avhen the courts were sitting, was told of a citizen that had been fined for living an idle life, and Avas being escorted home in much distress of mind by his condoling friends ; the Lacedaemonian was much surprised at it, and desired his friend to show him the man who was condemned for living like a freeman. So much beneath them did they esteem the frivolous devotion of time and attention to the mechanical arts and to money-making, i^ i^ ^ It need not be said, that, upon the prohibition of gold i^^and silver, all lawsuits immediately ceased, for there was ^ now neither avarice nor poverty amongst them, but / equality, Avhere every one's wants were supplied, and independence, because those wants were so small. All their time, except when they were in the field, was taken up by the choral dances and the festivals, in hunting, and in attendance on the exercise-grounds and the places of public conversation.''^" Those who were under thirty years of age were not allowed to go into the market- place, but had the necessaries of their family supplied by * Leschae. LYCURGUS. 117 the care of their relations and lovers; nor was it for the credit of elderly men to be seen too often in the market- place; it was esteemed more suitable for them to fre- quent the exercise-grounds and places of conversation, where they spent their leisure rationally in conversation, not on money-making and market-prices, but for the ^--nniiost part"~inr^assing judgment on some action worth considering ; extolling the good, and censuring those who were otherwise, and that in a light and sportive manner, conveying, without too much gravity, lessons of advice and improvement. Nor was Lycurgas himself unduly austere ; it w\as he who dedicated, says Sosibius, the little statue of Laioghter. Mirth, introduced seasonably at their suppers and places of common entertainment, was to serve as a sort of sweetmeat to accompany their strict and hard life. To conclude, he bred up his citizens in such a way that they neither would nor could live by themselves; they were_to_make themselves one with the public good, "^ ' ^ and, clustering like bees around their commander, be by their zeal and public spirit carried all but out of them- selves, and devoted wholly to their country. What their sentiments were will better appear by a few of their say- ings. Paedaretus, not being admitted into the list of the three hundred, returned home with a joyful face, well I pleased to find that there were in Sparta three hundred better men than himself And Polycratidas, being sent with some others ambassador to the lieutenants of the kins of Persia, being asked by them whether they came in a private or in a public character, answered, " In a public, if we succeed ; if not, in a private character." Argileonis, asking some who came from Amphipolis if her son Brasi- das died courageously and as became a Spartan, on their beginning to praise him to a high degree, and saying there was not such another left in Sparta, answered, " Do not J 18 LYCURGUS. say so ; Brasidas was a good and brave man, but there are in Sparta many better than he." The senate, as I said before, consisted of those who were Lycurgus's chief aiders and assistants in his plans. The vacancies he ordered to be supplied out of the best and most deserving men past sixty years old, and we need not \vonder if there was much striving for it; for what more glorious competition could there be amongst men, than one in which it was not contested who was swiftest among the swift or strongest of the strong, but Avho of many wise and good was wisest and best, and fittest to be intrusted for ever after, as the reward of his merits, with the supreme authority of the commonwealth, and with power over the lives, franchises, and highest interests of all his countrymen? The manner of their election was as follows : the people being called together, some selected persons were locked up in a room near the place of elec- tion, so contrived that they could neither see nor be seen, but could only hear the noise of the assembly without ; for they decided this, as most other affairs of moment, by the shouts of the people. This done, the competitors were not brought in and presented all together, but one after another by lot, and passed in order through the ^ assembly Λvithout speaking a word. Those who were ^ locked up had writing-tables with them, in Λvhich they /recorded and marked each shout by its loudness, Λvithout knowino; in favor of which candidate each of them was s , made, but merely that they came first, second, third, and -^< so forth. He Avho was found to have the most and loudest "acclamations was declared senator duly elected. Upon this he had a garhmd set upon his head, and Avent in pro- cession to all the temples to give thanks to the gods ; a great number of young men folloΛved him with applauses. |i and Avomen, also, singing verses in his honor, and extolling y^ the virtue and happiness of his life. As he went round 1.YCURGUS. 119 the city in this manner, each of his relations and friirnds set a table before him, saying, " The city honors you with this banquet;" but he, instead of accepting, passed round to the common table where he formerly used to eat, and was served as before, excepting that now he had a second allowance, which he took and put by. By the time sup- per was ended, the women who were of kin to him had come about the door ; and he, beckoning to her whom he most esteemed, presented to her the portion he had saved, saying, that it had been a mark of esteem to him, and was so now to her ; upon which she was triumphantly waited upon home by the women. Touching burials, Lycurgus made very Avise regulations ; for, first of all, to cut off all superstition, he allowed them to bury their dead within the city, and even round about their temples, to the end that their youth might be accus- tomed to such spectacles, and not be afraid to see a dead body, or imagine that to touch a corpse or to tread upon a grave would defile a man. In the next place, he com- manded them to put nothing into the ground with them, except, if they pleased, a few olive leaves, and the scarlet cloth that the}^ w^ere wrapped in. He would not suffer the names to be inscribed, except only of men who fell in the wars, or women who died in a sacred office. The time, too, appointed for mourning, was very short, eleven days ; on the twelfth, they were to do sacrifice to Ceres, and leave it off*; so that we may see, that as he cut off* all superfluity, so in things necessary there was nothing so small and trivial which did not express some homage of virtue or scorn of vice. He filled Lacedaemon all through with proofs and examples of good conduct ; Avith the con- stant sight of which from their youth up, the peojDle would hardly fail to be gradually formed and advanced in virtue. And this was the reason why he forbade them to ti avel J^^^_^_^^ v^-^WwV ^^i^-^-^ 120 LYCURGUS. abroad, and go about acquainting themselves with foreign rules of morality, the habits of ill-educated people, and different views of government. Withal he banished from Lacedoemon all strangers who could not give a very good reason for their coming thither; not because he was afraid lest they should inform themselves of and imitate liis manner of government (as Thucydides says), or learn any thing to their good ; but rather lest they should introduce something contrary to good manners. With strange people, strange words must be admitted ; these novelties produce novelties in thought ; and on these fol- low views and feelings whose discordant character destroys the harmony of the state. He was as careful to save his city from the infection of foreign bad habits, as men usually are to prevent the introduction of a pestilence. Hitherto I, for my part, see no sign of injustice or want of equity in the laws of Lycurgus, though some who ad- mit them to be well contrived to make good soldiers, pro- nounce them defective in point of justice. The Cryptia, perhaps (if it were one of Lycurgus's ordinances, as Aristotle says it was), gave both him and Plato, too, this opinion alike of the lawgiver and his government. By this ordinance, the magistrates despatched privately some of the ablest of the young men into the country, from time to time, armed only with their daggers, and taking a little necessary provision with them; in the daytime, they hid themselves in out-of-the-way places, and there lay close, but, in the night, issued out into the high- ways, and killed all the Helots they could light upon ; sometimes they set upon them by day, as they were at 4vork in the fields, and murdered them. As, also, Thucy- dides, in his history of the Peloponnesian war, tells us, that a good number of them, after being singled out for Jy) their bravery by the Spartans, garlanded, as enfranchised <>> persons, and led about to all the temples in token of ^0 LYCURGUS. 121 honors, shortly after disappeared all of a sudden, being about the number of two thousand ; and no man either then or since could give an account how they came by their deaths. And Aristotle, in particular, adds, that the ephori, so soon as they were entered into their office, used to declare Avar against them, that they might be massa- cred without a breach of religion. It is confessed, on all hands, that the Spartans dealt with them very hardly ; for it was a common thing to force them to drink to excess, and to lead them in that condition into their pub- lic halls, that the children might see what a sight a drunken man is ; they made them to dance low dances, and sing ridiculons songs, forbidding them expressly to meddle with any of a better kind. And, accordingly, when the Thebans made their invasion into Laconia, and took a great number of the Helots, they could by no means persuade them to sing the verses of Terpander, Alcman, or Spendon, "For," said they, "the masters* do not like it." So that it Avas_tnil^_observed„ by one, that in Sparta he who was free was most so, and he that was a slave there, the greatest slave in the Avorld. For my part, I am of opinion that these outrages and cruel- ties began to be exercised in Sparta at a later time, especially after the great earthquake, when the Helots made a general insurrection, and, joining with the Mes- senians, laid the country waste, and brought the greatest danger upon the city. For I cannot persuade myself to ascribe to Lycurgus so wicked and barbarous a course, judging of him from the gentleness of his disposition and justice upon all other occasions; to which the oracle also testified. When he perceived that his more important institu- tions had taken root in the minds of his countrymen, that * Literally, "the lordships," — tas desposynas. 122 LYCUEGUS. custom had rendered them familiar and easy, that his com- monwealth was ηοΛΥ grown up and able to go alone, then, as, Plato somewhere tells us, the Maker of the world, when first he saw it existing and beginning its motion, felt joy, even so Lycurgus, viewing Avith joy and satisfac- tion the greatness and beauty of his political structure, ηοΛν fairly at work and in motion, conceived the thought to make it immortal too, and, as far as human forecast could reach, to deliver it down unchangeable to posterity. He called an extraordinary assembly of all the people, and told them that he now thought every thing reason- ably λ\β\1 established, both for the happiness and the vir- tue of the state ; but that there was one thing still behind, of the greatest importance, which he thought not fit to impart until he had consulted the oracle ; in the mean time, his desire was that they would observe the laws without any the least alteration until his return, and then he would do as the god should direct him. They all con- sented readily, and bade him hasten his journey ; but, before he departed, he administered an oath to the two kings, the senate, and the Λvhole commons, to abide by and main- tain the established form of polity until Lycurgus should be come back. This done, he set out for Delphi, and, hav- ing sacrificed to Apollo, asked him whether the laws he had established weve go-od, and_suffici ent fo r a people's happiness and virtue. The oracle ans\vered that the laws were excellent, and that the people, while it observed them, should live in the height of renoAvn. Lycurgus took the oracle in writing, and sent it over to Sparta; and, having sacrificed the second time to Apollo, and taken leave of his friends and his son, he resolved that the Spar- tans should not be released from the oath they had taken, and that he would, of his own act, close his life where he was. He was now about that age in which life was still tolerable, and yet might be quitted without regret. Every LYCURGUS. 123 thing, morever, about him was in a sufficiently prosperous condition. He, therefore, made an end of himself by a total abstinence from food ; thinking it a statesman's duty to make his very death, if possible, an act of service to the state, and even in the end of his life to give some example of virtue and effect some useful purpose. He ΛνοηΗ, on the one hand, crown and consummate his own happiness by a death suitable to so honorable a life, and, on the other, Avould secure to his countrymen the enjoy- ment of the advantages he had spent his life in obtaining for them, since they had solemnly sworn the maintenance of his institutions until his return. Nor was he deceived in his expectations, for the city of Laceda3mon continued the chief city of all Greece for the space of five hundred years, in strict observance of Lycurgus's laws ; in all which time there was no manner of alteration made, dur- ing the reign of fourteen kings, down to the time of Agis, the son of Archidamus. For the new creation of the ephori, though thought to be in favor of the people, was so far from diminishing, that it very much height- ened, the aristocratical character of the government. In the time of Agis, gold and silver first flowed into Sparta, and Avith them all those mischiefs which attend the immoderate desire of riches. Lysander promoted this disorder; for, by bringing in rich spoils from the wars, although himself incorrupt, he yet by this means filled his country with avarice and luxury, and subverted i the laws and ordinances of Lycurgusj so long as which were in force, the aspect presented by Sparta _was I'^ther that of a rule of life followed by one wise and temper- ate man, than of the political government of a nation. And as the poets feign of Hercules, that, Λvith his lion's skin and his club, he went over the world, punii^hing lawless and cruel tyrants, so may it be said of the Lace- o^ V' 124 LYCURGUS. daemonians, that, with a common staff'•' and a coarse coat, they gained the willing and joyful obedience of Greece, through Avhose whole extent they suppressed unjust usurpations and despotisms, arbitrated in war, and com- posed civil dissensions; and this often without so much as taking down one buckler, but barely by sending some one single deputj^, to whose direction all at once submit- ted, like bees swarming and taking their places around their prince. Such a fund of order and equity, enough and to spare for others, existed in their state. ^ ^ And therefore I cannot but wonder at those who say that the Spartans were good subjects, but bad governors, and for proof of it allege a saying of king Theopompus, who, Λvhen one said that Sparta held up so long because their kings could command so well, replied, " Nay, rather because the people ΙίηοΛν so ^γe\\ how to obey." For people do not obey, unless rulers know how to com- mand; obedience is a lesson taught bj^ commanders. A true leader himself creates the obedience of his own fol- lowers ; as it is the last attainment in the art of riding to make a horse gentle and tractable, so is it of the science of government, to inspire men with a Avillingness to obey. The Lacedasmonians inspired men not with a mere Λyillingness, but with an absolute desire, to be their subjects. For they did not send petitions to them for ships or money, or a supply of armed men, but only for a Spartan commander ; and, having obtained one, used him with honor and reverence; so the Sicilians behaved to Gylippus, the Chalcidians to Brasidas, and all the Greeks in Asia to Lysander, Callicratidas, and Agesilaus ; they styled them the composers and chasteners of each people or prince they were sent to, and had their eyes always * The scytale, around which their despatches were rolled. LYCURGUS. 125 fixed upon the city of Sparta itself, as the perfect model of good manners and wise government. The rest seemed as scholars, they the masters of Greece ; and to this Stra- tonicus pleasantly alluded, when in jest he pretended to make a law that the Athenians should conduct reli- gious processions and the mysteries, the Eleans should preside at the Olympic games, and, if either did amiss, the Lacedcemonians be beaten. Antisthenes, too, one of the scholars of Socrates, said, in earnest, of the The- bans, when they were elated by their victory at Leuctra, that they looked like schoolboys who had beaten their master. However, it was not the design of Lycurgus that his city should govern a great many others; he thought rather that the happiness of a state, as of a private man, consisted chiefly in the exercise of virtue, and in the con- cord of the inhabitants; his aim, therefore, in all his arrangements, was to make and keep them free-minded, self-dependent, and temperate. And therefore all those who have written well on politics, as Plato, Diogenes, and Zeno, have taken Lycurgus for their model, leaving be- hind them, however, mere projects and words ; whereas Lycurgus was the author, not in writing but in reality, of a government which none else could so much as copy ; and while men in general have treated the individual philosophic character as unattainable, he, by the example of a complete philosophic state, raised himself high above all other lawgivers of Greece. And so Aristotle says they did him less honor at LacediBmon after his death than he deserved, although he has a temple there, and they ofter sacrifices yearly to him as to a god. It is reported that when his bones were brought home to Sparta his tomb Λvas struck with lightning; an acci- dent which befell no eminent person but himself, and Euripides, who was buried at Arethusa in Macedonia ; 126 LTCURGUS. and it may serve that poet's admirers as a testimony in his favor, that he had in this the same fate with that holy man and favorite of the gods. Some say Lycurgus died in Cirrha ; Apollothemis says, after he had come to EKs ; Timceiis and Aristoxenus, that he ended his Hfe in Crete; Aristoxenus adds that his tomb is shown by the Cretans in the district of Pergamus, near the strangers' road. He left an only son, Antiorus, on whose death without issue, his family became extinct. But his relations and friends kept up an annual commemoration of him down to a long time after ; and the days of the meeting were called Lycurgides. Aristocrates, the son of Hipparchus, says that he died in Crete, and that his Cretan friends, in accordance with his own request, when they had burned his body, scattered the ashes into the sea ; for fear lest, if his relics should be transported to Lacedasmon, the people might pretend to be released from their oaths, and make innovations in the government. Thus much may suffice for the life and actions of Lycurgus. ΝϋΜΑ POMPILIUS. Though the pedigrees of noble families of Rome go back in exact form as far as Numa Pompilius, yet there is great diversity amongst historians concerning the time in which he reigned ; a certain writer called Clodins,* in a book of his entitled Strictures on Chronology, avers that the ancient reojisters of Rome were lost when the city was sacked by the Gauls, and that those which are now extant Λvere counterfeited, to flatter and serve the humor of some men who wished to have themselves derived from some ancient and noble lineao;e, thouo-h in reality with no claim to it. And though it be commonly reported that Numa was a scholar and a familiar ac- quaintance of Pythagoras, yet it is again contradicted by others, who affirm, that he was acquainted with nei- ther the Greek language nor learning, and that he was a person of that natural talent and ability as of himself to attain to virtue, or else that he found some barbarian in- structor superior to Pythagoras. Some affirm, also, that Pythagoras was not contemporary with Numa, but lived at least five generations after him ; and that some other Py- thagoras, a native of Sparta, who, in the sixteenth Olym- piad, in the third year of which Numa became king, won a prize at the Olympic race, might, m his travel through * Probably Claudius Quadrigarius. (127) 128 NUMA. Italy, have gaiiied acquaintance Avith Numa, and assisted him in the constitution of his kingdom ; whence it comes that many Laconian laws and customs appear amongst the Roman institutions. Yet, in any case, Numa was descended of the Sabines, who declare themselves to be a colony of the Lacedaemonians. And chronology, in general, is uncertain ; especially Avhen fixed by the lists of victors in the Olympic games, which were published at a late period by Hippias the Elean, and rest on no positive authority. Commencing, however, at a conveni- ent point, we will proceed to give the most noticeable events that are recorded of the life of Numa. It was the thirty-seventh year, counted from the foun- dation of Rome, when Romulus, then reigning, did, on the fifth day of the month of July, called the Caprotine Nones, offer a public sacrifice at the Goat's Marsh, in presence of the senate and people of Rome. Suddenly the sky w^as darkened, a thick cloud of storm and rain settled on the earth ; the common people fled in aifright, and were dispersed ; and in this whirlwind Romulus dis- appeared, his body being never found either living or dead. A foul suspicion presently attached to the patri- cians, and rumors 'were current among the people as if that they, weary of kingly government, and exasperated of late by the imperious deportment of Romulus towards them, had plotted against his life and made him away, that so they might assume the authority and government into their own hands. This suspicion they sought to turn aside by decreeing divine honors to Romulus, as to one not dead but translated to a higher condition. And Proculus, a man of note, took oath that he saΛV Romulus caught up into heaven in his arms and vestments, and heard him, as he ascended, cry out that they should here- after style him by the name of Quirinus. This trouble, being appeased, was followed by another, about the election of a new king ; for the minds of the original Romans and the new inhabitants were not as jet grown into that perfect unity of temper, but that there were diversities of factions amongst the commonalty, and jealousies and emulations amongst the senators; for though all agreed that it was necessary to have a kiiuj-, yet what person or of Avhich nation, was matter of dispute. For those Avho had been builders of the city with Romu- lus, and had already yielded a share of their lands and dwellings to the Sabines, were indignant at any preten- sion on their part to rule over their benefactors. On the other side, the Sabines could plausibly allege, that, at their king Tatius's decease, they had peaceably submitted to the sole command of Romulus ; so now their turn was come to have a king chosen out of their own nation ; nor did they esteem themselves to have combined with the Romans as inferiors, nor to have contributed less than they to the increase of Rome, which, without their num- bers and association, could scarcely have merited the name of a city. Thus did both parties argue and dispute their cause; but lest meanwhile discord, in the absence of all com- mand, should occasion general confusion, it was agreed that the hundred and fifty senators should interchangea- bly execute the office of supreme magistrate, and each in succession, with the ensigns of royalty, should oiler the solemn sacrifices and despatch public business for the space of six hours by day and six by night ; Λvhich vicis- situde and equal distribution of power would preclude all rivalry amongst the senators and envy from the peo[)le, Λνΐιοη they should behold one, elevated to the degree of a king, levelled within the space of a day to the condition of a private citizen. This form of government is termed, by the Romans, interregnum. Nor yet could they, by this plausible and modest Avay of rule, escape suspicion and clamor of the vulgar, as though they were changing VOL. L 9 130 NUMA. the form of government to an oligarchy, and designing to keep the supreme power in a sort of wardship under them- selves, without ever proceeding to choose a king. Both parties came at length to the conclusion tliat the one should choose a king out of the body of the other ; the Romans make choice of a Sabine, or the Sabines name a Eoman ; this was esteemed the best expedient to put an end to all party spirit, and the prince λυΙιο should be chosen would have an equal affection to the one party as his electors and to the other as his kinsmen. The Sa- bines remitted the choice to the original Romans, and they, too, on their part, were more inclinable to receive a Sabine king elected by themselves than to see a Roman exalted by the Sabines. Consultations being accordingly held, they named Numa Pompilius, of the Sabine race, a per- son of that high reputation for excellence, that, though he were not actually residing at Rome, yet he was no sooner nominated than accepted by the Sabines, Avith acclama- tion almost greater than that of the electors themselves. The choice being declared and made known to the people, principal men of both parties were appointed to visit and entreat him, that he would accept the admini- stration of the government. Numa resided at a famous city of the Sabines called Cures, whence the Romans and Sabines gave themselves the joint name of Quirites. Pomj)onius, an illustrious person, was his father, and he the youngest of his four sons, being (as it had been divinely ordered) born on the twenty-first day of April, the day of the foundation of Rome. He was endued with a soul rarely tempered by nature, and disposed to virtue, which he had yet more subdued by discipline, a severe life, and the study of philosophy ; means which had not only suc- ceeded in expelling the baser passions, but also the violent and rapacious temper which barbarians are api. to think highly of; true bravery, in his judgment, was regarded ΝϋΜΑ. 131 as consisting in the subjugation of our passions by reason. He banished all luxury and softness from his own home, and, Avhile citizens alike and strangers found in him an incorruptible judge and counsellor, in private he de- voted himself not to amusement or lucre, but to the wor- ship of the immortal gods, and the rational contemplation of their divine power and nature. So famous Λvas he, that Tatius, the colleague of Romulus, chose him for his son-in-law", and gaΛ^e him his only daughter, wdiich, hoAv- ever, did not stimulate his vanity to desire to dwell Avith his father-in-law at Rome ; he rather chose to inhabit Λνΐΐΐι his Sabines, and cherish his own fother in his old ao-e : and Tatia, also, preferred the private condition of her hus- band before the honors and splendor she might have en- joyed Λvith her father. She is said to have died after she had been married thirteen years, and then Numa, leaving the conversation of the town, betook himself to a country life, and in a solitary manner frequented the groves and fields consecrated to the gods, passing his life in desert places. And this in particular gave occasion to the story about the goddess, namely, that Numa did not retire from human society out of any melancholy or disorder of mind, but because he had tasted the joys of more elevated in- tercourse, and, admitted to celestial Avedlock in the love and converse of the goddess Egeria, had attained to bles- sedness, and to a divine wisdom. The story evidently resembles those very ancient fables which the Phrygians have received and still recount of Attis, the Bithynians of Herodotus, the Arcadians of En- dymion, not to mention several others who were thought blessed and beloved of the gods ; nor does it seem strange if God, a lover, not of horses or birds, but men, should not disdain to dwell with, the virtuous and converse Λνΐίΐι the wise and temperate soul, though it be altogether hard, 132 NUMA. indeed, to believe, that any god or daemon is capable of a sensual or bodily love and passion for any human form or beauty. Though, indeed, the wise Egyptians do not unplausibly make the distinction, that it may be possible for a divine spirit so to apply itself to the nature of a woman, as to imbreed in her the first beginnings of gene- ration, while on the other side they conclude it impossi- ble for the male kind to have any intercourse or mixture by the body with any divinity, not considering, however, that what takes place on the one side, must also take place on the other ; intermixture, by force of terms, is reciprocal. Not that it is otherwise than befitting to sup- pose that the gods feel• towards men affection, and love, in the sense of affection, and in the form of care and solici- tude for their virtue and their good dispositions. And, therefore, it was no error of those who feigned, that Phor- bas, Hyacinthus, and Admetus were beloved by Apollo ; or that Hippolytus the Sicyonian Avas so much in his favor, that, as often as he sailed from Sicyon to Cirrha, the Pythian prophetess uttered this heroic verse, expressive of the god's attention and joy : Now doth Hippolytus return again, And venture his dear life upon the main. It is reported, also, that Pan became enamoured of Pin- dar for his verses, and the divine power rendered honor to Hesiod and Archilochus after their death for the sake of the Muses ; there is a statement, also, that iEsculapius sojourned with Sophocles in his lifetime, of Avhich many proofs still exist, and that, when he Λvas dead, another deity took care for his funeral rites. And so if any credit may be given to these instances, why should we judge it incongruous, that a like spirit of the gods should visit Zaleucus, Minos, Zoroaster, Lycurgus, and Numa, the controllers of kingdoms, and the legislators for common- NIBIA. 13j^ wealths ? Nay, it may be reasonable to believe, that the gods, with a serious purpose, assist at the councils and serious debates of such men, to inspire and direct them ; and visit poets and musicians, if at all, in their more sportive moods; but, for difference of opinion here, as Bacchylides said, " the road is broad." For there is no absurdity in the account also given, that Lycurgus and Numa, and other famous lawgivers, having the task of subduing perverse and refractory multitudes, and of in- troducing great innovations, themselves made this j)reten- sion to divine authority, which, if not true, assuredly was expedient for the interests of those it imjDOsed upon, Numa was about forty years of age when the ambas- sadors came to make him offers of the kingdom ; the speakers Λvere Proculus and Velesus,^• one or other of whom it had been thought the people would elect as their new king ; the original Romans being for Proculus, and the Sabines for Velesus. Their speech was very short, supposing that, when they came to tender a king- dom, there needed little to persuade to an acceptance ; but, contrary to their expectation, they found that they had to use many reasons and entreaties to induce one, that lived in peace and quietness, to accept the g0Λ^ern- ment of a city whose foundation and increase had been made, in a manner, in war. In presence of his father and his kinsman Marcius, he returned answer that "Every alteration of a man's life is dangerous to him; but mad- ness only could induce one Λvho needs nothing and is satisfied with every thing to quit a life he is accustomed to ; which, whatever else it is deficient in, at any rate has tlie advantage of certainty over one wholly doubtful and unknown. Though, indeed, the difficulties of this gov- ernment cannot even be called unknown ; Romulus, who first held it, did not escape the suspicion of having plot-• * Or Volesus, founder of the Valerian house. 134 NUMA. ted against the life of his colleague Tatius; nor the sen• ate the like accusation, of having treasonably murdered Romulus. Yet Romulus had the advantage to be thought divinely born and miraculously preserved and nurtured. My birth was mortal ; I was reared and instructed by men that are known to you. The very points of my character that are most commended mark me as unfit to reio-n, — love of retirement and of studies inconsistent with business, a passion that has become inveterate in me for peace, for unwarlike occupations, and for the so- ciety of men whose meetings are but those of worship and of kindly intercourse, whose lives in general are spent upon their farms and their pastures. I should but be, methinks, a laughing-stock, while I should go about to in- culcate the worship of the gods, and give lessons in the love of justice and the abhorrence of violence and war, to a city whose needs are rather for a captain than for a king." The Romans, perceiving by these words that he was declining to accept the kingdom, were the more instant and urgent with him that he would not forsake and desert them in this condition, and suffer them to relapse, as they must, into their former sedition and civil discord, there being no person on whom both parties could accord but on himself. And, at length, his father and Marcius, taking him aside, persuaded him to accept a gift so noble in itself, and tendered to him rather from heaven than from men. "Though," said they, "you neither desire riches, being content with what you have, nor court the fame of authority, as having already the more valuable fame of virtue, yet you will consider that government itself is a service of God, who now calls out into action your quali- ties of justice and wisdom, which were not meant to be left useless and unemployed. Cease, therefore, to avoid and turn your back upon an office which, to a wise man, is a held for great and honorable actions, for the magnifi- NUMA. 135 cent worship of the gods, and for the introduction of habits of piety, which authority alone can effect amon<»-st a people. Tatius, though a foreigner, was beloved, and the memory of Romulus has received divine honors; and who knows but that this people, being victorious, may be satiated Λvith war, and, content with the trophies and spoils they have acquired, may be, above all things, desi- rous to have a pacific and justice-loving prince, to lead them to good order and quiet? But if, indeed, their desires are uncontrollably and madly set on war, were it not better, then, to have the reins held by such a moder- ating hand as is able to divert the fury another way, and that your native city and the whole Sabine nation should possess in you a bond of good-Avill and friendship with this young and groΛving power?" With these reasons and persuasions several auspicious omens are said to have concurred, and the zeal, also, of his fellow-citizens, who, on understanding- what message the Roman ambassadors had brought him, entreated him to accompany them, and to accept the kingdom as a means to unanimity and concord between the nations. Numa, yielding to these inducements, having first per- formed divine sacrifice, proceeded to Rome, being met in his way by the senate and people, λυΙιο, Avith an impatient desire, came forth to receive him ; the women, also, Avel- comed him with joyful acclamations, and sacrifices were offered for him in all the temples, and so universal was the joy, that they seemed to be receiving, not a new king, but a new king-dom. In this manner he descended into the forum, where Spurius Vettius, Avhose turn it was to be interrex at that hour, put it to the vote ; and all declared him king•. Then the reo-alities and robes of ο ο authority Avere brought to him; but he refused to be invested with them until he had first consulted and been confirmed by the gods; so, being accompanied by the 136 NUMA. priests and augnrs, he ascended the Capitol, which at that time the Romans called the Tarpeian Hill. Then the chief of the augurs covered Numa's head, and turned his face towards the south, and, standing behind him, laid his right hand on his head, and prayed, turning his eyes every way, in expectation of some auspicious signal from the gods. It was wonderful, meantime, Avith what silence and devotion the multitude stood assembled in the forum, in similar expectation and suspense, till auspicious birds appeared and passed on the right. Then Numa, apparel- ling himself in his royal robes, descended from the hill to the people, by whom he was received and congratulated with shouts and acclamations of welcome, as a holy king, and beloved of all the gods. The first thino; he did at his entrance into government was to dismiss the band of three hundred men which had been Romulus's life-guard, called by him Celeres, saying, that he Avould not distrust those who put confidence in him, nor rule over a people that distrusted him. The next thing he did was to add to the two priests of Jupiter and Mars a third in honor of Romulus, whom he called the Flamen Quirinalis. The Romans anciently called their priests Flamines, by corruption of the word Pila- mines, from a certain cap Avhich they wore, called Pileus. In those times, Greek words were more mixed with the Latin than at present ; thus also the royal robe, which is called Lcena, Juba says, is the same as the Greek Chl^ena ; and that the name of Camillus, given to the boy with both his parents living, who serves in the temple of Jupi- ter, Avas taken from the name given by some Greeks to Mercury, denoting his office of attendance on the gods.* When Numa had, by such measures, won the favor and affection of the people, he set himself, without delay, to the task of bringing the hard and iron Roman temper to * Cadolos or Cadoulos. NOMA. 137 somewhat more of gentleness and equity. Plato's ex- pression of a city in high fever was never more applica- ble than to Rome at that time ; in its origin formed by daring and Avarlike spirits, whom bold and desperate ad- venture brought thither from every quarter, it had found in perpetual wars and incursions on its neighbors its after sustenance and means of growth, and in conflict with danger the source of new strength ; like piles, which the blows of the rammer serve to fix into the ground. Where- fore Numa, judging it no slight undertaking to mollify and bend to peace the presumptuous and stubborn spirits of this people, began to operate upon them with the sanc- tions of religion. He sacrificed often, and used proces- sions and religious dances, in which most commonly he officiated in person ; by such combinations of solemnity with refined and humanizing pleasures, seeking to win over and mitigate their fiery and warlike tempers. At times, also, he filled their imaginations with religious ter- rors, professing that strange apparitions had been seen, and dreadful voices heard ; thus subduing and humbling their minds by a sense of supernatural fears. This method which Numa used made it believed that he had been much conversant with Pythagoras; for in the philosophy of the one, as in the policy of the other, man's relations to the deity occupy a great place. It is said, also, that the solemnity of his exterior garb and gestures was adopted by him from the same feeling with Pythago- ras. For it is said of Pythagoras, that he had taught an eagle to come at his call, and stoop down to him in its flight ; and that, as he passed among the people assembled at the Olympic games, he showed them his golden thigh ; besides many other strange and miraculous seeming prac- tices, on which Timon the Phliasian wrote the distich,-- Who, of the glory of a juggler proud, With solemn talk imposed upon the crowd. 138 NUMA In like manner Numa spoke of a certain goddess or moun- tain nymph that Avas in love with him, and met him in secret, as before related ; and professed that he enter- tained flimiliar conversation with the Muses, to whose teaching he ascribed the greatest part of his revelations ; and amongst them, above all, he recommended to the veneration of the Romans one in particular, whom he named Tacita, the Silent ; which he did perhaps in imita- tion and honor of the Pj^thagorean silence. His opinion, also, of images is very agreeable to the doctrine of Pythar goras ; λυ^ιο conceived of the first principle of being as transcending sense and passion, invisible and incorrupt, and only to be apprehended by abstract intelligence. So Numa forbade the Romans to represent God in the form of man or beast, nor was there any painted or graven image of a deity admitted amongst them for the space of the first hundred and seventy years, all which time their temples and chapels were kept free and pure from im- ages ; to such baser objects they deemed it impious to liken the highest, and all access to God impossible, except by the pure act of the intellect. His sacrifices, also, had great similitude to the ceremonial of Pythagoras, for they were not celebrated with eftusion of blood, but consisted of flour, wine, and the least costly offerings. Other ex- ternal proofs, too, are urged to show the connection Numa had with Pythagoras. The comic writer Epicharmus, an ancient author, and of the school of Pythagoras, in a book of his dedicated to Antenor, records that Pythagoras was made a freeman of Rome. Again, Numa gave to one of his four sons the name of Mamercus, w^hich was the name of one of the sons of Pythagoras ; from whence, as they say. sprang that ancient patrician family of the ^milii for that the king gave him in sport the surname of ^milius, for his engaging and graceful manner in speak- ing.* I remember, too, that when I was at Rome, 1 * Aimulos. or aemylus, Gr., engajiine:, or wily. NUMA. 139 heard many say. that, when the oracle directed two sta- tues to be raised, one to the wisest, and another to the most valiant man of Greece, they erected two of brass one representing Alcibiades, and the other Pythagoras. But to pass by these matters, which are full of uncer- tainty, and not so imjDortant as to be worth our time to insist on them, the original constitution of the priests, called Pontiiices, is ascribed unto Numa, and he himself was, it is said, the first of them ; and that they have the name of Pontifices from j^otens, powerful, because they attend the service of the gods, who have power and com- mand over all. Others make the word refer to excep- tions of impossible cases ; the priests were to perform all the duties possible to them ; if any thing lay beyond their power, the exception was not to be cavilled at. The most common opinion is the most absurd, which derives this word from pons, and assigns the priests the title of bridge-makers. The sacrifices performed on the bridge were amongst the most sacred and ancient, and the keeping and repairing of the bridge attached, like any other public sacred office, to the priesthood. It was ac- counted not simply unlawful, but a positive sacrilege, to pull down the wooden bridge ; Avhich moreover is said, in obedience to an oracle, to have been built entirely of tim- ber and fastened Avith wooden jDins, without nails or cramps of iron. The stone bridge Λvas built a very long time after, when ^milius was qucestor, and they do, indeed, say also that the Avooden bridge Avas not so old as Numa's time, but was finished by Ancus Marcius, when ho was king, Avho was the grandson of Numa by his daughter. The office of Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest, Avas to declare and interpret the divine law, or, rather, to preside over sacred rites ; he not only prescribed rules for public ceremony, but regulated the sacrifices of private persons, not suffering them to vary from established custom, and 140 NUIVIA. gh'ing information to every one of what was requisite for purposes of worship or suppUcation. He was also guar- dian of the vestal virgins, the institution of whom, and of their perpetual fire, was attributed to Numa, who, perhaps, fancied the charge of pure and uncorrupted flames would be fitly intrusted to chaste and unpolluted persons, or that fire, Λvllich consumes, but produces nothing, bears an analogy to the virgin estate. In Greece, wherever a per- petual holy fire is kept, as at Delphi and Athens, the charge of it is committed, not to virgins, but widows past the time of marriage. And in case by any accident it should happen that this fire became extinct, as the holy lamp was at Athens under the tyranny of Aristion, and at Delphi, when that temple was burnt by the Medes, as also in the time of the Mithridatic and Roman civil war, Λvhen not only the fire was extinguished, but the altar demolished, then, afterwards, in kindling this fire again, it was esteemed an impiety to light it from common sparks or flame, or from any thing but the pure and unpolluted rays of the sun, which they usually effect by concave mirrors, of a figure formed by the revolution of an isosceles rectangular triangle, all the lines from the circumference of which meeting in a centre, by holding it in the light of the sun they can collect and concentrate all its rays at this one point of convergence ; where the air will now become rarefied, and any light, dry, combus- tible matter will kindle as soon as applied, under the effect of the rays, Avhich here acquire the substance and active force of fire. Some are of opinion that these ves- tals had no other business than the preservation of this fire ; but others conceive that they were keepers of other divine secrets, concealed from all but themselves, of which we have told all that may lawfully be asked or told, in the life of Camillus. Gegania and Verenia, it is recorded, were the names of the first two virgins conse- NUIVIA. Χ4] crated and ordained by Numa; Canuleia and Tarpeia succeeded ; Servius afterwards added two, and the num- ber of four has continued to the present time. The statutes prescribed by Numa for the vestals were these : that they should take a vow of virginity for the space of thirty years, the first ten of which they wore to spend in learning their duties, the second ten in per- forming them, and the remaining ten in teaching and instructing others. Thus the whole term being com- pleted, it was lawful for them to marry, and, leaving the sacred order, to choose any condition of life that pleased them ; but this permission few, as they say, made use of; and in cases where they did so, it was observed that their change was not a happy one, but accompanied ever after with regret and melancholy; so that the greater number, from religious fears and scruples, forbore, and continued to old ao;e and death in the strict observance of a sino-lp life. For this condition he compensated by great privileges and prerogatives ; as that they had poΛver to make a will in the lifetime of their father ; that they had a free ad- ministration of their own affairs without guardian or tutor, which Λvas the privilege of women Avho were the mothers of three children; w^hen they go abroad, they have the fasces carried before them; and if in their walks they chance to meet a criminal on his Avay to exe- cution, it saves his life, upon oath made that the meeting was an accidental one, and not concerted or of set pur- pose. Any one who presses upon the chair on which they are carried, is put to death. If these vestals com- mit any minor fault, they are punishable by the high- priest only, Avho scourges the offender, sometimes with her clothes off, in a dark place, with a curtain drawn be- tween ; but she that has broken her vow is buried alive 142 ΝϋΜΑ. near the gate called Collina, where a little mound of earth stands, inside the city, reaching some little distance, called in Latin agger ; under it a narrow room is con- structed, to which a descent is made by stairs; here they prepare a bed, and light a lamp, and leave a small quantity of victuals, such as bread, water, a pail of milk, and some oil ; that so that body Λvhich had been conse- crated and devoted to the most sacred service of religion might not be said to perish by such a death as famine. The culprit herself is put in a litter, which they cover over, and tie her down with cords on it, so that nothing she utters may be heard. They then take her to the forum; all people silently go out of the Avay as she passes, and such as follow accompany the bier with solemn and speechless sorrow ; and, indeed, there is not any sjDCctacle more appalling, nor anj^ day observed by the city with greater appearance of gloom and sadness. When they come to the place of execution, the officers loose the cords, and then the high-priest, lifting his hands to heaven, pronounces certain prayers to himself before the act; then he brnigs out the prisoner, being still covered, and placing her upon the steps that lead down to the cell, turns away his face with the rest of the priests ; the stairs are drawn up after she has gone down, and a quantity of earth is heaped up over the entrance to the cell; so as to prevent it from being distinguished from the rest of the mound. This is the punishment of those Λνΐιο break their vow of virginity. It is said, also, that Numa built the temple of Vesta, which was intended for a repository of the holy fire, of a circular form, not to represent the figure of the earth, as if that were the same as Vesta, but that of the general universe, in the centre of which the Pythagoreans place the element of fire, and give it the name of Vesta and NUMA. 143 the unit; and do not hold that the eaith is immovable, or that it is situated in the centre of the globe, but that it keeps a circular motion about the seat of fire, and is not in the number of the primary elements ; in this agreeing with the opinion of Plato, who, they say, in his later life, conceived that the earth held a lateral position, and that the central and sovereign space was reserved for some nobler body. There was yet a farther use of the priests, and that was to give people directions in the national usages at funeral rites. Ν Lima taught them to regard these offices, not as a pollution, but as a duty paid to the gods below, into whose hands the better part of us is transmitted ; especially they were to worship the goddess Libitina, who presided over all the ceremonies performed at burials; whether they meant hereby Proserpina, or, as the most learned of the Romans conceive, Venus, not inaptly attributing: the besrinnins: and end of man's life to the agency of one and the same deity. Numa also prescribed rules for regulating the days of mourning, according to certain times and ages. As, for example, a child of three years was not to be mourned for at all ; one older, up to ten years, for as many months as it was years old ; and the longest time of mourning for any person whatsoever was not to exceed the term of ten months ; which was the time appointed for women that lost their husbands to continue in Λvidowhood. If any married again before that time, by the laws of Numa she was to sacrifice a cow big with calf Numa, also, was founder of several other orders of priests, two of Λvhich I shall mention, the Salii and the Feciales, which are among the clearest proofs of the de- voutness and sanctity of his character. These Fecials, or guardians of peace, seem to have had their name 144 NIJMA. from their office,'^• which was to put a stop to disputes by conference and speech ; for it was not allowable to take up arms until they had declared all hopes of accommoda- tion to be at an end, for in Greek, too, we call it peace when disputes are settled by words, and not by force. The Romans commonly despatched the Fecials, or heralds, to those who had offered them injury, requesting satisfac- tion ; and, in case they refused, they then called the gods to witness, and, with imprecations upon themselves and their country should they be acting unjustly, so declared war; against their λυΙΙΙ, or without their consent, it was lawful neither for soldier nor king to take up arms ; the Λvar was begun with them, and, when they had first handed it over to the commander as a just quarrel, then bis busi- ness was to deliberate of the manner and ways to carry it on. It is believed that the slaughter and destruction which the Gauls made of the Romans was a judgment on the city for neglect of this religious proceeding ; for tbat when these barbarians besieged the Clusinians, Fabius Ambustus was despatched to their camp to negotiate peace for the besieged ; and, on their returning a rude refusal, Fabius imagined that his office of ambassador was at an end, and, rashly engaging on the side of the Clu- sinians, challenged the bravest of the enemy to a single combat. It was the fortune of Fabius to kill his adver- sary, and to take his spoils ; but Avhen the Gauls discov- ered it, they sent a herald to Rome to complain against him ; since, before war was declared, he had, against the law of nations, made a breach of the peace. The matter being debated in the senate, the Fecials were of opinion * The allusion seems to be to the made, too, in the words that follow Greek phcmi, to say, Avith which it to a derivation οι eirme, the Greek is possible Fecialis may really be Avord for peace, from eirein, to connected. Reference, perhaps, is speak. NUMA. 145 that Fabiiis ought to be consigned into the hands of the Gauls ; but he, being forewarned of their judgment, fled to the people, by whose protection and favor he escaped the sentence. On this, the Gauls marched Λνΐΐΐι their army to Rome, where, having taken the Capitol, they sacked the city. The particulars of all which are fully given in the history of Camillus. The origin of the Salii is this. In the eighth year of the reign of Numa, a terrible pestilence, which traversed all Italy, ravaged likewise the city of Rome ; and the citi- zens being in distress and despondent, a brazen target, they say, fell from heaven into the hands of Numa, who gave them this marvellous account of it : that Egeria and the Muses had assured him it was sent from heaven for the cure and safety of the city, and that, to keep it secure, he was ordered by them to make eleven others, so like in dimension and form to the original that no thief should be able to distinguish the true from the counter- feit. He farther declared, that he was commanded to consecrate to the Muses the place, and the fields about it, where they had been chiefly wont to meet Avith him, and that the spring which watered the field should be hal- lowed for the use of the vestal virgins, who were to wash and cleanse the penetralia of their sanctuary with those holy waters. The truth of all which was speedily verified by the cessation of the pestilence. Numa dis- played the target to the artificers, and bade them show their skill in making others like it ; all despaired, until at length one Mamurius Yeturius, an excellent Avorkman, happily hit upon it, and made all so exactly the same that Numa himself was at a loss, and could not distin- guish. The keeping of these targets Avas committed to the charge of certain priests, called Salii, who did not receive their name, as some tell the story, from Salius, a dancing-master, born in Samothrace, or at Mantinea, who VOL. I. 10 146 NUMA. taught the way of dancing in arms ; but more truly from that jumping dance which the SaUi themselves use, when in the month of March they carry the sacred targets through the city ; at which procession they are habited in short frocks of purple, girt with a broad belt studded with brass ; on their heads they wear a brass helmet, and carry in their hands short daggers, Λvhich they clash every now and then against the targets. But the chief thing is the dance itself They move with much grace, per- forming, in quick time and close order, various intricate figures, Avith a great display of strength and agility. The targets were called Ancilia from their form ; for they are not made round, nor like j)roper targets, of a complete circumference, but are cut out into a wavy line, the ends of which are rounded off and turned in at the thickest part towards each other ; so that their shape is curvilinear, or, in Greek, ancylon ; or the name may come from ancon, the elbow, on Λvhicll they are carried. Thus Juba writes, who is eager to make it Greek. But it might be, for that matter, from its having come down anecathen, from above ; or from its a/cesis, or cure of diseases ; or auchmon li/sis, because it put an end to a drought ; or from its anaschesis, or relief from calamities, which is the origin of the Athe- nian name Anaces, given to Castor and Pollux ; if we must, that is, reduce it to Greek. The reward Avhich Ma- murius received for his art was to be mentioned and commemorated in the verses which the Salii sang, as they danced in their arms through the city ; though some will have it that they do not say Veturium Mamurium, but Veterem Memoriam, ancient remembrance. After Numa had in this manner instituted these several orders of priests, he erected, near the temple of Vesta, what is called to this day Regia, or king's house, where he spent the most part of his time, performing divine service, instructing the priests, or conversing with them on sacred NUMA. 147 subjects. He had another house upon the Mount Quiri- nahs, the site of which they show to this day. In all public processions and solemn prayers, criers were sent before to give notice to the people that they should for- bear their work, and rest. They say that the Pythago- reans did not allow people to Avorship and pray to their gods by the way, but Avould have them go out from their hou&3s direct, Λvith their minds set upon the duty, and so Numa, in like manner, Avished that his citizens should neither see nor hear any religious service in a perfunc- tory and inattentive manner, but, laying aside all other occupations, should apply their minds to religion as to a most serious business; and that the streets should be free from all noises and cries that accompany manual labor, and clear for the sacred solemnity. Some traces of this custom remain at Rome to this daj^, for, when the consul begins to take auspices or do sacrifice, they call out to the people. Hoc age, Attend to this, Avhereby the auditors then present are admonished to compose and recollect themselves. Many other of his precepts resemble those of the Pythagoreans. The Pythagoreans said, for exam- ple, " Thou shalt not make a peck-measure thy seat to sit on. Thou shalt not stir the lire with a SAVord. When thou goest out upon a journey, look not behind thee. When thou sacrificest to the celestial gods, let it be with an odd number, and when to the terrestrial, with even." The significance of each of which precepts they would not commonly disclose. So some of Numa's traditions have no obvious meanini>:. "Thou shalt not make liba- tion to the gods of wine from an unpruned vine. No sacrifices shall be performed without meal. Turn round to pay adoration to the gods ; sit after you have worship- ped." The first two directions seem to denote the culti- vation and subduing of the earth as a part of religion ; and as to the turning Λvhich the worshippers are to use in 148 NUMA. divine adoration, it is said to represent the rotatory mo- tion of the world. But, in my opinion, the meaning rather is, that the worshipper, since the temples front the east, enters with his back to the rising sun ; there, faces round to the east, and so turns back to the god of the temple, by this circular movement referring the fulfil- ment of his prayer to both divinities. Unless, indeed, this change of posture may have a mystical meaning, like the Egyptian wheels, and signify to us the instability of human fortune, and that, in whatever way God changes and turns our lot and condition, Λve should rest contented, and accept it as right and fitting. They say, also, that the sitting after worship Λvas to be by way of omen of their petitions being granted, and the blessing they asked assured to them. Again, as different courses of actions are divided by intervals of rest, they might seat them- selves after the completion of what they had done, to seek favor of the gods for beginning something else. And this would very Avell suit with what we had before ; the lawgiver wants to habituate us to make our petitions to the deity not hy the way, and as it were, in a hurry, when we have other things to do, but with time and leisure to attend to it. By such discipline and schooling in religion, the city passed insensibly into such a submis- siveness of temper, and stood in such awe and reverence of the virtue of Numa, that they received, with an im- doubted assurance, whatever he delivered, though never so fabulous, and thought nothing incredible or impossible from him. There goes a story that he once invited a great num- ber of citizens to an entertainment, at which the dishes in which the meat was served were very homely and plain, and the repast itself poor and ordinary fare ; the guests seated, he began to tell them that the goddess that consulted with him was then at that time come to him ; NIBIA. 14y when on a sudden the room was furnished with all sorts of costly drinking-vessels, and the tables loaded with rich meats, and a most sumptuous entertainment. But the dialogue Avhich is reported to have passed be- tween him and Jupiter surpasses all the fabulous legends that w^ere ever invented. They say that before Mount Aventine Λvas inhabited or enclosed within the walls of the city, two demi-gods, Picus and Faunus, frequented the springs and thick shades of that place ; which might be two satyrs, or Pans, except that they went about Italy playing the same sorts of tricks, by skill in drugs and magic, as are ascribed by the Greeks to the Dactyli of Mount Ida. Numa contrived one day to surprise these demi-gods, by mixing wine and honey in the Avaters of the spring of which they usually drank. On finding themselves ensnared, they changed themselves into vari- ous shapes, dropping their own form and assuming every kind of unusual and hideous appearance ; but when they saw they were safely entrapped, and in no possibility of getting free, they revealed to him many secrets and fu- ture events ; and particularly a charm for thunder and lightning, still in use, performed with onions and hair and pilchards. Some say they did not tell him the charm, but by their magic brought doAvn Jupiter out of heaven; and that he then, in an angry manner answering the in- quiries, told Numa, that, if he would charm the thunder and lightning, he must do it with heads. " How," said Numa, " with the heads of onions ? " " No," replied Jupiter, " of men." But Numa, Avilling to elude the cruelty of this receipt, turned it another way, saying, " Your mean- ing is, the hairs of men's heads." " No," replied Jupiter, "with living" "pilchards," said Numa, interrupting him. These answers he had learnt from Egeria. Jupiter returned again to heaven, pacified and ileos, or propitious 150 NUMA. The place was, in remembrance of him, called Ilicium,* from this Greek word; and the spell in this manner effected. These stories, laughable as they are, show us the feel- ings which people then, by force of habit, entertained towards the deity. And Numa's own thoughts are said to have been fixed to that degree on divine objects, that he once, when a message was brought to him that " Enemies are approaching," answered Λvith a smile, " And I am sacrificing." It was he, also, that built the templea of Faith and Terminus, and taught the Romans that the name of Faith was the most solemn oath that they could swear. They still use it ; and to the god Terminus, or Bouiiidary, they offer to this day both public and private sacrifices, upon the borders and stone-marks of their land ; living victims now, though anciently those sacrifices were solemnized Λvithout blood ; for Numa reasoned that the god of boundaries, who watched over peace, and testified to fair dealing, should have no concern with blood. It is very clear that it was this king who first prescribed bounds to the territory of Rome ; for Romu- lus ΛνοηΜ but have openly betrayed how much he had encroached on his neighbors' lands, had he ever set limits to his own ; for boundaries are, indeed, a defence to those who choose to observe them, but are only a testimony against the dishonesty of those who break through them. The truth is, the portion of lands which the Romans possessed at the beginning was very narrow, until Romulus enlarged them by war ; all whose acqui- * Neither Ilicium nor Elicium Jupiter, unde minores Nunc quo- was, so far as appears, the name que te celebrant, Eliciumque vo- of the place; but Elicius the title cant," says Ovid in the Fasti, iii. of Jupiter, whose presence was 327, where he gives the whole there elicited. " Eliciunt coelo te, storj. NUMA. 151 sitions Numa now divided amongst the indigent common- alty, wishing to do away with that extreme want Λvhich is a compulsion to dishonesty, and, by turning the people to husbandry, to bring them, as well as their lands, into better order. For there is no employment that gives so keen and quick a relish for peace as husbandry and a country life, which leave in men all that kind of cour- age that makes them ready to fight in defence of their own, while it destroys the license that breaks out into acts of injustice and rapacity. Numa, therefore, hoping agri- culture would be a sort of charm to captivate the affec- tions of his people to peace, and viewing it rather as a means to moral than to economical profit, divided all the lands into several parcels, to which he gave the name of pagus, or parish, and over every one of them he ordained chief overseers ; and, taking a delight sometimes to inspect his colonies in person, he formed his judgment of every man's habits by the results; of which being witness himself, he preferred those to honors and employments who had done well, and by rebukes and reproaches incited the indolent and careless to improvement. But of all his measures the most commended was his distribution of the people by their trades into companies or guilds ; for as the city consisted, or rather did not consist of, but was divided into, two different tribes, the diversity between which could not be effaced and in the mean time pre- vented all unity and caused perpetual tumult and ill- blood, reflecting how hard substances that do not readily mix when in the lump may, by being beaten into pow- der, in that minute form be combined, he resolved to divide the whole population into a number of small divi- sions, and thus hoped, by introducing other distinctions, to obliterate the original and great distinction, which would be lost among the smaller. So, distinguishing the whole people by the several arts and trades, he formed the com• 152 NUMA. paiiies of musicians, goldsmiths, carpenters, dyers, shoe- makers, skinners, braziers, and potters ; and all other handicraftsmen he composed and reduced into a single company, appointing every one their proper courts, coun- cils, and religious o)3servances. In this manner all fac- tious distinctions began, for the first time, to pass out ot use, no person any longer being either thought of or spolien of under the notion of a Sabine or a Roman, a Romulian or a Tatian; and the new division became a source of general harmony and intermixture. ' He is also much to be commended for the repeal, or rather amendment, of that law which gives power to fathers to sell their children ; he exempted such as were married, conditionally that it had been with the liking and consent of their parents ; for it seemed a hard thing that a woman who had given herself in marriage to a man whom she judged free should afterwards find herself living with a slave. He attempted, also, the formation of a calendar, not with absolute exactness, yet not without some scientific knowledge. During the reign of Romulus, they had let their months run on without any certain or equal term ; some of them contained twenty days, others thirty-five, others more ; they had no sort of knowledge of the inequality in the motions of the sun and moon; they only kept to the one rule that the whole course of the year contained three hundred and sixty days. Numa, calculating the difference between the lunar and the solar year at eleven days, for that the moon completed her anniversary course in three hundred and fifty-four days, and the sun in three hundred and sixty-five, to remedy this incongruity doubled the eleven days, and every other year added an intercalary month, to follow February, con- sisting of twenty-two days, and called by the Romans the month Mercedinus. This amendment, however, itself, in NUIVIA. 