{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_674/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_674","id":"gutenberg_674","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/674","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Greece -- Biography -- Early works to 1800","Harvard Classics","Rome -- Biography -- Early works to 1800"],"text":"Plutarch's Lives\n\n\n\n\n\nThe following are the names of the chapters.  These names, in all\ncapitals, are found only once in the text, at the start of the chapter.\n\n\nTHESEUS\nROMULUS\nCOMPARISON OF ROMULUS WITH THESEUS\nLYCURGUS\nNUMA POMPILIUS\nCOMPARISON OF NUMA WITH LYCURGUS\nSOLON\nPOPLICOLA\nCOMPARISON OF POPLICOLA WITH SOLON\nTHEMISTOCLES\nCAMILLUS\nPERICLES\nFABIUS\nCOMPARISON OF PERICLES WITH FABIUS\nALCIBIADES\nCORIOLANUS\nCOMPARISON OF ALCIBIADES WITH CORIOLANUS\nTIMOLEON\nAEMILIUS PAULUS\nCOMPARISON OF TIMOLEON WITH AEMILIUS PAULUS\nPELOPIDAS\nMARCELLUS\nCOMPARISION OF PELOPIDAS WITH MARCELLUS\nARISTIDES\nMARCUS CATO\nCOMPARISON OF ARISTIDES WITH MARCUS CATO.\nPHILOPOEMEN\nFLAMININUS\nCOMPARISON OF PHILOPOEMEN WITH FLAMININUS\nPYRRHUS\nCAIUS MARIUS\nLYSANDER\nSYLLA\nCOMPARISON OF LYSANDER WITH SYLLA\nCIMON\nLUCULLUS\nCOMPARISON OF LUCULLUS WITH CIMON\nNICIAS\nCRASSUS\nCOMPARISON OF CRASSUS WITH NICIAS\nSERTORIUS\nEUMENES\nCOMPARISON OF SERTORIUS WITH EUMENES\nAGESILAUS\nPOMPEY\nCOMPARISON OF POMPEY AND AGESILAUS\nALEXANDER\nCAESAR\nPHOCION\nCATO THE YOUNGER\nAGIS\nCLEOMENES\nTIBERIUS GRACCHUS\nCAIUS GRACCHUS\nCOMPARISON OF TIBERIUS AND CAIUS GRACCHUS WITH AGIS AND CLEOMENES\nDEMOSTHENES\nCICERO\nCOMPARISON OF DEMOSTHENES AND CICERO\nDEMETRIUS\nANTONY\nCOMPARISON OF DEMETRIUS AND ANTONY\nDION\nMARCUS BRUTUS\nCOMPARISON OF DION AND BRUTUS\nARATUS\nARTAXERXES\nGALBA\nOTHO\n\nTom Trent\ntomtrent@pobox.com\n*********************************************************************\n\nTHESEUS\n\nAs geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the\nworld which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the\neffect, that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild\nbeasts, unapproachable bogs, Scythian ice, or a frozen sea, so, in this\nwork of mine, in which I have compared the lives of the greatest men\nwith one another, after passing through those periods which probable\nreasoning can reach to and real history find a footing in, I might very\nwell say of those that are farther off, Beyond this there is nothing but\nprodigies and fictions, the only inhabitants are the poets and inventors\nof fables; there is no credit, or certainty any farther.  Yet, after\npublishing an account of Lycurgus the lawgiver and Numa the king, I\nthought I might, not without reason, ascend as high as to Romulus, being\nbrought by my history so near to his time.\nConsidering therefore with myself\n\nWhom shall I set so great a man to face?\nOr whom oppose?  who's equal to the place?\n\n(as Aeschylus expresses it), I found none so fit as him that peopled the\nbeautiful and far-famed city of Athens, to be set in opposition with the\nfather of the invincible and renowned city of Rome.  Let us hope that\nFable may, in what shall follow, so submit to the purifying processes of\nReason as to take the character of exact history.  In any case, however,\nwhere it shall be found contumaciously slighting credibility, and\nrefusing to be reduced to anything like probable fact, we shall beg\nthat we may meet with candid readers, and such as will receive with\nindulgence the stories of antiquity.\n\nTheseus seemed to me to resemble Romulus in many particulars.  Both of\nthem, born out of wedlock and of uncertain parentage, had the repute of\nbeing sprung from the gods.\n\nBoth warriors; that by all the world's allowed.\n\nBoth of them united with strength of body an equal vigor mind; and of\nthe two most famous cities of the world the one built Rome, and the\nother made Athens be inhabited.  Both stand charged with the rape of\nwomen; neither of them could avoid domestic misfortunes nor jealousy at\nhome; but towards the close of their lives are both of them said to have\nincurred great odium with their countrymen, if, that is, we may take the\nstories least like poetry as our guide to the truth.\n\nThe lineage of Theseus, by his father's side, ascends as high as to\nErechtheus and the first inhabitants of Attica.  By his mother's side he\nwas descended of Pelops.  For Pelops was the most powerful of all the\nkings of Peloponnesus, not so much by the greatness of his riches as the\nmultitude of his children, having married many daughters to chief men,\nand put many sons in places of command in the towns round about him.\nOne of whom named Pittheus, grandfather to Theseus, was governor of the\nsmall city of the Troezenians, and had the repute of a man of the\ngreatest knowledge and wisdom of his time; which then, it seems,\nconsisted chiefly in grave maxims, such as the poet Hesiod got his great\nfame by, in his book of Works and Days.  And, indeed, among these is one\nthat they ascribe to Pittheus,--\n\nUnto a friend suffice\nA stipulated price;\n\nwhich, also, Aristotle mentions.  And Euripides, by calling Hippolytus \"\nscholar of the holy Pittheus,\" shows the opinion that the world had of\nhim.\n\nAegeus, being desirous of children, and consulting the oracle of Delphi,\nreceived the celebrated answer which forbade him the company of any\nwoman before his return to Athens.  But the oracle being so obscure as\nnot to satisfy him that he was clearly forbid this, he went to Troezen,\nand communicated to Pittheus the voice of the god,\nwhich was in this manner,--\n\nLoose not the wine-skin foot, thou chief of men,\nUntil to Athens thou art come again.\n\nPittheus, therefore, taking advantage from the obscurity of the oracle,\nprevailed upon him, it is uncertain whether by persuasion or deceit, to\nlie with his daughter Aethra.  Aegeus afterwards, knowing her whom he\nhad lain with to be Pittheus's daughter, and suspecting her to be with\nchild by him, left a sword and a pair of shoes, hiding them under a\ngreat stone that had a hollow in it exactly fitting them; and went away\nmaking her only privy to it, and commanding her, if she brought forth a\nson who, when he came to man's estate, should be able to lift up the\nstone and take away what he had left there, she should send him away to\nhim with those things with all secrecy, and with injunctions to him as\nmuch as possible to conceal his journey from every one; for he greatly\nfeared the Pallantidae, who were continually mutinying against him, and\ndespised him for his want of children, they themselves being fifty\nbrothers, all sons of Pallas.\n\nWhen Aethra was delivered of a son, some say that he was immediately\nnamed Theseus, from the tokens which his father had put @ under the\nstone; others that he received his name afterwards at Athens, when\nAegeus acknowledged him for his son.  He was brought up under his\ngrandfather Pittheus, and had a tutor and attendant set over him named\nConnidas, to whom the Athenians, even to this time, the day before the\nfeast that is dedicated to Theseus, sacrifice a ram, giving this honor\nto his memory upon much juster grounds than to Silanio and Parrhasius,\nfor making pictures and statues of Theseus.  There being then a custom\nfor the Grecian youth, upon their first coming to man's estate, to go to\nDelphi and offer first-fruits of their hair to the god, Theseus also\nwent thither, and a place there to this day is yet named Thesea, as it\nis said, from him.  He clipped only the fore part of his head, as Homer\nsays the Abantes did.%  And this sort of tonsure was from him named\nTheseis.  The Abantes first used it, not in imitation of the Arabians,\nas some imagine, nor of the Mysians, but because they were a warlike\npeople, and used to close fighting, and above all other nations\naccustomed to engage hand to hand; as Archilochus testifies\nin these verses: --\n\nSlings shall not whirl, nor many arrows fly,\nWhen on the plain the battle joins; but swords,\nMan against man, the deadly conflict try,\nAs is the practice of Euboea's lords\nSkilled with the spear.--\n\nTherefore that they might not give their enemies a hold by their hair,\nthey cut it in this manner.  They write also that this was the reason\nwhy Alexander gave command to his captains that all the beards of the\nMacedonians should be shaved, as being the readiest hold for an enemy.\n\nAethra for some time concealed the true parentage of Theseus, and a\nreport was given out by Pittheus that he was begotten by Neptune; for\nthe Troezenians pay Neptune the highest veneration.  He is their tutelar\ngod, to him they offer all their first-fruits, and in his honor stamp\ntheir money with a trident.\n\nTheseus displaying not only great strength of body, but equal bravery,\nand a quickness alike and force of understanding, his mother Aethra,\nconducting him to the stone, and informing him who was his true father,\ncommanded him to take from thence the tokens that Aegeus had left, and\nto sail to Athens.  He without any difficulty set himself to the stone\nand lifted it up; but refused to take his journey by sea, though it was\nmuch the safer way, and though his mother and grandfather begged him to\ndo so.  For it was at that time very dangerous to go by land on the road\nto Athens, no part of it being free from robbers and murderers.  That\nage produced a sort of men, in force of hand, and swiftness of foot, and\nstrength of body, excelling the ordinary rate, and wholly incapable of\nfatigue; making use, however, of these gifts of nature to no good or\nprofitable purpose for mankind, but rejoicing and priding themselves in\ninsolence, and taking the benefit of their superior strength in the\nexercise of inhumanity and cruelty, and in seizing, forcing, and\ncommitting all manner of outrages upon every thing that fell into their\nhands; all respect for others, all justice, they thought, all equity and\nhumanity, though naturally lauded by common people, either out of want\nof courage to commit injuries or fear to receive them, yet no way\nconcerned those who were strong enough to win for themselves.  Some of\nthese, Hercules destroyed and cut off in his passage through these\ncountries, but some, escaping his notice while he was passing by, fled\nand hid themselves, or else were spared by him in contempt of their\nabject submission; and after that Hercules fell into misfortune, and,\nhaving slain Iphitus, retired to Lydia, and for a long time was there\nslave to Omphale, a punishment which he had imposed upon himself for the\nmurder, then, indeed, Lydia enjoyed high peace and security, but in\nGreece and the countries about it the like villanies again revived and\nbroke out, there being none to repress or chastise them.  It was\ntherefore a very hazardous journey to travel by land from Athens to\nPeloponnesus; and Pittheus, giving him an exact account of each of these\nrobbers and villains, their strength, and the cruelty they used to all\nstrangers, tried to persuade Theseus to go by sea.  But he, it seems,\nhad long since been secretly fired by the glory of Hercules, held him in\nthe highest estimation, and was never more satisfied than in listening\nto any that gave an account of him; especially those that had seen him,\nor had been present at any action or saying of his.  So that he was\naltogether in the same state of feeling as, in after ages, Themistocles\nwas, when he said that he could not sleep for the trophy of Miltiades;\nentertaining such admiration for the virtue of Hercules, that in the\nnight his dreams were all of that hero's actions.  and in the day a\ncontinual emulation stirred him up to perform the like.  Besides, they\nwere related, being born of cousins-german.  For Aethra was daughter of\nPittheus, and Alcmena of Lysidice; and Lysidice and Pittheus were brother\nand sister, children of Hippodamia and Pelops.  He thought it therefore a\ndishonorable thing, and not to be endured, that Hercules should go out\neverywhere, and purge both land and sea from wicked men, and he himself\nshould fly from the like adventures that actually came in his way;\ndisgracing his reputed father by a mean flight by sea, and not showing\nhis true one as good evidence of the greatness of his birth by noble and\nworthy actions, as by the tokens that he brought with him,\nthe shoes and the sword.\n\nWith this mind and these thoughts, he set forward with a design to do\ninjury to nobody, but to repel and revenge himself of all those that\nshould offer any.  And first of all, in a set combat, he slew\nPeriphetes, in the neighborhood of Epidaurus, who used a club for his\narms, and from thence had the name of Corynetes, or the club-bearer; who\nseized upon him, and forbade him to go forward in his journey.  Being\npleased with the club, he took it, and made it his weapon, continuing to\nuse it as Hercules did the lion's skin, on whose shoulders that served\nto prove how huge a beast he had killed; and to the same end Theseus\ncarried about him this club; overcome indeed by him,\nbut now, in his hands, invincible.\n\nPassing on further towards the Isthmus of Peloponnesus, he slew Sinnis,\noften surnamed the Bender of Pines, after the same manner in which he\nhimself had destroyed many others before.  And this he did without\nhaving either practiced or ever learnt the art of bending these trees,\nto show that natural strength is above all art.  This Sinnis had a\ndaughter of remarkable beauty and stature, called Perigune, who, when\nher father was killed, fled, and was sought after everywhere by Theseus;\nand coming into a place overgrown with brushwood shrubs, and asparagus-\nthorn, there, in a childlike, innocent manner, prayed and begged them,\nas if they understood her, to give her shelter, with vows that if she\nescaped she would never cut them down nor burn them.  But Theseus\ncalling upon her, and giving her his promise that he would use her with\nrespect, and offer her no injury, she came forth, and in due time bore\nhim a son, named Melanippus; but afterwards was married to Deioneus, the\nson of Eurytus, the Oechalian, Theseus himself giving her to him.\nIoxus, the son of this Melanippus who was born to Theseus, accompanied\nOrnytus in the colony that he carried with him into Caria, whence it is\na family usage amongst the people called Ioxids, both male and female,\nnever to burn either shrubs or asparagus-thorn,\nbut to respect and honor them.\n\nThe Crommyonian sow, which they called Phaea, was a savage and\nformidable wild beast, by no means an enemy to be despised.  Theseus\nkilled her, going out of his way on purpose to meet and engage her, so\nthat he might not seem to perform all his great exploits out of mere\nnecessity ; being also of opinion that it was the part of a brave man to\nchastise villainous and wicked men when attacked by them, but to seek\nout and overcome the more noble wild beasts.  Others relate that Phaea\nwas a woman, a robber full of cruelty and lust, that lived in Crommyon,\nand had the name of Sow given her from the foulness of her life and\nmanners, and afterwards was killed by Theseus.  He slew also Sciron,\nupon the borders of Megara, casting him down from the rocks, being, as\nmost report, a notorious robber of all passengers, and, as others add,\naccustomed, out of insolence and wantonness, to stretch forth his feet\nto strangers, commanding them to wash them, and then while they did it,\nwith a kick to send them down the rock into the sea.  The writers of\nMegara, however, in contradiction to the received report, and, as\nSimonides expresses it, \"fighting with all antiquity,\" contend that\nSciron was neither a robber nor doer of violence, but a punisher of all\nsuch, and the relative and friend of good and just men; for Aeacus, they\nsay, was ever esteemed a man of the greatest sanctity of all the Greeks;\nand Cychreus, the Salaminian, was honored at Athens with divine worship;\nand the virtues of Peleus and Telamon were not unknown to any one.  Now\nSciron was son-in-law to Cychreus, father-in-law to Aeacus, and\ngrandfather to Peleus and Telamon, who were both of them sons of Endeis,\nthe daughter of Sciron and Chariclo; it was not probable, therefore,\nthat the best of men should make these alliances with one who was worst,\ngiving and receiving mutually what was of greatest value and most dear\nto them.  Theseus, by their account, did not slay Sciron in his first\njourney to Athens, but afterwards, when he took Eleusis, a city of the\nMegarians, having circumvented Diocles, the governor.  Such are the\ncontradictions in this story.  In Eleusis he killed Cercyon, the\nArcadian, in a wrestling match.  And going on a little farther, in\nErineus, he slew Damastes, otherwise called Procrustes, forcing his body\nto the size of his own bed, as he himself was used to do with all\nstrangers; this he did in imitation of Hercules, who always returned\nupon his assailants the same sort of violence that they offered to him;\nsacrificed Busiris, killed Antaeus in wrestling, and Cycnus in single\ncombat, and Termerus by breaking his skull in pieces (whence, they say,\ncomes the proverb of \"a Termerian mischief\"), for it seems Termerus\nkilled passengers that he met, by running with his head against them.\nAnd so also Theseus proceeded in the punishment of evil men, who\nunderwent the same violence from him which they had inflicted upon\nothers, justly suffering after the manner of their own injustice.\n\nAs he went forward on his journey, and was come as far as the river\nCephisus, some of the race of the Phytalidae met him and saluted him,\nand, upon his desire to use the purifications, then in custom, they\nperformed them with all the usual ceremonies, and, having offered\npropitiatory sacrifices to the gods, invited him and entertained him at\ntheir house, a kindness which, in all his journey hitherto,\nhe had not met.\n\nOn the eighth day of Cronius, now called Hecatombaeon, he arrived at\nAthens, where he found the public affairs full of all confusion, and\ndivided into parties and factions, Aegeus also, and his whole private\nfamily, laboring under the same distemper; for Medea, having fled from\nCorinth, and promised Aegeus to make him, by her art, capable of having\nchildren, was living with him.  She first was aware of Theseus, whom as\nyet Aegeus did not know, and he being in years, full of jealousies and\nsuspicions, and fearing every thing by reason of the faction that was\nthen in the city, she easily persuaded him to kill him by poison at a\nbanquet, to which he was to be invited as a stranger.  He, coming to the\nentertainment, thought it not fit to discover himself at once, but,\nwilling to give his father the occasion of first finding him out, the\nmeat being on the table, he drew his sword as if he designed to cut with\nit; Aegeus, at once recognizing the token, threw down the cup of poison,\nand, questioning his son, embraced him, and, having gathered together\nall his citizens, owned him publicly before them, who, on their part,\nreceived him gladly for the fame of his greatness and bravery; and it is\nsaid, that when the cup fell, the poison was spilt there where now is\nthe enclosed space in the Delphinium; for in that place stood Aegeus's\nhouse, and the figure of Mercury on the east side of the temple is\ncalled the Mercury of Aegeus's gate.\n\nThe sons of Pallas, who before were quiet, upon expectation of\nrecovering the kingdom after Aegeus's death, who was without issue, as\nsoon as Theseus appeared and was acknowledged the successor, highly\nresenting that Aegeus first, an adopted son only of Pandion, and not at\nall related to the family of Erechtheus, should be holding the kingdom,\nand that after him, Theseus, a visitor and stranger, should be destined\nto succeed to it, broke out into open war.  And, dividing themselves\ninto two companies, one part of them marched openly from Sphettus, with\ntheir father, against the city, the other, hiding themselves in the\nvillage of Gargettus, lay in ambush, with a design to set upon the enemy\non both sides.  They had with them a crier of the township of Agnus,\nnamed Leos, who discovered to Theseus all the designs of the Pallantidae\nHe immediately fell upon those that lay in ambuscade, and cut them all\noff; upon tidings of which Pallas and his company fled\nand were dispersed.\n\nFrom hence they say is derived the custom among the people of the\ntownship of Pallene to have no marriages or any alliance with the people\nof Agnus, nor to suffer the criers to pronounce in their proclamations\nthe words used in all other parts of the country, Acouete Leoi (Hear ye\npeople), hating the very sound of Leo, because of the treason of Leos.\n\nTheseus, longing to be in action, and desirous also to make himself\npopular, left Athens to fight with the bull of Marathon, which did no\nsmall mischief to the inhabitants of Tetrapolis.  And having overcome\nit, he brought it alive in triumph through the city, and afterwards\nsacrificed it to the Delphinian Apollo.  The story of Hecale, also, of\nher receiving and entertaining Theseus in this expedition, seems to be\nnot altogether void of truth; for the townships round about, meeting\nupon a certain day, used to offer a sacrifice, which they called\nHecalesia, to Jupiter Hecaleius, and to pay honor to Hecale, whom, by a\ndiminutive name, they called Hecalene, because she, while entertaining\nTheseus, who was quite a youth, addressed him, as old people do, with\nsimilar endearing diminutives; and having made a vow to Jupiter for him\nas he was going to the fight, that, if he returned in safety, she would\noffer sacrifices in thanks of it, and dying before he came back, she had\nthese honors given her by way of return for her hospitality, by the\ncommand of Theseus, as Philochorus tells us.\n\nNot long after arrived the third time from Crete the collectors of the\ntribute which the Athenians paid them upon the following occasion.\nAndrogeus having been treacherously murdered in the confines of Attica,\nnot only Minos, his father, put the Athenians to extreme distress by a\nperpetual war, but the gods also laid waste their country both famine\nand pestilence lay heavy upon them, and even their rivers were dried up.\nBeing told by the oracle that, if they appeased and reconciled Minos,\nthe anger of the gods would cease and they should enjoy rest from the\nmiseries they labored under, they sent heralds, and with much\nsupplication were at last reconciled, entering into an agreement to send\nto Crete every nine years a tribute of seven young men and as many\nvirgins, as most writers agree in stating; and the most poetical story\nadds, that the Minotaur destroyed them, or that, wandering in the\nlabyrinth, and finding no possible means of getting out, they miserably\nended their lives there; and that this Minotaur was\n(as Euripides hath it)\n\nA mingled form, where two strange shapes combined,\nAnd different natures, bull and man, were joined.\n\nBut Philochorus says that the Cretans will by no means allow the truth\nof this, but say that the labyrinth was only an ordinary prison, having\nno other bad quality but that it secured the prisoners from escaping,\nand that Minos, having instituted games in honor of Androgeus, gave, as\na reward to the victors, these youths, who in the mean time were kept in\nthe labyrinth; and that the first that overcame in those games was one\nof the greatest power and command among them, named Taurus, a man of no\nmerciful or gentle disposition, who treated the Athenians that were made\nhis prize in a proud and cruel manner.  Also Aristotle himself, in the\naccount that he gives of the form of government of the Bottiaeans, is\nmanifestly of opinion that the youths were not slain by Minos, but spent\nthe remainder of their days in slavery in Crete; that the Cretans, in\nformer times, to acquit themselves of an ancient vow which they had\nmade, were used to send an offering of the first-fruits of their men to\nDelphi, and that some descendants of these Athenian slaves were mingled\nwith them and sent amongst them, and, unable to get their living there,\nremoved from thence, first into Italy, and settled about Japygia; from\nthence again, that they removed to Thrace, and were named Bottiaeans\nand that this is the reason why, in a certain sacrifice, the Bottiaean\ngirls sing a hymn beginning Let us go to Athens.  This may show us how\ndangerous a thing it is to incur the hostility of a city that is\nmistress of eloquence and song.  For Minos was always ill spoken of, and\nrepresented ever as a very wicked man, in the Athenian theaters; neither\ndid Hesiod avail him by calling him \"the most royal Minos,\" nor Homer,\nwho styles him \"Jupiter's familiar friend;\" the tragedians got the\nbetter, and from the vantage ground of the stage showered down obloquy\nupon him, as a man of cruelty and violence; whereas, in fact, he appears\nto have been a king and a lawgiver, and Rhadamanthus a judge under him,\nadministering the statutes that he ordained.\n\nNow when the time of the third tribute was come, and the fathers who had\nany young men for their sons were to proceed by lot to the choice of\nthose that were to be sent, there arose fresh discontents and\naccusations against Aegeus among the people, who were full of grief and\nindignation that he, who was the cause of all their miseries, was the\nonly person exempt from the punishment; adopting and settling his\nkingdom upon a bastard and foreign son, he took no thought, they said,\nof their destitution and loss, not of bastards, but lawful children.\nThese things sensibly affected Theseus, who, thinking it but just not to\ndisregard, but rather partake of, the sufferings of his fellow citizens,\noffered himself for one without any lot.  All else were struck with\nadmiration for the nobleness and with love for the goodness of the act;\nand Aegeus, after prayers and entreaties, finding him inflexible and not\nto be persuaded, proceeded to the choosing of the rest by lot.\nHellanicus, however, tells us that the Athenians did not send the young\nmen and virgins by lot, but that Minos himself used to come and make his\nown choice, and pitched upon Theseus before all others; according to the\nconditions agreed upon between them, namely, that the Athenians should\nfurnish them with a ship, and that the young men that were to sail with\nhim should carry no weapon of war; but that if the Minotaur was\ndestroyed, the tribute should cease.\n\nOn the two former occasions of the payment of the tribute, entertaining\nno hopes of safety or return, they sent out the ship with a black sail,\nas to unavoidable destruction; but now, Theseus encouraging his father\nand speaking greatly of himself, as confident that he should kill the\nMinotaur, he gave the pilot another sail, which was white, commanding\nhim, as he returned, if Theseus were safe, to make use of that; but if\nnot, to sail with the black one, and to hang out that sign of his\nmisfortune.  Simonides says that the sail which Aegeus delivered to the\npilot was not white, but\n\nScarlet, in the juicy bloom\nOf the living oak-tree steeped,\n\nand that this was to be the sign of their escape.  Phereclus, son of\nAmarsyas, according to Simonides, was pilot of the ship.  But\nPhilochorus says Theseus had sent him by Scirus, from Salamis,\nNausithous to be his steersman, and Phaeax his look-out-man in the prow,\nthe Athenians having as yet not applied themselves to navigation; and\nthat Scirus did this because one of the young men, Menesthes, was his\ndaughter's son; and this the chapels of Nausithous and Phaeax, built by\nTheseus near the temple of Scirus, confirm.  He adds, also, that the\nfeast named Cybernesia was in honor of them.  The lot\nbeing cast, and Theseus having received out of the Prytaneum those upon\nwhom it fell, he went to the Delphinium, and made an offering for them\nto Apollo of his suppliant's badge, which was a bough of a consecrated\nolive tree, with white wool tied about it.\n\nHaving thus performed his devotion, he went to sea, the sixth day of\nMunychion, on which day even to this time the Athenians send their\nvirgins to the same temple to make supplication to the gods.  It is\nfarther reported that he was commanded by the oracle at Delphi to make\nVenus his guide, and to invoke her as the companion and conductress of\nhis voyage, and that, as he was sacrificing a she goat to her by the\nseaside, it was suddenly changed into a he, and for this cause that\ngoddess had the name of Epitrapia.\n\nWhen he arrived at Crete, as most of the ancient historians as well as\npoets tell us, having a clue of thread given him by Ariadne, who had\nfallen in love with him, and being instructed by her how to use it so as\nto conduct him through the windings of the labyrinth, he escaped out of\nit and slew the Minotaur, and sailed back, taking along with him Ariadne\nand the young Athenian captives.  Pherecydes adds that he bored holes in\nthe bottoms of the Cretan ships to hinder their pursuit.  Demon writes\nthat Taurus, the chief captain of Minos, was slain by Theseus at the\nmouth of the port, in a naval combat, as he was sailing out for Athens.\nBut Philochorus gives us the story thus:  That at the setting forth of\nthe yearly games by king Minos, Taurus was expected to carry away the\nprize, as he had done before; and was much grudged the honor.  His\ncharacter and manners made his power hateful, and he was accused\nmoreover of too near familiarity with Pasiphae, for which reason, when\nTheseus desired the combat, Minos readily complied.  And as it was a\ncustom in Crete that the women also should be admitted to the sight of\nthese games, Ariadne, being present, was struck with admiration of the\nmanly beauty of Theseus, and the vigor and address which he showed in\nthe combat, overcoming all that encountered with him.  Minos, too, being\nextremely pleased with him, especially because he had overthrown and\ndisgraced Taurus, voluntarily gave up the young captives to Theseus, and\nremitted the tribute to the Athenians.  Clidemus gives an account\npeculiar to himself, very ambitiously, and beginning a great way back:\nThat it was a decree consented to by all Greece, that no vessel from any\nplace, containing above five persons, should be permitted to sail, Jason\nonly excepted, who was made captain of the great ship Argo, to sail\nabout and scour the sea of pirates.  But Daedalus having escaped from\nCrete, and flying by sea to Athens, Minos, contrary to this decree,\npursued him with his ships of war, was forced by a storm upon Sicily,\nand there ended his life.  After his decease, Deucalion, his son,\ndesiring a quarrel with the Athenians, sent to them, demanding that they\nshould deliver up Daedalus to him, threatening, upon their refusal, to\nput to death all the young Athenians whom his father had received as\nhostages from the city.  To this angry message Theseus returned a very\ngentle answer, excusing himself that he could not deliver up Daedalus,\nwho was nearly related to him, being his cousin-german, his mother being\nMerope, the daughter of Erechtheus.  In the meanwhile he secretly\nprepared a navy, part of it at home near the village of the Thymoetadae,\na place of no resort, and far from any common roads, the other part by\nhis grandfather Pittheus's means at Troezen, that so his design might be\ncarried on with the greatest secrecy.  As soon as ever his fleet was in\nreadiness, he set sail, having with him Daedalus and other exiles from\nCrete for his guides; and none of the Cretans having any knowledge of\nhis coming, but imagining, when they saw his fleet, that they were\nfriends and vessels of their own, he soon made himself master of the\nport, and, immediately making a descent, reached Gnossus before any\nnotice of his coming, and, in a battle before the gates of the\nlabyrinth, put Deucalion and all his guards to the sword.  The\ngovernment by this means falling to Ariadne, he made a league with her,\nand received the captives of her, and ratified a perpetual friendship\nbetween the Athenians and the Cretans, whom he engaged under an oath\nnever again to commence any war with Athens.\n\nThere are yet many other traditions about these things, and as many\nconcerning Ariadne, all inconsistent with each other.  Some relate that\nshe hung herself, being deserted by Theseus.  Others that she was\ncarried away by his sailors to the isle of Naxos, and married to\nOenarus, priest of Bacchus; and that Theseus left her\nbecause he fell in love with another,\n\nFor Aegle's love was burning in his breast;\n\na verse which Hereas, the Megarian, says, was formerly in the poet\nHesiod's works, but put out by Pisistratus, in like manner as he added\nin Homer's Raising of the Dead, to gratify the Athenians, the line\n\nTheseus, Pirithous, mighty sons of gods.\n\nOthers say Ariadne had sons also by Theseus, Oenopion and Staphylus; and\namong these is the poet Ion of Chios, who writes of his own native city\n\nWhich once Oenopion, son of Theseus, built.\n\nBut the more famous of the legendary stories everybody (as I may say)\nhas in his mouth.  In Paeon, however, the Amathusian, there is a story\ngiven, differing from the rest.  For he writes that Theseus, being\ndriven by a storm upon the isle of Cyprus, and having aboard with him\nAriadne, big with child, and extremely discomposed with the rolling of\nthe sea, set her on shore, and left her there alone, to return himself\nand help the ship, when, on a sudden, a violent wind carried him again\nout to sea.  That the women of the island received Ariadne very kindly,\nand did all they could to console and alleviate her distress at being\nleft behind.  That they counterfeited kind letters, and delivered them\nto her, as sent from Theseus, and, when she fell in labor, were diligent\nin performing to her every needful service; but that she died before she\ncould be delivered, and was honorably interred.  That soon after Theseus\nreturned, and was greatly afflicted for her loss, and at his departure\nleft a sum of money among the people of the island, ordering them to do\nsacrifice to Ariadne; and caused two little images to be made and\ndedicated to her, one of silver and the other of brass.  Moreover, that\non the second day of Gorpiaeus,  which is sacred to\nAriadne, they have this ceremony among their sacrifices, to have a youth\nlie down and with his voice and gesture represent the pains of a woman\nin travail; and that the Amathusians call the grove in which they show\nher tomb, the grove of Venus Ariadne.\n\nDiffering yet from this account, some of the Naxians write that there\nwere two Minoses and two Ariadnes, one of whom, they say, was married to\nBacchus, in the isle of Naxos, and bore the children Staphylus and his\nbrother; but that the other, of a later age, was carried off by Theseus,\nand, being afterwards deserted by him, retired to Naxos with her nurse\nCorcyna, whose grave they yet show.  That this Ariadne also died there,\nand was worshiped by the island, but in a different manner from the\nformer; for her day is celebrated with general joy and revelling, but\nall the sacrifices performed to the latter are attended\nwith mourning and gloom.\n\nNow Theseus, in his return from Crete, put in at Delos, and, having\nsacrificed to the god of the island, dedicated to the temple the image\nof Venus which Ariadne had given him, and danced with the young\nAthenians a dance that, in memory of him, they say is still preserved\namong the inhabitants of Delos, consisting in certain measured turnings\nand returnings, imitative of the windings and twistings of the\nlabyrinth.  And this dance, as Dicaearchus writes, is called among the\nDelians, the Crane.  This he danced round the Ceratonian Altar,  so\ncalled from its consisting of horns taken from the left side of the\nhead.  They say also that he instituted games in Delos where he was the\nfirst that began the custom of giving a palm to the victors.\n\nWhen they were come near the coast of Attica, so great was the joy for\nthe happy success of their voyage, that neither Theseus himself nor the\npilot remembered to hang out the sail which should have been the token\nof their safety to Aegeus, who, in despair at the sight, threw himself\nheadlong from a rock, and perished in the sea.  But Theseus, being\narrived at the port of Phalerum, paid there the sacrifices which he had\nvowed to the gods at his setting out to sea, and sent a herald to the\ncity to carry the news of his safe return.  At his entrance, the herald\nfound the people for the most part full of grief for the loss of their\nking, others, as may well be believed, as full of joy for the tidings\nthat he brought, and eager to welcome him and crown him with garlands for\nhis good news, which he indeed accepted of, but hung them upon his\nherald's staff; and thus returning to the seaside before Theseus had\nfinished his libation to the gods, he stayed apart for fear of disturbing\nthe holy rites, but, as soon as the libation was ended, went up and\nrelated the king's death, upon the hearing of which, with great\nlamentations and a confused tumult of grief, they ran with all haste to\nthe city.  And from hence, they say, it comes that at this day, in the\nfeast of Oschophoria, the herald is not crowned, but his staff, and all\nwho are present at the libation cry out eleleu iou iou, the first of\nwhich confused sounds is commonly used by men in haste, or at a triumph,\nthe other is proper to people in consternation or disorder of mind.\n\nTheseus, after the funeral of his father, paid his vows to Apollo the\nseventh day of Pyanepsion; for on that day the youth that returned with\nhim safe from Crete made their entry into the city.  They say, also,\nthat the custom of boiling pulse at this feast is derived from hence;\nbecause the young men that escaped put all that was left of their\nprovision together, and, boiling it in one common pot, feasted\nthemselves with it, and ate it all up together.  Hence, also, they carry\nin procession an olive branch bound about with wool (such as they then\nmade use of in their supplications), which they call Eiresione, crowned\nwith all sorts of fruits, to signify that scarcity and barrenness was\nceased, singing in their procession this song:\n\nEiresione bring figs, and Eiresione bring loaves;\nBring us honey in pints, and oil to rub on our bodies,\nAnd a strong flagon of wine, for all to go mellow to bed on.\n\nAlthough some hold opinion that this ceremony is retained in memory of\nthe Heraclidae, who were thus entertained and brought up by the\nAthenians.  But most are of the opinion which we have given above.\n\nThe ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned had thirty\noars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of\nDemetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed,\nputting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this\nship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical\nquestion as to things that grow; one side holding that the ship\nremained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.\n\nThe feast called Oschophoria, or the feast of boughs, which to this day\nthe Athenians celebrate, was then first instituted by Theseus.  For he\ntook not with him the full number of virgins which by lot were to be\ncarried away, but selected two youths of his acquaintance, of fair and\nwomanish faces, but of a manly and forward spirit, and having, by\nfrequent baths, and avoiding the heat and scorching of the sun, with a\nconstant use of all the ointments and washes and dresses that serve to\nthe adorning of the head or smoothing the skin or improving the\ncomplexion, in a manner changed them from what they were before, and\nhaving taught them farther to counterfeit the very voice and carriage\nand gait of virgins, so that there could not be the least difference\nperceived; he, undiscovered by any, put them into the number of the\nAthenian maids designed for Crete.  At his return, he and these two\nyouths led up a solemn procession, in the same habit that is now worn by\nthose who carry the vine-branches.  These branches they carry in honor\nof Bacchus and Ariadne, for the sake of their story before related; or\nrather because they happened to return in autumn, the time of gathering\nthe grapes.  The women whom they call Deipnopherae, or supper-carriers,\nare taken into these ceremonies, and assist at the sacrifice, in\nremembrance and imitation of the mothers of the young men and virgins\nupon whom the lot fell, for thus they ran about bringing bread and meat\nto their children; and because the women then told their sons and\ndaughters many tales and stories, to comfort and encourage them under\nthe danger they were going upon, it has still continued a custom that at\nthis feast old fables and tales should be told.  For these\nparticularities we are indebted to the history of Demon.  There was then\na place chosen out, and a temple erected in it to Theseus, and those\nfamilies out of whom the tribute of the youth was gathered were\nappointed to pay a tax to the temple for sacrifices to him.  And the\nhouse of the Phytalidae had the overseeing of these sacrifices, Theseus\ndoing them that honor in recompense of their former hospitality.\n\nNow, after the death of his father Aegeus, forming in his mind a great\nand wonderful design, he gathered together all the inhabitants of Attica\ninto one town, and made them one people of one city, whereas before they\nlived dispersed, and were not easy to assemble upon any affair for the\ncommon interest.  Nay, differences and even wars often occurred between\nthem, which he by his persuasions appeased, going from township to\ntownship, and from tribe to tribe.  And those of a more private and mean\ncondition readily embracing such good advice, to those of greater power\nhe promised a commonwealth without monarchy, a democracy, or people's\ngovernment in which he should only be continued as their commander in\nwar and the protector of their laws, all things else being equally\ndistributed among them; and by this means brought a part of them over to\nhis proposal.  The rest, fearing his power, which was already grown very\nformidable, and knowing his courage and resolution, chose rather to be\npersuaded than forced into a compliance.  He then dissolved all the\ndistinct state-houses, council halls, and magistracies, and built one\ncommon state-house and council hall on the site of the\npresent upper town, and gave the name of Athens to the whole state,\nordaining a common feast and sacrifice, which he called Panathenaea, or\nthe sacrifice of all the united Athenians.  He instituted also another\nsacrifice, called Metoecia, or Feast of Migration, which is yet\ncelebrated on the sixteenth day of Hecatombaeon.  Then, as he had\npromised, he laid down his regal power and proceeded to order a\ncommonwealth, entering upon this great work not without advice from the\ngods.  For having sent to consult the oracle of Delphi concerning the\nfortune of his new government and city, he received this answer:\n\nSon of the Pitthean maid,\nTo your town the terms and fates,\nMy father gives of many states.\nBe not anxious nor afraid;\nThe bladder will not fail so swim\nOn the waves that compass him.\n\nWhich oracle, they say, one of the sibyls long after did in a manner\nrepeat to the Athenians, in this verse,\n\nThe bladder may be dipt, but not be drowned.\n\nFarther yet designing to enlarge his city, he invited all strangers to\ncome and enjoy equal privileges with the natives, and it is said that\nthe common form, Come hither all ye people, was the words that Theseus\nproclaimed when he thus set up a commonwealth, in a manner, for all\nnations.  Yet he did not suffer his state, by the promiscuous multitude\nthat flowed in, to be turned into confusion and be left without any\norder or degree, but was the first that divided the Commonwealth into\nthree distinct ranks, the noblemen, the husbandmen, and artificers.%\nTo the nobility he committed the care of\nreligion, the choice of magistrates, the teaching and dispensing of the\nlaws, and interpretation and direction in all sacred matters; the whole\ncity being, as it were, reduced to an exact equality, the nobles\nexcelling the rest in honor, the husbandmen in profit, and the\nartificers in number.  And that Theseus was the first, who, as Aristotle\nsays, out of an inclination to popular government, parted with the regal\npower, Homer also seems to testify, in his catalogue of the ships, where\nhe gives the name of People to the Athenians only.\n\nHe also coined money, and stamped it with the image of an ox, either in\nmemory of the Marathonian bull, or of Taurus, whom he vanquished, or\nelse to put his people in mind to follow husbandry; and from this coin\ncame the expression so frequent among the Greeks, of a thing being worth\nten or a hundred oxen.  After this he joined Megara to Attica, and\nerected that famous pillar on the Isthmus, which bears an inscription of\ntwo lines, showing the bounds of the two countries that meet there.  On\nthe east side the inscription is,--\n\nPeloponnesus there, Ionia here,\n\nand on the west side,--\n\nPeloponnesus here, Ionia there.\n\nHe also instituted the games, in emulation of Hercules, being ambitious\nthat as the Greeks, by that hero's appointment, celebrated the Olympian\ngames to the honor of Jupiter, so, by his institution, they should\ncelebrate the Isthmian to the honor of Neptune.  For those that were\nthere before observed, dedicated to Melicerta, were performed privately\nin the night, and had the form rather of a religious rite than of an\nopen spectacle or public feast.  There are some who say that the\nIsthmian games were first instituted in memory of Sciron, Theseus thus\nmaking expiation for his death, upon account of the nearness of kindred\nbetween them, Sciron being the son of Canethus and Heniocha, the\ndaughter of Pittheus; though others write that Sinnis, not Sciron, was\ntheir son, and that to his honor, and not to the other's, these games\nwere ordained by Theseus.  At the same time he made an agreement with\nthe Corinthians, that they should allow those that came from Athens to\nthe celebration of the Isthmian games as much space of honor before the\nrest to behold the spectacle in, as the sail of the ship that brought\nthem thither, stretched to its full extent, could cover; so Hellanicus\nand Andro of Halicarnassus have established.\n\nConcerning his voyage into the Euxine Sea, Philochorus and some others\nwrite that he made it with Hercules, offering him his service in the war\nagainst the Amazons, and had Antiope given him for the reward of his\nvalor; but the greater number, of whom are Pherecydes, Hellanicus, and\nHerodorus, write that he made this voyage many years after Hercules,\nwith a navy under his own command, and took the Amazon prisoner, the\nmore probable story, for we do not read that any other, of all those\nthat accompanied him in this action, took any Amazon prisoner.  Bion\nadds, that, to take her, he had to use deceit and fly away; for the\nAmazons, he says, being naturally lovers of men, were so far from\navoiding Theseus when he touched upon their coasts, that they sent him\npresents to his ship; but he, having invited Antiope, who brought them,\nto come aboard, immediately set sail and carried her away.  An author\nnamed Menecrates, that wrote the History of Nicaea in Bithynia, adds,\nthat Theseus, having Antiope aboard his vessel, cruised for some time\nabout those coasts, and that there were in the same ship three young men\nof Athens, that accompanied him in this voyage, all brothers, whose\nnames were Euneos, Thoas, and Soloon.  The last of these fell\ndesperately in love with Antiope; and, escaping the notice of the rest,\nrevealed the secret only to one of his most intimate acquaintance, and\nemployed him to disclose his passion to Antiope, she rejected his\npretenses with a very positive denial, yet treated the matter with much\ngentleness and discretion, and made no complaint to Theseus of any thing\nthat had happened; but Soloon, the thing being desperate, leaped into a\nriver near the seaside and drowned himself.  As soon as Theseus was\nacquainted with his death, and his unhappy love that was the cause of\nit, he was extremely distressed, and, in the height of his grief, an\noracle which he had formerly received at Delphi came into his mind, for\nhe had been commanded by the priestess of Apollo Pythius, that, wherever\nin a strange land he was most sorrowful and under the greatest\naffliction, he should build a city there, and leave some of his\nfollowers to be governors of the place.  For this cause he there founded\na city, which he called, from the name of Apollo, Pythopolis, and, in\nhonor of the unfortunate youth, he named the river that runs by it\nSoloon, and left the two surviving brothers entrusted with the care of\nthe government and laws, joining with them Hermus, one of the nobility\nof Athens, from whom a place in the city is called the House of Hermus;\nthough by an error in the accent  it has been taken for the House of\nHermes, or Mercury, and the honor that was designed to the hero\ntransferred to the god.\n\nThis was the origin and cause of the Amazonian invasion of Attica, which\nwould seem to have been no slight or womanish enterprise.  For it is\nimpossible that they should have placed their camp in the very city, and\njoined battle close by the Pnyx and the hill called Museum, unless,\nhaving first conquered the country round about, they had thus with\nimpunity advanced to the city.  That they made so long a journey by\nland, and passed the Cimmerian Bosphorus when frozen, as Hellanicus\nwrites, is difficult to be believed.  That they encamped all but in the\ncity is certain, and may be sufficiently confirmed by the names that the\nplaces thereabout yet retain, and the graves and monuments of those that\nfell in the battle.  Both armies being in sight, there was a long pause\nand doubt on each side which should give the first onset; at last\nTheseus, having sacrificed to Fear, in obedience to the command of an\noracle he had received, gave them battle; and this happened in the month\nof Boedromion, in which to this very day the Athenians celebrate the\nFeast Boedromia.  Clidemus, desirous to be very circumstantial,writes\nthat the left wing of the Amazons moved towards the place which is yet\ncalled Amazonium and the right towards the Pnyx, near Chrysa,  that\nwith this wing the Athenians, issuing from behind the Museum, engaged,\nand that the graves of those that were slain are to be seen in the\nstreet that leads to the gate called the Piraic, by the chapel of the\nhero Chalcodon; and that here the Athenians were routed, and gave way\nbefore the women, as far as to the temple of the Furies, but, fresh\nsupplies coming in from the Palladium, Ardettus, and the Lyceum, they\ncharged their right wing, and beat them back into their tents, in which\naction a great number of the Amazons were slain.  At length, after four\nmonths, a peace was concluded between them by the mediation of Hippolyta\n(for so this historian calls the Amazon whom Theseus married, and not\nAntiope), though others write that she was slain with a dart by\nMolpadia, while fighting by Theseus's side, and that the pillar which\nstands by the temple of Olympian Earth was erected to her honor.  Nor is\nit to be wondered at, that in events of such antiquity, history should\nbe in disorder.  For indeed we are also told that those of the Amazons\nthat were wounded were privately sent away by Antiope to Chalcis, where\nmany by her care recovered, but some that died were buried there in the\nplace that is to this time called Amazonium.  That this war, however,\nwas ended by a treaty is evident, both from the name of the place\nadjoining to the temple of Theseus, called, from the solemn oath there\ntaken, Horcomosium; @ and also from the ancient sacrifice which used to\nbe celebrated to the Amazons the day before the Feast of Theseus.  The\nMegarians also show a spot in their city where some Amazons were buried,\non the way from the market to a place called Rhus, where the building in\nthe shape of a lozenge stands.  It is said, likewise, that others of\nthem were slain near Chaeronea, and buried near the little rivulet,\nformerly called Thermodon, but now Haemon, of which an account is given\nin the life of Demosthenes.  It appears further that the passage of the\nAmazons through Thessaly was not without opposition, for there are yet\nshown many tombs of them near Scotussa and Cynoscephalae.\n\nThis is as much as is worth telling concerning the Amazons.  For the\naccount which the author of the poem called the Theseid gives of this\nrising of the Amazons, how Antiope, to revenge herself upon Theseus for\nrefusing her and marrying Phaedra, came down upon the city with her\ntrain of Amazons, whom Hercules slew, is manifestly nothing else but\nfable and invention.  It is true, indeed, that Theseus married Phaedra,\nbut that was after the death of Antiope, by whom he had a son called\nHippolytus, or, as Pindar writes, Demophon.  The calamities which befell\nPhaedra and this son, since none of the historians have contradicted the\ntragic poets that have written of them, we must suppose happened as\nrepresented uniformly by them.\n\nThere are also other traditions of the marriages of Theseus, neither\nhonorable in their occasions nor fortunate in their events, which yet\nwere never represented in the Greek plays.  For he is said to have\ncarried off Anaxo, a Troezenian, and, having slain Sinnis and Cercyon,\nto have ravished their daughters; to have married Periboea, the mother\nof Ajax, and then Phereboea, and then Iope, the daughter of Iphicles.\nAnd further, he is accused of deserting Ariadne (as is before related),\nbeing in love with Aegle the daughter of Panopeus, neither justly nor\nhonorably; and lastly, of the rape of Helen, which filled all Attica\nwith war and blood, and was in the end the occasion of his banishment\nand death, as will presently be related.\n\nHerodorus is of opinion, that though there were many famous expeditions\nundertaken by the bravest men of his time, yet Theseus never joined in\nany of them, once only excepted, with the Lapithae, in their war against\nthe Centaurs; but others say that he accompanied Jason to Colchis and\nMeleager to the slaying of the Calydonian boar, and that hence it came\nto be a proverb, Not without Theseus; that he himself, however, without\naid of any one, performed many glorious exploits, and that from him\nbegan the saying, He is a second Hercules.  He also joined Adrastus in\nrecovering the bodies of those that were slain before Thebes, but not as\nEuripides in his tragedy says, by force of arms, but by persuasion and\nmutual agreement and composition, for so the greater part of the\nhistorians write; Philochorus adds further that this was the first\ntreaty that ever was made for the recovering the bodies of the dead, but\nin the history of Hercules it is shown that it was he who first gave\nleave to his enemies to carry off their slain.  The burying-places of\nthe most part are yet to be seen in the village called Eleutherae; those\nof the commanders, at Eleusis, where Theseus allotted them a place, to\noblige Adrastus.  The story of Euripides in his Suppliants is disproved\nby Aeschylus in his Eleusinians, where Theseus himself relates the facts\nas here told.\n\nThe celebrated friendship between Theseus and Pirithous is said to have\nbeen thus begun:  the fame of the strength and valor of Theseus being\nspread through Greece, Pirithous was desirous to make a trial and proof.\nof it himself, and to this end seized a herd of oxen which belonged to\nTheseus, and was driving them away from Marathon, and, when news was\nbrought that Theseus pursued him in arms, he did not fly, but turned\nback and went to meet him.  But as soon as they had viewed one another,\neach so admired the gracefulness and beauty, and was seized with such a\nrespect for the courage, of the other, that they forgot all thoughts of\nfighting; and Pirithous, first stretching out his hand to Theseus, bade\nhim be judge in this case himself, and promised to submit willingly to\nany penalty he should impose.  But Theseus not only forgave him all, but\nentreated him to be his friend and brother in arms; and they ratified\ntheir friendship by oaths.  After this Pirithous married Deidamia, and\ninvited Theseus to the wedding, entreating him to come and see his\ncountry, and make acquaintance with the Lapithae; he had at the same\ntime invited the Centaurs to the feast, who growing hot with wine and\nbeginning to be insolent and wild, and offering violence to the women,\nthe Lapithae took immediate revenge upon them, slaying many of them upon\nthe place, and afterwards, having overcome them in battle, drove the\nwhole race of them out of their country, Theseus all along taking their\npart and fighting on their side.  But Herodorus gives a different\nrelation of these things:  that Theseus came not to the assistance of the\nLapithae till the war was already begun; and that it was in this journey\nthat he had the first sight of Hercules, having made it his business to\nfind him out at Trachis, where he had chosen to rest himself after all\nhis wanderings and his labors; and that this interview was honorably\nperformed on each part, with extreme respect, good-will, and admiration\nof each other.  Yet it is more credible, as others write, that there\nwere, before, frequent interviews between them, and that it was by the\nmeans of Theseus that Hercules was initiated at Eleusis, and purified\nbefore initiation, upon account of several rash actions\nof his former life.\n\nTheseus was now fifty years old, as Hellanicus states, when he carried\noff Helen, who was yet too young to be married.  Some writers, to take\naway this accusation of one of the greatest crimes laid to his charge,\nsay, that he did not steal away Helen himself, but that Idas and Lynceus\nwere the ravishers, who brought her to him, and committed her to his\ncharge, and that, therefore, he refused to restore her at the demand of\nCastor and Pollux; or, indeed, they say her own father, Tyndarus, had\nsent her to be kept by him, for fear of Enarophorus, the son of\nHippocoon, who would have carried her away by force when she was yet a\nchild.  But the most probable account, and that which has most witnesses\non its side, is this:  Theseus and Pirithous went both together to\nSparta, and, having seized the young lady as she was dancing in the\ntemple of Diana Orthia, fled away with her.  There were presently men in\narms sent to pursue, but they followed no further than to Tegea; and\nTheseus and Pirithous, being now out of danger, having passed through\nPeloponnesus, made an agreement between themselves, that he to whom the\nlot should fall should have Helen to his wife, but should be obliged to\nassist in procuring another for his friend.  The lot fell upon Theseus,\nwho conveyed her to Aphidnae, not being yet marriageable, and delivered\nher to one of his allies, called Aphidnus, and, having sent his mother\nAethra after to take care of her, desired him to keep them so secretly,\nthat none might know where they were; which done, to return the same\nservice to his friend Pirithous, he accompanied him in his journey to\nEpirus, in order to steal away the king of the Molossians' daughter.\nThe king, his own name being Aidoneus, or Pluto, called his wife\nProserpina, and his daughter Cora, and a great dog which he kept\nCerberus, with whom he ordered all that came as suitors to his daughter\nto fight, and promised her to him that should overcome the beast.  But\nhaving been informed that the design of Pirithous and his companion was\nnot to court his daughter, but to force her away, he caused them both to\nbe seized, and threw Pirithous to be torn in pieces by his dog, and put\nTheseus into prison, and kept him.\n\nAbout this time, Menestheus, the son of Peteus, grandson of Orneus, and\ngreat-grandson to Erechtheus, the first man that is recorded to have\naffected popularity and ingratiated himself with the multitude, stirred\nup and exasperated the most eminent men of the city, who had long borne\na secret grudge to Theseus, conceiving that he had robbed them of their\nseveral little kingdoms and lordships, and, having pent them all up in\none city, was using them as his subjects and slaves.  He put also the\nmeaner people into commotion, telling them, that, deluded with a mere\ndream of liberty, though indeed they were deprived both of that and of\ntheir proper homes and religious usages, instead of many good and\ngracious kings of their own, they had given themselves up to be lorded\nover by a new-comer and a stranger.  Whilst he was thus busied in\ninfecting the minds of the citizens, the war that Castor and Pollux\nbrought against Athens came very opportunely to further the sedition he\nhad been promoting, and some say that he by his persuasions was wholly\nthe cause of their invading the city.  At their first approach, they\ncommitted no acts of hostility, but peaceably demanded their sister\nHelen; but the Athenians returning answer that they neither had her\nthere nor knew where she was disposed of, they prepared to assault the\ncity, when Academus, having, by whatever means, found it out, disclosed\nto them that she was secretly kept at Aphidnae.  For which reason he was\nboth highly honored during his life by Castor and Pollux, and the\nLacedaemonians, when often in aftertimes they made incursions into\nAttica, and destroyed all the country round about, spared the Academy\nfor the sake of Academus.  But Dicaearchus writes that there were two\nArcadians in the army of Castor and Pollux, the one called Echedemus and\nthe other Marathus; from the first that which is now called Academia was\nthen named Echedemia, and the village Marathon had its name from the\nother, who, to fulfill some oracle, voluntarily offered himself to be\nmade a sacrifice before battle.  As soon as they were arrived at\nAphidnae, they overcame their enemies in a set battle, and then\nassaulted and took the town.  And here, they say, Alycus, the son of\nSciron, was slain, of the party of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux),\nfrom whom a place in Megara, where he was buried, is called Alycus to\nthis day.  And Hereas writes that it was Theseus himself that killed\nhim, in witness of which he cites these verses concerning Alycus\n\nAnd Alycus, upon Aphidna's plain\nBy Theseus in the cause of Helen slain.\n\nThough it is not at all probable that Theseus himself was there when\nboth the city and his mother were taken.\n\nAphidnae being won by Castor and Pollux, and the city of Athens being in\nconsternation, Menestheus persuaded the people to open their gates, and\nreceive them with all manner of friendship, for they were, he told them,\nat enmity with none but Theseus, who had first injured them, and were\nbenefactors and saviors to all mankind beside.  And their behavior gave\ncredit to those promises; for, having made themselves absolute masters\nof the place, they demanded no more than to be initiated, since they\nwere as nearly related to the city as Hercules was, who had received the\nsame honor.  This their desire they easily obtained, and were adopted by\nAphidnus, as Hercules had been by Pylius.  They were honored also like\ngods, and were called by a new name, Anaces, either from the cessation\n(Anokhe) of the war, or from the care they took that none should suffer\nany injury, though there was so great an army within the walls; for the\nphrase anakos ekhein is used of those who look to or care for any thing;\nkings for this reason, perhaps, are called anactes.  Others say, that\nfrom the appearance of their star in the heavens, they were thus called,\nfor in the Attic dialect this name comes very near the words\nthat signify above.\n\nSome say that Aethra, Theseus's mother, was here taken prisoner, and\ncarried to Lacedaemon, and from thence went away with Helen to Troy,\nalleging this verse of Homer, to prove that she waited upon Helen,\n\nAethra of Pittheus born, and large-eyed Clymene.\n\nOthers reject this verse as none of Homer's, as they do likewise the\nwhole fable of Munychus, who, the story says, was the son of Demophon\nand Laodice, born secretly, and brought up by Aethra at Troy.  But\nIster, in the thirteenth book of his Attic History, gives us an account\nof Aethra, different yet from all the rest:  that Achilles and Patroclus\novercame Paris in Thessaly, near the river Sperchius, but that Hector\ntook and plundered the city of the Troezenians, and made Aethra prisoner\nthere.  But this seems a groundless tale.\n\nNow Hercules, passing by the Molossians, was entertained in his way by\nAidoneus the king, who, in conversation, accidentally spoke of the\njourney of Theseus and Pirithous into his country, of what they had\ndesigned to do, and what they were forced to suffer.  Hercules was much\ngrieved for the inglorious death of the one and the miserable condition\nof the other.  As for Pirithous, he thought it useless to complain; but\nbegged to have Theseus released for his sake, and obtained that favor\nfrom the king.  Theseus, being thus set at liberty, returned to Athens,\nwhere his friends were not yet wholly suppressed, and dedicated to\nHercules all the sacred places which the city had set apart for himself,\nchanging their names from Thesea to Heraclea, four only excepted, as\nPhilochorus writes.  And wishing immediately to resume the first place\nin the commonwealth, and manage the state as before, he soon found\nhimself involved in factions and troubles; those who long had hated him\nhad now added to their hatred contempt; and the minds of the people were\nso generally corrupted, that, instead of obeying commands with silence,\nthey expected to be flattered into their duty.  He had some thoughts to\nhave reduced them by force, but was overpowered by demagogues and\nfactions.  And at last, despairing of any good success of his affairs in\nAthens, he sent away his children privately to Euboea, commending them\nto the care of Elephenor, the son of Chalcodon; and he himself, having\nsolemnly cursed the people of Athens in the village of Gargettus, in\nwhich there yet remains the place called Araterion, or the place of\ncursing, sailed to Scyros, where he had lands left him by his father,\nand friendship, as he thought, with those of the island.  Lycomedes was\nthen king of Scyros.  Theseus, therefore, addressed himself to him, and\ndesired to have his lands put into his possession, as designing to\nsettle and to dwell there, though others say that he came to beg his\nassistance against the Athenians.  But Lycomedes, either jealous of the\nglory of so great a man, or to gratify Menestheus, having led him up to\nthe highest cliff of the island, on pretense of showing him from thence\nthe lands that he desired, threw him headlong down from the rock, and\nkilled him.  Others say he fell down of himself by a slip of his foot,\nas he was walking there, according to his custom, after supper.  At that\ntime there was no notice taken, nor were any concerned for his death,\nbut Menestheus quietly possessed the kingdom of Athens.  His sons were\nbrought up in a private condition, and accompanied Elephenor to the\nTrojan war, but, after the decease of Menestheus in that expedition,\nreturned to Athens, and recovered the government.  But in succeeding\nages, beside several other circumstances that moved the Athenians to\nhonor Theseus as a demigod, in the battle which was fought at Marathon\nagainst the Medes, many of the soldiers believed they saw an apparition\nof Theseus in arms, rushing on at the head of them against the\nbarbarians.  And after the Median war, Phaedo being archon of Athens,\nthe Athenians, consulting the oracle at Delphi, were commanded to gather\ntogether the bones of Theseus, and, laying them in some honorable place,\nkeep them as sacred in the city.  But it was very difficult to recover\nthese relics, or so much as to find out the place where they lay, on\naccount of the inhospitable and savage temper of the barbarous people\nthat inhabited the island.  Nevertheless, afterwards, when Cimon took\nthe island (as is related in his life), and had a great ambition to find\nout the place where Theseus was buried, he, by chance, spied an eagle\nupon a rising ground pecking with her beak and tearing up the earth with\nher talons, when on the sudden it came into his mind, as it were by some\ndivine inspiration, to dig there, and search for the bones of Theseus.\nThere were found in that place a coffin of a man of more than ordinary\nsize, and a brazen spear-head, and a sword lying by it, all which he\ntook aboard his galley and brought with him to Athens.  Upon which the\nAthenians, greatly delighted, went out to meet and receive the relics\nwith splendid processions and with sacrifices, as if it were Theseus\nhimself returning alive to the city.  He lies interred in the middle of\nthe city, near the present gymnasium.  His tomb is a sanctuary and\nrefuge for slaves, and all those of mean condition that fly from the\npersecution of men in power, in memory that Theseus while he lived was\nan assister and protector of the distressed, and never refused the\npetitions of the afflicted that fled to him.  The chief and most solemn\nsacrifice which they celebrate to him is kept on the eighth day of\nPyanepsion, on which he returned with the Athenian young men from Crete.\nBesides which, they sacrifice to him on the eighth day of every month,\neither because he returned from Troezen the eighth day of Hecatombaeon,\nas Diodorus the geographer writes, or else thinking that number to be\nproper to him, because he was reputed to be born of Neptune, because\nthey sacrifice to Neptune on the eighth day of every month.  The number\neight being the first cube of an even number, and the double of the\nfirst square, seemed to be an emblem of the steadfast and immovable\npower of this god, who from thence has the names of Asphalius and\nGaeiochus, that is, the establisher and stayer of the earth.\n\n\n\nROMULUS\n\nFrom whom, and for what reason, the city of Rome, a name so great in\nglory, and famous in the mouths of all men, was so first called, authors\ndo not agree.  Some are of opinion that the Pelasgians, wandering over\nthe greater part of the habitable world, and subduing numerous nations,\nfixed themselves here, and, from their own great strength  in war,\ncalled the city Rome.  Others, that at the taking of Troy, some few that\nescaped and met with shipping, put to sea, and, driven by winds, were\ncarried upon the coasts of Tuscany, and came to anchor off the mouth of\nthe river Tiber, where their women, out of heart and weary with the sea,\non its being proposed by one of the highest birth and best understanding\namongst them, whose name was Roma, burnt the ships.  With which act the\nmen at first were angry, but afterwards, of necessity, seating\nthemselves near Palatium, where things in a short while succeeded far\nbetter than they could hope, in that they found the country very good,\nand the people courteous, they not only did the lady Roma other honors,\nbut added also this, of calling after her name the city which she had\nbeen the occasion of their founding.  From this, they say, has come down\nthat custom at Rome for women to salute their kinsmen and husbands with\nkisses; because these women, after they had burnt the ships, made use of\nsuch endearments when entreating and pacifying their husbands.\n\nSome again say that Roma, from whom this city was so called, was\ndaughter of Italus and Leucaria; or, by another account, of Telephus,\nHercules's son, and that she was married to Aeneas, or, according to\nothers again, to Ascanius, Aeneas's son.  Some tell us that Romanus, the\nson of Ulysses and Circe, built it; some, Romus the son of Emathion,\nDiomede having sent him from Troy; and others, Romus, king of the\nLatins, after driving out the Tyrrhenians, who had come from Thessaly\ninto Lydia, and from thence into Italy.  Those very authors, too, who,\nin accordance with the safest account, make Romulus give the name to the\ncity, yet differ concerning his birth and family.  For some say, he was\nson to Aeneas and Dexithea, daughter of Phorbas, and was, with his\nbrother Remus, in their infancy, carried into Italy, and being on the\nriver when the waters came down in a flood, all the vessels were cast\naway except only that where the young children were, which being gently\nlanded on a level bank of the river, they were both unexpectedly saved,\nand from them the place was called Rome.  Some say, Roma, daughter of\nthe Trojan lady above mentioned, was married to Latinus, Telemachus's\nson, and became mother to Romulus; others, that Aemilia, daughter of\nAeneas and Lavinia, had him by the god Mars; and others give you mere\nfables of his origin.  For to Tarchetius, they say, king of Alba, who\nwas a most wicked and cruel man, there appeared in his own house a\nstrange vision, a male figure that rose out of a hearth, and stayed\nthere for many days.  There was an oracle of Tethys in Tuscany which\nTarchetius consulted, and received an answer that a virgin should give\nherself to the apparition, and that a son should be born of her, highly\nrenowned, eminent for valor, good fortune, and strength of body.\nTarchetius told the prophecy to one of his own daughters, and commanded\nher to do this thing; which she avoiding as an indignity, sent her\nhandmaid.  Tarchetius, hearing this, in great anger imprisoned them\nboth, purposing to put them to death; but being deterred from murder by\nthe goddess Vesta in a dream, enjoined them for their punishment the\nworking a web of cloth, in their chains as they were, which when they\nfinished, they should be suffered to marry; but whatever they worked by\nday, Tarchetius commanded others to unravel in the night.  In the\nmeantime, the waiting-woman was delivered of two boys, whom Tarchetius\ngave into the hands of one Teratius, with command to destroy them; he,\nhowever, carried and laid them by the river side, where a wolf came and\ncontinued to suckle them, while birds of various sorts brought little\nmorsels of food, which they put into their mouths; till a cow-herd,\nspying them, was first strangely surprised, but, venturing to draw\nnearer, took the children up in his arms.  Thus they were saved, and,\nwhen they grew up, set upon Tarchetius and overcame him.  This one\nPromathion says, who compiled a history of Italy.\n\nBut the story which is most believed and has the greatest number of\nvouchers was first published, in its chief particulars, amongst the\nGreeks by Diocles of Peparethus, whom Fabius Pictor also follows in most\npoints.  Here again there are variations, but in general outline it runs\nthus: the kings of Alba reigned in lineal descent from Aeneas and the\nsuccession devolved at length upon two brothers, Numitor and Amulius.\nAmulius proposed to divide things into two equal shares, and set as\nequivalent to the kingdom the treasure and gold that were brought from\nTroy.  Numitor chose the kingdom; but Amulius, having the money, and\nbeing able to do more with that than Numitor, took his kingdom from him\nwith great ease, and, fearing lest his daughter might have children,\nmade her a Vestal, bound in that condition forever to live a single and\nmaiden life.  This lady some call Ilia, others Rhea, and others Silvia;\nhowever, not long after, she was, contrary to the established laws of\nthe Vestals, discovered to be with child, and should have suffered the\nmost cruel punishment, had not Antho, the king's daughter, mediated with\nher father for her; nevertheless, she was confined, and debarred all\ncompany, that she might not be delivered without the king's knowledge.\nIn time she brought forth two boys, of more than human size and beauty,\nwhom Amulius, becoming yet more alarmed, commanded a servant to take and\ncast away; this man some call Faustulus, others say Faustulus was the\nman who brought them up.  He put the children, however, in a small\ntrough, and went towards the river with a design to cast them in; but,\nseeing the waters much swollen and coming violently down, was afraid to\ngo nearer, and, dropping the children near the bank, went away.  The\nriver overflowing, the flood at last bore up the trough, and, gently\nwafting it, landed them on a smooth piece of ground, which they now call\nCermanes, formerly Germanus, perhaps from Germani,\nwhich signifies brothers.\n\nNear this place grew a wild fig-tree, which they called Ruminalis,\neither from Romulus (as it is vulgarly thought), or from ruminating,\nbecause cattle did usually in the heat of the day seek cover under it,\nand there chew the cud; or, better, from the suckling of these children\nthere, for the ancients called the dug or teat of any creature ruma, and\nthere is a tutelar goddess of the rearing of children whom they still\ncall Rumilia, in sacrificing to whom they use no wine, but make\nlibations of milk.  While the infants lay here, history tells us, a she-\nwolf nursed them, and a woodpecker constantly fed and watched them;\nthese creatures are esteemed holy to the god Mars, the woodpecker the\nLatins still especially worship and honor.  Which things, as much as\nany, gave credit to what the mother of the children said, that their\nfather was the god Mars: though some say that it was a mistake put upon\nher by Amulius, who himself had come to her dressed up in armor.\n\nOthers think that the first rise of this fable came from the children's\nnurse, through the ambiguity of her name; for the Latins not only called\nwolves lupae, but also women of loose life; and such an one was the wife\nof Faustulus, who nurtured these children, Acca Larentia by name.  To\nher the Romans offer sacrifices, and in the month of April the priest of\nMars makes libations there; it is called the Larentian Feast.  They\nhonor also another Larentia, for the following reason: the keeper of\nHercules's temple having, it seems, little else to do, proposed to his\ndeity a game at dice, laying down that, if he himself won, he would have\nsomething valuable of the god; but if he were beaten, he would spread\nhim a noble table, and procure him a fair lady's company.  Upon these\nterms, throwing first for the god and then for himself, he found himself\nbeaten.  Wishing to pay his stakes honorably, and holding himself bound\nby what he had said, he both provided the deity a good supper, and,\ngiving money to Larentia, then in her beauty, though not publicly known,\ngave her a feast in the temple, where he had also laid a bed, and after\nsupper locked her in, as if the god were really to come to her.  And\nindeed, it is said, the deity did truly visit her, and commanded her in\nthe morning to walk to the market-place, and, whatever man see met\nfirst, to salute him, and make him her friend.  She met one named\nTarrutius, who was a man advanced in years, fairly rich without\nchildren, and had always lived a single life.  He received Larentia, and\nloved her well, and at his death left her sole heir of all his large and\nfair possessions, most of which she, in her last will and testament,\nbequeathed to the people.  It was reported of her, being now celebrated\nand esteemed the mistress of a god, that she suddenly disappeared near\nthe place where the first Larentia lay buried; the spot is at this day\ncalled Velabrum, because, the river frequently overflowing, they went\nover in ferry-boats somewhere hereabouts to the forum, the Latin word\nfor ferrying being velatura.  Others derive the name from velum, a sail;\nbecause the exhibitors of public shows used to hang the road that leads\nfrom the forum to the Circus Maximus with sails, beginning at this spot.\nUpon these accounts the second Larentia is honored at Rome.\n\nMeantime Faustulus, Amulius's swineherd, brought up the children without\nany man's knowledge; or, as those say who wish to keep closer to\nprobabilities, with the knowledge and secret assistance of Numitor; for\nit is said, they went to school at Gabii, and were well instructed in\nletters, and other accomplishments befitting their birth.  And they were\ncalled Romulus and Remus, (from ruma, the dug,) as we had before,\nbecause they were found sucking the wolf.  In their very infancy, the size\nand beauty of their bodies intimated their natural superiority; and when\nthey grew up, they both proved brave and manly, attempting all\nenterprises that seemed hazardous, and showing in them a courage\naltogether undaunted.  But Romulus seemed rather to act by counsel, and\nto show the sagacity of a statesman, and in all his dealings with their\nneighbors, whether relating to feeding of flocks or to hunting, gave the\nidea of being born rather to rule than to obey.  To their comrades and\ninferiors they were therefore dear; but the king's servants, his\nbailiffs and overseers, as being in nothing better men than themselves,\nthey despised and slighted, nor were the least concerned at their\ncommands and menaces.  They used honest pastimes and liberal studies,\nnot esteeming sloth and idleness honest and liberal, but rather such\nexercises as hunting and running, repelling robbers, taking of thieves,\nand delivering the wronged and oppressed from injury.  For doing such\nthings they became famous.\n\nA quarrel occurring between Numitor's and Amulius's cowherds, the\nlatter, not enduring the driving away of their cattle by the others,\nfell upon them and put them to flight, and rescued the greatest part of\nthe prey.  At which Numitor being highly incensed, they little regarded\nit, but collected and took into their company a number of needy men and\nrunaway slaves,--acts which looked like the first stages of rebellion.\nIt so happened, that when Romulus was attending a sacrifice, being fond\nof sacred rites and divination, Numitor's herdsmen, meeting with Remus\non a journey with few companions, fell upon him, and, after some\nfighting, took him prisoner, carried him before Numitor, and there\naccused him.  Numitor would not punish him himself, fearing his\nbrother's anger, but went to Amulius, and desired justice, as he was\nAmulius's brother and was affronted by Amulius's servants.  The men of\nAlba likewise resenting the thing, and thinking he had been dishonorably\nused, Amulius was induced to deliver Remus up into Numitor's hands, to\nuse him as he thought fit.  He therefore took and carried him home, and,\nbeing struck with admiration of the youth's person, in stature and\nstrength of body exceeding all men, and perceiving in his very\ncountenance the courage and force of his mind, which stood unsubdued and\nunmoved by his present circumstances, and hearing further that all the\nenterprises and actions of his life were answerable to what he saw of\nhim, but chiefly, as it seemed, a divine influence aiding and directing\nthe first steps that were to lead to great results, out of the mere\nthought of his mind, and casually, as it were, he put his hand upon the\nfact, and, in gentle terms and with a kind aspect, to inspire him with\nconfidence and hope, asked him who he was, and whence he was derived.\nHe, taking heart, spoke thus: \" I will hide nothing from you, for you\nseem to be of a more princely temper than Amulius, in that you give a\nhearing and examine before you punish, while he condemns before the\ncause is heard.  Formerly, then, we (for we are twins) thought ourselves\nthe sons of Faustulus and Larentia, the king's servants; but since we\nhave been accused and aspersed with calumnies, and brought in peril of\nour lives here before you, we hear great things of ourselves, the truth\nof which my present danger is likely to bring to the test.  Our birth is\nsaid to have been secret, our fostering and nurture in our infancy still\nmore strange; by birds and beasts, to whom we were cast out, we were\nfed, by the milk of a wolf, and the morsels of a woodpecker, as we lay\nin a little trough by the side of the river.  The trough is still in\nbeing, and is preserved, with brass plates round it, and an inscription\nin letters almost effaced; which may prove hereafter unavailing tokens\nto our parents when we are dead and gone.\" Numitor, upon these words,\nand computing the dates by the young man's looks, slighted not the hope\nthat flattered him, but considered how to come at his daughter privately\n(for she was still kept under restraint), to talk with her concerning\nthese matters.\n\nFaustulus, hearing Remus was taken and delivered up, called on Romulus\nto assist in his rescue, informing him then plainly of the particulars\nof his birth, not but he had before given hints of it, and told as much\nas an attentive man might make no small conclusions from; he himself,\nfull of concern and fear of not coming in time, took the trough, and ran\ninstantly to Numitor; but giving a suspicion to some of the king's\nsentry at his gate, and being gazed upon by them and perplexed with\ntheir questions, he let it be seen that he was hiding the trough under\nhis cloak.  By chance there was one among them who was at the exposing\nof the children, and was one employed in the office; he, seeing the\ntrough and knowing it by its make and inscription, guessed at the\nbusiness, and, without further delay, telling the king of it, brought in\nthe man to be examined.  Faustulus, hard beset, did not show himself\naltogether proof against terror; nor yet was he wholly forced out of\nall; confessed indeed the children were alive, but lived, he said, as\nshepherds, a great way from Alba; he himself was going to carry the\ntrough to Ilia, who had often greatly desired to see and handle it, for\na confirmation of her hopes of her children.  As men generally do who\nare troubled in mind and act either in fear or passion, it so fell out\nAmulius now did; for he sent in haste as a messenger, a man, otherwise\nhonest, and friendly to Numitor, with commands to learn from Numitor\nwhether any tidings were come to him of the children's being alive.  He,\ncoming and seeing how little Remus wanted of being received into the\narms and embraces of Numitor, both gave him surer confidence in his\nhope, and advised them, with all expedition, to proceed to action;\nhimself too joining and assisting them, and indeed, had they wished it,\nthe time would not have let them demur.  For Romulus was now come very\nnear, and many of the citizens, out of fear and hatred of Amulius, were\nrunning out to join him; besides, he brought great forces with him,\ndivided into companies, each of an hundred men, every captain carrying a\nsmall bundle of grass and shrubs tied to a pole.  The Latins call such\nbundles manipuli and from hence it is that in their armies still they\ncall their captains manipulares.  Remus rousing the citizens within to\nrevolt, and Romulus making attacks from without, the tyrant, not knowing\neither what to do, or what expedient to think of for his security, in\nthis perplexity and confusion was taken and put to death.  This\nnarrative, for the most part given by Fabius and Diocles of Peparethus,\nwho seem to be the earliest historians of the foundation of Rome, is\nsuspected by some, because of its dramatic and fictitious appearance;\nbut it would not wholly be disbelieved, if men would remember what a\npoet fortune sometimes shows herself, and consider that the Roman power\nwould hardly have reached so high a pitch without a divinely ordered\norigin, attended with great and extraordinary circumstances.\n\nAmulius now being dead and matters quietly disposed, the two brothers\nwould neither dwell in Alba without governing there, nor take the\ngovernment into their own hands during the life of their grandfather.\nHaving therefore delivered the dominion up into his hands, and paid\ntheir mother befitting honor, they resolved to live by themselves, and\nbuild a city in the same place where they were in their infancy brought\nup.  This seems the most honorable reason for their departure; though\nperhaps it was necessary, having such a body of slaves and fugitives\ncollected about them, either to come to nothing by dispersing them, or\nif not so, then to live with them elsewhere.  For that the inhabitants\nof Alba did not think fugitives worthy of being received and\nincorporated as citizens among them plainly appears from the matter of\nthe women, an attempt made not wantonly but of necessity, because they\ncould not get wives by good-will.  For they certainly paid unusual\nrespect and honor to those whom they thus forcibly seized.\n\nNot long after the first foundation of the city, they opened a sanctuary\nof refuge for all fugitives, which they called the temple of the god\nAsylaeus, where they received and protected all, delivering none back,\nneither the servant to his master, the debtor to his creditor, nor the\nmurderer into the hands of the magistrate, saying it was a privileged\nplace, and they could so maintain it by an order of the holy oracle;\ninsomuch that the city grew presently very populous, for, they say, it\nconsisted at first of no more than a thousand houses.\nBut of that hereafter.\n\nTheir minds being fully bent upon building, there arose presently a\ndifference about the place where.  Romulus chose what was called Roma\nQuadrata, or the Square Rome, and would have the city there.  Remus laid\nout a piece of ground on the Aventine Mount, well fortified by nature,\nwhich was from him called Remonium, but now Rignarium.  Concluding at\nlast to decide the contest by a divination from a flight of birds, and\nplacing themselves apart at some distance, Remus, they say, saw six\nvultures, and Romulus double the number; others say Remus did truly see\nhis number, and that Romulus feigned his, but, when Remus came to him,\nthat then he did, indeed, see twelve.  Hence it is that the Romans, in\ntheir divinations from birds, chiefly regard the vulture, though\nHerodorus Ponticus relates that Hercules was always very joyful when a\nvulture appeared to him upon any action.  For it is a creature the least\nhurtful of any, pernicious neither to corn, fruit-tree, nor cattle; it\npreys only upon carrion, and never kills or hurts any living thing; and\nas for birds, it touches not them, though they are dead, as being of its\nown species, whereas eagles, owls, and hawks mangle and kill their own\nfellow-creatures; yet, as Aeschylus says,--\n\nWhat bird is clean that preys on fellow bird ?\n\nBesides all other birds are, so to say, never out of our eyes; they let\nthemselves be seen of us continually; but a vulture is a very rare\nsight, and you can seldom meet with a man that has seen their young;\ntheir rarity and infrequency has raised a strange opinion in some, that\nthey come to us from some other world; as soothsayers ascribe a divine\norigination to all things not produced either of nature\nor of themselves.\n\nWhen Remus knew the cheat, he was much displeased; and as Romulus was\ncasting up a ditch, where he designed the foundation of the citywall, he\nturned some pieces of the work to ridicule, and obstructed others: at\nlast, as he was in contempt leaping over it, some say Romulus himself\nstruck him, others Celer, one of his companions; he fell, however, and\nin the scuffle Faustulus also was slain, and Plistinus, who, being\nFaustulus's brother, story tells us, helped to bring up Romulus.  Celer\nupon this fled instantly into Tuscany, and from him the Romans call all\nmen that are swift of foot Celeres; and because Quintus Metellus, at his\nfather's funeral, in a few days' time gave the people a show of\ngladiators, admiring his expedition in getting it ready, they gave him\nthe name of Celer.\n\nRomulus, having buried his brother Remus, together with his two foster-\nfathers, on the mount Remonia, set to building his city; and sent for\nmen out of Tuscany, who directed him by sacred usages and written rules\nin all the ceremonies to be observed, as in a religious rite.  First,\nthey dug a round trench about that which is now the Comitium, or Court\nof Assembly, and into it solemnly threw the first-fruits of all things\neither good by custom or necessary by nature; lastly, every man taking a\nsmall piece of earth of the country from whence he came, they all threw\nthem in promiscuously together.  This trench they call, as they do the\nheavens, Mundus; making which their center, they described the city in a\ncircle round it.  Then the founder fitted to a plow a brazen plowshare,\nand, yoking together a bull and a cow, drove himself a deep line or\nfurrow round the bounds; while the business of those that followed after\nwas to see that whatever earth was thrown up should be turned all\ninwards towards the city, and not to let any clod lie outside.  With\nthis line they described the wall, and called it, by a contraction,\nPomoerium, that is, post murum, after or beside the wall; and where they\ndesigned to make a gate, there they took out the share, carried the plow\nover, and left a space; for which reason they consider the whole wall as\nholy, except where the gates are; for had they adjudged them also\nsacred, they could not, without offense to religion, have given free\ningress and egress for the necessaries of human life, some of which are\nin themselves unclean.\n\nAs for the day they began to build the city, it is universally agreed to\nhave been the twenty-first of April, and that day the Romans annually\nkeep holy, calling it their country's birthday.  At first, they say,\nthey sacrificed no living creature on this day, thinking it fit to\npreserve the feast of their country's birthday pure and without stain\nof blood.  Yet before ever the city was built, there was a feast of\nherdsmen and shepherds kept on this day, which went by the name of\nPalilia.  The Roman and Greek months have now little or no agreement;\nthey say, however, the day on which Romulus began to build was quite\ncertainly the thirtieth of the month, at which time there was an eclipse\nof the sun which they conceive to be that seen by Antimachus, the Teian\npoet, in the third year of the sixth Olympiad.  In the times of Varro\nthe philosopher, a man deeply read in Roman history, lived one\nTarrutius, his familiar acquaintance, a good philosopher and\nmathematician, and one, too, that out of curiosity had studied the way\nof drawing schemes and tables, and was thought to be a proficient in the\nart; to him Varro propounded to cast Romulus's nativity, even to the\nfirst day and hour, making his deductions from the several events of the\nman's life which he should be informed of, exactly as in working back a\ngeometrical problem; for it belonged, he said, to the same science both\nto foretell a man's life by knowing the time of his birth, and also to\nfind out his birth by the knowledge of his life.  This task Tarrutius\nundertook, and first looking into the actions and casualties of the man,\ntogether with the time of his life and manner of his death, and then\ncomparing all these remarks together, he very confidently and positively\npronounced that Romulus was conceived in his mother's womb the first\nyear of the second Olympiad, the twenty-third day of the month the\nEgyptians call Choeac, and the third hour after sunset, at which time\nthere was a total eclipse of the sun; that he was born the twenty-first\nday of the month Thoth, about sun-rising; and that the first stone of\nRome was laid by him the ninth day of the month Pharmuthi, between the\nsecond and third hour.  For the fortunes of cities as well as of men,\nthey think, have their certain periods of time prefixed, which may be\ncollected and foreknown from the position of the stars at their first\nfoundation.  But these and the like relations may perhaps not so much\ntake and delight the reader with their novelty and curiosity, as offend\nhim by their extravagance.\n\nThe city now being built, Romulus enlisted all that were of age to bear\narms into military companies, each company consisting of three thousand\nfootmen and three hundred horse.  These companies were called legions,\nbecause they were the choicest and most select of the people for\nfighting men.  The rest of the multitude he called the people; one\nhundred of the most eminent he chose for counselors; these he styled\npatricians, and their assembly the senate, which signifies a council of\nelders.  The patricians, some say, were so called because they were the\nfathers of lawful children; others, because they could give a good\naccount who their own fathers were, which not every one of the rabble\nthat poured into the city at first could do; others, from patronage,\ntheir word for protection of inferiors, the origin of which they\nattribute to Patron, one of those that came over with Evander, who was a\ngreat protector and defender of the weak and needy.  But perhaps the\nmost probable judgment might be, that Romulus, esteeming it the duty of\nthe chiefest and wealthiest men, with a fatherly care and concern to\nlook after the meaner, and also encouraging the commonalty not to dread\nor be aggrieved at the honors of their superiors, but to love and\nrespect them, and to think and call them their fathers, might from hence\ngive them the name of patricians.  For at this very time all foreigners\ngive senators the style of lords; but the Romans, making use of a more\nhonorable and less invidious name, call them Patres Conscripti; at first\nindeed simply Patres, but afterwards, more being added, Patres\nConscripti.  By this more imposing title he distinguished the senate\nfrom the populace; and in other ways also separated the nobles and the\ncommons,--calling them patrons, and these their clients,--by which means\nhe created wonderful love and amity between them, productive of great\njustice in their dealings.  For they were always their clients'\ncounselors in law cases, their advocates in courts of justice, in fine\ntheir advisers and supporters in all affairs whatever.  These again\nfaithfully served their patrons, not only paying them all respect and\ndeference, but also, in case of poverty, helping them to portion their\ndaughters and pay off their debts; and for a patron to witness against\nhis client, or a client against his patron, was what no law nor\nmagistrate could enforce.  In after times all other duties subsisting\nstill between them, it was thought mean and dishonorable for the better\nsort to take money from their inferiors.  And so much of these matters.\n\nIn the fourth month, after the city was built, as Fabius writes, the\nadventure of stealing the women was attempted; and some say Romulus\nhimself, being naturally a martial man, and predisposed too, perhaps, by\ncertain oracles, to believe the fates had ordained the future growth and\ngreatness of Rome should depend upon the benefit of war, upon these\naccounts first offered violence to the Sabines, since he took away only\nthirty virgins, more to give an occasion of war than out of any want of\nwomen.  But this is not very probable; it would seem rather that,\nobserving his city to be filled by a confluence of foreigners, few of\nwhom had wives, and that the multitude in general, consisting of a\nmixture of mean and obscure men, fell under contempt, and seemed to be\nof no long continuance together, and hoping farther, after the women\nwere appeased, to make this injury in some measure an occasion of\nconfederacy and mutual commerce with the Sabines, he took in hand this\nexploit after this manner.  First, he gave it out as if he had found an\naltar of a certain god hid under ground; the god they called Consus,\neither the god of counsel (for they still call a consultation consilium\nand their chief magistrates consules, namely, counselors), or else the\nequestrian Neptune, for the altar is kept covered in the circus maximus\nat all other times, and only at horse-races is exposed to public view;\nothers merely say that this god had his altar hid under ground because\ncounsel ought to be secret and concealed.  Upon discovery of this altar,\nRomulus, by proclamation, appointed a day for a splendid sacrifice, and\nfor public games and shows, to entertain all sorts of people; many\nflocked thither, and he himself sat in front, amidst his nobles, clad\nin purple.  Now the signal for their falling on was to be whenever he\nrose and gathered up his robe and threw it over his body; his men stood\nall ready armed, with their eyes intent upon him, and when the sign was\ngiven, drawing their swords and falling on with a great shout, they\nravished away the daughters of the Sabines, they themselves flying\nwithout any let or hindrance.  They say there were but thirty taken, and\nfrom them the Curiae or Fraternities were named; but Valerius Antias\nsays five hundred and twenty-seven, Juba, six hundred and eighty-three\nvirgins; which was indeed the greatest excuse Romulus could allege,\nnamely, that they had taken no married woman, save one only, Hersilia by\nname, and her too unknowingly; which showed they did not commit this\nrape wantonly, but with a design purely of forming alliance with their\nneighbors by the greatest and surest bonds.  This Hersilia some say\nHostilius married, a most eminent man among the Romans; others, Romulus\nhimself, and that she bore two children to him, a daughter, by reason of\nprimogeniture called Prima, and one only son, whom, from the great\nconcourse of citizens to him at that time, he called Aollius, but after\nages Abillius.  But Zenodotus the Troezenian, in giving this account, is\ncontradicted by many.\n\nAmong those who committed this rape upon the virgins, there were, they\nsay, as it so then happened, some of the meaner sort of men, who were\ncarrying off a damsel, excelling all in beauty and comeliness of\nstature, whom when some of superior rank that met them attempted to take\naway, they cried out they were carrying her to Talasius, a young man,\nindeed, but brave and worthy; hearing that, they commended and applauded\nthem loudly, and also some, turning back, accompanied them with good-\nwill and pleasure, shouting out the name of Talasius.  Hence the Romans\nto this very time, at their weddings, sing Talasius for their nuptial\nword, as the Greeks do Hymenaeus, because, they say, Talasius was very\nhappy in his marriage.  But Sextius Sylla the Carthaginian, a man\nwanting neither learning nor ingenuity, told me Romulus gave this word\nas a sign when to begin the onset; everybody, therefore, who made prize\nof a maiden, cried out, Talasius; and for that reason the custom\ncontinues so now at marriages.  But most are of opinion (of whom Juba\nparticularly is one) that this word was used to new-married women by way\nof incitement to good housewifery and talasia (spinning), as we say in\nGreek, Greek words at that time not being as yet overpowered by Italian.\nBut if this be the case, and if the Romans did at that time use the word\ntalasia as we do, a man might fancy a more probable reason of the\ncustom.  For when the Sabines, after the war against the Romans, were\nreconciled, conditions were made concerning their women, that they\nshould be obliged to do no other servile offices to their husbands but\nwhat concerned spinning; it was customary, therefore, ever after, at\nweddings, for those that gave the bride or escorted her or otherwise\nwere present, sportingly to say Talasius, intimating that she was\nhenceforth to serve in spinning and no more.  It continues also a custom\nat this very day for the bride not of herself to pass her husband's\nthreshold, but to be lifted over, in memory that the Sabine virgins were\ncarried in by violence, and did not go in of their own will.  Some say,\ntoo, the custom of parting the bride's hair with the head of a spear was\nin token their marriages began at first by war and acts of hostility, of\nwhich I have spoken more fully in my book of Questions.\n\nThis rape was committed on the eighteenth day of the month Sextilis, now\ncalled August, on which the solemnities of the Consualia are kept.\n\nThe Sabines were a numerous and martial people, but lived in small,\nunfortified villages, as it befitted, they thought, a colony of the\nLacedaemonians to be bold and fearless; nevertheless, seeing themselves\nbound by such hostages to their good behavior, and being solicitous for\ntheir daughters, they sent ambassadors to Romulus with fair and\nequitable requests, that he would return their young women and recall\nthat act of violence, and afterwards, by persuasion and lawful means,\nseek friendly correspondence between both nations.  Romulus would not\npart with the young women, yet proposed to the Sabines to enter into an\nalliance with them; upon which point some consulted and demurred long,\nbut Acron, king of the Ceninenses, a man of high spirit and a good\nwarrior, who had all along a jealousy of Romulus's bold attempts, and\nconsidering particularly from this exploit upon the women that he was\ngrowing formidable to all people, and indeed insufferable, were he not\nchastised, first rose up in arms, and with a powerful army advanced\nagainst him.  Romulus likewise prepared to receive him; but when they\ncame within sight and viewed each other, they made a challenge to fight\na single duel, the armies standing by under arms, without participation.\nAnd Romulus, making a vow to Jupiter, if he should conquer, to carry,\nhimself, and dedicate his adversary's armor to his honor, overcame him\nin combat, and, a battle ensuing, routed his army also, and then took\nhis city; but did those he found in it no injury, only commanded them to\ndemolish the place and attend him to Rome, there to be admitted to all\nthe privileges of citizens.  And indeed there was nothing did more\nadvance the greatness of Rome, than that she did always unite and\nincorporate those whom she conquered into herself.  Romulus, that he\nmight perform his vow in the most acceptable manner to Jupiter, and\nwithal make the pomp of it delightful to the eye of the city, cut down a\ntall oak which he saw growing in the camp, which he trimmed to the shape\nof a trophy, and fastened on it Acron's whole suit of armor disposed in\nproper form; then he himself, girding his clothes about him, and\ncrowning his head with a laurel-garland, his hair gracefully flowing,\ncarried the trophy resting erect upon his right shoulder, and so marched\non, singing songs of triumph, and his whole army following after, the\ncitizens all receiving him with acclamations of joy and wonder.  The\nprocession of this day was the origin and model of all after triumphs.\nThis trophy was styled an offering to Jupiter Feretrius, from ferire,\nwhich in Latin is to smite; for Romulus prayed he might smite and\noverthrow his enemy; and the spoils were called opima, or royal spoils,\nsays Varro, from their richness, which the word opes signifies; though\none would more probably conjecture from opus, an act; for it is only to\nthe general of an army who with his own hand kills his enemies' general\nthat this honor is granted of offering the opima spolia.  And three only\nof the Roman captains have had it conferred on them: first, Romulus,\nupon killing Acron the Ceninensian; next, Cornelius Cossus, for slaying\nTolumnius the Tuscan; and lastly, Claudius Marcellus, upon his\nconquering Viridomarus, king of the Gauls.  The two latter, Cossus and\nMarcellus, made their entries in triumphant chariots, bearing their\ntrophies themselves; but that Romulus made use of a chariot, Dionysius\nis wrong in asserting.  History says, Tarquinius, Damaratus's son, was\nthe first that brought triumphs to this great pomp and grandeur; others,\nthat Publicola was the first that rode in triumph.  The statues of\nRomulus in triumph are, as may be seen in Rome, all on foot.\n\nAfter the overthrow of the Ceninensians, the other Sabines still\nprotracting the time in preparations, the people of Fidenae,\nCrustumerium, and Antemna, joined their forces against the Romans; they\nin like manner were defeated in battle, and surrendered up to Romulus\ntheir cities to be seized, their lands and territories to be divided,\nand themselves to be transplanted to Rome.  All the lands which Romulus\nacquired, he distributed among the citizens, except only what the\nparents of the stolen virgins had; these he suffered to possess their\nown.  The rest of the Sabines, enraged hereat, choosing Tatius their\ncaptain, marched straight against Rome.  The city was almost\ninaccessible, having for its fortress that which is now the Capitol,\nwhere a strong guard was placed, and Tarpeius their captain; not Tarpeia\nthe virgin, as some say who would make Romulus a fool.  But Tarpeia,\ndaughter to the captain, coveting the golden bracelets she saw them\nwear, betrayed the fort into the Sabines' hands, and asked, in reward of\nher treachery, the things they wore on their left arms.  Tatius\nconditioning thus with her, in the night she opened one of the gates,\nand received the Sabines in.  And truly Antigonus, it would seem, was\nnot solitary in saying, he loved betrayers, but hated those who had\nbetrayed; nor Caesar, who told Rhymitalces the Thracian, that he loved\nthe treason, but hated the traitor; but it is the general feeling of all\nwho have occasion for wicked men's service, as people have for the\npoison of venomous beasts; they are glad of them while they are of use,\nand abhor their baseness when it is over.  And so then did Tatius behave\ntowards Tarpeia, for he commanded the Sabines, in regard to their\ncontract, not to refuse her the least part of what they wore on their\nleft arms; and he himself first took his bracelet of his arm, and threw\nthat, together with his buckler, at her; and all the rest following,\nshe, being borne down and quite buried with the multitude of gold and\ntheir shields, died under the weight and pressure of them; Tarpeius also\nhimself, being prosecuted by Romulus, was found guilty of treason, as\nJuba says Sulpicius Galba relates.  Those who write otherwise concerning\nTarpeia, as that she was the daughter of Tatius, the Sabine captain,\nand, being forcibly detained by Romulus, acted and suffered thus by her\nfather's contrivance, speak very absurdly, of whom Antigonus is one.\nAnd Simylus, the poet, who thinks Tarpeia betrayed the Capitol, not to\nthe Sabines, but the Gauls, having fallen in love with their king, talks\nmere folly, saying thus:--\n\nTarpeia 'twas, who, dwelling close thereby,\nLaid open Rome unto the enemy.\nShe, for the love of the besieging Gaul,\nBetrayed the city's strength, the Capitol.\n\nAnd a little after, speaking of her death:--\n\nThe numerous nations of the Celtic foe\nBore her not living to the banks of Po;\nTheir heavy shields upon the maid they threw,\nAnd with their splendid gifts entombed at once and slew.\n\nTarpeia afterwards was buried there, and the hill from her was called\nTarpeius, until the reign of king Tarquin, who dedicated the place to\nJupiter, at which time her bones were removed, and so it lost her name,\nexcept only that part of the Capitol which they still call the Tarpeian\nRock, from which they used to cast down malefactors.\n\nThe Sabines being possessed of the hill, Romulus, in great fury, bade\nthem battle, and Tatius was confident to accept it, perceiving, if they\nwere overpowered, that they had behind them a secure retreat.  The level\nin the middle, where they were to join battle, being surrounded with\nmany little hills, seemed to enforce both parties to a sharp and\ndesperate conflict, by reason of the difficulties of the place, which\nhad but a few outlets, inconvenient either for refuge or pursuit.  It\nhappened, too, the river having overflowed not many days before, there\nwas left behind in the plain, where now the forum stands, a deep blind\nmud and slime, which, though it did not appear much to the eye, and was\nnot easily avoided, at bottom was deceitful and dangerous; upon which\nthe Sabines being unwarily about to enter, met with a piece of good\nfortune; for Curtius, a gallant man, eager of honor, and of aspiring\nthoughts, being mounted on horseback, was galloping on before the rest,\nand mired his horse here, and, endeavoring for awhile by whip and spur\nand voice to disentangle him, but finding it impossible, quitted him and\nsaved himself; the place from him to this very time is called the\nCurtian Lake.  The Sabines, having avoided this danger, began the fight\nvery smartly, the fortune of the day being very dubious, though many\nwere slain; amongst whom was Hostilius, who, they say, was husband to\nHersilia, and grandfather to that Hostilius who reigned after Numa.\nThere were many other brief conflicts, we may suppose, but the most\nmemorable was the last, in which Romulus having received a wound on his\nhead by a stone, and being almost felled to the ground by it, and\ndisabled, the Romans gave way, and, being driven out of the level\nground, fled towards the Palatium.  Romulus, by this time recovering\nfrom his wound a little, turned about to renew the battle, and, facing\nthe fliers, with a loud voice encouraged them to stand and fight.  But\nbeing overborne with numbers, and nobody daring to face about,\nstretching out his hands to heaven, he prayed to Jupiter to stop the\narmy, and not to neglect but maintain the Roman cause, now in extreme\ndanger.  The prayer was no sooner made, than shame and respect for their\nking checked many; the fears of the fugitives changed suddenly into\nconfidence.  The place they first stood at was where now is the temple\nof Jupiter Stator (which may be translated the Stayer); there they\nrallied again into ranks, and repulsed the Sabines to the place called\nnow Regia, and to the temple of Vesta; where both parties, preparing to\nbegin a second battle, were prevented by a spectacle, strange to behold,\nand defying description.  For the daughters of the Sabines, who had been\ncarried off, came running, in great confusion, some on this side, some\non that, with miserable cries and lamentations, like creatures\npossessed, in the midst of the army, and among the dead bodies, to come\nat their husbands and their fathers, some with their young babes in\ntheir arms, others their hair loose about their ears, but all calling,\nnow upon the Sabines, now upon the Romans, in the most tender and\nendearing words.  Hereupon both melted into compassion, and fell back,\nto make room for them between the armies.  The sight of the women\ncarried sorrow and commiseration upon both sides into the hearts of all,\nbut still more their words, which began with expostulation and\nupbraiding, and ended with entreaty and supplication.\n\n\"Wherein,\" say they, \"have we injured or offended you, as to deserve\nsuch sufferings, past and present?  We were ravished away unjustly and\nviolently by those whose now we are; that being done, we were so long\nneglected by our fathers, our brothers, and countrymen, that time,\nhaving now by the strictest bonds united us to those we once mortally\nhated, has made it impossible for us not to tremble at the danger and\nweep at the death of the very men who once used violence to us.  You did\nnot come to vindicate our honor, while we were virgins, against our\nassailants; but do come now to force away wives from their husbands and\nmothers from their children, a succor more grievous to its wretched\nobjects than the former betrayal and neglect of them.  Which shall we\ncall the worst, their love-making or your compassion?  If you were\nmaking war upon any other occasion, for our sakes you ought to withhold\nyour hands from those to whom we have made you fathers-in-law and\ngrandsires.  If it be for our own cause, then take us, and with us your\nsons-in-law and grandchildren.  Restore to us our parents and kindred,\nbut do not rob us of our children and husbands.  Make us not, we entreat\nyou, twice captives.\"  Hersilia having spoken many such words as these,\nand the others earnestly praying, a truce was made, and the chief\nofficers came to a parley; the women, in the mean time, brought and\npresented their husbands and children to their fathers and brothers;\ngave those that wanted, meat and drink, and carried the wounded home to\nbe cured, and showed also how much they governed within doors, and how\nindulgent their husbands were to them, in demeaning themselves towards\nthem with all kindness and respect imaginable.  Upon this, conditions\nwere agreed upon, that what women pleased might stay where they were,\nexempt, as aforesaid, from all drudgery and labor but spinning; that the\nRomans and Sabines should inhabit the city together; that the city\nshould be called Rome, from Romulus; but the Romans, Quirites, from the\ncountry of Tatius; and that they both should govern and command in\ncommon.  The place of the ratification is still called Comitium,\nfrom coire, to meet.\n\nThe city being thus doubled in number, one hundred of the Sabines were\nelected senators, and the legions were increased to six thousand foot\nand six hundred horse; then they divided the people into three tribes;\nthe first, from Romulus, named Ramnenses; the second, from Tatius,\nTatienses; the third, Luceres, from the lucus, or grove, where the\nAsylum stood, whither many fled for sanctuary, and were received into\nthe city.  And that they were just three, the very name of tribe and\ntribune seems to show; each tribe contained ten curiae, or brotherhoods,\nwhich, some say, took their names from the Sabine women; but that seems\nto be false, because many had their names from various places.  Though\nit is true, they then constituted many things in honor to the women; as\nto give them the way wherever they met them; to speak no ill word in\ntheir presence; not to appear naked before them, or else be liable to\nprosecution before the judges of homicide; that their children should\nwear an ornament about their necks called the bulla (because it was like\na bubble), and the praetexta, a gown edged with purple.\n\nThe princes did not immediately join in council together, but at first\neach met with his own hundred; afterwards all assembled together.\nTatius dwelt where now the temple of Moneta stands, and Romulus, close\nby the steps, as they call them, of the Fair Shore, near the descent\nfrom the Mount Palatine to the Circus Maximus.  There, they say, grew\nthe holy cornel tree, of which they report, that Romulus once, to try\nhis strength, threw a dart from the Aventine Mount, the staff of which\nwas made of cornel, which struck so deep into the ground, that no one of\nmany that tried could pluck it up; and the soil, being fertile, gave\nnourishment to the wood, which sent forth branches, and produced a\ncornel-stock of considerable bigness.  This did posterity preserve and\nworship as one of the most sacred things; and, therefore, walled it\nabout; and if to any one it appeared not green nor flourishing, but\ninclining to pine and wither, he immediately made outcry to all he met,\nand they, like people hearing of a house on fire, with one accord would\ncry for water, and run from all parts with buckets full to the place.\nBut when Caius Caesar, they say, was repairing the steps about it, some\nof the laborers digging too close, the roots were destroyed,\nand the tree withered.\n\nThe Sabines adopted the Roman months, of which whatever is remarkable is\nmentioned in the Life of Numa.  Romulus, on the other hand, adopted\ntheir long shields, and changed his own armor and that of all the\nRomans, who before wore round targets of the Argive pattern.  Feasts and\nsacrifices they partook of in common, not abolishing any which either\nnation observed before, and instituting several new ones; of which one\nwas the Matronalia, instituted in honor of the women.  for their\nextinction of the war; likewise the Carmentalia.  This Carmenta some\nthink a deity presiding over human birth; for which reason she is much\nhonored by mothers.  Others say she was the wife of Evander, the\nArcadian, being a prophetess, and wont to deliver her oracles in verse,\nand from carmen, a verse, was called Carmenta; her proper name being\nNicostrata.  Others more probably derive Carmenta from carens mente, or\ninsane, in allusion to her prophetic frenzies.  Of the Feast of Palilia\nwe have spoken before.  The Lupercalia, by the time of its celebration,\nmay seem to be a feast of purification, for it is solemnized on the dies\nnefasti, or non-court days, of the month February, which name signifies\npurification, and the very day of the feast was anciently called\nFebruata; but its name is equivalent to the Greek Lycaea; and it seems\nthus to be of great antiquity, and brought in by the Arcadians who came\nwith Evander.  Yet this is but dubious, for it may come as well from the\nwolf that nursed Romulus; and we see the Luperci, the priests, begin\ntheir course from the place where they say Romulus was exposed.  But the\nceremonies performed in it render the origin of the thing more difficult\nto be guessed at; for there are goats killed, then, two young noblemen's\nsons being brought, some are to stain their foreheads with the bloody\nknife, others presently to wipe it off with wool dipped in milk; then\nthe young boys must laugh after their foreheads are wiped; that done,\nhaving cut the goats' skins into thongs, they run about naked, only with\nsomething about their middle, lashing all they meet; and the young wives\ndo not avoid their strokes, fancying they will help conception and\nchild-birth.  Another thing peculiar to this feast is for the Luperci to\nsacrifice a dog.  But as, a certain poet who wrote fabulous explanations\nof Roman customs in elegiac verses, says, that Romulus and Remus, after\nthe conquest of Amulius, ran joyfully to the place where the wolf gave\nthem suck; and that in imitation of that, this feast was held,\nand two young noblemen ran--\n\nStriking at all, as when from Alba town,\nWith sword in hand, the twins came hurrying down;\n\nand that the bloody knife applied to their foreheads was a sign of the\ndanger and bloodshed of that day; the cleansing of them in milk, a\nremembrance of their food and nourishment.  Caius Acilius writes, that,\nbefore the city was built, the cattle of Romulus and Remus one day going\nastray, they, praying to the god Faunus, ran out to seek them naked,\nwishing not to be troubled with sweat, and that this is why the Luperci\nrun naked.  If the sacrifice be by way of purification, a dog might very\nwell be sacrificed; for the Greeks, in their lustrations, carry out\nyoung dogs, and frequently use this ceremony of periscylacismus as they\ncall it.  Or if again it is a sacrifice of gratitude to the wolf that\nnourished and preserved Romulus, there is good reason in killing a dog,\nas being an enemy to wolves.  Unless indeed, after all, the creature is\npunished for hindering the Luperci in their running.\n\nThey say, too, Romulus was the first that consecrated holy fire, and\ninstituted holy virgins to keep it, called vestals; others ascribe it to\nNuma Pompilius; agreeing, however, that Romulus was otherwise eminently\nreligious, and skilled in divination, and for that reason carried the\nlituus, a crooked rod with which soothsayers describe the quarters of\nthe heavens, when they sit to observe the flights of birds.  This of\nhis, being kept in the Palatium, was lost when the city was taken by the\nGauls; and afterwards, that barbarous people being driven out, was found\nin the ruins, under a great heap of ashes, untouched by the fire, all\nthings about it being consumed and burnt.  He instituted also certain\nlaws, one of which is somewhat severe, which suffers not a wife to leave\nher husband, but grants a husband power to turn off his wife, either\nupon poisoning her children; or counterfeiting his keys, or for\nadultery; but if the husband upon any other occasion put her away, he\nordered one moiety of his estate to be given to the wife, the other to\nfall to the goddess Ceres; and whoever cast off his wife, to make an\natonement by sacrifice to the gods of the dead.  This, too, is\nobservable as a singular thing in Romulus, that he appointed no\npunishment for real parricide, but called all murder so, thinking the\none an accursed thing, but the other a thing impossible; and, for a long\ntime, his judgment seemed to have been right; for in almost six hundred\nyears together, nobody committed the like in Rome; and Lucius Hostius,\nafter the wars of Hanibal, is recorded to have been the first parricide.\nLet thus much suffice concerning these matters.\n\nIn the fifth year of the reign of Tatius, some of his friends and\nkinsmen, meeting ambassadors coming from Laurentum to Rome, attempted on\nthe road to take away their money by force, and, upon their resistance,\nkilled them.  So great a villainy having been committed, Romulus thought\nthe malefactors ought at once to be punished, but Tatius shuffled off\nand deferred the execution of it; and this one thing was the beginning\nof open quarrel between them; in all other respects they were very\ncareful of their conduct, and administered affairs together with great\nunanimity.  The relations of the slain, being debarred of lawful\nsatisfaction by reason of Tatius, fell upon him as he was sacrificing\nwith Romulus at Lavinium, and slew him; but escorted Romulus home,\ncommending and extolling him for a just prince.  Romulus took the body\nof Tatius, and buried it very splendidly in the Aventine Mount, near the\nplace called Armilustrium, but altogether neglected revenging his\nmurder.  Some authors write, the city of Laurentum, fearing the\nconsequence, delivered up the murderers of Tatius; but Romulus dismissed\nthem, saying, one murder was requited with another.  This gave occasion\nof talk and jealousy, as if he were well pleased at the removal of his\ncopartner in the government.  Nothing of these things, however, raised\nany sort of feud or disturbance among the Sabines; but some out of love\nto him, others out of fear of his power, some again reverencing him as a\ngod, they all continued living peacefully in admiration and awe of him;\nmany foreign nations, too, showed respect to Romulus; the Ancient Latins\nsent, and entered into league and confederacy with him.  Fidenae he\ntook, a neighboring city to Rome, by a party of horse, as some say, whom\nhe sent before with commands to cut down the hinges of the gates,\nhimself afterwards unexpectedly coming up.  Others say, they having\nfirst made the invasion, plundering and ravaging the country and\nsuburbs, Romulus lay in ambush for them, and, having killed many of\ntheir men, took the city; but, nevertheless, did not raze or demolish\nit, but made it a Roman colony, and sent thither, on the Ides of April,\ntwo thousand five hundred inhabitants.\n\nSoon after a plague broke out, causing sudden death without any previous\nsickness; it infected also the corn with unfruitfulness, and cattle with\nbarrenness; there rained blood, too, in the city; so that, to their\nactual sufferings, fear of the wrath of the gods was added.  But when\nthe same mischiefs fell upon Laurentum, then everybody judged it was\ndivine vengeance that fell upon both cities, for the neglect of\nexecuting justice upon the murder of Tatius and the ambassadors.  But\nthe murderers on both sides being delivered up and punished, the\npestilence visibly abated; and Romulus purified the cities with\nlustrations, which, they say, even now are performed at the wood called\nFerentina.  But before the plague ceased, the Camertines invaded the\nRomans and overran the country, thinking them, by reason of the\ndistemper, unable to resist; but Romulus at once made head against them,\nand gained the victory, with the slaughter of six thousand men; then\ntook their city, and brought half of those he found there to Rome;\nsending from Rome to Camerium double the number he left there.  This was\ndone the first of August.  So many citizens had he to spare, in sixteen\nyears' time from his first founding Rome.  Among other spoils, he took a\nbrazen four-horse chariot from Camerium, which he placed in the temple\nof Vulcan, setting on it his own statue,\nwith a figure of Victory crowning him.\n\nThe Roman cause thus daily gathering strength, their weaker neighbors\nshrunk away, and were thankful to be left untouched; but the stronger,\nout of fear or envy, thought they ought not to give way to Romulus, but\nto curb and put a stop to his growing greatness.  The first were the\nVeientes, a people of Tuscany, who had large possessions, and dwelt in a\nspacious city; they took occasion to commence a war, by claiming Fidenae\nas belonging to them; a thing not only very unreasonable, but very\nridiculous, that they, who did not assist them in the greatest\nextremities, but permitted them to be slain, should challenge their\nlands and houses when in the hands of others.  But being scornfully\nretorted upon by Romulus in his answers, they divided themselves into\ntwo bodies; with one they attacked the garrison of Fidenae, the other\nmarched against Romulus; that which went against Fidenae got the\nvictory, and slew two thousand Romans; the other was worsted by Romulus,\nwith the loss of eight thousand men.  A fresh battle was fought near\nFidenae, and here all men acknowledge the day's success to have been\nchiefly the work of Romulus himself, who showed the highest skill as\nwell as courage, and seemed to manifest a strength and swiftness more\nthan human.  But what some write, that, of fourteen thousand that fell\nthat day, above half were slain by Romulus's own hand, verges too near\nto fable, and is, indeed, simply incredible; since even the Messenians\nare thought to go too far in saying that Aristomenes three times offered\nsacrifice for the death of a hundred enemies, Lacedaemonians, slain by\nhimself.  The army being thus routed, Romulus, suffering those that were\nleft to make their escape, led his forces against the city; they, having\nsuffered such great losses, did not venture to oppose, but, humbly suing\nto him, made a league and friendship for an hundred years; surrendering\nalso a large district of land called Septempagium, that is, the seven\nparts, as also their salt-works upon the river, and fifty noblemen for\nhostages.  He made his triumph for this on the Ides of October, leading,\namong the rest of his many captives, the general of the Veientes, an\nelderly man, but who had not, it seemed, acted with the prudence of age;\nwhence even now, in sacrifices for victories, they lead an old man\nthrough the market place to the Capitol, appareled in purple, with a\nbulla, or child's toy, tied to it, and the crier cries, Sardians to be\nsold; for the Tuscans are said to be a colony of the Sardians, and the\nVeientes are a city of Tuscany.\n\nThis was the last battle Romulus ever fought; afterwards he, as most,\nnay all men, very few excepted, do, who are raised by great and\nmiraculous good-haps of fortune to power and greatness, so, I say, did\nhe; relying upon his own great actions, and growing of an haughtier\nmind, he forsook his popular behavior for kingly arrogance, odious to\nthe people; to whom in particular the state which he assumed was\nhateful.  For he dressed in scarlet, with the purple-bordered robe over\nit; he gave audience on a couch of state, having always about him some\nyoung men called Celeres, from their swiftness in doing commissions;\nthere went before him others with staves, to make room, with leather\nthongs tied on their bodies, to bind on the moment whomever he\ncommanded.  The Latins formerly used ligare in the same sense as now\nalligare, to bind, whence the name lictors, for these officers, and\nbacula, or staves, for their rods, because staves were then used.  It is\nprobable, however, they were first called litores, afterwards, by\nputting in a c, lictores, or, in Greek, liturgi, or people's officers,\nfor leitos is still Greek for the commons,\nand laos for the people in general.\n\nBut when, after the death of his grandfather Numitor in Alba, the throne\ndevolving upon Romulus, he, to court the people, put the government into\ntheir own hands, and appointed an annual magistrate over the Albans,\nthis taught the great men of Rome to seek after a free and anti-\nmonarchical state, wherein all might in turn be subjects and rulers.\nFor neither were the patricians any longer admitted to state affairs,\nonly had the name and title left them, convening in council rather for\nfashion's sake than advice, where they heard in silence the king's\ncommands, and so departed, exceeding the commonalty only in hearing\nfirst what was done.  These and the like were matters of small moment;\nbut when he of his own accord parted among his soldiers what lands were\nacquired by war, and restored the Veientes their hostages, the senate\nneither consenting nor approving of it, then, indeed, he seemed to put a\ngreat affront upon them; so that, on his sudden and strange\ndisappearance a short while after, the senate fell under suspicion and\ncalumny.  He disappeared on the Nones of July, as they now call the month\nwhich was then Quintilis, leaving nothing of certainty to be related of\nhis death; only the time, as just mentioned, for on that day many\nceremonies are still performed in representation of what happened.\nNeither is this uncertainty to be thought strange, seeing the manner of\nthe death of Scipio Africanus, who died at his own home after supper,\nhas been found capable neither of proof or disproof; for some say he\ndied a natural death, being of a sickly habit; others, that he poisoned\nhimself; others again, that his enemies, breaking in upon him in the\nnight, stifled him.  Yet Scipio's dead body lay open to be seen of all,\nand any one, from his own observation, might form his suspicions and\nconjectures; whereas Romulus, when he vanished, left neither the least\npart of his body, nor any remnant of his clothes to be seen.  So that\nsome fancied, the senators, having fallen upon him ill the temple of\nVulcan, cut his body into pieces, and took each a part away in his\nbosom; others think his disappearance was neither in the temple of\nVulcan, nor with the senators only by, but that, it came to pass that,\nas he was haranguing the people without the city, near a place called\nthe Goat's Marsh, on a sudden strange and unaccountable disorders and\nalterations took place in the air; the face of the sun was darkened, and\nthe day turned into night, and that, too, no quiet, peaceable night, but\nwith terrible thunderings, and boisterous winds from all quarters;\nduring which the common people dispersed and fled, but the senators kept\nclose together.  The tempest being over and the light breaking out, when\nthe people gathered again, they missed and inquired for their king; the\nsenators suffered them not to search, or busy themselves about the\nmatter, but commanded them to honor and worship Romulus as one taken up\nto the gods, and about to be to them, in the place of a good prince, now\na propitious god.  The multitude, hearing this, went away believing and\nrejoicing in hopes of good things from him; but there were some, who,\ncanvassing the matter in a hostile temper, accused and aspersed the\npatricians, as men that persuaded the people to believe ridiculous\ntales, when they themselves were the murderers of the king.\n\nThings being in this disorder, one, they say, of the patricians, of\nnoble family and approved good character, and a faithful and familiar\nfriend of Romulus himself, having come with him from Alba, Julius\nProculus by name, presented himself in the forum; and, taking a most\nsacred oath, protested before them all, that, as he was traveling on the\nroad, he had seen Romulus coming to meet him, looking taller and\ncomelier than ever, dressed in shining and faming armor; and he, being\naffrighted at the apparition, said, \"Why, O king, or for what purpose\nhave you abandoned us to unjust and wicked surmises, and the whole city\nto bereavement and endless sorrow?\" and that he made answer, \"It\npleased the gods, O Proculus, that we, who came from them, should remain\nso long a time amongst men as we did; and, having built a city to be the\ngreatest in the world for empire and glory, should again return to\nheaven.  But farewell; and tell the Romans, that, by the exercise of\ntemperance and fortitude, they shall attain the height of human power;\nwe will be to you the propitious god Quirinus.\" This seemed credible to\nthe Romans, upon the honesty and oath of the relater, and indeed, too,\nthere mingled with it a certain divine passion, some preternatural\ninfluence similar to possession by a divinity; nobody contradicted it,\nbut, laying aside all jealousies and detractions, they prayed to\nQuirinus and saluted him as a god.\n\nThis is like some of the Greek fables of Aristeas the Proconnesian, and\nCleomedes the Astypalaean; for they say Aristeas died in a fuller's\nwork-shop, and his friends, coming to look for him, found his body\nvanished; and that some presently after, coming from abroad, said they\nmet him traveling towards Croton.  And that Cleomedes, being an\nextraordinarily strong and gigantic man, but also wild and mad,\ncommitted many desperate freaks; and at last, in a school-house,\nstriking a pillar that sustained the roof with his fist, broke it in the\nmiddle, so that the house fell and destroyed the children in it; and\nbeing pursued, he fled into a great chest, and, shutting to the lid,\nheld it so fast, that many men, with their united strength, could not\nforce it open; afterwards, breaking the chest to pieces, they found no\nman in it alive or dead; in astonishment at which, they sent to consult\nthe oracle at Delphi; to whom the prophetess made this answer,\n\nOf all the heroes, Cleomede is last.\n\nThey say, too, the body of Alcmena, as they were carrying her to her\ngrave, vanished, and a stone was found lying on the bier.  And many such\nimprobabilities do your fabulous writers relate, deifying creatures\nnaturally mortal; for though altogether to disown a divine nature in\nhuman virtue were impious and base, so again to mix heaven with earth is\nridiculous.  Let us believe with Pindar, that\n\nAll human bodies yield to Death's decree,\nThe soul survives to all eternity.\n\nFor that alone is derived from the gods, thence comes, and thither\nreturns; not with the body, but when most disengaged and separated from\nit, and when most entirely pure and clean and free from the flesh; for\nthe most perfect soul, says Heraclitus, is a dry light, which flies out\nof the body as lightning breaks from a cloud; but that which is clogged\nand surfeited with body is like gross and humid incense, slow to kindle\nand ascend.  We must not, therefore, contrary to nature, send the\nbodies, too, of good men to heaven; but we must really believe that,\naccording to their divine nature and law, their virtue and their souls\nare translated out of men into heroes, out of heroes into demi-gods, out\nof demi-gods, after passing, as in the rite of initiation, through a\nfinal cleansing and sanctification, and so freeing themselves from all\nthat pertains to mortality and sense, are thus, not by human decree, but\nreally and according to right reason, elevated into gods, admitted thus\nto the greatest and most blessed perfection.\n\nRomulus's surname Quirinus, some say, is equivalent to Mars; others,\nthat he was so called because the citizens were called Quirites; others,\nbecause the ancients called a dart or spear Quiris; thus, the statue of\nJuno resting on a spear is called Quiritis, and the dart in the Regia is\naddressed as Mars, and those that were distinguished in war were usually\npresented with a dart; that, therefore, Romulus, being a martial god, or\na god of darts, was called Quirinus.  A temple is certainly built to his\nhonor on the mount called from him Quirinalis.\n\nThe day he vanished on is called the Flight of the People, and the Nones\nof the Goats, because they go then out of the city, and sacrifice at\nthe Goat's Marsh, and, as they go, they shout out some of the Roman\nnames, as Marcus, Lucius, Caius, imitating the way in which they then\nfled and called upon one another in that fright and hurry.  Some,\nhowever, say, this was not in imitation of a flight, but of a quick and\nhasty onset, referring it to the following occasion: after the Gauls who\nhad taken Rome were driven out by Camillus, and the city was scarcely as\nyet recovering her strength, many of the Latins, under the command of\nLivius Postumius, took this time to march against her.  Postumius,\nhalting not far from Rome, sent a herald, signifying that the Latins\nwere desirous to renew their former alliance and affinity (that was now\nalmost decayed) by contracting new marriages between both nations; if,\ntherefore, they would send forth a good number of their virgins and\nwidows, they should have peace and friendship, such as the Sabines had\nformerly had on the like conditions.  The Romans, hearing this, dreaded\na war, yet thought a surrender of their women little better than mere\ncaptivity.  Being in this doubt, a servant-maid called Philotis (or, as\nsome say, Tutola), advised them to do neither, but, by a stratagem,\navoid both fighting and the giving up of such pledges.  The stratagem\nwas this, that they should send herself, with other well-looking\nservant-maids, to the enemy, in the dress of free-born virgins, and she\nshould in the night light up a fire-signal, at which the Romans should\ncome armed and surprise them asleep.  The Latins were thus deceived, and\naccordingly Philotis set up a torch in a wild fig-tree, screening it\nbehind with curtains and coverlets from the sight of the enemy, while\nvisible to the Romans.  They, when they saw it, eagerly ran out of the\ngates, calling in their haste to each other as they went out, and so,\nfalling in unexpectedly upon the enemy, they defeated them, and upon\nthat made a feast of triumph, called the Nones of the Goats, because of\nthe wild fig-tree, called by the Romans Caprificus, or the goat-fig.\nThey feast the women without the city in arbors made of fig-tree boughs\nand the maid-servants gather together and run about playing; afterwards\nthey fight in sport, and throw stones one at another, in memory that\nthey then aided and assisted the Roman men in fight.  This only a few\nauthors admit for true; For the calling upon one another's names by day\nand the going out to the Goat's Marsh to do sacrifice seem to agree more\nwith the former story, unless, indeed, we shall say that both the\nactions might have happened on the same day in different years.  It was\nin the fifty-fourth year of his age and the thirty-eighth of his reign\nthat Romulus, they tell us, left the world.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF ROMULUS WITH THESEUS\n\nThis is what I have learnt of Romulus and Theseus, worthy of memory.  It\nseems, first of all, that Theseus, out of his own free-will, without any\ncompulsion, when he might have reigned in security at Troezen in the\nenjoyment of no inglorious empire, of his own motion affected great\nactions, whereas the other, to escape present servitude and a punishment\nthat threatened him, (according to Plato's phrase) grew valiant purely\nout of fear, and dreading the extremest inflictions, attempted great\nenterprises out of mere necessity.  Again, his greatest action was only\nthe killing of one king of Alba; while, as mere by-adventures and\npreludes, the other can name Sciron, Sinnis, Procrustes, and Corynetes;\nby reducing and killing of whom, he rid Greece of terrible oppressors,\nbefore any of them that were relieved knew who did it; moreover, he\nmight without any trouble as well have gone to Athens by sea,\nconsidering he himself never was in the least injured by those robbers;\nwhere as Romulus could not but be in trouble whilst Amulius lived.  Add\nto this the fact that Theseus, for no wrong done to himself, but for the\nsake of others, fell upon these villains; but Romulus and Remus, as long\nas they themselves suffered no ill by the tyrant, permitted him to\noppress all others.  And if it be a great thing to have been wounded in\nbattle by the Sabines, to have killed king Acron, and to have conquered\nmany enemies, we may oppose to these actions the battle with the\nCentaurs and the feats done against the Amazons.  But what Theseus\nadventured, in offering himself voluntarily with young boys and virgins,\nas part of the tribute unto Crete, either to be a prey to a monster or a\nvictim upon the tomb of Androgeus, or, according to the mildest form of\nthe story, to live vilely and dishonorably in slavery to insulting and\ncruel men; it is not to be expressed what an act of courage,\nmagnanimity, or justice to the public, or of love for honor and bravery,\nthat was.  So that methinks the philosophers did not ill define love to\nbe the provision of the gods for the care and preservation of the young;\nfor the love of Ariadne, above all, seems to have been the proper work\nand design of some god in order to preserve Theseus; and, indeed, we\nought not to blame her for loving him, but rather wonder all men and\nwomen were not alike affected towards him; and if she alone were so.\ntruly I dare pronounce her worthy of the love of a god, who was herself\nso great a lover of virtue and goodness, and the bravest man.\n\nBoth Theseus and Romulus were by nature meant for governors; yet neither\nlived up to the true character of a king, but fell off, and ran, the one\ninto popularity, the other into tyranny, falling both into the same\nfault out of different passions.  For a ruler's first end is to maintain\nhis office, which is done no less by avoiding what is unfit than by\nobserving what is suitable.  Whoever is either too remiss or too strict\nis no more a king or a governor, but either a demagogue or a despot, and\nso becomes either odious or contemptible to his subjects.  Though\ncertainly the one seems to be the fault of easiness and good-nature, the\nother of pride and severity.\n\nIf men's calamities, again, are not to be wholly imputed to fortune, but\nrefer themselves to differences of character, who will acquit either\nTheseus of rash and unreasonable anger against his son, or Romulus\nagainst his brother?  Looking at motives, we more easily excuse the\nanger which a stronger cause, like a severer blow, provoked.  Romulus,\nhaving disagreed with his brother advisedly and deliberately on public\nmatters, one would think could not on a sudden have been put into so\ngreat a passion; but love and jealousy and the complaints of his wife,\nwhich few men can avoid being moved by, seduced Theseus to commit that\noutrage upon his son.  And what is more, Romulus, in his anger,\ncommitted an action of unfortunate consequence; but that of Theseus\nended only in words, some evil speaking, and an old man's curse; the\nrest of the youth's disasters seem to have proceeded from fortune; so\nthat, so far, a man would give his vote on Theseus's part.\n\nBut Romulus has, first of all, one great plea, that his performances\nproceeded from very small beginnings; for both the brothers being\nthought servants and the sons of swineherds, before becoming freemen\nthemselves, gave liberty to almost all the Latins, obtaining at once all\nthe most honorable titles, as destroyers of their country's enemies,\npreservers of their friends and kindred, princes of the people, founders\nof cities, not removers, like Theseus, who raised and compiled only one\nhouse out of many, demolishing many cities bearing the names of ancient\nkings and heroes.  Romulus, indeed, did the same afterwards, forcing his\nenemies to deface and ruin their own dwellings, and to sojourn with\ntheir conquerors; but at first, not by removal, or increase of an\nexisting city, but by foundation of a new one, he obtained himself\nlands, a country, a kingdom, wives, children, and relations.  And, in so\ndoing, he killed or destroyed nobody, but benefited those that wanted\nhouses and homes and were willing to be of a society and become\ncitizens.  Robbers and malefactors he slew not; but he subdued nations,\nhe overthrew cities, he triumphed over kings and commanders.  As to\nRemus, it is doubtful by whose hand he fell; it is generally imputed to\nothers.  His mother he clearly retrieved from death, and placed his\ngrandfather who was brought under base and dishonorable vassalage, on\nthe ancient throne of Aeneas, to whom he did voluntarily many good\noffices, but never did him harm even inadvertently.  But Theseus, in his\nforgetfulness and neglect of the command concerning the flag, can\nscarcely, methinks, by any excuses, or before the most indulgent judges,\navoid the imputation of parricide.  And, indeed, one of the Attic\nwriters, perceiving it to be very hard to make an excuse for this,\nfeigns that Aegeus, at the approach of the ship, running hastily to the\nAcropolis to see what news, slipped and fell down, as if he had no\nservants, or none would attend him on his way to the shore.\n\nAnd, indeed, the faults committed in the rapes of women admit of no\nplausible excuse in Theseus.  First, because of the often repetition of\nthe crime; for he stole Ariadne, Antiope, Anaxo the Troezenian, at last\nHelen, when he was an old man, and she not marriageable; she a child,\nand he at an age past even lawful wedlock.  Then, on account of the\ncause; for the Troezenian, Lacedaemonian, and Amazonian virgins, beside\nthat they were not betrothed to him, were not worthier to raise children\nby than the Athenian women, derived from Erechtheus and Cecrops; but it\nis to be suspected these things were done out of wantonness and lust.\nRomulus, when he had taken near eight hundred women, chose not all, but\nonly Hersilia, as they say, for himself; the rest he divided among the\nchief of the city; and afterwards, by the respect and tenderness and\njustice shown towards them, he made it clear that this violence and\ninjury was a commendable and politic exploit to establish a society; by\nwhich he intermixed and united both nations, and made it the fountain of\nafter friendship and public stability.  And to the reverence and love\nand constancy he established in matrimony, time can witness; for in two\nhundred and thirty years, neither any husband deserted his wife, nor any\nwife her husband; but, as the curious among the Greeks can name the\nfirst case of parricide or matricide, so the Romans all well know that\nSpurius Carvilius was the first who put away his wife, accusing her of\nbarrenness.  The immediate results were similar; for upon those\nmarriages the two princes shared in the dominion, and both nations fell\nunder the same government.  But from the marriages of Theseus proceeded\nnothing of friendship or correspondence for the advantage of commerce,\nbut enmities and wars and the slaughter of citizens, and, at last, the\nloss of the city Aphidnae, when only out of the compassion of the enemy,\nwhom they entreated and caressed like gods, they escaped suffering what\nTroy did by Paris.  Theseus's mother, however, was not only in danger,\nbut suffered actually what Hecuba did, deserted and neglected by her\nson, unless her captivity be not a fiction, as I could wish both that\nand other things were.  The circumstances of the divine intervention,\nsaid to have preceded or accompanied their births, are also in contrast;\nfor Romulus was preserved by the special favor of the gods; but the\noracle given to Aegeus, commanding him to abstain, seems to demonstrate\nthat the birth of Theseus was not agreeable to the will of the gods.\n\n\n\nLYCURGUS\n\nThere is so much uncertainty in the accounts which historians have left\nus of Lycurgus, the lawgiver of Sparta, that scarcely anything is\nasserted by one of them which is not called into question or\ncontradicted by the rest.  Their sentiments are quite different as to\nthe family he came of, the voyages he undertook, the place and manner of\nhis death, but most of all when they speak of the laws he made and the\ncommonwealth which he founded.  They cannot, by any means, be brought to\nan agreement as to the very age in which he lived; for some of them say\nthat he flourished in the time of Iphitus, and that they two jointly\ncontrived the ordinance for the cessation of arms during the solemnity\nof the Olympic games.  Of this opinion was Aristotle; and for\nconfirmation of it, he alleges an inscription upon one of the copper\nquoits used in those sports, upon which the name of Lycurgus continued\nuneffaced to his time.  But Eratosthenes and Apollodorus and other\nchronologers, computing the time by the successions of the Spartan\nkings, pretend to demonstrate that he was much more ancient than the\ninstitution of the Olympic games.  Timaeus conjectures that there were\ntwo of this name, and in diverse times, but that the one of them being\nmuch more famous than the other, men gave to him the glory of the\nexploits of both; the elder of the two, according to him, was not long\nafter Homer; and some are so particular as to say that he had seen him.\nBut that he was of great antiquity may be gathered from a passage in\nXenophon, where he makes him contemporary with the Heraclidae.  By\ndescent, indeed, the very last kings of Sparta were Heraclidae too; but\nhe seems in that place to speak of the first and more immediate\nsuccessors of Hercules.  But notwithstanding this confusion and\nobscurity, we shall endeavor to compose the history of his life,\nadhering to those statements which are least contradicted, and depending\nupon those authors who are most worthy of credit.\n\nThe poet Simonides will have it that Lycurgus was the son of Prytanis,\nand not of Eunomus; but in this opinion he is singular, for all the rest\ndeduce the genealogy of them both as follows:--\n\n                           Aristodemus\n                            Patrocles\n                              Sous\n                             Eurypon\n                             Eunomus\n            ------------------------------------------\nPolydectes by his first wife           Lycurgus by Dionassa his second.\n\nDieuchidas says he was the sixth from Patrocles and the eleventh from\nHercules.  Be this as it will, Sous certainly was the most renowned of\nall his ancestors, under whose conduct the Spartans made slaves of the\nHelots, and added to their dominions, by conquest, a good part of\nArcadia, There goes a story of this king Sous, that, being besieged by\nthe Clitorians in a dry and stony place so that he could come at no\nwater, he was at last constrained to agree with them upon these terms,\nthat he would restore to them all his conquests, provided that himself\nand all his men should drink of the nearest spring.  After the usual\noaths and ratifications, he called his soldiers together, and offered to\nhim that would forbear drinking, his kingdom for a reward; and when not\na man of them was able to forbear, in short, when they had all drunk\ntheir fill, at last comes king Sous himself to the spring, and, having\nsprinkled his face only, without swallowing one drop, marches off in the\nface of his enemies, refusing to yield up his conquests, because himself\nand all his men had not, according to the articles,\ndrunk of their water.\n\nAlthough he was justly had in admiration on this account, yet his family\nwas not surnamed from him, but from his son Eurypon (of whom they were\ncalled Eurypontids); the reason of which was that Eurypon relaxed the\nrigor of the monarchy, seeking favor and popularity with the many.\nThey, after this first step, grew bolder; and the succeeding kings\npartly incurred hatred with their people by trying to use force, or, for\npopularity's sake and through weakness, gave way; and anarchy and\nconfusion long prevailed in Sparta, causing, moreover, the death of the\nfather of Lycurgus.  For as he was endeavoring to quell a riot, he was\nstabbed with a butcher's knife, and left the title of king\nto his eldest son Polydectes.\n\nHe, too, dying soon after, the right of succession (as every one\nthought) rested in Lycurgus; and reign he did, until it was found that\nthe queen, his sister-in-law, was with child; upon which he immediately\ndeclared that the kingdom belonged to her issue, provided it were male,\nand that he himself exercised the regal jurisdiction only as his\nguardian; the Spartan name for which office is prodicus.  Soon after, an\noverture was made to him by the queen, that she would herself in some\nway destroy the infant, upon condition that he would marry her when he\ncame to the crown.  Abhorring the woman's wickedness, he nevertheless\ndid not reject her proposal, but, making show of closing with her,\ndispatched the messenger with thanks and expressions of joy, but\ndissuaded her earnestly from procuring herself to miscarry, which would\nimpair her health, if not endanger her life; he himself, he said, would\nsee to it, that the child, as soon as born, should be taken out of the\nway.  By such artifices having drawn on the woman to the time of her\nlying-in, as soon as he heard that she was in labor, he sent persons to\nbe by and observe all that passed, with orders that if it were a girl\nthey should deliver it to the women, but if a boy, should bring it to\nhim wheresoever he were, and whatsoever doing.  It so fell out that when\nhe was at supper with the principal magistrates the queen was brought to\nbed of a boy, who was soon after presented to him as he was at the\ntable; he, taking him into his arms, said to those about him, \"Men of\nSparta, here is a king born unto us;\" this said, he laid him down in\nthe king's place, and named him Charilaus, that is, the joy of the\npeople; because that all were transported with joy and with wonder at\nhis noble and just spirit.  His reign had lasted only eight months, but\nhe was honored on other accounts by the citizens, and there were more\nwho obeyed him because of his eminent virtues, than because he was\nregent to the king and had the royal power in his hands.  Some, however,\nenvied and sought to impede his growing influence while he was still\nyoung; chiefly the kindred and friends of the queen mother, who\npretended to have been dealt with injuriously.  Her brother Leonidas, in\na warm debate which fell out betwixt him and Lycurgus, went so far as to\ntell him to his face that he was well assured that ere long he should\nsee him king; suggesting suspicions and preparing the way for an\naccusation of him, as though he had made away with his nephew, if the\nchild should chance to fail though by a natural death.  Words of the\nlike import were designedly cast abroad by the queen-mother\nand her adherents.\n\nTroubled at this, and not knowing what it might come to, he thought it\nhis wisest course to avoid their envy by a voluntary exile, and to\ntravel from place to place until his nephew came to marriageable years,\nand, by having a son, had secured the succession; setting sail,\ntherefore, with this resolution, he first arrived at Crete, where,\nhaving considered their several forms of government, and got an\nacquaintance with the principal men amongst them, some of their laws he\nvery much approved of, and resolved to make use of them in his own\ncountry; a good part he rejected as useless.  Amongst the persons there\nthe most renowned for their learning all their wisdom in state matters\nwas one Thales, whom Lycurgus, by importunities and assurances of\nfriendship, persuaded to go over to Lacedaemon; where, though by his\noutward appearance and his own profession he seemed to be no other than\na lyric poet, in reality he performed the part of one of the ablest\nlawgivers in the world.  The very songs which he composed were\nexhortations to obedience and concord, and the very measure and cadence\nof the verse, conveying impressions of order and tranquility, had so\ngreat an influence on the minds of the listeners, that they were\ninsensibly softened and civilized, insomuch that they renounced their\nprivate feuds and animosities, and were reunited in a common admiration\nof virtue.  So that it may truly be said that Thales prepared the way\nfor the discipline introduced by Lycurgus.\n\nFrom Crete he sailed to Asia, with design, as is said, to examine the\ndifference betwixt the manners and rules of life of the Cretans, which\nwere very sober and temperate, and those of the Ionians, a people of\nsumptuous and delicate habits, and so to form a judgment; just as\nphysicians do by comparing healthy and diseased bodies.  Here he had the\nfirst sight of Homer's works, in the hands, we may suppose, of the\nposterity of Creophylus; and, having observed that the few loose\nexpressions and actions of ill example which are to be found in his\npoems were much outweighed by serious lessons of state and rules of\nmorality, he set himself eagerly to transcribe and digest them into\norder, as thinking they would be of good use in his own country.  They\nhad, indeed, already obtained some slight repute amongst the Greeks, and\nscattered portions, as chance conveyed them, were in the hands of\nindividuals; but Lycurgus first made them really known.\n\nThe Egyptians say that he took a voyage into Egypt, and that, being much\ntaken with their way of separating the soldiery from the rest of the\nnation, he transferred it from them to Sparta, a removal from contact\nwith those employed in low and mechanical occupations giving high\nrefinement and beauty to the state.  Some Greek writers also record\nthis.  But as for his voyages into Spain, Africa, and the Indies, and\nhis conferences there with the Gymnosophists, the whole relation, as far\nas I can find, rests on the single credit of the Spartan Aristocrates,\nthe son of Hipparchus.\n\nLycurgus was much missed at Sparta, and often sent for, \"for kings\nindeed we have,\" they said, \"who wear the marks and assume the titles of\nroyalty, but as for the qualities of their minds, they have nothing by\nwhich they are to be distinguished from their subjects;\" adding, that in\nhim alone was the true foundation of sovereignty to be seen, a nature\nmade to rule, and a genius to gain obedience.  Nor were the kings\nthemselves averse to see him back, for they looked upon his presence as\na bulwark against the insolencies of the people.\n\nThings being in this posture at his return, he applied himself, without\nloss of time, to a thorough reformation and resolved to change the whole\nface of the commonwealth; for what could a few particular laws and a\npartial alteration avail?  He must act as wise physicians do, in the\ncase of one who labors under a complication of diseases, by force of\nmedicines reduce and exhaust him, change his whole temperament, and then\nset him upon a totally new regimen of diet.  Having thus projected\nthings, away he goes to Delphi to consult Apollo there; which having\ndone, and offered his sacrifice, he returned with that renowned oracle,\nin which he is called beloved of God, and rather God than man; that his\nprayers were heard, that his laws should be the best, and the\ncommonwealth which observed them the most famous in the world.\nEncouraged by these things, he set himself to bring over to his side the\nleading men of Sparta, exhorting them to give him a helping hand in his\ngreat undertaking; he broke it first to his particular friends, and then\nby degrees gained others, and animated them all to put his design in\nexecution.  When things were ripe for action, he gave order to thirty of\nthe principal men of Sparta to be ready armed at the market-place by\nbreak of day, to the end that he might strike a terror into the opposite\nparty.  Hermippus hath set down the names of twenty of the most eminent\nof them; but the name of him whom Lycurgus most confided in, and who was\nof most use to him, both in making his laws and putting them in\nexecution, was Arthmiadas.  Things growing to a tumult, king Charilaus,\napprehending that it was a conspiracy against his person, took sanctuary\nin the temple of Minerva of the Brazen House; but, being soon after\nundeceived, and having taken an oath of them that they had no designs\nagainst him, he quitted his refuge, and himself also entered into the\nconfederacy with them; of so gentle and flexible a disposition he was,\nto which Archelaus, his brother-king, alluded, when, hearing him\nextolled for his goodness, he said, \"Who can say he is anything but\ngood? he is so even to the bad.\"\n\nAmongst the many changes and alterations which Lycurgus made, the first\nand of greatest importance was the establishment of the senate, which,\nhaving a power equal to the kings' in matters of great consequence, and,\nas Plato expresses it, allaying and qualifying the fiery genius of the\nroyal office, gave steadiness and safety to the commonwealth.  For the\nstate, which before had no firm basis to stand upon, but leaned one\nwhile towards an absolute monarchy, when the kings had the upper hand,\nand another while towards a pure democracy, when the people had the\nbetter, found in this establishment of the senate a central weight, like\nballast in a ship, which always kept things in a just equilibrium; the\ntwenty-eight always adhering to the kings so far as to resist democracy,\nand, on the other hand, supporting the people against the establishment\nof absolute monarchy.  As for the determinate number of twenty-eight,\nAristotle states, that it so fell out because two of the original\nassociates, for want of courage, fell off from the enterprise; but\nSphaerus assures us that there were but twenty-eight of the confederates\nat first; perhaps there is some mystery in the number, which consists of\nseven multiplied by four, and is the first of perfect numbers after six,\nbeing, as that is, equal to all its parts.  For my part, I believe\nLycurgus fixed upon the number of twenty-eight, that, the two kings\nbeing reckoned amongst them, they might be thirty in all.  So eagerly\nset was he upon this establishment, that he took the trouble to obtain\nan oracle about it from Delphi, the Rhetra, which runs thus: \"After that\nyou have built a temple to Jupiter Hellanius, and to Minerva Hellania,\nand after that you have phyle'd the people phyles, and obe'd them into\nobes, you shall establish a council of thirty elders, the leaders\nincluded, and shall, from time to time, apellazein the people betwixt\nBabyca and Cnacion, there propound and put to the vote.  The commons\nhave the final voice and decision. \" By phyles and obes are meant the\ndivisions of the people; by the leaders, the two kings; apellazein,\nreferring to the Pythian Apollo, signifies to assemble; Babyca and\nCnacion they now call Oenus; Aristotle says Cnacion is a river, and\nBabyca a bridge.  Betwixt this Babyca and Cnacion, their assemblies were\nheld, for they had no council-house or building, to meet in.  Lycurgus\nwas of opinion that ornaments were so far from advantaging them in their\ncounsels, that they were rather an hindrance, by diverting their\nattention from the business before them to statues and pictures, and\nroofs curiously fretted, the usual embellishments of such places amongst\nthe other Greeks.  The people then being thus assembled in the open air,\nit was not allowed to any one of their order to give his advice, but\nonly either to ratify or reject what should be propounded to them by\nthe king or senate.  But because it fell out afterwards that the people,\nby adding or omitting words, distorted and perverted the sense of\npropositions, kings Polydorus and Theopompus inserted into the Rhetra,\nor grand covenant, the following clause: \"That if the people decide\ncrookedly, it should be lawful for the elders and leaders to dissolve;\"\nthat is to say, refuse ratification, and dismiss the people as depravers\nand perverters of their counsel.  It passed among the people, by their\nmanagement, as being equally authentic with the rest of the Rhetra, as\nappears by these verses of Tyrtaeus,--\n\nThese oracles they from Apollo heard,\nAnd brought from Pytho home the perfect word:\nThe heaven-appointed kings, who love the land,\nShall foremost in the nation's council stand;\nThe elders next to them; the commons last;\nLet a straight Rhetra among all be passed.\n\nAlthough Lycurgus had, in this manner, used all the qualifications\npossible in the constitution of his commonwealth, yet those who\nsucceeded him found the oligarchical element still too strong and\ndominant, and, to check its high temper and its violence, put, as Plato\nsays, a bit in its mouth, which was the power of the ephori, established\none hundred and thirty years after the death of Lycurgus.  Elatus and his\ncolleagues were the first who had this dignity conferred upon them, in\nthe reign of king Theopompus, who, when his queen upbraided him one day\nthat he would leave the regal power to his children less than he had\nreceived it from his ancestors, said, in answer, \"No, greater; for it\nwill last longer.\"  For, indeed, their prerogative being thus reduced\nwithin reasonable bounds, the Spartan kings were at once freed from all\nfurther jealousies and consequent danger, and never experienced the\ncalamities of their neighbors at Messene and Argos, who, by maintaining\ntheir prerogative too strictly, for want of yielding a little to the\npopulace, lost it all.\n\nIndeed, whosoever shall look at the sedition and misgovernment which\nbefell these bordering nations to whom they were as near related in\nblood as situation, will find in them the best reason to admire the\nwisdom and foresight of Lycurgus.  For these three states, in their\nfirst rise, were equal, or, if there were any odds, they lay on the side\nof the Messenians and Argives, who, in the first allotment, were thought\nto have been luckier than the Spartans; yet was their happiness but of\nsmall continuance, partly the tyrannical temper of their kings and\npartly the ungovernableness of the people quickly bringing upon them\nsuch disorders, and so complete an overthrow of all existing\ninstitutions, as clearly to show how truly divine a blessing the\nSpartans had had in that wise lawgiver who gave their government its\nhappy balance and temper.\nBut of this I shall say more in its due place.\n\nAfter the creation of the thirty senators, his next task, and, indeed,\nthe most hazardous he ever undertook, was the making a new division of\ntheir lands.  For there was an extreme inequality amongst them, and\ntheir state was overloaded with a multitude of indigent and necessitous\npersons, while its whole wealth had centered upon a very few.  To the\nend, therefore, that he might expel from the state arrogance and envy,\nluxury and crime, and those yet more inveterate diseases of want and\nsuperfluity, he obtained of them to renounce their properties, and to\nconsent to a new division of the land, and that they should live all\ntogether on an equal footing; merit to be their only road to eminence,\nand the disgrace of evil, and credit of worthy acts, their one measure\nof difference between man and man.\n\nUpon their consent to these proposals, proceeding at once to put them\ninto execution, he divided the country of Laconia in general into thirty\nthousand equal shares, and the part attached to the city of Sparta into\nnine thousand; these he distributed among the Spartans, as he did the\nothers to the country citizens.  Some authors say that he made but six\nthousand lots for the citizens of Sparta, and that king Polydorus added\nthree thousand more.  Others say that Polydorus doubled the number\nLycurgus had made, which, according to them, was but four thousand five\nhundred.  A lot was so much as to yield, one year with another, about\nseventy bushels of grain for the master of the family, and twelve for\nhis wife, with a suitable proportion of oil and wine.  And this he\nthought sufficient to keep their bodies in good health and strength;\nsuperfluities they were better without.  It is reported, that, as he\nreturned from a journey shortly after the division of the lands, in\nharvest time, the ground being newly reaped, seeing the stacks all\nstanding equal and alike, he smiled, and said to those about him,\n\"Methinks all Laconia looks like one family estate just divided among a\nnumber of brothers.\"\n\nNot contented with this, he resolved to make a division of their\nmovables too, that there might be no odious distinction or inequality\nleft amongst them; but finding that it would be very dangerous to go\nabout it openly, he took another course, and defeated their avarice by\nthe following stratagem: he commanded that all gold and silver coin\nshould be called in, and that only a sort of money made of iron should\nbe current, a great weight and quantity of which was but very little\nworth; so that to lay up twenty or thirty pounds there was required a\npretty large closet, and, to remove it, nothing less than a yoke of\noxen.  With the diffusion of this money, at once a number of vices were\nbanished from Lacedaemon; for who would rob another of such a coin?  Who\nwould unjustly detain or take by force, or accept as a bribe, a thing\nwhich it was not easy to hide, nor a credit to have, nor indeed of any\nuse to cut in pieces?  For when it was just red hot, they quenched it in\nvinegar, and by that means spoilt it,\nand made it almost incapable of being worked.\n\nIn the next place, he declared an outlawry of all needless and\nsuperfluous arts; but here he might almost have spared his proclamation;\nfor they of themselves would have gone after the gold and silver, the\nmoney which remained being not so proper payment for curious work; for,\nbeing of iron, it was scarcely portable, neither, if they should take\nthe pains to export it, would it pass amongst the other Greeks, who\nridiculed it.  So there was now no more means of purchasing foreign\ngoods and small wares; merchants sent no shiploads into Laconian ports;\nno rhetoric-master, no itinerant fortune-teller, no harlot-monger or\ngold or silversmith, engraver, or jeweler, set foot in a country which\nhad no money; so that luxury, deprived little by little of that which\nfed and fomented it, wasted to nothing, and died away of itself.  For\nthe rich had no advantage here over the poor, as their wealth and\nabundance had no road to come abroad by, but were shut up at home doing\nnothing.  And in this way they became excellent artists in common,\nnecessary things; bedsteads, chairs, and tables, and such like staple\nutensils in a family, were admirably well made there; their cup,\nparticularly, was very much in fashion, and eagerly bought up by\nsoldiers, as Critias reports; for its color was such as to prevent\nwater, drunk upon necessity and disagreeable to look at, from being\nnoticed; and the shape of it was such that the mud stuck to the sides,\nso that only the purer part came to the drinker's mouth.  For this,\nalso, they had to thank their lawgiver, who, by relieving the artisans\nof the trouble of making useless things, set them to show their skill in\ngiving beauty to those of daily and indispensable use.\n\nThe third and most masterly stroke of this great lawgiver, by which he\nstruck a yet more effectual blow against luxury and the desire of\nriches, was the ordinance he made, that they should all eat in common,\nof the same bread and same meat, and of kinds that were specified, and\nshould not spend their lives at home, laid on costly couches at splendid\ntables, delivering themselves up into the hands of their tradesmen and\ncooks, to fatten them in corners, like greedy brutes, and to ruin not\ntheir minds only but their very bodies, which, enfeebled by indulgence\nand excess, would stand in need of long sleep, warm bathing, freedom\nfrom work, and, in a word, of as much care and attendance as if they\nwere continually sick.  It was certainly an extraordinary thing to have\nbrought about such a result as this, but a greater yet to have taken\naway from wealth, as Theophrastus observes, not merely the property of\nbeing coveted, but its very nature of being wealth.  For the rich, being\nobliged to go to the same table with the poor, could not make use of or\nenjoy their abundance, nor so much as please their vanity by looking at\nor displaying it.  So that the common proverb, that Plutus, the god of\nriches, is blind, was nowhere in all the world literally verified but in\nSparta.  There, indeed, he was not only blind, but like a picture,\nwithout either life or motion.  Nor were they allowed to take food at\nhome first, and then attend the public tables, for every one had an eye\nupon those who did not eat and drink like the rest, and reproached them\nwith being dainty and effeminate.\n\nThis last ordinance in particular exasperated the wealthier men.  They\ncollected in a body against Lycurgus, and from ill words came to\nthrowing stones, so that at length he was forced to run out of the\nmarketplace, and make to sanctuary to save his life; by good-hap he\noutran all excepting one Alcander, a young man otherwise not ill\naccomplished, but hasty and violent, who came up so close to him, that,\nwhen he turned to see who was near him, he struck him upon the face with\nhis stick, and put out one of his eyes.  Lycurgus, so far from being\ndaunted and discouraged by this accident, stopped short, and showed his\ndisfigured face and eye beat out to his countrymen; they, dismayed and\nashamed at the sight, delivered Alcander into his hands to be punished,\nand escorted him home, with expressions of great concern for his ill\nusage.  Lycurgus, having thanked them for their care of his person,\ndismissed them all, excepting only Alcander; and, taking him with him\ninto his house, neither did nor said anything severely to him, but,\ndismissing those whose place it was bade Alcander to wait upon him at\ntable.  The young man who was of an ingenuous temper, without murmuring\ndid as he was commanded; and, being thus admitted to live with Lycurgus,\nhe had an opportunity to observe in him, besides his gentleness and\ncalmness of temper, an extraordinary sobriety and an indefatigable\nindustry, and so, from an enemy, became one of his most zealous\nadmirers, and told his friends and relations that Lycurgus was not that\nmorose and ill-natured man they had formerly taken him for, but the one\nmild and gentle character of the world.  And thus did Lycurgus, for\nchastisement of his fault, make of a wild and passionate young man one\nof the discreetest citizens of Sparta.\n\nIn memory of this accident, Lycurgus built a temple to Minerva, surnamed\nOptiletis; optilus being the Doric of these parts for ophthalmus, the\neye.  Some authors, however, of whom Dioscorides is one (who wrote a\ntreatise on the commonwealth of Sparta), say that he was wounded indeed,\nbut did not lose his eye with the blow; and that he built the temple in\ngratitude for the cure.  Be this as it will, certain it is, that, after\nthis misadventure, the Lacedaemonians made it a rule never to carry so\nmuch as a staff into their public assemblies.\n\nBut to return to their public repasts;--these had several names in\nGreek; the Cretans called them andria, because the men only came to\nthem.  The Lacedaemonians called them phiditia, that is, by changing l\ninto d, the same as philitia, love feasts, because that, by eating and\ndrinking together, they had opportunity of making friends.  Or perhaps\nfrom phido, parsimony, because they were so many schools of sobriety; or\nperhaps the first letter is an addition, and the word at first was\neditia, from edode, eating.  They met by companies of fifteen, more or\nless, and each of them stood bound to bring in monthly a bushel of meal,\neight gallons of wine, five pounds of cheese, two pounds and a half of\nfigs, and some very small sum of money to buy flesh or fish with.\nBesides this, when any of them made sacrifice to the gods, they always\nsent a dole to the common hall; and, likewise, when any of them had been\na hunting, he sent thither a part of the venison he had killed; for\nthese two occasions were the only excuses allowed for supping at home.\nThe custom of eating together was observed strictly for a great while\nafterwards; insomuch that king Agis himself, after having vanquished the\nAthenians, sending for his commons at his return home, because he\ndesired to eat privately with his queen, was refused them by the\npolemarchs; which refusal when he resented so much as to omit next day\nthe sacrifice due for a war happily ended, they made him pay a fine.\n\nThey used to send their children to these tables as to schools of\ntemperance; here they were instructed in state affairs by listening to\nexperienced statesmen; here they learnt to converse with pleasantry, to\nmake jests without scurrility, and take them without ill humor.  In this\npoint of good breeding, the Lacedaemonians excelled particularly, but if\nany man were uneasy under it, upon the least hint given there was no\nmore to be said to him.  It was customary also for the eldest man in the\ncompany to say to each of them, as they came in, \"Through this\"\n(pointing to the door), \"no words go out.\"  When any one had a desire to\nbe admitted into any of these little societies; he was to go through the\nfollowing probation, each man in the company took a little ball of soft\nbread, which they were to throw into a deep basin, which a waiter\ncarried round upon his head; those that liked the person to be chosen\ndropped their ball into the basin without altering its figure, and those\nwho disliked him pressed it between their fingers, and made it flat; and\nthis signified as much as a negative voice.  And if there were but one\nof these pieces in the basin, the suitor was rejected, so desirous were\nthey that all the members of the company should be agreeable to each\nother.  The basin was called caddichus, and the rejected candidate had a\nname thence derived.  Their most famous dish was the black broth, which\nwas so much valued that the elderly men fed only upon that, leaving what\nflesh there was to the younger.\n\nThey say that a certain king of Pontus, having heard much of this black\nbroth of theirs, sent for a Lacedaemonian cook on purpose to make him\nsome, but had no sooner tasted it than he found it extremely bad, which\nthe cook observing, told him, \"Sir, to make this broth relish, you\nshould have bathed yourself first in the river Eurotas.\"\n\nAfter drinking moderately, every man went to his home without lights,\nfor the use of them was, on all occasions, forbid, to the end that they\nmight accustom themselves to march boldly in the dark.  Such was the\ncommon fashion of their meals.\n\nLycurgus would never reduce his laws into writing; nay, there is a\nRhetra expressly to forbid it.  For he thought that the most material\npoints, and such as most directly tended to the public welfare, being\nimprinted on the hearts of their youth by a good discipline, would be\nsure to remain, and would find a stronger security, than any compulsion\nwould be, in the principles of action formed in them by their best\nlawgiver, education.  And as for things of lesser importance, as\npecuniary contracts, and such like, the forms of which have to be\nchanged as occasion requires, he thought it the best way to prescribe no\npositive rule or inviolable usage in such cases, willing that their\nmanner and form should be altered according to the circumstances of\ntime, and determinations of men of sound judgment.  Every end and object\nof law and enactment it was his design education should effect.\n\nOne, then, of the Rhetras was, that their laws should not be written;\nanother is particularly leveled against luxury and expensiveness, for by\nit it was ordained that the ceilings of their houses should only be\nwrought by the axe, and their gates and doors smoothed only by the saw.\nEpaminondas's famous dictum about his own table, that \"Treason and a\ndinner like this do not keep company together,\" may be said to have been\nanticipated by Lycurgus.  Luxury and a house of this kind could not well\nbe companions.  For a man must have a less than ordinary share of sense\nthat would furnish such plain and common rooms with silver-footed\ncouches and purple coverlets and gold and silver plate.  Doubtless he\nhad good reason to think that they would proportion their beds to their\nhouses, and their coverlets to their beds, and the rest of their goods\nand furniture to these.  It is reported that king Leotychides, the first\nof that name, was so little used to the sight of any other kind of work,\nthat, being entertained at Corinth in a stately room, he was much\nsurprised to see the timber and ceiling so finely carved and paneled,\nand asked his host whether the trees grew so in his country.\n\nA third ordinance or Rhetra was, that they should not make war often, or\nlong, with the same enemy, lest that they should train and instruct them\nin war, by habituating them to defend themselves.  And this is what\nAgesilaus was much blamed for, a long time after; it being thought,\nthat, by his continual incursions into Boeotia, he made the Thebans a\nmatch for the Lacedaemonians; and therefore Antalcidas, seeing him\nwounded one day, said to him, that he was very well paid for taking such\npains to make the Thebans good soldiers, whether they would or no.\nThese laws were called the Rhetras, to intimate that they were divine\nsanctions and revelations.\n\nIn order to the good education of their youth (which, as I said before,\nhe thought the most important and noblest work of a lawgiver), he went\nso far back as to take into consideration their very conception and\nbirth, by regulating their marriages.  For Aristotle is wrong in saying,\nthat, after he had tried all ways to reduce the women to more modesty\nand sobriety, he was at last forced to leave them as they were, because\nthat, in the absence of their husbands, who spent the best part of their\nlives in the wars, their wives, whom they were obliged to leave absolute\nmistresses at home, took great liberties and assumed the superiority;\nand were treated with overmuch respect and called by the title of lady\nor queen.  The truth is, he took in their case, also, all the care that\nwas possible; he ordered the maidens to exercise themselves with\nwrestling, running, throwing the quoit, and casting the dart, to the end\nthat the fruit they conceived might, in strong and healthy bodies, take\nfirmer root and find better growth, and withal that they, with this\ngreater vigor, might be the more able to undergo the pains of child-\nbearing.  And to the end he might take away their over-great tenderness\nand fear of exposure to the air, and all acquired womanishness, he\nordered that the young women should go naked in the processions, as well\nas the young men, and dance, too, in that condition, at certain solemn\nfeasts, singing certain songs, whilst the young men stood around, seeing\nand hearing them.  On these occasions, they now and then made, by jests,\na befitting reflection upon those who had misbehaved themselves in the\nwars; and again sang encomiums upon those who had done any gallant\naction, and by these means inspired the younger sort with an emulation\nof their glory.  Those that were thus commended went away proud, elated,\nand gratified with their honor among the maidens; and those who were\nrallied were as sensibly touched with it as if they had been formally\nreprimanded; and so much the more, because the kings and the elders, as\nwell as the rest of the city, saw and heard all that passed.  Nor was\nthere any thing shameful in this nakedness of the young women; modesty\nattended them, and all wantonness was excluded.  It taught them\nsimplicity and a care for good health, and gave them some taste of\nhigher feelings, admitted as they thus were to the field of noble action\nand glory.  Hence it was natural for them to think and speak as Gorgo,\nfor example, the wife of Leonidas, is said to have done, when some\nforeign lady, as it would seem, told her that the women of Lacedaemon\nwere the only women of the world who could rule men; \"With good\nreason,\" she said, \"for we are the only women who bring forth men.\"\n\nThese public processions of the maidens, and their appearing naked in\ntheir exercises and dancings, were incitements to marriage, operating\nupon the young with the rigor and certainty, as Plato says, of love, if\nnot of mathematics.  But besides all this, to promote it yet more\neffectually, those who continued bachelors were in a degree\ndisfranchised by law; for they were excluded from the sight of those\npublic processions in which the young men and maidens danced naked, and,\nin wintertime, the officers compelled them to march naked themselves\nround the market-place, singing as they went a certain song to their own\ndisgrace, that they justly suffered this punishment for disobeying the\nlaws.  Moreover, they were denied that respect and observance which the\nyounger men paid their elders; and no man, for example, found fault with\nwhat was said to Dercyllidas, though so eminent a commander; upon whose\napproach one day, a young man, instead of rising, retained his seat,\nremarking, \"No child of yours will make room for me. \"\n\nIn their marriages, the husband carried off his bride by a sort of\nforce; nor were their brides ever small and of tender years, but in\ntheir full bloom and ripeness.  After this, she who superintended the\nwedding comes and clips the hair of the bride close round her head,\ndresses her up in man's clothes, and leaves her upon a mattress in the\ndark; afterwards comes the bridegroom, in his every-day clothes, sober\nand composed, as having supped at the common table, and, entering\nprivately into the room where the bride lies, unties her virgin zone,\nand takes her to himself; and, after staying some time together, he\nreturns composedly to his own apartment, to sleep as usual with the\nother young men.  And so he continues to do, spending his days, and,\nindeed, his nights with them, visiting his bride in fear and shame, and\nwith circumspection, when he thought he should not be observed; she,\nalso, on her part, using her wit to help and find favorable\nopportunities for their meeting, when company was out of the way.  In\nthis manner they lived a long time, insomuch that they sometimes had\nchildren by their wives before ever they saw their faces by daylight.\nTheir interviews, being thus difficult and rare, served not only for\ncontinual exercise of their self-control, but brought them together with\ntheir bodies healthy and vigorous, and their affections fresh and\nlively, unsated and undulled by easy access and long continuance with\neach other; while their partings were always early enough to leave\nbehind unextinguished in each of them some remainder fire of longing and\nmutual delight.  After guarding marriage with this modesty and reserve,\nhe was equally careful to banish empty and womanish jealousy.  For this\nobject, excluding all licentious disorders, he made it, nevertheless,\nhonorable for men to give the use of their wives to those whom they\nshould think fit, that so they might have children by them; ridiculing\nthose in whose opinion such favors are so unfit for participation as to\nfight and shed blood and go to war about it.  Lycurgus allowed a man who\nwas advanced in years and had a young wife to recommend some virtuous\nand approved young man, that she might have a child by him, who might\ninherit the good qualities of the father, and be a son to himself.  On\nthe other side, an honest man who had love for a married woman upon\naccount of her modesty and the wellfavoredness of her children, might,\nwithout formality, beg her company of her husband, that he might raise,\nas it were, from this plot of good ground, worthy and well-allied\nchildren for himself.  And, indeed, Lycurgus was of a persuasion that\nchildren were not so much the property of their parents as of the whole\ncommonwealth, and, therefore, would not have his citizens begot by the\nfirst comers, but by the best men that could be found; the laws of other\nnations seemed to him very absurd and inconsistent, where people would\nbe so solicitous for their dogs and horses as to exert interest and pay\nmoney to procure fine breeding, and yet kept their wives shut up, to be\nmade mothers only by themselves, who might be foolish, infirm, or\ndiseased; as if it were not apparent that children of a bad breed would\nprove their bad qualities first upon those who kept and were rearing\nthem, and well-born children, in like manner, their good qualities.\nThese regulations, founded on natural and social grounds, were certainly\nso far from that scandalous liberty which was afterwards charged upon\ntheir women, that they knew not what adultery meant.  It is told, for\ninstance, of Geradas, a very ancient, Spartan, that, being asked by a\nstranger what punishment their law had appointed for adulterers, he\nanswered, \"There are no adulterers in our country.\"  \"But,\" replied the\nstranger, \"suppose there were ?\"  \"Then,\" answered he, \"the offender\nwould have to give the plaintiff a bull with a neck so long as that he\nmight drink from the top of Taygetus of the Eurotas river below it.\"\nThe man, surprised at this, said, \"Why, 'tis impossible to find such a\nbull.\"  Geradas smilingly replied, \"'Tis as possible as to find an\nadulterer in Sparta.\"  So much I had to say of their marriages.\n\nNor was it in the power of the father to dispose of the child as he\nthought fit; he was obliged to carry it before certain triers at a place\ncalled Lesche; these were some of the elders of the tribe to which the\nchild belonged; their business it was carefully to view the infant, and,\nif they found it stout and well made, they gave order for its rearing,\nand allotted to it one of the nine thousand shares of land above\nmentioned for its maintenance, but, if they found it puny and ill-\nshaped, ordered it to be taken to what was called the Apothetae, a sort\nof chasm under Taygetus; as thinking it neither for the good of the\nchild itself, nor for the public interest, that it should be brought up,\nif it did not, from the very outset, appear made to be healthy and\nvigorous.  Upon the same account, the women did not bathe the new-born\nchildren with water, as is the custom in all other countries, but with\nwine, to prove the temper and complexion of their bodies; from a notion\nthey had that epileptic and weakly children faint and waste away upon\ntheir being thus bathed, while, on the contrary, those of a strong and\nvigorous habit acquire firmness and get a temper by it, like steel.\nThere was much care and art, too, used by the nurses; they had no\nswaddling bands; the children grew up free and unconstrained in limb and\nform, and not dainty and fanciful about their food; not afraid in the\ndark, or of being left alone; without any peevishness or ill humor or\ncrying.  Upon this account, Spartan nurses were often bought up, or\nhired by people of other countries; and it is recorded that she who\nsuckled Alcibiades was a Spartan; who, however, if fortunate in his\nnurse, was not so in his preceptor; his guardian, Pericles, as Plato\ntells us, chose a servant for that office called Zopyrus,\nno better than any common slave.\n\nLycurgus was of another mind; he would not have masters bought out of\nthe market for his young Spartans, nor such as should sell their pains;\nnor was it lawful, indeed, for the father himself to breed up the\nchildren after his own fancy; but as soon as they were seven years old\nthey were to be enrolled in certain companies and classes, where they\nall lived under the same order and discipline, doing their exercises and\ntaking their play together.  Of these, he who showed the most conduct\nand courage was made captain; they had their eyes always upon him,\nobeyed his orders, and underwent patiently whatsoever punishment he\ninflicted; so that the whole course of their education was one continued\nexercise of a ready and perfect obedience.  The old men, too, were\nspectators of their performances, and often raised quarrels and disputes\namong them, to have a good opportunity of finding out their different\ncharacters, and of seeing which would be valiant, which a coward, when\nthey should come to more dangerous encounters.  Reading and writing they\ngave them, just enough to serve their turn; their chief care was to make\nthem good subjects, and to teach them to endure pain and conquer in\nbattle.  To this end, as they grew in years, their discipline was\nproportionably increased; their heads were close-clipped, they were\naccustomed to go bare-foot, and for the most part to play naked.\n\nAfter they were twelve years old, they were no longer allowed to wear\nany under-garment; they had one coat to serve them a year; their bodies\nwere hard and dry, with but little acquaintance of baths and unguents;\nthese human indulgences they were allowed only on some few particular\ndays in the year.  They lodged together in little bands upon beds made\nof the rushes which grew by the banks of the river Eurotas, which they\nwere to break off with their hands without a knife; if it were winter,\nthey mingled some thistle-down with their rushes, which it was thought\nhad the property of giving warmth.  By the time they were come to this\nage, there was not any of the more hopeful boys who had not a lover to\nbear him company.  The old men, too, had an eye upon them, coming often\nto the grounds to hear and see them contend either in wit or strength\nwith one another, and this as seriously and with as much concern as if\nthey were their fathers, their tutors, or their magistrates; so that\nthere scarcely was any time or place without someone present to put\nthem in mind of their duty, and punish them if they had neglected it.\n\nBesides all this, there was always one of the best and honestest men in\nthe city appointed to undertake the charge and governance of them; he\nagain arranged them into their several bands, and set over each of them\nfor their captain the most temperate and boldest of those they called\nIrens, who were usually twenty years old, two years out of the boys; and\nthe eldest of the boys, again, were Mell-Irens, as much as to say, who\nwould shortly be men.  This young man, therefore, was their captain when\nthey fought, and their master at home, using them for the offices of his\nhouse; sending the oldest of them to fetch wood, and the weaker and less\nable, to gather salads and herbs, and these they must either go without\nor steal; which they did by creeping into the gardens, or conveying\nthemselves cunningly and closely into the eating-houses; if they were\ntaken in the fact, they were whipped without mercy, for thieving so ill\nand awkwardly.  They stole, too, all other meat they could lay their\nhands on, looking out and watching all opportunities, when people were\nasleep or more careless than usual.  If they were caught, they were not\nonly punished with whipping, but hunger, too, being reduced to their\nordinary allowance, which was but very slender, and so contrived on\npurpose, that they might set about to help themselves, and be forced to\nexercise their energy and address.  This was the principal design of\ntheir hard fare; there was another not inconsiderable, that they might\ngrow taller; for the vital spirits, not being overburdened and oppressed\nby too great a quantity of nourishment; which necessarily discharges\nitself into thickness and breadth, do, by their natural lightness, rise;\nand the body, giving and yielding because it is pliant, grows in height.\nThe same thing seems, also, to conduce to beauty of shape; a dry and\nlean habit is a better subject for nature's configuration, which the\ngross and over-fed are too heavy to submit to properly.  Just as we find\nthat women who take physic whilst they are with child, bear leaner and\nsmaller but better-shaped and prettier children; the material they come\nof having been more pliable and easily molded.  The reason, however, I\nleave others to determine.\n\nTo return from whence we have digressed.  So seriously did the\nLacedaemonian children go about their stealing, that a youth, having\nstolen a young fox and hid it under his coat, suffered it to tear out\nhis very bowels with its teeth and claws, and died upon the place,\nrather than let it be seen.  What is practiced to this very day in\nLacedaemon is enough to gain credit to this story, for I myself have\nseen several of the youths endure whipping to death at the foot of the\naltar of Diana surnamed Orthia.\n\nThe Iren, or under-master, used to stay a little with them after supper,\nand one of them he bade to sing a song, to another he put a question\nwhich required an advised and deliberate answer; for example, Who was\nthe best man in the city?  What he thought of such an action of such a\nman?  They used them thus early to pass a right judgment upon persons and\nthings, and to inform themselves of the abilities or defects of their\ncountrymen.  If they had not an answer ready to the question Who was a\ngood or who an ill-reputed citizen, they were looked upon as of a dull\nand careless disposition, and to have little or no sense of virtue and\nhonor; besides this, they were to give a good reason for what they said,\nand in as few words and as comprehensive as might be; he that failed of\nthis, or answered not to the purpose, had his thumb bit by his master.\nSometimes the Iren did this in the presence of the old men and\nmagistrates, that they might see whether he punished them justly and in\ndue measure or not; and when he did amiss, they would not reprove him\nbefore the boys, but, when they were gone, he was called to an account\nand underwent correction, if he had run far into either of the extremes\nof indulgence or severity.\n\nTheir lovers and favorers, too, had a share in the young boy's honor or\ndisgrace; and there goes a story that one of them was fined by the\nmagistrates, because the lad whom he loved cried out effeminately as he\nwas fighting.  And though this sort of love was so approved among them,\nthat the most virtuous matrons would make professions of it to young\ngirls, yet rivalry did not exist, and if several men's fancies met in\none person, it was rather the beginning of an intimate friendship,\nwhilst they all jointly conspired to render the object of their\naffection as accomplished as possible.\n\nThey taught them, also, to speak with a natural and graceful raillery,\nand to comprehend much matter of thought in few words.  For Lycurgus,\nwho ordered, as we saw, that a great piece of money should be but of an\ninconsiderable value, on the contrary would allow no discourse to be\ncurrent which did not contain in few words a great deal of useful and\ncurious sense; children in Sparta, by a habit of long silence, came to\ngive just and sententious answers; for, indeed, as loose and incontinent\nlivers are seldom fathers of many children, so loose and incontinent\ntalkers seldom originate many sensible words.  King Agis, when some\nAthenian laughed at their short swords, and said that the jugglers on\nthe stage swallowed them with ease, answered him, \"We find them long\nenough to reach our enemies with;\" and as their swords were short and\nsharp, so, it seems to me, were their sayings.  They reach the point and\narrest the attention of the hearers better than any.  Lycurgus himself\nseems to have been short and sententious, if we may trust the anecdotes\nof him; as appears by his answer to one who by all means would set up\ndemocracy in Lacedaemon.  \"Begin, friend,\" said he, \"and set it up in\nyour family.\"  Another asked him why he allowed of such mean and trivial\nsacrifices to the gods.  He replied, \"That we may always have something\nto offer to them.\"  Being asked what sort of martial exercises or\ncombats he approved of, he answered, \"All sorts, except that in which\nyou stretch out your hands.\"  Similar answers, addressed to his\ncountrymen by letter, are ascribed to him; as, being consulted how they\nmight best oppose an invasion of their enemies, he returned this answer,\n\"By continuing poor, and not coveting each man to be greater than his\nfellow.\"  Being consulted again whether it were requisite to enclose the\ncity with a wall, he sent them word, \"The city is well fortified which\nhath a wall of men instead of brick.\"  But whether these letters are\ncounterfeit or not is not easy to determine.\n\nOf their dislike to talkativeness, the following apothegms are evidence.\nKing Leonidas said to one who held him in discourse upon some useful\nmatter, but not in due time and place, \"Much to the purpose, Sir,\nelsewhere.\"  King Charilaus, the nephew of Lycurgus, being asked why his\nuncle had made so few laws, answered, \"Men of few words require but few\nlaws.\"  When one blamed Hecataeus the sophist because that, being\ninvited to the public table, he had not spoken one word all supper-time,\nArchidamidas answered in his vindication, \"He who knows how to speak,\nknows also when. \"\n\nThe sharp and yet not ungraceful retorts which I mentioned may be\ninstanced as follows.  Demaratus, being asked in a troublesome manner by\nan importunate fellow, Who was the best man in Lacedaemon? answered at\nlast, \"He, Sir, that is the least like you.\"  Some, in company where\nAgis was, much extolled the Eleans for their just and honorable\nmanagement of the Olympic tames; \"Indeed,\" said Agis, \"they are highly\nto be commended if they can do justice one day in five years.\"\nTheopompus answered a stranger who talked much of his affection to the\nLacedaemonians, and said that his countrymen called him Philolacon (a\nlover of the Lacedaemonians), that it had been more for his honor if\nthey had called him Philopolites (a lover of his own countrymen).  And\nPlistoanax, the son of Pausanias, when an orator of Athens said the\nLacedaemonians had no learning, told him, \"You say true, Sir; we alone\nof all the Greeks have learned none of your bad qualities.\"  One asked\nArchidamidas what number there might, be of the Spartans; he answered,\n\"Enough, Sir, to keep out wicked men.\"\n\nWe may see their character, too, in their very jests.  For they did not\nthrow them out at random, but the very wit of them was grounded upon\nsomething or other worth thinking about.  For instance, one, being asked\nto go hear a man who exactly counterfeited the voice of a nightingale,\nanswered, \"Sir, I have heard the nightingale itself.\"  Another, having\nread the following inscription upon a tomb,\n\nSeeking to quench a cruel tyranny,\nThey, at Selinus, did in battle die,\n\nsaid, it served them right; for instead of trying to quench the tyranny\nthey should have let it burn out.  A lad, being offered some game-cocks\nthat would die upon the spot, said that he cared not for cocks that\nwould die, but for such that would live and kill others.  Another,\nseeing people easing themselves on seats, said, \"God forbid I should\nsit where I could not get up to salute my elders.\"  In short, their\nanswers were so sententious and pertinent, that one said well that\nintellectual much more truly than athletic exercise\nwas the Spartan characteristic.\n\nNor was their instruction in music and verse less carefully attended to\nthan their habits of grace and good breeding in conversation.  And their\nvery songs had a life and spirit in them that inflamed and possessed\nmen's minds with an enthusiasm and ardor for action; the style of them\nwas plain and without affectation; the subject always serious and moral;\nmost usually, it was in praise of such men as had died in defense of\ntheir country, or in derision of those that had been cowards; the former\nthey declared happy and glorified; the life of the latter they described\nas most miserable and abject.  There were also vaunts of what they would\ndo, and boasts of what they had done, varying with the various ages, as,\nfor example, they had three choirs in their solemn festivals, the first\nof the old men, the second of the young men, and the last of the\nchildren; the old men began thus:\n\nWe once were young, and brave and strong;\n\nthe young men answered them, singing,\n\nAnd we're so now, come on and try;\n\nthe children came last and said,\n\nBut we'll be strongest by and by.\n\nIndeed, if we will take the pains to consider their compositions, some\nof which were still extant in our days, and the airs on the flute to\nwhich they marched when going to battle, we shall find that Terpander\nand Pindar had reason to say that music and valor were allied.  The\nfirst says of Lacedaemon--\n\nThe spear and song in her do meet,\nAnd Justice walks about her street;\n\nand Pindar--\n\nCouncils of wise elders here,\nAnd the young men's conquering spear,\nAnd dance, and song, and joy appear;\n\nboth describing the Spartans as no less musical than warlike; in the\nwords of one of their own poets--\n\nWith the iron stern and sharp\nComes the playing on the harp.\n\nFor, indeed, before they engaged in battle, the king first did sacrifice\nto the Muses, in all likelihood to put them in mind of the manner of\ntheir education, and of the judgment that would be passed upon their\nactions, and thereby to animate them to the performance of exploits that\nshould deserve a record.  At such times, too, the Lacedaemonians abated\na little the severity of their manners in favor of their young men,\nsuffering them to curl and adorn their hair, and to have costly arms,\nand fine clothes; and were well pleased to see them, like proud horses,\nneighing and pressing to the course.  And therefore, as soon as they\ncame to be well-grown, they took a great deal of care of their hair, to\nhave it parted and trimmed, especially against a day of battle, pursuant\nto a saying recorded of their lawgiver, that a large head of hair added\nbeauty to a good face, and terror to an ugly one.\n\nWhen they were in the field, their exercises were generally more\nmoderate, their fare not so hard, nor so strict a hand held over them by\ntheir officers, so that they were the only people in the world to whom\nwar gave repose.  When their army was drawn up in battle array and the\nenemy near, the king sacrificed a goat, commanded the soldiers to set\ntheir garlands upon their heads, and the pipers to play the tune of the\nhymn to Castor, and himself began the paean of advance.  It was at once\na magnificent and a terrible sight to see them march on to the tune of\ntheir flutes, without any disorder in their ranks, any discomposure in\ntheir minds or change in their countenance, calmly and cheerfully moving\nwith the music to the deadly fight.  Men, in this temper, were not\nlikely to be possessed with fear or any transport of fury, but with the\ndeliberate valor of hope and assurance, as if some divinity were\nattending and conducting them.  The king had always about his person\nsome one who had been crowned in the Olympic games; and upon this\naccount a Lacedaemonian is said to have refused a considerable present,\nwhich was offered to him upon condition that he would not come into the\nlists; and when he had with much to-do thrown his antagonist, some of\nthe spectators saying to him, \"And now, Sir Lacedaemonian, what are you\nthe better for your victory?\" he answered smiling, \"I shall fight next\nthe king.\"  After they had routed an enemy, they pursued him till they\nwere well assured of the victory, and then they sounded a retreat,\nthinking it base and unworthy of a Grecian people to cut men in pieces,\nwho had given up and abandoned all resistance.  This manner of dealing\nwith their enemies did not only show magnanimity, but was politic too;\nfor, knowing that they killed only those who made resistance, and gave\nquarter to the rest, men generally thought it their best way to consult\ntheir safety by flight.\n\nHippias the sophist says that Lycurgus himself was a great soldier and\nan experienced commander.  Philostephanus attributes to him the first\ndivision of the cavalry into troops of fifties in a square body; but\nDemetrius the Phalerian says quite the contrary, and that he made all\nhis laws in a continued peace.  And, indeed, the Olympic holy truce, or\ncessation of arms, that was procured by his means and management,\ninclines me to think him a kind-natured man, and one that loved\nquietness and peace.  Notwithstanding all this, Hermippus tells us that\nhe had no hand in the ordinance; that Iphitus made it, and Lycurgus came\nonly as a spectator, and that by mere accident too.  Being there, he\nheard as it were a man's voice behind him, blaming and wondering at him\nthat he did not encourage his countrymen to resort to the assembly, and,\nturning about and seeing no man, concluded that it was a voice from\nheaven, and upon this immediately went to Iphitus, and assisted him in\nordering the ceremonies of that feast, which, by his means, were better\nestablished, and with more repute than before.\n\nTo return to the Lacedaemonians.  Their discipline continued still after\nthey were full-grown men.  No one was allowed to live after his own\nfancy; but the city was a sort of camp, in which every man had his share\nof provisions and business set out, and looked upon himself not so much\nborn to serve his own ends as the interest of his country.  Therefore,\nif they were commanded nothing else, they went to see the boys perform\ntheir exercises, to teach them something useful, or to learn it\nthemselves of those who knew better.  And, indeed, one of the greatest\nand highest blessings Lycurgus procured his people was the abundance of\nleisure, which proceeded from his forbidding to them the exercise of any\nmean and mechanical trade.  Of the money-making that depends on\ntroublesome going about and seeing people and doing business, they had\nno need at all in a state where wealth obtained no honor or respect.\nThe Helots tilled their ground for them, and paid them yearly in kind\nthe appointed quantity, without any trouble of theirs.  To this purpose\nthere goes a story of a Lacedaemonian who, happening to be at Athens\nwhen the courts were sitting, was told of a citizen that had been fined\nfor living an idle life, and was being escorted home in much distress of\nmind by his condoling friends; the Lacedaemonian was much surprised at\nit, and desired his friend to show him the man who was condemned for\nliving like a freeman.  So much beneath them did they esteem the\nfrivolous devotion of time and attention to the mechanical arts\nand to money-making.\n\nIt need not be said, that, upon the prohibition of gold and silver, all\nlawsuits immediately ceased, for there was now neither avarice nor\npoverty amongst them, but equality, where every one's wants were\nsupplied, and independence, because those wants were so small.  All\ntheir time, except when they were in the field, was taken up by the\nchoral dances and the festivals, in hunting, and in attendance on the\nexercise-grounds and the places of public conversation.  Those who were\nunder thirty years of age were not allowed to go into the marketplace,\nbut had the necessaries of their family supplied by the care of their\nrelations and lovers; nor was it for the credit of elderly men to be\nseen too often in the marketplace; it was esteemed more suitable for\nthem to frequent the exercise-grounds and places of conversation, where\nthey spent their leisure rationally in conversation, not on money-making\nand market-prices, but for the most part in passing judgment on some\naction worth considering; extolling the good, and censuring those who\nwere otherwise, and that in a light and sportive manner, conveying,\nwithout too much gravity, lessons of advice and improvement.  Nor was\nLycurgus himself unduly austere; it was he who dedicated, says Sosibius,\nthe little statue of Laughter.  Mirth, introduced seasonably at their\nsuppers and places of common entertainment, was to serve as a sort of\nsweetmeat to accompany their strict and hard life.  To conclude, he bred\nup his citizens in such a way that they neither would nor could live by\nthemselves; they were to make themselves one with the public good, and,\nclustering like bees around their commander, be by their zeal and public\nspirit carried all but out of themselves, and devoted wholly to their\ncountry.  What their sentiments were will better appear by a few of\ntheir sayings.  Paedaretus, not being admitted into the list of the\nthree hundred, returned home with a joyful face, well pleased to find\nthat there were in Sparta three hundred better men than himself.  And\nPolycratidas, being sent with some others ambassador to the lieutenants\nof the king of Persia, being asked by them whether they came in a\nprivate or in a public character, answered, \"In a public, if we\nsucceed; if not, in a private character.\"  Argileonis, asking some who\ncame from Amphipolis if her son Brasidas died courageously and as became\na Spartan, on their beginning to praise him to a high degree, and saying\nthere was not such another left in Sparta, answered, \"Do not say so;\nBrasidas was a good and brave man,\nbut there are in Sparta many better than he.\"\n\nThe senate, as I said before, consisted of those who were Lycurgus's\nchief aiders and assistants in his plans.  The vacancies he ordered to be\nsupplied out of the best and most deserving men past sixty years old;\nand we need not wonder if there was much striving for it; for what more\nglorious competition could there be amongst men, than one in which it\nwas not contested who was swiftest among the swift or strongest of the\nstrong, but who of many wise and good was wisest and best, and fittest\nto be entrusted for ever after, as the reward of his merits, with the\nsupreme authority of the commonwealth, and with power over the lives,\nfranchises, and highest interests of all his countrymen?  The manner of\ntheir election was as follows: the people being called together, some\nselected persons were locked up in a room near the place of election, so\ncontrived that they could neither see nor be seen, but could only hear\nthe noise of the assembly without; for they decided this, as most other\naffairs of moment, by the shouts of the people.  This done, the\ncompetitors were not brought in and presented all together, but one\nafter another by lot, and passed in order through the assembly without\nspeaking a word.  Those who were locked up had writing-tables with them,\nin which they recorded and marked each shout by its loudness, without\nknowing in favor of which candidate each of them was made, but merely\nthat they came first, second, third, and so forth.  He who was found to\nhave the most and loudest acclamations was declared senator duly\nelected.  Upon this he had a garland set upon his head, and went in\nprocession to all the temples to give thanks to the gods; a great number\nof young men followed him with applauses, and women, also, singing verses\nin his honor, and extolling the virtue and happiness of his life.  As he\nwent round the city in this manner, each of his relations and friends\nset a table before him, saying, \"The city honors you with this\nbanquet;\" but he, instead of accepting, passed round to the common table\nwhere he formerly used to eat; and was served as before, excepting that\nnow he had a second allowance, which he took and put by.  By the time\nsupper was ended, the women who were of kin to him had come about the\ndoor; and he, beckoning to her whom he most esteemed, presented to her\nthe portion he had saved, saying, that it had been a mark of esteem to\nhim, and was so now to her; upon which she was triumphantly waited upon\nhome by the women.\n\nTouching burials, Lycurgus made very wise regulations; for, first of\nall, to cut of all superstition, he allowed them to bury their dead\nwithin the city, and even round about their temples, to the end that\ntheir youth might be accustomed to such spectacles, and not be afraid to\nsee a dead body, or imagine that to touch a corpse or to tread upon a\ngrave would defile a man.  In the next place, he commanded them to put\nnothing into the ground with them, except, if they pleased, a few olive\nleaves, and the scarlet cloth that they were wrapped in.  He would not\nsuffer the names to be inscribed, except only of men who fell in the\nwars, or women who died in a sacred office.  The time, too, appointed\nfor mourning, was very short, eleven days; on the twelfth, they were to\ndo sacrifice to Ceres, and leave it off; so that we may see, that as he\ncut off all superfluity, so in things necessary there was nothing so\nsmall and trivial which did not express some homage of virtue or scorn\nof vice.  He filled Lacedaemon all through with proofs and examples of\ngood conduct; with the constant sight of which from their youth up, the\npeople would hardly fail to be gradually formed and advanced in virtue.\n\nAnd this was the reason why he forbade them to travel abroad, and go\nabout acquainting themselves with foreign rules of morality, the habits\nof ill-educated people, and different views of government.  Withal he\nbanished from Lacedaemon all strangers who could not give a very good\nreason for their coming thither; not because he was afraid lest they\nshould inform themselves of and imitate his manner of government (as\nThucydides says), or learn any thing to their good; but rather lest they\nshould introduce something contrary to good manners.  With strange\npeople, strange words must be admitted; these novelties produce\nnovelties in thought; and on these follow views and feelings whose\ndiscordant character destroys the harmony of the state.  He was as\ncareful to save his city from the infection of foreign bad habits, as\nmen usually are to prevent the introduction of a pestilence.\n\nHitherto I, for my part, see no sign of injustice or want of equity in\nthe laws of Lycurgus, though some who admit them to be well contrived to\nmake good soldiers, pronounce them defective in point of justice.  The\nCryptia, perhaps (if it were one of Lycurgus's ordinances, as Aristotle\nsays it was), Gave both him and Plato, too, this opinion alike of the\nlawgiver and his government.  By this ordinance, the magistrates\ndispatched privately some of the ablest of the young men into the\ncountry, from time to time, armed only with their daggers, and taking a\nlittle necessary provision with them; in the daytime, they hid\nthemselves in out-of-the-way places, and there lay close, but, in the\nnight, issued out into the highways, and killed all the Helots they\ncould light upon; sometimes they set upon them by day, as they were at\nwork in the fields, and murdered them.  As, also, Thucydides, in his\nhistory of the Peloponnesian war, tells us, that a good number of them,\nafter being singled out for their bravery by the Spartans, garlanded, as\nenfranchised persons, and led about to all the temples in token of\nhonors, shortly after disappeared all of a sudden, being about the\nnumber of two thousand; and no man either then or since could give an\naccount how they came by their deaths.  And Aristotle, in particular,\nadds, that the ephori, so soon as they were entered into their office,\nused to declare war against them, that they might be massacred without a\nbreach of religion.  It is confessed, on all hands, that the Spartans\ndealt with them very hardly; for it was a common thing to force them to\ndrink to excess, and to lead them in that condition into their public\nhalls, that the children might see what a sight a drunken man is; they\nmade them to dance low dances, and sing ridiculous songs, forbidding\nthem expressly to meddle with any of a better kind.  And, accordingly,\nwhen the Thebans made their invasion into Laconia, and took a great\nnumber of the Helots, they could by no means persuade them to sing the\nverses of Terpander, Alcman, or Spendon, \"For,\" said they, \"the masters\ndo not like it.\"  So that it was truly observed by one, that in Sparta\nhe who was free was most so, and he that was a slave there, the greatest\nslave in the world.  For my part, I am of opinion that these outrages\nand cruelties began to be exercised in Sparta at a later time,\nespecially after the great earthquake, when the Helots made a general\ninsurrection, and, joining with the Messenians, laid the country waste,\nand brought the greatest danger upon the city.  For I cannot persuade\nmyself to ascribe to Lycurgus so wicked and barbarous a course, judging\nof him from the gentleness of his disposition and justice upon all other\noccasions; to which the oracle also testified.\n\nWhen he perceived that his more important institutions had taken root in\nthe minds of his countrymen, that custom had rendered them familiar and\neasy, that his commonwealth was now grown up and able to go alone, then,\nas, Plato somewhere tells us, the Maker of the world, when first he saw\nit existing and beginning its motion, felt joy, even so Lycurgus,\nviewing with joy and satisfaction the greatness and beauty of his\npolitical structure, now fairly at work and in motion, conceived the\nthought to make it immortal too, and, as far as human forecast could\nreach, to deliver it down unchangeable to posterity.  He called an\nextraordinary assembly of all the people, and told them that he now\nthought every thing reasonably well established, both for the happiness\nand the virtue of the state; but that there was one thing still behind,\nof the greatest importance, which he thought not fit to impart until he\nhad consulted the oracle; in the meantime, his desire was that they\nwould observe the laws without any the least alteration until his\nreturn, and then he would do as the god should direct him.  They all\nconsented readily, and bade him hasten his journey; but, before he\ndeparted, he administered an oath to the two kings, the senate, and the\nwhole commons, to abide by and maintain the established form of polity\nuntil Lycurgus should be come back.  This done, he set out for Delphi,\nand, having sacrificed to Apollo, asked him whether the laws he had\nestablished were good, and sufficient for a people's happiness and\nvirtue.  The oracle answered that the laws were excellent, and that the\npeople, while it observed them, should live in the height of renown.\nLycurgus took the oracle in writing, and sent it over to Sparta; and,\nhaving sacrificed the second time to Apollo, and taken leave of his\nfriends and his son, he resolved that the Spartans should not be\nreleased from the oath they had taken, and that he would, of his own\nact, close his life where he was.  He was now about that age in which\nlife was still tolerable, and yet might be quitted without regret.\nEvery thing, moreover, about him was in a sufficiently prosperous\ncondition.  He, therefore, made an end of himself by a total abstinence\nfrom food; thinking it a statesman's duty to make his very death, if\npossible, an act of service to the state, and even in the end of his\nlife to give some example of virtue and effect some useful purpose.  He\nwould, on the one hand, crown and consummate his own happiness by a\ndeath suitable to so honorable a life, and, on the other, would secure\nto his countrymen the enjoyment of the advantages he had spent his life\nin obtaining for them, since they had solemnly sworn the maintenance of\nhis institutions until his return.  Nor was he deceived in his\nexpectations, for the city of Lacedaemon continued the chief city of all\nGreece for the space of five hundred years, in strict observance of\nLycurgus's laws; in all which time there was no manner of alteration\nmade, during the reign of fourteen kings, down to the time of Agis, the\nson of Archidamus.  For the new creation of the ephori, though thought\nto be in favor of the people, was so far from diminishing, that it very\nmuch heightened, the aristocratical character of the government.\n\n\nIn the time of Agis, gold and silver first flowed into Sparta, and with\nthem all those mischiefs which attend the immoderate desire of riches.\nLysander promoted this disorder; for, by bringing in rich spoils from\nthe wars, although himself incorrupt, he yet by this means filled his\ncountry with avarice and luxury, and subverted the laws and ordinances\nof Lycurgus; so long as which were in force, the aspect presented by\nSparta was rather that of a rule of life followed by one wise and\ntemperate man, than of the political government of a nation.  And as the\npoets feign of Hercules, that, with his lion's skin and his club, he\nwent over the world, punishing lawless and cruel tyrants, so may it be\nsaid of the Lacedaemonians, that, with a common staff and a coarse\ncoat, they gained the willing and joyful obedience of Greece, through\nwhose whole extent they suppressed unjust usurpations and despotisms,\narbitrated in war, and composed civil dissensions; and this often\nwithout so much as taking down one buckler, but barely by sending some\none single deputy, to whose direction all at once submitted, like bees\nswarming and taking their places around their prince.  Such a fund of\norder and equity, enough and to spare for others,\nexisted in their state.\n\nAnd therefore I cannot but wonder at those who say that the Spartans\nwere good subjects, but bad governors, and for proof of it allege a\nsaying of king Theopompus, who, when one said that Sparta held up so\nlong because their kings could command so well, replied, \"Nay, rather\nbecause the people know so well how to obey.\"  For people do not obey,\nunless rulers know how to command; obedience is a lesson taught by\ncommanders.  A true leader himself creates the obedience of his own\nfollowers; as it is the last attainment in the art of riding to make a\nhorse gentle and tractable, so is it of the science of government, to\ninspire men with a willingness to obey.  The Lacedaemonians inspired men\nnot with a mere willingness, but with an absolute desire, to be their\nsubjects.  For they did not send petitions to them for ships or money,\nor a supply of armed men, but only for a Spartan commander; and, having\nobtained one, used him with honor and reverence; so the Sicilians\nbehaved to Gylippus, the Chalcidians to Brasidas, and all the Greeks in\nAsia to Lysander, Callicratidas, and Agesilaus; they styled them the\ncomposers and chasteners of each people or prince they were sent to, and\nhad their eyes always fixed upon the city of Sparta itself, as the\nperfect model of good manners and wise government.  The rest seemed as\nscholars, they the masters of Greece; and to this Stratonicus pleasantly\nalluded, when in jest he pretended to make a law that the Athenians\nshould conduct religious processions and the mysteries, the Eleans\nshould preside at the Olympic games, and, if either did amiss, the\nLacedaemonians be beaten.  Antisthenes, too, one of the scholars of\nSocrates, said, in earnest, of the Thebans, when they were elated by\ntheir victory at Leuctra, that they looked like schoolboys who had\nbeaten their master.\n\nHowever, it was not the design of Lycurgus that his city should govern a\ngreat many others; he thought rather that the happiness of a state, as\nof a private man, consisted chiefly in the exercise of virtue, and in\nthe concord of the inhabitants; his aim, therefore, in all his\narrangements, was to make and keep them free-minded, self-dependent, and\ntemperate.  And therefore all those who have written well on politics,\nas Plato, Diogenes, and Zeno, have taken Lycurgus for their model,\nleaving behind them, however, mere projects and words; whereas Lycurgus\nwas the author, not in writing but in reality, of a government which\nnone else could so much as copy; and while men in general have treated\nthe individual philosophic character as unattainable, he, by the example\nof a complete philosophic state, raised himself high above all other\nlawgivers of Greece.  And so Aristotle says they did him less honor at\nLacedaemon after his death than he deserved, although he has a temple\nthere, and they offer sacrifices yearly to him as to a god.\n\nIt is reported that when his bones were brought home to Sparta his tomb\nwas struck with lightning; an accident which befell no eminent person\nbut himself, and Euripides, who was buried at Arethusa in Macedonia;\nand it may serve that poet's admirers as a testimony in his favor, that\nhe had in this the same fate with that holy man and favorite of the\ngods.  Some say Lycurgus died in Cirrha; Apollothemis says, after he had\ncome to Elis; Timaeus and Aristoxenus, that he ended his life in Crete;\nAristoxenus adds that his tomb is shown by the Cretans in the district\nof Pergamus, near the strangers' road.  He left an only son, Antiorus,\non whose death without issue, his family became extinct.  But his\nrelations and friends kept up an annual commemoration of him down to a\nlong time after; and the days of the meeting were called Lycurgides.\nAristocrates, the son of Hipparchus, says that he died in Crete, and\nthat his Cretan friends, in accordance with his own request, when they\nhad burned his body, scattered the ashes into the sea; for fear lest, if\nhis relics should be transported to Lacedaemon, the people might pretend\nto be released from their oaths, and make innovations in the government.\nThus much may suffice for the life and actions of Lycurgus.\n\n\n\nNUMA POMPILIUS\n\nThough the pedigrees of noble families of Rome go back in exact form as\nfar as Numa Pompilius, yet there is great diversity amongst historians\nconcerning the time in which he reigned; a certain writer called\nClodius, in a book of his entitled Strictures on Chronology, avers that\nthe ancient registers of Rome were lost when the city was sacked by the\nGauls, and that those which are now extant were counterfeited, to\nflatter and serve the humor of some men who wished to have themselves\nderived from some ancient and noble lineage, though in reality with no\nclaim to it.  And though it be commonly reported that Numa was a scholar\nand a familiar acquaintance of Pythagoras, yet it is again contradicted\nby others, who affirm, that he was acquainted with neither the Greek\nlanguage nor learning, and that he was a person of that natural talent\nand ability as of himself to attain to virtue, or else that he found\nsome barbarian instructor superior to Pythagoras.  Some affirm, also,\nthat Pythagoras was not contemporary with Numa, but lived at least five\ngenerations after him; and that some other Pythagoras, a native of\nSparta, who, in the sixteenth Olympiad, in the third year of which Numa\nbecame king, won a prize at the Olympic race, might, in his travel\nthrough Italy, have gained acquaintance with Numa, and assisted him in\nthe constitution of his kingdom; whence it comes that many Laconian laws\nand customs appear amongst the Roman institutions.  Yet, in any case,\nNuma was descended of the Sabines, who declare themselves to be a colony\nof the Lacedaemonians.  And chronology, in general, is uncertain;\nespecially when fixed by the lists of victors in the Olympic games,\nwhich were published at a late period by Hippias the Elean, and rest on\nno positive authority.  Commencing, however, at a convenient point, we\nwill proceed to give the most noticeable events that are recorded of the\nlife of Numa.\n\nIt was the thirty-seventh year, counted from the foundation of Rome,\nwhen Romulus, then reigning, did, on the fifth day of the month of July,\ncalled the Caprotine Nones, offer a public sacrifice at the Goat's\nMarsh, in presence of the senate and people of Rome.  Suddenly the sky\nwas darkened, a thick cloud of storm and rain settled on the earth; the\ncommon people fled in affright, and were dispersed; and in this\nwhirlwind Romulus disappeared, his body being never found either living\nor dead.  A foul suspicion presently attached to the patricians, and\nrumors were current among the people as if that they, weary of kingly\ngovernment, and exasperated of late by the imperious deportment of\nRomulus towards them, had plotted against his life and made him away,\nthat so they might assume the authority and government into their own\nhands.  This suspicion they sought to turn aside by decreeing divine\nhonors to Romulus, as to one not dead but translated to a higher\ncondition.  And Proculus, a man of note, took oath that he saw Romulus\ncaught up into heaven in his arms and vestments, and heard him, as he\nascended, cry out that they should hereafter style him\nby the name of Quirinus.\n\nThis trouble, being appeased, was followed by another, about the\nelection of a new king: for the minds of the original Romans and the new\ninhabitants were not as yet grown into that perfect unity of temper, but\nthat there were diversities of factions amongst the commonalty, and\njealousies and emulations amongst the senators; for though all agreed\nthat it was necessary to have a king.  yet what person or of which\nnation, was matter of dispute.  For those who had been builders of the\ncity with Romulus, and had already yielded a share of their lands and\ndwellings to the Sabines, were indignant at any pretension on their part\nto rule over their benefactors.  On the other side, the Sabines could\nplausibly allege, that, at their king Tatius's decease, they had\npeaceably submitted to the sole command of Romulus; so now their turn\nwas come to have a king chosen out of their own nation; nor did they\nesteem themselves to have combined with the Romans as inferiors, nor to\nhave contributed less than they to the increase of Rome, which, without\ntheir numbers and association, could scarcely have merited the name of a\ncity.\n\nThus did both parties argue and dispute their cause; but lest meanwhile\ndiscord, in the absence of all command, should occasion general\nconfusion, it was agreed that the hundred and fifty senators should\ninterchangeably execute the office of supreme magistrate, and each in\nsuccession, with the ensigns of royalty, should offer the solemn\nsacrifices and dispatch public business for the space of six hours by\nday and six by night; which vicissitude and equal distribution of power\nwould preclude all rivalry amongst the senators and envy from the\npeople, when they should behold one, elevated to the degree of a king,\nleveled within the space of a day to the condition of a private citizen.\nThis form of government is termed, by the Romans, interregnum.  Nor yet\ncould they, by this plausible and modest way of rule, escape suspicion\nand clamor of the vulgar, as though they were changing the form of\ngovernment to an oligarchy, and designing to keep the supreme power in a\nsort of wardship under themselves, without ever proceeding to choose a\nking.  Both parties came at length to the conclusion that the one should\nchoose a king out of the body of the other; the Romans make choice of a\nSabine, or the Sabines name a Roman; this was esteemed the best\nexpedient to put an end to all party spirit, and the prince who should\nbe chosen would have an equal affection to the one party as his electors\nand to the other as his kinsmen.  The Sabines remitted the choice to the\noriginal Romans, and they, too, on their part, were more inclinable to\nreceive a Sabine king elected by themselves than to see a Roman exalted\nby the Sabines.  Consultations being accordingly held, they named Numa\nPompilius, of the Sabine race, a person of that high reputation for\nexcellence, that, though he were not actually residing at Rome, yet he\nwas no sooner nominated than accepted by the Sabines, with acclamation\nalmost greater than that of the electors themselves.\n\nThe choice being declared and made known to the people, principal men\nof both parties were appointed to visit and entreat him, that he would\naccept the administration of the government.  Numa resided at a famous\ncity of the Sabines called Cures, whence the Romans and Sabines gave\nthemselves the joint name of Quirites.  Pomponius, an illustrious\nperson, was his father, and he the youngest of his four sons, being (as\nit had been divinely ordered) born on the twenty-first day of April, the\nday of the foundation of Rome.  He was endued with a soul rarely\ntempered by nature, and disposed to virtue, which he had yet more\nsubdued by discipline, a severe life, and the study of philosophy; means\nwhich had not only succeeded in expelling the baser passions, but also\nthe violent and rapacious temper which barbarians are apt to think\nhighly of; true bravery, in his judgment, was regarded as consisting in\nthe subjugation of our passions by reason.\n\nHe banished all luxury and softness from his own home, and, while\ncitizens alike and strangers found in him an incorruptible judge and\ncounselor, in private he devoted himself not to amusement or lucre, but\nto the worship of the immortal gods, and the rational contemplation of\ntheir divine power and nature.  So famous was he, that Tatius, the\ncolleague of Romulus, chose him for his son-in-law, and gave him his\nonly daughter, which, however, did not stimulate his vanity to desire to\ndwell with his father-in-law at Rome; he rather chose to inhabit with\nhis Sabines, and cherish his own father in his old age; and Tatia, also,\npreferred the private condition of her husband before the honors and\nsplendor she might have enjoyed with her father.  She is said to have\ndied after she had been married thirteen years, and then Numa, leaving\nthe conversation of the town, betook himself to a country life, and in a\nsolitary manner frequented the groves and fields consecrated to the\ngods, passing his life in desert places.  And this in particular gave\noccasion to the story about the goddess, namely, that Numa did not\nretire from human society out of any melancholy or disorder of mind.\nbut because he had tasted the joys of more elevated intercourse, and,\nadmitted to celestial wedlock in the love and converse of the goddess\nEgeria, had attained to blessedness, and to a divine wisdom.\n\nThe story evidently resembles those very ancient fables which the\nPhrygians have received and still recount of Attis, the Bithynians of\nHerodotus, the Arcadians of Endymion, not to mention several others who\nwere thought blessed and beloved of the gods; nor does it seem strange\nif God, a lover, not of horses or birds, but men, should not disdain to\ndwell with the virtuous and converse with the wise and temperate soul,\nthough it be altogether hard, indeed, to believe, that any god or daemon\nis capable of a sensual or bodily love and passion for any human form or\nbeauty.  Though, indeed, the wise Egyptians do not unplausibly make the\ndistinction, that it may be possible for a divine spirit so to apply\nitself to the nature of a woman, as to imbreed in her the first\nbeginnings of generation, while on the other side they conclude it\nimpossible for the male kind to have any intercourse or mixture by the\nbody with any divinity, not considering, however, that what takes place\non the one side, must also take place on the other; intermixture, by\nforce of terms, is reciprocal.  Not that it is otherwise than befitting\nto suppose that the gods feel towards men affection, and love, in the\nsense of affection, and in the form of care and solicitude for their\nvirtue and their good dispositions.  And, therefore, it was no error of\nthose who feigned, that Phorbas, Hyacinthus, and Admetus were beloved by\nApollo; or that Hippolytus the Sicyonian was so much in his favor, that,\nas often as he sailed from Sicyon to Cirrha, the Pythian prophetess\nuttered this heroic verse, expressive of the god's attention and joy:\n\nNow doth Hippolytus return again,\nAnd venture his dear life upon the main.\n\nIt is reported, also, that Pan became enamored of Pindar for his verses,\nand the divine power rendered honor to Hesiod and Archilochus after\ntheir death for the sake of the Muses; there is a statement, also, that\nAesculapius sojourned with Sophocles in his lifetime, of which many\nproofs still exist, and that, when he was dead, another deity took care\nfor his funeral rites.  And so if any credit may be given to these\ninstances, why should we judge it incongruous, that a like spirit of the\ngods should visit Zaleucus, Minos, Zoroaster, Lycurgus, and Numa, the\ncontrollers of kingdoms, and the legislators for commonwealths?  Nay, it\nmay be reasonable to believe, that the gods, with a serious purpose,\nassist at the councils and serious debates of such men, to inspire and\ndirect them; and visit poets and musicians, if at all, in their more\nsportive moods; but, for difference of opinion here, as Bacchylides\nsaid, \"the road is broad.\"  For there is no absurdity in the account\nalso given, that Lycurgus and Numa, and other famous lawgivers, having\nthe task of subduing perverse and refractory multitudes, and of\nintroducing great innovations, themselves made this pretension to divine\nauthority, which, if not true, assuredly was expedient for the interests\nof those it imposed upon.\n\nNuma was about forty years of age when the ambassadors came to make him\noffers of the kingdom; the speakers were Proculus and Velesus, one or\nother of whom it had been thought the people would elect as their new\nking; the original Romans being for Proculus, and the Sabines for\nVelesus.  Their speech was very short, supposing that, when they came to\ntender a kingdom, there needed little to persuade to an acceptance; but,\ncontrary to their expectation, they found that they had to use many\nreasons and entreaties to induce one, that lived in peace and quietness,\nto accept the government of a city whose foundation and increase had\nbeen made, in a manner, in war.  In presence of his father and his\nkinsman Marcius, he returned answer that \"Every alteration of a man's\nlife is dangerous to him; but madness only could induce one who needs\nnothing and is satisfied with everything to quit a life he is\naccustomed to; which, whatever else it is deficient in, at any rate has\nthe advantage of certainty over one wholly doubtful and unknown.\nThough, indeed, the difficulties of this government cannot even be\ncalled unknown; Romulus, who first held it, did not escape the suspicion\nof having plotted against the life of his colleague Tatius; nor the\nsenate the like accusation, of having treasonably murdered Romulus.  Yet\nRomulus had the advantage to be thought divinely born and miraculously\npreserved and nurtured.  My birth was mortal; I was reared and\ninstructed by men that are known to you.  The very points of my\ncharacter that are most commended mark me as unfit to reign,--love of\nretirement and of studies inconsistent with business, a passion that has\nbecome inveterate in me for peace, for unwarlike occupations, and for\nthe society of men whose meetings are but those of worship and of kindly\nintercourse, whose lives in general are spent upon their farms and their\npastures.  I should but be, methinks, a laughing-stock, while I should\ngo about to inculcate the worship of the gods, and give lessons in the\nlove of justice and the abhorrence of violence and war, to a city whose\nneeds are rather for a captain than for a king.\"\n\nThe Romans, perceiving by these words that he was declining to accept\nthe kingdom, were the more instant and urgent with him that he would not\nforsake and desert them in this condition, and suffer them to relapse,\nas they must, into their former sedition and civil discord, there being\nno person on whom both parties could accord but on himself.  And, at\nlength, his father and Marcius, taking him aside, persuaded him to\naccept a gift so noble in itself, and tendered to him rather from heaven\nthan from men.  \"Though,\" said they, \"you neither desire riches, being\ncontent with what you have, nor court the fame of authority, as having\nalready the more valuable fame of virtue, yet you will consider that\ngovernment itself is a service of God, who now calls out into action\nyour qualities of justice and wisdom, which were not meant to be left\nuseless and unemployed.  Cease, therefore, to avoid and turn your back\nupon an office which, to a wise man, is a field for great and honorable\nactions, for the magnificent worship of the gods, and for the\nintroduction of habits of piety, which authority alone can effect\namongst a people.  Tatius, though a foreigner, was beloved, and the\nmemory of Romulus has received divine honors; and who knows but that\nthis people, being victorious, may be satiated with war, and, content\nwith the trophies and spoils they have acquired, may be, above all\nthings, desirous to have a pacific and justice-loving prince, to lead\nthem to good order and quiet?  But if, indeed, their desires are\nuncontrollably and madly set on war, were it not better, then, to have\nthe reins held by such a moderating hand as is able to divert the fury\nanother way, and that your native city and the whole Sabine nation\nshould possess in you a bond of good-will and friendship with this young\nand growing power?\"\n\nWith these reasons and persuasions several auspicious omens are said to\nhave concurred, and the zeal, also, of his fellow-citizens, who, on\nunderstanding what message the Roman ambassadors had brought him,\nentreated him to accompany them, and to accept the kingdom as a means to\nunanimity and concord between the nations.\n\nNuma, yielding to these inducements, having first performed divine\nsacrifice, proceeded to Rome, being met in his way by the senate and\npeople, who, with an impatient desire, came forth to receive him; the\nwomen, also, welcomed him with joyful acclamations, and sacrifices were\noffered for him in all the temples, and so universal was the joy, that\nthey seemed to be receiving, not a new king, but a new kingdom.  In this\nmanner he descended into the forum, where Spurius Vettius, whose turn it\nwas to be interrex at that hour, put it to the vote; and all declared\nhim king.  Then the regalities and robes of authority were brought to\nhim; but he refused to be invested with them until he had first\nconsulted and been confirmed by the gods; so, being accompanied by the\npriests and augurs, he ascended the Capitol, which at that time the\nRomans called the Tarpeian Hill.  Then the chief of the augurs covered\nNuma's head, and turned his face towards the south, and, standing behind\nhim, laid his right hand on his head, and prayed, turning his eyes every\nway, in expectation of some auspicious signal from the gods.  It was\nwonderful, meantime, with what silence and devotion the multitude stood\nassembled in the forum in similar expectation and suspense, till\nauspicious birds appeared and passed on the right.  Then Numa,\nappareling himself in his royal robes, descended from the hill to the\npeople, by whom he was received and congratulated with shouts and\nacclamations of welcome, as a holy king, and beloved of all the gods.\n\nThe first thing he did at his entrance into government was to dismiss\nthe band of three hundred men which had been Romulus's life-guard,\ncalled by him Celeres, saying, that he would not distrust those who put\nconfidence in him, nor rule over a people that distrusted him.  The next\nthing he did was to add to the two priests of Jupiter and Mars a third\nin honor of Romulus, whom he called the Flamen Quirinalis.  The Romans\nanciently called their priests Flamines, by corruption of the word\nPilamines, from a certain cap which they wore, called Pileus.  In those\ntimes, Greek words were more mixed with the Latin than at present; thus\nalso the royal robe, which is called Laena, Juba says, is the same as\nthe Greek Chlaena; and that the name of Camillus, given to the boy with\nboth his parents living, who serves in the temple of Jupiter, was taken\nfrom the name given by some Greeks to Mercury, denoting his office of\nattendance on the gods.\n\nWhen Numa had, by such measures, won the favor and affection of the\npeople, he set himself, without delay, to the task of bringing the hard\nand iron Roman temper to somewhat more of gentleness and equity.\nPlato's expression of a city in high fever was never more applicable\nthan to Rome at that time; in its origin formed by daring and warlike\nspirits, whom bold and desperate adventure brought thither from every\nquarter, it had found in perpetual wars and incursions on its neighbors\nits after sustenance and means of growth and in conflict with danger the\nsource of new strength; like piles, which the blows of the rammer serve\nto fix into the ground.  Wherefore Numa, judging it no slight\nundertaking to mollify and bend to peace the presumptuous and stubborn\nspirits of this people, began to operate upon them with the sanctions of\nreligion.  He sacrificed often, and used processions and religious\ndances, in which most commonly he officiated in person; by such\ncombinations of solemnity with refined and humanizing pleasures, seeking\nto win over and mitigate their fiery and warlike tempers.  At times,\nalso, he filled their imaginations with religious terrors, professing\nthat strange apparitions had been seen, and dreadful voices heard; thus\nsubduing and humbling their minds by a sense of supernatural fears.\n\nThis method which Numa used made it believed that he had been much\nconversant with Pythagoras; for in the philosophy of the one, as in the\npolicy of the other, man's relations to the deity occupy a great place.\nIt is said, also, that the solemnity of his exterior garb and gestures\nwas adopted by him from the same feeling with Pythagoras.  For it is\nsaid of Pythagoras, that he had taught an eagle to come at his call, and\nstoop down to him in its flight; and that, as he passed among the people\nassembled at the Olympic games, he showed them his golden thigh; besides\nmany other strange and miraculous seeming practices, on which Timon the\nPhliasian wrote the distich,--\n\nWho, of the glory of a juggler proud,\nWith solemn talk imposed upon the crowd.\n\nIn like manner Numa spoke of a certain goddess or mountain nymph that\nwas in love with him, and met him in secret, as before related; and\nprofessed that he entertained familiar conversation with the Muses, to\nwhose teaching he ascribed the greatest part of his revelations; and\namongst them, above all, he recommended to the veneration of the Romans\none in particular, whom he named Tacita, the Silent; which he did\nperhaps in imitation and honor of the Pythagorean silence.  His opinion,\nalso, of images is very agreeable to the doctrine of Pythagoras; who\nconceived of the first principle of being as transcending sense and\npassion, invisible and incorrupt, and only to be apprehended by abstract\nintelligence.  So Numa forbade the Romans to represent God in the form\nof man or beast, nor was there any painted or graven image of a deity\nadmitted amongst them for the space of the first hundred and seventy\nyears, all which time their temples and chapels were kept free and pure\nfrom images; to such baser objects they deemed it impious to liken the\nhighest, and all access to God impossible, except by the pure act of the\nintellect.  His sacrifices, also, had great similitude to the ceremonial\nof Pythagoras, for they were not celebrated with effusion of blood, but\nconsisted of flour, wine, and the least costly offerings.  Other\nexternal proofs, too, are urged to show the connection Numa had with\nPythagoras.  The comic writer Epicharmus, an ancient author, and of the\nschool of Pythagoras, in a book of his dedicated to Antenor, records\nthat Pythagoras was made a freeman of Rome.  Again, Numa gave to one of\nhis four sons the name of Mamercus, which was the name of one of the\nsons of Pythagoras; from whence, as they say sprang that ancient\npatrician family of the Aemilii, for that the king gave him in sport the\nsurname of Aemilius, for his engaging and graceful manner in speaking.\nI remember, too, that when I was at Rome, I heard many say, that, when\nthe oracle directed two statues to be raised, one to the wisest, and\nanother to the most valiant man of Greece, they erected two of brass,\none representing Alcibiades, and the other Pythagoras.\n\nBut to pass by these matters, which are full of uncertainty, and not so\nimportant as to be worth our time to insist on them, the original\nconstitution of the priests, called Pontifices, is ascribed unto Numa,\nand he himself was, it is said, the first of them; and that they have\nthe name of Pontifices from potens, powerful, because they attend the\nservice of the gods, who have power and command over all.  Others make\nthe word refer to exceptions of impossible cases; the priests were to\nperform all the duties possible to them; if any thing lay beyond their\npower, the exception was not to be cavilled at.  The most common opinion\nis the most absurd, which derives this word from pons, and assigns the\npriests the title of bridge-makers.  The sacrifices performed on the\nbridge were amongst the most sacred and ancient, and the keeping and\nrepairing of the bridge attached, like any other public sacred office,\nto the priesthood.  It was accounted not simply unlawful, but a positive\nsacrilege, to pull down the wooden bridge; which moreover is said, in\nobedience to an oracle, to have been built entirely of timber and\nfastened with wooden pins, without nails or cramps of iron.  The stone\nbridge was built a very long time after, when Aemilius was quaestor, and\nthey do, indeed, say also that the wooden bridge was not so old as\nNuma's time, but was finished by Ancus Marcius, when he was king, who\nwas the grandson of Numa by his daughter.\n\nThe office of Pontifex Maximus, or chief priest, was to declare and\ninterpret the divine law, or, rather, to preside over sacred rites; he\nnot only prescribed rules for public ceremony, but regulated the\nsacrifices of private persons, not suffering them to vary from\nestablished custom, and giving information to every one of what was\nrequisite for purposes of worship or supplication.  He was also guardian\nof the vestal virgins, the institution of whom, and of their perpetual\nfire, was attributed to Numa, who, perhaps fancied the charge of pure\nand uncorrupted flames would be fitly entrusted to chaste and unpolluted\npersons, or that fire, which consumes, but produces nothing, bears all\nanalogy to the virgin estate.  In Greece, wherever a perpetual holy fire\nis kept, as at Delphi and Athens, the charge of it is committed, not to\nvirgins, but widows past the time of marriage.  And in case by any\naccident it should happen that this fire became extinct, as the holy\nlamp was at Athens under the tyranny of Aristion, and at Delphi, when\nthat temple was burnt by the Medes, as also in the time of the\nMithridatic and Roman civil war, when not only the fire was\nextinguished, but the altar demolished, then, afterwards, in kindling\nthis fire again, it was esteemed an impiety to light it from common\nsparks or flame, or from any thing but the pure and unpolluted rays of\nthe sun, which they usually effect by concave mirrors, of a figure\nformed by the revolution of an isoceles rectangular triangle, all the\nlines from the circumference of which meeting in a center, by holding it\nin the light of the sun they can collect and concentrate all its rays\nat this one point of convergence; where the air will now become\nrarefied, and any light, dry, combustible matter will kindle as soon as\napplied, under the effect of the rays, which here acquire the substance\nand active force of fire.  Some are of opinion that these vestals had no\nother business than the preservation of this fire; but others conceive\nthat they were keepers of other divine secrets, concealed from all but\nthemselves, of which we have told all that may lawfully be asked or\ntold, in the life of Camillus.  Gegania and Verenia, it is recorded,\nwere the names of the first two virgins consecrated and ordained by\nNuma; Canuleia and Tarpeia succeeded; Servius afterwards added two, and\nthe number of four has continued to the present time.\n\nThe statutes prescribed by Numa for the vestals were these:  that they\nshould take a vow of virginity for the space of thirty years, the first\nten of which they were to spend in learning their duties, the second ten\nin performing them, and the remaining ten in teaching and instructing\nothers.  Thus the whole term being completed, it was lawful for them to\nmarry, and, leaving the sacred order, to choose any condition of life\nthat pleased them; but this permission few, as they say, made use of;\nand in cases where they did so, it was observed that their change was\nnot a happy one, but accompanied ever after with regret and melancholy;\nso that the greater number, from religious fears and scruples, forbore,\nand continued to old age and death in the strict observance\nof a single life.\n\nFor this condition he compensated by great privileges and prerogatives;\nas that they had power to make a will in the lifetime of their father;\nthat they had a free administration of their own affairs without\nguardian or tutor, which was the privilege of women who were the mothers\nof three children; when they go abroad, they have the fasces carried\nbefore them; and if in their walks they chance to meet a criminal on his\nway to execution, it saves his life, upon oath made that the meeting was\nan accidental one, and not concerted or of set purpose.  Any one who\npresses upon the chair on which they are carried, is put to death.  If\nthese vestals commit any minor fault, they are punishable by the high-\npriest only, who scourges the offender, sometimes with her clothes off,\nin a dark place, with a curtain drawn between; but she that has broken\nher vow is buried alive near the gate called Collina, where a little\nmound of earth stands, inside the city, reaching some little distance,\ncalled in Latin agger; under it a narrow room is constructed, to which a\ndescent is made by stairs; here they prepare a bed, and light a lamp,\nand leave a small quantity of victuals, such as bread, water, a pail of\nmilk, and some oil; that so that body which had been consecrated and\ndevoted to the most sacred service of religion might not be said to\nperish by such a death as famine.  The culprit herself is put in a\nlitter, which they cover over, and tie her down with cords on it, so\nthat nothing she utters may be heard.  They then take her to the forum;\nall people silently go out of the way as she passes, and such as follow\naccompany the bier with solemn and speechless sorrow; and, indeed, there\nis not any spectacle more appalling, nor any day observed by the city\nwith greater appearance of gloom and sadness.  When they come to the\nplace of execution, the officers loose the cords, and then the high-\npriest, lifting his hands to heaven, pronounces certain prayers to\nhimself before the act; then he brings out the prisoner, being still\ncovered, and placing her upon the steps that lead down to the cell,\nturns away his face with the rest of the priests; the stairs are drawn\nup after she has gone down, and a quantity of earth is heaped up over\nthe entrance to the cell, so as to prevent it from being distinguished\nfrom the rest of the mound.  This is the punishment of those who break\ntheir vow of virginity.\n\nIt is said, also, that Numa built the temple of Vesta, which was\nintended for a repository of the holy fire, of a circular form, not to\nrepresent the figure of the earth, as if that were the same as Vesta,\nbut that of the general universe, in the center of which the\nPythagoreans place the element of fire, and give it the name of Vesta\nand the unit; and do not hold that the earth is immovable, or that it is\nsituated in the center of the globe, but that it keeps a circular motion\nabout the seat of fire, and is not in the number of the primary\nelements; in this agreeing with the opinion of Plato, who, they say, in\nhis later life, conceived that the earth held a lateral position, and\nthat the central and sovereign space was reserved for some nobler body.\n\nThere was yet a farther use of the priests, and that was to give people\ndirections in the national usages at funeral rites.  Numa taught them to\nregard these offices, not as a pollution, but as a duty paid to the gods\nbelow, into whose hands the better part of us is transmitted; especially\nthey were to worship the goddess Libitina, who presided over all the\nceremonies performed at burials; whether they meant hereby Proserpina,\nor, as the most learned of the Romans conceive, Venus, not inaptly\nattributing the beginning and end of man's life to the agency of one and\nthe same deity.  Numa also prescribed rules for regulating the days of\nmourning, according to certain times and ages.  As, for example, a child\nof three years was not to be mourned for at all; one older, up to ten\nyears, for as many months as it was years old; and the longest time of\nmourning for any person whatsoever was not to exceed the term of ten\nmonths; which was the time appointed for women that lost their husbands\nto continue in widowhood.  If any married again before that time, by the\nlaws of Numa she was to sacrifice a cow big with calf.\n\nNuma, also, was founder of several other orders of priests, two of which\nI shall mention, the Salii and the Feciales, which are among the\nclearest proofs of the devoutness and sanctity of his character.  These\nFecials, or guardians of peace, seem to have had their name from their\noffice, which was to put a stop to disputes by conference and speech;\nfor it was not allowable to take up arms until they had declared all\nhopes of accommodation to be at an end, for in Greek, too, we call it\npeace when disputes are settled by words, and not by force.  The Romans\ncommonly dispatched the Fecials, or heralds, to those who had offered\nthem injury, requesting satisfaction; and, in case they refused, they\nthen called the gods to witness, and, with imprecations upon themselves\nand their country should they be acting unjustly, so declared war;\nagainst their will, or without their consent, it was lawful neither for\nsoldier nor king to take up arms; the war was begun with them, and, when\nthey had first handed it over to the commander as a just quarrel, then\nhis business was to deliberate of the manner and ways to carry it on.\nIt is believed that the slaughter and destruction which the Gauls made\nof the Romans was a judgment on the city for neglect of this religious\nproceeding; for that when these barbarians besieged the Clusinians,\nFabius Ambustus was dispatched to their camp to negotiate peace for the\nbesieged; and, on their returning a rude refusal, Fabius imagined that\nhis office of ambassador was at an end, and, rashly engaging on the side\nof the Clusinians, challenged the bravest of the enemy to a single\ncombat.  It was the fortune of Fabius to kill his adversary, and to take\nhis spoils; but when the Gauls discovered it, they sent a herald to Rome\nto complain against him; since, before war was declared, he had, against\nthe law of nations, made a breach of the peace.  The matter being\ndebated in the senate, the Fecials were of opinion that Fabius ought to\nbe consigned into the hands of the Gauls; but he, being forewarned of\ntheir judgment, fled to the people, by whose protection and favor he\nescaped the sentence.  On this, the Gauls marched with their army to\nRome, where, having taken the Capitol, they sacked the city.  The\nparticulars of all which are fully given in the history of Caminus.\n\nThe origin of the Salii is this.  In the eighth year of the reign of\nNuma, a terrible pestilence, which traversed all Italy, ravaged likewise\nthe city of Rome; and the citizens being in distress and despondent, a\nbrazen target, they say, fell from heaven into the hands of Numa who\ngave them this marvelous account of it: that Egeria and the Muses had\nassured him it was sent from heaven for the cure and safety of the city,\nand that, to keep it secure, he was ordered by them to make eleven\nothers, so like in dimension and form to the original that no thief\nshould be able to distinguish the true from the counterfeit.  He farther\ndeclared, that he was commanded to consecrate to the Muses the place,\nand the fields about it, where they had been chiefly wont to meet with\nhim, and that the spring which watered the field should be hallowed for\nthe use of the vestal virgins, who were to wash and cleanse the\npenetralia of their sanctuary with those holy waters.  The truth of all\nwhich was speedily verified by the cessation of the pestilence.  Numa\ndisplayed the target to the artificers and bade them show their skill in\nmaking others like it; all despaired, until at length one Mamurius\nVeturius, an excellent workman, happily hit upon it, and made all so\nexactly the same that Numa himself was at a loss, and could not\ndistinguish.  The keeping of these targets was committed to the charge\nof certain priests, called Salii, who did not receive their name, as\nsome tell the story, from Salius, a dancing-master born in Samothrace,\nor at Mantinea, who taught the way of dancing in arms; but more truly\nfrom that jumping dance which the Salii themselves use, when in the\nmonth of March they carry the sacred targets through the city; at which\nprocession they are habited in short frocks of purple, girt with a broad\nbelt studded with brass; on their heads they wear a brass helmet, and\ncarry in their hands short daggers, which they clash every now and then\nagainst the targets.  But the chief thing is the dance itself.  They\nmove with much grace, performing, in quick time and close order, various\nintricate figures, with a great display of strength and agility.  The\ntargets were called Ancilia from their form; for they are not made\nround, nor like proper targets, of a complete circumference, but are cut\nout into a wavy line, the ends of which are rounded off and turned in at\nthe thickest part towards each other; so that their shape is\ncurvilinear, or, in Greek, ancylon; or the name may come from ancon, the\nelbow, on which they are carried.  Thus Juba writes, who is eager to\nmake it Greek.  But it might be, for that matter, from its having come\ndown anecathen, from above; or from its akesis, or cure of diseases; or\nauchmon Iysis, because it put an end to a drought; or from its\nanaschesis, or relief from calamities, which is the origin of the\nAthenian name Anaces, given to Castor and Pollux; if we must, that is,\nreduce it to Greek.  The reward which Mamurius received for his art was\nto be mentioned and commemorated in the verses which the Salii sang, as\nthey danced in their arms through the city; though some will have it\nthat they do not say Veturium Mamurium, but Veterem Memoriam, ancient\nremembrance.\n\nAfter Numa had in this manner instituted these several orders of\npriests, he erected, near the temple of Vesta, what is called to this\nday Regia, or king's house, where he spent the most part of his time,\nperforming divine service, instructing the priests, or conversing with\nthem on sacred subjects.  He had another house upon the Mount\nQuirinalis, the site of which they show to this day.  In all public\nprocessions and solemn prayers, criers were sent before to give notice\nto the people that they should forbear their work, and rest.  They say\nthat the Pythagoreans did not allow people to worship and pray to their\ngods by the way, but would have them go out from their houses direct,\nwith their minds set upon the duty, and so Numa, in like manner, wished\nthat his citizens should neither see nor hear any religious service in a\nperfunctory and inattentive manner, but, laying aside all other\noccupations, should apply their minds to religion as to a most serious\nbusiness; and that the streets should be free from all noises and cries\nthat accompany manual labor, and clear for the sacred solemnity.  Some\ntraces of this custom remain at Rome to this day, for, when the consul\nbegins to take auspices or do sacrifice, they call out to the people,\nHoc age, Attend to this, whereby the auditors then present are\nadmonished to compose and recollect themselves.  Many other of his\nprecepts resemble those of the Pythagoreans.  The Pythagoreans said, for\nexample, \"Thou shalt not make a peck-measure thy seat to sit on.  Thou\nshalt not stir the fire with a sword.  When thou goest out upon a\njourney, look not behind thee.  When thou sacrificest to the celestial\ngods, let it be with an odd number, and when to the terrestrial, with\neven.\"  The significance of each of which precepts they would not\ncommonly disclose.  So some of Numa's traditions have no obvious\nmeaning.  \"Thou shalt not make libation to the gods of wine from an\nunpruned vine.  No sacrifices shall be performed without meal.  Turn\nround to pay adoration to the gods; sit after you have worshipped.\"  The\nfirst two directions seem to denote the cultivation and subduing of the\nearth as a part of religion; and as to the turning which the worshipers\nare to use in divine adoration, it is said to represent the rotatory\nmotion of the world.  But, in my opinion, the meaning rather is, that\nthe worshiper, since the temples front the east, enters with his back to\nthe rising sun; there, faces round to the east, and so turns back to the\ngod of the temple, by this circular movement referring the fulfillment\nof his prayer to both divinities.  Unless, indeed, this change of\nposture may have a mystical meaning, like the Egyptian wheels, and\nsignify to us the instability of human fortune, and that, in whatever\nway God changes and turns our lot and condition, we should rest\ncontented, and accept it as right and fitting.  They say, also, that the\nsitting after worship was to be by way of omen of their petitions being\ngranted, and the blessing they asked assured to them.  Again, as\ndifferent courses of actions are divided by intervals of rest, they\nmight seat themselves after the completion of what they had done, to\nseek favor of the gods for beginning something else.  And this would\nvery well suit with what we had before; the lawgiver wants to habituate\nus to make our petitions to the deity not by the way, and as it were, in\na hurry, when we have other things to do, but with time and leisure to\nattend to it.  By such discipline and schooling in religion, the city\npassed insensibly into such a submissiveness of temper, and stood in\nsuch awe and reverence of the virtue of Numa, that they received, with\nan undoubted assurance, whatever he delivered, though never so fabulous,\nand thought nothing incredible or impossible from him.\n\nThere goes a story that he once invited a great number of citizens to an\nentertainment, at which the dishes in which the meat was served were\nvery homely and plain, and the repast itself poor and ordinary fare; the\nguests seated, he began to tell them that the goddess that consulted\nwith him was then at that time come to him; when on a sudden the room\nwas furnished with all sorts of costly drinking-vessels, and the tables\nloaded with rich meats, and a most sumptuous entertainment.  But the\ndialogue which is reported to have passed between him and Jupiter\nsurpasses all the fabulous legends that were ever invented.  They say\nthat before Mount Aventine was inhabited or enclosed within the walls of\nthe city, two demi-gods, Picus and Faunus, frequented the Springs and\nthick shades of that place; which might be two satyrs, or Pans, except\nthat they went about Italy playing the same sorts of tricks, by skill in\ndrugs and magic, as are ascribed by the Greeks to the Dactyli of Mount\nIda.  Numa contrived one day to surprise these demi-gods, by mixing wine\nand honey in the waters of the spring of which they usually drank.  On\nfinding themselves ensnared, they changed themselves into various\nshapes, dropping their own form and assuming every kind of unusual and\nhideous appearance; but when they saw they were safely entrapped, and in\nno possibility of getting free, they revealed to him many secrets and\nfuture events; and particularly a charm for thunder and lightning, still\nin use, performed with onions and hair and pilchards.  Some say they did\nnot tell him the charm, but by their magic brought down Jupiter out of\nheaven; and that he then, in an angry manner answering the inquiries,\ntold Numa, that, if he would charm the thunder and lightning, he must do\nit with heads.  \"How,\" said Numa, \"with the heads of onions?\"  \"No,\"\nreplied Jupiter, \"of men.\"  But Numa, willing to elude the cruelty of\nthis receipt, turned it another way, saying, \"Your meaning is, the hairs\nof men's heads.\"  \"No,\" replied Jupiter, \"with living\"--\"pilchards,\"\nsaid Numa, interrupting him.  These answers he had learnt from Egeria.\nJupiter returned again to heaven, pacified and ilcos, or propitious.\nThe place was, in remembrance of him, called Ilicium, from this Greek\nword; and the spell in this manner effected.\n\nThese stories, laughable as they are, show us the feelings which people\nthen, by force of habit, entertained towards the deity.  And Numa's own\nthoughts are said to have been fixed to that degree on divine objects,\nthat he once, when a message was brought to him that \"Enemies are\napproaching,\" answered with a smile, \"And I am sacrificing.\"  It was he,\nalso, that built the temples of Faith and Terminus and taught the Romans\nthat the name of Faith was the most solemn oath that they could swear.\nThey still use it; and to the god Terminus, or Boundary, they offer to\nthis day both public and private sacrifices, upon the borders and stone-\nmarks of their land; living victims now, though anciently those\nsacrifices were solemnized without blood; for Numa reasoned that the god\nof boundaries, who watched over peace, and testified to fair dealing,\nshould have no concern with blood.  It is very clear that it was this\nking who first prescribed bounds to the territory of Rome; for Romulus\nwould but have openly betrayed how much he had encroached on his\nneighbors' lands, had he ever set limits to his own; for boundaries are,\nindeed, a defense to those who choose to observe them, but are only a\ntestimony against the dishonesty of those who break through them.  The\ntruth is, the portion of lands which the Romans possessed at the\nbeginning was very narrow, until Romulus enlarged them by war; all whose\nacquisitions Numa now divided amongst the indigent commonalty, wishing\nto do away with that extreme want which is a compulsion to dishonesty,\nand, by turning the people to husbandry, to bring them, as well as their\nlands, into better order.  For there is no employment that gives so keen\nand quick a relish for peace as husbandry and a country life, which\nleave in men all that kind of courage that makes them ready to fight in\ndefense of their own, while it destroys the license that breaks out into\nacts of injustice and rapacity.  Numa, therefore, hoping agriculture\nwould be a sort of charm to captivate the affections of his people to\npeace, and viewing it rather as a means to moral than to economical\nprofit, divided all the lands into several parcels, to which he gave the\nname of pagus, or parish, and over every one of them he ordained chief\noverseers; and, taking a delight sometimes to inspect his colonies in\nperson, he formed his judgment of every man's habits by the results; of\nwhich being witness himself, he preferred those to honors and\nemployments who had done well, and by rebukes and reproaches incited the\nindolent and careless to improvement.  But of all his measures the most\ncommended was his distribution of the people by their trades into\ncompanies or guilds; for as the city consisted, or rather did not\nconsist of, but was divided into, two different tribes, the diversity\nbetween which could not be effaced and in the mean time prevented all\nunity and caused perpetual tumult and ill-blood, reflecting how hard\nsubstances that do not readily mix when in the lump may, by being beaten\ninto powder, in that minute form be combined, he resolved to divide the\nwhole population into a number of small divisions, and thus hoped, by\nintroducing other distinctions, to obliterate the original and great\ndistinction, which would be lost among the smaller.  So, distinguishing\nthe whole people by the several arts and trades, he formed the companies\nof musicians, goldsmiths, carpenters, dyers, shoemakers, skinners,\nbraziers, and potters; and all other handicraftsmen he composed and\nreduced into a single company, appointing every one their proper courts,\ncouncils, and religious observances.  In this manner all factious\ndistinctions began, for the first time, to pass out of use, no person\nany longer being either thought of or spoken of under the notion of a\nSabine or a Roman, a Romulian or a Tatian; and the new division became a\nsource of general harmony and intermixture.\n\nHe is also much to be commended for the repeal, or rather amendment, of\nthat law which gives power to fathers to sell their children; he\nexempted such as were married, conditionally that it had been with the\nliking and consent of their parents; for it seemed a hard thing that a\nwoman who had given herself in marriage to a man whom she judged free\nshould afterwards find herself living with a slave.\n\nHe attempted, also, the formation of a calendar, not with absolute\nexactness, yet not without some scientific knowledge.  During the reign\nof Romulus, they had let their months run on without any certain or\nequal term; some of them contained twenty days, others thirty-five,\nothers more; they had no sort of knowledge of the inequality in the\nmotions of the sun and moon; they only kept to the one rule that the\nwhole course of the year contained three hundred and sixty days.  Numa,\ncalculating the difference between the lunar and the solar' year at\neleven days, for that the moon completed her anniversary course in three\nhundred and fifty-four days, and the sun in three hundred and sixty-\nfive, to remedy this incongruity doubled the eleven days, and every\nother year added an intercalary month, to follow February, consisting of\ntwenty-two days, and called by the Romans the month Mercedinus.  This\namendment, however, itself, in course of time, came to need other\namendments.  He also altered the order of the months; for March, which\nwas reckoned the first, he put into the third place; and January, which\nwas the eleventh, he made the first; and February, which was the twelfth\nand last, the second.  Many will have it, that it was Numa, also, who\nadded the two months of January and February; for in the beginning they\nhad had a year of ten months; as there are barbarians who count only\nthree; the Arcadians, in Greece, had but four; the Acarnanians, six.\nThe Egyptian year at first, they say, was of one month; afterwards, of\nfour; and so, though they live in the newest of all countries, they have\nthe credit of being a more ancient nation than any; and reckon, in their\ngenealogies, a prodigious number of years, counting months, that is, as\nyears.  That the Romans, at first, comprehended the whole year within\nten, and not twelve months, plainly appears by the name of the last,\nDecember, meaning the tenth month; and that March was the first is\nlikewise evident, for the fifth month after it was called Quintilis, and\nthe sixth Sextilis, and so the rest; whereas, if January and February\nhad, in this account, preceded March, Quintilis would have been fifth in\nname and seventh in reckoning.  It was also natural, that March,\ndedicated to Mars, should be Romulus's first, and April, named from\nVenus, or Aphrodite, his second month; in it they sacrifice to Venus,\nand the women bathe on the calends, or first day of it, with myrtle\ngarlands on their heads.  But others, because of its being p and not ph,\n will not allow of the derivation of this word from Aphrodite, but\nsay it is called April from aperio, Latin for to open, because that this\nmonth is high spring, and opens and discloses the buds and flowers.  The\nnext is called May, from Maia, the mother of Mercury, to whom it is\nsacred; then June follows, so called from Juno; some, however, derive\nthem from the two ages, old and young, majores being their name for\nolder, and juniores for younger men.  To the other months they gave\ndenominations according to their order; so the fifth was called\nQuintilis, Sextilis the sixth, and the rest, September, October,\nNovember, and December.  Afterwards Quintilis received the name of\nJulius, from Caesar who defeated Pompey; as also Sextilis that of\nAugustus, from the second Caesar, who had that title.  Domitian, also,\nin imitation, gave the two other following months his own names, of\nGermanicus and Domitianus; but, on his being slain, they recovered their\nancient denominations of September and October.  The two last are the\nonly ones that have kept their names throughout without any alteration.\nOf the months which were added or transposed in their order by Numa,\nFebruary comes from februa; and is as much as Purification month; in it\nthey make offerings to the dead, and celebrate the Lupercalia, which, in\nmost points, resembles a purification.  January was so called from\nJanus, and precedence given to it by Numa before March, which was\ndedicated to the god Mars; because, as I conceive, he wished to take\nevery opportunity of intimating that the arts and studies of peace are\nto be preferred before those of war.  For this Janus, whether in remote\nantiquity he were a demi-god or a king, was certainly a great lover of\ncivil and social unity, and one who reclaimed men from brutal and savage\nliving; for which reason they figure him with two faces, to represent\nthe two states and conditions out of the one of which he brought\nmankind, to lead them into the other.  His temple at Rome has two gates,\nwhich they call the gates of war, because they stand open in the time of\nwar, and shut in the times of peace; of which latter there was very\nseldom an example, for, as the Roman empire was enlarged and extended,\nit was so encompassed with barbarous nations and enemies to be resisted,\nthat it was seldom or never at peace.  Only in the time of Augustus\nCaesar, after he had overcome Antony, this temple was shut; as likewise\nonce before, when Marcus Atilius and Titus Manlius were consuls; but\nthen it was not long before, wars breaking out, the gates were again\nopened.  But, during the reign of Numa, those gates were never seen open\na single day, but continued constantly shut for a space of forty-three\nyears together; such an entire and universal cessation of war existed.\nFor not only had the people of Rome itself been softened and charmed\ninto a peaceful temper by the just and mild rule of a pacific prince,\nbut even the neighboring cities, as if some salubrious and gentle air\nhad blown from Rome upon them, began to experience a change of feeling,\nand partook in the general longing for the sweets of peace and order,\nand for life employed in the quiet tillage of soil, bringing up of\nchildren, and worship of the gods.  Festival days and sports, and the\nsecure and peaceful interchange of friendly visits and hospitalities\nprevailed all through the whole of Italy.  The love of virtue and\njustice flowed from Numa's wisdom as from a fountain, and the serenity\nof his spirit diffused itself, like a calm, on all sides; so that the\nhyperboles of poets were flat and tame to express what then existed;\nas that\n\nOver the iron shield the spiders hang their threads,\n\nor that\n\nRust eats the pointed spear and double-edged sword.\nNo more is heard the trumpet's brazen roar,\nSweet sleep is banished from our eyes no more.\n\nFor, during the whole reign of Numa, there was neither war, nor\nsedition, nor innovation in the state, nor any envy or ill-will to his\nperson, nor plot or conspiracy from views of ambition.  Either fear of\nthe gods that were thought to watch over him, or reverence for his\nvirtue, or a divine felicity of fortune that in his days preserved human\ninnocence, made his reign, by whatever means, a living example and\nverification of that saying which Plato, long afterwards, ventured to\npronounce, that the sole and only hope of respite or remedy for human\nevils was in some happy conjunction of events, which should unite in a\nsingle person the power of a king and the wisdom of a philosopher, so as\nto elevate virtue to control and mastery over vice.  The wise man is\nblessed in himself, and blessed also are the auditors who can hear and\nreceive those words which flow from his mouth; and perhaps, too, there\nis no need of compulsion or menaces to affect the multitude, for the\nmere sight itself of a shining and conspicuous example of virtue in the\nlife of their prince will bring them spontaneously to virtue, and to a\nconformity with that blameless and blessed life of good will and mutual\nconcord, supported by temperance and justice, which is the highest\nbenefit that human means can confer; and he is the truest ruler who can\nbest introduce it into the hearts and practice of his subjects.  It is\nthe praise of Numa that no one seems ever to have discerned this so\nclearly as he.\n\nAs to his children and wives, there is a diversity of reports by several\nauthors; some will have it that he never had any other wife than Tatia,\nnor more children than one daughter called Pompilia; others will have it\nthat he left also four sons, namely, Pompo, Pinus, Calpus, and Mamercus,\nevery one of whom had issue, and from them descended the noble and\nillustrious families of Pomponii, Pinarii, Calpurnii, and Mamerci, which\nfor this reason took also the surname of Rex, or King.  But there is a\nthird set of writers who say that these pedigrees are but a piece of\nflattery used by writers, who, to gain favor with these great\nfamilies, made them fictitious genealogies from the lineage of Numa; and\nthat Pompilia was not the daughter of Tatia, but Lucretia, another wife\nwhom he married after he came to his kingdom; however, all of them agree\nin opinion that she was married to the son of that Marcius who persuaded\nhim to accept the government, and accompanied him to Rome where, as a\nmark of honor, he was chosen into the senate, and, after the death of\nNuma, standing in competition with Tullus Hostilius for the kingdom, and\nbeing disappointed of the election, in discontent killed himself; his\nson Marcius, however, who had married Pompilia, continuing at Rome, was\nthe father of Ancus Marcius, who succeeded Tullus Hostilius in the\nkingdom, and was but five years of age when Numa died.\n\nNuma lived something above eighty years, and then, as Piso writes, was\nnot taken out of the world by a sudden or acute disease, but died of old\nage and by a gradual and gentle decline.  At his funeral all the glories\nof his life were consummated, when all the neighboring states in\nalliance and amity with Rome met to honor and grace the rites of his\ninterment with garlands and public presents; the senators carried the\nbier on which his corpse was laid, and the priests followed and\naccompanied the solemn procession; while a general crowd, in which women\nand children took part, followed with such cries and weeping as if they\nhad bewailed the death and loss of some most dear relation taken away in\nthe flower of age, and not of an old and worn-out king.  It is said that\nhis body, by his particular command, was not burnt, but that they made,\nin conformity with his order, two stone coffins, and buried both under\nthe hill Janiculum, in one of which his body was laid, and in the other\nhis sacred books, which, as the Greek legislators their tables, he had\nwritten out for himself, but had so long inculcated the contents of\nthem, whilst he lived, into the minds and hearts of the priests, that\ntheir understandings became fully possessed with the whole spirit and\npurpose of them; and he, therefore, bade that they should be buried with\nhis body, as though such holy precepts could not without irreverence be\nleft to circulate in mere lifeless writings.  For this very reason, they\nsay, the Pythagoreans bade that their precepts should not be committed\nto paper, but rather preserved in the living memories of those who were\nworthy to receive them; and when some of their out-of-the-way and\nabstruse geometrical processes had been divulged to an unworthy person,\nthey said the gods threatened to punish this wickedness and profanity by\na signal and wide-spreading calamity.  With these several instances,\nconcurring to show a similarity in the lives of Numa and Pythagoras, we\nmay easily pardon those who seek to establish the fact of a real\nacquaintance between them.\n\nValerius Antias writes that the books which were buried in the aforesaid\nchest or coffin of stone were twelve volumes of holy writ and twelve\nothers of Greek philosophy, and that about four hundred years\nafterwards, when P. Cornelius and M. Baebius were consuls, in a time of\nheavy rains, a violent torrent washed away the earth, and dislodged the\nchests of stone; and, their covers falling off, one of them was found\nwholly empty, without the least relic of any human body; in the other\nwere the books before mentioned, which the praetor Petilius having read\nand perused, made oath in the senate, that, in his opinion, it was not\nfit for their contents to be made public to the people; whereupon the\nvolumes were all carried to the Comitium, and there burnt.\n\nIt is the fortune of all good men that their virtue rises in glory after\ntheir deaths, and that the envy which evil men conceive against them\nnever outlives them long; some have the happiness even to see it die\nbefore them; but in Numa's case, also, the fortunes of the succeeding\nkings served as foils to set off the brightness of his reputation.  For\nafter him there were five kings, the last of whom ended his old age in\nbanishment, being deposed from his crown; of the other four, three were\nassassinated and murdered by treason; the other, who was Tullus\nHostilius, that immediately succeeded Numa, derided his virtues, and\nespecially his devotion to religious worship, as a cowardly and mean-\nspirited occupation, and diverted the minds of the people to war; but\nwas checked in these youthful insolences, and was himself driven by an\nacute and tormenting disease into superstitions wholly different from\nNuma's piety, and left others also to participate in these terrors when\nhe died by the stroke of a thunderbolt.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF NUMA WITH LYCURGUS\n\nHaving thus finished the lives of Lycurgus and Numa, we shall now,\nthough the work be difficult, put together their points of difference as\nthey lie here before our view.  Their points of likeness are obvious;\ntheir moderation, their religion, their capacity of government and\ndiscipline, their both deriving their laws and constitutions from the\ngods.  Yet in their common glories there are circumstances of diversity;\nfor, first, Numa accepted and Lycurgus resigned a kingdom; Numa received\nwithout desiring it, Lycurgus had it and gave it up; the one from a\nprivate person and a stranger was raised by others to be their king, the\nother from the condition of a prince voluntarily descended to the state\nof privacy.  It was glorious to acquire a throne by justice, yet more\nglorious to prefer justice before a throne; the same virtue which made\nthe one appear worthy of regal power exalted the other to the disregard\nof it.  Lastly, as musicians tune their harps, so the one let down the\nhigh-flown spirits of the people at Rome to a lower key, as the other\nscrewed them up at Sparta to a higher note, when they were sunken low by\ndissoluteness and riot.  The harder task was that of Lycurgus; for it\nwas not so much his business to persuade his citizens to put off their\narmor or ungird their swords, as to cast away their gold or silver, and\nabandon costly furniture and rich tables; nor was it necessary to preach\nto them, that, laying aside their arms, they should observe the\nfestivals, and sacrifice to the gods, but rather, that, giving up\nfeasting and drinking, they should employ their time in laborious and\nmartial exercises; so that while the one effected all by persuasions and\nhis people's love for him, the other, with danger and hazard of his\nperson, scarcely in the end succeeded.  Numa's muse was a gentle and\nloving inspiration, fitting him well to turn and soothe his people into\npeace and justice out of their violent and fiery tempers; whereas, if we\nmust admit the treatment of the Helots to be a part of Lycurgus's\nlegislations, a most cruel and iniquitous proceeding, we must own that\nNuma was by a great deal the more humane and Greek-like legislator,\ngranting even to actual slaves a license to sit at meat with their\nmasters at the feast of Saturn, that they, also, might have some taste\nand relish of the sweets of liberty.  For this custom, too, is ascribed\nto Numa, whose wish was, they conceive, to give a place in the enjoyment\nof the yearly fruits of the soil to those who had helped to produce\nthem.  Others will have it to be in remembrance of the age of Saturn,\nwhen there was no distinction between master and slave, but all lived as\nbrothers and as equals in a condition of equality.\n\nIn general, it seems that both aimed at the same design and intent,\nwhich was to bring their people to moderation and frugality; but, of\nother virtues, the one set his affection most on fortitude, and the\nother on justice; unless we will attribute their different ways to the\ndifferent habits and temperaments which they had to work upon by their\nenactments; for Numa did not out of cowardice or fear affect peace, but\nbecause he would not be guilty of injustice; nor did Lycurgus promote a\nspirit of war in his people that they might do injustice to others, but\nthat they might protect themselves by it.\n\nIn bringing the habits they formed in their people to a just and happy\nmean, mitigating them where they exceeded, and strengthening them where\nthey were deficient, both were compelled to make great innovations.  The\nframe of government which Numa formed was democratic and popular to the\nlast extreme, goldsmiths and flute-players and shoemakers constituting\nhis promiscuous, many-colored commonalty.  Lycurgus was rigid and\naristocratical, banishing all the base and mechanic arts to the company\nof servants and strangers, and allowing the true citizens no implements\nbut the spear and shield, the trade of war only, and the service of\nMars, and no other knowledge or study but that of obedience to their\ncommanding officers, and victory over their enemies.  Every sort of\nmoney-making was forbid them as freemen; and to make them thoroughly so\nand to keep them so through their whole lives, every conceivable concern\nwith money was handed over, with the cooking and the waiting at table,\nto slaves and helots.  But Numa made none of these distinctions; he only\nsuppressed military rapacity, allowing free scope to every other means\nof obtaining wealth; nor did he endeavor to do away with inequality in\nthis respect, but permitted riches to be amassed to any extent, and paid\nno attention to the gradual and continual augmentation and influx of\npoverty; which it was his business at the outset, whilst there was as\nyet no great disparity in the estates of men, and whilst people still\nlived much in one manner, to obviate, as Lycurgus did, and take measures\nof precaution against the mischiefs of avarice, mischiefs not of small\nimportance, but the real seed and first beginning of all the great and\nextensive evils of after times.  The re-division of estates, Lycurgus is\nnot, it seems to me, to be blamed for making, nor Numa for omitting;\nthis equality was the basis and foundation of the one commonwealth; but\nat Rome, where the lands had been lately divided, there was nothing to\nurge any re-division or any disturbance of the first arrangement, which\nwas probably still in existence.\n\nWith respect to wives and children, and that community which both, with\na sound policy, appointed, to prevent all jealousy, their methods,\nhowever, were different.  For when a Roman thought himself to have a\nsufficient number of children, in case his neighbor who had none should\ncome and request his wife of him, he had a lawful power to give her up\nto him who desired her, either for a certain time, or for good.  The\nLacedaemonian husband on the other hand, might allow the use of his wife\nto any other that desired to have children by her, and yet still keep\nher in his house, the original marriage obligation still subsisting as\nat first.  Nay, many husbands, as we have said, would invite men whom\nthey thought like]y to procure them fine and good-looking children into\ntheir houses.  What is the difference, then, between the two customs?\nShall we say that the Lacedaemonian system is one of an extreme and\nentire unconcern about their wives, and would cause most people endless\ndisquiet and annoyance with pangs and jealousies?  The Roman course\nwears an air of a more delicate acquiescence, draws the veil of a new\ncontract over the change, and concedes the general insupportableness of\nmere community?  Numa's directions, too, for the care of young women are\nbetter adapted to the female sex and to propriety; Lycurgus's are\naltogether unreserved and unfeminine, and have given a great handle to\nthe poets, who call them (Ibycus, for example) Phaenomerides, bare-\nthighed; and give them the character (as does Euripides) of being\nwild after husbands;\n\nThese with the young men from the house go out,\nWith thighs that show, and robes that fly about.\n\nFor in fact the skirts of the frock worn by unmarried girls were not\nsewn together at the lower part, but used to fly back and show the whole\nthigh bare as they walked.  The thing is most distinctly given\nby Sophocles.\n\n--She, also, the young maid,\nWhose frock, no robe yet o'er it laid,\nFolding back, leaves her bare thigh free,\nHermione.\n\nAnd so their women, it is said, were bold and masculine, overbearing to\ntheir husbands in the first place, absolute mistresses in their houses,\ngiving their opinions about public matters freely, and speaking openly\neven on the most important subjects.  But the matrons, under the\ngovernment of Numa, still indeed received from their husbands all that\nhigh respect and honor which had been paid them under Romulus as a sort\nof atonement for the violence done to them; nevertheless, great modesty\nwas enjoined upon them; all busy intermeddling forbidden, sobriety\ninsisted on, and silence made habitual.  Wine they were not to touch at\nall, nor to speak, except in their husband's company, even on the most\nordinary subjects.  So that once when a woman had the confidence to\nplead her own cause in a court of judicature, the senate, it is said,\nsent to inquire of the oracle what the prodigy did portend; and, indeed,\ntheir general good behavior and submissiveness is justly proved by the\nrecord of those that were otherwise; for as the Greek historians record\nin their annals the names of those who first unsheathed the sword of\ncivil war, or murdered their brothers, or were parricides, or killed\ntheir mothers, so the Roman writers report it as the first example, that\nSpurius Carvilius divorced his wife, being a case that never before\nhappened, in the space of two hundred and thirty years from the\nfoundation of the city; and that one Thalaea, the wife of Pinarius, had\na quarrel (the first instance of the kind) with her mother-in-law,\nGegania, in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus; so successful was the\nlegislator in securing order and good conduct in the marriage relation.\nTheir respective regulations for marrying the young women are in\naccordance with those for their education.  Lycurgus made them brides\nwhen they were of full age and inclination for it.  Intercourse, where\nnature was thus consulted, would produce, he thought, love and\ntenderness, instead of the dislike and fear attending an unnatural\ncompulsion; and their bodies, also, would be better able to bear the\ntrials of breeding and of bearing children, in his judgment\nthe one end of marriage.\n Astolos chiton, the under garment, frock, or tunic, without anything,\neither himation or peplus, over it.\n\nThe Romans, on the other hand, gave their daughters in marriage as early\nas twelve years old, or even under; thus they thought their bodies alike\nand minds would be delivered to the future husband pure and undefiled.\nThe way of Lycurgus seems the more natural with a view to the birth of\nchildren; the other, looking to a life to be spent together, is more\nmoral.  However, the rules which Lycurgus drew up for superintendence of\nchildren, their collection into companies, their discipline and\nassociation, as also his exact regulations for their meals, exercises,\nand sports, argue Numa no more than an ordinary lawgiver.  Numa left the\nwhole matter simply to be decided by the parent's wishes or necessities;\nhe might, if he pleased, make his son a husbandman or carpenter,\ncoppersmith or musician; as if it were of no importance for them to be\ndirected and trained up from the beginning to one and the same common\nend, or as though it would do for them to be like passengers on\nshipboard, brought thither each for his own ends and by his own choice,\nuniting to act for the common good only in time of danger upon occasion\nof their private fears, in general looking simply to their own interest.\n\nWe may forbear, indeed, to blame common legislators, who may be\ndeficient in power or knowledge.  But when a wise man like Numa had\nreceived the sovereignty over a new and docile people, was there any\nthing that would better deserve his attention than the education of\nchildren, and the training up of the young, not to contrariety and\ndiscordance of character, but to the unity of the common model of\nvirtue, to which from their cradle they should have been formed and\nmolded?  One benefit among many that Lycurgus obtained by his course was\nthe permanence which it secured to his laws.  The obligation of oaths to\npreserve them would have availed but little, if he had not, by\ndiscipline and education, infused them into the children's characters,\nand imbued their whole early life with a love of his government.  The\nresult was that the main points and fundamentals of his legislation\ncontinued for above five hundred years, like some deep and thoroughly\ningrained tincture, retaining their hold upon the nation.  But Numa's\nwhole design and aim, the continuance of peace and good-will, on his\ndeath vanished with him; no sooner did he expire his last breath than\nthe gates of Janus's temple flew wide open, and, as if war had, indeed,\nbeen kept and caged up within those walls, it rushed forth to fill all\nItaly with blood and slaughter; and thus that best and justest fabric of\nthings was of no long continuance, because it wanted that cement which\nshould have kept all together, education.  What, then, some may say, has\nnot Rome been advanced and bettered by her wars?  A question that will\nneed a long answer, if it is to be one to satisfy men who take the\nbetter to consist in riches, luxury, and dominion, rather than in\nsecurity, gentleness, and that independence which is accompanied by\njustice.  However, it makes much for Lycurgus, that, after the Romans\ndeserted the doctrine and discipline of Numa, their empire grew and\ntheir power increased so much; whereas so soon as the Lacedaemonians\nfell from the institutions of Lycurgus, they sank from the highest to\nthe lowest state, and, after forfeiting their supremacy over the rest of\nGreece, were themselves in danger of absolute extirpation.  Thus much,\nmeantime, was peculiarly signal and almost divine in the circumstances\nof Numa, that he was an alien, and yet courted to come and accept a\nkingdom, the frame of which though he entirely altered, yet he performed\nit by mere persuasion, and ruled a city that as yet had scarce become\none city, without recurring to arms or any violence (such as Lycurgus\nused, supporting himself by the aid of the nobler citizens against the\ncommonalty), but, by mere force of wisdom and justice, established union\nand harmony amongst all.\n\n\n\nSOLON\n\nDidymus, the grammarian, in his answer to Asclepiades concerning Solon's\nTables of Law, mentions a passage of one Philocles, who states that\nSolon's father's name was Euphorion, contrary to the opinion of all\nothers who have written concerning him; for they generally agree that he\nwas the son of Execestides, a man of moderate wealth and power in the\ncity, but of a most noble stock, being descended from Codrus; his mother,\nas Heraclides Ponticus affirms, was cousin to Pisistratus's\nmother, and the two at first were great friends, partly because they\nwere akin, and partly because of Pisistratus's noble qualities and\nbeauty.  And they say Solon loved him; and that is the reason, I\nsuppose, that when afterwards they differed about the government, their\nenmity never produced any hot and violent passion, they remembered their\nold kindnesses, and retained--\n\nStill in its embers living the strong fire\n\nof their love and dear affection.  For that Solon was not proof against\nbeauty, nor of courage to stand up to passion and meet it,\n\nHand to hand as in the ring--\n\nwe may conjecture by his poems, and one of his laws, in which there are\npractices forbidden to slaves, which he would appear, therefore, to\nrecommend to freemen.  Pisistratus, it is stated, was similarly attached\nto one Charmus; he it was who dedicated the figure of Love in the\nAcademy, where the runners in the sacred torch-race light their torches.\nSolon, as Hermippus writes, when his father had ruined his estate in\ndoing benefits and kindnesses to other men, though he had friends enough\nthat were willing to contribute to his relief, yet was ashamed to be\nbeholden to others, since he was descended from a family who were\naccustomed to do kindnesses rather than receive them; and therefore\napplied himself to merchandise in his youth; though others assure us\nthat he traveled rather to get learning and experience than to make\nmoney.  It is certain that he was a lover of knowledge, for when he was\nold he would say, that he\n\nEach day grew older, and learnt something new,\n\nand yet no admirer of riches, esteeming as equally wealthy the man,--\n\nWho hath both gold and silver in his hand,\nHorses and mules, and acres of wheat-land,\nAnd him whose all is decent food to eat,\nClothes to his back and shoes upon his feet,\nAnd a young wife and child, since so 'twill be,\nAnd no more years than will with that agree;--\n\nand in another place,--\n\nWealth I would have, but wealth by wrong procure\nI would not; justice, e'en if slow, is sure.\n\nAnd it is perfectly possible for a good man and a statesman, without\nbeing solicitous for superfluities, to show some concern for competent\nnecessaries.  In his time, as Hesiod says, --\"Work was a shame to none,\"\nnor was any distinction made with respect to trade, but merchandise was\na noble calling, which brought home the good things which the barbarous\nnations enjoyed, was the occasion of friendship with their kings, and a\ngreat source of experience.  Some merchants have built great cities, as\nProtis, the founder of Massilia, to whom the Gauls near the Rhine were\nmuch attached.  Some report also that Thales and Hippocrates the\nmathematician traded; and that Plato defrayed the charges of his travels\nby selling oil in Egypt.  Solon's softness and profuseness, his popular\nrather than philosophical tone about pleasure in his poems, have been\nascribed to his trading life; for, having suffered a thousand dangers,\nit was natural they should be recompensed with some gratifications and\nenjoyments; but that he accounted himself rather poor than rich is\nevident from the lines,\n\nSome wicked men are rich, some good are poor,\nWe will not change our virtue for their store;\nVirtue's a thing that none call take away,\nBut money changes owners all the day.\n\nAt first he used his poetry only in trifles, not for any serious\npurpose, but simply to pass away his idle hours; but afterwards he\nintroduced moral sentences and state matters, which he did, not to\nrecord them merely as an historian, but to justify his own actions, and\nsometimes to correct, chastise, and stir up the Athenians to noble\nperformances.  Some report that he designed to put his laws into heroic\nverse, and that they began thus,--\n\nWe humbly beg a blessing on our laws\nFrom mighty Jove, and honor, and applause.\n\nIn philosophy, as most of the wise men then, he chiefly\nesteemed the political part of morals; in physics, he was very plain and\nantiquated, as appears by this,--\n\nIt is the clouds that make the snow and hail,\nAnd thunder comes from lightning without fail;\nThe sea is stormy when the winds have blown,\nBut it deals fairly when 'tis left alone.\n\nAnd, indeed, it is probable that at that time Thales alone had raised\nphilosophy above mere practice into speculation; and the rest of the\nwise men were so called from prudence in political concerns.  It is\nsaid, that they had an interview at Delphi, and another at Corinth, by\nthe procurement of Periander, who made a meeting for them, and a supper.\nBut their reputation was chiefly raised by sending the tripod to them\nall, by their modest refusal, and complaisant yielding to one another.\nFor, as the story goes, some of the Coans fishing with a net, some\nstrangers, Milesians, bought the draught at a venture; the net brought\nup a golden tripod, which, they say, Helen, at her return from Troy,\nupon the remembrance of an old prophecy, threw in there.  Now, the\nstrangers at first contesting with the fishers about the tripod, and the\ncities espousing the quarrel so far as to engage themselves in a war,\nApollo decided the controversy by commanding to present it to the wisest\nman; and first it was sent to Miletus to Thales, the Coans freely\npresenting him with that for which they fought against the whole body of\nthe Milesians; but, Thales declaring Bias the wiser person, it was sent\nto him; from him to another; and so, going round them all, it came to\nThales a second time; and, at last, being carried from Miletus to\nThebes, was there dedicated to Apollo Ismenius.  Theophrastus writes\nthat it was first presented to Bias at Priene; and next to Thales at\nMiletus, and so through all it returned to Bias, and was afterwards sent\nto Delphi.  This is the general report, only some, instead of a tripod,\nsay this present was a cup sent by Croesus; others, a piece of plate\nthat one Bathycles had left.  It is stated, that Anacharsis and Solon,\nand Solon and Thales, were familiarly acquainted, and some have\ndelivered parts of their discourse; for, they say, Anacharsis, coming to\nAthens, knocked at Solon's door, and told him, that he, being a\nstranger, was come to be his guest, and contract a friendship with him;\nand Solon replying, \"It is better to make friends at home,\" Anacharsis\nreplied, \"Then you that are at home make friendship with me.\"  Solon,\nsomewhat surprised at the readiness of the repartee, received him\nkindly, and kept him some time with him, being already engaged in public\nbusiness and the compilation of his laws; which when Anacharsis\nunderstood, he laughed at him for imagining the dishonesty and\ncovetousness of his countrymen could be restrained by written laws,\nwhich were like spiders' webs, and would catch, it is true, the weak and\npoor, but easily be broken by the mighty and rich.  To this Solon\nrejoined that men keep their promises when neither side can get anything\nby the breaking of them; and he would so fit his laws to the\ncitizens, that all should understand it was more eligible to be just\nthan to break the laws.  But the event rather agreed with the conjecture\nof Anacharsis than Solon's hope.  Anacharsis, being once at the\nassembly, expressed his wonder at the fact that in Greece wise men spoke\nand fools decided.\n\nSolon went, they say, to Thales at Miletus, and wondered that Thales\ntook no care to get him a wife and children.  To this, Thales made no\nanswer for the present; but, a few days after, procured a stranger to\npretend that he had left Athens ten days ago; and Solon inquiring what\nnews there, the man, according to his instructions, replied, \"None but a\nyoung man's funeral, which the whole city attended; for he was the son,\nthey said, of an honorable man, the most virtuous of the citizens, who\nwas not then at home, but had been traveling a long time.\"  Solon\nreplied, \"What a miserable man is he!  But what was his name?\"  \"I have\nheard it,\" says the man, \"but have now forgotten it, only there was\ngreat talk of his wisdom and his justice.\"  Thus Solon was drawn on by\nevery answer, and his fears heightened, till at last, being extremely\nconcerned, he mentioned his own name, and asked the stranger if that\nyoung man was called Solon's son; and the stranger assenting, he began\nto beat his head, and to do and say all that is usual with men in\ntransports of grief.  But Thales took his hand, and, with a smile, said,\n\"These things, Solon, keep me from marriage and rearing children, which\nare too great for even your constancy to support; however, be not\nconcerned at the report, for it is a fiction.\"  This Hermippus relates,\nfrom Pataecus, who boasted that he had Aesop's soul.\n\nHowever, it is irrational and poor-spirited not to seek conveniences for\nfear of losing them, for upon the same account we should not allow\nourselves to like wealth, glory, or wisdom, since we may fear to be\ndeprived of all these; nay, even virtue itself, than which there is no\ngreater nor more desirable possession, is often suspended by sickness or\ndrugs.  Now Thales, though unmarried, could not be free from solicitude,\nunless he likewise felt no care for his friends, his kinsmen, or his\ncountry; yet we are told he adopted Cybisthus, his sister's son.  For\nthe soul, having a principle of kindness in itself, and being born to\nlove, as well as perceive, think, or remember, inclines and fixes upon\nsome stranger, when a man has none of his own to embrace.  And alien or\nillegitimate objects insinuate themselves into his affections, as into\nsome estate that lacks lawful heirs; and with affection come anxiety and\ncare; insomuch that you may see men that use the strongest language\nagainst the marriage-bed and the fruit of it, when some servant's or\nconcubine's child is sick or dies, almost killed with grief, and\nabjectly lamenting.  Some have given way to shameful and desperate\nsorrow at the loss of a dog or horse; others have borne the deaths of\nvirtuous children without any extravagant or unbecoming grief; have\npassed the rest of their lives like men, and according to the principles\nof reason.  It is not affection, it is weakness, that brings men,\nunarmed against fortune by reason, into these endless pains and terrors;\nand they indeed have not even the present enjoyment of what they dote\nupon, the possibility of the future loss causing them continual pangs,\ntremors, and distresses.  We must not provide against the loss of wealth\nby poverty, or of friends by refusing all acquaintance, or of children\nby having none, but by morality and reason.  But of this too much.\n\nNow, when the Athenians were tired with a tedious and difficult war that\nthey conducted against the Megarians for the island Salamis, and made a\nlaw that it should be death for any man, by writing or speaking, to\nassert that the city ought to endeavor to recover it, Solon, vexed at\nthe disgrace, and perceiving thousands of the youth wished for somebody\nto begin, but did not dare to stir first for fear of the law,\ncounterfeited a distraction, and by his own family it was spread about\nthe city that he was mad.  He then secretly composed some elegiac\nverses, and getting them by heart, that it might seem extempore, ran out\ninto the place with a cap upon his head, and, the people gathering about\nhim, got upon the herald's stand, and sang that elegy which begins\nthus:--\n\nI am a herald come from Salamis the fair,\nMy news from thence my verses shall declare.\n\nThe poem is called Salamis, it contains one hundred verses, very\nelegantly written; when it had been sung, his friends commended it, and\nespecially Pisistratus exhorted the citizens to obey his directions;\ninsomuch that they recalled the law, and renewed the war under Solon's\nconduct.  The popular tale is, that with Pisistratus he sailed to\nColias, and, finding the women, according to the custom of the country\nthere, sacrificing to Ceres, he sent a trusty friend to Salamis, who\nshould pretend himself a renegade, and advise them, if they desired to\nseize the chief Athenian women, to come with him at once to Colias; the\nMegarians presently sent of men in the vessel with him; and Solon,\nseeing it put off from the island, commanded the women to be gone, and\nsome beardless youths, dressed in their clothes, their shoes, and caps,\nand privately armed with daggers, to dance and play near the shore till\nthe enemies had landed and the vessel was in their power.  Things being\nthus ordered, the Megarians were allured with the appearance, and,\ncoming to the shore, jumped out, eager who should first seize a prize,\nso that not one of them escaped; and the Athenians set sail for the\nisland and took it.\n\nOthers say that it was not taken this way, but that he first received\nthis oracle from Delphi:\n\nThose heroes that in fair Asopia rest,\nAll buried with their faces to the west,\nGo and appease with offerings of the best;\n\nand that Solon, sailing by night to the island, sacrificed to the heroes\nPeriphemus and Cychreus, and then, taking five hundred Athenian\nvolunteers (a law having passed that those that took the island should\nbe highest in the government), with a number of fisher-boats and one\nthirty-oared ship, anchored in a bay of Salamis that looks towards\nNisaea; and the Megarians that were then in the island, hearing only an\nuncertain report, hurried to their arms, and sent a ship to reconnoiter\nthe enemies.  This ship Solon took, and, securing the Megarians, manned\nit with Athenians, and gave them orders to sail to the island with as\nmuch privacy as possible; meantime he, with the other soldiers, marched\nagainst the Megarians by land, and whilst they were fighting, those from\nthe ship took the city.  And this narrative is confirmed by the\nfollowing solemnity, that was afterwards observed: an Athenian ship used\nto sail silently at first to the island, then, with noise and a great\nshout, one leapt out armed, and with a loud cry ran to the promontory\nSciradium to meet those that approached upon the land.  And just by\nthere stands a temple which Solon dedicated to Mars.  For he beat the\nMegarians, and as many as were not killed in the battle he sent away\nupon conditions.\n\nThe Megarians, however, still contending, and both sides having received\nconsiderable losses, they chose the Spartans for arbitrators.  Now, many\naffirm that Homer's authority did Solon a considerable kindness, and\nthat, introducing a line into the Catalog of Ships, when the matter was\nto be determined, he read the passage as follows:\n\nTwelve ships from Salamis stout Ajax brought,\nAnd ranked his men where the Athenians fought.\n\nThe Athenians, however, call this but an idle story, and report, that\nSolon made it appear to the judges, that Philaeus and Eurysaces, the\nsons of Ajax, being made citizens of Athens, gave them the island, and\nthat one of them dwelt at Brauron in Attica, the other at Melite; and\nthey have a township of Philaidae, to which Pisistratus belonged,\nderiving its name from this Philaeus.  Solon took a farther argument\nagainst the Megarians from the dead bodies, which, he said, were not\nburied after their fashion but according to the Athenian; for the\nMegarians turn the corpse to the east, the Athenians to the west.  But\nHereas the Megarian denies this, and affirms that they likewise turn the\nbody to the west, and also that the Athenians have a separate tomb for\nevery body, but the Megarians put two or three into one.  However, some\nof Apollo's oracles, where he calls Salamis Ionian, made much for Solon.\nThis matter was determined by five Spartans, Critolaidas, Amompharetus,\nHypsechidas, Anaxilas, and Cleomenes.\n\nFor this, Solon grew famed and powerful; but his advice in favor of\ndefending the oracle at Delphi, to give aid, and not to suffer the\nCirrhaeans to profane it, but to maintain the honor of the god, got him\nmost repute among the Greeks: for upon his persuasion the Amphictyons\nundertook the war, as, amongst others, Aristotle affirms, in his\nenumeration of the victors at the Pythian games, where he makes Solon\nthe author of this counsel.  Solon, however, was not general in that\nexpedition, as Hermippus states, out of Evanthes the Samian; for\nAeschines the orator says no such thing, and, in the Delphian register,\nAlcmaeon, not Solon, is named as commander of the Athenians.\n\nNow the Cylonian pollution had a long while disturbed the commonwealth,\never since the time when Megacles the archon persuaded the conspirators\nwith Cylon that took sanctuary in Minerva's temple to come down and\nstand to a fair trial.  And they, tying a thread to the image, and\nholding one end of it, went down to the tribunal; but when they came to\nthe temple of the Furies, the thread broke of its own accord, upon\nwhich, as if the goddess had refused them protection, they were seized\nby Megacles and the other magistrates; as many as were without the\ntemples were stoned, those that fled for sanctuary were butchered at the\naltar, and only those escaped who made supplication to the wives of the\nmagistrates.  But they from that time were considered under pollution,\nand regarded with hatred.  The remainder of the faction of Cylon grew\nstrong again, and had continual quarrels with the family of Megacles;\nand now the quarrel being at its height, and the people divided, Solon,\nbeing in reputation, interposed with the chiefest of the Athenians, and\nby entreaty and admonition persuaded the polluted to submit to a trial\nand the decision of three hundred noble citizens.  And Myron of Phlya\nbeing their accuser, they were found guilty, and as many as were then\nalive were banished, and the bodies of the dead were dug up, and\nscattered beyond the confines of the country.  In the midst of these\ndistractions, the Megarians falling upon them, they lost Nisaea and\nSalamis again; besides, the city was disturbed with superstitious fears\nand strange appearances, and the priests declared that the sacrifices\nintimated some villanies and pollutions that were to be expiated.  Upon\nthis, they sent for Epimenides the Phaestian from Crete, who is counted\nthe seventh wise man by those that will not admit Periander into the\nnumber.  He seems to have been thought a favorite of heaven, possessed\nof knowledge in all the supernatural and ritual parts of religion; and,\ntherefore, the men of his age called him a new Cures, and son of a\nnymph named Balte.  When he came to Athens, and grew acquainted with\nSolon, he served him in many instances, and prepared the way for his\nlegislation.  He made them moderate in their forms of worship, and\nabated their mourning by ordering some sacrifices presently after the\nfuneral, and taking off those severe and barbarous ceremonies which the\nwomen usually practiced; but the greatest benefit was his purifying and\nsanctifying the city, by certain propitiatory and expiatory lustrations,\nand foundation of sacred buildings; by that means making them more\nsubmissive to justice, and more inclined to harmony.  It is reported\nthat, looking upon Munychia, and considering a long while, he said to\nthose that stood by, \"How blind is man in future things! for did the\nAthenians foresee what mischief this would do their city, they would\neven eat it with their own teeth to be rid of it.\"  A similar\nanticipation is ascribed to Thales; they say he commanded his friends to\nbury him in an obscure and contemned quarter of the territory of\nMiletus, saying that it should some day be the marketplace of the\nMilesians.  Epimenides, being much honored, and receiving from the city\nrich offers of large gifts and privileges, requested but one branch of\nthe sacred olive, and, on that being granted, returned.\n\nThe Athenians, now the Cylonian sedition was over and the polluted gone\ninto banishment, fell into their old quarrels about the government,\nthere being as many different parties as there were diversities in the\ncountry. The Hill quarter favored democracy, the Plain, oligarchy, and\nthose that lived by the Sea-side stood for a mixed sort of government,\nand so hindered either of the other parties from prevailing.  And the\ndisparity of fortune between the rich and the poor, at that time, also\nreached its height; so that the city seemed to be in a truly dangerous\ncondition, and no other means for freeing it from disturbances and\nsettling it, to be possible but a despotic power.  All the people were\nindebted to the rich; and either they tilled their land for their\ncreditors, paying them a sixth part of the increase, and were,\ntherefore, called Hectemorii and Thetes, or else they engaged their body\nfor the debt, and might be seized, and either sent into slavery at home,\nor sold to strangers; some (for no law forbade it) were forced to sell\ntheir children, or fly their country to avoid the cruelty of their\ncreditors; but the most part and the bravest of them began to combine\ntogether and encourage one another to stand to it, to choose a leader,\nto liberate the condemned debtors, divide the land,\nand change the government.\n\nThen the wisest of the Athenians, perceiving Solon was of all men the\nonly one not implicated in the troubles, that he had not joined in the\nexactions of the rich, and was not involved in the necessities of the\npoor, pressed him to succor the commonwealth and compose the\ndifferences.  Though Phanias the Lesbian affirms, that Solon, to save\nhis country, put a trick upon both parties, and privately promised the\npoor a division of the lands, and the rich, security for their debts.\nSolon, however, himself, says that it was reluctantly at first that he\nengaged in state affairs, being afraid of the pride of one party and the\ngreediness of the other; he was chosen archon, however, after\nPhilombrotus, and empowered to be an arbitrator and lawgiver; the rich\nconsenting because he was wealthy, the poor because he was honest.\nThere was a saying of his current before the election, that when things\nare even there never can be war, and this pleased both parties, the\nwealthy and the poor; the one conceiving him to mean, when all have\ntheir fair proportion; the others, when all are absolutely equal.  Thus,\nthere being great hopes on both sides, the chief men pressed Solon to\ntake the government into his own hands, and, when he was once settled,\nmanage the business freely and according to his pleasure; and many of\nthe commons, perceiving it would be a difficult change to be effected by\nlaw and reason, were willing to have one wise and just man set over the\naffairs; and some say that Solon had this oracle from Apollo--\n\nTake the mid-seat, and be the vessel's guide;\nMany in Athens are upon your side.\n\nBut chiefly his familiar friends chid him for disaffecting monarchy only\nbecause of the name, as if the virtue of the ruler could not make it a\nlawful form; Euboea had made this experiment when it chose Tynnondas,\nand Mitylene, which had made Pittacus its prince; yet this could not\nshake Solon's resolution; but, as they say, he replied to his friends,\nthat it was true a tyranny was a very fair spot, but it had no way down\nfrom it; and in a copy of verses to Phocus he writes.--\n\n--that I spared my land,\nAnd withheld from usurpation and from violence my hand,\nAnd forbore to fix a stain and a disgrace on my good name,\nI regret not; I believe that it will be my chiefest fame.\n\nFrom which it is manifest that he was a man of great reputation before\nhe gave his laws.  The several mocks that were put upon him for refusing\nthe power, he records in these words,--\n\nSolon surely was a dreamer, and a man of simple mind;\nWhen the gods would give him fortune, he of his own will declined;\nWhen the net was full of fishes, over-heavy thinking it,\nHe declined to haul it up, through want of heart and want of wit.\nHad but I that chance of riches and of kingship, for one day,\nI would give my skin for flaying, and my house to die away.\n\nThus he makes the many and the low people speak of him.  Yet, though he\nrefused the government, he was not too mild in the affair; he did not\nshow himself mean and submissive to the powerful, nor make his laws to\npleasure those that chose him.  For where it was well before, he applied\nno remedy, nor altered anything, for fear lest,\n\nOverthrowing altogether and disordering the state,\n\nhe should be too weak to new-model and recompose it to a tolerable\ncondition; but what he thought he could effect by persuasion upon the\npliable, and by force upon the stubborn, this he did,\nas he himself says,\n\nWith force and justice working both one.\n\nAnd, therefore, when he was afterwards asked if he had left the\nAthenians the best laws that could be given, he replied, \"The best they\ncould receive.\"  The way which, the moderns say, the Athenians have of\nsoftening the badness of a thing, by ingeniously giving it some pretty\nand innocent appellation, calling harlots, for example, mistresses,\ntributes customs, a garrison a guard, and the jail the chamber, seems\noriginally to have been Solon's contrivance, who called canceling debts\nSeisacthea, a relief, or disencumbrance.  For the first thing which he\nsettled was, that what debts remained should be forgiven, and no man,\nfor the future, should engage the body of his debtor for security.\nThough some, as Androtion, affirm that the debts were not canceled, but\nthe interest only lessened, which sufficiently pleased the people; so\nthat they named this benefit the Seisacthea, together with the enlarging\ntheir measures, and raising the value of their money; for he made a\npound, which before passed for seventy-three drachmas, go for a\nhundred; so that, though the number of pieces in the payment was equal,\nthe value was less; which proved a considerable benefit to those that\nwere to discharge great debts, and no loss to the creditors.  But most\nagree that it was the taking off the debts that was called Seisacthea,\nwhich is confirmed by some places in his poem, where he takes honor to\nhimself, that\n\nThe mortgage-stones that covered her, by me\nRemoved, --the land that was a slave is free;\n\nthat some who had been seized for their debts he had brought back from\nother countries, where\n\n--so far their lot to roam,\nThey had forgot the language of their home;\n\nand some he had set at liberty,--\n\nWho here in shameful servitude were held.\n\nWhile he was designing this, a most vexatious thing happened; for when\nhe had resolved to take off the debts, and was considering the proper\nform and fit beginning for it, he told some of his friends, Conon,\nClinias, and Hipponicus, in whom he had a great deal of confidence, that\nhe would not meddle with the lands, but only free the people from their\ndebts; upon which, they, using their advantage, made haste and borrowed\nsome considerable sums of money, and purchased some large farms; and\nwhen the law was enacted, they kept the possessions, and would not\nreturn the money; which brought Solon into great suspicion and dislike,\nas if he himself had not been abused, but was concerned in the\ncontrivance.  But he presently stopped this suspicion, by releasing his\ndebtors of five talents (for he had lent so much), according to the law;\nothers, as Polyzelus the Rhodian, say fifteen; his friends, however,\nwere ever afterward called Chreocopidae, repudiators.\n\nIn this he pleased neither party, for the rich were angry for their\nmoney, and the poor that the land was not divided, and, as Lycurgus\nordered in his commonwealth, all men reduced to equality.  He, it is\ntrue, being the eleventh from Hercules, and having reigned many years in\nLacedaemon, had got a great reputation and friends and power, which he\ncould use in modeling his state; and, applying force more than\npersuasion, insomuch that he lost his eye in the scuffle, was able to\nemploy the most effectual means for the safety and harmony of a state,\nby not permitting any to be poor or rich in his commonwealth.  Solon\ncould not rise to that in his polity, being but a citizen of the middle\nclasses; yet he acted fully up to the height of his power, having\nnothing but the good-will and good opinion of his citizens to rely on;\nand that he offended the most part, who looked for another result, he\ndeclares in the words,\n\nFormerly they boasted of me vainly; with averted eyes\nNow they look askance upon me; friends no more, but enemies.\n\nAnd yet had any other man, he says, received the same power,\n\nHe would not have forborne, nor let alone,\nBut made the fattest of the milk his own.\n\nSoon, however, becoming sensible of the good that was done, they laid by\ntheir grudges, made a public sacrifice, calling it Seisacthea, and chose\nSolon to new-model and make laws for the commonwealth, giving him the\nentire power over everything, their magistracies, their assemblies,\ncourts, and councils; that he should appoint the number, times of\nmeeting, and what estate they must have that could be capable of these,\nand dissolve or continue any of the present constitutions,\naccording to his pleasure.\n\nFirst, then, he repealed all Draco's laws, except those concerning\nhomicide, because they were too severe, and the punishments too great;\nfor death was appointed for almost all offenses, insomuch that those\nthat were convicted of idleness were to die, and those that stole a\ncabbage or an apple to suffer even as villains that committed sacrilege\nor murder.  So that Demades, in after time, was thought to have said\nvery happily, that Draco's laws were written not with ink, but blood;\nand he himself, being once asked why he made death the punishment of\nmost offenses, replied, \"Small ones deserve that, and I have no higher\nfor the greater crimes.\"\n\nNext, Solon, being willing to continue the magistracies in the hands of\nthe rich men, and yet receive the people into the other part of the\ngovernment, took an account of the citizens' estates, and those that\nwere worth five hundred measures of fruits, dry and liquid, he placed in\nthe first rank, calling them Pentacosiomedimni; those that could keep an\nhorse, or were worth three hundred measures, were named Hippada\nTeluntes, and made the second class; the Zeugitae, that had two hundred\nmeasures, were in the third; and all the others were called Thetes, who\nwere not admitted to any office, but could come to the assembly, and act\nas jurors; which at first seemed nothing, but afterwards was found an\nenormous privilege, as almost every matter of dispute came before them\nin this latter capacity.  Even in the cases which he assigned to the\narchons' cognizance, he allowed an appeal to the courts.  Besides, it is\nsaid that he was obscure and ambiguous in the wording of his laws, on\npurpose to increase the honor of his courts; for since their differences\ncould not be adjusted by the letter, they would have to bring all their\ncauses to the judges, who thus were in a manner masters of the laws.  Of\nthis equalization he himself makes mention in this manner:\n\nSuch power I gave the people as might do,\nAbridged not what they had, now lavished new.\nThose that were great in wealth and high in place,\nMy counsel likewise kept from all disgrace.\nBefore them both I held my shield of might,\nAnd let not either touch the other's right.\n\nAnd for the greater security of the weak commons, he gave general\nliberty of indicting for an act of injury; if any one was beaten,\nmaimed, or suffered any violence, any man that would and was able, might\nprosecute the wrongdoer; intending by this to accustom the citizens,\nlike members of the same body, to resent and be sensible of one\nanother's injuries.  And there is a saying of his agreeable to this law,\nfor, being asked what city was best modeled, \"That,\" said he, \"where\nthose that are not injured try and punish the unjust as much as those\nthat are.\"\n\nWhen he had constituted the Areopagus of those who had been yearly\narchons, of which he himself was a member therefore, observing that the\npeople, now free from their debts, were unsettled and imperious, he\nformed another council of four hundred, a hundred out of each of the\nfour tribes, which was to inspect all matters before they were\npropounded to the people, and to take care that nothing but what had\nbeen first examined should be brought before the general assembly.  The\nupper council, or Areopagus, he made inspectors and keepers of the laws,\nconceiving that the commonwealth, held by these two councils, like\nanchors, would be less liable to be tossed by tumults, and the people be\nmore at quiet.  Such is the general statement, that Solon instituted the\nAreopagus; which seems to be confirmed, because Draco makes no mention\nof the Areopagites, but in all causes of blood refers to the Ephetae;\nyet Solon's thirteenth table contains the eighth law set down in these\nvery words:  \"Whoever before Solon's archonship were disfranchised, let\nthem be restored, except those that, being condemned by the Areopagus,\nEphetae, or in the Prytaneum by the kings, for homicide, murder, or\ndesigns against the government, were in banishment when this law was\nmade;\" and these words seem to show that the Areopagus existed before\nSolon's laws, for who could be condemned by that council before his\ntime, if he was the first that instituted the court?  unless, which is\nprobable, there is some ellipsis, or want of precision, in the language,\nand it should run thus, -- \"Those that are convicted of such offenses as\nbelong to the cognizance of the Areopagites, Ephetae, or the Prytanes,\nwhen this law was made,\" shall remain still in disgrace, whilst others\nare restored; of this the reader must judge.\n\nAmongst his other laws, one is very peculiar and surprising, which\ndisfranchises all who stand neuter in a sedition; for it seems he would\nnot have any one remain insensible and regardless of the public good,\nand, securing his private affairs, glory that he has no feeling of the\ndistempers of his country; but at once join with the good party and\nthose that have the right upon their side, assist and venture with them,\nrather than keep out of harm's way and watch who would get the better.\nIt seems an absurd and foolish law which permits an heiress, if her\nlawful husband fail her, to take his nearest kinsman; yet some say this\nlaw was well contrived against those, who, conscious of their own\nunfitness, yet, for the sake of the portion, would match with heiresses,\nand make use of law to put a violence upon nature; for now, since she\ncan quit him for whom she pleases, they would either abstain from such\nmarriages, or continue them with disgrace, and suffer for their\ncovetousness and designed affront; it is well done, moreover, to confine\nher to her husband's nearest kinsman, that the children may be of the\nsame family.  Agreeable to this is the law that the bride and bridegroom\nshall be shut into a chamber, and eat a quince together; and that the\nhusband of an heiress shall consort with her thrice a month; for though\nthere be no children, yet it is an honor and due affection which an\nhusband ought to pay to a virtuous, chaste wife; it takes off all petty\ndifferences, and will not permit their little quarrels\nto proceed to a rupture.\n\nIn all other marriages he forbade dowries to be given; the wife was to\nhave three suits of clothes, a little inconsiderable household stuff,\nand that was all; for he would not have marriages contracted for gain or\nan estate, but for pure love, kind affection, and birth of children.\nWhen the mother of Dionysius desired him to marry her to one of his\ncitizens, \"Indeed,\" said he, \"by my tyranny I have broken my country's\nlaws, but cannot put a violence upon those of nature by an unseasonable\nmarriage.\"  Such disorder is never to be suffered in a commonwealth, nor\nsuch unseasonable and unloving and unperforming marriages, which attain\nno due end or fruit; any provident governor or lawgiver might say to an\nold man that takes a young wife what is said to Philoctetes\nin the tragedy,--\n\nTruly, in a fit state thou to marry!\n\nand if he finds a young man, with a rich and elderly wife, growing fat\nin his place, like the partridges, remove him to a young woman of proper\nage.  And of this enough.\n\nAnother commendable law of Solon's is that which forbids men to speak\nevil of the dead; for it is pious to think the deceased sacred, and\njust, not to meddle with those that are gone, and politic, to prevent\nthe perpetuity of discord.  He likewise forbade them to speak evil of\nthe living in the temples, the courts of justice, the public offices, or\nat the games, or else to pay three drachmas to the person, and two to\nthe public.  For never to be able to control passion shows a weak nature\nand ill-breeding; and always to moderate it is very hard, and to some\nimpossible.  And laws must look to possibilities, if the maker designs\nto punish few in order to their amendment, and not many to no purpose.\n\nHe is likewise much commended for his law concerning wills; for before\nhim none could be made, but all the wealth and estate of the deceased\nbelonged to his family; but he, by permitting them, if they had no\nchildren, to bestow it on whom they pleased, showed that he esteemed\nfriendship a stronger tie than kindred, and affection than necessity;\nand made every man's estate truly his own.  Yet he allowed not all sorts\nof legacies, but those only which were not extorted by the frenzy of a\ndisease, charms, imprisonment, force, or the persuasions of a wife; with\ngood reason thinking that being seduced into wrong was as bad as being\nforced, and that between deceit and necessity, flattery and compulsion,\nthere was little difference, since both may equally suspend\nthe exercise of reason.\n\nHe regulated the walks, feasts, and mourning of the women, and took away\neverything that was either unbecoming or immodest; when they walked\nabroad, no more than three articles of dress were allowed them; an\nobol's worth of meat and drink; and no basket above a cubit high; and at\nnight they were not to go about unless in a chariot with a torch before\nthem.  Mourners tearing themselves to raise pity, and set wailings, and\nat one man's funeral to lament for another, he forbade.  To offer an ox\nat the grave was not permitted, nor to bury above three pieces of dress\nwith the body, or visit the tombs of any besides their own family,\nunless at the very funeral; most of which are likewise forbidden by our\nlaws,@ but this is further added in ours, that those that are convicted\nof extravagance in their mournings, are to be punished as soft and\neffeminate by the censors of women.\n\nObserving the city to be filled with persons that flocked from all parts\ninto Attica for security of living, and that most of the country was\nbarren and unfruitful, and that traders at sea import nothing to those\nthat could give them nothing in exchange, he turned his citizens to\ntrade, and made a law that no son should be obliged to relieve a father\nwho had not bred him up to any calling.  It is true, Lycurgus, having a\ncity free from all strangers, and land, according to Euripides,\n\nLarge for large hosts, for twice their number much,\n\nand, above all, an abundance of laborers about Sparta, who should not be\nleft idle, but be kept down with continual toil and work, did well to\ntake off his citizens from laborious and mechanical occupations, and\nkeep them to their arms, and teach them only the art of war.  But Solon,\nfitting his laws to the state of things, and not making things to suit\nhis laws, and finding the ground scarce rich enough to maintain the\nhusbandmen, and altogether incapable of feeding an unoccupied and\nleisurely multitude, brought trades into credit, and ordered the\nAreopagites to examine how every man got his living, and chastise the\nidle.  But that law was yet more rigid which, as Heraclides Ponticus\ndelivers, declared the sons of unmarried mothers not obliged to relieve\ntheir fathers; for he that avoids the honorable form of union shows that\nhe does not take a woman for children, but for pleasure, and thus gets\nhis just reward, and has taken away from himself every title to upbraid\nhis children, to whom he has made their very birth\na scandal and reproach.\n\nSolon's laws in general about women are his strangest; for he permitted\nany one to kill an adulterer that found him in the act; but if any one\nforced a free woman, a hundred drachmas was the fine; if he enticed her,\ntwenty; except those that sell themselves openly, that is, harlots, who\ngo openly to those that hire them.  He made it unlawful to sell a\ndaughter or a sister, unless, being yet unmarried, she was found wanton.\nNow it is irrational to punish the same crime sometimes very severely\nand without remorse, and sometimes very lightly, and, as it were, in\nsport, with a trivial fine; unless, there being little money then in\nAthens, scarcity made those mulcts the more grievous punishment.  In the\nvaluation for sacrifices, a sheep and a bushel were both estimated at a\ndrachma; the victor in the Isthmian games was to have for reward a\nhundred drachmas; the conqueror in the Olympian, five hundred; he that\nbrought a wolf, five drachmas; for a whelp, one; the former sum, as\nDemetrius the Phalerian asserts, was the value of an ox, the latter, of\na sheep.  The prices which Solon, in his sixteenth table, sets on choice\nvictims, were naturally far greater; yet they, too, are very low in\ncomparison of the present.  The Athenians were, from the beginning, great\nenemies to wolves, their fields being better for pasture than corn.\nSome affirm their tribes did not take their names from the sons of Ion,\nbut from the different sorts of occupation that they followed; the\nsoldiers were called Hoplitae, the craftsmen Ergades, and, of the\nremaining two, the farmers Gedeontes,\nand the shepherds and graziers Aegicores.\n\nSince the country has but few rivers, lakes, or large springs, and many\nused wells which they had dug, there was a law made, that, where there\nwas a public well within a hippicon, that is, four furlongs, all should\ndraw at that; but, when it was farther off, they should try and procure\na well of their own; and, if they had dug ten fathom deep and could find\nno water, they had liberty to fetch a pitcherful of four gallons and a\nhalf in a day from their neighbors'; for he thought it prudent to make\nprovision against want, but not to supply laziness.  He showed skill in\nhis orders about planting, for any one that would plant another tree was\nnot to set it within five feet of his neighbor's field; but if a fig or\nan olive, not within nine; for their roots spread farther, nor can they\nbe planted near all sorts of trees without damage, for they draw away\nthe nourishment, and in some cases are noxious by their effluvia.  He\nthat would dig a pit or a ditch was to dig it at the distance of its own\ndepth from his neighbor's ground; and he that would raise stocks of bees\nwas not to place them within three hundred feet of those which another\nhad already raised.\n\nHe permitted only oil to be exported, and those that exported any other\nfruit, the archon was solemnly to curse, or else pay an hundred drachmas\nhimself; and this law was written in his first table, and, therefore,\nlet none think it incredible, as some affirm, that the exportation of\nfigs was once unlawful, and the informer against the delinquents called\na sycophant.  He made a law, also, concerning hurts and injuries from\nbeasts, in which he commands the master of any dog that bit a man to\ndeliver him up with a log about his neck, four and a half feet long; a\nhappy device for men's security.  The law concerning naturalizing\nstrangers is of doubtful character; he permitted only those to be made\nfree of Athens who were in perpetual exile from their own country, or\ncame with their whole family to trade there; this he did, not to\ndiscourage strangers, but rather to invite them to a permanent\nparticipation in the privileges of the government; and, besides, he\nthought those would prove the more faithful citizens who had been forced\nfrom their own country, or voluntarily forsook it.  The law of public\nentertainment (parasitein is his name for it) is, also, peculiarly\nSolon's, for if any man came often, or if he that was invited refused,\nthey were punished, for he concluded that one was greedy, the other a\ncontemner of the state.\n\nAll his laws he established for an hundred years, and wrote them on\nwooden tables or rollers, named axones, which might be turned round in\noblong cases; some of their relics were in my time still to be seen in\nthe Prytaneum, or common hall, at Athens.  These, as Aristotle states,\nwere called cyrbes, and there is a passage of Cratinus the comedian,\n\nBy Solon, and by Draco, if you please,\nWhose Cyrbes make the fires that parch our peas.\n\nBut some say those are properly cyrbes, which contain laws concerning\nsacrifices and the rites of religion, and all the others axones.  The\ncouncil all jointly swore to confirm the laws, and every one of the\nThesmothetae vowed for himself at the stone in the marketplace, that, if\nhe broke any of the statutes, he would dedicate a golden statue, as big\nas himself, at Delphi.\n\nObserving the irregularity of the months, and that the moon does not\nalways rise and set with the sun, but often in the same day overtakes\nand gets before him, he ordered the day should be named the Old and\nNew, attributing that part of it which was before the conjunction to\nthe old moon, and the rest to the new, he being the first, it seems,\nthat understood that verse of Homer,\n\nThe end and the beginning of the month,\n\nand the following day he called the new moon.  After the twentieth he\ndid not count by addition, but, like the moon itself in its wane, by\nsubtraction; thus up to the thirtieth.\n\nNow when these laws were enacted, and some came to Solon every day, to\ncommend or dispraise them, and to advise, if possible, to leave out, or\nput in something, and many criticized, and desired him to explain, and\ntell the meaning of such and such a passage, he, knowing that to do it\nwas useless, and not to do it would get him ill-will, and desirous to\nbring himself out of all straits, and to escape all displeasure and\nexceptions, it being a hard thing, as he himself says,\n\nIn great affairs to satisfy all sides,\n\nas an excuse for traveling, bought a trading vessel, and, having\nobtained leave for ten years' absence, departed, hoping that by that\ntime his laws would have become familiar.\n\nHis first voyage was for Egypt, and he lived, as he himself says,\n\nNear Nilus' mouth, by fair Canopus' shore,\n\nand spent some time in study with Psenophis of Heliopolis, and Sonchis\nthe Saite, the most learned of all the priests; from whom, as Plato\nsays, getting knowledge of the Atlantic story, he put it into a poem,\nand proposed to bring it to the knowledge of the Greeks.  From thence he\nsailed to Cyprus, where he was made much of by Philocyprus, one of the\nkings there, who had a small city built by Demophon, Theseus's son, near\nthe river Clarius, in a strong situation, but incommodious and uneasy of\naccess.  Solon persuaded him, since there lay a fair plain below, to\nremove, and build there a pleasanter and more spacious city.  And he\nstayed himself, and assisted in gathering inhabitants, and in fitting it\nboth for defense and convenience of living; insomuch that many flocked\nto Philocyprus, and the other kings imitated the design; and, therefore,\nto honor Solon, he called the city Soli, which was formerly named Aepea.\nAnd Solon himself, in his Elegies, addressing Philocyprus, mentions this\nfoundation in these words--\n\nLong may you live, and fill the Solian throne,\nSucceeded still by children of your own;\nAnd from your happy island while I sail,\nLet Cyprus send for me a favoring gale;\nMay she advance, and bless your new command,\nProsper your town, and send me safe to land.\n\nThat Solon should discourse with Croesus, some think not agreeable with\nchronology; but I cannot reject so famous and well-attested a narrative,\nand, what is more, so agreeable to Solon's temper, and so worthy his\nwisdom and greatness of mind, because, forsooth, it does not agree with\nsome chronological canons, which thousands have endeavored to regulate,\nand yet, to this day, could never bring their differing opinions to any\nagreement.  They say, therefore, that Solon, coming to Croesus at his\nrequest, was in the same condition as an inland man when first he goes\nto see the sea; for as he fancies every river he meets with to be the\nocean, so Solon, as he passed through the court, and saw a great many\nnobles richly dressed, and proudly attended with a multitude of guards\nand footboys, thought every one had been the king, till he was brought\nto Croesus, who was decked with every possible rarity and curiosity, in\nornaments of jewels, purple, and gold, that could make a grand and\ngorgeous spectacle of him.  Now when Solon came before him, and seemed\nnot at all surprised, nor gave Croesus those compliments he expected,\nbut showed himself to all discerning eyes to be a man that despised the\ngaudiness and petty ostentation of it, he commanded them to open all his\ntreasure houses, and carry him to see his sumptuous furniture and\nluxuries though he did not wish it; Solon could judge of him well enough\nby the first sight of him; and, when he returned from viewing all,\nCroesus asked him if ever he had known a happier man than he.  And when\nSolon answered that he had known one Tellus, a fellow-citizen of his\nown, and told him that this Tellus had been an honest man, had had good\nchildren, a competent estate, and died bravely in battle for his\ncountry, Croesus took him for an ill-bred fellow and a fool, for not\nmeasuring happiness by the abundance of gold and silver, and preferring\nthe life and death of a private and mean man before so much power and\nempire.  He asked him, however, again, if, besides Tellus, he knew any\nother man more happy.  And Solon replying, Yes, Cleobis and Biton, who\nwere loving brothers, and extremely dutiful sons to their mother, and,\nwhen the oxen delayed her, harnessed themselves to the wagon, and drew\nher to Juno's temple, her neighbors all calling her happy, and she\nherself rejoicing; then, after sacrificing and feasting, they went to\nrest, and never rose again, but died in the midst of their honor a\npainless and tranquil death, \"What,\" said Croesus, angrily, \"and dost\nnot thou reckon us amongst the happy men at all?\"  Solon, unwilling\neither to flatter or exasperate him more, replied, \"The gods, O king,\nhave given the Greeks all other gifts in moderate degree; and so our\nwisdom, too, is a cheerful and a homely, not a noble and kingly wisdom;\nand this, observing the numerous misfortunes that attend all conditions,\nforbids us to grow insolent upon our present enjoyments, or to admire\nany man's happiness that may yet, in course of time, suffer change.  For\nthe uncertain future has yet to come, with every possible variety of\nfortune; and him only to whom the divinity has continued happiness unto\nthe end, we call happy; to salute as happy one that is still in the\nmidst of life and hazard, we think as little safe and conclusive as to\ncrown and proclaim as victorious the wrestler that is yet in the ring.\"\nAfter this, he was dismissed, having given Croesus some pain,\nbut no instruction.\n\nAesop, who wrote the fables, being then at Sardis upon Croesus's\ninvitation, and very much esteemed, was concerned that Solon was so ill-\nreceived, and gave him this advice: \"Solon, let your converse with kings\nbe either short or seasonable.\"  \"Nay, rather,\" replied Solon, \"either\nshort or reasonable.\"  So at this time Croesus despised Solon; but when\nhe was overcome by Cyrus, had lost his city, was taken alive, condemned\nto be burnt, and laid bound upon the pile before all the Persians and\nCyrus himself, he cried out as loud as possibly he could three times, \"O\nSolon!\" and Cyrus being surprised, and sending some to inquire what man\nor god this Solon was, whom alone he invoked in this extremity, Croesus\ntold him the whole story, saying, \"He was one of the wise men of Greece,\nwhom I sent for, not to be instructed, or to learn any thing that I\nwanted, but that he should see and be a witness of my happiness; the\nloss of which was, it seems, to be a greater evil than the enjoyment was\na good; for when I had them they were goods only in opinion, but now the\nloss of them has brought upon me intolerable and real evils.  And he,\nconjecturing from what then was, this that now is, bade me look to the\nend of my life, and not rely and grow proud upon uncertainties.\"  When\nthis was told Cyrus, who was a wiser man than Croesus, and saw in the\npresent example Solon's maxim confirmed, he not only freed Croesus from\npunishment, but honored him as long as he lived; and Solon had the\nglory, by the same saying, to save one king and instruct another.\n\nWhen Solon was gone, the citizens began to quarrel; Lycurgus headed the\nPlain; Megacles, the son of Alcmaeon, those to the Sea-side; and\nPisistratus the Hill-party, in which were the poorest people, the\nThetes, and greatest enemies to the rich; insomuch that, though the city\nstill used the new laws, yet all looked for and desired a change of\ngovernment, hoping severally that the change would be better for them,\nand put them above the contrary faction.  Affairs standing thus, Solon\nreturned, and was reverenced by all, and honored; but his old age would\nnot permit him to be as active, and to speak in public, as formerly;\nyet, by privately conferring with the heads of the factions, he\nendeavored to compose the differences, Pisistratus appearing the most\ntractable; for he was extremely smooth and engaging in his language, a\ngreat friend to the poor, and moderate in his resentments; and what\nnature had not given him, he had the skill to imitate; so that he was\ntrusted more than the others, being accounted a prudent and orderly man,\none that loved equality, and would be an enemy to any that moved against\nthe present settlement.  Thus he deceived the majority of people; but\nSolon quickly discovered his character, and found out his design before\nany one else; yet did not hate him upon this, but endeavored to humble\nhim, and bring him off from his ambition, and often told him and others,\nthat if any one could banish the passion for preeminence from his mind,\nand cure him of his desire of absolute power, none would make a more\nvirtuous man or a more excellent citizen.  Thespis, at this time,\nbeginning to act tragedies, and the thing, because it was new, taking\nvery much with the multitude, though it was not yet made a matter of\ncompetition, Solon, being by nature fond of hearing and learning\nsomething new, and now, in his old age, living idly, and enjoying\nhimself, indeed, with music and with wine, went to see Thespis himself,\nas the ancient custom was, act; and after the play was done, he\naddressed him, and asked him if he was not ashamed to tell so many lies\nbefore such a number of people; and Thespis replying that it was no harm\nto say or do so in play, Solon vehemently struck his staff against the\nground: \"Ay,\" said he, \"if we honor and commend such play as this, we\nshall find it some day in our business.\"\n\nNow when Pisistratus, having wounded himself, was brought into the\nmarketplace in a chariot, and stirred up the people, as if he had been\nthus treated by his opponents because of his political conduct, and a\ngreat many were enraged and cried out, Solon, coming close to him, said,\n\"This, O son of Hippocrates, is a bad copy of Homer's Ulysses; you do,\nto trick your countrymen, what he did to deceive his enemies.\"  After\nthis, the people were eager to protect Pisistratus, and met in an\nassembly, where one Ariston making a motion that they should allow\nPisistratus fifty clubmen for a guard to his person, Solon opposed it,\nand said, much to the same purport as what he has left us in his poems,\n\nYou dote upon his words and taking phrase;\n\nand again,--\n\nTrue, you are singly each a crafty soul,\nBut all together make one empty fool.\n\nBut observing the poor men bent to gratify Pisistratus, and tumultuous,\nand the rich fearful and getting out of harm's way, he departed, saying\nhe was wiser than some and stouter than others; wiser than those that\ndid not understand the design, stouter than those that, though they\nunderstood it, were afraid to oppose the tyranny.  Now, the people,\nhaving passed the law, were not nice with Pisistratus about the number\nof his clubmen, but took no notice of it, though he enlisted and kept as\nmany as he would, until he seized the Acropolis.  When that was done,\nand the city in an uproar, Megacles, with all his family, at once fled;\nbut Solon, though he was now very old, and had none to back him, yet\ncame into the marketplace and made a speech to the citizens, partly\nblaming their inadvertency and meanness of spirit, and in part urging\nand exhorting them not thus tamely to lose their liberty; and likewise\nthen spoke that memorable saying, that, before, it was an easier task to\nstop the rising tyranny, but now the greater and more glorious action to\ndestroy it, when it was begun already, and had gathered strength.  But\nall being afraid to side with him, he returned home, and, taking his\narms, he brought them out and laid them in the porch before his door,\nwith these words: \"I have done my part to maintain my country and my\nlaws,\" and then he busied himself no more.  His friends advising him to\nfly, he refused; but wrote poems,\nand thus reproached the Athenians in them,--\n\nIf now you suffer, do not blame the Powers,\nFor they are good, and all the fault was ours.\nAll the strongholds you put into his hands,\nAnd now his slaves must do what he commands.\n\nAnd many telling him that the tyrant would take his life for this, and\nasking what he trusted to, that he ventured to speak so boldly, he\nreplied, \"To my old age.\"  But Pisistratus, having got the command, so\nextremely courted Solon, so honored him, obliged him, and sent to see\nhim, that Solon gave him his advice, and approved many of his actions;\nfor he retained most of Solon's laws, observed them himself, and\ncompelled his friends to obey.  And he himself, though already absolute\nruler, being accused of murder before the Areopagus, came quietly to\nclear himself; but his accuser did not appear.  And he added other laws,\none of which is that the maimed in the wars should be maintained at the\npublic charge; this Heraclides Ponticus records, and that Pisistratus\nfollowed Solon's example in this, who had decreed it in the case of one\nThersippus, that was maimed; and Theophrastus asserts that it was\nPisistratus, not Solon, that made that law against laziness, which was\nthe reason that the country was more productive,\nand the city tranquiller.\n\nNow Solon, having begun the great work in verse, the history or fable of\nthe Atlantic Island, which he had learned from the wise men in Sais, and\nthought convenient for the Athenians to know, abandoned it; not, as\nPlato says, by reason of want of time, but because of his age, and being\ndiscouraged at the greatness of the task; for that he had leisure\nenough, such verses testify, as\n\nEach day grow older, and learn something new\n\nand again,--\n\nBut now the Powers of Beauty, Song, and Wine,\nWhich are most men's delights, are also mine.\n\nPlato, willing to improve the story of the Atlantic Island, as if it\nwere a fair estate that wanted an heir and came with some title to him,\nformed, indeed, stately entrances, noble enclosures, large courts, such\nas never yet introduced any story, fable, or poetic fiction; but,\nbeginning it late, ended his life before his work; and the reader's\nregret for the unfinished part is the greater, as the satisfaction he\ntakes in that which is complete is extraordinary.  For as the city of\nAthens left only the temple of Jupiter Olympius unfinished, so Plato,\namongst all his excellent works, left this only piece about the Atlantic\nIsland imperfect.  Solon lived after Pisistratus seized the government,\nas Heraclides Ponticus asserts, a long time; but Phanias the Eresian\nsays not two full years; for Pisistratus began his tyranny when Comias\nwas archon, and Phanias says Solon died under Hegestratus, who succeeded\nComias.  The story that his ashes were scattered about the island\nSalamis is too strange to be easily believed, or be thought anything\nbut a mere fable; and yet it is given, amongst other good authors, by\nAristotle, the philosopher.\n\n\n\nPOPLICOLA\n\nSuch was Solon.  To him we compare Poplicola, who received this later\ntitle from the Roman people for his merit, as a noble accession to his\nformer name, Publius Valerius.  He descended from Valerius, a man\namongst the early citizens, reputed the principal reconciler of the\ndifferences betwixt the Romans and Sabines, and one that was most\ninstrumental in persuading their kings to assent to peace and union.\nThus descended, Publius Valerius, as it is said, whilst Rome remained\nunder its kingly government, obtained as great a name from his eloquence\nas from his riches, charitably employing the one in liberal aid to the\npoor, the other with integrity and freedom in the service of justice;\nthereby giving assurance, that, should the government fall into a\nrepublic, he would become a chief man in the community.  The illegal and\nwicked accession of Tarquinius Superbus to the crown, with his making\nit, instead of kingly rule, the instrument of insolence and tyranny,\nhaving inspired the people with a hatred to his reign, upon the death of\nLucretia (she killing herself after violence had been done to her), they\ntook an occasion of revolt; and Lucius Brutus, engaging in the change,\ncame to Valerius before all others, and, with his zealous assistance,\ndeposed the kings.  And whilst the people inclined towards the electing\none leader instead of their king, Valerius acquiesced, that to rule was\nrather Brutus's due, as the author of the democracy.  But when the name\nof monarchy was odious to the people, and a divided power appeared more\ngrateful in the prospect, and two were chosen to hold it, Valerius,\nentertaining hopes that he might be elected consul with Brutus, was\ndisappointed; for, instead of Valerius, notwithstanding the endeavors of\nBrutus, Tarquinius Collatinus was chosen, the husband of Lucretia, a man\nnoways his superior in merit.  But the nobles, dreading the return of\ntheir kings, who still used all endeavors abroad and solicitations at\nhome, were resolved upon a chieftain of an intense hatred to them, and\nnoways likely to yield.\n\nNow Valerius was troubled, that his desire to serve his country should\nbe doubted, because he had sustained no private injury from the\ninsolence of the tyrants.  He withdrew from the senate and practice of\nthe bar, quitting all public concerns; which gave an occasion of\ndiscourse, and fear, too, lest his anger should reconcile him to the\nking's side, and he should prove the ruin of the state, tottering as yet\nunder the uncertainties of a change.  But Brutus being doubtful of some\nothers, and determining to give the test to the senate upon the altars,\nupon the day appointed Valerius came with cheerfulness into the forum,\nand was the first man that took the oath, in no way to submit or yield\nto Tarquin's propositions, but rigorously to maintain liberty; which\ngave great satisfaction to the senate and assurance to the consuls, his\nactions soon after showing the sincerity of his oath.  For ambassadors\ncame from Tarquin, with popular and specious proposals, whereby they\nthought to seduce the people, as though the king had cast off all\ninsolence, and made moderation the only measure of his desires.  To this\nembassy the consuls thought fit to give public audience, but Valerius\nopposed it, and would not permit that the poorer people, who entertained\nmore fear of war than of tyranny, should have any occasion offered them,\nor any temptations to new designs.  Afterwards other ambassadors\narrived, who declared their king would recede from his crown, and lay\ndown his arms, only capitulating for a restitution to himself, his\nfriends, and allies, of their moneys and estates to support them in\ntheir banishment.  