153 course of time, carae to need other amendments. He also altered the order of the months ; for March, which was reckoned the first, he put into the third place; and January, which was the eleventh, he made the first ; and February, which WMS the twelfth and last, the second. Many λυΠΙ have it, that it ^vas Numa, also, w^ho added the tw^o months of January and February ; for in the beginning they had had a year of ten months ; as there are barbarians who count only three ; the Arcadians, in Greece, had but four ; the Acarnanians, six. The Egyptian year at first, they say, was of one month ; afterwards, of four ; and so, though they live in the newest of all countries, the}^ have the credit of being a more ancient nation than any. and reckon, in their genealogies, a prodigious number of years, counting months, that is, as years. That the Romans, at first, comprehended the whole year within ten, and not twelve months, plainly appears by the name of the last, December, meaning the tenth month ; and that March was the first is likewise evident, for the fifth month after it was called Quintilis, and the sixth Sextilis, and so the rest ; whereas, if January and February had, in this ac- count, preceded March, Quintilis Avould have been fifth in name and seventh in reckoning. It Avas also natural, that March, dedicated to Mars, should be Romulus's first, and April, named from Venus, or Aphrodite, his second month ; in it they sacrifice to Venus, and the women bathe on the calends, or first day of it, with myrtle garlands on their heads. But others, because of its being jk» and notji:»/^, will not allow of the derivation of this word from Aphrodite, but say it is called April from aperio, Latin for to open, because that this month is high spring, and opens and dis- closes the buds and flowers. The next is called May, from Maia, the mother of Mercury, to whom it is sacred ; then June follows, so called from Juno ; some, however, derive tliem from the tΛVO ages, old and young, majores being 154 ΝϋΛίΑ. their name for older, and j'tmwres for j'ounger men. To the other months they gave denominations according to their order ; so the fifth was called Quintilis, Sextilis the sixth, and the rest, September, October, November, and Decem- ber. Afterwards Quintilis received the name of Julius, from Ciesar who defeated Pompey; as also Sextilis that of Augustus, from the second Csesar, who had that title. Domitian, also, in imitation, gave the two other following months his own names, of Germanicus and Doinitianus ; but, on his being slain, they recovered their ancient denominations of September and October. The two last are the only ones that have kept their names throughout Λvithout any alteration. Of the months which were added or transposed in their order by Numa, February comes from febriia ; and is as much as Purifica- tion month ; in it they make offerings to the dead, and cele- brate the Lupercalia, which, in most points, resembles a purification. January was so called from Janus, and pre- cedence given to it by Numa before March, which was dedicated to the god Mars ; because, as I conceive, he wished to take every opportunit}' of intimating that the arts and studies of peace are to be preferred before those of war. For this Janus, whether in remote antiquity he were a demi-god or a king, was certainly a great lover of civil and social unity, and one λυΙιο reclaimed men from brutal and savage living; for which reason they figure him with two faces, to represent the two states and conditions out of the one of Avhich he brought mankind, to lead them into the other. His temple at Rome has two gates, which they call the gates of war, because they stand open in the time of war, and shut in the times of peace ; of which latter there was v^ery seldom an example, for, as the Roman empire was enlarged and extended, it was so encompassed with barbarous nations and enemies to be resisted, that it was seldom or never at NUMA. 155 peace. Only in the time of Augustus Caesar, after he had overcome Antony, this temple was shut ; as likewise once before, Avhen Marcus Atilius and Titus Manlius * were consuls ; but then it was not long before, wars breaking out, the gates were again opened. But, durino- the reign of Numa, those gates were never seen open a «ingle day, but continued constantly shut for a space of forty-three years together ; such an entire and universal cessation of war existed. For not only had the people of Rome itself been softened and charmed into a peaceful temper by the just and mild rule of a pacific prince, but even the neighboring cities, as if some salubrious and gentle air had blown from Rome upon them, began to experience a change of feeling, and partook in- the gene- ral longing for the sweets of peace and order, and for life employed in the quiet tillage of soil, bringing up of children, and worship of the gods. Festival days and sports, and the secure and peaceful interchange of friendly visits and hospitalities prevailed all through the Avhole of Italy^ The love of virtue and justice flowed from Numa's wisdom as from a fountain, and the serenity of his spirit diffused itself, like a calm, on all sides ; so that the hyper- boles of poets were flat and tame to express Λvhat then existed ; as that Over the iron shield the spiders hang their threads, or that Rust eats the pointed spear and double-edged sword. No more is heard the trumpet's brazen roar, Sweet sleep is banished from our eyes no more. For, during the whole reign of Numa, there was neither war, nor sedition, nor innovation in the state, noi' any * At the close of the first punic war, 519 A. U. C. 156 NUMA. envy or ill-will to his person, nor plot or conspiracy from views of ambition. Either fear of the gods that were thought to Avatch over him, or reverence for his virtue, or a divine felicity of fortune that in his days preserved human innocence, made his reign, by whatever means, a living example and verification of that saying which Plato, long afterwards, ventured to pronounce, that the sole and only hope of respite or remed}'- for human evils was in some happy conjunction of events, which should unite in a single person the power of a king and the wis- dom of a philosopher, so as to elevate virtue to control and mastery over vice. The wise man is blessed in him- self, and blessed also are the auditors who can hear and receive those words Λvhich How from his mouth ; and perhaps, too, there is no need of compulsion or menaces to affect the multitude, for the mere sight itself of a shining and conspicuous example of virtue in the life of their prince will bring them spontaneously to virtue, and to a conformity with that blameless and blessed life of good will and mutual concord, supported by temperance .and justice, Avhich is the highest benefit that human means can confer ; and he is the truest ruler who can best intro- duce it into the hearts and practice of his subjects. It is the praise of Numa that no one seems ever to have dis- cerned this so clearly as he. As to his children and Λvives, there is a diversity ot reports by scA^eral authors; some will ha\^e it that he never had any other wife than Tatia, nor more children than one daughter called Pompilia; others will have it that he left also four sons, namely, Pompo, Pinus, Calpus, and Mamercus, every one of whom had issue, and from them descended the noble and illustrious families of Pomponii, Pinarii, Calpurnii, and Mamerci, which for this reason took also the surname of Rex, or King. But there is a third set of writers who say that these pedi- NUJVIA. 157 grees are but a piece of flattery used by writers, who, to gain favor with these great flxniilies, made them fictitious genealogies from the lineage of Numa ; and that Pom- pilia was not the daughter of Tatia, but Lucretia, another wife whom he married after he came to his kingdom; however, all of them agree in opinion that she was mar- ried to the son of that Marcius who persuaded him to accept the government, and accompanied him to Rome, where, as a mark of honor, he was chosen into the sen- ate, and, after the death of Numa, standing in competi- tion Λvith Tullus Hostilius for the kingdom, and being disappointed of the election, in discontent killed himself; his son Marcius, however, who had married Pompilia, con- tinuing at Rome, was the father of Ancus Marcius, who succeeded Tullus Hostilius in the kingdom, and was but five years of age when Numa died. Numa lived something above eighty years, and then, as Piso writes, was not taken out of the world by a sud- den or acute disease, but died of old age and by a gradual and gentle decline. At his funeral all the glories of his life were consummated, when all the neighboring states in alliance and amity Λvith Rome met to honor and grace the rites of his interment with garlands and public presents; the senators carried the bier on which his corpse was laid, and the priests followed and accompanied the solemn procession ; while a general crowd, in which women and children took part, folloΛved with such cries and weeping as if they had bewailed the death and loss of some most dear relation taken away in the flower of age, and not of an old and worn-out king. It is said that his body, by his particular command, was not burnt, but that they made, in conformity ν,'ύΐι his order, two stone coffins, and buried both under the hill Janiculum, in one of which his body was laid, and in the other his sacred books, Avhicli, as the Greek legislators their tables, he had 158 NUMA. written out for himself, but had so long inculcated the contents of them, whilst he lived, into the minds and hearts of the priests, that their understandings became fully possessed with the whole spirit and purpose of them ; and he, therefore, bade that they should be buried with his body, as though such holy precepts could not without irreverence be left to circulate in mere lifeless writings. For this very reason, they say, the Pythago- reans bade that their precepts should not be committed to paper, but rather preserved in the living memories of those who were worthy to receive them ; and when some of their out-of-the-way and abstruse geometrical pro- cesses had been divulged to an unworthy person, they said the gods threatened to punish this wickedness and profanity by a signal and wide-spreading calamity. With these several instances, concurring to show a similarity in the lives of Numa and Pythagoras, we may easily pardon those who seek to establish the fact of a real acquaintance between them. Valerius Antias writes that the books which were buried in the aforesaid chest or coffin of stone were twelve volumes of holy writ and twelve others of Greek philosophy, and that about four hundred years afterwards, when P. Cornelius and M. Biebius were consuls, in a time of heavy rains, a violent torrent Avashed away the earth, and dislodged the chests of stone ; and, their covers fall- ino- off. one of them was found wholly empty, without the least relic of any human body ; in the other were the books before mentioned, which the praetor Petilius having read and perused, made oath in the senate, that, in his opinion, it was not fit for their contents to be made public to the people ; whereupon the volumes were all carried to the Comitium, and there burnt. It is the fortune of all good men that their virtue rises in glory after their deaths, and that the envy which evil NU]VIA. 159 men conceive as^ainst them never outlives them lono• : some have the happiness even to see it die before them ; but in Numa's case, also, the fortunes of the succeeding kings served as foils to set οίϊ the brightness of his repu- tation. For after him there were five kings, the last of whom ended his old age in banishment, being deposed from his crown ; of the other four, three were assassina- ted and murdered by treason ; the other, who was Tullus Hostilius, that immediately succeeded Numa, derided his virtues, and especially his devotion to religious worship, as a cowardly and mean-spirited occupation, and diverted the minds of the people to war j but was checked in these youthful insolences, and was himself driven by an acute and tormenting disease into superstitions wholly different from Numa's piety, and left others also to participate in these terrors when he died by the stroke of a thunder- bolt. COMPARISON OF NUMA WTH LYCURGUS. Having thus finished the lives of Lycurgus and Numa, we shall now, though the work be difficult, put together their points of difference as they lie here before our view. Their points of likeness are obvious ; their mode- ration, their religion, their capacity of government and discipline, their both deriving their laws and constitu- tions from the gods. Yet in their common glories there are circumstances of diversity ; for, first, Numa accepted and Lycurgus resigned a kingdom ; Numa received with- out desiring it, Lycurgus had it and gave it up ; the one from a private person and a stranger was raised by others to be their king, the other from the condition of a prince voluntarily descended to the state of privacy. It was glorious to acquire a throne by justice, yet more glorious to prefer justice before a throne ; the same virtue which made the one appear worthy of regal power exalted the other to the disregard of it. Lastly, as musicians tune their harps, so the one let down the high-flown spirits of the people at Rome to a lower key, as the other screwed them up at Sparta to a higher note, when they were sunken low by dissoluteness and riot. The harder task Λvas that of Lycurgus; for it was not so much his business to persuade his citizens to put off their armor or ungird their swords, as to cast away their gold or silver, and abandon costly furniture and rich tables ; nor was it necessary to preach to them, that, laying aside their arms, they should ob- serve the festivals, and sacrifice to the gods, but nither, (160) NUMA AND LYCURGUS. Id that, giving up feasting and drinking, they should emploj their time in laborious and martial exercises ; so that while the one effected all by persuasions and his people's love for him, the other, with danger and hazard of his person, scarcely in the end succeeded. Numa's muse was a gentle and loving inspiration, fitting him well to turn and soothe his people into peace and justice out of their violent and fiery tempers ; whereas, if we must admit the treatment of the Helots to be a part of Lycurgus's leois- lation, a most cruel and iniquitous proceeding, we must own that Numa was by a great deal the more humane and Greek-like legislator, granting even to actual slaves a license to sit at meat with their masters at the feast of Saturn, that they, also, might have some taste and relish of the sweets of liberty. For this custom, too, is ascribed to Numa, whose wish was, they conceive, to give a place in the enjoyment of the yearly fruits of the soil to those who had helped to produce them. Others will have it to be in remembrance of the age of Saturn, when there was no distinction between master and slave, but all lived as brothers and as equals in a condition of equality. In general, it seems that both aimed at the same design and intent, which was to bring their people to modera- tion and frugality ; but, of other virtues, the one set his affection most on fortitude, and the other on justice ; unless we will attribute their different ways to the dif- ferent habits and temperaments which they had to Λvork upon by their enactments ; for Numa did not out of cow- ardice or fear affect peace, but because he would not be guilty of injustice ; nor did Lycurgus promote a spirit of war in his people that they might do injustice to others, but that they might protect themselves by it. In bringing the habits they formed in their people to a just and happy mean, mitigating them where they ex• VOL. I. 11 1G2 ΝϋΜΑ AND LYCURGUS. ceeded, and strengthening .them where they were defi- cient, both were compelled to make great innovations. The frame of government which Numa formed was demo- cratic and popular to the last extreme, goldsmiths and flute-plaj'ers and shoemakers constituting his promiscuous, many-colored commonalty. Lycurgus was rigid and aristo- cratical, banishing all the base and mechanic arts to the company of servants and strangers, and allowing the true citizens no implements but the spear and shield, the trade of war only, and the service of Mars, and no other knowledge or study but that of obedience to their commanding officers, and victory over their enemies. Every sort of money-making was forbid them as freemen ; and to make them thoroughly so and to keep them so through their whole lives, every conceivable concern with money was handed over, with the cooking and the waiting at table, to slaves and helots. But Numa made none of these distinctions ; he only suppi-essed military rapacity, allowing free scope to every other means of obtaining wealth ; nor did he endeavor to do away with inequality in this respect, but permitted riches to be amassed to any extent, and paid no attention to the gra- dual and continual augmentation and influx of poverty ; which it was his business at the outset, whilst there was as yet no great disparity in the estates of men, and whilst people still lived much in one manner, to obviate, as Lycurgus did, and take measures of pre- caution against the mischiefs of avarice, mischiefs not of small importance, but the real seed and first beginning of all the great and extensive evils of after times. The re-division of estates, Lycurgus is not, it seems to me, to be blamed for making, nor Numa for omitting ; this equality was the basis and foundation cf the one com- monwealth ; but at Rome, where the lands had been NUMA AND LYCURGUS. 163 lately divided, there was nothing to urge any re-division or any disturbance of the first arrangement, which was probably still in existence. With respect to wives and children, and that commu- nity which both, with a sound policy, appointed, to pre- vent all jealousy, their methods, however, were different For when a Roman thought himself to have a sufficient number of children, in case his neighbor who had none should come and request his wife of him, he had a lawful power to give her up to him who desired her, either for a certain time, or for good. The Lacedcemonian husband on the other hand, might allow the use of his wife to any other that desired to have children by her, and yet still keep her in his house, the original marriage obligation still subsisting as at first. Nay, many husbands, as we have said, would invite men whom they thought likely to pro- cure them fine and good-looking children into their houses. What is the difference, then, between the two customs? Shall we say that the Lacedcemonian system is one of an extreme and entire unconcern about their wives, and would cause most people endless disquiet and annoyance with pangs and jealousies? the Roman course wears an air of a more delicate acquiescence, draws the veil of a new contract over the change, and concedes the general insupportableness of mere community ? Numa's directions, too, for the care of young women are better adapted to the female sex and to propriety ; Lycurgus's are altogether unreserved and unfeminine, and have given a great handle to the poets, who call them (Ibycus, for example) Phcenomendes, bare-thighed ; and give them the character (as does Euripides) of being wild after hus- bands ; These with the young men from the house go out, With thighs that show, and robes that fly about. For in fact the skirts of the frock worn by unmarried 164 NUMA AND LYCURGUS. girls were not sewn together at the lower part, but used to fly back and show the w^hole thigh bare as they walked. The thing is most distinctly given by Sopho- cles. — She, also, tlie young maid. Whose frock, no robe yet o'er it laid,* Folding back, leaves her bare thigh free, Hermione. And so their women, it is said, were bold and masculine, overbearing to their husbands in the first place, absolute mistresses in their houses, giving their opinions about pub- lic matters freely, and speaking openly even on the most important subjects. But the matrons, under the govern- ment of Numa, still indeed received from their husbands all that high respect and honor which had been paid them under Romulus as a sort of atonement for the vio- lence done to them ; nevertheless, great modesty was en- joined upon them; all busy intermeddling forbidden, sobriety insisted on, and silence made habitual. Wine they were not to touch at all, nor to speak, except in their husband's company, even on the most ordinary sub- jects. So that once Avhen a woman had the confidence to plead her own cause in a court of judicature, the sen- ate, it is said, sent to inquire of the oracle Λvhat the prodigy did portend ; and, indeed, their general good be- havior and submissiveness is justly proved by the record of those that were otherwise ; for as the Greek historians record in their annals the names of those who first un- sheathed the sword of civil war, or murdered their brothers, or were parricides, or killed their mothers, so the Roman writers report it as the first example, that Spurius Carvilius divorced his wife, being a case that * Astolos chiton, the under gar- thing, either himation or peplus, mont, frock, or tunic, without any over it. NUMA AND LYCURGUS. 165 never before happened, in the space of ivfo hundred and thirty years from the foundation of the city; and that one Thalaea, the wife of Pinarius, had a quarrel (the first instance of the kind) with her mother-in-law, Gegania, in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus ; so successful was the legislator in securing order and good conduct in the mar- riage relation. Their respective regulations for marrying the young women are in accordance with those for their education. Lycurgus made them brides when they were of full age and inclination for it. Intercourse, where na- ture was thus consulted, would produce, he thought, love and tenderness, instead of the dislike and fear attending an unnatural compulsion ; and their bodies, also, would be better able to bear the trials of breedino; and of bearing children, in his judgment the one end of marriage. The Romans, on the other hand, gave their daughters in marriage as early as twelve years old, or even under ; thus they thought their bodies alike and minds would be delivered to the future husband pure and undefiled. The way of Lycurgus seems the more natural with a view to the birth of children ; the other, looking to a life to be spent together, is more moral. However, the rules which Lycurgus drew up for superintendence of children, their collection into companies, their discipline and association, as also his exact regulations for their meals, exercises, and sports, argue Numa no more than an ordinary law- giver. Numa left the whole matter simply to be decided by the parent's wishes or necessities; he might, if he pleased, make his son a husbandman or carpenter, copper- smith or musician ; as if it were of no importance for them to be directed and trained up from the beginning to one and the same common end, or as though it would do for them to be like passengers on shipboard, brought thither each for his own ends and by his own choice, uniting to act for the common good only in time of 166 NUMA AND LYCURGUS. danger upon occasion of their private fears, in general looking simply to their own interest. We may forbear, indeed, to blame common legislators, Λvho may be deficient in power or knowledge. But when a wise man like Numa had received the sovereignty over a new and docile people, was there any thing that would better deserve his attention than the education of children, and the training up of the young, not to contrariety and discordance of character, but to the unity of the common model of virtue, to w^iich from their cradle they should have been formed and moulded ? One benefit among many that Lycurgus obtained by his course was the permanence which it secured to his laws. The obligation of oaths to preserve them would have availed but little, if he had not, by discipline and education, infused them into the children's characters, and imbued their whole early life with a love of his government. The result was that the main points and fundamentals of his legislation continued for above five hundred years, like some deep and thoroughly ingrained tincture, retaining their hold upon the nation. But Numa's whole design and aim, the continuance of peace and good-w^ll, on his death vanished with him ; no sooner did he expire his last breath than the gates of Janus's temple flew wide open, and, as if war had, indeed, been kept and caged up within those w^alls, it rushed forth to fill all Italy with blood and slaughter; and thus that best and justest fabric of things was of no long continuance, because it wanted that cement wdiicb should have kept all together, education. What, then some may say, has not Rome been advanced and bet tered by her wars? A question that Avill need a long answer, if it is to be one to satisfy men who take the better to consist in riches, luxury, and dominion, rather than in security, gentleness, and that independence which is accompanied by justice. However, it makes much for NUMA AND LYCURGUS. 167 Lycurgus, that, after the Romans deserted the doctrine and disciplme of Numa, their empire grew and their power increased so much ; whereas so soon as the Lace- doBmonians fell from the institutions of Lycurgus, they sank from the highest to the lowest state, and, after for- feiting their supremacy over the rest of Greece, were themselves in danger of absolute extirpation. Thus much, meantime, was peculiarly signal and almost divine in the circumstances of Numa, that he was an alien, and yet courted to come and accept a kingdom, the frame of which though he entirely altered, yet he performed it by mere persuasion, and ruled a city that as yet had scarce become one city, without recurring to arms or any vio- lence (such as Lycurgus used, supporting himself by the aid of the nobler citizens against the commonalty), but, by mere force of wisdom and justice, established union and harmony amongst all. SOLON. DiDYMUS, the grammarian, in his answer to Asclepiades concerning Solon's Tables of Law, mentions a passage of one Philocles, who states that Solon's father's name was Euphorion, contrary to the opinion of all others who have written concerning him; for they generally agree that he was the son of Execestides, a man of moderate wealth and power in the city, but of a most noble stock, being descended from Codrus ; his mother, as Heraclides Ponti- cus affirms, was cousin to Pisistratus's mother, and the two at first were great friends, partly because they were akin, and partly because of Pisistratus's noble qualities and beauty. And they say Solon loved him ; and that is the reason, I suppose, that when afterwards they dif- fered about the government, their enmity never produced any hot and violent passion, they remembered their old kindnesses, and retained — Still in its embers living the strong fire of their love and dear affection. For that Solon was not proof against beauty, nor of courage to stand up to pas- sion and meet it. Hand to hand as in the ring — we may conjecture by his poems, and one of his laws, m which there are practices forbidden to slaves, Λvhich 068) SOLON. 169 he would appear, therefore, to recommend to freemen. Pisistratus, it is stated, was similarly attached to one iJhai-mus; he it was who dedicated the figure of Love in the Academy, where the runners in the sacred torch- race light their torches. Solon, as Hermippus writes, when his father had ruined his estate in doing benefits and kindnesses to other men, though he had friends enough that were willing to contribute to his relief, yet was ashamed to be beholden to others, since he was de- scended from a family who were accustomed to do kind- nesses rather than receive them; and therefore applied himself to merchandise in his youth ; though others assure us that he travelled rather to get learning and ex- perience than to make money. It is certain that he was a lover of knowledge, for when he was old he would say, that he Each day grew older, and learnt something new ; and yet no admirer of riches, esteeming as equally wealthy the man, — Who hath both gold and silver in his hand, Horses and mules, and acres of wheat-land, And him whose all is decent food to eat. Clothes to his back and shoes upon his feet, And a young wife and child, since so 'twill be, Ajid no more years than will with that agree ; — and in another place, — "Wealth I would have, but wealth by wrong procure I would not ; justice, e'en if slow, is sure. And it is perfectly possible for a good man and a states- man, without being solicitous for superfluities, to show Rome concern for competent necessaries. In his time, as 170 SOLON. Hesiod says, — "Work was a shame to none," nor was any distinction made with respect to trade, but mer- chandise was a noble calling, which brought home the good things which the barbarous nations enjoyed, was the occasion of friendship with their kings, and a great source of experience. Some merchants have built great cities, as Protis, the founder of Massilia, to whom the Gauls near the Rhone were much attached. Some report also that Thales and Hippocrates the mathematician traded ; and that Plato defrayed the charges of his travels by selling oil in Egypt. Solon's softness and profuseness, his popular rather than philosophical tone about pleasure in his poems, have been ascribed to his trading life ; for, having suffered a thousand dangers, it was natural they should be recompensed with some gratifications and en- joyments; but that he accounted himself rather poor than rich is evident from the lines, Some wicked men are rich, some good are poor, We will not change our virtue for their store ; Virtue's a thing that none can take away, But money changes owners aU the day. At first he used his poetry only in trifles, not for any serious purpose, but simply to pass away his idle hours ; ^^but afterwards he introduced moral sentences and state matters, which he did, not to record them merely as an historian, but to justify his own actions, and sometimes y to correct, chastise, and stir up the Athenians to noble ( performances. Some report that he designed to put his laws into heroic verse, and that they began thus, — We humbly beg a blessing on our laws From mighty Jove, and honor, and applause. In philosophy, as most of the wise men then, he chiefly SOLON. 171 esteemed the political part of morals ; in physics, lie was very plain and antiquated, as appears hy this, — It is the clouds that make the snow and hail, And thunder comes from lightning Λνίΐΐιοηΐ fail ; The sea is stormy when the winds have blown, But it deals fairly when 't is left alone. And, indeed, it is probable that at that time Thales alone had raised philosophy above mere practice into specula- tion ; and the rest of the wise men were so called from prudence in political concerns. It is said, that they had an interview at Delphi, and another at Corinth, by the procurement of Periander, who made a meeting for them, and a supper. But their reputation Avas chiefly raised by sending the tripod to them all, by their modest refusal, and complaisant yielding to one another. For, as the story goes, some of the Coans fishing with a net, some strangers, Milesians, bought the draught at a venture ; the net brought up a golden tripod, which, they say, Helen, at her return from Troy, upon the remembrance of an old prophecy, threw in there. Now, the strangers at first contesting with the fishers about the tripod, and the cities espousing the quarrel so far as to engage them- selves in a war, Apollo decided the controversj^ by com- manding to present it to the wisest man ; and first it was sent to Miletus to Thales, the Coans freely presenting him with that for which they fought against the whole body of the Milesians ; but, Thales declaring Bias the Aviser per- son, it was sent to him ; from him to another ; and so, going round them all, it came to Thales a second time ; and. at last, being carried from Miletus to Thebes, was there dedicated to Apollo Ismenius. Theophrastus writes that it was first presented to Bias at Priene ; and next to Thales at Miletus, and so through all it returned to Bias, and was afterwards sent to Delphi. This is the gene• 172 SOLON. ral report, only some, instead of a tripod, say this present was a cup sent by Croesus ; others, a piece of plate that one Bathycles had left. It is stated, that Anacharsis and Solon, and Solon and Thales, were familiarly acquainted^ and some have delivered parts of their discourse ; for, they say, Anacharsis, coming to Athens, knocked at Solon's door, and told him, that he, being a stranger, was come to be his guest, and contract a friendship with him ; and Solon replying, " It is better to make friends at home," Anacharsis replied, " Then you that are at home make friendship with me." Solon, somewhat surprised at the readiness of the repartee, received him kindly, and kept him some time with him, being already engaged in pub- lic business and the compilation of his laws ; which wher Anacharsis understood, he laughed at him for imagining the dishonesty and covetousness of his countrymen could be restrained by written laws, which were like spiders' webs, and would catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but easily be broken by the mighty and rich. To this Solon rejoined that men keep their promises when neither side can get any thing by the breaking of them ; and he would so fit his laws to the citizens, that all should understand it was more eligible to be just than to break the laws But the event rather agreed with the conjecture of Ana- charsis than Solon's hope. Anacharsis, being once at the assembly, expressed his Avonder at the fact that in Greece wise men spoke and fools decided. Solon went, they say, to Thales at Miletus, and won- dered that Thales took no care to get him a \vife and children. To this, Thales made no answer for the present ; but, a few days after, procured a stranger to pretend that he had left Athens ten days ago ; and Solon inquiring what news there, the man, according to his instructions, replied, " None but a young man's funeral, which the whole city attended ; for he was the son, they said, of an SOLON. 173 honorable man, the most virtuous of the citizens, who was not then at home, but had been travelhng a long time." Solon replied, " What a miserable man is he ! But what was his name ? " "I have heard it," says the man, " but have now forgotten it, only there was great talk of his wisdom and his justice." Thus Solon w\as drawn on hy every answer, and his fears heightened, till at last, beino• extremely concerned, he mentioned his own name, and asked the stranger if that young man was called Solon's son; and the stranger assenting, he began to beat his head, and to do and say all that is usual with men in transports of grief. But Thales took his hand, and, with a smile, said, " These things, Solon, keep me from mar- riage and rearing children, which are too great for eΛ'en your constancy to support ; however, be not concerned at the report, for it is a fiction." This Hermippus relates, from Patsecns, who boasted that he had ^sop's soul. HoweΛ^er, it is irrational and poor-spirited not to seek\ conveniences for fear of losing them, for upon the same/ account we should not allow ourselves to like wealth^ glory, or wisdom, since we may fear to be deprived of all these ; nay, even virtue itself, than which there is no | greater nor more desirable possession, is often suspended by sickness or drugs. Now Thales, though unmarried, could not be free from solicitude, unless he likewise felt no care for his friends, his kinsmen, or his country ; yet we are told he adopted Cybisthus, his sister's son. For the soul, having a principle of kindness in itself" and be- ing born to love, as well as perceive, think, or remember, inclines and fixes upon some stranger, when a man has none of his own to embrace. And alien or illesritimate objects insinuate themselves into his affections, as into some estate that lacks lawful heirs; and with affection come anxiety and care ; insomuch that you may see men that use the strongest language against the marriage• bed and 174 SOLON. the fruit of it. when some servant's or concubine's child is sick or dies, almost killed with grief, and abjectly lamenting. Some have given way to shameful and des- perate sorrow at the loss of a dog or horse ; others have borne the deaths of virtuous children without any ex- travagant or unbecoming grief!, ha\^e passed the rest of their lives like men, and according to the principles of reason. It is not affection, it is weakness, that brings men, unarmed against fortune by reason, into these end- less pains and terrors; and they indeed have not even the present enjoyment of what they doat upon, the possi- bility of the future loss causing them continual pangs, tremors, and distresses. We must not provide against the loss of wealth by poverty, or of friends by refusing all acquaintance, or of children by having none, but by morality and reason. But of this too much. Now, when the Athenians were tired with a tedious and difficult war that they conducted against the Mega rians for the island Salamis, and made a law that it should be death for any man, by writing or speaking, to assert that the city ought to endeavor to recover it, Solon, vexed at the disgrace, and perceiving thousands of the youth wished for somebody to begin, but did not dare to stir first for fear of the 'law, counterfeited a distraction, and by his own family it was spread about the city that he was mad. He then secretly composed some elegiac verses, and getting them by heart, that it might seem ex- tempore, ran out into the market-place with a cap upon his head, and, the people gathering about him, got upon the herald's stand, and sang that elegy which begins thus : — I am a herald come from Salamis the fair, My news from thence my verses shall declare. The poem is called Salamis, it contains an hundred SOLON. X75 verses, very elegantly written ; when it had been sung, his friends commended it, and especially PLsistratus ex- horted the citizens to obey his directions ; insomuch that they recalled the law, and renewed the war under Solon's conduct. The popular tale is, that with Pisistratus he sailed to Colias, and, finding the women, according to the custom of the country there, sacrificing to Ceres, he sent fi trusty friend to Salamis, who should pretend himself a renegade, and advise them, if they desired to seize the chief Athenian women, to come w^ith him at once to Colias ; the Megarians presently sent off men in the vessel with him ; and Solon, seeing it put off from the island, commanded the women to be gone, and some beardless youths, dressed in their clothes, their shoes, and caps, and privately armed with daggers, to dance and play near the shore till the enemies had landed and the vessel was in their power. Things being thus ordered, the Megarians were allured with the appearance, and, coming to the shore, jumped out, eager who should first seize a prize, so that not one of them escaped ; and the Athenians set sail for the island and took it. Others say that it was not taken this way, but that he first received this oracle from Delphi: Those heroes that in fair Asopia rest, All buried with their faces to the west, Go and appease with offerings of the best ; and that Solon, sailing by night to the island, sacrificed to the heroes Periphemus and Cychreus, and then, taking five hundred Athenian volunteers (a law having passed that those that took the island should be highest in the government), Avith a number of fisher-boats and one thirty-oared ship, anchored in a bay of Salamis that looks towards Nisasa ; and the Megarians that were then in the island, hearing only an uncertain report, hurried to their 176 SOLON. _ arms, and sent a ship to reconnoitre the enemies. This ship Solon took, and, securing the Megarians, manned it with Athenians, and gave them orders to sail to the island with as much privacy as possible; meantime he, with the other soldiers, marched against the Megarians by land, and whilst they were fighting, those from the shij) took the city. And this narrative is confirmed by the follow- ing solemnity, that was afterwards observed : an Athenian ship used to sail silently at first to the island, then, with noise and a great shout, one leapt out armed, and with a loud cry ran to the promontory Sciradium to meet those that approached upon the land. And just by there stands a temple which Solon dedicated to Mars. For he beat the Megarians, and as many as Avere not killed in the battle he sent away upon conditions. The Megarians, however, still contending, and both sides having received considerable losses, they chose the Spartans for arbitrators. Now, many affirm that Homer's authority did Solon a considerable kindness, and that, introducing a line into the Catalogue of Ships, Avhen the matter was to be determined, he read the passage as follows : Twelve ships from Salamis stout Ajax brought, And ranked his men where the Athenians fought. The Athenians, however, call this but an idle story, and report, that Solon made it appear to the judges, that Phi- laeus and Eurysaces, the sons of Ajax, being made citizens of Athens, gave them the island, and that one of them dwelt at Brauron in Attica, the other at Melite ; and they have a township of Philaidte, to which Pisistratus belonged, deriving its name from this Philaeus. Si»lon took a farther argument against the Megarians from the dead bodies, which, he said, were not buried after their fashion, but according to the Athenian ; for the Mega- SOLON. 177 rians turn the corpse to the east, the Athenians to the west. But Hereas the Megarian denies this, and affirms that they Hkewise turn the body to the west, and also that the Athenians have a separate tomb for everybody, but the Megarians put two or three into one. However, some of Apollo's oracles, Avhere he calls Salamis Ionian, made much for Solon. This matter was determined by five Spartans, Critolaidas, Amompharetus, Hypsechidas, Anaxilas, and Cleomenes. For this, Solon grew famed and powerful ; but his ad- vice in favor of defending the oracle at Delphi, to give aid, and not to suffer the Cirrhaeans to profane it, but to maintain the honor of the god, got him most repute among the Greeks : for upon his persuasion the Amphic- tyons undertook the war, as, amongst others, Aristotle af- firms, in his enumeration of the victors at the Pythian games, where he makes Solon the author of this counsel. Solon, however, was not general in that expedition, as Hermippus states, out of Evanthes the Samian ; for j^ischines the orator says no such thing, and, in the Del- phian register, Alcmoeon, not Solon, is named as com- mander of the Athenians. Now the Cylonian pollution had a long while disturbed the commonwealth, ever since the time when Megacles the archon persuaded the conspirators with Cjdon that took sanctuary in Minerva's temple to come doΛvn and stand to a fair trial. And they, tying a thread to the image, and holding one end of it, went down to the tri- bunal ; but when they came to the temple of the Furies, the thread broke of its own accord, upon which, as if the goddess had refused them protection, they were seized by Megacles and the other magistrates ; as many as were without the temples were stoned, those that fled for sanc- tuary were butchered at the altar, and only those escaped who made supplication to the wives of the magistrates. VOL. I. 12 178 SOLON. But they from that time were considered under pollution, and recjarded with hatred. The remainder of the faction of Cylon greΛV strong again, and had continual quarrels with the family of Megacles ; and now the quarrel being at its height, and the people divided, Solon, being in rep- utation, interposed wnth the chiefest of the Athenians, and by entreaty and admonition persuaded the polluted to submit to a trial and the decision of three hundred noble citizens. And Myron of Phlya being their ac- cuser, they were found guilty, and as many as w^re then alive were banished, and the bodies of the dead Λvere dug up, and scattered beyond the confines of the country. In the midst of these distractions, the Megarians falling upon them, they lost Nisaea and Salamis again ; besides, the city was disturbed with superstitious fears and strange appearances, and the priests declared that the sacrifices intimated some villanies and pollutions that Avere to be expiated. Upon this, they sent for Epimenides the Pha3- stian from Crete, Λγho is counted the seventh wise man by those that will not admit Periander into the number. He seems to have been thought a favorite of heaven, possessed of knowledge in all the supernatural and ritual parts of religion ; and, therefore, the men of his age called him a new Cures,* and son of a nymph named Balte. When he came to Athens, and grew acquainted with Solon, he served him in many instances, and prepared the way for his legislation. He made them moderate in their forms of worship, and abated their mourning by ordering some sacrifices presently after the funeral, and taking ofl those severe and barbarous ceremonies which the women usually practised ; but the greatest benefit Λvas his purify- ing and sanctifying the city, by certain propitiatory and expiatory lustrations, and foundation of sacred buildings * One of the old Curetei, who upon his birth in Crete, come, as it took charge of the infant Jupiter were, to life again. 8UL0N. 179 by that means making them more submissive to justice, and more inclined to harmony. It is reported that, looking upon Munychia, and considering a long while, he said to those that stood by, " How blind is man in future things ! for did the Athenians foresee what mischief this would do their city, they would even eat it with their own teeth to be rid of it." A similar anticipation is ascribed to Thales ; they say he commanded his friends to bury him in an obscure and contemned quarter of the territory of Miletus, saying that it should some day be the market- place of the Milesians. Epimenides, being much honored, and receiving from the city rich offers of large gifts and privileges, requested but one branch of the sacred olive, and, on that being granted, returned. The Athenians, now the Cylonian sedition was over and the polluted gone into banishment, fell into their old quarrels about the government, there being as many different parties as there were diversities in the country.* The Hill quarter favored democracy, the Plain, oli- garchy, and those that lived by the Sea-side stood for a mixed sort of government, and so hindered either of the other parties from prevailing. And the disparity of fortune between the rich and the poor, at that time, also reached its height ; so that the city seemed to be in a truly dan- gerous condition, and no other means for freeing it from disturbances and settling it, to be possible but a despotic poAver. All the people were indebted to the rich; and either they tilled their land for their creditors, paying them a sixth part of the increase, and were, therefore, called Hectemorii and Thetes, or else they engaged their body for the debt, and might be seized, and either sent into slavery at home, or sold to strangers ; some (for no law forbade it) were forced to sell their children, or fly * The Diacrii, Pedieis, and Parali. 180 SOLON. their country to avoid the cruelty of their creditors ; but the most part and the braΛ^est of them began to combine together and encourage one another to stand to it, to choose a leader, to liberate the condemned debtors, divide the land, and change the government. Then the wisest of the Athenians, perceiving Solon was of all men the only one not implicated in the troubles, that he had not joined in the exactions of the rich, and was not involved in the necessities of the poor, pressed him to succor the coramonAvealth and compose the dif- ferences. Though Phanias the Lesbian affirms, that Solon, to save his country, put a trick upon both parties, and privately promised the poor a division of the lands, and the rich, security for their debts. Solon, however, him- self, says that it was reluctantly at first that he engaged in state affairs, being afraid of the pride of one party and the greediness of the other ; he was chosen archon, however, after Philombrotus, and empowered to be an arbitrator and lawgiver; the rich consenting because he was Λvealthy, the poor because he was honest. There was a saying of his current before the election, that when things are even there never can be war, and this pleased both parties, the wealthy and the poor ; the one conceiv- ing him to mean, Avlien all have their fair proportion ; the others, when all are absolutely equal. Thus, there being great hopes on both sides, the chief men pressed Solon to take the government into his own hands, and, when he was once settled, manage the business freely and according to his pleasure; and many of the commons, nerceiving it would be a difficult change to be effected by law and reason, were willing to have one wise and just man set over the affairs; and some say that Solon had this oracle from Apollo — Take the mid-seat, and be the vessel's guide ; Many in Athens are upon your- side. SOLON. ISl But chiefly his familiar friends chid him for disafFecting monarchy only because of the name, as if the virtue of the ruler could not make it a lawful form ; Euboea had made this experiment when it chose Tynnondas, and Mitylene, which had made Pittacus its prince ; yet this could not shake Solon's resolution ; but, as they say, he replied to his friends, that it was true a tyranny was a very fair spot, but it had no way down from it; and in a copy of verses to Phociis he writes. — — that I spared my lana, And withheld from usurpation and from violence my hand. And forbore to fix a stain and a disgrace on my good name, I regret not ; I believe that it will be my chiefest fame. From which it is manifest that he was a man of great reputation before he gave his laws. The several mocks that were put upon him for refusing the power, he records in these words, — Solon surely was a dreamer, and a man of simple mmd ; When the gods would give him fortune, he of his own will declined ; "When the net was full of fishes, over-heavy thinking it, He declined to haul it up, through want of heart and want of wit. Had but I that chance of riches and of kingship, for one day, I would give my skin for flaying, and my house to die away. Thus he makes the many and the low people speak of him. Yet, though he refused the government, he was not too mild in the affair ; he did not show himself mean and submissive to the powerful, nor make his laws to pleasure those that chose him. For where it was well before, he applied no remedy, nor altered any thing, for fear lest, Overthrowing altogether and disordering the state, he should be too weak to new-model and recompose it to a tolerable condition ; but what he thought he could effect 182 SOLON. by persuasion upon the pliable, and by force upon the stubborn, this he did, as he himself says, With force and justice working both in one. And, therefore, Λvhen he was afterwards asked if he had left the Athenians the best la\vs that could be given, he replied, "The best they could receive." The way which, { the moderns say, the Athenians have of softening the bad- /ness of a thing, by ingeniously giving it some pretty and ") innocent appellation, calling harlots, for example, mis- tresses, tributes customs, a garrison a guard, and the jail the chamber, seems originally to have been Solon's con- trivance, who called cancelling debts Seisacthea, a relief, or disencumbrance. For the first thing which he settled was, that what debts remained should be forgiven, and no man, for the future, should engage the body of his debtor for security. Though some, as Androtion, affirm that the debts were not cancelled, but the interest only lessened^ which sufficiently pleased the people ; so that they named this benefit the Seisacthea, together with the enlarging their measures, and raising the value of their money ; for he made a pound, which before passed * for seventy-three drachmas, go for a hundred ; so that, though the number of pieces in the payment was equal, the value was less ; Λvhich proved a considerable benefit to those that were to discharge great debts, and no loss to the creditors. But most ao-ree that it was the takins; off the debts that was called Seisacthea, which is confirmed by some places in his poem, where he takes honor to himself, that The mortgage-stones that covered her, by me Removed, — the land that was a slave is free ; * That is to say, if a man owed whereas before, he would have paid three hundred drachmas, his debt something more than four. The would now be discharged upon pay- drachma was reduced twenty-seven ment of three minas, or pounds ; per cent. SOLON. 183 that some who had been seized for their debts he had brought back from other countries, where — so far their lot to roam, They had forgot the language of their home ; and some he had set at Uberty, — Who here in shameful servitude were held. While he was designing this, a most vexatious thing hap- pened ; for when he had resolved to take off the debts, and was considering the proper form and fit beginning for it, he told some of his friends, Conon, Clinias, and Hipponicus, in wdiom he had a great deal of confidence, ^lat he would not meddle with the lands, but only free the people from their debts ; upon which, they, using their advantage, made haste and borrowed some consid- erable sums of money, and purchased some large farms ; and when the law was enacted, they kept the possessions, and would not return the money ; which brought Solon into great suspicion and dislike, as if he himself had not been abused, but was concerned in the contrivance. But he presently stopped this suspicion, by releasing his debtors of five talents (for he had lent so much), accord- ing to the law ; others, as Polyzelus the Rhodian, say fifteen ; his friends, however, were ever afterward called Chreocopidas, repudiators. In this he pleased neither party, for the rich were angry for their money, and the j)oor that the land was not divided, and, as Lycurgus ordered in his common- wealth, all men reduced to equality. He, it is true, being the eleventh from Hercules, and having reigned many years in Lacedaemon, had got a great reputation and friends and power, which he could use in modelling his state ; and, applying force more than persuasion, inso- 184 SOLON. much that he lost his eye in the scuffle, was able to employ the most effectual means for the safety and har- mony of a state, by not permitting any to be poor or rich in his commonwealth. Solon could not rise to that in his polity, being but a citizen of the middle classes ; yet he acted fully up to the height of his power, having nothing but the good-will and good opinion of his citi- zens to rely on ; and that he offended the most part, who looked for another result, he declares in the words, Formerly they boasted of me vainly ; with averted eyes Now they look askance upon me ; friends no more, but enemies. And yet had any other man, he says, received the same power. He would ftot have forborne, nor let alone, But made the fattest of the milk his own. Soon, however, becoming sensible of the good that was done, they laid by their grudges, made a public sacrifice, calling it Seisacthea, and chose Solon to new-model and make laws for the commonwealth, giving him the entire power over every thing, their magistracies, their assem- blies, courts, and councils ; that he should appoint the number, times of meeting, and what estate they must have that could be capable of these, and dissolve or con- tinue any of the present constitutions, according to his pleasure. First, then, he repealed all Draco's laws, except those concerning homicide, because they were too severe, and the punishments too great; for death was appointed for almost all offences, insomuch that those that were con- victed of idleness were to die, and those that stole a cab- bage or an apple to suffer even as villains that committed sacrilege or murder. So that Demades, in after time, waa thought to have said very happily, that Draco's laws were written not with ink, but blood ; and he himself, being SOLON. 185 once asked wbj he made death the punishment of most offences, replied, " Small ones deserve that, and I have no higher for the greater crimes." Next, Solon, being willing to continue the magistracies in the hands of the rich men, and yet receive the people into the other part of the government, took an account of the citizens' estates, and those that were worth five hundred measures of fruits, dry and liquid, he placed in the first rank, calling them Pentacosiomedimni ; those that could keep an horse, or were worth three hundred measures, were named Hippada Teluntes, and made the second class ; the Zeugitae, that had two hundred meas- ures, were in the third ; and all the others were called Thetes, who were not admitted to any office, but could come to the assembly, and act as jurors ; which at first seemed nothing, but afterwards was found an enormous privilege, as almost every matter of dispute came before them in this latter capacity. Even in the cases which he assigned to the archons' cognizance, he allowed an appeal to the courts. Besides, it is said that he was obscure and ambiguous in the wording of his laws, on purpose to increase the honor of his courts; for since their differences could not be adjusted by the letter, they would have to bring all their causes to the judges, who thus were in a manner masters of the laws. Of this equalization he himself makes mention in this manner : Such power I gave the people as might do, Abridged not what they had, now lavished new. Those that were great in wealth and high in place, My counsel likewise kept from all disgrace. Before them both I held my shield of might, And let not either touch the other's right. And for the greater security of the weak commons, he gave general liberty of indicting for an act of injury; If any one was beaten, maimed, or suffered any violence, 186 SOLON. any man that would and was able, might prosecute the wrongdoer J intending by this to accustom the citizens, like members of the same body, to resent and be sensible of one another's injuries. And there is a saying of his agreeable to this law, for, being asked what city Avas best modelled, " That," said he, " Λvhere those that are not in- jured try and punish the unjust as much as those that are." When he had constituted the Areopagus of those who had been yearly archons, of which he himself was a member therefore, observing that the people, now free from their debts, were unsettled and imperious, he formed another council of four hundred, a hundred out of each of the four tribes, which was to inspect all matters before they Λvere propounded to the people, and to take care that nothino; but Avhat had been first examined should be brought before the general assembly. The upper coun- cil, or Areopagus, he made inspectors and keepers of the laws, conceiving that the commonwealth, held by these two councils, like anchors, would be less liable to be tossed by tumults, and the people be more at quiet. Such is the general statement, that Solon instituted the Areopagus ; which seems to be confirmed, because Draco makes no mention of the Areopagites, but in all causes of blood refers to the Ephetse ; yet Solon's thirteenth table contains the eighth law set down in these very words : " Who- ever before Solon's archonship Avere disfranchised, let them be restored, except those that, being condemned by the Areopagus, Ephetae, or in the Prytaneum by the kings,* for homicide, murder, or designs against the gov- ernment, Λvere in banishment when this law was made;" and these words seem to show that the Areopagus existed before Solon's laws, for Avho could be condemned by that council before his time, if he was the first that instituted the court ? unless, which is probable, there is some ellipsis, * That is, the king-archons. SOLON. 187 or want of precision, in the language, and it should run thus, — " Those that are convicted of such offences as be- long to the cognizance of the Areopagites, Ephetas, or the Prytanes, when this law was made," shall remain still in disgrace, whilst others are restored ; of this the reader must judge. Amongst his other laws, one is very peculiar and sur- prising, which disfranchises ajl who stand_neuter in a ^sedition ; for it seems he would not have any one remain insensible and regardless of the public good, and, securing his private affairs, glory that he has no feeling of the distempers of his country ; but at once join with the good party and those that have the right upon their side, assist and venture with them, rather than keep out of harm's way and watch who would get the better. It seems an absurd and foolish law which permits an heiress, if her lawful husband fail her, to take his nearest kinsman ; yet some say this law was well contrived against those, who, conscious of their own unfitness, yet, for the sake of the portion, would match with heiresses, and make use of law to put a violence upon nature ; for now, since she can quit him for whom she pleases, they would either abstain from such marriages, or continue them with disgrace, and suffer for their covetousness and designed affront ; it is well done, moreover, to confine her to her husband's nearest kinsman, that the children may be of the same family. Agreeable to this is the law that the bride and bridegroom shall be shut into a chamber, and eat a quince together ; and that the husband of an heiress shall consort with her thrice a month ; for though there be no children, yet it is an honor and due affection which an husband ought to pay to a virtuous, chaste wife ; it takes off all petty differences, and will not permit their little quarrels to proceed to a rupture. In all other marriages he forbade dowries to be given ; 188 SOLON. the wife was to have three suits of clothes, a httle incon- siderable household stuff, and that was all; for he would not have marriages contracted for gain or an estate, but for pure love, kind affection, and birth of children. When the mother of Dionysius desired him to marry her to one of his citizens, " Indeed," said he, " by my tyranny I haA^e broken my country's laws, but cannot put a violence upon those of nature by an unseasonable marriage." Such dis- order is never to be suffered in a commonwealth, nor such unseasonable and unloving and unperforming mar- riages, which attain no due end or fruit : any provident governor or lawgiver might say to an old man that takes a young wife what is said to Philoctetes in the tragedy, — Truly, in a fit state thou to mai-ry ! and if he finds a young man, with a rich and elderly wife, growing fat in his place, like the partridges, remove hira to a young woman of proper age. And of this enough. : Another commendable law of Solon's is that which for- ^ bids men_to_speak evil of^the dead ; for it is pious to ^^^^^ think the deceased sacred, and just, not to meddle with those that are gone, and politic, to prevent the perpetuity of discord. He likewise forbade them to speak evil of the living in the temples, the courts of justice, the public offices, or at the games, or else to pay three drachmas to the person, and two to the public. For never to be able to control passion shows a weak nature and ill-breeding; and always to moderate it is very hard, and to some im- possible. And laws must look to possibilities, if the maker designs to punish few in order to their amendment, and not many to no purpose. He is likewise much commended for his law concern- ing wills ; for before him none could be made, but all the wealth and estate of the deceased belonged to his family ; SOLON. 189 but he, by permitting them, if they had no children, to be- stow it on Avhom they pleased, showed that he esteemed friendship a stronger tie than kindred, and affection than necessity ; and made every man's estate truly his own. Yet he allowed not all sorts of legacies, but those only which were not extorted by the frenzy of a disease, ' harms, imprisonment, force, or the persuasions of a wife ; with good reason thinking that being seduced into wrong Λvas as bad as being forced, and that between deceit and necessity, flattery and compulsion, there was little differ- ence, since both may equally suspend the exercise of reason. He regulated the walks, feasts, and mourning of the women, and took away e\'ery thing that ^vas either unbe- coming or immodest ; when they Avalked abroad, no more than three articles * of dress were allowed them ; an obol's worth of meat and drink ; and no basket above a cubit high; and at night they were not to go about unless in a chariot w4th a torch before them. Mourners tearinjj; them- selves to raise pity, and set wailings, and at one man's \ ^ funeral to lament for another, he forbade. To offer an ox at the grave was not permitted, nor to bury above three pieces of dress with the body, or visit the tombs of any besides their own family, unless at the very funeral ; most of which are likewise forbidden by our laws,-}- but this is further added in ours, that those that are convicted of extravagance in their mournings, are to be punished as i-ott and effeminate by the censors of women. Observing the city to be filled with persons that flocked from all parts into Attica for security of living, and that most of the country was barren and unfruitful, and that * For example, the chiton or tu- ner and an outer frock, with one nic, hi/nation or pallium, andpephis, shawl or scarf over them. i. e., the frock with two shawls, or f I" Boeotia, or perhaps at Chaa• one and a scarf; or perhaps an in- ronea. 190 SOLOIi. traders at sea import nothing to those that could give them nothing in exchange, he turned his citizens to trade, and made a law that no son should be obliged to relieve a father who had not bred him up to any calling. It is true, Lycurgus, having a city free from all strangers, and land, according to Euripides, Large for large hosts, for twice their number much, and, above all, an abundance of laborers about Sparta, who should not be left idle, but be kept down with con- tinual toil and work, did well to take off his citizens from laborious and mechanical occupations, and keep them to their arms, and teach them only the art of war. But Solon, fitting his laws to the state of things, and not ma- king things to suit his laws, and finding the ground scarce rich enough to maintain the husbandmen, and altogether incapable of feeding an unoccupied and leisurely multi- tude, brought trades into credit, and ordered the Areo- pagites to examine how every man got his living, and chastise the idle. But that law was yet more rigid Avhich, as Heraclides Ponticus delivers, declared the sons of un- married mothers not obliged to relieve their fathers ; for he that avoids the honorable form of union shows that he does not take a woman for children, but for pleasure, and thus gets his just reward, and has taken a\vay from him- self every title to upbraid his children, to whom he has made their very birth a scandal and reproach. Solon's laws in general about women are his strangest; for he permitted any one to kill an adulterer that found him in the act; but if any one forced a free woman, a hundred drachmas was the fine ; if he enticed her, twenty ; except those that sell themselves openly, that is, harlots, who go openly to those that hire them. He made it unlawful to sell a daughter or a sister, unless, being yet SOLON. 191 unmarried, she was found wanton. Now it is irrational to punish the same crime sometimes very severely and without remorse, and sometimes very lightly, and, as it were, in sport, Av.th a trivial fine ; unless, there being little money then in Athens, scarcity made those mulcts the more grievous punishment. In the valuation for sacrifices, a sheep and a bushel were both estimated at a drachma ; '''• the victor in the Isthmian games Λvas to have for rcAvard an hundred drachmas ; the conqueror in the Olympian, five hundred: he that brought a wolf, five drachmas ; for a whelp, one ; the former sum, as Deme- trius the Phalerian asserts, Λvas the value of an ox, the latter, of a sheep. The prices which Solon, in his sixteenth table, sets on choice victims, were naturally far greater; yet they, too, are very low in comparison of the present. The Athenians were, from the beginning, great enemies to Λvolves, their fields being better for pasture than corn. Some afiirm their tribes did not take their names from the sons of Ion, but from the different sorts of occupation that they followed ; the soldiers were called Hoplitae, the craftsmen Ergades, and, of the remaining tw^o, the farmers Gedeontes, and the shepherds and graziers ^gicores. Since the country has but few rivers, lakes, or large springs, and many used wells which they had dug, there was a law made, that, where there was a public well with- in a ϊιψρϊωη, that is, four fiu^longs, all should draw at that ; Ijut, when it was farther ofi", they should try and procure a Avell of their own ; and, if they had dug ten fathom deep ai.d could find no water, they had liberty to fetch a pitcherful of four gallons and a half in a day from their neighbors' ; for he thought it prudent to make provision * The Attic drachma, it is conve- drachma, was, therefore, worth nient to remember, is just about about three half-pence, or three equivalent to a French franc ; the cents, obol, six of which went ι ο the 192 SOLON. - against want, but not to supplj^ laziness. He showed skill in his orders about planting, for any one that would plant another tree was not to set it within five feet of his neisrhbor's field ; but if a fiar or an olive, not within nine : for their roots spread farther, nor can they be planted near all sorts of trees without damage, for they draw away the nourishment, and in some cases are noxious by their effluvia. He that would dig a pit or a ditch was to dig it at the distance of its ΟΛνη depth from his neighbor's ground ; and he that would raise stocks of bees Λvas not to place them within three hundred feet of those which another had already raised. He permitted only oil to be exported, and those that exported any other fruit, the archon was solemnly to curse, or else pay an hundred drachmas himself; and this law Avas written in his first table, and, therefore, let none think it incredible, as some affirm, that the exportation of figs w\as once unlawful, and the informer against the delinquents called a sycophant. He made a law, also, concerning hurts and injuries from beasts, in which he commands the master of any dog that bit a man to deliver him up with a log about his neck, four and a half feet long; a happy device for men's security. The law concerning naturalizing strangers is of doubtful character ; he permitted only those to be made free of Athens Λvho were in perpetual exile from their own country, or came with their Avhole fiimily to trade there; this he did, not to discourage strangers, but rather to invite them to a permanent participation in the privileges of the govern- ment ; and, besides, he thought those would prove the more faithful citizens who had been forced from their own country, or voluntarily forsook it. I The law of pub- lic entertainment [parasitdn is his name for it) is, also, peculiarly Solon's, for if any man came often, or if he that was invited refused, they were punished, for he con SOLON. 