Now, several inclining to the request, and\nCollatinus in particular favoring it, Brutus, a man of vehement and\nunbending nature, rushed into the forum, there proclaiming his fellow-\nconsul to be a traitor, in granting subsidies to tyranny, and supplies\nfor a war to those to whom it was monstrous to allow so much as\nsubsistence in exile.  This caused an assembly of the citizens, amongst\nwhom the first that spake was Caius Minucius, a private man, who advised\nBrutus, and urged the Romans to keep the property, and employ it against\nthe tyrants, rather than to remit it to the tyrants, to be used against\nthemselves.  The Romans, however, decided that whilst they enjoyed the\nliberty they had fought for, they should not sacrifice peace for the\nsake of money, but send out the tyrants' property after them.  This\nquestion, however, of his property, was the least part of Tarquin's\ndesign; the demand sounded the feelings of the people, and was\npreparatory to a conspiracy which the ambassadors endeavored to excite,\ndelaying their return, under pretense of selling some of the goods and\nreserving others to be sent away, till, in fine, they corrupted two of\nthe most eminent families in Rome, the Aquillian, which had three, and\nthe Vitellian, which had two senators.  These all were, by the mother's\nside, nephews to Collatinus; besides which Brutus had a special alliance\nto the Vitellii from his marriage with their sister, by whom he had\nseveral children; two of whom, of their own age, their near relations\nand daily companions, the Vitellii seduced to join in the plot, to ally\nthemselves to the great house and royal hopes of the Tarquins, and gain\nemancipation from the violence and imbecility united of their father,\nwhose austerity to offenders they termed violence, while the imbecility\nwhich he had long feigned, to protect himself from the tyrants, still,\nit appears, was, in name at least, ascribed to him.  When upon these\ninducements the youths came to confer with the Aquillii, all thought it\nconvenient to bind themselves in a solemn and dreadful oath, by tasting\nthe blood of a murdered man, and touching his entrails.  For which\ndesign they met at the house of the Aquillii.  The building chosen for\nthe transaction was, as was natural, dark and unfrequented, and a slave\nnamed Vindicius had, as it chanced, concealed himself there, not out of\ndesign or any intelligence of the affair, but, accidentally being\nwithin, seeing with how much haste and concern they came in, he was\nafraid to be discovered, and placed himself behind a chest, where he was\nable to observe their actions and overhear their debates.  Their\nresolutions were to kill the consuls, and they wrote letters to Tarquin\nto this effect, and gave them to the ambassadors, who were lodging upon\nthe spot with the Aquillii, and were present at the consultation.\n\nUpon their departure, Vindicius secretly quitted the house, but was at a\nloss what to do in the matter, for to arraign the sons before the father\nBrutus, or the nephews before the uncle Collatinus, seemed equally (as\nindeed it was) shocking; yet he knew no private Roman to whom he could\nentrust secrets of such importance.  Unable, however, to keep silence,\nand burdened with his knowledge, he went and addressed himself to\nValerius, whose known freedom and kindness of temper were an inducement;\nas he was a person to whom the needy had easy access, and who never shut\nhis gates against the petitions or indigences of humble people.  But\nwhen Vindicius came and made a complete discovery to him, his brother\nMarcus and his own wife being present, Valerius was struck with\namazement, and by no means would dismiss the discoverer, but confined\nhim to the room, and placed his wife as a guard to the door, sending his\nbrother in the interim to beset the king's palace, and seize, if\npossible, the writings there, and secure the domestics, whilst he, with\nhis constant attendance of clients and friends, and a great retinue of\nattendants, repaired to the house of the Aquillii, who were, as it\nchanced, absent from home; and so, forcing an entrance through the\ngates, they lit upon the letters then lying in the lodgings of the\nambassadors.  Meantime the Aquillii returned in all haste, and, coming to\nblows about the gate, endeavored a recovery of the letters.  The other\nparty made a resistance, and, throwing their gowns round their\nopponents' necks, at last, after much struggling on both sides, made\ntheir way with their prisoners through the streets into the forum.  The\nlike engagement happened about the king's palace, where Marcus seized\nsome other letters which it was designed should be conveyed away in the\ngoods, and, laying hands on such of the king's people as he could find,\ndragged them also into the forum.  When the consuls had quieted the\ntumult, Vindicius was brought out by the orders of Valerius, and the\naccusation stated, and the letters were opened, to which the traitors\ncould make no plea.  Most of the people standing mute and sorrowful,\nsome only, out of kindness to Brutus, mentioning banishment, the tears\nof Collatinus, attended with Valerius's silence, gave some hopes of\nmercy.  But Brutus, calling his two sons by their names, \"Canst not\nthou,\" said he, \"O Titus, or thou, Tiberius, make any defense against\nthe indictment?\"  The question being thrice proposed, and no reply made,\nhe turned himself to the lictors, and cried, \"What remains is your\nduty.\"  They immediately seized the youths, and, stripping them of their\nclothes, bound their hands behind them, and scourged their bodies with\ntheir rods; too tragical a scene for others to look at; Brutus, however,\nis said not to have turned aside his face, nor allowed the least glance\nof pity to soften and smooth his aspect of rigor and austerity; but\nsternly watched his children suffer, even till the lictors, extending\nthem on the ground, cut off their heads with an axe; then departed,\ncommitting the rest to the judgment of his colleague.  An action truly\nopen alike to the highest commendation and the strongest censure; for\neither the greatness of his virtue raised him above the impressions of\nsorrow, or the extravagance of his misery took away all sense of it; but\nneither seemed common, or the result of humanity, but either divine or\nbrutish.  Yet it is more reasonable that our judgment should yield to\nhis reputation, than that his merit should suffer detraction by the\nweakness of our judgment; in the Romans' opinion, Brutus did a greater\nwork in the establishment of the government than Romulus in the\nfoundation of the city.\n\nUpon Brutus's departure out of the forum, consternation, horror, and\nsilence for some time possessed all that reflected on what was done; the\neasiness and tardiness, however, of Collatinus, gave confidence to the\nAquillii to request some time to answer their charge, and that\nVindicius, their servant, should be remitted into their hands, and no\nlonger harbored amongst their accusers.  The consul seemed inclined to\ntheir proposal, and was proceeding to dissolve the assembly; but\nValerius would not suffer Vindicius, who was surrounded by his people,\nto be surrendered, nor the meeting to withdraw without punishing the\ntraitors; and at length laid violent hands upon the Aquillii, and,\ncalling Brutus to his assistance, exclaimed against the unreasonable\ncourse of Collatinus, to impose upon his colleague the necessity of\ntaking away the lives of his own sons, and yet have thoughts of\ngratifying some women with the lives of traitors and public enemies.\nCollatinus, displeased at this, and commanding Vindicius to be taken\naway, the lictors made their way through the crowd and seized their man,\nand struck all who endeavored a rescue.  Valerius's friends headed the\nresistance, and the people cried out for Brutus, who, returning, on\nsilence being made, told them he had been competent to pass sentence by\nhimself upon his own sons, but left the rest to the suffrages of the\nfree citizens:  \"Let every man speak that wishes, and persuade whom he\ncan.\"  But there was no need of oratory, for, it being referred to the\nvote, they were returned condemned by all the suffrages, and were\naccordingly beheaded.\n\nCollatinus's relationship to the kings had, indeed, already rendered him\nsuspicious, and his second name, too, had made him obnoxious to the\npeople, who were loath to hear the very sound of Tarquin; but after this\nhad happened, perceiving himself an offense to every one, he\nrelinquished his charge and departed from the city.  At the new\nelections in his room, Valerius obtained, with high honor, the\nconsulship, as a just reward of his zeal; of which he thought Vindicius\ndeserved a share, whom he made, first of all freedmen, a citizen of\nRome, and gave him the privilege of voting in what tribe soever he was\npleased to be enrolled; other freedmen received the right of suffrage a\nlong time after from Appius, who thus courted popularity; and from this\nVindicius, a perfect manumission is called to this day vindicta.  This\ndone, the goods of the kings were exposed to plunder, and the palace to\nruin.\n\nThe pleasantest part of the field of Mars, which Tarquin had owned, was\ndevoted to the service of that god; it happening to be harvest season,\nand the sheaves yet being on the ground, they thought it not proper to\ncommit them to the flail, or unsanctify them with any use; and,\ntherefore, carrying them to the river side, and trees withal that were\ncut down, they cast all into the water, dedicating the soil, free from\nall occupation, to the deity.  Now, these thrown in, one upon another,\nand closing together, the stream did not bear them far, but where the\nfirst were carried down and came to a bottom, the remainder, finding no\nfarther conveyance, were stopped and interwoven one with another; the\nstream working the mass into a firmness, and washing down fresh mud.\nThis, settling there, became an accession of matter, as well as cement,\nto the rubbish, insomuch that the violence of the waters could not\nremove it, but forced and compressed it all together.  Thus its bulk and\nsolidity gained it new subsidies, which gave it extension enough to stop\non its way most of what the stream brought down.  This is now a sacred\nisland, lying by the city, adorned with temples of the gods, and walks,\nand is called in the Latin tongue inter duos pontes.  Though some say\nthis did not happen at the dedication of Tarquin's field, but in after-\ntimes, when Tarquinia, a vestal priestess, gave an adjacent field to the\npublic, and obtained great honors in consequence, as, amongst the rest,\nthat of all women her testimony alone should be received; she had also\nthe liberty to marry, but refused it; thus some tell the story.\n\nTarquin, despairing of a return to his kingdom by the conspiracy, found\na kind reception amongst the Tuscans, who, with a great army, proceeded\nto restore him.  The consuls headed the Romans against them, and made\ntheir rendezvous in certain holy places, the one called the Arsian\ngrove, the other the Aesuvian meadow.  When they came into action,\nAruns, the son of Tarquin, and Brutus, the Roman consul, not\naccidentally encountering each other, but out of hatred and rage, the\none to avenge tyranny and enmity to his country, the other his\nbanishment, set spurs to their horses, and, engaging with more fury than\nforethought, disregarding their own security, fell together in the\ncombat.  This dreadful onset hardly was followed by a more favorable\nend; both armies, doing and receiving equal damage, were separated by a\nstorm.  Valerius was much concerned, not knowing what the result of the\nday was, and seeing his men as well dismayed at the sight of their own\ndead, as rejoiced at the loss of the enemy; so apparently equal in the\nnumber was the slaughter on either side.  Each party, however, felt\nsurer of defeat from the actual sight of their own dead, than they could\nfeel of victory from conjecture about those of their adversaries.  The\nnight being come (and such as one may presume must follow such a\nbattle), and the armies laid to rest, they say that the grove shook, and\nuttered a voice, saying that the Tuscans had lost one man more than the\nRomans; clearly a divine announcement; and the Romans at once received\nit with shouts and expressions of joy; whilst the Tuscans, through fear\nand amazement, deserted their tents, and were for the most part\ndispersed.  The Romans, falling upon the remainder, amounting to nearly\nfive thousand, took them prisoners, and plundered the camp; when they\nnumbered the dead, they found on the Tuscans' side eleven thousand and\nthree hundred, exceeding their own loss but by one man.  This fight\nhappened upon the last day of February, and Valerius triumphed in honor\nof it, being the first consul that drove in with a four-horse chariot;\nwhich sight both appeared magnificent, and was received with an\nadmiration free from envy or offense (as some suggest) on the part of\nthe spectators; it would not otherwise have been continued with so much\neagerness and emulation through all the after ages.  The people\napplauded likewise the honors he did to his colleague, in adding to his\nobsequies a funeral oration; which was so much liked by the Romans, and\nfound so good a reception, that it became customary for the best men to\ncelebrate the funerals of great citizens with speeches in their\ncommendation; and their antiquity in Rome is affirmed to be greater than\nin Greece, unless, with the orator Anaximenes, we make Solon the first\nauthor.\n\nYet some part of Valerius's behavior did give offense and disgust to the\npeople, because Brutus, whom they esteemed the father of their liberty,\nhad not presumed to rule without a colleague, but united one and then\nanother to him in his commission; while Valerius, they said, centering\nall authority in himself, seemed not in any sense a successor to Brutus\nin the consulship, but to Tarquin in the tyranny; he might make verbal\nharangues to Brutus's memory, yet, when he was attended with all the\nrods and axes, proceeding down from a house than which the king's house\nthat he had demolished had not been statelier, those actions showed him\nan imitator of Tarquin.  For, indeed, his dwelling house on the Velia\nwas somewhat imposing in appearance, hanging over the forum, and\noverlooking all transactions there; the access to it was hard, and to\nsee him far of coming down, a stately and royal spectacle.  But Valerius\nshowed how well it were for men in power and great offices to have ears\nthat give admittance to truth before flattery; for upon his friends\ntelling him that he displeased the people, he contended not, neither\nresented it, but while it was still night, sending for a number of\nworkpeople, pulled down his house and leveled it with the ground; so\nthat in the morning the people, seeing and flocking together, expressed\ntheir wonder and their respect for his magnanimity, and their sorrow, as\nthough it had been a human being, for the large and beautiful house\nwhich was thus lost to them by an unfounded jealousy, while its owner,\ntheir consul, without a roof of his own, had to beg a lodging with his\nfriends.  For his friends received him, till a place the people gave him\nwas furnished with a house, though less stately than his own, where now\nstands the temple, as it is called, of Vica Pota.\n\nHe resolved to render the government, as well as himself, instead of\nterrible, familiar and pleasant to the people, and parted the axes from\nthe rods, and always, upon his entrance into the assembly, lowered these\nalso to the people, to show, in the strongest way, the republican\nfoundation of the government; and this the consuls observe to this day.\nBut the humility of the man was but a means, not, as they thought, of\nlessening himself, but merely to abate their envy by this moderation;\nfor whatever he detracted from his authority he added to his real\npower, the people still submitting with satisfaction, which they\nexpressed by calling him Poplicola, or people-lover, which name had the\npreeminence of the rest, and, therefore, in the sequel of this narrative\nwe shall use no other.\n\nHe gave free leave to any to sue for the consulship; but before the\nadmittance of a colleague, mistrusting the chances, lest emulation or\nignorance should cross his designs, by his sole authority enacted his\nbest and most important measures.  First, he supplied the vacancies of\nthe senators, whom either Tarquin long before had put to death, or the\nwar lately cut off; those that he enrolled, they write, amounted to a\nhundred and sixty-four; afterwards he made several laws which added much\nto the people's liberty, in particular one granting offenders the\nliberty of appealing to the people from the judgment of the consuls; a\nsecond, that made it death to usurp any magistracy without the people's\nconsent; a third, for the relief of poor citizens, which, taking off\ntheir taxes, encouraged their labors; another, against disobedience to\nthe consuls, which was no less popular than the rest, and rather to the\nbenefit of the commonalty than to the advantage of the nobles, for it\nimposed upon disobedience the penalty of ten oxen and two sheep; the\nprice of a sheep being ten obols, of an ox, a hundred.  For the use of\nmoney was then infrequent amongst the Romans, but their wealth in cattle\ngreat; even now pieces of property are called peculia, from pecus,\ncattle; and they had stamped upon their most ancient money an ox, a\nsheep, or a hog; and surnamed their sons Suillii, Bubulci, Caprarii,\nand Porcii, from caprae, goats, and porci, hogs.\n\nAmidst this mildness and moderation, for one excessive fault he\ninstituted one excessive punishment; for he made it lawful without trial\nto take away any man's life that aspired to a tyranny, and acquitted the\nslayer, if he produced evidence of the crime; for though it was not\nprobable for a man, whose designs were so great, to escape all notice;\nyet because it was possible he might, although observed, by force\nanticipate judgment, which the usurpation itself would then preclude, he\ngave a license to any to anticipate the usurper.  He was honored\nlikewise for the law touching the treasury; for because it was necessary\nfor the citizens to contribute out of their estates to the maintenance\nof wars, and he was unwilling himself to be concerned in the care of it,\nor to permit his friends, or indeed to let the public money pass into\nany private house, he allotted the temple of Saturn for the treasury, in\nwhich to this day they deposit the tribute-money, and granted the people\nthe liberty of choosing two young men as quaestors, or treasurers.  The\nfirst were Publius Veturius and Marcus Minucius; and a large sum was\ncollected, for they assessed one hundred and thirty thousand, excusing\norphans and widows from the payment.  After these dispositions, he\nadmitted Lucretius, the father of Lucretia, as his colleague, and gave\nhim the precedence in the government, by resigning the fasces to him,\nas due to his years, which privilege of seniority continued to our time.\nBut within a few days Lucretius died, and in a new election Marcus\nHoratius succeeded in that honor, and continued consul for the remainder\nof the year.\n\nNow, whilst Tarquin was making preparations in Tuscany for a second war\nagainst the Romans, it is said a great portent occurred.  When Tarquin\nwas king, and had all but completed the buildings of the Capitol,\ndesigning, whether from oracular advice or his own pleasure, to erect an\nearthen chariot upon the top, he entrusted the workmanship to Tuscans of\nthe city Veii, but soon after lost his kingdom.  The work thus modeled,\nthe Tuscans set in a furnace, but the clay showed not those passive\nqualities which usually attend its nature, to subside and be condensed\nupon the evaporation of the moisture, but rose and swelled out to that\nbulk, that, when solid and firm, notwithstanding the removal of the roof\nand opening the walls of the furnace, it could not be taken out without\nmuch difficulty.  The soothsayers looked upon this as a divine\nprognostic of success and power to those that should possess it; and the\nTuscans resolved not to deliver it to the Romans, who demanded it, but\nanswered that it rather belonged to Tarquin than to those who had sent\nhim into exile.  A few days after, they had a horse-race there, with the\nusual shows and solemnities, and as the charioteer, with his garland on\nhis head, was quietly driving the victorious chariot out of the ring,\nthe horses, upon no apparent occasion, taking fright, either by divine\ninstigation or by accident, hurried away their driver at full speed to\nRome; neither did his holding them in prevail, nor his voice, but he was\nforced along with violence till, coming to the Capitol, he was thrown\nout by the gate called Ratumena.  This occurrence raised wonder and fear\nin the Veientines, who now permitted the delivery of the chariot.\n\nThe building of the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter had been vowed by\nTarquin, the son of Demaratus, when warring with the Sabines; Tarquinius\nSuperbus, his son or grandson, built, but could not dedicate it, because\nhe lost his kindom before it was quite finished.  And now that it was\ncompleted with all its ornaments, Poplicola was ambitious to dedicate\nit; but the nobility envied him that honor, as, indeed, also, in some\ndegree, those his prudence in making laws and conduct in wars entitled\nhim to.  Grudging him, at any rate, the addition of this, they urged\nHoratius to sue for the dedication and, whilst Poplicola was engaged in\nsome military expedition, voted it to Horatius, and conducted him to the\nCapitol, as though, were Poplicola present, they could not have carried\nit.  Yet, some write, Poplicola was by lot destined against his will to\nthe expedition, the other to the dedication; and what happened in the\nperformance seems to intimate some ground for this conjecture; for, upon\nthe Ides of September, which happens about the full moon of the month\nMetagitnion, the people having assembled at the Capitol and silence\nbeing enjoined, Horatius, after the performance of other ceremonies,\nholding the doors, according to custom, was proceeding to pronounce the\nwords of dedication, when Marcus, the brother of Poplicola, who had got\na place on purpose beforehand near the door, observing his opportunity,\ncried, \"O consul, thy son lies dead in the camp;\" which made a great\nimpression upon all others who heard it, yet in nowise discomposed\nHoratius, who returned merely the reply, \"Cast the dead out whither you\nplease; I am not a mourner;\" and so completed the dedication.  The news\nwas not true, but Marcus thought the lie might avert him from his\nperformance; but it argues him a man of wonderful self-possession,\nwhether he at once saw through the cheat, or, believing it as true,\nshowed no discomposure.\n\nThe same fortune attended the dedication of the second temple; the\nfirst, as has been said, was built by Tarquin and dedicated by Horatius;\nit was burnt down in the civil wars.  The second, Sylla built, and,\ndying before the dedication, left that honor to Catulus; and when this\nwas demolished in the Vitellian sedition, Vespasian, with the same\nsuccess that attended him in other things, began a third, and lived to\nsee it finished, but did not live to see it again destroyed, as it\npresently was; but was as fortunate in dying before its destruction, as\nSylla was the reverse in dying before the dedication of his.  For\nimmediately after Vespasian's death it was consumed by fire.  The\nfourth, which now exists, was both built and dedicated by Domitian.  It\nis said Tarquin expended forty thousand pounds of silver in the very\nfoundations; but the whole wealth of the richest private man in Rome\nwould not discharge the cost of the gilding of this temple in our days,\nit amounting to above twelve thousand talents; the pillars were cut out\nof Pentelican marble, of a length most happily proportioned to their\nthickness; these we saw at Athens; but when they were cut anew at Rome\nand polished, they did not gain so much in embellishment, as they lost\nin symmetry, being rendered too taper and slender.  Should any one who\nwonders at the costliness of the Capitol visit any one gallery in\nDomitian's palace, or hall, or bath, or the apartments of his\nconcubines, Epicharmus's remark upon the prodigal, that\n\n'Tis not beneficence, but, truth to say,\nA mere disease of giving things away,\n\nwould be in his mouth in application to Domitian.  It is neither piety,\nhe would say, nor magnificence, but, indeed, a mere disease of building,\nand a desire, like Midas, of converting every thing into gold or stone.\nAnd thus much for this matter.\n\nTarquin, after the great battle wherein he lost his son in combat with\nBrutus, fled to Clusium, and sought aid from Lars Porsenna, then one of\nthe most powerful princes of Italy, and a man of worth and generosity;\nwho assured him of assistance, immediately sending his commands to Rome\nthat they should receive Tarquin as their king, and, upon the Romans'\nrefusal, proclaimed war, and, having signified the time and place where\nhe intended his attack, approached with a great army.  Poplicola was, in\nhis absence, chosen consul a second time, and Titus Lucretius his\ncolleague, and, returning to Rome, to show a spirit yet loftier than\nPorsenna's, built the city Sigliuria when Porsenna was already in the\nneighborhood; and, walling it at great expense, there placed a colony of\nseven hundred men, as being little concerned at the war.  Nevertheless,\nPorsenna, making a sharp assault, obliged the defendants to retire to\nRome, who had almost in their entrance admitted the enemy into the city\nwith them; only Poplicola by sallying out at the gate prevented them,\nand, joining battle by Tiber side, opposed the enemy, that pressed on\nwith their multitude, but at last, sinking under desperate wounds, was\ncarried out of the fight.  The same fortune fell upon Lucretius, so that\nthe Romans, being dismayed, retreated into the city for their security,\nand Rome was in great hazard of being taken, the enemy forcing their way\non to the wooden bridge, where Horatius Cocles, seconded by two of the\nfirst men in Rome, Herminius and Lartius, made head against them.\nHoratius obtained this name from the loss of one of his eyes in the\nwars, or, as others write, from the depressure of his nose, which,\nleaving nothing in the middle to separate them, made both eyes appear\nbut as one; and hence, intending to say Cyclops, by a mispronunciation\nthey called him Cocles.  This Cocles kept the bridge, and held back the\nenemy, till his own party broke it down behind, and then with his armor\ndropped into the river, and swam to the hither side, with a wound in his\nhip from a Tuscan spear.  Poplicola, admiring his courage, proposed at\nonce that the Romans should every one make him a present of a day's\nprovisions, and afterwards gave him as much land as he could plow round\nin one day, and besides erected a brazen statue to his honor in the\ntemple of Vulcan, as a requital for the lameness caused by his wound.\n\nBut Porsenna laying close siege to the city, and a famine raging amongst\nthe Romans, also a new army of the Tuscans making incursions into the\ncountry, Poplicola, a third time chosen consul, designed to make,\nwithout sallying out, his defense against Porsenna, but, privately\nstealing forth against the new army of the Tuscans, put them to flight,\nand slew five thousand.  The story of Mucius is variously given; we,\nlike others, must follow the commonly received statement.  He was a man\nendowed with every virtue, but most eminent in war; and, resolving to\nkill Porsenna, attired himself in the Tuscan habit, and, using the\nTuscan language, came to the camp, and approaching the seat where the\nking sat amongst his nobles, but not certainly knowing the king, and\nfearful to inquire, drew out his sword, and stabbed one who he thought\nhad most the appearance of king.  Mucius was taken in the act, and\nwhilst he was under examination, a pan of fire was brought to the king,\nwho intended to sacrifice; Mucius thrust his right hand into the flame,\nand whilst it burnt stood looking at Porsenna with a steadfast and\nundaunted countenance; Porsenna at last in admiration dismissed him, and\nreturned his sword, reaching it from his seat; Mucius received it in his\nleft hand, which occasioned the name of Scaevola, left-handed, and said,\n\"I have overcome the terrors of Porsenna, yet am vanquished by his\ngenerosity, and gratitude obliges me to disclose what no punishment\ncould extort;\" and assured him then, that three hundred Romans, all of\nthe same resolution, lurked about his camp, only waiting for an\nopportunity; he, by lot appointed to the enterprise, was not sorry that\nhe had miscarried in it, because so brave and good a man deserved rather\nto be a friend to the Romans than an enemy.  To this Porsenna gave\ncredit, and thereupon expressed an inclination to a truce, not, I\npresume, so much out of fear of the three hundred Romans, as in\nadmiration of the Roman courage.  All other writers call this man Mucius\nScaevola, yet Athenodorus, son of Sandon, in a book addressed to\nOctavia, Caesar's sister, avers he was also called Postumus.\n\nPoplicola, not so much esteeming Porsenna's enmity dangerous to Rome as\nhis friendship and alliance serviceable, was induced to refer the\ncontroversy with Tarquin to his arbitration, and several times undertook\nto prove Tarquin the worst of men, and justly deprived of his kingdom.\nBut Tarquin proudly replied he would admit no judge, much less Porsenna,\nthat had fallen away from his engagements; and Porsenna, resenting this\nanswer, and mistrusting the equity of his cause, moved also by the\nsolicitations of his son Aruns, who was earnest for the Roman interest,\nmade a peace on these conditions, that they should resign the land they\nhad taken from the Tuscans, and restore all prisoners and receive back\ntheir deserters.  To confirm the peace, the Romans gave as hostages ten\nsons of patrician parents, and as many daughters, amongst whom was\nValeria, the daughter of Poplicola.\n\nUpon these assurances, Porsenna ceased from all acts of hostility, and\nthe young girls went down to the river to bathe, at that part where the\nwinding of the bank formed a bay and made the waters stiller and\nquieter; and, seeing no guard, nor any one coming or going over, they\nwere encouraged to swim over, notwithstanding the depth and violence of\nthe stream.  Some affirm that one of them, by name Cloelia, passing over\non horseback, persuaded the rest to swim after; but, upon their safe\narrival, presenting themselves to Poplicola, he neither praised nor\napproved their return, but was concerned lest he should appear less\nfaithful than Porsenna, and this boldness in the maidens should argue\ntreachery in the Romans; so that, apprehending them, he sent them back\nto Porsenna.  But Tarquin's men, having intelligence of this, laid a\nstrong ambuscade on the other side for those that conducted them; and\nwhile these were skirmishing together, Valeria, the daughter of\nPoplicola, rushed through the enemy and fled, and with the assistance of\nthree of her attendants made good her escape, whilst the rest were\ndangerously hedged in by the soldiers; but Aruns, Porsenna's son, upon\ntidings of it, hastened to their rescue, and, putting the enemy to\nflight, delivered the Romans.  When Porsenna saw the maidens returned,\ndemanding who was the author and adviser of the act, and understanding\nCloelia to be the person, he looked on her with a cheerful and benignant\ncountenance, and, commanding one of his horses to be brought,\nsumptuously adorned, made her a present of it.  This is produced as\nevidence by those who affirm that only Cloelia passed the river or.\nhorseback; those who deny it call it only the honor the Tuscan did to\nher courage; a figure, however, on horseback stands in the Via Sacra, as\nyou go to the Palatium, which some say is the statue of Cloelia, others\nof Valeria.  Porsenna, thus reconciled to the Romans, gave them a fresh\ninstance of his generosity, and commanded his soldiers to quit the camp\nmerely with their arms, leaving their tents, full of corn and other\nstores, as a gift to the Romans.  Hence, even down to our time, when\nthere is a public sale of goods, they cry Porsenna's first, by way of\nperpetual commemoration of his kindness.  There stood, also, by the\nsenate-house, a brazen statue of him, of plain and antique workmanship.\n\nAfterwards, the Sabines making incursions upon the Romans, Marcus\nValerius, brother to Poplicola, was made consul, and with him Postumius\nTubertus.  Marcus, through the management of affairs by the conduct and\ndirect assistance of Poplicola, obtained two great victories, in the\nlatter of which he slew thirteen thousand Sabines without the loss of\none Roman, and was honored, as all accession to his triumph, with an\nhouse built in the Palatium at the public charge; and whereas the doors\nof other houses opened inward into the house, they made this to open\noutward into the street, to intimate their perpetual public recognition\nof his merit by thus continually making way for him.  The same fashion\nin their doors the Greeks, they say, had of old universally, which\nappears from their comedies, where those that are going out make a noise\nat the door within, to give notice to those that pass by or stand near\nthe door, that the opening the door into the street might occasion no\nsurprisal.\n\nThe year after, Poplicola was made consul the fourth time, when a\nconfederacy of the Sabines and Latins threatened a war; a superstitious\nfear also overran the city on the occasion of general miscarriages of\ntheir women, no single birth coming to its due time.  Poplicola, upon\nconsultation of the Sibylline books, sacrificing to Pluto, and renewing\ncertain games commanded by Apollo, restored the city to more cheerful\nassurance in the gods, and then prepared against the menaces of men.\nThere were appearances of treat preparation, and of a formidable\nconfederacy.  Amongst the Sabines there was one Appius Clausus, a man of\na great wealth and strength of body, but most eminent for his high\ncharacter and for his eloquence; yet, as is usually the fate of great\nmen, he could not escape the envy of others, which was much occasioned\nby his dissuading the war, and seeming to promote the Roman interest,\nwith a view, it was thought, to obtaining absolute power in his own\ncountry for himself.  Knowing how welcome these reports would be to the\nmultitude, and how offensive to the army and the abettors of the war, he\nwas afraid to stand a trial, but, having a considerable body of friends\nand allies to assist him, raised a tumult amongst the Sabines, which\ndelayed the war.  Neither was Poplicola wanting, not only to understand\nthe grounds of the sedition, but to promote and increase it, and he\ndispatched emissaries with instructions to Clausus, that Poplicola was\nassured of his goodness and justice, and thought it indeed unworthy in\nany man, however injured, to seek revenge upon his fellow-citizens; yet\nif he pleased, for his own security, to leave his enemies and come to\nRome, he should be received, both in public and private, with the honor\nhis merit deserved, and their own glory required.  Appius, seriously\nweighing the matter, came to the conclusion that it was the best\nresource which necessity left him, and advising with his friends; and\nthey inviting again others in the same manner, he came to Rome, bringing\nfive thousand families, with their wives and children; people of the\nquietest and steadiest temper of all the Sabines.  Poplicola, informed\nof their approach, received them with all the kind offices of a friend,\nand admitted them at once to the franchise, allotting to every one two\nacres of land by the river Anio, but to Clausus twenty-five acres, and\ngave him a place in the senate; a commencement of political power which\nhe used so wisely, that he rose to the highest reputation, was very\ninfluential, and left the Claudian house behind him, inferior to none in\nRome.\n\nThe departure of these men rendered things quiet amongst the Sabines;\nyet the chief of the community would not suffer them to settle into\npeace, but resented that Clausus now, by turning deserter, should\ndisappoint that revenge upon the Romans, which, while at home, he had\nunsuccessfully opposed.  Coming with a great army, they sat down before\nFidenae, and placed an ambuscade of two thousand men near Rome, in\nwooded and hollow spots, with a design that some few horsemen, as soon\nas it was day, should go out and ravage the country, commanding them\nupon their approach to the town so to retreat as to draw the enemy into\nthe ambush.  Poplicola, however, soon advertised of these designs by\ndeserters, disposed his forces to their respective charges.  Postumius\nBalbus, his son-in-law, going out with three thousand men in the\nevening, was ordered to take the hills, under which the ambush lay,\nthere to observe their motions; his colleague, Lucretius, attended with\na body of the lightest and boldest men, was appointed to meet the Sabine\nhorse; whilst he, with the rest of the army, encompassed the enemy.  And\na thick mist rising accidentally, Postumius, early in the morning, with\nshouts from the hills, assailed the ambuscade, Lucretius charged the\nlight-horse, and Poplicola besieged the camp; so that on all sides\ndefeat and ruin came upon the Sabines, and without any resistance the\nRomans killed them in their flight, their very hopes leading them to\ntheir death, for each division, presuming that the other was safe, gave\nup all thought of fighting or keeping their ground; and these quitting\nthe camp to retire to the ambuscade, and the ambuscade flying; to the\ncamp, fugitives thus met fugitives, and found those from whom they\nexpected succor as much in need of succor from themselves.  The\nnearness, however, of the city Fidenae was the preservation of the\nSabines, especially those that fled from the camp; those that could not\ngain the city either perished in the field, or were taken prisoners.\nThis victory, the Romans, though usually ascribing such success to some\ngod, attributed to the conduct of one captain; and it was observed to be\nheard amongst the soldiers, that Poplicola had delivered their enemies\nlame and blind, and only not in chains, to be dispatched by their\nswords.  From the spoil and prisoners great wealth accrued to the\npeople.\n\nPoplicola, having completed his triumph, and bequeathed the city to the\ncare of the succeeding consuls, died; thus closing a life which, so far\nas human life may be, had been full of all that is good and honorable.\nThe people, as though they had not duly rewarded his deserts when alive,\nbut still were in his debt, decreed him a public interment, every one\ncontributing his quadrans towards the charge; the women, besides, by\nprivate consent, mourned a whole year, a signal mark of honor to his\nmemory.  He was buried, by the people's desire, within the city, in the\npart called Velia, where his posterity had likewise privilege of burial;\nnow, however, none of the family are interred there, but the body is\ncarried thither and set down, and someone places a burning torch under\nit, and immediately takes it away, as an attestation of the deceased's\nprivilege, and his receding from his honor; after which the body is\nremoved.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF POPLICOLA WITH SOLON\n\nThere is something singular in the present parallel, which has not\noccurred in any other of the lives; that the one should be the imitator\nof the other, and the other his best evidence.  Upon the survey of\nSolon's sentence to Croesus in favor of Tellus's happiness, it seems\nmore applicable to Poplicola; for Tellus, whose virtuous life and dying\nwell had gained him the name of the happiest man, yet was never\ncelebrated in Solon's poems for a good man, nor have his children or any\nmagistracy of his deserved a memorial; but Poplicola's life was the most\neminent amongst the Romans, as well for the greatness of his virtue as\nhis power, and also since his death many amongst the distinguished\nfamilies, even in our days, the Poplicolae, Messalae, and Valerii, after\na lapse of six hundred years, acknowledge him as the fountain of their\nhonor.  Besides, Tellus, though keeping his post and fighting like a\nvaliant soldier, was yet slain by his enemies; but Poplicola, the better\nfortune, slew his, and saw his country victorious under his command.\nAnd his honors and triumphs brought him, which was Solon's ambition, to\na happy end; the ejaculation which, in his verses against Mimnermus\nabout the continuance of man's life, he himself made,\n\nMourned let me die; and may I, when life ends,\nOccasion sighs and sorrows to my friends,\n\nis evidence to Poplicola's happiness; his death did not only draw tears\nfrom his friends and acquaintance, but was the object of universal\nregret and sorrow through the whole city; the women deplored his loss as\nthat of a son, brother, or common father.  \"Wealth I would have,\" said\nSolon, \"but wealth by wrong procure would not,\" because punishment would\nfollow.  But Poplicola's riches were not only justly his, but he spent\nthem nobly in doing good to the distressed.  So that if Solon was\nreputed the wisest man, we must allow Poplicola to be the happiest; for\nwhat Solon wished for as the greatest and most perfect good, this\nPoplicola had, and used and enjoyed to his death.\n\nAnd as Solon may thus be said to have contributed to Poplicola's glory,\nso did also Poplicola to his, by his choice of him as his model in the\nformation of republican institutions; in reducing, for example, the\nexcessive powers and assumption of the consulship.  Several of his laws,\nindeed, he actually transferred to Rome, as his empowering the people to\nelect their officers, and allowing offenders the liberty of appealing to\nthe people, as Solon did to the jurors.  He did not, indeed, create a\nnew senate, as Solon did, but augmented the old to almost double its\nnumber.  The appointment of treasurers again, the quaestors, has a like\norigin; with the intent that the chief magistrate should not, if of good\ncharacter, be withdrawn from greater matters; or, if bad, have the\ngreater temptation to injustice, by holding both the government and\ntreasury in his hands.  The aversion to tyranny was stronger in\nPoplicola; any one who attempted usurpation could, by Solon's law, only\nbe punished upon conviction; but Poplicola made it death before a trial.\nAnd though Solon justly gloried, that, when arbitrary power was\nabsolutely offered to him by circumstances, and when his countrymen\nwould have willingly seen him accept it, he yet declined it; still\nPoplicola merited no less, who, receiving a despotic command, converted\nit to a popular office, and did not employ the whole legal power which\nhe held.  We must allow, indeed, that Solon was before Poplicola in\nobserving that\n\nA people always minds its rulers best\nWhen it is neither humored nor oppressed.\n\nThe remission of debts was peculiar to Solon; it was his great means for\nconfirming the citizens' liberty; for a mere law to give all men equal\nrights is but useless, if the poor must sacrifice those rights to their\ndebts, and, in the very seats and sanctuaries of equality, the courts of\njustice, the offices of state, and the public discussions, be more than\nanywhere at the beck and bidding of the rich.  A yet more extraordinary\nsuccess was, that, although usually civil violence is caused by any\nremission of debts, upon this one occasion this dangerous but powerful\nremedy actually put an end to civil violence already existing, Solon's\nown private worth and reputation overbalancing all the ordinary ill-\nrepute and discredit of the change.  The beginning of his government was\nmore glorious, for he was entirely original, and followed no man's\nexample, and, without the aid of any ally, achieved his most important\nmeasures by his own conduct; yet the close of Poplicola's life was more\nhappy and desirable, for Solon saw the dissolution of his own\ncommonwealth, Poplicola's maintained the state in good order down to the\ncivil wars.  Solon, leaving his laws, as soon as he had made them,\nengraven in wood, but destitute of a defender, departed from Athens;\nwhilst Poplicola, remaining, both in and out of office, labored to\nestablish the government Solon, though he actually knew of Pisistratus's\nambition, yet was not able to suppress it, but had to yield to\nusurpation in its infancy; whereas Poplicola utterly subverted and\ndissolved a potent monarchy, strongly settled by long continuance;\nuniting thus to virtues equal to those, and purposes identical with\nthose of Solon, the good fortune and the power that alone could make\nthem effective.\n\nIn military exploits, Daimachus of Plataea will not even allow Solon the\nconduct of the war against the Megarians, as was before intimated; but\nPoplicola was victorious in the most important conflicts, both as a\nprivate soldier and commander.  In domestic politics, also, Solon, in\nplay, as it were, and by counterfeiting madness, induced the enterprise\nagainst Salamis; whereas Poplicola, in the very beginning, exposed\nhimself to the greatest risk, took arms against Tarquin, detected the\nconspiracy, and, being principally concerned both in preventing the\nescape of and afterwards punishing the traitors, not only expelled the\ntyrants from the city, but extirpated their very hopes.  And as, in\ncases calling for contest and resistance and manful opposition, he\nbehaved with courage and resolution, so, in instances where peaceable\nlanguage, persuasion, and concession were requisite, he was yet more to\nbe commended; and succeeded in gaining happily to reconciliation and\nfriendship, Porsenna, a terrible and invincible enemy.  Some may,\nperhaps, object, that Solon recovered Salamis, which they had lost, for\nthe Athenians; whereas Poplicola receded from part of what the Romans\nwere at that time possessed of; but judgment is to be made of actions\naccording to the times in which they were performed.  The conduct of a\nwise politician is ever suited to the present posture of affairs; often\nby foregoing a part he saves the whole, and by yielding in a small\nmatter secures a greater; and so Poplicola, by restoring what the Romans\nhad lately usurped, saved their undoubted patrimony, and procured,\nmoreover, the stores of the enemy for those who were only too thankful\nto secure their city.  Permitting the decision of the controversy to his\nadversary, he not only got the victory, but likewise what he himself\nwould willingly have given to purchase the victory, Porsenna putting an\nend to the war, and leaving them all the provision of his camp, from the\nsense of the virtue and gallant disposition of the Romans which their\nconsul had impressed upon him.\n\n\n\nTHEMISTOCLES\n\nThe birth of Themistocles was somewhat too obscure to do him honor.  His\nfather, Neocles, was not of the distinguished people of Athens, but of\nthe township of Phrearrhi, and of the tribe Leontis; and by his mother's\nside, as it is reported, he was base-born.\n\nI am not of the noble Grecian race,\nI'm poor Abrotonon, and born in Thrace;\nLet the Greek women scorn me, if they please,\nI was the mother of Themistocles.\n\nYet Phanias writes that the mother of Themistocles was not of Thrace,\nbut of Caria, and that her name was not Abrotonon, but Euterpe; and\nNeanthes adds farther that she was of Halicarnassus in Caria.  And, as\nillegitimate children, including those that were of the half-blood or\nhad but one parent an Athenian, had to attend at the Cynosarges (a\nwrestling-place outside the gates, dedicated to Hercules, who was also\nof half-blood amongst the gods, having had a mortal woman for his\nmother), Themistocles persuaded several of the young men of high birth\nto accompany him to anoint and exercise themselves together at\nCynosarges; an ingenious device for destroying the distinction between\nthe noble and the base-born, and between those of the whole and those of\nthe half blood of Athens.  However, it is certain that he was related to\nthe house of the Lycomedae; for Simonides records, that he rebuilt the\nchapel of Phlya, belonging to that family, and beautified it with\npictures and other ornaments, after it had been burnt by the Persians.\n\nIt is confessed by all that from his youth he was of a vehement and\nimpetuous nature, of a quick apprehension, and a strong and aspiring\nbent for action and great affairs.  The holidays and intervals in his\nstudies he did not spend in play or idleness, as other children, but\nwould be always inventing or arranging some oration or declamation to\nhimself, the subject of which was generally the excusing or accusing his\ncompanions, so that his master would often say to him, \"You, my boy,\nwill be nothing small, but great one way or other, for good or else for\nbad.\"  He received reluctantly and carelessly instructions given him to\nimprove his manners and behavior, or to teach him any pleasing or\ngraceful accomplishment, but whatever was said to improve him in\nsagacity, or in management of affairs, he would give attention to,\nbeyond one of his years, from confidence in his natural capacities for\nsuch things.  And thus afterwards, when in company where people engaged\nthemselves in what are commonly thought the liberal and elegant\namusements, he was obliged to defend himself against the observations of\nthose who considered themselves highly accomplished, by the somewhat\narrogant retort, that he certainly could not make use of any stringed\ninstrument, could only, were a small and obscure city put into his\nhands, make it great and glorious.  Notwithstanding this, Stesimbrotus\nsays that Themistocles was a hearer of Anaxagoras, and that he studied\nnatural philosophy under Melissus, contrary to chronology; for Melissus\ncommanded the Samians in their siege by Pericles, who was much\nThemistocles's junior; and with Pericles, also, Anaxagoras was intimate.\nThey, therefore, might rather be credited, who report, that Themistocles\nwas an admirer of Mnesiphilus the Phrearrhian, who was neither\nrhetorician nor natural philosopher, but a professor of that which was\nthen called wisdom, consisting in a sort of political shrewdness and\npractical sagacity, which had begun and continued, almost like a sect of\nphilosophy, from Solon; but those who came afterwards, and mixed it with\npleadings and legal artifices, and transformed the practical part of it\ninto a mere art of speaking and an exercise of words, were generally\ncalled sophists.  Themistocles resorted to Mnesiphilus when he had\nalready embarked in politics.\n\nIn the first essays of his youth he was not regular nor happily\nbalanced; he allowed himself to follow mere natural character, which,\nwithout the control of reason and instruction, is apt to hurry, upon\neither side, into sudden and violent courses, and very often to break\naway and determine upon the worst; as he afterwards owned himself,\nsaying, that the wildest colts make the best horses, if they only get\nproperly trained and broken in.  But those who upon this fasten stories\nof their own invention, as of his being disowned by his father, and that\nhis mother died for grief of her son's ill fame, certainly calumniate\nhim; and there are others who relate, on the contrary, how that to deter\nhim from public business, and to let him see how the vulgar behave\nthemselves towards their leaders when they have at last no farther use\nof them, his father showed him the old galleys as they lay forsaken and\ncast about upon the sea-shore.\n\nYet it is evident that his mind was early imbued with the keenest\ninterest in public affairs, and the most passionate ambition for\ndistinction.  Eager from the first to obtain the highest place, he\nunhesitatingly accepted the hatred of the most powerful and influential\nleaders in the city, but more especially of Aristides, the son of\nLysimachus, who always opposed him.  And yet all this great enmity\nbetween them arose, it appears, from a very boyish occasion, both being\nattached to the beautiful Stesilaus of Ceos, as Ariston the philosopher\ntells us; ever after which, they took opposite sides, and were rivals in\npolitics.  Not but that the incompatibility of their lives and manners\nmay seem to have increased the difference, for Aristides was of a mild\nnature, and of a nobler sort of character, and, in public matters,\nacting always with a view, not to glory or popularity, but to the best\ninterests of the state consistently with safety and honesty, he was\noften forced to oppose Themistocles, and interfere against the increase\nof his influence, seeing him stirring up the people to all kinds of\nenterprises, and introducing various innovations.  For it is said that\nThemistocles was so transported with the thoughts of glory, and so\ninflamed with the passion for great actions, that, though he was still\nyoung when the battle of Marathon was fought against the Persians, upon\nthe skillful conduct of the general, Miltiades, being everywhere talked\nabout, he was observed to be thoughtful, and reserved, alone by him\nself; he passed the nights without sleep, and avoided all his usual\nplaces of recreation, and to those who wondered at the change, and\ninquired the reason of it, he gave the answer, that \"the trophy of\nMiltiades would not let him sleep.\"  And when others were of opinion\nthat the battle of Marathon would be an end to the war, Themistocles\nthought that it was but the beginning of far greater conflicts, and for\nthese, to the benefit of all Greece, he kept himself in continual\nreadiness, and his city also in proper training, foreseeing from far\nbefore what would happen.\n\nAnd, first of all, the Athenians being accustomed to divide amongst\nthemselves the revenue proceeding from the silver mines at Laurium, he\nwas the only man that dared propose to the people that this distribution\nshould cease, and that with the money ships should be built to make war\nagainst the Aeginetans, who were the most flourishing people in all\nGreece, and by the number of their ships held the sovereignty of the\nsea; and Themistocles thus was more easily able to persuade them,\navoiding all mention of danger from Darius or the Persians, who were at\na great distance, and their coming very uncertain, and at that time not\nmuch to be feared; but, by a seasonable employment of the emulation and\nanger felt by the Athenians against the Aeginetans, he induced them to\npreparation.  So that with this money a hundred ships were built, with\nwhich they afterwards fought against Xerxes.  And, henceforward, little\nby little, turning and drawing the city down towards the sea, in the\nbelief, that, whereas by land they were not a fit match for their next\nneighbors, with their ships they might be able to repel the Persians and\ncommand Greece, thus, as Plato says, from steady soldiers he turned them\ninto mariners and seamen tossed about the sea, and gave occasion for the\nreproach against him, that he took away from the Athenians the spear and\nthe shield, and bound them to the bench and the oar.  These measures he\ncarried in the assembly, against the opposition, as Stesimbrotus\nrelates, of Miltiades; and whether or no he hereby injured the purity\nand true balance of government, may be a question for philosophers, but\nthat the deliverance of Greece came at that time from the sea, and that\nthese galleys restored Athens again after it was destroyed, were others\nwanting, Xerxes himself would be sufficient evidence, who, though his\nland-forces were still entire, after his defeat at sea, fled away, and\nthought himself no longer able to encounter the Greeks; and, as it seems\nto me, left Mardonius behind him, not out of any hopes he could have to\nbring them into subjection, but to hinder them from pursuing him.\n\nThemistocles is said to have been eager in the acquisition of riches,\naccording to some, that he might be the more liberal; for loving to\nsacrifice often, and to be splendid in his entertainment of strangers,\nhe required a plentiful revenue; yet he is accused by others of having\nbeen parsimonious and sordid to that degree that he would sell\nprovisions which were sent to him as a present.  He desired Diphilides,\nwho was a breeder of horses, to give him a colt, and when he refused it,\nthreatened that in a short time he would turn his house into a wooden\nhorse, intimating that he would stir up dispute and litigation between\nhim and some of his relations.\n\nHe went beyond all men in the passion for distinction.  When he was\nstill young and unknown in the world, he entreated Epicles of Hermione,\nwho had a good hand at the lute and was much sought after by the\nAthenians, to come and practice at home with him, being ambitious of\nhaving people inquire after his house and frequent his company.  When he\ncame to the Olympic games, and was so splendid in his equipage and\nentertainments, in his rich tents and furniture, that he strove to outdo\nCimon, he displeased the Greeks, who thought that such magnificence\nmight be allowed in one who was a young man and of a great family but\nwas a great piece of insolence in one as yet undistinguished, and\nwithout title or means for making any such display.  In a dramatic\ncontest, the play he paid for won the prize, which was then a matter\nthat excited much emulation; he put up a tablet in record of it, with\nthe inscription, \"Themistocles of Phrearrhi was at the charge of it;\nPhrynichus made it; Adimantus was archon.\"  He was well liked by the\ncommon people, would salute every particular citizen by his own name,\nand always show himself a just judge in questions of business between\nprivate men; he said to Simonides, the poet of Ceos, who desired\nsomething of him, when he was commander of the army, that was not\nreasonable, \"Simonides, you would be no good poet if you wrote false\nmeasure, nor should I be a good magistrate if for favor I made false\nlaw.\"  And at another time, laughing at Simonides, he said, that he was\na man of little judgment to speak against the Corinthians, who were\ninhabitants of a great city, and to have his own picture drawn so often,\nhaving so ill-looking a face.\n\nGradually growing to be great, and winning the favor of the people, he\nat last gained the day with his faction over that of Aristides, and\nprocured his banishment by ostracism.  When the king of Persia was now\nadvancing against Greece, and the Athenians were in consultation who\nshould be general, and many withdrew themselves of their own accord,\nbeing terrified with the greatness of the danger, there was one\nEpicydes, a popular speaker, son to Euphemides, a man of an eloquent\ntongue, but of a faint heart, and a slave to riches, who was desirous of\nthe command, and was looked upon to be in a fair way to carry it by the\nnumber of votes; but Themistocles, fearing that, if the command should\nfall into such hands, all would be lost, bought off Epicydes and his\npretensions, it is said, for a sum of money.\n\nWhen the king of Persia sent messengers into Greece, with an\ninterpreter, to demand earth and water, as an acknowledgment of\nsubjection, Themistocles, by the consent of the people, seized upon the\ninterpreter, and put him to death, for presuming to publish the\nbarbarian orders and decrees in the Greek language; this is one of the\nactions he is commended for, as also for what he did to Arthmius of\nZelea, who brought gold from the king of Persia to corrupt the Greeks,\nand was, by an order from Themistocles, degraded and disfranchised, he\nand his children and his posterity; but that which most of all redounded\nto his credit was, that he put an end to all the civil wars of Greece,\ncomposed their differences, and persuaded them to lay aside all enmity\nduring the war with the Persians; and in this great work, Chileus the\nArcadian was, it is said, of great assistance to him.\n\nHaving taken upon himself the command of the Athenian forces, he\nimmediately endeavored to persuade the citizens to leave the city, and\nto embark upon their galleys, and meet with the Persians at a great\ndistance from Greece; but many being against this, he led a large force,\ntogether with the Lacedaemonians, into Tempe, that in this pass they\nmight maintain the safety of Thessaly, which had not as yet declared for\nthe king; but when they returned without performing anything; and it\nwas known that not only the Thessalians, but all as far as Boeotia, was\ngoing over to Xerxes, then the Athenians more willingly hearkened to the\nadvice of Themistocles to fight by sea, and sent him with a fleet to\nguard the straits of Artemisium.\n\nWhen the contingents met here, the Greeks would have the Lacedaemonians\nto command, and Eurybiades to be their admiral; but the Athenians, who\nsurpassed all the rest together in number of vessels, would not submit\nto come after any other, till Themistocles, perceiving the danger of\nthis contest, yielded his own command to Eurybiades, and got the\nAthenians to submit, extenuating the loss by persuading them, that if in\nthis war they behaved themselves like men, he would answer for it after\nthat, that the Greeks, of their own will, would submit to their command.\nAnd by this moderation of his, it is evident that he was the chief means\nof the deliverance of Greece, and gained the Athenians the glory of\nalike surpassing their enemies in valor, and their confederates in\nwisdom.\n\nAs soon as the Persian armada arrived at Aphetae, Eurybiades was\nastonished to see such a vast number of vessels before him, and, being\ninformed that two hundred more were sailing round behind the island of\nSciathus, he immediately determined to retire farther into Greece, and\nto sail back into some part of Peloponnesus, where their land army and\ntheir fleet might join, for he looked upon the Persian forces to be\naltogether unassailable by sea.  But the Euboeans, fearing that the\nGreeks would forsake them, and leave them to the mercy of the enemy,\nsent Pelagon to confer privately with Themistocles, taking with him a\ngood sum of money, which, as Herodotus reports, he accepted and gave to\nEurybiades.  In this affair none of his own countrymen opposed him so\nmuch as Architeles, captain of the sacred galley, who, having no money\nto supply his seamen, was eager to go home; but Themistocles so incensed\nthe Athenians against him, that they set upon him and left him not so\nmuch as his supper, at which Architeles was much surprised, and took it\nvery ill; but Themistocles immediately sent him in a chest a service of\nprovisions, and at the bottom of it a talent of silver, desiring him to\nsup tonight, and tomorrow provide for his seamen; if not, he would\nreport it amongst the Athenians that he had received money from the\nenemy.  So Phanias the Lesbian tells the story.\n\nThough the fights between the Greeks and Persians in the straits of\nEuboea were not so important as to make any final decision of the war,\nyet the experience which the Greeks obtained in them was of great\nadvantage, for thus, by actual trial and in real danger, they found out\nthat neither number of ships, nor riches and ornaments, nor boasting\nshouts, nor barbarous songs of victory, were any way terrible to men\nthat knew how to fight, and were resolved to come hand to hand with\ntheir enemies; these things they were to despise, and to come up close\nand grapple with their foes.  This, Pindar appears to have seen, and\nsays justly enough of the fight at Artemisium, that\n\nThere the sons of Athens set\nThe stone that freedom stands on yet.\n\nFor the first step towards victory undoubtedly is to gain courage.\nArtemisium is in Euboea, beyond the city of Histiaea, a sea-beach open\nto the north; most nearly opposite to it stands Olizon, in the country\nwhich formerly was under Philoctetes; there is a small temple there,\ndedicated to Diana, surnamed of the Dawn, and trees about it, around\nwhich again stand pillars of white marble; and if you rub them with your\nhand, they send forth both the smell and color of saffron.  On one of\nthe pillars these verses are engraved,--\n\nWith numerous tribes from Asia's regions brought\nThe sons of Athens on these waters, fought;\nErecting, after they had quelled the Mede,\nTo Artemis this record of the deed.\n\nThere is a place still to be seen upon this shore, where, in the middle\nof a great heap of sand, they take out from the bottom a dark powder\nlike ashes, or something that has passed the fire; and here, it is\nsupposed, the shipwrecks and bodies of the dead were burnt.\n\nBut when news came from Thermopylae to Artemisium, informing them that\nking Leonidas was slain, and that Xerxes had made himself master of all\nthe passages by land, they returned back to the interior of Greece, the\nAthenians having the command of the rear, the place of honor and danger,\nand much elated by what had been done.\n\nAs Themistocles sailed along the coast, he took notice of the harbors\nand fit places for the enemies' ships to come to land at, and engraved\nlarge letters in such stones as he found there by chance, as also in\nothers which he set up on purpose near to the landing-places, or where\nthey were to water; in which inscriptions he called upon the Ionians to\nforsake the Medes, if it were possible, and come over to the Greeks, who\nwere their proper founders and fathers, and were now hazarding all for\ntheir liberties; but, if this could not be done, at any rate to impede\nand disturb the Persians in all engagements.  He hoped that these\nwritings would prevail with the Ionians to revolt, or raise some trouble\nby making their fidelity doubtful to the Persians.\n\nNow, though Xerxes had already passed through Doris and invaded the\ncountry of Phocis, and was burning and destroying the cities of the\nPhocians, yet the Greeks sent them no relief; and, though the Athenians\nearnestly desired them to meet the Persians in Boeotia, before they\ncould come into Attica, as they themselves had come forward by sea at\nArtemisium, they gave no ear to their request, being wholly intent upon\nPeloponnesus, and resolved to gather all their forces together within\nthe Isthmus, and to build a wall from sea to sea in that narrow neck of\nland; so that the Athenians were enraged to see themselves betrayed, and\nat the same time afflicted and dejected at their own destitution.  For\nto fight alone against such a numerous army was to no purpose, and the\nonly expedient now left them was to leave their city and cling to their\nships; which the people were very unwilling to submit to, imagining that\nit would signify little now to gain a victory, and not understanding how\nthere could be deliverance any longer after they had once forsaken the\ntemples of their gods and exposed the tombs and monuments of their\nancestors to the fury of their enemies.\n\nThemistocles, being at a loss, and not able to draw the people over to\nhis opinion by any human reason, set his machines to work, as in a\ntheater, and employed prodigies and oracles.  The serpent of Minerva,\nkept in the inner part of her temple, disappeared; the priests gave it\nout to the people that the offerings which were set for it were found\nuntouched, and declared, by the suggestion of Themistocles, that the\ngoddess had left the city, and taken her flight before them towards the\nsea.  And he often urged them with the oracle which bade them trust to\nwalls of wood, showing them that walls of wood could signify nothing\nelse but ships; and that the island of Salamis was termed in it, not\nmiserable or unhappy, but had the epithet of divine, for that it should\none day be associated with a great good fortune of the Greeks.  At\nlength his opinion prevailed, and he obtained a decree that the city\nshould be committed to the protection of Minerva, \"queen of Athens;\"\nthat they who were of age to bear arms should embark, and that each\nshould see to sending away his children, women, and slaves where he\ncould.  This decree being confirmed, most of the Athenians removed their\nparents, wives, and children to Troezen, where they were received with\neager good-will by the Troezenians, who passed a vote that they should\nbe maintained at the public charge, by a daily payment of two obols to\nevery one, and leave be given to the children to gather fruit where they\npleased, and schoolmasters paid to instruct them.  This vote was\nproposed by Nicagoras.\n\nThere was no public treasure at that time in Athens; but the council of\nAreopagus, as Aristotle says, distributed to every one that served,\neight drachmas, which was a great help to the manning of the fleet; but\nClidemus ascribes this also to the art of Themistocles.  When the\nAthenians were on their way down to the haven of Piraeus, the shield\nwith the head of Medusa was missing; and he, under the pretext of\nsearching for it, ransacked all places, and found among their goods\nconsiderable sums of money concealed, which he applied to the public\nuse; and with this the soldiers and seamen were well provided for their\nvoyage.\n\nWhen the whole city of Athens were going on board, it afforded a\nspectacle worthy of pity alike and admiration, to see them thus send\naway their fathers and children before them, and, unmoved with their\ncries and tears, pass over into the island.  But that which stirred\ncompassion most of all was, that many old men, by reason of their\ngreat age, were left behind; and even the tame domestic animals could\nnot be seen without some pity, running about the town and howling, as\ndesirous to be carried along with their masters that had kept them;\namong which it is reported that Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, had\na dog that would not endure to stay behind, but leaped into the sea, and\nswam along by the galley's side till he came to the island of Salamis,\nwhere he fainted away and died, and that spot in the island, which is\nstill called the Dog's Grave, is said to be his.\n\nAmong the great actions of Themistocles at this crisis, the recall of\nAristides was not the least, for, before the war, he had been ostracized\nby the party which Themistocles headed, and was in banishment; but now,\nperceiving that the people regretted his absence, and were fearful that\nhe might go over to the Persians to revenge himself, and thereby ruin\nthe affairs of Greece, Themistocles proposed a decree that those who\nwere banished for a time might return again, to give assistance by word\nand deed to the cause of Greece with the rest of their fellow-citizens.\n\nEurybiades, by reason of the greatness of Sparta, was admiral of the\nGreek fleet, but yet was faint-hearted in time of danger, and willing to\nweigh anchor and set sail for the isthmus of Corinth, near which the\nland army lay encamped; which Themistocles resisted; and this was the\noccasion of the well-known words, when Eurybiades, to check his\nimpatience, told him that at the Olympic games they that start up before\nthe rest are lashed; \"And they,\" replied Themistocles, \"that are left\nbehind are not crowned.\"  Again, Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if\nhe were going to strike, Themistocles said, \"Strike if you will, but\nhear;\" Eurybiades, wondering much at his moderation, desired him to\nspeak, and Themistocles now brought him to a better understanding.  And\nwhen one who stood by him told him that it did not become those who had\nneither city nor house to lose, to persuade others to relinquish their\nhabitations and forsake their countries, Themistocles gave this reply:\n\"We have indeed left our houses and our walls, base fellow, not thinking\nit fit to become slaves for the sake of things that have no life nor\nsoul; and yet our city is the greatest of all Greece, consisting of two\nhundred galleys, which are here to defend you, if you please; but if you\nrun away and betray us, as you did once before, the Greeks shall soon\nhear news of the Athenians possessing as fair a country, and as large\nand free a city, as that they have lost.\"  These expressions of\nThemistocles made Eurybiades suspect that if he retreated the Athenians\nwould fall off from him.  When one of Eretria began to oppose him, he\nsaid, \"Have you anything to say of war, that are like an ink-fish? you\nhave a sword, but no heart.\"  Some say that while Themistocles was\nthus speaking things upon the deck, an owl was seen flying to the right\nhand of the fleet, which came and sat upon the top of the mast; and\nthis happy omen so far disposed the Greeks to follow his advice, that\nthey presently prepared to fight.  Yet, when the enemy's fleet was\narrived at the haven of Phalerum, upon the coast of Attica, and with the\nnumber of their ships concealed all the shore, and when they saw the\nking himself in person come down with his land army to the seaside, with\nall his forces united, then the good counsel of Themistocles was soon\nforgotten, and the Peloponnesians cast their eyes again towards the\nisthmus, and took it very ill if any one spoke against their returning\nhome; and, resolving to depart that night, the pilots had order what\ncourse to steer.\n The Teuthis, loligo, or cuttlefish, is said to have a bone or\ncartilage shaped like a sword, and was conceived to have no heart.\n\nThemistocles, in great distress that the Greeks should retire, and lose\nthe advantage of the narrow seas and strait passage, and slip home every\none to his own city, considered with himself, and contrived that\nstratagem that was carried out by Sicinnus.  This Sicinnus was a Persian\ncaptive, but a great lover of Themistocles, and the attendant of his\nchildren.  Upon this occasion, he sent him privately to Xerxes,\ncommanding him to tell the king, that Themistocles, the admiral of the\nAthenians, having espoused his interest, wished to be the first to\ninform him that the Greeks were ready to make their escape, and that he\ncounseled him to hinder their flight, to set upon them while they were\nin this confusion and at a distance from their land army, and hereby\ndestroy all their forces by sea.  Xerxes was very joyful at this\nmessage, and received it as from one who wished him all that was good,\nand immediately issued instructions to the commanders of his ships, that\nthey should instantly Yet out with two hundred galleys to encompass all\nthe islands, and enclose all the straits and passages, that none of the\nGreeks might escape, and that they should afterwards follow with the\nrest of their fleet at leisure.  This being done, Aristides, the son of\nLysimachus, was the first man that perceived it, and went to the tent of\nThemistocles, not out of any friendship, for he had been formerly\nbanished by his means, as has been related, but to inform him how they\nwere encompassed by their enemies.  Themistocles, knowing the generosity\nof Aristides, and much struck by his visit at that time, imparted to him\nall that he had transacted by Sicinnus, and entreated him, that, as he\nwould be more readily believed among the Greeks, he would make use of\nhis credit to help to induce them to stay and fight their enemies in the\nnarrow seas.  Aristides applauded Themistocles, and went to the other\ncommanders and captains of the galleys, and encouraged them to engage;\nyet they did not perfectly assent to him, till a galley of Tenos, which\ndeserted from the Persians, of which Panaetius was commander, came in,\nwhile they were still doubting, and confirmed the news that all the\nstraits and passages were beset; and then their rage and fury, as well\nas their necessity; provoked them all to fight.\n\nAs soon as it was day, Xerxes placed himself high up, to view his fleet,\nand how it was set in order.  Phanodemus says, he sat upon a promontory\nabove the temple of Hercules, where the coast of Attica is separated\nfrom the island by a narrow channel; but Acestodorus writes, that it was\nin the confines of Megara, upon those hills which are called the Horns,\nwhere he sat in a chair of gold, with many secretaries about him to\nwrite down all that was done in the fight.\n\nWhen Themistocles was about to sacrifice, close to the admiral's galley,\nthere were three prisoners brought to him, fine looking men, and richly\ndressed in ornamented clothing and gold, said to be the children of\nArtayctes and Sandauce, sister to Xerxes.  As soon as the prophet\nEuphrantides saw them, and observed that at the same time the fire\nblazed out from the offerings with a more than ordinary flame, and that\na man sneezed on the right, which was an intimation of a fortunate\nevent, he took Themistocles by the hand, and bade him consecrate the\nthree young men for sacrifice, and offer them up with prayers for\nvictory to Bacchus the Devourer: so should the Greeks not only save\nthemselves, but also obtain victory.  Themistocles was much disturbed at\nthis strange and terrible prophecy, but the common people, who, in any\ndifficult crisis and great exigency, ever look for relief rather to\nstrange and extravagant than to reasonable means, calling upon Bacchus\nwith one voice, led the captives to the altar, and compelled the\nexecution of the sacrifice as the prophet had commanded.  This is\nreported by Phanias the Lesbian, a philosopher well read in history.\n\nThe number of the enemy's ships the poet Aeschylus gives in his tragedy\ncalled the Persians, as on his certain knowledge, in the following\nwords--\n\nXerxes, I know, did into battle lead\nOne thousand ships; of more than usual speed\nSeven and two hundred.  So is it agreed.\n\nThe Athenians had a hundred and eighty; in every ship eighteen men\nfought upon the deck, four of whom were archers and the rest men-at-\narms.\n\nAs Themistocles had fixed upon the most advantageous place, so, with no\nless sagacity, he chose the best time of fighting; for he would not run\nthe prows of his galleys against the Persians, nor begin the fight till\nthe time of day was come, when there regularly blows in a fresh breeze\nfrom the open sea, and brings in with it a strong swell into the\nchannel; which was no inconvenience to the Greek ships, which were low-\nbuilt, and little above the water, but did much hurt to the Persians,\nwhich had high sterns and lofty decks, and were heavy and cumbrous in\ntheir movements, as it presented them broadside to the quick charges of\nthe Greeks, who kept their eyes upon the motions of Themistocles, as\ntheir best example, and more particularly because, opposed to his ship,\nAriamenes, admiral to Xerxes, a brave man, and by far the best and\nworthiest of the king's brothers, was seen throwing darts and shooting\narrows from his huge galley, as from the walls of a castle.  Aminias the\nDecelean and Sosicles the Pedian, who sailed in the same vessel, upon\nthe ships meeting stem to stem, and transfixing each the other with\ntheir brazen prows, so that they were fastened together, when Ariamenes\nattempted to board theirs, ran at him with their pikes, and thrust him\ninto the sea; his body, as it floated amongst other shipwrecks, was\nknown to Artemisia, and carried to Xerxes.\n\nIt is reported, that, in the middle of the fight, a great flame rose\ninto the air above the city of Eleusis, and that sounds and voices were\nheard through all the Thriasian plain, as far as the sea, sounding like\na number of men accompanying and escorting the mystic Iacchus, and that\na mist seemed to form and rise from the place from whence the sounds\ncame, and, passing forward, fell upon the galleys.  Others believed that\nthey saw apparitions, in the shape of armed men, reaching out their\nhands from the island of Aegina before the Grecian galleys; and supposed\nthey were the Aeacidae, whom they had invoked to their aid before the\nbattle.  The first man that took a ship was Lycomedes the Athenian,\ncaptain of a galley, who cut down its ensign, and dedicated it to Apollo\nthe Laurel-crowned.  And as the Persians fought in a narrow arm of the\nsea, and could bring but part of their fleet to fight, and fell foul of\none another, the Greeks thus equaled them in strength, and fought with\nthem till the evening, forced them back, and obtained, as says\nSimonides, that noble and famous victory, than which neither amongst the\nGreeks nor barbarians was ever known more glorious exploit on the seas;\nby the joint valor, indeed, and zeal of all who fought, but by the\nwisdom and sagacity of Themistocles.\n\nAfter this sea-fight, Xerxes, enraged at his ill-fortune, attempted, by\ncasting great heaps of earth and stones into the sea, to stop up the\nchannel and to make a dam, upon which he might lead his land-forces over\ninto the island of Salamis.\n\nThemistocles, being desirous to try the opinion of Aristides, told him\nthat he proposed to set sail for the Hellespont, to break the bridge of\nships, so as to shut up, he said, Asia a prisoner within Europe; but\nAristides, disliking the design, said, \"We have hitherto fought with an\nenemy who has regarded little else but his pleasure and luxury; but if\nwe shut him up within Greece, and drive him to necessity, he that is\nmaster of such great forces will no longer sit quietly with an umbrella\nof gold over his head, looking upon the fight for his pleasure; but in\nsuch a strait will attempt all things; he will be resolute, and appear\nhimself in person upon all occasions, he will soon correct his errors,\nand supply what he has formerly omitted through remissness, and will be\nbetter advised in all things.  Therefore, it is noways our interest,\nThemistocles,\" he said, \"to take away the bridge that is already made,\nbut rather to build another, if it were possible, that he might make his\nretreat with the more expedition.\"  To which Themistocles answered, \"If\nthis be requisite, we must immediately use all diligence, art, and\nindustry, to rid ourselves of him as soon as may be;\" and to this\npurpose he found out among the captives one of the king Of Persia's\neunuchs, named Arnaces, whom he sent to the king, to inform him that the\nGreeks, being now victorious by sea, had decreed to sail to the\nHellespont, where the boats were fastened together, and destroy the\nbridge; but that Themistocles, being concerned for the king, revealed\nthis to him, that he might hasten towards the Asiatic seas, and pass\nover into his own dominions; and in the mean time would cause delays,\nand hinder the confederates from pursuing him.  Xerxes no sooner heard\nthis, but, being very much terrified, he proceeded to retreat out of\nGreece with all speed.  The prudence of Themistocles and Aristides in\nthis was afterwards more fully understood at the battle of Plataea,\nwhere Mardonius, with a very small fraction of the forces of Xerxes, put\nthe Greeks in danger of losing all.\n\nHerodotus writes, that, of all the cities of Greece, Aegina was held to\nhave performed the best service in the war; while all single men yielded\nto Themistocles, though, out of envy, unwillingly; and when they\nreturned to the entrance of Peloponnesus, where the several commanders\ndelivered their suffrages at the altar, to determine who was most\nworthy, every one gave the first vote for himself and the second for\nThemistocles.  The Lacedaemonians carried him with them to Sparta,\nwhere, giving the rewards of valor to Eurybiades, and of wisdom and\nconduct to Themistocles, they crowned him with olive, presented him with\nthe best chariot in the city, and sent three hundred young men to\naccompany him to the confines of their country.  And at the next Olympic\ngames, when Themistocles entered the course, the spectators took no\nfarther notice of those who were contesting the prizes, but spent the\nwhole day in looking upon him, showing him to the strangers, admiring\nhim, and applauding him by clapping their hands, and other expressions\nof joy, so that he himself, much gratified, confessed to his friends\nthat he then reaped the fruit of all his labors for the Greeks.\n\nHe was, indeed, by nature, a great lover of honor, as is evident from\nthe anecdotes recorded of him.  When chosen admiral by the Athenians, he\nwould not quite conclude any single matter of business, either public or\nprivate, but deferred all till the day they were to set sail, that, by\ndispatching a great quantity of business all at once, and having to meet\na great variety of people, he might make an appearance of greatness and\npower.  Viewing the dead bodies cast up by the sea, he perceived\nbracelets and necklaces of gold about them, yet passed on, only showing\nthem to a friend that followed him, saying, \"Take you these things, for\nyou are not Themistocles.\"  He said to Antiphates, a handsome young man,\nwho had formerly avoided, but now in his glory courted him, \"Time, young\nman, has taught us both a lesson.\"  He said that the Athenians did not\nhonor him or admire him, but made, as it were, a sort of plane-tree of\nhim; sheltered themselves under him in bad weather, and, as soon as it\nwas fine, plucked his leaves and cut his branches.  When the Seriphian\ntold him that he had not obtained this honor by himself, but by the\ngreatness of his city, he replied, \"You speak truth; I should never have\nbeen famous if I had been of Seriphus; nor you, had you been of Athens.\"\nWhen another of the generals, who thought he had performed considerable\nservice for the Athenians, boastingly compared his actions with those of\nThemistocles, he told him that once upon a time the Day after the\nFestival found fault with the Festival: \"On you there is nothing but\nhurry and trouble and preparation, but, when I come, everybody sits down\nquietly and enjoys himself;\" which the Festival admitted was true, but\n\"if I had not come first, you would not have come at all.\"  \"Even so,\"\nhe said, \"if Themistocles had not come before, where had you been now?\"\nLaughing at his own son, who got his mother, and, by his mother's means,\nhis father also, to indulge him, he told him that he had the most power\nof any one in Greece:  \"For the Athenians command the rest of Greece, I\ncommand the Athenians, your mother commands me, and you command your\nmother.\"  Loving to be singular in all things, when he had land to sell,\nhe ordered the crier to give notice that there were good neighbors near\nit.  Of two who made love to his daughter, he preferred the man of worth\nto the one who was rich, saying he desired a man without riches, rather\nthan riches without a man.  Such was the character of his sayings.\n\nAfter these things, he began to rebuild and fortify the city of Athens,\nbribing, as Theopompus reports, the Lacedaemonian ephors not to be\nagainst it, but, as most relate it, overreaching and deceiving them.\nFor, under pretest of an embassy, he went to Sparta, where, upon the\nLacedaemonians charging him with rebuilding the walls, and Poliarchus\ncoming on purpose from Aegina to denounce it, he denied the fact,\nbidding them to send people to Athens to see whether it were so or no;\nby which delay he got time for the building of the wall, and also placed\nthese ambassadors in the hands of his countrymen as hostages for him;\nand so, when the Lacedaemonians knew the truth, they did him no hurt,\nbut, suppressing all display of their anger for the present, sent him\naway.\n\nNext he proceeded to establish the harbor of Piraeus, observing the\ngreat natural advantages of the locality and desirous to unite the whole\ncity with the sea, and to reverse, in a manner, the policy of ancient\nAthenian kings, who, endeavoring to withdraw their subjects from the\nsea, and to accustom them to live, not by sailing about, but by planting\nand tilling the earth, spread the story of the dispute between Minerva\nand Neptune for the sovereignty of Athens, in which Minerva, by\nproducing to the judges an olive tree, was declared to have won; whereas\nThemistocles did not only knead up, as Aristophanes says, the port and\nthe city into one, but made the city absolutely the dependent and the\nadjunct of the port, and the land of the sea, which increased the power\nand confidence of the people against the nobility; the authority coming\ninto the hands of sailors and boatswains and pilots.  Thus it was one of\nthe orders of the thirty tyrants, that the hustings in the assembly,\nwhich had faced towards the sea, should be turned round towards the\nland; implying their opinion that the empire by sea had been the origin\nof the democracy, and that the farming population were not so much\nopposed to oligarchy.\n\nThemistocles, however, formed yet higher designs with a view to naval\nsupremacy.  For, after the departure of Xerxes, when the Grecian fleet\nwas arrived at Pagasae, where they wintered, Themistocles, in a public\noration to the people of Athens, told them that he had a design to\nperform something that would tend greatly to their interests and safety,\nbut was of such a nature, that it could not be made generally public.\nThe Athenians ordered him to impart it to Aristides only; and, if he\napproved of it, to put it in practice.  And when Themistocles had\ndiscovered to him that his design was to burn the Grecian fleet in the\nhaven of Pagasae, Aristides, coming out to the people, gave this report\nof the stratagem contrived by Themistocles, that no proposal could be\nmore politic, or more dishonorable; on which the Athenians commanded\nThemistocles to think no farther of it.\n\nWhen the Lacedaemonians proposed, at the general council of the\nAmphictyonians, that the representatives of those cities which were not\nin the league, nor had fought against the Persians, should be excluded,\nThemistocles, fearing that the Thessalians, with those of Thebes,\nArgos, and others, being thrown out of the council, the Lacedaemonians\nwould become wholly masters of the votes, and do what they pleased,\nsupported the deputies of the cities, and prevailed with the members\nthen sitting to alter their opinion in this point, showing them that\nthere were but one and thirty cities which had partaken in the war, and\nthat most of these, also, were very small; how intolerable would it be,\nif the rest of Greece should be excluded, and the general council should\ncome to be ruled by two or three great cities.  By this, chiefly, he\nincurred the displeasure of the Lacedaemonians, whose honors and favors\nwere now shown to Cimon, with a view to making him the opponent of the\nstate policy of Themistocles.\n\nHe was also burdensome to the confederates, sailing about the islands\nand collecting money from them.  Herodotus says, that, requiring money\nof those of the island of Andros, he told them that he had brought with\nhim two goddesses, Persuasion and Force; and they answered him that they\nhad also two great goddesses, which prohibited them from giving him any\nmoney, Poverty and Impossibility.  Timocreon, the Rhodian poet,\nreprehends him somewhat bitterly for being wrought upon by money to let\nsome who were banished return, while abandoning himself, who was his\nguest and friend.  The verses are these:--\n\nPausanias you may praise, and Xanthippus he be for,\nFor Leutychidas, a third; Aristides, I proclaim,\nFrom the sacred Athens came,\nThe one true man of all; for Themistocles Latona doth abhor\n\nThe liar, traitor, cheat, who, to gain his filthy pay,\nTimocreon, his friend, neglected to restore\nTo his native Rhodian shore;\nThree silver talents took, and departed (curses with him) on his way,\n\nRestoring people here, expelling there, and killing here,\nFilling evermore his purse: and at the Isthmus gave a treat,\nTo be laughed at, of cold meat,\nWhich they ate, and prayed the gods some one else might give the feast\nanother year.\n\nBut after the sentence and banishment of Themistocles, Timocreon reviles\nhim yet more immoderately and wildly in a poem which begins thus:--\n\nUnto all the Greeks repair\nO Muse, and tell these verses there,\nAs is fitting and is fair.\n\nThe story is, that it was put to the question whether Timocreon should\nbe banished for siding with the Persians, and Themistocles gave his vote\nagainst him.  So when Themistocles was accused of intriguing with the\nMedes, Timocreon made these lines upon him:--\n\nSo now Timocreon, indeed, is not the sole friend of the Mede,\nThere are some knaves besides; nor is it only mine that fails,\nBut other foxes have lost tails. --\n\nWhen the citizens of Athens began to listen willingly to those who\ntraduced and reproached him, he was forced, with somewhat obnoxious\nfrequency, to put them in mind of the great services he had performed,\nand ask those who were offended with him whether they were weary with\nreceiving benefits often from the same person, so rendering himself more\nodious.  And he yet more provoked the people by building a temple to\nDiana with the epithet of Aristobule, or Diana of Best Counsel;\nintimating thereby, that he had given the best counsel, not only to the\nAthenians, but to all Greece.  He built this temple near his own house,\nin the district called Melite, where now the public officers carry out\nthe bodies of such as are executed, and throw the halters and clothes of\nthose that are strangled or otherwise put to death.  There is to this\nday a small figure of Themistocles in the temple of Diana of Best\nCounsel, which represents him to be a person, not only of a noble mind,\nbut also of a most heroic aspect.  At length the Athenians banished him,\nmaking use of the ostracism to humble his eminence and authority, as\nthey ordinarily did with all whom they thought too powerful, or, by\ntheir greatness, disproportionable to the equality thought requisite in\na popular government.  For the ostracism was instituted, not so much to\npunish the offender, as to mitigate and pacify the violence of the\nenvious, who delighted to humble eminent men, and who, by fixing this\ndisgrace upon them, might vent some part of their rancor.\n\nThemistocles being banished from Athens, while he stayed at Argos the\ndetection of Pausanias happened, which gave such advantage to his\nenemies, that Leobotes of Agraule, son of Alcmaeon, indicted him of\ntreason, the Spartans supporting him in the accusation.\n\nWhen Pausanias went about this treasonable design, he concealed it at\nfirst from Themistocles, though he were his intimate friend; but when he\nsaw him expelled out of the commonwealth, and how impatiently he took\nhis banishment, he ventured to communicate it to him, and desired his\nassistance, showing him the king of Persia's letters, and exasperating\nhim against the Greeks, as a villainous, ungrateful people.  However,\nThemistocles immediately rejected the proposals of Pausanias, and wholly\nrefused to be a party in the enterprise, though he never revealed his\ncommunications, nor disclosed the conspiracy to any man, either hoping\nthat Pausanias would desist from his intentions, or expecting that so\ninconsiderate an attempt after such chimerical objects would be\ndiscovered by other means.\n\nAfter that Pausanias was put to death, letters and writings being found\nconcerning this matter, which rendered Themistocles suspected, the\nLacedaemonians were clamorous against him, and his enemies among the\nAthenians accused him; when, being absent from Athens, he made his\ndefense by letters, especially against the points that had been\npreviously alleged against him.  In answer to the malicious detractions\nof his enemies, he merely wrote to the citizens, urging that he who was\nalways ambitious to govern, and not of a character or a disposition to\nserve, would never sell himself and his country into slavery to a\nbarbarous and hostile nation.\n\nNotwithstanding this, the people, being persuaded by his accusers, sent\nofficers to take him and bring him away to be tried before a council of\nthe Greeks, but, having timely notice of it, he passed over into the\nisland of Corcyra, where the state was under obligations to him; for\nbeing chosen as arbitrator in a difference between them and the\nCorinthians, he decided the controversy by ordering the Corinthians to\npay down twenty talents, and declaring the town and island of Leucas a\njoint colony from both cities.  From thence he fled into Epirus, and,\nthe Athenians and Lacedaemonians still pursuing him, he threw himself\nupon chances of safety that seemed all but desperate.  For he fled for\nrefuge to Admetus, king of the Molossians, who had formerly made some\nrequest to the Athenians, when Themistocles was in the height of his\nauthority, and had been disdainfully used and insulted by him, and had\nlet it appear plain enough, that could he lay hold of him, he would take\nhis revenge.  Yet in this misfortune, Themistocles, fearing the recent\nhatred of his neighbors and fellow-citizens more than the old\ndispleasure of the king, put himself at his mercy, and became a humble\nsuppliant to Admetus, after a peculiar manner, different from the custom\nof other countries.  For taking the king's son, who was then a child, in\nhis arms, he laid himself down at his hearth, this being the most sacred\nand only manner of supplication, among the Molossians, which was not to\nbe refused.  And some say that his wife, Phthia, intimated to\nThemistocles this way of petitioning, and placed her young son with him\nbefore the hearth; others, that king Admetus, that he might be under a\nreligious obligation not to deliver him up to his pursuers, prepared and\nenacted with him a sort of stage-play to this effect.  At this time,\nEpicrates of Acharnae privately conveyed his wife and children out of\nAthens, and sent them hither, for which afterwards Cimon condemned him\nand put him to death, as Stesimbrotus reports, and yet somehow, either\nforgetting this himself, or making Themistocles to be little mindful of\nit, says presently that he sailed into Sicily, and desired in marriage\nthe daughter of Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, promising to bring the Greeks\nunder his power; and, on Hiero refusing him, departed thence into Asia;\nbut this is not probable.\n\nFor Theophrastus writes, in his work on Monarchy, that when Hiero sent\nrace-horses to the Olympian games, and erected a pavilion sumptuously\nfurnished, Themistocles made an oration to the Greeks, inciting them to\npull down the tyrant's tent, and not to suffer his horses to run.\nThucydides says, that, passing over land to the Aegaean Sea, he took\nship at Pydna in the bay of Therme, not being known to any one in the\nship, till, being terrified to see the vessel driven by the winds near\nto Naxos, which was then besieged by the Athenians, he made himself\nknown to the master and pilot, and, partly entreating them, partly\nthreatening that if they went on shore he would accuse them, and make\nthe Athenians to believe that they did not take him in out of ignorance,\nbut that he had corrupted them with money from the beginning, he\ncompelled them to bear off and stand out to sea, and sail forward\ntowards the coast of Asia.\n\nA great part of his estate was privately conveyed away by his friends,\nand sent after him by sea into Asia; besides which there was discovered\nand confiscated to the value of fourscore talents, as Theophrastus\nwrites, Theopompus says a hundred; though Themistocles was never worth\nthree talents before he was concerned in public affairs.\n\nWhen he arrived at Cyme, and understood that all along the coast there\nwere many laid wait for him, and particularly Ergoteles and Pythodorus\n(for the game was worth the hunting for such as were thankful to make\nmoney by any means, the king of Persia having offered by public\nproclamation two hundred talents to him that should take him), he fled\nto Aegae, a small city of the Aeolians, where no one knew him but only\nhis host Nicogenes, who was the richest man in Aeolia, and well known to\nthe great men of Inner Asia.  While Themistocles lay hid for some days\nin his house, one night, after a sacrifice and supper ensuing, Olbius,\nthe attendant upon Nicogenes's children, fell into a sort of frenzy and\nfit of inspiration, and cried out in verse,--\n\nNight shall speak, and night instruct thee,\nBy the voice of night conduct thee.\n\nAfter this, Themistocles, going to bed, dreamed that he saw a snake coil\nitself up upon his belly, and so creep to his neck; then, as soon as it\ntouched his face, it turned into an eagle, which spread its wings over\nhim, and took him up and flew away with him a great distance; then there\nappeared a herald's golden wand, and upon this at last it set him down\nsecurely, after infinite terror and disturbance.\n\nHis departure was effected by Nicogenes by the following artifice; the\nbarbarous nations, and amongst them the Persians especially, are\nextremely jealous, severe, and suspicious about their women, not only\ntheir wives, but also their bought slaves and concubines, whom they keep\nso strictly that no one ever sees them abroad; they spend their lives\nshut up within doors, and, when they take a journey, are carried in\nclose tents, curtained in on all sides, and set upon a wagon.  Such a\ntraveling carriage being prepared for Themistocles, they hid him in it,\nand carried him on his journeys and told those whom they met or spoke\nwith upon the road that they were conveying a young Greek woman out of\nIonia to a nobleman at court.\n\nThucydides and Charon of Lampsacus say that Xerxes was dead, and that\nThemistocles had an interview with his son; but Ephorus, Dinon,\nClitarchus, Heraclides, and many others, write that he came to Xerxes.\nThe chronological tables better agree with the account of Thucydides,\nand yet neither can their statements be said to be quite set at rest.\n\nWhen Themistocles was come to the critical point, he applied himself\nfirst to Artabanus, commander of a thousand men, telling him that he was\na Greek, and desired to speak with the king about important affairs\nconcerning which the king was extremely solicitous.  Artabanus answered\nhim, \"O stranger, the laws of men are different, and one thing is\nhonorable to one man, and to others another; but it is honorable for all\nto honor and observe their own laws.  It is the habit of the Greeks, we\nare told, to honor, above all things, liberty and equality; but amongst\nour many excellent laws, we account this the most excellent, to honor\nthe king, and to worship him, as the image of the great preserver of the\nuniverse; if, then, you shall consent to our laws, and fall down before\nthe king and worship him, you may both see him and speak to him; but if\nyour mind be otherwise, you must make use of others to intercede for\nyou, for it is not the national custom here for the king to give\naudience to anyone that doth not fall down before him.\"\nThemistocles, hearing this, replied, \"Artabanus, I that come hither to\nincrease the power and glory of the king, will not only submit myself to\nhis laws, since so it hath pleased the god who exalteth the Persian\nempire to this greatness, but will also cause many more to be\nworshippers and adorers of the king.  Let not this, therefore, be an\nimpediment why I should not communicate to the king what I have to\nimpart.\"  Artabanus asking him, \"Who must we tell him that you are? for\nyour words signify you to be no ordinary person,\" Themistocles answered,\n\"No man, O Artabanus, must be informed of this before the king himself.\"\nThus Phanias relates; to which Eratosthenes, in his treatise on Riches,\nadds, that it was by the means of a woman of Eretria, who was kept by\nArtabanus, that he obtained this audience and interview with him.\n\nWhen he was introduced to the king, and had paid his reverence to him,\nhe stood silent, till the king commanding the interpreter to ask him who\nhe was, he replied, \"O king, I am Themistocles the Athenian, driven\ninto banishment by the Greeks.  The evils that I have done to the\nPersians are numerous; but my benefits to them yet greater, in\nwithholding the Greeks from pursuit, so soon as the deliverance of my\nown country allowed me to show kindness also to you.  I come with a mind\nsuited to my present calamities; prepared alike for favors and for\nanger; to welcome your gracious reconciliation, and to deprecate your\nwrath.  Take my own countrymen for witnesses of the services I have done\nfor Persia, and make use of this occasion to show the world your virtue,\nrather than to satisfy your indignation.  If you save me, you will save\nyour suppliant; if otherwise, will destroy an enemy of the Greeks.\"  He\ntalked also of divine admonitions, such as the vision which he saw at\nNicogenes's house, and the direction given him by the oracle of Dodona,\nwhere Jupiter commanded him to go to him that had a name like his, by\nwhich he understood that he was sent from Jupiter to him, seeing that\nthey both were great, and had the name of kings.\n\nThe king heard him attentively, and, though he admired his temper and\ncourage, gave him no answer at that time; but, when he was with his\nintimate friends, rejoiced in his great good fortune, and esteemed\nhimself very happy in this, and prayed to his god Arimanius, that all\nhis enemies might be ever of the same mind with the Greeks, to abuse and\nexpel the bravest men amongst them.  Then he sacrificed to the gods, and\npresently fell to drinking, and was so well pleased, that in the night,\nin the middle of his sleep, he cried out for joy three times, \"I have\nThemistocles the Athenian.\"\n\nIn the morning, calling together the chief of his court, he had\nThemistocles brought before him, who expected no good of it, when he\nsaw, for example, the guards fiercely set against him as soon as they\nlearnt his name, and giving him ill language.  As he came forward\ntowards the king, who was seated, the rest keeping silence, passing by\nRoxanes, a commander of a thousand men, he heard him, with a slight\ngroan, say, without stirring out of his place, \"You subtle Greek\nserpent, the king's good genius hath brought thee hither.\"  Yet, when he\ncame into the presence, and again fell down, the king saluted him, and\nspoke to him kindly, telling him he was now indebted to him two hundred\ntalents; for it was just and reasonable that he should receive the\nreward which was proposed to whosoever should bring Themistocles; and\npromising much more, and encouraging him, he commanded him to speak\nfreely what he would concerning the affairs of Greece.  Themistocles\nreplied, that a man's discourse was like to a rich Persian carpet, the\nbeautiful figures and patterns of which can only be shown by spreading\nand extending it out; when it is contracted and folded up, they are\nobscured and lost; and, therefore, he desired time.  The king being\npleased with the comparison, and bidding him take what time he would, he\ndesired a year; in which time, having, learnt the Persian language\nsufficiently, he spoke with the king by himself without the help of an\ninterpreter, it being supposed that he discoursed only about the affairs\nof Greece; but there happening, at the same time, great alterations at\ncourt, and removals of the king's favorites, he drew upon himself the\nenvy of the great people, who imagined that he had taken the boldness to\nspeak concerning them.  For the favors shown to other strangers were\nnothing in comparison with the honors conferred on him; the king invited\nhim to partake of his own pastimes and recreations both at home and\nabroad, carrying him with him a-hunting, and made him his intimate so\nfar that he permitted him to see the queen-mother, and converse\nfrequently with her.  By the king's command, he also was made acquainted\nwith the Magian learning.\n\nWhen Demaratus the Lacedaemonian, being ordered by the king to ask\nwhatsoever he pleased, and it should immediately be granted him, desired\nthat he might make his public entrance, and be carried in state through\nthe city of Sardis, with the tiara set in the royal manner upon his\nhead, Mithropaustes, cousin to the king, touched him on the head, and\ntold him that he had no brains for the royal tiara to cover, and if\nJupiter should give him his lightning and thunder, he would not any the\nmore be Jupiter for that; the king also repulsed him with anger\nresolving never to be reconciled to him, but to be inexorable to all\nsupplications on his behalf.  Yet Themistocles pacified him, and\nprevailed with him to forgive him.  And it is reported, that the\nsucceeding kings, in whose reigns there was a greater communication\nbetween the Greeks and Persians, when they invited any considerable\nGreek into their service, to encourage him, would write, and promise him\nthat he should be as great with them as Themistocles had been.  They\nrelate, also, how Themistocles, when he was in great prosperity, and\ncourted by many, seeing himself splendidly served at his table turned\nto his children and said, \"Children, we had been undone if we had not\nbeen undone.\"  Most writers say that he had three cities given him,\nMagnesia, Myus, and Lampsacus, to maintain him in bread, meat, and wine.\nNeanthes of Cyzicus, and Phanias, add two more, the city of\nPalaescepsis, to provide him with clothes, and Percote, with bedding and\nfurniture for his house.\n\nAs he was going down towards the sea-coast to take measures against\nGreece, a Persian whose name was Epixyes, governor of the upper Phrygia,\nlaid wait to kill him, having for that purpose provided a long time\nbefore a number of Pisidians, who were to set upon him when he should\nstop to rest at a city that is called Lion's-head.  But Themistocles,\nsleeping in the middle of the day, saw the Mother of the gods appear to\nhim in a dream and say unto him, \"Themistocles, keep back from the\nLion's-head, for fear you fall into the lion's jaws; for this advice I\nexpect that your daughter Mnesiptolema should be my servant.\"\nThemistocles was much astonished, and, when he had made his vows to the\ngoddess, left the broad road, and, making a circuit, went another way,\nchanging his intended station to avoid that place, and at night took up\nhis rest in the fields.  But one of the sumpter-horses, which carried\nthe furniture for his tent, having fallen that day into the river, his\nservants spread out the tapestry, which was wet, and hung it up to dry;\nin the mean time the Pisidians made towards them with their swords\ndrawn, and, not discerning exactly by the moon what it was that was\nstretched out thought it to be the tent of Themistocles, and that they\nshould find him resting himself within it; but when they came near, and\nlifted up the hangings, those who watched there fell upon them and took\nthem.  Themistocles, having escaped this great danger, in admiration of\nthe goodness of the goddess that appeared to him, built, in memory of\nit, a temple in the city of Magnesia, which he dedicated to Dindymene,\nMother of the gods, in which he consecrated and devoted his daughter\nMnesiptolema to her service.\n\nWhen he came to Sardis, he visited the temples of the gods, and\nobserving, at his leisure, their buildings, ornaments, and the number of\ntheir offerings, he saw in the temple of the Mother of the gods, the\nstatue of a virgin in brass, two cubits high, called the water-bringer.\nThemistocles had caused this to be made and set up when he was surveyor\nof waters at Athens, out of the fines of those whom he detected in\ndrawing off and diverting the public water by pipes for their private\nuse; and whether he had some regret to see this image in captivity, or\nwas desirous to let the Athenians see in what great credit and authority\nhe was with the king, he entered into a treaty with the governor of\nLydia to persuade him to send this statue back to Athens, which so\nenraged the Persian officer, that he told him he would write the king\nword of it.  Themistocles, being affrighted hereat, got access to his\nwives and concubines, by presents of money to whom, he appeased the fury\nof the governor; and afterwards behaved with more reserve and\ncircumspection, fearing the envy of the Persians, and did not, as\nTheopompus writes, continue to travel about Asia, but lived quietly in\nhis own house in Magnesia, where for a long time he passed his days in\ngreat security, being courted by all, and enjoying rich presents, and\nhonored equally with the greatest persons in the Persian empire; the\nking, at that time, not minding his concerns with Greece, being taken up\nwith the affairs of Inner Asia.\n\nBut when Egypt revolted, being assisted by the Athenians, and the Greek\ngalleys roved about as far as Cyprus and Cilicia, and Cimon had made\nhimself master of the seas, the king turned his thoughts thither, and,\nbending his mind chiefly to resist the Greeks, and to check the growth\nof their power against him, began to raise forces, and send out\ncommanders, and to dispatch messengers to Themistocles at Magnesia, to\nput him in mind of his promise, and to summon him to act against the\nGreeks.  Yet this did not increase his hatred nor exasperate him against\nthe Athenians, neither was he any way elevated with the thoughts of the\nhonor and powerful command he was to have in this war; but judging,\nperhaps, that the object would not be attained, the Greeks having at\nthat time, beside other great commanders, Cimon, in particular, who was\ngaining wonderful military successes; but chiefly, being ashamed to\nsully the glory of his former great actions, and of his many victories\nand trophies, he determined to put a conclusion to his life, agreeable\nto its previous course.  He sacrificed to the gods, and invited his\nfriends; and, having entertained them and shaken hands with them, drank\nbull's blood, as is the usual story; as others state, a poison producing\ninstant death; and ended his days in the city of Magnesia, having lived\nsixty-five years, most of which he had spent in politics and in the\nwars, in government and command.  The king, being informed of the cause\nand manner of his death, admired him more than ever, and continued to\nshow kindness to his friends and relations.\n\nThemistocles left three sons by Archippe, daughter to Lysander of\nAlopece, -- Archeptolis, Polyeuctus, and Cleophantus.  Plato the\nphilosopher mentions the last as a most excellent horseman, but\notherwise insignificant person; of two sons yet older than these,\nNeocles and Diocles, Neocles died when he was young by the bite of a\nhorse, and Diocles was adopted by his grandfather, Lysander.  He had\nmany daughters, of whom Mnesiptolema, whom he had by a second marriage,\nwas wife to Archeptolis, her brother by another mother; Italia was\nmarried to Panthoides, of the island of Chios; Sybaris to Nicomedes the\nAthenian.  After the death of Themistocles, his nephew, Phrasicles, went\nto Magnesia, and married, with her brothers' consent, another daughter,\nNicomache, and took charge of her sister Asia, the youngest of all the\nchildren.\n\nThe Magnesians possess a splendid sepulchre of Themistocles, placed in\nthe middle of their market-place.  It is not worthwhile taking notice\nof what Andocides states in his Address to his Friends concerning his\nremains, how the Athenians robbed his tomb, and threw his ashes into the\nair; for he feigns this, to exasperate the oligarchical faction against\nthe people; and there is no man living but knows that Phylarchus simply\ninvents in his history, where he all but uses an actual stage machine,\nand brings in Neocles and Demopolis as the sons of Themistocles, to\nincite or move compassion, as if he were writing a tragedy.  Diodorus\nthe cosmographer says, in his work on Tombs, but by conjecture rather\nthan of certain knowledge, that near to the haven of Piraeus, where the\nland runs out like an elbow from the promontory of Alcimus, when you\nhave doubled the cape and passed inward where the sea is always calm,\nthere is a large piece of masonry, and upon this the tomb of\nThemistocles, in the shape of an altar; and Plato the comedian confirms\nthis, he believes, in these verses,--\n\nThy tomb is fairly placed upon the strand,\nWhere merchants still shall greet it with the land;\nStill in and out 'twill see them come and go,\nAnd watch the galleys as they race below.\n\nVarious honors also and privileges were granted to the kindred of\nThemistocles at Magnesia, which were observed down to our times, and\nwere enjoyed by another Themistocles of Athens, with whom I had an\nintimate acquaintance and friendship in the house of Ammonius the\nphilosopher.\n\n\n\nCAMILLUS\n\nAmong the many remarkable things that are related of Furius Camillus, it\nseems singular and strange above all, that he, who continually was in\nthe highest commands, and obtained the greatest successes, was five\ntimes chosen dictator, triumphed four times, and was styled a second\nfounder of Rome, yet never was so much as once consul.  The reason of\nwhich was the state and temper of the commonwealth at that time; for the\npeople, being at dissension with the senate, refused to return consuls,\nbut in their stead elected other magistrates, called military tribunes,\nwho acted, indeed, with full consular power, but were thought to\nexercise a less obnoxious amount of authority, because it was divided\namong a larger number; for to have the management of affairs entrusted\nin the hands of six persons rather than two was some satisfaction to the\nopponents of oligarchy.  This was the condition of the times when\nCamillus was in the height of his actions and glory, and, although the\ngovernment in the meantime had often proceeded to consular elections,\nyet he could never persuade himself to be consul against the inclination\nof the people.  In all his other administrations, which were many and\nvarious, he so behaved himself, that, when alone in authority, he\nexercised his power as in common, but the honor of all actions redounded\nentirely to himself, even when in joint commission with others; the\nreason of the former was his moderation in command; of the latter, his\ngreat judgment and wisdom, which gave him without controversy the first\nplace.\n\nThe house of the Furii was not, at that time of any considerable\ndistinction; he, by his own acts, first raised himself to honor, serving\nunder Postumius Tubertus, dictator, in the great battle against the\nAequians and Volscians.  For riding out from the rest of the army, and\nin the charge receiving a wound in his thigh, he for all that did not\nquit the fight, but, letting the dart drag in the wound, and engaging\nwith the bravest of the enemy, put them to flight; for which action,\namong other rewards bestowed on him, he was created censor, an office in\nthose days of great repute and authority.  During his censorship one\nvery good act of his is recorded, that, whereas the wars had made many\nwidows, he obliged such as had no wives, some by fair persuasion, others\nby threatening to set fines on their heads, to take them in marriage;\nanother necessary one, in causing orphans to be rated, who before were\nexempted from taxes, the frequent wars requiring more than ordinary\nexpenses to maintain them.  What, however, pressed them most was the\nsiege of Veii.  Some call this people Veientani.  This was the head city\nof Tuscany, not inferior to Rome, either in number of arms or multitude\nof soldiers, insomuch that, presuming on her wealth and luxury, and\npriding herself upon her refinement and sumptuousness, she engaged in\nmany honorable contests with the Romans for glory and empire.  But now\nthey had abandoned their former ambitious hopes, having been weakened by\ngreat defeats, so that, having fortified themselves with high and strong\nwalls, and furnished the city with all sorts of weapons offensive and\ndefensive, as likewise with corn and all manner of provisions, they\ncheerfully endured a siege, which, though tedious to them, was no less\ntroublesome and distressing to the besiegers.  For the Romans, having\nnever been accustomed to stay away from home, except in summer, and for\nno great length of time, and constantly to winter at home, were then\nfirst compelled by the tribunes to build forts in the enemy's country,\nand, raising strong works about their camp, to join winter and summer\ntogether.  And now, the seventh year of the war drawing to an end, the\ncommanders began to be suspected as too slow and remiss in driving on\nthe siege, insomuch that they were discharged and others chosen for the\nwar, among whom was Camillus, then second time tribune.  But at present\nhe had no hand in the siege, the duties that fell by lot to him being to\nmake war upon the Faliscans and Capenates, who, taking advantage of the\nRomans being occupied on all hands, had carried ravages into their\ncountry, and, through all the Tuscan war, given them much annoyance, but\nwere now reduced by Camillus, and with great loss shut up within their\nwalls.\n\nAnd now, in the very heat of the war, a strange phenomenon in the Alban\nlake, which, in the absence of any known cause and explanation by\nnatural reasons, seemed as great a prodigy as the most incredible that\nare reported, occasioned great alarm.  It was the beginning of autumn,\nand the summer now ending had, to all observation, been neither rainy\nnor much troubled with southern winds; and of the many lakes, brooks,\nand springs of all sorts with which Italy abounds, some were wholly\ndried up, others drew very little water with them; all the rivers, as is\nusual in summer, ran in a very low and hollow channel.  But the Alban\nlake, that is fed by no other waters but its own, and is on all sides\nencircled with fruitful mountains, without any cause, unless it were\ndivine, began visibly to rise and swell, increasing to the feet of the\nmountains, and by degrees reaching the level of the very tops of them,\nand all this without any waves or agitation.  At first it was the wonder\nof shepherds and herdsmen; but when the earth, which, like a great dam,\nheld up the lake from falling into the lower grounds, through the\nquantity and weight of water was broken down, and in a violent stream it\nran through the plowed fields and plantations to discharge itself in the\nsea, it not only struck terror into the Romans, but was thought by all\nthe inhabitants of Italy to portend some extraordinary event.  But the\ngreatest talk of it was in the camp that besieged Veii, so that in the\ntown itself, also, the occurrence became known.\n\nAs in long sieges it commonly happens that parties on both sides meet\noften and converse with one another, so it chanced that a Roman had\ngained much confidence and familiarity with one of the besieged, a man\nversed in ancient prophecies, and of repute for more than ordinary skill\nin divination.  The Roman, observing him to be overjoyed at the story of\nthe lake, and to mock at the siege, told him that this was not the only\nprodigy that of late had happened to the Romans; others more wonderful\nyet than this had befallen them, which he was willing to communicate to\nhim, that he might the better provide for his private interests in these\npublic distempers.  The man greedily embraced the proposal, expecting to\nhear some wonderful secrets; but when, by little and little, he had led\nhim on in conversation, and insensibly drawn him a good way from the\ngates of the city, he snatched him up by the middle, being stronger than\nhe, and, by the assistance of others that came running from the camp,\nseized and delivered him to the commanders.  The man, reduced to this\nnecessity, and sensible now that destiny was not to be avoided,\ndiscovered to them the secret oracles of Veii; that it was not possible\nthe city should be taken, until the Alban lake, which now broke forth\nand had found out new passages, was drawn back from that course, and so\ndiverted that it could not mingle with the sea.  The senate, having\nheard and satisfied themselves about the matter, decreed to send to\nDelphi, to ask counsel of the god.  The messengers were persons of the\nhighest repute, Licinius Cossus, Valerius Potitus, and Fabius Ambustus;\nwho, having made their voyage by sea and consulted the god, returned\nwith other answers, particularly that there had been a neglect of some\nof their national rites relating to the Latin feasts; but the Alban\nwater the oracle commanded, if it were possible, they should keep from\nthe sea, and shut it up in its ancient bounds; but if that was not to be\ndone, then they should carry it off by ditches and trenches into the\nlower grounds, and so dry it up; which message being delivered, the\npriests performed what related to the sacrifices, and the people went to\nwork and turned the water.\n\nAnd now the senate, in the tenth year of the war, taking away all other\ncommands, created Camillus dictator, who chose Cornelius Scipio for his\ngeneral of horse.  And in the first place he made vows unto the gods,\nthat, if they would grant a happy conclusion of the war, he would\ncelebrate to their honor the great games, and dedicate a temple to the\ngoddess whom the Romans call Matuta the Mother, though, from the\nceremonies which are used, one would think she was Leucothea.  For they\ntake a servant-maid into the secret part of the temple, and there cuff\nher, and drive her out again, and they embrace their brothers' children\nin place of their own; and, in general, the ceremonies of the sacrifice\nremind one of the nursing of Bacchus by Ino, and the calamities\noccasioned by her husband's concubine. Camillus, having made these\nvows, marched into the country of the Faliscans, and in a great battle\noverthrew them and the Capenates, their confederates; afterwards he\nturned to the siege of Veii, and, finding that to take it by assault\nwould prove a difficult and hazardous attempt, proceeded to cut mines\nunder ground, the earth about the city being easy to break up, and\nallowing such depth for the works as would prevent their being\ndiscovered by the enemy.  This design going on in a hopeful way, he\nopenly gave assaults to the enemy, to keep them to the walls, whilst\nthey that worked underground in the mines were, without being perceived,\narrived within the citadel, close to the temple of Juno, which was the\ngreatest and most honored in all the city.  It is said that the prince\nof the Tuscans was at that very time at sacrifice, and that the priest,\nafter he had looked into the entrails of the beast, cried out with a\nloud voice that the gods would give the victory to those that should\ncomplete those offerings; and that the Romans who were in the mines,\nhearing the words, immediately pulled down the floor, and, ascending\nwith noise and clashing of weapons, frightened away the enemy, and,\nsnatching up the entrails, carried them to Camillus.  But this may look\nlike a fable.  The city, however, being taken by storm, and the soldiers\nbusied in pillaging and gathering an infinite quantity of riches and\nspoil, Camillus, from the high tower, viewing what was done, at first\nwept for pity; and when they that were by congratulated his good\nsuccess, he lifted up his hands to heaven, and broke out into this\nprayer:  \"O most mighty Jupiter, and ye gods that are judges of good and\nevil actions, ye know that not without just cause, but constrained by\nnecessity, we have been forced to revenge ourselves on the city of our\nunrighteous and wicked enemies.  But if, in the vicissitude of things,\nthere be any calamity due, to counterbalance this great felicity, I beg\nthat it may be diverted from the city and army of the Romans, and fall,\nwith as little hurt as may be, upon my own head.\"  Having said these\nwords, and just turning about (as the custom of the Romans is to turn to\nthe right after adoration or prayer), he stumbled and fell, to the\nastonishment of all that were present.  But, recovering himself\npresently from the fall, he told them that he had received what he had\nprayed for, a small mischance, in compensation for the greatest good\nfortune.\n\nHaving sacked the city, he resolved, according as he had vowed, to carry\nJuno's image to Rome; and, the workmen being ready for that purpose, he\nsacrificed to the goddess, and made his supplications that she would be\npleased to accept of their devotion toward her, and graciously vouchsafe\nto accept of a place among the gods that presided at Rome; and the\nstatue, they say, answered in a low voice that she was ready and willing\nto go.  Livy writes, that, in praying, Camillus touched the goddess, and\ninvited her, and that some of the standers-by cried out that she was\nwilling and would come.  They who stand up for the miracle and endeavor\nto maintain it have one great advocate on their side in the wonderful\nfortune of the city, which, from a small and contemptible beginning,\ncould never have attained to that greatness and power without many\nsignal manifestations of the divine presence and cooperation.  Other\nwonders of the like nature, drops of sweat seen to stand on statues,\ngroans heard from them, the figures seen to turn round and to close\ntheir eyes, are recorded by many ancient historians; and we ourselves\ncould relate divers wonderful things, which we have been told by men of\nour own time, that are not lightly to be rejected; but to give too easy\ncredit to such things, or wholly to disbelieve them, is equally\ndangerous, so incapable is human infirmity of keeping any bounds, or\nexercising command over itself, running off sometimes to superstition\nand dotage, at other times to the contempt and neglect of all that is\nsupernatural.  But moderation is best, and to avoid all extremes.\n\nCamillus, however, whether puffed up with the greatness of his\nachievement in conquering a city that was the rival of Rome, and had\nheld out a ten years' siege, or exalted with the felicitations of those\nthat were about him, assumed to himself more than became a civil and\nlegal magistrate; among other things, in the pride and haughtiness of\nhis triumph, driving through Rome in a chariot drawn with four white\nhorses, which no general either before or since ever did; for the Romans\nconsider such a mode of conveyance to be sacred, and specially set apart\nto the king and father of the gods.  This alienated the hearts of his\nfellow-citizens, who were not accustomed to such pomp and display.\n\nThe second pique they had against him was his opposing the law by which\nthe city was to be divided; for the tribunes of the people brought\nforward a motion that the people and senate should be divided into two\nparts, one of which should remain at home, the other, as the lot should\ndecide, remove to the new-taken city.  By which means they should not\nonly have much more room, but by the advantage of two great and\nmagnificent cities, be better able to maintain their territories and\ntheir fortunes in general.  The people, therefore, who were numerous and\nindigent, greedily embraced it, and crowded continually to the forum,\nwith tumultuous demands to have it put to the vote.  But the senate and\nthe noblest citizens, judging the proceedings of the tribunes to tend\nrather to a destruction than a division of Rome, greatly averse to it,\nwent to Camillus for assistance, who, fearing the result if it came to a\ndirect contest, contrived to occupy the people with other business, and\nso staved it off.  He thus became unpopular.  But the greatest and most\napparent cause of their dislike against him arose from the tenths of the\nspoil; the multitude having here, if not a just, yet a plausible case\nagainst him.  For it seems, as he went to the siege of Veii, he had\nvowed to Apollo that if he took the city he would dedicate to him the\ntenth of the spoil.  The city being taken and sacked, whether he was\nloath to trouble the soldiers at that time, or that through the\nmultitude of business he had forgotten his vow, he suffered them to\nenjoy that part of the spoils also.  Some time afterwards, when his\nauthority was laid down, he brought the matter before the senate, and\nthe priests, at the same time, reported, out of the sacrifices, that\nthere were intimations of divine anger, requiring propitiations and\nofferings.  The senate decreed the obligation to be in force.\n\nBut seeing it was difficult for every one to produce the very same\nthings they had taken, to be divided anew, they ordained that every one\nupon oath should bring into the public the tenth part of his gains.\nThis occasioned many annoyances and hardships to the soldiers, who were\npoor men, and had endured much in the war, and now were forced, out of\nwhat they had gained and spent, to bring in so great a proportion.\nCamillus, being assaulted by their clamor and tumults, for want of a\nbetter excuse, betook himself to the poorest of defenses, confessing he\nhad forgotten his vow; they in turn complained that he had vowed the\ntenth of the enemy's goods, and now levied it out of the tenths of the\ncitizens.  Nevertheless, every one having brought in his due proportion,\nit was decreed that out of it a bowl of massy gold should be made, and\nsent to Delphi.  And when there was great scarcity of gold in the city,\nand the magistrates were considering where to get it, the Roman ladies,\nmeeting together and consulting among themselves, out of the golden\nornaments they wore contributed as much as went to the making the\noffering, which in weight came to eight talents of gold.  The senate, to\ngive them the honor they had deserved, ordained that funeral orations\nshould be used at the obsequies of women as well as men, it having never\nbefore been a custom that any woman after death should receive any\npublic eulogy.  Choosing out, therefore, three of the noblest citizens\nas a deputation, they sent them in a vessel of war, well manned and\nsumptuously adorned.  Storm and calm at sea may both, they say, alike be\ndangerous; as they at this time experienced, being brought almost to the\nvery brink of destruction, and, beyond all expectation, escaping.  For\nnear the isles of Solus the wind slacking, galleys of the Lipareans came\nupon them, taking them for pirates; and, when they held up their hands\nas suppliants, forbore indeed from violence, but took their ship in tow,\nand carried her into the harbor, where they exposed to sale their goods\nand persons as lawful prize, they being pirates; and scarcely, at last,\nby the virtue and interest of one man, Timesitheus by name, who was in\noffice as general, and used his utmost persuasion, they were, with much\nado, dismissed.  He, however, himself sent out some of his own vessels\nwith them, to accompany them in their voyage and assist them at the\ndedication; for which he received honors at Rome, as he had deserved.\n\nAnd now the tribunes of the people again resuming their motion for the\ndivision of the city, the war against the Faliscans luckily broke out,\ngiving liberty to the chief citizens to choose what magistrates they\npleased, and to appoint Camillus military tribune, with five colleagues;\naffairs then requiring a commander of authority and reputation, as well\nas experience.  And when the people had ratified the election, he\nmarched with his forces into the territories of the Faliscans, and laid\nseige to Falerii, a well-fortified city, and plentifully stored with all\nnecessaries of war.  And although he perceived it would be no small work\nto take it, and no little time would be required for it, yet he was\nwilling to exercise the citizens and keep them abroad, that they might\nhave no leisure, idling at home, to follow the tribunes in factions and\nseditions; a very common remedy, indeed, with the Romans, who thus\ncarried off, like good physicians, the ill humors of their commonwealth.\nThe Falerians, trusting in the strength of their city, which was well\nfortified on all sides, made so little account of the siege, that all,\nwith the exception of those that guarded the walls, as in times of\npeace, walked about the streets in their common dress; the boys went to\nschool, and were led by their master to play and exercise about the town\nwalls; for the Falerians, like the Greeks, used to have a single teacher\nfor many pupils, wishing their children to live and be brought up from\nthe beginning in each other's company.\n\nThis schoolmaster, designing to betray the Falerians by their children,\nled them out every day under the town wall, at first but a little way,\nand, when they had exercised, brought them home again.  Afterwards by\ndegrees he drew them farther and farther, till by practice he had made\nthem bold and fearless, as if no danger was about them; and at last,\nhaving got them all together, he brought them to the outposts of the\nRomans, and delivered them up, demanding to be led to Camillus.  Where\nbeing come, and standing in the middle, he said that he was the master\nand teacher of these children, but, preferring his favor before all\nother obligations, he was come to deliver up his charge to him, and, in\nthat, the whole city.  When Camillus had heard him out, he was astounded\nat the treachery of the act, and, turning to the standers-by, observed,\nthat \"war, indeed, is of necessity attended with much injustice and\nviolence!  Certain laws, however, all good men observe even in war\nitself; nor is victory so great an object as to induce us to incur for\nits sake obligations for base and impious acts.  A great general should\nrely on his own virtue, and not on other men's vices.\"  Which said, he\ncommanded the officers to tear off the man's clothes, and bind his hands\nbehind him, and give the boys rods and scourges, to punish the traitor\nand drive him back to the city.  By this time the Falerians had\ndiscovered the treachery of the schoolmaster, and the city, as was\nlikely, was full of lamentations and cries for their calamity, men and\nwomen of worth running in distraction about the walls and gates; when,\nbehold, the boys came whipping their master on, naked and bound, calling\nCamillus their preserver and god and father.  Insomuch that it struck\nnot only into the parents, but the rest of the citizens that saw what\nwas done, such admiration and love of Camillus's justice, that,\nimmediately meeting in assembly, they sent ambassadors to him, to resign\nwhatever they had to his disposal.  Camillus sent them to Rome, where,\nbeing brought into the senate, they spoke to this purpose: that the\nRomans, preferring justice before victory, had taught them rather to\nembrace submission than liberty; they did not so much confess themselves\nto be inferior in strength, as they must acknowledge them to be superior\nin virtue.  The senate remitted the whole matter to Camillus, to judge\nand order as he thought fit; who, taking a sum of money of the\nFalerians, and, making a peace with the whole nation of the Faliscans,\nreturned home.\n\nBut the soldiers, who had expected to have the pillage of the city, when\nthey came to Rome empty-handed, railed against Camillus among their\nfellow-citizens, as a hater of the people, and one that grudged all\nadvantage to the poor.  Afterwards, when the tribunes of the people\nagain brought their motion for dividing the city to the vote, Camillus\nappeared openly against it, shrinking from no unpopularity, and\ninveighing boldly against the promoters of it, and so urging and\nconstraining the multitude, that, contrary to their inclinations, they\nrejected the proposal; but yet hated Camillus.  Insomuch that, though a\ngreat misfortune befell him in his family (one of his two sons dying of\na disease), commiseration for this could not in the least make them\nabate of their malice.  And, indeed, he took this loss with immoderate\nsorrow, being a man naturally of a mild and tender disposition, and,\nwhen the accusation was preferred against him, kept his house, and\nmourned amongst the women of his family.\n\nHis accuser was Lucius Apuleius; the charge, appropriation of the Tuscan\nspoils; certain brass gates, part of those spoils, were said to be in\nhis possession.  The people were exasperated against him, and it was\nplain they would take hold of any occasion to condemn him.  Gathering,\ntherefore, together his friends and fellow-soldiers, and such as had\nborne command with him, a considerable number in all, he besought them\nthat they would not suffer him to be unjustly overborne by shameful\naccusations, and left the mock and scorn of his enemies.  His friends,\nhaving advised and consulted among themselves, made answer, that, as to\nthe sentence, they did not see how they could help him, but that they\nwould contribute to whatsoever fine should be set upon him.  Not able to\nendure so great an indignity, he resolved in his anger to leave the city\nand go into exile; and so, having taken leave of his wife and his son,\nhe went silently to the gate of the city, and, there stopping and\nturning round, stretched out his hands to the Capitol, and prayed to the\ngods, that if, without any fault of his own, but merely through the\nmalice and violence of the people, he was driven out into banishment,\nthe Romans might quickly repent of it; and that all mankind might\nwitness their need for the assistance, and desire for the return of\nCamillus.\n\nThus, like Achilles, having left his imprecations on the citizens, he\nwent into banishment; so that, neither appearing nor making defense, he\nwas condemned in the sum of fifteen thousand asses, which, reduced to\nsilver, makes one thousand five hundred drachmas; for the as was the\nmoney of the time, ten of such copper pieces making the denarius, or\npiece of ten.  And there is not a Roman but believes that immediately\nupon the prayers of Camillus a sudden judgment followed, and that he\nreceived a revenge for the injustice done unto him; which though we\ncannot think was pleasant, but rather grievous and bitter to him, yet\nwas very remarkable, and noised over the whole world; such a punishment\nvisited the city of Rome, an era of such loss and danger and disgrace so\nquickly succeeded; whether it thus fell out by fortune, or it be the\noffice of some god not to see injured virtue go unavenged.\n\nThe first token that seemed to threaten some mischief to ensue was the\ndeath of the censor Julius; for the Romans have a religious reverence\nfor the office of a censor, and esteem it sacred.  The second was that,\njust before Camillus went into exile, Marcus Caedicius, a person of no\ngreat distinction, nor of the rank of senator, but esteemed a good and\nrespectable man, reported to the military tribunes a thing worthy their\nconsideration:  that, going along the night before in the street called\nthe New Way, and being called by somebody in a loud voice, he turned\nabout, but could see no one, but heard a voice greater than human, which\nsaid these words, \"Go, Marcus Caedicius, and early in the morning tell\nthe military tribunes that they are shortly to expect the Gauls.\"  But\nthe tribunes made a mock and sport with the story, and a little after\ncame Camillus's banishment.\n\nThe Gauls are of the Celtic race, and are reported to have been\ncompelled by their numbers to leave their country, which was\ninsufficient to sustain them all, and to have gone in search of other\nhomes.  And being, many thousands of them, young men and able to bear\narms, and carrying with them a still greater number of women and young\nchildren, some of them, passing the Riphaean mountains, fell upon the\nNorthern Ocean, and possessed themselves of the farthest parts of\nEurope; others, seating themselves between the Pyrenean mountains and\nthe Alps, lived there a considerable time, near to the Senones and\nCeltorii; but, afterwards tasting wine which was then first brought them\nout of Italy, they were all so much taken with the liquor, and\ntransported with the hitherto unknown delight, that, snatching up their\narms and taking their families along with them, they marched directly to\nthe Alps, to find out the country which yielded such fruit, pronouncing\nall others barren and useless.  He that first brought wine among them\nand was the chief instigator of their coming into Italy is said to have\nbeen one Aruns, a Tuscan, a man of noble extraction, and not of bad\nnatural character, but involved in the following misfortune.  He was\nguardian to an orphan, one of the richest of the country, and much\nadmired for his beauty, whose name was Lucumo.  From his childhood he\nhad been bred up with Aruns in his family and when now grown up did not\nleave his house, professing to wish for the enjoyment of his society.\nAnd thus for a great while he secretly enjoyed Aruns's wife, corrupting\nher, and himself corrupted by her.  But when they were both so far gone\nin their passion that they could neither refrain their lust nor conceal\nit, the young man seized the woman and openly sought to carry her away.\nThe husband, going to law, and finding himself overpowered by the\ninterest and money of his opponent, left his country, and, hearing of\nthe state of the Gauls, went to them and was the conductor of their\nexpedition into Italy.\n\nAt their first coming they at once possessed themselves of all that\ncountry which anciently the Tuscans inhabited, reaching from the Alps to\nboth the seas, as the names themselves testify; for the North or\nAdriatic Sea is named from the Tuscan city Adria, and that to the south\nthe Tuscan Sea simply.  The whole country is rich in fruit trees, has\nexcellent pasture, and is well watered with rivers.  It had eighteen\nlarge and beautiful cities, well provided with all the means for\nindustry and wealth, and all the enjoyments and pleasures of life.  The\nGauls cast out the Tuscans, and seated themselves in them.  But this was\nlong before.\n\nThe Gauls at this time were besieging Clusium, a Tuscan city.  The\nClusinians sent to the Romans for succor desiring them to interpose with\nthe barbarians by letters and ambassadors.  There were sent three of the\nfamily of the Fabii, persons of high rank and distinction in the city.\nThe Gauls received them courteously, from respect to the name of Rome,\nand, giving over the assault which was then making upon the walls, came\nto conference with them; when the ambassadors asking what injury they\nhad received of the Clusinians that they thus invaded their city,\nBrennus, king of the Gauls, laughed and made answer, \"The Clusinians do\nus injury, in that, being able only to till a small parcel of ground,\nthey must needs possess a great territory, and will not yield any part\nto us who are strangers, many in number, and poor.  In the same nature,\nO Romans, formerly the Albans, Fidenates, and Ardeates, and now lately\nthe Veientines and Capenates, and many of the Faliscans and Volscians,\ndid you injury; upon whom ye make war if they do not yield you part of\nwhat they possess, make slaves of them, waste and spoil their country,\nand ruin their cities; neither in so doing are cruel or unjust, but\nfollow that most ancient of all laws, which gives the possessions of the\nfeeble to the strong; which begins with God and ends in the beasts;\nsince all these, by nature, seek, the stronger to have advantage over\nthe weaker.  Cease, therefore, to pity the Clusinians whom we besiege,\nlest ye teach the Gauls to be kind and compassionate to those that are\noppressed by you.\"  By this answer the Romans, perceiving that Brennus\nwas not to be treated with, went into Clusium, and encouraged and\nstirred up the inhabitants to make a sally with them upon the\nbarbarians, which they did either to try their strength or to show their\nown.  The sally being made, and the fight growing hot about the walls,\none of the Fabii, Quintus Ambustus, being well mounted, and setting\nspurs to his horse, made full against a Gaul, a man of huge bulk and\nstature, whom he saw riding out at a distance from the rest.  At the\nfirst he was not recognized, through the quickness of the conflict and\nthe glittering of his armor, that precluded any view of him; but when he\nhad overthrown the Gaul, and was going to gather the spoils, Brennus\nknew him; and, invoking the gods to be witnesses, that, contrary to the\nknown and common law of nations, which is holily observed by all\nmankind, he who had come as an ambassador had now engaged in hostility\nagainst him, he drew off his men, and, bidding Clusium farewell, led his\narmy directly to Rome.  But not wishing that it should look as if they\ntook advantage of that injury, and were ready to embrace any occasion of\nquarrel, he sent a herald to demand the man in punishment, and in the\nmeantime marched leisurely on.\n\nThe senate being met at Rome, among many others that spoke against the\nFabii, the priests called fecials were the most decided, who, on the\nreligious ground, urged the senate that they should lay the whole guilt\nand penalty of the fact upon him that committed it, and so exonerate the\nrest.  These fecials Numa Pompilius, the mildest and justest of kings,\nconstituted guardians of peace, and the judges and determiners of all\ncauses by which war may justifiably be made.  The senate referring the\nwhole matter to the people, and the priests there, as well as in the\nsenate, pleading against Fabius, the multitude, however, so little\nregarded their authority, that in scorn and contempt of it they chose\nFabius and the rest of his brothers military tribunes.  The Gauls, on\nhearing this, in great rage threw aside every delay, and hastened on\nwith all the speed they could make.  The places through which they\nmarched, terrified with their numbers and the splendor of their\npreparations for war, and in alarm at their violence and fierceness,\nbegan to give up their territories as already lost, with little doubt\nbut their cities would quickly follow; contrary, however, to\nexpectation, they did no injury as they passed, nor took anything from\nthe fields; and, as they went by any city, cried out that they were\ngoing to Rome; that the Romans only were their enemies, and that they\ntook all others for their friends.\n\nWhilst the barbarians were thus hastening with all speed, the military\ntribunes brought the Romans into the field to be ready to engage them,\nbeing not inferior to the Gauls in number (for they were no less than\nforty thousand foot), but most of them raw soldiers, and such as had\nnever handled a weapon before.  Besides, they had wholly neglected all\nreligious usages, had not obtained favorable sacrifices, nor made\ninquiries of the prophets, natural in danger and before battle.  No less\ndid the multitude of commanders distract and confound their proceedings;\nfrequently before, upon less occasions, they had chosen a single leader,\nwith the title of dictator, being sensible of what great importance it\nis in critical times to have the soldiers united under one general with\nthe entire and absolute control placed in his hands.  Add to all, the\nremembrance of Camillus's treatment, which made it now seem a dangerous\nthing for officers to command without humoring their soldiers.  In this\ncondition they left the city, and encamped by the river Allia, about ten\nmiles from Rome, and not far from the place where it falls into the\nTiber; and here the Gauls came upon them, and, after a disgraceful\nresistance, devoid of order and discipline, they were miserably\ndefeated.  The left wing was immediately driven into the river, and\nthere destroyed; the right had less damage by declining the shock, and\nfrom the low grounds getting to the tops of the hills, from whence most\nof them afterwards dropped into the city; the rest, as many as escaped,\nthe enemy being weary of the slaughter, stole by night to Veii, giving\nup Rome and all that was in it for lost.\n\nThis battle was fought about the summer solstice, the moon being at\nfull, the very same day in which the sad disaster of the Fabii had\nhappened, when three hundred of that name were at one time cut off by\nthe Tuscans.  But from this second loss and defeat the day got the name\nof Alliensis, from the river Allia, and still retains it.  The question\nof unlucky days, whether we should consider any to be so, and whether\nHeraclitus did well in upbraiding Hesiod for distinguishing them into\nfortunate and unfortunate, as ignorant that the nature of every day is\nthe same, I have examined in another place; but upon occasion of the\npresent subject, I think it will not be amiss to annex a few examples\nrelating to this matter.  On the fifth of their month Hippodromius,\nwhich corresponds to the Athenian Hecatombaeon, the Boeotians gained two\nsignal victories, the one at Leuctra, the other at Ceressus, about three\nhundred years before, when they overcame Lattamyas and the Thessalians,\nboth which asserted the liberty of Greece.  Again, on the sixth of\nBoedromion, the Persians were worsted by the Greeks at Marathon; on the\nthird, at Plataea, as also at Mycale; on the twenty-fifth, at Arbela.\nThe Athenians, about the full moon in Boedromion, gained their sea-\nvictory at Naxos under the conduct of Chabrias; on the twentieth, at\nSalamis, as we have shown in our treatise on Days.  Thargelion was a\nvery unfortunate month to the barbarians, for in it Alexander overcame\nDarius's generals on the Granicus; and the Carthaginians, on the twenty-\nfourth, were beaten by Timoleon in Sicily, on which same day and month\nTroy seems to have been taken, as Ephorus, Callisthenes, Damastes, and\nPhylarchus state.  On the other hand, the month Metagitnion, which in\nBoeotia is called Panemus, was not very lucky to the Greeks; for on its\nseventh day they were defeated by Antipater, at the battle in Cranon,\nand utterly ruined; and before, at Chaeronea, were defeated by Philip;\nand on the very same day, same month, and same year, those that went\nwith Archidamus into Italy were there cut off by the barbarians.  The\nCarthaginians also observe the twenty-first of the same month, as\nbringing with it the largest number and the severest of their losses.  I\nam not ignorant, that, about the Feast of Mysteries, Thebes was\ndestroyed the second time by Alexander; and after that, upon the very\ntwentieth of Boedromion, on which day they lead forth the mystic\nIacchus, the Athenians received a garrison of the Macedonians.  On the\nselfsame day the Romans lost their army under Caepio by the Cimbrians,\nand in a subsequent year, under the conduct of Lucullus, overcame the\nArmenians and Tigranes.  King Attalus and Pompey died both on their\nbirthdays.  One could reckon up several that have had variety of fortune\non the same day.  This day, meantime, is one of the unfortunate ones to\nthe Romans, and for its sake two others in every month; fear and\nsuperstition, as the custom of it is, more and more prevailing.  But I\nhave discussed this more accurately in my Roman Questions.\n\nAnd now, after the battle, had the Gauls immediately pursued those that\nfled, there had been no remedy but Rome must have wholly been ruined,\nand all those who remained in it utterly destroyed; such was the terror\nthat those who escaped the battle brought with them into the city, and\nwith such distraction and confusion were themselves in turn infected.\nBut the Gauls, not imagining their victory to be so considerable, and\novertaken with the present joy, fell to feasting and dividing the spoil,\nby which means they gave leisure to those who were for leaving the city\nto make their escape, and to those that remained, to anticipate and\nprepare for their coming.  For they who resolved to stay at Rome,\nabandoning the rest of the city, betook themselves to the Capitol, which\nthey fortified with the help of missiles and new works.  One of their\nprincipal cares was of their holy things, most of which they conveyed\ninto the Capitol.  But the consecrated fire the vestal virgins took, and\nfled with it, as likewise their other sacred things.  Some write that\nthey have nothing in their charge but the ever-living fire which Numa\nhad ordained to be worshipped as the principle of all things; for fire\nis the most active thing in nature, and all production is either motion,\nor attended with motion; all the other parts of matter, so long as they\nare without warmth, lie sluggish and dead, and require the accession of\na sort of soul or vitality in the principle of heat; and upon that\naccession, in whatever way, immediately receive a capacity either of\nacting or being acted upon.  And thus Numa, a man curious in such\nthings, and whose wisdom made it thought that he conversed with the\nMuses, consecrated fire, and ordained it to be kept ever burning, as an\nimage of that eternal power which orders and actuates all things.\nOthers say that this fire was kept burning in front of the holy things,\nas in Greece, for purification, and that there were other things hid in\nthe most secret part of the temple, which were kept from the view of\nall, except those virgins whom they call vestals.  The most common\nopinion was, that the image of Pallas, brought into Italy by Aeneas, was\nlaid up there; others say that the Samothracian images lay there,\ntelling a story how that Dardanus carried them to Troy, and, when he had\nbuilt the city, celebrated those rites, and dedicated those images\nthere; that after Troy was taken, Aeneas stole them away, and kept them\ntill his coming into Italy.  But they who profess to know more of the\nmatter affirm that there are two barrels, not of any great size, one of\nwhich stands open and has nothing in it, the other full and sealed up;\nbut that neither of them may be seen but by the most holy virgins.\nOthers think that they who say this are misled by the fact that the\nvirgins put most of their holy things into two barrels at this time of\nthe Gaulish invasion, and hid them underground in the temple of\nQuirinus; and that from hence that place to this day bears the name of\nBarrels.\n\nHowever it be, taking the most precious and important things they had,\nthey fled away with them, shaping their course along the river side,\nwhere Lucius Albinius, a simple citizen of Rome, who among others was\nmaking his escape, overtook them, having his wife, children, and goods\nin a cart; and, seeing the virgins dragging along in their arms the holy\nthings of the gods, in a helpless and weary condition, he caused his\nwife and children to get down, and, taking out his goods, put the\nvirgins in the cart, that they might make their escape to some of the\nGreek cities.  This devout act of Albinius, and the respect he showed\nthus signally to the gods at a time of such extremity, deserved not to\nbe passed over in silence.  But the priests that belonged to other gods,\nand the most elderly of the senators, men who had been consuls and had\nenjoyed triumphs, could not endure to leave the city; but, putting on\ntheir sacred and splendid robes, Fabius the high-priest performing the\noffice, they made their prayers to the gods, and, devoting themselves,\nas it were, for their country, sat themselves down in their ivory\nchairs in the forum, and in that posture expected the event.\n\nOn the third day after the battle, Brennus appeared with his army at the\ncity, and, finding the gates wide open and no guards upon the walls,\nfirst began to suspect it was some design or stratagem, never dreaming\nthat the Romans were in so desperate a condition.  But when he found it\nto be so indeed, he entered at the Colline gate, and took Rome, in the\nthree hundred and sixtieth year, or a little more, after it was built;\nif, indeed, it can be supposed probable that an exact chronological\nstatement has been preserved of events which were themselves the cause\nof chronological difficulties about things of later date; of the\ncalamity itself, however, and of the fact of the capture, some faint\nrumors seem to have passed at the time into Greece.  Heraclides\nPonticus, who lived not long after these times, in his book upon the\nSoul, relates that a certain report came from the west, that an army,\nproceeding from the Hyperboreans, had taken a Greek city called Rome,\nseated somewhere upon the great sea.  But I do not wonder that so\nfabulous and high-flown an author as Heraclides should embellish the\ntruth of the story with expressions about Hyperboreans and the great\nsea.  Aristotle the philosopher appears to have heard a correct\nstatement of the taking of the city by the Gauls, but he calls its\ndeliverer Lucius; whereas Camillus's surname was not Lucius, but Marcus.\nBut this is a matter of conjecture.\n\nBrennus, having taken possession of Rome, set a strong guard about the\nCapitol, and, going himself down into the forum, was there struck with\namazement at the sight of so many men sitting in that order and silence,\nobserving that they neither rose at his coming, nor so much as changed\ncolor or countenance, but remained without fear or concern, leaning upon\ntheir staves, and sitting quietly, looking at each other.  The Gauls,\nfor a great while, stood wondering at the strangeness of the sight not\ndaring to approach or touch them, taking them for an assembly of\nsuperior beings.  But when one, bolder than the rest, drew near to\nMarcus Papirius, and, putting forth his hand, gently touched his chin\nand stroked his long beard, Papirius with his staff struck him a severe\nblow on the head; upon which the barbarian drew his sword and slew him.\nThis was the introduction to the slaughter; for the rest, following his\nexample, set upon them all and killed them, and dispatched all others\nthat came in their way; and so went on to the sacking and pillaging the\nhouses, which they continued for many days ensuing.  Afterwards, they\nburnt them down to the ground and demolished them, being incensed at\nthose who kept the Capitol, because they would not yield to summons;\nbut, on the contrary, when assailed, had repelled them, with some loss,\nfrom their defenses.  This provoked them to ruin the whole city, and to\nput to the sword all that came to their hands, young and old, men,\nwomen, and children.\n\nAnd now, the siege of the Capitol having lasted a good while, the Gauls\nbegan to be in want of provision; and dividing their forces, part of\nthem stayed with their king at the siege, the rest went to forage the\ncountry, ravaging the towns and villages where they came, but not all\ntogether in a body, but in different squadrons and parties; and to such\na confidence had success raised them, that they carelessly rambled about\nwithout the least fear or apprehension of danger.  But the greatest and\nbest ordered body of their forces went to the city of Ardea, where\nCamillus then sojourned, having, ever since his leaving Rome,\nsequestered himself from all business, and taken to a private life; but\nnow he began to rouse up himself, and consider not how to avoid or\nescape the enemy, but to find out an opportunity to be revenged upon\nthem.  And perceiving that the Ardeatians wanted not men, but rather\nenterprise, through the inexperience and timidity of their officers, he\nbegan to speak with the young men, first, to the effect that they ought\nnot to ascribe the misfortune of the Romans to the courage of their\nenemy, nor attribute the losses they sustained by rash counsel to the\nconduct of men who had no title to victory; the event had been only an\nevidence of the power of fortune; that it was a brave thing even with\ndanger to repel a foreign and barbarous invader, whose end in conquering\nwas like fire, to lay waste and destroy, but if they would be courageous\nand resolute, he was ready to put an opportunity into their hands to\ngain a victory without hazard at all.  When he found the young men\nembraced the thing, he went to the magistrates and council of the city,\nand, having persuaded them also, he mustered all that could bear arms,\nand drew them up within the walls, that they might not be perceived by\nthe enemy, who was near; who, having scoured the country, and now\nreturned heavy-laden with booty, lay encamped in the plains in a\ncareless and negligent posture, so that, with the night ensuing upon\ndebauch and drunkenness, silence prevailed through all the camp.  When\nCamillus learned this from his scouts, he drew out the Ardeatians, and\nin the dead of the night, passing in silence over the ground that lay\nbetween, came up to their works, and, commanding his trumpets to sound\nand his men to shout and halloo, he struck terror into them from all\nquarters; while drunkenness impeded and sleep retarded their movements.\nA few, whom fear had sobered, getting into some order, for awhile\nresisted; and so died with their weapons in their hands.  But the\ngreatest part of them, buried in wine and sleep, were surprised without\ntheir arms, and dispatched; and as many of them as by the advantage of\nthe night got out of the camp were the next day found scattered abroad\nand wandering in the fields, and were picked up by the horse that\npursued them.\n\nThe fame of this action soon flew through the neighboring cities, and\nstirred up the young men from various quarters to come and join\nthemselves with him.  But none were so much concerned as those Romans\nwho escaped in the battle of Allia, and were now at Veii, thus lamenting\nwith themselves, \"O heavens, what a commander has Providence bereaved\nRome of, to honor Ardea with his actions!  And that city, which brought\nforth and nursed so great a man, is lost and gone, and we, destitute of\na leader and shut up within strange walls, sit idle, and see Italy\nruined before our eyes.  Come, let us send to the Ardeatians to have\nback our general, or else, with weapons in our hands, let us go thither\nto him; for he is no longer a banished man, nor we citizens, having no\ncountry but what is in the possession of the enemy.\"  To this they all\nagreed, and sent to Camillus to desire him to take the command; but he\nanswered, that he would not, until they that were in the Capitol should\nlegally appoint him; for he esteemed them, as long as they were in\nbeing, to be his country; that if they should command him, he would\nreadily obey; but against their consent he would intermeddle with\nnothing.  When this answer was returned, they admired the modesty and\ntemper of Camillus; but they could not tell how to find a messenger to\ncarry the intelligence to the Capitol, or rather, indeed, it seemed\naltogether impossible for any one to get to the citadel whilst the enemy\nwas in full possession of the city.  But among the young men there was\none Pontius Cominius, of ordinary birth, but ambitious of honor, who\nproffered himself to run the hazard, and took no letters with him to\nthose in the Capitol, lest, if he were intercepted, the enemy might\nlearn the intentions of Camillus; but, putting on a poor dress and\ncarrying corks under it, he boldly traveled the greatest part of the way\nby day, and came to the city when it was dark; the bridge he could not\npass, as it was guarded by the barbarians; so that taking his clothes,\nwhich were neither many nor heavy, and binding them about his head, he\nlaid his body upon the corks, and, swimming with them, got over to the\ncity.  And avoiding those quarters where he perceived the enemy was\nawake, which he guessed at by the lights and noise, he went to the\nCarmental gate, where there was greatest silence, and where the hill of\nthe Capitol is steepest, and rises with craggy and broken rock.  By this\nway he got up, though with much difficulty, by the hollow of the cliff,\nand presented himself to the guards, saluting them, and telling them his\nname; he was taken in, and carried to the commanders.  And a senate\nbeing immediately called, he related to them in order the victory of\nCamillus, which they had not heard of before, and the proceedings of the\nsoldiers; urging them to confirm Camillus in the command, as on him\nalone all their fellow-countrymen outside the city would rely.  Having\nheard and consulted of the matter, the senate declared Camillus\ndictator, and sent back Pontius the same way that he came, who, with the\nsame success as before, got through the enemy without being discovered,\nand delivered to the Romans outside the decision of the senate, who\njoyfully received it.  Camillus, on his arrival, found twenty thousand\nof them ready in arms; with which forces, and those confederates he\nbrought along with him, he prepared to set upon the enemy.\n\nBut at Rome some of the barbarians, passing by chance near the place at\nwhich Pontius by night had got into the Capitol, spied in several places\nmarks of feet and hands, where he had laid hold and clambered, and\nplaces where the plants that grew to the rock had been rubbed off, and\nthe earth had slipped, and went accordingly and reported it to the king,\nwho, coming in person, and viewing it, for the present said nothing, but\nin the evening, picking out such of the Gauls as were nimblest of body,\nand by living in the mountains were accustomed to climb, he said to\nthem, \"The enemy themselves have shown us a way how to come at them,\nwhich we knew not of before, and have taught us that it is not so\ndifficult and impossible but that men may overcome it.  It would be a\ngreat shame, having begun well, to fail in the end, and to give up a\nplace as impregnable, when the enemy himself lets us see the way by\nwhich it may be taken; for where it was easy for one man to get up, it\nwill not be hard for many, one after another; nay, when many shall\nundertake it, they will be aid and strength to each other.  Rewards and\nhonors shall be bestowed on every man as he shall acquit himself.\"\n\nWhen the king had thus spoken, the Gauls cheerfully undertook to perform\nit, and in the dead of night a good party of them together, with great\nsilence, began to climb the rock, clinging to the precipitous and\ndifficult ascent, which yet upon trial offered a way to them, and proved\nless difficult than they had expected.  So that the foremost of them\nhaving gained the top of all, and put themselves into order, they all\nbut surprised the outworks, and mastered the watch, who were fast\nasleep; for neither man nor dog perceived their coming.  But there were\nsacred geese kept near the temple of Juno, which at other times were\nplentifully fed, but now, by reason that corn and all other provisions\nwere grown scarce for all, were but in a poor condition.  The creature\nis by nature of quick sense, and apprehensive of the least noise, so\nthat these, being moreover watchful through hunger, and restless,\nimmediately discovered the coming of the Gauls, and, running up and down\nwith their noise and cackling, they raised the whole camp, while the\nbarbarians on the other side, perceiving themselves discovered, no\nlonger endeavored to conceal their attempt, but with shouting and\nviolence advanced to the assault.  The Romans, every one in haste\nsnatching up the next weapon that came to hand, did what they could on\nthe sudden occasion.  Manlius, a man of consular dignity, of strong body\nand great spirit, was the first that made head against them, and,\nengaging with two of the enemy at once, with his sword cut off the right\narm of one just as he was lifting up his blade to strike, and, running\nhis target full in the face of the other, tumbled him headlong down the\nsteep rock; then mounting the rampart, and there standing with others\nthat came running to his assistance, drove down the rest of them, who,\nindeed, to begin, had not been many, and did nothing worthy of so bold\nan attempt.  The Romans, having thus escaped this danger, early in the\nmorning took the captain of the watch and flung him down the rock upon\nthe heads of their enemies, and to Manlius for his victory voted a\nreward, intended more for honor than advantage, bringing him, each man\nof them, as much as he received for his daily allowance, which was half\na pound of bread, and one eighth of a pint of wine.\n\nHenceforward, the affairs of the Gauls were daily in a worse and worse\ncondition; they wanted provisions, being withheld from foraging through\nfear of Camillus, and sickness also was amongst them, occasioned by the\nnumber of carcasses that lay in heaps unburied.  Being lodged among the\nruins, the ashes, which were very deep, blown about with the winds and\ncombining with the sultry heats, breathed up, so to say, a dry and\nsearching air, the inhalation of which was destructive to their health.\nBut the chief cause was the change from their natural climate, coming as\nthey did out of shady and hilly countries, abounding in means of shelter\nfrom the heat, to lodge in low, and, in the autumn season, very\nunhealthy ground; added to which was the length and tediousness of the\nsiege, as they had now sat seven months before the Capitol.  There was,\ntherefore, a great destruction among them, and the number of the dead\ngrew so great, that the living gave up burying them.  Neither, indeed,\nwere things on that account any better with the besieged, for famine\nincreased upon them, and despondency with not hearing any thing of\nCamillus, it being impossible to send any one to him, the city was so\nguarded by the barbarians.  Things being in this sad condition on both\nsides, a motion of treaty was made at first by some of the outposts, as\nthey happened to speak with one another; which being embraced by the\nleading men, Sulpicius, tribune of the Romans, came to a parley with\nBrennus, in which it was agreed, that the Romans laying down a thousand\nweight of gold, the Gauls upon the receipt of it should immediately quit\nthe city and territories.  The agreement being confirmed by oath on both\nsides, and the gold brought forth, the Gauls used false dealing in the\nweights, secretly at first, but afterwards openly pulled back and\ndisturbed the balance; at which the Romans indignantly complaining,\nBrennus in a scoffing and insulting manner pulled off his sword and\nbelt, and threw them both into the scales; and when Sulpicius asked what\nthat meant, \"What should it mean,\" says he, \"but woe to the conquered?\"\nwhich afterwards became a proverbial saying.  As for the Romans, some\nwere so incensed that they were for taking their gold back again, and\nreturning to endure the siege.  Others were for passing by and\ndissembling a petty injury, and not to account that the indignity of the\nthing lay in paying more than was due, since the paying anything at all\nwas itself a dishonor only submitted to as a necessity of the times.\n\nWhilst this difference remained still unsettled, both amongst themselves\nand with the Gauls, Camillus was at the gates with his army; and, having\nlearned what was going on, commanded the main body of his forces to\nfollow slowly after him in good order, and himself with the choicest of\nhis men hastening on, went at once to the Romans; where all giving way\nto him, and receiving him as their sole magistrate, with profound\nsilence and order, he took the gold out of the scales, and delivered it\nto his officers, and commanded the Gauls to take their weights and\nscales and depart; saying that it was customary with the Romans to\ndeliver their country with iron, not with gold.  And when Brennus began to\nrage, and say that he was unjustly dealt with in such a breach of\ncontract, Camillus answered that it was never legally made, and the\nagreement of no force or obligation; for that himself being declared\ndictator, and there being no other magistrate by law, the engagement had\nbeen made with men who had no power to enter into it; but now they might\nsay anything they had to urge, for he was come with full power by law\nto grant pardon to such as should ask it, or inflict punishment on the\nguilty, if they did not repent.  At this, Brennus broke into violent\nanger, and an immediate quarrel ensued; both sides drew their swords and\nattacked, but in confusion, as could not otherwise be amongst houses,\nand ill narrow lanes and places where it was impossible to form in any\norder.  But Brennus, presently recollecting himself, called off his men,\nand, with the loss of a few only, brought them to their camp; and,\nrising in the night with all his forces, left the city, and, advancing\nabout eight miles, encamped upon the way to Gabii.  As soon as day\nappeared, Camillus came up with him, splendidly armed himself, and his\nsoldiers full of courage and confidence; and there engaging with him in\na sharp conflict, which lasted a long while, overthrew his army with\ngreat slaughter, and took their camp.  Of those that fled, some were\npresently cut off by the pursuers; others, and these were the greatest\nnumber, dispersed hither and thither, and were dispatched by the people\nthat came sallying out from the neighboring towns and villages.\n\nThus Rome was strangely taken, and more strangely recovered, having been\nseven whole months in the possession of the barbarians who entered her a\nlittle after the Ides of July, and were driven out about the Ides of\nFebruary following.  Camillus triumphed, as he deserved, having saved\nhis country that was lost, and brought the city, so to say, back again\nto itself.  For those that had fled abroad, together with their wives\nand children, accompanied him as he rode in; and those who had been shut\nup in the Capitol, and were reduced almost to the point of perishing\nwith hunger, went out to meet him, embracing each other as they met, and\nweeping for joy and, through the excess of the present pleasure, scarce\nbelieving in its truth.  And when the priests and ministers of the gods\nappeared, bearing the sacred things, which in their flight they had\neither hid on the spot, or conveyed away with them, and now openly\nshowed in safety, the citizens who saw the blessed sight felt as if with\nthese the gods themselves were again returned unto Rome.  After Camillus\nhad sacrificed to the gods, and purified the city according to the\ndirection of those properly instructed, he restored the existing\ntemples, and erected a new one to Rumour, or Voice, informing himself\nof the spot in which that voice from heaven came by night to Marcus\nCaedicius, foretelling the coming of the barbarian army.\n\nIt was a matter of difficulty, and a hard task, amidst so much rubbish,\nto discover and redetermine the consecrated places; but by the zeal of\nCamillus, and the incessant labor of the priests, it was at last\naccomplished.  But when it came also to rebuilding the city, which was\nwholly demolished, despondency seized the multitude, and a backwardness\nto engage in a work for which they had no materials; at a time, too,\nwhen they rather needed relief and repose from their past labors, than\nany new demands upon their exhausted strength and impaired fortunes.\nThus insensibly they turned their thoughts again towards Veii, a city\nready-built and well-provided, and gave an opening to the arts of\nflatterers eager to gratify their desires, and lent their ears to\nseditious language flung out against Camillus; as that, out of ambition\nand self-glory, he withheld them from a city fit to receive them,\nforcing them to live in the midst of ruins, and to re-erect a pile of\nburnt rubbish, that he might be esteemed not the chief magistrate only\nand general of Rome, but, to the exclusion of Romulus, its founder,\nalso.  The senate, therefore, fearing a sedition, would not suffer\nCamillus, though desirous, to lay down his authority within the year,\nthough no other dictator had ever held it above six months.\n\nThey themselves, meantime, used their best endeavors, by kind\npersuasions and familiar addresses, to encourage and to appease the\npeople, showing them the shrines and tombs of their ancestors, calling\nto their remembrance the sacred spots and holy places which Romulus and\nNuma or any other of their kings had consecrated and left to their\nkeeping; and among the strongest religious arguments, urged the head,\nnewly separated from the body, which was found in laying the foundation\nof the Capitol, marking it as a place destined by fate to be the head of\nall Italy; and the holy fire which had just been rekindled again, since\nthe end of the war, by the vestal virgins; \"What a disgrace would it be\nto them to lose and extinguish this, leaving the city it belonged to, to\nbe either inhabited by strangers and new-comers, or left a wild pasture\nfor cattle to graze on?\"  Such reasons as these, urged with complaint\nand expostulation, sometimes in private upon individuals, and sometimes\nin their public assemblies, were met, on the other hand, by laments and\nprotestations of distress and helplessness; entreaties, that, reunited\nas they just were, after a sort of shipwreck, naked and destitute, they\nwould not constrain them to patch up the pieces of a ruined and\nshattered city, when they had another at hand ready-built and prepared.\n\nCamillus thought good to refer it to general deliberation, and himself\nspoke largely and earnestly in behalf of his country, as also many\nothers.  At last, calling to Lucius Lucretius, whose place it was to\nspeak first, he commanded him to give his sentence, and the rest as they\nfollowed, in order.  Silence being made, and Lucretius just about to\nbegin, by chance a centurion, passing by outside with his company of the\nday-guard, called out with a loud voice to the ensign-bearer to halt and\nfix his standard, for this was the best place to stay in.  This voice,\ncoming in that moment of time, and at that crisis of uncertainty and\nanxiety for the future, was taken as a direction what was to be done;\nso that Lucretius, assuming an attitude of devotion, gave sentence in\nconcurrence with the gods, as he said, as likewise did all that\nfollowed.  Even among the common people it created a wonderful change of\nfeeling; every one now cheered and encouraged his neighbor, and set\nhimself to the work, proceeding in it, however, not by any regular lines\nor divisions, but every one pitching upon that plot of ground which came\nnext to hand, or best pleased his fancy; by which haste and hurry in\nbuilding, they constructed their city in narrow and ill-designed lanes,\nand with houses huddled together one upon another; for it is said that\nwithin the compass of the year the whole city was raised up anew, both\nin its public walls and private buildings.  The persons, however,\nappointed by Camillus to resume and mark out, in this general confusion,\nall consecrated places, coming, in their way round the Palatium, to the\nchapel of Mars, found the chapel itself indeed destroyed and burnt to\nthe ground, like everything else, by the barbarians; but whilst they\nwere clearing the place, and carrying away the rubbish, lit upon\nRomulus's augural staff, buried under a great heap of ashes.  This sort\nof staff is crooked at one end, and is called lituus; they make use of\nit in quartering out the regions of the heavens when engaged in\ndivination from the flight of birds; Romulus, who was himself a great\ndiviner, made use of it.  But when he disappeared from the earth, the\npriests took his staff and kept it, as other holy things, from the touch\nof man; and when they now found that, whereas all other things were\nconsumed, this staff had altogether escaped the flames, they began to\nconceive happier hopes of Rome, and to augur from this token its future\neverlasting safety.\n\nAnd now they had scarcely got a breathing time from their trouble, when\na new war came upon them; and the Aequians, Volscians, and Latins all at\nonce invaded their territories, and the Tuscans besieged Sutrium, their\nconfederate city.  The military tribunes who commanded the army, and\nwere encamped about the hill Maecius, being closely besieged by the\nLatins, and the camp in danger to be lost, sent to Rome, where Camillus\nwas a third time chosen dictator.  Of this war two different accounts\nare given; I shall begin with the more fabulous.  They say that the\nLatins (whether out of pretense, or a real design to revive the ancient\nrelationship of the two nations) sent to desire of the Romans some free-\nborn maidens in marriage; that when the Romans were at a loss how to\ndetermine (for on one hand they dreaded a war, having scarcely yet\nsettled and recovered themselves, and on the other side suspected that\nthis asking of wives was, in plain terms, nothing else but a demand for\nhostages, though covered over with the specious name of intermarriage\nand alliance), a certain handmaid, by name Tutula, or, as some call her,\nPhilotis, persuaded the magistrates to send with her some of the most\nyouthful and best looking maid-servants, in the bridal dress of noble\nvirgins, and leave the rest to her care and management; that the\nmagistrates consenting, chose out as many as she thought necessary for\nher purpose, and, adorning them with gold and rich clothes, delivered\nthem to the Latins, who were encamped not far from the city; that at\nnight the rest stole away the enemy's swords, but Tutula or Philotis,\ngetting to the top of a wild fig-tree, and spreading out a thick woolen\ncloth behind her, held out a torch towards Rome, which was the signal\nconcerted between her and the commanders, without the knowledge,\nhowever, of any other of the citizens, which was the reason that their\nissuing out from the city was tumultuous, the officers pushing their men\non, and they calling upon one another's names, and scarce able to bring\nthemselves into order; that setting upon the enemy's works, who either\nwere asleep or expected no such matter, they took the camp, and\ndestroyed most of them; and that this was done on the nones of July,\nwhich was then called Quintilis, and that the feast that is observed on\nthat day is a commemoration of what was then done.  For in it, first,\nthey run out of the city in great crowds, and call out aloud several\nfamiliar and common names, Caius, Marcus, Lucius, and the like, in\nrepresentation of the way in which they called to one another when they\nwent out in such haste.  In the next place, the maid-servants, gaily\ndressed, run about, playing and jesting upon all they meet, and amongst\nthemselves, also, use a kind of skirmishing, to show they helped in the\nconflict against the Latins; and while eating and drinking, they sit\nshaded over with boughs of wild fig-tree, and the day they call Nonae\nCaprotinae, as some think from that wild fig-tree on which the maid-\nservant held up her torch, the Roman name for a wild fig-tree being\ncaprificus.  Others refer most of what is said or done at this feast to\nthe fate of Romulus, for, on this day, he vanished outside the gates in\na sudden darkness and storm (some think it an eclipse of the sun), and\nfrom this, the day was called Nonae Caprotinae, the Latin for a goat\nbeing capra, and the place where he disappeared having the name of\nGoat's Marsh, as is stated in his life.\n\nBut the general stream of writers prefer the other account of this war,\nwhich they thus relate.  Camillus, being the third time chosen dictator,\nand learning that the army under the tribunes was besieged by the Latins\nand Volscians, was constrained to arm, not only those under, but also\nthose over, the age of service; and taking a large circuit round the\nmountain Maecius, undiscovered by the enemy, lodged his army on their\nrear, and then by many fires gave notice of his arrival.  The besieged,\nencouraged by this, prepared to sally forth and join battle; but the\nLatins and Volscians, fearing this exposure to an enemy on both sides,\ndrew themselves within their works, and fortified their camp with a\nstrong palisade of trees on every side, resolving to wait for more\nsupplies from home, and expecting, also, the assistance of the Tuscans,\ntheir confederates.  Camillus, detecting their object, and fearing to be\nreduced to the same position to which he had brought them, namely, to be\nbesieged himself, resolved to lose no time; and finding their rampart\nwas all of timber, and observing that a strong wind constantly at sun-\nrising blew off from the mountains, after having prepared a quantity of\ncombustibles, about break of day he drew forth his forces, commanding a\npart with their missiles to assault the enemy with noise and shouting on\nthe other quarter, whilst he, with those that were to fling in the fire,\nwent to that side of the enemy's camp to which the wind usually blew,\nand there waited his opportunity.  When the skirmish was begun, and the\nsun risen, and a strong wind set in from the mountains, he gave the\nsignal of onset; and, heaping in an infinite quantity of fiery matter,\nfilled all their rampart with it, so that the flame being fed by the\nclose timber and wooden palisades, went on and spread into all quarters.\nThe Latins, having nothing ready to keep it off or extinguish it, when\nthe camp was now almost full of fire, were driven back within a very\nsmall compass, and at last forced by necessity to come into their\nenemy's hands, who stood before the works ready armed and prepared to\nreceive them; of these very few escaped, while those that stayed in the\ncamp were all a prey to the fire, until the Romans, to gain the pillage,\nextinguished it.\n\nThese things performed, Camillus, leaving his son Lucius in the camp to\nguard the prisoners and secure the booty, passed into the enemy's\ncountry, where, having taken the city of the Aequians and reduced the\nVolscians to obedience, he then immediately led his army to Sutrium, not\nhaving heard what had befallen the Sutrians, but making haste to assist\nthem, as if they were still in danger and besieged by the Tuscans.\nThey, however, had already surrendered their city to their enemies, and\ndestitute of all things, with nothing left but their clothes, met\nCamillus on the way, leading their wives and children, and bewailing\ntheir misfortune.  Camillus himself was struck with compassion, and\nperceiving the soldiers weeping, and commiserating their case, while the\nSutrians hung about and clung to them, resolved not to defer revenge,\nbut that very day to lead his army to Sutrium; conjecturing that the\nenemy, having just taken a rich and plentiful city, without an enemy\nleft within it, nor any from without to be expected, would be found\nabandoned to enjoyment and unguarded.  Neither did his opinion fail him;\nhe not only passed through their country without discovery, but came up\nto their very gates and possessed himself of the walls, not a man being\nleft to guard them, but their whole army scattered about in the houses,\ndrinking and making merry.  Nay, when at last they did perceive that the\nenemy had seized the city, they were so overloaded with meat and wine,\nthat few were able so much as to endeavor to escape, but either waited\nshamefully for their death within doors, or surrendered themselves to\nthe conqueror.  Thus the city of the Sutrians was twice taken in one\nday; and they who were in possession lost it, and they who had lost\nregained it, alike by the means of Camillus.  For all which actions he\nreceived a triumph, which brought him no less honor and reputation than\nthe two former ones; for those citizens who before most regarded him\nwith an evil eye, and ascribed his successes to a certain luck rather\nthan real merit, were compelled by these last acts of his to allow the\nwhole honor to his great abilities and energy.\n\nOf all the adversaries and enviers of his glory, Marcus Manlius was the\nmost distinguished, he who first drove back the Gauls when they made\ntheir night attack upon the Capitol, and who for that reason had been\nnamed Capitolinus.  This man, affecting the first place in the\ncommonwealth, and not able by noble ways to outdo Camillus's reputation,\ntook that ordinary course towards usurpation of absolute power, namely,\nto gain the multitude, those of them especially that were in debt;\ndefending some by pleading their causes against their creditors,\nrescuing others by force, and not suffering the law to proceed against\nthem; insomuch that in a short time he got great numbers of indigent\npeople about him, whose tumults and uproars in the forum struck terror\ninto the principal citizens.  After that Quintius Capitolinus, who was\nmade dictator to suppress these disorders, had committed Manlius to\nprison, the people immediately changed their apparel, a thing never done\nbut in great and public calamities, and the senate, fearing some tumult,\nordered him to be released.  He, however, when set at liberty, changed\nnot his course, but was rather the more insolent in his proceedings,\nfilling the whole city with faction and sedition.  They chose,\ntherefore, Camillus again military tribune; and a day being appointed\nfor Manlius to answer to his charge, the prospect from the place where\nhis trial was held proved a great impediment to his accusers; for the\nvery spot where Manlius by night fought with the Gauls overlooked the\nforum from the Capitol, so that, stretching forth his hands that way,\nand weeping, he called to their remembrance his past actions, raising\ncompassion in all that beheld him.  Insomuch that the judges were at a\nloss what to do, and several times adjourned the trial, unwilling to\nacquit him of the crime, which was sufficiently proved, and yet unable\nto execute the law while his noble action remained, as it were, before\ntheir eyes.  Camillus, considering this, transferred the court outside\nthe gates to the Peteline Grove, from whence there is no prospect of the\nCapitol.  Here his accuser went on with his charge, and his judges were\ncapable of remembering and duly resenting his guilty deeds.  He was\nconvicted, carried to the Capitol, and flung headlong from the rock; so\nthat one and the same spot was thus the witness of his greatest glory,\nand monument of his most unfortunate end.  The Romans, besides, razed\nhis house, and built there a temple to the goddess they call Moneta,\nordaining for the future that none of the patrician order should ever\ndwell on the Capitoline.\n\nAnd now Camillus, being called to his sixth tribuneship, desired to be\nexcused, as being aged, and perhaps not unfearful of the malice of\nfortune, and those reverses which seem to ensue upon great prosperity.\nBut the most apparent pretense was the weakness of his body, for he\nhappened at that time to be sick; the people, however, would admit of no\nexcuses, but, crying that they wanted not his strength for horse or for\nfoot service, but only his counsel and conduct, constrained him to\nundertake the command, and with one of his fellow-tribunes to lead the\narmy immediately against the enemy.  These were the Praenestines and\nVolscians, who, with large forces, were laying waste the territory of\nthe Roman confederates.  Having marched out with his army, he sat down\nand encamped near the enemy, meaning himself to protract the war, or if\nthere should come any necessity or occasion of fighting, in the mean\ntime to regain his strength.  But Lucius Furius, his colleague, carried\naway with the desire of glory, was not to be held in, but, impatient to\ngive battle, inflamed the inferior officers of the army with the same\neagerness; so that Camillus, fearing he might seem out of envy to be\nwishing to rob the young men of the glory of a noble exploit, consented,\nthough unwillingly, that he should draw out the forces, whilst himself,\nby reason of weakness, stayed behind with a few in the camp.  Lucius,\nengaging rashly, was discomfited, when Camillus, perceiving the Romans\nto give ground and fly, could not contain himself, but, leaping from his\nbed, with those he had about him ran to meet them at the gates of the\ncamp, making his way through the flyers to oppose the pursuers; so that\nthose who had got within the camp turned back at once and followed him,\nand those that came flying from without made head again and gathered\nabout him, exhorting one another not to forsake their general.  Thus the\nenemy for that time, was stopped in his pursuit.  The next day Camillus\ndrawing out his forces and joining battle with them, overthrew them by\nmain force, and, following close upon them, entered pell-mell with them\ninto their camp and took it, slaying the greatest part of them.\nAfterwards, having heard that the city Satricum was taken by the\nTuscans, and the inhabitants, all Romans, put to the sword, he sent home\nto Rome the main body of his forces and heaviest-armed, and, taking\nwith him the lightest and most vigorous soldiers, set suddenly upon the\nTuscans, who were in the possession of the city, and mastered them,\nslaying some and expelling the rest; and so, returning to Rome with\ngreat spoils, gave signal evidence of their superior wisdom, who, not\nmistrusting the weakness and age of a commander endued with courage and\nconduct, had rather chosen him who was sickly and desirous to be\nexcused, than younger men who were forward and ambitious to command.\n\nWhen, therefore, the revolt of the Tusculans was reported, they gave\nCamillus the charge of reducing them, choosing one of his five\ncolleagues to go with him.  And when every one was eager for the place,\ncontrary to the expectation of all, he passed by the rest and chose\nLucius Furius, the very same man who lately, against the judgment of\nCamillus, had rashly hazarded and nearly lost a battle; willing, as it\nshould seem, to dissemble that miscarriage, and free him from the shame\nof it.  The Tusculans, hearing of Camillus's coming against them, made a\ncunning attempt at revoking their act of revolt; their fields, as in\ntimes of highest peace, were full of plowman and shepherds; their gates\nstood wide open, and their children were being taught in the schools; of\nthe people, such as were tradesmen, he found in their workshops, busied\nabout their several employments, and the better sort of citizens walking\nin the public places in their ordinary dress; the magistrates hurried\nabout to provide quarters for the Romans, as if they stood in fear of no\ndanger and were conscious of no fault.  Which arts, though they could\nnot dispossess Camillus of the conviction he had of their treason, yet\ninduced some compassion for their repentance; he commanded them to go to\nthe senate and deprecate their anger, and joined himself as an\nintercessor in their behalf, so that their city was acquitted of all\nguilt and admitted to Roman citizenship, These were the most memorable\nactions of his sixth tribuneship.\n\nAfter these things, Licinius Stolo raised a great sedition in the city,\nand brought the people to dissension with the senate, contending, that\nof two consuls one should be chosen out of the commons, and not both out\nof the patricians.  Tribunes of the people were chosen, but the election\nof consuls was interrupted and prevented by the people.  And as this\nabsence of any supreme magistrate was leading to yet further confusion,\nCamillus was the fourth time created dictator by the senate, sorely\nagainst the people's will, and not altogether in accordance with his\nown; he had little desire for a conflict with men whose past services\nentitled them to tell him that he had achieved far greater actions in\nwar along with them than in politics with the patricians, who, indeed,\nhad only put him forward now out of envy; that, if successful, he might\ncrush the people, or, failing, be crushed himself.  However, to provide\nas good a remedy as he could for the present, knowing the day on which\nthe tribunes of the people intended to prefer the law, he appointed it\nby proclamation for a general muster, and called the people from the\nforum into the Campus, threatening to set heavy fines upon such as\nshould not obey.  On the other side, the tribunes of the people met his\nthreats by solemnly protesting they would fine him in fifty thousand\ndrachmas of silver, if he persisted in obstructing the people from\ngiving their suffrages for the law.  Whether it were, then, that he\nfeared another banishment or condemnation which would ill become his age\nand past great actions, or found himself unable to stem the current of\nthe multitude, which ran strong and violent, he betook himself, for the\npresent, to his house, and afterwards, for some days together,\nprofessing sickness, finally laid down his dictatorship.  The senate\ncreated another dictator; who, choosing Stolo, leader of the sedition,\nto be his general of horse, suffered that law to be enacted and\nratified, which was most grievous to the patricians, namely, that no\nperson whatsoever should possess above five hundred acres of land.\nStolo was much distinguished by the victory he had gained; but, not long\nafter, was found himself to possess more than he had allowed to others,\nand suffered the penalties of his own law.\n\nAnd now the contention about election of consuls coming on (which was\nthe main point and original cause of the dissension, and had throughtout\nfurnished most matter of division between the senate and the people),\ncertain intelligence arrived, that the Gauls again, proceeding from the\nAdriatic Sea, were marching in vast numbers upon Rome.  On the very\nheels of the report followed manifest acts also of hostility; the\ncountry through which they marched was all wasted, and such as by flight\ncould not make their escape to Rome were dispersing and scattering among\nthe mountains.  The terror of this war quieted the sedition; nobles and\ncommons, senate and people together, unanimously chose Camillus the\nfifth time dictator; who, though very aged, not wanting much of\nfourscore years, yet, considering the danger and necessity of his\ncountry, did not, as before, pretend sickness, or depreciate his own\ncapacity, but at once undertook the charge, and enrolled soldiers.  And,\nknowing that the great force of the barbarians lay chiefly in their\nswords, with which they laid about them in a rude and inartificial\nmanner, hacking and hewing the head and shoulders, he caused head-pieces\nentire of iron to be made for most of his men, smoothing and polishing\nthe outside, that the enemy's swords, lighting upon them, might either\nslide off or be broken; and fitted also their shields with a little rim\nof brass, the wood itself not being sufficient to bear off the blows.\nBesides, he taught his soldiers to use their long javelins in close\nencounter, and, by bringing them under their enemy's swords, to receive\ntheir strokes upon them.\n\nWhen the Gauls drew near, about the river Anio, dragging a heavy camp\nafter them, and loaded with infinite spoil, Camillus drew forth his\nforces, and planted himself upon a hill of easy ascent, and which had\nmany dips in it, with the object that the greatest part of his army\nmight lie concealed, and those who appeared might be thought to have\nbetaken themselves, through fear, to those upper grounds.  And the more\nto increase this opinion in them, he suffered them, without any\ndisturbance, to spoil and pillage even to his very trenches, keeping\nhimself quiet within his works, which were well fortified; till, at\nlast, perceiving that part of the enemy were scattered about the country\nforaging, and that those that were in the camp did nothing day and night\nbut drink and revel, in the nighttime he drew up his lightest-armed\nmen, and sent them out before to impede the enemy while forming into\norder, and to harass them when they should first issue out of their\ncamp; and early in the morning brought down his main body, and set them\nin battle array in the lower grounds, a numerous and courageous army,\nnot, as the barbarians had supposed, an inconsiderable and fearful\ndivision.  The first thing that shook the courage of the Gauls was, that\ntheir enemies had, contrary to their expectation, the honor of being\naggressors.  In the next place, the light-armed men, falling upon them\nbefore they could get into their usual order or range themselves in\ntheir proper squadrons, so disturbed and pressed upon them, that they\nwere obliged to fight at random, without any order at all.  But at last,\nwhen Camillus brought on his heavy-armed legions, the barbarians, with\ntheir swords drawn, went vigorously to engage them; the Romans, however,\nopposing their javelins and receiving the force of their blows on those\nparts of their defenses which were well guarded with steel, turned the\nedge of their weapons, being made of a soft and ill-tempered metal, so\nthat their swords bent and doubled up in their hands; and their shields\nwere pierced through and through, and grew heavy with the javelins that\nstuck upon them.  And thus forced to quit their own weapons, they\nendeavored to take advantage of those of their enemies, laid hold of the\njavelins with their hands, and tried to pluck them away.  But the\nRomans, perceiving them now naked and defenseless, betook themselves to\ntheir swords, which they so well used, that in a little time great\nslaughter was made in the foremost ranks, while the rest fled over all\nparts of the level country; the hills and upper grounds Camillus had\nsecured beforehand, and their camp they knew it would not be difficult\nfor the enemy to take, as, through confidence of victory, they had left\nit unguarded.  This fight, it is stated, was thirteen years after the\nsacking of Rome; and from henceforward the Romans took courage, and\nsurmounted the apprehensions they had hitherto entertained of the\nbarbarians, whose previous defeat they had attributed rather to\npestilence and a concurrence of mischances than to their own superior\nvalor.  And, indeed, this fear had been formerly so great, that they\nmade a law, that priests should be excused from service in war, unless\nin an invasion from the Gauls.\n\nThis was the last military action that ever Camillus performed; for the\nvoluntary surrender of the city of the Velitrani was but a mere\naccessory to it.  But the greatest of all civil contests, and the\nhardest to be managed, was still to be fought out against the people;\nwho, returning home full of victory and success, insisted, contrary to\nestablished law, to have one of the consuls chosen out of their own\nbody.  The senate strongly opposed it, and would not suffer Camillus to\nlay down his dictatorship, thinking, that, under the shelter of his\ngreat name and authority, they should be better able to contend for the\npower of the aristocracy.  But when Camillus was sitting upon the\ntribunal, dispatching public affairs, an officer, sent by the tribunes\nof the people, commanded him to rise and follow him, laying his hand\nupon him, as ready to seize and carry him away; upon which, such a noise\nand tumult as was never heard before, filled the whole forum; some that\nwere about Camillus thrusting the officer from the bench, and the\nmultitude below calling out to him to bring Camillus down.  Being at a\nloss what to do in these difficulties, he yet laid not down his\nauthority, but, taking the senators along with him, he went to the\nsenate-house; but before he entered, besought the gods that they would\nbring these troubles to a happy conclusion, solemnly vowing, when the\ntumult was ended, to build a temple to Concord.  A great conflict of\nopposite opinions arose in the senate; but, at last, the most moderate\nand most acceptable to the people prevailed, and consent was given, that\nof two consuls, one should be chosen from the commonalty.  When the\ndictator proclaimed this determination of the senate to the people, at\nthe moment, pleased and reconciled with the senate, as indeed could not\notherwise be, they accompanied Camillus home, with all expressions and\nacclamations of joy; and the next day, assembling together, they voted a\ntemple of Concord to be built, according to Camillus's vow, facing the\nassembly and the forum; and to the feasts, called the Latin holidays,\nthey added one day more, making four in all; and ordained that, on the\npresent occasion, the whole people of Rome should sacrifice with\ngarlands on their heads.\n\nIn the election of consuls held by Camillus, Marcus Aemilius was chosen\nof the patricians, and Lucius Sextius the first of the commonalty; and\nthis was the last of all Camillus's actions.  In the year following, a\npestilential sickness infected Rome, which, besides an infinite number\nof the common people, swept away most of the magistrates, among whom was\nCamillus; whose death cannot be called immature, if we consider his\ngreat age, or greater actions, yet was he more lamented than all the\nrest put together that then died of that distemper.\n\n\n\nPERICLES\n\nCaesar once, seeing some wealthy strangers at Rome, carrying up and\ndown with them in their arms and bosoms young puppy-dogs and monkeys,\nembracing and making much of them, took occasion not unnaturally to ask\nwhether the women in their country were not used to bear children; by\nthat prince-like reprimand gravely reflecting upon persons who spend and\nlavish upon brute beasts that affection and kindness which nature has\nimplanted in us to be bestowed on those of our own kind.  With like\nreason may we blame those who misuse that love of inquiry and\nobservation which nature has implanted in our souls, by expending it on\nobjects unworthy of the attention either of their eyes or their ears,\nwhile they disregard such as are excellent in themselves, and would do\nthem good.\n\nThe mere outward sense, being passive in responding to the impression of\nthe objects that come in its way and strike upon it, perhaps cannot help\nentertaining and taking notice of everything that addresses it, be it\nwhat it will, useful or unuseful; but, in the exercise of his mental\nperception, every man, if he chooses, has a natural power to turn\nhimself upon all occasions, and to change and shift with the greatest\nease to what he shall himself judge desirable.  So that it becomes a\nman's duty to pursue and make after the best and choicest of everything,\nthat he may not only employ his contemplation, but may also be\nimproved by it.  For as that color is most suitable to the eye whose\nfreshness and pleasantness stimulates and strengthens the sight, so a\nman ought to apply his intellectual perception to such objects as, with\nthe sense of delight, are apt to call it forth, and allure it to its\nown proper good and advantage.\n\nSuch objects we find in the acts of virtue, which also produce in the\nminds of mere readers about them, an emulation and eagerness that may\nlead them on to imitation.  In other things there does not immediately\nfollow upon the admiration and liking of the thing done, any strong\ndesire of doing the like.  Nay, many times, on the very contrary, when\nwe are pleased with the work, we slight and set little by the workman or\nartist himself, as, for instance, in perfumes and purple dyes, we are\ntaken with the things themselves well enough, but do not think dyers and\nperfumers otherwise than low and sordid people.  It was not said amiss\nby Antisthenes, when people told him that one Ismenias was an excellent\npiper, \"It may be so,\" said he, \"but he is but a wretched human being,\notherwise he would not have been an excellent piper.\"  And king Philip,\nto the same purpose, told his son Alexander, who once at a merry-meeting\nplayed a piece of music charmingly and skillfully, \"Are you not ashamed,\nson, to play so well?\"  For it is enough for a king, or prince to find\nleisure sometimes to hear others sing, and he does the muses quite honor\nenough when he pleases to be but present, while others engage in such\nexercises and trials of skill.\n\nHe who busies himself in mean occupations produces, in the very pains he\ntakes about things of little or no use, an evidence against himself of\nhis negligence and indisposition to what is really good.  Nor did any\ngenerous and ingenuous young man, at the sight of the statue of Jupiter\nat Pisa, ever desire to be a Phidias, or, on seeing that of Juno at\nArgos, long to be a Polycletus, or feel induced by his pleasure in their\npoems to wish to be an Anacreon or Philetas or Archilochus.  For it does\nnot necessarily follow, that, if a piece of work please for its\ngracefulness, therefore he that wrought it deserves our admiration.\nWhence it is that neither do such things really profit or advantage the\nbeholders, upon the sight of which no zeal arises for the imitation of\nthem, nor any impulse or inclination, which may prompt any desire or\nendeavor of doing the like.  But virtue, by the bare statement of its\nactions, can so affect men's minds as to create at once both admiration\nof the things done and desire to imitate the doers of them.  The goods\nof fortune we would possess and would enjoy; those of virtue we long to\npractice and exercise; we are content to receive the former from others,\nthe latter we wish others to experience from us.  Moral good is a\npractical stimulus; it is no sooner seen, than it inspires an impulse to\npractice; and influences the mind and character not by a mere imitation\nwhich we look at, but, by the statement of the fact, creates a moral\npurpose which we form.\n\nAnd so we have thought fit to spend our time and pains in writing of the\nlives of famous persons; and have composed this tenth book upon that\nsubject, containing the life of Pericles, and that of Fabius Maximus,\nwho carried on the war against Hannibal, men alike, as in their other\nvirtues and good parts, so especially in their mild and upright temper\nand demeanor, and in that capacity to bear the cross-grained humors of\ntheir fellow-citizens and colleagues in office which made them both most\nuseful and serviceable to the interests of their countries.  Whether we\ntake a right aim at our intended purpose, it is left to the reader to\njudge by what he shall here find.\n\nPericles was of the tribe Acamantis, and the township Cholargus, of the\nnoblest birth both on his father's and mother's side.  Xanthippus, his\nfather, who defeated the king of Persia's generals in the battle at\nMycale, took to wife Agariste, the grandchild of Clisthenes, who drove\nout the sons of Pisistratus, and nobly put an end to their tyrannical\nusurpation, and moreover made a body of laws, and settled a model of\ngovernment admirably tempered and suited for the harmony and safety of\nthe people.\n\nHis mother, being near her time, fancied in a dream that she was brought\nto bed of a lion, and a few days after was delivered of Pericles, in\nother respects perfectly formed, only his head was somewhat longish and\nout of proportion.  For which reason almost all the images and statues\nthat were made of him have the head covered with a helmet, the workmen\napparently being willing not to expose him.  The poets of Athens called\nhim Schinocephalos, or squill-head, from schinos, a squill, or sea-\nonion.  One of the comic poets, Cratinus, in the Chirons,\ntells us that --\n\nOld Chronos once took queen Sedition to wife;\nWhich two brought to life\nThat tyrant far-famed,\nWhom the gods the supreme skull-compeller have named.\n\nAnd, in the Nemesis, addresses him --\n\nCome, Jove, thou head of gods.\n\nAnd a second, Teleclides, says, that now, in embarrassment with\npolitical difficulties, he sits in the city,--\n\nFainting underneath the load\nOf his own head; and now abroad,\nFrom his huge gallery of a pate,\nSends forth trouble to the state.\n\nAnd a third, Eupolis, in the comedy called the Demi, in a series of\nquestions about each of the demagogues, whom he makes in the play to\ncome up from hell, upon Pericles being named last, exclaims,--\n\nAnd here by way of summary, now we've done,\nBehold, in brief, the heads of all in one.\n\nThe master that taught him music, most authors are agreed, was Damon\n(whose name, they say, ought to be pronounced with the first syllable\nshort).  Though Aristotle tells us that he was thoroughly practiced in\nall accomplishments of this kind by Pythoclides.  Damon, it is not\nunlikely, being a sophist, out of policy, sheltered himself under the\nprofession of music to conceal from people in general his skill in other\nthings, and under this pretense attended Pericles, the young athlete of\npolitics, so to say, as his training-master in these exercises.  Damon's\nlyre, however, did not prove altogether a successful blind; he was\nbanished the country by ostracism for ten years, as a dangerous\nintermeddler and a favorer of arbitrary power, and, by this means, gave\nthe stage occasion to play upon him.  As, for instance, Plato, the comic\npoet, introduces a character, who questions him --\n\nTell me, if you please,\nSince you're the Chiron who taught Pericles.\n\nPericles, also, was a hearer of Zeno, the Eleatic, who treated of\nnatural philosophy in the same manner as Parmenides did, but had also\nperfected himself in an art of his own for refuting and silencing\nopponents in argument; as Timon of Phlius describes it, --\n\nAlso the two-edged tongue of mighty Zeno, who,\nSay what one would, could argue it untrue.\n\nBut he that saw most of Pericles, and furnished him most especially with\na weight and grandeur of sense, superior to all arts of popularity, and\nin general gave him his elevation and sublimity of purpose and of\ncharacter, was Anaxagoras of Clazomenae; whom the men of those times\ncalled by the name of Nous, that is, mind, or intelligence, whether in\nadmiration of the great and extraordinary gift he displayed for the\nscience of nature, or because that he was the first of the philosophers\nwho did not refer the first ordering of the world to fortune or chance,\nnor to necessity or compulsion, but to a pure, unadulterated\nintelligence, which in all other existing mixed and compound things acts\nas a principle of discrimination, and of combination of like with like.\n\nFor this man, Pericles entertained an extraordinary esteem and\nadmiration, and, filling himself with this lofty, and, as they call it,\nup-in-the-air sort of thought, derived hence not merely, as was natural,\nelevation of purpose and dignity of language, raised far above the base\nand dishonest buffooneries of mob-eloquence, but, besides this, a\ncomposure of countenance, and a serenity and calmness in all his\nmovements, which no occurrence whilst he was speaking could disturb, a\nsustained and even tone of voice, and various other advantages of a\nsimilar kind, which produced the greatest effect on his hearers.  Once,\nafter being reviled and ill-spoken of all day long in his own hearing by\nsome vile and abandoned fellow in the open marketplace, where he was\nengaged in the dispatch of some urgent affair, he continued his business\nin perfect silence, and in the evening returned home composedly, the man\nstill dogging him at the heels, and pelting him all the way with abuse\nand foul language; and stepping into his house, it being by this time\ndark, he ordered one of his servants to take a light, and to go along\nwith the man and see him safe home.  Ion, it is true, the dramatic poet,\nsays that Pericles's manner in company was somewhat over-assuming and\npompous; and that into his high bearing there entered a good deal of\nslightingness and scorn of others; he reserves his commendation for\nCimon's ease and pliancy and natural grace in society.  Ion, however,\nwho must needs make virtue, like a show of tragedies, include some comic\nscenes, we shall not altogether rely upon; Zeno used to bid those who\ncalled Pericles's gravity the affectation of a charlatan, to go and\naffect the like themselves; inasmuch as this mere counterfeiting might\nin time insensibly instill into them a real love and knowledge of those\nnoble qualities.\n\nNor were these the only advantages which Pericles derived from\nAnaxagoras's acquaintance; he seems also to have become, by his\ninstructions, superior to that superstition with which an ignorant\nwonder at appearances, for example, in the heavens possesses the minds\nof people unacquainted with their causes, eager for the supernatural,\nand excitable through an inexperience which the knowledge of natural\ncauses removes, replacing wild and timid superstition by the good hope\nand assurance of an intelligent piety.\n\nThere is a story, that once Pericles had brought to him from a country\nfarm of his, a ram's head with one horn, and that Lampon, the diviner,\nupon seeing the horn grow strong and solid out of the midst of the\nforehead, gave it as his judgment, that, there being at that time two\npotent factions, parties, or interests in the city, the one of\nThucydides and the other of Pericles, the government would come about to\nthat one of them in whose ground or estate this token or indication of\nfate had shown itself.  But that Anaxagoras, cleaving the skull in\nsunder, showed to the bystanders that the brain had not filled up its\nnatural place, but being oblong, like an egg, had collected from all\nparts of the vessel which contained it, in a point to that place from\nwhence the root of the horn took its rise.  And that, for that time,\nAnaxagoras was much admired for his explanation by those that were\npresent; and Lampon no less a little while after, when Thucydides was\noverpowered, and the whole affairs of the state and government came into\nthe hands of Pericles.\n\nAnd yet, in my opinion, it is no absurdity to say that they were both in\nthe right, both natural philosopher and diviner, one justly detecting\nthe cause of this event, by which it was produced, the other the end for\nwhich it was designed.  For it was the business of the one to find out\nand give an account of what it was made, and in what manner and by what\nmeans it grew as it did; and of the other to foretell to what end and\npurpose it was so made, and what it might mean or portend.  Those who\nsay that to find out the cause of a prodigy is in effect to destroy its\nsupposed signification as such, do not take notice that, at the same\ntime, together with divine prodigies, they also do away with signs and\nsignals of human art and concert, as, for instance, the clashings of\nquoits, fire-beacons, and the shadows on sun-dials, every one of which\nthings has its cause, and by that cause and contrivance is a sign of\nsomething else.  But these are subjects, perhaps, that would better\nbefit another place.\n\nPericles, while yet but a young man, stood in considerable apprehension\nof the people, as he was thought in face and figure to be very like the\ntyrant Pisistratus, and those of great age remarked upon the sweetness\nof his voice, and his volubility and rapidity in speaking, and were\nstruck with amazement at the resemblance.  Reflecting, too, that he had\na considerable estate, and was descended of a noble family, and had\nfriends of great influence, he was fearful all this might bring him to\nbe banished as a dangerous person; and for this reason meddled not at\nall with state affairs, but in military service showed himself of a\nbrave and intrepid nature.  But when Aristides was now dead, and\nThemistocles driven out, and Cimon was for the most part kept abroad by\nthe expeditions he made in parts out of Greece, Pericles, seeing things\nin this posture, now advanced and took his side, not with the rich and\nfew, but with the many and poor, contrary to his natural bent, which was\nfar from democratical; but, most likely, fearing he might fall under\nsuspicion of aiming at arbitrary power, and seeing Cimon on the side of\nthe aristocracy, and much beloved by the better and more distinguished\npeople, he joined the party of the people, with a view at once both to\nsecure himself and procure means against Cimon.\n\nHe immediately entered, also, on quite a new course of life and\nmanagement of his time.  For he was never seen to walk in any street but\nthat which led to the marketplace and the council-hall, and he avoided\ninvitations of friends to supper, and all friendly visiting and\nintercourse whatever; in all the time he had to do with the public,\nwhich was not a little, he was never known to have gone to any of his\nfriends to a supper, except that once when his near kinsman Euryptolemus\nmarried, he remained present till the ceremony of the drink-offering,\nand then immediately rose from table and went his way.  For these\nfriendly meetings are very quick to defeat any assumed superiority, and\nin intimate familiarity an exterior of gravity is hard to maintain.\nReal excellence, indeed, is most recognized when most openly looked\ninto; and in really good men, nothing which meets the eyes of external\nobservers so truly deserves their admiration, as their daily common life\ndoes that of their nearer friends.  Pericles, however, to avoid any\nfeeling of commonness, or any satiety on the part of the people,\npresented himself at intervals only, not speaking to every business, nor\nat all times coming into the assembly, but, as Critolaus says, reserving\nhimself, like the Salaminian galley,@ for great occasions, while matters\nof lesser importance were dispatched by friends or other speakers under\nhis direction.  And of this number we are told Ephialtes made one, who\nbroke the power of the council of Areopagus, giving the people,\naccording to Plato's expression, so copious and so strong a draught of\nliberty, that, growing wild and unruly, like an unmanageable horse, it,\nas the comic poets say, --\n\n\" -- got beyond all keeping in,\nChamping at Euboea, and among the islands leaping in.\"\n\n\nThe style of speaking most consonant to his form of life and the dignity\nof his views he found, so to say, in the tones of that instrument with\nwhich Anaxagoras had furnished him; of his teaching he continually\navailed himself, and deepened the colors of rhetoric with the dye of\nnatural science.  For having, in addition to his great natural genius,\nattained, by the study of nature, to use the words of the divine Plato,\nthis height of intelligence, and this universal consummating power, and\ndrawing hence whatever might be of advantage to him in the art of\nspeaking, he showed himself far superior to all others.  Upon which\naccount, they say, he had his nickname given him, though some are of\nopinion he was named the Olympian from the public buildings with which\nhe adorned the city; and others again, from his great power in public\naffairs, whether of war or peace.  Nor is it unlikely that the\nconfluence of many attributes may have conferred it on him.  However,\nthe comedies represented at the time, which, both in good earnest and in\nmerriment, let fly many hard words at him, plainly show that he got that\nappellation especially from his speaking; they speak of his \"thundering\nand lightning\" when he harangued the people, and of his wielding a\ndreadful thunderbolt in his tongue.\n\nA saying also of Thucydides, the son of Melesias, stands on record,\nspoken by him by way of pleasantry upon Pericles's dexterity.\nThucydides was one of the noble and distinguished citizens, and had been\nhis greatest opponent; and, when Archidamus, the king of the\nLacedaemonians, asked him whether he or Pericles were the better\nwrestler, he made this answer:  \"When I,\" said he, \"have thrown him and\ngiven him a fair fall, by persisting that he had no fall, he gets the\nbetter of me, and makes the bystanders, in spite of their own eyes,\nbelieve him.\"  The truth, however, is, that Pericles himself was very\ncareful what and how he was to speak, insomuch that, whenever he went up\nto the hustings, he prayed the gods that no one word might unawares slip\nfrom him unsuitable to the matter and the occasion.\n\nHe has left nothing in writing behind him, except some decrees; and\nthere are but very few of his sayings recorded; one, for example, is,\nthat he said Aegina must, like a gathering in a man's eye, be removed\nfrom Piraeus; and another, that he said he saw already war moving on its\nway towards them out of Peloponnesus.  Again, when on a time Sophocles,\nwho was his fellow-commissioner in the generalship, was going on board\nwith him, and praised the beauty of a youth they met with in the way to\nthe ship, \"Sophocles,\" said he, \"a general ought not only to have clean\nhands, but also clean eyes.\"  And Stesimbrotus tells us, that, in his\nencomium on those who fell in battle at Samos, he said they were become\nimmortal, as the gods were.  \"For,\" said he, \"we do not see them\nthemselves, but only by the honors we pay them, and by the benefits they\ndo us, attribute to them immortality; and the like attributes belong\nalso to those that die in the service of their country.\"\n\nSince Thucydides describes the rule of Pericles as an aristocratical\ngovernment, that went by the name of a democracy, but was, indeed, the\nsupremacy of a single great man, while many others say, on the contrary,\nthat by him the common people were first encouraged and led on to such\nevils as appropriations of subject territory; allowances for attending\ntheaters, payments for performing public duties, and by these bad habits\nwere, under the influence of his public measures, changed from a sober,\nthrifty people, that maintained themselves by their own labors, to\nlovers of expense, intemperance, and license, let us examine the cause\nof this change by the actual matters of fact.\n\nAt the first, as has been said, when he set himself against Cimon's\ngreat authority, he did caress the people.  Finding himself come short of\nhis competitor in wealth and money, by which advantages the other was\nenabled to take care of the poor, inviting every day some one or other\nof the citizens that was in want to supper, and bestowing clothes on the\naged people, and breaking down the hedges and enclosures of his grounds,\nthat all that would might freely gather what fruit they pleased,\nPericles, thus outdone in popular arts, by the advice of one Damonides\nof Oea, as Aristotle states, turned to the distribution of the public\nmoneys; and in a short time having bought the people over, what with\nmoneys allowed for shows and for service on juries, and what with other\nforms of pay and largess, he made use of them against the council of\nAreopagus, of which he himself was no member, as having never been\nappointed by lot either chief archon, or lawgiver, or king, or captain.\nFor from of old these offices were conferred on persons by lot, and they\nwho had acquitted themselves duly in the discharge of them were advanced\nto the court of Areopagus.  And so Pericles, having secured his power\nand interest with the populace, directed the exertions of his party\nagainst this council with such success, that most of those causes and\nmatters which had been used to be tried there, were, by the agency of\nEphialtes, removed from its cognizance, Cimon, also, was banished by\nostracism as a favorer of the Lacedaemonians and a hater of the people,\nthough in wealth and noble birth he was among the first, and had won\nseveral most glorious victories over the barbarians, and had filled the\ncity with money and spoils of war; as is recorded in the history of his\nlife.  So vast an authority had Pericles obtained among the people.\n\nThe ostracism was limited by law to ten years; but the Lacedaemonians,\nin the mean time, entering with a great army into the territory of\nTanagra, and the Athenians going out against them, Cimon, coming from\nhis banishment before his time was out, put himself in arms and array\nwith those of his fellow-citizens that were of his own tribe, and\ndesired by his deeds to wipe off the suspicion of his favoring the\nLacedaemonians, by venturing his own person along with his country-men.\nBut Pericles's friends, gathering in a body, forced him to retire as a\nbanished man.  For which cause also Pericles seems to have exerted\nhimself more in that than in any battle, and to have been conspicuous\nabove all for his exposure of himself to danger.  All Cimon's friends,\nalso, to a man, fell together side by side, whom Pericles had accused\nwith him of taking part with the Lacedaemonians.  Defeated in this\nbattle on their own frontiers, and expecting a new and perilous attack\nwith return of spring, the Athenians now felt regret and sorrow for the\nloss of Cimon, and repentance for their expulsion of him.  Pericles,\nbeing sensible of their feelings, did not hesitate or delay to gratify\nit, and himself made the motion for recalling him home.  He, upon his\nreturn, concluded a peace betwixt the two cities; for the Lacedaemonians\nentertained as kindly feelings towards him as they did the reverse\ntowards Pericles and the other popular leaders.\n\nYet some there are who say that Pericles did not propose the order for\nCimon's return till some private articles of agreement had been made\nbetween them, and this by means of Elpinice, Cimon's sister; that Cimon,\nnamely, should go out to sea with a fleet of two hundred ships, and be\ncommander-in-chief abroad, with a design to reduce the king of Persia's\nterritories, and that Pericles should have the power at home.\n\nThis Elpinice, it was thought, had before this time procured some\nfavor for her brother Cimon at Pericles's hands, and induced him to be\nmore remiss and gentle in urging the charge when Cimon was tried for his\nlife; for Pericles was one of the committee appointed by the commons to\nplead against him.  And when Elpinice came and besought him in her\nbrother's behalf, he answered, with a smile, \"O Elpinice, you are too\nold a woman to undertake such business as this.\"  But, when he appeared\nto impeach him, he stood up but once to speak, merely to acquit himself\nof his commission, and went out of court, having done Cimon the least\nprejudice of any of his accusers.\n\nHow, then, can one believe Idomeneus, who charges Pericles as if he had\nby treachery procured the murder of Ephialtes, the popular statesman,\none who was his friend, and of his own party in all his political\ncourse, out of jealousy, forsooth, and envy of his great reputation?\nThis historian, it seems, having raked up these stories, I know not\nwhence, has befouled with them a man who, perchance, was not altogether\nfree from fault or blame, but yet had a noble spirit, and a soul that\nwas bent on honor; and where such qualities are, there can no such cruel\nand brutal passion find harbor or gain admittance.  As to Ephialtes, the\ntruth of the story, as Aristotle has told it, is this:  that having made\nhimself formidable to the oligarchical party, by being an\nuncompromising asserter of the people's rights in calling to account and\nprosecuting those who any way wronged them, his enemies, lying in wait\nfor him, by the means of Aristodicus the Tanagraean, privately\ndispatched him.\n\nCimon, while he was admiral, ended his days in the Isle of Cyprus.  And\nthe aristocratical party, seeing that Pericles was already before this\ngrown to be the greatest and foremost man of all the city, but\nnevertheless wishing there should be somebody set up against him, to\nblunt and turn the edge of his power, that it might not altogether prove\na monarchy, put forward Thucydides of Alopece, a discreet person, and a\nnear kinsman of Cimon's, to conduct the opposition against him; who,\nindeed, though less skilled in warlike affairs than Cimon was, yet was\nbetter versed in speaking and political business, and keeping close\nguard in the city, and engaging with Pericles on the hustings, in a\nshort time brought the government to an equality of parties.  For he\nwould not suffer those who were called the honest and good (persons of\nworth and distinction) to be scattered up and down and mix themselves\nand be lost among the populace, as formerly, diminishing and obscuring\ntheir superiority amongst the masses; but taking them apart by\nthemselves and uniting them in one body, by their combined weight he was\nable, as it were upon the balance, to make a counter-poise to the other\nparty.\n\nFor, indeed, there was from the beginning a sort of concealed split, or\nseam, as it might be in a piece of iron, marking the different popular\nand aristocratical tendencies; but the open rivalry and contention of\nthese two opponents made the gash deep, and severed the city into the\ntwo parties of the people and the few.  And so Pericles, at that time\nmore than at any other, let loose the reins to the people, and made his\npolicy subservient to their pleasure, contriving continually to have\nsome great public show or solemnity, some banquet, or some procession or\nother in the town to please them, coaxing his countrymen like children,\nwith such delights and pleasures as were not, however, unedifying.\nBesides that every year he sent out threescore galleys, on board of\nwhich there went numbers of the citizens, who were in pay eight months,\nlearning at the same time and practicing the art of seamanship.\n\nHe sent, moreover, a thousand of them into the Chersonese as planters,\nto share the land among them by lot, and five hundred more into the isle\nof Naxos, and half that number to Andros, a thousand into Thrace to\ndwell among the Bisaltae, and others into Italy, when the city Sybaris,\nwhich now was called Thurii, was to be repeopled.  And this he did to\nease and discharge the city of an idle, and, by reason of their\nidleness, a busy, meddling crowd of people; and at the same time to meet\nthe necessities and restore the fortunes of the poor townsmen, and to\nintimidate, also, and check their allies from attempting any change, by\nposting such garrisons, as it were, in the midst of them.\n\nThat which gave most pleasure and ornament to the city of Athens, and\nthe greatest admiration and even astonishment to all strangers, and that\nwhich now is Greece's only evidence that the power she boasts of and her\nancient wealth are no romance or idle story, was his construction of the\npublic and sacred buildings.  Yet this was that of all his actions in\nthe government which his enemies most looked askance upon and caviled at\nin the popular assemblies, crying out how that the commonwealth of\nAthens had lost its reputation and was ill-spoken of abroad for removing\nthe common treasure of the Greeks from the isle of Delos into their own\ncustody; and how that their fairest excuse for so doing, namely, that\nthey took it away for fear the barbarians should seize it, and on\npurpose to secure it in a safe place, this Pericles had made\nunavailable, and how that \"Greece cannot but resent it as an\ninsufferable affront, and consider herself to be tyrannized over openly,\nwhen she sees the treasure, which was contributed by her upon a\nnecessity for the war, wantonly lavished out by us upon our city, to\ngild her all over, and to adorn and set her forth, as it were some vain\nwoman, hung round with precious stones and figures and temples, which\ncost a world of money.\"\n\nPericles, on the other hand, informed the people, that they were in no\nway obliged to give any account of those moneys to their allies, so long\nas they maintained their defense, and kept off the barbarians from\nattacking them; while in the meantime they did not so much as supply\none horse or man or ship, but only found money for the service; \"which\nmoney,\" said he, \"is not theirs that give it, but theirs that receive\nit, if so be they perform the conditions upon which they receive it.\"\nAnd that it was good reason, that, now the city was sufficiently\nprovided and stored with all things necessary for the war, they should\nconvert the overplus of its wealth to such undertakings, as would\nhereafter, when completed, give them eternal honor, and, for the\npresent, while in process, freely supply all the inhabitants with\nplenty.  With their variety of workmanship and of occasions for service,\nwhich summon all arts and trades and require all hands to be employed\nabout them, they do actually put the whole city, in a manner, into\nstate-pay; while at the same time she is both beautified and maintained\nby herself.  For as those who are of age and strength for war are\nprovided for and maintained in the armaments abroad by their pay out of\nthe public stock, so, it being his desire and design that the\nundisciplined mechanic multitude that stayed at home should not go\nwithout their share of public salaries, and yet should not have them\ngiven them for sitting still and doing nothing, to that end he thought\nfit to bring in among them, with the approbation of the people, these\nvast projects of buildings and designs of works, that would be of some\ncontinuance before they were finished, and would give employment to\nnumerous arts, so that the part of the people that stayed at home might,\nno less than those that were at sea or in garrisons or on expeditions,\nhave a fair and just occasion of receiving the benefit and having their\nshare of the public moneys.\n\nThe materials were stone, brass, ivory, gold, ebony cypress-wood; and\nthe arts or trades that wrought and fashioned them were smiths and\ncarpenters, molders, founders and braziers, stone-cutters, dyers,\ngoldsmiths, ivory-workers, painters, embroiderers, turners; those again\nthat conveyed them to the town for use, merchants and mariners and ship-\nmasters by sea, and by land, cartwrights, cattle-breeders, waggoners,\nrope-makers, flax-workers, shoe-makers and leather-dressers, roadmakers,\nminers.  And every trade in the same nature, as a captain in an army has\nhis particular company of soldiers under him, had its own hired company\nof journeymen and laborers belonging to it banded together as in array,\nto be as it were the instrument and body for the performance of the\nservice.  Thus, to say all in a word, the occasions and services of\nthese public works distributed plenty through every age and condition.\n\nAs then grew the works up, no less stately in size than exquisite in\nform, the workmen striving to outvie the material and the design with\nthe beauty of their workmanship, yet the most wonderful thing of all was\nthe rapidity of their execution.  Undertakings, any one of which singly\nmight have required, they thought, for their completion, several\nsuccessions and ages of men, were every one of them accomplished in the\nheight and prime of one man's political service.  Although they say,\ntoo, that Zeuxis once, having heard Agatharchus the painter boast of\ndispatching his work with speed and ease, replied, \"I take a long time.\"\nFor ease and speed in doing a thing do not give the work lasting\nsolidity or exactness of beauty; the expenditure of time allowed to a\nman's pains beforehand for the production of a thing is repaid by way of\ninterest with a vital force for its preservation when once produced.\nFor which reason Pericles's works are especially admired, as having been\nmade quickly, to last long.  For every particular piece of his work was\nimmediately, even at that time, for its beauty and elegance, antique;\nand yet in its vigor and freshness looks to this day as if it were just\nexecuted.  There is a sort of bloom of newness upon those works of his,\npreserving them from the touch of time, as if they had some perennial\nspirit and undying vitality mingled in the composition of them.\n\nPhidias had the oversight of all the works, and was surveyor-general,\nthough upon the various portions other great masters and workmen were\nemployed.  For Callicrates and Ictinus built the Parthenon; the chapel\nat Eleusis, where the mysteries were celebrated, was begun by Coroebus,\nwho erected the pillars that stand upon the floor or pavement, and\njoined them to the architraves; and after his death Metagenes of Xypete\nadded the frieze and the upper line of columns; Xenocles of Cholargus\nroofed or arched the lantern on the top of the temple of Castor and\nPollux; and the long wall, which Socrates says he himself heard Pericles\npropose to the people, was undertaken by Callicrates.  This work\nCratinus ridicules, as long in finishing, --\n\n'Tis long since Pericles, if words would do it,\nTalk'd up the wall; yet adds not one mite to it.\n\nThe Odeum, or music-room, which in its interior was full of seats and\nranges of pillars, and outside had its roof made to slope and descend\nfrom one single point at the top, was constructed, we are told, in\nimitation of the king of Persia's Pavilion; this likewise by Pericles's\norder; which Cratinus again, in his comedy called The Thracian Women,\nmade an occasion of raillery, --\n\nSo, we see here,\nJupiter Long-pate Pericles appear,\nSince ostracism time, he's laid aside his head,\nAnd wears the new Odeum in its stead.\n\nPericles, also, eager for distinction, then first obtained the decree\nfor a contest in musical skill to be held yearly at the Panathenaea, and\nhe himself, being chosen judge, arranged the order and method in which\nthe competitors should sing and play on the flute and on the harp.  And\nboth at that time, and at other times also, they sat in this music-room\nto see and hear all such trials of skill.\n\nThe propylaea, or entrances to the Acropolis, were finished in five\nyears' time, Mnesicles being the principal architect.  A strange\naccident happened in the course of building, which showed that the\ngoddess was not averse to the work, but was aiding and cooperating to\nbring it to perfection.  One of the artificers, the quickest and the\nhandiest workman among them all, with a slip of his foot fell down from\na great height, and lay in a miserable condition, the physicians having\nno hopes of his recovery.  When Pericles was in distress about this,\nMinerva appeared to him at night in a dream, and ordered a course of\ntreatment, which he applied, and in a short time and with great ease\ncured the man.  And upon this occasion it was that he set up a brass\nstatue of Minerva, surnamed Health, in the citadel near the altar, which\nthey say was there before.  But it was Phidias who wrought the goddess's\nimage in gold, and he has his name inscribed on the pedestal as the\nworkman of it; and indeed the whole work in a manner was under his\ncharge, and he had, as we have said already, the oversight over all the\nartists and workmen, through Pericles's friendship for him; and this,\nindeed, made him much envied, and his patron shamefully slandered with\nstories, as if Phidias were in the habit of receiving, for Pericles's\nuse, freeborn women that came to see the works.  The comic writers of\nthe town, when they had got hold of this story, made much of it, and\nbespattered him with all the ribaldry they could invent, charging him\nfalsely with the wife of Menippus, one who was his friend and served as\nlieutenant under him in the wars; and with the birds kept by Pyrilampes,\nan acquaintance of Pericles, who, they pretended, used to give presents\nof peacocks to Pericles's female friends.  And how can one wonder at any\nnumber of strange assertions from men whose whole lives were devoted to\nmockery, and who were ready at any time to sacrifice the reputation of\ntheir superiors to vulgar envy and spite, as to some evil genius, when\neven Stesimbrotus the Thasian has dared to lay to the charge of Pericles\na monstrous and fabulous piece of criminality with his son's wife?  So\nvery difficult a matter is it to trace and find out the truth of\nanything by history, when, on the one hand, those who afterwards write\nit find long periods of time intercepting their view, and, on the other\nhand, the contemporary records of any actions and lives, partly through\nenvy and ill-will, partly through favor and flattery, pervert and\ndistort truth.\n\nWhen the orators, who sided with Thucydides and his party, were at one\ntime crying out, as their custom was, against Pericles, as one who\nsquandered away the public money, and made havoc of the state revenues,\nhe rose in the open assembly and put the question to the people, whether\nthey thought that he had laid out much; and they saying, \"Too much, a\ngreat deal.\"  \"Then,\" said he, \"since it is so, let the cost not go to\nyour account, but to mine; and let the inscription upon the buildings\nstand in my name.\"  When they heard him say thus, whether it were out of\na surprise to see the greatness of his spirit, or out of emulation of\nthe glory of the works, they cried aloud, bidding him to spend on, and\nlay out what he thought fit from the public purse, and to spare no cost,\ntill all were finished.\n\nAt length, coming to a final contest with Thucydides, which of the two\nshould ostracize the other out of the country, and having gone through\nthis peril, he threw his antagonist out, and broke up the confederacy\nthat had been organized against him.  So that now all schism and\ndivision being at an end, and the city brought to evenness and unity, he\ngot all Athens and all affairs that pertained to the Athenians into his\nown hands, their tributes, their armies, and their galleys, the islands,\nthe sea, and their wide-extended power, partly over other Greeks and\npartly over barbarians, and all that empire, which they possessed,\nfounded and fortified upon subject nations and royal friendships and\nalliances.\n\nAfter this he was no longer the same man he had been before, nor as tame\nand gentle and familiar as formerly with the populace, so as readily to\nyield to their pleasures and to comply with the desires of the\nmultitude, as a steersman shifts with the winds.  Quitting that loose,\nremiss, and, in some cases, licentious court of the popular will, he\nturned those soft and flowery modulations to the austerity of\naristocratical and regal rule; and employing this uprightly and\nundeviatingly for the country's best interests, he was able generally to\nlead the people along, with their own wills and consents, by persuading\nand showing them what was to be done; and sometimes, too, urging and\npressing them forward extremely against their will, he made them,\nwhether they would or no, yield submission to what was for their\nadvantage.  In which, to say the truth, he did but like a skillful\nphysician, who, in a complicated and chronic disease, as he sees\noccasion, at one while allows his patient the moderate use of such\nthings as please him, at another while gives him keen pains and drugs to\nwork the cure.  For there arising and growing up, as was natural, all\nmanner of distempered feelings among a people which had so vast a\ncommand and dominion, he alone, as a great master, knowing how to handle\nand deal fitly with each one of them, and, in an especial manner, making\nthat use of hopes and fears, as his two chief rudders, with the one to\ncheck the career of their confidence at any time, with the other to\nraise them up and cheer them when under any discouragement, plainly\nshowed by this, that rhetoric, or the art of speaking, is, in Plato's\nlanguage, the government of the souls of men, and that her chief\nbusiness is to address the affections and passions, which are as it were\nthe strings and keys to the soul, and require a skillful and careful\ntouch to be played on as they should be.  The source of this\npredominance was not barely his power of language, but, as Thucydides\nassures us, the reputation of his life, and the confidence felt in his\ncharacter; his manifest freedom from every kind of corruption, and\nsuperiority to all considerations of money.  Notwithstanding he had made\nthe city Athens, which was great of itself, as great and rich as can be\nimagined, and though he were himself in power and interest more than\nequal to many kings and absolute rulers, who some of them also\nbequeathed by will their power to their children, he, for his part, did\nnot make the patrimony his father left him greater than it was by one\ndrachma.\n\nThucydides, indeed, gives a plain statement of the greatness of his\npower; and the comic poets, in their spiteful manner, more than hint at\nit, styling his companions and friends the new Pisistratidae, and\ncalling on him to abjure any intention of usurpation, as one whose\neminence was too great to be any longer proportionable to and compatible\nwith a democracy or popular government.  And Teleclides says the\nAthenians had surrendered up to him --\n\nThe tribute of the cities, and with them, the cities too, to do with\nthem as he pleases, and undo;\nTo build up, if he likes, stone walls around a town; and again, if so he\nlikes, to pull them down;\nTheir treaties and alliances, power, empire, peace, and war, their\nwealth and their success forevermore.\n\nNor was all this the luck of some happy occasion; nor was it the mere\nbloom and grace of a policy that flourished for a season; but having for\nforty years together maintained the first place among statesmen such as\nEphialtes and Leocrates and Myronides and Cimon and Tolmides and\nThucydides were, after the defeat and banishment of Thucydides, for no\nless than fifteen years longer, in the exercise of one continuous\nunintermitted command in the office, to which he was annually reelected,\nof General, he preserved his integrity unspotted; though otherwise he\nwas not altogether idle or careless in looking after his pecuniary\nadvantage; his paternal estate, which of right belonged to him, he so\nordered that it might neither through negligence be wasted or lessened,\nnor yet, being so full of business as he was, cost him any great trouble\nor time with taking care of it; and put it into such a way of management\nas he thought to be the most easy for himself, and the most exact.  All\nhis yearly products and profits he sold together in a lump, and supplied\nhis household needs afterward by buying everything that he or his\nfamily wanted out of the market.  Upon which account, his children, when\nthey grew to age, were not well pleased with his management, and the\nwomen that lived with him were treated with little cost, and complained\nof this way of housekeeping, where everything was ordered and set down\nfrom day to day, and reduced to the greatest exactness; since there was\nnot there, as is usual in a great family and a plentiful estate, any\nthing to spare, or over and above; but all that went out or came in, all\ndisbursements and all receipts, proceeded as it were by number and\nmeasure.  His manager in all this was a single servant, Evangelus by\nname, a man either naturally gifted or instructed by Pericles so as to\nexcel every one in this art of domestic economy.\n\nAll this, in truth, was very little in harmony with Anaxagoras's wisdom;\nif, indeed, it be true that he, by a kind of divine impulse and\ngreatness of spirit, voluntarily quitted his house, and left his land to\nlie fallow and to be grazed by sheep like a common.  But the life of a\ncontemplative philosopher and that of an active statesman are, I\npresume, not the same thing; for the one merely employs, upon great and\ngood objects of thought, an intelligence that requires no aid of\ninstruments nor supply of any external materials; whereas the other, who\ntempers and applies his virtue to human uses, may have occasion for\naffluence, not as a matter of mere necessity, but as a noble thing;\nwhich was Pericles's case, who relieved numerous poor citizens.\n\nHowever, there is a story, that Anaxagoras himself, while Pericles was\ntaken up with public affairs, lay neglected, and that, now being grown\nold, he wrapped himself up with a resolution to die for want of food;\nwhich being by chance brought to Pericles's ear, he was horror-struck,\nand instantly ran thither, and used all the arguments and entreaties he\ncould to him, lamenting not so much Anaxagoras's condition as his own,\nshould he lose such a counselor as he had found him to be; and that,\nupon this, Anaxagoras unfolded his robe, and showing himself, made\nanswer:  \"Pericles,\" said he, \"even those who have occasion for a lamp\nsupply it with oil.\"\n\nThe Lacedaemonians beginning to show themselves troubled at the growth\nof the Athenian power, Pericles, on the other hand, to elevate the\npeople's spirit yet more, and to raise them to the thought of great\nactions, proposed a decree, to summon all the Greeks in what part\nsoever, whether of Europe or Asia, every city, little as well as great,\nto send their deputies to Athens to a general assembly, or convention,\nthere to consult and advise concerning the Greek temples which the\nbarbarians had burnt down, and the sacrifices which were due from them\nupon vows they had made to their gods for the safety of Greece when they\nfought against the barbarians; and also concerning the navigation of the\nsea, that they might henceforward all of them pass to and fro and trade\nsecurely, and be at peace among themselves.\n\nUpon this errand, there were twenty men, of such as were above fifty\nyears of age, sent by commission; five to summon the Ionians and Dorians\nin Asia, and the islanders as far as Lesbos and Rhodes; five to visit\nall the places in the Hellespont and Thrace, up to Byzantium; and other\nfive besides these to go to Boeotia and Phocis and Peloponnesus, and\nfrom hence to pass through the Locrians over to the neighboring\ncontinent, as far as Acarnania and Ambracia; and the rest to take their\ncourse through Euboea to the Oetaeans and the Malian Gulf, and to the\nAchaeans of Phthiotis and the Thessalians; all of them to treat with the\npeople as they passed, and to persuade them to come and take their part\nin the debates for settling the peace and jointly regulating the affairs\nof Greece.\n\nNothing was effected, nor did the cities meet by their deputies, as was\ndesired; the Lacedaemonians, as it is said, crossing the design\nunderhand, and the attempt being disappointed and baffled first in\nPeloponnesus.  I thought fit, however, to introduce the mention of it,\nto show the spirit of the man and the greatness of his thoughts.\n\nIn his military conduct, he gained a great reputation for wariness; he\nwould not by his good-will engage in any fight which had much\nuncertainty or hazard; he did not envy the glory of generals whose rash\nadventures fortune favored with brilliant success, however they were\nadmired by others; nor did he think them worthy his imitation, but\nalways used to say to his citizens that, so far as lay in his power,\nthey should continue immortal, and live forever.  Seeing Tolmides, the\nson of Tolmaeus, upon the confidence of his former successes, and\nflushed with the honor his military actions had procured him, making\npreparation to attack the Boeotians in their own country, when there was\nno likely opportunity, and that he had prevailed with the bravest and\nmost enterprising of the youth to enlist themselves as volunteers in the\nservice, who besides his other force made up a thousand, he endeavored\nto withhold him and to advise him from it in the public assembly,\ntelling him in a memorable saying of his, which still goes about, that,\nif he would not take Pericles's advice, yet he would not do amiss to\nwait and be ruled by time, the wisest counselor of all.  This saying, at\nthat time, was but slightly commended; but within a few days after, when\nnews was brought that Tolmides himself had been defeated and slain in\nbattle near Coronea, and that many brave citizens had fallen with him,\nit gained him great repute as well as good-will among the people, for\nwisdom and for love of his countrymen.\n\nBut of all his expeditions, that to the Chersonese gave most\nsatisfaction and pleasure, having proved the safety of the Greeks who\ninhabited there.  For not only by carrying along with him a thousand\nfresh citizens of Athens he gave new strength and vigor to the cities,\nbut also by belting the neck of land, which joins the peninsula to the\ncontinent, with bulwarks and forts from sea to sea, he put a stop to the\ninroads of the Thracians, who lay all about the Chersonese, and closed\nthe door against a continual and grievous war, with which that country\nhad been long harassed, lying exposed to the encroachments and influx of\nbarbarous neighbors, and groaning under the evils of a predatory\npopulation both upon and within its borders.\n\nNor was he less admired and talked of abroad for his sailing round the\nPeloponnesus, having set out from Pegae, or The Fountains, the port of\nMegara, with a hundred galleys.  For he not only laid waste the sea-\ncoast, as Tolmides had done before, but also, advancing far up into main\nland with the soldiers he had on board, by the terror of his appearance\ndrove many within their walls; and at Nemea, with main force, routed and\nraised a trophy over the Sicyonians, who stood their ground and joined\nbattle with him.  And having taken on board a supply of soldiers into\nthe galleys, out of Achaia, then in league with Athens he crossed with\nthe fleet to the opposite continent, and, sailing along by the mouth of\nthe river Achelous overran Acarnania, and shut up the Oeniadae within\ntheir city walls, and having ravaged and wasted their country, weighed\nanchor for home with the double advantage of having shown himself\nformidable to his enemies, and at the same time safe and energetic to\nhis fellow-citizens; for there was not so much as any chance-miscarriage\nthat happened, the whole voyage through, to those who were under his\ncharge.\n\nEntering also the Euxine Sea with a large and finely equipped fleet, he\nobtained for the Greek cities any new arrangements they wanted, and\nentered into friendly relations with them; and to the barbarous nations,\nand kings and chiefs round about them, displayed the greatness of the\npower of the Athenians, their perfect ability and confidence to sail\nwherever they had a mind, and to bring the whole sea under their\ncontrol.  He left the Sinopians thirteen ships of war, with soldiers\nunder the command of Lamachus, to assist them against Timesileus the\ntyrant; and when he and his accomplices had been thrown out, obtained a\ndecree that six hundred of the Athenians that were willing should sail\nto Sinope and plant themselves there with the Sinopians, sharing among\nthem the houses and land which the tyrant and his party had previously\nheld.\n\nBut in other things he did not comply with the giddy impulses of the\ncitizens, nor quit his own resolutions to follow their fancies, when,\ncarried away with the thought of their strength and great success, they\nwere eager to interfere again in Egypt, and to disturb the king of\nPersia's maritime dominions.  Nay, there were a good many who were, even\nthen, possessed with that unblessed and inauspicious passion for Sicily,\nwhich afterward the orators of Alcibiades's party blew up into a flame.\nThere were some also who dreamt of Tuscany and of Carthage, and not\nwithout plausible reason in their present large dominion and the\nprosperous course of their affairs.\n\nBut Pericles curbed this passion for foreign conquest, and unsparingly\npruned and cut down their ever busy fancies for a multitude of\nundertakings; and directed their power for the most part to securing and\nconsolidating what they had already got, supposing it would be quite\nenough for them to do, if they could keep the Lacedaemonians in check;\nto whom he entertained all along a sense of opposition; which, as upon\nmany other occasions, so he particularly showed by what he did in the\ntime of the holy war.  The Lacedaemonians, having gone with an army to\nDelphi, restored Apollo's temple, which the Phocians had got into their\npossession, to the Delphians; immediately after their departure,\nPericles, with another army, came and restored the Phocians.  And the\nLacedaemonians having engraven the record of their privilege of\nconsulting the oracle before others, which the Delphians gave them, upon\nthe forehead of the brazen wolf which stands there, he, also, having\nreceived from the Phocians the like privilege for the Athenians, had it\ncut upon the same wolf of brass on his right side.\n\nThat he did well and wisely in thus restraining the exertions of the\nAthenians within the compass of Greece, the events themselves that\nhappened afterward bore sufficient witness.  For, in the first place,\nthe Euboeans revolted, against whom he passed over with forces; and\nthen, immediately after, news came that the Megarians were turned their\nenemies, and a hostile army was upon the borders of Attica, under the\nconduct of Plistoanax, king of the Lacedaemonians.  Wherefore Pericles\ncame with his army back again in all haste out of Euboea, to meet the\nwar which threatened at home; and did not venture to engage a numerous\nand brave army eager for battle; but perceiving that Plistoanax was a\nvery young man, and governed himself mostly by the counsel and advice of\nCleandrides, whom the ephors had sent with him, by reason of his youth,\nto be a kind of guardian and assistant to him, he privately made trial\nof this man's integrity, and, in a short time, having corrupted him with\nmoney, prevailed with him to withdraw the Peloponnesians out of Attica.\nWhen the army had retired and dispersed into their several states, the\nLacedaemonians in anger fined their king in so large a sum of money,\nthat, unable to pay it, he quitted Lacedaemon; while Cleandrides fled,\nand had sentence of death passed upon him in his absence.  This was the\nfather of Gylippus, who overpowered the Athenians in Sicily.  And it\nseems that this covetousness was an hereditary disease transmitted from\nfather to son; for Gylippus also afterwards was caught in foul\npractices, and expelled from Sparta for it.  But this we have told at\nlarge in the account of Lysander.\n\nWhen Pericles, in giving up his accounts of this expedition, stated a\ndisbursement of ten talents, as laid out upon fit occasion, the people,\nwithout any question, nor troubling themselves to investigate the\nmystery, freely allowed of it.  And some historians, in which number is\nTheophrastus the philosopher, have given it as a truth that Pericles\nevery year used to send privately the sum of ten talents to Sparta, with\nwhich he complimented those in office, to keep off the war; not to\npurchase peace neither, but time, that he might prepare at leisure, and\nbe the better able to carry on war hereafter.\n\nImmediately after this, turning his forces against the revolters, and\npassing over into the island of Euboea with fifty sail of ships and five\nthousand men in arms, he reduced their cities, and drove out the\ncitizens of the Chalcidians, called Hippobotae, horse-feeders, the\nchief persons for wealth and reputation among them; and removing all the\nHistiaeans out of the country, brought in a plantation of Athenians in\ntheir room; making them his one example of severity, because they had\ncaptured an Attic ship and killed all on board.\n\nAfter this, having made a truce between the Athenians and Lacedaemonians\nfor thirty years, he ordered, by public decree, the expedition against\nthe Isle of Samos, on the ground, that, when they were bid to leave off\ntheir war with the Milesians, they had not complied.  And as these\nmeasures against the Samians are thought to have been taken to please\nAspasia, this may be a fit point for inquiry about the woman, what art\nor charming faculty she had that enabled her to captivate, as she did,\nthe greatest statesmen, and to give the philosophers occasion to speak\nso much about her, and that, too, not to her disparagement.  That she\nwas a Milesian by birth, the daughter of Axiochus, is a thing\nacknowledged.  And they say it was in emulation of Thargelia, a\ncourtesan of the old Ionian times, that she made her addresses to men of\ngreat power.  Thargelia was a great beauty, extremely charming, and at\nthe same time sagacious; she had numerous suitors among the Greeks, and\nbrought all who had to do with her over to the Persian interest, and by\ntheir means, being men of the greatest power and station, sowed the\nseeds of the Median faction up and down in several cities.  Aspasia,\nsome say, was courted and caressed by Pericles upon account of her\nknowledge and skill in politics.  Socrates himself would sometimes go to\nvisit her, and some of his acquaintance with him; and those who\nfrequented her company would carry their wives with them to listen to\nher.  Her occupation was any thing but creditable, her house being a\nhome for young courtesans.  Aeschines tells us also, that Lysicles, a\nsheep-dealer, a man of low birth and character, by keeping Aspasia\ncompany after Pericles's death, came to be a chief man in Athens.  And\nin Plato's Menexenus, though we do not take the introduction as quite\nserious, still thus much seems to be historical, that she had the repute\nof being resorted to by many of the Athenians for instruction in the art\nof speaking.  Pericles's inclination for her seems, however, to have\nrather proceeded from the passion of love.  He had a wife that was near\nof kin to him, who had been married first to Hipponicus, by whom she had\nCallias, surnamed the Rich; and also she brought Pericles, while she\nlived with him, two sons, Xanthippus and Paralus.  Afterwards, when they\ndid not well agree nor like to live together, he parted with her, with\nher own consent, to another man, and himself took Aspasia, and loved her\nwith wonderful affection; every day, both as he went out and as he came\nin from the marketplace, he saluted and kissed her.\n\nIn the comedies she goes by the nicknames of the new Omphale and\nDeianira, and again is styled Juno.  Cratinus, in downright terms, calls\nher a harlot.\n\nTo find him a Juno the goddess of lust\nBore that harlot past shame,\nAspasia by name.\n\nIt should seem, also, that he had a son by her; Eupolis, in his Demi,\nintroduced Pericles asking after his safety, and Myronides replying,\n\n\"My son?\"  \"He lives; a man he had been long,\nBut that the harlot-mother did him wrong.\"\n\nAspasia, they say, became so celebrated and renowned, that Cyrus also,\nwho made war against Artaxerxes for the Persian monarchy, gave her whom\nhe loved the best of all his concubines the name of Aspasia, who before\nthat was called Milto.  She was a Phocaean by birth, the daughter of one\nHermotimus, and, when Cyrus fell in battle, was carried to the king, and\nhad great influence at court.  These things coming into my memory as I\nam writing this story, it would be unnatural for me to omit them.\n\nPericles, however, was particularly charged with having proposed to the\nassembly the war against the Samians, from favor to the Milesians, upon\nthe entreaty of Aspasia.  For the two states were at war for the\npossession of Priene; and the Samians, getting the better, refused to\nlay down their arms and to have the controversy betwixt them decided by\narbitration before the Athenians.  Pericles, therefore, fitting out a\nfleet, went and broke up the oligarchical government at Samos, and,\ntaking fifty of the principal men of the town as hostages, and as many\nof their children, sent them to the isle of Lemnos, there to be kept,\nthough he had offers, as some relate, of a talent a piece for himself\nfrom each one of the hostages, and of many other presents from those who\nwere anxious not to have a democracy.  Moreover, Pissuthnes the Persian,\none of the king's lieutenants, bearing some good-will to the Samians,\nsent him ten thousand pieces of gold to excuse the city.  Pericles,\nhowever, would receive none of all this; but after he had taken that\ncourse with the Samians which he thought fit, and set up a democracy\namong them, sailed back to Athens.\n\nBut they, however, immediately revolted, Pissuthnes having privily got\naway their hostages for them, and provided them with means for the war.\nWhereupon Pericles came out with a fleet a second time against them, and\nfound them not idle nor slinking away, but manfully resolved to try for\nthe dominion of the sea.  The issue was, that, after a sharp sea-fight\nabout the island called Tragia, Pericles obtained a decisive victory,\nhaving with forty-four ships routed seventy of the enemy's, twenty of\nwhich were carrying soldiers.\n\nTogether with his victory and pursuit, having made himself master of the\nport, he laid siege to the Samians, and blocked them up, who yet, one\nway or other, still ventured to make sallies, and fight under the city\nwalls.  But after that another greater fleet from Athens was arrived,\nand that the Samians were now shut up with a close leaguer on every\nside, Pericles, taking with him sixty galleys, sailed out into the main\nsea, with the intention, as most authors give the account, to meet a\nsquadron of Phoenician ships that were coming for the Samians' relief,\nand to fight them at as great distance as could be from the island;\nbut, as Stesimbrotus says, with a design of putting over to Cyprus;\nwhich does not seem to be probable.  But whichever of the two was his\nintent, it seems to have been a miscalculation.  For on his departure,\nMelissus, the son of Ithagenes, a philosopher, being at that time\ngeneral in Samos, despising either the small number of the ships that\nwere left or the inexperience of the commanders, prevailed with the\ncitizens to attack the Athenians.  And the Samians having won the\nbattle, and taken several of the men prisoners, and disabled several of\nthe ships, were masters of the sea, and brought into port all\nnecessaries they wanted for the war, which they had not before.\nAristotle says, too, that Pericles himself had been once before this\nworsted by this Melissus in a sea-fight.\n\nThe Samians, that they might requite an affront which had before been\nput upon them, branded the Athenians, whom they took prisoners, in their\nforeheads, with the figure of an owl.  For so the Athenians had marked\nthem before with a Samaena, which is a sort of ship, low and flat in the\nprow, so as to look snub-nosed, but wide and large and well-spread in\nthe hold, by which it both carries a large cargo and sails well.  And it\nwas so called, because the first of that kind was seen at Samos, having\nbeen built by order of Polycrates the tyrant.  These brands upon the\nSamians' foreheads, they say, are the allusion in the passage of\nAristophanes, where he says, --\n\nFor, oh, the Samians are a lettered people.\n\nPericles, as soon as news was brought him of the disaster that had\nbefallen his army, made all the haste he could to come in to their\nrelief, and having defeated Melissus, who bore up against him, and put\nthe enemy to flight, he immediately proceeded to hem them in with a wall,\nresolving to master them and take the town, rather with some cost and\ntime, than with the wounds and hazards of his citizens.  But as it was a\nhard matter to keep back the Athenians, who were vexed at the delay, and\nwere eagerly bent to fight, he divided the whole multitude into eight\nparts, and arranged by lot that that part which had the white bean\nshould have leave to feast and take their ease, while the other seven\nwere fighting.  And this is the reason, they say, that people, when at\nany time they have been merry, and enjoyed themselves, call it white\nday, in allusion to this white bean.\n\nEphorus the historian tells us besides, that Pericles made use of\nengines of battery in this siege, being much taken with the curiousness\nof the invention, with the aid and presence of Artemon himself, the\nengineer, who, being lame, used to be carried about in a litter, where\nthe works required his attendance, and for that reason was called\nPeriphoretus.  But Heraclides Ponticus disproves this out of Anacreon's\npoems, where mention is made of this Artemon Periphoretus several ages\nbefore the Samian war, or any of these occurrences.  And he says that\nArtemon, being a man who loved his ease, and had a great apprehension of\ndanger, for the most part kept close within doors, having two of his\nservants to hold a brazen shield over his head, that nothing might fall\nupon him from above; and if he were at any time forced upon necessity to\ngo abroad, that he was carried about in a little hanging bed, close to\nthe very ground, and that for this reason he was called Periphoretus.\n\nIn the ninth month, the Samians surrendering themselves and delivering\nup the town, Pericles pulled down their walls, and seized their\nshipping, and set a fine of a large sum of money upon them, part of\nwhich they paid down at once, and they agreed to bring in the rest by a\ncertain time, and gave hostages for security.  Duris the Samian makes a\ntragical drama out of these events, charging the Athenians and Pericles\nwith a great deal of cruelty, which neither Thucydides, nor Ephorus, nor\nAristotle have given any relation of, and probably with little regard to\ntruth; how, for example, he brought the captains and soldiers of the\ngalleys into the market-place at Miletus, and there having bound them\nfast to boards for ten days, then, when they were already all but half\ndead, gave order to have them killed by beating out their brains with\nclubs, and their dead bodies to be flung out into the open streets and\nfields, unburied.  Duris, however, who even where he has no private\nfeeling concerned, is not wont to keep his narrative within the limits\nof truth, is the more likely upon this occasion to have exaggerated the\ncalamities which befell his country, to create odium against the\nAthenians.  Pericles, however, after the reduction of Samos, returning\nback to Athens, took care that those who died in the war should be\nhonorably buried, and made a funeral harangue, as the custom is, in\ntheir commendation at their graves, for which he gained great\nadmiration.  As he came down from the stage on which he spoke, the rest\nof the women came and complimented him, taking him by the hand, and\ncrownings him with garlands and ribbons, like a victorious athlete in\nthe games; but Elpinice, coming near to him, said, \"These are brave\ndeeds, Pericles, that you have done, and such as deserve our chaplets;\nwho have lost us many a worthy citizen, not in a war with Phoenicians or\nMedes, like my brother Cimon, but for the overthrow of an allied and\nkindred city.\"  As Elpinice spoke these words, he, smiling quietly, as\nit is said, returned her answer with this verse, --\n\nOld women should not seek to be perfumed.\n\nIon says of him, that, upon this exploit of his, conquering the Samians,\nhe indulged very high and proud thoughts of himself:  whereas Agamemnon\nwas ten years taking a barbarous city, he had in nine months' time\nvanquished and taken the greatest and most powerful of the Ionians.  And\nindeed it was not without reason that he assumed this glory to himself,\nfor, in real truth, there was much uncertainty and great hazard in this\nwar, if so be, as Thucydides tells us, the Samian state were within a\nvery little of wresting the whole power and dominion of the sea out of\nthe Athenians' hands.\n\nAfter this was over, the Peloponnesian war beginning to break out in\nfull tide, he advised the people to send help to the Corcyrseans, who\nwere attacked by the Corinthians, and to secure to themselves an island\npossessed of great naval resources, since the Peloponnesians were\nalready all but in actual hostilities against them.  The people readily\nconsenting to the motion, and voting an aid and succor for them, he\ndispatched Lacedaemonius, Cimon's son, having only ten ships with him,\nas it were out of a design to affront him; for there was a great\nkindness and friendship betwixt Cimon's family and the Lacedaemonians;\nso, in order that Lacedaemonius might lie the more open to a charge, or\nsuspicion at least, of favoring the Lacedaemonians and playing false, if\nhe performed no considerable exploit in this service, he allowed him a\nsmall number of ships, and sent him out against his will; and indeed he\nmade it somewhat his business to hinder Cimon's sons from rising in the\nstate, professing that by their very names they were not to be looked\nupon as native and true Athenians, but foreigners and strangers, one\nbeing called Lacedaemonius, another Thessalus, and the third Eleus; and\nthey were all three of them, it was thought, born of an Arcadian woman.\nBeing, however, ill spoken of on account of these ten galleys, as having\nafforded but a small supply to the people that were in need, and yet\ngiven a great advantage to those who might complain of the act of\nintervention, Pericles sent out a larger force afterward to Corcyra,\nwhich arrived after the fight was over.  And when now the Corinthians,\nangry and indignant with the Athenians, accused them publicly at\nLacedaemon, the Megarians joined with them, complaining that they were,\ncontrary to common right and the articles of peace sworn to among the\nGreeks, kept out and driven away from every market and from all ports\nunder the control of the Athenians.  The Aeginetans, also, professing to\nbe ill-used and treated with violence, made supplications in private to\nthe Lacedaemonians for redress, though not daring openly to call the\nAthenians in question.  In the meantime, also, the city Potidaea, under\nthe dominion of the Athenians, but a colony formerly of the Corinthians,\nhad revolted, and was beset with a formal siege, and was a further\noccasion of precipitating the war.\n\nYet notwithstanding all this, there being embassies sent to Athens, and\nArchidamus, the king of the Lacedaemonians, endeavoring to bring the\ngreater part of the complaints and matters in dispute to a fair\ndetermination, and to pacify and allay the heats of the allies, it is\nvery likely that the war would not upon any other grounds of quarrel\nhave fallen upon the Athenians, could they have been prevailed with to\nrepeal the ordinance against the Megarians, and to be reconciled to\nthem.  Upon which account, since Pericles was the man who mainly opposed\nit, and stirred up the people's passions to persist in their contention\nwith the Megarians, he was regarded as the sole cause of the war.\n\nThey say, moreover, that ambassadors went, by order from Lacedaemon to\nAthens about this very business, and that when Pericles was urging a\ncertain law which made it illegal to take down or withdraw the tablet of\nthe decree, one of the ambassadors, Polyalces by name, said, \"Well, do\nnot take it down then, but turn it; there is no law, I suppose, which\nforbids that;\" which, though prettily said, did not move Pericles from\nhis resolution.  There may have been, in all likelihood, something of a\nsecret grudge and private animosity which he had against the Megarians.\nYet, upon a public and open charge against them, that they had\nappropriated part of the sacred land on the frontier, he proposed a\ndecree that a herald should be sent to them, and the same also to the\nLacedaemonians, with an accusation of the Megarians; an order which\ncertainly shows equitable and friendly proceeding enough.  And after\nthat the herald who was sent, by name Anthemocritus, died, and it was\nbelieved that the Megarians had contrived his death, then Charinus\nproposed a decree against them, that there should be an irreconcilable\nand implacable enmity thenceforward betwixt the two commonwealths; and\nthat if any one of the Megarians should but set his foot in Attica, he\nshould be put to death; and that the commanders, when they take the\nusual oath, should, over and above that, swear that they will twice\nevery year make an inroad into the Megarian country; and that\nAnthemocritus should be buried near the Thriasian Gates, which are now\ncalled the Dipylon, or Double Gate.\n\nOn the other hand, the Megarians, utterly denying and disowning the\nmurder of Anthemocritus, throw the whole matter upon Aspasia and\nPericles, availing themselves of the famous verses in the Acharnians,\n\nTo Megara some of our madcaps ran,\nAnd stole Simaetha thence, their courtesan.\nWhich exploit the Megarians to outdo,\nCame to Aspasia's house, and took off two.\n\nThe true occasion of the quarrel is not so easy to find out.  But of\ninducing the refusal to annul the decree, all alike charge Pericles.\nSome say he met the request with a positive refusal, out of high spirit\nand a view of the state's best interests, accounting that the demand\nmade in those embassies was designed for a trial of their compliance,\nand that a concession would be taken for a confession of weakness, as if\nthey durst not do otherwise; while other some there are who say that it\nwas rather out of arrogance and a willful spirit of contention, to show\nhis own strength, that he took occasion to slight the Lacedaemonians.\nThe worst motive of all, which is confirmed by most witnesses, is to the\nfollowing effect.  Phidias the Molder had, as has before been said,\nundertaken to make the statue of Minerva.  Now he, being admitted to\nfriendship with Pericles, and a great favorite of his, had many enemies\nupon this account, who envied and maligned him; who also, to make trial\nin a case of his, what kind of judges the commons would prove, should\nthere be occasion to bring Pericles himself before them, having tampered\nwith Menon, one who had been a workman with Phidias, stationed him ill\nthe market-place, with a petition desiring public security upon his\ndiscovery and impeachment of Phidias.  The people admitting the man to\ntell his story, and the prosecution proceeding in the assembly, there\nwas nothing of theft or cheat proved against him; for Phidias, from the\nvery first beginning, by the advice of Pericles, had so wrought and\nwrapt the gold that was used in the work about the statue, that they\nmight take it all off and make out the just weight of it, which Pericles\nat that time bade the accusers do.  But the reputation of his works was\nwhat brought envy upon Phidias, especially that where he represents the\nfight of the Amazons upon the goddesses' shield, he had introduced a\nlikeness of himself as a bald old man holding up a great stone with both\nhands, and had put in a very fine representation of Pericles fighting\nwith an Amazon.  And the position of the hand, which holds out the spear\nin front of the face, was ingeniously contrived to conceal in some\ndegree the likeness, which, meantime, showed itself on either side.\n\nPhidias then was carried away to prison, and there died of a disease;\nbut, as some say, of poison, administered by the enemies of Pericles, to\nraise a slander, or a suspicion, at least, as though he had procured it.\nThe informer Menon, upon Glycon's proposal, the people made free from\npayment of taxes and customs, and ordered the generals to take care that\nnobody should do him any hurt.  About the same time, Aspasia was\nindicted of impiety, upon the complaint of Hermippus the comedian, who\nalso laid further to her charge that she received into her house\nfreeborn women for the uses of Pericles.  And Diopithes proposed a\ndecree, that public accusation should be laid against persons who\nneglected religion, or taught new doctrines about things above,\ndirecting suspicion, by means of Anaxagoras, against Pericles himself.\nThe people receiving and admitting these accusations and complaints, at\nlength, by this means, they came to enact a decree, at the motion of\nDracontides, that Pericles should bring in the accounts of the moneys he\nhad expended, and lodge them with the Prytanes; and that the judges,\ncarrying their suffrage from the altar in the Acropolis, should examine\nand determine the business in the city.  This last clause Hagnon took\nout of the decree, and moved that the causes should be tried before\nfifteen hundred jurors, whether they should be styled prosecutions for\nrobbery, or bribery, or any kind of malversation.  Aspasia, Pericles\nbegged off, shedding, as Aeschines says, many tears at the trial, and\npersonally entreating the jurors.  But fearing how it might go with\nAnaxagoras, he sent him out of the city.  And finding that in Phidias's\ncase he had miscarried with the people, being afraid of impeachment, he\nkindled the war, which hitherto had lingered and smothered, and blew it\nup into a flame; hoping, by that means, to disperse and scatter these\ncomplaints and charges, and to allay their jealousy; the city usually\nthrowing herself upon him alone, and trusting to his sole conduct, upon\nthe urgency of great affairs and public dangers, by reason of his\nauthority and the sway he bore.\n\nThese are given out to have been the reasons which induced Pericles not\nto suffer the people of Athens to yield to the proposals of the\nLacedaemonians; but their truth is uncertain.\n\nThe Lacedaemonians, for their part, feeling sure that if they could once\nremove him, they might be at what terms they pleased with the Athenians,\nsent them word that they should expel the \"Pollution\" with which\nPericles on the mother's side was tainted, as Thucydides tells us.  But\nthe issue proved quite contrary to what those who sent the message\nexpected; instead of bringing Pericles under suspicion and reproach,\nthey raised him into yet greater credit and esteem with the citizens, as\na man whom their enemies most hated and feared.  In the same way, also,\nbefore Archidamus, who was at the head of the Peloponnesians, made his\ninvasion into Attica, he told the Athenians beforehand, that if\nArchidamus, while he laid waste the rest of the country, should forbear\nand spare his estate, either on the ground of friendship or right of\nhospitality that was betwixt them, or on purpose to give his enemies an\noccasion of traducing him, that then he did freely bestow upon the state\nall that his land and the buildings upon it for the public use.  The\nLacedaemonians, therefore, and their allies, with a great army, invaded\nthe Athenian territories, under the conduct of king Archidamus, and\nlaying waste the country, marched on as far as Acharnae, and there\npitched their camp, presuming that the Athenians would never endure\nthat, but would come out and fight them for their country's and their\nhonor's sake.  But Pericles looked upon it as dangerous to engage in\nbattle, to the risk of the city itself, against sixty thousand men-at-\narms of Peloponnesians and Boeotians; for so many they were in number\nthat made the inroad at first; and he endeavored to appease those who\nwere desirous to fight, and were grieved and discontented to see how\nthings went, and gave them good words, saying, that \"trees, when they\nare lopped and cut, grow up again in a short time but men, being once\nlost, cannot easily be recovered.\"  He did not convene the people into\nan assembly, for fear lest they should force him to act against his\njudgment; but, like a skillful steersman or pilot of a ship, who, when a\nsudden squall comes on, out at sea, makes all his arrangements, sees\nthat all is tight and fast, and then follows the dictates of his skill,\nand minds the business of the ship, taking no notice of the tears and\nentreaties of the sea-sick and fearful passengers, so he, having shut up\nthe city gates, and placed guards at all posts for security, followed\nhis own reason and judgment, little regarding those that cried out\nagainst him and were angry at his management, although there were a\ngreat many of his friends that urged him with requests, and many of his\nenemies threatened and accused him for doing as he did, and many made\nsongs and lampoons upon him, which were sung about the town to his\ndisgrace, reproaching him with the cowardly exercise of his office of\ngeneral, and the tame abandonment of everything to the enemy's hands.\n\nCleon, also, already was among his assailants, making use of the feeling\nagainst him as a step to the leadership of the people, as appears in the\nanapaestic verses of Hermippus.\n\nSatyr-king, instead of swords,\nWill you always handle words?\nVery brave indeed we find them,\nBut a Teles lurks behind them.\n\nYet to gnash your teeth you're seen,\nWhen the little dagger keen,\nWhetted every day anew,\nOf sharp Cleon touches you.\n\nPericles, however, was not at all moved by any attacks, but took all\npatiently, and submitted in silence to the disgrace they threw upon him\nand the ill-will they bore him; and, sending out a fleet of a hundred\ngalleys to Peloponnesus, he did not go along with it in person, but\nstayed behind, that he might watch at home and keep the city under his\nown control, till the Peloponnesians broke up their camp and were gone.\nYet to soothe the common people, jaded and distressed with the war, he\nrelieved them with distributions of public moneys, and ordained new\ndivisions of subject land.  For having turned out all the people of\nAegina, he parted the island among the Athenians, according to lot.\nSome comfort, also, and ease in their miseries, they might receive from\nwhat their enemies endured.  For the fleet, sailing round the\nPeloponnese, ravaged a great deal of the country, and pillaged and\nplundered the towns and smaller cities; and by land he himself entered\nwith an army the Megarian country, and made havoc of it all.  Whence it\nis clear that the Peloponnesians, though they did the Athenians much\nmischief by land, yet suffering as much themselves from them by sea,\nwould not have protracted the war to such a length, but would quickly\nhave given it over, as Pericles at first foretold they would, had not\nsome divine power crossed human purposes.\n\nIn the first place, the pestilential disease, or plague, seized upon the\ncity, and ate up all the flower and prime of their youth and strength.\nUpon occasion of which, the people, distempered and afflicted in their\nsouls, as well as in their bodies, were utterly enraged like madmen\nagainst Pericles, and, like patients grown delirious, sought to lay\nviolent hands on their physician, or, as it were, their father.  They\nhad been possessed, by his enemies, with the belief that the occasion of\nthe plague was the crowding of the country people together into the\ntown, forced as they were now, in the heat of the summer-weather, to\ndwell many of them together even as they could, in small tenements and\nstifling hovels, and to be tied to a lazy course of life within doors,\nwhereas before they lived in a pure, open, and free air.  The cause and\nauthor of all this, said they, is he who on account of the war has\npoured a multitude of people from the country in upon us within the\nwalls, and uses all these many men that he has here upon no employ or\nservice, but keeps them pent up like cattle, to be overrun with\ninfection from one another, affording them neither shift of quarters nor\nany refreshment.\n\nWith the design to remedy these evils, and do the enemy some\ninconvenience, Pericles got a hundred and fifty galleys ready, and\nhaving embarked many tried soldiers, both foot and horse, was about to\nsail out, giving great hope to his citizens, and no less alarm to his\nenemies, upon the sight of so great a force.  And now the vessels having\ntheir complement of men, and Pericles being gone aboard his own galley,\nit happened that the sun was eclipsed, and it grew dark on a sudden, to\nthe affright of all, for this was looked upon as extremely ominous.\nPericles, therefore, perceiving the steersman seized with fear and at a\nloss what to do, took his cloak and held it up before the man's face,\nand, screening him with it so that he could not see, asked him whether\nhe imagined there was any great hurt, or the sign of any great hurt in\nthis, and he answering No, \"Why,\" said he, \"and what does that differ\nfrom this, only that what has caused that darkness there, is something\ngreater than a cloak?\"  This is a story which philosophers tell their\nscholars.  Pericles, however after putting out to sea, seems not to have\ndone any other exploit befitting such preparations, and when he had laid\nsiege to the holy city Epidaurus, which gave him some hope of surrender,\nmiscarried in his design by reason of the sickness.  For it not only\nseized upon the Athenians, but upon all others, too, that held any sort\nof communication with the army.  Finding after this the Athenians ill\naffected and highly displeased with him, he tried and endeavored what he\ncould to appease and re-encourage them.  But he could not pacify or\nallay their anger, nor persuade or prevail with them any way, till they\nfreely passed their votes upon him, resumed their power, took away his\ncommand from him, and fined him in a sum of money; which, by their\naccount that say least, was fifteen talents, while they who reckon most,\nname fifty.  The name prefixed to the accusation was Cleon, as Idomeneus\ntells us; Simmias, according to Theophrastus; and Heraclides Ponticus\ngives it as Lacratidas.\n\nAfter this, public troubles were soon to leave him unmolested; the\npeople, so to say, discharged their passion in their stroke, and lost\ntheir stings in the wound.  But his domestic concerns were in an unhappy\ncondition many of his friends and acquaintance having died in the plague\ntime, and those of his family having long since been in disorder and in\na kind of mutiny against him.  For the eldest of his lawfully begotten\nsons, Xanthippus by name, being naturally prodigal, and marrying a young\nand expensive wife, the daughter of Tisander, son of Epilycus, was\nhighly offended at his father's economy in making him but a scanty\nallowance, by little and little at a time.  He sent, therefore, to a\nfriend one day, and borrowed some money of him in his father Pericles's\nname, pretending it was by his order.  The man coming afterward to\ndemand the debt, Pericles was so far from yielding to pay it, that he\nentered an action against him.  Upon which the young man, Xanthippus,\nthought himself so ill used and disobliged, that he openly reviled his\nfather; telling first, by way of ridicule, stories about his\nconversations at home, and the discourses he had with the sophists and\nscholars that came to his house.  As for instance, how one who was a\npracticer of the five games of skill, having with a dart or javelin\nunawares against his will struck and killed Epitimus the Pharsalian, his\nfather spent a whole day with Protagoras in a serious dispute, whether\nthe javelin, or the man that threw it, or the masters of the games who\nappointed these sports, were, according to the strictest and best\nreason, to be accounted the cause of this mischance.  Besides this,\nStesimbrotus tells us that it was Xanthippus who spread abroad among the\npeople the infamous story concerning his own wife; and in general that\nthis difference of the young man's with his father, and the breach\nbetwixt them, continued never to be healed or made up till his death.\nFor Xanthippus died in the plague time of the sickness.  At which time\nPericles also lost his sister, and the greatest part of his relations\nand friends, and those who had been most useful and serviceable to him\nin managing the affairs of state.  However, he did not shrink or give in\nupon these occasions, nor betray or lower his high spirit and the\ngreatness of his mind under all his misfortunes; he was not even so much\nas seen to weep or to mourn, or even attend the burial of any of his\nfriends or relations, till at last he lost his only remaining legitimate\nson.  Subdued by this blow and yet striving still, as far as he could,\nto maintain his principle and to preserve and keep up the greatness of\nhis soul when he came, however, to perform the ceremony of putting a\ngarland of flowers upon the head of the corpse, he was vanquished by his\npassion at the sight, so that he burst into exclamations, and shed\ncopious tears, having never done any such thing in all his life before.\n\nThe city having made trial of other generals for the conduct of war, and\norators for business of state, when they found there was no one who was\nof weight enough for such a charge, or of authority sufficient to be\ntrusted with so great a command, regretted the loss of him, and invited\nhim again to address and advise them, and to reassume the office of\ngeneral.  He, however, lay at home in dejection and mourning; but was\npersuaded by Alcibiades and others of his friends to come abroad and\nshow himself to the people; who having, upon his appearance, made their\nacknowledgments, and apologized for their untowardly treatment of him,\nhe undertook the public affairs once more; and, being chosen general,\nrequested that the statute concerning base-born children, which he\nhimself had formerly caused to be made, might be suspended; that so the\nname and race of his family might not, for absolute want of a lawful\nheir to succeed, be wholly lost and extinguished.  The case of the\nstatute was thus:  Pericles, when long ago at the height of his power in\nthe state, having then, as has been said, children lawfully begotten,\nproposed a law that those only should be reputed true citizens of Athens\nwho were born of such parents as were both Athenians.  After this, the\nking of Egypt having sent to the people, by way of present, forty\nthousand bushels of wheat, which were to be shared out among the\ncitizens, a great many actions and suits about legitimacy occurred, by\nvirtue of that edict; cases which, till that time, had not been known\nnor taken notice of; and several persons suffered by false accusations.\nThere were little less than five thousand who were convicted and sold\nfor slaves; those who, enduring the test, remained in the government and\npassed muster for true Athenians were found upon the poll to be fourteen\nthousand and forty persons in number.\n\nIt looked strange, that a law, which had been carried so far against so\nmany people, should be canceled again by the same man that made it; yet\nthe present calamity and distress which Pericles labored under in his\nfamily broke through all objections, and prevailed with the Athenians to\npity him, as one whose losses and misfortunes had sufficiently punished\nhis former arrogance and haughtiness.  His sufferings deserved, they\nthought, their pity, and even indignation, and his request was such as\nbecame a man to ask and men to grant; they gave him permission to enroll\nhis son in the register of his fraternity, giving him his own name.\nThis son afterward, after having defeated the Peloponnesians at\nArginusae, was, with his fellow-generals, put to death by the people.\n\nAbout the time when his son was enrolled, it should seem, the plague\nseized Pericles, not with sharp and violent fits, as it did others that\nhad it, but with a dull and lingering distemper, attended with various\nchanges and alterations, leisurely, by little and little, wasting the\nstrength of his body, and undermining the noble faculties of his soul.\nSo that Theophrastus, in his Morals, when discussing whether men's\ncharacters change with their circumstances, and their moral habits,\ndisturbed by the ailings of their bodies, start aside from the rules of\nvirtue, has left it upon record, that Pericles, when he was sick, showed\none of his friends that came to visit him, an amulet or charm that the\nwomen had hung about his neck; as much as to say, that he was very sick\nindeed when he would admit of such a foolery as that was.\n\nWhen he was now near his end, the best of the citizens and those of his\nfriends who were left alive, sitting about him, were speaking of the\ngreatness of his merit, and his power, and reckoning up his famous\nactions and the number of his victories; for there were no less than\nnine trophies, which, as their chief commander and conqueror of their\nenemies, he had set up, for the honor of the city.  They talked thus\ntogether among themselves, as though he were unable to understand or\nmind what they said, but had now lost his consciousness.  He had\nlistened, however, all the while, and attended to all, and speaking out\namong them, said, that he wondered they should commend and take notice\nof things which were as much owing to fortune as to anything else, and\nhad happened to many other commanders, and, at the same time, should not\nspeak or make mention of that which was the most excellent and greatest\nthing of all.  \"For,\" said he, \"no Athenian, through my means, ever wore\nmourning.\"\n\nHe was indeed a character deserving our high admiration, not only for\nhis equitable and mild temper, which all along in the many affairs of\nhis life, and the great animosities which he incurred, he constantly\nmaintained; but also for the high spirit and feeling which made him\nregard it the noblest of all his honors that, in the exercise of such\nimmense power, he never had gratified his envy or his passion, nor ever\nhad treated any enemy as irreconcilably opposed to him.  And to me it\nappears that this one thing gives that otherwise childish and arrogant\ntitle a fitting and becoming significance; so dispassionate a temper, a\nlife so pure and unblemished, in the height of power and place, might\nwell be called Olympian, in accordance with our conceptions of the\ndivine beings, to whom, as the natural authors of all good and of\nnothing evil, we ascribe the rule and government of the world.  Not as\nthe poets represent, who, while confounding us with their ignorant\nfancies, are themselves confuted by their own poems and fictions, and\ncall the place, indeed, where they say the gods make their abode, a\nsecure and quiet seat, free from all hazards and commotions, untroubled\nwith winds or with clouds, and equally through all time illumined with a\nsoft serenity and a pure light, as though such were a home most\nagreeable for a blessed and immortal nature; and yet, in the meanwhile,\naffirm that the gods themselves are full of trouble and enmity and anger\nand other passions, which no way become or belong to even men that have\nany understanding.  But this will, perhaps, seem a subject fitter for\nsome other consideration, and that ought to be treated of in some other\nplace.\n\nThe course of public affairs after his death produced a quick and speedy\nsense of the loss of Pericles.  Those who, while he lived, resented his\ngreat authority, as that which eclipsed themselves, presently after his\nquitting the stage, making trial of other orators and demagogues,\nreadily acknowledged that there never had been in nature such a\ndisposition as his was, more moderate and reasonable in the height of\nthat state he took upon him, or more grave and impressive in the\nmildness which he used.  And that invidious arbitrary power, to which\nformerly they gave the name of monarchy and tyranny, did then appear to\nhave been the chief bulwark of public safety; so great a corruption and\nsuch a flood of mischief and vice followed, which he, by keeping weak\nand low, had withheld from notice, and had prevented from attaining\nincurable height through a licentious impunity.\n\n\n\nFABIUS\n\nHaving related the memorable actions of Pericles, our history now\nproceeds to the life of Fabius.  A son of Hercules and a nymph, or some\nwoman of that country, who brought him forth on the banks of Tiber, was,\nit is said, the first Fabius, the founder of the numerous and\ndistinguished family of the name.  Others will have it that they were\nfirst called Fodii, because the first of the race delighted in digging\npitfalls for wild beasts, fodere being still the Latin for to dig, and\nfossa for a ditch, and that in process of time, by the change of the two\nletters they grew to be called Fabii.  But be these things true or\nfalse, certain it is that this family for a long time yielded a great\nnumber of eminent persons.  Our Fabius, who was fourth in descent from\nthat Fabius Rullus who first brought the honorable surname of Maximus\ninto his family, was also, by way of personal nickname, called\nVerrucosus, from a wart on his upper lip; and in his childhood they in\nlike manner named him Ovicula, or The Lamb, on account of his extreme\nmildness of temper.  His slowness in speaking, his long labor and pains\nin learning, his deliberation in entering into the sports of other\nchildren, his easy submission to everybody, as if he had no will of his\nown, made those who judged superficially of him, the greater number,\nesteem him insensible and stupid; and few only saw that this tardiness\nproceeded from stability, and discerned the greatness of his mind, and\nthe lionlikeness of his temper.  But as soon as he came into\nemployments, his virtues exerted and showed themselves; his reputed want\nof energy then was recognized by people in general, as a freedom of\npassion; his slowness in words and actions, the effect of a true\nprudence; his want of rapidity, and his sluggishness, as constancy and\nfirmness.\n\nLiving in a great commonwealth, surrounded by many enemies, he saw the\nwisdom of inuring his body (nature's own weapon) to warlike exercises,\nand disciplining his tongue for public oratory in a style comformable\nto his life and character.  His eloquence, indeed, had not much of\npopular ornament, nor empty artifice, but there was in it great weight\nof sense; it was strong and sententious, much after the way of\nThucydides.  We have yet extant his funeral oration upon the death of\nhis son, who died consul, which he recited before the people.\n\nHe was five times consul, and in his first consulship had the honor of a\ntriumph for the victory he gained over the Ligurians, whom he defeated\nin a set battle, and drove them to take shelter in the Alps, from whence\nthey never after made any inroad nor depredation upon their neighbors.\nAfter this, Hannibal came into Italy, who, at his first entrance, having\ngained a great battle near the river Trebia, traversed all Tuscany with\nhis victorious army, and, desolating the country round about, filled\nRome itself with astonishment and terror.  Besides the more common signs\nof thunder and lightning then happening, the report of several unheard\nof and utterly strange portents much increased the popular\nconsternation.  For it was said that some targets sweated blood; that at\nAntium, when they reaped their corn, many of the ears were filled with\nblood; that it had rained redhot stones; that the Falerians had seen the\nheavens open and several scrolls falling down, in one of which was\nplainly written, \"Mars himself stirs his arms.\"  But these prodigies had\nno effect upon the impetuous and fiery temper of the consul Flaminius,\nwhose natural promptness had been much heightened by his late unexpected\nvictory over the Gauls, when he fought them contrary to the order of the\nsenate and the advice of his colleague.  Fabius, on the other side,\nthought it not seasonable to engage with the enemy; not that he much\nregarded the prodigies, which he thought too strange to be easily\nunderstood, though many were alarmed by them; but in regard that the\nCarthaginians were but few, and in want of money and supplies, he deemed\nit best not to meet in the field a general whose army had been tried in\nmany encounters, and whose object was a battle, but to send aid to their\nallies, control the movements of the various subject cities, and let the\nforce and vigor of Hannibal waste away and expire, like a flame, for want\nof aliment.\n\nThese weighty reasons did not prevail with Flaminius, who protested he\nwould never suffer the advance of the enemy to the city, nor be reduced,\nlike Camillus in former time, to fight for Rome within the walls of\nRome.  Accordingly he ordered the tribunes to draw out the army into the\nfield; and though he himself, leaping on horseback to go out, was no\nsooner mounted but the beast, without any apparent cause, fell into so\nviolent a fit of trembling and bounding that he cast his rider headlong\non the ground, he was no ways deterred; but proceeded as he had begun,\nand marched forward up to Hannibal, who was posted near the Lake\nThrasymene in Tuscany.  At the moment of this engagement, there happened\nso great an earthquake, that it destroyed several towns, altered the\ncourse of rivers, and carried off parts of high cliffs, yet such was the\neagerness of the combatants, that they were entirely insensible of it.\n\nIn this battle Flaminius fell, after many proofs of his strength and\ncourage, and round about him all the bravest of the army, in the whole,\nfifteen thousand were killed, and as many made prisoners.  Hannibal,\ndesirous to bestow funeral honors upon the body of Flaminius, made\ndiligent search after it, but could not find it among the dead, nor was\nit ever known what became of it.  Upon the former engagement near\nTrebia, neither the general who wrote, nor the express who told the\nnews, used straightforward and direct terms, nor related it otherwise\nthan as a drawn battle, with equal loss on either side; but on this\noccasion, as soon as Pomponius the praetor had the intelligence, he\ncaused the people to assemble, and, without disguising or dissembling\nthe matter, told them plainly, \"We are beaten, O Romans, in a great\nbattle; the consul Flaminius is killed; think, therefore, what is to be\ndone for your safety.\"  Letting loose his news like a gale of wind upon\nan open sea, he threw the city into utter confusion:  in such\nconsternation, their thoughts found no support or stay.  The danger at\nhand at last awakened their judgments into a resolution to choose a\ndictator, who, by the sovereign authority of his office and by his\npersonal wisdom and courage, might be able to manage the public affairs.\nTheir choice unanimously fell upon Fabius, whose character seemed equal\nto the greatness of the office; whose age was so far advanced as to give\nhim experience, without taking from him the vigor of action; his body\ncould execute what his soul designed; and his temper was a happy\ncompound of confidence and cautiousness.\n\nFabius, being thus installed in the office of dictator, in the first\nplace gave the command of the horse to Lucius Minucius; and next asked\nleave of the senate for himself, that in time of battle he might serve\non horseback, which by an ancient law amongst the Romans was forbid to\ntheir generals; whether it were, that, placing their greatest strength\nin their foot, they would have their commanders-in-chief posted amongst\nthem, or else to let them know, that, how great and absolute soever\ntheir authority were, the people and senate were still their masters, of\nwhom they must ask leave.  Fabius, however, to make the authority of his\ncharge more observable, and to render the people more submissive and\nobedient to him, caused himself to be accompanied with the full body of\nfour and twenty lictors; and, when the surviving consul came to visit\nhim, sent him word to dismiss his lictors with their fasces, the ensigns\nof authority, and appear before him as a private person.\n\nThe first solemn action of his dictatorship was very fitly a religious\none:  an admonition to the people, that their late overthrow had not\nbefallen them through want of courage in their soldiers, but through the\nneglect of divine ceremonies in the general.  He therefore exhorted them\nnot to fear the enemy, but by extraordinary honor to propitiate the\ngods.  This he did, not to fill their minds with superstition, but by\nreligious feeling to raise their courage, and lessen their fear of the\nenemy by inspiring the belief that Heaven was on their side.  With this\nview, the secret prophecies called the Sibylline Books were consulted;\nsundry predictions found in them were said to refer to the fortunes and\nevents of the time; but none except the consulter was informed.\nPresenting himself to the people, the dictator made a vow before them to\noffer in sacrifice the whole product of the next season, all Italy over,\nof the cows, goats, swine, sheep, both in the mountains and the plains;\nand to celebrate musical festivities with an expenditure of the precise\nsum of 333 sestertia and 333 denarii, with one third of a denarius over.\nThe sum total of which is, in our money, 83,583 drachmas and 2 obols.\nWhat the mystery might be in that exact number is not easy to determine,\nunless it were in honor of the perfection of the number three, as being\nthe first of odd numbers, the first that contains in itself\nmultiplication, with all other properties whatsoever belonging to\nnumbers in general.\n\nIn this manner Fabius having given the people better heart for the\nfuture, by making them believe that the gods took their side, for his\nown part placed his whole confidence in himself, believing that the gods\nbestowed victory and good fortune by the instrumentality of valor and of\nprudence; and thus prepared he set forth to oppose Hannibal, not with\nintention to fight him, but with the purpose of wearing out and wasting\nthe vigor of his arms by lapse of time, of meeting his want of resources\nby superior means, by large numbers the smallness of his forces.  With\nthis design, he always encamped on the highest grounds, where the\nenemy's horse could have no access to him.  Still he kept pace with\nthem; when they marched he followed them, when they encamped he did the\nsame, but at such a distance as not to be compelled to an engagement,\nand always keeping upon the hills, free from the insults of their horse;\nby which means he gave them no rest, but kept them in a continual alarm.\n\nBut this his dilatory way gave occasion in his own camp for suspicion of\nwant of courage; and this opinion prevailed yet more in Hannibal's army.\nHannibal was himself the only man who was not deceived, who discerned\nhis skill and detected his tactics, and saw, unless he could by art or\nforce bring him to battle, that the Carthaginians, unable to use the\narms in which they were superior, and suffering the continual drain of\nlives and treasure in which they were inferior, would in the end come to\nnothing.  He resolved, therefore, with all the arts and subtilties of\nwar to break his measures, and to bring Fabius to an engagement; like a\ncunning wrestler, watching every opportunity to get good hold and close\nwith his adversary.  He at one time attacked, and sought to distract his\nattention, tried to draw him off in various directions, endeavored in\nall ways to tempt him from his safe policy.  All this artifice, though\nit had no effect upon the firm judgment and conviction of the dictator.\nyet upon the common soldier and even upon the general of the horse\nhimself, it had too great an operation:  Minucius, unseasonably eager\nfor action, bold and confident, humored the soldiery, and himself\ncontributed to fill them with wild eagerness and empty hopes, which they\nvented in reproaches upon Fabius, calling him Hannibal's pedagogue,\nsince he did nothing else but follow him up and down and wait upon him.\nAt the same time, they cried up Minucius for the only captain worthy to\ncommand the Romans; whose vanity and presumption rose so high in\nconsequence, that he insolently jested at Fabius's encampments upon the\nmountains, saying that he seated them there as on a theater, to behold\nthe flames and desolation of their country.  And he would sometimes ask\nthe friends of the general, whether it were not his meaning, by thus\nleading them from mountain to mountain, to carry them at last (having no\nhopes on earth) up into heaven, or to hide them in the clouds from\nHannibal's army?  When his friends reported these things to the\ndictator, persuading him that, to avoid the general obloquy, he should\nengage the enemy, his answer was, \"I should be more fainthearted than\nthey make me, if, through fear of idle reproaches, I should abandon my\nown convictions.  It is no inglorious thing to have fear for the safety\nof our country, but to be turned from one's course by men's opinions, by\nblame, and by misrepresentation, shows a man unfit to hold an office\nsuch as this, which, by such conduct, he makes the slave of those whose\nerrors it is his business to control.\"\n\nAn oversight of Hannibal occurred soon after.  Desirous to refresh his\nhorse in some good pasture-grounds, and to draw off his army, he ordered\nhis guides to conduct him to the district of Casinum.  They, mistaking\nhis bad pronunciation, led him and his army to the town of Casilinum, on\nthe frontier of Campania which the river Lothronus, called by the Romans\nVulturnus, divides in two parts.  The country around is enclosed by\nmountains, with a valley opening towards the sea, in which the river\noverflowing forms a quantity of marsh land with deep banks of sand, and\ndischarges itself into the sea on a very unsafe and rough shore.  While\nHannibal was proceeding hither, Fabius, by his knowledge of the roads,\nsucceeded in making his way around before him, and dispatched four\nthousand choice men to seize the exit from it and stop him up, and\nlodged the rest of his army upon the neighboring hills in the most\nadvantageous places; at the same time detaching a party of his lightest\narmed men to fall upon Hannibal's rear; which they did with such\nsuccess, that they cut off eight hundred of them, and put the whole army\nin disorder.  Hannibal, finding the error and the danger he was fallen\ninto, immediately crucified the guides; but considered the enemy to be\nso advantageously posted, that there was no hopes of breaking through\nthem; while his soldiers began to be despondent and terrified, and to\nthink themselves surrounded with embarrassments too difficult to be\nsurmounted.\n\nThus reduced, Hannibal had recourse to stratagem; he caused two thousand\nhead of oxen which he had in his camp, to have torches or dry fagots\nwell fastened to their horns, and lighting them in the beginning of the\nnight, ordered the beasts to be driven on towards the heights commanding\nthe passages out of the valley and the enemy's posts; when this was\ndone, he made his army in the dark leisurely march after them.  The oxen\nat first kept a slow, orderly pace, and with their lighted heads\nresembled an army marching by night, astonishing the shepherds and herds\nmen of the hills about.  But when the fire had burnt down the horns of\nthe beasts to the quick, they no longer observed their sober pace, but,\nunruly and wild with their pain, ran dispersed about, tossing their\nheads and scattering the fire round about them upon each other and\nsetting light as they passed to the trees.  This was a surprising\nspectacle to the Romans on guard upon the heights.  Seeing flames which\nappeared to come from men advancing with torches, they were possessed\nwith the alarm that the enemy was approaching in various quarters, and\nthat they were being surrounded; and, quitting their post, abandoned the\npass, and precipitately retired to their camp on the hills.  They were\nno sooner gone, but the light-armed of Hannibal's men, according to his\norder, immediately seized the heights, and soon after the whole army,\nwith all the baggage, came up and safely marched through the passes.\n\nFabius, before the night was over, quickly found out the trick; for some\nof the beasts fell into his hands; but for fear of an ambush in the\ndark, he kept his men all night to their arms in the camp.  As soon as\nit was day, he attacked the enemy in the rear, where, after a good deal\nof skirmishing in the uneven ground, the disorder might have become\ngeneral, but that Hannibal detached from his van a body of Spaniards,\nwho, of themselves active and nimble, were accustomed to the climbing of\nmountains.  These briskly attacked the Roman troops who were in heavy\narmor, killed a good many, and left Fabius no longer in condition to\nfollow the enemy.  This action brought the extreme of obloquy and\ncontempt upon the dictator; they said it was now manifest that he was\nnot only inferior to his adversary, as they had always thought, in\ncourage, but even in that conduct, foresight, and generalship, by which\nhe had proposed to bring the war to an end.\n\nAnd Hannibal, to enhance their anger against him, marched with his army\nclose to the lands and possessions of Fabius, and, giving orders to his\nsoldiers to burn and destroy all the country about, forbade them to do\nthe least damage in the estates of the Roman general, and placed guards\nfor their security.  This, when reported at Rome, had the effect with\nthe people which Hannibal desired.  Their tribunes raised a thousand\nstories against him, chiefly at the instigation of Metilius, who, not so\nmuch out of hatred to him as out of friendship to Minucius, whose\nkinsman he was, thought by depressing Fabius to raise his friend.  The\nsenate on their part were also offended with him, for the bargain he had\nmade with Hannibal about the exchange of prisoners, the conditions of\nwhich were, that, after exchange made of man for man, if any on either\nside remained, they should be redeemed at the price of two hundred and\nfifty drachmas a head.  Upon the whole account, there remained two\nhundred and forty Romans unexchanged, and the senate now not only\nrefused to allow money for the ransoms, but also reproached Fabius for\nmaking a contract, contrary to the honor and interest of the\ncommonwealth, for redeeming men whose cowardice had put them in the\nhands of the enemy.  Fabius heard and endured all this with invincible\npatience; and, having no money by him, and on the other side being\nresolved to keep his word with Hannibal and not to abandon the captives,\nhe dispatched his son to Rome to sell land, and to bring with him the\nprice, sufficient to discharge the ransoms; which was punctually\nperformed by his son, and delivery accordingly made to him of the\nprisoners, amongst whom many, when they were released, made proposals to\nrepay the money; which Fabius in all cases declined.\n\nAbout this time, he was called to Rome by the priests, to assist,\naccording to the duty of his office, at certain sacrifices, and was thus\nforced to leave the command of the army with Minucius; but before he\nparted, not only charged him as his commander-in-chief, but besought and\nentreated him, not to come, in his absence, to a battle with Hannibal.\nHis commands, entreaties, and advice were lost upon Minucius; for his\nback was no sooner turned but the new general immediately sought\noccasions to attack the enemy.  And notice being brought him that\nHannibal had sent out a great part of his army to forage, he fell upon a\ndetachment of the remainder, doing great execution, and driving them to\ntheir very camp, with no little terror to the rest, who apprehended\ntheir breaking in upon them; and when Hannibal had recalled his\nscattered forces to the camp, he, nevertheless, without any loss, made\nhis retreat, a success which aggravated his boldness and presumption,\nand filled the soldiers with rash confidence.  The news spread to Rome,\nwhere Fabius, on being told it, said that what he most feared was\nMinucius's success:  but the people, highly elated, hurried to the forum\nto listen to an address from Metilius the tribune, in which he\ninfinitely extolled the valor of Minucius, and fell bitterly upon\nFabius, accusing him for want not merely of courage, but even of\nloyalty; and not only him, but also many other eminent and considerable\npersons; saying that it was they that had brought the Carthaginians into\nItaly, with the design to destroy the liberty of the people; for which\nend they had at once put the supreme authority into the hands of a\nsingle person, who by his slowness and delays might give Hannibal\nleisure to establish himself in Italy, and the people of Carthage time\nand opportunity to supply him with fresh succors to complete his\nconquests\n\nFabius came forward with no intention to answer the tribune, but only\nsaid, that they should expedite the sacrifices, that so he might\nspeedily return to the army to punish Minucius, who had presumed to\nfight contrary to his orders; words which immediately possessed the\npeople with the belief that Minucius stood in danger of his life.  For\nit was in the power of the dictator to imprison and to put to death, and\nthey feared that Fabius, of a mild temper in general, would be as hard\nto be appeased when once irritated, as he was slow to be provoked.\nNobody dared to raise his voice in opposition.  Metilius alone, whose\noffice of tribune gave him security to say what he pleased (for in the\ntime of a dictatorship that magistrate alone preserves his authority),\nboldly applied himself to the people in the behalf of Minucius:  that\nthey should not suffer him to be made a sacrifice to the enmity of\nFabius, nor permit him to be destroyed, like the son of Manlius\nTorquatus, who was beheaded by his father for a victory fought and\ntriumphantly won against order; he exhorted them to take away from\nFabius that absolute power of a dictator, and to put it into more worthy\nhands, better able and more inclined to use it for the public good.\nThese impressions very much prevailed upon the people, though not so far\nas wholly to dispossess Fabius of the dictatorship.  But they decreed\nthat Minucius should have an equal authority with the dictator in the\nconduct of the war; which was a thing then without precedent, though a\nlittle later it was again practiced after the disaster at Cannae; when\nthe dictator, Marcus Junius, being with the army, they chose at Rome\nFabius Buteo dictator, that he might create new senators, to supply the\nnumerous places of those who were killed.  But as soon as, once acting\nin public, he had filled those vacant places with a sufficient number,\nhe immediately dismissed his lictors, and withdrew from all his\nattendance, and, mingling like a common person with the rest of the\npeople, quietly went about his own affairs in the forum.\n\nThe enemies of Fabius thought they had sufficiently humiliated and\nsubdued him by raising Minucius to be his equal in authority; but they\nmistook the temper of the man, who looked upon their folly as not his\nloss, but like Diogenes, who, being told that some persons derided him,\nmade answer, \"But I am not derided,\" meaning that only those were really\ninsulted on whom such insults made an impression, so Fabius, with great\ntranquillity and unconcern, submitted to what happened, and contributed\na proof to the argument of the philosophers that a just and good man is\nnot capable of being dishonored.  His only vexation arose from his fear\nlest this ill counsel, by supplying opportunities to the diseased\nmilitary ambition of his subordinate, should damage the public cause.\nLest the rashness of Minucius should now at once run headlong into some\ndisaster, he returned back with all privacy and speed to the army; where\nhe found Minucius so elevated with his new dignity, that, a\njoint-authority not contenting him, he required by turns to have the\ncommand of the army every other day.  This Fabius rejected, but was\ncontented that the army should be divided; thinking each general singly\nwould better command his part, than partially command the whole.  The\nfirst and fourth legion he took for his own division, the second and\nthird he delivered to Minucius; so also of the auxiliary forces each\nhad an equal share.\n\nMinucius, thus exalted, could not contain himself from boasting of his\nsuccess in humiliating the high and powerful office of the dictatorship.\nFabius quietly reminded him that it was, in all wisdom, Hannibal, and\nnot Fabius, whom he had to combat; but if he must needs contend with his\ncolleague, it had best be in diligence and care for the preservation of\nRome; that it might not be said, a man so favored by the people served\nthem worse than he who had been ill-treated and disgraced by them.\n\nThe young general, despising these admonitions as the false humility of\nage, immediately removed with the body of his army, and encamped by\nhimself.  Hannibal, who was not ignorant of all these passages, lay\nwatching his advantage from them.  It happened that between his army and\nthat of Minucius there was a certain eminence, which seemed a very\nadvantageous and not difficult post to encamp upon; the level field\naround it appeared, from a distance, to be all smooth and even, though\nit had many inconsiderable ditches and dips in it, not discernible to\nthe eye.  Hannibal, had he pleased, could easily have possessed himself\nof this ground; but he had reserved it for a bait, or train, in proper\nseason, to draw the Romans to an engagement.  Now that Minucius and\nFabius were divided, he thought the opportunity fair for his purpose;\nand, therefore, having in the night time lodged a convenient number of\nhis men in these ditches and hollow places, early in the morning he sent\nforth a small detachment, who, in the sight of Minucius, proceeded to\npossess themselves of the rising ground.  According to his expectation,\nMinucius swallowed the bait, and first sends out his light troops, and\nafter them some horse, to dislodge the enemy; and, at last, when he saw\nHannibal in person advancing to the assistance of his men, marched down\nwith his whole army drawn up.  He engaged with the troops on the\neminence, and sustained their missiles; the combat for some time was\nequal; but as soon as Hannibal perceived that the whole army was now\nsufficiently advanced within the toils he had set for them, so that\ntheir backs were open to his men whom he had posted in the hollows, he\ngave the signal; upon which they rushed forth from various quarters, and\nwith loud cries furiously attacked Minucius in the rear.  The surprise\nand the slaughter was great, and struck universal alarm and disorder\nthrough the whole army.  Minucius himself lost all his confidence; he\nlooked from officer to officer, and found all alike unprepared to face\nthe danger, and yielding to a flight, which, however, could not end in\nsafety.  The Numidian horsemen were already in full victory riding about\nthe plain, cutting down the fugitives.\n\nFabius was not ignorant of this danger of his countrymen; he foresaw\nwhat would happen from the rashness of Minucius, and the cunning of\nHannibal; and, therefore, kept his men to their arms, in readiness to\nwait the event; nor would he trust to the reports of others, but he\nhimself, in front of his camp, viewed all that passed.  When, therefore,\nhe saw the army of Minucius encompassed by the enemy, and that by their\ncountenance and shifting their ground, they appeared more disposed to\nflight than to resistance, with a great sigh, striking his hand upon his\nthigh, he said to those about him, \"O Hercules! how much sooner than I\nexpected, though later than he seemed to desire, hath Minucius destroyed\nhimself!\"  He then commanded the ensigns to be led forward and the army\nto follow, telling them, \"We must make haste to rescue Minucius, who is\na valiant man, and a lover of his country; and if he hath been too\nforward to engage the enemy, at another time we will tell him of it.\"\nThus, at the head of his men, Fabius marched up to the enemy, and first\ncleared the plain of the Numidians; and next fell upon those who were\ncharging the Romans in the rear, cutting down all that made opposition,\nand obliging the rest to save themselves by a hasty retreat, lest they\nshould be environed as the Romans had been.  Hannibal, seeing so sudden\na change of affairs, and Fabius, beyond the force of his age, opening\nhis way through the ranks up the hill-side, that he might join Minucius,\nwarily forbore, sounded a retreat, and drew off his men into their camp;\nwhile the Romans on their part were no less contented to retire in\nsafety.  It is reported that upon this occasion Hannibal said jestingly\nto his friends:  \"Did not I tell you, that this cloud which always\nhovered upon the mountains would, at some time or other, come down with\na storm upon us?\"\n\nFabius, after his men had picked up the spoils of the field, retired to\nhis own camp, without saying any harsh or reproachful thing to his\ncolleague; who also on his part, gathering his army together, spoke and\nsaid to them:  \"To conduct great matters and never commit a fault is\nabove the force of human nature; but to learn and improve by the faults\nwe have committed, is that which becomes a good and sensible man.  Some\nreasons I may have to accuse fortune, but I have many more to thank her;\nfor in a few hours she hath cured a long mistake, and taught me that I\nam not the man who should command others, but have need of another to\ncommand me; and that we are not to contend for victory over those to\nwhom it is our advantage to yield.  Therefore in everything else\nhenceforth the dictator must be your commander; only in showing\ngratitude towards him I will still be your leader, and always be the\nfirst to obey his orders.\"  Having said this, he commanded the Roman\neagles to move forward, and all his men to follow him to the camp of\nFabius.  The soldiers, then, as he entered, stood amazed at the novelty\nof the sight, and were anxious and doubtful what the meaning might be.\nWhen he came near the dictator's tent, Fabius went forth to meet him, on\nwhich he at once laid his standards at his feet, calling him with a loud\nvoice his father; while the soldiers with him saluted the soldiers here\nas their patrons, the term employed by freedmen to those who gave them\ntheir liberty.  After silence was obtained, Minucius said, \"You have\nthis day, O dictator, obtained two victories; one by your valor and\nconduct over Hannibal, and another by your wisdom and goodness over your\ncolleague; by one victory you preserved, and by the other instructed us;\nand when we were already suffering one shameful defeat from Hannibal, by\nanother welcome one from you we were restored to honor and safety.  I\ncan address you by no nobler name than that of a kind father, though a\nfather's beneficence falls short of that I have received from you.  From\na father I individually received the gift of life; to you I owe its\npreservation not for myself only, but for all these who are under me.\"\nAfter this, he threw himself into the arms of the dictator; and in the\nsame manner the soldiers of each army embraced one another with gladness\nand tears of joy.\n\nNot long after, Fabius laid down the dictatorship, and consuls were\nagain created.  Those who immediately succeeded, observed the same\nmethod in managing the war, and avoided all occasions of fighting\nHannibal in a pitched battle; they only succored their allies, and\npreserved the towns from falling off to the enemy.  but afterwards, when\nTerentius Varro, a man of obscure birth, but very popular and bold, had\nobtained the consulship, he soon made it appear that by his rashness and\nignorance he would stake the whole commonwealth on the hazard.  For it\nwas his custom to declaim in all assemblies, that, as long as Rome\nemployed generals like Fabius there never would be an end of the war;\nvaunting that whenever he should get sight of the enemy, he would that\nsame day free Italy from the strangers.  With these promises he so\nprevailed, that he raised a greater army than had ever yet been sent out\nof Rome.  There were enlisted eighty-eight thousand fighting men; but\nwhat gave confidence to the populace, only terrified the wise and\nexperienced, and none more than Fabius; since if so great a body, and\nthe flower of the Roman youth, should be cut off, they could not see any\nnew resource for the safety of Rome.  They addressed themselves,\ntherefore, to the other consul, Aemilius Paulus, a man of great\nexperience in war, but unpopular, and fearful also of the people, who\nonce before upon some impeachment had condemned him; so that he needed\nencouragement to withstand his colleague's temerity.  Fabius told him,\nif he would profitably serve his country, he must no less oppose Varro's\nignorant eagerness than Hannibal's conscious readiness, since both alike\nconspired to decide the fate of Rome by a battle.  \"It is more\nreasonable,\" he said to him, \"that you should believe me than Varro, in\nmatters relating to Hannibal, when I tell you, that if for this year you\nabstain from fighting with him, either his army will perish of itself,\nor else he will be glad to depart of his own will.  This evidently\nappears, inasmuch as, notwithstanding his victories, none of the\ncountries or towns of Italy come in to him, and his army is not now the\nthird part of what it was at first.\"  To this Paulus is said to have\nreplied, \"Did I only consider myself, I should rather choose to be\nexposed to the weapons of Hannibal than once more to the suffrages of my\nfellow-citizens, who are urgent for what you disapprove; yet since the\ncause of Rome is at stake, I will rather seek in my conduct to please\nand obey Fabius than all the world besides.\"\n\nThese good measures were defeated by the importunity of Varro; whom,\nwhen they were both come to the army, nothing would content but a\nseparate command, that each consul should have his day; and when his\nturn came, he posted his army close to Hannibal, at a village called\nCannae, by the river Aufidus.  It was no sooner day, but he set up the\nscarlet coat flying over his tent, which was the signal of battle.  This\nboldness of the consul, and the numerousness of his army, double theirs,\nstartled the Carthaginians; but Hannibal commanded them to their arms,\nand with a small train rode out to take a full prospect of the enemy as\nthey were now forming in their ranks, from a rising ground not far\ndistant.  One of his followers, called Gisco, a Carthaginian of equal\nrank with himself, told him that the numbers of the enemy were\nastonishing; to which Hannibal replied, with a serious countenance,\n\"There is one thing, Gisco, yet more astonishing, which you take no\nnotice of;\" and when Gisco inquired what, answered, that \"in all those\ngreat numbers before us, there is not one man called Gisco.\"  This\nunexpected jest of their general made all the company laugh, and as they\ncame down from the hill, they told it to those whom they met, which\ncaused a general laughter amongst them all, from which they were hardly\nable to recover themselves.  The army, seeing Hannibal's attendants come\nback from viewing the enemy in such a laughing condition, concluded that\nit must be profound contempt of the enemy, that made their general at\nthis moment indulge in such hilarity.\n\nAccording to his usual manner, Hannibal employed stratagems to advantage\nhimself.  In the first place, he so drew up his men that the wind was at\ntheir backs, which at that time blew with a perfect storm of violence,\nand, sweeping over the great plains of sand, carried before it a cloud\nof dust over the Carthaginian army into the faces of the Romans, which\nmuch disturbed them in the fight.  In the next place, all his best men\nhe put into his wings; and in the body, which was somewhat more advanced\nthan the wings, placed the worst and the weakest of his army.  He\ncommanded those in the wings, that, when the enemy had made a thorough\ncharge upon that middle advanced body, which he knew would recoil, as\nnot being able to withstand their shock, and when the Romans, in their\npursuit, should be far enough engaged within the two wings, they should,\nboth on the right and the left, charge them in the flank, and endeavor\nto encompass them.  This appears to have been the chief cause of the\nRoman loss.  Pressing upon Hannibal's front, which gave ground, they\nreduced the form of his army into a perfect half-moon, and gave ample\nopportunity to the captains of the chosen troops to charge them right\nand left on their flanks, and to cut off and destroy all who did not\nfall back before the Carthaginian wings united in their rear.  To this\ngeneral calamity, it is also said, that a strange mistake among the\ncavalry much contributed.  For the horse of Aemilius receiving a hurt\nand throwing his master, those about him immediately alighted to aid the\nconsul; and the Roman troops, seeing their commanders thus quitting\ntheir horses, took it for a sign that they should all dismount and\ncharge the enemy on foot.  At the sight of this, Hannibal was heard to\nsay, \"This pleases me better than if they had been delivered to me bound\nhand and foot.\"  For the particulars of this engagement, we refer our\nreader to those authors who have written at large upon the subject.\n\nThe consul Varro, with a thin company, fled to Venusia; Aemilius Paulus,\nunable any longer to oppose the flight of his men, or the pursuit of the\nenemy, his body all covered with wounds, and his soul no less wounded\nwith grief, sat himself down upon a stone, expecting the kindness of a\ndispatching blow.  His face was so disfigured, and all his person so\nstained with blood, that his very friends and domestics passing by knew\nhim not.  At last Cornelius Lentulus, a young man of patrician race,\nperceiving who he was, alighted from his horse, and, tendering it to\nhim, desired him to get up and save a life so necessary to the safety of\nthe commonwealth, which, at this time, would dearly want so great a\ncaptain.  But nothing could prevail upon him to accept of the offer; he\nobliged young Lentulus, with tears in his eyes, to remount his horse;\nthen standing up, he gave him his hand, and commanded him to tell Fabius\nMaximus that Aemilius Paulus had followed his directions to his very\nlast, and had not in the least deviated from those measures which were\nagreed between them; but that it was his hard fate to be overpowered by\nVarro in the first place, and secondly by Hannibal.  Having dispatched\nLentulus with this commission, he marked where the slaughter was\ngreatest, and there threw himself upon the swords of the enemy.  In this\nbattle it is reported that fifty thousand Romans were slain, four\nthousand prisoners taken in the field, and ten thousand in the camp of\nboth consuls.\n\nThe friends of Hannibal earnestly persuaded him to follow up his\nvictory, and pursue the flying Romans into the very gates of Rome,\nassuring him that in five days' time he might sup in the capitol; nor is\nit easy to imagine what consideration hindered him from it.  It would\nseem rather that some supernatural or divine intervention caused the\nhesitation and timidity which he now displayed, and which made Barcas, a\nCarthaginian, tell him with indignation, \"You know, Hannibal, how to\ngain a victory, but not how to use it.\"  Yet it produced a marvelous\nrevolution in his affairs; he, who hitherto had not one town, market, or\nseaport in his possession, who had nothing for the subsistence of his\nmen but what he pillaged from day to day, who had no place of retreat or\nbasis of operation, but was roving, as it were, with a huge troop of\nbanditti, now became master of the best provinces and towns of Italy,\nand of Capua itself, next to Rome the most flourishing and opulent city,\nall which came over to him, and submitted to his authority.\n\nIt is the saying of Euripides, that \"a man is in ill-case when he must\ntry a friend,\" and so neither, it would seem, is a state in a good one,\nwhen it needs an able general.  And so it was with the Romans; the\ncounsels and actions of Fabius, which, before the battle, they had\nbranded as cowardice and fear, now, in the other extreme they accounted\nto have been more than human wisdom; as though nothing but a divine\npower of intellect could have seen so far, and foretold, contrary to the\njudgment of all others, a result which, even now it had arrived, was\nhardly credible.  In him, therefore, they placed their whole remaining\nhopes; his wisdom was the sacred altar and temple to which they fled for\nrefuge, and his counsels, more than anything, preserved them from\ndispersing and deserting their city, as in the time when the Gauls took\npossession of Rome.  He, whom they esteemed fearful and pusillanimous\nwhen they were, as they thought, in a prosperous condition, was now the\nonly man, in this general and unbounded dejection and confusion, who\nshowed no fear, but walked the streets with an assured and serene\ncountenance, addressed his fellow-citizens, checked the women's\nlamentations, and the public gatherings of those who wanted thus to vent\ntheir sorrows.  He caused the senate to meet, he heartened up the\nmagistrates, and was himself as the soul and life of every office.\n\nHe placed guards at the gates of the city to stop the frighted multitude\nfrom flying; he regulated and controlled their mournings for their slain\nfriends, both as to time and place; ordering that each family should\nperform such observances within private walls, and that they should\ncontinue only the space of one month, and then the whole city should be\npurified.  The feast of Ceres happening to fall within this time, it was\ndecreed that the solemnity should be intermitted, lest the fewness, and\nthe sorrowful countenance of those who should celebrate it, might too\nmuch expose to the people the greatness of their loss; besides that, the\nworship most acceptable to the gods is that which comes from cheerful\nhearts.  But those rites which were proper for appeasing their anger,\nand procuring auspicious signs and presages, were by the direction of\nthe augurs carefully performed.  Fabius Pictor, a near kinsman to\nMaximus, was sent to consult the oracle of Delphi; and about the same\ntime, two vestals having been detected to have been violated, the one\nkilled herself, and the other, according to custom, was buried alive.\n\nAbove all, let us admire the high spirit and equanimity of this Roman\ncommonwealth; that when the consul Varro came beaten and flying home,\nfull of shame and humiliation, after he had so disgracefully and\ncalamitously managed their affairs, yet the whole senate and people went\nforth to meet him at the gates of the city, and received him with honor\nand respect.  And, silence being commanded, the magistrates and chief of\nthe senate, Fabius amongst them, commended him before the people,\nbecause he did not despair of the safety of the commonwealth, after so\ngreat a loss, but was come to take the government into his hands, to\nexecute the laws, and aid his fellow-citizens in their prospect of\nfuture deliverance.\n\nWhen word was brought to Rome that Hannibal, after the fight, had\nmarched with his army into other parts of Italy, the hearts of the\nRomans began to revive, and they proceeded to send out generals and\narmies.  The most distinguished commands were held by Fabius Maximus and\nClaudius Marcellus, both generals of great fame, though upon opposite\ngrounds.  For Marcellus, as we have set forth in his life, was a man of\naction and high spirit, ready and bold with his own hand, and, as Homer\ndescribes his warriors, fierce, and delighting in fights.  Boldness,\nenterprise, and daring, to match those of Hannibal, constituted his\ntactics, and marked his engagements.  But Fabius adhered to his former\nprinciples, still persuaded that, by following close and not fighting\nhim, Hannibal and his army would at last be tired out and consumed, like\na wrestler in too high condition, whose very excess of strength makes\nhim the more likely suddenly to give way and lose it.  Posidonius tells\nus that the Romans called Marcellus their sword, and Fabius their\nbuckler; and that the vigor of the one, mixed with the steadiness of the\nother, made a happy compound that proved the salvation of Rome.  So that\nHannibal found by experience that, encountering the one, he met with a\nrapid, impetuous river, which drove him back, and still made some breach\nupon him; and by the other, though silently and quietly passing by him,\nhe was insensibly washed away and consumed; and, at last, was brought to\nthis, that he dreaded Marcellus when he was in motion, and Fabius when\nhe sat still.  During the whole course of this war, he had still to do\nwith one or both of these generals; for each of them was five times\nconsul, and, as praetors or proconsuls or consuls, they had always a\npart in the government of the army, till, at last, Marcellus fell into\nthe trap which Hannibal had laid for him, and was killed in his fifth\nconsulship.  But all his craft and subtlety were unsuccessful upon\nFabius, who only once was in some danger of being caught, when\ncounterfeit letters came to him from the principal inhabitants of\nMetapontum, with promises to deliver up their town if he would come\nbefore it with his army, and intimations that they should expect him,\nThis train had almost drawn him in; he resolved to march to them with\npart of his army, and was diverted only by consulting the omens of the\nbirds, which he found to be inauspicious; and not long after it was\ndiscovered that the letters had been forged by Hannibal, who, for his\nreception, had laid an ambush to entertain him.  This, perhaps, we must\nrather attribute to the favor of the gods than to the prudence of\nFabius.\n\nIn preserving the towns and allies from revolt by fair and gentle\ntreatment, and in not using rigor, or showing a suspicion upon every\nlight suggestion, his conduct was remarkable.  It is told of him, that,\nbeing informed of a certain Marsian, eminent for courage and good birth,\nwho had been speaking underhand with some of the soldiers about\ndeserting, Fabius was so far from using severity against him, that he\ncalled for him, and told him he was sensible of the neglect that had\nbeen shown to his merit and good service, which, he said, was a great\nfault in the commanders who reward more by favor than by desert; \"but\nhenceforward, whenever you are aggrieved,\" said Fabius, \"I shall\nconsider it your fault, if you apply yourself to any but to me;\" and\nwhen he had so spoken, he bestowed an excellent horse and other presents\nupon him; and, from that time forwards, there was not a faithfuller and\nmore trusty man in the whole army.  With good reason he judged, that, if\nthose who have the government of horses and dogs endeavor by gentle\nusage to cure their angry and untractable tempers, rather than by\ncruelty and beating, much more should those who have the command of men\ntry to bring them to order and discipline by the mildest and fairest\nmeans, and not treat them worse than gardeners do those wild plants,\nwhich, with care and attention, lose gradually the savageness of their\nnature, and bear excellent fruit.\n\nAt another time, some of his officers informed him that one of their men\nwas very often absent from his place, and out at nights; he asked them\nwhat kind of man he was; they all answered, that the whole army had not\na better man, that he was a native of Lucania, and proceeded to speak of\nseveral actions which they had seen him perform.  Fabius made strict\ninquiry, and discovered at last that these frequent excursions which he\nventured upon were to visit a young girl, with whom he was in love.\nUpon which he gave private order to some of his men to find out the\nwoman and secretly convey her into his own tent; and then sent for the\nLucanian, and, calling him aside, told him, that he very well knew how\noften he had been out away from the camp at night, which was a capital\ntransgression against military discipline and the Roman laws, but he\nknew also how brave he was, and the good services he had done;\ntherefore, in consideration of them, he was willing to forgive him his\nfault; but to keep him in good order, he was resolved to place one over\nhim to be his keeper, who should be accountable for his good behavior.\nHaving said this, he produced the woman, and told the soldier, terrified\nand amazed at the adventure, \"This is the person who must answer for\nyou; and by your future behavior we shall see whether your night rambles\nwere on account of love, or for any other worse design.\"\n\nAnother passage there was, something of the same kind, which gained him\npossession of Tarentum.  There was a young Tarentine in the army that\nhad a sister in Tarentum, then in possession of the enemy, who entirely\nloved her brother, and wholly depended upon him.  He, being informed\nthat a certain Bruttian, whom Hannibal had made a commander of the\ngarrison, was deeply in love with his sister, conceived hopes that he\nmight possibly turn it to the advantage of the Romans.  And having first\ncommunicated his design to Fabius, he left the army as a deserter in\nshow, and went over to Tarentum.  The first days passed, and the\nBruttian abstained from visiting the sister; for neither of them knew\nthat the brother had notice of the amour between them.  The young\nTarentine, however, took an occasion to tell his sister how he had heard\nthat a man of station and authority had made his addresses to her; and\ndesired her, therefore, to tell him who it was; \"for,\" said he, \"if he\nbe a man that has bravery and reputation, it matters not what countryman\nhe is, since at this time the sword mingles all nations, and makes them\nequal; compulsion makes all things honorable; and in a time when right\nis weak, we may be thankful if might assumes a form of gentleness.\"\nUpon this the woman sends for her friend, and makes the brother and him\nacquainted; and whereas she henceforth showed more countenance to her\nlover than formerly, in the same degrees that her kindness increased,\nhis friendship, also, with the brother advanced.  So that at last our\nTarentine thought this Bruttian officer well enough prepared to receive\nthe offers he had to make him; and that it would be easy for a mercenary\nman, who was in love, to accept, upon the terms proposed, the large\nrewards promised by Fabius.  In conclusion, the bargain was struck, and\nthe promise made of delivering the town.  This is the common tradition,\nthough some relate the story otherwise, and say, that this woman, by\nwhom the Bruttian was inveigled, to betray the town, was not a native of\nTarentum, but a Bruttian born, and was kept by Fabius as his concubine;\nand being a countrywoman and an acquaintance of the Bruttian governor,\nhe privately sent her to him to corrupt him.\n\nWhilst these matters were thus in process, to draw off Hannibal from\nscenting the design, Fabius sends orders to the garrison in Rhegium,\nthat they should waste and spoil the Bruttian country, and should also\nlay siege to Caulonia, and storm the place with all their might.  These\nwere a body of eight thousand men, the worst of the Roman army, who had\nmost of them been runaways, and had been brought home by Marcellus from\nSicily, in dishonor, so that the loss of them would not be any great\ngrief to the Romans.  Fabius, therefore, threw out these men as a bait\nfor Hannibal, to divert him from Tarentum; who instantly caught at it,\nand led his forces to Caulonia; in the meantime, Fabius sat down before\nTarentum.  On the sixth day of the siege, the young Tarentine slips by\nnight out of the town, and, having carefully observed the place where\nthe Bruttian commander, according to agreement, was to admit the Romans,\ngave an account of the whole matter to Fabius; who thought it not safe\nto rely wholly upon the plot, but, while proceeding with secrecy to the\npost, gave order for a general assault to be made on the other side of\nthe town, both by land and sea.  This being accordingly executed, while\nthe Tarentines hurried to defend the town on the side attacked, Fabius\nreceived the signal from the Bruttian, scaled the walls, and entered the\ntown unopposed.\n\nHere, we must confess, ambition seems to have overcome him.  To make it\nappear to the world that he had taken Tarentum by force and his own\nprowess, and not by treachery, he commanded his men to kill the\nBruttians before all others; yet he did not succeed in establishing the\nimpression he desired, but merely gained the character of perfidy and\ncruelty.  Many of the Tarentines were also killed, and thirty thousand\nof them were sold for slaves; the army had the plunder of the town, and\nthere was brought into the treasury three thousand talents.  Whilst they\nwere carrying off everything else as plunder, the officer who took the\ninventory asked what should be done with their gods, meaning the\npictures and statues; Fabius answered, \"Let us leave their angry gods to\nthe Tarentines.\"  Nevertheless, he removed the colossal statue of\nHercules, and had it set up in the capitol, with one of himself on\nhorseback, in brass, near it; proceedings very different from those of\nMarcellus on a like occasion, and which, indeed, very much set off in\nthe eyes of the world his clemency and humanity, as appears in the\naccount of his life.\n\nHannibal, it is said, was within five miles of Tarentum, when he was\ninformed that the town was taken.  He said openly, \"Rome, then, has also\ngot a Hannibal; as we won Tarentum, so have we lost it.\"  And, in\nprivate with some of his confidants, he told them, for the first time,\nthat he always thought it difficult, but now he held it impossible, with\nthe forces he then had, to master Italy.\n\nUpon this success, Fabius had a triumph decreed him at Rome, much more\nsplendid than his first; they looked upon him now as a champion who had\nlearned to cope with his antagonist, and could now easily foil his arts\nand prove his best skill ineffectual.  And, indeed, the army of Hannibal\nwas at this time partly worn away with continual action, and partly\nweakened and become dissolute with overabundance and luxury.  Marcus\nLivius, who was governor of Tarentum when it was betrayed to Hannibal,\nand then retired into the citadel, which he kept till the town was\nretaken, was annoyed at these honors and distinctions, and, on one\noccasion, openly declared in the senate, that by his resistance, more\nthan by any action of Fabius, Tarentum had been recovered; on which\nFabius laughingly replied:  \"You say very true, for if Marcus Livius had\nnot lost Tarentum, Fabius Maximus had never recovered it.\"  The people,\namongst other marks of gratitude, gave his son the consulship of the\nnext year; shortly after whose entrance upon his office, there being\nsome business on foot about provision for the war, his father, either by\nreason of age and infirmity, or perhaps out of design to try his son,\ncame up to him on horseback.  While he was still at a distance, the\nyoung consul observed it, and bade one of his lictors command his father\nto alight, and tell him that, if be had any business with the consul, he\nshould come on foot.  The standers by seemed offended at the\nimperiousness of the son towards a father so venerable for his age and\nhis authority, and turned their eyes in silence towards Fabius.  He,\nhowever, instantly alighted from his horse, and with open arms came up,\nalmost running, and embraced his son, saying, \"Yes, my son, you do well,\nand understand well what authority you have received, and over whom you\nare to use it.  This was the way by which we and our forefathers\nadvanced the dignity of Rome, preferring ever her honor and service to\nour own fathers and children.\"\n\nAnd, in fact, it is told that the great-grandfather of our Fabius, who\nwas undoubtedly the greatest man of Rome in his time, both in reputation\nand authority, who had been five times consul, and had been honored with\nseveral triumphs for victories obtained by him, took pleasure in serving\nas lieutenant under his own son, when he went as consul to his command.\nAnd when afterwards his son had a triumph bestowed upon him for his good\nservice, the old man followed, on horseback, his triumphant chariot, as\none of his attendants; and made it his glory, that while he really was,\nand was acknowledged to be, the greatest man in Rome, and held a\nfather's full power over his son, he yet submitted himself to the laws\nand the magistrate.\n\nBut the praises of our Fabius are not bounded here.  He afterwards lost\nthis son, and was remarkable for bearing the loss with the moderation\nbecoming a pious father and a wise man, and, as it was the custom\namongst the Romans, upon the death of any illustrious person, to have a\nfuneral oration recited by some of the nearest relations, he took upon\nhimself that office, and delivered a speech in the forum, which he\ncommitted afterwards to writing.\n\nAfter Cornelius Scipio, who was sent into Spain, had driven the\nCarthaginians, defeated by him in many battles, out of the country, and\nhad gained over to Rome many towns and nations with large resources, he\nwas received at his coming home with unexampled joy and acclamation of\nthe people; who, to show their gratitude, elected him consul for the\nyear ensuing.  Knowing what high expectation they had of him, he thought\nthe occupation of contesting Italy with Hannibal a mere old man's\nemployment, and proposed no less a task to himself than to make Carthage\nthe seat of the war, fill Africa with arms and devastation, and so\noblige Hannibal, instead of invading the countries of others, to draw\nback and defend his own.  And to this end he proceeded to exert all the\ninfluence he had with the people.  Fabius, on the other side, opposed\nthe undertaking with all his might, alarming the city, and telling them\nthat nothing but the temerity of a hot young man could inspire them with\nsuch dangerous counsels, and sparing no means, by word or deed, to\nprevent it.  He prevailed with the senate to espouse his sentiments; but\nthe common people thought that he envied the fame of Scipio, and that he\nwas afraid lest this young conqueror should achieve some great and noble\nexploit, and have the glory, perhaps, of driving Hannibal out of Italy,\nor even of ending the war, which had for so many years continued and\nbeen protracted under his management.\n\nTo say the truth, when Fabius first opposed this project of Scipio, he\nprobably did it out of caution and prudence, in consideration only of\nthe public safety, and of the danger which the commonwealth might incur;\nbut when he found Scipio every day increasing in the esteem of the\npeople, rivalry and ambition led him further, and made him violent and\npersonal in his opposition.  For he even applied to Crassus, the\ncolleague of Scipio, and urged him not to yield the command to Scipio,\nbut that, if his inclinations were for it, he should himself in person\nlead the army to Carthage.  He also hindered the giving money to Scipio\nfor the war; so that he was forced to raise it upon his own credit and\ninterest from the cities of Etruria, which were extremely attached to\nhim.  On the other side, Crassus would not stir against him, nor remove\nout of Italy, being, in his own nature, averse to all contention, and\nalso having, by his office of high priest, religious duties to retain\nhim.  Fabius, therefore, tried other ways to oppose the design; he\nimpeded the levies, and he declaimed, both in the senate and to the\npeople, that Scipio was not only himself flying from Hannibal, but was\nalso endeavoring to drain Italy of all its forces, and to spirit away\nthe youth of the country to a foreign war, leaving behind them their\nparents, wives, and children, and the city itself, a defenseless prey to\nthe conquering and undefeated enemy at their doors.  With this he so far\nalarmed the people, that at last they would only allow Scipio for the\nwar the legions which were in Sicily, and three hundred, whom he\nparticularly trusted, of those men who had served with him in Spain.  In\nthese transactions, Fabius seems to have followed the dictates of his\nown wary temper.\n\nBut, after that Scipio was gone over into Africa, when news almost\nimmediately came to Rome of wonderful exploits and victories, of which\nthe fame was confirmed by the spoils he sent home; of a Numidian king\ntaken prisoner; of a vast slaughter of their men; of two camps of the\nenemy burnt and destroyed, and in them a great quantity of arms and\nhorses; and when, hereupon, the Carthaginians were compelled to send\nenvoys to Hannibal to call him home, and leave his idle hopes in Italy,\nto defend Carthage; when, for such eminent and transcending services,\nthe whole people of Rome cried up and extolled the actions of Scipio;\neven then, Fabius contended that a successor should be sent in his\nplace, alleging for it only the old reason of the mutability of fortune,\nas if she would be weary of long favoring the same person.  With this\nlanguage many did begin to feel offended; it seemed to be morosity and\nill-will, the pusillanimity of old age, or a fear, that had now become\nexaggerated, of the skill of Hannibal.  Nay, when Hannibal had put his\narmy on shipboard, and taken his leave of Italy, Fabius still could not\nforbear to oppose and disturb the universal joy of Rome, expressing his\nfears and apprehensions, telling them that the commonwealth was never in\nmore danger than now, and that Hannibal was a more formidable enemy\nunder the walls of Carthage than ever he had been in Italy; that it\nwould be fatal to Rome, whenever Scipio should encounter his victorious\narmy, still warm with the blood of so many Roman generals, dictators,\nand consuls slain.  And the people were, in some degree, startled with\nthese declamations, and were brought to believe, that the further off\nHannibal was, the nearer was their danger.  Scipio, however, shortly\nafterwards fought Hannibal, and utterly defeated him, humbled the pride\nof Carthage beneath his feet, gave his countrymen joy and exultation\nbeyond all their hopes, and\n\n\"Long shaken on the seas restored the state.\"\n\nFabius Maximus, however, did not live to see the prosperous end of this\nwar, and the final overthrow of Hannibal, nor to rejoice in the\nreestablished happiness and security of the commonwealth; for about the\ntime that Hannibal left Italy, he fell sick and died.  At Thebes,\nEpaminondas died so poor that he was buried at the public charge; one\nsmall iron coin was all, it is said, that was found in his house.\nFabius did not need this, but the people, as a mark of their affection,\ndefrayed the expenses of his funeral by a private contribution from each\ncitizen of the smallest piece of coin; thus owning him their common\nfather, and making his end no less honorable than his life.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF PERICLES WITH FABIUS\n\nWe have here had two lives rich in examples, both of civil and military\nexcellence.  Let us first compare the two men in their warlike capacity.\nPericles presided in his commonwealth when it was in its most\nflourishing and opulent condition, great and growing in power; so that\nit may be thought it was rather the common success and fortune that kept\nhim from any fall or disaster.  But the task of Fabius, who undertook\nthe government in the worst and most difficult times, was not to\npreserve and maintain the well-established felicity of a prosperous\nstate, but to raise and uphold a sinking and ruinous commonwealth.\nBesides, the victories of Cimon, the trophies of Myronides and\nLeocrates, with the many famous exploits of Tolmides, were employed by\nPericles rather to fill the city with festive entertainments and\nsolemnities than to enlarge and secure its empire.  Whereas Fabius, when\nhe took upon him the government, had the frightful object before his\neyes of Roman armies destroyed, of their generals and consuls slain, of\nlakes and plains and forests strewed with the dead bodies, and rivers\nstained with the blood of his fellow-citizens; and yet, with his mature\nand solid cousels, with the firmness of his resolution, he, as it were,\nput his shoulder to the falling commonwealth, and kept it up from\nfoundering through the failings and weakness of others.  Perhaps it may\nbe more easy to govern a city broken and tamed with calamities and\nadversity, and compelled by danger and necessity to listen to wisdom,\nthan to set a bridle on wantonness and temerity, and rule a people\npampered and restive with long prosperity as were the Athenians when\nPericles held the reins of government.  But then again, not to be\ndaunted nor discomposed with the vast heap of calamities under which the\npeople of Rome at that time groaned and succumbed, argues a courage in\nFabius and a strength of purpose more than ordinary.\n\nWe may set Tarentum retaken against Samos won by Pericles, and the\nconquest of Euboea we may well balance with the towns of Campania;\nthough Capua itself was reduced by the consuls Fulvius and Appius.  I do\nnot find that Fabius won any set battle but that against the Ligurians,\nfor which he had his triumph; whereas Pericles erected nine trophies for\nas many victories obtained by land and by sea.  But no action of\nPericles can be compared to that memorable rescue of Minucius, when\nFabius redeemed both him and his army from utter destruction; a noble\nact, combining the highest valor, wisdom, and humanity.  On the other\nside, it does not appear that Pericles was ever so overreached as Fabius\nwas by Hannibal with his flaming oxen.  His enemy there had, without his\nagency, put himself accidentally into his power, yet Fabius let him slip\nin the night, and, when day came, was worsted by him, was anticipated in\nthe moment of success, and mastered by his prisoner.  If it is the part\nof a good general, not only to provide for the present, but also to have\na clear foresight of things to come, in this point Pericles is the\nsuperior; for he admonished the Athenians, and told them beforehand the\nruin the war would bring upon them, by their grasping more than they\nwere able to manage.  But Fabius was not so good a prophet, when he\ndenounced to the Romans that the undertaking of Scipio would be the\ndestruction of the commonwealth.  So that Pericles was a good prophet of\nbad success, and Fabius was a bad prophet of success that was good.\nAnd, indeed, to lose an advantage through diffidence is no less blamable\nin a general than to fall into danger for want of foresight; for both\nthese faults, though of a contrary nature, spring from the same root,\nwant of judgment and experience.\n\nAs for their civil policy, it is imputed to Pericles that he occasioned\nthe war, since no terms of peace, offered by the Lacedaemonians, would\ncontent him.  It is true, I presume, that Fabius, also, was not for\nyielding any point to the Carthaginians, but was ready to hazard all,\nrather than lessen the empire of Rome.  The mildness of Fabius towards\nhis colleague Minucius does, by way of comparison, rebuke and condemn\nthe exertions of Pericles to banish Cimon and Thucydides, noble,\naristocratic men, who by his means suffered ostracism.  The authority of\nPericles in Athens was much greater than that of Fabius in Rome.  