193 eluded that one was greedy, the other a contemner of the state. All his laws he established for an hundred years, and wrote them on wooden tables or rollers, named axones, which might be turned round in oblong cases ; some of their relics were in my time still to be seen in the Pryta- neum, or common hall, at Athens, These, as Aristotle states, were called cyrbes, and there is a passage of Cra- tinus tlie comedian, By Solon, and by Draco, if you please. Whose Cyrbes make the fires tliat parch our peas. But some say those are properly cyrbes, Avhich contain laws concerning sacrifices and the rites of religion, and all the others axones. The council all jointly swore to confirm the laws, and every one of the ThesmothetsB vowed for himself at the stone in the market-place, that, if he broke any of the statutes, he would dedicate a golden statue, as big as himself, at Delphi. Observing the irregularity of the months, and that the moon does not always rise and set with the sun, but often in the same day overtakes and gets before him, he ordered the day should be named the Old and New,'•' attributing that part of it which was before the conjunction to the old moon, and the rest to the new, he being the first, it seems, that understood that verse of Homer, The end and the beginning of the month, and the following day he called the new moon. After the twentieth he did not count by addition, but, like the moon itself in its Λvane, by subtraction ; thus up to the thirtieth. Now when these laws were enacted, and some came to * Ene cai nea. VOL. 1. 13 194 SOLON. Solon every clay, to commend or dispraise them, and to advise, if possible, to leave out, or put in something, and many criticized, and desired him to explain, and tell the meaning of such and such a passage, he, knowing that to do it was useless, and not to do it would get him ill-will, and desirous to bring himself out of all straits, and to escape all displeasure and exceptions, it being a hard thing, as he himself says, In great affairs to satisfy all sides, as an excuse for travelling, bought a trading vessel, and, having obtained leave for ten years' absence, de- parted, hoping that by that time his laws would have become familiar. His first voyage was for Egypt, and he lived, as he himself says, Near Nilus' mouth, by fair Canopus' shore, and spent some time in study with Psenophis of Helio- polis, and Sonchis the Saite, the most learned of all the priests ; from whom, as Plato says, getting knowledge of the Atlantic story, he put it into a poem, and proposed to bring it to the knowledge of the Greeks. From thence he sailed to Cyprus, where he was made much of by Phi- locyprus, one of the kings there, who had a small city built by Demophon, Theseus's son, near the river Cla- rius, in a strong situation, but incommodious and uneasy of access. Solon persuaded him, since there lay a fair plain below, to remove, and build there a pleasanter and more spacious city. And he stayed himself, and assisted in gathering inhabitants, and in fitting it both for defence and convenience of living; insomuch that many flocked to Philocyprus, and the other kings imitated the design; and, therefore, to honor Solon, he called the city Soli, which was formerly named ^pea. And Solon himself, SOLON. 195 in his Elegies, addressing Philocyprus, mentions this foun- dation in these words — Long may yon live, and fill the Solian throne, Succeeded still by children of your ολνη ; And from your happy island while I sail, Let Cyprus * send for me a favoring gale ; May she advance, and bless your new command, Prosper your town, and send me safe to land. That Solon should discourse with Croesus, some think not agreeable with chronology; but I cannot reject so famous and well-attested a narrative, and, what is moie, so agreeable to Solon's temper, and so worthy his wisdom and greatness of mind, because, forsooth, it does not agree with some chronological canons, which thousands have endeavored to regulate, and yet, to this day, could never bring their differing opinions to any agreement. They say, therefore, that Solon, coming to Croesus at his re- quest, was in the same condition as an inland man when first he goes to see the sea ; for as he fancies every river he meets with to be the ocean, so Solon, as he passed through the court, and saw a great many nobles richly dressed, and proudly attended with a multitude of guards and footboys, thought every one had been the king, till he was brought to Croesus, who was decked with every possible rarity and curiosity, in ornaments of jewels, purple, and gold, that could make a grand and gorgeous spectacle of him. Now when Solon came before him, and seemed not at all surprised, nor gave Croesus those compliments he expected, but showed himself to all discerning eyes to be a man that despised the gaudiness and petty ostenta- tion of it, he commanded them to open all his treasure houses, and carry him to see his sumptuous furniture and luxuries, though he did not wish it; Solon could judge of * The Cyprian Venus. 196 SOLON. him well enough by the first sight of him ; and, when he returned from viewing all, Croesus asked him if ever he had known a happier man than he. And Λvhen Solon answered that he had known one Tellus, a fellow-citizen of his own, and told him that this Tellus had been an honest man, had had good children, a competent estate, and died bravely in battle for his country, Croesus took him for an ill-bred fellow and a fool, for not measurinoj liappiness by the abundance of gold and silver, and pre- ferring the life and death of a private and mean man be- fore so much power and empire. He asked him, however, again, if, besides Tellus, he knew any other man more happy. And Solon replying. Yes, Cleobis and Biton, who were loving brothers, and extremely dutifid sons to their mother, and, when the oxen delayed her, har- nessed themselves to the wagon, and drew her to Juno's temple, her neighbors all calling her happy, and she her- self rejoicing; then, after sacrificing and feasting, they went to rest, and never rose again, but died in the midst of their honor a painless and tranquil death, "What," said Croesus, angrily, "and dost not thou reckon us amongst the happy men at all ? " Solon, unwilling either to flatter or exasperate him more, replied, " The gods, king, have given the Greeks all other gifts in moderate degree; and so our wisdom, too, is a cheerful and a homely, not a noble and kingly wisdom ; and this, obser- ving»• the numerous misfortunes that attend all conditions, forbids us to grow insolent upon our present enjoyments, or to admire any man's happiness that may yet, in course of time, suffer change. For the uncertain future has yet to come, with every possible variety of fortune ; and him only to whom the divinity has continued happiness unto the end, we call happy ; to salute as happy one that is still in the midst of life and hazard, we think as little safe and conclusive as to crown and proclaim as victorious the SOLON. ^97 wrestler that is jet in the ring." After this, he was dis- missed, having given Croesus some pain, but no instruc- tion. ^sop, who wrote the fables, being then at Sardis upon Croesus's invitation, and very much esteemed, was con- cerned that Solon was so ill-received, and gave him this advice : " Solon, let your converse with kings be either short or seasonable." " Nay, rather," replied Solon, " either short or reasonable." So at this time Croesus despised So- lon ; but when he was overcome by Cyrus, had lost his city, was taken alive, condemned to be burnt, and laid bound upon the pile before all the Persians and Cyrus himself, he cried out as loud as possibly he could three times, " Solon ! " and Cyrus being surprised, and sending some to inquire what man or god this Solon Avas, whom alone he invoked in this extremity, Croesus told him the whole story, saying, " He was one of the wise men of Greece, whom I sent for, not to be instructed, or to learn any thing that I Λvanted, but that he should see and be a witness of my happiness ; the loss of which was, it seems, to be a greater evil than the enjoyment was a good ; for when I had them they were goods only in opinion, but now the loss of them has brought upon me intolerable and real evils. And he, conjecturing from what then was, this that now is, bade me look to the end of my life, and not rely and grow proud upon uncertainties." When this was told Cyrus, who was a wiser man than Croesus, and saw in the present example Solon's maxim confirmed, he not only freed Croesus from punishment, but honored him as long as he lived ; and Solon had the glory, by the same saying, to save one king and instruct another. When Solon was gone, the citizens began to quarrel ; Lycurgus headed the Plain ; Megacles, the son of Alc- maeon, those to the Sea-side ; and Pisistratus the Hill-part}', in Λvhich Avere the poorest people, the Thetes, and greatest 198 SOLON. enemies to the rich ; insomuch that, though the city still used the new laws, yet all looked for and desired a change of government, hoping severally that the change would be better for them, and put them above the contrary fac- tion. Affairs standing thus, Solon returned, and was reverenced by all, and honored ; but his old age Λνοηΐά not permit him to be as active, and to speak in public, as formerly ; yet, by privately conferring with the heads of the factions, he endeavored to compose the differences. Pisistratus appearing the most tractable ; for he was ex- tremely smooth and engaging in his language, a great friend to the poor, and moderate in his resentments ; and Avhat nature had not given him, he had the skill to imi- tate ; so that he was trusted more than the others, being accounted a prudent and orderly man, one that loved equality, and would be an enemy to any that moved against the present settlement. Thus he deceived the majority of j)eople ; but Solon quickly discovered his character, and found out his design before any one else ; yet did not hate him upon this, but endeavored to humble him, and bring him off from his ambition, and often told him and others, that if any one could banish the passion for preeminence from his mind, and cure him of his desire of absolute power, none would make a more Aartuous man or a more excellent citizen. Thespis, at this time, beginning to act tragedies, and the thing, because it was new, taking very much with the multitude, though it was not yet made a matter of competition, Solon, being by nature fond of hearini? and learnino; somethino; ηβΛν, and now, in his old age, living idly, and enjoying himself, indeed, with music and with wine, Avent to see Thespis himself, as the ancient custom was, act; and after the play was done, he addressed him, and asked him if he was not ashamed to tell so many lies before such a num- ber of people; and Thespis replying that it Avas no hiivm oOLON. 199 to say or do so in play, Solon vehemently struck his staff against the ground : " Ay," said he, " if we honor and commend such play as this, we shall find it some day in our business." Now when Pisistratus, having wounded himself, was brought into the market-place in a chariot, and stirred up the people, as if he had been thus treated by his op- ponents because of his political conduct, and a great many Avere enraged and cried out, Solon, coming close to him, said^ " This, son of Hippocrates, is a bad copy of Homer's Ulysses; you do, to trick your countrymen, what he did to deceive his enemies." After this, the people- were eager to protect Pisistratus, and met in an assem- bly, where one Ariston making a motion that they should allow Pisistratus fifty clubmen for a guard to his person, Solon opposed it, and said, much to the same purport as what he has left us in his poems, You doat upon his words and taking phrase ; and again, — True, you are singly each a crafty soul, But all together make one empty fool. But observing the poor men bent to gratify Pisistratus, and tumultuous, and the rich fearful and getting out of harm's way, he departed, saying he was Λviser than some and stouter than others; wiser than those that did not understand the design, stouter than those that, though they understood it, were afraid to oppose the tja^anny. ΝοΛν, the people, having passed the law, were not nice with Pisistratus about the number of his clubmen, but took no notice of it, though he enlisted and kept as many as he would, until he seized the Acropolis. AVhen that was done, and the city in an uproar, Megacles, with all his family, at once fled; but Solon, though he was 200 SOLON. now very old, and had none to back him, yet came into the market-place and made a speech to the citizens, parti}' blaming their inadvertency and meanness of spirit, and in part urging and exhorting them not thus tamely to lose their liberty ; and likewise then spoke that memorable saying, that, before, it was an easier task to stop the rising tyranny, but now the greater and more glorious action to destroy it, when it was begun already, and had gathered strength. But all being afraid to side Λγith him, he returned home, and, taking his arms, he brought them out and laid them in the porch before his door, with these Λvords : " I have done my part to maintain my country and my laws," and then he busied himself no more. His friends advising him to fly, he refused, but wrote poems, and thus reproached the Athe- nians in them, — If now jou suffer, do not blame the Powers, For they are good, and all the fault was ours. All the strongholds you put into liis hands, And now his slaves must do what he commands. And man}^ telling him that the tyrant would take his life for this, and asking what he trusted to, that he ven- tured to speak so boldly, he replied," To my old age." But Pisistratus, having got the command, so extremely courted Solon, so honored him, obliged him, and sent to see him, that Solon gave him his advice, and approved many of his actions; for he retained most of Solon's laws, ob- served them himself, and compelled his friends to obey. And he himself, though already absolute ruler, being accused of murder before the Areopagus, came quietly to clear himself; but his accuser did not appear. And he added other laws, one of which is that the maimed in the wars should be maintained at the public charge ; this Heraclides Ponticus records, and that Pisistratus followed SOLON. 20i Solon's example in this, wlio had decreed it in the case of one Thersippns, that v,'iis maimed ; and Theo- phrastiis asserts that it was Pisistratus, not Solon, that made that law against laziness, which was the reason that the country was more productive, and the city tranquiller. Now Solon, having begun the great work in verse, the history or fable of the Atlantic Island, which he had learned from the wise men in Sais, and thought conveni- ent for the Athenians to know, abandoned it; not, as Plato says, by reason of want of time, but because of his age, and being discouraged at the greatness of the task ; for that he had leisure enough, such verses tes- tify, as Each day grow older, and learn something new ; and again, — But now the Powers of Beauty, Song, and Wine, Which are most men's delights, are also mine. Plato, willing to improve the story of the Atlantic Island, as if it were a fair estate that wanted an heir and came with some title to him, formed, indeed, stately entrances, noble enclosures, large courts, such as never yet introduced any story, fable, or poetic fiction ; but, beginning it late, ended his life before his work ; and the reader's regret for the unfinished part is the greater, as the satisfiiction he takes in that which is complete is extraordinary. For as the city of Athens left only the temple of Jupiter Olympius unfinished, so Plato, amongst all his excellent works, left this only piece about the Atlantic Island im- perfect. Solon lived after Pisistratus seized the govern- ment, as Heraclides Ponticus asserts, a long time; but Phanias the Eresian says not two full years ; for Pisistra- tus began his tyranny when Comias Avas archon, and Phanias says Solon died under Hegestratus, who succeeded 202 SOLON. Comias. The story that his ashes were scattered about the island Salamis is too strange to be easily believed, or be thought any thing but a mere fable ; and yet it is given, amongst other good authors, by Aristotle, the phi- losopher. POPLICOLA. Such Avas Solon. To him we compcare Poplicola, who re- ceived this later title from the Roman people for his merit, as a noble accession to his former name, Publius Valerius. He descended from Valerius, a man amongst the early citizens, reputed the principal reconciler of the differences betwixt the Romans and Sabines, and one that was most instrumental in persuading their kings to assent to peace and union. Thus descended, Publius Valerius, as it is said, whilst Rome remained under its kingly government, ob- tained as great a name from his eloquence as from his riches, charitably employing the one in liberal aid to the poor, the other \vith integrity and freedom in the ser- vice of justice; thereby giving assurance, that, should the government fall into a republic, he would become a chief man in the community. The illegal and Avicked accession of Tarquinius Superbus to the crown, with his making it, instead of kingly rule, the instrument of insolence and tyranny, having inspired the people Λvith a hatred to his reign, upon the death of Lucretia (she killing herself after violence had been done to her), they took an occa- sion of revolt ; and Lucius Brutus, engaging in the change, came to Valerius before all others, and, with his zealous assistance, deposed the kings. And whilst the people inclined toΛvards the electino; one leader instead of their king, Valerius acquiesced, that to rule was rather Bru- (203) 204 POPLICOLA. tiis's due, as the author of the democracy. But when the name of monarchy was odious to the people, and a divided power appeared more grateful in the prospect, and two were chosen to hold it, Valerius, entertaining hopes that he might be elected consul with Brutus, was disappointed ; for, instead of Val::rius, notwithstanding the endeavors of Brutus, Tarquinius Collatinus was chosen, the husband of Lucretia, a man noways his superior in merit. But the nobles, dreading the return of their kings, who still used all endeavors abroad and solicitations at home, were resolved upon a chieftain of an intense hatred to them, and noways likely to yield. Now Valerius was troubled, that his desire to serve his country should be doubted, because he had sustained no private injury from the insolence of the tyrants. He AvithdrcAV from the senate and practice of the bar, quitting all public concerns ; Λvhich gave an occasion of discourse, and fear, too, lest his anger should reconcile him to the king's side, and he should prove the ruin of the state, tottering as yet under the uncertainties of a change. But Brutus being doubtful of some others, and determin- ing to give the test to the senate upon the altars, upon the day appointed Valerius came with cheerfulness into the forum, and was the first man that took the oath, in no way to submit or yield to Tarquin's jDropositions, but rigorously to maintain liberty ; Avhich gave great satis- faction to the senate and assurance to the consuls, his actions soon after showing the sincerity of his oath. For ambassadors came from Tarquin, with popular and spe- cious proposals, Avhereby they thought to seduce the peo- ple, as though the king had cast off all insolence, and made moderation the only measure of his desires. To this embassy the consuls thought fit to give public audience, but Valerius opposed it, and would not permit that the poorer people, who entertained more fear of war than of POPLICOLA. 205 tyranny, should have any occasion oiferecl them, or any temptations to new designs. Afterwards other ambassa- dors iirrived, who declared their king would recede from his crown, and lay down his arms, only capitulating for a restitution to himself, his friends, and allies, of their moneys and estates to support them in their banishment. Now, several inclining to the request, and Collatinus in par- ticular favoring it, Brutus, a man of vehement and unbend- ing nature, rushed into the forum, there proclaiming his fellow-consul to be a traitor, in granting subsidies to ty- ranny, and supplies for a war to those to whom it was monstrous to allow so much as subsistence in exile. This caused an assembly of the citizens, amongst whom the first that spake was Cains Minucius, a private man, who advised Brutus, and urged the Romans, to keep the pro- perty, and employ it against the tyrants, rather than to remit it to the tyrants, to be used against themselves. The Romans, however, decided that whilst they enjoyed the liberty they had fought for, they should not sacrifice peace for the sake of money, but send out the tyrants* property after them. This question, however, of his pro- perty, Avas the least part of Tarquin's design ; the demand sounded the feelings of the people, and was preparatory to a conspiracy which the ambassadors endeavored to excite, delaying their return, under pretence of selling some of the goods and reserving others to be sent away, till, in fine, they corrupted two of the most eminent fam- ilies in Rome, the AquilHan, which had three, and the Vitellian, Avhich had two senators. These all Λvere, by the mother's side, nephews to Collatinus ; besides which Brutus had a special alliance to the Vitellii from his mar- riage with their sister, by Λvhom he had several children ; two of whom, of their own age, their near relations and daily companions, the Vitellii seduced to join in the plot, to ally themselves to the great house and royal hojjes of 206 POPLTCOLA. the Tarquins, and gain emancipation from the violence and imbecility united of their father, whose austerity to offenders they termed violence, while the imbecility which he had long feigned, to protect himself from the tyrants, still, it appears, was, in name at least, ascribed to him. Wlien upon these inducements the youths came to confer with the Aqnillii, all thought it convenient to bind them- selves in a solemn and dreadful oath, by tasting the blood of a murdered man, and touching his entrails. For which design they met at the house of the Aquillii. The juild- ing chosen for the transaction was, as was natural, dark and unfrequented, and a slave named Yindicius had, as it chanced, concealed himself there, not out of design or any intelligence of the affair, but, accidentally being with- in, seeing with how much haste and concern they came in, he was afraid to be discovered, and placed himself be- hind a chest, where he was able to observe their actions and overhear their debates. Their resolutions were to kill the consuls, and they wrote letters to Tarquin to this effect, and gave them to the ambassadors, who were lodg- ing upon the spot with the Aquillii, and were present at the consultation. Upon their departure, Vindicius secretly quitted the house, but was at a loss what to do in the matter, for to arraign the sons before the father Brutus, or the nephews before the uncle Collatinus, seemed equally (as indeed it was) sho3king; yet he knew no private Eoman to whom he could intrust secrets of such importance. Unable, how- ever, to keep silence, and burdened with his knowledge, he went and addressed himself to Valerius, whose known freedom and kindness of temper were an inducement; as he Avas a person to whom the needy had easy access, and who never shut his gates against the petitions or indi- gences of humble people. But when Vindicius came and made a complete discovery to him, his brother Marcus POPLTCOLA. 207 and his own wife being present, Valerius was struck with amazement, and by no means would dismiss the discov- erer, but confined him to the room, and placed his wife as a guard to the door, sending his brother in the interim to beset the king's palace, and seize, if possible, the wri- tings there, and secure the domestics, whilst he, with his constant attendance of clients and friends, and a great retinue of attendants, repaired to the house of the Aquil- lii, who were, as it chanced, absent from home ; and so, forcing an entrance through the gates, they lit upon the letters then lying in the lodgings of the ambassadors. Meantime the Aquillii returned in all haste, and, coming to blows about the gate, endeavored a recovery of the letters. The other party made a resistance, and, throwing their gowns round their opponents' necks, at last, after much struggling on both sides, made their way with their prisoners through the streets into the forum. The like en- gagement happened about the king's palace, where Mar- cus seized some other letters which it was designed should be conveyed away in the goods, and, laying hands on such of the king's people as he could find, dragged them also into the forum. When the consuls had quieted the tumult, Vindicius was brought out by the orders of Va- lerius, and the accusation stated, and the letters were opened, to which the traitors could make no plea. Most of the people standing mute and sorrowful, some only, out of kindness to Brutus, mentioning banishment, the tears of Collatinus, attended with Valerius's silence, gave some hopes of mercy. But Brutus, calling his two sons by their names, " Canst not thou," said he, " Titus, or thou, Tiberius, make any defence against the indictment ?" The question being thrice proposed, and no reply made, he turned himself to the lictors, and cried, " What remains is your duty." They immediately seized the youths, and, stripping them of their clothes, bound their hands behind 208 POPLICOLA. them, and scourged their bodies with their rods ; too tra- gical a scene for others to look at ; Brutus, however, is said not to have turned aside his face, nor allowed the least glance of pity to soften and smoothe his aspect of rigor and austerity ; but sternly watched his children suffer, even till the lictors, extending them on the ground, cut off their heads with an axe ; then departed, commit- ting the rest to the judgment of his colleague. An action truly open alike to the highest commendation and the strongest censin^e ; for either the greatness of his virtue raised him above the impressions of sorrow, or the ex- travagance of his misery took away all sense of it ; but neither seemed common, or the result of humanity, but either divine or brutish. Yet it is more reasonable that our judgment should yield to his reputation, than that his merit should suffer detraction by the weakness of our judgment ; in the Romans' opinion, Brutus did a greater work in the establishment of the o-overnment than Rom- ulus in the foundation of the city. Upon Brutus's departure out of the forum, consterna- tion, horror, and silence for some time possessed all that reflected on what was done ; the easiness and tardiness, however, of Collatinus, gave confidence to the Aquillii to request some time to answer their charge, and that \^in- dicius, their servant, should be remitted into their hands, and no long-er harbored amons-st their accusers. The consul seemed inclined to their proposal, and was pro- ceeding to dissolve the assembly ; but Valerius would not suffer Vindicius, who was surrounded by his people, to be surrendered, nor the meeting to withdraw without pun- ishing the traitors ; and at length laid violent hands upon the Aquillii, and, calling Brutus to his assistance, ex- claimed against the unreasonable course of Collatinus, to impose upon his colleague the necessity of taking away the lives of his own sons, and yet have thoughts of grati• POPLICOLA. 209 Tying some women with the hves of traitors and piibHc enemies. Collatinus, displeased at this, and commanding Vindicius to be taken away, the lictors made their way through the crowd and seized their man, and struck all who endeavored a rescue. Valerius's friends headed the resistance, and the people cried out for Brutus, who, return- ing, on silence being made, told them he had been compe- tent to pass sentence by himself upon his own sons, but left the rest to the suffrages of the free citizens : " Let every man speak that wishes, and persuade whom he can." But there was no need of oratory, for, it being referred to the vote, they were returned condemned by all the suf- frages, and were accordingly beheaded. CoUatinus's relationship to the kings had, indeed, al- ready rendered him suspicious, and his second name, too, had made him obnoxious to the people, who were loth to hear the very sound of Tarquin ; but after this had happened, perceiving himself an offence to every one, he relinquished his charge and departed from the city. At the new elections in his room, Valerius obtained, with high honor, the consulship, as a just reward of his zeal; of which he thought Vindicius deserved a share, whom he made, first of all freedmen, a citizen of Rome, and gave him the privilege of voting in what tribe soever he was pleased to be enrolled ; other freedmen received the right of suffrage a long time after from Appius, who thus courted popularity; and from this Vindicius, a perfect manumission is called to this day vindida. This done, the goods of the kings were exposed to plunder, and the palace to ruin. The pleasantest part of the field of Mars, which Tar- quin had owned, was devoted to the service of that god ; but, it happening to be harvest season, and the sheaves yet being on the ground, they thought it not proper to commit them to the flail, or unsanctiiy them VOL. I. 14 210 POPLICOLA. with any use ; and, therefore, carrying them to the river- side, and trees withal that were cut down, they cast all into the water, dedicating the soil, free from all occupa- tion, to the deity. Now, these thrown in, one upon another, and closing together, the stream did not bear them far, but where the first Avere carried down and came to a bottom, the remainder, finding no farther con- veyance, were stopped and interwoven one with another ; the stream working the mass into a firmness, and wash- ing down fresh mud. This, settling there, became an accession of matter, as well as cement, to the rubbish, in- somuch that the violence of the waters could not remove it, but forced and compressed it all together. Thus its bulk and solidity gained it new subsidies, which gave it exten- sion enough to stop on its way most of what the stream brought down. This is now a sacred island, lying by the city, adorned with temples of the gods, and walks, and is called in the Latin tongue inter duos po?iies. Though some say this did not happen at the dedication of Tarquin's field, but in after-times, when Tarquinia, a vestal priesl^ ess, gave an adjacent field to the public, and obtained great honors in consequence, as, amongst the rest, that of all women her testimony alone should be received ; she had also the liberty to marry, but refused it; thus some tell the story. Tarquin, despairing of a return to his kingdom by the conspiracy, found a kind reception amongst the Tuscans, who, with a great army, proceeded to restore him. The consuls headed the Romans against them, and made their rendezvous in certain holy places, the one called the Arsian grove, the other the ^suvian meadow. When they came into action, Aruns, the son of Tarquin, and Brutus, the Roman consul, not accidentally encountering each other, but out of hatred and rage, the one to avenge tyranny and enmity to his country, the other his banish- POPLICOLA. 211 ment, set spurs to their horses, and, engaging with more fury than forethought, disregarding their own security, fell together in the combat. This dreadful onset hardly was followed by a more favorable end; both armies, doing and receiving equal damage, were separated by a storm. Valerius was much concerned, not knowing what the result of the day was, and seeing his men as well dis- mayed at the sight of their own dead, as rejoiced at the loss of the enemy ; so apparently equal in the number was the slaughter on either side. Each party, however, felt surer of defeat from the actual sight of their own dead, than they could feel of victory from conjecture about those of their adversaries. The night being come (and such as one may presume must follow such a batr tie), and the armies laid to rest, they say that the grove shook, and uttered a voice, saying that the Tuscans had lost one man more than the Romans ; clearly a divine an- nouncement ; and the Romans at once received it with shouts and expressions of joy ; whilst the Tuscans, through fear and amazement, deserted their tents, and were for the most part dispersed. The Romans, falling upon the remainder, amounting to nearly five thousand, took them prisoners, and plundered the camp ; when they numbered the dead, they found on the Tuscans' side eleven thousand and three hundred, exceeding their own loss but by one man. This fight happened upon the last day of Feb- ruary, and Valerius triumphed in honor of it, being the first consul that drove in with a four-horse chariot ; which sight both appeared magnificent, and was received with an admiration free from envy or offence (as some suggest) on the part of the spectators; it would not otherwise have been continued with so much eagerness and emulation through all the after ages. The people applauded likewise the honors he did to his colleague, in adding to his obsequies a funeral oration ; which was so 212 POPLICOLA. much liked by the Romans, and found so good a recep- tion, that it became customary for the best men to cele- brate the funerals of great citizens with speeches in their commendation ; and their antiquity in Rome is affirmed to be greater than in Greece, unless, Avith the orator Anaximenes, we make Solon the first author. Yet some part of Valerius's behavior did give offence and disgust to the people, because Brutus, whom they esteemed the father of their liberty, had not presumed to rule without a colleague, but united one and then another to him in his commission ; while Valerius, they said, centering all authority in himself, seemed not in any sense a successor to Brutus in the consulship, but to Tarquin in the tyranny ; he might make verbal ha- rangues to Brutus's memory, yet, when he was attended with all the rods and axes, proceeding down from a house than which the king's house that he had demo- lished had not been statelier, those actions showed him an imitator of Tarquin. For, indeed, his dAvelling- house on the Velia was somewhat imposing in appearance, hanging over the forum, and overlooking all transactions there ; the access to it was hard, and to see him far off coming down, a stately and royal spectacle. But Vale- rius showed how well it were for men in power and great offices to have ears that give admittance to truth before flattery; for upon his friends telling him that he dis- pleased the people, he contended not, neither resented it, ]jut while it was still night, sending for a number of work- people, pulled down his house and levelled it with the ground; so that in the morning the people, seeing and flock- ing together, expressed their wonder and their respect for his magnanimity, and their sorrow, as though it had been a human being, for the large and beautiful house which was thus lost to them by an unfounded jealousy, while its owner, their consul, without a roof of his own, had POPLICOLA. 213 to beg a lodging with his friends. For his friends received him, till a place the people gave him was furnished with a house, though less stately than his own, where now stands the temple, as it is called, of Vica Pota. He resolved to render the government, as well as him- self, instead of terrible, familiar and pleasant to the peo- ple, and parted the axes from the rods, and always, upon his entrance into the assembly, lowered these also to the people, to show, in the strongest way, the republican foundation of the government ; and this the consuls ob- serve to this day. But the humility of the man was but a means, not, as they thought, of lessening himself, but merely to abate their envy by this moderation ; for what^ ever he detracted from his authority he added to his real power, the people still submitting with satisfaction, which they expressed by calling him Poplicola, or people-lover, which name had the preeminence of the rest, and, there- fore, in the sequel of this narrative w ^ shall use no other. He gave free leave to any to sue for the consulship ; but before the admittance of a colleau-ue, mistrustincr the chances, lest emulation or ignorance should cruss his designs, by his sole authority enacted his best and most important measures. First, he supplied the vacancies of the senators, whom either Tarquin long before had put to death, or the Avar lately cut off; those that he enrolled, they write, amounted to a hundred and sixty-four ; after- wards he made several laws Avhich added much to the people's libert}^, in particular one granting offenders the liberty of appealing to the people from the judgment of the consuls; a second, that made it death to usurp anv magistracy without the people's consent ; a third, for the relief of poor citizens, which, taking off their taxes, encouraged their labors; another, against disobedience to the consuls, which was no less popular than the lest, and rather to the benefit of the commonalty than to the 214 POPLICOLA. advantage of the nobles, for it imposed upon disobedience the penalty of ten oxen and ίΛνο sheep ; the price of a sheep being ten obols, of an ox, an hundred. For the use of money was then infrequent amongst the Romans, but their wealth in cattle great; even now pieces of property are called peculia, from pecus^ cattle ; and they had stamped upon their most ancient money an ox, a sheep, or a hog ; and surnamed their sons Suillii, Bubulci, Caprarii, and Porcii, from caprce, goats, and porci, hogs. Amidst this mildness and moderation, for one excessive fault he instituted one excessive punishment; for he made it lawful without trial to take away any man's life that aspired to a tyrannj^, and acquitted the slayer, if he produced evidence of the crime; for though it was not probable for a man, whose designs were so great, to escape all notice ; yet because it was possible he might, although observed, by force anticipate judgment, which the usurpation itself would then preclude, he gave a license to any to anticipate the usurper. He was honored likewise for the law touching the treasury ; for because it was necessary for the citizens to contribute out of their estates to the maintenance of wars, and he was unwilling himself to be concerned in the care of it, or to permit his friends, or indeed to let the public money pass into any private house, he allotted the temple of Saturn for the treasury, in which to this day they deposit the tribute- money, and granted the people the liberty of choosing two young men as quaestors, or treasurers. The first were Publius Veturius and Marcus Minucius; and a large sum was collected, for they assessed one hundred and thirty thousand, excusing orphans and widows from the payment. After these dispositions, he admitted Lucretius, the father of Lucretia, as his colleague, and gave him the precedence in the government, by resigning the fasces to him. as due to his years, which privilege of seniority continued to POPLICOLA. 215 our time. But within a few days Lucretius died, and in a new election Marcus Horatius succeeded in that honor, and continued consul for the remainder of the year. Now, whilst Tarquin was making preparations in Tus- cany for a second war against the Romans, it is said a great portent occurred. When Tarquin was king, and had all but completed the buildings of the Capitol, design- ing, whether from oracular advice or his own pleasure, to erect an earthen chariot upon the top, he intrusted the workmanship to Tuscans of the city Veii, but soon after lost his kingdom. The work thus modelled, the Tuscans set in a furnace, but the clay showed not those passive qualities which usually attend its nature, to subside and be condensed upon the evaporation of the moisture, but luse and swelled out to that bulk, that, when solid and firm, notwithstanding the removal of the roof and open- ing the walls of the furnace, it could not be taken out w^ithout much difficulty. The soothsayers looked upon this as a divine prognostic of success and power to those that should possess it ; and the Tuscans resolved not to deliver it to the Romans, who demanded it, but ansAvered that it rather belonged to Tarquin than to those who had sent him into exile. A few days after, they had a horse- race there, with the usual shows and solemnities, and as the charioteer, with his garland on his head, was quietly driving the victorious chariot out of the ring, the horses, upon no apparent occasion, taking fright, either by divine instigation or by accident, hurried away their driver at full speed to Rome ; neither did his holding them in pre- vail, nor his voice, but he was forced along with violence till, coming to the Capitol, he was thrown out by the gate called Ratumena. This occurrence raised wonder and fear in the Veientines, who now permitted the delivery of the chariot. The building of the temple of the Capitoline Japiter 216 POPLICOLA. had been vowed by Tarquin, the son of Deinaratus, when warring with the Sabines ; Tarquinius Superbus, his son or grandson, built, but could not dedicate it, because he lost his kingdom before it was quite finished. And now that it was completed Avith all its ornaments, Poplicola was ambitious to dedicate it ; but the nobility envied him thai honor, as, indeed, also, in some degree, those his prudence in making; laws and conduct in wars entitled him to. Grudging him, at any rate, the addition of this, they urged Horatius to sue for the dedication, and, whilst Poplicola was engaged in some military expedition, voted it to Horatius, and conducted him to the Capitol, as though, were Poplicola present, they could not have carried it. Yet, some write, Poplicola was by lot destined against his will to the expedition, the other to the dedication ; and what happened in the performance seems to intimate some ground for this conjecture ; for, upon the Ides of September, wdiich happens about the full moon of the month Metagituion, the people having assembled at the Capitol and silence being enjoined, Horatius, after the performance of other ceremonies, holding the doors, ac- cording to custom, was proceeding to pronounce the words of dedication, when Marcus, the brother of Popli- cola, who had got a place on purpose beforehand near the door, observing his opportunity, cried, " consul, thy son lies dead in the camp ; " which made a great impression upon all others who heard it, yet in nowise discomposed Horatius, who returned merely the reply, " Cast the dead out whither you please ; I am not a mourner ; " and so completed the dedication. The news was not true, but Marcus thought the lie might avert him from his perform- ance ; but it argues him a man of wonderful self-pos- session, whether he at once saw through the cheat, or, believing it as true, showed no discomposure. The same fortune attended the dedication of the second POPLICOLA. 217 temple ; the lirst, as has been said, was built by Tarquin and dedicated by Horatius ; it Avas burnt down in the civil wars. The second, Sylla built, and, dying before the dedi- cation, left that honor to Catulus; and when this was demolished in the Vitellian sedition, Vespasian, with the same success that attended him in other things, began a third, and lived to see it finished, but did not live to see it again destroyed, as it presently was ; but was as fortunate in dying before its destruction, as SyWn was the reverse in dying before the dedication of his. For immediately after Vespasian's death it was consumed by fire. The fourth, which now exists, λγα^, both built and dedicated by Domitian. It is said Tarquin expended forty thousand pounds of silver in the very foundations ; but the whole wealth of the richest private man in Rome would not discharge the cost of the gilding of this temple in our days, it amounting to above twelve thousand talents; the jillars Avere cut out of Pentelican marble, of a length most happily proportioned to their thickness ; these we saw at Athens ; but Λvhen they Λvere cut anew at Rome and polished, they did not gain so much in embellishment, as they lost in symmetry, being rendered too taper and slender. Should any one λυΙιο Avonders at the costliness of the Capitol visit any one gallery in Domitian's palace, or hall, or bath, or the apartments of his concubines, Epicharmus's remark upon the prodigal, that 'T is not beneficence, but, truth to say, A mere disease of giving things away, would be in his mouth in application to Domitian. It is neither pietj^, he would say, nor magnificence, but, indeed, a mere disease of building, and a desire, like Midas, of converting every thing into gold or stone. And thus much for this matter. Tarquin, after the great battle wherein he lost his son 218 POPLICOLA. in combat with Brutus, fled to Clusium, and sought aid from Lar« Porsenna, then one of the most powerful princes of Italy, and a man of worth and generosity ; who assured him of assistance, immediately sending his commands to Rome that they should receive Tarquin as their king, and, upon the Romans' refusal, proclaimed war, and, having signified the time and place Λvhere he intended his attack, approached with a great army. Po- plicola was, in his absence, chosen consul a second time, and Titus Lucretius his colleague, and, returning to Rome, to show a spirit yet loftier than Porsenna's, built the city Sigliuria'^' when Porsenna was already in the neighbor- hood; and, walling it at great expense, there placed a colony of seven hundred men, as being little concerned at the war. Nevertheless, Porsenna, making a sharp assault, obliged the defendants to retire to Rome, who had almost in their entrance admitted the enemy into the city with them; only Poplicola by sallying out at the gate prevented them, and, joining battle by Tiber side, opposed the enemy, that pressed on with their mul- titude, but at last, sinking under desperate wounds, was carried out of the fight. The same fortune fell upon Lucretius, so that the Romans, being dismayed, retreated into the city for their security, and Rome was in great hazard of being taken, the enemy forcing their way on to the wooden bridge, where Horatius Codes, seconded by two of the first men in Rome, Herminius and Lartius, made head against them. Horatius obtained this name from the loss of one of his eyes in the wars, or, as others write, from the depressure of his nose, which, leaving nothing in the middle to separate them, made both eyes appear but as one ; and hence, intending to say Cyclops, * No such city is heard of in to Liv)^, was founded earHer in any other author. Possibly it the reign of the last Tarquin. should be Signia, which, according POPLICOLA. 219 by a mispronunciation they called him Codes. This Codes kept the bridge, and held back the enemy, till his own party broke it down behind, and then with his armor dropped into the river, and swam to the hither side, with a wound in his hip from a Tuscan spear. Poplicola, ad- miring his courage, proposed at once that the Romans should every one make him a present of a day's provi- sions, and afterwards gave him as much land as he could plough round in one day, and besides erected a brazen statue to his honor in the temple of A^ulcan, as a requital for the lameness caused by his wound. But Porsenna laying close siege to the city, and a fam- ine raging amongst the Romans, also a new army of the Tuscans making incursions into the country, Poplicola, a third time chosen consul, designed to make, without sally- ing out, his defence against Porsenna, but, privately steal- ing forth against the new army of the Tuscans, put them to flight, and slew five thousand. The story of Mucins is variously given; we, like others, must follow the com- monly received statement. He was a man endowed with every virtue, but most eminent in war; and, resolving to kill Porsenna, attired himself in the Tuscan habit, and, using the Tuscan language, came to the camp, and ap- proaching the seat where the king sat amongst his nobles, but not certainly knowing the king, and fearful to inquire, drew out his sword, and stabbed one who he thought !iad most the appearance of king. Mucins was taken in the act, and Λvhilst he was under examination, a pan of fire was brought to the king, who intended to sacrifice ; Mu- cius thrust his right hand into the flame, and Λvhilst it burnt stood looking at Porsenna with a steadfast and un- daunted countenance ; Porsenna at last in admiration dismissed him, and returned his sword, reaching it from his seat ; Mucius received it in his left hand, which occa• tiioned the name of Sccevola, left-handed, and said, " I have 220 POPLICOLA. oA^ercome the terrors of Porsenna, yet am vaiiquislied by his generosity, and gratitude obliges me to disclose what no punishment could extort;" and assured him then, that three hundred Romans, all of the same resolution, lurked about his camp, only waiting for an opportunity; he, by lot appointed to the enterprise, was not sorry that he had miscarried in it, because so brave and good a man deserved rather to be a friend to the Romans than an enemy. To this Porsenna gave credit, and thereupon expressed an inclination to a truce, not, I presume, so much out of fear of the three hundred Romans, as in ad- miration of the Roman courage. All other writers call this man Mucius Scsevola, yet Athenodorus, son of San- don, in a book addressed to Octavia, Cassar's sister, avers he was also called Postumus. Poplicola, not so much esteeming Porsenna's enmity dangerous to Rome as his friendship and alliance servicear ble, was induced to refer the controversy with Tarquin to his arbitration, and several times undertook to prove Tarquin the worst of men, and justly deprived of his kingdom. But Tarquin proudly replied he would admit no judge, much less Porsenna, that had fallen away from his engagements ; and Porsenna, resenting this ansΛver, and mistrusting the equity of his cause, moved also by the solicitations of his son Aruns, who was earnest for the Roman interest, made a peace on these conditions, that tliey should resign the land they had taken from the Tuscans, and restore all prisoners and receive back their deserters. To confirm the peace, the Romans gave as hostages ten sons of patrician parents, and as many daughters, amongst whom was Valeria, the daughter of Poplicola. Upon these assurances, Porsenna ceased from all acts of hostility, and the young girls went down to the river to bathe, at that part where the winding of the bank POPLICOLA. 221 formed a bay and made the waters stiller and quieter; and, seeing no guard, nor any one coming or going over, they were encouraged to swim over, notwithstanding the depth and violence of the stream. Some affirm that one of them, by name Cloelia, passing over on horseback, per- suaded the rest to swim after; but, upon their safe arrival, presenting themselves to Poplicola, he neither praised nor approved their return, but was concerned lest he should appear less faithful than Porsenna, and this boldness in the maidens should argue treachery in the Romans ; so that, apprehending them, he sent them back to Porsenna, But Tarquin's men, having intelligence of this, laid a strouii ambuscade on the other side for those that con- ducted them ; and while these were skirmishing together, Valeria, the daughter of Poplicola, rushed through the enemy and fled, and with the assistance of three of her attendants made good her escape, whilst the rest were dangerously hedged in by the soldiers ; but Aruns, Por- s-enna's son, upon tidings of it, hastened to their rescue, and, putting the enemy to flight, delivered the Romans. When Porsenna saw the maidens returned, demanding who was the author and adviser of the act, and under- standing Cloelia to be the person, he looked on her with a cheerful and benignant countenance, and, commanding one of his horses to be brought, sumptuously adorned, made her a present of it. This is produced as evidence by those who affirm that only Cloelia passed the river on horseback; those who deny it call it only the honor the Tuscan did to her courage; a figure, however, on horseback stands in the Via Sacra, as you go to the Palar tium, which some say is the statue of Cloelia, others of Valeria. Porsenna, thus reconciled to the Romans, gave them a fresh instance of his generosity, and commanded his soldiers to quit the camp merely with their arms, leaving theii tents, full of corn and other stores, as a gift 222 POPLICOLA. to the Romans. Hence, even down to our time, when there is a pubhc sale of goods, thej cry Porsenna's first, by way of perpetual commemoration of his kindness. There stood, also, by the senate-house, a brazen statue of him, of plain and antique workmanship. Afterwards, the Sabines making incursions upon the Ro- mans, Marcus Valerius, brother to Poplicola, Λvas made con- sul, and with him Postumius Tubertus. Marcus, through the management of affairs by the conduct and direct assistance of Poplicola, obtained two great victories, in the latter of which he slew thirteen thousand Sabines without the loss of one Roman, and Λvas honored, as an accession to his triumph, with an house built in the Pala- tium at the public charge ; and whereas the doors of other houses opened inward into the house, they made this to open outAvard into the street, to intimate their perpetual public recognition of his merit by thus contin- ually making way for him. The same fashion in their doors the Greeks, they say, had of old universally, which appears from their comedies, where those that are going out make a noise at the door within, to give notice to those that pass by or stand near the door, that the opening the door into the street might occasion no sur- prisal. The year after, Poplicola -was made consul the fourth time, when a confederacy of the Sabines and Latins threatened a war; a superstitious fear also overran the city on the occasion of general miscarriages of their women, no single birth coming to its due time. Popli- cola, upon consultation of the Sibylline books, sacrificing to Pluto, and renewing certain games commanded by Apollo, restored the city to more cheerful assurance in the gods, and then prepared against the menaces of men. There were appearances of great preparation, and of a formidable confederacy. Amongst the Sabines there was POPLICOLA. 223 one Appius Clansns, a man of a great wealth and strength of body, but most eminent for his high character and for his eloquence ; yet, as is usually the fate of great men, he could not escape the envy of others, which was much occasioned by his dissuading the war, and seeming to pro- mote the Koman interest, with a view, it Λvas thought, to obtaining absolute power in his own country for himself. Knowing how welcome these reports would be to the multitude, and how offensive to the army and the abet- tors of the war, he was afraid to stand a trial, but, hav- ing a considerable body of friends and allies to assist him, raised a tumult amongst the Sabines, Λvhich delayed the Λvar. Neither was Poplicola wanting, not only to un- derstand the grounds of the sedition, but to promote and increase it, and he despatched emissaries with instructions to Clausus, that Poplicola was assured of his goodness and justice, and thought it indeed unworthy in any man, however injured, to seek revenge upon his fellow-citi- zens ; yet if he pleased, for his own security, to leave his enemies and come to Rome, he should be received, both in public and private, with the honor his merit deserved, and their own glorj^ required. Appius, seriously weigh- ing the matter, came to the conclusion that it was the best resource which necessity left him, and advising with his friends, and they inviting again others in the same manner, he came to Eome, bringing five thousand families, Λvith their Avives and children; people of the quietest and steadiest temper of all the Sabines. Popli- cola, informed of their approach, received them with all the kind offices of a friend, and admitted them at once to the franchise, allotting to every one two acres of land by the river Anio, but to Clausus twenty-five acres, and gave him a place in the senate ; a commencement of politi- cal, power which he used so wisely, that he rose to the 224 POPLICOLA. highest reputation, was very influential, and left the Clauclian house behind him, inferior to none in Rome. The departure of these men rendered things quiet amongst the Sabines; yet the chief of the community would not suffer them to settle into peace, but resented that Clausus now, by turning deserter, should disappoint that re\^enge upon the Romans, which, while at home, he had unsuccessfully opposed. Coming Λνΐΐΐι a great army, they sat down before Fidense, and placed an ambuscade of two thousand men near Rome, in wooded and hollow spots, with a design that some few horsemen, as soon as it was day, should go out and ravage the country, com- manding them upon their approach to the town so to retreat as to draw the enemy into the ambush. Poplicola, however, soon advertised of these designs by deserters, disposed his forces to their respective charges. Postu- mius Balbus, his son-in-law, going out with three thou- sand men in the evening, was ordered to take the hills, under which the ambush lay, there to observe their mo- tions ; his colleague, Lucretius, attended with a body of the lightest and boldest men, was appointed to meet the Sabine horse ; whilst he, with the rest of the army, encompassed the enemy. And a thick mist rising acciden- tally, Postumius, early in the morning, with shouts from the hills, assailed the ambuscade, Lucretius charged the light-horse, and Poplicola besieged the camp ; so that on all sides defeat and ruin came upon the Sabines, and without any resistance the Romans killed them in their flight, their very hopes leading them to their death, for each division, presuming that the other was safe, gave up all thought of fighting or keeping their ground ; and these quitting the camp to retire to the ambuscade, and the ambuscade flying to the camp, fugitives thus met fugi- tives, and found those from whom they expected succor POPLICOLA. 225 as much in need of succor from themselves. The near- ness, however, of the city FidenoB was the preservation of the Sabines, especially those that fled from the camp ; those that could not gain the city either perished in the field, or Λvere taken prisoners. This victory, the Eomans, though usually ascribing such success to some god, attrib- uted to the conduct of one captain ; and it was observed to be heard amongst the soldiers, that Poplicola had de- livered their enemies lame and blind, and only not in chains, to be despatched by their SΛvords. From the spoil and prisoners great wealth accrued to the people. Poplicola, having completed his triumph, and bequeathed the city to the care of the succeeding consuls, died ; thus closing a life which, so far as human life may be, had been full of all that is good and honorable. The people, as though they had not duly rewarded his deserts when alive, but still Avere in his debt, decreed him a public interment, every one contributing his qiiadrans towards the charge ; the women, besides, by private consent, mourned a whole year, a signal mark of honor to his memory. He was buried, by the people's desire, within the city, in the part called Amelia, Avhere his posterity had likewise privilege of burial ; now, however, none of the family are interred there, but the body is carried thither and set down, and some one places a burning torch under it, and immediately takes it away, as an attestation of the de- ceased's privilege, and his receding from his honor j after which the body is remo\'ed. VOL. L 15 COMPARISON OF POPLICOLA WITH SOLON. There is something singular in the present parallel which has not occurred in any other of the lives ; that the one should be the imitator of the other, and the other his best evidence. Upon the survey of Solon's sentence to Croesus in favor of Tellus's happiness, it seems more applicable to Poplicola; for Tellus, whose virtuous life and dying well had gained him the name of the happiest man, yet was never celebrated in Solon's poems for a good man, nor have his children or any magistracy of his deserved a memorial; but Poplicola's life was the most eminent amongst the Romans, as well for the greatness of his virtue as his power, and also since his death many amongst the distinguished families, even in our days, the Poplicolaa, Messalie, and Valerii, after a lapse of six hundred years, acknowledge him as the foun- tain of their honor. Besides, Tellus, though keeping his post and fighting like a valiant soldier, was yet slain by his enemies; but Poplicola, the better fortune, slew his, and saw his country victorious under his command. And his honors and triumphs brought him, which was Solon's ambition, to a happy end ; the ejaculation which, in his verses against Mimnermus about the continuance of man's life, he himself made, Mourned let me die ; and may I, when life ends, Occasion sighs and sorrows to my friends, is evidence to Poplicola's happiness ; his death did not (226) POPLTCOLA AND SOLON. 227 only draw tears from his friends and acquaintance, but was the object of universal regret and sorrow through the whole city; the women deplored his loss as that of a son, brother, or common father. "Wealth I would have," said Solon, "but wealth by wrong procure Avould not," because punishment would follow. But Poplicola's riches were not only justly his, but he spent them nobly in doing good to the distressed. So that if Solon was reputed the wisest man, Ave must alloAV Poplicola to be the happiest ; for what Solon wished for as the greatest and most perfect good, this Poplicola had, and used and enjoyed to his death. And as Solon may thus be said to have contributed to Poplicola's glory, so did also Poplicola to his, by his choice of him as his model in the formation of repub- lican institutions; in reducing, for example, the exces- sive powers and assumption of the consulship. Several of his laws, indeed, he actually transferred to Rome, as his empowering the people to elect their officers, and allow- ing offenders the liberty of appealing to the people, as Solon did to the jurors. He did not, indeed, create a new senate, as Solon did, but augmented the old to almost double its number. The appointment of treasurers again, the quaestors, has a like origin ; with the intent that the chief magistrate should not, if of good character, be Avith- drawn from greater matters ; or, if bad, have the greater temptation to injustice, by holding both the government and treasury in his hands. The aversion to tyranny was stronger in Poplicola ; any one who attempted usurpation could, by Solon's law, only be punished upon conviction ; but Poplicola made it death before a trial. And though Solon justly gloried, that, when arbitrary power was abso- lutely offered to him by circumstances, and when his countrymen would have willingly seen him accept it, he yet declined it; still Poplicola merited no less, Λνΐιο, re- 228 POPLICOLA ΑΝΌ SOLON. ceiving a despotic command, converted it to a popular office, and did not employ the whole legal power Avhich he held. We must allow, indeed, that Solon was before Poplicola in observing that A people always minds its rulers best When it is neither humored nor oppressed. The remission of debts was peculiar to Solon ; it was Ids great means for confirming the citizens' liberty ; for a mere law to give all men equal rights is but useless, if the poor must sacrifice those rights to their debts, and, in the very seats and sanctuaries of equality, the courts of justice, the offices of state, and the public discussions, be more than anywhere at the beck and bidding of the rich. A yet more extraordinary success was, that, although usually civil violence is caused by any remission of debts, upon this one occasion this dangerous but powerful remedy actually put an end to civil violence already ex- isting, Solon's own private Avorth and reputation over- balancing all the ordinary ill-repute and discredit of the change. The beginning of his government was more glorious, for he was entirely original, and followed no man's example, and, without the aid of any ally, achieved his most important measures by his own conduct; yet the close of Poplicola's life was more happy and desirable, for Solon saw the dissolution of his own commonwealth, Poplicola's maintained the state in good order down to the civil wars. Solon, leaving his laws, as soon as he had made them, engraven in wood, but destitute of a defender, departed from Athens ; whilst Poplicola, remaining, both in and out of office, labored to establish the government. Solon, though he actually knew of Pisistratus's ambition, yet was not able to suppress it, but had to yield to usur- pation in its infancy; whereas Poplicola utterly sub- POPLICOLA AND SOLON. 229 verted and dissolved a potent monarchy, strongly settled by long continuance; uniting thus to virtues equal to those, and purposes identical Avith those of Solon, the good fortune and the power that alone could make them effec- tive. In militar}^ exploits, Daimachus of Plataea will not even alloΛV Solon the conduct of the war ag-ainst the Mesari- ans, as was before intimated ; but Poplicola was victorious in the most important conflicts, both as a private soldier and commander. In domestic politics, also, Solon, in play, as it were, and by counterfeiting madness, induced the enterprise against Salamis ; whereas Poplicola, in the very beginning, exposed hiniself to the greatest risk, took arms against Tarquin, detected the conspiracy, and, being principally concerned both in preventing the escape of and afterwards punishing the traitors, not only expelled the tyrants from the city, but extirpated their very hopes. And as, in cases calling for contest and resistance and manful opposition, he behaved with courage and resolu- tion, so, in instances where peaceable language, persua- sion, and concession were requisite, he was yet more to be commended ; and succeeded in gaining happily to re- conciliation and friendship, Porsenna, a terrible and invincible enemy. Some may, perhaps, object, that Solon recovered Salamis, which they had lost, for the Athenians j whereas Poplicola receded from part of what the Romans were at that time possessed of; but judgment is to be made of actions according to the times in which they were performed. The conduct of a wise politician is ever suited to the present posture of affairs ; often by forego- ing a part he saves the whole, and by yielding in a small matter secures a greater ; and so Poplicola, by restoring what the Romans had lately usurped, saved their un- doubted patrimony, and procured, moreover, the stores of the enemy for those who were only too thankful to 230 POPLICOLA AND SOLON. secure their city. Permitting the decision of the contro- versy to his adversary, he not only got the victory, but likewise what he himself would willingly have given to purchase the victory, Porsenna putting an end to the war, and leaving them all the provision of his camp, from the sense of the virtue and gallant disposition of the Romans which their consul had impressed upon him. THEMISTOCLES. The birth of Themistocles was somewhat too obscure to do him honor. His father, Neocles, was not of the distinguished people of Athens, but of the township of Phrearrhi, and of the tribe Leontis ; and by his mother's side, as it is reported, he was base-born. I am not of the noble Grecian race, I 'm poor Abrotonon, and born in Thrace ; Let the Greek women scorn rae, if they please, I was the mother of Themistocles. Yet Phanias writes that the mother of Themistocles was not of Thrace, but of Caria, and that her name was not Abrotonon, but Euterpe ; and Neanthes adds farther that she Avas of Halicarnassus in Caria. And, as illegitimate children, including those that were of the half-blood or had but one parent an Athenian, had to attend at the Cynosarges (a wrestling-place outside the gates, dedicated to Hercules, who was also of half-blood amongst the gods, having had a mortal woman for his mother), Themisto- cles persuaded several of the young men of high birth to accompany him to anoint and exercise themselves toge- ther at Cynosarges; an ingenious device for destroy- ing the distinction between the noble and the base-born, and between those of the Λvhole and those of the half (231) 232 THEMISTOCLES. blood of Athens. However, it is certain that he was re- lated to the house of the Lycomedse; for Shiionides records, that he rebuilt the chapel of Phlj^a, belonghig to that family, and beautified it with pictures and other ornaments, after it had been burnt by the Persians. It is confessed by all that from his youth he was of a vehement and impetuous nature, of a quick apprehen- sion, and a strong and aspiring bent for action and great affairs. The holidays and intervals in his studies he did not spend in play or idleness, as other children, but would be always inventing or arranging some oration or declama- tion to himself, the subject of which was generally the excusing or accusing his companions, so that his master would often say to him, " You, my boy, will be nothing small, but great one Λvay or other, for good or else for bad." He received reluctantly and carelessly instructions given him to improve his manners and behavior, or to teach him any pleasing or graceful accomplishment, but whatever Avas said to improve him in sagacity, or in management of affairs, he would giΛ'e attention to, be- yond one of his years, from confidence in his natural capacities for such things. And thus afterwards, when in company where people engaged themselves in what are commonly thought the liberal and elegant amuse- ments, he w^as obliged to defend himself against the observations of those who considered themselves highly accomplished, by the somcAvhat arrogant retort, that he certainly could not make use of any stringed instrument, could only, were a small and obscure city put into his hands, make it great and glorious. Notwithstanding this, Stesimbrotus says that Themistocles was a hearer of Anaxagoras, and that he studied natural philosophy un- der Melissus, contrary to chronology; for Melissus com- manded the Samians in their siege by Pericles, who was much Themistocles's junior ; and with Pericles, also, Anaxa THEMISTOCLES. 1^33 goras was intimate. They, therefore, might rather be creditefl, who report, that Themistocles was an admirer of Mnesiphilus the Phrearrhian, who Avas neither rhetori- cian nor natural philosopher, but a professor of that which was then called wisdom, consisting in a sort of poli- tical shrewdness and practical sagacity, which had begun and continued, almost like a sect of philosophy, from So- lon ; but those who came afterwards, and mixed it with pleadings and legal artifices, and transformed the practi- cal part of it into a mere art of speaking and an exercise of words, were generally called sophists. Themistocles resorted to Mnesiphilus when he had already embarked in politics. In the first essays of his youth he was not regular nor happily balanced ; he allowed himself to follow mere nat- ural character, which, without the control of reason and instruction, is apt to hurry, upon either side, into sudden and A^olent courses, and very often to break aΛvay and determine upon the worst ; as he afterwards owned him- self, saying, that the wildest colts make the best horses, if they only get properly trained and broken in. But those who upon this fasten stories of their ΟΛνη inven- tion, as of his being disowned by his father, and that his mother died for grief of her son's ill fame, certainly ca- lumniate him ; and there are others who relate, on the contrary, how that to deter him from public business, and to let him see how the vulgar behave themselves to- wards their leaders when they have at last no farther use of them, his father showed him the old gidleys as they lay forsaken and cast about upon the sea-shore. Yet it is evident that his mind was early imbued with the keenest interest in public affairs, and the most passionate ambition for distinction. Eager from the first to obtain the highest place, he unhesitatingly accepted the hatred of the most powerful and influential leaders in 234 THEMISTOCLES. the city, but more especially of Aristicles, the son of Lysi- raachus, who always opposed him. And yet all this great enmity between them arose, it appears, from a very boy- ish occasion, both being attached to the beautiful Stesi- laus of Ceos, as Ariston the philosopher tells us ; ever af- ter Avhich, they took opposite sides, and w^ere rivals in pol- itics. Not but that the incompatibility of their lives and manners may seem to have increased the difference, for Aristides Λvas of a mild nature, and of a nobler sort of character, and, in public matters, acting always Avith a view, not to glory or popularity, but to the best inter- ests of the state consistently with safety and honesty, he was often forced to oppose Themistocles, and interfere against the increase of his influence, seeing him stirring up the j)eople to all kinds of enterprises, and introducing various innovations. For it is said that Themistocles was so transported Λvith the thoughts of glory, and so inflamed with the passion for great actions, that, though he was still young when the battle of Marathon was fought against the Persians, upon the skilful conduct of the gen- eral, Miltiades, being everywhere talked about, he was observed to be thoughtful, and reserved, alone by him- self; he passed the nights without sleep, and avoided all his usual places of recreation, and to those who wondered at the change, and inquired the reason of it, he gave the answer, that " the trophy of Miltiades Avould not let him sleep." And when others were of opinion that the bat- tle of Marathon would be an end to the war, Themisto- cles thought that it \\as but the beginning of far greater conflicts, and for these, to the benefit of all Greece, he kept himself in continual readiness, and his city also in proper training, foreseeing from far before Avhat w^ould happen. And, first of all, the Athenians being accustomed to divide amongst themselves the revenue proceeding IHEMISTOCLES. 235 from the silver mines at Laiirium, he was the only man that durst propose to the people that this distribution should cease, and that with the money ships should be built to make war against the ^ginetans, who were the most flourishing people in all Greece, and by the num- ber of their ships held the sovereignty of the sea ; and Themistocles thus Λναβ more easily able to persuade them, avoiding all mention of danger from Darius or the Per- sians, who were at a great distance, and their comiog very uncertain, and at that time not much to be feared ; but, by a seasonable employment of the emulation and anger felt by the Athenians against the ^ginetans, he induced them to preparation. So that with this money an hun- dred ships were built, Λνΐίΐι Avhich they afterwards fought against Xerxes. And, henceforward, little by little, turn- ing and drawing the city down towards the sea, in the belief, that, whereas by land they were not a fit match for their next neighbors, with their ships they might be able to repel the Persians and command Greece, thus, as Plato says, from steady soldiers he turned them into mari- ners and seamen tossed about the sea, and gave occasion for the reproach against him, that he took away from the Athenians the spear and the shield, and bound them to the bench and the oar. These measures he carried in the assembly, against the opposition, as Stesimbrotus relates, of Miltiades; and whether or no he hereby injured the purity and true balance of government, may be a que»- tion for philosophers, but that the deliverance of Greece came at that time from the sea, and that these galleys restored Athens again after it was destroj-ed, were others wanthig, Xerxes himself Avould be sufficient evidence, who, though his land-forces were still entire, after his de- feat at sea, fled away, and thought himself no longer able to encounter the Greeks ; and, as it seems to me, left Mar- 236 the:mistocles. donias behind him, not out of any hopes he could have to bring them into subjection, but to hinder them from pur- suino- him. Themistocles is said to have been eager in the acquisi- tion of riches, according to some, that he might be the more liberal ; for loving to sacrifice often, and to be splendid in his entertainment of strangers, he required a plentiful revenue ; yet he is accused by others of having been parsimonious and sordid to that degree that he would sell provisions which were sent to him as a present. He desired Diphilides, who was a breeder of horses, to give him a colt, and when he refused it, threatened that in a short time he would turn his house into a wooden * horse, intimating that he would stir up dispute and litiga- tion between him and some of his relations. He went beyond all men in the passion for distinction. When he was still young and unknown in the w^orld, he entreated Epicles of Hermione, who had a good hand at the lute and was much sought after by the Athenians, to come and practise at home with him, being ambitious of having people inquire after his house and frequent his company. When he came to the Oh^mpic games, and was so splendid in his equipage and entertainments, in his rich tents and furniture, that he strove to outdo Cimon, he displeased the Greeks, who thought that such magnifi- cence might be allowed in one who Λvas a young man and of a great family but \vas a great piece of insolence in one as 3'et undistinguished, and without title or means for making any such displa}^ In a dramatic contest, the play he paid for Λνοη the prize, which was then a matter that excited much emulation ; he put up a tablet in record of it, Avith the inscription, " Themistocles of Phrearrhi was at the charge of it ; Phrynichus made it ; Adimantus was * Full of people ready for fighting, like the Trojiin horse. THEMISTOCLES. 237 a.rchon." He was well liked by the common people, would salute every particular citizen by his own name, and always show himself a just judge in questions of business between private men ; he said to Simonides, the poet of Ceos, who desired something of him, when he was commander of the army, that was not reasonable, " Simon- ides, you would be no good poet if you wrote false mea- sure, nor should I be a good magistrate if for ilivor I made false law." And at another time, lauohino; at Simonides, he said, that he Avas a man of little judgment to speak a,gainst the Corinthians, who were inhabitants of a great cit}^, and to have his ΟΛΥη picture drawn so often, havino; so ill-lookinoj a face. Gradually growing to be great, and winning the favor of the people, he at last gained the day Λvitll his faction over that of Aristides, and procured his banishment by ostracism. AVhen the kino• of Persia was now^ advancino; against Greece, and the Athenians were in consultation who should be general, and many Λvithdrew themselves of their ΟΛΥη accord, being terrified with the greatness of the danger, there Avas one Epicydes, a popular speaker, son to Euphemides, a man of an eloquent tongue, but of a faint heart, and a slave to riches, who was desirous of the command, and was looked upon to be in a fair way to carry it by the number of votes; but Themistocles, fearing that, if the command should fall into such hands, all would be lost, bought off Epicydes and his pretensions, it is said, for a sum of money. When the kini»; of Persia sent messens-ers into Greece, with an interpreter, to demand earth and water, as an acknowledgment of subjection, Themistocles, by the con- sent of the people, seized upon the interpreter, and put him to death, for presuming to publish the barbarian orders and decrees in the Greek language ; this is one of the ac- tions he is commended for, as also for what he did to Arth- 238 THEMISTOCLES. mills of Zelea, who brought gold from the king of Persia to corrupt the Greeks, and Avas, by an order from The- mistocles, degraded and disfranchised, he and his children and his posterity ; but that which most of all redounded to his credit was, that he put an end to all the civil wars of Greece, composed their differences, and persuaded them to lay aside all enmity during the war with the Persians ; and in this great work, Chileus the Arcadian was, it is saidj of great assistance to him. Having taken upon himself the command of the Athe- nian forces, he immediately endeavored to persuade the citizens to leave the city, and to embark upon their gal- leys, and meet with the Persians at a great distance from Greece ; but many being against this, he led a large force, together with the Lacedaemonians, into Tempe, that in this pass they might maintain the safety of Thessaly, which had not as yet declared for the king ; but when they returned without performing any thing, and it was known that not only the Thessalians, but all as far as Boeotia, was going over to Xerxes, then the Athenians more Avillingly hearkened to the advice of Themistocles to fight by sea, and sent him with a fleet to guard the straits of Artemisium. When the contingents met here, the Greeks would have the Lacedaemonians to command, and Eurybiades to be their admiral ; but the Athenians, who surpassed all the rest together in number of vessels, would not submit to come after any other, till Themistocles, perceiving the danger of this contest, yielded his own command to Eu- rybiades, and got the Athenians to submit, extenuating the loss by persuading them, that if in this war they be- haved themselves like men, he would answer for it after that, that the Greeks, of their own will, would submit to their command. And by this moderation of his, it is cvi- ilent that he was the chief means of the deliverance of THEMISTOCLES. 239 Greece, and gained the Athenians the glory of ahke sur- passing their enemies in valor, and their confederates in wisdom. As soon as the Persian armada arrived at Apheta?, Eu- rybiades was astonished to see such a vast number of vessels before him, and, being informed that two hundred more were sailing round behind the island of Sciathus, he immediately determined to retire farther into Greece, and to sail back into some part of Peloponnesus, where their land army and their fleet might join, for he looked upon the Persian forces to be altogether unassailable by sea. But the Euboeans, fearing that the Greeks w^ould forsake them, and leave them to the mercy of the enemy, sent Pelagon to confer privately with Themistocles, taking witli him a good sum of money, which, as Herodotus reports, he accepted and gave to Eurybiades. In this affair none of his own countr^^men opposed him so much as Architeles, captain of the sacred galley, who, haviug no money to supply his seamen, was eager to go home ; but Themistocles so incensed the Athenians against him, that they set upon him and left him not so much as his sup- per, at which Architeles was much surprised, and took it very ill; but Themistocles immediately sent him in a chest a service of provisions, and at the bottom of it a talent of silver, desiring him to sup to-night, and to-mor- row provide for his seamen ; if not, he would report it amongst the Athenians that he had received money from the enemy. So Phanias the Lesbian tells the story. Though the fights between the Greeks and Persians in the straits of Euboea were not so important as to make any final decision of the w^ar, yet the experience w'hich the Greeks obtained in them was of great advantage ; for thus by actual trial and in real danger, they found out, that neither number of ships, nor riches and orna- ments, nor boasting shouts, nor barbarous songs of vie- 240 THEMISTOCLES. tor}'', were any way terrible to men that knew liow to fight, and were resolved to come hand to hand with their enemies ; these things they were to despise, and to come np close and grapple with their foes. This, Pindar ap- pears to have seen, and says justly enough of tlie fight at Artemisium, that There the sons of Athens set The stone that freedom stands on yet. For the first step towards victory undoubtedly is to gain courage. Artemisium is in Euboea, beyond the city of Histisea, a sea-beach open to the north ; most nearly op- posite to it stands Olizon, in the country which formerly was under Philoctetes; there is a small temple there, dedicated to Diana, surnamed of the Dawn, and trees about it, around Avliich again stand pillars of white mar- ble ; and if you rub them with your hand, they send forth both the smell and color of saffron. On one of the pil- lars these verses are engraved, — With numerous tribes from Asia's regions brought The sons of Athens on these waters fought ; Erecting, after they had quelled the Mede, To Artemis this record of the deed. There is a place still to be seen upon this shore, where, in the middle of a great heap of sand, they take out from the bottom a dark powder like ashes, or something that has passed the fire ; and here, it is supposed, the ship- wrecks and bodies of the dead were burnt. But when news came from Thermopylae to Artemisium, informing them that king Leonidas Λvas slain, and that Xerxes had made himself master of all the passages by land, they returned back to the interior of Greece, the Athenians having the command of the rear, the place of THEMISTOCLES. 241 honor and danger, and much elated by what had been done. As Themistocles sailed along the coast, he took notice of the harbors and fit places for the enemies' ships to come to land at, and engraved large letters in such stones as he found there by chance, as also in others Λvhich he set up on purpose near to the landing-places, or where they were to water ; in which inscriptions he called upon the loniaus to forsake the Medes, if it w^ere possible, and come over to the Greeks, who Avere their proper founders and fathers, and Avere now hazarding all for their liberties _, but, if this could not be done, at any rate to impede and disturb the Persians in all engagements. He hoped that these writings would prevail with the lonians to revolt, or raise some trouble by making their fidelity doubtful to the Persians. Now, though Xerxes had already passed through Dons and invaded the country of Phocis, and Avas burning and destroying the cities of the Phocians, yet the Greeks sent them no relief; and, though the Athenians earnestly desired them to meet the Persians in Boeotia, before they could come into Attica, as they themselves had come for- Avard by sea at Artemisium, they gave no ear to their request, being wholly intent upon Peloponnesus, and re- solved to gather all their forces together within the Isthmus, and to build a wall from sea to sea in that narrow neck of hind; so that the Athenians were enraged to see themselves betrayed, and at the same time afflicted and dejected at their own destitution. For to fight alone against such a numerous army was to no purpose, and the only expedient now left them was to leave their city and cling to their ships ; which the people were very un- willing to submit to, imagining that it would signify little now to gain a victory, and not understanding how there could be deliverance any longer after they had once for- VOL. I. IG 242 THEMISTOCLES. saken the temples of their gods and exposed the tombs and monuments of their ancestors to the fury of their enemies. Themistocles, being at a loss, and not able to draw the people over to his opinion by any human reason, set his machines to work, as in a theatre, and employed prodigies and oracles. The serpent of Minerva, kept in the inner part of her temple, disappeared; the priests gave it out to the people that the offerings which were set for it were found untouched, and declared, by the suggestion of Themistocles, that the goddess had left the city, and taken her flight before them towards the sea. And he often urged them with the oracle '•' Avhich bade them trust to walls of wood, showing them that walls of wood could signify nothing else but ships ; and that the island of Salamis was termed in it, not miserable or unhappy, but had the epithet of divine, for that it should one day be associated with a great good for- tune of the Greeks. At length his opinion prevailed, and he obtained a decree that the city should be committed to the protection of Minerva, "queen of Athens ; " that they who were of age to bear arms should embark, and that each should see to sending away his children, Avomen, and slaves where he could. This decree being confirraed, most of the Athenians removed their parents, wives, and children to Troezen, where they were received with eager good-will by the Troezenians, who passed a vote that they should be maintained at the pub- lic charge, by a daily payment of two obols to every one, * " While all things ehe are and an host of men on foot, coming taken," said the oracle, "Avithin the from the mainland ; retire turning boundary of Cecrops and the covert thy back ; one day yet thou shalt of divine Cithairon, Zeus grants show thy face. Ο divine Salamis, to Athena that the wall of wood but thou shalt slay children of alone shall remain uncaptured ; women, either at the scattering of that shall help thee and thy Demeter or at the gathering." children. Stay not for horsemen THEMISTOCLES. 243 and leave be given to the children to gather fruit where they pleased, and schoolmasters paid to instruct them. This vote was proposed by Nicagoras. There was no public treasure at that time in Athens ; but the council of Areopagus, as Aristotle says, distributed to every one that served, eight drachmas, which was a great help to the manning of the fleet; but Clidemus as- cribes this also to the art of Themistocles. When the Athenians were on their way down to the haven of Piraeus, the shield with the head of Medusa was missing; and he, under the pretext of searching for it, ransacked all places, and found among their goods considerable sums of money concealed, which he applied to the public use ; and with this the soldiers and seamen were well provided for their voyage. When the whole city of Athens were going on board, it afforded a spectacle worthy of pity alike and admira- tion, to see them thus send away their fathers and chil- dren before them, and, unmoved with their cries and tears, pass over into the island. But that which stirred compassion most of all was, that many old men, by rea- son of their great age, were left behind ; and even the tame domestic animals could not be seen without some pity, running about the town and howling, as desirous to be carried along with their masters that had kept them ; among which it is reported that Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, had a dog that would not endure to stay be- hind, but leaped into the sea, and swam along by the gal ley's .side till he came to the island of Salamis, where he fainted away and died, and that spot in the island, which is still called the Dog's Grave, is said to be his. Among the great actions of Themistocles at this crisis, the recall of Aristides was not the least, for, before the war, he had been ostracized by the party which Themi- stocles headed, and was in banishment ; but now, percei- 244 THEMiSTOCLES. ving that the people regretted his absence, and were fear- ful that he might ";o over to the Persians to revensre him- self, and thereby ruin the affairs of Greece, Themistocles proposed a decree that those who were banished for a time might return again, to give assistance by word and deed to the cause of Greece with the rest of their fellow- citizens. Eurybiades, by reason of the greatness of Sparta, was admiral of the Greek fleet, but yet was faint-hearted in time of danger, and willing to weigh anchor and set sail for the isthmus of Corinth, near which the land army lay encamped ; Λvhich Themistocles resisted ; and this was the occasion of the well-known words, when Eurybiades, to check his impatience, told him that at the Ol3αΉpic games they that start up before the rest are lashed ; " And they," replied Themistocles, " that are left behind are not crowned." Again, Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, " Strike if you will, but hear;" Eur3d3iades, w^ondering much at his moderation, desired him to speak, and Themistocles now brought him to a better understanding. And Λvhen one who stood by him told him that it did not become those who had neither city nor house to lose, to persuade others to relinquish their habitations and forsake their countries, Themistocles gave this reply : " We have in- deed left our houses and our walls, base fellow, not thinkinor it fit to become slaves for the sake of thino-s ο ο that have no life nor soul ; and yet our city is the greatest of all Greece, consisting of two hundred galleys, which are here to defend you, if you please ; but if you run away and betray us, as j^ou did once before, the Greeks shall soon hear neAvs of the Athenians possessing as fair a country, and as large and free a city, as that they have lost." These expressions of Themistocles made Eu- rybiades suspect that if he retreated the Athenians would THEMISTOCLES. 245 fall off from him. "When one of Eretiia began to oppose him, he said, " Have you any thing to say of war, that are like an ink-fish ? you have a sword, but no heart." '" Some say that while Themistocles was thus speaking things upon the deck, an owl \vas seen flying to the right hand of the fle<^t, which came and sate upon the top of the mast ; and this happy omen so itir disposed the Greeks to follow his advice, that they presently prepared to fight. Yet, Λνΐιβη the enemy's fleet was arrived at the haven of Phalerum, upon the coast of Attica, and with the number of their ships concealed all the shore, and when they saw the king himself in person come down with his land army to the sea-side, Λvith all his forces united, then the good counsel of Themistocles was soon forgotten, and the Peloponnesians cast their eyes again towards the isthmus, and took it very ill if any one spoke against their returning home ; and, resolving to de- part tliat night, the pilots had order what course to steer. Themistocles, in great distress that the Greeks should retire, and lose the advantage of the narrow seas and strait passage, and slip home every one to his own city, considered with himself, and contrived that stratagem that was carried out by Sicinnus. This Sicinnus was a Persian captive, but a great lover of Themistocles, and the attendant of his children. Upon this occasion, he sent him privately to Xerxes, commanding him to tell the king, that Themistocles, the admiral of the Athenians, having espoused his interest, wished to be the first to in- form him that the Greeks were ready to make their escape, and that he counselled him to hinder their flight, to set upon them \vhile they were in this confusion and at a distance from their land armj^, and hereby destroy all their forces by sea. Xerxes was very joyful at this * The Teid/iis, lolis^o, or cuttle- lage sliaped like a sword, and wa.= fish, is said to have a bone or carti- conceived to have no lieart. 246 THEMISTOCLES. message, and received it as from one who wished him all that was good, and immediately issued instructions to the commanders of his ships, that they should instantly set out with two hundred galleys to encompass all the islands, and enclose all the straits and passages, that none of the Greeks might escape, and that they should afterwards follow with the rest of their fleet at leisure. This being done, Aristides, the son of Lysimachus, was the first man that perceived it, and went to the tent of Themistocles, not out of any friendship, for he had been formerly ban- ished by his means, as has been related, but to inform him how they were encompassed by their enemies. The- mistocles, knowing the generosity of Aristides, and much struck by his visit at that time, imparted to him all that he had transacted by Sicinnus, and entreated him, that, as he would be more readily believed among the Greeks, he would make use of his credit to help to induce them to stay and fight their enemies in the narrow seas. Aristi- des applauded Themistocles, and went to the other com- manders and captains of the galleys, and encouraged them to engage ; yet they did not perfectly assent to him, till a galley of Tenos, which deserted from the Per- sians, of which Pansetius w^as commander, came in, w^hile they were still doubting, and confirmed the news that all the straits and passages were beset; and then their rage and fury, as well as their necessity, provoked them all to fight. As soon as it was day, Xerxes placed himself high up, to view his fleet, and how it was set in order. Phano- demus says, he sat upon a promontory above the temple of Hercules, W'here the coast of Attica is separated from the island by a narrow channel ; but Acestodorus writes, that it was in the confines of Megara, upon those hills which are called the Horns, where he sat in a chair of gold, with many secretaries about him to write down all that was done in the fiorht. THEMISTOCLES. 247 When Themistocles was about to sacrifice, close to the admiral's galley, there were three prisoners brought to him, fine looking men, and richly dressed in ornamented clothing and gold, said to be the children of Artayctes and Sandauce, sister to Xerxes. As soon as the prophet Euphrantides saw them, and observed that at the same time the fire blazed out from the offerings with a more than ordinary flame, and that a man sneezed on the right, which was an intimation of a fortunate event, he took Themistocles by the hand, and bade him consecrate the three young men for sacrifice, and offer them up with prayers for victory to Bacchus the Devourer : so should the Greeks not only save themselves, but also obtain victory. Themistocles was much disturbed at this strange and terrible prophecy, but the common people, who, in any difficult crisis and great exigency, ever look for relief rather to strange and extravagant than to reason- able means, calling upon Bacchus with one voice, led the captives to the altar, and compelled the execution of the sacrifice as the prophet had commanded. This is reported by Phanias the Lesbian, a j)hilosopher well read in history. The number of the enemy's ships the poet -^schylus gives in his tragedy called the Persians, as on his certain knowledge, in the following words — Xerxes, I know, did into battle lead One thousand ships ; of more than usual speed Seven and two hundred. So is it agreed. The Athenians had a hundred and eighty ; in every ship eighteen men fought upon the deck, four of whom were archers and the rest men-at-arms. As Themistocles had fixed upon the most advantageous place, so, with no less sagacity, he chose the best time of fighting ; for he would not run the prows of his galleys against the Persians, nor begin the fight till the time of 248 THEMISTOCLES. day was come, when there regularly blows in a fresh breeze from the open sea, and brings in Avith it a strong swell into the channel ; which was no inconvenience to the Greek ships, which were low-built, and little above the water, but did much hurt to the Persians, which had high sterns and lofty decks, and were heavy and cumbrous in their movements, as it presented them broadside to the quick charges of the Greeks, who kept their eyes upon the motions of Themistocles, as their best example, and more particularly because, opposed to his ship, Ariamenes, admiral to Xerxes, a brave man, and by far the best and Λvorthiest of the king's brothers, was seen throwing darts and shooting arrows from his huge galley, as from the walls of a castle. Aminias the Decelean and Sosicles the Pedian, who sailed in the same vessel, upon the ships meet- ing stem to stem, and transfixing each the other with their brazen prows, so that they Avere fastened together, when Ariamenes attempted to board theirs, ran at him with their pikes, and thrust him into the sea ; his body, as it floated amongst other shipwrecks, was known to Artemisia, and carried to Xerxes. It is reported, that, in the middle of the fight, a great flame rose into the air above the city of Eleusis, and that soimds and voices were heard through all the Thriasian plain, as far as the sea, sounding like a number of men accompanying and escorting the mystic lacchus, and that a mist seemed to form and rise from the place from whence the sounds came, and, passing forward, fell upon the gal- leys. Others believed that they saw apparitions, in the shape of armed men, reaching out their hands from the island of -ii^gina before the Grecian galleys ; and supposed they were the JEnQidsd, whom they had invoked to their aid before the battle. The first man that took a ship was Lycomedes the Athenian, captain of a galley, who cut down its ensign, and dedicated it to Apollo the Laurel- crowned. And as the Persians fought in a narrow arm THEMISTOCLES. 249 of the sea, and could bring but part of their fleet to fight, and fell foul of one another, the Greeks thus equalled them in strength, and fought with them till the evening, forced them back, and obtained, as says Simonides, that noble and fiimous victory, than which neither amongst the Greeks nor barbarians Λvas ever known more glorious exploit on the seas ; by the joint valor, indeed, and zeal of all λυΙιο fought, but by the wisdom and sagacity of Themistocles. After this sea-fight, Xerxes, enraged at his ill-fortune, attempted, by casting great heaps of earth and stones into the sea, to stop up the channel and to make a dam, upon which he might lead his land-forces over into the island of Salamis. Themistocles, being desirous to try the opinion of Aristides, told him that he proposed to set sail for the Hellespont, to break the bridge of ships, so as to shut up, he said, Asia a prisoner within Europe ; but Aristides, dis- liking the design, said, "We have hitherto fought with an enemy who has regarded little else but his pleasure and luxury ; but if we shut him up within Greece, and drive him to necessity, be that is master of such great forces Avill no longer sit quietly with an umbrella of gold over his head, looking upon the fight for his pleasure ; but in such a strait will attempt all things ; he will be resolute, and appear himself in person upon all occasions, he will soon correct his errors, and supply what he has formerly omitted through remissness, and will be better advised in all things. Therefore, it is noways our interest, Themi- stocles," he said, " to take away the bridge that is already made, but rather to build another, if it were possible, that he might make his retreat with the more expedition." To which Themistocles answered, ''If this be requisite, we must inuuediately use all diligence, art, and industry, to rid ourselves of him as soon as may be ; " and to this pur- 250 THEMISTOCLES. ]»ose he found out among the captives one of the king of Persia's eunuchs, named Arnaces, whom he sent to the king, to inform him that the Greeks, being now victorious by sea, had decreed to sail to the Hellespont, Avhere the boats were fastened together, and destroy the bridge ; but that Themistocles, being concerned for the king, re- vealed this to him, that he might hasten towards the Asiatic seas, and pass over into his own dominions ; and in the mean time would cause delays, and hinder the con- federates from pursuing him. Xerxes no sooner heard this, but, being very much terrified, he proceeded to re- treat out of Greece Avith all speed. The prudence of Themistocles and Aristides in this was afterwards more fully understood at the battle of Platgea, Avhere Mardo- nius, with a very small fraction of the forces of Xerxes, put the Greeks in danger of losing all. Herodotus writes, that, of all the cities of Greece, iEgina was held to have performed the best service in the Avar; Avhile all single men yielded to Themistocles, though, out of envy, unwillingly ; and when they re- turned to the entrance of Peloponnesus, where the sev- eral commanders delivered their suffrages at the altar, to determine who was most worthy, every one gave the first vote for himself and the second for Themistocles. The Lacedaemonians carried him Avith them to Sparta, where, giving the rewards of χαίοΐ to Eurybiades, and of wisdom and conduct to Themistocles, they crowned him with olive, presented him with the best chariot in the city, and sent three hundred young men to accompany him to the confines of their country. And at the next Oljnnpic games, when Themistocles entered the course, the spectators took no farther notice of those who were contesting the prizes, but spent the whole day in looking upon him, showing him to the strangers, admiring him, and applauding him by clapping their hands, and other THEMISTOCLES. 251 expressions of joy, so that he himself, much gratified, confessed to his friends that he then reaped the fruit of all his labors for the Greeks. He was, indeed, by nature, a great lover of honor, as is evident from the anecdotes recorded of him. When chosen admiral by the Athenians, he would not quite conclude any single matter of business, either public or private, but deferred all till the day they were to set sail, that, by despatching a great quantity of business all at once, and having to meet a great variety of people, he might make an appearance of greatness and power. View- ing the dead bodies cast up by the sea, he perceived bracelets and necklaces of gold about them, yet passed on, only showing them to a friend that folloΛved him, saying, " Take you these things, for you are not Themi- stocles." He said to Antiphates, a handsome young man, who had formerly avoided, but now in his glory courted him, "Time, young man, has taught us both a lesson." He said that the Athenians did not honor him or admire him, but made, as it were, a sort of plane-tree of him ; shel- tered themselves under him in bad weather, and, as soon as it was fine, plucked his leaves and cut his branches. \Vhen the Seriphian told him that he had not obtained this honor by himself, but by the greatness of his city, he replied, " You speak truth ; I should never have been famous if I had been of Seriphus; nor you, had you been of Athens." When another of the generals, who thought he had performed considerable service for the Athenians, boastingly compared his actions with those of Themistocles, he told him that once upon a time the Day after the Festival found fault with the Festival : " On you there is nothing but hurry and trouble and prepara- tion, but, when I come, everybody sits down quietly and enjoys himself;" which the Festival admitted was true, but " if I had not come first, you would not have come at 252 THEMISTOCLES. all." " Even so," he said, " if Themistocles had not come before, where had you been now ? " Laughing at his own son, who got his mother, and, by his mother's means, his father also, to indulge him, he told him that he had the most power of any one in Greece : " For the Athenians command the rest of Greece, I command the Athenians, your mother commands me, and you command your mother." Loving to be singular in all things, when he had land to sell, he ordered the crier to give notice that there were good neighbors near it. Of two who made love to his daughter, he preferred the man of worth to the one who was rich, saying he desired a man without riches, rather than riches without a man. Such was the character of his sayings. After these things, he began to rebuild and fortify the city of Athens, bribing, as Theopompus reports, the Lace- daemonian ephors not to be against it, but, as most relate it, overreaching and deceiving them. For, under pre- text of an embassy, he went to Sparta, w^here, upon the Lacedaemonians charging him with rebuilding the walls, and Poliarchus coming on purpose from ^gina to de- nounce it, he denied the fact, bidding them to send peo- ple to Athens to see whether it were so or no ; by which delay he got time for the building of the wall, and also placed these ambassadors in the hands of his countrymen as hostages for him ; and so, when the Lacedaemonians knew the truth, they did him no hurt, but, suppressing all display of their anger for the present, sent him away. Next he proceeded to establish the harbor of Piraeus, observing the great natural advantages of the locality and desirous to unite the Λνΐιοΐβ city with the sea, and to reverse, in a manner, the policy of ancient Athenian kings, who, endeavoring to Λvithdraw their subjects from the sea, and to accustom them to live, not by sailing THEMISTOCLES. 253 about, but by planting and tilling the earth, spread the story of the dispute between Minerva and Neptune for the sovereignty of Athens, in which Minerva, by pro- ducing to the judges an olive tree, was declared to have won; Λvhereas Themistocles did not only knead up, as Aristophanes says, the port and the city into one, but made the city absolutely the dependant and the adjunct of the port, and the land of the sea, Avhich increased the power and confidence of the people against the nobilily; the authority coming into the hands of sailors and boat- swains and pilots. Thus it was one of the orders of the thirty tyrants, that the hustings in the assembly, which had faced towards the sea, should be turned round to- Λvards the land ; implying their opinion that the empire by sea had been the origin of the democracy, and that the farming population were not so much opposed to oligarchy. Themistocles, however, formed yet higher designs Λvith a view to naval supremacy. For, after the departure of Xerxes, Λvhen the Grecian fleet was arrived at Pagasae, where they wintered, Themistocles, in a public oration to the people of Athens, told them that he had a de- sign to perform something that Avould tend greatly to their interests and safety, but was of such a nature, that it could not be made generally public. The Athenians ordered him to impart it to Aristides only; and, if he approved of it, to put it in practice. And when Themi- stocles had discovered to him that his desicrn was to burn ο the Grecian fleet in the haven of Pagasie, Aristides, com- ing out to the people, gave this report of the stratagem contrived by Themistocles, that no proposal could be more politic, or more dishonorable ; on which the Athe- nians commanded Themistocles to think no farther of it. When the Lacediemonians proposed, at the general 254 THEMISTOCLES. council of the Amphictyonians, that the representatives of those cities which were not in the league, nor had fouo-ht ."o-ainst the Persians, should be excluded, The- mistocles, fearing that, the Thessalians, with those of Thebes, Argos, and others, being thrown out of the coun- cil, the Lacedaemonians would become wholly masters of the votes, and do what they pleased, supported the depu- ties of the cities, and prevailed with the members then sitting to alter their opinion in this point, showing them that there were but one and thirty cities which had par- taken in the war, and that most of these, also, were very small ; how intolerable would it be, if the rest of Greece should be excluded, and the general council should come to be ruled by two or three great cities. By this, chiefly, he incurred the displeasure of the Lacedaemonians, whose honors and favors were now shown to Cimon, with a view to making him the opponent of the state policy of Themistocles. He was also burdensome to the confederates, sailing about the islands and collecting monej' from them. He- rodotus says, that, requiring money of those of the island of Andros, he told them that he had brought with him two goddesses. Persuasion and Force ; and they answered him that tl.ey had also two great goddesses, which prohi- bited them from giving him anj^ money, Poverty and Impossibility. Timocreon, the Rhodian poet, reprehends him some\vhat bitterlj' for being wrought upon by money to let some Avho were banished return, while abandoning himself, Λvho Λvas his guest and friend. The verses are these : — Pausanlas you may praise, and Xanthippus he be for, For Leutychidas, a third ; Aristides, I proclaim, Fi'om the sacred Athens came, The one true man of all ; for Themistocles Latona doth abhor, THEMISTOCLES. 255 The liar, traitor, cheat, who, to gain his filthy pay, Timocreon, his friend, neglected to restore To his native Rhodian shore ; Three silver talents took, and departed (curses with him) on his way, Restoring people here, expelling there, and killing here, Filling evermore his purse : and at the Isthmus gave a treat. To be laughed at, of cold meat, Which they ate, and prayed the gods some one else might give the feast another year. But after the sentence and banishment of Themistocles, Timocreon reviles him yet more immoderately and wildly in a poem which begins thus : — Unto all the Greeks repair Ο Muse, and tell these verses there, As is fitting and is fair. The story is, that it was put to the question whether Timocreon should be banished for siding with the Per- sians, and Themistocles gave his vote against him. So Avhen Themistocles was accused of intriguing with the Medes, Timocreon made these lines upon him : — So now Timocreon, indeed, is not the sole friend of the Mede, There are some knaves besides ; nor is it only mine that fails. But other foxes have lost tails. — When the citizens of Athens began to listen willingly to those who traduced and reproached him, he was forced, with somewhat obnoxious frequency, to put them in mind of the great services he had performed, and ask those who w^ere offended with him whether they were weary with receiving benefits often from the same person, so rendering himself more odious. And he yet more pro- voked the people by building a temple to Diana with the epithet of Aristobule, or Diana of Best Counsel \ intimating thereby, that he had given the best counsel, 256 THEMISTOCLES. not only to the Athenians, but to all Greece. He built this temple near his own house, in the district called Melite, where now the public officers carry out the bodies of such as are executed, and throw the halters and clothes of those that are strangled or otherwise put to death. There is to this day a small figure of Themisto- cles in the temple of Diana of Best Counsel, which represents him to be a person, not only of a noble mind, but also of a most heroic aspect. At length the Athe- nians banished him, making use of the ostracism to hum- ble his eminence and authority, as they ordinarily did with all Λvhom they thought too po\verful, or, by their greatness, disproportionable to the equality thought requisite in a popular government. For the ostracism was instituted, not so much to punish the offender, as to mitigate and pacify the violence of the envious, who delighted to hum- ble eminent men, and Λγho, by fixing this disgrace upon them, might vent some part of their rancor. Themistocles being banished from Athens, while he stayed at Argos the detection of Pausanias happened, which gave such advantage to his enemies, that Leobotes of Agraule, son of AlcmiBon, indicted him of treason, the Spartans supporting him in the accusation. When Pausanias went about this treasonable design, he concealed it at first from Themistocles, thous-h he were his intimate friend ; but when he saw him expelled out of the commonwealth, and how impatiently he took his ban- ishment, he ventured to communicate it to him, and desired his assistance, showino; him the kino; of Persia's letters, and exasperating him against the Greeks, as a villanous, ungrateful people. However, Themistocles immediately rejected the proposals of Pausanias, and wholly refused to be a party in the enterprise, though he never revealed his communications, nor disclosed the con- spiracy to any man, either hoping that Pausanias would THEMIST0CLE8. 257 desist from his intentions, or expecting that so inconsider- ate an attempt after such chimerical objects would be dis- covered by other means. After that Pausanias was put to death, letters and wri- tings being found concerning this matter, which rendered Themitetocles suspected, the Laceda9monians were clamor- ous against him, and his enemies among the Athenians accused him ; Λvhen, being absent from Athens, he made his defence by letters, especially against the points that had been previously alleged against him. In answer to the malicious detractions of his enemies, he merely wrote to the citizens, urging that he who was always ambitious to govern, and not of a character or a disposition to serve, would never sell himself and his country into slavery to a barbarous and hostile nation. Notwithstanding this, the people, being persuaded by his accusers, sent officers to take him and bring him away to be tried before a council of the Greeks, but, having timely notice of it, he passed over into the island of Cor- cyra, where the state was under obligations to him ; for, beino" chosen as arbitrator in a difference betAveen them and the Corinthians, he decided the controversy by order- ing the Corinthians to pay down twenty talents, and de- claring the town and island of Leucas a joint colony from both cities. From thence he fled into Epirus, and, the Athenians and Lacedaemonians still pursuing him, he threw himself upon chances of safety that seemed all but desperate. For he fled for refuge to Admetus, king of the Molossians, who had formerly made some request to the Athenians, Avhen Themistocles was in the height of his authority, and had been disdainfully used and insulted by him, and had let it appear plain enough, that, could he lay hold of him, he would take his revenge. Yet in this misfortune, Themistocles, fearing the recent hatred of his neighbors and fellow-citizens moie than VOL. I. 17 258 THEMISTOCLES. the old displeasure of the king, put himself at his mercy, and became an humble suppliant to Admetus, after a pe- culiar manner, diiFerent from the custom of other coun- tries. For taking the king's son, who was then a child, in his arms, he laid himself down at his hearth, this being the most sacred and only manner of supplication, among the Molossians, which was not to be refused. And some say that his wife, Phthia, intimated to Themistocles this way of petitioning, and placed her young son with him before the hearth ; others, that king Admetus, that he mio-ht be under a religious obligation not to deliver him up to his pursuers, prepared and enacted with him a sort of stage-play to this effect. At this time, Epicrates of Acharna3 privately conveyed his wife and children out of Athens, and sent them hither, for which afterwards Cimon condemned him and put him to death ; as Stesim- brotus reports, and yet somehow, either forgetting this himself, or making Themistocles to be little mindful of it, says presently that he sailed into Sicily, and desired in marriage the daughter of Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, promising to bring the Greeks under his power ; and, on Hiero refusing him, departed thence into Asia ; but this is not probable. For Theophrastus writes, in his work on Monarchy, that when Hiero sent race-horses to the Olympian games, and erected a pavilion sumptuously furnished, Themi- stocles made an oration to the Greeks, inciting them to pull down the tyrant's tent, and not to suffer his horses to run. Thucydides says, that, passing over land to the jEgsean Sea, he took ship at Pj^dna in the bay of Therme, not being known to any one in the ship, till, being terri- fied to see the vessel driven by the winds near to Naxos, v/hich was then besieged by the Athenians, he made him- self known to the master and pilot, and, partly entreating them, partly threatening that if they went on shore he THEMISTOCLES. 259 would accuse them, and make the Athenians to believe that they did not take him in out of ignorance, but that he had corrupted them with money from the beginning, he compelled them to bear off and stand out to sea, and sail forward towards the coast of Asia. A great part of his estate was privately conveyed away by his friends, and sent after him by sea into Asia ; besides which, there was discovered and confiscated to the value of fourscore talents, as Theophrastus writes ; Theo- pompus says an hundred ; though Themistocles was never worth three talents before he was concerned in public affairs. When he arrived at Cyme, and understood that all along the coast there were many laid wait for him, and particularly Ergoteles and Pythodorus (for the game was worth the hunting for such as were thankful to make money by any means, the king of Persia having offered by public proclamation two hundred talents to him that should take him), he fled to ^gae, a small city of the Co- hans, where no one knew him but only his host Nico- genes, who was the richest man in ^olia, and well known to the great men of Inner Asia. While Themistocles lay hid for some days in his house, one night, after a sacrifice and supper ensuing, Olbius, the attendant upon Nico- genes's children, fell into a sort of frenzy and fit of inspi- ration, and cried out in verse, — Night shall speak, and night instruct thee, By the voice of night conduct thee. After this, Themistocles, going to bed, dreamed that he saw a snake coil itself up upon his belly, and so creep to his neck; then, as 'soon as it touched his face, it turned into an eagle, which spread its wings over him, and took him up and flew away with him a great dis- tance • then there appeared a herald's golden wand, and 2fi0 THEMISTOCLES. upon this at last it set him down securely, after infinite terror and disturbance. His departure was effected by Nicogenes by the follow- ing artifice ; the barbarous nations, and amongst them the Persians especially, are extremely jealous, severe, and suspicious about their women, not only their wives, but also their bought slaves and concubines, whom they keep so strictly that no one ever sees them abroad; they spend their lives shut up within doors, and, when they take a journey, are carried in close tents, curtained in on all sides, and set upon a wagon. Such a travelling car- riage being prepared for Themistocles, they hid him in it, and carried him on his journey, and told those whom they met or spoke Λvith upon the road that they were conveying a young Greek woman out of Ionia to a noble- man at court. Thucydides and Charon of Lampsacus say that Xerxes was dead, and that Themistocles had an interview with his son ; but Ephorus, Dinon, Clitarchus, Heraclides, and many others, write that he came to Xerxes. The chro- nological tables better agree with the account of Thucy- dides, and yet neither can their statements be said to be quite set at rest. When Themistocles was come to the critical point, he applied himself first to Artabanus, commander of a thou- sand men, telling him that he was a Greek, and desired to speak with the king about important affiiirs concerning which the king was extremely solicitous. Artabanus an» swered him, " stranger, the laws of men are different, and one thing is honorable to one man, and to others another ; but it is honorable for all to honor and observe their own laAVS. It is the habit of the Greeks, we are told, to honor, above all things, liberty and equality ; but amongst our many excellent laws, we account this the most excellent, to honor the king, and to worshij) him, as THEMISTOCLES. 261 the image of the great preserver of the universe ; if, then, you shall consent to our laws, and fall down before the king and Avorship him, you may both see him and speak to him ; but if your mind be otherwise, you must make use of others to intercede for you, for it is not the national custom here for the king to give audience to any one that doth not fall down before him." Themi- stocles, hearing this, replied, " Artabanus, I that come hither to increase the power and glory of the king, will not only submit myself to his laws, since so it hath pleased the god who exalteth the Persian empire to this greatness, but will also cause many more to be Λvor- shippers and adorers of the king. Let not this, therefore, be an impediment why I should not communicate to the king what I have to impart." Artabanus asking him, " Who must we tell him that you are ? for your words signify you to be no ordinary person," Themistocles an- swered, " No man, Artabanus, must be informed of this before the king himself" Thus Phanias relates ; to w^hich Eratosthenes, in his treatise on Kiches, adds, that it was by the means of a woman of Eretria, who was kept by Artabanus, that he obtained this audience and interview with him. When he was introduced to the king, and had paid his reverence to him, he stood silent, till the king command- ing the interpreter to ask him who he Λvas, he replied, " king, I am Themistocles the Athenian, driven into banishment by the Greeks. The evils that I have done to the Persians are numerous; but my benefits to them yet greater, in withholding the Greeks from pursuit, so soon as the deliverance of my own country allowed me to show kindness also to you. I come with a mind suited to my present calamities ; prepared alike for favors and for anger; to welcome your gracious reconciliation, and to deprecate your wrath. Take my ΟΛνη countrymen for 262 THEMISTOCLES. witnesses of the services I have done for Persia, and make use of this occasion to shoΛV the world your virtue, rather than to satisfy your indignation. If you save me, ^'ou will save your suppliant; if otherwise, will destroy an enemy of the Greeks." He talked also of divine admo- nitions, such as the vision which he saw at Nicogenes's house, and the direction given him by the oracle of Do- dona, Λvhere Jupiter commanded him to go to him that had a name like his, by which he understood that he was sent from Jupiter to him, seeing that they both were great, and had the name of kings. The king heard him attentively, and, though he ad- mired his temper and courage, gave him no answer at that time ; but, when he was with his intimate friends, rejoiced in his great good fortune, and esteemed himself very happy in this, and prayed to his god Arimanius, that all his enemies might be ever of the same mind with the Greeks, to abuse and expel the bravest men amongst them. Then he sacrificed to the gods, and presently fell to drinking, and was so well pleased, that in the night, in the middle of his sleep, he cried out for joy three times, " I have Themistocles the Athenian." In the morning, calling together the chief of his court, he had Themistocles brought before him, who expected no good of it, Λvhen he saw, for example, the guards fiercely set against him as soon as they learnt his name, and g;ivino; him ill lano;uao;e. As he came forward towards Ο Ο σο the king, who was seated, the rest keeping silence, pass- ing by Roxanes, a commander of a thousand men, he heard him, with a slight groan, say, without stirring out of his place, " You subtle Greek serpent, the king's good genius hath brought thee hither." Yet, when he came into the presence, and again fell down, the king saluted him, and spake to him kindly, telling him he was now in- debted to him two hundred talents ; for it was just and THEMISTOCLES. 263 reasonable that he should receive the reward which was proposed to whosoever should bring Themistocles ; and promising much more, and encouraging him, he com- manded him to speak freely what he would concerning the affairs of Greece. Themistocles replied, that a man's discourse Λvas like to a rich Persian carpet, the beautiful figures and patterns of which can only be shown by spread- ing and extending it out ; when it is contracted and folded up, they are obscured and lost ; and, therefore, he desired time. The king being pleased with the comparison, and bidding him take what time he would, he desired a year; in which time, having learnt the Persian language suffi- ciently, he spoke with the king by himself without the help of an interpreter, it being supposed that he dis- coursed only about the affairs of Greece ; but there hap- pening, at the same time, great alterations at court, and removals of the king's favorites, he drew upon himself the envy of the great people, who imagined that he had taken the boldness to speak concerning them. For the favors shown to other strangers were nothing in comparison with the honors conferred on him ; the king invited him to partake of his own pastimes and recreations both at home and abroad, carrying him with him a-hunting, and made him his intimate so far that he permitted him to see the queen-mother, and converse frequently with her. By the king's command, he also was made acquainted with the Magian learning. When Demaratus the Lacedaemonian, being ordered by the king to ask whatsoever he pleased, and it should im- mediately be granted him, desired that he might make his public entrance, and be carried in state through tlie city of Sardis, with the tiara set in the royal manner upon his head, Mithropaustes, cousin to the king, touched him on the head, and told him that he had no brains for the royal tiara to cover, and if Jupiter should give him his 264 THEMISTOCLES. lightning and thunder, he would not any the more be Jupiter for that ; the king also repulsed him with anger resolving never to be reconciled to him, but to be inexo- rable to all supplications on his behalf. Yet Themistocles pacified him, and prevailed with him to forgive him. And it is reported, that the succeeding kings, in whose reigns there was a greater communication between the Greeks and Persians, when they invited any considerable Greek into their service, to encourage him, would write, and promise him that he should be as great with them as Themistocles had been. They relate, also, how Themisto- cles, when he was in great prosperity, and courted by many, seeing himself splendidly served at his table, turned to his children and said, " Children, we had been undone ii we had not been undone." Most writers say that he had three cities given him. Magnesia, Myus, and Lampsacus, to maintain him in bread, meat, and wine. Neanthes of Cyzicus, and Phanias, add two more, the city of Paloescepsis, to provide him with clothes, and Percote, with bedding and furniture for his house. As he was going down towards the sea-coast to take measures against Greece, a Persian whose name was Epixyes, governor of the upper Phrygia, laid wait to kill him, having for that purpose provided a long time before a number of Pisidians, who w^ere to set upon him when he should stop to rest at a city that is called Liou's-head. But Themistocles, sleeping in the middle of the day, saw the Mother of the gods appear to him in a dream and say unto him, " Themistocles, keep back from the Lion's- head, for fear you fall into the lion's jaws ; for this ad- vice I expect that your daughter Mnesiptolema should be my servant." Themistocles was much astonished, and, Λvhen he had made his νοΛνβ to the goddess, left the broad road, and, making a circuit, went another way, changing his intended station to avoid that place, and at THEMISTOCLES. 265 night took up his rest in the fields. But one of the sumpter-horses, which carried the furniture for his tent, having fallen that day into the river, his servants spread out the tapestry, which was wet, and hung it up to dry ; in the mean time the Pisidians made towards them Avith their swords drawn, and, not discerning exactly by the moon what it was that was stretched out, thought it to be the tent of Themistocles, and that they should find him resting hhnself within it ; but when they came near, and lifted up the hangings, those who watched there fell upon them and took them. Themistocles, having escaped this great danger, in admiration of the goodness of the goddess that appeared to him, built, in memory of it, a temple in the city of Magnesia, which he dedicated to Dindymene, Mother of the gods, in which he conse- crated and devoted his daughter Mnesiptolema to her service. AVhen he came to Sardis, he visited the temples of the gods, and observing, at his leisure, their buildings, orna- ments, and the number of their offerings, he saw in the temple of the Mother of the gods, the statue of a virgin in brass, tΛVO cubits high, called the water-bringer. The- mistocles had caused this to be made and set up when he was surveyor of waters at Athens, out of the fines of those whom he detected in drawinsr off" and divertinor ο ο the public water by pipes for their private use ; and whether he had some regret to see this image in cap- tivity, or was desirous to let the Athenians see in what great credit and authority he was with the king, he en- tered into a treaty with the governor of Lydia to per- suade him to send this statue back to Athens, which so enraged the Persian officer, that he told him he would write the king word of it. Themistocles, being affi'ighted hereat, got access to his wives and concubines, by pre- sents of money to whom, he appeased the fury of the gov- 266 THEMISTOCLES. ernor; and afterwards behaved with more reserve and circumspection, fearing the envy of the Persians, and did not, as Theopompus writes, continue to travel about Asia, but hved quietly in his own house in Magnesia, where for a long time he passed his days in great security, being courted by all, and enjoying rich presents, and honored equally with the greatest persons in the Persian empire ; the king, at that time, not minding his concerns with Greece, being taken up with the affairs of Inner Asia, But when Egypt revolted, being assisted by the Athe- nians, and the Greek galleys roved about as far as Cyprus and Cilicia, and Cimon had made himself master of the seas, the king turned his thoughts thither, and, bending his mind chiefly to resist the Greeks, and to check the growth of their power against him, began to raise forces, and send out commanders, and to despatch messengers to Themistocles at Magnesia, to put him in mind of his pro- mise, and to summon him to act against the Greeks. Yet this did not increase his hatred nor exasperate him against the Athenians, neither was he any way elevated with the thoughts of the honor and powerful command he was to have in this war ; but judging, perhaps, that the object Avould not be attained, the Greeks having at that time, beside other great commanders, Cimon, in particular, who was gaining wonderful military successes ; but chiefly, being ashamed to sully the glory of his former great actions, and of his many victories and trophies, he determined to put a con- clusion to his life, agreeable to its previous course. He sacrificed to the gods, and invited his friends ; and, having entertained them and shaken hands with them, drank bull's blood, as is the usual story ; as others state, a poi- son producing instant death ; and ended his days in the city of Magnesia, having lived sixty-five years, most of which he had spent in politics and in the wars, in govern- ment and command. The king, being informed of the THEMISTOCLES. 