Hence\nit was more easy for him to prevent miscarriages arising from the\nmistakes and insufficiency of other officers; only Tolmides broke loose\nfrom him, and, contrary to his persuasions, unadvisedly fought with the\nBoeotians, and was slain.  The greatness of his influence made all\nothers submit and conform themselves to his judgment.  Whereas Fabius,\nsure and unerring himself, for want of that general power, had not the\nmeans to obviate the miscarriages of others; but it had been happy for\nthe Romans if his authority had been greater, for so, we may presume,\ntheir disasters had been fewer.\n\nAs to liberality and public spirit, Pericles was eminent in never taking\nany gifts, and Fabius, for giving his own money to ransom his soldiers,\nthough the sum did not exceed six talents.  Than Pericles, meantime, no\nman had ever greater opportunities to enrich himself, having had\npresents offered him from so many kings and princes and allies, yet no\nman was ever more free from corruption.  And for the beauty and\nmagnificence of temples and public edifices with which he adorned his\ncountry, it must be confessed, that all the ornaments and structures of\nRome, to the time of the Caesars, had nothing to compare, either in\ngreatness of design or of expense, with the luster of those which\nPericles only erected at Athens.\n\n\n\nALCIBIADES\n\nAlcibiades, as it is supposed, was anciently descended from Eurysaces,\nthe son of Ajax, by his father's side; and by his mother's side from\nAlcmaeon.  Dinomache, his mother, was the daughter of Megacles.  His\nfather Clinias, having fitted out a galley at his own expense, gained\ngreat honor in the sea-fight at Artemisium, and was afterwards slain in\nthe battle of Coronea, fighting against the Boeotians.  Pericles and\nAriphron, the sons of Xanthippus, nearly related to him, became the\nguardians of Alcibiades.  It has been said not untruly that the\nfriendship which Socrates felt for him has much contributed to his fame;\nand certain it is, that, though we have no account from any writer\nconcerning the mother of Nicias or Demosthenes, of Lamachus or Phormion,\nof Thrasybulus or Theramenes, notwithstanding these were all illustrious\nmen of the same period, yet we know even the nurse of Alcibiades, that\nher country was Lacedaemon, and her name Amycla; and that Zopyrus was\nhis teacher and attendant; the one being recorded by Antisthenes, and\nthe other by Plato.\n\nIt is not, perhaps, material to say anything of the beauty of\nAlcibiades, only that it bloomed with him in all the ages of his life,\nin his infancy, in his youth, and in his manhood; and, in the peculiar\ncharacter becoming to each of these periods, gave him, in every one of\nthem, a grace and a charm.  What Euripides says, that\n\n\"Of all fair things the autumn, too, is fair,\"\n\nis by no means universally true.  But it happened so with Alcibiades,\namongst few others, by reason of his happy constitution and natural\nvigor of body.  It is said that his lisping, when he spoke, became him\nwell, and gave a grace and persuasiveness to his rapid speech.\nAristophanes takes notice of it in the verses in which he jests at\nTheorus; \"How like a colax he is,\" says Alcibiades, meaning a corax;\non which it is remarked,\n\n\"How very happily he lisped the truth.\"\n\nArchippus also alludes to it in a passage where he ridicules the son of\nAlcibiades;\n\n\"That people may believe him like his father,\nHe walks like one dissolved in luxury,\nLets his robe trail behind him on the ground,\nCarelessly leans his head, and in his talk affects to lisp.\"\n\n\nHis conduct displayed many great inconsistencies and variations, not\nunnaturally, in accordance with the many and wonderful vicissitudes of\nhis fortunes; but among the many strong passions of his real character,\nthe one most prevailing of all was his ambition and desire of\nsuperiority, which appears in several anecdotes told of his sayings\nwhilst he was a child.  Once being hard pressed in wrestling, and\nfearing to be thrown, he got the hand of his antagonist to his mouth,\nand bit it with all his force; and when the other loosed his hold\npresently, and said, \"You bite, Alcibiades, like a woman.\"  \"No,\"\nreplied he, \"like a lion.\"  Another time as he played at dice in the\nstreet, being then but a child, a loaded cart came that way, when it was\nhis turn to throw; at first he called to the driver to stop, because he\nwas to throw in the way over which the cart was to pass; but the man\ngiving him no attention and driving on, when the rest of the boys\ndivided and gave way, Alcibiades threw himself on his face before the\ncart, and, stretching himself out, bade the carter pass on now if he\nwould; which so startled the man, that he put back his horses, while all\nthat saw it were terrified, and, crying out, ran to assist Alcibiades.\nWhen he began to study, he obeyed all his other masters fairly well, but\nrefused to learn upon the flute, as a sordid thing, and not becoming a\nfree citizen; saying, that to play on the lute or the harp does not in\nany way disfigure a man's body or face, but one is hardly to be known by\nthe most intimate friends, when playing on the flute.  Besides, one who\nplays on the harp may speak or sing at the same time; but the use of the\nflute stops the mouth, intercepts the voice, and prevents all\narticulation.  \"Therefore,\" said he, \"let the Theban youths pipe, who do\nnot know how to speak, but we Athenians, as our ancestors have told us,\nhave Minerva for our patroness, and Apollo for our protector, one of\nwhom threw away the flute, and the other stripped the Flute-player of\nhis skin.\"  Thus, between raillery and good earnest, Alcibiades kept not\nonly himself but others from learning, as it presently became the talk\nof the young boys, how Alcibiades despised playing on the flute, and\nridiculed those who studied it.  In consequence of which, it ceased to\nbe reckoned amongst the liberal accomplishments, and became generally\nneglected.\n\nIt is stated in the invective which Antiphon wrote against Alcibiades,\nthat once, when he was a boy, he ran away to the house of Democrates,\none of those who made a favorite of him, and that Ariphron had\ndetermined to cause proclamation to be made for him, had not Pericles\ndiverted him from it, by saying, that if he were dead, the proclaiming\nof him could only cause it to be discovered one day sooner, and if he\nwere safe, it would be a reproach to him as long as he lived.  Antiphon\nalso says, that he killed one of his own servants with the blow of a\nstaff in Sibyrtius's wrestling ground.  But it is unreasonable to give\ncredit to all that is objected by an enemy, who makes open profession of\nhis design to defame him.\n\nIt was manifest that the many well-born persons who were continually\nseeking his company, and making their court to him, were attracted and\ncaptivated by his brilliant and extraordinary beauty only.  But the\naffection which Socrates entertained for him is a great evidence of the\nnatural noble qualities and good disposition of the boy, which Socrates,\nindeed, detected both in and under his personal beauty; and, fearing\nthat his wealth and station, and the great number both of strangers and\nAthenians who flattered and caressed him, might at last corrupt him,\nresolved, if possible, to interpose, and preserve so hopeful a plant\nfrom perishing in the flower, before its fruit came to perfection.  For\nnever did fortune surround and enclose a man with so many of those\nthings which we vulgarly call goods, or so protect him from every weapon\nof philosophy, and fence him from every access of free and searching\nwords, as she did Alcibiades; who, from the beginning, was exposed to\nthe flatteries of those who sought merely his gratification, such as\nmight well unnerve him, and indispose him to listen to any real adviser\nor instructor.  Yet such was the happiness of his genius, that he\ndiscerned Socrates from the rest, and admitted him, whilst he drove away\nthe wealthy and the noble who made court to him.  And, in a little time,\nthey grew intimate, and Alcibiades, listening now to language entirely\nfree from every thought of unmanly fondness and silly displays of\naffection, finding himself with one who sought to lay open to him the\ndeficiencies of his mind, and repress his vain and foolish arrogance,\n\n\"Dropped like the craven cock his conquered wing.\"\n\nHe esteemed these endeavors of Socrates as most truly a means which the\ngods made use of for the care and preservation of youth, and began to\nthink meanly of himself, and to admire him; to be pleased with his\nkindness, and to stand in awe of his virtue; and, unawares to himself,\nthere became formed in his mind that reflex image and reciprocation of\nLove, or Anteros,@ that Plato talks of.  It was a matter of general\nwonder, when people saw him joining Socrates in his meals and his\nexercises, living with him in the same tent, whilst he was reserved and\nrough to all others who made their addresses to him, and acted, indeed,\nwith great insolence to some of them.  As in particular to Anytus, the\nson of Anthemion, one who was very fond of him, and invited him to an\nentertainment which he had prepared for some strangers.  Alcibiades\nrefused the invitation; but, having drunk to excess at his own house\nwith some of his companions, went thither with them to play some frolic;\nand, standing at the door of the room where the guests were enjoying\nthemselves, and seeing the tables covered with gold and silver cups, he\ncommanded his servants to take away the one half of them, and carry them\nto his own house; and then, disdaining so much as to enter into the room\nhimself, as soon as he had done this, went away.  The company was\nindignant, and exclaimed at his rude and insulting conduct; Anytus,\nhowever, said, on the contrary he had shown great consideration and\ntenderness in taking only a part, when he might have taken all.\n\nHe behaved in the same manner to all others who courted him, except only\none stranger, who, as the story is told, having but a small estate, sold\nit all for about a hundred staters, which he presented to Alcibiades,\nand besought him to accept.  Alcibiades, smiling and well pleased at the\nthing, invited him to supper, and, after a very kind entertainment, gave\nhim his gold again, requiring him, moreover, not to fail to be present\nthe next day, when the public revenue was offered to farm, and to outbid\nall others.  The man would have excused himself, because the contract\nwas so large, and would cost many talents; but Alcibiades, who had at\nthat time a private pique against the existing farmers of the revenue,\nthreatened to have him beaten if he refused.  The next morning, the\nstranger, coming to the marketplace, offered a talent more than the\nexisting rate; upon which the farmers, enraged and consulting together,\ncalled upon him to name his sureties, concluding that he could find\nnone.  The poor man, being startled at the proposal, began to retire;\nbut Alcibiades, standing at a distance, cried out to the magistrates,\n\"Set my name down, he is a friend of mine; I will be security for him.\"\nWhen the other bidders heard this, they perceived that all their\ncontrivance was defeated; for their way was, with the profits of the\nsecond year to pay the rent for the year preceding; so that, not seeing\nany other way to extricate themselves out of the difficulty, they began\nto entreat the stranger, and offered him a sum of money.  Alcibiades\nwould not suffer him to accept of less than a talent; but when that was\npaid down, he commanded him to relinquish the bargain, having by this\ndevice relieved his necessity.\n\nThough Socrates had many and powerful rivals, yet the natural good\nqualities of Alcibiades gave his affection the mastery.  His words\novercame him so much, as to draw tears from his eyes, and to disturb his\nvery soul.  Yet sometimes he would abandon himself to flatterers, when\nthey proposed to him varieties of pleasure, and would desert Socrates;\nwho, then, would pursue him, as if he had been a fugitive slave.  He\ndespised everyone else, and had no reverence or awe for any but him.\nCleanthes the philosopher; speaking of one to whom he was attached, says\nhis only hold on him was by his ears, while his rivals had all the\nothers offered them; and there is no question that Alcibiades was very\neasily caught by pleasures; and the expression used by Thucydides about\nthe excesses of his habitual course of living gives occasion to believe\nso.  But those who endeavored to corrupt Alcibiades, took advantage\nchiefly of his vanity and ambition, and thrust him on unseasonably to\nundertake great enterprises, persuading him, that as soon as he began to\nconcern himself in public affairs, he would not only obscure the rest of\nthe generals and statesmen, but outdo the authority and the reputation\nwhich Pericles himself had gained in Greece.  But in the same manner as\niron which is softened by the fire grows hard with the cold, and all its\nparts are closed again; so, as often as Socrates observed Alcibiades to\nbe misled by luxury or pride, he reduced and corrected him by his\naddresses, and made him humble and modest, by showing him in how many\nthings he was deficient, and how very far from perfection in virtue.\n\nWhen he was past his childhood, he went once to a grammar-school, and\nasked the master for one of Homer's books; and he making answer that he\nhad nothing of Homer's, Alcibiades gave him a blow with his fist, and\nwent away.  Another schoolmaster telling him that he had Homer corrected\nby himself; \"How,\" said Alcibiades, \"and do you employ your time in\nteaching children to read?  You, who are able to amend Homer, may well\nundertake to instruct men.\"  Being once desirous to speak with Pericles,\nhe went to his house and was told there that he was not at leisure, but\nbusied in considering how to give up his accounts to the Athenians;\nAlcibiades, as he went away, said, \"It were better for him to consider\nhow he might avoid giving up his accounts at all.\"\n\nWhilst he was very young, he was a soldier in the expedition against\nPotidaea, where Socrates lodged in the same tent with him, and stood\nnext him in battle.  Once there happened a sharp skirmish, in which\nthey both behaved with signal bravery; but Alcibiades receiving a wound,\nSocrates threw himself before him to defend him, and beyond any question\nsaved him and his arms from the enemy, and so in all justice might have\nchallenged the prize of valor.  But the generals appearing eager to\nadjudge the honor to Alcibiades, because of his rank, Socrates, who\ndesired to increase his thirst after glory of a noble kind, was the\nfirst to give evidence for him, and pressed them to crown him, and to\ndecree to him the complete suit of armor.  Afterwards, in the battle of\nDelium, when the Athenians were routed and Socrates with a few others\nwas retreating on foot, Alcibiades, who was on horseback, observing it,\nwould not pass on, but stayed to shelter him from the danger, and\nbrought him safe off, though the enemy pressed hard upon them, and cut\noff many.  But this happened some time after.\n\nHe gave a box on the ear to Hipponicus, the father of Callias, whose\nbirth and wealth made him a person of great influence and repute.  And\nthis he did unprovoked by any passion or quarrel between them, but only\nbecause, in a frolic, he had agreed with his companions to do it.\nPeople were justly offended at this insolence, when it became known\nthrough the city; but early the next morning, Alcibiades went to his\nhouse and knocked at the door, and, being admitted to him, took off his\nouter garment, and, presenting his naked body, desired him to scourge\nand chastise him as he pleased.  Upon this Hipponicus forgot all his\nresentment, and not only pardoned him, but soon after gave him his\ndaughter Hipparete in marriage.  Some say that it was not Hipponicus,\nbut his son Callias, who gave Hipparete to Alcibiades, together with a\nportion of ten talents, and that after, when she had a child, Alcibiades\nforced him to give ten talents more, upon pretense that such was the\nagreement if she brought him any children.  Afterwards, Callias, for\nfear of coming to his death by his means, declared, in a full assembly\nof the people, that if he should happen to die without children, the\nstate should inherit his house and all his goods.  Hipparete was a\nvirtuous and dutiful wife, but, at last, growing impatient of the\noutrages done to her by her husband's continual entertaining of\ncourtesans, as well strangers as Athenians, she departed from him and\nretired to her brother's house.  Alcibiades seemed not at all concerned\nat this, and lived on still in the same luxury; but the law requiring\nthat she should deliver to the archon in person, and not by proxy, the\ninstrument by which she claimed a divorce, when, in obedience to the\nlaw, she presented herself before him to perform this, Alcibiades came\nin, caught her up, and carried her home through the marketplace, no one\ndaring to oppose him, nor to take her from him.  She continued with him\ntill her death, which happened not long after, when Alcibiades had gone\nto Ephesus.  Nor is this violence to be thought so very enormous or\nunmanly.  For the law, in making her who desires to be divorced appear\nin public, seems to design to give her husband an opportunity of\ntreating with her, and of endeavoring to retain her.\n\nAlcibiades had a dog which cost him seventy minas, and was a very large\none, and very handsome.  His tail, which was his principal ornament, he\ncaused to be cut off, and his acquaintance exclaiming at him for it, and\ntelling him that all Athens was sorry for the dog, and cried out upon\nhim for this action, he laughed, and said, \"Just what I wanted has\nhappened, then.  I wished the Athenians to talk about this, that they\nmight not say something worse of me.\"\n\nIt is said that the first time he came into the assembly was upon\noccasion of a largess of money which he made to the people.  This was\nnot done by design, but as he passed along he heard a shout, and\ninquiring the cause, and having learned that there was a donative making\nto the people, he went in amongst them and gave money also.  The\nmultitude thereupon applauding him, and shouting, he was so transported\nat it, that he forgot a quail which he had under his robe, and the bird,\nbeing frighted with the noise, flew off; upon which the people made\nlouder acclamations than before, and many of them started up to pursue\nthe bird; and one Antiochus, a pilot, caught it and restored it to him,\nfor which he was ever after a favorite with Alcibiades.\n\nHe had great advantages for entering public life; his noble birth, his\nriches, the personal courage he had shown in divers battles, and the\nmultitude of his friends and dependents, threw open, so to say, folding\ndoors for his admittance.  But he did not consent to let his power with\nthe people rest on any thing, rather than on his own gift of eloquence.\nThat he was a master in the art of speaking, the comic poets bear him\nwitness; and the most eloquent of public speakers, in his oration\nagainst Midias, allows that Alcibiades, among other perfections, was a\nmost accomplished orator.  If, however, we give credit to Theophrastus,\nwho of all philosophers was the most curious inquirer, and the greatest\nlover of history, we are to understand that Alcibiades had the highest\ncapacity for inventing, for discerning what was the right thing to be\nsaid for any purpose, and on any occasion; but, aiming not only at\nsaying what was required, but also at saying it well, in respect, that\nis, of words and phrases, when these did not readily occur, he would\noften pause in the middle of his discourse for want of the apt word, and\nwould be silent and stop till he could recollect himself, and had\nconsidered what to say.\n\nHis expenses in horses kept for the public games, and in the number of\nhis chariots, were matter of great observation; never did anyone but\nhe, either private person or king, send seven chariots to the Olympic\ngames.  And to have carried away at once the first, the second, and the\nfourth prize, as Thucydides says, or the third, as Euripides relates it,\noutdoes far away every distinction that ever was known or thought of in\nthat kind.  Euripides celebrates his success in this manner:--\n\n\"--But my song to you, Son of Clinias, is due.\nVictory is noble; how much more\nTo do as never Greek before;\nTo obtain in the great chariot race\nThe first, the second, and third place;\nWith easy step advanced to fame,\nTo bid the herald three times claim\nThe olive for one victor's name.\"\n\nThe emulation displayed by the deputations of various states, in the\npresents which they made to him, rendered this success yet more\nillustrious.  The Ephesians erected a tent for him, adorned\nmagnificently; the city of Chios furnished him with provender for his\nhorses and with great numbers of beasts for sacrifice; and the Lesbians\nsent him wine and other provisions for the many great entertainments\nwhich he made.  Yet in the midst of all this he escaped not without\ncensure, occasioned either by the ill-nature of his enemies or by his\nown misconduct.  For it is said, that one Diomedes, all Athenian, a\nworthy man and a friend to Alcibiades, passionately desiring to obtain\nthe victory at the Olympic games, and having heard much of a chariot\nwhich belonged to the state at Argos, where he knew that Alcibiades had\ngreat power and many friends, prevailed with him to undertake to buy the\nchariot.  Alcibiades did indeed buy it, but then claimed it for his own,\nleaving Diomedes to rage at him, and to call upon the gods and men to\nbear witness to the injustice.  It would seem there was a suit at law\ncommenced upon this occasion, and there is yet extant an oration\nconcerning the chariot, written by Isocrates in defense of the son of\nAlcibiades.  But the plaintiff in this action is named Tisias, and not\nDiomedes.\n\nAs soon as he began to intermeddle in the government, which was when he\nwas very young, he quickly lessened the credit of all who aspired to the\nconfidence of the people, except Phaeax, the son of Erasistratus, and\nNicias, the son of Niceratus, who alone could contest it with him.\nNicias was arrived at a mature age, and was esteemed their first\ngeneral.  Phaeax was but a rising statesman like Alcibiades; he was\ndescended from noble ancestors, but was his inferior, as in many other\nthings, so, principally, in eloquence.  He possessed rather the art of\npersuading in private conversation than of debate before the people, and\nwas, as Eupolis said of him,\n\n\"The best of talkers, and of speakers worst.\"\n\nThere is extant an oration written by Phaeax against Alcibiades, in\nwhich, amongst other things, it is said, that Alcibiades made daily use\nat his table of many gold and silver vessels, which belonged to the\ncommonwealth, as if they had been his own.\n\nThere was a certain Hyperbolus, of the township of Perithoedae, whom\nThucydides also speaks of as a man of bad character, a general butt for\nthe mockery of all the comic writers of the time, but quite unconcerned\nat the worst things they could say, and, being careless of glory, also\ninsensible of shame; a temper which some people call boldness and\ncourage, whereas it is indeed impudence and recklessness.  He was liked\nby nobody, yet the people made frequent use of him, when they had a mind\nto disgrace or calumniate any persons in authority.  At this time, the\npeople, by his persuasions, were ready to proceed to pronounce the\nsentence of ten years' banishment, called ostracism.  This they made use\nof to humiliate and drive out of the city such citizens as outdid the\nrest in credit and power, indulging not so much perhaps their\napprehensions as their jealousies in this way.  And when, at this time,\nthere was no doubt but that the ostracism would fall upon one of those\nthree, Alcibiades contrived to form a coalition of parties, and,\ncommunicating his project to Nicias, turned the sentence upon Hyperbolus\nhimself.  Others say, that it was not with Nicias, but Phaeax, that he\nconsulted, and, by help of his party, procured the banishment of\nHyperbolus, when he suspected nothing less.  For, before that time, no\nmean or obscure person had ever fallen under that punishment, so that\nPlato, the comic poet, speaking of Hyperbolus, might well say,\n\n\"The man deserved the fate; deny 't who can?\nYes, but the fate did not deserve the man;\nNot for the like of him and his slave-brands\nDid Athens put the sherd into our hands.\"\n\nBut we have given elsewhere a fuller statement of what is known to us of\nthe matter.\n\nAlcibiades was not less disturbed at the distinctions which Nicias\ngained amongst the enemies of Athens, than at the honors which the\nAthenians themselves paid to him.  For though Alcibiades was the proper\nappointed person to receive all Lacedaemonians when they came to\nAthens, and had taken particular care of those that were made prisoners\nat Pylos, yet, after they had obtained the peace and restitution of the\ncaptives, by the procurement chiefly of Nicias, they paid him very\nspecial attentions.  And it was commonly said in Greece, that the war\nwas begun by Pericles, and that Nicias made an end of it, and the peace\nwas generally called the peace of Nicias.  Alcibiades was extremely\nannoyed at this, and, being full of envy, set himself to break the\nleague.  First, therefore, observing that the Argives, as well out of\nfear as hatred to the Lacedaemonians, sought for protection against\nthem, he gave them a secret assurance of alliance with Athens.  And\ncommunicating, as well in person as by letters, with the chief advisers\nof the people there, he encouraged them not to fear the Lacedaemonians,\nnor make concessions to them, but to wait a little, and keep their eyes\non the Athenians, who, already, were all but sorry they had made peace,\nand would soon give it up.  And, afterwards, when the Lacedaemonians had\nmade a league with the Boeotians, and had not delivered up Panactum\nentire, as they ought to have done by the treaty, but only after first\ndestroying it, which gave great offense to the people of Athens,\nAlcibiades laid hold of that opportunity to exasperate them more highly.\nHe exclaimed fiercely against Nicias, and accused him of many things,\nwhich seemed probable enough:  as that, when he was general, he made no\nattempt himself to capture their enemies that were shut up in the isle\nof Sphacteria, but, when they were afterwards made prisoners by others,\nhe procured their release and sent them back to the Lacedaemonians, only\nto get favor with them; that he would not make use of his credit with\nthem, to prevent their entering into this confederacy with the Boeotians\nand Corinthians, and yet, on the other side, that he sought to stand in\nthe way of those Greeks who were inclined to make an alliance and\nfriendship with Athens, if the Lacedaemonians did not like it.\n\nIt happened, at the very time when Nicias was by these arts brought into\ndisgrace with the people, that ambassadors arrived from Lacedaemon, who,\nat their first coming, said what seemed very satisfactory, declaring\nthat they had full powers to arrange all matters in dispute upon fair\nand equal terms.  The council received their propositions, and the\npeople was to assemble on the morrow to give them audience.  Alcibiades\ngrew very apprehensive of this, and contrived to gain a secret\nconference with the ambassadors.  When they were met, he said:  \"What is\nit you intend, you men of Sparta?  Can you be ignorant that the council\nalways act with moderation and respect towards ambassadors, but that the\npeople are full of ambition and great designs?  So that, if you let them\nknow what full powers your commission gives you, they will urge and\npress you to unreasonable conditions.  Quit therefore, this indiscreet\nsimplicity, if you expect to obtain equal terms from the Athenians, and\nwould not have things extorted from you contrary to your inclinations,\nand begin to treat with the people upon some reasonable articles, not\navowing yourselves plenipotentiaries; and I will be ready to assist you,\nout of good-will to the Lacedaemonians.\"  When he had said thus, he gave\nthem his oath for the performance of what he promised, and by this way\ndrew them from Nicias to rely entirely upon himself, and left them full\nof admiration of the discernment and sagacity they had seen in him.  The\nnext day, when the people were assembled and the ambassadors introduced,\nAlcibiades, with great apparent courtesy, demanded of them, With what\npowers they were come? They made answer that they were not come as\nplenipotentiaries.\n\nInstantly upon that, Alcibiades, with a loud voice, as though he had\nreceived and not done the wrong, began to call them dishonest\nprevaricators, and to urge that such men could not possibly come with a\npurpose to say or do anything that was sincere.  The council was\nincensed, the people were in a rage, and Nicias, who knew nothing of the\ndeceit and the imposture, was in the greatest confusion, equally\nsurprised and ashamed at such a change in the men.  So thus the\nLacedaemonian ambassadors were utterly rejected, and Alcibiades was\ndeclared general, who presently united the Argives, the Eleans, and the\npeople of Mantinea, into a confederacy with the Athenians.\n\nNo man commended the method by which Alcibiades effected all this, yet\nit was a great political feat thus to divide and shake almost all\nPeloponnesus, and to combine so many men in arms against the\nLacedaemonians in one day before Mantinea; and, moreover, to remove the\nwar and the danger so far from the frontier of the Athenians, that even\nsuccess would profit the enemy but little, should they be conquerors,\nwhereas, if they were defeated, Sparta itself was hardly safe.\n\nAfter this battle at Mantinea, the select thousand of the army of the\nArgives attempted to overthrow the government of the people in Argos,\nand make themselves masters of the city; and the Lacedaemonians came to\ntheir aid and abolished the democracy.  But the people took arms again,\nand gained the advantage, and Alcibiades came in to their aid and\ncompleted the victory, and persuaded them to build long walls, and by\nthat means to join their city to the sea, and so to bring it wholly\nwithin the reach of the Athenian power.  To this purpose, he procured\nthem builders and masons from Athens, and displayed the greatest zeal\nfor their service, and gained no less honor and power to himself than to\nthe commonwealth of Athens.  He also persuaded the people of Patrae to\njoin their city to the sea, by building long walls; and when some one\ntold them, by way of warning, that the Athenians would swallow them up\nat last Alcibiades made answer, \"Possibly it may be so, but it will be\nby little and little, and beginning at the feet, whereas the\nLacedaemonians will begin at the head and devour you all at once.\"  Nor\ndid he neglect either to advise the Athenians to look to their interests\nby land, and often put the young men in mind of the oath which they had\nmade at Agraulos, to the effect that they would account wheat and\nbarley, and vines and olives, to be the limits of Attica; by which they\nwere taught to claim a title to all land that was cultivated and\nproductive.\n\nBut with all these words and deeds, and with all this sagacity and\neloquence, he intermingled exorbitant luxury and wantonness in his\neating and drinking and dissolute living; wore long purple robes like a\nwoman, which dragged after him as he went through the market-place;\ncaused the planks of his galley to be cut away, that so he might lie the\nsofter, his bed not being placed on the boards, but hanging upon girths.\nHis shield, again, which was richly gilded, had not the usual ensigns of\nthe Athenians, but a Cupid, holding a thunderbolt in his hand, was\npainted upon it.  The sight of all this made the people of good repute\nin the city feel disgust and abhorrence, and apprehension also, at his\nfree-living, and his contempt of law, as things monstrous in themselves,\nand indicating designs of usurpation.  Aristophanes has well expressed\nthe people's feeling towards him:--\n\n\"They love, and hate, and cannot do without him.\"\n\nAnd still more strongly, under a figurative expression,\n\n\"Best rear no lion in your state, 'tis true;\nBut treat him like a lion if you do.\"\n\nThe truth is, his liberalities, his public shows, and other munificence\nto the people, which were such as nothing could exceed, the glory of his\nancestors, the force of his eloquence, the grace of his person, his\nstrength of body, joined with his great courage and knowledge in\nmilitary affairs, prevailed upon the Athenians to endure patiently his\nexcesses, to indulge many things to him, and, according to their habit,\nto give the softest names to his faults, attributing them to youth and\ngood nature.  As, for example, he kept Agatharcus, the painter, a\nprisoner till he had painted his whole house, but then dismissed him\nwith a reward.  He publicly struck Taureas, who exhibited certain shows\nin opposition to him and contended with him for the prize.  He selected\nfor himself one of the captive Melian women, and had a son by her, whom\nhe took care to educate.  This the Athenians styled great humanity; and\nyet he was the principal cause of the slaughter of all the inhabitants\nof the isle of Melos who were of age to bear arms, having spoken in\nfavor of that decree.  When Aristophon, the painter, had drawn Nemea\nsitting and holding Alcibiades in her arms, the multitude seemed pleased\nwith the piece, and thronged to see it, but older people disliked and\ndisrelished it, and looked on these things as enormities, and movements\ntowards tyranny.  So that it was not said amiss by Archestratus, that\nGreece could not support a second Alcibiades.  Once, when Alcibiades\nsucceeded well in an oration which he made, and the whole assembly\nattended upon him to do him honor, Timon the misanthrope did not pass\nslightly by him, nor avoid him, as he did others, but purposely met him,\nand, taking him by the hand, said, \"Go on boldly, my son, and increase\nin credit with the people, for thou wilt one day bring them calamities\nenough.\"  Some that were present laughed at the saying, and some reviled\nTimon; but there were others upon whom it made a deep impression; so\nvarious was the judgment which was made of him, and so irregular his own\ncharacter.\n\nThe Athenians, even in the lifetime of Pericles, had already cast a\nlonging eye upon Sicily; but did not attempt any thing till after his\ndeath.  Then, under pretense of aiding their confederates, they sent\nsuccors upon all occasions to those who were oppressed by the\nSyracusans, preparing the way for sending over a greater force.  But\nAlcibiades was the person who inflamed this desire of theirs to the\nheight, and prevailed with them no longer to proceed secretly, and by\nlittle and little, in their design, but to sail out with a great fleet,\nand undertake at once to make themselves masters of the island.  He\npossessed the people with great hopes, and he himself entertained yet\ngreater; and the conquest of Sicily, which was the utmost bound of their\nambition, was but the mere outset of his expectation.  Nicias endeavored\nto divert the people from the expedition, by representing to them that\nthe taking of Syracuse would be a work of great difficulty; but\nAlcibiades dreamed of nothing less than the conquest of Carthage and\nLibya, and by the accession of these conceiving himself at once made\nmaster of Italy and of Peloponnesus, seemed to look upon Sicily as\nlittle more than a magazine for the war.  The young men were soon\nelevated with these hopes, and listened gladly to those of riper years,\nwho talked wonders of the countries they were going to; so that you\nmight see great numbers sitting in the wrestling grounds and public\nplaces, drawing on the ground the figure of the island and the situation\nof Libya and Carthage.  Socrates the philosopher and Meton the\nastrologer are said, however, never to have hoped for any good to the\ncommonwealth from this war; the one, it is to be supposed, presaging\nwhat would ensue, by the intervention of his attendant Genius; and the\nother, either upon rational consideration of the project, or by use of\nthe art of divination, conceived fears for its issue, and, feigning\nmadness, caught up a burning torch, and seemed as if he would have set\nhis own house on fire.  Others report, that he did not take upon him to\nact the madman, but secretly in the night set his house on fire, and the\nnext morning besought the people, that for his comfort, after such a\ncalamity, they would spare his son from the expedition.  By which\nartifice, he deceived his fellow-citizens, and obtained of them what he\ndesired.\n\nTogether with Alcibiades, Nicias, much against his will, was appointed\ngeneral:  and he endeavored to avoid the command, not the less on\naccount of his colleague.  But the Athenians thought the war would\nproceed more prosperously, if they did not send Alcibiades free from\nall restraint, but tempered his heat with the caution of Nicias.  This\nthey chose the rather to do, because Lamachus, the third general, though\nhe was of mature years, yet in several battles had appeared no less hot\nand rash than Alcibiades himself.  When they began to deliberate of the\nnumber of forces, and of the manner of making the necessary provisions,\nNicias made another attempt to oppose the design, and to prevent the\nwar; but Alcibiades contradicted him, and carried his point with the\npeople.  And one Demostratus, an orator, proposing to give the generals\nabsolute power over the preparations and the whole management of the\nwar, it was presently decreed so.  When all things were fitted for the\nvoyage, many unlucky omens appeared.  At that very time the feast of\nAdonis happened, in which the women were used to expose, in all parts of\nthe city, images resembling dead men carried out to their burial, and to\nrepresent funeral solemnities by lamentations and mournful songs.  The\nmutilation, however, of the images of Mercury, most of which, in one\nnight, had their faces all disfigured, terrified many persons who were\nwont to despise most things of that nature.  It was given out that it\nwas done by the Corinthians, for the sake of the Syracusans, who were\ntheir colony, in hopes that the Athenians, by such prodigies, might be\ninduced to delay or abandon the war.  But the report gained no credit\nwith the people, nor yet the opinion of those who would not believe that\nthere was anything ominous in the matter, but that it was only an\nextravagant action, committed, in that sort of sport which runs into\nlicense, by wild young men coming from a debauch.  Alike enraged and\nterrified at the thing, looking upon it to proceed from a conspiracy of\npersons who designed some commotions in the state, the council, as well\nas the assembly of the people, which was held frequently in a few days'\nspace, examined diligently everything that might administer ground for\nsuspicion.  During this examination, Androcles, one of the demagogues,\nproduced certain slaves and strangers before them, who accused\nAlcibiades and some of his friends of defacing other images in the same\nmanner, and of having profanely acted the sacred mysteries at a drunken\nmeeting, where one Theodorus represented the herald, Polytion the torch-\nbearer, and Alcibiades the chief priest, while the rest of the party\nappeared as candidates for initiation, and received the title of\nInitiates.  These were the matters contained in the articles of\ninformation, which Thessalus, the son of Cimon, exhibited against\nAlcibiades, for his impious mockery of the goddesses, Ceres and\nProserpine.  The people were highly exasperated and incensed against\nAlcibiades upon this accusation, which, being aggravated by Androcles,\nthe most malicious of all his enemies, at first disturbed his friends\nexceedingly.  But when they perceived that all the sea-men designed for\nSicily were for him, and the soldiers also, and when the Argive and\nMantinean auxiliaries, a thousand men at arms, openly declared that they\nhad undertaken this distant maritime expedition for the sake of\nAlcibiades, and that, if he was ill-used, they would all go home, they\nrecovered their courage, and became eager to make use of the present\nopportunity for justifying him.  At this his enemies were again\ndiscouraged, fearing lest the people should be more gentle to him in\ntheir sentence, because of the occasion they had for his service.\nTherefore, to obviate this, they contrived that some other orators, who\ndid not appear to be enemies to Alcibiades, but really hated him no less\nthan those who avowed it, should stand up in the assembly and say, that\nit was a very absurd thing that one who was created general of such an\narmy with absolute power, after his troops were assembled, and the\nconfederates were come, should lose the opportunity, whilst the people\nwere choosing his judges by lot, and appointing times for the hearing of\nthe cause.  And, therefore, let him set sail at once; good fortune\nattend him; and when the war should be at an end, he might then in\nperson make his defense according to the laws.\n\nAlcibiades perceived the malice of this postponement, and, appearing in\nthe assembly represented that it was monstrous for him to be sent with\nthe command of so large an army, when he lay under such accusations and\ncalumnies; that he deserved to die, if he could not clear himself of the\ncrimes objected to him; but when he had so done, and had proved his\ninnocence, he should then cheerfully apply himself to the war, as\nstanding no longer in fear of false accusers.  But he could not prevail\nwith the people, who commanded him to sail immediately.  So he departed,\ntogether with the other generals, having with them near 140 galleys,\n5,100 men at arms, and about 1,300 archers, slingers, and light-armed\nmen, and all the other provisions corresponding.\n\nArriving on the coast of Italy, he landed at Rhegium, and there stated\nhis views of the manner in which they ought to conduct the war.  He was\nopposed by Nicias, but Lamachus being of his opinion, they sailed for\nSicily forthwith, and took Catana.  This was all that was done while he\nwas there, for he was soon after recalled by the Athenians to abide his\ntrial.  At first, as we before said, there were only some slight\nsuspicions advanced against Alcibiades, and accusations by certain\nslaves and strangers.  But afterwards, in his absence, his enemies\nattacked him more violently, and confounded together the breaking the\nimages with the profanation of the mysteries, as though both had been\ncommitted in pursuance of the same conspiracy for changing the\ngovernment.  The people proceeded to imprison all that were accused,\nwithout distinction, and without hearing them, and repented now,\nconsidering the importance of the charge, that they had not immediately\nbrought Alcibiades to his trial, and given judgment against him.  Any of\nhis friends or acquaintance who fell into the people's hands, whilst\nthey were in this fury, did not fail to meet with very severe usage.\nThucydides has omitted to name the informers, but others mention\nDioclides and Teucer.  Amongst whom is Phrynichus, the comic poet, in\nwhom we find the following:--\n\n\"O dearest Hermes! only do take care,\nAnd mind you do not miss your footing there;\nShould you get hurt, occasion may arise\nFor a new Dioclides to tell lies.\"\n\nTo which he makes Mercury return this answer:--\n\n\"I will so, for I feel no inclination\nTo reward Teucer for more information.\"\n\nThe truth is, his accusers alleged nothing that was certain or solid\nagainst him.  One of them, being asked how he knew the men who defaced\nthe images, replying, that he saw them by the light of the moon, made a\npalpable misstatement, for it was just new moon when the fact was\ncommitted.  This made all men of understanding cry out upon the thing;\nbut the people were as eager as ever to receive further accusations, nor\nwas their first heat at all abated, but they instantly seized and\nimprisoned every one that was accused.  Amongst those who were detained\nin prison for their trials was Andocides the orator, whose descent the\nhistorian Hellanicus deduces from Ulysses.  He was always supposed to\nhate popular government, and to support oligarchy.  The chief ground of\nhis being suspected of defacing the images was because the great\nMercury, which stood near his house, and was an ancient monument of the\ntribe Aegeis, was almost the only statue of all the remarkable ones,\nwhich remained entire.  For this cause, it is now called the Mercury of\nAndocides, all men giving it that name, though the inscription is\nevidence to the contrary.  It happened that Andocides, amongst the rest\nwho were prisoners upon the same account, contracted particular\nacquaintance and intimacy with one Timaeus, a person inferior to him in\nrepute, but of remarkable dexterity and boldness.  He persuaded\nAndocides to accuse himself and some few others of this crime, urging\nto him that, upon his confession, he would be, by the decree of the\npeople, secure of his pardon, whereas the event of judgment is uncertain\nto all men, but to great persons, such as he was, most formidable.  So\nthat it was better for him, if he regarded himself, to save his life by\na falsity, than to suffer an infamous death, as really guilty of the\ncrime.  And if he had regard to the public good, it was commendable to\nsacrifice a few suspected men, by that means to rescue many excellent\npersons from the fury of the people.  Andocides was prevailed upon, and\naccused himself and some others, and, by the terms of the decree,\nobtained his pardon, while all the persons named by him, except some few\nwho had saved themselves by flight, suffered death.  To gain the greater\ncredit to his information, he accused his own servants amongst others.\nBut notwithstanding this, the people's anger was not wholly appeased;\nand being now no longer diverted by the mutilators, they were at leisure\nto pour out their whole rage upon Alcibiades.  And, in conclusion, they\nsent the galley named the Salaminian, to recall him.  But they expressly\ncommanded those that were sent, to use no violence, nor seize upon his\nperson, but address themselves to him in the mildest terms, requiring\nhim to follow them to Athens in order to abide his trial, and clear\nhimself before the people.  For they feared mutiny and sedition in the\narmy in an enemy's country, which indeed it would have been easy for\nAlcibiades to effect, if he had wished it.  For the soldiers were\ndispirited upon his departure, expecting for the future tedious delays,\nand that the war would be drawn out into a lazy length by Nicias, when\nAlcibiades, who was the spur to action, was taken away.  For though\nLamachus was a soldier, and a man of courage, poverty deprived him of\nauthority and respect in the army.  Alcibiades, just upon his departure,\nprevented Messena from falling into the hands of the Athenians.  There\nwere some in that city who were upon the point of delivering it up, but\nhe, knowing the persons, gave information to some friends of the\nSyracusans, and so defeated the whole contrivance.  When he arrived at\nThurii, he went on shore, and, concealing himself there, escaped those\nwho searched after him.  But to one who knew him, and asked him if he\ndurst not trust his own native country, he made answer, \"In everything\nelse, yes; but in a matter that touches my life, I would not even my own\nmother, lest she might by mistake throw in the black ball instead of the\nwhite.\"  When, afterwards, he was told that the assembly had pronounced\njudgment of death against him, all he said was, \"I will make them feel\nthat I am alive.\"\n\nThe information against him was conceived in this form:--\n\n\"Thessalus, the son of Cimon, of the township of Lacia, lays information\nthat Alcibiades, the son of Clinias, of the township of the Scambonidae,\nhas committed a crime against the goddesses Ceres and Proserpine, by\nrepresenting in derision the holy mysteries, and showing them to his\ncompanions in his own house.  Where, being habited in such robes as are\nused by the chief priest when he shows the holy things, he named himself\nthe chief priest, Polytion the torch-bearer, and Theodorus, of the\ntownship of Phegaea, the herald; and saluted the rest of his company as\nInitiates and Novices.  All which was done contrary to the laws and\ninstitutions of the Eumolpidae, and the heralds and priests of the\ntemple at Eleusis.\"\n\nHe was condemned as contumacious upon his not appearing, his property\nconfiscated, and it was decreed that all the priests and priestesses\nshould solemnly curse him.  But one of them, Theano, the daughter of\nMenon, of the township of Agraule, is said to have opposed that part of\nthe decree, saying that her holy office obliged her to make prayers, but\nnot execrations.\n\nAlcibiades, lying under these heavy decrees and sentences, when first he\nfled from Thurii, passed over into Peloponnesus and remained some time\nat Argos.  But being there in fear of his enemies and seeing himself\nutterly hopeless of return to his native country, he sent to Sparta,\ndesiring safe conduct, and assuring them that he would make them amends\nby his future services for all the mischief he had done them while he\nwas their enemy.  The Spartans giving him the security he desired, he\nwent eagerly, was well received, and, at his very first coming,\nsucceeded in inducing them, without any further caution or delay, to\nsend aid to the Syracusans; and so roused and excited them, that they\nforthwith dispatched Gylippus into Sicily, to crush the forces which the\nAthenians had in Sicily.  A second point was, to renew the war upon the\nAthenians at home.  But the third thing, and the most important of all,\nwas to make them fortify Decelea, which above everything reduced and\nwasted the resources of the Athenians.\n\nThe renown which he earned by these public services was equaled by the\nadmiration he attracted to his private life; he captivated and won over\neverybody by his conformity to Spartan habits.  People who saw him\nwearing his hair close cut, bathing in cold water, eating coarse meal,\nand dining on black broth, doubted, or rather could not believe, that he\never had a cook in his house, or had ever seen a perfumer, or had worn a\nmantle of Milesian purple.  For he had, as it was observed, this\npeculiar talent and artifice for gaining men's affections, that he could\nat once comply with and really embrace and enter into their habits and\nways of life, and change faster than the chameleon.  One color, indeed,\nthey say the chameleon cannot assume; it cannot make itself appear\nwhite; but Alcibiades, whether with good men or with bad, could adapt\nhimself to his company, and equally wear the appearance of virtue or\nvice.  At Sparta, he was devoted to athletic exercises, was frugal and\nreserved; in Ionia, luxurious, gay, and indolent; in Thrace, always\ndrinking; in Thessaly, ever on horseback; and when he lived with\nTisaphernes, the Persian satrap, he exceeded the Persians themselves in\nmagnificence and pomp.  Not that his natural disposition changed so\neasily, nor that his real character was so very variable, but, whenever\nhe was sensible that by pursuing his own inclinations he might give\noffense to those with whom he had occasion to converse, he transformed\nhimself into any shape, and adopted any fashion, that he observed to be\nmost agreeable to them.  So that to have seen him at Lacedaemon, a man,\njudging by the outward appearance, would have said, \"'Tis not Achilles's\nson, but he himself, the very man\" that Lycurgus designed to form; while\nhis real feelings and acts would have rather provoked the exclamation,\n\"'Tis the same woman still.\"  For while king Agis was absent, and abroad\nwith the army, he corrupted his wife Timaea, and had a child born by\nher.  Nor did she even deny it, but when she was brought to bed of a\nson, called him in public Leotychides, but, amongst her confidants and\nattendants, would whisper that his name was Alcibiades.  To such a\ndegree was she transported by her passion for him.  He, on the other\nside, would say, in his vain way, he had not done this thing out of mere\nwantonness of insult, nor to gratify a passion, but that his race might\none day be kings over the Lacedaemonians.\n\nThere were many who told Agis that this was so, but time itself gave the\ngreatest confirmation to the story.  For Agis, alarmed by an earthquake,\nhad quitted his wife, and, for ten months after, was never with her;\nLeotychides, therefore, being born after those ten months, he would not\nacknowledge him for his son; which was the reason that afterwards he was\nnot admitted to the succession.\n\nAfter the defeat which the Athenians received in Sicily, ambassadors\nwere dispatched to Sparta at once from Chios and Lesbos and Cyzicus, to\nsignify their purpose of revolting from the Athenians.  The Boeotians\ninterposed in favor of the Lesbians, and Pharnabazus of the Cyzicenes,\nbut the Lacedaemonians, at the persuasion of Alcibiades, chose to assist\nChios before all others.  He himself, also, went instantly to sea,\nprocured the immediate revolt of almost all Ionia, and, cooperating with\nthe Lacedaemonian generals, did great mischief to the Athenians.  But\nAgis was his enemy, hating him for having dishonored his wife, and also\nimpatient of his glory, as almost every enterprise and every success was\nascribed to Alcibiades.  Others, also, of the most powerful and\nambitious amongst the Spartans, were possessed with jealousy of him,\nand, at last, prevailed with the magistrates in the city to send orders\ninto Ionia that he should be killed.  Alcibiades, however, had secret\nintelligence of this, and, in apprehension of the result, while he\ncommunicated all affairs to the Lacedaemonians, yet took care not to put\nhimself into their power.  At last he retired to Tisaphernes, the king\nof Persia's satrap, for his security, and immediately became the first\nand most influential person about him.  For this barbarian, not being\nhimself sincere, but a lover of guile and wickedness, admired his\naddress and wonderful subtlety.  And, indeed, the charm of daily\nintercourse with him was more than any character could resist or any\ndisposition escape.  Even those who feared and envied him could not but\ntake delight, and have a sort of kindness for him, when they saw him and\nwere in his company.  So that Tisaphernes, otherwise a cruel character,\nand, above all other Persians, a hater of the Greeks, was yet so won by\nthe flatteries of Alcibiades, that he set himself even to exceed him in\nresponding to them.  The most beautiful of his parks, containing\nsalubrious streams and meadows, where he had built pavilions, and places\nof retirement royally and exquisitely adorned, received by his direction\nthe name of Alcibiades, and was always so called and so spoken of.\n\nThus Alcibiades, quitting the interests of the Spartans, whom he could\nno longer trust, because he stood in fear of Agis, endeavored to do them\nill offices, and render them odious to Tisaphernes, who, by his means,\nwas hindered from assisting them vigorously, and from finally ruining\nthe Athenians.  For his advice was to furnish them but sparingly with\nmoney, and so wear them out, and consume them insensibly; when they had\nwasted their strength upon one another, they would both become ready to\nsubmit to the king.  Tisaphernes readily pursued his counsel, and so\nopenly expressed the liking and admiration which he had for him, that\nAlcibiades was looked up to by the Greeks of both parties, and the\nAthenians, now in their misfortunes, repented them of their severe\nsentence against him.  And he, on the other side, began to be troubled\nfor them, and to fear lest, if that commonwealth were utterly destroyed,\nhe should fall into the hands of the Lacedaemonians, his enemies.\n\nAt that time the whole strength of the Athenians was in Samos.  Their\nfleet maintained itself here, and issued from these head-quarters to\nreduce such as had revolted, and protect the rest of their territories;\nin one way or other still contriving to be a match for their enemies at\nsea.  What they stood in fear of, was Tisaphernes and the Phoenician\nfleet of one hundred and fifty galleys, which was said to be already\nunder sail; if those came, there remained then no hopes for the\ncommonwealth of Athens.  Understanding this, Alcibiades sent secretly to\nthe chief men of the Athenians, who were then at Samos, giving them\nhopes that he would make Tisaphernes their friend; he was willing, he\nimplied, to do some favor, not to the people, nor in reliance upon them,\nbut to the better citizens, if only, like brave men, they would make the\nattempt to put down the insolence of the people, and, by taking upon\nthem the government, would endeavor to save the city from ruin.  All of\nthem gave a ready ear to the proposal made by Alcibiades, except only\nPhrynichus of the township of Dirades, one of the generals, who\nsuspected, as the truth was, that Alcibiades concerned not himself\nwhether the government were in the people or the better citizens, but\nonly sought by any means to make way for his return into his native\ncountry, and to that end inveighed against the people, thereby to gain\nthe others, and to insinuate himself into their good opinion.  But when\nPhrynichus found his counsel to be rejected, and that he was himself\nbecome a declared enemy of Alcibiades, he gave secret intelligence to\nAstyochus, the enemy's admiral, cautioning him to beware of Alcibiades,\nand to seize him as a double dealer, unaware that one traitor was making\ndiscoveries to another.  For Astyochus, who was eager to gain the favor\nof Tisaphernes, observing the credit Alcibiades had with him, revealed\nto Alcibiades all that Phrynichus had said against him.  Alcibiades at\nonce dispatched messengers to Samos, to accuse Phrynichus of the\ntreachery.  Upon this, all the commanders were enraged with Phrynichus,\nand set themselves against him, and he, seeing no other way to extricate\nhimself from the present danger, attempted to remedy one evil by a\ngreater.  He sent to Astyochus to reproach him for betraying him, and to\nmake an offer to him at the same time, to deliver into his hands both\nthe army and the navy of the Athenians.  This occasioned no damage to\nthe Athenians, because Astyochus repeated his treachery, and revealed\nalso this proposal to Alcibiades.  But this again was foreseen by\nPhrynichus, who, expecting a second accusation from Alcibiades, to\nanticipate him, advertised the Athenians beforehand that the enemy was\nready to sail in order to surprise them, and therefore advised them to\nfortify their camp, and to be in a readiness to go aboard their ships.\nWhile the Athenians were intent upon doing these things, they received\nother letters from Alcibiades, admonishing them to beware of Phrynichus,\nas one who designed to betray their fleet to the enemy, to which they\nthen gave no credit at all, conceiving that Alcibiades, who knew\nperfectly the counsels and preparations of the enemy, was merely making\nuse of that knowledge, in order to impose upon them in this false\naccusation of Phrynichus.  Yet, afterwards, when Phrynichus was stabbed\nwith a dagger in the market-place by Hermon, one of the guard, the\nAthenians, entering into an examination of the cause, solemnly condemned\nPhrynichus of treason, and decreed crowns to Hermon and his associates.\nAnd now the friends of Alcibiades, carrying all before them at Samos,\ndispatched Pisander to Athens, to attempt a change of government, and to\nencourage the aristocratical citizens to take upon themselves the\ngovernment, and overthrow the democracy, representing to them, that,\nupon these terms, Alcibiades would procure them the friendship and\nalliance of Tisaphernes.\n\nThis was the color and pretense made use of by those who desired to\nchange the government of Athens to an oligarchy.  But as soon as they\nprevailed, and had got the administration of affairs into their hands,\nunder the name of the Five Thousand (whereas, indeed, they were but four\nhundred), they slighted Alcibiades altogether, and prosecuted the war\nwith less vigor; partly because they durst not yet trust the citizens,\nwho secretly detested this change, and partly because they thought the\nLacedaemonians, who always befriended the government of the few, would\nbe inclined to give them favorable terms.\n\nThe people in the city were terrified into submission, many of those who\nhad dared openly to oppose the four hundred having been put to death.\nBut those who were at Samos, indignant when they heard this news, were\neager to set sail instantly for the Piraeus; and, sending for\nAlcibiades, they declared him general, requiring him to lead them on to\nput down the tyrants.  He, however, in that juncture, did not, as it\nmight have been thought a man would, on being suddenly exalted by the\nfavor of a multitude, think himself under an obligation to gratify and\nsubmit to all the wishes of those who, from a fugitive and an exile, had\ncreated him general of so great an army, and given him the command of\nsuch a fleet.  But, as became a great captain, he opposed himself to the\nprecipitate resolutions which their rage led them to, and, by\nrestraining them from the great error they were about to commit,\nunequivocally saved the commonwealth.  For if they then had sailed to\nAthens, all Ionia and the islands and the Hellespont would have fallen\ninto the enemies' hands without opposition, while the Athenians,\ninvolved in civil war, would have been fighting with one another within\nthe circuit of their own walls.  It was Alcibiades alone, or, at least,\nprincipally, who prevented all this mischief; for he not only used\npersuasion to the whole army, and showed them the danger, but applied\nhimself to them, one by one, entreating some, and constraining others.\nHe was much assisted, however, by Thrasybulus of Stiria, who, having the\nloudest voice, as we are told of all the Athenians, went along with him,\nand cried out to those who were ready to be gone.  A second great\nservice which Alcibiades did for them was, his undertaking that the\nPhoenician fleet, which the Lacedaemonians expected to be sent to them\nby the king of Persia, should either come in aid of the Athenians, or\notherwise should not come at all.  He sailed off with all expedition in\norder to perform this, and the ships, which had already been seen as\nnear as Aspendus, were not brought any further by Tisaphernes, who thus\ndeceived the Lacedaemonians; and it was by both sides believed that they\nhad been diverted by the procurement of Alcibiades.  The Lacedaemonians,\nin particular, accused him, that he had advised the Barbarian to stand\nstill, and suffer the Greeks to waste and destroy one another, as it was\nevident that the accession of so great a force to either party would\nenable them to take away the entire dominion of the sea from the other\nside.\n\nSoon after this, the four hundred usurpers were driven out, the friends\nof Alcibiades vigorously assisting those who were for the popular\ngovernment.  And now the people in the city not only desired, but\ncommanded Alcibiades to return home from his exile.  He, however,\ndesired not to owe his return to the mere grace and commiseration of the\npeople, and resolved to come back, not with empty hands, but with glory,\nand after some service done.  To this end, he sailed from Samos with a\nfew ships, and cruised on the sea of Cnidos, and about the isle of Cos;\nbut receiving intelligence there that Mindarus, the Spartan admiral, had\nsailed with his whole army into the Hellespont, and that the Athenians\nhad followed him, he hurried back to succor the Athenian commanders,\nand, by good fortune, arrived with eighteen galleys at a critical time.\nFor both the fleets having engaged near Abydos, the fight between them\nhad lasted till night, the one side having the advantage on one quarter,\nand the other on another.  Upon his first appearance, both sides formed\na false impression; the enemy was encouraged, and the Athenians\nterrified.  But Alcibiades suddenly raised the Athenian ensign in the\nadmiral ship, and fell upon those galleys of the Peloponnesians which\nhad the advantage and were in pursuit.  He soon put these to flight, and\nfollowed them so close that he forced them on shore, and broke the ships\nin pieces, the sailors abandoning them and swimming away, in spite of\nall the efforts of Pharnabazus, who had come down to their assistance by\nland, and did what he could to protect them from the shore.  In fine,\nthe Athenians, having taken thirty of the enemy's ships, and recovered\nall their own, erected a trophy.  After the gaining of so glorious a\nvictory, his vanity made him eager to show himself to Tisaphernes, and,\nhaving furnished himself with gifts and presents, and an equipage\nsuitable to his dignity, he set out to visit him.  But the thing did not\nsucceed as he had imagined, for Tisaphernes had been long suspected by\nthe Lacedaemonians, and was afraid to fall into disgrace with his king,\nupon that account, and therefore thought that Alcibiades arrived very\nopportunely, and immediately caused him to be seized, and sent away\nprisoner to Sardis; fancying, by this act of injustice, to clear himself\nfrom all former imputations.\n\nBut about thirty days after, Alcibiades escaped from his keepers, and,\nhaving got a horse, fled to Clazomenae, where he procured Tisaphernes'\nadditional disgrace by professing he was a party to his escape.  From\nthere he sailed to the Athenian camp, and, being informed there that\nMindarus and Pharnabazus were together at Cyzicus, he made a speech to\nthe soldiers, telling them that sea-fighting, land-fighting, and, by the\ngods, fighting against fortified cities too, must be all one for them,\nas, unless they conquered everywhere, there was no money for them.  As\nsoon as ever he got them on shipboard, he hasted to Proconnesus, and\ngave command to seize all the small vessels they met, and guard them\nsafely in the interior of the fleet, that the enemy might have no notice\nof his coming; and a great storm of rain, accompanied with thunder and\ndarkness, which happened at the same time, contributed much to the\nconcealment of his enterprise.  Indeed, it was not only undiscovered by\nthe enemy, but the Athenians themselves were ignorant of it, for he\ncommanded them suddenly on board, and set sail when they had abandoned\nall intention of it.  As the darkness presently passed away, the\nPeloponnesian fleet were seen riding out at sea in front of the harbor\nof Cyzicus.  Fearing, if they discovered the number of his ships, they\nmight endeavor to save themselves by land, he commanded the rest of the\ncaptains to slacken, and follow him slowly, whilst he, advancing with\nforty ships, showed himself to the enemy, and provoked them to fight.\nThe enemy, being deceived as to their numbers; despised them, and,\nsupposing they were to contend with those only, made themselves ready\nand began the fight.  But as soon as they were engaged, they perceived\nthe other part of the fleet coming down upon them, at which they were so\nterrified that they fled immediately.  Upon that, Alcibiades, breaking\nthrough the midst of them with twenty of his best ships, hastened to the\nshore, disembarked, and pursued those who abandoned their ships and fled\nto land, and made a great slaughter of them.  Mindarus and Pharnabazus,\ncoming to their succor, were utterly defeated.  Mindarus was slain upon\nthe place, fighting valiantly; Pharnabazus saved himself by flight.  The\nAthenians slew great numbers of their enemies, won much spoil, and took\nall their ships.  They also made themselves masters of Cyzicus, which\nwas deserted by Pharnabazus, and destroyed its Peloponnesian garrison,\nand thereby not only secured to themselves the Hellespont, but by force\ndrove the Lacedaemonians from out of all the rest of the sea.  They\nintercepted some letters written to the ephors, which gave an account of\nthis fatal overthrow, after their short laconic manner.  \"Our hopes are\nat an end.  Mindarus is slain.  The men starve.  We know not what to\ndo.\"\n\nThe soldiers who followed Alcibiades in this last fight were so exalted\nwith their success, and felt that degree of pride, that, looking on\nthemselves as invincible, they disdained to mix with the other soldiers,\nwho had been often overcome.  For it happened not long before,\nThrasyllus had received a defeat near Ephesus, and, upon that occasion,\nthe Ephesians erected their brazen trophy to the disgrace of the\nAthenians.  The soldiers of Alcibiades reproached those who were under\nthe command of Thrasyllus with this misfortune, at the same time\nmagnifying themselves and their own commander, and it went so far that\nthey would not exercise with them, nor lodge in the same quarters.  But\nsoon after, Pharnabazus, with a great force of horse and foot, falling\nupon the soldiers of Thrasyllus, as they were laying waste the territory\nof Abydos, Alcibiades came to their aid, routed Pharnabazus, and,\ntogether with Thrasyllus, pursued him till it was night; and in this\naction the troops united, and returned together to the camp, rejoicing\nand congratulating one another.  The next day he erected a trophy, and\nthen proceeded to lay waste with fire and sword the whole province which\nwas under Pharnabazus, where none ventured to resist; and he took divers\npriests and priestesses, but released them without ransom.  He prepared\nnext to attack the Chalcedonians, who had revolted from the Athenians,\nand had received a Lacedaemonian governor and garrison.  But having\nintelligence that they had removed their corn and cattle out of the\nfields, and were conveying it all to the Bithynians, who were their\nfriends, he drew down his army to the frontier of the Bithynians, and\nthen sent a herald to charge them with this proceeding.  The Bithynians,\nterrified at his approach, delivered up to him the booty, and entered\ninto alliance with him.\n\nAfterwards he proceeded to the siege of Chalcedon, and enclosed it with\na wall from sea to sea.  Pharnabazus advanced with his forces to raise\nthe siege, and Hippocrates, the governor of the town, at the same time,\ngathering together all the strength he had, made a sally upon the\nAthenians.  Alcibiades divided his army so as to engage them both at\nonce, and not only forced Pharnabazus to a dishonorable flight, but\ndefeated Hippocrates, and killed him and a number of the soldiers with\nhim.  After this he sailed into the Hellespont, in order to raise\nsupplies of money, and took the city of Selymbria, in which action,\nthrough his precipitation, he exposed himself to great danger.  For some\nwithin the town had undertaken to betray it into his hands, and, by\nagreement, were to give him a signal by a lighted torch about midnight.\nBut one of the conspirators beginning to repent himself of the design,\nthe rest, for fear of being discovered, were driven to give the signal\nbefore the appointed hour.  Alcibiades, as soon as he saw the torch\nlifted up in the air, though his army was not in readiness to march, ran\ninstantly towards the walls, taking with him about thirty men only, and\ncommanding the rest of the army to follow him with all possible speed.\nWhen he came thither, he found the gate opened for him, and entered with\nhis thirty men, and about twenty more light-armed men, who were come up\nto them.  They were no sooner in the city, but he perceived the\nSelymbrians all armed, coming down upon him; so that there was no hope\nof escaping if he stayed to receive them; and, on the other hand, having\nbeen always successful till that day, wherever he commanded, he could\nnot endure to be defeated and fly.  So, requiring silence by sound of a\ntrumpet, he commanded one of his men to make proclamation that the\nSelymbrians should not take arms against the Athenians.  This cooled\nsuch of the inhabitants as were fiercest for the fight, for they\nsupposed that all their enemies were within the walls, and it raised the\nhopes of others who were disposed to an accommodation.  Whilst they were\nparleying, and propositions making on one side and the other,\nAlcibiades's whole army came up to the town.  And now, conjecturing\nrightly, that the Selymbrians were well inclined to peace, and fearing\nlest the city might be sacked by the Thracians, who came in great\nnumbers to his army to serve as volunteers, out of kindness for him, he\ncommanded them all to retreat without the walls.  And upon the\nsubmission of the Selymbrians, he saved them from being pillaged, only\ntaking of them a sum of money, and, after placing an Athenian garrison\nin the town, departed.\n\nDuring this action, the Athenian captains who besieged Chalcedon\nconcluded a treaty with Pharnabazus upon these articles:  that he should\ngive them a sum of money; that the Chalcedonians should return to the\nsubjection of Athens; and that the Athenians should make no inroad into\nthe province whereof Pharnabazus was governor; and Pharnabazus was also\nto provide safe conducts for the Athenian ambassadors to the king of\nPersia.  Afterwards, when Alcibiades returned thither, Pharnabazus\nrequired that he also should be sworn to the treaty; but he refused it,\nunless Pharnabazus would swear at the same time.  When the treaty was\nsworn to on both sides Alcibiades went against the Byzantines, who had\nrevolted from the Athenians, and drew a line of circumvallation about\nthe city.  But Anaxilaus and Lycurgus, together with some others, having\nundertaken to betray the city to him upon his engagement to preserve the\nlives and property of the inhabitants, he caused a report to be spread\nabroad, as if, by reason of some unexpected movement in Ionia, he should\nbe obliged to raise the siege.  And, accordingly, that day he made a\nshow to depart with his whole fleet; but returned the same night, and\nwent ashore with all his men at arms, and, silently and undiscovered,\nmarched up to the walls.  At the same time, his ships rowed into the\nharbor with all possible violence, coming on with much fury, and with\ngreat shouts and outcries.  The Byzantines, thus surprised and\nastonished, while they all hurried to the defense of their port and\nshipping, gave opportunity to those who favored the Athenians, securely\nto receive Alcibiades into the city.  Yet the enterprise was not\naccomplished without fighting, for the Peloponnesians, Boeotians, and\nMegarians not only repulsed those who came out of the ships, and forced\nthem on board again, but, hearing that the Athenians were entered on\nthe other side, drew up in order, and went to meet them.  Alcibiades,\nhowever, gained the victory after some sharp fighting, in which he\nhimself had the command of the right wing, and Theramenes of the left,\nand took about three hundred, who survived of the enemy, prisoners of\nwar.  After the battle, not one of the Byzantines was slain, or driven\nout of the city, according to the terms upon which the city was put into\nhis hands, that they should receive no prejudice in life or property.\nAnd thus Anaxilaus, being afterwards accused at Lacedaemon for this\ntreason, neither disowned nor professed to be ashamed of the action; for\nhe urged that he was not a Lacedaemonian, but a Byzantine and saw not\nSparta, but Byzantium, in extreme danger; the city so blockaded that it\nwas not possible to bring in any new provisions, and the Peloponnesians\nand Boeotians, who were in garrison, devouring the old stores, whilst\nthe Byzantines, with their wives and children, were starving; that he\nhad not, therefore, betrayed his country to enemies, but had delivered\nit from the calamities of war, and had but followed the example of the\nmost worthy Lacedaemonians, who esteemed nothing to be honorable and\njust, but what was profitable for their country.  The Lacedaemonians,\nupon hearing his defense, respected it, and discharged all that were\naccused.\n\nAnd now Alcibiades began to desire to see his native country again, or\nrather to show his fellow-citizens a person who had gained so many\nvictories for them.  He set sail for Athens, the ships that accompanied\nhim being adorned with great numbers of shields and other spoils, and\ntowing after them many galleys taken from the enemy, and the ensigns and\nornaments of many others which he had sunk and destroyed; all of them\ntogether amounting to two hundred.  Little credit, perhaps, can be given\nto what Duris the Samian, who professed to be descended from Alcibiades,\nadds, that Chrysogonus, who had gained a victory at the Pythian games,\nplayed upon his flute for the galleys, whilst the oars kept time with\nthe music; and that Callippides, the tragedian, attired in his buskins,\nhis purple robes, and other ornaments used in the theater, gave the word\nto the rowers, and that the admiral galley entered into the port with a\npurple sail.  Neither Theopompus, nor Ephorus, nor Xenophon, mention\nthem.  Nor, indeed, is it credible, that one who returned from so long\nan exile, and such variety of misfortunes, should come home to his\ncountrymen in the style of revelers breaking up from a drinking-party.\nOn the contrary, he entered the harbor full of fear, nor would he\nventure to go on shore, till, standing on the deck, he saw Euryptolemus,\nhis cousin, and others of his friends and acquaintance, who were ready\nto receive him, and invited him to land.  As soon as he was landed, the\nmultitude who came out to meet him scarcely seemed so much as to see any\nof the other captains, but came in throngs about Alcibiades, and saluted\nhim with loud acclamations, and still followed him; those who could\npress near him crowned him with garlands, and they who could not come up\nso close yet stayed to behold him afar off, and the old men pointed him\nout, and showed him to the young ones.  Nevertheless, this public joy\nwas mixed with some tears, and the present happiness was allayed by the\nremembrance of the miseries they had endured.  They made reflections,\nthat they could not have so unfortunately miscarried in Sicily, or been\ndefeated in any of their other expectations, if they had left the\nmanagement of their affairs formerly, and the command of their forces,\nto Alcibiades, since, upon his undertaking the administration, when they\nwere in a manner driven from the sea, and could scarce defend the\nsuburbs of their city by land, and, at the same time, were miserably\ndistracted with intestine factions, he had raised them up from this low\nand deplorable condition, and had not only restored them to their\nancient dominion of the sea, but had also made them everywhere\nvictorious over their enemies on land.\n\nThere had been a decree for recalling him from his banishment already\npassed by the people, at the instance of Critias, the son of\nCallaeschrus, as appears by his elegies, in which he puts Alcibiades in\nmind of this service:--\n\nFrom my proposal did that edict come,\nWhich from your tedious exile brought you home;\nThe public vote at first was moved by me,\nAnd my voice put the seal to the decree.\n\nThe people being summoned to an assembly, Alcibiades came in amongst\nthem, and first bewailed and lamented his own sufferings, and, in gentle\nterms complaining of the usage he had received, imputed all to his hard\nfortune, and some ill genius that attended him:  then he spoke at large\nof their prospects, and exhorted them to courage and good hope.  The\npeople crowned him with crowns of gold, and created him general, both at\nland and sea, with absolute power.  They also made a decree that his\nestate should be restored to him, and that the Eumolpidae and the holy\nheralds should absolve him from the curses which they had solemnly\npronounced against him by sentence of the people.  Which when all the\nrest obeyed, Theodorus, the high-priest, excused himself, \"For,\" said\nhe, \"if he is innocent, I never cursed him.\"\n\nBut notwithstanding the affairs of Alcibiades went so prosperously, and\nso much to his glory, yet many were still somewhat disturbed, and looked\nupon the time of his arrival to be ominous.  For on the day that he came\ninto the port, the feast of the goddess Minerva, which they call the\nPlynteria, was kept.  It is the twenty-fifth day of Thargelion, when the\nPraxiergidae solemnize their secret rites, taking all the ornaments from\noff her image, and keeping the part of the temple where it stands close\ncovered.  Hence the Athenians esteem this day most inauspicious and\nnever undertake any thing of importance upon it; and, therefore, they\nimagined that the goddess did not receive Alcibiades graciously and\npropitiously, thus hiding her face and rejecting him.  Yet,\nnotwithstanding, everything succeeded according to his wish.  When the\none hundred galleys, that were to return with him, were fitted out and\nready to sail, an honorable zeal detained him till the celebration of\nthe mysteries was over.  For ever since Decelea had been occupied, as\nthe enemy commanded the roads leading from Athens to Eleusis, the\nprocession, being conducted by sea, had not been performed with any\nproper solemnity; they were forced to omit the sacrifices and dances and\nother holy ceremonies, which had usually been performed in the way, when\nthey led forth Iacchus.  Alcibiades, therefore, judged it would be a\nglorious action, which would do honor to the gods and gain him esteem\nwith men, if he restored the ancient splendor to these rites, escorting\nthe procession again by land, and protecting it with his army in the\nface of the enemy.  For either, if Agis stood still and did not oppose,\nit would very much diminish and obscure his reputation, or, in the other\nalternative, Alcibiades would engage in a holy war, in the cause of the\ngods, and in defense of the most sacred and solemn ceremonies; and this\nin the sight of his country, where he should have all his fellow-\ncitizens witnesses of his valor.  As soon as he had resolved upon this\ndesign, and had communicated it to the Eumolpidae and heralds, he placed\nsentinels on the tops of the hills, and at the break of day sent forth\nhis scouts.  And then taking with him the priests and Initiates and the\nInitiators, and encompassing them with his soldiers, he conducted them\nwith great order and profound silence; an august and venerable\nprocession, wherein all who did not envy him said, he performed at once\nthe office of a high-priest and of a general.  The enemy did not dare to\nattempt any thing against them, and thus he brought them back in safety\nto the city.  Upon which, as he was exalted in his own thought, so the\nopinion which the people had of his conduct was raised to that degree,\nthat they looked upon their armies as irresistible and invincible while\nhe commanded them; and he so won, indeed, upon the lower and meaner sort\nof people, that they passionately desired to have him \"tyrant\" over\nthem, and some of them did not scruple to tell him so, and to advise him\nto put himself out of the reach of envy, by abolishing the laws and\nordinances of the people, and suppressing the idle talkers that were\nruining the state, that so he might act and take upon him the management\nof affairs, without standing in fear of being called to an account.\n\nHow far his own inclinations led him to usurp sovereign power, is\nuncertain, but the most considerable persons in the city were so much\nafraid of it, that they hastened him on ship-board as speedily as they\ncould, appointing the colleagues whom he chose, and allowing him all\nother things as he desired.  Thereupon he set sail with a fleet of one\nhundred ships, and, arriving at Andros, he there fought with and\ndefeated as well the inhabitants as the Lacedaemonians who assisted\nthem.  He did not, however, take the city; which gave the first occasion\nto his enemies for all their accusations against him.  Certainly, if\never man was ruined by his own glory, it was Alcibiades.  For his\ncontinual success had produced such an idea of his courage and conduct,\nthat, if he failed in anything he undertook, it was imputed to his\nneglect, and no one would believe it was through want of power.  For\nthey thought nothing was too hard for him, if he went about it in good\nearnest.  They fancied, every day, that they should hear news of the\nreduction of Chios, and of the rest of Ionia, and grew impatient that\nthings were not effected as fast and as rapidly as they could wish for\nthem.  They never considered how extremely money was wanting, and that,\nhaving to carry on war with an enemy who had supplies of all things from\na great king, he was often forced to quit his armament, in order to\nprocure money and provisions for the subsistence of his soldiers.  This\nit was which gave occasion for the last accusation which was made\nagainst him.  For Lysander, being sent from Lacedaemon with a commission\nto be admiral of their fleet, and being furnished by Cyrus with a great\nsum of money, gave every sailor four obols a day, whereas before they\nhad but three.  Alcibiades could hardly allow his men three obols, and\ntherefore was constrained to go into Caria to furnish himself with\nmoney.  He left the care of the fleet, in his absence, to Antiochus, an\nexperienced seaman, but rash and inconsiderate, who had express orders\nfrom Alcibiades not to engage, though the enemy provoked him.  But he\nslighted and disregarded these directions to that degree, that, having\nmade ready his own galley and another, he stood for Ephesus, where the\nenemy lay, and, as he sailed before the heads of their galleys, used\nevery provocation possible, both in words and deeds.  Lysander at first\nmanned out a few ships, and pursued him.  But all the Athenian ships\ncoming in to his assistance, Lysander, also, brought up his whole fleet,\nwhich gained an entire victory.  He slew Antiochus himself, took many\nmen and ships, and erected a trophy.\n\nAs soon as Alcibiades heard this news, he returned to Samos, and loosing\nfrom thence with his whole fleet, came and offered battle to Lysander.\nBut Lysander, content with the victory he had gained, would not stir.\nAmongst others in the army who hated Alcibiades, Thrasybulus, the son of\nThrason, was his particular enemy, and went purposely to Athens to\naccuse him, and to exasperate his enemies in the city against him.\nAddressing the people, he represented that Alcibiades had ruined their\naffairs and lost their ships by mere self-conceited neglect of his\nduties, committing the government of the army, in his absence, to men\nwho gained his favor by drinking and scurrilous talking, whilst he\nwandered up and down at pleasure to raise money, giving himself up to\nevery sort of luxury and excess amongst the courtesans of Abydos and\nIonia, at a time when the enemy's navy were on the watch close at hand.\nIt was also objected to him, that he had fortified a castle near\nBisanthe in Thrace, for a safe retreat for himself, as one that either\ncould not, or would not, live in his own country.  The Athenians gave\ncredit to these informations, and showed the resentment and displeasure\nwhich they had conceived against him, by choosing other generals.\n\nAs soon as Alcibiades heard of this, he immediately forsook the army,\nafraid of what might follow; and, collecting a body of mercenary\nsoldiers, made war upon his own account against those Thracians who\ncalled themselves free, and acknowledged no king.  By this means he\namassed to himself a considerable treasure, and, at the same time,\nsecured the bordering Greeks from the incursions of the barbarians.\n\nTydeus, Menander, and Adimantus, the new-made generals, were at that\ntime posted at Aegospotami, with all the ships which the Athenians had\nleft.  From whence they were used to go out to sea every morning, and\noffer battle to Lysander, who lay near Lampsacus; and when they had done\nso, returning back again, lay, all the rest of the day, carelessly and\nwithout order, in contempt of the enemy.  Alcibiades, who was not far\noff, did not think so slightly of their danger, nor neglect to let them\nknow it, but, mounting his horse, came to the generals, and represented\nto them that they had chosen a very inconvenient station, where there\nwas no safe harbor, and where they were distant from any town; so that\nthey were constrained to send for their necessary provisions as far as\nSestos.  He also pointed out to them their carelessness in suffering the\nsoldiers, when they went ashore, to disperse and wander up and down at\ntheir pleasure, while the enemy's fleet, under the command of one\ngeneral, and strictly obedient to discipline, lay so very near them.  He\nadvised them to remove the fleet to Sestos.  But the admirals not only\ndisregarded what he said, but Tydeus, with insulting expressions;\ncommanded him to be gone, saying, that now not he, but others, had the\ncommand of the forces.  Alcibiades, suspecting something of treachery in\nthem, departed, and told his friends, who accompanied him out of the\ncamp, that if the generals had not used him with such insupportable\ncontempt, he would within a few days have forced the Lacedaemonians,\nhowever unwilling, either to have fought the Athenians at sea, or to\nhave deserted their ships.  Some looked upon this as a piece of\nostentation only; others said, the thing was probable, for that he might\nhave brought down by land great numbers of the Thracian cavalry and\narchers, to assault and disorder them in their camp.  The event\nhowever, soon made it evident how rightly he had judged of the errors\nwhich the Athenians committed.  For Lysander fell upon them on a sudden,\nwhen they least suspected it, with such fury that Conon alone, with\neight galleys, escaped him; all the rest, which were about two hundred,\nhe took and carried away, together with three thousand prisoners, whom\nhe put to death.  And within a short time after, he took Athens itself,\nburnt all the ships which he found there, and demolished their long\nwalls.\n\nAfter this, Alcibiades, standing in dread of the Lacedaemonians, who\nwere now masters both at sea and land, retired into Bithynia.  He sent\nthither great treasure before him, took much with him, but left much\nmore in the castle where he had before resided.  But he lost great part\nof his wealth in Bithynia, being robbed by some Thracians who lived in\nthose parts, and thereupon determined to go to the court of Artaxerxes,\nnot doubting but that the king, if he would make trial of his abilities,\nwould find him not inferior to Themistocles, besides that he was\nrecommended by a more honorable cause.  For he went, not as Themistocles\ndid, to offer his service against his fellow-citizens, but against their\nenemies, and to implore the king's aid for the defense of his country.\nHe concluded that Pharnabazus would most readily procure him a safe\nconduct, and therefore went into Phrygia to him, and continued to dwell\nthere some time, paying him great respect, and being honorably treated\nby him.  The Athenians, in the meantime, were miserably afflicted at\ntheir loss of empire, but when they were deprived of liberty also, and\nLysander set up thirty despotic rulers in the city, in their ruin now\nthey began to turn to those thoughts which, while safety was yet\npossible, they would not entertain; they acknowledged and bewailed their\nformer errors and follies, and judged this second ill-usage of\nAlcibiades to be of all the most inexcusable.  For he was rejected,\nwithout any fault committed by himself; and only because they were\nincensed against his subordinate for having shamefully lost a few ships,\nthey much more shamefully deprived the commonwealth of its most valiant\nand accomplished general.  Yet in this sad state of affairs, they had\nstill some faint hopes left them, nor would they utterly despair of the\nAthenian commonwealth, while Alcibiades was safe.  For they persuaded\nthemselves that if before, when he was an exile, he could not content\nhimself to live idly and at ease, much less now, if he could find any\nfavorable opportunity, would he endure the insolence of the\nLacedaemonians, and the outrages of the Thirty.  Nor was it an absurd\nthing in the people to entertain such imaginations, when the Thirty\nthemselves were so very solicitous to be informed and to get\nintelligence of all his actions and designs.  In fine, Critias\nrepresented to Lysander that the Lacedaemonians could never securely\nenjoy the dominion of Greece, till the Athenian democracy was absolutely\ndestroyed; and though now the people of Athens seemed quietly and\npatiently to submit to so small a number of governors, yet so long as\nAlcibiades lived, the knowledge of this fact would never suffer them to\nacquiesce in their present circumstances.\n\nYet Lysander would not be prevailed upon by these representations, till\nat last he received secret orders from the magistrates of Lacedaemon,\nexpressly requiring him to get Alcibiades dispatched:  whether it was\nthat they feared his energy and boldness in enterprising what was\nhazardous, or that it was done to gratify king Agis.  Upon receipt of\nthis order, Lysander sent away a messenger to Pharnabazus, desiring him\nto put it in execution.  Pharnabazus committed the affair to Magaeus,\nhis brother, and to his uncle Susamithres.  Alcibiades resided at that\ntime in a small village in Phrygia, together with Timandra, a mistress\nof his.  As he slept, he had this dream:  he thought himself attired in\nhis mistress's habit, and that she, holding him in her arms, dressed his\nhead and painted his face as if he had been a woman; others say, he\ndreamed that he saw Magaeus cut off his head and burn his body; at any\nrate, it was but a little while before his death that he had these\nvisions.  Those who were sent to assassinate him had not courage enough\nto enter the house, but surrounded it first, and set it on fire.\nAlcibiades, as soon as he perceived it, getting together great\nquantities of clothes and furniture, threw them upon the fire to choke\nit, and, having wrapped his cloak about his left arm, and holding his\nnaked sword in his right, he cast himself into the middle of the fire,\nand escaped securely through it, before his clothes were burnt.  The\nbarbarians, as soon as they saw him, retreated, and none of them durst\nstay to expect him, or to engage with him, but, standing at a distance,\nthey slew him with their darts and arrows.  When he was dead, the\nbarbarians departed, and Timandra took up his dead body, and, covering\nand wrapping it up in her own robes, she buried it as decently and as\nhonorably as her circumstances would allow.  It is said, that the famous\nLais, who was called the Corinthian, though she was a native of Hyccara,\na small town in Sicily, from whence she was brought a captive, was the\ndaughter of this Timandra.  There are some who agree with this account\nof Alcibiades's death in all points, except that they impute the cause\nof it neither to Pharnabazus, nor Lysander, nor the Lacedaemonians:\nbut, they say, he was keeping with him a young lady of a noble house,\nwhom he had debauched, and that her brothers, not being able to endure\nthe indignity, set fire by night to the house where he was living, and,\nas he endeavored to save himself from the flames, slew him with their\ndarts, in the manner just related.\n\n\n\nCORIOLANUS\n\nThe patrician house of the Marcii in Rome produced many men of\ndistinction, and among the rest, Ancus Marcius, grandson to Numa by his\ndaughter, and king after Tullus Hostilius.  Of the same family were also\nPublius and Quintus Marcius, which two conveyed into the city the best\nand most abundant supply of water they have at Rome.  As likewise\nCensorinus, who, having been twice chosen censor by the people,\nafterwards himself induced them to make a law that nobody should bear\nthat office twice.  But Caius Marcius, of whom I now write, being left\nan orphan, and brought up under the widowhood of his mother, has shown\nus by experience, that, although the early loss of a father may be\nattended with other disadvantages, yet it can hinder none from being\neither virtuous or eminent in the world, and that it is no obstacle to\ntrue goodness and excellence; however bad men may be pleased to lay the\nblame of their corruptions upon that misfortune and the neglect of them\nin their minority.  Nor is he less an evidence to the truth of their\nopinion, who conceive that a generous and worthy nature without proper\ndiscipline, like a rich soil without culture, is apt, with its better\nfruits, to produce also much that is bad and faulty.  While the force\nand vigor of his soul, and a persevering constancy in all he undertook,\nled him successfully into many noble achievements, yet, on the other\nside, also, by indulging the vehemence of his passion, and through all\nobstinate reluctance to yield or accommodate his humors and sentiments\nto those of people about him, he rendered himself incapable of acting\nand associating with others.  Those who saw with admiration how proof\nhis nature was against all the softnesses of pleasure, the hardships of\nservice, and the allurements of gain, while allowing to that universal\nfirmness of his the respective names of temperance, fortitude, and\njustice, yet, in the life of the citizen and the statesman, could not\nchoose but be disgusted at the severity and ruggedness of his\ndeportment, and with his overbearing, haughty, and imperious temper.\nEducation and study, and the favors of the muses, confer no greater\nbenefit on those that seek them, than these humanizing and civilizing\nlessons, which teach our natural qualities to submit to the limitations\nprescribed by reason, and to avoid the wildness of extremes.\n\nThose were times at Rome in which that kind of worth was most esteemed\nwhich displayed itself in military achievements; one evidence of which\nwe find in the Latin word for virtue, which is properly equivalent to\nmanly courage.  As if valor and all virtue had been the same thing, they\nused as the common term the name of the particular excellence.  But\nMarcius, having a more passionate inclination than any of that age for\nfeats of war, began at once, from his very childhood, to handle arms;\nand feeling that adventitious implements and artificial arms would\neffect little, and be of small use to such as have not their native and\nnatural weapons well fixed and prepared for service, he so exercised and\ninured his body to all sorts of activity and encounter, that, besides\nthe lightness of a racer, he had a weight in close seizures and\nwrestlings with an enemy, from which it was hard for any to disengage\nhimself; so that his competitors at home in displays of bravery, loath\nto own themselves inferior in that respect, were wont to ascribe their\ndeficiencies to his strength of body, which they said no resistance and\nno fatigue could exhaust.\n\nThe first time he went out to the wars, being yet a stripling, was when\nTarquinius Superbus, who had been king of Rome and was afterwards\nexpelled, after many unsuccessful attempts, now entered upon his last\neffort, and proceeded to hazard all as it were upon a single throw.  A\ngreat number of the Latins and other people of Italy joined their\nforces, and were marching with him toward the city, to procure his\nrestoration; not, however, so much out of a desire to serve and\noblige Tarquin, as to gratify their own fear and envy at the increase of\nthe Roman greatness, which they were anxious to check and reduce.  The\narmies met and engaged in a decisive battle, in the vicissitudes of\nwhich, Marcius, while fighting bravely in the dictator's presence, saw a\nRoman soldier struck down at a little distance, and immediately stepped\nin and stood before him, and slew his assailant.  The general, after\nhaving gained the victory, crowned him for this act, one of the first,\nwith a garland of oaken branches; it being the Roman custom thus to\nadorn those who had saved the life of a citizen; whether that the law\nintended some special honor to the oak, in memory of the Arcadians, a\npeople the oracle had made famous by the name of acorn-eaters; or\nwhether the reason of it was because they might easily, and in all\nplaces where they fought, have plenty of oak for that purpose; or,\nfinally, whether the oaken wreath, being sacred to Jupiter, the guardian\nof the city, might, therefore, be thought a propel ornament for one who\npreserved a citizen.  And the oak, in truth, is the tree which bears the\nmost and the prettiest fruit of any that grow wild, and is the strongest\nof all that are under cultivation; its acorns were the principal diet of\nthe first mortals, and the honey found in it gave them drink.  I may\nsay, too, it furnished fowl and other creatures as dainties, in\nproducing mistletoe for birdlime to ensnare them.  In this battle,\nmeantime, it is stated that Castor and Pollux appeared, and, immediately\nafter the battle, were seen at Rome just by the fountain where their\ntemple now stands, with their horses foaming with sweat, and told the\nnews of the victory to the people in the Forum.  The fifteenth of July,\nbeing the day of this conquest, became consequently a solemn holiday\nsacred to the Twin Brothers.\n\nIt may be observed in general, that when young men arrive early at fame\nand repute, if they are of a nature but slightly touched with emulation,\nthis early attainment is apt to extinguish their thirst and satiate\ntheir small appetite; whereas the first distinctions of more solid and\nweighty characters do but stimulate and quicken them and take them away,\nlike a wind, in the pursuit of honor; they look upon these marks and\ntestimonies to their virtue not as a recompense received for what they\nhave already done, but as a pledge given by themselves of what they will\nperform hereafter, ashamed now to forsake or underlive the credit they\nhave won, or, rather, not to exceed and obscure all that is gone before\nby the luster of their following actions.  Marcius, having a spirit of\nthis noble make, was ambitious always to surpass himself, and did\nnothing, how extraordinary soever, but he thought he was bound to outdo\nit at the next occasion; and ever desiring to give continual fresh\ninstances of his prowess he added one exploit to another, and heaped up\ntrophies upon trophies, so as to make it a matter of contest also among\nhis commanders, the later still vying with the earlier, which should\npay him the greatest honor and speak highest in his commendation.  Of\nall the numerous wars and conflicts in those days, there was not one\nfrom which he returned without laurels and rewards.  And, whereas others\nmade glory the end of their daring, the end of his glory was his\nmother's gladness; the delight she took to hear him praised and to see\nhim crowned, and her weeping for joy in his embraces, rendered him, in\nhis own thoughts, the most honored and most happy person in the world.\nEpaminondas is similarly said to have acknowledged his feeling, that it\nwas the greatest felicity of his whole life that his father and mother\nsurvived to hear of his successful generalship and his victory at\nLeuctra.  And he had the advantage, indeed, to have both his parents\npartake with him, and enjoy the pleasure of his good fortune.  But\nMarcius, believing himself bound to pay his mother Volumnia all that\ngratitude and duty which would have belonged to his father, had he also\nbeen alive, could never satiate himself in his tenderness and respect to\nher.  He took a wife, also, at her request and wish, and continued, even\nafter he had children, to live still with his mother, without parting\nfamilies.\n\nThe repute of his integrity and courage had, by this time, gained him a\nconsiderable influence and authority in Rome, when the senate, favoring\nthe wealthier citizens, began to be at variance with the common people,\nwho made sad complaints of the rigorous and inhuman usage they received\nfrom the money-lenders.  For as many as were behind with them, and had\nany sort of property, they stripped of all they had, by the way of\npledges and sales; and such as through former exactions were reduced\nalready to extreme indigence, and had nothing more to be deprived of,\nthese they led away in person and put their bodies under constraint,\nnotwithstanding the scars and wounds that they could show in attestation\nof their public services in numerous campaigns; the last of which had\nbeen against the Sabines, which they undertook upon a promise made by\ntheir rich creditors that they would treat them with more gentleness for\nthe future, Marcus Valerius, the consul, having, by order from the\nsenate, engaged also for the performance of it.  But when, after they\nhad fought courageously and beaten the enemy, there was, nevertheless,\nno moderation or forbearance used, and the senate also professed to\nremember nothing of that agreement, and sat without testifying the least\nconcern to see them dragged away like slaves and their goods seized upon\nas formerly, there began now to be open disorders and dangerous meetings\nin the city; and the enemy, also, aware of the popular confusion,\ninvaded and laid waste the country.  And when the consuls now gave\nnotice, that all who were of an age to bear arms should make their\npersonal appearance, but found no one regard the summons, the members of\nthe government, then coming to consult what course should be taken,\nwere themselves again divided in opinion:  some thought it most\nadvisable to comply a little in favor of the poor, by relaxing their\noverstrained rights, and mitigating the extreme rigor of the law, while\nothers withstood this proposal; Marcius in particular, with more\nvehemence than the rest, alleging that the business of money on either\nside was not the main thing in question, urged that this disorderly\nproceeding was but the first insolent step towards open revolt against\nthe laws, which it would become the wisdom of the government to check at\nthe earliest moment.\n\nThere had been frequent assemblies of the whole senate, within a small\ncompass of time, about this difficulty, but without any certain issue;\nthe poor commonalty, therefore, perceiving there was likely to be no\nredress of their grievances, on a sudden collected in a body, and,\nencouraging each other in their resolution, forsook the city with one\naccord and seizing the hill which is now called the Holy Mount, sat down\nby the river Anio, without committing any sort of violence or seditious\noutrage, but merely exclaiming, as they went along, that they had this\nlong time past been, in fact, expelled and excluded from the city by the\ncruelty of the rich; that Italy would everywhere afford them the benefit\nof air and water and a place of burial, which was all they could expect\nin the city, unless it were, perhaps, the privilege of being wounded and\nkilled in time of war for the defense of their creditors.  The senate,\napprehending the consequences, sent the most moderate and popular men of\ntheir own order to treat with them.\n\nMenenius Agrippa, their chief spokesman, after much entreaty to the\npeople, and much plain speaking on behalf of the senate, concluded, at\nlength, with the celebrated fable.  \"It once happened,\" he said, \"that\nall the other members of a man mutinied against the stomach, which they\naccused as the only idle, uncontributing part in the whole body, while\nthe rest were put to hardships and the expense of much labor to supply\nand minister to its appetites.  The stomach, however, merely ridiculed\nthe silliness of the members, who appeared not to be aware that the\nstomach certainly does receive the general nourishment, but only to\nreturn it again, and redistribute it amongst the rest.  Such is the\ncase,\" he said, \"ye citizens, between you and the senate.  The counsels\nand plans that are there duly digested, convey and secure to all of you,\nyour proper benefit and support.\"\n\nA reconciliation ensued, the senate acceding to the request of the\npeople for the annual election of five protectors for those in need of\nsuccor, the same that are now called the tribunes of the people; and the\nfirst two they pitched upon were Junius Brutus and Sicinnius Vellutus,\ntheir leaders in the secession.\n\nThe city being thus united, the commons stood presently to their arms,\nand followed their commanders to the war with great alacrity.  As for\nMarcius, though he was not a little vexed himself to see the populace\nprevail so far and gain ground of the senators, and might observe many\nother patricians have the same dislike of the late concessions, he yet\nbesought them not to yield at least to the common people in the zeal and\nforwardness they now allowed for their country's service, but to prove\nthat they were superior to them, not so much in power and riches as in\nmerit and worth.\n\nThe Romans were now at war with the Volscian nation, whose principal\ncity was Corioli; when, therefore, Cominius the consul had invested this\nimportant place, the rest of the Volscians, fearing it would be taken,\nmustered up whatever force they could from all parts, to relieve it,\ndesigning to give the Romans battle before the city, and so attack them\non both sides.  Cominius, to avoid this inconvenience, divided his army,\nmarching himself with one body to encounter the Volscians on their\napproach from without, and leaving Titus Lartius, one of the bravest\nRomans of his time, to command the other and continue the siege.  Those\nwithin Corioli, despising now the smallness of their number, made a\nsally upon them, and prevailed at first, and pursued the Romans into\ntheir trenches.  Here it was that Marcius, flying out with a slender\ncompany, and cutting those in pieces that first engaged him, obliged the\nother assailants to slacken their speed; and then, with loud cries,\ncalled upon the Romans to renew the battle.  For he had, what Cato\nthought a great point in a soldier, not only strength of hand and\nstroke, but also a voice and look that of themselves were a terror to an\nenemy.  Divers of his own party now rallying and making up to him, the\nenemies soon retreated; but Marcius, not content to see them draw off\nand retire, pressed hard upon the rear, and drove them, as they fled\naway in haste, to the very gates of their city; where, perceiving the\nRomans to fall back from their pursuit, beaten off by the multitude of\ndarts poured in upon them from the walls, and that none of his followers\nhad the hardiness to think of falling in pellmell among the fugitives\nand so entering a city full of enemies in arms, he, nevertheless, stood\nand urged them to the attempt, crying out, that fortune had now set open\nCorioli, not so much to shelter the vanquished, as to receive the\nconquerors.  Seconded by a few that were willing to venture with him, he\nbore along through the crowd, made good his passage, and thrust himself\ninto the gate through the midst of them, nobody at first daring to\nresist him.  But when the citizens, on looking about, saw that a very\nsmall number had entered, they now took courage, and came up and\nattacked them.  A combat ensued of the most extraordinary description,\nin which Marcius, by strength of hand, and swiftness of foot, and daring\nof soul, overpowering every one that he assailed, succeeded in driving\nthe enemy to seek refuge, for the most part, in the interior of the\ntown, while the remainder submitted, and threw down their arms; thus\naffording Lartius abundant opportunity to bring in the rest of the\nRomans with ease and safety.\n\nCorioli being thus surprised and taken, the greater part of the soldiers\nemployed themselves in spoiling and pillaging it, while Marcius\nindignantly reproached them, and exclaimed that it was a dishonorable\nand unworthy thing, when the consul and their fellow-citizens had now\nperhaps encountered the other Volscians, and were hazarding their lives\nin battle, basely to misspend the time in running up and down for booty,\nand, under a pretense of enriching themselves, keep out of danger.  Few\npaid him any attention, but, putting himself at the head of these, he\ntook the road by which the consul's army had marched before him,\nencouraging his companions, and beseeching them, as they went along, not\nto give up, and praying often to the gods, too, that he might be so happy\nas to arrive before the fight was over, and come seasonably up to assist\nCominius, and partake in the peril of the action.\n\nIt was customary with the Romans of that age, when they were moving into\nbattle array, and were on the point of taking up their bucklers, and\ngirding their coats about them, to make at the same time an unwritten\nwill, or verbal testament, and to name who should be their heirs, in the\nhearing of three or four witnesses.  In this precise posture Marcius\nfound them at his arrival, the enemy being advanced within view.\n\nThey were not a little disturbed by his first appearance, seeing him\ncovered with blood and sweat, and attended with a small train; but when\nhe hastily made up to the consul with gladness in his looks, giving him\nhis hand, and recounting to him how the city had been taken, and when\nthey saw Cominius also embrace and salute him, every one took fresh\nheart; those that were near enough hearing, and those that were at a\ndistance guessing, what had happened; and all cried out to be led to\nbattle.  First, however, Marcius desired to know of him how the\nVolscians had arrayed their army, and where they had placed their best\nmen, and on his answering that he took the troops of the Antiates in the\ncenter to be their prime warriors, that would yield to none in bravery,\n\"Let me then demand and obtain of you,\" said Marcius, \"that we may be\nposted against them.\"  The consul granted the request, with much\nadmiration of his gallantry.  And when the conflict began by the\nsoldiers darting at each other, and Marcius sallied out before the rest,\nthe Volscians opposed to him were not able to make head against him;\nwherever he fell in, he broke their ranks, and made a lane through them;\nbut the parties turning again, and enclosing him on each side with their\nweapons, the consul, who observed the danger he was in, dispatched some\nof the choicest men he had for his rescue.  The conflict then growing\nwarm and sharp about Marcius, and many falling dead in a little space,\nthe Romans bore so hard upon the enemies, and pressed them with such\nviolence, that they forced them at length to abandon their ground, and\nto quit the field.  And, going now to prosecute the victory, they\nbesought Marcius, tired out with his toils, and faint and heavy through\nthe loss of blood, that he would retire to the camp.  He replied,\nhowever, that weariness was not for conquerors, and joined with them in\nthe pursuit.  The rest of the Volscian army was in like manner defeated,\ngreat numbers killed, and no less taken captive.\n\nThe day after, when Marcius, with the rest of the army, presented\nthemselves at the consul's tent, Cominius rose, and having rendered all\ndue acknowledgment to the gods for the success of that enterprise,\nturned next to Marcius, and first of all delivered the strongest\nencomium upon his rare exploits, which he had partly been an eyewitness\nof himself, in the late battle, and had partly learned from the\ntestimony of Lartius.  And then he required him to choose a tenth part\nof all the treasure and horses and captives that had fallen into their\nhands, before any division should be made to others; besides which, he\nmade him the special present of a horse with trappings and ornaments, in\nhonor of his actions.  The whole army applauded; Marcius, however,\nstepped forth, and declaring his thankful acceptance of the horse, and\nhis gratification at the praises of his general, said, that all other\nthings, which he could only regard rather as mercenary advantages than\nany significations of honor, he must waive, and should be content with\nthe ordinary proportion of such rewards.  \"I have only,\" said he; \"one\nspecial grace to beg, and this I hope you will not deny me.  There was a\ncertain hospitable friend of mine among the Volscians, a man of probity\nand virtue, who is become a prisoner, and from former wealth and freedom\nis now reduced to servitude.  Among his many misfortunes let my\nintercession redeem him from the one of being sold as a common slave.\"\nSuch a refusal and such a request on the part of Marcius were followed\nwith yet louder acclamations; and he had many more admirers of this\ngenerous superiority to avarice, than of the bravery he had shown in\nbattle.  The very persons who conceived some envy and despite to see him\nso specially honored, could not but acknowledge, that one who so nobly\ncould refuse reward, was beyond others worthy to receive it; and were\nmore charmed with that virtue which made him despise advantage, than\nwith any of those former actions that had gained him his title to it.\nIt is the hither accomplishment to use money well than to use arms; but\nnot to need it is more noble than to use it.\n\nWhen the noise of approbation and applause ceased, Cominius, resuming,\nsaid, \"It is idle, fellow-soldiers, to force and obtrude those other\ngifts of ours on one who is unwilling to accept them ; let us,\ntherefore, give him one of such a kind that he cannot well reject it;\nlet us pass a vote, I mean, that he shall hereafter be called\nCoriolanus, unless you think that his performance at Corioli has itself\nanticipated any such resolution.\"  Hence, therefore, he had his third\nname of Coriolanus, making it all the plainer that Caius was a personal\nproper name, and the second, or surname, Marcius, one common to his\nhouse and family; the third being a subsequent addition which used to be\nimposed either from some particular act or fortune, bodily\ncharacteristic, or good quality of the bearer.  Just as the Greeks, too,\ngave additional names in old time, in some cases from some achievement,\nSoter, for example, and Callinicus; or personal appearance, as Physcon\nand Grypus; good qualities, Euergetes and Philadelphus; good fortune,\nEudaemon, the title of the second Battus.  Several monarchs have also\nhad names given them in mockery, as Antigonus was called Doson, and\nPtolemy, Lathyrus.  This sort of title was yet more common among the\nRomans.  One of the Metelli was surnamed Diadematus, because he walked\nabout for a long time with a bandage on his head, to conceal a scar; and\nanother, of the same family, got the name of Celer, from the rapidity he\ndisplayed in giving a funeral entertainment of gladiators within a few\ndays after his father's death, his speed and energy in doing which was\nthought extraordinary.  There are some, too, who even at this day take\nnames from certain casual incidents at their nativity; a child that is\nborn when his father is away from home is called Proculus; or Postumus,\nif after his decease; and when twins come into the world, and one dies\nat the birth, the survivor has the name of Vopiscus.  From bodily\npeculiarities they derive not only their Syllas and Nigers, but their\nCaeci and Claudii; wisely endeavoring to accustom their people not to\nreckon either the loss of sight, or any other bodily misfortune, as a\nmatter of disgrace to them, but to answer to such names without shame,\nas if they were really their own.  But this discussion better befits\nanother place.\n\nThe war against the Volscians was no sooner at an end, than the popular\norators revived domestic troubles, and raised another sedition, without\nany new cause of complaint or just grievance to proceed upon, but\nmerely turning the very mischiefs that unavoidably ensued from their\nformer contests into a pretext against the patricians.  The greatest\npart of their arable land had been left unsown and without tillage, and\nthe time of war allowing them no means or leisure to import provision\nfrom other countries, there was an extreme scarcity.  The movers of the\npeople then observing, that there was no corn to be bought, and that, if\nthere had been, they had no money to buy it, began to calumniate the\nwealthy with false stories, and whisper it about, as if they, out of\nmalice, had purposely contrived the famine.  Meanwhile, there came an\nembassy from the Velitrani, proposing to deliver up their city to the\nRomans, and desiring they would send some new inhabitants to people it,\nas a late pestilential disease had swept away so many of the natives,\nthat there was hardly a tenth part remaining of their whole community.\nThis necessity of the Velitrani was considered by all more prudent\npeople as most opportune in the present state of affairs; since the\ndearth made it needful to ease the city of its superfluous members, and\nthey were in hope also, at the same time, to dissipate the gathering\nsedition by ridding themselves of the more violent and heated partisans,\nand discharging, so to say, the elements of disease and disorder in the\nstate.  The consuls, therefore, singled out such citizens to supply the\ndesolation at Velitrae, and gave notice to others, that they should be\nready to march against the Volscians, with the politic design of\npreventing intestine broils by employment abroad, and in the hope, that\nwhen rich as well as poor, plebeians and patricians, should be mingled\nagain in the same army and the same camp, and engage in one common\nservice for the public, it would mutually dispose them to reconciliation\nand friendship.\n\nBut Sicinnius and Brutus, the popular orators, interposed, crying out,\nthat the consuls disguised the most cruel and barbarous action in the\nworld under that mild and plausible name of a colony, and were simply\nprecipitating so many poor citizens into a mere pit of destruction,\nbidding them settle down in a country where the air was charged with\ndisease, and the ground covered with dead bodies, and expose themselves\nto the evil influence of a strange and angered deity.  And then, as if\nit would not satisfy their hatred to destroy some by hunger, and offer\nothers to the mercy of a plague, they must proceed to involve them also\nin a needless war of their own making, that no calamity might be\nwanting to complete the punishment of the citizens for refusing to\nsubmit to that of slavery to the rich.\n\nBy such addresses, the people were so possessed, that none of them would\nappear upon the consular summons to be enlisted for the war; and they\nshowed entire aversion to the proposal for a new plantation; so that the\nsenate was at a loss what to say or do.  But Marcius, who began now to\nbear himself higher and to feel confidence in his past actions,\nconscious, too, of the admiration of the best and greatest men of Rome,\nopenly took the lead in opposing the favorers of the people.  The colony\nwas dispatched to Velitrae, those that were chosen by lot being\ncompelled to depart upon high penalties; and when they obstinately\npersisted in refusing to enroll themselves for the Volscian service, he\nmustered up his own clients, and as many others as could be wrought upon\nby persuasion, and with these made an inroad into the territories of the\nAntiates, where, finding a considerable quantity of corn, and collecting\nmuch booty, both of cattle and prisoners, he reserved nothing for\nhimself in private, but returned safe to Rome, while those that ventured\nout with him were seen laden with pillage, and driving their prey before\nthem.  This sight filled those that had stayed at home with regret for\ntheir perverseness, with envy at their fortunate fellow-citizens, and\nwith feelings of dislike to Marcius, and hostility to his growing\nreputation and power, which might probably be used against the popular\ninterest.\n\nNot long after he stood for the consulship; when, however, the people\nbegan to relent and incline to favor him, being sensible what a shame it\nwould be to repulse and affront a man of his birth and merit, after he\nhad done them so many signal services.  It was usual for those who stood\nfor offices among them to solicit and address themselves personally to\nthe citizens, presenting themselves in the forum with the toga on alone,\nand no tunic under it; either to promote their supplications by the\nhumility of their dress, or that such as had received wounds might more\nreadily display those marks of their fortitude.  Certainly, it was not\nout of suspicion of bribery and corruption that they required all such\npetitioners for their favor to appear ungirt and open, without any close\ngarment; as it was much later, and many ages after this, that buying and\nselling crept in at their elections, and money became an ingredient in\nthe public suffrages; proceeding thence to attempt their tribunals, and\neven attack their camps, till, by hiring the valiant, and enslaving iron\nto silver, it grew master of the state, and turned their commonwealth\ninto a monarchy.  For it was well and truly said that the first\ndestroyer of the liberties of a people is he who first gave them\nbounties and largesses.  At Rome the mischief seems to have stolen\nsecretly in, and by little and little, not being at once discerned and\ntaken notice of.  It is not certainly known who the man was that did\nthere first either bribe the citizens, or corrupt the courts; whereas,\nin Athens, Anytus, the son of Anthemion, is said to have been the first\nthat gave money to the judges, when on his trial, toward the latter end\nof the Peloponnesian war, for letting the fort of Pylos fall into the\nhands of the enemy; in a period while the pure and golden race of men\nwere still in possession of the Roman forum.\n\nMarcius, therefore, as the fashion of candidates was showing the scars\nand gashes that were still visible on his body, from the many conflicts\nin which he had signalized himself during a service of seventeen years\ntogether they were, so to say, put out of countenance at this display of\nmerit, and told one another that they ought in common modesty to create\nhim consul.  But when the day of election was now come, and Marcius\nappeared in the forum, with a pompous train of senators attending him;\nand the patricians all manifested greater concern, and seemed to be\nexerting greater efforts, than they had ever done before on the like\noccasion, the commons then fell off again from the kindness they had\nconceived for him, and in the place of their late benevolence, began to\nfeel something of indignation and envy; passions assisted by the fear\nthey entertained, that if a man of such aristocratic temper, and so\ninfluential among the patricians, should be invested with the power\nwhich that office would give him, he might employ it to deprive the\npeople of all that liberty which was yet left them.  In conclusion, they\nrejected Marcius.  Two other names were announced, to the great\nmortification of the senators, who felt as if the indignity reflected\nrather upon themselves than on Marcius.  He, for his part, could not\nbear the affront with any patience.  He had always indulged his temper,\nand had regarded the proud and contentious element of human nature as a\nsort of nobleness and magnanimity; reason and discipline had not imbued\nhim with that solidity and equanimity which enters so largely into the\nvirtues of the statesman.  He had never learned how essential it is for\nany one who undertakes public business, and desires to deal with\nmankind, to avoid above all things that self-will, which, as Plato says,\nbelongs to the family of solitude; and to pursue, above all things, that\ncapacity so generally ridiculed, of submission to ill treatment.\nMarcius, straightforward and direct, and possessed with the idea that to\nvanquish and overbear all apposition is the true part of bravery, and\nnever imagining that it was the weakness and womanishness of his nature\nthat broke out, so to say, in these ulcerations of anger, retired, full\nof fury and bitterness against the people.  The young patricians, too,\nall that were proudest and most conscious of their noble birth, had\nalways been devoted to his interest, and, adhering to him now, with a\nfidelity that did him no good, aggravated his resentment with the\nexpression of their indignation and condolence.  He had been their\ncaptain, and their willing instructor in the arts of war, when out upon\nexpeditions, and their model in that true emulation and love of\nexcellence which makes men extol, without envy or jealousy, each other's\nbrave achievements.\n\nIn the midst of these distempers, a large quantity of corn reached Rome,\na great part bought up in Italy, but an equal amount sent as a present\nfrom Syracuse, from Gelo, then reigning there.  Many began now to hope\nwell of their affairs, supposing the city, by this means, would be\ndelivered at once, both of its want and discord.  A council, therefore,\nbeing presently held, the people came flocking about the senate-house,\neagerly awaiting the issue of that deliberation, expecting that the\nmarket prices would now be less cruel, and that what had come as a gift\nwould be distributed as such.  There were some within who so advised the\nsenate; but Marcius, standing up, sharply inveighed against those who\nspoke in favor of the multitude, calling them flatterers of the rabble\ntraitors to the nobility, and alleging, that, by such gratifications,\nthey did but cherish those ill seeds of boldness and petulance that had\nbeen sown among the people, to their own prejudice, which they should\nhave done well to observe and stifle at their first appearance, and not\nhave suffered the plebeians to grow so strong, by granting them\nmagistrates of such authority as the tribunes.  They were, indeed, even\nnow formidable to the state, since everything they desired was granted\nthem; no constraint was put on their will; they refused obedience to the\nconsuls, and, overthrowing all law and magistracy, gave the title of\nmagistrate to their private factious leaders.  \"When things are come to\nsuch a pass, for us to sit here and decree largesses and bounties for\nthem, like those Greeks where the populace is supreme and absolute, what\nwould it be else,\" said he, \"but to take their disobedience into pay,\nand maintain it for the common ruin of us all?  They certainly cannot\nlook upon these liberalities as a reward of public service, which they\nknow they have so often deserted; nor yet of those secessions, by which\nthey openly renounced their country; much less of the calumnies and\nslanders they have been always so ready to entertain against the senate;\nbut will rather conclude that a bounty which seems to have no other\nvisible cause or reason, must needs be the effect of our fear and\nflattery; and will, therefore, set no limit to their disobedience, nor\never cease from disturbances and sedition.  Concession is mere madness;\nif we have any wisdom and resolution at all, we shall, on the contrary,\nnever rest till we have recovered from them that tribunician power they\nhave extorted from us; as being a plain subversion of the consulship,\nand a perpetual ground of separation in our city, that is no longer one,\nas heretofore, but has in this received such a wound and rupture, as is\nnever likely to close and unite again, or suffer us to be of one mind,\nand to give over inflaming our distempers, and being a torment to each\nother.\"\n\nMarcius, with much more to this purpose, succeeded, to an extraordinary\ndegree, in inspiring the younger men with the same furious sentiments,\nand had almost all the wealthy on his side, who cried him up as the only\nperson their city had, superior alike to force and flattery; some of the\nolder men, however, opposed him, suspecting the consequences.  As,\nindeed, there came no good of it; for the tribunes, who were present,\nperceiving how the proposal of Marcius took, ran out into the crowd with\nexclamations, calling on the plebeians to stand together, and come in to\ntheir assistance.  The assembly met, and soon became tumultuous.  The\nsum of what Marcius had spoken, having been reported to the people,\nexcited them to such fury, that they were ready to break in upon the\nsenate.  The tribunes prevented this, by laying all the blame on\nCoriolanus, whom, therefore, they cited by their messengers to come\nbefore them, and defend himself.  And when he contemptuously repulsed\nthe officers who brought him the summons, they came themselves, with the\nAediles, or overseers of the market, proposing to carry him away by\nforce, and, accordingly, began to lay hold on his person.  The\npatricians, however, coming to his rescue, not only thrust off the\ntribunes, but also beat the Aediles, that were their seconds in the\nquarrel; night, approaching, put an end to the contest.  But, as soon as\nit was day, the consuls, observing the people to be highly exasperated,\nand that they ran from all quarters and gathered in the forum, were\nafraid for the whole city, so that, convening the senate afresh, they\ndesired them to advise how they might best compose and pacify the\nincensed multitude by equitable language and indulgent decrees; since,\nif they wisely considered the state of things, they would find that it\nwas no time to stand upon terms of honor, and a mere point of glory;\nsuch a critical conjuncture called for gentle methods, and for temperate\nand humane counsels.  The majority, therefore, of the senators giving\nway, the consuls proceeded to pacify the people in the best manner they\nwere able, answering gently to such imputations and charges as had been\ncast upon the senate, and using much tenderness and moderation in the\nadmonitions and reproof they gave them.  On the point of the price of\nprovisions, they said, there should be no difference at all between\nthem.  When a great part of the commonalty was grown cool, and it\nappeared from their orderly and peaceful behavior that they had been\nvery much appeased by what they had heard, the tribunes, standing up,\ndeclared, in the name of the people, that since the senate was pleased\nto act soberly and do them reason, they, likewise, should be ready to\nyield in all that was fair and equitable on their side; they must\ninsist, however, that Marcius should give in his answer to the several\ncharges as follows:  first, could he deny that he instigated the senate\nto overthrow the government and annul the privileges of the people? and,\nin the next place, when called to account for it, did he not disobey\ntheir summons? and, lastly, by the blows and other public affronts to\nthe Aediles, had he not done all he could to commence a civil war?\n\nThese articles were brought in against him, with a design either to\nhumble Marcius, and show his submission if, contrary to his nature, he\nshould now court and sue the people; or, if he should follow his natural\ndisposition, which they rather expected from their judgment of his\ncharacter, then that he might thus make the breach final between himself\nand the people.\n\nHe came, therefore, as it were, to make his apology, and clear himself;\nin which belief the people kept silence, and gave him a quiet hearing.\nBut when, instead of the submissive and deprecatory language expected\nfrom him, he began to use not only an offensive kind of freedom, seeming\nrather to accuse than apologize, but, as well by the tone of his voice\nas the air of his countenance, displayed a security that was not far\nfrom disdain and contempt of them, the whole multitude then became\nangry, and gave evident signs of impatience and disgust; and Sicinnius,\nthe most violent of the tribunes, after a little private conference with\nhis colleagues, proceeded solemnly to pronounce before them all, that\nMarcius was condemned to die by the tribunes of the people, and bid the\nAediles take him to the Tarpeian rock, and without delay throw him\nheadlong from the precipice.  When they, however, in compliance with the\norder, came to seize upon his body, many, even of the plebeian party,\nfelt it to be a horrible and extravagant act; the patricians, meantime,\nwholly beside themselves with distress and horror, hurried up with cries\nto the rescue; and while some made actual use of their hands to hinder\nthe arrest, and, surrounding Marcius, got him in among them, others, as\nin so great a tumult no good could be done by words, stretched out\ntheirs, beseeching the multitude that they would not proceed to such\nfurious extremities; and at length, the friends and acquaintance of the\ntribunes, wisely perceiving how impossible it would be to carry off\nMarcius to punishment without much bloodshed and slaughter of the\nnobility, persuaded them to forbear everything unusual and odious; not\nto dispatch him by any sudden violence, or without regular process, but\nrefer the cause to the general suffrage of the people.  Sicinnius then,\nafter a little pause, turning to the patricians, demanded what their\nmeaning was, thus forcibly to rescue Marcius out of the people's hands,\nas they were going to punish him; when it was replied by them, on the\nother side, and the question put, \"Rather, how came it into your minds,\nand what is it you design, thus to drag one of the worthiest men of\nRome, without trial, to a barbarous and illegal execution?\"  \"Very\nwell,\" said Sicinnius, \"you shall have no ground in this respect for\nquarrel or complaint against the people.  The people grant your request,\nand your partisan shall be tried.  We appoint you, Marcius,\" directing\nhis speech to him, \"the third market-day ensuing, to appear and defend\nyourself, and to try if you can satisfy the Roman citizens of your\ninnocence, who will then judge your case by vote.\"  The patricians were\ncontent with such a truce and respite for that time, and gladly returned\nhome, having for the present brought off Marcius in safety.\n\nDuring the interval before the appointed time (for the Romans hold their\nsessions every ninth day, which from that cause are called nundinae in\nLatin), a war fell out with the Antiates, likely to be of some\ncontinuance, which gave them hope they might one way or other elude the\njudgment.  The people, they presumed, would become tractable, and their\nindignation lessen and languish by degrees in so long a space, if\noccupation and war did not wholly put it out of their mind.  But when,\ncontrary to expectation, they made a speedy agreement with the people of\nAntium, and the army came back to Rome, the patricians were again in\ngreat perplexity, and had frequent meetings to consider how things might\nbe arranged, without either abandoning Marcius, or yet giving occasion\nto the popular orators to create new disorders.  Appius Claudius, whom\nthey counted among the senators most averse to the popular interest,\nmade a solemn declaration, and told them beforehand, that the senate\nwould utterly destroy itself and betray the government, if they should\nonce suffer the people to assume the authority of pronouncing sentence\nupon any of the patricians; but the oldest senators and most favorable\nto the people maintained, on the other side, that the people would not\nbe so harsh and severe upon them, as some were pleased to imagine, but\nrather become more gentle and humane upon the concession of that power,\nsince it was not contempt of the senate, but the impression of being\ncontemned by it, which made them pretend to such a prerogative.  Let\nthat be once allowed them as a mark of respect and kind feeling, and the\nmere possession of this power of voting would at once dispossess them of\ntheir animosity.\n\nWhen, therefore, Marcius saw that the senate was in pain and suspense\nupon his account, divided, as it were, betwixt their kindness for him\nand their apprehensions from the people, he desired to know of the\ntribunes what the crimes were they intended to charge him with, and what\nthe heads of the indictment they would oblige him to plead to before the\npeople; and being told by them that he was to be impeached for\nattempting usurpation, and that they would prove him guilty of designing\nto establish arbitrary government, stepping forth upon this, \"Let me go\nthen,\" he said, \"to clear myself from that imputation before an assembly\nof them; I freely offer myself to any sort of trial, nor do I refuse any\nkind of punishment whatsoever; only,\" he continued, \"let what you now\nmention be really made my accusation, and do not you play false with the\nsenate.\"  On their consenting to these terms, he came to his trial.  But\nwhen the people met together, the tribunes, contrary to all former\npractice, extorted first, that votes should be taken, not by centuries,\nbut tribes; a change, by which the indigent and factious rabble, that\nhad no respect for honesty and justice, would be sure to carry it\nagainst those who were rich and well known, and accustomed to serve the\nstate in war.  In the next place, whereas they had engaged to prosecute\nMarcius upon no other head but that of tyranny, which could never be\nmade out against him, they relinquished this plea, and urged instead,\nhis language in the senate against an abatement of the price of corn,\nand for the overthrow of the tribunician power; adding further, as a new\nimpeachment, the distribution that was made by him of the spoil and\nbooty he had taken from the Antiates, when he overran their country,\nwhich he had divided among those that had followed him, whereas it ought\nrather to have been brought into the public treasury; which last\naccusation did, they say, more discompose Marcius than all the rest, as\nhe had not anticipated he should ever be questioned on that subject,\nand, therefore, was less provided with any satisfactory answer to it on\nthe sudden.  And when, by way of excuse, he began to magnify the merits\nof those who had been partakers with him in the action, those that had\nstayed at home, being more numerous than the other, interrupted him with\noutcries.  In conclusion, when they came to vote, a majority of three\ntribes condemned him; the penalty being perpetual banishment.  The\nsentence of his condemnation being pronounced, the people went away with\ngreater triumph and exultation than they had ever shown for any victory\nover enemies; while the senate was in grief and deep dejection,\nrepenting now and vexed to the soul that they had not done and suffered\nall things rather than give way to the insolence of the people, and\npermit them to assume and abuse so great an authority.  There was no need\nthen to look at men's dresses, or other marks of distinction, to know\none from another:  any one who was glad was, beyond all doubt, a\nplebeian; any one who looked sorrowful, a patrician.\n\nMarcius alone, himself, was neither stunned nor humiliated.  In mien,\ncarriage, and countenance, he bore the appearance of entire composure,\nand while all his friends were full of distress, seemed the only man\nthat was not touched with his misfortune.  Not that either reflection\ntaught him, or gentleness of temper made it natural for him, to submit:\nhe was wholly possessed, on the contrary, with a profound and deep-\nseated fury, which passes with many for no pain at all.  And pain, it is\ntrue, transmuted, so to say, by its own fiery heat into anger, loses\nevery appearance of depression and feebleness; the angry man makes a\nshow of energy, as the man in a high fever does of natural heat, while,\nin fact, all this action of the soul is but mere diseased palpitation,\ndistention, and inflammation.  That such was his distempered state\nappeared presently plainly enough in his actions.  On his return home,\nafter saluting his mother and his wife, who were all in tears and full\nof loud lamentations, and exhorting them to moderate the sense they had\nof his calamity, he proceeded at once to the city gates, whither all the\nnobility came to attend him; and so, not so much as taking anything\nwith him, or making any request to the company, he departed from them,\nhaving only three or four clients with him.  He continued solitary for a\nfew days in a place in the country, distracted with a variety of\ncounsels, such as rage and indignation suggested to him; and proposing\nto himself no honorable or useful end, but only how he might best\nsatisfy his revenge on the Romans, he resolved at length to raise up a\nheavy war against them from their nearest neighbors.  He determined,\nfirst to make trial of the Volscians, whom he knew to be still vigorous\nand flourishing, both in men and treasure, and he imagined their force\nand power was not so much abated, as their spite and auger increased, by\nthe late overthrows they had received from the Romans.\n\nThere was a man of Antium, called Tullus Aufidius, who, for his wealth\nand bravery and the splendor of his family, had the respect and\nprivilege of a king among the Volscians, but whom Marcius knew to have a\nparticular hostility to himself, above all other Romans.  Frequent\nmenaces and challenges had passed in battle between them, and those\nexchanges of defiance to which their hot and eager emulation is apt to\nprompt young soldiers had added private animosity to their national\nfeelings of opposition.  Yet for all this, considering Tullus to have a\ncertain generosity of temper, and knowing that no Volscian, so much as\nhe, desired an occasion to requite upon the Romans the evils they had\ndone, he did what much confirms the saying, that\n\nHard and unequal is with wrath the strife,\nWhich makes us buy its pleasure with our life.\n\nPutting on such a dress as would make him appear to any whom he might\nmeet most unlike what he really was, thus, like Ulysses, --\n\nThe town he entered of his mortal foes.\n\nHis arrival at Antium was about evening, and though several met him in\nthe streets, yet he passed along without being known to any, and went\ndirectly to the house of Tullus, and, entering undiscovered, went up to\nthe fire-hearth, and seated himself there without speaking a word,\ncovering up his head.  Those of the family could not but wonder, and yet\nthey were afraid either to raise or question him, for there was a\ncertain air of majesty both in his posture and silence, but they\nrecounted to Tullus, being then at supper, the strangeness of this\naccident.  He immediately rose from table and came in, and asked him who\nhe was, and for what business he came thither; and then Marcius,\nunmuffling himself, and pausing awhile, \"If,\" said he, \"you cannot yet\ncall me to mind, Tullus, or do not believe your eyes concerning me, I\nmust of necessity be my own accuser.  I am Caius Marcius, the author of\nso much mischief to the Volscians; of which, were I seeking to deny it,\nthe surname of Coriolanus I now bear would be a sufficient evidence\nagainst me.  The one recompense I received for all the hardships and\nperils I have gone through, was the title that proclaims my enmity to\nyour nation, and this is the only thing which is still left me.  Of all\nother advantages, I have been stripped and deprived by the envy and\noutrage of the Roman people, and the cowardice and treachery of the\nmagistrates and those of my own order.  I am driven out as an exile, and\nbecome an humble suppliant at your hearth, not so much for safety and\nprotection (should I have come hither, had I been afraid to die?), as to\nseek vengeance against those that expelled me; which, methinks, I have\nalready obtained, by putting myself into your hands.  If, therefore, you\nhave really a mind to attack your enemies, come then, make use of that\naffliction you see me in to assist the enterprise, and convert my\npersonal infelicity into a common blessing to the Volscians; as, indeed,\nI am likely to be more serviceable in fighting for than against you,\nwith the advantage, which I now possess, of knowing all the secrets of\nthe enemy that I am attacking.  But if you decline to make any further\nattempts, I am neither desirous to live myself, nor will it be well in\nyou to preserve a person who has been your rival and adversary of old,\nand now, when he offers you his service, appears unprofitable and\nuseless to you.\"\n\nTullus, on hearing this, was extremely rejoiced, and giving him his\nright hand, exclaimed, \"Rise, Marcius, and be of good courage; it is a\ngreat happiness you bring to Antium, in the present you make us of\nyourself; expect everything that is good from the Volscians.\"  He then\nproceeded to feast and entertain him with every display of kindness, and\nfor several days after they were in close deliberation together on the\nprospects of a war.\n\nWhile this design was forming, there were great troubles and commotions\nat Rome, from the animosity of the senators against the people,\nheightened just now by the late condemnation of Marcius.  Besides that,\ntheir soothsayers and priests, and even private persons, reported\nsigns and prodigies not to be neglected; one of which is stated to have\noccurred as follows:  Titus Latinus, a man of ordinary condition, but\nof a quiet and virtuous character, free from all superstitious fancies,\nand yet more from vanity and exaggeration, had an apparition in his\nsleep, as if Jupiter came and bade him tell the senate, that it was with\na bad and unacceptable dancer that they had headed his procession.\nHaving beheld the vision, he said, he did not much attend to it at the\nfirst appearance; but after he had seen and slighted it a second and\nthird time, he had lost a hopeful son, and was himself struck with\npalsy.  He was brought into the senate on a litter to tell this, and the\nstory goes, that he had no sooner delivered his message there, but he at\nonce felt his strength return, and got upon his legs, and went home\nalone, without need of any support.  The senators, in wonder and\nsurprise, made a diligent search into the matter.  That which his dream\nalluded to was this:  some citizen had, for some heinous offense, given\nup a servant of his to the rest of his fellows, with charge to whip him\nfirst through the market, and then to kill him; and while they were\nexecuting this command, and scourging the wretch, who screwed and turned\nhimself into all manner of shapes and unseemly motions, through the pain\nhe was in, the solemn procession in honor of Jupiter chanced to follow\nat their heels.  Several of the attendants on which were, indeed,\nscandalized at the sight, yet no one of them interfered, or acted\nfurther in the matter than merely to utter some common reproaches and\nexecrations on a master who inflicted so cruel a punishment.  For the\nRomans treated their slaves with great humanity in these times, when,\nworking and laboring themselves, and living together among them, they\nnaturally were more gentle and familiar with them.  It was one of the\nseverest punishments for a slave who had committed a fault, to have to\ntake the piece of wood which supports the pole of a wagon, and carry it\nabout through the neighborhood; a slave who had once undergone the shame\nof this, and been thus seen by the household and the neighbors, had no\nlonger any trust or credit among them, and had the name of furcifer;\nfurca being the Latin word for a prop, or support.\n\nWhen, therefore, Latinus had related his dream, and the senators were\nconsidering who this disagreeable and ungainly dancer could be, some of\nthe company, having been struck with the strangeness of the punishment,\ncalled to mind and mentioned the miserable slave who was lashed through\nthe streets and afterward put to death.  The priests, when consulted,\nconfirmed the conjecture; the master was punished; and orders given for\na new celebration of the procession and the spectacles in honor of the\ngod.  Numa, in other respects also a wise arranger of religious offices,\nwould seem to have been especially judicious in his direction, with a\nview to the attentiveness of the people, that, when the magistrates or\npriests performed any divine worship, a herald should go before, and\nproclaim with a loud voice, Hoc age, Do this you are about, and so warn\nthem to mind whatever sacred action they were engaged in, and not suffer\nany business or worldly avocation to disturb and interrupt it; most of\nthe things which men do of this kind, being in a manner forced from\nthem, and effected by constraint.  It is usual with the Romans to\nrecommence their sacrifices and processions and spectacles, not only\nupon such a cause as this, but for any slighter reason.  If but one of\nthe horses which drew the chariots called Tensae, upon which the images\nof their gods were placed, happened to fail and falter, or if the driver\ntook hold of the reins with his left hand, they would decree that the\nwhole operation should commence anew; and, in latter ages, one and the\nsame sacrifice was performed thirty times over, because of the\noccurrence of some defect or mistake or accident in the service.  Such\nwas the Roman reverence and caution in religious matters.\n\nMarcius and Tullus were now secretly discoursing of their project with\nthe chief men of Antium, advising them to invade the Romans while they\nwere at variance among themselves.  And when shame appeared to hinder\nthem from embracing the motion, as they had sworn to a truce and\ncessation of arms for the space of two years, the Romans themselves soon\nfurnished them with a pretense, by making proclamation, out of some\njealousy or slanderous report, in the midst of the spectacles, that all\nthe Volscians who had come to see them should depart the city before\nsunset.  Some affirm that this was a contrivance of Marcius, who sent a\nman privately to the consuls, falsely to accuse the Volscians of\nintending to fall upon the Romans during the games, and to set the city\non fire.  This public affront roused and inflamed their hostility to the\nRomans, and Tullus, perceiving it, made his advantage of it, aggravating\nthe fact, and working on their indignation, till he persuaded them, at\nlast, to dispatch ambassadors to Rome, requiring the Romans to restore\nthat part of their country and those towns which they had taken from the\nVolscians in the late war.  When the Romans heard the message, they\nindignantly replied, that the Volscians were the first that took up\narms, but the Romans would be the last to lay them down.  This answer\nbeing brought back, Tullus called a general assembly of the Volscians;\nand the vote passing for a war, he then proposed that they should call\nin Marcius, laying aside the remembrance of former grudges, and\nassuring themselves that the services they should now receive from him\nas a friend and associate, would abundantly outweigh any harm or damage\nhe had done them when he was their enemy.  Marcius was accordingly\nsummoned, and having made his entrance, and spoken to the people, won\ntheir good opinion of his capacity, his skill, counsel, and boldness,\nnot less by his present words than by his past actions.  They joined him\nin commission with Tullus, to have full power as general of their forces\nin all that related to the war.  And he, fearing lest the time that\nwould be requisite to bring all the Volscians together in full\npreparation might be so long as to lose him the opportunity of action,\nleft order with the chief persons and magistrates of the city to provide\nother things, while he himself, prevailing upon the most forward to\nassemble and march out with him as volunteers without staying to be\nenrolled, made a sudden inroad into the Roman confines, when nobody\nexpected him, and possessed himself of so much booty, that the Volscians\nfound they had more than they could either carry away or use in the\ncamp.  The abundance of provision which he gained, and the waste and\nhavoc of the country which he made, were, however, of themselves and in\nhis account, the smallest results of that invasion; the great mischief\nhe intended, and his special object in all, was to increase at Rome the\nsuspicions entertained of the patricians, and to make them upon worse\nterms with the people.  With this view, while spoiling all the fields\nand destroying the property of other men, he took special care to\npreserve their farms and lands untouched, and would not allow his\nsoldiers to ravage there, or seize upon anything which belonged to\nthem.  From hence their invectives and quarrels against one another\nbroke out afresh, and rose to a greater height than ever; the senators\nreproaching those of the commonalty with their late injustice to\nMarcius; while the plebeians, on their side, did not hesitate to accuse\nthem of having, out of spite and revenge, solicited him to this\nenterprise, and thus, when others were involved in the miseries of a war\nby their means, they sat like unconcerned spectators, as being furnished\nwith a guardian and protector abroad of their wealth and fortunes, in\nthe very person of the public enemy.  After this incursion and exploit,\nwhich was of great advantage to the Volscians, as they learned by it to\ngrow more hardy and to contemn their enemy, Marcius drew them off, and\nreturned in safety.\n\nBut when the whole strength of the Volscians was brought together into\nthe field, with great expedition and alacrity, it appeared so\nconsiderable a body, that they agreed to leave part in garrison, for the\nsecurity of their towns, and with the other part to march against the\nRomans.  Marcius now desired Tullus to choose which of the two charges\nwould be most agreeable to him.  Tullus answered, that since he knew\nMarcius to be equally valiant with himself, and far more fortunate, he\nwould have him take the command of those that were going out to the war,\nwhile he made it his care to defend their cities at home, and provide\nall conveniences for the army abroad.  Marcius thus reinforced, and much\nstronger than before, moved first towards the city called Circaeum, a\nRoman colony.  He received its surrender, and did the inhabitants no\ninjury; passing thence, he entered and laid waste the country of the\nLatins, where he expected the Romans would meet him, as the Latins were\ntheir confederates and allies, and had often sent to demand succors from\nthem.  The people, however, on their part, showing little inclination\nfor the service, and the consuls themselves being unwilling to run the\nhazard of a battle, when the time of their office was almost ready to\nexpire, they dismissed the Latin ambassadors without any effect; so that\nMarcius, finding no army to oppose him, marched up to their cities, and,\nhaving taken by force Toleria, Lavici, Peda, and Bola, all of which\noffered resistance, not only plundered their houses, but made a prey\nlikewise of their persons.  Meantime, he showed particular regard for\nall such as came over to his party, and, for fear they might sustain any\ndamage against his will, encamped at the greatest distance he could, and\nwholly abstained from the lands of their property.\n\nAfter, however, that he had made himself master of Bola, a town not\nabove ten miles from Rome, where he found great treasure, and put almost\nall the adults to the sword; and when, on this, the other Volscians that\nwere ordered to stay behind and protect their cities, hearing of his\nachievements and success, had not patience to remain any longer at home,\nbut came hastening in their arms to Marcius, saying that he alone was\ntheir general and the sole commander they would own; with all this, his\nname and renown spread throughout all Italy, and universal wonder\nprevailed at the sudden and mighty revolution in the fortunes of two\nnations which the loss and the accession of a single man had effected.\n\nAll at Rome was in great disorder; they were utterly averse from\nfighting, and spent their whole time in cabals and disputes and\nreproaches against each other; until news was brought that the enemy had\nlaid close siege to Lavinium, where were the images and sacred things of\ntheir tutelar gods, and from whence they derived the origin of their\nnation, that being the first city which Aeneas built in Italy.  These\ntidings produced a change as universal as it was extraordinary in the\nthoughts inclinations of the people, but occasioned a yet stranger\nrevulsion of feeling among the patricians.  The people now were for\nrepealing the sentence against Marcius, an calling him back into the\ncity; whereas the senate, being assembled to preconsider the decree,\nopposed and finally rejected the proposal, either out of the mere humor\nof contradicting and withstanding the people in whatever they should\ndesire, or because they were unwilling, perhaps, that he should owe his\nrestoration to their kindness or having now conceived a displeasure\nagainst Marcius himself, who was bringing distress upon all alike,\nthough he had not been ill treated by all, and was become, declared\nenemy to his whole country, though he knew well enough that the\nprincipal and all the better men condoled with him, and suffered in his\ninjuries.\n\nThis resolution of theirs being made public, the people could proceed no\nfurther, having no authority to pass anything by suffrage, and enact it\nfor a law, without a previous decree from the senate.  When Marcius\nheard of this, he was more exasperated than ever, and, quitting the\nseige of Lavinium, marched furiously towards Rome, and encamped at a\nplace called the Cluilian ditches, about five miles from the city.  The\nnearness of his approach did, indeed, create much terror and\ndisturbance, yet it also ended their dissensions for the present; as\nnobody now, whether consul or senator, durst any longer contradict the\npeople in their design of recalling Marcius but, seeing their women\nrunning affrighted up and down the streets, and the old men at prayer in\nevery temple with tears and supplications, and that, in short, there was\na general absence among them both of courage and wisdom to provide for\ntheir own safety, they came at last to be all of one mind, that the\npeople had been in the right to propose as they did a reconciliation\nwith Marcius, and that the senate was guilty of a fatal error to begin a\nquarrel with him when it was a time to forget offenses, and they should\nhave studied rather to appease him.  It was, therefore, unanimously\nagreed by all parties, that ambassadors should be dispatched, offering\nhim return to his country, and desiring he would free them from the\nterrors and distresses of the war.  The persons sent by the senate with\nthis message were chosen out of his kindred and acquaintance, who\nnaturally expected a very kind reception at their first interview, upon\nthe score of that relation and their old familiarity and friendship with\nhim; in which, however, they were much mistaken.  Being led through the\nenemy's camp, they found him sitting in state amidst the chief men of\nthe Volscians, looking insupportably proud and arrogant.  He bade them\ndeclare the cause of their coming, which they did in the most gentle and\ntender terms, and with a behavior suitable to their language.  When they\nhad made an end of speaking, he returned them a sharp answer, full of\nbitterness and angry resentment, as to what concerned himself, and the\nill usage he had received from them; but as general of the Volscians, he\ndemanded restitution of the cities and the lands which had been seized\nupon during the late war, and that the same rights and franchises should\nbe granted them at Rome, which had been before accorded to the Latins;\nsince there could be no assurance that a peace would be firm and\nlasting, without fair and just conditions on both sides.  He allowed\nthem thirty days to consider and resolve.\n\nThe ambassadors being departed, he withdrew his forces out of the Roman\nterritory.  This, those of the Volscians who had long envied his\nreputation, and could not endure to see the influence he had with the\npeople laid hold of, as the first matter of complaint against him.  Among\nthem was also Tullus himself, not for any wrong done him personally by\nMarcius, but through the weakness incident to human nature.  He could\nnot help feeling mortified to find his own glory thus totally obscured,\nand himself overlooked and neglected now by the Volscians, who had so\ngreat an opinion of their new leader that he alone was all to them,\nwhile other captains, they thought, should be content with that share of\npower, which he might think fit to accord.  From hence the first seeds\nof complaint and accusation were scattered about in secret, and the\nmalcontents met and heightened each other's indignation, saying, that to\nretreat as he did was in effect to betray and deliver up, though not\ntheir cities and their arms, yet what was as bad, the critical times and\nopportunities for action, on which depend the preservation or the loss\nof everything else; since in less than thirty days' space, for which he\nhad given a respite from the war, there might happen the greatest\nchanges in the world.  Yet Marcius spent not any part of the time idly,\nbut attacked the confederates of the enemy ravaged their land, and took\nfrom them seven great and populous cities in that interval.  The Romans,\nin the meanwhile, durst not venture out to their relief; but were\nutterly fearful, and showed no more disposition or capacity for action,\nthan if their bodies had been struck with a palsy, and become destitute\nof sense and motion.  But when the thirty days were expired, and Marcius\nappeared again with his whole army, they sent another embassy- to\nbeseech him that he would moderate his displeasure, and would withdraw\nthe Volscian army, and then make any proposals he thought best for both\nparties; the Romans would make no concessions to menaces, but if it\nwere his opinion that the Volscians ought to have any favor shown them,\nupon laying down their arms they might obtain all they could in reason\ndesire.\n\nThe reply of Marcius was, that he should make no answer to this as\ngeneral of the Volscians, but, in the quality still of a Roman citizen,\nhe would advise and exhort them, as the case stood, not to carry it so\nhigh, but think rather of just compliance, and return to him, before\nthree days were at an end, with a ratification of his previous demands;\notherwise, they must understand that they could not have any further\nfreedom of passing through his camp upon idle errands.\n\nWhen the ambassadors were come back, and had acquainted the senate with\nthe answer, seeing the whole state now threatened as it were by a\ntempest, and the waves ready to overwhelm them, they were forced, as we\nsay in extreme perils, to let down the sacred anchor.  A decree was\nmade, that the whole order of their priests, those who initiated in the\nmysteries or had the custody of them, and those who, according to the\nancient practice of the country, divined from birds, should all and\nevery one of them go in full procession to Marcius with their pontifical\narray, and the dress and habit which they respectively used in their\nseveral functions, and should urge him, as before, to withdraw his\nforces, and then treat with his countrymen in favor of the Volscians.\nHe consented so far, indeed, as to give the deputation an admittance\ninto his camp, but granted nothing at all, nor so much as expressed\nhimself more mildly; but, without capitulating or receding, bade them\nonce for all choose whether they would yield or fight, since the old\nterms were the only terms of peace.  When this solemn application proved\nineffectual, the priests, too, returning unsuccessful, they determined to\nsit still within the city, and keep watch about their walls, intending\nonly to repulse the enemy, should he offer to attack them, and placing\ntheir hopes chiefly in time and in extraordinary accidents of fortune;\nas to themselves, they felt incapable of doing any thing for their own\ndeliverance; mere confusion and terror and ill-boding reports possessed\nthe whole city; till at last a thing happened not unlike what we so\noften find represented, without, however, being accepted as true by\npeople in general, in Homer.  On some great and unusual occasion we find\nhim say: --\n\nBut him the blue-eyed goddess did inspire;\n\nand elsewhere: --\n\nBut some immortal turned my mind away,\nTo think what others of the deed would say;\n\nand again: --\n\nWere 't his own thought or were 't a god's command.\n\nPeople are apt, in such passages, to censure and disregard the poet, as\nif, by the introduction of mere impossibilities and idle fictions, he\nwere denying the action of a man's own deliberate thought and free\nchoice; which is not, in the least, the case in Homer's representation,\nwhere the ordinary, probable, and habitual conclusions that common\nreason leads to are continually ascribed to our own direct agency.  He\ncertainly says frequently enough: --\n\nBut I consulted with my own great soul;\n\nor, as in another passage: --\n\nHe spoke.  Achilles, with quick pain possessed,\nRevolved two purposes in his strong breast;\n\nand in a third: --\n\n-- Yet never to her wishes won\nThe just mind of the brave Bellerophon.\n\nBut where the act is something out of the way and extraordinary, and\nseems in a manner to demand some impulse of divine possession and sudden\ninspiration to account for it here he does introduce divine agency, not\nto destroy, but to prompt the human will; not to create in us another\nagency, but offering images to stimulate our own; images that in no sort\nor kind make our action involuntary, but give occasion rather to\nspontaneous action, aided and sustained by feelings of confidence and\nhope.  For either we must totally dismiss and exclude divine influences\nfrom every kind of causality and origination in what we do, or else what\nother way can we conceive in which divine aid and cooperation can act?\nCertainly we cannot suppose that the divine beings actually and\nliterally turn our bodies and direct our hands and our feet this way or\nthat, to do what is right:  it is obvious that they must actuate the\npractical and elective element of our nature, by certain initial\noccasions, by images presented to the imagination, and thoughts\nsuggested to the mind, such either as to excite it to, or avert and\nwithhold it from, any particular course.\n\nIn the perplexity which I have described, the Roman women went, some to\nother temples, but the greater part, and the ladies of highest rank, to\nthe altar of Jupiter Capitolinus.  Among these suppliants was Valeria,\nsister to the great Poplicola, who did the Romans eminent service both\nin peace and war.  Poplicola himself was now deceased, as is told in the\nhistory of his life; but Valeria lived still, and enjoyed great respect\nand honor at Rome, her life and conduct no way disparaging her birth.\nShe, suddenly seized with the sort of instinct or emotion of mind which\nI have described, and happily lighting, not without divine guidance,\non the right expedient, both rose herself, and bade the others rise,\nand went directly with them to the house of Volumnia, the mother of\nMarcius.  And coming in and finding her sitting with her daughter-in-\nlaw, and with her little grandchildren on her lap, Valeria, then\nsurrounded by her female companions, spoke in the name of them all:--\n\n\"We that now make our appearance, O Volumnia, and you, Vergilia, are\ncome as mere women to women, not by direction of the senate, or an order\nfrom the consuls, or the appointment of any other magistrate; but the\ndivine being himself, as I conceive, moved to compassion by prayers,\nprompted us to visit you in a body, and request a thing on which our own\nand the common safety depends, and which, if you consent to it, will\nraise your glory above that of the daughters of the Sabines, who won\nover their fathers and their husbands from mortal enmity to peace and\nfriendship.  Arise and come with us to Marcius; join in our\nsupplication, and bear for your country this true and just testimony on\nher behalf:  that, notwithstanding the many mischiefs that have been\ndone her, yet she has never outraged you, nor so much as thought of\ntreating you ill, in all her resentment, but does now restore you safe\ninto his hands, though there be small likelihood she should obtain from\nhim any equitable terms.\"\n\nThe words of Valeria were seconded by the acclamations of the other\nwomen, to which Volumnia made answer:--\n\n\"I and Vergilia, my countrywomen, have an equal share with you all in\nthe common miseries, and we have the additional sorrow, which is wholly\nours, that we have lost the merit and good fame of Marcius, and see his\nperson confined, rather than protected, by the arms of the enemy.  Yet I\naccount this the greatest of all misfortunes, if indeed the affairs of\nRome be sunk to so feeble a state as to have their last dependence upon\nus.  For it is hardly imaginable he should have any consideration left\nfor us, when he has no regard for the country which he was wont to\nprefer before his mother and wife and children.  Make use, however, of\nour service; and lead us, if you please, to him; we are able, if nothing\nmore, at least to spend our last breath in making suit to him for our\ncountry.\"\n\nHaving spoken thus, she took Vergilia by the hand, and the young\nchildren, and so accompanied them to the Volscian camp.  So lamentable a\nsight much affected the enemies themselves, who viewed them in\nrespectful silence.  Marcius was then sitting in his place, with his\nchief officers about him, and, seeing the party of women advance toward\nthem, wondered what should be the matter; but perceiving at length that\nhis mother was at the head of them, he would fain have hardened himself\nin his former inexorable temper, but, overcome by his feelings, and\nconfounded at what he saw, he did not endure they should approach him\nsitting in state, but came down hastily to meet them, saluting his\nmother first, and embracing her a long time, and then his wife and\nchildren, sparing neither tears nor caresses, but suffering himself to\nbe borne away and carried headlong, as it were, by the impetuous\nviolence of his passion.\n\nWhen he had satisfied himself, and observed that his mother Volumnia was\ndesirous to say something, the Volscian council being first called in,\nhe heard her to the following effect:  \"Our dress and our very persons,\nmy son, might tell you, though we should say nothing ourselves, in how\nforlorn a condition we have lived at home since your banishment and\nabsence from us; and now consider with yourself, whether we may not pass\nfor the most unfortunate of all women, to have that sight, which should\nbe the sweetest that we could see, converted, through I know not what\nfatality, to one of all others the most formidable and dreadful, --\nVolumnia to behold her son, and Vergilia her husband, in arms against\nthe walls of Rome.  Even prayer itself, whence others gain comfort and\nrelief in all manner of misfortunes, is that which most adds to our\nconfusion and distress; since our best wishes are inconsistent with\nthemselves, nor can we at the same time petition the gods for Rome's\nvictory and your preservation, but what the worst of our enemies would\nimprecate as a curse, is the very object of our vows.  Your wife and\nchildren are under the sad necessity, that they must either be deprived\nof you, or of their native soil.  As for myself, I am resolved not to\nwait till war shall determine this alternative for me; but if I cannot\nprevail with you to prefer amity and concord to quarrel and hostility,\nand to be the benefactor to both parties, rather than the destroyer of\none of them, be assured of this from me, and reckon steadfastly upon it,\nthat you shall not be able to reach your country, unless you trample\nfirst upon the corpse of her that brought you into life.  For it will be\nill in me to wait and loiter in the world till the day come wherein I\nshall see a child of mine, either led in triumph by his own countrymen,\nor triumphing over them.  Did I require you to save your country by\nruining the Volscians, then, I confess, my son, the case would be hard\nfor you to solve.  It is base to bring destitution on our fellow-\ncitizens; it is unjust to betray those who have placed their confidence\nin us.  But, as it is, we do but desire a deliverance equally expedient\nfor them and us; only more glorious and honorable on the Volscian side,\nwho, as superior in arms, will be thought freely to bestow the two\ngreatest of blessings, peace and friendship, even when they themselves\nreceive the same.  If we obtain these, the common thanks will be chiefly\ndue to you as the principal cause; but if they be not granted, you alone\nmust expect to bear the blame from both nations.  The chance of all war\nis uncertain, yet thus much is certain in the present, that you, by\nconquering Rome, will only get the reputation of having undone your\ncountry; but if the Volscians happen to be defeated under your conduct,\nthen the world will say, that, to satisfy a revengeful humor, you\nbrought misery on your friends and patrons.\"\n\nMarcius listened to his mother while she spoke, without answering her a\nword; and Volumnia, seeing him stand mute also for a long time after she\nhad ceased, resumed:  \"O my son,\" said she, \"what is the meaning of this\nsilence?  Is it a duty to postpone everything to a sense of injuries,\nand wrong to gratify a mother in a request like this?  Is it the\ncharacteristic of a great man to remember wrongs that have been done\nhim, and not the part of a great and good man to remember benefits such\nas those that children receive from parents, and to requite them with\nhonor and respect?  You, methinks, who are so relentless in the\npunishment of the ungrateful, should not be more careless than others to\nbe grateful yourself.  You have punished your country already; you have\nnot yet paid your debt to me.  Nature and religion, surely, unattended\nby any constraint, should have won your consent to petitions so worthy\nand so just as these; but if it must be so, I will even use my last\nresource.\"  Having said this, she threw herself down at his feet, as did\nalso his wife and children; upon which Marcius, crying out, \"O mother!\nwhat is it you have done to me?\" raised her up from the ground, and\npressing her right hand with more than ordinary vehemence, \"You have\ngained a victory,\" said he, \"fortunate enough for the Romans, but\ndestructive to your son; whom you, though none else, have defeated.\"\nAfter which, and a little private conference with his mother and his\nwife, he sent them back again to Rome, as they desired of him.\n\nThe next morning, he broke up his camp, and led the Volscians homeward,\nvariously affected with what he had done; some of them complaining of\nhim and condemning his act, others, who were inclined to a peaceful\nconclusion, unfavorable to neither.  A third party, while much disliking\nhis proceedings, yet could not look upon Marcius as a treacherous\nperson, but thought it pardonable in him to be thus shaken and driven to\nsurrender at last, under such compulsion.  None, however, opposed his\ncommands; they all obediently followed him, though rather from\nadmiration of his virtue, than any regard they now had to his authority.\nThe Roman people, meantime, more effectually manifested how much fear\nand danger they had been in while the war lasted, by their deportment\nafter they were freed from it.  Those that guarded the walls had no\nsooner given notice that the Volscians were dislodged and drawn off, but\nthey set open all their temples in a moment, and began to crown\nthemselves with garlands and prepare for sacrifice, as they were wont to\ndo upon tidings brought of any signal victory.  But the joy and\ntransport of the whole city was chiefly remarkable in the honors and\nmarks of affection paid to the women, as well by the senate as the\npeople in general; every one declaring that they were, beyond all\nquestion, the instruments of the public safety.  And the senate having\npassed a decree that whatsoever they would ask in the way of any favor\nor honor should be allowed and done for them by the magistrates, they\ndemanded simply that a temple might be erected to Female Fortune, the\nexpense of which they offered to defray out of their own contributions,\nif the city would be at the cost of sacrifices, and other matters\npertaining to the due honor of the gods, out of the common treasury.\nThe senate, much commending their public spirit, caused the temple to be\nbuilt and a statue set up in it at the public charge; they, however,\nmade up a sum among themselves, for a second image of Fortune, which\nthe Romans say uttered, as it was putting up, words to this effect,\n\"Blessed of the gods, O women, is your gift.\"\n\nThese words they profess were repeated a second time, expecting our\nbelief for what seems pretty nearly an impossibility.  It may be\npossible enough, that statues may seem to sweat, and to run with tears,\nand to stand with certain dewy drops of a sanguine color; for timber and\nstones are frequently known to contract a kind of scurf and rottenness,\nproductive of moisture; and various tints may form on the surfaces, both\nfrom within and from the action of the air outside; and by these signs\nit is not absurd to imagine that the deity may forewarn us.  It may\nhappen, also, that images and statues may sometimes make a noise not\nunlike that of a moan or groan, through a rupture or violent internal\nseparation of the parts; but that an articulate voice, and such express\nwords, and language so clear and exact and elaborate, should proceed\nfrom inanimate things, is, in my judgment, a thing utterly out of\npossibility.  For it was never known that either the soul of man, or the\ndeity himself, uttered vocal sounds and language, alone, without an\norganized body and members fitted for speech.  But where history seems\nin a manner to force our assent by the concurrence of numerous and\ncredible witnesses, we are to conclude that an impression distinct from\nsensation affects the imaginative part of our nature, and then carries\naway the judgment, so as to believe it to be a sensation:  just as in\nsleep we fancy we see and hear, without really doing either.  Persons,\nhowever, whose strong feelings of reverence to the deity, and tenderness\nfor religion, will not allow them to deny or invalidate anything of\nthis kind, have certainly a strong argument for their faith, in the\nwonderful and transcendent character of the divine power; which admits\nno manner of comparison with ours, either in its nature or its action,\nthe modes or the strength of its operations.  It is no contradiction to\nreason that it should do things that we cannot do, and effect what for\nus is impracticable:  differing from us in all respects, in its acts yet\nmore than in other points we may well believe it to be unlike us and\nremote from us.  Knowledge of divine things for the most part, as\nHeraclitus says, is lost to us by incredulity.\n\nWhen Marcius came back to Antium, Tullus, who thoroughly hated and\ngreatly feared him, proceeded at once to contrive how he might\nimmediately dispatch him; as, if he escaped now, he was never likely to\ngive him such another advantage.  Having, therefore, got together and\nsuborned several partisans against him, he required Marcius to resign\nhis charge, and give the Volscians all account of his administration.\nHe, apprehending the danger of a private condition, while Tullus held\nthe office of general and exercised the greatest power among his fellow-\ncitizens, made answer, that he was ready to lay down his commission,\nwhenever those from whose common authority he had received it, should\nthink fit to recall it; and that in the meantime he was ready to give\nthe Antiates satisfaction, as to all particulars of his conduct, if they\nwere desirous of it.\n\nAn assembly was called, and popular speakers, as had been concerted,\ncame forward to exasperate and incense the multitude; but when Marcius\nstood up to answer, the more unruly and tumultuous part of the people\nbecame quiet on a sudden, and out of reverence allowed him to speak\nwithout the least disturbance; while all the better people, and such as\nwere satisfied with a peace, made it evident by their whole behavior,\nthat they would give him a favorable hearing, and judge and pronounce\naccording to equity.\n\nTullus, therefore, began to dread the issue of the defense he was going\nto make for himself; for he was an admirable speaker, and the former\nservices he had done the Volscians had procured and still preserved for\nhim greater kindness than could be outweighed by any blame for his late\nconduct.  Indeed, the very accusation itself was a proof and testimony\nof the greatness of his merits, since people could never have complained\nor thought themselves wronged, because Rome was not brought into their\npower, but that by his means they had come so near to taking it.  For\nthese reasons, the conspirators judged it prudent not to make any\nfurther delays, nor to test the general feeling; but the boldest of\ntheir faction, crying out that they ought not to listen to a traitor,\nnor allow him still to retain office and play the tyrant among them,\nfell upon Marcius in a body, and slew him there, none of those that were\npresent offering to defend him.  But it quickly appeared that the action\nwas in nowise approved by the majority of the Volscians, who hurried out\nof their several cities to show respect to his corpse; to which they\ngave honorable interment, adorning his sepulchre with arms and trophies,\nas the monument of a noble hero and a famous general.  When the Romans\nheard tidings of his death, they gave no other signification either of\nhonor or of anger towards him, but simply granted the request of the\nwomen, that they might put themselves into mourning and bewail him for\nten months, as the usage was upon the loss of a father or a son or a\nbrother; that being the period fixed for the longest lamentation by the\nlaws of Numa Pompilius, as is more amply told in the account of him.\n\nMarcius was no sooner deceased, but the Volscians felt the need of his\nassistance.  They quarreled first with the Aequians, their confederates\nand their friends, about the appointment of the general of their joint\nforces, and carried their dispute to the length of bloodshed and\nslaughter; and were then defeated by the Romans in a pitched battle,\nwhere not only Tullus lost his life, but the principal flower of their\nwhole army was cut in pieces; so that they were forced to submit and\naccept of peace upon very dishonorable terms, becoming subjects of Rome,\nand pledging themselves to submission.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF ALCIBIADES WITH CORIOLANUS\n\nHaving described all their actions that seem to deserve commemoration,\ntheir military ones, we may say, incline the balance very decidedly upon\nneither side.  They both, in pretty equal measure, displayed on numerous\noccasions the daring and courage of the soldier, and the skill and\nforesight of the general; unless, indeed, the fact that Alcibiades was\nvictorious and successful in many contests both by sea and land, ought\nto gain him the title of a more complete commander.  That so long as\nthey remained and held command in their respective countries, they\neminently sustained, and when they were driven into exile, yet more\neminently damaged the fortunes of those countries, is common to both.\nAll the sober citizens felt disgust at the petulance, the low flattery,\nand base seductions which Alcibiades, in his public life, allowed\nhimself to employ with the view of winning the people's favor; and the\nungraciousness, pride, and oligarchical haughtiness which Marcius, on\nthe other hand, displayed in his, were the abhorrence of the Roman\npopulace.  Neither of these courses can be called commendable; but a man\nwho ingratiates himself by indulgence and flattery, is hardly so\ncensurable as one who, to avoid the appearance of flattering, insults.\nTo seek power by servility to the people is a disgrace, but to maintain\nit by terror, violence, and oppression, is not a disgrace only, but an\ninjustice.\n\nMarcius, according to our common conceptions of his character, was\nundoubtedly simple and straightforward; Alcibiades, unscrupulous as a\npublic man, and false.  He is more especially blamed for the\ndishonorable and treacherous way in which, as Thucydides relates, he\nimposed upon the Lacedaemonian ambassadors, and disturbed the\ncontinuance of the peace.  Yet this policy, which engaged the city again\nin war, nevertheless placed it in a powerful and formidable position, by\nthe accession, which Alcibiades obtained for it, of the alliance of\nArgos and Mantinea.  And Coriolanus also, Dionysius relates, used unfair\nmeans to excite war between the Romans and the Volscians, in the false\nreport which he spread about the visitors at the Games; and the motive\nof this action seems to make it the worse of the two; since it was not\ndone, like the other, out of ordinary political jealousy, strife, and\ncompetition.  Simply to gratify anger, from which, as Ion says, no one\never yet got any return, he threw whole districts of Italy into\nconfusion, and sacrificed to his passion against his country numerous\ninnocent cities.  It is true, indeed, that Alcibiades also, by his\nresentment, was the occasion of great disasters to his country, but he\nrelented as soon as he found their feelings to be changed; and after he\nwas driven out a second time, so far from taking pleasure in the errors\nand inadvertencies of their commanders, or being indifferent to the\ndanger they were thus incurring, he did the very thing that Aristides is\nso highly commended for doing to Themistocles: he came to the generals\nwho were his enemies, and pointed out to them what they ought to do.\nCoriolanus, on the other hand, first of all attacked the whole body of\nhis countrymen, though only one portion of them had done him any wrong,\nwhile the other, the better and nobler portion, had actually suffered,\nas well as sympathized, with him.  And, secondly, by the obduracy with\nwhich he resisted numerous embassies and supplications, addressed in\npropitiation of his single anger and offense, he showed that it had been\nto destroy and overthrow, not to recover and regain his country, that he\nhad excited bitter and implacable hostilities against it.  There is,\nindeed, one distinction that may be drawn.  Alcibiades, it may be said,\nwas not safe among the Spartans, and had the inducements at once of fear\nand of hatred to lead him again to Athens; whereas Marcius could not\nhonorably have left the Volscians, when they were behaving so well to\nhim: he, in the command of their forces and the enjoyment of their\nentire confidence, was in a very different position from Alcibiades,\nwhom the Lacedaemonians did not so much wish to adopt into their\nservice, as to use, and then abandon.  Driven about from house to house\nin the city, and from general to general in the camp, the latter had no\nresort but to place himself in the hands of Tisaphernes; unless, indeed,\nwe are to suppose that his object in courting favor with him was to\navert the entire destruction of his native city, whither he wished\nhimself to return.\n\nAs regards money, Alcibiades, we are told, was often guilty of procuring\nit by accepting bribes, and spent it in in luxury and dissipation.\nCoriolanus declined to receive it, even when pressed upon him by his\ncommanders as all honor; and one great reason for the odium he incurred\nwith the populace in the discussions about their debts was, that he\ntrampled upon the poor, not for money's sake, but out of pride and\ninsolence.\n\nAntipater, in a letter written upon the death of Aristotle the\nphilosopher, observes, \"Amongst his other gifts he had that of\npersuasiveness;\" and the absence of this in the character of Marcius\nmade all his great actions and noble qualities unacceptable to those\nwhom they benefited: pride, and self-will, the consort, as Plato calls\nit, of solitude, made him insufferable.  With the skill which Alcibiades\non the contrary, possessed to treat every one in the way most agreeable\nto him, we cannot wonder that all his successes were attended with the\nmost exuberant favor and honor; his very errors, at times, being\naccompanied by something of grace and felicity.  And so, in spite of\ngreat and frequent hurt that he had done the city, he was repeatedly\nappointed to office and command; while Coriolanus stood in vain for a\nplace which his great services had made his due.  The one, in spite of\nthe harm he occasioned, could not make himself hated, nor the other,\nwith all the admiration he attracted, succeed in being beloved by his\ncountrymen.\n\nCoriolanus, moreover, it should be said, did not as a general obtain any\nsuccesses for his country, but only for his enemies against his country.\nAlcibiades was often of service to Athens, both as a soldier and as a\ncommander.  So long as he was personally present, he had the perfect\nmastery of his political adversaries; calumny only succeeded in his\nabsence.  Coriolanus was condemned in person at Rome; and in like manner\nkilled by the Volscians, not indeed with any right or justice, yet not\nwithout some pretext occasioned by his own acts; since, after rejecting\nall conditions of peace in public, in private he yielded to the\nsolicitations of the women, and, without establishing peace, threw up\nthe favorable chances of war.  He ought, before retiring, to have\nobtained the consent of those who had placed their trust in him; if\nindeed he considered their claims on him to be the strongest.  Or, if we\nsay that he did not care about the Volscians, but merely had prosecuted\nthe war, which he now abandoned, for the satisfaction of his own\nresentment, then the noble thing would have been, not to spare his\ncountry for his mother's sake, but his mother in and with his country;\nsince both his mother and his wife were part and parcel of that\nendangered country.  After harshly repelling public supplications, the\nentreaties of ambassadors, and the prayers of priests, to concede all as\na private favor to his mother was less an honor to her than a dishonor\nto the city which thus escaped, in spite, it would seem, of its own\ndemerits, through the intercession of a single woman.  Such a grace\ncould, indeed, seem merely invidious, ungracious, and unreasonable in\nthe eyes of both parties; he retreated without listening to the\npersuasions of his opponents, or asking the consent of his friends.  The\norigin of all lay in his unsociable, supercilious, and self-willed\ndisposition, which, in all cases, is offensive to most people; and when\ncombined with a passion for distinction passes into absolute savageness\nand mercilessness.  Men decline to ask favors of the people, professing\nnot to need any honors from them; and then are indignant if they do not\nobtain them.  Metellus, Aristides, and Epaminondas certainly did not beg\nfavors of the multitude; but that was because they, in real truth, did\nnot value the gifts which a popular body can either confer or refuse;\nand when they were more than once driven into exile, rejected at\nelections, and condemned in courts of justice, they showed no resentment\nat the ill-humor of their fellow-citizens, but were willing and\ncontented to return and be reconciled when the feeling altered and they\nwere wished for.  He who least likes courting favor, ought also least to\nthink of resenting neglect: to feel wounded at being refused a\ndistinction can only arise from an overweening appetite to have it.\n\nAlcibiades never professed to deny that it was pleasant to him to be\nhonored, and distasteful to him to be overlooked; and, accordingly, he\nalways tried to place himself upon good terms with all that he met;\nCoriolanus's pride forbade him to pay attentions to those who could have\npromoted his advancement, and yet his love of distinction made him feel\nhurt and angry when he was disregarded.  Such are the faulty parts of\nhis character, which in all other respects was a noble one.  For his\ntemperance, continence, and probity, he might claim to be compared with\nthe best and purest of the Greeks; not in any sort or kind with\nAlcibiades, the least scrupulous and most entirely careless of human\nbeings in all these points.\n\n\n\nTIMOLEON\n\nIt was for the sake of others that I first commenced writing\nbiographies; but I find myself proceeding and attaching myself to it\nfor my own; the virtues of these great men serving me as a sort of\nlooking-glass, in which I may see how to adjust and adorn my own\nlife.  Indeed, it can be compared to nothing but daily living and\nassociating together; we receive, as it were, in our inquiry, and\nentertain each successive guest, view\n\nTheir stature and their qualities,\n\nand select from their actions all that is noblest and worthiest to\nknow.\n\nAh, and what greater pleasure could one have?\n\nor, what more effective means to one's moral improvement? Democritus\ntells us we ought to pray that of the phantasms appearing in the\ncircumambient air, such may present themselves to us as are\npropitious, and that we may rather meet with those that are agreeable\nto our natures and are good, than the evil and unfortunate; which is\nsimply introducing into philosophy a doctrine untrue in itself, and\nleading to endless superstitions.  My method, on the contrary, is, by\nthe study of history, and by the familiarity acquired in writing, to\nhabituate my memory to receive and retain images of the best and\nworthiest characters.  I thus am enabled to free myself from any\nignoble, base, or vicious impressions, contracted from the contagion\nof ill company that I may be unavoidably engaged in, by the remedy of\nturning my thoughts in a happy and calm temper to view these noble\nexamples.  Of this kind are those of Timoleon the Corinthian, and\nPaulus Aemilius, to write whose lives is my present business; men\nequally famous, not only for their virtues, but success; insomuch\nthat they have left it doubtful whether they owe their greatest\nachievements to good fortune, or their own prudence and conduct.\n\nThe affairs of the Syracusans, before Timoleon was sent into Sicily,\nwere in this posture:  after Dion had driven out Dionysius the\ntyrant, he was slain by treachery, and those that had assisted him in\ndelivering Syracuse were divided among themselves; and thus the city,\nby a continual change of governors, and a train of mischiefs that\nsucceeded each other, became almost abandoned; while of the rest of\nSicily, part was now utterly depopulated and desolate through long\ncontinuance of war, and most of the cities that had been left\nstanding were in the hands of barbarians and soldiers out of\nemployment, that were ready to embrace every turn of government.\nSuch being the state of things, Dionysius takes the opportunity, and\nin the tenth year of his banishment, by the help of some mercenary\ntroops he had got together, forces out Nysaeus, then master of\nSyracuse, recovers all afresh, and is again settled in his dominion;\nand as at first he had been strangely deprived of the greatest and\nmost absolute power that ever was, by a very small party, so now in a\nyet stranger manner; when in exile and of mean condition, he became\nthe sovereign of those who had ejected him.  All, therefore, that\nremained in Syracuse, had to serve under a tyrant, who at the best\nwas of an ungentle nature, and exasperated now to a degree of\nsavageness by the late misfortunes and calamities he had suffered.\nThe better and more distinguished citizens, having timely retired\nthence to Hicetes, ruler of the Leontines, put themselves under his\nprotection, and chose him for their general in the war; not that he\nwas much preferable to any open and avowed tyrant; but they had no\nother sanctuary at present, and it gave them some ground of\nconfidence, that he was of a Syracusan family, and had forces able to\nencounter those of Dionysius.\n\nIn the meantime, the Carthaginians appeared before Sicily with a\ngreat navy, watching when and where they might make a descent upon\nthe island; and terror at this fleet made the Sicilians incline to\nsend an embassy into Greece to demand succors from the Corinthians,\nwhom they confided in rather than others, not only upon the account\nof their near kindred, and the great benefits they had often received\nby trusting them, but because Corinth had ever shown herself attached\nto freedom and averse from tyranny, and had engaged in many noble\nwars, not for empire or aggrandizement, but for the sole liberty of\nthe Greeks.  But Hicetes, who made it the business of his command not\nso much to deliver the Syracusans from other tyrants, as to enslave\nthem to himself, had already entered into some secret conferences\nwith those of Carthage, while in public he commended the design of\nhis Syracusan clients, and dispatched ambassadors from himself,\ntogether with theirs, into Peloponnesus; not that he really desired\nany relief to come from there, but, in case the Corinthians, as was\nlikely enough, on account of the troubles of Greece and occupation at\nhome, should refuse their assistance, hoping then he should be able\nwith less difficulty to dispose and incline things for the\nCarthaginian interest, and so make use of these foreign pretenders,\nas instruments and auxiliaries for himself, either against the\nSyracusans or Dionysius, as occasion served.  This was discovered a\nwhile after.\n\nThe ambassadors being arrived, and their request known, the\nCorinthians, who had always a great concern for all their colonies\nand plantations, but especially for Syracuse, since by good fortune\nthere was nothing to molest them in their own country, where they\nwere enjoying peace and leisure at that time, readily and with one\naccord passed a vote for their assistance.  And when they were\ndeliberating about the choice of a captain for the expedition, and\nthe magistrates were urging the claims of various aspirants for\nreputation, one of the crowd stood up and named Timoleon, son of\nTimodemus, who had long absented himself from public business, and\nhad neither any thoughts of, nor the least pretension to, an\nemployment of that nature.  Some god or other, it might rather seem,\nhad put it in the man's heart to mention him; such favor and\ngood-will on the part of Fortune seemed at once to be shown in his\nelection, and to accompany all his following actions, as though it\nwere on purpose to commend his worth, and add grace and ornament to\nhis personal virtues.  As regards his parentage, both Timodemus his\nfather, and his mother Demariste, were of high rank in the city; and\nas for himself, he was noted for his love of his country, and his\ngentleness of temper, except in his extreme hatred to tyrants and\nwicked men.  His natural abilities for war were so happily tempered,\nthat while a rare prudence might be seen in all the enterprises of\nhis younger years, an equal courage showed itself in the last\nexploits of his declining age.  He had an elder brother, whose name\nwas Timophanes, who was every way unlike him, being indiscreet and\nrash, and infected by the suggestions of some friends and foreign\nsoldiers, whom he kept always about him, with a passion for absolute\npower.  He seemed to have a certain force and vehemence in all\nmilitary service, and even to delight in dangers, and thus he took\nmuch with the people, and was advanced to the highest charges, as a\nvigorous and effective warrior; in the obtaining of which offices and\npromotions, Timoleon much assisted him, helping to conceal or at\nleast to extenuate his errors, embellishing by his praise whatever\nwas commendable in him, and setting off his good qualities to the\nbest advantage.\n\nIt happened once in the battle fought by the Corinthians against the\nforces of Argos and Cleonae, that Timoleon served among the infantry,\nwhen Timophanes, commanding their cavalry, was brought into extreme\ndanger; as his horse being wounded fell forward, and threw him\nheadlong amidst the enemies, while part of his companions dispersed\nat once in a panic, and the small number that remained, bearing up\nagainst a great multitude, had much ado to maintain any resistance.\nAs soon, therefore, as Timoleon was aware of the accident, he ran\nhastily in to his brother's rescue, and covering the fallen\nTimophanes with his buckler, after having received abundance of\ndarts, and several strokes by the sword upon his body and his armor,\nhe at length with much difficulty obliged the enemies to retire, and\nbrought off his brother alive and safe.  But when the Corinthians, for\nfear of losing their city a second time, as they had once before, by\nadmitting their allies, made a decree to maintain four hundred\nmercenaries for its security, and gave Timophanes the command over\nthem, he, abandoning all regard to honor and equity, at once\nproceeded to put into execution his plans for making himself\nabsolute, and bringing the place under his own power; and having cut\noff many principal citizens, uncondemned and without trial, who were\nmost likely to hinder his design, he declared himself tyrant of\nCorinth; a procedure that infinitely afflicted Timoleon, to whom the\nwickedness of such a brother appeared to be his own reproach and\ncalamity.  He undertook to persuade him by reasoning, that, desisting\nfrom that wild and unhappy ambition, he would bethink himself how he\nshould make the Corinthians some amends, and find out an expedient to\nremedy and correct the evils he had done them.  When his single\nadmonition was rejected and contemned by him, he makes a second\nattempt, taking with him Aeschylus his kinsman, brother to the wife\nof Timophanes, and a certain diviner, that was his friend, whom\nTheopompus in his history calls Satyrus, but Ephorus and Timaeus\nmention in theirs by the name of Orthagoras.  After a few days, then,\nhe returns to his brother with this company, all three of them\nsurrounding and earnestly importuning him upon the same subject, that\nnow at length he would listen to reason, and be of another mind.  But\nwhen Timophanes began first to laugh at the men's simplicity, and\npresently broke out into rage and indignation against them, Timoleon\nstepped aside from him and stood weeping with his face covered, while\nthe other two, drawing out their swords, dispatched him in a moment.\n\nOn the rumor of this act being soon scattered about, the better and\nmore generous of the Corinthians highly applauded Timoleon for the\nhatred of wrong and the greatness of soul that had made him, though\nof a gentle disposition and full of love and kindness for his family,\nthink the obligations to his country stronger than the ties of\nconsanguinity, and prefer that which is good and just before gain and\ninterest and his own particular advantage.  For the same brother, who\nwith so much bravery had been saved by him when he fought valiantly\nin the cause of Corinth, he had now as nobly sacrificed for enslaving\nher afterward by a base and treacherous usurpation.  But then, on the\nother side, those that knew not how to live in a democracy, and had\nbeen used to make their humble court to the men of power, though they\nopenly professed to rejoice at the death of the tyrant, nevertheless,\nsecretly reviling Timoleon, as one that had committed an impious and\nabominable act, drove him into melancholy and dejection.  And when he\ncame to understand how heavily his mother took it, and that she\nlikewise uttered the saddest complaints and most terrible\nimprecations against him, he went to satisfy and comfort her as to\nwhat had happened; and finding that she would not endure so much as\nto look upon him, but caused her doors to be shut, that he might have\nno admission into her presence, with grief at this he grew so\ndisordered in his mind and so disconsolate, that he determined to put\nan end to his perplexity with his life, by abstaining from all manner\nof sustenance.  But through the care and diligence of his friends,\nwho were very instant with him, and added force to their entreaties,\nhe came to resolve and promise at last, that he would endure living,\nprovided it might be in solitude, and remote from company; so that,\nquitting all civil transactions and commerce with the world, for a\nlong while after his first retirement he never came into Corinth, but\nwandered up and down the fields, full of anxious and tormenting\nthoughts, and spent his time in desert places, at the farthest\ndistance from society and human intercourse.  So true it is that the\nminds of men are easily shaken and carried off from their own\nsentiments through the casual commendation or reproof of others,\nunless the judgments that we make, and the purposes we conceive, be\nconfirmed by reason and philosophy, and thus obtain strength and\nsteadiness.  An action must not only be just and laudable in its own\nnature, but it must proceed likewise from solid motives and a lasting\nprinciple, that so we may fully and constantly approve the thing, and\nbe perfectly satisfied in what we do; for otherwise, after having put\nour resolution into practice, we shall out of pure weakness come to\nbe troubled at the performance, when the grace and goodliness, which\nrendered it before so amiable and pleasing to us, begin to decay and\nwear out of our fancy; like greedy people, who, seizing on the more\ndelicious morsels of any dish with a keen appetite, are presently\ndisgusted when they grow full, and find themselves oppressed and\nuneasy now by what they before so greedily desired.  For a succeeding\ndislike spoils the best of actions, and repentance makes that which\nwas never so well done, become base and faulty; whereas the choice\nthat is founded upon knowledge and wise reasoning, does not change by\ndisappointment, or suffer us to repent, though it happen perchance to\nbe less prosperous in the issue.  And thus Phocion, of Athens, having\nalways vigorously opposed the measures of Leosthenes, when success\nappeared to attend them, and he saw his countrymen rejoicing and\noffering sacrifice in honor of their victory, \"I should have been as\nglad,\" said he to them, \"that I myself had been the author of what\nLeosthenes has achieved for you, as I am that I gave you my own\ncounsel against it.\"  A more vehement reply is recorded to have been\nmade by Aristides the Locrian, one of Plato's companions, to\nDionysius the elder, who demanded one of his daughters in marriage:\n\"I had rather,\" said he to him, \"see the virgin in her grave, than in\nthe palace of a tyrant.\"  And when Dionysius, enraged at the affront,\nmade his sons be put to death a while after, and then again\ninsultingly asked, whether he were still in the same mind as to the\ndisposal of his daughters, his answer was, \"I cannot but grieve at\nthe cruelty of your deeds, but am not sorry for the freedom of my own\nwords.\"  Such expressions as these may belong perhaps to a more\nsublime and accomplished virtue.\n\nThe grief, however, of Timoleon at what had been done, whether it\narose from commiseration of his brother's fate, or the reverence he\nbore his mother, so shattered and broke his spirits, that for the\nspace of almost twenty years, he had not offered to concern himself\nin any honorable or public action.  When, therefore, he was pitched\nupon for a general, and joyfully accepted as such by the suffrages of\nthe people, Teleclides, who was at that time the most powerful and\ndistinguished man in Corinth, began to exhort him that he would act\nnow like a man of worth and gallantry:  \"For,\" said he, \"if you do\nbravely in this service, we shall believe that you delivered us from\na tyrant; but if otherwise, that you killed your brother.\"  While he\nwas yet preparing to set sail, and enlisting soldiers to embark with\nhim, there came letters to the Corinthians from Hicetes, plainly\ndisclosing his revolt and treachery.  For his ambassadors were no\nsooner gone for Corinth, but he openly joined the Carthaginians,\nnegotiating that they might assist him to throw out Dionysius, and\nbecome master of Syracuse in his room.  And fearing he might be\ndisappointed of his aim, if troops and a commander should come from\nCorinth before this were effected, he sent a letter of advice\nthither, in all haste, to prevent their setting out, telling them\nthey need not be at any cost and trouble upon his account, or run the\nhazard of a Sicilian voyage, especially since the Carthaginians,\nalliance with whom against Dionysius the slowness of their motions\nhad compelled him to embrace, would dispute their passage, and lay in\nwait to attack them with a numerous fleet.  This letter being\npublicly read, if any had been cold and indifferent before as to the\nexpedition in hand, the indignation they now conceived against\nHicetes so exasperated and inflamed them all, that they willingly\ncontributed to supply Timoleon, and endeavored, with one accord, to\nhasten his departure.\n\nWhen the vessels were equipped, and his soldiers every way provided\nfor, the female priests of Proserpina had a dream or vision, wherein\nshe and her mother Ceres appeared to them in a traveling garb, and\nwere heard to say that they were going to sail with Timoleon into\nSicily; whereupon the Corinthians, having built a sacred galley,\ndevoted it to them, and called it the galley of the goddesses.\nTimoleon went in person to Delphi, where he sacrificed to Apollo,\nand, descending into the place of prophecy, was surprised with the\nfollowing marvelous occurrence.  A riband with crowns and figures of\nvictory embroidered upon it, slipped off from among the gifts that\nwere there consecrated and hung up in the temple, and fell directly\ndown upon his head; so that Apollo seemed already to crown him with\nsuccess, and send him thence to conquer and triumph.  He put to sea\nonly with seven ships of Corinth, two of Corcyra, and a tenth which\nwas furnished by the Leucadians; and when he was now entered into the\ndeep by night, and carried with a prosperous gale, the heaven seemed\nall on a sudden to break open, and a bright spreading flame to issue\nforth from it, and hover over the ship he was in; and, having formed\nitself into a torch, not unlike those that are used in the mysteries,\nit began to steer the same course, and run along in their company,\nguiding them by its light to that quarter of Italy where they\ndesigned to go ashore.  The soothsayers affirmed, that this\napparition agreed with the dream of the holy women, since the\ngoddesses were now visibly joining in the expedition, and sending\nthis light from heaven before them:  Sicily being thought sacred to\nProserpina, as poets feign that the rape was committed there, and\nthat the island was given her in dowry when she married Pluto.\n\nThese early demonstrations of divine favor greatly encouraged his\nwhole army; so that, making all the speed they were able, by a voyage\nacross the open sea, they were soon passing along the coast of Italy.\nBut the tidings that came from Sicily much perplexed Timoleon, and\ndisheartened his soldiers.  For Hicetes, having already beaten\nDionysius out of the field, and reduced most of the quarters of\nSyracuse itself, now hemmed him in and besieged him in the citadel\nand what is called the Island, whither he was fled for his last\nrefuge; while the Carthaginians, by agreement, were to make it their\nbusiness to hinder Timoleon from landing in any port of Sicily; so\nthat he and his party being driven back, they might with ease and at\ntheir own leisure divide the island among themselves.  In pursuance\nof which design, the Carthaginians sent away twenty of their galleys\nto Rhegium, having aboard them certain ambassadors from Hicetes to\nTimoleon, who carried instructions suitable to these proceedings,\nspecious amusements and plausible stories, to color and conceal\ndishonest purposes.  They had order to propose and demand that\nTimoleon himself, if he liked the offer, should come to advise with\nHicetes, and partake of all his conquests, but that he might send\nback his ships and forces to Corinth, since the war was in a manner\nfinished, and the Carthaginians had blocked up the passage,\ndetermined to oppose them if they should try to force their way\ntowards the shore.  When, therefore, the Corinthians met with these\nenvoys at Rhegium, and received their message, and saw the Phoenician\nvessels riding at anchor in the bay, they became keenly sensible of\nthe abuse that was put upon them, and felt a general indignation\nagainst Hicetes, and great apprehensions for the Siceliots, whom they\nnow plainly perceived to be as it were a prize and recompense to\nHicetes on one side for his perfidy, and to the Carthaginians on the\nother for the sovereign power they secured to him.  For it seemed\nutterly impossible to force and overbear the Carthaginian ships that\nlay before them and were double their number, as also to vanquish the\nvictorious troops which Hicetes had with him in Syracuse, to take the\nlead of which very troops they had undertaken their voyage.\n\nThe case being thus, Timoleon, after some conference with the envoys\nof Hicetes and the Carthaginian captains, told them he should readily\nsubmit to their proposals (to what purpose would it be to refuse\ncompliance?):  he was desirous only, before his return to Corinth,\nthat what had passed between them in private might be solemnly\ndeclared before the people of Rhegium, a Greek city, and a common\nfriend to the parties; this, he said, would very much conduce to his\nown security and discharge; and they likewise would more strictly\nobserve articles of agreement, on behalf of the Syracusans, which\nthey had obliged themselves to in the presence of so many witnesses.\nThe design of all which was, only to divert their attention, while he\ngot an opportunity of slipping away from their fleet:  a contrivance\nthat all the principal Rhegians were privy and assisting to, who had\na great desire that the affairs of Sicily should fall into Corinthian\nhands, and dreaded the consequences of having barbarian neighbors.\nAn assembly was therefore called, and the gates shut, that the\ncitizens might have no liberty to turn to other business; and a\nsuccession of speakers came forward, addressing the people at great\nlength, to the same effect, without bringing the subject to any\nconclusion, making way each for another and purposely spinning out\nthe time, till the Corinthian galleys should get clear of the haven;\nthe Carthaginian commanders being detained there without any\nsuspicion, as also Timoleon still remained present, and gave signs as\nif he were just preparing to make an oration.  But upon secret notice\nthat the rest of the galleys were already gone on, and that his alone\nremained waiting for him, by the help and concealment of those\nRhegians that were about the hustings and favored his departure, he\nmade shift to slip away through the crowd, and, running down to the\nport, set sail with all speed; and having reached his other vessels,\nthey came all safe to Tauromenium in Sicily, whither they had been\nformerly invited, and where they were now kindly received by\nAndromachus, then ruler of the city.  This man was father of Timaeus\nthe historian, and incomparably the best of all those that bore sway\nin Sicily at that time, governing his citizens according to law and\njustice, and openly professing an aversion and enmity to all tyrants;\nupon which account he gave Timoleon leave to muster up his troops\nthere, and to make that city the seat of war, persuading the\ninhabitants to join their arms with the Corinthian forces, and assist\nthem in the design of delivering Sicily.\n\nBut the Carthaginians who were left in Rhegium perceiving, when the\nassembly was dissolved, that Timoleon had given them the go by, were\nnot a little vexed to see themselves outwitted, much to the amusement\nof the Rhegians, who could not but smile to find Phoenicians complain\nof being cheated.  However, they dispatched a messenger aboard one of\ntheir galleys to Tauromenium, who, after much blustering in the\ninsolent barbaric way, and many menaces to Andromachus if he did not\nforthwith send the Corinthians off, stretched out his hand with the\ninside upward, and then turning it down again, threatened he would\nhandle their city even so, and turn it topsy-turvy in as little time,\nand with as much ease.  Andromachus, laughing at the man's\nconfidence, made no other reply, but, imitating his gesture, bid him\nhasten his own departure, unless he had a mind to see that kind of\ndexterity practiced first upon the galley which brought him thither.\n\nHicetes, informed that Timoleon had made good his passage, was in\ngreat fear of what might follow, and sent to desire the Carthaginians\nthat a large number of galleys might be ordered to attend and secure\nthe coast.  And now it was that the Syracusans began wholly to\ndespair of safety, seeing the Carthaginians possessed of their haven,\nHicetes master of the town, and Dionysius supreme in the citadel;\nwhile Timoleon had as yet but a slender hold of Sicily, as it were by\nthe fringe or border of it, in the small city of the Tauromenians,\nwith a feeble hope and a poor company; having but a thousand soldiers\nat the most, and no more provisions, either of corn or money, than\nwere just necessary for the maintenance and the pay of that\ninconsiderable number.  Nor did the other towns of Sicily confide in\nhim, overpowered as they were with violence and outrage, and\nembittered against all that should offer to lead armies, by the\ntreacherous conduct chiefly of Callippus, an Athenian, and Pharax, a\nLacedaemonian captain, both of whom, after giving out that the design\nof their coming was to introduce liberty and depose tyrants, so\ntyrannized themselves, that the reign of former oppressors seemed to\nbe a golden age in comparison, and the Sicilians began to consider\nthose more happy who had expired in servitude, than any that had\nlived to see such a dismal freedom.\n\nLooking, therefore, for no better usage from the Corinthian general,\nbut imagining that it was only the same old course of things once\nmore, specious presences and false professions to allure them by fair\nhopes and kind promises into the obedience of a new master, they all,\nwith one accord, unless it were the people of Adranum, suspected the\nexhortations, and rejected the overtures that were made them in his\nname.  These were inhabitants of a small city, consecrated to\nAdranus, a certain god that was in high veneration throughout Sicily,\nand, as it happened, they were then at variance among themselves,\ninsomuch that one party called in Hicetes and the Carthaginians to\nassist them, while the other sent proposals to Timoleon.  It so fell\nout that these auxiliaries, striving which should be soonest, both\narrived at Adranum about the same time; Hicetes bringing with him at\nleast five thousand fighting men, while all the force Timoleon could\nmake did not exceed twelve hundred.  With these he marched out of\nTauromenium, which was about three hundred and forty furlongs distant\nfrom that city.  The first day he moved but slowly, and took up his\nquarters betimes after a short journey; but the day following he\nquickened his pace, and, having passed through much difficult ground,\ntowards evening received advice that Hicetes was just approaching\nAdranum, and pitching his camp before it; upon which intelligence,\nhis captains and other officers caused the vanguard to halt, that the\narmy being refreshed, and having reposed a while, might engage the\nenemy with better heart.  But Timoleon, coming up in haste, desired\nthem not to stop for that reason, but rather use all possible\ndiligence to surprise the enemy, whom probably they would now find in\ndisorder, as having lately ended their march, and being taken up at\npresent in erecting tents and preparing supper; which he had no\nsooner said, but laying hold of his buckler and putting himself in\nthe front, he led them on as it were to certain victory.  The\nbraveness of such a leader made them all follow him with like courage\nand assurance.  They were now within less than thirty furlongs of\nAdranum, which they quickly traversed, and immediately fell in upon\nthe enemy, who were seized with confusion, and began to retire at\ntheir first approaches; one consequence of which was that amidst so\nlittle opposition, and so early and general a flight, there were not\nmany more than three hundred slain, and about twice the number made\nprisoners.  Their camp and baggage, however, was all taken.  The\nfortune of this onset soon induced the Adranitans to unlock their\ngates, and embrace the interest of Timoleon, to whom they recounted,\nwith a mixture of affright and admiration, how, at the very minute of\nthe encounter, the doors of their temple flew open of their own\naccord, that the javelin also, which their god held in his hand, was\nobserved to tremble at the point, and that drops of sweat had been\nseen running down his face:  prodigies that not only presaged the\nvictory then obtained, but were an omen, it seems, of all his future\nexploits, to which this first happy action gave the occasion.\n\nFor now the neighboring cities and potentates sent deputies, one upon\nanother, to seek his friendship and make offer of their service.\nAmong the rest, Mamercus, the tyrant of Catana, an experienced\nwarrior and a wealthy prince, made proposals of alliance with him,\nand, what was of greater importance still, Dionysius himself being\nnow grown desperate, and wellnigh forced to surrender, despising\nHicetes who had been thus shamefully baffled, and admiring the valor\nof Timoleon, found means to advertise him and his Corinthians that he\nshould be content to deliver up himself and the citadel into their\nhands.  Timoleon, gladly embracing this unlooked for advantage, sends\naway Euclides and Telemachus, two Corinthian captains, with four\nhundred men, for the seizure and custody of the castle, with\ndirections to enter not all at once, or in open view, that being\nimpracticable so long as the enemy kept guard, but by stealth, and in\nsmall companies.  And so they took possession of the fortress, and\nthe palace of Dionysius, with all the stores and ammunition he had\nprepared and laid up to maintain the war.  They found a good number\nof horses, every variety of engines, a multitude of darts, and\nweapons to arm seventy thousand men (a magazine that had been formed\nfrom ancient time), besides two thousand soldiers that were then with\nhim, whom he gave up with the rest for Timoleon's service.  Dionysius\nhimself, putting his treasure aboard, and taking a few friends,\nsailed away unobserved by Hicetes, and being brought to the camp of\nTimoleon, there first appeared in the humble dress of a private\nperson, and was shortly after sent to Corinth with a single ship and\na small sum of money.  Born and educated in the most splendid court\nand the most absolute monarchy that ever was, which he held and kept\nup for the space of ten years succeeding his father's death, he had,\nafter Dion's expedition, spent twelve other years in a continual\nagitation of wars and contests, and great variety of fortune, during\nwhich time all the mischiefs he had committed in his former reign\nwere more than repaid by the ills he himself then suffered; since he\nlived to see the deaths of his sons in the prime and vigor of their\nage, and the rape of his daughters in the flower of their virginity,\nand the wicked abuse of his sister and his wife, who, after being\nfirst exposed to all the lawless insults of the soldiery, was then\nmurdered with her children, and cast into the sea; the particulars of\nwhich are more exactly given in the life of Dion.\n\nUpon the news of his landing at Corinth, there was hardly a man in\nGreece who had not the curiosity to come and view the late formidable\ntyrant, and say some words to him; part, rejoicing at his disasters,\nwere led thither out of mere spite and hatred, that they might have\nthe pleasure of trampling, as it were, on the ruins of his broken\nfortune; but others, letting their attention and their sympathy turn\nrather to the changes and revolutions of his life, could not but see\nin them a proof of the strength and potency with which divine and\nunseen causes operate amidst the weakness of human and visible\nthings.  For neither art nor nature did in that age produce anything\ncomparable to this work and wonder of fortune, which showed the very\nsame man, that was not long before supreme monarch of Sicily,\nloitering about perhaps in the fish-market, or sitting in a\nperfumer's shop, drinking the diluted wine of taverns, or squabbling\nin the street with common women, or pretending to instruct the\nsinging women of the theater, and seriously disputing with them about\nthe measure and harmony of pieces of music that were performed there.\nSuch behavior on his part was variously criticized.  He was thought\nby many to act thus out of pure compliance with his own natural\nindolent and vicious inclinations; while finer judges were of\nopinion, that in all this he was playing a politic part, with a\ndesign to be contemned among them, and that the Corinthians might not\nfeel any apprehension or suspicion of his being uneasy under his\nreverse of fortune, or solicitous to retrieve it; to avoid which\ndangers, he purposely and against his true nature affected an\nappearance of folly and want of spirit in his private life and\namusements.\n\nHowever it be, there are sayings and repartees of his left still upon\nrecord, which seem to show that he not ignobly accommodated himself\nto his present circumstances; as may appear in part from the\ningenuousness of the avowal he made on coming to Leucadia, which, as\nwell as Syracuse, was a Corinthian colony, where he told the\ninhabitants, that he found himself not unlike boys who have been in\nfault, who can talk cheerfully with their brothers, but are ashamed\nto see their father; so, likewise, he, he said, could gladly reside\nwith them in that island, whereas he felt a certain awe upon his\nmind, which made him averse to the sight of Corinth, that was a\ncommon mother to them both.  The thing is further evident from the\nreply he once made to a stranger in Corinth, who deriding him in a\nrude and scornful manner about the conferences he used to have with\nphilosophers, whose company had been one of his pleasures while yet a\nmonarch, and demanding, in fine, what he was the better now for all\nthose wise and learned discourses of Plato, \"Do you think,\" said he,\n\"I have made no profit of his philosophy, when you see me bear my\nchange of fortune as I do?\"  And when Aristoxenus the musician, and\nseveral others, desired to know how Plato offended him, and what had\nbeen the ground of his displeasure with him, he made answer, that, of\nthe many evils attaching to the condition of sovereignty, the one\ngreatest infelicity was that none of those who were accounted friends\nwould venture to speak freely, or tell the plain truth; and that by\nmeans of such he had been deprived of Plato's kindness.  At another\ntime, when one of those pleasant companions that are desirous to pass\nfor wits, in mockery to Dionysius, as if he were still the tyrant,\nshook out the folds of his cloak, as he was entering into the room\nwhere he was, to show there were no concealed weapons about him,\nDionysius, by way of retort, observed, that he would prefer he would\ndo so on leaving the room, as a security that he was carrying nothing\noff with him.  And when Philip of Macedon, at a drinking party, began\nto speak in banter about the verses and tragedies which his father,\nDionysius the elder, had left behind him, and pretended to wonder how\nhe could get any time from his other business to compose such\nelaborate and ingenious pieces, he replied, very much to the purpose,\n\"It was at those leisurable hours, which such as you and I, and those\nwe call happy men, bestow upon our cups.\"  Plato had not the\nopportunity to see Dionysius at Corinth, being already dead before he\ncame thither; but Diogenes of Sinope, at their first meeting in the\nstreet there, saluted him with the ambiguous expression, \"O\nDionysius, how little you deserve your present life!\"  Upon which\nDionysius stopped and replied, \"I thank you, Diogenes, for your\ncondolence.\"  \"Condole with you!\" replied Diogenes; \"do you not\nsuppose that, on the contrary, I am indignant that such a slave as\nyou, who, if you had your due, should have been let alone to grow\nold, and die in the state of tyranny, as your father did before you,\nshould now enjoy the ease of private persons, and be here to sport\nand frolic it in our society?\"  So that when I compare those sad\nstories of Philistus, touching the daughters of Leptines, where he\nmakes pitiful moan on their behalf, as fallen from all the blessings\nand advantages of powerful greatness to the miseries of a humble\nlife, they seem to me like the lamentations of a woman who has lost\nher box of ointment, her purple dresses, and her golden trinkets.\nSuch anecdotes will not, I conceive, be thought either foreign to my\npurpose of writing Lives, or unprofitable in themselves, by such\nreaders as are not in too much haste, or busied and taken up with\nother concerns.\n\nBut if the misfortune of Dionysius appear strange and extraordinary,\nwe shall have no less reason to wonder at the good fortune of\nTimoleon, who, within fifty days after his landing in Sicily, both\nrecovered the citadel of Syracuse, and sent Dionysius an exile into\nPeloponnesus.  This lucky beginning so animated the Corinthians, that\nthey ordered him a supply of two thousand foot and two hundred horse,\nwho, reaching Thurii, intended to cross over thence into Sicily; but\nfinding the whole sea beset with Carthaginian ships, which made their\npassage impracticable, they were constrained to stop there, and watch\ntheir opportunity:  which time, however, was employed in a noble\naction.  For the Thurians, going out to war against their Bruttian\nenemies, left their city in charge with these Corinthian strangers,\nwho defended it as carefully as if it had been their own country, and\nfaithfully resigned it up again.\n\nHicetes, in the interim, continued still to besiege the castle of\nSyracuse, and hindered all provisions from coming in by sea to\nrelieve the Corinthians that were in it.  He had engaged also, and\ndispatched towards Adranum, two unknown foreigners to assassinate\nTimoleon, who at no time kept any standing guard about his person,\nand was then altogether secure, diverting himself, without any\napprehension, among the citizens of the place, it being a festival in\nhonor of their gods.  The two men that were sent, having casually\nheard that Timoleon was about to sacrifice, came directly into the\ntemple with poniards under their cloaks, and pressing in among the\ncrowd, by little and little got up close to the altar; but, as they\nwere just looking for a sign from each other to begin the attempt, a\nthird person struck one of them over the head with a sword, upon\nwhose sudden fall, neither he that gave the blow, nor the partisan of\nhim that received it, kept their stations any longer; but the one,\nmaking way with his bloody sword, put no stop to his flight, till he\ngained the top of a certain lofty precipice, while the other, laying\nhold of the altar, besought Timoleon to spare his life, and he would\nreveal to him the whole conspiracy.  His pardon being granted, he\nconfessed that both himself and his dead companion were sent thither\npurposely to slay him.  While this discovery was made, he that killed\nthe other conspirator had been fetched down from his sanctuary of the\nrock, loudly and often protesting, as he came along, that there was\nno injustice in the fact, as he had only taken righteous vengeance\nfor his father's blood, whom this man had murdered before in the city\nof Leontini; the truth of which was attested by several there\npresent, who could not choose but wonder too at the strange dexterity\nof fortune's operations, the facility with which she makes one event\nthe spring and motion to something wholly different, uniting every\nscattered accident and lose particular and remote action, and\ninterweaving them together to serve her purposes; so that things that\nin themselves seem to have no connection or interdependence\nwhatsoever, become in her hands, so to say, the end and the beginning\nof each other.  The Corinthians, satisfied as to the innocence of\nthis seasonable feat, honored and rewarded the author with a present\nof ten pounds in their money, since he had, as it were, lent the use\nof his just resentment to the tutelar genius that seemed to be\nprotecting Timoleon, and had not preexpended this anger, so long ago\nconceived, but had reserved and deferred, under fortune's guidance,\nfor his preservation, the revenge of a private quarrel.\n\nBut this fortunate escape had effects and consequences beyond the\npresent, as it inspired the highest hopes and future expectations of\nTimoleon, making people reverence and protect him as a sacred person\nsent by heaven to avenge and redeem Sicily.  Hicetes, having missed\nhis aim in this enterprise, and perceiving, also, that many went off\nand sided with Timoleon, began to chide himself for his foolish\nmodesty, that, when so considerable a force of the Carthaginians lay\nready to be commanded by him, he had employed them hitherto by\ndegrees and in small numbers, introducing their reinforcements by\nstealth and clandestinely, as if he had been ashamed of the action.\nTherefore, now laying aside his former nicety, he calls in Mago,\ntheir admiral, with his whole navy, who presently set sail, and\nseized upon the port with a formidable fleet of at least a hundred\nand fifty vessels, landing there sixty thousand foot which were all\nlodged within the city of Syracuse; so that, in all men's opinion,\nthe time anciently talked of and long expected, wherein Sicily should\nbe subjugated by barbarians, was now come to its fatal period.  For\nin all their preceding wars and many desperate conflicts with Sicily,\nthe Carthaginians had never been able, before this, to take Syracuse;\nwhereas Hicetes now receiving them, and putting the city into their\nhands, you might see it become now as it were a camp of barbarians.\nBy this means, the Corinthian soldiers that kept the castle found\nthemselves brought into great danger and hardship; as, besides that\ntheir provision grew scarce, and they began to be in want, because\nthe havens were strictly guarded and blocked up, the enemy exercised\nthem still with skirmishes and combats about their walls, and they\nwere not only obliged to be continually in arms, but to divide and\nprepare themselves for assaults and encounters of every kind, and to\nrepel every variety of the means of offense employed by a besieging\narmy.\n\nTimoleon made shift to relieve them in these straits, sending corn\nfrom Catana by small fishing-boats and little skiffs, which commonly\ngained a passage through the Carthaginian galleys in times of storm,\nstealing up when the blockading ships were driven apart and dispersed\nby the stress of weather; which Mago and Hicetes observing, they\nagreed to fall upon Catana, from whence these supplies were brought\nin to the besieged, and accordingly put off from Syracuse, taking\nwith them the best soldiers in their whole army.  Upon this, Neon the\nCorinthian, who was captain of those that kept the citadel, taking\nnotice that the enemies who stayed there behind were very negligent\nand careless in keeping guard, made a sudden sally upon them as they\nlay scattered, and, killing some and putting others to flight, he\ntook and possessed himself of that quarter which they call Acradina,\nand was thought to be the strongest and most impregnable part of\nSyracuse, a city made up and compacted as it were, of several towns\nput together.  Having thus stored himself with corn and money, he did\nnot abandon the place, nor retire again into the castle, but\nfortifying the precincts of Acradina, and joining it by works to the\ncitadel, he undertook the defense of both.  Mago and Hicetes were now\ncome near to Catana, when a horseman, dispatched from Syracuse,\nbrought them tidings that Acradina was taken; upon which they\nreturned, in all haste, with great disorder and confusion, having\nneither been able to reduce the city they went against, nor to\npreserve that they were masters of.\n\nThese successes, indeed, were such as might leave foresight and\ncourage a pretence still of disputing it with fortune, which\ncontributed most to the result.  But the next following event can\nscarcely be ascribed to anything but pure felicity.  The Corinthian\nsoldiers who stayed at Thurii, partly for fear of the Carthaginian\ngalleys which lay in wait for them under the command of Hanno, and\npartly because of tempestuous weather which had lasted for many days,\nand rendered the sea dangerous, took a resolution to march by land\nover the Bruttian territories, and, what with persuasion and force\ntogether, made good their passage through those barbarians to the\ncity of Rhegium, the sea being still rough and raging as before.  But\nHanno, not expecting the Corinthians would venture out, and supposing\nit would be useless to wait there any longer, bethought himself, as\nhe imagined, of a most ingenious and clever stratagem apt to delude\nand ensnare the enemy; in pursuance of which he commanded the seamen\nto crown themselves with garlands, and, adorning his galleys with\nbucklers both of the Greek and Carthaginian make, he sailed away for\nSyracuse in this triumphant equipage, and using all his oars as he\npassed under the castle with much shouting and laughter, cried out,\non purpose to dishearten the besieged, that he was come from\nvanquishing and taking the Corinthian succors, which he fell upon at\nsea as they were passing over into Sicily.  While he was thus biding\nand playing his tricks before Syracuse, the Corinthians, now come as\nfar as Rhegium, observing the coast clear, and that the wind was laid\nas it were by miracle, to afford them in all appearance a quiet and\nsmooth passage, went immediately aboard on such little barks and\nfishing-boats as were then at hand, and got over to Sicily with such\ncomplete safety and in such an extraordinary calm, that they drew\ntheir horses by the reins, swimming along by them as the vessels went\nacross.\n\nWhen they were all landed, Timoleon came to receive them, and by\ntheir means at once obtained possession of Messena, from whence he\nmarched in good order to Syracuse, trusting more to his late\nprosperous achievements than his present strength, as the whole army\nhe had then with him did not exceed the number of four thousand;\nMago, however, was troubled and fearful at the first notice of his\ncoming, and grew more apprehensive and jealous still upon the\nfollowing occasion.  The marshes about Syracuse, that receive a great\ndeal of fresh water, as well from springs as from lakes and rivers\ndischarging themselves into the sea, breed abundance of eels, which\nmay be always taken there in great quantities by any that will fish\nfor them.  The mercenary soldiers that served on both sides, were\nwont to follow the sport together at their vacant hours, and upon any\ncessation of arms, who being all Greeks, and having no cause of\nprivate enmity to each other, as they would venture bravely in fight,\nso in times of truce used to meet and converse amicably together.\nAnd at this present time, while engaged about this common business of\nfishing, they fell into talk together; and some expressing their\nadmiration of the neighboring sea, and others telling how much they\nwere taken with the convenience and commodiousness of the buildings\nand public works, one of the Corinthian party took occasion to demand\nof the others:  \"And is it possible that you who are Grecians born,\nshould be so forward to reduce a city of this greatness, and enjoying\nso many rare advantages, into the state of barbarism; and lend your\nassistance to plant Carthaginians, that are the worst and bloodiest\nof men, so much the nearer to us? whereas you should rather wish\nthere were many more Sicilies to lie between them and Greece.  Have\nyou so little sense as to believe, that they come hither with an\narmy, from the Pillars of Hercules and the Atlantic Sea, to hazard\nthemselves for the establishment of Hicetes? who, if he had had the\nconsideration which becomes a general, would never have thrown out\nhis ancestors and founders to bring in the enemies of his country in\nthe room of them, when he might have enjoyed all suitable honor and\ncommand, with consent of Timoleon and the rest of Corinth.\"  The\nGreeks that were in pay with Hicetes, noising these discourses about\ntheir camp, gave Mago some ground to suspect, as indeed he had long\nsought for a pretence to be gone, that there was treachery contrived\nagainst him; so that, although Hicetes entreated him to tarry, and\nmade it appear how much stronger they were than the enemy, yet,\nconceiving they came far more short of Timoleon in respect of courage\nand fortune, than they surpassed him in number, he presently went\naboard, and set sail for Africa, letting Sicily escape out of his\nhands with dishonor to himself, and for such uncertain causes, that\nno human reason could give an account of his departure.\n\nThe day after he went away, Timoleon came up before the city, in\narray for a battle.  But when he and his company heard of this sudden\nflight, and saw the docks all empty, they could not forbear laughing\nat the cowardice of Mago, and in mockery caused proclamation to be\nmade through the city, that a reward would be given to any one who\ncould bring them tidings whither the Carthaginian fleet had conveyed\nitself from them.  However, Hicetes resolving to fight it out alone,\nand not quitting his hold of the city, but sticking close to the\nquarters he was in possession of, places that were well fortified and\nnot easy to be attacked, Timoleon divided his forces into three\nparts, and fell himself upon the side where the river Anapus ran,\nwhich was most strong and difficult of access; and he commanded those\nthat were led by Isias, a Corinthian captain, to make their assault\nfrom the post of Acradina, while Dinarchus and Demaretus, that\nbrought him the last supply from Corinth, were, with a third\ndivision, to attempt the quarter called Epipolae.  A considerable\nimpression being made from every side at once, the soldiers of\nHicetes were beaten off and put to flight; and this, -- that the city\ncame to be taken by storm, and fall suddenly into their hands, upon\nthe defeat and rout of the enemy, -- we must in all justice ascribe\nto the valor of the assailants, and the wise conduct of their\ngeneral; but that not so much as a man of the Corinthians was either\nslain or wounded in the action, this the good fortune of Timoleon\nseems to challenge for her own work, as though, in a sort of rivalry\nwith his own personal exertions, she made it her aim to exceed and\nobscure his actions by her favors, that those who heard him commended\nfor his noble deeds might rather admire the happiness, than the merit\nof them.  For the fame of what was done not only passed through all\nSicily, and filled Italy with wonder, but even Greece itself, after a\nfew days, came to ring with the greatness of his exploit; insomuch\nthat those of Corinth, who had as yet no certainty that their\nauxiliaries were landed on the island, had tidings brought them at\nthe same time that they were safe and were conquerors.  In so\nprosperous a course did affairs run, and such was the speed and\ncelerity of execution with which fortune, as with a new ornament, set\noff the native lustres of the performance.\n\nTimoleon, being master of the citadel, avoided the error which Dion\nhad been guilty of.  He spared not the place for the beauty and\nsumptuousness of its fabric, and, keeping clear of those suspicions\nwhich occasioned first the unpopularity and afterwards the fall of\nDion, made a public crier give notice, that all the Syracusans who\nwere willing to have a hand in the work, should bring pick-axes and\nmattocks, and other instruments, and help him to demolish the\nfortifications of the tyrants.  When they all came up with one\naccord, looking upon that order and that day as the surest foundation\nof their liberty, they not only pulled down the castle, but\noverturned the palaces and monuments adjoining, and whatever else\nmight preserve any memory of former tyrants.  Having soon leveled and\ncleared the place, he there presently erected courts for\nadministration of justice, gratifying the citizens by this means, and\nbuilding popular government on the fall and ruin of tyranny.  But\nsince he had recovered a city destitute of inhabitants, some of\nthem dead in civil wars and insurrections, and others being fled to\nescape tyrants, so that through solitude and want of people the great\nmarketplace of Syracuse was overgrown with such quantity of rank\nherbage that it became a pasture for their horses, the grooms lying\nalong in the grass as they fed by them; while also other towns, very\nfew excepted, were become full of stags and wild boars, so that those\nwho had nothing else to do went frequently a hunting, and found game\nin the suburbs and about the walls; and not one of those who had\npossessed themselves of castles, or made garrisons in the country,\ncould be persuaded to quit their present abode, or would accept an\ninvitation to return back into the city, so much did they all dread\nand abhor the very name of assemblies and forms of government and\npublic speaking, that had produced the greater part of those usurpers\nwho had successively assumed a dominion over them, -- Timoleon,\ntherefore, with the Syracusans that remained, considering this vast\ndesolation, and how little hope there was to have it otherwise\nsupplied, thought good to write to the Corinthians, requesting that\nthey would send a colony out of Greece to repeople Syracuse.  For\nelse the land about it would lie unimproved; and besides this, they\nexpected to be involved in a greater war from Africa, having news\nbrought them that Mago had killed himself, and that the\nCarthaginians, out of rage for his ill conduct in the late\nexpedition, had caused his body to be nailed upon a cross, and that\nthey were raising a mighty force, with design to make their descent\nupon Sicily the next summer.\n\nThese letters from Timoleon being delivered at Corinth, and the\nambassadors of Syracuse beseeching them at the same time, that they\nwould take upon them the care of their poor city, and once again\nbecome the founders of it, the Corinthians were not tempted by any\nfeeling of cupidity to lay hold of the advantage.  Nor did they seize\nand appropriate the city to themselves, but going about first to the\ngames that are kept as sacred in Greece, and to the most numerously\nattended religious assemblages, they made publication by heralds,\nthat the Corinthians, having destroyed the usurpation at Syracuse and\ndriven out the tyrant, did thereby invite the Syracusan exiles, and\nany other Siceliots, to return and inhabit the city, with full\nenjoyment of freedom under their own laws, the land being divided\namong them in just and equal proportions.  And after this, sending\nmessengers into Asia and the several islands where they understood\nthat most of the scattered fugitives were then residing, they bade\nthem all repair to Corinth, engaging that the Corinthians would\nafford them vessels and commanders, and a safe convoy, at their own\ncharges, to Syracuse.  Such generous proposals, being thus spread\nabout, gained them the just and honorable recompense of general\npraise and benediction, for delivering the country from oppressors,\nand saving it from barbarians, and restoring it at length to the\nrightful owners of the place.  These, when they were assembled at\nCorinth, and found how insufficient their company was, besought the\nCorinthians that they might have a supplement of other persons, as\nwell out of their city as the rest of Greece, to go with them as\njoint-colonists; and so raising themselves to the number of ten\nthousand, they sailed together to Syracuse.  By this time great\nmultitudes, also, from Italy and Sicily, had flocked in to Timoleon,\nso that, as Athanis reports, their entire body amounted now to sixty\nthousand men.  Among these he divided the whole territory, and sold\nthe houses for a thousand talents; by which method, he both left it\nin the power of the old Syracusans to redeem their own, and made it a\nmeans also for raising a stock for the community, which had been so\nmuch impoverished of late, and was so unable to defray other\nexpenses, and especially those of a war, that they exposed their very\nstatues to sale, a regular process being observed, and sentence of\nauction passed upon each of them by majority of votes, as if they had\nbeen so many criminals taking their trial:  in the course of which it\nis said that while condemnation was pronounced upon all other\nstatues, that of the ancient usurper Gelo was exempted, out of\nadmiration and honor and for the sake of the victory he gained over\nthe Carthaginian forces at the river Himera.\n\nSyracuse being thus happily revived, and replenished again by the\ngeneral concourse of inhabitants from all parts, Timoleon was\ndesirous now to rescue other cities from the like bondage, and wholly\nand once for all to extirpate arbitrary government out of Sicily.\nAnd for this purpose, marching into the territories of those that\nused it, he compelled Hicetes first to renounce the Carthaginian\ninterest, and, demolishing the fortresses which were held by him, to\nlive henceforth among the Leontinians as a private person.  Leptines,\nalso, the tyrant of Apollonia and divers other little towns, after\nsome resistance made, seeing the danger he was in of being taken by\nforce, surrendered himself; upon which Timoleon spared his life, and\nsent him away to Corinth, counting it a glorious thing that the\nmother city should expose to the view of other Greeks these Sicilian\ntyrants, living now in an exiled and a low condition.  After this he\nreturned to Syracuse, that he might have leisure to attend to the\nestablishment of the new constitution, and assist Cephalus and\nDionysius, who were sent from Corinth to make laws, in determining\nthe most important points of it.  In the meanwhile, desirous that his\nhired soldiers should not want action, but might rather enrich\nthemselves by some plunder from the enemy, he dispatched Dinarchus\nand Demaretus with a portion of them into the part of the island\nbelonging to the Carthaginians, where they obliged several cities to\nrevolt from the barbarians, and not only lived in great abundance\nthemselves, but raised money from their spoil to carry on the war.\n\nMeantime, the Carthaginians landed at the promontory of Lilybaeum,\nbringing with them an army of seventy thousand men on board two\nhundred galleys, besides a thousand other vessels laden with engines\nof battery, chariots, corn, and other military stores, as if they did\nnot intend to manage the war by piecemeal and in parts as heretofore,\nbut to drive the Greeks altogether and at once out of all Sicily.\nAnd indeed it was a force sufficient to overpower the Siceliots, even\nthough they had been at perfect union among themselves, and had never\nbeen enfeebled by intestine quarrels.  Hearing that part of their\nsubject territory was suffering devastation, they forthwith made\ntoward the Corinthians with great fury, having Asdrubal and Hamilcar\nfor their generals; the report of whose numbers and strength coming\nsuddenly to Syracuse, the citizens were so terrified, that hardly\nthree thousand, among so many myriads of them, had the courage to\ntake up arms and join Timoleon.  The foreigners, serving for pay,\nwere not above four thousand in all, and about a thousand of these\ngrew fainthearted by the way, and forsook Timoleon in his march\ntowards the enemy, looking on him as frantic and distracted,\ndestitute of the sense which might have been expected from his time\nof life, thus to venture out against an army of seventy thousand men,\nwith no more than five thousand foot and a thousand horse; and, when\nhe should have kept those forces to defend the city, choosing rather\nto remove them eight days' journey from Syracuse, so that if they\nwere beaten from the field, they would have no retreat, nor any\nburial if they fell upon it.  Timoleon, however, reckoned it some\nkind of advantage, that these had thus discovered themselves before\nthe battle, and, encouraging the rest, led them with all speed to the\nriver Crimesus, where it was told him the Carthaginians were drawn\ntogether.\n\nAs he was marching up an ascent, from the top of which they expected\nto have a view of the army and of the strength of the enemy, there\nmet him by chance a train of mules loaded with parsley; which his\nsoldiers conceived to be an ominous occurrence or ill-boding token,\nbecause this is the herb with which we not unfrequently adorn the\nsepulchres of the dead; and there is a proverb derived from the\ncustom, used of one who is dangerously sick, that he has need of\nnothing but parsley.  So, to ease their minds, and free them from\nany superstitious thoughts or forebodings of evil, Timoleon halted,\nand concluded an address, suitable to the occasion, by saying, that a\ngarland of triumph was here luckily brought them, and had fallen into\ntheir hands of its own accord, as an anticipation of victory:  the\nsame with which the Corinthians crown the victors in the Isthmian\ngames, accounting chaplets of parsley the sacred wreath proper to\ntheir country; parsley being at that time still the emblem of victory\nat the Isthmian, as it is now at the Nemean sports; and it is not so\nvery long ago that the pine first began to be used in its place.\n\nTimoleon, therefore, having thus bespoke his soldiers, took part of\nthe parsley, and with it made himself a chaplet first, his captains\nand their companies all following the example of their leader.  The\nsoothsayers then, observing also two eagles on the wing towards them,\none of which bore a snake struck through with her talons, and the\nother, as she flew, uttered a loud cry indicating boldness and\nassurance, at once showed them to the soldiers, who with one consent\nfell to supplicate the gods, and call them in to their assistance.\nIt was now about the beginning of summer, and conclusion of the month\ncalled Thargelion, not far from the solstice; and the river sending\nup a thick mist, all the adjacent plain was at first darkened with\nthe fog, so that for a while they could discern nothing from the\nenemy's camp; only a confused buzz and undistinguished mixture of\nvoices came up to the hill from the distant motions and clamors of so\nvast a multitude.  When the Corinthians had mounted, and stood on the\ntop, and had laid down their bucklers to take breath and repose\nthemselves, the sun coming round and drawing up the vapors from\nbelow, the gross foggy air that was now gathered and condensed above\nformed in a cloud upon the mountains; and, all the under places being\nclear and open, the river Crimesus appeared to them again, and they\ncould descry the enemies passing over it, first with their formidable\nfour horse chariots of war, and then ten thousand footmen bearing\nwhite shields, whom they guessed to be all Carthaginians, from the\nsplendor of their arms, and the slowness and order of their march.  And\nwhen now the troops of various other nations, flowing in behind them,\nbegan to throng for passage in a tumultuous and unruly manner,\nTimoleon, perceiving that the river gave them opportunity to single\noff whatever number of their enemies they had a mind to engage at\nonce, and bidding his soldiers observe how their forces were divided\ninto two separate bodies by the intervention of the stream, some\nbeing already over, and others still to ford it, gave Demaretus\ncommand to fall in upon the Carthaginians with his horse, and disturb\ntheir ranks before they should be drawn up into form of battle; and\ncoming down into the plain himself, forming his right and left wing\nof other Sicilians, intermingling only a few strangers in each, he\nplaced the natives of Syracuse in the middle, with the stoutest\nmercenaries he had about his own person; and, waiting a little to\nobserve the action of his horse, when he saw they were not only\nhindered from grappling with the Carthaginians by the armed chariots\nthat ran to and fro before the army, but forced continually to wheel\nabout to escape having their ranks broken, and so to repeat their\ncharges anew, he took his buckler in his hand, and crying out to the\nfoot that they should follow him with courage and confidence, he\nseemed to speak with a more than human accent, and a voice stronger\nthan ordinary; whether it were that he naturally raised it so high in\nthe vehemence and ardor of his mind to assault the enemy, or else, as\nmany then thought, some god or other spoke with him.  When his\nsoldiers quickly gave an echo to it, all besought him to lead them on\nwithout any further delay, he made a sign to the horse, that they\nshould draw off from the front where the chariots were, and pass\nsidewards to attack their enemies in the flank; then, making his\nvanguard firm by joining man to man and buckler to buckler, he caused\nthe trumpet to sound, and so bore in upon the Carthaginians.\n\nThey, for their part, stoutly received and sustained his first onset;\nand having their bodies armed with breastplates of iron, and helmets\nof brass on their heads, besides great bucklers to cover and secure\nthem, they could easily repel the charge of the Greek spears.  But\nwhen the business came to a decision by the sword, where mastery\ndepends no less upon art than strength, all on a sudden from the\nmountain tops violent peals of thunder and vivid dashes of lightning\nbroke out; following upon which the darkness, that had been hovering\nabout the higher grounds and the crests of the hills, descending to\nthe place of battle and bringing a tempest of rain and of wind and\nhail along with it, was driven upon the Greeks behind, and fell only\nat their backs, but discharged itself in the very faces of the\nbarbarians, the rain beating on them, and the lightning dazzling them\nwithout cessation; annoyances that in many ways distressed at any\nrate the inexperienced, who had not been used to such hardships, and,\nin particular, the claps of thunder, and the noise of the rain and\nhail beating on their arms, kept them from hearing the commands of\ntheir officers.  Besides which, the very mud also was a great\nhindrance to the Carthaginians, who were not lightly equipped, but,\nas I said before, loaded with heavy armor; and then their shirts\nunderneath getting drenched, the foldings about the bosom filled with\nwater, grew unwieldy and cumbersome to them as they fought, and made\nit easy for the Greeks to throw them down, and, when they were once\ndown, impossible for them, under that weight, to disengage themselves\nand rise again with weapons in their hand.  The river Crimesus, too,\nswollen partly by the rain, and partly by the stoppage of its course\nwith the numbers that were passing through, overflowed its banks; and\nthe level ground by the side of it, being so situated as to have a\nnumber of small ravines and hollows of the hill-side descending upon\nit, was now filled with rivulets and currents that had no certain\nchannel, in which the Carthaginians stumbled and rolled about, and\nfound themselves in great difficulty.  So that, in fine, the storm\nbearing still upon them, and the Greeks having cut in pieces four\nhundred men of their first ranks, the whole body of their army began\nto fly.  Great numbers were overtaken in the plain, and put to the\nsword there; and many of them, as they were making their way back\nthrough the river, falling foul upon others that were yet coming\nover, were borne away and overwhelmed by the waters; but the major\npart, attempting to get up the hills and so make their escape, were\nintercepted and destroyed by the light-armed troops.  It is said,\nthat of ten thousand who lay dead after the fight, three thousand, at\nleast, were Carthaginian citizens; a heavy loss and great grief to\ntheir countrymen; those that fell being men inferior to none among\nthem as to birth, wealth, or reputation.  Nor do their records\nmention that so many native Carthaginians were ever cut off before in\nany one battle; as they usually employed Africans, Spaniards, and\nNumidians in their wars, so that if they chanced to be defeated, it\nwas still at the cost and damage of other nations.\n\nThe Greeks easily discovered of what condition and account the slain\nwere, by the richness of their spoils; for when they came to collect\nthe booty, there was little reckoning made either of brass or iron,\nso abundant were better metals, and so common were silver and gold\nPassing over the river, they became masters of their camp and\ncarriages.  As for captives, a great many of them were stolen away,\nand sold privately by the soldiers, but about five thousand were\nbrought in and delivered up for the benefit of the public; two\nhundred of their chariots of war were also taken.  The tent of\nTimoleon then presented a most glorious and magnificent appearance,\nbeing heaped up and hung round with every variety of spoils and\nmilitary ornaments, among which there were a thousand breastplates of\nrare workmanship and beauty, and bucklers to the number of ten\nthousand.  The victors being but few to strip so many that were\nvanquished, and having such valuable booty to occupy them, it was the\nthird day after the fight before they could erect and finish the\ntrophy of their conquest.  Timoleon sent tidings of his victory to\nCorinth, with the best and goodliest arms he had taken as a proof of\nit; that he thus might render his country an object of emulation to\nthe whole world, when, of all the cities of Greece, men should there\nalone behold the chief temples adorned, not with Grecian spoils, nor\nofferings obtained by the bloodshed and plunder of their own\ncountrymen and kindred, and attended, therefore, with sad and unhappy\nremembrances, but with such as had been stripped from barbarians and\nenemies to their nation, with the noblest titles inscribed upon them,\ntitles telling of the justice as well as fortitude of the conquerors;\nnamely, that the people of Corinth, and Timoleon their general,\nhaving redeemed the Greeks of Sicily from Carthaginian bondage, made\noblation of these to the gods, in grateful acknowledgment of their\nfavor.\n\nHaving done this, he left his hired soldiers in the enemy's country,\nto drive and carry away all they could throughout the\nsubject-territory of Carthage, and so marched with the rest of his\narmy to Syracuse, where he issued an edict for banishing the thousand\nmercenaries who had basely deserted him before the battle, and\nobliged them to quit the city before sunset.  They, sailing into\nItaly, lost their lives there by the hands of the Bruttians, in spite\nof a public assurance of safety previously given them; thus\nreceiving, from the divine power, a just reward of their own\ntreachery.  Mamercus, however, the tyrant of Catana, and Hicetes,\nafter all, either envying Timoleon the glory of his exploits, or\nfearing him as one that would keep no agreement, nor have any peace\nwith tyrants, made a league with the Carthaginians, and pressed them\nmuch to send a new army and commander into Sicily, unless they would\nbe content to hazard all, and to be wholly ejected out of that\nisland.  And in consequence of this, Gisco was dispatched with a navy\nof seventy sail.  He took numerous Greek mercenaries also into pay,\nthat being the first time they had ever been enlisted for the\nCarthaginian service; but then it seems the Carthaginians began to\nadmire them, as the most irresistible soldiers of all mankind.\nUniting their forces in the territory of Messena, they cut off four\nhundred of Timoleon's paid soldiers, and within the dependencies of\nCarthage, at a place called Hierae, destroyed, by an ambuscade, the\nwhole body of mercenaries that served under Euthymus the Leucadian;\nwhich accidents, however, made the good fortune of Timoleon accounted\nall the more remarkable, as these were the men that, with Philomelus\nof Phocis and Onomarchus, had forcibly broken into the temple of\nApollo at Delphi, and were partakers with them in the sacrilege; so\nthat, being hated and shunned by all, as persons under a curse, they\nwere constrained to wander about in Peloponnesus; when, for want of\nothers, Timoleon was glad to take them into service in his expedition\nfor Sicily, where they were successful in whatever enterprise they\nattempted under his conduct.  But now, when all the important dangers\nwere past, on his sending them out for the relief and defense of his\nparty in several places, they perished and were destroyed at a\ndistance from him, not all together, but in small parties; and the\nvengeance which was destined for them, so accommodating itself to the\ngood fortune which guarded Timoleon as not to allow any harm or\nprejudice for good men to arise from the punishment of the wicked,\nthe benevolence and kindness which the gods had for Timoleon was thus\nas distinctly recognized in his disasters as in his successes.\n\nWhat most annoyed the Syracusans was their being insulted and mocked\nby the tyrants; as, for example, by Mamercus, who valued himself much\nupon his gift for writing poems and tragedies, and took occasion,\nwhen coming to present the gods with the bucklers of the hired\nsoldiers whom he had killed, to make a boast of his victory in an\ninsulting elegiac inscription:\n\nThese shields, with purple, gold, and ivory wrought,\nWere won by us that but with poor ones fought.\n\nAfter this, while Timoleon marched to Calauria, Hicetes made an\ninroad into the borders of Syracuse, where he met with considerable\nbooty, and having done much mischief and havoc, returned back by\nCalauria itself, in contempt of Timoleon, and the slender force he\nhad then with him.  He, suffering Hicetes to pass forward, pursued\nhim with his horsemen and light infantry, which Hicetes perceiving,\ncrossed the river Damyrias, and then stood in a posture to receive\nhim; the difficulty of the passage, and the height and steepness of\nthe bank on each side, giving advantage enough to make him confident.\nA strange contention and dispute, meantime, among the officers of\nTimoleon, a little retarded the conflict; no one of them was willing\nto let another pass over before him to engage the enemy; each man\nclaiming it as a right, to venture first and begin the onset; so that\ntheir fording was likely to be tumultuous and without order, a mere\ngeneral struggle which should be the foremost.  Timoleon, therefore,\ndesiring to decide the quarrel by lot, took a ring from each of the\npretenders, which he cast into his own cloak, and, after he had\nshaken all together, the first he drew out had, by good fortune, the\nfigure of a trophy engraved as a seal upon it; at the sight of which\nthe young captains all shouted for joy, and, without waiting any\nlonger to see how chance would determine it for the rest, took every\nman his way through the river with all the speed they could make, and\nfell to blows with the enemies, who were not able to bear up against\nthe violence of their attack, but fled in haste and left their arms\nbehind them all alike, and a thousand dead upon the place.\n\nNot long after, Timoleon, marching up to the city of the Leontines,\ntook Hicetes alive, and his son Eupolemus, and Euthymus, the\ncommander of his horse, who were bound and brought to him by their\nown soldiers.  Hicetes and the stripling his son were then executed\nas tyrants and traitors; and Euthymus, though a brave man, and one of\nsingular courage, could obtain no mercy, because he was charged with\ncontemptuous language in disparagement of the Corinthians when they\nfirst sent their forces into Sicily:  it is said that he told the\nLeontini in a speech, that the news did not sound terrible, nor was\nany great danger to be feared because of\n\nCorinthian women coming out of doors.\n\nSo true is it that men are usually more stung and galled by\nreproachful words than hostile actions; and they bear an affront with\nless patience than an injury:  to do harm and mischief by deeds is\ncounted pardonable from enemies, as nothing less can be expected in a\nstate of war whereas virulent and contumelious words appear to be the\nexpression of needless hatred, and to proceed from an excess of\nrancor.\n\nWhen Timoleon came back to Syracuse, the citizens brought the wives\nand daughters of Hicetes and his son to a public trial, and condemned\nand put them to death.  This seems to be the least pleasing action of\nTimoleon's life; since if he had interposed, the unhappy women would\nhave been spared.  He would appear to have disregarded the thing, and\nto have given them up to the citizens, who were eager to take\nvengeance for the wrongs done to Dion, who expelled Dionysius; since\nit was this very Hicetes, who took Arete the wife, and Aristomache\nthe sister of Dion, with a son that had not yet passed his childhood,\nand threw them all together into the sea alive, as related in the\nlife of Dion.\n\nAfter this, he moved towards Catana against Mamercus, who gave him\nbattle near the river Abolus, and was overthrown and put to flight,\nlosing above two thousand men, a considerable part of whom were the\nPhoenician troops sent by Gisco to his assistance.  After this\ndefeat, the Carthaginians sued for peace; which was granted on the\nconditions that they should confine themselves to the country within\nthe river Lycus,@ that those of the inhabitants who wished to remove\nto the Syracusan territories should be allowed to depart with their\nwhole families and fortunes, and, lastly, that Carthage should\nrenounce all engagements to the tyrants.  Mamercus, now forsaken and\ndespairing of success, took ship for Italy with the design of\nbringing in the Lucanians against Timoleon and the people of\nSyracuse; but the men in his galleys turning back and landing again\nand delivering up Catana to Timoleon, thus obliged him to fly for his\nown safety to Messena, where Hippo was tyrant.  Timoleon, however,\ncoming up against them, and besieging the city both by sea and land,\nHippo, fearful of the event, endeavored to slip away in a vessel;\nwhich the people of Messena surprised as it was putting off, and\nseizing on his person, and bringing all their children from school\ninto the theater, to witness the glorious spectacle of a tyrant\npunished, they first publicly scourged and then put him to death.\nMamercus made surrender of himself to Timoleon, with the proviso,\nthat he should be tried at Syracuse, and Timoleon should take no part\nin his accusation.  Thither he was brought accordingly, and\npresenting himself to plead before the people, he essayed to\npronounce an oration he had long before composed in his own defense;\nbut finding himself interrupted by noise and clamors, and observing\nfrom their aspect and demeanor that the assembly was inexorable, he\nthrew off his upper garment, and running across the theater as hard\nas he could, dashed his head against one of the stones under the\nseats with intention to have killed himself; but he had not the\nfortune to perish, as he designed, but was taken up alive, and\nsuffered the death of a robber.\n\nThus did Timoleon cut the nerves of tyranny, and put a period to\ntheir wars; and, whereas, at his first entering upon Sicily, the\nisland was as it were become wild again, and was hateful to the very\nnatives on account of the evils and miseries they suffered there, he\nso civilized and restored it, and rendered it so desirable to all\nmen, that even strangers now came by sea to inhabit those towns and\nplaces which their own citizens had formerly forsaken and left\ndesolate.  Agrigentum and Gela, two famous cities that had been\nruined and laid waste by the Carthaginians after the Attic war, were\nthen peopled again, the one by Megellus and Pheristus from Elea, the\nother by Gorgus, from the island of Ceos, partly with new settlers,\npartly with the old inhabitants whom they collected again from\nvarious parts; to all of whom Timoleon not only afforded a secure and\npeaceable abode after so obstinate a war, but was further so zealous\nin assisting and providing for them that he was honored among them as\ntheir founder.  Similar feelings also possessed to such a degree all\nthe rest of the Sicilians, that there was no proposal for peace, nor\nreformation of laws, nor assignation of land, nor reconstitution of\ngovernment, which they could think well of, unless he lent his aid as\na chief architect, to finish and adorn the work, and superadd some\ntouches from his own hand, which might render it pleasing both to God\nand man.\n\nAlthough Greece had in his time produced several persons of\nextraordinary worth, and much renowned for their achievements, such\nas Timotheus and Agesilaus and Pelopidas and (Timoleon's chief model)\nEpaminondas, yet the lustre of their best actions was obscured by a\ndegree of violence and labor, insomuch that some of them were matter\nof blame and of repentance; whereas there is not any one act of\nTimoleon's, setting aside the necessity he was placed under in\nreference to his brother, to which, as Timaeus observes, we may not\nfitly apply that exclamation of Sophocles:\n\nO gods! what Venus, or what grace divine,\nDid here with human workmanship combine?\n\nFor as the poetry of Antimachus, and the painting of Dionysius, the\nartists of Colophon, though full of force and vigor, yet appeared to\nbe strained and elaborate in comparison with the pictures of\nNicomachus and the verses of Homer, which, besides their general\nstrength and beauty, have the peculiar charm of seeming to have been\nexecuted with perfect ease and readiness; so the expeditions and acts\nof Epaminondas or Agesilaus, that were full of toil and effort, when\ncompared with the easy and natural as well as noble and glorious\nachievements of Timoleon, compel our fair and unbiased judgment to\npronounce the latter not indeed the effect of fortune, but the\nsuccess of fortunate merit.  Though he himself indeed ascribed that\nsuccess to the sole favor of fortune; and both in the letters which\nhe wrote to his friends at Corinth, and in the speeches he made to\nthe people of Syracuse, he would say, that he was thankful unto God,\nwho, designing to save Sicily, was pleased to honor him with the name\nand title of the deliverance he vouchsafed it.  And having built a\nchapel in his house, he there sacrificed to Good Hap, as a deity\nthat had favored him, and devoted the house itself to the Sacred\nGenius; it being a house which the Syracusans had selected for him,\nas a special reward and monument of his brave exploits, granting him\ntogether with it the most agreeable and beautiful piece of land in\nthe whole country, where he kept his residence for the most part, and\nenjoyed a private life with his wife and children, who came to him\nfrom Corinth.  For he returned thither no more, unwilling to be\nconcerned in the broils and tumults of Greece, or to expose himself\nto public envy (the fatal mischief which great commanders continually\nrun into, from the insatiable appetite for honors and authority); but\nwisely chose to spend the remainder of his days in Sicily, and there\npartake of the blessings he himself had procured, the greatest of\nwhich was, to behold so many cities flourish, and so many thousands\nof people live happy through his means.\n\nAs, however, not only, as Simonides says, \"On every lark must grow a\ncrest,\" but also in every democracy there must spring up a false\naccuser, so was it at Syracuse:  two of their popular spokesmen,\nLaphystius and Demaenetus by name, fell to slander Timoleon.  The\nformer of whom requiring him to put in sureties that he would answer\nto an indictment that would be brought against him, Timoleon would\nnot suffer the citizens, who were incensed at this demand, to oppose\nit or hinder the proceeding, since he of his own accord had been, he\nsaid, at all that trouble, and run so many dangerous risks for this\nvery end and purpose, that every one who wished to try matters by law\nshould freely have recourse to it.  And when Demaenetus, in a full\naudience of the people, laid several things to his charge which had\nbeen done while he was general, he made no other reply to him, but\nonly said he was much indebted to the gods for granting the request\nhe had so often made them, namely, that he might live to see the\nSyracusans enjoy that liberty of speech which they now seemed to be\nmasters of.\n\nTimoleon, therefore, having by confession of all done the greatest\nand the noblest things of any Greek of his age, and alone\ndistinguished himself in those actions to which their orators and\nphilosophers, in their harangues and panegyrics at their solemn\nnational assemblies, used to exhort and incite the Greeks, and being\nwithdrawn beforehand by happy fortune, unspotted and without blood,\nfrom the calamities of civil war, in which ancient Greece was soon\nafter involved; having also given full proof, as of his sage conduct\nand manly courage to the barbarians and tyrants, so of his justice\nand gentleness to the Greeks, and his friends in general; having\nraised, too, the greater part of those trophies he won in battle,\nwithout any tears shed or any mourning worn by the citizens either of\nSyracuse or Corinth, and within less than eight years' space\ndelivered Sicily from its inveterate grievances and intestine\ndistempers, and given it up free to the native inhabitants, began, as\nhe was now growing old, to find his eyes fail, and awhile after\nbecame perfectly blind.  Not that he had done anything himself which\nmight occasion this defect, or was deprived of his sight by any\noutrage of fortune; it seems rather to have been some inbred and\nhereditary weakness that was founded in natural causes, which by\nlength of time came to discover itself.  For it is said, that several\nof his kindred and family were subject to the like gradual decay, and\nlost all use of their eyes, as he did, in their declining years.\nAthanis the historian tells us, that even during the war against\nHippo and Mamercus, while he was in his camp at Mylae, there appeared\na white speck within his eye, from whence all could foresee the\ndeprivation that was coming on him; this, however, did not hinder him\nthen from continuing the siege, and prosecuting the war, till he got\nboth the tyrants into his power; but upon his coming back to\nSyracuse, he presently resigned the authority of sole commander, and\nbesought the citizens to excuse him from any further service, since\nthings were already brought to so fair an issue.  Nor is it so much\nto be wondered, that he himself should bear the misfortune without\nany marks of trouble; but the respect and gratitude which the\nSyracusans showed him when he was entirely blind, may justly deserve\nour admiration.  They used to go themselves to visit him in troops,\nand brought all the strangers that traveled through their country to\nhis house and manor, that they also might have the pleasure to see\ntheir noble benefactor; making it the great matter of their joy and\nexultation, that when, after so many brave and happy exploits, he\nmight have returned with triumph into Greece, he should disregard all\nthe glorious preparations that were there made to receive him, and\nchoose rather to stay here and end his days among them.  Of the\nvarious things decreed and done in honor of Timoleon, I consider one\nmost signal testimony to have been the vote which they passed, that,\nwhenever they should be at war with any foreign nation, they should\nmake use of none but a Corinthian general.  The method, also, of\ntheir proceeding in council, was a noble demonstration of the same\ndeference for his person.  For, determining matters of less\nconsequence themselves, they always called him to advise in the more\ndifficult cases, and such as were of greater moment.  He was, on\nthese occasions, carried through the market-place in a litter, and\nbrought in, sitting, into the theater, where the people with one\nvoice saluted him by his name; and then, after returning the\ncourtesy, and pausing for a time, till the noise of their\ngratulations and blessings began to cease, he heard the business in\ndebate, and delivered his opinion.  This being confirmed by a general\nsuffrage, his servants went back with the litter through the midst of\nthe assembly, the people waiting on him out with acclamations and\napplauses, and then returning to consider other public matters, which\nthey could dispatch in his absence.  Being thus cherished in his old\nage, with all the respect and tenderness due to a common father, he\nwas seized with a very slight indisposition, which however was\nsufficient, with the aid of time, to put a period to his life.  There\nwas an allotment then of certain days given, within the space of\nwhich the Syracusans were to provide whatever should be necessary for\nhis burial, and all the neighboring country people and strangers were\nto make their appearance in a body; so that the funeral pomp was set\nout with great splendor and magnificence in all other respects, and\nthe bier, decked with ornaments and trophies, was borne by a select\nbody of young men over that ground where the palace and castle of\nDionysius stood, before they were demolished by Timoleon.  There\nattended on the solemnity several thousands of men and women, all\ncrowned with flowers, and arrayed in fresh and clean attire, which\nmade it look like the procession of a public festival; while the\nlanguage of all, and their tears mingling with their praise and\nbenediction of the dead Timoleon, manifestly showed that it was not\nany superficial honor, or commanded homage, which they paid him, but\nthe testimony of a just sorrow for his death, and the expression of\ntrue affection.  The bier at length being placed upon the pile of\nwood that was kindled to consume his corpse, Demetrius, one of their\nloudest criers, proceeded to read a proclamation to the following\npurpose:  \"The people of Syracuse has made a special decree to inter\nTimoleon, the son of Timodemus, the Corinthian, at the common expense\nof two hundred minas, and to honor his memory forever, by the\nestablishment of annual prizes to be competed for in music, and horse\nraces, and all sorts of bodily exercise; and this, because he\nsuppressed the tyrants, overthrew the barbarians, replenished the\nprincipal cities, that were desolate, with new inhabitants, and then\nrestored the Sicilian Greeks to the privilege of living by their own\nlaws.\"  Besides this, they made a tomb for him in the marketplace,\nwhich they afterwards built round with colonnades, and attached to it\nplaces of exercise for the young men, and gave it the name of the\nTimoleonteum.  And keeping to that form and order of civil policy and\nobserving those laws and constitutions which he left them, they lived\nthemselves a long time in great prosperity.\n\n\n\nAEMILIUS PAULUS\n\nAlmost all historians agree that the Aemilii were one of the ancient and\npatrician houses in Rome; and those authors who affirm that king Numa was\npupil to Pythagoras, tell us that the first who gave the name to his\nposterity was Mamercus, the son of Pythagoras, who, for his grace and\naddress in speaking, was called Aemilius.  Most of this race that have\nrisen through their merit to reputation, also enjoyed good fortune; and\neven the misfortune of Lucius Paulus at the battle of Cannae, gave\ntestimony to his wisdom and valor.  For, not being able to persuade his\ncolleague not to hazard the battle, he, though against his judgment,\njoined with him in the contest, but was no companion in his flight:  on\nthe contrary, when he that was so resolute to engage deserted him in the\nmidst of danger, he kept the field, and died fighting.  This Aemilius had\na daughter named Aemilia, who was married to Scipio the Great, and a son\nPaulus, who is the subject of my present history.\n\nIn his early manhood, which fell at a time when Rome was flourishing with\nillustrious characters, he was distinguished for not attaching himself to\nthe studies usual with the young men of mark of that age, nor treading\nthe same paths to fame.  For he did not practice oratory with a view to\npleading causes, nor would he stoop to salute, embrace, and entertain the\nvulgar, which were the usual insinuating arts by which many grew popular.\nNot that he was incapable of either, but he chose to purchase a much more\nlasting glory by his valor, justice, and integrity, and in these virtues\nhe soon outstripped all his equals.\n\nThe first honorable office he aspired to was that of aedile, which he\ncarried against twelve competitors of such merit, that all of them in\nprocess of time were consuls.  Being afterwards chosen into the number of\npriests called augurs, appointed amongst the Romans to observe and\nregister divinations made by the flight of birds or prodigies in the air,\nhe so carefully studied the ancient customs of his country, and so\nthoroughly understood the religion of his ancestors, that this office,\nwhich was before only esteemed a title of honor and merely upon that\naccount sought after, by his means rose to the rank of one of the highest\narts, and gave a confirmation to the correctness of the definition which\nsome philosophers have given of religion, that it is the science of\nworshiping the gods.  When he performed any part of his duty, he did it\nwith great skill and utmost care, making it, when he was engaged in it,\nhis only business, not omitting any one ceremony, or adding the least\ncircumstance, but always insisting, with his companions of the same\norder, even on points that might seem inconsiderable, and urging upon\nthem, that though they might think the deity was easily pacified, and\nready to forgive faults of inadvertency, yet any such laxity was a very\ndangerous thing for a commonwealth to allow:  because no man ever began\nthe disturbance of his country's peace by a notorious breach of its laws;\nand those who are careless in trifles, give a precedent for remissness in\nimportant duties.  Nor was he less severe, in requiring and observing the\nancient Roman discipline in military affairs; not endeavoring, when he\nhad the command, to ingratiate himself with his soldiers by popular\nflattery, though this custom prevailed at that time amongst many, who, by\nfavor and gentleness to those that were under them in their first\nemployment, sought to be promoted to a second; but, by instructing them\nin the laws of military discipline with the same care and exactness a\npriest would use in teaching ceremonies and dreadful mysteries, and by\nseverity to such as transgressed and contemned those laws, he maintained\nhis country in its former greatness, esteeming victory over enemies\nitself but as an accessory to the proper training and disciplining of the\ncitizens.\n\nWhilst the Romans were engaged in war with Antiochus the Great, against\nwhom their most experienced commanders were employed, there arose another\nwar in the west, and they were all up in arms in Spain.  Thither they\nsent Aemilius, in the quality of praetor, not with six axes, which number\nother praetors were accustomed to have carried before them, but with\ntwelve; so that in his praetorship he was honored with the dignity of a\nconsul.  He twice overcame the barbarians in battle, thirty thousand of\nwhom were slain:  successes chiefly to be ascribed to the wisdom and\nconduct of the commander, who by his great skill in choosing the\nadvantage of the ground, and making the onset at the passage of a river,\ngave his soldiers an easy victory.  Having made himself master of two\nhundred and fifty cities, whose inhabitants voluntarily yielded, and\nbound themselves by oath to fidelity, he left the province in peace, and\nreturned to Rome, not enriching himself a drachma by the war.  And,\nindeed, in general, he was but remiss in making money; though he always\nlived freely and generously on what he had, which was so far from being\nexcessive, that after his death there was but barely enough left to\nanswer his wife's dowry.\n\nHis first wife was Papiria, the daughter of Maso, who had formerly been\nconsul.  With her he lived a considerable time in wedlock, and then\ndivorced her, though she had made him the father of noble children; being\nmother of the renowned Scipio, and Fabius Maximus.  The reason of this\nseparation has not come to our knowledge; but there seems to be a truth\nconveyed in the account of another Roman's being divorced from his wife,\nwhich may be applicable here.  This person being highly blamed by his\nfriends, who demanded, Was she not chaste? was she not fair? was she\nnot fruitful? holding out his shoe, asked them, Whether it was not new?\nand well made?  Yet, added he, none of you can tell where it pinches\nme.  Certain it is, that great and open faults have often led to no\nseparation; while mere petty repeated annoyances, arising from\nunpleasantness or incongruity of character, have been the occasion of\nsuch estrangement as to make it impossible for man and wife to live\ntogether with any content.\n\nAemilius, having thus put away Papiria, married a second wife, by whom he\nhad two sons, whom he brought up in his own house, transferring the two\nformer into the greatest and most noble families of Rome.  The elder was\nadopted into the house of Fabius Maximus, who was five times consul; the\nyounger, by the son of Scipio Africanus, his cousin-german, and was by\nhim named Scipio.\n\nOf the daughters of Aemilius, one was married to the son of Cato, the\nother to Aelius Tubero, a most worthy man, and the one Roman who best\nsucceeded in combining liberal habits with poverty.  For there were\nsixteen near relations, all of them of the family of the Aelii, possessed\nof but one farm, which sufficed them all, whilst one small house, or\nrather cottage, contained them, their numerous offspring, and their\nwives; amongst whom was the daughter of our Aemilius, who, although her\nfather had been twice consul, and had twice triumphed, was not ashamed\nof her husband's poverty, but proud of his virtue that kept him poor.\nFar otherwise it is with the brothers and relations of this age, who,\nunless whole tracts of land, or at least walls and rivers, part their\ninheritances, and keep them at a distance, never cease from mutual\nquarrels.  History suggests a variety of good counsel of this sort, by\nthe way, to those who desire to learn and improve.\n\nTo proceed:  Aemilius, being chosen consul, waged war with the Ligurians,\nor Ligustines, a people near the Alps.  They were a bold and warlike\nnation, and their neighborhood to the Romans had begun to give them skill\nin the arts of war.  They occupy the further parts of Italy ending under\nthe Alps, and those parts of the Alps themselves which are washed by the\nTuscan sea and face towards Africa, mingled there with Gauls and Iberians\nof the coast.  Besides, at that time they had turned their thoughts to\nthe sea, and sailing as far as the Pillars of Hercules in light vessels\nfitted for that purpose, robbed and destroyed all that trafficked in\nthose parts.  They, with an army of forty thousand, waited the coming of\nAemilius, who brought with him not above eight thousand, so that the\nenemy was five to one when they engaged; yet he vanquished and put them\nto flight, forcing them to retire into their walled towns, and in this\ncondition offered them fair conditions of accommodation; it being the\npolicy of the Romans not utterly to destroy the Ligurians, because they\nwere a sort of guard and bulwark against the frequent attempts of the\nGauls to overrun Italy.  Trusting wholly therefore to Aemilius, they\ndelivered up their towns and shipping into his hands.  He, at the utmost,\nrazed only the fortifications, and delivered their towns to them again,\nbut took away all their shipping with him, leaving them no vessels bigger\nthan those of three oars, and set at liberty great numbers of prisoners\nthey had taken both by sea and land, strangers as well as Romans.  These\nwere the acts most worthy of remark in his first consulship.\n\nAfterwards he frequently intimated his desire of being a second time\nconsul, and was once candidate; but, meeting with a repulse and being\npassed by, he gave up all thought of it, and devoted himself to his\nduties as augur, and to the education of his children, whom he not only\nbrought up, as he himself had been, in the Roman and ancient discipline,\nbut also with unusual zeal in that of Greece.  To this purpose he not\nonly procured masters to teach them grammar, logic, and rhetoric, but had\nfor them also preceptors in modeling and drawing, managers of horses and\ndogs, and instructors in field sports, all from Greece.  And, if he was\nnot hindered by public affairs, he himself would be with them at their\nstudies, and see them perform their exercises, being the most\naffectionate father in Rome.\n\nThis was the time, in public matters, when the Romans were engaged in war\nwith Perseus, king of the Macedonians, and great complaints were made of\ntheir commanders, who, either through their want of skill or courage,\nwere conducting matters so shamefully, that they did less hurt to the\nenemy than they received from him.  They that not long before had forced\nAntiochus the Great to quit the rest of Asia, to retire beyond Mount\nTaurus, and confine himself to Syria, glad to buy his peace with fifteen\nthousand talents; they that not long since had vanquished king Philip in\nThessaly, and freed the Greeks from the Macedonian yoke; nay, had\novercome Hannibal himself, who far surpassed all kings in daring and\npower,\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthought it scorn that Perseus should think himself an enemy fit to\nmatch the Romans, and to be able to wage war with them so long on equal\nterms, with the remainder only of his father's routed forces; not being\naware that Philip after his defeat had greatly improved both the strength\nand discipline of the Macedonian army.  To make which appear, I shall\nbriefly recount the story from the beginning.\n\nAntigonus, the most powerful amongst the captains and successors of\nAlexander, having obtained for himself and his posterity the title of\nking, had a son named Demetrius, father to Antigonus, called Gonatas, and\nhe had a son Demetrius, who, reigning some short time, died and left a\nyoung son called Philip.  The chief men of Macedon, fearing great\nconfusion might arise in his minority, called in Antigonus, cousin-german\nto the late king, and married him to the widow, the mother of Philip.  At\nfirst they only styled him regent and general, but, when they found by\nexperience that he governed the kingdom with moderation and to general\nadvantage, gave him the title of king.  This was he that was surnamed\nDoson, as if he was a great promiser, and a bad performer.  To him\nsucceeded Philip, who in his youth gave great hopes of equaling the best\nof kings, and that he one day would restore Macedon to its former state\nand dignity, and prove himself the one man able to check the power of the\nRomans, now rising and extending over the whole world.  But, being\nvanquished in a pitched battle by Titus Flamininus near Scotussa, his\nresolution failed, and he yielded himself and all that he had to the\nmercy of the Romans, well contented that he could escape with paying a\nsmall tribute.  Yet afterwards, recollecting himself, he bore it with\ngreat impatience, and thought he lived rather like a slave that was\npleased with ease, than a man of sense and courage, whilst he held his\nkingdom at the pleasure of his conquerors; which made him turn his whole\nmind to war, and prepare himself with as much cunning and privacy as\npossible.  To this end, he left his cities on the high roads and\nsea-coast ungarrisoned, and almost desolate, that they might seem\ninconsiderable; in the mean time, collecting large forces up the country,\nand furnishing his inland posts, strongholds, and towns, with arms,\nmoney, and men fit for service, he thus provided himself for war, and yet\nkept his preparations close.  He had in his armory arms for thirty\nthousand men; in granaries in places of strength, eight millions of\nbushels of corn, and as much ready money as would defray the charge of\nmaintaining ten thousand mercenary soldiers for ten years in defense of\nthe country.  But before he could put these things into motion, and carry\nhis designs into effect, he died for grief and anguish of mind, being\nsensible he had put his innocent son Demetrius to death, upon the\ncalumnies of one that was far more guilty.  Perseus, his son that\nsurvived, inherited his hatred to the Romans as well as his kingdom, but\nwas incompetent to carry out his designs, through want of courage, and\nthe viciousness of a character in which, among faults and diseases of\nvarious sorts, covetousness bore the chief place.  There is a statement\nalso of his not being true born; that the wife of king Philip took him\nfrom his mother Gnathaenion (a woman of Argos, that earned her living as\na seamstress), as soon as he was born, and passed him upon her husband as\nher own.  And this might be the chief cause of his contriving the death\nof Demetrius; as he might well fear, that so long as there was a lawful\nsuccessor in the family, there was no security that his spurious birth\nmight not be revealed.\n\nNotwithstanding all this, and though his spirit was so mean, and temper\nso sordid, yet, trusting to the strength of his resources, he engaged in\na war with the Romans, and for a long time maintained it; repulsing and\neven vanquishing some generals of consular dignity, and some great armies\nand fleets.  He routed Publius Licinius, who was the first that invaded\nMacedonia, in a cavalry battle, slew twenty-five hundred practiced\nsoldiers, and took six hundred prisoners; and, surprising their fleet as\nthey rode at anchor before Oreus, he took twenty ships of burden with all\ntheir lading, sunk the rest that were freighted with corn, and, besides\nthis, made himself master of four galleys with five banks of oars.  He\nfought a second battle with Hostilius, a consular officer, as he was\nmaking his way into the country at Elimiae, and forced him to retreat;\nand, when he afterwards by stealth designed an invasion through Thessaly,\nchallenged him to fight, which the other feared to accept.  Nay more, to\nshow his contempt of the Romans, and that he wanted employment, as a war\nby the by, he made an expedition against the Dardanians, in which he slew\nten thousand of those barbarian people, and brought a great spoil away.\nHe privately, moreover, solicited the Gauls (also called Basternae), a\nwarlike nation, and famous for horsemen, dwelling near the Danube; and\nincited the Illyrians, by the means of Genthius their king, to join with\nhim in the war.  It was also reported, that the barbarians, allured by\npromise of rewards, were to make an irruption into Italy, through the\nlower Gaul by the shore of the Adriatic Sea.\n\nThe Romans, being advertised of these things, thought it necessary no\nlonger to choose their commanders by favor or solicitation, but of their\nown motion to select a general of wisdom and capacity for the management\nof great affairs.  And such was Paulus Aemilius, advanced in years, being\nnearly threescore, yet vigorous in his own person, and rich in valiant\nsons and sons-in-law, besides a great number of influential relations and\nfriends, all of whom joined in urging him to yield to the desires of the\npeople, who called him to the consulship.  He at first manifested some\nshyness of the people, and withdrew himself from their importunity,\nprofessing reluctance to hold office; but, when they daily came to his\ndoors, urging him to come forth to the place of election, and pressing\nhim with noise and clamor, he acceded to their request.  When he appeared\namongst the candidates, it did not look as if it were to sue for the\nconsulship, but to bring victory and success, that he came down into the\nCampus; they all received him there with such hopes and such gladness,\nunanimously choosing him a second time consul; nor would they suffer the\nlots to be cast, as was usual, to determine which province should fall to\nhis share, but immediately decreed him the command of the Macedonian war.\nIt is told, that when he had been proclaimed general against Perseus, and\nwas honorably accompanied home by great numbers of people, he found his\ndaughter Tertia, a very little girl, weeping, and taking her to him asked\nher why she was crying.  She, catching him about the neck and kissing\nhim, said, \"O father, do you not know that Perseus is dead?\" meaning a\nlittle dog of that name that was brought up in the house with her; to\nwhich Aemilius replied, \"Good fortune, my daughter; I embrace the omen.\"\nThis Cicero, the orator, relates in his book on divination.\n\nIt was the custom for such as were chosen consuls, from a stage designed\nfor such purposes, to address the people, and return them thanks for\ntheir favor.  Aemilius, therefore, having gathered an assembly, spoke and\nsaid, that he sued for the first consulship, because he himself stood in\nneed of such honor; but for the second, because they wanted a general;\nupon which account he thought there was no thanks due:  if they judged\nthey could manage the war by any other to more advantage, he would\nwillingly yield up his charge; but, if they confided in him, they were\nnot to make themselves his colleagues in his office, or raise reports,\nand criticize his actions, but, without talking, supply him with means\nand assistance necessary to the carrying on of the war; for, if they\nproposed to command their own commander, they would render this\nexpedition more ridiculous than the former.  By this speech he inspired\ngreat reverence for him amongst the citizens, and great expectations of\nfuture success; all were well pleased, that they had passed by such as\nsought to be preferred by flattery, and fixed upon a commander endued\nwith wisdom and courage to tell them the truth.  So entirely did the\npeople of Rome, that they might rule, and become masters of the world,\nyield obedience and service to reason and superior virtue.\n\nThat Aemilius, setting forward to the war, by a prosperous voyage and\nsuccessful journey, arrived with speed and safety at his camp, I\nattribute to good fortune; but, when I see how the war under his command\nwas brought to a happy issue, partly by his own daring boldness, partly\nby his good counsel, partly by the ready administration of his friends,\npartly by his presence of mind and skill to embrace the most proper\nadvice in the extremity of danger, I cannot ascribe any of his remarkable\nand famous actions (as I can those of other commanders) to his so much\ncelebrated good fortune; unless you will say that the covetousness of\nPerseus was the good fortune of Aemilius.  The truth is, Perseus' fear of\nspending his money was the destruction and utter ruin of all those\nsplendid and great preparations with which the Macedonians were in high\nhopes to carry on the war with success.  For there came at his request\nten thousand horsemen of the Basternae, and as many foot, who were to\nkeep pace with them, and supply their places in case of failure; all of\nthem professed soldiers, men skilled neither in tilling of land, nor in\nnavigation of ships, nor able to get their livings by grazing, but whose\nonly business and single art and trade it was to fight and conquer all\nthat resisted them.  When these came into the district of Maedica, and\nencamped and mixed with the king's soldiers, being men of great stature,\nadmirable at their exercises, great boasters, and loud in their threats\nagainst their enemies, they gave new courage to the Macedonians, who were\nready to think the Romans would not be able to confront them, but would\nbe struck with terror at their looks and motions, they were so strange\nand so formidable to behold.  When Perseus had thus encouraged his men,\nand elevated them with these great hopes, as soon as a thousand gold\npieces were demanded for each captain, he was so amazed and beside\nhimself at the vastness of the amount, that out of mere stinginess he\ndrew back and let himself lose their assistance, as if he had been some\nsteward, not the enemy of the Romans, and would have to give an exact\naccount of the expenses of the war, to those with whom he waged it.  Nay,\nwhen he had his foes as tutors, to instruct him what he had to do, who,\nbesides their other preparations, had a hundred thousand men drawn\ntogether and in readiness for their service; yet he that was to engage\nagainst so considerable a force, and in a war that was maintaining such\nnumbers as this, nevertheless doled out his money, and put seals on his\nbags, and was as fearful of touching it, as if it had belonged to some\none else.  And all this was done by one, not descended from Lydians or\nPhoenicians, but who could pretend to some share of the virtues of\nAlexander and Philip, whom he was allied to by birth; men who conquered\nthe world by judging that empire was to be purchased by money, not money\nby empire.  Certainly it became a proverb, that not Philip, but his gold\ntook the cities of Greece.  And Alexander, when he undertook his\nexpedition against the Indians, and found his Macedonians encumbered, and\nappear to march heavily with their Persian spoils, first set fire to his\nown carriages, and thence persuaded the rest to imitate his example, that\nthus freed they might proceed to the war without hindrance.  Whereas\nPerseus, abounding in wealth, would not preserve himself; his children,\nand his kingdom, at the expense of a small part of his treasure; but\nchose rather to be carried away with numbers of his subjects with the\nname of the wealthy captive, and show the Romans what great riches he had\nhusbanded and preserved for them.  For he not only played false with the\nGauls, and sent them away, but also, after alluring Genthius, king of the\nIllyrians, by the hopes of three hundred talents, to assist him in the\nwar, he caused the money to be counted out in the presence of his\nmessengers, and to be sealed up.  Upon which Genthius, thinking himself\npossessed of what he desired, committed a wicked and shameful act:  he\nseized and imprisoned the ambassadors sent to him from the Romans.\nWhence Perseus, concluding that there was now no need of money to make\nGenthius an enemy to the Romans, but that he had given a lasting earnest\nof his enmity, and by his flagrant injustice sufficiently involved\nhimself in the war, defrauded the unfortunate king of his three hundred\ntalents, and without any concern beheld him, his wife, and children, in a\nshort time after, carried out of their kingdom, as from their nest, by\nLucius Anicius, who was sent against him with an army.\n\nAemilius, coming against such an adversary, made light indeed of him, but\nadmired his preparation and power.  For he had four thousand horse, and\nnot much fewer than forty thousand full-armed foot of the phalanx; and\nplanting himself along the seaside, at the foot of Mount Olympus, in\nground with no access on any side, and on all sides fortified with fences\nand bulwarks of wood, remained in great security, thinking by delay and\nexpense to weary out Aemilius.  But he, in the meantime, busy in\nthought, weighed all counsels and all means of attack, and perceiving his\nsoldiers, from their former want of discipline, to be impatient of delay,\nand ready on all occasions to teach their general his duty, rebuked them,\nand bade them not meddle with what was not their concern, but only take\ncare that they and their arms were in readiness, and to use their swords\nlike Romans when their commander should think fit to employ them.\nFurther he ordered, that the sentinels by night should watch without\njavelins, that thus they might be more careful and surer to resist sleep,\nhaving no arms to defend themselves against any attacks of an enemy.\n\nWhat most annoyed the army was the want of water; for only a little, and\nthat foul, flowed out, or rather came by drops from a spring adjoining\nthe sea; but Aemilius, considering that he was at the foot of the high\nand woody mountain Olympus, and conjecturing by the flourishing growth of\nthe trees that there were springs that had their course under ground, dug\na great many holes and wells along the foot of the mountain, which were\npresently filled with pure water escaping from its confinement into the\nvacuum they afforded.  Although there are some, indeed, who deny that\nthere are reservoirs of water lying ready provided out of sight, in the\nplaces from whence springs flow, and that when they appear, they merely\nissue and run out; on the contrary, they say, they are then formed and\ncome into existence for the first time, by the liquefaction of the\nsurrounding matter; and that this change is caused by density and cold,\nwhen the moist vapor, by being closely pressed together, becomes fluid.\nAs women's breasts are not like vessels full of milk always prepared and\nready to flow from them; but their nourishment being changed in their\nbreasts, is there made milk, and from thence is pressed out.  In like\nmanner, places of the earth that are cold and full of springs, do not\ncontain any hidden waters or receptacles which are capable, as from a\nsource always ready and furnished, of supplying all the brooks and deep\nrivers; but, by compressing and condensing the vapors and air, they turn\nthem into that substance.  And thus places that are dug open flow by that\npressure, and afford the more water (as the breasts of women do milk by\ntheir being sucked), the vapor thus moistening and becoming fluid;\nwhereas ground that remains idle and undug is not capable of producing\nany water, whilst it wants that motion which is the cause of\nliquefaction.  But those that assert this opinion, give occasion to the\ndoubtful to argue, that on the same ground there should be no blood in\nliving creatures, but that it must be formed by the wound, some sort of\nspirit or flesh being changed into a liquid and flowing matter.\nMoreover, they are refuted by the fact that men who dig mines, either in\nsieges or for metals, meet with rivers, which are not collected by little\nand little (as must necessarily be, if they had their being at the very\ninstant the earth was opened), but break out at once with violence; and\nupon the cutting through a rock, there often gush out great quantities of\nwater, which then as suddenly cease.  But of this enough.\n\nAemilius lay still for some days, and it is said, that there were never\ntwo great armies so nigh, that enjoyed so much quiet.  When he had tried\nand considered all things, he was informed that there was yet one passage\nleft unguarded, through Perrhaebia by the temple of Apollo and the Rock.\nGathering, therefore, more hope from the place being left defenseless\nthan fear from the roughness and difficulty of the passage, he proposed\nit for consultation.  Amongst those that were present at the council,\nScipio, surnamed Nasica, son-in-law to Scipio Africanus, who afterwards\nwas so powerful in the senate-house, was the first that offered himself\nto command those that should be sent to encompass the enemy.  Next to\nhim, Fabius Maximus, eldest son of Aemilius, although yet very young,\noffered himself with great zeal.  Aemilius, rejoicing, gave them, not so\nmany as Polybius states, but, as Nasica himself tells us in a brief\nletter which he wrote to one of the kings with an account of the\nexpedition, three thousand Italians that were not Romans, and his left\nwing consisting of five thousand.  Taking with him, besides these, one\nhundred and twenty horsemen, and two hundred Thracians and Cretans\nintermixed that Harpalus had sent, he began his journey towards the sea,\nand encamped near the temple of Hercules, as if he designed to embark,\nand so to sail round and environ the enemy.  But when the soldiers had\nsupped and it was dark, he made the captains acquainted with his real\nintentions, and marching all night in the opposite direction, away from\nthe sea, till he came under the temple of Apollo, there rested his army.\nAt this place Mount Olympus rises in height more than ten furlongs, as\nappears by the epigram made by the man that measured it:\n\nThe summit of Olympus, at the site\nWhere stands Apollo's temple, has a height\nOf full ten furlongs by the line, and more,\nTen furlongs, and one hundred feet, less four.\nEumelus' son Xenagoras, reached the place.\nAdieu, O king, and do thy pilgrim grace.\n\nIt is allowed, say the geometricians, that no mountain in height or sea\nin depth exceeds ten furlongs, and yet it seems probable that Xenagoras\ndid not take his admeasurement carelessly, but according to the rules of\nart, and with instruments for the purpose.  Here it was that Nasica\npassed the night.\n\nA Cretan deserter, who fled to the enemy during the march, discovered to\nPerseus the design which the Romans had to encompass him:  for he, seeing\nthat Aemilius lay still, had not suspected any such attempt.  He was\nstartled at the news, yet did not put his army in motion, but sent ten\nthousand mercenary soldiers and two thousand Macedonians, under command\nof Milo, with order to hasten and possess themselves of the passes.\nPolybius relates that the Romans found these men asleep when they\nattacked them; but Nasica says there was a sharp and severe conflict on\nthe top of the mountain, that he himself encountered a mercenary\nThracian, pierced him through with his javelin, and slew him; and that\nthe enemy being forced to retreat, Milo stripped to his coat and fled\nshamefully without his armor, while he followed without danger, and\nconveyed the whole army down into the country.\n\nAfter this event, Perseus, now grown fearful, and fallen from his hopes,\nremoved his camp in all haste; he was under the necessity either to stop\nbefore Pydna, and there run the hazard of a battle, or disperse his army\ninto cities, and there expect the event of the war, which, having once\nmade its way into his country, could not be driven out without great\nslaughter and bloodshed.  But Perseus, being told by his friends that he\nwas much superior in number, and that men fighting in the defense of\ntheir wives and children must needs feel all the more courage, especially\nwhen all was done in the sight of their king, who himself was engaged in\nequal danger, was thus again encouraged; and, pitching his camp, prepared\nhimself to fight, viewed the country, and gave out the commands, as if he\ndesigned to set upon the Romans as soon as they approached.  The place\nwas a field fit for the action of a phalanx, which requires smooth\nstanding and even ground, and also had divers little hills, one joining\nanother, fit for the motions whether in retreat or advance of light\ntroops and skirmishers.  Through the middle ran the rivers Aeson and\nLeucus, which, though not very deep, it being the latter end of summer,\nyet were likely enough to give the Romans some trouble.\n\nAs soon as Aemilius had rejoined Nasica, he advanced in battle array\nagainst the enemy; but when he found how they were drawn up, and the\nnumber of their forces, he regarded them with admiration and surprise,\nand halted, considering within himself.  The young commanders, eager to\nfight, riding along, by his side, pressed him not to delay, and most of\nall Nasica, flushed with his late success on Olympus.  To whom Aemilius\nanswered with a smile:  \"So would I do, were I of your age; but many\nvictories have taught me the ways in which men are defeated, and forbid\nme to engage soldiers weary with a long march, against an army drawn up\nand prepared for battle.\"\n\nThen he gave command that the front of his army, and such as were in\nsight of the enemy, should form as if ready to engage, and those in the\nrear should cast up the trenches and fortify the camp; so that the\nhindmost in succession wheeling off by degrees and withdrawing, their\nwhole order was insensibly broken up, and the army encamped without noise\nor trouble.\n\nWhen it was night, and, supper being over, all were turning to sleep and\nrest, on a sudden the moon, which was then at full and high in the\nheavens, grew dark, and by degrees losing her light, passed through\nvarious colors, and at length was totally eclipsed.  The Romans,\naccording to their custom, clattering brass pans and lifting up\nfirebrands and torches into the air, invoked the return of her light; the\nMacedonians behaved far otherwise:  terror and amazement seized their\nwhole army, and a rumor crept by degrees into their camp that this\neclipse portended even that of their king.  Aemilius was no novice in\nthese things, nor was ignorant of the nature of the seeming\nirregularities of eclipses, that in a certain revolution of time, the\nmoon in her course enters the shadow of the earth and is there obscured,\ntill, passing the region of darkness, she is again enlightened by the\nSun.  Yet being a devout man, a religious observer of sacrifices and the\nart of divination, as soon as he perceived the moon beginning to regain\nher former lustre, he offered up to her eleven heifers.  At the break of\nday he sacrificed as many as twenty in succession to Hercules, without\nany token that his offering was accepted; but at the one and twentieth,\nthe signs promised victory to defenders.  He then vowed a hecatomb and\nsolemn sports to Hercules, and commanded his captains to make ready for\nbattle, staying only till the sun should decline and come round to the\nwest, lest, being in their faces in the morning, it should dazzle the\neyes of his soldiers.  Thus he whiled away the time in his tent, which\nwas open towards the plain where his enemies were encamped.\n\nWhen it grew towards evening, some tell us, Aemilius himself used a\nstratagem to induce the enemy to begin the fight; that he turned loose a\nhorse without a bridle, and sent some of the Romans to catch him, upon\nwhose following the beast, the battle began.  Others relate that the\nThracians, under the command of one Alexander, set upon the Roman beasts\nof burden that were bringing forage to the camp; that to oppose these, a\nparty of seven hundred Ligurians were immediately detached; and that,\nrelief coming still from both armies, the main bodies at last engaged.\nAemilius, like a wise pilot, foreseeing by the present waves and motion\nof the armies, the greatness of the following storm, came out of his\ntent, went through the legions, and encouraged his soldiers.  Nasica, in\nthe mean time, who had ridden out to the skirmishers, saw the whole force\nof the enemy on the point of engaging.  First marched the Thracians, who,\nhe himself tells us, inspired him with most terror; they were of great\nstature, with bright and glittering shields and black frocks under them,\ntheir legs armed with greaves, and they brandished, as they moved,\nstraight and heavily-ironed spears over their right shoulders.  Next the\nThracians marched the mercenary soldiers, armed after different fashions;\nwith these the Paeonians were mingled.  These were succeeded by a third\ndivision, of picked men, native Macedonians, the choicest for courage and\nstrength, in the prime of life, gleaming with gilt armor and scarlet\ncoats.  As these were taking their places they were followed from the\ncamp by the troops in phalanx called the Brazen Shields, so that the\nwhole plain seemed alive with the flashing of steel and the glistening of\nbrass; and the hills also with their shouts, as they cheered each other\non.  In this order they marched, and with such boldness and speed, that\nthose that were first slain died at but two furlongs distance from the\nRoman camp.\n\nThe battle being begun, Aemilius came in and found that the foremost of\nthe Macedonians had already fixed the ends of their spears into the\nshields of his Romans, so that it was impossible to come near them with\ntheir swords.  When he saw this, and observed that the rest of the\nMacedonians took the targets that hung on their left shoulders, and\nbrought them round before them, and all at once stooped their pikes\nagainst their enemies' shields, and considered the great strength of this\nwall of shields, and the formidable appearance of a front thus bristling\nwith arms, he was seized with amazement and alarm; nothing he had ever\nseen before had been equal to it; and in after times he frequently used\nto speak both of the sight and of his own sensations.  These, however, he\ndissembled, and rode through his army without either breast-plate or\nhelmet, with a serene and cheerful countenance.\n\nOn the contrary, as Polybius relates, no sooner was the battle begun, but\nthe Macedonian king basely withdrew to the city Pydna, under a pretence\nof sacrificing to Hercules:  a God that is not wont to regard the faint\nofferings of cowards, or to fulfill unsanctioned vows.  For truly it can\nhardly be a thing that heaven would sanction, that he that never shoots\nshould carry away the prize; he triumph that slinks from the battle; he\nthat takes no pains meet with success, or the wicked man prosper.  But to\nAemilius's petitions the god listened; he prayed for victory with his\nsword in his hand, and fought while entreating divine assistance.\n\nA certain Posidonius, who has at some length written a history of\nPerseus, and professes to have lived at the time, and to have been\nhimself engaged in these events, denies that Perseus left the field\neither through fear or pretence of sacrificing, but that, the very day\nbefore the fight, he received a kick from a horse on his thigh; that\nthough very much disabled, and dissuaded by all his friends, he commanded\none of his riding-horses to be brought, and entered the field unarmed;\nthat amongst an infinite number of darts that flew about on all sides,\none of iron lighted on him, and though not with the point, yet by a\nglance struck him with such force on his left side, that it tore his\nclothes and so bruised his flesh that the mark remained a long time\nafter.  This is what Posidonius says in defense of Perseus.\n\nThe Romans not being able to make a breach in the phalanx, one Salius, a\ncommander of the Pelignians, snatched the ensign of his company and\nthrew it amongst the enemies; on seeing which, the Pelignians (as amongst\nthe Italians it is always thought the greatest breach of honor to abandon\na standard) rushed with great violence towards the place, where the\nconflict grew very fierce, and the slaughter terrible on both sides.  For\nthese endeavored to cut the spears asunder with their swords, or to beat\nthem back with their shields, or put them by with their hands; and, on\nthe other side, the Macedonians held their long sarissas in both hands,\nand pierced those that came in their way quite through their armor, no\nshield or corslet being able to resist the force of that weapon.  The\nPelignians and Marrucinians were thrown headlong to the ground, having\nwithout consideration, with mere animal fury, rushed upon a certain\ndeath.  Their first ranks being slain, those that were behind were forced\nto give back; it cannot be said they fled, but they retreated towards\nMount Olocrus.  When Aemilius saw this, Posidonius relates, he rent his\nclothes, some of his men being ready to fly, and the rest not willing to\nengage with a phalanx into which they could not hope to make any\nentrance, a sort of palisade, as it were, impregnable and unapproachable,\nwith its close array of long spears everywhere meeting the assailant.\nNevertheless, the unequalness of the ground would not permit a widely\nextended front to be so exactly drawn up as to have their shields\neverywhere joined; and Aemilius perceived that there were a great many\ninterstices and breaches in the Macedonian phalanx; as it usually happens\nin all great armies, according to the different efforts of the\ncombatants, who in one part press forward with eagerness, and in another\nare forced to fall back.  Taking, therefore, this occasion, with all\nspeed he broke up his men into their cohorts, and gave them order to fall\ninto the intervals and openings of the enemy's body, and not to make one\ngeneral attack upon them all, but to engage, as they were divided, in\nseveral partial battles.  These commands Aemilius gave to his captains,\nand they to their soldiers; and no sooner had they entered the spaces and\nseparated their enemies, but they charged them, some on their side where\nthey were naked and exposed, and others, making a circuit, behind; and\nthus destroyed the force of the phalanx, which consisted in common action\nand close union.  And now, come to fight man to man, or in small parties,\nthe Macedonians smote in vain upon firm and long shields with their\nlittle swords, whilst their slight bucklers were not able to sustain the\nweight and force of the Roman swords, which pierced through all their\narmor to their bodies; they turned, in fine, and fled.\n\nThe conflict was obstinate.  And here Marcus, the son of Cato, and son-\nin-law of Aemilius, whilst he showed all possible courage, let fall his\nsword.  Being a young man, carefully brought up and disciplined, and, as\nson of so renowned a father, bound to give proof of more than ordinary\nvirtue, he thought his life but a burden, should he live and permit his\nenemies to enjoy this spoil.  He hurried hither and thither, and wherever\nhe espied a friend or companion, declared his misfortune, and begged\ntheir assistance; a considerable number of brave men being thus\ncollected, with one accord they made their way through their fellows\nafter their leader, and fell upon the enemy; whom, after a sharp\nconflict, many wounds, and much slaughter, they repulsed, possessed the\nplace that was now deserted and free, and set themselves to search for\nthe sword, which at last they found covered with a great heap of arms and\ndead bodies.  Overjoyed with this success, they raised the song of\ntriumph, and with more eagerness than ever, charged the foes that yet\nremained firm and unbroken.  In the end, three thousand of the chosen\nmen, who kept their ground and fought valiantly to the last, were all cut\nin pieces, while the slaughter of such as fled was also very great.  The\nplain and the lower part of the hills were filled with dead bodies, and\nthe water of the river Leucus, which the Romans did not pass till the\nnext day after the battle, was then mingled with blood.  For it is said\nthere fell more than twenty-five thousand of the enemy; of the Romans, as\nPosidonius relates, a hundred; as Nasica, only fourscore.  This battle,\nthough so great, was very quickly decided, it being three in the\nafternoon when they first engaged, and not four when the enemy was\nvanquished; the rest of the day was spent in the pursuit of the\nfugitives, whom they followed about thirteen or fourteen miles, so that\nit was far in the night when they returned.\n\nAll the others were met by their servants with torches, and brought back\nwith joy and great triumph to their tents, which were set out with\nlights, and decked with wreaths of ivy and laurel.  But the general\nhimself was in great grief.  Of the two sons that served under him in the\nwar, the youngest was missing, whom he held most dear, and whose courage\nand good qualities he perceived much to excel those of his brothers.\nBold and eager for distinction, and still a mere child in age, he\nconcluded that he had perished, whilst for want of experience he had\nengaged himself too far amongst his enemies.  His sorrow and fears became\nknown to the army; the soldiers, quitting their suppers, ran about with\nlights, some to Aemilius's tent, some out of the trenches, to seek him\namongst such as were slain in the first onset.  There was nothing but\ngrief in the camp, and the plain was filled with the cries of men calling\nout for Scipio; for, from his very youth, he was an object of admiration;\nendowed above any of his equals with the good qualities requisite either\nfor command or counsel.  At length, when it was late, and they almost\ndespaired, he returned from the pursuit with only two or three of his\ncompanions, all covered with the fresh blood of his enemies, having been,\nlike some dog of noble breed, carried away by the pleasure, greater than\nhe could control, of his first victory.  This was that Scipio\nthat afterwards destroyed Carthage and Numantia, and was, without\ndispute, the first of the Romans in merit, and had the greatest authority\namongst them.  Thus Fortune, deferring her displeasure and jealousy of\nsuch great success to some other time, let Aemilius at present enjoy this\nvictory, without any detraction or diminution.\n\nAs for Perseus, from Pydna he fled to Pella with his cavalry, which was\nas yet almost entire.  But when the foot came up with them, and,\nupbraiding them as cowards and traitors, tried to pull them off their\nhorses, and fell to blows, Perseus, fearing the tumult, forsook the\ncommon road, and, lest he should be known, pulled off his purple, and\ncarried it before him, and took his crown in his hand, and, that he might\nthe better converse with his friends, alighted from his horse and led\nhim.  Of those that were about him, one stopped, pretending to tie his\nshoe that was loose, another to water his horse, a third to drink\nhimself; and thus lagging behind, by degrees left him, they having not so\nmuch reason to fear their enemies, as his cruelty; for he, disordered by\nhis misfortune, sought to clear himself by laying the cause of the\noverthrow upon everybody else.  He arrived at Pella in the night, where\nEuctus and Eudaeus, two of his treasurers, came to him, and, what with\ntheir reflecting on his former faults, and their free and ill-timed\nadmonitions and counsels, so exasperated him, that he killed them both,\nstabbing them with his own dagger.  After this, nobody stuck to him but\nEvander the Cretan, Archedemus the Aetolian, and Neon the Boeotian.  Of\nthe common soldiers there followed him only those from Crete, not out of\nany good-will, but because they were as constant to his riches as the\nbees to their hive.  For he carried a great treasure with him, out of\nwhich he had suffered them to take cups, bowls, and other vessels of\nsilver and gold, to the value of fifty talents.  But when he was come to\nAmphipolis, and afterwards to Galepsus, and his fears were a little\nabated, he relapsed into his old and constitutional disease of\ncovetousness, and lamented to his friends that he had, through\ninadvertency, allowed some gold plate which had belonged to Alexander the\nGreat to go into the hands of the Cretans, and besought those that had\nit, with tears in his eyes, to exchange with him again for money.  Those\nthat understood him thoroughly knew very well he only played the Cretan\nwith the Cretans, but those that believed him, and restored what they\nhad, were cheated; as he not only did not pay the money, but by craft got\nthirty talents more of his friends into his hands (which in a short time\nafter fell to the enemy), and with them sailed to Samothrace, and there\nfled to the temple of Castor and Pollux for refuge.\n\nThe Macedonians were always accounted great lovers of their kings, but\nnow, as if their chief prop was broken, they all gave way together, and\nsubmitted to Aemilius, and in two days made him master of their whole\ncountry.  This seems to confirm the opinion which ascribes whatever he\ndid to good fortune.  The omen, also, that happened at Amphipolis, has a\nsupernatural character.  When he was sacrificing there, and the holy\nrites were just begun, on a sudden, lightning fell upon the altar, set\nthe wood on fire, and completed the immolation of the sacrifice.  The\nmost signal manifestation, however, of preternatural agency appears in\nthe story of the rumor of his success.  For on the fourth day after\nPerseus was vanquished at Pydna, whilst the people at Rome were seeing\nthe horse-races, a report suddenly arose at the entrance of the theater\nthat Aemilius had defeated Perseus in a great battle, and was reducing\nall Macedonia under his power; and from thence it spread amongst the\npeople, and created general joy, with shoutings and acclamations for that\nwhole day through the city.  But when no certain author was found of the\nnews, and every one alike had taken it at random, it was abandoned for\nthe present and thought no more of, until, a few days after, certain\nintelligence came, and then the first was looked upon as no less than a\nmiracle, having, under an appearance of fiction, contained what was real\nand true.  It is reported, also, that the news of the battle fought in\nItaly, near the river Sagra, was conveyed into Peloponnesus the same day,\nand of that at Mycale against the Medes, to Plataea.  When the Romans had\ndefeated the Tarquins, who were combined with the Latins, a little after,\nthere were seen at Rome two tall and comely men, who professed to bring\nthe news from the camp.  They were conjectured to be Castor and Pollux.\nThe first man that spoke to them in the forum, near the fountain where\nthey were cooling their horses, which were all of a foam, expressed\nsurprise at the report of the victory, when, it is said, they smiled, and\ngently touched his beard with their hands, the hair of which from being\nblack was, on the spot, changed to yellow.  This gave credit to what they\nsaid, and fixed the name of Ahenobarbus, or Brazen-beard, on the man.\nAnd a thing which happened in our own time will make all these credible.\nFor when Antonius rebelled against Domitian, and Rome was in\nconsternation, expecting great wars from the quarter of Germany, all on a\nsudden, and nobody knows upon what account, the people spontaneously gave\nout a rumor of victory, and the news ran current through the city, that\nAntonius himself was slain, his whole army destroyed, and not so much as\na part of it escaped; nay, this belief was so strong and positive, that\nmany of the magistrates offered up sacrifice.  But when, at length, the\nauthor was sought for, and none was to be found, it vanished by degrees,\nevery one shifting it off from himself to another, and, at last, was lost\nin the numberless crowd, as in a vast ocean, and, having no solid ground\nto support its credit, was, in a short time, not so much as named in the\ncity.  Nevertheless, when Domitian marched out with his forces to the\nwar, he met with messengers and letters that gave him a relation of the\nvictory; and the rumor, it was found, had come the very day it was\ngained, though the distance between the places was more than twenty-five\nhundred miles.  The truth of this no man of our time is ignorant of.\n\nBut to proceed.  Cnaeus Octavius, who was joined in command with\nAemilius, came to an anchor with his fleet under Samothrace, where, out\nof respect to the gods, he permitted Perseus to enjoy the benefit of\nrefuge, but took care that he should not escape by sea.  Notwithstanding,\nPerseus secretly persuaded Oroandes of Crete, master of a small vessel,\nto convey him and his treasure away.  He, however, playing the true\nCretan, took in the treasure, and bade him come, in the night, with his\nchildren and most necessary attendants, to the port by the temple of\nCeres; but, as soon as it was evening, set sail without him.  It had been\nsad enough for Perseus to be forced to let down himself, his wife and\nchildren, through a narrow window by a wall, -- people altogether\nunaccustomed to hardship and flying; but that which drew a far sadder\nsigh from his heart was, when he was told by a man, as he wandered on the\nshore, that he had seen Oroandes under sail in the main sea; it being now\nabout daybreak.  So, there being no hopes left of escaping, he fled back\nagain to the wall, which he and his wife recovered, though they were seen\nby the Romans, before they could reach them.  His children he\nhimself had delivered into the hands of Ion, one that had been his\nfavorite, but now proved his betrayer, and was the chief cause that\nforced him (beasts themselves will do so when their young ones are taken)\nto come and yield himself up to those that had them in their power.  His\ngreatest confidence was in Nasica, and it was for him he called, but he\nnot being there, he bewailed his misfortune, and, seeing there was no\npossible remedy, surrendered himself to Octavius.  And here, in\nparticular, he made it manifest that he was possessed with a vice more\nsordid than covetousness itself, namely, the fondness of life; by which\nhe deprived himself even of pity, the only thing that fortune never takes\naway from the most wretched.  He desired to be brought to Aemilius, who\narose from his seat, and accompanied with his friends went to receive\nhim, with tears in his eyes, as a great man fallen by the anger of the\ngods and his own ill fortune; when Perseus -- the most shameful of sights\n-- threw himself at his feet, embraced his knees, and uttered unmanly\ncries and petitions, such as Aemilius was not able to bear, nor would\nvouchsafe to hear:  but looking on him with a sad and angry countenance\nhe said, \"Why, unhappy man, do you thus take pains to exonerate fortune\nof your heaviest charge against her, by conduct that will make it seem\nthat you are not unjustly in calamity, and that it is not your present\ncondition, but your former happiness, that was more than your deserts?\nAnd why depreciate also my victory, and make my conquests insignificant,\nby proving yourself a coward, and a foe beneath a Roman?  Distressed\nvalor challenges great respect, even from enemies; but cowardice, though\nnever so successful, from the Romans has always met with scorn.\"  Yet for\nall this he took him up, gave him his hand, and delivered him into the\ncustody of Tubero.  Meantime, he himself carried his sons, his\nson-in-law, and others of chief rank, especially of the younger sort,\nback with him into his tent, where for a long time he sat down without\nspeaking one word, insomuch that they all wondered at him.  At last, he\nbegan to discourse of fortune and human affairs.  \"Is it meet,\" said he,\n\"for him that knows he is but man, in his greatest prosperity to pride\nhimself, and be exalted at the conquest of a city, nation, or kingdom,\nand not rather well to weigh this change of fortune, in which all\nwarriors may see an example of their common frailty, and learn a lesson\nthat there is nothing durable or constant?  For what time can men select\nto think themselves secure, when that of victory itself forces us more\nthan any to dread our own fortune?  and a very little consideration on\nthe law of things, and how all are hurried round, and each man's station\nchanged, will introduce sadness in the midst of the greatest joy.  Or can\nyou, when you see before your eyes the succession of Alexander himself,\nwho arrived at the height of power and ruled the greatest empire, in the\nshort space of an hour trodden under foot, -- when you behold a king, that\nwas but even now surrounded with so numerous an army, receiving\nnourishment to support his life from the hands of his conquerors, -- can\nyou, I say, believe there is any certainty in what we now possess, whilst\nthere is such a thing as chance?  No, young men, cast off that vain\npride and empty boast of victory; sit down with humility, looking always\nfor what is yet to come, and the possible future reverses which the\ndivine displeasure may eventually make the end of our present happiness.\"\nIt is said that Aemilius, having spoken much more to the same purpose,\ndismissed the young men properly humbled, and with their vain-glory and\ninsolence thoroughly chastened and curbed by his address.\n\nWhen this was done, he put his army into garrisons, to refresh\nthemselves, and went himself to visit Greece, and to spend a short time\nin relaxations equally honorable and humane.  For, as he passed, he eased\nthe people's grievances, reformed their governments, and bestowed gifts\nupon them; to some, corn, to others, oil out of the king's storehouses,\nin which, they report, there were such vast quantities laid up, that\nreceivers and petitioners were lacking before they could be exhausted.\nIn Delphi he found a great square pillar of white marble, designed for\nthe pedestal of king Perseus' golden statue, on which he commanded his\nown to be placed, alleging that it was but just that the conquered should\ngive place to the conquerors.  In Olympia he is said to have uttered the\nsaying everybody has heard, that Phidias had carved Homer's Jupiter.\nWhen the ten commissioners arrived from Rome, he delivered up again to\nthe Macedonians their cities and country, granting them to live at\nliberty, and according to their own laws, only paying the Romans the\ntribute of a hundred talents, double which sum they had been wont to pay\nto their kings.  Then he celebrated all manner of shows and games, and\nsacrifices to the gods, and made great entertainments and feasts; the\ncharge of all which he liberally defrayed out of the king's treasury; and\nshowed that he understood the ordering and placing of his guests, and how\nevery man should be received, answerably to their rank and quality, with\nsuch nice exactness, that the Greeks were full of wonder, finding the\ncare of these matters of pleasure did not escape him, and that though\ninvolved in such important business, he could observe correctness in\nthese bides.  Nor was it least gratifying to him, that, amidst all the\nmagnificent and splendid preparations, he himself was always the most\ngrateful sight, and greatest pleasure to those he entertained.  And he\ntold those that seemed to wonder at his diligence, that there was the\nsame spirit shown in marshaling a banquet as an army; in rendering the\none formidable to the enemy, the other acceptable to the guests.  Nor did\nmen less praise his liberality, and the greatness of his soul, than his\nother virtues; for he would not so much as see those great quantities of\nsilver and gold, which were heaped together out of the king's palaces,\nbut delivered them to the quaestors, to be put into the public treasury.\nHe only permitted his own sons, who were great lovers of learning, to\ntake the king's books; and when he distributed rewards due to\nextraordinary valor, he gave his son-in-law, Aelius Tubero, a bowl that\nweighed five pounds.  This is that Tubero we have already mentioned, who\nwas one of sixteen relations that lived together, and were all maintained\nout of one little farm; and it is said, that this was the first plate\nthat ever entered the house of the Aelii, brought thither as an honor and\nreward of virtue; before this time, neither they nor their wives ever\nmade use either of silver or gold.\n\nHaving thus settled everything well, taking his leave of the Greeks, and\nexhorting the Macedonians, that, mindful of the liberty they had received\nfrom the Romans, they should endeavor to maintain it by their obedience\nto the laws, and concord amongst themselves, he departed for Epirus,\nhaving orders from the senate, to give the soldiers that followed him in\nthe war against Perseus the pillage of the cities of that country.  That\nhe might set upon them all at once by surprise and unawares, he summoned\nten of the principal men out of each, whom he commanded, on such an\nappointed day, to bring all the gold and silver they had either in their\nprivate houses or temples; and, with every one of these, as if it were\nfor this very purpose, and under a presence of searching for and\nreceiving the gold, he sent a centurion and a guard of soldiers; who, the\nset day being come, rose all at once, and at the very self-same time fell\nupon them, and proceeded to ransack the cities; so that in one hour a\nhundred and fifty thousand persons were made slaves, and threescore and\nten cities sacked.  Yet what was given to each soldier, out of so vast a\ndestruction and utter ruin, amounted to no more than eleven drachmas; so\nthat men could only shudder at the issue of a war, where the wealth of a\nwhole nation, thus divided, turned to so little advantage and profit to\neach particular man.\n\nWhen Aemilius had done this, -- an action perfectly contrary to his gentle\nand mild nature, -- he went down to Oricus, where he embarked his army for\nItaly.  He sailed up the river Tiber in the king's galley, that had\nsixteen banks of oars, and was richly adorned with captured arms and with\ncloths of purple and scarlet; so that, the vessel rowing slowly against\nthe stream, the Romans that crowded on the shore to meet him had a\nforetaste of his following triumph.  But the soldiers, who had cast a\ncovetous eye on the treasures of Perseus, when they did not obtain as\nmuch as they thought they deserved, were secretly enraged and angry with\nAemilius for this, but openly complained that he had been a severe and\ntyrannical commander over them; nor were they ready to show their desire\nof his triumph.  When Servius Galba, who was Aemilius's enemy, though he\ncommanded as tribune under him, understood this, he had the boldness\nplainly to affirm that a triumph was not to be allowed him; and sowed\nvarious calumnies amongst the soldiers, which yet further increased their\nill-will.  Nay more, he desired the tribunes of the people, because the\nfour hours that were remaining of the day could not suffice for the\naccusation, to let him put it off till another.  But when the tribunes\ncommanded him to speak then, if he had anything to say, he began a long\noration, filled with all manner of reproaches, in which he spent the\nremaining part of the time, and the tribunes, when it was dark, dismissed\nthe assembly.  The soldiers, growing more vehement on this, thronged all\nto Galba, and entering into a conspiracy, early in the morning beset the\ncapitol, where the tribunes had appointed the following assembly to be\nheld.\n\nAs soon as it was day, it was put to the vote, and the first tribe was\nproceeding to refuse the triumph; and the news spread amongst the people\nand to the senate.  The people were indeed much grieved that Aemilius\nshould meet with such ignominy; but this was only in words, which had no\neffect.  The chief of the senate exclaimed against it as a base action,\nand excited one another to repress the boldness and insolence of the\nsoldiers, which would erelong become altogether ungovernable and violent,\nwere they now permitted to deprive Aemilius of his triumph.  Forcing a\npassage through the crowd, they came up in great numbers, and desired the\ntribunes to defer polling, till they had spoken what they had to say to\nthe people.  All things thus suspended, and silence being made, Marcus\nServilius stood up, a man of consular dignity, and who had killed\ntwenty-three of his enemies that had challenged him in single combat.\n\"It is now more than ever,\" said he, \"clear to my mind how great a\ncommander our Aemilius Paulus is, when I see he was able to perform such\nfamous and great exploits with an army so full of sedition and baseness;\nnor can I sufficiently wonder, that a people that seemed to glory in the\ntriumphs over Illyrians and Ligurians, should now through envy refuse to\nsee the Macedonian king led alive, and all the glory of Philip and\nAlexander in captivity to the Roman power.  For is it not a strange thing\nfor you who, upon a slight rumor of victory that came by chance into the\ncity, did offer sacrifices and put up your requests unto the gods that\nyou might see the report verified, now, when the general is returned with\nan undoubted conquest, to defraud the gods of honor, and yourselves of\njoy, as if you feared to behold the greatness of his warlike deed, or\nwere resolved to spare your enemy?  And of the two, much better were it\nto put a stop to the triumph, out of pity to him, than out of envy to\nyour general; yet to such a height of power is malice arrived amongst\nyou, that a man without one scar to show on his skin, that is smooth and\nsleek with ease and home-keeping habits, will undertake to define the\noffice and duties of a general before us, who with our own wounds have\nbeen taught how to judge of the valor or the cowardice of commanders.\"\nAnd, at the same time, putting aside his garment, he showed an infinite\nnumber of scars upon his breast, and, turning about, he exposed some\nparts of his person which it is usual to conceal; and, addressing Galba,\nsaid:  \"You deride me for these, in which I glory before my\nfellow-citizens, for it is in their service, in which I have ridden night\nand day, that I received them; but go collect the votes, whilst I follow\nafter, and note the base and ungrateful, and such as choose rather to be\nflattered and courted than commanded by their general.\"  It is said, this\nspeech so stopped the soldiers' mouths, and altered their minds, that all\nthe tribes decreed a triumph for Aemilius; which was performed after this\nmanner.\n\nThe people erected scaffolds in the Forum, in the circuses, as they call\ntheir buildings for horse-races, and in all other parts of the city where\nthey could best behold the show.  The spectators were clad in white\ngarments; all the temples were open, and full of garlands and perfumes;\nthe ways were cleared and kept open by numerous officers, who drove back\nall who crowded into or ran across the main avenue.  This triumph lasted\nthree days.  On the first, which was scarcely long enough for the sight,\nwere to be seen the statues, pictures, and colossal images, which were\ntaken from the enemy, drawn upon two hundred and fifty chariots.  On the\nsecond, was carried in a great many wagons the finest and richest armor\nof the Macedonians, both of brass and steel, all newly polished and\nglittering; the pieces of which were piled up and arranged purposely with\nthe greatest art, so as to seem to be tumbled in heaps carelessly and by\nchance; helmets were thrown upon shields, coats of mail upon greaves;\nCretan targets, and Thracian bucklers and quivers of arrows, lay huddled\namongst horses' bits, and through these there appeared the points of\nnaked swords, intermixed with long Macedonian sarissas.  All these arms\nwere fastened together with just so much looseness that they struck\nagainst one another as they were drawn along, and made a harsh and\nalarming noise, so that, even as spoils of a conquered enemy, they could\nnot be beheld without dread.  After these wagons loaded with armor, there\nfollowed three thousand men who carried the silver that was coined, in\nseven hundred and fifty vessels, each of which weighed three talents, and\nwas carried by four men.  Others brought silver bowls and goblets and\ncups, all disposed in such order as to make the best show, and all\ncurious as well for their size as the solidity of their embossed work.\n\nOn the third day, early in the morning, first came the trumpeters, who\ndid not sound as they were wont in a procession or solemn entry, but such\na charge as the Romans use when they encourage the soldiers to fight.\nNext followed young men wearing frocks with ornamented borders, who led\nto the sacrifice a hundred and twenty stalled oxen, with their horns\ngilded, and their heads adorned with ribbons and garlands; and with these\nwere boys that carried basins for libation, of silver and gold.  After\nthis was brought the gold coin, which was divided into vessels that\nweighed three talents, like those that contained the silver; they were in\nnumber seventy-seven.  These were followed by those that brought the\nconsecrated bowl which Aemilius had caused to be made, that weighed ten\ntalents, and was set with precious stones.  Then were exposed to view the\ncups of Antigonus and Seleucus, and those of the Thericlean make, and\nall the gold plate that was used at Perseus' table.  Next to these came\nPerseus' chariot, in which his armor was placed, and on that his diadem.\nAnd, after a little intermission, the king's children were led captives,\nand with them a train of their attendants, masters, and teachers, all\nshedding tears, and stretching out hands to the spectators, and making\nthe children themselves also beg and entreat their compassion.  There\nwere two sons and a daughter, whose tender age made them but little\nsensible of the greatness of their misery, which very insensibility of\ntheir condition rendered it the more deplorable; insomuch that Perseus\nhimself was scarcely regarded as he went along, whilst pity fixed the\neyes of the Romans upon the infants; and many of them could not forbear\ntears, and all beheld the sight with a mixture of sorrow and pleasure,\nuntil the children were passed.\n\nAfter his children and their attendants came Perseus himself, clad all in\nblack, and wearing the boots of his country; and looking like one\naltogether stunned and deprived of reason, through the greatness of his\nmisfortunes.  Next followed a great company of his friends and familiars,\nwhose countenances were disfigured with grief, and who let the spectators\nsee, by their tears and their continual looking upon Perseus, that it was\nhis fortune they so much lamented, and that they were regardless of their\nown.  Perseus sent to Aemilius to entreat that he might not be led in\npomp, but be left out of the triumph; who, deriding, as was but just, his\ncowardice and fondness of life, sent him this answer, that as for that,\nit had been before, and was now, in his own power; giving him to\nunderstand that the disgrace could be avoided by death; which the\nfainthearted man not having the spirit for, and made effeminate by I know\nnot what hopes, allowed himself to appear as a part of his own spoils.\nAfter these were carried four hundred crowns, all made of gold, sent from\nthe cities by their respective deputations to Aemilius, in honor of his\nvictory.  Then he himself came, seated on a chariot magnificently adorned\n(a man well worthy to be looked at, even without these ensigns of power),\ndressed in a robe of purple, interwoven with gold, and holding a laurel\nbranch in his right hand.  All the army, in like manner, with boughs of\nlaurel in their hands, divided into their bands and companies, followed\nthe chariot of their commander; some singing verses, according to the\nusual custom, mingled with raillery; others, songs of triumph, and the\npraise of Aemilius's deeds; who, indeed, was admired and accounted happy\nby all men, and unenvied by every one that was good; except so far as it\nseems the province of some god to lessen that happiness which is too\ngreat and inordinate, and so to mingle the affairs of human life that no\none should be entirely free and exempt from calamities; but, as we read\nin Homer, that those should think themselves truly blessed to whom\nfortune has given an equal share of good and evil.\n\nAemilius had four sons, of whom Scipio and Fabius, as is already related,\nwere adopted into other families; the other two, whom he had by a second\nwife, and who were yet but young, he brought up in his own house.  One of\nthese died at fourteen years of age, five days before his father's\ntriumph; the other at twelve, three days after:  so that there was no\nRoman without a deep sense of his suffering, and who did not shudder at\nthe cruelty of fortune, that had not scrupled to bring so much sorrow\ninto a house replenished with happiness, rejoicing, and sacrifices, and\nto intermingle tears and laments with songs of victory and triumph.\n\nAemilius, however, reasoning justly that courage and resolution was not\nmerely to resist armor and spears, but all the shocks of ill fortune, so\nmet and so adapted himself to these mingled and contrasting\ncircumstances, as to outbalance the evil with the good, and his private\nconcerns with those of the public; and thus did not allow anything\neither to take away from the grandeur, or sully the dignity of his\nvictory.  For as soon as he had buried the first of his sons, (as we have\nalready said,) he triumphed; and the second dying almost as soon as his\ntriumph was over, he gathered together an assembly of the people, and\nmade an oration to them, not like a man that stood in need of comfort\nfrom others, but one that undertook to support his fellow-citizens in\ntheir grief for the sufferings he himself underwent.\n\n\"I,\" he said, \"who never yet feared anything that was human, have,\namongst such as were divine, always had a dread of fortune as faithless\nand inconstant; and, for the very reason that in this war she had been as\na favorable gale in all my affairs, I still expected some change and\nreflux of things.  In one day I passed the Ionian sea, and reached\nCorcyra from Brundisium; thence in five more I sacrificed at Delphi, and\nin other five days came to my forces in Macedonia, where, after I had\nfinished the usual sacrifices for the purifying of the army, I entered on\nmy duties, and, in the space of fifteen days, put an honorable period to\nthe war.  Still retaining a jealousy of fortune, even from the smooth\ncurrent of my affairs, and seeing myself secure and free from the danger\nof any enemy, I chiefly dreaded the change of the goddess at sea, whilst\nconveying home my victorious army, vast spoils, and a captive king.  Nay,\nindeed, after I was returned to you safe, and saw the city full of joy,\ncongratulating, and sacrifices, yet still I distrusted, well knowing that\nfortune never conferred any great benefits that were unmixed and\nunattended with probabilities of reverse.  Nor could my mind, that was\nstill as it were in labor, and always foreseeing something to befall this\ncity, free itself from this fear, until this great misfortune befell me\nin my own family, and till, in the midst of those days set apart for\ntriumph, I carried two of the best of sons, my only destined successors,\none after another to their funerals.  Now, therefore, I am myself safe\nfrom danger, at least as to what was my greatest care; and I trust and am\nverily persuaded, that for the time to come Fortune will prove constant\nand harmless unto you; since she has sufficiently wreaked her jealousy at\nour great successes on me and mine, and has made the conqueror as marked\nan example of human instability as the captive whom he led in triumph,\nwith this only difference, that Perseus, though conquered, does yet enjoy\nhis children, while the conqueror, Aemilius, is deprived of his.\"  This\nwas the generous and magnanimous oration Aemilius is said to have spoken\nto the people, from a heart truly sincere and free from all artifice.\n\nAlthough he very much pitied the condition of Perseus, and studied to\nbefriend him in what he was able, yet he could procure no other favor,\nthan his removal from the common prison, the Carcer, into a more cleanly\nand humane place of security, where, whilst he was guarded, it is said,\nhe starved himself to death.  Others state his death to have been of the\nstrangest and most unusual character:  that the soldiers who were his\nguard, having conceived a spite and hatred against him for some reason,\nand finding no other way to grieve and afflict him, kept him from sleep,\ntook pains to disturb him when he was disposed to rest, and found out\ncontrivances to keep him continually awake, by which means at length he\nwas utterly worn out, and expired.  Two of his children, also, died soon\nafter him; the third, who was named Alexander, they say proved an\nexquisite artist in turning and graving small figures, and learned so\nperfectly to speak and write the Roman language, that he became clerk to\nthe magistrates, and behaved himself in his office with great skill and\nconduct.\n\nThey ascribe to Aemilius's conquest of Macedonia, this most acceptable\nbenefit to the people, that he brought so vast a quantity of money into\nthe public treasury, that they never paid any taxes, until Hirtius and\nPansa were consuls, which was in the first war between Antony and Caesar.\nThis also was peculiar and remarkable in Aemilius, that though he was\nextremely beloved and honored by the people, yet he always sided with the\nnobles; nor would he either say or do anything to ingratiate himself\nwith the multitude, but constantly adhered to the nobility, in all\npolitical matters, which in after-times was cast in Scipio Africanus's\nteeth by Appius; these two being in their time the most considerable men\nin the city, and standing in competition for the office of censor.  The\none had on his side the nobles and the senate, to which party the Appii\nwere always attached; the other, although his own interest was great, yet\nmade use of the favor and love of the people.  When, therefore, Appius\nsaw Scipio come to the market-place, surrounded with men of mean rank,\nand such as were but newly made free, yet were very fit to manage a\ndebate, to gather together the rabble, and to carry whatsoever they\ndesigned by importunity and noise, crying out with a loud voice:  \"Groan\nnow,\" said he, \"O Aemilius Paulus, if you have knowledge in your grave of\nwhat is done above, that your son aspires to be censor, by the help of\nAemilius, the common crier, and Licinius Philonicus.\"  Scipio always had\nthe good-will of the people, because he was constantly heaping favors on\nthem; but Aemilius, although he still took part with the nobles, yet was\nas much the people's favorite as those who most sought popularity and\nused every art to obtain it.  This they made manifest, when, amongst\nother dignities, they thought him worthy of the office of censor, a trust\naccounted most sacred and of great authority, as well in other things, as\nin the strict examination into men's lives.  For the censors had power to\nexpel a senator, and enroll whom they judged most fit in his room, and to\ndisgrace such young men as lived licentiously, by taking away their\nhorses.  Besides this, they were to value and assess each man's estate,\nand register the number of the people.  There were numbered by Aemilius,\n337,452 men.  He declared Marcus Aemilius Lepidus first senator, who had\nalready four times held that honor, and he removed from their office\nthree of the senators of the least note.  The same moderation he and his\nfellow censor, Marcius Philippus, used at the muster of the knights.\n\nWhilst he was thus busy about many and weighty affairs, he fell sick of a\ndisease, which at first seemed hazardous; and although after awhile it\nproved without danger, yet was troublesome and difficult to be cured:  so\nthat by the advice of his physicians he sailed to Velia, in South Italy,\nand there dwelt a long time near the sea, where he enjoyed all possible\nquietness.  The Romans, in the meanwhile, longed for his return, and\noftentimes by their expressions in the theaters, gave public testimony of\ntheir great desire and impatience to see him.  When, therefore, the time\ndrew nigh that a solemn sacrifice was of necessity to be offered, and he\nfound, as he thought, his body strong enough, he came back again to Rome,\nand there performed the holy rites with the rest of the priests, the\npeople in the mean time crowding about him, and congratulating his\nreturn.  The next day he sacrificed again to the gods for his recovery;\nand, having finished the sacrifice, returned to his house and sat down to\ndinner, when, all on a sudden and when no change was expected, he fell\ninto a fit of delirium, and, being quite deprived of his senses, the\nthird day after ended a life, in which he had wanted no manner of thing\nwhich is thought to conduce to happiness.  Nay, his very funeral pomp had\nsomething in it remarkable and to be admired, and his virtue was graced\nwith the most solemn and happy rites at his burial; consisting, not in\ngold and ivory, or in the usual sumptuousness and splendor of such\npreparations, but in the good-will, honor, and love, not only of his\nfellow-citizens, but of his enemies themselves.  For as many Spaniards,\nLigurians, and Macedonians, as happened to be present at the solemnity,\nthat were young and of vigorous bodies, took up the bier and carried it\nwhilst the more aged followed, calling Aemilius the benefactor and\npreserver of their countries.  For not only at the time of his conquest\nhad he acted to all with kindness and clemency, but, through the whole\ncourse of his life, he continued to do them good and look after their\nconcerns, as if they had been his familiars and relations.  They report,\nthat the whole of his estate scarce amounted to three hundred and seventy\nthousand drachmas; to which he left his two sons coheirs; but Scipio, who\nwas the youngest, being adopted into the more wealthy family of\nAfricanus, gave it all to his brother.  Such are said to have been the\nlife and manners of Aemilius.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF TIMOLEON WITH AEMILIUS PAULUS\n\nSuch being the story of these two great men's lives, without doubt in the\ncomparison very little difference will be found between them.  They made\nwar with two powerful enemies: the one against the Macedonians, and the\nother with the Carthaginians; and the success was in both cases glorious.\nOne conquered Macedon from the seventh succeeding heir of Antigonus; the\nother freed Sicily from usurping tyrants, and restored the island to its\nformer liberty.  Unless, indeed, it be made a point on Aemilius's side,\nthat he engaged with Perseus when his forces were entire, and composed of\nmen that had often successfully fought with the Romans; whereas, Timoleon\nfound Dionysius in a despairing condition, his affairs being reduced to\nthe last extremity: or, on the contrary, it be urged in favor of\nTimoleon, that he vanquished several tyrants, and a powerful Carthaginian\narmy, with an inconsiderable number of men gathered together from all\nparts, not with such an army as Aemilius had, of well disciplined\nsoldiers, experienced in war, and accustomed to obey; but with such as\nthrough the hopes of gain resorted to him, unskilled in fighting and\nungovernable.  And when actions are equally glorious, and the means to\ncompass them unequal, the greatest esteem is certainly due to that\ngeneral who conquers with the smaller power.\n\nBoth have the reputation of having behaved themselves with an uncorrupted\nintegrity, in all the affairs they managed:  but Aemilius had the\nadvantage of being, from his infancy, by the laws and customs of his\ncountry, brought up to the proper management of public affairs, which\nTimoleon brought himself to by his own efforts.  And this is plain; for\nat that time all the Romans were uniformly orderly and obedient,\nrespectful to the laws and to their fellow-citizens: whereas it is\nremarkable, that not one of the Greek generals commanding in Sicily,\ncould keep himself uncorrupted, except Dion, and of him many entertained\na jealousy that he would establish a monarchy there, after the\nLacedaemonian manner.  Timaeus writes, that the Syracusans sent even\nGylippus home dishonorably, and with a reputation lost by the unsatiable\ncovetousness he displayed when he commanded the army.  And numerous\nhistorians tell us of the wicked and perfidious acts committed by Pharax\nthe Spartan, and Callippus the Athenian, with the view of making\nthemselves kings of Sicily.  Yet what were these men, and what strength\nhad they, to entertain such a thought?  The first of them was a follower\nof Dionysius, when he was expelled from Syracuse, and the other a hired\ncaptain of foot under Dion, and came into Sicily with him.  But Timoleon\nat the request and prayers of the Syracusans, was sent to be their\ngeneral, and had no need to seek for power, but had a perfect title,\nfounded on their own offers, to hold it; and yet no sooner had he freed\nSicily from her oppressors, but he willingly surrendered it.\n\nIt is truly worthy our admiration in Aemilius, that, though he conquered\nso great and so rich a realm as that of Macedon, yet he would not touch,\nnor see any of the money, nor did he advantage himself one farthing by\nit, though he was very generous of his own to others.  I would not intend\nany reflection on Timoleon, for accepting of a house and handsome estate\nin the country, which the Syracusans presented him with; there is no\ndishonor in accepting; but yet there is greater glory in a refusal, and\nthe supremest virtue is shown in not wanting what it might fairly take.