267 cause and manner of his death, admired him more than ever, and continued to show kindness to his friends and relations. Themistocles left three sons by Archippe, daughter to, Lysander of Alopece, — Archeptolis, Polyeuctus, and Cleo- phantus. Plato the philosopher mentions the last as a most excellent horseman, but otherwise insignificant person ; of two sons yet older than these, Neocles and Diodes, Neocles died when he was young by the bite of a horse, and Diodes was adopted by his grandfather, Ly- sander. He had many daughters, of whom Mnesiptolema, Λ\'hom he had bv a second marriao;e, Avas wife to Arche- ptolis, her brother by another mother ; Italia was married to Panthoides, of the island of Chios ; Sybaris to Nico- medes the Athenian. After the death of Themistocles, his nephew, Phrasicles, went to Magnesia, and married, with her brothers' consent, another daughter, Nicomache, and took charge of her sister Asia, the youngest of all the children. The Magnesians possess a splendid sepulchre of The- mistocles, placed in the middle of their market-place. It is not worth while taking notice of what Ando- cides states in his Address to his Friends concerning his remains, how the Athenians robbed his tomb, and threw his ashes into the air ; for he feigns this, to exas- perate the oligarchical faction against the people; and there is no man living but knows that Phylarchus simply invents in his history, where he all but uses an actual stage machine, and brings in Neocles and Demopolis as the sons of Themistocles, to incite or move compassion, as if he were writing a tragedy. Diodorus the cosmographer says, in his work on Tombs, but by conjecture rather than of certain knowledge, that near to the haven of Piraeus, where the land runs out like an elbow from the promon- tory of Alcimus, when you have doubled the cape and 268 THEMISTOCLES. passed inward where the sea is always cahn, there is a large piece of masonry, and upon this the tomb of Tlie- mistocles, in the shape of an altar ; and Plato the come- dian confirms this, he believes, in these verses, — Thy tomb is fairly placed upon the strand, Where merchants still shall greet it with the land ; StiU in and out 't wiU see them come and go, And watch the galleys as they race below. Various honors also and privileges were granted to the kindred of Themistocles at Magnesia, w^hich were observed down to our times, and were enjoyed by another The- mistocles of Athens, with whom I had an intimate ac- quaintance and friendship in the house of Ammonius the philosopher. C A Μ I L L ϋ S . Among the many remarkable things that are related of Furius Camillns, it seems singular and strange above all, that he, who continually was in the highest com- mands, and obtained the greatest successes, was five times chosen dictator, triumphed four times, and was styled a second founder of Rome, yet never was so much as once consul. The reason of which was the state and temper of the commonwealth at that time ; for the peo- ple, being at dissension with the senate, refused to return consuls, but in their stead elected other magistrates, called military tribunes, λ\4ίο acted, indeed, with full consular power, but were thought to exercise a less obnoxious amount of authority, because it was divided among a larger number; for to have the management of aftairs intrusted in the hands of six persons rather than two was some satisfaction to the opponents of oligarchy. This was the condition of the times when Camillus was in the height of his actions and glory, and, although the government in the meantime had often proceeded to con- sular elections, yet he could never persuade himself to be consul against the inclination of the people. In all his other administrations, which were many and various, he so behaved himself, that, when alone in authority, he exercised his power as in common, but the honor of all 23* (269) 270 CAMILLUS. actions redounded entirely to himself, even when in joint commission with others ; the reason of the former was his moderation in command ; of the latter, his great judg- ment and wisdom, which gave him without controversy the first place. The house of the Furii was not, at that time, of any considerable distinction ; he, by his own acts, first raised himself to honor, serving under Postumius Tubertus, dictator, in the great battle against the ^i^quians and Volscians. For riding out from the rest of the army, and in the charge receiving a wound in his thigh, he for all that did not quit the fight, but, letting the dart drag in the wound, and engaging with the bravest of the enemy, put them to flight; for which action, among other re- wards bestowed on him, he was created censor, an office in those days of great repute and authority. During his censorship one very good act of his is recorded, that, whereas the wars had made many widows, he obliged such as had no wives, some by fair persuasion, others by threatening to set fines on their heads, to take them in marriage ; another necessary one, in causing orphans to be rated, who before were exempted from taxes, the fre- quent wars requiring more than ordinary expenses to maintain them. What, however, pressed them most was the siege of Veii. Some call this people Veientani. This was the head city of Tuscany, not inferior to Rome, either in number of arms or multitude of soldiers, inso- much that, presuming on her wealth and luxury, and pri- ding herself upon her refinement and sumptuousness, she engaged in many honorable contests with the Romans for glory and empire. But ηολν they had abandoned their former ambitious hopes, having been weakened by great defeats, so that, having fortified themselves with high and strong walls, and furnished the city with all sorts of weapons offensive and defensive, as likewise with CAMILLUS. 271 corn and all manner of provisions, they cheerfully en- dured a siege, which, though tedious to them, was no less troublesome and distressing to the besiegers. For the Romans, having never been accustomed to stay away from home, except in summer, and for no great length of time, and constantly to winter at home, were then first com- pelled by the tribunes to build forts in the enemy's country, and, raising strong works about their camp, to join winter and summer together. And now, the seventh year of the war drawing to an end, the commanders began to be suspected as too slow and remiss in driving on the siege, insomuch that they were discharged and others chosen for the war, among whom was Camillus, then second time tribune. But at present he had no hand in the siege, the duties that fell by lot to him being to make war upon the Faliscans and Capenates, who, taking advantage of the Romans being occupied on all hands, had carried ravages into their country, and, through all the Tuscan war, given them much annoyance, but were now reduced by Camillus, and with great loss shut up within their walls. And now, in the very heat of the war, a strange phe- nomenon in the Alban lake, which, in the absence of any known cause and explanation by natural reasons, seemed as great a prodigy as the most incredible that are report- ed, occasioned great alarm. It was the beginning of autumn, and the summer now ending had, to all observa- tion, been neither rainy nor much troubled with southern winds; and of the many lakes, brooks, and springs of all sorts with which Italy abounds, some were wholly dried up, others drew very little water with them; all the rivers, as is usual in summer, ran in a very low and hollow channel. But the Alban lake, that is fed by no other waters but its own, and is on all sides emcircled 272 CAMILLUS. with fruitful mountains, without any cause, unless it were divine, began visibly to rise and swell, increasing to the feet of the mountains, and by degrees reaching the level of the very tops of them, and all this Avithout any waves or agitation. At first it was the wonder of shepherds and herdsmen ; but when the earth, which, like a great dam, held up the lake from falling into the lower grounds, through the quantity and weight of water was broken doAvn, and in a violent stream it ran through the ploughed fields and plantations to discharge itself in the sea, it not only struck terror into the Romans, but was thought by all the inhabitants of Italy to portend some extraordinary event. But the greatest talli of it was in the camp that besieged Yeii, so that in the town itself, also, the occurrence became known. As in long sieges it commonly happens that parties on both sides meet often and converse with one another, so it chanced that a Roman had gained much confidence and familiarity with one of the besieged, a man versed in ancient prophecies, and of repute for more than ordi- nary skill in divination. The Roman, observing him to be overjoyed at the story of the lake, and to mock at the siege, told him that this was not the only prodigy that of late had happened to the Romans ; others more wonder- ful yet than this had befallen them, which he was Avilling to communicate to him, that he might the better provide for his private interests in these public distempers. The man greedily embraced the proposal, expecting to hear some Avonderful secrets ; but when, by little and little, he had led him on in conversation, and insensibly draAvn him a good way from the gates of the city, he snatched him up by the middle, being stronger than he, and, by the assistance of others that came running from the camp, seized and delivered him to the commanders. The CAMILLUS. 273 man, reduced to this necessity, and sensible now that destiny was not to be avoided, discovered to them the secret oracles of A'^eii ; that it was not possible the city should be taken, until the Alban lake, which now broke forth and had found out new passages, was drawn back from that course, and so diverted that it could not mingle with the sea. The senate, having heard and satisfied themselves about the matter, decreed to send to Delphi, to ask counsel of the god. The messengers were persons of the highest repute, Licinius Cossus, \^alerius Potitus, and Fabius Ambustus; Avho, having made their voyage by sea and consulted the god, returned with other an- swers, particularly that there had been a neglect of some of their national rites relating to the Latin feasts ; but the Alban water the oracle commanded, if it were possible, they should keep from the sea, and shut it up in its an- cient bounds ; but if that Avas not to be done, then they should carry it off by ditches and trenches into the lower grounds, and so dry it up ; which message being deliv- ered, the priests performed what related to the sacrifices, and the people went to work and turned the water. And now the senate, in the tenth year of the war, taking away all other commands, created Camillus dicta- tor, λυΙιο chose Cornelius Scipio for his general of horse. And in the first place he made vows unto the gods, that, if they would grant a happy conclusion of the war, he would celebrate to their honor the great games, and dedi- cate a temple to the goddess whom the Eomans call Matuta the Mother, though, from the ceremonies Λvhich are used, one would think she was Leucothea. For they take a servant-maid into the secret part of the tem- ple, and there cuff her, and drive her out again, and they embrace their brothers' children in place of their own ; and, in general, the ceremonies of the sacrifice remind one of the nursing of Bacchus by Ino, and the calamities VOL. I. 18 274 CAMILLUS occasioned by her husband's concubine.* Camillus, hav- ing made these vows, marched into the country of the FaHscans, and in a great battle overthrew them and the Capenates, their confederates; afterwards he turned to the siege of Veii, and, finding that to take it by assault would prove a difficult and hazardous attempt, proceeded to cut mines under ground, the earth about the city being easy to break up, and allowing such depth for the works as would prevent their being discovered by the enemy. This design going on in a hopeful way, he openly gave assaults to the enemy, to keep them to the walls, whilst they that worked underground in the mines were, with- out being perceived, arrived within the citadel, close to the temple of Juno, which was the greatest and most honored in all the city. It is said that the prince of the Tuscans was at that very time at sacrifice, and that the priest, after he had looked into the entrails of the beast, cried out with a loud voice that the gods would give the victory to those that should complete those offerings; and that the Romans who were in the mines, hearing the words, immediately pulled down the floor, and, ascending with noise and clashing of weapons, frighted away the enemy, and. snatching up the entrails, carried them to Camillus. But this may look like a fable. The city, however, being taken by storm, and the soldiers busied in pillaging and gathering an infinite quantity of riches and spoil, Camillus, from the high toAver, viewing what was done, at first wept for pity ; and when they that were by congratulated his good success, he lifted up his hands to heaven, and broke out into this prayer : " most mighty * Ino, daughter of Cadmus and in his Roman Questions, in a fit of Harmonia, nursed her sister Se- frantic jealousy of her husband's mele's child, the infant Bacchus, and concubine, an -3itolian servant- afterwards, according to the story maid, killed her own child, followed by Plutarch both here and CA3IILLUS. 275 Jupiter, and ye gods that are judges of good and evil actions, ye know that not without just cause, but con- strained by necessity, λ\β have been forced to revenge ourselves on the city of our unrighteous and wicked ene- mies. But if, in the vicissitude of things, there be any calamity due, to counterbalance this great felicity, I beg- that it may be diverted from the city and army of the Romans, and fall, with as little hurt as may be, upon my own head." Having said these words, and just turning about (as the custom of the Romans is to turn to the right after adoration or prayer), he stumbled and fell, to the astonishment of all that were present. But, recover- ing himself presently from the flill, he told them that he had received what he had prayed for, a small mischance, in compensation for the greatest good fortune. Having sacked the city, he resolved, according as he had vowed, to carry Juno's image to Rome ; and, the workmen being ready for that purpose, he sacrificed to the goddess, and made his supplications that she would be pleased to accept of their devotion toward her, and graciously vouchsafe to accept of a place among the gods that presided at Rome ; and the statue, they say, an- swered in a low voice that she was ready and willing to go. Livy writes, that, in praying, Camilliis touched the goddess, and invited her, and that some of the standers-by cried out that she was willing and would come. They who stand up for the miracle and endeavor to maintain it have one great advocate on their side in the wonderful fortune of the city, which, from a small and contemptible beginning, could never have attained to that greatness and power without many signal manifestations of the divine presence and cooperation. Other wonders of the like nature, drops of sweat seen to stand on statues, groans heard from them, the figures seen to turn round and to close their eyes, are recorded by many ancient 27G CAMILLUS. historians ; and we ourselves could relate divers wonder- ful tilings, which λυθ have been told by men of our own time, that are not lightly to be rejected ; but to give too easy credit to such things, or Λvholly to disbelieve them, is equally dangerous, so incapable is human infirmity of keeping any bounds, or exercising command over itself, running off sometimes to superstition and dotage, at other times to the contempt and neglect of all that is supernatural. But moderation is best, and to avoid all extremes. Camillus, however, whether puffed up with the great- ness of his achievement in conquering a city that was the rival of Rome, and had held out a ten years' siege, or exalted with the felicitations of those that were about him, assumed to himself more than became a civil and legal magistrate ; among other things, in the pride and haughtiness of his triumph, driving through Rome in a chariot dra\vn with four white horses, which no general either before or since ever did ; for the Romans consider such a mode of conveyance to be sacred, and specially set apart to the king and father of the gods. This alienated the hearts of his fellow-citizens, who were not accustomed to such pomp and display. The second pique they had against him was his oppo- sing the law by which the city was to be divided ; for the tribunes of the people brought forward a motion that the people and senate should be divided into tAvo parts, one of which should remain at home, the other, as the lot should decide, remove to the new-taken city. By Avhich means they should not only have much more room, but, by the advantage of two great and magnificent cities, be better able to maintain their territories and their fortunes in general. The people, therefore, who were numerous and indigent, greedily embraced it, and crowded continu- ally to the forum, with tumultuous demands to have it CAMILLUS. 277 put to the vote. But the senate and the noblest citizens, judging the proceedings of the tribunes to tend rather to a destruction than a division of Rome, greatly averse to it, went to Camillus for assistance, who, fearing the result if it came to a direct contest, contrived to occupy the people with other business, and so staved it off. He thus became unpopular. But the greatest and most ap- parent cause of their dislike against him arose from the tenths of the spoil ; the multitude having here, if not a just, yet a plausible case against him. For it seems, as he Λvent to the siege of Veii, he had vowed to Apollo that if he took the city he would dedicate to him the tenth of the spoil. The city being taken and sacked, whether he was loath to trouble the soldiers at that time, or that throuiih the multitude of business he had foro-otten his vow, he suffered them to enjoy that part of the spoils also. Some time afterwards, Λν1ΐ6η his authority was laid down, he brought the matter before the senate, and the priests, at the same time, reported, out of the sacrifices, that there were intimations of divine anger, requiring propitiations and offerings. The senate decreed the obli- gation to be in force. But seeing it was difficult for every one to produce the very same things they had taken, to be divided anew, they ordained that every one upon oath should bring into the public the tenth part of his gains. This occasioned many annoyances and hardships to the soldiers, who were j)Oor men, and had endured much in the war, and now were forced, out of what they had gained and spent, to bring in so great a proportion. Camillus, being assaulted by their clamor and tumults, for want of a better excuse, betook himself to the poorest of defences, confessing he had forgotten his vow ; they in turn complained that he had vowed the tenth of the enemy's goods, and now levied it out of the tenths of the citizens. Nevertheless, every 278 CAMILLUS. one hiiving brought in his due proportion, it was decreed that out of it a bowl of massy gold should be made, and sent to Delphi. And when there was great scarcity of gold in the city, and the magistrates were considering where to get it, the Roman ladies, meeting together and consulting among themselves, out of the golden ornaments they wore contributed as much as went to the making the offering, which in weight came to eight talents of gold. The senate, to give them the honor they had deserved, ordained that funeral orations should be used at the obse- quies of women as well as men, it having never before been a custom that any woman after death should receive any public eulogy. Choosing out, therefore, three of the noblest citizens as a deputation, they sent them in a ves- sel of war, well manned and sumptuously adorned. Storm and calm at sea may both, they say, alike be dangerous ; as they at this time experienced, being brought almost to the very brink of destruction, and, beyond all expecta- tion, escaping. For near the isles of ^olus the wind shielding, galleys of the Lipareans came upon them, taking them for pirates ; and, when they held up their hands as suppliants, forbore indeed from violence, but took their ship in tow, and carried her into the harbor, where they exposed to sale their goods and persons as laAvful prize, they being pirates; and scarcely, at last, by the virtue and interest of one man, Timesitheus by name, Λvho was in office as general, and used his utmost persuasion, they were, with much ado, dismissed. He, however, himself sent out some of his own vessels with them, to accom- pany them in their voyage and assist them at the dedica- tion ; for which he received honors at Rome, as he had deserved. And now the tribunes of the people again resuming their motion for the division of the city, the war against the Faliscans luckily broke out, giving liberty to the chief CAMILLUS. 279 citizens to choose what magistrates they pleased, and to appoint Camillus military tribune, with five colleao-ues; affairs then requiring a commander of authority and repu- tation, as well as experience. And when the people had ratified the election, he marched with his forces into the territories of the Faliscans, and laid siege to Falerii, a well-fortified citj^, and plentifully stored with all neces- saries of war. And although he perceived it would be no small work to take it, and no little time would be required for it, yet he was willing to exercise the citizens and keep them abroad, that they might haA^e no leisure, idling at home, to follow the tribunes in factions and sedi- tions ; a very common remedy, indeed, with the Romans, who thus carried off, like good physicians, the ill humors of their commonw^ealth. The Falerians,'•' trusting in the strength of their city, which was well fortified on all sides, made so little account of the siege, that all, with the ex- ception of those that guarded the walls, as in times of peace, walked about the streets in their common dress; the boys went to school, and were led by their master to play and exercise about the town walls ; for the Falerians, like the Greeks, used to have a single teacher for many pupils, wishing their children to live and be brought up from the beginning in each other's company. This schoolmaster, designing to betray the Falerians by their children, led them out every day under the town wall, at first but a little way, and, when they had exer- cised, brought them home again. Afterwards by degrees he drew them farther and farther, till by practice he had made them bold and fearless, as if no danger was about them ; and at last, having got them all together, he brought them to the outposts of the Romans, and de- livered them up, demanding to be led to Camillus. * Tlie Falerians, in this narra- the Faliscans, the nation in gen^ live, are the people of the town ; eral. 280 CAMILLUS. Where being come, and standing in the middle, he said that he was the master and teacher of these children, but, preferring his favor before all other obligations, he was come to deliver up his charge to him, and, in that, the whole city. When Camillus had heard him out, he was astounded at the treachery of the act, and, turning to the standers-by, observed, that " war, indeed, is of necessity attended with much injustice and violence ! Certain laws, however, all good men observe even in war itself, nor is victory so great an object as to induce us to incur for its sake obligations for base and impious acts. A great general should rely on his own virtue, and not on other men's vices." Which said, he commanded the ofl&cers to tear off the man's clothes, and bind his hands behind him, and give the boys rods and scourges, to punish the traitor and drive him back to the city. By this time the Falerians had discovered the treachery of the school- master, and the city, as was likely, was full of lamenta- tions and cries for their calamit}^, men and women of worth running in distraction about the Avails and gates; when, behold, the boj's came whipping their master on, naked and bound, calling Camillus their preserver and god and father. Insomuch that it struck not only into the parents, but the rest of the citizens that saw what was done, such admiration and love of Camillus's justice, that, immediately meeting in assembly, they sent ambas- sadors to him, to resign whatever they had to his disposal. Camillus sent them to Rome, where, beino; brou2;ht into the senate, they spoke to this purpose : that the Romans, preferring justice before victory, had taught them rather to embrace submission than liberty; they did not so much confess themselves to be inferior in strength, as they must acknowledge them to be superior in virtue. The senate remitted the whole matter to Camillus, to judge and order as he thought fit ; Avho, taking a sum of money CAMILLUS. 281 of the Falerians, and, making a peace with the wholp nation of the Faliscans, returned home. But the soldiers, who had expected to have the pillage of the city, when they came to Kome empty-handed, railed against Camillus among their fellow-citizens, as a hater of the people, and one that grudged all advantage to the poor. Afterwards, when the tribunes of the peo- ple again brought their motion for dividing the city to the vote, Camillus appeared openly against it, shrinking from no unpopularity, and inveighing boldly against the promoters of it, and so urging and constraining the mul- titude, that, contrary to their inclinations, they rejected the proposal; but yet hated Camillus. Insomuch that, though a great misfortune befell him in his family (one of his two sons dying of a disease), commiseration for this could not in the least make them abate of their malice. And, indeed, he took this loss with immoderate sorrow, being a man naturally of a mild and tender dis- position, and, Λνΐιβη the accusation was preferred against him, kept his house, and mourned amongst the women of his family. His accuser was Lucius Apuleius; the charge, appro- priation of the Tuscan spoils ; certain brass gates, part of those spoils, Λvere said to be in his possession. The peo- ple Avere exasperated against him, and it was plain they would take hold of any occasion to condemn him. Gath- ering, therefore, together his friends and fellow-soldiers, and such as had borne command with him, a considerable number in all, he besought them that they would not suffer him to be unjustly overborne by shameful accusa- tions, and left the mock and scorn of his enemies. His friends, having advised and consulted among themselves, made answer, that, as to the sentence, they did not see how they could help him, but that they would contribute to Avhatsoever fine should be set upon him. Not able to 282 CAMILLUS. endure so great an indignity, he resolved in his anger to leave the city and go into exile ; and so, having taken leave of his wife and his son, he went silently to the gate of the city, and, there stopping and turning round, stretched out his hands to the Capitol, and prayed to the gods, that if, without any fault of his own, but merely through the malice and violence of the people, he was driven out into banishment, the Romans might quickly repent of it ; and that all mankind might witness their need for the assistance, and desire for the return of Ca- m ill us. Thus, like Achilles, having left his imprecations on the citizens, he went into banishment; so that, neither ap- pearing nor making defence, he Avas condemned in the sum of fifteen thousand asses, which, reduced to silver, makes one thousand five hundred drachmas; for the as was the money of the time, ten of such copper pieces making the denarius, or piece of ten. And there is not a Roman but believes that immediately upon the prayers of Camillus a sudden judgment followed, and that he received a revenge for the injustice done unto him ; which though we cannot think was pleasant, but rather grievous and bitter to him, yet was Yery remark- able, and noised over the w^iole world ; such a punish- ment visited the city of Rome, an era of such loss and danger and disgrace so quickly succeeded ; whether it thus fell out by fortune, or it be the office of some god not to see injured virtue go unavenged. The first token that seemed to threaten some mischief to ensue was the death of the censor Julius ; for the Romans have a reliarious reverence for the office of a censor, and esteem it sacred. The second was, that, just before Camillus went into exile, Marcus Caadicius, a person of no great distinction, nor of the rank of senator, but esteemed a good and respectable man, reported to the CAMILLUS. 283 military tribunes a thing worthy their consideration : that, going along the night before in the street called the New Way, and being called by somebody in a loud voice, he turned about, but could see no one, but heard a voice greater than human, which said these Λvords, " Go, Marcus Caedicius, and early in the morning tell the mili- tary tribunes that they are shortly to expect the Gauls." But the tribunes made a mock and sport with the story, and a little after came Camillus's banishment. The Gauls are of the Celtic race, and are reported to have been compelled by their numbers to leave their country, which was insufficient to sustain them all, and to have gone in search of other homes. And being, many thousands of them, young men and able to bear arms, and carrying with them a still greater number of women and young children, some of them, passing the Riphasan mountains, fell upon the Northern Ocean, and possessed themselves of the farthest parts of Europe ; others, seating themseh^es bet\veen the Pyrenean moun- tains and the Alps, lived there a considerable time, near to the Senones and Ceitorii ; but, afterwards tasting wine which was then first brought them out of Italy, they were all so much taken Avith the liquor, and transported with the hitherto unknown delight, that, snatching up their arms and taking their families along with them, they marched directlj^ to the Alps, to find out the country which yielded such fruit, pronouncing all others barren and useless. He that first broLigrht wine amons; them and was the chief instigator of their coming into Italy is said to have been one Aruns, a Tuscan, a man of noble extraction, and not of bad natural character, but involved in the following niisfortune. He Λvas guardian to an orphan, one of the richest of the country, and much admired for his beauty, whose name was Lucumo. From his childhood he had been bred up with Aruns in his fam« 284 CAMILLUS. ily, and when now grown up did not leave his house, pio• fessing to wish for the enjoyment of his society. And thus for a great while he secretl}^ enjoyed Aruns's wife, corrupt- ing her, and himself corrupted by her. But when they were both so far gone in their passion that they could neither refrain their lust nor conceal it, the young man seized the woman and openly sought to carry her away. The husband, going to law, and finding himself overpowered by the interest and money of his opponent, left his coun- try, and, hearing of the state of the Gauls, went to them, and was the conductor of their expedition into Italy. At their first coming they at once possessed themselves of all that country which anciently the Tuscans inhabited, reaching from the Alps to both the seas, as the names themselves testify; for the North or Adriatic Sea is named from the Tuscan city Adria, and that to the south the Tuscan Sea simply. The whole country is rich in fruit trees, has excellent pasture, and is well watered with rivers. It had eighteen large and beautiful cities, well provided with all the means for industry and wealth, and all the enjoyments and pleasures of life. The Gauls cast out the Tuscans, and seated themselves in them. But this was long before. The Gauls at this time were besieging Clusium, a Tus- can city. The Clusinians sent to the Romans for succor, desiring them to interpose with the barbarians hy letters and ambassadors. There were sent three of the family of the Fabii, persons of high rank and distinction in the city. The Gauls received them courteously, from respect to the name of Rome, and, giving over the assault w^hich was then making upon the walls, came to conference with them; when the ambassadors asking what injury they had received of the Clusinians that they thus invaded their city, Brennus, king of the Gauls, laughed and made answer, " The Clusinians do us injury, in that, being able CAMILLUS. 285 only to till a small parcel of ground, they must needs possess a great territory, and will not yield any part to us who are strangers, many in number, and poor. In the same nature, Romans, formerly the Albans, Fidenates, and Ardeates, and now lately the A^eientines and Ca- penates, and many of the Faliscans and Volscians, did you injury ; upon whom ye make Avar if they do not jaeld you part of what they possess, make slaves of them, waste and spoil their country, and ruin their cities ; neither in so doing are cruel or unjust, but follow that most ancient of all laws, which gives the possessions of the fee- ble to the strong; which begins with God and ends in the beasts ; since all these, by nature, seek, the stronger to have advantage over the weaker. Cease, therefore, to pity the Clusinians whom we besiege, lest ye teach the Gauls to be kind and compassionate to those that are op- pressed by you." By this answer the Romans, perceiving that Brennus was not to be treated with, w^ent into Clu- sium, and encouraged and stirred up the inhabitants to make a sally with them upon the barbarians, which they did either to try their strength or to show their ΟΛνη. The sally being made, and the fight growing hot about the walls, one of the Fabii, Quintus Ambustus, being well mounted, and setting spurs to his horse, made full against a Gaul, a man of huge bulk and stature, whom he saw riding; out at a distance from the rest. At the first he was not recognized, through the quickness of the conflict and the glittering of his armor, that precluded any vieAV of him ; but when he had overthrown the Gaul, and was going to gather the spoils, Brennus knew him ; and, in- voking the gods to be witnesses, that, contrary to the known and common law of nations, Avhich is holily ob- served by all mankind, he who had come as an ambassador had now engaged in hostility against him, he drew off his men, and, bidding Clusium farewell, led his army 286 CAMILLUS. directly to Eome. But not wishing that it should look as if they took advantage of that injury, and were ready to embrace any occasion of quarrel, he sent a herald to demand the man in punishment, and in the mean time marched leisurely on. The senate being met at Eome, among many others that spoke against the Fabii, the priests called fecials were the most decided, λυΙιο, on the religious ground, urged the senate that they should lay the whole guilt and penalty of the fact upon him that committed it, and so exonerate the rest. These fecials Numa Pompilius, the mildest and justest of kings, constituted guardians of peace, and the judges and determiners of all causes by which Avar may justifiably be made. The senate referring the whole matter to the people, and the priests there, as well as in the senate, pleading against Fabius, the multi- tude, however, so little regarded their authority, that in scorn and contempt of it they chose Fabius and the rest of his brothers military tribunes. The Gauls, on hearing this, in great rage threw aside every delay, and hastened on with all the speed they could make. The places through which they marched, terrified with their numbers and the splendor of their prej)arations for Avar, and in alarm at their violence and fierceness, began to give up their territories as already lost, with little doubt but their cities would quickly follow ; contrary, however, to expec- tation, they did no injury as they passed, nor took any thing from the fields ; and, as they went by iiny city, cried out that they were going to Eome; that the Eomans only were their enemies, and that they took all others for their friends. Whilst the barbarians were thus hastening with all speed, the military tribunes brought the Eomans into the field to be ready to engage them, being not inferior to the Gauls in number (for they were no less than forty CAMILLUS. 287 thousand foot), but most of them raw soldiers, and such as had never handled a weapon before. Besides, they had wholly neglected all religious usages, had not ob- tained favorable sacrifices, nor made inquiries of the prophets, natural in danger and before battle. No less did the multitude of commanders distract and confound their proceedings ; frequently before, upon less occasions, they had chosen a single leader, with the title of dictator, being sensible of what great importance it is in critical times to have the soldiers united under one general with the entire and absolute control placed in his hands. Add to all, the remembrance of Camillus's treatment, which made it now seem a dangerous thing for officers to com- mand without humoring their soldiers. In this condition they left the cit}^, and encamped by the river Allia, about ten miles from Rome, and not far from the place where it falls into the Tiber; and here the Gauls came upon them, and, after a disgraceful resistance, devoid of order and discipline, they were miserably defeated. The left wing was immediately driven into the river, and there destroyed ; the right had less damage by declining the shock, and from the low grounds getting to the tops of the hills, from whence most of them afterwards dropped into the city ; the rest, as many as escaped, the enemy being weary of the slaughter, stole by night to Yeii, giv- ing up Rome and all that was in it for lost. This battle was fought about the summer solstice, the moon being at full, the very same day in which the sad disaster of the Fabii had happened, when three hundred of that name were at one time cut off by the Tuscans. But from this second loss and defeat the day got the name of AlHensis, from the river Allia, and still retains it. The question of unlucky days, whether we should con- sider any to be so, and whether Heraclitus did Avell in upbraiding Hesiod for distinguishing them into fortunate 288 CAMILLUS. and unfortunate, as ignorant that the nature of every day is the same, I have examined in another place ; but upon occasion of the present subject, I think it will not be amiss to annex a few examples relating to this matter. On the fifth of their month Hippodromius, which corre- sponds to the Athenian Hecatombseon, the Boeotians gained two signal victories, the one at Leuctra, the other at Ceressus, about three hundred years before, when they overcame Lattamyas and the Thessalians, both which asserted the liberty of Greece. Again, on the sixth of Boedromion. the Persians were worsted by the Greeks at Marathon ; on the third, at Plataea, as also at Mycale ; on the twent3^-fifth, at Arbela. The Athenians, about the full moon in Boedromion, gained their sea-victory at Naxos under the conduct of Chabrias ; on the twentieth, at Salamis, as Ave have shown in our treatise on Days. Thargelion was a very unfortunate month to the barba- rians, for in it Alexander overcame Darius's generals on the Granicus; and the Carthaginians, on the twenty- fourth, were beaten by Timoleon in Sicily, on which same day and month Troy seems to have been taken, as Ephorus, Callisthenes, Damastes, and Phylarchus state. On the other hand, the month Metagitnion, Λψhich in Boeotia is called Panemus, was not very lucky to the Greeks; for on its seventh day they were defeated by Antipater, at the battle in Cranon, and utterly ruined ; and before, at Chaeronea, were defeated by Philip ; and on the very same day, same month, and same 3^ear, those that went Λvith Archidamus into Italy were there cut off b^^ the barbarians. The Carthaginians also observe the twenty- first of the same month, as brino-incr with it the laro-est number and the severest of their losses. I am not igno- rant, that, about the Feast of Mysteries, Thebes was de- stroyed the second time by Alexander; and after that, upon the very twentieth of Boedromion, on which day CAl^ULLUS. 289 they lead forth the mystic lacchus, the Athenians received a garrison of the Macedonians. On the selfsame day the Romans lost their army under CaBpio by the Cimbrians, and in a subsequent year, under the conduct of Lucullus, overcame the Armenians and Tigranes. King Attains and Pompey died both on their birthdays. One could reckon up several that have had variety of fortune on the same day. This day, meantime, is one of the unfortu- nate ones to the Romans, and for its sake two others * in every month ; fear and superstition, as the custom of it is, more and more prevailing. Bat I have discussed thi? more accurately in my Roman Questions. And now, after the battle, had the Gauls immediately pursued those that fled, there had been no remedy but Rome must have wholly been ruined, and all those who remained in it utterly destroyed ; such was the terror that those who escaped the battle brought with them into the city, and with such distraction and confusion were themselves in turn infected. But the Gauls, not im- agining their victory to be so considerable, and overtaken with the present joy, fell to feasting and dividing the spoil, by Λvhich means they gave leisure to those who were for leaving the city to make their escape, and to those that remained, to anticipate and prepare for their coming. For they who resolved to stay at Rome, aban- doning the rest of the city, betook themselves to the Capitol, which they fortified with the help of missiles and new works. One of their principal cares was of their holy things, most of which they conveyed into the Capi- tol. But the consecrated fire the vestal virgins took, and * The day after the Ides, on after the Nones, were in every ■which, in the month of July, the month accounted unhicky. The army marched out, and also the AUian day itself was the thh'd aftei day after the Calends, and the day the Ides, July 18. VOL. L 19 290 CAMILLUS. tied with it, as liliewise their other sacred things. Some write that they have nothing in their charge but the ever-living fire which Numa had ordained to be wor- shipped as the principle of all things ; for fire is the most active thing in nature, and all production is either motion, or attended with motion ; all the other parts of matter, so long as they are without w^armth, lie sluggish and dead, and require the accession of a sort of soul or vital- ity in the principle of heat ; and upon that accession, in whatever way, immediately receive a capacity either of acting or being acted upon. And thus Numa, a man curious in such things, and whose wisdom made it thought that he conversed Avith the Muses, consecrated fire, and ordained it to be kept ever burning, as an image of that eternal power which orders and actuates all things. Others say that this fire was kept burning in front of the holy things, as in Greece, for purification, and that there were other things hid in the most secret part of the tem- ple, which were kept from the view of all, except those virgins whom they call vestals. The most common opinion was, that the image of Pallas, brought into Italy by iEneas, was laid up there ; others say that the Sanio- thracian images lay there, telling a story how that Dar- danus carried them to Troy, and, when he had built the city, celebrated those rites, and dedicated those images there; that after Troy was taken, j3ineas stole them away, and kept them till his coming into Italy. But they who profess to knoAV more of the matter affirm that there are two barrels, not of any great size, one of Avhich stands open and has nothing in it, the other full and sealed up ; but that neither of them may be seen but by the most holy virgins. Others think that they who say this are misled by the fact that the virgins put most of their holy things into two barrels at this time of the Gaulish inva- sion, and hid them underground in the temple of Quiri- CAMILLUS. 291 niis; and that from hence that place to this clay hears the name of Barrels. However it be, taking the most precious and important things they had, they fled away with them, shaping their course along the river side, where Lucius Albinius, a sim- ple citizen of Rome, who among others was making his escape, overtook them, having his wife, children, and goods in a cart; and, seeing the virgins dragging along in their arms the holy things of the gods, in a helpless and weary condition, he caused his wife and children to get down, and, taking out his goods, put the virgins in the cart, that they might make their escape to some of the Greek cities. This devout act of Albinius, and the respect he showed thus signallj^ to the gods at a time of such ex- tremity, deserved not to be passed o\^er in silence. But the priests that belonged to other gods, and the most elderly of the senators, men who had been consuls and had enjoyed triumphs, could not endure to leave the city ; but, putting on their sacred and splendid robes, Fa- bius the high-priest performing the office, they made their prayers to the gods, and, devoting themselves, as it were, for their country, sate themselves down in their ivory chairs in the forum, and in that posture expected the event. On the third day after the b.ittle, Brennus appeared with his army at the city, and, finding the gates wide open and no guards upon the walls, first began to suspect it was some design or stratagem, never dreaming that the Komans were in so desperate a condition. But when he found it to be so indeed, he entered at the Colline gate, and took Rome, in the three hundred and sixtieth year, or a little more, after it was built; if, indeed, it can be sup- posed probable that an exact chronological statement has been preserved of events which were themselves the• cause of chronolo2rical difficulties about thinors of later 292 CAMILLUS. date ; of the calamity itself, however, and of the fact of the capture, some faint rumors seem to have passed at the time into Greece. Heraclides Ponticus, who lived not long after these times, in his book upon the Soul, relates that a certain report came from the west, that an army, proceeding from the Hyperboreans, had taken a Greek city called Rome, seated somewhere upon the great sea. But I do not wonder that so fabulous and high- flown an author as Heraclides should embellish the truth of the story w^ith expressions about Hyperboreans and the great sea. Aristotle the philosopher appears to have heard a correct statement of the taking of the city by the Gaols, but he calls its deliverer Lucius ; whereas Camil• lus's surname was not Lucius, but Marcus. But this is a matter of conjecture. Brennus, having taken possession of Rome, set a strong guard about the Capitol, and, going himself down into the forum, was there struck with amazement at the sight of so many men sitting in that order and silence, observing that they neither rose at his coming, nor so much as changed color or countenance, but remained without fear or concern, leaning upon their staves, and sitting quietly, looking at each other. The Gauls, for a great while, stood wonderino^ at the stransjeness of the sisht. not daring to approach or touch them, taking them for an assembly of superior beings. ButAvhen one, bolder than the rest, drew near to Marcus Papirius, and, putting forth his hand, gently touched his chin and stroked his long beard, Papi- rius with his staff struck him a severe blow on the head; upon which the barbarian drew his sword and slew him. This was the introduction to the slaughter ; for the rest, following his example, set upon them all and killed them, and despatched all others that came in their way ; and so went on to the sacking and pillaging the houses, which they continued for many days ensuing. Afterwards, they CAMILLUS. U93 burnt them down to the ground and demoUshed them, being incensed at tliose who kept the Capitol, because they would not yield to summons ; but, on the contrary, when assailed, had repelled them, with some loss, from their defences. This provoked them to ruin the whole city, and to put to the sword all that came to their hands, young and old, men, women, and children. And now, the siege of the CajDitol having lasted a good while, the Gauls began to be in want of provision ; and dividing their forces, part of them stayed with their king at the siege, the rest went to forage the country, rava- ging the towns and villages where they came, but not all together in a body, but in different squadrons and parties; and to such a confidence had success raised them, that they carelessly rambled about without the least fear or apprehension of danger. But the greatest and best ordered body of their forces went to the city of Ardea, where Camillus then sojourned, having, ever since his lea- ving Rome, sequestered himself from all business, and taken to a private life ; but now he began to rouse up himself, and consider not how to avoid or escape the enemy, but to find out an opportunity to be revenged upon them. And perceiving that the Ardeatians wanted not men, but rather enterprise, through the inexperience and timidity of their officers, he began to speak with the young men, first, to the effect that they ought not to ascribe the misfortune ο " the Romans to the courage of their enemy, nor attribute the losses they sustained by rash counsel to the conduct of men who had no title to vic- tory; the event had been only an evidence of the power of fortune ; that it was a brave thino; even wath dano-er to repel a foreign and barbarous invader, whose end in conquering was, like fire, to lay waste and destroy, but if they would be courageous and resolute, he was ready to put an o^jportunity into their hands to gain a victory, 294 CAMILLUS. without hazard at all. When he found the young men embraced the thing, he went to the magistrates and coun- cil of the city, and, having persuaded them also, he mus- tered all that could bear arms, and drew them up within the walls, that they might not be perceived by the enemy, who was near ; who, having scoured the countrj^, and now returned heavy-laden with booty, lay encamped in the plains in a careless and negligent posture, so that, wdth the night ensuing upon debauch and drunkenness, silence prevailed through all the camp. When Camillus learned this from his scouts, he drew out the Ardeatians, and in the dead of the night, passing in silence over the ground that lay between, came up to their Λvorks, and, command- ing his trumpets to sound and his men to shout and hal- loo, he struck terror into them from all quarters ; while drunkenness impeded and sleep retarded their movements. A few, Avhom fear had sobered, getting into some order, for awhile resisted ; and so died with their weapons in their hands. But the greatest part of them, buried in wine and sleep, were surprised without their arms, and despatched ; and as many of them as by the advantage of the night got out of the camp were the next day found scattered abroad and wandering in the fields, and were picked up by the horse that pursued them. The fame of this action soon flew through the neigh- boring cities, and stirred up the young men from various quarters to come and join themselves with him. But none Λvere so much concerned as those Eomans who escaped in the battle of Allia, and were now at Veii, thus lamenting with themselves, "0 heavens, Avhat a com- mander has Providence bereaved Rome of, to honor Ardea with his actions! And that city, which brought forth and nursed so great a man, is lost and gone, and we, des- titute of a leader and shut up within strange λ\\ί118, sit idle, and see Italy ruined before our ej-es. Come, let us CAMILLUS. 2db i-end to the Ardeatians to have back our general, or else, with weapons in our hands, let us go thither to him ; for he is no longer a banished man, nor we citizens, hav- ing no country but what is in the possession of the enemy." To this they all agr<^ed, and sent to Camillus to desire him to take the command ; but he answered, that he Avould not, until they that were in the Capitol should legally ajDpoint him ; for he esteemed them, as long as they were in being, to be his country ; that if they should command him, he would readily obey ; but against their consent he ΛνοηΜ intermeddle with nothina:. When this answer was returned, they admired the mod- esty and temper of Camillas ; but they could not tell how to find a messenger to carry the intelligence to the Capi- tol, or rather, indeed, it seemed altogether impossible for any one to get to the citadel whilst the enemy was in full possession of the city. But among the young men there was one Pontius Cominius, of ordinary birth, but ambi- tioxis of honor, who proffered himself to run the hazard, and took no letters with him to those in the Capitol, lest, if he were intercepted, the enemy might learn the inten- tions of Camillus ; but, putting on a poor dress and carry- ing corks under it, he boldly travelled the greatest part of the way by day, and came to the city when it was dark ; the bridge he could not pass, as it was guarded by the barbarians ; so that taking his clothes, which were neither many nor heavy, and binding them about his head, he laid his body upon the corks, and, swdmming with them, got over to the city. And avoiding those quarters where he perceived the enemy was aAvake, which he guessed at by the lights and noise, he went to the Carmental gate, where there was greatest silence, and where the hill of the Capitol is steepest, and rises with craggy and broken rock. By this way he got up, though with much difficulty, by the hollow of the cliff, and presented himself to the 296 CAMILLUS. guards, saluting them, and telling them his name ; he was taken in, and carried to the commanders. And a senate heing immediately called, he related to them in order the victory of Camillus, which they had not heard of before, and the proceedings of the soldiers, urging them to confirm Camillus in the command, as on him alone all their fellow-countrymen outside the city would rely Having heard and consulted of the matter, the senate declared Camillus dictator, and sent back Pontius the same way that he came, who, with the same success as before, got through the enemy without being discovered, and delivered to the Eomans outside the decision of the senate, who joj^fully received it. Camillus, on his arrival, found twenty thousand of them ready in arms; with which forces, and those confederates he brought along with him, he prepared to set upon the enemy. But at Rome some of the barbarians, passing by chance near the ^Ance at Λγhicll Pontius by night had got into the Capitol, spied in several places marks of feet and hands, where he had laid hold and clambered, and places where the plants that grew to the rock had been rubbed off, and the earth had slipped, and went accordingly and reported it to the king, who, coming in person, and view- ing it, for the present said nothing, but in the evening, picking out such of the Gauls as were nimblest of body, and by living in the mountains were accustomed to climb, he said to them, " The enemy themselves have shown us a way how to come at them, which we knew not of before, and have taught us that it is not so difficult and impossible but that men may overcome it. It would be a great shame, having begun well, to fail in the end, and to give up a place as impregnable, Λvhen the enemy him- self lets us see the way by which it may be taken ; for where it was easy for one man to get up, it will not be hard for many, one after another; nay, when many CAMILLUS. 297 shall undertake it, they will be aid and strength to each other. Rewards and honors shall be bestowed on every man as he shall acquit himself." When the king had thus spoken, the Gauls cheerfully undertook to perform it, and in the dead of night a good party of them together, with great silence, began to climb the rock, clinging to the precipitous and difficult ascent, which yet upon trial offered a way to them, and proved less difficult than they had expected. So that the fore- most of them having gained the top of all, and jout them- selves into order, they all but surprised the outworks. and mastered the watch, who were fast asleep ; for neither man nor dog perceived their coming. But there were sacred geese kept near the temple of Juno, Λvhich at other times were plentifully fed, but now, bj^ reason that corn and all other provisions were grown scarce for all, were but in a poor condition. The creature is by nature of quick sense, and apprehensive of the least noise, so that these, being moreover watchful through hunger, and restless, immediately discovered the coming of the Gauls, and, running up and down with their noise and cackling, they raised the whole camp, while the barbarians on the other side, j^erceiving themselves discovered, no longer endeavored to conceal their attempt, but with shouting and violence advanced to the assault. The Romans, every one in haste snatching up the next weapon that came to hand, did what they could on the sudden occa- sion. Manlius, a man of consular dignity, of strong body and great spirit, was the first that made head against them, and, engaging with two of the enemy at once, with his sword cut off the right arm of one just as he was lifting up his blade to strike, and, running his target full in the face of the other, tumbled him headlong down the steep rock; then mounting the rampart, and there standing with others that came running to his 298 CAMILLUS. assistance, drove down the rest of them, who, indeed, to begin, had not been manj^, and did nothing worthy of so bold an attempt. The Romans, having thus escaped this danger, early in the morning took the captain of the watch and flung him down the rock upon the heads of their ene- mies, and to Manlius for his victory voted a reward, intended more for honor than advantage, bringing him, each man of them, as much as he received for his daily allowance, which was half a pound of bread, and one eighth of a pint of wine. Henceforward, the affairs of the Gauls were daily in a worse and worse condition ; they wanted provisions, being Λvithheld from foraging through fear of Camillus, and sickness also Λvas amongst them, occasioned b}^ the number of carcasses that lay in heaps unburied. Being lodged among the ruins, the ashes, which were very deep, blown about with the winds and combinino- with the sultry heats, breathed up, so to say, a dry and searching air, the inhalation of which Λvas destructive to their health. But the chief cause was the change from their natural climate, coming as tliey did out of shady and hilly countries, abounding in means of shelter from the heat, to lodge in low, and, in the autumn season, very un- healthy ground ; added to which Λvas the length and tediousness of the siege, as they had now sate seven months before the Capitol. There was, therefore, a great destruction among them, and the number of the dead grew so great, that the living gave up burying them. Neither, indeed, were things on that account any better with the besieged, for famine increased upon them, and despondency with not hearing any thing of Camillus, it being impossible to send any one to him, the city was so guarded by the barbarians. Things being in this sad condition on both sides, a motion of treaty was made at first by some of the outposts, as they happened to speak CAMILLUS. 299 with one another; which being embrcaced by the leading men, Sulpicius, tribune of the Romans, came to a parley with Brennus, in Λvhich it was agreed, that the Romans laying down a thousand weight of gold, the Gauls upon the receipt of it should immediately quit the city and territories. The agreement being confirmed by oath on both sides, and the gold brought forth, the Gauls used false dealing in the weights, secretly at first, but after- wards openly pulled back and disturbed the balance ; at which the Romans indignantly complaining, Brennus in a scoffing and insulting manner pulled off" his sword and belt, and threw them both into the scales; and when Sulpicius asked what that meant, " What should it mean,*' says he, " but woe to the conquered ? " which afterwards became a proverbial saying. As for the Romans, some were so incensed that they were for taking their gold back again, and returning to endure the siege. Others were for passing by and dissembling a petty injury, and not to account that the indignity of the thing lay in pay- ing more than was due, since the paying any thing at all was itself a dishonor only submitted to as a necessity of the times. ^Yhilst this difference remained still unsettled, both amongst themselves and with the Gauls, Camillus was at the gates with his army ; and, having learned what was going on, commanded the main body of his forces to follow slowly after him in good order, and himself with the choicest of his men hastening on, went at once to the Romans; where all giving way to him, and receiving him as their sole magistrate, with profound silence and order, he took the gold out of the scales, and delivered it to his officers, and commanded the Gauls to take their weights and scales and depart; saying that it was customary with the Romans to deliver their country with iron, not with gold And when Brennus began to rage, and say that :-J00 CAMILLUS. he was unjustly dealt with in such a breach of contract Camillus answered that it was never legally made, and the agreement of no force or obligation ; for that himself being declared dictator, and there being no other magi- strate by law, the engagement had been made Avith men who had no power to enter into it ; but now they might say any thing they had to urge, for he was come with full power by law to grant pardon to such as should ask it, or inflict punishment on the guilty, if they did not repent. At this, Brennus broke into violent auger, and an immediate quarrel ensued ; both sides drew their swords and attacked, but in confusion, as could not otherwise be amongst houses, and in narrow lanes and places Λvhere it was impossible to form in any order. But Brennus, presently recollecting himself, called off his men, and, with the loss of a few only, brought them to their camp ; and, rising in the night with all his forces, left the city, and, advancing about eight miles, encamped upon the way to Gabii. As soon as day appeared, Camillus came up with him, splendidly armed himself, and his soldiers full of courajie and confidence ; and there eno-aoino; with him in a sharp conflict, which lasted a long while, overthrew his army with great slaughter, and took their camp. Of those that fled, some Λvere presently cut off by the pur- suers; others, and these were the greatest number, dis- persed hither and thither, and were despatched by the people that came sallying out from the neighboring tow^ns and villages. Thus Rome was strangely taken, and more strangely recovered, having been seven whole months in the posses- sion of the barbarians, who entered her a little after the Ides of July, and Λvere driven out about the Ides of Feb- ruary following. Camillus triumphed, as he deserved, having saved his country that was lost, and brought the city, so to sa3', back again to itself For those that had CAMILLUS. 301 fled abroad, together with their wives and children, ac- companied him as he rode in ; and those who had been shut up in the Capitol, and were reduced almost to the point of perishing with hunger, went out to meet him, embracing each other as they met, and weeping for joy. and, through the excess of the present pleasure, scarce believing in its truth. And when the priests and min- isters of the gods appeared, bearing the sacred things, which in their flight they had either hid on the spot, or conveyed away with tliem, and now openly showed in safety, the citizens who saw the blessed sight felt as if with these the gods themselves were again re- turned unto Rome. After Camillus had sacrificed to the gods, and purified the city according to the direction of those properly instructed, he restored the existing temples, and erected a new one to Rumour, or Voice,=•' informing himself of the spot in which that voice from heaven came by night to Marcus Csedicius, foretelling the coming of the barbarian army. It was a matter of difficulty, and a hard task, amidst so much rubbish, to discover and re-determine the conse- crated places ; but by the zeal of Camillus, and the inces- sant labor of the priests, it was at last accomplished. But when it came also to rebuilding the city, which was wholly demolished, despondency seized the multitude, and a backwardness to engage in a work for which they had no materials ; at a time, too, when they rather needed relief and repose from their past labors, than any new demands upon their exhausted strength and impaired for- tunes. Thus insensibly they turned their thoughts again towards Veil, a city ready-built and well-provided, and gave an opening to the arts of flatterers eager to gratify * Aius Loquens, in Cicero, Aius cause " aiebat et loquebatur." Locutiu.=u in Livy so entitled be- 302 CAMILLUS. their desires, and lent their ears to seditious laiiscuase flung out against Camillus ; as that, out of ambition and self-glor}^, he withheld them from a city fit to receive them, forcing them to liΛ'•e in the midst of ruins, and to re-erect a pile of burnt rubbish, that he might be esteemed not the chief magistrate only and general of Rome, but, to the exclusion of Eomulus, its founder, also. The sen- ate, therefore, fearing a sedition, would not suffer Camil- lus, though desirous, to lay down his authority within the year, though no other dictator had ever held it above six months. They themselves, meantime, used their best endeavors, by kind persuasions and familiar addresses, to encourage and to appease the people, showing them the shrines and tombs of their ancestors, calling to their remembrance the sacred spots and holy places which Romulus and Numa or any other of their kings had consecrated and left to their keeping ; and among the strongest religious argu- ments, urged the head, newly separated from the body, which was found in laying the foundation of the Capitol, marking it as a place destined by fate to be the head of all Italy ; and the holy fire which had just been rekindled again, since the end of the war, by the vestal virgins; " What a disgrace would it be to them to lose and extin- guish this, leaving the city it belonged to, to be either inhabited by strangers and new-comers, or left a wild pas- ture for cattle to graze on ?" Such reasons as these, urged with complaint and expostulation, sometimes in private upon individuals, and sometimes in their public assemblies, were met, on the other hand, by laments and protesta- tions of distress and helplessness; entreaties, that, re- united as they just were, after a sort of shipwreck, naked and destitute, they would not constrain them to patc?i up the pieces of a ruined and shattered city, when they had another at hand ready-built and prepared. CAMILLUS. 303 Camillus thought good to refer it to general clehbera- tion, and himself spoke largely and earnestly in behalf of his country, as also many others. At last, calling to Lu- cius Lucretius, whose place it was to speak first, he com- manded him to give his sentence, and the rest as they fol- lowed, in order. Silence being made, and Lucretius just about to begin, by chance a centurion, passing by outside with his company of the day-guard, called out with a loud voice to the ensign-bearer to halt and fix his standard, for this was the best place to stay in. This voice, coming in that moment of time, and at that crisis of uncertainty and anxi- ety for the future, was taken as a direction Avhat was to be done ; so that Lucretius, assuming an attitude of devo- tion, gave sentence in concurrence with the gods, as he said, as likewise did all that followed. Even among the common people it created a wonderful change of feeling ; every one now cheered and encouraged his neighbor, and set himself to the work, proceeding in it, however, not by any regular lines or divisions, but every one pitching uj)on that plot of ground which came next to hand, or best pleased his fancy ; by which haste and hurry in building, they constructed their city in narrow and ill-designed lanes, and with houses huddled together one upon an- other ; for it is said that within the compass of the year the whole city was raised up anew, both in its public walls and private buildings. The persons, however, ap- pointed by Camillus to resume and mark out, in this general confusion, all consecrated places, coming, in their way round the Palatium, to the chapel of Mars, found the chapel itself indeed destroyed and burnt to the ground, like every thing else, by the barbarians ; but whilst they were clearing the place, and carrying away the rubbish, lit upon Romulus's augural staff, buried under a great heap of ashes. This sort of staff is crooked at one end, and is called Utiius ; they make use of it in quaitering 304 CAMILLUS. out the regions of the heavens Λvhen engaged in divina- tion from the flight of birds ; Eomulus, who was himself a great diviner, made use of it. But when he disappeared from the earth, the priests took his staff" and kept it, as other holy things, from the touch of man ; and when they now found that, whereas all other things were con- sumed, this staff" had altogether escaped the flames, they began to conceive happier hopes of Rome, and to augur from this token its future everlasting safety. And now they had scarcely got a breathing time from their trouble, when a new war came upon them; and the JEquians, Volscians, and Latins all at oiice invaded their territories, and the Tuscans besieged Sutrium, their con- federate city. The military tribunes who commanded the army, and were encamped about the hill Mascius, being closely besieged by the Latins, and the camp in danger to be lost, sent to Rome, where Camillus was a third time chosen dictator. Of this war two different accounts are given ; I shall begin with the more fabulous. They say that the Latins (Λvhether out of pretence, or a real design to revive the ancient relationship of the two nations) sent to de- sire of the Romans some free-born maidens in marriage ; that when the Romans were at a loss how to determine (for on one hand they dreaded a war, having scarcely yet settled and recovered themselves, and on the other side suspected that this asking of wives was, in plain terms, nothing^ else but a demand for hostages, thouo;h covered over with the specious name of intermarriage and alli- ance), a certain handmaid, by name Tutula, or, as some call her, Philotis, persuaded the magistrates to send with her some of the most youthful and best-looking maid-ser- vants, in the bridal dress of noble virgins, and leave the rest to her care and management ; that the magistrates, consenting, chose out as many as she thought necessary for her purpose, and, adorning them Avi^^h gold and rich CAMILLUS. 305 clothes, delivered them to the Latins, who were en- camped not far from the city; that at night the rest stole away the enemy's swords, but Tutula or Philotis, getting to the top of a \χ'ύά fig-tree, and spreading out a thick woollen cloth behind her, held out a torch towards Eome, which was the signal concerted between her and the commanders, without the knowledge, however, of any other of the citizens, which Avas the reason that their issuing out from the city was tumultuous, the officers pushing their men on, and they calling upon one an- other's names, and scarce able to bring themselves into order ; that setting upon the enemy's works, who either were asleep or expected no such matter, they took the camp, and destroyed most of them ; and that this was done on the nones of July, Avhich was then called Quintilis, and that the feast that is observed on that day is a commem- oration of what was then done. For in it, first, they run out of the city in great crowds, and call out aloud several familiar and common names, Caius, Marcus, Lucius, and the like, in representation of the way in which they called to one another when tliey Avent out in such haste. In the next place, the maid-servants, gaily dressed, run about, playing and jesting upon all they meet, and amongst themselves, also, use a kind of skirmishing, to show they helped in the conflict against the Latins ; and while eating and drinking, they sit shaded over with boughs of wild fig-tree, and the day they call Nonce Caprotinae, as some think from that wild fig-tree on which the maid-servant held up her torch, the Roman name for a wild fig-tree being cajmficiis. Others refer most of what is said or done at this feast to the fate of Eomulus, for, on this day, he vanished outside the gates in a sud- den darkness and storm (some think it an eclipse of the sun), and from this, the day was called Ncnae Caprotinae, VOL. I. 20 306 CAMILLUS. the Latin for a goat being capra, and the place where he disappeared having the name of Goat's Marsh, as is stated in his hfe. But the general stream of writers prefer the other ac- count of this war, which they thus relate. Camillus, being the third time chosen dictator, and learning that the army under the tribunes was besieged by the Latins and Vol scians, was constrained to arm, not only those under, but also those over, the age of service ; and taking a large cir- cuit round the mountain Msecius, undiscovered by the enemy, lodged his army on their rear, and then by many fires gave notice of his arrival. The besieged, encouraged by this, prepared to sally forth and join battle ; but the Latins and A^olscians, fearing this exposure to an enemy on both sides, drew themselves Λvithin their works, and fortified their camp with a strong palisade of trees on every side, resolving to wait for more supplies from home, and expecting, also, the assistance of the Tuscans, their confederates. Camillus. detecting their object, and fear- ing to be reduced to the same position to which he had brought them, namely, to be besieged himself, resolved to lose no time; and finding their rampart was all of timber, and observing that a strong Λvind constantly at sun-rising blew off from the mountains, after having prepared a quantity of combustibles, about break of day he drew forth his forces, couimanding a part with their missiles to assault the enemy Avith noise and shouting on the other quarter, whilst he, with those that were to fling in the fire, went to that side of the enemy's camp to which the wind usually blew, and there waited his opportunity. When the skirmish Avas begun, and the sun risen, and a strong wind set in from the mountains, he gave the sig- nal of onset ; and, heaping in an infinite quantity of fiery matter, filled all their rampart with it, so that the flame UAMILLUS. 307 being fed by the close timber and wooden palisades, went on and spread into all quarters. The Latins, having noth- ing ready to keep it oiF or extinguish it, when the camp was now almost full of fire, were dri\'^en back within a very small compass, and at last forced by necessity to come into their enem3^'s hands, who stood before the works ready armed and prepared to receive them; of these very few escaped, while those that sta3'ed in the camp were all a prey to the fire, until the Romans, to gain the pillage, extinguished it. These things performed, Camillus, leaving his son Lu- cius in the camp to guard the prisoners and secure the booty, passed into the enemy's country, where, having taken the city of the ^Equians and reduced the Yolscians to obedience, he then immediately led his army to Sutri- um, not having heard what had befallen the Sutrians, but making haste to assist them, as if they were still in danger and besieged by the Tuscans. They, however, had already surrendered their city to their enemies, and destitute of all things, with nothing left but their clothes, met Camil- lus on the Avay, leading their waives and children, and bewailing their misfortune. Camillus himself was struck with compassion, and perceiving the soldiers weeping, and commiserating their case, while the Sutrians hung about and clung to them, resolved not to defer revenge, but that very day to lead his army to Sutrium ; conjecturing that the enemy, having just taken a rich and plentiful city, Λvithout an enemy left Λvithin it, nor any from with- out to be expected, ΛνοηΜ be found abandoned to enjoy- ment and unguarded. Neither did his opinion fiiil him ; he not only passed through their country without dis- covery, but came up to their very gates and possessed himself of the walls, not a man being left to guard them, but their whole army scattered about in the houses, drinking and making merry. Nay, when at last they did 308 CAl^lILLUS. perceive that the enemy had seized the city, they were so overloaded Avith meat and wine, that few were able so much as to endeavor to escape, but either waited shame- fully for their death within doors, or surrendered them- selves to the conqueror. Thus the city of the Sutrians was twice taken in one day ; and they who were in pos- session lost it, and they Avho had lost regained it, alike by the means of Caraillus. For all which actions he received a triumph, \vhich brought him no less honor and reputa- tion than the two former ones; for those citizens who before most regarded him with an evil eye, and ascribed his successes to a certain luck rather than real merit, were compelled by these last acts of his to allow the whole honor to his great abilities and energy. Of all the adversaries and enviers of his glory, Marcus Manlius was the most distinguished, he who first drove back the Gauls Λvhen they made their night attack upon the Capitol, and who for that reason had been named Capitolinus. This man, affecting the first place in the commonwealth, and not able by noble ways to outdo Camillus's reputation, took that ordinary course towards usurpation of absolute power, namely, to gain the multi- tude, those of them especially that were in debt; defend- ing some by pleading their causes against their creditors, rescuing others by force, and not suffering the laAv to pro- ceed against them; insomuch that in a short time he got great numbers of indigent people about him, Λν1ΐ05β tumults and uproars in the forum struck terror into the principal citizens. After that Quintius Capitolinus, who was made dictator to suppress these disorders, had com- mitted Manlius to prison, the people immediately changed their apparel, a thing never done but in great and public calamities, and the senate, fearing some tumult, ordered him to be released. He, however, when set at liberty, changed not his course, but was rather the more insolent CAMILLUS. 309 in his proceedings, filling the Λvhole city with faction and sedition. They chose, therefore, Camillas again military tribune ; and a day being appointed for Manlius to answer to his charge, the prospect from the place where his trial Λvas held proved a great impediment to his accusers ; for the very spot where Manlius by night fought with the Gauls overlooked the forum from the Capitol, so that, stretching forth his hands that Avay, and weeping, he called to their remembrance his past actions, raising com- passion in all that beheld him. Insomuch that the judges were at a loss what to do, and several times adjourned the trial, unwilling to acquit him of the crime, which was sufficiently proved, and yet unable to execute the law while his noble action remained, as it were, before their eyes. Camillus, considering this, transferred the court outside the gates to the Peteline Grove, from whence there is no prospect of the Capitol. Here his accuser Avent on with his charge, and his judges were capable of remembering and duly resenting his guilty deeds. He was convicted, carried to the Capitol, and flung headlong from the rock ; so that one and the same spot was thus the witness of his greatest glory, and monu- ment of his most unfortunate end. The Eomans, besides, razed his house, and built there a temple to the goddess they call Moneta, ordaining for the future that none of the patrician order should ever dwell on the Capitoline. And now Camillus, being called to his sixth trioune- ship, desired to be excused, as being aged, and perhaps nat unfearful of the malice of fortune, and those reverses which seem to ensue upon great prosperity. But the most apparent pretence was the weakness of his body, for he happened at that time to be sick ; the people, however, would admit of no excuses, but, crying that they wanted not his strength for horse or for foot service, l)ut only his counsel and conduct, constrained him to 310 CAMILLUS. undertake the command, and with one of his fellow-tri- bunes to lead the army immediately against the enemy, These were the Prsenestines and Volscians, who, with large forces, were laying waste the territory of the Roman confederates. Having marched out with his army, he sat down and encamped near the enemy, meaning him- self to protract the war, or if there should come any necessity or occasion of fighting, in the mean time to regain his strength. But Lucius Furius. his colleaorue. carried away with the desire of glory, was not to be held in, but, impatient to give battle, inflamed the inferior officers of the army with the same eagerness; so that Camillus, fearing he might seem out of envy to be Λvish• ing to rob the young men of the glory of a noble exploit, consented, though unwillingly, that he should draw out the forces, whilst himself, by reason of weakness, stayed behind with a few in the camp. Lucius, engaging rashly, was discomfited, when Camillus, perceiving the Romans to give ground and fly, could not contain himself, but, leaping from his bed, with those he had about him ran to meet them at the gates of the camp, making his way through the flyers to oppose the pursuers ; so that those who had got within the camp turned back at once and followed him, and those that came flying from without made head again and gathered about him, exhorting one another not to forsake their general. Thus the enemy, for that time, was stopped in his pursuit. The next day Camillus, drawing out his forces and joining battle with them, overthrew them by main force, and, following close upon them, entered pell-mell with them into their camp, and took it, slaying the greatest part of them. After- wards, having heard that the city Satricum was taken by the Tuscans, and the inhabitants, all Romans, put to the sword, he sent home to Rome the main body of his forces and heaviest-armed, and, taking Λvith him the lightest and CAMILLUS. 311 most vigorous soldiers, set suddenly upon the Tuscans, who were in the possession of the city, and mastered them, slaying some and expelling the rest ; and so, return- ing to Eome with great spoils, gave signal evidence of their superior wisdom, who, not mistrusting the weakness and age of a commander endued with courage and con- duct, had rather chosen him Avho was sickly and desirous to be excused, than younger men who were forward and ambitious to command. When, therefore, the revolt of the Tusculans was re- ported, they gave Camillus the charge of reducing them, choosing one of his five colleagues to go with him. And when every one was eager for the place, contrary to the expectation, of all, he passed by the rest and chose Lucius Furius, the very same man who latelj^, against the judg- ment of Camillus, had rashly hazarded and nearly lost a battle ; Avilling, as it should seem, to dissemble that mis- carriage, and free him from the shame of it. The Tus- culans, hearing of Camillus's coming against them, made a cunning attempt at revoking their act of revolt; their fields, as in times of highest peace, were full of ploughmen and shepherds; their gates stood wide open, and their children were being taught in the schools; of the people, such as Avere tradesmen, he found in their workshops, busied about their several employments, and the better sort of citizens walking in the public places in their ordi- nary dress ; the magistrates hurried about to provide quarters for the Romans, as if they stood in fear of no danger and were conscious of no fault. Which arts, though they could not dispossess Camillus of the convic- tion he had of their treason, yet induced some compassion for their repentance ; he commanded them to go to the senate and deprecate their anger, and joined himself as an intercessor in their behalf, so that their citj^ was acquitted of all guilt and admitted to Eoman citizenship. 312 CAMILLUS. These were the most memorable actions of his sixth tri- buneship. After these things, Licinius Stolo raised a great sedition in the city, and brought the people to dissension Λvith the senate, contending, that of two consuls one should be chosen out of the commons, and not both out of the patricians. Tribunes of the people were chosen, but the election of consuls was interrupted and prevented by the people. And as this absence of any supreme magistrate was leading to yet further confusion, Camillus was the fourth time created dictator by the senate, sorely against the people's will, and not altogether in accordance with his own ; he had little desire for a conflict with men whose past services entitled them to tell him that he had achieved far greater actions in war along with them than in politics with the patricians, who, indeed, had only put him forward now out of envy ; that, if successful, he might crush the people, or, failing, be crushed himself How- ever, to provide as good a remedy as he could for the pres- ent, knowing the day on which the tribunes of the people intended to prefer the laAV, he appointed it by proclama- tion for a general muster, and called the people from the forum into the Campus, threatening to set heavy fines upon such as should not obey. On the other side, the tribunes of the people met his threats by solemnly pro- testing they would fine him in fifty thousand drachmas of silver, if he persisted in obstructing the people from giving their suffrages for the law. Whether it were, then, that he feared another banishment or condemnation, which would ill become his age and past great actions, or found himself unable to stem the current of the multitude, which ran strong and violent, he betook himself, for the present, to his house, and afterwards, for some days to- gether, professing sickness, finally laid down his dictator- ship. The senate created another dictator ; wiio, choosing CAMILLUS. 313 Stolo, leader of the sedition, to be his general of horse, suffered that law to be enacted and ratified, which was most grievons to the patricians, namely, that no person whatsoever should possess above five hundred acres of land. Stolo was much distinguished by the victory he had gained ; but, not long after, was found himself to pos- sess more than he had allowed to others, and suffered the penalties of his own law. And now the contention about election of consuls com- ing on (Λvhich was the main point and original cause of the dissension, and had throughout furnished most matter of division between the senate and the people), certain intelli- gence arrived, that the Gauls again, proceeding from the Adriatic Sea, were marching in vast numbers upon Eome. On the very heels of the report followed manifest acts also of hostility ; the country through which they marched was all wasted, and such as by flight could not make their escape to Rome were dispersing and scattering among the mountains. The terror of this war quieted the sedition ; nobles and commons, senate and people together, unani- mously chose Camillus the fifth time dictator ; who, though very aged, not wanting much of fourscore years, yet, con- sidering the danger and necessity of his country, did not, as before, pretend sickness, or depreciate his own capacity, but at once undertook the charge, and enrolled soldiers. And, knowing that the great force of the barbarians lay chiefly in their swords, with which they laid about them in a rude and inartificial manner, hacking and hewing the head and shoulders, he caused head-pieces entire of iron to be made for most of his men, smoothing and polishing the outside, that the enemy's swords, lighting upon them, might either slide off or be broken ; and fitted also their shields with a little rim of brass, the wood itself not being sufficient to bear off the blows. Besides, he taught his soldiers to use their long javelins in close encounter, and, 314 CAMILLUts. by bringing them under their enemy's swords, to receive their strokes upon them. When the Gauls drew near, about the river Anio, drag- ging a heavy camp after them, and loaded with infinite spoil, Caraillus drew forth his forces, and planted him- self upon a hill of easy ascent, and which had many dij)s in it, with the object that the greatest part of his army might lie concealed, and those Λvho appeared might be thought to have betaken themselves, through fear, to those upper grounds. And the more to increase this opinion in them, he suffered them, without any disturb- ance, to spoil and pillage even to his very trenches, keep- ing himseif quiet Λvithin his works, which were well forti- fied ; till, at last, perceiving that part of the enemy were scattered about the country foraging, and that those that were in the camp did nothing day and night but drink and revel, in the night time he drew up his lightest- armed men, and sent them out before to impede the enemy Avhile forming into order, and to harass tbem when they should first issue out of their camp ; and early in the morning brought down his main body, and set them in battle array in the lower grounds, a numerous and coura- geous army, not, as the barbarians had supposed, an inconsiderable and fearful division. The first thing that shook the courage of the Gauls was, that their enemies had, contrary to their expectation, the honor of being aggressors. In the next place, the light-armed men, fall- ing upon them before they could get into their usual order or range themselves in their proper squadrons, so disturbed and pressed upon them, that they w^re obliged to fight at random, without any order at all. But at last, when Camillus brought on his heavy-armed legions, the barbarians, with their swords drawn, Λvent vigorously to engage them ; the Romans, however, ojDposing their jave- lins, and receiving the force of their blows on those parts CAMILLUS. 315 of tlieir defences which Λvere well guarded with steel, turned the edge of their weapons, being made of a soft and ill-tempered metal, so that their swords bent and doubled up in their hands; and their shields were pierced through and through, and grew heavy with the javelins that stuck upon them. And thus forced to quit their own weapons, they endeavored to take advantage of those of their enemies, laid hold of the javelins with their hands, and tried to pluck them away. But the Eomana, perceiving them now naked and defenceless, betook them- selves to their swords, which they so well used, that in a little time great slaughter was made in the foremost ranks, while the rest fled over all parts of the level country; the hills and upper grounds Camillus had secured beforehand, and their camp they knew it would not be difficult for the enemy to take, as, through confidence of victory, they had left it unguarded. This fight, it is stated, was thirteen years after the sacking of Rome ; and from henceforward the Eomans took courage, and surmounted the apprehen- sions they had hitherto entertained of the barbarians, whose previous defeat they had attributed rather to pes- tilence and a concurrence of mischances than to their own superior valor. And, indeed, this fear had been for- merly so great, that they made a law, that priests should be excused from service in war, unless in an invasion from the Gauls. This was the last military action that ever Camillus performed ; for the voluntar}?• surrender of the city of the Velitrani was but a mere accessory to it. But the greatest of all civil contests, and the hardest to be managed, was still to be fought out against the people ; who, returning home full of victory and success, insisted, contrary to established laAV, to have one of the consuls chosen out of their own body. The senate strongly opposed it, and would not suffer Camillus to lay down his dictatorship, 316 CAIMILLUS. thinking, that, under the shelter of his great name and authority, they should be better able to contend for the power of the aristocracy. But when Camillus was sitting upon the tribunal, despatching public affairs, an officer, sent by the tribunes of the people, commanded him to rise and follow him, laying his hand upon him, as ready to seize and carry him away ; upon which, such a noise and tumult as was never heard before, filled the whole forum; some that were about Camillus thrusting the officer from the bench, and the multitude below calling out to him to bring Camillus down. Being at a loss what to do in these difficulties, he j-et laid not down his authority, but, taking the senators along Λvith him, he went to the senate-house ; but before he entered, besought the gods that they would bring these troubles to a happy conclu- sion, solemnly vowing, when the tumult was ended, to build a temple to Concord. A great conflict of opposite opinions arose in the senate ; but, at last, the most mode- rate and most acceptable to the people prevailed, and consent was given, that of two consuls, one should be chosen from the commonalty. When the dictator pro- claimed this determination of the senate to the people, at the moment, pleased and reconciled with the senate, as indeed could not otherwise be, they accompanied Camil- lus home, with all expressions and acclamations of joy ; and the next day, assembling together, they voted a temple of Concord to be built, according to Camillus's vow, facing the assembly and the forum; and to the feasts, called the Latin holidays, they added one day more, making four in all ; and ordained that, on the pre- sent occasion, the whole people of Rome should sacrifice with garlands on their heads. In the election of consuls held by Camillus, Marcus iEmilius was chosen of the patricians, and Lucius Sextiua the first of the commonalty ; and this was the last of all CAMILLUS, 317 Camilliis's actions. In the year following, a pestilential sickness infected Rome, which, besides an infinite number of the common people, swept away most of the magi- strates, among whom was Camilliis ; whose death cannot be called immature, if we consider his great age, or greater actions, yet was he more lamented than all the rest put together that then died of that distemper. PERICLES. C^SAR* once, seeing some Avealthy strangers at Rome, carrying up and down with them in their arms and bosoms young puppy-dogs and monkeys, embracing and making much of them, took occasion not . unnaturally to ask whether the women in their country were not used to bear children; by that prince-like reprimand gravely reflecting upon persons who spend and lavish upon brute beasts that affection and kindness which nature has im- planted in us to be bestowed on those of our own kind. With like reason may Ave blame those who misuse that love of inquiry and observation which nature has im- planted in our souls, by expending it on objects unworthy of the attention either of their eyes or their ears, Avhile they disregard such as are excellent in themselves, and would do them good. The mere outward sense, being passive in responding to the impression of the objects that come in its way and strike upon it, perhaps cannot help entertaining and ta- king notice of every thing that addresses it, be it what it will, useful or unuseful ; but, in the exercise of his mental perception, every man, if he chooses, has a natural power to turn himself upon all occasions, and to change and shift with the greatest ease to what he shall himself judge de- * Probably Augustus. (818) PERICLES. 319 sirable. So that it becomes a man's duty to pursue and make after the best and choicest of every thing, that he may not only employ his contemplation, but may also be improved by it. For as that color is most suitable to the eye whose freshness and pleasantness stimulates and strengthens the sight, so a man ought to apply his intel- lectual perception to such objects as, with the sense of de- light, are apt to call it forth, and allure it to its own proper good and advantage. Such objects we find in the acts of virtue, which also produce in the minds of mere readers about them, an emulation and eagerness that may lead them on to imita- tion. In other things there does not immediately folloΛV upon the admiration and liking of the thing done, any strong desire of doing the like. Nay, many times, on the very contrary, when we are pleased with the work, we slight and set little by the workman or artist himself, as, for instance, in perfumes and purple dyes, we are taken with the things themselves well enough, but do not think dyers and perfumers otherwise than low and sordid peo- ple. It was not said amiss by Antisthenes, Λvhen people told him that one Ismenias w^as an excellent piper, '' It may be so," said he, "but he is but a Λvretched human being, otherwise he would not have been an excellent piper." And king Philip, to the same purpose, told his son Alexander, w^ho once at a merry-meeting played a piece of rnusic charmingly and skilfully, "Are you not ashamed, son, to play so well ? " For it is enough for a king or prince to find leisure sometimes to hear others sing, and he does the muses quite honor enough when he pleases to be but present, while others engage in such exercises and trials of skill. He who busies himself in mean occupations produces, in the very pains he takes about things of little or no use, an evidence against himself of his negligence and indis- 320 PERICLES. position to what is really good. Nor did any generous and ingenuous young man, at the sight of the statue of Jupiter at Pisa, ever desire to be a Phidias, or, on seeing that of Juno at Argos, long to be a Polycletus, or feel induced by his pleasure in their poems to wish to be an Anacreon or Philetas or Archilochus. For it does not necessarily follow, that, if a piece of work please for its gracefulness, therefore he that wrought it deserves our admiration. Whence it is that neither do such things really profit or advantage the beholders, upon the sight of which no zeal arises for the imitation of them, nor any impulse or inclination, which may prompt any desire or endeavor of doing the like. But virtue, by the bare statement of its actions, can so aifect men's minds as to create at once both admiration of the things done and deshe to imitate the doers of them. The goods of for- tune we would possess and would enjoy ; those of virtue we long to practise and exercise ; we are content to receive the former from others, the latter we wish others to experience from us. Moral good is a practical stimulus; it is no sooner seen, than it inspires an im- pulse to practise ; and influences the mind and character not by a mere imitation which we look at, but, by the statement of the fact, creates a moral purpose w^hich we form. And so we have thought fit to spend our time and pains in writing of the lives of famous persons ; and have composed this tenth book upon that subject, contain- ing the life of Pericles, and that of Fabius Maximus, who carried on the war against Hannibal, men aUke, as in their other virtues and good parts, so especially in their mild and upright temper and demeanor, and in that capacity to bear the cross-grained humors of their fellow-citizens and colleagues in office which made them both most useful and serviceable to the interests of their PERICLES. 321 countries. Whether we take a right aim at our intended purpose, it is left to the reader to judge by what he shall here find. Pericles was of the tribe Acamantis, and the township Cholargus, of the noblest birth both on his father's and mother's side. Xanthippus, his father, who defeated the king of Persia's generals in the battle at Mycale, took to wife Agariste, the grandchild of Clisthenes, Λνΐιο drove out the sons of Pisistratus, and nobly put an end to their t^^'annical usurpation, and moreover made a body of laws, and settled a model of government admirably tem- pered and suited for the harmony and safety of the peo- ple. His mother, being near her time, fancied in a dream that she was brought to bed of a lion, and a few days after Λvas delivered of Pericles, in other respects perfectly formed, only his head was somewhat longish and out of proportion. For which reason almost all the images and statues that were made of him have the head covered with a helmet, the workmen apparently being Avilling not to expose him. The poets of Athens called him ScMno- cephalos, or squill-head, from schinos, a squill, or sea-onion. One of the comic poets, Cratinus, in the Chirons, tells us that — Old Chronos once took queen Sedition to wife ; Which two brought to life That tyrant fai'-famed, Whom the gods the supreme skuU-compeller* hare named. And, in the Nemesis, addresses him — Come, Jove, thou head of gods. * Kephalegeretes, a pl?.y on Nephelegeretes, the cloud-compeller. VOL. I 21 322 PERICLES. And a second, Teleclides, says, that now, in embarrass- ment -with political difficulties, he sits in the city, — Fainting underneath the load Of his own head ; and now abroad, From his huge gallery of a pate, Sends forth trouble to the state. And a third, Eupolis, in the comedy called the Demi, in a series of questions about each of the demagogues, whom he makes in the play to come up from hell, upon Pericles being named last, exclaims, — And here by way of summary, now we 've done, Behold, in brief, the heads of all in one. The master that taught him music, most • authors are agreed, was Damon (whose name, they say, ought to be pronounced with the first syllable short). Though Ari- stotle tells us that he was thoroughly practised in all accom- plishments of this kind by Pythoclides. Damon, it is not unlikely, being a sophist, out of policy, sheltered himself under the profession of music to conceal from people in general his skill in other things, and under this pretence attended Pericles, the young athlete of politics, so to say, as his training-master in these exercises. Damon's lyre, however, did not prove altogether a successful blind ; he was banished the country by ostracism for ten years, as a dangerous intermeddler and a favorer of arbitrar}'' power, and, by this means, gave the stage occasion to play upon him. As, for instance, Plato, the comic poet, introduces a character, who questions him — TeU me, if you please, Since you 're the Chiron who taught Pericles. Pericles, also, was a hearer of Zeno, the Eleatic, wlio PERICLES. 323 treated of natural philosophy in the same manner as Par- menides did, but had also perfected himself in an art of his own for refuting and silencing opponents in argument ; as Timon of Phlius describes it, — Also the two-edged tongue of mighty Zeno, who, Say what one would, could argue it untrue. But he that saw most of Pericles, and furnished him most especially wdth a weight and grandeur of sense, superior to all arts of popularity, and in general gave him his elevation and sublimity of purpose and of character, was Anaxagoras of Clazomenoe ; whom the men of those times called by the name of Nous, that is, mind, or intelli- gence, whether in admiration of the great and extraor- dinary gift he displayed for the science of nature, or be- cause that he was the first of the philosophers who did not refer the first ordering of the world to fortune or chance, nor to necessity or compulsion, but to a pure, unadulte- rated intelligence, which in all other existing mixed and compound things acts as a principle of discrimination, and of combination of like with like. For this man, Pericles entertained an extraordinary esteem and admiration, and, filling himself with this lofty, and, as they call it, up-in-the-air sort of thought, derived hence not merelj^, as was natural, elevation of purpose and dignity of language, raised far above the base and dis- honest buffooneries of mob-eloquence, but, besides this, a composure of countenance, and a serenity and calm ness in_al l h i s movem ents, w hich no occurrence whilst he was speaking could disturb, a sustained and even tone of voice, and various other advantages of a similar kind, which produced the g:re atest effect^on his hearers. Once, after being reviled and ill-spoken of all day long in his own hearing by some vile and abandoned fellow in 324 PERICLKS. the open market-place, where he was engaged in the despatch of some urgent afiair, he continued his business in perfect silence, and in the evening returned home composedly, the man still dogging him at the heels, and pelting him all the way with abuse and foul language ; and stepping into his house, it being by this time dark, he ordered one of his servants to take a light, and to go along with the man and see him safe home. Ion, it is true, the dramatic poet, says that Pericles's manner in company was somewhat over-assuming and pompous ; and that into his high bearing there entered a good deal of slightr ingness and scorn of others ; he reserves his commenda- tion for Cimon's ease and pliancy and natural grace in society. Ion, however, who must needs make virtue, like a show of tragedies, include some comic scenes,* we shall not altogether rely upon; Zeno used to bid those w4io called Pericles's gravity the affectation of a charlatan, to go and aifect the like themselves ; inasmuch as this mere counterfeiting might in time insensibly instil into them a real love and knowledge of those noble qualities. Nor were these the only advantages which Pericles derived from Anaxagoras's acquaintance ; he seems also to have become, by his instructions, superior to that superstition with which an ignorant wonder at appear- ances, for example, in the heavens possesses the minds of people unacquainted with their causes, eager for the su- pernatural, and excitable through an inexperience which the knowledge of natural causes removes, replacing v^'ud and timid superstition by the good hope and assurance of an intelligent piety. There is a story, that once Pericles had brought to him * Three trag&di'^s represented must be remembered, with the mo- in succession were f'^11n\ved by a ral satire of the Romans, but takes burlesque, the so-called satyric dra- its name from the grotesque satyrs ma, which has no connection, it of the Greek woods. PERICLES. 325 from a country farm of his, a ram's head with one horn, and that Lampon, the diviner, upon seeing the horn grow strong and sohd out of the midst of the forehead, gave it as his judgment, that, there being at that time two potent factions, parties, or interests in the city, the one of Thu- cydides and the other of Pericles, the government would come about to that one of them in whose ground or estate this token or indication of fate had shown itself. But that Anaxagoras, cleaving the skull in sunder, showed to the bystanders that the brain had not filled up its natu- ral place, but being oblong, like an egg, had collected from all parts of the vessel which contained it, in a point to that place from whence the root of the horn took its rise. And that, for that time, Anaxa^-oras was much admired for his explanation by those that were present; and Lampon no less a little while after, when Thucydides was overpowered, and the whole affairs of the state and go- vernment came into the hands of Pericles. And yet, in my opinion, it is no absurdity to say that they were both in the right, both natural philosopher and diviner, one justly detecting the cause of this event, by which it was produced, the other the end for which it was desio-ned. For it was the business of the one to find α out and give an account of what it was made, and in what manner and by what means it grew as it did ; and of the other to foretell to what end and purpose it Avas so made, and what it might mean or portend. Those v.'ho say that to find out the cause of a prodigy is in effect to destroy its supposed signification as such, do not take notice that, at the same time, together with divine prodigies, they also do away with signs and signals of hu- man art and concert, as, for instance, the clashings of quoits, fire-beacons, and the shadows on sun-dials, every one of which things has its cause, and by that cause and contri- 826 PERICLES. vance is a sign of something else. But these are subjects, perhaps, that would better befit another place. Pericles, while yet but a young man, stood in consid- erable apprehension of the people, as he was thought in face and figure to be very like the tyrant Pisistratus, and those of great age remarked upon the SΛveetness of his voice, and his volubility and rapidity in speaking, and were struck with amazement at the resemblance. Re- flecting, too, that he had a considerable estate, and was descended of a noble family, and had friends of great in- fluence, he was fearful all this might bring him to be banished as a dangerous person ; and for this reason meddled not at all with state affairs, but in milit ary ser- vice showed himself of a brave and intrepid nature. But when Aristides was now dead, and Themistocles driven out, and Cimon was for the most part kept abroad by the expeditions he made in parts out of Greece, Pericles, seeing things in this posture, now advanced and took his side, not with the rich and few, but Avith the many and poor, contrary to his natural bent, which was far from democratical; but, most likely, fearing he might fall under suspicion of aiming at arbitrary power, and seeing Cimon on the side of the aristocracy, and much beloved by the better and more distinguished people, he joined the party of the people, with a view at once both to secure himself and procure means against Cimon. He immediately entered, also, on quite a new course of life and management of his time. For he was never seen to walk in any street but that which led to the market- place and the council-hall, and he avoided invitations of friends to supper, and all friendly visiting and intercourse Avhatever ; in all the time he had to do with the public, which was not a little, he was never known to have gone to any of his friends to a supper, except that once when PERICLES. 327 his near kinsman Euryptolemus married, he remained present till the ceremony of the drink-oiFering,* and then immediately rose from table and went his way. For these friendly meetings are very quick to defeat any assumed superiority, and in intimate familiarity an exte- rior of gravity is hard to maintain. Real excellence, indeed, is most recognized when most openly looked into ; and in really good men, nothing which meets the eyes of external observers so truly deserves their admira- tion, as their daily common life does that of their nearer friends. Pericles, however, to avoid any feeling of com- monness, or any satiety on the part of the people, pre- sented himself at intervals only, not speaking to every business, nor at all times coming into the assembly, but, as Critolaus says, reserving himself, like the Salaminian galley,•}* for great occasions, while matters of lesser im- portance Avere despatched by friends or other speakers under his direction. And of this number we are told Ephialtes made one, who broke the power of the council of Aieopagus, giving the people, according to Plato's ex- pression, so copious and so strong a draught of liberty, that, growing wild and unruly, like an unmanageable horse, it, as the comic poets say, — got beyond all keeping in, Champing at Eubcea, and among the islands leaping in." The style of speaking most consonant to his form of life and the dignity of his views he found, so to say, in the tones of that instrument with which Anaxagoras had furnished him ; of his teaching he continually availed himself, and deepened the colors of rhetoric with the dye * The spondai, or libations, which, f The Salarainia and the Para- like the modei'n grace, concluded lus were the two sacred state-gal- the meal, and were ibllowed by the leys of Athens, used only on spe- dessert. cial missions. 328 PERICLES. of natural science. For having, in addition to his great natural genius, attained, by the study of nature, to use the words of the divine Plato, this height of intelligence, and this universal consummating power, and drawing hence whatever might be of advantasre to him in the art of speaking, h e showed himself far superior to all other s. Upon which account, they say, he had his nickname given him, though some are of opinion he was named the Olympian from the public buildings with w^hich he adorned the city ; and others again, from his great power in public affiiirs, whether of war or peace. Nor is it• imlikely that the confluence of many attributes may have conferred it on him. However, the comedies repre- sented at the time, which, both in good earnest and in merriment, let fly many hard words at him, plainly show that he got that appellation especially from his speaking ; they speak of his " thundering and lightning " Λvhen he harangued the people, and of his wielding a dreadful thunderbolt in his tongue. A saying also of Thucydides, the son of Melesias, stands on record, spoken by him by way of pleasantry upon Pericles's dexterity. Thucydides was one of the noble and distinguished citizens, and had been his greatest opponent ; and, when Archidamus, the king of the Lace- daemonians, asked him whether he or Pericles were the better Avrestler, he made this answer : " When I," said he, " havejhrownjiini and given him a fair fall, by persisting that he had no fall, he g e ts tEe "better of m e, andlmialie.•! The bystanders, in spite^f their own eyes, believe him." The truth, however, is, that Pericles himself was very careful what and how he was to speak, insomuch that, whenever he went up to the hustings, he prayed the gods that no one word might unawares slip from him unsuit- able to the matter and the occasion. He has left nothing in writing behind him, except some PERICLES. 329 decrees; and there are but very few of liis sayiiio-s recorded ; one, for example, is, that he said iEgina must, like a gathering in a man's eye, be removed from Pirieus; and another, that he said he saw already war moving on its way towards them out of Peloponnesus. Again, when on a time Sophocles, who was his fellow-com- missioner in the generalship, was going on board with him, and praised the beauty of a youth they met with in the way to the ship, " Sophocles," said he, " a general ought not only to have clean hands, but also clean eyes." And Stesimbrotus tells us, that, in his encomium on those who fell in battle at Samos, he said they Λvere become immortal, as the gods were. " For," said he, " we do not see them themselves, but only by the honors we pay them, and by the benefits they do us, attribute to them immortality ; and the like attributes belong also to those that die in the service of their country." Since Thucydides describes the rule of Pericles as an aristocratical government, that went by the name of a democrac}^, but was, indeed, the supremacy of a single great man, Avhile many others say, on the contrary, that by him the common people were first encouraged and led on to such evils as appropriations of subject territory; allowances for attending theatres, payments for perform- ing public duties, and by these bad habits were, under the influence of his public measures, changed from a sober, thrifty people, that maintained themselves by their own labors, to lovers of expense, intemperance, and license, let us 'examine the cause of this change by the actual matters of fact. At the first, as has been said, when he set himself iigainst Cimon's great authorit}^, he did caress the people. Finding himself come short of his competitor in wealth and money, by which advantages the other was enabled to take care of the poor, inviting every day some one or 330 PERICLES. other of the citizens that was in want to supper, and bestowing clothes on the aged people, and breaking down the hedges and enclosures of his grounds, that all that would might freely gather what fruit they pleased, Peri- cles, thus outdone in popular arts, by the advice of one Damonides of QEa, as Aristotle states, turned to the dis- tribution of the public moneys ; and in a short time having bought the people over, what with moneys allowed for shows and for service on juries, and wdiat w^th other forms of pay and largess, he made use of them against the coun- cil of Areopagus, of which he himself w^as no member, as having never been appointed by lot either chief archon. or lawgiver, or king, or captain.* For from of old these offices were conferred on persons by lot, and they who had acquitted themselves duly in the discharge of them w^ere advanced to the court of Areopagus. And so Peri- cles, having secured his power and interest with the popu- lace, directed the exertions of his party against this council Avith such success, that most of those causes and matters which had been used to be tried there, were, by the agency of Ephialtes, removed from its cognizance ; Cimon, also, was banished by ostracism as a favorer of the Lacedaemonians and a hater of the people, though in wealth and noble birth he w\as among the first, and had won several most glorious victories over the barbarians, and had filled the city with money and spoils of war ; as is recorded in the history of his life. So vast an authority had Pericles obtained among the people. The ostracism was limited by law to ten years ; but the Lacedaemonians, in the mean time, entering with a * Eponymus, Thesmothetes, Basi- the whole body of citizens. Hence, leus, Polemarchus ; titles of the dif- at this time, the importance of the ferent archons, the chief civic digni- board of the ten strategi, or gene- taries, Avho, after the period of the rals, Avho were elected, and were Persian wars, were appointed, not always persons of real or supposed by election, but simply by lot, from capacity. PERICLES. 331 great army into the territory of Tanagra, and the Athe- nians going out against them, Cimon, coming from his banishment before his time was out, put himself in arms and array with those of his fellow-citizens that were of his own tribe, and desired by his deeds to wipe off the suspicion of his fa\Oring the Lacedaemonians, by ven- turing his own person along with his countrymen. But Pericles's friends, gathering in a body, forced him to retire as a banished man. For Avhich cause also Pericles seems to have exerted himself more in that than in any battle, and to have been conspicuous above all for his exposure of himself to danger. All Cimon's friends, also, to a man, fell together side by side, whom Pericles had accused with him of taking part with the Lacediemonians. De- feated in this battle on their own frontiers, and expecting a new and perilous attack with return of spring, the Athenians ηοΛν felt regret and sorrow for the loss of Ci- mon, and repentance for their expulsion of him. Pericles, being sensible of their feelings, did not hesitate or delay to gratify it, and himself made the motion for recalling him home. He, upon his return, concluded a peace be- twixt the two cities ; for the Lacedcemonians entertained as kindly feelings towards him as they did the reverse towards Pericles and the other popular leaders. Yet some there are who say that Pericles did not pro- pose the order for Cimon's return till some private arti- cles of agreement had been made between them, and this by means of Elpinice, Cimon's sister ; that Cimon, namely, should go out to sea with a fleet of two hundred ships, and be commander-in-chief abroad, with a design to re- duce the king of Persia's territories, and that Pericles should have the power at home. This Elpinice, it was thought, had before this time pro- cured some favor for her brother Cimon at Pericles's hands, and induced him to be more remiss and gentle in urging tun PERICLES. the cliaro;e when Cimon was tried for his life ; for Peri- cles was one of the committee appointed by the commons to plead against him. And Λvhen Elpinice came and be- sought him in her brother's behalf, he answered, with a smile, " Elpinice, you are too old a woman to under- take such business as this." But, when he appeared to impeach him, he stood up but once to speak, merely to acquit himself of his commission, and went out of court, having done Cimon the least prejudice of any of his ac- cusers. How, then, can one believe Idomeneus, who charges Pericles as if he had by treachery procured the murder of Ephialtes, the popular statesman, one who was his friend, and of his own party in all his political course, out of jealousy, forsooth, and envy of his great reputation ? This historian, it seems, having raked up these stories, I know not whence, has befouled with them a man who, perchance, Avas not altogether free from fault or blame, but yet had a noble spirit, and a soul that was bent on honor ; and where such qualities are, there can no such cruel and brutal passion find harbor or gain admittance. As to Ephialtes, the truth of the story, as Aristotle has told it, is this : that having made himself formidable to the oligarchical party, by being an uncompromising as- serter of the people's rights in calling to account and prosecuting those Avho any way wronged them, his ene- mies, lying in wait for him, by the means of Aristodicus the Tanagrosan, privately despatched him. Cimon, while he was admiral, ended his days in the Isle of Cyprus. And the aristocratical party, seeing that Pericles was already before this grown to be the greatest and foremost man of all the city, but nevertheless wishing there should be somebody set up against him, to blunt and turn the edge of his power, that it might not alto- gether prove a monarchy, put forward Thucydides of PERICLES. 333 AJopece, a discreet person, and a near kinsman of Cimon's, to conduct the opposition against him ; who, indeed, though less skilled in warlike affairs than Cinion was, yet was better versed in speaking and political business, and keeping close guard in the city, and engaging with Peri- cles on the hustings, in a short time brought the govern- ment to an equality of parties. For he ΛΥοηΗ not suffer those who Λvere called the honest and good (persons of worth and distinction) to be scattered up and down and mix themselves and be lost among the populace, as for- merly, diminishing and obscuring their superiority amongst the masses; but taking them apart by themselves and uniting them in one body, by their combined weight he was able, as it were upon the balance, to make a counter poise to the other party. For, indeed, there was from the beginning a sort of con- cealed split, or seam, as it might be in a piece of iron, marking the different popular and aristocratical tenden- cies; but the open rivalry and contention of these two opponents made the gash deep, and severed the city into the two parties of the people and the few. And so Pericles, at that time more than at any other, let loose the reins to the people, and made his policy subservient to their pleasure, contriving continually to have some great public show or solemnity, some banquet, or some procession or other in the town to please them, coaxing his countrj-men like children, with such delights and pleasures as were not, however, unedifying. Besides that every year he sent out threescore galleys, on board of which there w^ent numbers of the citizens, λυΙιο were in pay eight months, learning at the same time and practising the art of seamanship. He sent, moreover, a thousand of them into the Cher- sonese as planters, to share the land among them by lot, and five hundred more into the isle of Naxos, and half 334 PERICLES. that number to Andros, a thousand into Thrace to dwell among the Bisaltae, and others into Italy, when the city Sybaris, Avhich now was called Thurii, was to be repeopled. And this he did to ease and discharge the city of an idle, and, by reason of their idleness, a busy, meddling crowd of people ; and at the same time to meet the necessities and restore the fortunes of the poor townsmen, and to intimidate, also, and check their allies from attempting any change, by posting such garrisons, as it were, in the midst of them. That which gave most pleasure and ornament to the city of Athens, and the greatest admiration and even aston- ishment to all strangers, and that which now is Greece's only evidence that the power she boasts of and her ancient wealth are no romance or idle story, was his con- struction of the public and sacred buildings. Yet this was that of all his actions in the government which his enemies most looked askance wpon and cavilled at in the popular assemblies, crying out how that the common- wealth of Athens had lost its reputation and was ill- spoken of abroad for removing the common treasure of the Greeks from the isle of Delos into their own custody ; and how that their fairest excuse for so doing, namely, that they took it away for fear the barbarians should seize it, and on purpose to secure it in a safe place, this Pericles had made unavailable, and how that " Greece cannot but resent it as an insufferable affront, and con- sider herself to be tyrannized over openly, when she sees the treasure, Avhich was contributed by her upon a neces- sity for the war, Λvantonly lavished out by us upon our city, to gild her all over, and to adorn and set her forth, as it were some vain woman, hung round with precious stones and figures and temples, which cost a world of money." Pericles, on the other hand, informed the people, that PERICLES. 335 they were in no way obliged to give any account of those moneys to their allies, so long as they maintained their defence, and kept off the barbarians from attacking them ; while in the mean time they did not so much as supply one horse or man or ship, but only found money for the service ; " which money," said he, " is not theirs that give it, but theirs that receive it, if so be they perform the conditions upon which they receive it." And that it was good reason, that, now the city was sufficiently provided and stored with all things necessary for the war, they should convert the overplus of its wealth to such under- takings, as would hereafter, when completed, give them eternal honor, and, for the present, while in process, freely supply all the inhabitants with plenty. With their variety of workmanship and of occasions for service, which sum- mon all arts and trades and require all hands to be em- ployed• about them, they do actually put the whole city, in a manner, into state-pay ; while at the same time she is both beautified and maintained by herself. For as those who are of age and strength for war are provided for and maintained in the armaments abroad by their pay out of the public stock, so, it being his desire and design that the undisciplined mechanic multitude that stayed at home should not go without their share of public salaries, and yet should not have them given them for sitting still and doing nothing, to that end he thought fit to bring in among them, with the approbation of the people, these vast projects of buildings and designs of works, that would be of some continuance before they were finished, and would give employment to numerous arts, so that the part of the people that stayed at home might, no less than those that were at sea or in garri- sons or on expeditions, have a fair and just occasion of receiving the benefit and having their share of the pub- lic moneys. 33b PERICLEi>. The materials were stone, brass, ivory, gold, ebony cypress-wood ; and the arts or trades that wrought and fashioned them were smiths and carpenters, moulders, founders and braziers, stone-cutters, dyers, goldsmiths, ivory-workers, painters, embroiderers, turners ; those again that conveyed them to the town for use, mer- chants and mariners and ship-masters by sea, and by land, cartwrights, cattle-breeders, waggoners, rope-makers, flax-workers, shoe-makers and leather-dressers, road- makers, miners. And every trade in the same nature, as a captain in an army has his particular company ol soldiers under him, had its own hired company of jour- neymen and laborers belonging to it banded together as in array, to be as it were the instrument and body for the performance of the service. Thus, to say all in a word, the occasions and services of these public works distributed plenty through every age and condition. As then grew the works up, no less stately in size than exquisite in form, the workmen striving to outvie the material and the design with the beauty of their work- manship, yet the most wonderful thing of all was the rapidity of their execution. Undertakings, any one of Avhich singly might have required, they thought, for their completion, several successions and ages of men, were every one of them accomplished in the height and prime of one man's political service. Although they say, too, that Zeuxis once, having heard Agatharchus the pain- ter boast of despatching his work with speed and ease, replied, "I take a long time." For ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting solidity or exactness of beauty ; the expenditure of time allowed to a man's pains beforehand for the production of a thing is repaid by way of interest with a vital force for its pre- servation when once produced. For which reason Peri- cles's works are especially admired, as having been made PERICLES. 337 quickl}^, to last long. For every particular piece of liis work was immediately, even at that time, for its beauty and elegance, antique ; and yet in its vigor and freshness looks to this day as if it were just executed. There is a sort of bloom of newness upon those works of his, pre- serving them from the touch of time, as if they had some perennial spirit and undying vitality mingled in the com- position of them. Phidias had the oversight of all the works, and was surveyor-general, though upon the various portions other great masters and workmen were employed. For Calli- crates and Ictinus built the Parthenon ; the chapel at Eleusis, Λvhere the mysteries were celebrated, Avas begun by Coroebus, who erected the pillars that stand upon the floor or pavement, and joined them to the architraves; and after his death Metagenes of Xypete added the frieze and the upper line of columns; Xenocles of Cholargus roofed or arched the lantern on the top of the temple of Castor and Pollux ; and the long Avail, which Socrates says he himself heard Pericles propose to the people, was un- dertaken by Callicrates. This work Cratinus ridicules, as long in finishing, — 'Tis long since Pericles, if words would do it, Talk'd up the wall ; yet adds not one mite to it. The Odeum, or music-room, which in its interior was full of seats and ranges of pillars, and outside had its roof made to slope and descend from one single point at the top, was constructed, we are told, in imitation of the king of Persia's Pavilion; this likewise by Pericles's order; which Cratinus again, in his comedy called The Thracian Women, made an occasion of raillery, — VOL. I. 22 338 PERICLES. So, we see here, Jupiter Long-pate Pericles appear. Since ostracism time, he 's laid aside his head, And wears the new Odeum in its stead. Pericles, also, eager for distinction, then first obtained the• decree for a contest in musical skill to be held yearly at the Panathenoea, and he himself, being chosen judge, arranged the order and method in which the competitors should sing and play on the flute and on the harp. And both at that time, and at other times also, they sat in this music-room to see and hear all such trials of skill. The propyliea, or entrances to the Acropolis, were fin- ished in five years' time, Mnesicles being the principal architect. A strange accident happened in the course of building, which showed that the goddess was not averse to the work, but was aiding and cooperating to bring it to perfection. One of the artificers, the quickest and the handiest workman among them all, with a slip of his foot fell down from a great height, and lay in a miserable con- dition, the physicians having no hopes of his recovery. When Pericles was in distress about this, MinerA^a ap- peared to him at night in a dream, and ordered a course of treatment, which he applied, and in a short time and with great ease cured the man. And upon this occasion it was that he set up a brass statue of Minerva, surnamed Health, in the citadel near the altar, which they say was there before. But it was Phidias who wrought the god- dess's image in gold, and he has his name inscribed on the pedestal as the workman of it; and indeed the whole work in a manner was under his charge, and he had, as we have said already, the oversight over all the artists and workmen, through Pericles's friendship for him ; and this, indeed, made him much envied, and his patron shame- fully slandered with stories, as if Phidias were in the x»ERICLES. 339 habit of receiving, for Pericles's use, freeborn women that came to see the works. The comic writers of the town, when they had got hold of this story, made much of it, and bespattered him with all the ribaldry they could invent, charging him falsely with the Avife of Menippus, one who was his friend and served as lieutenant under him in the wars ; and with the birds kept by Pyrilampes, an acquaintance of Pericles, who, they pretended, used to give presents of peacocks to Pericles's female friends. And ΙιΟΛν can one w^onder at any number of strange assertions from men whose whole lives were devoted to mockery, and who were ready at any time to sacrifice the reputation of their superiors to vulgar envy and spite, as to some evil genius, when even Stesimbrotus the Thasian has dared to lay to the charge of Pericles a monstrous and fabulous piece of criminality with his son's wife ? So very difficult a matter is it to trace and find out the truth of any thing by history, when, on the one hand, those who after- wards Avrite it find long periods of time intercepting their view, and, on the other hand, the contemporary records of any actions and lives, partly through envy and ill-will, partly through favor and flattery, pervert and distort truth. When the orators, who sided with Thucydides and his party, were at one time crying out, as their custom was, against Pericles, as one who squandered away the public money, and made havoc of the state revenues, he rose in the open assembly and put the question to the people, whether they thought that he had laid out much ; and they saying, " Too much, a great deal," " Then," said he, " since it is so, let the cost not go to your account, but to mine ; and let the inscription upon the buildings stand in my name." When they heard him say thus, Λvhether it were out of a surprise to see the greatness of his spirit, or out of emulation of the glory of the Λvorks, they cried 340 PERICLES. aloud, bidding him to spend on, and lay out what he thought fit from the public purse, and to spare no costj till all were finished. At length, coming to a final contest with Thucydides, which of the two should ostracize the other out of the country, and having gone through this peril, he threw his antagonist out, and broke up the confederacy that had been organized against him. So that now all schism and division being at an end, and the city brought to evenness and unity, he got all Athens and all afikirs that pertained to the Athenians into his own hands, their tributes, their armies, and their galleys, the islands, the sea, and their wide-extended power, partly over other Greeks and partly over barbarians, and al] that empire, which they possessed, founded and fortified upon subject nations and royal friendships and alli- ances. After this he was no longer the same man he had beer before, nor as tame and gentle and familiar as formerly with the populace, so as readily to yield to their pleasures and to comply with the desires of the multitude, as a steersman shifts with the winds. Quitting that loose, remiss, and, in some cases, licentious court of the popular will, he turned those soft and flowery modulations to the austerity of aristocratical and regal rule ; and employing this uprightly and undeviatingly for the country's best interests, he was able generally to lead the people along, with their own wills and consents, by persuading and showing them Avhat was to be done j and sometimes, too, urging and pressing them forward extremely against their will, he made them, whether they would or no, yield submission to what was for their advantage. In which, to say the truth, he did but like a skilful physician, who, in a complicated and chronic disease, as he sees occasion, at one while allows his patient the moderate use of such things as please him. PERICLES. 341 at another while gives him keen pams and drugs to work the cure. For there arising and growing up, as was nat- ural, all manner of distempered feelings among a people which had so vast a command and dominion, he alone, as a great master, knowing how to handle and deal fitly with each one of them, and, in an especial manner, making that use of hopes and fears, as his two chief rudders, with the one to check the career of their confidence at any time, with the other to raise them up and cheer them when under any discouragement, plainly showed by this, that rhetoric, or the art of speaking, is, in Plato's language, the government of the souls of men, and that her chief busi- ness is to address the affections and passions, which are as it were the strings and keys to the soul, and require a skilful and careful touch to be played on as they should be. The source of this predominance was not barely his power of language, but, as Thucydides assures us, the rep- utation of his life, and the confidence felt in his character; his manifest freedom from every kind of corruption, and superiority to all considerations of money. Notwithstand- ing he had made the city Athens, which was great of itself, as great and rich as can be imagined, and though he were himself in power and interest more than equal to many kings and absolute rulers, who some of them also be- queathed by will their power to their children, he, for his part, did not make the patrimony his father left him greater than it was by one drachma. Thucydides, indeed, gives a plain statement of the great- ness of his power ; and the comic poets, in their spiteful manner, more than hint at it, styling his companions and friends the new Pisistratidis, and calling on him to abjure any intention of usurpation, as one whose eminenci? was too great to be any longer proportionable to and com- patible with a democracj^ or popular government. And 342 PERICLES. Teleclides says the Athenians had surrendered up to him — The tribute of the cities, and with them, the cities too, to do with them as he pleases, and undo ; To build up, if he likes, stone walls around a town ; and again, if so he likes, to pull them down ; Their treaties and alliances, power, empire, peace, and war, their wealth and their success forevermore. Nor was all this the luck of some happy occasion ; nor was it the mere bloom and grace of a policy that flourished for a season; but having for forty years together main- tained the first place among statesmen such as Ephialtes and Leocrates and Myronides and Cimon and Tolmides and Thucydides were, after the defeat and banishment of Thucydides, for no less than fifteen years longer, in the exercise of one continuous unintermitted command in the office, to which he was annually reelected, of General, he preserved his integrity unspotted ; though otherwise he was not altogether idle or careless in looking after his pecuniary advantage ; his paternal estate, which of right belonged to him, he so ordered that it might neither through negligence be wasted or lessened, nor yet, being so full of business as he was, cost him miy great trouble or time with taking care of it ; and put it into such a way of management as he thought to be the most easy for himself, and the most exact. All his yearly products and profits he sold together in a lump, and supplied his household needs afterward by buying every thing that he or his family wanted out of the market. Upon which account, his children, when they grew to age, were not well pleased with his management, and the women that lived Avith him were treated with little cost, and com- plained of this way of housekeeping, where every thing PERICLES. 