\nAnd as that body is, without doubt, the most strong and healthful, which\ncan the easiest support extreme cold and excessive heat in the change of\nseasons, and that the most firm and collected mind which is not puffed up\nwith prosperity, nor dejected with adversity; so the virtue of Aemilius\nwas eminently seen in his countenance and behavior continuing as noble\nand lofty upon the loss of two dear sons, as when he achieved his\ngreatest victories and triumphs.  But Timoleon, after he had justly\npunished his brother, a truly heroic action, let his reason yield to a\ncauseless sorrow, and, humiliated with grief and remorse, forbore for\ntwenty years to appear in any public place, or meddle with any affairs of\nthe commonwealth.  It is truly very commendable to abhor and shun the\ndoing any base action; but to stand in fear of every kind of censure or\ndisrepute, may argue a gentle and open-hearted, but not a heroic temper.\n\n\n\nPELOPIDAS\n\nCato Major, hearing some commend one that was rash, and inconsiderately\ndaring in a battle, said, \"There is a difference between a man's prizing\nvalor at a great rate, and valuing life at little;\" a very just remark.\nAntigonus, we know, at least, had a soldier, a venturous fellow, but of\nwretched health and constitution; the reason of whose ill looks he took\nthe trouble to inquire into; and, on understanding from him that it was a\ndisease, commanded his physicians to employ their utmost skill, and if\npossible recover him; which brave hero, when once cured, never afterwards\nsought danger or showed himself venturous in battle; and, when Antigonus\nwondered and upbraided him with his change, made no secret of the reason,\nand said, \"Sir, you are the cause of my cowardice, by freeing me from\nthose miseries which made me care little for life.\"  With the same\nfeeling, the Sybarite seems to have said of the Spartans, that it was no\ncommendable thing in them to be so ready to die in the wars, since by\nthat they were freed from such hard labor, and miserable living.  In\ntruth, the Sybarites, a soft and dissolute people, might very well\nimagine they hated life, because in their eager pursuit of virtue and\nglory, they were not afraid to die:  but, in fact, the Lacedaemonians\nfound their virtue secured them happiness alike in living or in dying; as\nwe see in the epitaph that says:\n\nThey died, but not as lavish of their blood,\nOr thinking death itself was simply good;\nTheir wishes neither were to live nor die,\nBut to do both alike commendably.\n\nAn endeavor to avoid death is not blamable, if we do not basely desire to\nlive; nor a willingness to die good and virtuous, if it proceeds from a\ncontempt of life.  And therefore Homer always takes care to bring his\nbravest and most daring heroes well armed into battle; and the Greek\nlawgivers punished those that threw away their shields, but not him that\nlost his sword or spear; intimating that self-defense is more a man's\nbusiness than offense.  This is especially true of a governor of a city,\nor a general; for if, as Iphicrates divides it out, the light-armed are\nthe hands; the horse the feet; the infantry the breast; and the general\nthe head; he, when he puts himself upon danger, not only ventures his own\nperson, but all those whose safety depends on his; and so on the\ncontrary.  Callicratidas, therefore, though otherwise a great man, was\nwrong in his answer to the augur who advised him, the sacrifice being\nunlucky, to be careful of his life; \"Sparta,\" said he, \"will not miss one\nman.\"  It was true, Callicratidas, when simply serving in any engagement\neither at sea or land, was but a single person, but as general, he united\nin his life the lives of all, and could hardly be called one, when his\ndeath involved the ruin of so many.  The saying of old Antigonus was\nbetter, who, when he was to fight at Andros, and one told him, \"The\nenemy's ships are more than ours;\" replied, \"For how many then wilt thou\nreckon me?\" intimating that a brave and experienced commander is to be\nhighly valued, one of the first duties of whose office indeed it is to\nsave him on whose safety depends that of others.  And therefore I applaud\nTimotheus, who, when Chares showed the wounds he had received, and his\nshield pierced by a dart, told him, \"Yet how ashamed I was, at the siege\nof Samos, when a dart fell near me, for exposing myself, more like a boy\nthan like a general in command of a large army.  \"Indeed, where the\ngeneral's hazarding himself will go far to decide the result, there he\nmust fight and venture his person, and not mind their maxims, who would\nhave a general die, if not of, at least in old age; but when the\nadvantage will be but small if he gets the better, and the loss\nconsiderable if he falls, who then would desire, at the risk of the\ncommander's life, a piece of success which a common soldier might obtain?\nThis I thought fit to premise before the lives of Pelopidas and\nMarcellus, who were both great men, but who both fell by their own\nrashness.  For, being gallant men, and having gained their respective\ncountries great glory and reputation by their conduct in war against\nterrible enemies, the one, as history relates, overthrowing Hannibal, who\nwas till then invincible; the other, in a set battle beating the\nLacedaemonians, then supreme both at sea and land; they ventured at last\ntoo far, and were heedlessly prodigal of their lives, when there was the\ngreatest need of men and commanders such as they.  And this agreement in\ntheir characters and their deaths, is the reason why I compare their\nlives.\n\nPelopidas, the son of Hippoclus, was descended, as likewise Epaminondas\nwas, from an honorable family in Thebes; and, being brought up to\nopulence, and having a fair estate left him whilst he was young, he made\nit his business to relieve the good and deserving amongst the poor, that\nhe might show himself lord and not slave of his estate.  For amongst men,\nas Aristotle observes, some are too narrow-minded to use their wealth,\nand some are loose and abuse it; and these live perpetual slaves to their\npleasures, as the others to their gain.  Others permitted themselves to\nbe obliged by Pelopidas, and thankfully made use of his liberality and\nkindness; but amongst all his friends, he could never persuade\nEpaminondas to be a sharer in his wealth.  He, however, stepped down into\nhis poverty, and took pleasure in the same poor attire, spare diet,\nunwearied endurance of hardships, and unshrinking boldness in war:  like\nCapaneus in Euripides, who had\n\nAbundant wealth and in that wealth no pride;\n\nhe was ashamed any one should think that he spent more upon his person\nthan the meanest Theban.  Epaminondas made his familiar and hereditary\npoverty more light and easy, by his philosophy and single life; but\nPelopidas married a woman of good family, and had children; yet still\nthinking little of his private interests, and devoting all his time to\nthe public, he ruined his estate:  and, when his friends admonished and\ntold him how necessary that money which he neglected was; \"Yes,\" he\nreplied, \"necessary to Nicodemus,\" pointing to a blind cripple.\n\nBoth seemed equally fitted by nature for all sorts of excellence; but\nbodily exercises chiefly delighted Pelopidas, learning Epaminondas; and\nthe one spent his spare hours in hunting, and the Palaestra, the other in\nhearing lectures or philosophizing.  And, amongst a thousand points for\npraise in both, the judicious esteem nothing equal to that constant\nbenevolence and friendship, which they inviolably preserved in all their\nexpeditions, public actions, and administration of the commonwealth.  For\nif any one looks on the administrations of Aristides and Themistocles, of\nCimon and Pericles, of Nicias and Alcibiades, what confusion, what envy,\nwhat mutual jealousy appears?  And if he then casts his eye on the\nkindness and reverence that Pelopidas showed Epaminondas, he must needs\nconfess, that these are more truly and more justly styled colleagues in\ngovernment and command than the others, who strove rather to overcome one\nanother, than their enemies The true cause of this was their virtue;\nwhence it came that they did not make their actions aim at wealth and\nglory, an endeavor sure to lead to bitter and contentious jealousy; but\nboth from the beginning being inflamed with a divine desire of seeing\ntheir country glorious by their exertions, they used to that end one\nanother's excellences as their own.  Many, indeed, think this strict and\nentire affection is to be dated from the battle at Mantinea, where they\nboth fought, being part of the succors that were sent from Thebes to the\nLacedaemonians, their then friends and allies.  For, being placed\ntogether amongst the infantry, and engaging the Arcadians, when the\nLacedaemonian wing, in which they fought, gave ground, and many fled,\nthey closed their shields together and resisted the assailants.\nPelopidas, having received seven wounds in the forepart of his body, fell\nupon a heap of slain friends and enemies; but Epaminondas, though he\nthought him past recovery, advanced to defend his arms and body, and\nsingly fought a multitude, resolving rather to die than forsake his\nhelpless Pelopidas.  And now, he being much distressed, being wounded in\nthe breast by a spear, and in the arm by a sword, Agesipolis, the king of\nthe Spartans, came to his succor from the other wing, and beyond hope\ndelivered both.\n\nAfter this the Lacedaemonians pretended to be friends to Thebes, but in\ntruth looked with jealous suspicions on the designs and power of the\ncity, and chiefly hated the party of Ismenias and Androclides, in which\nPelopidas also was an associate, as tending to liberty, and the\nadvancement of the commonalty.  Therefore Archias, Leontidas, and Philip,\nall rich men, and of oligarchical principles, and immoderately ambitious,\nurged Phoebidas the Spartan, as he was on his way past the city with a\nconsiderable force, to surprise the Cadmea, and, banishing the contrary\nfaction, to establish an oligarchy, and by that means subject the city to\nthe supremacy of the Spartans.  He, accepting the proposal, at the\nfestival of Ceres unexpectedly fell on the Thebans, and made himself\nmaster of the citadel.  Ismenias was taken, carried to Sparta, and in a\nshort time murdered; but Pelopidas, Pherenicus, Androclides, and many\nmore that fled were publicly proclaimed outlaws.  Epaminondas stayed at\nhome, being not much looked after, as one whom philosophy had made\ninactive, and poverty incapable.\n\nThe Lacedaemonians cashiered Phoebidas, and fined him one hundred\nthousand drachmas, yet still kept a garrison in the Cadmea; which made\nall Greece wonder at their inconsistency, since they punished the doer,\nbut approved the deed.  And though the Thebans, having lost their polity,\nand being enslaved by Archias and Leontidas, had no hopes to get free\nfrom this tyranny, which they saw guarded by the whole military power of\nthe Spartans, and had no means to break the yoke, unless these could be\ndeposed from their command of sea and land; yet Leontidas and his\nassociates, understanding that the exiles lived at Athens in favor with\nthe people, and with honor from all the good and virtuous, formed secret\ndesigns against their lives, and, suborning some unknown fellows,\ndispatched Androclides, but were not successful on the rest.  Letters,\nbesides, were sent from Sparta to the Athenians, warning them neither to\nreceive nor countenance the exiles, but expel them as declared common\nenemies of the confederacy.  But the Athenians, from their natural\nhereditary inclination to be kind, and also to make a grateful return to\nthe Thebans, who had very much assisted them in restoring their\ndemocracy, and had publicly enacted, that if any Athenian would march\narmed through Boeotia against the tyrants, that no Boeotian should either\nsee or hear it, did the Thebans no harm.\n\nPelopidas, though one of the youngest, was active in privately exciting\neach single exile; and often told them at their meetings, that it was\nboth dishonorable and impious to neglect their enslaved and engarrisoned\ncountry, and, lazily contented with their own lives and safety, depend on\nthe decrees of the Athenians, and through fear fawn on every\nsmooth-tongued orator that was able to work upon the people:  now they\nmust venture for this great prize, taking Thrasybulus' bold courage for\nexample, and as he advanced from Thebes and broke the power of the\nAthenian tyrants, so they should march from Athens and free Thebes.  When\nby this method he had persuaded them, they privately dispatched some\npersons to those friends they had left at Thebes, and acquainted them\nwith their designs.  Their plans being approved, Charon, a man of the\ngreatest distinction, offered his house for their reception; Phillidas\ncontrived to get himself made secretary to Archias and Philip, who then\nheld the office of polemarch or chief captain; and Epaminondas had\nalready inflamed the youth.  For, in their exercises, he had encouraged\nthem to challenge and wrestle with the Spartans, and again, when he saw\nthem puffed up with victory and success, sharply told them, it was the\ngreater shame to be such cowards as to serve those whom in strength they\nso much excelled.\n\nThe day for action being fixed, it was agreed upon by the exiles, that\nPherenicus with the rest should stay in the Thriasian plain, while some\nfew of the younger men tried the first danger, by endeavoring to get into\nthe city; and, if they were surprised by their enemies, the others should\ntake care to provide for their children and parents.  Pelopidas first\noffered to undertake the business; then Melon, Damoclides, and\nTheopompus, men of noble families, who, in other things loving and\nfaithful to one another, were constant rivals only in glory and\ncourageous exploits.  They were twelve in all, and having taken leave of\nthose that stayed behind, and sent a messenger to Charon, they went\nforward, clad in short coats, and carrying hounds and hunting poles with\nthem, that they might be taken for hunters beating over the fields, and\nprevent all suspicion in those that met them on the way.  When the\nmessenger came to Charon, and told him they were approaching, he did not\nchange his resolution at the sight of danger, but, being a man of his\nword, offered them his house.  But one Hipposthenidas, a man of no ill\nprinciples, a lover of his country, and a friend to the exiles, but not\nof as much resolution as the shortness of time and the character of the\naction required, being as it were dizzied at the greatness of the\napproaching enterprise; and beginning now for the first time to\ncomprehend that, relying on that weak assistance which could be expected\nfrom the exiles, they were undertaking no less a task than to shake the\ngovernment, and overthrow the whole power of Sparta; went privately to\nhis house, and sent a friend to Melon and Pelopidas, desiring them to\nforbear for the present, to return to Athens and expect a better\nopportunity.  The messenger's name was Chlidon, who, going home in haste\nand bringing out his horse, asked for the bridle; but, his wife not\nknowing where it was, and, when it could not be found, telling him she\nhad lent it to a friend, first they began to chide, then to curse one\nanother, and his wife wished the journey might prove ill to him, and\nthose that sent him; insomuch that Chlidon's passion made him waste a\ngreat part of the day in this quarreling, and then, looking on this\nchance as an omen, he laid aside all thoughts of his journey, and went\naway to some other business.  So nearly had these great and glorious\ndesigns, even in their very birth, lost their opportunity.\n\nBut Pelopidas and his companions, dressing themselves like countrymen,\ndivided, and, whilst it was yet day, entered at different quarters of the\ncity.  It was, besides, a windy day, and it now just began to snow, which\ncontributed much to their concealment, because most people were gone in\ndoors to avoid the weather.  Those, however, that were concerned in the\ndesign, received them as they came, and conducted them to Charon's house,\nwhere the exiles and the others made up forty-eight in number.  The\ntyrants' affairs stood thus:  the secretary, Phillidas, as I have already\nobserved, was an accomplice in, and privy to all the contrivance of the\nexiles, and he a while before had invited Archias, with others, to an\nentertainment on that day, to drink freely, and meet some women of the\ntown, on purpose that when they were drunk, and given up to their\npleasures, he might deliver them over to the conspirators.  But before\nArchias was thoroughly heated, notice was given him that the exiles were\nprivately in the town; a true report indeed, but obscure, and not well\nconfirmed:  nevertheless, though Phillidas endeavored to divert the\ndiscourse, Archias sent one of his guard to Charon, and commanded him to\nattend immediately.  It was evening, and Pelopidas and his friends with\nhim in the house, were putting themselves into a fit posture for action,\nhaving their breastplates on already, and their swords girt:  but at the\nsudden knocking at the door, one stepping forth to inquire the matter,\nand learning from the officer that Charon was sent for by the polemarchs,\nreturned in great confusion and acquainted those within; and all\nimmediately conjectured that the whole plot was discovered, and they\nshould be cut in pieces, before so much as achieving any action to do\ncredit to their bravery; yet all agreed that Charon should obey, and\nattend the polemarchs, to prevent suspicion.  Charon was, indeed, a man\nof courage and resolution in all dangers, yet in this case he was\nextremely concerned, lest any should suspect that he was the traitor, and\nthe death of so many brave citizens be laid on him.  And, therefore, when\nhe was ready to depart, he brought his son out of the women's\napartment, a little boy as yet, but one of the best looking and strongest\nof all those of his age, and delivered him to Pelopidas with these words:\n\"If you find me a traitor, treat this boy as an enemy without any mercy.\"\nThe concern which Charon showed, drew tears from many; but all protested\nvehemently against his supposing any one of them so mean-spirited and\nbase, at the appearance of approaching danger, as to suspect or blame\nhim; and therefore, desired him not to involve his son, but to set him\nout of harm's way; that so he, perhaps, escaping the tyrant's power,\nmight live to revenge the city and his friends.  Charon, however, refused\nto remove him, and asked, \"What life, what safety could be more\nhonorable, than to die bravely with his father, and such generous\ncompanions?\"  Thus, imploring the protection of the gods, and saluting\nand encouraging them all, he departed, considering with himself, and\ncomposing his voice and countenance, that he might look as little like as\npossible to what in fact he really was.\n\nWhen he was come to the door, Archias with Phillidas came out to him, and\nsaid, \"I have heard, Charon, that there are some men just come, and\nlurking in the town, and that some of the citizens are resorting to\nthem.\"  Charon was at first disturbed, but asking, \"Who are they? and who\nconceals them?\" and finding Archias did not thoroughly understand the\nmatter, he concluded that none of those privy to the design had given\nthis information, and replied, \"Do not disturb yourselves for an empty\nrumor:  I will look into it, however, for no report in such a case is to\nbe neglected.\"  Phillidas, who stood by, commended him, and leading back\nArchias, got him deep in drink, still prolonging the entertainment with\nthe hopes of the women's company at last.  But when Charon returned, and\nfound the men prepared, not as if they hoped for safety and success, but\nto die bravely and with the slaughter of their enemies, he told Pelopidas\nand his friends the truth, but pretended to others in the house that\nArchias talked to him about something else, inventing a story for the\noccasion.  This storm was just blowing over, when fortune brought\nanother; for a messenger came with a letter from one Archias, the\nHierophant at Athens, to his namesake Archias, who was his friend and\nguest.  This did not merely contain a vague conjectural suspicion, but,\nas appeared afterwards, disclosed every particular of the design.  The\nmessenger being brought in to Archias, who was now pretty well drunk, and\ndelivering the letter, said to him, \"The writer of this desired it might\nbe read at once; it is on urgent business.\"  Archias, with a smile,\nreplied, \"Urgent business tomorrow,\" and so receiving the letter, he put\nit under his pillow, and returned to what he had been speaking of with\nPhillidas; and these words of his are a proverb to this day amongst the\nGreeks.\n\nNow when the opportunity seemed convenient for action, they set out in\ntwo companies; Pelopidas and Damoclides with their party went against\nLeontidas and Hypates, that lived near together; Charon and Melon against\nArchias and Philip, having put on women's apparel over their\nbreastplates, and thick garlands of fir and pine to shade their faces;\nand so, as soon as they came to the door, the guests clapped and gave a\nhuzza, supposing them to be the women they expected.  But when the\nconspirators had looked about the room, and carefully marked all that\nwere at the entertainment, they drew their swords, and making at Archias\nand Philip amongst the tables, disclosed who they were.  Phillidas\npersuaded some few of his guests to sit still, and those that got up and\nendeavored to assist the polemarchs, being drunk were easily dispatched.\nBut Pelopidas and his party met with a harder task; as they attempted\nLeontidas, a sober and formidable man, and when they came to his house\nfound his doors shut, he being already gone to bed.  They knocked a long\ntime before any one would answer, but, at last, a servant that heard\nthem, coming out and unbarring the door, as soon as the gate gave way,\nthey rushed in, and, overturning the man, made all haste to Leontidas's\nchamber.  But Leontidas, guessing at the matter by the noise and running,\nleaped from his bed and drew his dagger, but forgot to put out the\nlights, and by that means make them fall foul on one another in the dark.\nAs it was, being easily seen by reason of the light, he received them at\nhis chamber door, and stabbed Cephisodorus, the first man that entered:\non his falling, the next that he engaged was Pelopidas; and the passage\nbeing narrow and Cephisodorus's body lying in the way, there was a fierce\nand dangerous conflict.  At last Pelopidas prevailed, and having killed\nLeontidas, he and his companions went in pursuit of Hypates, and after\nthe same manner broke into his house.  He perceived the design, and fled\nto his neighbors; but they closely followed, and caught and killed him.\n\nThis done they joined Melon, and sent to hasten the exiles they had left\nin Attica:  and called upon the citizens to maintain their liberty, and\ntaking down the spoils from the porches, and breaking open all the\narmorers' shops that were near, equipped those that came to their\nassistance.  Epaminondas and Gorgidas came in already armed, with a\ngallant train of young men, and the best of the old.  Now the city was in\na great excitement and confusion, a great noise and hurry, lights set up\nin every house, men running here and there; however, the people did not\nas yet gather into a body, but, amazed at the proceedings, and not\nclearly understanding the matter waited for the day.  And, therefore, the\nSpartan officers were thought to have been in fault for not falling on at\nonce, since their garrison consisted of about fifteen hundred men, and\nmany of the citizens ran to them; but, alarmed with the noise, the fires,\nand the confused running of the people, they kept quietly within the\nCadmea.  As soon as day appeared, the exiles from Attica came in armed,\nand there was a general assembly of the people.  Epaminondas and Gorgidas\nbrought forth Pelopidas and his party, encompassed by the priests, who\nheld out garlands, and exhorted the people to fight for their country and\ntheir gods.  The assembly, at their appearance, rose up in a body, and\nwith shouts and acclamations received the men as their deliverers and\nbenefactors.\n\nThen Pelopidas, being chosen chief captain of Boeotia, together with\nMelon and Charon, proceeded at once to blockade the citadel, and stormed\nit on all sides, being extremely desirous to expel the Lacedaemonians,\nand free the Cadmea, before an army could come from Sparta to their\nrelief.  And he just so narrowly succeeded, that they, having surrendered\non terms and departed, on their way home met Cleombrotus at Megara\nmarching towards Thebes with a considerable force.  The Spartans\ncondemned and executed Herippidas and Arcissus, two of their governors@\nat Thebes, and Lysanoridas the third being severely fined, fled\nPeloponnesus.  This action so closely resembling that of Thrasybulus, in\nthe courage of the actors, the danger, the encounters, and equally\ncrowned with success, was called the sister of it by the Greeks.  For we\ncan scarcely find any other examples where so small and weak a party of\nmen by bold courage overcame such numerous and powerful enemies, or\nbrought greater blessings to their country by so doing.  But the\nsubsequent change of affairs made this action the more famous; for the\nwar which forever ruined the pretensions of Sparta to command, and put an\nend to the supremacy she then exercised alike by sea and by land,\nproceeded from that night, in which Pelopidas not surprising any fort, or\ncastle, or citadel, but coming, the twelfth man, to a private house,\nloosed and broke, if we may speak truth in metaphor, the chains of the\nSpartan sway, which before seemed of adamant and indissoluble.\n\nBut now the Lacedaemonians invading Boeotia with a great army, the\nAthenians, affrighted at the danger, declared themselves no allies to\nThebes, and prosecuting those that stood for the Boeotian interest,\nexecuted some, and banished and fined others:  and the cause of Thebes,\ndestitute of allies, seemed in a desperate condition.  But Pelopidas and\nGorgidas, holding the office of captains of Boeotia, designing to breed a\nquarrel between the Lacedaemonians and Athenians, made this contrivance.\nOne Sphodrias, a Spartan, a man famous indeed for courage in battle, but\nof no sound judgment, full of ungrounded hopes and foolish ambition, was\nleft with an army at Thespiae, to receive and succor the Theban\nrenegades.  To him Pelopidas and his colleagues privately sent a\nmerchant, one of their friends, with money, and, what proved more\nefficient, advice, -- that it more became a man of his worth to set upon\nsome great enterprise, and that he should, making a sudden incursion on\nthe unprotected Athenians, surprise the Piraeus; since nothing could be\nso grateful to Sparta, as to take Athens; and the Thebans, of course,\nwould not stir to the assistance of men whom they now hated and looked\nupon as traitors.  Sphodrias, being at last wrought upon, marched into\nAttica by night with his army, and advanced as far as Eleusis; but there\nhis soldiers' hearts failing, after exposing his project and involving\nthe Spartans in a dangerous war, he retreated to Thespiae.  After this,\nthe Athenians zealously sent supplies to Thebes, and putting to sea,\nsailed to many places, and offered support and protection to all those of\nthe Greeks who were willing to revolt.\n\nThe Thebans, meantime, singly, having many skirmishes with the Spartans\nin Boeotia, and fighting some battles, not great indeed, but important as\ntraining and instructing them, thus had their minds raised, and their\nbodies inured to labor, and gained both experience and courage by these\nfrequent encounters; insomuch that we have it related that Antalcidas,\nthe Spartan, said to Agesilaus, returning wounded from Boeotia, \"Indeed,\nthe Thebans have paid you handsomely for instructing them in the art of\nwar, against their wills.\"  In real truth, however, Agesilaus was not\ntheir master in this, but those that prudently and opportunely, as men do\nyoung dogs, set them on their enemies, and brought them safely off after\nthey had tasted the sweets of victory and resolution.  Of all those\nleaders, Pelopidas deserves the most honor:  as after they had once\nchosen him general, he was every year in command as long as he lived;\neither captain of the sacred band, or, what was most frequent, chief\ncaptain  of Boeotia.  About Plataea and Thespiae the Spartans were\nrouted and put to flight, and Phoebidas, that surprised the Cadmea,\nslain; and at Tanagra a considerable force was worsted, and the leader\nPanthoides killed.  But these encounters, though they raised the victor's\nspirits, did not thoroughly dishearten the unsuccessful; for there was no\nset battle, or regular fighting, but mere incursions on advantage, in\nwhich, according to occasion, they charged, retired again, or pursued.\nBut the battle at Tegyrae, which seemed a prelude to Leuctra, won\nPelopidas a great reputation; for none of the other commanders could\nclaim any hand in the design, nor the enemies any show of victory.  The\ncity of the Orchomenians siding with the Spartans, and having received\ntwo companies for its guard, he kept a constant eye upon it, and\nwatched his opportunity.  Hearing that the garrison had moved into\nLocris, and hoping to find Orchomenus defenseless, he marched with his\nsacred band, and some few horsemen.  But when he approached the city, and\nfound that a reinforcement of the garrison was on its march from Sparta,\nhe made a circuit round the foot of the mountains, and retreated with his\nlittle army through Tegyrae, that being the only way he could pass.  For\nthe river Melas, almost as soon as it rises, spreads itself into marshes\nand navigable pools, and makes all the plain between impassable.  A\nlittle below the marshes stands the temple and oracle of Apollo\nTegyraeus, forsaken not long before that time, having flourished till the\nMedian wars, Echecrates then being priest.  Here they profess that the god\nwas born; the neighboring mountain is called Delos, and there the river\nMelas comes again into a channel; behind the temple rise two springs,\nadmirable for the sweetness, abundance, and coolness of the streams; one\nthey call Phoenix, the other Elaea, even to the present time, as if\nLucina had not been delivered between two trees, but fountains.  A place\nhard by, called Ptoum, is shown, where they say she was affrighted by the\nappearance of a boar; and the stories of the Python and Tityus are in\nlike manner appropriated by these localities.  I omit many of the points\nthat are used as arguments.  For our tradition does not rank this god\namongst those that were born, and then made immortal, as Hercules and\nBacchus, whom their virtue raised above a mortal and passable condition;\nbut Apollo is one of the eternal unbegotten deities, if we may collect\nany certainty concerning these things, from the statements of the oldest\nand wisest in such subjects.\n\nAs Thebans were retreating from Orchomenus towards Tegyrae, the\nSpartans, at the same time marching from Locris, met them.  As soon as\nthey came in view, advancing through the straits, one told Pelopidas, \"We\nare fallen into our enemy's hands;\" he replied, \"And why not they into\nours?\" and immediately commanded his horse to come up from the rear and\ncharge, while he himself drew his infantry, being three hundred in\nnumber, into a close body, hoping by that means, at whatsoever point he\nmade the attack, to break his way through his more numerous enemies.  The\nSpartans had two companies, (the company consisting, as Ephorus states,\nof five hundred; Callisthenes says seven hundred; others, as Polybius,\nnine hundred) and their leaders, Gorgoleon and Theopompus, confident of\nsuccess, advanced upon the Thebans.  The charge being made with much\nfury, chiefly where the commanders were posted, the Spartan captains that\nengaged Pelopidas were first killed; and those immediately around them\nsuffering severely, the whole army was thus disheartened, and opened a\nlane for the Thebans, as if they desired to pass through and escape.  But\nwhen Pelopidas entered, and turning against those that stood their\nground, still went on with a bloody slaughter, an open fight ensued\namongst the Spartans.  The pursuit was carried but a little way, because\nthey feared the neighboring Orchomenians, and the reinforcement from\nLacedaemon; they had succeeded, however, in fighting a way through their\nenemies, and overpowering their whole force; and, therefore, erecting a\ntrophy, and spoiling the slain, they returned home extremely encouraged\nwith their achievements.  For in all the great wars there had ever been\nagainst Greeks or barbarians, the Spartans were never before beaten by a\nsmaller company than their own; nor, indeed, in a set battle, when their\nnumber was equal.  Hence their courage was thought irresistible, and\ntheir high repute before the battle made a conquest already of enemies,\nwho thought themselves no match for the men of Sparta even on equal\nterms.  But this battle first taught the other Greeks, that not only\nEurotas, or the country between Babyce and Cnacion, breeds men of courage\nand resolution; but that where the youth are ashamed of baseness, and\nready to venture in a good cause, where they fly disgrace more than\ndanger, there, wherever it be, are found the bravest and most formidable\nopponents.\n\nGorgidas, according to some, first formed the Sacred Band of three\nhundred chosen men, to whom, as being a guard for the citadel, the State\nallowed provision, and all things necessary for exercise:  and hence they\nwere called the city band, as citadels of old were usually called cities.\nOthers say that it was composed of young men attached to each other by\npersonal affection, and a pleasant saying of Pammenes is current, that\nHomer's Nestor was not well skilled in ordering an army, when he advised\nthe Greeks to rank tribe and tribe, and family and family together, that\n\nSo tribe might tribe, and kinsmen kinsmen aid,\n\nbut that he should have joined lovers and their beloved.  For men of the\nsame tribe or family little value one another when dangers press; but a\nband cemented by friendship grounded upon love, is never to be broken,\nand invincible; since the lovers, ashamed to be base in sight of their\nbeloved, and the beloved before their lovers, willingly rush into danger\nfor the relief of one another.  Nor can that be wondered at; since they\nhave more regard for their absent lovers than for others present; as in\nthe instance of the man, who, when his enemy was going to kill him,\nearnestly requested him to run him through the breast, that his lover\nmight not blush to see him wounded in the back.  It is a tradition\nlikewise, that Iolaus, who assisted Hercules in his labors and fought at\nhis side, was beloved of him; and Aristotle observes, that even in his\ntime, lovers plighted their faith at Iolaus's tomb.  It is likely,\ntherefore, that this band was called sacred on this account; as Plato\ncalls a lover a divine friend.  It is stated that it was never beaten\ntill the battle at Chaeronea:  and when Philip, after the fight, took a\nview of the slain, and came to the place where the three hundred that\nfought his phalanx lay dead together, he wondered, and understanding that\nit was the band of lovers, he shed tears and said, \"Perish any man who\nsuspects that these men either did or suffered anything that was base.\"\n\nIt was not the disaster of Laius, as the poets imagine, that first gave\nrise to this form of attachment amongst the Thebans, but their\nlaw-givers, designing to soften, whilst they were young, their natural\nfierceness, brought, for example, the pipe into great esteem, both in\nserious and sportive occasions, and gave great encouragement to these\nfriendships in the Palaestra, to temper the manners and characters of the\nyouth.  With a view to this they did well, again, to make Harmony, the\ndaughter of Mars and Venus, their tutelar deity; since, where force and\ncourage is joined with gracefulness and winning behavior a harmony ensues\nthat combines all the elements of society in perfect consonance and\norder.  -- Gorgidas distributed this Sacred Band all through the front\nranks of the infantry and thus made their gallantry less conspicuous; not\nbeing united in one body, but mingled with so many others of inferior\nresolution, they had no fair opportunity of showing what they could do.\nBut Pelopidas, having sufficiently tried their bravery at Tegyrae, where\nthey had fought alone, and around his own person, never afterward\ndivided them, but keeping them entire, and as one man, gave them the\nfirst duty in the greatest battles.  For as horses run brisker in a\nchariot than singly, not that their joint force divides the air with\ngreater ease, but because being matched one against the other, emulation\nkindles and inflames their courage; thus he thought, brave men, provoking\none another to noble actions, would prove most serviceable and most\nresolute, where all were united together.\n\nNow when the Lacedaemonians had made peace with the other Greeks, and\nunited all their strength against the Thebans only, and their king,\nCleombrotus, had passed the frontier with ten thousand foot and one\nthousand horse, and not only subjection, as heretofore, but total\ndispersion and annihilation threatened, and Boeotia was in a greater fear\nthan ever, -- Pelopidas, leaving his house, when his wife followed him on\nhis way, and with tears begged him to be careful of his life, made\nanswer, \"Private men, my wife, should be advised to look to themselves,\ngenerals to save others.\"  And when he came to the camp, and found the\nchief captains disagreeing, he, first, joined the side of Epaminondas,\nwho advised to fight the enemy; though Pelopidas himself was not then in\noffice as chief captain of Boeotia, but in command of the Sacred Band,\nand trusted as it was fit a man should be, who had given his country such\nproofs of his zeal for its freedom.  And so, when a battle was agreed on,\nand they encamped in front of the Spartans at Leuctra, Pelopidas saw a\nvision, which much discomposed him.  In that plain lie the bodies of the\ndaughters of one Scedasus, called from the place Leuctridae, having been\nburied there, after having been ravished by some Spartan strangers.  When\nthis base and lawless deed was done, and their father could get no\nsatisfaction at Lacedaemon, with bitter imprecations on the Spartans, he\nkilled himself at his daughters' tombs:  and, from that time, the\nprophecies and oracles still warned them to have a great care of the\ndivine vengeance at Leuctra.  Many, however, did not understand the\nmeaning, being uncertain about the place, because there was a little\nmaritime town of Laconia called Leuctron, and near Megalopolis in Arcadia\na place of the same name; and the villainy was committed long before this\nbattle.\n\nNow Pelopidas, being asleep in the camp, thought he saw the maidens\nweeping about their tombs, and cursing the Spartans, and Scedasus\ncommanding, if they desired the victory, to sacrifice a virgin with\nchestnut hair to his daughters.  Pelopidas looked on this as an harsh and\nimpious injunction, but rose and told it to the prophets and commanders\nof the army, some of whom contended, that it was fit to obey, and adduced\nas examples from the ancients, Menoeceus, son of Creon; Macaria, daughter\nof Hercules; and from later times, Pherecydes the philosopher, slain by\nthe Lacedaemonians, and his skin, as the oracles advised, still kept by\ntheir kings.  Leonidas, again, warned by the oracle, did as it were\nsacrifice himself for the good of Greece; Themistocles offered human\nvictims to Bacchus Omestes, before the engagement at Salamis; and success\nshowed their actions to be good.  On the contrary, Agesilaus going from\nthe same place, and against the same enemies that Agamemnon did, and,\nbeing commanded in a dream at Aulis to sacrifice his daughter, was so\nweak as to disobey; the consequence of which was, that his expedition was\nunsuccessful and inglorious.  But some on the other side urged, that such\na barbarous and impious oblation could not be pleasing to any Superior\nBeings:  that typhons and giants did not preside over the world, but the\ngeneral father of gods and men; that it was absurd to imagine any\ndivinities or powers delighted in slaughter and sacrifices of men; or, if\nthere were an, such, they were to be neglected, as weak and unable to\nassist; such unreasonable and cruel desires could only proceed from, and\nlive in weak and depraved minds.\n\nThe commanders thus disputing, and Pelopidas being in a great perplexity,\na mare colt, breaking from the herd, ran through the camp, and when she\ncame to the place where they were, stood still; and whilst some admired\nher bright chestnut color, others her mettle, or the strength and fury of\nher neighing, Theocritus, the augur, took thought, and cried out to\nPelopidas, \"O good friend! look, the sacrifice is come; expect no other\nvirgin, but use that which the gods have sent thee.\"  With that they took\nthe colt, and, leading her to the maidens' sepulchres, with the usual\nsolemnity and prayers, offered her with joy, and spread through the whole\narmy the account of Pelopidas's dream, and how they had given the\nrequired sacrifice.\n\nIn the battle, Epaminondas, bending his phalanx to the left, that, as\nmuch as possible, he might divide the right wing, composed of Spartans,\nfrom the other Greeks, and distress Cleombrotus, by a fierce charge in\ncolumn on that wing, the enemies perceived the design, and began to\nchange their order, to open and extend their right wing, and, as they far\nexceeded him in number, to encompass Epaminondas.  But Pelopidas with the\nthree hundred came rapidly up, before Cleombrotus could extend his line,\nand close up his divisions, and so fell upon the Spartans while in\ndisorder; though the Lacedaemonians, the expertest and most practiced\nsoldiers of all mankind, used to train and accustom themselves to nothing\nso much as to keep themselves from confusion upon any change of position,\nand to follow any leader, or right hand man, and form in order, and fight\non what part soever dangers press.  In this battle, however, Epaminondas\nwith his phalanx, neglecting the other Greeks, and charging them alone,\nand Pelopidas coming up with such incredible speed and fury, so broke\ntheir courage, and baffled their art, that there began such a flight and\nslaughter amongst the Spartans, as was never before known.  And so\nPelopidas, though in no high office, but only captain of a small band,\ngot as much reputation by the victory, as Epaminondas, who was general\nand chief captain of Boeotia.\n\nInto Peloponnesus, however, they both advanced together as colleagues in\nsupreme command, and gained the greater part of the nations there from\nthe Spartan confederacy; Elis, Argo, all Arcadia, and much of Laconia\nitself.  It was the dead of winter, and but few of the last days of the\nmonth remained, and, in the beginning of the next, new officers were to\nsucceed, and whoever failed to deliver up his charge, forfeited his head.\nTherefore, the other chief captains fearing the law, and to avoid the\nsharpness of the winter, advised a retreat.  But Pelopidas joined with\nEpaminondas, and, encouraging his countrymen, led them against Sparta,\nand, passing the Eurotas, took many of the towns, and wasted the country\nas far as the sea.  This army consisted of seventy thousand Greeks, of\nwhich number the Thebans could not make the twelfth part; but the\nreputation of the men made all their allies contented to follow them as\nleaders, though no articles to that effect had been made.  For, indeed,\nit seems the first and paramount law, that he that wants a defender, is\nnaturally a subject to him that is able to defend:  as mariners, though\nin a calm or in the port they grow insolent, and brave the pilot, yet\nwhen a storm comes, and danger is at hand, they all attend, and put their\nhopes in him.  So the Argives, Eleans, and Arcadians, in their\ncongresses, would contend with the Thebans for superiority in command,\nyet in a battle, or any hazardous undertaking, of their own will followed\ntheir Theban captains.  In this expedition, they united all Arcadia into\none body, and, expelling the Spartans that inhabited Messenia, they\ncalled back the old Messenians, and established them in Ithome in one\nbody; -- and, returning through Cenchreae, they dispersed the Athenians, who\ndesigned to set upon them in the straits, and hinder their march.\n\nFor these exploits, all the other Greeks loved their courage, and admired\ntheir success; but among their own citizens, envy, still increasing with\ntheir glory, prepared them no pleasing nor agreeable reception.  Both\nwere tried for their lives, because they did not deliver up their command\nin the first month, Bucatius, as the law required, but kept it four\nmonths longer, in which time they did these memorable actions in\nMessenia, Arcadia, and Laconia.  Pelopidas was first tried, and therefore\nin greatest danger, but both were acquitted.  Epaminondas bore the\naccusation and trial very patiently, esteeming it a great and essential\npart of courage and generosity, not to resent injuries in political life.\nBut Pelopidas, being a man of a fiercer temper, and stirred on by his\nfriends to revenge the affront, took the following occasion.  Meneclidas,\nthe orator, was one of those that had met with Melon and Pelopidas at\nCharon's house; but not receiving equal honor, and being powerful in his\nspeech, but loose in his manners, and ill-natured, he abused his natural\nendowments, even after this trial, to accuse and calumniate his betters.\nHe excluded Epaminondas from the chief captaincy, and for a long time\nkept the upper hand of him; but he was not powerful enough to bring\nPelopidas out of the people's favor, and therefore endeavored to raise a\nquarrel between him and Charon.  And since it is some comfort to the\nenvious, to make those men, whom themselves cannot excel, appear worse\nthan others, he studiously enlarged upon Charon's actions in his speeches\nto the people, and made panegyrics on his expeditions and victories; and,\nof the victory which the horsemen won at Plataea, before the battle at\nLeuctra, under Charon's command, he endeavored to make the following\nsacred memorial.  Androcydes, the Cyzicenian, had undertaken to paint a\nprevious battle for the city, and was at work in Thebes; and when the\nrevolt began, and the war came on, the Thebans kept the picture that was\nthen almost finished.  This picture Meneclidas persuaded them to\ndedicate, inscribed with Charon's name, designing by that means to\nobscure the glory of Epaminondas and Pelopidas.  This was a ludicrous\npiece of pretension; to set a single victory, where only one Gerandas, an\nobscure Spartan, and forty more were slain, above such numerous and\nimportant battles.  This motion Pelopidas opposed, as contrary to law,\nalleging that it was not the custom of the Thebans to honor any single\nman, but to attribute the victory to their country; yet in all the\ncontest, he extremely commended Charon, and confined himself to showing\nMeneclidas to be a troublesome and envious fellow, asking the Thebans, if\nthey had done nothing that was excellent, .... insomuch that\nMeneclidas was severely fined; and he, being unable to pay, endeavored\nafterwards to disturb the government.  These things give us some light\ninto Pelopidas's life.\n\nNow when Alexander, the tyrant of Pherae, made open war against some of\nthe Thessalians, and had designs against all, the cities sent an embassy\nto Thebes, to desire succors and a general; and Pelopidas, knowing that\nEpaminondas was detained by the Peloponnesian affairs, offered himself to\nlead the Thessalians, being unwilling to let his courage and skill lie\nidle, and thinking it unfit that Epaminondas should be withdrawn from his\npresent duties.  When he came into Thessaly with his army, he presently\ntook Larissa, and endeavored to reclaim Alexander, who submitted, and\nbring him, from being a tyrant, to govern gently, and according to law;\nbut finding him untractable and brutish, and hearing great complaints of\nhis lust and cruelty, Pelopidas began to be severe, and used him roughly,\ninsomuch that the tyrant stole away privately with his guard.  But\nPelopidas, leaving the Thessalians fearless of the tyrant, and friends\namongst themselves, marched into Macedonia, where Ptolemy was then at war\nwith Alexander, the king of Macedon; both parties having sent for him to\nhear and determine their differences, and assist the one that appeared\ninjured.  When he came, he reconciled them, called back the exiles, and,\nreceiving for hostages Philip the king's brother, and thirty children of\nthe nobles, he brought them to Thebes; showing the other Greeks how wide\na reputation the Thebans had gained for honesty and courage.  This was\nthat Philip who afterward endeavored to enslave the Greeks:  then he was\na boy, and lived with Pammenes in Thebes; and hence some conjecture, that\nhe took Epaminondas's actions for the rule of his own; and perhaps,\nindeed, he did take example from his activity and skill in war, which,\nhowever, was but a small portion of his virtues; of his temperance,\njustice, generosity, and mildness, in which he was truly great, Philip\nenjoyed no share, either by nature or imitation.\n\nAfter this, upon a second complaint of the Thessalians against Alexander\nof Pherae, as a disturber of the cities, Pelopidas was joined with\nIsmenias, in an embassy to him; but led no forces from Thebes, not\nexpecting any war, and therefore was necessitated to make use of the\nThessalians upon the emergency.  At the same time, also, Macedon was in\nconfusion again, as Ptolemy had murdered the king, and seized the\ngovernment:  but the king's friends sent for Pelopidas, and he, being\nwilling to interpose in the matter, but having no soldiers of his own,\nenlisted some mercenaries in the country, and with them marched against\nPtolemy.  When they faced one another, Ptolemy corrupted these\nmercenaries with a sum of money, and persuaded them to revolt to him; but\nyet, fearing the very name and reputation of Pelopidas, he came to him as\nhis superior, submitted, begged his pardon, and protested that he kept\nthe government only for the brothers of the dead king, and would prove a\nfriend to the friends, and an enemy to the enemies of Thebes; and, to\nconfirm this, he gave his son, Philoxenus, and fifty of his companions,\nfor hostages.  These Pelopidas sent to Thebes; but he himself, being\nvexed at the treachery of the mercenaries, and understanding that most of\ntheir goods, their wives and children, lay at Pharsalus, so that if he\ncould take them, the injury would be sufficiently revenged, got together\nsome of the Thessalians, and marched to Pharsalus.  When he had just\nentered the city, Alexander, the tyrant, appeared before it with an army;\nbut Pelopidas and his friends, thinking that he came to clear himself\nfrom those crimes that were laid to his charge, went to him; and though\nthey knew very well that he was profligate and cruel, yet they imagined\nthat the authority of Thebes, and their own dignity and reputation, would\nsecure them from violence.  But the tyrant, seeing them come unarmed and\nalone, seized them, and made himself master of Pharsalus.  Upon this his\nsubjects were much intimidated, thinking that after so great and so bold\nan iniquity, he would spare none, but behave himself toward all, and in\nall matters, as one despairing of his life.  The Thebans, when they heard\nof this, were very much enraged, and dispatched an army, Epaminondas\nbeing then in disgrace, under the command of other leaders.  When the\ntyrant brought Pelopidas to Pherae, at first he permitted those that\ndesired it to speak with him, imagining that this disaster would break\nhis spirit, and make him appear contemptible.  But when Pelopidas advised\nthe complaining Pheraeans to be comforted, as if the tyrant was now\ncertain in a short time to smart for his injuries, and sent to tell him,\n\"That it was absurd daily to torment and murder his wretched innocent\nsubjects, and yet spare him, who, he well knew, if ever he got his\nliberty, would be bitterly revenged;\" the tyrant, wondering at his\nboldness and freedom of speech, replied, \"And why is Pelopidas in haste\nto die?\"  He, hearing of it, rejoined, \"That you may be the sooner\nruined, being then more hated by the gods than now.\"  From that time he\nforbade any to converse with him; but Thebe, the daughter of Jason and\nwife to Alexander, hearing from the keepers of the bravery and noble\nbehavior of Pelopidas, had a great desire to see and speak with him.  Now\nwhen she came into the prison, and, as a woman, could not at once discern\nhis greatness in his calamity, only, judging by the meanness of his\nattire and general appearance, that he was used basely and not befitting\na man of his reputation, she wept.  Pelopidas, at first not knowing who\nshe was, stood amazed; but when he understood, saluted her by her\nfather's name -- Jason and he having been friends and familiars -- and\nshe saying, \"I pity your wife, Sir,\" he replied, \"And I you, that though\nnot in chains, can endure Alexander.\"  This touched the woman, who\nalready hated Alexander for his cruelty and injustice, for his general\ndebaucheries, and for his abuse of her youngest brother.  She, therefore,\noften went to Pelopidas, and, speaking freely of the indignities she\nsuffered, grew more enraged, and more exasperated against Alexander.\n\nThe Theban generals that were sent into Thessaly did nothing, but, being\neither unskillful or unfortunate, made a dishonorable retreat, for which\nthe city fined each of them ten thousand drachmas, and sent Epaminondas\nwith their forces.  The Thessalians, inspirited by the fame of this\ngeneral, at once began to stir, and the tyrant's affairs were at the\nverge of destruction; so great was the fear that possessed his captains\nand his friends, and so eager the desire of his subjects to revolt, in\nhope of his speedy punishment.  But Epaminondas, more solicitous for the\nsafety of Pelopidas than his own glory, and fearing that if things came\nto extremity, Alexander would grow desperate, and, like a wild beast,\nturn and worry him, did not prosecute the war to the utmost; but,\nhovering still over him with his army, he so handled the tyrant as not to\nleave him any confidence, and yet not to drive him to despair and fury.\nHe was aware of his savageness, and the little value he had for right and\njustice, insomuch that sometimes he buried men alive, and sometimes\ndressed them in bear's and boar's skins, and then baited them with dogs,\nor shot at them for his divertisement.  At Meliboea and Scotussa, two\ncities, his allies, he called all the inhabitants to an assembly, and\nthen surrounded them and cut them to pieces with his guards.  He\nconsecrated the spear with which he killed his uncle Polyphron, and,\ncrowning it with garlands, sacrificed to it as a god, and called it\nTychon.  And once seeing a tragedian act Euripides's Troades, he left the\ntheater; but sending for the actor, bade him not to be concerned at his\ndeparture, but act as he had been used to do, as it was not in contempt\nof him that he departed, but because he was ashamed that his citizens\nshould see him, who never pitied any man that he murdered, weep at the\nsufferings of Hecuba and Andromache.  This tyrant, however, alarmed at\nthe very name, report, and appearance of an expedition under the conduct\nof Epaminondas, presently\n\nDropped like a craven cock his conquered wing,\n\nand sent an embassy to entreat and offer satisfaction.  Epaminondas\nrefused to admit such a man as an ally to the Thebans, but granted him a\ntruce of thirty days, and, Pelopidas and Ismenias being delivered up,\nreturned home.\n\nNow the Thebans, understanding that the Spartans and Athenians had sent\nan embassy to the Persians for assistance, themselves, likewise, sent\nPelopidas; an excellent design to increase his glory, no man having ever\nbefore passed through the dominions of the king with greater fame and\nreputation.  For the glory that he won against the Spartans, did not\ncreep slowly or obscurely; but, after the fame of the first battle at\nLeuctra was gone abroad, the report of new victories continually\nfollowing, exceedingly increased, and spread his celebrity far and near.\nWhatever satraps or generals or commanders he met, he was the object of\ntheir wonder and discourse; \"This is the man,\" they said, \"who hath\nbeaten the Lacedaemonians from sea and land, and confined that Sparta\nwithin Taygetus and Eurotas, which, but a little before, under the\nconduct of Agesilaus, was entering upon a war with the great king about\nSusa and Ecbatana.\"  This pleased Artaxerxes, and he was the more\ninclined to show Pelopidas attention and honor, being desirous to seem\nreverenced, and attended by the greatest.  But when he saw him and heard\nhis discourse, more solid than the Athenians, and not so haughty as the\nSpartans, his regard was heightened, and, truly acting like a king, he\nopenly showed the respect that he felt for him; and this the other\nambassadors perceived.  Of all other Greeks he had been thought to have\ndone Antalcidas, the Spartan, the greatest honor, by sending him that\ngarland dipped in an unguent, which he himself had worn at an\nentertainment.  Indeed, he did not deal so delicately with Pelopidas,\nbut, according to the custom, gave him the most splendid and considerable\npresents, and granted him his desires, that the Grecians should be free,\nMessenia inhabited, and the Thebans accounted the king's hereditary\nfriends.  With these answers, but not accepting one of the presents,\nexcept what was a pledge of kindness and good-will, he returned.  This\nbehavior of Pelopidas ruined the other ambassadors:  the Athenians\ncondemned and executed their Timagoras, and, indeed, if they did it for\nreceiving so many presents from the king, their sentence was just and\ngood; as he not only took gold and silver, but a rich bed, and slaves to\nmake it, as if the Greeks were unskillful in that art; besides eighty\ncows and herdsmen, professing he needed cow's milk for some distemper;\nand, lastly, he was carried in a litter to the seaside, with a present of\nfour talents for his attendants.  But the Athenians, perhaps, were not so\nmuch irritated at his greediness for the presents.  For Epicrates the\nbaggage-carrier not only confessed to the people that he had received\ngifts from the king, but made a motion, that instead of nine archons,\nthey should yearly choose nine poor citizens to be sent ambassadors to\nthe king, and enriched by his presents, and the people only laughed at\nthe joke.  But they were vexed that the Thebans obtained their desires,\nnever considering that Pelopidas's fame was more powerful than all their\nrhetorical discourse, with a man who still inclined to the victorious in\narms.  This embassy, having obtained the restitution of Messenia, and the\nfreedom of the other Greeks, got Pelopidas a great deal of good-will at\nhis return.\n\nAt this time, Alexander the Pheraean falling back to his old nature, and\nhaving seized many of the Thessalian cities, and put garrisons upon the\nAchaeans of Phthiotis, and the Magnesians, the cities, hearing that\nPelopidas was returned, sent an embassy to Thebes, requesting succors,\nand him for their leader.  The Thebans willingly granted their desire;\nand now when all things were prepared, and the general beginning to\nmarch, the sun was eclipsed, and darkness spread over the city at\nnoonday.  Now when Pelopidas saw them startled at the prodigy, he did not\nthink it fit to force on men who were afraid and out of heart, nor to\nhazard seven thousand of his citizens; and therefore with only three\nhundred horse volunteers, set forward himself to Thessaly, much against\nthe will of the augurs and his fellow-citizens in general, who all\nimagined this marked portent to have reference to this great man.  But he\nwas heated against Alexander for the injuries he had received, and hoped\nlikewise, from the discourse which formerly he had with Thebe, that his\nfamily by this time was divided and in disorder.  But the glory of the\nexpedition chiefly excited him; for he was extremely desirous at this\ntime, when the Lacedaemonians were sending out military officers to\nassist Dionysius the Sicilian tyrant, and the Athenians took Alexander's\npay, and honored him with a brazen statue as a benefactor, that the\nThebans should be seen, alone, of all the Greeks, undertaking the cause\nof those who were oppressed by tyrants, and destroying the violent and\nillegal forms of government in Greece.\n\nWhen Pelopidas was come to Pharsalus, he formed an army, and presently\nmarched against Alexander; and Alexander understanding that Pelopidas had\nfew Thebans with him, and that his own infantry was double the number of\nthe Thessalians, faced him at Thetidium.  Some one told Pelopidas, \"The\ntyrant meets us with a great army;\" \"So much the better,\" he replied,\n\"for then we shall overcome the more.\"  Between the two armies lay some\nsteep high hills about Cynoscephalae, which both parties endeavored to\ntake by their foot.  Pelopidas commanded his horse, which were good and\nmany, to charge that of the enemies; they routed and pursued them through\nthe plain.  But Alexander, meantime, took the hills, and charging the\nThessalian foot that came up later, and strove to climb the steep and\ncraggy ascent, killed the foremost, and the others, much distressed,\ncould do the enemies no harm.  Pelopidas, observing this, sounded a\nretreat to his horse, and gave orders that they should charge the enemies\nthat kept their ground; and he himself, taking his shield, quickly\njoined those that fought about the hills, and, advancing to the front,\nfilled his men with such courage and alacrity, that the enemies imagined\nthey came with other spirits and other bodies to the onset.  They stood\ntwo or three charges, but finding these come on stoutly, and the horse,\nalso, returning from the pursuit, gave ground, and retreated in order.\nPelopidas now perceiving, from the rising ground, that the enemy's army\nwas, though not yet routed, full of disorder and confusion, stood and\nlooked about for Alexander; and when he saw him in the right wing,\nencouraging and ordering his mercenaries, he could not moderate his\nanger, but inflamed at the sight, and blindly following his passion,\nregardless alike of his own life and his command, advanced far before his\nsoldiers, crying out and challenging the tyrant who did not dare to\nreceive him, but retreating, hid himself amongst his guard.  The foremost\nof the mercenaries that came hand to hand were driven back by Pelopidas,\nand some killed; but many at a distance shot through his armor and\nwounded him, till the Thessalians, in anxiety for the result, ran down\nfrom the hill to his relief, but found him already slain.  The horse came\nup, also, and routed the phalanx, and, following the pursuit a great way,\nfilled the whole country with the slain, which were above three thousand.\n\nNo one can wonder that the Thebans then present, should show great grief\nat the death of Pelopidas, calling him their father, deliverer, and\ninstructor in all that was good and commendable.  But the Thessalians and\nthe allies out-doing in their public edicts all the just honors that\ncould be paid to human courage, gave, in their display of feeling, yet\nstronger demonstrations of the kindness they had for him.  It is stated,\nthat none of the soldiers, when they heard of his death, would put off\ntheir armor, unbridle their horses, or dress their wounds, but, still hot\nand with their arms on, ran to the corpse, and, as if he had been yet\nalive and could see what they did, heaped up spoils about his body.  They\ncut off their horses' manes and their own hair, many kindled no fire in\ntheir tents, took no supper, and silence and sadness was spread over all\nthe army; as if they had not gained the greatest and most glorious\nvictory, but were overcome by the tyrant, and enslaved.  As soon as it\nwas known in the cities, the magistrates, youths, children, and priests,\ncame out to meet the body, and brought trophies, crowns, and suits of\ngolden armor; and, when he was to be interred, the elders of the\nThessalians came and begged the Thebans, that they might give the\nfuneral; and one of them said, \"Friends, we ask a favor of you, that will\nprove both an honor and comfort to us in this our great misfortune.  The\nThessalians shall never again wait on the living Pelopidas, never give\nhonors, of which he can be sensible, but if we may have his body, adorn\nhis funeral, and inter him, we shall hope to show that we esteem his\ndeath a greater loss to the Thessalians than to the Thebans.  You have\nlost only a good general, we both a general and our liberty.  For how\nshall we dare to desire from you another captain, since we cannot restore\nPelopidas?\"\n\nThe Thebans granted their request, and there was never a more splendid\nfuneral in the opinion of those, who do not think the glory of such\nsolemnities consists only in gold, ivory, and purple; as Philistus did,\nwho extravagantly celebrates the funeral of Dionysius, in which his\ntyranny concluded like the pompous exit of some great tragedy.  Alexander\nthe Great, at the death of Hephaestion, not only cut off the manes of his\nhorses and his mules, but took down the battlements from the city walls,\nthat even the towns might seem mourners, and, instead of their former\nbeauteous appearance, look bald at his funeral.  But such honors, being\ncommanded and forced from the mourners, attended with feelings of\njealousy towards those who received them, and of hatred towards those who\nexacted them, were no testimonies of love and respect, but of the\nbarbaric pride, luxury, and insolence of those who lavished their wealth\nin these vain and undesirable displays.  But that a man of common rank,\ndying in a strange country, neither his wife, children, nor kinsmen\npresent, none either asking or compelling it, should be attended, buried,\nand crowned by so many cities that strove to exceed one another in the\ndemonstrations of their love, seems to be the sum and completion of happy\nfortune.  For the death of happy men is not, as Aesop observes, most\ngrievous, but most blessed, since it secures their felicity, and puts it\nout of fortune's power.  And that Spartan advised well, who, embracing\nDiagoras, that had himself been crowned in the Olympic Games, and saw his\nsons and grandchildren victors, said, \"Die, Diagoras, for thou canst not\nbe a god.\"  And yet who would compare all the victories in the Pythian\nand Olympian Games put together, with one of those enterprises of\nPelopidas, of which he successfully performed so many?  Having spent his\nlife in brave and glorious actions, he died at last in the chief command,\nfor the thirteenth time, of the Boeotians, fighting bravely and in the\nact of slaying a tyrant, in defense of the liberty of the Thessalians.\n\nHis death, as it brought grief, so likewise it produced advantage to the\nallies; for the Thebans, as soon as they heard of his fall, delayed not\ntheir revenge, but presently sent seven thousand foot and seven hundred\nhorse, under the command of Malcitas and Diogiton.  And they, finding\nAlexander weak and without forces, compelled him to restore the cities he\nhad taken, to withdraw his garrisons from the Magnesians and Achaeans of\nPhthiotis, and swear to assist the Thebans against whatsoever enemies\nthey should require.  This contented the Thebans, but punishment overtook\nthe tyrant for his wickedness, and the death of Pelopidas was revenged by\nHeaven in the following manner.  Pelopidas, as I have already mentioned,\nhad taught his wife Thebe not to fear the outward splendor and show of\nthe tyrant's defenses, since she was admitted within them.  She, of\nherself, too, dreaded his inconstancy, and hated his cruelty; and,\ntherefore, conspiring with her three brothers, Tisiphonus, Pytholaus, and\nLycophron, made the following attempt upon him.  All the other apartments\nwere full of the tyrant's night guards, but their bed-chamber was an\nupper room, and before the door lay a chained dog to guard it, which\nwould fly at all but the tyrant and his wife and one servant that fed\nhim.  When Thebe, therefore, designed to kill her husband, she hid her\nbrothers all day in a room hard by, and she, going in alone, according to\nher usual custom, to Alexander who was asleep already, in a little time\ncame out again, and commanded the servant to lead away the dog, for\nAlexander wished to rest quietly.  She covered the stairs with wool, that\nthe young men might make no noise as they came up; and then, bringing up\nher brothers with their weapons, and leaving them at the chamber door,\nshe went in, and brought away the tyrant's sword that hung over his head\nand showed it them for a confirmation that he was fast asleep.  The young\nmen appearing fearful, and unwilling to do the murder, she chid them, and\nangrily vowed she would wake Alexander, and discover the conspiracy; and\nso, with a lamp in her hand, she conducted them in, they being both\nashamed and afraid, and brought them to the bed; when one of them caught\nhim by the feet, the other pulled him backward by the hair, and the third\nran him through.  The death was more speedy, perhaps, than was fit; but,\nin that he was the first tyrant that was killed by the contrivance of his\nwife, and as his corpse was abused, thrown out, and trodden under foot by\nthe Pheraeans, he seems to have suffered what his villainies deserved.\n\n\n\nMARCELLUS\n\nThey say that Marcus Claudius, who was five times consul of the Romans,\nwas the son of Marcus; and that he was the first of his family called\nMarcellus; that is, martial, as Posidonius affirms.  He was, indeed, by\nlong experience skillful in the art of war, of a strong body, valiant of\nhand, and by natural inclination addicted to war.  This high temper and\nheat he showed conspicuously in battle; in other respects he was modest\nand obliging, and so far studious of Greek learning and discipline, as to\nhonor and admire those that excelled in it, though he did not himself\nattain a proficiency in them equal to his desire, by reason of his\nemployments.  For if ever there were any men, whom, as Homer says,\nHeaven,\n\nFrom their first youth unto their utmost age\nAppointed the laborious wars to wage,\n\ncertainly they were the chief Romans of that time; who in their youth had\nwar with the Carthaginians in Sicily, in their middle age with the Gauls\nin the defense of Italy itself; and, at last, when now grown old,\nstruggled again with Hannibal and the Carthaginians, and wanted in their\nlatest years what is granted to most men, exemption from military toils;\ntheir rank and their great qualities still making them be called upon to\nundertake the command.\n\nMarcellus, ignorant or unskillful of no kind of fighting, in single\ncombat surpassed himself; he never declined a challenge, and never\naccepted without killing his challenger.  In Sicily, he protected and\nsaved his brother Otacilius when surrounded in battle, and slew the\nenemies that pressed upon him; for which act he was by the generals,\nwhile he was yet but young, presented with crowns and other honorable\nrewards; and, his good qualities more and more displaying themselves, he\nwas created Curule Aedile by the people, and by the high-priests Augur;\nwhich is that priesthood to which chiefly the law assigns the observation\nof auguries.  In his aedileship, a certain mischance brought him to the\nnecessity of bringing an impeachment into the senate.  He had a son named\nMarcus, of great beauty, in the flower of his age, and no less admired\nfor the goodness of his character.  This youth, Capitolinus, a bold and\nill-mannered man, Marcellus's colleague, sought to abuse.  The boy at\nfirst himself repelled him; but when the other again persecuted him, told\nhis father.  Marcellus, highly indignant, accused the man in the senate,\nwhere he, having appealed to the tribunes of the people, endeavored by\nvarious shifts and exceptions to elude the impeachment; and, when the\ntribunes refused their protection, by flat denial rejected the charge.\nAs there was no witness of the fact, the senate thought fit to call the\nyouth himself before them; on witnessing whose blushes and tears, and\nshame mixed with the highest indignation, seeking no further evidence of\nthe crime, they condemned Capitolinus, and set a fine upon him; of the\nmoney of which, Marcellus caused silver vessels for libation to be made,\nwhich he dedicated to the gods.\n\nAfter the end of the first Punic war, which lasted one and twenty years,\nthe seeds of Gallic tumults sprang up, and began again to trouble Rome.\nThe Insubrians, a people inhabiting the subalpine region of Italy, strong\nin their own forces, raised from among the other Gauls aids of mercenary\nsoldiers, called Gaesatae.  And it was a sort of miracle, and special\ngood fortune for Rome, that the Gallic war was not coincident with the\nPunic, but that the Gauls had with fidelity stood quiet as spectators,\nwhile the Punic war continued, as though they had been under engagements\nto await and attack the victors, and now only were at liberty to come\nforward.  Still the position itself, and the ancient renown of the Gauls,\nstruck no little fear into the minds of the Romans, who were about to\nundertake a war so near home and upon their own borders; and regarded the\nGauls, because they had once taken their city, with more apprehension\nthan any people, as is apparent from the enactment which from that time\nforth provided, that the high-priests should enjoy an exemption from all\nmilitary duty, except only in Gallic insurrections.\n\nThe great preparations, also, made by the Romans for war, (for it is not\nreported that the people of Rome ever had at one time so many legions in\narms, either before or since,) and their extraordinary sacrifices, were\nplain arguments of their fear.  For though they were most averse to\nbarbarous and cruel rites, and entertained more than any nation the same\npious and reverent sentiments of the gods with the Greeks; yet, when this\nwar was coming upon them, they then, from some prophecies in the Sibyls'\nbooks, put alive under ground a pair of Greeks, one male, the other\nfemale; and likewise two Gauls, one of each sex, in the market called the\nbeast-market:  continuing even to this day to offer to these Greeks and\nGauls certain secret ceremonial observances in the month of November.\n\nIn the beginning of this war, in which the Romans sometimes obtained\nremarkable victories, sometimes were shamefully beaten, nothing was done\ntoward the determination of the contest, until Flaminius and Furius,\nbeing consuls, led large forces against the Insubrians.  At the time of\ntheir departure, the river that runs through the country of Picenum was\nseen flowing with blood; there was a report, that three moons had been\nseen at once at Ariminum; and, in the consular assembly, the augurs\ndeclared, that the consuls had been unduly and inauspiciously created.\nThe senate, therefore, immediately sent letters to the camp, recalling\nthe consuls to Rome with all possible speed, and commanding them to\nforbear from acting against the enemies, and to abdicate the consulship\non the first opportunity.  These letters being brought to Flaminius, he\ndeferred to open them till, having defeated and put to flight the enemy's\nforces, he wasted and ravaged their borders.  The people, therefore, did\nnot go forth to meet him when he returned with huge spoils; nay, because\nhe had not instantly obeyed the command in the letters, by which he was\nrecalled, but slighted and contemned them, they were very near denying\nhim the honor of a triumph.  Nor was the triumph sooner passed than they\ndeposed him, with his colleague, from the magistracy, and reduced them to\nthe state of private citizens.  So much were all things at Rome made to\ndepend upon religion; they would not allow any contempt of the omens and\nthe ancient rites, even though attended with the highest success;\nthinking it to be of more importance to the public safety, that the\nmagistrates should reverence the gods, than that they should overcome\ntheir enemies.  Thus Tiberius Sempronius, whom for his probity and virtue\nthe citizens highly esteemed, created Scipio Nasica and Caius Marcius,\nconsuls to succeed him:  and when they were gone into their provinces,\nlit upon books concerning the religious observances, where he found\nsomething he had not known before; which was this.  When the consul took\nhis auspices, he sat without the city in a house, or tent, hired for that\noccasion; but, if it happened that he, for any urgent cause, returned\ninto the city, without having yet seen any certain signs, he was obliged\nto leave that first building, or tent, and to seek another to repeat the\nsurvey from.  Tiberius, it appears, in ignorance of this, had twice used\nthe same building before announcing the new consuls.  Now, understanding\nhis error, he referred the matter to the senate:  nor did the senate\nneglect this minute fault, but soon wrote expressly of it to Scipio\nNasica and Caius Marcius; who, leaving their provinces and without delay\nreturning to Rome, laid down their magistracy.  This happened at a later\nperiod.  About the same time, too, the priesthood was taken away from two\nmen of very great honor, Cornelius Cethegus and Quintus Sulpicius:  from\nthe former, because he had not rightly held out the entrails of a beast\nslain for sacrifice; from the latter, because, while he was immolating,\nthe tufted cap which the Flamens wear had fallen from his head.\nMinucius, the dictator, who had already named Caius Flaminius master of\nthe horse, they deposed from his command, because the squeak of a mouse\nwas heard, and put others into their places.  And yet, notwithstanding,\nby observing so anxiously these little niceties they did not run into any\nsuperstition, because they never varied from nor exceeded the observances\nof their ancestors.\n\nSo soon as Flaminius with his colleague had resigned the consulate,\nMarcellus was declared consul by the presiding officers called\nInterrexes; and, entering into the magistracy, chose Cnaeus Cornelius his\ncolleague.  There was a report that, the Gauls proposing a pacification,\nand the senate also inclining to peace, Marcellus inflamed the people to\nwar; but a peace appears to have been agreed upon, which the Gaesatae\nbroke; who, passing the Alps, stirred up the Insubrians, (they being\nthirty thousand in number, and the Insubrians more numerous by far) and,\nproud of their strength, marched directly to Acerrae, a city seated on\nthe north of the river Po.  From thence Britomartus, king of the\nGaesatae, taking with him ten thousand soldiers, harassed the country\nround about. News of which being brought to Marcellus, leaving his\ncolleague at Acerrae with the foot and all the heavy arms and a third\npart of the horse, and carrying with him the rest of the horse and six\nhundred light armed foot, marching night and day without remission, he\nstaid not till he came up to these ten thousand near a Gaulish village\ncalled Clastidium, which not long before had been reduced under the Roman\njurisdiction.  Nor had he time to refresh his soldiers, or to give them\nrest.  For the barbarians, that were then present, immediately observed\nhis approach, and contemned him, because he had very few foot with him.\nThe Gauls were singularly skillful in horsemanship, and thought to excel\nin it; and as at present they also exceeded Marcellus in number, they\nmade no account of him.  They, therefore, with their king at their head,\ninstantly charged upon him, as if they would trample him under their\nhorses' feet, threatening all kind of cruelties.  Marcellus, because his\nmen were few, that they might not be encompassed and charged on all sides\nby the enemy, extended his wings of horse, and, riding about, drew out\nhis wings of foot in length, till he came near to the enemy.  Just as he\nwas in the act of turning round to face the enemy, it so happened that\nhis horse, startled with their fierce look and their cries, gave back,\nand carried him forcibly aside.  Fearing lest this accident, if converted\ninto an omen, might discourage his soldiers, he quickly brought his horse\nround to confront the enemy, and made a gesture of adoration to the sun,\nas if he had wheeled about not by chance, but for a purpose of devotion.\nFor it was customary to the Romans, when they offered worship to the\ngods, to turn round; and in this moment of meeting the enemy, he is said\nto have vowed the best of the arms to Jupiter Feretrius.\n\nThe king of the Gauls beholding Marcellus, and from the badges of his\nauthority conjecturing him to be the general, advanced some way before\nhis embattled army, and with a loud voice challenged him, and,\nbrandishing his lance, fiercely ran in full career at him; exceeding the\nrest of the Gauls in stature, and with his armor, that was adorned with\ngold and silver and various colors, shining like lightning.  These arms\nseeming to Marcellus, while he viewed the enemy's army drawn up in\nbattalia, to be the best and fairest, and thinking them to be those he\nhad vowed to Jupiter, he instantly ran upon the king, and pierced through\nhis breastplate with his lance; then pressing upon him with the weight of\nhis horse, threw him to the ground, and with two or three strokes more,\nslew him.  Immediately he leapt from his horse, laid his hand upon the\ndead king's arms, and, looking up toward Heaven, thus spoke:  \"O Jupiter\nFeretrius, arbiter of the exploits of captains, and of the acts of\ncommanders in war and battles, be thou witness that I, a general, have\nslain a general; I, a consul, have slain a king with my own hand, third\nof all the Romans; and that to thee I consecrate these first and most\nexcellent of the spoils.  Grant to us to dispatch the relics of the war,\nwith the same course of fortune.\"  Then the Roman horse joining battle\nnot only with the enemy's horse, but also with the foot who attacked\nthem, obtained a singular and unheard of victory.  For never before or\nsince have so few horse defeated such numerous forces of horse and foot\ntogether.  The enemies being to a great number slain, and the spoils\ncollected, he returned to his colleague, who was conducting the war, with\nill success, against the enemies near the greatest and most populous of\nthe Gallic cities, Milan.  This was their capital, and, therefore,\nfighting valiantly in defense of it, they were not so much besieged by\nCornelius, as they besieged him.  But Marcellus having returned, and the\nGaesatae retiring as soon as they were certified of the death of the king\nand the defeat of his army, Milan was taken.  The rest of their towns,\nand all they had, the Gauls delivered up of their own accord to the\nRomans, and had peace upon equitable conditions granted to them.\n\nMarcellus alone, by a decree of the senate, triumphed. The triumph was in\nmagnificence, opulence, spoils, and the gigantic bodies of the captives,\nmost remarkable.  But the most grateful and most rare spectacle of all\nwas the general himself, carrying the arms of the barbarian king to the\ngod to whom he had vowed them.  He had taken a tall and straight stock of\nan oak, and had lopped and formed it to a trophy.  Upon this he fastened\nand hung round about the arms of the king, arranging all the pieces in\ntheir suitable places.  The procession advancing solemnly, he, carrying\nthis trophy, ascended the chariot; and thus, himself the fairest and most\nglorious triumphant image, was conveyed into the city.  The army adorned\nwith shining armor followed in order, and with verses composed for the\noccasion and with songs of victory celebrated the praises of Jupiter and\nof their general.  Then entering the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, he\ndedicated his gift; the third, and to our memory the last, that ever did\nso.  The first was Romulus, after having slain Acron, king of the\nCaeninenses:  the second, Cornelius Cossus, who slew Tolumnius the\nEtruscan:  after them Marcellus, having killed Britomartus king of the\nGauls; after Marcellus, no man.  The god to whom these spoils were\nconsecrated is called Jupiter Feretrius, from the trophy carried on the\nferetrum, one of the Greek words which at that time still existed in\ngreat numbers in Latin:  or, as others say, it is the surname of the\nThundering Jupiter, derived from ferire, to strike.  Others there are who\nwould have the name to be deduced from the strokes that are given in\nfight; since even now in battles, when they press upon their enemies,\nthey constantly call out to each other, strike, in Latin, feri.  Spoils\nin general they call Spolia, and these in particular Opima; though,\nindeed, they say that Numa Pompilius in his commentaries, makes mention\nof first, second, and third Spolia Opima; and that he prescribes that the\nfirst taken be consecrated to Jupiter Feretrius, the second to Mars, the\nthird to Quirinus; as also that the reward of the first be three hundred\nasses; of the second, two hundred; of the third, one hundred.  The\ngeneral account, however, prevails, that those spoils only are Opima,\nwhich the general first takes in set battle, and takes from the enemy's\nchief captain whom he has slain with his own hand.  But of this enough.\nThe victory and the ending of the war was so welcome to the people of\nRome, that they sent to Apollo of Delphi, in testimony of their\ngratitude, a present of a golden cup of a hundred pound weight, and gave\na great part of the spoil to their associate cities, and took care that\nmany presents should be sent also to Hiero, king of the Syracusans, their\nfriend and ally.\n\nWhen Hannibal invaded Italy, Marcellus was dispatched with a fleet into\nSicily.  And when the army had been defeated at Cannae, and many\nthousands of them perished, and few had saved themselves by flying to\nCanusium, and all feared lest Hannibal, who had destroyed the strength of\nthe Roman army, should advance at once with his victorious troops to\nRome, Marcellus first sent for the protection of the city fifteen hundred\nsolders, from the fleet.  Then, by decree of the senate, going to\nCanusium, having heard that many of the soldiers had come together in\nthat place, he led them out of the fortifications to prevent the enemy\nfrom ravaging the country.  The chief Roman commanders had most of them\nfallen in battles; and the citizens complained, that the extreme caution\nof Fabius Maximus, whose integrity and wisdom gave him the highest\nauthority, verged upon timidity and inaction.  They confided in him to\nkeep them out of danger, but could not expect that he would enable them\nto retaliate.  Fixing, therefore, their thoughts upon Marcellus, and\nhoping to combine his boldness, confidence, and promptitude with Fabius's\ncaution and prudence, and to temper the one by the other, they sent,\nsometimes both with consular command, sometimes one as consul, the other\nas proconsul, against the enemy.  Posidonius writes, that Fabius was\ncalled the buckler, Marcellus the sword of Rome.  Certainly, Hannibal\nhimself confessed that he feared Fabius as a schoolmaster, Marcellus as\nan adversary:  the former, lest he should be hindered from doing\nmischief; the latter, lest he should receive harm himself.\n\nAnd first, when among Hannibal's soldiers, proud of their victory,\ncarelessness and boldness had grown to a great height, Marcellus,\nattacking all their stragglers and plundering parties, cut them off, and\nby little and little diminished their forces.  Then carrying aid to the\nNeapolitans and Nolans, he confirmed the minds of the former, who,\nindeed, were of their own accord faithful enough to the Romans; but in\nNola he found a state of discord, the senate not being able to rule and\nkeep in the common people, who were generally favorers of Hannibal.\nThere was in the town one Bantius, a man renowned for his high birth and\ncourage.  This man, after he had fought most fiercely at Cannae, and had\nkilled many of the enemies, at last was found lying in a heap of dead\nbodies, covered with darts, and was brought to Hannibal, who so honored\nhim, that he not only dismissed him without ransom, but also contracted\nfriendship with him, and made him his guest.  In gratitude for this great\nfavor, he became one of the strongest of the partisans of Hannibal, and\nurged the people to revolt.  Marcellus could not be induced to put to\ndeath a man of such eminence, and who had endured such dangers in\nfighting on the Roman side; but, knowing himself able, by the general\nkindliness of his disposition and in particular by the attractiveness of\nhis address, to gain over a character whose passion was for honor, one\nday when Bantius saluted him, he asked him who he was; not that he knew\nhim not before, but seeking an occasion of further conference.  When\nBantius had told who he was, Marcellus, seeming surprised with joy and\nwonder, replied:  \"Are you that Bantius, whom the Romans commend above\nthe rest that fought at Cannae, and praise as the one man that not only\ndid not forsake the consul Paulus Aemilius, but received in his own body\nmany darts thrown at him?\"  Bantius owning himself to be that very man,\nand showing his scars:  \"Why then,\" said Marcellus, \"did not you, having\nsuch proofs to show of your affection to us, come to me at my first\narrival here?  Do you think that we are unwilling to requite with favor\nthose who have well deserved, and who are honored even by our enemies?\"\nHe followed up his courtesies by a present of a war-horse, and five\nhundred drachmas in money.  From that time Bantius became the most\nfaithful assistant and ally of Marcellus, and a most keen discoverer of\nthose that attempted innovation and sedition.\n\nThese were many, and had entered into a conspiracy to plunder the baggage\nof the Romans, when they should make an irruption against the enemy.\nMarcellus, therefore, having marshaled his army within the city, placed\nthe baggage near to the gates, and, by an edict, forbade the Nolans to go\nto the walls.  Thus, outside the city, no arms could be seen; by which\nprudent device he allured Hannibal to move with his army in some disorder\nto the city, thinking that things were in a tumult there.  Then\nMarcellus, the nearest gate being, as he had commanded, thrown open,\nissuing forth with the flower of his horse in front, charged the enemy.\nBy and by the foot, sallying out of another gate, with a loud shout\njoined in the battle.  And while Hannibal opposes part of his forces to\nthese, the third gate also is opened, out of which the rest break forth,\nand on all quarters fall upon the enemies, who were dismayed at this\nunexpected encounter, and did but feebly resist those with whom they had\nbeen first engaged, because of their attack by these others that sallied\nout later.  Here Hannibal's soldiers, with much bloodshed and many\nwounds, were beaten back to their camp, and for the first time turned\ntheir backs to the Romans.  There fell in this action, as it is related,\nmore than five thousand of them; of the Romans, not above five hundred.\nLivy does not affirm, that either the victory, or the slaughter of the\nenemy was so great; but certain it is, that the adventure brought great\nglory to Marcellus, and to the Romans, after their calamities, a great\nrevival of confidence, as they began now to entertain a hope, that the\nenemy with whom they contended was not invincible, but liable like\nthemselves to defeats.\n\nTherefore, the other consul being deceased, the people recalled\nMarcellus, that they might put him into his place; and, in spite of the\nmagistrates, succeeded in postponing the election till his arrival, when\nhe was by all the suffrages created consul.  But because it happened to\nthunder, the augurs accounting that he was not legitimately created, and\nyet not daring, for fear of the people, to declare their sentence openly,\nMarcellus voluntarily resigned the consulate, retaining however his\ncommand.  Being created proconsul, and returning to the camp at Nola, he\nproceeded to harass those that followed the party of the Carthaginian; on\nwhose coming with speed to succor them, Marcellus declined a challenge to\na set battle, but when Hannibal had sent out a party to plunder, and now\nexpected no fight, he broke out upon him with his army.  He had\ndistributed to the foot long lances, such as are commonly used in naval\nfights; and instructed them to throw them with great force at convenient\ndistance against the enemies who were inexperienced in that way of\ndarting, and used to fight with short darts hand to hand.  This seems to\nhave been the cause of the total rout and open flight of all the\nCarthaginians who were then engaged:  there fell of them five thousand;\nfour elephants were killed, and two taken; but, what was of greatest\nmoment, on the third day after, more than three hundred horse, Spaniards\nand Numidians mixed, deserted to him, a disaster that had never to that\nday happened to Hannibal, who had long kept together in harmony an army\nof barbarians, collected out of many various and discordant nations.\nMarcellus and his successors in all this war made good use of the\nfaithful service of these horsemen.\n\nHe now was a third time created consul, and sailed over into Sicily.  For\nthe success of Hannibal had excited the Carthaginians to lay claim to\nthat whole island; chiefly because after the murder of the tyrant\nHieronymus, all things had been in tumult and confusion at Syracuse.  For\nwhich reason the Romans also had sent before to that city a force under\nthe conduct of Appius, as praetor.  While Marcellus was receiving that\narmy, a number of Roman soldiers cast themselves at his feet, upon\noccasion of the following calamity.  Of those that survived the battle at\nCannae, some had escaped by flight, and some were taken alive by the\nenemy; so great a multitude, that it was thought there were not remaining\nRomans enough to defend the walls of the city.  And yet the magnanimity\nand constancy of the city was such, that it would not redeem the captives\nfrom Hannibal, though it might have done so for a small ransom; a decree\nof the senate forbade it, and chose rather to leave them to be killed by\nthe enemy, or sold out of Italy; and commanded that all who had saved\nthemselves by flight should be transported into Sicily, and not permitted\nto return into Italy, until the war with Hannibal should be ended.\nThese, therefore, when Marcellus was arrived in Sicily, addressed\nthemselves to him in great numbers; and casting themselves at his feet,\nwith much lamentation and tears humbly besought him to admit them to\nhonorable service; and promised to make it appear by their future\nfidelity and exertions, that that defeat had been received rather by\nmisfortune than by cowardice.  Marcellus, pitying them, petitioned the\nsenate by letters, that he might have leave at all times to recruit his\nlegions out of them.  After much debate about the thing, the senate\ndecreed they were of opinion that the commonwealth did not require the\nservice of cowardly soldiers; if Marcellus perhaps thought otherwise, he\nmight make use of them, provided no one of them be honored on any\noccasion with a crown or military gift, as a reward of his virtue or\ncourage.  This decree stung Marcellus; and on his return to Rome, after\nthe Sicilian war was ended, he upbraided the senate, that they had denied\nto him, who had so highly deserved of the republic, liberty to relieve so\ngreat a number of citizens in great calamity.\n\nAt this time Marcellus, first incensed by injures done him by\nHippocrates, commander of the Syracusans, (who, to give proof of his good\naffection to the Carthaginians, and to acquire the tyranny to himself,\nhad killed a number of Romans at Leontini,) besieged and took by force\nthe city of Leontini; yet violated none of the townsmen; only deserters,\nas many as he took, he subjected to the punishment of the rods and axe.\nBut Hippocrates, sending a report to Syracuse, that Marcellus had put all\nthe adult population to the sword, and then coming upon the Syracusans,\nwho had risen in tumult upon that false report, made himself master of\nthe city.  Upon this Marcellus moved with his whole army to Syracuse,\nand, encamping near the wall, sent ambassadors into the city to relate to\nthe Syracusans the truth of what had been done in Leontini.  When these\ncould not prevail by treaty, the whole power being now in the hands of\nHippocrates, he proceeded to attack the city both by land and by sea.  The\nland forces were conducted by Appius Marcellus, with sixty galleys, each\nwith five rows of oars, furnished with all sorts of arms and missiles,\nand a huge bridge of planks laid upon eight ships chained together, upon\nwhich was carried the engine to cast stones and darts, assaulted the\nwalls, relying on the abundance and magnificence of his preparations, and\non his own previous glory; all which, however, were, it would seem, but\ntrifles for Archimedes and his machines.\n\nThese machines he had designed and contrived, not as matters of any\nimportance, but as mere amusements in geometry; in compliance with king\nHiero's desire and request, some little time before, that he should\nreduce to practice some part of his admirable speculations in science,\nand by accommodating the theoretic truth to sensation and ordinary use,\nbring it more within the appreciation of people in general.  Eudoxus and\nArchytas had been the first originators of this far-famed and highly\nprized art of mechanics, which they employed as an elegant illustration\nof geometrical truths, and as a means of sustaining experimentally, to\nthe satisfaction of the senses, conclusions too intricate for proof by\nwords and diagrams.  As, for example, to solve the problem, so often\nrequired in constructing geometrical figures, given the two extreme, to\nfind the two mean lines of a proportion, both these mathematicians had\nrecourse to the aid of instruments, adapting to their purpose certain\ncurves and sections of lines. But what with Plato's indignation at it,\nand his invectives against it as the mere corruption and annihilation of\nthe one good of geometry, -- which was thus shamefully turning its back\nupon the unembodied objects of pure intelligence to recur to sensation,\nand to ask help (not to be obtained without base subservience and\ndepravation) from matter; so it was that mechanics came to be separated\nfrom geometry, and, repudiated and neglected by philosophers, took its\nplace as a military art.  Archimedes, however, in writing to king Hiero,\nwhose friend and near relation he was, had stated, that given the force,\nany given weight might be moved, and even boasted, we are told, relying\non the strength of demonstration, that if there were another earth, by\ngoing into it he could remove this.  Hiero being struck with amazement at\nthis, and entreating him to make good this problem by actual experiment,\nand show some great weight moved by a small engine, he fixed accordingly\nupon a ship of burden out of the king's arsenal, which could not be drawn\nout of the dock without great labor and many men; and, loading her with\nmany passengers and a full freight, sitting himself the while far off,\nwith no great endeavor, but only holding the head of the pulley in his\nhand and drawing the cord by degrees, he drew the ship in a straight\nline, as smoothly and evenly, as if she had been in the sea.  The king,\nastonished at this, and convinced of the power of the art, prevailed upon\nArchimedes to make him engines accommodated to all the purposes,\noffensive and defensive, of a siege.  These the king himself never made\nuse of, because he spent almost all his life in a profound quiet, and the\nhighest affluence.  But the apparatus was, in a most opportune time, ready\nat hand for the Syracusans, and with it also the engineer himself.\n\nWhen, therefore, the Romans assaulted the walls in two places at once,\nfear and consternation stupefied the Syracusans, believing that nothing\nwas able to resist that violence and those forces.  But when Archimedes\nbegan to ply his engines, he at once shot against the land forces all\nsorts of missile weapons, and immense masses of stone that came down with\nincredible noise and violence, against which no man could stand; for they\nknocked down those upon whom they fell, in heaps, breaking all their\nranks and files.  In the meantime huge poles thrust out from the walls\nover the ships, sunk some by the great weights which they let down from\non high upon them; others they lifted up into the air by an iron hand or\nbeak like a crane's beak, and, when they had drawn them up by the prow,\nand set them on end upon the poop, they plunged them to the bottom of the\nsea; or else the ships, drawn by engines within, and whirled about, were\ndashed against steep rocks that stood jutting out under the walls, with\ngreat destruction of the soldiers that were aboard them.  A ship was\nfrequently lifted up to a great height in the air (a dreadful thing to\nbehold), and was rolled to and fro, and kept swinging, until the mariners\nwere all thrown out, when at length it was dashed against the rocks, or\nlet fall.  At the engine that Marcellus brought upon the bridge of ships,\nwhich was called Sambuca from some resemblance it had to an instrument of\nmusic, while it was as yet approaching the wall, there was discharged a\npiece of a rock of ten talents' weight, then a second and a third, which,\nstriking upon it with immense force and with a noise like thunder, broke\nall its foundation to pieces, shook out all its fastenings, and\ncompletely dislodged it from the bridge.  So Marcellus, doubtful what\ncounsel to pursue, drew off his ships to a safer distance, and sounded a\nretreat to his forces on land.  They then took a resolution of coming up\nunder the walls, if it were possible, in the night; thinking that as\nArchimedes used ropes stretched at length in playing his engines, the\nsoldiers would now be under the shot, and the darts would, for want of\nsufficient distance to throw them, fly over their heads without effect.\nBut he, it appeared, had long before framed for such occasion engines\naccommodated to any distance, and shorter weapons; and had made numerous\nsmall openings in the walls, through which, with engines of a shorter\nrange, unexpected blows were inflicted on the assailants.  Thus, when\nthey who thought to deceive the defenders came close up to the walls,\ninstantly a shower of darts and other missile weapons was again cast upon\nthem.  And when stones came tumbling down perpendicularly upon their\nheads, and, as it were, the whole wall shot out arrows at them, they\nretired.  And now, again, as they were going off, arrows and darts of a\nlonger range indicted a great slaughter among them, and their ships were\ndriven one against another; while they themselves were not able to\nretaliate in any way.  For Archimedes had provided and fixed most of his\nengines immediately under the wall; whence the Romans, seeing that\ninfinite mischiefs overwhelmed them from no visible means, began to think\nthey were fighting with the gods.\n\nYet Marcellus escaped unhurt, and, deriding his own artificers and\nengineers, \"What,\" said he, \"must we give up fighting with this\ngeometrical Briareus, who plays pitch and toss with our ships, and, with\nthe multitude of darts which he showers at a single moment upon us,\nreally outdoes the hundred-handed giants of mythology?\"  And, doubtless,\nthe rest of the Syracusans were but the body of Archimedes' designs, one\nsoul moving and governing all; for, laying aside all other arms, with his\nalone they infested the Romans, and protected themselves.  In fine, when\nsuch terror had seized upon the Romans, that, if they did but see a\nlittle rope or a piece of wood from the wall, instantly crying out, that\nthere it was again, Archimedes was about to let fly some engine at them,\nthey turned their backs and fled, Marcellus desisted from conflicts and\nassaults, putting all his hope in a long siege.  Yet Archimedes possessed\nso high a spirit, so profound a soul, and such treasures of scientific\nknowledge, that though these inventions had now obtained him the renown\nof more than human sagacity, he yet would not deign to leave behind him\nany commentary or writing on such subjects; but, repudiating as sordid\nand ignoble the whole trade of engineering, and every sort of art that\nlends itself to mere use and profit, he placed his whole affection and\nambition in those purer speculations where there can be no reference to\nthe vulgar needs of life; studies, the superiority of which to all others\nis unquestioned, and in which the only doubt can be, whether the beauty\nand grandeur of the subjects examined, or the precision and cogency of\nthe methods and means of proof, most deserve our admiration.  It is not\npossible to find in all geometry more difficult and intricate questions,\nor more simple and lucid explanations.  Some ascribe this to his natural\ngenius; while others think that incredible effort and toil produced\nthese, to all appearance, easy and unlabored results.  No amount of\ninvestigation of yours would succeed in attaining the proof, and yet,\nonce seen, you immediately believe you would have discovered it; by so\nsmooth and so rapid a path he leads you to the conclusion required.  And\nthus it ceases to be incredible that (as is commonly told of him), the\ncharm of his familiar and domestic Siren made him forget his food and\nneglect his person, to that degree that when he was occasionally carried\nby absolute violence to bathe, or have his body anointed, he used to\ntrace geometrical figures in the ashes of the fire, and diagrams in the\noil on his body, being in a state of entire preoccupation, and, in the\ntruest sense, divine possession with his love and delight in science.\nHis discoveries were numerous and admirable; but he is said to have\nrequested his friends and relations that when he was dead, they would\nplace over his tomb a sphere containing a cylinder, inscribing it with\nthe ratio which the containing solid bears to the contained.\n\nSuch was Archimedes, who now showed himself, and, so far as lay in him,\nthe city also, invincible.  While the siege continued, Marcellus took\nMegara, one of the earliest founded of the Greek cities in Sicily, and\ncapturing also the camp of Hippocrates at Acilae, killed above eight\nthousand men, having attacked them whilst they were engaged in forming\ntheir fortifications.  He overran a great part of Sicily; gained over\nmany towns from the Carthaginians, and overcame all that dared to\nencounter him.  As the siege went on, one Damippus, a Lacedaemonian,\nputting to sea in a ship from Syracuse, was taken.  When the Syracusans\nmuch desired to redeem this man, and there were many meetings and\ntreaties about the matter betwixt them and Marcellus, he had opportunity\nto notice a tower into which a body of men might be secretly introduced,\nas the wall near to it was not difficult to surmount, and it was itself\ncarelessly guarded.  Coming often thither, and entertaining conferences\nabout the release of Damippus, he had pretty well calculated the height\nof the tower, and got ladders prepared.  The Syracusans celebrated a\nfeast to Diana; this juncture of time, when they were given up entirely\nto wine and sport, Marcellus laid hold of, and, before the citizens\nperceived it, not only possessed himself of the tower, but, before the\nbreak of day, filled the wall around with soldiers, and made his way into\nthe Hexapylum.  The Syracusans now beginning to stir, and to be alarmed\nat the tumult, he ordered the trumpets everywhere to sound, and thus\nfrightened them all into flight, as if all parts of the city were already\nwon, though the most fortified, and the fairest, and most ample quarter\nwas still ungained.  It is called Acradina, and was divided by a wall\nfrom the outer city, one part of which they call Neapolis, the other\nTycha.  Possessing himself of these, Marcellus, about break of day,\nentered through the Hexapylum, all his officers congratulating him.  But\nlooking down from the higher places upon the beautiful and spacious city\nbelow, he is said to have wept much, commiserating the calamity that hung\nover it, when his thoughts represented to him, how dismal and foul the\nface of the city would in a few hours be, when plundered and sacked by\nthe soldiers.  For among the officers of his army there was not one man\nthat durst deny the plunder of the city to the soldiers' demands; nay,\nmany were instant that it should be set on fire and laid level to the\nground:  but this Marcellus would not listen to.  Yet he granted, but\nwith great unwillingness and reluctance, that the money and slaves should\nbe made prey; giving orders, at the same time, that none should violate\nany free person, nor kill, misuse, or make a slave of any of the\nSyracusans.  Though he had used this moderation, he still esteemed the\ncondition of that city to be pitiable, and, even amidst the\ncongratulations and joy, showed his strong feelings of sympathy and\ncommiseration at seeing all the riches accumulated during a long\nfelicity, now dissipated in an hour.  For it is related, that no less\nprey and plunder was taken here, than afterward in Carthage.  For not\nlong after, they obtained also the plunder of the other parts of the city,\nwhich were taken by treachery; leaving nothing untouched but the king's\nmoney, which was brought into the public treasury.  But nothing afflicted\nMarcellus so much as the death of Archimedes; who was then, as fate would\nhave it, intent upon working out some problem by a diagram, and having\nfixed his mind alike and his eyes upon the subject of his speculation, he\nnever noticed the incursion of the Romans, nor that the city was taken.\nIn this transport of study and contemplation, a soldier, unexpectedly\ncoming up to him, commanded him to follow to Marcellus; which he\ndeclining to do before he had worked out his problem to a demonstration,\nthe soldier, enraged, drew his sword and ran him through.  Others write,\nthat a Roman soldier, running upon him with a drawn sword, offered to\nkill him; and that Archimedes, looking back, earnestly besought him to\nhold his hand a little while, that he might not leave what he was then at\nwork upon inconclusive and imperfect; but the soldier, nothing moved by\nhis entreaty, instantly killed him.  Others again relate, that as\nArchimedes was carrying to Marcellus mathematical instruments, dials,\nspheres, and angles, by which the magnitude of the sun might be measured\nto the sight, some soldiers seeing him, and thinking that he carried gold\nin a vessel, slew him.  Certain it is, that his death was very afflicting\nto Marcellus; and that Marcellus ever after regarded him that killed him\nas a murderer; and that he sought for his kindred and honored them with\nsignal favors.\n\nIndeed, foreign nations had held the Romans to be excellent soldiers and\nformidable in battle; but they had hitherto given no memorable example of\ngentleness, or humanity, or civil virtue; and Marcellus seems first to\nhave shown to the Greeks, that his countrymen were most illustrious for\ntheir justice.  For such was his moderation to all with whom he had\nanything to do, and such his benignity also to many cities and private\nmen, that, if anything hard or severe was decreed concerning the people of\nEnna, Megara, or Syracuse, the blame was thought to belong rather to\nthose upon whom the storm fell, than to those who brought it upon them.\nOne example of many I will commemorate.  In Sicily there is a town called\nEngyium, not indeed great, but very ancient and ennobled by the presence\nof the goddesses, called the Mothers.  The temple, they say, was built by\nthe Cretans; and they show some spears and brazen helmets, inscribed with\nthe names of Meriones, and (with the same spelling as in Latin) of\nUlysses, who consecrated them to the goddesses.  This city highly\nfavoring the party of the Carthaginians, Nicias, the most eminent of the\ncitizens, counseled them to go over to the Romans; to that end acting\nfreely and openly in harangues to their assemblies, arguing the\nimprudence and madness of the opposite course.  They, fearing his power\nand authority, resolved to deliver him in bonds to the Carthaginians.\nNicias, detecting the design, and seeing that his person was secretly\nkept in watch, proceeded to speak irreligiously to the vulgar of the\nMothers, and showed many signs of disrespect, as if he denied and\ncontemned the received opinion of the presence of those goddesses; his\nenemies the while rejoicing, that he, of his own accord, sought the\ndestruction hanging over his head.  When they were just now about to lay\nhands upon him, an assembly was held, and here Nicias, making a speech to\nthe people concerning some affair then under deliberation, in the midst\nof his address, cast himself upon the ground; and soon after, while\namazement (as usually happens on such surprising occasions) held the\nassembly immovable, raising and turning his head round, he began in a\ntrembling and deep tone, but by degrees raised and sharpened his voice.\nWhen he saw the whole theater struck with horror and silence, throwing\noff his mantle and rending his tunic, he leaps up half naked, and runs\ntowards the door, crying out aloud that he was driven by the wrath of the\nMothers.  When no man durst, out of religious fear, lay hands upon him or\nstop him, but all gave way before him, he ran out of the gate, not\nomitting any shriek or gesture of men possessed and mad.  His wife,\nconscious of his counterfeiting, and privy to his design, taking her\nchildren with her, first cast herself as a suppliant before the temple of\nthe goddesses; then, pretending to seek her wandering husband, no man\nhindering her, went out of the town in safety; and by this means they all\nescaped to Marcellus at Syracuse.  After many other such affronts offered\nhim by the men of Engyium, Marcellus, having taken them all prisoners and\ncast them into bonds, was preparing to inflict upon them the last\npunishment; when Nicias, with tears in his eyes, addressed himself to\nhim.  In fine, casting himself at Marcellus's feet, and deprecating for\nhis citizens, he begged most earnestly their lives, chiefly those of his\nenemies.  Marcellus, relenting, set them all at liberty, and rewarded\nNicias with ample lands and rich presents.  This history is recorded by\nPosidonius the philosopher.\n\nMarcellus, at length recalled by the people of Rome to the immediate war\nat home, to illustrate his triumph, and adorn the city, carried away with\nhim a great number of the most beautiful ornaments of Syracuse.  For,\nbefore that, Rome neither had, nor had seen, any of those fine and\nexquisite rarities; nor was any pleasure taken in graceful and elegant\npieces of workmanship.  Stuffed with barbarous arms and spoils stained\nwith blood, and everywhere crowned with triumphal memorials and trophies,\nshe was no pleasant or delightful spectacle for the eyes of peaceful or\nrefined spectators:  but, as Epaminondas named the fields of Boeotia the\nstage of Mars; and Xenophon called Ephesus the workhouse of war; so, in\nmy judgment, may you call Rome, at that time, (to use the words of\nPindar,) \"the precinct of the peaceless Mars.\"  Whence Marcellus was more\npopular with the people in general, because he had adorned the city with\nbeautiful objects that had all the charms of Grecian grace and symmetry;\nbut Fabius Maximus, who neither touched nor brought away anything of\nthis kind from Tarentum, when he had taken it, was more approved of by\nthe elder men.  He carried off the money and valuables, but forbade the\nstatues to be moved; adding, as it is commonly related, \"Let us leave to\nthe Tarentines these offended gods.\"  They blamed Marcellus, first, for\nplacing the city in an invidious position, as it seemed now to celebrate\nvictories and lead processions of triumph, not only over men, but also\nover the gods as captives; then, that he had diverted to idleness, and\nvain talk about curious arts and artificers, the common people, which,\nbred up in wars and agriculture, had never tasted of luxury and sloth,\nand, as Euripides said of Hercules, had been\n\nRude, unrefined, only for great things good,\n\nso that now they misspent much of their time in examining and criticizing\ntrifles.  And yet, notwithstanding this reprimand, Marcellus made it his\nglory to the Greeks themselves, that he had taught his ignorant\ncountrymen to esteem and admire the elegant and wonderful productions of\nGreece.\n\nBut when the envious opposed his being brought triumphant into the city,\nbecause there were some relics of the war in Sicily, and a third triumph\nwould be looked upon with jealousy, he gave way.  He triumphed upon the\nAlban mount, and thence entered the city in ovation, as it is called in\nLatin, in Greek eua; but in this ovation he was neither carried in a\nchariot, nor crowned with laurel, nor ushered by trumpets sounding; but\nwent afoot with shoes on, many flutes or pipes sounding in concert, while\nhe passed along, wearing a garland of myrtle, in a peaceable aspect,\nexciting rather love and respect than fear.  Whence I am, by conjecture,\nled to think that, originally, the difference observed betwixt ovation\nand triumph, did not depend upon the greatness of the achievements, but\nthe manner of performing them.  For they who, having fought a set battle,\nand slain the enemy, returned victors, led that martial, terrible\ntriumph, and, as the ordinary custom then was, in lustrating the army,\nadorned the arms and the soldiers with a great deal of laurel.  But they\nwho, without force, by colloquy, persuasion, and reasoning, had done the\nbusiness, to these captains custom gave the honor of the unmilitary and\nfestive ovation.  For the pipe is the badge of peace, and myrtle the\nplant of Venus, who more than the rest of the gods and goddesses abhors\nforce and war.  It is called ovation, not, as most think, from the Greek\neuasmus, because they act it with shouting and cries of Eau:  for so do\nthey also the proper triumphs.  The Greeks have wrested the word to their\nown language, thinking that this honor, also, must have some connection\nwith Bacchus, who in Greek has the titles of Euius and Thriambus. But\nthe thing is otherwise.  For it was the custom for commanders, in their\ntriumph, to immolate an ox, but in their ovation, a sheep:  hence they\nnamed it Ovation, from the Latin ovis.  It is worth observing, how\nexactly opposite the sacrifices appointed by the Spartan legislator are,\nto those of the Romans.  For at Lacedaemon, a captain, who had performed\nthe work he undertook by cunning, or courteous treaty, on laying down his\ncommand immolated an ox; he that did the business by battle, offered a\ncock; the Lacedaemonians, though most warlike, thinking an exploit\nperformed by reason and wisdom, to be more excellent and more congruous\nto man, than one effected by mere force and courage.  Which of the two is\nto be preferred, I leave to the determination of others.\n\nMarcellus being the fourth time consul, his enemies suborned the\nSyracusans to come to Rome to accuse him, and to complain that they had\nsuffered indignities and wrongs, contrary to the conditions granted them.\nIt happened that Marcellus was in the capitol offering sacrifice when the\nSyracusans petitioned the senate, yet sitting, that they might have leave\nto accuse him and present their grievances.  Marcellus's colleague, eager\nto protect him in his absence, put them out of the court.  But Marcellus\nhimself came as soon as he heard of it.  And first, in his curule chair\nas consul, he referred to the senate the cognizance of other matters; but\nwhen these were transacted, rising from his seat, he passed as a private\nman into the place where the accused were wont to make their defense, and\ngave free liberty to the Syracusans to impeach him.  But they, struck\nwith consternation by his majesty and confidence, stood astonished, and\nthe power of his presence now, in his robe of state, appeared far more\nterrible and severe than it had done when he was arrayed in armor.  Yet\nreanimated at length by Marcellus's rivals, they began their impeachment,\nand made an oration in which pleas of justice mingled with lamentation\nand complaint; the sum of which was, that being allies and friends of the\npeople of Rome, they had, notwithstanding, suffered things which other\ncommanders had abstained from inflicting upon enemies.  To this Marcellus\nanswered; that they had committed many acts of hostility against the\npeople of Rome, and had suffered nothing but what enemies conquered and\ncaptured in war cannot possibly be protected from suffering:  that it\nwas their own fault they had been made captives, because they refused to\ngive ear to his frequent attempts to persuade them by gentle means:\nneither were they forced into war by the power of tyrants, but had rather\nchosen the tyrants themselves for the express object that they might make\nwar.  The orations ended, and the Syracusans, according to the custom,\nhaving retired, Marcellus left his colleague to ask the sentences, and\nwithdrawing with the Syracusans, staid expecting at the doors of the\nsenate-house; not in the least discomposed in spirit, either with alarm\nat the accusation, or by anger against the Syracusans; but with perfect\ncalmness and serenity attending the issue of the cause.  The sentences at\nlength being all asked, and a decree of the senate made in vindication of\nMarcellus, the Syracusans, with tears flowing from their eyes, cast\nthemselves at his knees, beseeching him to forgive themselves there\npresent, and to be moved by the misery of the rest of their city, which\nwould ever be mindful of, and grateful for, his benefits.  Thus\nMarcellus, softened by their tears and distress, was not only reconciled\nto the deputies, but ever afterwards continued to find opportunity of\ndoing kindness to the Syracusans.  The liberty which he had restored to\nthem, and their rights, laws, and goods that were left, the senate\nconfirmed.  Upon which account the Syracusans, besides other signal\nhonors, made a law, that if Marcellus should at anytime come into Sicily,\nor any of his posterity, the Syracusans should wear garlands and offer\npublic sacrifice to the gods.\n\nAfter this he moved against Hannibal.  And whereas the other consuls and\ncommanders, since the defeat received at Cannae, had all made use of the\nsame policy against Hannibal, namely, to decline coming to a battle with\nhim; and none had had the courage to encounter him in the field, and put\nthemselves to the decision by the sword; Marcellus entered upon the\nopposite course, thinking that Italy would be destroyed by the very delay\nby which they looked to wear out Hannibal; and that Fabius, who, adhering\nto his cautious policy, waited to see the war extinguished, while Rome\nitself meantime wasted away, (like timid physicians, who, dreading to\nadminister remedies, stay waiting, and believe that what is the decay of\nthe patient's strength is the decline of the disease,) was not taking a\nright course to heal the sickness of his country.  And first, the great\ncities of the Samnites, which had revolted, came into his power; in which\nhe found a large quantity of corn and money, and three thousand of\nHannibal's soldiers, that were left for the defense.  After this, the\nproconsul Cnaeus Fulvius with eleven tribunes of the soldiers being slain\nin Apulia, and the greatest part of the army also at the same time cut\noff, he dispatched letters to Rome, and bade the people be of good\ncourage, for that he was now upon the march against Hannibal, to turn his\ntriumph into sadness.  On these letters being read, Livy writes, that the\npeople were not only not encouraged, but more discouraged, than before.\nFor the danger, they thought, was but the greater in proportion as\nMarcellus was of more value than Fulvius.  He, as he had written,\nadvancing into the territories of the Lucanians, came up to him at\nNumistro, and, the enemy keeping himself upon the hills, pitched his camp\nin a level plain, and the next day drew forth his army in order for\nfight.  Nor did Hannibal refuse the challenge.  They fought long and\nobstinately on both sides, victory yet seeming undecided, when, after\nthree hours conflict, night hardly parted them.  The next day, as soon as\nthe sun was risen, Marcellus again brought forth his troops, and ranged\nthem among the dead bodies of the slain, challenging Hannibal to solve\nthe question by another trial.  When he dislodged and drew off,\nMarcellus, gathering up the spoils of the enemies, and burying the bodies\nof his slain soldiers, closely followed him.  And though Hannibal often\nused stratagems, and laid ambushes to entrap Marcellus, yet he could\nnever circumvent him.  By skirmishes, meantime, in all of which he was\nsuperior, Marcellus gained himself such high repute, that, when the time\nof the Comitia at Rome was near at hand, the senate thought fit rather to\nrecall the other consul from Sicily, than to withdraw Marcellus from his\nconflict with Hannibal; and on his arrival they bid him name Quintus\nFulvius dictator.  For the dictator is created neither by the people, nor\nby the senate; but the consul or the praetor, before the popular\nassembly, pronounces him to be dictator, whom he himself chooses.  Hence\nhe is called dictator, dicere meaning to name.  Others say, that he is\nnamed dictator, because his word is a law, and he orders what he pleases,\nwithout submitting it to the vote.  For the Romans call the orders of\nmagistrates, Edicts.\n\nAnd now because Marcellus's colleague, who was recalled from Sicily, had\na mind to name another man dictator, and would not be forced to change\nhis opinion, he sailed away by night back to Sicily.  So the common\npeople made an order, that Quintus Fulvius should be chosen dictator:\nand the senate, by an express, commanded Marcellus to nominate him.  He\nobeying proclaimed him dictator according to the order of the people; but\nthe office of proconsul was continued to himself for a year.  And having\narranged with Fabius Maximus, that while he besieged Tarentum, he himself\nwould, by following Hannibal and drawing him up and down, detain him from\ncoming to the relief of the Tarentines, he overtook him at Canusium:  and\nas Hannibal often shifted his camp, and still declined the combat, he\neverywhere sought to engage him.  At last pressing upon him while\nencamping, by light skirmishes he provoked him to a battle; but night\nagain divided them in the very heat of the conflict.  The next day\nMarcellus again showed himself in arms, and brought up his forces in\narray.  Hannibal, in extreme grief, called his Carthaginians together to\nan harangue; and vehemently prayed them, to fight today worthily of all\ntheir former successes; \"For you see,\" said he, \"how, after such great\nvictories, we have not liberty to respire, nor to repose ourselves,\nthough victors; unless we drive this man back.\"  Then the two armies\njoining battle, fought fiercely; when the event of an untimely movement\nshowed Marcellus to have been guilty of an error.  The right wing being\nhard pressed upon, he commanded one of the legions to be brought up to\nthe front.  This change disturbing the array and posture of the legions,\ngave the victory to the enemies; and there fell two thousand seven\nhundred Romans.  Marcellus, after he had retreated into his camp, called\nhis soldiers together; \"I see,\" said he, \"many Roman arms and bodies, but\nI see not so much as one Roman.\"  To their entreaties for his pardon, he\nreturned a refusal while they remained beaten, but promised to give it so\nsoon as they should overcome; and he resolved to bring them into the\nfield again the next day, that the fame of their victory might arrive at\nRome before that of their flight.  Dismissing the assembly, he commanded\nbarley instead of wheat to be given to those companies that had turned\ntheir backs.  These rebukes were so bitter to the soldiers, that though a\ngreat number of them were grievously wounded, yet they relate there was\nnot one to whom the general's oration was not more painful and smarting\nthan his wounds.\n\nThe day breaking, a scarlet toga, the sign of instant battle, was\ndisplayed.  The companies marked with ignominy, begged they might be\nposted in the foremost place, and obtained their request.  Then the\ntribunes bring forth the rest of the forces, and draw them up.  On news\nof which, \"O strange!\" said Hannibal, \"what will you do with this man,\nwho can bear neither good nor bad fortune?  He is the only man who\nneither suffers us to rest when he is victor, nor rests himself when he\nis overcome.  We shall have, it seems, perpetually to fight with him; as\nin good success his confidence, and in ill success his shame, still urges\nhim to some further enterprise?\"  Then the armies engaged.  When the\nfight was doubtful, Hannibal commanded the elephants to be brought into\nthe first battalion, and to be driven upon the van of the Romans.  When\nthe beasts, trampling upon many, soon caused disorder, Flavius, a tribune\nof soldiers, snatching an ensign, meets them, and wounding the first\nelephant with the spike at the bottom of the ensign staff, puts him to\nflight.  The beast turned round upon the next, and drove back both him\nand the rest that followed.  Marcellus, seeing this, pours in his horse\nwith great force upon the elephants, and upon the enemy disordered by\ntheir flight.  The horse, making a fierce impression, pursued the\nCarthaginians home to their camp, while the elephants, wounded, and\nrunning upon their own party, caused a considerable slaughter.  It is\nsaid, more than eight thousand were slain; of the Roman army three\nthousand, and almost all wounded.  This gave Hannibal opportunity to\nretire in the silence of the night, and to remove to greater distance\nfrom Marcellus; who was kept from pursuing by the number of his wounded\nmen, and removed, by gentle marches, into Campania, and spent the summer\nat Sinuessa, engaged in restoring them.\n\nBut as Hannibal, having disentangled himself from Marcellus, ranged with\nhis army round about the country, and wasted Italy free from all fear, at\nRome Marcellus was evil spoken of.  His detractors induced Publicius\nBibulus, tribune of the people, an eloquent and violent man, to undertake\nhis accusation.  He, by assiduous harangues, prevailed upon the people to\nwithdraw from Marcellus the command of the army; \"Seeing that Marcellus,\"\nsaid he, \"after brief exercise in the war, has withdrawn as it might be\nfrom the wrestling ground to the warm baths to refresh himself.\"\nMarcellus, on hearing this, appointed lieutenants over his camp, and\nhasted to Rome to refute the charges against him:  and there found ready\ndrawn up an impeachment consisting of these calumnies.  At the day\nprefixed, in the Flaminian circus, into which place the people had\nassembled themselves, Bibulus rose and accused him.  Marcellus himself\nanswered, briefly and simply:  but the first and most approved men of the\ncity spoke largely and in high terms, very freely advising the people not\nto show themselves worse judges than the enemy, condemning Marcellus of\ntimidity, from whom alone of all their captains the enemy fled, and as\nperpetually endeavored to avoid fighting with him, as to fight with\nothers.  When they made an end of speaking, the accuser's hope to obtain\njudgment so far deceived him, that Marcellus was not only absolved, but\nthe fifth time created consul.\n\nNo sooner had he entered upon this consulate, but he suppressed a great\ncommotion in Etruria, that had proceeded near to revolt, and visited and\nquieted the cities.  Then, when the dedication of the temple, which he had\nvowed out of his Sicilian spoils to Honor and Virtue, was objected to by\nthe priests, because they denied that one temple could be lawfully\ndedicated to two gods, he began to adjoin another to it, resenting the\npriests' opposition, and almost converting the thing into an omen.  And,\ntruly, many other prodigies also affrighted him; some temples had been\nstruck with lightning, and in Jupiter's temple mice had gnawed the gold;\nit was reported also, that an ox had spoke, and that a boy had been born\nwith a head like an elephant's.  All which prodigies had indeed been\nattended to, but due reconciliation had not been obtained from the gods.\nThe aruspices therefore detained him at Rome, glowing and burning with\ndesire to return to the war.  For no man was ever inflamed with so great\ndesire of any thing, as was he to fight a battle with Hannibal.  It was\nthe subject of his dreams in the night, the topic of all his\nconsultations with his friends and familiars, nor did he present to the\ngods any other wish, but that he might meet Hannibal in the field.  And I\nthink, that he would most gladly have set upon him, with both armies\nenvironed within a single camp.  Had he not been even loaded with honors,\nand had he not given proofs in many ways of his maturity of judgment and\nof prudence equal to that of any commander, you might have said, that he\nwas agitated by a youthful ambition, above what became a man of that age:\nfor he had passed the sixtieth year of his life when he began his fifth\nconsulship.\n\nThe sacrifices having been offered, and all that belonged to the\npropitiation of the gods performed, according to the prescription of the\ndiviners, he at last with his colleague went forth to carry on the war.\nHe tried all possible means to provoke Hannibal, who at that time had a\nstanding camp betwixt Bantia and Venusia.  Hannibal declined an engagement,\nbut having obtained intelligence that some troops were on their way to\nthe town of Locri Epizephyrii, placing an ambush under the little hill of\nPetelia, he slew two thousand five hundred soldiers.  This incensed\nMarcellus to revenge; and he therefore moved nearer Hannibal.  Betwixt\nthe two camps was a little hill, a tolerably secure post, covered with\nwood; it had steep descents on either side, and there were springs of\nwater seen trickling down.  This place was so fit and advantageous, that\nthe Romans wondered that Hannibal, who had come thither before them, had\nnot seized upon it, but had left it to the enemies.  But to him the place\nhad seemed commodious indeed for a camp, but yet more commodious for an\nambuscade; and to that use he chose to put it.  So in the wood and the\nhollows he hid a number of archers and spearmen, confident that the\ncommodiousness of the place would allure the Romans.  Nor was he deceived\nin his expectation.  For presently in the Roman camp they talked and\ndisputed, as if they had all been captains, how the place ought to be\nseized, and what great advantage they should thereby gain upon the\nenemies, chiefly if they transferred their camp thither, at any rate, if\nthey strengthened the place with a fort.  Marcellus resolved to go, with\na few horse, to view it.  Having called a diviner he proceeded to\nsacrifice.  In the first victim the aruspex showed him the liver without\na head; in the second the head appeared of unusual size, and all the\nother indications highly promising.  When these seemed sufficient to free\nthem from the dread of the former, the diviners declared, that they were\nall the more terrified by the latter:  because entrails too fair and\npromising, when they appear after others that are maimed and monstrous,\nrender the change doubtful and suspicious But\n\nNor fire nor brazen wall can keep out fate;\n\nas Pindar observes.  Marcellus, therefore, taking with him his colleague\nCrispinus, and his son, a tribune of soldiers, with two hundred and\ntwenty horse at most, (among whom there was not one Roman, but all were\nEtruscans, except forty Fregellans, of whose courage and fidelity he had\non all occasions received full proof,) goes to view the place.  The hill\nwas covered with woods all over; on the top of it sat a scout concealed\nfrom the sight of the enemy, but having the Roman camp exposed to his\nview.  Upon signs received from him, the men that were placed in ambush,\nstirred not till Marcellus came near; and then all starting up in an\ninstant, and encompassing him from all sides, attacked him with darts,\nstruck about and wounded the backs of those that fled, and pressed upon\nthose who resisted.  These were the forty Fregellans.  For though the\nEtruscans fled in the very beginning of the fight, the Fregellans formed\nthemselves into a ring, bravely defending the consuls, till Crispinus,\nstruck with two darts, turned his horse to fly away; and Marcellus's side\nwas run through with a lance with a broad head.  Then the Fregellans,\nalso, the few that remained alive, leaving the fallen consul, and\nrescuing young Marcellus, who also was wounded, got into the camp by\nflight.  There were slain not much above forty; five lictors and eighteen\nhorsemen came alive into the enemy's hands.  Crispinus also died of his\nwounds a few days after.  Such a disaster as the loss of both consuls in\na single engagement, was one that had never before befallen the Romans.\n\nHannibal, little valuing the other events, so soon as he was told of\nMarcellus's death, immediately hasted to the hilt.  Viewing the body, and\ncontinuing for some time to observe its strength and shape, he allowed\nnot a word to fall from him expressive of the least pride or arrogancy,\nnor did he show in his countenance any sign of gladness, as another\nperhaps would have done, when his fierce and troublesome enemy had been\ntaken away; but amazed by so sudden and unexpected an end, taking off\nnothing but his ring, gave order to have the body properly clad and\nadorned, and honorably burned.  The relics, put into a silver urn, with a\ncrown of gold to cover it, he sent back to his son.  But some of the\nNumidians setting upon those that were carrying the urn, took it from\nthem by force, and cast away the bones; which being told to Hannibal, \"It\nis impossible, it seems then,\" he said, \"to do anything against the will\nof God!\"  He punished the Numidians; but took no further care of sending\nor recollecting the bones; conceiving that Marcellus so fell, and so lay\nunburied, by a certain fate.  So Cornelius Nepos and Valerius Maximus\nhave left upon record:  but Livy and Augustus Caesar affirm, that the urn\nwas brought to his son, and honored with a magnificent funeral.  Besides\nthe monuments raised for him at Rome, there was dedicated to his memory\nat Catana in Sicily, an ample wrestling place called after him; statues\nand pictures, out of those he took from Syracuse, were set up in\nSamothrace, in the temple of the gods, named Cabiri, and in that of\nMinerva at Lindus, where also there was a statue of him, says Posidonius,\nwith the following inscription:\n\nThis was, O stranger, once Rome's star divine,\nClaudius Marcellus of an ancient line;\nTo fight her wars seven times her consul made,\nLow in the dust her enemies he laid.\n\nThe writer of the inscription has added to Marcellus's five consulates,\nhis two proconsulates.  His progeny continued in high honor even down to\nMarcellus, son of Octavia, sister of Augustus, whom she bore to her\nhusband Caius Marcellus; and who died, a bridegroom, in the year of his\naedileship, having not long before married Caesar's daughter.  His\nmother, Octavia, dedicated the library to his honor and memory, and\nCaesar, the theater which bears his name.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISION OF PELOPIDAS WITH MARCELLUS\n\nThese are the memorable things I have found in historians, concerning\nMarcellus and Pelopidas.  Betwixt which two great men, though in natural\ncharacter and manners they nearly resembled each other, because both were\nvaliant and diligent, daring and high-spirited, there was yet some\ndiversity in the one point, that Marcellus in many cities which he\nreduced under his power, committed great slaughter; but Epaminondas and\nPelopidas never after any victory put men to death, or reduced citizens\nto slavery.  And we are told, too, that the Thebans would not, had these\nbeen present, have taken the measures they did, against the Orchomenians.\nMarcellus's exploits against the Gauls are admirable and ample; when,\naccompanied by a few horse, he defeated and put to fight a vast number of\nhorse and foot together, (an action you cannot easily in historians find\nto have been done by any other captain,) and took their king prisoner.\nTo which honor Pelopidas aspired, but did not attain; he was killed by\nthe tyrant in the attempt.  But to these you may perhaps oppose those two\nmost glorious battles at Leuctra and Tegyrae; and we have no statement of\nany achievement of Marcellus, by stealth or ambuscade, such as were those\nof Pelopidas, when he returned from exile, and killed the tyrants at\nThebes; which, indeed, may claim to be called the first in rank of all\nachievements ever performed by secrecy and cunning.  Hannibal was,\nindeed, a most formidable enemy for the Romans but so for that matter\nwere the Lacedaemonians for the Thebans.  And that these were, in the\nfights of Leuctra and Tegyrae, beaten and put to fight by Pelopidas, is\nconfessed; whereas, Polybius writes, that Hannibal was never so much as\nonce vanquished by Marcellus, but remained invincible in all encounters,\ntill Scipio came.  I myself, indeed, have followed rather Livy, Caesar,\nCornelius Nepos, and, among the Greeks, king Juba, in stating that the\ntroops of Hannibal were in some encounters routed and put to flight by\nMarcellus; but certainly these defeats conduced little to the sum of the\nwar.  It would seem as if they had been merely feints of some sort on the\npart of the Carthaginian.  What was indeed truly and really admirable\nwas, that the Romans, after the defeat of so many armies, the slaughter\nof so many captains, and, in fine, the confusion of almost the whole\nRoman empire, still showed a courage equal to their losses, and were as\nwilling as their enemies to engage in new battles.  And Marcellus was the\none man who overcame the great and inveterate fear and dread, and\nrevived, raised, and confirmed the spirits of the soldiers to that degree\nof emulation and bravery, that would not let them easily yield the\nvictory, but made them contend for it to the last.  For the same men,\nwhom continual defeats had accustomed to think themselves happy, if they\ncould but save themselves by running from Hannibal, were by him taught to\nesteem it base and ignominious to return safe but unsuccessful; to be\nashamed to confess that they had yielded one step in the terrors of the\nfight; and to grieve to extremity if they were not victorious.\n\nIn short, as Pelopidas was never overcome in any battle, where himself\nwas present and commanded in chief, and as Marcellus gained more\nvictories than any of his contemporaries, truly he that could not be\neasily overcome, considering his many successes, may fairly be compared\nwith him who was undefeated.  Marcellus took Syracuse; whereas Pelopidas\nwas frustrated of his hope of capturing Sparta.  But in my judgment, it\nwas more difficult to advance his standard even to the walls of Sparta,\nand to be the first of mortals that ever passed the river Eurotas in\narms, than it was to reduce Sicily; unless, indeed, we say that that\nadventure is with more of right to be attributed to Epaminondas, as was\nalso the Leuctrian battle; whereas Marcellus's renown, and the glory of\nhis brave actions came entire and undiminished to him alone.  For he\nalone took Syracuse; and without his colleague's help defeated the Gauls,\nand, when all others declined, alone, without one companion, ventured to\nengage with Hannibal; and changing the aspect of the war first showed the\nexample of daring to attack him.\n\nI cannot commend the death of either of these great men; the suddenness\nand strangeness of their ends gives me a feeling rather of pain and\ndistress.  Hannibal has my admiration, who, in so many severe conflicts,\nmore than can be reckoned in one day, never received so much as one\nwound.  I honor Chrysantes also, (in Xenophon's Cyropaedia,) who, having\nraised his sword in the act of striking his enemy, so soon as a retreat\nwas sounded, left him, and retired sedately and modestly.  Yet the anger\nwhich provoked Pelopidas to pursue revenge in the heat of fight, may\nexcuse him.\n\nThe first thing for a captain is to gain\nSafe victory; the next to be with honor slain,\n\nas Euripides says.  For then he cannot be said to suffer death; it is\nrather to be called an action.  The very object, too, of Pelopidas's\nvictory, which consisted in the slaughter of the tyrant, presenting\nitself to his eyes, did not wholly carry him away unadvisedly: he could\nnot easily expect again to have another equally glorious occasion for the\nexercise of his courage, in a noble and honorable cause.  But Marcellus,\nwhen it made little to his advantage, and when no such violent ardor as\npresent danger naturally calls out transported him to passion, throwing\nhimself into danger, fell into an unexplored ambush; he, namely, who had\nborne five consulates, led three triumphs, won the spoils and glories of\nkings and victories, to act the part of a mere scout or sentinel, and to\nexpose all his achievements to be trod under foot by the mercenary\nSpaniards and Numidians, who sold themselves and their lives to the\nCarthaginians; so that even they themselves felt unworthy, and almost\ngrudged themselves the unhoped for success of having cut off, among a few\nFregellan scouts, the most valiant, the most potent, and most renowned of\nthe Romans.  Let no man think that we have thus spoken out of a design to\naccuse these noble men; it is merely an expression of frank indignation\nin their own behalf, at seeing them thus wasting all their other virtues\nupon that of bravery, and throwing away their lives, as if the loss would\nbe only felt by themselves, and not by their country, allies, and\nfriends.\n\nAfter Pelopidas's death, his friends, for whom he died, made a funeral\nfor him; the enemies, by whom he had been killed, made one for Marcellus.\nA noble and happy lot indeed the former, yet there is something higher\nand greater in the admiration rendered by enemies to the virtue that had\nbeen their own obstacle, than in the grateful acknowledgments of friends.\nSince, in the one case, it is virtue alone that challenges itself the\nhonor; while, in the other, it may be rather men's personal profit and\nadvantage that is the real origin of what they do.\n\n\n\nARISTIDES\n\nAristides, the son of Lysimachus, was of the tribe Antiochis, and\ntownship of Alopece.  As to his wealth, statements differ; some say\nhe passed his life in extreme poverty, and left behind him two\ndaughters whose indigence long kept them unmarried:  but Demetrius,\nthe Phalerian, in opposition to this general report, professes in his\nSocrates, to know a farm at Phalerum going by Aristides's name, where\nhe was interred; and, as marks of his opulence, adduces first, the\noffice of archon eponymus, which he obtained by the lot of the bean;\nwhich was confined to the highest assessed families, called the\nPentacosiomedimni; second, the ostracism, which was not usually\ninflicted on the poorer citizens, but on those of great houses, whose\nelation exposed them to envy; third and last, that he left certain\ntripods in the temple of Bacchus, offerings for his victory in\nconducting the representation of dramatic performances, which were\neven in our age still to be seen, retaining this inscription upon\nthem, \"The tribe Antiochis obtained the victory:  Aristides defrayed\nthe charges:  Archestratus's play was acted.\"  But this argument,\nthough in appearance the strongest, is of the least moment of any.\nFor Epaminondas, who all the world knows was educated, and lived his\nwhole life, in much poverty, and also Plato, the philosopher,\nexhibited magnificent shows, the one an entertainment of flute-players\nthe other of dithyrambic singers; Dion, the Syracusan, supplying the\nexpenses of the latter, and Pelopidas those of Epaminondas.  For good\nmen do not allow themselves in any inveterate and irreconcilable\nhostility to receiving presents from their friends, but while looking\nupon those that are accepted to be hoarded up and with avaricious\nintentions, as sordid and mean, they do not refuse such as, apart from\nall profit, gratify the pure love of honor and magnificence.\nPanaetius, again, shows that Demetrius was deceived concerning the\ntripod by an identity of name.  For, from the Persian war to the end\nof the Peloponnesian, there are upon record only two of the name of\nAristides, who defrayed the expense of representing plays and gained\nthe prize neither of which was the same with the son of Lysimachus;\nbut the father of the one was Xenophilus, and the other lived at a\nmuch later time, as the way of writing, which is that in use since the\ntime of Euclides, and the addition of the name of Archestratus prove,\na name which, in the time of the Persian war, no writer mentions, but\nwhich several, during the Peloponnesian war, record as that of a\ndramatic poet.  The argument of Panaetius requires to be more closely\nconsidered.  But as for the ostracism, everyone was liable to it,\nwhom his reputation, birth, or eloquence raised above the common\nlevel; insomuch that even Damon, preceptor to Pericles, was thus\nbanished, because he seemed a man of more than ordinary sense.  And,\nmoreover, Idomeneus says, that Aristides was not made archon by the\nlot of the bean, but the free election of the people.  And if he held\nthe office after the battle of Plataea, as Demetrius himself has\nwritten, it is very probable that his great reputation and success in\nthe war, made him be preferred for his virtue to an office which\nothers received in consideration of their wealth.  But Demetrius\nmanifestly is eager not only to exempt Aristides but Socrates\nlikewise, from poverty, as from a great evil; telling us that the\nlatter had not only a house of his own, but also seventy minae put out\nat interest with Crito.\n\nAristides being the friend and supporter of that Clisthenes, who\nsettled the government after the expulsion of the tyrants, and\nemulating and admiring Lycurgus the Lacedaemonian above all\npoliticians, adhered to the aristocratical principles of government;\nand had Themistocles, son to Neocles, his adversary on the side of the\npopulace.  Some say that, being boys and bred up together from their\ninfancy, they were always at variance with each other in all their\nwords and actions as well serious as playful, and that in this their\nearly contention they soon made proof of their natural inclinations;\nthe one being ready, adventurous, and subtle, engaging readily and\neagerly in everything; the other of a staid and settled temper,\nintent on the exercise of justice, not admitting any degree of\nfalsity, indecorum, or trickery, no, not so much as at his play.\nAriston of Chios says the first origin of the enmity which rose to so\ngreat a height, was a love affair; they were rivals for the affection\nof the beautiful Stesilaus of Ceos, and were passionate beyond all\nmoderation, and did not lay aside their animosity when the beauty that\nhad excited it passed away; but, as if it had only exercised them in\nit, immediately carried their heats and differences into public\nbusiness.\n\nThemistocles, therefore, joining an association of partisans,\nfortified himself with considerable strength; insomuch that when some\none told him that were he impartial, he would make a good magistrate;\n\"I wish,\" replied he, \"I may never sit on that tribunal where my\nfriends shall not plead a greater privilege than strangers.\"  But\nAristides walked, so to say, alone on his own path in politics, being\nunwilling, in the first place, to go along with his associates in ill\ndoing, or to cause them vexation by not gratifying their wishes; and,\nsecondly, observing that many were encouraged by the support they had\nin their friends to act injuriously, he was cautious; being of opinion\nthat the integrity of his words and actions was the only right\nsecurity for a good citizen.\n\nHowever, Themistocles making many dangerous alterations, and\nwithstanding and interrupting him in the whole series of his actions,\nAristides also was necessitated to set himself against all\nThemistocles did, partly in self-defense, and partly to impede his\npower from still increasing by the favor of the multitude; esteeming\nit better to let slip some public conveniences, rather than that he by\nprevailing should become powerful in all things.  In fine, when he\nonce had opposed Themistocles in some measures that were expedient,\nand had got the better of him, he could not refrain from saying, when\nhe left the assembly, that unless they sent Themistocles and himself\nto the barathrum, there could be no safety for Athens.  Another time,\nwhen urging some proposal upon the people, though there were much\nopposition and stirring against it, he yet was gaining the day; but\njust as the president of the assembly was about to put it to the vote,\nperceiving by what had been said in debate the inexpediency of his\nadvice, he let it fall.  Also he often brought in his bills by other\npersons, lest Themistocles, through party spirit against him, should\nbe any hindrance to the good of the public.\n\nIn all the vicissitudes of public affairs, the constancy he showed was\nadmirable, not being elated with honors, and demeaning himself\ntranquilly and sedately in adversity; holding the opinion that he\nought to offer himself to the service of his country without mercenary\nnews and irrespectively of any reward, not only of riches, but even of\nglory itself.  Hence it came, probably, that at the recital of these\nverses of Aeschylus in the theater, relating to Amphiaraus,\n\nFor not at seeming just, but being so\nHe aims; and from his depth of soil below,\nHarvests of wise and prudent counsels grow,\n\nthe eyes of all the spectators turned on Aristides, as if this virtue,\nin an especial manner, belonged to him.\n\nHe was a most determined champion for justice, not only against\nfeelings of friendship and favor, but wrath and malice.  Thus it is\nreported of him that when prosecuting the law against one who was his\nenemy, on the judges after accusation refusing to hear the criminal,\nand proceeding immediately to pass sentence upon him, he rose in haste\nfrom his seat and joined in petition with him for a hearing, and that\nhe might enjoy the privilege of the law.  Another time, when judging\nbetween two private persons, on the one declaring his adversary had\nvery much injured Aristides; \"Tell me rather, good friend,\" he said,\n\"what wrong he has done you:  for it is your cause, not my own, which\nI now sit judge of.\"  Being chosen to the charge of the public\nrevenue, he made it appear that not only those of his time, but the\npreceding officers, had alienated much treasure, and especially\nThemistocles:--\n\nWell known he was an able man to be,\nBut with his fingers apt to be too flee.\n\nTherefore, Themistocles associating several persons against\nAristides, and impeaching him when he gave in his accounts, caused him\nto be condemned of robbing the public; so Idomeneus states; but the\nbest and chiefest men of the city much resenting it, he was not only\nexempted from the fine imposed upon him, but likewise again called to\nthe same employment.  Pretending now to repent him of his former\npractice, and carrying himself with more remissness, he became\nacceptable to such as pillaged the treasury, by not detecting or\ncalling them to an exact account.  So that those who had their fill of\nthe public money began highly to applaud Aristides, and sued to the\npeople, making interest to have him once more chosen treasurer.  But\nwhen they were upon the point of election, he reproved the Athenians.\n\"When I discharged my office well and faithfully,\" said he, \"I was\ninsulted and abused; but now that I have allowed the public thieves in\na variety of malpractices, I am considered an admirable patriot.  I am\nmore ashamed, therefore, of this present honor than of the former\nsentence; and I commiserate your condition, with whom it is more\npraiseworthy to oblige ill men than to conserve the revenue of the\npublic.\"  Saying thus, and proceeding to expose the thefts that had\nbeen committed, he stopped the mouths of those who cried him up and\nvouched for him, but gained real and true commendation from the best\nmen.\n\nWhen Datis, being sent by Darius under pretense of punishing the\nAthenians for their burning of Sardis, but in reality to reduce the\nGreeks under his dominion, landed at Marathon and laid waste the\ncountry, among the ten commanders appointed by the Athenians for the\nwar, Militiades was of the greatest name; but the second place, both\nfor reputation and power, was possessed by Aristides:  and when his\nopinion to join battle was added to that of Miltiades, it did much to\nincline the balance.  Every leader by his day having the command in\nchief when it came to Aristides' turn, he delivered it into the hands\nof Miltiades, showing his fellow officers, that it is not dishonorable\nto obey and follow wise and able men, but, on the contrary, noble and\nprudent.  So appeasing their rivalry, and bringing them to acquiesce\nin one and the best advice, he confirmed Miltiades in the strength of\nan undivided and unmolested authority.  For now everyone, yielding\nhis day of command, looked for orders only to him.  During the fight\nthe main body of the Athenians being the hardest put to it, the\nbarbarians, for a long time, making opposition there against the\ntribes Leontis and Antiochis, Themistocles and Aristides being ranged\ntogether, fought valiantly; the one being of the tribe Leontis, the\nother of the Antiochis.  But after they had beaten the barbarians back\nto their ships, and perceived that they sailed not for the isles, but\nwere driven in by the force of sea and wind towards the country of\nAttica; fearing lest they should take the city, unprovided of defense,\nthey hurried away thither with nine tribes, and reached it the same\nday.  Aristides, being left with his tribe at Marathon to guard the\nplunder and prisoners, did not disappoint the opinion they had of him.\nAmidst the profusion of gold and silver, all sorts of apparel, and\nother property, more than can be mentioned, that were in the tents and\nthe vessels which they had taken, he neither felt the desire to meddle\nwith anything himself, nor suffered others to do it; unless it might\nbe some who took away anything unknown to him; as Callias, the\ntorchbearer, did.  One of the barbarians, it seems, prostrated\nhimself before this man, supposing him to be a king by his hair and\nfillet; and, when he had so done, taking him by the hand, showed him a\ngreat quantity of gold hid in a ditch.  But Callias, most cruel and\nimpious of men, took away the treasure, but slew the man, lest he\nshould tell of him.  Hence, they say, the comic poets gave his family\nthe name of Laccopluti, or enriched by the ditch, alluding to the\nplace where Callias found the gold.  Aristides, immediately after\nthis, was archon; although Demetrius, the Phalerian, says he held the\noffice a little before he died, after the battle of Plataea.  But in\nthe records of the successors of Xanthippides, in whose year Mardonius\nwas overthrown at Plataea, amongst very many there mentioned, there is\nnot so much as one of the same name as Aristides:  while immediately\nafter Phaenippus, during whose term of office they obtained the\nvictory of Marathon, Aristides is registered.\n\nOf all his virtues, the common people were most affected with his\njustice, because of its continual and common use; and thus, although\nof mean fortune and ordinary birth, he possessed himself of the most\nkingly and divine appellation of Just; which kings, however, and\ntyrants have never sought after; but have taken delight to be surnamed\nbesiegers of cities, thunderers, conquerors, or eagles again, and\nhawks ; affecting, it seems, the reputation which proceeds from power\nand violence, rather than that of virtue.  Although the divinity, to\nwhom they desire to compare and assimilate themselves, excels, it is\nsupposed, in three things, immortality, power, and virtue; of which\nthree, the noblest and divinest is virtue.  For the elements and\nvacuum have an everlasting existence; earthquakes, thunders, storms,\nand torrents have great power; but in justice and equity nothing\nparticipates except by means of reason and the knowledge of that which\nis divine.  And thus, taking the three varieties of feeling commonly\nentertained towards the deity, the sense of his happiness, fear, and\nhonor of him, people would seem to think him blest and happy for his\nexemption from death and corruption, to fear and dread him for his\npower and dominion, but to love, honor, and adore him for his justice.\nYet though thus disposed, they covet that immortality which our nature\nis not capable of, and that power the greatest part of which is at the\ndisposal of fortune; but give virtue, the only divine good really in\nour reach, the last place, most unwisely; since justice makes the life\nof such as are in prosperity, power, and authority the life of a god,\nand injustice turns it to that of a beast.\n\nAristides, therefore, had at first the fortune to be beloved for this\nsurname, but at length envied.  Especially when Themistocles spread a\nrumor amongst the people, that, by determining and judging all matters\nprivately, he had destroyed the courts of judicature, and was secretly\nmaking way for a monarchy in his own person, without the assistance of\nguards.  Moreover, the spirit of the people, now grown high, and\nconfident with their late victory, naturally entertained feelings of\ndislike to all of more than common fame and reputation.  Coming\ntogether, therefore, from all parts into the city, they banished\nAristides by the ostracism, giving their jealousy of his reputation\nthe name of fear of tyranny.  For ostracism was not the punishment of\nany criminal act, but was speciously said to be the mere depression\nand humiliation of excessive greatness and power; and was in fact a\ngentle relief and mitigation of envious feeling, which was thus\nallowed to vent itself in inflicting no intolerable injury, only a ten\nyears' banishment.  But after it came to be exercised upon base and\nvillainous fellows, they desisted from it; Hyperbolus, being the last\nwhom they banished by the ostracism.\n\nThe cause of Hyperbolus's banishment is said to have been this.\nAlcibiades and Nicias, men that bore the greatest sway in the city,\nwere of different factions.  As the people, therefore, were about to\nvote the ostracism, and obviously to decree it against one of them,\nconsulting together and uniting their parties, they contrived the\nbanishment of Hyperbolus.  Upon which the people, being offended, as\nif some contempt or affront was put upon the thing, left off and quite\nabolished it.  It was performed, to be short, in this manner.  Every\none taking an ostracon, a sherd, that is, or piece of earthenware,\nwrote upon it the citizen's name he would have banished, and carried\nit to a certain part of the market-place surrounded with wooden rails.\nFirst, the magistrates numbered all the sherds in gross (for if there\nwere less than six thousand, the ostracism was imperfect); then,\nlaying every name by itself, they pronounced him whose name was\nwritten by the larger number, banished for ten years, with the\nenjoyment of his estate.  As, therefore, they were writing the names\non the sherds, it is reported that an illiterate clownish fellow,\ngiving Aristides his sherd, supposing him a common citizen, begged him\nto write Aristides upon it; and he being surprised and asking if\nAristides had ever done him any injury, \"None at all,\" said he,\n\"neither know I the man; but I am tired of hearing him everywhere\ncalled the Just.\"  Aristides, hearing this, is said to have made no\nreply, but returned the sherd with his own name inscribed.  At his\ndeparture from the city, lifting up his hands to heaven, he made a\nprayer, (the reverse, it would seem, of that of Achilles,) that the\nAthenians might never have any occasion which should constrain them to\nremember Aristides.\n\nNevertheless, three years after, when Xerxes marched through Thessaly\nand Boeotia into the country of Attica, repealing the law, they\ndecreed the return of the banished:  chiefly fearing Aristides, lest,\njoining himself to the enemy, he should corrupt and bring over many of\nhis fellow-citizens to the party of the barbarians; much mistaking the\nman, who, already before the decree, was exerting himself to excite\nand encourage the Greeks to the defense of their liberty.  And\nafterwards, when Themistocles was general with absolute power, he\nassisted him in all ways both in action and counsel; rendering, in\nconsideration of the common security, the greatest enemy he had the\nmost glorious of men.  For when Eurybiades was deliberating to desert\nthe isle of Salamis, and the gallies of the barbarians putting out by\nnight to sea surrounded and beset the narrow passage and islands, and\nnobody was aware how they were environed, Aristides, with great\nhazard, sailed from Aegina through the enemy's fleet; and coming by\nnight to Themistocles's tent, and calling him out by himself; \"If we\nhave any discretion,\" said he, \"Themistocles, laying aside at this\ntime our vain and childish contention, let us enter upon a safe and\nhonorable dispute, vying with each other for the preservation of\nGreece; you in the ruling and commanding, I in the subservient and\nadvising part; even, indeed, as I now understand you to be alone\nadhering to the best advice, in counseling without any delay to engage\nin the straits.  And in this, though our own party oppose, the enemy\nseems to assist you.  For the sea behind, and all around us, is\ncovered with their fleet; so that we are under a necessity of\napproving ourselves men of courage, and fighting, whether we will or\nno; for there is no room left us for flight.\"  To which Themistocles\nanswered, \"I would not willingly, Aristides, be overcome by you on\nthis occasion; and shall endeavor, in emulation of this good\nbeginning, to outdo it in my actions.\"  Also relating to him the\nstratagem he had framed against the barbarians, he entreated him to\npersuade Eurybiades and show him how it was impossible they should\nsave themselves without an engagement; as he was the more likely to be\nbelieved.  Whence, in the council of war, Cleocritus, the Corinthian,\ntelling Themistocles that Aristides did not like his advice, as he was\npresent and said nothing, Aristides answered, That he should not have\nheld his peace if Themistocles had not been giving the best advice;\nand that he was now silent not out of any good-will to the person, but\nin approbation of his counsel.\n\nThus the Greek captains were employed.  But Aristides perceiving\nPsyttalea, a small island that lies within the straits over against\nSalamis, to be filled by a body of the enemy, put aboard his small\nboats the most forward and courageous of his countrymen, and went\nashore upon it; and, joining battle with the barbarians, slew them\nall, except such more remarkable persons as were taken alive.  Amongst\nthese were three children of Sandauce, the king's sister, whom he\nimmediately sent away to Themistocles, and it is stated that in\naccordance with a certain oracle, they were, by the command of\nEuphrantides, the seer, sacrificed to Bacchus, called Omestes, or the\ndevourer.  But Aristides, placing armed men all around the island, lay\nin wait for such as were cast upon it, to the intent that none of his\nfriends should perish, nor any of his enemies escape.  For the closest\nengagement of the ships, and the main fury of the whole battle, seems\nto have been about this place; for which reason a trophy was erected\nin Psyttalea.\n\nAfter the fight, Themistocles, to sound Aristides, told him they had\nperformed a good piece of service, but there was a better yet to be\ndone, the keeping Asia in Europe, by sailing forthwith to the\nHellespont, and cutting in sunder the bridge.  But Aristides, with an\nexclamation, bid him think no more of it, but deliberate and find out\nmeans for removing the Mede, as quickly as possible, out of Greece;\nlest being enclosed, through want of means to escape, necessity should\ncompel him to force his way with so great an army.  So Themistocles\nonce more dispatched Arnaces, the eunuch, his prisoner, giving him in\ncommand privately to advertise the king that he had diverted the\nGreeks from their intention of setting sail for the bridges, out of\nthe desire he felt to preserve him.\n\nXerxes, being much terrified with this, immediately hasted to the\nHellespont.  But Mardonius was left with the most serviceable part of\nthe army, about three hundred thousand men, and was a formidable\nenemy, confident in his infantry, and writing messages of defiance to\nthe Greeks:  \"You have overcome by sea men accustomed to fight on\nland, and unskilled at the oar; but there lies now the open country of\nThessaly; and the plains of Boeotia offer a broad and worthy field for\nbrave men, either horse or foot, to contend in.\"  But he sent\nprivately to the Athenians, both by letter and word of mouth from the\nking, promising to rebuild their city, to give them a vast sum of\nmoney, and constitute them lords of all Greece on condition they were\nnot engaged in the war.  The Lacedaemonians, receiving news of this,\nand fearing, dispatched an embassy to the Athenians, entreating that\nthey would send their wives and children to Sparta, and receive\nsupport from them for their superannuated.  For, being despoiled both\nof their city and country, the people were suffering extreme distress.\nHaving given audience to the ambassadors, they returned an answer,\nupon the motion of Aristides, worthy of the highest admiration;\ndeclaring, that they forgave their enemies if they thought all things\npurchasable by wealth, than which they knew nothing of greater value;\nbut that they felt offended at the Lacedaemonians, for looking only to\ntheir present poverty and exigence, without any remembrance of their\nvalor and magnanimity, offering them their victuals, to fight in the\ncause of Greece.  Aristides, making this proposal and bringing back\nthe ambassadors into the assembly, charged them to tell the\nLacedaemonians that all the treasure on the earth or under it, was of\nless value with the people of Athens, than the liberty of Greece.\nAnd, showing the sun to those who came from Mardonius, \"as long as\nthat retains the same course, so long,\" said he, \"shall the citizens\nof Athens wage war with the Persians for the country which has been\nwasted, and the temples that have been profaned and burnt by them.\"\nMoreover, he proposed a decree, that the priests should anathematize\nhim who sent any herald to the Medes, or deserted the alliance of\nGreece.\n\nWhen Mardonius made a second incursion into the country of Attica, the\npeople passed over again into the isle of Salamis.  Aristides, being\nsent to Lacedaemon, reproved them for their delay and neglect in\nabandoning Athens once more to the barbarians; and demanded their\nassistance for that part of Greece, which was not yet lost.  The\nEphori, hearing this, made show of sporting all day, and of carelessly\nkeeping holy day, (for they were then celebrating the Hyacinthian\nfestival,) but in the night, selecting five thousand Spartans, each of\nwhom was attended by seven Helots, they sent them forth unknown to\nthose from Athens.  And when Aristides again reprehended them, they\ntold him in derision that he either doted or dreamed, for the army was\nalready at Oresteum, in their march towards the strangers; as they\ncalled the Persians.  Aristides answered that they jested\nunseasonably, deluding their friends, instead of their enemies.  Thus\nsays Idomeneus.  But in the decree of Aristides, not himself, but\nCimon, Xanthippus, and Myronides are appointed ambassadors.\n\nBeing chosen general for the war, he repaired to Plattea, with eight\nthousand Athenians, where Pausanias, generalissimo of all Greece,\njoined him with the Spartans; and the forces of the other Greeks came\nin to them.  The whole encampment of the barbarians extended all along\nthe bank of the river Asopus, their numbers being so great, there was\nno enclosing them all, but their baggage and most valuable things were\nsurrounded with a square bulwark, each side of which was the length of\nten furlongs.\n\nTisamenus, the Elean, had prophesied to Pausanias and all the Greeks,\nand foretold them victory if they made no attempt upon the enemy, but\nstood on their defense.  But Aristides sending to Delphi, the god\nanswered, that the Athenians should overcome their enemies, in case\nthey made supplication to Jupiter and Juno of Cithaeron, Pan, and the\nnymphs Sphragitides, and sacrificed to the heroes Androcrates, Leucon,\nPisander, Damocrates, Hypsion, Actaeon, and Polyidus; and if they\nfought within their own territories in the plain of Ceres Eleusinia\nand Proserpine.  Aristides was perplexed upon the tidings of this\noracle:  since the heroes to whom it commanded him to sacrifice had\nbeen chieftains of the Plataeans, and the cave of the nymphs\nSphragitides was on the top of Mount Cithaeron, on the side facing the\nsetting sun of summer time; in which place, as the story goes, there\nwas formerly an oracle, and many that lived in the district were\ninspired with it, whom they called Nympholepti, possessed with the\nnymphs.  But the plain of Ceres Eleusinia, and the offer of victory to\nthe Athenians, if they fought in their own territories, recalled them\nagain, and transferred the war into the country of Attica.  In this\njuncture, Arimnestus, who commanded the Plataeans, dreamed that\nJupiter, the Saviour, asked him what the Greeks had resolved upon; and\nthat he answered, \"Tomorrow, my Lord, we march our army to Eleusis,\nand there give the barbarians battle according to the directions of\nthe oracle of Apollo.\"  And that the god replied, they were utterly\nmistaken, for that the places spoken of by the oracle were within the\nbounds of Plataea, and if they sought there they should find them.\nThis manifest vision having appeared to Arimnestus, when he awoke he\nsent for the most aged and experienced of his countrymen, with whom\ncommunicating and examining the matter, he found that near Hysiae, at\nthe foot of Mount Cithaeron, there was a very ancient temple called\nthe temple of Ceres Eleusinia and Proserpine.  He therefore forthwith\ntook Aristides to the place, which was very convenient for drawing up\nan army of foot, because the slopes at the bottom of the mountain\nCithaeron rendered the plain, where it comes up to the temple, unfit\nfor the movements of cavalry.  Also, in the same place, there was the\nfane of Androcrates, environed with a thick shady grove.  And that the\noracle might be accomplished in all particulars for the hope of\nvictory, Arimnestus proposed, and the Plataeans decreed, that the\nfrontiers of their country towards Attica should be removed, and the\nland given to the Athenians, that they might fight in defense of\nGreece in their own proper territory.  This zeal and liberality of the\nPlataeans became so famous, that Alexander, many years after, when he\nhad obtained the dominion of all Asia, upon erecting the walls of\nPlataea, caused proclamation to be made by the herald at the Olympic\ngames, that the king did the Plataeans this favor in consideration of\ntheir nobleness and magnanimity, because, in the war with the Medes,\nthey freely gave up their land and zealously fought with the Greeks.\n\nThe Tegeatans, contesting the post of honor with the Athenians,\ndemanded, that, according to custom, the Lacedaemonians being ranged\non the right wing of the battle, they might have the left, alleging\nseveral matters in commendation of their ancestors.  The Athenians\nbeing indignant at the claim, Aristides came forward; \"To contend with\nthe Tegeatans,\" said he, \"for noble descent and valor, the present\ntime permits not:  but this we say to you, O you Spartans, and you the\nrest of the Greeks, that place neither takes away nor contributes\ncourage:  we shall endeavor by crediting and maintaining the post you\nassign us, to reflect no dishonor on our former performances.  For we\nare come, not to differ with our friends, but to fight our enemies;\nnot to extol our ancestors, but ourselves to behave as valiant men.\nThis battle will manifest how much each city, captain, and private\nsoldier is worth to Greece.\"  The council of war, upon this address,\ndecided for the Athenians, and gave them the other wing of the battle.\n\nAll Greece being in suspense, and especially the affairs of the\nAthenians unsettled, certain persons of great families and possessions\nhaving been impoverished by the war, and seeing all their authority\nand reputation in the city vanished with their wealth, and others in\npossession of their honors and places, convened privately at a house\nin Plataea, and conspired for the dissolution of the democratic\ngovernment; and, if the plot should not succeed, to ruin the cause and\nbetray all to the barbarians.  These matters being in agitation in the\ncamp, and many persons already corrupted, Aristides, perceiving the\ndesign, and dreading the present juncture of time, determined neither\nto let the business pass unanimadverted upon, nor yet altogether to\nexpose it; not knowing how many the accusation might reach, and\nwilling to set bounds to his justice with a view to the public\nconvenience.  Therefore, of many that were concerned, he apprehended\neight only, two of whom, who were first proceeded against and most\nguilty, Aeschines of Lampra, and Agesias of Acharnae, made their\nescape out of the camp.  The rest he dismissed; giving opportunity to\nsuch as thought themselves concealed, to take courage and repent;\nintimating that they had in the war a great tribunal, where they might\nclear their guilt by manifesting their sincere and good intentions\ntowards their country.\n\nAfter this, Mardonius made trial of the Grecian courage, by sending\nhis whole number of horse, in which he thought himself much the\nstronger, against them, while they were all pitched at the foot of\nMount Cithaeron, in strong and rocky places, except the Megarians.\nThey, being three thousand in number, were encamped on the plain,\nwhere they were damaged by the horse charging and making inroads upon\nthem on all hands.  They sent, therefore, in haste to Pausanias,\ndemanding relief, as not being able alone to sustain the great numbers\nof the barbarians.  Pausanias, hearing this, and perceiving the tents\nof the Megarians already hid by the multitude of darts and arrows, and\nthemselves driven together into a narrow space, was at a loss himself\nhow to aid them with his battalion of heavy-armed Lacedaemonians.  He\nproposed it, therefore, as a point of emulation in valor and love of\ndistinction, to the commanders and captains who were around him, if\nany would voluntarily take upon them the defense and succor of the\nMegarians.  The rest being backward, Aristides undertook the\nenterprise for the Athenians, and sent Olympiodorus, the most valiant\nof his inferior officers, with three hundred chosen men and some\narchers under his command.  These being soon in readiness, and running\nupon the enemy, as soon as Masistius, who commanded the barbarians'\nhorse, a man of wonderful courage and of extraordinary bulk and\ncomeliness of person, perceived it, turning his steed he made towards\nthem.  And they sustaining the shock and joining battle with him,\nthere was a sharp conflict, as though by this encounter they were to\ntry the success of the whole war.  But after Masistius's horse\nreceived a wound, and flung him, and he falling could hardly raise\nhimself through the weight of his armor, the Athenians, pressing upon\nhim with blows, could not easily get at his person, armed as he was,\nhis breast, his head, and his limbs all over, with gold and brass and\niron; but one of them at last, running him in at the visor of his\nhelmet, slew him; and the rest of the Persians, leaving the body, fled.\nThe greatness of the Greek success was known, not by the multitude of\nthe slain, (for an inconsiderable number were killed,) but by the\nsorrow the barbarians expressed.  For they shaved themselves, their\nhorses, and mules for the death of Masistius, and filled the plain\nwith howling and lamentation; having lost a person, who, next to\nMardonius himself, was by many degrees the chief among them, both for\nvalor and authority.\n\nAfter this skirmish of the horse, they kept from fighting a long time;\nfor the soothsayers, by the sacrifices, foretold the victory both to\nGreeks and Persians, if they stood upon the defensive part only, but\nif they became aggressors, the contrary.  At length Mardonius, when he\nhad but a few days' provision, and the Greek forces increased\ncontinually by some or other that came in to them, impatient of delay,\ndetermined to lie still no longer, but, passing Asopus by daybreak, to\nfall unexpectedly upon the Greeks; and signified the same over night\nto the captains of his host.  But about midnight, a certain horseman\nstole into the Greek camp, and coming to the watch, desired them to\ncall Aristides, the Athenian, to him.  He coming speedily; \"I am,\"\nsaid the stranger, \"Alexander, king of the Macedonians, and am arrived\nhere through the greatest danger in the world for the good-will I bear\nyou, lest a sudden onset should dismay you, so as to behave in the\nfight worse than usual.  For tomorrow Mardonius will give you battle,\nurged, not by any hope of success or courage, but by want of victuals;\nsince, indeed, the prophets prohibit him the battle, the sacrifices\nand oracles being unfavorable; and the army is in despondency and\nconsternation; but necessity forces him to try his fortune, or sit\nstill and endure the last extremity of want.\"  Alexander, thus saying,\nentreated Aristides to take notice and remember him, but not to tell\nany other.  But he told him, it was not convenient to conceal the\nmatter from Pausanias (because he was general); as for any other, he\nwould keep it secret from them till the battle was fought; but if the\nGreeks obtained the victory, that then no one should be ignorant of\nAlexander's good-will and kindness towards them.  After this, the king\nof the Macedonians rode back again, and Aristides went to Pausanias's\ntent and told him; and they sent for the rest of the captains and gave\norders that the army should be in battle array.\n\nHere, according to Herodotus, Pausanias spoke to Aristides, desiring\nhim to transfer the Athenians to the right wing of the army opposite\nto the Persians, (as they would do better service against them, having\nbeen experienced in their way of combat, and emboldened with former\nvictories,) and to give him the left, where the Medizing Greeks were\nto make their assault.  The rest of the Athenian captains regarded\nthis as an arrogant and interfering act on the part of Pausanias;\nbecause, while permitting the rest of the army to keep their stations,\nhe removed them only from place to place, like so many Helots,\nopposing them to the greatest strength of the enemy.  But Aristides\nsaid, they were altogether in the wrong.  If so short a time ago they\ncontested the left wing with the Tegeatans, and gloried in being\npreferred before them, now, when the Lacedaemonians give them place in\nthe right, and yield them in a manner the leading of the army, how is\nit they are discontented with the honor that is done them, and do not\nlook upon it as an advantage to have to fight, not against their\ncountrymen and kindred, but barbarians, and such as were by nature\ntheir enemies?  After this, the Athenians very readily changed places\nwith the Lacedaemonians, and there went words amongst them as they\nwere encouraging each other, that the enemy approached with no better\narms or stouter hearts than those who fought the battle of Marathon;\nbut had the same bows and arrows, and the same embroidered coats and\ngold, and the same delicate bodies and effeminate minds within; \"while\nwe have the same weapons and bodies, and our courage augmented by our\nvictories; and fight not like others in defense of our country only,\nbut for the trophies of Salamis and Marathon; that they may not be\nlooked upon as due to Miltiades or fortune, but to the people of\nAthens.\"  Thus, therefore, were they making haste to change the order\nof their battle.  But the Thebans, understanding it by some deserters,\nforthwith acquainted Mardonius; and he, either for fear of the\nAthenians, or a desire to engage the Lacedaemonians, marched over his\nPersians to the other wing, and commanded the Greeks of his party to\nbe posted opposite to the Athenians.  But this change was observed on\nthe other side, and Pausanias, wheeling about again, ranged himself on\nthe right, and Mardonius, also, as at first, took the left wing over\nagainst the Lacedaemonians.  So the day passed without action.\n\nAfter this, the Greeks determined in council to remove their camp some\ndistance, to possess themselves of a place convenient for watering;\nbecause the springs near them were polluted and destroyed by the\nbarbarian cavalry.  But night being come, and the captains setting out\ntowards the place designed for their encamping, the soldiers were not\nvery ready to follow, and keep in a body, but, as soon as they had\nquitted their first entrenchments, made towards the city of Plataea;\nand there was much tumult and disorder as they dispersed to various\nquarters and proceeded to pitch their tents.  The Lacedaemonians,\nagainst their will, had the fortune to be left by the rest.  For\nAmompharetus, a brave and daring man, who had long been burning with\ndesire of the fight, and resented their many lingerings and delays,\ncalling the removal of the camp a mere running away and flight,\nprotested he would not desert his post, but would there remain with\nhis company, and sustain the charge of Mardonius.  And when Pausanias\ncame to him and told him he did these things by the common vote and\ndetermination of the Greeks, Amompharetus taking up a great stone and\nflinging it at Pausanias' feet, and \"by this token,\" said he, \"do I\ngive my suffrage for the battle, nor have I any concern with the\ncowardly consultations and decrees of other men.\"  Pausanias, not\nknowing what to do in the present juncture, sent to the Athenians, who\nwere drawing off, to stay to accompany him; and so he himself set off\nwith the rest of the army for Plataea, hoping thus to make\nAmompharetus move.\n\nMeantime, day came upon them; and Mardonius (for he was not ignorant\nof their deserting their camp) having his army in array, fell upon the\nLacedaemonians with great shouting and noise of barbarous people, as\nif they were not about to join battle, but crush the Greeks in their\nflight.  Which within a very little came to pass.  For Pausanias,\nperceiving what was done, made a halt, and commanded every one to put\nthemselves in order for the battle; but either through his anger with\nAmompharetus, or the disturbance he was in by reason of the sudden\napproach of the enemy, he forgot to give the signal to the Greeks in\ngeneral.  Whence it was, that they did not come in immediately, or in\na body, to their assistance, but by small companies and straggling,\nwhen the fight was already begun.  Pausanias, offering sacrifice,\ncould not procure favorable omens, and so commanded the\nLacedaemonians, setting down their shields at their feet to abide\nquietly and attend his directions, making no resistance to any of\ntheir enemies.  And, he sacrificing again a second time, the horse\ncharged, and some of the Lacedaemonians were wounded.  At this time,\nalso, Callicrates, who, we are told, was the most comely man in the\narmy, being shot with an arrow and upon the point of expiring, said,\nthat he lamented not his death (for he came from home to lay down his\nlife in the defense of Greece) but that he died without action.  The\ncase was indeed hard, and the forbearance of the men wonderful; for\nthey let the enemy charge without repelling them; and, expecting their\nproper opportunity from the gods and their general, suffered\nthemselves to be wounded and slain in their ranks.  And some say, that\nwhile Pausanias was at sacrifice and prayers, some space out of the\nbattle-array, certain Lydians, falling suddenly upon him, plundered\nand scattered the sacrifice:  and that Pausanias and his company,\nhaving no arms, beat them with staves and whips; and that in imitation\nof this attack, the whipping the boys about the altar, and after it\nthe Lydian procession, are to this day practiced in Sparta.\n\nPausanias, therefore, being troubled at these things, while the priest\nwent on offering one sacrifice after another, turns himself towards\nthe temple with tears in his eyes, and, lifting up his hands to\nheaven, besought Juno of Cithaeron, and the other tutelar gods of the\nPlataeans, if it were not in the fates for the Greeks to obtain the\nvictory, that they might not perish, without performing some\nremarkable thing, and by their actions demonstrating to their enemies,\nthat they waged war with men of courage, and soldiers.  While\nPausanias was thus in the act of supplication, the sacrifices appeared\npropitious, and the soothsayers foretold victory.  The word being\ngiven, the Lacedaemonian battalion of foot seemed, on the sudden, like\nsome one fierce animal, setting up his bristles, and betaking himself\nto the combat; and the barbarians perceived that they encountered with\nmen who would fight it to the death.  Therefore, holding their\nwicker-shields before them, they shot their arrows amongst the\nLacedaemonians.  But they, keeping together in the order of a phalanx,\nand falling upon the enemies, forced their shields out of their hands,\nand, striking with their pikes at the breasts and faces of the\nPersians, overthrew many of them; who, however, fell not either\nunrevenged or without courage.  For taking hold of the spears with\ntheir bare hands, they broke many of them, and betook themselves not\nwithout effect to the sword; and making use of their falchions and\nscimitars, and wresting the Lacedaemonians' shields from them, and\ngrappling with them, it was a long time that they made resistance.\n\nMeanwhile, for some time, the Athenians stood still, waiting for the\nLacedaemonians to come up.  But when they heard much noise as of men\nengaged in fight, and a messenger, they say, came from Pausanias, to\nadvertise them of what was going on, they soon hasted to their\nassistance.  And as they passed through the plain to the place where\nthe noise was, the Greeks, who took part with the enemy, came upon\nthem.  Aristides, as soon as he saw them, going a considerable space\nbefore the rest, cried out to them, conjuring them by the guardian\ngods of Greece to forbear the fight, and be no impediment or stop to\nthose, who were going to succor the defenders of Greece.  But when he\nperceived they gave no attention to him, and had prepared themselves\nfor the battle, then turning from the present relief of the\nLacedaemonians, he engaged them, being five thousand in number.  But\nthe greatest part soon gave way and retreated, as the barbarians also\nwere put to flight.  The sharpest conflict is said to have been\nagainst the Thebans, the chiefest and most powerful persons among them\nat that time siding zealously with the Medes, and leading the\nmultitude not according to their own inclinations, but as being\nsubjects of an oligarchy.\n\nThe battle being thus divided, the Lacedaemonians first beat off the\nPersians; and a Spartan, named Arimnestus, slew Mardonius by a blow on\nthe head with a stone, as the oracle in the temple of Amphiaraus had\nforetold to him.  For Mardonius sent a Lydian thither, and another\nperson, a Carian, to the cave of Trophonius.  This latter, the priest of\nthe oracle answered in his own language.  But the Lydian sleeping in\nthe temple of Amphiaraus, it seemed to him that a minister of the\ndivinity stood before him and commanded him to be gone; and on his\nrefusing to do it, flung a great stone at his head, so that he thought\nhimself slain with the blow.  Such is the story. -- They drove the\nfliers within their walls of wood; and, a little time after, the\nAthenians put the Thebans to flight, killing three hundred of the\nchiefest and of greatest note among them in the actual fight itself.\nFor when they began to fly, news came that the army of the barbarians\nwas besieged within their palisade:  and so giving the Greeks\nopportunity to save themselves, they marched to assist at the\nfortifications; and coming in to the Lacedaemonians, who were\naltogether unhandy and inexperienced in storming, they took the camp\nwith great slaughter of the enemy.  For of three hundred thousand,\nforty thousand only are said to have escaped with Artabazus; while on\nthe Greeks' side there perished in all thirteen hundred and sixty:  of\nwhich fifty-two were Athenians, all of the tribe Aeantis, that fought,\nsays Clidemus, with the greatest courage of any; and for this reason\nthe men of this tribe used to offer sacrifice for the victory, as\nenjoined by the oracle, to the nymphs Sphragitides at the expense of\nthe public:  ninety-one were Lacedaemonians and sixteen Tegeatans.  It\nis strange, therefore, upon what grounds Herodotus can say, that they\nonly, and none other, encountered the enemy; for the number of the\nslain and their monuments testify that the victory was obtained by all\nin general; and if the rest had been standing still, while the\ninhabitants of three cities only had been engaged in the fight, they\nwould not have set on the altar the inscription:  --\n\nThe Greeks, when by their courage and their might,\nThey had repelled the Persian in the fight,\nThe common altar of freed Greece to be,\nReared this to Jupiter who guards the free.\n\nThey fought this battle on the fourth day of the month Boedromion,\naccording to the Athenians, but according to the Boeotians, on the\ntwenty-seventh of Panemus; -- on which day there is still a convention\nof the Greeks at Plataea, and the Plataeans still offer sacrifice for\nthe victory to Jupiter of freedom.  As for the difference of days, it\nis not to be wondered at, since even at the present time, when there\nis a far more accurate knowledge of astronomy, some begin the month at\none time, and some at another.\n\nAfter this, the Athenians not yielding the honor of the day to the\nLacedaemonians, nor consenting they should erect a trophy, things were\nnot far from being ruined by dissension amongst the armed Greeks; had\nnot Aristides, by much soothing and counseling the commanders,\nespecially Leocrates and Myronides, pacified and persuaded them to\nleave the thing to the decision of the Greeks.  And on their\nproceeding to discuss the matter, Theogiton, the Megarian, declared\nthe honor of the victory was to be given some other city, if they\nwould prevent a civil war; after him Cleocritus of Corinth rising up,\nmade people think he would ask the palm for the Corinthians, (for next\nto Sparta and Athens, Corinth was in greatest estimation); but he\ndelivered his opinion, to the general admiration, in favor of the\nPlataeans; and counseled to take away all contention by giving them\nthe reward and glory of the victory, whose being honored could be\ndistasteful to neither party.  This being said, first Aristides gave\nconsent in the name of the Athenians, and Pausanias, then, for the\nLacedaemonians.  So, being reconciled, they set apart eighty talents\nfor the Plataeans, with which they built the temple and dedicated the\nimage to Minerva, and adorned the temple with pictures, which even to\nthis very day retain their luster.  But the Lacedaemonians and\nAthenians each erected a trophy apart by themselves.  On their\nconsulting the oracle about offering sacrifice, Apollo answered that\nthey should dedicate an altar to Jupiter of freedom, but should not\nsacrifice till they had extinguished the fires throughout the country,\nas having been defiled by the barbarians, and had kindled unpolluted\nfire at the common altar at Delphi.  The magistrates of Greece,\ntherefore, went forthwith and compelled such as had fire to put it\nout; and Euchidas, a Plataean, promising to fetch fire, with all\npossible speed, from the altar of the god, went to Delphi, and having\nsprinkled and purified his body, crowned himself with laurel; and\ntaking the fire from the altar ran back to Plataea, and got back there\nbefore sunset, performing in one day a journey of a thousand furlongs;\nand saluting his fellow-citizens and delivering them the fire, he\nimmediately fell down, and in a short time after expired.  But the\nPlataeans, taking him up, interred him in the temple of Diana Euclia,\nsetting this inscription over him:  \"Euchidas ran to Delphi and back\nagain in one day.\"  Most people believe that Euclia is Diana, and call\nher by that name.  But some say she was the daughter of Hercules, by\nMyrto, the daughter of Menoetius, and sister of Patroclus, and, dying\na virgin, was worshipped by the Boeotians and Locrians.  Her altar and\nimage are set up in all their marketplaces, and those of both sexes\nthat are about marrying, sacrifice to her before the nuptials.\n\nA general assembly of all the Greeks being called, Aristides proposed\na decree, that the deputies and religious representatives of the Greek\nstates should assemble annually at Plataea, and every fifth year\ncelebrate the Eleutheria, or games of freedom.  And that there should\nbe a levy upon all Greece, for the war against the barbarians, of ten\nthousand spearmen, one thousand horse, and a hundred sail of ships;\nbut the Plataeans to be exempt, and sacred to the service of the gods,\noffering sacrifice for the welfare of Greece.  These things begin\nratified, the Plataeans undertook the performance of annual sacrifice\nto such as were slain and buried in that place; which they still\nperform in the following manner.  On the sixteenth day of Maemacterion\n(which with the Boeotians is Alalcomenus) they make their procession,\nwhich, beginning by break of day, is led by a trumpeter sounding for\nonset; then follow certain chariots loaded with myrrh and garlands;\nand then a black bull; then come the young men of free birth carrying\nlibations of wine and milk in large two-handed vessels, and jars of\noil and precious ointments, none of servile condition being permitted\nto have any hand in this ministration, because the men died in defense\nof freedom; after all comes the chief magistrate of Plataea, (for whom\nit is unlawful at other times either to touch iron, or wear any other\ncolored garment but white,) at that time appareled in a purple robe;\nand, taking a water-pot out of the city record-office, he proceeds,\nbearing a sword in his hand, through the middle of the town to the\nsepulchres.  Then drawing water out of a spring, he washes and anoints\nthe monument, and sacrificing the bull upon a pile of wood, and\nmaking supplication to Jupiter and Mercury of the earth, invites those\nvaliant men who perished in the defense of Greece, to the banquet and\nthe libations of blood.  After this, mixing a bowl of wine, and\npouring out for himself, he says, \"I drink to those who lost their\nlives for the liberty of Greece.\"  These solemnities the Plataeans\nobserve to this day.\n\nAristides perceived that the Athenians, after their return into the\ncity, were eager for a democracy; and deeming the people to deserve\nconsideration on account of their valiant behavior, as also that it\nwas a matter of difficulty, they being well armed, powerful, and full\nof spirit with their victories, to oppose them by force, he brought\nforward a decree, that every one might share in the government, and\nthe archons be chosen out of the whole body of the Athenians.  And on\nThemistocles telling the people in assembly that he had some advice\nfor them, which could not be given in public, but was most important\nfor the advantage and security of the city, they appointed Aristides\nalone to hear and consider it with him.  And on his acquainting\nAristides that his intent was to set fire to the arsenal of the\nGreeks, for by that means should the Athenians become supreme masters\nof all Greece, Aristides, returning to the assembly, told them, that\nnothing was more advantageous than what Themistocles designed, and\nnothing more unjust.  The Athenians, hearing this, gave Themistocles\norder to desist; such was the love of justice felt by the people, and\nsuch the credit and confidence they reposed in Aristides.\n\nBeing sent in joint commission with Cimon to the war, he took notice\nthat Pausanias and the other Spartan captains made themselves\noffensive by imperiousness and harshness to the confederates; and by\nbeing himself gentle and considerate with them and by the courtesy and\ndisinterested temper which Cimon, after his example, manifested in the\nexpeditions, he stole away the chief command from the Lacedaemonians,\nneither by weapons, ships, or horses, but by equity and wise policy.\nFor the Athenians being endeared to the Greeks by the justice of\nAristides and by Cimon's moderation, the tyranny and selfishness of\nPausanias rendered them yet more desirable.  He on all occasions\ntreated the commanders of the confederates haughtily and roughly; and\nthe common soldiers he punished with stripes, or standing under the\niron anchor for a whole day together; neither was it permitted for any\nto provide straw for themselves to lie on, or forage for their horses,\nor to come near the springs to water before the Spartans were\nfurnished, but servants with whips drove away such as approached.  And\nwhen Aristides once was about to complain and expostulate with\nPausanias, he told him, with an angry look, that he was not at\nleisure, and gave no attention to him.  The consequence was that the\nsea captains and generals of the Greeks, in particular, the Chians,\nSamians, and Lesbians, came to Aristides and requested him to be their\ngeneral, and to receive the confederates into his command, who had\nlong desired to relinquish the Spartans and come over to the\nAthenians.  But he answered, that he saw both equity and necessity in\nwhat they said, but their fidelity required the test of some action,\nthe commission of which would make it impossible for the multitude to\nchange their minds again.  Upon which Uliades, the Samian, and\nAntagoras of Chios, conspiring together, ran in near Byzantium on\nPausanias's galley, getting her between them as she was sailing before\nthe rest.  But when Pausanias, beholding them, rose up and furiously\nthreatened soon to make them know that they had been endangering not\nhis galley, but their own countries, they bid him go his way, and\nthank Fortune that fought for him at Plataea; for hitherto, in\nreverence to that, the Greeks had forborne from indicting on him the\npunishment he deserved.  In fine, they all went off and joined the\nAthenians.  And here the magnanimity of the Lacedaemonians was\nwonderful.  For when they perceived that their generals were becoming\ncorrupted by the greatness of their authority, they voluntarily laid\ndown the chief command, and left off sending any more of them to the\nwars, choosing rather to have citizens of moderation and consistent in\nthe observance of their customs, than to possess the dominion of all\nGreece.\n\nEven during the command of the Lacedaemonians, the Greeks paid a\ncertain contribution towards the maintenance of the war; and being\ndesirous to be rated city by city in their due proportion, they\ndesired Aristides of the Athenians, and gave him command, surveying\nthe country and revenue, to assess every one according to their\nability and what they were worth.  But he, being so largely empowered,\nGreece as it were submitting all her affairs to his sole management,\nwent out poor, and returned poorer; laying the tax not only without\ncorruption and injustice, but to the satisfaction and convenience of\nall.  For as the ancients celebrated the age of Saturn, so did the\nconfederates of Athens Aristides's taxation, terming it the happy time\nof Greece; and that more especially, as the sum was in a short time\ndoubled, and afterwards trebled.  For the assessment which Aristides\nmade, was four hundred and sixty talents.  But to this Pericles added\nvery near one third part more; for Thucydides says, that in the\nbeginning of the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians had coming in from\ntheir confederates six hundred talents.  But after Pericles's death,\nthe demagogues, increasing by little and little, raised it to the sum\nof thirteen hundred talents; not so much through the war's being so\nexpensive and chargeable either by its length or ill success, as by\ntheir alluring the people to spend upon largesses and play-house\nallowances, and in erecting statues and temples.  Aristides,\ntherefore, having acquired a wonderful and great reputation by this\nlevy of the tribute, Themistocles is said to have derided him, as if\nthis had been not the commendation of a man, but a money-bag; a\nretaliation, though not in the same kind, for some free words which\nAristides had used.  For he, when Themistocles once was saying that he\nthought the highest virtue of a general was to understand and foreknow\nthe measures the enemy would take, replied, \"This, indeed,\nThemistocles, is simply necessary, but the excellent thing in a\ngeneral is to keep his hands from taking money.\"\n\nAristides, moreover, made all the people of Greece swear to keep the\nleague, and himself took the oath in the name of the Athenians,\nflinging wedges of red hot iron into the sea, after curses against\nsuch as should make breach of their vow.  But afterwards, it would\nseem, when things were in such a state as constrained them to govern\nwith a stronger hand, he bade the Athenians to throw the perjury upon\nhim, and manage affairs as convenience required.  And, in general,\nTheophrastus tells us, that Aristides was, in his own private affairs,\nand those of his fellow-citizens, rigorously just, but that in public\nmatters he acted often in accordance with his country's policy, which\ndemanded, sometimes, not a little injustice.  It is reported of him\nthat he said in a debate, upon the motion of the Samians for removing\nthe treasure from Delos to Athens, contrary to the league, that the\nthing indeed was not just, but was expedient.\n\nIn fine, having established the dominion of his city over so many\npeople, he himself remained indigent; and always delighted as much in\nthe glory of being poor, as in that of his trophies; as is evident\nfrom the following story.  Callias, the torchbearer, was related to\nhim:  and was prosecuted by his enemies in a capital cause, in which,\nafter they had slightly argued the matters on which they indicted him,\nthey proceeded, beside the point, to address the judges:  \"You know,\"\nsaid they, \"Aristides, the son of Lysimachus, who is the admiration of\nall Greece.  In what a condition do you think his family is in at his\nhouse, when you see him appear in public in such a threadbare cloak?\nIs it not probable that one who, out of doors, goes thus exposed to\nthe cold, must want food and other necessaries at home?  Callias, the\nwealthiest of the Athenians, does nothing to relieve either him or his\nwife and children in their poverty, though he is his own cousin, and\nhas made use of him in many cases, and often reaped advantage by his\ninterest with you.\"  But Callias, perceiving the judges were moved\nmore particularly by this, and were exasperated against him, called in\nAristides, requiring him to testify that when he frequently offered\nhim divers presents, and entreated him to accept them, he had refused,\nanswering, that it became him better to be proud of his poverty than\nCallias of his wealth:  since there are many to be seen that make a\ngood, or a bad use of riches, but it is difficult, comparatively, to\nmeet with one who supports poverty in a noble spirit; those only\nshould be ashamed of it who incurred it against their wills.  On\nAristides deposing these facts in favor of Callias, there was none who\nheard them, that went not away desirous rather to be poor like\nAristides, than rich as Callias.  Thus Aeschines, the scholar of\nSocrates, writes.  But Plato declares, that of all the great and\nrenowned men in the city of Athens, he was the only one worthy of\nconsideration; for Themistocles, Cimon, and Pericles filled the city\nwith porticoes, treasure, and many other vain things, but Aristides\nguided his public life by the rule of justice.  He showed his\nmoderation very plainly in his conduct towards Themistocles himself.\nFor though Themistocles had been his adversary in all his\nundertakings, and was the cause of his banishment, yet when he\nafforded a similar opportunity of revenge, being accused to the city,\nAristides bore him no malice; but while Alcmaeon, Cimon, and many\nothers, were prosecuting and impeaching him, Aristides alone, neither\ndid, nor said any ill against him, and no more triumphed over his\nenemy in his adversity, than he had envied him his prosperity.\n\nSome say Aristides died in Pontus, during a voyage upon the affairs of\nthe public.  Others that he died of old age at Athens, being in great\nhonor and veneration amongst his fellow-citizens.  But Craterus, the\nMacedonian, relates his death as follows.  After the banishment of\nThemistocles, he says, the people growing insolent, there sprung up a\nnumber of false and frivolous accusers, impeaching the best and most\ninfluential men and exposing them to the envy of the multitude, whom\ntheir good fortune and power had filled with self-conceit.  Amongst\nthese, Aristides was condemned of bribery, upon the accusation of\nDiophantus of Amphitrope, for taking money from the Ionians when he\nwas collector of the tribute; and being unable to pay the fine, which\nwas fifty minae, sailed to Ionia, and died there.  But of this\nCraterus brings no written proof, neither the sentence of his\ncondemnation, nor the decree of the people; though in general it is\ntolerably usual with him to set down such things and to cite his\nauthors.  Almost all others who have spoken of the misdeeds of the\npeople towards their generals, collect them all together, and tell us\nof the banishment of Themistocles, Miltiades's bonds, Pericles's fine,\nand the death of Paches in the judgment hall, who, upon receiving\nsentence, killed himself on the hustings, with many things of the like\nnature.  They add the banishment of Aristides; but of this his\ncondemnation, they make no mention.\n\nMoreover, his monument is to be seen at Phalerum, which they say was\nbuilt him by the city, he not having left enough even to defray\nfuneral charges.  And it is stated, that his two daughters were\npublicly married out of the prytaneum, or state-house, by the city,\nwhich decreed each of them three thousand drachmas for her portion;\nand that upon his son Lysimachus, the people bestowed a hundred minas\nof money, and as many acres of planted land, and ordered him besides,\nupon the motion of Alcibiades, four drachmas a day.  Furthermore,\nLysimachus leaving a daughter, named Polycrite, as Callisthenes says,\nthe people voted her, also, the same allowance for food with those\nthat obtained the victory in the Olympic Games.  But Demetrius the\nPhalerian, Hieronymus the Rhodian, Aristoxenus the musician, and\nAristotle, (if the Treatise of Nobility is to be reckoned among the\ngenuine pieces of Aristotle,) say that Myrto, Aristides's\ngranddaughter, lived with Socrates the philosopher, who indeed had\nanother wife, but took her into his house, being a widow, by reason of\nher indigence, and want of the necessaries of life.  But Panaetius\nsufficiently confutes this in his books concerning Socrates.\nDemetrius the Phalerian, in his Socrates, says, he knew one\nLysimachus, son to the daughter of Aristides, extremely poor, who used\nto sit near what is called the Iaccheum, and sustained himself by a\ntable for interpreting dreams; and that, upon his proposal and\nrepresentations, a decree was passed by the people, to give the mother\nand aunt of this man half a drachma a day.  The same Demetrius, when\nhe was legislating himself, decreed each of these women a drachma per\ndiem.  And it is not to be wondered at, that the people of Athens\nshould take such care of people living in the city, since hearing the\ngranddaughter of Aristogiton was in a low condition in the isle of\nLemnos, and so poor nobody would marry her they brought her back to\nAthens, and, marrying her to a man of good birth, gave a farm at\nPotamus as her marriage-portion; and of similar humanity and bounty\nthe city of Athens, even in our age, has given numerous proofs, and is\njustly admired and respected in consequence.\n\n\n\nMARCUS CATO\n\nMarcus Cato, we are told, was born at Tusculum, though (till he\nbetook himself to civil and military affairs) he lived and was bred\nup in the country of the Sabines, where his father's estate lay.  His\nancestors seeming almost entirely unknown, he himself praises his\nfather Marcus, as a worthy man and a brave soldier, and Cato, his\ngreat grandfather too, as one who had often obtained military prizes,\nand who, having lost five horses under him, received, on the account\nof his valor, the worth of them out of the public exchequer.  Now it\nbeing the custom among the Romans to call those who, having no repute\nby birth, made themselves eminent by their own exertions, new men or\nupstarts, they called even Cato himself so, and so he confessed\nhimself to be as to any public distinction or employment, but yet\nasserted that in the exploits and virtues of his ancestors he was\nvery ancient.  His third name originally was not Cato, but Priscus,\nthough afterwards he had the surname of Cato, by reason of his\nabilities; for the Romans call a skillful or experienced man, Catus.\nHe was of a ruddy complexion, and gray-eyed; as the writer, who, with\nno good-will, made the following epigram upon him, lets us see:--\n\nPorcius, who snarls at all in every place,\nWith his gray eyes, and with his fiery face,\nEven after death will scarce admitted be\nInto the infernal realms by Hecate.\n\nHe gained, in early life, a good habit of body by working with his\nown hands, and living temperately, and serving in war; and seemed to\nhave an equal proportion troth of health and strength.  And he\nexerted and practiced his eloquence through all the neighborhood and\nlittle villages; thinking it as requisite as a second body, and an\nall but necessary organ to one who looks forward to something above a\nmere humble and inactive life.  He would never refuse to be counsel\nfor those who needed him, and was, indeed, early reckoned a good\nlawyer, and, ere long, a capable orator.\n\nHence his solidity and depth of character showed itself gradually,\nmore and more to those with whom he was concerned, and claimed, as it\nwere, employment in great affairs, and places of public command.  Nor\ndid he merely abstain from taking fees for his counsel and pleading,\nbut did not even seem to put any high price on the honor which\nproceeded from such kind of combats, seeming much more desirous to\nsignalize himself in the camp and in real fights; and while yet but a\nyouth, had his breast covered with scars he had received from the\nenemy; being (as he himself says) but seventeen years old, when he\nmade his first campaign; in the time when Hannibal, in the height of\nhis success, was burning and pillaging all Italy.  In engagements he\nwould strike boldly, without flinching, stand firm to his ground, fix\na bold countenance upon his enemies, and with a harsh threatening\nvoice accost them, justly thinking himself and telling others, that\nsuch a rugged kind of behavior sometimes terrifies the enemy more\nthan the sword itself.  In his marches, he bore his own arms on foot,\nwhilst one servant only followed, to carry the provisions for his\ntable, with whom he is said never to have been angry or hasty, whilst\nhe made ready his dinner or supper, but would, for the most part,\nwhen he was free from military duty, assist and help him himself to\ndress it.  When he was with the army, he used to drink only water;\nunless, perhaps, when extremely thirsty, he might mingle it with a\nlittle vinegar; or if he found his strength fail him, take a little\nwine.\n\nThe little country house of Manius Curius, who had been thrice\ncarried in triumph, happened to be near his farm; so that often going\nthither, and contemplating the small compass of the place, and\nplainness of the dwelling, he formed an idea of the mind of the\nperson, who, being one of the greatest of the Romans, and having\nsubdued the most warlike nations, nay, had driven Pyrrhus out of\nItaly, now, after three triumphs, was contented to dig in so small a\npiece of ground, and live in such a cottage.  Here it was that the\nambassadors of the Samnites, finding him boiling turnips in the\nchimney corner, offered him a present of gold; but he sent them away\nwith this saying; that he, who was content with such a supper, had no\nneed of gold; and that he thought it more honorable to conquer those\nwho possessed the gold, than to possess the gold itself.  Cato, after\nreflecting upon these things, used to return, and reviewing his own\nfarm, his servants, and housekeeping, increase his labor, and\nretrench all superfluous expenses.\n\nWhen Fabius Maximus took Tarentum, Cato, being then but a youth, was\na soldier under him; and being lodged with one Nearchus, a\nPythagorean, desired to understand some of his doctrine, and hearing\nfrom him the language, which Plato also uses, -- that pleasure is\nevil's chief bait; the body the principal calamity of the soul; and\nthat those thoughts which most separate and take it off from the\naffections of the body, most enfranchise and purify it; he fell in\nlove the more with frugality and temperance.  With this exception, he\nis said not to have studied Greek until when he was pretty old; and\nrhetoric, to have then profited a little by Thucydides, but more by\nDemosthenes:  his writings, however, are considerably embellished\nwith Greek sayings and stories; nay, many of these, translated word\nfor word, are placed with his own apothegms and sentences.\n\nThere was a man of the highest rank, and very influential among the\nRomans, called Valerius Flaccus, who was singularly skillful in\ndiscerning excellence yet in the bud, and, also, much disposed to\nnourish and advance it.  He, it seems, had lands bordering upon\nCato's; nor could he but admire, when he understood from his servants\nthe manner of his living, how he labored with his own hands, went on\nfoot betimes in the morning to the courts to assist those who wanted\nhis counsel; how, returning home again, when it was winter, he would\nthrow a loose frock  over his shoulders, and in the summer time\nwould work without anything on among his domestics, sit down with\nthem, eat of the same bread, and drink of the same wine.  When they\nspoke, also, of other good qualities, his fair dealing and\nmoderation, mentioning also some of his wise sayings, he ordered,\nthat he should be invited to supper; and thus becoming personally\nassured of his fine temper and his superior character which, like a\nplant, seemed only to require culture and a better situation, he\nurged and persuaded him to apply himself to state affairs at Rome.\nThither, therefore, he went, and by his pleading soon gained many\nfriends and admirers; but, Valerius chiefly assisting his promotion,\nhe first of all got appointed tribune in the army, and afterwards was\nmade quaestor, or treasurer.  And now becoming eminent and noted, he\npassed, with Valerius himself, through the greatest commands, being\nfirst his colleague as consul, and then censor.  But among all the\nancient senators, he most attached himself to Fabius Maximus; not so\nmuch for the honor of his person, and greatness of his power, as that\nhe might have before him his habit and manner of life, as the best\nexamples to follow:  and so he did not hesitate to oppose Scipio the\nGreat, who, being then but a young man, seemed to set himself against\nthe power of Fabius, and to be envied by him.  For being sent\ntogether with him as treasurer, when he saw him, according to his\nnatural custom, make great expenses, and distribute among the\nsoldiers without sparing, he freely told him that the expense in\nitself was not the greatest thing to be considered, but that he was\ncorrupting the ancient frugality of the soldiers, by giving them the\nmeans to abandon themselves to unnecessary pleasures and luxuries.\nScipio answered, that he had no need for so accurate a treasurer,\n(bearing on as he was, so to say, full sail to the war,) and that he\nowed the people an account of his actions, and not of the money he\nspent.  Hereupon Cato returned from Sicily, and, together with\nFabius, made loud complaints in the open senate of Scipio's lavishing\nunspeakable sums, and childishly loitering away his time in wrestling\nmatches and comedies, as if he were not to make war, but holiday; and\nthus succeeded in getting some of the tribunes of the people sent to\ncall him back to Rome, in case the accusations should prove true.\nBut Scipio demonstrating, as it were, to them, by his preparations,\nthe coming victory, and, being found merely to be living pleasantly\nwith his friends, when there was nothing else to do, but in no\nrespect because of that easiness and liberality at all the more\nnegligent in things of consequence and moment, without impediment,\nset sail towards the war.\n\nCato grew more and more powerful by his eloquence, so that he was\ncommonly called the Roman Demosthenes; but his manner of life was yet\nmore famous and talked of.  For oratorical skill was, as an\naccomplishment, commonly studied and sought after by all young men;\nbut he was very rare who would cultivate the old habits of bodily\nlabor, or prefer a light supper, and a breakfast which never saw the\nfire; or be in love with poor clothes and a homely lodging, or could\nset his ambition rather on doing without luxuries than on possessing\nthem.  For now the state, unable to keep its purity by reason of its\ngreatness, and having so many affairs, and people from all parts\nunder its government, was fain to admit many mixed customs, and new\nexamples of living.  With reason, therefore, everybody admired Cato,\nwhen they saw others sink under labors, and grow effeminate by\npleasures; and yet beheld him unconquered by either, and that not\nonly when he was young and desirous of honor, but also when old and\ngreyheaded, after a consulship and triumph; like some famous victor\nin the games, persevering in his exercise and maintaining his\ncharacter to the very last.  He himself says, that he never wore a\nsuit of clothes which cost more than a hundred drachmas; and that,\nwhen he was general and consul, he drank the same wine which his\nworkmen did; and that the meat or fish which was bought in the market\nfor his dinner, did not cost above thirty asses.  All which was for\nthe sake of the commonwealth, that so his body might be the hardier\nfor the war.  Having a piece of embroidered Babylonian tapestry left\nhim, he sold it; because none of his farm-houses were so much as\nplastered.  Nor did he ever buy a slave for above fifteen hundred\ndrachmas; as he did not seek for effeminate and handsome ones, but\nable, sturdy workmen, horse-keepers and cow-herds:  and these he\nthought ought to be sold again, when they grew old, and no useless\nservants fed in a house.  In short, he reckoned nothing a good\nbargain, which was superfluous; but whatever it was, though sold for\na farthing, he would think it a great price, if you had no need of it;\nand was for the purchase of lands for sowing and feeding, rather than\ngrounds for sweeping and watering.\n\nSome imputed these things to petty avarice, but others approved of\nhim, as if he had only the more strictly denied himself for the\nrectifying and amending of others.  Yet certainly, in my judgment, it\nmarks an over-rigid temper, for a man to take the work out of his\nservants as out of brute beasts, turning them off and selling them in\ntheir old age, and thinking there ought to be no further commerce\nbetween man and man, than whilst there arises some profit by it.  We\nsee that kindness or humanity has a larger field than bare justice to\nexercise itself in; law and justice we cannot, in the nature of\nthings, employ on others than men; but we may extend our goodness and\ncharity even to irrational creatures; and such acts flow from a\ngentle nature, as water from an abundant spring.  It is doubtless the\npart of a kind-natured man to keep even worn-out horses and dogs, and\nnot only take care of them when they are foals and whelps, but also\nwhen they are grown old.  The Athenians, when they built their\nHecatompedon, turned those mules loose to feed freely, which they\nhad observed to have done the hardest labor.  One of these (they say)\ncame once of itself to offer its service, and ran along with, nay,\nand went before, the teams which drew the wagons up to the acropolis,\nas if it would incite and encourage them to draw more stoutly; upon\nwhich there passed a vote, that the creature should be kept at the\npublic charge even till it died.  The graves of Cimon's horses, which\nthrice won the Olympian races, are yet to be seen close by his own\nmonument.  Old Xanthippus, too, (amongst many others who buried the\ndogs they had bred up,) entombed his which swam after his galley to\nSalamis, when the people fled from Athens, on the top of a cliff,\nwhich they call the dog's tomb to this day.  Nor are we to use living\ncreatures like old shoes or dishes, and throw them away when they are\nworn out or broken with service; but if it were for nothing else, but\nby way of study and practice in humanity, a man ought always to\nprehabituate himself in these things to be of a kind and sweet\ndisposition.  As to myself, I would not so much as sell my draught ox\non the account of his age, much less for a small piece of money sell\na poor old man, and so chase him, as it were, from his own country,\nby turning him not only out of the place where he has lived a long\nwhile, but also out of the manner of living he has been accustomed\nto, and that more especially when he would be as useless to the buyer\nas to the seller.  Yet Cato for all this glories that he left that\nvery horse in Spain, which he used in the wars when he was consul,\nonly because he would not put the public to the charge of his\nfreight.  Whether these acts are to be ascribed to the greatness or\npettiness of his spirit, let every one argue as they please.\n\nFor his general temperance, however, and self-control, he really\ndeserves the highest admiration.  For when he commanded the army, he\nnever took for himself, and those that belonged to him, above three\nbushels of wheat for a month, and somewhat less than a bushel and a\nhalf a day of barley for his baggage-cattle.  And when he entered\nupon the government of Sardinia, where his predecessors had been used\nto require tents, bedding, and clothes upon the public account, and\nto charge the state heavily with the cost of provisions and\nentertainments for a great train of servants and friends, the\ndifference he showed in his economy was something incredible.  There\nwas nothing of any sort for which he put the public to expense; he\nwould walk without a carriage to visit the cities, with one only of\nthe common town officers, who carried his dress, and a cup to offer\nlibation with.  Yet, though he seemed thus easy and sparing to all\nwho were under his power, he, on the other hand, showed most\ninflexible severity and strictness, in what related to public\njustice, and was rigorous, and precise in what concerned the\nordinances of the commonwealth; so that the Roman government, never\nseemed more terrible, nor yet more mild, than under his\nadministration.\n\n\nHis very manner of speaking seemed to have such a kind of idea with\nit; for it was courteous, and yet forcible; pleasant, yet\noverwhelming; facetious, yet austere; sententious, and yet vehement:\nlike Socrates, in the description of Plato, who seemed outwardly to\nthose about him to be but a simple, talkative, blunt fellow; whilst\nat the bottom he was full of such gravity and matter, as would even\nmove tears, and touch the very hearts of his auditors.  And,\ntherefore, I know not what has persuaded some to say, that Cato's\nstyle was chiefly like that of Lysias.  However, let us leave those\nto judge of these things, who profess most to distinguish between the\nseveral kinds of oratorical style in Latin; whilst we write down some\nof his memorable sayings; being of the opinion that a man's character\nappears much more by his words, than, as some think it does, by his\nlooks.\n\nBeing once desirous to dissuade the common people of Rome, from their\nunseasonable and impetuous clamor for largesses and distributions of\ncorn, he began thus to harangue them:  \"It is a difficult task, O\ncitizens, to make speeches to the belly, which has no ears.\"\nReproving, also, their sumptuous habits, he said, it was hard to\npreserve a city, where a fish sold for more than an ox.  He had a\nsaying, also, that the Roman people were like sheep; for they, when\nsingle, do not obey, but when altogether in a flock, they follow\ntheir leaders:  \"So you,\" said he, \"when you have got together in a\nbody, let yourselves be guided by those whom singly you would never\nthink of being advised by.\"  Discoursing of the power of women:\n\"Men,\" said he, \"usually command women; but we command all men, and\nthe women command us.\"  But this, indeed, is borrowed from the\nsayings of Themistocles, who, when his son was making many demands of\nhim by means of the mother, said, \"O woman, the Athenians govern the\nGreeks; I govern the Athenians, but you govern me, and your son\ngoverns you; so let him use his power sparingly, since, simple as he\nis, he can do more than all the Greeks together.\"  Another saying of\nCato's was, that the Roman people did not only fix the value of such\nand such purple dyes, but also of such and such habits of life:\n\"For,\" said he, \"as dyers most of all dye such colors as they see to\nbe most agreeable, so the young men learn, and zealously affect what\nis most popular with you.\"  He also exhorted them, that if they were\ngrown great by their virtue and temperance, they should not change\nfor the worse; but if intemperance and vice had made them great, they\nshould change for the better; for by that means they were grown\nindeed quite great enough.  He would say, likewise, of men who wanted\nto be continually in office, that apparently they did not know their\nroad; since they could not do without beadles to guide them on it.\nHe also reproved the citizens for choosing still the same men as\ntheir magistrates:  \"For you will seem,\" said he, \"either not to\nesteem government worth much, or to think few worthy to hold it.\"\nSpeaking, too, of a certain enemy of his, who lived a very base and\ndiscreditable life:  \"It is considered,\" he said, \"rather as a curse\nthan a blessing on him, that this fellow's mother prays that she may\nleave him behind her.\"  Pointing at one who had sold the land which\nhis father had left him, and which lay near the sea-side, he\npretended to express his wonder at his being stronger even than the\nsea itself; for what it washed away with a great deal of labor, he\nwith a great deal of ease drank away.  When the senate, with a great\ndeal of splendor, received king Eumenes on his visit to Rome, and the\nchief citizens strove who should be most about him, Cato appeared to\nregard him with suspicion and apprehension; and when one that stood\nby, too, took occasion to say, that he was a very good prince, and a\ngreat lover of the Romans:  \"It may be so,\" said Cato, \"but by nature\nthis same animal of a king, is a kind of man-eater;\" nor, indeed,\nwere there ever kings who deserved to be compared with Epaminondas,\nPericles, Themistocles, Manius Curius, or Hamilcar, surnamed Barcas.\nHe used to say, too, that his enemies envied him; because he had to\nget up every day before light, and neglect his own business to follow\nthat of the public.  He would also tell you, that he had rather be\ndeprived of the reward for doing well, than not to suffer the\npunishment for doing ill; and that he could pardon all offenders but\nhimself.\n\nThe Romans having sent three ambassadors to Bithynia, of whom one was\ngouty, another had his skull trepanned, and the other seemed little\nbetter than a fool; Cato, laughing, gave out, that the Romans had\nsent an embassy, which had neither feet, head, nor heart. His\ninterest being entreated by Scipio, on account of Polybius, for the\nAchaean exiles, and there happening to be a great discussion in the\nsenate about it, some being for, and some against their return; Cato,\nstanding up, thus delivered himself:  \"Here do we sit all day long,\nas if we had nothing to do, but beat our brains whether these old\nGreeks should be carried to their graves by the bearers here or by\nthose in Achaea.\"  The senate voting their return, it seems that a\nfew days after Polybius's friends further wished that it should be\nmoved in the senate, that the said banished persons should receive\nagain the honors which they first had in Achaea; and, to this\npurpose, they sounded Cato for his opinion; but he, smiling,\nanswered, that Polybius, Ulysses-like, having escaped out of the\nCyclops' den, wanted, it would seem, to go back again because he had\nleft his cap and belt behind him. He used to assert, also, that wise\nmen profited more by fools, than fools by wise men; for that wise men\navoided the faults of fools, but that fools would not imitate the\ngood examples of wise men.  He would profess, too, that he was more\ntaken with young men that blushed, than with those who looked pale;\nand that he never desired to have a soldier that moved his hands too\nmuch in marching, and his feet too much in fighting; or snored louder\nthan he shouted.  Ridiculing a fat overgrown man:  \"What use,\" said\nhe, \"can the state turn a man's body to, when all between the throat\nand groin is taken up by the belly?\"  When one who was much given to\npleasures desired his acquaintance, begging his pardon, he said, he\ncould not live with a man whose palate was of a quicker sense than\nhis heart.  He would likewise say, that the soul of a lover lived in\nthe body of another:  and that in his whole life he most repented of\nthree things; one was, that he had trusted a secret to a woman;\nanother, that he went by water when he might have gone by land; the\nthird, that he had remained one whole day without doing any business\nof moment. Applying himself to an old man who was committing some\nvice:  \"Friend,\" said he, \"old age has of itself blemishes enough; do\nnot you add to it the deformity of vice.\"  Speaking to a tribune, who\nwas reputed a poisoner, and was very violent for the bringing in of a\nbill, in order to make a certain law:  \"Young man,\" cried he, \"I know\nnot which would be better, to drink what you mix, or confirm what you\nwould put up for a law.\"  Being reviled by a fellow who lived a\nprofligate and wicked life:  \"A contest,\" replied he, \"is unequal\nbetween you and me; for you can hear ill words easily, and can as\neasily give them; but it is unpleasant to me to give such, and\nunusual to hear them.\"  Such was his manner of expressing himself in\nhis memorable sayings.\n\nBeing chosen consul, with his friend and familiar Valerius Flaccus,\nthe government of that part of Spain which the Romans call the Hither\nSpain, fell to his lot.  Here, as he was engaged in reducing some of\nthe tribes by force, and bringing over others by good words, a large\narmy of barbarians fell upon him, so that there was danger of being\ndisgracefully forced out again.  He therefore called upon his\nneighbors, the Celtiberians, for help; and on their demanding two\nhundred talents for their assistance, everybody else thought it\nintolerable, that ever the Romans should promise barbarians a reward\nfor their aid; but Cato said, there was no discredit or harm in it;\nfor if they overcame, they would pay them out of the enemy's purse,\nand not out of their own; but if they were overcome, there would be\nnobody left either to demand the reward or to pay it.  However, he\nwon that battle completely, and after that, all his other affairs\nsucceeded splendidly.  Polybius says, that by his command the walls\nof all the cities, on this side the river Baetis, were in one day's\ntime demolished, and yet there were a great many of them full of\nbrave and warlike men.  Cato himself says, that he took more cities\nthan he stayed days in Spain.  Neither is this a mere rhodomontade,\nif it be true, that the number was four hundred.  And though the\nsoldiers themselves had got much in the fights, yet he distributed a\npound of silver to every man of them, saying, it was better, that\nmany of the Romans should return home with silver, rather than a few\nwith gold.  For himself he affirms, that of all the things that were\ntaken, nothing came to him beyond what he ate and drank.  \"Neither do\nI find fault,\" continued he, \"with those that seek to profit by these\nspoils, but I had rather compete in valor with the best, than in\nwealth with the richest, or with the most covetous in love of money.\"\nNor did he merely keep himself clear from taking anything, but even\nall those who more immediately belonged to him.  He had five servants\nwith him in the army; one of whom called Paccus, bought three boys,\nout of those who were taken captive; which Cato coming to understand,\nthe man rather than venture into his presence, hanged himself.  Cato\nsold the boys, and carried the price he got for them into the public\nexchequer.\n\nScipio the Great, being his enemy, and desiring, whiles he was\ncarrying all things so successfully, to obstruct him, and take the\naffairs of Spain into his own hands, succeeded in getting himself\nappointed his successor in the government, and, making all possible\nhaste, put a term to Cato's authority.  But he, taking with him a\nconvoy of five cohorts of foot, and five hundred horse to attend him\nhome, overthrew by the way the Lacetanians, and salting from them six\nhundred deserters, caused them all to be beheaded; upon which Scipio\nseemed to be in indignation, but Cato, in mock disparagement of\nhimself, said, \"Rome would become great indeed, if the most honorable\nand great men would not yield up the first place of valor to those\nwho were more obscure, and when they who were of the commonalty (as\nhe himself was) would contend in valor with those who were most\neminent in birth and honor.\"  The senate having voted to change\nnothing of what had been established by Cato, the government passed\naway under Scipio to no manner of purpose, in idleness and doing\nnothing; and so diminished his credit much more than Cato's.  Nor did\nCato, who now received a triumph, remit after this and slacken the\nreins of virtue, as many do, who strive not so much for virtue's\nsake, as for vainglory, and having attained the highest honors, as\nthe consulship and triumphs, pass the rest of their life in pleasure\nand idleness, and quit all public affairs.  But he, like those who\nare just entered upon public life for the first time, and thirst\nafter gaining honor and glory in some new office, strained himself,\nas if he were but just setting out; and offering still publicly his\nservice to his friends and citizens, would give up neither his\npleadings nor his soldiery.\n\nHe accompanied and assisted Tiberius Sempronius, as his lieutenant,\nwhen he went into Thrace and to the Danube; and, in the quality of\ntribune, went with Manius Acilius into Greece, against Antiochus the\nGreat, who, after Hannibal, more than anyone struck terror into the\nRomans.  For having reduced once more under a single command almost\nthe whole of Asia, all, namely, that Seleucus Nicator had possessed,\nand having brought into obedience many warlike nations of the\nbarbarians, he longed to fall upon the Romans, as if they only were\nnow worthy to fight with him.  So across he came with his forces,\npretending, as a specious cause of the war, that it was to free the\nGreeks, who had indeed no need of it, they having been but newly\ndelivered from the power of king Philip and the Macedonians, and made\nindependent, with the free use of their own laws, by the goodness of\nthe Romans themselves; so that all Greece was in commotion and\nexcitement, having been corrupted by the hopes of royal aid which the\npopular leaders in their cities put them into.  Manius, therefore,\nsent ambassadors to the different cities; and Titus Flamininus (as is\nwritten in the account of him) suppressed and quieted most of the\nattempts of the innovators, without any trouble.  Cato brought over\nthe Corinthians, those of Patrae and of Aegium, and spent a good deal\nof time at Athens.  There is also an oration of his said to be\nextant, which he spoke in Greek to the people; in which he expressed\nhis admiration of the virtue of the ancient Athenians, and signified\nthat he came with a great deal of pleasure to be a spectator of the\nbeauty and greatness of their city.  But this is a fiction; for he\nspoke to the Athenians by an interpreter, though he was able to have\nspoken himself; but he wished to observe the usage of his own\ncountry, and laughed at those who admired nothing but what was in\nGreek.  Jesting upon Postumius Albinus, who had written a historical\nwork in Greek, and requested that allowances might be made for his\nattempt, he said, that allowance indeed might be made, if he had done\nit under the express compulsion of an Amphictyonic decree.  The\nAthenians, he says, admired the quickness and vehemence of his\nspeech; for an interpreter would be very long in repeating what he\nexpressed with a great deal of brevity; but on the whole he professed\nto believe, that the words of the Greeks came only from their lips,\nwhilst those of the Romans came from their hearts.\n\nNow Antiochus, having occupied with his army the narrow passages\nabout Thermopylae, and added palisades and walls to the natural\nfortifications of the place, sat down there, thinking he had done\nenough to divert the war; and the Romans, indeed, seemed wholly to\ndespair of forcing the passage; but Cato, calling to mind the compass\nand circuit which the Persians had formerly made to come at this\nplace, went forth in the night, taking along with him part of the\narmy.  Whilst they were climbing up, the guide, who was a prisoner,\nmissed the way, and wandering up and down by impracticable and\nprecipitous paths, filled the soldiers with fear and despondency.\nCato, perceiving the danger, commanded all the rest to halt, and stay\nwhere they were, whilst he himself, taking along with him one Lucius\nManlius, a most expert man at climbing mountains, went forward with a\ngreat deal of labor and danger, in the dark night, and without the\nleast moonshine, among the wild olive trees, and steep craggy rocks,\nthere being nothing but precipices and darkness before their eyes,\ntill they struck into a little pass which they thought might lead\ndown into the enemy's camp.  There they put up marks upon some\nconspicuous peaks which surmount the hill called Callidromon, and\nreturning again, they led the army along with them to the said marks,\ntill they got into their little path again, and there once made a\nhalt; but when they began to go further, the path deserted them at a\nprecipice, where they were in another strait and fear; nor did they\nperceive that they were all this while near the enemy.  And now the\nday began to give some light, when they seemed to hear a noise, and\npresently after to see the Greek trenches and the guard at the foot\nof the rock.  Here, therefore, Cato halted his forces, and commanded\nthe troops from Firmum only, without the rest, to stick by him, as he\nhad always found them faithful and ready.  And when they came up and\nformed around him in close order, he thus spoke to them.  \"I desire,\"\nhe said, \"to take one of the enemy alive, that so I may understand\nwhat men these are who guard the passage; their number; and with what\ndiscipline, order, and preparation they expect us; but this feat,\"\ncontinued he, \"must be an act of a great deal of quickness and\nboldness, such as that of lions, when they dart upon some timorous\nanimal.\"  Cato had no sooner thus expressed himself, but the Firmans\nforthwith rushed down the mountain, just as they were, upon the\nguard, and, falling unexpectedly upon them, affrighted and dispersed\nthem all.  One armed man they took, and brought to Cato, who quickly\nlearned from him, that the rest of the forces lay in the narrow\npassage about the king; that those who kept the tops of the rocks\nwere six hundred choice Aetolians.  Cato, therefore, despising the\nsmallness of their number and carelessness, forthwith drawing his\nsword, fell upon them with a great noise of trumpets and shouting.\nThe enemy, perceiving them thus tumbling, as it were, upon them from\nthe precipices, flew to the main body, and put all things into\ndisorder there.\n\nIn the meantime, whilst Manius was forcing the works below, and\npouring the thickest of his forces into the narrow passages,\nAntiochus was hit in the mouth with a stone, so that his teeth being\nbeaten out by it, he felt such excessive pain, that he was fain to\nturn away with his horse; nor did any part of his army stand the\nshock of the Romans.  Yet, though there seemed no reasonable hope of\nflight, where all paths were so difficult, and where there were deep\nmarshes and steep rocks, which looked as if they were ready to\nreceive those who should stumble, the fugitives, nevertheless,\ncrowding and pressing together.  In the narrow passages, destroyed even\none another in their terror of the swords and blows of the enemy.  Cato\n(as it plainly appears) was never oversparing of his own praises, and\nseldom shunned boasting of any exploit; which quality, indeed, he\nseems to have thought the natural accompaniment of great actions; and\nwith these particular exploits he was highly puffed up; he says, that\nthose who saw him that day pursuing and slaying the enemies, were\nready to assert, that Cato owed not so much to the public, as the\npublic did to Cato; nay, he adds, that Manius the consul, coming hot\nfrom the fight, embraced him for a great while, when both were all in\na sweat; and then cried out with joy, that neither he himself, no,\nnor all the people together, could make him a recompense equal to his\nactions.  After the fight he was sent to Rome, that he himself might\nbe the messenger of it; and so, with a favorable wind, he sailed to\nBrundusium, and in one day got from thence to Tarentum; and having\ntraveled four days more, upon the fifth, counting from the time of\nhis landing, he arrived at Rome, and so brought the first news of the\nvictory himself; and filled the whole city with joy and sacrifices,\nand the people with the belief, that they were able to conquer every\nsea and every land.\n\nThese are pretty nearly all the eminent actions of Cato, relating to\nmilitary affairs:  in civil policy, he was of opinion, that one chief\nduty consisted in accusing and indicting criminals.  He himself\nprosecuted many, and he would also assist others who prosecuted them,\nnay would even procure such, as he did the Petilii against Scipio;\nbut not being able to destroy him, by reason of the nobleness of his\nfamily, and the real greatness of his mind, which enabled him to\ntrample all calumnies underfoot, Cato at last would meddle no more\nwith him; yet joining with the accusers against Scipio's brother\nLucius, he succeeded in obtaining a sentence against him, which\ncondemned him to the payment of a large sum of money to the state;\nand being insolvent, and in danger of being thrown into jail, he was,\nby the interposition of the tribunes of the people, with much ado\ndismissed.  It is also said of Cato, that when he met a certain\nyouth, who had effected the disgrace of one of his father's enemies,\nwalking in the market-place, he shook him by the hand, telling him,\nthat this was what we ought to sacrifice to our dead parents-- not\nlambs and goats, but the tears and condemnations of their\nadversaries.  But neither did he himself escape with impunity in his\nmanagement of affairs; for if he gave his enemies but the least hold,\nhe was still in danger, and exposed to be brought to justice.  He is\nreported to have escaped at least fifty indictments; and one above\nthe rest, which was the last, when he was eighty-six years old, about\nwhich time he uttered the well-known saying, that it was hard for him\nwho had lived with one generation of men, to plead now before\nanother.  Neither did he make this the last of his lawsuits; for,\nfour years after, when he was fourscore and ten, he accused Servilius\nGalba:  so that his life and actions extended, we may say, as\nNestor's did, over three ordinary ages of man.  For, having had many\ncontests, as we have related, with Scipio the Great, about affairs of\nstate, he continued them down even to Scipio the younger, who was the\nadopted grandson of the former, and the son of that Paulus, who\noverthrew Perseus and the Macedonians.\n\nTen years after his consulship, Cato stood for the office of censor,\nwhich was indeed the summit of all honor, and in a manner the highest\nstep in civil affairs; for besides all other power, it had also that\nof an inquisition into everyone's life and manners.  For the Romans\nthought that no marriage, or rearing of children, nay, no feast or\ndrinking-bout ought to be permitted according to everyone's appetite\nor fancy, without being examined and inquired into; being indeed of\nopinion, that a man's character was much sooner perceived in things\nof this sort, than in what is done publicly and in open day.  They\nchose, therefore, two persons, one out of the patricians, the other\nout of the commons, who were to watch, correct, and punish, if any\none ran too much into voluptuousness, or transgressed the usual\nmanner of life of his country; and these they called Censors.  They\nhad power to take away a horse, or expel out of the senate any one\nwho lived intemperately and out of order.  It was also their business\nto take an estimate of what everyone was worth, and to put down in\nregisters everybody's birth and quality; besides many other\nprerogatives.  And therefore the chief nobility opposed his\npretensions to it.  Jealousy prompted the patricians, who thought\nthat it would be a stain to everybody's nobility, if men of no\noriginal honor should rise to the highest dignity and power; while\nothers, conscious of their own evil practices, and of the violation\nof the laws and customs of their country, were afraid of the\nausterity of the man; which, in an office of such great power was\nlikely to prove most uncompromising and severe.  And so consulting\namong themselves, they brought forward seven candidates in opposition\nto him, who sedulously set themselves to court the people's favor by\nfair promises, as though what they wished for was indulgent and easy\ngovernment.  Cato, on the contrary, promising no such mildness, but\nplainly threatening evil livers, from the very hustings openly\ndeclared himself; and exclaiming, that the city needed a great and\nthorough purgation, called upon the people, if they were wise, not to\nchoose the gentlest, but the roughest of physicians; such a one, he\nsaid, he was, and Valerius Flaccus, one of the patricians, another;\ntogether with him, he doubted not but he should do something worth\nthe while, and that, by cutting to pieces and burning like a hydra,\nall luxury and voluptuousness.  He added, too, that he saw all the rest\nendeavoring after the office with ill intent, because they were\nafraid of those who would exercise it justly, as they ought.  And so\ntruly great and so worthy of great men to be its leaders was, it\nwould seem, the Roman people, that they did not fear the severity end\ngrim countenance of Cato, but rejecting those smooth promisers who\nwere ready to do all things to ingratiate themselves, they took him,\ntogether with Flaccus; obeying his recommendations not as though he\nwere a candidate, but as if he had had the actual power of commanding\nand governing already.\n\nCato named as chief of the senate, his friend and colleague Lucius\nValerius Flaccus, and expelled, among many others, Lucius Quintius,\nwho had been consul seven years before, and (which was greater honor\nto him than the consulship) brother to that Titus Flamininus, who\noverthrew king Philip.  The reason he had for his expulsion, was\nthis.  Lucius, it seems, took along with him in all his commands, a\nyouth, whom he had kept as his companion from the flower of his age,\nand to whom he gave as much power and respect as to the chiefest of\nhis friends and relations.\n\nNow it happened that Lucius being consular governor of one of the\nprovinces, the youth setting himself down by him, as he used to do,\namong other flatteries with which he played upon him, when he wee in\nhis cups, told him he loved him so dearly that, \"though there was a\nshow of gladiators to be seen at Rome, and I,\" he said, \"had never\nbeheld one in my life; and though I, as it were, longed to see a man\nkilled, yet I made all possible haste to come to you.\"  Upon this\nLucius, returning his fondness, replied, \"Do not be melancholy on\nthat account; I can remedy that.\"  Ordering therefore, forthwith, one\nof those condemned to die to be brought to the feast, together with\nthe headsman and axe, he asked the youth if he wished to see him\nexecuted.  The boy answering that he did, Lucius commanded the\nexecutioner to cut off his neck; and this several historians mention;\nand Cicero, indeed, in his dialogue de Senectute, introduces Cato\nrelating it himself.  But Livy says, that he that was killed was a\nGaulish deserter, and that Lucius did not execute him by the stroke\nof the executioner, but with his own hand; and that it is so stated\nin Cato's speech.\n\nLucius being thus expelled out of the senate by Cato, his brother\ntook it very ill, and appealing to the people, desired that Cato\nshould declare his reasons; and when he began to relate this\ntransaction of the feast, Lucius endeavored to deny it; but Cato\nchallenging him to a formal investigation, he fell off and refused\nit, so that he was then acknowledged to suffer deservedly.\nAfterwards, however, when there was some show at the theater, he\npassed by the seats where those who had been consuls used to be\nplaced, and taking his seat a great way off, excited the compassion\nof the common people, who presently with a great noise made him go\nforward, and as much as they could, tried to set right and salve over\nwhat had happened.  Manilius, also, who, according to the public\nexpectation, would have been next consul, he threw out of the senate,\nbecause, in the presence of his daughter, and in open day, he had\nkissed his wife.  He said, that as for himself, his wife never came\ninto his arms except when there was great thunder; so that it was a\njest with him, that it was a pleasure for him, when Jupiter\nthundered.\n\nHis treatment of Lucius, likewise, the brother of Scipio, and one who\nhad been honored with a triumph, occasioned some odium against Cato;\nfor he took his horse from him, and was thought to do it with a\ndesign of putting an affront on Scipio Africanus, now dead.  But he\ngave most general annoyance, by retrenching people's luxury; for\nthough (most of the youth being thereby already corrupted) it seemed\nalmost impossible to take it away with an open hand and directly, yet\ngoing, as it were, obliquely around, he caused all dress, carriages,\nwomen's ornaments, household furniture, whose price exceeded one\nthousand five hundred drachmas, to be rated at ten times as much as\nthey were worth; intending by thus making the assess-ments greater,\nto increase the taxes paid upon them.  He also ordained that upon\nevery thousand asses of property of this kind, three should be\npaid, so that people, burdened with these extra charges, and seeing\nothers of as good estates, but more frugal and sparing, paying less\ninto the public exchequer, might be tired out of their prodigality.\nAnd thus, on the one side, not only those were disgusted at Cato, who\nbore the taxes for the sake of their luxury, but those, too, who on\nthe other side laid by their luxury for fear of the taxes.  For people\nin general reckon, that an order not to display their riches, is\nequivalent to the taking away their riches; because riches are seen\nmuch more in superfluous, than in necessary, things.  Indeed, this\nwas what excited the wonder of Ariston the philosopher; that we\naccount those who possess superfluous things more happy than those\nwho abound with what is necessary and useful.  But when one of his\nfriends asked Scopas, the rich Thessalian, to give him some article\nof no great utility, saying that it was not a thing that he had any\ngreat need or use for himself, \"In truth,\" replied he, \"it is just\nthese useless and unnecessary things that make my wealth and\nhappiness.\"  Thus the desire of riches does not proceed from a\nnatural passion within us, but arises rather from vulgar out-of-doors\nopinion of other people.\n\nCato, notwithstanding, being little solicitous as to those who\nexclaimed against him, increased his austerity.  He caused the pipes,\nthrough which some persons brought the public water into their own\nhouses and gardens, to be cut, and threw down all buildings which\njutted out into the common streets.  He beat down also the price in\ncontracts for public works to the lowest, and raised it in contracts\nfor farming the taxes to the highest sum; by which proceedings he\ndrew a great deal of hatred on himself.  Those who were of Titus\nFlamininus's party canceled in the senate all the bargains and\ncontracts made by him for the repairing and carrying on of the sacred\nand public buildings, as unadvantageous to the commonwealth.  They\nincited also the boldest of the tribunes of the people to accuse him,\nand to fine him two talents.  They likewise much opposed him in\nbuilding the court or basilica, which he caused to be erected at the\ncommon charge, just by the senate-house, in the market-place, and\ncalled by his own name, the Porcian.  However, the people, it seems,\nliked his censorship wondrously well; for, setting up a statue for\nhim in the temple of the goddess of Health, they put an inscription\nunder it, not recording his commands in war or his triumph, but to\nthe effect, that this was Cato the Censor, who, by his good\ndiscipline and wise and temperate ordinances, reclaimed the Roman\ncommonwealth when it was declining and sinking down into vice.\nBefore this honor was done to himself, he used to laugh at those who\nloved such kind of things, saying, that they did not see that they\nwere taking pride in the workmanship of brass-founders and painters;\nwhereas the citizens bore about his best likeness in their breasts.\nAnd when any seemed to wonder, that he should have never a statue,\nwhile many ordinary persons had one; \"I would,\" said he, \"much rather\nbe asked, why I have not one, than why I have one.\"  In short, he\nwould not have any honest citizen endure to be praised, except it\nmight prove advantageous to the commonwealth.  Yet still he had\npassed the highest commendation on himself; for he tells us that\nthose who did anything wrong, and were found fault with, used to\nsay, it was not worthwhile to blame them; for they were not Catos.\nHe also adds, that they who awkwardly mimicked some of his actions,\nwere called left-handed Catos; and that the senate in perilous times\nwould cast their eyes on him, as upon a pilot in a ship, and that\noften when he was not present they put off affairs of greatest\nconsequence.  These things are indeed also testified of him by\nothers; for he had a great authority in the city, alike for his life,\nhis eloquence, and his age.\n\nHe was also a good father, an excellent husband to his wife, and an\nextraordinary economist; and as he did not manage his affairs of this\nkind carelessly, and as things of little moment, I think I ought to\nrecord a little further whatever was commendable in him in these\npoints.  He married a wife more noble than rich; being of opinion\nthat the rich and the high-born are equally haughty and proud; but\nthat those of noble blood, would be more ashamed of base things, and\nconsequently more obedient to their husbands in all that was fit and\nright.  A man who beat his wife or child, laid violent hands, he\nsaid, on what was most sacred; and a good husband he reckoned worthy\nof more praise than a great senator; and he admired the ancient\nSocrates for nothing so much as for having lived a temperate and\ncontented life with a wife who was a scold, and children who were\nhalf-witted.\n\nAs soon as he had a son born, though he had never such urgent\nbusiness upon his hands, unless it were some public matter, he would\nbe by when his wife washed it, and dressed it in its swaddling\nclothes.  For she herself suckled it, nay, she often too gave her\nbreast to her servants' children, to produce, by sucking the same\nmilk, a kind of natural love in them to her son.  When he began to\ncome to years of discretion, Cato himself would teach him to read,\nalthough he had a servant, a very good grammarian, called Chilo, who\ntaught many others; but he thought not fit, as he himself said, to\nhave his son reprimanded by a slave, or pulled, it may be, by the\nears when found tardy in his lesson:  nor would he have him owe to a\nservant the obligation of so great a thing as his learning; he\nhimself, therefore, (as we were saying,) taught him his grammar, law,\nand his gymnastic exercises.  Nor did he only show him, too, how to\nthrow a dart, to fight in armor, and to ride, but to box also and to\nendure both heat and cold, and to swim over the most rapid and rough\nrivers.  He says, likewise, that he wrote histories, in large\ncharacters, with his own hand, that so his son, without stirring out\nof the house, might learn to know about his countrymen and\nforefathers:  nor did he less abstain from speaking anything obscene\nbefore his son, than if it had been in the presence of the sacred\nvirgins, called vestals.  Nor would he ever go into the bath with\nhim; which seems indeed to have been the common custom of the Romans.\nSons-in-law used to avoid bathing with fathers-in-law, disliking to\nsee one another naked:  but having, in time, learned of the Greeks to\nstrip before men, they have since taught the Greeks to do it even\nwith the women themselves.\n\nThus, like an excellent work, Cato formed and fashioned his son to\nvirtue; nor had he any occasion to find fault with his readiness and\ndocility; but as he proved to be of too weak a constitution for\nhardships, he did not insist on requiring of him any very austere way\nof living.  However, though delicate in health, he proved a stout man\nin the field, and behaved himself valiantly when Paulus Aemilius\nfought against Perseus; where when his sword was struck from him by a\nblow, or rather slipped out of his hand by reason of its moistness,\nhe so keenly resented it, that he turned to some of his friends about\nhim, and taking them along with him again, fell upon the enemy; and\nhaving by a long fight and much force cleared the place, at length\nfound it among great heaps of arms, and the dead bodies of friends as\nwell as enemies piled one upon another.  Upon which Paulus, his\ngeneral, much commended the youth; and there is a letter of Cato's to\nhis son, which highly praises his honorable eagerness for the\nrecovery of his sword.  Afterwards he married Tertia, Aemilius\nPaulus's daughter, and sister to Scipio; nor was he admitted into\nthis family less for his own worth than his father's.  So that Cato's\ncare in his son's education came to a very fitting result.\n\nHe purchased a great many slaves out of the captives taken in war,\nbut chiefly bought up the young ones, who were capable to be, as it\nwere, broken and taught like whelps and colts.  None of these ever\nentered another man's house, except sent either by Cato himself or\nhis wife.  If any one of them were asked what Cato did, they answered\nmerely, that they did not know.  When a servant was at home, he was\nobliged either to do some work or sleep; for indeed Cato loved those\nmost who used to lie down often to sleep, accounting them more docile\nthan those who were wakeful, and more fit for anything when they were\nrefreshed with a little slumber.  Being also of opinion, that the\ngreat cause of the laziness and misbehavior of slaves was their\nrunning after their pleasures, he fixed a certain price for them to\npay for permission amongst themselves, but would suffer no\nconnections out of the house.  At first, when he was but a poor\nsoldier, he would not be difficult in anything which related to his\neating, but looked upon it as a pitiful thing to quarrel with a\nservant for the belly's sake; but afterwards, when he grew richer,\nand made any feasts for his friends and colleagues in office, as soon\nas supper was over he used to go with a leathern thong and scourge\nthose who had waited or dressed the meat carelessly.  He always\ncontrived, too, that his servants should have some difference one\namong another, always suspecting and fearing a good understanding\nbetween them.  Those who had committed anything worthy of death, he\npunished, if they were found guilty by the verdict of their\nfellow-servants.  But being after all much given to the desire of gain,\nhe looked upon agriculture rather as a pleasure than profit;\nresolving, therefore, to lay out his money in safe and solid things,\nhe purchased ponds, hot baths, grounds full of fuller's earth,\nremunerative lands, pastures, and woods; from all which he drew large\nreturns, nor could Jupiter himself, he used to say, do him much\ndamage.  He was also given to the form of usury, which is considered\nmost odious, in traffic by sea; and that thus: -- he desired that those\nwhom he put out his money to, should have many partners; and when the\nnumber of them and their ships came to be fifty, he himself took one\nshare through Quintio his freedman, who therefore was to sail with\nthe adventurers, and take a part in all their proceedings; so that\nthus there was no danger of losing his whole stock, but only a little\npart, and that with a prospect of great profit.  He likewise lent\nmoney to those of his slaves who wished to borrow, with which they\nbought also other young ones, whom, when they had taught and bred up\nat his charges, they would sell again at the year's end; but some of\nthem Cato would keep for himself, giving just as much for them as\nanother had offered.  To incline his son to be of this kind of\ntemper, he used to tell him, that it was not like a man, but rather\nlike a widow woman, to lessen an estate.  But the strongest\nindication of Cato's avaricious humor was when he took the boldness\nto affirm, that he was a most wonderful, nay, a godlike man, who left\nmore behind him than he had received.\n\nHe was now grown old, when Carneades the Academic, and Diogenes the\nStoic, came as deputies from Athens to Rome, praying for release from\na penalty of five hundred talents laid on the Athenians, in a suit,\nto which they did not appear, in which the Oropians were plaintiffs,\nand Sicyonians judges.  All the most studious youth immediately\nwaited on these philosophers, and frequently, with admiration, heard\nthem speak.  But the gracefulness of Carneades's oratory, whose\nability was really greatest, and his reputation equal to it, gathered\nlarge and favorable audiences, and erelong filled, like a wind, all\nthe city with the sound of it.  So that it soon began to be told,\nthat a Greek, famous even to admiration, winning and carrying all\nbefore him, had impressed so strange a love upon the young men, that\nquitting all their pleasures and pastimes, they ran mad, as it were,\nafter philosophy; which indeed much pleased the Romans in general;\nnor could they but with much pleasure see the youth receive so\nwelcomely the Greek literature, and frequent the company of learned\nmen.  But Cato, on the other side, seeing this passion for words\nflowing into the city, from the beginning, took it ill, fearing lest\nthe youth should be diverted that way, and so should prefer the glory\nof speaking well before that of arms, and doing well.  And when the\nfame of the philosophers increased in the city, and Caius Acilius, a\nperson of distinction, at his own request, became their interpreter\nto the senate at their first audience, Cato resolved, under some\nspecious presence, to have all philosophers cleared out of the city;\nand, coming into the senate, blamed the magistrates for letting these\ndeputies stay so long a time without being dispatched, though they\nwere persons that could easily persuade the people to what they\npleased; that therefore in all haste something should be determined\nabout their petition, that so they might go home again to their own\nschools, and declaim to the Greek children, and leave the Roman\nyouth, to be obedient, as hitherto, to their own laws and governors.\n\nYet he did this not out of any anger, as some think, to Carneades;\nbut because he wholly despised philosophy, and out of a kind of\npride, scoffed at the Greek studies and literature; as, for example,\nhe would say, that Socrates was a prating seditious fellow, who did\nhis best to tyrannize over his country, to undermine the ancient\ncustoms, and to entice and withdraw the citizens to opinions contrary\nto the laws.  Ridiculing the school of Isocrates, he would add, that\nhis scholars grew old men before they had done learning with him, as\nif they were to use their art and plead causes in the court of Minos\nin the next world.  And to frighten his son from anything that was\nGreek, in a more vehement tone than became one of his age, he\npronounced, as it were, with the voice of an oracle, that the Romans\nwould certainly be destroyed when they began once to be infected with\nGreek literature; though time indeed has shown the vanity of this his\nprophecy; as, in truth, the city of Rome has risen to its highest\nfortune, while entertaining Grecian learning.  Nor had he an aversion\nonly against the Greek philosophers, but the physicians also; for\nhaving, it seems, heard how Hippocrates, when the king of Persia sent\nfor him, with offers of a fee of several talents, said, that he would\nnever assist barbarians who were enemies to the Greeks; he affirmed,\nthat this was now become a common oath taken by all physicians, and\nenjoined his son to have a care and avoid them; for that he himself\nhad written a little book of prescriptions for curing those who were\nsick in his family; he never enjoined fasting to anyone, but ordered\nthem either vegetables, or the meat of a duck, pigeon, or leveret;\nsuch kind of diet being of light digestion, and fit for sick folks,\nonly it made those who ate it dream a little too much; and by the\nuse of this kind of physic, he said, he not only made himself and\nthose about him well, but kept them so.\n\nHowever, for this his presumption, he seemed not to have escaped\nunpunished; for he lost both his wife and his son; though he himself,\nbeing of a strong robust constitution, held out longer; so that he\nwould often, even in his old days, address himself to women, and when\nhe was past a lover's age, married a young woman, upon the following\npretense.  Having lost his own wife, he married his son to the\ndaughter of Paulus Aemilius, who was sister to Scipio; so that being\nnow a widower himself, he had a young girl who came privately to\nvisit him; but the house being very small, and a daughter-in-law also\nin it, this practice was quickly discovered; for the young woman\nseeming once to pass through it a little too boldly, the youth, his\nson, though he said nothing, seemed to look somewhat indignantly upon\nher.  The old man perceiving and understanding that what he did was\ndisliked, without finding any fault, or saying a word, went away\nas his custom was, with his usual companions to the market:  and\namong the rest, he called aloud to one Salonius, who had been a clerk\nunder him, and asked him whether he had married his daughter? He\nanswered, no, nor would he, till he had consulted him.  Said Cato,\n\"Then I have found out a fit son-in-law for you, if he should not\ndisplease by reason of his age; for in all other points there is no\nfault to be found in him; but he is indeed, as I said, extremely\nold.\"  However, Salonius desired him to undertake the business, and\nto give the young girl to whom he pleased, she being a humble servant\nof his, who stood in need of his care and patronage.  Upon this Cato,\nwithout any more ado, told him, he desired to have the damsel\nhimself.  These words, as may well be imagined, at first astonished\nthe man, conceiving that Cato was as far off from marrying, as he\nfrom a likelihood of being allied to the family of one who had been\nconsul, and had triumphed; but perceiving him in earnest, he\nconsented willingly; and, going onwards to the forum, they quickly\ncompleted the bargain.\n\nWhilst the marriage was in hand, Cato's son, taking some of his\nfriends along with him, went and asked his father if it were for any\noffense he brought in a stepmother upon him?  But Cato cried out, \"Far\nfrom it, my son, I have no fault to find with you nor anything of\nyours; only I desire to have many children, and to leave the\ncommonwealth more such citizens as you are.\"  Pisistratus, the tyrant\nof Athens, made, they say, this answer to his sons, when they were\ngrown men, when he married his second wife, Timonassa of Argos, by\nwhom he had, it is said, Iophon and Thessalus.  Cato had a son by\nthis second wife, to whom from his mother, he gave the surname of\nSalonius.  In the mean time, his eldest died in his praetorship; of\nwhom Cato often makes mention in his books, as having been a good\nman.  He is said, however, to have borne the loss moderately, and\nlike a philosopher, and was nothing the more remiss in attending to\naffairs of state; so that he did not, as Lucius Lucullus and Metellus\nPius did, grow languid in his old age, as though public business were\na duty once to be discharged, and then quitted; nor did he, like\nScipio Africanus, because envy had struck at his glory, turn from the\npublic, and change and pass away the rest of his life without doing\nanything; but as one persuaded Dionysius, that the most honorable\ntomb he could have, would be to die in the exercise of his dominion;\nso Cato thought that old age to be the most honorable, which was\nbusied in public affairs; though he would, now and then, when he had\nleisure, recreate himself with husbandry and writing.\n\nAnd, indeed, he composed various books and histories; and in his\nyouth, he addicted himself to agriculture for profit's sake; for he\nused to say, he had but two ways of getting -- agriculture and\nparsimony; and now, in his old age, the first of these gave him both\noccupation and a subject of study.  He wrote one book on country\nmatters, in which he treated particularly even of making cakes, and\npreserving fruit; it being his ambition to be curious and singular in\nall things.  His suppers, at his country-house, used also to be\nplentiful; he daily invited his friends and neighbors about him, and\npassed the time merrily with them; so that his company was not only\nagreeable to those of the same age, but even to younger men; for he\nhad had experience in many things, and had been concerned in much,\nboth by word and deed, that was worth the hearing.  He looked upon a\ngood table, as the best place for making friends; where the\ncommendations of brave and good citizens were usually introduced, and\nlittle said of base and unworthy ones; as Cato would not give leave\nin his company to have anything, either good or ill, said about\nthem.\n\nSome will have the overthrow of Carthage to have been one of his last\nacts of state; when, indeed, Scipio the younger, did by his valor\ngive it the last blow, but the war, chiefly by the counsel and advice\nof Cato, was undertaken on the following occasion.  Cato was sent to\nthe Carthaginians and Masinissa, king of Numidia, who were at war\nwith one another, to know the cause of their difference.  He, it\nseems, had been a friend of the Romans from the beginning; and they,\ntoo, since they were conquered by Scipio, were of the Roman\nconfederacy, having been shorn of their power by loss of territory,\nand a heavy tax.  Finding Carthage, not (as the Romans thought) low\nand in an ill condition, but well manned, full of riches and all\nsorts of arms and ammunition, and perceiving the Carthaginians carry\nit high, he conceived that it was not a time for the Romans to adjust\naffairs between them and Masinissa; but rather that they themselves\nwould fall into danger, unless they should find means to check this\nrapid new growth of Rome's ancient irreconcilable enemy.  Therefore,\nreturning quickly to Rome, he acquainted the senate, that the former\ndefeats and blows given to the Carthaginians, had not so much\ndiminished their strength, as it had abated their imprudence and\nfolly; that they were not become weaker, but more experienced in war,\nand did only skirmish with the Numidians, to exercise themselves the\nbetter to cope with the Romans:  that the peace and league they had\nmade was but a kind of suspension of war which awaited a fairer\nopportunity to break out again.\n\nMoreover, they say that, shaking his gown, he took occasion to let\ndrop some African figs before the senate.  And on their admiring the\nsize and beauty of them, he presently added, that the place that bore\nthem was but three days' sail from Rome.  Nay, he never after this\ngave his opinion, but at the end he would be sure to come out with\nthis sentence, \"Also, Carthage, methinks, ought utterly to be\ndestroyed.\"  But Publius Scipio Nasica would always declare his\nopinion to the contrary, in these words, \"It seems requisite to me\nthat Carthage should still stand.\"  For seeing his countrymen to be\ngrown wanton and insolent, and the people made, by their prosperity,\nobstinate and disobedient to the senate, and drawing the whole city,\nwhither they would, after them, he would have had the fear of\nCarthage to serve as a bit to hold in the contumacy of the multitude;\nand he looked upon the Carthaginians as too weak to overcome the\nRomans, and too great to be despised by them.  On the other side, it\nseemed a perilous thing to Cato, that a city which had been always\ngreat, and was now grown sober and wise, by reason of its former\ncalamities, should still lie, as it were, in wait for the follies and\ndangerous excesses of the overpowerful Roman people; so that he\nthought it the wisest course to have all outward dangers removed,\nwhen they had so many inward ones among themselves.\n\nThus Cato, they say, stirred up the third and last war against the\nCarthaginians:  but no sooner was the said war begun, than he died,\nprophesying of the person that should put an end to it, who was then\nonly a young man; but, being tribune in the army, he in several\nfights gave proof of his courage and conduct.  The news of which\nbeing brought to Cato's ears at Rome, he thus expressed himself: --\n\nThe only wise man of them all is he,\nThe others e'en as shadows flit and flee.\n\nThis prophecy Scipio soon confirmed by his actions.\n\nCato left no posterity, except one son by his second wife, who was\nnamed, as we said, Cato Salonius; and a grandson by his eldest son,\nwho died.  Cato Salonius died when he was praetor, but his son Marcus\nwas afterwards consul, and he was grandfather of Cato the\nphilosopher, who for virtue and renown was one of the most eminent\npersonages of his time.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF ARISTIDES WITH MARCUS CATO.\n\nHaving mentioned the most memorable actions of these great men, if we\nnow compare the whole life of the one with that of the other, it will\nnot be easy to discern the difference between them, lost as it is\namongst such a number of circumstances in which they resemble each\nother.  If, however, we examine them in detail as we might some piece\nof poetry, or some picture, we shall find this common to them both,\nthat they advanced themselves to great honor and dignity in the\ncommonwealth, by no other means than their own virtue and industry.\nBut it seems when Aristides appeared, Athens was not at its height of\ngrandeur and plenty, the chief magistrates and officers of his time\nbeing men only of moderate and equal fortunes among themselves.  The\nestimate of the greatest estates then, was five hundred medimns; that\nof the second, or knights, three hundred; of the third and last called\nZeugitae, two hundred.  But Cato, out of a petty village from a\ncountry life, leaped into the commonwealth, as it were into a vast\nocean; at a time when there were no such governors as the Curii,\nFabricii, and Hostilii.  Poor laboring men were not then advanced from\nthe plow and spade to be governors and magistrates; but greatness of\nfamily, riches, profuse gifts, distributions, and personal application\nwere what the city looked to; keeping a high hand, and, in a manner,\ninsulting over those that courted preferment.  It was not as great a\nmatter to have Themistocles for an adversary, a person of mean\nextraction and small fortune, (for he was not worth, it is said, more\nthan four or five talents when he first applied himself to public\naffairs,) as to contest with a Scipio Africanus, a Servius Galba, and\na Quintius Flamininus, having no other aid but a tongue free to assert\nright.\n\nBesides, Aristides at Marathon, and again at Plataea, was but one\ncommander out of ten; whereas Cato was chosen consul with a single\ncolleague, having many competitors, and with a single colleague, also,\nwas preferred before seven most noble and eminent pretenders to be\ncensor.  But Aristides was never principal in any action; for\nMiltiades carried the day at Marathon, at Salamis Themistocles, and at\nPlataea, Herodotus tells us, Pausanias got the glory of that noble\nvictory: and men like Sophanes, and Aminias, Callimachus, and\nCynaegyrus, behaved themselves so well in all those engagements, as to\ncontest it with Aristides even for the second place.  But Cato not\nonly in his consulship was esteemed the chief in courage and conduct\nin the Spanish war, but even whilst he was only serving as tribune at\nThermopylae, under another's command, he gained the glory of the\nvictory, for having, as it were, opened a wide gate for the Romans to\nrush in upon Antiochus, and for having brought the war on his back,\nwhilst he only minded what was before his face.  For that victory,\nwhich was beyond dispute all Cato's own work, cleared Asia out of\nGreece, and by that means made way afterwards for Scipio into Asia.\nBoth of them, indeed, were always victorious in war; but at home\nAristides stumbled, being banished and oppressed by the faction of\nThemistocles; yet Cato, notwithstanding he had almost all the chief\nand most powerful of Rome for his adversaries, and wrestled with them\neven to his old age, kept still his footing.  Engaging also in many\npublic suits, sometimes plaintiff, sometimes defendant, he cast the\nmost, and came off clear with all; thanks to his eloquence, that\nbulwark and powerful instrument to which more truly, than to chance or\nhis fortune, he owed it, that he sustained himself unhurt to the last.\nAntipater justly gives it as a high commendation to Aristotle the\nphilosopher, writing of him after his death, that among his other\nvirtues, he was endowed with a faculty of persuading people which way\nhe pleased.\n\nQuestionless, there is no perfecter endowment in man than political\nvirtue, and of this Economics is commonly esteemed not the least\npart; for a city, which is a collection of private households, grows\ninto a stable commonwealth by the private means of prosperous citizens\nthat compose it.  Lycurgus by prohibiting gold and silver in Sparta,\nand making iron, spoiled by the fire, the only currency, did not by\nthese measures discharge them from minding their household affairs,\nbut cutting off luxury, the corruption and tumor of riches, he\nprovided there should be an abundant supply of all necessary and\nuseful things for all persons, as much as any other lawmaker ever did;\nbeing more apprehensive of a poor, needy, and indigent member of a\ncommunity, than of the rich and haughty.  And in this management of\ndomestic concerns, Cato was as great as in the government of public\naffairs; for he increased his estate, and became a master to others in\neconomy and husbandry; upon which subjects he collected in his\nwritings many useful observations.  On the contrary Aristides, by his\npoverty, made justice odious, as if it were the pest and impoverisher\nof a family and beneficial to all, rather than to those that were\nendowed with it.  Yet Hesiod urges us alike to just dealing and to\ncare of our households, and inveighs against idleness as the origin of\ninjustice; and Homer admirably says: --\n\nWork was not dear, nor household cares to me,\nWhose increase rears the thriving family;\nBut well-rigged ships were always my delight,\nAnd wars, and darts, and arrows of the fight:\n\nas if the same characters carelessly neglected their own estates, and\nlived by injustice and rapine from others.  For it is not as the\nphysicians say of oil, that outwardly applied, it is very wholesome,\nbut taken inwardly detrimental, that thus a just man provides\ncarefully for others, and is heedless of himself and his own affairs:\nbut in this Aristides's political virtues seem to be defective; since,\naccording to most authors, he took no care to leave his daughters a\nportion, or himself enough to defray his funeral charges: whereas\nCato's family produced senators and generals to the fourth generation;\nhis grandchildren, and their children, came to the highest\npreferments.  But Aristides, who was the principal man of Greece,\nthrough extreme poverty reduced some of his to get their living by\njuggler's tricks, others, for want, to hold out their hands for public\nalms; leaving none means to perform any noble action, or worthy his\ndignity.\n\nYet why should this needs follow? since poverty is dishonorable not\nin itself, but when it is a proof of laziness, intemperance, luxury,\nand carelessness; whereas in a person that is temperate, industrious,\njust, and valiant, and who uses all his virtues for the public good,\nit shows a great and lofty mind.  For he has no time for great\nmatters, who concerns himself with petty ones; nor can he relieve many\nneeds of others, who himself has many needs of his own.  What most of\nall enables a man to serve the public is not wealth, but content and\nindependence; which, requiring no superfluity at home, distracts not\nthe mind from the common good.  God alone is entirely exempt from all\nwant:  of human virtues, that which needs least, is the most absolute\nand most divine.  For as a body bred to a good habit requires nothing\nexquisite either in clothes or food, so a sound man and a sound\nhousehold keep themselves up with a small matter.  Riches ought to be\nproportioned to the use we have of them; for he that scrapes together\na great deal, making use of but little, is not independent; for if he\nwants them not, it is folly in him to make provision for things which\nhe does not desire; or if he does desire them, and restrains his\nenjoyment out of sordidness, he is miserable.  I would fain know of\nCato himself, if we seek riches that we may enjoy them, why is he\nproud of having a great deal, and being contented with little?  But if\nit be noble, as it is, to feed on coarse bread, and drink the same\nwine with our hinds, and not to covet purple, and plastered houses,\nneither Aristides, nor Epaminondas, nor Manius Curius, nor Caius\nFabricius wanted necessaries, who took no pains to get those things\nwhose use they approved not.  For it was not worth the while of a man\nwho esteemed turnips a most delicate food, and who boiled them\nhimself, whilst his wife made bread, to brag so often of a halfpenny,\nand write a book to show how a man may soonest grow rich; the very\ngood of being contented with little is because it cuts off at once the\ndesire and the anxiety for superfluities.  Hence Aristides, it is\ntold, said, on the trial of Callias, that it was for them to blush at\npoverty, who were poor against their wills; they who like him were\nwillingly so, might glory in it.  For it is ridiculous to think\nAristides's neediness imputable to his sloth, who might fairly enough\nby the spoil of one barbarian, or seizing one tent, have become\nwealthy.  But enough of this.\n\nCato's expeditions added no great matter to the Roman empire, which\nalready was so great, as that in a manner it could receive no\naddition; but those of Aristides are the noblest, most splendid, and\ndistinguished actions the Grecians ever did, the battles at Marathon,\nSalamis, and Plataea.  Nor indeed is Antiochus, nor the destruction of\nthe walls of the Spanish towns, to be compared with Xerxes, and the\ndestruction by sea and land of so many myriads of enemies; in all of\nwhich noble exploits Aristides yielded to none, though he left the\nglory and the laurels, like the wealth and money, to those who\nneeded and thirsted more greedily after them:  because he was superior\nto those also.  I do not blame Cato for perpetually boasting and\npreferring himself before all others, though in one of his orations he\nsays, that it is equally absurd to praise and dispraise one's self:\nyet he who does not so much as desire others' praises, seems to me\nmore perfectly virtuous, than he who is always extolling himself.  A\nmind free from ambition is a main help to political gentleness:\nambition, on the contrary, is hard-hearted, and the greatest fomenter\nof envy; from which Aristides was wholly exempt; Cato very subject to\nit.  Aristides assisted Themistocles in matters of highest importance,\nand, as his subordinate officer, in a manner raised Athens: Cato, by\nopposing Scipio, almost broke and defeated his expedition against the\nCarthaginians, in which he overthrew Hannibal, who till then was even\ninvincible; and, at last, by continually raising suspicions and\ncalumnies against him, he chased him from the city, and inflicted a\ndisgraceful sentence on his brother for robbing the state.\n\nFinally, that temperance which Cato always highly cried up, Aristides\npreserved truly pure and untainted.  But Cato's marriage, unbecoming\nhis dignity and age, is a considerable disparagement, in this respect,\nto his character.  For it was not decent for him at that age to bring\nhome to his son and his wife a young woman, the daughter of a common\npaid clerk in the public service: but whether it were for his own\ngratification or out of anger at his son, both the fact and the\npresence were unworthy.  For the reason he pretended to his son was\nfalse: for if he desired to get more as worthy children, he ought to\nhave married a well-born wife; not to have contented himself, so long\nas it was unnoticed, with a woman to whom he was not married; and,\nwhen it was discovered, he ought not to have chosen such a\nfather-in-law as was easiest to be got, instead of one whose affinity\nmight be honorable to him.\n\n\n\nPHILOPOEMEN\n\nCleander was a man of high birth and great power in the city of\nMantinea, but by the chances of the time happened to be driven from\nthence.  There being an intimate friendship betwixt him and Craugis,\nthe father of Philopoemen, who was a person of great distinction, he\nsettled at Megalopolis, where, while his friend lived, he had all he\ncould desire.  When Craugis died, he repaid the father's hospitable\nkindness in the care of the orphan son; by which means Philopoemen\nwas educated by him, as Homer says Achilles was by Phoenix, and from\nhis infancy molded to lofty and noble inclinations.  But Ecdemus and\nDemophanes had the principal tuition of him, after he was past the\nyears of childhood.  They were both Megalopolitans; they had been\nscholars in the academic philosophy, and friends to Arcesilaus, and\nhad, more than any of their contemporaries, brought philosophy to\nbear upon action, and state affairs.  They had freed their country\nfrom tyranny by the death of Aristodemus, whom they caused to be\nkilled; they had assisted Aratus in driving out the tyrant Nicocles\nfrom Sicyon; and, at the request of the Cyreneans, whose city was in\na state of extreme disorder and confusion, went thither by sea, and\nsucceeded in establishing good government and happily settling their\ncommonwealth.  And among their best actions they themselves counted\nthe education of Philopoemen, thinking they had done a general good\nto Greece, by giving him the nurture of philosophy.  And indeed all\nGreece (which looked upon him as a kind of latter birth brought\nforth, after so many noble leaders, in her decrepit age) loved him\nwonderfully; and, as his glory grew, increased his power.  And one of\nthe Romans, to praise him, calls him the last of the Greeks; as if\nafter him Greece had produced no great man, nor who deserved the name\nof Greek.\n\nHis person was not, as some fancy, deformed; for his likeness is yet\nto be seen at Delphi.  The mistake of the hostess of Megara was\noccasioned, it would seem, merely by his easiness of temper and his\nplain manners.  This hostess having word brought her, that the\nGeneral of the Achaeans was coming to her house in the absence of\nher husband, was all in a hurry about providing his supper.\nPhilopoemen, in an ordinary cloak, arriving in this point of time,\nshe took him for one of his own train who had been sent on before,\nand bid him lend her his hand in her household work.  He forthwith\nthrew off his cloak, and fell to cutting up the fire-wood.  The\nhusband returning, and seeing him at it, \"What,\" says he, \"may this\nmean, O Philopoemen?\"  \"I am,\" replied he in his Doric dialect,\n\"paying the penalty of my ugly looks.\"  Titus Flamininus, jesting\nwith him upon his figure, told him one day, he had well-shaped hands\nand feet, but no belly:  and he was indeed slender in the waist.  But\nthis raillery was meant to the poverty of his fortune; for he had\ngood horse and foot, but often wanted money to entertain and pay\nthem.  These are the common anecdotes told of Philopoemen.\n\nThe love of honor and distinction was, in his character, not\nunalloyed with feelings of personal rivalry and resentment.  He made\nEpaminondas his great example, and came not far behind him in\nactivity, sagacity, and incorruptible integrity; but his hot\ncontentious temper continually carried him out of the bounds of that\ngentleness, composure, and humanity which had marked Epaminondas, and\nthis made him thought a pattern rather of military than of civil\nvirtue.  He was strongly inclined to the life of a soldier even from\nhis childhood, and he studied and practiced all that belonged to it,\ntaking great delight in managing of horses, and handling of weapons.\nBecause he was naturally fitted to excel in wrestling, some of his\nfriends and tutors recommended his attention to athletic exercises.\nBut he would first be satisfied whether it would not interfere with\nhis becoming a good soldier.  They told him, as was the truth, that\nthe one life was directly opposite to the other; the requisite state\nof body, the ways of living, and the exercises all different:  the\nprofessed athlete sleeping much, and feeding plentifully, punctually\nregular in his set times of exercise and rest, and apt to spoil all\nby every little excess, or breach of his usual method; whereas the\nsoldier ought to train himself in every variety of change and\nirregularity, and, above all, to bring himself to endure hunger and\nloss of sleep without difficulty.  Philopoemen, hearing this, not\nonly laid by all thoughts of wrestling and contemned it then, but\nwhen he came to be general, discouraged it by all marks of reproach\nand dishonor he could imagine, as a thing which made men, otherwise\nexcellently fit for war, to be utterly useless and unable to fight on\nnecessary occasions.\n\nWhen he left off his masters and teachers, and began to bear arms in\nthe incursions which his citizens used to make upon the\nLacedaemonians for pillage and plunder, he would always march out the\nfirst, and return the last.  When there was nothing to do, he sought\nto harden his body, and make it strong and active by hunting, or\nlaboring in his ground.  He had a good estate about twenty furlongs\nfrom the town, and thither he would go every day after dinner and\nsupper; and when night came, throw himself upon the first mattress in\nhis way, and there sleep as one of the laborers.  At break of day he\nwould rise with the rest, and work either in the vineyard or at the\nplow; from thence return again to the town, and employ his time with\nhis friends, or the magistrates in public business.  What he got in\nthe wars, he laid out on horses, or arms, or in ransoming captives;\nbut endeavored to improve his own property the justest way, by\ntillage; and this not slightly, by way of diversion, but thinking it\nhis strict duty, so to manage his own fortune, as to be out of the\ntemptation of wronging others.\n\nHe spent much time on eloquence and philosophy, but selected his\nauthors, and cared only for those by whom he might profit in virtue.\nIn Homer's fictions his attention was given to whatever he thought\napt to raise the courage.  Of all other books he was most devoted to\nthe commentaries of Evangelus on military tactics, and also took\ndelight, at leisure hours, in the histories of Alexander; thinking\nthat such reading, unless undertaken for mere amusement and idle\nconversation, was to the purpose for action.  Even in speculations on\nmilitary subjects it was his habit to neglect maps and diagrams, and\nto put the theorems to practical proof on the ground itself.  He\nwould be exercising his thoughts, and considering, as he traveled,\nand arguing with those about him of the difficulties of steep or\nbroken ground, what might happen at rivers, ditches, or\nmountain-passes, in marching in close or in open, in this or in that\nparticular form of battle.  The truth is, he indeed took an\nimmoderate pleasure in military operations and in warfare, to which\nhe devoted himself, as the special means for exercising all sorts of\nvirtue, and utterly contemned those who were not soldiers, as drones\nand useless in the commonwealth.\n\nWhen he was thirty years of age, Cleomenes, king of the\nLacedaemonians, surprised Megalopolis by night, forced the guards,\nbroke in, and seized the marketplace.  Philopoemen came out upon the\nalarm, and fought with desperate courage, but could not beat the\nenemy out again; yet he succeeded in effecting the escape of the\ncitizens, who got away while he made head against the pursuers, and\namused Cleomenes, till, after losing his horse and receiving several\nwounds, with much ado he came off himself, being the last man in the\nretreat.  The Megalopolitans escaped to Messene, whither Cleomenes\nsent to offer them their town and goods again.  Philopoemen\nperceiving them to be only too glad at the news, and eager to return,\nchecked them with a speech, in which he made them sensible, that what\nCleomenes called restoring the city, was, rather, possessing himself\nof the citizens, and through their means securing also the city for\nthe future.  The mere solitude would, of itself, erelong force him\naway, since there was no staying to guard empty houses and naked\nwalls.  These reasons withheld the Megalopolitans, but gave Cleomenes\na pretext to pillage and destroy a great part of the city, and carry\naway a great booty.\n\nAwhile after king Antigonus coming down to succor the Achaeans, they\nmarched with their united forces against Cleomenes; who, having\nseized the avenues, lay advantageously posted on the hills of\nSellasia.  Antigonus drew up close by him, with a resolution to force\nhim in his strength.  Philopoemen, with his citizens, was that day\nplaced among the horse, next to the Illyrian foot, a numerous body of\nbold fighters, who completed the line of battle, forming, together\nwith the Achaeans, the reserve.  Their orders were to keep their\nground, and not engage till from the other wing, where the king\nfought in person, they should see a red coat lifted up on the point\nof a spear.  The Achaeans obeyed their order, and stood fast; but the\nIllyrians were led on by their commanders to the attack.  Euclidas,\nthe brother of Cleomenes, seeing the foot thus severed from the\nhorse, detached the best of his light-armed men, commanding them to\nwheel about, and charge the unprotected Illyrians in the rear.  This\ncharge putting things in confusion, Philopoemen, considering those\nlight-armed men would be easily repelled, went first to the king's\nofficers to make them sensible what the occasion required.  But they\nnot minding what he said, but slighting him as a hare-brained fellow,\n(as indeed he was not yet of any repute sufficient to give credit to\na proposal of such importance,) he charged with his own citizens, and\nat the first encounter disordered, and soon after put the troops to\nflight with great slaughter.  Then, to encourage the king's army\nfurther, to bring them all upon the enemy while he was in confusion,\nhe quitted his horse, and fighting with extreme difficulty in his\nheavy horseman's dress, in rough uneven ground, full of watercourses\nand hollows, had both his thighs struck through with a thonged\njavelin.  It was thrown with great force, so that the head came out\non the other side, and made a severe, though not a mortal, wound.\nThere he stood awhile, as if he had been shackled, unable to move.\nThe fastening which joined the thong to the javelin made it difficult\nto get it drawn out, nor would any about him venture to do it.  But\nthe fight being now at the hottest, and likely to be quickly decided,\nhe was transported with the desire of partaking in it, and struggled\nand strained so violently, setting one leg forward, the other back,\nthat at last he broke the shaft in two; and thus got the pieces\npulled out.  Being in this manner set at liberty, he caught up his\nsword, and running through the midst of those who were fighting in\nthe first ranks, animated his men, and set them afire with emulation.\nAntigonus, after the victory, asked the Macedonians, to try them, how\nit happened the horse had charged without orders before the signal?\nThey answering, that they were against their wills forced to it by a\nyoung man of Megalopolis, who had fallen in before his time:  \"that\nyoung man,\" replied Antigonus, smiling, \"did like an experienced\ncommander.\"\n\nThis, as was natural, brought Philopoemen into great reputation.\nAntigonus was earnest to have him in his service, and offered him\nvery advantageous conditions, both as to command and pay.  But\nPhilopoemen, who knew that his nature brooked not to be under\nanother, would not accept them; yet not enduring to live idle, and\nhearing of wars in Crete, for practice' sake he passed over thither.\nHe spent some time among those very warlike, and, at the same time,\nsober and temperate men, improving much by experience in all sorts of\nservice; and then returned with so much fame, that the Achaeans\npresently chose him commander of the horse.  These horsemen at that\ntime had neither experience nor bravery, it being the custom to take\nany common horses, the first and cheapest they could procure, when\nthey were to march; and on almost all occasions they did not go\nthemselves, but hired others in their places, and staid at home.\nTheir former commanders winked at this, because, it being an honor\namong the Achaeans to serve on horseback, these men had great power\nin the commonwealth, and were able to gratify or molest whom they\npleased.  Philopoemen, finding them in this condition, yielded not to\nany such considerations, nor would pass it over as formerly; but\nwent himself from town to town, where, speaking with the young men,\none by one, he endeavored to excite a spirit of ambition and love of\nhonor among them, using punishment also, where it was necessary.  And\nthen by public exercises, reviews, and contests in the presence of\nnumerous spectators, in a little time he made them wonderfully strong\nand bold, and, which is reckoned of greatest consequence in military\nservice, light and agile.  With use and industry they grew so\nperfect, to such a command of their horses, such a ready exactness in\nwheeling round in their troops, that in any change of posture the\nwhole body seemed to move with all the facility and promptitude, and,\nas it were, with the single will of one man.  In the great battle,\nwhich they fought with the Aetolians and Eleans by the river\nLarissus, he set them an example himself.  Damophantus, general of\nthe Elean horse, singled out Philopoemen, and rode with full speed at\nhim.  Philopoemen awaited his charge, and, before receiving the\nstroke, with a violent blow of his spear threw him dead to the\nground:  upon whose fall the enemy fled immediately.  And now\nPhilopoemen was in everybody's mouth, as a man who in actual fighting\nwith his own hand yielded not to the youngest, nor in good conduct to\nthe oldest, and than whom there came not into the field any better\nsoldier or commander.\n\nAratus, indeed, was the first who raised the Achaeans, inconsiderable\ntill then, into reputation and power, by uniting their divided cities\ninto one commonwealth, and establishing amongst them a humane and\ntruly Grecian form of government; and hence it happened, as in\nrunning waters, where when a few little particles of matter once\nstop, others stick to them, and one part strengthening another, the\nwhole becomes firm and solid; so in a general weakness, when every\ncity relying only on itself, all Greece was giving way to an easy\ndissolution, the Achaeans, first forming themselves into a body, then\ndrawing in their neighbors round about, some by protection,\ndelivering them from their tyrants, others by peaceful consent and by\nnaturalization, designed at last to bring all Peloponnesus into one\ncommunity.  Yet while Aratus lived, they depended much on the\nMacedonians, courting first Ptolemy, then Antigonus and Philip, who\nall took part continually in whatever concerned the affairs of\nGreece.  But when Philopoemen came to command, the Achaeans, feeling\nthemselves a match for the most powerful of their enemies, declined\nforeign support.  The truth is, Aratus, as we have written in his\nlife, was not of so warlike a temper, but did most by policy and\ngentleness, and friendships with foreign princes; but Philopoemen\nbeing a man both of execution and command, a great soldier, and\nfortunate in his first attempts, wonderfully heightened both the\npower and courage of the Achaeans, accustomed to victory under his\nconduct.\n\nBut first he altered what he found amiss in their arms, and form of\nbattle.  Hitherto they had used light, thin bucklers, too narrow to\ncover the body, and javelins much shorter than pikes.  By which means\nthey were skillful in skirmishing at a distance, but in a close fight\nhad much the disadvantage.  Then in drawing their forces up for\nbattle, they were never accustomed to form in regular divisions; and\ntheir line being unprotected either by the thick array of projecting\nspears or by their shields, as in the Macedonian phalanx, where the\nsoldiers shoulder close and their shields touch, they were easily\nopened, and broken.  Philopoemen reformed all this, persuading them\nto change the narrow target and short javelin, into a large shield\nand long pike; to arm their heads, bodies, thighs, and legs; and\ninstead of loose skirmishing, fight firmly and foot to foot.  After\nhe had brought them all to wear full armor, and by that means into\nthe confidence of thinking themselves now invincible, he turned what\nbefore had been idle profusion and luxury into an honorable expense.\nFor being long used to vie with each other in their dress, the\nfurniture of their houses, and service of their tables, and to glory\nin outdoing one another, the disease by custom was grown incurable,\nand there was no possibility of removing it altogether.  But he\ndiverted the passion, and brought them, instead of these\nsuperfluities, to love useful and more manly display, and, reducing\ntheir other expenses, to take delight in appearing magnificent in\ntheir equipage of war.  Nothing then was to be seen in the shops but\nplate breaking up, or melting down, gilding of breastplates, and\nstudding bucklers and bits with silver; nothing in the places of\nexercise, but horses managing, and young men exercising their arms;\nnothing in the hands of the women, but helmets and crests of feathers\nto be dyed, and military cloaks and riding-frocks to be embroidered;\nthe very sight of all which quickening and raising their spirits,\nmade them contemn dangers, and feel ready to venture on any honorable\ndangers.  Other kinds of sumptuosity give us pleasure, but make us\neffeminate; the tickling of the sense slackening the vigor of the\nmind; but magnificence of this kind strengthens and heightens the\ncourage; as Homer makes Achilles at the sight of his new arms\nexulting with joy, and on fire to use them.  When Philopoemen had\nobtained of them to arm, and set themselves out in this manner, he\nproceeded to train them, mustering and exercising them perpetually;\nin which they obeyed him with great zeal and eagerness.  For they\nwere wonderfully pleased with their new form of battle, which, being\nso knit and cemented together, seemed almost incapable of being\nbroken.  And then their arms, which for their riches and beauty they\nwore with pleasure, becoming light and easy to them with constant\nuse, they longed for nothing more than to try them with an enemy, and\nfight in earnest.\n\nThe Achaeans at that time were at war with Machanidas, the tyrant of\nLacedaemon, who, having a strong army watched all opportunities of\nbecoming entire master of Peloponnesus.  When intelligence came that\nhe was fallen upon the Mantineans, Philopoemen forthwith took the\nfield, and marched towards him.  They met near Mantinea, and drew up\nin sight of the city.  Both, besides the whole strength of their\nseveral cities, had a good number of mercenaries in pay.  When they\ncame to fall on, Machanidas, with his hired soldiers, beat the\nspearmen and the Tarentines whom Philopoemen had placed in the front.\nBut when he should have charged immediately into the main battle,\nwhich stood close and firm, he hotly followed the chase; and instead\nof attacking the Achaeans, passed on beyond them, while they remained\ndrawn up in their place.  With so untoward a beginning the rest of\nthe confederates gave themselves up for lost; but Philopoemen,\nprofessing to make it a matter of small consequence, and observing\nthe enemy's oversight, who had thus left an opening in their main\nbody, and exposed their own phalanx, made no sort of motion to oppose\nthem, but let them pursue the chase freely, till they had placed\nthemselves at a great distance from him.  Then seeing the\nLacedaemonians before him deserted by their horse, with their flanks\nquite bare, he charged suddenly, and surprised them without a\ncommander, and not so much as expecting an encounter, as, when they\nsaw Machanidas driving the beaten enemy before him, they thought the\nvictory already gained.  He overthrew them with great slaughter,\n(they report above four thousand killed in the place,) and then faced\nabout against Machanidas, who was returning with his mercenaries from\nthe pursuit.  There happened to be a broad deep ditch between them,\nalong side of which both rode their horses for awhile, the one trying\nto get over and fly, the other to hinder him.  It looked less like\nthe contest between two generals than like the last defense of some\nwild beast, brought to bay by the keen huntsman Philopoemen, and\nforced to fight for his life.  The tyrant's horse was mettled and\nstrong; and feeling the bloody spurs in his sides, ventured to take\nthe ditch.  He had already so far reached the other side, as to have\nplanted his fore-feet upon it, and was struggling to raise himself\nwith these, when Simmias and Polyaenus, who used to fight by the side\nof Philopoemen, came up on horseback to his assistance.  But\nPhilopoemen, before either of them, himself met Machanidas; and\nperceiving that the horse with his head high reared, covered his\nmaster's body, he turned his own a little, and holding his javelin by\nthe middle, drove it against the tyrant with all his force, and\ntumbled him dead into the ditch.  Such is the precise posture in\nwhich he stands at Delphi in the brazen statue which the Achaeans set\nup of him, in admiration of his valor in this single combat, and\nconduct during the whole day.\n\nWe are told that at the Nemean games, a little after this victory,\nPhilopoemen being then General the second time, and at leisure on the\noccasion of the solemnity, first showed the Greeks his army drawn up\nin full array as if they were to fight, and executed with it all the\nmaneuvers of a battle with wonderful order, strength, and celerity.\nAfter which he went into the theater, while the musicians were\nsinging for the prize, followed by the young soldiers in their\nmilitary cloaks and their scarlet frocks under their armor, all in\nthe very height of bodily vigor, and much alike in age, showing a\nhigh respect to their general; yet breathing at the same time a noble\nconfidence in themselves, raised by success in many glorious\nencounters.  Just at their coming in, it so happened, that the\nmusician Pylades, with a voice well suited to the lofty style of the\npoet, was in the act of commencing the Persians of Timotheus,\n\nUnder his conduct Greece was glorious and was free.\n\nThe whole theater at once turned to look at Philopoemen, and clapped\nwith delight; their hopes venturing once more to return to their\ncountry's former reputation; and their feelings almost rising to the\nheight of their ancient spirit.\n\nIt was with the Achaeans as with young horses, which go quietly with\ntheir usual riders, but grow unruly and restive under strangers.  The\nsoldiers, when any service was in hand, and Philopoemen not at their\nhead, grew dejected and looked about for him; but if he once\nappeared, came presently to themselves, and recovered their\nconfidence and courage, being sensible that this was the only one of\ntheir commanders whom the enemy could not endure to face; but, as\nappeared in several occasions, were frighted with his very name.\nThus we find that Philip, king of Macedon, thinking to terrify the\nAchaeans into subjection again, if he could rid his hands of\nPhilopoemen, employed some persons privately to assassinate him.  But\nthe treachery coming to light, he became infamous, and lost his\ncharacter through Greece.  The Boeotians besieging Megara, and ready\nto carry the town by storm, upon a groundless rumor that Philopoemen\nwas at hand with succor, ran away, and left their scaling ladders at\nthe wall behind them.  Nabis, (who was tyrant of Lacedaemon after\nMachanidas,) had surprised Messene at a time when Philopoemen was out\nof command.  He tried to persuade Lysippus, then General of the\nAchaeans, to succor Messene:  but not prevailing with him, because,\nhe said, the enemy being now within it, the place was irrecoverably\nlost, he resolved to go himself, without order or commission,\nfollowed merely by his own immediate fellow-citizens who went with\nhim as their general by commission from nature, which had made him\nfittest to command.  Nabis, hearing of his coming, though his army\nquartered within the town, thought it not convenient to stay; but\nstealing out of the furthest gate with his men, marched away with all\nthe speed he could, thinking himself a happy man if he could get off\nwith safety.  And he did escape; but Messene was rescued.\n\nAll hitherto makes for the praise and honor of Philopoemen.  But when\nat the request of the Gortynians he went away into Crete to command\nfor them, at a time when his own country was distressed by Nabis, he\nexposed himself to the charge of either cowardice, or unseasonable\nambition of honor amongst foreigners.  For the Megalopolitans were\nthen so pressed, that, the enemy being master of the field and\nencamping almost at their gates, they were forced to keep themselves\nwithin their walls, and sow their very streets.  And he in the mean\ntime, across the seas, waging war and commanding in chief in a\nforeign nation, furnished his ill-wishers with matter enough for\ntheir reproaches.  Some said he took the offer of the Gortynians,\nbecause the Achaeans chose other generals, and left him but a private\nman.  For he could not endure to sit still, but looking upon war and\ncommand in it as his great business, always coveted to be employed.\nAnd this agrees with what he once aptly said of king Ptolemy.\nSomebody was praising him for keeping his army and himself in an\nadmirable state of discipline and exercise:  \"And what praise,\"\nreplied Philopoemen, \"for a king of his years, to be always\npreparing, and never performing?\"  However, the Megalopolitans,\nthinking themselves betrayed, took it so ill, that they were about to\nbanish him.  But the Achaeans put an end to that design, by sending\ntheir General, Aristaeus, to Megalopolis, who, though he were at\ndifference with Philopoemen about affairs of the commonwealth, yet\nwould not suffer him to be banished.  Philopoemen finding himself\nupon this account out of favor with his citizens, induced divers of\nthe little neighboring places to renounce obedience to them,\nsuggesting to them to urge that from the beginning they were not\nsubject to their taxes, or laws, or any way under their command.  In\nthese pretenses he openly took their part, and fomented seditious\nmovements amongst the Achaeans in general against Megalopolis.  But\nthese things happened a while after.\n\nWhile he stayed in Crete, in the service of the Gortynians, he made\nwar not like a Peloponnesian and Arcadian, fairly in the open field,\nbut fought with them at their own weapon, and turning their\nstratagems and tricks against themselves, showed them they played\ncraft against skill, and were but children to an experienced soldier.\nHaving acted here with great bravery, and great reputation to\nhimself, he returned into Peloponnesus, where he found Philip beaten\nby Titus Quintius, and Nabis at war both with the Romans and\nAchaeans.  He was at once chosen general against Nabis, but venturing\nto fight by sea, met, like Epaminondas, with a result very contrary\nto the general expectation, and his own former reputation.\nEpaminondas, however, according to some statements, was backward by\ndesign, unwilling to give his countrymen an appetite for the\nadvantages of the sea, lest from good soldiers, they should by\nlittle and little turn, as Plato says, to ill mariners.  And\ntherefore he returned from Asia and the Islands without doing any\nthing, on purpose.  Whereas Philopoemen, thinking his skill in\nland-service would equally avail at sea, learned how great a part of\nvalor experience is, and how much it imports in the management of\nthings to be accustomed to them.  For he was not only put to the\nworst in the fight for want of skill, but having rigged up an old\nship, which had been a famous vessel forty years before, and shipped\nhis citizens in her, she foundering, he was in danger of losing them\nall.  But finding the enemy, as if he had been driven out of the sea,\nhad, in contempt of him, besieged Gythium, he presently set sail\nagain, and, taking them unexpectedly, dispersed and careless after\ntheir victory, landed in the night, burnt their camp, and killed a\ngreat number.\n\nA few days after, as he was marching through a rough country, Nabis\ncame suddenly upon him.  The Achaeans were dismayed, and in such\ndifficult ground where the enemy had secured the advantage, despaired\nto get off with safety.  Philopoemen made a little halt, and, viewing\nthe ground, soon made it appear, that the one important thing in war\nis skill in drawing up an army.  For by advancing only a few paces,\nand, without any confusion or trouble, altering his order according\nto the nature of the place, he immediately relieved himself from\nevery difficulty, and then charging, put the enemy to flight.  But\nwhen he saw they fled, not towards the city, but dispersed every man\na different way all over the field, which for wood and hills, brooks\nand hollows was not passable by horse, he sounded a retreat, and\nencamped by broad daylight.  Then foreseeing the enemy would endeavor\nto steal scatteringly into the city in the dark, he posted strong\nparties of the Achaeans all along the watercourses and sloping ground\nnear the walls.  Many of Nabis's men fell into their hands.  For\nreturning not in a body, but as the chance of flight had disposed of\nevery one, they were caught like birds ere they could enter into the\ntown.\n\nThese actions obtained him distinguished marks of affection and honor\nin all the theaters of Greece, but not without the secret ill-will of\nTitus Flamininus, who was naturally eager for glory, and thought it\nbut reasonable a consul of Rome should be otherwise esteemed by the\nAchaeans, than a common Arcadian; especially as there was no\ncomparison between what he, and what Philopoemen had done for them,\nhe having by one proclamation restored all Greece, as much as had\nbeen subject to Philip and the Macedonians, to liberty.  After this,\nTitus made peace with Nabis, and Nabis was circumvented and slain by\nthe Aetolians.  Things being then in confusion at Sparta, Philopoemen\nlaid hold of the occasion, and coming upon them with an army,\nprevailed with some by persuasion, with others by fear, till he\nbrought the whole city over to the Achaeans.  As it was no small\nmatter for Sparta to become a member of Achaea, this action gained\nhim infinite praise from the Achaeans, for having strengthened their\nconfederacy by the addition of so great and powerful a city, and not\na little good-will from the nobility of Sparta itself, who hoped they\nhad now procured an ally, who would defend their freedom.\nAccordingly, having raised a sum of one hundred and twenty silver\ntalents by the sale of the house and goods of Nabis, they decreed him\nthe money, and sent a deputation in the name of the city to present\nit.  But here the honesty of Philopoemen showed itself clearly to be\na real, uncounterfeited virtue.  For first of all, there was not a\nman among them who would undertake to make him this offer of a\npresent, but every one excusing himself, and shifting it off upon his\nfellow, they laid the office at last on Timolaus, with whom he had\nlodged at Sparta.  Then Timolaus came to Megalopolis, and was\nentertained by Philopoemen; but struck into admiration with the\ndignity of his life and manners, and the simplicity of his habits,\njudging him to be utterly inaccessible to any such considerations, he\nsaid nothing, but pretending other business, returned without a word\nmentioned of the present.  He was sent again, and did just as\nformerly.  But the third time with much ado, and faltering in his\nwords, he acquainted Philopoemen with the good-will of the city of\nSparta to him.  Philopoemen listened obligingly and gladly; and then\nwent himself to Sparta, where he advised them, not to bribe good men\nand their friends, of whose virtue they might be sure without charge\nto themselves; but to buy off and silence ill citizens, who\ndisquieted the city with their seditious speeches in the public\nassemblies; for it was better to bar liberty of speech in enemies,\nthan friends.  Thus it appeared how much Philopoemen was above\nbribery.\n\nDiophanes being afterwards General of the Achaeans, and hearing the\nLacedaemonians were bent on new commotions, resolved to chastise\nthem; they, on the other side, being set upon war, were embroiling\nall Peloponnesus.  Philopoemen on this occasion did all he could to\nkeep Diophanes quiet and to make him sensible that as the times went,\nwhile Antiochus and the Romans were disputing their pretensions with\nvast armies in the heart of Greece, it concerned a man in his\nposition to keep a watchful eye over them, and dissembling, and\nputting up with any less important grievances, to preserve all quiet\nat home.  Diophanes would not be ruled, but joined with Titus, and\nboth together falling into Laconia, marched directly to Sparta.\nPhilopoemen, upon this, took, in his indignation, a step which\ncertainly was not lawful, nor in the strictest sense just, but boldly\nand loftily conceived.  Entering into the town himself, he, a private\nman as he was, refused admission to both the consul of Rome, and the\nGeneral of the Achaeans, quieted the disorders in the city, and\nreunited it on the same terms as before to the Achaean confederacy.\n\nYet afterwards, when he was General himself, upon some new\nmisdemeanor of the Lacedaemonians, he brought back those who had been\nbanished, put, as Polybius writes, eighty, according to Aristocrates\nthree hundred and fifty, Spartans to death, razed the walls, took\naway a good part of their territory and transferred it to the\nMegalopolitans, forced out of the country and carried into Achaea all\nwho had been made citizens of Sparta by tyrants, except three\nthousand who would not submit to banishment.  These he sold for\nslaves, and with the money, as if to insult over them, built a\ncolonnade at Megalopolis.  Lastly, unworthily trampling upon the\nLacedaemonians in their calamities, and gratifying his hostility by a\nmost oppressive and arbitrary action, he abolished the laws of\nLycurgus, and forced them to educate their children, and live after\nthe manner of the Achaeans; as though, while they kept to the\ndiscipline of Lycurgus, there was no humbling their haughty spirits.\nIn their present distress and adversity they allowed Philopoemen thus\nto cut the sinews of their commonwealth asunder, and behaved\nthemselves humbly and submissively.  But afterwards in no long time,\nobtaining the support of the Romans, they abandoned their new Achaean\ncitizenship; and as much as in so miserable and ruined a condition\nthey could, reestablished their ancient discipline.\n\nWhen the war betwixt Antiochus and the Romans broke out in Greece,\nPhilopoemen was a private man.  He repined grievously, when he saw\nAntiochus lay idle at Chalcis, spending his time in unseasonable\ncourtship and weddings, while his men lay dispersed in several towns,\nwithout order or commanders, and minding nothing but their pleasures.\nHe complained much that he was not himself in office, and said he\nenvied the Romans their victory; and that if he had had the fortune\nto be then in command, he would have surprised and killed the whole\narmy in the taverns.\n\nWhen Antiochus was overcome, the Romans pressed harder upon Greece,\nand encompassed the Achaeans with their power; the popular leaders in\nthe several cities yielded before them; and their power speedily,\nunder the divine guidance, advanced to the consummation due to it in\nthe revolutions of fortune.  Philopoemen, in this conjuncture,\ncarried himself like a good pilot in a high sea, sometimes shifting\nsail, and sometimes yielding, but still steering steady; and omitting\nno opportunity nor effort to keep all who were considerable, whether\nfor eloquence or riches, fast to the defense of their common liberty.\n\nAristaenus, a Megalopolitan of great credit among the Achaeans, but\nalways a favorer of the Romans, saying one day in the senate, that\nthe Romans should not be opposed, or displeased in any way,\nPhilopoemen heard him with an impatient silence; but at last, not\nable to hold longer, said angrily to him, \"And why be in such haste,\nwretched man, to behold the end of Greece?\"  Manius, the Roman\nconsul, after the defeat of Antiochus, requested the Achaeans to\nrestore the banished Lacedaemonians to their country, which motion\nwas seconded and supported by all the interest of Titus.  But\nPhilopoemen crossed it, not from ill-will to the men, but that they\nmight be beholden to him and the Achaeans, not to Titus and the\nRomans.  For when he came to be General himself, he restored them.\nSo impatient was his spirit of any subjection, and so prone his\nnature to contest everything with men in power.\n\nBeing now threescore and ten, and the eighth time General, he was in\nhope to pass in quiet, not only the year of his magistracy, but his\nremaining life.  For as our diseases decline, as it is supposed, with\nour declining bodily strength, so the quarreling humor of the Greeks\nabated much with their failing political greatness.  But fortune or\nsome divine retributive power threw him down the in close of his life,\nlike a successful runner who stumbles at the goal.  It is reported,\nthat being in company where one was praised for a great commander, he\nreplied, there was no great account to be made of a man, who had\nsuffered himself to be taken alive by his enemies.\n\nA few days after, news came that Dinocrates the Messenian, a\nparticular enemy to Philopoemen, and for his wickedness and villanies\ngenerally hated, had induced Messene to revolt from the Achaeans, and\nwas about to seize upon a little place called Colonis.  Philopoemen\nlay then sick of a fever at Argos.  Upon the news he hasted away, and\nreached Megalopolis, which was distant above four hundred furlongs,\nin a day.  From thence he immediately led out the horse, the noblest\nof the city, young men in the vigor of their age, and eager to\nproffer their service, both from attachment to Philopoemen, and zeal\nfor the cause.  As they marched towards Messene, they met with\nDinocrates, near the hill of Evander, charged and routed him.  But\nfive hundred fresh men, who, being left for a guard to the country,\ncame in late, happening to appear, the flying enemy rallied again\nabout the hills.  Philopoemen, fearing to be enclosed, and solicitous\nfor his men, retreated over ground extremely disadvantageous,\nbringing up the rear himself.  As he often faced, and made charges\nupon the enemy, he drew them upon himself; though they merely made\nmovements at a distance, and shouted about him, nobody daring to\napproach him.  In his care to save every single man, he left his main\nbody so often, that at last he found himself alone among the thickest\nof his enemies.  Yet even then none durst come up to him, but being\npelted at a distance, and driven to stony steep places, he had great\ndifficulty, with much spurring, to guide his horse aright.  His age\nwas no hindrance to him, for with perpetual exercise it was both\nstrong and active; but being weakened with sickness, and tired with\nhis long journey, his horse stumbling, he fell encumbered with his\narms, and faint, upon a hard and rugged piece of ground.  His head\nreceived such a shock with the fall, that he lay awhile speechless,\nso that the enemy, thinking him dead, began to turn and strip him.\nBut when they saw him lift up his head and open his eyes, they threw\nthemselves all together upon him, bound his hands behind him, and\ncarried him off, every kind of insult and contumely being lavished on\nhim who truly had never so much as dreamed of being led in triumph by\nDinocrates.\n\nThe Messenians, wonderfully elated with the news, thronged in swarms\nto the city gates.  But when they saw Philopoemen in a posture so\nunsuitable to the glory of his great actions and famous victories,\nmost of them, struck with grief and cursing the deceitful vanity of\nhuman fortune, even shed tears of compassion at the spectacle.  Such\ntears by little and little turned to kind words, and it was almost in\neverybody's mouth that they ought to remember what he had done for\nthem, and how he had preserved the common liberty, by driving away\nNabis.  Some few, to make their court to Dinocrates, were for\ntorturing and then putting him to death as a dangerous and\nirreconcilable enemy; all the more formitable to Dinocrates, who had\ntaken him prisoner, should he after this misfortune, regain his\nliberty.  They put him at last into a dungeon underground, which they\ncalled the treasury, a place into which there came no air nor light\nfrom abroad; and, which, having no doors, was closed with a great\nstone.  This they rolled into the entrance and fixed, and placing a\nguard about it, left him.  In the mean time Philopoemen's soldiers,\nrecovering themselves after their flight, and fearing he was dead\nwhen he appeared nowhere, made a stand, calling him with loud cries,\nand reproaching one another with their unworthy and shameful escape;\nhaving betrayed their general, who, to preserve their lives, had lost\nhis own.  Then returning after much inquiry and search, hearing at\nlast that he was taken, they sent away messengers round about with\nthe news.  The Achaeans resented the misfortune deeply, and decreed\nto send and demand him; and, in the meantime, drew their army\ntogether for his rescue.\n\nWhile these things passed in Achaea, Dinocrates, fearing that any\ndelay would save Philopoemen, and resolving to be beforehand with the\nAchaeans, as soon as night had dispersed the multitude, sent in the\nexecutioner with poison, with orders not to stir from him till he had\ntaken it.  Philopoemen had then laid down, wrapt up in his cloak, not\nsleeping, but oppressed with grief and trouble; but seeing light, and\na man with poison by him, struggled to sit up; and, taking the cup,\nasked the man if he heard anything of the horsemen, particularly\nLycortas?  The fellow answering, that the most part had got off safe,\nhe nodded, and looking cheerfully upon him, \"It is well,\" he said,\n\"that we have not been every way unfortunate;\" and without a word\nmore, drank it off, and laid him down, again.  His weakness offering\nbut little resistance to the poison, it dispatched him presently.\n\nThe news of his death filled all Achaea with grief and lamentation.\nThe youth, with some of the chief of the several cities, met at\nMegalopolis with a resolution to take revenge without delay.  They\nchose Lycortas general, and falling upon the Messenians, put all to\nfire and sword, till they all with one consent made their submission.\nDinocrates, with as many as had voted for Philopoemen's death,\nanticipated their vengeance and killed themselves.  Those who would\nhave had him tortured, Lycortas put in chains and reserved for\nseverer punishment.  They burnt his body, and put the ashes into an\nurn, and then marched homeward, not as in an ordinary march, but with\na kind of solemn pomp, half triumph, half funeral, crowns of victory\non their heads, and tears in their eyes, and their captive enemies in\nfetters by them.  Polybius, the general's son, carried the urn, so\ncovered with garlands and ribbons as scarcely to be visible; and the\nnoblest of the Achaeans accompanied him.  The soldiers followed fully\narmed and mounted, with looks neither altogether sad as in mourning,\nnor lofty as in victory.  The people from all towns and villages in\ntheir way, flocked out to meet him, as at his return from conquest,\nand, saluting the urn, fell in with the company, and followed on to\nMegalopolis; where, when the old men, the women and children were\nmingled with the rest, the whole city was filled with sighs,\ncomplaints, and cries, the loss of Philopoemen seeming to them the\nloss of their own greatness, and of their rank among the Achaeans.\nThus he was honorably buried according to his worth, and the\nprisoners were stoned about his tomb.\n\nMany statues were set up, and many honors decreed to him by the\nseveral cities.  One of the Romans in the time of Greece's\naffliction, after the destruction of Corinth, publicly accusing\nPhilopoemen, as if he had been still alive, of having been the enemy\nof Rome, proposed that these memorials should all be removed.  A\ndiscussion ensued, speeches were made, and Polybius answered the\nsycophant at large.  And neither Mummius nor the lieutenants would\nsuffer the honorable monuments of so great a man to be defaced,\nthough he had often crossed both Titus and Manius.  They justly\ndistinguished, and as became honest men, betwixt usefulness and\nvirtue, -- what is good in itself, and what is profitable to\nparticular parties, -- judging thanks and reward due to him who does\na benefit, from him who receives it, and honor never to be denied by\nthe good to the good.  And so much concerning Philopoemen.\n\n\n\nFLAMININUS\n\nWhat Titus Quintius Flamininus, whom we select as a parallel to\nPhilopoemen, was in personal appearance, those who are curious may\nsee by the brazen statue of him, which stands in Rome near that of\nthe great Apollo, brought from Carthage, opposite to the Circus\nMaximus, with a Greek inscription upon it.  The temper of his mind is\nsaid to have been of the warmest both in anger and in kindness; not\nindeed equally so in both respects; as in punishing, he was ever\nmoderate, never inflexible; but whatever courtesy or good turn he set\nabout, he went through with it, and was as perpetually kind and\nobliging to those on whom he had poured his favors, as if they, not\nhe, had been the benefactors:  exerting himself for the security and\npreservation of what he seemed to consider his noblest possessions,\nthose to whom he had done good.  But being ever thirsty after honor,\nand passionate for glory, if anything of a greater and more\nextraordinary nature were to be done, he was eager to be the doer of\nit himself; and took more pleasure in those that needed, than in\nthose that were capable of conferring favors; looking on the former\nas objects for his virtue, and on the latter as competitors in glory.\n\nRome had then many sharp contests going on, and her youth betaking\nthemselves early to the wars, learned betimes the art of commanding;\nand Flamininus, having passed through the rudiments of soldiery,\nreceived his first charge in the war against Hannibal, as tribune\nunder Marcellus, then consul.  Marcellus, indeed, falling into an\nambuscade, was cut off.  But Titus, receiving the appointment of\ngovernor, as well of Tarentum, then retaken, as of the country about\nit, grew no less famous for his administration of justice, than for\nhis military skill.  This obtained him the office of leader and\nfounder of two colonies which were sent into the cities of Narnia and\nCossa; which filled him with loftier hopes, and made him aspire to\nstep over those previous honors which it was usual first to pass\nthrough, the offices of tribune of the people, praetor and aedile,\nand to level his aim immediately at the consulship.  Having these\ncolonies, and all their interest ready at his service, he offered\nhimself as candidate; but the tribunes of the people, Fulvius and\nManius, and their party, strongly opposed him; alleging how\nunbecoming a thing it was, that a man of such raw years, one who was\nyet, as it were, untrained, uninitiated in the first sacred rites and\nmysteries of government, should, in contempt of the laws, intrude and\nforce himself into the sovereignty.\n\nHowever, the senate remitted it to the people's choice and suffrage;\nwho elected him (though not then arrived at his thirtieth year)\nconsul with Sextus Aelius.  The war against Philip and the\nMacedonians fell to Titus by lot, and some kind fortune, propitious\nat that time to the Romans, seems to have so determined it; as\nneither the people nor the state of things which were now to be dealt\nwith, were such as to require a general who would always be upon the\npoint of force and mere blows, but rather were accessible to\npersuasion and gentle usage.  It is true that the kingdom of Macedon\nfurnished supplies enough to Philip for actual battle with the\nRomans; but to maintain a long and lingering war, he must call in aid\nfrom Greece; must thence procure his supplies; there find his means\nof retreat; Greece, in a word, would be his resource for all the\nrequisites of his army.  Unless, therefore, the Greeks could be\nwithdrawn from siding with Philip, this war with him must not expect\nits decision from a single battle.  Now Greece (which had not\nhitherto held much correspondence with the Romans, but first began an\nintercourse on this occasion) would not so soon have embraced a\nforeign authority, instead of the commanders she had been inured to,\nhad not the general of these strangers been of a kind gentle nature,\none who worked rather by fair means than force; of a persuasive\naddress in all applications to others, and no less courteous, and\nopen to all addresses of others to him; and above all bent and\ndetermined on justice.  But the story of his actions will best\nillustrate these particulars.\n\nTitus observed that both Sulpicius and Publius, who had been his\npredecessors in that command, had not taken the field against the\nMacedonians till late in the year; and then, too, had not set their\nhands properly to the war, but had kept skirmishing and scouting here\nand there for passes and provisions, and never came to close fighting\nwith Philip.  He resolved not to trifle away a year, as they had\ndone, at home in ostentation of the honor, and in domestic\nadministration, and only then to join the army, with the pitiful hope\nof protracting the term of office through a second year, acting as\nconsul in the first, and as general in the latter.  He was, moreover,\ninfinitely desirous to employ his authority with effect upon the war,\nwhich made him slight those home-honors and prerogatives.\nRequesting, therefore, of the senate, that his brother Lucius might\nact with him as admiral of the navy, and taking with him to be the\nedge, as it were, of the expedition three thousand still young and\nvigorous soldiers, of those who, under Scipio, had defeated Asdrubal\nin Spain, and Hannibal in Africa, he got safe into Epirus; and found\nPublius encamped with his army, over against Philip, who had long\nmade good the pass over the river Apsus, and the straits there;\nPublius not having been able, for the natural strength of the place,\nto effect anything against him.  Titus therefore took upon himself\nthe conduct of the army, and, having dismissed Publius, examined the\nground.  The place is in strength not inferior to Tempe, though it\nlacks the trees and green woods, and the pleasant meadows and walks\nthat adorn Tempe.  The Apsus, making its way between vast and lofty\nmountains which all but meet above a single deep ravine in the midst,\nis not unlike the river Peneus, in the rapidity of its current, and\nin its general appearance.  It covers the foot of those hills, and\nleaves only a craggy, narrow path cut out beside the stream, not\neasily passable at any time for an army, but not at all when guarded\nby an enemy.\n\nThere were some, therefore, who would have had Titus make a circuit\nthrough Dassaretis, and take an easy and safe road by the district of\nLyncus.  But he, fearing that if he should engage himself too far\nfrom the sea in barren and untilled countries, and Philip should\ndecline fighting, he might, through want of provisions, be\nconstrained to march back again to the seaside without effecting\nanything, as his predecessor had done before him, embraced the\nresolution of forcing his way over the mountains.  But Philip, having\npossessed himself of them with his army, showered down his darts and\narrows from all parts upon the Romans.  Sharp encounters took place,\nand many fell wounded and slain on both sides, and there seemed but\nlittle likelihood of thus ending the war; when some of the men, who\nfed their cattle thereabouts, came to Titus with a discovery, that\nthere was a roundabout way which the enemy neglected to guard;\nthrough which they undertook to conduct his army, and to bring it\nwithin three days at furthest, to the top of the hills.  To gain the\nsurer credit with him, they said that Charops, son of Machatas, a\nleading man in Epirus, who was friendly to the Romans, and aided them\n(though, for fear of Philip, secretly), was privy to the design.\nTitus gave their information belief, and sent a captain with four\nthousand foot, and three hundred horse; these herdsmen being their\nguides, but kept in bonds.  In the daytime they lay still under the\ncovert of the hollow and woody places, but in the night they marched\nby moonlight, the moon being then at the full.  Titus, having\ndetached this party, lay quiet with his main body, merely keeping up\nthe attention of the enemy by some slight skirmishing.  But when the\nday arrived, that those who stole round, were expected upon the top\nof the hill, he drew up his forces early in the morning, as well the\nlight-armed as the heavy, and, dividing them into three parts,\nhimself led the van, marching his men up the narrow passage along the\nbank, darted at by the Macedonians, and engaging, in this difficult\nground, hand to hand with his assailants; whilst the other two\ndivisions on either side of him, threw themselves with great alacrity\namong the rocks.  Whilst they were struggling forward, the sun rose,\nand a thin smoke, like a mist, hanging on the hills, was seen rising\nat a distance, unperceived by the enemy, being behind them, as they\nstood on the heights; and the Romans, also, as yet under suspense, in\nthe toil and difficulty they were in, could only doubtfully construe\nthe sight according to their desires.  But as it grew thicker and\nthicker, blackening the air, and mounting to a greater height, they\nno longer doubted but it was the fire-signal of their companions;\nand, raising a triumphant shout, forcing their way onwards, they\ndrove the enemy back into the roughest ground; while the other party\nechoed back their acclamations from the top of the mountain.\n\nThe Macedonians fled with all the speed they could make; there fell,\nindeed, not more than two thousand of them; for the difficulties of\nthe place rescued them from pursuit.  But the Romans pillaged their\ncamp, seized upon their money and slaves, and, becoming absolute\nmasters of the pass, traversed all Epirus; but with such order and\ndiscipline, with such temperance and moderation, that, though they\nwere far from the sea, at a great distance from their vessels, and\nstinted of their monthly allowance of corn, and though they had much\ndifficulty in buying, they nevertheless abstained altogether from\nplundering the country, which had provisions enough of all sorts in\nit.  For intelligence being received that Philip making a flight,\nrather than a march, through Thessaly, forced the inhabitants from\nthe towns to take shelter in the mountains, burnt down the towns\nthemselves, and gave up as spoil to his soldiers all the property\nwhich it had been found impossible to remove, abandoning, as it would\nseem, the whole country to the Romans.  Titus was, therefore, very\ndesirous, and entreated his soldiers that they would pass through it\nas if it were their own, or as if a place trusted into their hands;\nand, indeed, they quickly perceived, by the event, what benefit they\nderived from this moderate and orderly conduct.  For they no sooner\nset foot in Thessaly, but the cities opened their gates, and the\nGreeks, within Thermopylae, were all eagerness and excitement to ally\nthemselves with them.  The Achaeans abandoned their alliance with\nPhilip, and voted to join with the Romans in actual arms against him;\nand the Opuntians, though the Aetolians, who were zealous allies of\nthe Romans, were willing and desirous to undertake the protection of\nthe city, would not listen to proposals from them; but, sending for\nTitus, entrusted and committed themselves to his charge.\n\nIt is told of Pyrrhus, that when first, from an adjacent hill or\nwatchtower which gave him a prospect of the Roman army, he descried\nthem drawn up in order, he observed, that he saw nothing\nbarbarian-like in this barbarian line of battle.  And all who came\nnear Titus, could not choose but say as much of him, at their first\nview.  For they who had been told by the Macedonians of an invader,\nat the head of a barbarian army, carrying everywhere slavery and\ndestruction on his sword's point; when in lieu of such an one, they\nmet a man, in the flower of his age, of a gentle and humane aspect, a\nGreek in his voice and language, and a lover of honor, were\nwonderfully pleased and attracted; and when they left him, they\nfilled the cities, wherever they went, with favorable feelings for\nhim, and with the belief that in him they might find the protector\nand asserter of their liberties.  And when afterwards, on Philip's\nprofessing a desire for peace, Titus made a tender to him of peace\nand friendship, upon the condition that the Greeks be left to their\nown laws, and that he should withdraw his garrisons, which he refused\nto comply with, now after these proposals, the universal belief even\nof the favorers and partisans of Philip, was, that the Romans came\nnot to fight against the Greeks, but for the Greeks, against the\nMacedonians.\n\nAccordingly, all the rest of Greece came to peaceable terms with him.\nBut as he marched into Boeotia, without committing the least act of\nhostility, the nobility and chief men of Thebes came out of their\ncity to meet him, devoted under the influence of Brachylles to the\nMacedonian alliance, but desirous at the same time to show honor and\ndeference to Titus; as they were, they conceived, in amity with both\nparties.  Titus received them in the most obliging and courteous\nmanner, but kept going gently on, questioning and inquiring of them,\nand sometimes entertaining them with narratives of his own, till his\nsoldiers might a little recover from the weariness of their journey.\nThus passing on, he and the Thebans came together into their city not\nmuch to their satisfaction; but yet they could not well deny him\nentrance, as a good number of his men attended him in.  Titus,\nhowever, now he was within, as if he had not had the city at his\nmercy, came forward and addressed them, urging them to join the Roman\ninterest.  King Attalus followed to the same effect.  And he, indeed,\ntrying to play the advocate, beyond what it seems his age could bear,\nwas seized, in the midst of his speech, with a sudden flux or\ndizziness, and swooned away; and, not long after, was conveyed by\nship into Asia, and died there.  The Boeotians joined the Roman\nalliance.\n\nBut now, when Philip sent an embassy to Rome, Titus dispatched away\nagents on his part, too, to solicit the senate, if they should\ncontinue the war, to continue him in his command, or if they\ndetermined an end to that, that he might have the honor of concluding\nthe peace.  Having a great passion for distinction, his fear was,\nthat if another general were commissioned to carry on the war, the\nhonor even of what was passed, would be lost to him; and his friends\ntransacted matters so well on his behalf, that Philip was\nunsuccessful in his proposals, and the management of the war was\nconfirmed in his hands.  He no sooner received the senate's\ndetermination, but, big with hopes, he marches directly into\nThessaly, to engage Philip; his army consisting of twenty-six\nthousand men, out of which the Aetolians furnished six thousand foot\nand four hundred horse.  The forces of Philip were much about the\nsame number.  In this eagerness to encounter, they advanced against\neach other, till both were near Scotussa, where they resolved to\nhazard a battle.  Nor had the approach of these two formidable armies\nthe effect that might have been supposed, to strike into the generals\na mutual terror of each other; it rather inspired them with ardor and\nambition; on the Romans' part, to be the conquerors of Macedon, a\nname which Alexander had made famous amongst them for strength and\nvalor; whilst the Macedonians, on the other hand, esteeming of the\nRomans as an enemy very different from the Persians, hoped, if\nvictory stood on their side, to make the name of Philip more glorious\nthan that of Alexander.  Titus, therefore, called upon his soldiers\nto play the part of valiant men, because they were now to act their\nparts upon the most illustrious theater of the world, Greece, and to\ncontend with the bravest antagonists.  And Philip, on the other side,\ncommenced an harangue to his men, as usual before an engagement, and\nto be the better heard, (whether it were merely a mischance, or the\nresult of unseasonable haste, not observing what he did,) mounted an\neminence outside their camp, which proved to be a burying-place; and\nmuch disturbed by the despondency that seized his army at the\nunluckiness of the omen, all that day kept in his camp, and declined\nfighting.\n\nBut on the morrow, as day came on, after a soft and rainy night, the\nclouds changing into a mist filled all the plain with thick darkness;\nand a dense foggy air descending, by the time it was full day, from\nthe adjacent mountains into the ground betwixt the two camps,\nconcealed them from each other's view.  The parties sent out on\neither side, some for ambuscade, some for discovery, falling in upon\none another quickly after they were thus detached, began the fight at\nwhat are called the Cynos Cephalae, a number of sharp tops of hills\nthat stand close to one another, and have the name from some\nresemblance in their shape.  Now many vicissitudes and changes\nhappening, as may well be expected, in such an uneven field of\nbattle, sometimes hot pursuit, and sometimes as rapid a flight, the\ngenerals on both sides kept sending in succors from the main bodies,\nas they saw their men pressed or giving ground, till at length the\nheavens clearing up, let them see what was going on, upon which the\nwhole armies engaged.  Philip, who was in the right wing, from the\nadvantage of the higher ground which he had, threw on the Romans the\nwhole weight of his phalanx, with a force which they were unable to\nsustain; the dense array of spears, and the pressure of the compact\nmass overpowering them.  But the king's left wing being broken up by\nthe hilliness of the place, Titus observing it, and cherishing little\nor no hopes on that side where his own gave ground, makes in all\nhaste to the other, and there charges in upon the Macedonians; who,\nin consequence of the inequality and roughness of the ground, could\nnot keep their phalanx entire, nor line their ranks to any great\ndepth, (which is the great point of their strength,) but were forced\nto fight man for man under heavy and unwieldy armor.  For the\nMacedonian phalanx is like some single powerful animal, irresistible\nso long as it is embodied into one, and keeps its order, shield\ntouching shield, all as in a piece; but if it be once broken, not\nonly is the joint-force lost, but the individual soldiers also who\ncomposed it; lose each one his own single strength, because of the\nnature of their armor; and because each of them is strong, rather, as\nhe makes a part of the whole, than in himself.  When these were\nrouted, some gave chase to the flyers, others charged the flanks of\nthose Macedonians who were still fighting, so that the conquering\nwing, also, was quickly disordered, took to flight, and threw down\nits arms.  There were then slain no less than eight thousand, and\nabout five thousand were taken prisoners; and the Aetolians were\nblamed as having been the main occasion that Philip himself got safe\noff.  For whilst the Romans were in pursuit, they fell to ravaging\nand plundering the camp, and did it so completely, that when the\nothers returned, they found no booty in it.\n\nThis bred at first hard words, quarrels, and misunderstandings\nbetwixt them.  But, afterwards, they galled Titus more, by ascribing\nthe victory to themselves, and prepossessing the Greeks with reports\nto that effect; insomuch that poets, and people in general in the\nsongs that were sung or written in honor of the action, still ranked\nthe Aetolians foremost.  One of the pieces most current was the\nfollowing epigram: --\n\nNaked and tombless see, O passer-by,\nThe thirty thousand men of Thessaly,\nSlain by the Aetolians and the Latin band,\nThat came with Titus from Italia's land:\nAlas for mighty Macedon! that day,\nSwift as a roe, king Philip fled away.\n\nThis was composed by Alcaeus in mockery of Philip, exaggerating the\nnumber of the slain.  However, being everywhere repeated, and by\nalmost everybody, Titus was more nettled at it than Philip.  The\nlatter merely retorted upon Alcaeus with some elegiac verses of his\nown: --\n\nNaked and leafless see, O passer-by,\nThe cross that shall Alcaeus crucify.\n\nBut such little matters extremely fretted Titus, who was ambitious of\na reputation among the Greeks; and he, therefore, acted in all\nafter-occurrences by himself, paying but very slight regard to the\nAetolians.  This offended them in their turn; and when Titus listened\nto terms of accommodation, and admitted an embassy upon the proffers\nof the Macedonian king, the Aetolians made it their business to\npublish through all the cities of Greece, that this was the\nconclusion of all; that he was selling Philip a peace, at a time when\nit was in his hand to destroy the very roots of the war, and to\noverthrow the power which had first inflicted servitude upon Greece.\nBut whilst with these and the like rumors, the Aetolians labored to\nshake the Roman confederates, Philip, making overtures of submission\nof himself and his kingdom to the discretion of Titus and the Romans,\nputs an end to those jealousies, as Titus by accepting them, did to\nthe war.  For he reinstated Philip in his kingdom of Macedon, but\nmade it a condition that he should quit Greece, and that he should\npay one thousand talents; he took from him also, all his shipping,\nsave ten vessels; and sent away Demetrius, one of his sons, hostage\nto Rome; improving his opportunity to the best advantage, and taking\nwise precautions for the future.  For Hannibal the African, a\nprofessed enemy to the Roman name, an exile from his own country, and\nnot long since arrived at king Antiochus's court, was already\nstimulating that prince, not to be wanting to the good fortune that\nhad been hitherto so propitious to his affairs; the magnitude of his\nsuccesses having gained him the surname of the Great.  He had begun\nto level his aim at universal monarchy, but above all he was eager to\nmeasure himself with the Romans.  Had not, therefore, Titus upon a\nprinciple of prudence and foresight, lent all ear to peace, and had\nAntiochus found the Romans still at war in Greece with Philip, and\nhad these two, the most powerful and warlike princes of that age,\nconfederated for their common interests against the Roman state, Rome\nmight once more have run no less a risk, and been reduced to no less\nextremities than she had experienced under Hannibal.  But now, Titus\nopportunely introducing this peace between the wars, dispatching the\npresent danger before the new one had arrived, at once disappointed\nAntiochus of his first hopes, and Philip of his last.\n\nWhen the ten commissioners, delegated to Titus from the senate;\nadvised him to restore the rest of Greece to their liberty, but that\nCorinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias should be kept garrisoned for\nsecurity against Antiochus; the Aetolians, on this, breaking out into\nloud accusations, agitated all the cities, calling upon Titus to\nstrike off the shackles of Greece, (so Philip used to term those\nthree cities,) and asking the Greeks, whether it were not matter of\nmuch consolation to them, that, though their chains weighed heavier,\nyet they were now smoother and better polished than formerly, and\nwhether Titus were not deservedly admired by them as their\nbenefactor, who had unshackled the feet of Greece, and tied her up by\nthe neck?  Titus, vexed and angry at this, made it his request to the\nsenate, and at last prevailed in it, that the garrisons in these\ncities should be dismissed, that so the Greeks might be no longer\ndebtors to him for a partial, but for an entire, favor.  It was now\nthe time of the celebration of the Isthmian games; and the seats\naround the racecourse were crowded with an unusual multitude of\nspectators; Greece, after long wars, having regained not only peace,\nbut hopes of liberty, and being able once more to keep holiday in\nsafety.  A trumpet sounded to command silence; and the crier,\nstepping forth amidst the spectators, made proclamation, that the\nRoman senate, and Titus Quintius, the proconsular general, having\nvanquished king Philip and the Macedonians, restored the Corinthians,\nLocrians, Phocians, Euboeans, Achaeans of Phthiotis, Magnetians,\nThessalians, and Perrhaebians to their own lands, laws, and\nliberties; remitting all impositions upon them, and withdrawing all\ngarrisons from their cities.  At first, many heard not at all, and\nothers not distinctly, what was said; but there was a confused and\nuncertain stir among the assembled people, some wondering, some\nasking, some calling out to have it proclaimed again.  When,\ntherefore, fresh silence was made, the crier raising his voice,\nsucceeded in making himself generally heard; and recited the decree\nagain.  A shout of joy followed it, so loud that it was heard as far\nas the sea.  The whole assembly rose and stood up; there was no\nfurther thought of the entertainment; all were only eager to leap up\nand salute and address their thanks to the deliverer and champion of\nGreece.  What we often hear alleged, in proof of the force of human\nvoices, was actually verified upon this occasion.  Crows that were\naccidentally flying over the course, fell down dead into it.  The\ndisruption of the air must be the cause of it; for the voices being\nnumerous, and the acclamation violent, the air breaks with it, and\ncan no longer give support to the birds; but lets them tumble, like\none that should attempt to walk upon a vacuum; unless we should\nrather imagine them to fall and die, shot with the noise as with a\ndart.  It is possible, too, that there may be a circular agitation of\nthe air, which, like marine whirlpools, may have a violent direction\nof this sort given to it from the excess of its fluctuation.\n\nBut for Titus, the sports being now quite at an end, so beset was he\non every side, and by such multitudes, that had he not, foreseeing\nthe probable throng and concourse of the people, timely withdrawn, he\nwould scarce, it is thought, have ever got clear of them.  When they\nhad tired themselves with acclamations all about his pavilion, and\nnight was now come, wherever friends or fellow-citizens met, they\njoyfully saluted and embraced each other, and went home to feast and\ncarouse together.  And there, no doubt, redoubling their joy, they\nbegan to recollect and talk of the state of Greece, what wars she had\nincurred in defense of her liberty, and yet was never perhaps\nmistress of a more settled or grateful one that this which other\nmen's labors had won for her:  almost without one drop of blood, or\none citizen's loss to be mourned for, she had this day had put into\nher hands the most glorious of rewards, and best worth the contending\nfor.  Courage and wisdom are, indeed, rarities amongst men, but of\nall that is good, a just man it would seem is the most scarce.  Such\nas Agesilaus, Lysander, Nicias, and Alcibiades, knew how to play the\ngeneral's part, how to manage a war, how to bring off their men\nvictorious by land and sea; but how to employ that success to\ngenerous and honest purposes, they had not known.  For should a man\nexcept the achievement at Marathon, the sea-fight at Salamis, the\nengagements at Plataea and Thermopylae, Cimon's exploits at\nEurymedon, and on the coasts of Cyprus, Greece fought all her battles\nagainst, and to enslave, herself; she erected all her trophies to her\nown shame and misery, and was brought to ruin and desolation almost\nwholly by the guilt and ambition of her great men.  A foreign people,\nappearing just to retain some embers, as it were, some faint\nremainders of a common character derived to them from their ancient\nsires, a nation from whom it was a mere wonder that Greece should\nreap any benefit by word or thought, these are they who have\nretrieved Greece from her severest dangers and distresses, have\nrescued her out of the hands of insulting lords and tyrants, and\nreinstated her in her former liberties.\n\nThus they entertained their tongues and thoughts; whilst Titus by his\nactions made good what had been proclaimed.  For he immediately\ndispatched away Lentulus to Asia, to set the Bargylians free,\nTitillius to Thrace, to see the garrisons of Philip removed out of\nthe towns and islands there, while Publius Villius set sail, in order\nto treat with Antiochus about the freedom of the Greeks under him.\nTitus himself passed on to Chalcis, and sailing thence to Magnesia,\ndismantled the garrisons there, and surrendered the government into\nthe people's hands.  Shortly after, he was appointed at Argos to\npreside in the Nemean games, and did his part in the management of\nthat solemnity singularly well; and made a second publication there\nby the crier, of liberty to the Greeks; and, visiting all the cities,\nhe exhorted them to the practice of obedience to law, of constant\njustice, and unity, and friendship one towards another.  He\nsuppressed their factions, brought home their political exiles; and,\nin short, his conquest over the Macedonians did not seem to give him\na more lively pleasure, than to find himself prevalent in reconciling\nGreeks with Greeks; so that their liberty seemed now the least part\nof the kindness he conferred upon them.\n\nThe story goes, that when Lycurgus the orator had rescued Xenocrates\nthe philosopher from the collectors who were hurrying him away to\nprison for non-payment of the alien tax, and had them punished for\nthe license they had been guilty of, Xenocrates afterwards meeting\nthe children of Lycurgus, \"My sons,\" said he, \"I am nobly repaying\nyour father for his kindness; he has the praises of the whole people\nin return for it.\"  But the returns which attended Titus Quintius and\nthe Romans, for their beneficence to the Greeks, terminated not in\nempty praises only; for these proceedings gained them, deservedly,\ncredit and confidence, and thereby power, among all nations, for many\nnot only admitted the Roman commanders, but even sent and entreated\nto be under their protection; neither was this done by popular\ngovernments alone, or by single cities; but kings oppressed by kings,\ncast themselves into these protecting hands.  Insomuch that in a very\nshort time (though perchance not without divine influence in it) all\nthe world did homage to them.  Titus himself thought more highly of\nhis liberation of Greece than of any other of his actions, as appears\nby the inscription with which he dedicated some silver targets,\ntogether with his own shield, to Apollo at Delphi: --\n\nYe Spartan Tyndarids, twin sons of Jove,\nWho in swift horsemanship have placed your love,\nTitus, of great Aeneas' race, leaves this\nIn honor of the liberty of Greece.\n\nHe offered also to Apollo a golden crown, with this inscription: --\n\nThis golden crown upon thy locks divine,\nO blest Latona's son, was set to shine\nBy the great captain of the Aenean name.\nO Phoebus, grant the noble Titus fame!\n\n\nThe same event has twice occurred to the Greeks in the city of\nCorinth.  Titus, then, and Nero again in our days, both at Corinth,\nand both alike at the celebration of the Isthmian games, permitted\nthe Greeks to enjoy their own laws and liberty.  The former (as has\nbeen said) proclaimed it by the crier; but Nero did it in the public\nmeeting place from the tribunal, in a speech which he himself made to\nthe people.  This, however, was long after.\n\nTitus now engaged in a most gallant and just war upon Nabis, that\nmost profligate and lawless tyrant of the Lacedaemonians, but in the\nend disappointed the expectations of the Greeks.  For when he had an\nopportunity of taking him, he purposely let it slip, and struck up a\npeace with him, leaving Sparta to bewail an unworthy slavery; whether\nit were that he feared, if the war should be protracted, Rome would\nsend a new general who might rob him of the glory of it; or that\nemulation and envy of Philopoemen (who had signalized himself among\nthe Greeks upon all other occasions, but in that war especially had\ndone wonders both for matter of courage and counsel, and whom the\nAchaeans magnified in their theaters, and put into the same balance\nof glory with Titus,) touched him to the quick; and that he scorned\nthat an ordinary Arcadian, who had but commanded in a few re-\nencounters upon the confines of his native district, should be spoken\nof in terms of equality with a Roman consul, waging war as the\nprotector of Greece in general.  But, besides, Titus was not without\nan apology too for what he did, namely, that he put an end to the war\nonly when he foresaw that the tyrant's destruction must have been\nattended with the ruin of the other Spartans.\n\nThe Achaeans, by various decrees, did much to show Titus honor:  none\nof these returns, however, seemed to come up to the height of the\nactions that merited them, unless it were one present they made him,\nwhich affected and pleased him beyond all the rest; which was this.\nThe Romans, who in the war with Hannibal had the misfortune to be\ntaken captives, were sold about here and there, and dispersed into\nslavery; twelve hundred in number were at that time in Greece.  The\nreverse of their fortune always rendered them objects of\ncompassion; but more particularly, as well might be, when they now\nmet, some with their sons, some with their brothers, others with\ntheir acquaintance; slaves with their free, and captives with their\nvictorious countrymen.  Titus, though deeply concerned on their\nbehalf, yet took none of them from their masters by constraint.  But\nthe Achaeans, redeeming them at five pounds a man, brought them\naltogether into one place, and made a present of them to him, as he\nwas just going on shipboard, so that he now sailed away with the\nfullest satisfaction; his generous actions having procured him as\ngenerous returns, worthy a brave man and a lover of his country.\nThis seemed the most glorious part of all his succeeding triumph; for\nthese redeemed Romans (as it is the custom for slaves, upon their\nmanumission, to shave their heads and wear felt-hats) followed in\nthat habit in the procession.  