343 was ordered and set down from day to day, and reduced to the greatest exactness ; since there Λvas not there, aa is usual in a great family and a plentiful estate, any thing to spare, or over and above; but all that went out or came in, all disbursements and all receipts, proceeded as it were by number and measure. His manager in all this was a single servant, Evangelus by name, a man either naturally gifted or instructed hy Pericles so as to excel every one in this art of domestic economy. All this, in truth, was very little in harmony with Anaxagoras's wisdom ; if, indeed, it be true that he, hy a kind of divine impulse and greatness of spirit, voluntarily quitted his house, and left his land to lie fallow and to be grazed by sheep like a common. But the life of a contem- plative philosopher and that of an active statesman are, I presume, not the same thing ; for the one merely employs, upon great and good objects of thought, an intelligence that requires no aid of instruments nor supply of any external materials ; whereas the other, who tempers and applies his virtue to human uses, may have occasion for affluence, not as a matter of mere necessitv, but as a noble thing ; which Avas Pericles's case, who relieved nu- merous poor citizens. However, there is a story, that Anaxagoras himself, while Pericles was taken up with public affairs, lay neg- lected, and that, now being grown old, he wrapped him- self up with a resolution to die for want of food ; Λvllich being by chance brought to Pericles's ear, he Avas horror- struck, and instantly ran thither, and used all the argu- ments and entreaties he could to him, lamenting: not so much Anaxagoras's condition as his own, should he lose such a counsellor as he had found him to be ; and that, upon this, Anaxagoras unfolded his robe, and showing himself, made answer : " Pericles," said he, " even those who have occasion for a lamp supply it Avith oil." 344 PERICLEb. The Lacedaemonians beginning to show themselves troubled at the growth of the Athenian power, Pericles, on the other hand, to ele\'ate the people's spirit yet more, and to raise them to the thought of great actions, pro- posed a decree, to summon all the Greeks in what part soever, whether of Europe or Asia, every city, little as well as great, to send their deputies to Athens to a general as- sembly, or convention, there to consult and advise con- cerning the Greek temples which the barbarians had burnt down, and the sacrifices which were due from them upon vows they had made to their gods for the safety of Greece Λvhen they fought against the barbarians ; and also concerning the navigation of the sea, that they might hencefor\Yard all of them pass to and fro and trade securely, and be at peace among themselves. Upon this errand, there were twenty men, of such as were above fifty years of age, sent by commission ; five to summon the lonians and Dorians in Asia, and the islanders as far as Lesbos and Rhodes; five to visit all the places in the Hellespont and Thrace, up to Byzantium ; and other five besides these to go to Boeotia and Phocis and Peloponnesus, and from hence to pass through the Locrians over to the neighboring continent, as far as Acarnania and Ambracia; and the rest to take their course throus^h Euboea to the Qitieans and the Malian Gulf, and to the Achceans of Phthiotis and the Thessalians; all of them to treat with the people as they passed, and to persuade them to come and take their part in the de- bates for settling the peace and jointly regulating the affairs of Greece. Nothing was effected, nor did the cities meet by their deputies, as was desired; the Lacedaemonians, as it irf said, crossing the design underhand, and the attempt be- ing disappointed and baffled first in Peloponnesus. I thought fit, how^ever, to introduce the mention of it, to PERICLES. 345 show the spirit of the man and the greatness of his thoughts. In his mihtary conduct, he gained a ^reat reputati on for wariness ; he would not by his good-will engage in any fight which had much uncertainty or hazard ; he did not envy the glory of generals whose rash adventures fortune favored Avitli brilliant success, however they were admired by others; nor did he think them worthy his imitation, but always used to say to his citizens that, so far as lay in his power, they should continue immortal, and live forever. Seeing Tolmides, the son of Tolmseus, upon the confidence of his former successes, and flushed with the honor his military actions had procured him, making preparation to attack the Boeotians in their own country, when there was no likely opportunity, and that he had prevailed with the bravest and most enterprising of the youth to enlist themselves as volunteers in the ser- vice, who besides his other force made up a thousand, he endeavored to withhold him and to advise him from it in the public assembly, telling him in a memorable saying of his, which still goes about, that, if he would not take Peri- cles's advice, yet he would not do amiss to wait and be ruled by time, the wisest counsellor of all. This saying, at that time, was but slightly commended ; but within a few days after, when news was brought that Tolmides himself had been defeated and slain in battle near Coronea, and that many brave citizens had fallen with him, it gained him great repute as well as good-will among the people, for wisdom and for love of his countrymen. But of all his expeditions, that to the Chersonese gave most satisfaction and pleasure, having proved the safety of the Greeks who inhabited there. For not only by car- rying along with him a thousand fresh citizens of Athena he gave new strength and vigor to the cities, but also by belting the neck of land, which joins the peninsula to the 346 PERICLES. continent, Avith bulwarks and forts from sea to sea. he put a stop to the inroads of the Thracians, who lay all about the Chersonese, and closed the door against a continual and grievous war, with which that country had been long harassed, lying exposed to the encroachments and influx of barbarous neighbors, and groaning under the evils of a predatory population both upon and within its borders. Nor was he less admired and talked of abroad for his sailing round the Peloponnesus, having set out from Pegae, or The Fountains, the port of Megara, with a hundred gal- leys. For he not only laid waste the sea-coast, as Tol- mides had done before, but also, advancing far up into main land with the soldiers he had on board, by the terror of his appearance drove many within their walls ; and at Nemea, with main force, routed and raised a trophy over the Sicyonians, who stood their ground and joined battle Λvith him. And having taken on board a supply of soldiers into the galleys, out of Achaia, then in league with Athens, he crossed with the fleet to the opposite continent, and, sailing along by the mouth of the river Achelous, overran Acarnania, and shut up the (Eniadas within their city walls, and having ravaged and wasted their country, weighed anchor for home with the double advantage of having shown himself formidable to his enemies, and at the same time safe and energetic to his fellow-citizens ; for there was not so much as any chance- miscarriage that happened, the whole voyage through, to those >vho were under his charge. Entering also the Euxine Sea with a large and finely equipped fleet, he obtained for the Greek cities any new arrangements they wanted, and entered into friendly re- lations with them; and to the barbarous nations, and kings and chiefs round about them, displayed the greatness of the power of the Athenians, their perfect ability and con- PERICLES. 347 fidence to sail wherever they had a mind, and to bring the whole sea under their control. He left the Sinopians thirteen ships of war, with soldiers under the command of Lamachus, to assist them against Timesileus the tyrant ; and when he and his accomplices had been thrown out, obtained a decree that six hundred of the Athenians that were willing should sail to Sinope and j^lant themselves there with the Sinopians, sharing among them the houses and land which the tyrant and his party had previously held. But in other things he did not comply with the giddy impulses of the citizens, nor quit his own resolutions to follow their fancies, when, carried away with the thought of their strength and great success, they were eager to interfere again in Egypt, and to disturb the king of Per- sia's maritime dominions. Nay, there Λvere a good many who were, even then, possessed with that unblest and inauspicious passion for Sicily, which afterward the ora- tors of Alcibiades's party blew up into a flame. There were some also who dreamt of Tuscany and of Carthage, and not without plausible reason in their present large dominion and the prosperous course of their affairs. But Pericles curbed this passion for foreign conquest, and unsparingly pruned and cut down their ever busy fancies for a multitude of undertakings; and directed their power for the most part to securing and consolida- ting what they had already got, supposing it would be quite enough for them to do, if they could keep the La- cedaamonians in check; to whom he entertained all along a sense of opposition ; which, as upon many other occa- sions, so he particularly showed by what he did in the time of the holy war. The Lacedaemonians, having gone with an army to Delphi, restored Apollo's temple, which the Phocians had got into their possession, to the Del- phians; immediately after their departure, Pericles, Avith 348 PERICLES. another army, came and restored the Phocians. And the LacediBmonians having engraven the record of their pii- vilege of consulting the oracle before others, which the Delphians gave them, upon the forehead of the brazen wolf which stands there, he, also, having received from the Phocians the like privilege for the Athenians, had it cut upon the same wolf of brass on his right side. That he did well and wisely in thus restraining the ex- ertions of the Athenians wathin the compass of Greece, the events themselves that happened afterward bore suffi- cient w^itness. For, in the first place, the Euboeans re- volted, against whom he passed over with forces; and then, immediately after, news came that the Megarians were turned their enemies, and a hostile army was upon the borders of Attica, under the conduct of Plistoanax, kino; of the Lacedaemonians. Wherefore Pericles came* with his army back again in all haste out of Euboea, to meet the war which threatened at home ; and did not venture to engage a numerous and brave army eager for battle ; but perceiving that Plistoanax was a very young man, and governed himself mostly by the counsel and advice of Cieandrides, whom the ephors had sent with him, by reason of his youth, to be a kind of guardian and assistant to him, he privately made trial of this man's integrity, and, in a short time, having corrupted him with money, prevailed with him to withdraw the Peloponnesians out of Attica. AVlien the army had retired and dispersed into their several states, the Lacedaemonians in anger fined their king in so large a sum of money, that, unable to pay it, he quitted Lacedoemon ; while Cieandrides fled, and had sentence of death passed upon him in his ab- sence. This was the father of Gylippus, wiio overpowered the Athenians in Sicily. And it seems that this covet- ousness was an hereditary disease transmitted from father to son ; for Gylippus also afterwards was caught in ibuJ PERICLES. 349 practices, and expelled from Sparta for it. But this we have told at large in the account of Lysander. When Pericles, in giving up his accounts of this expe- dition, stated a disbursement of ten talents, as laid out upon fit occasion, the people, without any question, nor troubling themselves to investigate the mystery, freely allowed of it. And some historians, in which number is Theophrastus the philosopher, have given it as a truth that Pericles every year used to send privately the sum of ten talents to Sparta, with which he complimented those in office, to keep off the war; not to purchase peace neither, but time, that he might prepare at leisure, and be the better able to carry on Avar hereafter. Immediately after this, turning his forces against the revolters, and passing over into the island of Euboea Avith •fifty sail of ships and five thousand men in arms, he reduced their cities, and drove out the citizens of the Chalcidians. called Hippobotae, horse-feeders, the chief persons for wealth and reputation among them ; and removing all the Histiceans out of the country, brought in a plantation of Athenians in their room ; making them his one exam- ple of severity, because they had captured an Attic ship and killed all on board. After this, having made a truce between the Athenians and Lacedaemonians for thirty years, he ordered, by pub- lic decree, the expedition against the Isle of Samos, on the ground, that, when they were bid to leave off their war with the Milesians, they had not complied. And as these measures against the Samians are thought to have been taken to please Aspasia, this may be a fit point ibr in- quiry about the woman, what art or charming faculty she had that enabled her to captivate, as she did, the greatest statesmen, and to give the philosophers occasion to speak so much about her, and that, too, not to her disparage- ment. That she was a Milesian by birth, the daughter 350 PERICLES. of Axiochus, is a thing acknowledged. And they say it was in emulation of Thargelia, a courtesan of the old Ionian times, that she made her addresses to men of great power. Thargelia was a great beauty, extremely charm- ing, and at the same time sagacious; she had numerous suitors among the Greeks, and brought all who had to do with her over to the Persian interest, and by their means, being men of the greatest power and station, sowed the seeds of the Median faction up and down in several cities.* Aspasia, some say, was courted and caressed by Pericles upon account of her knowledge and skill in politics, Socrates himself would sometimes go to visit her, and some of his acquaintance with him ; and those who fre- quented her company would carry their wives with them to listen to her. Her occupation was any thing but cred- itable, her house being a home for young courtesans. JEschines tells us also, that Lysicles, a sheep-dealer, a man of low birth and character, by keeping Aspasia com- pany after Pericles's death, came to be a chief man in Athens. And in Plato's Menexenus, though we do not take the introduction as quite serious, still thus much seems to be historical, that she had the repute of being resorted to by many of the Athenians for mstruction in the art of speaking. Pericles's inclination for her seems, however, to have rather proceeded from the passion of love. He had a wife that was near of kin to him, who had been married first to Hipponicus, by whom she had Callias, surnamed the Rich; and also she broug^ht Peri- cles, while she lived with him, two sons, Xanthippus and Paralus. Afterwards, when they did not well agree nor like to live together, he parted with her, with her own consent, to another man, and himself took Aspasia, and * She was married, pays Athenaeus, to foui-teen husbands : a woman of great beauty and intellect. PERICLES. 351 loved her with wonderful affection ; every day, both as lie went out and as he ca.me in from the market-place, he saluted and kissed her. In the comedies she goes by the nicknames of the new Omphale and Deianira, and again is styled Juno. Crati- nus, in downright terms, calls her a harlot. To find liim a Juno the goddess of lust Bore that harlot past shame, Aspasia by name. It should seem, also, that he had a son by her ; Eupolis, in his Demi, introduced Pericles asking after his safety, and Myronides replying, " iVIy son ? " " He lives ; a man he had been long, But that the harlot-mother did him wrong." Aspasia, they s;iy, became so celebrated and renowned, that Cyrus also, who made Avar against Artaxerxes for the Persian monarchy, gave her whom he loved the best of all his concubines the name of Aspasia, who before that was called Milto. She was a Phoc^ean by birth, the daughter of one Hermotimus, and, when Cyrus fell in battle, was carried to the king, and had great influence at court. These things coming into my memory as I am writing this story, it would be unnatural for me to omit them. Pericles, however, was particularly charged with having proposed to the assembly the war against the Samians, from favor to the Milesians, upon the entreaty of Aspasia. For the two states were at war for the possession of Priene ; and the Samians, getting the better, refused to lay down their arms and to have the controversy betwixt them decided by arbitration before the Athenians, Peri- cles, therefore, fitting out a fleet, Λvent and broke up 352 PERICLES. the oligarchical government at Samos. and, taking fifty of the principal men of the town as hostages, and as many of their children, sent them to the isle of Lemnos, there to be kept, though he had offers, as some relate, of a talent a piece for himself from each one of the hostages, and of many other presents from those who were anxious not to have a democracy. Moreover, Pissuthnes the Per- sian, one of the king's lieutenants, bearing some good-will to the Samians, sent him ten thousand pieces of gold to excuse the city, Pericles, however, would receive none of all this; but after he had taken that course with the Samians which he thought fit, and set up a democracy among them, sailed back to Athens. But they, however, immediately revolted, Pissuthnes having privily got away their hostages for them, and pro- vided them Avith means for the war. Whereupon Pericles came out Λvith a fleet a second time against them, and found them not idle nor slinking away, but manfully resolved to try for the dominion of the sea. The issue was, that, after a sharp sea-fight about the island called Tragia, Pericles obtained a decisive victory, having with forty-four ships routed seventy of the enemy's, twenty of which Λvere carrying soldiers. Together with his victory and pursuit, having made himself master of the port, he laid siege to the Samians, and blocked them up, who yet, one Λvay or other, still ventured to make sallies, and fight under the city walls. But after that another greater fleet from Athens was arrived, and that the Samians were now shut up with a close leaguer on every side, Pericles, taking with him sixty galleys, sailed out into the main sea, with the inten- tion, as most authors give the account, to meet a squadron of Phoenician ships that Avere coming for the Samians' relief, and to fight them at as great distance as could be from the island ; but, as Stesimbrotus says, with a design PERICLES. 353 of putting over to Cyprus ; which does not seem to be probable. But whichever of the two was his intent, it seems to haΛ^e been a miscalculation. For on his departure. Melissus, the son of Ithagenes, a philosopher, being at that time general in Samos, despising either the small num- ber of the ships that were left or the inexperience of the commanders, prevailed with the citizens to attack the Athenians. And the Samians having won the battle, and taken several of the men prisoners, and disabled several of the ships, were masters of the sea, and brought into port all necessaries they wanted for the war, which they had not before. Aristotle says, too, that Pericles him- self had been once before this worsted by this Melissus in a sea-fio'lit. The Samians, that they might requite an affront which had before been put upon them, branded the Athenians, Λνΐιοηι they took prisoners, in their foreheads, with the fig- ure of an owl. For so the Athenians had marked them before Λγith a Samaena, Avhich is a sort of ship, low and flat in the prow, so as to look snub-nosed, but wide and large and well-spread in the hold, by which it both carries a large cargo and sails well. And it Λvas so called, because the first of that kind was seen at Samos, having: been built by order of Polycrates the tyrant. These brands upon the Samians' foreheads, they say, are the allusion in the passage of Aristophanes, where he says, — For, oh, the Samians are a lettered people. Pericles, as soon as news was brought him of the disas- ter that had befallen his army, made all the haste he could to come in to their relief, and having defeated Me- lissus, who bore up against him, and put the enemy to flight, he immediately proceeded to hem them in with a wall, resolving to master them and take the town, rather VOL. I. 23 354 PERICLES. with some cost and time, than with the wounds and hazards of his citizens. But as it was a hard matter to keep back the Athenians, who were vexed at the dehiy, and were eagerly bent to fight, he divided the whole multitude into eight parts, and arranged by lot that that part which had the white bean should have leave to feast and take their ease, while the other seven were fighting. And this is the reason, they say, that people, when at any time they have been merry, and enjoyed themselves, call it white day, in allusion to this white bean. Ephorus the historian tells us besides, that Pericles made use of engines of battery in this siege, being much taken Λvith the curiousness of the invention, with the aid and presence of Artemon himself, the engineer, who, being lame, used to be carried about in a litter, where the works required his attendance, and for that reason was called Periphoretus. But Heraclides Ponticus disproves this out of Anacreon's poems, where mention is made of this Ar- temon Periphoretus several ages before the Samian war, or any of these occurrences. And he says that Artemon, being a man who loved his ease, and had a great appre- hension of danger, for the most part kept close within doors, having two of his servants to hold a brazen shield over his head, that nothing might fall upon him from above ; and if he were at any time forced upon necessity to go abroad, that he was carried about in a little hang- ing bed, close to the very ground, and that for this reason he was called Periphoretus. In the ninth month, the Samians surrendering them- selves and delivering up the town, Pericles pulled down their walls, and seized their shipping, and set a fine of a large sum of money upon them, part of which they paid down at once, and they agreed to bring in the rest by a certain time, and gave hostages for security. Duris the Samian makes a tragical drama out of these events, PERICLES. 355 charging the Athenians and Pericles with a great deal of cruelty, which neither Thucydides, nor Ephorus, nor Ari- stotle have given any relation of, and probably with little regard to truth ; how, for example, he brought the captains and soldiers of the galleys into the market-place at Mile- tus, and there having bound them, fast to boards for ten days, then, Λvhen they were already all but half dead, gave order to have them killed by beating out their brains with clubs, and their dead bodies to be flunsr out into the open streets and fields, unburied. Duris, how- ever, who even wdiere he has no private feeling concerned, is not wont to keep his narrative within the limits of truth, is the more likely upon this occasion to have exag- gerated the calamities which befell his country, to create odium against the Athenians. Pericles, how^ever, after the reduction of Samos, returning back to Athens, took care that those who died in the war should be honorably buried, and made a funeral harangue, as the custom is, in their commendation at their graves, for which he gained great admiration. As he came down from the stage on which he spoke, the rest of the women came and compli- mented him, taking him by the hand, and crowning him with garlands and ribbons, like a victorious athlete in the games ; but Elpinice, coming near to him, said, " These are brave deeds, Pericles, that you have done, and such as deserve our chaplets; who have lost us many a worthy citizen, not in a war with Phoenicians or Medes, like my brother Cimon, but for the overthrow of an allied and kindred city." As Elpinice spoke these words, he, smiling quietly, as it is said, returned her answer with this verse, — Old women should not seek to be perfumed. Ton says of him, that, upon thi? exploit of his, conquer- 356 pp:ricles. ing the Samians, he indulged Λ^erJ high and proun thoughts of himself: whereas Agamemnon was ten years a taking a barbarous city, he had in nine months' time vanquished and taken the greatest and most powerful of the lonians. And indeed it Avas not without reason that he assumed this glory to himself, for, in real truth, there was much uncertainty and great hazard in this war, if so be, as Thucydides tells us, the Samian state were Λvithin a very little of wresting the whole power and domin- ion of the sea out of the Athenians' hands. After this was o\^er, the Peloponnesian Avar beginning to break out in full tide, he advised the people to send help to the Corcyreeans, who were attacked by the Co- rinthians, and to secure to themselves an island possessed of great naval resources, since the Peloponnesians Avere already all but in actual hostilities against them. The people readily consenting to the motion, and voting an aid and succor for them, he despatched Laceda3monius, Cimon's son, having only ten ships A\'ith him, as it were out of a design to affront him ; for there was a great kindness and friendship betwixt Cimon's family and the Lacedasmonians ; so, in order that Lacedaemonius might lie the more open to a charge, or susjDicion at least, of favoring the Lacedaemonians and playing false, if he per- formed no considerable exploit in this service, he allowed him a small number of ships, and sent him out against his will ; and indeed he made it somewhat his business to hinder Cimon's sons from rising in the state, professing that by their very names they were not to be looked upon as native and true Athenians, but foreigners and strangers, one being called Lacedoemonius, another Thes- salus, and the third Eleus ; and they were all three of them, it was thought, born of an Arcadian woman. Be- ing, however, ill spoken of on account of these ten gal- leys, as having afforded but a small supply to the jDCople PERICLES. 357 that were in need, and yet given a great advantao-e to those who might complain of the act of intervention, Pericles sent out a larger force afterward to Corcyra, which arrived after the fight was over. And when now the Corinthians, angry and indignant with the Athenians, accused them publicly at Lacedoemon, the Megariaus joined with them, complaining that they were, contrary to common right and the articles of peace sworn to among the Greeks, kept out and driven away from every market and' from all ports under the control of the Athe- nians. The ^ginetans, also, professing to be ill-used and treated with violence, made supplications in private to the Lacedcemonians for redress, though not daring openly to call the Athenians in question. In the mean time, also, the city Potidsea, under the dominion of the Athenians, but a colony formerly of the Corinthians, had revolted, and was beset with a formal siege, and was a further oc- casion of precipitating the war. Yet notwithstanding all this, there being embassies sent to Athens, and Archidamus, the king of the Lacedae- monians, endeavoring to bring the greater part of the com- plaints and matters in dispute to a fair determination, and to pacify and allay the heats of the allies, it is very likely that the war would not upon any other grounds of quarrel have fallen upon the Athenians, could they have been prevailed with to repeal the ordinance against the Mega- rians, and to be reconciled to them. Upon Avhich account, since Pericles was the man who mainly opposed it, and stirred up the people's passions to persist in their conten- tion with the Megarians, he was regarded as the sole cause of the war. They say, moreover, that ambassadors went, by order, from Lacedaemon to Athens about this very business, and that when Pericles was urging a certain law which 358 PERICLES. made it illegal to take down or withdraw the tablet of the decree, one of the ambassadors, Polyalces by name, said, " Well, do not take it down then, but turn it ; there is no law, I suppose, Λvhich forbids that ; " ^• which, though prettily said, did not move Pericles from his resolution. There may have been, in all likelihood, something of a secret grudge and private animosity which he had against the Megarians. Yet, upon a public and open charge against them, that they had appropriated part of the sacred land on the frontier, he proposed a decree that a herald should be sent to them, and the same also to the Lacedaemonians, with an accusation of the Megarians ; an order Λvhich certainly shows equitable and friendly pro- ceeding enough. And after that the herald who was sent, by name Anthemocritus, died, and it was believed that the Megarians had contrived his death, then Cha- rinus proposed a decree against them, that there should be an irreconcilable and implacable enmity thenceforward betwixt the two common\vealths ; and that if any one of the Megarians should but set his foot in Attica, he should be put to death ; and that the commanders, when they take the usual oath, should, over and above that, swear that they will twice every year make an inroad into the Me- garian country; and that Anthemocritus should be bu- ried near the Thriasian Gates, Avhich are now called the Dipylon, or Double Gate. On the other hand, the Megarians, utterly denying and disowning the murder of Anthemocritus, throw the whole matter upon Aspasia and Pericles, availing themselves of the famous verses in the Acharnians, * The word for taking down, in two senses. " If you may not take the literal sense, is also the techni- it down, turn it, \vith its face to the cal term for revoking, or repealing; wall." hence the Spartans play upon the PERICLES. 359 To Megara some of our madcaps ran, And stole Simsetha thence, their courtesan. Which exploit the Megarians to outdo, Came to Aspasia's house, and took ofi' two. The true occasion of the quarrel is not so easy to find out. But of inducing the refusal to annul the decree, all alike charge Pericles. Some say he met the request with a positive refusal, out of high spirit and a view of the state's best interests, accounting that the demand made in those embassies was designed for a trial of their com- pliance, and that a concession would be taken for a con- fession of Aveakness, as if they durst not do otherwise ; while other some there are who say that it was rather out of arrogance and a wilful spirit of contention, to show his own sti'ength, that he took occasion to slight the Lacedae- monians. The worst motive of all, which is confirmed by most witnesses, is to the following effect. Phidias the Moulder had, as has before been said, undertaken to make the statue of Minerva. Now he, being admitted to friendship with Pericles, and a great favorite of his, had many enemies upon this account, who envied and ma- ligned him ; who also, to make trial in a case of his, what kind of judges the commons would prove, should there be occasion to bring Pericles himself before them, having tampered with Menon, one who had been a workman with Phidias, stationed him in the market-place, with a petition desiring public security upon his discovery and impeachment of Phidias. The people admitting the man to tell his story, and the prosecution proceeding in the assembly, there was nothing of theft or cheat proved against him ; for Phidias, from the very first beginning, by the advice of Pericles, had so wrought and wrapt the gold that was used in the work about the statue, that they might take it all off and make out the just weight of it, which Pericles at that time bade the accusers do. 360 PERICLES. But the reputation of his works was what brought envy upon Phidias, especially that where he represents the fight of the Amazons upon the goddesses' shield, he had introduced a likeness of himself as a bald old man hold- ing up a great stone with both hands, and had put in a very fine representation of Pericles fighting with an Amazon. And the position of the hand, which holds out the spear in front of the face, was ingeniously contrived to conceal in some degree the likeness, which, meantime, showed itself on either side. Phidias then was carried away to prison, and there died of a disease ; but, as some say, of poison, administered by the enemies of Pericles, to raise a slander, or a suspicion, at least, as though he had procured it. The informer Menon, upon Glycon's proposal, the people made free from payment of taxes and customs, and ordered the generals to take care that nobody should do him any hurt. About the same time, Aspasia was indicted of impiety, upon the complaint of Hermippus the comedian, who also laid further to her charge that she received into her house freeborn women for the uses of Pericles. And Dio- pithes proposed a decree, that public accusation should be laid against persons who neglected religion, or taught new doctrines about things above,* directing suspicion, by means of Anaxagoras, against Pericles himself The people receiving and admitting these accusations and complaints, at length, by this means, they came to enact a decree, at the motion of Dracontides, that Pericles should bring in the accounts of the moneys he had ex- pended, and lodge them with the Prytanes ; and that the judges, carrying their suffrage from the altar in the Acro- * " Supera ac coelestia," as Cicero religion was based on certain con- translates the words meteora and ceptions of such phenomena, any metarsia, whence we have formed tampering with which was, there- onr meteorology. The whole Greek fore, quickly resented. PERICLES. 3G1 polis, sLould examine and determine the business in the city. This last chiuse Hagnon took out of the decree, and moved that the causes should be tried before fifteen hundred jurors, Λvhether they should be styled prosecu- tions for robbery, or bribery, or any kind of malversation. Aspasia, Pericles begged off, shedding, as ^schines says, many tears at the trial, and personally entreating the jurors. But fearing how it might go with Anaxagoras, he sent him out of the city. And finding that in Phidias's case he had miscarried with the people, being afraid of impeachment, he kindled the war, which hitherto had lin- gered and smothered, and blew it up into a flame ; hoping, by that means, to disperse and scatter these complaints and charges, and to allay their jealousy ; the city usually throwing herself upon him alone, and trusting to his sole conduct, upon the urgency of great affairs and public dangers, by reason of his authority and the sway he bore. These are given out to have been the reasons which induced Pericles not to suffer the people of Athens to yield to the proposals of the LacedaBmonians; but their trutli is uncertain. The Lacedaemonians, for their part, feeling sure that if they could once remove him, they might be at what terms they pleased with the Athenians, sent them Avord that they should expel the "Pollution" with which Pericles on the mother's side was tainted, as Thucydides tells us. But the issue proved quite contrary to what those who sent the message expected ; instead of bringing Pericles under suspicion and reproach, they raised him into yet greater credit and esteem with the citizens, as a man whom their enemies most hated and feared. . In the same way, also, before Archidamus, who was at the head of the Peloponnesians, made his invasion into Attica, he told the Athenians beforehand, that if Archidamus, while he laid 362 PERICLES. waste the rest of the country, should forbear and spare his estate, either on the ground of friendship or right of hospitality that was betwixt them, or on purpose to give his enemies an occasion of traducing him, that then he did freely bestow upon the state all that his land and the buildings upon it for the public use. The Lace- daemonians, therefore, and their allies, with a great army, invaded the Athenian territories, under the conduct of king Archidamus, and laying waste the country, marched on as far as Acharnse, and there pitched their camp, pre- sumino' that the Athenians would never endure that, but would come out and fight them for their country's and their honor's sake. But Pericles looked upon it as dan- gerous to engage in battle, to the risk of the city itself, against sixty thousand men-at-arms of Peloponnesians and Boeotians; for so many they Ave re in number that made the inroad at first; and he endeavored to appease those Avho Avere desirous to fight, and were grieved and discontented to see how things went, and gave them good words, saying, that " trees, when they are lopped and cut, grow up again in a short time but men, being once lost, can- not easily be recovered." He did not convene the people into an assembly, for fear lest they should force him to act against his judgment; but, like a skilful steersman or pilot of a ship, Λνΐιο, when a sudden squall comes on, out at sea, makes all his arrangements, sees that all is tight and fast, and then follows the dictates of his skill, and minds the business of the ship, taking no notice of the tears and entreaties of the sea-sick and fearful passengers, so he, having shut up the city gates, and placed guards at all posts for security, followed his own reason and j udgment, little regarding those that cried out against him and were angry at his management, although there were a great many of his friends that urged him with requests, and many of his enemies threatened and accused him for PERICLES. 36b doing as he did, and many made songs and lampoons upon him, which were sung about the to\vn to his dis- grace, reproaching him with the cowardly exercise of his office of general, and the tame abandonment of every thing to the enemy's hands. Cleon, also, already was among his assailants, making use of the feeling against him as a step to the leadership of the people, as appears in the anapaestic verses of Her- raippus. Satyr-king, instead of swords, Will you always handle words ? Very brave indeed we find them, But a Teles * lurks behind them. Yet to gnash your teeth you 're seen, Wlien the little dagger keen. Whetted eveiy day anew, Of sharp Cleon touches you. Pericles, however, Avas not at all moved by any attacks, but took all patiently, and submitted in silence to the disgrace they threw upon him and the ill-will they bore him; and, sending out a fleet of a hundred galleys to Peloponnesus, he did not go along with it in person, but stayed behind, that he might watch at home and keep the city under his ovv^n control, till the Pelopon- nesians broke up their camp and Avere gone. Yet to soothe the common people, jaded and distressed with the war, he relieved them with distributions of public moneys, and ordained new divisions of subject land. For hav- ing turned out all the people of ^gina, he parted the island among the Athenians, according to lot. Some comfort, also, and ease in their miseries, they might re- ceive from what their enemies endured. For the fleet, * Apparently some notorious coward. 364 PERICLES. sailing round the Peloponnese, ravaged a great deal of the country, and pillaged and plundered the towns and smaller cities ; and by land he himself entered with an army the Megarian country, and made havoc of it all. Whence it is clear that the Peloponnesians, though they did the Athenians much mischief by land, yet suffering as much themselves from them by sea, would not have protracted the war to such a length, but would quickty have given it over, as Pericles at first foretold they would, had not some divine power crossed human pur- poses. In the first place, the pestilential disease, or plague, seized upon the city, and ate up all the flower and prime of their youth and strength. Upon occasion of which, the people, distempered and afflicted in their souls, as well as in their bodies, were utterly enraged like madmen against Pericles, and, like patients grown delirious, sought to lay violent hands on their physician, or, as it were, their father. They had been possessed, by his enemies, with the belief that the occasion of the plague was the crowd- ing of the country people together into the town, forced as they were now, in the heat of the summer-weather, to dwell many of them together even as they could, in small tenements and stifling hovels, and to be tied to a lazy course of life within doors, whereas before they lived in a pure, open, and free air. The cause and author of all this, said they, is he who on account of the war has poured a multitude of people from the country in upon us within the Λvalls, and uses all these many men that he has here upon no employ or service, but keeps them pent up like cattle, to be overrun with infection from one another, affording them neither shift of quarters noi any refreshment. With the design to remedy these evils, and do the en- emy some inconvenience, Pericles got a hundred and fifty f*ERICLES. 30δ galleys reacl}^ and having embarked many tried soldiers, both foot and horse, was about to sail out, giving great hope to his citizens, and no less alarm to his enemies, upon the sight of so great a force. And now the vessels hav- ing their comp)lement of men, and Pericles being gone aboard his own galley, it happened that the sun was eclipsed, and it grew dark on a sudden, to the affright of all, for this Avas looked upon as extremely ominous. Per- icles, therefore, perceiving the steersman seized with fear and at a loss what to do, took his cloak and held it up before the man's face, and, screening him with it so that he could not see, asked him whether he imagined there was any great hurt, or the sign of any great hurt in this, and he answering No, " Why," said he, " and what does that differ from this, only that what has caused that darkness there, is something greater than a cloak ? " This is a story which philosophers tell their scholars. Pericles, however, after putting out to sea, seems not to have done any other exploit befitting such preparations, and Avhen he had laid siege to the holy city Epidaurus, which gave him some hope of surrender, miscarried in his design by reason of the sickness. For it not only seized upon the Athe- nians, but upon all others, too, that held any sort of com- munication Λvith the army. Finding after this the Athe- nians ill affected and highly displeased Avith him, he tried and endeavored what he could to appease and re-encour- age them. But he could not pacify or allay their anger, nor persuade or prevail with them any way, till they freely passed their votes upon him, resumed their power, took away his command from him, and fined him in a sum of money; which, by their account that say least, was fifteen talents, while they who reckon most, name fifty. The name prefixed to the accusation was Cleon, as Idomeneus tells us ; Siminias, according to The- ophrastus ; and Heraclides Ponticus gives it as Lacratidas. 366 PERICLES. After this, public troubles were soon to leave him mi- molested ; the people, so to say, discharged their passion in their stroke, and lost their stings in the wound. But his domestic concerns were in an unhappy condition many of his friends and acquaintance having died in the plague time, and those of his family having long since been in disorder and in a kind of mutiny against him. For the eldest of his lawfully begotten sons, Xan- thippus by name, being naturally prodigal, and marrying a young and expensive ΛνίίΒ, the daughter of Tisander, son of Epilycus, was highly offended at his father's econ- omy in making him but a scanty allowance, by little and little at a time. He sent, therefore, to a friend one day, and borrowed some money of him in his fathej- Pericles's name, pretending it was by his order. The man comino; afterward to demand the debt, Pericles Avas so far from yielding to pay it, that he entered an action against him. Upon which the young man, Xanthippus, thought himself so ill used and disobliged, that he openly reviled his father ; telling first, by way of ridicule, stories about his conversations at home, and the discourses he had with the sophists and scholars that came to his house. As for instance, how one who was a practiser of the five games of skill,* having with a dart or javelin un- awares against his will struck and killed Epitimus the Pharsalian, his father spent a w^hole day with Protago- ras in a serious dispute, whether the javelin, or the man that thre\v it, or the masters of the games who appointed these sports, were, according to the strictest and best reason, to be accounted the cause of this mischance. Be- sides this, Stesimbrotus tells us that it was Xanthippus who spread abroad among the people the infamous story * These are recorded in a pentameter verse by Simonides. Halma, podokeien, discon, aconta, Leaping, and swiftness of foot paleu. wrestling, the discus, the dart. PERICLES. 3G7 concerning his own wife; and in general that this diifer- ence of the young man's with his father, and the breach betwixt them, continued never to be healed or made up till his death. For Xanthippus died in the plague time of the sickness. At which time Pericles also lost his sister, and the greatest part of his relations and friends, and those who had been most useful and serviceable to him in managing the affairs of state. How'ever, he did not shrink or give in upon these occa- sions, nor betray or lower his high spirit and the greatness of his mind under all his misfortunes ; he was not even so much as seen to weep or to mourn, or even attend the burial of any of his friends or relations, till at last he lost his only remaining legitimate son. Subdued by this blow, and yet striving still, as far as he could, to maintain his prin- ciple, and to preserve and keep up the greatness of his soul Avhen he came, however, to perform the ceremony of putting a garland of flowers upon the head of the corpse, he was vanquished by his passion at the sight, so that he burst into exclamations, and shed copious tears, having never done any such thing in all his life before. The city having made trial of other generals for the conduct of w'ar, and orators for business of state, when they found there was no one who was of weight enough for such a charge, or of authority sufficient to be trusted Avith so great a command, regretted the loss of him, and invited him again to address and advise them, and to re- assume the office of general. He, however, lay at home in dejection and mourning; but was persuaded by Alci- biades and others of his friends to come abroad and show himself to the people ; wdio having, upon his appearance, made their acknowledgments, and apologized for their untowardly treatment of him, he undertook the public affairs once more ; and, being chosen general, requested that the statute concerning base-born children, which he 368 PERICLES. himself had formerly caused to be made, might be sus- pended ; that so the name and race of his family might not, for absolute \vant of a lawful heir to succeed, be wholly lost and extinguished. The case of the statute was thus : Pericles, when long ago at the height of his power in the state, having then, as has been said, chil- dren lawfully begotten, proposed a law that those only should be reputed true citizens of Athens who were born of such parents as were both Athenians. After this, the king of Egypt having sent to the people, by way of pres- ent, forty thousand bushels of wheat, which were to be shared out among the citizens, a great many actions and suits about legitimacy occurred, by virtue of that edict ; cases Avhich, till that time, had not been known nor taken notice of; and several persons suffered by fiilse accusa- tions. There were little less than five thousand who were convicted and sold for slaves; those who, enduring the test, remained in the government and passed muster for true Athenians were found upon the poll to be fourteen thousand and forty persons in number. It looked strange, that a laAV, which had been carried so far against so many people, should be cancelled again by the same man that made it; yet the present calamity and distress which Pericles labored under in his family broke through all objections, and prevailed with the Athenians to pity him, as one whose losses and misfor- tunes had sufficiently punished his former arrogance and haughtiness. His sufferings deserved, they thought, their pity, and even indignation, and his request was such as became a man to ask and men to grant; they gave him permission to enroll his son in the register of his fraternity, giving him his own name. Tiiis son afterward, after having defeated the Peloponnesians at Arginusae, was, with his fellow-generals, put to death by the people. About the time when his son was enrolled, it should PERICLES. 369 seem, the plague seized Pericles, not with sharp and vio- lent fits, as it did others that had it, but with a dull and lingering distemper, attended with various changes and alterations, leisurely, by little and little, wasting the strength of his body, and undermining the noble faculties of his soul. So that Theophrastus, in his Morals, Λ\^ιοη discussing whether men's characters change with their cir- cumstances, and their moral habits, disturbed by the ailings of their bodies, start aside from the rules of virtue, has left it upon record, that Pericles, when he was sick, showed one of his friends that came to visit him, an amu- let or charm that the women had hung about his neck ; as much as to say, that he was very sick indeed when he would admit of such a foolery as that was. When he was now near his end, the best of the citizens and those of his friends who were left alive, sitting about him, were speaking of the greatness of his merit, and his power, and reckoning up his famous actions and the num- ber of his victories ; for there were no less than nine tro- j)hies, which, as their chief commander and conqueror of their enemies, he had set up, for the honor of the city. They talked thus together among themselves, as though he were unable to understand or mind what they said, but had now lost his consciousness. He had listened, how- ever, all the while, and attended to all, and speaking out among them, said, that he Λvondered they should com- mend and take notice of things which Λvere as much owing to fortune as to any thing else, and had happened to many other commanders, and, at the same time, should not speak or make mention of that which was the most excellent and greatest thing of all. " For," said he, " no Athenian, through my means, ever wore mourning." He was indeed a character deserving our high admira- tion, not only for his equitable and mild temper, which all alono; in the manv affairs of his life, and the «ireat VOL. I. 24 370 PERICLES. animosities which he incurred, he constantly maintained , but also for the high spirit and feeling which made him regard it the noblest of all his honors that, in the exer- cise of such immense power, he never had gratified his envy or his passion, nor ever had treated any enemy as irreconcilably opposed to him. And to me it appears that this one thing gives that otherwise childish and arro- gant title a fitting and becoming significance ; so dispas- sionate a temper, a life so pure and unblemished, in the height of power and place, might well be called Olym- pian, in accordance with our conceptions of the divine beings, to whom, as the natural authors of all good and of nothing evil, we ascribe the rule and government of the world. Not as the poets represent, who, while con- founding us with their ignorant fancies, are themselves confuted by their own poems and fictions, and call the place, indeed, where they say the gods make their abode, a secure and quiet seat, free from all hazards and com- motions, untroubled with winds or with clouds, and equally through all time illumined with a soft serenity and a pure light, as though such were a home most agreeable for a blessed and immortal nature ; and yet, in the mean while, affirm that the gods themselves are full of trouble and enmity and anger and other passions, which no way become or belong to even men that have any understanding. But this will, perhaps, seem a subject fitter for some other consideration, and that ought to be treated of in some other place. The course of public afilxirs after his death produced a quick and speedy sense of the loss of Pericles. Those who, while he lived, resented his great authority, as that which eclipsed themselves, presently after his quitting the stage, making trial of other orators and demagogues, readily acknowledged that there never had been in nature such a disposition as his w^as, more moderate and reasona- PERICLES. 371 ble in the height of that state he took upon him, or more grave and impressive in the mildness which he used. And that invidious arbitrary power, to which formerly they gave the name of monarchy and tyranny, did then appear to have been the chief bulwark of public safety ; so great a corruption and such a flood of mischief and vice followed, which he, by keeping weak and low, had withheld from notice, and had prevented from attaining incurable height through a licentious impunity. F ABIUS. Having related the memorable actions of Pericles, our history now proceeds to the life of Fabius. A sou of Hercules and a nymph, or some woman of that country, who brought him forth on the banks of Tiber, was, it is said, the first Fabius, the founder of the numerous and distinguished family of the name. Others will have it that they were first called Fodii, because the first of the race delighted in digging pit-falls for wild heiists, fodere being still the Latin for to dig, and fossa for a ditch, and that in process of time, by the change of the two letters they grew to be called Fabii. But be these things true or false, certain it is that this family for a long time yielded a great number of eminent persons. Our Fabius, who was fourth in descent from that Fabius Rullus who first brought the honorable surname of Maximus into his family, was also, by way of personal nickname, called Verrucosus, from a wart on his upper lip ; and in his childhood they in like manner named him Ovicula, or The Lamb, on account of his extreme mildness of temper. His slowness in speaking, his long labor and jDains in learning, his deliberation in entering into the si^orts of other children, his easy submission to everybody, as if he had no will of his own, made those who judged superfi- cially of him, the greater number, esteem him insensible and stupid ; and few only saw that this tardiness pro- (372) FABIUS. 373 ceeded from stability, and discerned the greatness of his mind, and the lionlikeness of his temper. But as soon as he came into employments, his virtues exerted and showed themselves ; his reputed want of energy then was recognized by people in general, as a freedom of passion ; his slowness in words and actions, the effect of a true prudence ; his Avant of rapidity, and his sluggishness, as constancy and firmness. Living in a great commonwealth, surrounded by many enemies, he saw the wisdom of inuring his body (nature's own Aveapon) to warlike exercises, and disciplinino• his tongue for public oratory in a style comformable to his life and character. His eloquence, indeed, had not much of popular ornament, nor empty artifice, but there was in it great weight of sense; it was strong and senten- tious, much after the way of Thucydides. We have yet extant his funeral oration upon the death of his son, who died consul, which he recited before the people. He was five times consul, and in his first consulship had the honor of a triumph for the victory he gained over the Ligurians, whom he defeated in a set battle, and drove them to take shelter in the Alps, from whence they never after made any inroad nor depredation upon their neighbors. After this, Hannibal came into Italy, who, at his first entrance, having gained a great battle near the river Trebia, traversed all Tuscany Avith his vic- torious army, and, desolating the country round about, filled Rome itself with astonishment and terror. Besides the more common signs of thunder and lia-htnino; then happening, the report of several unheard of and utterly strange portents much increased the popular consterna- tion. For it was said that some targets sweated blood ; that at Antium, when they reaped their corn, many of the ears were filled with blood ; that it had rained red- hot stones; that the Falerians had seen the heavens open 374 FABIUS. and several scrolls falling down, in one of which was plainly written, "Mars himself stirs his arms." But these prodigies had no effect upon the impetuous and fiery temper of the consul Flaminius, whose natural prompt- ness had been much heightened by his late unexpected victory over the Gauls, when he fought them contrary to the order of the senate and the advice of his colleague. Fabius, on the other side, thought it not seasonable to engage with the enemy ; not that he much regarded the prodigies, which he thought too strange to be easily understood, though many were alarmed by them ; but in regard that the Carthaginians were but few, and in want of money and supplies, he deemed it best not to meet in the field a general whose army had been tried in many encounters, and Λvhose object was a battle, but to send aid to their allies, control the movements of the various subject cities, and let the force and vigor of Hannibal waste away and expire, like a flame, for want of aliment. These weighty reasons did not prevail with Flaminius, who protested he w^ould never suffer the advance of the enemy to the city, nor be reduced, like Camillus in former time, to fight for Rome within the walls of Rome. Accordingly he ordered the tribunes to draw out the army into the field ; and though he himself, leaping on horseback to go out, was no sooner mounted but the beast, without any apparent cause, fell into so violent a fit of trembling and bounding that he cast his rider headlong on the ground, he was no ways deterred ; but proceeded as he had begun, and marched forward up to Hannibal, who was posted near the Lake Thrasymene in Tuscany. At the moment of this engagement, there happened so great an earthquake, that it destroyed sev- eral towns, altered the course of rivers, and carried off parts of high cliffs, yet such was the eagerness of the combatants, that they were entirely insensible of it. FABIUS. 375 In this battle Flaminius fell, after many proofs of his strength and courage, and round about him all the bravest of the army ; in the whole, fifteen thousand were killed, and as many made prisoners. Hannibal, desirous to bestow funeral honors upon the body of Flaminius, made dilio-ent search after it, but could not find it anions the dead, nor was it ever known what became of it. Upon the former engagement near Trebia, neither the general who Avrote, nor the express who told the news, used straightforward and direct terms, nor related it otherAvise than as a drawn battle, Λvith equal loss on either side ; but on this occasion, as soon as Pomponius the proetor had the intelligence, he caused the people to assemble, and, without disguising or dissembling the mat- ter, told them plainly, " We are beaten, Romans, in a great battle ; the consul Flaminius is killed ; think, there- fore, what is to be done for your safety." Letting loose his news like a gale of wind upon an open sea, he threw the city into utter confusion : in such consternation, their thoughts found no support or stay. The danger at hand at last awakened their judgments into a resolution to choose a dictator, who, by the sovereign authority of his office, and by his personal wisdom and courage, might be able to manage the public affairs. Their choice unan- imously fell upon Fabius, w^hose character seemed equal to the greatness of the office ; whose age was so far advanced as to give him experience, without taking from him the vigor of action; his body could execute what his soul designed ; and his temper was a happy com- pound of confidence and cautiousness. Fabius, being thus installed in the office of dictator, in the first place gave the command of the horse to Lucius Minucius ; and next asked leave of the senate for himself, that in time of battle he might serve on horseback, which by an ancient law amongst the Romans Λvas forbid to their 376 FABIUS. generals ; Λvhether it were, that, placing their greatest strength in their foot, they would have their commanders- in-chief posted amongst them, or else to let them know, that, how great and absolute soever their authority were, the people and senate were still their masters, of whom they must ask leave. Fabius, however, to make the authority of his charge more observable, and to render the people more submissive and obedient to him, caused himself to be accompanied with the full body of four and twenty lictors; and, Avhen the surviving consul came to visit him, sent him word to dismiss his lictors with their fasces, the ensigns of authority, and appear before him as a private person. The first solemn action of his dictatorship was very fitly a religious one: an admonition to the people, that their late overthrow had not befallen them through want of courao:e in their soldiers, but throuo;h the neu:lect of divine ceremonies in the general. He therefore ex- horted them not to fear the enemy, but by extraordinary honor to propitiate the gods. This he did, not to fill their minds Avith superstition, but by religious feeling to raise their courage, and lessen their fear of the enemy by inspiring the belief that Heaven was on their side. With this view, the secret prophecies called the Sibylline Books were consulted; sundry predictions found in them Λvere said to refer to the fortunes and events of the time ; but none except the consulter was informed. Presenting himself to the people, the dictator made a vow before them to offer in sacrifice the whole product of the next season, all Italy over, of the cows, goats, swine, sheep, both in the mountains and the plains ; and to celebrate musical festivities with an expenditure of the precise sum of 333 sestertia and 333 denarii, with one third of a denarius over. The sum total of which is, in our money, 83,583 drachmas and 2 obols. What the mystery FABIUS. 377 might be in that exact number is not easy to determine, unless it were in honor of the perfection of the number three, as being the first of odd nimibers, the first that contains in itself multiplication, with all other properties whatsoever belonging to numbers in general. In this manner Fabius having given the people better heart for the future, by making them believe that the gods took their side, for his own part placed his whole confidence in himself, believing that the gods bestowed victory and good fortune by the instrumentality of valor and of prudence ; and thus prepared he set forth to oppose Hannibal, not with intention to fight him, but with the purj)ose of wearing out and wasting the vigor of his arms by lapse of time, of meeting his want of re- sources by superior means, by large numbers the smallness of his forces. With this design, he always encamped on the highest grounds, where the enemy's horse could have no access to him. Still he kept pace with them ; when they marched he followed them; wdien they encamped he did the same, but at such a distance as not to be compelled to an engagement, and always keeping upon the hills, free from the insults of their horse; by Λvhich means he gave them no rest, but kept them in a continual alarm. But this his dilatory way gave occasion in his own camp for suspicion of want of courage ; and this opinion prevailed yet more in Hannibal's army. Hannibal was himself the only man who was not deceived, λυΙιο discerned his skill and detected his tactics, and saw, unless he could by art or force bring him to battle, that the Cartha- ginians, unable to use the arras in which they were supe- rior, and suffering the continual drain of lives and treas- ure in which they w^ere inferior, would in the end come to nothing. He resolved, therefore, Avith all the arts and .subtilties of war to break his measures, and to bring 378 FABIUS. Fabius to an engagement; like a cunning wrestler, watching every opportunity to get good hold and close with his adversary. He at one time attacked, and sought to distract his attention, tried to draw him off in various directions, endeavored in all ways to tempt him from his safe policy. All this artifice, though it had no effect upon the firm judgment and conviction of the dictator, yet upon the common soldier and even upon the general of the horse himself, it had too great an operation : Minu- cius, unseasonably eager for action, bold and confident, humored the soldiery, and himself contributed to fill them with wild eagerness and empty hopes, Avhich they vented in reproaches upon Fabius. calling him Hannibal's pedagogue,* since he did nothing else but follow him up and down and wait upon him. At the same time, they cried up Minucius for the only captain worthy to com- mand the Romans ; whose vanity and presumption rose so high in consequence, that he insolently jested at Fabius's encampments upon the mountains, saying that he seated them there as on a theatre, to behold the flames and deso- lation of their country. And he would sometimes ask the friends of the general, whether it were not his meaning, by thus leading them from mountain to mountain, to carry them at last (having no hopes on earth) up into heaven, or to hide them in the clou'ds from Hannibal's army? When his friends reported these things to the dictator, persuading him that, to avoid the general oblo- quy, he should engage the enemy, his answer was, "I should be more fainthearted than they make me, if, through fear of idle reproaches, I should abandon my * Hannibal's footman, might per- cially out of the house, upon the haps give the jest more correctly, young boys of the family, and, in The piedagogus of the ancients particular, to take them to school was merely the slave appointed to and bring them home again, be in constaiit o.ttendance, espe- FABIUS. 379 own convictions. It is no inglorious thing to have fear for the safety of our country, but to be turned from one's course by men's opinions, by blame, and by misrepresen- tation, shoAVS a man unfit to hold an office such as this, which, by such conduct, he makes the slave of those whose errors it is his business to control." An oversight of Hannibal occurred soon after. De- sirous to refresh his horse in some good pasture-grounds, and to draw off his army, he ordered his guides to con- duct him to the district of Casinura. They, mistaking his bad pronunciation, led him and his army to the town of Casilinum, on the frontier of Campania which the river Lothronus, called by the Romans Vulturnus, divides in two parts. The country around is enclosed by mountains, with a valley opening towards the sea, in which the river overflowing forms a quantity of marsh land with deep banks of sand, and discharges itself into the sea on a very unsafe and rough shore. While Han- nibal was proceeding hither, Fabius, by his knowledge of the roads, succeeded in making his way around before him, and despatched four thousand choice men to seize the exit from it and stop him up, and lodged the rest of his army upon the neighboring hills in the most advan- tageous places ; at the same time detaching a party of his lightest armed men to fall upon Hannibal's rear ; which they did with such success, that they cut off eight hundred of them, and put the whole army in disorder. Hannibal, finding the error and the danger he was fallen into, immediately crucified the guides ; but considered the enemy to be so advantageously posted, that there was no hopes of breaking through them ; while his sol- diers began to be despondent and terrified, and to think themselves surrounded with embarrassments too difficult to be surmounted. Thus reduced, Hannibal had recourse to stratagem ; lie 380 FABIUS. caused two thousand head of oxen which he had in his camp, to have torches or dry fagots well fastened to their horns, and lighting them in the beginning of the night, ordered the beasts to be driven on towards the heights commanding the passages out of the valley and the enemy's posts; when this was done, he made his army in the dark leisurely march after them. The oxen at first kept a slow, orderly pace, and wath their lighted heads resembled an army marching by night, astonishing the shepherds and herdsmen of the hills about. But when the fire had burnt down the horns of the beasts to the quickj they no longer observed their sober pace, but, unruly and wild with their pain, ran dispersed about, toss- ing their heads and scattering the fire round about them upon each other and setting light as they passed to the trees. This was a surprising spectacle to the Romans on guard upon the heights. Seeing flames which ap peared to come from men advancing with torches, they were possessed Avith the alarm that the enemy Avas approaching in various quarters, and that they were being surrounded ; and, quitting their post, abandoned the pass, and precipitately retired to their camp on the hills. They were no sooner gone, but the light-armed of Hanni- bal's men, according to his order, immediately seized the heights, and soon after the whole army, with all the bag- gage, came up and safely marched through the passes. Fabius, before the night w^as over, quickly found out the trick; for some of the beasts fell into his hands; but for fear of an ambush in the dark, he kept his men al) night to their arms in the camp. As soon as it was day, he attacked the enemy in the rear, Avhere, after a good deal of skirmishing in the uneven ground, the disorder might have become general, but that Hannibal detached from his van a body of Spaniards, who, of themselves active and nimble, were accustomed to the climbing of FABIUS. 381 mountains. These briskly attacked the Roman troops who were in heavy armor, killed a good many, and left Fabius no longer in condition to follow the enemy. This action brought the extreme of obloquy and contempt upon the dictator ; they said it was now manifest that he was not only inferior to his adversary, as they had always thought, in courage, but even in that conduct, foresight, and generalship, by Avhich he had proposed to brino• the war to an end. ο And Hannibal, to enhance their anger against him, marched with his army close to the lands and possessions of Fabius, and, giving orders to his soldiers to burn and destroy all the country about, forbade them to do the least damage in the estates of the Roman general, and placed guards for their security. This, when reported at Rome, had the effect with the people which Hannibal desired. Their tribunes raised a thousand stories against him, chiefly at the instigation of Metilius, who, not so much out of hatred to him as out of friendship to Minu cius, whose kinsman he was, thought by depressing Fabius to raise his friend. The senate on their part were also offended with him, for the bargain he had made with Hannibal about the exchange of prisoners, the conditions of which were, that, after exchange made of man for man, if any on either side remained, they should be redeemed at the j)rice of two hundred and fifty drachmas a head. Upon the Λvhole account, there remained two hundred and forty Romans unexchanged, and the senate now not only refused to allow money for the ransoms, but also reproached Fabius for making a contract, con- trary to the honor and interest of the commonwealth, for redeeming men whose cowardice had put them in the hands of the enemy. Fabius heard and endured all this with invincible patience ; and, having no money by him, and on the other side being resolved to keep his Avord 382 FABIUS. with Hanuibal and not to abandon the captives, he de- spatched his son to Rome to sell land, and to bring with him the price, sufficient to discharge the ransoms ; which was punctually performed by his son, and delivery accord- ingly made to him of the prisoners, amongst whom many, when they were released, made proposals to repay the money ; which Fabius in all cases declined. About this time, he was called to Rome by the priests, to assist, according to the duty of his office, at certain sacrifices, and was thus forced to leave the command of the army with Minucius ; but before he parted, not Duly charged him as his commander-in-chief, but besought and entreated him, not to come, in his absence, to a battle with Hannibal. His commands, entreaties, and advice Λvere lost upon Minucius ; for his back was no sooner turned but the new general immediately sought occasions to attack the enemy. And notice being brought liim that Hannibal had sent out a great part of his army to forage, he fell upon a detachment of the reuiainder, doing great execution, and driving them to their very camp, with no little terror to the rest, who apprehended their breaking in upon them ; and when Hannibal had recalled his scat- tered forces to the camp, he, nevertheless, without any loss, made his retreat, a success Avhich aggravated his boldness and presumption, and filled the soldiers with rash confidence. The news spread to Rome, where Fabius, on being told it, said that what he most feared was Minu- cius's success : but the people, highly elated, hurried to the forum to listen to an address from Metilius the tri- bune, in which he infinitely extolled the valor of Minu- cius, and fell bitterly upon Fabius, accusing him for want not merely of courage, but even of loj^alty ; and not only him, but also many other eminent and considerable persons ; saying that it was they that had brought the Carthaginians into Italy, with the design to destroy the FABIUS. 383 liberty of the people ; for which end they had at once put the supreme authority into the hands of a single per- son, who by his slowness and delays might give Hannibal leisure to establish himself in Italy, and the people of Carthage time and opportunity to suj^ply him with fresh succors to complete his conquest. Fabius came forward with no intention to answer the tribune, but only said, that they should expedite the sacrifices, that so he might speedily return to the army to punish Minucius, who had presumed to fight contrary to his orders; words which immediately possessed the jDCople with the belief that Minucius stood in danger of his life. For it was in the power of the dictator to imprison and to put to death, and they feared that Fabius, of a mild temper in general, would be as hard to be appeased when once irritated, as he was slow to be pro- voked. Nobody dared to raise his voice in opposition Metilius alone, whose office of tribune gave him security to say what he pleased (for in the time of a dictatorship that magistrate alone preserves his autliority), boldly applied himself to the people in the behalf of Minucius : that they should not suffer him to be made a sacrifice to the enmity of Fabius, nor permit him to be destroyed, like the son of Manlius Torquatus, who was beheaded by his father for a victory fought and triumphantly won against order ; he exhorted them to take away from Fabius that absolute power of a dictator, and to put it into more worthy hands, better able and more inclined to use it for the public good. These impressions very much prevailed upon the people, though not so far as wiiolly to dispossess Fabius of the dictatorship. But they decreed that Minucius should have an equal author- ity with, the dictator in the conduct of the war; Λvhich was a thing then without precedent, though a little later it was again practised after the disaster at Canna) ; when 384 FABIUS. the dictator, Marcus Junius, being with the army, they chose at Eome Fabius Buteo dictator, that he might create• new senators, to supply the numerous places of those who were killed. But as soon as, once acting in public, he had filled those vacant places with a sufficient number, he immediately dismissed his lictors, and with- drew from all his attendance, and, mingling like a com- mon person with the rest of the people, quietly went about his own affairs in the forum. The enemies of Fabius thought they had sufficiently humiliated and subdued him by raising Minucius to be his equal in authority ; but they mistook the temper of the man, who looked upon their folly as not his loss, but like Diogenes, who, being told that some persons derided him, made answer, " But I am not derided," meaning that only those were really insulted on whom such insults made an impression, so Fabius, with great tranquillity and unconcern, submitted to what happened, and contributed a proof to the argument of the philosophers that a just and good man is not capable of being dishonored. His only vexation arose from his fear lest this ill counsel, by supplying opportunities to the diseased military ambition of his subordinate, should damage the public cause. Lest the rashness of Minucius should now at once run headlong into some disaster, he returned back with all privacy and speed to the army ; where he found Minu- cius so elevated with his new dignity, that, a joint- authority not contenting him, he required by turns to have the command of the army every other day. This Fabius rejected, but was contented that the army should bo divided ; thinking each general singly would better command his part, than partially command the whole. The first and fourth legion he took for his own division, the second and third he delivered to Minucius ; so also of the auxihary forces each had an equal share. FABIUS. 3S5 Minucins, thus exalted, could not contain himself from boasting of his success in humiliating the high and power- ful office of the dictatorship. Fabius quietly reminded him that it was, in all wisdom, Hannibal, and not Fabius, whom he had to combat ; but if he must needs contend with his colleague, it had best be in diligence and caro for the preservation of Rome ; that it might not be said, a man so favored by the people served them worse than he who had been ill-treated and disgraced by them. The young general, despising these admonitions as the false humility of age, immediately removed with the body of his army, and encamped by himself. Hannibal, who was not ignorant of all these passages, lay watching his advantage from them. It happened that between his army and that of Minucius there was a certain eminence, which seemed a very advantageous and not difficult post to encamp upon ; the level field around it appeared, from a distance, to be all smooth and even, though it had many inconsiderable ditches and dips in it, not discerni- ble to the eye. Hannibal, had he pleased, could easily have possessed himself of this ground ; but he had re- served it for a bait, or train, in proper season, to draw the Romans to an engagement. Now that Minucius and Fabius were divided, he thought the opportunity fair for his purpose ; and, therefore, having in the night time lodged a convenient number of his men in these ditches and hollow places, early in the morning he sent forth a small detachment, who, in the sight of Minucius, pro- ceeded to possess themselves of the rising ground. Ac- cording to his expectation, Minucius swallowed the bait, and first sends out his light troops, and after them some horse, to dislodge the enemy ; and, at last, when he saw Hannibal in person advancing to the assistance of his men, marched down with his Λvhole army drawn up. He engaged with the troops on the eminence, and sus• VOL. I. 25 38G FABIUS. tained their missiles; the combat for some time was equal; but as soon as Hannibal perceived that the whole army was now sufficientl}^ advanced w^ithin the toils he had set for them, so that their backs were open to his men whom he had posted in the hollows, he gave the signal; upon which they rushed forth from various quar- ters, and with loud cries furiously attacked Minucius in the rear. The surprise and the slaughter was great, and struck universal alarm and disorder through the Avhole army. Minucius himself lost all his confidence ; he looked from of&cer to officer, and found all alike unpre- pared to face the danger, and yielding to a flight, which, however, could not end in safety. The Numidian horse- men were already in full victory riding about the plain, cutting down the fugitives. Fabius was not ignorant of this danger of his country- men ; he foresaw what would happen from the rashness of Minucius, and the cunning of Hannibal ; and, there- fore, kept his men to their arms, in readiness to wait the event ; nor would he trust to the reports of others, but he himself, in front of his camp, viewed all that passed. When, therefore, he saw the army of Minucius encompassed by the enemy, and that by their countenance and shifting their ground, they appeared more disposed to flight than to resistance, with a great sigh, striking his hand upon his thigh, he said to those about him, " Hercules ! how much sooner than I expected, though later than he seemed to desire, hath Minucius destroyed himself!" He then commanded the ensigns to be led forward and the army to follow, telling them, •' We must make haste to rescue Minucius, who is a valiant man, and a lov'er of his country; and if he hath been too forward to engage the enemy, at another time we will tell him of it." Thus, at the head of his men, Fabius marched up to the enemy, and first cleared the plain of the Numidians; and next FABIUS. 387 fell upon those who were charging the Romans in the rear, cutting down all that made opposition, and obliging the rest to save themselves by a hasty retreat, lest they should be environed as the Romans had been. Han- nibal, seeing so sudden a change of affairs, and Fabius, beyond the force of his age, opening his way through the ranks up the hill-side, that he might join Minuciiis, warily forbore, sounded a retreat, and drew off his men into their camp ; while the Romans on their part were no less contented to retire in safety. It is reported that upon this occasion Hannibal said jestingly to his friends : " Did not I tell you, that this cloud which always hovered upon the mountains would, at some time or other, come down with a storm upon us ? " Fabius, after his men had picked up the spoils of the field, retired to his own camp, without saying any harsh or reproachful thing to his colleague ; who also on his part, gathering his army together, spoke and said to them : " To conduct great matters and never commit a fault is above the force of human nature ; but to learn and improve by the faults we have committed, is that which becomes a good and sensible man. Some reasons I may have to accuse fortune, but I have many more to thank her ; for in a few hours she hath cured a long mistake, and taught me that I am not the man who should com- mand others, but have need of another to command me ; and that we are not to contend for victory over those to whom it is our advantage to yield. Therefore in every thing else henceforth the dictator must be your com- mander ; only in showing gratitude towards him I will still be your leader, and always be the first to obey his orders." Having said this, he commanded the Roman eagles to move forward, and all his men to follow him to the camp of Fabius. The soldiers, then, as he entered, stood amazed at the novelty of the sight, and were anx• 38S FABIUS. ious and doubtful what the meaning; mio^ht be. When he came near the dictator's tent, Fabius went foi'th to meet him, on which he at once laid his standards at his feet, calling him with a loud voice his father ; while the soldiers Avith him saluted the soldiers here as their pa- trons, the term employed by freedmen to those who gave them their liberty. After silence was obtained, Minucius said, " You have this day, dictator, obtained two victories ; one by your valor and conduct over Hannibal, and another by your wisdom and goodness over your colleague; by one victory you preserved, and by the other instructed us ; and when we were already suffering one shameful defeat from Hannibal, by another welcome one from you we Λvere restored to honor and safety. I can address you by no nobler name than that of a kind father, though a ilither's beneficence falls short of that I have received from you. From a father I individually received the gift of life ; to you I owe its preservation not for myself only, but for all these who are under me." After this, he threw himself into the arms of the dicta- tor ; and in the same manner the soldiers of each army embraced one another with gladness and tears of joy. Not long after, Fabius laid do\vn the dictatorship, and consuls were again created. Those who immediately suc- ceeded, observed the same method _ in managing the war, and avoided all occasions of fisrhtino; Hannibal in a pitched battle ; they only succored their allies, and pre- served the towns from falling off to the enemy. But afterwards, when Terentius Varro, a man of obscure birth, but very popular and bold, had obtained the consulship, he soon made it appear that by his rashness and igno- rance he would stake the whole commonwealth on the hazard. For it was his custom to declaim in all assem- blies, that, as long as Rome employed generals like Fabius, there never would be an end of the Avar ; vaunting tlint FABIUS 389 whenever he should get sight of the enemy, he would that same day free Italy from the strangers. With these promises he so prevailed, that he raised a greater army than had ever yet been sent out of Rome. There were enlisted eighty-eight thousand fighting men; but what gave confidence to the populace, only terrified the Avise and experienced, and none more than Fabius; since if so great a body, and the flower of the Roman youth, should be cut ofl". they could not see any new resource for the safety of Rome. They addressed themselves, therefore, to the other consul, ^milius Paulus, a man of great expe- rience in war, but unpopular, and fearful also of the peo- ple, who once before upon some impeachment had con- demned him ; so that he needed encouragement to with- stand his colleague's temerity. Fabius told him, if he would profitably serve his country, he must no less oppose Varro's ignorant eagerness than Hannibal's con- scious readiness, since both alike conspired to decide the iate of Rome by a battle. "It is more reasonable," he said to him, " that you should believe me than Varro, in matters relating to Hannibal, when I tell you, that if for this year you abstain from fighting with him, either his army will perish of itself, or else he wall be glad to depart of his own will. This evidently appears, inasmuch as, notwithstanding his victories, none of the countries or towns of Italy come in to him, and his army is not now the third part of what it was at first." To this Paulus is said to have replied, "Did I only consider myself, I should rather choose to be exposed to the Aveapons of Hannibal than once more to the sufi'rages of my fellow- citizens, who are urgent for what you disapprove ; yet since the cause of Rome is at stake, I will rather seek in ray conduct to please and obey Fabius than all the world besides." These good measures w^ere defeated by the impor• 390 FABIUS. tunity of Viirro ; whom, when they were both come to the army, nothmg would content but a separate com- mand, that each consul should have his day ; and when his turn came, he posted his army close to Hannibal, at a village called Cannge, by the river Aufidus. It was no sooner day, but he set up the scarlet coat flying over his tent, which was the signal of battle. This boldness of the consul, and the numerousness of his army, double theirs, startled the Carthaginians; but Hannibal com- manded them to their arms, and with a small train rode out to take a full prospect of the enemy as they were now forming in their ranks, from a rising ground not far distant. One of his followers, called Gisco, a Cartha- ginian of equal rank with himself, told him that the numbers of the enemy were astonishing ; to which Han- nibal replied, with a serious countenance, " There is one thing, Gisco, yet more astonishing, which you take no notice of;" and when Gisco inquired what, answered, that " in all those great numbers before us, there is not one man called Gisco." This unexpected jest of their general made all the company laugh, and as they came down from the hill, they told it to those whom they met, which caused a general laughter amongst them all, from which they were hardly able to recover themselves. The army, seeing Hannibal's attendants come back from viewing the enemy in such a laughing condition, con- cluded that it must be profound contempt of the enemy, that made their general at this moment indulge in such hilarity. According to his usual manner, Hannibal employed stratagems to advantage himself In the first place, he so drew up his men that the wind was at their backs, which at that time blew with a perfect storm of violence, and, sweeping over the great plains of sand, carried before it a cloud of dust over the Carthaginian army into the FABIUS. 391 fiices of the Roiiiaiis, which much disturbed them in tlie fight. In the next place, all his best men he put into his wings; and in the body, which was somewhat more advanced than the wings, placed the worst and the weak- est of his army. He commanded those in the wings, that, when the enemy had made a thorough charge upon that middle advanced body, which he knew would recoil, as not being able to withstand their shock, and when the Romans, in their pursuit, should be far enough engaged within the two wings, they should, both on the right and the left, charge them in the flank, and endeavor to encompass them. This appears to have been the chief cause of the Roman loss. Pressing upon Hannibal's front, which gave ground, they reduced the form of his army into a perfect half-moon, and gave ample opportunity to the captains of the chosen troops to charge them right and left on their flanks, and to cut off and destroy all who did not fall back before the Carthamnian Λν1ηο'8 united in their rear. To this general calamity, it is also said, that a strange mistake among the cavalr}'• much con- tributed. For the horse of -Emilias receiving a hurt and throwing his master, those about him immediately alighted to aid the con^l ; and the Roman troops, seeing their com- manders thus quitting their horses, took it for a sign that they should all dismount and charge the enemy on foot. At the sight of this, Hannibal was heard to say, " This pleases me better than if they had been delivered to me bound hand and foot." For the particulars of this en- gagement, we refer our reader to those authors λυΙιο have written at large upon the subject. The consul Varro, Avith a thin company, fled to Yenn- sia ; ^milius Paulus, unable any longer to oppose the tlight of his men, or the pursuit of the enemy, his body all covered with wounds, and his soul no less wounded with grief, sat himself down upon a stone, expecting the 392 FABIUS. kindness of a despatching blow. His face was so disfig- ured, and all his person so stained with blood, that his very friends and domestics passing by knew him not. At last Cornelius Lentulus, a young man of patrician race, percei\dng who he Λvas, alighted from his horse, and, tendering'it to him, desired him to get up and save a life so necessary to the safety of the commonwealth, which, at this time, w^ould dearly want so great a captain. But nothing could prevail upon him to accept of the offer ; he obliged young Lentulus, with tears in his eyes, to remount his horse ; then standing up, he gave him his hand, and commanded him to tell Fabius Maximus that ^milius Paulus had followed his directions to his very last, and had not in the least deviated from those measures Λvhich were agreed between them ; but that it Avas his hard fate to be overpowered by Yarro in the first place, and secondly by Hannibal. Having despatched Lentulus with this commission, he marked Avhere the slaughter Λvas greatest, and there threw himself upon the swords of the enemy. In this battle it is reported that fifty thousand Eomans were slain, four thousand prisoners taken in the field, and ten thousand in the camp of both consuls. The friends of Hannibal earnestly persuaded him to follow up his victory, and pursue the flying Romans into the very gates of Rome, assuring him that in five days' time he might sup in the capitol ; nor is it easy to imag- ine what consideration hindered him from it. It would seem rather that some supernatural or divine interven- tion caused the hesitation and timidity which he now displayed, and which made Barcas, a Carthaginian, tell him with indignation, "You know, Hannibal, how to gain a victory, but not hoΛV to use it." Yet it produced a marvellous revolution in his affairs; he, who hitherto had not one town, market, or seaport in his possession, who had nothing for the subsistence of his men but what FABIUS. 393 he pillaged from clay to day, who had no place of retreat or basis of operation, but was roving, as it were, with a huge troop of banditti, now became master of the best provinces and towns of Italy, and of Capua itself, next to Rome the most flourishing and opulent city, all which came over to him, and submitted to his authority. It is the saying of Euripides, that " a man is in ill-case when he must try a friend," and so neither, it would seem, is a state in a good one, when it needs an able general. And so it was with the Romans ; the counsels and actions of Fabius, which, before the battle, they had branded as cowardice and fear, now, in the other extreme they accounted to have been more than human wisdom ; as though nothing but a divine power of intellect could have seen so far, and foretold, contrary to the judgment of all others, a result which, even now it had arrived, was hardly credible. In him, therefore, they placed their whole remaining hopes ; his wisdom was the sacred altar and temple to which they fled for refuge, and his coun- sels, more than any thing, preserved them from dispersing and deserting their city, as in the time when the Gauls took possession of Rome. He, whom they esteemed fearful and pusillanimous when they Avere, as they thought, in a prosperous condition, was now the only man, in this general and unbounded dejection and confu- sion, who showed no fear, but walked the streets with an assured and serene countenance, addressed his fellow-citi- zens, checked the women's lamentations, and the public gatherings of those who wanted thus to vent their sor- rows. He caused the senate to meet, he heartened up the magistrates, and was himself as the soul and life of every office. He placed guards at the gates of the city to stop the frighted multitude from flying ; he regulated and con- fined their mournings for their slain friends, both as to 394 FABIUS. time and place ; ordering that each family should perform such observances within private walls, and that they should continue only the space of one month, and then the whole city should be purified. The feast of Ceres happening to fall Avithin this time, it was decreed that the solemnity should be intermitted, lest the fewness, and tlie sorrowful countenance of those who should celebrate it, might too much expose to the people the greatness of their loss ; besides that, the worship most acceptable to the gods is that which comes from cheerful hearts. But those rights which were proper for appeasing their anger, and procuring auspicious signs and presages, were by the direction of the augurs carefully performed. Fabius Pictor, a near kinsman to Maximus, was sent to consult the oracle of Delphi ; and about the same time, two A^estals having been detected to have been violated, the one killed her- self, and the other, according to custom, was buried alive. Above all, let us admire the high spirit and equanimity of this Roman commonwealth ; that Avhen the consul Varro came beaten and flying home, full of shame and humiliation, after he had so disgracefully and calamitously managed their affairs, yet the whole senate and people went forth to meet him at the gates of the city, and received him with honor and respect. And, silence being commanded, the magistrates and chief of the senate, Fabius amongst them, commended him before the people, because he did not despair of the safety of the common- wealth, after so great a loss, but was come to take the government into his hands, to execute the laws, and aid his fellow-citizens in their prospect of future deliverance. When word was brought to Rome that Hannibal, after the fight, had marched with his army into other parts of Italy, the hearts of the Romans began to revive, and they proceeded to send out generals and armies. The most distinguished commands were held by Fabius Maximus FABIUS. 395 and Claudius Marcellus, both generals of great fame, though upon opposite grounds. For Marccllus, as we have set forth in his life, was a man of action and high spirit, ready and bold with his own hand, and, as Homer describes his warriors, fierce, and delighting in fights. Boldness, enterprise, and daring, to match those of Hanni- bal, constituted his tactics, and marked his engagements. But Fabius adhered to his former principles, still per- suaded that, by following close and not fighting hinij Hannibal and his army \vould at last be tired out and consumed, like a wrestler in too high condition, whose very excess of strength makes him the more likely sud- denly to give Λvay and lose it. Posidonius tells us that the Romans called Marcellus their SAVord, and Fabius their buckler ; and that the vigor of the one, mixed with the steadiness of the other, made a happy compound that proved the salvation of Eome. So that Hannibal found by experience that, encountering the one, he met with a rapid, impetuous river, which drove him back, and still made some breach upon him ; and by the other, though silently and quietly passing by him, he was insen- sibly washed away and consumed ; and, at last, was brought to this, that he dreaded Marcellus when he was in motion, and Fabius when he sat still. During the whole course of this war, he had still to do with one or both of these generals ; for each of them was five times consul, and, as prcetors or proconsuls or consuls, they had always a part in the government of the army, till, at last, Marcellus fell into the trap which Hannibal had laid for him, and was killed in his fifth consulship. But all his craft and subtlety were unsuccessful upon Fabius, who only once was in some danger of being caught, when counterfeit letters came to him from the principal inhabitants of Metapontum, Λvith promises to deliver up their town if he would come l^efore it with 396 FABIUS. his arm}^, and intimations that they should expect him. This train had almost drawn him in: he resolved to march to them with part of his army, and was diverted only by consulting the omens of the birds, which he found to be inauspicious ; and not long after it was dis- covered that the letters had been forged by Hannibal, who, for his reception, had laid an ambush to entertain him. This, perhaps, we must rather attribute to the favor of the gods than to the prudence of Fabius. In preserving the towns and allies from revolt by fair and gentle treatment, and in not using rigor, or showing a suspicion upon every light suggestion, his conduct was remarkable. It is told of him, that, being informed of a certain Marsian, eminent for courage and good birth, who had been speaking underhand with some of the soldiers about deserting, Fabius was so far from using severity against him, that he called for him, and told him he was sensible of the neglect that had been shown to his merit and good service, which, he said, was a great fault in the commanders who reward more by favor than by desert ; " but henceforward, Avhenever you are aggrieved," said Fabius, " I shall consider it your fault, if you apply your- self to any but to me;" and Avhen he had so spoken, he bestowed an excellent horse and other presents upon him ; and, from that time forwards, there was not a faith- fuller and more trusty man in the whole army. With good reason he judged, that, if those who have the gov- ernment of horses and dogs endeavor by gentle usage to cure their angry and untractable tempers, rather than by cruelty and beating, much more should those who have the command of men try to bring them to order and discipline by the mildest and fairest means, and not treat them worse than gardeners do those w^ild plants, which, with care and attention, lose gradually the savageness of their nature, and bear excellent fruit. FABIUS. 397 At another time, some of his officers informed him that one of their men was very often absent from his place, and out at nights; he asked them what kind of man he was ; they all answered, that the whole army had not a better man, that he was a native of Lucania, and proceeded to speak of several actions which they had seen him perform. Fabius made strict inquiry, and dis- covered at last that these freqnent excursions which he ventured upon were to visit a young girl, with whom he was in love. Upon which he gave private order to some of his men to find out the woman and secretly convey her into his own tent ; and then sent for the Lucanian, and, calling him aside, told him, that he very well knew how often he had been out away from the camp at nighty which was a capital transgression against military disci- pline and the Roman laws, but he knew also how bra\'e he was, and the good services he had done ; therefore, in consideration of them, he was Avilling to forgive him his fault ; but to keep him in good order, he was resolved to place one over him to be his keeper, who should be accountable for his good behavior. Having said this, he produced the woman, and told the soldier, terrified and amazed at the adventure, " This is the person Avho must answer for you ; and by your future behavior we shall see whether your night rambles were on account of love, or for any other worse design." Another passage there was, something of the same kind, which gained him possession of Tarentum. There was a young Tarentine in the army that had a sister in Tarentum, then in possession of the enemy, who entirely loved her brother, and wholly depended upon him. He, being informed that a certain Bruttian, Avhom Hannibal had made a commander of the garrison, was deeply in love with his sister, conceived hopes that he might possi- bly turn it to the advantage of the Romans. And hav• 398 FABITIS. mg first communicated his design to Fabius, he left the army as a deserter in show, and went over to Tarentum. The first days passed, and the Bruttian abstained from visiting: the sister ; for neither of them knew that the brother had notice of the amour between them. The young Tarentine, howeΛ'^er, took an occasion to tell his sister how he had heard that a man of station and authority had made his addresses to her. and desired her, therefore, to tell him who it was ; " for," said he, " if he be a man that has bravery and reputation, it matters not what countryman he is, since at this time the sword mingles all nations, and makes them equal ; compulsion makes all things honorable ; and in a time when right is weak, we may be thankful if might assumes a form of gentleness." Upon this the woman sends for her friend, and makes the brother and him acquainted ; and whereas she henceforth showed more countenance to her lover than formerly, in the same degrees that her kindness increased, his friendship, also, with the brother advanced. So that at last our Tarentine thought this Bruttian officer well enough prepared to receive the offers he had to make him ; and that it would be easy for a mercenary man, who was in love, to accept, upon the terms proposed, the large rewards promised by Fabius. In conclusion, the bargain was struck, and the promise made of deliΛ^er- ing the town. This is the common tradition, though some relate the story otherwise, and say, that this woman, by whom the Bruttian was inveigled to betray the town, was not a native of Tarentum, but a Bruttian born, and was kept by Fabius as his concubine ; and being a coun- trywoman and an acquaintance of the Bruttian governor, he privately sent her to him to corrupt him. Whilst these matters were thus in process, to draw off Hannibal from scenting the design, Fabius sends orders to the garrison in Rhegium, that they should waste and FABIUS. 399 spoil the Bruttian country, and should also lay siege tc Caulonia, and storm the place with all their might. These were a body of eight thousand men, the Avorst of the Roman army, who had most of them been runaways, and had been brought home by Marcellus from Sicily, in dishonor, so that the loss of them would not be any great grief to the Romans. Fabius, therefore, threw out these men as a bait for Hannibal, to divert him from Tarentum ; who instantly caught at it, and led his forces to Caulonia ; in the mean time, Fabius sat down before Tarentum. On the sixth day of the siege, the young Tarentine slips by night out of the town, and, having carefully observed the place where the Bruttian commander, according to agree- ment, was to admit the Romans, gave an account of the whole matter to Fabius ; who thought it not safe to rely wholly upon the plot, but, while proceeding with secrecy to the post, gave order for a general assault to be made on the other side of the town, both by land and sea. This being accordingly executed, while the Tarentines hurried to defend the town on the side attacked, Fabius received the signal from the Bruttian, scaled the walls, and entered the town unopposed. Here, we must confess, ambition seems to have over- come himx. To make it appear to the world that he had taken Tarentum by force and his own pro\vess, and not by treachery, he commanded his men to kill the Brut- tians before all others ; yet he did not succeed in estab- lishing the impression he desired, but merely gained the character of perfidy and cruelty. Many of the Taren- tines were also killed, and thirty thousand of them Avere sold for slaves ; the army had the plunder of the town, and there was brought into the treasury three thousand talents. Whilst they were carrying off every thing else as plunder, the officer Avho took the inventory asked what should be done with their gods, meaning the pic 400 FABIUS. tures and statues ; Fabius answered, " Let us leave their angry gods to the Tarentmes." Nevertheless, he removed the colossal statue of Hercules, and had it set up in the capitol, with one of himself on horseback, in brass, near it ; proceedings very different from those of Marcellus on a like occasion, and which, indeed, very much set off in the eyes of the world his clemency and humanity, as appears in the account of his life. Hannibal, it is said, was within five miles of Tarentum, when he was informed that the town was taken. He said openly, " Eome, then, has also got a Hannibal ; as Ave won Tarentum, so have we lost it." And, in private with some of his confidants, he told them, for the first time, that he ahvays thought it difficult, but now he held it impossible, with the forces he then had, to master Italy. Upon this success, Fabius had a triumph decreed him at Eome, much more splendid than his first ; they looked upon him now as a champion who had learned to cope with his antagonist, and could now easily foil his arts and prove his best skill ineffectual. And, indeed, the army of Hannibal was at this time partly worn away with con- tinual action, and partly weakened and become dissolute with overabundance and luxury. Marcus Livius, who was governor of Tarentum when it was betrayed to Han- nibal, and then retired into the citadel, Avhich he kept till the town Avas retaken, was annoyed at these honors and distinctions, and, on one occasion, openly declared in the senate, that by his resistance, more than by any action of Fabius, Tarentum had been recovered ; on Avhich Fabius laughingly replied : '• You say very true, for if Marcus Livius had not lost Tarentum, Fabius Maximus had never recovered it." The peojDle, amongst other marks of gratitude, gave his son the consulship of the next year ; shortly after whose entrance upon his office, there being Bome business on foot about provision for the war, his FABIUS. 401 father, either by reason of age and infirmity, or per- haps out of design to try his son, came up to him on horseback. While he was still at a distance, the young consul observed it, and bade one of his lictors command his father to alight, and tell him that, if he had any busi- ness with the consul, he should come on foot. The standers by seemed offended at the imperiousness of the son towards a father so venerable for his age and his authority, and turned their eyes in silence towards Fabius. He, however, instantly alighted from his horse, and with open arms came up, almost running, and embraced his son, saying, " Yes, my son, you do well, and under- stand well what authority you have received, and over whom you are to use it. This was the way by which we and our forefathers advanced the dignity of Rome, pre- ferring ever her honor and service to our own fathers and children." And, in fact, it is told that the great-grandfather of our Fabius, who was undoubtedly the greatest man of Rome in his time, both in reputation and authority, who had been five times consul, and had been honored with sev- eral triumphs for victories obtained by him, took pleasure in serving as lieutenant under his own son, when he went as consul to his command. And when afterwards his son had a triumph bestowed upon him for his good ser- vice, the old man followed, on horseback, his triumphant chariot, as one of his attendants; and made it his glory, that while he really was, and was acknowledged to be, the greatest man in Rome, and held a father's full power over his son, he yet submitted himself to the laws and the magistrate. But the praises of our Fabius are not bounded here. He afterwards lost this son, and was remarkable for bear- ing the loss with the moderation becoming a pious father and a Avise man, and, as it was the custom amongst the VOL. 1. 26 402 FABIUS. Romans, upon the death of any illustrious person, to have a funeral oration recited by some of the nearest relations, he took upon himself that office, and delivered a speech in the forum, which he committed afterwards to writnig. After Cornelius Scipio, who was sent into Spain, had driven the Carthaginians, defeated by him in many bat- tles, out of the country, and had gained over to Rome many towns and nations with large resources, he was received at his coming home with unexampled joy and acclamation of the people ; who, to shoAv their gratitude, elected him consul for the year ensuing. Knowing what high expectation they had of hiui, he thought the occu- pation of contesting Italy with Hannibal a mere old man's employment, and proposed no less a task to him- self than to make Carthage the seat of the war, fill Africa with arms and devastation, and so oblige Hannibal, instead of invading the countries of others, to draw back and defend his own. And to this end he proceeded to exert all the influence he had with the people. Fa bins, on the other side, opposed the undertaking with all his might, alarming the city, and telling them that nothing but the temerity of a hot young man could inspire them with such dangerous counsels, and sparing no means, by word or deed, to prevent it. He prevailed Avith the senate to espouse his sentiments ; but the common people thought that he envied the fame of Scipio, and that he was afraid lest this young conqueror should achieve some great and noble exploit, and have the glory, perhaps, of driving Hannibal out of Italy, or even of ending the war, which had for so many years continued and been pro- tracted imder his management. To say the truth, when Fabius first opposed this pro- ject of Scipio, he probably did it out of caution and pru- dence, in consideration only of the public safety, and of FABIUS. 403 the danger which the commonwealth might incur; but when he found Scipio every day increasing in the esteem of the people, rivalry and ambition led him further, and made him violent and personal in his opposition. For he even applied to Crassus, the colleague of Scipio, and urged him not to yield the command to Scipio, but that, if his inclinations were for it, he should himself in person lead the army to Carthage. He also hindered the giving money to Scipio for the war ; so that he was forced to raise it upon his own credit and interest from the cities of Etruria, which were extremely attached to him. On the other side, Crassus would not stir against him, nor remove out of Italy, being, in his own nature, averse to all contention, and also having, by his office of high priest, religious duties to retain him. Fabius, there- fore, tried other ways to oppose the design ; he impeded the levies, and he declaimed, both in the senate and to the people, that Scipio was not only himself flying from Hannibal, but was also endeavoring to drain Italy of all its forces, and to spirit away the youth of the country to a foreign war, leaving behind them their parents, wives, and children, and the city itself, a defenceless prey to the conquering and undefeated enemy at their doors. With this he so far alarmed the people, that at last they would only allow Scipio for the war the legions which were in Sicily, and three hundred, whom he particularly trusted, of those men who had served with him in Spain. In these transactions, Fabius seems to have followed the dictates of his own wary temper. But, after that Scipio was gone over into Africa, when news almost immediately came to Eome of wonderful exploits and victories, of which the fame was confirmed by the spoils he sent home ; of a Numidian king tali en prisoner ; of a vast slaughter of their men ; of two camps of the enemy burnt and destroyed, and in them a great 404 FABIUS. quantity of arms and horses ; and when, hereupon, the Carthaginians were compelled to send envoys to Hanni- bal to call him home, and leave bis idle hopes in Italy, to defend Carthage ; when, for such eminent and transcend- ing services, the whole people of Eome cried up and extolled the actions of Scipio ; even then, Fabius con- tended that a successor should be sent in his place, alleg- ing for it only the old reason of the mutability of for- tune, as if she would be weary of long favoring the same person. With this language many did begin to feel offended ; it seemed to be morosity and ill-will, the pusillanimity of old age, or a fear, that had now become exagrsrerated, of the skill of Hannibal. Nav, when Han- nibal had put his army on shipboard, and taken his leaΛ'e of Italy, Fabius still could not forbear to oppose and dis- turb the universal joy of Eome, expressing his fears and apprehensions, telling them that the commonwealth was never in more danger than now, and that Hannibal was a more formidable enemy under the walls of Carthage than ever he had been in Italy ; that it would be fatal to Rome, whenever Scipio should encounter his victorious army, still Λvarm with the blood of so many Roman gen- erals, dictators, and consuls slain. And the people were, in some degree, startled with these declamations, and were brought to believe, that the further off Hannibal was, the nearer was their danger. Scipio, however, shortly afterwards fought Hannibal, and utterly defeated him, humbled the pride of Carthage beneath his feet, gave his countrymen joy and exultation beyond all their hopes, and " Long shaken on the seas restored the state." Fabius Maximus, however, did not live to see the pros- perous end of this war, and the final overthrow of Han- nibal, nor to rejoice in the reestablished happiness and PERICLES AND FABIUS. 405 security of the commonwealth ; for about the time that Hannibal left Italy, he fell sick and died. At Thebes, Epaminondas died so poor that he was buried at the pub- lic charge; one small iron coin was all, it is said, that was found in his house. Fabius did not need this, but the people, as a mark of their affection, defrayed the expenses of his funeral by a private contribution from each citizen of the smallest piece of coin ; thus owning him their common father, and making his end no less honorable than his life. COMPARISON OF FABIUS WITH PERICLES. We have here had two lives rich in examples, both of civil and military excellence. Let us first compare the two men in their warlike capacity. Pericles presided in his commonwealth when it was in its most flourishing and opulent condition, gre^t and growing in power ; so that it may be thought it was rather the common success and fortune that kept him from any fall or disaster. But the task of Fabius, who undertook the government in the worst and most difficult times, was not to preserve and maintain the well-established felicity of a prosperous state, but to raise and uphold a sinking and ruinous com- monwealth. Besides, the victories of Cimon, the trophies of Myronides and Leocrates, with the many famous exploits of Tolmides, Avere employed by Pericles rather to fill the city with festive entertainments and solemir- 406 PEKICLES AND FABIUS. ties than to enlarge and secure its empire. Whereas Fabius, when he took upon him the government, had the frightful object before his eyes of Roman armies destroyed, of their generals and consuls slain, of lakes and plains and forests strewed with the dead bodies, and rivers stained with the blood of his fellow-citizens; and yet, with, his mature and solid counsels, with the firmness of his resolution, he, as it were, put his shoulder to the fall- ing commonwealth, and kept it up from foundering through the failings and weakness of others. Perhaps it may be more easy to govern a city broken and tamed with calamities and adversity, and compelled by danger and necessity to listen to wisdom, than to set a bridle on wantonness and temerity, and rule a people pampered and restive with long prosperity as were the Athenians when Pericles held the reins of government. But :hen again, not to be daunted nor discomposed with the vast heap of calamities under which the people of Rome at that time groaned and succumbed, argues a courage in Fabius and a strength of purpose more than ordinary. We may set Tarentum retaken against Samos won by Pericles, and the conquest of Euboea we may well balance with the towns of Campania; though Capua itself was reduced by the consuls Fulvius and Appius. I do not find that Fabius won any set battle but that against the Ligurians, for which he had his triumph ; whereas Peri- cles erected nine trophies for as many victories obtained by land and by sea. But no action of Pericles can be compared to that memorable rescue of Minucius, when Fabius redeemed both him and his army from utter destruction; a noble act, combining the highest valor, wisdom, and humanity. On the other side, it does not appear that Pericles was ever so overreached as Fabius was by Hannibal with his flaming oxen. His enemy there had, without his agency, put himself accidentally PERICLES AND FABIUS. 407 into his power, yet Fabius let him slip in the night, and, when day came, was worsted by him, was anticipated in the moment of success, and mastered by his prisoner. If it is the part of a good general, not only to provide for the present, but also to have a clear foresight of things to come, in this point Pericles is the superior ; for he admonished the Athenians, and told them beforehand the ruin the war would bring upon them, by their grasping more than they were able to manage. But Fabius was not so good a prophet, when he denounced to the Romans that the undertaking of Scipio would be the destruction of the commonwealth. So that Pericles was a good j)rophet of bad success, and Fabius was a bad proj)het of success that was good. And, indeed, to lose an advantage through diffidence is no less blamable in a general than to fall into danger for want of foresight ; for both these faults, though of a contrary nature, spring from the same root, want of judgment and experience. As for their civil policy, it is imputed to Pericles that he occasioned the war, since no terms of peace, offered by the Lacedemonians, would content him. It is true, I presume, that Fabius, also, was not for yielding any point to the Carthaginians, but was ready to hazard all, rather than lessen the empire of Rome. The mildness of Fabius towards his colleague Minucius does, by way of comparison, rebuke and condemn the exertions of Peri- cles to banish Cimon and Thucydides, noble, aristocratic men, who by his means suffered ostracism. The authority of Pericles in Athens was much greater than that of Fabius in Rome. Hence it was more easy for him to prevent miscarriages arising from the mistakes and insuf- ficiency of other officers ; only Tolmides broke loose from him, and, contrary to his persuasions, unadvisedly fought with the Boeotians, and was slain. The greatness of his influence made all others submit and conform themselves 408 PERICLES AND FABIUS. to his judgment. Whereas Fabius, sure and unerring himself, for want of that general power, had not the means to obviate the miscarriages of others; but it had been happy for the Romans if his authority had been greater, for so, we may presume, their disasters had been fewer. As to liberality and public spirit, Pericles was eminent in never taking any gifts, and Fabius, for giving his o^vn money to ransom his soldiers, though the sum did not exceed six talents. Than Pericles, meantime, no man had ever greater opportunities to enrich himself, having had presents offered him from so many kings and princes and allies, yet no man was ever more free from corrup- tion. And for the beauty and magnificence of temples and public edifices with which he adorned his country, it must be confessed, that all the ornaments and struc- tures of Rome, to the time of the Csesars, had nothing to compare, either in greatness of design or of expense, with the lustre of those which Pericles only erected at Athens. APPENDIX. The Lives in tbe first volume were translated for Dryden's edition, as fol- lows : — Theseus, by R. Duke, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, (to whom two pages are given by Johnson in his Lives of the Poets). Romulus, by Mr. James Smallwood, Fellow of Trinity College, Cam- bridge. Lycurgus, by Knightly Chetwood, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. NuMA, by Sir Paul Rycaut, (the Turkey merchant, and author of the His- tory of the Turks). Solon, by Thomas Creech, of Wadham College, Oxford, (the translator of Lucretius). PoPLicoLA, by Mr. Johnson. Themistocles, by Edward Brown, M. D. Camillus, by Michael Payne, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Pericles, by Adam Littleton, D. D. Fabius, by John Caryl, Esq. The following notes may be added to those given with the text : Life of Theseus, page 1. — Beautiful and far-famed, or famed in song, are current epithets of Athens, originally given by Pindar. The two verses just above are from the scene in the Seven against Thebes of JEschylus, where Eteocles considers what captains he shall post against the assailants at each of the gates. Page 2. — Both warriors, that by all the world 's allowed, is from Iliad, VIL 28 1 , said by the heralds of Ajax and Hector, when they come to part them after their single combat. Page 4. — The Abantes of Euboea wearing their hair long behind, are men- tioned in the Catalogue, Iliad, Π. 543 ; and Strabo speaks of Arabians, com- panions of Cadmus, who went into Eubcea. Page 11. — The hamlets of Marathon, CEnoe, Tricorythus, and Probalinthus, formed the Tetrapolis or Four-towns, which is reckoned with Sj)hettus, Aphidna, (409) 410 APPENDIX. Eleusis, and others, in the list of the twelve old Attic towns or townships, all independent of each othei. Page 18. — Theseus, PirithoUs, mighty soris of gods, is from Odyssey, XI. 630. Page 25. — The pillar is mentioned by Strabo, who says it was removed when the Dorians of Peloponnesus invaded the Ionian countrj', and set tied them- selves in Megara. The translation should be altered ; the original does not refer to the inscription as a stiU existing thing. Page 32. — Cora, or the girl, is another name for Proserpine; the whole aocount being (like the story of Taurus), a lat^ transformation of fable into something that might seem like history Page 30. — ^ihra and Ciymene are the two handmaids who attend Helea (Iliad, III., 143) from her chamber, when she goes to seek Priam and the elders of the city upon the walls at the Scaean gate. Life of Romulus, page 49. — Remuria or Remoria is the name found else- where, instead of Remonium or Rignarium. The line from iEschylus below is out of The Suppliants (223). Page 56. — Sextius Sylla, the Carthaginian, was one of Plutarch's personal friends. He is one of the two speakers in the Dialogue on Controlling Anger ; and in the Symposiaca ( VIII. 7) he gives a dinner of welcome on Plutarch's returning, after some absence, to Rome. Plutarch says, Greek words not yet being overpowered by Italian, on the theory that the early language was Greek, which was gradually corrupted. By the Questions he means his little book of inquiry into points of Roman antiquity, his Roman Questions. Page 64. — Caius Ccesar is the emperor Caligula. Page 66. — Periscylacismus, {rom peri, around, and scylax, a dog. Page 69. — The wood called Ferentina, should be the gate. There was a wood (Jiule in Greek), a Lucus Ferentinus, as Avell as a gate (pule), but there seems no reason to change the latter into the former. Page 74. — The story of Aristeas comes from Herodotus (IV. 14, 15), that of Cleomedes, the hero of the islet of Astypalaea, is told also by Pausaniaa (VI. 9), who says the thing happened in the 71st 01}Tnpiad, 496 (b. c). The passage from Pindar is quoted by Plutarch at greater length elsewhere (in his Consolation to Apollonius on the death of his son), as a part of one of his Funeral Odes. " These all with happy lot attain the end that releases from labor. And the body, indeed, in all cases, is taken by overmastering death ; but a living shape (or image or form) yet remains of the life ; (or of the unend- ing existence ;) this alone being from the gods ; while our limbs are stirring, it slumbers, but when Λνβ sleep, in sundry dreams it foreshows good and evil things to come." Fragment 96, in Boeckh. Another piece which he quotes just before from these funeral songs or Threni, describes the Blessed as walking in their beautiful flowery suburb, diverting themselves loith horses and gymnastics, games of draughts and the harp, and with converse on what has happened, and what is." — Fragment 95. Page 79. — Comparison. The philosopher Polemon, one of the early succes- sors of Plato, was the author of this definition of love ; so Plutarch tells us, quot- ing it again in one of his Essays (Ad Principem Ineruditum, c. 3). Life of Lycukgus, page 88. — Creophylus is the correc t name, which the APPENDIX. 411 copies of Plutarcli change into Cleophylus, and Dryden's coadjutor miswrote oi misprinted Cleobulus. Creophylus was spoken of already in Plato's time as the companion of Homer. — {De Repuhlica, X. p. 600.) Pages 90 and 92. — Plato's criticisms are in the third book of the Laws, pages 691, 692. Page 113. — The passage of Pindar is from a lost and unknown poem. One of their own poets is Alcman. Page 122. — For the reference to Plato, see the Timseus, p. 38, where the divine Creator, desirous to add to his works the resemblance of eternity, pro- ceeds to create " this which we call Time." Life of Numa, page 132. — Plutarch speaks more at length of this distinc- tion of the wise Egyptians in one of the Dinner Conversations. — On the sixth of Thargelion they kept the birthday of Socrates, and, on the seventh, met again to celebrate that of Plato. Apollo himself, according to the story, had been born on this seventh day ; and it had been no disparagement to the god, said one of the company, to attribute to him, as many had done, the mortal pro- creation of one that had been, under the tuition of Socrates, a greater healer of human maladies and diseases than ever jEsculapius (Apollo's mythological son) had become under that of Chiron. And he referred, at the same time, to the warning Avhich Ariston, Plato's acknowledged father, was said to have received in a dream, forbidding him the company of his wife during the ten months pre- ceding Plato's birth. To this another of the party opposes the incorruptible nature of the godhead : yet that by some creative, not procreative, power, the eternal and unbegotten God is the father and maker of the world and all begotten things, Plato, he adds, himself admits, nor can we limit the modes in which such divine intervention may operate ; and then he gives the Egyptian dogma. — (^Sy)nposiaca, VIII. 1). Page 138, Note. — The Greek would, however, not be Aimulos or jEmylus, but Haimulos. Page 139. — The stone bridge, the Pons ^milius or Lapideus, seems to have been built, for the actual traffic, close alongside of the original wooden bridge, the Pons Sublicius, which was allowed to remain for religious purposes, but was not otherwise used. Dionysius of Halicarnassus says it was still remaining in his time. Page 148. — Dacier, in his note on the Egyptian wheels, refers to a passage m Clement of Alexandria, to the effect, that the Egyptian priests gave those who came to the temples to pray, a wheel, Avhich they were to turn, and flowers, both of them emblems of change and instability. Page 152. — The correct name is not Mercedinus but Mercedonius. Page 15.5. — The A'erses are from a Paean, or song of triumphal rejoicing, of liacchylides. The complete passage is found in Stobaeus; it is Fragment 13 of Bacchylides, in Bergk's Poetse Lyriei. Page 156. — The saying lohich Plato ventured to pronounce, is the famous de- mand made with such fear and trembling in the fifth book of the Republic (jp. 473) for the rule of the king-philosopher. It is repeated in the fourth book of the Laws, from which latter place come the words of the next sentence, the wise ^12 APPENDIX- man is blessed in himself, and blessed also are the auditors who can hear and re- ceive the words that flow from his mouth. Page 163. — Comparisox. These with the young men, &c., is from the Andro- mache of Euripides, (597). She also, the young maid, on the next page, is re- ferred by some to the Hermione, by some to the Reclaiming of Helen, both of them lost plays of Sophocles. It is the Fragment No. 791 in Dindorf Life of Solon, page 168. — Hand to hand as in the ring, literally, like a boxer, hand to hand, is from the Trachiniae of Sophocles (441) ; the line just above is the eighth of the Bacchie of Euripides. Page 1 70. — Work is a shame to none, the shame is not to be working, is the 309th line of Hesiod's AVorks and Days. Page 179. — Munychia was best known to the Athenians of Plutarch's time, as one of the strong-holds invariably occupied by the gari-isons by which the kings of Macedon had controlled the city. Page 188. — The Tragedy is probably the Philoctetes, one of the lost trage- dies of Euripides. Plutarch quotes it more fully elsewhere : " What bride, what young virgin would accept thee ? Truly," &c. Page 193. — The end and the beginning of the month, occurs twice in the Odyssey {XIV. 162, XIX. 307). Page 199. — For Homer's Ulysses, see the fourth book of the Odyssey (235- 264), where Helen relates, at Sparta, to Telemachus and Nestor's son, how Ulysses entered Troy, as a spy, in the dress of a beggar, and was recognized by her alone, and returned after killing many and procuring much information. Page 201. — Plato, on the mother's side, claimed relationship with Solon, so that in this way, the story of the Atlantis came with some title to him. See the Timaeus, pp. 21 to 26. Life ok Themistocles, page 232. — The Lycomedae or Lycomidae were an ancient Attic priestly family. Phlya is one of the Attic demi or townships ; and the record found in Simonides was probably an epigram inscribed in the chapel. Page 240. — The two lines from Pindar are quoted by Plutarch in three other places ; they are one of the Fragments of his lost and uncertain poems, {Boeckh, Fragment 96). Olizon is one of the placeswhose warriors, in Homer's Catalogue, (Iliad, II. 716-718), are led by Philoctetes, — " The dwellers in Me- thone and Thaumacia, and the inhabitants of Meliboea and rocky Olizon, these Philoctetes commanded, skilful with the bow." Page 243. — The guides in the time of Pausanias showed figures in a colon- nade in the market-place of Trcezen, which they said were the representations of these Athenian women and children, erected in remembrance of their stay in the town, (Pausanias, II. 31). Page 247. — The Λ -erses are the 347th and following of the Persae. Page 249. — Simonides says it probably in an ode on the A-ictorj' at Salamis, similar to those of which some fragments remain, on the battles of Artemesium and Thermopylae. A few of the words — was ever knoicn more glorious exploit on the seas, are pretty certainly a part of the original, but it is impossible to re- store the verse. APPENDIX. 413 Page 253. — The passage in Aristophanes is the 812th line of the Equites. Page 259. — Nicogenes in Diodorus is called Lysithides, under which name the same account is given of his entertainment of Themistocles. Page 267. — Plato in the Meno, arguing the question Avhether virtue or excel- lence is a thing that can be learnt or attained by training and practice, or, on the contrary, comes to us by divine allotment, points out hoAV Aristides and Pericles, and all the great Grecian statesmen, had failed to impart their political wisdom to their sons. You have often heard it said that Themistocles taught his snn Cleophantus to be such an adinirable rider, that he could stand upright on horseback, and could throw a javelin standing upright ; — the son obviously was not without abililij ; — but did you ever hear it said by any one, that Cleophantus showed any virtue, skill, or wisdom in the same sort of things as did his father ? Vet he, undoubtedly, had virtue been a thing to be taught, loould have taught his ion the virtue and wisdom in which he himself excelled, (pp. 93, 94). Nothing is known beyond what is here said, of the Address of Andocides to his Friends. But the Friends, or rather Companions, are evidently the members of the oli- garchical associations or clubs, who united under that name towards the end of the Peloponnesian war. Life of Camillus, page 273. — Matuta is quite confidently identified with Ino or Leucothea, by Ovid in the Fasti, (F7. 475-562), Leucothee Graiis, Matuta vocabere nostris. The words, they embrace their brothers' children instead of their own, ought per- haps to be, they take their sisters' children . ... up in their arms to present them to the goddess. Ino had been kinder to her sister's children than to her own. Thus Ovid says, Non tamen banc pro stirpe sua pia mater adoret: Ipsa parum felix visa'fuisse parens: Alterius prolera melius mandabitis illi: Utilior Baccho quam fuit ipsa suis. Page 288. — The twenty-fifth of Boedromion, the day of the battle of Arbela, should be the twenty-sixth ; and the day which the Carthaginians observe, the tivenly-first of Metagitnion, should, perhaps, be corrected to the twenty-second. Hesiod's account of fortunate and unfortunate days is appended to his Works and Days, from whence Virgil took the hint for his in the Georgics. Page 290. — The Greek gives the past tense in the sentence. Others say that this fire was kept burning, &c. ; but it should, probably, be altered all through into the present. Page 291. — Doliola is the Latin name of the place called the Barrels. "It was thought best," says Livy (F. 40), " to bury them in barrels in the chapel adjoining the house of the flamen of Quirinus, in the spot where now it is con- sidered an offence against religion to spit." Life of Pericles, page 327. — Plato's expression, " so strong a draught of liberty," occurs in the 8th book of the Republic, {p. 562). The author of the verses that follow is unknown. Page 328. — The quotation from Plato is from the passage in the Phaedrus, where Socrates argues that the knowledge of nature, and, in particular, of the. 414 APPENDIX. soul, is as necessary to the perfect master of rhetoric, as the knowledge of the body is to the physician. Pericles is said to thunder and lighten in the Achar- nians of Aristophanes (530). Page 337. — Socrates says λβ heard Pericles propose to the people the buildin» of the long wall — more properly the middle wall, a subsequent addition to the long walls — in the Gorgias of Plato, (j). 456 a). The Odeum was burnt in the time of the siege of Athens by Sylla, to be described in Sylla's life. Page 341. — The quotation from Plato is again out of the Phaedrus, {p. 261). Rhetoric is a psychagogia — a magic power of swaying and carrying about the souls of men by the use of words. Page 348. — The brazen wolf at Delphi was famous. A man who carried off some treasure from the temple, went to hide it in the thick woods of Parnassus. A wo f fell upon him and killed him ; and for many days after came daily into the city and howled. At last the people followed him, discovered the gold, and set up this image of the wolf — (^Pausanias, X. 14.) Page 353. — Aristophanes's line about the Samians is from his lost comedy of the Babylonians. Page 354. — Most likely the engineer was called Periphoretus, or the carricd- about, for the very reason that the name was already familiar from Anacreon's verses. Page 356. — Cimon is said to have given these names to his sons in honor of the states whom he represented, as Proxenus, at Athens. Page 358. — The story of Anthemocritus is not alluded to by any contemporary •writer. Yet Pausanias also relates it, and speaks of his monument as still re- maining on the Sacred Road, going to Eleusis; just as described here, outside the Dipylon. The famous verses in the Acharnians are the 524th and fol- lowing. Page 368. — Sold for slaves may have been Plutarch's expression, but the fact itself cannot be believed; and it would not be difficult to correct the one word in which the assertion is made. Page 370. — Olympus, where they say the gods have their ever secure abode, occurs in the Odyssey (F/. 42), and the phrase of the secure abode or seat is repeated by Pindar, {Nem. VI. 3). Life of Fabius, page 393. — This is probably a fragment, of which no more is knoAvn. No existing line of Euripides can very well be identified with it. Page 400. — This brazen colossal statue of Hercules was the work, we are told by Strabo {VI. c. 3), of Lysippus. He speaks of it as still standing in his time in the Capitol, as the offering of Fabius Maximus, the taker of the city. Page 404. — " Long shaken on the seas restored the state," is said of QSdipus. in the beginning of the CEdipus Tyrannua. KND OF VOL I. 1 3 S 6 7 5 ^ .# ?^^ RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO^ 198 Main stacks LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS. Renewls and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW SLP y 1 lii- Ί FORM NO. DD6 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY BERKELEY CA 94720-6000 .^# ^^^ U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES Plli||l|l|||ii|l! CDDDMTM31b .v>' .^^ %. %. %. % ^. ^Λ % V