To add to the glory of this show,\nthere were the Grecian helmets, the Macedonian targets and long\nspears, borne with the rest of the spoils in public view, besides\nvast sums of money; Tuditanus says, 3,713 pounds weight of massy\ngold, 43,270 of silver, 14,514 pieces of coined gold, called\nPhilippics, which was all over and above the thousand talents which\nPhilip owed, and which the Romans were afterwards prevailed upon,\nchiefly by the mediation of Titus, to remit to Philip, declaring him\ntheir ally and confederate, and sending him home his hostage son.\n\nShortly after, Antiochus entered Greece with a numerous fleet, and a\npowerful army, soliciting the cities there to sedition and revolt;\nabetted in all and seconded by the Aetolians, who for this long time\nhad borne a grudge and secret enmity to the Romans, and now suggested\nto him, by way of a cause and pretext of war, that he came to bring\nthe Greeks liberty.  When, indeed, they never wanted it less, as they\nwere free already, but, in lack of really honorable grounds, he was\ninstructed to employ these lofty professions.  The Romans, in the\ninterim, in great apprehension of revolutions and revolt in Greece,\nand of his great reputation for military strength, dispatched the\nconsul Manius Acilius to take the charge of the war, and Titus, as\nhis lieutenant, out of regard to the Greeks; some of whom he no\nsooner saw, but he confirmed them in the Roman interests; others, who\nbegan to falter, like a timely physician, by the use of the strong\nremedy of their own affection for himself, he was able to arrest in\nthe first stage of the disease, before they had committed themselves\nto any great error.  Some few there were whom the Aetolians were\nbeforehand with, and had so wholly perverted that he could do no good\nwith them; yet these, however angry and exasperated before, he saved\nand protected when the engagement was over.  For Antiochus, receiving\na defeat at Thermopylae, not only fled the field, but hoisted sail\ninstantly for Asia.  Manius, the consul, himself invaded and besieged\na part of the Aetolians, while king Philip had permission to reduce\nthe rest.  Thus while, for instance, the Dolopes and Magnetians on\nthe one hand, the Athamanes and Aperantians on the other, were\nransacked by the Macedonians, and while Manius laid Heraclea waste,\nand besieged Naupactus, then in the Aetolians' hands, Titus, still\nwith a compassionate care for Greece, sailed across from Peloponnesus\nto the consul; and began first of all to chide him, that the victory\nshould be owing alone to his arms, and yet he should suffer Philip to\nbear away the prize and profit of the war, and sit wreaking his anger\nupon a single town, whilst the Macedonians overran several nations\nand kingdoms.  But as he happened to stand then in view of the\nbesieged, they no sooner spied him out, but they call to him from\ntheir wall, they stretch forth their hands, they supplicate and\nentreat him.  At the time, he said not a word more, but turning about\nwith tears in his eyes, went his way.  Some little while after, he\ndiscussed the matter so effectually with Manius, that he won him over\nfrom his passion, and prevailed with him to give a truce and time to\nthe Aetolians, to send deputies to Rome to petition the senate for\nterms of moderation.\n\nBut the hardest task, and that which put Titus to the greatest\ndifficulty was, to entreat with Manius for the Chalcidians, who had\nincensed him on account of a marriage which Antiochus had made in\ntheir city, even whilst the war was on foot; a match noways suitable\nin point of age, he an elderly man being enamored with a mere girl;\nand as little proper for the time, in the midst of a war.  She was\nthe daughter of one Cleoptolemus, and is said to have been\nwonderfully beautiful.  The Chalcidians, in consequence, embraced the\nking's interests with zeal and alacrity, and let him make their city\nthe basis of his operations during the war.  Thither, therefore, he\nmade with all speed, when he was routed, and fled; and reaching\nChalcis, without making any stay, taking this young lady, and his\nmoney and friends with him, away he sails to Asia.  And now Manius's\nindignation carrying him in all haste against the Chalcidians, Titus\nhurried after him, endeavoring to pacify and to entreat him; and, at\nlength, succeeded both with him and the chief men among the Romans.\n\nThe Chalcidians, thus owing their lives to Titus, dedicated to him\nall the best and most magnificent of their sacred buildings,\ninscriptions upon which may be seen to run thus to this day:  THE\nPEOPLE DEDICATE THIS GYMNASIUM TO TITUS AND TO HERCULES; so again:\nTHE PEOPLE CONSECRATE THE DELPHINIUM TO TITUS AND TO HERCULES; and\nwhat is yet more, even in our time, a priest of Titus was formally\nelected and declared; and after sacrifice and libation, they sing a\nset song, much of which for the length of it we omit, but shall\ntranscribe the closing verses: --\n\nThe Roman Faith, whose aid of yore,\nOur vows were offered to implore,\nWe worship now and evermore.\nTo Rome, to Titus, and to Jove,\nO maidens, in the dances move.\nDances and Io-Paeans too\nUnto the Roman Faith are due,\nO Savior Titus, and to you.\n\nOther parts of Greece also heaped honors upon him suitable to his\nmerits, and what made all those honors true and real, was the\nsurprising good-will and affection which his moderation and equity of\ncharacter had won for him.  For if he were at any time at variance\nwith anybody in matters of business, or out of emulation and rivalry,\n(as with Philopoemen, and again with Diophanes, when in office as\nGeneral of the Achaeans,) his resentment never went far, nor did it\never break out into acts; but when it had vented itself in some\ncitizen-like freedom of speech, there was an end of it.  In fine,\nnobody charged malice or bitterness upon his nature, though many\nimputed hastiness and levity to it; in general, he was the most\nattractive and agreeable of companions, and could speak too, both\nwith grace, and forcibly.  For instance, to divert the Achaeans from\nthe conquest of the isle of Zacynthus, \"If,\" said he, \"they put their\nhead too far out of Peloponnesus, they may hazard themselves as much\nas a tortoise out of its shell.\"  Again, when he and Philip first met\nto treat of a cessation and peace, the latter complaining that Titus\ncame with a mighty train, while he himself came alone and unattended,\n\"Yes,\" replied Titus, \"you have left yourself alone by killing your\nfriends.\"  At another time, Dinocrates the Messenian, having drunk\ntoo much at a merry-meeting in Rome, danced there in woman's clothes,\nand the next day addressed himself to Titus for assistance in his\ndesign to get Messene out of the hands of the Achaeans.  \"This,\"\nreplied Titus, \"will be matter for consideration; my only surprise is\nthat a man with such purposes on his hands should be able to dance\nand sing at drinking parties.\"  When, again, the ambassadors of\nAntiochus were recounting to those of Achaea, the various multitudes\ncomposing their royal master's forces, and ran over a long catalog of\nhard names, \"I supped once,\" said Titus, \"with a friend, and could\nnot forbear expostulating with him at the number of dishes he had\nprovided, and said I wondered where he had furnished himself with\nsuch a variety; 'Sir,' replied he, 'to confess the truth, it is all\nhog's flesh differently cooked.'  And so, men of Achaea, when you are\ntold of Antiochus's lancers, and pikemen, and foot guards, I advise\nyou not to be surprised; since in fact they are all Syrians\ndifferently armed.\"\n\nAfter his achievements in Greece, and when the war with Antiochus was\nat an end, Titus was created censor; the most eminent office, and, in\na manner, the highest preferment in the commonwealth.  The son of\nMarcellus, who had been five times consul, was his colleague.  These,\nby virtue of their office, cashiered four senators of no great\ndistinction, and admitted to the roll of citizens all freeborn\nresidents.  But this was more by constraint than their own choice;\nfor Terentius Culeo, then tribune of the people, to spite the\nnobility, spurred on the populace to order it to be done.  At this\ntime, the two greatest and most eminent persons in the city,\nAfricanus Scipio and Marcus Cato, were at variance.  Titus named\nScipio first member of the senate;  and involved himself in a\nquarrel with Cato, on the following unhappy occasion.  Titus had a\nbrother, Lucius Flamininus, very unlike him in all points of\ncharacter, and, in particular, low and dissolute in his pleasures,\nand flagrantly regardless of all decency.  He kept as a companion a\nboy whom he used to carry about with him, not only when he had troops\nunder his charge, but even when the care of a province was committed\nto him.  One day at a drinking-bout, when the youngster was wantoning\nwith Lucius, \"I love you, Sir, so dearly,\" said he, \"that, preferring\nyour satisfaction to my own, I came away without seeing the\ngladiators, though I have never seen a man killed in my life.\"\nLucius, delighted with what the boy said, answered, \"Let not that\ntrouble you; I can satisfy that longing,\" and with that, orders a\ncondemned man to be fetched out of the prison, and the executioner to\nbe sent for, and commands him to strike off the man's head, before\nthey rose from table.  Valerius Antias only so far varies the story\nas to make it woman for whom he did it.  But Livy says that in Cato's\nown speech the statement is, that a Gaulish deserter coming with his\nwife and children to the door, Lucius took him into the\nbanqueting-room, and killed him with his own hand, to gratify his\nparamour.  Cato, it is probable, might say this by way of aggravation\nof the crime; but that the slain was no such fugitive, but a\nprisoner, and one condemned to die, not to mention other authorities,\nCicero tells us in his treatise On Old Age, where he brings in Cato,\nhimself, giving that account of the matter.\n\nHowever, this is certain; Cato during his censorship, made a severe\nscrutiny into the senators' lives in order to the purging and\nreforming the house, and expelled Lucius, though he had been once\nconsul before, and though the punishment seemed to reflect dishonor\non his brother also.  Both of them presented themselves to the\nassembly of the people in a suppliant manner, not without tears in\ntheir eyes, requesting that Cato might show the reason and cause of\nhis fixing such a stain upon so honorable a family.  The citizens\nthought it a modest and moderate request.  Cato, however, without any\nretraction or reserve, at once came forward, and standing up with his\ncolleague interrogated Titus, as to whether he knew the story of the\nsupper.  Titus answering in the negative, Cato related it, and\nchallenged Lucius to a formal denial of it.  Lucius made no reply,\nwhereupon the people adjudged the disgrace just and suitable, and\nwaited upon Cato home from the tribunal in great state.  But Titus\nstill so deeply resented his brother's degradation, that he allied\nhimself with those who had long borne a grudge against Cato; and\nwinning over a major part of the senate, he revoked and made void all\nthe contracts, leases, and bargains made by Cato, relating to the\npublic revenues, and also got numerous actions and accusations\nbrought against him; carrying on against a lawful magistrate and\nexcellent citizen, for the sake of one who was indeed his relation,\nbut was unworthy to be so, and had but gotten his deserts, a course\nof bitter and violent attacks, which it would be hard to say were\neither right or patriotic.  Afterwards, however, at a public\nspectacle in the theater, at which the senators appeared as usual,\nsitting, as became their rank, in the first seats, when Lucius was\nspied at the lower end, seated in a mean, dishonorable place, it made\na great impression upon the people, nor could they endure the sight,\nbut kept calling out to him to move, until he did move, and went in\namong those of consular dignity, who received him into their seats.\n\nThis natural ambition of Titus was well enough looked upon by the\nworld, whilst the wars we have given a relation of afforded competent\nfuel to feed it; as, for instance, when after the expiration of his\nconsulship, he had a command as military tribune, which nobody\npressed upon him.  But being now out of all employ in the government,\nand advanced in years, he showed his defects more plainly; allowing\nhimself, in this inactive remainder of life, to be carried away with\nthe passion for reputation, as uncontrollably as any youth.  Some\nsuch transport, it is thought, betrayed him into a proceeding against\nHannibal, which lost him the regard of many.  For Hannibal, having\nfled his country, first took sanctuary with Antiochus; but he having\nbeen glad to obtain a peace, after the battle in Phrygia, Hannibal\nwas put to shift for himself, by a second flight, and, after\nwandering through many countries, fixed at length in Bithynia,\nproffering his service to king Prusias.  Every one at Rome knew where\nhe was, but looked upon him, now in his weakness and old age, with no\nsort of apprehension, as one whom fortune had quite cast off.  Titus,\nhowever, coming thither as ambassador, though he was sent from the\nsenate to Prusias upon another errand, yet, seeing Hannibal resident\nthere, it stirred up resentment in him to find that he was yet alive.\nAnd though Prusias used much intercession and entreaties in favor of\nhim, as his suppliant and familiar friend, Titus was not to be\nentreated.  There was an ancient oracle, it seems, which prophesied\nthus of Hannibal's end: --\n\nLibyssan shall Hannibal enclose.\n\nHe interpreted this to be meant of the African Libya, and that he\nshould be buried in Carthage; as if he might yet expect to return and\nend his life there.  But there is a sandy place in Bithynia,\nbordering on the sea, and near it a little village called Libyssa.\nIt was Hannibal's chance to be staying here, and having ever from the\nbeginning had a distrust of the easiness and cowardice of Prusias,\nand a fear of the Romans, he had, long before, ordered seven\nunderground passages to be dug from his house, leading from his\nlodging, and running a considerable distance in various opposite\ndirections, all undiscernible from without.  As soon, therefore, as\nhe heard what Titus had ordered, he attempted to make his escape\nthrough these mines; but finding them beset with the king's guards,\nhe resolved upon making away with himself.  Some say that wrapping\nhis upper garment about his neck, he commanded his servant to set his\nknee against his back, and not to cease twisting and pulling it, till\nhe had completely strangled him.  Others say, he drank bull's blood,\nafter the example of Themistocles and Midas.  Livy writes that he had\npoison in readiness, which he mixed for the purpose, and that taking\nthe cup into his hand, \"Let us ease,\" said he, \"the Romans of their\ncontinual dread and care, who think it long and tedious to await the\ndeath of a hated old man.  Yet Titus will not bear away a glorious\nvictory, nor one worthy of those ancestors who sent to caution\nPyrrhus, an enemy, and a conqueror too, against the poison prepared\nfor him by traitors.\"\n\nThus venous are the reports of Hannibal's death; but when the news of\nit came to the senators' ears, some felt indignation against Titus\nfor it, blaming as well his officiousness as his cruelty; who, when\nthere was nothing to urge it, out of mere appetite for distinction,\nto have it said that he had caused Hannibal's death, sent him to his\ngrave when he was now like a bird that in its old age has lost its\nfeathers, and incapable of flying is let alone to live tamely without\nmolestation.\n\nThey began also now to regard with increased admiration the clemency\nand magnanimity of Scipio Africanus, and called to mind how he, when\nhe had vanquished in Africa the till then invincible and terrible\nHannibal, neither banished him his country, nor exacted of his\ncountrymen that they should give him up.  At a parley just before\nthey joined battle, Scipio gave him his hand, and in the peace made\nafter it, he put no hard article upon him, nor insulted over his\nfallen fortune.  It is told, too, that they had another meeting\nafterwards, at Ephesus, and that when Hannibal, as they were walking\ntogether, took the upper hand, Africanus let it pass, and walked on\nwithout the least notice of it; and that then they began to talk of\ngenerals, and Hannibal affirmed that Alexander was the greatest\ncommander the world had seen, next to him Pyrrhus, and the third was\nhimself; Africanus, with a smile, asked, \"What would you have said,\nif I had not defeated you?\"  \"I would not then, Scipio,\" he replied,\n\"have made myself the third, but the first commander.\"  Such conduct\nwas much admired in Scipio, and that of Titus, who had as it were\ninsulted the dead whom another had slain, was no less generally found\nfault with.  Not but that there were some who applauded the action,\nlooking upon a living Hannibal as a fire, which only wanted blowing\nto become a flame.  For when he was in the prime and flower of his\nage, it was not his body, nor his hand, that had been so formidable,\nbut his consummate skill and experience, together with his innate\nmalice and rancor against the Roman name, things which do not impair\nwith age.  For the temper and bent of the soul remains constant,\nwhile fortune continually varies; and some new hope might easily\nrouse to a fresh attempt those whose hatred made them enemies to the\nlast.  And what really happened afterwards does to a certain extent\ntend yet further to the exculpation of Titus.  Aristonicus, of the\nfamily of a common musician, upon the reputation of being the son of\nEumenes, filled all Asia with tumults and rebellion.  Then again,\nMithridates, after his defeats by Sylla and Fimbria, and vast\nslaughter, as well among his prime officers as common soldiers, made\nhead again, and proved a most dangerous enemy, against Lucullus, both\nby sea and land.  Hannibal was never reduced to so contemptible a\nstate as Caius Marius; he had the friendship of a king, and the free\nexercise of his faculties, employment and charge in the navy, and\nover the horse and foot, of Prusias; whereas those who but now were\nlaughing to hear of Marius wandering about Africa, destitute and\nbegging, in no long time after were seen entreating his mercy in\nRome, with his rods at their backs, and his axes at their necks.  So\ntrue it is, that looking to the possible future, we can call nothing\nthat we see either great or small; as nothing puts an end to the\nmutability and vicissitude of things, but what puts an end to their\nvery being.  Some authors accordingly tell us, that Titus did not do\nthis of his own head, but that he was joined in commission with\nLucius Scipio, and that the whole object of the embassy was, to\neffect Hannibal's death.  And now, as we find no further mention in\nhistory of anything done by Titus, either in war or in the\nadministration of the government, but simply that he died in peace;\nit is time to look upon him as he stands in comparison with\nPhilopoemen.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF PHILOPOEMEN WITH FLAMININUS\n\nFirst, then, as for the greatness of the benefits which Titus\nconferred on Greece, neither Philopoemen, nor many braver men than\nhe, can make good the parallel.  They were Greeks fighting against\nGreeks, but Titus, a stranger to Greece, fought for her.  And at the\nvery time when Philopoemen went over into Crete, destitute of means\nto succor his besieged countrymen, Titus, by a defeat given to Philip\nin the heart of Greece, set them and their cities free.  Again, if we\nexamine the battles they fought, Philopoemen, whilst he was the\nAchaeans' general, slew more Greeks than Titus, in aiding the Greeks,\nslew Macedonians.  As to their failings, ambition was Titus's weak\nside, and obstinacy Philopoemen's; in the former, anger was easily\nkindled, in the latter, it was as hardly quenched.  Titus reserved to\nPhilip the royal dignity; he pardoned the Aetolians, and stood their\nfriend; but Philopoemen, exasperated against his country, deprived it\nof its supremacy over the adjacent villages.  Titus was ever constant\nto those he had once befriended, the other, upon any offense, as\nprone to cancel kindnesses.  He who had once been a benefactor to the\nLacedaemonians, afterwards laid their walls level with the ground,\nwasted their country, and in the end changed and destroyed the whole\nframe of their government.  He seems, in truth, to have prodigalled\naway his own life, through passion and perverseness; for he fell upon\nthe Messenians, not with that conduct and caution that characterized\nthe movements of Titus, but with unnecessary and unreasonable haste.\n\nThe many battles he fought, and the many trophies he won, may make\nus ascribe to Philopoemen the more thorough knowledge of war.  Titus\ndecided the matter betwixt Philip and himself in two engagements; but\nPhilopoemen came off victorious in ten thousand encounters, to all\nwhich fortune had scarcely any presence, so much were they owing to\nhis skill.  Besides, Titus got his renown, assisted by the power of a\nflourishing Rome; the other flourished under a declined Greece, so\nthat his successes may be accounted his own; in Titus's glory Rome\nclaims a share.  The one had brave men under him, the other made his\nbrave, by being over them.  And though Philopoemen was unfortunate\ncertainly, in always being opposed to his countrymen, yet this\nmisfortune is at the same time a proof of his merit.  Where the\ncircumstances are the same, superior success can only be ascribed to\nsuperior merit.  And he had, indeed, to do with the two most warlike\nnations of all Greece, the Cretans on the one hand, and the\nLacedaemonians on the other, and he mastered the craftiest of them by\nart and the bravest of them by valor.  It may also be said that\nTitus, having his men armed and disciplined to his hand, had in a\nmanner his victories made for him; whereas Philopoemen was forced to\nintroduce a discipline and tactics of his own, and to new-mold and\nmodel his soldiers; so that what is of greatest import towards\ninsuring a victory was in his case his own creation, while the other\nhad it ready provided for his benefit.  Philopoemen effected many\ngallant things with his own hand, but Titus none; so much so that one\nArchedemus, an Aetolian, made it a jest against him that while he,\nthe Aetolian, was running with his drawn sword, where he saw the\nMacedonians drawn up closest and fighting hardest, Titus was standing\nstill, and with hands stretched out to heaven, praying to the gods\nfor aid.\n\nIt is true, Titus acquitted himself admirably, both as a governor,\nand as an ambassador; but Philopoemen was no less serviceable and\nuseful to the Achaeans in the capacity of a private man, than in that\nof a commander.  He was a private citizen when he restored the\nMessenians to their liberty, and delivered their city from Nabis; he\nwas also a private citizen when he rescued the Lacedaemonians, and\nshut the gates of Sparta against the General Diophanes, and Titus.\nHe had a nature so truly formed for command that he could govern even\nthe laws themselves for the public good; he did not need to wait for\nthe formality of being elected into command by the governed, but\nemployed their service, if occasion required, at his own discretion;\njudging that he who understood their real interests, was more truly\ntheir supreme magistrate, than he whom they had elected to the\noffice.  The equity, clemency, and humanity of Titus towards the\nGreeks, display a great and generous nature; but the actions of\nPhilopoemen, full of courage, and forward to assert his country's\nliberty against the Romans, have something yet greater and nobler in\nthem.  For it is not as hard a task to gratify the indigent and\ndistressed, as to bear up against, and to dare to incur the anger of\nthe powerful.  To conclude, since it does not appear to be easy, by\nany review or discussion, to establish the true difference of their\nmerits, and decide to which a preference is due, will it be an unfair\naward in the case, if we let the Greek bear away the crown for\nmilitary conduct and warlike skill, and the Roman for justice and\nclemency?\n\n\n\nPYRRHUS\n\nOf the Thesprotians and Molossians after the great inundation, the\nfirst king, according to some historians, was Phaethon, one of those\nwho came into Epirus with Pelasgus.  Others tell us that Deucalion\nand Pyrrha, having set up the worship of Jupiter at Dodona, settled\nthere among the Molossians.  In after time, Neoptolemus, Achilles's\nson, planting a colony, possessed these parts himself, and left a\nsuccession of kings, who, after him, were named Pyrrhidae; as he in\nhis youth was called Pyrrhus, and of his legitimate children, one\nborn of Lanassa, daughter of Cleodaeus, Hyllus's son, had also that\nname.  From him, Achilles came to have divine honors in Epirus, under\nthe name of Aspetus, in the language of the country.  After these\nfirst kings, those of the following intervening times becoming\nbarbarous, and insignificant both in their power and their lives,\nTharrhypas is said to have been the first, who by introducing Greek\nmanners and learning, and humane laws into his cities, left any fame\nof himself.  Alcetas was the son of Tharrhypas, Arybas of Alcetas,\nand of Arybas and Troas his queen, Aeacides:  he married Phthia, the\ndaughter of Menon, the Thessalian, a man of note at the time off the\nLamiac war, and of highest command in the confederate army next to\nLeosthenes.  To Aeacides were born of Phthia, Deidamia and Troas\ndaughters, and Pyrrhus a son.\n\nThe Molossians, afterwards falling into factions, and expelling\nAeacides, brought in the sons of Neoptolemus, and such friends of\nAeacides as they could take were all cut off; Pyrrhus, yet an infant,\nand searched for by the enemy, had been stolen away and carried off\nby Androclides end Angelus; who, however, being obliged to take with\nthem a few servants, and women to nurse the child, were much impeded\nand retarded in their flight, and when they were now overtaken, they\ndelivered the infant to Androcleon, Hippias, and Neander, faithful\nand able young fellows, giving them in charge to make for Megara, a\ntown of Macedon, with all their might, while they themselves, partly\nby entreaty, and partly by force, stopped the course of the pursuers\ntill late in the evening.  At last, having hardly forced them back,\nthey joined those who had the care of Pyrrhus; but the sun being\nalready set, at the point of attaining their object they suddenly\nfound themselves cut off from it.  For on reaching the river that\nruns by the city they found it looking formidable and rough, and\nendeavoring to pass over, they discovered it was not fordable; late\nrains having heightened the water, and made the current violent.  The\ndarkness of the night added to the horror of all, so that they durst\nnot venture of themselves to carry over the child and the women that\nattended it; but, perceiving some of the country people on the other\nside, they desired them to assist their passage, and showed them\nPyrrhus, calling out aloud, and importuning them.  They, however,\ncould not hear for the noise and roaring of the water.  Thus time was\nspent while those called out, and the others did not understand what\nwas said, till one recollecting himself, stripped off a piece of bark\nfrom an oak, and wrote on it with the tongue of a buckle, stating the\nnecessities and the fortunes of the child, and then rolling it about\na stone, which was made use of to give force to the motion, threw it\nover to the other side, or, as some say, fastened it to the end of a\njavelin, and darted it over.  When the men on the other shore read\nwhat was on the bark, and saw how time pressed, without delay they\ncut down some trees, and lashing them together, came over to them.\nAnd it so fell out, that he who first got ashore, and took Pyrrhus in\nhis arms, was named Achilles, the rest being helped over by others as\nthey came to hand.\n\nThus being safe, and out of the reach of pursuit, they addressed\nthemselves to Glaucias, then king of the Illyrians, and finding him\nsitting at home with his wife, they laid down the child before them.\nThe king began to weigh the matter, fearing Cassander, who was a\nmortal enemy of Aeacides, and, being in deep consideration, said\nnothing for a long time; while Pyrrhus, crawling about on the ground,\ngradually got near and laid hold with his hand upon the king's robe,\nand so helping himself upon his feet against the knees of Glaucias,\nfirst moved laughter, and then pity, as a little humble, crying\npetitioner.  Some say he did not throw himself before Glaucias, but\ncatching hold of an altar of the gods, and spreading his hands about\nit, raised himself up by that; and that Glaucias took the act as an\nomen.  At present, therefore, he gave Pyrrhus into the charge of his\nwife, commanding he should be brought up with his own children; and a\nlittle after, the enemies sending to demand him, and Cassander\nhimself offering two hundred talents, he would not deliver him up;\nbut when he was twelve years old, bringing him with an army into\nEpirus, made him king.  Pyrrhus in the air of his face had something\nmore of the terrors, than of the augustness of kingly power; he had\nnot a regular set of upper teeth, but in the place of them one\ncontinued bone, with small lines marked on it, resembling the\ndivisions of a row of teeth.  It was a general belief he could cure\nthe spleen, by sacrificing a white cock, and gently pressing with his\nright foot on the spleen of the persons as they lay down on their\nbacks, nor was any one so poor or inconsiderable as not to be\nwelcome, if he desired it, to the benefit of his touch.  He accepted\nthe cock for the sacrifice as a reward, and was always much pleased\nwith the present.  The large toe of that foot was said to have a\ndivine virtue; for after his death, the rest of the body being\nconsumed, this was found unhurt and untouched by the fire.  But of\nthese things hereafter.\n\nBeing now about seventeen years old, and the government in appearance\nwell settled, he took a journey out of the kingdom to attend the\nmarriage of one of Glaucias's sons, with whom he was brought up; upon\nwhich opportunity the Molossians again rebelling, turned out all of\nhis party, plundered his property, and gave themselves up to\nNeoptolemus.  Pyrrhus, having thus lost the kingdom, and being in\nwant of all things, applied to Demetrius the son of Antigonus, the\nhusband of his sister Deidamia, who, while she was but a child, had\nbeen in name the wife of Alexander, son of Roxana, but their affairs\nafterwards proving unfortunate, when she came to age, Demetrius\nmarried her.  At the great battle of Ipsus, where so many kings were\nengaged, Pyrrhus, taking part with Demetrius, though yet but a youth,\nrouted those that encountered him, and highly signalized himself\namong all the soldiery; and afterwards, when Demetrius's fortunes\nwere low, he did not forsake him then, but secured for him the cities\nof Greece with which he was entrusted; and upon articles of agreement\nbeing made between Demetrius and Ptolemy, he went over as an hostage\nfor him into Egypt, where both in hunting and other exercises, he\ngave Ptolemy an ample proof of his courage and strength.  Here\nobserving Berenice in greatest power, and of all Ptolemy's wives\nhighest in esteem for virtue and understanding, he made his court\nprincipally to her.  He had a particular art of gaining over the\ngreat to his own interest, as on the other hand he readily overlooked\nsuch as were below him; and being also well-behaved and temperate in\nhis life, among all the young princes then at court, he was thought\nmost fit to have Antigone for his wife, one of the daughters of\nBerenice by Philip, before she married Ptolemy.\n\nAfter this match, advancing in honor, and Antigone being a very good\nwife to him, having procured a sum of money, and raised an army, he\nso ordered matters as to be sent into his kingdom of Epirus, and\narrived there to the great satisfaction of many, from their hate to\nNeoptolemus, who was governing in a violent and arbitrary way.  But\nfearing lest Neoptolemus should enter into alliance with some\nneighboring princes, he came to terms and friendship with him,\nagreeing that they should share the government between them.  There\nwere people, however, who, as time went on, secretly exasperated\nthem, and fomented jealousies between them.  The cause chiefly moving\nPyrrhus is said to have had this beginning.  It was customary for the\nkings to offer sacrifice to Mars, at Passaro, a place in the\nMolossian country, and that done to enter into a solemn covenant with\nthe Epirots; they to govern according to law, these to preserve the\ngovernment as by law established.  This was performed in the presence\nof both kings, who were there with their immediate friends, giving\nand receiving many presents; here Gelo, one of the friends of\nNeoptolemus, taking Pyrrhus by the hand, presented him with two pair\nof draught oxen.  Myrtilus, his cup-bearer, being then by, begged\nthese of Pyrrhus, who not giving them to him, but to another,\nMyrtilus extremely resented it, which Gelo took notice of, and,\ninviting him to a banquet, (amidst drinking and other excesses, as\nsome relate, Myrtilus being then in the flower of his youth,) he\nentered into discourse, persuading him to adhere to Neoptolemus, and\ndestroy Pyrrhus by poison.  Myrtilus received the design, appearing\nto approve and consent to it, but privately discovered it to Pyrrhus,\nby whose command he recommended Alexicrates, his chief cup-bearer, to\nGelo, as a fit instrument for their design, Pyrrhus being very\ndesirous to have proof of the plot by several evidences.  So Gelo\nbeing deceived, Neoptolemus, who was no less deceived, imagining the\ndesign went prosperously on, could not forbear, but in his joy spoke\nof it among his friends, and once at an entertainment at his sister\nCadmea's, talked openly of it, thinking none heard but themselves.\nNor was anyone there but Phaenarete the wife of Samon, who had the\ncare of Neoptolemus's flocks and herds.  She, turning her face\ntowards the wall upon a couch, seemed fast asleep, and having heard\nall that passed, unsuspected, next day came to Antigone, Pyrrhus's\nwife, and told her what she had heard Neoptolemus say to his sister.\nOn understanding which Pyrrhus for the present said little, but on a\nsacrifice day, making an invitation for Neoptolemus, killed him;\nbeing satisfied before that the great men of the Epirots were his\nfriends, and that they were eager for him to rid himself of\nNeoptolemus, and not to content himself with a mere petty share of\nthe government, but to follow his own natural vocation to great\ndesigns, and now when just ground of suspicion appeared, to\nanticipate Neoptolemus by taking him off first.\n\nIn memory of Berenice and Ptolemy, he named his son by Antigone,\nPtolemy, and having built a city in the peninsula of Epirus, called\nit Berenicis.  From this time he began to revolve many and vast\nprojects in his thoughts; but his first special hope and design lay\nnear home, and he found means to engage himself in the Macedonian\naffairs under the following pretext.  Of Cassander's sons, Antipater,\nthe eldest, killed Thessalonica his mother, and expelled his brother\nAlexander, who sent to Demetrius entreating his assistance, and also\ncalled in Pyrrhus; but Demetrius being retarded by multitude of\nbusiness, Pyrrhus, coming first, demanded in reward of his service\nthe districts called Tymphaea and Parauaea in Macedon itself, and, of\ntheir new conquests, Ambracia, Acarnania, and Amphilochia.  The young\nprince giving way, he took possession of these countries, and secured\nthem with good garrisons, and proceeded to reduce for Alexander\nhimself other parts of the kingdom which he gained from Antipater.\nLysimachus, designing to send aid to Antipater, was involved in much\nother business, but knowing Pyrrhus would not disoblige Ptolemy, or\ndeny him anything, sent pretended letters to him as from Ptolemy,\ndesiring him to give up his expedition, upon the payment of three\nhundred talents to him by Antipater.  Pyrrhus, opening the letter,\nquickly discovered the fraud of Lysimachus; for it had not the\naccustomed style of salutation, \"The father to the son, health,\" but\n\"King Ptolemy to Pyrrhus, the king, health;\" and reproaching\nLysimachus, he notwithstanding made a peace, and they all met to\nconfirm it by a solemn oath upon sacrifice.  A goat, a bull, and a\nram being brought out, the ram on a sudden fell dead.  The others\nlaughed, but Theodotus the prophet forbade Pyrrhus to swear,\ndeclaring that Heaven by that portended the death of one of the three\nkings, upon which he refused to ratify the peace.\n\nThe affairs of Alexander being now in some kind of settlement,\nDemetrius arrived, contrary, as soon appeared, to the desire and\nindeed not without the alarm of Alexander.  After they had been a few\ndays together, their mutual jealousy led them to conspire against\neach other; and Demetrius taking advantage of the first occasion, was\nbeforehand with the young king, and slew him, and proclaimed himself\nking of Macedon.  There had been formerly no very good understanding\nbetween him and Pyrrhus; for besides the inroads he made into\nThessaly, the innate disease of princes, ambition of greater empire,\nhad rendered them formidable and suspected neighbors to each other,\nespecially since Deidamia's death; and both having seized Macedon,\nthey came into conflict for the same object, and the difference\nbetween them had the stronger motives.  Demetrius having first\nattacked the Aetolians and subdued them, left Pantauchus there with a\nconsiderable army, and marched direct against Pyrrhus, and Pyrrhus,\nas he thought, against him; but by mistake of the ways they passed by\none another, and Demetrius falling into Epirus wasted the country,\nand Pyrrhus, meeting with Pantauchus, prepared for an engagement.\nThe soldiers fell to, and there was a sharp and terrible conflict,\nespecially where the generals were.  Pantauchus, in courage,\ndexterity, and strength of body, being confessedly the best of all\nDemetrius's captains, and having both resolution and high spirit,\nchallenged Pyrrhus to fight hand to hand; on the other side Pyrrhus,\nprofessing not to yield to any king in valor and glory, and esteeming\nthe fame of Achilles more truly to belong to him for his courage than\nfor his blood, advanced against Pantauchus through the front of the\narmy.  First they used their lances, then came to a close fight, and\nmanaged their swords both with art and force; Pyrrhus receiving one\nwound, but returning two for it, one in the thigh, the other near the\nneck, repulsed and overthrew Pantauchus, but did not kill him\noutright, as he was rescued by his friends.  But the Epirots\nexulting in the victory of their king, and admiring his courage,\nforced through and cut in pieces the phalanx of the Macedonians, and\npursuing those that fled, killed many, and took five thousand\nprisoners.\n\nThis fight did not so much exasperate the Macedonians with anger for\ntheir loss, or with hatred to Pyrrhus, as it caused esteem, and\nadmiration of his valor, and great discourse of him among those that\nsaw what he did, and were engaged against him in the action.  They\nthought his countenance, his swiftness, and his motions expressed\nthose of the great Alexander, and that they beheld here an image and\nresemblance of his rapidity and strength in fight; other kings merely\nby their purple and their guards, by the formal bending of their\nnecks, and lofty tone of speech, Pyrrhus only by arms, and in action,\nrepresented Alexander.  Of his knowledge of military tactics and the\nart of a general, and his great ability that way, we have the best\ninformation from the commentaries he left behind him.  Antigonus,\nalso, we are told, being asked who was the greatest soldier, said,\n\"Pyrrhus, if he lives to be old,\" referring only to those of his own\ntime; but Hannibal of all great commanders esteemed Pyrrhus for skill\nand conduct the first, Scipio the second, and himself the third, as\nis related in the life of Scipio.  In a word, he seemed ever to make\nthis all his thought and philosophy, as the most kingly part of\nlearning; other curiosities he held in no account.  He is reported,\nwhen asked at a feast whether he thought Python or Caphisias the best\nmusician, to have said, Polysperchon was the best soldier, as though\nit became a king to examine and understand only such things.  Towards\nhis familiars he was mild, and not easily incensed; zealous, and even\nvehement in returning kindnesses.  Thus when Aeropus was dead, he\ncould not bear it with moderation, saying, he indeed had suffered\nwhat was common to human nature, but condemning and blaming himself,\nthat by puttings off and delays he had not returned his kindness in\ntime.  For our debts may be satisfied to the creditor's heirs, but\nnot to have made the acknowledgment of received favors, while they to\nwhom it is due can be sensible of it, afflicts a good and a worthy\nnature.  Some thinking it fit that Pyrrhus should banish a certain\nill-tongued fellow in Ambracia, who had spoken very indecently of\nhim, \"Let him rather,\" said he, \"speak against us here to a few, than\nrambling about to a great many.\"  And others who in their wine had\nmade redactions upon him, being afterward questioned for it, and\nasked by him whether they had said such words, on one of the young\nfellows answering, \"Yes, all that, king; and should have said more if\nwe had had more wine;\" he laughed and discharged them.  After\nAntigone's death, he married several wives to enlarge his interest\nand power.  He had the daughter of Autoleon, king of the Paeonians,\nBircenna, Bardyllis the Illyrian's daughter, Lanassa, daughter of\nAgathocles the Syracusan, who brought with her in dower the city of\nCorcyra which had been taken by Agathocles.  By Antigone he had\nPtolemy, Alexander by Lanassa, and Helenus, his youngest son, by\nBircenna; he brought them up all in arms, hot and eager youths, and\nby him sharpened and whetted to war from their very infancy.  It is\nsaid, when one of them, while yet a child, asked him to which he\nwould leave the kingdom, he replied, to him that had the sharpest\nsword, which indeed was much like that tragical curse of Oedipus to\nhis sons:\n\nNot by the lot decide.\nBut with the sword the heritage divide.\n\nSo unsocial and wild-beast-like is the nature of ambition and\ncupidity.\n\nAfter this battle Pyrrhus, returning gloriously home, enjoyed his\nfame and reputation, and being called \"Eagle\" by the Epirots, \"By\nyou,\" said he, \"I am an eagle; for how should I not be such, while I\nhave your arms as wings to sustain me?\"  A little after, having\nintelligence that Demetrius was dangerously sick, he entered on a\nsudden into Macedonia, intending only an incursion, and to harass the\ncountry; but was very near seizing upon all, and taking the kingdom\nwithout a blow.  He marched as far as Edessa unresisted, great\nnumbers deserting, and coming in to him.  This danger excited\nDemetrius beyond his strength, and his friends and commanders in a\nshort time got a considerable army together, and with all their\nforces briskly attacked Pyrrhus, who, coming only to pillage, would\nnot stand a fight but retreating lost part of his army, as he went\noff, by the close pursuit of the Macedonians.  Demetrius, however,\nalthough he had easily and quickly forced Pyrrhus out of the country,\nyet did not slight him, but having resolved upon great designs, and\nto recover his father's kingdom with an army of one hundred thousand\nmen, and a fleet of five hundred ships, would neither embroil himself\nwith Pyrrhus, nor leave the Macedonians so active and troublesome a\nneighbor; and since he had no leisure to continue the war with him,\nhe was willing to treat and conclude a peace, and to turn his forces\nupon the other kings.  Articles being agreed upon, the designs of\nDemetrius quickly discovered themselves by the greatness of his\npreparation.  And the other kings, being alarmed, sent to Pyrrhus\nambassadors and letters, expressing their wonder that he should\nchoose to let his own opportunity pass by, and wait till Demetrius\ncould use his; and whereas he was now able to chase him out of\nMacedon, involved in designs and disturbed, he should expect till\nDemetrius at leisure, and grown great, should bring the war home to\nhis own door, and make him fight for his temples and sepulchers in\nMolossia; especially having so lately, by his means, lost Corcyra and\nhis wife together.  For Lanassa had taken offense at Pyrrhus for too\ngreat an inclination to those wives of his that were barbarians, and\nso withdrew to Corcyra, and desiring to marry some king, invited\nDemetrius, knowing of all the kings he was most ready to entertain\noffers of marriage; so he sailed thither, married Lanassa, and placed\na garrison in the city.  The kings having written thus to Pyrrhus,\nthemselves likewise contrived to find Demetrius work, while he was\ndelaying and making his preparations.  Ptolemy, setting out with a\ngreat fleet, drew off many of the Greek cities.  Lysimachus out of\nThrace wasted the upper Macedon; and Pyrrhus, also, taking arms at\nthe same time, marched to Beroea, expecting, as it fell out, that\nDemetrius, collecting his forces against Lysimachus, would leave the\nlower country undefended.  That very night he seemed in his sleep to\nbe called by Alexander the Great, and approaching saw him sick abed,\nbut was received with very kind words and much respect, and promised\nzealous assistance.  He making bold to reply:  \"How, Sir, can you,\nbeing sick, assist me?\"  \"With my name,\" said he, and mounting a\nNisaean horse, seemed to lead the way.  At the sight of this vision\nhe was much assured, and with swift marches overrunning all the\ninterjacent places, takes Beroea, and making his head-quarters there,\nreduced the rest of the country by his commanders.  When Demetrius\nreceived intelligence of this, and perceived likewise the Macedonians\nready to mutiny in the army, he was afraid to advance further, lest\ncoming near Lysimachus, a Macedonian king, and of great fame, they\nshould revolt to him.  So returning, he marched directly against\nPyrrhus, as a stranger, and hated by the Macedonians.  But while he\nlay encamped there near him, many who came out of Beroea infinitely\npraised Pyrrhus as invincible in arms, a glorious warrior, who\ntreated those he had taken kindly and humanely.  Several of these\nPyrrhus himself sent privately, pretending to be Macedonians, and\nsaying, now was the time to be delivered from the severe government\nof Demetrius, by coming over to Pyrrhus, a gracious prince, and a\nlover of soldiers.  By this artifice a great part of the army was in\na state of excitement, and the soldiers began to look every way\nabout, inquiring for Pyrrhus.  It happened he was without his helmet,\ntill understanding they did not know him, he put it on again, and so\nwas quickly recognized by his lofty crest, and the goat's horns he\nwore upon it.  Then the Macedonians, running to him, desired to be\ntold his password, and some put oaken boughs upon their heads,\nbecause they saw them worn by the soldiers about him.  Some persons\neven took the confidence to say to Demetrius himself, that he would\nbe well advised to withdraw, and lay down the government.  And he,\nindeed, seeing the mutinous movements of the army to be only too\nconsistent with what they said, privately got away, disguised in a\nbroad hat, and a common soldier's coat.  So Pyrrhus became master of\nthe army without fighting, and was declared king of the Macedonians.\n\nBut Lysimachus now arriving, and claiming the defeat of Demetrius as\nthe joint exploit of them both, and that therefore the kingdom should\nbe shared between them, Pyrrhus, not as yet quite assured of the\nMacedonians, and in doubt of their faith, consented to the\nproposition of Lysimachus, and divided the country and cities between\nthem accordingly.  This was for the present useful, and prevented a\nwar; but shortly after they found the partition not so much a\npeaceful settlement, as an occasion of further complaint and\ndifference.  For men whose ambition neither seas nor mountains, nor\nunpeopled deserts can limit, nor the bounds dividing Europe from Asia\nconfine their vast desires, it would be hard to expect to forbear\nfrom injuring one another when they touch, and are close together.\nThese are ever naturally at war, envying and seeking advantages of\none another, and merely make use of those two words, peace and war,\nlike current coin, to serve their occasions, not as justice but as\nexpediency suggests, and are really better men when they openly enter\non a war, than when they give to the mere forbearance from doing\nwrong, for want of opportunity, the sacred names of justice and\nfriendship.  Pyrrhus was an instance of this; for setting himself\nagainst the rise of Demetrius again, and endeavoring to hinder the\nrecovery of his power, as it were from a kind of sickness, he\nassisted the Greeks, and came to Athens, where, having ascended the\nAcropolis, he offered sacrifice to the goddess, and the same day came\ndown again, and told the Athenians he was much gratified by the\ngood-will and the confidence they had shown to him; but if they were\nwise, he advised them never to let any king come thither again, or\nopen their city gates to him.  He concluded also a peace with\nDemetrius, but shortly after he was gone into Asia, at the persuasion\nof Lysimachus, he tampered with the Thessalians to revolt, and\nbesieged his cities in Greece; finding he could better preserve the\nattachment of the Macedonians in war than in peace, and being of his\nown inclination not much given to rest.  At last, after Demetrius had\nbeen overthrown in Syria, Lysimachus, who had secured his affairs,\nand had nothing to do, immediately turned his whole forces upon\nPyrrhus, who was in quarters at Edessa, and falling upon and seizing\nhis convoy of provisions, brought first a great scarcity into the\narmy; then partly by letters, partly by spreading rumors abroad, he\ncorrupted the principal officers of the Macedonians, reproaching them\nthat they had made one their master who was both a stranger and\ndescended from those who had ever been servants to the Macedonians,\nand that they had thrust the old friends and familiars of Alexander\nout of the country.  The Macedonian soldiers being much prevailed\nupon, Pyrrhus withdrew himself with his Epirots and auxiliary forces,\nrelinquishing Macedon just after the same manner he took it.  So\nlittle reason have kings to condemn popular governments for changing\nsides as suits their interests, as in this they do but imitate them\nwho are the great instructors of unfaithfulness and treachery;\nholding him the wisest that makes the least account of being an\nhonest man.\n\nPyrrhus having thus retired into Epirus, and left Macedon, fortune\ngave him a fair occasion of enjoying himself in quiet, and peaceably\ngoverning his own subjects; but he who thought it a nauseous course\nof life not to be doing mischief to others, or receiving some from\nthem, like Achilles, could not endure repose,\n\n-- But sat and languished far,\nDesiring battle and the shout of war,\n\nand gratified his inclination by the following pretext for new\ntroubles.  The Romans were at war with the Tarentines, who, not being\nable to go on with the war, nor yet, through the foolhardiness and\nthe viciousness of their popular speakers, to come to terms and give\nit up, proposed now to make Pyrrhus their general, and engage him in\nit, as of all the neighboring kings the most at leisure, and the most\nskillful as a commander.  The more grave and discreet citizens\nopposing these counsels, were partly overborne by the noise and\nviolence of the multitude; while others, seeing this, absented\nthemselves from the assemblies; only one Meton, a very sober man, on\nthe day this public decree was to be ratified, when the people were\nnow seating themselves, came dancing into the assembly like one quite\ndrunk, with a withered garland and a small lamp in his hand, and a\nwoman playing on a flute before him.  And as in great multitudes met\nat such popular assemblies, no decorum can be well observed, some\nclapped him, others laughed, none forbade him, but called to the\nwoman to play, and to him to sing to the company, and when they\nthought he was going to do so, \"'Tis only right of you, O men of\nTarentum,\" he said, \"not to hinder any from making themselves merry,\nthat have a mind to it, while it is yet in their power; and if you\nare wise, you will take out your pleasure of your freedom while you\ncan, for you must change your course of life, and follow other diet\nwhen Pyrrhus comes to town.\"  These words made a great impression\nupon many of the Tarentines, and a confused murmur went about, that\nhe had spoken much to the purpose; but some who feared they should be\nsacrificed if a peace were made with the Romans, reviled the whole\nassembly for so tamely suffering themselves to be abused by a drunken\nsot, and crowding together upon Meton, thrust him out.  So the public\norder was passed, and ambassadors sent into Epirus, not only in their\nown names, but in those of all the Italian Greeks, carrying presents\nto Pyrrhus, and letting him know they wanted a general of reputation\nand experience; and that they could furnish him with large forces of\nLucanians, Messapians, Samnites, and Tarentines, amounting to twenty\nthousand horse, and three hundred and fifty thousand foot.  This did\nnot only quicken Pyrrhus, but raised an eager desire for the\nexpedition in the Epirots.\n\nThere was one Cineas, a Thessalian, considered to be a man of very\ngood sense, a disciple of the great orator Demosthenes, who of all\nthat were famous at that time for speaking well, most seemed, as in a\npicture, to revive in the minds of the audience the memory of his\nforce and vigor of eloquence; and being always about Pyrrhus, and\nsent about in his service to several cities, verified the saying of\nEuripides, that\n\n-- the force of words\nCan do whate'er is done by conquering swords.\n\nAnd Pyrrhus was used to say, that Cineas had taken more towns with\nhis words, than he with his arms, and always did him the honor to\nemploy him in his most important occasions.  This person, seeing\nPyrrhus eagerly preparing for Italy, led him one day when he was at\nleisure into the following reasonings:  \"The Romans, sir, are\nreported to be great warriors and conquerors of many warlike nations;\nif God permit us to overcome them, how should we use our victory?\"\n\"You ask,\" said Pyrrhus, \"a thing evident of itself.  The Romans once\nconquered, there is neither Greek nor barbarian city that will resist\nus, but we shall presently be masters of all Italy, the extent and\nresources and strength of which anyone should rather profess to be\nignorant of, than yourself.\"  Cineas, after a little pause, \"And\nhaving subdued Italy, what shall we do next?\"  Pyrrhus not yet\ndiscovering his intention, \"Sicily,\" he replied, \"next holds out her\narms to receive us, a wealthy and populous island, and easy to be\ngained; for since Agathocles left it, only faction and anarchy, and\nthe licentious violence of the demagogues prevail.\"  \"You speak,\"\nsaid Cineas, \"what is perfectly probable, but will the possession of\nSicily put an end to the war?\"  \"God grant us,\" answered Pyrrhus,\n\"victory and success in that, and we will use these as forerunners of\ngreater things; who could forbear from Libya and Carthage then within\nreach, which Agathocles, even when forced to fly from Syracuse, and\npassing the sea only with a few ships, had all but surprised?\nThese conquests once perfected, will any assert that of the enemies\nwho now pretend to despise us, anyone will dare to make further\nresistance?\"  \"None,\" replied Cineas, \"for then it is manifest we may\nwith such mighty forces regain Macedon, and make all absolute\nconquest of Greece; and when all these are in our power, what shall\nwe do then?\"  Said Pyrrhus, smiling, \"we will live at our ease, my\ndear friend, and drink all day, and divert ourselves with pleasant\nconversation.\"  When Cineas had led Pyrrhus with his argument to this\npoint:  \"And what hinders us now, sir, if we have a mind to be merry,\nand entertain one another, since we have at hand without trouble all\nthose necessary things, to which through much blood and great labor,\nand infinite hazards and mischief done to ourselves and to others, we\ndesign at last to arrive?\"  Such reasonings rather troubled Pyrrhus\nwith the thought of the happiness he was quitting, than any way\naltered his purpose, being unable to abandon the hopes of what he so\nmuch desired.\n\nAnd first, he sent away Cineas to the Tarentines with three thousand\nmen; presently after, many vessels for transport of horse, and\ngalleys, and flat-bottomed boats of all sorts arriving from Tarentum,\nhe shipped upon them twenty elephants, three thousand horse, twenty\nthousand foot, two thousand archers, and five hundred slingers.  All\nbeing thus in readiness, he set sail, and being half way over, was\ndriven by the wind, blowing, contrary to the season of the year,\nviolently from the north, and carried from his course, but by the\ngreat skill and resolution of his pilots and seamen, he made the land\nwith infinite labor, and beyond expectation.  The rest of the fleet\ncould not get up, and some of the dispersed ships, losing the coast\nof Italy, were driven into the Libyan and Sicilian Sea; others not\nable to double the Cape of Japygium, were overtaken by the night; and\nwith a boisterous and heavy sea, throwing them upon a dangerous and\nrocky shore, they were all very much disabled except the royal\ngalley.  She, while the sea bore upon her sides, resisted with her\nbulk and strength, and avoided the force of it, till the wind coming\nabout, blew directly in their teeth from the shore, and the vessel\nkeeping up with her head against it, was in danger of going to\npieces; yet on the other hand, to suffer themselves to be driven off\nto sea again, which was thus raging and tempestuous, with the wind\nshifting about every way, seemed to them the most dreadful of all\ntheir present evils.  Pyrrhus, rising up, threw himself overboard.\nHis friends and guards strove eagerly who should be most ready to\nhelp him, but night and the sea with its noise and violent surge,\nmade it extremely difficult to do this; so that hardly, when with the\nmorning the wind began to subside, he got ashore, breathless, and\nweakened in body, but with high courage and strength of mind\nresisting his hard fortune.  The Messapians, upon whose shore they\nwere thrown by the tempest, came up eagerly to help them in the best\nmanner they could; and some of the straggling vessels that had\nescaped the storm arrived; in which were a very few horse, and not\nquite two thousand foot, and two elephants.\n\nWith these Pyrrhus marched straight to Tarentum, where Cineas, being\ninformed of his arrival, led out the troops to meet him.  Entering\nthe town, he did nothing unpleasing to the Tarentines, nor put any\nforce upon them, till his ships were all in harbor, and the greatest\npart of the army got together; but then perceiving that the people,\nunless some strong compulsion was used to them, were not capable\neither of saving others or being saved themselves, and were rather\nintending, while he engaged for them in the field, to remain at home\nbathing and feasting themselves, he first shut up the places of\npublic exercise, and the walks where, in their idle way, they fought\ntheir country's battles and conducted her campaigns in their talk; he\nprohibited likewise all festivals, revels, and drinking-parties, as\nunseasonable, and summoning them to arms, showed himself rigorous and\ninflexible in carrying out the conscription for service in the war.\nSo that many, not understanding what it was to be commanded, left the\ntown, calling it mere slavery not to do as they pleased.  He now\nreceived intelligence that Laevinus, the Roman consul, was upon his\nmarch with a great army, and plundering Lucania as he went.  The\nconfederate forces were not come up to him, yet he thought it\nimpossible to suffer so near an approach of an enemy, and drew out\nwith his army, but first sent an herald to the Romans to know if\nbefore the war they would decide the differences between them and the\nItalian Greeks by his arbitrament and mediation.  But Laevinus\nreturning answer, that the Romans neither accepted him as arbitrator.\nnor feared him as an enemy, Pyrrhus advanced, and encamped in the\nplain between the cities of Pandosia and Heraclea, and having notice\nthe Romans were near, and lay on the other side of the river Siris,\nhe rode up to take a view of them, and seeing their order, the\nappointment of the watches, their method and the general form of\ntheir encampment, he was amazed, and addressing one of his friends\nnext to him:  \"This order,\" said he, \"Megacles, of the barbarians, is\nnot at all barbarian in character; we shall see presently what they\ncan do;\" and, growing a little more thoughtful of the event, resolved\nto expect the arriving of the confederate troops.  And to hinder the\nRomans, if in the meantime they should endeavor to pass the river,\nhe planted men all along the bank to oppose them.  But they,\nhastening to anticipate the coming up of the same forces which he had\ndetermined to wait for, attempted the passage with their infantry,\nwhere it was fordable, and with the horse in several places, so that\nthe Greeks, fearing to be surrounded, were obliged to retreat, and\nPyrrhus, perceiving this and being much surprised, bade his foot\nofficers draw their men up in line of battle, and continue in arms,\nwhile he himself, with three thousand horse, advanced, hoping to\nattack the Romans as they were coming over, scattered and disordered.\nBut when he saw a vast number of shields appearing above the water,\nand the horse following them in good order, gathering his men in a\ncloser body, himself at the head of them, he began the charge,\nconspicuous by his rich and beautiful armor, and letting it be seen\nthat his reputation had not outgone what he was able effectually to\nperform.  While exposing his hands and body in the fight, and bravely\nrepelling all that engaged him, he still guided the battle with a\nsteady and undisturbed reason, and such presence of mind, as if he\nhad been out of the action and watching it from a distance, passing\nstill from point to point, and assisting those whom he thought most\npressed by the enemy.  Here Leonnatus the Macedonian, observing one\nof the Italians very intent upon Pyrrhus, riding up towards him, and\nchanging places as he did, and moving as he moved:  \"Do you see,\nsir,\" said he, \"that barbarian on the black horse with white feet? he\nseems to me one that designs some great and dangerous thing, for he\nlooks constantly at you, and fixes his whole attention, full of\nvehement purpose, on you alone, taking no notice of others.  Be on\nyour guard, sir, against him.\"  \"Leonnatus,\" said Pyrrhus, \"it is\nimpossible for any man to avoid his fate; but neither he nor any\nother Italian shall have much satisfaction in engaging with me.\"\nWhile they were in this discourse, the Italian, lowering his spear\nand quickening his horse, rode furiously at Pyrrhus, and run his\nhorse through with his lance; at the same instant Leonnatus ran his\nthrough.  Both horses falling, Pyrrhus's friends surrounded him and\nbrought him off safe, and killed the Italian, bravely defending\nhimself.  He was by birth a Frentanian, captain of a troop, and named\nOplacus.\n\nThis made Pyrrhus use greater caution, and now seeing his horse give\nground, he brought up the infantry against the enemy, and changing\nhis scarf and his arms with Megacles, one of his friends, and,\nobscuring himself, as it were, in his, charged upon the Romans, who\nreceived and engaged him, and a great while the success of the battle\nremained undetermined; and it is said there were seven turns of\nfortune both of pursuing and being pursued.  And the change of his\narms was very opportune for the safety of his person, but had like to\nhave overthrown his cause and lost him the victory; for several\nfalling upon Megacles, the first that gave him his mortal wound was\none Dexous, who, snatching away his helmet and his robe, rode at\nonce to Laevinus, holding them up, and saying aloud he had killed\nPyrrhus.  These spoils being carried about and shown among the ranks,\nthe Romans were transported with joy, and shouted aloud; while equal\ndiscouragement and terror prevailed among the Greeks, until Pyrrhus,\nunderstanding what had happened, rode about the army with his face\nbare, stretching out his hand to his soldiers, and telling them aloud\nit was he.  At last, the elephants more particularly began to\ndistress the Romans, whose horses, before they came near, not\nenduring them, went back with their riders; and upon this, he\ncommanded the Thessalian cavalry to charge them in their disorder,\nand routed them with great loss.  Dionysius affirms near fifteen\nthousand of the Romans fell; Hieronymus, no more than seven thousand.\nOn Pyrrhus's side, the same Dionysius makes thirteen thousand slain,\nthe other under four thousand; but they were the flower of his men,\nand amongst them his particular friends as well as officers whom he\nmost trusted and made use of.  However, be possessed himself of the\nRomans' camp which they deserted, and gained over several confederate\ncities, and wasted the country round about, and advanced so far that\nhe was within about thirty-seven miles of Rome itself.  After the\nfight many of the Lucanians and Samnites came in and joined him, whom\nhe chid for their delay, but yet he was evidently well pleased and\nraised in his thoughts, that he had defeated so great an army of the\nRomans with the assistance of the Tarentines alone.\n\nThe Romans did not remove Laevinus from the consulship; though it is\ntold that Caius Fabricius said, that the Epirots had not beaten the\nRomans, but only Pyrrhus, Laevinus; insinuating that their loss was\nnot through want of valor but of conduct; but filled up their\nlegions, and enlisted fresh men with all speed, talking high and\nboldly of war, which struck Pyrrhus with amazement.  He thought it\nadvisable by sending first to make an experiment whether they had any\ninclination to treat, thinking that to take the city and make an\nabsolute conquest was no work for such an army as his was at that\ntime, but to settle a friendship, and bring them to terms, would be\nhighly honorable after his victory.  Cineas was dispatched away, and\napplied himself to several of the great ones, with presents for\nthemselves and their ladies from the king; but not a person would\nreceive any, and answered, as well men as women, that if an agreement\nwere publicly concluded, they also should be ready, for their parts,\nto express their regard to the king.  And Cineas, discoursing; with\nthe senate in the most persuasive and obliging manner in the world,\nyet was not heard with kindness or inclination, although Pyrrhus\noffered also to return all the prisoners he had taken in the fight\nwithout ransom, and promised his assistance for the entire conquest\nof all Italy, asking only their friendship for himself, and security\nfor the Tarentines, and nothing further.  Nevertheless, most were\nwell-inclined to a peace, having already received one great defeat,\nand fearing another from an additional force of the native Italians,\nnow joining with Pyrrhus.  At this point Appius Claudius, a man of\ngreat distinction, but who, because of his great age and loss of\nsight, had declined the fatigue of public business, after these\npropositions had been made by the king, hearing a report that the\nsenate was ready to vote the conditions of peace, could not forbear,\nbut commanding his servants to take him up, was carried in his chair\nthrough the forum to the senate house.  When he was set down at the\ndoor, his sons and sons-in-law took him up in their arms, and,\nwalking close round about him, brought him into the senate.  Out of\nreverence for so worthy a man, the whole assembly was respectfully\nsilent.\n\nAnd a little after raising up himself:  \"I bore,\" said he, \"until\nthis time, the misfortune of my eyes with some impatience, but now\nwhile I hear of these dishonorable motions and resolves of yours,\ndestructive to the glory of Rome, it is my affliction, that being\nalready blind, I am not deaf too.  Where is now that discourse of\nyours that became famous in all the world, that if he, the great\nAlexander, had come into Italy, and dared to attack us when we were\nyoung men, and our fathers, who were then in their prime, he had not\nnow been celebrated as invincible, but either flying hence, or\nfalling here, had left Rome more glorious?  You demonstrate now that\nall that was but foolish arrogance and vanity, by fearing Molossians\nand Chaonians, ever the Macedonian's prey, and by trembling at\nPyrrhus who was himself but a humble servant to one of Alexander's\nlife-guard, and comes here, not so much to assist the Greeks that\ninhabit among us, as to escape from his enemies at home, a wanderer\nabout Italy, and yet dares to promise you the conquest of it all by\nthat army which has not been able to preserve for him a little part\nof Macedon.  Do not persuade yourselves that making him your friend\nis the way to send him back, it is the way rather to bring over other\ninvaders from thence, contemning you as easy to be reduced, if\nPyrrhus goes off without punishment for his outrages on you, but,\non the contrary, with the reward of having enabled the Tarentines and\nSamnites to laugh at the Romans.\"  When Appius had done, eagerness\nfor the war seized on every man, and Cineas was dismissed with this\nanswer, that when Pyrrhus had withdrawn his forces out of Italy,\nthen, if he pleased, they would treat with him about friendship and\nalliance, but while he stayed there in arms, they were resolved to\nprosecute the war against him with all their force, though he should\nhave defeated a thousand Laevinuses.  It is said that Cineas, while\nhe was managing this affair, made it his business carefully to\ninspect the manners of the Romans, and to understand their methods of\ngovernment, and having conversed with their noblest citizens, he\nafterwards told Pyrrhus, among other things, that the senate seemed\nto him an assembly of kings, and as for the people, he feared lest it\nmight prove that they were fighting with a Lernaean hydra, for the\nconsul had already raised twice as large an army as the former, and\nthere were many times over the same number of Romans able to bear\narms.\n\nThen Caius Fabricius came in embassy from the Romans to treat about\nthe prisoners that were taken, one whom Cineas had reported to be a\nman of highest consideration among them as an honest man and a good\nsoldier, but extremely poor.  Pyrrhus received him with much\nkindness, and privately would have persuaded him to accept of his\ngold, not for any evil purpose, but calling it a mark of respect and\nhospitable kindness.  Upon Fabricius's refusal, he pressed him no\nfurther, but the next day, having a mind to discompose him, as he had\nnever seen an elephant before, he commanded one of the largest,\ncompletely armed, to be placed behind the hangings, as they were\ntalking together.  Which being done, upon a sign given the hanging\nwas drawn aside, and the elephant, raising his trunk over the head of\nFabricius, made an horrid and ugly noise.  He, gently turning about\nand smiling, said to Pyrrhus, \"neither your money yesterday, nor this\nbeast today make any impression upon me.\"  At supper, amongst all\nsorts of things that were discoursed of, but more particularly Greece\nand the philosophers there, Cineas, by accident, had occasion to\nspeak of Epicurus, and explained the opinions his followers hold\nabout the gods and the commonwealth, and the object of life, placing\nthe chief happiness of man in pleasure, and declining public affairs\nas an injury and disturbance of a happy life, removing the gods afar\noff both from kindness or anger, or any concern for us at all, to a\nlife wholly without business and flowing in pleasures.  Before he had\ndone speaking, \"O Hercules!\" Fabricius cried out to Pyrrhus, \"may\nPyrrhus and the Samnites entertain themselves with this sort of\nopinions as long as they are in war with us.\"  Pyrrhus, admiring the\nwisdom and gravity of the man, was the more transported with desire\nof making friendship instead of war with the city, and entreated him,\npersonally, after the peace should be concluded, to accept of living\nwith him as the chief of his ministers and generals.  Fabricius\nanswered quietly, \"Sir, this will not be for your advantage, for they\nwho now honor and admire you, when they have had experience of me,\nwill rather choose to be governed by me, than by you.\"  Such was\nFabricius.  And Pyrrhus received his answer without any resentment or\ntyrannic passion; nay, among his friends he highly commended the\ngreat mind of Fabricius, and entrusted the prisoners to him alone, on\ncondition that if the senate should not vote a peace, after they had\nconversed with their friends and celebrated the festival of Saturn,\nthey should be remanded.  And, accordingly, they were sent back after\nthe holidays; it being decreed pain of death for any that stayed\nbehind.\n\nAfter this, Fabricius taking the consulate, a person came with a\nletter to the camp written by the king's principal physician,\noffering to take off Pyrrhus by poison, and so end the war without\nfurther hazard to the Romans, if he might have a reward\nproportionable to his service.  Fabricius, hating the villainy of the\nman, and disposing the other consul to the same opinion, sent\ndispatches immediately to Pyrrhus to caution him against the treason.\nHis letter was to this effect:  \"Caius Fabricius and Quintus\nAemilius, consuls of the Romans, to Pyrrhus the king, health.  You\nseem to have made an ill judgment both of your friends and enemies;\nyou will understand by reading this letter sent to us, that you are\nat war with honest men, and trust villains and knaves.  Nor do we\ndisclose this to you out of any favor to you, but lest your ruin\nmight bring a reproach upon us, as if we had ended the war by\ntreachery, as not able to do it by force.\"  When Pyrrhus had read the\nletter, and made inquiry into the treason, he punished the physician,\nand as an acknowledgment to the Romans sent to Rome the prisoners\nwithout ransom, and again employed Cineas to negotiate a peace for\nhim.  But they, regarding it as at once too great a kindness from an\nenemy, and too great a reward of not doing an ill thing to accept\ntheir prisoners so, released in return an equal number of the\nTarentines and Samnites, but would admit of no debate of alliance or\npeace until he had removed his arms and forces out of Italy, and\nsailed back to Epirus with the same ships that brought him over.\nAfterwards, his affairs demanding a second fight, when he had\nrefreshed his men, he decamped, and met the Romans about the city\nAsculum, where, however, he was much incommoded by a woody country\nunfit for his horse, and a swift river, so that the elephants, for\nwant of sure treading, could not get up with the infantry.  After\nmany wounded and many killed, night put an end to the engagement.\nNext day, designing to make the fight on even ground, and have the\nelephants among the thickest of the enemy, he caused a detachment to\npossess themselves of those incommodious grounds, and, mixing\nslingers and archers among the elephants, with full strength and\ncourage, he advanced in a close and well-ordered body.  The Romans,\nnot having those advantages of retreating and falling on as they\npleased, which they had before, were obliged to fight man to man upon\nplain ground, and, being anxious to drive back the infantry before\nthe elephants could get up, they fought fiercely with their swords\namong the Macedonian spears, not sparing themselves, thinking only to\nwound and kill, without regard of what they suffered.  After a long\nand obstinate fight, the first giving ground is reported to have been\nwhere Pyrrhus himself engaged with extraordinary courage; but they\nwere most carried away by the overwhelming force of the elephants,\nnot being able to make use of their valor, but overthrown as it were\nby the irruption of a sea or an earthquake, before which it seemed\nbetter to give way than to die without doing anything, and not gain\nthe least advantage by suffering the utmost extremity, the retreat to\ntheir camp not being far.  Hieronymus says, there fell six thousand\nof the Romans, and of Pyrrhus's men, the king's own commentaries\nreported three thousand five hundred and fifty lost in this action.\nDionysius, however, neither gives any account of two engagements at\nAsculum, nor allows the Romans to have been certainly beaten, stating\nthat once only, after they had fought till sunset, both armies were\nunwillingly separated by the night, Pyrrhus being wounded by a\njavelin in the arm, and his baggage plundered by the Samnites, that\nin all there died of Pyrrhus's men and the Romans above fifteen\nthousand.  The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to\none that gave him joy of his victory, that one other such would\nutterly undo him.  For he had lost a great part of the forces he\nbrought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal\ncommanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found\nthe confederates in Italy backward.  On the other hand, as from a\nfountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was\nquickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating\nin courage for the losses they sustained, but even from their very\nanger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.\n\nAmong these difficulties he fell again into new hopes and projects\ndistracting his purposes.  For at the same time some persons arrived\nfrom Sicily, offering into his hands the cities of Agrigentum,\nSyracuse, and Leontini, and begging his assistance to drive out the\nCarthaginians, and rid the island of tyrants; and others brought him\nnews out of Greece that Ptolemy, called Ceraunus, was slain in a\nfight, and his army cut in pieces by the Gauls, and that now, above\nall others, was his time to offer himself to the Macedonians, in\ngreat need of a king.  Complaining much of fortune for bringing him\nso many occasions of great things all together at a time, and\nthinking that to have both offered to him, was to lose one of them,\nhe was doubtful, balancing in his thoughts.  But the affairs of\nSicily seeming to hold out the greater prospects, Africa lying so\nnear, he turned himself to them, and presently dispatched away\nCineas, as he used to do, to make terms beforehand with the cities.\nThen he placed a garrison in Tarentum, much to the Tarentines'\ndiscontent, who required him either to perform what he came for, and\ncontinue with them in a war against the Romans, or leave the city as\nhe found it.  He returned no pleasing answer, but commanded them to\nbe quiet and attend his time, and so sailed away.  Being arrived in\nSicily, what he had designed in his hopes was confirmed effectually,\nand the cities frankly surrendered to him; and wherever his arms and\nforce were necessary, nothing at first made any considerable\nresistance.  For advancing with thirty thousand foot, and twenty-five\nhundred horse, and two hundred ships, he totally routed the\nPhoenicians, and overran their whole province, and Eryx being the\nstrongest town they held, and having a great garrison in it, he\nresolved to take it by storm.  The army being in readiness to give\nthe assault, he put on his arms, and coming to the head of his men,\nmade a vow of plays and sacrifices in honor to Hercules, if he\nsignalized himself in that day's action before the Greeks that dwelt\nin Sicily, as became his great descent and his fortunes.  The sign\nbeing given by sound of trumpet, he first scattered the barbarians\nwith his shot, and then brought his ladders to the wall, and was the\nfirst that mounted upon it himself, and, the enemy appearing in great\nnumbers, he beat them back; some he threw down from the walls on each\nside, others he laid dead in a heap round about him with his sword,\nnor did he receive the least wound, but by his very aspect inspired\nterror in the enemy; and gave a clear demonstration that Homer was in\nthe right, and pronounced according to the truth of fact, that\nfortitude alone, of all the virtues, is wont to display itself in\ndivine transports and frenzies.  The city being taken, he offered to\nHercules most magnificently, and exhibited all varieties of shows and\nplays.\n\nA sort of barbarous people about Messena, called Mamertines, gave\nmuch trouble to the Greeks, and put several of them under\ncontribution.  These being numerous and valiant (from whence they had\ntheir name, equivalent in the Latin tongue to warlike), he first\nintercepted the collectors of the contribution money, and cut them\noff, then beat them in open fight, and destroyed many of their places\nof strength.  The Carthaginians being now inclined to composition,\nand offering him a round sum of money, and to furnish him with\nshipping, if a peace were concluded, he told them plainly, aspiring\nstill to greater things, there was but one way for a friendship and\nright understanding between them, if they, wholly abandoning Sicily,\nwould consent to make the African sea the limit between them and the\nGreeks.  And being elevated with his good fortune, and the strength\nof his forces, and pursuing those hopes in prospect of which he first\nsailed thither, his immediate aim was at Africa; and as he had\nabundance of shipping, but very ill equipped, he collected seamen,\nnot by fair and gentle dealing with the cities, but by force in a\nhaughty and insolent way, and menacing them with punishments.  And as\nat first he had not acted thus, but had been unusually indulgent and\nkind, ready to believe, and uneasy to none; now of a popular leader\nbecoming a tyrant by these severe proceedings, he got the name of an\nungrateful and a faithless man.  However, they gave way to these\nthings as necessary, although they took them very ill from him; and\nespecially when he began to show suspicion of Thoenon and\nSosistratus, men of the first position in Syracuse, who invited him\nover into Sicily, and when he was come, put the cities into his\npower, and were most instrumental in all he had done there since his\narrival, whom he now would neither suffer to be about his person, nor\nleave at home; and when Sosistratus out of fear withdrew himself, and\nthen he charged Thoenon, as in a conspiracy with the other, and put\nhim to death, with this all his prospects changed, not by little and\nlittle, nor in a single place only, but a mortal hatred being raised\nin the cities against him, some fell off to the Carthaginians, others\ncalled in the Mamertines.  And seeing revolts in all places, and\ndesires of alteration, and a potent faction against him, at the same\ntime he received letters from the Samnites and Tarentines, who were\nbeaten quite out of the field, and scarce able to secure their towns\nagainst the war, earnestly begging his help.  This served as a color\nto make his relinquishing Sicily no flight, nor a despair of good\nsuccess; but in truth not being able to manage Sicily, which was as a\nship laboring in a storm, and willing to be out of her, he suddenly\nthrew himself over into Italy.  It is reported that at his going off\nhe looked back upon the island, and said to those about him, \"How\nbrave a field of war do we leave, my friends, for the Romans and\nCarthaginians to fight in,\" which, as he then conjectured, fell out\nindeed not long after.\n\nWhen he was sailing off, the barbarians having conspired together, he\nwas forced to a fight with the Carthaginians in the very road, and\nlost many of his ships; with the rest he fled into Italy.  There,\nabout one thousand Mamertines, who had crossed the sea a little\nbefore, though afraid to engage him in open field, setting upon him\nwhere the passages were difficult, put the whole army in confusion.\nTwo elephants fell, and a great part of his rear was cut off.  He,\ntherefore, coming up in person, repulsed the enemy, but ran into\ngreat danger among men long trained and bold in war.  His being\nwounded in the head with a sword, and retiring a little out of the\nfight, much increased their confidence, and one of them advancing a\ngood way before the rest, large of body and in bright armor, with an\nhaughty voice challenged him to come forth if he were alive.\nPyrrhus, in great anger, broke away violently from his guards, and,\nin his fury, besmeared with blood, terrible to look upon, made his\nway through his own men, and struck the barbarian on the head with\nhis sword such a blow, as with the strength of his arm, and the\nexcellent temper of the weapon, passed downward so far that his body\nbeing cut asunder fell in two pieces.  This stopped the course of the\nbarbarians, amazed and confounded at Pyrrhus, as one more than man;\nso that continuing his march all the rest of the way undisturbed, he\narrived at Tarentum with twenty thousand foot and three thousand\nhorse, where, reinforcing himself with the choicest troops of the\nTarentines, he advanced immediately against the Romans, who then lay\nencamped in the territories of the Samnites, whose affairs were\nextremely shattered, and their counsels broken, having been in many\nfights beaten by the Romans.  There was also a discontent amongst\nthem at Pyrrhus for his expedition into Sicily, so that not many came\nin to join him.\n\nHe divided his army into two parts, and dispatched the first into\nLucania to oppose one of the consuls there, so that he should not\ncome in to assist the other; the rest he led against Manius Curius,\nwho had posted himself very advantageously near Beneventum, and\nexpected the other consul's forces, and partly because the priests\nhad dissuaded him by unfavorable omens, was resolved to remain\ninactive.  Pyrrhus, hastening to attack these before the other could\narrive, with his best men, and the most serviceable elephants,\nmarched in the night toward their camp.  But being forced to go round\nabout, and through a very woody country, their lights failed them,\nand the soldiers lost their way.  A council of war being called,\nwhile they were in debate, the night was spent, and, at the break of\nday, his approach, as he came down the hills, was discovered by the\nenemy, and put the whole camp into disorder and tumult.  But the\nsacrifices being auspicious, and the time absolutely obliging them to\nfight, Manius drew his troops out of the trenches, and attacked the\nvanguard, and, having routed them all, put the whole army into\nconsternation, so that many were cut off, and some of the elephants\ntaken.  This success drew on Manius into the level plain, and here,\nin open battle, he defeated part of the enemy; but, in other\nquarters, finding himself overpowered by the elephants and forced\nback to his trenches, he commanded out those who were left to guard\nthem, a numerous body, standing thick at the ramparts, all in arms\nand fresh.  These coming down from their strong position, and\ncharging the elephants, forced them to retire; and they in the flight\nturning back upon their own men, caused great disorder and confusion,\nand gave into the hands of the Romans the victory, and the future\nsupremacy.  Having obtained from these efforts and these contests the\nfeeling, as well as the fame of invincible strength, they at once\nreduced Italy under their power, and not long after Sicily too.\n\nThus fell Pyrrhus from his Italian and Sicilian hopes, after he had\nconsumed six years in these wars, and though unsuccessful in his\naffairs, yet preserved his courage unconquerable among all these\nmisfortunes, and was held, for military experience, and personal\nvalor and enterprise much the bravest of all the princes of his time,\nonly what he got by great actions he lost again by vain hopes, and by\nnew desires of what he had not, kept nothing of what he had.  So that\nAntigonus used to compare him to a player with dice, who had\nexcellent throws, but knew not how to use them.  He returned into\nEpirus with eight thousand foot and five hundred horse, and for want\nof money to pay them, was fain to look out for a new war to maintain\nthe army.  Some of the Gauls joining him, he invaded Macedonia, where\nAntigonus, son of Demetrius, governed, designing merely to plunder\nand waste the country.  But after he had made himself master of\nseveral towns, and two thousand men came over to him, he began to\nhope for something greater, and adventured upon Antigonus himself,\nand meeting him at a narrow passage, put the whole army in disorder.\nThe Gauls, who brought up Antigonus's rear, were very numerous and\nstood firm, but after a sharp encounter, the greatest part of them\nwere cut off, and they who had the charge of the elephants being\nsurrounded every way, delivered up both themselves and the beasts.\nPyrrhus, taking this advantage, and advising more with his good\nfortune than his reason, boldly set upon the main body of the\nMacedonian foot, already surprised with fear, and troubled at the\nformer loss.  They declined any action or engagement with him; and\nhe, holding out his hand and calling aloud both to the superior and\nunder officers by name, brought over the foot from Antigonus, who,\nflying away secretly, was only able to retain some of the seaport\ntowns.  Pyrrhus, among all these kindnesses of fortune, thinking what\nhe had effected against the Gauls the most advantageous for his\nglory, hung up their richest and goodliest spoils in the temple of\nMinerva Itonis, with this inscription: --\n\nPyrrhus, descendant of Molossian kings,\nThese shields to thee, Itonian goddess, brings,\nWon from the valiant Gauls when in the fight\nAntigonus and all his host took flight;\n'Tis not today nor yesterday alone\nThat for brave deeds the Aeacidae are known.\n\nAfter this victory in the field, he proceeded to secure the cities,\nand having possessed himself of Aegae, beside other hardships put\nupon the people there, he left in the town a garrison of Gauls, some\nof those in his own army, who, being insatiably desirous of wealth,\ninstantly dug up the tombs of the kings that lay buried there, and\ntook away the riches, and insolently scattered about their bones.\nPyrrhus, in appearance, made no great matter of it, either deferring\nit on account of the pressure of other business, or wholly passing it\nby, out of a fear of punishing those barbarians; but this made him\nvery ill spoken of among the Macedonians, and his affairs being yet\nunsettled and brought to no firm consistence, he began to entertain\nnew hopes and projects, and in raillery called Antigonus a shameless\nman, for still wearing his purple and not changing it for an ordinary\ndress; but upon Cleonymus, the Spartan, arriving and inviting him to\nLacedaemon, he frankly embraced the overture.  Cleonymus was of royal\ndescent, but seeming too arbitrary and absolute, had no great respect\nnor credit at home; and Areus was king there.  This was the occasion\nof an old and public grudge between him and the citizens; but, beside\nthat, Cleonymus, in his old age, had married a young lady of great\nbeauty and royal blood, Chilonis, daughter of Leotychides, who,\nfalling desperately in love with Acrotatus, Areus's son, a youth in\nthe flower of manhood, rendered this match both uneasy and\ndishonorable to Cleonymus, as there was none of the Spartans who did\nnot very well know how much his wife slighted him; so these domestic\ntroubles added to his public discontent.  He brought Pyrrhus to\nSparta with an army of twenty-five thousand foot, two thousand horse,\nand twenty-four elephants.  So great a preparation made it evident to\nthe whole world, that he came not so much to gain Sparta for\nCleonymus, as to take all Peloponnesus for himself, although he\nexpressly denied this to the Lacedaemonian ambassadors that came to\nhim at Megalopolis, affirming he came to deliver the cities from the\nslavery of Antigonus, and declaring he would send his younger sons to\nSparta, if he might, to be brought up in Spartan habits, that so they\nmight be better bred than all other kings.  With these pretensions\namusing those who came to meet him in his march, as soon as ever he\nentered Laconia, he began to plunder and waste the country, and on\nthe ambassadors complaining that he began the war upon them before it\nwas proclaimed:  \"We know,\" said he, \"very well, that neither do you\nSpartans, when you design anything, talk of it beforehand.\"  One\nMandroclidas, then present, told him, in the broad Spartan dialect:\n\"If you are a god, you will do us no harm, we are wronging no man;\nbut if you are a man, there may be another stronger than you.\"\n\nHe now marched away directly for Lacedaemon, and being advised by\nCleonymus to give the assault as soon as he arrived, fearing, as it\nis said, lest the soldiers, entering by night, should plunder the\ncity, he answered, they might do it as well next morning, because\nthere were but few soldiers in town, and those unprovided against his\nsudden approach, as Areus was not there in person, but gone to aid\nthe Gortynians in Crete.  And it was this alone that saved the town,\nbecause he despised it as not tenable, and so imagining no defense\nwould be made, he sat down before it that night.  Cleonymus's\nfriends, and the Helots, his domestic servants, had made great\npreparation at his house, as expecting Pyrrhus there at supper.  In\nthe night the Lacedaemonians held a consultation to ship over all the\nwomen into Crete, but they unanimously refused, and Archidamia came\ninto the senate with a sword in her hand, in the name of them all,\nasking if the men expected the women to survive the ruins of Sparta.\nIt was next resolved to draw a trench in a line directly over against\nthe enemy's camp, and, here and there in it, to sink wagons in the\nground, as deep as the naves of the wheels, that, so being firmly\nfixed, they might obstruct the passage of the elephants.  When they\nhad just begun the work, both maids and women came to them, the\nmarried women with their robes tied like girdles round their\nunderfrocks, and the unmarried girls in their single frocks only, to\nassist the elder men at the work.  As for the youth that were next\nday to engage, they left them to their rest, and undertaking their\nproportion, they themselves finished a third part of the trench,\nwhich was in breadth six cubits, four in depth, and eight hundred\nfeet long, as Phylarchus says; Hieronymus makes it somewhat less.\nThe enemy beginning to move by break of day, they brought their arms\nto the young men, and giving them also in charge the trench, exhorted\nthem to defend and keep it bravely, as it would be happy for them to\nconquer in the view of their whole country, and glorious to die in\nthe arms of their mothers and wives, falling as became Spartans.  As\nfor Chilonis, she retired with a halter about her neck, resolving to\ndie so rather than fall into the hands of Cleonymus, if the city were\ntaken.\n\nPyrrhus himself, in person, advanced with his foot to force through\nthe shields of the Spartans ranged against him, and to get over the\ntrench, which was scarce passable, because the looseness of the fresh\nearth afforded no firm footing for the soldiers.  Ptolemy, his son,\nwith two thousand Gauls, and some choice men of the Chaonians, went\naround the trench, and endeavored to get over where the wagons were.\nBut they, being so deep in the ground, and placed close together, not\nonly made his passage, but also the defense of the Lacedaemonians\nvery troublesome.  Yet now the Gauls had got the wheels out of the\nground, and were drawing off the wagons toward the river, when young\nAcrotatus, seeing the danger, passing through the town with three\nhundred men, surrounded Ptolemy undiscerned, taking the advantage of\nsome slopes of the ground, until he fell upon his rear, and forced\nhim to wheel about.  And thrusting one another into the ditch, and\nfalling among the wagons, at last with much loss, not without\ndifficulty, they withdrew.  The elderly men and all the women saw\nthis brave action of Acrotatus, and when he returned back into the\ntown to his first post, all covered with blood, and fierce and elate\nwith victory, he seemed to the Spartan women to have become taller\nand more beautiful than before, and they envied Chilonis so worthy a\nlover.  And some of the old men followed him, crying aloud, \"Go on,\nAcrotatus, be happy with Chilonis, and beget brave sons for Sparta.\"\nWhere Pyrrhus himself fought was the hottest of the action, and many\nof the Spartans did gallantly, but in particular one Phyllius\nsignalized himself, made the best resistance, and killed most\nassailants; and when he found himself ready to sink with the many\nwounds he had received, retiring a little out of his place behind\nanother, he fell down among his fellow-soldiers, that the enemy might\nnot carry off his body.  The fight ended with the day, and Pyrrhus,\nin his sleep, dreamed that he threw thunderbolts upon Lacedaemon, and\nset it all on fire, and rejoiced at the sight; and waking, in this\ntransport of joy, he commanded his officers to get all things ready\nfor a second assault, and relating his dream among his friends,\nsupposing it to mean that he should take the town by storm, the rest\nassented to it with admiration, but Lysimachus was not pleased with\nthe dream, and told him he feared, lest as places struck with\nlightning are held sacred, and not to be trodden upon, so the gods\nmight by this let him know the city should not be taken.  Pyrrhus\nreplied, that all these things were but idle talk, full of\nuncertainty, and only fit to amuse the vulgar; their thought, with\ntheir swords in their hands, should always be\n\nThe one good omen is king Pyrrhus' cause,\n\nand so got up, and drew out his army to the walls by break of day.\nThe Lacedaemonians, in resolution and courage, made a defense even\nbeyond their power; the women were all by, helping them to arms, and\nbringing bread and drink to those that desired it, and taking care of\nthe wounded.  The Macedonians attempted to fill up the trench,\nbringing huge quantities of materials and throwing them upon the arms\nand dead bodies, that lay there and were covered over.  While the\nLacedaemonians opposed this with all their force, Pyrrhus, in person,\nappeared on their side of the trench and the wagons, pressing on\nhorseback toward the city, at which the men who had that post calling\nout, and the women shrieking and running about, while Pyrrhus\nviolently pushed on, and beat down all that disputed his way, his\nhorse received a shot in the belly from a Cretan arrow, and, in his\nconvulsions as he died, threw off Pyrrhus on slippery and steep\nground.  And all about him being in confusion at this, the Spartans\ncame boldly up, and making good use of their missiles, forced them\noff again.  After this Pyrrhus, in other quarters also, put an end to\nthe combat, imagining the Lacedaemonians would be inclined to yield,\nas almost all of them were wounded, and very great numbers killed\noutright; but the good fortune of the city, either satisfied with the\nexperiment upon the bravery of the citizens, or willing to prove how\nmuch even in the last extremities such interposition may effect,\nbrought, when the Lacedaemonians had now but very slender hopes left,\nAminias, the Phocian, one of Antigonus's commanders, from Corinth to\ntheir assistance, with a force of mercenaries; and they were no\nsooner received into the town, but Areus, their king, arrived there\nhimself, too, from Crete, with two thousand men more.  The women upon\nthis went all home to their houses, finding it no longer necessary\nfor them to meddle with the business of the war; and they also were\nsent back, who, though not of military age, were by necessity forced\nto take arms, while the rest prepared to fight Pyrrhus.\n\nHe, upon the coming of these additional forces, was indeed possessed\nwith a more eager desire and ambition than before, to make himself\nmaster of the town; but his designs not succeeding, and receiving\nfresh losses every day, he gave over the siege, and fell to\nplundering the country, determining to winter thereabout.  But fate\nis unavoidable, and a great feud happening at Argos between Aristeas\nand Aristippus, two principal citizens, after Aristippus had resolved\nto make use of the friendship of Antigonus, Aristeas, to anticipate\nhim, invited Pyrrhus thither.  And he always revolving hopes upon\nhopes, and treating all his successes as occasions of more, and his\nreverses as defects to be amended by new enterprises, allowed neither\nlosses nor victories to limit him in his receiving or giving trouble,\nand so presently went for Argos.  Areus, by frequent ambushes, and\nseizing positions where the ways were most unpracticable, harassed\nthe Gauls and Molossians that brought up the rear.  It had been told\nPyrrhus by one of the priests that found the liver of the sacrificed\nbeast imperfect, that some of his near relations would be lost; in\nthis tumult and disorder of his rear, forgetting the prediction, he\ncommanded out his son Ptolemy with some of his guards to their\nassistance, while he himself led on the main body rapidly out of the\npass.  And the fight being very warm where Ptolemy was, (for the most\nselect men of the Lacedaemonians, commanded by Evalcus, were there\nengaged,) one Oryssus of Aptera in Crete, a stout man and swift of\nfoot, running on one side of the young prince, as he was fighting\nbravely, gave him a mortal wound and slew him.  On his fall those\nabout him turned their backs, and the Lacedaemonian horse, pursuing\nand cutting off many, got into the open plain, and found themselves\nengaged with the enemy before they were aware, without their\ninfantry; Pyrrhus, who had received the ill news of his son, and was\nin great affliction, drew out his Molossian horse against them, and\ncharging at the head of his men, satiated himself with the blood and\nslaughter of the Lacedaemonians, as indeed he always showed himself a\nterrible and invincible hero in actual fight, but now he exceeded all\nhe had ever done before in courage and force.  On his riding his\nhorse up to Evalcus, he, by declining a little to one side, had\nalmost cut off Pyrrhus's hand in which he held the reins, but\nlighting on the reins, only cut them; at the same instant Pyrrhus,\nrunning him through with his spear, fell from his horse, and there on\nfoot as he was, proceeded to slaughter all those choice men that\nfought about the body of Evalcus; a severe additional loss to Sparta,\nincurred after the war itself was now at an end, by the mere\nanimosity of the commanders.  Pyrrhus having thus offered, as it\nwere, a sacrifice to the ghost of his son, and fought a glorious\nbattle in honor of his obsequies, and having vented much of his pain\nin action against the enemy, marched away to Argos.  And having\nintelligence that Antigonus was already in possession of the high\ngrounds, he encamped about Nauplia, and the next day dispatched a\nherald to Antigonus, calling him a villain, and challenging him to\ndescend into the plain field and fight with him for the kingdom.  He\nanswered, that his conduct should be measured by times as well as by\narms, and that if Pyrrhus had no leisure to live, there were ways\nenough open to death.  To both the kings, also, came ambassadors from\nArgos, desiring each party to retreat, and to allow the city to\nremain in friendship with both, without falling into the hands of\neither.  Antigonus was persuaded, and sent his son as a hostage to\nthe Argives; but, Pyrrhus, although he consented to retire, yet, as\nhe sent no hostage, was suspected.  A remarkable portent happened at\nthis time to Pyrrhus; the heads of the sacrificed oxen, lying apart\nfrom the bodies, were seen to thrust out their tongues and lick up\ntheir own gore.  And in the city of Argos, the priestess of Apollo\nLycius rushed out of the temple, crying she saw the city full of\ncarcasses and slaughter, and an eagle coming out to fight, and\npresently vanishing again.\n\nIn the dead of the night, Pyrrhus, approaching the walls, and finding\nthe gate called Diamperes set open for them by Aristeas, was\nundiscovered long enough to allow all his Gauls to enter and take\npossession of the marketplace.  But the gate being too low to let in\nthe elephants, they were obliged to take down the towers which they\ncarried on their backs, and put them on again in the dark and in\ndisorder, so that time being lost, the city took the alarm, and the\npeople ran, some to Aspis the chief citadel, and others to other\nplaces of defense, and sent away to Antigonus to assist them.  He,\nadvancing within a short distance, made an halt, but sent in some of\nhis principal commanders, and his son with a considerable force.\nAreus came thither, too, with one thousand Cretans, and some of the\nmost active men among the Spartans, and all falling on at once upon\nthe Gauls, put them in great disorder.  Pyrrhus, entering in with\nnoise and shouting near the Cylarabis, when the Gauls returned the\ncry, noticed that it did not express courage and assurance, but was\nthe voice of men distressed, and that had their hands full.  He,\ntherefore, pushed forward in haste the van of his horse that marched\nbut slowly and dangerously, by reason of the drains and sinks of\nwhich the city is full.  In this night engagement, there was infinite\nuncertainty as to what was being done, or what orders were given;\nthere was much mistaking and straggling in the narrow streets; all\ngeneralship was useless in that darkness and noise and pressure; so\nboth sides continued without doing anything, expecting daylight.  At\nthe first dawn, Pyrrhus, seeing the great citadel Aspis full of\nenemies, was disturbed, and remarking, among a variety of figures\ndedicated in the market-place, a wolf and bull of brass, as it were\nready to attack one another, he was struck with alarm, recollecting\nan oracle that formerly predicted fate had determined his death when\nhe should see a wolf fighting with a bull.  The Argives say, these\nfigures were set up in record of a thing that long ago had happened\nthere.  For Danaus, at his first landing in the country, near the\nPyramia in Thyreatis, as he was on his way towards Argos, espied a\nwolf fighting with a bull, and conceiving the wolf to represent him,\n(for this stranger fell upon a native, as he designed to do,) stayed\nto see the issue of the fight, and the wolf prevailing, he offered\nvows to Apollo Lycius, and thus made his attempt upon the town, and\nsucceeded; Gelanor, who was then king, being displaced by a faction.\nAnd this was the cause of dedicating those figures.\n\nPyrrhus, quite out of heart at this sight, and seeing none of his\ndesigns succeed, thought best to retreat, but fearing the narrow\npassage at the gate, sent to his son Helenus, who was left without\nthe town with a great part of his forces, commanding him to break\ndown part of the wall, and assist the retreat if the enemy pressed\nhard upon them.  But what with haste and confusion, the person that\nwas sent delivered nothing clearly; so that quite mistaking, the\nyoung prince with the best of his men and the remaining elephants\nmarched straight through the gates into the town to assist his\nfather.  Pyrrhus was now making good his retreat, and while the\nmarketplace afforded them ground enough both to retreat and fight,\nfrequently repulsed the enemy that bore upon him.  But when he was\nforced out of that broad place into the narrow street leading to the\ngate, and fell in with those who came the other way to his assistance\nsome did not hear him call out to them to give back, and those who\ndid, however eager to obey him, were pushed forward by others behind,\nwho poured in at the gate.  Besides, the largest of his elephants\nfalling down on his side in the very gate, and lying roaring on the\nground, was in the way of those that would have got out.  Another of\nthe elephants already in the town, called Nicon, striving to take up\nhis rider, who, after many wounds received, was fallen off his back,\nbore forward upon those that were retreating, and, thrusting upon\nfriends as well as enemies, tumbled them all confusedly upon one\nanother, till having found the body, and taken it up with his trunk,\nhe carried it on his tusks, and, returning in a fury, trod down all\nbefore him.  Being thus pressed and crowded together, not a man could\ndo anything for himself, but being wedged, as it were, together into\none mass, the whole multitude rolled and swayed this way and that all\ntogether, and did very little execution either upon the enemy in\ntheir rear, or on any of them who were intercepted in the mass, but\nvery much harm to one another.  For he who had either drawn his sword\nor directed his lance, could neither restore it again, nor put his\nsword up; with these weapons they wounded their own men, as they\nhappened to come in the way, and they were dying by mere contact with\neach other.\n\nPyrrhus, seeing this storm and confusion of things, took off the\ncrown he wore upon his helmet, by which he was distinguished, and\ngave it to one nearest his person, and trusting to the goodness of\nhis horse, rode in among the thickest of the enemy, and being wounded\nwith a lance through his breastplate, but not dangerously, nor indeed\nvery much, he turned about upon the man who struck him, who was an\nArgive, not of any illustrious birth, but the son of a poor old\nwoman; she was looking upon the fight among other women from the top\nof a house, and perceiving her son engaged with Pyrrhus, and\naffrighted at the danger he was in, took up a tile with both hands,\nand threw it at Pyrrhus.  This falling on his head below the helmet,\nand bruising the vertebrae of the lower part of the neck, stunned and\nblinded him; his hands let go the reins, and sinking down from his\nhorse, he fell just by the tomb of Licymnius.  The common soldiers\nknew not who it was; but one Zopyrus, who served under Antigonus, and\ntwo or three others running thither, and knowing it was Pyrrhus,\ndragged him to a door way hard by, just as he was recovering a little\nfrom the blow.  But when Zopyrus drew out an Illyrian sword, ready to\ncut off his head, Pyrrhus gave him so fierce a look, that confounded\nwith terror, and sometimes his hands trembling, and then again\nendeavoring to do it, full of fear and confusion, he could not strike\nhim right, but cutting over his mouth and chin, it was a long time\nbefore he got off the head.  By this time what had happened was known\nto a great many, and Alcyoneus hastening to the place, desired to\nlook upon the head, and see whether he knew it, and taking it in his\nhand rode away to his father, and threw it at his feet, while he was\nsitting with some of his particular favorites.  Antigonus, looking\nupon it, and knowing it, thrust his son from him, and struck him with\nhis staff, calling him wicked and barbarous, and covering his eyes\nwith his robe, shed tears, thinking of his own father and\ngrandfather, instances in his own family of the changefulness of\nfortune, and caused the head and body of Pyrrhus to be burned with\nall due solemnity.  After this, Alcyoneus, discovering Helenus under\na mean disguise in a threadbare coat, used him very respectfully, and\nbrought him to his father.  When Antigonus saw him, \"This, my son,\"\nsaid he, \"is better; and yet even now you have not done wholly well\nin allowing these clothes to remain, to the disgrace of those who it\nseems now are the victors.\"  And treating Helenus with great\nkindness, and as became a prince, he restored him to his kingdom of\nEpirus, and gave the same obliging reception to all Pyrrhus's\nprincipal commanders, his camp and whole army having fallen into his\nhands.\n\n\n\nCAIUS MARIUS\n\nWe are altogether ignorant of any third name of Caius Marius; as also\nof Quintus Sertorius, that possessed himself of Spain; or of Lucius\nMummius that destroyed Corinth, though this last was surnamed\nAchaicus from his conquests, as Scipio was called Africanus, and\nMetellus, Macedonicus.  Hence Posidonius draws his chief argument to\nconfute those that hold the third to be the Roman proper name, as\nCamillus, Marcellus, Cato; as in this case, those that had but two\nnames would have no proper name at all.  He did not, however, observe\nthat by his own reasoning he must rob the women absolutely of their\nnames; for none of them have the first, which Posidonius imagines the\nproper name with the Romans.  Of the other two, one was common to the\nwhole family, Pompeii, Manlii, Cornelii, (as with us Greeks, the\nHeraclidae, and Pelopidae,) the other titular, and personal, taken\neither from their natures, or actions, or bodily characteristics, as\nMacrinus, Torquatus, Sylla; such as are Mnemon, Grypus, or Callinicus\namong the Greeks.  On the subject of names, however, the irregularity\nof custom, would we insist upon it, might furnish us with discourse\nenough.\n\nThere is a likeness of Marius in stone at Ravenna, in Gaul, which I\nmyself saw, quite corresponding with that roughness and harshness of\ncharacter that is ascribed to him.  Being naturally valiant and\nwarlike, and more acquainted also with the discipline of the camp\nthan of the city, he could not moderate his passion when in\nauthority.  He is said never to have either studied Greek, or to have\nmade use of that language in any matter of consequence; thinking it\nridiculous to bestow time in that learning, the teachers of which\nwere little better than slaves.  So after his second triumph, when at\nthe dedication of a temple he presented some shows after the Greek\nfashion, coming into the theater, he only sat down and immediately\ndeparted.  And, accordingly, as Plato often used to say to Xenocrates\nthe philosopher, who was thought to show more than ordinary harshness\nof disposition, \"I pray you, good Xenocrates, sacrifice to the\nGraces\"; so if any could have persuaded Marius to pay his devotions\nto the Greek Muses and Graces, he had never brought his incomparable\nactions, both in war and peace, to so unworthy a conclusion, or\nwrecked himself, so to say, upon an old age of cruelty and\nvindictiveness, through passion, ill-timed ambition, and insatiable\ncupidity.  But this will further appear by and by from the facts.\n\nHe was born of parents altogether obscure and indigent, who supported\nthemselves by their daily labor; his father of the same name with\nhimself, his mother called Fulcinia.  He had spent a considerable\npart of his life before he saw and tasted the pleasures of the city;\nhaving passed previously in Cirrhaeaton, a village of the territory\nof Arpinum, a life, compared with city delicacies, rude and\nunrefined, yet temperate, and conformable to the ancient Roman\nseverity.  He first served as a soldier in the war against the\nCeltiberians, when Scipio Africanus besieged Numantia; where he\nsignalized himself to his general by courage far above his comrades,\nand, particularly, by his cheerfully complying with Scipio's\nreformation of his army, before almost ruined by pleasures and\nluxury.  It is stated, too, that he encountered and vanquished an\nenemy in single combat, in his general's sight.  In consequence of\nall this he had several honors conferred upon him; and once when at\nan entertainment a question arose about commanders, and one of the\ncompany (whether really desirous to know, or only in complaisance)\nasked Scipio where the Romans, after him, should obtain such another\ngeneral, Scipio, gently clapping Marius on the shoulder as he sat\nnext him, replied, \"Here, perhaps.\"  So promising was his early youth\nof his future greatness, and so discerning was Scipio to detect the\ndistant future in the present first beginnings.  It was this speech\nof Scipio, we are told, which, like a divine admonition, chiefly\nemboldened Marius to aspire to a political career.  He sought, and by\nthe assistance of Caecilius Metellus, of whose family he as well as\nhis father were dependents, obtained the office of tribune of the\npeople.  In which place, when he brought forward a bill for the\nregulation of voting, which seemed likely to lessen the authority of\nthe great men in the courts of justice, the consul Cotta opposed him,\nand persuaded the senate to declare against the law, and call Marius\nto account for it.  He, however, when this decree was prepared,\ncoming into the senate, did not behave like a young man newly and\nundeservedly advanced to authority, but, assuming all the courage\nthat his future actions would have warranted, threatened Cotta unless\nhe recalled the decree, to throw him into prison.  And on his turning\nto Metellus, and asking his vote, and Metellus rising up to concur\nwith the consul, Marius, calling for the officer outside, commanded\nhim to take Metellus into custody.  He appealed to the other\ntribunes, but not one of them assisted him; so that the senate,\nimmediately complying, withdrew the decree.  Marius came forth with\nglory to the people and confirmed his law, and was henceforth\nesteemed a man of undaunted courage and assurance, as well as a\nvigorous opposer of the senate in favor of the commons.  But he\nimmediately lost their opinion of him by a contrary action; for when\na law for the distribution of corn was proposed, he vigorously and\nsuccessfully resisted it, making himself equally honored by both\nparties, in gratifying neither, contrary to the public interest.\n\nAfter his tribuneship, he was candidate for the office of chief\naedile; there being two orders of them, one the curules, from the\nstool with crooked feet on which they sat when they performed their\nduty; the other and inferior, called aediles of the people.  As soon\nas they have chosen the former, they give their voices again for the\nlatter.  Marius, finding he was likely to be put by for the greater,\nimmediately changed and stood for the less; but because he seemed too\nforward and hot, he was disappointed of that also.  And yet though he\nwas in one day twice frustrated of his desired preferment, (which\nnever happened to any before,) yet he was not at all discouraged, but\na little while after sought for the praetorship, and was nearly\nsuffering a repulse, and then, too, though he was returned last of\nall, was nevertheless accused of bribery.\n\nCassius Sabaco's servant, who was observed within the rails among\nthose that voted, chiefly occasioned the suspicion, as Sabaco was an\nintimate friend of Marius; but on being called to appear before the\njudges, he alleged, that being thirsty by reason of the heat, he\ncalled for cold water, and that his servant brought him a cup, and\nas soon as he had drunk, departed; he was, however, excluded from the\nsenate by the succeeding censors, and not undeservedly either, as was\nthought, whether it might be for his false evidence, or his want of\ntemperance.  Caius Herennius was also cited to appear as evidence,\nbut pleaded that it was not customary for a patron, (the Roman word\nfor protector,) to witness against his clients, and that the law\nexcused them from that harsh duty; and both Marius and his parents\nhad always been clients to the family of the Herennii.  And when the\njudges would have accepted of this plea, Marius himself opposed it,\nand told Herennius, that when he was first created magistrate he\nceased to be his client; which was not altogether true.  For it is\nnot every office that frees clients and their posterity from the\nobservance due to their patrons, but only those to which the law has\nassigned a curule chair.  Notwithstanding, though at the beginning of\nthe suit it went somewhat hard with Marius, and he found the judges\nno way favorable to him; yet, at last, their voices being equal,\ncontrary to all expectation, he was acquitted.\n\nIn his praetorship he did not get much honor, yet after it he\nobtained the further Spain; which province he is said to have\ncleared of robbers, with which it was much infested, the old\nbarbarous habits still prevailing, and the Spaniards, in those days,\nstill regarding robbery as a piece of valor.  In the city he had\nneither riches nor eloquence to trust to, with which the leading men\nof the time obtained power with the people, but his vehement\ndisposition, his indefatigable labors, and his plain way of living,\nof themselves gained him esteem and influence; so that he made an\nhonorable match with Julia, of the distinguished family of the\nCaesars, to whom that Caesar was nephew who was afterwards so great\namong the Romans, and, in some degree, from his relationship, made\nMarius his example, as in his life we have observed.\n\nMarius is praised for both temperance and endurance, of which latter\nhe gave a decided instance in an operation of surgery.  For having,\nas it seems, both his legs full of great tumors, and disliking the\ndeformity, he determined to put himself into the hands of an\noperator; when, without being tied, he stretched out one of his legs,\nand silently, without changing countenance, endured most excessive\ntorments in the cutting, never either flinching or complaining; but\nwhen the surgeon went to the other, he declined to have it done,\nsaying, \"I see the cure is not worth the pain.\"\n\nThe consul Caecilius Metellus.  being declared general in the war\nagainst Jugurtha in Africa, took with him Marius for lieutenant;\nwhere, eager himself to do great deeds and services that would get\nhim distinction, he did not, like others, consult Metellus's glory and\nthe serving his interest, and attributing his honor of lieutenancy\nnot to Metellus, but to fortune, which had presented him with a\nproper opportunity and theater of great actions, he exerted his\nutmost courage.  That war, too, affording several difficulties, he\nneither declined the greatest, nor disdained undertaking the least of\nthem; but surpassing his equals in counsel and conduct, and matching\nthe very common soldiers in labor and abstemiousness, he gained great\npopularity with them; as indeed any voluntary partaking with people\nin their labor is felt as an easing of that labor, as it seems to\ntake away the constraint and necessity of it.  It is the most\nobliging sight in the world to the Roman soldier to see a commander\neat the same bread as himself, or lie upon an ordinary bed, or assist\nthe work in the drawing a trench and raising a bulwark.  For they do\nnot so much admire those that confer honors and riches upon them, as\nthose that partake of the same labor and danger with themselves; but\nlove them better that will vouchsafe to join in their work, than\nthose that encourage their idleness.\n\nMarius thus employed, and thus winning the affections of the\nsoldiers, before long filled both Africa and Rome with his fame, and\nsome, too, wrote home from the army that the war with Africa would\nnever be brought to a conclusion, unless they chose Caius Marius\nconsul.  All which was evidently unpleasing to Metellus; but what\nmore especially grieved him was the calamity of Turpillius.  This\nTurpillius had, from his ancestors, been a friend of Metellus, and\nkept up constant hospitality with him; and was now serving in the\nwar, in command of the smiths and carpenters of the army.  Having the\ncharge of a garrison in Vaga, a considerable city, and trusting too\nmuch to the inhabitants, because he treated them civilly and kindly,\nhe unawares fell into the enemy's hands.  They received Jugurtha into\nthe city; yet, nevertheless, at their request, Turpillius was\ndismissed safe and without receiving any injury; whereupon he was\naccused of betraying it to the enemy.  Marius, being one of the\ncouncil of war, was not only violent against him himself, but also\nincensed most of the others, so that Metellus was forced, much\nagainst his will, to put him to death.  Not long after the accusation\nproved false, and when others were comforting Metellus, who took\nheavily the loss of his friend, Marius, rather insulting and\narrogating it to himself, boasted in all companies that he had\ninvolved Metellus in the guilt of putting his friend to death.\n\nHenceforward they were at open variance; and it is reported that\nMetellus once, when Marius was present, said, insultingly, \"You, sir,\ndesign to leave us to go home and stand for the consulship, and will\nnot be content to wait and be consul with this boy of mine?\"\nMetellus's son being a mere boy at the time.  Yet for all this Marius\nbeing very importunate to be gone, after several delays, he was\ndismissed about twelve days before the election of consuls; and\nperformed that long journey from the camp to the seaport of Utica, in\ntwo days and a night, and there doing sacrifice before he went on\nshipboard, it is said the augur told him, that heaven promised him\nsome incredible good fortune, and such as was beyond all expectation.\nMarius, not a little elated with this good omen, began his voyage,\nand in four days, with a favorable wind, passed the sea; he was\nwelcomed with great joy by the people, and being brought into the\nassembly by one of the tribunes, sued for the consulship, inveighing\nin all ways against Metellus, and promising either to slay Jugurtha\nor take him alive.\n\nHe was elected triumphantly, and at once proceeded to levy soldiers,\ncontrary both to law and custom, enlisting slaves and poor people;\nwhereas former commanders never accepted of such, but bestowed arms,\nlike other favors, as a matter of distinction, on persons who had the\nproper qualification, a man's property being thus a sort of security\nfor his good behavior.  These were not the only occasions of ill-will\nagainst Marius; some haughty speeches, uttered with great arrogance\nand contempt, gave great offense to the nobility; as, for example,\nhis saying that he had carried off the consulship as a spoil from the\neffeminacy of the wealthy and high-born citizens, and telling the\npeople that he gloried in wounds he had himself received for them, as\nmuch as others did in the monuments of dead men and images of their\nancestors.  Often speaking of the commanders that had been\nunfortunate in Africa, naming Bestia, for example, and Albinus, men\nof very good families, but unfit for war, and who had miscarried\nthrough want of experience, he asked the people about him, if they\ndid not think that the ancestors of these nobles had much rather have\nleft a descendant like him, since they themselves grew famous not by\nnobility, but by their valor and great actions?  This he did not say\nmerely out of vanity and arrogance, or that he were willing, without\nany advantage, to offend the nobility; but the people always\ndelighting in affronts and scurrilous contumelies against the senate,\nmaking boldness of speech their measure of greatness of spirit,\ncontinually encouraged him in it, and strengthened his inclination\nnot to spare persons of repute, so he might gratify the multitude.\n\nAs soon as he arrived again in Africa, Metellus, no longer able to\ncontrol his feelings of jealousy, and his indignation that now when\nhe had really finished the war, and nothing was left but to secure\nthe person of Jugurtha, Marius, grown great merely through his\ningratitude to him, should come to bereave him both of his victory\nand triumph, could not bear to have any interview with him; but\nretired himself, whilst Rutilius, his lieutenant, surrendered up the\narmy to Marius, whose conduct, however, in the end of the war, met\nwith some sort of retribution, as Sylla deprived him of the glory of\nthe action, as he had done Metellus.  I shall state the circumstances\nbriefly here, as they are given at large in the life of Sylla.\nBocchus was king of the more distant barbarians, and was\nfather-in-law to Jugurtha, yet sent him little or no assistance in\nhis war, professing fears of his unfaithfulness, and really jealous\nof his growing power; but after Jugurtha fled, and in his distress\ncame to him as his last hope, he received him as a suppliant, rather\nbecause ashamed to do otherwise, than out of real kindness; and when\nhe had him in his power, he openly entreated Marius on his behalf,\nand interceded for him with bold words, giving out that he would by\nno means deliver him.  Yet privately designing to betray him, he sent\nfor Lucius Sylla, quaestor to Marius, and who had on a previous\noccasion befriended Bocchus in the war.  When Sylla, relying on his\nword, came to him, the African began to doubt and repent of his\npurpose, and for several days was unresolved with himself, whether he\nshould deliver Jugurtha or retain Sylla; at length he fixed upon his\nformer treachery, and put Jugurtha alive into Sylla's possession.\nThus was the first occasion given of that fierce and implacable\nhostility which so nearly ruined the whole Roman empire.  For many\nthat envied Marius, attributed the success wholly to Sylla; and Sylla\nhimself got a seal made on which was engraved Bocchus betraying\nJugurtha to him, and constantly used it, irritating the hot and\njealous temper of Marius, who was naturally greedy of distinction,\nand quick to resent any claim to share in his glory, and whose\nenemies took care to promote the quarrel, ascribing the beginning and\nchief business of the war to Metellus, and its conclusion to Sylla;\nthat so the people might give over admiring and esteeming Marius as\nthe worthiest person.\n\nBut these envyings and calumnies were soon dispersed and cleared away\nfrom Marius, by the danger that threatened Italy from the west; when\nthe city, in great need of a good commander, sought about whom she\nmight set at the helm, to meet the tempest of so great a war, no one\nwould have anything to say to any members of noble or potent\nfamilies who offered themselves for the consulship, and Marius,\nthough then absent, was elected.\n\nJugurtha's apprehension was only just known, when the news of the\ninvasion of the Teutones and Cimbri began.  The accounts at first\nexceeded all credit, as to the number and strength of the approaching\narmy; but in the end, report proved much inferior to the truth, as\nthey were three hundred thousand effective fighting men, besides a\nfar greater number of women and children.  They professed to be\nseeking new countries to sustain these great multitudes, and cities\nwhere they might settle and inhabit, in the same way as they had\nheard the Celti before them had driven out the Tyrrhenians, and\npossessed themselves of the best part of Italy.  Having had no\ncommerce with the southern nations, and traveling over a wide extent\nof country, no man knew what people they were, or whence they came,\nthat thus like a cloud burst over Gaul and Italy; yet by their gray\neyes and the largeness of their stature, they were conjectured to be\nsome of the German races dwelling by the northern sea; besides that,\nthe Germans call plunderers Cimbri.\n\nThere are some that say, that the country of the Celti, in its vast\nsize and extent, reaches from the furthest sea and the arctic regions\nto the lake Maeotis eastward, and to that part of Scythia which is\nnear Pontus, and that there the nations mingle together; that they\ndid not swarm out of their country all at once, or on a sudden, but\nadvancing by force of arms, in the summer season, every year, in the\ncourse of time they crossed the whole continent.  And thus, though\neach party had several appellations, yet the whole army was called by\nthe common name of Celto-Scythians.  Others say that the Cimmerii,\nanciently known to the Greeks, were only a small part of the nation,\nwho were driven out upon some quarrel among the Scythians, and passed\nall along from the lake Maeotis to Asia, under the conduct of one\nLygdamis; and that the greater and more warlike part of them still\ninhabit the remotest regions lying upon the outer ocean.  These, they\nsay, live in a dark and woody country hardly penetrable by the\nsunbeams, the trees are so close and thick, extending into the\ninterior as far as the Hercynian forest; and their position on the\nearth is under that part of heaven, where the pole is so elevated,\nthat by the declination of the parallels, the zenith of the\ninhabitants seems to be but little distant from it; and that their\ndays and nights being almost of an equal length, they divide their\nyear into one of each.  This was Homer's occasion for the story of\nUlysses calling up the dead, and from this region the people,\nanciently called Cimmerii, and afterwards, by an easy change, Cimbri,\ncame into Italy.  All this, however, is rather conjecture than an\nauthentic history.\n\nTheir numbers, most writers agree, were not less, but rather greater\nthan was reported.  They were of invincible strength and fierceness\nin their wars, and hurried into battle with the violence of a\ndevouring flame; none could withstand them; all they assaulted became\ntheir prey.  Several of the greatest Roman commanders with their\nwhole armies, that advanced for the defense of Transalpine Gaul, were\ningloriously overthrown, and, indeed, by their faint resistance,\nchiefly gave them the impulse of marching towards Rome.  Having\nvanquished all they had met, and found abundance of plunder, they\nresolved to settle themselves nowhere till they should have razed the\ncity, and wasted all Italy.  The Romans, being from all parts alarmed\nwith this news, sent for Marius to undertake the war, and nominated\nhim the second time consul, though the law did not permit any one\nthat was absent, or that had not waited a certain time after his\nfirst consulship, to be again created.  But the people rejected all\nopposers; for they considered this was not the first time that the\nlaw gave place to the common interest; nor the present occasion less\nurgent than that when, contrary to law, they made Scipio consul, not\nin fear for the destruction of their own city, but desiring the ruin\nof that of the Carthaginians.\n\nThus it was decided; and Marius, bringing over his legions out of\nAfrica on the very first day of January, which the Romans count the\nbeginning of the year, received the consulship, and then, also,\nentered in triumph, showing Jugurtha a prisoner to the people, a\nsight they had despaired of ever beholding, nor could any, so long as\nhe lived, hope to reduce the enemy in Africa; so fertile in\nexpedients was he to adapt himself to every turn of fortune, and so\nbold as well as subtle.  When, however, he was led in triumph, it is\nsaid that he fell distracted, and when he was afterwards thrown into\nprison, where some tore off his clothes by force, and others, whilst\nthey struggled for his golden ear-ring, with it pulled off the tip of\nhis ear, and when he was, after this, cast naked into the dungeon, in\nhis amazement and confusion, with a ghastly laugh, he cried out, \"O\nHercules! how cold your bath is!\"  Here for six days struggling with\nhunger, and to the very last minute desirous of life, he was\novertaken by the just reward of his villainies.  In this triumph was\nbrought, as is stated, of gold three thousand and seven pounds\nweight, of silver bullion five thousand seven hundred and\nseventy-five, of money in gold and silver coin two hundred and\neighty-seven thousand drachmas.  After the solemnity, Marius called\ntogether the senate in the capitol, and entered, whether through\ninadvertency or unbecoming exultation with his good fortune, in his\ntriumphal habit; but presently observing the senate offended at it,\nwent out, and returned in his ordinary purple-bordered robe.\n\nOn the expedition he carefully disciplined and trained his army\nwhilst on their way, giving them practice in long marches, and\nrunning of every sort, and compelling every man to carry his own\nbaggage and prepare his own victuals; insomuch that thenceforward\nlaborious soldiers, who did their work silently without grumbling,\nhad the name of \"Marius's mules.\"  Some, however, think the proverb\nhad a different occasion; that when Scipio besieged Numantia, and was\ncareful to inspect not only their horses and arms, but their mules\nand carriages too, and see how well equipped and in what readiness\neach one's was, Marius brought forth his horse which he had fed\nextremely well, and a mule in better case, stronger and gentler than\nthose of others; that the general was very well pleased, and often\nafterwards mentioned Marius's beasts; and that hence the soldiers,\nwhen speaking jestingly in the praise of a drudging, laborious\nfellow, called him Marius's mule.\n\nBut to proceed; very great good fortune seemed to attend Marius, for\nby the enemy in a manner changing their course, and falling first\nupon Spain, he had time to exercise his soldiers, and confirm their\ncourage, and, which was most important, to show them what he himself\nwas.  For that fierce manner of his in command, and inexorableness in\npunishing, when his men became used not to do amiss or disobey, was\nfelt to be wholesome and advantageous, as well as just, and his\nviolent spirit, stern voice, and harsh aspect, which in a little\nwhile grew familiar to them, they esteemed terrible not to\nthemselves, but only to their enemies.  But his uprightness in\njudging, more especially pleased the soldiers, one remarkable\ninstance of which is as follows.  One Caius Lusius, his own nephew,\nhad a command under him in the army, a man not in other respects of\nbad character, but shamefully licentious with young men.  He had one\nyoung man under his command called Trebonius, with whom\nnotwithstanding many solicitations he could never prevail.  At length\none night, he sent a messenger for him, and Trebonius came, as it was\nnot lawful for him to refuse when he was sent for, and being brought\ninto his tent, when Lusius began to use violence with him, he drew\nhis sword and ran him through.  This was done whilst Marius was\nabsent.  When he returned, he appointed Trebonius a time for his\ntrial, where, whilst many accused him, and not any one appeared in\nhis defense, he himself boldly related the whole matter, and brought\nwitness of his previous conduct to Lusius, who had frequently offered\nhim considerable presents.  Marius, admiring his conduct and much\npleased, commanded the garland, the usual Roman reward of valor, to\nbe brought, and himself crowned Trebonius with it, as having\nperformed an excellent action, at a time that very much wanted such\ngood examples.\n\nThis being told at Rome, proved no small help to Marius towards his\nthird consulship; to which also conduced the expectation of the\nbarbarians at the summer season, the people being unwilling to trust\ntheir fortunes with any other general but him.  However, their\narrival was not so early as was imagined, and the time of Marius's\nconsulship was again expired.  The election coming on, and his\ncolleague being dead, he left the command of the army to Manius\nAquilius, and hastened to Rome, where, several eminent persons being\ncandidates for the consulship, Lucius Saturninus, who more than any\nof the other tribunes swayed the populace, and of whom Marius himself\nwas very observant, exerted his eloquence with the people, advising\nthem to choose Marius consul.  He playing the modest part, and\nprofessing to decline the office, Saturninus called him traitor to\nhis country, if, in such apparent danger, he would avoid command.\nAnd though it was not difficult to discover that he was merely\nhelping Marius in putting this presence upon the people, yet,\nconsidering that the present juncture much required his skill, and\nhis good fortune too, they voted him the fourth time consul, and made\nCatulus Lutatius his colleague, a man very much esteemed by the\nnobility, and not unagreeable to the commons.\n\nMarius, having notice of the enemy's approach, with all expedition\npassed the Alps, and pitching his camp by the river Rhone, took care\nfirst for plentiful supplies of victuals; lest at any time he should\nbe forced to fight at a disadvantage for want of necessaries.  The\ncarriage of provision for the army from the sea, which was formerly\nlong and expensive, he made speedy and easy.  For the mouth of the\nRhone, by the influx of the sea, being barred and almost filled up\nwith sand and mud mixed with clay, the passage there became narrow,\ndifficult, and dangerous for the ships that brought their provisions.\nHither, therefore, bringing his army, then at leisure, he drew a\ngreat trench; and by turning the course of great part of the river,\nbrought it to a convenient point on the shore where the water was\ndeep enough to receive ships of considerable burden, and where there\nwas a calm and easy opening to the sea.  And this still retains the\nname it took from him.\n\nThe enemy dividing themselves into two parts, the Cimbri arranged to\ngo against Catulus higher up through the country of the Norici, and\nto force that passage; the Teutones and Ambrones to march against\nMarius by the sea-side through Liguria.  The Cimbri were a\nconsiderable time in doing their part.  But the Teutones and Ambrones\nwith all expedition passing over the interjacent country, soon came\nin sight, in numbers beyond belief, of a terrible aspect, and\nuttering strange cries and shouts.  Taking up a great part of the\nplain with their camp, they challenged Marius to battle; he seemed to\ntake no notice of them, but kept his soldiers within their\nfortifications, and sharply reprehended those that were too forward\nand eager to show their courage, and who, out of passion, would needs\nbe fighting, calling them traitors to their country, and telling them\nthey were not now to think of the glory of triumphs and trophies, but\nrather how they might repel such an impetuous tempest of war, and\nsave Italy.\n\nThus he discoursed privately with his officers and equals, but placed\nthe soldiers by turns upon the bulwarks to survey the enemy, and so\nmade them familiar with their shape and voice, which were indeed\naltogether extravagant and barbarous, and he caused them to observe\ntheir arms, and way of using them, so that in a little time what at\nfirst appeared terrible to their apprehensions, by often viewing,\nbecame familiar.  For he very rationally supposed, that the\nstrangeness of things often makes them seem formidable when they are\nnot so; and that by our better acquaintance, even things which are\nreally terrible, lose much of their frightfulness.  This daily\nconverse not only diminished some of the soldiers' fear, but their\nindignation warmed and inflamed their courage, when they heard the\nthreats and insupportable insolence of their enemies; who not only\nplundered and depopulated all the country round, but would even\ncontemptuously and confidently attack the ramparts.\n\nComplaints of the soldiers now began to come to Marius's ears.  \"What\neffeminacy does Marius see in us, that he should thus like women lock\nus up from encountering our enemies?  Come on, let us show ourselves\nmen, and ask him if he expects others to fight for Italy; and means\nmerely to employ us in servile offices, when he would dig trenches,\ncleanse places of mud and dirt, and turn the course of rivers?  It\nwas to do such works as these, it seems, that he gave us all our long\ntraining; he will return home, and boast of these great performances\nof his consulships to the people.  Does the defeat of Carbo and\nCaepio, who were vanquished by the enemy, affright him?  Surely they\nwere much inferior to Marius both in glory and valor, and commanded a\nmuch weaker army; at the worst, it is better to be in action, though\nwe suffer for it like them, than to sit idle spectators of the\ndestruction of our allies and companions.\"  Marius, not a little\npleased to hear this, gently appeased them, pretending that he did\nnot distrust their valor, but that he took his measures as to the\ntime and place of victory from some certain oracles.\n\nAnd, in fact, he used solemnly to carry about in a litter, a Syrian\nwoman, called Martha, a supposed prophetess, and to do sacrifice by\nher directions.  She had formerly been driven away by the senate, to\nwhom she addressed herself, offering to inform them about these\naffairs, and to foretell future events; and after this betook herself\nto the women, and gave them proofs of her skill, especially Marius's\nwife, at whose feet she sat when she was viewing a contest of\ngladiators, and correctly foretold which of them should overcome.\nShe was for this and the like predictings sent by her to Marius and\nthe army, where she was very much looked up to, and, for the most\npart, carried about in a litter.  When she went to sacrifice, she\nwore a purple robe lined and buckled up, and had in her hand a little\nspear trimmed with ribbons and garlands.  This theatrical show made\nmany question, whether Marius really gave any credit to her himself,\nor only played the counterfeit, when he showed her publicly, to\nimpose upon the soldiers.\n\nWhat, however, Alexander the Myndian relates about the vultures, does\nreally deserve admiration; that always before Marius's victories\nthere appeared two of them, and accompanied the army, which were\nknown by their brazen collars, (the soldiers having caught them and\nput these about their necks, and so let them go, from which time they\nin a manner knew and saluted the soldiers,) and whenever these\nappeared in their marches, they used to rejoice at it, and thought\nthemselves sure of some success.  Of the many other prodigies that\nthen were taken notice of, the greater part were but of the ordinary\nstamp; it was, however, reported that at Ameria and Tuder, two cities\nin Italy, there were seen at nights in the sky, flaming darts and\nshields, now waved about, and then again clashing against one\nanother, all in accordance with the postures and motions soldiers use\nin fighting; that at length one party retreating, and the other\npursuing, they all disappeared westward.  Much about the same time\ncame Bataces, one of Cybele's priests, from Pesinus, and reported\nhow the goddess had declared to him out of her oracle, that the\nRomans should obtain the victory.  The senate giving credit to him,\nand voting the goddess a temple to be built in hopes of the victory,\nAulus Pompeius, a tribune, prevented Bataces, when he would have gone\nand told the people this same story, calling him impostor, and\nignominiously pulling him off the hustings; which action in the end\nwas the main thing that gained credit for the man's story, for Aulus\nhad scarce dissolved the assembly, and returned home, when a violent\nfever seized him, and it was matter of universal remark, and in\neverybody's mouth, that he died within a week after.\n\nNow the Teutones, whilst Marius lay quiet, ventured to attack his\ncamp; from whence, however, being encountered with showers of darts,\nand losing several of their men, they determined to march forward,\nhoping to reach the other side of the Alps without opposition, and,\npacking up their baggage, passed securely by the Roman camp, where\nthe greatness of their number was especially made evident by the long\ntime they took in their march, for they were said to be six days\ncontinually going on in passing Marius's fortifications; they marched\npretty near, and revilingly asked the Romans if they would send any\ncommands by them to their wives, for they would shortly be with them.\nAs soon as they were passed and had gone on a little distance ahead,\nMarius began to move, and follow them at his leisure, always\nencamping at some small distance from them; choosing also strong\npositions, and carefully fortifying them, that he might quarter with\nsafety.  Thus they marched till they came to the place called\nSextilius's Waters, from whence it was but a short way before being\namidst the Alps, and here Marius put himself in readiness for the\nencounter.\n\nHe chose a place for his camp of considerable strength, but where\nthere was a scarcity of water; designing, it is said, by this means,\nalso, to put an edge on his soldiers' courage; and when several were\nnot a little distressed, and complained of thirst, pointing to a\nriver that ran near the enemy's camp:  \"There,\" said he, \"you may\nhave drink, if you will buy it with your blood.\"  \"Why, then,\"\nreplied they, \"do you not lead us to them, before our blood is dried\nup in us?\"  He answered, in a softer tone, \"let us first fortify our\ncamp,\" and the soldiers, though not without repining, proceeded to\nobey.  Now a great company of their boys and camp-followers, having\nneither drink for themselves nor for their horses, went down to that\nriver; some taking axes and hatchets, and some, too, swords and darts\nwith their pitchers, resolving to have water though they fought for\nit.  These were first encountered by a small party of the enemies;\nfor most of them had just finished bathing, and were eating and\ndrinking, and several were still bathing, the country thereabouts\nabounding in hot springs; so that the Romans partly fell upon them\nwhilst they were enjoying themselves, and occupied with the novel\nsights and pleasantness of the place.  Upon hearing the shouts,\ngreater numbers still joining in the fight, it was not a little\ndifficult for Marius to contain his soldiers, who were afraid of\nlosing the camp-servants; and the more warlike part of the enemies,\nwho had overthrown Manlius and Caepio, (they were called Ambrones,\nand were in number, one with another, above thirty thousand,) taking\nthe alarm, leaped up and hurried to arms.\n\nThese, though they had just been gorging themselves with food, and\nwere excited and disordered with drink, nevertheless did not advance\nwith an unruly step, or in mere senseless fury, nor were their shouts\nmere inarticulate cries; but clashing their arms in concert, and\nkeeping time as they leapt and bounded onward, they continually\nrepeated their own name, \"Ambrones!\" either to encourage one another,\nor to strike the greater terror into their enemies.  Of all the\nItalians in Marius's army, the Ligurians were the first that charged;\nand when they caught the word of the enemy's confused shout, they,\ntoo, returned the same, as it was an ancient name also in their\ncountry, the Ligurians always using it when speaking of their\ndescent.  This acclamation, bandied from one army to the other before\nthey joined, served to rouse and heighten their fury, while the men\non either side strove, with all possible vehemence, the one to\novershout the other.\n\nThe river disordered the Ambrones; before they could draw up all\ntheir army on the other side of it, the Ligurians presently fell upon\nthe van, and began to charge them hand to hand.  The Romans, too,\ncoming to their assistance, and from the higher ground pouring upon\nthe enemy, forcibly repelled them, and the most of them (one\nthrusting another into the river) were there slain, and filled it\nwith their blood and dead bodies.  Those that got safe over, not\ndaring to make head, were slain by the Romans, as they fled to their\ncamp and wagons; where the women meeting them with swords and\nhatchets, and making a hideous outcry, set upon those that fled as\nwell as those that pursued, the one as traitors, the other as\nenemies; and, mixing themselves with the combatants, with their bare\narms pulling away the Romans' shields, and laying hold on their\nswords, endured the wounds and slashing of their bodies to the very\nlast, with undaunted resolution.  Thus the battle seems to have\nhappened at that river rather by accident than by the design of the\ngeneral.\n\nAfter the Romans were retired from the great slaughter of the\nAmbrones, night came on; but the army was not indulged, as was the\nusual custom, with songs of victory, drinking in their tents, and\nmutual entertainments, and (what is most welcome to soldiers after\nsuccessful fighting) quiet sleep, but they passed that night, above\nall others, in fears and alarm.  For their camp was without either\nrampart or palisade, and there remained thousands upon thousands of\ntheir enemies yet unconquered; to whom were joined as many of the\nAmbrones as escaped.  There were heard from these, all through the\nnight, wild bewailings, nothing like the sighs and groans of men, but\na sort of wild-beastlike howling and roaring, joined with threats\nand lamentations rising from the vast multitude, and echoed among the\nneighboring hills and hollow banks of the river.  The whole plain was\nfilled with hideous noise, insomuch that the Romans were not a little\nafraid, and Marius himself was apprehensive of a confused tumultuous\nnight engagement.  But the enemy did not stir either this night or\nthe next day, but were employed in disposing and drawing themselves\nup to the greatest advantage.\n\nOf this occasion Marius made good use; for there were beyond the\nenemies some wooded ascents and deep valleys thickly set with trees,\nwhither he sent Claudius Marcellus, secretly, with three thousand\nregular soldiers, giving him orders to post them in ambush there, and\nshow themselves at the rear of the enemies, when the fight was begun.\nThe others, refreshed with victuals and sleep, as soon as it was day\nhe drew up before the camp, and commanded the horse to sally out into\nthe plain, at the sight of which the Teutones could not contain\nthemselves till the Romans should come down and fight them on equal\nterms, but hastily arming themselves, charged in their fury up the\nhill-side.  Marius, sending officers to all parts, commanded his men\nto stand still and keep their ground; when they came within reach, to\nthrow their javelins, then use their swords, and, joining their\nshields, force them back; pointing out to them that the steepness of\nthe ground would render the enemy's blows inefficient, nor could\ntheir shields be kept close together, the inequality of the ground\nhindering the stability of their footing.\n\nThis counsel he gave them, and was the first that followed it; for he\nwas inferior to none in the use of his body, and far excelled all in\nresolution.  The Romans accordingly stood for their approach, and,\nchecking them in their advance upwards, forced them little by little\nto give way and yield down the hill, and here, on the level ground no\nsooner had the Ambrones begun to restore their van into a posture of\nresistance, but they found their rear disordered.  For Marcellus had\nnot let slip the opportunity; but as soon as the shout was raised\namong the Romans on the hills, he, setting his men in motion, fell in\nupon the enemy behind, at full speed, and with loud cries, and routed\nthose nearest him, and they, breaking the ranks of those that were\nbefore them, filled the whole army with confusion.  They made no long\nresistance after they were thus broke in upon, but having lost all\norder, fled.\n\nThe Romans, pursuing them, slew and took prisoners above one hundred\nthousand, and possessing themselves of their spoil, tents, and\ncarriages, voted all that was not purloined to Marius's share, which,\nthough so magnificent a present, yet was generally thought less than\nhis conduct deserved in so great a danger.  Other authors give a\ndifferent account, both about the division of the plunder and the\nnumber of the slain.  They say, however, that the inhabitants of\nMassilia made fences round their vineyards with the bones, and that\nthe ground, enriched by the moisture of the putrefied bodies, (which\nsoaked in with the rain of the following winter,) yielded at the\nseason a prodigious crop, and fully justified Archilochus, who said,\nthat the fallows thus are fattened.  It is an observation, also, that\nextraordinary rains pretty generally fall after great battles;\nwhether it be that some divine power thus washes and cleanses the\npolluted earth with showers from above, or that moist and heavy\nevaporations, steaming forth from the blood and corruption, thicken\nthe air, which naturally is subject to alteration from the smallest\ncauses.\n\nAfter the battle, Marius chose out from amongst the barbarians'\nspoils and arms, those that were whole and handsome, and that would\nmake the greatest show in his triumph; the rest he heaped upon a\nlarge pile, and offered a very splendid sacrifice.  Whilst the army\nstood round about with their arms and garlands, himself attired\n(as the fashion is on such occasions) in the purple-bordered robe,\ntaking a lighted torch, and with both hands lifting it up towards\nheaven, he was then going to put it to the pile, when some friends\nwere espied with all haste coming towards him on horseback.  Upon\nwhich every one remained in silence and expectation.  They, upon\ntheir coming up, leapt off and saluted Marius, bringing him the news\nof his fifth consulship, and delivered him letters to that effect.\nThis gave the addition of no small joy to the solemnity; and while\nthe soldiers clashed their arms and shouted, the officers again\ncrowned Marius with a laurel-wreath, and he thus set fire to the\npile, and finished his sacrifice.\n\nBut whatever it be, which interferes to prevent the enjoyment of\nprosperity ever being pure and sincere, and still diversifies human\naffairs with the mixture of good and bad, whether fortune or divine\ndispleasure, or the necessity of the nature of things, within a few\ndays Marius received an account of his colleague, Catulus, which as a\ncloud in serenity and calm, terrified Rome with the apprehension of\nanother imminent storm.  Catulus, who marched against the Cimbri,\ndespairing of being able to defend the passes of the Alps, lest,\nbeing compelled to divide his forces into several parties, he should\nweaken himself, descended again into Italy, and posted his army\nbehind the river Adige; where he occupied the passages with strong\nfortifications on both sides the river, and made a bridge, that so he\nmight cross to the assistance of his men on the other side, if so be\nthe enemy, having forced their way through the mountain passes,\nshould storm the fortresses.  The barbarians, however, came on with\nsuch insolence and contempt of their enemies, that to show their\nstrength and courage, rather than out of any necessity, they went\nnaked in the showers of snow, and through the ice and deep snow\nclimbed up to the tops of the hills, and from thence, placing their\nbroad shields under their bodies, let themselves slide from the\nprecipices along their vast slippery descents.\n\nWhen they had pitched their camp at a little distance from the river,\nand surveyed the passage, they began to pile it up, giant-like,\ntearing down the neighboring hills; and brought trees pulled up by\nthe roots, and heaps of earth to the river, damming up its course;\nand with great heavy materials which they rolled down the stream and\ndashed against the bridge, they forced away the beams which supported\nit; in consequence of which the greatest part of the Roman soldiers,\nmuch affrighted, left the large camp and fled.  Here Catulus showed\nhimself a generous and noble general, in preferring the glory of his\npeople before his own; for when he could not prevail with his\nsoldiers to stand to their colors, but saw how they all deserted\nthem, he commanded his own standard to be taken up, and running to\nthe foremost of those that fled, he led them forward, choosing rather\nthat the disgrace should fall upon himself than upon his country, and\nthat they should not seem to fly, but, following their captain, to\nmake a retreat.  The barbarians assaulted and took the fortress on\nthe other side the Adige; where much admiring the few Romans there\nleft, who had shown extreme courage, and had fought worthily of their\ncountry, they dismissed them upon terms, swearing them upon their\nbrazen bull, which was afterwards taken in the battle, and carried,\nthey say, to Catulus's house, as the chief trophy of victory.\n\nThus falling in upon the country destitute of defense, they wasted it\non all sides.  Marius was presently sent for to the city; where, when\nhe arrived, every one supposing he would triumph, the senate, too,\nunanimously voting it, he himself did not think it convenient;\nwhether that he were not willing to deprive his soldiers and officers\nof their share of the glory, or that to encourage the people in this\njuncture, he would leave the honor due to his past victory on trust,\nas it were, in the hands of the city and its future fortune;\ndeferring it now, to receive it afterwards with the greater splendor.\nHaving left such orders as the occasion required, he hastened to\nCatulus, whose drooping spirits he much raised, and sent for his own\narmy from Gaul:  and as soon as it came, passing the river Po, he\nendeavored to keep the barbarians out of that part of Italy which\nlies south of it.\n\nThey professed they were in expectation of the Teutones, and, saying\nthey wondered they were so long in coming, deferred the battle;\neither that they were really ignorant of their defeat, or were\nwilling to seem so.  For they certainly much maltreated those that\nbrought them such news, and, sending to Marius, required some part of\nthe country for themselves and their brethren, and cities fit for\nthem to inhabit.  When Marius inquired of the ambassadors who their\nbrethren were, upon their saying, the Teutones, all that were present\nbegan to laugh; and Marius scoffingly answered them, \"Do not trouble\nyourselves for your brethren, for we have already provided lands for\nthem, which they shall possess forever.\"  The ambassadors,\nunderstanding the mockery, broke into insults, and threatened that\nthe Cimbri would make him pay for this, and the Teutones, too, when\nthey came.  \"They are not far off,\" replied Marius, \"and it will be\nunkindly done of you to go away before greeting your brethren.\"\nSaying so, he commanded the kings of the Teutones to be brought out.\nas they were, in chains; for they were taken by the Sequani among the\nAlps, before they could make their escape.  This was no sooner made\nknown to the Cimbri, but they with all expedition came against\nMarius, who then lay still and guarded his camp.\n\nIt is said, that against this battle, Marius first altered the\nconstruction of the Roman javelins.  For before, at the place where\nthe wood was joined to the iron, it was made fast with two iron pins;\nbut now Marius let one of them alone as it was, and pulling out the\nother, put a weak wooden peg in its place, thus contriving, that when\nit was driven into the enemy's shield, it should not stand right out,\nbut the wooden peg breaking, the iron should bend, and so the javelin\nshould hold fast by its crooked point, and drag.  Boeorix, king of\nthe Cimbri, came with a small party of horse to the Roman camp, and\nchallenged Marius to appoint the time and place, where they might\nmeet and fight for the country.  Marius answered, that the Romans\nnever consulted their enemies when to fight; however, he would\ngratify the Cimbri so far; and so they fixed upon the third day\nafter, and for the place, the plain near Vercellae, which was\nconvenient enough for the Roman horse, and afforded room for the\nenemy to display their numbers.\n\nThey observed the time appointed, and drew out their forces against\neach other.  Catulus commanded twenty thousand three hundred, and\nMarius thirty-two thousand, who were placed in the two wings, leaving\nCatulus the center.  Sylla, who was present at the fight, gives this\naccount; saying, also, that Marius drew up his army in this order,\nbecause he expected that the armies would meet on the wings, since it\ngenerally happens that in such extensive fronts the center falls\nback, and thus he would have the whole victory to himself and his\nsoldiers, and Catulus would not be even engaged.  They tell us, also,\nthat Catulus himself alleged this in vindication of his honor,\naccusing, in various ways, the enviousness of Marius.  The infantry\nof the Cimbri marched quietly out of their fortifications, having\ntheir flanks equal to their front; every side of the army taking up\nthirty furlongs.  Their horse, that were in number fifteen thousand,\nmade a very splendid appearance.  They wore helmets, made to resemble\nthe heads and jaws of wild beasts, and other strange shapes, and\nheightening these with plumes of feathers, they made themselves\nappear taller than they were.  They had breastplates of iron, and\nwhite glittering shields; and for their offensive arms, every one had\ntwo darts, and when they came hand to hand, they used large and heavy\nswords.\n\nThe cavalry did not fall directly upon the front of the Romans, but,\nturning to the right, they endeavored to draw them on in that\ndirection by little and little, so as to get them between themselves\nand their infantry, who were placed in the left wing.  The Roman\ncommanders soon perceived the design, but could not contain the\nsoldiers; for one happening to shout out that the enemy fled, they\nall rushed to pursue them, while the whole barbarian foot came on,\nmoving like a great ocean.  Here Marius, having washed his hands, and\nlifting them up towards heaven, vowed an hecatomb to the gods; and\nCatulus, too, in the same posture, solemnly promised to consecrate a\ntemple to the \"Fortune of that day.\"  They say, too, that Marius,\nhaving the victim showed to him as he was sacrificing, cried out with\na loud voice, \"the victory is mine.\"\n\nHowever, in the engagement, according to the accounts of Sylla and\nhis friends, Marius met with what might be called a mark of divine\ndispleasure.  For a great dust being raised, which (as it might very\nprobably happen) almost covered both the armies, he, leading on his\nforces to the pursuit, missed the enemy, and having passed by their\narray, moved, for a good space, up and down the field; meanwhile the\nenemy, by chance, engaged with Catulus, and the heat of the battle\nwas chiefly with him and his men, among whom Sylla says he was;\nadding, that the Romans had great advantage of the heat and sun that\nshone in the faces of the Cimbri.  For they, well able to endure cold,\nand having been bred up, (as we observed before,) in cold and shady\ncountries, were overcome with the excessive heat; they sweated\nextremely, and were much out of breath, being forced to hold their\nshields before their faces; for the battle was fought not long after\nthe summer solstice, or, as the Romans reckon, upon the third day\nbefore the new moon of the month now called August, and then\nSextilis.  The dust, too, gave the Romans no small addition to their\ncourage, inasmuch as it hid the enemy.  For afar off they could not\ndiscover their number; but every one advancing to encounter those\nthat were nearest to them, they came to fight hand to hand, before\nthe sight of so vast a multitude had struck terror into them.  They\nwere so much used to labor, and so well exercised, that in all the\nheat and toil of the encounter, not one of them was observed either\nto sweat, or to be out of breath; so much so, that Catulus himself,\nthey say, recorded it in commendation of his soldiers.\n\nHere the greatest part and most valiant of the enemies were cut in\npieces; for those that fought in the front, that they might not break\ntheir ranks, were fast tied to one another, with long chains put\nthrough their belts.  But as they pursued those that fled to their\ncamp, they witnessed a most fearful tragedy; the women, standing in\nblack clothes on their wagons, slew all that fled, some their\nhusbands, some their brethren, others their fathers; and strangling\ntheir little children with their own hands, threw them under the\nwheels, and the feet of the cattle, and then killed themselves.  They\ntell of one who hung herself from the end of the pole of a wagon,\nwith her children tied dangling at her heels.  The men, for want of\ntrees, tied themselves, some to the horns of the oxen, others by the\nneck to their legs, that so pricking them on, by the starting and\nspringing of the beasts, they might be torn and trodden to pieces.\nYet for all they thus massacred themselves, above sixty thousand were\ntaken prisoners, and those that were slain were said to be twice as\nmany.\n\nThe ordinary plunder was taken by Marius's soldiers, but the other\nspoils, as ensigns, trumpets, and the like, they say, were brought to\nCatulus's camp; which he used for the best argument that the victory\nwas obtained by himself and his army.  Some dissensions arising, as\nwas natural, among the soldiers, the deputies from Parma being then\npresent, were made judges of the controversy; whom Catulus's men\ncarried about among their slain enemies, and manifestly showed them\nthat they were slain by their javelins, which were known by the\ninscriptions, having Catulus's name cut in the wood.  Nevertheless,\nthe whole glory of the action was ascribed to Marius, on account of\nhis former victory, and under color of his present authority; the\npopulace more especially styling him the third founder of their city,\nas having diverted a danger no less threatening than was that when\nthe Gauls sacked Rome; and every one, in their feasts and rejoicings\nat home with their wives and children, made offerings and libations\nin honor of \"The Gods and Marius;\" and would have had him solely have\nthe honor of both the triumphs.  However, he did not do so, but\ntriumphed together with Catulus, being desirous to show his\nmoderation even in such great circumstances of good fortune, besides,\nhe was not a little afraid of the soldiers in Catulus's army, lest,\nif he should wholly bereave their general of the honor, they should\nendeavor to hinder him of his triumph.\n\nMarius was now in his fifth consulship, and he sued for his sixth in\nsuch a manner as never any man before him, had done, even for his\nfirst; he courted the people's favor and ingratiated himself with the\nmultitude by every sort of complaisance; not only derogating from the\nstate and dignity of his office, but also belying his own character,\nby attempting to seem popular and obliging, for which nature had\nnever designed him.  His passion for distinction did, indeed, they\nsay, make him exceedingly timorous in any political matters, or in\nconfronting public assemblies; and that undaunted presence of mind he\nalways showed in battle against the enemy, forsook him when he was to\naddress the people; he was easily upset by the most ordinary\ncommendation or dispraise.  It is told of him, that having at one\ntime given the freedom of the city to one thousand men of Camerinum\nwho had behaved valiantly in this war, and this seeming to be\nillegally done, upon some one or other calling him to an account for\nit, he answered, that the law spoke too softly to be heard in such a\nnoise of war; yet he himself appeared to be more disconcerted and\novercome by the clamor made in the assemblies.  The need they had of\nhim in time of war procured him power and dignity; but in civil\naffairs, when he despaired of getting the first place, he was forced\nto betake himself to the favor of the people, never caring to be a\ngood man, so that he were but a great one.\n\nHe thus became very odious to all the nobility; and, above all, he\nfeared Metellus, who had been so ungratefully used by him, and whose\ntrue virtue made him naturally an enemy to those that sought\ninfluence with the people, not by the honorable course, but by\nsubservience and complaisance.  Marius, therefore, endeavored to\nbanish him from the city, and for this purpose he contracted a close\nalliance with Glaucia and Saturninus, a couple of daring fellows, who\nhad the great mass of the indigent and seditious multitude at their\ncontrol; and by their assistance he enacted various laws, and\nbringing the soldiers, also, to attend the assembly, he was enabled\nto overpower Metellus.  And as Rutilius relates, (in all other\nrespects a fair and faithful authority, but, indeed, privately an\nenemy to Marius,) he obtained his sixth consulship by distributing\nvast sums of money among the tribes, and by this bribery kept out\nMetellus, and had Valerius Flaccus given him as his instrument,\nrather than his colleague, in the consulship.  The people had never\nbefore bestowed so many consulships on any one man, except on\nValerius Corvinus only, and he, too, they say, was forty-five years\nbetween his first and last; but Marius, from his first, ran through\nfive more, with one current of good fortune.\n\nIn the last, especially, he contracted a great deal of hatred, by\ncommitting several gross misdemeanors in compliance with the desires\nof Saturninus; among which was the murder of Nonius, whom Saturninus\nslew, because he stood in competition with him for the tribuneship.\nAnd when, afterwards, Saturninus, on becoming tribune, brought\nforward his law for the division of lands, with a clause enacting\nthat the senate should publicly swear to confirm whatever the people\nshould vote, and not to oppose them in anything, Marius, in the\nsenate, cunningly feigned to be against this provision, and said that\nhe would not take any such oath, nor would any man, he thought, who\nwas wise; for if there were no ill design in the law, still it would\nbe an affront to the senate, to be compelled to give their\napprobation, and not to do it willingly and upon persuasion.  This he\nsaid, not that it was agreeable to his own sentiments, but that he\nmight entrap Metellus beyond any possibility of escape.  For Marius,\nin whose ideas virtue and capacity consisted largely in deceit, made\nvery little account of what he had openly professed to the senate;\nand knowing that Metellus was one of a fixed resolution, and, as\nPindar has it, esteemed Truth the first principle of heroic virtue;\nhe hoped to ensnare him into a declaration before the senate, and on\nhis refusing, as he was sure to do, afterwards to take the oath, he\nexpected to bring him into such odium with the people, as should\nnever be wiped off.  The design succeeded to his wish.  As soon as\nMetellus had declared that he would not swear to it, the senate\nadjourned.  A few days after, on Saturninus citing the senators to\nmake their appearance, and take the oath before the people, Marius\nstepped forth, amidst a profound silence, every one being intent to\nhear him, and bidding farewell to those fine speeches he had before\nmade in the senate, said, that his back was not so broad that he\nshould think himself bound, once for all, by any opinion once given\non so important a matter; he would willingly swear and submit to the\nlaw, if so be it were one, a proviso which he added as a mere cover\nfor his effrontery.  The people, in great joy at his taking the oath,\nloudly clapped and applauded him, while the nobility stood by ashamed\nand vexed at his inconstancy; but they submitted out of fear of the\npeople, and all in order took the oath, till it came to Metellus's\nturn.  But he, though his friends begged and entreated him to take\nit, and not to plunge himself irrecoverably into the penalties which\nSaturninus had provided for those that should refuse it, would not\nflinch from his resolution, nor swear; but, according to his fixed\ncustom, being ready to suffer anything rather than do a base,\nunworthy action, he left the forum, telling those that were with him,\nthat to do a wrong thing is base, and to do well where there is no\ndanger, common; the good man's characteristic is to do so, where\nthere is danger.\n\nHereupon Saturninus put it to the vote, that the consuls should place\nMetellus under their interdict, and forbid him fire, water, and\nlodging.  There were enough, too, of the basest of people ready to\nkill him.  Nevertheless, when many of the better sort were extremely\nconcerned, and gathered about Metellus, he would not suffer them to\nraise a sedition upon his account, but with this calm reflection left\nthe city, \"Either when the posture of affairs is mended and the\npeople repent, I shall be recalled, or if things remain in their\npresent condition, it will be best to be absent.\"  But what great\nfavor and honor Metellus received in his banishment, and in what\nmanner he spent his time at Rhodes, in philosophy, will be more fitly\nour subject, when we write his life.\n\nMarius, in return for this piece of service, was forced to connive at\nSaturninus, now proceeding to the very height of insolence and\nviolence, and was, without knowing it, the instrument of mischief\nbeyond endurance, the only course of which was through outrages and\nmassacres to tyranny and the subversion of the government.  Standing\nin some awe of the nobility, and, at the same time, eager to court\nthe commonalty, he was guilty of a most mean and dishonest action.\nWhen some of the great men came to him at night to stir him up\nagainst Saturninus, at the other door, unknown to them, he let him\nin; then making the same presence of some disorder of body to both,\nhe ran from one party to the other, and staying at one time with them\nand another with him, he instigated and exasperated them one against\nanother.  At length when the senate and equestrian order concerted\nmeasures together, and openly manifested their resentment, he did\nbring his soldiers into the forum, and driving the insurgents into\nthe capitol, and then cutting off the conduits, forced them to\nsurrender by want of water.  They, in this distress, addressing\nthemselves to him, surrendered, as it is termed, on the public faith.\nHe did his utmost to save their lives, but so wholly in vain, that\nwhen they came down into the forum, they were all basely murdered.\nThus he had made himself equally odious both to the nobility and\ncommons, and when the time was come to create censors, though he was\nthe most obvious man, yet he did not petition for it; but fearing the\ndisgrace of being repulsed, permitted others, his inferiors, to be\nelected, though he pleased himself by giving out, that he was not\nwilling to disoblige too many by undertaking a severe inspection into\ntheir lives and conduct.\n\nThere was now an edict preferred to recall Metellus from banishment;\nthis he vigorously, but in vain, opposed both by word and deed, and\nwas at length obliged to desist.  The people unanimously voted for\nit; and he, not able to endure the sight of Metellus's return, made a\nvoyage to Cappadocia and Galatia; giving out that he had to perform\nthe sacrifices, which he had vowed to Cybele; but actuated really by\nother less apparent reasons.  For, in fact, being a man altogether\nignorant of civil life and ordinary politics, he received all his\nadvancement from war; and supposing his power and glory would by\nlittle and little decrease by his lying quietly out of action, he was\neager by every means to excite some new commotions, and hoped that by\nsetting at variance some of the kings, and by exasperating\nMithridates, especially, who was then apparently making preparations\nfor war, he himself should be chosen general against him, and so\nfurnish the city with new matter of triumph, and his own house with\nthe plunder of Pontus, and the riches of its king.  Therefore, though\nMithridates entertained him with all imaginable attention and\nrespect, yet he was not at all wrought upon or softened by it, but\nsaid, \"O king, either endeavor to be stronger than the Romans, or\nelse quietly submit to their commands.\"  With which he left\nMithridates astonished, as he indeed had often heard the fame of the\nbold speaking of the Romans, but now for the first time experienced\nit.\n\nWhen Marius returned again to Rome, he built a house close by the\nforum, either, as he himself gave out, that he was not willing his\nclients should be tired with going far, or that he imagined distance\nwas the reason why more did not come.  This, however, was not so; the\nreal reason was, that being inferior to others in agreeableness of\nconversation and the arts of political life, like a mere tool and\nimplement of war, he was thrown aside in time of peace.  Amongst all\nthose whose brightness eclipsed his glory, he was most incensed\nagainst Sylla, who had owed his rise to the hatred which the nobility\nbore Marius; and had made his disagreement with him the one principle\nof his political life.  When Bocchus, king of Numidia, who was styled\nthe associate of the Romans, dedicated some figures of Victory in the\ncapitol, and with them a representation in gold, of himself\ndelivering Jugurtha to Sylla, Marius upon this was almost distracted\nwith rage and ambition, as though Sylla had arrogated this honor to\nhimself, and endeavored forcibly to pull down these presents; Sylla,\non the other side, as vigorously resisted him; but the Social War\nthen on a sudden threatening the city, put a stop to this sedition,\nwhen just ready to break out.  For the most warlike and best-peopled\ncountries of all Italy formed a confederacy together against Rome,\nand were within a little of subverting the empire; as they were\nindeed strong, not only in their weapons and the valor of their\nsoldiers, but stood nearly upon equal terms with the Romans, as to\nthe skill and daring of their commanders.\n\nAs much glory and power as this war, so various in its events and so\nuncertain as to its success, conferred upon Sylla, so much it took\naway from Marius, who was thought tardy, unenterprising, and timid,\nwhether it were that his age was now quenching his former heat and\nvigor, (for he was above sixty-five years old,) or that having, as he\nhimself said, some distemper that affected his muscles, and his body\nbeing unfit for action, he did service above his strength.  Yet, for\nall this, he came off victor in a considerable battle, wherein he\nslew six thousand of the enemies, and never once gave them any\nadvantage over him; and when he was surrounded by the works of the\nenemy, he contained himself, and though insulted over, and\nchallenged, did not yield to the provocation.  The story is told that\nwhen Publius Silo, a man of the greatest repute and authority among\nthe enemies, said to him, \"If you are indeed a great general, Marius,\nleave your camp and fight a battle,\" he replied, \"If you are one,\nmake me do so.\"  And another time, when the enemy gave them a good\nopportunity of a battle, and the Romans through fear durst not\ncharge, so that both parties retreated, he called an assembly of his\nsoldiers and said, \"It is no small question whether I should call\nthe enemies, or you, the greater cowards, for neither did they dare\nto face your backs, nor you to confront theirs.\"  At length,\nprofessing to be worn out with the infirmity of his body, he laid\ndown his command.\n\nAfterwards, when the Italians were worsted, there were several\ncandidates suing, with the aid of the popular leaders, for the chief\ncommand in the war with Mithridates.  Sulpicius, tribune of the\npeople, a bold and confident man, contrary to everybody's\nexpectation, brought forward Marius, and proposed him as proconsul\nand general in that war.  The people were divided; some were on\nMarius's side, others voted for Sylla, and jeeringly bade Marius go\nto his baths at Baiae, to cure his body, worn out, as himself\nconfessed, with age and catarrhs.  Marius had, indeed, there, about\nMisenum, a villa more effeminately and luxuriously furnished than\nseemed to become one that had seen service in so many and great wars\nand expeditions.  This same house Cornelia bought for seventy-five\nthousand drachmas, and not long after Lucius Lucullus, for two\nmillion five hundred thousand; so rapid and so great was the growth\nof Roman sumptuosity.  Yet, in spite of all this, out of a mere\nboyish passion for distinction, affecting to shake off his age and\nweakness, he went down daily to the Campus Martius, and exercising\nhimself with the youth, showed himself still nimble in his armor,\nand expert in riding; though he was undoubtedly grown bulky in his\nold age, and inclining to excessive fatness and corpulency.\n\nSome people were pleased with this, and went continually to see him\ncompeting and displaying himself in these exercises; but the better\nsort that saw him, pitied the cupidity and ambition that made one who\nhad risen from utter poverty to extreme wealth, and out of nothing\ninto greatness, unwilling to admit any limit to his high fortune, or\nto be content with being admired, and quietly enjoying what he had\nalready got:  why, as if he still were indigent, should he at so\ngreat an age leave his glory and his triumphs to go into Cappadocia\nand the Euxine Sea, to fight Archelaus and Neoptolemus, Mithridates's\ngenerals?  Marius's pretenses for this action of his seemed very\nridiculous; for he said he wanted to go and teach his son to be a\ngeneral.\n\nThe condition of the city, which had long been unsound and diseased,\nbecame hopeless now that Marius found so opportune an instrument for\nthe public destruction as Sulpicius's insolence.  This man professed,\nin all other respects, to admire and imitate Saturninus; only he\nfound fault with him for backwardness and want of spirit in his\ndesigns.  He, therefore, to avoid this fault, got six hundred of the\nequestrian order about him as his guard, whom he named anti-senators;\nand with these confederates he set upon the consuls, whilst they were\nat the assembly, and took the son of one of them, who fled from the\nforum, and slew him.  Sylla, being hotly pursued, took refuge in\nMarius's house, which none could suspect, by that means escaping\nthose that sought him, who hastily passed by there, and, it is said,\nwas safely conveyed by Marius himself out at the other door, and came\nto the camp.  Yet Sylla, in his memoirs, positively denies that he\nfled to Marius, saying he was carried thither to consult upon the\nmatters to which Sulpicius would have forced him, against his will,\nto consent; that he, surrounding him with drawn swords, hurried him\nto Marius, and constrained him thus, till he went thence to the forum\nand removed, as they required him to do, the interdict on business.\n\nSulpicius, having thus obtained the mastery, decreed the command of\nthe army to Marius, who proceeded to make preparations for his march,\nand sent two tribunes to receive the charge of the army from Sylla.\nSylla hereupon exasperating his soldiers, who were about thirty-five\nthousand full-armed men, led them towards Rome.  First falling upon\nthe tribunes Marius had sent, they slew them; Marius having done as\nmuch for several of Sylla's friends in Rome, and now offering their\nfreedom to the slaves on condition of their assistance in the war; of\nwhom, however, they say, there were but three who accepted his\nproposal.  For some small time he made head against Sylla's assault,\nbut was soon overpowered and fled; those that were with him, as soon\nas he had escaped out of the city, were dispersed, and night coming\non, he hastened to a country-house of his, called Solonium.  Hence he\nsent his son to some neighboring farms of his father-in-law, Mucius,\nto provide necessaries; he went himself to Ostia, where his friend\nNumerius had prepared him a ship, and hence, not staying for his son,\nhe took with him his son-in-law Granius, and weighed anchor.\n\nYoung Marius, coming to Mucius's farms, made his preparations; and\nthe day breaking, was almost discovered by the enemy.  For there came\nthither a party of horse that suspected some such matter; but the\nfarm steward, foreseeing their approach, hid Marius in a cart full of\nbeans, then yoking in his team and driving toward the city, met\nthose that were in search of him.  Marius, thus conveyed home to his\nwife, took with him some necessaries, and came at night to the\nsea-side; where, going on board a ship that was bound for Africa, he\nwent away thither.  Marius, the father, when he had put to sea, with\na strong gale passing along the coast of Italy, was in no small\napprehension of one Geminius, a great man at Terracina, and his\nenemy; and therefore bade the seamen hold off from that place.  They\nwere, indeed, willing to gratify him, but the wind now blowing in\nfrom the sea, and making the waves swell to a great height, they were\nafraid the ship would not be able to weather out the storm, and\nMarius, too, being indisposed and seasick, they made for land, and\nnot without some difficulty reached the shore near Circeium.\n\nThe storm now increasing and their victuals failing, they left their\nship and wandered up and down without any certain purpose, simply as\nin great distresses people shun the present as the greatest evil, and\nrely upon the hopes of uncertainties.  For the land and sea were both\nequally unsafe for them; it was dangerous to meet with people, and it\nwas no less so to meet with none, on account of their want of\nnecessaries.  At length, though late, they lighted upon a few poor\nshepherds, that had not anything to relieve them; but knowing\nMarius, advised him to depart as soon as might be, for they had seen\na little beyond that place a party of horse that were gone in search\nof him.  Finding himself in a great straight, especially because\nthose that attended him were not able to go further, being spent with\ntheir long fasting, for the present he turned aside out of the road,\nand hid himself in a thick wood, where he passed the night in great\nwretchedness.  The next day, pinched with hunger, and willing to make\nuse of the little strength he had, before it were all exhausted, he\ntraveled by the seaside, encouraging his companions not to fall away\nfrom him before the fulfillment of his final hopes, for which, in\nreliance on some old predictions, he professed to be sustaining\nhimself.  For when he was yet but very young, and lived in the\ncountry, he caught in the skirt of his garment an eagle's nest, as it\nwas falling, in which were seven young ones, which his parents seeing\nand much admiring, consulted the augurs about it, who told them that\nhe should become the greatest man in the world, and that the fates\nhad decreed he should seven times be possessed of the supreme power\nand authority.  Some are of opinion that this really happened to\nMarius, as we have related it; others say, that those who then and\nthrough the rest of his exile heard him tell these stories, and\nbelieved him, have merely repeated a story that is altogether\nfabulous; for an eagle never hatches more than two; and even Musaeus\nwas deceived, who, speaking of the eagle, says that, --\n\n\"She lays three eggs, hatches two, and rears one.\"\n\nHowever this be, it is certain Marius, in his exile and greatest\nextremities, would often say, that he should attain a seventh\nconsulship.\n\nWhen Marius and his company were now about twenty furlongs distant\nfrom Minturnae, a city in Italy, they espied a troop, of horse making\nup toward them with all speed, and by chance, also, at the same time,\ntwo ships under sail.  Accordingly, they ran every one with what\nspeed and strength they could to the sea, and plunging into it, swam\nto the ships.  Those that were with Granius, reaching one of them,\npassed over to an island opposite, called Aenaria; Marius himself\nwhose body was heavy and unwieldy, was with great pains and\ndifficulty kept above the water by two servants, and put into the\nother ship.  The soldiers were by this time come to the seaside, and\nfrom thence called out to the seamen to put to shore, or else to\nthrow out Marius, and then they might go whither they would.  Marius\nbesought them with tears to the contrary, and the masters of the\nship, after frequent changes, in a short space of time, of their\npurpose, inclining, first to one, then to the other side, resolved at\nlength to answer the soldiers, that they would not give up Marius.\nAs soon as they had ridden off in a rage, the seamen, again changing\ntheir resolution, came to land, and casting anchor at the mouth of\nthe river Liris, where it overflows and makes a great marsh, they\nadvised him to land, refresh himself on shore, and take some care of\nhis discomposed body, till the wind came fairer; which, said they,\nwill happen at such an hour, when the wind from the sea will calm,\nand that from the marshes rise.  Marius, following their advice, did\nso, and when the sea-men had set him on shore, he laid him down in an\nadjacent field, suspecting nothing less than what was to befall him.\nThey, as soon as they had got into the ship, weighed anchor and\ndeparted, as thinking it neither honorable to deliver Marius into the\nhands of those that sought him, nor safe to protect him.\n\nHe thus, deserted by all, lay a good while silently on the shore; at\nlength collecting himself, he advanced with pain and difficulty,\nwithout any path, till, wading through deep bogs and ditches full of\nwater and mud, he came upon the hut of an old man that worked in the\nfens, and falling at his feet besought him to assist and preserve one\nwho, if he escaped the present danger, would make him returns beyond\nhis expectation.  The poor man, whether he had formerly known him, or\nwere then moved with his superior aspect, told him that if he wanted\nonly rest, his cottage would be convenient; but if he were flying\nfrom anybody's search, he would hide him in a more retired place.\nMarius desiring him to do so, he carried him into the fens and bade\nhim hide himself in an hollow place by the river side, where he laid\nupon him a great many reeds, and other things that were light, and\nwould cover, but not oppress him.  But within a very short time he\nwas disturbed with a noise and tumult from the cottage, for Geminius\nhad sent several from Terracina in pursuit of him; some of whom,\nhappening to come that way, frightened and threatened the old man for\nhaving entertained and hid an enemy of the Romans.  Wherefore Marius,\narising and stripping himself, plunged into a puddle full of thick\nmuddy water; and even there he could not escape their search, but was\npulled out covered with mire, and carried away naked to Minturnae,\nand delivered to the magistrates.  For there had been orders sent\nthrough all the towns, to make public search for Marius, and if they\nfound him to kill him; however, the magistrates thought convenient to\nconsider a little better of it first, and sent him prisoner to the\nhouse of one Fannia.\n\nThis woman was supposed not very well affected towards him upon an\nold account.  One Tinnius had formerly married this Fannia; from whom\nshe afterwards being divorced, demanded her portion, which was\nconsiderable, but her husband accused her of adultery; so the\ncontroversy was brought before Marius in his sixth consulship.  When\nthe cause was examined thoroughly, it appeared both that Fannia had\nbeen incontinent, and that her husband knowing her to be so, had\nmarried and lived a considerable time with her.  So that Marius was\nsevere enough with both, commanding him to restore her portion, and\nlaying a fine of four copper coins upon her by way of disgrace.  But\nFannia did not then behave like a woman that had been injured, but as\nsoon as she saw Marius, remembered nothing less than old affronts;\ntook care of him according to her ability, and comforted him.  He\nmade her his returns and told her he did not despair, for he had met\nwith a lucky omen, which was thus.  When he was brought to Fannia's\nhouse, as soon as the gate was opened, an ass came running out to\ndrink at a spring hard by, and giving a bold and encouraging look,\nfirst stood still before him, then brayed aloud and pranced by him.\nFrom which Marius drew his conclusion, and said, that the fates\ndesigned him safety, rather by sea than land, because the ass\nneglected his dry fodder, and turned from it to the water.  Having\ntold Fannia this story, he bade the chamber door to be shut and went\nto rest.\n\nMeanwhile the magistrates and councilors of Minturnae consulted\ntogether, and determined not to delay any longer, but immediately to\nkill Marius; and when none of their citizens durst undertake the\nbusiness, a certain soldier, a Gaulish or Cimbrian horseman, (the\nstory is told both ways,) went in with his sword drawn to him.  The\nroom itself was not very light, that part of it especially where he\nthen lay was dark, from whence Marius's eyes, they say, seemed to the\nfellow to dart out flames at him, and a loud voice to say, out of the\ndark, \"Fellow, darest thou kill Caius Marius?\"  The barbarian\nhereupon immediately fled, and leaving his sword in the place rushed\nout of doors, crying only this, \"I cannot kill Caius Marius.\"  At\nwhich they were all at first astonished, and presently began to feel\npity, and remorse, and anger at themselves for making so unjust and\nungrateful a decree against one who had preserved Italy, and whom it\nwas bad enough not to assist.  \"Let him go,\" said they, \"where he\nplease to banishment, and find his fate somewhere else; we only\nentreat pardon of the gods for thrusting Marius distressed and\ndeserted out of our city.\"\n\nImpelled by thoughts of this kind, they went in a body into the room,\nand taking him amongst them, conducted him towards the sea-side; on\nhis way to which, though everyone was very officious to him, and all\nmade what haste they could, yet a considerable time was likely to be\nlost.  For the grove of Marica, (as she is called,) which the people\nhold sacred, and make it a point of religion not to let anything\nthat is once carried into it be taken out, lay just in their road to\nthe sea, and if they should go round about, they must needs come very\nlate thither.  At length one of the old men cried out and said, there\nwas no place so sacred, but they might pass through it for Marius's\npreservation; and thereupon, first of all, he himself, taking up some\nof the baggage that was carried for his accommodation to the ship,\npassed through the grove, all the rest immediately, with the same\nreadiness, accompanying him.  And one Belaeus, (who afterwards had a\npicture of these things drawn, and put it in a temple at the place of\nembarkation,) having by this time provided him a ship, Marius went on\nboard, and, hoisting sail, was by fortune thrown upon the island\nAenaria, where meeting with Granius, and his other friends, he sailed\nwith them for Africa.  But their water failing them in the way, they\nwere forced to put in near Eryx, in Sicily, where was a Roman\nquaestor on the watch, who all but captured Marius himself on his\nlanding, and did kill sixteen of his retinue that went to fetch\nwater.  Marius, with all expedition loosing thence, crossed the sea\nto the isle of Meninx, where he first heard the news of his son's\nescape with Cethegus, and of his going to implore the assistance of\nHiempsal, king of Numidia.\n\nWith this news, being somewhat comforted, he ventured to pass from\nthat isle towards Carthage.  Sextilius, a Roman, was then governor in\nAfrica; one that had never received either any injury or any\nkindness from Marius; but who from compassion, it was hoped, might\nlend him some help.  But he was scarce got ashore with a small\nretinue, when an officer met him, and said, \"Sextilius, the governor,\nforbids you, Marius, to set foot in Africa; if you do, he says, he\nwill put the decree of the senate in execution, and treat you as an\nenemy to the Romans.\"  When Marius heard this, he wanted words to\nexpress his grief and resentment, and for a good while held his\npeace, looking sternly upon the messenger, who asked him what he\nshould say, or what answer he should return to the governor?  Marius\nanswered him with a deep sigh:  \"Go tell him that you have seen Caius\nMarius sitting in exile among the ruins of Carthage;\" appositely\napplying the example of the fortune of that city to the change of his\nown condition.\n\nIn the interim, Hiempsal, king of Numidia, dubious of what he should\ndetermine to do, treated young Marius and those that were with him\nvery honorably; but when they had a mind to depart, he still had some\npresence or other to detain them, and it was manifest he made these\ndelays upon no good design.  However, there happened an accident that\nmade well for their preservation.  The hard fortune which attended\nyoung Marius, who was of a comely aspect, touched one of the king's\nconcubines, and this pity of hers, was the beginning and occasion of\nlove for him.  At first he declined the woman's solicitations, but\nwhen he perceived that there was no other way of escaping, and that\nher offers were more serious than for the gratification of\nintemperate passion, he accepted her kindness, and she finding means\nto convey them away, he escaped with his friends and fled to his\nfather.  As soon as they had saluted each other, and were going by\nthe sea-side, they saw some scorpions fighting, which Marius took\nfor an ill omen, whereupon they immediately went on board a little\nfisher-boat, and made toward Cercina, an island not far distant from\nthe continent.  They had scarce put off from shore when they espied\nsome horse, sent after them by the king, with all speed making toward\nthat very place from which they were just retired.  And Marius thus\nescaped a danger, it might be said, as great as any he ever incurred.\n\nAt Rome news came that Sylla was engaged with Mithridates's generals\nin Boeotia; the consuls, from factious opposition, were fallen to\ndownright fighting, wherein Octavius prevailing, drove Cinna out of\nthe city for attempting despotic government, and made Cornelius\nMerula consul in his stead; while Cinna, raising forces in other\nparts of Italy, carried the war against them.  As soon as Marius\nheard of this, he resolved, with all expedition, to put to sea again,\nand taking with him from Africa some Mauritanian horse, and a few of\nthe refugees out of Italy, all together not above one thousand, he,\nwith this handful, began his voyage.  Arriving at Telamon, in\nEtruria, and coming ashore, he proclaimed freedom for the slaves; and\nmany of the countrymen, also, and shepherds thereabouts, who were\nalready freemen, at the hearing his name flocked to him to the\nsea-side.  He persuaded the youngest and strongest to join him, and\nin a small time got together a competent force with which he filled\nforty ships.  Knowing Octavius to be a good man and willing to\nexecute his office with the greatest justice imaginable, and Cinna to\nbe suspected by Sylla, and in actual warfare against the established\ngovernment, he determined to join himself and his forces with the\nlatter.  He, therefore, sent a message to him, to let him know that\nhe was ready to obey him as consul.\n\nWhen Cinna had joyfully received his offer, naming him proconsul, and\nsending him the fasces and other ensigns of authority, he said, that\ngrandeur did not become his present fortune; but wearing an ordinary\nhabit, and still letting his hair grow as it had done, from that very\nday he first went into banishment, and being now above threescore and\nten years old, he came slowly on foot, designing to move people's\ncompassion; which did not prevent, however, his natural fierceness of\nexpression from still predominating, and his humiliation still let it\nappear that he was not so much dejected as exasperated, by the change\nof his condition.  Having saluted Cinna and the soldiers, he\nimmediately prepared for action, and soon made a considerable\nalteration in the posture of affairs.  He first cut off the provision\nships, and plundering all the merchants, made himself master of the\nsupplies of corn; then bringing his navy to the seaport towns, he\ntook them, and at last, becoming master of Ostia by treachery, he\npillaged that town, and slew a multitude of the inhabitants, and,\nblocking up the river, took from the enemy all hopes of supply by the\nsea; then marched with his army toward the city, and posted himself\nupon the hill called Janiculum.\n\nThe public interest did not receive so great damage from Octavius's\nunskillfulness in his management of affairs, as from his omitting\nneedful measures, through too strict observance of the law.  As when\nseveral advised him to make the slaves free, he said that he would\nnot give slaves the privilege of the country from which he then, in\ndefense of the laws, was driving away Marius.  When Metellus, son to\nthat Metellus who was general in the war in Africa, and afterwards\nbanished through Marius's means, came to Rome, being thought a much\nbetter commander than Octavius, the soldiers, deserting the consul,\ncame to him and desired him to take the command of them and preserve\nthe city; that they, when they had got an experienced valiant\ncommander, should fight courageously, and come off conquerors.  But\nwhen Metellus, offended at it, commanded them angrily to return to\nthe consul, they revolted to the enemy.  Metellus, too, seeing the\ncity in a desperate condition, left it; but a company of Chaldaeans,\nsacrificers, and interpreters of the Sibyl's books, persuaded\nOctavius that things would turn out happily, and kept him at Rome.\nHe was, indeed, of all the Romans the most upright and just, and\nmaintained the honor of the consulate, without cringing or\ncompliance, as strictly in accordance with ancient laws and usages,\nas though they had been immutable mathematical truths; and yet fell,\nI know not how, into some weaknesses, giving more observance to\nfortune-tellers and diviners, than to men skilled in civil and\nmilitary affairs.  He therefore, before Marius entered the city, was\npulled down from the rostra, and murdered by those that were sent\nbefore by Marius; and it is reported there was a Chaldaean writing\nfound in his gown, when he was slain.  And it seemed a thing very\nunaccountable, that of two famous generals, Marius should be often\nsuccessful by the observing divinations, and Octavius ruined by the\nsame means.\n\nWhen affairs were in this posture, the senate assembled, and sent a\ndeputation to Cinna and Marius, desiring them to come into the city\npeaceably and spare the citizens.  Cinna, as consul, received the\nembassy, sitting in the curule chair, and returned a kind answer to\nthe messengers; Marius stood by him and said nothing, but gave\nsufficient testimony by the gloominess of his countenance, and the\nsternness of his looks, that he would in a short time fill the city\nwith blood.  As soon as the council arose, they went toward the city,\nwhere Cinna entered with his guards, but Marius stayed at the gates,\nand, dissembling his rage, professed that he was then an exile and\nbanished his country by course of law; that if his presence were\nnecessary, they must, by a new decree, repeal the former act by which\nhe was banished; as though he were, indeed, a religious observer of\nthe laws, and as if he were returning to a city free from fear or\noppression.  Hereupon the people were assembled, but before three or\nfour tribes had given their votes, throwing up his pretenses and his\nlegal scruples about his banishment, he came into the city with a\nselect guard of the slaves who had joined him, whom he called\nBardyaei.  These proceeded to murder a number of citizens, as he gave\ncommand, partly by word of mouth, partly by the signal of his nod.\nAt length Ancharius, a senator, and one that had been praetor, coming\nto Marius, and not being resaluted by him, they with their drawn\nswords slew him before Marius's face; and henceforth this was their\ntoken, immediately to kill all those who met Marius and saluting him\nwere taken no notice of, nor answered with the like courtesy; so that\nhis very friends were not without dreadful apprehensions and horror,\nwhensoever they came to speak with him.\n\nWhen they had now butchered a great number, Cinna grew more remiss\nand cloyed with murders; but Marius's rage continued still fresh and\nunsatisfied, and he daily sought for all that were any way suspected\nby him.  Now was every road and every town filled with those that\npursued and hunted them that fled and hid themselves; and it was\nremarkable that there was no more confidence to be placed, as things\nstood, either in hospitality or friendship; for there were found but\na very few that did not betray those that fled to them for shelter.\nAnd thus the servants of Cornutus deserve the greater praise and\nadmiration, who, having concealed their master in the house, took the\nbody of one of the slain, cut off the head, put a gold ring on the\nfinger, and showed it to Marius's guards, and buried it with the same\nsolemnity as if it had been their own master.  This trick was\nperceived by nobody, and so Cornutus escaped, and was conveyed by his\ndomestics into Gaul.\n\nMarcus Antonius, the orator, though he, too, found a true friend, had\nill-fortune.  The man was but poor and a plebeian, and as he was\nentertaining a man of the greatest rank in Rome, trying to provide\nfor him with the best he could, he sent his servant to get some wine\nof neighboring vintner.  The servant carefully tasting it and bidding\nhim draw better, the fellow asked him what was the matter, that he\ndid not buy new and ordinary wine as he used to do, but richer and of\na greater price; he, without any design, told him as his old friend\nand acquaintance, that his master entertained Marcus Antonius, who\nwas concealed with him.  The villainous vintner, as soon as the\nservant was gone, went himself to Marius, then at supper, and being\nbrought into his presence, told him, he would deliver Antonius into\nhis hands.  As soon as he heard it, it is said he gave a great shout,\nand clapped his hands for joy, and had very nearly risen up and gone\nto the place himself; but being detained by his friends, he sent\nAnnius, and some soldiers with him, and commanded him to bring\nAntonius's head to him with all speed.  When they came to the house,\nAnnius stayed at the door, and the soldiers went up stairs into the\nchamber; where, seeing Antonius, they endeavored to shuffle off the\nmurder from one to another; for so great it seems were the graces and\ncharms of his oratory, that as soon as he began to speak and beg his\nlife, none of them durst touch or so much as look upon him; but\nhanging down their heads, every one fell a weeping.  When their stay\nseemed something tedious, Annius came up himself and found Antonius\ndiscoursing, and the soldiers astonished and quite softened by it,\nand calling them cowards, went himself and cut off his head.\n\nCatulus Lutatius, who was colleague with Marius, and his partner in\nthe triumph over the Cimbri, when Marius replied to those that\ninterceded for him and begged his life, merely with the words, \"he\nmust die,\" shut himself up in a room, and making a great fire,\nsmothered himself.  When maimed and headless carcasses were now\nfrequently thrown about and trampled upon in the streets, people were\nnot so much moved with compassion at the sight, as struck into a kind\nof horror and consternation.  The outrages of those that were called\nBardyaei, was the greatest grievance.  These murdered the masters of\nfamilies in their own houses, abused their children, and ravished\ntheir wives, and were uncontrollable in their rapine and murders,\ntill those of Cinna's and Sertorius's party, taking counsel together,\nfell upon them in the camp and killed them every man.\n\nIn the interim, as if a change of wind was coming on, there came news\nfrom all parts that Sylla, having put an end to the war with\nMithridates, and taken possession of the provinces, was returning\ninto Italy with a great army.  This gave some small respite and\nintermission to these unspeakable calamities.  Marius and his friends\nbelieving war to be close at hand, Marius was chosen consul the\nseventh time, and appearing on the very calends of January, the\nbeginning of the year, threw one Sextus Lucinus, from the Tarpeian\nprecipice; an omen, as it seemed, portending the renewed misfortunes\nboth of their party and of the city.  Marius, himself now worn out\nwith labor and sinking under the burden of anxieties, could not\nsustain his spirits, which shook within him with the apprehension of\na new war and fresh encounters and dangers, the formidable character\nof which he knew by his own experience.  He was not now to hazard the\nwar with Octavius or Merula, commanding an inexperienced multitude or\nseditious rabble; but Sylla himself was approaching, the same who had\nformerly banished him, and since that, had driven Mithridates as far\nas the Euxine Sea.\n\nPerplexed with such thoughts as these, and calling to mind his\nbanishment, and the tedious wanderings and dangers he underwent, both\nby sea and land, he fell into despondency, nocturnal frights, and\nunquiet sleep, still fancying that he heard some one telling him,\nthat\n\n-- the lion's lair\nIs dangerous, though the lion be not there.\n\nAbove all things fearing to lie awake, he gave himself up to drinking\ndeep and besotting himself at night in a way most unsuitable to his\nage; by all means provoking sleep, as a diversion to his thoughts.\nAt length, on the arrival of a messenger from the sea, he was seized\nwith new alarms, and so what with his fear for the future, and what\nwith the burden and satiety of the present, on some slight\npredisposing cause, he fell into a pleurisy, as Posidonius the\nphilosopher relates, who says he visited and conversed with him when\nhe was sick, about some business relating to his embassy.  Caius\nPiso, an historian, tells us, that Marius, walking after supper with\nhis friends, fell into a conversation with them about his past life,\nand after reckoning up the several changes of his condition, that\nfrom the beginning had happened to him, said, that it did not become\na prudent man to trust himself any longer with fortune; and,\nthereupon, taking leave of those that were with him, he kept his bed\nseven days, and then died.\n\nSome say his ambition betrayed itself openly in his sickness.  and\nthat he ran into an extravagant frenzy, fancying himself to be\ngeneral in the war against Mithridates, throwing himself into such\npostures and motions of his body as he had formerly used when he was\nin battle, with frequent shouts and loud cries.  With so strong and\ninvincible a desire of being employed in that business had he been\npossessed through his pride and emulation.  Though he had now lived\nseventy years, and was the first man that ever was chosen seven times\nconsul, and had an establishment and riches sufficient for many\nkings, he yet complained of his ill fortune, that he must now die\nbefore he had attained what he desired.  Plato, when he saw his death\napproaching, thanked the guiding providence and fortune of his life,\nfirst, that he was born a man and a Grecian, not a barbarian or a\nbrute, and next, that he happened to live in Socrates's age.  And so,\nindeed, they say Antipater of Tarsus, in like manner, at his death,\ncalling to mind the happiness that he had enjoyed, did not so much as\nomit his prosperous voyage to Athens; thus recognizing every favor of\nhis indulgent fortune with the greatest acknowledgments, and\ncarefully saving all to the last in that safest of human treasure\nchambers, the memory.  Unmindful and thoughtless persons, on the\ncontrary, let all that occurs to them slip away from them as time\npasses on.  Retaining and preserving nothing, they lose the enjoyment\nof their present prosperity by fancying something better to come;\nwhereas by fortune we may be prevented of this, but that cannot be\ntaken from us.  Yet they reject their present success, as though it\ndid not concern them, and do nothing but dream of future\nuncertainties; not indeed unnaturally; as till men have by reason and\neducation laid good foundation for external superstructures, in the\nseeking after and gathering them they can never satisfy the unlimited\ndesires of their mind.\n\nThus died Marius on the seventeenth day of his seventh consulship, to\nthe great joy and content of Rome, which thereby was in good hopes to\nbe delivered from the calamity of a cruel tyranny; but in a small\ntime they found, that they had only changed their old and worn-out\nmaster for another young and vigorous; so much cruelty and savageness\ndid his son Marius show in murdering the noblest and most approved\ncitizens.  At first, being esteemed resolute and daring against his\nenemies, he was named the son of Mars, but afterwards, his actions\nbetraying his contrary disposition, he was called the son of Venus.\nAt last, besieged by Sylla in Praeneste, where he endeavored in many\nways, but in vain, to save his life, when on the capture of the city\nthere was no hope of escape, he killed himself with his own hand.\n\n\n\nLYSANDER\n\nThe treasure-chamber of the Acanthians at Delphi has this\ninscription:  \"The spoils which Brasidas and the Acanthians took from\nthe Athenians.\"  And, accordingly, many take the marble statue, which\nstands within the building by the gates, to be Brasidas's; but,\nindeed, it is Lysander's, representing him with his hair at full\nlength, after the old fashion, and with an ample beard.  Neither is\nit true, as some give out, that because the Argives, after their\ngreat defeat, shaved themselves for sorrow, that the Spartans\ncontrariwise triumphing in their achievements, suffered their hair to\ngrow; neither did the Spartans come to be ambitious of wearing long\nhair, because the Bacchiadae, who fled from Corinth to Lacedaemon,\nlooked mean and unsightly, having their heads all close cut.  But\nthis, also, is indeed one of the ordinances of Lycurgus, who, as it\nis reported, was used to say, that long hair made good-looking men\nmore beautiful, and ill-looking men more terrible.\n\nLysander's father is said to have been Aristoclitus, who was not\nindeed of the royal family, but yet of the stock of the Heraclidae.\nHe was brought up in poverty, and showed himself obedient and\nconformable, as ever anyone did, to the customs of his country; of a\nmanly spirit, also, and superior to all pleasures, excepting only\nthat which their good actions bring to those who are honored and\nsuccessful; and it is accounted no base thing in Sparta for their\nyoung men to be overcome with this kind of pleasure.  For they are\ndesirous, from the very first, to have their youth susceptible to\ngood and bad repute, to feel pain at disgrace, and exultation at\nbeing commended; and anyone who is insensible and unaffected in\nthese respects is thought poor spirited and of no capacity for\nvirtue.  Ambition and the passion for distinction were thus implanted\nin his character by his Laconian education, nor, if they continued\nthere, must we blame his natural disposition much for this.  But he\nwas submissive to great men, beyond what seems agreeable to the\nSpartan temper, and could easily bear the haughtiness of those who\nwere in power, when it was any way for his advantage, which some are\nof opinion is no small part of political discretion.  Aristotle, who\nsays all great characters are more or less atrabilious, as Socrates\nand Plato and Hercules were, writes, that Lysander, not indeed early\nin life, but when he was old, became thus affected.  What is singular\nin his character is that he endured poverty very well, and that he\nwas not at all enslaved or corrupted by wealth, and yet he filled his\ncountry with riches and the love of them, and took away from them the\nglory of not admiring money; importing amongst them an abundance of\ngold and silver after the Athenian war, though keeping not one\ndrachma for himself.  When Dionysius, the tyrant, sent his daughters\nsome costly gowns of Sicilian manufacture, he would not receive them,\nsaying he was afraid they would make them look more unhandsome.  But\na while after, being sent ambassador from the same city to the same\ntyrant, when he had sent him a couple of robes, and bade him choose\nwhich of them he would, and carry to his daughter:  \"She,\" said he,\n\"will be able to choose best for herself,\" and taking both of them,\nwent his way.\n\nThe Peloponnesian war having now been carried on a long time, and it\nbeing expected, after the disaster of the Athenians in Sicily, that\nthey would at once lose the mastery of the sea, and erelong be routed\neverywhere, Alcibiades, returning from banishment, and taking the\ncommand, produced a great change, and made the Athenians again a\nmatch for their opponents by sea; and the Lacedaemonians, in great\nalarm at this, and calling up fresh courage and zeal for the\nconflict, feeling the want of an able commander and of a powerful\narmament, sent out Lysander to be admiral of the seas.  Being at\nEphesus, and finding the city well affected towards him, and\nfavorable to the Lacedaemonian party, but in ill condition, and in\ndanger to become barbarized by adopting the manners of the Persians,\nwho were much mingled among them, the country of Lydia bordering upon\nthem, and the king's generals being quartered there a long time, he\npitched his camp there, and commanded the merchant ships all about to\nput in thither, and proceeded to build ships of war there; and thus\nrestored their ports by the traffic he created, and their market by\nthe employment he gave, and filled their private houses and their\nworkshops with wealth, so that from that time, the city began, first\nof all, by Lysander's means, to have some hopes of growing to that\nstateliness and grandeur which now it is at.\n\nUnderstanding that Cyrus, the king's son, was come to Sardis, he went\nup to talk with him, and to accuse Tisaphernes, who, receiving a\ncommand to help the Lacedaemonians, and to drive the Athenians from\nthe sea, was thought, on account of Alcibiades, to have become remiss\nand unwilling, and by paying the seamen slenderly to be ruining the\nfleet.  Now Cyrus was willing that Tisaphernes might be found in\nblame, and be ill reported of, as being, indeed, a dishonest man, and\nprivately at feud with himself.  By these means, and by their daily\nintercourse together, Lysander, especially by the submissiveness\nof his conversation, won the affections of the young prince, and\ngreatly roused him to carry on the war; and when he would depart,\nCyrus gave him a banquet, and desired him not to refuse his\ngood-will, but to speak and ask whatever he had a mind to, and that\nhe should not be refused anything whatsoever:  \"Since you are so\nvery kind,\" replied Lysander, \"I earnestly request you to add one\npenny to the seamen's pay, that instead of three pence, they may now\nreceive four pence.\"  Cyrus, delighted with his public spirit, gave\nhim ten thousand darics, out of which he added the penny to the\nseamen's pay, and by the renown of this in a short time emptied the\nships of the enemies, as many would come over to that side which gave\nthe most pay, and those who remained, being disheartened and\nmutinous, daily created trouble to the captains.  Yet for all\nLysander had so distracted and weakened his enemies, he was afraid to\nengage by sea, Alcibiades being an energetic commander, and having\nthe superior number of ships, and having been hitherto, in all\nbattles, unconquered both by sea and land.\n\nBut afterwards, when Alcibiades sailed from Samos to Phocaea, leaving\nAntiochus, the pilot, in command of all his forces, this Antiochus,\nto insult Lysander, sailed with two galleys into the port of the\nEphesians, and with mocking and laughter proudly rowed along before\nthe place where the ships lay drawn up.  Lysander, in indignation,\nlaunched at first a few ships only and pursued him, but as soon as he\nsaw the Athenians come to his help, he added some other ships, and,\nat last, they fell to a set battle together; and Lysander won the\nvictory, and taking fifteen of their ships, erected a trophy.  For\nthis, the people in the city being angry, put Alcibiades out of\ncommand, and finding himself despised by the soldiers in Samos, and\nill spoken of, he sailed from the army into the Chersonese.  And this\nbattle, although not important in itself, was made remarkable by its\nconsequences to Alcibiades.\n\nLysander, meanwhile, inviting to Ephesus such persons in the various\ncities as he saw to be bolder and haughtier-spirited than the rest,\nproceeded to lay the foundations of that government by bodies of ten,\nand those revolutions which afterwards came to pass, stirring up and\nurging them to unite in clubs, and apply themselves to public\naffairs, since as soon as ever the Athenians should be put down, the\npopular governments, he said, should be suppressed, and they should\nbecome supreme in their several countries.  And he made them believe\nthese things by present deeds, promoting those who were his friends\nalready to great employments, honors, and offices, and, to gratify\ntheir covetousness, making himself a partner in injustice and\nwickedness.  So much so, that all flocked to him, and courted and\ndesired him, hoping, if he remained in power, that the highest wishes\nthey could form would all be gratified.  And therefore, from the very\nbeginning, they could not look pleasantly upon Callicratidas, when he\ncame to succeed Lysander as admiral; nor, afterwards, when he had\ngiven them experience that he was a most noble and just person, were\nthey pleased with the manner of his government, and its\nstraightforward, Dorian, honest character.  They did, indeed, admire\nhis virtue, as they might the beauty of some hero's image; but their\nwishes were for Lysander's zealous and profitable support of the\ninterests of his friends and partisans, and they shed tears, and were\nmuch disheartened when he sailed from them.  He himself made them yet\nmore disaffected to Callicratidas; for what remained of the money\nwhich had been given him to pay the navy, he sent back again to\nSardis, bidding them, if they would, apply to Callicratidas himself,\nand see how he was able to maintain the soldiers.  And, at the last,\nsailing away, he declared to him that he delivered up the fleet in\npossession and command of the sea.  But Callicratidas, to expose the\nemptiness of these high pretensions, said, \"In that case, leave Samos\non the left hand, and, sailing to Miletus, there deliver up the ships\nto me; for if we are masters of the sea, we need not fear sailing by\nour enemies in Samos.\"  To which Lysander answering, that not\nhimself, but he, commanded the ships, sailed to Peloponnesus, leaving\nCallicratidas in great perplexity.  For neither had he brought any\nmoney from home with him, nor could he endure to tax the towns or\nforce them, being in hardship enough.  Therefore, the only course\nthat was to be taken was to go and beg at the doors of the king's\ncommanders, as Lysander had done; for which he was most unfit of any\nman, being of a generous and great spirit, and one who thought it\nmore becoming for the Greeks to suffer any damage from one another,\nthan to flatter and wait at the gates of barbarians, who, indeed, had\ngold enough, but nothing else that was commendable.  But being\ncompelled by necessity, he proceeded to Lydia, and went at once to\nCyrus's house, and sent in word, that Callicratidas, the admiral, was\nthere to speak with him; one of those who kept the gates replied,\n\"Cyrus, O stranger, is not now at leisure, for he is drinking.\"  To\nwhich Callicratidas answered, most innocently, \"Very well, I will\nwait till he has done his draught.\"  This time, therefore, they took\nhim for some clownish fellow, and he withdrew, merely laughed at by\nthe barbarians; but when, afterwards, he came a second time to the\ngate, and was not admitted, he took it hardly and set off for\nEphesus, wishing a great many evils to those who first let themselves\nbe insulted over by these barbarians, and taught them to be insolent\nbecause of their riches; and added vows to those who were present,\nthat as soon as ever he came back to Sparta, he would do all he could\nto reconcile the Greeks, that they might be formidable to barbarians,\nand that they should cease henceforth to need their aid against one\nanother.  But Callicratidas, who entertained purposes worthy a\nLacedaemonian, and showed himself worthy to compete with the very\nbest of Greece, for his justice, his greatness of mind and courage,\nnot long after, having been beaten in a sea-fight at Arginusae, died.\n\nAnd now affairs going backwards, the associates in the war sent an\nembassy to Sparta, requiring Lysander to be their admiral, professing\nthemselves ready to undertake the business much more zealously, if he\nwas commander; and Cyrus, also, sent to request the same thing.  But\nbecause they had a law which would not suffer any one to be admiral\ntwice, and wished, nevertheless, to gratify their allies, they gave\nthe title of admiral to one Aracus, and sent Lysander nominally as\nvice-admiral, but, indeed, with full powers.  So he came out, long\nwished for by the greatest part of the chief persons and leaders in\nthe towns, who hoped to grow to greater power still by his means,\nwhen the popular governments should be everywhere destroyed.\n\nBut to those who loved honest and noble behavior in their commanders,\nLysander, compared with Callicratidas, seemed cunning and subtle,\nmanaging most things in the war by deceit, extolling what was just\nwhen it was profitable, and when it was not, using that which was\nconvenient, instead of that which was good; and not judging truth to\nbe in nature better than falsehood, but setting a value upon both\naccording to interest.  He would laugh at those who thought that\nHercules's posterity ought not to use deceit in war:  \"For where the\nlion's skin will not reach, you must patch it out with the fox's.\"\nSuch is the conduct recorded of him in the business about Miletus;\nfor when his friends and connections, whom he had promised to assist\nin suppressing popular government and expelling their political\nopponents, had altered their minds, and were reconciled to their\nenemies, he pretended openly as if he was pleased with it, and was\ndesirous to further the reconciliation, but privately he railed at\nand abused them, and provoked them to set upon the multitude.  And as\nsoon as ever he perceived a new attempt to be commencing, he at once\ncame up and entered into the city, and the first of the conspirators\nhe lit upon, he pretended to rebuke, and spoke roughly, as if he\nwould punish them; but the others, meantime, he bade be courageous,\nand to fear nothing now he was with them.  And all this acting and\ndissembling was with the object that the most considerable men of the\npopular party might not fly away, but might stay in the city and be\nkilled; which so fell out, for all who believed him were put to\ndeath.\n\nThere is a saying, also, recorded by Androclides, which makes him\nguilty of great indifference to the obligations of an oath.  His\nrecommendation, according to this account, was to \"cheat boys with\ndice, and men with oaths,\" an imitation of Polycrates of Samos, not\nvery honorable to a lawful commander, to take example, namely, from a\ntyrant; nor in character with Laconian usages, to treat gods as ill\nas enemies, or, indeed, even more injuriously; since he who\noverreaches by an oath admits that he fears his enemy, while he\ndespises his God.\n\nCyrus now sent for Lysander to Sardis, and gave him some money, and\npromised him some more, youthfully protesting in favor to him, that\nif his father gave him nothing, he would supply him of his own; and\nif he himself should be destitute of all, he would cut up, he said,\nto make money, the very throne upon which he sat to do justice, it\nbeing made of gold and silver; and, at last, on going up into Media\nto his father, he ordered that he should receive the tribute of the\ntowns, and committed his government to him, and so taking his leave,\nand desiring him not to fight by sea before he returned, for he would\ncome back with a great many ships out of Phoenicia and Cilicia,\ndeparted to visit the king.\n\nLysander's ships were too few for him to venture to fight, and yet\ntoo many to allow of his remaining idle; he set out, therefore, and\nreduced some of the islands, and wasted Aegina and Salamis; and from\nthence landing in Attica, and saluting Agis, who came from Decelea to\nmeet him, he made a display to the land-forces of the strength of the\nfleet, as though he could sail where he pleased, and were absolute\nmaster by sea.  But hearing the Athenians pursued him, he fled\nanother way through the islands into Asia.  And finding the\nHellespont without any defense, he attacked Lampsacus with his ships\nby sea; while Thorax, acting in concert with him with the land army,\nmade an assault on the walls; and so, having taken the city by storm,\nhe gave it up to his soldiers to plunder.  The fleet of the\nAthenians, a hundred and eighty ships, had just arrived at Elaeus in\nthe Chersonese; and hearing the news, that Lampsacus was destroyed,\nthey presently sailed to Sestos; where, taking in victuals, they\nadvanced to Aegos Potami, over against their enemies, who were still\nstationed about Lampsacus.  Amongst other Athenian captains who were\nnow in command was Philocles, he who persuaded the people to pass a\ndecree to cut off the right thumb of the captives in the war, that\nthey should not be able to hold the spear, though they might the oar.\n\nThen they all rested themselves, hoping they should have battle the\nnext morning.  But Lysander had other things in his head; he\ncommanded the mariners and pilots to go on board at dawn, as if there\nshould be a battle as soon as it was day, and to sit there in order,\nand without any noise, expecting what should be commanded, and in\nlike manner that the land army should remain quietly in their ranks\nby the sea.  But the sun rising, and the Athenians sailing up with\ntheir whole fleet in line, and challenging them to battle, he, though\nhe had had his ships all drawn up and manned before daybreak,\nnevertheless did not stir.  He merely sent some small boats to those\nwho lay foremost, and bade them keep still and stay in their order;\nnot to be disturbed, and none of them to sail out and offer battle.\nSo about evening, the Athenians sailing back, he would not let the\nseamen go out of the ships before two or three, which he had sent to\nespy, were returned, after seeing the enemies disembark.  And thus\nthey did the next day, and the third, and so to the fourth.  So that\nthe Athenians grew extremely confident, and disdained their enemies,\nas if they had been afraid and daunted.  At this time, Alcibiades,\nwho was in his castle in the Chersonese, came on horseback to the\nAthenian army, and found fault with their captains, first of all that\nthey had pitched their camp neither well nor safely, on an exposed\nand open beach, a very bad landing for the ships, and, secondly, that\nwhere they were, they had to fetch all they wanted from Sestos, some\nconsiderable way off; whereas if they sailed round a little way to\nthe town and harbor of Sestos, they would be at a safer distance from\nan enemy, who lay watching their movements, at the command of a\nsingle general, terror of whom made every order rapidly executed.\nThis advice, however, they would not listen to; and Tydeus angered\ndisdainfully, that not he, but others, were in office now.  So\nAlcibiades, who even suspected there must be treachery, departed.\n\nBut on the fifth day, the Athenians having sailed towards them, and\ngone back again as they were used to do, very proudly and full of\ncontempt, Lysander sending some ships, as usual, to look out,\ncommanded the masters of them that when they saw the Athenians go to\nland, they should row back again with all their speed, and that when\nthey were about half-way across, they should lift up a brazen shield\nfrom the foredeck, as the sign of battle.  And he himself sailing\nround, encouraged the pilots and masters of the ships, and exhorted\nthem to keep all their men to their places, seamen and soldiers\nalike, and as soon as ever the sign should be given, to row up boldly\nto their enemies.  Accordingly when the shield had been lifted up\nfrom the ships, and the trumpet from the admiral's vessel had sounded\nfor battle, the ships rowed up, and the foot soldiers strove to get\nalong by the shore to the promontory.  The distance there between the\ntwo continents is fifteen furlongs, which, by the zeal and eagerness\nof the rowers, was quickly traversed.  Conon, one of the Athenian\ncommanders, was the first who saw from the land the fleet advancing,\nand shouted out to embark, and in the greatest distress bade some and\nentreated others, and some he forced to man the ships.  But all his\ndiligence signified nothing, because the men were scattered about;\nfor as soon as they came out of the ships, expecting no such matter,\nsome went to market, others walked about the country, or went to\nsleep in their tents, or got their dinners ready, being, through\ntheir commanders' want of skill, as far as possible from any thought\nof what was to happen; and the enemy now coming up with shouts and\nnoise, Conon, with eight ships, sailed out, and making his escape,\npassed from thence to Cyprus, to Evagores.  The Peloponnesians\nfalling upon the rest, some they took quite empty, and some they\ndestroyed while they were filling; the men, meantime, coming unarmed\nand scattered to help, died at their ships, or, flying by land, were\nslain, their enemies disembarking and pursuing them.  Lysander took\nthree thousand prisoners, with the generals, and the whole fleet,\nexcepting the sacred ship Paralus, and those which fled with Conon.\nSo taking their ships in tow, and having plundered their tents, with\npipe and songs of victory, he sailed back to Lampsacus, having\naccomplished a great work with small pains, and having finished in\none hour, a war which had been protracted in its continuance, and\ndiversified in its incidents and its fortunes to a degree exceeding\nbelief, compared with all before it.  After altering its shape and\ncharacter a thousand times, and after having been the destruction of\nmore commanders than all the previous wars of Greece put together, it\nwas now put an end to by the good counsel and ready conduct of one\nman.\n\nSome, therefore, looked upon the result as a divine intervention, and\nthere were certain who affirmed that the stars of Castor and Pollux\nwere seen on each side of Lysander's ship, when he first set sail\nfrom the haven toward his enemies, shining about the helm; and some\nsay the stone which fell down was a sign of this slaughter.  For a\nstone of a great size did fall, according to the common belief, from\nheaven, at Aegos Potami, which is shown to this day, and had in great\nesteem by the Chersonites.  And it is said that Anaxagoras foretold,\nthat the occurrence of a slip or shake among the bodies fixed in the\nheavens, dislodging any one of them, would be followed by the fall of\nthe whole of them.  For no one of the stars is now in the same place\nin which it was at first; for they, being, according to him, like\nstones and heavy, shine by the refraction of the upper air round\nabout them, and are carried along forcibly by the violence of the\ncircular motion by which they were originally withheld from\nfalling, when cold and heavy bodies were first separated from the\ngeneral universe.  But there is a more probable opinion than this\nmaintained by some, who say that falling stars are no effluxes, nor\ndischarges of ethereal fire, extinguished almost at the instant of\nits igniting by the lower air; neither are they the sudden combustion\nand blazing up of a quantity of the lower air let loose in great\nabundance into the upper region; but the heavenly bodies, by a\nrelaxation of the force of their circular movement, are carried by an\nirregular course, not in general into the inhabited part of the\nearth, but for the most part into the wide sea; which is the cause of\ntheir not being observed.  Daimachus, in his treatise on Religion.\nsupports the view of Anaxagoras.  He says, that before this stone\nfell, for seventy-five days continually, there was seen in the\nheavens a vast fiery body, as if it had been a flaming cloud, not\nresting, but carried about with several intricate and broken\nmovements, so that the flaming pieces, which were broken off by this\ncommotion and running about, were carried in all directions, shining\nas falling stars do.  But when it afterwards came down to the ground\nin this district, and the people of the place recovering from their\nfear and astonishment came together, there was no fire to be seen,\nneither any sign of it; there was only a stone lying, big indeed, but\nwhich bore no proportion, to speak of, to that fiery compass.  It is\nmanifest that Daimachus needs to have indulgent hearers; but if what\nhe says be true, he altogether proves those to be wrong who say that\na rock broken off from the top of some mountain, by winds and\ntempests, and caught and whirled about like a top, as soon as this\nimpetus began to slacken and cease, was precipitated and fell to the\nground.  Unless, indeed, we choose to say that the phenomenon which\nwas observed for so many days was really fire, and that the change in\nthe atmosphere ensuing on its extinction was attended with violent\nwinds and agitations, which might be the cause of this stone being\ncarried off.  The exacter treatment of this subject belongs, however,\nto a different kind of writing.\n\nLysander, after the three thousand Athenians whom he had taken\nprisoners were condemned by the commissioners to die, called\nPhilocles the general, and asked him what punishment he considered\nhimself to deserve, for having advised the citizens as he had done,\nagainst the Greeks; but he, being nothing cast down at his calamity,\nbade him not accuse him of matters of which nobody was a judge, but\nto do to him, now he was a conqueror, as he would have suffered, had\nhe been overcome.  Then washing himself, and putting on a fine cloak,\nhe led the citizens the way to the slaughter, as Theophrastus writes\nin his history.  After this Lysander, sailing about to the various\ncities, bade all the Athenians he met go into Athens, declaring that\nhe would spare none, but kill every man whom he found out of the\ncity, intending thus to cause immediate famine and scarcity there,\nthat they might not make the siege laborious to him, having\nprovisions sufficient to endure it.  And suppressing the popular\ngovernments and all other constitutions, he left one Lacedaemonian\nchief officer in every city, with ten rulers to act with him,\nselected out of the societies which he had previously formed in the\ndifferent towns.  And doing thus as well in the cities of his\nenemies, as of his associates, he sailed leisurely on, establishing,\nin a manner, for himself supremacy over the whole of Greece.  Neither\ndid he make choice of rulers by birth or by wealth, but bestowed the\noffices on his own friends and partisans, doing everything to please\nthem, and putting absolute power of reward and punishment into their\nhands.  And thus, personally appearing on many occasions of bloodshed\nand massacre, and aiding his friends to expel their opponents, he did\nnot give the Greeks a favorable specimen of the Lacedaemonian\ngovernment; and the expression of Theopompus, the comic poet, seemed\nbut poor, when he compared the Lacedaemonians to tavern women,\nbecause when the Greeks had first tasted the sweet wine of liberty,\nthey then poured vinegar into the cup; for from the very first it had\na rough and bitter taste, all government by the people being\nsuppressed by Lysander, and the boldest and least scrupulous of the\noligarchical party selected to rule the cities.\n\nHaving spent some little time about these things, and sent some\nbefore to Lacedaemon to tell them he was arriving with two hundred\nships, he united his forces in Attica with those of the two kings\nAgis and Pausanias, hoping to take the city without delay.  But when\nthe Athenians defended themselves, he with his fleet passed again to\nAsia, and in like manner destroyed the forms of government in all the\nother cities, and placed them under the rule of ten chief persons,\nmany in every one being killed, and many driven into exile; and in\nSamos, he expelled the whole people, and gave their cities to the\nexiles whom he brought back.  And the Athenians still possessing\nSestos, he took it from them, and suffered not the Sestians\nthemselves to dwell in it, but gave the city and country to be\ndivided out among the pilots and masters of the ships under him;\nwhich was his first act that was disallowed by the Lacedaemonians,\nwho brought the Sestians back again into their country.  All Greece,\nhowever, rejoiced to see the Aeginetans, by Lysander's aid, now\nagain, after a long time, receiving back their cities, and the\nMelians and Scionaeans restored, while the Athenians were driven out,\nand delivered up the cities.\n\nBut when he now understood they were in a bad case in the city\nbecause of the famine, he sailed to Piraeus, and reduced the city,\nwhich was compelled to surrender on what conditions he demanded.  One\nhears it said by Lacedaemonians that Lysander wrote to the Ephors\nthus:  \"Athens is taken;\" and that these magistrates wrote back to\nLysander, \"Taken is enough.\"  But this saying was invented for its\nneatness' sake; for the true decree of the magistrates was on this\nmanner:  \"The government of the Lacedaemonians has made these orders;\npull down the Piraeus and the long walls; quit all the towns, and\nkeep to your own land; if you do these things, you shall have peace,\nif you wish it, restoring also your exiles.  As concerning the number\nof the ships, whatsoever there be judged necessary to appoint, that\ndo.\"  This scroll of conditions the Athenians accepted, Theramenes,\nson of Hagnon, supporting it.  At which time, too, they say that when\nCleomenes, one of the young orators, asked him how he durst act and\nspeak contrary to Themistocles, delivering up the walls to the\nLacedaemonians, which he had built against the will of the\nLacedaemonians, he said, \"O young man, I do nothing contrary to\nThemistocles; for he raised these walls for the safety of the\ncitizens, and we pull them down for their safety; and if walls make a\ncity happy, then Sparta must be the most wretched of all, as it has\nnone.\"\n\nLysander, as soon as he had taken all the ships except twelve, and\nthe walls of the Athenians, on the sixteenth day of the month\nMunychion, the same on which they had overcome the barbarians at\nSalamis, then proceeded to take measures for altering the government.\nBut the Athenians taking that very unwillingly, and resisting, he\nsent to the people and informed them, that he found that the city had\nbroken the terms, for the walls were standing when the days were past\nwithin which they should have been pulled down.  He should,\ntherefore, consider their case anew, they having broken their first\narticles.  And some state, in fact, the proposal was made in the\ncongress of the allies, that the Athenians should all be sold as\nslaves; on which occasion, Erianthus, the Theban, gave his vote to\npull down the city, and turn the country into sheep-pasture; yet\nafterwards, when there was a meeting of the captains together, a man\nof Phocis, singing the first chorus in Euripides's Electra, which\nbegins,\n\nElectra, Agamemnon's child, I come\nUnto thy desert home,\n\nthey were all melted with compassion, and it seemed to be a cruel\ndeed to destroy and pull down a city which had been so famous, and\nproduced such men.\n\nAccordingly Lysander, the Athenians yielding up everything, sent for\na number of flute-women out of the city, and collected together all\nthat were in the camp, and pulled down the walls, and burnt the ships\nto the sound of the flute, the allies being crowned with garlands,\nand making merry together, as counting that day the beginning of\ntheir liberty.  He proceeded also at once to alter the government,\nplacing thirty rulers in the city, and ten in the Piraeus:  he put,\nalso, a garrison into the Acropolis, and made Callibius, a Spartan,\nthe governor of it; who afterwards taking up his staff to strike\nAutolycus, the athlete, about whom Xenophon wrote his \"Banquet,\" on\nhis tripping up his heels and throwing him to the ground, Lysander\nwas not vexed at it, but chid Callibius, telling him he did not know\nhow to govern freemen.  The thirty rulers, however, to gain\nCallibius's favor, a little after killed Autolycus.\n\nLysander, after this, sails out to Thrace, and what remained of the\npublic money, and the gifts and crowns which he had himself received,\nnumbers of people, as might be expected, being anxious to make\npresents to a man of such great power, who was, in a manner, the lord\nof Greece, he sends to Lacedaemon by Gylippus, who had commanded\nformerly in Sicily.  But he, it is reported, unsewed the sacks at the\nbottom, took a considerable amount of silver out of every one of\nthem, and sewed them up again, not knowing there was a writing in\nevery one stating how much there was.  And coming into Sparta, what\nhe had thus stolen away he hid under the tiles of his house, and\ndelivered up the sacks to the magistrates, and showed the seals were\nupon them.  But afterwards, on their opening the sacks and counting\nit, the quantity of the silver differed from what the writing\nexpressed; and the matter causing some perplexity to the magistrates,\nGylippus's servant tells them in a riddle, that under the tiles lay\nmany owls; for, as it seems, the greatest part of the money then\ncurrent, bore the Athenian stamp of the owl.  Gylippus having\ncommitted so foul and base a deed, after such great and distinguished\nexploits before, removed himself from Lacedaemon.\n\nBut the wisest of the Spartans, very much on account of this\noccurrence, dreading the influence of money, as being what had\ncorrupted the greatest citizens, exclaimed against Lysander's\nconduct, and declared to the Ephors, that all the silver and gold\nshould be sent away, as mere \"alien mischiefs.\"  These consulted\nabout it; and Theopompus says, it was Sciraphidas, but Ephorus, that\nit was Phlogidas, who declared they ought not to receive any gold or\nsilver into the city; but to use their own country coin which was\niron, and was first of all dipped in vinegar when it was red hot,\nthat it might not be worked up anew, but because of the dipping might\nbe hard and unpliable.  It was also, of course, very heavy and\ntroublesome to carry, and a great deal of it in quantity and\nweight was but a little in value.  And perhaps all the old money was\nso, coin consisting of iron, or in some countries, copper skewers,\nwhence it comes that we still find a great number of small pieces of\nmoney retain the name of obolus, and the drachma is six of these,\nbecause so much may be grasped in one's hand.  But Lysander's friends\nbeing against it, and endeavoring to keep the money in the city, it\nwas resolved to bring in this sort of money to be used publicly,\nenacting, at the same time, that if anyone was found in possession\nof any privately, he should be put to death, as if Lycurgus had\nfeared the coin, and not the covetousness resulting from it, which\nthey did not repress by letting no private man keep any, so much as\nthey encouraged it, by allowing the state to possess it; attaching\nthereby a sort of dignity to it, over and above its ordinary utility.\nNeither was it possible, that what they saw was so much esteemed\npublicly, they should privately despise as unprofitable; and that\neveryone should think that thing could be nothing worth for his own\npersonal use, which was so extremely valued and desired for the use\nof the state.  And moral habits, induced by public practices, are far\nquicker in making their way into men's private lives, than the\nfailings and faults of individuals are in infecting the city at\nlarge.  For it is probable that the parts will be rather corrupted by\nthe whole if that grows bad; while the vices which flow from a part\ninto the whole, find many correctives and remedies from that which\nremains sound.  Terror and the law were now to keep guard over the\ncitizens' houses, to prevent any money entering into them; but their\nminds could no longer be expected to remain superior to the desire of\nit, when wealth in general was thus set up to be striven after, as a\nhigh and noble object.  On this point, however, we have given our\ncensure of the Lacedaemonians in one of our other writings.\n\nLysander erected out of the spoils brazen statues at Delphi of\nhimself, and of every one of the masters of the ships, as also\nfigures of the golden stars of Castor and Pollux, which vanished\nbefore the battle at Leuctra.  In the treasury of Brasidas and the\nAcanthians, there was a trireme made of gold and ivory, of two\ncubits, which Cyrus sent Lysander in honor of his victory.  But\nAlexandrides of Delphi writes in his history, that there was also a\ndeposit of Lysander's, a talent of silver, and fifty-two minas,\nbesides eleven staters; a statement not consistent with the generally\nreceived account of his poverty.  And at that time, Lysander, being\nin fact of greater power than any Greek before, was yet thought to\nshow a pride, and to affect a superiority greater even than his power\nwarranted.  He was the first, as Duris says in his history, among the\nGreeks, to whom the cities reared altars as to a god, and sacrificed;\nto him were songs of triumph first sung, the beginning of one of\nwhich still remains recorded: --\n\nGreat Greece's general from spacious Sparta we\nWill celebrate with songs of victory.\n\nAnd the Samians decreed that their solemnities of Juno should be\ncalled the Lysandria; and out of the poets he had Choerilus always\nwith him, to extol his achievements in verse; and to Antilochus, who\nhad made some verses in his commendation, being pleased with them, he\ngave a hat full of silver; and when Antimachus of Colophon, and one\nNiceratus of Heraclea, competed with each other in a poem on the\ndeeds of Lysander, he gave the garland to Niceratus; at which\nAntimachus, in vexation, suppressed his poem; but Plato, being then a\nyoung man, and admiring Antimachus for his poetry, consoled him for\nhis defeat by telling him that it is the ignorant who are the\nsufferers by ignorance, as truly as the blind by want of sight.\nAfterwards, when Aristonus, the musician, who had been a conqueror\nsix times at the Pythian games, told him as a piece of flattery, that\nif he were successful again, he would proclaim himself in the name of\nLysander, \"that is,\" he answered, \"as his slave?\"\n\nThis ambitious temper was indeed only burdensome to the highest\npersonages and to his equals, but through having so many people\ndevoted to serve him, an extreme haughtiness and contemptuousness\ngrew up, together with ambition, in his character.  He observed no\nsort of moderation, such as befitted a private man, either in\nrewarding or in punishing; the recompense of his friends and guests\nwas absolute power over cities, and irresponsible authority, and the\nonly satisfaction of his wrath was the destruction of his enemy;\nbanishment would not suffice.  As for example, at a later period,\nfearing lest the popular leaders of the Milesians should fly, and\ndesiring also to discover those who lay hid, he swore he would do\nthem no harm, and on their believing him and coming forth, he\ndelivered them up to the oligarchical leaders to be slain, being in\nall no less than eight hundred.  And, indeed, the slaughter in\ngeneral of those of the popular party in the towns exceeded all\ncomputation; as he did not kill only for offenses against himself,\nbut granted these favors without sparing, and joined in the execution\nof them, to gratify the many hatreds, and the much cupidity of his\nfriends everywhere round about him.  From whence the saying of\nEteocles, the Lacedaemonian, came to be famous, that \"Greece could\nnot have borne two Lysanders.\"  Theophrastus says, that Archestratus\nsaid the same thing concerning Alcibiades.  But in his case what had\ngiven most offense was a certain licentious and wanton self-will;\nLysander's power was feared and hated because of his unmerciful\ndisposition.  The Lacedaemonians did not at all concern themselves\nfor any other accusers; but afterwards, when Pharnabazus, having been\ninjured by him, he having pillaged and wasted his country, sent some\nto Sparta to inform against him, the Ephors taking it very ill, put\none of his friends and fellow-captains, Thorax, to death, taking him\nwith some silver privately in his possession; and they sent him a\nscroll, commanding him to return home.  This scroll is made up thus;\nwhen the Ephors send an admiral or general on his way, they take two\nround pieces of wood, both exactly of a length and thickness, and cut\neven to one another; they keep one themselves, and the other they\ngive to the person they send forth; and these pieces of wood they\ncall Scytales.  When, therefore, they have occasion to communicate\nany secret or important matter, making a scroll of parchment long and\nnarrow like a leathern thong, they roll it about their own staff of\nwood, leaving no space void between, but covering the surface of the\nstaff with the scroll all over.  When they have done this, they write\nwhat they please on the scroll, as it is wrapped about the staff; and\nwhen they have written, they take off the scroll, and send it to the\ngeneral without the wood.  He, when he has received it, can read\nnothing of the writing, because the words and letters are not\nconnected, but all broken up; but taking his own staff, he winds the\nslip of the scroll about it, so that this folding, restoring all the\nparts into the same order that they were in before, and putting what\ncomes first into connection with what follows, brings the whole\nconsecutive contents to view round the outside.  And this scroll is\ncalled a staff, after the name of the wood, as a thing measured is by\nthe name of the measure.\n\nBut Lysander, when the staff came to him to the Hellespont, was\ntroubled, and fearing Pharnabazus's accusations most, made haste to\nconfer with him, hoping to end the difference by a meeting together.\nWhen they met, he desired him to write another letter to the\nmagistrates, stating that he had not been wronged, and had no\ncomplaint to prefer.  But he was ignorant that Pharnabazus, as it is\nin the proverb, played Cretan against Cretan; for pretending to do\nall that was desired, openly he wrote such a letter as Lysander\nwanted, but kept by him another, written privately; and when they\ncame to put on the seals, changed the tablets, which differed not at\nall to look upon, and gave him the letter which had been written\nprivately.  Lysander, accordingly, coming to Lacedaemon, and going,\nas the custom is, to the magistrates' office, gave Pharnabazus's\nletter to the Ephors, being persuaded that the greatest accusation\nagainst him was now withdrawn; for Pharnabazus was beloved by the\nLacedaemonians, having been the most zealous on their side in the war\nof all the king's captains.  But after the magistrates had read the\nletter they showed it him, and he understanding now that\n\nOthers beside Ulysses deep can be,\nNot the one wise man of the world is he,\n\nin extreme confusion, left them at the time.  But a few days after,\nmeeting the Ephors, he said he must go to the temple of Ammon, and\noffer the god the sacrifices which he had vowed in war.  For some\nstate it as a truth, that when he was besieging the city of Aphytae\nin Thrace, Ammon stood by him in his sleep; whereupon raising the\nsiege, supposing the god had commanded it, he bade the Aphytaeans\nsacrifice to Ammon, and resolved to make a journey into Libya to\npropitiate the god.  But most were of opinion that the god was but\nthe presence, and that in reality he was afraid of the Ephors, and\nthat impatience of the yoke at home, and dislike of living under\nauthority, made him long for some travel and wandering, like a horse\njust brought in from open feeding and pasture to the stable, and put\nagain to his ordinary work.  For that which Ephorus states to have\nbeen the cause of this traveling about, I shall relate by and by.\n\nAnd having hardly and with difficulty obtained leave of the\nmagistrates to depart, he set sail.  But the kings, while he was on\nhis voyage, considering that keeping, as he did, the cities in\npossession by his own friends and partisans, he was in fact their\nsovereign and the lord of Greece, took measures for restoring the\npower to the people, and for throwing his friends out.  Disturbances\ncommencing again about these things, and, first of all, the Athenians\nfrom Phyle setting upon their thirty rulers and overpowering them,\nLysander, coming home in haste, persuaded the Lacedaemonians to\nsupport the oligarchies and to put down the popular governments, and\nto the thirty in Athens, first of all, they sent a hundred talents\nfor the war, and Lysander himself, as general, to assist them.  But\nthe kings envying him, and fearing lest he should take Athens again,\nresolved that one of themselves should take the command.  Accordingly\nPausanias went, and in words, indeed, professed as if he had been for\nthe tyrants against the people, but in reality exerted himself for\npeace, that Lysander might not by the means of his friends become\nlord of Athens again.  This he brought easily to pass; for,\nreconciling the Athenians, and quieting the tumults, he defeated the\nambitious hopes of Lysander, though shortly after, on the Athenians\nrebelling again, he was censured for having thus taken, as it were,\nthe bit out of the mouth of the people, which, being freed from the\noligarchy, would now break out again into affronts and insolence; and\nLysander regained the reputation of a person who employed his command\nnot in gratification of others, nor for applause, but strictly for\nthe good of Sparta.\n\nHis speech, also, was bold and daunting to such as opposed him.  The\nArgives, for example, contended about the bounds of their land, and\nthought they brought juster pleas than the Lacedaemonians; holding\nout his sword, \"He,\" said Lysander, \"that is master of this, brings\nthe best argument about the bounds of territory.\"  A man of Megara,\nat some conference, taking freedom with him, \"This language, my\nfriend,\" said he, \"should come from a city.\"  To the Boeotians, who\nwere acting a doubtful part, he put the question, whether he should\npass through their country with spears upright, or leveled.  After\nthe revolt of the Corinthians, when, on coming to their walls, he\nperceived the Lacedaemonians hesitating to make the assault, and a\nhare was seen to leap through the ditch:  \"Are you not ashamed,\" he\nsaid, \"to fear an enemy, for whose laziness, the very hares sleep\nupon their walls?\"\n\nWhen king Agis died, leaving a brother Agesilaus, and Leotychides,\nwho was supposed his son, Lysander, being attached to Agesilaus,\npersuaded him to lay claim to the kingdom, as being a true descendant\nof Hercules; Leotychides lying under the suspicion of being the son\nof Alcibiades, who lived privately in familiarity with Timaea, the\nwife of Agis, at the time he was a fugitive in Sparta.  Agis, they\nsay, computing the time, satisfied himself that she could not have\nconceived by him, and had hitherto always neglected and manifestly\ndisowned Leotychides; but now when he was carried sick to Heraea,\nbeing ready to die, what by the importunities of the young man\nhimself, and of his friends, in the presence of many he declared\nLeotychides to be his; and desiring those who were present to bear\nwitness of this to the Lacedaemonians, died.  They accordingly did so\ntestify in favor of Leotychides.  And Agesilaus, being otherwise\nhighly reputed of, and strong in the support of Lysander, was, on the\nother hand, prejudiced by Diopithes, a man famous for his knowledge\nof oracles, who adduced this prophecy in reference to Agesilaus's\nlameness:\n\nBeware, great Sparta, lest there come of thee,\nThough sound thyself, an halting sovereignty;\nTroubles, both long and unexpected too,\nAnd storms of deadly warfare shall ensue.\n\nWhen many, therefore, yielded to the oracle, and inclined to\nLeotychides, Lysander said that Diopithes did not take the prophecy\nrightly; for it was not that the god would be offended if any lame\nperson ruled over the Lacedaemonians, but that the kingdom would be a\nlame one, if bastards and false-born should govern with the posterity\nof Hercules.  By this argument, and by his great influence among\nthem, he prevailed, and Agesilaus was made king.\n\nImmediately, therefore, Lysander spurred him on to make an expedition\ninto Asia, putting him in hopes that he might destroy the Persians,\nand attain the height of greatness.  And he wrote to his friends in\nAsia, bidding them request to have Agesilaus appointed to command\nthem in the war against the barbarians; which they were persuaded to,\nand sent ambassadors to Lacedaemon to entreat it.  And this would\nseem to be a second favor done Agesilaus by Lysander, not inferior to\nhis first in obtaining him the kingdom.  But with ambitious natures,\notherwise not ill qualified for command, the feeling of jealousy of\nthose near them in reputation continually stands in the way of the\nperformance of noble actions; they make those their rivals in virtue,\nwhom they ought to use as their helpers to it.  Agesilaus took\nLysander, among the thirty counselors that accompanied him, with\nintentions of using him as his especial friend; but when they were\ncome into Asia, the inhabitants there, to whom he was but little\nknown, addressed themselves to him but little and seldom; whereas\nLysander, because of their frequent previous intercourse, was visited\nand attended by large numbers, by his friends out of observance, and\nby others out of fear; and just as in tragedies it not uncommonly is\nthe case with the actors, the person who represents a messenger or\nservant is much taken notice of, and plays the chief part, while he\nwho wears the crown and scepter is hardly heard to speak, even so was\nit about the counselor, he had all the real honors of the government,\nand to the king was left the empty name of power.  This\ndisproportionate ambition ought very likely to have been in some way\nsoftened down, and Lysander should have been reduced to his proper\nsecond place, but wholly to cast off and to insult and affront for\nglory's sake, one who was his benefactor and friend, was not worthy\nAgesilaus to allow in himself.  For, first of all, he gave him no\nopportunity for any action, and never set him in any place of\ncommand; then, for whomsoever he perceived him exerting his interest,\nthese persons he always sent away with a refusal, and with less\nattention than any ordinary suitors, thus silently undoing and\nweakening his influence.\n\nLysander, miscarrying in everything, and perceiving that his\ndiligence for his friends was but a hindrance to them, forbore to\nhelp them, entreating them that they would not address themselves to,\nnor observe him, but that they would speak to the king, and to those\nwho could be of more service to friends than at present he could\nmost, on hearing this, forbore to trouble him about their concerns;\nbut continued their observances to him, waiting upon him in the walks\nand places of exercise; at which Agesilaus was more annoyed than\never, envying him the honor; and, finally, when he gave many of the\nofficers places of command and the governments of cities, he\nappointed Lysander carver at his table, adding, by way of insult to\nthe Ionians, \"Let them go now, and pay their court to my carver.\"\nUpon this, Lysander thought fit to come and speak with him; and a\nbrief laconic dialogue passed between them as follows:  \"Truly, you\nknow very well, O Agesilaus, how to depress your friends;\" \"Those\nfriends,\" replied he, \"who would be greater than myself; but those\nwho increase my power, it is just should share in it.\"  \"Possibly, O\nAgesilaus,\" answered Lysander, \"in all this there may be more said on\nyour part than done on mine, but I request you, for the sake of\nobservers from without, to place me in any command under you where\nyou may judge I shall be the least offensive, and most useful.\"\n\nUpon this he was sent ambassador to the Hellespont; and though angry\nwith Agesilaus, yet did not neglect to perform his duty, and having\ninduced Spithridates the Persian, being offended with Pharnabazus, a\ngallant man, and in command of some forces, to revolt, he brought him\nto Agesilaus.  He was not, however, employed in any other service,\nbut having completed his time, returned to Sparta, without honor,\nangry with Agesilaus, and hating more than ever the whole Spartan\ngovernment, and resolved to delay no longer, but while there was yet\ntime, to put into execution the plans which he appears some time\nbefore to have concerted for a revolution and change in the\nconstitution.  These were as follows.  The Heraclidae who joined with\nthe Dorians, and came into Peloponnesus, became a numerous and\nglorious race in Sparta, but not every family belonging to it had the\nright of succession in the kingdom, but the kings were chosen out of\ntwo only, called the Eurypontidae and the Agiadae; the rest had no\nprivilege in the government by their nobility of birth, and the\nhonors which followed from merit lay open to all who could obtain\nthem.  Lysander, who was born of one of these families, when he had\nrisen into great renown for his exploits, and had gained great\nfriends and power, was vexed to see the city which had increased to\nwhat it was by him, ruled by others not at all better descended than\nhimself, and formed a design to remove the government from the two\nfamilies, and to give it in common to all the Heraclidae; or as some\nsay, not to the Heraclidae only, but to all the Spartans; that the\nreward might not belong to the posterity of Hercules, but to those\nwho were like Hercules, judging by that personal merit which raised\neven him to the honor of the Godhead; and he hoped that when the\nkingdom was thus to be competed for, no Spartan would be chosen\nbefore himself.\n\nAccordingly he first attempted and prepared to persuade the citizens\nprivately, and studied an oration composed to this purpose by Cleon,\nthe Halicarnassian.  Afterwards perceiving so unexpected and great an\ninnovation required bolder means of support, he proceeded as it might\nbe on the stage, to avail himself of machinery, and to try the\neffects of divine agency upon his countrymen.  He collected and\narranged for his purpose, answers and oracles from Apollo, not\nexpecting to get any benefit from Cleon's rhetoric, unless he should\nfirst alarm and overpower the minds of his fellow-citizens by\nreligious and superstitious terrors, before bringing them to the\nconsideration of his arguments.  Ephorus relates, after he had\nendeavored to corrupt the oracle of Apollo, and had again failed to\npersuade the priestesses of Dodona by means of Pherecles, that he\nwent to Ammon, and discoursed with the guardians of the oracle there,\nproffering them a great deal of gold, and that they, taking this ill,\nsent some to Sparta to accuse Lysander; and on his acquittal the\nLibyans, going away, said, \"You will find us, O Spartans, better\njudges, when you come to dwell with us in Libya,\" there being a\ncertain ancient oracle, that the Lacedaemonians should dwell in\nLibya.  But as the whole intrigue and the course of the contrivance\nwas no ordinary one, nor lightly- undertaken, but depended as it went\non, like some mathematical proposition, on a variety of important\nadmissions, and proceeded through a series of intricate and difficult\nsteps to its conclusion, we will go into it at length, following the\naccount of one who was at once an historian and a philosopher.\n\nThere was a woman in Pontus, who professed to be pregnant by Apollo,\nwhich many, as was natural, disbelieved, and many also gave credit\nto, and when she had brought forth a man-child, several, not\nunimportant persons, took an interest in its rearing and bringing up.\nThe name given the boy was Silenus, for some reason or other.\nLysander, taking this for the groundwork, frames and devises the rest\nhimself, making use of not a few, nor these insignificant champions\nof his story, who brought the report of the child's birth into credit\nwithout any suspicion.  Another report, also, was procured from\nDelphi and circulated in Sparta, that there were some very old\noracles which were kept by the priests in private writings; and they\nwere not to be meddled with neither was it lawful to read them, till\none in after times should come, descended from Apollo, and, on giving\nsome known token to the keepers, should take the books in which the\noracles were.  Things being thus ordered beforehand, Silenus, it was\nintended, should come and ask for the oracles, as being the child of\nApollo and those priests who were privy to the design, were to\nprofess to search narrowly into all particulars, and to question him\nconcerning his birth; and, finally, were to be convinced, and, as to\nApollo's son, to deliver up to him the writings.  Then he, in the\npresence of many witnesses, should read amongst other prophecies,\nthat which was the object of the whole contrivance, relating to the\noffice of the kings, that it would be better and more desirable to\nthe Spartans to choose their kings out of the best citizens.  And\nnow, Silenus being grown up to a youth, and being ready for the\naction, Lysander miscarried in his drama through the timidity of one\nof his actors, or assistants, who just as he came to the point lost\nheart and drew back.  Yet nothing was found out while Lysander lived,\nbut only after his death.\n\nHe died before Agesilaus came back from Asia, being involved, or\nperhaps more truly having himself involved Greece, in the Boeotian\nwar.  For it is stated both ways; and the cause of it some make to be\nhimself, others the Thebans, and some both together; the Thebans, on\nthe one hand, being charged with casting away the sacrifices at\nAulis, and that being bribed with the king's money brought by\nAndroclides and Amphitheus, they had with the object of entangling\nthe Lacedaemonians in a Grecian war, set upon the Phocians, and\nwasted their country; it being said, on the other hand, that Lysander\nwas angry that the Thebans had preferred a claim to the tenth part of\nthe spoils of the war, while the rest of the confederates submitted\nwithout complaint; and because they expressed indignation about the\nmoney which Lysander sent to Sparta, but most especially, because\nfrom them the Athenians had obtained the first opportunity of freeing\nthemselves from the thirty tyrants, whom Lysander had made, and to\nsupport whom the Lacedaemonians issued a decree that political\nrefugees from Athens might be arrested in whatever country they were\nfound, and that those who impeded their arrest should be excluded\nfrom the confederacy.  In reply to this the Thebans issued counter\ndecrees of their own, truly in the spirit and temper of the actions\nof Hercules and Bacchus, that every house and city in Boeotia should\nbe opened to the Athenians who required it, and that he who did not\nhelp a fugitive who was seized, should be fined a talent for damages,\nand if any one should bear arms through Boeotia to Attica against the\ntyrants, that none of the Thebans should either see or hear of it.\nNor did they pass these humane and truly Greek decrees, without at\nthe same time making their acts conformable to their words.  For\nThrasybulus and those who with him occupied Phyle, set out upon that\nenterprise from Thebes, with arms and money, and secrecy and a point\nto start from, provided for them by the Thebans.  Such were the\ncauses of complaint Lysander had against Thebes.  And being now grown\nviolent in his temper through the atrabilious tendency which\nincreased upon him in his old age, he urged the Ephors and persuaded\nthem to place a garrison in Thebes, and taking the commander's place,\nhe marched forth with a body of troops.  Pausanias, also, the king,\nwas sent shortly after with an army.  Now Pausanias, going round by\nCithaeron, was to invade Boeotia; Lysander, meantime, advanced\nthrough Phocis to meet him,\nwith a numerous body of soldiers.  He took the city of the\nOrchomenians, who came over to him of their own accord, and plundered\nLebadea.  He dispatched also letters to Pausanias, ordering him to\nmove from Plataea to meet him at Haliartus, and that himself would be\nat the walls of Haliartus by break of day.  These letters were\nbrought to the Thebans, the carrier of them falling into the hands of\nsome Theban scouts.  They, having received aid from Athens, committed\ntheir city to the charge of the Athenian troops, and sallying out\nabout the first sleep, succeeded in reaching Haliartus a little before\nLysander, and part of them entered into the city.  He, upon this,\nfirst of all resolved, posting his army upon a hill, to stay for\nPausanias; then as the day advanced, not being able to rest, he bade\nhis men take up their arms, and encouraging the allies, led them in a\ncolumn along the road to the walls.  but those Thebans who had\nremained outside, taking the city on the left hand, advanced against\nthe rear of their enemies, by the fountain which is called Cissusa;\nhere they tell the story that the nurses washed the infant Bacchus\nafter his birth; the water of it is of a bright wine color, clear,\nand most pleasant to drink; and not far off the Cretan storax grows\nall about, which the Haliartians adduce in token of Rhadamanthus\nhaving dwelt there, and they show his sepulchre, calling it Alea.\nAnd the monument also of Alcmena is hard by; for there, as they say,\nshe was buried, having married Rhadamanthus after Amphitryon's death.\nBut the Thebans inside the city forming in order of battle with the\nHaliartians stood still for some time, but on seeing Lysander with a\nparty of those who were foremost approaching, on a sudden opening the\ngates and falling on, they killed him with the soothsayer at his\nside, and a few others; for the greater part immediately fled back to\nthe main force.  But the Thebans not slackening, but closely pursuing\nthem, the whole body turned to fly towards the hills.  There were one\nthousand of them slain; there died, also, of the Thebans three\nhundred, who were killed with their enemies, while chasing them into\ncraggy and difficult places.  These had been under suspicion of\nfavoring the Lacedaemonians, and in their eagerness to clear\nthemselves in the eyes of their fellow-citizens, exposed themselves\nin the pursuit, and so met their death.  News of the disaster reached\nPausanias as he was on the way from Plataea to Thespiae, and having\nset his army in order he came to Haliartus; Thrasybulus, also, came\nfrom Thebes, leading the Athenians.\n\nPausanias proposing to request the bodies of the dead under truce,\nthe elders of the Spartans took it ill, and were angry among\nthemselves, and coming to the king, declared that Lysander should not\nbe taken away upon any conditions; if they fought it out by arms\nabout his body, and conquered, then they might bury him; if they were\novercome, it was glorious to die upon the spot with their commander.\nWhen the elders had spoken these things, Pausanias saw it would be a\ndifficult business to vanquish the Thebans, who had but just been\nconquerors; that Lysander's body also lay near the walls, so that it\nwould be hard for them, though they overcame, to take it away without\na truce; he therefore sent a herald, obtained a truce, and withdrew\nhis forces, and carrying away the body of Lysander, they buried it in\nthe first friendly soil they reached on crossing the Boeotian\nfrontier, in the country of the Panopaeans; where the monument still\nstands as you go on the road from Delphi to Chaeronea.  Now the army\nquartering there, it is said that a person of Phocis, relating the\nbattle to one who was not in it, said, the enemies fell upon them\njust after Lysander had passed over the Hoplites; surprised at which\na Spartan, a friend of Lysander, asked what Hoplites he meant, for he\ndid not know the name.  \"It was there,\" answered the Phocian, \"that\nthe enemy killed the first of us; the rivulet by the city is called\nHoplites.\"  On hearing which the Spartan shed tears and observed, how\nimpossible it is for any man to avoid his appointed lot; Lysander, it\nappears, having received an oracle, as follows: --\n\nSounding Hoplites see thou bear in mind,\nAnd the earthborn dragon following behind.\n\nSome, however, say that Hoplites does not run by Haliartus, but is a\nwatercourse near Coronea, falling into the river Philarus, not far\nfrom the town in former times called Hoplias, and now Isomantus.\n\nThe man of Haliartus who killed Lysander, by name Neochorus, bore on\nhis shield the device of a dragon; and this, it was supposed, the\noracle signified.  It is said, also, that at the time of the\nPeloponnesian war, the Thebans received an oracle from the sanctuary\nof Ismenus, referring at once to the battle at Delium, and to this\nwhich thirty years after took place at Haliartus.  It ran thus: --\n\nHunting the wolf, observe the utmost bound,\nAnd the hill Orchalides where foxes most are found.\n\nBy the words, \"the utmost bound,\" Delium being intended, where\nBoeotia touches Attica, and by Orchalides, the hill now called\nAlopecus, which lies in the parts of Haliartus towards Helicon.\n\nBut such a death befalling Lysander, the Spartans took it so\ngrievously at the time, that they put the king to a trial for his\nlife, which he not daring to await, fled to Tegea, and there lived\nout his life in the sanctuary of Minerva.  The poverty also of\nLysander being discovered by his death, made his merit more manifest,\nsince from so much wealth and power, from all the homage of the\ncities, and of the Persian kingdom, he had not in the least degree,\nso far as money goes, sought any private aggrandizement, as\nTheopompus in his history relates, whom anyone may rather give\ncredit to when he commends, than when he finds fault, as it is more\nagreeable to him to blame than to praise.  But subsequently, Ephorus\nsays, some controversy arising among the allies at Sparta, which made\nit necessary to consult the writings which Lysander had kept by him,\nAgesilaus came to his house, and finding the book in which the\noration on the Spartan constitution was written at length, to the\neffect that the kingdom ought to be taken from the Eurypontidae and\nAgiadae, and to be offered in common, and a choice made out of the\nbest citizens, at first he was eager to make it public, and to show\nhis countrymen the real character of Lysander.  But Lacratidas, a\nwise man, and at that time chief of the Ephors, hindered Agesilaus,\nand said, they ought not to dig up Lysander again, but rather to bury\nwith him a discourse, composed so plausibly and subtlety.  Other\nhonors, also, were paid him after his death; and amongst these they\nimposed a fine upon those who had engaged themselves to marry his\ndaughters, and then when Lysander was found to be poor, after his\ndecease, refused them; because when they thought him rich they had\nbeen observant of him, but now his poverty had proved him just and\ngood, they forsook him.  For there was, it seems, in Sparta, a\npunishment for not marrying, for a late, and for a bad marriage; and\nto the last penalty those were most especially liable, who sought\nalliances with the rich instead of with the good and with their\nfriends.  Such is the account we have found given of Lysander.\n\n\n\nSYLLA\n\nLucius Cornelius Sylla was descended of a patrician or noble family.\nOf his ancestors, Rufinus, it is said, had been consul, and incurred\na disgrace more signal than his distinction.  For being found\npossessed of more than ten pounds of silver plate, contrary to the\nlaw, he was for this reason put out of the senate.  His posterity\ncontinued ever after in obscurity, nor had Sylla himself any opulent\nparentage.  In his younger days he lived in hired lodgings, at a low\nrate, which in after-times was adduced against him as proof that he\nhad been fortunate above his quality.  When he was boasting and\nmagnifying himself for his exploits in Libya, a person of noble\nstation made answer, \"And how can you be an honest man, who, since\nthe death of a father who left you nothing, have become so rich?\"\nThe time in which he lived was no longer an age of pure and upright\nmanners, but had already declined, and yielded to the appetite for\nriches and luxury; yet still, in the general opinion, they who\ndeserted the hereditary poverty of their family, were as much blamed\nas those who had run out a fair patrimonial estate.  And afterwards,\nwhen he had seized the power into his hands, and was putting many to\ndeath, a freedman suspected of having concealed one of the\nproscribed, and for that reason sentenced to be thrown down the\nTarpeian rock, in a reproachful way recounted, how they had lived\nlong together under the same roof, himself for the upper rooms paying\ntwo thousand sesterces, and Sylla for the lower three thousand; so\nthat the difference between their fortunes then was no more than one\nthousand sesterces, equivalent in Attic coin to two hundred and fifty\ndrachmas.  And thus much of his early fortune.\n\nHis general personal appearance may be known by his statues; only his\nblue eyes, of themselves extremely keen and glaring, were rendered\nall the more forbidding and terrible by the complexion of his face,\nin which white was mixed with rough blotches of fiery red.  Hence, it\nis said, he was surnamed Sylla, and in allusion to it one of the\nscurrilous jesters at Athens made the verse upon him,\n\nSylla is a mulberry sprinkled o'er with meal.\n\nNor is it out of place to make use of marks of character like these,\nin the case of one who was by nature so addicted to raillery, that in\nhis youthful obscurer years he would converse freely with players and\nprofessed jesters, and join them in all their low pleasures.  And\nwhen supreme master of all, he was often wont to muster together the\nmost impudent players and stage-followers of the town, and to drink\nand bandy jests with them without regard to his age or the dignity of\nhis place, and to the prejudice of important affairs that required\nhis attention.  When he was once at table, it was not in Sylla's\nnature to admit of anything that was serious, and whereas at other\ntimes he was a man of business, and austere of countenance, he\nunderwent all of a sudden, at his first entrance upon wine and\ngood-fellowship, a total revolution, and was gentle and tractable\nwith common singers and dancers, and ready to oblige anyone that\nspoke with him.  It seems to have been a sort of diseased result of\nthis laxity, that he was so prone to amorous pleasures, and yielded\nwithout resistance to any temptations of voluptuousness, from which\neven ill his old age he could not refrain.  He had a long attachment\nfor Metrobius, a player.  In his first amours it happened, that he\nmade court to a common but rich lady, Nicopolis by name, and, what by\nthe air of his youth, and what by long intimacy, won so far on her\naffections, that she rather than he was the lover, and at her death\nshe bequeathed him her whole property.  He likewise inherited the\nestate of a step-mother who loved him as her own son.  By these means\nhe had pretty well advanced his fortunes.\n\nHe was chosen quaestor to Marius in his first consulship, and set\nsail with him for Libya, to war upon Jugurtha.  Here, in general, he\ngained approbation; and more especially, by closing in dexterously\nwith an accidental occasion, made a friend of Bocchus, king of\nNumidia.  He hospitably entertained the king's ambassadors, on their\nescape from some Numidian robbers, and after showing them much\nkindness, sent them on their journey with presents, and an escort to\nprotect them.  Bocchus had long hated and dreaded his son-in-law,\nJugurtha, who had now been worsted in the field and had fled to him\nfor shelter; and it so happened, he was at this time entertaining a\ndesign to betray him.  He accordingly invited Sylla to come to him,\nwishing the seizure and surrender of Jugurtha to be effected rather\nthrough him, than directly by himself.  Sylla, when he had\ncommunicated the business to Marius, and received from him a small\ndetachment, voluntarily put himself into this imminent danger; and\nconfiding in a barbarian, who had been unfaithful to his own\nrelations, to apprehend another man's person, made surrender of his\nown.  Bocchus, having both of them now in his power, was necessitated\nto betray one or other, and after long debate with himself, at last\nresolved on his first design, and gave up Jugurtha into the hands of\nSylla.\n\nFor this Marius triumphed, but the glory of the enterprise, which\nthrough people's envy of Marius was ascribed to Sylla, secretly\ngrieved him.  And the truth is, Sylla himself was by nature\nvainglorious, and this being the first time that from a low and\nprivate condition he had risen to esteem amongst the citizens and\ntasted of honor, his appetite for distinction carried him to such a\npitch of ostentation, that he had a representation of this action\nengraved on a signet ring; which he carried about with him, and made\nuse of ever after.  The impress was, Bocchus delivering, and Sylla\nreceiving, Jugurtha.  This touched Marius to the quick; however,\njudging Sylla to be beneath his rivalry, he made use of him as\nlieutenant, in his second consulship, and in his third, as tribune;\nand many considerable services were effected by his means.  When\nacting as lieutenant he took Copillus, chief of the Tectosages,\nprisoner, and compelled the Marsians, a great and populous nation,\nto become friends and confederates of the Romans.\n\nHenceforward, however, Sylla perceiving that Marius bore a jealous\neye over him, and would no longer afford him opportunities of action,\nbut rather opposed his advance, attached himself to Catulus, Marius's\ncolleague, a worthy man, but not energetic enough as a general.  And\nunder this commander, who entrusted him with the highest and most\nimportant commissions, he rose at once to reputation and to power.\nHe subdued by arms most part of the Alpine barbarians; and when there\nwas a scarcity in the armies, he took that care upon himself, and\nbrought in such a store of provisions, as not only to furnish the\nsoldiers of Catulus with abundance, but likewise to supply Marius.\nThis, as he writes himself, wounded Marius to the very heart.  So\nslight and childish were the first occasions and motives of that\nenmity between them, which, passing afterwards through a long course\nof civil bloodshed and incurable divisions to find its end in\ntyranny, and the confusion of the whole State proved Euripides to\nhave been truly wise and thoroughly acquainted with the causes of\ndisorders in the body politic, when he forewarned all men to beware\nof Ambition, as of all the higher Powers, the most destructive and\npernicious to her votaries.\n\nSylla, by this time thinking that the reputation of his arms abroad\nwas sufficient to entitle him to a part in the civil administration,\nhe took himself immediately from the camp to the assembly, and\noffered himself as a candidate for a praetorship, but failed.  The\nfault of this disappointment he wholly ascribes to the populace, who,\nknowing his intimacy with king Bocchus, and for that reason\nexpecting, that if he was made aedile before his praetorship, he\nwould then show them magnificent hunting-shows and combats between\nLibyan wild beasts, chose other praetors, on purpose to force him\ninto the aedileship.  The vanity of this pretext is sufficiently\ndisproved by matter-of-fact.  For the year following, partly by\nflatteries to the people, and partly by money, he got himself elected\npraetor.  Accordingly, once while he was in office, on his angrily\ntelling Caesar that he should make use of his authority against him,\nCaesar answered him with a smile, \"You do well to call it your own,\nas you bought it.\"  At the end of his praetorship he was sent over\ninto Cappadocia, under the presence of reestablishing Ariobarzanes in\nhis kingdom, but in reality to keep in check the restless movements\nof Mithridates, who was gradually procuring himself as vast a new\nacquired power and dominion, as was that of his ancient inheritance.\nHe carried over with him no great forces of his own, but making use\nof the cheerful aid of the confederates, succeeded, with considerable\nslaughter of the Cappadocians, and yet greater of the Armenian\nsuccors, in expelling Gordius and establishing Ariobarzanes as king.\n\nDuring his stay on the banks of the Euphrates, there came to him\nOrobazus, a Parthian, ambassador from king Arsaces, as yet there\nhaving been no correspondence between the two nations.  And this also\nwe may lay to the account of Sylla's felicity, that he should be the\nfirst Roman, to whom the Parthians made address for alliance and\nfriendship.  At the time of which reception, the story is, that\nhaving ordered three chairs of state to be set, one for Ariobarzanes,\none for Orobazus, and a third for himself, he placed himself in the\nmiddle, and so gave audience.  For this the king of Parthia\nafterwards put Orobazus to death.  Some people commended Sylla for\nhis lofty carriage towards the barbarians; others again accused him\nof arrogance and unseasonable display.  It is reported, that a\ncertain Chaldaean, of Orobazus's retinue, looking Sylla wistfully in\nthe face, and observing carefully the motions of his mind and body,\nand forming a judgment of his nature, according to the rules of his\nart, said that it was impossible for him not to become the greatest\nof men; it was rather a wonder how he could even then abstain from\nbeing head of all.\n\nAt his return, Censorinus impeached him of extortion, for having\nexacted a vast sum of money from a well-affected and associate\nkingdom.  However, Censorinus did not appear at the trial, but\ndropped his accusation.  His quarrel, meantime, with Marius began to\nbreak out afresh, receiving new material from the ambition of\nBocchus, who, to please the people of Rome, and gratify Sylla, set up\nin the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus images bearing trophies, and a\nrepresentation in gold of the surrender of Jugurtha to Sylla.  When\nMarius, in great anger, attempted to pull them down, and others aided\nSylla, the whole city would have been in tumult and commotion with\nthis dispute, had not the Social War, which had long lain smoldering\nblazed forth at last, and for the present put an end to the quarrel.\n\nIn the course of this war, which had many great changes of fortune,\nand which, more than any, afflicted the Romans, and, indeed,\nendangered the very being of the Commonwealth, Marius was not able to\nsignalize his valor in any action, but left behind him a clear proof,\nthat warlike excellence requires a strong and still vigorous body.\nSylla, on the other hand, by his many achievements, gained himself,\nwith his fellow-citizens, the name of a great commander, while his\nfriends thought him the greatest of all commanders, and his enemies\ncalled him the most fortunate.  Nor did this make the same sort of\nimpression on him, as it made on Timotheus the son of Conon, the\nAthenian; who, when his adversaries ascribed his successes to his\ngood luck, and had a painting made, representing him asleep, and\nFortune by his side, casting her nets over the cities, was rough and\nviolent in his indignation at those who did it, as if by attributing\nall to Fortune, they had robbed him of his just honors; and said to\nthe people on one occasion at his return from war, \"In this, ye men\nof Athens, Fortune had no part.\"  A piece of boyish petulance, which\nthe deity, we are told, played back upon Timotheus; who from that\ntime was never able to achieve anything that was great, but proving\naltogether unfortunate in his attempts, and falling into discredit\nwith the people, was at last banished the city.  Sylla, on the\ncontrary, not only accepted with pleasure the credit of such divine\nfelicities and favors, but joining himself in extolling and\nglorifying what was done, gave the honor of all to Fortune, whether\nit were out of boastfulness, or a real feeling of divine agency.  He\nremarks, in his Memoirs, that of all his well advised actions, none\nproved so lucky in the execution, as what he had boldly enterprised,\nnot by calculation, but upon the moment.  And in the character which\nhe gives of himself, that he was born for fortune rather than war, he\nseems to give Fortune a higher place than merit, and in short, makes\nhimself entirely the creature of a superior power, accounting even\nhis concord with Metellus, his equal in office, and his connection by\nmarriage, a piece of preternatural felicity.  For expecting to have\nmet in him a most troublesome, he found him a most accommodating\ncolleague.  Moreover, in the Memoirs which he dedicated to Lucullus,\nhe admonishes him to esteem nothing more trustworthy, than what the\ndivine powers advise him by night.  And when he was leaving the city\nwith an army, to fight in the Social War, he relates, that the earth\nnear the Laverna opened, and a quantity of fire came rushing out of\nit, shooting up with a bright flame into the heavens.  The\nsoothsayers upon this foretold, that a person of great qualities, and\nof a rare and singular aspect, should take the government in hand,\nand quiet the present troubles of the city.  Sylla affirms he was the\nman, for his golden head of hair made him an extraordinary-looking\nman, nor had he any shame, after the great actions he had done, in\ntestifying to his own great qualities.  And thus much of his opinion\nas to divine agency.\n\nIn general he would seem to have been of a very irregular character,\nfull of inconsistencies with himself; much given to rapine, to\nprodigality yet more; in promoting or disgracing whom he pleased,\nalike unaccountable; cringing to those he stood in need of, and\ndomineering over others who stood in need of him, so that it was hard\nto tell, whether his nature had more in it of pride or of servility.\nAs to his unequal distribution of punishments, as, for example, that\nupon slight grounds he would put to the torture, and again would bear\npatiently with the greatest wrongs; would readily forgive and be\nreconciled after the most heinous acts of enmity, and yet would visit\nsmall and inconsiderable offenses with death, and confiscation of\ngoods; one might judge, that in himself he was really of a violent\nand revengeful nature, which however he could qualify, upon\nreflection, for his interest.  In this very Social War, when the\nsoldiers with stones and clubs had killed an officer of praetorian\nrank, his own lieutenant, Albinus by name, he passed by this flagrant\ncrime without any inquiry, giving it out moreover in a boast, that\nthe soldiers would behave all the better now, to make amends, by some\nspecial bravery, for their breach of discipline.  He took no notice\nof the clamors of those that cried for justice, but designing already\nto supplant Marius, now that he saw the Social War near its end, he\nmade much of his army, in hopes to get himself declared general of\nthe forces against Mithridates.\n\nAt his return to Rome, he was chosen Consul with Quintus Pompeius, in\nthe fiftieth year of his age, and made a most distinguished marriage\nwith Caecilia, daughter of Metellus, the chief priest.  The common\npeople made a variety of verses in ridicule of the marriage, and many\nof the nobility also were disgusted at it, esteeming him, as Livy\nwrites, unworthy of this connection, whom before they thought worthy\nof a consulship.  This was not his only wife, for first, in his\nyounger days, he was married to Ilia, by whom he had a daughter;\nafter her to Aelia; and thirdly to Cloelia, whom he dismissed as\nbarren, but honorably, and with professions of respect, adding,\nmoreover, presents.  But the match between him and Metella, falling\nout a few days after, occasioned suspicions that he had complained of\nCloelia without due cause.  To Metella he always showed great\ndeference, so much so that the people, when anxious for the recall of\nthe exiles of Marius's party, upon his refusal, entreated the\nintercession of Metella.  And the Athenians, it is thought, had\nharder measure, at the capture of their town, because they used\ninsulting language to Metella in their jests from the walls during\nthe siege.  But of this hereafter.\n\nAt present esteeming the consulship but a small matter in comparison\nof things to come, he was impatiently carried away in thought to the\nMithridatic War.  Here he was withstood by Marius; who out of mad\naffectation of glory and thirst for distinction, those never dying\npassions, though he were now unwieldy in body, and had given up\nservice, on account of his age, during the late campaigns, still\ncoveted after command in a distant war beyond the seas.  And whilst\nSylla was departed for the camp, to order the rest of his affairs\nthere, he sat brooding at home, and at last hatched that execrable\nsedition, which wrought Rome more mischief than all her enemies\ntogether had done, as was indeed foreshown by the gods.  For a flame\nbroke forth of its own accord, from under the staves of the ensigns,\nand was with difficulty extinguished.  Three ravens brought their\nyoung into the open road, and ate them, carrying the relics into the\nnest again.  Mice having gnawed the consecrated gold in one of the\ntemples, the keepers caught one of them, a female, in a trap; and she\nbringing forth five young ones in the very trap, devoured three of\nthem.  But what was greatest of all, in a calm and clear sky there\nwas heard the sound of a trumpet, with such a loud and dismal blast,\nas struck terror and amazement into the hearts of the people.  The\nEtruscan sages affirmed, that this prodigy betokened the mutation of\nthe age, and a general revolution in the world.  For according to\nthem there are in all eight ages, differing one from another in the\nlives and the characters of men, and to each of these God has\nallotted a certain measure of time, determined by the circuit of the\ngreat year.  And when one age is run out, at the approach of another,\nthere appears some wonderful sign from earth or heaven, such as makes\nit manifest at once to those who have made it their business to study\nsuch things, that there has succeeded in the world a new race of men,\ndiffering in customs and institutes of life, and more or less\nregarded by the gods, than the preceding.  Amongst other great\nchanges that happen, as they say, at the turn of ages, the art of\ndivination, also, at one time rises in esteem, and is more successful\nin its predictions, clearer and surer tokens being sent from God, and\nthen again, in another generation declines as low, becoming mere\nguesswork for the most part, and discerning future events by dim and\nuncertain intimations.  This was the mythology of the wisest of the\nTuscan sages, who were thought to possess a knowledge beyond other\nmen.  Whilst the Senate sat in consultation with the soothsayers,\nconcerning these prodigies, in the temple of Bellona, a sparrow came\nflying in, before them all, with a grasshopper in its mouth, and\nletting fall one part of it, flew away with the remainder.  The\ndiviners foreboded commotions and dissension between the great landed\nproprietors and the common city populace; the latter, like the\ngrasshopper, being loud and talkative; while the sparrow might\nrepresent the \"dwellers in the field.\"\n\nMarius had taken into alliance Sulpicius, the tribune, a man second\nto none in any villanies, so that it was less the question what\nothers he surpassed, but rather in what respects he most surpassed\nhimself in wickedness.  He was cruel, bold, rapacious, and in all\nthese points utterly shameless and unscrupulous; not hesitating to\noffer Roman citizenship by public sale to freed slaves and aliens,\nand to count out the price on public money-tables in the forum.  He\nmaintained three thousand swordsmen, and had always about him a\ncompany of young men of the equestrian class ready for all occasions,\nwhom he styled his Anti-Senate.  Having had a law enacted, that no\nsenator should contract a debt of above two thousand drachmas, he\nhimself, after death, was found indebted three millions.  This was\nthe man whom Marius let in upon the Commonwealth, and who,\nconfounding all things by force and the sword, made several\nordinances of dangerous consequence, and amongst the rest, one giving\nMarius the conduct of the Mithridatic war.  Upon this the consuls\nproclaimed a public cessation of business, but as they were holding\nan assembly near the temple of Castor and Pollux, he let loose the\nrabble upon them, and amongst many others slew the consul Pompeius's\nyoung son in the forum, Pompeius himself hardly escaping in the\ncrowd.  Sylla being closely pursued into the house of Marius, was\nforced to come forth and dissolve the cessation; and for his doing\nthis, Sulpicius, having deposed Pompeius, allowed Sylla to continue\nhis consulship, only transferring the Mithridatic expedition to\nMarius.\n\nThere were immediately dispatched to Nola tribunes, to receive the\narmy, and bring it to Marius; but Sylla having got first to the camp,\nand the soldiers, upon hearing of the news, having stoned the\ntribunes, Marius, in requital, proceeded to put the friends of Sylla\nin the city to the sword, and rifled their goods.  Every kind of\nremoval and flight went on, some hastening from the camp to the city,\nothers from the city to the camp.  The senate, no more in its own\npower, but wholly governed by the dictates of Marius and Sulpicius,\nalarmed at the report of Sylla's advancing with his troops towards\nthe city, sent forth two of the praetors, Brutus and Servilius, to\nforbid his nearer approach.  The soldiers would have slain these\npraetors in a fury, for their bold language to Sylla; contenting\nthemselves, however, with breaking their rods, and tearing off their\npurple-edged robes, after much contumelious usage they sent them\nback, to the sad dejection of the citizens, who beheld their\nmagistrates despoiled of their badges of office, and announcing to\nthem, that things were now manifestly come to a rupture past all\ncure.  Marius put himself in readiness, and Sylla with his colleague\nmoved from Nola, at the head of six complete legions, all of them\nwilling to march up directly against the city, though he himself as\nyet was doubtful in thought, and apprehensive of the danger.  As he\nwas sacrificing, Postumius the soothsayer, having inspected the\nentrails, stretching forth both hands to Sylla, required to be bound\nand kept in custody till the battle was over, as willing, if they had\nnot speedy and complete success, to suffer the utmost punishment.  It\nis said, also, that there appeared to Sylla himself in a dream, a\ncertain goddess, whom the Romans learnt to worship from the\nCappadocians, whether it be the Moon, or Pallas, or Bellona.  This\nsame goddess, to his thinking, stood by him, and put into his hand\nthunder and lightning, then naming his enemies one by one, bade him\nstrike them, who, all of them, fell on the discharge and disappeared.\nEncouraged by this vision, and relating it to his colleague, next day\nhe led on towards Rome.  About Picinae being met by a deputation,\nbeseeching him not to attack at once, in the heat of a march, for\nthat the senate had decreed to do him all the right imaginable, he\nconsented to halt on the spot, and sent his officers to measure out\nthe ground, as is usual, for a camp; so that the deputation,\nbelieving it, returned.  They were no sooner gone, but he sent a\nparty on under the command of Lucius Basillus and Caius Mummius, to\nsecure the city gate, and the walls on the side of the Esquiline\nhill, and then close at their heels followed himself with all speed.\nBasillus made his way successfully into the city, but the unarmed\nmultitude, pelting him with stones and tiles from off the houses,\nstopped his further progress, and beat him back to the wall.  Sylla\nby this time was come up, and seeing what was going on, called aloud\nto his men to set fire to the houses, and taking a flaming torch, he\nhimself led the way, and commanded the archers to make use of their\nfire-darts, letting fly at the tops of houses; all which he did, not\nupon any plan, but simply in his fury, yielding the conduct of that\nday's work to passion, and as if all he saw were enemies, without\nrespect or pity either to friend, relations, or acquaintance, made\nhis entry by fire, which knows no distinction betwixt friend or foe.\n\nIn this conflict, Marius being driven into the temple of\nMother-Earth, thence invited the slaves by proclamation of freedom,\nbut the enemy coming on he was overpowered and fled the city.\n\nSylla having called a senate, had sentence of death passed on Marius,\nand some few others, amongst whom was Sulpicius, tribune of the\npeople.  Sulpicius was killed, being betrayed by his servant, whom\nSylla first made free, and then threw him headlong down the Tarpeian\nrock.  As for Marius, he set a price on his life, by proclamation,\nneither gratefully nor politicly, if we consider into whose house,\nnot long before he put himself at mercy, and was safely dismissed.\nHad Marius at that time not let Sylla go, but suffered him to be\nslain by the hands of Sulpicius, he might have been lord of all;\nnevertheless he spared his life, and a few days after, when in a\nsimilar position himself, received a different measure.\n\nBy these proceedings, Sylla excited the secret distaste of the\nsenate; but the displeasure and free indignation of the commonalty\nshowed itself plainly by their actions.  For they ignominiously\nrejected Nonius, his nephew, and Servius, who stood for offices of\nstate by his interest, and elected others as magistrates, by honoring\nwhom they thought they should most annoy him.  He made semblance of\nextreme satisfaction at all this, as if the people by his means had\nagain enjoyed the liberty of doing what seemed best to them.  And to\npacify the public hostility, he created Lucius Cinna consul, one of\nthe adverse party, having first bound him under oaths and\nimprecations to be favorable to his interest.  For Cinna, ascending\nthe capitol with a stone in his hand, swore solemnly, and prayed with\ndireful curses, that he himself, if he were not true to his\nfriendship with Sylla, might be cast out of the city, as that stone\nout of his hand; and thereupon cast the stone to the ground, in the\npresence of many people.  Nevertheless Cinna had no sooner entered on\nhis charge, but he took measures to disturb the present settlement,\nand having prepared an impeachment against Sylla, got Virginius, one\nof the tribunes of the people, to be his accuser; but Sylla, leaving\nhim and the court of judicature to themselves, set forth against\nMithridates.\n\nAbout the time that Sylla was making ready to put oft with his forces\nfrom Italy, besides many other omens which befell Mithridates, then\nstaying at Pergamus, there goes a story that a figure of Victory,\nwith a crown in her hand, which the Pergamenians by machinery from\nabove let down on him, when it had almost reached his head, fell to\npieces, and the crown tumbling down into the midst of the theater,\nthere broke against the ground, occasioning a general alarm among the\npopulace, and considerably disquieting Mithridates himself, although\nhis affairs at that time were succeeding beyond expectation.  For\nhaving wrested Asia from the Romans, and Bithynia and Cappadocia\nfrom their kings, he made Pergamus his royal seat, distributing among\nhis friends riches, principalities, and kingdoms.  Of his sons, one\nresiding in Pontus and Bosporus held his ancient realm as far as the\ndeserts beyond the lake Maeotis, without molestation; while\nAriarathes, another, was reducing Thrace and Macedon, with a great\narmy, to obedience.  His generals, with forces under them, were\nestablishing his supremacy in other quarters.  Archelaus, in\nparticular, with his fleet, held absolute mastery of the sea, and was\nbringing into subjection the Cyclades, and all the other islands as\nfar as Malea, and had taken Euboea itself.  Making Athens his\nhead-quarters, from thence as far as Thessaly he was withdrawing the\nStates of Greece from the Roman allegiance, without the least ill\nsuccess, except at Chaeronea.  For here Bruttius Sura, lieutenant to\nSentius, governor of Macedon, a man of singular valor and prudence,\nmet him, and, though he came like a torrent pouring over Boeotia,\nmade stout resistance, and thrice giving him battle near Chaeronea,\nrepulsed and forced him back to the sea.  But being commanded by\nLucius Lucullus to give place to his successor, Sylla, and resign the\nwar to whom it was decreed, he presently left Boeotia, and retired\nback to Sentius, although his success had outgone all hopes, and\nGreece was well disposed to a new revolution, upon account of his\ngallant behavior.  These were the glorious actions of Bruttius.\n\nSylla, on his arrival, received by their deputations the compliments\nof all the cities of Greece, except Athens, against which, as it was\ncompelled by the tyrant Aristion to hold for the king, he advanced\nwith all his forces, and investing the Piraeus, laid formal siege to\nit, employing every variety of engines, and trying every manner of\nassault; whereas, had he forbore but a little while, he might without\nhazard have taken the Upper City by famine, it being already reduced\nto the last extremity, through want of necessaries.  But eager to\nreturn to Rome, and fearing innovation there, at great risk, with\ncontinual fighting and vast expense, he pushed on the war.  Besides\nother equipage, the very work about the engines of battery was\nsupplied with no less than ten thousand yoke of mules, employed daily\nin that service.  And when timber grew scarce, for many of the works\nfailed, some crushed to pieces by their own weight, others taking\nfire by the continual play of the enemy, he had recourse to the\nsacred groves, and cut down the trees of the Academy, the shadiest of\nall the suburbs, and the Lyceum.  And a vast sum of money being\nwanted to carry on the war, he broke into the sanctuaries of Greece,\nthat of Epidaurus and that of Olympia, sending for the most beautiful\nand precious offerings deposited there.  He wrote, likewise, to the\nAmphictyons, at Delphi, that it were better to remit the wealth of\nthe god to him, for that he would keep it more securely, or in case\nhe made use of it, restore as much.  He sent Caphis, the Phocian, one\nof his friends, with this message, commanding him to receive each\nitem by weight.  Caphis came to Delphi, but was loath to touch the\nholy things, and with many tears, in the presence of the Amphyctyons,\nbewailed the necessity.  And on some of them declaring they heard the\nsound of a harp from the inner shrine, he, whether he himself\nbelieved it, or was willing to try the effect of religious fear upon\nSylla, sent back an express.  To which Sylla replied in a scoffing\nway, that it was surprising to him that Caphis did not know that\nmusic was a sign of joy, not anger; he should, therefore, go on\nboldly, and accept what a gracious and bountiful god offered.\n\nOther things were sent away without much notice on the part of the\nGreeks in general, but in the case of the silver tun, that only relic\nof the regal donations, which its weight and bulk made it impossible\nfor any carriage to receive, the Amphictyons were forced to cut it\ninto pieces, and called to mind in so doing, how Titus Flamininus,\nand Manius Acilius, and again Paulus Aemilius, one of whom drove\nAntiochus out of Greece, and the others subdued the Macedonian kings,\nhad not only abstained from violating the Greek temples, but had even\ngiven them new gifts and honors, and increased the general veneration\nfor them.  They, indeed, the lawful commanders of temperate and\nobedient soldiers, and themselves great in soul, and simple in\nexpenses, lived within the bounds of the ordinary established\ncharges, accounting it a greater disgrace to seek popularity with\ntheir men, than to feel fear of their enemy.  Whereas the commanders\nof these times, attaining to superiority by force, not worth, and\nhaving need of arms one against another, rather than against the\npublic enemy, were constrained to temporize in authority, and in\norder to pay for the gratifications with which they purchased the\nlabor of their soldiers, were driven, before they knew it, to sell\nthe commonwealth itself, and, to gain the mastery over men better\nthan themselves, were content to become slaves to the vilest of\nwretches.  These practices drove Marius into exile, and again brought\nhim in against Sylla.  These made Cinna the assassin of Octavius, and\nFimbria of Flaccus.  To which courses Sylla contributed not the\nleast; for to corrupt and win over those who were under the command\nof others, he would be munificent and profuse towards those who were\nunder his own; and so, while tempting the soldiers of other generals\nto treachery, and his own to dissolute living, he was naturally in\nwant of a large treasury, and especially during that siege.\n\nSylla had a vehement and an implacable desire to conquer Athens,\nwhether out of emulation, fighting as it were against the shadow of\nthe once famous city, or out of anger, at the foul words and\nscurrilous jests with which the tyrant Aristion, showing himself\ndaily, with unseemly gesticulations, upon the walls, had provoked him\nand Metella.\n\nThe tyrant Aristion had his very being compounded of wantonness and\ncruelty, having gathered into himself all the worst of Mithridates's\ndiseased and vicious qualities, like some fatal malady which the\ncity, after its deliverance from innumerable wars, many tyrannies and\nseditions, was in its last days destined to endure.  At the time when\na medimnus of wheat was sold in the city for one thousand drachmas,\nand men were forced to live on the feverfew growing round the\ncitadel, and to boil down shoes and oil-bags for their food, he,\ncarousing and feasting in the open face of day, then dancing in\narmor, and making jokes at the enemy, suffered the holy lamp of the\ngoddess to expire for want of oil, and to the chief priestess, who\ndemanded of him the twelfth part of a medimnus of wheat, he sent the\nlike quantity of pepper.  The senators and priests, who came as\nsuppliants to beg of him to take compassion on the city, and treat\nfor peace with Sylla, he drove away and dispersed with a flight of\narrows.  At last, with much ado, he sent forth two or three of his\nreveling companions to parley, to whom Sylla, perceiving that they\nmade no serious overtures towards an accommodation, but went on\nharanguing in praise of Theseus, Eumolpus, and the Median trophies,\nreplied, \"My good friends, you may put up your speeches and be gone.\nI was sent by the Romans to Athens, not to take lessons, but to\nreduce rebels to obedience.\"\n\nIn the meantime news came to Sylla that some old men, talking in the\nCeramicus, had been overheard to blame the tyrant for not securing\nthe passages and approaches near the Heptachalcum, the one point\nwhere the enemy might easily get over.  Sylla neglected not the\nreport, but going in the night, and discovering the place to be\nassailable, set instantly to work.  Sylla himself makes mention in\nhis Memoirs, that Marcus Teius, the first man who scaled the wall,\nmeeting with an adversary, and striking him on the headpiece a home\nstroke, broke his own sword, but, notwithstanding, did not give\nground, but stood and held him fast.  The city was certainly taken\nfrom that quarter, according to the tradition of the oldest of the\nAthenians.\n\nWhen they had thrown down the wall, and made all level betwixt the\nPiraic and Sacred Gate, about midnight Sylla entered the breach, with\nall the terrors of trumpets and cornets sounding, with the triumphant\nshout and cry of an army let loose to spoil and slaughter, and\nscouring through the streets with swords drawn.  There was no\nnumbering the slain; the amount is to this day conjectured only from\nthe space of ground overflowed with blood.  For without mentioning\nthe execution done in other quarters of the city, the blood that was\nshed about the marketplace spread over the whole Ceramicus within the\nDouble-gate, and, according to most writers, passed through the gate\nand overflowed the suburb.  Nor did the multitudes which fell thus\nexceed the number of those, who, out of pity and love for their\ncountry, which they believed was now finally to perish, slew\nthemselves; the best of them, through despair of their country's\nsurviving, dreading themselves to survive, expecting neither humanity\nnor moderation in Sylla.  At length, partly at the instance of Midias\nand Calliphon, two exiled men, beseeching and casting themselves at\nhis feet, partly by the intercession of those senators who followed\nthe camp, having had his fill of revenge, and making some honorable\nmention of the ancient Athenians, \"I forgive,\" said he, \"the many for\nthe sake of the few, the living for the dead.\"  He took Athens,\naccording to his own Memoirs, on the calends of March, coinciding\npretty nearly with the new moon of Anthesterion, on which day it is\nthe Athenian usage to perform various acts in commemoration of the\nruins and devastations occasioned by the deluge, that being supposed\nto be the time of its occurrence.\n\nAt the taking of the town, the tyrant fled into the citadel, and was\nthere besieged by Curio, who had that charge given him.  He held out\na considerable time, but at last yielded himself up for want of\nwater, and divine power immediately intimated its agency in the\nmatter.  For on the same day and hour that Curio conducted him down,\nthe clouds gathered in a clear sky, and there came down a great\nquantity of rain and filled the citadel with water.\n\nNot long after, Sylla won the Piraeus, and burnt most of it; amongst\nthe rest, Philo's arsenal, a work very greatly admired.\n\nIn the mean time Taxiles, Mithridates's general, coming down from\nThrace and Macedon, with an army of one hundred thousand foot, ten\nthousand horse, and ninety chariots, armed with scythes at the\nwheels, would have joined Archelaus, who lay with a navy on the coast\nnear Munychia, reluctant to quit the sea, and yet unwilling to engage\nthe Romans in battle, but desiring to protract the war and cut off\nthe enemy's supplies.  Which Sylla perceiving much better than\nhimself, passed with his forces into Boeotia, quitting a barren\ndistrict which was inadequate to maintain an army even in time of\npeace.  He was thought by some to have taken false measures in thus\nleaving Attica, a rugged country, and ill suited for cavalry to move\nin, and entering the plain and open fields of Boeotia, knowing as he\ndid the barbarian strength to consist most in horses and chariots.\nBut as was said before, to avoid famine and scarcity, he was forced\nto run the risk of a battle.  Moreover he was in anxiety for\nHortensius, a bold and active officer, whom on his way to Sylla with\nforces from Thessaly, the barbarians awaited in the straits. For\nthese reasons Sylla drew off into Boeotia.  Hortensius, meantime, was\nconducted by Caphis, our countryman, another way unknown to the\nbarbarians, by Parnassus, just under Tithora, which was then not so\nlarge a town as it is now, but a mere fort, surrounded by steep\nprecipices, whither the Phocians also, in old time, when flying from\nthe invasion of Xerxes, carried themselves and their goods and were\nsaved.  Hortensius, encamping here, kept off the enemy by day, and at\nnight descending by difficult passages to Patronis, joined the forces\nof Sylla, who came to meet him.  Thus united they posted themselves\non a fertile hill in the middle of the plain of Elatea, shaded with\ntrees and watered at the foot.  It is called Philoboeotus, and its\nsituation and natural advantages are spoken of with great admiration\nby Sylla.\n\nAs they lay thus encamped, they seemed to the enemy a contemptible\nnumber, for they were not above fifteen hundred horse, and less than\nfifteen thousand foot.  Therefore the rest of the commanders,\noverpersuading Archelaus, and drawing up the army, covered the plain\nwith horses, chariots, bucklers, targets.  The clamor and cries of so\nmany nations forming for battle rent the air, nor was the pomp and\nostentation of their costly array altogether idle and unserviceable\nfor terror; for the brightness of their armor, embellished\nmagnificently with gold and silver, and the rich colors of their\nMedian and Scythian coats, intermixed with brass and shining steel,\npresented a flaming and terrible sight as they swayed about and moved\nin their ranks, so much so that the Romans shrunk within their\ntrenches, and Sylla, unable by any arguments to remove their fear,\nand unwilling to force them to fight against their wills, was fain to\nsit down in quiet, ill-brooking to become the subject of barbarian\ninsolence and laughter.  This, however, above all advantaged him, for\nthe enemy, from contemning of him, fell into disorder amongst\nthemselves, being already less thoroughly under command, on account\nof the number of their leaders.  Some few of them remained within the\nencampment, but others, the major part, lured out with hopes of prey\nand rapine, strayed about the country many days journey from the\ncamp, and are related to have destroyed the city of Panope, to have\nplundered Lebadea, and robbed the oracle without any orders from\ntheir commanders.\n\nSylla, all this while, chafing and fretting to see the cities all\naround destroyed, suffered not the soldiery to remain idle, but\nleading them out, compelled them to divert the Cephisus from its\nancient channel by casting up ditches, and giving respite to none,\nshowed himself rigorous in punishing the remiss, that growing weary\nof labor, they might be induced by hardship to embrace danger.  Which\nfell out accordingly, for on the third day, being hard at work as\nSylla passed by, they begged and clamored to be led against the\nenemy.  Sylla replied, that this demand of war proceeded rather from\na backwardness to labor than any forwardness to fight, but if they\nwere in good earnest martially inclined, he bade them take their arms\nand get up thither, pointing to the ancient citadel of the\nParapotamians, of which at present, the city being laid waste, there\nremained only the rocky hill itself, steep and craggy on all sides,\nand severed from Mount Hedylium by the breadth of the river Assus,\nwhich running between, and at the bottom of the same hill falling\ninto the Cephisus with an impetuous confluence, makes this eminence a\nstrong position for soldiers to occupy.  Observing that the enemy's\ndivision, called the Brazen Shields, were making their way up\nthither, Sylla was willing to take first possession, and by the\nvigorous efforts of the soldiers, succeeded.  Archelaus, driven from\nhence, bent his forces upon Chaeronea.  The Chaeroneans who bore arms\nin the Roman camp beseeching Sylla not to abandon the city, he\ndispatched Gabinius, a tribune, with one legion, and sent out also\nthe Chaeroneans, who endeavored, but were not able to get in before\nGabinius; so active was he, and more zealous to bring relief than\nthose who had entreated it.  Juba writes that Ericius was the man\nsent, not Gabinius.  Thus narrowly did our native city escape.\n\nFrom Lebadea and the cave of Trophonius there came favorable rumors\nand prophecies of victory to the Romans, of which the inhabitants of\nthose places give a fuller account, but as Sylla himself affirms in\nthe tenth book of his Memoirs, Quintus Titius, a man of some repute\namong the Romans who were engaged in mercantile business in Greece,\ncame to him after the battle won at Chaeronea, and declared that\nTrophonius had foretold another fight and victory on the same place,\nwithin a short time.  After him a soldier, by name Salvenius, brought\nan account from the god of the future issue of affairs in Italy.  As\nto the vision, they both agreed in this, that they had seen one who\nin stature and in majesty was similar to Jupiter Olympius.\n\nSylla, when he had passed over the Assus, marching under the Mount\nHedylium, encamped close to Archelaus, who had entrenched himself\nstrongly between the mountains Acontium and Hedylium, close to what\nare called the Assia.  The place of his entrenchment is to this day\nnamed from him, Archelaus.  Sylla, after one day's respite, having\nleft Murena behind him with one legion and two cohorts to amuse the\nenemy with continual alarms, himself went and sacrificed on the banks\nof Cephisus, and the holy rites ended, held on towards Chaeronea to\nreceive the forces there and view Mount Thurium, where a party of the\nenemy had posted themselves.  This is a craggy height running up in a\nconical form to a point, called by us Orthopagus; at the foot of it\nis the river Morius and the temple of Apollo Thurius.  The god had\nhis surname from Thuro, mother of Chaeron, whom ancient record makes\nfounder of Chaeronea.  Others assert that the cow which Apollo gave to\nCadmus for a guide appeared there, and that the place took its name\nfrom the beast, Thor being the Phoenician word for a cow.\n\nAt Sylla's approach to Chaeronea, the tribune who had been appointed\nto guard the city led out his men in arms, and met him with a garland\nof laurel in his hand; which Sylla accepting, and at the same time\nsaluting the soldiers and animating them to the encounter, two men of\nChaeronea, Homoloichus and Anaxidamus, presented themselves before\nhim, and offered, with a small party, to dislodge those who were\nposted on Thurium.  For there lay a path out of sight of the\nbarbarians, from what is called Petrochus along by the Museum,\nleading right down from above upon Thurium.  By this way it was easy\nto fall upon them and either stone them from above, or force them\ndown into the plain.  Sylla, assured of their faith and courage by\nGabinius, bade them proceed with the enterprise, and meantime drew up\nthe army, and disposing the cavalry on both wings, himself took\ncommand of the right; the left being committed to the direction of\nMurena.  In the rear of all, Galba and Hortensius, his lieutenants,\nplanted themselves on the upper grounds with the cohorts of reserve,\nto watch the motions of the enemy, who with numbers of horse and\nswift-footed, light-armed infantry, were noticed to have so formed\ntheir wing as to allow it readily to change about and alter its\nposition, and thus gave reason for suspecting that they intended to\ncarry it far out and so to enclose the Romans.\n\nIn the meanwhile, the Chaeroneans, who had Ericius for commander by\nappointment of Sylla, covertly making their way around Thurium, and\nthen discovering themselves, occasioned a great confusion and rout\namongst the barbarians, and slaughter, for the most part, by their\nown hands.  For they kept not their place, but making down the steep\ndescent, ran themselves on their own spears, and violently sent each\nother over the cliffs, the enemy from above pressing on and wounding\nthem where they exposed their bodies; insomuch that there fell three\nthousand about Thurium.  Some of those who escaped, being met by\nMurena as he stood in array, were cut off and destroyed.  Others\nbreaking through to their friends and falling pell-mell into the\nranks, filled most part of the army with fear and tumult, and caused\na hesitation and delay among the generals, which was no small\ndisadvantage.  For immediately upon the discomposure, Sylla coming\nfull speed to the charge, and quickly crossing the interval between\nthe armies, lost them the service of their armed chariots, which\nrequire a consider able space of ground to gather strength and\nimpetuosity in their career, a short course being weak and\nineffectual, like that of missiles without a full swing.  Thus it\nfared with the barbarians at present, whose first chariots came\nfeebly on and made but a faint impression; the Romans repulsing them\nwith shouts and laughter, called out as they do at the races in the\ncircus, for more to come.  By this time the mass of both armies met;\nthe barbarians on one side fixed their long pikes, and with their\nshields locked close together, strove so far as in them lay to\npreserve their line of battle entire.  The Romans, on the other side,\nhaving discharged their javelins, rushed on with their drawn swords,\nand struggled to put by the pikes to get at them the sooner, in the\nfury that possessed them at seeing in the front of the enemy fifteen\nthousand slaves, whom the royal commanders had set free by\nproclamation, and ranged amongst the men of arms.  And a Roman\ncenturion is reported to have said at this sight, that he never knew\nservants allowed to play the masters, unless at the Saturnalia.\nThese men by their deep and solid array, as well as by their daring\ncourage, yielded but slowly to the legions, till at last by slinging\nengines, and darts, which the Romans poured in upon them behind, they\nwere forced to give way and scatter.\n\nAs Archelaus was extending the right wing to encompass the enemy,\nHortensius with his cohorts came down in force, with intention to\ncharge him in the flank.  But Archelaus wheeling about suddenly with\ntwo thousand horse, Hortensius, outnumbered and hard pressed, fell\nback towards the higher grounds, and found himself gradually getting\nseparated from the main body and likely to be surrounded by the\nenemy.  When Sylla heard this, he came rapidly up to his succor from\nthe right wing, which as yet had not engaged.  But Archelaus,\nguessing the matter by the dust of his troops, turned to the right\nwing, from whence Sylla came, in hopes to surprise it without a\ncommander.  At the same instant, likewise, Taxiles, with his Brazen\nShields, assailed Murena, so that a cry coming from both places, and\nthe hills repeating it around, Sylla stood in suspense which way to\nmove.  Deciding to resume his own station, he sent in aid to Murena\nfour cohorts under Hortensius, and commanding the fifth to follow\nhim, returned hastily to the right wing, which of itself held its\nground on equal terms against Archelaus; and, at his appearance, with\none bold effort forced them back, and, obtaining the mastery,\nfollowed them, flying in disorder to the river and Mount Acontium.\nSylla, however, did not forget the danger Murena was in; but hasting\nthither and finding him victorious also, then joined in the pursuit.\nMany barbarians were slain in the field, many more were cut in pieces\nas they were making into the camp.  Of all the vast multitude, ten\nthousand only got safe into Chalcis.  Sylla writes that there were\nbut fourteen of his soldiers missing, and that two of these returned\ntowards evening; he, therefore, inscribed on the trophies the names\nof Mars, Victory, and Venus, as having won the day no less by good\nfortune than by management and force of arms.  This trophy of the\nbattle in the plain stands on the place where Archelaus first gave\nway, near the stream of the Molus; another is erected high on the top\nof Thurium, where the barbarians were environed, with an inscription\nin Greek, recording that the glory of the day belonged to Homoloichus\nand Anaxidamus.  Sylla celebrated his victory at Thebes with\nspectacles, for which he erected a stage, near Oedipus's well.  The\njudges of the performances were Greeks chosen out of other cities;\nhis hostility to the Thebans being implacable, half of whose\nterritory he took away and consecrated to Apollo and Jupiter,\nordering that out of the revenue compensation should be made to the\ngods for the riches himself had taken from them.\n\nAfter this, hearing that Flaccus, a man of the contrary faction, had\nbeen chosen consul, and was crossing the Ionian Sea with an army,\nprofessedly to act against Mithridates, but in reality against\nhimself, he hastened towards Thessaly, designing to meet him, but in\nhis march, when near Melitea, received advices from all parts that\nthe countries behind him were overrun and ravaged by no less a royal\narmy than the former.  For Dorylaus, arriving at Chalcis with a large\nfleet, on board of which he brought over with him eighty thousand of\nthe best appointed and best disciplined soldiers of Mithridates's\narmy, at once invaded Boeotia, and occupied the country in hopes to\nbring Sylla to a battle, making no account of the dissuasions of\nArchelaus, but giving it out as to the last fight, that without\ntreachery so many thousand men could never have perished.  Sylla,\nhowever, facing about expeditiously, made it clear to him that\nArchelaus was a wise man, and had good skill in the Roman valor;\ninsomuch that he himself, after some small skirmishes with Sylla near\nTilphossium, was the first of those who thought it not advisable to\nput things to the decision of the sword, but rather to wear out the\nwar by expense of time and treasure.  The ground, however, near\nOrchomenus, where they then lay encamped, gave some encouragement to\nArchelaus, being a battle field admirably suited for an army superior\nin cavalry.  Of all the plains in Boeotia that are renowned for their\nbeauty and extent, this alone, which commences from the city of\nOrchomenus, spreads out unbroken and clear of trees to the edge of\nthe fens in which the Melas, rising close under Orchomenus, loses\nitself, the only Greek river which is a deep and navigable water from\nthe very head, increasing also about the summer solstice like the\nNile, and producing plants similar to those that grow there, only\nsmall and without fruit.  It does not run far before the main stream\ndisappears among the blind and woody marsh-grounds; a small branch.\nhowever, joins the Cephisus, about the place where the lake is\nthought to produce the best flute-reeds.\n\nNow that both armies were posted near each other, Archelaus lay\nstill, but Sylla employed himself in cutting ditches from either\nside; that if possible, by driving the enemies from the firm and open\nchampain, he might force them into the fens.  They, on the other\nhand, not enduring this, as soon as their leaders allowed them the\nword of command, issued out furiously in large bodies; when not only\nthe men at work were dispersed, but most part of those who stood in\narms to protect the work fled in disorder.  Upon this, Sylla leaped\nfrom his horse, and snatching hold of an ensign, rushed through the\nmidst of the rout upon the enemy, crying out aloud, \"To me, O Romans,\nit will be glorious to fall here.  As for you, when they ask you\nwhere you betrayed your general, remember and say, at Orchomenus.\"\nHis men rallying again at these words, and two cohorts coming to his\nsuccor from the right wing, he led them to the charge and turned the\nday.  Then retiring some short distance and refreshing his men, he\nproceeded again with his works to block up the enemy's camp.  They\nagain sallied out in better order than before.  Here Diogenes,\nstep-son to Archelaus, fighting on the right wing with much\ngallantry, made an honorable end.  And the archers, being hard\npressed by the Romans, and wanting space for a retreat, took their\narrows by handfuls, and striking with these as with swords, beat them\nback.  In the end, however, they were all driven into the\nentrenchment and had a sorrowful night of it with their slain and\nwounded.  The next day again, Sylla, leading forth his men up to\ntheir quarters, went on finishing the lines of entrenchment, and when\nthey issued out again with larger numbers to give him battle, fell on\nthem and put them to the rout, and in the consternation ensuing, none\ndaring to abide, he took the camp by storm.  The marshes were filled\nwith blood, and the lake with dead bodies, insomuch that to this day\nmany bows, helmets, fragments of iron, breastplates, and swords of\nbarbarian make, continue to be found buried deep in mud, two hundred\nyears after the fight.  Thus much of the actions of Chaeronea and\nOrchomenus.\n\nAt Rome, Cinna and Carbo were now using injustice and violence\ntowards persons of the greatest eminence, and many of them to avoid\nthis tyranny repaired, as to a safe harbor, to Sylla's camp, where,\nin a short space, he had about him the aspect of a senate.  Metella,\nlikewise, having with difficulty conveyed herself and children away\nby stealth, brought him word that his houses, both in town and\ncountry, had been burnt by his enemies, and entreated his help at\nhome.  Whilst he was in doubt what to do, being impatient to hear of\nhis country being thus outraged, and yet not knowing how to leave so\ngreat a work as the Mithridatic war unfinished, there comes to him\nArchelaus, a merchant of Delos, with hopes of an accommodation, and\nprivate instructions from Archelaus, the king's general.  Sylla liked\nthe business so well as to desire a speedy conference with Archelaus\nin person, and a meeting took place on the sea-coast near Delium,\nwhere the temple of Apollo stands.  When Archelaus opened the\nconversation, and began to urge Sylla to abandon his pretensions to\nAsia and Pontus, and to set sail for the war in Rome, receiving money\nand shipping, and such forces as he should think fitting from the\nking, Sylla, interposing, bade Archelaus take no further care for\nMithridates, but assume the crown to himself, and become a\nconfederate of Rome, delivering up the navy.  Archelaus professing\nhis abhorrence of such treason, Sylla proceeded:  \"So you, Archelaus,\na Cappadocian, and slave, or if it so please you, friend, to a\nbarbarian king, would not, upon such vast considerations, be guilty\nof what is dishonorable, and yet dare to talk to me, Roman general\nand Sylla, of treason? as if you were not the selfsame Archelaus who\nran away at Chaeronea, with few remaining out of one hundred and\ntwenty thousand men; who lay for two days in the fens of Orchomenus,\nand left Boeotia impassable for heaps of dead carcasses.\"  Archelaus,\nchanging his tone at this, humbly besought him to lay aside the\nthoughts of war, and make peace with Mithridates.  Sylla consenting\nto this request, articles of agreement were concluded on.  That\nMithridates should quit Asia and Paphlagonia, restore Bithynia to\nNicomedes, Cappadocia to Ariobarzanes, and pay the Romans two\nthousand talents, and give him seventy ships of war with all their\nfurniture.  On the other hand, that Sylla should confirm to him his\nother dominions, and declare him a Roman confederate.  On these terms\nhe proceeded by the way of Thessaly and Macedon towards the\nHellespont, having Archelaus with him, and treating him with great\nattention.  For Archelaus being taken dangerously ill at Larissa, he\nstopped the march of the army, and took care of him, as if he had\nbeen one of his own captains, or his colleague in command.  This gave\nsuspicion of foul play in the battle of Chaeronea; as it was also\nobserved that Sylla had released all the friends of Mithridates taken\nprisoners in war, except only Aristion the tyrant, who was at enmity\nwith Archelaus, and was put to death by poison; and, above all, ten\nthousand acres of land in Euboea had been given to the Cappadocian,\nand he had received from Sylla the style of friend and ally of the\nRomans.  On all which points Sylla defends himself in his Memoirs.\n\nThe ambassadors of Mithridates arriving and declaring that they\naccepted of the conditions, only Paphlagonia they could not part\nwith; and as for the ships, professing not to know of any such\ncapitulation, Sylla in a rage exclaimed, \"What say you?  Does\nMithridates then withhold Paphlagonia? and as to the ships, deny that\narticle?  I thought to have seen him prostrate at my feet to thank me\nfor leaving him so much as that right hand of his, which has cut off\nso many Romans.  He will shortly, at my coming over into Asia, speak\nanother language; in the mean time, let him at his ease in Pergamus\nsit managing a war which he never saw.\"  The ambassadors in terror\nstood silent by, but Archelaus endeavored with humble supplications\nto assuage his wrath, laying hold on his right hand and weeping.  In\nconclusion he obtained permission to go himself in person to\nMithridates; for that he would either mediate a peace to the\nsatisfaction of Sylla, or if not, slay himself.  Sylla having thus\ndispatched him away, made an inroad into Maedica, and after wide\ndepopulations returned back again into Macedon, where he received\nArchelaus about Philippi, bringing word that all was well, and that\nMithridates earnestly requested an interview.  The chief cause of\nthis meeting was Fimbria; for he having assassinated Flaccus, the\nconsul of the contrary faction, and worsted the Mithridatic\ncommanders, was advancing against Mithridates himself, who, fearing\nthis, chose rather to seek the friendship of Sylla.\n\nAnd so met at Dardanus in the Troad, on one side Mithridates,\nattended with two hundred ships, and land forces consisting of twenty\nthousand men at arms, six thousand horse, and a large train of\nscythed chariots; on the other, Sylla with only four cohorts, and two\nhundred horse.  As Mithridates drew near and put out his hand, Sylla\ndemanded whether he was willing or no to end the war on the terms\nArchelaus had agreed to, but seeing the king made no answer, \"How is\nthis?\"  he continued, \"ought not the petitioner to speak first, and\nthe conqueror to listen in silence?\"  And when Mithridates, entering\nupon his plea, began to shift off the war, partly on the gods, and\npartly to blame the Romans themselves, he took him up, saying that he\nhad heard, indeed, long since from others, and now he knew it himself\nfor truth, that Mithridates was a powerful speaker, who in defense of\nthe most foul and unjust proceedings, had not wanted for specious\npresences.  Then charging him with and inveighing bitterly against\nthe outrages he had committed, he asked again whether he was willing\nor no to ratify the treaty of Archelaus?  Mithridates answering in\nthe affirmative, Sylla came forward, embraced and kissed him.  Not\nlong after he introduced Ariobarzanes and Nicomedes, the two kings,\nand made them friends Mithridates, when he had handed over to Sylla\nseventy ships and five hundred archers, set sail for Pontus.\n\nSylla, perceiving the soldiers to be dissatisfied with the peace, (as\nit seemed indeed a monstrous thing that they should see the king who\nwas then bitterest enemy, and who had caused one hundred and fifty\nthousand Romans to be massacred in one day in Asia, now sailing off\nwith the riches and spoils of Asia, which he had pillaged, and put\nunder contribution for the space of four years,) in his defense to\nthem alleged, that he could not have made head against Fimbria and\nMithridates, had they both withstood him in conjunction.  Thence he\nset out and went in search of Fimbria, who lay with the army about\nThyatira, and pitching his camp not far off, proceeded to fortify it\nwith a trench.  The soldiers of Fimbria came out in their single\ncoats, and, saluting his men, lent ready assistance to the work;\nwhich change Fimbria beholding, and apprehending Sylla as\nirreconcilable, laid violent hands on himself in the camp.\n\nSylla imposed on Asia in general a tax of twenty thousand talents,\nand despoiled individually each family by the licentious behavior and\nlong residence of the soldiery in private quarters.  For he ordained\nthat every host should allow his guest four tetradrachms each day,\nand moreover entertain him, and as many friends as he should invite,\nwith a supper; that a centurion should receive fifty drachmas a day,\ntogether with one suit of clothes to wear within doors, and another\nwhen he went abroad.\n\nHaving set out from Ephesus with the whole navy, he came the third\nday to anchor in the Piraeus.  Here he was initiated in the\nmysteries, and seized for his use the library of Apellicon the Teian,\nin which were most of the works of Theophrastus and Aristotle, then\nnot in general circulation.  When the whole was afterwards conveyed\nto Rome, there, it is said, the greater part of the collection passed\nthrough the hands of Tyrannion the grammarian, and that Andronicus\nthe Rhodian, having through his means the command of numerous copies,\nmade the treatises public, and drew up the catalogues that are now\ncurrent.  The elder Peripatetics appear themselves, indeed, to have\nbeen accomplished and learned men, but of the writings of Aristotle\nand Theophrastus they had no large or exact knowledge, because\nTheophrastus bequeathing his books to the heir of Neleus of Scepsis,\nthey came into careless and illiterate hands.\n\nDuring Sylla's stay about Athens, his feet were attacked by a heavy\nbenumbing pain, which Strabo calls the first inarticulate sounds of\nthe gout.  Taking, therefore, a voyage to Aedepsus, he made use of\nthe hot waters there, allowing himself at the same time to forget all\nanxieties, and passing away his time with actors.  As he was walking\nalong the sea-shore, certain fishermen brought him some magnificent\nfish.  Being much delighted with the gift, and understanding, on\ninquiry, that they were men of Halaeae, \"What,\" said he, \"are there\nany men of Halaeae surviving?\"  For after his victory at Orchomenus,\nin the heat of a pursuit, he had destroyed three cities of Boeotia,\nAnthedon, Larymna, and Halaeae.  The men not knowing what to say for\nfear, Sylla with a smile bade them cheer up and return in peace, as\nthey had brought with them no insignificant intercessors.  The\nHalaeans say that this first gave them courage to reunite and return\nto their city.\n\nSylla, having marched through Thessaly and Macedon to the sea-coast,\nprepared, with twelve hundred vessels, to cross over from Dyrrhachium\nto Brundisium.  Not far from hence is Apollonia, and near it the\nNymphaeum, a spot of ground where, from among green trees and\nmeadows, there are found at various points springs of fire\ncontinually streaming out.  Here, they say, a satyr, such as\nstatuaries and painters represent, was caught asleep, and brought\nbefore Sylla, where he was asked by several interpreters who he was,\nand, after much trouble, at last uttered nothing intelligible, but a\nharsh noise, something between the neighing of a horse and crying of\na goat.  Sylla, in dismay, and deprecating such an omen, bade it be\nremoved.\n\nAt the point of transportation, Sylla being in alarm, lest at their\nfirst setting foot upon Italy, the soldiers should disband and\ndisperse one by one among the cities, they of their own accord first\ntook an oath to stand firm by him, and not of their good-will to\ninjure Italy; then seeing him in distress for money, they made, so to\nsay, a freewill offering, and contributed each man according to his\nability.  However Sylla would not accept of their offering, but\npraising their good-will, and arousing up their courage, put over (as\nhe himself writes) against fifteen hostile generals in command of\nfour hundred and fifty cohorts; but not without the most unmistakable\ndivine intimations of his approaching happy successes.  For when he\nwas sacrificing at his first landing near Tarentum, the victim's\nliver showed the figure of a crown of laurel with two fillets hanging\nfrom it.  And a little while before his arrival in Campania, near the\nmountain Hephaeus, two stately goats were seen in the daytime,\nfighting together, and performing all the motions of men in battle.\nIt proved to be an apparition, and rising up gradually from the\nground, dispersed in the air, like fancied representations in the\nclouds, and so vanished out of sight.  Not long after, in the\nselfsame place, when Marius the younger, and Norbanus the consul,\nattacked him with two great armies, without prescribing the order of\nbattle, or arranging his men according to their divisions, by the\nsway only of one common alacrity and transport of courage, he\noverthrew the enemy, and shut up Norbanus into the city of Capua,\nwith the loss of seven thousand of his men.  And this was the reason,\nhe says, that the soldiers did not leave him and disperse into the\ndifferent towns, but held fast to him, and despised the enemy, though\ninfinitely more in number.\n\nAt Silvium, (as he himself relates it,) there met him a servant of\nPontius, in a state of divine possession, saying that he brought him\nthe power of the sword and victory from Bellona, the goddess of war,\nand if he did not make haste, that the capitol would be burnt, which\nfell out on the same day the man foretold it, namely, on the sixth\nday of the month Quintilis, which we now call July.\n\nAt Fidentia, also, Marcus Lucullus, one of Sylla's commanders,\nreposed such confidence in the forwardness of the soldiers, as to\ndare to face fifty cohorts of the enemy, with only sixteen of his\nown; but because many of them were unarmed, delayed the onset.  As he\nstood thus waiting, and considering with himself, a gentle gale of\nwind, bearing along with it from the neighboring meadows a quantity\nof flowers, scattered them down upon the army, on whose shields and\nhelmets they settled, and arranged themselves spontaneously, so as to\ngive the soldiers, in the eyes of the enemy, the appearance of being\ncrowned with chaplets.  Upon this, being yet further animated, they\njoined battle, and victoriously slaying eight thousand men, took the\ncamp.  This Lucullus was brother to that Lucullus who in after-times\nconquered Mithridates and Tigranes.\n\nSylla, seeing himself still surrounded by so many armies, and such\nmighty hostile powers, had recourse to art, inviting Scipio, the\nother consul, to a treaty of peace.  The motion was willingly\nembraced, and several meetings and consultations ensued, in all which\nSylla, still interposing matter of delay and new pretences, in the\nmeanwhile debauched Scipio's men by means of his own, who were as\nwell practiced as the general himself, in all the artifices of\ninveigling.  For entering into the enemy's quarters and joining in\nconversation, they gained some by present money, some by promises,\nothers by fair words and persuasions; so that in the end, when Sylla\nwith twenty cohorts drew near, on his men saluting Scipio's soldiers,\nthey returned the greeting and came over, leaving Scipio behind them\nin his tent, where he was found all alone and dismissed.  And having\nused his twenty cohorts as decoys to ensnare the forty of the enemy,\nhe led them all back into the camp.  On this occasion, Carbo was\nheard to say, that he had both a fox and a lion in the breast of\nSylla to deal with, and was most troubled with the fox.\n\nSome time after, at Signia, Marius the younger, with eighty-five\ncohorts, offered battle to Sylla, who was extremely desirous to have\nit decided on that very day; for the night before he had seen a\nvision in his sleep, of Marius the elder, who had been some time\ndead, advising his son to beware of the following day, as of fatal\nconsequence to him.  For this reason, Sylla, longing to come to a\nbattle, sent off for Dolabella, who lay encamped at some distance.\nBut because the enemy had beset and blocked up the passes, his\nsoldiers got tired with skirmishing and marching at once.  To these\ndifficulties was added, moreover, tempestuous rainy weather, which\ndistressed them most of all.  The principal officers therefore came\nto Sylla, and besought him to defer the battle that day, showing him\nhow the soldiers lay stretched on the ground, where they had thrown\nthemselves down in their weariness, resting their heads upon their\nshields to gain some repose.  When, with much reluctance, he had\nyielded, and given order for pitching the camp, they had no sooner\nbegun to cast up the rampart and draw the ditch, but Marius came\nriding up furiously at the head of his troops, in hopes to scatter\nthem in that disorder and confusion.  Here the gods fulfilled Sylla's\ndream.  For the soldiers, stirred up with anger, left off their work,\nand sticking their javelins into the bank, with drawn swords and a\ncourageous shout, came to blows with the enemy, who made but small\nresistance, and lost great numbers in the flight.  Marius fled to\nPraeneste, but finding the gates shut, tied himself round by a rope\nthat was thrown down to him, and was taken up on the walls.  Some\nthere are (as Fenestella for one) who affirm that Marius knew nothing\nof the fight, but, overwatched and spent with hard duty, had reposed\nhimself, when the signal was given, beneath some shade, and was\nhardly to be awakened at the flight of his men.  Sylla, according to\nhis own account, lost only twenty-three men in this fight, having\nkilled of the enemy twenty thousand, and taken alive eight thousand.\n\nThe like success attended his lieutenants, Pompey, Crassus, Metellus,\nServilius, who with little or no loss cut off vast numbers of the\nenemy, insomuch that Carbo, the prime supporter of the cause, fled by\nnight from his charge of the army, and sailed over into Libya.\n\nIn the last struggle, however, the Samnite Telesinus, like some\nchampion, whose lot it is to enter last of all into the lists and\ntake up the wearied conqueror, came nigh to have foiled and\noverthrown Sylla before the gates of Rome.  For Telesinus with his\nsecond, Lamponius the Lucanian, having collected a large force, had\nbeen hastening towards Praeneste, to relieve Marius from the siege;\nbut perceiving Sylla ahead of him, and Pompey behind, both hurrying\nup against him, straightened thus before and behind, as a valiant and\nexperienced soldier, he arose by night, and marching directly with\nhis whole army, was within a little of making his way unexpectedly\ninto Rome itself.  He lay that night before the city, at ten furlongs\ndistance from the Colline gate, elated and full of hope, at having\nthus out-generalled so many eminent commanders.  At break of day,\nbeing charged by the noble youth of the city, among many others he\noverthrew Appius Claudius, renowned for high birth and character.\nThe city, as is easy to imagine, was all in an uproar, the women\nshrieking and running about, as if it had already been entered\nforcibly by assault, till at last Balbus, sent forward by Sylla, was\nseen riding up with seven hundred horse at full speed.  Halting only\nlong enough to wipe the sweat from the horses, and then hastily\nbridling again, he at once attacked the enemy.  Presently Sylla\nhimself appeared, and commanding those who were foremost to take\nimmediate refreshment, proceeded to form in order for battle.\nDolabella and Torquatus were extremely earnest with him to desist\nawhile, and not with spent forces to hazard the last hope, having\nbefore them in the field, not Carbo or Marius, but two warlike\nnations bearing immortal hatred to Rome, the Samnites and Lucanians,\nto grapple with.  But he put them by, and commanded the trumpets to\nsound a charge, when it was now about four o'clock in the afternoon.\nIn the conflict which followed, as sharp a one as ever was, the\nright wing where Crassus was posted had clearly the advantage; the\nleft suffered and was in distress, when Sylla came to its succor,\nmounted on a white courser, full of mettle and exceedingly swift,\nwhich two of the enemy knowing him by, had their lances ready to\nthrow at him; he himself observed nothing, but his attendant behind\nhim giving the horse a touch, he was, unknown to himself, just so far\ncarried forward, that the points, falling beside the horse's tail,\nstuck in the ground.  There is a story that he had a small golden\nimage of Apollo from Delphi, which he was always wont in battle to\ncarry about him in his bosom, and that he then kissed it with these\nwords, \"O Apollo Pythius, who in so many battles hast raised to honor\nand greatness the Fortunate Cornelius Sylla, wilt thou now cast him\ndown, bringing him before the gate of his country, to perish\nshamefully with his fellow-citizens?\"  Thus, they say, addressing\nhimself to the god, he entreated some of his men, threatened some,\nand seized others with his hand, till at length the left wing being\nwholly shattered, he was forced, in the general rout, to betake\nhimself to the camp, having lost many of his friends and\nacquaintance.  Many, likewise, of the city spectators who had come\nout, were killed or trodden underfoot.  So that it was generally\nbelieved in the city that all was lost, and the siege of Praeneste\nwas all but raised; many fugitives from the battle making their way\nthither, and urging Lucretius Ofella, who was appointed to keep on\nthe siege, to rise in all haste, for that Sylla had perished, and\nRome fallen into the hands of the enemy.\n\nAbout midnight there came into Sylla's camp messengers from Crassus,\nto fetch provision for him and his soldiers; for having vanquished\nthe enemy, they had pursued him to the walls of Antemna, and had sat\ndown there.  Sylla, hearing this, and that most of the enemy were\ndestroyed, came to Antemna by break of day, where three thousand of\nthe besieged having sent forth a herald, he promised to receive them\nto mercy, on condition they did the enemy some mischief in their\ncoming over.  Trusting to his word, they fell foul on the rest of\ntheir companions, and made a great slaughter one of another.\nNevertheless, Sylla gathered together in the circus, as well these as\nother survivors of the party, to the number of six thousand, and just\nas he commenced speaking to the senate, in the temple of Bellona,\nproceeded to cut them down, by men appointed for that service.  The\ncry of so vast a multitude put to the sword, in so narrow a space,\nwas naturally heard some distance, and startled the senators.  He,\nhowever, continuing his speech with a calm and unconcerned\ncountenance, bade them listen to what he had to say, and not busy\nthemselves with what was doing out of doors; he had given directions\nfor the chastisement of some offenders.  This gave the most stupid of\nthe Romans to understand, that they had merely exchanged, not\nescaped, tyranny.  And Marius, being of a naturally harsh temper, had\nnot altered, but merely continued what he had been, in authority;\nwhereas Sylla, using his fortune moderately and unambitiously at\nfirst, and giving good hopes of a true patriot, firm to the interests\nboth of the nobility and commonalty, being, moreover, of a gay and\ncheerful temper from his youth, and so easily moved to pity as to\nshed tears readily, has, perhaps deservedly, cast a blemish upon\noffices of great authority, as if they deranged men's former habits\nand character, and gave rise to violence, pride, and inhumanity.\nWhether this be a real change and revolution in the mind, caused by\nfortune, or rather a lurking viciousness of nature, discovering\nitself in authority, it were matter of another sort of disquisition\nto decide.\n\nSylla being thus wholly bent upon slaughter, and filling the city\nwith executions without number or limit, many wholly uninterested\npersons falling a sacrifice to private enmity, through his permission\nand indulgence to his friends, Caius Metellus, one of the younger\nmen, made bold in the senate to ask him what end there was of these\nevils, and at what point he might be expected to stop?  \"We do not\nask you,\" said he, \"to pardon any whom you have resolved to destroy,\nbut to free from doubt those whom you are pleased to save.\"  Sylla\nanswering, that he knew not as yet whom to spare.  \"Why then,\" said\nhe, \"tell us whom you will punish.\"  This Sylla said he would do.\nThese last words, some authors say, were spoken not by Metellus, but\nby Afidius, one of Sylla's fawning companions.  Immediately upon\nthis, without communicating with any of the magistrates, Sylla\nproscribed eighty persons, and notwithstanding the general\nindignation, after one day's respite, he posted two hundred and\ntwenty more, and on the third again, as many.  In an address to the\npeople on this occasion, he told them he had put up as many names as\nhe could think of; those which had escaped his memory, he would\npublish at a future time.  He issued an edict likewise, making death\nthe punishment of humanity, proscribing any who should dare to\nreceive and cherish a proscribed person, without exception to\nbrother, son, or parents.  And to him who should slay any one\nproscribed person, he ordained two talents reward, even were it a\nslave who had killed his master, or a son his father.  And what was\nthought most unjust of all, he caused the attainder to pass upon\ntheir sons, and son's sons, and made open sale of all their property.\nNor did the proscription prevail only at Rome, but throughout all the\ncities of Italy the effusion of blood was such, that neither\nsanctuary of the gods, nor hearth of hospitality, nor ancestral home\nescaped.  Men were butchered in the embraces of their wives, children\nin the arms of their mothers.  Those who perished through public\nanimosity, or private enmity, were nothing in comparison of the\nnumbers of those who suffered for their riches.  Even the murderers\nbegan to say, that \"his fine house killed this man, a garden that, a\nthird, his hot baths.\"  Quintus Aurelius, a quiet, peaceable man, and\none who thought all his part in the common calamity consisted in\ncondoling with the misfortunes of others, coming into the forum to\nread the list, and finding himself among the proscribed, cried out,\n\"Woe is me, my Alban farm has informed against me.\"  He had not gone\nfar, before he was dispatched by a ruffian, sent on that errand.\n\nIn the meantime, Marius, on the point of being taken, killed himself;\nand Sylla, coming to Praeneste, at first proceeded judicially against\neach particular person, till at last, finding it a work of too much\ntime, he cooped them up together in one place, to the number of\ntwelve thousand men, and gave order for the execution of them all,\nhis own host alone excepted.  But he, brave man, telling him he\ncould not accept the obligation of life from the hands of one who had\nbeen the ruin of his country, went in among the rest, and submitted\nwillingly to the stroke.  What Lucius Catilina did was thought to\nexceed all other acts.  For having, before matters came to an issue,\nmade away with his brother, he besought Sylla to place him in the\nlist of proscription, as though he had been alive, which was done;\nand Catiline, to return the kind office, assassinated a certain\nMarcus Marius, one of the adverse party, and brought the head to\nSylla, as he was sitting in the forum, and then going to the holy\nwater of Apollo, which was nigh, washed his hands.\n\nThere were other things, besides this bloodshed, which gave offense.\nFor Sylla had declared himself dictator, an office which had then\nbeen laid aside for the space of one hundred and twenty years.  There\nwas, likewise, an act of grace passed on his behalf, granting\nindemnity for what was passed, and for the future entrusting him with\nthe power of life and death, confiscation, division of lands,\nerecting and demolishing of cities, taking away of kingdoms, and\nbestowing them at pleasure.  He conducted the sale of confiscated\nproperty after such an arbitrary, imperious way, from the tribunal,\nthat his gifts excited greater odium even than his usurpations;\nwomen, mimes, and musicians, and the lowest of the freed slaves had\npresents made them of the territories of nations, and the revenues of\ncities; and women of rank were married against their will to some of\nthem.  Wishing to insure the fidelity of Pompey the Great, by a\nnearer tie of blood, he bade him divorce his present wife, and\nforcing Aemilia, the daughter of Scaurus and Metella, his own wife,\nto leave her husband, Manius Glabrio, he bestowed her, though then\nwith child, on Pompey, and she died in childbirth at his house.\n\nWhen Lucretius Ofella, the same who reduced Marius by siege, offered\nhimself for the consulship, he first forbade him; then, seeing he\ncould not restrain him, on his coming down into the forum with a\nnumerous train of followers, he sent one of the centurions who were\nimmediately about him, and slew him, himself sitting on the tribunal\nin the temple of Castor, and beholding the murder from above.  The\ncitizens apprehending the centurion, and dragging him to the\ntribunal, he bade them cease their clamoring and let the centurion\ngo, for he had commanded it.\n\nHis triumph was, in itself, exceedingly splendid, and distinguished\nby the rarity and magnificence of the royal spoils; but its yet\ngreatest glory was the noble spectacle of the exiles.  For in the\nrear followed the most eminent and most potent of the citizens,\ncrowned with garlands, and calling Sylla savior and father, by whose\nmeans they were restored to their own country, and again enjoyed\ntheir wives and children.  When the solemnity was over, and the time\ncome to render an account of his actions, addressing the public\nassembly, he was as profuse in enumerating the lucky chances of war,\nas any of his own military merits.  And, finally, from this felicity,\nhe requested to receive the surname of Felix.  In writing and\ntransacting business with the Greeks, he styled himself\nEpaphroditus, and on his trophies which are still extant with us,\nthe name is given Lucius Cornelius Sylla Epaphroditus.  Moreover,\nwhen his wife had brought him forth twins, he named the male Faustus,\nand the female Fausta, the Roman words for what is auspicious and of\nhappy omen.  The confidence which he reposed in his good genius,\nrather than in any abilities of his own, emboldened him, though\ndeeply involved in bloodshed, and though he had been the author of\nsuch great changes and revolutions of State, to lay down his\nauthority, and place the right of consular elections once more in the\nhands of the people.  And when they were held, he not only declined\nto seek that office, but in the forum exposed his person publicly to\nthe people, walking up and down as a private man.  And contrary to\nhis will, certain bold man and his enemy, Marcus Lepidus, was\nexpected to become consul, not so much by his own interest, as by the\npower and solicitation of Pompey, whom the people were willing to\noblige.  When the business was over, seeing Pompey going home\noverjoyed with the success, he called him to him and said, \"What a\npolitic act, young man, to pass by Catulus, the best of men, and\nchoose Lepidus, the worst!  It will be well for you to be vigilant,\nnow that you have strengthened your opponent against yourself.\"\nSylla spoke this, it may seem, by a prophetic instinct, for, not long\nafter, Lepidus grew insolent, and broke into open hostility to Pompey\nand his friends.\n\nSylla, consecrating the tenth of his whole substance to Hercules,\nentertained the people with sumptuous feastings.  The provision was\nso much above what was necessary, that they were forced daily to\nthrow great quantities of meat into the river, and they drank wine\nforty years old and upwards.  In the midst of the banqueting, which\nlasted many days, Metella died of disease.  And because that the\npriest forbade him to visit the sick, or suffer his house to be\npolluted with mourning, he drew up an act of divorce, and caused her\nto be removed into another house whilst alive.  Thus far, out of\nreligious apprehension, he observed the strict rule to the very\nletter, but in the funeral expenses he transgressed the law he\nhimself had made, limiting the amount, and spared no cost.  He\ntransgressed, likewise, his own sumptuary laws respecting expenditure\nin banquets, thinking to allay his grief by luxurious drinking\nparties and revelings with common buffoons.\n\nSome few months after, at a show of gladiators, when men and women\nsat promiscuously in the theater, no distinct places being as yet\nappointed, there sat down by Sylla a beautiful woman of high birth,\nby name Valeria, daughter of Messala, and sister to Hortensius the\norator.  Now it happened that she had been lately divorced from her\nhusband.  Passing along behind Sylla, she leaned on him with her\nhand, and plucking a bit of wool from his garment, so proceeded to\nher seat.  And on Sylla looking up and wondering what it meant, \"What\nharm, mighty Sir,\" said she, \"if I also was desirous to partake a\nlittle in your felicity?\"  It appeared at once that Sylla was not\ndispleased, but even tickled in his fancy, for he sent out to inquire\nher name, her birth, and past life.  From this time there passed\nbetween them many side glances, each continually turning round to\nlook at the other, and frequently interchanging smiles.  In the end,\novertures were made, and a marriage concluded on.  All which was\ninnocent, perhaps, on the lady's side, but, though she had been never\nso modest and virtuous, it was scarcely a temperate and worthy\noccasion of marriage on the part of Sylla, to take fire, as a boy\nmight, at a face and a bold look, incentives not seldom to the most\ndisorderly and shameless passions.\n\nNotwithstanding this marriage, he kept company with actresses,\nmusicians, and dancers, drinking with them on couches night and day.\nHis chief favorites were Roscius the comedian, Sorex the arch mime,\nand Metrobius the player, for whom, though past his prime, he still\nprofessed a passionate fondness.  By these courses he encouraged a\ndisease which had begun from some unimportant cause; and for a long\ntime he failed to observe that his bowels were ulcerated, till at\nlength the corrupted flesh broke out into lice.  Many, were employed\nday and night in destroying them, but the work so multiplied under\ntheir hands, that not only his clothes, baths, basins, but his very\nmeat was polluted with that flux and contagion, they came swarming\nout in such numbers.  He went frequently by day into the bath to\nscour and cleanse his body, but all in vain; the evil generated too\nrapidly and too abundantly for any ablutions to overcome it.  There\ndied of this disease, amongst those of the most ancient times,\nAcastus, the son of Pelias; of later date, Alcman the poet,\nPherecydes the theologian, Callisthenes the Olynthian, in the time of\nhis imprisonment, as also Mucius the lawyer; and if we may mention\nignoble, but notorious names, Eunus the fugitive, who stirred up the\nslaves of Sicily to rebel against their masters, after he was brought\ncaptive to Rome, died of this creeping sickness.\n\nSylla not only foresaw his end, but may be also said to have written\nof it.  For in the two and twentieth book of his Memoirs, which he\nfinished two days before his death, he writes that the Chaldeans\nforetold him, that after he had led a life of honor, he should\nconclude it in fullness of prosperity.  He declares, moreover, that\nin vision he had seen his son, who had died not long before Metella,\nstand by in mourning attire, and beseech his father to cast off\nfurther care, and come along with him to his mother Metella, there to\nlive at ease and quietness with her.  However, he could not refrain\nfrom intermeddling in public affairs.  For, ten days before his\ndecease, he composed the differences of the people of Dicaearchia,\nand prescribed laws for their better government.  And the very day\nbefore his end, it being told him that the magistrate Granius\ndeferred the payment of a public debt, in expectation of his death,\nhe sent for him to his house, and placing his attendants about him,\ncaused him to be strangled; but through the straining of his voice\nand body, the imposthume breaking, he lost a great quantity of blood.\nUpon this, his strength failing him, after spending a troublesome\nnight, he died, leaving behind him two young children by Metella.\nValeria was afterwards delivered of a daughter, named Posthuma; for\nso the Romans call those who are born after the father's death.\n\nMany ran tumultuously together, and joined with Lepidus, to deprive\nthe corpse of the accustomed solemnities; but Pompey, though offended\nat Sylla, (for he alone of all his friends, was not mentioned in his\nwill,) having kept off some by his interest and entreaty, others by\nmenaces, conveyed the body to Rome, and gave it a secure and\nhonorable burial.  It is said that the Roman ladies contributed such\nvast heaps of spices, that besides what was carried on two hundred\nand ten litters, there was sufficient to form a large figure of Sylla\nhimself, and another, representing a lictor, out of the costly\nfrankincense and cinnamon.  The day being cloudy in the morning, they\ndeferred carrying forth the corpse till about three in the afternoon,\nexpecting it would rain.  But a strong wind blowing full upon the\nfuneral pile, and setting it all in a bright flame, the body was\nconsumed so exactly in good time, that the pyre had begun to smolder,\nand the fire was upon the point of expiring, when a violent rain came\ndown, which continued till night.  So that his good fortune was firm\neven to the last, and did as it were officiate at his funeral.  His\nmonument stands in the Campus Martius, with an epitaph of his own\nwriting; the substance of it being, that he had not been outdone by\nany of his friends in doing good turns, nor by any of his foes in\ndoing bad.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF LYSANDER WITH SYLLA\n\nHaving completed this Life also, come we now to the comparison.  That\nwhich was common to them both, was that they were founders of their\nown greatness, with this difference, that Lysander had the consent of\nhis fellow-citizens, in times of sober judgment, for the honors he\nreceived; nor did he force anything from them against their\ngood-will, nor hold any power contrary to the laws.\n\nIn civil strife e'en villains rise to fame.\n\nAnd so then at Rome, when the people were distempered, and the\ngovernment out of order, one or other was still raised to despotic\npower; no wonder, then, if Sylla reigned, when the Glauciae and\nSaturnini drove out the Metelli, when sons of consuls were slain in\nthe assemblies, when silver and gold purchased men and arms, and fire\nand sword enacted new laws, and put down lawful opposition.  Nor do I\nblame anyone, in such circumstances, for working himself into\nsupreme power, only I would not have it thought a sign of great\ngoodness, to be head of a State so wretchedly discomposed.  Lysander,\nbeing employed in the greatest commands and affairs of State, by a\nsober and well-governed city, may be said to have had repute as the\nbest and most virtuous man, in the best and most virtuous\ncommonwealth.  And thus, often returning the government into the\nhands of the citizens, he received it again as often, the superiority\nof his merit still awarding him the first place.  Sylla, on the other\nhand, when he had once made himself general of an army, kept his\ncommand for ten years together, creating himself sometimes consul,\nsometimes proconsul, and sometimes dictator, but always remaining a\ntyrant.\n\nIt is true Lysander, as was said, designed to introduce a new form of\ngovernment; by milder methods, however, and more agreeably to law\nthan Sylla, not by force of arms, but persuasion, nor by subverting\nthe whole State at once, but simply by amending the succession of the\nkings; in a way, moreover, which seemed the naturally just one, that\nthe most deserving should rule, especially in a city which itself\nexercised command in Greece, upon account of virtue, not nobility.\nFor as the hunter considers the whelp itself, not the bitch, and the\nhorse-dealer the foal, not the mare, (for what if the foal should\nprove a mule?) so likewise were that politician extremely out, who,\nin the choice of a chief magistrate, should inquire, not what the man\nis, but how descended.  The very Spartans themselves have deposed\nseveral of their kings for want of kingly virtues, as degenerated and\ngood for nothing.  As a vicious nature, though of an ancient stock,\nis dishonorable, it must be virtue itself, and not birth, that makes\nvirtue honorable.  Furthermore, the one committed his acts of\ninjustice for the sake of his friends; the other extended his to his\nfriends themselves.  It is confessed on all hands, that Lysander\noffended most commonly for the sake of his companions, committing\nseveral slaughters to uphold their power and dominion; but as for\nSylla, he, out of envy, reduced Pompey's command by land, and\nDolabella's by sea, although he himself had given them those places;\nand ordered Lucretius Ofella, who sued for the consulship as the\nreward of many great services, to be slain before his eyes, exciting\nhorror and alarm in the minds of all men, by his cruelty to his\ndearest friends.\n\nAs regards the pursuit of riches and pleasures, we yet further\ndiscover in one a princely, in the other a tyrannical disposition.\nLysander did nothing that was intemperate or licentious, in that full\ncommand of means and opportunity, but kept clear, as much as ever man\ndid, of that trite saying,\n\nLions at home, but foxes out of doors;\n\nand ever maintained a sober, truly Spartan, and well disciplined\ncourse of conduct.  Whereas Sylla could never moderate his unruly\naffections, either by poverty when young, or by years when grown old,\nbut would be still prescribing laws to the citizens concerning\nchastity and sobriety, himself living all that time, as Sallust\naffirms, in lewdness and adultery.  By these ways he so impoverished\nand drained the city of her treasures, as to be forced to sell\nprivileges and immunities to allied and friendly cities for money,\nalthough he daily gave up the wealthiest and greatest families to\npublic sale and confiscation.  There was no end of his favors vainly\nspent and thrown away on flatterers; for what hope could there be, or\nwhat likelihood of forethought or economy, in his more private\nmoments over wine, when, in the open face of the people, upon the\nauction of a large estate, which he would have passed over to one of\nhis friends at a small price, because another bid higher, and the\nofficer announced the advance, he broke out into a passion, saying,\n\"What a strange and unjust thing is this, O citizens, that I cannot\ndispose of my own booty as I please!\"  But Lysander, on the contrary,\nwith the rest of the spoil, sent home for public use even the\npresents which were made him.  Nor do I commend him for it, for he\nperhaps, by excessive liberality, did Sparta more harm, than ever the\nother did Rome by rapine; I only use it as an argument of his\nindifference to riches.  They exercised a strange influence on their\nrespective cities.  Sylla, a profuse debauchee, endeavored to restore\nsober living amongst the citizens; Lysander, temperate himself,\nfilled Sparta with the luxury he disregarded.  So that both were\nblameworthy, the one for raising himself above his own laws, the\nother for causing his fellow citizens to fall beneath his own\nexample.  He taught Sparta to want the very things which he himself\nhad learned to do without.  And thus much of their civil\nadministration.\n\nAs for feats of arms, wise conduct in war, innumerable victories,\nperilous adventures, Sylla was beyond compare.  Lysander, indeed,\ncame off twice victorious in two battles by sea; I shall add to that\nthe siege of Athens, a work of greater fame, than difficulty.  What\noccurred in Boeotia, and at Haliartus, was the result, perhaps, of\nill fortune; yet it certainly looks like ill counsel, not to wait for\nthe king's forces, which had all but arrived from Plataea, but out of\nambition and eagerness to fight, to approach the walls at\ndisadvantage, and so to be cut off by a sally of inconsiderable men.\nHe received his death-wound, not as Cleombrotus at Leuctra, resisting\nmanfully the assault of an enemy in the field; not as Cyrus or\nEpaminondas, sustaining the declining battle, or making sure the\nvictory; all these died the death of kings and generals; but he, as\nit had been some common skirmisher or scout, cast away his life\ningloriously, giving testimony to the wisdom of the ancient Spartan\nmaxim, to avoid attacks on walled cities, in which the stoutest\nwarrior may chance to fall by the hand, not only of a man utterly his\ninferior, but by that of a boy or woman, as Achilles, they say, was\nslain by Paris in the gates.  As for Sylla, it were hard to reckon up\nhow many set battles he won, or how many thousands he slew; he took\nRome itself twice, as also the Athenian Piraeus, not by famine, as\nLysander did, but by a series of great battles, driving Archelaus\ninto the sea.  And what is most important, there was a vast\ndifference between the commanders they had to deal with.  For I look\nupon it as an easy task, or rather sport, to beat Antiochus,\nAlcibiades's pilot, or to circumvent Philocles, the Athenian\ndemagogue,\n\nSharp only at the inglorious point of tongue,\n\nwhom Mithridates would have scorned to compare with his groom, or\nMarius with his lictor.  But of the potentates, consuls, commanders,\nand demagogues, to pass by all the rest who opposed themselves to\nSylla, who amongst the Romans so formidable as Marius? what king more\npowerful than Mithridates? who of the Italians more warlike than\nLamponius and Telesinus? yet of these, one he drove into banishment,\none he quelled, and the others he slew.\n\nAnd what is more important, in my judgment, than anything yet\nadduced, is that Lysander had the assistance of the State in all his\nachievements; whereas Sylla, besides that he was a banished person,\nand overpowered by a faction, at a time when his wife was driven from\nhome, his houses demolished, and adherents slain, himself then in\nBoeotia, stood embattled against countless numbers of the public\nenemy, and endangering himself for the sake of his country, raised a\ntrophy of victory; and not even when Mithridates came with proposals\nof alliance and aid against his enemies, would he show any sort of\ncompliance, or even clemency; did not so much as address him, or\nvouchsafe him his hand, until he had it from the king's own mouth,\nthat he was willing to quit Asia, surrender the navy, and restore\nBithynia and Cappadocia to the two kings.  Than which action, Sylla\nnever performed a braver, or with a nobler spirit, when, preferring\nthe public good to the private, and like good hounds, where he had\nonce fixed, never letting go his hold, till the enemy yielded, then,\nand not until then, he set himself to revenge his own private\nquarrels.  We may perhaps let ourselves be influenced, moreover, in\nour comparison of their characters, by considering their treatment of\nAthens.  Sylla, when he had made himself master of the city, which\nthen upheld the dominion and power of Mithridates in opposition to\nhim, restored her to liberty and the free exercise of her own laws;\nLysander, on the contrary, when she had fallen from a vast height of\ndignity and rule, showed her no compassion, but abolishing her\ndemocratic government, imposed on her the most cruel and lawless\ntyrants.  We are now qualified to consider, whether we should go far\nfrom the truth or no, in pronouncing that Sylla performed the more\nglorious deeds, but Lysander committed the fewer faults, as,\nlikewise, by giving to one the preeminence for moderation and\nself-control, to the other, for conduct and valor.\n\n\n\nCIMON\n\nPeripoltas, the prophet, having brought the king Opheltas, and those\nunder his command, from Thessaly into Boeotia, left there a family,\nwhich flourished a long time after; the greatest part of them\ninhabiting Chaeronea, the first city out of which they expelled the\nbarbarians.  The descendants of this race, being men of bold attempts\nand warlike habits, exposed themselves to so many dangers, in the\ninvasions of the Mede, and in battles against the Gauls, that at last\nthey were almost wholly consumed.\n\nThere was left one orphan of this house, called Damon, surnamed\nPeripoltas, in beauty and greatness of spirit surpassing all of his\nage, but rude and undisciplined in temper.  A Roman captain of a\ncompany that wintered in Chaeronea became passionately fond of this\nyouth, who was now pretty nearly grown a man.  And finding all his\napproaches, his gifts, and his entreaties alike repulsed, he showed\nviolent inclinations to assault Damon.  Our native Chaeronea was then\nin a distressed condition, too small and too poor to meet with\nanything but neglect.  Damon, being sensible of this, and looking\nupon himself as injured already, resolved to inflict punishment.\nAccordingly, he and sixteen of his companions conspired against the\ncaptain; but that the design might be managed without any danger of\nbeing discovered, they all daubed their faces at night with soot.\nThus disguised and inflamed with wine, they set upon him by break of\nday, as he was sacrificing in the marketplace; and having killed him,\nand several others that were with him, they fled out of the city,\nwhich was extremely alarmed and troubled at the murder.  The council\nassembled immediately, and pronounced sentence of death against Damon\nand his accomplices.  This they did to justify the city to the\nRomans.  But that evening, as the magistrates were at supper\ntogether, according to the custom, Damon and his confederates\nbreaking into the hall, killed them, and then again fled out of the\ntown.  About this time, Lucius Lucullus chanced to be passing that\nway with a body of troops, upon some expedition, and this disaster\nhaving but recently happened, he stayed to examine the matter.  Upon\ninquiry, he found the city was in nowise faulty, but rather that they\nthemselves had suffered; therefore he drew out the soldiers, and\ncarried them away with him.  Yet Damon continuing to ravage the\ncountry all about, the citizens, by messages and decrees, in\nappearance favorable, enticed him into the city, and upon his return,\nmade him Gymnasiarch; but afterwards as he was anointing himself in\nthe vapor baths, they set upon him and killed him.  For a long while\nafter apparitions continuing to be seen, and groans to be heard in\nthat place, so our fathers have told us, they ordered the gates of\nthe baths to be built up; and even to this day those who live in the\nneighborhood believe that they sometimes see specters, and hear\nalarming sounds.  The posterity of Damon, of whom some still remain,\nmostly in Phocis, near the town of Stiris, are called Asbolomeni,\nthat is, in the Aeolian idiom, men daubed with soot; because Damon\nwas thus besmeared when he committed this murder.\n\nBut there being a quarrel between the people of Chaeronea and the\nOrchomenians, their neighbors, these latter hired an informer, a\nRoman, to accuse the community of Chaeronea, as if it had been a\nsingle person, of the murder of the Romans, of which only Damon and\nhis companions were guilty; accordingly, the process wee commenced,\nand the cause pleaded before the Praetor of Macedon, since the Romans\nas yet had not sent governors into Greece.\nThe advocates who defended the inhabitants appealed to the testimony\nof Lucullus, who, in answer to a letter the Praetor wrote to him,\nreturned a true account of the matter-of-fact.  By this means the\ntown obtained its acquittal, and escaped a most serious danger.  The\ncitizens thus preserved erected a statue to Lucullus in the\nmarket-place, near that of the god Bacchus.\n\nWe also have the same impressions of gratitude; and though removed\nfrom the events by the distance of several generations, we yet feel\nthe obligation to extend to ourselves; and as we think an image of\nthe character and habits, to be a greater honor than one merely\nrepresenting the face and the person, we will put Lucullus's life\namongst our parallels of illustrious men, and without swerving from\nthe truth, will record his actions.  The commemoration will be itself\na sufficient proof of our grateful feeling, and he himself would not\nthank us, if in recompense for a service, which consisted in speaking\nthe truth, we should abuse his memory with a false and counterfeit\nnarration.  For as we would wish that a painter who is to draw a\nbeautiful face in which there is yet some imperfection, should\nneither wholly leave out, nor yet too pointedly express what is\ndefective, because this would deform it, and that spoil the\nresemblance; so, since it is hard, or indeed perhaps impossible, to\nshow the life of a man wholly free from blemish, in all that is\nexcellent we must follow truth exactly, and give it fully; any lapses\nor faults that occur, through human passions or political\nnecessities, we may regard rather as the shortcomings of some\nparticular virtue, than as the natural effects of vice; and may be\ncontent without introducing them, curiously and officiously, into our\nnarrative, if it be but out of tenderness to the weakness of nature,\nwhich has never succeeded in producing any human character so perfect\nin virtue, as to be pure from all admixture, and open to no\ncriticism.  On considering; with myself to whom I should compare\nLucullus, I find none so exactly his parallel as Cimon.\n\nThey were both valiant in war, and successful against the barbarians;\nboth gentle in political life, and more than any others gave their\ncountrymen a respite from civil troubles at home, while abroad, each\nof them raised trophies and gained famous victories.  No Greek before\nCimon, nor Roman before Lucullus, ever carried the scene of war so\nfar from their own country; putting out of the question the acts of\nBacchus and Hercules, and any exploit of Perseus against the\nEthiopians, Medes, and Armenians, or again of Jason, of which any\nrecord that deserves credit can be said to have come down to our\ndays.  Moreover in this they were alike, that they did not finish the\nenterprises they undertook.  They brought their enemies near their\nruin, but never entirely conquered them.  There was yet a greater\nconformity in the free good-will and lavish abundance of their\nentertainments and general hospitalities, and in the youthful laxity\nof their habits.  Other points of resemblance, which we have failed\nto notice, may be easily collected from our narrative itself.\n\nCimon was the son of Miltiades and Hegesipyle, who was by birth a\nThracian, and daughter to the king Olorus, as appears from the poems\nof Melanthius and Archelaus, written in praise of Cimon.  By this\nmeans the historian Thucydides was his kinsman by the mother's side;\nfor his father's name also, in remembrance of this common ancestor,\nwas Olorus, and he was the owner of the gold mines in Thrace, and met\nhis death, it is said, by violence, in Scapte Hyle, a district of\nThrace; and his remains having afterwards been brought into Attica, a\nmonument is shown as his among those of the family of Cimon, near the\ntomb of Elpinice, Cimon's sister.  But Thucydides was of the township\nof Halimus, and Miltiades and his family were Laciadae.  Miltiades,\nbeing condemned in a fine of fifty talents to the State, and unable\nto pay it, was cast into prison, and there died.  Thus Cimon was left\nan orphan very young, with his sister Elpinice, who was also young\nand unmarried.  And at first he had but an indifferent reputation,\nbeing looked upon as disorderly in his habits, fond of drinking, and\nresembling his grandfather, also called Cimon, in character, whose\nsimplicity got him the surname of Coalemus.  Stesimbrotus of Thasos,\nwho lived near about the same time with Cimon, reports of him that he\nhad little acquaintance either with music, or any of the other\nliberal studies and accomplishments, then common among the Greeks;\nthat he had nothing whatever of the quickness and the ready speech of\nhis countrymen in Attica; that he had great nobleness and candor in\nhis disposition, and in his character in general, resembled rather a\nnative of Peloponnesus, than of Athens; as Euripides describes\nHercules,\n\n-- Rude\nAnd unrefined, for great things well-endued;\n\nfor this may fairly be added to the character which Stesimbrotus has\ngiven of him.\n\nThey accused him, in his younger years, of cohabiting with his own\nsister Elpinice, who, indeed, otherwise had no very clear reputation,\nbut was reported to have been over intimate with Polygnotus, the\npainter; and hence, when he painted the Trojan women in the porch,\nthen called the Plesianactium, and now the Poecile, he made Laodice a\nportrait of her.  Polygnotus was not an ordinary mechanic, nor was he\npaid for this work, but out of a desire to please the Athenians,\npainted the portico for nothing.  So it is stated by the historians,\nand in the following verses by the poet Melanthius: --\n\nWrought by his hand the deeds of heroes grace\nAt his own charge our temples and our Place.\n\n\nSome affirm that Elpinice lived with her brother, not secretly, but\nas his married wife, her poverty excluding her from any suitable\nmatch.  But afterward, when Callias, one of the richest men of\nAthens, fell in love with her, and proffered to pay the fine the\nfather was condemned in, if he could obtain the daughter in marriage,\nwith Elpinice's own consent, Cimon betrothed her to Callias.  There\nis no doubt but that Cimon was, in general, of an amorous temper.\nFor Melanthius, in his elegies, rallies him on his attachment for\nAsteria of Salamis, and again for a certain Mnestra.  And there can\nbe no doubt of his unusually passionate affection for his lawful wife\nIsodice, the daughter of Euryptolemus, the son of Megacles; nor of\nhis regret, even to impatience, at her death, if any conclusion may\nbe drawn from those elegies of condolence, addressed to him upon his\nloss of her.  The philosopher Panaetius is of opinion, that\nArchelaus, the writer on physics, was the author of them, and indeed\nthe time seems to favor that conjecture.  All the other points of\nCimon's character were noble and good.  He was as daring as\nMiltiades, and not inferior to Themistocles in judgment, and was\nincomparably more just and honest than either of them.  Fully their\nequal in all military virtues, in the ordinary duties of a citizen at\nhome he was immeasurably their superior.  And this, too, when he was\nvery young, his years not yet strengthened by any experience.  For\nwhen Themistocles, upon the Median invasion, advised the Athenians to\nforsake their city and their country, and to carry all their arms on\nshipboard, and fight the enemy by sea, in the straits of Salamis;\nwhen all the people stood amazed at the confidence and rashness of\nthis advice, Cimon was seen, the first of all men, passing with a\ncheerful countenance through the Ceramicus, on his way with his\ncompanions to the citadel, carrying a bridle in his hand to offer to\nthe goddess, intimating that there was no more need of horsemen now,\nbut of mariners.  There, after he had paid his devotions to the\ngoddess, and offered up the bridle, he took down one of the bucklers\nthat hung upon the walls of the temple, and went down to the port; by\nthis example giving confidence to many of the citizens.  He was also\nof a fairly handsome person, according to the poet Ion, tall and\nlarge, and let his thick and curly hair grow long.  After he had\nacquitted himself gallantly in this battle of Salamis, he obtained\ngreat repute among the Athenians, and was regarded with affection, as\nwell as admiration.  He had many who followed after him and bade him\naspire to actions not less famous than his father's battle of\nMarathon.  And when he came forward in political life, the people\nwelcomed him gladly, being now weary of Themistocles; in opposition\nto whom, and because of the frankness and easiness of his temper,\nwhich was agreeable to everyone, they advanced Cimon to the highest\nemployments in the government.  The man that contributed most to his\npromotion was Aristides, who early discerned in his character his\nnatural capacity, and purposely raised him, that he might be a\ncounterpoise to the craft and boldness of Themistocles.\n\nAfter the Medes had been driven out of Greece, Cimon was sent out as\nadmiral, when the Athenians had not yet attained their dominion by\nsea, but still followed Pausanias and the Lacedaemonians; and his\nfellow-citizens under his command were highly distinguished, both for\nthe excellence of their discipline, and for their extraordinary zeal\nand readiness.  And further, perceiving that Pausanias was carrying\non secret communications with the barbarians, and writing letters to\nthe king of Persia to betray Greece, and, puffed up with authority\nand success, was treating the allies haughtily, and committing many\nwanton injustices, Cimon, taking this advantage, by acts of kindness\nto those who were suffering wrong, and by his general humane bearing,\nrobbed him of the command of the Greeks, before he was aware, not by\narms, but by his mere language and character.  The greatest part of\nthe allies, no longer able to endure the harshness and pride of\nPausanias, revolted from him to Cimon and Aristides, who accepted the\nduty, and wrote to the Ephors of Sparta, desiring them to recall a\nman who was causing dishonor to Sparta, and trouble to Greece.  They\ntell of Pausanias, that when he was in Byzantium, he solicited a\nyoung lady of a noble family in the city, whose name was Cleonice, to\ndebauch her.  Her parents, dreading his cruelty, were forced to\nconsent, and so abandoned their daughter to his wishes.  The daughter\nasked the servants outside the chamber to put out all the lights; so\nthat approaching silently and in the dark toward his bed, she\nstumbled upon the lamp, which she overturned.  Pausanias, who was\nfallen asleep, awakened and startled with the noise, thought an\nassassin had taken that dead time of night to murder him, so that\nhastily snatching up his poniard that lay by him, he struck the girl,\nwho fell with the blow, and died.  After this, he never had rest, but\nwas continually haunted by her, and saw an apparition visiting him in\nhis sleep, and addressing him with these angry words:  --\n\nGo on thy way, unto the evil end,\nThat doth on lust and violence attend.\n\nThis was one of the chief occasions of indignation against him among\nthe confederates, who now joining their resentments and forces with\nCimon's, besieged him in Byzantium.  He escaped out of their hands,\nand, continuing, as it is said, to be disturbed by the apparition,\nfled to the oracle of the dead at Heraclea, raised the ghost of\nCleonice, and entreated her to be reconciled.  Accordingly she\nappeared to him, and answered, that as soon as he came to Sparta, he\nshould speedily be freed from all evils; obscurely foretelling, it\nwould seem, his imminent death.  This story is related by many\nauthors.\n\nCimon, strengthened with the accession of the allies, went as general\ninto Thrace.  For he was told that some great men among the Persians,\nof the king's kindred, being in possession of Eion, a city situated\nupon the river Strymon, infested the neighboring Greeks.  First he\ndefeated these Persians in battle, and shut them up within the walls\nof their town.  Then he fell upon the Thracians of the country beyond\nthe Strymon, because they supplied Eion with victuals, and driving\nthem entirely out of the country, took possession of it as conqueror,\nby which means he reduced the besieged to such straits, that Butes,\nwho commanded there for the king, in desperation set fire to the\ntown, and burned himself, his goods, and all his relations, in one\ncommon flame.  By this means, Cimon got the town, but no great booty;\nas the barbarians had not only consumed themselves in the fire, but\nthe richest of their effects.  However, he put the country about into\nthe hands of the Athenians, a most advantageous and desirable\nsituation for a settlement.  For this action, the people permitted\nhim to erect the stone Mercuries, upon the first of which was this\ninscription:  --\n\nOf bold and patient spirit, too, were those,\nWho, where the Strymon under Eion flows,\nWith famine and the sword, to utmost need\nReduced at last the children of the Mede.\n\nUpon the second stood this: --\n\nThe Athenians to their leaders this reward\nFor great and useful service did accord;\nOthers hereafter, shall, from their applause,\nLearn to be valiant in their country's cause\n\nand upon the third, the following:\n\nWith Atreus' sons, this city sent of yore\nDivine Menestheus to the Trojan shore;\nOf all the Greeks, so Homer's verses say,\nThe ablest man an army to array:\nSo old the title of her sons the name\nOf chiefs and champions in the field to claim.\n\nThough the name of Cimon is not mentioned in these inscriptions, yet\nhis contemporaries considered them to be the very highest honors to\nhim; as neither Miltiades nor Themistocles ever received the like.\nWhen Miltiades claimed a garland, Sochares of Decelea stood up in the\nmidst of the assembly and opposed it, using words which, though\nungracious, were received with applause by the people.  \"When you\nhave gained a victory by yourself, Miltiades, then you may ask to\ntriumph so too.\"  What then induced them so particularly to honor\nCimon?  Was it that under other commanders they stood upon the\ndefensive? but by his conduct, they not only attacked their enemies,\nbut invaded them in their own country, and acquired new territory,\nbecoming masters of Eion and Amphipolis, where they planted colonies,\nas also they did in the isle of Scyros, which Cimon had taken on the\nfollowing occasion.  The Dolopians were the inhabitants of this isle,\na people who neglected all husbandry, and had, for many generations,\nbeen devoted to piracy; this they practiced to that degree, that at\nlast they began to plunder foreigners that brought merchandise into\ntheir ports.  Some merchants of Thessaly, who had come to shore near\nCtesium, were not only spoiled of their goods, but themselves put\ninto confinement.  These men afterwards escaping from their prison,\nwent and obtained sentence against the Scyrians in a court of\nAmphictyons, and when the Scyrian people declined to make public\nrestitution, and called upon the individuals who had got the plunder\nto give it up, these persons, in alarm, wrote to Cimon to succor them\nwith his fleet, and declared themselves ready to deliver the town\ninto his hands.  Cimon, by these means, got the town, expelled the\nDolopian pirates, and so opened the traffic of the Aegean sea.  And,\nunderstanding that the ancient Theseus, the son of Aegeus, when he\nfled from Athens and took refuge in this isle, was here treacherously\nslain by king Lycomedes, who feared him, Cimon endeavored to find out\nwhere he was buried.  For an oracle had commanded the Athenians to\nbring home his ashes, and pay him all due honors as a hero; but\nhitherto they had not been able to learn where he was interred, as\nthe people of Scyros dissembled the knowledge of it, and were not\nwilling to allow a search.  But now, great inquiry being made, with\nsome difficulty he found out the tomb, and carried the relics into\nhis own galley, and with great pomp and show brought them to Athens,\nfour hundred years, or thereabouts, after his expulsion.  This act\ngot Cimon great favor with the people, one mark of which was the\njudgment, afterwards so famous, upon the tragic poets.  Sophocles,\nstill a young man, had just brought forward his first plays; opinions\nwere much divided, and the spectators had taken sides with some heat.\nSo, to determine the case, Apsephion, who was at that time archon,\nwould not cast lots who should be judges; but when Cimon, and his\nbrother commanders with him, came into the theater, after they had\nperformed the usual rites to the god of the festival, he would not\nallow them to retire, but came forward and made them swear, (being\nten in all, one from each tribe,) the usual oath; and so being sworn\njudges, he made them sit down to give sentence.  The eagerness for\nvictory grew all the warmer, from the ambition to get the suffrages\nof such honorable judges.  And the victory was at last adjudged to\nSophocles, which Aeschylus is said to have taken so ill, that he left\nAthens shortly after, and went in anger to Sicily, where he died, and\nwas buried near the city of Gela.\n\nIon relates that when he was a young man, and recently come from\nChios to Athens, he chanced to sup with Cimon, at Laomedon's house.\nAfter supper, when they had, according to custom, poured out wine to\nthe honor of the gods, Cimon was desired by the company to give them\na song, which he did with sufficient success, and received the\ncommendations of the company, who remarked on his superiority to\nThemistocles, who, on a like occasion, had declared he had never\nlearnt to sing, nor to play, and only knew how to make a city rich\nand powerful.  After talking of things incident to such\nentertainments, they entered upon the particulars of the several\nactions for which Cimon had been famous.  And when they were\nmentioning the most signal, he told them they had omitted one, upon\nwhich he valued himself most for address and good contrivance.  He\ngave this account of it.  When the allies had taken a great number of\nthe barbarians prisoners in Sestos and Byzantium, they gave him the\npreference to divide the booty; he accordingly put the prisoners in\none lot, and the spoils of their rich attire and jewels in the other.\nThis the allies complained of as an unequal division, but he gave\nthem their choice to take which lot they would, for that the\nAthenians should be content with that which they refused.  Herophytus\nof Samos advised them to take the ornaments for their share, and\nleave the slaves to the Athenians; and Cimon went away, and was much\nlaughed at for his ridiculous division.  For the allies carried away\nthe golden bracelets, and armlets, and collars, and purple robes, and\nthe Athenians had only the naked bodies of the captives, which they\ncould make no advantage of, being unused to labor.  But a little\nwhile after, the friends and kinsmen of the prisoners coming from\nLydia and Phrygia, redeemed every one his relations at a high ransom;\nso that by this means Cimon got so much treasure that he maintained\nhis whole fleet of galleys with the money for four months; and yet\nthere was some left to lay up in the treasury at Athens.\n\nCimon now grew rich, and what he gained from the barbarians with\nhonor, he spent yet more honorably upon the citizens.  For he pulled\ndown all the enclosures of his gardens and grounds, that strangers,\nand the needy of his fellow-citizens, might gather of his fruits\nfreely.  At home, he kept a table, plain, but sufficient for a\nconsiderable number; to which any poor townsman had free access, and\nso might support himself without labor, with his whole time left free\nfor public duties.  Aristotle states, however, that this reception\ndid not extend to all the Athenians, but only to his own fellow\ntownsmen, the Laciadae.  Besides this, he always went attended by two\nor three young companions, very well clad; and if he met with an\nelderly citizen in a poor habit, one of these would change clothes\nwith the decayed citizen, which was looked upon as very nobly done.\nHe enjoined them, likewise, to carry a considerable quantity of coin\nabout them, which they were to convey silently into the hands of the\nbetter class of poor men, as they stood by them in the marketplace.\nThis, Cratinus the poet speaks of in one of his comedies, the\nArchilochi: --\n\nFor I, Metrobius too, the scrivener poor,\nOf ease and comfort in my age secure,\nBy Greece's noblest son in life's decline,\nCimon, the generous-hearted, the divine,\nWell-fed and feasted hoped till death to be,\nDeath which, alas! has taken him ere me.\n\nGorgias the Leontine gives him this character, that he got riches\nthat he might use them, and used them that he might get honor by\nthem.  And Critias, one of the thirty tyrants, makes it, in his\nelegies, his wish to have\n\nThe Scopads' wealth, and Cimon's nobleness,\nAnd king Agesilaus's success.\n\nLichas, we know, became famous in Greece, only because on the days of\nthe sports, when the young boys run naked, he used to entertain the\nstrangers that came to see these diversions.  But Cimon's generosity\noutdid all the old Athenian hospitality and good-nature.  For though\nit is the city's just boast that their forefathers taught the rest of\nGreece to sow corn, and how to use springs of water, and to kindle\nfire, yet Cimon, by keeping open house for his fellow-citizens, and\ngiving travelers liberty to eat the fruits which the several seasons\nproduced in his land, seemed to restore to the world that community\nof goods, which mythology says existed in the reign of Saturn.  Those\nwho object to him that he did this to be popular, and gain the\napplause of the vulgar, are confuted by the constant tenor of the\nrest of his actions, which all tended to uphold the interests of the\nnobility and the Spartan policy, of which he gave instances, when\ntogether with Aristides, he opposed Themistocles, who was advancing\nthe authority of the people beyond its just limits, and resisted\nEphialtes, who to please the multitude, was for abolishing the\njurisdiction of the court of Areopagus.  And when all of his time,\nexcept Aristides and Ephialtes, enriched themselves out of the public\nmoney, he still kept his hands clean and untainted, and to his last\nday never acted or spoke for his own private gain or emolument.  They\ntell us that Rhoesaces, a Persian, who had traitorously revolted from\nthe king his master, fled to Athens, and there, being harassed by\nsycophants, who were still accusing him to the people, he applied\nhimself to Cimon for redress, and to gain his favor, laid down in his\ndoorway two cups, the one full of gold, and the other of silver\nDarics.  Cimon smiled and asked him whether he wished to have Cimon's\nhired service or his friendship.  He replied, his friendship.  \"If\nso,\" said he, \"take away these pieces, for being your friend, when I\nshall have occasion for them, I will send and ask for them.\"\n\nThe allies of the Athenians began now to be weary of war and military\nservice, willing to have repose, and to look after their husbandry\nand traffic.  For they saw and did not fear any new vexations from\nthem.  They still paid the tax they were assessed at, but did not\nsend men and galleys, as they had done before.  This the other\nAthenian generals wished to constrain them to, and by judicial\nproceedings against defaulters, and penalties which they inflicted on\nthem, made the government uneasy, and even odious.  But Cimon\npracticed a contrary method; he forced no man to go that was not\nwilling, but of those that desired to be excused from service he took\nmoney and vessels unmanned, and let them yield to the temptation of\nstaying at home, to attend to their private business.  Thus they lost\ntheir military habits, and luxury and their own folly quickly\nchanged them into unwarlike husbandmen and traders, while Cimon,\ncontinually embarking large numbers of Athenians on board his\ngalleys, thoroughly disciplined them in his expeditions, their\nenemies driven out of the country, and ere long made them the lords\nof their own paymasters.  The allies, whose indolence maintained\nthem, while they thus went sailing about everywhere, and incessantly\nbearing arms and acquiring skill, began to fear and flatter then, and\nfound themselves after a while allies no longer, but unwittingly\nbecome tributaries and slaves.\n\nNor did any man ever do more than Cimon did to humble the pride of\nthe Persian king.  He was not content with getting rid of him out of\nGreece; but following close at his heels, before the barbarians could\ntake breath and recover themselves, he was already at work, and what\nwith his devastations, and his forcible reduction of some places, and\nthe revolts and voluntary accession of others, in the end, from Ionia\nto Pamphylia, all Asia was clear of Persian soldiers.  Word being\nbrought him that the royal commanders were lying in wait upon the\ncoast of Pamphylia, with a numerous land army, and a large fleet, he\ndetermined to make the whole sea on this side the Chelidonian islands\nso formidable to them that they should never dare to show themselves\nin it; and setting off from Cnidos and the Triopian headland, with\ntwo hundred galleys, which had been originally built with particular\ncare by Themistocles, for speed and rapid evolutions, and to which he\nnow gave greater width and roomier decks along the sides to move to\nand fro upon, so as to allow a great number of full-armed soldiers to\ntake part in the engagements and fight from them, he shaped his\ncourse first of all against the town of Phaselis, which, though\ninhabited by Greeks, yet would not quit the interests of Persia, but\ndenied his galleys entrance into their port.  Upon this he wasted the\ncountry, and drew up his army to their very walls; but the soldiers\nof Chios, who were then serving under him, being ancient friends to\nthe Phaselites, endeavoring to propitiate the general in their\nbehalf, at the same time shot arrows into the town, to which were\nfastened letters conveying intelligence.  At length he concluded\npeace with them, upon the conditions that they should pay down ten\ntalents, and follow him against the barbarians.  Ephorus says the\nadmiral of the Persian fleet was Tithraustes, and the general of the\nland army Pherendates; but Callisthenes is positive that Ariomandes,\nthe son of Gobryas, had the supreme command of all the forces.  He\nlay waiting with the whole fleet at the mouth of the river Eurymedon,\nwith no design to fight, but expecting a reinforcement of eighty\nPhoenician ships on their way from Cyprus.  Cimon, aware of this, put\nout to sea, resolved, if they would not fight a battle willingly, to\nforce them to it.  The barbarians, seeing this, retired within the\nmouth of the river to avoid being attacked; but when they saw the\nAthenians come upon them, notwithstanding their retreat, they met\nthem with six hundred ships, as Phanodemus relates but according to\nEphorus, only with three hundred and fifty.  However, they did\nnothing worthy such mighty forces, but immediately turned the prows\nof their galleys toward the shore, where those that came first threw\nthemselves upon the land, and fled to their army drawn up thereabout,\nwhile the rest perished with their vessels, or were taken.  By this,\none may guess at their number, for though a great many escaped out of\nthe fight, and a great many others were sunk, yet two hundred galleys\nwere taken by the Athenians.\n\nWhen their land army drew toward the seaside, Cimon was in suspense\nwhether he should venture to try and force his way on shore; as he\nshould thus expose his Greeks, wearied with slaughter in the first\nengagement, to the swords of the barbarians, who were all fresh men,\nand many times their number.  But seeing his men resolute, and\nflushed with victory, he bade them land, though they were not yet\ncool from their first battle.  As soon as they touched ground, they\nset up a shout and ran upon the enemy, who stood firm and sustained\nthe first shock with great courage, so that the fight was a hard one,\nand some principal men of the Athenians in rank and courage were\nslain.  At length, though with much ado, they routed the barbarians,\nand killing some, took others prisoners, and plundered all their\ntents and pavilions which were full of rich spoil.  Cimon, like a\nskilled athlete at the games, having in one day carried off two\nvictories, wherein he surpassed that of Salamis by sea, and that of\nPlataea by land, was encouraged to try for yet another success.  News\nbeing brought that the Phoenician succors, in number eighty sail, had\ncome in sight at Hydrum, he set off with all speed to find them,\nwhile they as yet had not received any certain account of the larger\nfleet, and were in doubt what to think; so that thus surprised, they\nlost all their vessels, and most of their men with them.  This\nsuccess of Cimon so daunted the king of Persia, that he presently\nmade that celebrated peace, by which he engaged that his armies\nshould come no nearer the Grecian sea than the length of a horse's\ncourse; and that none of his galleys or vessels of war should appear\nbetween the Cyanean and Chelidonian isles.  Callisthenes, however,\nsays that he did not agree to any such articles, but that upon the\nfear this victory gave him, he did in reality thus act, and kept off\nso far from Greece, that when Pericles with fifty, and Ephialtes with\nthirty galleys, cruised beyond the Chelidonian isles, they did not\ndiscover one Persian vessel.  But in the collection which Craterus\nmade of the public acts of the people, there is a draft of this\ntreaty given.  And it is told, also, that at Athens they erected the\naltar of Peace upon this occasion, and decreed particular honors to\nCallias, who was employed as ambassador to procure the treaty.\n\nThe people of Athens raised so much money from the spoils of this\nwar, which were publicly sold, that, besides other expenses, and\nraising the south wall of the citadel, they laid the foundation of\nthe long walls, not, indeed, finished till at a later time, which\nwere called the Legs.  And the place where they built them being soft\nand marshy ground, they were forced to sink great weights of stone\nand rubble to secure the foundation, and did all this out of the\nmoney Cimon supplied them with.  It was he, likewise, who first\nembellished the upper city with those fine and ornamental places of\nexercise and resort, which they afterward so much frequented and\ndelighted in.  He set the market-place with plane trees; and the\nAcademy, which was before a bare, dry, and dirty spot, he converted\ninto a well-watered grove, with shady alleys to walk in, and open\ncourses for races.\n\nWhen the Persians who had made themselves masters of the Chersonese,\nso far from quitting it, called in the people of the interior of\nThrace to help them against Cimon, whom they despised for the\nsmallness of his forces, he set upon them with only four galleys, and\ntook thirteen of theirs; and having driven out the Persians, and\nsubdued the Thracians, he made the whole Chersonese the property of\nAthens.  Next, he attacked the people of Thasos, who had revolted\nfrom the Athenians; and, having defeated them in a fight at sea,\nwhere he took thirty-three of their vessels, he took their town by\nsiege, and acquired for the Athenians all the mines of gold on the\nopposite coast, and the territory dependent on Thasos.  This opened\nhim a fair passage into Macedon, so that he might, it was thought,\nhave acquired a good portion of that country; and because he\nneglected the opportunity, he was suspected of corruption, and of\nhaving been bribed off by king Alexander.  So, by the combination of\nhis adversaries, he was accused of being false to his country.  In\nhis defense he told the judges, that he had always shown himself in\nhis public life the friend, not, like other men, of rich Ionians and\nThessalians, to be courted, and to receive presents, but of the\nLacedaemonians; for as he admired, so he wished to imitate the\nplainness of their habits, their temperance, and simplicity of\nliving, which he preferred to any sort of riches; but that he always\nhad been, and still was proud to enrich his country with the spoils\nof her enemies.  Stesimbrotus, making mention of this trial, states\nthat Elpinice, in behalf of her brother, addressed herself to\nPericles, the most vehement of his accusers, to whom Pericles\nanswered, with a smile, \"You are old, Elpinice, to meddle with\naffairs of this nature.\"  However, he proved the mildest of his\nprosecutors, and rose up but once all the while, almost as a matter\nof form, to plead against him.  Cimon was acquitted.\n\nIn his public life after this, he continued, whilst at home, to\ncontrol and restrain the common people, who would have trampled upon\nthe nobility, and drawn all the power and sovereignty to themselves.\nBut when he afterwards was sent out to war, the multitude broke\nloose, as it were, and overthrew all the ancient laws and customs\nthey had hitherto observed, and, chiefly at the instigation of\nEphialtes, withdrew the cognizance of almost all causes from the\nAreopagus; so that all jurisdiction now being transferred to them,\nthe government was reduced to a perfect democracy, and this by the\nhelp of Pericles, who was already powerful, and had pronounced in\nfavor of the common people.  Cimon, when he returned, seeing the\nauthority of this great council so upset, was exceedingly troubled,\nand endeavored to remedy these disorders by bringing the courts of\nlaw to their former state, and restoring the old aristocracy of the\ntime of Clisthenes.  This the others declaimed against with all the\nvehemence possible, and began to revive those stories concerning him\nand his sister, and cried out against him as the partisan of the\nLacedaemonians.  To these calumnies the famous verses of Eupolis, the\npoet upon Cimon refer:  --\n\nHe was as good as others that one sees,\nBut he was fond of drinking and of ease;\nAnd would at nights to Sparta often roam,\nLeaving his sister desolate at home.\n\nBut if, though slothful and a drunkard, he could capture so many\ntowns, and gain so many victories, certainly if he had been sober and\nminded his business, there had been no Grecian commander, either\nbefore or after him, that could have surpassed him for exploits of\nwar.\n\nHe was, indeed, a favorer of the Lacedaemonians even from his youth,\nand he gave the names of Lacedaemonius and Eleus to two sons, twins,\nwhom he had, as Stesimbrotus says, by a woman of Clitorium, whence\nPericles often upbraided them with their mother's blood.  But\nDiodorus, the geographer, asserts that both these, and another son of\nCimon's, whose name was Thessalus, were born of Isodice, the daughter\nof Euryptolemus, the son of Megacles.\n\nHowever, this is certain, that Cimon was countenanced by the\nLacedaemonians in opposition to Themistocles, whom they disliked; and\nwhile he was yet very young, they endeavored to raise and increase\nhis credit in Athens.  This the Athenians perceived at first with\npleasure, and the favor the Lacedaemonians showed him was in various\nways advantageous to them and their affairs; as at that time they\nwere just rising to power, and were occupied in winning the allies to\ntheir side.  So they seemed not at all offended with the honor and\nkindness showed to Cimon, who then had the chief management of all\nthe affairs of Greece, and was acceptable to the Lacedaemonians, and\ncourteous to the allies.  But afterwards the Athenians, grown more\npowerful, when they saw Cimon so entirely devoted to the\nLacedaemonians, began to be angry, for he would always in his\nspeeches prefer them to the Athenians, and upon every occasion, when\nhe would reprimand them for a fault, or incite them to emulation, he\nwould exclaim, \"The Lacedaemonians would not do thus.\"  This raised\nthe discontent, and got him in some degree the hatred of the\ncitizens; but that which ministered chiefly to the accusation against\nhim fell out upon the following occasion.\n\nIn the fourth year of the reign of Archidamus, the son of Zeuxidamus,\nking of Sparta, there happened in the country of Lacedaemon, the\ngreatest earthquake that was known in the memory of man; the earth\nopened into chasms, and the mountain Taygetus was so shaken, that\nsome of the rocky points of it fell down, and except five houses, all\nthe town of Sparta was shattered to pieces.  They say, that a little\nbefore any motion was perceived, as the young men and the boys just\ngrown up were exercising themselves together in the middle of the\nportico, a hare, of a sudden, started out just by them, which the\nyoung men, though all naked and daubed with oil, ran after for sport.\nNo sooner were they gone from the place, than the gymnasium fell down\nupon the boys who had stayed behind, and killed them all.  Their tomb\nis to this day called Sismatias.  Archidamus, by the present danger\nmade apprehensive of what might follow, and seeing the citizens\nintent upon removing the most valuable of their goods out of their\nhouses, commanded an alarm to be sounded, as if an enemy were coming\nupon them, in order that they should collect about him in a body,\nwith arms.  It was this alone that saved Sparta at that time, for the\nHelots were got together from the country about, with design to\nsurprise the Spartans, and overpower those whom the earthquake had\nspared.  But finding them armed and well prepared, they retired into\nthe towns and openly made war with them, gaining over a number of the\nLaconians of the country districts; while at the same time the\nMessenians, also, made an attack upon the Spartans, who therefore\ndispatched Periclidas to Athens to solicit succors, of whom\nAristophanes says in mockery that he came and\n\nIn a red jacket, at the altars seated,\nWith a white face, for men and arms entreated.\n\nThis Ephialtes opposed, protesting that they ought not to raise up or\nassist a city that was a rival to Athens; but that being down, it\nwere best to keep her so, and let the pride and arrogance of Sparta\nbe trodden under.  But Cimon, as Critias says, preferring the safety\nof Lacedaemon to the aggrandizement of his own country, so persuaded\nthe people, that he soon marched out with a large army to their\nrelief.  Ion records, also, the most successful expression which he\nused to move the Athenians.  \"They ought not to suffer Greece to be\nlamed, nor their own city to be deprived of her yoke-fellow.\"\n\nIn his return from aiding the Lacedaemonians, he passed with his army\nthrough the territory of Corinth; where upon Lachartus reproached him\nfor bringing his army into the country, without first asking leave of\nthe people.  For he that knocks at another man's door ought not to\nenter the house till the master gives him leave.  \"But you,\nCorinthians, O Lachartus,\" said Cimon, \"did not knock at the gates of\nthe Cleonaeans and Megarians, but broke them down, and entered by\nforce, thinking that all places should be open to the stronger.\"  And\nhaving thus rallied the Corinthian, he passed on with his army.  Some\ntime after this, the Lacedaemonians sent a second time to desire\nsuccors of the Athenians against the Messenians and Helots, who had\nseized upon Ithome.  But when they came, fearing their boldness and\ngallantry, of all that came to their assistance, they sent them only\nback, alleging they were designing innovations.  The Athenians\nreturned home, enraged at this usage, and vented their anger upon all\nthose who were favorers of the Lacedaemonians; and seizing some\nslight occasion, they banished Cimon for ten years, which is the time\nprescribed to those that are banished by the ostracism.  In the mean\ntime, the Lacedaemonians, on their return after freeing Delphi from\nthe Phocians, encamped their army at Tanagra, whither the Athenians\npresently marched with design to fight them.\n\nCimon, also, came thither armed, and ranged himself among those of\nhis own tribe, which was the Oeneis, desirous of fighting with the\nrest against the Spartans; but the council of five hundred being\ninformed of this, and frighted at it, his adversaries crying out he\nwould disorder the army, and bring the Lacedaemonians to Athens,\ncommanded the officers not to receive him.  Wherefore Cimon left the\narmy, conjuring Euthippus, the Anaphlystian, and the rest of his\ncompanions, who were most suspected as favoring the Lacedaemonians,\nto behave themselves bravely against their enemies, and by their\nactions make their innocence evident to their countrymen.  These, being\nin all a hundred, took the arms of Cimon and followed his advice; and\nmaking a body by themselves, fought so desperately with the enemy,\nthat they were all cut off, leaving the Athenians deep regret for\nthe loss of such brave men, and repentance for having so unjustly\nsuspected them.  Accordingly, they did not long retain their severity\ntoward Cimon, partly upon remembrance of his former services, and\npartly, perhaps, induced by the juncture of the times.  For being\ndefeated at Tanagra in a great battle, and fearing the Peloponnesians\nwould come upon them at the opening of the spring, they recalled\nCimon by a decree, of which Pericles himself was author.  So\nreasonable were men's resentments in those times, and so moderate\ntheir anger, that it always gave way to the public good.  Even\nambition, the least governable of all human passions, could then\nyield to the necessities of the State.\n\nCimon, as soon as he returned, put an end to the war, and reconciled\nthe two cities.  Peace thus established, seeing the Athenians\nimpatient of being idle, and eager after the honor and aggrandizement\nof war, lest they should set upon the Greeks themselves, or with so\nmany ships cruising about the isles and Peloponnesus, they should\ngive occasions to intestine wars, or complaints of their allies\nagainst them, he equipped two hundred galleys, with design to make an\nattempt upon Egypt and Cyprus; purposing, by this means, to accustom\nthe Athenians to fight against the barbarians, and enrich themselves\nhonestly by spoiling those who were the natural enemies to Greece.\nBut when all things were prepared, and the army ready to embark,\nCimon had this dream.  It seemed to him that there was a furious\nbitch barking at him, and, mixed with the barking, a kind of human\nvoice uttered these words: --\n\nCome on, for thou shalt shortly be,\nA pleasure to my whelps and me.\n\nThis dream was hard to interpret, yet Astyphilus of Posidonia, a man\nskilled in divinations, and intimate with Cimon, told him that his\ndeath was presaged by this vision, which he thus explained.  A dog is\nenemy to him be barks at; and one is always most a pleasure to one's\nenemies, when one is dead; the mixture of human voice with barking\nsignifies the Medes, for the army of the Medes is mixed up of Greeks\nand barbarians.  After this dream, as he was sacrificing to Bacchus,\nand the priest cutting up the victim, a number of ants, taking up the\ncongealed particles of the blood, laid them about Cimon's great toe.\nThis was not observed for a good while, but at the very time when\nCimon spied it, the priest came and showed him the liver of the\nsacrifice imperfect, wanting that part of it called the head.  But he\ncould not then recede from the enterprise, so he set sail.  Sixty of\nhis ships he sent toward Egypt; with the rest he went and fought the\nking of Persia's fleet, composed of Phoenician and Cilician galleys,\nrecovered all the cities thereabout, and threatened Egypt; designing\nno less than the entire ruin of the Persian empire.  And the rather,\nfor that he was informed Themistocles was in great repute among the\nbarbarians, having promised the king to lead his army, whenever he\nshould make war upon Greece.  But Themistocles, it is said,\nabandoning all hopes of compassing his designs, very much out of the\ndespair of overcoming the valor and good-fortune of Cimon, died a\nvoluntary death.  Cimon, intent on great designs, which he was now to\nenter upon, keeping his navy about the isle of Cyprus, sent\nmessengers to consult the oracle of Jupiter Ammon upon some secret\nmatter.  For it is not known about what they were sent, and the god\nwould give them no answer, but commanded them to return again, for\nthat Cimon was already with him.  Hearing this, they returned to sea,\nand as soon as they came to the Grecian army, which was then about\nEgypt, they understood that Cimon was dead; and computing the time of\nthe oracle, they found that his death had been signified, he being\nthen already with the gods.\n\nHe died, some say, of sickness, while besieging Citium, in Cyprus;\naccording to others, of a wound he received in a skirmish with the\nbarbarians.  When he perceived he should die, he commanded those\nunder his charge to return, and by no means to let the news of his\ndeath be known by the way; this they did with such secrecy that they\nall came home safe, and neither their enemies nor the allies knew\nwhat had happened.  Thus, as Phanodemus relates, the Grecian army\nwas, as it were, conducted by Cimon, thirty days after he was dead.\nBut after his death there was not one commander among the Greeks that\ndid anything considerable against the barbarians, and instead of\nuniting against their common enemies, the popular leaders and\npartisans of war animated them against one another to that degree,\nthat none could interpose their good offices to reconcile them.  And\nwhile, by their mutual discord, they ruined the power of Greece, they\ngave the Persians time to recover breath, and repair all their\nlosses.  It is true, indeed, Agesilaus carried the arms of Greece\ninto Asia, but it was a long time after; there were, indeed, some\nbrief appearances of a war against the king's lieutenants in the\nmaritime provinces, but they all quickly vanished; before he could\nperform anything of moment, he was recalled by fresh civil\ndissensions and disturbances at home.  So that he was forced to leave\nthe Persian king's officers to impose what tribute they pleased on\nthe Greek cities in Asia, the confederates and allies of the\nLacedaemonians.  Whereas, in the time of Cimon, not so much as a\nletter-carrier, or a single horseman, was ever seen to come within\nfour hundred furlongs of the sea.\n\nThe monuments, called Cimonian to this day, in Athens, show that his\nremains were conveyed home, yet the inhabitants of the city Citium\npay particular honor to a certain tomb which they call the tomb of\nCimon, according to Nausicrates the rhetorician, who states that in a\ntime of famine, when the crops of their land all failed, they sent to\nthe oracle, which commanded them not to forget Cimon, but give him\nthe honors of a superior being.  Such was the Greek commander.\n\n\n\nLUCULLUS\n\nLucullus's grandfather had been consul; his uncle by the mother's\nsister was Metellus, surnamed Numidicus.  As for his parents, his\nfather was convicted of extortion, and his mother Caecilia's\nreputation was bad.  The first thing that Lucullus did before ever\nhe stood for any office, or meddled with the affairs of state,\nbeing then but a youth, was, to accuse the accuser of his father,\nServilius the augur, having caught him in an offense against the\nstate.  This thing was much taken notice of among the Romans, who\ncommended it as an act of high merit.  Even without the\nprovocation, the accusation was esteemed no unbecoming action, for\nthey delighted to see young men as eagerly attacking injustice, as\ngood dogs do wild beasts.  But when great animosities ensued,\ninsomuch that some were wounded and killed in the fray, Servilius\nescaped.  Lucullus followed his studies, and became a competent\nspeaker, in both Greek and Latin, insomuch that Sylla, when\ncomposing the commentaries of his own life and actions, dedicated\nthem to him, as one who could have performed the task better\nhimself.  His speech was not only elegant and ready for purposes of\nmere business, like the ordinary oratory which will in the public\nmarket-place,\n\nLash as a wounded tunny does the sea,\n\nbut on every other occasion shows itself\n\nDried up and perished with the want of wit;\n\nbut even in his younger days he addicted himself to the study,\nsimply for its own sake, of the liberal arts; and when advanced in\nyears, after a life of conflicts, he gave his mind, as it were, its\nliberty, to enjoy in full leisure the refreshment of philosophy;\nand summoning up his contemplative faculties, administered a timely\ncheck, after his difference with Pompey, to his feelings of\nemulation and ambition.  Besides what has been said of his love of\nlearning already, one instance more was, that in his youth, upon a\nsuggestion of writing the Marsian war in Greek and Latin verse and\nprose, arising out of some pleasantry that passed into a serious\nproposal, he agreed with Hortensius the lawyer, and Sisenna the\nhistorian, that he would take his lot; and it seems that the lot\ndirected him to the Greek tongue, for a Greek history of that war\nis still extant.\n\nAmong the many signs of the great love which he bore to his brother\nMarcus, one in particular is commemorated by the Romans.  Though he\nwas elder brother, he would not step into authority without him,\nbut deferred his own advance until his brother was qualified to\nbear a share with him, and so won upon the people, as when absent\nto be chosen Aedile with him.\n\nHe gave many and early proofs of his valor and conduct, in the\nMarsian war, and was admired by Sylla for his constancy and\nmildness, and always employed in affairs of importance, especially\nin the mint; most of the money for carrying on the Mithridatic war\nbeing coined by him in Peloponnesus, which, by the soldiers' wants,\nwas brought into rapid circulation, and long continued current\nunder the name of Lucullean coin.  After this, when Sylla conquered\nAthens, and was victorious by land, but found the supplies for his\narmy cut off, the enemy being master at sea, Lucullus was the man\nwhom he sent into Libya and Egypt, to procure him shipping.  It was\nthe depth of winter when he ventured with but three small Greek\nvessels, and as many Rhodian galleys, not only into the main sea,\nbut also among multitudes of vessels belonging to the enemies, who\nwere cruising about as absolute masters.  Arriving at Crete, he\ngained it; and finding the Cyrenians harassed by long tyrannies and\nwars, he composed their troubles, and settled their government;\nputting the city in mind of that saying which Plato once had\noracularly uttered of them, who, being requested to prescribe laws\nto them, and mold them into some sound form of government, made\nanswer, that it was a hard thing to give laws to the Cyrenians,\nabounding, as they did, in wealth and plenty.  For nothing is more\nintractable than man when in felicity, nor anything more docile,\nwhen he has been reduced and humbled by fortune.  This made the\nCyrenians so willingly submit to the laws which Lucullus imposed\nupon them.  From thence sailing into Egypt, and, pressed by\npirates, he lost most of his vessels; but he himself narrowly\nescaping, made a magnificent entry into Alexandria.  The whole\nfleet, a compliment due only to royalty, met him in full array, and\nthe young Ptolemy showed wonderful kindness to him, appointing him\nlodging and diet in the palace, where no foreign commander before\nhim had been received.  Besides, he gave him gratuities and\npresents, not such as were usually given to men of his condition,\nbut four times as much; of which, however, he took nothing more\nthan served his necessity, and accepted of no gift, though what was\nworth eighty talents was offered him.  It is reported he neither\nwent to see Memphis, nor any of the celebrated wonders of Egypt.\nIt was for a man of no business and much curiosity to see such\nthings, not for him who had left his commander in the field,\nlodging under the ramparts of his enemies.\n\nPtolemy, fearing the issue of that war, deserted the confederacy,\nbut nevertheless sent a convoy with him as far as Cyprus, and at\nparting, with much ceremony, wishing him a good voyage, gave him a\nvery precious emerald set in gold.  Lucullus at first refused it,\nbut when the king showed him his own likeness cut upon it, he\nthought he could not persist in a denial, for had he parted with\nsuch open offense, it might have endangered his passage.  Drawing a\nconsiderable squadron together, which he summoned, as he sailed by,\nout of all the maritime towns, except those suspected of piracy, he\nsailed for Cyprus; and there understanding that the enemy lay in\nwait under the promontories for him, he laid up his fleet, and sent\nto the cities to send in provisions for his wintering among them.\nBut when time served, he launched his ships suddenly, and went off,\nand hoisting all his sails in the night, while he kept them down in\nthe day, thus came safe to Rhodes.  Being furnished with ships at\nRhodes, he also prevailed upon the inhabitants of Cos and Cnidus,\nto leave the king's side, and join in an expedition against the\nSamians.  Out of Chios he himself drove the king's party, and set\nthe Colophonians at liberty, having seized Epigonus the tyrant, who\noppressed them.\n\nAbout this time Mithridates left Pergamus, and retired to Pitane,\nwhere being closely besieged by Fimbria on the land, and not daring\nto engage with so bold and victorious a commander, he was\nconcerting means for escape by sea, and sent for all his fleets\nfrom every quarter to attend him.  Which when Fimbria perceived,\nhaving no ships of his own, he sent to Lucullus, entreating him to\nassist him with his, in subduing the most odious and warlike of\nkings, lest the opportunity of humbling Mithridates, the prize\nwhich the Romans had pursued with so much blood and trouble, should\nnow at last be lost, when he was within the net, and easily to be\ntaken.  And were he caught, no one would be more highly commended\nthan Lucullus, who stopped his passage and seized him in his\nflight.  Being driven from the land by the one, and met in the sea\nby the other, he would give matter of renown and glory to them\nboth, and the much applauded actions of Sylla at Orchomenus and\nabout Chaeronea, would no longer be thought of by the Romans.  The\nproposal was no unreasonable thing; it being obvious to all men,\nthat if Lucullus had hearkened to Fimbria, and with his navy, which\nwas then near at hand, had blocked up the haven, the war soon had\nbeen brought to an end, and infinite numbers of mischiefs prevented\nthereby.  But he, whether from the sacredness of friendship between\nhimself and Sylla, reckoning all other considerations of public or\nof private advantage inferior to it, or out of detestation of the\nwickedness of Fimbria, whom he abhorred for advancing himself by\nthe late death of his friend and the general of the army, or by a\ndivine fortune sparing Mithridates then, that he might have him an\nadversary for a time to come, for whatever reason, refused to\ncomply, and suffered Mithridates to escape and laugh at the\nattempts of Fimbria.  He himself alone first, near Lectum in Troas,\nin a sea-fight, overcame the king's ships; and afterwards,\ndiscovering Neoptolemus lying in wait for him near Tenedos, with a\ngreater fleet, he went aboard a Rhodian quinquereme galley,\ncommended by Damagoras, a man of great experience at sea, and\nfriendly to the Romans, and sailed before the rest.  Neoptolemus\nmade up furiously at him, and commanded the master, with all\nimaginable might, to charge; but Damagoras, fearing the bulk and\nmassy stem of the admiral, thought it dangerous to meet him prow to\nprow, and, rapidly wheeling round, bid his men back water, and so\nreceived him astern; in which place, though violently borne upon,\nhe received no manner of harm, the blow being defeated by falling\non those parts of the ship which lay under water.  By which time,\nthe rest of the fleet coming up to him, Lucullus gave order to turn\nagain, and vigorously falling, upon the enemy, put them to flight,\nand pursued Neoptolemus.  After this he came to Sylla, in\nChersonesus, as he was preparing to pass the strait, and brought\ntimely assistance for the safe transportation of the army.\n\nPeace being presently made, Mithridates sailed off to the Euxine\nsea, but Sylla taxed the inhabitants of Asia twenty thousand\ntalents, and ordered Lucullus to gather and coin the money.  And it\nwas no small comfort to the cities under Sylla's severity, that a\nman of not only incorrupt and just behavior, but also of\nmoderation, should be employed in so heavy and odious an office.\nThe Mitylenaeans, who absolutely revolted, he was willing should\nreturn to their duty, and submit to a moderate penalty for the\noffense they had given in the case of Marius.  But, finding them\nbent upon their own destruction, he came up to them, defeated them\nat sea, blocked them up in their city and besieged them; then\nsailing off from them openly in the day to Elaea, he returned\nprivately, and posting an ambush near the city, lay quiet himself:\nAnd on the Mitylenaeans coming out eagerly and in disorder to\nplunder the deserted camp, he fell upon them, took many of them,\nand slew five hundred, who stood upon their defense.  He gained six\nthousand slaves, and a very rich booty.\n\nHe was no way engaged in the great and general troubles of Italy\nwhich Sylla and Marius created, a happy providence at that time\ndetaining him in Asia upon business.  He was as much in Sylla's\nfavor, however, as any of his other friends; Sylla, as was said\nbefore, dedicated his Memoirs to him as a token of kindness, and at\nhis death, passing by Pompey, made him guardian to his son; which\nseems, indeed, to have been the rise of the quarrel and jealousy\nbetween them two being both young men, and passionate for honor.\n\nA little after Sylla's death, he was made consul with Marcus Cotta,\nabout the one hundred and seventy-sixth Olympiad.  The Mithridatic\nwar being then under debate, Marcus declared that it was not\nfinished, but only respited for a time, and therefore, upon choice\nof provinces, the lot falling to Lucullus to have Gaul within the\nAlps, a province where no great action was to be done, he was\nill-pleased.  But chiefly, the success of Pompey in Spain fretted\nhim, as, with the renown he got there, if the Spanish war were\nfinished in time, he was likely to be chosen general before anyone\nelse against Mithridates.  So that when Pompey sent for money, and\nsignified by letter that, unless it were sent him, he would leave\nthe country and Sertorius, and bring his forces home to Italy,\nLucullus most zealously supported his request, to prevent any\npretence of his returning home during his own consulship; for all\nthings would have been at his disposal, at the head of so great an\narmy.  For Cethegus, the most influential popular leader at that\ntime, owing to his always both acting and speaking to please the\npeople, had, as it happened, a hatred to Lucullus, who had not\nconcealed his disgust at his debauched, insolent, and lawless life.\nLucullus, therefore, was at open warfare with him.  And Lucius\nQuintius, also, another demagogue, who was taking steps against\nSylla's constitution, and endeavoring to put things out of order,\nby private exhortations and public admonitions he checked in his\ndesigns, and repressed his ambition, wisely and safely remedying a\ngreat evil at the very outset.\n\nAt this time news came that Octavius, the governor of Cilicia, was\ndead, and many were eager for the place, courting Cethegus, as the\nman best able to serve them.  Lucullus set little value upon\nCilicia itself, no otherwise than as he thought, by his acceptance\nof it, no other man besides himself might be employed in the war\nagainst Mithridates, by reason of its nearness to Cappadocia.  This\nmade him strain every effort that that province might be allotted\nto himself, and to none other; which led him at last into an\nexpedient not so honest or commendable, as it was serviceable for\ncompassing his design, submitting to necessity against his own\ninclination.  There was one Praecia, a celebrated wit and beauty,\nbut in other respects nothing better than an ordinary harlot; who,\nhowever, to the charms of her person adding the reputation of one\nthat loved and served her friends, by making use of those who\nvisited her to assist their designs and promote their interests,\nhad thus gained great power.  She had seduced Cethegus, the first\nman at that time in reputation and authority of all the city, and\nenticed him to her love, and so had made all authority follow her.\nFor nothing of moment was done in which Cethegus was not concerned,\nand nothing by Cethegus without Praecia.  This woman Lucullus\ngained to his side by gifts and flattery, (and a great price it was\nin itself to so stately and magnificent a dame, to be seen engaged\nin the same cause with Lucullus,) and thus he presently found\nCethegus his friend, using his utmost interest to procure Cilicia\nfor him; which when once obtained, there was no more need of\napplying himself either to Praecia, or Cethegus; for all\nunanimously voted him to the Mithridatic war, by no hands likely to\nbe so successfully managed as his.  Pompey was still contending\nwith Sertorius, and Metellus by age unfit for service; which two\nalone were the competitors who could prefer any claim with Lucullus\nfor that command.  Cotta, his colleague, after much ado in the\nsenate, was sent away with a fleet to guard the Propontis, and\ndefend Bithynia.\n\nLucullus carried with him a legion under his own orders, and\ncrossed over into Asia and took the command of the forces there,\ncomposed of men who were all thoroughly disabled by dissoluteness\nand rapine, and the Fimbrians, as they were called, utterly\nunmanageable by long want of any sort of discipline.  For these\nwere they who under Fimbria had slain Flaccus, the consul and\ngeneral, and afterwards betrayed Fimbria to Sylla; a willful and\nlawless set of men, but warlike, expert, and hardy in the field.\nLucullus in a short time took down the courage of these, and\ndisciplined the others, who then first, in all probability, knew\nwhat a true commander and governor was; whereas in former times\nthey had been courted to service, and took up arms at nobody's\ncommand, but their own wills.\n\nThe enemy's provisions for war stood thus; Mithridates, like the\nSophists, boastful and haughty at first, set upon the Romans, with\na very inefficient army, such, indeed, as made a good show, but was\nnothing for use.  But being shamefully routed, and taught a lesson\nfor a second engagement, he reduced his forces to a proper,\nserviceable shape.  Dispensing with the mixed multitudes, and the\nnoisy menaces of barbarous tribes of various languages, and with\nthe ornaments of gold and precious stones, a greater temptation to\nthe victors than security to the bearers, he gave his men broad\nswords like the Romans', and massy shields; chose horses better for\nservice than show, drew up an hundred and twenty thousand foot in\nthe figure of the Roman phalanx, and had sixteen thousand horse,\nbesides chariots armed with scythes, no less than a hundred.\nBesides which, he set out a fleet not at all cumbered with gilded\ncabins, luxurious baths and women's furniture, but stored with\nweapons and darts, and other necessaries, and thus made a descent\nupon Bithynia.  Not only did these parts willingly receive him\nagain, but almost all Asia regarded him as their salvation from the\nintolerable miseries which they were suffering from the Roman\nmoney-lenders, and revenue farmers.  These, afterwards, who like\nharpies stole away their very nourishment, Lucullus drove away, and\nat this time by reproving them, did what he could to make them more\nmoderate, and to prevent a general secession, then breaking out in\nall parts.  While Lucullus was detained in rectifying these\nmatters, Cotta, finding affairs ripe for action, prepared for\nbattle with Mithridates; and news coming from all hands that\nLucullus had already entered Phrygia, on his march against the\nenemy, he, thinking he had a triumph all but actually in his hands,\nlest his colleague should share in the glory of it, hasted to\nbattle without him.  But being routed, both by sea and land, he\nlost sixty ships with their men, and four thousand foot, and\nhimself was forced into and besieged in Chalcedon, there waiting\nfor relief from Lucullus.  There were those about Lucullus who\nwould have had him leave Cotta and go forward, in hope of\nsurprising the defenseless kingdom of Mithridates.  And this was\nthe feeling of the soldiers in general, who wore indignant that\nCotta should by his ill-counsel not only lose his own army, but\nhinder them also from conquest, which at that time, without the\nhazard of a battle, they might have obtained.  But Lucullus, in a\npublic address, declared to them that he would rather save one\ncitizen from the enemy, than be master of all that they had.\n\nArchelaus, the former commander in Boeotia under Mithridates, who\nafterwards deserted him and accompanied the Romans, protested to\nLucullus that, upon his mere coming, he would possess himself of\nall Pontus.  But he answered, that it did not become him to be more\ncowardly than huntsmen, to leave the wild beasts abroad, and seek\nafter sport in their deserted dens.  Having so said, he made\ntowards Mithridates with thirty thousand foot, and two thousand\nfive hundred horse.  But on being come in sight of his enemies, he\nwas astonished at their numbers, and thought to forbear fighting,\nand wear out time.  But Marius, whom Sertorius had sent out of\nSpain to Mithridates with forces under him, stepping out and\nchallenging him, he prepared for battle.  In the very instant\nbefore joining battle, without any perceptible alteration\npreceding, on a sudden the sky opened, and a large luminous body\nfell down in the midst between the armies, in shape like a\nhogshead, but in color like melted silver, insomuch that both\narmies in alarm withdrew.  This wonderful prodigy happened in\nPhrygia, near Otryae.  Lucullus after this began to think with\nhimself that no human power and wealth could suffice to sustain\nsuch great numbers as Mithridates had, for any long time in the\nface of an enemy, and commanded one of the captives to be brought\nbefore him, and first of all asked him, how many companions had\nbeen quartered with him, and how much provision he had left behind\nhim, and when he had answered him, commanded him to stand aside;\nthen asked a second and a third the same question; after which,\ncomparing the quantity of provision with the men, he found that in\nthree or four days' time, his enemies would be brought to want.\nThis all the more determined him to trust to time, and he took\nmeasures to store his camp with all sorts of provision, and thus\nliving in plenty, trusted to watch the necessities of his hungry\nenemy.\n\nThis made Mithridates set out against the Cyzicenians, miserably\nshattered in the fight at Chalcedon, where they lost no less than\nthree thousand citizens and ten ships.  And that he might the safer\nsteal away unobserved by Lucullus, immediately after supper, by the\nhelp of a dark and wet night, he went off and by the morning gained\nthe neighborhood of the city, and sat down with his forces upon the\nAdrastean mount.  Lucullus, on finding him gone, pursued, but was\nwell pleased not to overtake him with his own forces in disorder;\nand he sat down near what is called the Thracian village, an\nadmirable position for commanding all the roads and the places\nwhence, and through which the provisions for Mithridates's camp\nmust of necessity come.  And judging now of the event, he no longer\nkept his mind from his soldiers, but when the camp was fortified\nand their work finished, called them together, and with great\nassurance told them that in a few days, without the expense of\nblood, he would give them victory.\n\nMithridates besieged the Cyzicenians with ten camps by land, and\nwith his ships occupied the strait that was betwixt their city and\nthe main land, and so blocked them up on all sides; they, however,\nwere fully prepared stoutly to receive him, and resolved to endure\nthe utmost extremity, rather than forsake the Romans.  That which\ntroubled them most was, that they knew not where Lucullus was, and\nheard nothing of him, though at that time his army was visible\nbefore them.  But they were imposed upon by the Mithridatians, who,\nshowing them the Romans encamped on the hills, said, \"Do ye see\nthose? those are the auxiliary Armenians and Medes, whom Tigranes\nhas sent to Mithridates.\"  They were thus overwhelmed with thinking\nof the vast numbers round them, and could not believe any way of\nrelief was left them, even if Lucullus should come up to their\nassistance.  Demonax, a messenger sent in by Archelaus, was the\nfirst who told them of Lucullus's arrival; but they disbelieved his\nreport, and thought he came with a story invented merely to\nencourage them.  At which time it happened that a boy, a prisoner\nwho had run away from the enemy, was brought before them; who,\nbeing asked where Lucullus was, laughed at their jesting, as he\nthought, but, finding them in earnest, with his finger pointed to\nthe Roman camp; upon which they took courage.  The lake Dascylitis\nwas navigated with vessels of some little size; one, the biggest of\nthem, Lucullus drew ashore, and carrying her across in a wagon to\nthe sea, filled her with soldiers, who, sailing along unseen in the\ndead of the night, came safe into the city.\n\nThe gods themselves, too, in admiration of the constancy of the\nCyzicenians, seem to have animated them with manifest signs, more\nespecially now in the festival of Proserpine, where a black heifer\nbeing wanting for sacrifice, they supplied it by a figure made of\ndough, which they set before the altar.  But the holy heifer set\napart for the goddess, and at that time grazing with the other\nherds of the Cyzicenians on the other side of the strait, left the\nherd and swam over to the city alone, and offered herself for\nsacrifice.  By night, also, the goddess appearing to Aristagoras,\nthe town clerk, \"I am come,\" said she, \"and have brought the Libyan\npiper against the Pontic trumpeter; bid the citizens, therefore, be\nof good courage.\"  While the Cyzicenians were wondering what the\nwords could mean, a sudden wind sprung up and caused a considerable\nmotion on the sea.  The king's battering engines, the wonderful\ncontrivance of Niconides of Thessaly, then under the walls, by\ntheir cracking and rattling, soon demonstrated what would follow;\nafter which an extraordinarily tempestuous south wind succeeding\nshattered in a short space of time all the rest of the works, and\nby a violent concussion, threw down the wooden tower a hundred\ncubits high.  It is said that in Ilium Minerva appeared to many\nthat night in their sleep, with the sweat running down her person,\nand showed them her robe torn in one place, telling them that she\nhad just arrived from relieving the Cyzicenians; and the\ninhabitants to this day show a monument with an inscription,\nincluding a public decree, referring to the fact.\n\nMithridates, through the knavery of his officers, not knowing for\nsome time the want of provision in his camp, was troubled in mind\nthat the Cyzicenians should hold out against him.  But his ambition\nand anger fell, when he saw his soldiers in the extremity of want,\nand feeding on man's flesh; as, in truth, Lucullus was not carrying\non the war as mere matter of show and stage-play, but according to\nthe proverb, made the seat of war in the belly, and did everything\nto cut off their supplies of food.  Mithridates, therefore, took\nadvantage of the time, while Lucullus was storming a fort, and sent\naway almost all his horse to Bithynia, with the sumpter cattle, and\nas many of the foot as were unfit for service.  On intelligence of\nwhich, Lucullus, while it was yet night, came to his camp, and in\nthe morning, though it was stormy weather, took with him ten\ncohorts of foot, and the horse, and pursued them under falling snow\nand in cold so severe that many of his soldiers were unable to\nproceed; and with the rest coming upon the enemy, near the river\nRhyndacus, he overthrew them with so great a slaughter, that the\nvery women of Apollonia came out to seize on the booty and strip\nthe slain.  Great numbers, as we may suppose, were slain; six\nthousand horses were taken, with an infinite number of beasts of\nburden, and no less than fifteen thousand men.  All which he led\nalong by the enemy's camp.  I cannot but wonder on this occasion at\nSallust, who says that this was the first time camels were seen by\nthe Romans, as if he thought those who, long before, under Scipio,\ndefeated Antiochus, or those who lately had fought against\nArchelaus near Orchomenus and Chaeronea, had not known what a camel\nwas.  Mithridates, himself fully determined upon flight, as mere\ndelays and diversions for Lucullus, sent his admiral Aristonicus to\nthe Greek sea; who, however, was betrayed in the very instant of\ngoing off, and Lucullus became master of him, and ten thousand\npieces of gold which he was carrying with him to corrupt some of\nthe Roman army.  After which, Mithridates himself made for the sea,\nleaving the foot officers to conduct the army, upon whom Lucullus\nfell, near the river Granicus, where he took a vast number alive,\nand slew twenty thousand.  It is reported that the total number\nkilled, of fighting men and of others who followed the camp,\namounted to something not far short of three hundred thousand.\n\nLucullus first went to Cyzicus, where he was received with all the\njoy and gratitude suiting the occasion, and then collected a navy,\nvisiting the shores of the Hellespont.  And arriving at Troas, he\nlodged in the temple of Venus, where, in the night, he thought he\nsaw the goddess coming to him, and saying,\n\nSleep'st thou, great lion, when the fawns are nigh?\n\nRising up hereupon, he called his friends to him, it being yet\nnight, and told them his vision; at which instant some Ilians came\nup and acquainted him that thirteen of the king's quinqueremes were\nseen off the Achaean harbor, sailing for Lemnos.  He at once put to\nsea, took these, and slew their admiral Isidorus.  And then he made\nafter another squadron, who were just come into port, and were\nhauling their vessels ashore, but fought from the decks, and sorely\ngalled Lucullus's men; there being neither room to sail round\nthem, nor to bear upon them for any damage, his ships being afloat,\nwhile theirs stood secure and fixed on the sand.  After much ado,\nat the only landing-place of the island, he disembarked the\nchoicest of his men, who, falling upon the enemy behind, killed\nsome, and forced others to cut their cables, and thus making from\nthe shore, they fell foul upon one another, or came within the\nreach of Lucullus's fleet.  Many were killed in the action.  Among\nthe captives was Marius, the commander sent by Sertorius, who had\nbut one eye.  And it was Lucullus's strict command to his men\nbefore the engagement, that they should kill no man who had but one\neye, that he might rather die under disgrace and reproach.\n\nThis being over, he hastened his pursuit after Mithridates, whom he\nhoped to find still in Bithynia, intercepted by Voconius, whom he\nsent out before to Nicomedia with part of the fleet, to stop his\nflight.  But Voconius, loitering in Samothrace to get initiated and\ncelebrate a feast, let slip his opportunity, Mithridates being\npassed by with all his fleet.  He, hastening into Pontus before\nLucullus should come up to him, was caught in a storm, which\ndispersed his fleet and sunk several ships.  The wreck floated on\nall the neighboring shore for many days after.  The merchant ship,\nin which he himself was, could not well in that heavy swell be\nbrought ashore by the masters for its bigness, and it being heavy\nwith water and ready to sink, he left it and went aboard a pirate\nvessel, delivering himself into the hands of pirates, and thus\nunexpectedly and wonderfully came safe to Heraclea, in Pontus.\n\nThus the proud language Lucullus had used to the senate, ended\nwithout any mischance.  For they having decreed him three thousand\ntalents to furnish out a navy, he himself was against it, and sent\nthem word that without any such great and costly supplies, by the\nconfederate shipping alone, he did not in the least doubt but to\nrout Mithridates from the sea.  And so he did, by divine\nassistance, for it is said that the wrath of Diana of Priapus\nbrought the great tempest upon the men of Pontus, because they had\nrobbed her temple, and removed her image.\n\nMany were persuading Lucullus to defer the war, but he rejected\ntheir counsel, and marched through Bithynia and Galatia into the\nking's country, in such great scarcity of provision at first, that\nthirty thousand Galatians followed, every man carrying a bushel of\nwheat at his back.  But subduing all in his progress before him, he\nat last found himself in such great plenty, that an ox was sold in\nthe camp for a single drachma, and a slave for four.  The other\nbooty they made no account of, but left it behind or destroyed it;\nthere being no disposing of it, where all had such abundance.  But\nwhen they had made frequent incursions with their cavalry, and had\nadvanced as far Themiscyra, and the plains of the Thermodon, merely\nlaying waste the country before them, they began to find fault with\nLucullus, asking \"why he took so many towns by surrender, and never\none by storm, which might enrich them with the plunder? and now,\nforsooth, leaving Amisus behind, a rich and wealthy city, of easy\nconquest, if closely besieged, he will carry us into the Tibarenian\nand Chaldean wilderness, to fight with Mithridates.\"  Lucullus,\nlittle thinking this would be of such dangerous consequence as it\nafterwards proved, took no notice and slighted it; and was rather\nanxious to excuse himself to those who blamed his tardiness, in\nlosing time about small pitiful places not worth the while, and\nallowing Mithridates opportunity to recruit.  \"That is what I\ndesign,\" said he, \"and sit here contriving by my delay, that he may\ngrow great again, and gather a considerable army, which may induce\nhim to stand, and not fly away before us.  For do you not see the\nwide and unknown wilderness behind?  Caucasus is not far off, and a\nmultitude of vast mountains, enough to conceal ten thousand kings\nthat wished to avoid a battle.  Besides this, a journey but of few\ndays leads from Cabira to Armenia, where Tigranes reigns, king of\nkings, and holds in his hands a power that has enabled him to keep\nthe Parthians in narrow bounds, to remove Greek cities bodily into\nMedia, to conquer Syria and Palestine, to put to death the kings of\nthe royal line of Seleucus, and carry away their wives and\ndaughters by violence.  This same is relation and son-in-law to\nMithridates, and cannot but receive him upon entreaty, and enter\ninto war with us to defend him; so that, while we endeavor to\ndepose Mithridates, we shall endanger the bringing in of Tigranes\nagainst us, who already has sought occasion to fall out with us,\nbut can never find one so justifiable as the succor of a friend and\nprince in his necessity.  Why, therefore, should we put Mithridates\nupon this resource, who as yet does not see now he may best fight\nwith us, and disdains to stoop to Tigranes; and not rather allow\nhim time to gather a new army and grow confident again, that we may\nthus fight with Colchians, and Tibarenians, whom we have often\ndefeated already, and not with Medes and Armenians.\"\n\nUpon these motives, Lucullus sat down before Amisus, and slowly\ncarried on the siege.  But the winter being well spent, he left\nMurena in charge of it, and went himself against Mithridates, then\nrendezvousing at Cabira, and resolving to await the Romans, with\nforty thousand foot about him, and fourteen thousand horse, on whom\nhe chiefly confided.  Passing the river Lycus, he challenged the\nRomans into the plains, where the cavalry engaged, and the Romans\nwere beaten.  Pomponius, a man of some note, was taken wounded; and\nsore, and in pain as he was, was carried before Mithridates, and\nasked by the king, if he would become his friend, if he saved his\nlife.  He answered, \"yes, if you become reconciled to the Romans;\nif not, your enemy.\"  Mithridates wondered at him, and did him no\nhurt.  The enemy being with their cavalry master of the plains,\nLucullus was something afraid, and hesitated to enter the\nmountains, being very large, woody, and almost inaccessible, when,\nby good luck, some Greeks who had fled into a cave were taken, the\neldest of whom, Artemidorus by name, promised to bring Lucullus,\nand seat him in a place of safety for his army, where there was a\nfort that overlooked Cabira.  Lucullus, believing him, lighted his\nfires, and marched in the night; and safely passing the defile,\ngained the place, and in the morning was seen above the enemy,\npitching his camp in a place advantageous to descend upon them if\nhe desired to fight, and secure from being forced, if he preferred\nto lie still.  Neither side was willing to engage at present.  But\nit is related that some of the king's party were hunting a stag,\nand some Romans wanting to cut them off, came out and met them.\nWhereupon they skirmished, more still drawing together to each\nside, and at last the king's party prevailed, on which the Romans,\nfrom their camp seeing their companions fly, were enraged, and ran\nto Lucullus with entreaties to lead them out, demanding that the\nsign might be given for battle.  But he, that they might know of\nwhat consequence the presence and appearance of a wise commander is\nin time of conflict and danger, ordered them to stand still.  But\nhe went down himself into the plains, and meeting with the foremost\nthat fled, commanded them to stand and turn back with him.  These\nobeying, the rest also turned and formed again in a body, and thus,\nwith no great difficulty, drove back the enemies, and pursued them\nto their camp.  After his return, Lucullus inflicted the customary\npunishment upon the fugitives, and made them dig a trench of twelve\nfoot, working in their frocks unfastened, while the rest stood by\nand looked on.\n\nThere was in Mithridates's camp, one Olthacus a chief of the\nDandarians, a barbarous people living near the lake Maeotis, a man\nremarkable for strength and courage in fight, wise in council, and\npleasant and ingratiating in conversation.  He, out of emulation,\nand a constant eagerness which possessed him to outdo one of the\nother chiefs of his country, promised a great piece of service to\nMithridates, no less than the death of Lucullus.  The king\ncommended his resolution, and, according to agreement,\ncounterfeited anger, and put some disgrace upon him; whereupon he\ntook horse, and fled to Lucullus, who kindly received him, being a\nman of great name in the army.  After some short trial of his\nsagacity and perseverance, he found way to Lucullus's board and\ncouncil.  The Dandarian, thinking he had a fair opportunity,\ncommanded his servants to lead his horse out of the camp, while he\nhimself, as the soldiers were refreshing and resting themselves, it\nbeing then high noon, went to the general's tent, not at all\nexpecting that entrance would be denied to one who was so familiar\nwith him, and came under pretence of extraordinary business with\nhim.  He had certainly been admitted, had not sleep, which has\ndestroyed many captains, saved Lucullus.  For so it was, and\nMenedemus, one of the bedchamber, was standing at the door, who\ntold Olthacus that it was altogether unseasonable to see the\ngeneral, since, after long watching and hard labor, he was but just\nbefore laid down to repose himself.  Olthacus would not go away\nupon this denial, but still persisted, saying that he must go in to\nspeak of some necessary affairs, whereupon Menedemus grew angry,\nand replied that nothing was more necessary than the safety of\nLucullus, and forced him away with both hands.  Upon which, out of\nfear, he straightaway left the camp, took horse, and without effect\nreturned to Mithridates.  Thus in action as in physic, it is the\ncritical moment that gives both the fortunate and the fatal effect.\n\nAfter this, Sornatius being sent out with ten companies for forage,\nand pursued by Menander, one of Mithridates's captains, stood his\nground, and after a sharp engagement, routed and slew a\nconsiderable number of the enemy.  Adrianus being sent afterward,\nwith some forces, to procure food enough and to spare for the camp,\nMithridates did not let the opportunity slip, but dispatched\nMenemachus and Myro, with a great force, both horse and foot,\nagainst him, all which except two men, it is stated, were cut off\nby the Romans.  Mithridates concealed the loss, giving it out that\nit was a small defeat, nothing near so great as reported, and\noccasioned by the unskillfulness of the leaders.  But Adrianus in\ngreat pomp passed by his camp, having many wagons full of corn and\nother booty, filling Mithridates with distress, and the army with\nconfusion and consternation.  It was resolved, therefore, to stay\nno longer.  But when the king's servants sent away their own goods\nquietly, and hindered others from doing so too, the soldiers in\ngreat fury thronged and crowded to the gates, seized on the king's\nservants and killed them, and plundered the baggage.  Dorylaus, the\ngeneral, in this confusion, having nothing else besides his purple\ncloak, lost his life for that, and Hermaeus, the priest, was trod\nunderfoot in the gate.\n\nMithridates, having not one of his guards, nor even a groom\nremaining with him, got out of the camp in the throng, but had none\nof his horses with him; until Ptolemy, the eunuch, some little time\nafter, seeing him in the press making his way among the others,\ndismounted and gave his horse to the king.  The Romans were already\nclose upon him in their pursuit, nor was it through want of speed\nthat they failed to catch him, but they were as near as possible\ndoing so.  But greediness and a petty military avarice hindered\nthem from acquiring that booty, which in so many fights and hazards\nthey had sought after, and lost Lucullus the prize of his victory.\nFor the horse which carried the king was within reach, but one of\nthe mules that carried the treasure either by accident stepping in,\nor by order of the king so appointed to go between him and the\npursuers, they seized and pilfered the gold, and falling out among\nthemselves about the prey, let slip the great prize.  Neither was\ntheir greediness prejudicial to Lucullus in this only, but also\nthey slew Callistratus, the king's confidential attendant, under\nsuspicion of having five hundred pieces of gold in his girdle;\nwhereas Lucullus had specially ordered that he should be conveyed\nsafe into the camp.  Notwithstanding all which, he gave them leave\nto plunder the camp.\n\nAfter this, in Cabira, and other strong-holds which he took, he\nfound great treasures, and private prisons, in which many Greeks\nand many of the king's relations had been confined, who, having\nlong since counted themselves no other than dead men, by the favor\nof Lucullus, met not with relief so truly as with a new life and\nsecond birth.  Nyssa, also, sister of Mithridates, enjoyed the like\nfortunate captivity; while those who seemed to be most out of\ndanger, his wives and sisters at Phernacia, placed in safety, as\nthey thought, miserably perished, Mithridates in his flight sending\nBacchides the eunuch to them.  Among others there were two sisters\nof the king, Roxana and Statira, unmarried women forty years old,\nand two Ionian wives, Berenice of Chios, and Monime of Miletus.\nThis latter was the most celebrated among the Greeks, because she\nso long withstood the king in his courtship to her, though he\npresented her with fifteen thousand pieces of gold, until a\ncovenant of marriage was made, and a crown was sent her, and she\nwas saluted queen.  She had been a sorrowful woman before, and\noften bewailed her beauty, that had procured her a keeper, instead\nof a husband, and a watch of barbarians, instead of the home and\nattendance of a wife; and, removed far from Greece, she enjoyed the\npleasure which she proposed to herself, only in a dream, being in\nthe meantime robbed of that which is real.  And when Bacchides\ncame and bade them prepare for death, as everyone thought most\neasy and painless, she took the diadem from her head, and fastening\nthe string to her neck, suspended herself with it; which soon\nbreaking, \"O wretched headband!\" said she, \"not able to help me\neven in this small thing!\"  And throwing it away she spat on it,\nand offered her throat to Bacchides.  Berenice had prepared a\npotion for herself, but at her mother's entreaty, who stood by, she\ngave her part of it.  Both drank of the potion, which prevailed\nover the weaker body.  But Berenice, having drunk too little, was\nnot released by it, but lingering on unable to die, was strangled\nby Bacchides for haste.  It is said that one of the unmarried\nsisters drank the poison, with bitter execrations and curses; but\nStatira uttered nothing ungentle or reproachful, but, on the\ncontrary, commended her brother, who in his own danger neglected\nnot theirs, but carefully provided that they might go out of the\nworld without shame or disgrace.\n\nLucullus, being a good and humane man, was concerned at these\nthings.  However, going on he came to Talaura, from whence four\ndays before his arrival Mithridates had fled, and was got to\nTigranes in Armenia.  He turned off, therefore, and subdued the\nChaldeans and Tibarenians, with the lesser Armenia, and having\nreduced all their forts and cities, he sent Appius to Tigranes to\ndemand Mithridates.  He himself went to Amisus, which still held\nout under the command of Callimachus, who, by his great engineering\nskill, and his dexterity at all the shifts and subtleties of a\nsiege, had greatly incommoded the Romans.  For which afterward he\npaid dear enough, and was now out-maneuvered by Lucullus, who,\nunexpectedly coming upon him at the time of the day when the\nsoldiers used to withdraw and rest themselves, gained part of the\nwall, and forced him to leave the city, in doing which he fired it;\neither envying the Romans the booty, or to secure his own escape\nthe better.  No man looked after those who went off in the ships,\nbut as soon as the fire had seized on most part of the wall, the\nsoldiers prepared themselves for plunder; while Lucullus, pitying\nthe ruin of the city, brought assistance from without, and\nencouraged his men to extinguish the flames.  But all, being intent\nupon the prey, and giving no heed to him, with loud outcries beat\nand clashed their arms together, until he was compelled to let them\nplunder, that by that means he might at least save the city from\nfire.  But they did quite the contrary, for in searching the houses\nwith lights and torches everywhere, they were themselves the cause\nof the destruction of most of the buildings, insomuch that when\nLucullus the next day went in, he shed tears, and said to his\nfriends, that he had often before blessed the fortune of Sylla but\nnever so much admired it as then, because when he was willing, he\nwas also able to save Athens, \"but my infelicity is such, that\nwhile I endeavor to imitate him, I become like Mummius.\"\nNevertheless, he endeavored to save as much of the city as he\ncould, and at the same time, also, by a happy providence, a fall of\nrain concurred to extinguish the fire.  He himself while present\nrepaired the ruins as much as he could, receiving back the\ninhabitants who had fled, and settling as many other Greeks as were\nwilling to live there, adding a hundred and twenty furlongs of\nground to the place.\n\nThis city was a colony of Athens, built at that time when she\nflourished and was powerful at sea, upon which account many who\nfled from Aristion's tyranny settled here, and were admitted as\ncitizens, but had the ill-luck to fly from evils at home, into\ngreater abroad.  As many of these as survived, Lucullus furnished\nevery one with clothes, and two hundred drachmas, and sent them\naway into their own country.  On this occasion, Tyrannion the\ngrammarian was taken.  Murena begged him of Lucullus, and took him\nand made him a freedman; but in this he abused Lucullus's favor,\nwho by no means liked that a man of high repute for learning should\nbe first made a slave, and then freed; for freedom thus speciously\ngranted again, was a real deprivation of what he had before.  But\nnot in this case alone Murena showed himself far inferior in\ngenerosity to the general.  Lucullus was now busy in looking after\nthe cities of Asia, and having no war to divert his time, spent it\nin the administration of law and justice, the want of which had for\na long time left the province a prey to unspeakable and incredible\nmiseries; so plundered and enslaved by tax-farmers and usurers,\nthat private people were compelled to sell their sons in the flower\nof their youth, and their daughters in their virginity, and the\nStates publicly to sell their consecrated gifts, pictures, and\nstatues.  In the end their lot was to yield themselves up slaves to\ntheir creditors, but before this, worse troubles befell them,\ntortures, inflicted with ropes and by horses, standing abroad to be\nscorched when the sun was hot, and being driven into ice and clay\nin the cold; insomuch that slavery was no less than a redemption\nand joy to them.  Lucullus in a short time freed the cities from\nall these evils and oppressions; for, first of all, he ordered\nthere should be no more taken than one percent.  Secondly, where\nthe interest exceeded the principal, he struck it off.  The third,\nand most considerable order was, that the creditor should receive\nthe fourth part of the debtor's income; but if any lender had added\nthe interest to the principal, it was utterly disallowed.\nInsomuch, that in the space of four years all debts were paid, and\nlands returned to their right owners.  The public debt was\ncontracted when Asia was fined twenty thousand talents by Sylla,\nbut twice as much was paid to the collectors, who by their usury\nhad by this time advanced it to a hundred and twenty thousand\ntalents.  And accordingly they inveighed against Lucullus at Rome,\nas grossly injured by him, and by their money's help, (as, indeed,\nthey were very powerful, and had many of the statesmen in their\ndebt,) they stirred up several leading men against\nhim.  But Lucullus was not only beloved by the cities which he\nobliged, but was also wished for by other provinces, who blessed\nthe good-luck of those who had such a governor over them.\n\nAppius Clodius, who was sent to Tigranes, (the same Clodius was\nbrother to Lucullus's wife,) being led by the king's guides, a\nroundabout way, unnecessarily long and tedious, through the upper\ncountry, being informed by his freedman, a Syrian by nation, of the\ndirect road, left that lengthy and fallacious one; and bidding the\nbarbarians, his guides, adieu, in a few days passed over Euphrates,\nand came to Antioch upon Daphne.  There being commanded to wait for\nTigranes, who at that time was reducing some towns in Phoenicia, he\nwon over many chiefs to his side, who unwillingly submitted to the\nking of Armenia, among whom was Zarbienus, king of the Gordyenians;\nalso many of the conquered cities corresponded privately with him,\nwhom he assured of relief from Lucullus, but ordered them to lie\nstill at present.  The Armenian government was an oppressive one,\nand intolerable to the Greeks, especially that of the present king,\nwho, growing insolent and overbearing with his success, imagined\nall things valuable and esteemed among men not only were his in\nfact, but had been purposely created for him alone.  From a small\nand inconsiderable beginning, he had gone on to be the conqueror of\nmany nations, had humbled the Parthian power more than any before\nhim, and filled Mesopotamia with Greeks, whom he carried in numbers\nout of Cilicia and Cappadocia.  He transplanted also the Arabs, who\nlived in tents, from their country and home, and settled them near\nhim, that by their means he might carry on the trade.\n\nHe had many kings waiting on him, but four he always carried with\nhim as servants and guards, who, when he rode, ran by his horse's\nside in ordinary under-frocks, and attended him, when sitting on\nhis throne, and publishing his decrees to the people, with their\nhands folded together; which posture of all others was that which\nmost expressed slavery, it being that of men who had bidden adieu\nto liberty, and had prepared their bodies more for chastisement,\nthan the service of their masters.  Appius, nothing dismayed or\nsurprised at this theatrical display, as soon as audience was\ngranted him, said he came to demand Mithridates for Lucullus's\ntriumph, otherwise to denounce war against Tigranes, insomuch that\nthough Tigranes endeavored to receive him with a smooth countenance\nand a forced smile, he could not dissemble his discomposure to\nthose who stood about him, at the bold language of the young man;\nfor it was the first time, perhaps, in twenty-five years, the\nlength of his reign, or, more truly, of his tyranny, that any free\nspeech had been uttered to him.  However, he made answer to Appius,\nthat he would not desert Mithridates, and would defend himself, if\nthe Romans attacked him.  He was angry, also, with Lucullus for\ncalling him only king in his letter, and not king of kings, and, in\nhis answer, would not give him his title of imperator.  Great gifts\nwere sent to Appius, which he refused; but on their being sent\nagain and augmented, that he might not seem to refuse in anger, he\ntook one goblet and sent the rest back, and without delay went off\nto the general.\n\nTigranes before this neither vouchsafed to see nor speak with\nMithridates, though a near kinsman, and forced out of so\nconsiderable a kingdom, but proudly and scornfully kept him at a\ndistance, as a sort of prisoner, in a marshy and unhealthy\ndistrict; but now, with much profession of respect and kindness, he\nsent for him, and at a private conference between them in the\npalace, they healed up all private jealousies between them,\npunishing their favorites, who bore all the blame; among whom\nMetrodorus of Scepsis was one, an eloquent and learned man, and so\nclose an intimate as commonly to be called the king's father.  This\nman, as it happened, being employed in an embassy by Mithridates to\nsolicit help against the Romans, Tigranes asked him, \"what would\nyou, Metrodorus, advise me to in this affair?\"  In return to which,\neither out of good-will to Tigranes, or a want of solicitude for\nMithridates, he made answer, that as ambassador he counseled him to\nit, but as a friend dissuaded him from it.  This Tigranes reported,\nand affirmed to Mithridates, thinking that no irreparable harm\nwould come of it to Metrodorus.  But upon this he was presently\ntaken off, and Tigranes was sorry for what he had done, though he\nhad not, indeed, been absolutely the cause of his death; yet he had\ngiven the fatal turn to the anger of Mithridates, who had privately\nhated him before, as appeared from his cabinet papers when taken,\namong which there was an order that Metrodorus should die.\nTigranes buried him splendidly, sparing no cost to his dead body,\nwhom he betrayed when alive.  In Tigranes's court died, also,\nAmphicrates the orator, (if, for the sake of Athens, we may also\nmention him,) of whom it is told that he left his country and fled\nto Seleucia, upon the river Tigris, and, being desired to teach\nlogic among them, arrogantly replied, that the dish was too little\nto hold a dolphin.  He, therefore, came to Cleopatra, daughter of\nMithridates, and queen to Tigranes, but being accused of\nmisdemeanors, and prohibited all commerce with his countrymen,\nended his days by starving himself.  He, in like manner, received\nfrom Cleopatra an honorable burial, near Sapha, a place so called\nin that country.\n\nLucullus, when he had reestablished law and a lasting peace in\nAsia, did not altogether forget pleasure and mirth, but, during his\nresidence at Ephesus, gratified the cities with sports, festival\ntriumphs, wrestling games and single combats of gladiators.  And\nthey, in requital, instituted others, called Lucullean games, in\nhonor to him, thus manifesting their love to him, which was of more\nvalue to him than all the honor.  But when Appius came to him, and\ntold him he must prepare for war with Tigranes, he went again into\nPontus, and, gathering together his army, besieged Sinope, or\nrather the Cilicians of the king's side who held it; who thereupon\nkilled a number of the Sinopians, and set the city on fire, and by\nnight endeavored to escape.  Which when Lucullus perceived, he\nentered the city, and killed eight thousand of them who were still\nleft behind; but restored to the inhabitants what was their own,\nand took special care for the welfare of the city.  To which he was\nchiefly prompted by this vision.  One seemed to come to him in his\nsleep, and say, \"Go on a little further, Lucullus, for Autolycus is\ncoming to see thee.\"  When he arose, he could not imagine what the\nvision meant.  The same day he took the city, and as he was\npursuing the Cilicians, who were flying by sea, he saw a statue\nlying on the shore, which the Cilicians carried so far, but had not\ntime to carry aboard.  It was one of the masterpieces of Sthenis.\nAnd one told him, that it was the statue of Autolycus, the founder\nof the city.  This Autolycus is reported to have been son to\nDeimachus, and one of those who, under Hercules, went on the\nexpedition out of Thessaly against the Amazons; from whence in his\nreturn with Demoleon and Phlogius, he lost his vessel on a point of\nthe Chersonesus, called Pedalium.  He himself, with his companions\nand their weapons, being saved, came to Sinope, and dispossessed\nthe Syrians there.  The Syrians held it, descended from Syrus, as\nis the story, the son of Apollo, and Sinope the daughter of Asopus.\nWhich as soon as Lucullus heard, he remembered the admonition of\nSylla, whose advice it is in his Memoirs, to treat nothing as so\ncertain and so worthy of reliance as an intimation given in dreams.\n\nWhen it was now told him that Mithridates and Tigranes were just\nready to transport their forces into Lycaonia and Cilicia, with the\nobject of entering Asia before him, he wondered much why the\nArmenian, supposing him to entertain any real intention to fight\nwith the Romans, did not assist Mithridates in his flourishing\ncondition, and join forces when he was fit for service, instead of\nsuffering him to be vanquished and broken in pieces, and now at\nlast beginning the war, when his hopes were grown cold, and\nthrowing himself down headlong with them, who were irrecoverably\nfallen already.  But when Machares, the son of Mithridates, and\ngovernor of Bosporus, sent him a crown valued at a thousand pieces\nof gold, and desired to be enrolled as a friend and confederate of\nthe Romans, he fairly reputed that war at an end, and left\nSornatius, his deputy, with six thousand soldiers, to take care of\nPontus.  He himself with twelve thousand foot, and a little less\nthan three thousand horse, went forth to the second war, advancing,\nit seemed very plain, with too great and ill-advised speed, into\nthe midst of warlike nations, and many thousands upon thousands of\nhorse, into an unknown extent of country, every way enclosed with\ndeep rivers and mountains, never free from snow; which made the\nsoldiers, already far from orderly, follow him with great\nunwillingness and opposition.  For the same reason, also, the\npopular leaders at home publicly inveighed and declaimed against\nhim, as one that raised up war after war, not so much for the\ninterest of the republic, as that he himself, being still in\ncommission, might not lay down arms, but go on enriching himself by\nthe public dangers.  These men, in the end, effected their purpose.\nBut Lucullus by long journeys came to the Euphrates, where, finding\nthe waters high and rough from the winter, he was much troubled for\nfear of delay and difficulty while he should procure boats and make\na bridge of them.  But in the evening the flood beginning to\nretire, and decreasing all through the night, the next day they saw\nthe river far down within his banks, so much so that the\ninhabitants, discovering the little islands in the river, and the\nwater stagnating among them, a thing which had rarely happened\nbefore, made obeisance to Lucullus, before whom the very river was\nhumble and submissive, and yielded an easy and swift passage.\nMaking use of the opportunity, he carried over his army, and met\nwith a lucky sign at landing.  Holy heifers are pastured on purpose\nfor Diana Persia, whom, of all the gods, the barbarians beyond\nEuphrates chiefly adore.  They use these heifers only for her\nsacrifices.  At other times they wander up and down undisturbed,\nwith the mark of the goddess, a torch, branded on them; and it is\nno such light or easy thing, when occasion requires, to seize one\nof them.  But one of these, when the army had passed the Euphrates,\ncoming to a rock consecrated to the goddess, stood upon it, and\nthen laying down her neck, like others that are forced down with a\nrope, offered herself to Lucullus for sacrifice.  Besides which, he\noffered also a bull to Euphrates, for his safe passage.  That day\nhe tarried there, but on the next, and those that followed, he\ntraveled through Sophene, using no manner of violence to the people\nwho came to him and willingly received his army.  And when the\nsoldiers were desirous to plunder a castle that seemed to be well\nstored within, \"That is the castle,\" said he, \"that we must storm,\"\nshowing them Taurus, at a distance; \"the rest is reserved for those\nwho conquer there.\"  Wherefore hastening his march, and passing the\nTigris, he came over into Armenia\n\nThe first messenger that gave notice of Lucullus's coming was so\nfar from pleasing Tigranes, that he had his head cut off for his\npains; and no man daring to bring further information, without any\nintelligence at all, Tigranes sat while war was already blazing\naround him, giving ear only to those who flattered him, by saying\nthat Lucullus would show himself a great commander, if he ventured\nto wait for Tigranes at Ephesus, and did not at once fly out of\nAsia, at the mere sight of the many thousands that were come\nagainst him.  He is a man of a strong body that can carry off a\ngreat quantity of wine, and of a powerful constitution of mind that\ncan sustain felicity.  Mithrobarzanes, one of his chief favorites,\nfirst dared to tell him the truth, but had no more thanks for his\nfreedom of speech, than to be immediately sent out against Lucullus\nwith three thousand horse, and a great number of foot, with\nperemptory commands to bring him alive, and trample down his army.\nSome of Lucullus's men were then pitching their camp, and the rest\nwere coming up to them, when the scouts gave notice that the enemy\nwas approaching, whereupon he was in fear lest they should fall\nupon him, while his men were divided and unarranged; which made him\nstay to pitch the camp himself, and send out Sextilius, the legate,\nwith sixteen hundred horse, and about as many heavy and light arms,\nwith orders to advance towards the enemy, and wait until\nintelligence came to him that the camp was finished.  Sextilius\ndesigned to have kept this order; but Mithrobarzanes coming\nfuriously upon him, he was forced to fight.  In the engagement,\nMithrobarzanes himself was slain, fighting, and all his men, except\na few who ran away, were destroyed.  After this Tigranes left\nTigranocerta, a great city built by himself, and retired to Taurus,\nand called all his forces about him.\n\nBut Lucullus, giving him no time to rendezvous, sent out Murena to\nharass and cut off those who marched to Tigranes, and Sextilius,\nalso, to disperse a great company of Arabians then on the way to\nthe king.  Sextilius fell upon the Arabians in their camp, and\ndestroyed most of them, and also Murena, in his pursuit after\nTigranes through a craggy and narrow pass, opportunely fell upon\nhim.  Upon which Tigranes, abandoning all his baggage, fled; many\nof the Armenians were killed, and more taken.  After this success,\nLucullus went to Tigranocerta, and sitting down before the city,\nbesieged it.  In it were many Greeks carried away out of Cilicia,\nand many barbarians in like circumstances with the Greeks,\nAdiabenians, Assyrians, Gordyenians, and Cappadocians, whose native\ncities he had destroyed, and forced away the inhabitants to settle\nhere.  It was a rich and beautiful city; every common man, and\nevery man of rank, in imitation of the king, studied to enlarge and\nadorn it.  This made Lucullus more vigorously press the siege, in\nthe belief that Tigranes would not patiently endure it, but even\nagainst his own judgment would come down in anger to force him\naway; in which he was not mistaken.  Mithridates earnestly\ndissuaded him from it, sending messengers and letters to him not to\nengage, but rather with his horse to try and cut off the supplies.\nTaxiles, also, who came from Mithridates, and who stayed with his\narmy, very much entreated the king to forbear, and to avoid the\nRoman arms, things it was not safe to meddle with.  To this he\nhearkened at first, but when the Armenians and Gordyenians in a\nfull body, and the whole forces of Medes and Adiabenians, under\ntheir respective kings, joined him; when many Arabians came up from\nthe sea beyond Babylon; and from the Caspian sea, the Albanians and\nthe Iberians their neighbors, and not a few of the free people,\nwithout kings, living about the Araxes, by entreaty and hire also\ncame together to him; and all the king's feasts and councils rang\nof nothing but expectations, boastings, and barbaric threatenings,\nTaxiles went in danger of his life, for giving counsel against\nfighting, and it was imputed to envy in Mithridates thus to\ndiscourage him from so glorious an enterprise.  Therefore Tigranes\nwould by no means tarry for him, for fear he should share in the\nglory, but marched on with all his army, lamenting to his friends,\nas it is said, that he should fight with Lucullus alone, and not\nwith all the Roman generals together.  Neither was his boldness to\nbe accounted wholly frantic or unreasonable, when he had so many\nnations and kings attending him, and so many tens of thousands of\nwell-armed foot and horse about him.  He had twenty thousand\narchers and slingers, fifty-five thousand horse, of which seventeen\nthousand were in complete armor, as Lucullus wrote to the senate, a\nhundred and fifty thousand heavy-armed men, drawn up partly into\ncohorts, partly into phalanxes, besides various divisions of men\nappointed to make roads and lay bridges, to drain off waters and\ncut wood, and to perform other necessary services, to the number of\nthirty-five thousand, who, being quartered behind the army, added\nto its strength, and made it the more formidable to behold.\n\nAs soon as he had passed Taurus, and appeared with his forces, and\nsaw the Romans beleaguering Tigranocerta, the barbarous people\nwithin with shoutings and acclamations received the sight, and\nthreatening the Romans from the wall, pointed to the Armenians.  In\na council of war, some advised Lucullus to leave the siege, and\nmarch up to Tigranes, others that it would not be safe to leave the\nsiege, and so many enemies behind.  He answered that neither side\nby itself was right, but together both gave sound advice; and\naccordingly he divided his army, and left Murena with six thousand\nfoot in charge of the siege, and himself went out with twenty-four\ncohorts, in which were no more than ten thousand men at arms, and\nwith all the horse, and about a thousand slingers and archers; and\nsitting down by the river in a large plain, he appeared, indeed,\nvery inconsiderable to Tigranes, and a fit subject for the\nflattering wits about him.  Some of whom jeered, others cast lots\nfor the spoil, and every one of the kings and commanders came and\ndesired to undertake the engagement alone, and that he would be\npleased to sit still and behold.  Tigranes himself, wishing to be\nwitty and pleasant upon the occasion, made use of the well-known\nsaying, that they were too many for ambassadors, and too few for\nsoldiers.  Thus they continued sneering and scoffing.  As soon as\nday came, Lucullus brought out his forces under arms.  The\nbarbarian army stood on the eastern side of the river, and there\nbeing a bend of the river westward in that part of it, where it was\neasiest forded, Lucullus, while he led his army on in haste, seemed\nto Tigranes to be flying; who thereupon called Taxiles, and in\nderision said, \"Do you not see these invincible Romans flying?\"\nBut Taxiles replied, \"Would, indeed, O king, that some such\nunlikely piece of fortune might be destined you; but the Romans do\nnot, when going on a march, put on their best clothes, nor use\nbright shields, and naked headpieces, as now you see them, with the\nleathern coverings all taken off, but this is a preparation for war\nof men just ready to engage with their enemies.\"  While Taxiles was\nthus speaking, as Lucullus wheeled about, the first eagle appeared,\nand the cohorts, according to their divisions and companies, formed\nin order to pass over, when with much ado, and like a man that is\njust recovering from a drunken fit, Tigranes cried out twice or\nthrice, \"What, are they upon us?\"  In great confusion, therefore,\nthe army got in array, the king keeping the main body to himself,\nwhile the left wing was given in charge to the Adiabenian, and the\nright to the Mede, in the front of which latter were posted most of\nthe heavy-armed cavalry.  Some officers advised Lucullus, just as\nhe was going to cross the river, to lie still, that day being one\nof the unfortunate ones which they call black days, for on it the\narmy under Caepio, engaging with the Cimbrians, was destroyed.  But\nhe returned the famous answer, \"I will make it a happy day to the\nRomans.\"  It was the day before the nones of October.\n\nHaving so said, he bade them take courage, passed over the river,\nand himself first of all led them against the enemy, clad in a coat\nof mail, with shining steel scales and a fringed mantle; and his\nsword might already be seen out of the scabbard, as if to signify\nthat they must without delay come to a hand-to-hand combat with an\nenemy whose skill was in distant fighting, and by the speed of\ntheir advance curtail the space that exposed them to the archery.\nBut when he saw the heavy-armed horse, the flower of the army,\ndrawn up under a hill, on the top of which was a broad and open\nplain about four furlongs distant, and of no very difficult or\ntroublesome access, he commanded his Thracian and Galatian horse to\nfall upon their flank, and beat down their lances with their\nswords.  The only defense of these horsemen-at-arms are their\nlances; they have nothing else that they can use to protect\nthemselves, or annoy their enemy, on account of the weight and\nstiffness of their armor, with which they are, as it were, built\nup.  He himself, with two cohorts, made to the mountain, the\nsoldiers briskly following, when they saw him in arms afoot first\ntoiling and climbing up.  Being on the top and standing in an open\nplace, with a loud voice he cried out, \"We have overcome, we have\novercome, fellow-soldiers!\"  And having so said, he marched against\nthe armed horsemen, commanding his men not to throw their javelins,\nbut coming up hand to hand with the enemy, to hack their shins and\nthighs, which parts alone were unguarded in these heavy-armed\nhorsemen.  But there was no need of this way of fighting, for they\nstood not to receive the Romans, but with great clamor and worse\nflight they and their heavy horses threw themselves upon the ranks\nof the foot, before ever these could so much as begin the fight,\ninsomuch that without a wound or bloodshed, so many thousands were\noverthrown.  The greatest slaughter was made in the flight, or\nrather in the endeavoring to fly away, which they could not well do\nby reason of the depth and closeness of their own ranks, which\nhindered them.  Tigranes at first fled with a few, but seeing his\nson in the same misfortune, he took the diadem from his head, and\nwith tears gave it him, bidding him save himself by some other road\nif he could.  But the young man, not daring to put it on, gave it\nto one of his trustiest servants to keep for him.  This man, as it\nhappened, being taken, was brought to Lucullus, and so, among the\ncaptives, the crown, also, of Tigranes was taken.  It is stated\nthat above a hundred thousand foot were lost, and that of the horse\nbut very few escaped at all.  Of the Romans, a hundred were\nwounded, and five killed.  Antiochus the philosopher, making\nmention of this fight in his book about the gods, says that the sun\nnever saw the like.  Strabo, a second philosopher, in his\nhistorical collection says, that the Romans could not but blush and\nderide themselves, for putting on armor against such pitiful\nslaves.  Livy also says, that the Romans never fought an enemy with\nsuch unequal forces, for the conquerors were not so much as one\ntwentieth part of the number of the conquered.  The most sagacious\nand experienced Roman commanders made it a chief commendation of\nLucullus, that he had conquered two great and potent kings by two\nmost opposite ways, haste and delay.  For he wore out the\nflourishing power of Mithridates by delay and time, and crushed\nthat of Tigranes by haste; being one of the rare examples of\ngenerals who made use of delay for active achievement, and speed\nfor security.\n\nOn this account it was that Mithridates had made no haste to come\nup to fight, imagining Lucullus would, as he had done before, use\ncaution and delay, which made him march at his leisure to join\nTigranes.  And first, as he began to meet some straggling Armenians\nin the way, making off in great fear and consternation, he\nsuspected the worst, and when greater numbers of stripped and\nwounded men met him and assured him of the defeat, he set out to\nseek for Tigranes.  And finding him destitute and humiliated, he by\nno means requited him with insolence, but alighting from his horse,\nand condoling with him on their common loss, he gave him his own\nroyal guard to attend him, and animated him for the future.  And\nthey together gathered fresh forces about them.  In the city\nTigranocerta, the Greeks meantime, dividing from the barbarians,\nsought to deliver it up to Lucullus, and he attacked and took it.\nHe seized on the treasure himself, but gave the city to be\nplundered by the soldiers, in which were found, amongst other\nproperty, eight thousand talents of coined money.  Besides this,\nalso, he distributed eight hundred drachmas to each man, out of the\nspoils.  When he understood that many players were taken in the\ncity, whom Tigranes had invited from all parts for opening the\ntheater which he had built, he made use of them for celebrating his\ntriumphal games and spectacles.  The Greeks he sent home, allowing\nthem money for their journey, and the barbarians also, as many as\nhad been forced away from their own dwellings.  So that by this one\ncity being dissolved, many, by the restitution of their former\ninhabitants, were restored.  By all of which Lucullus was beloved\nas a benefactor and founder.  Other successes, also, attended him,\nsuch as he well deserved, desirous as he was far more of praise for\nacts of justice and clemency, than for feats in war, these being\ndue partly to the soldiers, and very greatly to fortune, while\nthose are the sure proofs of a gentle and liberal soul; and by such\naids Lucullus, at that time, even without the help of arms,\nsucceeded in reducing the barbarians.  For the kings of the\nArabians came to him, tendering what they had, and with them the\nSophenians also submitted.  And he so dealt with the Gordyenians,\nthat they were willing to leave their own habitations, and to\nfollow him with their wives and children.  Which was for this\ncause.  Zarbienus, king of the Gordyenians, as has been told, being\nimpatient under the tyranny of Tigranes, had by Appius secretly\nmade overtures of confederacy with Lucullus, but, being discovered,\nwas executed, and his wife and children with him, before the Romans\nentered Armenia.  Lucullus forgot not this, but coming to the\nGordyenians made a solemn interment in honor of Zarbienus, and\nadorning the funeral pile with royal robes, and gold, and the\nspoils of Tigranes, he himself in person kindled the fire, and\npoured in perfumes with the friends and relations of the deceased,\ncalling him his companion and the confederate of the Romans.  He\nordered, also, a costly monument to be built for him.  There was a\nlarge treasure of gold and silver found in Zarbienus's palace, and\nno less than three million measures of corn, so that the soldiers\nwere provided for, and Lucullus had the high commendation of\nmaintaining the war at its own charge, without receiving one\ndrachma from the public treasury.\n\nAfter this came an embassy from the king of Parthia to him,\ndesiring amity and confederacy; which being readily embraced by\nLucullus, another was sent by him in return to the Parthian, the\nmembers of which discovered him to be a double-minded man, and to\nbe dealing privately at the same time with Tigranes, offering to\ntake part with him, upon condition Mesopotamia were delivered up to\nhim.  Which as soon as Lucullus understood, he resolved to pass by\nTigranes and Mithridates as antagonists already overcome, and to\ntry the power of Parthia, by leading his army against them,\nthinking it would be a glorious result, thus in one current of war,\nlike an athlete in the games, to throw down three kings one after\nanother, and successively to deal as a conqueror with three of the\ngreatest powers under heaven.  He sent, therefore, into Pontus to\nSornatius and his colleagues, bidding them bring the army thence,\nand join with him in his expedition out of Gordyene.  The soldiers\nthere, however, who had been restive and unruly before, now openly\ndisplayed their mutinous temper.  No manner of entreaty or force\navailed with them, but they protested and cried out that they would\nstay no longer even there, but would go away and desert Pontus.\nThe news of which, when reported to Lucullus, did no small harm to\nthe soldiers about him, who were already corrupted with wealth and\nplenty, and desirous of ease.  And on hearing the boldness of the\nothers, they called them men, and declared they themselves ought to\nfollow their example, for the actions which they had done did now\nwell deserve release from service, and repose.\n\nUpon these and worse words, Lucullus gave up the thoughts of\ninvading Parthia, and in the height of summertime, went against\nTigranes.  Passing over Taurus, he was filled with apprehension at\nthe greenness of the fields before him, so long is the season\ndeferred in this region by the coldness of the air.  But,\nnevertheless, he went down, and twice or thrice putting to flight\nthe Armenians who dared to come out against him, he plundered and\nburnt their villages, and seizing on the provision designed for\nTigranes, reduced his enemies to the necessity which he had feared\nfor himself.  But when, after doing all he could to provoke the\nenemy to fight, by drawing entrenchments round their camp and by\nburning the country before them, he could by no means bring them to\nventure out, after their frequent defeats before, he rose up and\nmarched to Artaxata, the royal city of Tigranes, where his wives\nand young children were kept, judging that Tigranes would never\nsuffer that to go without the hazard of a battle.  It is related\nthat Hannibal, the Carthaginian, after the defeat of Antiochus by\nthe Romans, coming to Artaxas, king of Armenia, pointed out to him\nmany other matters to his advantage, and observing the great\nnatural capacities and the pleasantness of the site, then lying\nunoccupied and neglected, drew a model of a city for it, and\nbringing Artaxas thither, showed it to him and encouraged him to\nbuild.  At which the king being pleased, and desiring him to\noversee the work, erected a large and stately city, which was\ncalled after his own name, and made metropolis of Armenia.\n\nAnd in fact, when Lucullus proceeded against it, Tigranes no longer\nsuffered it, but came with his army, and on the fourth day sat down\nby the Romans, the river Arsanias lying between them, which of\nnecessity Lucullus must pass in his march to Artaxata.  Lucullus,\nafter sacrifice to the gods, as if victory were already obtained,\ncarried over his army, having twelve cohorts in the first division\nin front, the rest being disposed in the rear to prevent the\nenemy's enclosing them.  For there were many choice horse drawn up\nagainst him; in the front stood the Mardian horse-archers, and\nIberians with long spears, in whom, being the most warlike,\nTigranes more confided than in any other of his foreign troops.\nBut nothing of moment was done by them, for though they skirmished\nwith the Roman horse at a distance, they were not able to stand\nwhen the foot came up to them; but being broken, and flying on both\nsides, drew the horse in pursuit after them.  Though these were\nrouted, yet Lucullus was not without alarm when he saw the cavalry\nabout Tigranes with great bravery and in large numbers coming upon\nhim; he recalled his horse from pursuing, and he himself, first of\nall, with the best of his men, engaged the Satrapenians who were\nopposite him, and before ever they came to close fight, routed them\nwith the mere terror.  Of three kings in battle against him,\nMithridates of Pontus fled away the most shamefully, being not so\nmuch as able to endure the shout of the Romans.  The pursuit\nreached a long way, and all through the night the Romans slew and\ntook prisoners, and carried off spoils and treasure, till they were\nweary.  Livy says there were more taken and destroyed in the first\nbattle, but in the second, men of greater distinction.\n\nLucullus, flushed and animated by this victory, determined to march\non into the interior and there complete his conquests over the\nbarbarians; but winter weather came on, contrary to expectation, as\nearly as the autumnal equinox, with storms and frequent snows and,\neven in the most clear days, hoar frost and ice, which made the\nwaters scarcely drinkable for the horses by their exceeding\ncoldness, and scarcely passable through the ice breaking and\ncutting the horses' sinews.  The country for the most part being\nquite uncleared, with difficult passes, and much wood, kept them\ncontinually wet, the snow falling thickly on them as they marched\nin the day, and the ground that they lay upon at night being damp\nand watery.  After the battle they followed Lucullus not many days\nbefore they began to be refractory, first of all entreating and\nsending the tribunes to him, but presently they tumultuously\ngathered together, and made a shouting all night long in their\ntents, a plain sign of a mutinous army.  But Lucullus as earnestly\nentreated them, desiring them to have patience but till they took\nthe Armenian Carthage, and overturned the work of their great\nenemy, meaning Hannibal.  But when he could not prevail, he led\nthem back, and crossing Taurus by another road, came into the\nfruitful and sunny country of Mygdonia, where was a great and\npopulous city, by the barbarians called Nisibis, by the Greeks\nAntioch of Mygdonia.  This was defended by Guras, brother of\nTigranes, with the dignity of governor, and by the engineering\nskill and dexterity of Callimachus, the same who so much annoyed\nthe Romans at Amisus.  Lucullus, however, brought his army up to\nit, and laying close siege in a short time took it by storm.  He\nused Guras, who surrendered himself, kindly, but gave no attention\nto Callimachus, though he offered to make discovery of hidden\ntreasures, commanding him to be kept in chains, to be punished for\nfiring the city of Amisus, which had disappointed his ambition of\nshowing favor and kindness to the Greeks.\n\nHitherto, one would imagine fortune had attended and fought with\nLucullus, but afterward, as if the wind had failed of a sudden, he\ndid all things by force, and, as it were, against the grain; and\nshowed certainly the conduct and patience of a wise captain, but in\nthe result met with no fresh honor or reputation; and, indeed, by\nbad success and vain embarrassments with his soldiers, he came\nwithin a little of losing even what he had before.  He himself was\nnot the least cause of all this, being far from inclined to seek\npopularity with the mass of the soldiers, and more ready to think\nany indulgence shown to them an invasion of his own authority.  But\nwhat was worst of all, he was naturally unsociable to his great\nofficers in commission with him, despising others and thinking them\nworthy of nothing in comparison with himself.  These faults, we are\ntold, he had with all his many excellences; he was of a large and\nnoble person, an eloquent speaker and a wise counselor, both in the\nforum and the camp.  Sallust says, the soldiers were ill affected\nto him from the beginning of the war, because they were forced to\nkeep the field two winters at Cyzicus, and afterwards at Amisus.\nTheir other winters, also, vexed them, for they either spent them\nin an enemy's country, or else were confined to their tents in the\nopen field among their confederates; for Lucullus not so much as\nonce went into a Greek confederate town with his army.  To this ill\naffection abroad, the tribunes yet more contributed at home,\ninvidiously accusing Lucullus, as one who for empire and riches\nprolonged the war, holding, it might almost be said, under his sole\npower Cilicia, Asia, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Pontus, Armenia, all as\nfar as the river Phasis; and now of late had plundered the royal\ncity of Tigranes, as if he had been commissioned not so much to\nsubdue, as to strip kings.  This is what we are told was said by\nLucius Quintius, one of the praetors, at whose instance, in\nparticular, the people determined to send one who should succeed\nLucullus in his province, and voted, also, to relieve many of the\nsoldiers under him from further service.\n\nBesides these evils, that which most of all prejudiced Lucullus,\nwas Publius Clodius, an insolent man, very vicious and bold,\nbrother to Lucullus's wife, a woman of bad conduct, with whom\nClodius was himself suspected of criminal intercourse.  Being then\nin the army under Lucullus, but not in as great authority as he\nexpected, (for he would fain have been the chief of all, but on\naccount of his character was postponed to many,) he ingratiated\nhimself secretly with the Fimbrian troops, and stirred them up\nagainst Lucullus, using fair speeches to them, who of old had been\nused to be flattered in such manner.  These were those whom Fimbria\nbefore had persuaded to kill the consul Flaccus, and choose him\ntheir leader.  And so they listened not unwillingly to Clodius, and\ncalled him the soldiers' friend, for the concern he professed for\nthem, and the indignation he expressed at the prospect that \"there\nmust be no end of war and toils, but in fighting with all nations,\nand wandering throughout all the world they must wear out their\nlives, receiving no other reward for their service than to guard\nthe carriages and camels of Lucullus, laden with gold and precious\ngoblets; while as for Pompey's soldiers, they were all citizens,\nliving safe at home with their wives and children, on fertile\nlands, or in towns, and that, not after driving Mithridates and\nTigranes into wild deserts, and overturning the royal cities of\nAsia, but after having merely reduced exiles in Spain, or fugitive\nslaves in Italy.  Nay, if indeed we must never have an end of\nfighting, should we not rather reserve the remainder of our bodies\nand souls for a general who will reckon his chiefest glory to be\nthe wealth of his soldiers.\"\n\nBy such practices the army of Lucullus being corrupted, neither\nfollowed him against Tigranes, nor against Mithridates, when he now\nat once returned into Pontus out of Armenia, and was recovering his\nkingdom, but under presence of the winter, sat idle in Gordyene,\nevery minute expecting either Pompey, or some other general, to\nsucceed Lucullus.  But when news came that Mithridates had defeated\nFabius, and was marching against Sornatius and Triarius, out of\nshame they followed Lucullus.  Triarius, ambitiously aiming at\nvictory, before ever Lucullus came to him, though he was then very\nnear, was defeated in a great battle, in which it is said that\nabove seven thousand Romans fell, among whom were a hundred and\nfifty centurions, and four and twenty tribunes, and that the camp\nitself was taken.  Lucullus, coming up a few days after, concealed\nTriarius from the search of the angry soldiers.  But when\nMithridates declined battle, and waited for the coming of Tigranes,\nwho was then on his march with great forces, he resolved before\nthey joined their forces to turn once more and engage with\nTigranes.  But in the way the mutinous Fimbrians deserted their\nranks, professing themselves released from service by a decree, and\nthat Lucullus, the provinces being allotted to others, had no\nlonger any right to command them.  There was nothing beneath the\ndignity of Lucullus which he did not now submit to bear, entreating\nthem one by one, from tent to tent, going up and down humbly and in\ntears, and even taking some like a suppliant, by the hand.  But\nthey turned away from his salutes, and threw down their empty\npurses, bidding him engage alone with the enemy, as he alone made\nadvantage of it.  At length, by the entreaty of the other soldiers,\nthe Fimbrians, being prevailed upon, consented to tarry that summer\nunder him, but if during that time no enemy came to fight them, to\nbe free.  Lucullus of necessity was forced to comply with this, or\nelse to abandon the country to the barbarians.  He kept them,\nindeed, with him, but without urging his authority upon them; nor\ndid he lead them out to battle, being contented if they would but\nstay with him, though he then saw Cappadocia wasted by Tigranes,\nand Mithridates again triumphing, whom not long before he reported\nto the senate to be wholly subdued; and commissioners were now\narrived to settle the affairs of Pontus, as if all had been quietly\nin his possession.  But when they came, they found him not so much\nas master of himself, but contemned and derided by the common\nsoldiers, who arrived at that height of insolence against their\ngeneral, that at the end of summer they put on their armor and drew\ntheir swords, and defied their enemies then absent and gone off a\nlong while before, and with great outcries and waving their swords\nin the air, they quitted the camp, proclaiming that the time was\nexpired which they promised to stay with Lucullus.  The rest were\nsummoned by letters from Pompey to come and join him; he, by the\nfavor of the people and by flattery of their leaders, having been\nchosen general of the army against Mithridates and Tigranes, though\nthe senate and the nobility all thought that Lucullus was injured,\nhaving those put over his head who succeeded rather to his triumph,\nthan to his commission, and that he was not so truly deprived of\nhis command, as of the glory he had deserved in his command, which\nhe was forced to yield to another.\n\nIt was yet more of just matter of pity and indignation to those who\nwere present; for Lucullus remained no longer master of rewards or\npunishments for any actions done in the war; neither would Pompey\nsuffer any man to go to him, or pay any respect to the orders and\narrangements he made with advice of his ten commissioners, but\nexpressly issued edicts to the contrary, and could not but be\nobeyed by reason of his greater power.  Friends, however, on both\nsides, thought it desirable to bring them together, and they met in\na village of Galatia and saluted each other in a friendly manner,\nwith congratulations on each other's successes.  Lucullus was the\nelder, but Pompey the more distinguished by his more numerous\ncommands and his two triumphs.  Both had rods dressed with laurel\ncarried before them for their victories.  And as Pompey's laurels\nwere withered with passing through hot and droughty countries,\nLucullus's lictors courteously gave Pompey's some of the fresh and\ngreen ones which they had, which Pompey's friends counted a good\nomen, as indeed of a truth, Lucullus's actions furnished the honors\nof Pompey's command.  The interview, however, did not bring them to\nany amicable agreement; they parted even less friends than they\nmet.  Pompey repealed all the acts of Lucullus, drew off his\nsoldiers, and left him no more than sixteen hundred for his\ntriumph, and even those unwilling to go with him.  So wanting was\nLucullus, either through natural constitution or adverse\ncircumstances, in that one first and most important requisite of a\ngeneral, which had he but added to his other many and remarkable\nvirtues, his fortitude, vigilance, wisdom, justice, the Roman\nempire had not had Euphrates for its boundary, but the utmost ends\nof Asia and the Hyrcanian sea; as other nations were then disabled\nby the late conquests of Tigranes, and the power of Parthia had not\nin Lucullus's time shown itself so formidable as Crassus afterwards\nfound it, nor had as yet gained that consistency, being crippled by\nwars at home, and on its frontiers, and unable even to make head\nagainst the encroachments of the Armenians.  And Lucullus, as it\nwas, seems to me through others' agency to have done Rome greater\nharm, than he did her advantage by his own.  For the trophies in\nArmenia, near the Parthian frontier, and Tigranocerta, and Nisibis,\nand the great wealth brought from thence to Rome, with the captive\ncrown of Tigranes carried in triumph, all helped to puff up\nCrassus, as if the barbarians had been nothing else but spoil and\nbooty, and he, falling among the Parthian archers, soon\ndemonstrated that Lucullus's triumphs were not beholden to the\ninadvertency and effeminacy of his enemies, but to his own courage\nand conduct.  But of this afterwards.\n\nLucullus, upon his return to Rome, found his brother Marcus accused\nby Caius Memmius, for his acts as quaestor, done by Sylla's orders;\nand on his acquittal, Memmius changed the scene, and animated the\npeople against Lucullus himself, urging them to deny him a triumph\nfor appropriating the spoils and prolonging the war.  In this great\nstruggle, the nobility and chief men went down and mingling in\nperson among the tribes, with much entreaty and labor, scarce at\nlength prevailed upon them to consent to his triumph.  The pomp of\nwhich proved not so wonderful or so wearisome with the length of\nthe procession and the number of things carried in it, but\nconsisted chiefly in vast quantities of arms and machines of the\nking's, with which he adorned the Flaminian circus, a spectacle by\nno means despicable.  In his progress there passed by a few\nhorsemen in heavy armor, ten chariots armed with scythes, sixty\nfriends and officers of the king's, and a hundred and ten\nbrazen-beaked ships of war, which were conveyed along with them, a\ngolden image of Mithridates six feet high, a shield set with\nprecious stones, twenty loads of silver vessels, and thirty-two of\ngolden cups, armor, and money, all carried by men.  Besides which,\neight mules were laden with golden couches, fifty-six with bullion,\nand a hundred and seven with coined silver, little less than two\nmillions seven hundred thousand pieces.  There were tablets, also,\nwith inscriptions, stating what moneys he gave Pompey for\nprosecuting the piratic war, what he delivered into the treasury,\nand what he gave to every soldier, which was nine hundred and fifty\ndrachmas each.  After all which he nobly feasted the city and\nadjoining villages, or vici.\n\nBeing divorced from Clodia, a dissolute and wicked woman, he\nmarried Servilia, sister to Cato.  This also proved an unfortunate\nmatch, for she only wanted one of all Clodia's vices, the\ncriminality she was accused of with her brothers.  Out of reverence\nto Cato, he for a while connived at her impurity and immodesty, but\nat length dismissed her.  When the senate expected great things\nfrom him, hoping to find in him a check to the usurpations of\nPompey, and that with the greatness of his station and credit he\nwould come forward as the champion of the nobility, he retired from\nbusiness and abandoned public life; either because he saw the State\nto be in a difficult and diseased condition, or, as others say,\nbecause he was as great as he could well be, and inclined to a\nquiet and easy life, after those many labors and toils which had\nended with him so far from fortunately.  There are those who highly\ncommend his change of life, saying that he thus avoided that rock\non which Marius split.  For he, after the great and glorious deeds\nof his Cimbrian victories, was not contented to retire upon his\nhonors, but out of an insatiable desire of glory and power, even in\nhis old age, headed a political party against young men, and let\nhimself fall into miserable actions, and yet more miserable\nsufferings.  Better, in like manner, they say, had it been for\nCicero, after Catiline's conspiracy, to have retired and grown old,\nand for Scipio, after his Numantine and Carthaginian conquests, to\nhave sat down contented.  For the administration of public affairs\nhas, like other things, its proper term, and statesmen as well as\nwrestlers will break down, when strength and youth fail.  But\nCrassus and Pompey, on the other hand, laughed to see Lucullus\nabandoning himself to pleasure and expense, as if luxurious living\nwere not a thing that as little became his years, as government of\naffairs at home, or of an army abroad.\n\nAnd, indeed, Lucullus's life, like the Old Comedy, presents us at\nthe commencement with acts of policy and of war, at the end\noffering nothing but good eating and drinking, feastings and\nrevellings, and mere play.  For I give no higher name to his\nsumptuous buildings, porticoes and baths, still less to his\npaintings and sculptures, and all his industry about these\ncuriosities, which he collected with vast expense, lavishly\nbestowing all the wealth and treasure which he got in the war upon\nthem, insomuch that even now, with all the advance of luxury, the\nLucullean gardens are counted the noblest the emperor has.  Tubero\nthe stoic, when he saw his buildings at Naples, where he suspended\nthe hills upon vast tunnels, brought in the sea for moats and\nfish-ponds round his house, and built pleasure-houses in the\nwaters, called him Xerxes in a gown.  He had also fine seats in\nTusculum, belvederes, and large open balconies for men's\napartments, and porticoes to walk in, where Pompey coming to see\nhim, blamed him for making a house which would be pleasant in\nsummer but uninhabitable in winter; whom he answered with a smile,\n\"You think me, then, less provident than cranes and storks, not to\nchange my home with the season.\"  When a praetor, with great\nexpense and pains, was preparing a spectacle for the people, and\nasked him to lend him some purple robes for the performers in a\nchorus, he told him he would go home and see, and if he had got\nany, would let him have them; and the next day asking how many he\nwanted, and being told that a hundred would suffice, bade him to\ntake twice as many:  on which the poet Horace observes, that a\nhouse is but a poor one, where the valuables unseen and unthought\nof do not exceed all those that meet the eye.\n\nLucullus's daily entertainments were ostentatiously extravagant,\nnot only with purple coverlets, and plate adorned with precious\nstones, and dancings, and interludes, but with the greatest\ndiversity of dishes and the most elaborate cookery, for the vulgar\nto admire and envy.  It was a happy thought of Pompey in his\nsickness, when his physician prescribed a thrush for his dinner,\nand his servants told him that in summer time thrushes were not to\nbe found anywhere but in Lucullus's fattening coops, that he would\nnot suffer them to fetch one thence, but observing to his\nphysician, \"So if Lucullus had not been an epicure, Pompey had not\nlived,\" ordered something else that could easily be got to be\nprepared for him.  Cato was his friend and connection, but,\nnevertheless, so hated his life and habits, that when a young man\nin the senate made a long and tedious speech in praise of frugality\nand temperance, Cato got up and said, \"How long do you mean to go\non making money like Crassus, living like Lucullus, and talking\nlike Cato?\"  There are some, however, who say the words were said,\nbut not by Cato.\n\nIt is plain from the anecdotes on record of him, that Lucullus was\nnot only pleased with, but even gloried in his way of living.  For\nhe is said to have feasted several Greeks upon their coming to Rome\nday after day, who, out of a true Grecian principle, being ashamed,\nand declining the invitation, where so great an expense was every\nday incurred for them, he with a smile told them, \"Some of this,\nindeed, my Grecian friends, is for your sakes, but more for that of\nLucullus.\"  Once when he supped alone, there being only one course,\nand that but moderately furnished, he called his steward and\nreproved him, who, professing to have supposed that there would be\nno need of any great entertainment, when nobody was invited, was\nanswered, \"What, did not you know, then, that to-day Lucullus dines\nwith Lucullus?\"  Which being much spoken of about the city, Cicero\nand Pompey one day met him loitering in the forum, the former his\nintimate friend and familiar, and, though there had been some\nill-will between Pompey and him about the command in the war, still\nthey used to see each other and converse on easy terms together.\nCicero accordingly saluted him, and asked him whether to-day were a\ngood time for asking a favor of him, and on his answering, \"Very\nmuch so,\" and begging to hear what it was, \"Then,\" said Cicero, \"we\nshould like to dine with you today, just on the dinner that is\nprepared for yourself.\"  Lucullus being surprised, and requesting a\nday's time, they refused to grant it, neither suffered him to talk\nwith his servants, for fear he should give order for more than was\nappointed before.  But thus much they consented to, that before\ntheir faces he might tell his servant, that to-day he would sup in\nthe Apollo, (for so one of his best dining-rooms was called,) and\nby this evasion he outwitted his guests.  For every room, as it\nseems, had its own assessment of expenditure, dinner at such a\nprice, and all else in accordance; so that the servants, on knowing\nwhere he would dine, knew also how much was to be expended, and in\nwhat style and form dinner was to be served.  The expense for the\nApollo was fifty thousand drachmas, and thus much being that day\nlaid out, the greatness of the cost did not so much amaze Pompey\nand Cicero, as the rapidity of the outlay.  One might believe\nLucullus thought his money really captive and barbarian, so\nwantonly and contumeliously did he treat it.\n\nHis furnishing a library, however, deserves praise and record, for\nhe collected very many and choice manuscripts; and the use they\nwere put to was even more magnificent than the purchase, the\nlibrary being always open, and the walks and reading-rooms about it\nfree to all Greeks, whose delight it was to leave their other\noccupations and hasten thither as to the habitation of the Muses,\nthere walking about, and diverting one another.  He himself often\npassed his hours there, disputing with the learned in the walks,\nand giving his advice to statesmen who required it, insomuch\nthat his house was altogether a home, and in a manner a Greek\nprytaneum for those that visited Rome.  He was fond of all sorts of\nphilosophy, and was well-read and expert in them all.  But he\nalways from the first specially favored and valued the Academy; not\nthe New one which at that time under Philo flourished with the\nprecepts of Carneades, but the Old one, then sustained and\nrepresented by Antiochus of Ascalon, a learned and eloquent man.\nLucullus with great labor made him his friend and companion, and\nset him up against Philo's auditors, among whom Cicero was one, who\nwrote an admirable treatise in defense of his sect, in which he\nputs the argument in favor of comprehension in the mouth of\nLucullus, and the opposite argument in his own.  The book is called\nLucullus.  For as has been said, they were great friends, and took\nthe same side in politics.  For Lucullus did not wholly retire from\nthe republic, but only from ambition, and from the dangerous and\noften lawless struggle for political preeminence, which he left to\nCrassus and Cato, whom the senators, jealous of Pompey's greatness,\nput forward as their champions, when Lucullus refused to head them.\nFor his friends' sake he came into the forum and into the senate,\nwhen occasion offered to humble the ambition and pride of Pompey,\nwhose settlement, after his conquests over the kings, he got\ncanceled, and by the assistance of Cato, hindered a division of\nlands to his soldiers, which he proposed.  So Pompey went over to\nCrassus and Caesar's alliance, or rather conspiracy, and filling\nthe city with armed men, procured the ratification of his decrees\nby force, and drove Cato and Lucullus out of the forum.  Which\nbeing resented by the nobility, Pompey's party produced one\nVettius, pretending they apprehended him in a design against\nPompey's life.  Who in the senate-house accused others, but before\nthe people named Lucullus, as if he had been suborned by him to\nkill Pompey.  Nobody gave heed to what he said, and it soon\nappeared that they had put him forward to make false charges and\naccusations.  And after a few days the whole intrigue became yet\nmore obvious, when the dead body of Vettius was thrown out of the\nprison, he being reported, indeed, to have died a natural death,\nbut carrying marks of a halter and blows about him, and seeming\nrather to have been taken off by those who suborned him.  These\nthings kept Lucullus at a greater distance from the republic.\n\nBut when Cicero was banished the city, and Cato sent to Cyprus, he\nquitted public affairs altogether.  It is said, too, that before\nhis death, his intellects failed him by degrees.  But Cornelius\nNepos denies that either age or sickness impaired his mind, which\nwas rather affected by a potion, given him by Callisthenes his\nfreedman.  The potion was meant by Callisthenes to strengthen his\naffection for him, and was supposed to have that tendency but it\nacted quite otherwise, and so disabled and unsettled his mind, that\nwhile he was yet alive, his brother took charge of his affairs.  At\nhis death, as though it had been the death of one taken off in the\nvery height of military and civil glory, the people were much\nconcerned, and flocked together, and would have forcibly taken his\ncorpse, as it was carried into the market-place by young men of the\nhighest rank, and have buried it in the field of Mars, where they\nburied Sylla.  Which being altogether unexpected, and necessaries\nnot easily to be procured on a sudden, his brother, after much\nentreaty and solicitation, prevailed upon them to suffer him to be\nburied on his Tusculan estate as had been appointed.  He himself\nsurvived him but a short time, coming not far behind in death, as\nhe did in age and renown, in all respects, a most loving brother.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF LUCULLUS WITH CIMON\n\nOne might bless the end of Lucullus, which was so timed as to let\nhim die before the great revolution, which fate by intestine wars,\nwas already effecting against the established government, and to\nclose his life in a free though troubled commonwealth.  And in\nthis, above all other things, Cimon and he are alike.  For he died\nalso when Greece was as yet undisordered, in its highest felicity;\nthough in the field at the head of his army, not recalled, nor out\nof his mind, nor sullying the glory of his wars, engagements, and\nconquests, by making feastings and debauches seem the apparent end\nand aim of them all; as Plato says scornfully of Orpheus, that he\nmakes an eternal debauch hereafter, the reward of those who lived\nwell here.  Indeed, ease and quiet, and the study of pleasant and\nspeculative learning, to an old man retiring from command and\noffice, is a most suitable and becoming solace; but to misguide\nvirtuous actions to pleasure as their utmost end, and, as the\nconclusion of campaigns and commands, to keep the feast of Venus,\ndid not become the noble Academy, and the follower of Xenocrates,\nbut rather one that inclined to Epicurus.  And this its one\nsurprising point of contrast between them; Cimon's youth was ill-\nreputed and intemperate Lucullus's well disciplined and sober.\nUndoubtedly we must give the preference to the change for good,\nfor it argues the better nature, where vice declines and virtue\ngrows.  Both had great wealth, but employed it in different ways;\nand there is no comparison between the south wall of the acropolis\nbuilt by Cimon, and the chambers and galleries, with their sea-\nviews, built at Naples by Lucullus, out of the spoils of the\nbarbarians.  Neither can we compare Cimon's popular and liberal\ntable with the sumptuous oriental one of Lucullus, the former\nreceiving a great many guests every day at small cost, the latter\nexpensively spread for a few men of pleasure, unless you will say\nthat different times made the alteration.  For who can tell but\nthat Cimon, if he had retired in his old age from business and war\nto quiet and solitude, might have lived a more luxurious and self-\nindulgent life, as he was fond of wine and company, and accused,\nas has been said, of laxity with women?  The better pleasures\ngained in successful action and effort leave the baser appetites\nno time or place, and make active and heroic men forget them.  Had\nbut Lucullus ended his days in the field, and in command, envy and\ndetraction itself could never have accused him.  So much for their\nmanner of life.\n\nIn war, it is plain they were both soldiers of excellent conduct,\nboth at land and sea.  But as in the games they honor those\nchampions who on the same day gain the garland, both in wrestling\nand in the pancratium, with the name of \"Victors and more,\" so\nCimon, honoring Greece with a sea and land victory on the same\nday, may claim a certain preeminence among commanders.  Lucullus\nreceived command from his country, whereas Cimon brought it to\nhis.  He annexed the territories of enemies to her, who ruled over\nconfederates before, but Cimon made his country, which when he\nbegan was a mere follower of others, both rule over confederates,\nand conquer enemies too, forcing the Persians to relinquish the\nsea, and inducing the Lacedaemonians to surrender their command.\nIf it be the chiefest thing in a general to obtain the obedience of\nhis soldiers by good-will, Lucullus was despised by his own army,\nbut Cimon highly prized even by others.  His soldiers deserted the\none, the confederates came over to the other.  Lucullus came home\nwithout the forces which he led out; Cimon, sent out at first to\nserve as one confederate among others, returned home with\nauthority even over these also, having successfully effected for\nhis city three most difficult services, establishing peace with\nthe enemy, dominion over confederates, and concord with\nLacedaemon.  Both aiming to destroy great kingdoms, and subdue all\nAsia, failed in their enterprise, Cimon by a simple piece of ill-\nfortune, for he died when general, in the height of success; but\nLucullus no man can wholly acquit of being in fault with his\nsoldiers, whether it were he did not know, or would not comply\nwith the distastes and complaints of his army, which brought him\nat last into such extreme unpopularity among them.  But did not\nCimon also suffer like him in this?  For the citizens arraigned\nhim, and did not leave off till they had banished him, that, as\nPlato says, they might not hear him for the space of ten years.\nFor high and noble minds seldom please the vulgar, or are\nacceptable to them; for the force they use to straighten their\ndistorted actions gives the same pain as surgeons' bandages do in\nbringing dislocated bones to their natural position.  Both of\nthem, perhaps, come off pretty much with an equal acquittal on\nthis count.\n\nLucullus very much outwent him in war being the first Roman who\ncarried an army over Taurus, passed the Tigris, took and burnt the\nroyal palaces of Asia in the sight of the kings, Tigranocerta,\nCabira, Sinope, and Nisibis, seizing and overwhelming the northern\nparts as far as the Phasis, the east as far as Media, and making\nthe South and Red Sea his own through the kings of the Arabians.\nHe shattered the power of the kings, and narrowly missed their\npersons, while like wild beasts they fled away into deserts and\nthick and impassable woods.  In demonstration of this superiority,\nwe see that the Persians, as if no great harm had befallen them\nunder Cimon, soon after appeared in arms against the Greeks, and\novercame and destroyed their numerous forces in Egypt.  But after\nLucullus, Tigranes and Mithridates were able to do nothing; the\nlatter, being disabled and broken in the former wars, never dared\nto show his army to Pompey outside the camp, but fled away to\nBosporus, and there died.  Tigranes threw himself, naked and\nunarmed, down before Pompey, and taking his crown from his head,\nlaid it at his feet, complimenting Pompey with what was not his\nown, but, in real truth, the conquest already effected by\nLucullus.  And when he received the ensigns of majesty again, he\nwas well pleased, evidently because he had forfeited them before.\nAnd the commander, as the wrestler, is to be accounted to have\ndone most who leaves an adversary almost conquered for his\nsuccessor.  Cimon, moreover, when he took the command, found the\npower of the king broken, and the spirits of the Persians humbled\nby their great defeats and incessant routs under Themistocles,\nPausanias, and Leotychides, and thus easily overcame the bodies of\nmen whose souls were quelled and defeated beforehand.  But\nTigranes had never yet in many combats been beaten, and was flushed\nwith success when he engaged with Lucullus.  There is no comparison\nbetween the numbers, which came against Lucullus, and those\nsubdued by Cimon.  All which things being rightly considered, it\nis a hard matter to give judgment.  For supernatural favor also\nappears to have attended both of them, directing the one what to\ndo, the other what to avoid, and thus they have, both of them, so\nto say, the vote of the gods, to declare them noble and divine\ncharacters.\n\n\n\nNICIAS\n\nCrassus, in my opinion, may most properly be set against Nicias,\nand the Parthian disaster compared with that in Sicily.  But here\nit will be well for me to entreat the reader, in all courtesy, not\nto think that I contend with Thucydides in matters so pathetically,\nvividly, and eloquently, beyond all imitation, and even beyond\nhimself, expressed by him; nor to believe me guilty of the like\nfolly with Timaeus, who, hoping in his history to surpass\nThucydides in art, and to make Philistus appear a trifler and a\nnovice, pushes on in his descriptions, through all the battles,\nsea-fights, and public speeches, in recording which they have been\nmost successful, without meriting so much as to be compared in\nPindar's phrase, to\n\nOne that on his feet\nWould with the Lydian cars compete.\n\nHe simply shows himself all along a half-lettered, childish writer;\nin the words of Diphilus,\n\n-- of wit obese,\nO'erlarded with Sicilian grease.\n\nOften he sinks to the very level of Xenarchus, telling us that he\nthinks it ominous to the Athenians that their\ngeneral, who had victory in his name, was unwilling to take\ncommand in the expedition; and that the defacing of the Hermae was\na divine intimation that they should suffer much in the war by\nHermocrates, the son of Hermon; and, moreover, how it was likely\nthat Hercules should aid the Syracusans for the sake of Proserpine,\nby whose means he took Cerberus, and should be angry with the\nAthenians for protecting the Egesteans, descended from Trojan\nancestors, whose city he, for an injury of their king Laomedon, had\noverthrown.  However, all these may be merely other instances of\nthe same happy taste that makes him correct the diction of\nPhilistus, and abuse Plato and Aristotle.  This sort of contention\nand rivalry with others in matter of style, to my mind, in any\ncase, seems petty and pedantic, but when its objects are works of\ninimitable excellence, it is absolutely senseless.  Such actions in\nNicias's life as Thucydides and Philistus have related, since they\ncannot be passed by, illustrating as they do most especially his\ncharacter and temper, under his many and great troubles, that I may\nnot seem altogether negligent, I shall briefly run over.  And such\nthings as are not commonly known, and lie scattered here and there\nin other men's writings, or are found amongst the old monuments and\narchives, I shall endeavor to bring together; not collecting mere\nuseless pieces of learning, but adducing what may make his\ndisposition and habit of mind understood.\n\nFirst of all, I would mention what Aristotle has said of Nicias,\nthat there had been three good citizens, eminent above the rest for\ntheir hereditary affection and love to the people, Nicias the son\nof Niceratus, Thucydides the son of Melesias, and Theramenes the\nson of Hagnon, but the last less than the others; for he had his\ndubious extraction cast in his teeth, as a foreigner from Ceos, and\nhis inconstancy, which made him side sometimes with one party,\nsometimes with another in public life, and which obtained him the\nnickname of the Buskin.\n\nThucydides came earlier, and, on the behalf of the nobility, was a\ngreat opponent of the measures by which Pericles courted the favor\nof the people.\n\nNicias was a younger man, yet was in some reputation even whilst\nPericles lived; so much so as to have been his colleague in the\noffice of general, and to have held command by himself more than\nonce.  But on the death of Pericles, he presently rose to the\nhighest place, chiefly by the favor of the rich and eminent\ncitizens, who set him up for their bulwark against the presumption\nand insolence of Cleon; nevertheless, he did not forfeit the\ngood-will of the commonalty, who, likewise, contributed to his\nadvancement.  For though Cleon got great influence by his exertions\n\n-- to please\nThe old men, who trusted him to find them fees.\n\nYet even those, for whose interest, and to gain whose favor he\nacted, nevertheless observing the avarice, the arrogance, and the\npresumption of the man, many of them supported Nicias.  For his was\nnot that sort of gravity which is harsh and offensive, but he\ntempered it with a certain caution and deference, winning upon the\npeople, by seeming afraid of them.  And being naturally diffident\nand unhopeful in war, his good fortune supplied his want of\ncourage, and kept it from being detected, as in all his commands he\nwas constantly successful.  And his timorousness in civil life, and\nhis extreme dread of accusers, was thought very suitable in a\ncitizen of a free State; and from the people's good-will towards\nhim, got him no small power over them, they being fearful of all\nthat despised them, but willing to promote one who seemed to be\nafraid of them; the greatest compliment their betters could pay\nthem being not to contemn them.\n\nPericles, who by solid virtue and the pure force of argument ruled\nthe commonwealth, had stood in need of no disguises nor persuasions\nwith the people.  Nicias, inferior in these respects, used his\nriches, of which he had abundance, to gain popularity.  Neither had\nhe the nimble wit of Cleon, to win the Athenians to his purposes by\namusing them with bold jests; unprovided with such qualities, he\ncourted them with dramatic exhibitions, gymnastic games, and other\npublic shows, more sumptuous and more splendid than had been ever\nknown in his, or in former ages.  Amongst his religious offerings,\nthere was extant, even in our days, the small figure of Minerva in\nthe citadel, having lost the gold that covered it; and a shrine in\nthe temple of Bacchus, under the tripods, that were presented by\nthose who won the prize in the shows of plays.  For at these he had\noften carried off the prize, and never once failed.  We are told\nthat on one of these occasions, a slave of his appeared in the\ncharacter of Bacchus, of a beautiful person and noble stature, and\nwith as yet no beard upon his chin; and on the Athenians being\npleased with the sight, and applauding a long time, Nicias stood\nup, and said he could not in piety keep as a slave, one whose\nperson had been consecrated to represent a god.  And forthwith he\nset the young man free.  His performances at Delos are, also, on\nrecord, as noble and magnificent works of devotion.  For whereas\nthe choruses which the cities sent to sing hymns to the god were\nwont to arrive in no order, as it might happen, and, being there\nmet by a crowd of people crying out to them to sing, in their hurry\nto begin, used to disembark confusedly, putting on their garlands,\nand changing their dresses as they left the ships, he, when he had\nto convoy the sacred company, disembarked the chorus at Rhenea,\ntogether with the sacrifice, and other holy appurtenances.  And\nhaving brought along with him from Athens a bridge fitted by\nmeasurement for the purpose, and magnificently adorned with gilding\nand coloring, and with garlands and tapestries; this he laid in the\nnight over the channel betwixt Rhenea and Delos, being no great\ndistance.  And at break of day he marched forth with all the\nprocession to the god, and led the chorus, sumptuously ornamented,\nand singing their hymns, along over the bridge.  The sacrifices,\nthe games, and the feast being over, he set up a palm-tree of brass\nfor a present to the god, and bought a parcel of land with ten\nthousand drachmas which he consecrated; with the revenue the\ninhabitants of Delos were to sacrifice and to feast, and to pray\nthe gods for many good things to Nicias.  This he engraved on a\npillar, which he left in Delos to be a record of his bequest.  This\nsame palm-tree, afterwards broken down by the wind, fell on the\ngreat statue which the men of Naxos presented, and struck it to the\nground.\n\nIt is plain that much of this might be vainglory, and the mere\ndesire of popularity and applause; yet from other qualities and\ncarriage of the man, one might believe all this cost and public\ndisplay to be the effect of devotion.  For he was one of those who\ndreaded the divine powers extremely, and, as Thucydides tells us,\nwas much given to arts of divination.  In one of Pasiphon's\ndialogues, it is stated that he daily sacrificed to the gods, and\nkeeping a diviner at his house, professed to be consulting always\nabout the commonwealth, but for the most part, inquired about his\nown private affairs, more especially concerning his silver mines;\nfor he owned many works at Laurium, of great value, but somewhat\nhazardous to carry on.  He maintained there a multitude of slaves,\nand his wealth consisted chiefly in silver.  Hence he had many\nhangers-on about him, begging and obtaining.  For he gave to those\nwho could do him mischief, no less than to those who deserved well.\nIn short, his timidity was a revenue to rogues, and his humanity to\nhonest men.  We find testimony in the comic writers, as when\nTeleclides, speaking of one of the professed informers, says: --\n\nCharicles gave the man a pound, the matter not to name,\nThat from inside a money-bag into the world he came;\nAnd Nicias, also, paid him four; I know the reason well,\nBut Nicias is a worthy man, and so I will not tell.\n\nSo, also, the informer whom Eupolis introduces in his Maricas,\nattacking a good, simple, poor man: --\n\nHow long ago did you and Nicias meet?\n\nI did but see him just now in the street.\n\nThe man has seen him and denies it not,\n'Tis evident that they are in a plot.\n\nSee you, O citizens! 'tis fact,\nNicias is taken in the act.\n\nTaken, Fools! take so good a man\nIn aught that's wrong none will or can.\n\nCleon, in Aristophanes, makes it one of his threats: --\n\nI'll outscream all the speakers, and make Nicias stand aghast!\n\nPhrynichus also implies his want of spirit, and his easiness to be\nintimidated in the verses,\n\nA noble man he was, I well can say,\nNor walked like Nicias, cowering on his way.\n\nSo cautious was he of informers, and so reserved, that he never\nwould dine out with any citizen, nor allowed himself to indulge in\ntalk and conversation with his friends, nor gave himself any\nleisure for such amusements; but when he was general he used to\nstay at the office till night, and was the first that came to the\ncouncil-house, and the last that left it.  And if no public\nbusiness engaged him, it was very hard to have access, or to speak\nwith him, he being retired at home and locked up.  And when any\ncame to the door, some friend of his gave them good words, and\nbegged them to excuse him, Nicias was very busy; as if affairs of\nState and public duties still kept him occupied.  He who\nprincipally acted this part for him, and contributed most to this\nstate and show, was Hiero, a man educated in Nicias's family, and\ninstructed by him in letters and music.  He professed to be the son\nof Dionysius, surnamed Chalcus, whose poems are yet extant, and had\nled out the colony to Italy, and founded Thurii.  This Hiero\ntransacted all his secrets for Nicias with the dinners; and gave\nout to the people, what a toilsome and miserable life he led, for\nthe sake of the commonwealth.  \"He,\" said Hiero, \"can never be\neither at the bath, or at his meat, but some public business\ninterferes.  Careless of his own, and zealous for the public good,\nhe scarcely ever goes to bed till after others have had their first\nsleep.  So that his health is impaired, and his body out of order,\nnor is he cheerful or affable with his friends, but loses them as\nwell as his money in the service of the State, while other men gain\nfriends by public speaking, enrich themselves, fare delicately, and\nmake government their amusement.\"  And in fact this was Nicias's\nmanner of life, so that he well might apply to himself the words of\nAgamemnon: --\n\nVain pomp's the ruler of the life we live,\nAnd a slave's service to the crowd we give.\n\nHe observed that the people, in the case of men of eloquence, or of\neminent parts, made use of their talents upon occasion, but were\nalways jealous of their abilities, and held a watchful eye upon\nthem, taking all opportunities to humble their pride and abate\ntheir reputation; as was manifest in their condemnation of\nPericles, their banishment of Damon, their distrust of Antiphon the\nRhamnusian, but especially in the case of Paches who took Lesbos,\nwho, having to give an account of his conduct, in the very court of\njustice unsheathed his sword and slew himself.  Upon such\nconsiderations, Nicias declined all difficult and lengthy\nenterprises; if he took a command, he was for doing what was safe;\nand if, as thus was likely, he had for the most part success, he\ndid not attribute it to any wisdom, conduct, or courage of his own,\nbut, to avoid envy, he thanked fortune for all, and gave the glory\nto the divine powers.  And the actions themselves bore testimony in\nhis favor; the city met at that time with several considerable\nreverses, but he had not a hand in any of them.  The Athenians were\nrouted in Thrace by the Chalcidians, Calliades and Xenophon\ncommanding in chief.  Demosthenes was the general when they were\nunfortunate in Aetolia.  At Delium, they lost a thousand citizens\nunder the conduct of Hippocrates; the plague was principally laid\nto the charge of Pericles, he, to carry on the war, having shut up\nclose together in the town the crowd of people from the country,\nwho, by the change of place, and of their usual course of living,\nbred the pestilence.  Nicias stood clear of all this; under his\nconduct was taken Cythera, an island most commodious against\nLaconia, and occupied by the Lacedaemonian settlers; many places,\nlikewise, in Thrace, which had revolted, were taken or won over by\nhim; he, shutting up the Megarians within their town, seized upon\nthe isle of Minoa; and soon after, advancing from thence to Nisaea,\nmade himself master there, and then making a descent upon the\nCorinthian territory, fought a successful battle, and slew a great\nnumber of the Corinthians with their captain Lycophron.  There it\nhappened that two of his men were left by an oversight, when they\ncarried off the dead, which when he understood, he stopped the\nfleet, and sent a herald to the enemy for leave to carry off the\ndead; though by law and custom, he that by a truce craved leave to\ncarry off the dead, was hereby supposed to give up all claim to the\nvictory.  Nor was it lawful for him that did this to erect a\ntrophy, for his is the victory who is master of the field, and he\nis not master who asks leave, as wanting power to take.  But he\nchose rather to renounce his victory and his glory, than to let two\ncitizens lie unburied.  He scoured the coast of Laconia all along,\nand beat the Lacedaemonians that made head against him.  He took\nThyrea, occupied by the Aeginetans, and carried the prisoners to\nAthens.\n\nWhen Demosthenes had fortified Pylos, and the Peloponnesians\nbrought together both their sea and land forces before it, after\nthe fight, about the number of four hundred native Spartans were\nleft ashore in the isle Sphacteria.  The Athenians thought it a\ngreat prize, as indeed it was, to take these men prisoners.  But\nthe siege, in places that wanted water, being very difficult and\nuntoward, and to convey necessaries about by sea in summer tedious\nand expensive, in winter doubtful, or plainly impossible, they\nbegan to be annoyed, and to repent their having rejected the\nembassy of the Lacedaemonians that had been sent to propose a\ntreaty of peace, which had been done at the importunity of Cleon,\nwho opposed it chiefly out of a pique to Nicias; for, being his\nenemy, and observing him to be extremely solicitous to support the\noffers of the Lacedaemonians, he persuaded the people to refuse\nthem.\n\nNow, therefore, that the siege was protracted, and they heard of\nthe difficulties that pressed their army, they grew enraged against\nCleon.  But he turned all the blame upon Nicias, charging it on his\nsoftness and cowardice, that the besieged were not yet taken.\n\"Were I general,\" said he, \"they should not hold out so long.\"  The\nAthenians not unnaturally asked the question, \"Why then, as it is,\ndo not you go with a squadron against them?\"  And Nicias standing\nup resigned his command at Pylos to him, and bade him take what\nforces he pleased along with him, and not be bold in words, out of\nharm's way, but go forth and perform some real service for the\ncommonwealth.  Cleon, at the first, tried to draw back,\ndisconcerted at the proposal, which he had never expected; but the\nAthenians insisting, and Nicias loudly upbraiding him, he thus\nprovoked, and fired with ambition, took upon him the charge, and\nsaid further, that within twenty days after he embarked, he would\neither kill the enemy upon the place, or bring them alive to\nAthens.  This the Athenians were readier to laugh at than to\nbelieve, as on other occasions, also, his bold assertions and\nextravagances used to make them sport, and were pleasant enough.\nAs, for instance, it is reported that once when the people were\nassembled, and had waited his coming a long time, at last he\nappeared with a garland on his head, and prayed them to adjourn to\nthe next day.  \"For,\" said he, \"I am not at leisure to-day; I have\nsacrificed to the gods, and am to entertain some strangers.\"\nWhereupon the Athenians laughing rose up, and dissolved the\nassembly.  However, at this time he had good fortune, and in\nconjunction with Demosthenes, conducted the enterprise so well,\nthat within the time he had limited, he carried captive to Athens\nall the Spartans that had not fallen in battle.\n\nThis brought great disgrace on Nicias; for this was not to throw\naway his shield, but something yet more shameful and ignominious,\nto quit his charge voluntarily out of cowardice, and voting\nhimself, as it were, out of his command of his own accord, to put\ninto his enemy's hand the opportunity of achieving so brave an\naction.  Aristophanes has a jest against him on this occasion in\nthe Birds: --\n\nIndeed, not now the word that must be said\nIs, do like Nicias, or retire to bed.\n\nAnd, again, in his Husbandmen: --\n\nI wish to stay at home and farm.\nWhat then?\nWho should prevent you?\nYou, my countrymen;\nWhom I would pay a thousand drachmas down,\nTo let me give up office and leave town.\n\nEnough; content; the sum two thousand is,\nWith those that Nicias paid to give up his.\n\nBesides all this, he did great mischief to the city by suffering\nthe accession of so much reputation and power to Cleon, who now\nassumed such lofty airs, and allowed himself in such intolerable\naudacity, as led to many unfortunate results, a sufficient part of\nwhich fell to his own share.  Amongst other things, he destroyed\nall the decorum of public speaking; he was the first who ever broke\nout into exclamations, flung open his dress, smote his thigh, and\nran up and down whilst he was speaking, things which soon after\nintroduced amongst those who managed the affairs of State, such\nlicense and contempt of decency, as brought all into confusion.\n\nAlready, too, Alcibiades was beginning to show his strength at\nAthens, a popular leader, not, indeed, as utterly violent as Cleon,\nbut as the land of Egypt, through the richness of its soil, is\nsaid,\n\n-- great plenty to produce,\nBoth wholesome herbs, and drugs of deadly juice,\n\nso the nature of Alcibiades was strong and luxuriant in both kinds,\nand made way for many serious innovations.  Thus it fell out that\nafter Nicias had got his hands clear of Cleon, he had not\nopportunity to settle the city perfectly into quietness.  For\nhaving brought matters to a pretty hopeful condition, he found\neverything carried away and plunged again into confusion by\nAlcibiades, through the wildness and vehemence of his ambition, and\nall embroiled again in war worse than ever.  Which fell out thus.\nThe persons who had principally hindered the peace were Cleon and\nBrasidas.  War setting off the virtue of the one, and hiding the\nvillainy of the other, gave to the one occasions of achieving brave\nactions, to the other opportunity of committing equal dishonesties.\nNow when these two were in one battle both slain near Amphipolis,\nNicias was aware that the Spartans had long been desirous of a\npeace, and that the Athenians had no longer the same confidence in\nthe war.  Both being alike tired, and, as it were by consent,\nletting fall their hands, he, therefore, in this nick of time,\nemployed his efforts to make a friendship betwixt the two cities,\nand to deliver the other States of Greece from the evils and\ncalamities they labored under, and so establish his own good name\nfor success as a statesman for all future time.  He found the men\nof substance, the elder men, and the land-owners and farmers pretty\ngenerally, all inclined to peace.  And when, in addition to these,\nby conversing and reasoning, he had cooled the wishes of a good\nmany others for war, he now encouraged the hopes of the\nLacedaemonians, and counseled them to seek peace.  They confided in\nhim, as on account of his general character for moderation and\nequity, so, also, because of the kindness and care he had shown to\nthe prisoners taken at Pylos and kept in confinement, making their\nmisfortune the more easy to them.\n\nThe Athenians and the Spartans had before this concluded a truce\nfor a year, and during this, by associating with one another, they\nhad tasted again the sweets of peace and security, and unimpeded\nintercourse with friends and connections, and thus longed for an\nend of that fighting and bloodshed, and heard with delight the\nchorus sing such verses as\n\n-- my lance I'll leave\nLaid by, for spiders to o'erweave,\n\nand remembered with joy the saying, In peace, they who sleep are\nawaked by the cock-crow, not by the trumpet.  So shutting their\nears, with loud reproaches, to the forebodings of those who said\nthat the Fates decreed this to be a war of thrice nine years, the\nwhole question having been debated, they made a peace.  And most\npeople thought, now, indeed, they had got an end of all their\nevils.  And Nicias was in every man's mouth, as one especially\nbeloved of the gods, who, for his piety and devotion, had been\nappointed to give a name to the fairest and greatest of all\nblessings.  For in fact they considered the peace Nicias's work, as\nthe war the work of Pericles; because he, on light occasions,\nseemed to have plunged the Greeks into great calamities, while\nNicias had induced them to forget all the evils they had done each\nother and to be friends again; and so to this day it is called the\nPeace of Nicias.\n\nThe articles being, that the garrisons and towns taken on either\nside, and the prisoners should be restored, and they to restore the\nfirst to whom it should fall by lot, Nicias, as Theophrastus tells\nus, by a sum of money procured that the lot should fall for the\nLacedaemonians to deliver the first.  Afterwards, when the\nCorinthians and the Boeotians showed their dislike of what was\ndone, and by their complaints and accusations were wellnigh\nbringing the war back again, Nicias persuaded the Athenians and the\nLacedaemonians, besides the peace, to make a treaty of alliance,\noffensive and defensive, as a tie and confirmation of the peace,\nwhich would make them more terrible to those that held out, and the\nfirmer to each other.  Whilst these matters were on foot,\nAlcibiades, who was no lover of tranquillity, and who was offended\nwith the Lacedaemonians because of their applications and\nattentions to Nicias, while they overlooked and despised himself,\nfrom first to last, indeed, had opposed the peace, though all in\nvain, but now finding that the Lacedaemonians did not altogether\ncontinue to please the Athenians, but were thought to have acted\nunfairly in having made a league with the Boeotians, and had not\ngiven up Panactum, as they should have done, with its\nfortifications unrazed, nor yet Amphipolis, he laid hold on these\noccasions for his purpose, and availed himself of every one of them\nto irritate the people.  And, at length, sending for ambassadors\nfrom the Argives, he exerted himself to effect a confederacy\nbetween the Athenians and them.  And now, when Lacedaemonian\nambassadors were come with full powers, and at their preliminary\naudience by the council seemed to come in all points with just\nproposals, he, fearing that the general assembly, also, would be\nwon over to their offers, overreached them with false professions\nand oaths of assistance, on the condition that they would not avow\nthat they came with full powers, this, he said, being the only way\nfor them to attain their desires.  They being overpersuaded and\ndecoyed from Nicias to follow him, he introduced them to the\nassembly, and asked them presently whether or no they came in all\npoints with full powers, which when they denied, he, contrary to\ntheir expectation, changing his countenance, called the council to\nwitness their words, and now bade the people beware how they trust,\nor transact anything with such manifest liars, who say at one time\none thing, and at another the very opposite upon the same subject.\nThese plenipotentiaries were, as well they might be, confounded at\nthis, and Nicias, also, being at a loss what to say, and struck\nwith amazement and wonder, the assembly resolved to send\nimmediately for the Argives, to enter into a league with them.  An\nearthquake, which interrupted the assembly, made for Nicias's\nadvantage; and the next day the people being again assembled, after\nmuch speaking and soliciting, with great ado he brought it about,\nthat the treaty with the Argives should be deferred, and he be sent\nto the Lacedaemonians, in full expectation that so all would go\nwell.\n\nWhen he arrived at Sparta, they received him there as a good man,\nand one well inclined towards them; yet he effected nothing, but,\nbaffled by the party that favored the Boeotians, he returned home,\nnot only dishonored and hardly spoken of, but likewise in fear of\nthe Athenians, who were vexed and enraged that through his\npersuasions they had released so many and such considerable\npersons, their prisoners, for the men who had been brought from\nPylos were of the chiefest families of Sparta, and had those who\nwere highest there in place and power for their friends and\nkindred.  Yet did they not in their heat proceed against him,\notherwise than that they chose Alcibiades general, and took the\nMantineans and Eleans, who had thrown up their alliance with the\nLacedaemonians, into the league, together with the Argives, and\nsent to Pylos freebooters to infest Laconia, whereby the war began\nto break out afresh.\n\nBut the enmity betwixt Nicias and Alcibiades running higher and\nhigher, and the time being at hand for decreeing the ostracism or\nbanishment, for ten years, which the people, putting the name on a\nsherd, were wont to inflict at certain times on some person\nsuspected or regarded with jealousy for his popularity or wealth,\nboth were now in alarm and apprehension, one of them, in all\nlikelihood, being to undergo this ostracism; as the people\nabominated the life of Alcibiades, and stood in fear of his\nboldness and resolution, as is shown particularly in the history of\nhim; while as for Nicias, his riches made him envied, and his\nhabits of living, in particular, his unsociable and exclusive ways,\nnot like those of a fellow-citizen, or even a fellow-man, went\nagainst him, and having many times opposed their inclinations,\nforcing them against their feelings to do what was their interest,\nhe had got himself disliked.\n\nTo speak plainly, it was a contest of the young men who were eager\nfor war, against the men of years and lovers of peace, they turning\nthe ostracism upon the one, these upon the other.  But\n\nIn civil strife e'en villains rise to fame.\n\nAnd so now it happened that the city, distracted into two factions,\nallowed free course to the most impudent and profligate persons,\namong whom was Hyperbolus of the Perithoedae, one who could not,\nindeed, be said to be presuming upon any power, but rather by his\npresumption rose into power, and by the honor he found in the city,\nbecame the scandal of it.  He, at this time, thought himself far\nenough from the ostracism, as more properly deserving the slave's\ngallows, and made account, that one of these men being dispatched\nout of the way, he might be able to play a part against the other\nthat should be left, and openly showed his pleasure at the\ndissension, and his desire to inflame the people against both of\nthem.  Nicias and Alcibiades, perceiving his malice, secretly\ncombined together, and setting both their interests jointly at\nwork, succeeded in fixing the ostracism not on either of them, but\neven on Hyperbolus.  This, indeed, at the first, made sport, and\nraised laughter among the people; but afterwards it was felt as an\naffront, that the thing should be dishonored by being employed upon\nso unworthy a subject; punishment, also, having its proper dignity,\nand ostracism being one that was appropriate rather for Thucydides,\nAristides, and such like persons; whereas for Hyperbolus it was a\nglory, and a fair ground for boasting on his part, when for his\nvillainy he suffered the same with the best men.  As Plato, the\ncomic poet said of him,\n\nThe man deserved the fate, deny who can;\nYes, but the fate did not deserve the man;\nNot for the like of him and his slave-brands,\nDid Athens put the sherd into our hands.\n\nAnd, in fact, none ever afterwards suffered this sort of\npunishment, but Hyperbolus was the last, as Hipparchus the\nCholargian, who was kin to the tyrant, was the first.\n\nThere is no judgment to be made of fortune; nor can any reasoning\nbring us to a certainty about it.  If Nicias had run the risk with\nAlcibiades, whether of the two should undergo the ostracism, he had\neither prevailed, and, his rival being expelled the city, he had\nremained secure; or, being overcome, he had avoided the utmost\ndisasters, and preserved the reputation of a most excellent\ncommander.  Meantime I am not ignorant that Theophrastus says, that\nwhen Hyperbolus was banished Phaeax, not Nicias, contested it with\nAlcibiades; but most authors differ from him.\n\nIt was Alcibiades, at any rate, whom when the Aegestean and\nLeontine ambassadors arrived and urged the Athenians to make an\nexpedition against Sicily, Nicias opposed, and by whose persuasions\nand ambition he found himself overborne, who even before the people\ncould be assembled, had preoccupied and corrupted their judgment\nwith hopes and with speeches; insomuch that the young men at their\nsports, and the old men in their workshops, and sitting together on\nthe benches, would be drawing maps of Sicily, and making charts\nshowing the seas, the harbors, and general character of the coast\nof the island opposite Africa.  For they made not Sicily the end of\nthe war, but rather its starting point and head-quarters from\nwhence they might carry it to the Carthaginians, and possess\nthemselves of Africa, and of the seas as far as the pillars of\nHercules.  The bulk of the people, therefore, pressing this way,\nNicias, who opposed them, found but few supporters, nor those of\nmuch influence; for the men of substance, fearing lest they should\nseem to shun the public charges and ship-money, were quiet against\ntheir inclination; nevertheless he did not tire nor give it up, but\neven after the Athenians decreed a war and chose him in the first\nplace general, together with Alcibiades and Lamachus, when they\nwere again assembled, he stood up, dissuaded them, and protested\nagainst the decision, and laid the blame on Alcibiades, charging\nhim with going about to involve the city in foreign dangers and\ndifficulties, merely with a view to his own private lucre and\nambition.  Yet it came to nothing.  Nicias, because of his\nexperience, was looked upon as the fitter for the employment, and\nhis wariness with the bravery of Alcibiades, and the easy temper of\nLamachus, all compounded together, promised such security, that he\ndid but confirm the resolution.  Demostratus, who, of the popular\nleaders, was the one who chiefly pressed the Athenians to the\nexpedition, stood up and said he would stop the mouth of Nicias\nfrom urging any more excuses, and moved that the generals should\nhave absolute power both at home and abroad, to order and to act as\nthey thought best; and this vote the people passed.\n\nThe priests, however, are said to have very earnestly opposed the\nenterprise.  But Alcibiades had his diviners of another sort, who\nfrom some old prophesies announced that \"there shall be great fame\nof the Athenians in Sicily,\" and messengers came back to him from\nJupiter Ammon, with oracles importing that \"the Athenians shall\ntake all the Syracusans.\"  Those, meanwhile, who knew anything\nthat boded ill, concealed it, lest they might seem to forespeak\nill-luck.  For even prodigies that were obvious and plain would not\ndeter them; not the defacing of the Hermue, all maimed in one night\nexcept one, called the Hermes of Andocides, erected by the tribe of\nAegeus, placed directly before the house then occupied by\nAndocides; nor what was perpetrated on the altar of the twelve\ngods, upon which a certain man leaped suddenly up, and then turning\nround, mutilated himself with a stone.  Likewise at Delphi, there\nstood a golden image of Minerva, set on a palm-tree of brass,\nerected by the city of Athens from the spoils they won from the\nMedes; this was pecked at several days together by crows flying\nupon it, who, also, plucked off and knocked down the fruit, made of\ngold, upon the palm-tree.  But the Athenians said these were all\nbut inventions of the Delphians, corrupted by the men of Syracuse.\nA certain oracle bade them bring from Clazomenae the priestess of\nMinerva there; they sent for the woman and found her named\nHesychia, Quietness, this being, it would seem, what the divine\npowers advised the city at this time, to be quiet.  Whether,\ntherefore, the astrologer Meton feared these presages, or that from\nhuman reason he doubted its success, (for he was appointed to a\ncommand in it,) feigning himself mad, he set his house on fire.\nOthers say he did not counterfeit madness, but set his house on\nfire in the night, and he next morning came before the assembly in\ngreat distress, and besought the people, in consideration of the\nsad disaster, to release his son from the service, who was about to\ngo captain of a galley for Sicily.  The genius, also, of the\nphilosopher Socrates, on this occasion, too, gave him intimation by\nthe usual tokens, that the expedition would prove the ruin of the\ncommonwealth; this he imparted to his friends and familiars, and by\nthem it was mentioned to a number of people.  Not a few were\ntroubled because the days on which the fleet set sail happened to\nbe the time when the women celebrated the death of Adonis; there\nbeing everywhere then exposed to view images of dead men, carried\nabout with mourning and lamentation, and women beating their\nbreasts.  So that such as laid any stress on these matters were\nextremely troubled, and feared lest that all this warlike\npreparation, so splendid and so glorious, should suddenly, in a\nlittle time, be blasted in its very prime of magnificence, and come\nto nothing.\n\nNicias, in opposing the voting of this expedition, and neither\nbeing puffed up with hopes, nor transported with the honor of his\nhigh command so as to modify his judgment, showed himself a man of\nvirtue and constancy.  But when his endeavors could not divert the\npeople from the war, nor get leave for himself to be discharged of\nthe command, but the people, as it were, violently took him up and\ncarried him, and against his will put him in the office of general,\nthis was no longer now a time for his excessive caution and his\ndelays, nor was it for him, like a child, to look back from the\nship, often repeating and reconsidering over and over again how\nthat his advice had not been overruled by fair arguments, thus\nblunting the courage of his fellow commanders and spoiling the\nseason of action.  Whereas, he ought speedily to have closed with\nthe enemy and brought the matter to an issue, and put fortune\nimmediately to the test in battle.  But, on the contrary, when\nLamachus counseled to sail directly to Syracuse, and fight the\nenemy under their city walls, and Alcibiades advised to secure the\nfriendship of the other towns, and then to march against them,\nNicias dissented from them both, and insisted that they should\ncruise quietly around the island and display their armament, and,\nhaving landed a small supply of men for the Egesteans, return to\nAthens, weakening at once the resolution and casting down the\nspirits of the men.  And when, a little while after, the Athenians\ncalled home Alcibiades in order to his trial, he being, though\njoined nominally with another in commission, in effect the only\ngeneral, made now no end of loitering, of cruising, and\nconsidering, till their hopes were grown stale, and all the\ndisorder and consternation which the first approach and view of\ntheir forces had cast amongst the enemy was worn off, and had left\nthem.\n\nWhilst yet Alcibiades was with the fleet, they went before Syracuse\nwith a squadron of sixty galleys, fifty of them lying in array\nwithout the harbor, while the other ten rowed in to reconnoiter,\nand by a herald called upon the citizens of Leontini to return to\ntheir own country.  These scouts took a galley of the enemy's, in\nwhich they found certain tablets, on which was set down a list of\nall the Syracusans, according to their tribes.  These were wont to\nbe laid up at a distance from the city, in the temple of Jupiter\nOlympius, but were now brought forth for examination to furnish a\nmuster-roll of young men for the war.  These being so taken by the\nAthenians, and carried to the officers, and the multitude of names\nappearing, the diviners thought it unpropitious, and were in\napprehension lest this should be the only destined fullfilment of\nthe prophecy, that \"the Athenians shall take all the Syracusans.\"\nYet, indeed, this was said to be accomplished by the Athenians at\nanother time, when Callippus the Athenian, having slain Dion,\nbecame master of Syracuse.  But when Alcibiades shortly after\nsailed away from Sicily, the command fell wholly to Nicias.\nLamachus was, indeed, a brave and honest man, and ready to fight\nfearlessly with his own hand in battle, but so poor and ill off,\nthat whenever he was appointed general, he used always, in\naccounting for his outlay of public money, to bring some little\nreckoning or other of money for his very clothes and shoes.  On the\ncontrary, Nicias, as on other accounts, so, also, because of his\nwealth and station, was very much thought of.  The story is told that\nonce upon a time the commission of generals being in consultation\ntogether in their public office, he bade Sophocles the poet give\nhis opinion first, as the senior of the board.  \"I,\" replied\nSophocles, \"am the older, but you are the senior.\"  And so now,\nalso, Lamachus, who better understood military affairs, being quite\nhis subordinate, he himself, evermore delaying and avoiding risk,\nand faintly employing his forces, first by his sailing about Sicily\nat the greatest distance aloof from the enemy, gave them\nconfidence, then by afterwards attacking Hybla, a petty fortress,\nand drawing off before he could take it, made himself utterly\ndespised.  At the last he retreated to Catana without having\nachieved anything, save that he demolished Hyocara, a humble town\nof the barbarians, out of which the story goes that Lais the\ncourtesan, yet a mere girl, was sold amongst the other prisoners,\nand carried thence away to Peloponnesus.\n\nBut when the summer was spent, after reports began to reach him\nthat the Syracusans were grown so confident that they would come\nfirst to attack him, and troopers skirmishing to the very camp\ntwitted his soldiers, asking whether they came to settle with the\nCatanians, or to put the Leontines in possession of their city, at\nlast, with much ado, Nicias resolved to sail against Syracuse.  And\nwishing to form his camp safely and without molestation, he\nprocured a man to carry from Catana intelligence to the Syracusans\nthat they might seize the camp of the Athenians unprotected, and\nall their arms, if on such a day they should march with all their\nforces to Catana; and that, the Athenians living mostly in the\ntown, the friends of the Syracusans had concerted, as soon as they\nshould perceive them coming, to possess themselves of one of the\ngates, and to fire the arsenal; that many now were in the\nconspiracy and awaited their arrival.  This was the ablest thing\nNicias did in the whole of his conduct of the expedition.  For\nhaving drawn out all the strength of the enemy, and made the city\ndestitute of men, he set out from Catana, entered the harbor, and\nchose a fit place for his camp, where the enemy could least\nincommode him with the means in which they were superior to him,\nwhile with the means in which he was superior to them, he might\nexpect to carry on the war without impediment.\n\nWhen the Syracusans returned from Catana, and stood in battle array\nbefore the city gates, he rapidly led up the Athenians and fell on\nthem and defeated them, but did not kill many, their horse\nhindering the pursuit.  And his cutting and breaking down the\nbridges that lay over the river gave Hermocrates, when cheering up\nthe Syracusans, occasion to say, that Nicias was ridiculous, whose\ngreat aim seemed to be to avoid fighting, as if fighting were not\nthe thing he came for.  However, he put the Syracusans into a very\ngreat alarm and consternation, so that instead of fifteen generals\nthen in service, they chose three others, to whom the people\nengaged by oath to allow absolute authority.\n\nThere stood near them the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which the\nAthenians (there being in it many consecrated things of gold and\nsilver) were eager to take, but were purposely withheld from it by\nNicias, who let the opportunity slip, and allowed a garrison of the\nSyracusans to enter it, judging that if the soldiers should make\nbooty of that wealth, it would be no advantage to the public, and\nhe should bear the guilt of the impiety.  Not improving in the\nleast this success, which was everywhere famous, after a few days'\nstay, away he goes to Naxos, and there winters, spending largely\nfor the maintenance of so great an army, and not doing anything\nexcept some matters of little consequence with some native\nSicilians that revolted to him.  Insomuch that the Syracusans took\nheart again, made excursions to Catana, wasted the country, and\nfired the camp of the Athenians.  For which everybody blamed\nNicias, who, with his long reflection, his deliberateness, and his\ncaution, had let slip the time for action.  None ever found fault\nwith the man when once at work, for in the brunt he showed vigor\nand activity enough, but was slow and wanted assurance to engage.\n\nWhen, therefore, he brought again the army to Syracuse, such was\nhis conduct, and with such celerity, and at the same time security,\nhe came upon them, that nobody knew of his approach, when already\nhe had come to shore with his galleys at Thapsus, and had landed\nhis men; and before any could help it he had surprised Epipolae,\nhad defeated the body of picked men that came to its succor, took\nthree hundred prisoners, and routed the cavalry of the enemy, which\nhad been thought invincible.  But what chiefly astonished the\nSyracusans, and seemed incredible to the Greeks, was, in so short a\nspace of time the walling about of Syracuse, a town not less than\nAthens, and far more difficult, by the unevenness of the ground,\nand the nearness of the sea and the marshes adjacent, to have such\na wall drawn in a circle round it; yet this, all within a very\nlittle, finished by a man that had not even his health for such\nweighty cares, but lay ill of the stone, which may justly bear the\nblame for what was left undone.  I admire the industry of the\ngeneral, and the bravery of the soldiers for what they succeeded\nin.  Euripides, after their ruin and disaster, writing their\nfuneral elegy, said that\n\nEight victories over Syracuse they gained,\nWhile equal yet to both the gods remained.\n\nAnd in truth one shall not find eight, but many more victories, won\nby these men against the Syracusans, till the gods, in real truth,\nor fortune intervened to check the Athenians in this advance to the\nheight of power and greatness.\n\nNicias, therefore, doing violence to his body, was present in most\nactions.  But once, when his disease was the sharpest upon him, he\nlay in the camp with some few servants to attend him.  And Lamachus\nhaving the command fought the Syracusans, who were bringing a\ncross-wall from the city along to that of the Athenians, to hinder\nthem from carrying it round; and in the victory, the Athenians\nhurrying in some disorder to the pursuit, Lamachus getting\nseparated from his men, had to resist the Syracusan horse that came\nupon him.  Before the rest advanced Callicrates, a man of good\ncourage and skill in war.  Lamachus, upon a challenge, engaged with\nhim in single combat, and receiving the first wound, returned it so\nhome to Callicrates, that they both fell and died together.  The\nSyracusans took away his body and arms, and at full speed advanced\nto the wall of the Athenians, where Nicias lay without any troops\nto oppose to them, yet roused by this necessity, and seeing the\ndanger, he bade those about him go and set on fire all the wood and\nmaterials that lay provided before the wall for the engines, and\nthe engines themselves; this put a stop to the Syracusans, saved\nNicias, saved the walls, and all the money of the Athenians.  For\nwhen the Syracusans raw such a fire blazing up between them and the\nwall, they retired.\n\nNicias now remained sole general, and with great prospects; for\ncities began to come over to alliance with him, and ships laden\nwith corn from every coast came to the camp, everyone favoring\nwhen matters went well.  And some proposals from among the\nSyracusans despairing to defend the city, about a capitulation,\nwere already conveyed to him.  And in fact Gylippus, who was on his\nway with a squadron to their aid from Lacedaemon, hearing, on his\nvoyage, of the wall surrounding them, and of their distress, only\ncontinued his enterprise thenceforth, that, giving Sicily up for\nlost, he might, if even that should be possible, secure the\nItalians their cities.  For a strong report was everywhere spread\nabout that the Athenians carried all before them, and had a general\nalike for conduct and for fortune invincible.\n\nAnd Nicias himself, too, now against his nature grown bold in his\npresent strength and success, especially from the intelligence he\nreceived under hand of the Syracusans, believing they would almost\nimmediately surrender the town upon terms, paid no manner of regard\nto Gylippus coming to their assistance, nor kept any watch of his\napproach so that, neglected altogether and despised, Gylippus went\nin a longboat ashore without the knowledge of Nicias, and, having\nlanded in the remotest parts from Syracuse, mustered up a\nconsiderable force, the Syracusans not so much as knowing of his\narrival nor expecting him; so that an assembly was summoned to\nconsider the terms to be arranged with Nicias, and some were\nactually on the way, thinking it essential to have all dispatched\nbefore the town should be quite walled round, for now there\nremained very little to be done, and the materials for the building\nlay all ready along the line.\n\nIn this very nick of time and danger arrived Gongylus in one galley\nfrom Corinth, and everyone, as may be imagined, flocking about\nhim, he told them that Gylippus would be with them speedily, and\nthat other ships were coming to relieve them.  And, ere yet they\ncould perfectly believe Gongylus, an express was brought from\nGylippus, to bid them go forth to meet him.  So now taking good\nheart, they armed themselves; and Gylippus at once led on his men\nfrom their march in battle array against the Athenians, as Nicias\nalso embattled these.  And Gylippus, piling his arms in view of the\nAthenians, sent a herald to tell them he would give them leave to\ndepart from Sicily without molestation.  To this Nicias would not\nvouchsafe any answer, but some of his soldiers laughing asked if\nwith the sight of one coarse coat and Laconian staff the Syracusan\nprospects had become so brilliant that they could despise the\nAthenians, who had released to the Lacedaemonians three hundred,\nwhom they held in chains, bigger men than Gylippus, and\nlonger-haired?  Timaeus, also, writes that even the Syracusans made\nno account of Gylippus, at the first sight mocking at his staff and\nlong hair, as afterwards they found reason to blame his\ncovetousness and meanness.  The same author, however, adds that on\nGylippus's first appearance, as it might have been at the sight of\nan owl abroad in the air, there was a general flocking together of\nmen to serve in the war.  And this is the truer saying of the two;\nfor in the staff and the cloak they saw the badge and authority of\nSparta, and crowded to him accordingly.  And not only Thucydides\naffirms that the whole thing was done by him alone, but so, also,\ndoes Philistus, who was a Syracusan and an actual witness of what\nhappened.\n\nHowever, the Athenians had the better in the first encounter, and\nslew some few of the Syracusans, and amongst them Gongylus of\nCorinth.  But on the next day Gylippus showed what it is to be a\nman of experience; for with the same arms, the same horses, and on\nthe same spot of ground, only employing them otherwise, he overcame\nthe Athenians; and they fleeing to their camp, he set the\nSyracusans to work, and with the stone and materials that had been\nbrought together for finishing the wall of the Athenians, he built\na cross wall to intercept theirs and break it off, so that even if\nthey were successful in the field, they would not be able to do\nanything.  And after this the Syracusans taking courage manned their\ngalleys, and with their horse and followers ranging about took a\ngood many prisoners; and Gylippus going himself to the cities,\ncalled upon them to join with him, and was listened to and\nsupported vigorously by them.  So that Nicias fell back again to\nhis old views, and, seeing the face of affairs change, desponded,\nand wrote to Athens, bidding them either send another army, or\nrecall this out of Sicily, and that he might, in any case, be\nwholly relieved of the command, because of his disease.\n\nBefore this, the Athenians had been intending to send another army\nto Sicily, but envy of Nicias's early achievements and high fortune\nhad occasioned, up to this time, many delays; but now they were all\neager to send off succors.  Eurymedon went before, in midwinter,\nwith money, and to announce that Euthydemus and Menander were\nchosen out of those that served there under Nicias to be joint\ncommanders with him.  Demosthenes was to go after in the spring\nwith a great armament.  In the meantime Nicias was briskly\nattacked, both by sea and land; in the beginning he had the\ndisadvantage on the water, but in the end repulsed and sunk many\ngalleys of the enemy.  But by land he could not provide succor in\ntime, so Gylippus surprised and captured Plemmyrium, in which the\nstores for the navy, and a great sum of money being there kept, all\nfell into his hands, and many were slain, and many taken prisoners.\nAnd what was of greatest importance, he now cut off Nicias's\nsupplies, which had been safely and readily conveyed to him under\nPlemmyrium, while the Athenians still held it, but now that they\nwere beaten out, he could only procure them with great difficulty,\nand with opposition from the enemy, who lay in wait with their\nships under that fort.  Moreover, it seemed manifest to the\nSyracusans that their navy had not been beaten by strength, but by\ntheir disorder in the pursuit.  Now, therefore, all hands went to\nwork to prepare for a new attempt, that should succeed better than\nthe former.  Nicias had no wish for a sea-fight, but said it was\nmere folly for them, when Demosthenes was coming in all haste with\nso great a fleet and fresh forces to their succor, to engage the\nenemy with a less number of ships and ill provided.  But, on the\nother hand, Menander and Euthydemus, who were just commencing their\nnew command, prompted by a feeling of rivalry and emulation of both\nthe generals, were eager to gain some great success before\nDemosthenes came, and to prove themselves superior to Nicias.  They\nurged the honor of the city, which, said they, would be blemished\nand utterly lost, if they should decline a challenge from the\nSyracusans.  Thus they forced Nicias to a sea-fight; and by the\nstratagem of Ariston, the Corinthian pilot, (his trick, described\nby Thucydides, about the men's dinners,) they were worsted, and\nlost many of their men, causing the greatest dejection to Nicias,\nwho had suffered so much from having the sole command, and now\nagain miscarried through his colleagues.\n\nBut now, by this time, Demosthenes with his splendid fleet came in\nsight outside the harbor, a terror to the enemy.  He brought along,\nin seventy-three galleys, five thousand men at arms; of darters,\narchers, and slingers, not less than three thousand; with the\nglittering of their armor, the flags waving from the galleys, the\nmultitude of coxswains and flute-players giving time to the rowers,\nsetting off the whole with all possible warlike pomp and\nostentation to dismay the enemy.  Now, one may believe the\nSyracusans were again in extreme alarm, seeing no end or prospect\nof release before them, toiling, as it seemed, in vain, and\nperishing to no purpose.  Nicias, however, was not long overjoyed\nwith the reinforcement, for the first time he conferred with\nDemosthenes, who advised forthwith to attack the Syracusans, and to\nput all to the speediest hazard, to win Syracuse, or else return\nhome, afraid, and wondering at his promptness and audacity, he\nbesought him to do nothing rashly and desperately, since delay\nwould be the ruin of the enemy, whose money would not hold out, nor\ntheir confederates be long kept together; that when once they came\nto be pinched with want, they would presently come again to him for\nterms, as formerly.  For, indeed, many in Syracuse held secret\ncorrespondence with him, and urged him to stay, declaring that even\nnow the people were quite worn out with the war, and weary of\nGylippus.  And if their necessities should the least sharpen upon\nthem they would give up all.\n\nNicias glancing darkly at these matters, and unwilling to speak out\nplainly, made his colleagues imagine that it was cowardice which\nmade him talk in this manner.  And saying that this was the old\nstory over again, the well known procrastinations and delays and\nrefinements with which at first he let slip the opportunity in not\nimmediately falling on the enemy, but suffering the armament to\nbecome a thing of yesterday, that nobody was alarmed with, they\ntook the side of Demosthenes, and with much ado forced Nicias to\ncomply.  And so Demosthenes, taking the land-forces, by night made\nan assault upon Epipolae; part of the enemy he slew ere they took\nthe alarm, the rest defending themselves he put to flight.  Nor was\nhe content with this victory there, but pushed on further, till he\nmet the Boeotians.  For these were the first that made head against\nthe Athenians, and charged them with a shout, spear against spear,\nand killed many on the place.  And now at once there ensued a panic\nand confusion throughout the whole army; the victorious portion got\ninfected with the fears of the flying part, and those who were\nstill disembarking and coming forward, falling foul of the\nretreaters, came into conflict with their own party, taking the\nfugitives for pursuers, and treating their friends as if they were\nthe enemy.\n\nThus huddled together in disorder, distracted with fear and\nuncertainties, and unable to be sure of seeing anything, the night\nnot being absolutely dark, nor yielding any steady light, the moon\nthen towards setting, shadowed with the many weapons and bodies\nthat moved to and fro, and glimmering so as not to show an object\nplain, but to make friends through fear suspected for foes, the\nAthenians fell into utter perplexity and desperation.  For,\nmoreover, they had the moon at their backs, and consequently their\nown shadows fell upon them, and both hid the number and the\nglittering of their arms; while the reflection of the moon from the\nshields of the enemy made them show more numerous and better\nappointed than, indeed, they were.  At last, being pressed on every\nside, when once they had given way, they took to rout, and in their\nflight were destroyed, some by the enemy, some by the hand of their\nfriends, and some tumbling down the rocks, while those that were\ndispersed and straggled about were picked off in the morning by the\nhorsemen and put to the sword.  The slain were two thousand; and of\nthe rest few came off safe with their arms.\n\nUpon this disaster, which to him was not wholly an unexpected one,\nNicias accused the rashness of Demosthenes; but he, making his\nexcuses for the past, now advised to be gone in all haste, for\nneither were other forces to come, nor could the enemy be beaten\nwith the present.  And, indeed, even supposing they were yet too\nhard for the enemy in any case, they ought to remove and quit a\nsituation which they understood to be always accounted a sickly\none, and dangerous for an army, and was more particularly\nunwholesome now, as they could see themselves, because of the time\nof year.  It was the beginning of autumn, and many now lay sick,\nand all were out of heart.\n\nIt grieved Nicias to hear of flight and departing home, not that he\ndid not fear the Syracusans, but he was worse afraid of the\nAthenians, their impeachments and sentences; he professed that he\napprehended no further harm there, or if it must be, he would\nrather die by the hand of an enemy, than by his fellow-citizens.\nHe was not of the opinion which Leo of Byzantium declared to his\nfellow-citizens:  \"I had rather,\" said he, \"perish by you, than\nwith you.\"  As to the matter of place and quarter whither to remove\ntheir camp, that, he said, might be debated at leisure.  And\nDemosthenes, his former counsel having succeeded so ill, ceased to\npress him further; others thought Nicias had reasons for\nexpectation, and relied on some assurance from people within the\ncity, and that this made him so strongly oppose their retreat, so\nthey acquiesced.  But fresh forces now coming to the Syracusans,\nand the sickness growing worse in his camp, he, also, now approved\nof their retreat, and commanded the soldiers to make ready to go\naboard.\n\nAnd when all were in readiness, and none of the enemy had observed\nthem, not expecting such a thing, the moon was eclipsed in the\nnight, to the great fright of Nicias and others, who, for want of\nexperience, or out of superstition, felt alarm at such appearances.\nThat the sun might be darkened about the close of the month, this\neven ordinary people now understood pretty well to be the effect of\nthe moon; but the moon itself to be darkened, how that could come\nabout, and how, on the sudden, a broad full moon should lose her\nlight, and show such various colors, was not easy to be\ncomprehended; they concluded it to be ominous, and a divine\nintimation of some heavy calamities.  For he who the first, and the\nmost plainly of any, and with the greatest assurance committed to\nwriting how the moon is enlightened and overshadowed, was\nAnaxagoras; and he was as yet but recent, nor was his argument much\nknown, but was rather kept secret, passing only amongst a few,\nunder some kind of caution and confidence.  People would not then\ntolerate natural philosophers, and theorists, as they then called\nthem, about things above; as lessening the divine power, by\nexplaining away its agency into the operation of irrational causes\nand senseless forces acting by necessity, without anything of\nProvidence, or a free agent.  Hence it was that Protagoras was\nbanished, and Anaxagoras cast in prison, so that Pericles had much\ndifficulty to procure his liberty; and Socrates, though he had no\nconcern whatever with this sort of learning, yet was put to death\nfor philosophy.  It was only afterwards that the reputation of\nPlato, shining forth by his life, and because he subjected natural\nnecessity to divine and more excellent principles, took away the\nobloquy and scandal that had attached to such contemplations, and\nobtained these studies currency among all people.  So his friend\nDion, when the moon, at the time he was to embark from Zacynthus to\ngo against Dionysius, was eclipsed, was not in the least disturbed,\nbut went on, and, arriving at Syracuse, expelled the tyrant.  But\nit so fell out with Nicias, that he had not at this time a skillful\ndiviner with him; his former habitual adviser who used to moderate\nmuch of his superstition, Stilbides, had died a little before.  For\nin fact, this prodigy, as Philochorus observes, was not unlucky for\nmen wishing to fly, but on the contrary very favorable; for things\ndone in fear require to be hidden, and the light is their foe.  Nor\nwas it usual to observe signs in the sun or moon more than three\ndays, as Autoclides states in his Commentaries.  But Nicias\npersuaded them to wait another full course of the moon, as if he\nhad not seen it clear again as soon as ever it had passed the\nregion of shadow where the light was obstructed by the earth.\n\nIn a manner abandoning all other cares, he betook himself wholly to\nhis sacrifices, till the enemy came upon them with their infantry,\nbesieging the forts and camp, and placing their ships in a circle\nabout the harbor.  Nor did the men in the galleys only, but the\nlittle boys everywhere got into the fishing-boats and rowed up and\nchallenged the Athenians, and insulted over them.  Amongst these a\nyouth of noble parentage, Heraclides by name, having ventured out\nbeyond the rest, an Athenian ship pursued and wellnigh took him.\nHis uncle Pollichus, in fear for him, put out with ten galleys\nwhich he commanded, and the rest, to relieve Pollichus, in like\nmanner drew forth; the result of it being a very sharp engagement,\nin which the Syracusans had the victory, and slew Eurymedon, with\nmany others.  lifter this the Athenian soldiers had no patience to\nstay longer, but raised an outcry against their officers, requiring\nthem to depart by land; for the Syracusans, upon their victory,\nimmediately shut and blocked up the entrance of the harbor; but\nNicias would not consent to this, as it was a shameful thing to\nleave behind so many ships of burden, and galleys little less than\ntwo hundred.  Putting, therefore, on board the best of the foot,\nand the most serviceable darters, they filled one hundred and ten\ngalleys; the rest wanted oars.  The remainder of his army Nicias\nposted along by the sea-side, abandoning the great camp and the\nfortifications adjoining the temple of Hercules; so the Syracusans,\nnot having for a long time performed their usual sacrifice to\nHercules, went up now, both priests and captains, to sacrifice.\n\nAnd their galleys being manned, the diviners predicted from their\nsacrifices victory and glory to the Syracusans, provided they would\nnot be the aggressors, but fight upon the defensive; for so\nHercules overcame all, by only de.  fending himself when set upon.\nIn this confidence they set out; and this proved the hottest and\nfiercest of all their sea-fights, raising no less concern and\npassion in the beholders than in the actors; as they could oversee\nthe whole action with all the various and unexpected turns of\nfortune which, in a short space, occurred in it; the Athenians\nsuffering no less from their own preparations, than from the enemy;\nfor they fought against light and nimble ships, that could attack\nfrom any quarter, with theirs laden and heavy.  And they were\nthrown at with stones that fly indifferently any way, for which\nthey could only return darts and arrows, the direct aim of which\nthe motion of the water disturbed, preventing their coming true,\npoint foremost to their mark.  This the Syracusans had learned from\nAriston the Corinthian pilot, who, fighting stoutly, fell himself\nin this very engagement, when the victory had already declared for\nthe Syracusans.\n\nThe Athenians, their loss and slaughter being very great, their\nflight by sea cut off, their safety by land so difficult, did not\nattempt to hinder the enemy towing away their ships, under their\neves, nor demanded their dead, as, indeed, their want of burial\nseemed a less calamity than the leaving behind the sick and wounded\nwhich they now had before them.  Yet more miserable still than\nthose did they reckon themselves, who were to work on yet, through\nmore such sufferings, after all to reach the same end.\n\nThey prepared to dislodge that night.  And Gylippus and his friends\nseeing the Syracusans engaged in their sacrifices and at their\ncups, for their victories, and it being also a holiday, did not\nexpect either by persuasion or by force to rouse them up and carry\nthem against the Athenians as they decamped.  But Hermocrates, of\nhis own head, put a trick upon Nicias, and sent some of his\ncompanions to him, who pretended they came from those that were\nwont to hold secret intelligence with him, and advised him not to\nstir that night, the Syracusans having laid ambushes and beset the\nways.  Nicias, caught with this stratagem, remained, to encounter\npresently in reality, what he had feared when there was no\noccasion.  For they, the next morning, marching before, seized the\ndefiles, fortified the passes where the rivers were fordable, cut\ndown the bridges, and ordered their horsemen to range the plains\nand ground that lay open, so as to leave no part of the country\nwhere the Athenians could move without fighting.  They stayed both\nthat day and another night, and then went along as if they were\nleaving their own, not an enemy's country, lamenting and bewailing\nfor want of necessaries, and for their parting from friends and\ncompanions that were not, able to help themselves; and,\nnevertheless, judging the present evils lighter than those they\nexpected to come.  But among the many miserable spectacles that\nappeared up and down in the camp, the saddest sight of all was\nNicias himself, laboring under his malady, and unworthily reduced\nto the scantiest supply of all the accommodations necessary for\nhuman wants, of which he in his condition required more than\nordinary, because of his sickness; yet bearing; up under all this\nillness, and doing and undergoing more than many in perfect health.\nAnd it was plainly evident, that all this toil was not for himself,\nor from any regard to his own life, but that purely for the sake of\nthose under his command he would not abandon hope.  And, indeed,\nthe rest were given over to weeping and lamentation through fear or\nsorrow, but he, whenever he yielded to anything of the kind, did\nso, it was evident, from reflection upon the shame and dishonor of\nthe enterprise, contrasted with the greatness and glory of the\nsuccess he had anticipated, and not only the sight of his person,\nbut, also, the recollection of the arguments and the dissuasions he\nused to prevent this expedition, enhanced their sense of the\nundeservedness of his sufferings, nor had they any heart to put\ntheir trust in the gods, considering that a man so religious, who\nhad performed to the divine powers so many and so great acts of\ndevotion, should have no more favorable treatment than the\nwickedest and meanest of the army.\n\nNicias, however, endeavored all the while by his voice, his\ncountenance, and his carriage, to show himself undefeated by these\nmisfortunes.  And all along the way shot at, and receiving wounds\neight days continually from the enemy, he yet preserved the forces\nwith him in a body entire, till that Demosthenes was taken prisoner\nwith the party that he led, whilst they fought and made a\nresistance, and so got behind and were surrounded near the country\nhouse of Polyzelus.  Demosthenes thereupon drew his sword, and\nwounded but did not kill himself, the enemy speedily running in and\nseizing upon him.  So soon as the Syracusans had gone and informed\nNicias of this, and he had sent some horsemen, and by them knew the\ncertainty of the defeat of that division, he then vouchsafed to sue\nto Gylippus for a truce for the Athenians to depart out of Sicily,\nleaving hostages for payment of the money that the Syracusans had\nexpended in the war.\n\nBut now they would not hear of these proposals, but threatening and\nreviling them, angrily and insultingly continued to ply their\nmissiles at them, now destitute of every necessary.  Yet Nicias\nstill made good his retreat all that night, and the next day,\nthrough all their darts, made his way to the river Asinarus.\nThere, however, the enemy encountering them, drove some into the\nstream, while others ready to die for thirst plunged in headlong,\nwhile they drank at the same time, and were cut down by their\nenemies.  And here was the cruelest and the most immoderate\nslaughter.  Till at last Nicias falling down to Gylippus, \"Let\npity, O Gylippus,\" said he, \"move you in your victory; not for me,\nwho was destined, it seems, to bring the glory I once had to this\nend, but for the other Athenians; as you well know that the chances\nof war are common to all, and the Athenians used them moderately\nand mildly towards you in their prosperity.\"\n\nAt these words, and at the sight of Nicias, Gylippus was somewhat\ntroubled, for he was sensible that the Lacedaemonians had received\ngood offices from Nicias in the late treaty; and he thought it\nwould be a great and glorious thing for him to carry off the chief\ncommanders of the Athenians alive.  He, therefore, raised Nicias\nwith respect, and bade him be of good cheer, and commanded his men\nto spare the lives of the rest.  But the word of command being\ncommunicated slowly, the slain were a far greater number than the\nprisoners.  Many, however, were privily conveyed away by particular\nsoldiers.  Those taken openly were hurried together in a mass;\ntheir arms and spoils hung up on the finest and largest trees along\nthe river.  The conquerors, with garlands on their heads, with\ntheir own horses splendidly adorned, and cropping short the manes\nand tails of those of their enemies, entered the city, having, in\nthe most signal conflict ever waged by Greeks against Greeks, and\nwith the greatest strength and the utmost effort of valor and\nmanhood, won a most entire victory.\n\nAnd a general assembly of the people of Syracuse and their\nconfederates sitting, Eurycles, the popular leader, moved, first,\nthat the day on which they took Nicias should from thenceforward be\nkept holiday by sacrificing and forbearing all manner of work, and\nfrom the river be called the Asinarian Feast.  This was the\ntwenty-sixth day of the month Carneus, the Athenian Metagitnion.\nAnd that the servants of the Athenians with the other confederates\nbe sold for slaves, and they themselves and the Sicilian\nauxiliaries be kept and employed in the quarries, except the\ngenerals, who should be put to death.  The Syracusans favored the\nproposal, and when Hermocrates said, that to use well a victory was\nbetter than to gain a victory, he was met with great clamor and\noutcry.  When Gylippus, also, demanded the Athenian generals to be\ndelivered to him, that he might carry them to the Lacedaemonians,\nthe Syracusans, now insolent with their good fortune, gave him ill\nwords.  Indeed, before this, even in the war, they had been\nimpatient at his rough behavior and Lacedaemonian haughtiness, and\nhad, as Timaeus tells us, discovered sordidness and avarice in his\ncharacter, vices which may have descended to him from his father\nCleandrides, who was convicted of bribery and banished.  And the\nvery man himself, of the one thousand talents which Lysander sent\nto Sparta, embezzled thirty, and hid them under the tiles of his\nhouse, and was detected and shamefully fled his country.  But this\nis related more at large in the life of Lysander.  Timaeus says\nthat Demosthenes and Nicias did not die, as Thucydides and\nPhilistus have written, by the order of the Syracusans, but that\nupon a message sent them from Hermocrates, whilst yet the assembly\nwere sitting, by the connivance of some of their guards, they were\nenabled to put an end to themselves.  Their bodies, however, were\nthrown out before the gates and offered for a public spectacle.\nAnd I have heard that to this day in a temple at Syracuse is shown\na shield, said to have been Nicias's, curiously wrought and\nembroidered with gold and purple intermixed.  Most of the Athenians\nperished in the quarries by diseases and ill diet, being allowed\nonly one pint of barley every day, and one half pint of water.\nMany of them, however, were carried off by stealth, or, from the\nfirst, were supposed to be servants, and were sold as slaves.\nThese latter were branded on their foreheads with the figure of a\nhorse.  There were, however, Athenians, who, in addition to\nslavery, had to endure even this.  But their discreet and orderly\nconduct was an advantage to them; they were either soon set free,\nor won the respect of their masters with whom they continued to\nlive.  Several were saved for the sake of Euripides, whose poetry,\nit appears, was in request among the Sicilians more than among any\nof the settlers out of Greece.  And when any travelers arrived that\ncould tell them some passage, or give them any specimen of his\nverses, they were delighted to be able to communicate them to one\nanother.  Many of the captives who got safe back to Athens are\nsaid, after they reached home, to have gone and made their\nacknowledgments to Euripides, relating how that some of them had\nbeen released from their slavery by teaching what they could\nremember of his poems, and others, when straggling after the fight,\nbeen relieved with meat and drink for repeating some of his lyrics.\nNor need this be any wonder, for it is told that a ship of Caunus\nfleeing into one of their harbors for protection, pursued by\npirates, was not received, but forced back, till one asked if they\nknew any of Euripides's verses, and on their saying they did, they\nwere admitted, and their ship brought into harbor.\n\nIt is said that the Athenians would not believe their loss, in a\ngreat degree because of the person who first brought them news of\nit.  For a certain stranger, it seems, coming to Piraeus, and there\nsitting in a barber's shop, began to talk of what had happened, as\nif the Athenians already knew all that had passed; which the barber\nhearing, before he acquainted anybody else, ran as fast as he could\nup into the city, addressed himself to the Archons, and presently\nspread it about in the public Place.  On which, there being\neverywhere, as may be imagined, terror and consternation, the\nArchons summoned a general assembly, and there brought in the man\nand questioned him how he came to know.  And he, giving no\nsatisfactory account, was taken for a spreader of false\nintelligence and a disturber of the city, and was, therefore,\nfastened to the wheel and racked a long time, till other messengers\narrived that related the whole disaster particularly.  So hardly\nwas Nicias believed to have suffered the calamity which he had\noften predicted.\n\n\n\nCRASSUS\n\nMarcus Crassus, whose father had borne the office of a censor, and\nreceived the honor of a triumph, was educated in a little house\ntogether with his two brothers, who both married in their parents'\nlifetime; they kept but one table amongst them; all which,\nperhaps, was not the least reason of his own temperance and\nmoderation in diet.  One of his brothers dying, he married his\nwidow, by whom he had his children; neither was there in these\nrespects any of the Romans who lived a more orderly life than he\ndid, though later in life he was suspected to have been too\nfamiliar with one of the vestal virgins, named Licinia, who was,\nnevertheless, acquitted, upon an impeachment brought against her\nby one Plotinus.  Licinia stood possessed of a beautiful property\nin the suburbs, which Crassus desiring to purchase at a low price,\nfor this reason was frequent in his attentions to her, which gave\noccasion to the scandal, and his avarice, so to say, serving to\nclear him of the crime, he was acquitted.  Nor did he leave the\nlady till he had got the estate.\n\nPeople were wont to say that the many virtues of Crassus were\ndarkened by the one vice of avarice, and indeed he seemed to have\nno other but that; for it being the most predominant, obscured\nothers to which he was inclined.  The arguments in proof of his\navarice were the vastness of his estate, and the manner of raising\nit; for whereas at first he was not worth above three hundred\ntalents, yet, though in the course of his political life he\ndedicated the tenth of all he had to Hercules, and feasted the\npeople, and gave to every citizen corn enough to serve him three\nmonths, upon casting up his accounts, before he went upon his\nParthian expedition, he found his possessions to amount to seven\nthousand one hundred talents; most of which, if we may scandal him\nwith a truth, he got by fire and rapine, making his advantages of\nthe public calamities.  For when Sylla seized the city, and\nexposed to sale the goods of those that he had caused to be slain,\naccounting them booty and spoils, and, indeed, calling them so\ntoo, and was desirous of making as many, and as eminent men as he\ncould, partakers in the crime, Crassus never was the man that\nrefused to accept, or give money for them.  Moreover observing how\nextremely subject the city was to fire, and falling down of\nhouses, by reason of their height and their standing so near\ntogether, he bought slaves that were builders and architects, and\nwhen he had collected these to the number of more than five\nhundred, he made it his practice to buy houses that were on fire,\nand those in the neighborhood, which, in the immediate danger and\nuncertainty, the proprietors were willing to part with for little,\nor nothing; so that the greatest part of Rome, at one time or\nother, came into his hands.  Yet for all he had so many workmen,\nhe never built anything but his own house, and used to say that\nthose that were addicted to building would undo themselves soon\nenough without the help of other enemies.  And though he had many\nsilver mines, and much valuable land, and laborers to work in it,\nyet all this was nothing in comparison of his slaves, such a\nnumber and variety did he possess of excellent readers,\namanuenses, silversmiths, stewards, and table-waiters, whose\ninstruction he always attended to himself, superintending in\nperson while they learned, and teaching them himself, accounting\nit the main duty of a master to look over the servants, that are,\nindeed, the living tools of housekeeping; and in this, indeed, he\nwas in the right, in thinking, that is, as he used to say, that\nservants ought to look after all other things, and the master\nafter them.  For economy, which in things inanimate is but\nmoney-making when exercised over men becomes policy. But it was\nsurely a mistaken judgment, when he said no man was to be\naccounted rich that could not maintain an army at his own cost and\ncharges, for war, as Archidamus well observed, is not fed at a\nfixed allowance, so that there is no saying what wealth suffices\nfor it, and certainly it was one very far removed from that of\nMarius; for when he had distributed fourteen acres of land a man,\nand understood that some desired more, \"God forbid,\" said he,\n\"that any Roman should think that too little which is enough to\nkeep him alive and well.\"\n\nCrassus, however, was very eager to be hospitable to strangers; he\nkept open house, and to his friends he would lend money without\ninterest, but called it in precisely at the time; so that his\nkindness was often thought worse than the paying the interest\nwould have been.  His entertainments were, for the most part,\nplain and citizenlike, the company general and popular; good taste\nand kindness made them pleasanter than sumptuosity would have\ndone.  As for learning, he chiefly cared for rhetoric, and what\nwould be serviceable with large numbers; he became one of the best\nspeakers at Rome, and by his pains and industry outdid the best\nnatural orators.  For there was no trial how mean and contemptible\nsoever that he came to unprepared; nay, several times he undertook\nand concluded a cause, when Pompey and Caesar and Cicero refused\nto stand up, upon which account particularly he got the love of\nthe people, who looked upon him as a diligent and careful man,\nready to help and succor his fellow-citizens.  Besides, the people\nwere pleased with his courteous and unpretending salutations and\ngreetings; for he never met any citizen however humble and low,\nbut he returned him his salute by name.  He was looked upon as a\nman well-read in history, and pretty well versed in Aristotle's\nphilosophy, in which one Alexander instructed him, a man whose\nintercourse with Crassus gave a sufficient proof of his\ngood-nature, and gentle disposition; for it is hard to say whether\nhe was poorer when he entered into his service, or while he\ncontinued in it; for being his only friend that used to accompany\nhim when traveling, he used to receive from him a cloak for the\njourney, and when he came home had it demanded from him again;\npoor patient sufferer, when even the philosophy he professed did\nnot look upon poverty as a thing indifferent. But of this\nhereafter.\n\nWhen Cinna and Marius got the power in their hands, it was soon\nperceived that they had not come back for any good they intended\nto their country, but to effect the ruin and utter destruction of\nthe nobility.  And as many as they could lay their hands on they\nslew, amongst whom were Crassus's father and brother; he himself,\nbeing very young, for the moment escaped the danger; but\nunderstanding that he was every way beset and hunted after by the\ntyrants, taking with him three friends and ten servants, with all\npossible speed he fled into Spain, having formerly been there and\nsecured a great number of friends, while his father was Praetor of\nthat country.  But finding all people in a consternation, and\ntrembling at the cruelty of Marius, as if he was already standing\nover them in person, he durst not discover himself to anybody, but\nhid himself in a large cave, which was by the sea-shore, and\nbelonged to Vibius Pacianus, to whom he sent one of his servants\nto sound him, his provisions, also, beginning to fail.  Vibius was\nwell pleased at his escape, and inquiring the place of his abode\nand the number of his companions, he went not to him himself, but\ncommanded his steward to provide every day a good meal's meat, and\ncarry it and leave it near such a rock, and so return without\ntaking any further notice or being inquisitive, promising him his\nliberty if he did as he commanded, and that he would kill him if\nhe intermeddled.  The cave is not far from the sea; a small and\ninsignificant looking opening in the cliffs conducts you in; when\nyou are entered, a wonderfully high roof spreads above you, and\nlarge chambers open out one beyond another, nor does it lack\neither water or light, for a very pleasant and wholesome spring\nruns at the foot of the cliffs, and natural chinks, in the most\nadvantageous place, let in the light all day long; and the\nthickness of the rock makes the air within pure and clear, all the\nwet and moisture being carried off into the spring.\n\nWhile Crassus remained here, the steward brought them what was\nnecessary, but never saw them, nor knew anything of the matter,\nthough they within saw, and expected him at the customary times.\nNeither was their entertainment such as just to keep them alive,\nbut given them in abundance and for their enjoyment; for Pacianus\nresolved to treat him with all imaginable kindness, and\nconsidering he was a young man, thought it well to gratify a\nlittle his youthful inclinations; for to give just what is\nneedful, seems rather to come from necessity than from a hearty\nfriendship.  Once taking with him two female servants, he showed\nthem the place and bade them go in boldly, whom when Crassus and\nhis friends saw, they were afraid of being betrayed, and demanded\nwhat they were, and what they would have.  They, according as they\nwere instructed, answered, they came to wait upon their master who\nwas hid in that cave.  And so Crassus perceiving it was a piece of\npleasantry and of goodwill on the part of Vibius, took them in and\nkept them there with him as long as he stayed, and employed them\nto give information to Vibius of what they wanted, and how they\nwere.  Fenestella says he saw one of them, then very old, and\noften heard her speak of the time and repeat the story with\npleasure.\n\nAfter Crassus had lain concealed there eight months, on hearing\nthat Cinna was dead, he appeared abroad, and a great number of\npeople flocking to him, out of whom he selected a body of two\nthousand five hundred, he visited many cities, and, as some write,\nsacked Malaca, which he himself, however, always denied, and\ncontradicted all who said so.  Afterwards, getting together some\nships, he passed into Africa, and joined with Metellus Pius, an\neminent person that had raised a very considerable force; but upon\nsome difference between him and Metellus, he stayed not long\nthere, but went over to Sylla, by whom he was very much esteemed.\nWhen Sylla passed over into Italy, he was anxious to put all the\nyoung men that were with him in employment; and as he dispatched\nsome one way, and some another, Crassus, on its falling to his\nshare to raise men among the Marsians, demanded a guard, being to\npass through the enemy's country, upon which Sylla replied\nsharply, \"I give you for guard your father, your brother, your\nfriends and kindred, whose unjust and cruel murder I am now going\nto revenge;\" and Crassus, being nettled, went his way, broke\nboldly through the enemy, collected a considerable force, and in\nall Sylla's wars acted with great zeal and courage.  And in these\ntimes and occasions, they say, began the emulation and rivalry for\nglory between him and Pompey; for though Pompey was the younger\nman, and had the disadvantage to be descended of a father that was\ndisesteemed by the citizens, and hated as much as ever man was,\nyet in these actions he shone out, and was proved so great, that\nSylla always used, when he came in, to stand up and uncover his\nhead, an honor which he seldom showed to older men and his own\nequals, and always saluted him Imperator.  This fired and stung\nCrassus, though, indeed, he could not with any fairness claim to\nbe preferred; for he both wanted experience, and his two innate\nvices, sordidness and avarice, tarnished all the lustre of his\nactions.  For when he had taken Tudertia, a town of the Umbrians,\nhe converted, it was said, all the spoil to his own use, for which\nhe was complained of to Sylla.  But in the last and greatest\nbattle before Rome itself, where Sylla was worsted, some of his\nbattalions giving ground, and others being quite broken, Crassus\ngot the victory on the right wing, which he commanded, and pursued\nthe enemy till night, and then sent to Sylla to acquaint him with\nhis success, and demand provision for his soldiers.  In the time,\nhowever, of the proscriptions and sequestrations, he lost his\nrepute again, by making great purchases for little or nothing, and\nasking for grants.  Nay, they say he proscribed one of the\nBruttians without Sylla's order, only for his own profit, and\nthat, on discovering this, Sylla never after trusted him in any\npublic affairs.  As no man was more cunning than Crassus to\nensnare others by flattery, so no man lay more open to it, or\nswallowed it more greedily than himself.  And this particularly\nwas observed of him, that though he was the most covetous man in\nthe world, yet he habitually disliked and cried out against others\nwho were so.\n\nIt troubled him to see Pompey so successful in all his\nundertakings; that he had had a triumph before he was capable to\nsit in the senate, and that the people had surnamed him Magnus, or\nthe Great.  When somebody was saying Pompey the Great was coming,\nhe smiled, and asked him, \"How big is he?\"  Despairing to equal\nhim by feats of arms, he betook himself to civil life, where by\ndoing kindnesses, pleading, lending money, by speaking and\ncanvassing among the people for those who had objects to obtain\nfrom them, he gradually gained as great honor and power as Pompey\nhad from his many famous expeditions.  And it was a curious thing\nin their rivalry, that Pompey's name and interest in the city was\ngreatest when he was absent, for his renown in war, but when\npresent he was often less successful than Crassus, by reason of\nhis superciliousness and haughty way of living, shunning crowds of\npeople, and appearing rarely in the forum, and assisting only some\nfew, and that not readily, that his interest might be the stronger\nwhen he came to use it for himself.  Whereas Crassus, being a\nfriend always at hand, ready to be had and easy of access, and\nalways with his hands full of other people's business, with his\nfreedom and courtesy, got the better of Pompey's formality.  In\npoint of dignity of person, eloquence of language, and\nattractiveness of countenance, they were pretty equally excellent.\nBut, however, this emulation never transported Crassus so far as\nto make him bear enmity, or any ill-will; for though he was vexed\nto see Pompey and Caesar preferred to him, yet he never minded any\nhostility or malice with his jealousy; though Caesar when he was\ntaken captive by the corsairs in Asia, cried out, \"O Crassus, how\nglad you will be at the news of my captivity!\"  Afterwards they\nlived together on friendly terms, for when Caesar was going\npraetor into Spain, and his creditors, he being then in want of\nmoney, came upon him and seized his equipage, Crassus then stood\nby him and relieved him, and was his security for eight hundred\nand thirty talents.  And, in general, Rome being divided into\nthree great interests, those of Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, (for\nas for Cato, his fame was greater than his power, and he was\nrather admired than followed,) the sober and quiet part were for\nPompey, the restless and hotheaded followed Caesar's ambition, but\nCrassus trimmed between them, making advantages of both, and\nchanged sides continually, being neither a trusty friend nor an\nimplacable enemy, and easily abandoned both his attachments and\nhis animosities, as he found it for his advantage, so that in\nshort spaces of time, the same men and the same measures had him\nboth as their supporter and as their opponent.  He was much liked,\nbut was feared as much or even more.  At any rate, when Sicinius,\nwho was the greatest troubler of the magistrates and ministers of\nhis time, was asked how it was he let Crassus alone, \"Oh,\" said\nhe, \"he carries hay on his horns,\" alluding to the custom of tying\nhay to the horns of a bull that used to butt, that people might\nkeep out of his way.\n\nThe insurrection of the gladiators and the devastation of Italy,\ncommonly called the war of Spartacus, began upon this occasion.\nOne Lentulus Batiates trained up a great many gladiators in Capua,\nmost of them Gauls and Thracians, who, not for any fault by them\ncommitted, but simply through the cruelty of their master, were\nkept in confinement for this object of fighting one with another.\nTwo hundred of these formed a plan to escape, but their plot being\ndiscovered, those of them who became aware of it in time to\nanticipate their master, being seventy-eight, got out of a cook's\nshop chopping-knives and spits, and made their way through the\ncity, and lighting by the way on several wagons that were carrying\ngladiator's arms to another city, they seized upon them and armed\nthemselves.  And seizing upon a defensible place, they chose three\ncaptains, of whom Spartacus was chief, a Thracian of one of the\nnomad tribes, and a man not only of high spirit and valiant, but\nin understanding, also, and in gentleness, superior to his\ncondition, and more of a Grecian than the people of his country\nusually are.  When he first came to be sold at Rome, they say a\nsnake coiled itself upon his face as he lay asleep, and his wife,\nwho at this latter time also accompanied him in his flight, his\ncountry-woman, a kind of prophetess, and one of those possessed\nwith the bacchanal frenzy, declared that it was a sign portending\ngreat and formidable power to him with no happy event.\n\nFirst, then, routing those that came out of Capua against them,\nand thus procuring a quantity of proper soldiers' arms, they\ngladly threw away their own as barbarous and dishonorable.\nAfterwards Clodius, the praetor, took the command against them\nwith a body of three thousand men from Rome, and besieged them\nwithin a mountain, accessible only by one narrow and difficult\npassage, which Clodius kept guarded, encompassed on all other\nsides with steep and slippery precipices.  Upon the top, however,\ngrew a great many wild vines, and cutting down as many of their\nboughs as they had need of, they twisted them into strong ladders\nlong enough to reach from thence to the bottom, by which, without\nany danger, they got down all but one, who stayed there to throw\nthem down their arms, and after this succeeded in saving himself.\nThe Romans were ignorant of all this, and, therefore, coming upon\nthem in the rear, they assaulted them unawares and took their\ncamp.  Several, also, of the shepherds and herdsman that were\nthere, stout and nimble fellows, revolted over to them, to some of\nwhom they gave complete arms, and made use of others as scouts and\nlight-armed soldiers.  Publius Varinus, the praetor, was now sent\nagainst them, whose lieutenant, Furius, with two thousand men,\nthey fought and routed.  Then Cossinius was sent, with\nconsiderable forces, to give his assistance and advice, and him\nSpartacus missed but very little of capturing in person, as he was\nbathing at Salinae; for he with great difficulty made his escape,\nwhile Spartacus possessed himself of his baggage, and following\nthe chase with a great slaughter, stormed his camp and took it,\nwhere Cossinius himself was slain.  After many successful\nskirmishes with the praetor himself, in one of which he took his\nlictors and his own horse, he began to be great and terrible; but\nwisely considering that he was not to expect to match the force of\nthe empire, he marched his army towards the Alps, intending, when\nhe had passed them, that every man should go to his own home, some\nto Thrace, some to Gaul.  But they, grown confident in their\nnumbers, and puffed up with their success, would give no obedience\nto him, but went about and ravaged Italy; so that now the senate\nwas not only moved at the indignity and baseness, both of the\nenemy and of the insurrection, but, looking upon it as a matter of\nalarm and of dangerous consequence, sent out both the consuls to\nit, as to a great and difficult enterprise.  The consul Gellius,\nfalling suddenly upon a party of Germans, who through contempt and\nconfidence had straggled from Spartacus, cut them all to pieces.\nBut when Lentulus with a large army besieged Spartacus, he sallied\nout upon him, and, joining battle, defeated his chief officers,\nand captured all his baggage.  As he made toward the Alps,\nCassius, who was praetor of that part of Gaul that lies about the\nPo, met him with ten thousand men, but being overcome in battle,\nhe had much ado to escape himself, with the loss of a great many\nof his men.\n\nWhen the senate understood this, they were displeased at the\nconsuls, and ordering them to meddle no further, they appointed\nCrassus general of the war, and a great many of the nobility went\nvolunteers with him, partly out of friendship, and partly to get\nhonor.  He stayed himself on the borders of Picenum, expecting\nSpartacus would come that way, and sent his lieutenant, Mummius,\nwith two legions, to wheel about and observe the enemy's motions,\nbut upon no account to engage or skirmish.  But he, upon the first\nopportunity, joined battle, and was routed, having a great many\nof his men slain, and a great many only saving their lives, with\nthe loss of their arms.  Crassus rebuked Mummius severely, and\narming the soldiers again, he made them find sureties for their\narms, that they would part with them no more, and five hundred\nthat were the beginners of the flight, he divided into fifty tens,\nand one of each was to die by lot, thus reviving the ancient Roman\npunishment of decimation, where ignominy is added to the penalty\nof death, with a variety of appalling and terrible circumstances,\npresented before the eyes of the whole army, assembled as\nspectators.  When he had thus reclaimed his men, he led them\nagainst the enemy; but Spartacus retreated through Lucania toward\nthe sea, and in the straits meeting with some Cilician pirate\nships, he had thoughts of attempting Sicily, where, by landing two\nthousand men, he hoped to new kindle the war of the slaves, which\nwas but lately extinguished, and seemed to need but a little fuel\nto set it burning again.  But after the pirates had struck a\nbargain with him, and received his earnest, they deceived him and\nsailed away.  He thereupon retired again from the sea, and\nestablished his army in the peninsula of Rhegium; there Crassus\ncame upon him, and considering the nature of the place, which of\nitself suggested the undertaking, he set to work to build a wall\nacross the isthmus; thus keeping his soldiers at once from\nidleness, and his foes from forage.  This great and difficult work\nhe perfected in a space of time short beyond all expectation,\nmaking a ditch from one sea to the other, over the neck of land,\nthree hundred furlongs long, fifteen feet broad, and as much in\ndepth, and above it built a wonderfully high and strong wall.  All\nwhich Spartacus at first slighted and despised, but when\nprovisions began to fail, and on his proposing to pass further, he\nfound he was walled in, and no more was to be had in the\npeninsula, taking the opportunity of a snowy, stormy night, he\nfilled up part of the ditch with earth and boughs of trees, and so\npassed the third part of his army over.\n\nCrassus was afraid lest he should march directly to Rome, but was\nsoon eased of that fear when he saw many of his men break out in a\nmutiny and quit him, and encamp by themselves upon the Lucanian\nlake.  This lake they say changes at intervals of time, and is\nsometimes sweet, and sometimes so salt that it cannot be drunk.\nCrassus falling upon these beat them from the lake, but he could\nnot pursue the slaughter, because of Spartacus suddenly coming up,\nand checking the flight.  Now he began to repent that he had\npreviously written to the senate to call Lucullus out of Thrace,\nand Pompey out of Spain; so that he did all he could to finish the\nwar before they came, knowing that the honor of the action would\nredound to him that came to his assistance.  Resolving, therefore,\nfirst to set upon those that had mutinied and encamped apart, whom\nCaius Cannicius and Castus commanded, he sent six thousand men\nbefore to secure a little eminence, and to do it as privately as\npossible, which that they might do, they covered their helmets,\nbut being discovered by two women that were sacrificing for the\nenemy, they had been in great hazard, had not Crassus immediately\nappeared, and engaged in a battle which proved a most bloody one.\nOf twelve thousand three hundred whom he killed, two only were\nfound wounded in their backs, the rest all having died standing in\ntheir ranks, and fighting bravely.  Spartacus, after this\ndiscomfiture, retired to the mountains of Petelia, but Quintius,\none of Crassus's officers, and Scrofa, the quaestor, pursued and\novertook him.  But when Spartacus rallied and faced them, they\nwere utterly routed and fled, and had much ado to carry off their\nquaestor, who was wounded.  This success, however, ruined\nSpartacus, because it encouraged the slaves, who now disdained any\nlonger to avoid fighting, or to obey their officers, but as they\nwere upon their march, they came to them with their swords in\ntheir hand, and compelled them to lead them back again through\nLucania, against the Romans, the very thing which Crassus was\neager for.  For news was already brought that Pompey was at hand;\nand people began to talk openly, that the honor of this war was\nreserved for him, who would come and at once oblige the enemy to\nfight and put an end to the war.  Crassus, therefore, eager to\nfight a decisive battle, encamped very near the enemy, and began\nto make lines of circumvallation; but the slaves made a sally, and\nattacked the pioneers.  As fresh supplies came in on either side,\nSpartacus, seeing there was no avoiding it, set all his army in\narray, and when his horse was brought him, he drew out his sword\nand killed him, saying, if he got the day, he should have a great\nmany better horses of the enemies, and if he lost it, he should\nhave no need of this.  And so making directly towards Crassus\nhimself, through the midst of arms and wounds, he missed him, hut\nslew two centurions that fell upon him together.  At last being\ndeserted by those that were about him, he himself stood his\nground, and, surrounded by the enemy, bravely defending himself,\nwas cut in pieces.  But though Crassus had good fortune, and not\nonly did the part of a good general, but gallantly exposed his\nperson, yet Pompey had much of the credit of the action.  For he\nmet with many of the fugitives, and slew them, and wrote to the\nsenate that Crassus indeed had vanquished the slaves in a pitched\nbattle, but that he had put an end to the war.  Pompey was honored\nwith a magnificent triumph for his conquest over Sertorius and\nSpain, while Crassus could not himself so much as desire a triumph\nin its full form, and indeed it was thought to look but meanly in\nhim to accept of the lesser honor, called the ovation, for a\nservile war, and perform a procession on foot.  The difference\nbetween this and the other, and the origin of the name, are\nexplained in the life of Marcellus.\n\nAnd Pompey being immediately invited to the consulship, Crassus,\nwho had hoped to be joined with him, did not scruple to request\nhis assistance.  Pompey most readily seized the opportunity, as he\ndesired by all means to lay some obligation upon Crassus, and\nzealously promoted his interest; and at last he declared in one of\nhis speeches to the people, that he should be not less beholden to\nthem for his colleague, than for the honor of his own appointment.\nBut once entered upon the employment, this amity continued not\nlong; but differing almost in everything, disagreeing,\nquarreling, and contending, they spent the time of their\nconsulship, without effecting any measure of consequence, except\nthat Crassus made a great sacrifice to Hercules, and feasted the\npeople at ten thousand tables, and measured them out corn for\nthree months.  When their command was now ready to expire, and\nthey were, as it happened addressing the people, a Roman knight,\none Onatius Aurelius, an ordinary private person, living in the\ncountry, mounted the hustings, and declared a vision he had in his\nsleep:  \"Jupiter,\" said he, \"appeared to me, and commanded me to\ntell you, that you should not suffer your consuls to lay down\ntheir charge before they are made friends.\"  When he had spoken,\nthe people cried out that they should be reconciled.  Pompey stood\nstill and said nothing, but Crassus, first offering him his hand,\nsaid, \"I cannot think, my countrymen, that I do any thing\nhumiliating or unworthy of myself, if I make the first offers of\naccommodation and friendship with Pompey, whom you yourselves\nstyled the Great, before he was of man's estate, and decreed him a\ntriumph before he was capable of sitting in the senate.\"\n\nThis is what was memorable in Crassus's consulship, but as for his\ncensorship, that was altogether idle and inactive, for he neither\nmade a scrutiny of the senate, nor took a review of the horsemen,\nnor a census of the people, though he had as mild a man as could\nbe desired for his colleague, Lutatius Catulus.  It is said,\nindeed, that when Crassus intended a violent and unjust measure,\nwhich was the reducing Egypt to be tributary to Rome, Catulus\nstrongly opposed it, and falling out about it, they laid down\ntheir office by consent.  In the great conspiracy of Catiline,\nwhich was very near subverting the government, Crassus was not\nwithout some suspicion of being concerned, and one man came\nforward and declared him to be in the plot; but nobody credited\nhim.  Yet Cicero, in one of his orations, clearly charges both\nCrassus and Caesar with the guilt of it, though that speech was\nnot published till they were both dead.  But in his speech upon\nhis consulship, he declares that Crassus came to him by night, and\nbrought a letter concerning Catiline, stating the details of the\nconspiracy.  Crassus hated him ever after, but was hindered by his\nson from doing him any open injury; for Publius was a great lover\nof learning and eloquence, and a constant follower of Cicero,\ninsomuch that he put himself into mourning when he was accused,\nand induced the other young men to do the same.  And at last he\nreconciled him to his father.\n\nCaesar now returning from his command, and designing to get the\nconsulship, and seeing that Crassus and Pompey were again at\nvariance, was unwilling to disoblige one by making application to\nthe other, and despaired of success without the help of one of\nthem; he therefore made it his business to reconcile them, making\nit appear that by weakening each other's influence they were\npromoting the interest of the Ciceros, the Catuli, and the Catos,\nwho would really be of no account if they would join their\ninterests and their factions, and act together in public with one\npolicy and one united power.  And so reconciling them by his\npersuasions, out of the three parties he set up one irresistible\npower, which utterly subverted the government both of senate and\npeople.  Not that he made either Pompey or Crassus greater than\nthey were before, but by their means made himself greatest of all;\nfor by the help of the adherents of both, he was at once\ngloriously declared consul, which office when he administered with\ncredit, they decreed him the command of an army, and allotted him\nGaul for his province, and so placed him as it were in the\ncitadel, not doubting but they should divide the rest at their\npleasure between themselves, when they had confirmed him in his\nallotted command.  Pompey was actuated in all this by an\nimmoderate desire of ruling, but Crassus, adding to his old\ndisease of covetousness, a new passion after trophies and\ntriumphs, emulous of Caesar's exploits, not content to be beneath\nhim in these points, though above him in all others, could not be\nat rest, till it ended in an ignominious overthrow, and a public\ncalamity.  When Caesar came out of Gaul to Lucca, a great many\nwent thither from Rome to meet him.  Pompey and Crassus had\nvarious conferences with him in secret, in which they came to the\nresolution to proceed to still more decisive steps, and to get the\nwhole management of affairs into their hands, Caesar to keep his\narmy, and Pompey and Crassus to obtain new ones and new provinces.\nTo effect all which there was but one way, the getting the\nconsulate a second time, which they were to stand for, and Caesar\nto assist them by writing to his friends, and sending many of his\nsoldiers to vote.\n\nBut when they returned to Rome, their design was presently\nsuspected, and a report was soon spread that this interview had\nbeen for no good.  When Marcellinus and Domitius asked Pompey in\nthe senate if he intended to stand for the consulship, he\nanswered, perhaps he would, perhaps not; and being urged again,\nreplied, he would ask it of the honest citizens, but not of the\ndishonest.  Which answer appearing too haughty and arrogant,\nCrassus said, more modestly, that he would desire it if it might\nbe for the advantage of the public, otherwise he would decline it.\nUpon this some others took confidence and came forward as\ncandidates, among them Domitius.  But when Pompey and Crassus now\nopenly appeared for it, the rest were afraid and drew back; only\nCato encouraged Domitius, who was his friend and relation, to\nproceed, exciting him to persist, as though he was now defending\nthe public liberty, as these men, he said, did not so much aim at\nthe consulate, as at arbitrary government, and it was not a\npetition for office, but a seizure of provinces and armies.  Thus\nspoke and thought Cato, and almost forcibly compelled Domitius to\nappear in the forum, where many sided with them.  For there was,\nindeed, much wonder and question among the people, \"Why should\nPompey and Crassus want another consulship? and why they two\ntogether, and not with some third person? We have a great many men\nnot unworthy to be fellow-consuls with either the one or the\nother.\"  Pompey's party, being apprehensive of this, committed all\nmanner of indecencies and violences, and amongst other things lay\nin wait for Domitius, as he was coming thither before daybreak\nwith his friends; his torchbearer they killed, and wounded several\nothers, of whom Cato was one.  And these being beaten back and\ndriven into a house, Pompey and Crassus were proclaimed consuls.\nNot long after, they surrounded the house with armed men, thrust\nCato out of the forum, killed some that made resistance, and\ndecreed Caesar his command for five years longer, and provinces\nfor themselves, Syria, and both the Spains, which being divided by\nlots, Syria fell to Crassus, and the Spains to Pompey.\n\nAll were well pleased with the chance, for the people were\ndesirous that Pompey should not go far from the city, and he,\nbeing extremely fond of his wife, was very glad to continue there;\nbut Crassus was so transported with his fortune, that it was\nmanifest he thought he had never had such good luck befall him as\nnow, so that he had much to do to contain himself before company\nand strangers; but amongst his private friends he let fall many\nvain and childish words, which were unworthy of his age, and\ncontrary to his usual character, for he had been very little given\nto boasting hitherto.  But then being strangely puffed up, and his\nhead heated, he would not limit his fortune with Parthia and\nSyria; but looking on the actions of Lucullus against Tigranes and\nthe exploits of Pompey against Mithridates as but child's play, he\nproposed to himself in his hopes to pass as far as Bactria and\nIndia, and the utmost ocean.  Not that he was called upon by the\ndecree which appointed him to his office to undertake any\nexpedition against the Parthians, but it was well known that he\nwas eager for it, and Caesar wrote to him out of Gaul, commending\nhis resolution, and inciting him to the war.  And when Ateius, the\ntribune of the people, designed to stop his journey, and many\nothers murmured that one man should undertake a war against a\npeople that had done them no injury, and were at amity with them,\nhe desired Pompey to stand by him and accompany him out of the\ntown, as he had a great name amongst the common people.  And when\nseveral were ready prepared to interfere and raise an outcry,\nPompey appeared with a pleasing countenance, and so mollified the\npeople, that they let Crassus pass quietly.  Ateius, however, met\nhim, and first by word of mouth warned and conjured him not to\nproceed, and then commanded his attendant officer to seize him and\ndetain him; but the other tribunes not permitting it, the officer\nreleased Crassus.  Ateius, therefore, running to the gate, when\nCrassus was come thither, set down a chafing-dish with lighted\nfire in it, and burning incense and pouring libations on it,\ncursed him with dreadful imprecations, calling upon and naming\nseveral strange and horrible deities.  In the Roman belief there\nis so much virtue in these sacred and ancient rites, that no man\ncan escape the effects of them, and that the utterer himself\nseldom prospers; so that they are not often made use of, and but\nupon a great occasion.  And Ateius was blamed at the time for\nresorting to them, as the city itself, in whose cause he used\nthem, would be the first to feel the ill effects of these curses\nand supernatural terrors.\n\nCrassus arrived at Brundusium, and though the sea was very rough,\nhe had not patience to wait, but went on board, and lost many of\nhis ships.  With the remnant of his army he marched rapidly\nthrough Galatia, where meeting with king Deiotarus, who, though he\nwas very old, was about building a new city, Crassus scoffingly\ntold him, \"Your majesty begins to build at the twelfth hour.\"\n\"Neither do you,\" said he, \"O general, undertake your Parthian\nexpedition very early.\"  For Crassus was then sixty years old, and\nhe seemed older than he was.  At his first coming, things went as\nhe would have them, for he made a bridge over Euphrates without\nmuch difficulty, and passed over his army in safety, and occupied\nmany cities of Mesopotamia, which yielded voluntarily.  But a\nhundred of his men were killed in one, in which Apollonius was\ntyrant; therefore, bringing his forces against it, he took it by\nstorm, plundered the goods, and sold the inhabitants.  The Greeks\ncall this city Zenodotia, upon the taking of which, he permitted\nthe army to salute him Imperator, but this was very ill thought\nof, and it looked as if he despaired a nobler achievement, that he\nmade so much of this little success.  Putting garrisons of seven\nthousand foot and one thousand horse in the new conquests, he\nreturned to take up his winter quarters in Syria, where his son\nwas to meet him coming from Caesar out of Gaul, decorated with\nrewards for his valor, and bringing with him one thousand select\nhorse.  Here Crassus seemed to commit his first error, and except,\nindeed, the whole expedition, his greatest; for, whereas he ought\nto have gone forward and seized Babylon and Seleucia, cities that\nwere ever at enmity with the Parthians, he gave the enemy time to\nprovide against him.  Besides, he spent his time in Syria more\nlike an usurer than a general, not in taking an account of the\narms, and in improving the skill and discipline of his soldiers,\nbut in computing the revenue of the cities, wasting many days in\nweighing by scale and balance the treasure that was in the temple\nof Hierapolis, issuing requisitions for levies of soldiers upon\nparticular towns and kingdoms, and then again withdrawing them on\npayment of sums of money, by which he lost his credit and became\ndespised.  Here, too, he met with the first ill-omen from that\ngoddess, whom some call Venus, others Juno, others Nature, or the\nCause that produces out of moisture the first principles and seeds\nof all things, and gives mankind their earliest knowledge of all\nthat is good for them.  For as they were going out of the temple,\nyoung Crassus stumbled, and his father fell upon him.\n\nWhen he drew his army out of winter quarters, ambassadors came to\nhim from Arsaces, with this short speech:  If the army was sent\nby the people of Rome, he denounced mortal war, but if, as he\nunderstood was the case, against the consent of his country,\nCrassus for his own private profit had invaded his territory, then\ntheir king would be more merciful, and taking pity upon Crassus's\ndotage, would send those soldiers back, who had been left not so\ntruly to keep guard on him as to be his prisoners.  Crassus\nboastfully told them he would return his answer at Seleucia, upon\nwhich Vagises, the eldest of them, laughed and showed the palm of\nhis hand, saying, \"Hail will grow here before you will see\nSeleucia;\" so they returned to their king, Hyrodes, telling him it\nwas war.  Several of the Romans that were in garrison in\nMesopotamia with great hazard made their escape, and brought word\nthat the danger was worth consideration, urging their own\neye-witness of the numbers of the enemy, and the manner of their\nfighting, when they assaulted their towns; and, as men's manner\nis, made all seem greater than really it was.  By flight it was\nimpossible to escape them, and as impossible to overtake them when\nthey fled, and they had a new and strange sort of darts, as swift\nas sight, for they pierced whatever they met with, before you\ncould see who threw; their men-at-arms were so provided that their\nweapons would cut through anything, and their armor give way to\nnothing.  All which when the soldiers heard, their hearts failed\nthem; for till now they thought there was no difference between\nthe Parthians and the Armenians or Cappadocians, whom Lucullus\ngrew weary with plundering, and had been persuaded that the main\ndifficulty of the war consisted only in the tediousness of the\nmarch, and the trouble of chasing men that durst not come to\nblows, so that the danger of a battle was beyond their\nexpectation; accordingly, some of the officers advised Crassus to\nproceed no further at present, but reconsider the whole\nenterprise, amongst whom in particular was Cassius, the quaestor.\nThe soothsayers, also, told him privately the signs found in the\nsacrifices were continually adverse and unfavorable.  But he paid\nno heed to them, or to anybody who gave any other advice than to\nproceed.  Nor did Artabazes, king of Armenia, confirm him a\nlittle, who came to his aid with six thousand horse; who, however,\nwere said to be only the king's life-guard and suite, for he\npromised ten thousand cuirassiers more, and thirty thousand foot,\nat his own charge.  He urged Crassus to invade Parthia by the way\nof Armenia, for not only would he be able there to supply his army\nwith abundant provision, which he would give him, but his passage\nwould be more secure in the mountains and hills, with which the\nwhole country was covered, making it almost impassable to horse,\nin which the main strength of the Parthians consisted.  Crassus\nreturned him but cold thanks for his readiness to serve him, and\nfor the splendor of his assistance, and told him he was resolved\nto pass through Mesopotamia, where he had left a great many brave\nRoman soldiers; whereupon the Armenian went his way.  As Crassus\nwas taking the army over the river at Zeugma, he encountered\npreternaturally violent thunder, and the lightning flashed in the\nfaces of the troops, and during the storm a hurricane broke upon\nthe bridge, and carried part of it away; two thunderbolts fell\nupon the very place where the army was going to encamp; and one of\nthe general's horses, magnificently caparisoned, dragged away the\ngroom into the river and was drowned.  It is said, too, that when\nthey went to take up the first standard, the eagle of itself\nturned its head backward; and after he had passed over his army,\nas they were distributing provisions, the first thing they gave\nwas lentils and salt, which with the Romans are the food proper to\nfunerals, and are offered to the dead.  And as Crassus was\nharanguing his soldiers, he let fall a word which was thought very\nominous in the army; for \"I am going,\" he said, \"to break down the\nbridge, that none of you may return;\" and whereas he ought, when\nhe had perceived his blunder, to have corrected himself, and\nexplained his meaning, seeing the men alarmed at the expression,\nhe would not do it out of mere stubbornness.  And when at the last\ngeneral sacrifice the priest gave him the entrails, they slipped out\nof his hand, and when he saw the standers-by concerned at it, he\nlaughed and said, \"See what it is to be an old man; but I shall\nhold my sword fast enough.\"\n\nSo he marched his army along the river with seven legions, little\nless than four thousand horse, and as many light-armed soldiers,\nand the scouts returning declared that not one man appeared, but\nthat they saw the footing of a great many horses which seemed to\nbe retiring in flight, whereupon Crassus conceived great hopes,\nand the Romans began to despise the Parthians, as men that would\nnot come to combat, hand to hand.  But Cassius spoke with him\nagain, and advised him to refresh his army in some of the garrison\ntowns, and remain there till they could get some certain\nintelligence of the enemy, or at least to make toward Seleucia,\nand keep by the river, that so they might have the convenience of\nhaving provision constantly supplied by the boats, which might\nalways accompany the army, and the river would secure them from\nbeing environed, and, if they should fight, it might be upon equal\nterms.\n\nWhile Crassus was still considering, and as yet undetermined,\nthere came to the camp an Arab chief named Ariamnes, a cunning and\nwily fellow, who, of all the evil chances which combined to lead\nthem on to destruction, was the chief and the most fatal.  Some of\nPompey's old soldiers knew him, and remembered him to have\nreceived some kindnesses of Pompey, and to have been looked upon\nas a friend to the Romans, but he was now suborned by the king's\ngenerals, and sent to Crassus to entice him if possible from the\nriver and hills into the wide open plain, where he might be\nsurrounded.  For the Parthians desired anything, rather than to\nbe obliged to meet the Romans face to face.  He, therefore, coming\nto Crassus, (and he had a persuasive tongue,) highly commended\nPompey as his benefactor, and admired the forces that Crassus had\nwith him, but seemed to wonder why he delayed and made\npreparations, as if he should not use his feet more than any arms,\nagainst men that, taking with them their best goods and chattels,\nhad designed long ago to fly for refuge to the Scythians or\nHyrcanians.  \"If you meant to fight, you should have made all\npossible haste, before the king should recover courage, and\ncollect his forces together; at present you see Surena and\nSillaces opposed to you, to draw you off in pursuit of them, while\nthe king himself keeps out of the way.\"  But this was all a lie,\nfor Hyrodes had divided his army in two parts, with one he in\nperson wasted Armenia, revenging himself upon Artavasdes, and sent\nSurena against the Romans, not out of contempt, as some pretend,\nfor there is no likelihood that he should despise Crassus, one of\nthe chiefest men of Rome, to go and fight with Artavasdes, and\ninvade Armenia; but much more probably he really apprehended the\ndanger, and therefore waited to see the event, intending that\nSurena should first run the hazard of a battle, and draw the enemy\non.  Nor was this Surena an ordinary person, but in wealth,\nfamily, and reputation, the second man in the kingdom, and in\ncourage and prowess the first, and for bodily stature and beauty\nno man like him.  Whenever he traveled privately, he had one\nthousand camels to carry his baggage, two hundred chariots for his\nconcubines, one thousand completely armed men for his life-guards,\nand a great many more light-armed; and he had at least ten\nthousand horsemen altogether, of his servants and retinue.  The\nhonor had long belonged to his family, that at the king's\ncoronation he put the crown upon his head, and when this very king\nHyrodes had been exiled, he brought him in; it was he, also, that\ntook the great city of Seleucia, was the first man that scaled the\nwalls, and with his own hand beat off the defenders.  And though\nat this time he was not above thirty years old, he had a great\nname for wisdom and sagacity, and, indeed, by these qualities\nchiefly, he overthrew Crassus, who first through his overweening\nconfidence, and afterwards because he was cowed by his calamities,\nfell a ready victim to his subtlety.  When Ariamnes had thus\nworked upon him, he drew him from the river into vast plains, by a\nway that at first was pleasant and easy, but afterwards very\ntroublesome by reason of the depth of the sand; no tree, nor any\nwater, and no end of this to be seen; so that they were not only\nspent with thirst, and the difficulty of the passage, but were\ndismayed with the uncomfortable prospect of not a bough, not a\nstream, not a hillock, not a green herb, but in fact a sea of\nsand, which encompassed the army with its waves.  They began to\nsuspect some treachery, and at the same time came messengers from\nArtavasdes, that he was fiercely attacked by Hyrodes, who had\ninvaded his country, so that now it was impossible for him to send\nany succors, and that he therefore advised Crassus to turn back,\nand with joint forces to give Hyrodes battle, or at least that he\nshould march and encamp where horses could not easily come, and\nkeep to the mountains.  Crassus, out of anger and perverseness,\nwrote him no answer, but told them, at present he was not at\nleisure to mind the Armenians, but he would call upon them another\ntime, and revenge himself upon Artavasdes for his treachery.\nCassius and his friends began again to complain, but when they\nperceived that it merely displeased Crassus, they gave over, but\nprivately railed at the barbarian, \"What evil genius, O thou worst\nof men, brought thee to our camp, and with what charms and potions\nhast thou bewitched Crassus, that he should march his army through\na vast and deep desert, through ways which are rather fit for a\ncaptain of Arabian robbers, than for the general of a Roman army?\"\nBut the barbarian being a wily fellow, very submissively exhorted\nthem, and encouraged them to sustain it a little further, and ran\nabout the camp, and, professing to cheer up the soldiers, asked\nthem, jokingly, \"What, do you think you march through Campania,\nexpecting everywhere to find springs, and shady trees, and baths,\nand inns of entertainment?  Consider you now travel through the\nconfines of Arabia and Assyria.\"  Thus he managed them like\nchildren, and before the cheat was discovered, he rode away; not\nbut that Crassus was aware of his going, but he had persuaded him\nthat he would go and contrive how to disorder the affairs of the\nenemy.\n\nIt is related that Crassus came abroad that day not in his scarlet\nrobe, which Roman generals usually wear, but in a black one,\nwhich, as soon as he perceived, he changed.  And the\nstandard-bearers had much ado to take up their eagles, which\nseemed to be fixed to the place.  Crassus laughed at it, and\nhastened their march, and compelled his infantry to keep pace with\nhis cavalry, till some few of the scouts returned and told them\nthat their fellows were slain and they hardly escaped, that the\nenemy was at hand in full force, and resolved to give them battle.\nOn this all was in an uproar; Crassus was struck with amazement,\nand for haste could scarcely put his army in good order.  First,\nas Cassius advised, he opened their ranks and files that they\nmight take up as much space as could be, to prevent their being\nsurrounded, and distributed the horse upon the wings, but\nafterwards changing his mind, he drew up his army in a square, and\nmade a front every way, each of which consisted of twelve cohorts,\nto every one of which he allotted a troop of horse, that no part\nmight be destitute of the assistance that the horse might give,\nand that they might be ready to assist everywhere, as need should\nrequire.  Cassius commanded one of the wings, young Crassus the\nother, and he himself was in the middle.  Thus they marched on\ntill they came to a little river named Balissus, a very\ninconsiderable one in itself, but very grateful to the soldiers,\nwho had suffered so much by drought and heat all along their\nmarch.  Most of the commanders were of the opinion that they ought\nto remain there that night, and to inform themselves as much as\npossible of the number of the enemies, and their order, and so\nmarch against them at break of day; but Crassus was so carried\naway by the eagerness of his son, and the horsemen that were with\nhim, who desired and urged him to lead them on and engage, that he\ncommanded those that had a mind to it to eat and drink as they\nstood in their ranks, and before they had all well done, he led\nthem on, not leisurely and with halts to take breath, as if he was\ngoing to battle, but kept on his pace as if he had been in haste,\ntill they saw the enemy, contrary to their expectation, neither so\nmany nor so magnificently armed as the Romans expected.  For\nSurena had hid his main force behind the first ranks, and ordered\nthem to hide the glittering of their armor with coats and skins.\nBut when they approached and the general gave the signal,\nimmediately all the field rung with a hideous noise and terrible\nclamor.  For the Parthians do not encourage themselves to war with\ncornets and trumpets, but with a kind of kettle-drum, which they\nstrike all at once in various quarters.  With these they make a\ndead hollow noise like the bellowing of beasts, mixed with sounds\nresembling thunder, having, it would seem, very correctly\nobserved, that of all our senses hearing most confounds and\ndisorders us, and that the feelings excited through it most\nquickly disturb, and most entirely overpower the understanding.\n\nWhen they had sufficiently terrified the Romans with their noise,\nthey threw off the covering of their armor, and shone like\nlightning in their breastplates and helmets of polished Margianian\nsteel, and with their horses covered with brass and steel\ntrappings.  Surena was the tallest and finest looking man himself,\nbut the delicacy of his looks and effeminacy of his dress did not\npromise so much manhood as he really was master of; for his face\nwas painted, and his hair parted after the fashion of the Medes,\nwhereas the other Parthians made a more terrible appearance, with\ntheir shaggy hair gathered in a mass upon their foreheads after\nthe Scythian mode.  Their first design was with their lances to\nbeat down and force back the first ranks of the Romans, but when\nthey perceived the depth of their battle, and that the soldiers\nfirmly kept their ground, they made a retreat, and pretending to\nbreak their order and disperse, they encompassed the Roman square\nbefore they were aware of it.  Crassus commanded his light-armed\nsoldiers to charge, but they had not gone far before they were\nreceived with such a shower of arrows that they were glad to\nretire amongst the heavy-armed, with whom this was the first\noccasion of disorder and terror, when they perceived the strength\nand force of their darts, which pierced their arms, and passed\nthrough every kind of covering, hard and soft alike.  The\nParthians now placing themselves at distances began to shoot from\nall sides, not aiming at any particular mark, (for, indeed, the\norder of the Romans was so close, that they could not miss if they\nwould,) but simply sent their arrows with great force out of\nstrong bent bows, the strokes from which came with extreme\nviolence.  The position of the Romans was a very bad one from the\nfirst; for if they kept their ranks, they were wounded, and if\nthey tried to charge, they hurt the enemy none the more, and\nthemselves suffered none the less.  For the Parthians threw their\ndarts as they fled, an art in which none but the Scythians excel\nthem, and it is, indeed, a cunning practice, for while they thus\nfight to make their escape, they avoid the dishonor of a flight.\n\nHowever, the Romans had some comfort to think that when they had\nspent all their arrows, they would either give over or come to\nblows; but when they presently understood that there were numerous\ncamels loaded with arrows, and that when the first ranks had\ndischarged those they had, they wheeled off and took more, Crassus\nseeing no end of it, was out of all heart, and sent to his son\nthat he should endeavor to fall in upon them before he was quite\nsurrounded; for the enemy advanced most upon that quarter, and\nseemed to be trying to ride round and come upon the rear.\nTherefore the young man, taking with him thirteen hundred horse,\none thousand of which he had from Caesar, five hundred archers,\nand eight cohorts of the full-armed soldiers that stood next him,\nled them up with design to charge the Parthians.  Whether it was\nthat they found themselves in a piece of marshy ground, as some\nthink, or else designing to entice young Crassus as far as they\ncould from his father, they turned and began to fly; whereupon he\ncrying out that they durst not stand, pursued them, and with him\nCensorinus and Megabacchus, both famous, the latter for his\ncourage and prowess, the other for being of a senator's family,\nand an excellent orator, both intimates of Crassus, and of about\nthe same age.  The horse thus pushing on, the infantry stayed\nlittle behind, being exalted with hopes and joy, for they supposed\nthey had already conquered, and now were only pursuing; till when\nthey were gone too far, they perceived the deceit, for they that\nseemed to fly, now turned again, and a great many fresh ones came\non.  Upon this they made an halt, for they doubted not but now the\nenemy would attack them, because they were so few.  But they\nmerely placed their cuirassiers to face the Romans, and with the\nrest of their horse rode about scouring the field, and thus\nstirring up the sand, they raised such a dust that the Romans\ncould neither see nor speak to one another, and being driven in\nupon one another in one close body, they were thus hit and killed,\ndying, not by a quick and easy death, but with miserable pains and\nconvulsions; for writhing upon the darts in their bodies, they\nbroke them in their wounds, and when they would by force pluck out\nthe barbed points, they caught the nerves and veins, so that they\ntore and tortured themselves.  Many of them died thus, and those\nthat survived were disabled for any service, and when Publius\nexhorted them to charge the cuirassiers, they showed him their\nhands nailed to their shields, and their feet stuck to the ground,\nso that they could neither fly nor fight.  He charged in himself\nboldly, however, with his horse, and came to close quarters with\nthem, but was very unequal, whether as to the offensive or\ndefensive part; for with his weak and little javelins, he struck\nagainst targets that were of tough raw hides and iron, whereas the\nlightly clad bodies of his Gaulish horsemen were exposed to the\nstrong spears of the enemy.  For upon these he mostly depended,\nand with them he wrought wonders; for they would catch hold of the\ngreat spears, and close upon the enemy, and so pull them off from\ntheir horses, where they could scarce stir by reason of the\nheaviness of their armor, and many of the Gauls quitting their own\nhorses, would creep under those of the enemy, and stick them in\nthe belly; which, growing unruly with the pain, trampled upon\ntheir riders and upon the enemies promiscuously.  The Gauls were\nchiefly tormented by the heat and drought being not accustomed to\neither, and most of their horses were slain by being spurred on\nagainst the spears, so that they were forced to retire among the\nfoot, bearing off Publius grievously wounded.  Observing a sandy\nhillock not far off, they made to it, and tying their horses to\none another, and placing them in the midst, and joining all their\nshields together before them, they thought they might make some\ndefense against the barbarians.  But it fell out quite contrary,\nfor when they were drawn up in a plain, the front in some measure\nsecured those that were behind; but when they were upon the hill,\none being of necessity higher up than another, none were in\nshelter, but all alike stood equally exposed, bewailing their\ninglorious and useless fate.  There were with Publius two Greeks\nthat lived near there at Carrhae, Hieronymus and Nicomachus; these\nmen urged him to retire with them and fly to Ichnae, a town not\nfar from thence, and friendly to the Romans.  \"No,\" said he,\n\"there is no death so terrible, for the fear of which Publius\nwould leave his friends that die upon his account;\" and bidding\nthem to take care of themselves, he embraced them and sent them\naway, and, because he could not use his arm, for he was run\nthrough with a dart, he opened his side to his armor-bearer, and\ncommanded him to run him through.  It is said that Censorinus fell\nin the same manner.  Megabacchus slew himself, as did also the\nrest of best note.  The Parthians coming upon the rest with their\nlances, killed them fighting, nor were there above five hundred\ntaken prisoners.  Cutting off the head of Publius, they rode off\ndirectly towards Crassus.\n\nHis condition was thus.  When he had commanded his son to fall\nupon the enemy, and word was brought him that they fled and that\nthere was a distant pursuit, and perceiving also that the enemy\ndid not press upon him so hard as formerly, for they were mostly\ngone to fall upon Publius, he began to take heart a little; and\ndrawing his army towards some sloping ground, expected when his\nson would return from the pursuit.  Of the messengers whom Publius\nsent to him, (as soon as he saw his danger,) the first were\nintercepted by the enemy, and slain; the last hardly escaping,\ncame and declared that Publius was lost, unless he had speedy\nsuccors.  Crassus was terribly distracted, not knowing what\ncounsel to take, and indeed no longer capable of taking any;\noverpowered now by fear for the whole army, now by desire to help\nhis son.  At last he resolved to move with his forces.  Just upon\nthis, up came the enemy with their shouts and noises more terrible\nthan before, their drums sounding again in the ears of the Romans,\nwho now feared a fresh engagement.  And they who brought Publius's\nhead upon the point of a spear, riding up near enough that it\ncould be known, scoffingly inquired where were his parents and\nwhat family he was of, for it was impossible that so brave and\ngallant a warrior should be the son of so pitiful a coward as\nCrassus.  This sight above all the rest dismayed the Romans, for\nit did not incite them to anger as it might have done, but to\nhorror and trembling, though they say Crassus outdid himself in\nthis calamity, for he passed through the ranks and cried out to\nthem, \"This, O my countrymen, is my own peculiar loss, but the\nfortune and the glory of Rome is safe and untainted so long as you\nare safe.  But if any one be concerned for my loss of the best of\nsons, let him show it in revenging him upon the enemy.  Take away\ntheir joy, revenge their cruelty, nor be dismayed at what is past;\nfor whoever tries for great objects must suffer something.\nNeither did Lucullus overthrow Tigranes without bloodshed, nor\nScipio Antiochus; our ancestors lost one thousand ships about\nSicily, and how many generals and captains in Italy? no one of\nwhich losses hindered them from overthrowing their conquerors; for\nthe State of Rome did not arrive to this height by fortune, but by\nperseverance and virtue in confronting danger.\"\n\nWhile Crassus thus spoke exhorting them, he saw but few that gave\nmuch heed to him, and when he ordered them to shout for the\nbattle, he could no longer mistake the despondency of his army,\nwhich made but a faint and unsteady noise, while the shout of the\nenemy was clear and bold.  And when they came to the business, the\nParthian servants and dependents riding about shot their arrows,\nand the horsemen in the foremost ranks with their spears drove the\nRomans close together, except those who rushed upon them for fear\nof being killed by their arrows.  Neither did these do much\nexecution, being quickly dispatched; for the strong thick spear\nmade large and mortal wounds, and often run through two men at\nonce.  As they were thus fighting, the night coming on parted\nthem, the Parthians boasting that they would indulge Crassus with\none night to mourn his son, unless upon better consideration he\nwould rather go to Arsaces, than be carried to him.  These,\ntherefore, took up their quarters near them, being flushed with\ntheir victory.  But the Romans had a sad night of it; for neither\ntaking care for the burial of their dead, nor the cure of the\nwounded, nor the groans of the expiring, everyone bewailed his\nown fate.  For there was no means of escaping, whether they should\nstay for the light, or venture to retreat into the vast desert in\nthe dark.  And now the wounded men gave them new trouble, since to\ntake them with them would retard their flight, and if they should\nleave them, they might serve as guides to the enemy by their\ncries.  However, they were all desirous to see and hear Crassus,\nthough they were sensible that he was the cause of all their\nmischief.  But he wrapped his cloak around him, and hid himself,\nwhere he lay as an example, to ordinary minds, of the caprice of\nfortune, but to the wise, of inconsiderateness and ambition; who,\nnot content to be superior to so many millions of men, being\ninferior to two, esteemed himself as the lowest of all.  Then came\nOctavius, his lieutenant, and Cassius, to comfort him, but he\nbeing altogether past helping, they themselves called together the\ncenturions and tribunes, and agreeing that the best way was to fly,\nthey ordered the army out, without sound of trumpet, and at first\nwith silence.  But before long, when the disabled men found they\nwere left behind, strange confusion and disorder, with an outcry\nand lamentation, seized the camp, and a trembling and dread\npresently fell upon them, as if the enemy were at their heels.  By\nwhich means, now and then fuming out of their way, now and then\nstanding to their ranks, sometimes taking up the wounded that\nfollowed, sometimes laying them down, they wasted the time, except\nthree hundred horse, whom Egnatius brought safe to Carrhae about\nmidnight; where calling, in the Roman tongue, to the watch, as\nsoon as they heard him, he bade them tell Coponius, the governor,\nthat Crassus had fought a very great battle with the Parthians;\nand having said but this, and not so much as telling his name, he\nrode away at full speed to Zeugma.  And by this means he saved\nhimself and his men, but lost his reputation by deserting his\ngeneral.  However, his message to Coponius was for the advantage\nof Crassus; for he, suspecting by this hasty and confused delivery\nof the message that all was not well, immediately ordered the\ngarrison to be in arms, and as soon as he understood that Crassus\nwas upon the way towards him, he went out to meet him, and\nreceived him with his army into the town.\n\nThe Parthians, although they perceived their dislodgement in the\nnight, yet did not pursue them, but as soon as it was day, they\ncame upon those that were left in the camp, and put no less than\nfour thousand to the sword, and with their light; horse picked up\na great many stragglers.  Varguntinus, the lieutenant, while it\nwas yet dark, had broken off from the main body with four cohorts\nwhich had strayed out of the way; and the Parthians, encompassing\nthese on a small hill, slew every man of them excepting twenty,\nwho with their drawn swords forced their way through the thickest,\nand they admiring their courage, opened their ranks to the right\nand left, and let them pass without molestation to Carrhae.\n\nSoon after a false report was brought to Surena, that Crassus,\nwith his principal officers, had escaped, and that those who were\ngot into Carrhae were but a confused rout of insignificant people,\nnot worth further pursuit.  Supposing, therefore, that he had lost\nthe very crown and glory of his victory, and yet being uncertain\nwhether it were so or not, and anxious to ascertain the fact, that\nso he should either stay and besiege Carrhae or follow Crassus, he\nsent one of his interpreters to the walls, commanding him in Latin\nto call for Crassus or Cassius, for that the general, Surena,\ndesired a conference.  As soon as Crassus heard this, he embraced\nthe proposal, and soon after there came up a band of Arabians, who\nvery well knew the faces of Crassus and Cassius, as having been\nfrequently in the Roman camp before the battle.  They having\nespied Cassius from the wall, told him that Surena desired a\npeace, and would give them safe convoy, if they would make a\ntreaty with the king his master, and withdraw all their troops out\nof Mesopotamia; and this he thought most advisable for them both,\nbefore things came to the last extremity; Cassius, embracing the\nproposal, desired that a time and place might be appointed where\nCrassus and Surena might have an interview.  The Arabians, having\ncharged themselves with the message, went back to Surena, who wee\nnot a little rejoiced that Crassus was there to be besieged.\n\nNext day, therefore, he came up with his army, insulting over the\nRomans, and haughtily demanding of them Crassus and Cassius bound,\nif they expected any mercy.  The Romans, seeing themselves deluded\nand mocked, were much troubled at it, but advising Crassus to lay\naside his distant and empty hopes of aid from the Armenians,\nresolved to fly for it; and this design ought to have been kept\nprivate, till they were upon their way, and not have been told to\nany of the people of Carrhae.  But Crassus let this also be known\nto Andromachus, the most faithless of men, nay he was so\ninfatuated as to choose him for his guide.  The Parthians then, to\nbe sure, had punctual intelligence of all that passed; but it\nbeing contrary to their usage, and also difficult for them to\nfight by night, and Crassus having chosen that time to set out,\nAndromachus, lest he should get the start too far of his pursuers,\nled him hither and thither, and at last conveyed him into the\nmidst of morasses and places full of ditches, so that the Romans\nhad a troublesome and perplexing journey of it, and some there\nwere who, supposing by these windings and turnings of Andromachus\nthat no good was intended, resolved to follow him no further.  And\nat last Cassius himself returned to Carrhae, and his guides, the\nArabians, advising him to tarry there till the moon was got out of\nScorpio, he told them that he was most afraid of Sagittarius, and\nso with five hundred horse went off to Syria.  Others there were,\nwho having got honest guides, took their way by the mountains\ncalled Sinnaca, and got into places of security by daybreak; these\nwere five thousand under the command of Octavius, a very gallant\nman.  But Crassus fared worse; day overtook him still deceived by\nAndromachus, and entangled in the fens and the difficult country.\nThere were with him four cohorts of legionary soldiers, a very few\nhorsemen, and five lictors, with whom having with great difficulty\ngot into the way, and not being a mile and a half from Octavius,\ninstead of going to join him, although the enemy were already upon\nhim, he retreated to another hill, neither so defensible nor\nimpassable for the horse, but lying under the hills of Sinnaca,\nand continued so as to join them in a long ridge through the\nplain.  Octavius could see in what danger the general was, and\nhimself, at first but slenderly followed, hurried to the rescue.\nSoon after, the rest, upbraiding one another with baseness in\nforsaking their officers, marched down, and falling upon the\nParthians, drove them from the hill, and compassing Crassus about,\nand fencing him with their shields, declared proudly, that no\narrow in Parthia should ever touch their general, so long as there\nwas a man of them left alive to protect him.\n\nSurena, therefore, perceiving his soldiers less inclined to expose\nthemselves, and knowing that if the Romans should prolong the\nbattle till night, they might then gain the mountains and be out\nof his reach, betook himself to his usual craft.  Some of the\nprisoners were set free, who had, as it was contrived, been in\nhearing, while some of the barbarians spoke of a set purpose in\nthe camp to the effect that the king did not design the war to be\npursued to extremity against the Romans, but rather desired, by\nhis gentle treatment of Crassus, to make a step towards\nreconciliation.  And the barbarians desisted from fighting, and\nSurena himself, with his chief officers, riding gently to the\nhill, unbent his bow and held out his hand, inviting Crassus to an\nagreement, and saying that it was beside the king's intentions,\nthat they had thus had experience of the courage and the strength\nof his soldiers; that now he desired no other contention but that\nof kindness and friendship, by making a truce, and permitting them\nto go away in safety.  These words of Surena the rest received\njoyfully, and were eager to accept the offer; but Crassus, who had\nhad sufficient experience of their perfidiousness, and was unable\nto see any reason for the sudden change, would give no ear to\nthem, and only took time to consider.  But the soldiers cried out\nand advised him to treat, and then went on to upbraid and affront\nhim, saying that it was very unreasonable that he should bring\nthem to fight with such men armed, whom himself, without their\narms, durst not look in the face.  He tried first to prevail with\nthem by entreaties, and told them that if they would have patience\ntill evening, they might get into the mountains and passes,\ninaccessible for horse, and be out of danger, and withal he\npointed out the way with his hand, entreating them not to abandon\ntheir preservation, now close before them.  But when they mutinied\nand clashed their targets in a threatening manner, he was\noverpowered and forced to go, and only turning about at parting,\nsaid, \"You, Octavius and Petronius, and the rest of the officers\nwho are present, see the necessity of going which I lie under, and\ncannot but be sensible of the indignities and violence offered to\nme.  Tell all men when you have escaped, that Crassus perished\nrather by the subtlety of his enemies, than by the disobedience of\nhis countrymen.\"\n\nOctavius, however, would not stay there, but with Petronius went\ndown from the hill; as for the lictors, Crassus bade them be gone.\nThe first that met him were two half-blood Greeks, who, leaping\nfrom their horses, made a profound reverence to Crassus, and\ndesired him, in Greek, to send some before him, who might see that\nSurena himself was coming towards them, his retinue disarmed, and\nnot having so much as their wearing swords along with them.  But\nCrassus answered, that if he had the least concern for his life,\nhe would never have entrusted himself in their hands, but sent two\nbrothers of the name of Roscius, to inquire on what terms, and in\nwhat numbers they should meet.  These Surena ordered immediately\nto be seized, and himself with his principal officers came up on\nhorseback, and greetings him, said, \"How is this, then?  A Roman\ncommander is on foot, whilst I and my train are mounted.\"  But\nCrassus replied, that there was no error committed on either side,\nfor they both met according to the custom of their own country.\nSurena told him that from that time there was a league between the\nking his master and the Romans, but that Crassus must go with him\nto the river to sign it, \"for you Romans,\" said he, \"have not good\nmemories for conditions,\" and so saying, reached out his hand to\nhim.  Crassus, therefore, gave order that one of his horses should\nbe brought; but Surena told him there was no need, \"the king, my\nmaster, presents you with this;\" and immediately a horse with a\ngolden bit was brought up to him, and himself was forcibly put\ninto the saddle by the grooms, who ran by the side and struck the\nhorse to make the more haste.  But Octavius running up, got hold\nof the bridle, and soon after one of the officers, Petronius, and\nthe rest of the company came up, striving to stop the horse, and\npulling back those who on both sides of him forced Crassus\nforward.  Thus from pulling and thrusting one another, they came\nto a tumult, and soon after to blows.  Octavius, drawing his\nsword, killed a groom of one of the barbarians, and one of them,\ngetting behind Octavius, killed him.  Petronius was not armed, but\nbeing struck on the breastplate, fell down from his horse, though\nwithout hurt.  Crassus was killed by a Parthian, called\nPomaxathres; others say, by a different man, and that Pomaxathres\nonly cut off his head and right hand after he had fallen.  But\nthis is conjecture rather than certain knowledge, for those that\nwere by had not leisure to observe particulars, and were either\nkilled fighting about Crassus, or ran off at once to get to their\ncomrades on the hill.  But the Parthians coming up to them, and\nsaying that Crassus had the punishment he justly deserved, and\nthat Surena bade the rest come down from the hill without fear,\nsome of them came down and surrendered themselves, others were\nscattered up and down in the night, a very few of whom got safe\nhome, and others the Arabians, beating through the country, hunted\ndown and put to death.  It is generally said, that in all twenty\nthousand men were slain, and ten thousand taken prisoners.\n\nSurena sent the head and hand of Crassus to Hyrodes, the king,\ninto Armenia, but himself by his messengers scattering a report\nthat he was bringing Crassus alive to Seleucia, made a ridiculous\nprocession, which by way of scorn, he called a triumph.  For one\nCaius Paccianus, who of all the prisoners was most like Crassus,\nbeing put into a woman's dress of the fashion of the barbarians,\nand instructed to answer to the title of Crassus and Imperator,\nwas brought sitting upon his horse, while before him went a parcel\nof trumpeters and lictors upon camels.  Purses were hung at the\nend of the bundles of rods, and the heads of the slain fresh\nbleeding at the end of their axes.  After them followed the\nSeleucian singing women, repeating scurrilous and abusive songs\nupon the effeminacy and cowardliness of Crassus.  This show was\nseen by everybody; but Surena, calling together the senate of\nSeleucia, laid before them certain wanton books, of the writings\nof Aristides, the Milesian; neither, indeed, was this any\nforgery, for they had been found among the baggage of Rustius, and\nwere a good subject to supply Surena with insulting remarks upon\nthe Romans, who were not able even in the time of war to forget\nsuch writings and practices.  But the people of Seleucia had\nreason to commend the wisdom of Aesop's fable of the wallet,\nseeing their general Surena carrying a bag full of loose Milesian\nstories before him, but keeping behind him a whole Parthian\nSybaris in his many wagons full of concubines; like the vipers and\nasps people talk of, all the foremost and more visible parts\nfierce and terrible with spears and arrows and horsemen, but the\nrear terminating in loose women and castanets, music of the lute,\nand midnight revellings.  Rustius, indeed, is not to be excused,\nbut the Parthians had forgot, when they mocked at the Milesian\nstories, that many of the royal line of their Arsacidae had been\nborn of Milesian and Ionian mistresses.\n\nWhilst these things were doing, Hyrodes had struck up a peace with\nthe king of Armenia, and made a match between his son Pacorus and\nthe king of Armenia's sister.  Their feastings and entertainments\nin consequence were very sumptuous, and various Grecian\ncompositions, suitable to the occasion, were recited before them.\nFor Hyrodes was not ignorant of the Greek language and literature,\nand Artavasdes was so expert in it, that he wrote tragedies and\norations and histories, some of which are still extant.  When the\nhead of Crassus was brought to the door, the tables were just\ntaken away, and one Jason, a tragic actor, of the town of Tralles,\nwas singing the scene in the Bacchae of Euripides concerning\nAgave.  He was receiving much applause, when Sillaces coming to\nthe room, and having made obeisance to the king, threw down the\nhead of Crassus into the midst of the company.  The Parthians\nreceiving it with joy and acclamations, Sillaces, by the king's\ncommand, was made to sit down, while Jason handed over the\ncostume of Pentheus to one of the dancers in the chorus, and\ntaking up the head of Crassus, and acting the part of a bacchante\nin her frenzy, in a rapturous impassioned manner, sang the lyric\npassages,\n\nWe've hunted down a mighty chase to-day,\nAnd from the mountain bring the noble prey;\n\nto the great delight of all the company; but when the verses of\nthe dialogue followed,\n\nWhat happy hand the glorious victim slew?\nI claim that honor to my courage due;\n\nPomaxathres, who happened to be there at the supper, started up\nand would have got the head into his own hands, \"for it is my\ndue,\" said he, \"and no man's else.\"  The king was greatly pleased,\nand gave presents, according to the custom of the Parthians, to\nthem, and to Jason, the actor, a talent.  Such was the burlesque\nthat was played, they tell us, as the afterpiece to the tragedy of\nCrassus's expedition.  But divine justice failed not to punish\nboth Hyrodes, for his cruelty, and Surena for his perjury; for\nSurena not long after was put to death by Hyrodes, out of mere\nenvy to his glory; and Hyrodes himself, having lost his son\nPacorus, who was beaten in a battle with the Romans, falling into\na disease which turned to a dropsy, had aconite given him by his\nsecond son, Phraates; but the poison working only upon the\ndisease, and carrying away the dropsical matter with itself, the\nking began suddenly to recover, so that Phraates at length was\nforced to take the shortest course, and strangled him.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF CRASSUS WITH NICIAS\n\nIn the comparison of these two, first, if we compare the estate\nof Nicias with that of Crassus, we must acknowledge Nicias's to\nhave been more honestly got.  In itself, indeed, one cannot much\napprove of gaining riches by working mines, the greatest part of\nwhich is done by malefactors and barbarians, some of them, too,\nbound, and perishing in those close and unwholesome places.  But\nif we compare this with the sequestrations of Sylla, and the\ncontracts for houses ruined by fire, we shall then think Nicias\ncame very honestly by his money.  For Crassus publicly and\navowedly made use of these arts, as other men do of husbandry,\nand putting out money to interest; while as for other matters\nwhich he used to deny, when taxed with them, as, namely, selling\nhis voice in the senate for gain's sake, and injuring allies,\nand courting women, and conniving at criminals, these are things\nwhich Nicias was never so much as falsely accused of; nay, he\nwas rather laughed at for giving money to those who made a trade\nof impeachments, merely out of timorousness, a course, indeed,\nthat would by no means become Pericles and Aristides, but\nnecessary for him who by nature was wanting in assurance, even\nas Lycurgus, the orator, frankly acknowledged to the people; for\nwhen he was accused for buying off an evidence, he said that he\nwas very much pleased that having administered their affairs for\nsome time, he was at last accused, rather for giving, than\nreceiving.  Again, Nicias, in his expenses, was of a more public\nspirit than Crassus, priding himself much on the dedication of\ngifts in temples, on presiding at gymnastic games, and\nfurnishing choruses for the plays, and adorning processions,\nwhile the expenses of Crassus, in feasting and afterwards\nproviding food for so many myriads of people, were much greater\nthan all that Nicias possessed as well as spent, put together.\nSo that one might wonder at anyone's failing to see that vice\nis a certain inconsistency and incongruity of habit, after such\nan example of money dishonorably obtained, and wastefully\nlavished away.\n\nLet so much be said of their estates; as for their management of\npublic affairs, I see not that any dishonesty, injustice, or\narbitrary action can be objected to Nicias, who was rather the\nvictim of Alcibiades's tricks, and was always careful and\nscrupulous in his dealings with the people.  But Crassus is very\ngenerally blamed for his changeableness in his friendships and\nenmities, for his unfaithfulness, and his mean and underhand\nproceedings; since he himself could not deny that to compass the\nconsulship, he hired men to lay violent hands upon Domitius and\nCato.  Then at the assembly held for assigning the provinces,\nmany were wounded and four actually killed, and he himself,\nwhich I had omitted in the narrative of his life, struck with\nhis fist one Lucius Analius, a senator, for contradicting him,\nso that he left the place bleeding.  But as Crassus was to be\nblamed for his violent and arbitrary courses, so is Nicias no\nless to be blamed for his timorousness and meanness of spirit,\nwhich made him submit and give in to the basest people, whereas\nin this respect Crassus showed himself lofty spirited and\nmagnanimous, who having to do not with such as Cleon or\nHyperbolus, but with the splendid acts of Caesar and the three\ntriumphs of Pompey, would not stoop, but bravely bore up against\ntheir joint interests, and in obtaining the office of censor,\nsurpassed even Pompey himself For a statesman ought not to\nregard how invidious the thing is, but how noble, and by his\ngreatness to overpower envy; but if he will be always aiming at\nsecurity and quiet, and dread Alcibiades upon the hustings, and\nthe Lacedaemonians at Pylos, and Perdiccas in Thrace, there is\nroom and opportunity enough for retirement, and he may sit out\nof the noise of business, and weave himself, as one of the\nsophists says, his triumphal garland of inactivity.  His desire\nof peace, indeed, and of finishing the war, was a divine and\ntruly Grecian ambition, nor in this respect would Crassus\ndeserve to be compared to him, though he had enlarged the Roman\nempire to the Caspian Sea or the Indian Ocean.\n\nIn a State where there is a sense of virtue, a powerful man\nought not to give way to the ill-affected, or expose the\ngovernment to those that are incapable of it, nor suffer high\ntrusts to be committed to those who want common honesty.  Yet\nNicias, by his connivance, raised Cleon, a fellow remarkable for\nnothing but his loud voice and brazen face, to the command of an\narmy.  Indeed, I do not commend Crassus, who in the war with\nSpartacus was more forward to fight than became a discreet\ngeneral, though he was urged into it by a point of honor, lest\nPompey by his coming should rob him of the glory of the action,\nas Mummius did Metellus at the taking of Corinth, but Nicias's\nproceedings are inexcusable.  For he did not yield up a mere\nopportunity of getting honor and advantage to his competitor,\nbut believing that the expedition would be very hazardous, was\nthankful to take care of himself, and left the Commonwealth to\nshift for itself.  And whereas Themistocles, lest a mean and\nincapable fellow should ruin the State by holding command in the\nPersian war, bought him off, and Cato, in a most dangerous and\ncritical conjuncture, stood for the tribuneship for the sake of\nhis country, Nicias, reserving himself for trifling expeditions\nagainst Minoa and Cythera, and the miserable Melians, if there\nbe occasion to come to blows with the Lacedaemonians, slips off\nhis general's cloak and hands over to the unskillfulness and\nrashness of Cleon, fleet, men, and arms, and the whole command,\nwhere the utmost possible skill was called for.  Such conduct, I\nsay, is not to be thought so much carelessness of his own fame,\nas of the interest and preservation of his country.  By this\nmeans it came to pass he was compelled to the Sicilian war, men\ngenerally believing that he was not so much honestly convinced\nof the difficulty of the enterprise, as ready out of mere love\nof ease and cowardice to lose the city the conquest of Sicily.\nBut yet it is a great sign of his integrity, that though he was\nalways averse from war, and unwilling to command, yet they\nalways continued to appoint him as the best experienced and\nablest general they had.  On the other hand Crassus, though\nalways ambitious of command, never attained to it, except by\nmere necessity in the servile war, Pompey and Metellus and the\ntwo brothers Lucullus being absent, although at that time he was\nat his highest pitch of interest and reputation.  Even those who\nthought most of him seem to have thought him, as the comic poet\nsays:\n\nA brave man anywhere but in the field.\n\nThere was no help, however, for the Romans, against his passion\nfor command and for distinction.  The Athenians sent out Nicias\nagainst his will to the war, and Crassus led out the Romans\nagainst theirs; Crassus brought misfortune on Rome, as Athens\nbrought it on Nicias.\n\nStill this is rather ground for praising Nicias, than for\nfinding fault with Crassus.  His experience and sound judgment\nas a general saved him from being carried away by the delusive\nhopes of his fellow-citizens, and made him refuse to entertain\nany prospect of conquering Sicily.  Crassus, on the other hand,\nmistook, in entering on a Parthian war as an easy matter.  He\nwas eager, while Caesar was subduing the west, Gaul, Germany,\nand Britain, to advance for his part to the east and the Indian\nSea, by the conquest of Asia, to complete the incursions of\nPompey and the attempts of Lucullus, men of prudent temper and\nof unimpeachable worth, who, nevertheless, entertained the same\nprojects as Crassus, and acted under the same convictions.  When\nPompey was appointed to the like command, the senate was opposed\nto it; and after Caesar had routed three hundred thousand\nGermans, Cato recommended that he should be surrendered to the\ndefeated enemy, to expiate in his own person the guilt of breach\nof faith.  The people, meantime, (their service to Cato!) kept\nholiday for fifteen days, and were overjoyed.  What would have\nbeen their feelings, and how many holidays would they have\ncelebrated, if Crassus had sent news from Babylon of victory,\nand thence marching onward had converted Media and Persia, the\nHyrcanians, Susa, and Bactra, into Roman provinces?\n\nIf wrong we must do, as Euripides says, and cannot be content\nwith peace and present good things, let it not be for such\nresults as destroying Mende or Scandea, or beating up the exiled\nAeginetans in the coverts to which like hunted birds they had\nfled, when expelled from their homes, but let it be for some\nreally great remuneration; nor let us part with justice, like a\ncheap and common thing, for a small and trifling price.  Those\nwho praise Alexander's enterprise and blame that of Crassus,\njudge of the beginning unfairly by the results.\n\nIn actual service, Nicias did much that deserves high praise.\nHe frequently defeated the enemy in battle, and was on the very\npoint of capturing Syracuse; nor should he bear the whole blame\nof the disaster, which may fairly be ascribed in part to his\nwant of health and to the jealousy entertained of him at home.\nCrassus, on the other hand, committed so many errors as not to\nleave fortune room to show him favor.  It is no surprise to find\nsuch imbecility fall a victim to the power of Parthia; the only\nwonder is to see it prevailing over the wonted good-fortune of\nRome.  One scrupulously observed, the other entirely slighted\nthe arts of divination; and as both equally perished, it is\ndifficult to see what inference we should draw.  Yet the fault\nof over-caution, supported by old and general opinion, better\ndeserves forgiveness than that of self-willed and lawless\ntransgression.\n\nIn his death, however, Crassus has the advantage, as he did not\nsurrender himself, nor submit to bondage, or let himself be\ntaken in by trickery, but was the victim only of the entreaties\nof his friends and the perfidy of his enemies; whereas Nicias\nenhanced the shame of his death by yielding himself up in the\nhope of a disgraceful and inglorious escape.\n\n\n\nSERTORIUS\n\nIt is no great wonder if in long process of time, while fortune\ntakes her course hither and thither, numerous coincidences\nshould spontaneously occur.  If the number and variety of\nsubjects to be wrought upon be infinite, it is all the more\neasy for fortune, with such an abundance of material, to effect\nthis similarity of results.  Or if, on the other hand, events\nare limited to the combinations of some finite number, then of\nnecessity the same must often recur, and in the same sequence.\nThere are people who take a pleasure in making collections of\nall such fortuitous occurrences that they have heard or read\nof, as look like works of a rational power and design; they\nobserve, for example, that two eminent persons, whose names\nwere Attis, the one a Syrian, the other of Arcadia, were both\nslain by a wild boar; that of two whose names were Actaeon, the\none was torn in pieces by his dogs, the other by his lovers;\nthat of two famous Scipios, the one overthrew the Carthaginians\nin war, the other totally ruined and destroyed them; the city\nof Troy was the first time taken by Hercules for the horses\npromised him by Laomedon, the second time by Agamemnon, by\nmeans of the celebrated great wooden horse, and the third time\nby Charidemus, by occasion of a horse falling down at the gate,\nwhich hindered the Trojans, so that they could not shut them\nsoon enough; and of two cities which take their names from the\nmost agreeable odoriferous plants, Ios and Smyrna, the one from\na violet, the other from myrrh, the poet Homer is reported to\nhave been born in the one, and to have died in the other.  And\nso to these instances let us further add, that the most warlike\ncommanders, and most remarkable for exploits of skillful\nstratagem, have had but one eye; as Philip, Antigonus,\nHannibal, and Sertorius, whose life and actions we describe at\npresent; of whom, indeed, we might truly say, that he was more\ncontinent than Philip, more faithful to his friend than\nAntigonus, and more merciful to his enemies than Hannibal; and\nthat for prudence and judgment he gave place to none of them,\nbut in fortune was inferior to them all.  Yet though he had\ncontinually in her a far more difficult adversary to contend\nagainst than his open enemies, he nevertheless maintained his\nground, with the military skill of Metellus, the boldness of\nPompey, the success of Sylla, and the power of the Roman\npeople, all to be encountered by one who was a banished man and\na stranger at the head of a body of barbarians.  Among Greek\ncommanders, Eumenes of Cardia may be best compared with him;\nthey were both of them men born for command, for warfare, and\nfor stratagem; both banished from their countries, and holding\ncommand over strangers; both had fortune for their adversary,\nin their last days so harshly so, that they were both betrayed\nand murdered by those who served them, and with whom they had\nformerly overcome their enemies.\n\nQuintus Sertorius was of a noble family, born in the city of\nNursia, in the country of the Sabines; his father died when he\nwas young, and he was carefully and decently educated by his\nmother, whose name was Rhea, and whom he appears to have\nextremely loved and honored.  He paid some attention to the\nstudy of oratory and pleading in his youth, and acquired some\nreputation and influence in Rome by his eloquence; but the\nsplendor of his actions in arms, and his successful\nachievements in the wars, drew off his ambition in that\ndirection.\n\nAt his first beginning, he served under Caepio, when the Cimbri\nand Teutones invaded Gaul; where the Romans fighting\nunsuccessfully, and being put to flight, he was wounded in many\nparts of his body, and lost his horse, yet, nevertheless, swam\nacross the river Rhone in his armor, with his breastplate and\nshield, bearing himself up against the violence of the current;\nso strong and so well inured to hardship was his body.\n\nThe second time that the Cimbri and Teutones came down with\nsome hundreds of thousands, threatening death and destruction\nto all, when it was no small piece of service for a Roman\nsoldier to keep his ranks and obey his commander, Sertorius\nundertook, while Marius led the army, to spy out the enemy's\ncamp.  Procuring a Celtic dress, and acquainting himself with\nthe ordinary expressions of their language requisite for common\nintercourse, he threw himself in amongst the barbarians; where\nhaving carefully seen with his own eyes, or having been fully\ninformed by persons upon the place of all their most important\nconcerns, he returned to Marius, from whose hands he received\nthe rewards of valor; and afterwards giving frequent proofs\nboth of conduct and courage in all the following war, he was\nadvanced to places of honor and trust under his general.  After\nthe wars with the Cimbri and Teutones, he was sent into Spain,\nhaving the command of a thousand men under Didius, the Roman\ngeneral, and wintered in the country of the Celtiberians, in\nthe city of Castulo, where the soldiers enjoying great plenty,\nand growing insolent, and continually drinking, the inhabitants\ndespised them and sent for aid by night to the Gyrisoenians,\ntheir near neighbors, who fell upon the Romans in their\nlodgings and slew a great number of them.  Sertorius, with a\nfew of his soldiers, made his way out, and rallying together\nthe rest who escaped, he marched round about the walls, and\nfinding the gate open, by which the Gyrisoenians had made their\nsecret entrance, he gave not them the same opportunity, but\nplacing a guard at the gate, and seizing upon all quarters of\nthe city, he slew all who were of age to bear arms, and then\nordering his soldiers to lay aside their weapons and put off\ntheir own clothes, and put on the accoutrements of the\nbarbarians, he commanded them to follow him to the city, from\nwhence the men came who had made this night attack upon the\nRomans.  And thus deceiving the Gyrisoenians with the sight of\ntheir own armor, he found the gates of their city open, and\ntook a great number prisoners, who came out thinking to meet\ntheir friends and fellow-citizens come home from a successful\nexpedition.  Most of them were thus slain by the Romans at\ntheir own gates, and the rest within yielded up themselves and\nwere sold for slaves.\n\nThis action made Sertorius highly renowned throughout all\nSpain, and as soon as he returned to Rome he was appointed\nquaestor of Cisalpine Gaul, at a very seasonable moment for his\ncountry, the Marsian war being on the point of breaking out.\nSertorius was ordered to raise soldiers and provide arms, which\nhe performed with a diligence and alacrity, so contrasting with\nthe feebleness and slothfulness of other officers of his age,\nthat he got the repute of a man whose life would be one of\naction.  Nor did he relinquish the part of a soldier, now that\nhe had arrived at the dignity of a commander, but performed\nwonders with his own hands, and never sparing himself, but\nexposing his body freely in all conflicts, he lost one of his\neyes.  This he always esteemed an honor to him; observing that\nothers do not continually carry about with them the marks and\ntestimonies of their valor, but must often lay aside their\nchains of gold, their spears and crowns; whereas his ensigns of\nhonor, and the manifestations of his courage always remained\nwith him, and those who beheld his misfortune, must at the same\ntime recognize his merits.  The people also paid him the\nrespect he deserved, and when he came into the theater,\nreceived him with plaudits and joyful acclamations, an honor\nrarely bestowed even on persons of advanced standing and\nestablished reputation.  Yet, notwithstanding this popularity,\nwhen he stood to be tribune of the people, he was disappointed,\nand lost the place, being opposed by the party of Sylla, which\nseems to have been the principal cause of his subsequent enmity\nto Sylla.\n\nAfter that Marius was overcome by Sylla and fled into Africa,\nand Sylla had left Italy to go to the wars against Mithridates,\nand of the two consuls Octavius and Cinna, Octavius remained\nsteadfast to the policy of Sylla, but Cinna, desirous of a new\nrevolution, attempted to recall the lost interest of Marius,\nSertorius joined Cinna's party, more particularly as he saw\nthat Octavius was not very capable, and was also suspicious of\nanyone that was a friend to Marius.  When a great battle was\nfought between the two consuls in the forum, Octavius overcame,\nand Cinna and Sertorius, having lost not less than ten\nthousand men, left the city, and gaining over most part of the\ntroops who were dispersed about and remained still in many\nparts of Italy, they in a short time mustered up a force\nagainst Octavius sufficient to give him battle again, and\nMarius, also, now coming by sea out of Africa, proffered\nhimself to serve under Cinna, as a private soldier under his\nconsul and commander.\n\nMost were for the immediate reception of Marius, but Sertorius\nopenly declared against it, whether he thought that Cinna would\nnot now pay as much attention to himself, when a man of higher\nmilitary repute was present, or feared that the violence of\nMarius would bring all things to confusion, by his boundless\nwrath and vengeance after victory.  He insisted upon it with\nCinna that they were already victorious, that there remained\nlittle to be done, and that, if they admitted Marius, he would\ndeprive them of the glory and advantage of the war, as there\nwas no man less easy to deal with, or less to be trusted in, as\na partner in power.  Cinna answered, that Sertorius rightly\njudged the affair, but that he himself was at a loss, and\nashamed, and knew not how to reject him, after he had sent for\nhim to share in his fortunes.  To which Sertorius immediately\nreplied, that he had thought that Marius came into Italy of his\nown accord, and therefore had deliberated as to what might be\nmost expedient, but that Cinna ought not so much as to have\nquestioned whether he should accept him whom he had already\ninvited, but should have honorably received and employed him,\nfor his word once past left no room for debate.  Thus Marius\nbeing sent for by Cinna, and their forces being divided into\nthree parts, under Cinna, Marius, and Sertorius, the war was\nbrought to a successful conclusion; but those about Cinna and\nMarius committing all manner of insolence and cruelty, made the\nRomans think the evils of war a golden time in comparison.  On\nthe contrary, it is reported of Sertorius, that he never slew\nany man in his anger, to satisfy his own private revenge, nor\never insulted over anyone whom he had overcome, but was much\noffended with Marius, and often privately entreated Cinna to\nuse his power more moderately.  And in the end, when the slaves\nwhom Marius had freed at his landing to increase his army,\nbeing made not only his fellow-soldiers in the war, but also\nnow his guard in his usurpation, enriched and powerful by his\nfavor, either by the command or permission of Marius, or by\ntheir own lawless violence, committed all sorts of crimes,\nkilled their masters, ravished their masters' wives, and abused\ntheir children, their conduct appeared so intolerable to\nSertorius that he slew the whole body of them, four thousand in\nnumber, commanding his soldiers to shoot them down with their\njavelins, as they lay encamped together.\n\nAfterwards, when Marius died, and Cinna shortly after was\nslain, when the younger Marius made himself consul against\nSertorius's wishes and contrary to law, when Carbo, Norbanus,\nand Scipio fought unsuccessfully against Sylla, now advancing\nto Rome, when much was lost by the cowardice and remissness of\nthe commanders, but more by the treachery of their party, when\nwith the want of prudence in the chief leaders, all went so ill\nthat his presence could do no good, in the end when Sylla had\nplaced his camp near to Scipio, and by pretending friendship,\nand putting him in hopes of a peace, corrupted his army, and\nScipio could not be made sensible of this, although often\nforewarned of it by Sertorius, at last he utterly despaired of\nRome, and hasted into Spain, that by taking possession there\nbeforehand, he might secure refuge to his friends, from their\nmisfortunes at home.  Having bad weather in his journey, and\ntraveling through mountainous countries, and the inhabitants\nstopping the way, and demanding a toll and money for passage,\nthose who were with him were out of all patience at the\nindignity and shame it would be for a proconsul of Rome to pay\ntribute to a crew of wretched barbarians.  But he little\nregarded their censure, and slighting that which had only the\nappearance of an indecency, told them he must buy time, the\nmost precious of all things to those who go upon great\nenterprises; and pacifying the barbarous people with money, he\nhastened his journey, and took possession of Spain, a country\nflourishing and populous, abounding with young men fit to bear\narms; but on account of the insolence and covetousness of the\ngovernors from time to time sent thither from Rome, they had\ngenerally an aversion to the Roman supremacy.  He, however,\nsoon gained the affection of their nobles by intercourse with\nthem, and the good opinion of the people by remitting their\ntaxes.  But that which won him most popularity, was his\nexempting them from finding lodgings for the soldiers, when he\ncommanded his army to take up their winter quarters outside the\ncities, and to pitch their camp in the suburbs; and when he\nhimself, first of all, caused his own tent to be raised without\nthe walls.  Yet not being willing to rely totally upon the good\ninclination of the inhabitants, he armed all the Romans who\nlived in those countries that were of military age, and\nundertook the building of ships and the making of all sorts of\nwarlike engines, by which means he kept the cities in due\nobedience, showing himself gentle in all peaceful business, and\nat the same time formidable to his enemies by his great\npreparations for war.\n\nAs soon as he was informed that Sylla had made himself master\nof Rome, and that the party which sided with Marius and Carbo\nwas going to destruction, he expected that some commander with\na considerable army would speedily come against him, and\ntherefore sent away Julius Salinator immediately, with six\nthousand men fully armed, to fortify and defend the passes of\nthe Pyrenees.  And Caius Annius not long after being sent out\nby Sylla, finding Julius unassailable, sat down short at the\nfoot of the mountains in perplexity.  But a certain Calpurnius,\nsurnamed Lanarius, having treacherously slain Julius, and his\nsoldiers then forsaking the heights of the Pyrenees, Caius\nAnnius advanced with large numbers and drove before him all who\nendeavored to hinder his march.  Sertorius, also, not being\nstrong enough to give him battle, retreated with three thousand\nmen into New Carthage, where he took shipping, and crossed the\nseas into Africa.  And coming near the coast of Mauritania, his\nmen went on shore to water, and straggling about negligently,\nthe natives fell upon them and slew a great number.  This new\nmisfortune forced him to sail back again into Spain, whence he\nwas also repulsed, and, some Cilician pirate ships joining with\nhim, they made for the island of Pityussa, where they landed\nand overpowered the garrison placed there by Annius, who,\nhowever, came not long after with a great fleet of ships, and\nfive thousand soldiers.  And Sertorius made ready to fight him\nby sea, although his ships were not built for strength, but for\nlightness and swift sailing; but a violent west wind raised\nsuch a sea that many of them were run aground and shipwrecked,\nand he himself, with a few vessels, being kept from putting\nfurther out to sea by the fury of the weather, and from landing\nby the power of his enemies, was tossed about painfully for ten\ndays together, amidst the boisterous and adverse waves.\n\nHe escaped with difficulty, and after the wind ceased, ran for\ncertain desert islands scattered in those seas, affording no\nwater, and after passing a night there, making out to sea\nagain, he went through the straits of Cadiz, and sailing\noutward keeping the Spanish shore on his right hand, he landed\na little above the mouth of the river Baetis, where it falls\ninto the Atlantic sea, and gives the name to that part of\nSpain.  Here he met with seamen recently arrived from the\nAtlantic islands, two in number, divided from one another only\nby a narrow channel, and distant from the coast of Africa ten\nthousand furlongs.  These are called the Islands of the Blest;\nrains fall there seldom, and in moderate showers, but for the\nmost part they have gentle breezes, bringing along with them\nsoft dews, which render the soil not only rich for plowing and\nplanting, but so abundantly fruitful that it produces\nspontaneously an abundance of delicate fruits, sufficient to\nfeed the inhabitants, who may here enjoy all things without\ntrouble or labor.  The seasons of the year are temperate, and\nthe transitions from one to another so moderate, that the air\nis almost always serene and pleasant.  The rough northerly and\neasterly winds which blow from the coasts of Europe and Africa,\ndissipated in the vast open space, utterly lose their force\nbefore they reach the islands.  The soft western and southerly\nwinds which breathe upon them sometimes produce gentle\nsprinkling showers, which they convey along with them from the\nsea, but more usually bring days of moist bright weather,\ncooling and gently fertilizing the soil, so that the firm\nbelief prevails even among the barbarians, that this is the\nseat of the blessed, and that these are the Elysian Fields\ncelebrated by Homer.\n\nWhen Sertorius heard this account, he was seized with a\nwonderful passion for these islands, and had an extreme desire\nto go and live there in peace and quietness, and safe from\noppression and unending wars; but his inclinations being\nperceived by the Cilician pirates, who desired not peace nor\nquiet, but riches and spoils, they immediately forsook him, and\nsailed away into Africa to assist Ascalis, the son of Iphtha,\nand to help to restore him to his kingdom of Mauritania.  Their\nsudden departure noways discouraged Sertorius; he presently\nresolved to assist the enemies of Ascalis, and by this new\nadventure trusted to keep his soldiers together, who from this\nmight conceive new hopes, and a prospect of a new scene of\naction.  His arrival in Mauritania being very acceptable to the\nMoors, he lost no time, but immediately giving battle to\nAscalis, beat him out of the field and besieged him; and\nPaccianus being sent by Sylla, with a powerful supply, to raise\nthe siege, Sertorius slew him in the field, gained over all his\nforces, and took the city of Tingis, into which Ascalis and his\nbrothers were fled for refuge.  The Africans tell that Antaeus\nwas buried in this city, and Sertorius had the grave opened,\ndoubting the story because of the prodigious size, and finding\nthere his body, in effect, it is said, full sixty cubits long,\nhe was infinitely astonished, offered sacrifice, and heaped up\nthe tomb again, gave his confirmation to the story, and added\nnew honors to the memory of Antaeus.  The Africans tell that\nafter the death of Antaeus, his wife Tinga lived with Hercules,\nand had a son by him called Sophax, who was king of these\ncountries, and gave his mother's name to this city, whose son,\nalso, was Diodorus, a great conqueror, who brought the greatest\npart of the Libyan tribes under his subjection, with an army of\nGreeks, raised out of the colonies of the Olbians and Myceneans\nplaced here by Hercules.  Thus much I may mention for the sake\nof king Juba, of all monarchs the greatest student of history,\nwhose ancestors are said to have sprung from Diodorus and\nSophax.\n\nWhen Sertorius had made himself absolute master of the whole\ncountry, he acted with great fairness to those who had confided\nin him, and who yielded to his mercy; he restored to them their\nproperty, cities, and government, accepting only of such\nacknowledgments as they themselves freely offered.  And whilst\nhe considered which way next to turn his arms, the Lusitanians\nsent ambassadors to desire him to be their general; for being\nterrified with the Roman power, and finding the necessity of\nhaving a commander of great authority and experience in war,\nbeing also sufficiently assured of his worth and valor by those\nwho had formerly known him, they were desirous to commit\nthemselves especially to his care.  And in fact Sertorius is said\nto have been of a temper unassailable either by fear or\npleasure, in adversity and dangers undaunted, and noways puffed\nup with prosperity.  In straightforward fighting, no commander\nin his time was more bold and daring, and in whatever was to be\nperformed in war by stratagem, secrecy, or surprise, if any\nstrong place was to be secured, any pass to be gained speedily,\nfor deceiving and overreaching an enemy, there was no man equal\nto him in subtlety and skill.  In bestowing rewards and\nconferring honors upon those who had performed good service in\nthe wars he was bountiful and magnificent, and was no less\nsparing and moderate in inflicting punishment.  It is true that\nthat piece of harshness and cruelty which he executed in the\nlatter part of his days upon the Spanish hostages, seems to\nargue that his clemency was not natural to him, but only worn\nas a dress, and employed upon calculation, as his occasion or\nnecessity required.  As to my own opinion, I am persuaded that\npure virtue, established by reason and judgment, can never be\ntotally perverted or changed into its opposite, by any\nmisfortune whatever.  Yet I think it at the same time possible,\nthat virtuous inclinations and natural good qualities may, when\nunworthily oppressed by calamities, show, with change of\nfortune, some change and alteration of their temper; and thus I\nconceive it happened to Sertorius, who when prosperity failed\nhim, became exasperated by his disasters against those who had\ndone him wrong.\n\nThe Lusitanians having sent for Sertorius, he left Africa, and\nbeing made general with absolute authority, he put all in order\namongst them, and brought the neighboring parts of Spain\nunder subjection.  Most of the tribes voluntarily submitted\nthemselves, won by the fame of his clemency and of his courage,\nand, to some extent, also, he availed himself of cunning\nartifices of his own devising to impose upon them and gain\ninfluence over them.  Amongst which, certainly, that of the\nhind was not the least.  Spanus, a countryman who lived in\nthose parts, meeting by chance a hind that had recently calved,\nflying from the hunters, let the dam go, and pursuing the fawn,\ntook it, being wonderfully pleased with the rarity of the\ncolor, which was all milk white.  And as at that time Sertorius\nwas living in the neighborhood, and accepted gladly any\npresents of fruit, fowl, or venison, that the country afforded,\nand rewarded liberally those who presented them, the countryman\nbrought him his young hind, which he took and was well pleased\nwith at the first sight, but when in time he had made it so\ntame and gentle that it would come when he called, and follow\nhim wheresoever he went, and could endure the noise and tumult\nof the camp, knowing well that uncivilized people are naturally\nprone to superstition, by little and little he raised it into\nsomething preternatural, saying that it was given him by the\ngoddess Diana, and that it revealed to him many secrets.  He\nadded, also, further contrivances.  If he had received at any\ntime private intelligence that the enemies had made an\nincursion into any part of the districts under his command, or\nhad solicited any city to revolt, he pretended that the hind\nhad informed him of it in his sleep, and charged him to keep\nhis forces in readiness.  Or if again he had notice that any of\nthe commanders under him had got a victory, he would hide the\nmessengers and bring forth the hind crowned with flowers, for\njoy of the good news that was to come, and would encourage them\nto rejoice and sacrifice to the gods for the good account they\nshould soon receive of their prosperous success.\n\nBy such practices, he brought them to be more tractable and\nobedient in all things; for now they thought themselves no\nlonger to be led by a stranger, but rather conducted by a god,\nand the more so, as the facts themselves seemed to bear witness\nto it, his power, contrary to all expectation or probability,\ncontinually increasing.  For with two thousand six hundred men,\nwhom for honor's sake he called Romans, combined with seven\nhundred Africans, who landed with him when he first entered\nLusitania, together with four thousand targeteers, and seven\nhundred horse of the Lusitanians themselves, he made war\nagainst four Roman generals, who commanded a hundred and twenty\nthousand foot, six thousand horse, two thousand archers and\nslingers, and had cities innumerable in their power; whereas at\nthe first he had not above twenty cities in all.  And from this\nweak and slender beginning, he raised himself to the command of\nlarge nations of men, and the possession of numerous cities;\nand of the Roman commanders who were sent against him, he\noverthrew Cotta in a sea-fight, in the channel near the town of\nMellaria; he routed Fufidius, the governor of Baetica, with the\nloss of two thousand Romans, near the banks of the river\nBaetis; Lucius Domitius, proconsul of the other province of\nSpain, was overthrown by one of his lieutenants; Thoranius,\nanother commander sent against him by Metellus with a great\nforce, was slain, and Metellus, one of the greatest and most\napproved Roman generals then living, by a series of defeats,\nwas reduced to such extremities, that Lucius Manlius came to\nhis assistance out of Gallia Narbonensis, and Pompey the Great,\nwas sent from Rome, itself, in all haste, with considerable\nforces.  Nor did Metellus know which way to turn himself, in a\nwar with such a bold and ready commander, who was continually\nmolesting him, and yet could not be brought to a set battle,\nbut by the swiftness and dexterity of his Spanish soldiery, was\nenabled to shift and adapt himself to any change of\ncircumstances.  Metellus had had experience in battles fought\nby regular legions of soldiers, fully armed and drawn up in due\norder into a heavy standing phalanx, admirably trained for\nencountering and overpowering an enemy who came to close\ncombat, hand to hand, but entirely unfit for climbing among the\nhills, and competing incessantly with the swift attacks and\nretreats of a set of fleet mountaineers, or to endure hunger\nand thirst, and live exposed like them to the wind and weather,\nwithout fire or covering.\n\nBesides, being now in years, and having been formerly engaged\nin many fights and dangerous conflicts, he had grown inclined\nto a more remiss, easy, and luxurious life, and was the less\nable to contend with Sertorius, who was in the prime of his\nstrength and vigor, and had a body wonderfully fitted for war,\nbeing strong, active, and temperate, continually accustomed to\nendure hard labor, to take long tedious journeys, to pass many\nnights together without sleep, to eat little, and to be\nsatisfied with very coarse fare, and who was never stained with\nthe least excess in wine, even when he was most at leisure.\nWhat leisure time he allowed himself, he spent in hunting and\nriding about, and so made himself thoroughly acquainted with\nevery passage for escape when he would fly, and for overtaking\nand intercepting in pursuit, and gained a perfect knowledge of\nwhere he could and where he could not go.  Insomuch that\nMetellus suffered all the inconveniences of defeat, although he\nearnestly desired to fight, and Sertorius, though he refused\nthe field, reaped all the advantages of a conqueror.  For he\nhindered them from foraging, and cut them off from water; if\nthey advanced, he was nowhere to be found; if they stayed in\nany place and encamped, he continually molested and alarmed\nthem; if they besieged any town, he presently appeared and\nbesieged them again, and put them to extremities for want of\nnecessaries.  And thus he so wearied out the Roman army, that\nwhen Sertorius challenged Metellus to fight singly with him,\nthey commended it, and cried out, it was a fair offer, a Roman\nto fight against a Roman, and a general against a general; and\nwhen Metellus refused the challenge, they reproached him.\nMetellus derided and contemned this, and rightly so; for, as\nTheophrastus observes, a general should die like a general, and\nnot like a skirmisher.  But perceiving that the town of the\nLangobritae, who gave great assistance to Sertorius, might\neasily be taken for want of water, as there was but one well\nwithin the walls, and the besieger would be master of the\nsprings and fountains in the suburbs, he advanced against the\nplace, expecting to carry it in two days' time, there being no\nmore water, and gave command to his soldiers to take five days'\nprovision only.  Sertorius, however, resolving to send speedy\nrelief, ordered two thousand skins to be filled with water,\nnaming a considerable sum of money for the carriage of every\nskin; and many Spaniards and Moors undertaking the work, he\nchose out those who were the strongest and swiftest of foot,\nand sent them through the mountains, with order that when they\nhad delivered the water, they should convey away privately all\nthose who would be least serviceable in the siege, that there\nmight be water sufficient for the defendants.  As soon as\nMetellus understood this, he was disturbed, as he had already\nconsumed most part of the necessary provisions for his army,\nbut he sent out Aquinus with six thousand soldiers to fetch in\nfresh supplies.  But Sertorius having notice of it, laid an\nambush for him, and having sent out beforehand three thousand\nmen to take post in a thickly wooded watercourse, with these he\nattacked the rear of Aquinus in his return, while he himself,\ncharging him in the front, destroyed part of his army, and took\nthe rest prisoners, Aquinus only escaping, after the loss of\nboth his horse and his armor.  And Metellus, being forced\nshamefully to raise the siege, withdrew amidst the laughter and\ncontempt of the Spaniards; while Sertorius became yet more the\nobject of their esteem and admiration.\n\nHe was also highly honored for his introducing discipline and\ngood order amongst them, for he altered their furious savage\nmanner of fighting, and brought them to make use of the Roman\narmor, taught them to keep their ranks, and observe signals and\nwatchwords; and out of a confused number of thieves and\nrobbers, he constituted a regular, well-disciplined army.  He\nbestowed silver and gold upon them liberally to gild and adorn\ntheir helmets, he had their shields worked with various figures\nand designs, he brought them into the mode of wearing flowered\nand embroidered cloaks and coats, and by supplying money for\nthese purposes, and joining with them in all improvements, he\nwon the hearts of all.  That, however, which delighted them\nmost, was the care that he took of their children.  He sent for\nall the boys of noblest parentage out of all their tribes, and\nplaced them in the great city of Osca, where he appointed\nmasters to instruct them in the Grecian and Roman learning,\nthat when they came to be men, they might, as he professed, be\nfitted to share with him in authority, and in conducting the\ngovernment, although under this pretext he really made them\nhostages.  However, their fathers were wonderfully pleased to\nsee their children going daily to the schools in good order,\nhandsomely dressed in gowns edged with purple, and that\nSertorius paid for their lessons, examined them often,\ndistributed rewards to the most deserving, and gave them the\ngolden bosses to hang about their necks, which the Romans\ncalled bullae.\n\nThere being a custom in Spain, that when a commander was slain\nin battle, those who attended his person fought it out till\nthey all died with him, which the inhabitants of those\ncountries called an offering, or libation, there were few\ncommanders that had any considerable guard or number of\nattendants; but Sertorius was followed by many thousands who\noffered themselves, and vowed to spend their blood with his.\nAnd it is told that when his army was defeated near a city in\nSpain, and the enemy pressed hard upon them, the Spaniards,\nwith no care for themselves, but being totally solicitous to\nsave Sertorius, took him up on their shoulders and passed him\nfrom one to another, till they carried him into the city, and\nonly when they had thus placed their general in safety,\nprovided afterwards each man for his own security.\n\nNor were the Spaniards alone ambitious to serve him, but the\nRoman soldiers, also, that came out of Italy, were impatient to\nbe under his command; and when Perpenna Vento, who was of the\nsame faction with Sertorius, came into Spain with a quantity of\nmoney and a large number of troops, and designed to make war\nagainst Metellus on his own account, his own soldiers opposed\nit, and talked continually of Sertorius, much to the\nmortification of Perpenna, who was puffed up with the grandeur\nof his family and his riches.  And when they afterwards\nreceived tidings that Pompey was passing the Pyrenees, they\ntook up their arms, laid hold on their ensigns, called upon\nPerpenna to lead them to Sertorius, and threatened him that if\nhe refused they would go without him, and place themselves\nunder a commander who was able to defend himself and those that\nserved him.  And so Perpenna was obliged to yield to their\ndesires, and joining Sertorius, added to his army three and\nfifty cohorts.\n\nAnd when now all the cities on this side of the river Ebro also\nunited their forces together under his command, his army grew\ngreat, for they flocked together and flowed in upon him from\nall quarters.  But when they continually cried out to attack\nthe enemy, and were impatient of delay, their inexperienced,\ndisorderly rashness caused Sertorius much trouble, who at first\nstrove to restrain them with reason and good counsel, but when\nhe perceived them refractory and unseasonably violent, he gave\nway to their impetuous desires, and permitted them to engage\nwith the enemy, in such sort that they might, being repulsed,\nyet not totally routed, become more obedient to his commands\nfor the future.  Which happening as he had anticipated, he soon\nrescued them, and brought them safe into his camp.  And after a\nfew days, being willing to encourage them again, when he had\ncalled all his army together, he caused two horses to be\nbrought into the field, one an old, feeble, lean animal, the\nother a lusty, strong horse, with a remarkably thick and long\ntail.  Near the lean one he placed a tall strong man, and near\nthe strong young horse a weak despicable-looking fellow; and at\na sign given, the strong man took hold of the weak horse's tail\nwith both his hands, and drew it to him with his whole force,\nas if he would pull it off; the other, the weak man, in the\nmean time, set to work to pluck off hair by hair from the great\nhorse's tail.  And when the strong man had given trouble enough\nto himself in vain, and sufficient diversion to the company,\nand had abandoned his attempt, whilst the weak pitiful fellow\nin a short time and with little pains had left not a hair on\nthe great horse's tail, Sertorius rose up and spoke to his\narmy, \"You see, fellow soldiers, that perseverance is more\nprevailing than violence, and that many things which cannot be\novercome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken\nlittle by little.  Assiduity and persistence are irresistible,\nand in time overthrow and destroy the greatest powers whatever.\nTime being the favorable friend and assistant of those who use\ntheir judgment to await his occasions, and the destructive\nenemy of those who are unseasonably urging and pressing\nforward.\"  With a frequent use of such words and such devices,\nhe soothed the fierceness of the barbarous people, and taught\nthem to attend and watch for their opportunities.\n\nOf all his remarkable exploits, none raised greater admiration\nthan that which he put in practice against the Characitanians.\nThese are a people beyond the river Tagus, who inhabit neither\ncities nor towns, but live in a vast high hill, within the deep\ndens and caves of the rocks, the mouths of which open all\ntowards the north.  The country below is of a soil resembling a\nlight clay, so loose as easily to break into powder, and is not\nfirm enough to bear anyone that treads upon it, and if you\ntouch it in the least, it flies about like ashes or unslaked\nlime.  In any danger of war, these people descend into their\ncaves, and carrying in their booty and prey along with them,\nstay quietly within, secure from every attack.  And when\nSertorius, leaving Metellus some distance off had placed his\ncamp near this hill, they slighted and despised him, imagining,\nthat he retired into these parts, being overthrown by the\nRomans.  And whether out of anger and resentment, or out of his\nunwillingness to be thought to fly from his enemies, early in\nthe morning he rode up to view the situation of the place.  But\nfinding there was no way to come at it, as he rode about,\nthreatening them in vain and disconcerted, he took notice that\nthe wind raised the dust and carried it up towards the caves of\nthe Characitanians, the mouths of which, as I said before,\nopened towards the north; and the northerly wind, which some\ncall Caecias, prevailing most in those parts, coming up out of\nmoist plains or mountains covered with snow, at this particular\ntime, in the heat of summer, being further supplied and\nincreased by the melting of the ice in the northern regions,\nblew a delightful fresh gale, cooling and refreshing the\nCharacitanians and their cattle all the day long.  Sertorius,\nconsidering well all circumstances in which either the\ninformation of the inhabitants, or his own experience had\ninstructed him, commanded his soldiers to shovel up a great\nquantity of this light, dusty earth, to heap it up together,\nand make a mount of it over against the hill in which these\nbarbarous people resided, who, imagining that all this\npreparation was for raising a mound to get at them, only mocked\nand laughed at it.  However, he continued the work till the\nevening, and brought his soldiers back into their camp.  The\nnext morning a gentle breeze at first arose, and moved the\nlightest parts of the earth, and dispersed it about as the\nchaff before the wind; but when the sun coming to be higher,\nthe strong northerly wind had covered the hills with the dust,\nthe soldiers came and turned this mound of earth over and over,\nand broke the hard clods in pieces, whilst others on horseback\nrode through it backward and forward, and raised a cloud of\ndust into the air:  there with the wind the whole of it was\ncarried away and blown into the dwellings of the\nCharacitanians, all lying open to the north.  And there being\nno other vent or breathing-place than that through which the\nCaecias rushed in upon them, it quickly blinded their eyes, and\nfilled their lungs, and all but choked them, whilst they strove\nto draw in the rough air mingled with dust and powdered earth.\nNor were they able, with all they could do, to hold out above\ntwo days, but yielded up themselves on the third, adding, by\ntheir defeat, not so much to the power of Sertorius, as to his\nrenown, in proving that he was able to conquer places by art,\nwhich were impregnable by the force of arms.\n\nSo long as he had to do with Metellus, he was thought to owe\nhis successes to his opponent's age and slow temper, which were\nill-suited for coping with the daring and activity of one who\ncommanded a light army more like a band of robbers than regular\nsoldiers.  But when Pompey also passed over the Pyrenees, and\nSertorius pitched his camp near him, and offered and himself\naccepted every occasion by which military skill could be put to\nthe proof, and in this contest of dexterity was found to have\nthe better, both in baffling his enemy's designs and in\ncounter-scheming himself, the fame of him now spread even to\nRome itself, as the most expert commander of his time.  For the\nrenown of Pompey was not small, who had already won much honor\nby his achievements in the wars of Sylla, from whom he received\nthe title of Magnus, and was called Pompey the Great; and who\nhad risen to the honor of a triumph before the beard had grown\non his face.  And many cities which were under Sertorius were\non the very eve of revolting and going over to Pompey, when\nthey were deterred from it by that great action, amongst\nothers, which he performed near the city of Lauron, contrary to\nthe expectation of all.\n\nFor Sertorius had laid siege to Lauron, and Pompey came with\nhis whole army to relieve it; and there being a hill near this\ncity very advantageously situated, they both made haste to take\nit.  Sertorius was beforehand, and took possession of it first,\nand Pompey, having drawn down his forces, was not sorry that it\nhad thus happened, imagining that he had hereby enclosed his\nenemy between his own army and the city, and sent in a\nmessenger to the citizens of Lauron, to bid them be of good\ncourage, and to come upon their walls, where they might see\ntheir besieger besieged.  Sertorius, perceiving their\nintentions, smiled, and said, he would now teach Sylla's\nscholar, for so he called Pompey in derision, that it was the\npart of a general to look as well behind him as before him, and\nat the same time showed them six thousand soldiers, whom he had\nleft in his former camp, from whence he marched out to take the\nhill, where if Pompey should assault him, they might fall upon\nhis rear.  Pompey discovered this too late, and not daring to\ngive battle, for fear of being encompassed, and yet being\nashamed to desert his friends and confederates in their extreme\ndanger, was thus forced to sit still, and see them ruined\nbefore his face.  For the besieged despaired of relief, and\ndelivered up themselves to Sertorius, who spared their lives\nand granted them their liberty, but burnt their city, not out\nof anger or cruelty, for of all commanders that ever were,\nSertorius seems least of all to have indulged these passions,\nbut only for the greater shame and confusion of the admirers of\nPompey, and that it might be reported amongst the Spaniards,\nthat though he had been so close to the fire which burnt down\nthe city of his confederates as actually to feel the heat of\nit, he still had not dared to make any opposition.\n\nSertorius, however, sustained many losses; but he always\nmaintained himself and those immediately with him undefeated,\nand it was by other commanders under him that he suffered; and\nhe was more admired for being able to repair his losses, and\nfor recovering the victory, than the Roman generals against him\nfor gaining these advantages; as at the battle of the Sucro\nagainst Pompey, and at the battle near Tuttia, against him and\nMetellus together.  The battle near the Sucro was fought, it is\nsaid, through the impatience of Pompey, lest Metellus should\nshare with him in the victory, Sertorius being also willing to\nengage Pompey before the arrival of Metellus.  Sertorius\ndelayed the time till the evening, considering that the\ndarkness of the night would be a disadvantage to his enemies,\nwhether flying or pursuing, being strangers, and having no\nknowledge of the country.  When the fight began, it happened\nthat Sertorius was not placed directly against Pompey, but\nagainst Afranius, who had command of the left wing of the Roman\narmy, as he commanded the right wing of his own; but when he\nunderstood that his left wing began to give way, and yield to\nthe assault of Pompey, he committed the care of his right wing\nto other commanders, and made haste to relieve those in\ndistress; and rallying some that were flying, and encouraging\nothers that still kept their ranks, he renewed the fight, and\nattacked the enemy in their pursuit so effectively as to cause\na considerable rout, and brought Pompey into great danger of\nhis life.  For after being wounded and losing his horse, he\nescaped unexpectedly.  For the Africans with Sertorius, who\ntook Pompey's horse, set out with gold, and covered with rich\ntrappings, fell out with one another; and upon the dividing of\nthe spoil, gave over the pursuit.  Afranius, in the meantime,\nas soon as Sertorius had left his right wing, to assist the\nother part of his army, overthrew all that opposed him; and\npursuing them to their camp, fell in together with them, and\nplundered them till it was dark night; knowing nothing of\nPompey's overthrow, nor being able to restrain his soldiers\nfrom pillaging; when Sertorius, returning with victory, fell\nupon him and upon his men, who were all in disorder, and slew\nmany of them.  And the next morning he came into the field\nagain, well armed, and offered battle, but perceiving that\nMetellus was near, he drew off, and returned to his camp,\nsaying, \"If this old woman had not come up, I would have\nwhipped that boy soundly and sent him to Rome.\"\n\nHe was much concerned that his white hind could nowhere be\nfound; as he was thus destitute of an admirable contrivance to\nencourage the barbarous people, at a time when he most stood in\nneed of it.  Some men, however, wandering in the night, chanced\nto meet her, and knowing her by her color, took her; to whom\nSertorius promised a good reward, if they would tell no one of\nit; and immediately shut her up.  A few days after, he appeared\nin public with a very cheerful look, and declared to the chief\nmen of the country, that the gods had foretold him in a dream\nthat some great good fortune should shortly attend him; and,\ntaking his seat, proceeded to answer the petitions of those who\napplied themselves to him.  The keepers of the hind, who were\nnot far off, now let her loose, and she no sooner espied\nSertorius, but she came leaping with great joy to his feet,\nlaid her head upon his knees, and licked his hands, as she\nformerly used to do.  And Sertorius stroking her, and making\nmuch of her again, with that tenderness that the tears stood in\nhis eyes, all that were present were immediately filled with\nwonder and astonishment, and accompanying him to his house with\nloud shouts for joy, looked upon him as a person above the rank\nof mortal men, and highly beloved by the gods; and were in\ngreat courage and hope for the future.\n\nWhen he had reduced his enemies to the last extremity for want\nof provision, he was forced to give them battle, in the plains\nnear Saguntum, to hinder them from foraying, and plundering the\ncountry.  Both parties fought gloriously.  Memmius, the best\ncommander in Pompey's army, was slain in the heat of the\nbattle.  Sertorius over threw all before him, and with great\nslaughter of his enemies pressed forward towards Metellus.\nThis old commander, making a resistance beyond what could be\nexpected from one of his years, was wounded with a lance; an\noccurrence which filled all who either saw it or heard of it,\nwith shame, to be thought to have left their general in\ndistress, but at the same time it provoked them to revenge and\nfury against their enemies; they covered Metellus with their\nshields, and brought him off in safety, and then valiantly\nrepulsed the Spaniards; and so victory changed sides, and\nSertorius, that he might afford a more secure retreat to his\narmy, and that fresh forces might more easily be raised,\nretired into a strong city in the mountains.  And though it was\nthe least of his intention to sustain a long siege, yet he\nbegan to repair the walls, and to fortify the gates, thus\ndeluding his enemies, who came and sat down before the town,\nhoping to take it without much resistance; and meantime gave\nover the pursuit of the Spaniards, and allowed opportunity for\nraising new forces for Sertorius, to which purpose he had sent\ncommanders to all their cities, with orders, when they had\nsufficiently increased their numbers, to send him word of it.\nThis news he no sooner received, but he sallied out and forced\nhis way through his enemies, and easily joined them with the\nrest of his army.  And having received this considerable\nreinforcement, he set upon the Romans again, and by rapidly\nassaulting them, by alarming them on all sides, by ensnaring,\ncircumventing, and laying ambushes for them, he cut off all\nprovisions by land, while with his piratical vessels, he kept\nall the coast in awe, and hindered their supplies by sea.  He\nthus forced the Roman generals to dislodge, and to separate\nfrom one another:  Metellus departed into Gaul, and Pompey\nwintered among the Vaccaeans, in a wretched condition, where,\nbeing in extreme want of money, he wrote a letter to the\nsenate, to let them know that if they did not speedily supply\nhim, he must draw off his army; for he had already spent his\nown money in the defense of Italy.  To these extremities, the\nchiefest and the most powerful commanders of the age were\nreduced by the skill of Sertorius; and it was the common\nopinion in Rome, that he would be in Italy before Pompey.\n\nHow far Metellus was terrified, and at what rate he esteemed\nhim, he plainly declared, when he offered by proclamation a\nhundred talents, and twenty thousand acres of land, to any\nRoman that should kill him, and leave, if he were banished, to\nreturn; attempting villainously to buy his life by treachery,\nwhen he despaired of ever being able to overcome him in open\nwar.  And when once he gained the advantage in a battle against\nSertorius, he was so pleased and transported with his good\nfortune, that he caused himself to be publicly proclaimed\nimperator; and all the cities which he visited received him\nwith altars and sacrifices; he allowed himself, it is said, to\nhave garlands placed on his head, and accepted sumptuous\nentertainments, at which he sat drinking in triumphal robes,\nwhile images and figures of victory were introduced by the\nmotion of machines, bringing in with them crowns and trophies\nof gold to present to him, and companies of young men and women\ndanced before him, and sang to him songs of joy and triumph.\nBy all which he rendered himself deservedly ridiculous, for\nbeing so excessively delighted and puffed up with the thoughts\nof having followed one who was retiring of his own accord, and\nfor having once had the better of him whom he used to call\nSylla's runaway slave, and his forces, the remnant of the\ndefeated troops of Carbo.\n\nSertorius, meantime, showed the loftiness of his temper in\ncalling together all the Roman senators who had fled from Rome,\nand had come and resided with him, and giving them the name of\na senate; and out of these he chose praetors and quaestors, and\nadorned his government with all the Roman laws and\ninstitutions.  And though he made use of the arms, riches, and\ncities of the Spaniards, yet he would never, even in word,\nremit to them the imperial authority, but set Roman officers\nand commanders over them, intimating his purpose to restore\nliberty to the Romans, not to raise up the Spaniard's power\nagainst them.  For he was a sincere lover of his country, and\nhad a great desire to return home; but in his adverse fortune\nhe showed undaunted courage, and behaved himself towards his\nenemies in a manner free from all dejection and\nmean-spiritedness; and when he was in his prosperity, and in\nthe height of his victories, he sent word to Metellus and\nPompey, that he was ready to lay down his arms, and live a\nprivate life, if he were allowed to return home, declaring that\nhe had rather live as the meanest citizen in Rome, than, exiled\nfrom it, be supreme commander of all other cities together.\nAnd it is thought that his great desire for his country was in\nno small measure promoted by the tenderness he had for his\nmother, under whom he was brought up after the death of his\nfather, and upon whom he had placed his entire affection.  And\nafter that his friends had sent for him into Spain to be their\ngeneral, as soon as he heard of his mother's death, he had\nalmost cast away himself and died for grief; for he lay seven\ndays together continually in his tent, without giving the word,\nor being seen by the nearest of his friends; and when the chief\ncommanders of the army, and persons of the greatest note came\nabout his tent, with great difficulty they prevailed with him\nat last to come abroad, and speak to his soldiers, and to take\nupon him the management of affairs, which were in a prosperous\ncondition.  And thus, to many men's judgment, he seemed to have\nbeen in himself of a mild and compassionate temper, and\nnaturally given to ease and quietness, and to have accepted of\nthe command of military forces contrary to his own inclination,\nand not being able to live in safety otherwise, to have been\ndriven by his enemies to have recourse to arms, and to espouse\nthe wars as a necessary guard for the defense of his person.\n\nHis negotiations with king Mithridates further argue the\ngreatness of his mind.  For when Mithridates, recovering\nhimself from his overthrow by Sylla, like a strong wrestler\nthat gets up to try another fall, was again endeavoring to\nreestablish his power in Asia, at this time the great fame of\nSertorius was celebrated in all places and when the merchants\nwho came out of the western parts of Europe, bringing these, as\nit were, among their other foreign wares, had filled the\nkingdom of Pontus with their stories of his exploits in war,\nMithridates was extremely desirous to send an embassy to him,\nbeing also highly encouraged to it by the boastings of his\nflattering courtiers, who, comparing Mithridates to Pyrrhus,\nand Sertorius to Hannibal, professed that the Romans would\nnever be able to make any considerable resistance against such\ngreat forces, and such admirable commanders, when they should\nbe set upon on both sides at once, on one by the most warlike\ngeneral, and on the other by the most powerful prince in\nexistence.\n\nAccordingly, Mithridates sends ambassadors into Spain to\nSertorius with letters and instructions, and commission to\npromise ships and money towards the charge of the war, if\nSertorius would confirm his pretensions upon Asia, and\nauthorize him to possess all that he had surrendered to the\nRomans in his treaty with Sylla.  Sertorius summoned a full\ncouncil which he called a senate, where, when others joyfully\napproved of the conditions, and were desirous immediately to\naccept of his offer, seeing that he desired nothing of them but\na name, and an empty title to places not in their power to\ndispose of, in recompense of which they should be supplied with\nwhat they then stood most in need of, Sertorius would by no\nmeans agree to it; declaring that he was willing that king\nMithridates should exercise all royal power and authority over\nBithynia and Cappadocia, countries accustomed to a monarchical\ngovernment, and not belonging to Rome, but he could never\nconsent that he should seize or detain a province, which, by\nthe justest right and title, was possessed by the Romans, which\nMithridates had formerly taken away from them, and had\nafterwards lost in open war to Fimbria, and quitted upon a\ntreaty of peace with Sylla.  For he looked upon it as his duty\nto enlarge the Roman possessions by his conquering arms, and\nnot to increase his own power by the diminution of the Roman\nterritories.  Since a noble-minded man, though he willingly\naccepts of victory when it comes with honor, will never so much\nas endeavor to save his own life upon any dishonorable terms.\n\nWhen this was related to Mithridates, he was struck with\namazement, and said to his intimate friends, \"What will\nSertorius enjoin us to do when he comes to be seated in the\nPalatium in Rome, who at present, when he is driven out to the\nborders of the Atlantic sea, sets bounds to our kingdoms in the\neast, and threatens us with war, if we attempt the recovery of\nAsia?\"  However, they solemnly, upon oath, concluded a league\nbetween them, upon these terms:  that Mithridates should enjoy\nthe free possession of Cappadocia and Bithynia, and that\nSertorius should send him soldiers, and a general for his army,\nin recompense of which the king was to supply him with three\nthousand talents and forty ships.  Marcus Marius, a Roman\nsenator who had quitted Rome to follow Sertorius, was sent\ngeneral into Asia, in company with whom when Mithridates had\nreduced divers of the Asian cities, Marius made his entrance\nwith rods and axes carried before him, and Mithridates followed\nin the second place, voluntarily waiting upon him.  Some of\nthese cities he set at liberty, and others he freed from taxes,\nsignifying to them that these privileges were granted to them\nby the favor of Sertorius, and hereby Asia, which had been\nmiserably tormented by the revenue-farmers, and oppressed by\nthe insolent pride and covetousness of the soldiers, began to\nrise again to new hopes, and to look forward with joy to the\nexpected change of government.\n\nBut in Spain, the senators about Sertorius, and others of the\nnobility, finding themselves strong enough for their enemies,\nno sooner laid aside fear, but their minds were possessed by\nenvy and irrational jealousies of Sertorius's power.  And\nchiefly Perpenna, elevated by the thoughts of his noble birth,\nand carried away with a fond ambition of commanding the army,\nthrew out villainous discourses in private amongst his\nacquaintance.  \"What evil genius,\" he would say, \"hurries us\nperpetually from worse to worse?  We who disdained to obey the\ndictates of Sylla, the ruler of sea and land, and thus to live\nat home in peace and quiet, are come hither to our destruction,\nhoping to enjoy our liberty, and have made ourselves slaves of\nour own accord, and are become the contemptible guards and\nattendants of the banished Sertorius, who, that he may expose\nus the further, gives us name that renders us ridiculous to all\nthat hear it, and calls us the Senate, when at the same time he\nmakes us undergo as much hard labor, and forces us to be as\nsubject to his haughty commands and insolences, as any\nSpaniards and Lusitanians.\"  With these mutinous discourses, he\nseduced them; and though the greater number could not be led\ninto open rebellion against Sertorius, fearing his power, they\nwere prevailed with to endeavor to destroy his interest\nsecretly.  For by abusing the Lusitanians and Spaniards, by\ninflicting severe punishments upon them, by raising exorbitant\ntaxes, and by pretending that all this was done by the strict\ncommand of Sertorius, they caused great troubles, and made many\ncities to revolt; and those who were sent to mitigate and heal\nthese differences, did rather exasperate them, and increase the\nnumber of his enemies, and left them at their return more\nobstinate and rebellious than they found them.  And Sertorius,\nincensed with all this, now so far forgot his former clemency\nand goodness, as to lay hands on the sons of the Spaniards,\neducated in the city of Oscar and, contrary to all justice, he\ncruelly put some of them to death, and sold others.\n\nIn the meantime, Perpenna, having increased the number of his\nconspirators, drew in Manlius, a commander in the army, who, at\nthat time being attached to a youth, to gain his affections the\nmore, discovered the confederacy to him, bidding him neglect\nothers, and be constant to him alone; who, in a few days, was\nto be a person of great power and authority.  But the youth\nhaving a greater inclination for Aufidius, disclosed all to\nhim, which much surprised and amazed him.  For he was also one\nof the confederacy, but knew not that Manlius was anyways\nengaged in it; but when the youth began to name Perpenna,\nGracinus, and others, whom he knew very well to be sworn\nconspirators, he was very much terrified and astonished; but\nmade light of it to the youth, and bade him not regard what\nManlius said, a vain boasting fellow.  However, he went\npresently to Perpenna, and giving him notice of the danger they\nwere in, and of the shortness of their time, desired him\nimmediately to put their designs in execution.  And when all\nthe confederates had consented to it, they provided a messenger\nwho brought feigned letters to Sertorius, in which he had\nnotice of a victory obtained, it said, by one of his\nlieutenants, and of the great slaughter of his enemies; and as\nSertorius, being extremely well pleased, was sacrificing and\ngiving thanks to the gods for his prosperous success, Perpenna\ninvited him, and those with him, who were also of the\nconspiracy, to an entertainment, and being very importunate,\nprevailed with him to come.  At all suppers and entertainments\nwhere Sertorius was present, great order and decency was wont\nto be observed, for he would not endure to hear or see any\nthing that was rude or unhandsome, but made it the habit of all\nwho kept his company, to entertain themselves with quiet and\ninoffensive amusements.  But in the middle of this\nentertainment, those who sought occasion to quarrel, fell into\ndissolute discourse openly, and making as if they were very\ndrunk, committed many insolences on purpose to provoke him.\nSertorius, being offended with their ill behavior, or\nperceiving the state of their minds by their way of speaking\nand their unusually disrespectful manner, changed the posture\nof his lying, and leaned backward, as one that neither heard\nnor regarded them.  Perpenna now took a cup full of wine, and,\nas he was drinking, let it fall out of his hand and make a\nnoise, which was the sign agreed upon amongst them; and\nAntonius, who was next to Sertorius, immediately wounded him\nwith his sword.  And whilst Sertorius, upon receiving the\nwound, turned himself, and strove to get up, Antonius threw\nhimself upon his breast, and held both his hands, so that he\ndied by a number of blows, without being able even to defend\nhimself.\n\nUpon the first news of his death, most of the Spaniards left the\nconspirators, and sent ambassadors to Pompey and Metellus, and\nyielded themselves up to them.  Perpenna attempted to do something\nwith those that remained, but he made only so much use of\nSertorius's arms and preparations for war, as to disgrace himself\nin them, and to let it be evident to all, that he understood no\nmore how to command, than he knew how to obey; and when he came\nagainst Pompey, he was soon overthrown, and taken prisoner.\nNeither did he bear this last affliction with any bravery, but\nhaving Sertorius's papers and writings in his hands, he offered to\nshow Pompey letters from persons of consular dignity, and of the\nhighest quality in Rome, written with their own hands, expressly\nto call Sertorius into Italy, and to let him know what great\nnumbers there were that earnestly desired to alter the present\nstate of affairs, and to introduce another manner of government.\nUpon this occasion, Pompey behaved not like a youth, or one of\na light inconsiderate mind, but as a man of a confirmed, mature,\nand solid judgment; and so freed Rome from great fears and dangers\nof change.  For he put all Sertorius's writings and letters\ntogether and read not one of them, nor suffered anyone else to\nread them, but burnt them all, and caused Perpenna immediately to\nbe put to death, lest by discovering their names, further troubles\nand revolutions might ensue.\n\nOf the rest of the conspirators with Perpenna, some were taken\nand slain by the command of Pompey, others fled into Africa,\nand were set upon by the Moors, and run through with their\ndarts; and in a short time, not one of them was left alive,\nexcept only Aufidius, the rival of Manlius, who, hiding\nhimself, or not being much inquired after, died an old man, in\nan obscure village in Spain, in extreme poverty, and hated by\nall.\n\n\n\nEUMENES\n\nDuris reports that Eumenes, the Cardian, was the son of a poor\nwagoner in the Thracian Chersonesus, yet liberally educated, both\nas a scholar and a soldier; and that while he was but young,\nPhilip, passing through Cardia, diverted himself with a sight of\nthe wrestling-matches and other exercises of the youth of that\nplace, among whom Eumenes performing with success, and showing\nsigns of intelligence and bravery, Philip was so pleased with\nhim, as to take him into his service.  But they seem to speak\nmore probably, who tell us that Philip advanced Eumenes for the\nfriendship he bore to his father, whose guest he had sometime\nbeen.  After the death of Philip, he continued in the service of\nAlexander, with the title of his principal secretary, but in as\ngreat favor as the most intimate of his familiars, being esteemed\nas wise and faithful as any person about him, so that he went\nwith troops under his immediate command as general in the\nexpedition against India, and succeeded to the post of Perdiccas,\nwhen Perdiccas was advanced to that of Hephaestion, then newly\ndeceased.  And therefore, after the death of Alexander, when\nNeoptolemus, who had been captain of his lifeguard, said that he\nhad followed Alexander with shield and spear, but Eumenes only\nwith pen and paper, the Macedonians laughed at him, as knowing\nvery well that, besides other marks of favor, the king had done\nhim the honor to make him a kind of kinsman to himself by\nmarriage.  For Alexander's first mistress in Asia, by whom he had\nhis son Hercules, was Barsine the daughter of Artabazus; and in\nthe distribution of the Persian ladies amongst his captains,\nAlexander gave Apame, one of her sisters, to Ptolemy, and\nanother, also called Barsine, to Eumenes.\n\nNotwithstanding, he frequently incurred Alexander's displeasure,\nand put himself into some danger, through Hephaestion.  The\nquarters that had been taken up for Eumenes, Hephaestion assigned\nto Euius, the flute-player.  Upon which, in great anger, Eumenes\nand Mentor came to Alexander, and loudly complained, saying that\nthe way to be regarded was to throw away their arms, and turn\nflute-players or tragedians; so much so that Alexander took their\npart and chid Hephaestion; but soon after changed his mind again,\nand was angry with Eumenes, and accounted the freedom he had\ntaken to be rather an affront to the king, than a reflection upon\nHephaestion.  Afterwards, when Nearchus, with a fleet, was to be\nsent to the Southern Sea, Alexander borrowed money of his\nfriends, his own treasury being exhausted, and would have had\nthree hundred talents of Eumenes, but he sent a hundred only,\npretending; that it was not without great difficulty he had\nraised so much from his stewards.  Alexander neither complained\nnor took the money, but gave private order to set Eumenes's tent\non fire, designing to take him in a manifest lie, when his money\nwas carried out.  But before that could be done, the tent was\nconsumed, and Alexander repented of his orders, all his papers\nbeing burnt; the gold and silver, however, which was melted down\nin the fire, being afterwards collected, was found to be more\nthan one thousand talents; yet Alexander took none of it, and\nonly wrote to the several governors and generals to send new\ncopies of the papers that were burnt, and ordered them to be\ndelivered to Eumenes.\n\nAnother difference happened between him and Hephaestion\nconcerning a gift, and a great deal of ill language passed\nbetween them, yet Eumenes still continued in favor.  But\nHephaestion dying soon after, the king, in his grief, presuming\nall those that differed with Hephaestion in his lifetime were now\nrejoicing at his death, showed much harshness and severity in his\nbehavior with them, especially towards Eumenes, whom he often\nupbraided with his quarrels and ill language to Hephaestion.  But\nhe, being a wise and dexterous courtier, made advantage of what\nhad done him prejudice, and struck in with the king's passion for\nglorifying his friend's memory, suggesting various plans to do\nhim honor, and contributing largely and readily towards erecting\nhis monument.\n\nAfter Alexander's death, when the quarrel broke out between the\ntroops of the phalanx and the officers, his companions, Eumenes,\nthough in his judgment he inclined to the latter, yet in his\nprofessions stood neuter, as if he thought it unbecoming him, who\nwas a stranger, to interpose in the private quarrels of the\nMacedonians.  And when the rest of Alexander's friends left\nBabylon, he stayed behind, and did much to pacify the\nfoot-soldiers, and to dispose them towards an accommodation.  And\nwhen the officers had agreed among themselves, and, recovering\nfrom the first disorder, proceeded to share out the several\ncommands and provinces, they made Eumenes governor of Cappadocia\nand Paphlagonia, and all the coast upon the Pontic Sea as far as\nTrebizond, which at that time was not subject to the Macedonians,\nfor Ariarathes kept it as king, but Leonnatus and Antigonus, with\na large army, were to put him in possession of it.  Antigonus,\nalready filled with hopes of his own, and despising all men, took\nno notice of Perdiccas's letters; but Leonnatus with his army\ncame down into Phrygia to the service of Eumenes.  But being\nvisited by Hecataeus, the tyrant of the Cardians, and requested\nrather to relieve Antipater and the Macedonians that were\nbesieged in Lamia, he resolved upon that expedition, inviting\nEumenes to a share in it, and endeavoring to reconcile him to\nHecataeus.  For there was an hereditary feud between them,\narising out of political differences, and Eumenes had more than\nonce been known to denounce Hecataeus as a tyrant, and to exhort\nAlexander to restore the Cardians their liberty.  Therefore at\nthis time, also, he declined the expedition proposed, pretending\nthat he feared lest Antipater, who already hated him, should for\nthat reason and to gratify Hecataeus, kill him.  Leonnatus so far\nbelieved, as to impart to Eumenes his whole design, which, as he\nhad pretended and given out, was to aid Antipater, but in truth\nwas to seize the kingdom of Macedon; and he showed him letters\nfrom Cleopatra, in which, it appeared, she invited him to Pella,\nwith promises to marry him.  But Eumenes, whether fearing\nAntipater, or looking upon Leonnatus as a rash, headstrong, and\nunsafe man, stole away from him by night, taking with him all his\nmen, namely, three hundred horse, and two hundred of his own\nservants armed, and all his gold, to the value of five thousand\ntalents of silver, and fled to Perdiccas, discovered to him\nLeonnatus's design, and thus gained great interest with him, and\nwas made of the council.  Soon after, Perdiccas, with a great\narmy, which he led himself, conducted Eumenes into Cappadocia,\nand, having taken Ariarathes prisoner, and subdued the whole\ncountry, declared him governor of it.  He accordingly proceeded\nto dispose of the chief cities among his own friends, and made\ncaptains of garrisons, judges, receivers, and other officers, of\nsuch as he thought fit himself, Perdiccas not at all interposing.\nEumenes, however, still continued to attend upon Perdiccas, both\nout of respect to him, and a desire not to be absent from the\nroyal family.\n\nBut Perdiccas, believing he was able enough to attain his own\nfurther objects without assistance, and that the country he left\nbehind him might stand in need of an active and faithful\ngovernor, when he came into Cilicia, dismissed Eumenes, under\ncolor of sending him to his command, but in truth to secure\nArmenia, which was on its frontier, and was unsettled through the\npractices of Neoptolemus.  Him, a proud and vain man, Eumenes\nexerted himself to gain by personal attentions; but to balance\nthe Macedonian foot, whom he found insolent and self-willed, he\ncontrived to raise an army of horse, excusing from tax and\ncontribution all those of the country that were able to serve on\nhorseback, and buying up a number of horses, which he distributed\namong such of his own men as he most confided in, stimulating the\ncourage of his new soldiers by gifts and honors, and inuring\ntheir bodies to service, by frequent marching and exercising; so\nthat the Macedonians were some of them astonished, others\noverjoyed, to see that in so short a time he had got together a\nbody of no less than six thousand three hundred horsemen.\n\nBut when Craterus and Antipater, having subdued the Greeks,\nadvanced into Asia, with intentions to quell the power of\nPerdiccas, and were reported to design an invasion of Cappadocia,\nPerdiccas, resolving himself to march against Ptolemy, made\nEumenes commander-in-chief of all the forces of Armenia and\nCappadocia, and to that purpose wrote letters, requiring Alcetas\nand Neoptolemus to be obedient to Eumenes, and giving full\ncommission to Eumenes to dispose and order all things as he\nthought fit.  Alcetas flatly refused to serve, because his\nMacedonians, he said, were ashamed to fight against Antipater,\nand loved Craterus so well, they were ready to receive him for\ntheir commander.  Neoptolemus designed treachery against Eumenes,\nbut was discovered; and being summoned, refused to obey, and put\nhimself in a posture of defense.  Here Eumenes first found the\nbenefit of his own foresight and contrivance, for his foot being\nbeaten, he routed Neoptolemus with his horse, and took all his\nbaggage; and coming up with his whole force upon the phalanx\nwhile broken and disordered in its flight, obliged the men to lay\ndown their arms, and take an oath to serve under him.\nNeoptolemus, with some few stragglers whom he rallied, fled to\nCraterus and Antipater.  From them had come an embassy to\nEumenes, inviting him over to their side, offering to secure him\nin his present government and to give him additional command,\nboth of men and of territory, with the advantage of gaining his\nenemy Antipater to become his friend, and keeping Craterus his\nfriend from turning to be his enemy.  To which Eumenes replied,\nthat he could not so suddenly be reconciled to his old enemy\nAntipater, especially at a time when he saw him use his friends\nlike enemies, but was ready to reconcile Craterus to Perdiccas,\nupon any just and equitable terms; but in case of any aggression,\nhe would resist the injustice to his last breath, and would\nrather lose his life than betray his word.\n\nAntipater, receiving this answer, took time to consider upon the\nwhole matter; when Neoptolemus arrived from his defeat, and\nacquainted them with the ill success of his arms, and urged them\nto give him assistance, to come, both of them, if possible, but\nCraterus at any rate, for the Macedonians loved him so\nexcessively, that if they saw but his hat, or heard his voice,\nthey would all pass over in a body with their arms.  And in\ntruth, Craterus had a mighty name among them, and the soldiers\nafter Alexander's death were extremely fond of him, remembering\nhow he had often for their sakes incurred Alexander's\ndispleasure, doing his best to withhold him when he began to\nfollow the Persian fashions, and always maintaining the customs\nof his country, when, through pride and luxuriousness, they began\nto be disregarded.  Craterus, therefore, sent on Antipater into\nCilicia, and himself and Neoptolemus marched with a large\ndivision of the army against Eumenes; expecting to come upon him\nunawares, and to find his army disordered with reveling after the\nlate victory.  Now that Eumenes should suspect his coming, and be\nprepared to receive him, is an argument of his vigilance, but not\nperhaps a proof of any extraordinary sagacity, but that he should\ncontrive both to conceal from his enemies the disadvantages of\nhis position, and from his own men whom they were to fight with,\nso that he led them on against Craterus himself, without their\nknowing that he commanded the enemy, this, indeed, seems to show\npeculiar address and skill in the general.  He gave out that\nNeoptolemus and Pigres were approaching with some Cappadocian and\nPaphlagonian horse.  And at night, having resolved on marching,\nhe fell asleep, and had an extraordinary dream.  For he thought\nhe saw two Alexanders ready to engage, each commanding his\nseveral phalanx, the one assisted by Minerva, the other by Ceres;\nand that after a hot dispute, he on whose side Minerva was, was\nbeaten, and Ceres, gathering ears of corn, wove them into a crown\nfor the victor.  This vision Eumenes interpreted at once as\nboasting success to himself, who was to fight for a fruitful\ncountry, and at that very time covered with the young ears, the\nwhole being sowed with corn, and the fields so thick with it,\nthat they made a beautiful show of a long peace.  And he was\nfurther emboldened, when he understood that the enemy's pass-word\nwas Minerva and Alexander.  Accordingly he also gave out as his,\nCeres and Alexander, and gave his men orders to make garlands for\nthemselves, and to dress their arms with wreaths of corn.  He\nfound himself under many temptations to discover to his captains\nand officers whom they were to engage with, and not to conceal a\nsecret of such moment in his own breast alone, yet he kept to his\nfirst resolutions, and ventured to run the hazard of his own\njudgment.\n\nWhen he came to give battle, he would not trust any Macedonian to\nengage Craterus, but appointed two troops of foreign horse,\ncommanded by Pharnabazus, son to Artabazus, and Phoenix of\nTenedos, with order to charge as soon as ever they saw the enemy,\nwithout giving them leisure to speak or retire, or receiving any\nherald or trumpet from them.  For he was exceedingly afraid about\nhis Macedonians, lest, if they found out Craterus to be there,\nthey should go over to his side.  He himself, with three hundred\nof his best horse, led the right wing against Neoptolemus.  When\nhaving passed a little hill they came in view, and were seen\nadvancing with more than ordinary briskness, Craterus was amazed,\nand bitterly reproached Neoptolemus for deceiving him with hopes\nof the Macedonians' revolt, but he encouraged his men to do\nbravely, and forthwith charged.  The first engagement was very\nfierce, and the spears being soon broken to pieces, they came to\nclose fighting with their swords; and here Craterus did by no\nmeans dishonor Alexander, but slew many of his enemies, and\nrepulsed many assaults, but at last received a wound in his side\nfrom a Thracian, and fell off his horse.  Being down, many not\nknowing him went past him, but Gorgias, one of Eumenes's\ncaptains, knew him, and alighting from his horse, kept guard over\nhim, as he lay badly wounded and slowly dying.  In the meantime\nNeoptolemus and Eumenes were engaged; who, being inveterate and\nmortal enemies, sought for one another, but missed for the two\nfirst courses, but in the third discovering one another, they\ndrew their swords, and with loud shouts immediately charged.  And\ntheir horses striking against one another like two galleys, they\nquitted their reins, and taking mutual hold pulled at one\nanother's helmets, and at the armor from their shoulders.  While\nthey were thus struggling, their horses went from under them, and\nthey fell together to the ground, there again still keeping their\nhold and wrestling.  Neoptolemus was getting up first, but\nEumenes wounded him in the ham, and got upon his feet before him.\nNeoptolemus supporting himself upon one knee, the other leg being\ndisabled, and himself undermost, fought courageously, though his\nblows were not mortal, but receiving a stroke in the neck he fell\nand ceased to resist.  Eumenes, transported with passion and his\ninveterate hatred to him, fell to reviling and stripping him, and\nperceived not that his sword was still in his hand.  And with\nthis he wounded Eumenes under the bottom of his corslet in the\ngroin, but in truth more frightened than hurt him; his blow being\nfaint for want of strength.  Having stripped the dead body, ill as\nhe was with the wounds he had received in his legs and arms, he\ntook horse again, and hurried towards the left wing of his army,\nwhich he supposed to be still engaged.  Hearing of the death of\nCraterus, he rode up to him, and finding there was yet some life\nin him, alighted from his horse and wept, and laying his right\nhand upon him, inveighed bitterly against Neoptolemus, and\nlamented both Craterus's misfortune and his own hard fate, that\nhe should be necessitated to engage against an old friend and\nacquaintance, and either do or suffer so much mischief.\n\nThis victory Eumenes obtained about ten days after the former,\nand got great reputation alike for his conduct and his valor in\nachieving it.  But on the other hand, it created him great envy\nboth among his own troops, and his enemies, that he, a stranger\nand a foreigner, should employ the forces and arms of Macedon, to\ncut off the bravest and most approved man among them.  Had the\nnews of this defeat come timely enough to Perdiccas, he had\ndoubtless been the greatest of all the Macedonians; but now, he\nbeing slain in a mutiny in Egypt, two days before the news\narrived, the Macedonians in a rage decreed Eumenes's death,\ngiving joint commission to Antigonus and Antipater to prosecute\nthe war against him.  Passing by Mount Ida, where there was a\nroyal establishment of horses, Eumenes took as many as he had\noccasion for, and sent an account of his doing so to the\noverseers, at which Antipater is said to have laughed, calling it\ntruly laudable in Eumenes thus to hold himself prepared for\ngiving in to them (or would it be taking from them?) strict\naccount of all matters of administration.  Eumenes had designed\nto engage in the plains of Lydia, near Sardis, both because his\nchief strength lay in horse, and to let Cleopatra see how\npowerful he was.  But at her particular request, for she was\nafraid to give any umbrage to Antipater, he marched into the\nupper Phrygia, and wintered in Celaenae; when Alcetas, Polemon,\nand Docimus disputing with him who should command in chief, \"You\nknow,\" said he, \"the old saying, That destruction regards no\npunctilios.\"  Having promised his soldiers pay within three days,\nhe sold them all the farms and castles in the country, together\nwith the men and beasts with which they were filled; every\ncaptain or officer that bought, received from Eumenes the use of\nhis engines to storm the place, and divided the spoil among his\ncompany, proportionably to every man's arrears.  By this Eumenes\ncame again to be popular, so that when letters were found thrown\nabout the camp by the enemy, promising one hundred talents,\nbesides great honors, to anyone that should kill Eumenes, the\nMacedonians were extremely offended, and made an order that from\nthat time forward one thousand of their best men should\ncontinually guard his person, and keep strict watch about him by\nnight in their several turns.  This order was cheerfully obeyed,\nand they gladly received of Eumenes the same honors which the\nkings used to confer upon their favorites.  He now had leave to\nbestow purple hats and cloaks, which among the Macedonians is one\nof the greatest honors the king can give.\n\nGood fortune will elevate even petty minds, and gives them the\nappearance of a certain greatness and stateliness, as from their\nhigh place they look down upon the world; but the truly noble and\nresolved spirit raises itself, and becomes more conspicuous in\ntimes of disaster and ill fortune, as was now the case with\nEumenes.  For having by the treason of one of his own men lost\nthe field to Antigonus at Orcynii, in Cappadocia, in his flight\nhe gave the traitor no opportunity to escape to the enemy, but\nimmediately seized and hanged him.  Then in his flight, taking a\ncontrary course to his pursuers, he stole by them unawares,\nreturned to the place where the battle had been fought, and\nencamped.  There he gathered up the dead bodies, and burnt them\nwith the doors and windows of the neighboring villages, and raised\nheaps of earth upon their graves; insomuch that Antigonus, who\ncame thither soon after, expressed his astonishment at his\ncourage and firm resolution.  Falling afterwards upon the\nbaggage of Antigonus, he might easily have taken many captives,\nboth bond and freemen, and much wealth collected from the spoils\nof so many wars; but he feared lest his men, overladen with so\nmuch booty, might become unfit for rapid retreat, and too fond of\ntheir ease to sustain the continual marches and endure the long\nwaiting on which he depended for success, expecting to tire\nAntigonus into some other course.  But then considering it would\nbe extremely difficult to restrain the Macedonians from plunder,\nwhen it seemed to offer itself, he gave them order to refresh\nthemselves, and bait their horses, and then attack the enemy.  In\nthe meantime he sent privately to Menander, who had care of all\nthis baggage, professing a concern for him upon the score of old\nfriendship and acquaintance; and therefore advising him to quit\nthe plain and secure himself upon the sides of the neighboring\nhills, where the horse might not be able to hem him in.  When\nMenander, sensible of his danger, had speedily packed up his\ngoods and decamped, Eumenes openly sent his scouts to discover\nthe enemy's posture, and commanded his men to arm, and bridle\ntheir horses, as designing immediately to give battle; but the\nscouts returning with news that Menander had secured so difficult\na post it was impossible to take him, Eumenes, pretending to be\ngrieved with the disappointment, drew off his men another way.\nIt is said that when Menander reported this afterwards to\nAntigonus, and the Macedonians commended Eumenes, imputing it to\nhis singular good-nature, that having it in his power to make\nslaves of their children, and outrage their wives, he forbore and\nspared them all, Antigonus replied, \"Alas, good friends, he had\nno regard to us, but to himself, being loath to wear so many\nshackles when he designed to fly.\"\n\nFrom this time Eumenes, daily flying and wandering about,\npersuaded many of his men to disband, whether out of kindness to\nthem, or unwillingness to lead about such a body of men as were\ntoo few to engage, and too many to fly undiscovered.  Taking\nrefuge at Nora, a place on the confines of Lycaonia and\nCappadocia, with five hundred horse, and two hundred heavy-armed\nfoot, he again dismissed as many of his friends as desired it,\nthrough fear of the probable hardships to be encountered there,\nand embracing them with all demonstrations of kindness, gave them\nlicense to depart.  Antigonus, when he came before this fort,\ndesired to have an interview with Eumenes before the siege; but\nhe returned answer, that Antigonus had many friends who might\ncommand in his room; but they whom Eumenes defended, had no body\nto substitute if he should miscarry; therefore, if Antigonus\nthought it worth while to treat with him, he should first send\nhim hostages.  And when Antigonus required that Eumenes should\nfirst address himself to him as his superior, he replied, \"While\nI am able to wield a sword, I shall think no man greater than\nmyself.\"  At last, when according to Eumenes's demand, Antigonus\nsent his own nephew Ptolemy to the fort, Eumenes went out to him,\nand they mutually embraced with great tenderness and friendship,\nas having formerly been very intimate.  After long conversation,\nEumenes making no mention of his own pardon and security, but\nrequiring that he should be confirmed in his several governments,\nand restitution be made him of the rewards of his service, all\nthat were present were astonished at his courage and gallantry.\nAnd many of the Macedonians flocked to see what sort of person\nEumenes was, for since the death of Craterus, no man had been so\nmuch talked of in the army.  But Antigonus, being afraid lest he\nmight suffer some violence, first commanded the soldiers to keep\noff, calling out and throwing stones at those who pressed\nforwards.  At last, taking Eumenes in his arms, and keeping off\nthe crowd with his guards, not without great difficulty, he\nreturned him safe into the fort.\n\nThen Antigonus, having built a wall round Nora, left a force\nsufficient to carry on the siege, and drew off the rest of his\narmy; and Eumenes was beleaguered and kept garrison, having\nplenty of corn and water and salt but no other thing, either for\nfood, or delicacy; yet with such as he had, he kept a cheerful\ntable for his friends, inviting them severally in their turns,\nand seasoning his entertainment with a gentle and affable\nbehavior.  For he had a pleasant countenance, and looked not like\nan old and practiced soldier, but was smooth and florid, and his\nshape as delicate as if his limbs had been carved by art in the\nmost accurate proportions.  He was not a great orator, but\nwinning and persuasive, as may be seen in his letters.  The\ngreatest distress of the besieged was the narrowness of the place\nthey were in, their quarters being very confined, and the whole\nplace but two furlongs in compass; so that both they and their\nhorses fed without exercise.  Accordingly, not only to prevent\nthe listlessness of such inactive living, but to have them in\ncondition to fly if occasion required, he assigned a room one and\ntwenty feet long, the largest in all the fort, for the men to\nwalk in, directing them to begin their walk gently, and so\ngradually mend their pace.  And for the horses, he tied them to\nthe roof with great halters, fastening which about their necks,\nwith a pulley he gently raised them, till standing upon the\nground with their hinder feet, they just touched it with the very\nends of their fore feet.  In this posture the grooms plied them\nwith whips and shouts, provoking them to curvet and kick out with\ntheir hind legs, struggling and stamping at the same time to find\nsupport for their fore feet, and thus their whole body was\nexercised, till they were all in a foam and sweat; excellent\nexercise, whether for strength or speed; and then he gave them\ntheir corn already coarsely ground, that they might sooner\ndispatch, and better digest it.\n\nThe siege continuing long, Antigonus received advice that\nAntipater was dead in Macedon, and that affairs were embroiled by\nthe differences of Cassander and Polysperchon, upon which he\nconceived no mean hopes, purposing to make himself master of all,\nand, in order to his design, thought to bring over Eumenes, that\nhe might have his advice and assistance.  He, therefore, sent\nHieronymus to treat with him, proposing a certain oath, which\nEumenes first corrected, and then referred himself to the\nMacedonians themselves that besieged him, to be judged by them,\nwhich of the two forms were the most equitable.  Antigonus in the\nbeginning of his had slightly mentioned the kings as by way of\nceremony, while all the sequel referred to himself alone; but\nEumenes changed the form of it to Olympias and the kings, and\nproceeded to swear not to be true to Antigonus only, but to them,\nand to have the same friends and enemies, not with Antigonus, but\nwith Olympias and the kings.  This form the Macedonians thinking\nthe more reasonable, swore Eumenes according to it, and raised\nthe siege, sending also to Antigonus, that he should swear in the\nsame form to Eumenes.  Meantime, all the hostages of the\nCappadocians whom Eumenes had in Nora he returned, obtaining from\ntheir friends war horses, beasts of carriage, and tents in\nexchange.  And collecting again all the soldiers who had\ndispersed at the time of his flight, and were now wandering about\nthe country, he got together a body of near a thousand horse, and\nwith them fled from Antigonus, whom he justly feared.  For he had\nsent orders not only to have him blocked up and besieged again,\nbut had given a very sharp answer to the Macedonians, for\nadmitting Eumenes's amendment of the oath.\n\nWhile Eumenes was flying, he received letters from those in\nMacedonia, who were jealous of Antigonus's greatness, from\nOlympias, inviting him thither, to take the charge and protection\nof Alexander's infant son, whose person was in danger, and other\nletters from Polysperchon, and Philip the king, requiring him to\nmake war upon Antigonus, as general of the forces in Cappadocia,\nand empowering him out of the treasure at Quinda to take five\nhundred talents, compensation for his own losses, and to levy as\nmuch as he thought necessary to carry on the war.  They wrote also\nto the same effect to Antigenes and Teutamus, the chief officers\nof the Argyraspids; who, on receiving these letters, treated\nEumenes with a show of respect and kindness; but it was apparent\nenough they were full of envy and emulation, disdaining to give\nplace to him.  Their envy Eumenes moderated, by refusing to\naccept the money, as if he had not needed it; and their ambition\nand emulation, who were neither able to govern, nor willing to\nobey, he conquered by help of superstition.  For he told them\nthat Alexander had appeared to him in a dream, and showed him a\nregal pavilion richly furnished, with a throne in it; and told\nhim if they would sit in council there, he himself would be\npresent and prosper all the consultations and actions upon\nwhich they should enter in his name.  Antigenes and Teutamus were\neasily prevailed upon to believe this, being as little willing to\ncome and consult Eumenes, as he himself was to be seen waiting at\nother men's doors.  Accordingly, they erected a tent royal, and a\nthrone, called Alexander's, and there they met to consult upon\nall affairs of moment.\n\nAfterwards they advanced into the interior of Asia, and in their\nmarch met with Peucestes, who was friendly to them, and with the\nother satraps, who joined forces with them, and greatly\nencouraged the Macedonians with the number and appearance of\ntheir men.  But they themselves, having since Alexander's decease\nbecome imperious and ungoverned in their tempers, and luxurious\nin their daily habits, imagining themselves great princes, and\npampered in their conceit by the flattery of the barbarians, when\nall these conflicting pretensions now came together, were soon\nfound to be exacting and quarrelsome one with another, while all\nalike unmeasurably flattered the Macedonians, giving them money\nfor revels and sacrifices, till in a short time they brought the\ncamp to be a dissolute place of entertainment, and the army a\nmere multitude of voters, canvassed as in a democracy for the\nelection of this or that commander.  Eumenes, perceiving they\ndespised one another, and all of them feared him, and sought an\nopportunity to kill him, pretended to be in want of money, and\nborrowed many talents, of those especially who most hated him, to\nmake them at once confide in him, and forbear all violence to him\nfor fear of losing their own money.  Thus his enemies' estates\nwere the guard of his person, and by receiving money he purchased\nsafety, for which it is more common to give it.\n\nThe Macedonians, also, while there was no show of danger, allowed\nthemselves to be corrupted, and made all their court to those who\ngave them presents, who had their body-guards, and affected to\nappear as generals-in-chief.  But when Antigonus came upon them\nwith a great army, and their affairs themselves seemed to call\nout for a true general, then not only the common soldiers cast\ntheir eyes upon Eumenes, but these men, who had appeared so great\nin a peaceful time of ease, submitted all of them to him, and\nquietly posted themselves severally as he appointed them.  And\nwhen Antigonus attempted to pass the river Pasitigris, all the\nrest that were appointed to guard the passes were not so much as\naware of his march; only Eumenes met and encountered him, slew\nmany of his men, and filled the river with the dead, and took\nfour thousand prisoners.  But it was most particularly when\nEumenes was sick, that the Macedonians let it be seen how in\ntheir judgment, while others could feast them handsomely and make\nentertainments, he alone knew how to fight and lead an army.  For\nPeucestes, having made a splendid entertainment in Persia, and\ngiven each of the soldiers a sheep to sacrifice with, made\nhimself sure of being commander-in-chief.  Some few days after,\nthe army was to march, and Eumenes, having been dangerously ill,\nwas carried in a litter apart from the body of the army, that any\nrest he got might not be disturbed.  But when they were a little\nadvanced, unexpectedly they had a view of the enemy, who had\npassed the hills that lay between them, and was marching down\ninto the plain.  At the sight of the golden armor glittering in\nthe sun as they marched down in their order, the elephants with\ntheir castles on their backs, and the men in their purple, as\ntheir manner was when they were going to give battle, the front\nstopped their march, and called out for Eumenes, for they would\nnot advance a step but under his conduct; and fixing their arms\nin the ground, gave the word among themselves to stand, requiring\ntheir officers also not to stir or engage or hazard themselves\nwithout Eumenes.  News of this being brought to Eumenes, he\nhastened those that carried his litter, and drawing back the\ncurtains on both sides, joyfully put forth his right hand.  As\nsoon as the soldiers saw him, they saluted him in their\nMacedonian dialect, and took up their shields, and striking them\nwith their pikes, gave a great shout; inviting the enemy to come\non, for now they had a leader.\n\nAntigonus understanding by some prisoners he had taken that\nEumenes was out of health, to that degree that he was carried in\na litter, presumed it would be no hard matter to crush the rest\nof them, since he was ill.  He therefore made the greater haste\nto come up with them and engage.  But being come so near as to\ndiscover how the enemy was drawn up and appointed, he was\nastonished, and paused for some time; at last he saw the litter\ncarrying from one wing of the army to the other, and, as his\nmanner was, laughing aloud, he said to his friends, \"That litter\nthere, it seems, is the thing that offers us battle;\" and\nimmediately wheeled about, retired with all his army, and pitched\nhis camp.  The men on the other side, finding a little respite,\nreturned to their former habits, and allowing themselves to be\nflattered, and making the most of the indulgence of their\ngenerals, took up for their winter quarters near the whole\ncountry of the Gabeni, so that the front was quartered nearly a\nthousand furlongs from the rear; which Antigonus understanding,\nmarched suddenly towards them, taking the most difficult road\nthrough a country that wanted water; but the way was short though\nuneven; hoping, if he should surprise them thus scattered in\ntheir winter quarters, the soldiers would not easily be able to\ncome up time enough, and join with their officers.  But having to\npass through a country uninhabited, where he met with violent\nwinds and severe frosts, he was much checked in his march, and\nhis men suffered exceedingly.  The only possible relief was\nmaking numerous fires, by which his enemies got notice of his\ncoming.  For the barbarians who dwelt on the mountains\noverlooking the desert, amazed at the multitude of fires they\nsaw, sent messengers upon dromedaries to acquaint Peucestes.  He\nbeing astonished and almost out of his senses with the news, and\nfinding the rest in no less disorder, resolved to fly, and\ncollect what men he could by the way.  But Eumenes relieved him\nfrom his fear and trouble, undertaking so to stop the enemy's\nadvance, that he should arrive three days later than he was\nexpected.  Having persuaded them, he immediately dispatched\nexpresses to all the officers to draw the men out of their winter\nquarters, and muster them with all speed.  He himself with some\nof the chief officers rode out, and chose an elevated tract\nwithin view, at a distance, of such as traveled the desert; this\nhe occupied and quartered out, and commanded many fires to be\nmade in it, as the custom is in a camp.  This done, and the enemies\nseeing the fire upon the mountains, Antigonus was filled with\nvexation and despondency, supposing that his enemies had been\nlong since advertised of his march, and were prepared to receive\nhim.  Therefore, lest his army, now tired and wearied out with\ntheir march, should be forced immediately to encounter with fresh\nmen, who had wintered well, and were ready for him, quitting the\nnear way, he marched slowly through the towns and villages to\nrefresh his men.  But meeting with no such skirmishes as are\nusual when two armies lie near one another, and being assured by\nthe people of the country that no army had been seen, but only\ncontinual fires in that place, he concluded he had been outwitted\nby a stratagem of Eumenes, and much troubled, advanced to give\nopen battle.\n\nBy this time, the greatest part of the forces were come together\nto Eumenes, and admiring his sagacity, declared him alone\ncommander-in-chief of the whole army; upon which Antigenes and\nTeutamus, the commanders of the Argyraspids, being very much\noffended, and envying Eumenes, formed a conspiracy against him;\nand assembling the greater part of the satraps and officers,\nconsulted when and how to cut him off.  When they had unanimously\nagreed, first to use his service in the next battle, and then to\ntake an occasion to destroy him, Eudamus, the master of the\nelephants, and Phaedimus, gave Eumenes private advice of this\ndesign, not out of kindness or good-will to him, but lest they\nshould lose the money they had lent him.  Eumenes, having\ncommended them, retired to his tent, and telling his friends he\nlived among a herd of wild beasts, made his will, and tore up all\nhis letters, lest his correspondents after his death should be\nquestioned or punished on account of anything in his secret\npapers.  Having thus disposed of his affairs, he thought of\nletting the enemy win the field, or of flying through Media and\nArmenia and seizing Cappadocia, but came to no resolution while\nhis friends stayed with him.  After turning to many expedients in\nhis mind, which his changeable fortune had made versatile, he at\nlast put his men in array, and encouraged the Greeks and\nbarbarians; as for the phalanx and the Argyraspids, they\nencouraged him, and bade him be of good heart; for the enemy\nwould never be able to stand them.  For indeed they were the\noldest of Philip's and Alexander's soldiers, tried men, that had\nlong made war their exercise, that had never been beaten or\nfoiled; most of them seventy, none less than sixty years old.\nAnd so when they charged Antigonus's men, they cried out, \"You\nfight against your fathers, you rascals,\" and furiously falling\non, routed the whole phalanx at once, nobody being able to stand\nthem, and the greatest part dying by their hands.  So that\nAntigonus's foot were routed, but his horse got the better, and\nhe became master of the baggage, through the cowardice of\nPeucestes, who behaved himself negligently and basely; while\nAntigonus used his judgment calmly in the danger, being aided\nmoreover by the ground.  For the place where they fought was a\nlarge plain, neither deep, nor hard under foot, but, like the\nsea-shore, covered with a fine soft sand, which the treading of\nso many men and horses, in the time of the battle, reduced to a\nsmall white dust, that like a cloud of lime darkened the air, so\nthat one could not see clearly at any distance, and so made it\neasy for Antigonus to take the baggage unperceived.\n\nAfter the battle, Teutamus sent a message to Antigonus to demand\nthe baggage.  He made answer, he would not only restore it to the\nArgyraspids, but serve them further in other things if they would\nbut deliver up Eumenes.  Upon which the Argyraspids took a\nvillainous resolution to deliver him up alive into the hands of\nhis enemies.  So they came to wait upon him, being unsuspected by\nhim, but watching their opportunity, some lamenting the loss of\nthe baggage, some encouraging him as if he had been victor, some\naccusing the other commanders, till at last they all fell upon\nhim, and seizing his sword, bound his hands behind him with his\nown girdle.  When Antigonus had sent Nicanor to receive him, he\nbegged he might be led through the body of the Macedonians, and\nhave liberty to speak to them, neither to request, nor deprecate\nanything, but only to advise them what would be for their\ninterest.  A silence being made, as he stood upon a rising\nground, he stretched out his hands bound, and said, \"What trophy,\nO ye basest of all the Macedonians, could Antigonus have wished\nfor so great as you yourselves have erected for him, in\ndelivering up your general captive into his hands?  You are not\nashamed, when you are conquerors, to own yourselves conquered,\nfor the sake only of your baggage, as if it were wealth, not\narms, wherein victory consisted; nay, you deliver up your general\nto redeem your stuff.  As for me, I am unvanquished, though a\ncaptive, conqueror of my enemies, and betrayed by my fellow\nsoldiers.  For you, I adjure you by Jupiter, the protector of\narms, and by all the gods that are the avengers of perjury, to\nkill me here with your own hands; for it is all one; and if I am\nmurdered yonder, it will be esteemed your act, nor will Antigonus\ncomplain, for he desires not Eumenes alive, but dead.  Or if you\nwithhold your own hands, release but one of mine, it shall\nsuffice to do the work; and if you dare not trust me with a sword\nthrow me bound as I am under the feet of the wild beasts.  This\nif you do I shall freely acquit you from the guilt of my death,\nas the most just and kind of men to their general.\"\n\nWhile Eumenes was thus speaking, the rest of the soldiers wept\nfor grief, but the Argyraspids shouted out to lead him on, and\ngive no attention to his trilling.  For it was no such great\nmatter if this Chersonesian pest should meet his death, who in\nthousands of battles had annoyed and wasted the Macedonians; it\nwould be a much more grievous thing for the choicest of Philip's\nand Alexander's soldiers to be defrauded of the fruits of so long\nservice, and in their old age to come to beg their bread, and to\nleave their wives three nights in the power of their enemies.  So\nthey hurried him on with violence.  But Antigonus, fearing the\nmultitude, for nobody was left in the camp, sent ten of his\nstrongest elephants with divers of his Mede and Parthian lances\nto keep off the press.  Then he could not endure to have Eumenes\nbrought into his presence, by reason of their former intimacy and\nfriendship; but when they that had taken him inquired how he\nwould have him kept, \"As I would,\" said he, \"an elephant, or a\nlion.\"  A little after, being loved with compassion, he\ncommanded the heaviest of his irons to be knocked off, one of his\nservants to be admitted to anoint him, and that any of his\nfriends that were willing should have liberty to visit him, and\nbring him what he wanted.  Long time he deliberated what to do\nwith him, sometimes inclining to the advice and promises of\nNearchus of Crete, and Demetrius his son, who were very earnest\nto preserve Eumenes, whilst all the rest were unanimously instant\nand importunate to have him taken off.  It is related that\nEumenes inquired of Onomarchus, his keeper, why Antigonus, now he\nhad his enemy in his hands, would not either forthwith dispatch\nor generously release him?  And that Onomarchus contumeliously\nanswered him, that the field had been a more proper place than\nthis to show his contempt of death.  To whom Eumenes replied,\n\"And by heavens, I showed it there; ask the men else that engaged\nme, but I could never meet a man that was my superior.\"\n\"Therefore,\" rejoined Onomarchus, \"now you have found such a man,\nwhy don't you submit quietly to his pleasure?\"\n\nWhen Antigonus resolved to kill Eumenes, he commanded to keep his\nfood from him, and so with two or three days' fasting he began to\ndraw near his end; but the camp being on a sudden to remove, an\nexecutioner was sent to dispatch him.  Antigonus granted his body\nto his friends, permitted them to burn it, and having gathered\nhis ashes into a silver urn, to send them to his wife and\nchildren.\n\nEumenes was thus taken off; and Divine Providence assigned to no\nother man the chastisement of the commanders and soldiers that\nhad betrayed him; but Antigonus himself, abominating the\nArgyraspids as wicked and inhuman villains, delivered them up to\nSibyrtius, the governor of Arachosia, commanding him by all ways\nand means to destroy and exterminate them, so that not a man of\nthem might ever come to Macedon, or so much as within sight of\nthe Greek sea.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF SERTORIUS WITH EUMENES\n\nThese are the most remarkable passages that are come to our\nknowledge concerning Eumenes and Sertorius.  In comparing their\nlives, we may observe that this was common to them both; that\nbeing aliens, strangers, and banished men, they came to be\ncommanders of powerful forces, and had the leading of numerous\nand warlike armies, made up of divers nations.  This was peculiar\nto Sertorius, that the chief command was, by his whole party,\nfreely yielded to him, as to the person of the greatest merit and\nrenown, whereas Eumenes had many who contested the office with\nhim, and only by his actions obtained the superiority.  They\nfollowed the one honestly, out of desire to be commanded by him;\nthey submitted themselves to the other for their own security,\nbecause they could not commend themselves.  The one, being a\nRoman, was the general of the Spaniards and Lusitanians, who for\nmany years had been under the subjection of Rome; and the other,\na Chersonesian, was chief commander of the Macedonians, who were\nthe great conquerors of mankind, and were at that time subduing\nthe world.  Sertorius, being already in high esteem for his\nformer services in the wars, and his abilities in the senate, was\nadvanced to the dignity of a general; whereas Eumenes obtained\nthis honor from the office of a writer, or secretary, in which he\nhad been despised.  Nor did he only at first rise from inferior\nopportunities, but afterwards, also, met with greater\nimpediments in the progress of his authority, and that not only\nfrom those who publicly resisted him, but from many others that\nprivately conspired against him.  It was much otherwise with\nSertorius, not one of whose party publicly opposed him, only late\nin life and secretly a few of his acquaintance entered into a\nconspiracy against him.  Sertorius put an end to his dangers as\noften as he was victorious in the field, whereas the victories of\nEumenes were the beginning of his perils, through the malice of\nthose that envied him.\n\nTheir deeds in war were equal and parallel, but their general\ninclinations different.  Eumenes naturally loved war and\ncontention, but Sertorius esteemed peace and tranquillity; when\nEumenes might have lived in safety, with honor, if he would have\nquietly retired out of their way, he persisted in a dangerous\ncontest with the greatest of the Macedonian leaders; but\nSertorius, who was unwilling to trouble himself with any public\ndisturbances, was forced, for the safety of his person, to make\nwar against those who would not suffer him to live in peace.  If\nEumenes could have contented himself with the second place,\nAntigonus, freed from his competition for the first, would have\nused him well, and shown him favor, whereas Pompey's friends\nwould never permit Sertorius so much as to live in quiet.  The\none made war of his own accord, out of a desire for command; and\nthe other was constrained to accept of command, to defend himself\nfrom war that was made against him.  Eumenes was certainly a true\nlover of war, for he preferred his covetous ambition before his\nown security; but Sertorius was truly warlike, who procured his\nown safety by the success of his arms.\n\nAs to the manner of their deaths, it happened to one without the\nleast thought or surmise of it; but to the other when he\nsuspected it daily; which in the first, argues an equitable\ntemper, and a noble mind, not to distrust his friends; but in the\nother, it showed some infirmity of spirit, for Eumenes intended to\nfly and was taken.  The death of Sertorius dishonored not his\nlife; he suffered that from his companions which none of his\nenemies were ever able to perform.  The other, not being able to\ndeliver himself before his imprisonment, being willing also to\nlive in captivity, did neither prevent nor expect his fate with\nhonor or bravery; for by meanly supplicating and petitioning, he\nmade his enemy, that pretended only to have power over his body,\nto be lord and master of his body and mind.\n\n\n\nAGESILAUS\n\nArchidamus, the son of Zeuxidamus, having reigned gloriously over\nthe Lacedaemonians, left behind him two sons, Agis the elder,\nbegotten of Lampido, a noble lady, Agesilaus, much the younger,\nborn of Eupolia, the daughter of Melesippidas.  Now the succession\nbelonging to Agis by law, Agesilaus, who in all probability was to\nbe but a private man, was educated according to the usual\ndiscipline of the country, hard and severe, and meant to teach\nyoung men to obey their superiors.  Whence it was that, men say,\nSimonides called Sparta \"the tamer of men,\" because by early\nstrictness of education, they, more than any nation, trained the\ncitizens to obedience to the laws, and made them tractable and\npatient of subjection, as horses that are broken in while colts.\nThe law did not impose this harsh rule on the heirs apparent of the\nkingdom.  But Agesilaus, whose good fortune it was to be born a\nyounger brother, was consequently bred to all the arts of\nobedience, and so the better fitted for the government, when it\nfell to his share; hence it was that he proved the most\npopular-tempered of the Spartan kings, his early life having added\nto his natural kingly and commanding qualities the gentle and\nhumane feelings of a citizen.\n\nWhile he was yet a boy, bred up in one of what are called the\nflocks, or classes, he attracted the attachment of Lysander, who\nwas particularly struck with the orderly temper that he manifested.\nFor though he was one of the highest spirits, emulous above any of\nhis companions, ambitious of preeminence in everything, and showed\nan impetuosity and fervor of mind which irresistibly carried him\nthrough all opposition or difficulty he could meet with; yet, on\nthe other side, he was so easy and gentle in his nature, and so apt\nto yield to authority, that though he would do nothing on\ncompulsion, upon ingenuous motives he would obey any commands, and\nwas more hurt by the least rebuke or disgrace, than he was\ndistressed by any toil or hardship.\n\nHe had one leg shorter than the other, but this deformity was\nlittle observed in the general beauty of his person in youth.  And\nthe easy way in which he bore it, (he being the first always to\npass a jest upon himself,) went far to make it disregarded.  And\nindeed his high spirit and eagerness to distinguish himself were\nall the more conspicuous by it, since he never let his lameness\nwithhold him from any toil or any brave action.  Neither his statue\nnor picture are extant, he never allowing them in his life, and\nutterly forbidding them to be made after his death.  He is said to\nhave been a little man, of a contemptible presence; but the\ngoodness of his humor, and his constant cheerfulness and\nplayfulness of temper, always free from anything of moroseness or\nhaughtiness, made him more attractive, even to his old age, than\nthe most beautiful and youthful men of the nation.  Theophrastus\nwrites, that the Ephors laid a fine upon Archidamus for marrying a\nlittle wife, \"For\" said they, \"she will bring us a race of\nkinglets, instead of kings.\"\n\nWhilst Agis, the elder brother, reigned, Alcibiades, being then an\nexile from Athens, came from Sicily to Sparta; nor had he stayed\nlong there, before his familiarity with Timaea, the king's wife,\ngrew suspected, insomuch that Agis refused to own a child of hers,\nwhich, he said, was Alcibiades's, not his.  Nor, if we may believe\nDuris, the historian, was Timaea much concerned at it, being\nherself forward enough to whisper among her helot maid-servants,\nthat the infant's true name was Alcibiades, not Leotychides.\nMeanwhile it was believed, that the amour he had with her was not\nthe effect of his love but of his ambition, that he might have\nSpartan kings of his posterity.  This affair being grown public, it\nbecame needful for Alcibiades to withdraw from Sparta.  But the\nchild Leotychides had not the honors due to a legitimate son paid\nhim, nor was he ever owned by Agis, till by his prayers and tears\nhe prevailed with him to declare him his son before several\nwitnesses upon his death-bed.  But this did not avail to fix him in\nthe throne of Agis, after whose death Lysander, who had lately\nachieved his conquest of Athens by sea, and was of the greatest\npower in Sparta, promoted Agesilaus, urging Leotychides's bastardy\nas a bar to his pretensions.  Many of the other citizens, also,\nwere favorable to Agesilaus and zealously joined his party, induced\nby the opinion they had of his merits, of which they themselves\nhad been spectators, in the time that he had been bred up among\nthem.  But there was a man, named Diopithes, at Sparta, who had a\ngreat knowledge of ancient oracles, and was thought particularly\nskillful and clever in all points of religion and divination.  He\nalleged, that it was unlawful to make a lame man king of\nLacedaemon, citing in the debate the following oracle:  --\n\nBeware, great Sparta, lest there come of thee\nThough sound thyself; an halting sovereignty;\nTroubles, both long and unexpected too,\nAnd storms of deadly warfare shall ensue.\n\nBut Lysander was not wanting with an evasion, alleging that if the\nSpartans were really apprehensive of the oracle, they must have a\ncare of Leotychides; for it was not the limping foot of a king that\nthe gods cared about, but the purity of the Herculean family, into\nwhose sights if a spurious issue were admitted, it would make the\nkingdom to halt indeed.  Agesilaus likewise alleged, that the\nbastardy of Leotychides was witnessed to by Neptune, who threw Agis\nout of bed by a violent earthquake, after which time he ceased to\nvisit his wife, yet Leotychides was born above ten months after\nthis.\n\nAgesilaus was upon these allegations declared king, and soon\npossessed himself of the private estate of Agis, as well as his\nthrone, Leotychides being wholly rejected as a bastard.  He now\nturned his attention to his kindred by the mother's side, persons\nof worth and virtue, but miserably poor.  To them he gave half his\nbrother's estate, and by this popular act gained general good-will\nand reputation, in the place of the envy and ill-feeling which the\ninheritance might otherwise have procured him.  What Xenophon tells\nus of him, that by complying with, and, as it were, being ruled by\nhis country, he grew into such great power with them, that he could\ndo what he pleased, is meant to apply to the power he gained in the\nfollowing manner with the Ephors and Elders.  These were at that\ntime of the greatest authority in the State; the former, officers\nannually chosen; the Elders, holding their places during life; both\ninstituted, as already told in the life of Lycurgus, to restrain\nthe power of the kings.  Hence it was that there was always from\ngeneration to generation, a feud and contention between them and\nthe kings.  But Agesilaus took another course.  Instead of\ncontending with them, he courted them; in all proceedings he\ncommenced by taking their advice, was always ready to go, nay\nalmost run, when they called him; if he were upon his royal seat\nhearing causes and the Ephors came in, he rose to them; whenever\nany man was elected into the Council of Elders, he presented him\nwith a gown and an ox.  Thus, whilst he made show of deference to\nthem, and of a desire to extend their authority, he secretly\nadvanced his own, and enlarged the prerogatives of the kings by\nseveral liberties which their friendship to his person conceded.\n\nTo other citizens he so behaved himself, as to be less blamable in\nhis enmities than in his friendships; for against his enemy he\nforbore to take any unjust advantage, but his friends he would\nassist, even in what was unjust.  If an enemy had done anything\npraiseworthy, he felt it shameful to detract from his due, but his\nfriends he knew not how to reprove when they did ill, nay, he would\neagerly join with them, and assist them in their misdeed, and\nthought all offices of friendship commendable, let the matter in\nwhich they were employed be what it would.  Again, when any of his\nadversaries was overtaken in a fault, he would be the first to pity\nhim, and be soon entreated to procure his pardon, by which he won\nthe hearts of all men.  Insomuch that his popularity grew at last\nsuspected by the Ephors, who laid a fine on him, professing that he\nwas appropriating the citizens to himself, who ought to be the\ncommon property of the State.  For as it is the opinion of\nphilosophers, that could you take away strife and opposition out of\nthe universe, all the heavenly bodies would stand still, generation\nand motion would cease in the mutual concord and agreement of all\nthings, so the Spartan legislator seems to have admitted ambition\nand emulation, among the ingredients of his Commonwealth as the\nincentives of virtue, distinctly wishing that there should be some\ndispute and competition among his men of worth, and pronouncing the\nmere idle, uncontested, mutual compliance to unproved deserts to be\nbut a false sort of concord.  And some think Homer had an eye to\nthis, when he introduces Agamemnon well pleased with the quarrel\narising between Ulysses and Achilles, and with the \"terrible\nwords\" that passed between them, which he would never have done,\nunless he had thought emulations and dissensions between the\nnoblest men to be of great public benefit.  Yet this maxim is not\nsimply to be granted, without restriction, for if animosities go\ntoo far, they are very dangerous to cities, and of most pernicious\nconsequence.\n\nWhen Agesilaus was newly entered upon the government, there came\nnews from Asia, that the Persian king was making great naval\npreparations, resolving with a high hand to dispossess the Spartans\nof their maritime supremacy.  Lysander was eager for the\nopportunity of going over and succoring his friends in Asia, whom\nhe had there left governors and masters of the cities, whose\nmal-administration and tyrannical behavior was causing them to be\ndriven out, and in some cases put to death.  He therefore persuaded\nAgesilaus to claim the command of the expedition, and by carrying\nthe war far from Greece into Persia, to anticipate the designs of\nthe barbarian.  He also wrote to his friends in Asia, that by\nembassy they should demand Agesilaus for their captain.  Agesilaus,\ntherefore, coming into the public assembly, offered his service,\nupon condition that he might have thirty Spartans for captains and\ncounselors, two thousand chosen men of the newly enfranchised\nhelots, and allies to the number of six thousand.  Lysander's\nauthority and assistance soon obtained his request, so that he was\nsent away with the thirty Spartans, of whom Lysander was at once\nthe chief, not only because of his power and reputation, but also\non account of his friendship with Agesilaus, who esteemed his\nprocuring him this charge a greater obligation, than that of\npreferring him to the kingdom.\n\nWhilst the army was collecting to the rendezvous at Geraestus,\nAgesilaus went with some of his friends to Aulis, where in a dream\nhe saw a man approach him, and speak to him after this manner:  \"O\nking of the Lacedaemonians, you cannot but know that, before\nyourself, there hath been but one general captain of the whole of\nthe Greeks, namely, Agamemnon; now, since you succeed him in the\nsame office and command of the same men, since you war against the\nsame enemies, and begin your expedition from the same place, you\nought also to offer such a sacrifice, as he offered before he\nweighed anchor.\"  Agesilaus at the same moment remembered that the\nsacrifice which Agamemnon offered was his own daughter, he being so\ndirected by the oracle.  Yet was he not at all disturbed at it, but\nas soon as he arose, he told his dream to his friends, adding, that\nhe would propitiate the goddess with the sacrifices a goddess must\ndelight in, and would not follow the ignorant example of his\npredecessor.  He therefore ordered a hind to be crowned with\nchaplets, and bade his own soothsayer perform the rite, not the\nusual person whom the Boeotians, in ordinary course, appointed to\nthat office.  When the Boeotian magistrates understood it, they\nwere much offended, and sent officers to Agesilaus, to forbid his\nsacrificing contrary to the laws of the country.  These having\ndelivered their message to him, immediately went to the altar, and\nthrew down the quarters of the hind that lay upon it.  Agesilaus\ntook this very ill, and without further sacrifice immediately\nsailed away, highly displeased with the Boeotians, and much\ndiscouraged in his mind at the omen, boding to himself an\nunsuccessful voyage, and an imperfect issue of the whole\nexpedition.\n\nWhen he came to Ephesus, he found the power and interest of\nLysander, and the honors paid to him, insufferably great; all\napplications were made to him, crowds of suitors attended at his\ndoor, and followed upon his steps, as if nothing but the mere name\nof commander belonged, to satisfy the usage, to Agesilaus, the\nwhole power of it being devolved upon Lysander.  None of all the\ncommanders that had been sent into Asia was either so powerful or\nso formidable as he; no one had rewarded his friends better, or had\nbeen more severe against his enemies; which things having been\nlately done, made the greater impression on men's minds, especially\nwhen they compared the simple and popular behavior of Agesilaus,\nwith the harsh and violent and brief-spoken demeanor which Lysander\nstill retained.  Universal deference was yielded to this, and\nlittle regard shown to Agesilaus.  This first occasioned offense to\nthe other Spartan captains, who resented that they should rather\nseem the attendants of Lysander, than the councilors of Agesilaus.\nAnd at length Agesilaus himself, though not perhaps all envious man\nin his nature, nor apt to be troubled at the honors redounding upon\nother men, yet eager for honor and jealous of his glory, began to\napprehend that Lysander's greatness would carry away from him the\nreputation of whatever great action should happen.  He therefore\nwent this way to work.  He first opposed him in all his counsels;\nwhatever Lysander specially advised was rejected, and other\nproposals followed.  Then whoever made any address to him, if he\nfound him attached to Lysander, certainly lost his suit.  So also\nin judicial cases, anyone whom he spoke strongly against was sure\nto come off with success, and any man whom he was particularly\nsolicitous to procure some benefit for, might think it well if he\ngot away without an actual loss.  These things being clearly not\ndone by chance, but constantly and of a set purpose, Lysander was\nsoon sensible of them, and hesitated not to tell his friends, that\nthey suffered for his sake, bidding them apply themselves to the\nking, and such as were more powerful with him than he was.  Such\nsayings of his seeming to be designed purposely to excite ill\nfeeling, Agesilaus went on to offer him a yet more open affront,\nappointing him his meat-carver; and would in public companies\nscornfully say, \"Let them go now and pay their court to my carver.\"\nLysander, no longer able to brook these indignities, complained at\nlast to Agesilaus himself, telling him, that he knew very well how\nto humble his friends.  Agesilaus answered, \"I know certainly how\nto humble those who pretend to more power than myself.\"  \"That,\"\nreplied Lysander, \"is perhaps rather said by you, than done by me;\nI desire only, that you will assign me some office and place, in\nwhich I may serve you without incurring your displeasure.\"\n\nUpon this Agesilaus sent him to the Hellespont, whence he procured\nSpithridates, a Persian of the province of Pharnabazus, to come to\nthe assistance of the Greeks with two hundred horse, and a great\nsupply of money.  Yet his anger did not so come down, but he\nthenceforward pursued the design of wresting the kingdom out of the\nhands of the two families which then enjoyed it, and making it\nwholly elective; and it is thought that he would on account of this\nquarrel have excited a great commotion in Sparta, if he had not\ndied in the Boeotian war.  Thus ambitious spirits in a\ncommonwealth, when they transgress their bounds, are apt to do more\nharm than good.  For though Lysander's pride and assumption was\nmost ill-timed and insufferable in its display, yet Agesilaus\nsurely could have found some other way of setting him right, less\noffensive to a man of his reputation and ambitious temper.  Indeed\nthey were both blinded with the same passion, so as one not to\nrecognize the authority of his superior, the other not to bear with\nthe imperfections of his friend.\n\nTisaphernes being at first afraid of Agesilaus, treated with him\nabout setting the Grecian cities at liberty, which was agreed on.\nBut soon after finding a sufficient force drawn together, he\nresolved upon war, for which Agesilaus was not sorry.  For the\nexpectation of this expedition was great, and he did not think it\nfor his honor, that Xenophon with ten thousand men should march\nthrough the heart of Asia to the sea, beating the Persian forces\nwhen and how he pleased, and that he at the head of the Spartans,\nthen sovereigns both at sea and land, should not achieve some\nmemorable action for Greece.  And so to be even with Tisaphernes,\nhe requites his perjury by a fair stratagem.  He pretends to march\ninto Caria, whither when he had drawn Tisaphernes and his army, he\nsuddenly turns back, and falls upon Phrygia, takes many of their\ncities, and carries away great booty, showing his allies, that to\nbreak a solemn league was a downright contempt of the gods, but the\ncircumvention of an enemy in war was not only just but glorious, a\ngratification at once and an advantage.\n\nBeing weak in horse, and discouraged by ill omens in the\nsacrifices, he retired to Ephesus, and there raised cavalry.  He\nobliged the rich men, that were not inclined to serve in person, to\nfind each of them a horseman armed and mounted; and there being\nmany who preferred doing this, the army was quickly reinforced by a\nbody, not of unwilling recruits for the infantry, but of brave and\nnumerous horsemen.  For those that were not good at fighting\nthemselves, hired such as were more military in their inclinations,\nand such as loved not horse-service substituted in their places\nsuch as did.  Agamemnon's example had been a good one, when he took\nthe present of an excellent mare, to dismiss a rich coward from the\narmy.\n\nWhen by Agesilaus's order the prisoners he had taken in Phrygia\nwere exposed to sale, they were first stripped of their garments,\nand then sold naked.  The clothes found many customers to buy them,\nbut the bodies being, from the want of all exposure and exercise,\nwhite and tender-skinned, were derided and scorned as\nunserviceable.  Agesilaus, who stood by at the auction, told his\nGreeks, \"These are the men against whom ye fight, and these the\nthings you will gain by it.\"\n\nThe season of the year being come, he boldly gave out that he would\ninvade Lydia; and this plaindealing of his was now mistaken for a\nstratagem by Tisaphernes, who, by not believing Agesilaus, having\nbeen already deceived by him, overreached himself.  He expected\nthat he should have made choice of Caria, as a rough country, not\nfit for horse, in which he deemed Agesilaus to be weak, and\ndirected his own marches accordingly.  But when he found him to be\nas good as his word, and to have entered into the country of\nSardis, he made great haste after him, and by great marches of his\nhorse, overtaking the loose stragglers who were pillaging the\ncountry, he cut them off.  Agesilaus meanwhile, considering that\nthe horse had outridden the foot, but that he himself had the whole\nbody of his own army entire, made haste to engage them.  He mingled\nhis light-armed foot, carrying targets, with the horse, commanding\nthem to advance at full speed and begin the battle, whilst he\nbrought up the heavier-armed men in the rear.  The success was\nanswerable to the design; the barbarians were put to the rout, the\nGrecians pursued hard, took their camp, and put many of them to the\nsword.  The consequence of this victory was very great; for they\nhad not only the liberty of foraging the Persian country, and\nplundering at pleasure, but also saw Tisaphernes pay dearly for all\nthe cruelty he had showed the Greeks, to whom he was a professed\nenemy.  For the king of Persia sent Tithraustes, who took off his\nhead, and presently dealt with Agesilaus about his return into\nGreece, sending to him ambassadors to that purpose, with commission\nto offer him great sums of money.  Agesilaus's answer was, that the\nmaking of peace belonged to the Lacedaemonians, not to him; as for\nwealth, he had rather see it in his soldiers' hands than his own;\nthat the Grecians thought it not honorable to enrich themselves\nwith the bribes of their enemies, but with their spoils only.  Yet,\nthat he might gratify Tithraustes for the justice he had done upon\nTisaphernes, the common enemy of the Greeks, he removed his\nquarters into Phrygia, accepting thirty talents for his expenses.\nWhilst he was upon his march, he received a staff from the\ngovernment at Sparta, appointing him admiral as well as general.\nThis was an honor which was never done to any but Agesilaus, who\nbeing now undoubtedly the greatest and most illustrious man of his\ntime, still, as Theopompus has said, gave himself more occasion of\nglory in his own virtue and merit than was given him in this\nauthority and power.  Yet he committed a fault in preferring\nPisander to the command of the navy, when there were others at hand\nboth older and more experienced; in this not so much consulting the\npublic good, as the gratification of his kindred, and especially\nhis wife, whose brother Pisander was.\n\nHaving removed his camp into Pharnabazus's province, he not only\nmet with great plenty of provisions, but also raised great sums of\nmoney, and marching on to the bounds of Paphlagonia, he soon drew\nCotys, the king of it, into a league, to which he of his own accord\ninclined, out of the opinion he had of Agesilaus's honor and\nvirtue.  Spithridates, from the time of his abandoning Pharnabazus,\nconstantly attended Agesilaus in the camp whithersoever he went.\nThis Spithridates had a son, a very handsome boy, called Megabates,\nof whom Agesilaus was extremely fond, and also a very beautiful\ndaughter, that was marriageable.  Her Agesilaus matched to Cotys,\nand taking of him a thousand horse, with two thousand light-armed\nfoot, he returned into Phrygia, and there pillaged the country of\nPharnabazus, who durst not meet him in the field, nor yet trust to\nhis garrisons, but getting his valuables together, got out of the\nway and moved about up and down with a flying army, till\nSpithridates joining with Herippidas the Spartan, took his camp,\nand all his property.  Herippidas being too severe an inquirer into\nthe plunder with which the barbarian soldiers had enriched\nthemselves, and forcing them to deliver it up with too much\nstrictness, so disobliged Spithridates with his questioning and\nexamining, that he changed sides again, and went off with the\nPaphlagonians to Sardis.  This was a very great vexation to\nAgesilaus, not only that he had lost the friendship of a valiant\ncommander, and with him a considerable part of his army, but still\nmore that it had been done with the disrepute of a sordid and petty\ncovetousness, of which he always had made it a point of honor to\nkeep both himself and his country clear.  Besides these public\ncauses, he had a private one, his excessive fondness for the son,\nwhich touched him to the quick, though he endeavored to master it,\nand, especially in presence of the boy, to suppress all appearance\nof it; so much so that when Megabates, for that was his name, came\nonce to receive a kiss from him, he declined it.  At which when the\nyoung boy blushed and drew back, and afterward saluted him at a\nmore reserved distance, Agesilaus soon repenting his coldness, and\nchanging his mind, pretended to wonder why he did not salute him\nwith the same familiarity as formerly.  His friends about him\nanswered, \"You are in the fault, who would not accept the kiss of\nthe boy, but turned away in alarm; he would come to you again, if\nyou would have the courage to let him do so.\"  Upon this Agesilaus\npaused a while, and at length answered, \"You need not encourage him\nto it; I think I had rather be master of myself in that refusal,\nthan see all things that are now before my eyes turned into gold.\"\nThus he demeaned himself to Megabates when present, but he had so\ngreat a passion for him in his absence, that it may be questioned\nwhether if the boy had returned again, all the courage he had would\nhave sustained him in such another refusal.\n\nAfter this, Pharnabazus sought an opportunity of conferring with\nAgesilaus, which Apollophanes of Cyzicus, the common host of them\nboth, procured for him.  Agesilaus coming first to the appointed\nplace, threw himself down upon the grass under a tree, lying there\nin expectation of Pharnabazus, who, bringing with him soft skins\nand wrought carpets to lie down upon, when he saw Agesilaus's\nposture, grew ashamed of his luxuries and made no use of them, but\nlaid himself down upon the grass also, without regard for his\ndelicate and richly dyed clothing.  Pharnabazus had matter enough\nof complaint against Agesilaus, and therefore, after the mutual\ncivilities were over, he put him in mind of the great services he\nhad done the Lacedaemonians in the Attic war, of which he thought\nit an ill recompense to have his country thus harassed and spoiled,\nby those men who owed so much to him.  The Spartans that were\npresent hung down their heads, as conscious of the wrong they had\ndone to their ally.  But Agesilaus said, \"We, O Pharnabazus, when\nwe were in amity with your master the king, behaved ourselves like\nfriends, and now that we are at war with him, we behave ourselves\nas enemies.  As for you, we must look upon you as a part of his\nproperty, and must do these outrages upon you, not intending the\nharm to you, but to him whom we wound through you.  But whenever\nyou will choose rather to be a friend to the Grecians, than a slave\nof the king of Persia, you may then reckon this army and navy to be\nall at your command, to defend both you, your country, and your\nliberties, without which there is nothing honorable, or indeed\ndesirable among men.\"  Upon this Pharnabazus discovered his mind,\nand answered, \"If the king sends another governor in my room, I\nwill certainly come over to you, but as long as he trusts me with\nthe government, I shall be just to him, and not fail to do my\nutmost endeavors in opposing you.\"  Agesilaus was taken with the\nanswer, and shook hands with him; and rising, said, \"How much\nrather had I have so brave a man my friend than mine enemy.\"\n\nPharnabazus being gone off, his son, staying behind, ran up to\nAgesilaus, and smilingly said, \"Agesilaus, I make you my guest;\"\nand thereupon presented him with a javelin which he had in his\nhand.  Agesilaus received it, and being much taken with the good\nmien and the courtesy of the youth, looked about to see if there\nwere anything in his train fit to offer him in return; and\nobserving the horse of Idaeus, the secretary, to have very fine\ntrappings on, he took them off, and bestowed them upon the young\ngentleman.  Nor did his kindness rest there, but he continued ever\nafter to be mindful of him, so that when he was driven out of his\ncountry by his brothers, and lived an exile in Peloponnesus, he\ntook great care of him, and condescended even to assist him in some\nlove-matters.  He had an attachment for a youth of Athenian birth,\nwho was bred up as an athlete; and when at the Olympic games this\nboy, on account of his great size and general strong and full-grown\nappearance, was in some danger of not being admitted into the\nlist, the Persian betook himself to Agesilaus, and made use of his\nfriendship.  Agesilaus readily assisted him, and not without a\ngreat deal of difficulty effected his desires.  He was in all other\nthings a man of great and exact justice, but when the case\nconcerned a friend, to be straitlaced in point of justice, he said,\nwas only a colorable presence of denying him.  There is an epistle\nwritten to Idrieus, prince of Caria, that is ascribed to Agesilaus;\nit is this:  \"If Nicias be innocent, absolve him; if he be guilty,\nabsolve him upon my account; however be sure to absolve him.\"  This\nwas his usual character in his deportment towards his friends.  Yet\nhis rule was not without exception; for sometimes he considered the\nnecessity of his affairs more than his friend, of which he once\ngave an example, when upon a sudden and disorderly removal of his\ncamp, he left a sick friend behind him, and when he called loudly\nafter him, and implored his help, turned his back, and said it was\nhard to be compassionate and wise too.  This story is related by\nHieronymus, the philosopher.\n\nAnother year of the war being spent, Agesilaus's fame still\nincreased, insomuch that the Persian king received daily\ninformation concerning his many virtues, and the great esteem the\nworld had of his temperance, his plain living, and his moderation.\nWhen he made any journey, he would usually take up his lodging in a\ntemple, and there make the gods witnesses of his most private\nactions, which others would scarce permit men to be acquainted\nwith.  In so great an army, you should scarce find common soldier\nlie on a coarser mattress, than Agesilaus; he was so indifferent to\nthe varieties of heat and cold, that all the seasons, as the gods\nsent them, seemed natural to him.  The Greeks that inhabited Asia\nwere much pleased to see the great lords and governors of Persia,\nwith all the pride, cruelty, and luxury in which they lived,\ntrembling and bowing before a man in a poor threadbare cloak, and\nat one laconic word out of his mouth, obsequiously deferring and\nchanging their wishes and purposes.  So that it brought to the\nminds of many the verses of Timotheus,\n\nMars is the tyrant, gold Greece does not fear.\n\nMany parts of Asia now revolting from the Persians, Agesilaus\nrestored order in the cities, and without bloodshed or banishment\nof any of their members, reestablished the proper constitution in\nthe governments, and now resolved to carry away the war from the\nseaside, and to march further up into the country, and to attack\nthe king of Persia himself in his own home in Susa and Ecbatana;\nnot willing to let the monarch sit idle in his chair, playing\numpire in the conflicts of the Greeks, and bribing their popular\nleaders.  But these great thoughts were interrupted by unhappy news\nfrom Sparta; Epicydidas is from thence sent to remand him home, to\nassist his own country, which was then involved in a great war;\n\nGreece to herself doth a barbarian grow,\nOthers could not, she doth herself o'erthrow.\n\nWhat better can we say of those jealousies, and that league and\nconspiracy of the Greeks for their own mischief, which arrested\nfortune in full career, and turned back arms that were already\nuplifted against the barbarians, to be used upon themselves, and\nrecalled into Greece the war which had been banished out of her?  I\nby no means assent to Demaratus of Corinth, who said, that those\nGreeks lost a great satisfaction, that did not live to see\nAlexander sit in the throne of Darius.  That sight should rather\nhave drawn tears from them, when they considered, that they had\nleft that glory to Alexander and the Macedonians, whilst they spent\nall their own great commanders in playing them against each other\nin the fields of Leuctra, Coronea, Corinth, and Arcadia.\n\nNothing was greater or nobler than the behavior of Agesilaus on\nthis occasion, nor can a nobler instance be found in story, of a\nready obedience and just deference to orders.  Hannibal, though in\na bad condition himself, and almost driven out of Italy, could\nscarcely be induced to obey, when he was called home to serve his\ncountry.  Alexander made a jest of the battle between Agis and\nAntipater, laughing and saying, \"So, whilst we were conquering\nDarius in Asia, it seems there was a battle of mice in Arcadia.\"\nHappy Sparta, meanwhile, in the justice and modesty of Agesilaus,\nand in the deference he paid to the laws of his country; who,\nimmediately upon receipt of his orders, though in the midst of his\nhigh fortune and power, and in full hope of great and glorious\nsuccess, gave all up and instantly departed, \"his object\nunachieved,\" leaving many regrets behind him among his allies in\nAsia, and proving by his example the falseness of that saying of\nDemostratus, the son of Phaeax, \"That the Lacedaemonians were\nbetter in public, but the Athenians in private.\"  For while\napproving himself an excellent king and general, he likewise showed\nhimself in private an excellent friend, and a most agreeable\ncompanion.\n\nThe coin of Persia was stamped with the figure of an archer;\nAgesilaus said, That a thousand Persian archers had driven him out\nof Asia; meaning the money that had been laid out in bribing the\ndemagogues and the orators in Thebes and Athens, and thus inciting\nthose two States to hostility against Sparta.\n\nHaving passed the Hellespont, he marched by land through Thrace,\nnot begging or entreating a passage anywhere, only he sent his\nmessengers to them, to demand whether they would have him pass as a\nfriend or as an enemy.  All the rest received him as a friend, and\nassisted him on his journey.  But the Trallians, to whom Xerxes\nalso is said to have given money, demanded a price of him, namely,\none hundred talents of silver, and one hundred women.  Agesilaus in\nscorn asked, Why they were not ready to receive them?  He marched\non, and finding the Trallians in arms to oppose him, fought them,\nand slew great numbers of them.  He sent the like embassy to the\nking of Macedonia, who replied, He would take time to deliberate:\n\"Let him deliberate,\" said Agesilaus, \"we will go forward in the\nmeantime.\"  The Macedonian, being surprised and daunted at the\nresolution of the Spartan, gave orders to let him pass as friend.\nWhen he came into Thessaly, he wasted the country, because they\nwere in league with the enemy.  To Larissa, the chief city of\nThessaly, he sent Xenocles and Scythes to treat of a peace, whom\nwhen the Larissaeans had laid hold of, and put into custody, others\nwere enraged, and advised the siege of the town; but he answered,\nThat he valued either of those men at more than the whole country\nof Thessaly.  He therefore made terms with them, and received his\nmen again upon composition.  Nor need we wonder at this saying of\nAgesilaus, since when he had news brought him from Sparta, of\nseveral great captains slain in a battle near Corinth, in which the\nslaughter fell upon other Greeks, and the Lacedaemonians obtained a\ngreat victory with small loss, he did not appear at all satisfied;\nbut with a great sigh cried out, \"O Greece, how many brave men hast\nthou destroyed; who, if they had been preserved to so good an use,\nhad sufficed to have conquered all Persia!\"  Yet when the\nPharsalians grew troublesome to him, by pressing upon his army, and\nincommoding his passage, he led out five hundred horse, and in\nperson fought and routed them, setting up a trophy under the mount\nNarthacius.  He valued himself very much upon that victory, that\nwith so small a number of his own training, he had vanquished a\nbody of men that thought themselves the best horsemen of Greece.\n\nHere Diphridas, the Ephor, met him, and delivered his message from\nSparta, which ordered him immediately to make an inroad into\nBoeotia; and though he thought this fitter to have been done at\nanother time, and with greater force, he yet obeyed the\nmagistrates.  He thereupon told his soldiers that the day was come,\non which they were to enter upon that employment, for the\nperformance of which they were brought out of Asia.  He sent for\ntwo divisions of the army near Corinth to his assistance.  The\nLacedaemonians at home, in honor to him, made proclamation for\nvolunteers that would serve under the king, to come in and be\nenlisted.  Finding all the young men in the city ready to offer\nthemselves, they chose fifty of the strongest, and sent them.\n\nAgesilaus having gained Thermopylae, and passed quietly through\nPhocis, as soon as he had entered Boeotia, and pitched his camp\nnear Chaeronea, at once met with an eclipse of the sun, and with\nill news from the navy, Pisander, the Spartan admiral, being beaten\nand slain at Cnidos, by Pharnabazus and Conon.  He was much moved\nat it, both upon his own and the public account.  Yet lest his\narmy, being now near engaging, should meet with any discouragement,\nhe ordered the messengers to give out, that the Spartans were the\nconquerors, and he himself putting on a garland, solemnly\nsacrificed for the good news, and sent portions of the sacrifices\nto his friends.\n\nWhen he came near to Coronea, and was within view of the enemy, he\ndrew up his army, and giving the left wing to the Orchomenians, he\nhimself led the right.  The Thebans took the right wing of their\narmy, leaving the left to the Argives.  Xenophon, who was present,\nand fought on Agesilaus's side, reports it to be the hardest fought\nbattle that he had seen.  The beginning of it was not so, for the\nThebans soon put the Orchomenians to rout, as also did Agesilaus\nthe Argives.  But both parties having news of the misfortune of\ntheir left wings, they betook themselves to their relief.  Here\nAgesilaus might have been sure of his victory, had he contented\nhimself not to charge them in the front, but in the flank or rear;\nbut being angry and heated in the fight, he would not wait the\nopportunity, but fell on at once, thinking to bear them down before\nhim.  The Thebans were not behind him in courage, so that the\nbattle was fiercely carried on on both sides, especially near\nAgesilaus's person, whose new guard of fifty volunteers stood him\nin great stead that day, and saved his life.  They fought with\ngreat valor, and interposed their bodies frequently between him and\ndanger, yet could they not so preserve him, but that he received\nmany wounds through his armor with lances and swords, and was with\nmuch difficulty gotten off alive by their making a ring about him,\nand so guarding him, with the slaughter of many of the enemy and\nthe loss of many of their own number.  At length finding it too\nhard a task to break the front of the Theban troops, they opened\ntheir own files, and let the enemy march through them, (an artifice\nwhich in the beginning they scorned,) watching in the meantime the\nposture of the enemy, who having passed through, grew careless, as\nesteeming themselves past danger; in which position they were\nimmediately set upon by the Spartans.  Yet were they not then put\nto rout, but marched on to Helicon, proud of what they had done,\nbeing able to say, that they themselves, as to their part of the\narmy, were not worsted.\n\nAgesilaus, sore wounded as he was, would not be borne to his tent,\ntill he had been first carried about the field, and had seen the\ndead conveyed within his encampment.  As many of his enemies as had\ntaken sanctuary in the temple, he dismissed.  For there stood near\nthe battlefield, the temple of Minerva the Itonian, and before it a\ntrophy erected by the Boeotians, for the victory which under the\nconduct of Sparton, their general, they obtained over the Athenians\nunder Tolmides, who himself fell in the battle.  And next morning\nearly, to make trial of the Theban courage, whether they had any\nmind to a second encounter, he commanded his soldiers to put on\ngarlands on their heads, and play with their flutes, and raise a\ntrophy before their faces; but when they, instead of fighting, sent\nfor leave to bury their dead, he gave it them; and having so\nassured himself of the victory, after this he went to Delphi, to\nthe Pythian games, which were then celebrating, at which feast he\nassisted, and there solemnly offered the tenth part of the spoils\nhe had brought from Asia, which amounted to a hundred talents.\n\nThence he returned to his own country, where his way and habits of\nlife quickly excited the affection and admiration of the Spartans;\nfor, unlike other generals, he came home from foreign lands the\nsame man that he went out, having not so learned the fashions of\nother countries, as to forget his own, much less to dislike or\ndespise them.  He followed and respected all the Spartan customs,\nwithout any change either in the manner of his supping, or bathing,\nor his wife's apparel, as if he had never traveled over the river\nEurotas.  So also with his household furniture and his own armor;\nnay, the very gates of his house were so old, that they might well\nbe thought of Aristodemus's setting up.  His daughter's Canathrum,\nsays Xenophon, was no richer than that of any one else.  The\nCanathrum, as they call it, is a chair or chariot made of wood, in\nthe shape of a griffin, or tragelaphus, on which the children and\nyoung virgins are carried in processions.  Xenophon has not left us\nthe name of this daughter of Agesilaus; and Dicaearchus expresses\nsome indignation, because we do not know, he says, the name of\nAgesilaus's daughter, nor of Epaminondas's mother.  But in the\nrecords of Laconia, we ourselves found his wife's name to have been\nCleora, and his two daughters to have been called Eupolia and\nProlyta.  And you may also to this day see Agesilaus's spear kept\nin Sparta, nothing differing from that of other men.\n\nThere was a vanity he observed among the Spartans, about keeping\nrunning horses for the Olympic games, upon which he found they much\nvalued themselves.  Agesilaus regarded it as a display not of any\nreal virtue, but of wealth and expense; and to make this evident to\nthe Greeks, induced his sister, Cynisca, to send a chariot into the\ncourse.  He kept with him Xenophon, the philosopher, and made much\nof him, and proposed to him to send for his children, and educate\nthem at Sparta, where they would be taught the best of all\nlearning; how to obey, and how to command.  Finding on Lysander's\ndeath a large faction formed, which he on his return from Asia had\nestablished against Agesilaus, he thought it advisable to expose\nboth him and it, by showing what manner of a citizen he had been\nwhilst he lived.  To that end, finding among his writings all\noration, composed by Cleon the Halicarnassean, but to have been\nspoken by Lysander in a public assembly, to excite the people to\ninnovations and changes in the government, he resolved to publish\nit, as an evidence of Lysander's practices.  But one of the Elders\nhaving the perusal of it, and finding it powerfully written,\nadvised him to have a care of digging up Lysander again, and rather\nbury that oration in the grave with him; and this advice he wisely\nhearkened to, and hushed the whole thing up; and ever after forbore\npublicly to affront any of his adversaries, but took occasions of\npicking out the ringleaders, and sending them away upon foreign\nservices.  He thus had means for exposing the avarice and the\ninjustice of many of them in their employments; and again when they\nwere by others brought into question, he made it his business to\nbring them off, obliging them, by that means, of enemies to become\nhis friends, and so by degrees left none remaining.\n\nAgesipolis, his fellow king, was under the disadvantage of being\nborn of an exiled father, and himself young, modest, and inactive,\nmeddled not much in affairs.  Agesilaus took a course of gaining\nhim over, and making him entirely tractable.  According to the\ncustom of Sparta, the kings, if they were in town, always dined\ntogether.  This was Agesilaus's opportunity of dealing with\nAgesipolis, whom he found quick, as he himself was, in forming\nattachments for young men, and accordingly talked with him always\non such subjects, joining and aiding him, and acting as his\nconfidant, such attachments in Sparta being entirely honorable, and\nattended always with lively feeling of modesty, love of virtue, and\na noble emulation; of which more is said in Lycurgus's life.\n\nHaving thus established his power in the city, he easily obtained\nthat his half-brother Teleutias might be chosen admiral, and\nthereupon making all expedition against the Corinthians, he made\nhimself master of the long walls by land, through the assistance of\nhis brother at sea.  Coming thus upon the Argives, who then held\nCorinth, in the midst of their Isthmian festival, he made them fly\nfrom the sacrifice they had just commenced, and leave all their\nfestive provision behind them.  The exiled Corinthians that were in\nthe Spartan army, desired him to keep the feast, and to preside in\nthe celebration of it.  This he refused, but gave them leave to\ncarry on the solemnity if they pleased, and he in the meantime\nstayed and guarded them.  When Agesilaus marched off, the Argives\nreturned and celebrated the games over again, when some who were\nvictors before, became victors a second time, others lost the\nprizes which before they had gained.  Agesilaus thus made it clear\nto everybody, that the Argives must in their own eyes have been\nguilty of great cowardice, since they set such a value on presiding\nat the games, and yet had not dared to fight for it.  He himself\nwas of opinion, that to keep a mean in such things was best; he\nassisted at the sports and dances usual in his own country, and was\nalways ready and eager to be present at the exercises either of the\nyoung men, or of the girls, but things that many men used to be\nhighly taken with, he seemed not at all concerned about.\nCallippides, the tragic actor, who had a great name in all Greece\nand was made much of, once met and saluted him; of which when he\nfound no notice taken, he confidently thrust himself into his\ntrain, expecting that Agesilaus would pay him some attention.  When\nall that failed, he boldly accosted him, and asked him, whether he\ndid not remember him?  Agesilaus turned, and looking him in the\nface, \"Are you not,\" said he, \"Callippides the showman?\"  Being\ninvited once to hear a man who admirably imitated the nightingale,\nhe declined, saying, he had heard the nightingale itself.\nMenecrates, the physician, having had great success in some\ndesperate diseases, was by way of flattery called Jupiter; he was\nso vain as to take the name, and having occasion to write a letter\nto Agesilaus, thus addressed it:  \"Jupiter Menecrates to King\nAgesilaus, greeting.\"  The king returned answer:  \"Agesilaus to\nMenecrates, health and a sound mind.\"\n\nWhilst Agesilaus was in the Corinthian territories, having just\ntaken the Heraeum, he was looking on while his soldiers were\ncarrying away the prisoners and the plunder, when ambassadors from\nThebes came to him to treat of peace.  Having a great aversion for\nthat city, and thinking it then advantageous to his affairs\npublicly to slight them, he took the opportunity, and would not\nseem either to see them, or hear them speak.  But as if on purpose\nto punish him in his pride, before they parted from him, messengers\ncame with news of the complete slaughter of one of the Spartan\ndivisions by Iphicrates, a greater disaster than had befallen them\nfor many years; and that the more grievous, because it was a choice\nregiment of full-armed Lacedaemonians overthrown by a parcel of\nmere mercenary targeteers.  Agesilaus leapt from his seat, to go at\nonce to their rescue, but found it too late, the business being\nover.  He therefore returned to the Heraeum, and sent for the\nTheban ambassadors to give them audience.  They now resolved to be\neven with him for the affront he gave them, and without speaking\none word of the peace, only desired leave to go into Corinth.\nAgesilaus, irritated with this proposal, told them in scorn, that\nif they were anxious to go and see how proud their friends were of\ntheir success, they should do it tomorrow with safety.  Next\nmorning, taking the ambassadors with him, he ravaged the Corinthian\nterritories, up to the very gates of the city, where having made a\nstand, and let the ambassadors see that the Corinthians durst not\ncome out to defend themselves, he dismissed them.  Then gathering\nup the small remainders of the shattered regiment, he marched\nhomewards, always removing his camp before day, and always pitching\nhis tents after night, that he might prevent their enemies among\nthe Arcadians from taking any opportunity of insulting over their\nloss.\n\nAfter this, at the request of the Achaeans, he marched with them\ninto Acarnania, and there collected great spoils, and defeated the\nAcarnanians in battle.  The Achaeans would have persuaded him to\nkeep his winter quarters there, to hinder the Acarnanians from\nsowing their corn; but he was of the contrary opinion, alleging,\nthat they would be more afraid of a war next summer, when their\nfields were sown, than they would be if they lay fallow.  The event\njustified his opinion; for next summer, when the Achaeans began\ntheir expedition again, the Acarnanians immediately made peace with\nthem.\n\nWhen Conon and Pharnabazus with the Persian navy were grown masters\nof the sea, and had not only infested the coast of Laconia, but\nalso rebuilt the walls of Athens at the cost of Pharnabazus, the\nLacedaemonians thought fit to treat of peace with the king of\nPersia.  To that end, they sent Antalcidas to Tiribazus, basely and\nwickedly betraying the Asiatic Greeks, on whose behalf Agesilaus\nhad made the war.  But no part of this dishonor fell upon\nAgesilaus, the whole being transacted by Antalcidas, who was his\nbitter enemy, and was urgent for peace upon any terms, because war\nwas sure to increase his power and reputation.  Nevertheless once\nbeing told by way of reproach, that the Lacedaemonians had gone\nover to the Medes, he replied, \"No, the Medes have come over to the\nLacedaemonians.\"  And when the Greeks were backward to submit to\nthe agreement, he threatened them with war, unless they fulfilled\nthe king of Persia's conditions, his particular end in this being\nto weaken the Thebans; for it was made one of the articles of\npeace, that the country of Boeotia should be left independent.\nThis feeling of his to Thebes appeared further afterwards, when\nPhoebidas, in full peace, most unjustifiably seized upon the\nCadmea.  The thing was much resented by all Greece, and not well\nliked by the Lacedaemonians themselves; those especially who were\nenemies to Agesilaus, required an account of the action, and by\nwhose authority it was done, laying the suspicion of it at his\ndoor.  Agesilaus resolutely answered, on the behalf of Phoebidas,\nthat the profitableness of the act was chiefly to be considered; if\nit were for the advantage of the commonwealth, it was no matter\nwhether it were done with or without authority.  This was the more\nremarkable in him, because in his ordinary language, he was always\nobserved to be a great maintainer of justice, and would commend it\nas the chief of virtues, saying, that valor without justice was\nuseless, and if all the world were just, there would be no need of\nvalor.  When any would say to him, the Great King will have it so;\nhe would reply, \"How is he greater than I, unless he be juster?\"\nnobly and rightly taking, as a sort of royal measure of greatness,\njustice, and not force.  And thus when, on the conclusion of the\npeace, the king of Persia wrote to Agesilaus, desiring a private\nfriendship and relations of hospitality, he refused it, saying,\nthat the public friendship was enough; whilst that lasted there was\nno need of private.  Yet in his acts he was not constant to his\ndoctrine, but sometimes out of ambition, and sometimes out of\nprivate pique, he let himself be carried away; and particularly in\nthis case of the Thebans, he not only saved Phoebidas, but\npersuaded the Lacedaemonians to take the fault upon themselves, and\nto retain the Cadmea, putting a garrison into it, and to put the\ngovernment of Thebes into the hands of Archias and Leontidas, who\nhad been betrayers of the castle to them.\n\nThis excited strong suspicion that what Phoebidas did was by\nAgesilaus's order, which was corroborated by after occurrences.\nFor when the Thebans had expelled the garrison, and asserted their\nliberty, he, accusing them of the murder of Archias and Leontidas,\nwho indeed were tyrants, though in name holding the office of\nPolemarchs, made war upon them.  He sent Cleombrotus on that\nerrand, who was now his fellow king, in the place of Agesipolis,\nwho was dead, excusing himself by reason of his age; for it was\nforty years since he had first borne arms, and he was consequently\nexempt by the law; meanwhile the true reason was, that he was\nashamed, having so lately fought against tyranny in behalf of the\nPhliasians, to fight now in defense of a tyranny against the\nThebans.\n\nOne Sphodrias, of Lacedaemon, of the contrary faction to Agesilaus,\nwas governor in Thespiae, a bold and enterprising man, though he\nhad perhaps more of confidence than wisdom.  This action of\nPhoebidas fired him, and incited his ambition to attempt some great\nenterprise, which might render him as famous as he perceived the\ntaking of the Cadmea had made Phoebidas.  He thought the sudden\ncapture of the Piraeus, and the cutting off thereby the Athenians\nfrom the sea, would be a matter of far more glory.  It is said,\ntoo, that Pelopidas and Melon, the chief captains of Boeotia, put\nhim upon it; that they privily sent men to him, pretending to be of\nthe Spartan faction, who, highly commending Sphodrias, filled him\nwith a great opinion of himself, protesting him to be the only man\nin the world that was fit for so great an enterprise.  Being thus\nstimulated, he could hold no longer, but hurried into an attempt as\ndishonorable and treacherous as that of the Cadmea, but executed\nwith less valor and less success; for the day broke whilst he was\nyet in the Thriasian plain, whereas he designed the whole exploit\nto have been done in the night.  As soon as the soldiers perceived\nthe rays of light reflecting from the temples of Eleusis, upon the\nfirst rising of the sun, it is said that their hearts failed them;\nnay, he himself, when he saw that he could not have the benefit of\nthe night, had not courage enough to go on with his enterprise;\nbut, having pillaged the country, he returned with shame to\nThespiae.  An embassy was upon this sent from Athens to Sparta, to\ncomplain of the breach of peace; but the ambassadors found their\njourney needless, Sphodrias being then under process by the\nmagistrates of Sparta.  Sphodrias durst not stay to expect\njudgment, which he found would be capital, the city being highly\nincensed against him, out of the shame they felt at the business,\nand their desire to appear in the eyes of the Athenians as\nfellow-sufferers; in the wrong, rather than accomplices in its\nbeing done.\n\nThis Sphodrias had a son of great beauty named Cleonymus, to whom\nArchidamus, the son of Agesilaus, was extremely attached.\nArchidamus, as became him, was concerned for the danger of his\nfriend's father, but yet he durst not do anything openly for his\nassistance, he being one of the professed enemies of Agesilaus.\nBut Cleonymus having solicited him with tears about it, as knowing\nAgesilaus to be of all his father's enemies the most formidable,\nthe young man for two or three days followed after his father with\nsuch fear and confusion, that he durst not speak to him.  At last,\nthe day of sentence being at hand, he ventured to tell him, that\nCleonymus had entreated him to intercede for his father Agesilaus,\nthough well aware of the love between the two young men, yet did\nnot prohibit it, because Cleonymus from his earliest years had been\nlooked upon as a youth of very great promise; yet he gave not his\nson any kind or hopeful answer in the case, but coldly told him,\nthat he would consider what he could honestly and honorably do in\nit, and so dismissed him.  Archidamus, being ashamed of his want of\nsuccess, forbore the company of Cleonymus, whom he usually saw\nseveral times every day.  This made the friends of Sphodrias to\nthink his case desperate, till Etymocles, one of Agesilaus's\nfriends, discovered to them the king's mind, namely, that he\nabhorred the fact, but yet he thought Sphodrias a gallant man, such\nas the commonwealth much wanted at that time.  For Agesilaus used\nto talk thus concerning the cause, out of a desire to gratify his\nson.  And now Cleonymus quickly understood, that Archidamus had\nbeen true to him, in using all his interest with his father; and\nSphodrias's friends ventured to be forward in his defense.  The\ntruth is, that Agesilaus was excessively fond of his children; and\nit is to him the story belongs, that when they were little ones, he\nused to make a horse of a stick, and ride with them; and being\ncaught at this sport by a friend, he desired him not to mention it,\ntill he himself were the father of children.\n\nMeanwhile, Sphodrias being acquitted, the Athenians betook\nthemselves to arms, and Agesilaus fell into disgrace with the\npeople; since to gratify the whims of a boy, he had been willing to\npervert justice, and make the city accessory to the crimes of\nprivate men, whose most unjustifiable actions had broken the peace\nof Greece.  He also found his colleague, Cleombrotus, little\ninclined to the Theban war; so that it became necessary for him to\nwaive the privilege of his age, which he before had claimed, and to\nlead the army himself into Boeotia; which he did with variety of\nsuccess, sometimes conquering, and sometimes conquered; insomuch\nthat receiving a wound in a battle, he was reproached by\nAntalcidas, that the Thebans had paid him well for the lessons he\nhad given them in fighting.  And, indeed, they were now grown far\nbetter soldiers than ever they had been, being so continually kept\nin training, by the frequency of the Lacedaemonian expeditions\nagainst them.  Out of the foresight of which it was, that anciently\nLycurgus, in three several laws, forbade them to make many wars\nwith the same nation, as this would be to instruct their enemies in\nthe art of it.  Meanwhile, the allies of Sparta were not a little\ndiscontented at Agesilaus, because this war was commenced not upon\nany fair public ground of quarrel, but merely out of his private\nhatred to the Thebans; and they complained with indignation, that\nthey, being the majority of the army, should from year to year be\nthus exposed to danger and hardship here and there, at the will of\na few persons.  It was at this time, we are told, that Agesilaus,\nto obviate the objection, devised this expedient, to show the\nallies were not the greater number.  He gave orders that all the\nallies, of whatever country, should sit down promiscuously on one\nside, and all the Lacedaemonians on the other:  which being done,\nhe commanded a herald to proclaim, that all the potters of both\ndivisions should stand out; then all the blacksmiths; then all the\nmasons; next the carpenters; and so he went through all the\nhandicrafts.  By this time almost all the allies were risen, but of\nthe Lacedaemonians not a man, they being by law forbidden to learn\nany mechanical business; and now Agesilaus laughed and said, \"You\nsee, my friends, how many more soldiers we send out than you do.\"\n\nWhen he brought back his army from Boeotia through Megara, as he\nwas going up to the magistrate's office in the Acropolis, he was\nsuddenly seized with pain and cramp in his sound leg, and great\nswelling and inflammation ensued.  He was treated by a Syracusan\nphysician, who let him blood below the ankle; this soon eased his\npain, but then the blood could not be stopped, till the loss of it\nbrought on fainting and swooning; at length, with much trouble, he\nstopped it.  Agesilaus was carried home to Sparta in a very weak\ncondition, and did not recover strength enough to appear in the\nfield for a long time after.\n\nMeanwhile, the Spartan fortune was but ill; they received many\nlosses both by sea and land; but the greatest was that at Tegyrae,\nwhen for the first time they were beaten by the Thebans in a set\nbattle.\n\nAll the Greeks were, accordingly, disposed to a general peace, and\nto that end ambassadors came to Sparta.  Among these was\nEpaminondas, the Theban, famous at that time for his philosophy and\nlearning, but he had not yet given proof of his capacity as a\ngeneral.  He, seeing all the others crouch to Agesilaus, and court\nfavor with him, alone maintained the dignity of an ambassador, and\nwith that freedom that became his character, made a speech in\nbehalf not of Thebes only, from whence he came, but of all Greece,\nremonstrating, that Sparta alone grew great by war, to the distress\nand suffering of all her neighbors.  He urged, that a peace should\nbe made upon just and equal terms, such as alone would be a lasting\none, which could not otherwise be done, than by reducing all to\nequality.  Agesilaus, perceiving all the other Greeks to give much\nattention to this discourse, and to be pleased with it, presently\nasked him, whether he thought it a part of this justice and\nequality that the Boeotian towns should enjoy their independence.\nEpaminondas instantly and without wavering asked him in return,\nwhether he thought it just and equal that the Laconian towns should\nenjoy theirs.  Agesilaus started from his seat and bade him once\nfor all speak out and say whether or not Boeotia should be\nindependent.  And when Epaminondas replied once again with the same\ninquiry, whether Laconia should be so, Agesilaus was so enraged\nthat, availing himself of the pretext he immediately struck the\nname of the Thebans out of the league, and declared war against\nthem.  With the rest of the Greeks he made a peace, and dismissed\nthem with this saying, that what could be peaceably adjusted,\nshould; what was otherwise incurable, must be committed to the\nsuccess of war, it being a thing of too great difficulty to provide\nfor all things by treaty.  The Ephors upon this dispatched their\norders to Cleombrotus, who was at that time in Phocis, to march\ndirectly into Boeotia, and at the same time sent to their allies\nfor aid.  The confederates were very tardy in the business, and\nunwilling to engage, but as yet they feared the Spartans too much\nto dare to refuse.  And although many portents, and prodigies of\nill presage, which I have mentioned in the life of Epaminondas,\nhad appeared; and though Prothous, the Laconian, did all he could\nto hinder it, yet Agesilaus would needs go forward, and prevailed\nso, that the war was decreed.  He thought the present juncture of\naffairs very advantageous for their revenge, the rest of Greece\nbeing wholly free, and the Thebans excluded from the peace.  But\nthat this war was undertaken more upon passion than judgment, the\nevent may prove; for the treaty was finished but the fourteenth of\nScirophorion, and the Lacedaemonians received their great overthrow\nat Leuctra, on the fifth of Hecatombaeon, within twenty days.\nThere fell at that time a thousand, Spartans, and Cleombrotus their\nking, and around him the bravest men of the nation; particularly,\nthe beautiful youth, Cleonymus the son of Sphodrias, who was thrice\nstruck down at the feet of the king, and as often rose, but was\nslain at the last.\n\nThis unexpected blow, which fell so heavy upon the Lacedaemonians,\nbrought greater glory to Thebes than ever was acquired by any other\nof the Grecian republics, in their civil wars against each other.\nThe behavior, notwithstanding, of the Spartans, though beaten, was\nas great, and as highly to be admired, as that of the Thebans.  And\nindeed, if, as Xenophon says, in conversation good men even in\ntheir sports and at their wine let fall many sayings that are worth\nthe preserving; how much more worthy to be recorded, is an\nexemplary constancy of mind, as shown both in the words and in the\nacts of brave men, when they are pressed by adverse fortune!  It\nhappened that the Spartans were celebrating a solemn feast, at\nwhich many strangers were present from other countries, and the\ntown full of them, when this news of the overthrow came.  It was\nthe gymnopaediae, and the boys were dancing in the theater, when\nthe messengers arrived from Leuctra.  The Ephors, though they were\nsufficiently aware that this blow had ruined the Spartan power, and\nthat their primacy over the rest of Greece was gone for ever, yet\ngave orders that the dances should not break off, nor any of the\ncelebration of the festival abate; but privately sending the names\nof the slain to each family, out of which they were lost, they\ncontinued the public spectacles.  The next morning, when they had\nfull intelligence concerning it, and everybody knew who were slain,\nand who survived, the fathers, relatives, and friends of the slain\ncame out rejoicing in the market-place, saluting each other with a\nkind of exultation; on the contrary, the fathers of the survivors\nhid themselves at home among the women.  If necessity drove any of\nthem abroad, they went very dejectedly, with downcast looks, and\nsorrowful countenances.  The women outdid the men in it; those\nwhose sons were slain, openly rejoicing, cheerfully making visits\nto one another, and meeting triumphantly in the temples; they who\nexpected their children home, being very silent, and much troubled.\n\nBut the people in general, when their allies now began to desert\nthem, and Epaminondas, in all the confidence of victory, was\nexpected with an invading army in Peloponnesus, began to think\nagain of Agesilaus's lameness, and to entertain feelings of\nreligious fear and despondency, as if their having rejected the\nsound-footed, and having chosen the halting king, which the oracle\nhad specially warned them against, was the occasion of all their\ndistresses.  Yet the regard they had to the merit and reputation of\nAgesilaus, so far stilled this murmuring of the people, that\nnotwithstanding it, they entrusted themselves to him in this\ndistress, as the only man that was fit to heal the public malady,\nthe arbiter of all their difficulties, whether relating to the\naffairs of war or peace.  One great one was then before them,\nconcerning the runaways (as their name is for them) that had fled\nout of the battle, who being many and powerful, it was feared that\nthey might make some commotion in the republic, to prevent the\nexecution of the law upon them for their cowardice.  The law in\nthat case was very severe; for they were not only to be debarred\nfrom all honors, but also it was a disgrace to intermarry with\nthem; whoever met any of them in the streets, might beat him if he\nchose, nor was it lawful for him to resist; they in the meanwhile\nwere obliged to go about unwashed and meanly dressed, with their\nclothes patched with divers colors, and to wear their beards half\nshaved half unshaven.  To execute so rigid a law as this, in a case\nwhere the offenders were so many, and many of them of such\ndistinction, and that in a time when the commonwealth wanted\nsoldiers so much as then it did, was of dangerous consequence.\nTherefore they chose Agesilaus as a sort of new lawgiver for the\noccasion.  But he, without adding to or diminishing from or any\nway changing the law, came out into the public assembly, and said,\nthat the law should sleep for today, but from this day forth be\nvigorously executed.  By this means he at once preserved the law\nfrom abrogation, and the citizens from infamy; and that he might\nalleviate the despondency and self-distrust of the young men, he\nmade an inroad into Arcadia, where carefully avoiding all fighting,\nhe contented himself with spoiling the territory, and taking a\nsmall town belonging to the Mantineans, thus reviving the hearts of\nthe people, letting them see that they were not everywhere\nunsuccessful.\n\nEpaminondas now invaded Laconia, with an army of forty thousand,\nbesides light-armed men and others that followed the camp only for\nplunder, so that in all they were at least seventy thousand.  It\nwas now six hundred years since the Dorians had possessed Laconia,\nand in all that time the face of an enemy had not been seen within\ntheir territories, no man daring to invade them; but now they made\ntheir entrance, and burnt and plundered without resistance the\nhitherto untouched and sacred territory, up to Eurotas, and the\nvery suburbs of Sparta; for Agesilaus would not permit them to\nencounter so impetuous a torrent, as Theopompus calls it, of war.\nHe contented himself with fortifying the chief parts of the city,\nand with placing guards in convenient places, enduring meanwhile\nthe taunts of the Thebans, who reproached him by name as the\nkindler of the war, and the author of all that mischief to his\ncountry, bidding him defend himself if he could.  But this was not\nall; he was equally disturbed at home with the tumults of the city,\nthe outcries and running about of the old men, who were enraged at\ntheir present condition, and the women, yet worse, out of their\nsenses with the clamors, and the fires of the enemy in the field.\nHe was also himself afflicted by the sense of his lost glory; who\nhaving come to the throne of Sparta when it was in its most\nflourishing and powerful condition, now lived to see it laid low in\nesteem, and all its great vaunts cut down, even that which he\nhimself had been accustomed to use, that the women of Sparta had\nnever seen the smoke of the enemy's fire.  As it is said, also,\nthat when Antalcidas once being in dispute with an Athenian about\nthe valor of the two nations, the Athenian boasted, that they had\noften driven the Spartans from the river Cephisus, \"Yes,\" said\nAntalcidas, \"but we never had occasion to drive you from Eurotas.\"\nAnd a common Spartan of less note, being in company with an Argive,\nwho was bragging how many Spartans lay buried in the fields of\nArgos, replied, \"None of you are buried in the country of Laconia.\"\nYet now the case was so altered, that Antalcidas, being one of the\nEphors, out of fear sent away his children privately to the island\nof Cythera.\n\nWhen the enemy essayed to get over the river, and thence to attack\nthe town, Agesilaus, abandoning the rest, betook himself to the\nhigh places and strong-holds of it.  But it happened, that Eurotas\nat that time was swollen to a great height with the snow that had\nfallen, and made the passage very difficult to the Thebans, not\nonly by its depth, but much more by its extreme coldness.  Whilst\nthis was doing, Epaminondas was seen in the front of the phalanx,\nand was pointed out to Agesilaus, who looked long at him, and said\nbut these words, \"O, bold man!\"  But when he came to the city, and\nwould have fain attempted something within the limits of it that\nmight raise him a trophy there, he could not tempt Agesilaus out of\nhis hold, but was forced to march off again, wasting the country as\nhe went.\n\nMeanwhile, a body of long discontented and bad citizens, about two\nhundred in number, having got into a strong part of the town called\nthe Issorion, where the temple of Diana stands, seized and\ngarrisoned it.  The Spartans would have fallen upon them instantly;\nbut Agesilaus, not knowing how far the sedition might reach, bade\nthem forbear, and going himself in his ordinary dress, with but one\nservant, when he came near the rebels, called out, and told them,\nthat they mistook their orders; this was not the right place; they\nwere to go, one part of them thither, showing them another place in\nthe city, and part to another, which he also showed.  The\nconspirators gladly heard this, thinking themselves unsuspected of\ntreason, and readily went off to the places which he showed them.\nWhereupon Agesilaus placed in their room a guard of his own; and\nof the conspirators he apprehended fifteen, and put them to death\nin the night.  But after this, a much more dangerous conspiracy was\ndiscovered of Spartan citizens, who had privately met in each\nother's houses, plotting a revolution.  These were men whom it was\nequally dangerous to prosecute publicly according to law, and to\nconnive at.  Agesilaus took counsel with the Ephors, and put these\nalso to death privately without process; a thing never before known\nin the case of any born Spartan.\n\nAt this time, also, many of the Helots and country people, who were\nin the army, ran away to the enemy, which was matter of great\nconsternation to the city.  He therefore caused some officers of\nhis, every morning before day, to search the quarters of the\nsoldiers, and where any man was gone, to hide his arms, that so the\ngreatness of the number might not appear.\n\nHistorians differ about the cause of the Thebans' departure from\nSparta.  Some say, the winter forced them; as also that the\nArcadian soldiers disbanding, made it necessary for the rest to\nretire.  Others say, that they stayed there three months, till they\nhad laid the whole country waste.  Theopompus is the only author\nwho says that when the Boeotian generals had already resolved upon\nthe retreat, Phrixus, the Spartan, came to them, and offered them\nfrom Agesilaus ten talents to be gone, so hiring them to do what\nthey were already doing of their own accord.  How he alone should\ncome to be aware of this, I know not; only in this all authors\nagree, that the saving of Sparta from ruin was wholly due to the\nwisdom of Agesilaus, who in this extremity of affairs quitted all\nhis ambition and his haughtiness, and resolved to play a saving\ngame.  But all his wisdom and courage was not sufficient to recover\nthe glory of it, and to raise it to its ancient greatness.  For as\nwe see in human bodies, long used to a very strict and too\nexquisitely regular diet, any single great disorder is usually\nfatal; so here one stroke overthrew the whole State's long\nprosperity.  Nor can we be surprised at this.  Lycurgus had formed\na polity admirably designed for the peace, harmony, and virtuous\nlife of the citizens; and their fall came from their assuming\nforeign dominion and arbitrary sway, things wholly undesirable, in\nthe judgment of Lycurgus, for a well-conducted and happy State.\n\nAgesilaus being now in years, gave over all military employments;\nbut his son Archidamus, having received help from Dionysius of\nSicily, gave a great defeat to the Arcadians, in the fight known by\nthe name of the Tearless Battle, in which there was a great\nslaughter of the enemy, without the loss of one Spartan.  Yet this\nvictory, more than anything else, discovered the present weakness\nof Sparta; for heretofore victory was esteemed so usual a thing\nwith them, that for their greatest successes, they merely\nsacrificed a cock to the gods.  The soldiers never vaunted, nor did\nthe citizens display any great joy at the news; even when the great\nvictory, described by Thucydides, was obtained at Mantinea, the\nmessenger that brought the news had no other reward than a piece of\nmeat, sent by the magistrates from the common table.  But at the\nnews of this Arcadian victory, they were not able to contain\nthemselves; Agesilaus went out in procession with tears of joy in\nhis eyes, to meet and embrace his son, and all the magistrates and\npublic officers attended him.  The old men and the women marched\nout as far as the river Eurotas, lifting up their hands, and\nthanking the gods, that Sparta was now cleared again of the\ndisgrace and indignity that had befallen her, and once more saw the\nlight of day.  Since before, they tell us, the Spartan men, out of\nshame at their disasters, did not dare so much as to look their\nwives in the face.\n\nWhen Epaminondas restored Messene, and recalled from all quarters\nthe ancient citizens to inhabit it, they were not able to obstruct\nthe design, being not in condition of appearing in the field\nagainst them.  But it went greatly against Agesilaus in the minds\nof his countrymen, when they found so large a territory, equal to\ntheir own in compass, and for fertility the richest of all Greece,\nwhich they had enjoyed so long, taken from them in his reign.\nTherefore it was that the king broke off treaty with the Thebans,\nwhen they offered him peace, rather than set his hand to the\npassing away of that country, though it was already taken from him.\nWhich point of honor had like to have cost him dear; for not long\nafter he was overreached by a stratagem, which had almost amounted\nto the loss of Sparta.  For when the Mantineans again revolted from\nThebes to Sparta, and Epaminondas understood that Agesilaus was\ncome to their assistance with a powerful army, he privately in the\nnight quitted his quarters at Tegea, and unknown to the Mantineans,\npassing by Agesilaus, marched towards Sparta, insomuch that he\nfailed very little of taking it empty and unarmed.  Agesilaus had\nintelligence sent him by Euthynus, the Thespian, as Callisthenes\nsays, but Xenophon says by a Cretan; and immediately dispatched a\nhorseman to Lacedaemon, to apprise them of it, and to let them know\nthat he was hastening to them.  Shortly after his arrival the\nThebans crossed the Eurotas.  They made an assault upon the town,\nand were received by Agesilaus with great courage, and with\nexertions beyond what was to be expected at his years.  For he did\nnot now fight with that caution and cunning which he formerly made\nuse of, but put all upon a desperate push; which, though not his\nusual method, succeeded so well, that he rescued the city out of\nthe very hands of Epaminondas, and forced him to retire, and, at\nthe erection of a trophy, was able, in the presence of their wives\nand children, to declare that the Lacedaemonians had nobly paid\ntheir debt to their country, and particularly his son Archidamus,\nwho had that day made himself illustrious, both by his courage and\nagility of body, rapidly passing about by the short lanes to every\nendangered point, and everywhere maintaining the town against the\nenemy with but few to help him.  Isadas, however, the son of\nPhoebidas, must have been, I think, the admiration of the enemy as\nwell as of his friends.  He was a youth of remarkable beauty and\nstature, in the very flower of the most attractive time of life,\nwhen the boy is just rising into the man.  He had no arms upon him,\nand scarcely clothes; he had just anointed himself at home, when\nupon the alarm, without further waiting, in that undress, he\nsnatched a spear in one hand, and a sword in the other, and broke\nhis way through the combatants to the enemies, striking at all he\nmet.  He received no wound, whether it were that a special divine\ncare rewarded his valor with an extraordinary protection, or\nwhether his shape being so large and beautiful, and his dress so\nunusual, they thought him more than a man.  The Ephors gave him a\ngarland; but as soon as they had done so, they fined him a thousand\ndrachmas, for going out to battle unarmed.\n\nA few days after this there was another battle fought near\nMantinea, in which Epaminondas, having routed the van of the\nLacedaemonians, was eager in the pursuit of them, when Anticrates,\nthe Laconian, wounded him with a spear, says Dioscorides; but the\nSpartans to this day call the posterity of this Anticrates,\nswordsmen, because he wounded Epaminondas with a sword.  They so\ndreaded Epaminondas when living, that the slayer of him was\nembraced and admired by all; they decreed honors and gifts to him,\nand an exemption from taxes to his posterity, a privilege enjoyed\nat this day by Callicrates, one of his descendants.\n\nEpaminondas being slain, there was a general peace again concluded,\nfrom which Agesilaus's party excluded the Messenians, as men that\nhad no city, and therefore would not let them swear to the league;\nto which when the rest of the Greeks admitted them, the\nLacedaemonians broke off, and continued the war alone, in hopes of\nsubduing the Messenians.  In this Agesilaus was esteemed a stubborn\nand headstrong man, and insatiable of war, who took such pains to\nundermine the general peace, and to protract the war at a time when\nhe had not money to carry it on with, but was forced to borrow of\nhis friends and raise subscriptions, with much difficulty, while\nthe city, above all things, needed repose.  And all this to recover\nthe one poor town of Messene, after he had lost so great an empire\nboth by sea and land, as the Spartans were possessed of, when he\nbegan to reign.\n\nBut it added still more to his ill-repute when he put himself into\nthe service of Tachos, the Egyptian.  They thought it too unworthy\nof a man of his high station, who was then looked upon as the first\ncommander in all Greece, who had filled all countries with his\nrenown, to let himself out to hire to a barbarian, an Egyptian\nrebel, (for Tachos was no better) and to fight for pay, as captain\nonly of a band of mercenaries.  If, they said, at those years of\neighty and odd, after his body had been worn out with age, and\nenfeebled with wounds, he had resumed that noble undertaking, the\nliberation of the Greeks from Persia, it had been worthy of some\nreproof.  To make an action honorable, it ought to be agreeable to\nthe age, and other circumstances of the person; since it is\ncircumstance and proper measure that give an action its character,\nand make it either good or bad.  But Agesilaus valued not other\nmen's discourses; he thought no public employment dishonorable; the\nignoblest thing in his esteem, was for a man to sit idle and\nuseless at home, waiting for his death to come and take him.  The\nmoney, therefore, that he received from Tachos, he laid out in\nraising men, with whom having filled his ships, he took also thirty\nSpartan counselors with him, as formerly he had done in his Asiatic\nexpedition, and set sail for Egypt.\n\nAs soon as he arrived in Egypt, all the great officers of the\nkingdom came to pay their compliments to him at his landing.  His\nreputation being so great had raised the expectation of the whole\ncountry, and crowds flocked in to see him; but when they found,\ninstead of the splendid prince whom they looked for, a little old\nman of contemptible appearance, without all ceremony lying down\nupon the grass, in coarse and threadbare clothes, they fell into\nlaughter and scorn of him, crying out, that the old proverb was;\nnow made good, \"The mountain had brought forth a mouse.\"  They were\nyet more astonished at his stupidity, as they thought it, who, when\npresents were made him of all sorts of provisions, took only the\nmeal, the calves, and the geese, but rejected the sweetmeats, the\nconfections and perfumes; and when they urged him to the acceptance\nof them, took them and gave them to the helots in his army.  Yet he\nwas taken, Theophrastus tells us, with the garlands they made of\nthe papyrus, because of their simplicity, and when he returned\nhome, he demanded one of the king, which he carried with him.\n\nWhen he joined with Tachos, he found his expectation of being\ngeneral-in-chief disappointed.  Tachos reserved that place for\nhimself, making Agesilaus only captain of the mercenaries, and\nChabrias, the Athenian, commander of the fleet.  This was the first\noccasion of his discontent, but there followed others; he was\ncompelled daily to submit to the insolence and vanity of this\nEgyptian, and was at length forced to attend him into Phoenicia, in\na condition much below his character and dignity, which he bore and\nput up with for a time, till he had opportunity of showing his\nfeelings.  It was afforded him by Nectanabis, the cousin of Tachos,\nwho commanded a large force under him, and shortly after deserted\nhim, and was proclaimed king by the Egyptians.  This man invited\nAgesilaus to join his party, and the like he did to Chabrias,\noffering great rewards to both.  Tachos, suspecting it, immediately\napplied himself both to Agesilaus and Chabrias, with great humility\nbeseeching their continuance in his friendship.  Chabrias consented\nto it, and did what he could by persuasion and good words to keep\nAgesilaus with them.  But he gave this short reply, \"You, O\nChabrias, came hither a volunteer, and may go and stay as you see\ncause; but I am the servant of Sparta, appointed to head the\nEgyptians, and therefore I cannot fight against those to whom I was\nsent as a friend, unless I am commanded to do so by my country.\"\nThis being said, he dispatched messengers to Sparta, who were\nsufficiently supplied with matter both for dispraise of Tachos, and\ncommendation of Nectanabis.  The two Egyptians also sent their\nambassadors to Lacedaemon, the one to claim continuance of the\nleague already made, the other to make great offers for the\nbreaking of it, and making a new one.  The Spartans having heard\nboth sides, gave in their public answer, that they referred the\nwhole matter to Agesilaus; but privately wrote to him, to act as he\nshould find it best for the profit of the commonwealth.  Upon\nreceipt of his orders, he at once changed sides, carrying all the\nmercenaries with him to Nectanabis, covering with the plausible\npresence of acting for the benefit of his country, a most\nquestionable piece of conduct, which, stripped of that disguise, in\nreal truth was no better than downright treachery.  But the\nLacedaemonians, who make it their first principle of action to\nserve their country's interest, know not anything to be just or\nunjust by any measure but that.\n\nTachos, being thus deserted by the mercenaries, fled for it; upon\nwhich a new king of the Mendesian province was proclaimed his\nsuccessor, and came against Nectanabis with an army of one hundred\nthousand men.  Nectanabis, in his talk with Agesilaus, professed to\ndespise them as newly raised men, who, though many in number, were\nof no skill in war, being most of them mechanics and tradesmen,\nnever bred to war.  To whom Agesilaus answered, that he did not\nfear their numbers, but did fear their ignorance, which gave no\nroom for employing stratagem against them.  Stratagem only avails\nwith men who are alive to suspicion, and expecting to be assailed,\nexpose themselves by their attempts at defense; but one who has no\nthought or expectation of anything, gives as little opportunity to\nthe enemy, as he who stands stock-still does to a wrestler.  The\nMendesian was not wanting in solicitations of Agesilaus, insomuch\nthat Nectanabis grew jealous.  But when Agesilaus advised to fight\nthe enemy at once, saying, it was folly to protract the war and\nrely on time, in a contest with men who had no experience in\nfighting battles, but with their great numbers might be able to\nsurround them, and cut off their communications by entrenchments,\nand anticipate them in many matters of advantage, this altogether\nconfirmed him in his fears and suspicions.  He took quite the\ncontrary course, and retreated into a large and strongly fortified\ntown.  Agesilaus, finding himself mistrusted, took it very ill, and\nwas full of indignation, yet was ashamed to change sides back\nagain, or to go away without effecting anything, so that he was\nforced to follow Nectanabis into the town.\n\nWhen the enemy came up, and began to draw lines about the town, and\nto entrench, the Egyptian now resolved upon a battle, out of fear\nof a siege.  And the Greeks were eager for it, provisions growing\nalready scarce in the town.  When Agesilaus opposed it, the\nEgyptians then suspected him much more, publicly calling him the\nbetrayer of the king.  But Agesilaus, being now satisfied within\nhimself, bore these reproaches patiently, and followed the design\nwhich he had laid, of overreaching the enemy, which was this.\n\nThe enemy were forming a deep ditch and high wall, resolving to\nshut up the garrison and starve it.  When the ditch was brought\nalmost quite round, and the two ends had all but met, he took the\nadvantage of the night, and armed all his Greeks.  Then going to\nthe Egyptian, \"This, young man, is your opportunity,\" said he, \"of\nsaving yourself, which I all this while durst not announce, lest\ndiscovery should prevent it; but now the enemy has, at his own\ncost, and the pains and labor of his own men, provided for our\nsecurity.  As much of this wall as is built will prevent them from\nsurrounding us with their multitude, the gap yet left will be\nsufficient for us to sally out by; now play the man, and follow the\nexample the Greeks will give you, and by fighting valiantly, save\nyourself and your army; their front will not be able to stand\nagainst us, and their rear we are sufficiently secured from, by a\nwall of their own making.\"  Nectanabis, admiring the sagacity of\nAgesilaus, immediately placed himself in the middle of the Greek\ntroops, and fought with them; and upon the first charge soon routed\nthe enemy.  Agesilaus having now gained credit with the king,\nproceeded to use, like a trick in wrestling, the same stratagem\nover again.  He sometimes pretended a retreat, at other times\nadvanced to attack their flanks, and by this means at last drew\nthem into a place enclosed between two ditches that were very deep,\nand full of water.  When he had them at this advantage, he soon\ncharged them, drawing up the front of his battle equal to the space\nbetween the two ditches, so that they had no way of surrounding\nhim, being enclosed themselves on both sides.  They made but little\nresistance; many fell, others fled and were dispersed.\n\nNectanabis, being thus settled and fixed in his kingdom, with much\nkindness and affection invited Agesilaus to spend his winter in\nEgypt, but he made haste home to assist in the wars of his own\ncountry, which was he knew in want of money, and forced to hire\nmercenaries, whilst their own men were fighting abroad.  The king,\ntherefore, dismissed him very honorably, and among other gifts\npresented him with two hundred and thirty talents of silver toward\nthe charge of the war.  But the weather being tempestuous, his\nships kept in shore, and passing along the coast of Africa he\nreached an uninhabited spot called the Port of Menelaus, and here,\nwhen his ships were just upon landing, he expired, being\neighty-four years old, and having reigned in Lacedaemon forty-one.\nThirty of which years he passed with the reputation of being the\ngreatest and most powerful man of all Greece, and was looked upon\nas, in a manner, general and king of it, until the battle of\nLeuctra.  It was the custom of the Spartans to bury their common\ndead in the place where they died, whatsoever country it was, but\ntheir kings they carried home.  The followers of Agesilaus, for\nwant of honey, enclosed his body in wax, and so conveyed him to\nLacedaemon.\n\nHis son Archidamus succeeded him on his throne; so did his\nposterity successively to Agis, the fifth from Agesilaus; who was\nslain by Leonidas, while attempting to restore the ancient\ndiscipline of Sparta.\n\n\n\nPOMPEY\n\nThe people of Rome seem to have entertained for Pompey from his\nchildhood, the same affection that Prometheus in the tragedy of\nAeschylus expresses for Hercules, speaking of him as the author\nof his deliverance, in these words,\n\nAh cruel Sire!  how dear thy son to me!\nThe generous offspring of my enemy!\n\nFor on the one hand, never did the Romans give such\ndemonstrations of a vehement and fierce hatred against any of\ntheir generals, as they did against Strabo, the father of\nPompey; during whose lifetime, it is true, they stood in awe of\nhis military power, as indeed he was a formidable warrior, but\nimmediately upon his death, which happened by a stroke of\nthunder, they treated him with the utmost contumely, dragging\nhis corpse from the bier, as it was carried to his funeral.  On\nthe other side, never had any Roman the people's good-will and\ndevotion more zealous throughout all the changes of fortune,\nmore early in its first springing up, or more steadily rising\nwith his prosperity, or more constant in his adversity, than\nPompey had.  In Strabo, there was one great cause of their\nhatred, his insatiable covetousness; in Pompey, there were many\nthat helped to make him the object of their love; his\ntemperance, his skill, and exercise in war, his eloquence of\nspeech, integrity of mind and affability in conversation and\naddress; insomuch that no man ever asked a favor with less\noffense, or conferred one with a better grace.  When he gave,\nit was without assumption, when he received, it was with\ndignity and honor.\n\nIn his youth, his countenance pleaded for him, seeming to\nanticipate his eloquence, and win upon the affections of the\npeople before he spoke.  His beauty even in his bloom of youth\nhad something in it at once of gentleness and dignity; and\nwhen his prime of manhood came, the majesty kingliness of his\ncharacter at once became visible in it.  His hair sat somewhat\nhollow or rising a little; and this, with the languishing\nmotion of his eyes, seemed to form a resemblance in his face,\nthough perhaps more talked of than really apparent, to the\nstatues of king Alexander.  And because many applied that name\nto him in his youth, Pompey himself did not decline it,\ninsomuch that some called him so in derision.  And Lucius\nPhilippus, a man of consular dignity, when he was pleading in\nfavor of him, thought it not unfit to say, that people could\nnot be surprised if Philip was a lover of Alexander.\n\nIt is related of Flora, the courtesan, that when she was now\npretty old; she took great delight in speaking of her early\nfamiliarity with Pompey, and was wont to say, that she could\nnever part after being with him without a bite.  She would\nfurther tell, that Geminius, a companion of Pompey's, fell in\nlove with her, and made his court with great importunity; and\non her refusing, and telling him, however her inclinations\nwere, yet she could not gratify his desires for Pompey's sake,\nhe therefore made his request to Pompey, and Pompey frankly\ngave his consent, but never afterwards would have any converse\nwith her, notwithstanding, that he seemed to have a great\npassion for her; and Flora, on this occasion, showed none of\nthe levity that might have been expected of her, but languished\nfor some time after under a sickness brought on by grief and\ndesire.  This Flora, we are told, was such a celebrated beauty,\nthat Caecilius Metellus, when he adorned the temple of Castor\nand Pollux with paintings and statues, among the rest dedicated\nhers for her singular beauty.  In his conduct also to the wife\nof Demetrius, his freed servant, (who had great influence with\nhim in his lifetime, and left an estate of four thousand\ntalents,) Pompey acted contrary to his usual habits, not quite\nfairly or generously, fearing lest he should fall under the\ncommon censure of being enamored and charmed with her beauty,\nwhich was irresistible, and became famous everywhere.\nNevertheless, though he seemed to be so extremely circumspect\nand cautious, yet even in matters of this nature, he could not\navoid the calumnies of his enemies, but upon the score of\nmarried women, they accused him, as if he had connived at many\nthings, and embezzled the public revenue to gratify their\nluxury.\n\nOf his easiness of temper and plainness, in what related to\neating and drinking, the story is told, that once in a\nsickness, when his stomach nauseated common meats, his\nphysician prescribed him a thrush to eat; but upon search,\nthere was none to be bought, for they were not then in season,\nand one telling him they were to be had at Lucullus's, who kept\nthem all the year round, \"So then,\" said he, \"if it were not\nfor Lucullus's luxury, Pompey should not live;\" and thereupon\nnot minding the prescription of the physician, he contented\nhimself with such meat as could easily be procured.  But this\nwas at a later time.\n\nBeing as yet a very young man, and upon an expedition in which\nhis father was commanding against Cinna, he had in his tent\nwith him one Lucius Terentius, as his companion and comrade,\nwho, being corrupted by Cinna, entered into an engagement to\nkill Pompey, as others had done, to set the general's tent on\nfire.  This conspiracy being discovered to Pompey at supper, he\nshowed no discomposure at it, but on the contrary drank more\nliberally than usual, and expressed great kindness to\nTerentius; but about bedtime, pretending to go to his repose,\nhe stole away secretly out of the tent, and setting a guard\nabout his father, quietly expected the event.  Terentius, when\nhe thought the proper time come, rose with his naked sword, and\ncoming to Pompey's bedside, stabbed several strokes through the\nbedclothes, as if he were lying there.  Immediately after this\nthere was a great uproar throughout all the camp, arising from\nthe hatred they bore to the general, and a universal movement\nof the soldiers to revolt, all tearing down their tents, and\nbetaking themselves to their arms.  The general himself all\nthis while durst not venture out because of the tumult; but\nPompey, going about in the midst of them, besought them with\ntears; and at last threw himself prostrate upon his face before\nthe gate of the camp, and lay there in the passage at their\nfeet, shedding tears, and bidding those that were marching off,\nif they would go, trample upon him.  Upon which, none could\nhelp going back again, and all, except eight hundred, either\nthrough shame or compassion, repented, and were reconciled to\nthe general.\n\nImmediately upon the death of Strabo, there was an action\ncommenced against Pompey, as his heir, for that his father had\nembezzled the public treasure.  But Pompey, having traced the\nprincipal thefts, charged them upon one Alexander, a freed\nslave of his father's, and proved before the judges that he\nhad been the appropriator.  But he himself was accused of\nhaving in his possession some hunting tackle, and books, that\nwere taken at Asculum.  To this he confessed thus far, that he\nreceived them from his father when he took Asculum, but pleaded\nfurther, that he had lost them since, upon Cinna's return to\nRome when his home was broken open and plundered by Cinna's\nguards.  In this cause he had a great many preparatory\npleadings against his accuser, in which he showed an activity\nand steadfastness beyond his years, and gained great reputation\nand favor; insomuch that Antistius, the praetor and judge of\nthe cause, took a great liking to him, and offered him his\ndaughter in marriage, having had some communications with his\nfriends about it.  Pompey accepted the proposal, and they were\nprivately contracted; however, the secret was not so closely\nkept as to escape the multitude, but it was discernible enough\nfrom the favor shown him by Antistius in his cause.  And at\nlast, when Antistius pronounced the absolutory sentence of the\njudges, the people, as if it had been upon a signal given, made\nthe acclamation used according to ancient custom, at marriages,\nTalasio.  The origin of which custom is related to be this.  At\nthe time when the daughters of the Sabines came to Rome, to see\nthe shows and sports there, and were violently seized upon by\nthe most distinguished and bravest of the Romans for wives, it\nhappened that some goatswains and herdsmen of the meaner rank\nwere carrying off a beautiful and tall maiden; and lest any of\ntheir betters should meet them, and take her away, as they ran,\nthey cried out with one voice, Talasio, Talasius being a\nwell-known and popular person among them, insomuch that all\nthat heard the name, clapped their hands for joy, and joined\nwith them in the shout, as applauding and congratulating the\nchance.  Now, say they, because this proved a fortunate match\nto Talasius, hence it is that this acclamation is sportively\nused as a nuptial cry at all weddings.  This is the most\ncredible of the accounts that are given of the Talasio.  And\nsome few days after this judgment, Pompey married Antistia.\n\nAfter this he went to Cinna's camp, where finding some false\nsuggestions and calumnies prevailing against him, he began to\nbe afraid and presently withdrew himself secretly; which sudden\ndisappearance occasioned great suspicion.  And there went a\nrumor and speech through all the camp, that Cinna had murdered\nthe young man; upon which all that had been anyways disobliged,\nand bore any malice to him, resolved to make an assault upon\nhim.  He, endeavoring to make his escape, was seized by a\ncenturion, who pursued him with his naked sword.  Cinna, in\nthis distress, fell upon his knees, and offered him his\nseal-ring, of great value, for his ransom; but the centurion\nrepulsed him insolently, saying, \"I did not come to seal a\ncovenant, but to be revenged upon a lawless and wicked tyrant;\"\nand so dispatched him immediately.\n\nThus Cinna being slain, Carbo, a tyrant yet more senseless than\nhe, took the command and exercised it, while Sylla meantime was\napproaching, much to the joy and satisfaction of most people,\nwho in their present evils were ready to find some comfort if\nit were but in the exchange of a master.  For the city was\nbrought to that pass by oppression and calamities, that being\nutterly in despair of liberty, men were only anxious for the\nmildest and most tolerable bondage.  At that time Pompey was in\nPicenum in Italy, where he spent some time amusing himself, as\nhe had estates in the country there, though the chief motive of\nhis stay was the liking he felt for the towns of that district,\nwhich all regarded him with hereditary feelings of kindness and\nattachment.  But when he now saw that the noblest and best of\nthe city began to forsake their homes and property, and fly\nfrom all quarters to Sylla's camp, as to their haven, he\nlikewise was desirous to go; not, however, as a fugitive, alone\nand with nothing to offer, but as a friend rather than a\nsuppliant, in a way that would gain him honor, bringing help\nalong with him, and at the head of a body of troops.\nAccordingly he solicited the Picentines for their assistance,\nwho as cordially embraced his motion, and rejected the\nmessengers sent from Carbo; insomuch that a certain Vindius\ntaking upon him to say, that Pompey was come from the\nschool-room to put himself at the head of the people, they\nwere so incensed that they fell forthwith upon this Vindius and\nkilled him.  From henceforward Pompey, finding a spirit of\ngovernment upon him, though not above twenty-three years of\nage, nor deriving, an authority by commission from any man,\ntook the privilege to grant himself full power, and causing a\ntribunal to be erected in the market-place of Auximum, a\npopulous city, expelled two of their principal men, brothers,\nof the name of Ventidius, who were acting against him in\nCarbo's interest, commanding them by a public edict to depart\nthe city; and then proceeded to levy soldiers, issuing out\ncommissions to centurions, and other officers, according to the\nform of military discipline.  And in this manner he went round\nall the rest of the cities in the district.  So that those of\nCarbo's faction flying, and all others cheerfully submitting to\nhis command, in a little time he mustered three entire legions,\nhaving supplied himself beside with all manner of provisions,\nbeasts of burden, carriages, and other necessaries of war.  And\nwith this equipage he set forward on his march towards Sylla,\nnot as if he were in haste, or desirous of escaping\nobservation, but by small journeys, making several halts upon\nthe road, to distress and annoy the enemy, and exerting himself\nto detach from Carbo's interest every part of Italy that he\npassed through.\n\nThree commanders of the enemy encountered him at once, Carinna,\nCloelius, and Brutus, and drew up their forces, not all in the\nfront, nor yet together on any one part, but encamping three\nseveral armies in a circle about him, they resolved to\nencompass and overpower him.  Pompey was no way alarmed at\nthis, but collecting all his troops into one body, and placing\nhis horse in the front of the battle, where he himself was in\nperson, he singled out and bent all his forces against Brutus,\nand when the Celtic horsemen from the enemy's side rode out to\nmeet him, Pompey himself encountering hand to hand with the\nforemost and stoutest among them, killed him with his spear.\nThe rest seeing this turned their backs, and fled, and breaking\nthe ranks of their own foot, presently caused a general rout;\nwhereupon the commanders fell out among themselves, and marched\noff, some one way, some another, as their fortunes led them,\nand the towns round about came in and surrendered themselves to\nPompey, concluding that the enemy was dispersed for fear.  Next\nafter these, Scipio, the consul, came to attack him, and with\nas little success; for before the armies could join, or be\nwithin the throw of their javelins, Scipio's soldiers saluted\nPompey's, and came over to them, while Scipio made his escape\nby flight.  Last of all, Carbo himself sent down several troops\nof horse against him by the river Arsis, which Pompey assailed\nwith the same courage and success as before; and having routed\nand put them to flight, he forced them in the pursuit into\ndifficult ground, unpassable for horse, where seeing no hopes\nof escape, they yielded themselves with their horses and armor,\nall to his mercy.\n\nSylla was hitherto unacquainted with all these actions; and on\nthe first intelligence he received of his movements was in\ngreat anxiety about him, fearing lest he should be cut off\namong so many and such experienced commanders of the enemy, and\nmarched therefore with all speed to his aid.  Now Pompey,\nhaving advice of his approach, sent out orders to his officers,\nto marshal and draw up all his forces in full array, that they\nmight make the finest and noblest appearance before the\ncommander-in-chief; for he expected indeed great honors from\nhim, but met with even greater.  For as soon as Sylla saw him\nthus advancing, his army so well appointed, his men so young\nand strong, and their spirits so high and hopeful with their\nsuccesses, he alighted from his horse, and being first, as was\nhis due, saluted by them with the title of Imperator, he\nreturned the salutation upon Pompey, in the same term and style\nof Imperator, which might well cause surprise, as none could\nhave ever anticipated that he would have imparted, to one so\nyoung in years and not yet a senator, a title which was the\nobject of contention between him and the Scipios and Marii.\nAnd indeed all the rest of his deportment was agreeable to this\nfirst compliment; whenever Pompey came into his presence, he\npaid some sort of respect to him, either in rising and being\nuncovered, or the like, which he was rarely seen to do to\nanyone else, notwithstanding that there were many about him of\ngreat rank and honor.  Yet Pompey was not puffed up at all, or\nexalted with these favors.  And when Sylla would have sent him\nwith all expedition into Gaul, a province in which it was\nthought Metellus who commanded in it had done nothing worthy of\nthe large forces at his disposal, Pompey urged, that it could\nnot be fair or honorable for him, to take a province out of the\nhands of his senior in command and superior in reputation;\nhowever, if Metellus were willing, and should request his\nservice, he should be very ready to accompany and assist him in\nthe war.  Which when Metellus came to understand, he approved\nof the proposal, and invited him over by letter.  And on this\nPompey fell immediately into Gaul, where he not only achieved\nwonderful exploits of himself, but also fired up and kindled\nagain that bold and warlike spirit, which old age had in a\nmanner extinguished in Metellus, into a new heat; just as\nmolten copper, they say, when poured upon that which is cold\nand solid, will dissolve and melt it faster than fire itself.\nBut as when a famous wrestler has gained the first place among\nmen, and borne away the prizes at all the games, it is not\nusual to take account of his victories as a boy, or to enter\nthem upon record among the rest; so with the exploits of Pompey\nin his youth, though they were extraordinary in themselves, yet\nbecause they were obscured and buried in the multitude and\ngreatness of his later wars and conquests, I dare not be\nparticular in them, lest, by trifling away time in the lesser\nmoments of his youth, we should be driven to omit those greater\nactions and fortunes which best illustrate his character.\n\nNow, when Sylla had brought all Italy under his dominion, and\nwas proclaimed dictator, he began to reward the rest of his\nfollowers, by giving them wealth, appointing them to offices in\nthe State, and granting them freely and without restriction any\nfavors they asked for.  But as for Pompey, admiring his valor\nand conduct, and thinking that he might prove a great stay and\nsupport to him hereafter in his affairs, he sought means to\nattach him to himself by some personal alliance, and his wife\nMetella joining in his wishes, they two persuaded Pompey to put\naway Antistia, and marry Aemilia, the step-daughter of Sylla,\nborne by Metella to Scaurus her former husband, she being at\nthat very time the wife of another man, living with him, and\nwith child by him.  These were the very tyrannies of marriage,\nand much more agreeable to the times under Sylla, than to the\nnature and habits of Pompey; that Aemilia great with child\nshould be, as it were, ravished from the embraces of another\nfor him, and that Antistia should be divorced with dishonor and\nmisery by him, for whose sake she had been but just before\nbereft of her father.  For Antistius was murdered in the\nsenate, because he was suspected to be a favorer of Sylla for\nPompey's sake; and her mother, likewise, after she had seen all\nthese indignities, made away with herself; a new calamity to be\nadded to the tragic accompaniments of this marriage, and that\nthere might be nothing wanting to complete them, Aemilia\nherself died, almost immediately after entering Pompey's house,\nin childbed.\n\nAbout this time news came to Sylla, that Perpenna was\nfortifying himself in Sicily, that the island was now become a\nrefuge and receptacle for the relics of the adverse party; that\nCarbo was hovering about those seas with a navy, that Domitius\nhad fallen in upon Africa and that many of the exiled men of\nnote who had escaped from the proscriptions were daily flocking\ninto those parts.  Against these, therefore, Pompey was sent\nwith a large force; and no sooner was he arrived in Sicily but\nPerpenna immediately departed, leaving the whole island to him.\nPompey received the distressed cities into favor, and treated\nall with great humanity, except the Mamertines in Messena; for\nwhen they protested against his court and jurisdiction,\nalleging their privilege and exemption founded upon an ancient\ncharter or grant of the Romans, he replied sharply, \"What!\nwill you never cease prating of laws to us that have swords by\nour sides?\"  It was thought, likewise, that he showed some\ninhumanity to Carbo, seeming rather to insult over his\nmisfortunes, than to chastise his crimes.  For if there had\nbeen a necessity, as perhaps there was, that he should be taken\noff, that might have been done at first, as soon as he was\ntaken prisoner, for then it would have been the act of him that\ncommanded it.  But here Pompey commended a man that had been\nthrice consul of Rome, to be brought in fetters to stand at the\nbar, he himself sitting upon the bench in judgment, examining\nthe cause with the formalities of law, to the offense and\nindignation of all that were present, and afterwards ordered\nhim to be taken away and put to death.  It is related, by the\nway, of Carbo, that as soon as he was brought to the place, and\nsaw the sword drawn for execution, he was suddenly seized with\na looseness or pain in his bowels, and desired a little\nrespite of the executioner, and a convenient place to relieve\nhimself.  And yet further, Caius Oppius, the friend of Caesar,\ntells us, that Pompey dealt cruelly with Quintus Valerius, a\nman of singular learning and science.  For when he was brought\nto him, he walked aside, and drew him into conversation, and\nafter putting a variety of questions to him, and receiving\nanswers from him, he ordered his officers to take him away, and\nput him to death.  But we must not be too credulous in the case\nof narratives told by Oppius, especially when he undertakes to\nrelate anything touching the friends or foes of Caesar.  This\nis certain, that there lay a necessity upon Pompey to be severe\nupon many of Sylla's enemies, those at least that were eminent\npersons in themselves, and notoriously known to be taken; but\nfor the rest, he acted with all the clemency possible for him,\nconniving at the concealment of some, and himself being the\ninstrument in the escape of others.  So in the case of the\nHimeraeans; for when Pompey had determined on severely\npunishing their city, as they had been abettors of the enemy,\nSthenis, the leader of the people there, craving liberty of\nspeech, told him, that what he was about to do was not at all\nconsistent with justice, for that he would pass by the guilty,\nand destroy the innocent; and on Pompey demanding, who that\nguilty person was that would assume the offenses of them all,\nSthenis replied, it was himself, who had engaged his friends by\npersuasion to what they had done, and his enemies by force;\nwhereupon Pompey being much taken with the frank speech and\nnoble spirit of the man, first forgave his crime, and then\npardoned all the rest of the Himeraeans.  Hearing, likewise,\nthat his soldiers were very disorderly their march, doing\nviolence upon the roads, he ordered their swords to be sealed\nup in their scabbards, and whosoever kept them not so, were\nseverely punished.\n\nWhilst Pompey was thus busy in the affairs and government of\nSicily, he received a decree of the senate, and a commission\nfrom Sylla, commanding him forthwith to sail into Africa, and\nmake war upon Domitius with all his forces:  for Domitius had\nrallied up a far greater army than Marius had had not long\nsince, when he sailed out of Africa into Italy, and caused a\nrevolution in Rome, and himself, of a fugitive outlaw, became a\ntyrant.  Pompey, therefore, having prepared everything with the\nutmost speed, left Memmius, his sister's husband, governor of\nSicily, and set sail with one hundred and twenty galleys, and\neight hundred other vessels laden with provisions, money,\nammunition, and engines of battery.  He arrived with his fleet,\npart at the port of Utica, part at Carthage; and no sooner was\nhe landed, but seven thousand of the enemy revolted and came\nover to him, while his own forces that he brought with him\nconsisted of six entire legions.  Here they tell us of a\npleasant incident that happened to him at his first arrival.\nFor some of his soldiers having by accident stumbled upon a\ntreasure, by which they got a good sum of money, the rest of\nthe army hearing this, began to fancy that the field was full of\ngold and silver, which had been hid there of old by the\nCarthaginians in the time of their calamities, and thereupon\nfell to work, so that the army was useless to Pompey for many\ndays, being totally engaged in digging for the fancied\ntreasure, he himself all the while walking up and down only,\nand laughing to see so many thousands together, digging and\nturning up the earth.  Until at last, growing weary and\nhopeless, they came to themselves, and returned to their\ngeneral, begging him to lead them where he pleased, for that\nthey had already received the punishment of their folly.  By\nthis time Domitius had prepared himself; and drawn out his army\nin array against Pompey; but there was a watercourse betwixt\nthem, craggy, and difficult to pass over; and this, together\nwith a great storm of wind and rain pouring down even from\nbreak of day, seemed to leave but little possibility of their\ncoming together, so that Domitius, not expecting any engagement\nthat day, commanded his forces to draw off and retire to the\ncamp.  Now Pompey, who was watchful upon every occasion, making\nuse of the opportunity, ordered a march forthwith, and having\npassed over the torrent, fell in immediately upon their\nquarters.  The enemy was in a great disorder and tumult, and in\nthat confusion attempted a resistance; but they neither were\nall there, nor supported one another; besides, the wind having\nveered about, beat the rain full in their faces.  Neither\nindeed was the storm less troublesome to the Romans, for that\nthey could not clearly discern one another, insomuch that even\nPompey himself, being unknown, escaped narrowly; for when one\nof his soldiers demanded of him the word of battle, it happened\nthat he was somewhat slow in his answer, which might have cost\nhim his life.\n\nThe enemy being routed with a great slaughter, (for it is said,\nthat of twenty thousand there escaped but three thousand,) the\narmy saluted Pompey by the name of Imperator; but he declined\nit, telling them, that he could not by any means accept of that\ntitle, as long as he saw the camp of the enemy standing; but if\nthey designed to make him worthy of the honor, they must first\ndemolish that.  The soldiers on hearing this, went at once and\nmade an assault upon the works and trenches, and there Pompey\nfought without his helmet, in memory of his former danger, and\nto avoid the like.  The camp was thus taken by storm, and among\nthe rest, Domitius was slain.  After that overthrow, the cities\nof the country thereabouts were all either secured by\nsurrender, or taken by storm.  King Iarbas, likewise, a\nconfederate and auxiliary of Domitius, was taken prisoner, and\nhis kingdom was given to Hiempsal.\n\nPompey could not rest here, but being ambitious to follow the\ngood fortune and use the valor of his army, entered Numidia;\nand marching forward many days' journey up into the country, he\nconquered all wherever he came.  And having revived the terror\nof the Roman power, which was now almost obliterated among the\nbarbarous nations, he said likewise, that the wild beasts of\nAfrica ought not to be left without some experience of the\ncourage and success of the Romans; and therefore he bestowed\nsome few days in hunting lions and elephants.  And it is said,\nthat it was not above the space of forty days at the utmost, in\nwhich he gave a total overthrow to the enemy, reduced Africa,\nand established the affairs of the kings and kingdoms of all\nthat country, being then in the twenty-fourth year of his age.\n\nWhen Pompey returned back to the city of Utica, there were\npresented to him letters and orders from Sylla, commanding him\nto disband the rest of his army, and himself with one legion\nonly to wait there the coming of another general, to succeed\nhim in the government.  This, inwardly, was extremely grievous\nto Pompey, though he made no show of it.  But the army resented\nit openly, and when Pompey besought them to depart and go home\nbefore him, they began to revile Sylla, and declared broadly,\nthat they were resolved not to forsake him, neither did they\nthink it safe for him to trust the tyrant.  Pompey at first\nendeavored to appease and pacify them by fair speeches; but\nwhen he saw that his persuasions were vain, he left the bench,\nand retired to his tent with tears in his eyes.  But the\nsoldiers followed him, and seizing upon him, by force brought\nhim again, and placed him in his tribunal; where great part of\nthat day was spent in dispute, they on their part persuading\nhim to stay and command them, he, on the other side, pressing\nupon them obedience, and the danger of mutiny.  At last, when\nthey grew yet more importunate and clamorous, he swore that he\nwould kill himself if they attempted to force him; and scarcely\neven thus appeased them.  Nevertheless, the first tidings\nbrought to Sylla were, that Pompey was up in rebellion; on\nwhich he remarked to some of his friends, \"I see, then, it is\nmy destiny to contend with children in my old age;\" alluding at\nthe same time to Marius, who, being but a mere youth, had given\nhim great trouble, and brought him into extreme danger.  But\nbeing undeceived afterwards by better intelligence, and finding\nthe whole city prepared to meet Pompey, and receive him with\nevery display of kindness and honor, he resolved to exceed them\nall.  And, therefore, going out foremost to meet him, and\nembracing him with great cordiality, he gave him his welcome\naloud in the title of Magnus, or the Great, and bade all that\nwere present call him by that name.  Others say that he had\nthis title first given him by a general acclamation of all the\narmy in Africa, but that it was fixed upon him by this\nratification of Sylla.  It is certain that he himself was the\nlast that owned the title; for it was a long time after, when\nhe was sent proconsul into Spain against Sertorius, that he\nbegan to write himself in his letters and commissions by the\nname of Pompeius Magnus; common and familiar use having then\nworn off the invidiousness of the title.  And one cannot but\naccord respect and admiration to the ancient Romans, who did\nnot reward the successes of action and conduct in war alone\nwith such honorable titles, but adorned likewise the virtues\nand services of eminent men in civil government with the same\ndistinctions and marks of honor.  Two persons received from the\npeople the name of Maximus, or the Greatest, Valerius, for\nreconciling the senate and people, and Fabius Rullus, because\nhe put out of the senate certain sons of freed slaves who had\nbeen admitted into it because of their wealth.\n\nPompey now desired the honor of a triumph, which Sylla opposed,\nalleging that the law allowed that honor to none but consuls\nand praetors, and therefore Scipio the elder, who subdued the\nCarthaginians in Spain in far greater and nobler conflicts,\nnever petitioned for a triumph, because he had never been\nconsul or praetor; and if Pompey, who had scarcely yet fully\ngrown a beard, and was not of age to be a senator, should enter\nthe city in triumph, what a weight of envy would it bring, he\nsaid, at once upon his government and Pompey's honor.  This was\nhis language to Pompey, intimating that he could not by any\nmeans yield to his request, but if he would persist in his\nambition, that he was resolved to interpose his power to humble\nhim.  Pompey, however, was not daunted; but bade Sylla\nrecollect, that more worshiped the rising than the setting sun;\nas if to tell him that his power was increasing, and Sylla's in\nthe wane.  Sylla did not perfectly hear the words, but\nobserving a sort of amazement and wonder in the looks and\ngestures of those that did hear them, he asked what it was that\nhe said.  When it was told him, he seemed astounded at Pompey's\nboldness, and cried out twice together, \"Let him triumph,\" and\nwhen others began to show their disapprobation and offense at\nit, Pompey, it is said, to gall and vex them the more, designed\nto have his triumphant chariot drawn with four elephants,\n(having brought over several which belonged to the African\nkings,) but the gates of the city being too narrow, he was\nforced to desist from that project, and be content with horses.\nAnd when his soldiers, who had not received as large rewards as\nthey had expected, began to clamor, and interrupt the triumph,\nPompey regarded these as little as the rest, and plainly told\nthem that he had rather lose the honor of his triumph, than\nflatter them.  Upon which Servilius, a man of great\ndistinction, and at first one of the chief opposers of Pompey's\ntriumph, said, he now perceived that Pompey was truly great and\nworthy of a triumph.  It is clear that he might easily have\nbeen a senator, also, if he had wished, but he did not sue for\nthat, being ambitious, it seems, only of unusual honors.  For\nwhat wonder had it been for Pompey, to sit in the senate before\nhis time?  But to triumph before he was in the senate, was\nreally an excess of glory.\n\nAnd moreover, it did not a little ingratiate him with the\npeople; who were much pleased to see him after his triumph take\nhis place again among the Roman knights.  On the other side, it\nwas no less distasteful to Sylla to see how fast he came on,\nand to what a height of glory and power he was advancing; yet\nbeing ashamed to hinder him, he kept quiet.  But when, against\nhis direct wishes, Pompey got Lepidus made consul, having\nopenly joined in the canvass and, by the good-will the people\nfelt for himself, conciliated their favor for Lepidus, Sylla\ncould forbear no longer; but when he saw him coming away from\nthe election through the forum with a great train after him,\ncried out to him, \"Well, young man, I see you rejoice in your\nvictory.  And, indeed, is it not a most generous and worthy\nact, that the consulship should be given to Lepidus, the vilest\nof men, in preference to Catulus, the best and most deserving\nin the city, and all by your influence with the people?  It\nwill be well, however, for you to be wakeful and look to your\ninterests; as you have been making your enemy stronger than\nyourself.\"  But that which gave the clearest demonstration of\nSylla's ill-will to Pompey, was his last will and testament;\nfor whereas he had bequeathed several legacies to all the rest\nof his friends, and appointed some of them guardians to his\neon, he passed by Pompey without the least remembrance.\nHowever, Pompey bore this with great moderation and temper; and\nwhen Lepidus and others were disposed to obstruct his interment\nin the Campus Martius, and to prevent any public funeral taking\nplace, came forward in support of it, and saw his obsequies\nperformed with all honor and security.\n\nShortly after the death of Sylla, his prophetic words were\nfulfilled; and Lepidus proposing to be the successor to all his\npower and authority, without any ambiguities or pretences,\nimmediately appeared in arms, rousing once more and gathering\nabout him all the long dangerous remains of the old factions,\nwhich had escaped the hand of Sylla.  Catulus, his colleague,\nwho was followed by the sounder part of the senate and people,\nwas a man of the greatest esteem among the Romans for wisdom\nand justice; but his talent lay in the government of the city\nrather than the camp, whereas the exigency required the skill\nof Pompey.  Pompey, therefore, was not long in suspense which\nway to dispose of himself, but joining with the nobility, was\npresently appointed general of the army against Lepidus, who\nhad already raised up war in great part of Italy, and held\nCisalpine Gaul in subjection with an army under Brutus.  As for\nthe rest of his garrisons, Pompey subdued them with ease in his\nmarch, but Mutina in Gaul resisted in a formal siege, and he\nlay here a long time encamped against Brutus.  In the meantime\nLepidus marched in all haste against Rome, and sitting down\nbefore it with a crowd of followers, to the terror of those\nwithin, demanded a second consulship.  But that fear quickly\nvanished upon letters sent from Pompey, announcing that he had\nended the war without a battle; for Brutus, either betraying\nhis army, or being betrayed by their revolt, surrendered\nhimself to Pompey, and receiving a guard of horse, was\nconducted to a little town upon the river Po; where he was\nslain the next day by Geminius, in execution of Pompey's\ncommands.  And for this Pompey was much censured; for, having\nat the beginning of the revolt written to the senate that\nBrutus had voluntarily surrendered himself, immediately\nafterward he sent other letters, with matter of accusation\nagainst the man, after he was taken off.  Brutus, who with\nCassius slew Caesar, was son to this Brutus; neither in war nor\nin his death like his father, as appears at large in his life.\nLepidus upon this being driven out of Italy, fled to Sardinia,\nwhere he fell sick and died of sorrow, not for his public\nmisfortunes, as they say, but, upon the discovery of a letter,\nproving his wife to have been unfaithful to him.\n\nThere yet remained Sertorius, a very different general from\nLepidus, in possession of Spain, and making himself formidable\nto Rome; the final disease, as it were, in which the scattered\nevils of the civil wars had now collected.  He had already cut\noff various inferior commanders, and was at this time coping\nwith Metellus Pius, a man of repute and a good soldier, though\nperhaps he might now seem too slow, by reason of his age, to\nsecond and improve the happier moments of war, and might be\nsometimes wanting to those advantages which Sertorius by his\nquickness and dexterity would wrest out of his hands.  For\nSertorius was always hovering about, and coming upon him\nunawares, like a captain of thieves rather than soldiers,\ndisturbing him perpetually with ambuscades and light\nskirmishes; whereas Metellus was accustomed to regular conduct,\nand fighting in battle array with full-armed soldiers.  Pompey,\ntherefore, keeping his army in readiness, made it his object to\nbe sent in aid to Metellus; neither would he be induced to\ndisband his forces, notwithstanding that Catulus called upon\nhim to do so, but by some colorable device or other he still\nkept them in arms about the city, until the senate at last\nthought fit, upon the report of Lucius Philippus, to decree him\nthat government.  At that time, they say, one of the senators\nthere expressing his wonder and demanding of Philippus whether\nhis meaning was that Pompey should be sent into Spain as\nproconsul, \"No,\" replied Philippus, \"but as proconsuls,\" as if\nboth consuls for that year were in his opinion wholly useless.\n\nWhen Pompey was arrived in Spain, as is usual upon the fame of\na new leader, men began to be inspired with new hopes, and\nthose nations that had not entered into a very strict alliance\nwith Sertorius, began to waver and revolt; whereupon Sertorius\nuttered various arrogant and scornful speeches against Pompey,\nsaying in derision, that he should want no other weapon but a\nferula and rod to chastise this boy with, if he were not afraid\nof that old woman, meaning Metellus.  Yet in deed and reality\nhe stood in awe of Pompey, and kept on his guard against him,\nas appeared by his whole management of the war, which he was\nobserved to conduct much more warily than before; for Metellus,\nwhich one would not have imagined, was grown excessively\nluxurious in his habits having given himself over to\nself-indulgence and pleasure, and from a moderate and\ntemperate, became suddenly a sumptuous and ostentatious liver,\nso that this very thing gained Pompey great reputation and\ngoodwill, as he made himself somewhat specially an example of\nfrugality, although that virtue was habitual in him, and\nrequired no great industry to exercise it, as he was naturally\ninclined to temperance, and no ways inordinate in his desires.\nThe fortune of the war was very various; nothing however\nannoyed Pompey so much as the taking of the town of Lauron by\nSertorius.  For when Pompey thought he had him safe inclosed,\nand had boasted somewhat largely of raising the siege, he found\nhimself all of a sudden encompassed; insomuch that he durst not\nmove out of his camp, but was forced to sit still whilst the\ncity was taken and burnt before his face.  However, afterwards\nin a battle near Valentia, he gave great defeat to Herennius\nand Perpenna, two commanders among the refugees who had fled to\nSertorius, and now lieutenants under him, in which he slew\nabove ten thousand men.\n\nPompey, being elated and filled with confidence by this\nvictory, made all haste to engage Sertorius himself, and the\nrather lest Metellus should come in for a share in the honor of\nthe victory.  Late in the day, towards sunset, they joined\nbattle near the river Sucro, both being in fear lest Metellus\nshould come; Pompey, that he might engage alone, Sertorius,\nthat he might have one alone to engage with.  The issue of the\nbattle proved doubtful, for a wing of each side had the better;\nbut of the generals, Sertorius had the greater honor, for that\nhe maintained his post, having put to flight the entire\ndivision that was opposed to him, whereas Pompey was himself\nalmost made a prisoner; for being set upon by a strong man at\narms that fought on foot, (he being on horseback,) as they were\nclosely engaged hand to hand, the strokes of their swords\nchanced to light upon their hands, but with a different\nsuccess; for Pompey's was a slight wound only, whereas he cut\noff the other's hand.  However, it happened so, that many now\nfalling upon Pompey together, and his own forces there being\nput to the rout, he made his escape beyond expectation, by\nquitting his horse, and turning him out among the enemy.  For\nthe horse being richly adorned with golden trappings, and\nhaving a caparison of great value, the soldiers quarreled among\nthemselves for the booty, so that while they were fighting with\none another, and dividing the spoil, Pompey made his escape.\nBy break of day the next morning, each drew out his forces into\nthe field to claim the victory; but Metellus coming up,\nSertorius vanished, having broken up and dispersed his army.\nFor this was the way in which he used to raise and disband his\narmies, so that sometimes he would be wandering up and down all\nalone, and at other times again he would come pouring into the\nfield at the head of no less than one hundred and fifty\nthousand fighting-men, swelling of a sudden like a winter\ntorrent.\n\nWhen Pompey was going after the battle to meet and welcome\nMetellus, and when they were near one another, he commanded his\nattendants to lower their rods in honor of Metellus, as his\nsenior and superior.  But Metellus on the other side forbade\nit, and behaved himself in general very obligingly to him, not\nclaiming any prerogative either in respect of his consular rank\nor seniority; excepting only that when they encamped together,\nthe watchword was given to the whole camp by Metellus.  But\ngenerally they had their camps asunder, being divided and\ndistracted by the enemy, who took all shapes, and being always\nin motion, would by some skillful artifice appear in a variety\nof places almost in the same instant, drawing them from one\nattack to another, and at last keeping them from foraging,\nwasting the country, and holding the dominion of the sea,\nSertorius drove them both out of that part of Spain which was\nunder his control, and forced them for want of necessaries to\nretreat into provinces that did not belong to them.\n\nPompey, having made use of and expended the greatest part of\nhis own private revenues upon the war, sent and demanded moneys\nof the senate, adding, that in case they did not furnish him\nspeedily, he should be forced to return into Italy with his\narmy.  Lucullus being consul at that time, though at variance\nwith Pompey, yet in consideration that he himself was a\ncandidate for the command against Mithridates, procured and\nhastened these supplies, fearing lest there should be any\npresence or occasion given to Pompey of returning home, who of\nhimself was no less desirous of leaving Sertorius, and of\nundertaking the war against Mithridates, as an enterprise which\nby all appearance would prove much more honorable and not so\ndangerous.  In the meantime Sertorius died, being\ntreacherously murdered by some of his own party; and Perpenna,\nthe chief among them, took the command, and attempted to carry\non the same enterprises with Sertorius, having indeed the same\nforces and the same means, only wanting the same skill and\nconduct in the use of them.  Pompey therefore marched directly\nagainst, Perpenna, and finding him acting merely at random in\nhis affairs, had a decoy ready for him, and sent out a\ndetachment of ten cohorts into the level country with orders to\nrange up and down and disperse themselves abroad.  The bait\ntook accordingly, and no sooner had Perpenna turned upon the\nprey and had them in chase, but Pompey appeared suddenly with\nall his army and joining battle, gave him a total overthrow.\nMost of his officers were slain in the field, and he himself\nbeing brought prisoner to Pompey, was by his order put to\ndeath.  Neither was Pompey guilty in this of ingratitude or\nunmindfulness of what had occurred in Sicily, which some have\nlaid to his charge, but was guided by a high minded policy and\na deliberate counsel for the security of his country.  For\nPerpenna, having in his custody all Sertorius's papers, offered\nto produce several letters from the greatest men in Rome, who,\ndesirous of a change and subversion of the government, had\ninvited Sertorius into Italy.  And Pompey, fearing that these\nmight be the occasion of worse wars than those which were now\nended, thought it advisable to put Perpenna to death, and burnt\nthe letters without reading them.\n\nPompey continued in Spain after this so long a time as was\nnecessary for the suppression of all the greatest disorders in\nthe province; and after moderating and allaying the more\nviolent heats of affairs there, returned with his army into\nItaly, where he arrived, as chance would have it, in the height\nof the servile war.  Accordingly, upon his arrival, Crassus,\nthe commander in that war, at some hazard precipitated a\nbattle, in which he had great success, and slew upon the place\ntwelve thousand three hundred of the insurgents.  Nor yet was\nhe so quick, but that fortune reserved to Pompey some share of\nhonor in the success of this war, for five thousand of those\nthat had escaped out of the battle fell into his hands; and\nwhen he had totally cut them off, he wrote to the senate, that\nCrassus had overthrown the slaves in battle, but that he had\nplucked up the whole war by the roots.  And it was agreeable to\nthe people in Rome both thus to say, and thus to hear said,\nbecause of the general favor of Pompey.  But of the Spanish war\nand the conquest of Sertorius, no one, even in jest, could have\nascribed the honor to anyone else.  Nevertheless, all this\nhigh respect for him, and this desire to see him come home,\nwere not unmixed with apprehensions and suspicions that he\nmight perhaps not disband his army, but take his way by the\nforce of arms and a supreme command to the seat of Sylla.  And\nso in the number of all those that ran out to meet him and\ncongratulate his return, as many went out of fear as affection.\nBut after Pompey had removed this alarm, by declaring\nbeforehand that he would discharge the army after his triumph,\nthose that envied him could now only complain that he affected\npopularity, courting the common people more than the nobility,\nand that whereas Sylla had abolished the tribuneship of the\npeople, he designed to gratify the people by restoring that\noffice, which was indeed the fact.  For there was not any one\nthing that the people of Rome were more wildly eager for, or\nmore passionately desired, than the restoration of that office,\ninsomuch that Pompey thought himself extremely fortunate in\nthis opportunity, despairing (if he were anticipated by\nsomeone else in this) of ever meeting with any other sufficient\nmeans of expressing his gratitude for the favors which he had\nreceived from the people.\n\nThough a second triumph was decreed him, and he was declared\nconsul, yet all these honors did not seem so great an evidence\nof his power and glory, as the ascendant which he had over\nCrassus; for he, the wealthiest among all the statesmen of his\ntime, and the most eloquent and greatest too, who had looked\ndown on Pompey himself, and on all others as beneath him, durst\nnot appear a candidate for the consulship before he had applied\nto Pompey.  The request was made accordingly, and was eagerly\nembraced by Pompey, who had long sought an occasion to oblige\nhim in some friendly office; so that he solicited for Crassus,\nand entreated the people heartily, declaring, that their favor\nwould be no less to him in choosing Crassus his colleague, than\nin making himself consul.  Yet for all this, when they were\ncreated consuls, they were always at variance, and opposing one\nanother.  Crassus prevailed most in the senate, and Pompey's\npower was no less with the people, he having restored to them\nthe office of tribune, and having allowed the courts of\njudicature to be transferred back to the knights by a new law.\nHe himself in person, too, afforded them a most grateful\nspectacle, when he appeared and craved his discharge from the\nmilitary service.  For it is an ancient custom among the\nRomans, that the knights, when they had served out their legal\ntime in the wars, should lead their horses into the\nmarket-place before the two officers, called censors, and\nhaving given an account of the commanders and generals under\nwhom they served, as also of the places and actions of their\nservice, should be discharged, every man with honor or\ndisgrace, according to his deserts.  There were then sitting in\nstate upon the bench two censors, Gellius and Lentulus,\ninspecting the knights, who were passing by in muster before\nthem, when Pompey was seen coming down into the forum, with all\nthe ensigns of a consul, but leading his horse in his hand.\nWhen he came up, he bade his lictors make way for him, and so\nhe led his horse to the bench; the people being all this while\nin a sort of amaze, and all in silence, and the censors\nthemselves regarding the sight with a mixture of respect and\ngratification.  Then the senior censor examined him:  \"Pompeius\nMagnus, I demand of you whether you have served the full time\nin the wars that is prescribed by the law?\"  \"Yes,\" replied\nPompey with a loud voice, \"I have served all, and all under\nmyself as general.\"  The people hearing this gave a great\nshout, and made such an outcry for delight, that there was no\nappeasing it; and the censors rising from their judgment-seat,\naccompanied him home to gratify the multitude, who followed\nafter, clapping their hands and shouting.\n\nPompey's consulship was now expiring, and yet his difference\nwith Crassus increasing, when one Caius Aurelius, a knight, a\nman who had declined public business all his lifetime, mounted\nthe hustings, and addressed himself in an oration to the\nassembly, declaring that Jupiter had appeared to him in a\ndream, commanding him to tell the consuls, that they should not\ngive up office until they were friends.  After this was said,\nPompey stood silent, but Crassus took him by the hand, and\nspoke in this manner:  \"I do not think, fellow-citizens, that I\nshall do anything mean or dishonorable, in yielding first to\nPompey, whom you were pleased to ennoble with the title of\nGreat, when as yet he scarce had a hair on his face; and\ngranted the honor of two triumphs, before he had a place in the\nsenate.\"  Hereupon they were reconciled and laid down their\noffice.  Crassus resumed the manner of life which he had always\npursued before; but Pompey in the great generality of causes\nfor judgment declined appearing on either side, and by degrees\nwithdrew himself totally from the forum, showing himself but\nseldom in public; and whenever he did, it was with a great\ntrain after him.  Neither was it easy to meet or visit him\nwithout a crowd of people about him; he was most pleased to\nmake his appearance before large numbers at once, as though he\nwished to maintain in this way his state and majesty, and as if\nhe held himself bound to preserve his dignity from contact with\nthe addresses and conversation of common people.  And life in\nthe robe of peace is only too apt to lower the reputation of\nmen that have grown great by arms, who naturally find\ndifficulty in adapting themselves to the habits of civil\nequality.  They expect to be treated as the first in the city,\neven as they were in the camp; and on the other hand, men who\nin war were nobody, think it intolerable if in the city at any\nrate they are not to take the lead.  And so, when a warrior\nrenowned for victories and triumphs shall turn advocate and\nappear among them in the forum, they endeavor their utmost to\nobscure and depress him; whereas, if he gives up any\npretensions here and retires, they will maintain his military\nhonor and authority beyond the reach of envy.  Events\nthemselves not long after showed the truth of this.\n\nThe power of the pirates first commenced in Cilicia, having in\ntruth but a precarious and obscure beginning, but gained life\nand boldness afterwards in the wars of Mithridates, where they\nhired themselves out, and took employment in the king's\nservice.  Afterwards, whilst the Romans were embroiled in their\ncivil wars, being engaged against one another even before the\nvery gates of Rome, the seas lay waste and unguarded, and by\ndegrees enticed and drew them on not only to seize upon and\nspoil the merchants and ships upon the seas, but also to lay\nwaste the islands and seaport towns.  So that now there\nembarked with these pirates men of wealth and noble birth and\nsuperior abilities, as if it had been a natural occupation to\ngain distinction in.  They had divers arsenals, or piratic\nharbors, as likewise watch towers and beacons, all along the\nsea-coast; and fleets were here received that were well manned\nwith the finest mariners, and well served with the expertest\npilots, and composed of swift sailing and light-built vessels\nadapted for their special purpose.  Nor was it merely their\nbeing thus formidable that excited indignation; they were even\nmore odious for their ostentation than they were feared for\ntheir force.  Their ships had gilded masts at their stems; the\nsails woven of purple, and the oars plated with silver, as if\ntheir delight were to glory in their iniquity.  There was\nnothing but music and dancing, banqueting and revels, all along\nthe shore.  Officers in command were taken prisoners, and\ncities put under contribution, to the reproach and dishonor of\nthe Roman supremacy.  There were of these corsairs above one\nthousand sail, and they had taken no less than four hundred\ncities, committing sacrilege upon the temples of the gods, and\nenriching themselves with the spoils of many never violated\nbefore, such as were those of Claros, Didyma, and Samothrace;\nand the temple of the Earth in Hermione, and that of\nAesculapius in Epidaurus, those of Neptune at the Isthmus, at\nTaenarus, and at Calauria; those of Apollo at Actium and\nLeucas, and those of Juno, in Samos, at Argos, and at Lacinium.\nThey themselves offered strange sacrifices upon Mount Olympus,\nand performed certain secret rites or religious mysteries,\namong which those of Mithras have been preserved to our own\ntime, having received their previous institution from them.\nBut besides these insolencies by sea, they were also injurious\nto the Romans by land; for they would often go inland up the\nroads, plundering and destroying their villages and\ncountry-houses.  And once they seized upon two Roman praetors,\nSextilius and Bellinus, in their purple-edged robes, and\ncarried them off together with their officers and lictors.  The\ndaughter also of Antonius, a man that had had the honor of a\ntriumph, taking a journey into the country, was seized, and\nredeemed upon payment of a large ransom.  But it was most\nabusive of all, that when any of the captives declared himself\nto be a Roman and told his name, they affected to be surprised,\nand feigning fear, smote their thighs and fell down at his\nfeet, humbly beseeching him to be gracious and forgive them.\nThe captive seeing them so humble and suppliant, believed them\nto be in earnest; and some of them now would proceed to put\nRoman shoes on his feet, and to dress him in a Roman gown, to\nprevent, they said, his being mistaken another time.  After all\nthis pageantry, when they had thus deluded and mocked him long\nenough, at last putting out a ship's ladder, when they were in\nthe midst of the sea, they told him he was free to go, and\nwished him a pleasant journey; and if he resisted, they\nthemselves threw him overboard, and drowned him.\n\nThis piratic power having got the dominion and control of all\nthe Mediterranean, there was left no place for navigation or\ncommerce.  And this it was which most of all made the Romans,\nfinding themselves to be extremely straitened in their markets,\nand considering that if it should continue, there would be a\ndearth and famine in the land, determine at last to send out\nPompey to recover the seas from the pirates.  Gabinius, one of\nPompey's friends, preferred a law, whereby there was granted to\nhim, not only the government of the seas as admiral, but in\ndirect words, sole and irresponsible sovereignty over all men.\nFor the decree gave him absolute power and authority in all the\nseas within the pillars of Hercules, and in the adjacent\nmainland for the space of four hundred furlongs from the sea.\nNow there were but few regions in the Roman empire out of that\ncompass; and the greatest of the nations and most powerful of\nthe kings were included in the limit.  Moreover by this decree\nhe had a power of selecting fifteen lieutenants out of the\nsenate, and of assigning to each his province in charge; then\nhe might take likewise out of the treasury and out of the hands\nof the revenue-farmers what moneys he pleased; as also two\nhundred sail of ships, with a power to press and levy what\nsoldiers and seamen he thought fit.  When this law was read,\nthe common people approved of it exceedingly, but the chief men\nand most important among the senators looked upon it as an\nexorbitant power, even beyond the reach of envy, but well\ndeserving their fears.  Therefore concluding with themselves\nthat such unlimited authority was dangerous, they agreed\nunanimously to oppose the bill, and all went against it, except\nCaesar, who gave his vote for the law, not to gratify Pompey,\nbut the people, whose favor he had courted underhand from the\nbeginning, and hoped to compass for himself.  The rest\ninveighed bitterly against Pompey, insomuch that one of the\nconsuls told him, that if he was ambitious of the place of\nRomulus, he would scarce avoid his end, but he was in danger of\nbeing torn in pieces by the multitude for his speech.  Yet when\nCatulus stood up to speak against the law, the people in\nreverence to him were silent and attentive.  And when, after\nsaying much in the most honorable terms in favor of Pompey, he\nproceeded to advise the people in kindness to spare him, and\nnot to expose a man of his value to such a succession of\ndangers and wars, \"For,\" said he, \"where could you find another\nPompey, or whom would you have in case you should chance to\nlose him?\"  they all cried out with one voice, \"Yourself.\"  And\nso Catulus, finding all his rhetoric ineffectual, desisted.\nThen Roscius attempted to speak, but could obtain no hearing,\nand made signs with his fingers, intimating, \"Not him alone,\"\nbut that there might be a second Pompey or colleague in\nauthority with him.  Upon this, it is said, the multitude being\nextremely incensed, made such a loud outcry, that a crow flying\nover the market-place at that instant was struck, and drops\ndown among the crowd; whence it would appear that the cause of\nbirds falling down to the ground, is not any rupture or\ndivision of the air causing a vacuum, but purely the actual\nstroke of the voice, which when carried up in a great mass and\nwith violence, raises a sort of tempest and billow, as it were,\nin the air.\n\nThe assembly broke up for that day; and when the day was come,\non which the bill was to pass by suffrage into a decree, Pompey\nwent privately into the country; but hearing that it was passed\nand confirmed, he resumed again into the city by night, to\navoid the envy that might be occasioned by the concourse of\npeople that would meet and congratulate him.  The next morning\nhe came abroad and sacrificed to the gods, and having audience\nat an open assembly, so handled the matter that they enlarged\nhis power, giving him many things besides what was already\ngranted, and almost doubling the preparation appointed in the\nformer decree.  Five hundred ships were manned for him, and an\narmy raised of one hundred and twenty thousand foot, and five\nthousand horse.  Twenty-four senators that had been generals of\narmies were appointed to serve as lieutenants under him, and to\nthese were added two quaestors.  Now it happened within this\ntime that the prices of provisions were much reduced, which\ngave an occasion to the joyful people of saying, that the very\nname of Pompey had ended the war.  However, Pompey in pursuance\nof his charge divided all the seas, and the whole Mediterranean\ninto thirteen parts, allotting a squadron to each, under the\ncommand of his officers; and having thus dispersed his power\ninto all quarters, and encompassed the pirates everywhere, they\nbegan to fall into his hands by whole shoals, which he seized\nand brought into his harbors.  As for those that withdrew\nthemselves betimes, or otherwise escaped his general chase,\nthey all made to Cilicia, where they hid themselves as in their\nhive; against whom Pompey now proceeded in person with sixty of\nhis best ships, not however until he had first scoured and\ncleared all the seas near Rome, the Tyrrhenian, and the\nAfrican, and all the waters of Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily;\nall which he performed in the space of forty days, by his own\nindefatigable industry and the zeal of his lieutenants.\n\nPompey met with some interruption in Rome, through the malice\nand envy of Piso, the consul, who had given some check to his\nproceedings, by withholding his stores and discharging his\nseamen; whereupon he sent his fleet round to Brundusium,\nhimself going the nearest way by land through Tuscany to Rome;\nwhich was no sooner known by the people, than they all flocked\nout to meet him upon the way, as if they had not sent him out\nbut few days before.  What chiefly excited their joy, was the\nunexpectedly rapid change in the markets, which abounded now\nwith the greatest plenty, so that Piso was in great danger to\nhave been deprived of his consulship, Gabinius having a law\nready prepared for that purpose; but Pompey forbade it,\nbehaving himself as in that, so in all things else, with great\nmoderation, and when he had made sure of all that he wanted or\ndesired, he departed for Brundusium, whence he set sail in\npursuit of the pirates.  And though he was straitened in time,\nand his hasty voyage forced him to sail by several cities\nwithout touching, yet he would not pass by the city of Athens\nunsaluted; but landing there, after he had sacrificed to the\ngods, and made an address to the people, as he was returning\nout of the city, he read at the gates two epigrams, each in a\nsingle line, written in his own praise; one within the gate: --\n\nThy humbler thoughts make thee a god the more;\n\nthe other without: --\n\nAdieu we bid, who welcome bade before.\n\nNow because Pompey had shown himself merciful to some of these\npirates that were yet roving in bodies about the seas, having\nupon their supplication ordered a seizure of their ships and\npersons only, without any further process or severity,\ntherefore the rest of their comrades in hopes of mercy too,\nmade their escape from his other commanders, and surrendered\nthemselves with their wives and children into his protection.\nHe continued to pardon all that came in, and the rather because\nby them he might make discovery of those who fled from his\njustice, as conscious that their crimes were beyond an act of\nindemnity.  The most numerous and important part of these\nconveyed their families and treasures, with all their people\nthat were unfit for war, into castles and strong forts about\nMount Taurus; but they themselves having well manned their\ngalleys, embarked for Coracesium in Cilicia, where they\nreceived Pompey and gave him battle.  Here they had a final\noverthrow, and retired to the land, where they were besieged.\nAt last, having dispatched their heralds to him with a\nsubmission, they delivered up to his mercy themselves, their\ntowns, islands, and strong-holds, all which they had so\nfortified that they were almost impregnable, and scarcely even\naccessible.\n\nThus was this war ended, and the whole power of the pirates at\nsea dissolved everywhere in the space of three months, wherein,\nbesides a great number of other vessels, he took ninety\nmen-of-war with brazen beaks; and likewise prisoners of war to\nthe number of no less than twenty thousand.\n\nAs regarded the disposal of these prisoners, he never so much\nas entertained the thought of putting them to death; and yet it\nmight be no less dangerous on the other hand to disperse them,\nas they might reunite and make head again, being numerous,\npoor, and warlike.  Therefore wisely weighing with himself,\nthat man by nature is not a wild or unsocial creature, neither\nwas he born so, but makes himself what he naturally is not, by\nvicious habit; and that again on the other side, he is\ncivilized and grows gentle by a change of place, occupation,\nand manner of life, as beasts themselves that are wild by\nnature, become tame and tractable by housing and gentler usage,\nupon this consideration he determined to translate these\npirates from sea to land, and give them a taste of an honest\nand innocent course of life, by living in towns, and tilling\nthe ground.  Some therefore were admitted into the small and\nhalf-peopled towns of the Cilicians, who for an enlargement of\ntheir territories, were willing to receive them.  Others he\nplanted in the city of the Solians, which had been lately laid\nwaste by Tigranes, king of Armenia, and which he now restored.\nBut the largest number were settled in Dyme, the town of\nAchaea, at that time extremely depopulated, and possessing an\nabundance of good land.\n\nHowever, these proceedings could not escape the envy and\ncensure of his enemies; and the course he took against Metellus\nin Crete was disapproved of even by the chiefest of his\nfriends.  For Metellus, a relation of Pompey's former colleague\nin Spain, had been sent praetor into Crete, before this\nprovince of the seas was assigned to Pompey.  Now Crete was the\nsecond source of pirates next to Cilicia, and Metellus having\nshut up a number of them in their strong-holds there, was\nengaged in reducing and extirpating them.  Those that were yet\nremaining and besieged sent their supplications to Pompey, and\ninvited him into the island as a part of his province, alleging\nit to fall, every part of it, within the distance from the sea\nspecified in his commission, and so within the precincts of his\ncharge.  Pompey receiving the submission, sent letters to\nMetellus, commanding him to leave off the war; and others in\nlike manner to the cities, in which he charged them not to\nyield any obedience to the commands of Metellus.  And after\nthese, he sent Lucius Octavius, one of his lieutenants, to act\nas general, who entering the besieged fortifications, and\nfighting in defense of the pirates, rendered Pompey not odious\nonly, but even ridiculous too; that he should lend his name as\na guard to a nest of thieves, that knew neither god nor law,\nand make his reputation serve as a sanctuary to them, only out\nof pure envy and emulation to Metellus.  For neither was\nAchilles thought to act the part of a man, but rather of a mere\nboy, mad after glory, when by signs he forbade the rest of the\nGreeks to strike at Hector:  --\n\n\"for fear\nSome other hand should give the blow, and he\nLose the first honor of the victory.\"\n\nWhereas Pompey even sought to preserve the common enemies of\nthe world, only that he might deprive a Roman praetor, after\nall his labors, of the honor of a triumph.  Metellus however\nwas not daunted, but prosecuted the war against the pirates,\nexpelled them from their strongholds and punished them; and\ndismissed Octavius with the insults and reproaches of the whole\ncamp.\n\nWhen the news came to Rome that the war with the pirates was at\nan end, and that Pompey was unoccupied, diverting himself in\nvisits to the cities for want of employment, one Manlius, a\ntribune of the people, preferred a law that Pompey should have\nall the forces of Lucullus, and the provinces under his\ngovernment, together with Bithynia, which was under the command\nof Glabrio; and that he should forthwith conduct the war\nagainst the two kings, Mithridates and Tigranes, retaining\nstill the same naval forces and the sovereignty of the seas as\nbefore.  But this was nothing less than to constitute one\nabsolute monarch of all the Roman empire.  For the provinces\nwhich seemed to be exempt from his commission by the former\ndecree, such as were Phrygia, Lycaonia, Galatia, Cappadocia,\nCilicia, the upper Colchis, and Armenia, were all added in by\nthis latter law, together with all the troops and forces with\nwhich Lucullus had defeated Mithridates and Tigranes.  And\nthough Lucullus was thus simply robbed of the glory of his\nachievements in having a successor assigned him, rather to the\nhonor of his triumph, than the danger of the war; yet this was\nof less moment in the eyes of the aristocratical party, though\nthey could not but admit the injustice and ingratitude to\nLucullus.  But their great grievance was, that the power of\nPompey should be converted into a manifest tyranny; and they\ntherefore exhorted and encouraged one another privately to bend\nall their forces in opposition to this law, and not tamely to\ncast away their liberty; yet when the day came on which it was\nto pass into a decree, their hearts failed them for fear of the\npeople, and all were silent except Catulus, who boldly\ninveighed against the law and its proposer, and when he found\nthat he could do nothing with the people, turned to the senate,\ncrying out and bidding them seek out some mountain as their\nforefathers had done, and fly to the rocks where they might\npreserve their liberty.  The law passed into a decree, as it is\nsaid, by the suffrages of all the tribes.  And Pompey in his\nabsence was made lord of almost all that power, which Sylla\nonly obtained by force of arms, after a conquest of the very\ncity itself.  When Pompey had advice by letters of the decree,\nit is said that in the presence of his friends, who came to\ngive him joy of his honor, he seemed displeased, frowning and\nsmiting his thigh, and exclaimed as one overburdened, and weary\nof government, \"Alas, what a series of labors upon labors!  If\nI am never to end my service as a soldier, nor to escape from\nthis invidious greatness, and live at home in the country with\nmy wife, I had better have been an unknown man.\"  But all this\nwas looked upon as mere trifling, neither indeed could the best\nof his friends call it anything else, well knowing that his\nenmity with Lucullus, setting a flame just now to his natural\npassion for glory and empire, made him feel more than usually\ngratified.\n\nAs indeed appeared not long afterwards by his actions, which\nclearly unmasked him; for in the first place, he sent out his\nproclamations into all quarters, commanding the soldiers to\njoin him, and summoned all the tributary kings and princes\nwithin his charge; and in short, as soon as he had entered upon\nhis province, he left nothing unaltered that had been done and\nestablished by Lucullus.  To some he remitted their penalties,\nand deprived others of their rewards, and acted in all respects\nas if with the express design that the admirers of Lucullus\nmight know that all his authority was at an end.  Lucullus\nexpostulated by friends, and it was thought fitting that there\nshould be a meeting betwixt them; and accordingly they met in\nthe country of Galatia.  As they were both great and successful\ngenerals, their officers bore their rods before them all\nwreathed with branches of laurel; Lucullus came through a\ncountry full of green trees and shady woods, but Pompey's march\nwas through a cold and barren district.  Therefore the lictors\nof Lucullus, perceiving that Pompey's laurels were withered and\ndry, helped him to some of their own, and adorned and crowned\nhis rods with fresh laurels.  This was thought ominous, and\nlooked as if Pompey came to take away the reward and honor of\nLucullus's victories.  Lucullus had the priority in the order\nof consulships, and also in age; but Pompey's two triumphs made\nhim the greater man.  Their first addresses in this interview\nwere dignified and friendly, each magnifying the other's\nactions, and offering congratulations upon his success.  But\nwhen they came to the matter of their conference or treaty,\nthey could agree on no fair or equitable terms of any kind, but\neven came to harsh words against each other, Pompey upbraiding\nLucullus with avarice, and Lucullus retorting ambition upon\nPompey, so that their friends could hardly part them.\nLucullus, remaining in Galatia, made a distribution of the\nlands within his conquests, and gave presents to whom he\npleased; and Pompey encamping not far distant from him, sent\nout his prohibitions, forbidding the execution of any of the\norders of Lucullus, and commanded away all his soldiers, except\nsixteen hundred, whom he thought likely to be unserviceable to\nhimself, being disorderly and mutinous, and whom he knew to be\nhostile to Lucullus; and to these acts he added satirical\nspeeches, detracting openly from the glory of his actions, and\ngiving out, that the battles of Lucullus had been but with the\nmere stage-shows and idle pictures of royal pomp, whereas the\nreal war against a genuine army, disciplined by defeat, was\nreserved to him, Mithridates having now begun to be in earnest,\nand having betaken himself to his shields, swords, and horses.\nLucullus, on the other side, to be even with him, replied, that\nPompey came to fight with the mere image and shadow of war, it\nbeing his usual practice, like a lazy bird of prey, to come\nupon the carcass, when others had slain the dead, and to tear\nin pieces the relics of a war.  Thus he had appropriated to\nhimself the victories over Sertorius, over Lepidus, and over\nthe insurgents under Spartacus; whereas this last had been\nachieved by Crassus, that obtained by Catulus, and the first\nwon by Metellus.  And therefore it was no great wonder, that\nthe glory of the Pontic and Armenian war should be usurped by a\nman who had condescended to any artifices to work himself into\nthe honor of a triumph over a few runaway slaves.\n\nAfter this Lucullus went away, and Pompey having placed his\nwhole navy in guard upon the seas betwixt Phoenicia and\nBosporus, himself marched against Mithridates, who had a\nphalanx of thirty thousand foot, with two thousand horse, yet\ndurst not bid him battle.  He had encamped upon a strong\nmountain where it would have been hard to attack him, but\nabandoned it in no long time, as destitute of water.  No sooner\nwas he gone but Pompey occupied it, and observing the plants\nthat were thriving there, together with the hollows which he\nfound in several places, conjectured that such a plot could not\nbe without springs, and therefore ordered his men to sink wells\nin every corner.  After which there was, in a little time,\ngreat plenty of water throughout all the camp, insomuch that he\nwondered how it was possible for Mithridates to be ignorant of\nthis, during all that time of his encampment there.  After this\nPompey followed him to his next camp, and there drawing lines\nround about him, shut him in.  But he, after having endured a\nsiege of forty-five days, made his escape secretly, and fled\naway with all the best part of his army, having first put to\ndeath all the sick and unserviceable.  Not long after Pompey\novertook him again near the banks of the river Euphrates, and\nencamped close by him; but fearing lest he should pass over the\nriver and give him the slip there too, he drew up his army to\nattack him at midnight.  And at that very time Mithridates, it\nis said, saw a vision in his dream foreshowing what should come\nto pass.  For he seemed to be under sail in the Euxine Sea with\na prosperous gale, and just in view of Bosporus, discoursing\npleasantly with the ship's company, as one overjoyed for his\npast danger and present security, when on a sudden he found\nhimself deserted of all, and floating upon a broken plank of\nthe ship at the mercy of the sea.  Whilst he was thus laboring\nunder these passions and phantasms, his friends came and awaked\nhim with the news of Pompey's approach; who was now indeed so\nnear at hand, that the fight must be for the camp itself, and\nthe commanders accordingly drew up the forces in battle array.\nPompey perceiving how ready they were and well prepared for\ndefense, began to doubt with himself whether he should put it\nto the hazard of a fight in the dark, judging it more prudent\nto encompass them only at present, lest they should fly, and to\ngive them battle with the advantage of numbers the next day.\nBut his oldest officers were of another opinion, and by\nentreaties and encouragements obtained permission that they\nmight charge them immediately.  Neither was the night so very\ndark, but that, though the moon was going down, it yet gave\nlight enough to discern a body.  And indeed this was one\nespecial disadvantage to the king's army.  For the Romans\ncoming upon them with the moon on their backs, the moon, being\nvery low, and just upon setting, cast the shadows a long way\nbefore their bodies, reaching almost to the enemy, whose eyes\nwere thus so much deceived that not exactly discerning the\ndistance, but imagining them to be near at hand, they threw\ntheir darts at the shadows, without the least execution.  The\nRomans therefore perceiving this, ran in upon them with a great\nshout; but the barbarians, all in a panic, unable to endure the\ncharge, turned and fled, and were put to great slaughter, above\nten thousand being slain; the camp also was taken.  As for\nMithridates himself, he at the beginning of the onset, with a\nbody of eight hundred horse charged through the Roman army, and\nmade his escape.  But before long all the rest dispersed, some\none way, some another, and he was left only with three persons,\namong whom was his concubine, Hypsicratia, a girl always of a\nmanly and daring spirit, and the king called her on that\naccount Hypsicrates.  She being attired and mounted like a\nPersian horseman, accompanied the king in all his flight, never\nweary even in the longest journey, nor ever failing to attend\nthe king in person, and look after his horse too, until they\ncame to Inora, a castle of the king's, well stored with gold\nand treasure.  From thence Mithridates took his richest\napparel, and gave it among those that had resorted to him in\ntheir flight; and to every one of his friends he gave a deadly\npoison, that they might not fall into the power of the enemy\nagainst their wills.  From thence he designed to have gone to\nTigranes in Armenia, but being prohibited by Tigranes, who put\nout a proclamation with a reward of one hundred talents to any\none that should apprehend him, he passed by the head-waters of\nthe river Euphrates, and fled through the country of Colchis.\n\nPompey in the meantime made an invasion into Armenia, upon the\ninvitation of young Tigranes, who was now in rebellion against\nhis father, and gave Pompey a meeting about the river Araxes,\nwhich rises near the head of Euphrates, but turning its course\nand bending towards the east, falls into the Caspian Sea.  They\ntwo, therefore, marched together through the country, taking in\nall the cities by the way, and receiving their submission.  But\nking Tigranes, having lately suffered much in the war with\nLucullus, and understanding that Pompey was of a kind and\ngentle disposition, admitted Roman troops into his royal\npalaces, and taking along with him his friends and relations,\nwent in person to surrender himself into the hands of Pompey.\nHe came as far as the trenches on horseback, but there he was\nmet by two of Pompey's lictors, who commanded him to alight and\nwalk on foot, for no man ever was seen on horseback within a\nRoman camp.  Tigranes submitted to this immediately, and not\nonly so, but loosing his sword, delivered up that too; and last\nof all, as soon as he appeared before Pompey, he pulled off his\nroyal turban, and attempted to have laid it at his feet.  Nay,\nworst of all, even he himself had fallen prostrate as an humble\nsuppliant at his knees, had not Pompey prevented it, taking him\nby the hand and placing him near him, Tigranes himself on one\nside of him and his son upon the other.  Pompey now told him\nthat the rest of his losses were chargeable upon Lucullus, by\nwhom he had been dispossessed of Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia,\nGalatia, and Sophene; but all that he had preserved to himself\nentire till that time he should peaceably enjoy, paying the sum\nof six thousand talents as a fine or penalty for injuries done\nto the Romans, and that his son should have the kingdom of\nSophene.  Tigranes himself was well pleased with these\nconditions of peace, and when the Romans saluted him king,\nseemed to be overjoyed, and promised to every common soldier\nhalf a mina of silver, to every centurion ten minas, and to\nevery tribune a talent; but the son was displeased, insomuch\nthat when he was invited to supper, he replied, that he did not\nstand in need of Pompey for that sort of honor, for he would\nfind out some other Roman to sup with.  Upon this he was put\ninto close arrest, and reserved for the triumph.\n\nNot long after this Phraates, king of Parthia, sent to Pompey,\nand demanded to have young Tigranes, as his son-in-law, given\nup to him, and that the river Euphrates should be the boundary\nof the empires.  Pompey replied, that for Tigranes, he belonged\nmore to his own natural father than his father-in-law, and for\nthe boundaries, he would take care that they should be\naccording to right and justice.\n\nSo Pompey, leaving Armenia in the custody of Afranius, went\nhimself in chase of Mithridates; to do which he was forced of\nnecessity to march through several nations inhabiting about\nMount Caucasus.  Of these the Albanians and Iberians were the\ntwo chiefest.  The Iberians stretch out as far as the Moschian\nmountains and the Pontus; the Albanians lie more eastwardly,\nand towards the Caspian Sea.  These Albanians at first\npermitted Pompey, upon his request, to pass through the\ncountry; but when winter had stolen upon the Romans whilst they\nwere still in the country, and they were busy celebrating the\nfestival of Saturn, they mustered a body of no less than forty\nthousand fighting men, and set upon them, having passed over\nthe river Cyrnus, which rising from the mountains of Iberia,\nand receiving the river Araxes in its course from Armenia,\ndischarges itself by twelve mouths into the Caspian.  Or,\naccording to others, the Araxes does not fall into it, but they\nflow near one another, and so discharge themselves as neighbors\ninto the same sea.  It was in the power of Pompey to have\nobstructed the enemy's passage over the river, but he suffered\nthem to pass over quietly; and then leading on his forces and\ngiving battle, he routed them, and slew great numbers of them\nin the field.  The king sent ambassadors with his submission,\nand Pompey upon his supplication pardoned the offense, and\nmaking a treaty with him, he marched directly against the\nIberians, a nation no less in number than the other, but much\nmore warlike, and extremely desirous of gratifying Mithridates,\nand driving out Pompey.  These Iberians were never subject to\nthe Medes or Persians, and they happened likewise to escape the\ndominion of the Macedonians, because Alexander was so quick in\nhis march through Hyrcania.  But these also Pompey subdued in a\ngreat battle, where there were slain nine thousand upon the\nspot, and more than ten thousand taken prisoners.  From thence\nhe entered into the country of Colchis, where Servilius met him\nby the river Phasis, bringing the fleet with which he was\nguarding the Pontus.\n\nThe pursuit of Mithridates, who had thrown himself among the\ntribes inhabiting Bosporus and the shores of the Maeotian Sea,\npresented great difficulties.  News was also brought to Pompey\nthat the Albanians had again revolted.  This made him turn\nback, out of anger and determination not to be beaten by them,\nand with difficulty and great danger he passed back over the\nCyrnus, which the barbarous people had fortified a great way\ndown the banks with palisadoes.  And after this, having a\ntedious march to make through a waterless and difficult\ncountry, he ordered ten thousand skins to be filled with water,\nand so advanced towards the enemy; whom he found drawn up in\norder of battle near the river Abas, to the number of sixty\nthousand horse, and twelve thousand foot, ill armed generally,\nand most of them covered only with the skins of wild beasts.\nTheir general was Cosis, the king's brother, who as soon as the\nbattle was begun, singled out Pompey, and rushing in upon him,\ndarted his javelin into the joints of his breastplate; while\nPompey, in return, struck him through the body with his lance,\nand slew him.  It is related that in this battle there were\nAmazons fighting as auxiliaries with the barbarians, and that\nthey came down from the mountains by the river Thermodon.  For\nthat after the battle, when the Romans were taking the spoil\nand plunder of the field, they met with several targets and\nbuskins of the Amazons; but no woman's body was found among the\ndead.  They inhabit the parts of Mount Caucasus that reach down\nto the Hyrcanian Sea, not immediately bordering upon the\nAlbanians, for the Gelae and the Leges lie betwixt; and they\nkeep company with these people yearly, for two months only,\nnear the river Thermodon; after which they retire to their own\nhabitations, and live alone all the rest of the year.\n\nAfter this engagement, Pompey was eager to advance with his\nforces upon the Hyrcanian and Caspian Sea, but was forced to\nretreat at a distance of three days' march from it, by the\nnumber of venomous serpents, and so he retreated into Armenia\nthe Less.  Whilst he was there, kings of the Elymaeans and Medes\nsent ambassadors to him, to whom he gave friendly answer by\nletter; and sent against the king of Parthia, who had made\nincursions upon Gordyene, and despoiled the subjects of\nTigranes, an army under the command of Afranius, who put him to\nthe rout, and followed him in chase as far as the district of\nArbela.\n\nOf the concubines of king Mithridates that were brought before\nPompey, he took none to himself, but sent them all away to\ntheir parents and relations; most of them being either the\ndaughters or wives of princes and great commanders.\nStratonice, however, who had the greatest power and influence\nwith him, and to whom he had committed the custody of his best\nand richest fortress, had been, it seems, the daughter of a\nmusician, an old man, and of no great fortune, and happening to\nsing one night before Mithridates at a banquet, she struck his\nfancy so, that immediately he took her with him, and sent away\nthe old man much dissatisfied, the king having not so much as\nsaid one kind word to himself.  But when he rose in the\nmorning, and saw tables in his house richly covered with gold\nand silver plate, a great retinue of servants, eunuchs, and\npages, bringing him rich garments, and a horse standing before\nthe door richly caparisoned, in all respects as was usual with\nthe king's favorites, he looked upon it all as a piece of\nmockery, and thinking himself trifled with, attempted to make\noff and run away.  But the servants laying hold upon him, and\ninforming him really that the king had bestowed on him the\nhouse and furniture of a rich man lately deceased, and that\nthese were but the first-fruits or earnests of greater riches\nand possessions that were to come, he was persuaded at last\nwith much difficulty to believe them.  And so putting on his\npurple robes, and mounting his horse, he rode through the city,\ncrying out, \"All this is mine;\" and to those that laughed at\nhim, he said, there was no such wonder in this, but it was a\nwonder rather that he did not throw stones at all he met, he\nwas so transported with joy.  Such was the parentage and blood\nof Stratonice.  She now delivered up this castle into the hands\nof Pompey, and offered him many presents of great value, of\nwhich he accepted only such as he thought might serve to adorn\nthe temples of the gods, and add to the splendor of his\ntriumph; the rest he left to Stratonice's disposal, bidding her\nplease herself in the enjoyment of them.\n\nAnd in the same manner he dealt with the presents offered him\nby the king of Iberia, who sent him a bedstead, table, and a\nchair of state, all of gold, desiring him to accept of them;\nbut he delivered them all into the custody of the public\ntreasurers, for the use of the Commonwealth.\n\nIn another castle called Caenum, Pompey found and read with\npleasure several secret writings of Mithridates, containing\nmuch that threw light on his character.  For there were memoirs\nby which it appeared that besides others, he had made away with\nhis son Ariarathes by poison, as also with Alcaeus the Sardian,\nfor having robbed him of the first honors in a horse-race.\nThere were several judgments upon the interpretation of dreams,\nwhich either he himself or some of his mistresses had had; and\nbesides these, there was a series of wanton letters to and from\nhis concubine Monime.  Theophanes tells us that there was found\nalso an address by Rutilius, in which he attempted to\nexasperate him to the laughter of all the Romans in Asia;\nthough most men justly conjecture this to be a malicious\ninvention of Theophanes, who probably hated Rutilius because he\nwas a man in nothing like himself; or perhaps it might be to\ngratify Pompey, whose father is described by Rutilius in his\nhistory, as the vilest man alive.\n\nFrom thence Pompey came to the city of Amisus, where his\npassion for glory put him into a position which might be called\na punishment on himself.  For whereas he had often sharply\nreproached Lucullus, in that while the enemy was still living,\nhe had taken upon him to issue decrees, and distribute rewards\nand honors, as conquerors usually do only when the war is\nbrought to an end, yet now was he himself, while Mithridates\nwas paramount in the kingdom of Bosporus, and at the head of a\npowerful army, as if all were ended, just doing the same thing,\nregulating the provinces, and distributing rewards, many great\ncommanders and princes having flocked to him, together with no\nless than twelve barbarian kings; insomuch that to gratify\nthese other kings, when he wrote to the king of Parthia, he\nwould not condescend, as others used to do, in the\nsuperscription of his letter, to give him his title of king of\nkings.\n\nMoreover, he had a great desire and emulation to occupy Syria,\nand to march through Arabia to the Red Sea, that he might thus\nextend his conquests every way to the great ocean that\nencompasses the habitable earth; as in Africa he was the first\nRoman that advanced his victories to the ocean; and again in\nSpain he made the Atlantic Sea the limit of the empire; and\nthen thirdly, in his late pursuit of the Albanians, he had\nwanted but little of reaching the Hyrcanian Sea.  Accordingly\nhe raised his camp, designing to bring the Red Sea within the\ncircuit of his expedition, especially as he saw how difficult\nit was to hunt after Mithridates with an army, and that he\nwould prove a worse enemy flying than fighting.  But yet he\ndeclared, that he would leave a sharper enemy behind him than\nhimself, namely, famine; and therefore he appointed a guard\nof ships to lie in wait for the merchants that sailed to\nBosporus, death being the penalty for any who should attempt to\ncarry provisions thither.\n\nThen he set forward with the greatest part of his army, and in\nhis march casually fell in with several dead bodies still\nuninterred, of those soldiers who were slain with Triarius in\nhis unfortunate engagement with Mithridates; these he buried\nsplendidly and honorably.  The neglect of whom, it is thought,\ncaused, as much as anything, the hatred that was felt against\nLucullus, and alienated the affections of the soldiers from\nhim.  Pompey having now by his forces under the command of\nAfranius, subdued the Arabians about the mountain Amanus,\nhimself entered Syria, and finding it destitute of any natural\nand lawful prince, reduced it into the form of a province, as a\npossession of the people of Rome.  He conquered also Judaea,\nand took its king, Aristobulus, captive.  Some cities he built\nanew, and to others he gave their liberty, chastising their\ntyrants.  Most part of the time that he spent there was\nemployed in the administration of justice, In deciding\ncontroversies of kings and States; and where he himself could\nnot be present in person, he gave commissions to his friends,\nand sent them.  Thus when there arose a difference betwixt the\nArmenians and Parthians about some territory, and the judgment\nwas referred to him, he gave a power by commission to three\njudges and arbiters to hear and determine the controversy.  For\nthe reputation of his power was great; nor was the fame of his\njustice and clemency inferior to that of his power, and served\nindeed as a veil for a multitude of faults committed by his\nfriends and familiars.  For although it was not in his nature\nto check or chastise wrongdoers, yet he himself always treated\nthose that had to do with him in such a manner, that they\nsubmitted to endure with patience the acts of covetousness and\noppression done by others.\n\nAmong these friends of his, there was one Demetrius who had the\ngreatest influence with him of all; he was a freed slave, a\nyouth of good understanding, but somewhat too insolent in his\ngood fortune, of whom there goes this story.  Cato, the\nphilosopher, being as yet a very young man, but of great repute\nand a noble mind, took a journey of pleasure to Antioch, at a\ntime when Pompey was not there, having a great desire to see\nthe city.  He, as his custom was, walked on foot, and his\nfriends accompanied him on horseback; and seeing before the\ngates of the city a multitude dressed in white, the young men\non one side of the road, and the boys on the other, he was\nsomewhat offended at it, imagining that it was officiously done\nin honor of him, which was more than he had any wish for.\nHowever, he desired his companions to alight and walk with him;\nbut when they drew near, the master of the ceremonies in this\nprocession came out with a garland and a rod in his hand, and\nmet them, inquiring, where they had left Demetrius, and when he\nwould come?  Upon which Cato's companions burst out into\nlaughter, but Cato said only, \"Alas, poor city!\"  and passed by\nwithout any other answer.  However, Pompey rendered Demetrius\nless odious to others by enduring his presumption and\nimpertinence to himself.  For it is reported how that Pompey,\nwhen he had invited his friends to an entertainment, would be\nvery ceremonious in waiting, till they all came and were\nplaced, while Demetrius would be already stretched upon the\ncouch as if he cared for no one, with his dress over his ears,\nhanging down from his head.  Before his return into Italy, he\nhad purchased the pleasantest country-seat about Rome, with the\nfinest walks and places for exercise, and there were sumptuous\ngardens, called by the name of Demetrius, while Pompey his\nmaster, up to his third triumph, was contented with an ordinary\nand simple habitation.  Afterwards, it is true, when he had\nerected his famous and stately theater for the people of Rome,\nhe built as a sort of appendix to it, a house for himself, much\nmore splendid than his former, and yet no object even this to\nexcite men's envy, since he who came to be master of it after\nPompey could not but express wonder and inquire where Pompey\nthe Great used to sup.  Such is the story told us.\n\nThe king of the Arabs near Petra, who had hitherto despised the\npower of the Romans, now began to be in great alarm at it, and\nsent letters to him promising to be at his commands, and to do\nwhatever he should see fit to order.  However, Pompey having a\ndesire to confirm and keep him in the same mind, marched\nforwards for Petra, an expedition not altogether\nirreprehensible in the opinion of many; who thought it a mere\nrunning away from their proper duty, the pursuit of\nMithridates, Rome's ancient and inveterate enemy, who was now\nrekindling the war once more, and making preparations, it was\nreported, to lead his army through Scythia and Paeonia, into\nItaly.  Pompey, on the other side, judging it easier to destroy\nhis forces in battle, than to seize his person in flight,\nresolved not to tire himself out in a vain pursuit, but rather\nto spend his leisure upon another enemy, as a sort of\ndigression in the meanwhile.  But fortune resolved the doubt;\nfor when he was now not far from Petra, and had pitched his\ntents and encamped for that day, as he was talking exercise\nwith his horse outside the camp, couriers came riding up from\nPontus, bringing good news, as was known at once by the heads\nof their javelins, which it is the custom to carry crowned with\nbranches of laurel.  The soldiers, as soon as they saw them,\nflocked immediately to Pompey, who notwithstanding was minded to\nfinish his exercise; but when they began to be clamorous and\nimportunate, he alighted from his horse, and taking the letters\nwent before them into the camp.  Now there being no tribunal\nerected there, not even that military substitute for one which\nthey make by cutting up thick turfs of earth and piling them\none upon another, they, through eagerness and impatience,\nheaped up a pile of pack-saddles, and Pompey standing upon\nthat, told them the news of Mithridates's death, how that he\nhad himself put an end to his life upon the revolt of his son\nPharnaces, and that Pharnaces had taken all things there into\nhis hands and possession, which he did, his letters said, in\nright of himself and the Romans.  Upon this news, the whole\narmy expressing their joy, as was to be expected, fell to\nsacrificing to the gods, and feasting, as if in the person of\nMithridates alone there had died many thousands of their\nenemies.\n\nPompey by this event having brought this war to its completion,\nwith much more ease than was expected, departed forthwith out\nof Arabia, and passing rapidly through the intermediate\nprovinces, he came at length to the city Amisus.  There he\nreceived many presents brought from Pharnaces, with several\ndead bodies of the royal blood, and the corpse of Mithridates\nhimself, which was not easy to be known by the face, for the\nphysicians that embalmed him had not dried up his brain, but\nthose who were curious to see him knew him by the scars there.\nPompey himself would not endure to see him, but to deprecate\nthe divine jealousy, sent it away to the city of Sinope.  He\nadmired the richness of his robes, no less than the size and\nsplendor of his armor.  His swordbelt, however, which had cost\nfour hundred talents, was stolen by Publius, and sold to\nAriarathes; his tiara also, a piece of admirable workmanship,\nGaius, the roster brother of Mithridates, gave secretly to\nFaustus, the son of Sylla, at his request.  All which Pompey\nwas ignorant of, but afterwards, when Pharnaces came to\nunderstand it, he severely punished those that embezzled them.\n\nPompey now having ordered all things, and established that\nprovince, took his journey homewards in greater pomp and with\nmore festivity.  For when he came to Mitylene, he gave the city\ntheir freedom upon the intercession of Theophanes, and was\npresent at the contest, there periodically held, of the poets,\nwho took at that time no other theme or subject than the\nactions of Pompey.  He was extremely pleased with the theater\nitself, and had a model of it taken, intending to erect one in\nRome on the same design, but larger and more magnificent.  When\nhe came to Rhodes, he attended the lectures of all the\nphilosophers there, and gave to every one of them a talent.\nPosidonius has published the disputation which he held before\nhim against Hermagoras the rhetorician, upon the subject of\nInvention in general.  At Athens, also, he showed similar,\nmunificence to the philosophers, and gave fifty talents towards\nthe repairing and beautifying the city.  So that now by all\nthese acts he well hoped to return into Italy in the greatest\nsplendor and glory possible to man, and find his family as\ndesirous to see him, as he felt himself to come home to them.\nBut that supernatural agency, whose province and charge it is\nalways to mix some ingredient of evil with the greatest and\nmost glorious goods of fortune, had for some time back been\nbusy in his household, preparing him a sad welcome.  For Mucia\nduring his absence had dishonored his bed.  Whilst he was\nabroad at a distance, he had refused all credence to the\nreport; but when he drew nearer to Italy, where his thoughts\nwere more at leisure to give consideration to the charge, he\nsent her a bill of divorce; but neither then in writing, nor\nafterwards by word of mouth, did he ever give a reason why he\ndischarged her; the cause of it is mentioned in Cicero's\nepistles.\n\nRumors of every kind were scattered abroad about Pompey, and\nwere carried to Rome before him, so that there was a great\ntumult and stir, as if he designed forthwith to march with his\narmy into the city, and establish himself securely as sole\nruler.  Crassus withdrew himself, together with his children\nand property, out of the city, either that he was really\nafraid, or that he counterfeited rather, as is most probable,\nto give credit to the calumny and exasperate the jealousy of\nthe people.  Pompey, therefore, as soon as he entered Italy,\ncalled a general muster of the army; and having made a suitable\naddress and exchanged a kind farewell with his soldiers, he\ncommanded them to depart every man to his country and place of\nhabitation, only taking care that they should not fail to meet\nagain at his triumph.  Thus the army being disbanded, and the\nnews commonly reported, a wonderful result ensued.  For when\nthe cities saw Pompey the Great passing through the country\nunarmed, and with a small train of familiar friends only, as if\nhe was returning from a journey of pleasure, not from his\nconquests, they came pouring out to display their affection for\nhim, attending and conducting him to Rome with far greater\nforces than he disbanded; insomuch that if he had designed\nany movement or innovation in the State, he might have done it\nwithout his army.\n\nNow, because the law permitted no commander to enter into the\ncity before his triumph, he sent to the senate, entreating them\nas a favor to him to prorogue the election of consuls, that\nthus he might be able to attend and give countenance to Piso,\none of the candidates.  The request was resisted by Cato, and\nmet with a refusal.  However, Pompey could not but admire the\nliberty and boldness of speech which Cato alone had dared to\nuse in the maintenance of law and justice.  He therefore had a\ngreat desire to win him over, and purchase his friendship at\nany rate; and to that end, Cato having two nieces, Pompey asked\nfor one in marriage for himself, the other for his son.  But\nCato looked unfavorably on the proposal, regarding it as a\ndesign for undermining his honesty, and in a manner bribing him\nby a family alliance; much to the displeasure of his wife and\nsister, who were indignant that he should reject a connection\nwith Pompey the Great.  About that time Pompey having a design\nof setting up Afranius for the consulship, gave a sum of money\namong the tribes for their votes, and people came and received\nit in his own gardens a proceeding which, when it came to be\ngenerally known, excited great disapprobation, that he should\nthus for the sake of men who could not obtain the honor by\ntheir own merits, make merchandise of an office which had been\ngiven to himself as the highest reward of his services.  \"Now,\"\nsaid Cato to his wife and sister, \"had we contracted an\nalliance with Pompey, we had been allied to this dishonor too;\"\nand this they could not but acknowledge, and allow his judgment\nof what was right and fitting to have been wiser and better\nthan theirs.\n\nThe splendor and magnificence of Pompey's triumph was such that\nthough it took up the space of two days, yet they were\nextremely straitened in time, so that of what was prepared for\nthat pageantry, there was as much withdrawn as would have set\nout and adorned another triumph.  In the first place, there were\ntables carried, inscribed with the names and titles of the\nnations over whom he triumphed, Pontus, Armenia, Cappadocia,\nPaphlagonia, Media, Colchis, the Iberians, the Albanians,\nSyria, Cilicia, and Mesopotamia, together with Phoenicia and\nPalestine, Judaea, Arabia, and all the power of the pirates\nsubdued by sea and land.  And in these different countries\nthere appeared the capture of no less than one thousand\nfortified places, nor much less than nine hundred cities,\ntogether with eight hundred ships of the pirates, and the\nfoundation of thirty-nine towns.  Besides, there was set forth\nin these tables an account of all the tributes throughout the\nempire, and how that before these conquests the revenue\namounted but to fifty millions, whereas from his acquisitions\nthey had a revenue of eighty-five millions; and that in present\npayment he was bringing into the common treasury ready money,\nand gold and silver plate, and ornaments, to the value of\ntwenty thousand talents, over and above what had been\ndistributed among the soldiers, of whom he that had least had\nfifteen hundred drachmas for his share.  The prisoners of war\nthat were led in triumph, besides the chief pirates, were the\nson of Tigranes, king of Armenia, with his wife and daughter;\nas also Zosime, wife of king Tigranes himself, and Aristobulus,\nking of Judaea, the sister of king Mithridates and her five\nsons, and some Scythian women.  There were likewise the\nhostages of the Albanians and Iberians, and of the king of\nCommagene, besides a vast number of trophies, one for every\nbattle in which he was conqueror, either himself in person, or\nby his lieutenants.  But that which seemed to be his greatest\nglory, being one which no other Roman ever attained to, was\nthis, that he made his third triumph over the third division of\nthe world.  For others among the Romans had the honor of\ntriumphing thrice, but his first triumph was over Africa, his\nsecond, over Europe, and this last, over Asia; so that he\nseemed in these three triumphs to have led the whole world\ncaptive.\n\nAs for his age, those who affect to make the parallel exact in\nall things betwixt him and Alexander the Great, do not allow\nhim to have been quite thirty-four, whereas in truth at that\ntime he was near forty.  And well had it been for him had he\nterminated his life at this date, while he still enjoyed\nAlexander's fortune, since all his aftertime served only either\nto bring him prosperity that made him odious, or calamities too\ngreat to be retrieved.  For that great authority which he had\ngained in the city by his merits, he made use of only in\npatronizing the iniquities of others, so that by advancing\ntheir fortunes, he detracted from his own glory, till at last\nhe was overthrown even by the force and greatness of his own\npower.  And as the strongest citadel or fort in a town, when it\nis taken by an enemy, does then afford the same strength to the\nfoe, as it had done to friends before; so Caesar, after\nPompey's aid had made him strong enough to defy his country,\nruined and overthrew at last the power which had availed him\nagainst the rest.  The course of things was as follows.\nLucullus, when he returned out of Asia, where he had been\ntreated with insult by Pompey, was received by the senate with\ngreat honor, which was yet increased when Pompey came home; to\ncheck whose ambition they encouraged him to assume the\nadministration of the government, whereas he was now grown cold\nand disinclined to business, having given himself over to the\npleasures of ease and the enjoyment of a splendid fortune.\nHowever, he began for the time to exert himself against Pompey,\nattacked him sharply, and succeeded in having his own acts and\ndecrees, which were repealed by Pompey, reestablished, and with\nthe assistance of Cato, gained the superiority in the senate.\nPompey having fallen from his hopes in such an unworthy\nrepulse, was forced to fly to the tribunes of the people for\nrefuge, and to attach himself to the young men, among whom was\nClodius, the vilest and most impudent wretch alive, who took\nhim about, and exposed him as a tool to the people, carrying\nhim up and down among the throngs in the market-place, to\ncountenance those laws and speeches which he made to cajole the\npeople and ingratiate himself.  And at last for his reward, he\ndemanded of Pompey, as if he had not disgraced, but done him\ngreat kindness, that he should forsake (as in the end he did\nforsake) Cicero, his friend, who on many public occasions had\ndone him the greatest service.  And so when Cicero was in\ndanger, and implored his aid, he would not admit him into his\npresence, but shutting up his gates against those that came to\nmediate for him, slips out at a back door, whereupon Cicero\nfearing the result of his trial, departed privately from Rome.\n\nAbout that time Caesar, returning from military service,\nstarted a course of policy which brought him great present\nfavor, and much increased his power for the future, and proved\nextremely destructive both to Pompey and the commonwealth.  For\nnow he stood candidate for his first consulship, and well\nobserving the enmity betwixt Pompey and Crassus, and finding\nthat by joining with one he should make the other his enemy, he\nendeavored by all means to reconcile them, an object in itself\nhonorable and tending to the public good, but as he undertook\nit, a mischievous and subtle intrigue.  For he well knew that\nopposite parties or factions in a commonwealth, like passengers\nin a boat, serve to trim and balance the unready motions of\npower there; whereas if they combine and come all over to one\nside, they cause a shock which will be sure to overset the\nvessel and carry down everything.  And therefore Cato wisely\ntold those who charged all the calamities of Rome upon the\ndisagreement betwixt Pompey and Caesar, that they were in error\nin charging all the crime upon the last cause; for it was not\ntheir discord and enmity, but their unanimity and I friendship,\nthat gave the first and greatest blow to the commonwealth.\n\nCaesar being thus elected consul, began at once to make an\ninterest with the poor and meaner sort, by preferring and\nestablishing laws for planting colonies and dividing lands,\nlowering the dignity of his office, and turning his consulship\ninto a sort of tribuneship rather.  And when Bibulus, his\ncolleague, opposed him, and Cato was prepared to second\nBibulus, and assist him vigorously, Caesar brought Pompey upon\nthe hustings, and addressing him in the sight of the people,\ndemanded his opinion upon the laws that were proposed.  Pompey\ngave his approbation.  \"Then,\" said Caesar, \"in case any man\nshould offer violence to these laws, will you be reedy to give\nassistance to the people?\"  \"Yes,\" replied Pompey, \"I shall be\nready, and against those that threaten the sword, I will appear\nwith sword and buckler.\"  Nothing ever was said or done by\nPompey up to that day, that seemed more insolent or\noverbearing; so that his friends endeavored to apologize for it\nas a word spoken inadvertently; but by his actions afterwards\nit appeared plainly that he was totally devoted to Caesar's\nservice.  For on a sudden, contrary to all expectation, he\nmarried Julia, the daughter of Caesar, who had been affianced\nbefore and was to be married within a few days to Caepio.  And\nto appease Caepio's wrath, he gave him his own daughter in\nmarriage, who had been espoused before to Faustus, the son of\nSylla.  Caesar himself married Calpurnia, the daughter of Piso.\n\nUpon this Pompey, filling the city with soldiers, carried all\nthings by force as he pleased.  As Bibulus, the consul, was\ngoing to the forum, accompanied by Lucullus and Cato, they fell\nupon him on a sudden and broke his rods; and somebody threw a\nvessel of ordure upon the head of Bibulus himself; and two\ntribunes of the people, who escorted him, were desperately\nwounded in the fray.  And thus having cleared the forum of all\ntheir adversaries, they got their bill for the division of\nlands established and passed into an act; and not only so, but\nthe whole populace being taken with this bait, became totally\nat their devotion, inquiring into nothing and without a word\ngiving their suffrages to whatever they propounded.  Thus they\nconfirmed all those acts and decrees of Pompey, which were\nquestioned and contested by Lucullus; and to Caesar they\ngranted the provinces of Gaul, both within and without the\nAlps, together with Illyricum, for five years, and likewise an\narmy of four entire legions; then they created consuls for the\nyear ensuing, Piso, the father-in-law of Caesar, and Gabinius,\nthe most extravagant of Pompey's flatterers.\n\nDuring all these transactions, Bibulus kept close within doors,\nnor did he appear publicly in person for the space of eight\nmonths together, notwithstanding he was consul, but sent out\nproclamations full of bitter invectives and accusations against\nthem both.  Cato turned prophet, and, as if he had been\npossessed with a spirit of divination, did nothing else in the\nsenate but foretell what evils should befall the Commonwealth\nand Pompey.  Lucullus pleaded old age, and retired to take his\nease, as superannuated for affairs of State; which gave\noccasion to the saying of Pompey, that the fatigues of luxury\nwere not more seasonable for an old man than those of\ngovernment.  Which in truth proved a reflection upon himself;\nfor he not long after let his fondness for his young wife\nseduce him also into effeminate habits.  He gave all his time\nto her, and passed his days in her company in country-houses\nand gardens, paying no heed to what was going on in the forum.\nInsomuch that Clodius, who was then tribune of the people,\nbegan to despise him, and engage in the most audacious\nattempts.  For when he had banished Cicero, and sent away Cato\ninto Cyprus under pretence of military duty, and when Caesar\nwas gone upon his expedition to Gaul, finding the populace now\nlooking to him as the leader who did everything according to\ntheir pleasure, he attempted forthwith to repeal some of\nPompey's decrees; he took Tigranes, the captive, out of prison,\nand kept him about him as his companion; and commenced actions\nagainst several of Pompey's friends, thus designing to try the\nextent of his power.  At last, upon a time when Pompey was\npresent at the hearing of a certain cause, Clodius, accompanied\nwith a crowd of profligate and impudent ruffians, standing up\nin a place above the rest, put questions to the populace as\nfollows:  \"Who is the dissolute general?  who is the man that\nseeks another man?  who scratches his head with one finger?\"\nand the rabble, upon the signal of his shaking his gown, with a\ngreat shout to every question, like singers making, responses\nin a chorus, made answer, \"Pompey.\"\n\nThis indeed was no small annoyance to Pompey, who was quite\nunaccustomed to hear anything ill of himself, and\nunexperienced altogether in such encounters; and he was yet\nmore vexed, when he saw that the senate rejoiced at this foul\nusage, and regarded it as a just punishment upon him for his\ntreachery to Cicero.  But when it came even to blows and wounds\nin the forum, and that one of Clodius's bondslaves was\napprehended, creeping through the crowd towards Pompey with a\nsword in his hand, Pompey laid hold of this pretence, though\nperhaps otherwise apprehensive of Clodius's insolence and bad\nlanguage, and never appeared again in the forum during all the\ntime he was tribune, but kept close at home, and passed his\ntime in consulting with his friends, by what means he might\nbest allay the displeasure of the senate and nobles against\nhim.  Among other expedients, Culleo advised the divorce of\nJulia, and to abandon Caesar's friendship to gain that of the\nsenate; this he would not hearken to.  Others again advised him\nto call home Cicero from banishment, a man who was always the\ngreat adversary of Clodius, and as great a favorite of the\nsenate; to this he was easily persuaded.  And therefore he\nbrought Cicero's brother into the forum, attended with a strong\nparty, to petition for his return; where, after a warm dispute,\nin which several were wounded and some slain, he got the\nvictory over Clodius.  No sooner was Cicero returned home upon\nthis decree, but immediately he used his efforts to reconcile\nthe senate to Pompey; and by speaking in favor of the law upon\nthe importation of corn, did again, in effect, make Pompey\nsovereign lord of all the Roman possessions by sea and land.\nFor by that law, there were placed under his control all ports,\nmarkets, and storehouses, and in short, all the concerns both\nof the merchants and the husbandmen; which gave occasion to the\ncharge brought against it by Clodius, that the law was not made\nbecause of the scarcity of corn, but the scarcity of corn was\nmade, that they might pass a law, whereby that power of his,\nwhich was now grown feeble and consumptive, might be revived\nagain, and Pompey reinstated in a new empire.  Others look upon\nit as a politic device of Spinther, the consul, whose design it\nwas to secure Pompey in a greater authority, that he himself\nmight be sent in assistance to king Ptolemy.  However, it is\ncertain that Canidius, the tribune, preferred a law to dispatch\nPompey in the character of an ambassador, without an army,\nattended only with two lictors, as a mediator betwixt the king\nand his subjects of Alexandria.  Neither did this proposal seem\nunacceptable to Pompey, though the senate cast it out upon the\nspecious pretence, that they were unwilling to hazard his\nperson.  However, there were found several writings scattered\nabout the forum and near the senate-house, intimating how\ngrateful it would be to Ptolemy to have Pompey appointed for\nhis general instead of Spinther.  And Timagenes even asserts\nthat Ptolemy went away and left Egypt, not out of necessity,\nbut purely upon the persuasion of Theophanes, who was anxious\nto give Pompey the opportunity for holding a new command, and\ngaining further wealth.  But Theophanes's want of honesty does\nnot go so far to make this story credible as does Pompey's own\nnature, which was averse, with all its ambition, to such base\nand disingenuous acts, to render it improbable.\n\nThus Pompey being appointed chief purveyor, and having within\nhis administration and management all the corn trade, sent\nabroad his factors and agents into all quarters, and he himself\nsailing into Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa, collected vast\nstores of corn.  He was just ready to set sail upon his voyage\nhome, when a great storm arose upon the sea, and the ships'\ncommanders doubted whether it were safe.  Upon which Pompey\nhimself went first aboard, and bid the mariners weigh anchor,\ndeclaring with a loud voice, that there was a necessity to\nsail, but no necessity to live.  So that with this spirit and\ncourage, and having met with favorable fortune, he made a\nprosperous return, and filled the markets with corn, and the\nsea with ships.  So much so that this great plenty and\nabundance of provisions yielded a sufficient supply, not only\nto the city of Rome, but even to other places too, dispersing\nitself; like waters from a spring, into all quarters.\n\nMeantime Caesar grew great and famous with his wars in Gaul,\nand while in appearance he seemed far distant from Rome,\nentangled in the affairs of the Belgians, Suevians, and\nBritons, in truth he was working craftily by secret practices\nin the midst of the people, and countermining Pompey in all\npolitical matters of most importance.  He himself with his army\nclose about him, as if it had been his own body, not with mere\nviews of conquest over the barbarians, but as though his\ncontests with them were but mere sports and exercises of the\nchase, did his utmost with this training and discipline to make\nit invincible and alarming.  And in the meantime his gold and\nsilver and other spoils and treasure which he took from the\nenemy in his conquests, he sent to Rome in presents, tempting\npeople with his gifts, and aiding aediles, praetors, and\nconsuls, as also their wives, in their expenses, and thus\npurchasing himself numerous friends.  Insomuch, that when he\npassed back again over the Alps, and took up his winter\nquarters in the city of Luca, there flocked to him an infinite\nnumber of men and women, striving who should get first to him,\ntwo hundred senators included, among whom were Pompey and\nCrassus; so that there were to be seen at once before Caesar's\ndoor no less than six score rods of proconsuls and praetors.\nThe rest of his addressers he sent all away full fraught with\nhopes and money; but with Crassus and Pompey, he entered into\nspecial articles of agreement, that they should stand\ncandidates for the consulship next year; that Caesar on his\npart should send a number of his soldiers to give their votes\nat the election; that as soon as they were elected, they should\nuse their interest to have the command of some provinces and\nlegions assigned to themselves, and that Caesar should have\nhis present charge confirmed to him for five years more.  When\nthese arrangements came to be generally known, great\nindignation was excited among the chief men in Rome; and\nMarcellinus, in an open assembly of the people, demanded of\nthem both, whether they designed to sue for the consulship or\nno.  And being urged by the people for their answer, Pompey\nspoke first, and told them, perhaps he would sue for it,\nperhaps he would not.  Crassus was more temperate, and said,\nthat he would do what should be judged most agreeable with the\ninterest of the Commonwealth; and when Marcellinus persisted in\nhis attack on Pompey, and spoke, as it was thought, with some\nvehemence, Pompey remarked that Marcellinus was certainly the\nunfairest of men, to show him no gratitude for having thus made\nhim an orator out of a mute, and converted him from a hungry\nstarveling into a man so full-fed that he could not contain\nhimself.\n\nMost of the candidates nevertheless abandoned their canvass for\nthe consulship; Cato alone persuaded and encouraged Lucius\nDomitius not to desist, \"since,\" said he, \"the contest now is\nnot for office, but for liberty against tyrants and usurpers.\"\nTherefore those of Pompey's party, fearing this inflexible\nconstancy in Cato, by which he kept with him the whole senate,\nlest by this he should likewise pervert and draw after him all\nthe well-affected part of the commonalty, resolved to withstand\nDomitius at once, and to prevent his entrance into the forum.\nTo this end, therefore, they sent in a band of armed men, who\nslew the torchbearer of Domitius, as he was leading the way\nbefore him, and put all the rest to flight; last of all, Cato\nhimself retired, having received a wound in his right arm while\ndefending Domitius.  Thus by these means and practices they\nobtained the consulship; neither did they behave themselves\nwith more decency in their further proceedings; but in the\nfirst place, when the people were choosing Cato praetor, and\njust ready with their votes for the poll, Pompey broke up the\nassembly, upon a pretext of some inauspicious appearance, and\nhaving gained the tribes by money, they publicly proclaimed\nVatinius praetor.  Then, in pursuance of their covenants with\nCaesar, they introduced several laws by Trebonius, the tribune,\ncontinuing Caesar's commission to another five years' charge of\nhis province; to Crassus there were appointed Syria, and the\nParthian war; and to Pompey himself, all Africa, together with\nboth Spains, and four legions of soldiers, two of which he lent\nto Caesar upon his request, for the wars in Gaul.\n\nCrassus, upon the expiration of his consulship, departed\nforthwith into his province; but Pompey spent some time in\nRome, upon the opening or dedication of his theater, where he\ntreated the people with all sorts of games, shows, and\nexercises, in gymnastics alike and in music.  There was\nlikewise the hunting or baiting of wild beasts, and combats\nwith them, in which five hundred lions were slain; but above\nall, the battle of elephants was a spectacle full of horror and\namazement.\n\nThese entertainments brought him great honor and popularity;\nbut on the other side he created no less envy to himself, in\nthat he committed the government of his provinces and legions\ninto the hands of friends as his lieutenants, whilst he himself\nwas going about and spending his time with his wife in all the\nplaces of amusement in Italy; whether it were he was so fond of\nher himself, or she so fond of him, and he unable to distress\nher by going away, for this also is stated.  And the love\ndisplayed by this young wife for her elderly husband was a\nmatter of general note, to be attributed, it would seem, to his\nconstancy in married life, and to his dignity of manner, which\nin familiar intercourse was tempered with grace and gentleness,\nand was particularly attractive to women, as even Flora, the\ncourtesan, may be thought good enough evidence to prove.  It\nonce happened in a public assembly, as they were at an election\nof the aediles, that the people came to blows, and several\nabout Pompey were slain, so that he, finding himself all\nbloody, ordered a change of apparel; but the\nservants who brought home his clothes, making a\ngreat bustle and hurry about the house, it chanced\nthat the young lady, who was then with child, saw his\ngown all stained with blood; upon which she dropped immediately\ninto a swoon, and was hardly brought to life again; however,\nwhat with her fright and suffering, she fell into labor and\nmiscarried; even those who chiefly censured Pompey for his\nfriendship to Caesar, could not reprove him for his affection\nto so attached a wife.  Afterwards she was great again, and\nbrought to bed of a daughter, but died in childbed; neither did\nthe infant outlive her mother many days.  Pompey had prepared\nall things for the interment of her corpse at his house near\nAlba, but the people seized upon it by force, and performed the\nsolemnities in the field of Mars, rather in compassion for the\nyoung lady, than in favor either for Pompey or Caesar; and yet\nof these two, the people seemed at that time to pay Caesar a\ngreater share of honor in his absence, than to Pompey, though\nhe was present.\n\nFor the city now at once began to roll and swell, so to say,\nwith the stir of the coming storm.  Things everywhere were in a\nstate of agitation, and everybody's discourse tended to\ndivision, now that death had put an end to that relation which\nhitherto had been a disguise rather than restraint to the\nambition of these men.  Besides, not long after came messengers\nfrom Parthia with intelligence of the death of Crassus there,\nby which another safeguard against civil war was removed, since\nboth Caesar and Pompey kept their eyes on Crassus, and awe of\nhim held them together more or less within the bounds of\nfair-dealing all his lifetime.  But when fortune had taken away\nthis second, whose province it might have been to revenge the\nquarrel of the conquered, you might then say with the comic\npoet,\n\nThe combatants are waiting to begin,\nSmearing their hands with dust and oiling each his skin.\n\nSo inconsiderable a thing is fortune in respect of human\nnature, and so insufficient to give content to a covetous mind,\nthat an empire of that mighty extent and sway could not satisfy\nthe ambition of two men; and though they knew and had read,\nthat\n\nThe gods, when they divided out 'twixt three,\nThis massive universe, heaven, hell, and sea,\nEach one sat down contented on his throne,\nAnd undisturbed each god enjoys his own,\n\nyet they thought the whole Roman empire not sufficient to\ncontain them, though they were but two.\n\nPompey once in an oration to the people, told them, that he had\nalways come into office before he expected he should, and that\nhe had always left it sooner than they expected he would; and,\nindeed, the disbanding of all his armies witnessed as much.\nYet when he perceived that Caesar would not so willingly\ndischarge his forces, he endeavored to strengthen himself\nagainst him by offices and commands in the city; but beyond\nthis he showed no desire for any change, and would not seem to\ndistrust, but rather to disregard and contemn him.  And when he\nsaw how they bestowed the places of government quite contrary\nto his wishes, because the citizens were bribed in their\nelections, he let things take their course, and allowed the\ncity to be left without any government at all.  Hereupon there\nwas mention straightaway made of appointing a dictator.\nLucilius, a tribune of the people, was the man who first\nadventured to propose it, urging the people to make Pompey\ndictator.  But the tribune was in danger of being turned out of\nhis office, by the opposition that Cato made against it.  And\nfor Pompey, many of his friends appeared and excused him,\nalleging that he never was desirous of that government, neither\nwould he accept of it.  And when Cato therefore made a speech\nin commendation of Pompey, and exhorted him to support the\ncause of good order in the Commonwealth, he could not for shame\nbut yield to it, and so for the present Domitius and Messala\nwere elected consuls.  But shortly afterwards, when there was\nanother anarchy, or vacancy in the government, and the talk of\na dictator was much louder and more general than before, those\nof Cato's party, fearing lest they should be forced to appoint\nPompey, thought it policy to keep him from that arbitrary and\ntyrannical power, by giving him an office of more legal\nauthority.  Bibulus himself, who was Pompey's enemy, first gave\nhis vote in the senate, that Pompey should be created consul\nalone; alleging, that by these means either the Commonwealth\nwould be freed from its present confusion, or that its bondage\nshould be lessened by serving the worthiest.  This was looked\nupon as a very strange opinion, considering the man that spoke\nit; and therefore on Cato's standing up, everybody expected\nthat he would have opposed it; but after silence made, he said\nthat he would never have been the author of that advice\nhimself, but since it was propounded by another, his advice was\nto follow it, adding, that any form of government was better\nthan none at all; and that in a time so full of distraction, he\nthought no man fitter to govern than Pompey.  This counsel was\nunanimously approved of, and a decree passed that Pompey should\nbe made sole consul, with this clause, that if he thought it\nnecessary to have a colleague, he might choose whom he pleased,\nprovided it were not till after two months expired.\n\nThus was Pompey created and declared sole consul by Sulpicius,\nregent in this vacancy; upon which he made very cordial\nacknowledgments to Cato, professing himself much his debtor,\nand requesting his good advice in conducting the government; to\nthis Cato replied, that Pompey had no reason to thank him, for\nall that he had said was for the service of the commonwealth,\nnot of Pompey; but that he would be always ready to give his\nadvice privately, if he were asked for it; and if not, he\nshould not fail to say what he thought in public.  Such was\nCato's conduct on all occasions.\n\nOn his return into the city Pompey married Cornelia, the\ndaughter of Metellus Scipio, not a maiden, but lately left a\nwidow by Publius, the son of Crassus, her first husband, who\nhad been killed in Parthia.  The young lady had other\nattractions besides those of youth and beauty; for she was\nhighly educated, played well upon the lute, understood\ngeometry, and had been accustomed to listen with profit to\nlectures on philosophy; all this, too, without in any degree\nbecoming unamiable or pretentious, as sometimes young women do\nwhen they pursue such studies.  Nor could any fault be found\neither with her father's family or reputation.  The disparity\nof their ages was however not liked by everybody; Cornelia\nbeing in this respect a fitter match for Pompey's son.  And\nwiser judges thought it rather a slight upon the commonwealth\nwhen he, to whom alone they had committed their broken\nfortunes, and from whom alone, as from their physician, they\nexpected a cure to these distractions, went about crowned with\ngarlands and celebrating his nuptial feasts; never considering,\nthat his very consulship was a public calamity, which would\nnever have been given him, contrary to the rules of law, had\nhis country been in a flourishing state.  Afterwards, however,\nhe took cognizance of the cases of those that had obtained\noffices by gifts and bribery, and enacted laws and ordinances,\nsetting forth the rules of judgment by which they should be\narraigned; and regulating all things with gravity and justice,\nhe restored security, order, and silence to their courts of\njudicature, himself giving his presence there with a band of\nsoldiers.  But when his father-in-law Scipio was accused, he\nsent for the three hundred and sixty judges to his house, and\nentreated them to be favorable to him; whereupon his accuser,\nseeing Scipio come into the court, accompanied by the judges\nthemselves, withdrew the prosecution.  Upon this Pompey was\nvery ill spoken of, and much worse in the case of Plancus; for\nwhereas he himself had made a law, putting a stop to the\npractice of making speeches in praise of persons under trial,\nyet notwithstanding this prohibition, he came into court, and\nspoke openly in commendation of Plancus, insomuch that Cato,\nwho happened to be one of the judges at that time, stopping his\nears with his hands, told him, he could not in conscience\nlisten to commendations contrary to law.  Cato upon this was\nrefused, and set aside from being a judge, before sentence was\ngiven, but Plancus was condemned by the rest of the judges, to\nPompey's dishonor.  Shortly after, Hypsaeus, a man of consular\ndignity, who was under accusation, waited for Pompey's return\nfrom his bath to his supper, and falling down at his feet,\nimplored his favor; but he disdainfully passed him by, saying,\nthat he did nothing else but spoil his supper.  Such partiality\nwas looked upon as a great fault in Pompey, and highly\ncondemned; however, he managed all things else discreetly, and\nhaving put the government in very good order, he chose his\nfather-in-law to be his colleague in the consulship for the\nlast five months.  His provinces were continued to him for the\nterm of four years longer, with a commission to take one\nthousand talents yearly out of the treasury for the payment of\nhis army.\n\nThis gave occasion to some of Caesar's friends to think it\nreasonable, that some consideration should be had of him too,\nwho had done such signal services in war, and fought so many\nbattles for the empire, alleging, that he deserved at least a\nsecond consulship, or to have the government of his province\ncontinued, that so he might command and enjoy in peace what he\nhad obtained in war, and no successor come in to reap the\nfruits of his labor, and carry off the glory of his actions.\nThere arising some debate about this matter, Pompey took upon\nhim, as it were out of kindness to Caesar, to plead his cause,\nand allay any jealousy that was conceived against him, telling\nthem, that he had letters from Caesar, expressing his desire\nfor a successor, and his own discharge from the command; but it\nwould be only right that they should give him leave to stand\nfor the consulship though in his absence.  But those of Cato's\nparty withstood this, saying, that if he expected any favor\nfrom the citizens, he ought to leave his army, and come in a\nprivate capacity to canvas for it.  And Pompey's making no\nrejoinder, but letting it pass as a matter in which he was\noverruled, increased the suspicion of his real feelings towards\nCaesar.  Presently, also, under presence of a war with Parthia,\nhe sent for his two legions which he had lent him.  However,\nCaesar, though he well knew why they were asked for, sent them\nhome very liberally rewarded.\n\nAbout that time Pompey recovered of a dangerous fit of sickness\nwhich seized him at Naples, where the whole city, upon the\nsuggestion of Praxagoras, made sacrifices of thanksgiving to\nthe gods for his recovery.  The neighboring towns likewise\nhappening to follow their example, the thing then went its\ncourse throughout all Italy, so that there was not a city\neither great or small, that did not feast and rejoice for many\ndays together.  And the company of those that came from all\nparts to meet him was so numerous, that no place was able to\ncontain them, but the villages, seaport towns, and the very\nhighways, were all full of people, feasting and sacrificing to\nthe gods.  Nay, many went to meet him with garlands on their\nheads, and flambeaux in their hands, casting flowers and\nnosegays upon him as he went along; so that this progress of\nhis, and reception, was one of the noblest and most glorious\nsights imaginable.  And yet it is thought that this very thing\nwas not one of the least causes and occasions of the civil war.\nFor Pompey, yielding to a feeling of exultation, which in the\ngreatness of the present display of joy lost sight of more\nsolid grounds of consideration, and abandoning that prudent\ntemper which had guided him hitherto to a safe use of all his\ngood fortune and his successes, gave himself up to an\nextravagant confidence in his own, and contempt of Caesar's\npower; insomuch that he thought neither force of arms nor care\nnecessary against him, but that he could pull him down much\neasier than he had set him up.  Besides this, Appius, under\nwhose command those legions which Pompey lent to Caesar were\nreturned, coming lately out of Gaul, spoke slightingly of\nCaesar's actions there, and spread scandalous reports about\nhim, at the same time telling Pompey, that he was unacquainted\nwith his own strength and reputation, if he made use of any\nother forces against Caesar than Caesar's own; for such was the\nsoldiers' hatred to Caesar, and their love to Pompey so great,\nthat they would all come over to him upon his first appearance.\nBy these flatteries Pompey was so puffed up, and led on into\nsuch a careless security, that he could not choose but laugh at\nthose who seemed to fear a war; and when some were saying, that\nif Caesar should march against the city, they could not see\nwhat forces there were to resist him, he replied with a smile,\nbidding them be in no concern, \"for,\" said he, \"whenever I\nstamp with my foot in any part of Italy, there will rise up\nforces enough in an instant, both horse and foot.\"\n\nCaesar, on the other side, was more and more vigorous in his\nproceedings, himself always at hand about the frontiers of\nItaly, and sending his soldiers continually into the city to\nattend all elections with their votes.  Besides, he corrupted\nseveral of the magistrates, and kept them in his pay; among\nothers, Paulus, the consul, who was brought over by a bribe of\none thousand and five hundred talents; and Curio, tribune of\nthe people, by a discharge of the debts with which he was\noverwhelmed; together with Mark Antony, who, out of friendship\nto Curio, had become bound with him in the same obligations\nfor them all.  And it was stated as a fact, that a centurion of\nCaesar's waiting at the senate-house, and hearing that the\nsenate refused to give him a longer term of his government,\nclapped his hand upon his sword, and said, \"But this shall give\nit.\"  And indeed all his practices and preparations seemed to\nbear this appearance.  Curio's demands, however, and requests\nin favor of Caesar, were more popular in appearance; for he\ndesired one of these two things, either that Pompey also should\nbe called upon to resign his army, or that Caesar's should not\nbe taken away from him; for if both of them became private\npersons, both would be satisfied with simple justice; or if\nboth retained their present power, each being a match for the\nother, they would be contented with what they already had; but\nhe that weakens one, does at the same time strengthen the\nother, and so doubles that very strength and power which he\nstood in fear of before.  Marcellus, the consul, replied\nnothing to all this, but that Caesar was a robber, and should\nbe proclaimed an enemy to the state, if he did not disband his\narmy.  However, Curio, with the assistance of Antony and Piso,\nprevailed, that the matter in debate should be put to the\nquestion, and decided by vote in the senate.  So that it being\nordered upon the question for those to withdraw, who were of\nopinion that Caesar only should lay down his army and Pompey\ncommand, the majority withdrew.  But when it was ordered again\nfor those to withdraw, whose vote was that both should lay\ndown their arms and neither command, there were but twenty-two\nfor Pompey, all the rest remained on Curio's side.  Whereupon\nhe, as one proud of his conquest, leaped out in triumph among\nthe people, who received him with as great tokens of joy,\nclapping their hands, and crowning him with garlands and\nflowers.  Pompey was not then present in the senate, because it\nis not lawful for generals in command of an army to come into\nthe city.  But Marcellus rising up, said, that he would not sit\nthere hearing speeches, when he saw ten legions already passing\nthe Alps on their march toward the city, but on his own\nauthority would send someone to oppose them in defense of the\ncountry.\n\nUpon this the city went into mourning, as in a public calamity,\nand Marcellus, accompanied by the senate, went solemnly through\nthe forum to meet Pompey, and made him this address.  \"I hereby\ngive you orders, O Pompey, to defend your country, to employ\nthe troops you now command, and to levy more.\"  Lentulus,\nconsul elect for the year following, spoke to the same purpose.\nAntony, however, contrary to the will of the senate, having in\na public assembly read a letter of Caesar's, containing various\nplausible overtures such as were likely to gain the common\npeople, proposing, namely, that both Pompey and he quitting\ntheir governments, and dismissing their armies, should submit\nto the judgment of the people, and give an account of their\nactions before them, the consequence was that when Pompey began\nto make his levies, he found himself disappointed in his\nexpectations.  Some few, indeed, came in, but those very\nunwillingly; others would not answer to their names, and the\ngenerality cried out for peace.  Lentulus, notwithstanding he\nwas now entered upon his consulship, would not assemble the\nsenate; but Cicero, who was lately returned from Cilicia,\nlabored for a reconciliation, proposing that Caesar should\nleave his province of Gaul and army, reserving two legions\nonly, together with the government of Illyricum, and should\nthus be put in nomination for a second consulship.  Pompey\ndisliking this motion, Caesar's friends were contented that he\nshould surrender one of the two; but Lentulus still opposing,\nand Cato crying out that Pompey did ill to be deceived again,\nthe reconciliation did not take effect.\n\nIn the meantime, news was brought that Caesar had occupied\nAriminum, a great city in Italy, and was marching directly\ntowards Rome with all his forces.  But this latter was\naltogether false, for he had no more with him at that time than\nthree hundred horse and five thousand foot; and he did not mean\nto tarry for the body of his army, which lay beyond the Alps,\nchoosing rather to fall in on a sudden upon his enemies, while\nthey were in confusion, and did not expect him, than to give\nthem time, and fight them after they had made preparations.\nFor when he came to the banks of the Rubicon, a river that\nmade the bounds of his province, there he made a halt, pausing\na little, and considering, we may suppose, with himself the\ngreatness of the enterprise which he had undertaken; then, at\nlast, like men that are throwing themselves headlong from some\nprecipice into a vast abyss, having shut, as it were, his\nmind's eyes and put away from his sight the idea of danger, he\nmerely uttered to those near him in Greek the words,\n\"Anerriphtho kubos,\" (let the die be cast,) and led his army\nthrough it.  No sooner was the news arrived, but there was an\nuproar throughout all the city, and a consternation in the\npeople even to astonishment, such as never was known in Rome\nbefore; all the senate ran immediately to Pompey, and the\nmagistrates followed.  And when Tullus made inquiry about his\nlegions and forces, Pompey seemed to pause a little, and\nanswered with some hesitation, that he had those two legions\nready that Caesar sent back, and that out of the men who had\nbeen previously enrolled he believed he could shortly make up a\nbody of thirty thousand men.  On which Tullus crying out aloud,\n\"O Pompey, you have deceived us,\" gave his advice to send off a\ndeputation to Caesar.  Favonius, a man of fair character,\nexcept that he used to suppose his own petulance and abusive\ntalking a copy of Cato's straight-forwardness, bade Pompey\nstamp upon the ground, and call forth the forces he had\npromised.  But Pompey bore patiently with this unseasonable\nraillery; and on Cato putting him in mind of what he had\nforetold from the very beginning about Caesar, made this answer\nonly, that Cato indeed had spoken more like a prophet, but he\nhad acted more like a friend.  Cato then advised them to choose\nPompey general with absolute power and authority, saying that\nthe same men who do great evils, know best how to cure them.\nHe himself went his way forthwith into Sicily, the province\nthat was allotted him, and all the rest of the senators\nlikewise departed every one to his respective government.\n\nThus all Italy in a manner being up in arms, no one could say\nwhat was best to be done.  For those that were without, came\nfrom all parts flocking into the city; and they who were\nwithin, seeing the confusion and disorder so great there, all\ngood things impotent, and disobedience and insubordination\ngrown too strong to be controlled by the magistrates, were\nquitting it as fast as the others came in.  Nay, it was so far\nfrom being possible to allay their fears, that they would not\nsuffer Pompey to follow out his own judgment, but every man\npressed and urged him according to his particular fancy,\nwhether it proceeded from doubt, fear, grief, or any meaner\npassion; so that even in the same day quite contrary counsels\nwere acted upon.  Then, again, it was as impossible to have any\ngood intelligence of the enemy; for what each man heard by\nchance upon a flying rumor, he would report for truth, and\nexclaim against Pompey if he did not believe it.  Pompey, at\nlength, seeing such a confusion in Rome, determined with\nhimself to put an end to their clamors by his departure, and\ntherefore commanding all the senate to follow him, and\ndeclaring, that whosoever tarried behind, should be judged a\nconfederate of Caesar's, about the dusk of the evening he went\nout and left the city.  The consuls also followed after in a\nhurry, without offering the sacrifices to the gods, usual\nbefore a war.  But in all this, Pompey himself had the glory,\nthat in the midst of such calamities, he had so much of men's\nlove and good-will.  For though many found fault with the\nconduct of the war, yet no man hated the general; and there\nwere more to be found of those that went out of Rome, because\nthat they could not forsake Pompey, than of those that fled for\nlove of liberty.\n\nSome few days after Pompey was gone out, Caesar came into the\ncity, and made himself master of it, treating everyone with a\ngreat deal of courtesy, and appeasing their fears, except only\nMetellus, one of the tribunes; on whose refusing to let him\ntake any money out of the treasury, Caesar threatened him with\ndeath, adding words yet harsher than the threat, that it was\nfar easier for him to do it than say it.  By this means\nremoving Metellus, and taking what moneys were of use for his\noccasions, he set forwards in pursuit of Pompey, endeavoring\nwith all speed to drive him out of Italy before his army, that\nwas in Spain, could join him.\n\nBut Pompey arriving at Brundusium, and having plenty of ships\nthere, bade the two consuls embark immediately, and with them\nshipped thirty cohorts of foot, bound before him for\nDyrrhachium.  He sent likewise his father-in-law Scipio, and\nCnaeus his son, into Syria, to provide and fit out a fleet\nthere; himself in the meantime having blocked up the gates,\nplaced his lightest soldiers as guards upon the walls; and\ngiving express orders that the citizens should keep within\ndoors, he dug up all the ground inside the city, cutting\ntrenches, and fixing stakes and palisades throughout all the\nstreets of the city, except only two that led down to the\nsea-side.  Thus in three days space having with ease put all\nthe rest of his army on shipboard, he suddenly gave the signal\nto those that guarded the walls, who nimbly repairing to the\nships, were received on board and carried off.  Caesar meantime\nperceiving their departure by seeing the walls unguarded,\nhastened after, and in the heat of pursuit was all but\nentangled himself among the stakes and trenches.  But the\nBrundusians discovering the danger to him, and showing him the\nway, he wheeled about, and taking a circuit round the city,\nmade towards the haven, where he found all the ships on their\nway, excepting only two vessels that had but a few soldiers\naboard.\n\nMost are of opinion, that this departure of Pompey's is to be\ncounted among the best of his military performances, but Caesar\nhimself could not but wonder that he, who was thus ingarrisoned\nin a city well fortified, who was in expectation of his forces\nfrom Spain, and was master of the sea besides, should leave and\nabandon Italy.  Cicero accuses him of imitating the conduct of\nThemistocles, rather than of Pericles, when the circumstances\nwere more like those of Pericles than they were like those of\nThemistocles.  However, it appeared plainly, and Caesar showed\nit by his actions, that he was in great fear of delay, for when\nhe had taken Numerius, a friend of Pompey's, prisoner, he sent\nhim as an ambassador to Brundusium, with offers of peace and\nreconciliation upon equal terms; but Numerius sailed away with\nPompey.  And now Caesar having become master of all Italy in\nsixty days, without a drop of blood shed, had a great desire\nforthwith to follow Pompey; but being destitute of shipping, he\nwas forced to divert his course, and march into Spain,\ndesigning to bring over Pompey's forces there to his own.\n\nIn the meantime Pompey raised a mighty army both by sea and\nland.  As for his navy, it was irresistible.  For there were\nfive hundred men of war, besides an infinite company of light\nvessels, Liburnians, and others; and for his land forces, the\ncavalry made up a body of seven thousand horse, the very flower\nof Rome and Italy, men of family, wealth, and high spirit; but\nthe infantry was a mixture of unexperienced soldiers drawn from\ndifferent quarters, and these he exercised and trained near\nBeroea, where he quartered his army; himself noways slothful,\nbut performing all his exercises as if he had been in the flower\nof his youth, conduct which raised the spirits of his soldiers\nextremely.  For it was no small encouragement for them to see\nPompey the Great, sixty years of age wanting two, at one time\nhandling his arms among the foot, then again mounted among the\nhorse, drawing out his sword with ease in full career, and\nsheathing it up as easily; and in darting the javelin, showing\nnot only skill and dexterity in hitting the mark, but also\nstrength and activity in throwing it so far that few of the\nyoung men went beyond him.\n\nSeveral kings and princes of nations came thither to him, and\nthere was a concourse of Roman citizens who had held the\nmagistracies, so numerous that they made up a complete senate.\nLabienus forsook his old friend Caesar, whom he had served\nthroughout all his wars in Gaul, and came over to Pompey; and\nBrutus, son to that Brutus that was put to death in Gaul, a man\nof a high spirit, and one that to that day had never so much as\nsaluted or spoke to Pompey, looking upon him as the murderer of\nhis father, came then and submitted himself to him as the\ndefender of their liberty.  Cicero likewise, though he had\nwritten and advised otherwise, yet was ashamed not to be\naccounted in the number of those that would hazard their lives\nand fortunes for the safeguard of their country.  There came to\nhim also into Macedonia, Tidius Sextius, a man extremely old,\nand lame of one leg; so that others indeed mocked and laughed\nat the spectacle, but Pompey, as soon as he saw him, rose and\nran to meet him, esteeming it no small testimony in his favor,\nwhen men of such age and infirmities should rather choose to be\nwith him in danger, than in safety at home.  Afterwards in a\nmeeting of their senate they passed a decree, on the motion of\nCato, that no Roman citizen should be put to death but in\nbattle, and that they should not sack or plunder any city that\nwas subject to the Roman empire, a resolution which gained\nPompey's party still greater reputation, insomuch that those\nwho were noways at all concerned in the war, either because\nthey dwelt afar off, or were thought incapable of giving help,\nwere yet, in their good wishes, upon his side, and in all their\nwords, so far as that went, supported the good or just cause,\nas they called it; esteeming those as enemies to the gods and\nmen, that wished not victory to Pompey.\n\nNeither was Pompey's clemency such, but that Caesar likewise\nshowed himself as merciful a conqueror; for when he had taken\nand overthrown all Pompey's forces in Spain, he gave them easy\nterms, leaving the commanders at their liberty, and taking the\ncommon soldiers into his own pay.  Then repassing the Alps, and\nmaking a running march through Italy, he came to Brundusium\nabout the winter solstice, and crossing the sea there, landed\nat the port of Oricum.  And having Jubius, an intimate friend\nof Pompey's, with him as his prisoner, he dispatched him to\nPompey with an invitation, that they, meeting together in a\nconference, should disband both their armies within three days,\nand renewing their former friendship with solemn oaths, should\nreturn together into Italy.  Pompey looked upon this again as\nsome new stratagem, and therefore marching down in all haste to\nthe sea-coast, possessed himself of all forts and places of\nstrength suitable to encamp in, and to secure his laud forces,\nas likewise of all ports and harbors commodious to receive any\nthat came by sea, so that what wind soever blew, it must needs\nin some way or other be favorable to him, bringing in either\nprovision, men, or money; while Caesar, on the contrary, was so\nhemmed in both by sea and land, that he was forced to desire\nbattle, daily provoking the enemy, and assailing them in their\nvery forts; and in these light skirmishes for the most part had\nthe better.  Once only he was dangerously overthrown, and was\nwithin a little of losing his whole army, Pompey having fought\nnobly, routing the whole force, and killing two thousand on the\nspot.  But either he was not able, or was afraid, to go on and\nforce his way into their camp with them, so that Caesar made\nthe remark, that \"Today the victory had been the enemy's, had\nthere been anyone among them to gain it.\"  Pompey's soldiers\nwere so encouraged by this victory that they were eager now to\nhave all put to the decision of a battle; but Pompey himself,\nthough he wrote to distant kings, generals, and states in\nconfederacy with him, as a conqueror, yet was afraid to hazard\nthe success of a battle, choosing rather by delays, and\ndistress of provisions, to tire out a body of men, who had\nnever yet been conquered by force of arms, and had long been\nused to fight and conquer together; while their time of life,\nnow an advanced one, which made them quickly weary of those\nother hardships of war, such as were long marches, and frequent\ndecampings, making trenches, and building fortifications, made\nthem eager to come to close combat and venture a battle with\nall speed.\n\nPompey had all along hitherto by his persuasions pretty well\nquieted his soldiers; but after this last engagement, when\nCaesar for want of provisions was forced to raise his camp, and\npassed through Athamania into Thessaly, it was impossible to\ncurb or allay the heat of their spirits any longer.  For all\ncrying out with a general voice, that Caesar was fled, some\nwere for pursuing and pressing upon him, others for returning\ninto Italy; some there were that sent their friends and\nservants beforehand to Rome, to hire houses near the forum,\nthat they might be in readiness to sue for offices; several of\ntheir own motion sailed off at once to Lesbos to carry to\nCornelia, (whom Pompey had conveyed thither to be in safety,)\nthe joyful news, that the war was ended.  And a senate being\ncalled, and the matter being under debate, Afranius was of\nopinion, that Italy should first be regained, for that it was\nthe grand prize and crown of all the war; and they who were\nmasters of that, would quickly have at their devotion all the\nprovinces of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Spain, and Gaul; but\nwhat was of greatest weight and moment to Pompey, it was his\nown native country that lay near, reaching out her hand for his\nhelp; and certainly it could not be consistent with his honor\nto leave her thus exposed to all indignities, and in bondage\nunder slaves and the flatterers of a tyrant.  But Pompey\nhimself, on the contrary, thought it neither honorable to fly a\nsecond time before Caesar, and be pursued, when fortune had\ngiven him the advantage of a pursuit; nor indeed lawful before\nthe gods to forsake Scipio and divers other men of consular\ndignity dispersed throughout Greece and Thessaly, who must\nnecessarily fall into Caesar's hands, together with large sums\nof money and numerous forces; and as to his care for the city\nof Rome, that would most eminently appear, by removing the\nscene of war to a greater distance, and leaving her, without\nfeeling the distress or even hearing the sound of these evils,\nto await in peace the return of whichever should be the victor.\n\nWith this determination, Pompey marched forwards in pursuit of\nCaesar, firmly resolved with himself not to give him battle,\nbut rather to besiege and distress him, by keeping close at his\nheels, and cutting him short.  There were other reasons that\nmade him continue this resolution, but especially because a\nsaying that was current among the Romans serving in the cavalry\ncame to his ear, to the effect, that they ought to beat Caesar\nas soon as possible, and then humble Pompey too.  And some\nreport, it was for this reason that Pompey never employed Cato\nin any matter of consequence during the whole war, but now when\nhe pursued Caesar, left him to guard his baggage by sea,\nfearing lest, if Caesar should be taken off, he himself also by\nCato's means not long after should be forced to give up his\npower.\n\nWhilst he was thus slowly attending the motions of the enemy,\nhe was exposed on all sides to outcries, and imputations of\nusing his generalship to defeat, not Caesar, but his country\nand the senate, that he might always continue in authority, and\nnever cease to keep those for his guards and servants, who\nthemselves claimed to govern the world.  Domitius Aenobarbus,\ncontinually calling him Agamemnon, and king of kings, excited\njealousy against him; and Favonius, by his unseasonable\nraillery, did him no less injury than those who openly attacked\nhim, as when he cried out, \"Good friends, you must not expect\nto gather any figs in Tusculum this year.\"  But Lucius\nAfranius, who had lain under an imputation of treachery for the\nloss of the army in Spain, when he saw Pompey purposely\ndeclining an engagement, declared openly, that he could not but\nadmire, why those who were so ready to accuse him, did not go\nthemselves and fight this buyer and seller of their provinces.\n\nWith these and many such speeches they wrought upon Pompey, who\nnever could bear reproach, or resist the expectations of his\nfriends; and thus they forced him to break his measures, so\nthat he forsook his own prudent resolution to follow their vain\nhopes and desires:  weakness that would have been blamable ill\nthe pilot of a ship, how much more in the sovereign commander\nof such an army, and so many nations.  But he, though he had\noften commended those physicians who did not comply with the\ncapricious appetites of their patients, yet himself could not\nbut yield to the malady and disease of his companions and\nadvisers in the war, rather than use some severity in their\ncure.  Truly who could have said that health was not disordered\nand a cure not required in the case of men who went up and down\nthe camp, suing already for the consulship and office of\npraetor, while Spinther, Domitius, and Scipio made friends,\nraised factions, and quarrelled among themselves, who should\nsucceed Caesar in the dignity of his high-priesthood, esteeming\nall as lightly, as if they were to engage only with Tigranes,\nking of Armenia, or some petty Nabathaean king, not with that\nCaesar and his army that had stormed a thousand towns, and\nsubdued more than three hundred several nations; that had\nfought innumerable battles with the Germans and Gauls, and\nalways carried the victory; that had taken a million of men\nprisoners, and slain as many upon the spot in pitched battles?\n\nBut they went on soliciting and clamoring, and on reaching the\nplain of Pharsalia, they forced Pompey by their pressure and\nimportunities to call a council of war, where Labienus, general\nof the horse, stood up first and swore that he would not return\nout of the battle if he did not rout the enemies; and a]l the\nrest took the same oath.  That night Pompey dreamed that as he\nwent into the theater, the people received him with great\napplause, and that he himself adorned the temple of Venus the\nVictorious, with many spoils.  This vision partly encouraged,\nbut partly also disheartened him, fearing lest that splendor\nand ornament to Venus should be made with spoils furnished by\nhimself to Caesar, who derived his family from that goddess.\nBesides there were some panic fears and alarms that ran through\nthe camp, with such a noise that it awaked him out of his\nsleep.  And about the time of renewing the watch towards\nmorning, there appeared a great light over Caesar's camp,\nwhilst they were all at rest, and from thence a ball of flaming\nfire was carried into Pompey's camp, which Caesar himself says\nhe saw, as he was walking his rounds.\n\nNow Caesar having designed to raise his camp with the morning\nand move to Scotussa, whilst the soldiers were busy in pulling\ndown their tents, and sending on their cattle and servants\nbefore them with their baggage, there came in scouts who\nbrought word that they saw arms carried to and fro in the\nenemy's camp, and heard a noise and running up and down, as of\nmen preparing for battle; not long after there came in other\nscouts with further intelligence, that the first ranks were\nalready set in battle array.  Thereupon Caesar, when he had\ntold them that the wished for day was come at last, when they\nshould fight with men, not with hunger and famine, instantly\ngave orders for the red colors to be set up before his tent,\nthat being the ordinary signal of battle among the Romans.  As\nsoon as the soldiers saw that, they left their tents, and with\ngreat shouts of joy ran to their arms; the officers, likewise,\non their parts drawing up their companies in order of battle,\nevery man fell into his proper rank without any trouble or\nnoise, as quietly and orderly as if they had been in a dance.\n\nPompey himself led the right wing of his army against Antony,\nand placed his father-in-law Scipio in the middle against\nLucius Calvinus.  The left wing was commanded by Lucius\nDomitius; and supported by the great mass of the horse.  For\nalmost the whole cavalry was posted there, in the hope of\ncrushing Caesar, and cutting off the tenth legion, which was\nspoken of as the stoutest in all the army, and in which Caesar\nhimself usually fought in person.  Caesar observing the left\nwing of the enemy to be lined and fortified with such a mighty\nguard of horse, and alarmed at the gallantry of their\nappearance, sent for a detachment of six cohorts out of the\nreserves, and placed them in the rear of the tenth legion,\ncommanding them not to stir, lest they should be discovered by\nthe enemy; but when the enemy's horse should begin to charge,\nand press upon them, that they should make up with all speed to\nthe front through the foremost ranks, and not throw their\njavelins at a distance, as is usual with brave soldiers, that\nthey may come to a close fight with their swords the sooner,\nbut that they should strike them upwards into the eyes and\nfaces of the enemy; telling them that those fine young dancers\nwould never endure the steel shining in their eyes, but would\nfly to save their handsome faces.  This was Caesar's employment\nat that time.  But while he was thus instructing his soldiers,\nPompey on horseback was viewing the order of both armies, and\nwhen he saw how well the enemy kept their ranks, expecting\nquietly the signal of battle; and, on the contrary, how\nimpatient and unsteady his own men were, waving up and down in\ndisorder for want of experience, he was very much afraid that\ntheir ranks would be broken upon the first onset; and therefore\nhe gave out orders that the van should make a stand, and\nkeeping close in their ranks, should receive the enemy's\ncharge.  Caesar much condemns this command; which he says not\nonly took off from the strength of the blows, which would\notherwise have been made with a spring; but also lost the men\nthe impetus, which, more than anything, in the moment of their\ncoming upon the enemy, fills soldiers with impulse and\ninspiration, the very shouts and rapid pace adding to their\nfury; of which Pompey deprived his men, arresting them in their\ncourse and cooling down their heat.\n\nCaesar's army consisted of twenty-two thousand, and Pompey's of\nsomewhat above twice as many.  When the signal of battle was\ngiven on both sides, and the trumpets began to sound a charge,\nmost men of course were fully occupied with their own matters;\nonly some few of the noblest Romans, together with certain\nGreeks there present, standing as spectators without the\nbattle, seeing the armies now ready to join, could not but\nconsider in themselves to what a pass private ambition and\nemulation had brought the empire.  Common arms, and kindred\nranks drawn up under the self-same standards, the whole flower\nand strength of the same single city here meeting in collision\nwith itself, offered plain proof how blind and how mad a thing\nhuman nature is, when once possessed with any passion; for if\nthey had been desirous only to rule, and enjoy in peace what\nthey had conquered in war, the greatest and best part of the\nworld was subject to them both by sea and land.  But if there\nwas yet a thirst in their ambition, that must still be fed with\nnew trophies and triumphs, the Parthian and German wars would\nyield matter enough to satisfy the most covetous of honor.\nScythia, moreover, was yet unconquered, and the Indians too,\nwhere their ambition might be colored over with the specious\npretext of civilizing barbarous nations.  And what Scythian\nhorse, Parthian arrows, or Indian riches, could be able to\nresist seventy thousand Roman soldiers, well appointed in arms,\nunder the command of two such generals as Pompey and Caesar,\nwhose names they had heard of before that of the Romans, and\nwhose prowess, by their conquests of such wild, remote, savage,\nand brutish nations, was spread further than the fame of the\nRomans themselves?  Today they met in conflict, and could no\nlonger be induced to spare their country, even out of regard\nfor their own glory or the fear of losing the name which till\nthis day both had held, of having never yet been defeated.  As\nfor their former private ties, and the charms of Julia, and the\nmarriage that had made them near connections, these could now\nonly be looked upon as tricks of state, the mere securities of\na treaty made to serve the needs of an occasion, not the\npledges of any real friendship.\n\nNow, therefore, as soon as the plains of Pharsalia were covered\nwith men, horse, and armor, and that the signal of battle was\nraised on either side, Caius Crassianus, a centurion, who\ncommanded a company of one hundred and twenty men, was the\nfirst that advanced out of Caesar's army, to give the charge,\nand acquit himself of a solemn engagement that he had made to\nCaesar.  He had been the first man that Caesar had seen going\nout of the camp in the morning, and Caesar, after saluting him,\nhad asked him what he thought of the coming battle.  To which\nhe, stretching out his right hand, replied aloud, \"Thine is the\nvictory, O Caesar, thou shalt conquer gloriously, and I myself\nthis day will be the subject of thy praise either alive or\ndead.\"  In pursuance of this promise he hastened forward, and\nbeing followed by many more, charged into the midst of the\nenemy.  There they came at once to a close fight with their\nswords, and made a great slaughter; but as he was still\npressing forward, and breaking the ranks of the vanguard, one\nof Pompey's soldiers ran him in at the mouth, so that the point\nof the sword came out behind at his neck; and Crassianus being\nthus slain, the fight became doubtful, and continued equal on\nthat part of the battle.\n\nPompey had not yet brought on the right wing, but stayed and\nlooked about, waiting to see what execution his cavalry would\ndo on the left.  They had already drawn out their squadrons in\nform, designing to turn Caesar's flank, and force those few\nhorse, which he had placed in the front, to give back upon the\nbattalion of foot.  But Caesar, on the other side, having given\nthe signal, his horse retreated back a little, and gave way to\nthose six subsidiary cohorts, which had been posted in the\nrear, as a reserve to cover the flank; and which now came out,\nthree thousand men in number, and met the enemy; and when they\ncame up, standing by the horses, struck their javelins upwards,\naccording to their instructions, and hit the horsemen full in\ntheir faces.  They, unskillful in any manner of fight, and\nleast of all expecting or understanding such a kind as this,\nhad not courage enough to endure the blows upon their faces,\nbut turning their backs, and covering their eyes with their\nhands, shamefully took to flight.  Caesar's men, however, did\nnot follow them, but marched upon the foot, and attacked the\nwing, which the flight of the cavalry had left unprotected, and\nliable to be turned and taken in the rear, so that this wing\nnow being attacked in the flank by these, and charged in the\nfront by the tenth legion, was not able to abide the charge, or\nmake any longer resistance, especially when they saw themselves\nsurrounded and circumvented in the very way in which they had\ndesigned to invest the enemy.  Thus these being likewise routed\nand put to flight, when Pompey, by the dust flying in the air,\nconjectured the fate of his horse, it were very hard to say\nwhat his thoughts or intentions were, but looking like one\ndistracted and beside himself, and without any recollection or\nreflection that he was Pompey the Great, he retired slowly\ntowards his camp, without speaking a word to any man, exactly\naccording to the description in the verses,\n\nBut Jove from heaven struck Ajax with a fear;\nAjax the bold then stood astonished there,\nFlung o'er his back the mighty sevenfold shield,\nAnd trembling gazed and spied about the field.\n\nIn this state and condition he went into his own tent, and sat\ndown, speechless still, until some of the enemy fell in\ntogether with his men that were flying into the camp, and then\nhe let fall only this one word, \"What?  into the very camp?\"\nand said no more; but rose up, and putting on a dress suitable\nto his present fortune, made his way secretly out.\n\nBy this time the rest of the army was put to flight, and there\nwas a great slaughter in the camp among the servants and those\nthat guarded the tents, but of the soldiers themselves there\nwere not above six thousand slain, as is stated by Asinius\nPollio, who himself fought in this battle on Caesar's side.\nWhen Caesar's soldiers had taken the camp, they saw clearly the\nfolly and vanity of the enemy; for all their tents and\npavilions were richly set out with garlands of myrtle,\nembroidered carpets and hangings, and tables laid and covered\nwith goblets.  There were large bowls of wine ready, and\neverything prepared and put in array, in the manner rather of\npeople who had offered sacrifice and were going to celebrate a\nholiday, than of soldiers who had armed themselves to go out to\nbattle, so possessed with the expectation of success and so\nfull of empty confidence had they gone out that morning.\n\nWhen Pompey had got a little way from the camp, he dismounted\nand forsook his horse, having but a small retinue with him; and\nfinding that no man pursued him, walked on softly afoot, taken\nup altogether with thoughts, such as probably might possess a\nman that for the space of thirty-four years together had been\naccustomed to conquest and victory, and was then at last, in\nhis old age, learning for the first time what defeat and flight\nwere.  And it was no small affliction to consider, that he had\nlost in one hour all that glory and power, which he had been\ngetting in so many wars, and bloody battles; and that he who\nbut a little before was guarded with such an army of foot, so\nmany squadrons of horse, and such a mighty fleet, was now\nflying in so mean a condition, and with such a slender retinue,\nthat his very enemies who fought him could not know him.  Thus,\nwhen he had passed by the city of Larissa, and came into the\npass of Tempe, being very thirsty, he kneeled down and drank\nout of the river; then rising up again, he passed through\nTempe, until he came to the seaside, and there he betook\nhimself to a poor fisherman's cottage, where he rested the\nremainder of the night.  The next morning about break of day he\nwent into one of the river boats, and taking none of those that\nfollowed him except such as were free, dismissed his servants,\nadvising them to go boldly to Caesar, and not be afraid.  As he\nwas rowing up and down near the shore, he chanced to spy a\nlarge merchant-ship, lying off, just ready to set sail; the\nmaster of which was a Roman citizen, named Peticius, who,\nthough he was not familiarly acquainted with Pompey, yet knew\nhim well by sight.  Now it happened that this Peticius dreamed,\nthe night before, that he saw Pompey, not like the man he had\noften seen him, but in a humble and dejected condition, and in\nthat posture discoursing with him.  He was then telling his\ndream to the people on board, as men do when at leisure, and\nespecially dreams of that consequence, when of a sudden one of\nthe mariners told him, he saw a river boat with oars putting\noff from shore, and that some of the men there shook their\ngarments, and held out their hands, with signs to take them in;\nthereupon Peticius looking attentively, at once recognized\nPompey, just as he appeared in his dream, and smiting his hand\non his head, ordered the mariners to let down the ship's boat,\nhe himself waving his hand, and calling to him by his name,\nalready assured of his change and the change of his fortune by\nthat of his garb.  So that without waiting for any further\nentreaty or discourse, he took him into his ship, together with\nas many of his company as he thought fit, and hoisted sail.\nThere were with him the two Lentuli, and Favonius; and a little\nafter they spied king Deiotarus, making up towards them from\nthe shore; so they stayed and took him in along with them.  At\nsupper time, the master of the ship having made ready such\nprovisions as he had aboard, Pompey, for want of his servants,\nbegan to undo his shoes himself; which Favonius noticing ran to\nhim and undid them, and helped him to anoint himself, and\nalways after continued to wait upon, and attend him in all\nthings, as servants do their masters, even to the washing of\nhis feet, and preparing his supper.  Insomuch that anyone\nthere present, observing the free and unaffected courtesy of\nthese services, might have well exclaimed,\n\nO heavens, in those that noble are,\nWhate'er they do is fit and fair.\n\nPompey, sailing by the city of Amphipolis, crossed over from\nthence to Mitylene, with a design to take in Cornelia and his\nson; and as soon as he arrived at the port in that island, he\ndispatched a messenger into the city, with news very different\nfrom Cornelia's expectation.  For she, by all the former\nmessages and letters sent to please her, had been put in hopes\nthat the war was ended at Dyrrhachium, and that there was\nnothing more remaining for Pompey, but the pursuit of Caesar.\nThe messenger finding her in the same hopes still, was not able\nto salute or speak to her, but declaring the greatness of her\nmisfortune by his tears rather than by his words, desired her\nto make haste if she would see Pompey, with one ship only, and\nthat not of his own.  The young lady hearing this, fell down in\na swoon, and continued a long time senseless and speechless.\nAnd when with some trouble she was brought to her senses again,\nbeing conscious to herself that this was no time for\nlamentation and tears, she started up and ran through the city\ntowards the seaside, where Pompey meeting and embracing her, as\nshe sank down, supported by his arms, \"This, sir,\" she\nexclaimed, \"is the effect of my fortune, not of yours, that I\nsee you thus reduced to one poor vessel, who before your\nmarriage with Cornelia, were wont to sail in these seas with a\nfleet of five hundred ships.  Why therefore should you come to\nsee me, or why not rather have left to her evil genius one who\nhas brought upon you her own ill-fortune?  How happy a woman\nhad I been, if I had breathed out my last, before the news came\nfrom Parthia of the death of Publius, the husband of my youth,\nand how prudent if I had followed his destiny, as I designed!\nBut I was reserved for a greater mischief, even the ruin of\nPompey the Great.\"\n\nThus, they say, Cornelia spoke to him, and this was Pompey's\nreply:  \"You have had, Cornelia, but one season of a better\nfortune, which it may be, gave you unfounded hopes, by\nattending me a longer time than is usual.  It behoves us, who\nare mortals born, to endure these events, and to try fortune\nyet again; neither is it any less possible to recover our\nformer state, than it was to fall from that into this.\"\nThereupon Cornelia sent for her servants and baggage out of the\ncity.  The citizens also of Mitylene came out to salute and\ninvite Pompey into the city, but he refused, advising them to\nbe obedient to the conqueror, and fear not, for that Caesar was\na man of great goodness and clemency.  Then turning to\nCratippus, the philosopher, who came among the rest out of the\ncity to visit him, he began to find some fault, and briefly\nargued with him upon Providence, but Cratippus modestly\ndeclined the dispute, putting him in better hopes only, lest by\nopposing, he might seem too austere or unseasonable.  For he\nmight have put Pompey a question in his turn, in defense of\nProvidence; and might have demonstrated the necessity there was\nthat the commonwealth should be turned into a monarchy, because\nof their ill government in the state; and could have asked,\n\"How, O Pompey, and by what token or assurance can we\nascertain, that if the victory had been yours, you would have\nused your fortune better than Caesar?  We must leave the divine\npower to act as we find it do.\"\n\nPompey having taken his wife and friends aboard, set sail,\nmaking no port, nor touching anywhere, but when he was\nnecessitated to take in provisions, or fresh water.  The first\ncity he entered was Attalia, in Pamphylia, and whilst he was\nthere, there came some galleys thither to him out of Cilicia,\ntogether with a small body of soldiers, and he had almost sixty\nsenators with him again; then hearing that his navy was safe\ntoo, and that Cato had rallied a considerable body of soldiers\nafter their overthrow, and was crossing with them over into\nAfrica, he began to complain and blame himself to his friends\nthat he had allowed himself to be driven into engaging by land,\nwithout making use of his other forces, in which he was\nirresistibly the stronger, and had not kept near enough to his\nfleet, that failing by land, he might have reinforced himself\nfrom the sea, and would have been again at the head of a power\nquite sufficient to encounter the enemy on equal terms.  And in\ntruth, neither did Pompey during all the war commit a greater\noversight, nor Caesar use a more subtle stratagem, than in\ndrawing the fight so far off from the naval forces.\n\nAs it now was, however, since he must come to some decision,\nand try some plan within his present ability, he dispatched his\nagents to the neighboring cities, and himself sailed about in\nperson to others, requiring their aid in money and men for his\nships.  But, fearing lest the rapid approach of the enemy might\ncut off all his preparations, he began to consider what place\nwould yield him the safest refuge and retreat at present.  A\nconsultation was held, and it was generally agreed that no\nprovince of the Romans was secure enough.  As for foreign\nkingdoms, he himself was of opinion, that Parthia would be the\nfittest to receive and defend them in their present weakness,\nand best able to furnish them with new means and send them out\nagain with large forces.  Others of the council were for going\ninto Africa, and to king Juba.  But Theophanes the Lesbian,\nthought it madness to leave Egypt, that was but at a distance\nof three days' sailing, and make no use of Ptolemy, who was\nstill a boy, and was highly indebted to Pompey for the\nfriendship and favor he had shown to his father, only to put\nhimself under the Parthian, and trust the most treacherous\nnation in the world; and rather than make any trial of the\nclemency of a Roman, and his own near connection, to whom if he\nwould but yield to be second, he might be the first and chief\nover all the rest, to go and place himself at the mercy of\nArsaces, which even Crassus had not submitted to, while alive;\nand, moreover, to expose his young wife, of the family of the\nScipios, among a barbarous people, who govern by their lusts,\nand measure their greatness by their power to commit affronts\nand insolencies; from whom, though she suffered no dishonor,\nyet it might be thought she did, being in the hands of those\nwho had the power to do it.  This argument alone, they say, was\npersuasive enough to divert his course, that was designed\ntowards Euphrates, if it were so indeed that any counsel of\nPompey's, and not some superior power, made him take this other\nway.\n\nAs soon, therefore, as it was resolved upon, that he should fly\ninto Egypt, setting sail from Cyprus in a galley of Seleucia,\ntogether with Cornelia, while the rest of his company sailed\nalong near him, some in ships of war, and others in merchant\nvessels, he passed over sea without danger.  But on hearing\nthat king Ptolemy was posted with his army at the city of\nPelusium, making war against his sister, he steered his course\nthat way, and sent a messenger before to acquaint the king with\nhis arrival, and to crave his protection.  Ptolemy himself was\nquite young, and therefore Pothinus, who had the principal\nadministration of all affairs, called a council of the chief\nmen, those being the greatest whom he pleased to make so, and\ncommanded them every man to deliver his opinion touching the\nreception of Pompey.  It was, indeed, a miserable thing, that\nthe fate of the great Pompey should be left to the\ndeterminations of Pothinus the eunuch, Theodotus of Chios, the\npaid rhetoric master, and Achillas the Egyptian.  For these,\namong the chamberlains and menial domestics, that made up the\nrest of the council, were the chief and leading men.  Pompey,\nwho thought it dishonorable for him to owe his safety to\nCaesar, riding at anchor at a distance from shore, was forced\nto wait the sentence of this tribunal.  It seems they were so\nfar different in their opinions that some were for sending the\nman away, and others again for inviting and receiving him; but\nTheodotus, to show his cleverness and the cogency of his\nrhetoric, undertook to demonstrate, that neither the one nor\nthe other was safe in that juncture of affairs.  For if they\nentertained him, they would be sure to make Caesar their enemy,\nand Pompey their master; or if they dismissed him, they might\nrender themselves hereafter obnoxious to Pompey, for that\ninhospitable expulsion, and to Caesar, for the escape; so that\nthe most expedient course would be to send for him and take\naway his life, for by that means they would ingratiate\nthemselves with the one, and have no reason to fear the other;\nadding, it is related, with a smile, that \"a dead man cannot\nbite.\"\n\nThis advice being approved of, they committed the execution of\nit to Achillas.  He, therefore, taking with him as his\naccomplices one Septimius, a man that had formerly held a\ncommand under Pompey, and Salvius, another centurion, with\nthree or four attendants, made up towards Pompey's galley.  In\nthe meantime, all the chiefest of those who accompanied Pompey\nin this voyage, were come into his ship to learn the event of\ntheir embassy.  But when they saw the manner of their\nreception, that in appearance it was neither princely nor\nhonorable, nor indeed in any way answerable to the hopes of\nTheophanes, or their expectation, (for there came but a few men\nin a fisherman's boat to meet them,) they began to suspect the\nmeanness of their entertainment, and gave warning to Pompey\nthat he should row back his galley, whilst he was out of their\nreach, and make for the sea.  By this time, the Egyptian boat\ndrew near, and Septimius standing up first, saluted Pompey in\nthe Latin tongue, by the title of imperator.  Then Achillas,\nsaluting him in the Greek language, desired him to come aboard\nhis vessel, telling him, that the sea was very shallow towards\nthe shore, and that a galley of that burden could not avoid\nstriking upon the sands.  At the same time they saw several of\nthe king's galleys getting their men on board, and all the\nshore covered with soldiers; so that even if they changed their\nminds, it seemed impossible for them to escape, and besides,\ntheir distrust would have given the assassins a pretence for\ntheir cruelty.  Pompey, therefore, taking his leave of\nCornelia, who was already lamenting his death before it came,\nbade two centurions, with Philip, one of his freedmen, and a\nslave called Scythes, go on board the boat before him.  And as\nsome of the crew with Achillas were reaching out their hands to\nhelp him, he turned about towards his wife and son, and\nrepeated those iambics of Sophocles,\n\nHe that once enters at a tyrant's door,\nBecomes a slave, though he were free before.\n\nThese were the last words he spoke to his friends, and so he\nwent aboard.  Observing presently that notwithstanding there\nwas a considerable distance betwixt his galley and the shore,\nyet none of the company addressed any words of friendliness or\nwelcome to him all the way, he looked earnestly upon Septimius,\nand said, \"I am not mistaken, surely, in believing you to have\nbeen formerly my fellow-soldier.\"  But he only nodded with his\nhead, making no reply at all, nor showing any other courtesy.\nSince, therefore, they continued silent, Pompey took a little\nbook in his hand, in which was written out an address in Greek,\nwhich he intended to make to king Ptolemy, and began to read\nit.  When they drew near to the shore, Cornelia, together with\nthe rest of his friends in the galley, was very impatient to\nsee the event, and began to take courage at last, when she saw\nseveral of the royal escort coming to meet him, apparently to\ngive him a more honorable reception; but in the meantime, as\nPompey took Philip by the hand to rise up more easily,\nSeptimius first stabbed him from behind with his sword; and\nafter him likewise Salvius and Achillas drew out their swords.\nHe, therefore, taking up his gown with both hands, drew it over\nhis face, and neither saying nor doing anything unworthy of\nhimself, only groaning a little, endured the wounds they gave\nhim, and so ended his life, in the fifty-ninth year of his age,\nthe very next day after the day of his birth.\n\nCornelia, with her company from the galley, seeing him\nmurdered, gave such a cry that it was heard to the shore, and\nweighing anchor with all speed, they hoisted sail, and fled.  A\nstrong breeze from the shore assisted their flight into the\nopen sea, so that the Egyptians, though desirous to overtake\nthem, desisted from the pursuit.  But they cut off Pompey's\nhead, and threw the rest of his body overboard, leaving it\nnaked upon the shore, to be viewed by any that had the\ncuriosity to see so sad a spectacle.  Philip stayed by and\nwatched till they had glutted their eyes in viewing it; and\nthen washing it with sea-water, having nothing else, he wrapped\nit up in a shirt of his own for a winding-sheet.  Then seeking\nup and down about the sands, at last he found some rotten\nplanks of a little fisher-boat, not much, but yet enough to\nmake up a funeral pile for a naked body, and that not quite\nentire.  As Philip was busy in gathering and putting these old\nplanks together, an old Roman citizen, who in his youth had\nserved in the wars under Pompey, came up to him and demanded,\nwho he was that was preparing the funeral of Pompey the Great.\nAnd Philip making answer, that he was his freedman, \"Nay,\nthen,\" said he, \"you shall not have this honor alone; let even\nme, too, I pray you, have my share in such a pious office.\nthat I may not altogether repent me of this pilgrimage in a\nstrange land, but in compensation of many misfortunes, may\nobtain this happiness at last, even with mine own hands to\ntouch the body of Pompey, and do the last duties to the\ngreatest general among the Romans.\"  And in this manner were\nthe obsequies of Pompey performed.  The next day Lucius\nLentulus, not knowing what had passed, came sailing from Cyprus\nalong the shore of that coast, and seeing a funeral pile, and\nPhilip standing by, exclaimed, before he was yet seen by any\none, \"Who is this that has found his end here?\"  adding, after\na short pause, with a sigh, \"Possibly even thou, Pompeius\nMagnus!\"  and so going ashore, he was presently apprehended and\nslain.  This was the end of Pompey.\n\nNot long after, Caesar arrived in the country that was polluted\nwith this foul act, and when one of the Egyptians was sent to\npresent him with Pompey's head, he turned away from him with\nabhorrence as from a murderer; and on receiving his seal, on\nwhich was engraved a lion holding a sword in his paw, he burst\ninto tears.  Achillas and Pothinus he put to death; and king\nPtolemy himself, being overthrown in battle upon the banks of\nthe Nile, fled away and was never heard of afterwards.\nTheodotus, the rhetorician, flying out of Egypt, escaped the\nhands of Caesar's justice, but lived a vagabond in banishment;\nwandering up and down, despised and hated of all men, till at\nlast Marcus Brutus, after he had killed Caesar, finding him in\nhis province of Asia, put him to death, with every kind of\nignominy.  The ashes of Pompey were carried to his wife\nCornelia, who deposited them at his country house near Alba.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF POMPEY AND AGESILAUS\n\nThus having drawn out the history of the lives of Agesilaus and\nPompey, the next thing is to compare them; and in order to this, to\ntake a cursory view, and bring together the points in which they\nchiefly disagree; which are these.  In the first place, Pompey\nattained to all his greatness and glory by the fairest and justest\nmeans, owing his advancement to his own efforts, and to the frequent\nand important aid which he rendered Sylla, in delivering Italy from\nits tyrants.  But Agesilaus appears to have obtained his kingdom,\nnot without offense both towards gods and towards men, towards\nthese, by procuring judgment of bastardy against Leotychides, whom\nhis brother had declared his lawful son, and towards those, by\nputting a false gloss upon the oracle, and eluding its sentence\nagainst his lameness.  Secondly, Pompey never ceased to display his\nrespect for Sylla during his lifetime, and expressed it also after\nhis death, by enforcing the honorable interment of his corpse, in\ndespite of Lepidus, and by giving his daughter in marriage to his\nson Faustus.  But Agesilaus, upon a slight presence, cast off\nLysander with reproach and dishonor.  Yet Sylla in fact had owed to\nPompey's services, as much as Pompey ever received from him, whereas\nLysander made Agesilaus king of Sparta, and general of all Greece.\nThirdly, Pompey's transgressions of right and justice in his\npolitical life were occasioned chiefly by his relations with other\npeople, and most of his errors had some affinity, as well as\nhimself, to Caesar and Scipio, his fathers-in-law.  But Agesilaus,\nto gratify the fondness of his son, saved the life of Sphodrias by a\nsort of violence, when he deserved death for the wrong he had done\nto the Athenians; and when Phoebidas treacherously broke the peace\nwith Thebes, zealously abetted him for the sake, it was clear, of\nthe unjust act itself.  In short, what mischief soever Pompey might\nbe said to have brought on Rome through compliance with the wishes\nof his friends or through inadvertency, Agesilaus may be said to\nhave brought on Sparta out of obstinacy and malice, by kindling the\nBoeotian war.  And if, moreover, we are to attribute any part of\nthese disasters to some personal ill-fortune attaching to the men\nthemselves, in the case of Pompey, certainly, the Romans had no\nreason to anticipate it.  Whereas Agesilaus would not suffer the\nLacedaemonians to avoid what they foresaw and were forewarned must\nattend the \"lame sovereignty.\"  For had Leotychides been chargeable\nten thousand times as foreign and spurious, yet the race of the\nEurypontidae was still in being, and could easily have furnished\nSparta with a lawful king, that was sound in his limbs, had not\nLysander darkened and disguised the true sense of the oracle in\nfavor of Agesilaus.\n\nSuch a politic piece of sophistry as was devised by Agesilaus, in\nthat great perplexity of the people as to the treatment to be given\nto those who had played the coward at the battle of Leuctra, when\nafter that unhappy defeat, he decreed, that the laws should sleep\nfor that day, it would be hard to find any parallel to; neither\nindeed have we the fellow of it in all Pompey's story.  But on the\ncontrary, Pompey for a friend thought it no sin to break those very\nlaws which he himself had made; as if to show at once the force of\nhis friendship, and the greatness of his power; whereas Agesilaus,\nunder the necessity, as it seemed, of either rescinding the laws, or\nnot saving the citizens, contrived an expedient by the help of which\nthe laws should not touch these citizens, and yet should not, to\navoid it, be overthrown.  Then I must commend it as an incomparable\nact of civil virtue and obedience in Agesilaus, that immediately\nupon the receipt of the scytala, he left the wars in Asia, and\nreturned into his country.  For he did not like Pompey merely\nadvance his country's interest by acts that contributed at the same\ntime to promote his own greatness, but looking to his country's\ngood, for its sake laid aside as great authority and honor as ever\nany man had before or since, except Alexander the Great.\n\nBut now to take another point of view, if we sum up Pompey's\nmilitary expeditions and exploits of war, the number of his\ntrophies, and the greatness of the powers which he subdued, and the\nmultitude of battles in which he triumphed, I am persuaded even\nXenophon himself would not put the victories of Agesilaus in balance\nwith his, though Xenophon has this privilege allowed him, as a sort\nof special reward for his other excellences, that he may write and\nspeak, in favor of his hero, whatever he pleases.  Methinks, too,\nthere is a great deal of difference betwixt these men, in their\nclemency and moderation towards their enemies.  For Agesilaus, while\nattempting to enslave Thebes and exterminate Messene, the latter,\nhis country's ancient associate, and Thebes, the mother-city of his\nown royal house, almost lost Sparta itself, and did really lose the\ngovernment of Greece; whereas Pompey gave cities to those of the\npirates who were willing to change their manner of life; and when it\nwas in his power to lead Tigranes, king of Armenia, in triumph, he\nchose rather to make him a confederate of the Romans, saying, that a\nsingle day was worth less than all future time.  But if the\npreeminence in that which relates to the office and virtues of a\ngeneral, should be determined by the greatest and most important\nacts and counsels of war, the Lacedaemonian would not a little\nexceed the Roman.  For Agesilaus never deserted his city, though it\nwas besieged by an army of seventy thousand men, when there were\nvery few soldiers within to defend it, and those had been defeated\ntoo, but a little before, at the battle of Leuctra.  But Pompey,\nwhen Caesar with a body only of fifty-three hundred men, had taken\nbut one town in Italy, departed in a panic out of Rome, either\nthrough cowardice, when there were so few, or at least through a\nfalse and mistaken belief that there were more; and having conveyed\naway his wife and children, he left all the rest of the citizens\ndefenseless, and fled; whereas he ought either to have conquered in\nfight for the defense of his country, or yielded upon terms to the\nconqueror, who was moreover his fellow-citizen, and allied to him;\nbut now to the same man to whom he refused a prolongation of the\nterm of his government, and thought it intolerable to grant\nanother consulship, to him he gave the power, by letting him take\nthe city, to tell Metellus, together with all the rest, that they\nwere his prisoners.\n\nThat which is chiefly the office of a general, to force the enemy\ninto fighting when he finds himself the stronger, and to avoid being\ndriven into it himself when he is the weaker, this excellence\nAgesilaus always displayed, and by it kept himself invincible;\nwhereas in contending with Pompey, Caesar, who was the weaker,\nsuccessfully declined the danger, and his own strength being in his\nland forces.  drove him into putting the conflict to issue with\nthese, and thus made himself master of the treasure, stores, and the\nsea too, which were all in his enemy's hands, and by the help of\nwhich the victory could have been secured without fighting.  And\nwhat is alleged as an apology in vindication of Pompey, is to a\ngeneral of his age and standing the greatest of disgraces.  For,\ngranting that a young commander might by clamor and outcry be\ndeprived of his fortitude and strength of mind, and weakly forsake\nhis better judgment, and the thing be neither strange nor altogether\nunpardonable, yet for Pompey the Great, whose camp the Romans called\ntheir country, and his tent the senate, styling the consuls,\npraetors, and all other magistrates who were conducting, the\ngovernment at Rome, by no better title than that of rebels and\ntraitors, for him, whom they well knew never to have been under the\ncommand of any but himself, having served all his campaigns under\nhimself as sole general, for him upon so small a provocation as the\nscoffs of Favonius and Domitius, and lest he should bear the\nnickname of Agamemnon, to be wrought upon, and even forced to hazard\nthe whole empire and liberty of Rome upon the cast of a die, was\nsurely indeed intolerable.  Who, if he had so much regarded a\npresent infamy, should have guarded the city at first with his arms,\nand fought the battle in defense of Rome, not have left it as he\ndid; nor while declaring his flight from Italy an artifice in the\nmanner of Themistocles, nevertheless be ashamed in Thessaly of a\nprudent delay before engaging.  Heaven had not appointed the\nPharsalian fields to be the stage and theater upon which they should\ncontend for the empire of Rome, neither was he summoned thither by\nany herald upon challenge, with intimation that he must either\nundergo the combat, or surrender the prize to another.  There were\nmany other fields, thousands of cities, and even the whole earth\nplaced at his command, by the advantage of his fleet, and his\nsuperiority at sea, if he would but have followed the examples of\nMaximus, Marius, Lucullus, and even Agesilaus himself, who endured\nno less tumults within the city of Sparta, when the Thebans provoked\nhim to come out and fight in defense of the land, and sustained in\nEgypt also numerous calumnies, slanders, and suspicions on the part\nof the king, whom he counseled to abstain from a battle.  And thus\nfollowing always what he had determined in his own judgment upon\nmature advice, by that means he not only preserved the Egyptians,\nagainst their wills, not only kept Sparta, in those desperate\nconvulsions, by his sole act, safe from overthrow, but even was able\nto set up trophies likewise in the city over the Thebans, having\ngiven his countrymen an occasion of being victorious afterwards by\nnot at first leading them out, as they tried to force him to do to\ntheir own destruction.  The consequence was that in the end\nAgesilaus was commended by the very men, when they found themselves\nsaved, upon whom he had put this compulsion, whereas Pompey, whose\nerror had been occasioned by others, found those his accusers whose\nadvice had misled him.  Some indeed profess that he was deceived by\nhis father-in-law Scipio, who, designing to conceal and keep to\nhimself the greatest part of that treasure which he had brought out\nof Asia, pressed Pompey to battle, upon the pretence that there\nwould be a want of money.  Yet admitting he was deceived, one in his\nplace ought not to have been so, nor should have allowed so slight\nan artifice to cause the hazard of such mighty interests.  And thus\nwe have taken a view of each, by comparing together their conduct,\nand actions in war.\n\nAs to their voyages into Egypt, one steered his course thither out\nof necessity in flight; the other neither honorably, nor of\nnecessity, but as a mercenary soldier, having enlisted himself into\nthe service of a barbarous nation for pay, that he might be able\nafterwards to wage war upon the Greeks.  And secondly, what we\ncharge upon the Egyptians in the name of Pompey, the Egyptians lay\nto the charge of Agesilaus.  Pompey trusted them and was betrayed\nand murdered by them; Agesilaus accepted their confidence and\ndeserted them, transferring his aid to the very enemies who were now\nattacking those whom be had been brought over to assist.\n\n\n\nALEXANDER\n\nIt being my purpose to write the lives of Alexander the king, and\nof Caesar, by whom Pompey was destroyed, the multitude of their\ngreat actions affords so large a field that I were to blame if I\nshould not by way of apology forewarn my reader that I have chosen\nrather to epitomize the most celebrated parts of their story, than\nto insist at large on every particular circumstance of it.  It\nmust be borne in mind that my design is not to write histories,\nbut lives.  And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish\nus with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men;\nsometimes a matter of less moment, an expression or a jest,\ninforms us better of their characters and inclinations, than the\nmost famous sieges, the greatest armaments, or the bloodiest\nbattles whatsoever.  Therefore as portrait-painters are more exact\nin the lines and features of the face in which the character is\nseen, than in the other parts of the body, so I must be allowed to\ngive my more particular attention to the marks and indications of\nthe souls of men, and while I endeavor by these to portray their\nlives, may be free to leave more weighty matters and great battles\nto be treated of by others.\n\nIt is agreed on by all hands, that on the father's side, Alexander\ndescended from Hercules by Caranus, and from Aeacus by Neoptolemus\non the mother's side.  His father Philip, being in Samothrace,\nwhen he was quite young, fell in love there with Olympias, in\ncompany with whom he was initiated in the religious ceremonies of\nthe country, and her father and mother being both dead, soon\nafter, with the consent of her brother Arymbas, he married her.\nThe night before the consummation of their marriage, she dreamed\nthat a thunderbolt fell upon her body, which kindled a great fire,\nwhose divided flames dispersed themselves all about, and then were\nextinguished.  And Philip some time after he was married, dreamt\nthat he sealed up his wife's body with a seal, whose impression,\nas he fancied, was the figure of a lion.  Some of the diviners\ninterpreted this as a warning to Philip to look narrowly to his\nwife; but Aristander of Telmessus, considering how unusual it was\nto seal up anything that was empty, assured him the meaning of\nhis dream was, that the queen was with child of a boy, who would\none day prove as stout and courageous as a lion.  Once, moreover,\na serpent was found lying by Olympias as she slept, which more\nthan anything else, it is said, abated Philip's passion for her;\nand whether he feared her as an enchantress, or thought she had\ncommerce with some god, and so looked on himself as excluded, he\nwas ever after less fond of her conversation.  Others say, that\nthe women of this country having always been extremely addicted\nto the enthusiastic Orphic rites, and the wild worship of Bacchus,\n(upon which account they were called Clodones, and Mimallones,)\nimitated in many things the practices of the Edonian and Thracian\nwomen about Mount Haemus, from whom the word threskeuein, seems\nto have been derived, as a special term for superfluous and\nover-curious forms of adoration; and that Olympias, zealously\naffecting these fanatical and enthusiastic inspirations, to\nperform them with more barbaric dread, was wont in the dances\nproper to these ceremonies to have great tame serpents about her,\nwhich sometimes creeping out of the ivy and the mystic fans,\nsometimes winding themselves about the sacred spears, and the\nwomen's chaplets, made a spectacle which the men could not look\nupon without terror.\n\nPhilip, after this vision, sent Chaeron of Megalopolis to consult\nthe oracle of Apollo at Delphi, by which he was commanded to\nperform sacrifice, and henceforth pay particular honor, above all\nother gods, to Ammon; and was told he should one day lose that eye\nwith which he presumed to peep through the chink of the door, when\nhe saw the god, under the form of a serpent, in the company of his\nwife.  Eratosthenes says that Olympias, when she attended\nAlexander on his way to the army in his first expedition, told him\nthe secret of his birth, and bade him behave himself with courage\nsuitable to his divine extraction.  Others again affirm that she\nwholly disclaimed any pretensions of the kind, and was wont to\nsay, \"When will Alexander leave off slandering me to Juno?\"\n\nAlexander was born the sixth of Hecatombaeon, which month the\nMacedonians call Lous, the same day that the temple of Diana at\nEphesus was burnt; which Hegesias of Magnesia makes the occasion\nof a conceit, frigid enough to have stopped the conflagration.\nThe temple, he says, took fire and was burnt while its mistress\nwas absent, assisting at the birth of Alexander.  And all the\nEastern soothsayers who happened to be then at Ephesus, looking\nupon the ruin of this temple to be the forerunner of some other\ncalamity, ran about the town, beating their faces, and crying,\nthat this day had brought forth something that would prove fatal\nand destructive to all Asia.\n\nJust after Philip had taken Potidaea, he received these three\nmessages at one time, that Parmenio had overthrown the Illyrians\nin a great battle, that his race-horse had won the course at the\nOlympic games, and that his wife had given birth to Alexander;\nwith which being naturally well pleased, as an addition to his\nsatisfaction, he was assured by the diviners that a son, whose\nbirth was accompanied with three such successes, could not fail of\nbeing invincible.\n\nThe statues that gave the best representation of Alexander's\nperson, were those of Lysippus, (by whom alone he would suffer his\nimage to be made,) those peculiarities which many of his\nsuccessors afterwards and his friends used to affect to imitate,\nthe inclination of his head a little on one side towards his left\nshoulder, and his melting eye, having been expressed by this\nartist with great exactness.  But Apelles, who drew him with\nthunderbolts in his hand, made his complexion browner and darker\nthan it was naturally; for he was fair and of a light color,\npassing into ruddiness in his face and upon his breast.\nAristoxenus in his Memoirs tells us that a most agreeable odor\nexhaled from his skin, and that his breath and body all over was\nso fragrant as to perfume the clothes which he wore next him; the\ncause of which might probably be the hot and adjust temperament of\nhis body.  For sweet smells, Theophrastus conceives, are produced\nby the concoction of moist humors by heat, which is the reason\nthat those parts of the world which are driest and most burnt up,\nafford spices of the best kind, and in the greatest quantity; for\nthe heat of the sun exhausts all the superfluous moisture which\nlies in the surface of bodies, ready to generate putrefaction.\nAnd this hot constitution, it may be, rendered Alexander so\naddicted to drinking, and so choleric.  His temperance, as to the\npleasures of the body, was apparent in him in his very childhood,\nas he was with much difficulty incited to them, and always used\nthem with great moderation; though in other things he was\nextremely eager and vehement, and in his love of glory, and the\npursuit of it, he showed a solidity of high spirit and magnanimity\nfar above his age.  For he neither sought nor valued it upon every\noccasion, as his father Philip did, (who affected to show his\neloquence almost to a degree of pedantry, and took care to have\nthe victories of his racing chariots at the Olympic games\nengraved on his coin,) but when he was asked by some about him,\nwhether he would run a race in the Olympic games, as he was very\nswift-footed, he answered, he would, if he might have kings to run\nwith him.  Indeed, he seems in general to have looked with\nindifference, if not with dislike, upon the professed athletes.\nHe often appointed prizes, for which not only tragedians and\nmusicians, pipers and harpers, but rhapsodists also, strove to\noutvie one another; and delighted in all manner of hunting and\ncudgel-playing, but never gave any encouragement to contests\neither of boxing or of the pancratium.\n\nWhile he was yet very young, he entertained the ambassadors from\nthe king of Persia, in the absence of his father, and entering\nmuch into conversation with them, gained so much upon them by his\naffability, and the questions he asked them, which were far from\nbeing childish or trifling, (for he inquired of them the length of\nthe ways, the nature of the road into inner Asia, the character of\ntheir king, how he carried himself to his enemies, and what forces\nhe was able to bring, into the field,) that they were struck with\nadmiration of him, and looked upon the ability so much famed of\nPhilip, to be nothing in comparison with the forwardness and high\npurpose that appeared thus early in his son.  Whenever he heard\nPhilip had taken any town of importance, or won any signal\nvictory, instead of rejoicing at it altogether, he would tell his\ncompanions that his father would anticipate everything, and leave\nhim and them no opportunities of performing great and illustrious\nactions.  For being more bent upon action and glory than either\nupon pleasure or riches, he esteemed all that he should receive\nfrom his father as a diminution and prevention of his own future\nachievements; and would have chosen rather to succeed to a kingdom\ninvolved in troubles and wars, which would have afforded him\nfrequent exercise of his courage, and a large field of honor, than\nto one already flourishing and settled, where his inheritance\nwould be an inactive life, and the mere enjoyment of wealth and\nluxury.\n\nThe care of his education, as it might be presumed, was committed\nto a great many attendants, preceptors, and teachers, over the\nwhole of whom Leonidas, a near kinsman of Olympias, a man of an\naustere temper, presided, who did not indeed himself decline the\nname of what in reality is a noble and honorable office, but in\ngeneral his dignity, and his near relationship, obtained him from\nother people the title of Alexander's foster father and governor.\nBut he who took upon him the actual place and style of his\npedagogue, was Lysimachus the Acarnanian, who, though he had\nnothing specially to recommend him, but his lucky fancy of calling\nhimself Phoenix, Alexander Achilles, and Philip Peleus, was\ntherefore well enough esteemed, and ranked in the next degree\nafter Leonidas.\n\nPhilonicus the Thessalian brought the horse Bucephalas to Philip,\noffering to sell him for thirteen talents; but when they went into\nthe field to try him, they found him so very vicious and\nunmanageable, that he reared up when they endeavored to mount him,\nand would not so much as endure the voice of any of Philip's\nattendants.  Upon which, as they were leading him away as wholly\nuseless and untractable, Alexander, who stood by, said, \"What an\nexcellent horse do they lose, for want of address and boldness to\nmanage him!\"  Philip at first took no notice of what he said; but\nwhen he heard him repeat the same thing several times, and saw he\nwas much vexed to see the horse sent away, \"Do you reproach,\" said\nhe to him, \"those who are older than yourself, as if you knew\nmore, and were better able to manage him than they?\"  \"I could\nmanage this horse,\" replied he, \"better than others do.\"  \"And if\nyou do not,\" said Philip, \"what will you forfeit for your\nrashness?\"  \"I will pay,\" answered Alexander, \"the whole price of\nthe horse.\"  At this the whole company fell a laughing; and as\nsoon as the wager was settled amongst them, he immediately ran to\nthe horse, and taking hold of the bridle, turned him directly\ntowards the sun, having, it seems, observed that he was disturbed\nat and afraid of the motion of his own shadow; then letting him go\nforward a little, still keeping the reins in his hand, and\nstroking him gently when he found him begin to grow eager and\nfiery, he let fall his upper garment softly, and with one nimble\nleap securely mounted him, and when he was seated, by little and\nlittle drew in the bridle, and curbed him without either striking\nor spurring him.  Presently, when he found him free from all\nrebelliousness, and on]y impatient for the course, he let him go\nat full speed, inciting him now with a commanding voice, and\nurging him also with his heel.  Philip and his friends looked on\nat first in silence and anxiety for the result, till seeing him\nturn at the end of his career, and come back rejoicing and\ntriumphing for what he had performed, they all burst out into\nacclamations of applause; and his father, shedding tears, it is\nsaid, for joy, kissed him as he came down from his horse, and in\nhis transport, said, \"O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to\nand worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee.\"\n\nAfter this, considering him to be of a temper easy to be led to\nhis duty by reason, but by no means to be compelled, he always\nendeavored to persuade rather than to command or force him to\nanything; and now looking upon the instruction and tuition of his\nyouth to be of greater difficulty and importance, than to be\nwholly trusted to the ordinary masters in music and poetry, and\nthe common school subjects, and to require, as Sophocles says,\n\nThe bridle and the rudder too,\n\nhe sent for Aristotle, the most learned and most cerebrated\nphilosopher of his time, and rewarded him with a munificence\nproportionable to and becoming the care he took to instruct his\nson.  For he repeopled his native city Stagira, which he had\ncaused to be demolished a little before, and restored all the\ncitizens who were in exile or slavery, to their habitations.  As a\nplace for the pursuit of their studies and exercises, he assigned\nthe temple of the Nymphs, near Mieza, where, to this very day,\nthey show you Aristotle's stone seats, and the shady walks which\nhe was wont to frequent.  It would appear that Alexander received\nfrom him not only his doctrines of Morals, and of Politics, but\nalso something of those more abstruse and profound theories which\nthese philosophers, by the very names they gave them, professed\nto reserve for oral communication to the initiated, and did not\nallow many to become acquainted with.  For when he was in Asia,\nand heard Aristotle had published some treatises of that kind, he\nwrote to him, using very plain language to him in behalf of\nphilosophy, the following letter.  \"Alexander to Aristotle\ngreeting.  You have not done well to publish your books of oral\ndoctrine; for what is there now that we excel others in, if those\nthings which we have been particularly instructed in be laid open\nto all?  For my part, I assure you, I had rather excel others in\nthe knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power\nand dominion.  Farewell.\"  And Aristotle, soothing this passion\nfor preeminence, speaks, in his excuse for himself, of these\ndoctrines, as in fact both published and not published:  as\nindeed, to say the truth, his books on metaphysics are written in\na style which makes them useless for ordinary teaching, and\ninstructive only, in the way of memoranda, for those who have been\nalready conversant in that sort of learning.\n\nDoubtless also it was to Aristotle, that he owed the inclination\nhe had, not to the theory only, but likewise to the practice of\nthe art of medicine.  For when any of his friends were sick, he\nwould often prescribe them their course of diet, and medicines\nproper to their disease, as we may find in his epistles.  He was\nnaturally a great lover of all kinds of learning and reading; and\nOnesicritus informs us, that he constantly laid Homer's Iliads,\naccording to the copy corrected by Aristotle, called the casket\ncopy, with his dagger under his pillow, declaring that he esteemed\nit a perfect portable treasure of all military virtue and\nknowledge.  When he was in the upper Asia, being destitute of\nother books, he ordered Harpalus to send him some; who furnished\nhim with Philistus's History, a great many of the plays of\nEuripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus, and some dithyrambic odes,\ncomposed by Telestes and Philoxenus.  For awhile he loved and\ncherished Aristotle no less, as he was wont to say himself, than\nif he had been his father, giving this reason for it, that as he\nhad received life from the one, so the other had taught him to\nlive well.  But afterwards, upon some mistrust of him, yet not so\ngreat as to make him do him any hurt, his familiarity and friendly\nkindness to him abated so much of its former force and\naffectionateness, as to make it evident he was alienated from him.\nHowever, his violent thirst after and passion for learning, which\nwere once implanted, still grew up with him, and never decayed; as\nappears by his veneration of Anaxarchus, by the present of fifty\ntalents which he sent to Xenocrates, and his particular care and\nesteem of Dandamis and Calanus.\n\nWhile Philip went on his expedition against the Byzantines, he\nleft Alexander, then sixteen years old, his lieutenant in\nMacedonia, committing the charge of his seal to him; who, not to\nsit idle, reduced the rebellious Maedi, and having taken their\nchief town by storm, drove out the barbarous inhabitants, and\nplanting a colony of several nations in their room, called the\nplace after his own name, Alexandropolis.  At the battle of\nChaeronea, which his father fought against the Grecians, he is\nsaid to have been the first man that charged the Thebans' sacred\nband.  And even in my remembrance, there stood an old oak near the\nriver Cephisus, which people called Alexander's oak, because his\ntent was pitched under it.  And not far off are to be seen the\ngraves of the Macedonians who fell in that battle.  This early\nbravery made Philip so fond of him, that nothing pleased him more\nthan to hear his subjects call himself their general and Alexander\ntheir king.\n\nBut the disorders of his family, chiefly caused by his new\nmarriages and attachments, (the troubles that began in the women's\nchambers spreading, so to say, to the whole kingdom,) raised\nvarious complaints and differences between them, which the\nviolence of Olympias, a woman of a jealous and implacable temper,\nmade wider, by exasperating Alexander against his father.  Among\nthe rest, this accident contributed most to their falling out.  At\nthe wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and\nmarried, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in\nhis drink desired the Macedonians would implore the gods to give\nthem a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece.  This so\nirritated Alexander, that throwing one of the cups at his head,\n\"You villain,\" said he, \"what, am I then a bastard?\"  Then Philip\ntaking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through;\nbut by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or\nthe wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on\nthe floor.  At which Alexander reproachfully insulted over him:\n\"See there,\" said he, \"the man, who makes preparations to pass out\nof Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to\nanother.\"  After this debauch, he and his mother Olympias withdrew\nfrom Philip's company, and when he had placed her in Epirus, he\nhimself retired into Illyria.\n\nAbout this time, Demaratus the Corinthian, an old friend of the\nfamily, who had the freedom to say anything among them without\noffense, coming to visit Philip, after the first compliments and\nembraces were over, Philip asked him, whether the Grecians were at\namity with one another.  \"It ill becomes you,\" replied Demaratus,\n\"to be so solicitous about Greece, when you have involved your own\nhouse in so many dissensions and calamities.\"  He was so convinced\nby this seasonable reproach, that he immediately sent for his son\nhome, and by Demartatus's mediation prevailed with him to return.\nBut this reconciliation lasted not long; for when Pixodorus,\nviceroy of Caria, sent Aristocritus to treat for a match between\nhis eldest daughter and Philip's son Arrhidaeus, hoping by this\nalliance to secure his assistance upon occasion, Alexander's\nmother, and some who pretended to be his friends, presently filled\nhis head with tales and calumnies, as if Philip, by a splendid\nmarriage and important alliance, were preparing the way for\nsettling the kingdom upon Arrhidaeus.  In alarm at this, he\ndispatched Thessalus, the tragic actor, into Caria, to dispose\nPixodorus to slight Arrhidaeus, both as illegitimate and a fool,\nand rather to accept of himself for his son-in-law.  This\nproposition was much more agreeable to Pixodorus than the former.\nBut Philip, as soon as he was made acquainted with this\ntransaction, went to his son's apartment, taking with him\nPhilotas, the son of Parmenio, one of Alexander's intimate friends\nand companions, and there reproved him severely, and reproached\nhim bitterly, that he should be so degenerate, and unworthy of the\npower he was to leave him, as to desire the alliance of a mean\nCarian, who was at best but the slave of a barbarous prince.  Nor\ndid this satisfy his resentment, for he wrote to the Corinthians,\nto send Thessalus to him in chains, and banished Harpalus,\nNearchus, Erigyius, and Ptolemy, his son's friends and favorites,\nwhom Alexander afterwards recalled, and raised to great honor and\npreferment.\n\nNot long after this, Pausanias, having had an outrage done to him\nat the instance of Attalus and Cleopatra, when he found he could\nget no reparation for his disgrace at Philip's hands, watched his\nopportunity and murdered him.  The guilt of which fact was laid\nfor the most part upon Olympias, who was said to have encouraged\nand exasperated the enraged youth to revenge; and some sort of\nsuspicion attached even to Alexander himself, who, it was said,\nwhen Pausanias came and complained to him of the injury he had\nreceived, repeated the verse out of Euripides's Medea:  --\n\nOn husband, and on father, and on bride.\n\nHowever, he took care to find out and punish the accomplices of\nthe conspiracy severely, and was very angry with Olympias for\ntreating Cleopatra inhumanly in his absence.\n\nAlexander was but twenty years old when his father was murdered,\nand succeeded to a kingdom beset on all sides with great dangers,\nand rancorous enemies.  For not only the barbarous nations that\nbordered on Macedonia, were impatient of being governed by any but\ntheir own native princes; but Philip likewise, though he had been\nvictorious over the Grecians, yet, as the time had not been\nsufficient for him to complete his conquest and accustom them to\nhis sway, had simply left all things in a general disorder and\nconfusion.  It seemed to the Macedonians a very critical time; and\nsome would have persuaded Alexander to give up all thought of\nretaining the Grecians in subjection by force of arms, and rather\nto apply himself to win back by gentle means the allegiance of the\ntribes who were designing revolt, and try the effect of indulgence\nin arresting the first motions towards revolution.  But he\nrejected this counsel as weak and timorous, and looked upon it to\nbe more prudence to secure himself by resolution and magnanimity,\nthan, by seeming to buckle to any, to encourage all to trample on\nhim.  In pursuit of this opinion, he reduced the barbarians to\ntranquility, and put an end to all fear of war from them, by a\nrapid expedition into their country as far as the river Danube,\nwhere he gave Syrmus, king of the Triballians, an entire\noverthrow.  And hearing the Thebans were in revolt, and the\nAthenians in correspondence with them, he immediately marched\nthrough the pass of Thermopylae, saying that to Demosthenes who\nhad called him a child while he was in Illyria and in the country\nof the Triballians, and a youth when he was in Thessaly, he would\nappear a man before the walls of Athens.\n\nWhen he came to Thebes, to show how willing he was to accept of\ntheir repentance for what was past, he only demanded of them\nPhoenix and Prothytes, the authors of the rebellion, and\nproclaimed a general pardon to those who would come over to him.\nBut when the Thebans merely retorted by demanding Philotas and\nAntipater to be delivered into their hands, and by a proclamation\non their part, invited all who would assert the liberty of Greece\nto come over to them, he presently applied himself to make them\nfeel the last extremities of war.  The Thebans indeed defended\nthemselves with a zeal and courage beyond their strength, being\nmuch outnumbered by their enemies.  But when the Macedonian garrison\nsallied out upon them from the citadel, they were so hemmed in on\nall sides, that the greater part of them fell in the battle; the\ncity itself being taken by storm, was sacked and razed,\nAlexander's hope being that so severe an example might terrify the\nrest of Greece into obedience, and also in order to gratify the\nhostility of his confederates, the Phocians and Plataeans.  So\nthat, except the priests, and some few who had heretofore been the\nfriends and connections of the Macedonians, the family of the poet\nPindar, and those who were known to have opposed the public vote\nfor the war, all the rest, to the number of thirty thousand, were\npublicly sold for slaves; and it is computed that upwards of six\nthousand were put to the sword.  Among the other calamities that\nbefell the city, it happened that some Thracian soldiers having\nbroken into the house of a matron of high character and repute,\nnamed Timoclea, their captain, after he had used violence with\nher, to satisfy his avarice as well as lust, asked her, if she\nknew of any money concealed; to which she readily answered she\ndid, and bade him follow her into a garden, where she showed him a\nwell, into which, she told him, upon the taking of the city she\nhad thrown what she had of most value.  The greedy Thracian\npresently stooping down to view the place where he thought the\ntreasure lay, she came behind him, and pushed him into the well,\nand then flung great stones in upon him, till she had killed him.\nAfter which, when the soldiers led her away bound to Alexander,\nher very mien and gait showed her to be a woman of dignity, and of\na mind no less elevated, not betraying the least sign of fear or\nastonishment.  And when the king asked her who she was, \"I am,\"\nsaid she, \"the sister of Theagenes, who fought the battle of\nChaeronea with your father Philip, and fell there in command for\nthe liberty of Greece.\"  Alexander was so surprised, both at what\nshe had done, and what she said, that he could not choose but give\nher and her children their freedom to go whither they pleased.\n\nAfter this he received the Athenians into favor, although they had\nshown themselves so much concerned at the calamity of Thebes that\nout of sorrow they omitted the celebration of the Mysteries, and\nentertained those who escaped with all possible humanity.  Whether\nit were, like the lion, that his passion was now satisfied, or\nthat after an example of extreme cruelty, he had a mind to appear\nmerciful, it happened well for the Athenians; for he not only\nforgave them all past offenses, but bade them to look to their\naffairs with vigilance, remembering that if he should miscarry,\nthey were likely to be the arbiters of Greece.  Certain it is,\ntoo, that in after-time he often repented of his severity to the\nThebans, and his remorse had such influence on his temper as to\nmake him ever after less rigorous to all others.  He imputed also\nthe murder of Clitus, which he committed in his wine, and the\nunwillingness of the Macedonians to follow him against the\nIndians, by which his enterprise and glory was left imperfect, to\nthe wrath and vengeance of Bacchus, the protector of Thebes.  And\nit was observed that whatsoever any Theban, who had the good\nfortune to survive this victory, asked of him, he was sure to\ngrant without the least difficulty.\n\nSoon after, the Grecians, being assembled at the Isthmus, declared\ntheir resolution of joining with Alexander in the war against the\nPersians, and proclaimed him their general.  While he stayed here,\nmany public ministers and philosophers came from all parts to\nvisit him, and congratulated him on his election, but contrary to\nhis expectation, Diogenes of Sinope, who then was living at\nCorinth, thought so little of him, that instead of coming to\ncompliment him, he never so much as stirred out of the suburb\ncalled the Cranium, where Alexander found him lying along in the\nsun.  When he saw so much company near him, he raised himself a\nlittle, and vouchsafed to look upon Alexander; and when he kindly\nasked him whether he wanted anything, \"Yes,\" said he, \"I would\nhave you stand from between me and the sun.\"  Alexander was so\nstruck at this answer, and surprised at the greatness of the man,\nwho had taken so little notice of him, that as he went away, he\ntold his followers who were laughing at the moroseness of the\nphilosopher, that if he were not Alexander, he would choose to be\nDiogenes.\n\nThen he went to Delphi, to consult Apollo concerning the success\nof the war he had undertaken, and happening to come on one of the\nforbidden days, when it was esteemed improper to give any answers\nfrom the oracle, he sent messengers to desire the priestess to do\nher office; and when she refused, on the plea of a law to the\ncontrary, he went up himself, and began to draw her by force into\nthe temple, until tired and overcome with his importunity, \"My\nson,\" said she, \"thou art invincible.\"  Alexander taking hold of\nwhat she spoke, declared he had received such an answer as he\nwished for, and that it was needless to consult the god any\nfurther.  Among other prodigies that attended the departure of his\narmy, the image of Orpheus at Libethra, made of cypress-wood, was\nseen to sweat in great abundance, to the discouragement of many.\nBut Aristander told him, that far from presaging any ill to him,\nit signified he should perform acts so important and glorious as\nwould make the poets and musicians of future ages labor and sweat\nto describe and celebrate them.\n\nHis army, by their computation who make the smallest amount,\nconsisted of thirty thousand foot, and four thousand horse; and\nthose who make the most of it, speak but of forty-three thousand\nfoot, and three thousand horse.  Aristobulus says, he had not a\nfund of above seventy talents for their pay, nor had he more than\nthirty days' provision, if we may believe Duris; Onesicritus tells\nus, he was two hundred talents in debt.  However narrow and\ndisproportionable the beginnings of so vast an undertaking might\nseem to be, yet he would not embark his army until he had informed\nhimself particularly what means his friends had to enable them to\nfollow him, and supplied what they wanted, by giving good farms to\nsome, a village to one, and the revenue of some hamlet or harbor\ntown to another.  So that at last he had portioned out or engaged\nalmost all the royal property; which giving Perdiccas an occasion\nto ask him what he would leave himself, he replied, his hopes.\n\"Your soldiers,\" replied Perdiccas, \"will be your partners in\nthose,\" and refused to accept of the estate he had assigned him.\nSome others of his friends did the like, but to those who\nwillingly received, or desired assistance of him, he liberally\ngranted it, as far as his patrimony in Macedonia would reach, the\nmost part of which was spent in these donations.\n\nWith such vigorous resolutions, and his mind thus disposed, he\npassed the Hellespont, and at Troy sacrificed to Minerva, and\nhonored the memory of the heroes who were buried there, with\nsolemn libations; especially Achilles, whose gravestone he\nanointed, and with his friends, as the ancient custom is, ran\nnaked about his sepulchre, and crowned it with garlands, declaring\nhow happy he esteemed him, in having while he lived so faithful a\nfriend, and when he was dead, so famous a poet to proclaim his\nactions.  While he was viewing the rest of the antiquities and\ncuriosities of the place, being told he might see Paris's harp, if\nhe pleased, he said, he thought it not worth looking on, but he\nshould be glad to see that of Achilles, to which he used to sing\nthe glories and great actions of brave men.\n\nIn the meantime Darius's captains having collected large forces,\nwere encamped on the further bank of the river Granicus, and it\nwas necessary to fight, as it were, in the gate of Asia for an\nentrance into it.  The depth of the river, with the unevenness and\ndifficult ascent of the opposite bank, which was to be gained by\nmain force, was apprehended by most, and some pronounced it an\nimproper time to engage, because it was unusual for the kings of\nMacedonia to march with their forces in the month called Daesius.\nBut Alexander broke through these scruples, telling; them they\nshould call it a second Artemisius.  And when Parmenio advised him\nnot to attempt anything that day, because it was late, he told\nhim that he should disgrace the Hellespont, should he fear the\nGranicus.  And so without more saying, he immediately took the\nriver with thirteen troops of horse, and advanced against whole\nshowers of darts thrown from the steep opposite side, which was\ncovered with armed multitudes of the enemy's horse and foot,\nnotwithstanding the disadvantage of the ground and the rapidity of\nthe stream; so that the action seemed to have more of frenzy and\ndesperation in it, than of prudent conduct.  However, he persisted\nobstinately to gain the passage, and at last with much ado making\nhis way up the banks, which were extremely muddy and slippery, he\nhad instantly to join in a mere confused hand-to-hand combat with\nthe enemy, before he could draw up his men, who were still passing\nover, into any order.  For the enemy pressed upon him with loud\nand warlike outcries; and charging horse against horse, with their\nlances, after they had broken and spent these, they fell to it\nwith their swords.  And Alexander, being easily known by his\nbuckler, and a large plume of white feathers on each side of his\nhelmet, was attacked on all sides, yet escaped wounding, though\nhis cuirass was pierced by a javelin in one of the joinings.  And\nRhoesaces and Spithridates, two Persian commanders, falling upon\nhim at once, he avoided one of them, and struck at Rhoesaces, who\nhad a good cuirass on, with such force, that his spear breaking in\nhis hand, he was glad to betake himself to his dagger.  While they\nwere thus engaged, Spithridates came up on one side of him, and\nraising himself upon his horse, gave him such a blow with his\nbattle-axe on the helmet, that he cut off the crest of it, with\none of his plumes, and the helmet was only just so far strong\nenough to save him, that the edge of the weapon touched the hair\nof his head.  But as he was about to repeat his stroke, Clitus,\ncalled the black Clitus, prevented him, by running him through the\nbody with his spear.  At the same time Alexander dispatched\nRhoesaces with his sword.  While the horse were thus dangerously\nengaged, the Macedonian phalanx passed the river, and the foot on\neach side advanced to fight.  But the enemy hardly sustaining the\nfirst onset, soon gave ground and fled, all but the mercenary\nGreeks, who, making a stand upon a rising ground, desired quarter,\nwhich Alexander, guided rather by passion than judgment, refused\nto grant, and charging them himself first, had his horse (not\nBucephalas, but another) killed under him.  And this obstinacy of\nhis to cut off these experienced desperate men, cost him the lives\nof more of his own soldiers than all the battle before, besides\nthose who were wounded.  The Persians lost in this battle twenty\nthousand foot, and two thousand five hundred horse.  On\nAlexander's side, Aristobulus says there were not wanting above\nfour and thirty, of whom nine were foot-soldiers; and in memory of\nthem he caused so many statues of brass, of Lysippus's making, to\nbe erected.  And that the Grecians might participate the honor of\nhis victory, he sent a portion of the spoils home to them,\nparticularly to the Athenians three hundred bucklers, and upon all\nthe rest he ordered this inscription to be set:  \"Alexander the\nson of Philip, and the Grecians, except the Lacedaemonians, won\nthese from the barbarians who inhabit Asia.\"  All the plate and\npurple garments, and other things of the same kind that he took\nfrom the Persians, except a very small quantity which he reserved\nfor himself, he sent as a present to his mother.\n\nThis battle presently made a great change of affairs to\nAlexander's advantage.  For Sardis itself, the chief seat of the\nbarbarian's power in the maritime provinces, and many other\nconsiderable places were surrendered to him; only Halicarnassus\nand Miletus stood out, which he took by force, together with the\nterritory about them.  After which he was a little unsettled in\nhis opinion how to proceed.  Sometimes he thought it best to find\nout Darius as soon as he could, and put all to the hazard of a\nbattle; another while he looked upon it as a more prudent course\nto make an entire reduction of the sea-coast, and not to seek the\nenemy till he had first exercised his power here and made himself\nsecure of the resources of these provinces.  While he was thus\ndeliberating what to do, it happened that a spring of water near\nthe city of Xanthus in Lycia, of its own accord swelled over its\nbanks, and threw up a copper plate upon the margin, in which was\nengraven in ancient characters, that the time would come, when the\nPersian empire should be destroyed by the Grecians.  Encouraged by\nthis accident, he proceeded to reduce the maritime parts of\nCilicia and Phoenicia, and passed his army along the sea-coasts of\nPamphylia with such expedition that many historians have described\nand extolled it with that height of admiration, as if it were no\nless than a miracle, and an extraordinary effect of divine favor,\nthat the waves which usually come rolling in violently from the\nmain, and hardly ever leave so much as a narrow beach under the\nsteep, broken cliffs at any time uncovered, should on a sudden\nretire to afford him passage.  Menander, in one of his comedies,\nalludes to this marvel when he says,\n\nWas Alexander ever favored more?\nEach man I wish for meets me at my door,\nAnd should I ask for passage through the sea,\nThe sea I doubt not would retire for me.\n\nBut Alexander himself in his epistles mentions nothing unusual in\nthis at all, but says he went from Phaselis, and passed through\nwhat they call the Ladders. At Phaselis he stayed some time, and\nfinding the statue of Theodectes, who was a native of this town\nand was now dead, erected in the marketplace, after he had supped,\nhaving drunk pretty plentifully, he went and danced about it, and\ncrowned it with garlands, honoring not ungracefully in his sport,\nthe memory of a philosopher whose conversation he had formerly\nenjoyed, when he was Aristotle's scholar.\n\nThen he subdued the Pisidians who made head against him, and\nconquered the Phrygians, at whose chief city Gordium, which is\nsaid to be the seat of the ancient Midas, he saw the famous\nchariot fastened with cords made of the rind of the corner-tree,\nwhich whosoever should untie, the inhabitants had a tradition,\nthat for him was reserved the empire of the world.  Most authors\ntell the story that Alexander, finding himself unable to untie the\nknot, the ends of which were secretly twisted round and folded up\nwithin it, cut it asunder with his sword.  But Aristobulus tells\nus it was easy for him to undo it, by only pulling the pin out of\nthe pole, to which the yoke was tied, and afterwards drawing off\nthe yoke itself from below.  From hence he advanced into\nPaphlagonia and Cappadocia, both which countries he soon reduced\nto obedience, and then hearing of the death of Memnon, the best\ncommander Darius had upon the sea-coasts, who, if he had lived,\nmight, it was supposed, have put many impediments and difficulties\nin the way of the progress of his arms, he was the rather\nencouraged to carry the war into the upper provinces of Asia.\n\nDarius was by this time upon his march from Susa, very confident,\nnot only in the number of his men, which amounted to six hundred\nthousand, but likewise in a dream, which the Persian soothsayers\ninterpreted rather in flattery to him, than according to the\nnatural probability.  He dreamed that he saw the Macedonian\nphalanx all on fire, and Alexander waiting on him, clad in the\nsame dress which he himself had been used to wear when he was\ncourier to the late king; after which, going into the temple of\nBelus, he vanished out of his sight.  The dream would appear to\nhave supernaturally signified to him the illustrious actions the\nMacedonians were to perform, and that as he from a courier's place\nhad risen to the throne, so Alexander should come to be master of\nAsia, and not long surviving his conquests, conclude his life with\nglory.  Darius's confidence increased the more, because Alexander\nspent so much time in Cilicia, which he imputed to his cowardice.\nBut it was sickness that detained him there, which some say he\ncontracted from his fatigues, others from bathing in the river\nCydnus, whose waters were exceedingly cold.  However it happened,\nnone of his physicians would venture to give him any remedies,\nthey thought his case so desperate, and were so afraid of the\nsuspicions and ill-will of the Macedonians if they should fail in\nthe cure; till Philip, the Acarnanian, seeing how critical his\ncase was, but relying on his own well-known friendship for him,\nresolved to try the last efforts of his art, and rather hazard his\nown credit and life, than suffer him to perish for want of physic,\nwhich he confidently administered to him, encouraging him to take\nit boldly, if he desired a speedy recovery, in order to prosecute\nthe war.  At this very time, Parmenio wrote to Alexander from the\ncamp, bidding him have a care of Philip, as one who was bribed by\nDarius to kill him, with great sums of money, and a promise of his\ndaughter in marriage.  When he had perused the letter, he put it\nunder his pillow, without showing it so much as to any of his most\nintimate friends, and when Philip came in with the potion, he took\nit with great cheerfulness and assurance, giving him meantime the\nletter to read.  This was a spectacle well worth being present at,\nto see Alexander take the draught, and Philip read the letter at\nthe same time, and then turn and look upon one another, but with\ndifferent sentiments; for Alexander's looks were cheerful and\nopen, to show his kindness to and confidence in his physician,\nwhile the other was full of surprise and alarm at the accusation,\nappealing to the gods to witness his innocence, sometimes lifting\nup his hands to heaven, and then throwing himself down by the\nbedside, and beseeching Alexander to lay aside all fear, and\nfollow his directions without apprehension.  For the medicine at\nfirst worked so strongly as to drive, so to say, the vital forces\ninto the interior; he lost his speech, and falling into a swoon,\nhad scarce any sense or pulse left.  However, in no long time, by\nPhilip's means, his health and strength returned, and he showed\nhimself in public to the Macedonians, who were in continual fear\nand dejection until they saw him abroad again.\n\nThere was at this time in Darius's army a Macedonian refugee,\nnamed Amyntas, one who was pretty well acquainted with Alexander's\ncharacter.  This man, when he saw Darius intended to fall upon the\nenemy in the passes and defiles, advised him earnestly to keep\nwhere he was, in the open and extensive plains, it being the\nadvantage of a numerous army to have field-room enough when it\nengages with a lesser force.  Darius, instead of taking his\ncounsel, told him he was afraid the enemy would endeavor to run\naway, and so Alexander would escape out of his hands.  \"That\nfear,\" replied Amyntas, \"is needless, for assure yourself that far\nfrom avoiding, you, he will make all the speed he can to meet you,\nand is now most likely on his march towards you.\"  But Amyntas's\ncounsel was to no purpose, for Darius immediately decamping,\nmarched into Cilicia, at the same time that Alexander advanced\ninto Syria to meet him; and missing one another in the night, they\nboth turned back again.  Alexander, greatly pleased with the\nevent, made all the haste he could to fight in the defiles, and\nDarius to recover his former ground, and draw his army out of so\ndisadvantageous a place.  For now he began to perceive his error\nin engaging himself too far in a country in which the sea, the\nmountains, and the river Pinarus running through the midst of it,\nwould necessitate him to divide his forces, render his horse\nalmost unserviceable, and only cover and support the weakness of\nthe enemy.  Fortune was not kinder to Alexander in the choice of\nthe ground, than he was careful to improve it to his advantage.\nFor being much inferior in numbers, so far from allowing himself\nto be outflanked, he stretched his right wing much further out\nthan the left wing of his enemies, and fighting there himself in\nthe very foremost ranks, put the barbarians to flight.  In this\nbattle he was wounded in the thigh, Chares says by Darius, with\nwhom he fought hand to hand.  But in the account which he gave\nAntipater of the battle though indeed he owns he was wounded in\nthe thigh with sword, though not dangerously, yet he takes no\nnotice who it was that wounded him.\n\nNothing was wanting to complete this victory, in which he\noverthrew above a hundred and ten thousand of his enemies, but\nthe taking the person of Darius, who escaped very narrowly by\nflight.  However, having taken his chariot and his bow, he\nreturned from pursuing him, and found his own men busy in\npillaging the barbarians' camp, which (though to disburden\nthemselves, they had left most of their baggage at Damascus) was\nexceedingly rich.  But Darius's tent, which was full of splendid\nfurniture, and quantities of gold and silver, they reserved for\nAlexander himself, who after he had put off his arms, went to\nbathe himself, saying, \"Let us now cleanse ourselves from the\ntoils of war in the bath of Darius.\"  \"Not so,\" replied one of his\nfollowers, \"but in Alexander's rather; for the property of the\nconquered is, and should be called the conqueror's.\"  Here, when\nhe beheld the bathing vessels, the water-pots, the pans, and the\nointment boxes, all of gold, curiously wrought, and smelt the\nfragrant odors with which the whole place was exquisitely\nperfumed, and from thence passed into a pavilion of great size and\nheight, where the couches and tables and preparations for an\nentertainment were perfectly magnificent, he turned to those about\nhim and said, \"This, it seems, is royalty.\"\n\nBut as he was going to supper, word was brought him that Darius's\nmother and wife and two unmarried daughters, being taken among the\nrest of the prisoners, upon the sight of his chariot and bow were\nall in mourning and sorrow, imagining him to be dead.  After a\nlittle pause, more livelily affected with their affliction than\nwith his own success he sent Leonnatus to them to let them know\nDarius was not dead, and that they need not fear any harm from\nAlexander, who made war upon him only for dominion; they should\nthemselves be provided with everything they had been used to\nreceive from Darius.  This kind message could not but be very\nwelcome to the captive ladies, especially being made good by\nactions no less humane and generous.  For he gave them leave to\nbury whom they pleased of the Persians, and to make use for this\npurpose of what garments and furniture they thought fit out of the\nbooty.  He diminished nothing of their equipage, or of the\nattentions and respect formerly paid them, and allowed larger\npensions for their maintenance than they had before.  But the\nnoblest and most royal part of their usage was, that he treated\nthese illustrious prisoners according to their virtue and\ncharacter, not suffering them to hear, or receive, or so much as\nto apprehend anything that was unbecoming.  So that they seemed\nrather lodged in some temple, or some holy virgin chambers, where\nthey enjoyed their privacy sacred and uninterrupted, than in the\ncamp of an enemy.  Nevertheless Darius's wife was accounted the\nmost beautiful princess then living, as her husband the tallest\nand handsomest man of his time, and the daughters were not\nunworthy of their parents.  But Alexander, esteeming it more\nkingly to govern himself than to conquer his enemies, sought no\nintimacy with any one of them, nor indeed with any other woman\nbefore marriage, except Barsine, Memnon's widow, who was taken\nprisoner at Damascus.  She had been instructed in the Grecian\nlearning, was of a gentle temper, and, by her father Artabazus,\nroyally descended, which good qualities, added to the\nsolicitations and encouragement of Parmenio, as Aristobulus tells\nus, made him the more willing to attach himself to so agreeable\nand illustrious a woman.  Of the rest of the female captives\nthough remarkably handsome and well proportioned, he took no\nfurther notice than to say jestingly, that Persian women were\nterrible eye-sores.  And he himself, retaliating, as it were, by\nthe display of the beauty of his own temperance and self-control,\nbade them be removed, as he would have done so many lifeless\nimages.  When Philoxenus, his lieutenant on the sea-coast, wrote\nto him to know if he would buy two young boys, of great beauty,\nwhom one Theodorus, a Tarentine, had to sell, he was so offended,\nthat he often expostulated with his friends, what baseness\nPhiloxenus had ever observed in him, that he should presume to\nmake him such a reproachful offer.  And he immediately wrote him a\nvery sharp letter, telling him Theodorus and his merchandise might\ngo with his good-will to destruction.  Nor was he less severe to\nHagnon, who sent him word he would buy a Corinthian youth named\nCrobylus, as a present for him.  And hearing that Damon and\nTimotheus, two of Parmenio's Macedonian soldiers, had abused the\nwives of some strangers who were in his pay, he wrote to Parmenio,\ncharging him strictly, if he found them guilty, to put them to\ndeath, as wild beasts that were only made for the mischief of\nmankind.  In the same letter he added, that he had not so much as\nseen or desired to see the wife of Darius, no, nor suffered\nanybody to speak of her beauty before him.  He was wont to say,\nthat sleep and the act of generation chiefly made him sensible\nthat he was mortal; as much as to say, that weariness and pleasure\nproceed both from the same frailty and imbecility of human nature.\n\nIn his diet, also, he was most temperate, as appears, omitting\nmany other circumstances, by what he said to Ada, whom he adopted,\nwith the title of mother, and afterwards created queen of Caria.\nFor when she out of kindness sent him every day many curious\ndishes, and sweetmeats, and would have furnished him with some\ncooks and pastry-men, who were thought to have great skill, he\ntold her he wanted none of them, his preceptor, Leonidas, having\nalready given him the best, which were a night march to prepare\nfor breakfast, and a moderate breakfast to create an appetite for\nsupper.  Leonidas also, he added, used to open and search the\nfurniture of his chamber, and his wardrobe, to see if his mother\nhad left him anything that was delicate or superfluous.  He was\nmuch less addicted to wine than was generally believed; that which\ngave people occasion to think so of him was, that when he had\nnothing else to do, he loved to sit long and talk, rather than\ndrink, and over every cup hold a long conversation.  For when his\naffairs called upon him, he would not be detained, as other\ngenerals often were, either by wine, or sleep, nuptial\nsolemnities, spectacles, or any other diversion whatsoever; a\nconvincing argument of which is, that in the short time he lived,\nhe accomplished so many and so great actions.  When he was free\nfrom employment, after he was up, and had sacrificed to the gods,\nhe used to sit down to breakfast, and then spend the rest of the\nday in hunting, or writing memoirs, giving decisions on some\nmilitary questions, or reading.  In marches that required no great\nhaste, he would practice shooting as he went along, or to mount a\nchariot, and alight from it in full speed.  Sometimes, for sport's\nsake, as his journals tell us, he would hunt foxes and go fowling.\nWhen he came in for the evening, after he had bathed and was\nanointed, he would call for his bakers and chief cooks, to know if\nthey had his dinner ready.  He never cared to dine till it was\npretty late and beginning to be dark, and was wonderfully\ncircumspect at meals that everyone who sat with him should be\nserved alike and with proper attention; and his love of talking,\nas was said before, made him delight to sit long at his wine.  And\nthen, though otherwise no prince's conversation was ever so\nagreeable, he would fall into a temper of ostentation and soldierly\nboasting, which gave his flatterers a great advantage to ride him,\nand made his better friends very uneasy.  For though they thought\nit too base to strive who should flatter him most, yet they found\nit hazardous not to do it; so that between the shame and the\ndanger, they were in a great strait how to behave themselves.\nAfter such an entertainment, he was wont to bathe, and then\nperhaps he would sleep till noon, and sometimes all day long.  He\nwas so very temperate in his eating, that when any rare fish or\nfruits were sent him, he would distribute them among his friends,\nand often reserve nothing for himself.  His table, however, was\nalways magnificent, the expense of it still increasing with his\ngood fortune, till it amounted to ten thousand drachmas a day, to\nwhich sum he limited it, and beyond this he would suffer none to\nlay out in any entertainment where he himself was the guest.\n\nAfter the battle of Issus, he sent to Damascus to seize upon the\nmoney and baggage, the wives and children of the Persians, of\nwhich spoil the Thessalian horsemen had the greatest share; for\nhe had taken particular notice of their gallantry in the fight,\nand sent them thither on purpose to make their reward suitable to\ntheir courage.  Not but that the rest of the army had so\nconsiderable a part of the booty as was sufficient to enrich them\nall.  This first gave the Macedonians such a taste of the Persian\nwealth and women and barbaric splendor of living, that they were\nready to pursue and follow upon it with all the eagerness of\nhounds upon a scent.  But Alexander, before he proceeded any\nfurther, thought it necessary to assure himself of the sea-coast.\nThose who governed in Cyprus, put that island into his possession,\nand Phoenicia, Tyre only excepted, was surrendered to him.  During\nthe siege of this city, which with mounds of earth cast up, and\nbattering engines, and two hundred galleys by sea, was carried on\nfor seven months together, he dreamt that he saw Hercules upon the\nwalls, reaching, out his hand, and calling to him.  And many of\nthe Tyrians in their sleep, fancied that Apollo told them he was\ndispleased with their actions, and was about to leave them and go\nover to Alexander.  Upon which, as if the god had been a deserting\nsoldier, they seized him, so to say, in the act, tied down the\nstatue with ropes, and nailed it to the pedestal, reproaching him,\nthat he was a favorer of Alexander.  Another time, Alexander\ndreamed he saw a Satyr mocking him at a distance, and when he\nendeavored to catch him, he still escaped from him, till at last\nwith much perseverance, and running about after him, he got him\ninto his power.  The soothsayers making two words of Satyrus,\nassured him, that Tyre should he his own.  The inhabitants at this\ntime show a spring of water, near which they say Alexander slept,\nwhen he fancied the Satyr appeared to him.\n\nWhile the body of the army lay before Tyre, he made an excursion\nagainst the Arabians who inhabit the Mount Antilibanus, in which\nhe hazarded his life extremely to bring off his master Lysimachus,\nwho would needs go along with him, declaring he was neither older\nnor inferior in courage to Phoenix, Achilles's guardian.  For\nwhen, quitting their horses, they began to march up the hills on\nfoot, the rest of the soldiers outwent them a great deal, so that\nnight drawing on, and the enemy near, Alexander was fain to stay\nbehind so long, to encourage and help up the lagging and tired old\nman, that before he was aware, he was left behind, a great way\nfrom his soldiers, with a slender attendance, and forced to pass\nan extremely cold night in the dark, and in a very inconvenient\nplace; till seeing a great many scattered fires of the enemy at\nsome distance, and trusting to his agility of body, and as he was\nalways wont by undergoing toils and labors himself to cheer and\nsupport the Macedonians in any distress, he ran straight to one of\nthe nearest fires, and with his dagger dispatching two of the\nbarbarians that sat by it, snatched up a lighted brand, and\nreturned with it to his own men.  They immediately made a great\nfire, which so alarmed the enemy that most of them fled, and those\nthat assaulted them were soon routed, and thus they rested\nsecurely the remainder of the night.  Thus Chares writes.\n\nBut to return to the siege, it had this issue.  Alexander, that he\nmight refresh his army, harassed with many former encounters, had\nled only a small party towards the walls, rather to keep the enemy\nbusy, than with any prospect of much advantage.  It happened at\nthis time that Aristander, the soothsayer, after he had\nsacrificed, upon view of the entrails, affirmed confidently to\nthose who stood by, that the city should be certainly taken that\nvery month, upon which there was a laugh and some mockery among\nthe soldiers, as this was the last day of it.  The king seeing him\nin perplexity, and always anxious to support the credit of the\npredictions, gave order that they should not count it as the\nthirtieth, but as the twenty-third of the month, and ordering the\ntrumpets to sound, attacked the walls more seriously than he at\nfirst intended.  The sharpness of the assault so inflamed the rest\nof his forces who were left in the camp, that they could not hold\nfrom advancing to second it, which they performed with so much\nvigor, that the Tyrians retired, and the town was carried that\nvery day.  The next place he sat down before was Gaza, one of the\nlargest cities of Syria, where this accident befell him.  A large\nbird flying over him, let a clod of earth fall upon his shoulder,\nand then settling upon one of the battering engines, was suddenly\nentangled and caught in the nets composed of sinews, which\nprotected the ropes with which the machine was managed.  This fell\nout exactly according to Aristander's prediction, which was, that\nAlexander should be wounded, and the city reduced.\n\nFrom hence he sent great part of the spoils to Olympias,\nCleopatra, and the rest of his friends, not omitting his preceptor\nLeonidas, on whom he bestowed five hundred talents weight of\nfrankincense, and a hundred of myrrh, in remembrance of the hopes\nhe had once expressed of him when he was but a child.  For\nLeonidas, it seems, standing by him one day while he was\nsacrificing, and seeing him take both his hands full of incense to\nthrow into the fire, told him it became him to be more sparing in\nhis offerings, and not be so profuse till he was master of the\ncountries which those sweet gums and spices came from.  So\nAlexander now wrote to him, saying, \"We have sent you abundance of\nmyrrh and frankincense, that for the future you may not be stingy\nto the gods.\"  Among the treasures and other booty that was taken\nfrom Darius, there was a very precious casket, which being brought\nto Alexander for a great rarity, he asked those about him what\nthey thought fittest to be laid up in it; and when they had\ndelivered their various opinions, he told them he should keep\nHomer's Iliad in it.  This is attested by many credible authors,\nand if what those of Alexandria tell us, relying upon the\nauthority of Heraclides, be true, Homer was neither an idle, nor\nan unprofitable companion to him in his expedition.  For when he\nwas master of Egypt, designing to settle a colony of Grecians\nthere, he resolved to build a large and populous city, and give\nit his own name.  In order to which, after he had measured and\nstaked out the ground with the advice of the best architects, he\nchanced one night in his sleep to see a wonderful vision; a\ngrey-headed old man, of a venerable aspect, appeared to stand by\nhim, and pronounce these verses:--\n\nAn island lies, where loud the billows roar,\nPharos they call it, on the Egyptian shore.\n\nAlexander upon this immediately rose up and went to Pharos, which,\nat that time, was an island lying a little above the Canobic mouth\nof the river Nile, though it has now been joined to the main land\nby a mole.  As soon as he saw the commodious situation of the\nplace, it being a long neck of land, stretching like an isthmus\nbetween large lagoons and shallow waters on one side, and the sea\non the other, the latter at the end of it making a spacious\nharbor, he said, Homer, besides his other excellences, was a very\ngood architect, and ordered the plan of a city to be drawn out\nanswerable to the place.  To do which, for want of chalk, the soil\nbeing black, they laid out their lines with flour, taking in a\npretty large compass of ground in a semicircular figure, and\ndrawing into the inside of the circumference equal straight lines\nfrom each end, thus giving it something of the form of a cloak or\ncape.  While he was pleasing himself with his design, on a sudden\nan infinite number of great birds of several kinds, rising like a\nblack cloud out of the river and the lake, devoured every morsel\nof the flour that had been used in setting out the lines; at which\nomen even Alexander himself was troubled, till the augurs restored\nhis confidence again by telling him, it was a sign the city he was\nabout to build would not only abound in all things within itself,\nbut also be the nurse and feeder of many nations.  He commanded\nthe workmen to proceed, while he went to visit the temple of\nAmmon.\n\nThis was a long and painful, and, in two respects, a dangerous\njourney; first, if they should lose their provision of water, as\nfor several days none could be obtained; and, secondly, if a\nviolent south wind should rise upon them, while they were\ntraveling through the wide extent of deep sands, as it is said to\nhave done when Cambyses led his army that way, blowing the sand\ntogether in heaps, and raising, as it were, the whole desert like\na sea upon them, till fifty thousand were swallowed up and\ndestroyed by it.  All these difficulties were weighed and\nrepresented to him; but Alexander was not easily to be diverted\nfrom anything he was bent upon.  For fortune having hitherto\nseconded him in his designs, made him resolute and firm in his\nopinions, and the boldness of his temper raised a sort of passion\nin him for surmounting difficulties; as if it were not enough to\nbe always victorious in the field, unless places and seasons and\nnature herself submitted to him.  In this journey, the relief and\nassistance the gods afforded him in his distresses, were more\nremarkable, and obtained greater belief than the oracles he\nreceived afterwards, which, however, were valued and credited the\nmore on account of those occurrences.  For first, plentiful rains\nthat fell, preserved them from any fear of perishing by drought,\nand, allaying the extreme dryness of the sand, which now became\nmoist and firm to travel on, cleared and purified the air.\nBesides this, when they were out of their way, and were wandering\nup and down, because the marks which were wont to direct the\nguides were disordered and lost, they were set right again by some\nravens, which flew before them when on their march, and waited for\nthem when they lingered and fell behind; and the greatest miracle,\nas Callisthenes tells us, was that if any of the company went\nastray in the night, they never ceased croaking and making a\nnoise, till by that means they had brought them into the right way\nagain.  Having passed through the wilderness, they came to the\nplace; where the high-priest at the first salutation bade\nAlexander welcome from his father Ammon.  And being asked by him\nwhether any of his father's murderers had escaped punishment, he\ncharged him to speak with more respect, since his was not a mortal\nfather.  Then Alexander, changing his expression, desired to know\nof him if any of those who murdered Philip were yet unpunished,\nand further concerning dominion, whether the empire of the world\nwas reserved for him?  This, the god answered, he should obtain,\nand that Philip's death was fully revenged, which gave him so much\nsatisfaction, that he made splendid offerings to Jupiter, and gave\nthe priests very rich presents.  This is what most authors write\nconcerning the oracles.  But Alexander, in a letter to his mother,\ntells her there were some secret answers, which at his return he\nwould communicate to her only.  Others say that the priest,\ndesirous as a piece of courtesy to address him in Greek, \"O\nPaidion,\" by a slip in pronunciation ended with the s instead of\nthe n, and said, \"O Paidios,\" which mistake Alexander was well\nenough pleased with, and it went for current that the oracle had\ncalled him so.\n\nAmong the sayings of one Psammon, a philosopher, whom he heard in\nEgypt, he most approved of this, that all men are governed by God,\nbecause in everything, that which is chief and commands, is\ndivine.  But what he pronounced himself upon this subject, was\neven more like a philosopher, for he said, God was the common\nfather of us all, but more particularly of the best of us.  To the\nbarbarians he carried himself very haughtily, as if he were fully\npersuaded of his divine birth and parentage; but to the Grecians\nmore moderately, and with less affectation of divinity, except it\nwere once in writing to the Athenians about Samos, when he tells\nthem that he should not himself have bestowed upon them that free\nand glorious city; \"You received it,\" he says, \"from the bounty of\nhim who at that time was called my lord and father,\" meaning\nPhilip.  However, afterwards being wounded with an arrow, and\nfeeling much pain, he turned to those about him, and told them,\n\"This, my friends, is real flowing blood, not Ichor,\n\n\"Such as immortal gods are wont to shed.\"\n\nAnd another time, when it thundered so much that everybody was\nafraid, and Anaxarchus, the sophist, asked him if he who was\nJupiter's son could do anything like this, \"Nay,\" said Alexander,\nlaughing, \"I have no desire to be formidable to my friends, as you\nwould have me, who despised my table for being furnished with\nfish, and not with the heads of governors of provinces.\"  For in\nfact it is related as true, that Anaxarchus seeing a present of\nsmall fishes, which the king sent to Hephaestion, had used this\nexpression, in a sort of irony, and disparagement of those who\nundergo vast labors and encounter great hazards in pursuit of\nmagnificent objects, which after all bring them little more\npleasure or enjoyment than what others have.  From what I have\nsaid upon this subject, it is apparent that Alexander in himself\nwas not foolishly affected, or had the vanity to think himself\nreally a god, but merely used his claims to divinity as a means of\nmaintaining among other people the sense of his superiority.\n\nAt his return out of Egypt into Phoenicia, he sacrificed and made\nsolemn processions, to which were added shows of lyric dances and\ntragedies, remarkable not merely for the splendor of the equipage\nand decorations, but for the competition among those who exhibited\nthem.  For the kings of Cyprus were here the exhibitors, just in\nthe same manner as at Athens those who are chosen by lot out of\nthe tribes.  And, indeed, they showed the greatest emulation to\noutvie each other; especially Nicocreon, king of Salamis, and\nPasicrates of Soli, who furnished the chorus, and defrayed the\nexpenses of the two most celebrated actors, Athenodorus and\nThessalus, the former performing for Pasicrates, and the latter\nfor Nicocreon.  Thessalus was most favored by Alexander, though it\ndid not appear till Athenodorus was declared victor by the\nplurality of votes.  For then at his going away, he said the\njudges deserved to be commended for what they had done, but that\nhe would willingly have lost part of his kingdom, rather than to\nhave seen Thessalus overcome.  However, when he understood\nAthenodorus was fined by the Athenians for being absent at the\nfestivals of Bacchus, though he refused his request that he would\nwrite a letter in his behalf, he gave him a sufficient sum to\nsatisfy the penalty.  Another time, when Lycon of Scarphia\nhappened to act with great applause in the theater, and in a verse\nwhich he introduced into the comic part which he was acting,\nbegged for a present of ten talents, he laughed and gave him the\nmoney.\n\nDarius wrote him a letter, and sent friends to intercede with him,\nrequesting him to accept as a ransom of his captives the sum of a\nthousand talents, and offering him in exchange for his amity and\nalliance, all the countries on this side the river Euphrates,\ntogether with one of his daughters in marriage.  These propositions\nhe communicated to his friends, and when Parmenio told him, that\nfor his part, if he were Alexander, he should readily embrace\nthem, \"So would I,\" said Alexander, \"if I were Parmenio.\"\nAccordingly, his answer to Darius was, that if he would come and\nyield himself up into his power, he would treat him with all\npossible kindness; if not, he was resolved immediately to go\nhimself and seek him.  But the death of Darius's wife in\nchildbirth made him soon after regret one part of this answer, and\nhe showed evident marks of grief, at being thus deprived of a\nfurther opportunity of exercising his clemency and good nature,\nwhich he manifested, however, as far as he could, by giving her a\nmost sumptuous funeral.\n\nAmong the eunuchs who waited in the queen's chamber, and were\ntaken prisoners with the women, there was one Tireus, who getting\nout of the camp, fled away on horseback to Darius, to inform him\nof his wife's death.  He, when he heard it, beating his head, and\nbursting into tears and lamentations, said, \"Alas! how great is\nthe calamity of the Persians!  Was it not enough that their king's\nconsort and sister was a prisoner in her lifetime, but she must,\nnow she is dead also, be but meanly and obscurely buried?\"  \"Oh\nking,\" replied the eunuch, \"as to her funeral rites, or any\nrespect or honor that should have been shown in them, you have not\nthe least reason to accuse the ill-fortune of your country; for to\nmy knowledge neither your queen Statira when alive, nor your\nmother, nor children, wanted anything of their former happy\ncondition, unless it were the light of your countenance, which I\ndoubt not but the lord Oromasdes will yet restore to its former\nglory.  And after her decease, I assure you, she had not only all\ndue funeral ornaments, but was honored also with the tears of your\nvery enemies; for Alexander is as gentle after victory, as he is\nterrible in the field.\"  At the hearing of these words, such was\nthe grief and emotion of Darius's mind, that they carried him into\nextravagant suspicions; and taking Tireus aside into a more\nprivate part of his tent, \"Unless thou likewise,\" said he to him,\n\"hast deserted me, together with the good fortune of Persia, and\nart become a Macedonian in thy heart; if thou yet ownest me for\nthy master Darius, tell me, I charge thee, by the veneration thou\npayest the light of Mithras, and this right hand of thy king, do I\nnot lament the least of Statira's misfortunes in her captivity and\ndeath?  Have I not suffered something more injurious and\ndeplorable in her lifetime?  And had I not been miserable with\nless dishonor, if I had met with a more severe and inhuman enemy?\nFor how is it possible a young man as he is, should treat the wife\nof his opponent with so much distinction, were it not from some\nmotive that does me disgrace?\"  Whilst he was yet speaking, Tireus\nthrew himself at his feet, and besought him neither to wrong\nAlexander so much, nor his dead wife and sister, as to give\nutterance to any such thoughts, which deprived him of the greatest\nconsolation left him in his adversity, the belief that he was\novercome by a man whose virtues raised him above human nature;\nthat he ought to look upon Alexander with love and admiration, who\nhad given no less proofs of his continence towards the Persian\nwomen, than of his valor among the men.  The eunuch confirmed all\nhe said with solemn and dreadful oaths, and was further enlarging\nupon Alexander's moderation and magnanimity on other occasions,\nwhen Darius, breaking away from him into the other division of the\ntent, where his friends and courtiers were, lifted up his hands to\nheaven, and uttered this prayer, \"Ye gods,\" said he, \"of my\nfamily, and of my kingdom, if it be possible, I beseech you to\nrestore the declining affairs of Persia, that I may leave them in\nas flourishing a condition as I found them, and have it in my\npower to make a grateful return to Alexander for the kindness\nwhich in my adversity he has shown to those who are dearest to me.\nBut if, indeed, the fatal time be come, which is to give a period\nto the Persian monarchy, if our ruin be a debt that must be paid\nto the divine jealousy and the vicissitude of things, then I\nbeseech you grant that no other man but Alexander may sit upon the\nthrone of Cyrus.\"  Such is the narrative given by the greater\nnumber of the historians.\n\nBut to return to Alexander.  After he had reduced all Asia on this\nside the Euphrates, he advanced towards Darius, who was coming\ndown against him with a million of men.  In his march, a very\nridiculous passage happened.  The servants who followed the camp,\nfor sport's sake divided themselves into two parties, and named\nthe commander of one of them Alexander, and of the other Darius.\nAt first they only pelted one another with clods of earth, but\npresently took to their fists, and at last, heated with the\ncontention, they fought in good earnest with stones and clubs, so\nthat they had much ado to part them; till Alexander, upon hearing\nof it, ordered the two captains to decide the quarrel by single\ncombat, and armed him who bore his name himself, while Philotas\ndid the same to him who represented Darius.  The whole army were\nspectators of this encounter, willing from the event of it to\nderive an omen of their own future success.  After they had fought\nstoutly a pretty long while, at last he who was called Alexander\nhad the better, and for a reward of his prowess, had twelve\nvillages given him, with leave to wear the Persian dress.  So we\nare told by Eratosthenes.\n\nBut the great battle of all that was fought with Darius, was not,\nas most writers tell us, at Arbela, but at Gaugamela, which, in\ntheir language, signifies the camel's house, forasmuch as one of\ntheir ancient kings having escaped the pursuit of his enemies on a\nswift camel, in gratitude to his beast, settled him at this place,\nwith an allowance of certain villages and rents for his\nmaintenance.  It came to pass that in the month Boedromion, about\nthe beginning of the feast of Mysteries at Athens, there was an\neclipse of the moon, the eleventh night after which, the two\narmies being now in view of one another, Darius kept his men in\narms, and by torchlight took a general review of them.  But\nAlexander, while his soldiers slept, spent the night before his\ntent with his diviner Aristander, performing certain mysterious\nceremonies, and sacrificing to the god Fear.  In the meanwhile\nthe oldest of his commanders, and chiefly Parmenio, when they\nbeheld all the plain between Niphates and the Gordyaean mountains\nshining with the lights and fires which were made by the\nbarbarians, and heard the uncertain and confused sound of voices\nout of their camp, like the distant roaring of a vast ocean, were\nso amazed at the thoughts of such a multitude, that after some\nconference among themselves, they concluded it an enterprise too\ndifficult and hazardous for them to engage so numerous an enemy in\nthe day, and therefore meeting the king as he came from\nsacrificing, besought him to attack Darius by night, that the\ndarkness might conceal the danger of the ensuing battle.  To this\nhe gave them the celebrated answer, \"I will not steal a victory,\"\nwhich though some at the time thought a boyish and inconsiderate\nspeech, as if he played with danger, others, however, regarded as\nan evidence that he confided in his present condition, and acted\non a true judgment of the future, not wishing to leave Darius, in\ncase he were worsted, the pretext of trying his fortune again,\nwhich he might suppose himself to have, if he could impute his\noverthrow to the disadvantage of the night, as he did before to\nthe mountains, the narrow passages, and the sea.  For while he had\nsuch numerous forces and large dominions still remaining, it was\nnot any want of men or arms that could induce him to give up the\nwar, but only the loss of all courage and hope upon the conviction\nof an undeniable and manifest defeat.\n\nAfter they were gone from him with this answer, he laid himself\ndown in his tent and slept the rest of the night more soundly than\nwas usual with him, to the astonishment of the commanders, who\ncame to him early in the morning, and were fain themselves to give\norder that the soldiers should breakfast.  But at last, time not\ngiving them leave to wait any longer, Parmenio went to his\nbedside, and called him twice or thrice by his name, till he waked\nhim, and then asked him how it was possible, when he was to fight\nthe most important battle of all, he could sleep as soundly as if\nhe were already victorious.  \"And are we not so, indeed,\" replied\nAlexander, smiling, \"since we are at last relieved from the\ntrouble of wandering in pursuit of Darius through a wide and\nwasted country, hoping in vain that he would fight us?\"  And not\nonly before the battle, but in the height of the danger, he showed\nhimself great, and manifested the self-possession of a just\nforesight and confidence.  For the battle for some time fluctuated\nand was dubious.  The left wing, where Parmenio commanded, was so\nimpetuously charged by the Bactrian horse that it was disordered\nand forced to give ground, at the same time that Mazaeus had sent\na detachment round about to fall upon those who guarded the\nbaggage, which so disturbed Parmenio, that he sent messengers to\nacquaint Alexander that the camp and baggage would be all lost\nunless he immediately believed the rear by a considerable\nreinforcement drawn out of the front.  This message being brought\nhim just as he was giving the signal to those about him for the\nonset, he bade them tell Parmenio that he must have surely lost\nthe use of his reason, and had forgotten, in his alarm, that\nsoldiers, if victorious, become masters of their enemies' baggage;\nand if defeated, instead of taking care of their wealth or their\nslaves, have nothing more to do but to fight gallantly and die\nwith honor.  When he had said this, he put on his helmet, having\nthe rest of his arms on before he came out of his tent, which were\ncoat of the Sicilian make, girt close about him, and over that a\nbreastpiece of thickly quilted linen, which was taken among other\nbooty at the battle of Issus.  The helmet, which was made by\nTheophilus, though of iron, was so well wrought and polished, that\nit was as bright as the most refined silver.  To this was fitted a\ngorget of the same metal, set with precious stones.  His sword,\nwhich was the weapon he most used in fight, was given him by the\nking of the Citieans, and was of an admirable temper and\nlightness.  The belt which he also wore in all engagements, was of\nmuch richer workmanship than the rest of his armor.  It was a work\nof the ancient Helicon, and had been presented to him by the\nRhodians, as mark of their respect to him.  So long as he was\nengaged in drawing up his men, or riding about to give orders or\ndirections, or to view them, he spared Bucephalas, who was now\ngrowing old, and made use of another horse; but when he was\nactually to fight, he sent for him again, and as soon as he was\nmounted, commenced the attack.\n\nHe made the longest address that day to the Thessalians and other\nGreeks, who answered him with loud shouts, desiring him to lead\nthem on against the barbarians, upon which he shifted his javelin\ninto his left hand, and with his right lifted up towards heaven,\nbesought the gods, as Callisthenes tells us, that if he was of a\ntruth the son of Jupiter, they would he pleased to assist and\nstrengthen the Grecians.  At the same time the augur Aristander,\nwho had a white mantle about him, and a crown of gold on his head,\nrode by and showed them an eagle that soared just over Alexander,\nand directed his Right towards the enemy; which so animated the\nbeholders, that after mutual encouragements and exhortations, the\nhorse charged at full speed, and were followed in a mass by the\nwhole phalanx of the foot.  But before they could well come to\nblows with the first ranks, the barbarians shrunk back, and were\nhotly pursued by Alexander, who drove those that fled before him\ninto the middle of the battle, where Darius himself was in person,\nwhom he saw from a distance over the foremost ranks, conspicuous\nin the midst of his life-guard, a tall and fine-looking man, drawn\nin a lofty chariot, defended by an abundance of the best horse,\nwho stood close in order about it, ready to receive the enemy.\nBut Alexander's approach was so terrible, forcing those who gave\nback upon those who yet maintained their ground, that he beat down\nand dispersed them almost all.  Only a few of the bravest and\nvaliantest opposed the pursuit, who were slain in their king's\npresence, falling in heaps upon one another, and in the very pangs\nof death striving to catch hold of the horses.  Darius now seeing\nall was lost, that those who were placed in front to defend him\nwere broken and beat back upon him, that he could not turn or\ndisengage his chariot without great difficulty, the wheels being\nclogged and entangled among the dead bodies, which lay in such\nheaps as not only stopped, but almost covered the horses, and made\nthem rear and grow so unruly, that the frighted charioteer could\ngovern them no longer, in this extremity was glad to quit his\nchariot and his arms, and mounting, it is said, upon a mare that\nhad been taken from her foal, betook himself to flight.  But he\nhad not escaped so either, if Parmenio had not sent fresh\nmessengers to Alexander, to desire him to return and assist him\nagainst a considerable body of the enemy which yet stood together,\nand would not give ground.  For, indeed, Parmenio is on all hands\naccused of having been sluggish and unserviceable in this battle,\nwhether age had impaired his courage, or that, as Callisthenes\nsays, he secretly disliked and envied Alexander's growing\ngreatness.  Alexander, though he was not a little vexed to be so\nrecalled and hindered from pursuing his victory, yet concealed the\ntrue reason from his men, and causing a retreat to be sounded, as\nif it were too late to continue the execution any longer, marched\nback towards the place of danger, and by the way met with the news\nof the enemy's total overthrow and flight.\n\nThis battle being thus over, seemed to put a period to the Persian\nempire; and Alexander, who was now proclaimed king of Asia,\nreturned thanks to the gods in magnificent sacrifices, and\nrewarded his friends and followers with great sums of money, and\nplaces, and governments of provinces.  And eager to gain honor\nwith the Grecians, he wrote to them that he would have all\ntyrannies abolished, that they might live free according to their\nown laws, and specially to the Plataeans, that their city should\nbe rebuilt, because their ancestors had permitted their countrymen\nof old to make their territory the seat of the war, when they\nfought with the barbarians for their common liberty.  He sent also\npart of the spoils into Italy, to the Crotoniats, to honor the\nzeal and courage of their citizen Phayllus, the wrestler, who, in\nthe Median war, when the other Grecian colonies in Italy disowned\nGreece, that he might have a share in the danger, joined the fleet\nat Salamis, with a vessel set forth at his own charge.  So\naffectionate was Alexander to all kind of virtue, and so desirous\nto preserve the memory of laudable actions.\n\nFrom hence he marched through the province of Babylon, which\nimmediately submitted to him, and in Ecbatana was much surprised\nat the sight of the place where fire issues in a continuous\nstream, like a spring of water, out of a cleft in the earth, and\nthe stream of naphtha, which, not far from this spot, flows out so\nabundantly as to form a sort of lake.  This naphtha, in other\nrespects resembling bitumen, is so subject to take fire, that\nbefore it touches the flame, it will kindle at the very light that\nsurrounds it, and often inflame the intermediate air also.  The\nbarbarians, to show the power and nature of it, sprinkled the\nstreet that led to the king's lodgings with little drops of it,\nand when it was almost night, stood at the further end with\ntorches, which being applied to the moistened places, the first at\nonce taking fire, instantly, as quick as a man could think of it,\nit caught from one end to another, in such a manner that the whole\nstreet was one continued flame.  Among those who used to wait on\nthe king and find occasion to amuse him when he anointed and\nwashed himself, there was one Athenophanes, an Athenian, who\ndesired him to make an experiment of the naphtha upon Stephanus,\nwho stood by in the bathing place, a youth with a ridiculously\nugly face, whose talent was singing well, \"For,\" said he, \"if it\ntake hold of him and is not put out, it must undeniably be allowed\nto be of the most invincible strength.\"  The youth, as it\nhappened, readily consented to undergo the trial, and as soon as\nhe was anointed and rubbed with it, his whole body broke out into\nsuch a flame, and was so seized by the fire, that Alexander was\nin the greatest perplexity and alarm for him, and not without\nreason; for nothing could have prevented his being consumed by it,\nif by good chance there had not been people at hand with a great\nmany vessels of water for the service of the bath, with all which\nthey had much ado to extinguish the fire; and his body was so\nburned all over, that he was not cured of it a good while after.\nAnd thus it is not without some plausibility that they endeavor to\nreconcile the fable to truth, who say this was the drug in the\ntragedies with which Medea anointed the crown and veil which she\ngave to Creon's daughter.  For neither the things themselves, nor\nthe fire could kindle of its own accord, but being prepared for it\nby the naphtha, they imperceptibly attracted and caught a flame\nwhich happened to be brought near them.  For the rays and\nemanations of fire at a distance have no other effect upon some\nbodies than bare light and heat, but in others, where they meet\nwith airy dryness, and also sufficient rich moisture, they collect\nthemselves and soon kindle and create a transformation.  The\nmanner, however, of the production of naphtha admits of a\ndiversity of opinion on whether this liquid substance that\nfeeds the flame does not rather proceed from a soil that is\nunctuous and productive of fire, as that of the province of\nBabylon is, where the ground is so very hot, that oftentimes the\ngrains of barley leap up, and are thrown out, as if the violent\ninflammation had made the earth throb; and in the extreme heats\nthe inhabitants are wont to sleep upon skins filled with water.\nHarpalus, who was left governor of this country, and was desirous\nto adorn the palace gardens and walks with Grecian plants,\nsucceeded in raising all but ivy, which the earth would not bear,\nbut constantly killed.  For being a plant that loves a cold soil,\nthe temper of this hot and fiery earth was improper for it.  But\nsuch digressions as these the impatient reader will be more\nwilling to pardon, if they are kept within a moderate compass.\n\nAt the taking of Susa, Alexander found in the palace forty\nthousand talents in money ready coined, besides an unspeakable\nquantity of other furniture and treasure; amongst which was five\nthousand talents' worth of Hermionian purple, that had been laid\nup there a hundred and ninety years, and yet kept its color as\nfresh and lively as at first.  The reason of which, they say, is\nthat in dyeing the purple they made use of honey, and of white oil\nin the white tincture, both which after the like space of time\npreserve the clearness and brightness of their luster.  Dinon also\nrelates that the Persian kings had water fetched from the Nile and\nthe Danube, which they laid up in their treasuries as a sort of\ntestimony of the greatness of their power and universal empire.\n\nThe entrance into Persia was through a most difficult country,\nand was guarded by the noblest of the Persians, Darius himself\nhaving escaped further.  Alexander, however, chanced to find a\nguide in exact correspondence with what the Pythia had foretold\nwhen he was a child, that a lycus should conduct him into Persia.\nFor by such an one, whose father was a Lycian, and his mother a\nPersian, and who spoke both languages, he was now led into the\ncountry, by a way something about, yet without fetching any\nconsiderable compass.  Here a great many of the prisoners were put\nto the sword, of which himself gives this account, that he\ncommanded them to be killed in the belief that it would be for his\nadvantage.  Nor was the money found here less, he says, than at\nSusa, besides other movables and treasure, as much as ten thousand\npair of mules and five thousand camels could well carry away.\nAmongst other things he happened to observe a large statue of\nXerxes thrown carelessly down to the ground in the confusion made\nby the multitude of soldiers pressing; into the palace.  He stood\nstill, and accosting it as if it had been alive, \"Shall we,\" said\nhe, \"neglectfully pass thee by, now thou art prostrate on the\nground, because thou once invadedst Greece, or shall we erect thee\nagain in consideration of the greatness of thy mind and thy other\nvirtues?\"  But at last, after he had paused some time, and\nsilently considered with himself, he went on without taking any\nfurther notice of it.  In this place he took up his winter\nquarters, and stayed four months to refresh his soldiers.  It is\nrelated that the first time he sat on the royal throne of Persia,\nunder the canopy of gold, Demaratus, the Corinthian, who was much\nattached to him and had been one of his father's friends, wept, in\nan old man's manner, and deplored the misfortune of those Creeks\nwhom death had deprived of the satisfaction of seeing Alexander\nseated on the throne of Darius.\n\nFrom hence designing to march against Darius, before he set out,\nhe diverted himself with his officers at an entertainment of\ndrinking and other pastimes, and indulged so far as to let every\none's mistress sit by and drink with them.  The most celebrated of\nthem was Thais, an Athenian, mistress of Ptolemy, who was\nafterwards king of Egypt.  She, partly as a sort of well-turned\ncompliment to Alexander, partly out of sport, as the drinking went\non, at last was carried so far as to utter a saying, not\nmisbecoming her native country's character, though somewhat too\nlofty for her own condition.  She said it was indeed some\nrecompense for the toils she had undergone in following the camp\nall over Asia, that she was that day treated in, and could insult\nover, the stately palace of the Persian monarchs.  But, she added,\nit would please her much better, if while the king looked on, she\nmight in sport, with her own hands, set fire to the court of that\nXerxes who reduced the city of Athens to ashes, that it might be\nrecorded to posterity, that the women who followed Alexander had\ntaken a severer revenge on the Persians for the sufferings and\naffronts of Greece, than all the famed commanders had been able to\ndo by sea or land.  What she said was received with such universal\nliking and murmurs of applause, and so seconded by the\nencouragement and eagerness of the company, that the king himself,\npersuaded to be of the party, started from his seat, and with a\nchaplet of flowers on his head, and a lighted torch in his hand,\nled them the way, while they went after him in a riotous manner,\ndancing and making loud cries about the place; which when the rest\nof the Macedonians perceived, they also in great delight ran\nthither with torches; for they hoped the burning and destruction\nof the royal palace was an argument that he looked homeward, and\nhad no design to reside among the barbarians.  Thus some writers\ngive their account of this action, while others say it was done\ndeliberately; however, all agree that he soon repented of it, and\ngave order to put out the fire.\n\nAlexander was naturally most munificent, and grew more so as his\nfortune increased, accompanying what he gave with that courtesy\nand freedom, which, to speak truth, is necessary to make a benefit\nreally obliging.  I will give a few instances of this kind.\nAriston, the captain of the Paeonians, having killed an enemy,\nbrought his head to show him, and told him that in his country,\nsuch a present was recompensed with a cup of gold.  \"With an empty\none,\" said Alexander, smiling, \"but I drink to you in this, which\nI give you full of wine.\"  Another time, as one of the common\nsoldier was driving a mule laden with some of the king's treasure,\nthe beast grew tired, and the soldier took it upon his own back,\nand began to march with it, till Alexander seeing the man so\novercharged, asked what was the matter; and when he was informed,\njust as he was ready to lay down his burden for weariness, \"Do not\nfaint now,\" said he to him, \"but finish the journey, and carry\nwhat you have there to your own tent for yourself.\"  He was always\nmore displeased with those who would not accept of what he gave\nthan with those who begged of him.  And therefore he wrote to\nPhocion, that he would not own him for his friend any longer, if\nhe refused his presents.  He had never given anything to Serapion,\none of the youths that played at ball with him, because he did not\nask of him, till one day, it coming to Serapion's turn to play, he\nstill threw the ball to others, and when the king asked him why he\ndid not direct it to him, \"Because you do not ask for it,\" said\nhe; which answer pleased him so, that he was very liberal to him\nafterwards.  One Proteas, a pleasant, jesting, drinking fellow,\nhaving incurred his displeasure, got his friends to intercede for\nhim, and begged his pardon himself with tears, which at last\nprevailed, and Alexander declared he was friends with him.  \"I\ncannot believe it,\" said Proteas, \"unless you first give me some\npledge of it.\"  The king understood his meaning, and presently\nordered five talents to be given him.  How magnificent he was in\nenriching his friends, and those who attended on his person,\nappears by a letter which Olympias wrote to him, where she tells\nhim he should reward and honor those about him in a more moderate\nway, For now,\" said she, \"you make them all equal to kings, you\ngive them power and opportunity of making many friends of their\nown, and in the meantime you leave yourself destitute.\"  She\noften wrote to him to this purpose, and he never communicated her\nletters to anybody, unless it were one which he opened when\nHephaestion was by, whom he permitted, as his custom was, to read\nit along with him; but then as soon as he had done, he took off\nhis ring, and set the seal upon Hephaestion's lips.  Mazaeus, who\nwas the most considerable man in Darius's court, had a son who was\nalready governor of a province.  Alexander bestowed another upon\nhim that was better; he, however, modestly refused, and told him,\ninstead of one Darius, he went the way to make many Alexanders.\nTo Parmenio he gave Bagoas's house, in which he found a wardrobe\nof apparel worth more than a thousand talents.  He wrote to\nAntipater, commanding him to keep a life-guard about him for the\nsecurity of his person against conspiracies.  To his mother he\nsent many presents, but would never suffer her to meddle with\nmatters of state or war, not indulging her busy temper, and when\nshe fell out with him upon this account, he bore her ill-humor\nvery patiently.  Nay more, when he read a long letter from\nAntipater, full of accusations against her, \"Antipater,\" he said,\n\"does not know that one tear of a mother effaces a thousand such\nletters as these.\"\n\nBut when he perceived his favorites grow so luxurious and\nextravagant in their way of living and expenses, that Hagnon, the\nTeian, wore silver nails in his shoes, that Leonnatus employed\nseveral camels, only to bring him powder out of Egypt to use when\nhe wrestled, and that Philotas had hunting nets a hundred furlongs\nin length, that more used precious ointment than plain oil when\nthey went to bathe, and that they carried about servants\neverywhere with them to rub them and wait upon them in their\nchambers, he reproved them in gentle and reasonable terms, telling\nthem he wondered that they who had been engaged in so many signal\nbattles did not know by experience, that those who labor sleep\nmore sweetly and soundly than those who are labored for, and could\nfail to see by comparing the Persians' manner of living with their\nown, that it was the most abject and slavish condition to be\nvoluptuous, but the most noble arid royal to undergo pain and\nlabor.  He argued with them further, how it was possible for anyone\nwho pretended to be a soldier, either to look well after his\nhorse, or to keep his armor bright and in good order, who thought\nit much to let his hands be serviceable to what was nearest to\nhim, his own body.  \"Are you still to learn,\" said he, \"that the\nend and perfection of our victories is to avoid the vices and\ninfirmities of those whom we subdue?\"  And to strengthen his\nprecepts by example, he applied himself now more vigorously than\never to hunting and warlike expeditions, embracing all\nopportunities of hardship and danger, insomuch that a\nLacedaemonian, who was there on an embassy to him, and chanced to\nbe by when he encountered with and mastered a huge lion, told him\nhe had fought gallantly with the beast, which of the two should be\nking.  Craterus caused a representation to be made of this\nadventure, consisting of the lion and the dogs, of the king\nengaged with the lion, and himself coming in to his assistance,\nall expressed in figures of brass, some of which were by Lysippus,\nand the rest by Leochares; and had it dedicated in the temple of\nApollo at Delphi.  Alexander exposed his person to danger in this\nmanner, with the object both of inuring himself, and inciting\nothers to the performance of brave and virtuous actions.\n\nBut his followers, who were grown rich, and consequently proud,\nlonged to indulge themselves in pleasure and idleness, and were\nweary of marches and expeditions, and at last went on so far as to\ncensure and speak ill of him.  All which at first he bore very\npatiently, saying, it became a king well to do good to others, and\nbe evil spoken of.  Meantime, on the smallest occasions that\ncalled for a show of kindness to his friends, there was every\nindication on his part of tenderness and respect.  Hearing\nPeucestes was bitten by a bear, he wrote to him, that he took it\nunkindly he should send others notice of it, and not make him\nacquainted with it; \"But now,\" said he, \"since it is so, let me\nknow how you do, and whether any of your companions forsook you\nwhen you were in danger, that I may punish them.\"  He sent\nHephaestion, who was absent about some business, word how while\nthey were fighting for their diversion with an ichneumon, Craterus\nwas by chance run through both thighs with Perdiccas's javelin.\nAnd upon Peucestes's recovery from a fit of sickness, he sent a\nletter of thanks to his physician Alexippus.  When Craterus was\nill, he saw a vision in his sleep, after which he offered\nsacrifices for his health, and bade him to do so likewise.  He\nwrote also to Pausanias, the physician, who was about to purge\nCraterus with hellebore, partly out of an anxious concern for him,\nand partly to give him a caution how he used that medicine.  He\nwas so tender of his friends' reputation that he imprisoned\nEphialtes and Cissus, who brought him the first news of Harpalus's\nflight and withdrawal from his service, as if they had falsely\naccused him.  When he sent the old and infirm soldiers home,\nEurylochus, a citizen of Aegae, got his name enrolled among the\nsick, though he ailed nothing, which being discovered, he\nconfessed he was in love with a young woman named Telesippa, and\nwanted to go along with her to the seaside.  Alexander inquired to\nwhom the woman belonged, and being told she was a free courtesan,\n\"I will assist you,\" said he to Eurylochus, \"in your amour, if\nyour mistress be to be gained either by presents or persuasions;\nbut we must use no other means, because she is free-born.\"\n\nIt is surprising to consider upon what slight occasions he would\nwrite letters to serve his friends.  As when he wrote one in which\nhe gave order to search for a youth that belonged to Seleucus, who\nwas run away into Cilicia; and in another, thanked and commended\nPeucestes for apprehending Nicon, a servant of Craterus; and in\none to Megabyzus, concerning a slave that had taken sanctuary in a\ntemple, gave direction that he should not meddle with him while he\nwas there, but if he could entice him out by fair means, then he\ngave him leave to seize him.  It is reported of him that when he\nfirst sat in judgment upon capital causes, he would lay his hand\nupon one of his ears while the accuser spoke, to keep it free and\nunprejudiced in behalf of the party accused.  But afterwards such\na multitude of accusations were brought before him, and so many\nproved true, that he lost his tenderness of heart, and gave credit\nto those also that were false; and especially when anybody spoke\nill of him, he would be transported out of his reason, and show\nhimself cruel and inexorable, valuing his glory and reputation\nbeyond his life or kingdom.\n\nHe now, as we said, set forth to seek Darius, expecting he should\nbe put to the hazard of another battle, but heard he was taken and\nsecured by Bessus, upon which news he sent home the Thessalians,\nand gave them a largess of two thousand talents over and above the\npay that was due to them.  This long and painful pursuit of\nDarius, for in eleven days he marched thirty-three hundred\nfurlongs, harassed his soldiers so that most of them were ready to\ngive it up, chiefly for want of water.  While they were in this\ndistress, it happened that some Macedonians who had fetched water\nin skins upon their mules from a river they had found out, came\nabout noon to the place where Alexander was, and seeing him almost\nchoked with thirst, presently filled a helmet and offered it him.\nHe asked them to whom they were carrying the water; they told him\nto their children, adding, that if his life were but saved, it was\nno matter for them, they should be able well enough to repair that\nloss, though they all perished.  Then he took the helmet into his\nhands, and looking round about, when he saw all those who were\nnear him stretching their heads out and looking, earnestly after\nthe drink, he returned it again with thanks without tasting a drop\nof it, \"For,\" said he, \"if I alone should drink, the rest will be\nout of heart.\"  The soldiers no sooner took notice of his\ntemperance and magnanimity upon this occasion, but they one and\nall cried out to him to lead them forward boldly, and began\nwhipping on their horses.  For whilst they had such a king, they\nsaid they defied both weariness and thirst, and looked upon\nthemselves to be little less than immortal.  But though they were\nall equally cheerful and willing, yet not above threescore horse\nwere able, it is said, to keep up, and to fall in with Alexander\nupon the enemy's camp, where they rode over abundance of gold and\nsilver that lay scattered about, and passing by a great many\nchariots full of women that wandered here and there for want of\ndrivers, they endeavored to overtake the first of those that fled,\nin hopes to meet with Darius among them.  And at last, after much\ntrouble, they found him lying in a chariot, wounded all over with\ndarts, just at the point of death.  However, he desired they would\ngive him some drink, and when he had drunk a little cold water, he\ntold Polystratus, who gave it him, that it had become the last\nextremity of his ill fortune, to receive benefits and not be able\nto return them.  \"But Alexander,\" said he, \"whose kindness to my\nmother, my wife, and my children I hope the gods will recompense,\nwill doubtless thank you for your humanity to me.  Tell him,\ntherefore, in token of my acknowledgment, I give him this right\nhand,\" with which words he took hold of Polystratus's hand and\ndied.  When Alexander came up to them, he showed manifest tokens\nof sorrow, and taking off his own cloak, threw it upon the body to\ncover it.  And sometime afterwards, when Bessus was taken, he\nordered him to be torn in pieces in this manner.  They fastened\nhim to a couple of trees which were bound down so as to meet, and\nthen being let loose, with a great force returned to their places,\neach of them carrying that part of the body along with it that was\ntied to it.  Darius's body was laid in state, and sent to his\nmother with pomp suitable to his quality.  His brother Exathres,\nAlexander received into the number of his intimate friends.\n\nAnd now with the flower of his army he marched into Hyrcania,\nwhere he saw a large bay of an open sea, apparently not much less\nthan the Euxine, with water, however, sweeter than that of other\nseas, but could learn nothing of certainty concerning it, further\nthan that in all probability it seemed to him to be an arm\nissuing from the lake of Maeotis.  However, the naturalists were\nbetter informed of the truth, and had given an account of it many\nyears before Alexander's expedition; that of four gulfs which out\nof the main sea enter into the continent, this, known\nindifferently as the Caspian and as the Hyrcanian sea, is the most\nnorthern.  Here the barbarians, unexpectedly meeting with those\nwho led Bucephalas, took them prisoners, and carried the horse\naway with them, at which Alexander was so much vexed, that he sent\na herald to let them know he would put them all to the sword,\nmen, women, and children, without mercy, if they did not restore\nhim.  But on their doing so, and at the same time surrendering\ntheir cities into his hands, he not only treated them kindly, but\nalso paid a ramsom for his horse to those who took him.\n\nFrom hence he marched into Parthia, where not having much to do,\nhe first put on the barbaric dress, perhaps with the view of\nmaking the work of civilizing them the easier, as nothing gains\nmore upon men than a conformity to their fashions and customs.  Or\nit may have been as a first trial, whether the Macedonians might\nbe brought to adore him, as the Persians did their kings, by\naccustoming them by little and little to bear with the alteration\nof his rule and course of life in other things.  However, he\nfollowed not the Median fashion, which was altogether foreign and\nuncouth, and adopted neither the trousers nor the sleeved vest,\nnor the tiara for the head, but taking a middle way between the\nPersian mode and the Macedonian, so contrived his habit that it\nwas not so flaunting as the one, and yet more pompous and\nmagnificent than the other.  At first he wore this habit only when\nhe conversed with the barbarians, or within doors, among his\nintimate friends and companions, but afterwards he appeared in it\nabroad, when he rode out, and at public audiences, a sight which\nthe Macedonians beheld with grief; but they so respected his other\nvirtues and good qualities, that they felt it reasonable in some\nthings to gratify his fancies and his passion of glory, in pursuit\nof which he hazarded himself so far, that, besides his other\nadventures, he had but lately been wounded in the leg by an arrow,\nwhich had so shattered the shank-bone that splinters were taken\nout.  And on another occasion he received a violent blow with a\nstone upon the nape of the neck, which dimmed his sight for a good\nwhile afterwards.  And yet all this could not hinder him from\nexposing himself freely to any dangers, insomuch that he passed\nthe river Orexartes, which he took to be the Tanais, and putting\nthe Scythians to flight, followed them above a hundred furlongs,\nthough suffering all the time from a diarrhea.\n\nHere many affirm that the Amazon came to give him a visit.  So\nClitarchus, Polyclitus, Onesicritus, Antigenes, and Ister, tell\nus.  But Aristobulus and Chares, who held the office of reporter\nof requests, Ptolemy and Anticlides, Philon the Theban, Philip of\nTheangela, Hecataeus the Eretrian, Philip the Chalcidian, and\nDuris the Samian, say it is wholly a fiction.  And truly Alexander\nhimself seems to confirm the latter statement, for in a letter in\nwhich he gives Antipater an account of all that happened, he tells\nhim that the king of Scythia offered him his daughter in marriage,\nbut makes no mention at all of the Amazon.  And many years after,\nwhen Onesicritus read this story in his fourth book to Lysimachus,\nwho then reigned, the king laughed quietly and asked, \"Where could\nI have been at that time?\"\n\nBut it signifies little to Alexander whether this be credited or\nno.  Certain it is, that apprehending the Macedonians would be\nweary of pursuing the war, he left the greater part of them in\ntheir quarters; and having with him in Hyrcania the choice of his\nmen only, amounting to twenty thousand foot, and three thousand\nhorse, he spoke to them to this effect:  That hitherto the\nbarbarians had seen them no otherwise than as it were in a dream,\nand if they should think of returning when they had only alarmed\nAsia, and not conquered it, their enemies would set upon them as\nupon so many women.  However, he told them he would keep none of\nthem with him against their will, they might go if they pleased;\nhe should merely enter his protest, that when on his way to make\nthe Macedonians the masters of the world, he was left alone with a\nfew friends and volunteers.  This is almost word for word, as he\nwrote in a letter to Antipater, where he adds, that when he had\nthus spoken to them, they all cried out, they would go along with\nhim whithersoever it was his pleasure to lead them.  After\nsucceeding with these, it was no hard matter for him to bring over\nthe multitude, which easily followed the example of their betters.\nNow, also, he more and more accommodated himself in his way of\nliving to that of the natives, and tried to bring them, also, as\nnear as he could to the Macedonian customs, wisely considering\nthat whilst he was engaged in an expedition which would carry him\nfar from thence, it would be wiser to depend upon the goodwill\nwhich might arise from intermixture and association as a means of\nmaintaining tranquillity, than upon force and compulsion.  In\norder to this, he chose out thirty thousand boys, whom he put\nunder masters to teach them the Greek tongue, and to train them up\nto arms in the Macedonian discipline.  As for his marriage with\nRoxana, whose youthfulness and beauty had charmed him at a\ndrinking entertainment, where he first happened to see her, taking\npart in a dance, it was, indeed, a love affair, yet it seemed at\nthe same time to be conducive to the object he had in hand.  For\nit gratified the conquered people to see him choose a wife from\namong themselves, and it made them feel the most lively affection\nfor him, to find that in the only passion which he, the most\ntemperate of men, was overcome by, he yet forbore till he could\nobtain her in a lawful and honorable way.\n\nNoticing, also, that among his chief friends and favorites,\nHephaestion most approved all that he did, and complied with and\nimitated him in his change of habits, while Craterus continued\nstrict in the observation of the customs and fashions of his own\ncountry, he made it his practice to employ the first in all\ntransactions with the Persians, and the latter when he had to do\nwith the Greeks or Macedonians.  And in general he showed more\naffection for Hephaestion, and more respect for Craterus;\nHephaestion, as he used to say, being Alexander's, and Craterus\nthe king's friend.  And so these two friends always bore in secret\na grudge to each other, and at times quarreled openly, so much so,\nthat once in India they drew upon one another, and were proceeding\nin good earnest, with their friends on each side to second them,\nwhen Alexander rode up and publicly reproved Hephaestion, calling\nhim fool and madman, not to be sensible that without his favor he\nwas nothing.  He rebuked Craterus, also, in private, severely, and\nthen causing them both to come into his presence, he reconciled\nthem, at the same time swearing by Ammon and the rest of the gods,\nthat he loved them two above all other men, but if ever he\nperceived them fall out again he would be sure to put both of them\nto death, or at least the aggressor.  After which they neither\never did or said anything, so much as in jest, to offend one\nanother.\n\nThere was scarcely anyone who had greater repute among the\nMacedonians than Philotas, the son of Parmenio.  For besides that\nhe was valiant and able to endure any fatigue of war, he was also\nnext to Alexander himself the most munificent, and the greatest\nlover of his friends, one of whom asking him for some money, he\ncommanded his steward to give it him; and when he told him he had\nnot wherewith, \"Have you not any plate then,\" said he, \"or any\nclothes of mine to sell?\"  But he carried his arrogance and his\npride of wealth and his habits of display and luxury to a degree\nof assumption unbecoming a private man, and affecting all the\nloftiness without succeeding in showing any of the grace or\ngentleness of true greatness, by this mistaken and spurious\nmajesty he gained so much envy and ill-will, that Parmenio would\nsometimes tell him, \"My son, to be not quite so great would be\nbetter.\"  For he had long before been complained of, and accused\nto Alexander.  Particularly when Darius was defeated in Cilicia,\nand an immense booty was taken at Damascus, among the rest of the\nprisoners who were brought into the camp, there was one Antigone\nof Pydna, a very handsome woman, who fell to Philotas's share.\nThe young man one day in his cups, in the vaunting, outspoken,\nsoldier's manner, declared to his mistress, that all the great\nactions were performed by him and his father, the glory and\nbenefit of which, he said, together with the title of king, the\nboy Alexander reaped and enjoyed by their means.  She could not\nhold, but discovered what he had said to one of her acquaintance,\nand he, as is usual in such cases, to another, till at last the\nstory came to the ears of Craterus, who brought the woman secretly\nto the king.  When Alexander had heard what she had to say, he\ncommanded her to continue her intrigue with Philotas, and give him\nan account from time to time of all that should fall from him to\nthis purpose.  He thus unwittingly caught in a snare, to gratify\nsome times a fit of anger, sometimes a mere love of vainglory, let\nhimself utter numerous foolish, indiscreet speeches against the\nking in Antigone's hearing, of which though Alexander was informed\nand convinced by strong evidence, yet he would take no notice of\nit at present, whether it was that he confided in Parmenio's\naffection and loyalty, or that he apprehended their authority and\ninterest in the army.  But about this time one Limnus, a\nMacedonian of Chalastra, conspired against Alexander's life, and\ncommunicated his design to a youth whom he was fond of, named\nNicomachus, inviting him to be of the party.  But he not relishing\nthe thing, revealed it to his brother Balinus, who immediately\naddressed himself to Philotas, requiring him to introduce them\nboth to Alexander, to whom they had something of great moment to\nimpart which very nearly concerned him.  But he, for what reason\nis uncertain, went not with them, professing that the king was\nengaged with affairs of more importance.  And when they had urged\nhim a second time, and were still slighted by him, they applied\nthemselves to another, by whose means being admitted into\nAlexander's presence, they first told about Limnus's conspiracy,\nand by the way let Philotas's negligence appear, who had twice\ndisregarded their application to him.  Alexander was greatly\nincensed, and on finding that Limnus had defended himself, and had\nbeen killed by the soldier who was sent to seize him, he was still\nmore discomposed, thinking he had thus lost the means of detecting\nthe plot.  As soon as his displeasure against Philotas began to\nappear, presently all his old enemies showed themselves, and said\nopenly, the king was too easily imposed on, to imagine that one so\ninconsiderable as Limnus, a Chalastrian, should of his own head\nundertake such an enterprise; that in all likelihood he was but\nsubservient to the design, an instrument that was moved by some\ngreater spring; that those ought to be more strictly examined\nabout the matter whose interest it was so much to conceal it.\nWhen they had once gained the king's ear for insinuations of this\nsort, they went on to show a thousand grounds of suspicion against\nPhilotas, till at last they prevailed to have him seized and put\nto the torture, which was done in the presence of the principal\nofficers, Alexander himself being placed behind some tapestry to\nunderstand what passed.  Where, when he heard in what a miserable\ntone, and with what abject submissions Philotas applied himself to\nHephaestion, he broke out, it is said, in this manner:  \"Are you\nso mean-spirited and effeminate, Philotas, and yet can engage in\nso desperate a design?\"  After his death, he presently sent into\nMedia, and put also Parmenio, his father, to death, who had done\nbrave service under Philip, and was the only man, of his older\nfriends and counselors, who had encouraged Alexander to invade\nAsia.  Of three sons whom he had had in the army, he had already\nlost two, and now was himself put to death with the third.  These\nactions rendered Alexander an object of terror to many of his\nfriends, and chiefly to Antipater, who, to strengthen himself,\nsent messengers privately to treat for an alliance with the\nAetolians, who stood in fear of Alexander, because they had\ndestroyed the town of the Oeniadae; on being informed of which,\nAlexander had said the children of the Oeniadae need not revenge\ntheir fathers' quarrel, for he would himself take care to punish\nthe Aetolians.\n\nNot long after this happened the deplorable end of Clitus, which\nto those who barely hear the matter-of-fact, may seem more inhuman\nthan that of Philotas; but if we consider the story with its\ncircumstance of time, and weigh the cause, we shall find it to\nhave occurred rather through a sort of mischance of the king's,\nwhose anger and over-drinking offered an occasion to the evil\ngenius of Clitus.  The king had a present of Grecian fruit brought\nhim from the sea-coast, which was so fresh and beautiful, that he\nwas surprised at it, and called Clitus to him to see it, and to\ngive him a share of it.  Clitus was then sacrificing, but he\nimmediately left off and came, followed by three sheep, on whom\nthe drink-offering had been already poured preparatory to\nsacrificing them.  Alexander, being informed of this, told his\ndiviners, Aristander and Cleomantis the Lacedaemonian, and asked\nthem what it meant; on whose assuring him, it was an ill omen, he\ncommanded them in all haste to offer sacrifices for Clitus's\nsafety, forasmuch as three days before he himself had seen a\nstrange vision in his sleep, of Clitus all in mourning, sitting by\nParmenio's sons who were dead.  Clitus, however, stayed not to\nfinish his devotions, but came straight to supper with the king,\nwho had sacrificed to Castor and Pollux.  And when they had drunk\npretty hard, some of the company fell a singing the verses of one\nPranichus, or as others say of Pierion, which were made upon those\ncaptains who had been lately worsted by the barbarians, on purpose\nto disgrace and turn them to ridicule.  This gave offense to the\nolder men who were there, and they upbraided both the author and\nthe singer of the verses, though Alexander and the younger men\nabout him were much amused to hear them, and encouraged them to go\non, till at last Clitus, who had drunk too much, and was besides\nof a froward and willful temper, was so nettled that he could hold\nno longer, saying, it was not well done to expose the Macedonians\nso before the barbarians and their enemies, since though it was\ntheir unhappiness to be overcome, yet they were much better men\nthan those who laughed at them.  And when Alexander remarked, that\nClitus was pleading his own cause, giving cowardice the name of\nmisfortune, Clitus started up; \"This cowardice, as you are pleased\nto term it,\" said he to him, \"saved the life of a son of the gods,\nwhen in flight from Spithridates's sword; and it is by the expense\nof Macedonian blood, and by these wounds, that you are now raised\nto such a height, as to be able to disown your father Philip, and\ncall yourself the Son of Ammon.\"  \"Thou base fellow,\" said\nAlexander, who was now thoroughly exasperated, \"dost thou think to\nutter these things everywhere of me, and stir up the Macedonians\nto sedition, and not be punished for it?\"  \"We are sufficiently\npunished already,\" answered Clitus, \"if this be the recompense of\nour toils, and we must esteem theirs a happy lot, who have not\nlived to see their countrymen scourged with Median rods, and\nforced to sue to the Persians to have access to their king.\"\nWhile he talked thus at random, and those near Alexander got up\nfrom their seats and began to revile him in turn, the elder men\ndid what they could to compose the disorder.  Alexander, in the\nmeantime turning about to Xenodochus, the Cardian, and Artemius,\nthe Colophonian, asked them if they were not of opinion that the\nGreeks, in comparison with the Macedonians, behaved themselves\nlike so many demi-gods among wild beasts.  But Clitus for all this\nwould not give over, desiring Alexander to speak out if he had\nanything more to say, or else why did he invite men who were\nfreeborn and accustomed to speak their minds openly without\nrestraint, to sup with him.  He had better live and converse with\nbarbarians and slaves who would not scruple to bow the knee to his\nPersian girdle and his white tunic.  Which words so provoked\nAlexander, that not able to suppress his anger any longer, he threw\none of the apples that lay upon the table at him, and hit him, and\nthen looked about for his sword.  But Aristophanes, one of his\nlife-guard, had hid that out of the way, and others came about him\nand besought him, but in vain.  For breaking from them, he called\nout aloud to his guards in the Macedonian language, which was a\ncertain sign of some great disturbance in him, and commanded a\ntrumpeter to sound, giving him a blow with his clenched fist for\nnot instantly obeying him; though afterwards the same man was\ncommended for disobeying an order which would have put the whole\narmy into tumult and confusion.  Clitus still refusing to yield,\nwas with much trouble forced by his friends out of the room.  But\nhe came in again immediately at another door, very irreverently\nand confidently singing the verses out of Euripides's Andromache, --\n\nIn Greece, alas! how ill things ordered are!\n\nUpon this, at last, Alexander, snatching a spear from one of the\nsoldiers, met Clitus as he was coming forward and was putting by\nthe curtain that hung before the door, and ran him through the\nbody.  He fell at once with a cry and a groan.  Upon which the\nking's anger immediately vanishing, he came perfectly to himself,\nand when he saw his friends about him all in a profound silence,\nhe pulled the spear out of the dead body, and would have thrust it\ninto his own throat, if the guards had not held his hands, and by\nmain force carried him away into his chamber, where all that night\nand the next day he wept bitterly, till being quite spent with\nlamenting and exclaiming, he lay as it were speechless, only\nfetching deep sighs.  His friends apprehending some harm from his\nsilence, broke into the room, but he took no notice of what any of\nthem said, till Aristander putting him in mind of the vision he\nhad seen concerning Clitus, and the prodigy that followed, as if\nall had come to pass by an unavoidable fatality, he then seemed to\nmoderate his grief.  They now brought Callisthenes, the\nphilosopher, who was the near friend of Aristotle, and Anaxarchus\nof Abdera, to him.  Callisthenes used moral language, and gentle\nand soothing means, hoping to find access for words of reason, and\nget a hold upon the passion.  But Anaxarchus, who had always taken\na course of his own in philosophy, and had a name for despising\nand slighting his contemporaries, as soon as he came in, cried out\naloud, \"Is this the Alexander whom the whole world looks to, lying\nhere weeping like a slave, for fear of the censure and reproach of\nmen, to whom he himself ought to be a law and measure of equity,\nif he would use the right his conquests have given him as supreme\nlord and governor of all, and not be the victim of a vain and idle\nopinion?  Do not you know,\" said he, \"that Jupiter is represented\nto have Justice and Law on each hand of him, to signify that all\nthe actions of a conqueror are lawful and just?\"  With these and\nthe like speeches, Anaxarchus indeed allayed the king's grief, but\nwithal corrupted his character, rendering him more audacious and\nlawless than he had been.  Nor did he fail by these means to\ninsinuate himself into his favor, and to make Callisthenes's\ncompany, which at all times, because of his austerity, was not\nvery acceptable, more uneasy and disagreeable to him.\n\nIt happened that these two philosophers meeting at an\nentertainment, where conversation turned on the subject of climate\nand the temperature of the air, Callisthenes joined with their\nopinion, who held that those countries were colder, and the winter\nsharper there than in Greece.  Anaxarchus would by no means allow\nthis, but argued against it with some heat.  \"Surely,\" said\nCallisthenes, \"you cannot but admit this country to be colder than\nGreece, for there you used to have but one threadbare cloak to\nkeep out the coldest winter, and here you have three good warm\nmantles one over another.\"  This piece of raillery irritated\nAnaxarchus and the other pretenders to learning, and the crowd of\nflatterers in general could not endure to see Callisthenes so much\nadmired and followed by the youth, and no less esteemed by the\nolder men for his orderly life, and his gravity, and for being\ncontented with his condition; all confirming what he had professed\nabout the object he had in his journey to Alexander, that it was\nonly to get his countrymen recalled from banishment, and to\nrebuild and repeople his native town.  Besides the envy which his\ngreat reputation raised, he also, by his own deportment, gave\nthose who wished him ill, opportunity to do him mischief.  For\nwhen he was invited to public entertainments, he would most times\nrefuse to come, or if he were present at any, he put a constraint\nupon the company by his austerity and silence, which seemed to\nintimate his disapproval of what he saw.  So that Alexander\nhimself said in application to him,\n\nThat vain pretense to wisdom I detest,\nWhere a man's blind to his own interest.\n\nBeing with many more invited to sup with the king, he was called\nupon when the cup came to him, to make an oration extempore in\npraise of the Macedonians; and he did it with such a flow of\neloquence, that all who heard it rose from their seats to clap and\napplaud him, and threw their garland upon him; only Alexander told\nhim out of Euripides,\n\nI wonder not that you have spoke so well,\n'Tis easy on good subjects to excel.\n\n\"Therefore,\" said he, \"if you will show the force of your\neloquence, tell my Macedonians their faults, and dispraise them,\nthat by hearing their errors they may learn to he better for the\nfuture.\"  Callisthenes presently obeyed him, retracting all he had\nsaid before, and, inveighing against the Macedonians with great\nfreedom, added, that Philip thrived and grew powerful, chiefly by\nthe discord of the Grecians, applying this verse to him:--\n\nIn civil strife e'en villains rise to fame;\n\nwhich so offended the Macedonians, that he was odious to them ever\nafter.  And Alexander said, that instead of his eloquence, he had\nonly made his ill-will appear in what he had spoken.  Hermippus\nassures us, that one Stroebus, a servant whom Callisthenes kept to\nread to him, gave this account of these passages afterwards to\nAristotle; and that when he perceived the king grow more and more\naverse to him, two or three times, as he was going away, he\nrepeated the verses, --\n\nDeath seiz'd at last on great Patroclus too,\nThough he in virtue far exceeded you.\n\nNot without reason, therefore, did Aristotle give this character\nof Callisthenes, that he was, indeed, a powerful speaker, but had\nno judgment.  He acted certainly a true philosopher's part in\npositively refusing, as he did, to pay adoration; and by speaking\nout openly against that which the best and gravest of the\nMacedonians only repined at in secret, he delivered the Grecians\nand Alexander himself from a great disgrace, when the practice was\ngiven up.  But he ruined himself by it, because he went too\nroughly to work, as if he would have forced the king to that which\nhe should have effected by reason and persuasion.  Chares of\nMitylene writes, that at a banquet, Alexander, after he had drunk,\nreached the cup to one of his friends, who, on receiving it, rose\nup towards the domestic altar, and when he had drunk, first\nadored, and then kissed Alexander, and afterwards laid himself\ndown at the table with the rest.  Which they all did one after\nanother, till it came to Callisthenes's turn, who took the cup and\ndrank, while the king who was engaged in conversation with\nHephaestion was not observing, and then came and offered to kiss\nhim.  But Demetrius, surnamed Phidon, interposed, saying, \"Sir, by\nno means let him kiss you, for he only of us all has refused to\nadore you;\" upon which the king declined it, and all the concern\nCallisthenes showed was, that he said aloud, \"Then I go away with\na kiss less than the rest.\"  The displeasure he incurred by this\naction procured credit for Hephaestion's declaration that he had\nbroken his word to him in not paying the king the same veneration\nthat others did, as he had faithfully promised to do.  And to\nfinish his disgrace, a number of such men as Lysimachus and Hagnon\nnow came in with their asseverations that the sophist went about\neverywhere boasting of his resistance to arbitrary power, and that\nthe young men all ran after him, and honored him as the only man\namong so many thousands who had the courage to preserve his\nliberty.  Therefore when Hermolaus's conspiracy came to be\ndiscovered, the charges which his enemies brought against him were\nthe more easily believed, particularly that when the young man\nasked him what he should do to be the most illustrious person on\nearth, he told him the readiest way was to kill him who was\nalready so; and that to incite him to commit the deed, he bade him\nnot be awed by the golden couch, but remember Alexander was a man\nequally infirm and vulnerable as another.  However, none of\nHermolaus's accomplices, in the utmost extremity, made any mention\nof Callisthenes's being engaged in the design.  Nay, Alexander\nhimself, in the letters which he wrote soon after to Craterus,\nAttalus, and Alcetas, tells them that the young men who were put\nto the torture, declared they had entered into the conspiracy of\nthemselves, without any others being privy to, or guilty of it.\nBut yet afterwards, in a letter to Antipater, he accuses\nCallisthenes.  \"The young men,\" he says, \"were stoned to death by\nthe Macedonians, but for the sophist,\" (meaning Callisthenes,) \"I\nwill take care to punish him with them too who sent him to me, and\nwho harbor those in their cities who conspire against my life,\" an\nunequivocal declaration against Aristotle, in whose house\nCallisthenes, for his relationship's sake, being his niece Hero's\nson, had been educated.  His death is variously related.  Some say\nhe was hanged by Alexander's orders; others, that he died of\nsickness in prison; but Chares writes he was kept in chains seven\nmonths after he was apprehended, on purpose that he might be\nproceeded against in full council, when Aristotle should be\npresent; and that growing very fat, and contracting a disease of\nvermin, he there died, about the time that Alexander was wounded\nin India, in the country of the Malli Oxydracae, all which came\nto pass afterwards.\n\nFor to go on in order, Demaratus of Corinth, now quite an old man,\nhad made a great effort, about this time, to pay Alexander a\nvisit; and when he had seen him, said he pitied the misfortune of\nthose Grecians, who were so unhappy as to die before they had\nbeheld Alexander seated on the throne of Darius.  But he did not\nlong enjoy the benefit of the king's kindness for him, any\notherwise than that soon after falling sick and dying, he had a\nmagnificent funeral, and the army raised him a monument of earth,\nfourscore cubits high, and of a vast circumference.  His ashes\nwere conveyed in a very rich chariot, drawn by four horses, to the\nseaside.\n\nAlexander now intent upon his expedition into India, took notice\nthat his soldiers were so charged with booty that it hindered\ntheir marching.  Therefore, at break of day, as soon as the\nbaggage wagons were laden, first he set fire to his own, and to\nthose of his friends, and then commanded those to be burnt which\nbelonged to the rest of the army.  An act which in the\ndeliberation of it had seemed more dangerous and difficult than it\nproved in the execution, with which few were dissatisfied; for\nmost of the soldiers, as if they had been inspired, uttering loud\noutcries and warlike shoutings, supplied one another with what was\nabsolutely necessary, and burnt and destroyed all that was\nsuperfluous, the sight of which redoubled Alexander's zeal and\neagerness for his design.  And, indeed, he was now grown very\nsevere and inexorable in punishing those who committed any fault.\nFor he put Menander, one of his friends, to death, for deserting a\nfortress where he had placed him in garrison, and shot Orsodates,\none of the barbarians who revolted from him, with his own hand.\n\nAt this time a sheep happened to yean a lamb, with the perfect\nshape and color of a tiara upon the head, and testicles on each\nside; which portent Alexander regarded with such dislike, that he\nimmediately caused his Babylonian priests, whom he usually carried\nabout with him for such purposes, to purify him, and told his\nfriends he was not so much concerned for his own sake as for\ntheirs, out of an apprehension that after his death the divine\npower might suffer his empire to fall into the hands of some\ndegenerate, impotent person.  But this fear was soon removed by a\nwonderful thing that happened not long after, and was thought to\npresage better.  For Proxenus, a Macedonian, who was the chief of\nthose who looked to the king's furniture, as he was breaking up\nthe ground near the river Oxus, to set up the royal pavilion,\ndiscovered a spring of a fat, oily liquor, which after the top was\ntaken off, ran pure, clear oil, without any difference either of\ntaste or smell, having exactly the same smoothness and brightness,\nand that, too, in a country where no olives grew.  The water,\nindeed, of the river Oxus, is said to be the smoothest to the\nfeeling of all waters, and to leave a gloss on the skins of those\nwho bathe themselves in it.  Whatever might be the cause, certain\nit is that Alexander was wonderfully pleased with it, as appears\nby his letters to Antipater, where he speaks of it as one of the\nmost remarkable presages that God had ever favored him with.  The\ndiviners told him it signified his expedition would be glorious in\nthe event, but very painful, and attended with many difficulties;\nfor oil, they said, was bestowed on mankind by God as a\nrefreshment of their labors.\n\nNor did they judge amiss, for he exposed himself to many hazards\nin the battles which he fought, and received very severe wounds,\nbut the greatest loss in his army was occasioned through the\nunwholesomeness of the air, and the want of necessary provisions.\nBut he still applied himself to overcome fortune and whatever\nopposed him, by resolution and virtue, and thought nothing\nimpossible to true intrepidity, and on the other hand nothing\nsecure or strong for cowardice.  It is told of him that when he\nbesieged Sisimithres, who held an inaccessible, impregnable rock\nagainst him, and his soldiers began to despair of taking it, he\nasked Oxyartes whether Sisimithres was a man of courage, who\nassuring him he was the greatest coward alive, \"Then you tell me,\"\nsaid he, \"that the place may easily be taken, since what is in\ncommand of it is weak.\"  And in a little time he so terrified\nSisimithres, that he took it without any difficulty.  At an attack\nwhich he made upon such another precipitous place with some of his\nMacedonian soldiers, he called to one whose name was Alexander,\nand told him, he at any rate must fight bravely, if it were but\nfor his name's sake.  The youth fought gallantly and was killed in\nthe action, at which he was sensibly afflicted.  Another time,\nseeing his men march slowly and unwillingly to the siege of the\nplace called Nysa, because of a deep river between them and the\ntown, he advanced before them, and standing upon the bank, \"What a\nmiserable man,\" said he, \"am I, that I have not learned to swim!\"\nand then was hardly dissuaded from endeavoring to pass it upon his\nshield.  Here, after the assault was over, the ambassadors who\nfrom several towns which he had blocked up, came to submit to him\nand make their peace, were surprised to find him still in his\narmor, without anyone in waiting or attendance upon him, and when\nat last some one brought him a cushion, he made the eldest of\nthem, named Acuphis, take it and sit down upon it.  The old man,\nmarveling at his magnanimity and courtesy, asked him what his\ncountrymen should do to merit his friendship.  \"I would have\nthem,\" said Alexander, \"choose you to govern them, and send one\nhundred of the most worthy men among them to remain with me as\nhostages.\"  Acuphis laughed and answered, \"I shall govern them\nwith more ease, Sir, if I send you so many of the worst, rather\nthan the best of my subjects.\"\n\nThe extent of king Taxiles's dominions in India was thought to be\nas large as Egypt, abounding in good pastures, and producing\nbeautiful fruits.  The king himself had the reputation of a wise\nman, and at his first interview with Alexander, he spoke to him\nin these terms:  \"To what purpose,\" said he, \"should we make war\nupon one another, if the design of your coming into these parts be\nnot to rob us of our water or our necessary food, which are the\nonly things that wise men are indispensably obliged to fight for?\nAs for other riches and possessions, as they are accounted in the\neye of the world, if I am better provided of them than you, I am\nready to let you share with me; but if fortune has been more\nliberal to you than me, I have no objection to be obliged to you.\"\nThis discourse pleased Alexander so much, that embracing him, \"Do\nyou think,\" said he to him, \"your kind words and courteous\nbehavior will bring you off in this interview without a contest?\nNo, you shall not escape so.  I shall contend and do battle with\nyou so far, that how obliging soever you are, you shall not have\nthe better of me.\"  Then receiving some presents from him, he\nreturned him others of greater value, and to complete his bounty,\ngave him in money ready coined one thousand talents; at which his\nold friends were much displeased, but it gained him the hearts of\nmany of the barbarians.  But the best soldiers of the Indians now\nentering into the pay of several of the cities, undertook to\ndefend them, and did it so bravely, that they put Alexander to a\ngreat deal of trouble, till at last, after a capitulation, upon\nthe surrender of the place, he fell upon them as they were\nmarching away, and put them all to the sword.  This one breach of\nhis word remains as a blemish upon his achievements in war, which\nhe otherwise had performed throughout with that justice and honor\nthat became a king.  Nor was he less incommoded by the Indian\nphilosophers, who inveighed against those princes who joined his\nparty, and solicited the free nations to oppose him.  He took\nseveral of these also, and caused them to be hanged.\n\nAlexander, in his own letters, has given us an account of his war\nwith Porus.  He says the two armies were separated by the river\nHydaspes, on whose opposite bank Porus continually kept his\nelephants in order of battle, with their heads towards their\nenemies, to guard the passage; that he, on the other hand, made\nevery day a great noise and clamor in his camp, to dissipate the\napprehensions of the barbarians; that one stormy dark night he\npassed the river, at a distance from the place where the enemy\nlay, into a little island, with part of his foot, and the best of\nhis horse.  Here there fell a most violent storm of rain,\naccompanied with lightning and whirlwinds, and seeing some of his\nmen burnt and dying with the lightning, he nevertheless quitted\nthe island and made over to the other side.  The Hydaspes, he\nsays, now after the storm, was so swollen and grown so rapid, as\nto have made a breach in the bank, and a part of the river was now\npouring in here, so that when he came across, it was with\ndifficulty he got a footing on the land, which was slippery and\nunsteady, and exposed to the force of the currents on both sides.\nThis is the occasion when he is related to have said, \"O ye\nAthenians, will ye believe what dangers I incur to merit your\npraise?\"  This, however, is Onesicritus's story.  Alexander says,\nhere the men left their boats, and passed the breach in their\narmor, up to the breast in water, and that then he advanced with\nhis horse about twenty furlongs before his foot, concluding that\nif the enemy charged him with their cavalry, he should be too\nstrong for them; if with their foot, his own would come up time\nenough to his assistance.  Nor did he judge amiss; for being\ncharged by a thousand horse, and sixty armed chariots, which\nadvanced before their main body, he took all the chariots, and\nkilled four hundred horse upon the place.  Porus, by this time\nguessing that Alexander himself had crossed over, came on with his\nwhole army, except a party which he left behind, to hold the rest\nof the Macedonians in play, if they should attempt to pass the\nriver.  But he, apprehending the multitude of the enemy, and to\navoid the shock of their elephants, dividing his forces, attacked\ntheir left wing himself, and commanded Coenus to fall upon the\nright, which was performed with good success.  For by this means\nboth wings being broken, the enemies fell back in their retreat\nupon the center, and crowded in upon their elephants.  There\nrallying, they fought a hand to hand battle, and it was the eighth\nhour of the day before they were entirely defeated.  This\ndescription the conqueror himself has left us in his own epistles.\n\nAlmost all the historians agree in relating that Porus was four\ncubits and a span high, and that when he was upon his elephant,\nwhich was of the largest size, his stature and bulk were so\nanswerable, that he appeared to be proportionably mounted, as a\nhorseman on his horse.  This elephant, during the whole battle,\ngave many singular proofs of sagacity and of particular care of\nthe king, whom as long as he was strong and in a condition to\nfight, he defended with great courage, repelling those who set\nupon him; and as soon as he perceived him overpowered with his\nnumerous wounds and the multitude of darts that were thrown at\nhim, to prevent his falling off, he softly knelt down and began to\ndraw out the darts with his proboscis.  When Porus was taken\nprisoner; and Alexander asked him how he expected to be used, he\nanswered, \"As a king.\"  For that expression, he said, when the\nsame question was put to him a second time, comprehended\neverything.  And Alexander, accordingly, not only suffered him to\ngovern his own kingdom as satrap under himself, but gave him also\nthe additional territory of various independent tribes whom he\nsubdued, a district which, it is said, contained fifteen several\nnations and five thousand considerable towns, besides abundance of\nvillages.  To another government, three times as large as this, he\nappointed Philip, one of his friends.\n\nSome little time after the battle with Porus, Bucephalas died, as\nmost of the authorities state, under cure of his wounds, or as\nOnesicritus says, of fatigue and age, being thirty years old.\nAlexander was no less concerned at his death, than if he had lost\nan old companion or an intimate friend, and built a city, which he\nnamed Bucephalia, in memory of him, on the bank of the river\nHydaspes.  He also, we are told, built another city, and called it\nafter the name of a favorite dog, Peritas, which he had brought up\nhimself.  So Sotion assures us he was informed by Potamon of\nLesbos.\n\nBut this last combat with Porus took off the edge of the\nMacedonians' courage, and stayed their further progress into\nIndia.  For having found it hard enough to defeat an enemy who\nbrought but twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse into the\nfield, they thought they had reason to oppose Alexander's design\nof leading them on to pass the Ganges too, which they were told\nwas thirty-two furlongs broad and a hundred fathoms deep, and the\nbanks on the further side covered with multitudes of enemies.  For\nthey were told that the kings of the Gandaritans and Praesians\nexpected them there with eighty thousand horse, two hundred\nthousand foot, eight thousand armed chariots, and six thousand\nfighting elephants.  Nor was this a mere vain report, spread to\ndiscourage them.  For Androcottus, who not long after reigned in\nthose parts, made a present of five hundred elephants at once to\nSeleucus, and with an army of six hundred thousand men subdued all\nIndia.  Alexander at first was so grieved and enraged at his men's\nreluctancy, that he shut himself up in his tent, and threw himself\nupon the ground, declaring, if they would not pass the Ganges, he\nowed them no thanks for anything they had hitherto done, and that\nto retreat now, was plainly to confess himself vanquished.  But at\nlast the reasonable persuasions of his friends and the cries and\nlamentations of his soldiers, who in a suppliant manner crowded\nabout the entrance of his tent, prevailed with him to think of\nreturning.  Yet he could not refrain from leaving behind him\nvarious deceptive memorials of his expedition, to impose upon\nafter-times, and to exaggerate his glory with posterity, such as\narms larger than were really worn, and mangers for horses, with\nbits of bridles above the usual size, which he set up, and\ndistributed in several places.  He erected altars, also, to the\ngods, which the kings of the Praesians even in our time do honor\nto when they pass the river, and offer sacrifice upon them after\nthe Grecian manner.  Androcottus, then a boy, saw Alexander there,\nand is said often afterwards to have been heard to say, that he\nmissed but little of making himself master of those countries;\ntheir king, who then reigned, was so hated and despised for the\nviciousness of his life, and the meanness of his extraction.\n\nAlexander was now eager to see the ocean.  To which purpose he\ncaused a great many row-boats and rafts to be built, in which he\nfell gently down the rivers at his leisure, yet so that his\nnavigation was neither unprofitable nor inactive.  For by several\ndescents upon the banks, he made himself master of the fortified\ntowns, and consequently of the country on both sides.  But at a\nsiege of a town of the Mallians, who have the repute of being the\nbravest people of India, he ran in great danger of his life.  For\nhaving beaten off the defendants with showers of arrows, he was\nthe first man that mounted the wall by a scaling ladder, which, as\nsoon as he was up, broke and left him almost alone, exposed to the\ndarts which the barbarians threw at him in great numbers from\nbelow.  In this distress, turning himself as well as he could, he\nleaped down in the midst of his enemies, and had the good fortune\nto light upon his feet.  The brightness and clattering of his\narmor when he came to the ground, made the barbarians think they\nsaw rays of light, or some bright phantom playing before his body,\nwhich frightened them so at first, that they ran away and\ndispersed.  Till seeing him seconded but by two of his guards,\nthey fell upon him hand to hand, and some, while he bravely\ndefended himself, tried to wound him through his armor with their\nswords and spears.  And one who stood further off, drew a bow with\nsuch just strength, that the arrow finding its way through his\ncuirass, stuck in his ribs under the breast.  This stroke was so\nviolent, that it made him give back, and set one knee to the\nground, upon which the man ran up with his drawn scimitar,\nthinking to dispatch him, and had done it, if Peucestes and\nLimnaeus had not interposed, who were both wounded, Limnaeus\nmortally, but Peucestes stood his ground, while Alexander killed\nthe barbarian.  But this did not free him from danger; for besides\nmany other wounds, at last he received so weighty a stroke of a\nclub upon his neck, that he was forced to lean his body against\nthe wall, still, however, facing the enemy.  At this extremity,\nthe Macedonians made their way in and gathered round him.  They\ntook him up, just as he was fainting away, having lost all sense\nof what was done near him, and conveyed him to his tent, upon\nwhich it was presently reported all over the camp that he was\ndead.  But when they had with great difficulty and pains sawed off\nthe shaft of the arrow, which was of wood, and so with much\ntrouble got off his cuirass, they came to cut out the head of it,\nwhich was three fingers broad and four long, and stuck fast in the\nbone.  During the operation, he was taken with almost mortal\nswoonings, but when it was out he came to himself again.  Yet\nthough all danger was past, he continued very weak, and confined\nhimself a great while to a regular diet and the method of his\ncure, till one day hearing the Macedonians clamoring outside in\ntheir eagerness to see him, he took his cloak and went out.  And\nhaving sacrificed to the gods, without more delay he went on board\nagain, and as he coasted along, subdued a great deal of the\ncountry on both sides, and several considerable cities.\n\nIn this voyage, he took ten of the Indian philosophers prisoners,\nwho had been most active in persuading Sabbas to revolt, and had\ncaused the Macedonians a great deal of trouble.  These men, called\nGymnosophists, were reputed to be extremely ready and succinct in\ntheir answers, which he made trial of, by putting difficult\nquestions to them, letting them know that those whose answers were\nnot pertinent, should be put to death, of which he made the eldest\nof them judge.  The first being asked which he thought most\nnumerous, the dead or the living, answered, \"The living, because\nthose who are dead are not at all.\"  Of the second, he desired to\nknow whether the earth or the sea produced the largest beast; who\ntold him, \"The earth, for the sea is but a part of it.\"  His\nquestion to the third was, Which is the cunningest of beasts?\n\"That,\" said he, \"which men have not yet found out.\"  He bade the\nfourth tell him what argument he used to Sabbas to persuade him to\nrevolt.  \"No other,\" said he, \"than that he should either live or\ndie nobly.\"  Of the fifth he asked, Which was eldest, night or\nday?  The philosopher replied, \"Day was eldest, by one day at\nleast.\"  But perceiving Alexander not well satisfied with that\naccount, he added, that he ought not to wonder if strange\nquestions had as strange answers made to them.  Then he went on and\ninquired of the next, what a man should do to be exceedingly\nbeloved.  \"He must be very powerful,\" said he, \"without making\nhimself too much feared.\"  The answer of the seventh to his\nquestion, how a man might become a god, was, \"By doing that which\nwas impossible for men to do.\"  The eighth told him, \"Life is\nstronger than death, because it supports so many miseries.\"  And\nthe last being asked, how long he thought it decent for a man to\nlive, said, \"Till death appeared more desirable than life.\"  Then\nAlexander turned to him whom he had made judge, and commanded him\nto give sentence.  \"All that I can determine,\" said he, \"is, that\nthey have every one answered worse than another.\"  \"Nay,\" said the\nking, \"then you shall die first, for giving such a sentence.\"\n\"Not so, O king,\" replied the gymnosophist, \"unless you said\nfalsely that he should die first who made the worst answer.\"  In\nconclusion he gave them presents and dismissed them.\n\nBut to those who were in greatest reputation among them, and lived\na private quiet life, he sent Onesicritus, one of Diogenes the\nCynic's disciples, desiring them to come to him.  Calanus, it is\nsaid, very arrogantly and roughly commanded him to strip himself,\nand hear what he said, naked, otherwise he would not speak a word\nto him, though he came from Jupiter himself.  But Dandamis\nreceived him with more civility, and hearing him discourse of\nSocrates, Pythagoras, and Diogenes, told him he thought them men\nof great parts, and to have erred in nothing so much as in\nhaving too great respect for the laws and customs of their\ncountry.  Others say, Dandamis only asked him the reason why\nAlexander undertook so long a journey to come into those parts.\nTaxiles, however, persuaded Calanus to wait upon Alexander.  His\nproper name was Sphines, but because he was wont to say Cale,\nwhich in the Indian tongue is a form of salutation, to those he\nmet with anywhere, the Greeks called him Calanus.  He is said to\nhave shown Alexander an instructive emblem of government, which\nwas this.  He threw a dry shriveled hide upon the ground, and trod\nupon the edges of it.  The skin when it was pressed in one place,\nstill rose up in another, wheresoever he trod round about it, till\nhe set his foot in the middle, which made all the parts lie even\nand quiet.  The meaning of this similitude being that he ought to\nreside most in the middle of his empire, and not spend too much\ntime on the borders of it.\n\nHis voyage down the rivers took up seven months' time, and when he\ncame to the sea, he sailed to an island which he himself called\nScillustis, others Psiltucis, where going ashore, he sacrificed,\nand made what observations he could as to the nature of the sea\nand the sea-coast.  Then having besought the gods that no other\nman might ever go beyond the bounds of this expedition, he ordered\nhis fleet of which he made Nearchus admiral, and Onesicritus\npilot, to sail round about, keeping the Indian shore on the right\nhand, and returned himself by land through the country of the\nOrites, where he was reduced to great straits for want of\nprovisions, and lost a vast number of men, so that of an army of\none hundred and twenty thousand foot and fifteen thousand horse,\nhe scarcely brought back above a fourth part out of India, they\nwere so diminished by diseases, ill diet, and the scorching heats,\nbut most by famine.  For their march was through an uncultivated\ncountry whose inhabitants fared hardly, possessing only a few\nsheep, and those of a wretched kind, whose flesh was rank and\nunsavory, by their continual feeding upon sea-fish.\n\nAfter sixty days march he came into Gedrosia, where he found great\nplenty of all things, which the neighboring kings and governors of\nprovinces, hearing of his approach, had taken care to provide.\nWhen he had here refreshed his army, he continued his march\nthrough Carmania, feasting all the way for seven days together.\nHe with his most intimate friends banqueted and reveled night and\nday upon a platform erected on a lofty, conspicuous scaffold,\nwhich was slowly drawn by eight horses.  This was followed by a\ngreat many chariots, some covered with purple and embroidered\ncanopies, and some with green boughs, which were continually\nsupplied afresh, and in them the rest of his friends and\ncommanders drinking, and crowned with garlands of flowers.  Here\nwas now no target or helmet or spear to be seen; instead of armor,\nthe soldiers handled nothing but cups and goblets and Thericlean\ndrinking vessels, which, along the whole way, they dipped into\nlarge bowls and jars, and drank healths to one another, some\nseating themselves to it, others as they went along.  All places\nresounded with music of pipes and flutes, with harping and\nsinging, and women dancing as in the rites of Bacchus.  For this\ndisorderly, wandering march, besides the drinking part of it, was\naccompanied with all the sportiveness and insolence of bacchanals,\nas much as if the god himself had been there to countenance and\nlead the procession.  As soon as he came to the royal palace of\nGedrosia, he again refreshed and feasted his army; and one day\nafter he had drunk pretty hard, it is said, he went to see a prize\nof dancing contended for, in which his favorite Bagoas, having\ngained the victory, crossed the theater in his dancing habit, and\nsat down close by him, which so pleased the Macedonians, that they\nmade loud acclamations for him to kiss Bagoas, and never stopped\nclapping their hands and shouting till Alexander put his arms\nround him and kissed him.\n\nHere his admiral, Nearchus, came to him and delighted him so with\nthe narrative of his voyage, that he resolved himself to sail out\nof the mouth of Euphrates with a great fleet, with which he\ndesigned to go round by Arabia and Africa, and so by Hercules's\nPillars into the Mediterranean; in order for which, he directed\nall sorts of vessels to be built at Thapsacus, and made great\nprovision everywhere of seamen and pilots.  But the tidings of the\ndifficulties he had gone through in his Indian expedition, the\ndanger of his person among the Mallians, the reported loss of a\nconsiderable part of his forces, and a general doubt as to his own\nsafety, had begun to give occasion for revolt among many of the\nconquered nations, and for acts of great injustice, avarice, and\ninsolence on the part of the satraps and commanders in the\nprovinces, so that there seemed to be an universal fluctuation and\ndisposition to change.  Even at home, Olympias and Cleopatra had\nraised a faction against Antipater, and divided his government\nbetween them, Olympias seizing upon Epirus, and Cleopatra upon\nMacedonia.  When Alexander was told of it, he said his mother had\nmade the best choice, for the Macedonians would never endure to be\nruled by a woman.  Upon this he dispatched Nearchus again to his\nfleet, to carry the war into the maritime provinces, and as he\nmarched that way himself, he punished those commanders who had\nbehaved ill, particularly Oxyartes, one of the sons of Abuletes,\nwhom he killed with his own hand, thrusting him through the body\nwith his spear.  And when Abuletes, instead of the necessary\nprovisions which he ought to have furnished, brought him three\nthousand talents in coined money, he ordered it to be thrown to\nhis horses, and when they would not touch it, \"What good,\" he\nsaid, \"will this provision do us?\" and sent him away to prison.\n\nWhen he came into Persia, he distributed money among the women, as\ntheir own kings had been wont to do, who as often as they came\nthither, gave every one of them a piece of gold; on account of\nwhich custom, some of them, it is said, had come but seldom, and\nOchus was so sordidly covetous, that to avoid this expense, he\nnever visited his native country once in all his reign.  Then\nfinding Cyrus's sepulchre opened and rifled, he put Polymachus,\nwho did it, to death, though he was a man of some distinction, a\nborn Macedonian of Pella.  And after he had read the inscription,\nhe caused it to be cut again below the old one in Greek\ncharacters; the words being these:  \"O man, whosoever thou art,\nand from whencesoever thou comest (for I know thou wilt come), I\nam Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire; do not grudge me this\nlittle earth which covers my body.\"  The reading of this sensibly\ntouched Alexander, filling him with the thought of the uncertainty\nand mutability of human affairs.  At the same time, Calanus having\nbeen a little while troubled with a disease in the bowels,\nrequested that he might have a funeral pile erected, to which he\ncame on horseback, and after he had said some prayers and\nsprinkled himself and cut off some of his hair to throw into the\nfire, before he ascended it, he embraced and took leave of the\nMacedonians who stood by, desiring them to pass that day in mirth\nand good-fellowship with their king, whom in a little time, he\nsaid, he doubted not but to see again at Babylon.  Having thus\nsaid, he lay down, and covering up his face, he stirred not when\nthe fire came near him, but continued still in the same posture\nas at first, and so sacrificed himself, as it was the ancient\ncustom of the philosophers in those countries to do.  The same\nthing was done long after by another Indian, who came with Caesar\nto Athens, where they still show you \"the Indian's monument.\"  At\nhis return from the funeral pile, Alexander invited a great many\nof his friends and principal officers to supper, and proposed a\ndrinking match, in which the victor should receive a crown.\nPromachus drank twelve quarts of wine, and won the prize, which\nwas a talent, from them all; but he survived his victory but three\ndays, and was followed, as Chares says, by forty-one more, who\ndied of the same debauch, some extremely cold weather having set\nin shortly after.\n\nAt Susa, he married Darius's daughter Statira, and celebrated also\nthe nuptials of his friends, bestowing the noblest of the Persian\nladies upon the worthiest of them, at the same time making in an\nentertainment in honor of the other Macedonians whose marriages\nhad already taken place.  At this magnificent festival, it is\nreported, there were no less than nine thousand guests, to each of\nwhom he gave a golden cup for the libations.  Not to mention other\ninstances of his wonderful magnificence, he paid the debts of his\narmy, which amounted to nine thousand eight hundred and seventy\ntalents.  But Antigenes, who had lost one of his eyes, though he\nowed nothing, got his name set down in the list of those who were\nin debt, and bringing one who pretended to be his creditor, and to\nhave supplied him from the bank, received the money.  But when the\ncheat was found out, the king was so incensed at it, that he\nbanished him from court, and took away his command, though he was\nan excellent soldier, and a man of great courage.  For when he was\nbut a youth, and served under Philip at the siege of Perinthus,\nwhere he was wounded in the eye by an arrow shot out of an engine,\nhe would neither let the arrow be taken out, nor be persuaded to\nquit the field, till he had bravely repulsed the enemy and forced\nthem to retire into the town.  Accordingly he was not able to\nsupport such a disgrace with any patience, and it was plain that\ngrief and despair would have made him kill himself, but that the\nking fearing it, not only pardoned him, but let him also enjoy the\nbenefit of his deceit.\n\nThe thirty thousand boys whom he left behind him to be taught and\ndisciplined, were so improved at his return, both in strength and\nbeauty, and performed their exercises with such dexterity and\nwonderful agility, that he was extremely pleased with them, which\ngrieved the Macedonians, and made them fear he would have the less\nvalue for them.  And when he proceeded to send down the infirm and\nmaimed soldiers to the sea, they said they were unjustly and\ninfamously dealt with, after they were worn out in his service\nupon all occasions, now to be turned away with disgrace and sent\nhome into their country among their friends and relations, in a\nworse condition than when they came out; therefore they desired\nhim to dismiss them one and all, and to account his Macedonians\nuseless, now he was so well furnished with a set of dancing boys,\nwith whom, if he pleased, he might go on and conquer the world.\nThese speeches so incensed Alexander, that after he had given them\na great deal of reproachful language in his passion, he drove them\naway, and committed the watch to Persians, out of whom he chose\nhis guards and attendants.  When the Macedonians saw him escorted\nby these men, and themselves excluded and shamefully disgraced,\ntheir high spirits fell, and conferring with one another, they\nfound that jealousy and rage had almost distracted them.  But at\nlast coming to themselves again, they went without their arms,\nwith on]y their under garments on, crying and weeping, to offer\nthemselves at his tent, and desired him to deal with them as their\nbaseness and ingratitude deserved.  However, this would not\nprevail; for though his anger was already something mollified, yet\nhe would not admit them into his presence, nor would they stir\nfrom thence, but continued two days and nights before his tent,\nbewailing themselves, and imploring him as their lord to have\ncompassion on them.  But the third day he came out to them, and\nseeing them very humble and penitent, he wept himself a great\nwhile, and after a gentle reproof spoke kindly to them, and\ndismissed those who were unserviceable with magnificent rewards,\nand with this recommendation to Antipater, that when they came\nhome, at all public shows and in the theaters, they should sit on\nthe best and foremost seats, crowned with chaplets of flowers.  He\nordered, also, that the children of those who had lost their lives\nin his service, should have their fathers' pay continued to them.\n\nWhen he came to Ecbatana in Media, and had dispatched his most\nurgent affairs, he began to divert himself again with spectacles\nand public entertainments, to carry on which he had a supply of\nthree thousand actors and artists, newly arrived out of Greece.\nBut they were soon interrupted by Hephaestion's falling sick of a\nfever, in which, being a young man and a soldier too, he could not\nconfine himself to so exact a diet as was necessary; for whilst\nhis physician Glaucus was gone to the theater, he ate a fowl for\nhis dinner, and drank a large draught of wine, upon which he\nbecame very ill, and shortly after died.  At this misfortune,\nAlexander was so beyond all reason transported, that to express\nhis sorrow, he immediately ordered the manes and tails of all his\nhorses and mules to be cut, and threw down the battlements of the\nneighboring cities.  The poor physician he crucified, and forbade\nplaying on the flute, or any other musical instrument in the camp\na great while, till directions came from the oracle of Ammon, and\nenjoined him to honor Hephaestion, and sacrifice to him as to a\nhero.  Then seeking to alleviate his grief in war, he set out, as\nit were, to a hunt and chase of men, for he fell upon the\nCossaeans, and put the whole nation to the sword.  This was called\na sacrifice to Hephaestion's ghost.  In his sepulchre and monument\nand the adorning of them, he intended to bestow ten thousand\ntalents; and designing that the excellence of the workmanship and\nthe singularity of the design might outdo the expense, his wishes\nturned, above all other artists, to Stasicrates, because he always\npromised something very bold, unusual, and magnificent in his\nprojects.  Once when they had met before, he had told him, that of\nall the mountains he knew, that of Athos in Thrace was the most\ncapable of being adapted to represent the shape and lineaments of\na man; that if he pleased to command him, he would make it the\nnoblest and most durable statue in the world, which in its left\nhand should hold a city of ten thousand inhabitants, and out of\nits right should pour a copious river into the sea.  Though\nAlexander declined this proposal, yet now he spent a great deal of\ntime with workmen to invent and contrive others even more\nextravagant and sumptuous.\n\nAs he was upon his way to Babylon, Nearchus, who had sailed back\nout of the ocean up the mouth of the river Euphrates, came to tell\nhim he had met with some Chaldaean diviners, who had warned him\nagainst Alexander's going thither.  Alexander, however, took no\nthought of it, and went on, and when he came near the walls of the\nplace, he saw a great many crows fighting with one another, some\nof whom fell down just by him.  After this, being privately\ninformed that Apollodorus, the governor of Babylon, had\nsacrificed, to know what would become of him, he sent for\nPythagoras, the soothsayer, and on his admitting the thing, asked\nhim, in what condition he found the victim; and when he told him\nthe liver was defective in its lobe, \"A great presage indeed!\"\nsaid Alexander.  However, he offered Pythagoras no injury, but was\nsorry that he had neglected Nearchus's advice, and stayed for the\nmost part outside the town, removing his tent from place to place,\nand sailing up and down the Euphrates.  Besides this, he was\ndisturbed by many other prodigies.  A tame ass fell upon the\nbiggest and handsomest lion that he kept, and killed him by a\nkick.  And one day after he had undressed himself to be anointed,\nand was playing at ball, just as they were going to bring his\nclothes again, the young men who played with him perceived a man\nclad in the king's robes, with a diadem upon his head, sitting\nsilently upon his throne.  They asked him who he was, to which he\ngave no answer a good while, till at last coming to himself, he\ntold them his name was Dionysius, that he was of Messenia, that\nfor some crime of which he was accused, he was brought thither\nfrom the sea-side, and had been kept long in prison, that Serapis\nappeared to him, had freed him from his chains, conducted him to\nthat place, and commanded him to put on the king's robe and\ndiadem, and to sit where they found him, and to say nothing.\nAlexander, when he heard this, by the direction of his\nsoothsayers, put the fellow to death, but he lost his spirits, and\ngrew diffident of the protection and assistance of the gods, and\nsuspicious of his friends.  His greatest apprehension was of\nAntipater and his sons, one of whom, Iolaus, was his chief\ncupbearer; and Cassander, who had lately arrived, and had been\nbred up in Greek manners, the first time he saw some of the\nbarbarians adore the king, could not forbear laughing at it aloud,\nwhich so incensed Alexander, that he took him by the hair with\nboth hands, and dashed his head against the wall.  Another time,\nCassander would have said something in defense of Antipater to\nthose who accused him, but Alexander interrupting him said, \"What\nis it you say?  Do you think people, if they had received no\ninjury, would come such a journey only to calumniate your father?\"\nTo which when Cassander replied, that their coming so far from the\nevidence was a great proof of the falseness of their charges,\nAlexander smiled, and said those were some of Aristotle's\nsophisms, which would serve equally on both sides; and added, that\nboth he and his father should be severely punished, if they were\nfound guilty of the least injustice towards those who complained.\nAll which made such a deep impression of terror in Cassander's\nmind, that long after when he was king of Macedonia, and master of\nGreece, as he was walking up and down at Delphi, and looking at\nthe statues, at the sight of that of Alexander he was suddenly\nstruck with alarm, and shook all over, his eyes rolled, his head\ngrew dizzy, and it was long before he recovered himself.\n\nWhen once Alexander had given way to fears of supernatural\ninfluence, his mind grew so disturbed and so easily alarmed, that\nif the least unusual or extraordinary thing happened, he thought\nit a prodigy or a presage, and his court was thronged with\ndiviners and priests whose business was to sacrifice and purify\nand foretell the future.  So miserable a thing is incredulity and\ncontempt of divine power on the one hand, and so miserable, also,\nsuperstition on the other, which like water, where the level has\nbeen lowered, flowing in and never stopping, fills the mind with\nslavish fears and follies, as now in Alexander's case.  But upon\nsome answers which were brought him from the oracle concerning\nHephaestion, he laid aside his sorrow, and fell again to\nsacrificing and drinking; and having given Nearchus a splendid\nentertainment, after he had bathed, as was his custom, just as he\nwas going to bed, at Medius's request he went to supper with him.\nHere he drank all the next day, and was attacked with a fever,\nwhich seized him, not as some write, after he had drunk of the\nbowl of Hercules; nor was he taken with any sudden pain in his\nback, as if he had been struck with lance, for these are the\ninventions of some authors who thought it their duty to make the\nlast scene of so great an action as tragical and moving as they\ncould.  Aristobulus tells us, that in the rage of his fever and a\nviolent thirst, he took a draught of wine, upon which he fell into\ndelirium, and died on the thirtieth day of the month Daesius.\n\nBut the journals give the following record.  On the eighteenth of\nthe month, he slept in the bathing-room on account of his fever.\nThe next day he bathed and removed into his chamber, and spent\nhis time in playing dice with Medius.  In the evening he bathed\nand sacrificed, and ate freely, and had the fever on him through\nthe night.  On the twentieth, after the usual sacrifices and\nbathing, he lay in the bathing-room and heard Nearchus's narrative\nof his voyage, and the observations he had made in the great sea.\nThe twenty-first he passed in the same manner, his fever still\nincreasing, and suffered much during the night.  The next day the\nfever was very violent, and he had himself removed and his bed set\nby the great bath, and discoursed with his principal officers\nabout finding fit men to fill up the vacant places in the army.\nOn the twenty-fourth he was much worse, and was carried out of his\nbed to assist at the sacrifices, and gave order that the general\nofficers should wait within the court, whilst the inferior\nofficers kept watch without doors.  On the twenty-fifth he was\nremoved to his palace on the other side the river, where he slept\na little, but his fever did not abate, and when the generals came\ninto his chamber, he was speechless, and continued so the\nfollowing day.  The Macedonians, therefore, supposing he was dead,\ncame with great clamors to the gates, and menaced his friends so\nthat they were forced to admit them, and let them all pass through\nunarmed along by his bedside.  The same day Python and Seleucus\nwere dispatched to the temple of Serapis to inquire if they should\nbring Alexander thither, and were answered by the god, that they\nshould not remove him.  On the twenty-eighth, in the evening, he\ndied.  This account is most of it word for word as it is written\nin the diary.\n\nAt the time, nobody had any suspicion of his being poisoned, but\nupon some information given six years after, they say Olympias put\nmany to death, and scattered the ashes of Iolaus, then dead, as if\nhe had given it him.  But those who affirm that Aristotle\ncounseled Antipater to do it, and that by his means the poison was\nbrought, adduce one Hagnothemis as their authority, who, they say,\nheard king Antigonus speak of it, and tell us that the poison was\nwater, deadly cold as ice, distilling from a rock in the district\nof Nonacris, which they gathered like a thin dew, and kept in an\nass's hoof; for it was so very cold and penetrating that no other\nvessel would hold it.  However, most are of opinion that all this\nis a mere made-up story, no slight evidence of which is, that\nduring the dissensions among the commanders, which lasted several\ndays, the body continued clear and fresh, without any sign of such\ntaint or corruption, though it lay neglected in a close, sultry\nplace.\n\nRoxana, who was now with child, and upon that account much honored\nby the Macedonians, being jealous of Statira, sent for her by a\ncounterfeit letter, as if Alexander had been still alive; and when\nshe had her in her power, killed her and her sister, and threw\ntheir bodies into a well, which they filled up with earth, not\nwithout the privity and assistance of Perdiccas, who in the time\nimmediately following the king's death, under cover of the name of\nArrhidaeus, whom he carried about him as a sort of guard to his\nperson, exercised the chief authority Arrhidaeus, who was Philip's\nson by an obscure woman of the name of Philinna, was himself of\nweak intellect, not that he had been originally deficient either\nin body or mind; on the contrary, in his childhood, he had showed\na happy and promising character enough.  But a diseased habit of\nbody, caused by drugs which Olympias gave him, had ruined not only\nhis health, but his understanding.\n\n\n\nCAESAR\n\nAfter Sylla became master of Rome, he wished to make Caesar put\naway his wife Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, the late sole ruler\nof the commonwealth, but was unable to effect it either by\npromises or intimidation, and so contented himself with\nconfiscating her dowry.  The ground of Sylla's hostility to\nCaesar, was the relationship between him and Marius; for Marius,\nthe elder, married Julia, the sister of Caesar's father, and had\nby her the younger Marius, who consequently was Caesar's first\ncousin.  And though at the beginning, while so many were to be\nput to death and there was so much to do, Caesar was overlooked\nby Sylla, yet he would not keep quiet, but presented himself to\nthe people as a candidate for the priesthood, though he was yet\na mere boy.  Sylla, without any open opposition, took measures\nto have him rejected, and in consultation whether he should be\nput to death, when it was urged by some that it was not worth\nhis while to contrive the death of a boy, he answered, that they\nknew little who did not see more than one Marius in that boy.\nCaesar, on being informed of this saying, concealed himself, and\nfor a considerable time kept out of the way in the country of\nthe Sabines, often changing his quarters, till one night, as he\nwas removing from one house to another on account of his health,\nhe fell into the hands of Sylla's soldiers, who were searching\nthose parts in order to apprehend any who had absconded.\nCaesar, by a bribe of two talents, prevailed with Cornelius,\ntheir captain, to let him go, and was no sooner dismissed but he\nput to sea, and made for Bithynia.  After a short stay there\nwith Nicomedes, the king, in his passage back he was taken near\nthe island Pharmacusa by some of the pirates, who, at that time,\nwith large fleets of ships and innumerable smaller vessels\ninfested the seas everywhere.\n\nWhen these men at first demanded of him twenty talents for his\nransom, he laughed at them for not understanding the value of\ntheir prisoner, and voluntarily engaged to give them fifty.  He\npresently dispatched those about him to several places to raise\nthe money, till at last he was left among a set of the most\nbloodthirsty people in the world, the Cilicians, only with one\nfriend and two attendants.  Yet he made so little of them, that\nwhen he had a mind to sleep, he would send to them, and order\nthem to make no noise.  For thirty-eight days, with all the\nfreedom in the world, he amused himself with joining in their\nexercises and games, as if they had not been his keepers, but\nhis guards.  He wrote verses and speeches, and made them his\nauditors, and those who did not admire them, he called to their\nfaces illiterate and barbarous, and would often, in raillery,\nthreaten to hang them.  They were greatly taken with this, and\nattributed his free talking to a kind of simplicity and boyish\nplayfulness.  As soon as his ransom was come from Miletus, he\npaid it, and was discharged, and proceeded at once to man some\nships at the port of Miletus, and went in pursuit of the\npirates, whom he surprised with their ships still stationed at\nthe island, and took most of them.  Their money he made his\nprize, and the men he secured in prison at Pergamus, and made\napplication to Junius, who was then governor of Asia, to whose\noffice it belonged, as praetor, to determine their punishment.\nJunius, having his eye upon the money, for the sum was\nconsiderable, said he would think at his leisure what to do with\nthe prisoners, upon which Caesar took his leave of him, and went\noff to Pergamus, where he ordered the pirates to be brought\nforth and crucified; the punishment he had often threatened them\nwith whilst he was in their hands, and they little dreamed he\nwas in earnest.\n\nIn the meantime Sylla's power being now on the decline, Caesar's\nfriends advised him to return to Rome, but he went to Rhodes,\nand entered himself in the school of Apollonius, Molon's son, a\nfamous rhetorician, one who had the reputation of a worthy man,\nand had Cicero for one of his scholars.  Caesar is said to have\nbeen admirably fitted by nature to make a great statesman and\norator, and to have taken such pains to improve his genius this\nway, that without dispute he might challenge the second place.\nMore he did not aim at, as choosing to be first rather amongst\nmen of arms and power, and, therefore, never rose to that height\nof eloquence to which nature would have carried him, his\nattention being diverted to those expeditions and designs, which\nat length gained him the empire.  And he himself, in his answer\nto Cicero's panegyric on Cato, desires his reader not to compare\nthe plain discourse of a soldier with the harangues of an orator\nwho had not only fine parts, but had employed his life in this\nstudy.\n\nWhen he was returned to Rome, he accused Dolabella of\nmaladministration, and many cities of Greece came in to attest\nit.  Dolabella was acquitted, and Caesar, in return for the\nsupport he had received from the Greeks, assisted them in their\nprosecution of Publius Antonius for corrupt practices, before\nMarcus Lucullus, praetor of Macedonia.  In this cause he so far\nsucceeded, that Antonius was forced to appeal to the tribunes\nat Rome, alleging that in Greece he could not have fair play\nagainst Grecians.  In his pleadings at Rome, his eloquence soon\nobtained him great credit and favor, and he won no less upon the\naffections of the people by the affability of his manners and\naddress, in which he slowed a tact and consideration beyond what\ncould have been expected at his age; and the open house he kept,\nthe entertainments he gave, and the general splendor of his\nmanner of life contributed little by little to create and\nincrease his political influence.  His enemies slighted the\ngrowth of it at first, presuming it would soon fail when his\nmoney was gone; whilst in the meantime it was growing up and\nflourishing among the common people.  When his power at last was\nestablished and not to be overthrown, and now openly tended to\nthe altering of the whole constitution, they were aware too\nlate, that there is no beginning so mean, which continued\napplication will not make considerable, and that despising a\ndanger at first, will make it at last irresistible.  Cicero was\nthe first who had any suspicions of his designs upon the\ngovernment, and, as a good pilot is apprehensive of a storm when\nthe sea is most smiling, saw the designing temper of the man\nthrough this disguise of good-humor and affability, and said,\nthat in general, in all he did and undertook, he detected the\nambition for absolute power, \"but when I see his hair so\ncarefully arranged, and observe him adjusting it with one\nfinger, I cannot imagine it should enter into such a man's\nthoughts to subvert the Roman state.\"  But of this more\nhereafter.\n\nThe first proof he had of the people's good-will to him, was\nwhen he received by their suffrages a tribuneship in the army,\nand came out on the list with a higher place than Caius\nPopilius.  A second and clearer instance of their favor appeared\nupon his making a magnificent oration in praise of his aunt\nJulia, wife to Marius, publicly in the forum, at whose funeral\nhe was so bold as to bring forth the images of Marius, which\nnobody had dared to produce since the government came into\nSylla's hands, Marius's party having from that time been\ndeclared enemies of the State.  When some who were present had\nbegun to raise a cry against Caesar, the people answered with\nloud shouts and clapping in his favor, expressing their joyful\nsurprise and satisfaction at his having, as it were, brought up\nagain from the grave those honors of Marius, which for so long a\ntime had been lost to the city.  It had always been the custom\nat Rome to make funeral orations in praise of elderly matrons,\nbut there was no precedent of any upon young women till Caesar\nfirst made one upon the death of his own wife.  This also\nprocured him favor, and by this show of affection he won upon\nthe feelings of the people, who looked upon him as a man of\ngreat tenderness and kindness of heart.  After he had buried his\nwife, he went as quaestor into Spain under one of the praetors,\nnamed Vetus, whom he honored ever after, and made his son his\nown quaestor, when he himself came to be praetor.  After this\nemployment was ended, he married Pompeia, his third wife, having\nthen a daughter by Cornelia, his first wife, whom he afterwards\nmarried to Pompey the Great.  He was so profuse in his expenses,\nthat before he had any public employment, he was in debt\nthirteen hundred talents, and many thought that by incurring\nsuch expense to be popular, he changed a solid good for what\nwould prove but short and uncertain return; but in truth he was\npurchasing what was of the greatest value at an inconsiderable\nrate.  When he was made surveyor of the Appian Way, he\ndisbursed, besides the public money, a great sum out of his\nprivate purse; and when he was aedile, be provided such a number\nof gladiators, that he entertained the people with three hundred\nand twenty single combats, and by his great liberality and\nmagnificence in theatrical shows, in processions, and public\nfeastings, he threw into the shade all the attempts that had\nbeen made before him, and gained so much upon the people, that\neveryone was eager to find out new offices and new honors for\nhim in return for his munificence.\n\nThere being two factions in the city, one that of Sylla, which\nwas very powerful, the other that of Marius, which was then\nbroken and in a very low condition, he undertook to revive this\nand to make it his own.  And to this end, whilst he was in the\nheight of his repute with the people for the magnificent shows\nhe gave as aedile, he ordered images of Marius, and figures of\nVictory, with trophies in their hands, to be carried privately\nin the night and placed in the capitol.  Next morning, when some\nsaw them bright with gold and beautifully made, with\ninscriptions upon them, referring them to Marius's exploits over\nthe Cimbrians, they were surprised at the boldness of him who\nhad set them up, nor was it difficult to guess who it was.  The\nfame of this soon spread and brought together a great concourse\nof people.  Some cried out that it was an open attempt against\nthe established government thus to revive those honors which had\nbeen buried by the laws and decrees of the senate; that Caesar\nhad done it to sound the temper of the people whom he had\nprepared before, and to try whether they were tame enough to\nbear his humor, and would quietly give way to his innovations.\nOn the other hand, Marius's party took courage, and it was\nincredible how numerous they were suddenly seen to be, and what\na multitude of them appeared and came shouting into the capitol.\nMany, when they saw Marius's likeness, cried for joy, and Caesar\nwas highly extolled as the one man, in the place of all others,\nwho was a relation worthy of Marius.  Upon this the senate met,\nand Catulus Lutatius, one of the most eminent Romans of that\ntime, stood up and inveighed against Caesar, closing his speech\nwith the remarkable saying, that Caesar was now not working\nmines, but planting batteries to overthrow the state.  But when\nCaesar had made an apology for himself, and satisfied the\nsenate, his admirers were very much animated, and advised him\nnot to depart from his own thoughts for anyone, since with the\npeople's good favor he would erelong get the better of them all,\nand be the first man in the commonwealth.\n\nAt this time, Metellus, the High-Priest, died, and Catulus and\nIsauricus, persons of the highest reputation, and who had great\ninfluence in the senate, were competitors for the office; yet\nCaesar would not give way to them, but presented himself to the\npeople as a candidate against them.  The several parties seeming\nvery equal, Catulus, who, because he had the most honor to lose,\nwas the most apprehensive of the event, sent to Caesar to buy\nhim off, with offers of a great sum of money.  But his answer\nwas, that he was ready to borrow a larger sum than that, to\ncarry on the contest.  Upon the day of election, as his mother\nconducted him out of doors with tears, after embracing her, \"My\nmother,\" he said, \"today you will see me either High-Priest, or\nan exile.\"  When the votes were taken, after a great struggle,\nhe carried it, and excited among the senate and nobility great\nalarm lest he might now urge on the people to every kind of\ninsolence.  And Piso and Catulus found fault with Cicero for\nhaving let Caesar escape, when in the conspiracy of Catiline he\nhad given the government such advantage against him.  For\nCatiline, who had designed not only to change the present state\nof affairs, but to subvert the whole empire and confound all,\nhad himself taken to flight, while the evidence was yet\nincomplete against him, before his ultimate purposes had been\nproperly discovered.  But he had left Lentulus and Cethegus in\nthe city to supply his place in the conspiracy, and whether they\nreceived any secret encouragement and assistance from Caesar is\nuncertain; all that is certain, is, that they were fully\nconvicted in the senate, and when Cicero, the consul, asked the\nseveral opinions of the senators, how they would have them\npunished, all who spoke before Caesar sentenced them to death;\nbut Caesar stood up and made a set speech, in which he told\nthem, that he thought it without precedent and not just to take\naway the lives of persons of their birth and distinction before\nthey were fairly tried, unless there was an absolute necessity\nfor it; but that if they were kept confined in any towns of\nItaly Cicero himself should choose, till Catiline was defeated,\nthen the senate might in peace and at their leisure determine\nwhat was best to be done.\n\nThis sentence of his carried so much appearance of humanity, and\nhe gave it such advantage by the eloquence with which he urged\nit, that not only those who spoke after him closed with it, but\neven they who had before given a contrary opinion, now came over\nto his, till it came about to Catulus's and Cato's turn to\nspeak.  They warmly opposed it, and Cato intimated in his speech\nthe suspicion of Caesar himself, and pressed the matter so\nstrongly, that the criminals were given up to suffer execution.\nAs Caesar was going out of the senate, many of the young men who\nat that time acted as guards to Cicero, ran in with their naked\nswords to assault him.  But Curio, it is said, threw his gown\nover him, and conveyed him away, and Cicero himself, when the\nyoung men looked up to see his wishes, gave a sign not to kill\nhim, either for fear of the people, or because he thought the\nmurder unjust and illegal.  If this be true, I wonder how Cicero\ncame to omit all mention of it in his book about his consulship.\nHe was blamed, however, afterwards, for not having made use of\nso fortunate an opportunity against Caesar, as if he had let it\nescape him out of fear of the populace, who, indeed, showed\nremarkable solicitude about Caesar, and some time after, when he\nwent into the senate to clear himself of the suspicions he lay\nunder, and found great clamors raised against him, upon the\nsenate in consequence sitting longer than ordinary, they went up\nto the house in a tumult, and beset it, demanding Caesar, and\nrequiring them to dismiss him.  Upon this, Cato, much fearing\nsome movement among the poor citizens, who were always the first\nto kindle the flame among the people, and placed all their hopes\nin Caesar, persuaded the senate to give them a monthly allowance\nof corn, an expedient which put the commonwealth to the\nextraordinary charge of seven million five hundred thousand\ndrachmas in the year, but quite succeeded in removing the great\ncause of terror for the present, and very much weakened Caesar's\npower, who at that time was just going to be made praetor, and\nconsequently would have been more formidable by his office.\n\nBut there was no disturbance during his praetorship, only what\nmisfortune he met with in his own domestic affairs.  Publius\nClodius was a patrician by descent, eminent both for his riches\nand eloquence, but in licentiousness of life and audacity\nexceeded the most noted profligates of the day.  He was in love\nwith Pompeia, Caesar's wife, and she had no aversion to him.\nBut there was strict watch kept on her apartment, and Caesar's\nmother, Aurelia, who was a discreet woman, being continually\nabout her, made any interview very dangerous and difficult.  The\nRomans have a goddess whom they call Bona, the same whom the\nGreeks call Gynaecea.  The Phrygians, who claim a peculiar title\nto her, say she was mother to Midas.  The Romans profess she was\none of the Dryads, and married to Faunus.  The Grecians affirm\nthat she is that mother of Bacchus whose name is not to be\nuttered, and, for this reason, the women who celebrate her\nfestival, cover the tents with vine-branches, and, in accordance\nwith the fable, a consecrated serpent is placed by the goddess.\nIt is not lawful for a man to be by, nor so much as in the\nhouse, whilst the rites are celebrated, but the women by\nthemselves perform the sacred offices, which are said to be\nmuch the same with those used in the solemnities of Orpheus.\nWhen the festival comes, the husband, who is either consul or\npraetor; and with him every male creature, quits the house.  The\nwife then taking it under her care, sets it in order, and the\nprincipal ceremonies are performed during the night, the women\nplaying together amongst themselves as they keep watch, and\nmusic of various kinds going on.\n\nAs Pompeia was at that time celebrating this feast, Clodius, who\nas yet had no beard, and so thought to pass undiscovered, took\nupon him the dress and ornaments of a singing woman, and so came\nthither, having the air of a young girl.  Finding the doors\nopen, he was without any stop introduced by the maid, who was in\nthe intrigue.  She presently ran to tell Pompeia, but as she was\naway a long time, he grew uneasy in waiting for her, and left\nhis post and traversed the house from one room to another, still\ntaking care to avoid the lights, till at last Aurelia's woman\nmet him, and invited him to play with her, as the women did\namong themselves.  He refused to comply, and she presently\npulled him forward, and asked him who he was, and whence he\ncame.  Clodius told her he was waiting for Pompeia's own maid,\nAbra, being in fact her own name also, and as he said so,\nbetrayed himself by his voice.  Upon which the woman shrieking,\nran into the company where there were lights, and cried out, she\nhad discovered a man.  The women were all in a fright.  Aurelia\ncovered up the sacred things and stopped the proceedings, and\nhaving ordered the doors to be shut, went about with lights to\nfind Clodius, who was got into the maid's room that he had come\nin with, and was seized there.  The women knew him, and drove\nhim out of doors, and at once, that same night, went home and\ntold their husbands the story.  In the morning, it was all about\nthe town, what an impious attempt Clodius had made, and how he\nought to be punished as an offender, not only against those whom\nhe had affronted, but also against the public and the gods.\nUpon which one of the tribunes impeached him for profaning the\nholy rites, and some of the principal senators combined together\nand gave evidence against him, that besides many other horrible\ncrimes, he had been guilty of incest with his own sister, who\nwas married to Lucullus.  But the people set themselves against\nthis combination of the nobility, and defended Clodius, which\nwas of great service to him with the judges, who took alarm and\nwere afraid to provoke the multitude.  Caesar at once dismissed\nPompeia, but being summoned as a witness against Clodius, said\nhe had nothing to charge him with.  This looking like a paradox,\nthe accuser asked him why he parted with his wife.  Caesar\nreplied, \"I wished my wife to be not so much as suspected.\"\nSome say that Caesar spoke this as his real thought; others,\nthat he did it to gratify the people, who were very earnest to\nsave Clodius.  Clodius, at any rate, escaped; most of the judges\ngiving their opinions so written as to be illegible, that they\nmight not be in danger from the people by condemning him, nor in\ndisgrace with the nobility by acquitting him.\n\nCaesar, in the meantime, being out of his praetorship, had got\nthe province of Spain, but was in great embarrassment with his\ncreditors, who, as he was going off, came upon him, and were\nvery pressing and importunate.  This led him to apply himself to\nCrassus, who was the richest man in Rome, but wanted Caesar's\nyouthful vigor and heat to sustain the opposition against\nPompey.  Crassus took upon him to satisfy those creditors who\nwere most uneasy to him, and would not be put off any longer,\nand engaged himself to the amount of eight hundred and thirty\ntalents, upon which Caesar was now at liberty to go to his\nprovince.  In his journey, as he was crossing the Alps, and\npassing by a small village of the barbarians with but few\ninhabitants and those wretchedly poor, his companions asked the\nquestion among themselves by way of mockery, if there were any\ncanvassing for offices there; any contention which should be\nuppermost, or feuds of great men one against another.  To which\nCaesar made answer seriously, \"For my part, I had rather be the\nfirst man among these fellows, than the second man in Rome.\"  It\nis said that another time, when free from business in Spain,\nafter reading some part of the history of Alexander, he sat a\ngreat while very thoughtful, and at last burst out into tears.\nHis friends were surprised, and asked him the reason of it.  \"Do\nyou think,\" said he, \"I have not just cause to weep, when I\nconsider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations,\nand I have all this time done nothing that is memorable?\"  As\nsoon as he came into Spain he was very active, and in a few\ndays had got together ten new cohorts of foot in addition to the\ntwenty which were there before.  With these he marched against\nthe Calaici and Lusitani and conquered them, and advancing as\nfar as the ocean, subdued the tribes which never before had been\nsubject to the Romans.  Having managed his military affairs with\ngood success, he was equally happy in the course of his civil\ngovernment.  He took pains to establish a good understanding\namongst the several states, and no less care to heal the\ndifferences between debtors and creditors.  He ordered that the\ncreditor should receive two parts of the debtor's yearly\nincome, and that the other part should be managed by the debtor\nhimself, till by this method the whole debt was at last\ndischarged.  This conduct made him leave his province with a\nfair reputation; being rich himself, and having enriched his\nsoldiers, and having received from them the honorable name of\nImperator.\n\nThere is a law among the Romans, that whoever desires the honor\nof a triumph must stay without the city and expect his answer.\nAnd another, that those who stand for the consulship shall\nappear personally upon the place.  Caesar was come home at the\nvery time of choosing consuls, and being in a difficulty between\nthese two opposite laws, sent to the senate to desire that since\nhe was obliged to be absent, he might sue for the consulship by\nhis friends.  Cato, being backed by the law, at first opposed\nhis request; afterwards perceiving that Caesar had prevailed\nwith a great part of the senate to comply with it, he made it\nhis business to gain time, and went on wasting the whole day in\nspeaking.  Upon which Caesar thought fit to let the triumph\nfall, and pursued the consulship.  Entering the town and coming\nforward immediately, he had recourse to a piece of state-policy\nby which everybody was deceived but Cato.  This was the\nreconciling of Crassus and Pompey, the two men who then were\nmost powerful in Rome.  There had been a quarrel between them,\nwhich he now succeeded in making up, and by this means\nstrengthened himself by the united power of both, and so under\nthe cover of an action which carried all the appearance of a\npiece of kindness and good-nature, caused what was in effect a\nrevolution in the government.  For it was not the quarrel\nbetween Pompey and Caesar, as most men imagine, which was the\norigin of the civil wars, but their union, their conspiring\ntogether at first to subvert the aristocracy, and so quarreling\nafterwards between themselves.  Cato, who often foretold what\nthe consequence of this alliance would be, had then the\ncharacter of a sullen, interfering man, but in the end the\nreputation of a wise but unsuccessful counselor.\n\nThus Caesar being doubly supported by the interests of Crassus\nand Pompey, was promoted to the consulship, and triumphantly\nproclaimed with Calpurnius Bibulus.  When he entered on his\noffice, he brought in bills which would have been preferred with\nbetter grace by the most audacious of the tribunes than by a\nconsul, in which he proposed the plantation of colonies and\ndivision of lands, simply to please the commonalty.  The best\nand most honorable of the senators opposed it, upon which, as he\nhad long wished for nothing more than for such a colorable\npretext, he loudly protested how much against his will it was to\nbe driven to seek support from the people, and how the senate's\ninsulting and harsh conduct left no other course possible for\nhim, than to devote himself henceforth to the popular cause and\ninterest.  And so he hurried out of the senate, and presenting\nhimself to the people, and there placing Crassus and Pompey, one\non each side of him, he asked them whether they consented to the\nbills he had proposed.  They owned their assent, upon which he\ndesired them to assist him against those who had threatened to\noppose him with their swords.  They engaged they would, and\nPompey added further, that he would meet their swords with a\nsword and buckler too.  These words the nobles much resented, as\nneither suitable to his own dignity, nor becoming the reverence\ndue to the senate, but resembling rather the vehemence of a boy,\nor the fury of a madman.  But the people were pleased with it.\nIn order to get a yet firmer hold upon Pompey, Caesar having a\ndaughter, Julia, who had been before contracted to Servilius\nCaepio, now betrothed her to Pompey, and told Servilius he\nshould have Pompey's daughter, who was not unengaged either, but\npromised to Sylla's son, Faustus.  A little time after, Caesar\nmarried Calpurnia, the daughter of Piso, and got Piso made\nconsul for the year following.  Cato exclaimed loudly against\nthis, and protested with a great deal of warmth, that it was\nintolerable the government should be prostituted by marriages,\nand that they should advance one another to the commands of\narmies, provinces, and other great posts, by means of women.\nBibulus, Caesar's colleague, finding it was to no purpose to\noppose his bills, but that he was in danger of being murdered in\nthe forum, as also was Cato, confined himself to his house, and\nthere let the remaining part of his consulship expire.  Pompey,\nwhen he was married, at once filled the forum with soldiers, and\ngave the people his help in passing the new laws, and secured\nCaesar the government of all Gaul, both on this and the other\nside of the Alps, together with Illyricum, and the command of\nfour legions for five years.  Cato made some attempts against\nthese proceedings, but was seized and led off on the way to\nprison by Caesar, who expected he would appeal to the tribunes.\nBut when he saw that Cato went along without speaking a word,\nand not only the nobility were indignant, but that the people,\nalso, out of respect for Cato's virtue, were following in\nsilence, and with dejected looks, he himself privately desired\none of the tribunes to rescue Cato.  As for the other senators,\nsome few of them attended the house, the rest being disgusted,\nabsented themselves.  Hence Considius, a very old man, took\noccasion one day to tell Caesar, that the senators did not meet\nbecause they were afraid of his soldiers.  Caesar asked, \"Why\ndon't you then, out of the same fear, keep at home?\"  To which\nConsidius replied, that age was his guard against fear, and that\nthe small remains of his life were not worth much caution.  But\nthe most disgraceful thing that was done in Caesar's consulship,\nwas his assisting to gain the tribuneship for the same Clodius\nwho had made the attempt upon his wife's chastity, and intruded\nupon the secret vigils.  He was elected on purpose to effect\nCicero's downfall; nor did Caesar leave the city to join his\narmy, till they two had overpowered Cicero, and driven him out\nof Italy.\n\nThus far have we followed Caesar's actions before the wars of\nGaul.  After this, he seems to begin his course afresh, and to\nenter upon a new life and scene of action.  And the period of\nthose wars which he now fought, and those many expeditions in\nwhich he subdued Gaul, showed him to be a soldier and general\nnot in the least inferior to any of the greatest and most\nadmired commanders who had ever appeared at the head of armies.\nFor if we compare him with the Fabii, the Metelli, the Scipios,\nand with those who were his contemporaries, or not long before\nhim, Sylla, Marius, the two Luculli, or even Pompey himself,\nwhose glory, it may be said, went up at that time to heaven for\nevery excellence in war, we shall find Caesar's actions to have\nsurpassed them all.  One he may be held to have outdone in\nconsideration of the difficulty of the country in which he\nfought, another in the extent of territory which he conquered;\nsome, in the number and strength of the enemies whom he\ndefeated; one man, because of the wildness and perfidiousness of\nthe tribes whose good-will he conciliated, another in his\nhumanity and clemency to those he overpowered; others, again in\nhis gifts and kindnesses to his soldiers; all alike in the\nnumber of the battles which he fought and the enemies whom he\nkilled.  For he had not pursued the wars in Gaul full ten years,\nwhen he had taken by storm above eight hundred towns, subdued\nthree hundred states, and of the three millions of men, who made\nup the gross sum of those with whom at several times he engaged,\nhe had killed one million, and taken captive a second.\n\nHe was so much master of the good-will and hearty service of his\nsoldiers, that those who in other expeditions were but ordinary\nmen, displayed a courage past defeating or withstanding when\nthey went upon any danger where Caesar's glory was concerned.\nSuch a one was Acilius, who, in the sea-fight before Marseilles,\nhad his right hand struck off with a sword, yet did not quit his\nbuckler out of his left, but struck the enemies in the face with\nit, till he drove them off, and made himself master of the\nvessel.  Such another was Cassius Scaeva, who, in a battle near\nDyrrhachium, had one of his eyes shot out with an arrow, his\nshoulder pierced with one javelin, and his thigh with another;\nand having received one hundred and thirty darts upon his\ntarget, called to the enemy, as though he would surrender\nhimself.  But when two of them came up to him, he cut off the\nshoulder of one with a sword, and by a blow over the face forced\nthe other to retire, and so with the assistance of his friends,\nwho now came up, made his escape.  Again, in Britain, when some\nof the foremost officers had accidentally got into a morass full\nof water, and there were assaulted by the enemy, a common\nsoldier, whilst Caesar stood and looked on, threw himself into\nthe midst of them, and after many signal demonstrations of his\nvalor, rescued the officers, and beat off the barbarians.  He\nhimself, in the end, took to the water, and with much\ndifficulty, partly by swimming, partly by wading, passed it, but\nin the passage lost his shield.  Caesar and his officers saw it\nand admired, and went to meet him with joy and acclamation.  But\nthe soldier, much dejected and in tears, threw himself down at\nCaesar's feet, and begged his pardon for having let go his\nbuckler.  Another time in Africa, Scipio having taken a ship of\nCaesar's in which Granius Petro, lately appointed quaestor, was\nsailing, gave the other passengers as free prize to his\nsoldiers, but thought fit to offer the quaestor his life.  But\nhe said it was not usual for Caesar's soldiers to take, but give\nmercy, and having said so, fell upon his sword and killed\nhimself.\n\nThis love of honor and passion for distinction were inspired\ninto them and cherished in them by Caesar himself, who, by his\nunsparing distribution of money and honors, showed them that he\ndid not heap up wealth from the wars for his own luxury, or the\ngratifying his private pleasures, but that all he received was\nbut a public fund laid by for the reward and encouragement of\nvalor, and that he looked upon all he gave to deserving soldiers\nas so much increase to his own riches.  Added to this, also,\nthere was no danger to which he did not willingly expose\nhimself, no labor from which he pleaded all exemption.  His\ncontempt of danger was not so much wondered at by his soldiers,\nbecause they knew how much he coveted honor.  But his enduring\nso much hardship, which he did to all appearance beyond his\nnatural strength, very much astonished them.  For he was a spare\nman, had a soft and white skin, was distempered in the head, and\nsubject to an epilepsy, which, it is said, first seized him at\nCorduba.  But he did not make the weakness of his constitution a\npretext for his ease, but rather used war as the best physic\nagainst his indispositions; whilst by indefatigable journeys,\ncoarse diet, frequent lodging in the field, and continual\nlaborious exercise, he struggled with his diseases, and\nfortified his body against all attacks.  He slept generally in\nhis chariots or litters, employing even his rest in pursuit of\naction.  In the day he was thus carried to the forts, garrisons,\nand camps, one servant sitting with him, who used to write down\nwhat he dictated as he went, and a soldier attending behind with\nhis sword drawn.  He drove so rapidly, that when he first left\nRome, he arrived at the river Rhone within eight days.  He had\nbeen an expert rider from his childhood; for it was usual with\nhim to sit with his hands joined together behind his back, and\nso to put his horse to its full speed.  And in this war he\ndisciplined himself so far as to be able to dictate letters from\non horseback, and to give directions to two who took notes at\nthe same time, or, as Oppius says, to more.  And it is thought\nthat he was the first who contrived means for communicating with\nfriends by cipher, when either press of business, or the large\nextent of the city, left him no time for a personal conference\nabout matters that required dispatch.  How little nice he was in\nhis diet, may be seen in the following instance.  When at the\ntable of Valerius Leo, who entertained him at supper at Milan, a\ndish of asparagus was put before him, on which his host instead\nof oil had poured sweet ointment.  Caesar partook of it without\nany disgust, and reprimanded his friends for finding fault with\nit.  \"For it was enough,\" said he, \"not to eat what you did not\nlike; but he who reflects on another man's want of breeding,\nshows he wants it as much himself.\"  Another time upon the road\nhe was driven by a storm into a poor man's cottage, where he\nfound but one room, and that such as would afford but a mean\nreception to a single person, and therefore told his companions,\nplaces of honor should be given up to the greater men, and\nnecessary accommodations to the weaker, and accordingly ordered\nthat Oppius, who was in bad health, should lodge within, whilst\nhe and the rest slept under a shed at the door.\n\nHis first war in Gaul was against the Helvetians and Tigurini,\nwho having burnt their own towns, twelve in number, and four\nhundred villages, would have marched forward through that part\nof Gaul which was included in the Roman province, as the\nCimbrians and Teutons formerly had done.  Nor were they inferior\nto these in courage; and in numbers they were equal, being in\nall three hundred thousand, of which one hundred and ninety\nthousand were fighting men.  Caesar did not engage the Tigurini\nin person, but Labienus, under his directions, routed them near\nthe river Arar.  The Helvetians surprised Caesar, and\nunexpectedly set upon him as he was conducting his army to a\nconfederate town.  He succeeded, however, in making his retreat\ninto a strong position, where, when he had mustered and\nmarshalled his men, his horse was brought to him; upon which he\nsaid, \"When I have won the battle, I will use my horse for the\nchase, but at present let us go against the enemy,\"  and\naccordingly charged them on foot.  After a long and severe\ncombat, he drove the main army out of the field, but found the\nhardest work at their carriages and ramparts, where not only the\nmen stood and fought, but the women also and children defended\nthemselves, till they were cut to pieces; insomuch that the\nfight was scarcely ended till midnight.  This action, glorious\nin itself, Caesar crowned with another yet more noble, by\ngathering in a body all the barbarians that had escaped out of\nthe battle, above one hundred thousand in number, and obliging\nthem to reoccupy the country which they had deserted, and the\ncities which they had burnt.  This he did for fear the Germans\nshould pass in and possess themselves of the land whilst it lay\nuninhabited.\n\nHis second war was in defense of the Gauls against the Germans,\nthough some time before he had made Ariovistus, their king,\nrecognized at Rome as an ally.  But they were very insufferable\nneighbors to those under his government; and it was probable,\nwhen occasion offered, they would renounce the present\narrangements, and march on to occupy Gaul.  But finding his\nofficers timorous, and especially those of the young nobility\nwho came along with him in hopes of turning their campaigns with\nhim into a means for their own pleasure or profit, he called\nthem together, and advised them to march off, and not run the\nhazard of a battle against their inclinations, since they had\nsuch weak and unmanly feelings; telling them that he would take\nonly the tenth legion, and march against the barbarians, whom he\ndid not expect to find an enemy more formidable than the Cimbri,\nnor, he added, should they find him a general inferior to\nMarius.  Upon this, the tenth legion deputed some of their body\nto pay him their acknowledgments and thanks, and the other\nlegions blamed their officers, and all, with great vigor and\nzeal, followed him many days' journey, till they encamped within\ntwo hundred furlongs of the enemy.  Ariovistus's courage to some\nextent was cooled upon their very approach; for never expecting\nthe Romans would attack the Germans, whom he had thought it more\nlikely they would not venture to withstand even in defense of\ntheir own subjects, he was the more surprised at Caesar's\nconduct, and saw his army to be in consternation.  They were\nstill more discouraged by the prophecies of their holy women,\nwho foretell the future by observing the eddies of rivers, and\ntaking signs from the windings and noise of streams, and who now\nwarned them not to engage before the next new moon appeared.\nCaesar having had intimation of this, and seeing the Germans lie\nstill, thought it expedient to attack them whilst they were\nunder these apprehensions, rather than sit still and wait their\ntime.  Accordingly he made his approaches to the strong-holds\nand hills on which they lay encamped, and so galled and fretted\nthem, that at last they came down with great fury to engage.\nBut he gained a signal victory, and pursued them for four\nhundred furlongs, as far as the Rhine; all which space was\ncovered with spoils and bodies of the slain.  Ariovistus made\nshift to pass the Rhine with the small remains of an army, for\nit is said the number of the slain amounted to eighty thousand.\n\nAfter this action, Caesar left his army at their winter-quarters\nin the country of the Sequani, and in order to attend to affairs\nat Rome, went into that part of Gaul which lies on the Po, and\nwas part of his province; for the river Rubicon divides Gaul,\nwhich is on this side the Alps, from the rest of Italy.  There\nhe sat down and employed himself in courting people's favor;\ngreat numbers coming to him continually, and always finding\ntheir requests answered; for he never failed to dismiss all with\npresent pledges of his kindness in hand, and further hopes for\nthe future.  And during all this time of the war in Gaul, Pompey\nnever observed how Caesar was on the one hand using the arms of\nRome to effect his conquests, and on the other was gaining over\nand securing to himself the favor of the Romans, with the wealth\nwhich those conquests obtained him.  But when he heard that the\nBelgae, who were the most powerful of all the Gauls, and\ninhabited a third part of the country, were revolted, and had\ngot together a great many thousand men in arms, he immediately\nset out and took his way thither with great expedition, and\nfalling upon the enemy as they were ravaging the Gauls, his\nallies, he soon defeated and put to flight the largest and least\nscattered division of them.  For though their numbers were\ngreat, yet they made but a slender defense, and the marshes and\ndeep rivers were made passable to the Roman foot by the vast\nquantity of dead bodies.  Of those who revolted, all the tribes\nthat lived near the ocean came over without fighting, and he,\ntherefore, led his army against the Nervii, the fiercest and\nmost warlike people of all in those parts.  These live in a\ncountry covered with continuous woods, and having lodged their\nchildren and property out of the way in the depth of the forest,\nfell upon Caesar with a body of sixty thousand men, before he\nwas prepared for them, while he was making his encampment.  They\nsoon routed his cavalry, and having surrounded the twelfth and\nseventh legions, killed all the officers, and had not Caesar\nhimself snatched up a buckler, and forced his way through his\nown men to come up to the barbarians, or had not the tenth\nlegion, when they saw him in danger, run in from the tops of the\nhills, where they lay, and broken through the enemy's ranks to\nrescue him, in all probability not a Roman would have been\nsaved.  But now, under the influence of Caesar's bold example,\nthey fought a battle, as the phrase is, of more than human\ncourage, and yet with their utmost efforts they were not able to\ndrive the enemy out of the field, but cut them down fighting in\ntheir defense.  For out of sixty thousand men, it is stated that\nnot above five hundred survived the battle, and of four hundred\nof their senators not above three.\n\nWhen the Roman senate had received news of this, they voted\nsacrifices and festivals to the gods, to be strictly observed\nfor the space of fifteen days, a longer space than ever was\nobserved for any victory before.  The danger to which they had\nbeen exposed by the joint outbreak of such a number of nations\nwas felt to have been great; and the people's fondness for\nCaesar gave additional luster to successes achieved by him.  He\nnow, after settling everything in Gaul, came back again, and\nspent the winter by the Po, in order to carry on the designs he\nhad in hand at Rome.  All who were candidates for offices used\nhis assistance, and were supplied with money from him to corrupt\nthe people and buy their votes, in return of which, when they\nwere chosen, they did all things to advance his power.  But what\nwas more considerable, the most eminent and powerful men in Rome\nin great numbers came to visit him at Lucca, Pompey, and\nCrassus, and Appius, the governor of Sardinia, and Nepos, the\nproconsul of Spain, so that there were in the place at one time\none hundred and twenty lictors, and more than two hundred\nsenators.  In deliberation here held, it was determined that\nPompey and Crassus should be consuls again for the following\nyear; that Caesar should have a fresh supply of money, and that\nhis command should be renewed to him for five years more.  It\nseemed very extravagant to all thinking men, that those very\npersons who had received so much money from Caesar should\npersuade the senate to grant him more, as if he were in want.\nThough in truth it was not so much upon persuasion as\ncompulsion, that, with sorrow and groans for their own acts,\nthey passed the measure.  Cato was not present, for they had\nsent him seasonably out of the way into Cyprus; but Favonius,\nwho was a zealous imitator of Cato, when he found he could do no\ngood by opposing it, broke out of the house, and loudly\ndeclaimed against these proceedings to the people, but none gave\nhim any hearing; some slighting him out of respect to Crassus\nand Pompey, and the greater part to gratify Caesar, on whom\ndepended their hopes.\n\nAfter this, Caesar returned again to his forces in Gaul, where\nhe found that country involved in a dangerous war, two strong\nnations of the Germans having lately passed the Rhine, to\nconquer it; one of them called the Usipes, the other the\nTenteritae. Of the war with this people, Caesar himself has\ngiven this account in his commentaries, that the barbarians,\nhaving sent ambassadors to treat with him, did, during the\ntreaty, set upon him in his march, by which means with eight\nhundred men they routed five thousand of his horse, who did not\nsuspect their coming; that afterwards they sent other\nambassadors to renew the same fraudulent practices, whom he kept\nin custody, and led on his army against the barbarians, as\njudging it mere simplicity to keep faith with those who had so\nfaithlessly broken the terms they had agreed to.  But Tanusius\nstates, that when the senate decreed festivals and sacrifices\nfor this victory, Cato declared it to be his opinion that Caesar\nought to be given into the hands of the barbarians, that so the\nguilt which this breach of faith might otherwise bring upon the\nstate, might be expiated by transferring the curse on him, who\nwas the occasion of it.  Of those who passed the Rhine, there were\nfour hundred thousand cut off; those few who escaped were\nsheltered by the Sugambri, a people of Germany.  Caesar took\nhold of this pretense to invade the Germans, being at the same\ntime ambitious of the honor of being the first man that should\npass the Rhine with an army.  He carried a bridge across it,\nthough it was very wide, and the current at that particular\npoint very full, strong, and violent, bringing down with its\nwaters trunks of trees, and other lumber, which much shook and\nweakened the foundations of his bridge.  But he drove great\npiles of wood into the bottom of the river above the passage,\nto catch and stop these as they floated down, and thus fixing\nhis bridle upon the stream, successfully finished this bridge,\nwhich no one who saw could believe to be the work but of ten\ndays.\n\nIn the passage of his army over it, he met with no opposition;\nthe Suevi themselves, who are the most warlike people of all\nGermany, flying with their effects into the deepest and most\ndensely wooded valleys.  When he had burnt all the enemy's\ncountry, and encouraged those who embraced the Roman interest,\nhe went back into Gaul, after eighteen days' stay in Germany.\nBut his expedition into Britain was the most famous testimony of\nhis courage.  For he was the first who brought a navy into the\nwestern ocean, or who sailed into the Atlantic with an army to\nmake war; and by invading an island, the reported extent of\nwhich had made its existence a matter of controversy among\nhistorians, many of whom questioned whether it were not a mere\nname and fiction, not a real place, he might be said to have\ncarried the Roman empire beyond the limits of the known world.\nHe passed thither twice from that part of Gaul which lies over\nagainst it, and in several battles which he fought, did more\nhurt to the enemy than service to himself, for the islanders\nwere so miserably poor, that they had nothing worth being\nplundered of.  When he found himself unable to put such an end\nto the war as he wished, he was content to take hostages from\nthe king, and to impose a tribute, and then quitted the island.\nAt his arrival in Gaul, he found letters which lay ready to be\nconveyed over the water to him from his friends at Rome,\nannouncing his daughter's death, who died in labor of a child by\nPompey.  Caesar and Pompey both were much afflicted with her\ndeath, nor were their friends less disturbed, believing that the\nalliance was now broken, which had hitherto kept the sickly\ncommonwealth in peace, for the child also died within a few days\nafter the mother.  The people took the body of Julia, in spite\nof the opposition of the tribunes, and carried it into the field\nof Mars, and there her funeral rites were performed, and her\nremains are laid.\n\nCaesar's army was now grown very numerous, so that he was forced\nto disperse them into various camps for their winter-quarters,\nand he having gone himself to Italy as he used to do, in his\nabsence a general outbreak throughout the whole of Gaul\ncommenced, and large armies marched about the country, and\nattacked the Roman quarters, and attempted to make themselves\nmasters of the forts where they lay.  The greatest and strongest\nparty of the rebels, under the command of Abriorix, cut off\nCosta and Titurius with all their men, while a force sixty\nthousand strong besieged the legion under the command of\nCicero, and had almost taken it by storm, the Roman soldiers\nbeing all wounded, and having quite spent themselves by a\ndefense beyond their natural strength.  But Caesar, who was at a\ngreat distance, having received the news, quickly got together\nseven thousand men, and hastened to relieve Cicero.  The\nbesiegers were aware of it, and went to meet him, with great\nconfidence that they should easily overpower such an handful of\nmen.  Caesar, to increase their presumption, seemed to avoid\nfighting, and still marched off, till he found a place\nconveniently situated for a few to engage against many, where he\nencamped.  He kept his soldiers from making any attack upon the\nenemy, and commanded them to raise the ramparts higher, and\nbarricade the gates, that by show of fear, they might heighten\nthe enemy's contempt of them.  Till at last they came without\nany order in great security to make an assault, when he issued\nforth, and put them to flight with the loss of many men.\n\nThis quieted the greater part of the commotions in these parts\nof Gaul, and Caesar, in the course of the winter, visited every\npart of the country, and with great vigilance took precautions\nagainst all innovations.  For there were three legions now come\nto him to supply the place of the men he had lost, of which\nPompey furnished him with two, out of those under his command;\nthe other was newly raised in the part of Gaul by the Po.  But\nin a while the seeds of war, which had long since been secretly\nsown and scattered by the most powerful men in those warlike\nnations, broke forth into the greatest and most dangerous war\nthat ever was in those parts, both as regards the number of men\nin the vigor of their youth who were gathered and armed from all\nquarters, the vast funds of money collected to maintain it, the\nstrength of the towns, and the difficulty of the country where\nit was carried on.  It being winter, the rivers were frozen, the\nwoods covered with snow, and the level country flooded, so that\nin some places the ways were lost through the depth of the snow;\nin others, the overflowing of marshes and streams made every\nkind of passage uncertain.  All which difficulties made it seem\nimpracticable for Caesar to make any attempt upon the\ninsurgents.  Many tribes had revolted together, the chief of\nthem being the Arverni and Carnutini ; the general who had the\nsupreme command in war was Vergentorix, whose father the Gauls\nhad put to death on suspicion of his aiming at absolute\ngovernment.\n\nHe having disposed his army in several bodies, and set officers\nover them, drew over to him all the country round about as far\nas those that lie upon the Arar, and having intelligence of the\nopposition which Caesar now experienced at Rome, thought to\nengage all Gaul in the war.  Which if he had done a little\nlater, when Caesar was taken up with the civil wars, Italy had\nbeen put into as great a terror as before it was by the Cimbri.\nBut Caesar, who above all men was gifted with the faculty of\nmaking the right use of everything in war, and most especially\nof seizing the right moment, as soon as he heard of the revolt,\nreturned immediately the same way he went, and showed the\nbarbarians, by the quickness of his march in such a severe\nseason, that an army was advancing against them which was\ninvincible.  For in the time that one would have thought it\nscarce credible that a courier or express should have come with\na message from him, he himself appeared with all his army,\nravaging the country, reducing their posts, subduing their\ntowns, receiving into his protection those who declared for him.\nTill at last the Edui, who hitherto had styled themselves\nbrethren to the Romans, and had been much honored by them,\ndeclared against him, and joined the rebels, to the great\ndiscouragement of his army.  Accordingly he removed thence, and\npassed the country of the Lingones, desiring to reach the\nterritories of the Sequani, who were his friends, and who lay\nlike a bulwark in front of Italy against the other tribes of\nGaul.  There the enemy came upon him, and surrounded him with\nmany myriads, whom he also was eager to engage; and at last,\nafter some time and with much slaughter, gained on the whole a\ncomplete victory; though at first he appears to have met with\nsome reverse, and the Aruveni show you a small sword hanging up\nin a temple, which they say was taken from Caesar.  Caesar saw\nthis afterwards himself, and smiled, and when his friends\nadvised it should be taken down, would not permit it, because he\nlooked upon it as consecrated.\n\nAfter the defeat a great part of those who had escaped, fled\nwith their king into a town called Alesia, which Caesar\nbesieged, though the height of the walls, and number of those\nwho defended them, made it appear impregnable; and meantime,\nfrom without the walls, he was assailed by a greater danger than\ncan be expressed.  For the choice men of Gaul, picked out of\neach nation, and well armed, came to relieve Alesia, to the\nnumber of three hundred thousand; nor were there in the town\nless than one hundred and seventy thousand.  So that Caesar\nbeing shut up betwixt two such forces, was compelled to protect\nhimself by two walls, one towards the town, the other against\nthe relieving army, as knowing it these forces should join, his\naffairs would be entirely ruined.  The danger that he underwent\nbefore Alesia, justly gained him great honor on many accounts,\nand gave him an opportunity of showing greater instances of his\nvalor and conduct than any other contest had done.  One wonders\nmuch how he should be able to engage and defeat so many\nthousands of men without the town, and not be perceived by those\nwithin, but yet more, that the Romans themselves, who guarded\ntheir wall which was next the town, should be strangers to it.\nFor even they knew nothing of the victory, till they heard the\ncries of the men and lamentations of the women who were in the\ntown, and had from thence seen the Romans at a distance carrying\ninto their camp a great quantity of bucklers, adorned with gold\nand silver, many breastplates stained with blood, besides cups\nand tents made in the Gallic fashion.  So soon did so vast an\narmy dissolve and vanish like a ghost or dream, the greatest\npart of them being killed upon the spot.  Those who were in\nAlesia, having given themselves and Caesar much trouble,\nsurrendered at last; and Vergentorix, who was the chief spring\nof all the war, putting his best armor on, and adorning his\nhorse, rode out of the gates, and made a turn about Caesar as he\nwas sitting, then quitted his horse, threw off his armor, and\nremained seated quietly at Caesar's feet until he was led away\nto be reserved for the triumph.\n\nCaesar had long ago resolved upon the overthrow of Pompey, as\nhad Pompey, for that matter, upon his.  For Crassus, the fear of\nwhom had hitherto kept them in peace, having now been killed in\nParthia, if the one of them wished to make himself the greatest\nman in Rome, he had only to overthrow the other; and if he again\nwished to prevent his own fall, he had nothing for it but to be\nbeforehand with him whom he feared.  Pompey had not been long\nunder any such apprehensions, having till lately despised\nCaesar, as thinking it no difficult matter to put down him whom\nhe himself had advanced.  But Caesar had entertained this design\nfrom the beginning against his rivals, and had retired, like an\nexpert wrestler, to prepare himself apart for the combat.\nMaking the Gallic wars his exercise-ground, he had at once\nimproved the strength of his soldiery, and had heightened his\nown glory by his great actions, so that he was looked on as one\nwho might challenge comparison with Pompey.  Nor did he let go\nany of those advantages which were now given him both by Pompey\nhimself and the times, and the ill government of Rome, where all\nwho were candidates for offices publicly gave money, and without\nany shame bribed the people, who having received their pay, did\nnot contend for their benefactors with their bare suffrages, but\nwith bows, swords, and slings.  So that after having many times\nstained the place of election with the blood of men killed upon\nthe spot, they left the city at last without a government at\nall, to be carried about like a ship without a pilot to steer\nher; while all who had any wisdom could only be thankful if a\ncourse of such wild and stormy disorder and madness might end no\nworse than in a monarchy.  Some were so bold as to declare\nopenly, that the government was incurable but by a monarchy, and\nthat they ought to take that remedy from the hands of the\ngentlest physician, meaning Pompey, who, though in words he\npretended to decline it, yet in reality made his utmost efforts\nto be declared dictator.  Cato perceiving his design, prevailed\nwith the senate to make him sole consul, that with the offer of\na more legal sort of monarchy he might be withheld from\ndemanding the dictatorship.  They over and above voted him the\ncontinuance of his provinces, for he had two, Spain and all\nAfrica, which he governed by his lieutenants, and maintained\narmies under him, at the yearly charge of a thousand talents out\nof the public treasury.\n\nUpon this Caesar also sent and petitioned for the consulship,\nand the continuance of his provinces.  Pompey at first did not\nstir in it, but Marcellus and Lentulus opposed it, who had\nalways hated Caesar, and now did every thing, whether fit or\nunfit, which might disgrace and affront him.  For they took away\nthe privilege of Roman citizens from the people of New Comum,\nwho were a colony that Caesar had lately planted in Gaul; and\nMarcellus, who was then consul, ordered one of the senators of\nthat town, then at Rome, to be whipped, and told him he laid\nthat mark upon him to signify he was no citizen of Rome, bidding\nhim, when he went back again, to show it to Caesar.  After\nMarcellus's consulship, Caesar began to lavish gifts upon all\nthe public men out of the riches he had taken from the Gauls;\ndischarged Curio, the tribune, from his great debts; gave\nPaulus, then consul, fifteen hundred talents, with which he\nbuilt the noble court of justice adjoining the forum, to supply\nthe place of that called the Fulvian.  Pompey, alarmed at these\npreparations, now openly took steps, both by himself and his\nfriends, to have a successor appointed in Caesar's room, and\nsent to demand back the soldiers whom he had lent him to carry\non the wars in Gaul.  Caesar returned them, and made each\nsoldier a present of two hundred and fifty drachmas.  The\nofficer who brought them home to Pompey, spread amongst the\npeople no very fair or favorable report of Caesar, and flattered\nPompey himself with false suggestions that he was wished for by\nCaesar's army; and though his affairs here were in some\nembarrassment through the envy of some, and the ill state of the\ngovernment, yet there the army was at his command, and if they\nonce crossed into Italy, would presently declare for him; so\nweary were they of Caesar's endless expeditions, and so\nsuspicious of his designs for a monarchy.  Upon this Pompey grew\npresumptuous, and neglected all warlike preparations, as\nfearing no danger, and used no other means against him than mere\nspeeches and votes, for which Caesar cared nothing.  And one of\nhis captains, it is said, who was sent by him to Rome, standing\nbefore the senate-house one day, and being told that the senate\nwould not give Caesar a longer time in his government, clapped\nhis hand on the hilt of his sword, and said, \"But this shall.\"\n\nYet the demands which Caesar made had the fairest colors of\nequity imaginable.  For he proposed to lay down his arms, and\nthat Pompey should do the same, and both together should become\nprivate men, and each expect a reward of his services from the\npublic.  For that those who proposed to disarm him, and at the\nsame time to confirm Pompey in all the power he held, were\nsimply establishing the one in the tyranny which they accused\nthe other of aiming at.  When Curio made these proposals to the\npeople in Caesar's name, he was loudly applauded, and some threw\ngarlands towards him, and dismissed him as they do successful\nwrestlers, crowned with flowers.  Antony, being tribune,\nproduced a letter sent from Caesar on this occasion, and read\nit, though the consuls did what they could to oppose it.  But\nScipio, Pompey's father-in-law, proposed in the senate, that if\nCaesar did not lay down his arms within such a time, he should\nbe voted an enemy; and the consuls putting it to the question,\nwhether Pompey should dismiss his soldiers, and again, whether\nCaesar should disband his, very few assented to the first, but\nalmost all to the latter.  But Antony proposing again, that both\nshould lay down their commissions, all but a very few agreed to\nit.  Scipio was upon this very violent, and Lentulus the consul\ncried aloud, that they had need of arms, and not of suffrages,\nagainst a robber; so that the senators for the present\nadjourned, and appeared in mourning as a mark of their grief for\nthe dissension.\n\nAfterwards there came other letters from Caesar, which seemed\nyet more moderate, for he proposed to quit everything else, and\nonly to retain Gaul within the Alps, Illyricum, and two\nlegions, till he should stand a second time for consul.  Cicero,\nthe orator, who was lately returned from Cilicia, endeavored to\nreconcile differences, and softened Pompey, who was willing to\ncomply in other things, but not to allow him the soldiers.  At\nlast Cicero used his persuasions with Caesar's friends to accept\nof the provinces, and six thousand soldiers only, and so to make\nup the quarrel.  And Pompey was inclined to give way to this,\nbut Lentulus, the consul, would not hearken to it, but drove\nAntony and Curio out of the senate-house with insults, by which\nhe afforded Caesar the most plausible pretense that could be,\nand one which he could readily use to inflame the soldiers, by\nshowing them two persons of such repute and authority, who were\nforced to escape in a hired carriage in the dress of slaves.\nFor so they were glad to disguise themselves, when they fled out\nof Rome.\n\nThere were not about him at that time above three hundred horse,\nand five thousand foot; for the rest of his army, which was left\nbehind the Alps, was to be brought after him by officers who had\nreceived orders for that purpose.  But he thought the first\nmotion towards the design which he had on foot did not require\nlarge forces at present, and that what was wanted was to make\nthis first step suddenly, and so as to astound his enemies with\nthe boldness of it; as it would be easier, he thought, to throw\nthem into consternation by doing what they never anticipated,\nthan fairly to conquer them, if he had alarmed them by his\npreparations.  And therefore, he commanded his captains and\nother officers to go only with their swords in their hands,\nwithout any other arms, and make themselves masters of Ariminum,\na large city of Gaul, with as little disturbance and bloodshed\nas possible.  He committed the care of these forces to\nHortensius, and himself spent the day in public as a stander-by\nand spectator of the gladiators, who exercised before him.  A\nlittle before night he attended to his person, and then went\ninto the hall, and conversed for some time with those he had\ninvited to supper, till it began to grow dusk, when he rose from\ntable, and made his excuses to the company, begging them to stay\ntill he came back, having already given private directions to a\nfew immediate friends, that they should follow him, not all the\nsame way, but some one way, some another.  He himself got into\none of the hired carriages, and drove at first another way, but\npresently turned towards Ariminum.  When he came to the river\nRubicon, which parts Gaul within the Alps from the rest of\nItaly, his thoughts began to work, now he was just entering upon\nthe danger, and he wavered much in his mind, when he considered\nthe greatness of the enterprise into which he was throwing\nhimself.  He checked his course, and ordered a halt, while he\nrevolved with himself, and often changed his opinion one way and\nthe other, without speaking a word.  This was when his purposes\nfluctuated most; presently he also discussed the matter with his\nfriends who were about him, (of which number Asinius Pollio was\none,) computing how many calamities his passing that river would\nbring upon mankind, and what a relation of it would be\ntransmitted to posterity.  At last, in a sort of passion,\ncasting aside calculation, and abandoning himself to what might\ncome, and using the proverb frequently in their mouths who enter\nupon dangerous and bold attempts, \"The die is cast,\" with these\nwords he took the river.  Once over, he used all expedition\npossible, and before it was day reached Ariminum, and took it.\nIt is said that the night before he passed the river, he had an\nimpious dream, that he was unnaturally familiar with his own\nmother.\n\nAs soon as Ariminum was taken, wide gates, so to say, were\nthrown open, to let in war upon every land alike and sea, and\nwith the limits of the province, the boundaries of the laws were\ntransgressed.  Nor would one have thought that, as at other\ntimes, the mere men and women fled from one town of Italy to\nanother in their consternation, but that the very towns\nthemselves left their sites, and fled for succor to each other.\nThe city of Rome was overrun as it were with a deluge, by the\nconflux of people flying in from all the neighboring places.\nMagistrates could no longer govern, nor the eloquence of any\norator quiet it; it was all but suffering shipwreck by the\nviolence of its own tempestuous agitation.  The most vehement\ncontrary passions and impulses were at work everywhere.  Nor\ndid those who rejoiced at the prospect of the change altogether\nconceal their feelings, but when they met, as in so great a city\nthey frequently must, with the alarmed and dejected of the other\nparty, they provoked quarrels by their bold expressions of\nconfidence in the event.  Pompey, sufficiently disturbed of\nhimself; was yet more perplexed by the clamors of others; some\ntelling him that he justly suffered for having armed Caesar\nagainst himself and the government; others blaming him for\npermitting Caesar to be insolently used by Lentulus, when he\nmade such ample concessions, and offered such reasonable\nproposals towards an accommodation.  Favonius bade him now stamp\nupon the ground; for once talking big in the senate, he desired\nthem not to trouble themselves about making any preparations for\nthe war, for that he himself, with one stamp of his foot, would\nfill all Italy with soldiers.  Yet still Pompey at that time had\nmore forces than Caesar; but he was not permitted to pursue his\nown thoughts, but being continually disturbed with false reports\nand alarms, as if the enemy was close upon him and carrying all\nbefore him, he gave way, and let himself be borne down by the\ngeneral cry.  He put forth an edict declaring the city to be in\na state of anarchy, and left it with orders that the senate\nshould follow him, and that no one should stay behind who did\nnot prefer tyranny to their country and liberty.\n\nThe consuls at once fled, without making even the usual\nsacrifices; so did most of the senators, carrying off their own\ngoods in as much haste as if they had been robbing their\nneighbors.  Some, who had formerly much favored Caesar's cause,\nin the prevailing alarm, quitted their own sentiments, and\nwithout any prospect of good to themselves, were carried along\nby the common stream.  It was a melancholy thing to see the city\ntossed in these tumults, like a ship given up by her pilots, and\nleft to run, as chance guides her, upon any rock in her way.\nYet, in spite of their sad condition, people still esteemed the\nplace of their exile to be their country for Pompey's sake, and\nfled from Rome, as if it had been Caesar's camp.  Labienus even,\nwho had been one of Caesar's nearest friends, and his\nlieutenant, and who had fought by him zealously in the Gallic\nwars, now deserted him, and went over to Pompey.  Caesar sent\nall his money and equipage after him, and then sat down before\nCorfinium, which was garrisoned with thirty cohorts under the\ncommand of Domitius.  He, in despair of maintaining the defense,\nrequested a physician, whom he had among his attendants, to give\nhim poison; and taking the dose, drank it, in hopes of being\ndispatched by it.  But soon after, when he was told that Caesar\nshowed the utmost clemency towards those he took prisoners, he\nlamented his misfortune, and blamed the hastiness of his\nresolution.  His physician consoled him, by informing him that\nhe had taken a sleeping draught, not a poison; upon which, much\nrejoiced, and rising from his bed, he went presently to Caesar,\nand gave him the pledge of his hand, yet afterwards again\nwent over to Pompey.  The report of these actions at Rome,\nquieted those who were there, and some who had fled thence\nreturned.\n\nCaesar took into his army Domitius's soldiers, as he did all\nthose whom he found in any town enlisted for Pompey's service.\nBeing now strong and formidable enough, he advanced against\nPompey himself, who did not stay to receive him, but fled to\nBrundisium, having sent the consuls before with a body of troops\nto Dyrrhachium.  Soon after, upon Caesar's approach, he set to\nsea, as shall be more particularly related in his Life.  Caesar\nwould have immediately pursued him, but wanted shipping, and\ntherefore went back to Rome, having made himself master of all\nItaly without bloodshed in the space of sixty days.  When he\ncame thither, he found the city more quiet than he expected, and\nmany senators present, to whom he addressed himself with\ncourtesy and deference, desiring them to send to Pompey about\nany reasonable accommodations towards a peace.  But nobody\ncomplied with this proposal; whether out of fear of Pompey, whom\nthey had deserted, or that they thought Caesar did not mean what\nhe said, but thought it his interest to talk plausibly.\nAfterwards, when Metellus, the tribune, would have hindered him\nfrom taking money out of the public treasure, and adduced some\nlaws against it, Caesar replied, that arms and laws had each\ntheir own time; \"If what I do displeases you, leave the place;\nwar allows no free talking.  When I have laid down my arms, and\nmade peace, come back and make what speeches you please.  And\nthis,\" he added, \"I tell you in diminution of my own just right,\nas indeed you and all others who have appeared against me and\nare now in my power, may be treated as I please.\"  Having said\nthis to Metellus, he went to the doors of the treasury, and the\nkeys being not to be found, sent for smiths to force them open.\nMetellus again making resistance, and some encouraging him in\nit, Caesar, in a louder tone, told him he would put him to\ndeath, if he gave him any further disturbance.  \"And this,\" said\nhe, \"you know, young man, is more disagreeable for me to say,\nthan to do.\"  These words made Metellus withdraw for fear, and\nobtained speedy execution henceforth for all orders that Caesar\ngave for procuring necessaries for the war.\n\nHe was now proceeding to Spain, with the determination of first\ncrushing Afranius and Varro, Pompey's lieutenants, and making\nhimself master of the armies and provinces under them, that he\nmight then more securely advance against Pompey, when he had no\nenemy left behind him.  In this expedition his person was often\nin danger from ambuscades, and his army by want of provisions,\nyet he did not desist from pursuing the enemy, provoking them to\nfight, and hemming them with his fortifications, till by main\nforce he made himself master of their camps and their forces.\nOnly the generals got off, and fled to Pompey.\n\nWhen Caesar came back to Rome, Piso, his father-in-law, advised\nhim to send men to Pompey, to treat of a peace; but Isauricus,\nto ingratiate himself with Caesar, spoke against it.  After\nthis, being created dictator by the senate, he called home the\nexiles, and gave back then rights as citizens to the children of\nthose who had suffered under Sylla; he relieved the debtors by\nan act remitting some part of the interest on their debts, and\npassed some other measures of the same sort, but not many.  For\nwithin eleven days he resigned his dictatorship, and having\ndeclared himself consul, with Servilius Isauricus, hastened\nagain to the war.  He marched so fast, that he left all his army\nbehind him, except six hundred chosen horse, and five legions,\nwith which he put to sea in the very middle of winter, about\nthe beginning of the month January, (which corresponds pretty\nnearly with the Athenian month Posideon,) and having past the\nIonian Sea, took Oricum and Apollonia, and then sent back the\nships to Brundisium, to bring over the soldiers who were left\nbehind in the march.  They, while yet on the march, their bodies\nnow no longer in the full vigor of youth, and they themselves\nweary with such a multitude of wars, could not but exclaim\nagainst Caesar, \"When at last, and where, will this Caesar let\nus be quiet?  He carries us from place to place, and uses us as\nif we were not to be worn out, and had no sense of labor.  Even\nour iron itself is spent by blows, and we ought to have some\npity on our bucklers and breastplates, which have been used so\nlong.  Our wounds, if nothing else, should make him see that we\nare mortal men, whom he commands, subject to the same pains and\nsufferings as other human beings.  The very gods themselves\ncannot force the winter season, or hinder the storms in their\ntime; yet he pushes forward, as if he were not pursuing, but\nflying from an enemy.\"  So they talked as they marched leisurely\ntowards Brundisium.  But when they came thither, and found\nCaesar gone off before them, their feelings changed, and they\nblamed themselves as traitors to their general.  They now railed\nat their officers for marching so slowly, and placing themselves\non the heights overlooking the sea towards Epirus, they kept\nwatch to see if they could espy the vessels which were to\ntransport them to Caesar.\n\nHe in the meantime was posted in Apollonia, but had not an army\nwith him able to fight the enemy, the forces from Brundisium\nbeing so long in coming, which put him to great suspense and\nembarrassment what to do.  At last he resolved upon a most\nhazardous experiment, and embarked, without anyone's knowledge,\nin a boat of twelve oars, to cross over to Brundisium, though\nthe sea was at that time covered with a vast fleet of the\nenemies.  He got on board in the night time, in the dress of a\nslave, and throwing himself down like a person of no\nconsequence, lay along at the bottom of the vessel.  The river\nAnius was to carry them down to sea, and there used to blow a\ngentle gale every morning from the land, which made it calm at\nthe mouth of the river, by driving the waves forward; but this\nnight there had blown a strong wind from the sea, which\noverpowered that from the land, so that where the river met the\ninflux of the sea-water and the opposition of the waves, it was\nextremely rough and angry; and the current was beaten back with\nsuch a violent swell, that the master of the boat could not make\ngood his passage, but ordered his sailors to tack about and\nreturn.  Caesar, upon this, discovers himself, and taking the\nman by the hand, who was surprised to see him there, said, \"Go\non, my friend, and fear nothing; you carry Caesar and his\nfortune in your boat.\"  The mariners, when they heard that,\nforgot the storm, and laying all their strength to their oars,\ndid what they could to force their way down the river.  But when\nit was to no purpose, and the vessel now took in much water,\nCaesar finding himself in such danger in the very mouth of the\nriver, much against his will permitted the master to turn back.\nWhen he was come to land, his soldiers ran to him in a\nmultitude, reproaching him for what he had done, and indignant\nthat he should think himself not strong enough to get a victory\nby their sole assistance, but must disturb himself, and expose\nhis life for those who were absent, as if he could not trust\nthose who were with him.\n\nAfter this, Antony came over with the forces from Brundisium,\nwhich encouraged Caesar to give Pompey battle, though he was\nencamped very advantageously, and furnished with plenty of\nprovisions both by sea and land, whilst he himself was at the\nbeginning but ill-supplied, and before the end was extremely\npinched for want of necessaries, so that his soldiers were\nforced to dig up a kind of root which grew there, and tempering\nit with milk, to feed on it.  Sometimes they made a kind of\nbread of it, and advancing up to the enemy's outposts, would\nthrow in these loaves, telling them, that as long as the earth\nproduced such roots they would not give up blockading Pompey.\nBut Pompey took what care he could, that neither the loaves nor\nthe words should reach his men, who were out of heart and\ndespondent, through terror at the fierceness and hardiness of\ntheir enemies, whom they looked upon as a sort of wild beasts.\nThere were continual skirmishes about Pompey's outworks, in all\nwhich Caesar had the better, except one, when his men were\nforced to fly in such a manner that he had like to have lost his\ncamp.  For Pompey made such a vigorous sally on them that not a\nman stood his ground; the trenches were filled with the\nslaughter, many fell upon their own ramparts and bulwarks,\nwhither they were driven in flight by the enemy.  Caesar met\nthem, and would have turned them back, but could not.  When he\nwent to lay hold of the ensigns, those who carried them threw\nthem down, so that the enemies took thirty-two of them.  He\nhimself narrowly escaped; for taking hold of one of his\nsoldiers, a big and strong man, that was flying by him, he bade\nhim stand and face about; but the fellow, full of apprehensions\nfrom the danger he was in, laid hold of his sword, as if he\nwould strike Caesar, but Caesar's armor-bearer cut off his arm.\nCaesar's affairs were so desperate at that time, that when\nPompey, either through over-cautiousness, or his ill fortune,\ndid not give the finishing stroke to that great success, but\nretreated after he had driven the routed enemy within their\ncamp, Caesar, upon seeing his withdrawal, said to his friends,\n\"The victory to-day had been on the enemies' side, if they had\nhad a general who knew how to gain it.\"  When he was retired\ninto his tent, he laid himself down to sleep, but spent that\nnight as miserably as ever he did any, in perplexity and\nconsideration with himself, coming to the conclusion that he had\nconducted the war amiss.  For when he had a fertile country\nbefore him, and all the wealthy cities of Macedonia and\nThessaly, he had neglected to carry the war thither, and had sat\ndown by the seaside, where his enemies had such a powerful\nfleet, so that he was in fact rather besieged by the want of\nnecessaries, than besieging others with his arms.  Being thus\ndistracted in his thoughts with the view of the difficulty and\ndistress he was in, he raised his camp, with the intention of\nadvancing towards Scipio, who lay in Macedonia; hoping either to\nentice Pompey into a country where he should fight without the\nadvantage he now had of supplies from the sea, or to overpower\nScipio, if not assisted.\n\nThis set all Pompey's army and officers on fire to hasten and\npursue Caesar, whom they concluded to be beaten and flying.  But\nPompey was afraid to hazard a battle on which so much depended,\nand being himself provided with all necessaries for any length\nof time, thought to tire out and waste the vigor of Caesar's\narmy, which could not last long.  For the best part of his men,\nthough they had great experience and showed an irresistible\ncourage in all engagements, yet by their frequent marches,\nchanging their camps, attacking fortifications, and keeping\nlong night-watches, were getting worn-out and broken; they being\nnow old, their bodies less fit for labor, and their courage,\nalso, beginning to give way with the failure of their strength.\nBesides, it was said that an infectious disease, occasioned by\ntheir irregular diet, was prevailing in Caesar's army, and what\nwas of greatest moment, he was neither furnished with money nor\nprovisions, so that in a little time he must needs fall of\nhimself.\n\nFor these reasons Pompey had no mind to fight him, but was\nthanked for it by none but Cato, who rejoiced at the prospect of\nsparing his fellow-citizens.  For he when he saw the dead bodies\nof those who had fallen in the last battle on Caesar's side, to\nthe number of a thousand, turned away, covered his face, and\nshed tears.  But everyone else upbraided Pompey for being\nreluctant to fight, and tried to goad him on by such nicknames\nas Agamemnon, and king of kings, as if he were in no hurry to\nlay down his sovereign authority, but was pleased to see so many\ncommanders attending on him, and paying their attendance at his\ntent.  Favonius, who affected Cato's free way of speaking his\nmind, complained bitterly that they should eat no figs even this\nyear at Tusculum, because of Pompey's love of command.\nAfranius, who was lately returned out of Spain, and on account\nof his ill success there, labored under the suspicion of having\nbeen bribed to betray the army, asked why they did not fight\nthis purchaser of provinces.  Pompey was driven, against his own\nwill, by this kind of language, into offering battle, and\nproceeded to follow Caesar.  Caesar had found great difficulties\nin his march, for no country would supply him with provisions,\nhis reputation being very much fallen since his late defeat.\nBut after he took Gomphi, a town of Thessaly, he not only found\nprovisions for his army, but physic too.  For there they met\nwith plenty of wine, which they took very freely, and heated\nwith this, sporting and reveling on their march in bacchanalian\nfashion, they shook off the disease, and their whole\nconstitution was relieved and changed into another habit.\n\nWhen the two armies were come into Pharsalia, and both encamped\nthere, Pompey's thoughts ran the same way as they had done\nbefore, against fighting, and the more because of some unlucky\npresages, and a vision he had in a dream. But those who were\nabout him were so confident of success, that Domitius, and\nSpinther, and Scipio, as if they had already conquered,\nquarreled which should succeed Caesar in the pontificate.  And\nmany sent to Rome to take houses fit to accommodate consuls and\npraetors, as being sure of entering upon those offices, as soon\nas the battle was over.  The cavalry especially were obstinate\nfor fighting, being splendidly armed and bravely mounted, and\nvaluing themselves upon the fine horses they kept, and upon\ntheir own handsome persons; as also upon the advantage of their\nnumbers, for they were five thousand against one thousand of\nCaesar's.  Nor were the numbers of the infantry less\ndisproportionate, there being forty-five thousand of Pompey's,\nagainst twenty-two thousand of the enemy.\n\nCaesar, collecting his soldiers together, told them that\nCorfinius  was coming up to them with two legions, and that\nfifteen cohorts more under Calenus were posted at Megara and\nAthens; he then asked them whether they would stay till these\njoined them, or would hazard the battle by themselves.  They all\ncried out to him not to wait, but on the contrary to do whatever\nhe could to bring about an engagement as soon as possible.  When\nhe sacrificed to the gods for the lustration of his army, upon\nthe death of the first victim, the augur told him, within three\ndays he should come to a decisive action.  Caesar asked him\nwhether he saw anything in the entrails, which promised a\nhappy event.  \"That,\" said the priest, \"you can best answer\nyourself; for the gods signify a great alteration from the\npresent posture of affairs.  If, therefore, you think yourself\nwell off now, expect worse fortune; if unhappy, hope for\nbetter.\"  The night before the battle, as he walked the rounds\nabout midnight, there was a light seen in the heaven, very\nbright and flaming, which seemed to pass over Caesar's camp, and\nfall into Pompey's.  And when Caesar's soldiers came to relieve\nthe watch in the morning, they perceived a panic disorder among\nthe enemies.  However, he did not expect to fight that day, but\nset about raising his camp with the intention of marching\ntowards Scotussa.\n\nBut when the tents were now taken down, his scouts rode up to\nhim, and told him the enemy would give him battle.  With this\nnews he was extremely pleased, and having performed his\ndevotions to the gods, set his army in battle array, dividing\nthem into three bodies.  Over the middlemost he placed Domitius\nCalvinus; Antony commanded the left wing, and he himself the\nright, being resolved to fight at the head of the tenth legion.\nBut when he saw the enemies' cavalry taking position against\nhim, being struck with their fine appearance and their number,\nhe gave private orders that six cohorts from the rear of the\narmy should come round and join him, whom he posted behind the\nright wing, and instructed them what they should do, when the\nenemy's horse came to charge.  On the other side, Pompey\ncommanded the right wing, Domitius the left, and Scipio,\nPompey's father-in-law, the center.  The whole weight of the\ncavalry was collected on the left wing, with the intent that\nthey should outflank the right wing of the enemy, and rout that\npart where the general himself commanded.  For they thought no\nphalanx of infantry could be solid enough to sustain such a\nshock, but that they must necessarily be broken and shattered\nall to pieces upon the onset of so immense a force of cavalry.\nWhen they were ready on both sides to give the signal for\nbattle, Pompey commended his foot who were in the front to stand\ntheir ground, and without breaking their order, receive quietly\nthe enemy's first attack, till they came within javelin's cast.\nCaesar, in this respect, also, blames Pompey's generalship, as\nif he had not been aware how the first encounter, when made with\nan impetus and upon the run, gives weight and force to the\nstrokes, and fires the men's spirits into a flame, which the\ngeneral concurrence fans to full heat.  He himself was just\nputting the troops into motion and advancing to the action, when\nhe found one of his captains, a trusty and experienced soldier,\nencouraging his men to exert their utmost.  Caesar called him by\nhis name, and said, \"What hopes, Caius Crassinius, and what\ngrounds for encouragement?\"  Crassinius stretched out his hand,\nand cried in a loud voice, \"We shall conquer nobly, Caesar; and\nI this day will deserve your praises, either alive or dead.\"  So\nhe said, and was the first man to run in upon the enemy,\nfollowed by the hundred and twenty soldiers about him, and\nbreaking through the first rank, still pressed on forwards with\nmuch slaughter of the enemy, till at last he was struck back by\nthe wound of a sword, which went in at his mouth with such force\nthat it came out at his neck behind.\n\nWhilst the foot was thus sharply engaged in the main battle, on\nthe flank Pompey's horse rode up confidently, and opened their\nranks very wide, that they might surround the Fight wing of\nCaesar.  But before they engaged, Caesar's cohorts rushed out\nand attacked them, and did not dart their javelins at a\ndistance, nor strike at the thighs and legs, as they usually did\nin close battle, but aimed at their faces.  For thus Caesar had\ninstructed them, in hopes that young gentlemen, who had not\nknown much of battles and wounds, but came wearing their hair\nlong, in the flower of their age and height of their beauty,\nwould be more apprehensive of such blows, and not care for\nhazarding both a danger at present and a blemish for the future.\nAnd so it proved, for they were so far from bearing the stroke\nof the javelins, that they could not stand the sight of them,\nbut turned about, and covered their faces to secure them.  Once\nin disorder, presently they turned about to fly; and so most\nshamefully ruined all.  For those who had beat them back, at\nonce outflanked the infantry, and falling on their rear, cut\nthem to pieces.  Pompey, who commanded the other wing of the\narmy, when he saw his cavalry thus broken and flying, was no\nlonger himself, nor did he now remember that he was Pompey the\nGreat, but like one whom some god had deprived of his senses,\nretired to his tent without speaking; a word, and there sat to\nexpect the event, till the whole army was routed, and the enemy\nappeared upon the works which were thrown up before the camp,\nwhere they closely engaged with his men, who were posted there\nto defend it.  Then first he seemed to have recovered his\nsenses, and uttering, it is said, only these words, \"What, into\nthe camp too?\" he laid aside his general's habit, and putting on\nsuch clothes as might best favor his flight, stole off.  What\nfortune he met with afterwards, how he took shelter in Egypt,\nand was murdered there, we tell you in his Life.\n\nCaesar, when he came to view Pompey's camp, and saw some of his\nopponents dead upon the ground, others dying, said, with a\ngroan, \"This they would have; they brought me to this necessity.\nI, Caius Caesar, after succeeding in so many wars, had been\ncondemned, had I dismissed my army.\"  These words, Pollio says,\nCaesar spoke in Latin at that time, and that he himself wrote\nthem in Greek; adding, that those who were killed at the taking\nof the camp, were most of them servants; and that not above six\nthousand soldiers fell.  Caesar incorporated most of the foot\nwhom he took prisoners, with his own legions, and gave a free\npardon to many of the distinguished persons, and amongst the\nrest, to Brutus, who afterwards killed him.  He did not\nimmediately appear after the battle was over, which put Caesar,\nit is said, into great anxiety for him; nor was his pleasure\nless when he saw him present himself alive.\n\nThere were many prodigies that foreshowed this victory, but the\nmost remarkable that we are told of, was that at Tralles.  In\nthe temple of Victory stood Caesar's statue.  The ground on\nwhich it stood was naturally hard and solid, and the stone with\nwhich it was paved still harder; yet it is said that a palm-tree\nshot itself up near the pedestal of this statue.  In the city of\nPadua, one Caius Cornelius, who had the character of a good\naugur, the fellow-citizen and acquaintance of Livy, the\nhistorian, happened to be making some augural observations that\nvery day when the battle was fought.  And first, as Livy tells\nus, he pointed out the time of the fight, and said to those who\nwere by him, that just then the battle was begun, and the men\nengaged.  When he looked a second time, and observed the omens,\nhe leaped up as if he had been inspired, and cried out, \"Caesar,\nyou are victorious.\"  This much surprised the standers by, but\nhe took the garland which he had on from his head, and swore he\nwould never wear it again till the event should give authority\nto his art.  This Livy positively states for a truth.\n\nCaesar, as a memorial of his victory, gave the Thessalians\ntheir freedom, and then went in pursuit of Pompey.  When he was\ncome into Asia, to gratify Theopompus, the author of the\ncollection of fables, he enfranchised the Cnidians, and remitted\none third of their tribute to all the people of the province of\nAsia.  When he came to Alexandria, where Pompey was already\nmurdered, he would not look upon Theodotus, who presented him\nwith his head, but taking only his signet, shed tears.  Those of\nPompey's friends who had been arrested by the king of Egypt, as\nthey were wandering in those parts, he relieved, and offered\nthem his own friendship.  In his letter to his friends at Rome,\nhe told them that the greatest and most signal pleasure his\nvictory had given him, was to be able continually to save the\nlives of fellow-citizens who had fought against him.  As to the\nwar in Egypt, some say it was at once dangerous and\ndishonorable, and noways necessary, but occasioned only by his\npassion for Cleopatra.  Others blame the ministers of the king,\nand especially the eunuch Pothinus, who was the chief favorite,\nand had lately killed Pompey, who had banished Cleopatra, and\nwas now secretly plotting Caesar's destruction, (to prevent\nwhich, Caesar from that time began to sit up whole nights, under\npretense of drinking, for the security of his person,) while\nopenly he was intolerable in his affronts to Caesar, both by his\nwords and actions.  For when Caesar's soldiers had musty and\nunwholesome corn measured out to them, Pothinus told them they\nmust be content with it, since they were fed at another's cost.\nHe ordered that his table should be served with wooden and\nearthen dishes, and said Caesar had carried off all the gold and\nsilver plate, under pretense of arrears of debt.  For the\npresent king's father owed Caesar one thousand seven hundred and\nfifty myriads of money; Caesar had formerly remitted to his\nchildren the rest, but thought fit to demand the thousand\nmyriads at that time, to maintain his army.  Pothinus told him\nthat he had better go now and attend to his other affairs of\ngreater consequence, and that he should receive his money at\nanother time with thanks.  Caesar replied that he did not want\nEgyptians to be his counselors, and soon after, privately sent\nfor Cleopatra from her retirement.\n\nShe took a small boat, and one only of her confidents,\nApollodorus, the Sicilian, along with her, and in the dusk of\nthe evening landed near the palace.  She was at a loss how to\nget in undiscovered, till she thought of putting herself into\nthe coverlet of a bed and lying at length, whilst Apollodorus\ntied up the bedding and carried it on his back through the gates\nto Caesar's apartment.  Caesar was first captivated by this\nproof of Cleopatra's bold wit, and was afterwards so overcome by\nthe charm of her society, that he made a reconciliation between\nher and her brother, on condition that she should rule as his\ncolleague in the kingdom.  A festival was kept to celebrate this\nreconciliation, where Caesar's barber, a busy, listening fellow,\nwhose excessive timidity made him inquisitive into everything,\ndiscovered that there was a plot carrying on against Caesar by\nAchillas, general of the king's forces, and Pothinus, the\neunuch.  Caesar, upon the first intelligence of it, set a guard\nupon the hall where the feast was kept, and killed Pothinus.\nAchillas escaped to the army, and raised a troublesome and\nembarrassing war against Caesar, which it was not easy for him\nto manage with his few soldiers against so powerful a city and\nso large an army.  The first difficulty he met with was want of\nwater, for the enemies had turned the canals. Another was, when\nthe enemy endeavored to cut off his communication by sea, he was\nforced to divert that danger by setting fire to his own ships,\nwhich, after burning the docks, thence spread on and destroyed\nthe great library.  A third was, when in an engagement near\nPharos, he leaped from the mole into a small boat, to assist his\nsoldiers who were in danger, and when the Egyptians pressed him\non every side, he threw himself into the sea, and with much\ndifficulty swam off.  This was the time when, according to the\nstory, he had a number of manuscripts in his hand, which, though\nhe was continually darted at, and forced to keep his head often\nunder water, yet he did not let go, but held them up safe from\nwetting in one hand, whilst he swam with the other.  His boat,\nin the meantime, was quickly sunk.  At last, the king having\ngone off to Achillas and his party, Caesar engaged and conquered\nthem.  Many fell in that battle, and the king himself was never\nseen after.  Upon this, he left Cleopatra queen of Egypt, who\nsoon after had a son by him, whom the Alexandrians called\nCaesarion, and then departed for Syria.\n\nThence he passed to Asia, where he heard that Domitius was\nbeaten by Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, and had fled out of\nPontus with a handful of men; and that Pharnaces pursued the\nvictory so eagerly, that though he was already master of\nBithynia and Cappadocia, he had a further design of attempting\nthe Lesser Armenia, and was inviting all the kings and tetrarchs\nthere to rise.  Caesar immediately marched against him with\nthree legions, fought him near Zela, drove him out of Pontus,\nand totally defeated his army.  When he gave Amantius, a friend\nof his at Rome, an account of this action, to express the\npromptness and rapidity of it, he used three words, I came, saw,\nand conquered, which in Latin having all the same cadence,\ncarry with them a very suitable air of brevity.\n\nHence he crossed into Italy, and came to Rome at the end of that\nyear, for which he had been a second time chosen dictator,\nthough that office had never before lasted a whole year, and was\nelected consul for the next.  He was ill spoken of, because upon\na mutiny of some soldiers, who killed Cosconius and Galba, who\nhad been praetors, he gave them only the slight reprimand of\ncalling them Citizens, instead of Fellow-Soldiers, and\nafterwards assigned to each man a thousand drachmas, besides a\nshare of lands in Italy.  He was also reflected on for\nDolabella's extravagance, Amantius's covetousness, Antony's\ndebauchery, and Corfinius's profuseness, who pulled down\nPompey's house, and rebuilt it, as not magnificent enough; for\nthe Romans were much displeased with all these.  But Caesar, for\nthe prosecution of his own scheme of government, though he knew\ntheir characters and disapproved them, was forced to make use of\nthose who would serve him.\n\nAfter the battle of Pharsalia, Cato and Scipio fled into Africa,\nand there, with the assistance of king Juba, got together a\nconsiderable force, which Caesar resolved to engage.  He,\naccordingly, passed into Sicily about the winter-solstice, and\nto remove from his officers' minds all hopes of delay there,\nencamped by the sea-shore, and as soon as ever he had a fair\nwind, put to sea with three thousand foot and a few horse.  When\nhe had landed them, he went back secretly, under some\napprehensions for the larger part of his army, but met them upon\nthe sea, and brought them all to the same camp.  There he was\ninformed that the enemies relied much upon an ancient oracle,\nthat the family of the Scipios should be always victorious in\nAfrica.  There was in his army a man, otherwise mean and\ncontemptible, but of the house of the Africani, and his name\nScipio Sallutio.  This man Caesar, (whether in raillery, to\nridicule Scipio, who commended the enemy, or seriously to bring\nover the omen to his side, it were hard to say,) put at the head\nof his troops, as if he were general, in all the frequent\nbattles which he was compelled to fight.  For he was in such\nwant both of victualing for his men, and forage for his horses,\nthat he was forced to feed the horses with sea-weed, which he\nwashed thoroughly to take off its saltiness, and mixed with a\nlittle grass, to give it a more agreeable taste.  The Numidians,\nin great numbers, and well horsed, whenever he went, came up and\ncommanded the country.  Caesar's cavalry being one day\nunemployed, diverted themselves with seeing an African, who\nentertained them with dancing and at the same time playing upon\nthe pipe to admiration.  They were so taken with this, that they\nalighted, and gave their horses to some boys, when on a sudden\nthe enemy surrounded them, killed some, pursued the rest, and\nfell in with them into their camp; and had not Caesar himself\nand Asinius Pollio come to their assistance, and put a stop to\ntheir flight, the war had been then at an end.  In another\nengagement, also, the enemy had again the better, when Caesar,\nit is said, seized a standard-bearer, who was running away, by\nthe neck, and forcing him to face about, said, \"Look, that is\nthe way to the enemy.\"\n\nScipio, flushed with this success at first, had a mind to come to\none decisive action.  He therefore left Afranius and Juba in two\ndistinct bodies not far distant, and marched himself towards\nThapsus, where he proceeded to build a fortified camp above a\nlake, to serve as a center-point for their operations, and also\nas a place of refuge.  Whilst Scipio was thus employed, Caesar\nwith incredible dispatch made his way through thick woods, and a\ncountry supposed to be impassable, cut off one party of the\nenemy, and attacked another in the front.  Having routed these,\nhe followed up his opportunity and the current of his good\nfortune, and on the first onset carried Afranius's camp, and\nravaged that of the Numidians, Juba, their king, being glad to\nsave himself by flight; so that in a small part of a single day\nhe made himself master of three camps, and killed fifty thousand\nof the enemy, with the loss only of fifty of his own men.  This\nis the account some give of that fight.  Others say, he was not\nin the action, but that he was taken with his usual distemper\njust as he was setting his army in order.  He perceived the\napproaches of it, and before it had too far disordered his\nsenses, when he was already beginning to shake under its\ninfluence, withdrew into a neighboring fort, where he reposed\nhimself.  Of the men of consular and praetorian dignity that\nwere taken after the fight, several Caesar put to death, others\nanticipated him by killing themselves.\n\nCato had undertaken to defend Utica, and for that reason was not\nin the battle.  The desire which Caesar had to take him alive,\nmade him hasten thither; and upon the intelligence that he had\ndispatched himself, he was much discomposed, for what reason is\nnot so well agreed.  He certainly said, \"Cato, I must grudge you\nyour death, as you grudged me the honor of saving your life.\"\nYet the discourse he wrote against Cato after his death, is no\ngreat sign of his kindness, or that he was inclined to be\nreconciled to him.  For how is it probable that he would have\nbeen tender of his life, when he was so bitter against his\nmemory?  But from his clemency to Cicero, Brutus, and many\nothers who fought against him, it may be divined that Caesar's\nbook was not written so much out of animosity to Cato, as in his\nown vindication.  Cicero had written an encomium upon Cato, and\ncalled it by his name.  A composition by so great a master upon\nso excellent a subject, was sure to be in everyone's hands.\nThis touched Caesar, who looked upon a panegyric on his enemy,\nas no better than an invective against himself; and therefore he\nmade in his Anti-Cato, a collection of whatever could be said in\nhis derogation.  The two compositions, like Cato and Caesar\nthemselves, have each of them their several admirers.\n\nCaesar, upon his return to Rome, did not omit to pronounce\nbefore the people a magnificent account of his victory, telling\nthem that he had subdued a country which would supply the public\nevery year with two hundred thousand attic bushels of corn, and\nthree million pounds weight of oil.  He then led three triumphs\nfor Egypt, Pontus, and Africa, the last for the victory over,\nnot Scipio, but king Juba, as it was professed, whose little son\nwas then carried in the triumph, the happiest captive that ever\nwas, who of a barbarian Numidian, came by this means to obtain a\nplace among the most learned historians of Greece.  After the\ntriumphs, he distributed rewards to his soldiers, and treated\nthe people with feasting and shows.  He entertained the whole\npeople together at one feast, where twenty-two thousand dining\ncouches were laid out; and he made a display of gladiators, and\nof battles by sea, in honor, as he said, of his daughter Julia,\nthough she had been long since dead.  When these shows were\nover, an account was taken of the people, who from three hundred\nand twenty thousand, were now reduced to one hundred and fifty\nthousand.  So great a waste had the civil war made in Rome\nalone, not to mention what the other parts of Italy and the\nprovinces suffered.\n\nHe was now chosen a fourth time consul, and went into Spain\nagainst Pompey's sons.  They were but young, yet had gathered\ntogether a very numerous army, and showed they had courage and\nconduct to command it, so that Caesar was in extreme danger.\nThe great battle was near the town of Munda, in which Caesar\nseeing his men hard pressed, and making but a weak resistance,\nran through the ranks among the soldiers, and crying out, asked\nthem whether they were not ashamed to deliver him into the hands\nof boys?  At last, with great difficulty, and the best efforts\nhe could make, he forced back the enemy, killing thirty thousand\nof them, though with the loss of one thousand of his best men.\nWhen he came back from the fight, he told his friends that he\nhad often fought for victory, but this was the first time that\nhe had ever fought for life.  This battle was won on the feast\nof Bacchus, the very day in which Pompey, four years before.\nhad set out for the war.  The younger of Pompey's sons escaped;\nbut Didius, some days after the fight, brought the head of the\nelder to Caesar.  This was the last war he was engaged in.  The\ntriumph which he celebrated for this victory, displeased the\nRomans beyond any thing.  For he had not defeated foreign\ngenerals, or barbarian kings, but had destroyed the children and\nfamily of one of the greatest men of Rome, though unfortunate;\nand it did not look well to lead a procession in celebration of\nthe calamities of his country, and to rejoice in those things\nfor which no other apology could be made either to gods or men,\nthan their being absolutely necessary.  Besides that, hitherto\nhe had never sent letters or messengers to announce any victory\nover his fellow-citizens, but had seemed rather to be ashamed of\nthe action, than to expect honor from it.\n\nNevertheless his countrymen, conceding all to his fortune, and\naccepting the bit, in the hope that the government of a single\nperson would give them time to breathe after so many civil wars\nand calamities, made him dictator for life.  This was indeed a\ntyranny avowed, since his power now was not only absolute, but\nperpetual too.  Cicero made the first proposals to the senate\nfor conferring honors upon him, which might in some sort be said\nnot to exceed the limits of ordinary human moderation.  But\nothers, striving which should deserve most, carried them so\nexcessively high, that they made Caesar odious to the most\nindifferent and moderate sort of men, by the pretension and the\nextravagance of the titles which they decreed him.  His enemies,\ntoo, are thought to have had some share in this, as well as his\nflatterers.  It gave them advantage against him, and would be\ntheir justification for any attempt they should make upon him;\nfor since the civil wars were ended, he had nothing else that he\ncould be charged with.  And they had good reason to decree a\ntemple to Clemency, in token of their thanks for the mild use he\nmade of his victory.  For he not only pardoned many of those who\nfought against him, but, further, to some gave honors and\noffices; as particularly to Brutus and Cassius, who both of them\nwere praetors.  Pompey's images that were thrown down, he set up\nagain, upon which Cicero also said that by raising Pompey's\nstatues he had fixed his own.  When his friends advised him to\nhave a guard, and several offered their service, he would not\nhear of it; but said it was better to suffer death once, than\nalways to live in fear of it.  He looked upon the affections of\nthe people to be the best and surest guard, and entertained them\nagain with public feasting, and general distributions of corn;\nand to gratify his army, he sent out colonies to several places,\nof which the most remarkable were Carthage and Corinth; which as\nbefore they had been ruined at the same time, so now were\nrestored and repeopled together.\n\nAs for the men of high rank, he promised to some of them future\nconsulships and praetorships, some he consoled with other\noffices and honors, and to all held out hopes of favor by the\nsolicitude he showed to rule with the general good-will;\ninsomuch that upon the death of Maximus one day before his\nconsulship was ended, he made Caninius Revilius consul for that\nday.  And when many went to pay the usual compliments and\nattentions to the new consul, \"Let us make haste,\" said Cicero,\n\"lest the man be gone out of his office before we come.\"\n\nCaesar was born to do great things, and had a passion after\nhonor, and the many noble exploits he had done did not now serve\nas an inducement to him to sit still and reap the fruit of his\npast labors, but were incentives and encouragments to go on, and\nraised in him ideas of still greater actions, and a desire of\nnew glory, as if the present were all spent.  It was in fact a\nsort of emulous struggle with himself, as it had been with\nanother, how he might outdo his past actions by his future.  In\npursuit of these thoughts, he resolved to make war upon the\nParthians, and when he had subdued them, to pass through\nHyrcania; thence to march along by the Caspian Sea to Mount\nCaucasus, and so on about Pontus, till he came into Scythia;\nthen to overrun all the countries bordering upon Germany, and\nGermany itself; and so to return through Gaul into Italy, after\ncompleting the whole circle of his intended empire, and bounding\nit on every side by the ocean.  While preparations were making\nfor this expedition, he proposed to dig through the isthmus on\nwhich Corinth stands; and appointed Anienus to superintend the\nwork.  He had also a design of diverting the Tiber, and carrying\nit by a deep channel directly from Rome to Circeii, and so into\nthe sea near Tarracina, that there might be a safe and easy\npassage for all merchants who traded to Rome.  Besides this, he\nintended to drain all the marshes by Pomentium and Setia, and\ngain ground enough from the water to employ many thousands of\nmen in tillage.  He proposed further to make great mounds on the\nshore nearest Rome, to hinder the sea from breaking in upon the\nland, to clear the coast at Ostia of all the hidden rocks and\nshoals that made it unsafe for shipping, and to form ports and\nharbors fit to receive the large number of vessels that would\nfrequent them.\n\nThese things were designed without being carried into effect;\nbut his reformation of the calendar, in order to rectify the\nirregularity of time, was not only projected with great\nscientific ingenuity, but was brought to its completion, and\nproved of very great use.  For it was not only in ancient times\nthat the Romans had wanted a certain rule to make the\nrevolutions of their months fall in with the course of the year,\nso that their festivals and solemn days for sacrifice were\nremoved by little and little, till at last they came to be kept\nat seasons quite the contrary to what was at first intended, but\neven at this time the people had no way of computing the solar\nyear; only the priests could say the time, and they, at their\npleasure, without giving any notice, slipped in the intercalary\nmonth, which they called Mercedonius.  Numa was the first who\nput in this month, but his expedient was but a poor one and\nquite inadequate to correct all the errors that arose in the\nreturns of the annual cycles, as we have shown in his life.\nCaesar called in the best philosophers and mathematicians of his\ntime to settle the point, and out of the systems he had before\nhim, formed a new and more exact method of correcting the\ncalendar, which the Romans use to this day, and seem to succeed\nbetter than any nation in avoiding the errors occasioned by the\ninequality of the cycles.  Yet even this gave offense to those\nwho looked with an evil eye on his position, and felt oppressed\nby his power.  Cicero, the orator, when someone in his company\nchanced to say, the next morning Lyra would rise, replied, \"Yes,\nin accordance with the edict,\" as if even this were a matter of\ncompulsion.\n\nBut that which brought upon him the most apparent and mortal\nhatred, was his desire of being king; which gave the common\npeople the first occasion to quarrel with him, and proved the\nmost specious pretense to those who had been his secret enemies\nall along.  Those, who would have procured him that title, gave\nit out, that it was foretold in the Sybils' books that the\nRomans should conquer the Parthians when they fought against\nthem under the conduct of a king, but not before.  And one day,\nas Caesar was coming down from Alba to Rome, some were so bold\nas to salute him by the name of king; but he finding the people\ndisrelish it, seemed to resent it himself, and said his name was\nCaesar, not king.  Upon this, there was a general silence, and\nhe passed on looking not very well pleased or contented.\nAnother time, when the senate had conferred on him some\nextravagant honors, he chanced to receive the message as he was\nsitting on the rostra, where, though the consuls and praetors\nthemselves waited on him, attended by the whole body of the\nsenate, he did not rise, but behaved himself to them as if they\nhad been private men, and told them his honors wanted rather to\nbe retrenched than increased.  This treatment offended not only\nthe senate, but the commonalty too, as if they thought the\naffront upon the senate equally reflected upon the whole\nrepublic; so that all who could decently leave him went off,\nlooking much discomposed.  Caesar, perceiving the false step he\nhad made, immediately retired home; and laying his throat bare,\ntold his friends that he was ready to offer this to anyone who\nwould give the stroke.  But afterwards he made the malady from\nwhich he suffered, the excuse for his sitting, saying that those\nwho are attacked by it, lose their presence of mind, if they\ntalk much standing; that they presently grow giddy, fall into\nconvulsions, and quite lose their reason.  But this was not the\nreality, for he would willingly have stood up to the senate, had\nnot Cornelius Balbus, one of his friends, or rather flatterers,\nhindered him.  \"Will you not remember,\" said he, \"you are\nCaesar, and claim the honor which is due to your merit?\"\n\nHe gave a fresh occasion of resentment by his affront to the\ntribunes.  The Lupercalia were then celebrated, a feast at the\nfirst institution belonging, as some writers say, to the\nshepherds, and having some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea.\nMany young noblemen and magistrates run up and down the city\nwith their upper garments off, striking all they meet with\nthongs of hide, by way of sport; and many women, even of the\nhighest rank, place themselves in the way, and hold out their\nhands to the lash, as boys in a school do to the master, out of\na belief that it procures an easy labor to those who are with\nchild, and makes those conceive who are barren.  Caesar, dressed\nin a triumphal robe, seated himself in a golden chair at the\nrostra, to view this ceremony.  Antony, as consul, was one of\nthose who ran this course, and when he came into the forum, and\nthe people made way for him, he went up and reached to Caesar a\ndiadem wreathed with laurel.  Upon this, there was a shout, but\nonly a slight one, made by the few who were planted there for\nthat purpose; but when Caesar refused it, there was universal\napplause.  Upon the second offer, very few, and upon the second\nrefusal, all again applauded.  Caesar finding it would not take,\nrose up, and ordered the crown to be carried into the capitol.\nCaesar's statues were afterwards found with royal diadems on\ntheir heads.  Flavius and Marullus, two tribunes of the people,\nwent presently and pulled them off, and having apprehended those\nwho first saluted Caesar as king, committed them to prison.  The\npeople followed them with acclamations, and called them by the\nname of Brutus, because Brutus was the first who ended the\nsuccession of kings, and transferred the power which before was\nlodged in one man into the hands of the senate and people.\nCaesar so far resented this, that he displaced Marullus and\nFlavius; and in urging his charges against them, at the same\ntime ridiculed the people, by himself giving the men more than\nonce the names of Bruti, and Cumaei.\n\nThis made the multitude turn their thoughts to Marcus Brutus,\nwho, by his father's side, was thought to be descended from that\nfirst Brutus, and by his mother's side from the Servilii,\nanother noble family, being besides nephew and son-in-law to\nCato.  But the honors and favors he had received from Caesar,\ntook off the edge from the desires he might himself have felt\nfor overthrowing the new monarchy.  For he had not only been\npardoned himself after Pompey's defeat at Pharsalia, and had\nprocured the same grace for many of his friends, but was one in\nwhom Caesar had a particular confidence.  He had at that time\nthe most honorable praetorship of the year, and was named for\nthe consulship four years after, being preferred before Cassius,\nhis competitor.  Upon the question as to the choice, Caesar, it\nis related, said that Cassius had the fairer pretensions, but\nthat he could not pass by Brutus.  Nor would he afterwards\nlisten to some who spoke against Brutus, when the conspiracy\nagainst him was already afoot, but laying his hand on his body,\nsaid to the informers, \"Brutus will wait for this skin of mine,\"\nintimating that he was worthy to bear rule on account of his\nvirtue, but would not be base and ungrateful to gain it.  Those\nwho desired a change, and looked on him as the only, or at least\nthe most proper, person to effect it, did not venture to speak\nwith him; but in the night time laid papers about his chair of\nstate, where he used to sit and determine causes, with such\nsentences in them as, \"You are asleep, Brutus,\" \"You are no\nlonger Brutus.\"  Cassius, when he perceived his ambition a\nlittle raised upon this, was more instant than before to work\nhim yet further, having himself a private grudge against Caesar,\nfor some reasons that we have mentioned in the Life of Brutus.\nNor was Caesar without suspicions of him, and said once to his\nfriends, \"What do you think Cassius is aiming at?  I don't like\nhim, he looks so pale.\"  And when it was told him that Antony\nand Dolabella were in a plot against him, he said he did not\nfear such fat, luxurious men, but rather the pale, lean fellows,\nmeaning Cassius and Brutus.\n\nFate, however, is to all appearance more unavoidable than\nunexpected.  For many strange prodigies and apparitions are said\nto have been observed shortly before the event.  As to the\nlights in the heavens, the noises heard in the night, and the\nwild birds which perched in the forum, these are not perhaps\nworth taking notice of in so great a case as this.  Strabo, the\nphilosopher, tells us that a number of men were seen, looking as\nif they were heated through with fire, contending with each\nother; that a quantity of flame issued from the hand of a\nsoldier's servant, so that they who saw it thought he must be\nburnt, but that after all he had no hurt.  As Caesar was\nsacrificing, the victim's heart was missing, a very bad omen,\nbecause no living creature can subsist without a heart.  One\nfinds it also related by many, that a soothsayer bade him\nprepare for some great danger on the ides of March.  When the\nday was come, Caesar, as he went to the senate, met this\nsoothsayer, and said to him by way of raillery, \"The ides of\nMarch are come;\" who answered him calmly, \"Yes, they are come,\nbut they are not past.\"  The day before this assassination, he\nsupped with Marcus Lepidus; and as he was signing some letters,\naccording to his custom, as he reclined at table, there arose a\nquestion what sort of death was the best.  At which he\nimmediately, before anyone could speak, said, \"A sudden one.\"\n\nAfter this, as he was in bed with his wife, all the doors and\nwindows of the house flew open together; he was startled at the\nnoise, and the light which broke into the room, and sat up in\nhis bed, where by the moonshine he perceived Calpurnia fast\nasleep, but heard her utter in her dream some indistinct words\nand inarticulate groans.  She fancied at that time she was\nweeping over Caesar, and holding him butchered in her arms.\nOthers say this was not her dream, but that she dreamed that a\npinnacle which the senate, as Livy relates, had ordered to be\nraised on Caesar's house by way of ornament and grandeur, was\ntumbling down, which was the occasion of her tears and\nejaculations.  When it was day, she begged of Caesar, if it were\npossible, not to stir out, but to adjourn the senate to another\ntime; and if he slighted her dreams, that he would be pleased to\nconsult his fate by sacrifices, and other kinds of divination.\nNor was he himself without some suspicion and fears; for he\nnever before discovered any womanish superstition in Calpurnia,\nwhom he now saw in such great alarm.  Upon the report which the\npriests made to him, that they had killed several sacrifices,\nand still found them inauspicious, he resolved to send Antony to\ndismiss the senate.\n\nIn this juncture, Decimus Brutus, surnamed Albinus, one whom\nCaesar had such confidence in that he made him his second heir,\nwho nevertheless was engaged in the conspiracy with the other\nBrutus and Cassius, fearing lest if Caesar should put off the\nsenate to another day, the business might get wind, spoke\nscoffingly and in mockery of the diviners, and blamed Caesar for\ngiving the senate so fair an occasion of saying he had put a\nslight upon them, for that they were met upon his summons, and\nwere ready to vote unanimously, that he should be declared king\nof all the provinces out of Italy, and might wear a diadem in\nany other place but Italy, by sea or land.  If anyone should be\nsent to tell them they might break up for the present, and meet\nagain when Calpurnia should chance to have better dreams, what\nwould his enemies say?  Or who would with any patience hear his\nfriends, if they should presume to defend his government as not\narbitrary and tyrannical?  But if he was possessed so far as to\nthink this day unfortunate, yet it were more decent to go\nhimself to the senate, and to adjourn it in his own person.\nBrutus, as he spoke these words, took Caesar by the hand, and\nconducted him forth.  He was not gone far from the door, when a\nservant of some other person's made towards him, but not being\nable to come up to him, on account of the crowd of those who\npressed about him, he made his way into the house, and committed\nhimself to Calpurnia, begging of her to secure him till Caesar\nreturned, because he had matters of great importance to\ncommunicate to him.\n\nArtemidorus, a Cnidian, a teacher of Greek logic, and by that\nmeans so far acquainted with Brutus and his friends as to have\ngot into the secret, brought Caesar in a small written memorial,\nthe heads of what he had to depose.  He had observed that\nCaesar, as he received any papers, presently gave them to the\nservants who attended on him; and therefore came as near to him\nas he could, and said, \"Read this, Caesar, alone, and quickly,\nfor it contains matter of great importance which nearly concerns\nyou.\"  Caesar received it, and tried several times to read it,\nbut was still hindered by the crowd of those who came to speak\nto him.  However, he kept it in his hand by itself till he came\ninto the senate.  Some say it was another who gave Caesar this\nnote, and that Artemidorus could not get to him, being all along\nkept off by the crowd.\n\nAll these things might happen by chance.  But the place which\nwas destined for the scene of this murder, in which the senate\nmet that day, was the same in which Pompey's statue stood, and\nwas one of the edifices which Pompey had raised and dedicated\nwith his theater to the use of the public, plainly showing that\nthere was something of a supernatural influence which guided the\naction, and ordered it to that particular place.  Cassius, just\nbefore the act, is said to have looked towards Pompey's statue,\nand silently implored his assistance, though he had been\ninclined to the doctrines of Epicurus.  But this occasion, and\nthe instant danger, carried him away out of all his reasonings,\nand filled him for the time with a sort of inspiration.  As for\nAntony, who was firm to Caesar, and a strong man, Brutus Albinus\nkept him outside the house, and delayed him with a long\nconversation contrived on purpose.  When Caesar entered, the\nsenate stood up to show their respect to him, and of Brutus's\nconfederates, some came about his chair and stood behind it,\nothers met him, pretending to add their petitions to those of\nTillius Cimber, in behalf of his brother, who was in exile; and\nthey followed him with their joint supplications till he came to\nhis seat.  When he was sat down, he refused to comply with their\nrequests, and upon their urging him further, began to reproach\nthem severally for their importunities, when Tillius, laying\nhold of his robe with both his hands, pulled it down from his\nneck, which was the signal for the assault.  Casca gave him the\nfirst cut, in the neck, which was not mortal nor dangerous, as\ncoming from one who at the beginning of such a bold action was\nprobably very much disturbed.  Caesar immediately turned about,\nand laid his hand upon the dagger and kept hold of it.  And both\nof them at the same time cried out, he that received the blow,\nin Latin, \"Vile Casca, what does this mean?\" and he that gave\nit, in Greek, to his brother, \"Brother, help!\"  Upon this first\nonset, those who were not privy to the design were astonished\nand their horror and amazement at what they saw were so great,\nthat they durst not fly nor assist Caesar, nor so much as speak\na word.  But those who came prepared for the business enclosed\nhim on every side, with their naked daggers in their hands.\nWhich way soever he turned, he met with blows, and saw their\nswords leveled at his face and eyes, and was encompassed, like a\nwild beast in the toils, on every side.  For it had been agreed\nthey should each of them make a thrust at him, and flesh\nthemselves with his blood; for which reason Brutus also gave him\none stab in the groin.  Some say that he fought and resisted all\nthe rest, shifting his body to avoid the blows, and calling out\nfor help, but that when he saw Brutus's sword drawn, he covered\nhis face with his robe and submitted, letting himself fall,\nwhether it were by chance, or that he was pushed in that\ndirection by his murderers, at the foot of the pedestal on which\nPompey's statue stood, and which was thus wetted with his blood.\nSo that Pompey himself seemed to have presided, as it were, over\nthe revenge done upon his adversary, who lay here at his feet,\nand breathed out his soul through his multitude of wounds, for\nthey say he received three and twenty.  And the conspirators\nthemselves were many of them wounded by each other, whilst they\nall leveled their blows at the same person.\n\nWhen Caesar was dispatched, Brutus stood forth to give a reason\nfor what they had done, but the senate would not hear him, but\nflew out of doors in all haste, and filled the people with so\nmuch alarm and distraction, that some shut up their houses,\nothers left their counters and shops.  All ran one way or the\nother, some to the place to see the sad spectacle, others back\nagain after they had seen it.  Antony and Lepidus, Caesar's\nmost faithful friends, got off privately, and hid themselves in\nsome friends' houses.  Brutus and his followers, being yet hot\nfrom the deed, marched in a body from the senate-house to the\ncapitol with their drawn swords, not like persons who thought of\nescaping, but with an air of confidence and assurance, and as\nthey went along, called to the people to resume their liberty,\nand invited the company of any more distinguished people whom\nthey met.  And some of these joined the procession and went up\nalong with them, as if they also had been of the conspiracy, and\ncould claim a share in the honor of what had been done.  As, for\nexample, Caius Octavius and Lentulus Spinther, who suffered\nafterwards for their vanity, being taken off by Antony and the\nyoung Caesar, and lost the honor they desired, as well as their\nlives, which it cost them, since no one believed they had any\nshare in the action.  For neither did those who punished them\nprofess to revenge the fact, but the ill-will.  The day after,\nBrutus with the rest came down from the capitol, and made a\nspeech to the people, who listened without expressing either any\npleasure or resentment, but showed by their silence that they\npitied Caesar, and respected Brutus.  The senate passed acts of\noblivion for what was past, and took measures to reconcile all\nparties.  They ordered that Caesar should be worshipped as a\ndivinity, and nothing, even of the slightest consequence, should\nbe revoked, which he had enacted during his government.  At the\nsame time they gave Brutus and his followers the command of\nprovinces, and other considerable posts.  So that all people now\nthought things were well settled, and brought to the happiest\nadjustment.\n\nBut when Caesar's will was opened, and it was found that he had\nleft a considerable legacy to each one of the Roman citizens,\nand when his body was seen carried through the market-place all\nmangled with wounds, the multitude could no longer contain\nthemselves within the bounds of tranquillity and order, but\nheaped together a pile of benches, bars, and tables, which they\nplaced the corpse on, and setting fire to it, burnt it on them.\nThen they took brands from the pile, and ran some to fire the\nhouses of the conspirators, others up and down the city, to find\nout the men and tear them to pieces, but met, however, with none\nof them, they having taken effectual care to secure themselves.\n\nOne Cinna, a friend of Caesar's, chanced the night before to\nhave an odd dream.  He fancied that Caesar invited him to\nsupper, and that upon his refusal to go with him, Caesar took\nhim by the hand and forced him, though he hung back.  Upon\nhearing the report that Caesar's body was burning in the\nmarket-place, he got up and went thither, out of respect to his\nmemory, though his dream gave him some ill apprehensions, and\nthough he was suffering from a fever.  One of the crowd who saw\nhim there, asked another who that was, and having learned his\nname, told it to his next neighbor.  It presently passed for a\ncertainty that he was one of Caesar's murderers, as, indeed,\nthere was another Cinna, a conspirator, and they, taking this to\nbe the man, immediately seized him, and tore him limb from limb\nupon the spot.\n\nBrutus and Cassius, frightened at this, within a few days\nretired out of the city.  What they afterwards did and suffered,\nand how they died, is written in the Life of Brutus.  Caesar\ndied in his fifty-sixth year, not having survived Pompey above\nfour years.  That empire and power which he had pursued through\nthe whole course of his life with so much hazard, he did at last\nwith much difficulty compass, but reaped no other fruits from it\nthan the empty name and invidious glory.  But the great genius\nwhich attended him through his lifetime, even after his death\nremained as the avenger of his murder, pursuing through every\nsea and land all those who were concerned in it, and suffering\nnone to escape, but reaching all who in any sort or kind were\neither actually engaged in the fact, or by their counsels any\nway promoted it.\n\nThe most remarkable of mere human coincidences was that which\nbefell Cassius, who, when he was defeated at Philippi, killed\nhimself with the same dagger which he had made use of against\nCaesar.  The most signal preternatural appearances were the\ngreat comet, which shone very bright for seven nights after\nCaesar's death, and then disappeared, and the dimness of the\nsun, whose orb continued pale and dull for the whole of that\nyear, never showing its ordinary radiance at its rising, and\ngiving but a weak and feeble heat.  The air consequently was\ndamp and gross, for want of stronger rays to open and rarify it.\nThe fruits, for that reason, never properly ripened, and began\nto wither and fall off for want of heat, before they were fully\nformed.  But above all, the phantom which appeared to Brutus\nshowed the murder was not pleasing to the gods.  The story of it\nis this.\n\nBrutus being to pass his army from Abydos to the continent on\nthe other side, laid himself down one night, as he used to do,\nin his tent, and was not asleep, but thinking of his affairs,\nand what events he might expect.  For he is related to have been\nthe least inclined to sleep of all men who have commanded\narmies, and to have had the greatest natural capacity for\ncontinuing awake, and employing himself without need of rest.\nHe thought he heard a noise at the door of his tent, and looking\nthat way, by the light of his lamp, which was almost out, saw a\nterrible figure, like that of a man, but of unusual stature and\nsevere countenance.  He was somewhat frightened at first, but\nseeing it neither did nor spoke anything to him, only stood\nsilently by his bed-side, he asked who it was.  The specter\nanswered him, \"Thy evil genius, Brutus, thou shalt see me at\nPhilippi.\"  Brutus answered courageously, \"Well, I shall see\nyou,\" and immediately the appearance vanished.  When the time\nwas come, he drew up his army near Philippi against Antony and\nCaesar, and in the first battle won the day, routed the enemy,\nand plundered Caesar's camp.  The night before the second\nbattle, the same phantom appeared to him again, but spoke not a\nword.  He presently understood his destiny was at hand, and\nexposed himself to all the danger of the battle.  Yet he did not\ndie in the fight, but seeing his men defeated, got up to the top\nof a rock, and there presenting his sword to his naked breast,\nand assisted, as they say, by a friend, who helped him to give\nthe thrust, met his death.\n\n\n\nPHOCION\n\nDemades, the orator, when in the height of the power which he\nobtained at Athens by advising the state in the interest of\nAntipater and the Macedonians, being necessitated to write and\nspeak many things below the dignity, and contrary to the\ncharacter, of the city, was wont to excuse himself by saying he\nsteered only the shipwrecks of the commonwealth.  This hardy\nsaying of his might have some appearance of truth, if applied to\nPhocion's government.  For Demades indeed was himself the mere\nwreck of his country, living and ruling so dissolutely, that\nAntipater took occasion to say of him, when he was now grown old,\nthat he was like a sacrificed beast, all consumed except the\ntongue and the belly.  But Phocion's was a real virtue, only\novermatched in the unequal contest with an adverse time, and\nrendered by the ill fortunes of Greece inglorious and obscure.  We\nmust not, indeed, allow ourselves to concur with Sophocles in so\nfar diminishing the force of virtue as to say that,\n\nWhen fortune fails, the sense we had before\nDeserts us also, and is ours no more.\n\nYet thus much, indeed, must be allowed to happen in the conflicts\nbetween good men and ill fortune, that instead of due returns of\nhonor and gratitude, obloquy and unjust surmises may often\nprevail, to weaken, in a considerable degree, the credit of their\nvirtue.\n\nIt is commonly said that public bodies are most insulting and\ncontumelious to a good man, when they are puffed up with\nprosperity and success.  But the contrary often happens;\nafflictions and public calamities naturally embittering and\nsouring the minds and tempers of men, and disposing them to such\npeevishness and irritability, that hardly any word or sentiment of\ncommon vigor can be addressed to them, but they will be apt to\ntake offense.  He that remonstrates with them on their errors, is\npresumed to be insulting over their misfortunes, and any free\nspoken expostulation is construed into contempt.  Honey itself is\nsearching in sore and ulcerated parts; and the wisest and most\njudicious counsels prove provoking to distempered minds, unless\noffered with those soothing and compliant approaches which made\nthe poet, for instance, characterize agreeable things in general,\nby a word expressive of a grateful and easy touch, exciting\nnothing of offense or resistance.  Inflamed eyes require a retreat\ninto dusky places, amongst colors of the deepest shades, and are\nunable to endure the brilliancy of light.  So fares it in the body\npolitic, in times of distress and humiliation; a certain\nsensitiveness and soreness of humor prevail, with a weak\nincapacity of enduring any free and open advice, even when the\nnecessity of affairs most requires such plain-dealing, and when\nthe consequences of any single error may be beyond retrieving.  At\nsuch times the conduct of public affairs is on all hands most\nhazardous.  Those who humor the people are swallowed up in the\ncommon ruin; those who endeavor to lead them aright, perish the\nfirst in their attempt.\n\nAstronomers tell us, the sun's motion is neither exactly parallel\nwith that of the heavens in general, nor yet directly and\ndiametrically opposite, but describing an oblique line, with\ninsensible declination he steers his course in such a gentle, easy\ncurve, as to dispense his light and influence, in his annual\nrevolution, at several seasons, in just proportions to the whole\ncreation.  So it happens in political affairs; if the motions of\nrulers be constantly opposite and cross to the tempers and\ninclination of the people, they will be resented as arbitrary and\nharsh; as, on the other side, too much deference, or\nencouragement, as too often it has been, to popular faults and\nerrors, is full of danger and ruinous consequences.  But where\nconcession is the response to willing obedience, and a statesman\ngratifies his people, that he may the more imperatively recall\nthem to a sense of the common interest, then, indeed, human\nbeings, who are ready enough to serve well and submit to much, if\nthey are not always ordered about and roughly handled, like\nslaves, may be said to be guided and governed upon the method that\nleads to safety.  Though it must be confessed, it is a nice point\nand extremely difficult, so to temper this lenity as to preserve\nthe authority of the government.  But if such a blessed mixture\nand temperament may be obtained, it seems to be of all concords\nand harmonies the most concordant and most harmonious.  For thus\nwe are taught even God governs the world, not by irresistible\nforce, but persuasive argument and reason, controlling it into\ncompliance with his eternal purposes.\n\nCato the younger is a similar instance.  His manners were little\nagreeable or acceptable to the people, and he received very\nslender marks of their favor; witness his repulse when he sued for\nthe consulship, which he lost, as Cicero says, for acting rather\nlike a citizen in Plato's commonwealth, than among the dregs of\nRomulus's posterity, the same thing happening to him, in my\nopinion, as we observe in fruits ripe before their season, which\nwe rather take pleasure in looking at and admiring, than actually\nuse; so much was his old-fashioned virtue out of the present mode,\namong the depraved customs which time and luxury had introduced,\nthat it appeared indeed remarkable and wonderful, but was too\ngreat and too good to suit the present exigencies, being so out of\nall proportion to the times.  Yet his circumstances were not\naltogether like Phocion's, who came to the helm when the ship of\nthe state was just upon sinking.  Cato's time was, indeed, stormy\nand tempestuous, yet so as he was able to assist in managing the\nsails, and lend his helping hand to those who, which he was not\nallowed to do, commanded at the helm.  Others were to blame for\nthe result; yet his courage and virtue made it in spite of all a\nhard task for fortune to ruin the commonwealth, and it was only\nwith long time and effort and by slow degrees, when he himself had\nall but succeeded in averting it, that the catastrophe was at last\neffected.\n\nPhocion and he may be well compared together, not for any mere\ngeneral resemblances, as though we should say, both were good men\nand great statesmen.  For assuredly there is difference enough among\nvirtues of the same denomination, as between the bravery of\nAlcibiades and that of Epaminondas, the prudence of Themistocles\nand that of Aristides, the justice of Numa and that of Agesilaus.\nBut these men's virtues, even looking to the most minute points of\ndifference, bear the same color, stamp, and character impressed\nupon them, so as not to be distinguishable.  The mixture is still\nmade in the same exact proportions, whether we look at the\ncombination to be found in them both of lenity on the one hand,\nwith austerity on the other; their boldness upon some occasions,\nand caution on others; their extreme solicitude for the public,\nand perfect neglect of themselves; their fixed and immovable bent\nto all virtuous and honest actions, accompanied with an extreme\ntenderness and scrupulosity as to doing anything which might\nappear mean or unworthy; so that we should need a very nice and\nsubtle logic of discrimination to detect and establish the\ndistinctions between them.\n\nAs to Cato's extraction, it is confessed by all to have been\nillustrious, as will be said hereafter, nor was Phocion's, I feel\nassured, obscure or ignoble.  For had he been the son of a turner,\nas Idomeneus reports, it had certainly not been forgotten to his\ndisparagement by Glaucippus, the son of Hyperides, when heaping up\na thousand spiteful things to say against him.  Nor, indeed, had\nit been possible for him, in such circumstances, to have had such\na liberal breeding and education in his youth, as to be first\nPlato's, and afterwards Xenocrates's scholar in the Academy, and\nto have devoted himself from the first to the pursuit of the\nnoblest studies and practices.  His countenance was so composed,\nthat scarcely was he ever seen by any Athenian either laughing, or\nin tears.  He was rarely known, so Duris has recorded, to appear\nin the public baths, or was observed with his hand exposed outside\nhis cloak, when he wore one.  Abroad, and in the camp, he was so\nhardy in going always thin clad and barefoot, except in a time of\nexcessive and intolerable cold, that the soldiers used to say in\nmerriment, that it was like to be a hard winter when Phocion wore\nhis coat.\n\nAlthough he was most gentle and humane in his disposition, his\naspect was stern and forbidding, so that he was seldom accosted\nalone by any who were not intimate with him.  When Chares once\nmade some remark on his frowning looks, and the Athenians laughed\nat the jest.  \"My sullenness,\" said Phocion, \"never yet made any\nof you sad, but these men's jollities have given you sorrow\nenough.\"  In like manner Phocion's language, also, was full of\ninstruction, abounding in happy maxims and wise thoughts, but\nadmitted no embellishment to its austere and commanding brevity.\nZeno said a philosopher should never speak till his words had been\nsteeped in meaning; and such, it may be said, were Phocion's,\ncrowding the greatest amount of significance into the smallest\nallowance of space.  And to this, probably, Polyeuctus, the\nSphettian, referred, when he said that Demosthenes was, indeed,\nthe best orator of his time, but Phocion the most powerful\nspeaker.  His oratory, like small coin of great value, was to be\nestimated, not by its bulk, but its intrinsic worth.  He was once\nobserved, it is said, when the theater was filling with the\naudience, to walk musing alone behind the scenes, which one of his\nfriends taking notice of, said, \"Phocion, you seem to be\nthoughtful.\"  \"Yes,\" replied he, \"I am considering how I may\nshorten what I am going to say to the Athenians.\"  Even\nDemosthenes himself, who used to despise the rest of the\nharanguers, when Phocion stood up, was wont to say quietly to\nthose about him, \"Here is the pruning-knife of my periods.\"  This\nhowever, might refer, perhaps, not so much to his eloquence, as to\nthe influence of his character, since not only a word, but even a\nnod from a person who is esteemed, is of more force than a\nthousand arguments or studied sentences from others.\n\nIn his youth he followed Chabrias, the general, from whom he\ngained many lessons in military knowledge, and in return did\nsomething to correct his unequal and capricious humor.  For\nwhereas at other times Chabrias was heavy and phlegmatic, in the\nheat of battle he used to be so fired and transported, that he\nthrew himself headlong into danger beyond the forwardest, which,\nindeed, in the end, cost him his life in the island of Chios, he\nhaving pressed his own ship foremost to force a landing.  But\nPhocion, being a man of temper as well as courage, had the\ndexterity at some times to rouse the general, when in his\nprocrastinating mood, to action, and at others to moderate and\ncool the impetuousness of his unseasonable fury.  Upon which\naccount Chabrias, who was a good-natured, kindly-tempered man,\nloved him much, and procured him commands and opportunities for\naction, giving him means to make himself known in Greece, and\nusing his assistance in all his affairs of moment.  Particularly\nthe sea-fight at Naxos added not a little to Phocion's reputation,\nwhen he had the left squadron committed to him by Chabrias, as in\nthis quarter the battle was sharply contested, and was decided by\na speedy victory.  And this being the first prosperous sea-battle\nthe city had engaged in with its own force since its captivity,\nChabrias won great popularity by it, and Phocion, also, got the\nreputation of a good commander.  The victory was gained at the\ntime of the Great Mysteries, and Chabrias used to keep the\ncommemoration of it, by distributing wine among the Athenians,\nyearly, on the sixteenth day of Boedromion.\n\nAfter this, Chabrias sent Phocion to demand their quota of the\ncharges of the war from the islanders, and offered him a guard of\ntwenty ships.  Phocion told him, if he intended him to go against\nthem as enemies, that force was insignificant; if as to friends\nand allies, one vessel was sufficient.  So he took his own single\ngalley, and having visited the cities, and treated with the\nmagistrates in an equitable and open manner, he brought back a\nnumber of ships, sent by the confederates to Athens, to convey the\nsupplies.  Neither did his friendship and attention close with\nChabrias's life, but after his decease he carefully maintained it\nto all that were related to him, and chiefly to his son Ctesippus,\nwhom he labored to bring to some good, and although he was a\nstupid and intractable young fellow, always endeavored, so far as\nin him lay, to correct and cover his faults and follies.  Once,\nhowever, when the youngster was very impertinent and troublesome\nto him in the camp, interrupting him with idle questions, and\nputting forward his opinions and suggestions of how the war should\nbe conducted, he could not forbear exclaiming, \"O Chabrias,\nChabrias, how grateful I show myself for your friendship, in\nsubmitting to endure your son.\"\n\nUpon looking into public matters, and the way in which they were\nnow conducted, he observed that the administration of affairs was\ncut and parceled out, like so much land by allotment, between the\nmilitary men and the public speakers, so that neither these nor\nthose should interfere with the claims of the others.  As the one\nwere to address the assemblies, to draw up votes and prepare\nmotions, men, for example, like Eubulus, Aristophon, Demosthenes,\nLycurgus, and Hyperides, and were to push their interests here;\nso, in the meantime, Diopithes, Menestheus, Leosthenes, and\nChares, were to make their profit by war and in military commands.\nPhocion, on the other hand, was desirous to restore and carry out\nthe old system, more complete in itself, and more harmonious and\nuniform, which prevailed in the times of Pericles, Aristides, and\nSolon; when statesmen showed themselves, to use Archilochus's\nwords, --\n\nMars' and the Muses' friends alike designed,\nTo arts and arms indifferently inclined,\n\nand the presiding goddess of his country was, he did not fail to\nsee, the patroness and protectress of both civil and military\nwisdom.  With these views, while his advice at home was always for\npeace and quietness, he nevertheless held the office of general\nmore frequently than any of the statesmen, not only of his own\ntimes, but of those preceding, never, indeed, promoting or\nencouraging military expeditions, yet never, on the other hand,\nshunning or declining, when he was called upon by the public\nvoice.  Thus much is well known, that he was no less than\nforty-five several times chosen general, he being never on any one\nof those occasions present at the election, but having the\ncommand, in his absence, by common suffrage, conferred on him, and\nhe sent for on purpose to undertake it.  Insomuch that it amazed\nthose who did not well consider, to see the people always prefer\nPhocion, who was so far from humoring them or courting their\nfavor, that he always thwarted and opposed them.  But so it was,\nas great men and princes are said to call in their flatterers when\ndinner has been served, so the Athenians, upon slight occasions,\nentertained and diverted themselves with their spruce speakers and\ntrim orators, but when it came to action, they were sober and\nconsiderate enough to single out the austerest and wisest for\npublic employment, however much he might be opposed to their\nwishes and sentiments.  This, indeed, he made no scruple to admit,\nwhen the oracle from Delphi was read, which informed them that the\nAthenians were all of one mind, a single dissentient only\nexcepted, frankly coming forward and declaring that they need look\nno further; he was the man, there was no one but he who was\ndissatisfied with everything they did.  And when once he gave his\nopinion to the people, and was met with the general approbation\nand applause of the assembly, turning to some of his friends, he\nasked them, \"Have I inadvertently said something foolish?\"\n\nUpon occasion of a public festivity, being solicited for his\ncontribution by the example of others, and the people pressing him\nmuch, he bade them apply themselves to the wealthy; for his part\nhe should blush to make a present here, rather than a repayment\nthere, turning and, pointing to Callicles, the money-lender.\nBeing still clamored upon and importuned, he told them this tale.\nA certain cowardly fellow setting out for the wars, hearing the\nravens croak in his passage, threw down his arms, resolving to\nwait.  Presently he took them and ventured out again, but hearing\nthe same music, once more made a stop.  \"For,\" said he, \"you may\ncroak till you are tired, but you shall make no dinner upon me.\"\n\nThe Athenians urging him at an unseasonable time to lead them out\nagainst the enemy, he peremptorily refused, and being upbraided by\nthem with cowardice and pusillanimity, he told them, \"Just now, do\nwhat you will, I shall not be brave; and do what I will, you will\nnot be cowards.  Nevertheless, we know well enough what we are.\"\nAnd when again, in a time of great danger, the people were very\nharsh upon him, demanding a strict account how the public money\nhad been employed, and the like, he bade them, \"First, good\nfriends, make sure you are safe.\"  After a war, during which they\nhad been very tractable and timorous, when, upon peace being made,\nthey began again to be confident and overbearing, and to cry out\nupon Phocion, as having lost them the honor of victory, to all\ntheir clamor he made only this answer, \"My friends, you are\nfortunate in having a leader who knows you; otherwise, you had\nlong since been undone.\"\n\nHaving a controversy with the Boeotians about boundaries, which he\ncounseled them to decide by negotiation, they inclined to blows.\n\"You had better,\" said he, \"carry on the contest with the weapons\nin which you excel, (your tongues,) and not by war, in which you\nare inferior.\"  Once, when he was addressing them, and they would\nnot hear him or let him go on, said he, \"You may compel me to act\nagainst my wishes, but you shall never force me to speak against\nmy judgment.\"  Among the many public speakers who opposed him,\nDemosthenes, for example, once told him, \"The Athenians, Phocion,\nwill kill you some day when they once are in a rage.\"  \"And you,\"\nsaid he, \"if they once are in their senses.\"  Polyeuctus, the\nSphettian, once on a hot day was urging war with Philip, and being\na corpulent man, and out of breath and in a great heat with\nspeaking, took numerous draughts of water as he went on.  \"Here,\nindeed,\" said Phocion, \"is a fit man to lead us into a war!  What\nthink you he will do when he is carrying his corslet and his\nshield to meet the enemy, if even here, delivering a prepared\nspeech to you has almost killed him with exhaustion?\"  When\nLycurgus in the assembly made many reflections on his past\nconduct, upbraiding him above all for having advised them to\ndeliver up the ten citizens whom Alexander had demanded, he\nreplied that he had been the author of much safe and wholesome\ncounsel, which had not been followed.\n\nThere was a man called Archibiades, nicknamed the Lacedaemonian,\nwho used to go about with a huge overgrown beard, wearing an old\nthreadbare cloak, and affecting a very stern countenance.  Phocion\nonce, when attacked in council by the rest, appealed to this man\nfor his support and testimony.  And when he got up and began to\nspeak on the popular side, putting his hand to his beard, \"O\nArchibiades,\" said he, \"it is time you should shave.\"\nAristogiton, a common accuser, was a terrible man of war within\nthe assembly, always inflaming the people to battle, but when the\nmuster-roll came to be produced, he appeared limping on a crutch,\nwith a bandage on his leg; Phocion descried him afar off, coming\nin, and cried out to the clerk, \"Put down Aristogiton, too, as\nlame and worthless.\"\n\nSo that it is a little wonderful, how a man so severe and harsh\nupon all occasions should, notwithstanding, obtain the name of the\nGood.  Yet, though difficult, it is not, I suppose, impossible for\nmen's tempers, any more than for wines, to be at the same time\nharsh and agreeable to the taste; just as on the other hand many\nthat are sweet at the first taste, are found, on further use,\nextremely disagreeable and very unwholesome.  Hyperides, we are\ntold, once said to the people, \"Do not ask yourselves, men of\nAthens, whether or not I am bitter, but whether or not I am paid\nfor being so,\" as though a covetous purpose were the only thing\nthat should make a harsh temper insupportable, and as if men might\nnot even more justly render themselves obnoxious to popular\ndislike and censure, by using their power and influence in the\nindulgence of their own private passions of pride and jealousy,\nanger and animosity.  Phocion never allowed himself from any\nfeeling of personal hostility to do hurt to any fellow-citizen,\nnor, indeed, reputed any man his enemy, except so far as he could\nnot but contend sharply with such as opposed the measures he urged\nfor the public good; in which argument he was, indeed, a rude,\nobstinate, and uncompromising adversary.  For his general\nconversation, it was easy, courteous, and obliging to all, to that\npoint that he would befriend his very opponents in their distress,\nand espouse the cause of those who differed most from him, when\nthey needed his patronage.  His friends reproaching him for\npleading in behalf of a man of indifferent character, he told them\nthe innocent had no need of an advocate.  Aristogiton, the\nsycophant, whom we mentioned before, having after sentence passed\nupon him, sent earnestly to Phocion to speak with him in the\nprison, his friends dissuaded him from going; \"Nay, by your\nfavor,\" said he, \"where should I rather choose to pay Aristogiton\na visit?\"\n\nAs for the allies of the Athenians, and the islanders, whenever\nany admiral besides Phocion was sent, they treated him as an enemy\nsuspect, barricaded their gates, blocked up their havens, brought\nin from the country their cattle, slaves, wives, and children, and\nput them in garrison; but upon Phocion's arrival, they went out to\nwelcome him in their private boats and barges, with streamers\nand garlands, and received him at landing with every demonstration\nof joy and pleasure.\n\nWhen king Philip was effecting his entry into Euboea, and was\nbringing over troops from Macedonia, and making himself master of\nthe cities, by means of the tyrants who ruled in them, Plutarch of\nEretria sent to request aid of the Athenians for the relief of the\nisland, which was in imminent danger of falling wholly into the\nhands of the Macedonians.  Phocion was sent thither with a handful\nof men in comparison, in expectation that the Euboeans themselves\nwould flock in and join him.  But when he came, he found all\nthings in confusion, the country all betrayed, the whole ground,\nas it were, undermined under his feet, by the secret pensioners of\nking Philip, so that he was in the greatest risk imaginable.  To\nsecure himself as far as he could, he seized a small rising\nground, which was divided from the level plains about Tamynae by a\ndeep watercourse, and here he enclosed and fortified the choicest\nof his army.  As for the idle talkers and disorderly bad citizens\nwho ran off from his camp and made their way back, he bade his\nofficers not regard them, since here they would have been not only\nuseless and ungovernable themselves, but an actual hindrance to\nthe rest; and further, being conscious to themselves of the\nneglect of their duty, they would be less ready to misrepresent\nthe action, or raise a cry against them at their return home.\nWhen the enemy drew nigh, he bade his men stand to their arms,\nuntil he had finished the sacrifice, in which he spent a\nconsiderable time, either by some difficulty of the thing itself,\nor on purpose to invite the enemy nearer.  Plutarch, interpreting\nthis tardiness as a failure in his courage, fell on alone with the\nmercenaries, which the cavalry perceiving, could not be contained,\nbut issuing also out of the camp, confusedly and in disorder,\nspurred up to the enemy.  The first who came up were defeated, the\nrest were put to the rout, Plutarch himself took to flight, and a\nbody of the enemy advanced in the hope of carrying the camp,\nsupposing themselves to have secured the victory.  But by this\ntime, the sacrifice being over, the Athenians within the camp came\nforward, and falling upon them put them to flight, and killed the\ngreater number as they fled among the entrenchments, while\nPhocion ordering his infantry to keep on the watch and rally those\nwho came in from the previous flight, himself, with a body of his\nbest men, engaged the enemy in a sharp and bloody fight, in which\nall of them behaved with signal courage and gallantry.  Thallus,\nthe son of Cineas, and Glaucus, of Polymedes, who fought near the\ngeneral, gained the honors of the day.  Cleophanes, also, did good\nservice in the battle.  Recovering the cavalry from its defeat,\nand with his shouts and encouragement bringing them up to succor\nthe general, who was in danger, he confirmed the victory obtained\nby the infantry.  Phocion now expelled Plutarch from Eretria, and\npossessed himself of the very important fort of Zaretra, situated\nwhere the island is pinched in, as it were, by the seas on each\nside, and its breadth most reduced to a narrow girth.  He released\nall the Greeks whom he took out of fear of the public speakers at\nAthens, thinking they might very likely persuade the people in\ntheir anger into committing some act of cruelty.\n\nThis affair thus dispatched and settled, Phocion set sail\nhomewards, and the allies had soon as good reason to regret the\nloss of his just and humane dealing, as the Athenians that of his\nexperience and courage.  Molossus, the commander who took his\nplace, had no better success than to fall alive into the enemy's\nhands.  Philip, full of great thoughts and designs, now advanced\nwith all his forces into the Hellespont, to seize the Chersonesus\nand Perinthus, and after them, Byzantium.  The Athenians raised a\nforce to relieve them, but the popular leaders made it their\nbusiness to prefer Chares to be general, who, sailing thither,\neffected nothing worthy of the means placed in his hands.  The\ncities were afraid, and would not receive his ships into their\nharbors, so that he did nothing but wander about, raising money\nfrom their friends, and despised by their enemies.  And when the\npeople, chafed by the orators, were extremely indignant, and\nrepented having ever sent any help to the Byzantines, Phocion rose\nand told them they ought not to be angry with the allies for\ndistrusting, but with their generals for being distrusted.  \"They\nmake you suspected,\" he said, \"even by those who cannot possibly\nsubsist without your succor.\"  The assembly being moved with this\nspeech of his, changed their minds on the sudden, and commanded\nhim immediately to raise another force, and go himself to assist\ntheir confederates in the Hellespont; an appointment which, in\neffect, contributed more than anything to the relief of\nByzantium.\n\nFor Phocion's name was already honorably known; and an old\nacquaintance of his, who had been his fellow-student in the\nAcademy, Leon, a man of high renown for virtue among the\nByzantines, having vouched for Phocion to the city, they opened\ntheir gates to receive him, not permitting him, though he desired\nit, to encamp without the walls, but entertained him and all the\nAthenians with perfect reliance, while they, to requite their\nconfidence, behaved among their new hosts soberly and\ninoffensively, and exerted themselves on all occasions with the\ngreatest zeal and resolution for their defense.  Thus king Philip\nwas driven out of the Hellespont, and was despised to boot, whom\ntill now, it had been thought impossible to match, or even to\noppose.  Phocion also took some of his ships, and recaptured some\nof the places he had garrisoned, making besides several inroads\ninto the country, which he plundered and overran, until he\nreceived a wound from some of the enemy who came to the defense,\nand, thereupon, sailed away home.\n\nThe Megarians at this time privately praying aid of the Athenians,\nPhocion, fearing lest the Boeotians should hear of it, and\nanticipate them, called an assembly at sunrise, and brought\nforward the petition of the Megarians, and immediately after the\nvote had been put, and carried in their favor, he sounded the\ntrumpet, and led the Athenians straight from the assembly, to arm\nand put themselves in posture.  The Megarians received them\njoyfully, and he proceeded to fortify Nisea, and built two new\nlong walls from the city to the arsenal, and so joined it to the\nsea, so that having now little reason to regard the enemies on the\nland side, it placed its dependence entirely on the Athenians.\n\nWhen final hostilities with Philip were now certain, and in\nPhocion's absence other generals had been nominated, he on his\narrival from the islands, dealt earnestly with the Athenians, that\nsince Philip showed peaceable inclinations towards them, and\ngreatly apprehended the danger, they would consent to a treaty.\nBeing contradicted in this by one of the ordinary frequenters of\nthe courts of justice, a common accuser, who asked him if he durst\npresume to persuade the Athenians to peace, now their arms were in\ntheir hands, \"Yes,\" said he, \"though I know that if there be war,\nI shall be in office over you, and if peace, you over me.\"  But\nwhen he could not prevail, and Demosthenes's opinion carried it,\nadvising them to make war as far off from home as possible, and\nfight the battle out of Attica, \"Good friend,\" said Phocion, \"let\nus not ask where we shall fight, but how we may conquer in the\nwar.  That will be the way to keep it at a distance.  If we are\nbeaten, it will be quickly at our doors.\"  After the defeat, when\nthe clamorers and incendiaries in the town would have brought up\nCharidemus to the hustings, to be nominated to the command, the\nbest of the citizens were in a panic, and supporting themselves\nwith the aid of the council of the Areopagus, with entreaties and\ntears hardly prevailed upon the people to have Phocion entrusted\nwith the care of the city.  He was of opinion, in general, that\nthe fair terms to be expected from Philip should be accepted, yet\nafter Demades had made a motion that the city should receive the\ncommon conditions of peace in concurrence with the rest of the\nstates of Greece, he opposed it, till it were known what the\nparticulars were which Philip demanded.  He was overborne in this\nadvice, under the pressure of the time, but almost immediately\nafter, the Athenians repented it, when they understood that by\nthese articles, they were obliged to furnish Philip both with\nhorse and shipping.  \"It was the fear of this,\" said Phocion,\n\"that occasioned my opposition.  But since the thing is done, let\nus make the best of it, and not be discouraged.  Our forefathers\nwere sometimes in command, and sometimes under it; and by doing\ntheir duty, whether as rulers or as subjects, saved their own\ncountry and the rest of Greece.\"\n\nUpon the news of Philip's death, he opposed himself to any public\ndemonstrations of joy and jubilee, saying it would be ignoble to\nshow malice upon such an occasion, and that the army that had\nfought them at Chaeronea, was only diminished by a single man.\n\nWhen Demosthenes made his invectives against Alexander, now on his\nway to attack Thebes, he repeated those verses of Homer, --\n\n\"Unwise one, wherefore to a second stroke\nHis anger be foolhardy to provoke?\"\n\nand asked, \"Why stimulate his already eager passion for glory?\nWhy take pains to expose the city to the terrible conflagration\nnow so near?  We, who accepted office to save our fellow-citizens,\nwill not, however they desire it, be consenting to their\ndestruction.\"\n\nAfter Thebes was lost, and Alexander had demanded Demosthenes,\nLycurgus, Hyperides, and Charidemus to be delivered up, the whole\nassembly turning their eyes to him, and calling on him by name to\ndeliver his opinion, at last he rose up, and showing them one of\nhis most intimate friends, whom he loved and confided in above all\nothers, told them, \"You have brought things amongst you to that\npass, that for my part, should he demand this my friend Nicocles,\nI would not refuse to give him up.  For as for myself, to have it\nin my power to sacrifice my own life and fortune for the common\nsafety, I should think the greatest of good fortune.  Truly,\" he\nadded, \"it pierces my heart to see those who are fled hither for\nsuccor from the desolation of Thebes.  Yet it is enough for Greece\nto have Thebes to deplore.  It will be more for the interest of\nall that we should deprecate the conqueror's anger, and intercede\nfor both, than run the hazard of another battle.\"\n\nWhen this was decreed by the people, Alexander is said to have\nrejected their first address when it was presented, throwing it\nfrom him scornfully, and turning his back upon the deputation, who\nleft him in affright.  But the second, which was presented by\nPhocion, he received, understanding from the older Macedonians how\nmuch Philip had admired and esteemed him.  And he not only gave\nhim audience and listened to his memorial and petition, but also\npermitted him to advise him, which he did to this effect, that if\nhis designs were for quietness, he should make peace at once; if\nglory were his aim, he should make war, not upon Greece, but on\nthe barbarians.  And with various counsels and suggestions,\nhappily designed to meet the genius and feelings of Alexander, he\nso won upon him, and softened his temper, that he bade the\nAthenians not forget their position, as if anything went wrong\nwith him, the supremacy belonged to them.  And to Phocion himself,\nwhom he adopted as his friend and guest, he showed a respect, and\nadmitted him to distinctions, which few of those who were\ncontinually near his person ever received.  Duris, at any rate,\ntells us, that when he became great, and had conquered Darius, in\nthe heading of all his letters he left off the word Greeting,\nexcept in those he wrote to Phocion.  To him, and to Antipater\nalone, he condescended to use it.  This, also, is stated by\nChares.\n\nAs for his munificence to him, it is well known he sent him a\npresent at one time of one hundred talents; and this being brought\nto Athens, Phocion asked of the bearers, how it came to pass, that\namong all the Athenians, he alone should be the object of this\nbounty.  And being told that Alexander esteemed him alone a person\nof honor and worth, \"Let him, then,\" said he, \"permit me to\ncontinue so, and be still so reputed.\"  Following him to his\nhouse, and observing his simple and plain way of living, his wife\nemployed in kneading bread with her own hands, himself drawing\nwater to wash his feet, they pressed him to accept it, with some\nindignation, being ashamed, as they said, that Alexander's friend\nshould live so poorly and pitifully.  So Phocion pointing out to\nthem a poor old fellow, in a dirty worn-out coat, passing by,\nasked them if they thought him in worse condition than this man.\nThey bade him not mention such a comparison.  \"Yet,\" said Phocion,\n\"he with less to live upon than I, finds it sufficient, and in\nbrief,\" he continued, \"if I do not use this money, what good is\nthere in my having it; and if I do use it, I shall procure an ill\nname, both for myself and for Alexander, among my countrymen.\"  So\nthe treasure went back again from Athens, to prove to Greece, by a\nsignal example, that he who could afford to give so magnificent a\npresent, was yet not so rich as he who could afford to refuse it.\nAnd when Alexander was displeased, and wrote back to him to say\nthat he could not esteem those his friends, who would not be\nobliged by him, not even would this induce Phocion to accept the\nmoney, but he begged leave to intercede with him in behalf of\nEchecratides, the sophist, and Athenodorus, the Imbrian, as also\nfor Demaratus and Sparton, two Rhodians, who had been arrested\nupon some charges, and were in custody at Sardis.  This was\ninstantly granted by Alexander, and they were set at liberty.\nAfterwards, when sending Craterus into Macedonia, he commanded him\nto make him an offer of four cities in Asia, Cius, Gergithus,\nMylasa, and Elaea, any one of which, at his choice, should be\ndelivered to him; insisting yet more positively with him, and\ndeclaring he should resent it, should he continue obstinate in his\nrefusal.  But Phocion was not to be prevailed with at all, and,\nshortly after, Alexander died.\n\nPhocion's house is shown to this day in Melita, ornamented with\nsmall plates of copper, but otherwise plain and homely.\nConcerning his wives, of the first of them there is little said,\nexcept that she was sister of Cephisodotus, the statuary.  The\nother was a matron of no less reputation for her virtues and\nsimple living among the Athenians, than Phocion was for his\nprobity.  It happened once when the people were entertained with a\nnew tragedy, that the actor, just as he was to enter the stage to\nperform the part of a queen, demanded to have a number of\nattendants sumptuously dressed, to follow in his train, and on\ntheir not being provided, was sullen and refused to act, keeping\nthe audience waiting, till at last Melanthius, who had to furnish\nthe chorus, pushed him on the stage, crying out, \"What, don't you\nknow that Phocion's wife is never attended by more than a single\nwaiting woman, but you must needs be grand, and fill our women's\nheads with vanity?\"  This speech of his, spoken loud enough to be\nheard, was received with great applause, and clapped all round the\ntheater.  She herself, when once entertaining a visitor out of\nIonia, who showed her all her rich ornaments, made of gold and set\nwith jewels, her wreaths, necklaces, and the like, \"For my part,\"\nsaid she, \"all my ornament is my husband Phocion, now for the\ntwentieth year in office as general at Athens.\"\n\nHe had a son named Phocus, who wished to take part in the games at\nthe great feast of Minerva.  He permitted him so to do, in the\ncontest of leaping, not with any view to the victory, but in the\nhope that the training and discipline for it would make him a\nbetter man, the youth being in a general way a lover of drinking,\nand ill-regulated in his habits.  On his having succeeded in the\nsports, many were eager for the honor of his company at banquets\nin celebration of the victory.  Phocion declined all these\ninvitations but one, and when he came to this entertainment and\nsaw the costly preparations, even the water brought to wash the\nguests' feet being mingled with wine and spices, he reprimanded\nhis son, asking him why he would so far permit his friend to sully\nthe honor of his victory.  And in the hope of wholly weaning the\nyoung man from such habits and company, he sent him to Lacedaemon,\nand placed him among the youths then under the course of the\nSpartan discipline.  This the Athenians took offense at, as though\nhe slighted and contemned the education at home; and Demades\ntwitted him with it publicly, \"Suppose, Phocion, you and I advise\nthe Athenians to adopt the Spartan constitution.  If you like, I\nam ready to introduce a bill to that effect, and to speak in its\nfavor.\"  \"Indeed,\" said Phocion, \"you with that strong scent of\nperfumes about you, and with that mantle on your shoulders, are\njust the very man to speak in honor of Lycurgus, and recommend the\nSpartan table.\"\n\nWhen Alexander wrote to demand a supply of galleys, and the public\nspeakers objected to sending them, Phocion, on the council\nrequesting his opinion, told them freely, \"Sirs, I would either\nhave you victorious yourselves, or friends of those who are so.\"\nHe took up Pytheas, who about this time first began to address the\nassembly, and already showed himself a confident, talking fellow,\nby saying that a young slave whom the people had but bought\nyesterday, ought to have the manners to hold his tongue.  And\nwhen Harpalus, who had fled from Alexander out of Asia, carrying\noff a large sum of money, came to Attica, and there was a perfect\nrace among the ordinary public men of the assembly who should be\nthe first to take his pay, he distributed amongst these some\ntrifling sums by way of a bait and provocative, but to Phocion he\nmade an offer of no less than seven hundred talents and all manner\nof other advantages he pleased to demand; with the compliment that\nhe would entirely commit himself and all his affairs to his\ndisposal.  Phocion answered sharply, Harpalus should repent of it,\nif he did not quickly leave off corrupting and debauching the\ncity, which for the time silenced him, and checked his\nproceedings.  But afterwards, when the Athenians were deliberating\nin council about him, he found those that had received money from\nhim to be his greatest enemies, urging and aggravating matters\nagainst him, to prevent themselves being discovered, whereas\nPhocion, who had never touched his pay, now, so far as the public\ninterest would admit of it, showed some regard to his particular\nsecurity.  This encouraged him once more to try his inclinations,\nand upon further survey, finding that he himself was a fortress,\ninaccessible on every quarter to the approaches of corruption, he\nprofessed a particular friendship to Phocion's son-in-law,\nCharicles.  And admitting him into his confidence in all his\naffairs, and continually requesting his assistance, he brought him\ninto some suspicion.  Upon the occasion, for example, of the death\nof Pythonice, who was Harpalus's mistress, for whom he had a great\nfondness, and had a child by her, he resolved to build her a\nsumptuous monument, and committed the care of it to his friend\nCharicles.  This commission, disreputable enough in itself, was\nyet further disparaged by the figure the piece of workmanship made\nafter it was finished.  It is yet to be seen in the Hermeum. as\nyou go from Athens to Eleusis, with nothing in its appearance\nanswerable to the sum of thirty talents, with which Charicles is\nsaid to have charged Harpalus for its erection.  After Harpalus's\nown decease, his daughter was educated by Phocion and Charicles\nwith great care.  But when Charicles was called to account for his\ndealings with Harpalus, and entreated his father-in-law's\nprotection, begging that he would appear for him in the court,\nPhocion refused, telling him, \"I did not choose you for my\nson-in-law for any but honorable purposes.\"\n\nAsclepiades, the son of Hipparchus, brought the first tidings of\nAlexander's death to Athens, which Demades told them was not to be\ncredited; for, were it true, the whole world would ere this have\nstunk with the dead body.  But Phocion seeing the people eager for\nan instant revolution, did his best to quiet and repress them.\nAnd when numbers of them rushed up to the hustings to speak, and\ncried out that the news was true, and Alexander was dead, \"If he\nis dead today,\" said he, \"he will be so tomorrow and the day\nafter tomorrow equally.  So that there is no need to take counsel\nhastily or before it is safe.\"\n\nWhen Leosthenes now had embarked the city in the Lamian war,\ngreatly against Phocion's wishes, to raise a laugh against\nPhocion, he asked him scoffingly, what the State had been\nbenefited by his having now so many years been general.  \"It is\nnot a little,\" said Phocion, \"that the citizens have been buried\nin their own sepulchers.\"  And when Leosthenes continued to speak\nboldly and boastfully in the assembly, \"Young man,\" he said, \"your\nspeeches are like cypress trees, stately and tall, and no fruit to\ncome of them.\"  And when he was then attacked by Hyperides, who\nasked him when the time would come, that he would advise the\nAthenians to make war, \"As soon,\" said he, \"as I find the young\nmen keep their ranks, the rich men contribute their money, and the\nOrators leave off robbing the treasury.\"  Afterwards, when many\nadmired the forces raised, and the preparations for war that were\nmade by Leosthenes, they asked Phocion how he approved of the new\nlevies.  \"Very well,\" said he, \"for the short course; but what I\nfear, is the long race. Since however late the war may last, the\ncity has neither money, ships, nor soldiers, but these.\"  And the\nevent justified his prognostics.  At first all things appeared\nfair and promising.  Leosthenes gained great reputation by\nworsting the Boeotians  in battle, and driving Antipater within\nthe walls of Lamia, and the citizens were so transported with the\nfirst successes, that they kept solemn festivities for them, and\noffered public sacrifices to the gods.  So that some, thinking\nPhocion must now be convinced of his error, asked him whether he\nwould not willingly have been author of these successful actions.\n\"Yes,\" said he, \"most gladly, but also of the former counsel.\"\nAnd when one express after another came from the camp, confirming\nand magnifying the victories, \"When,\" said he, \"will the end of\nthem come?\"\n\nLeosthenes, soon after, was killed, and now those who feared lest\nif Phocion obtained the command, he would put an end to the war,\narranged with an obscure person in the assembly, who should stand\nup and profess himself to be a friend and old confidant of\nPhocion's, and persuade the people to spare him at this time, and\nreserve him (with whom none could compare) for a more pressing\noccasion, and now to give Antiphilus the command of the army.\nThis pleased the generality, but Phocion made it appear he was so\nfar from having any friendship with him of old standing, that he\nhad not so much as the least familiarity with him; \"Yet now, sir,\"\nsays he, \"give me leave to put you down among the number of my\nfriends and well-wishers, as you have given a piece of advice so\nmuch to my advantage.\"\n\nAnd when the people were eager to make an expedition against the\nBoeotians, he at first opposed it; and on his friends telling him\nthe people would kill him, for always running counter to them,\n\"That will be unjust of them,\" he said, \"if I give them honest\nadvice, if not, it will be just of them.''  But when he found them\npersisting and shouting to him to lead them out, he commanded the\ncrier to make proclamation, that all the Athenians under sixty\nshould instantly provide themselves with five days' provision, and\nfollow him from the assembly.  This caused a great tumult.  Those\nin years were startled, and clamored against the order; he\ndemanded wherein he injured them, \"For I,\" says he, \"am now\nfourscore, and am ready to lead you.\"  This succeeded in pacifying\nthem for the present.\n\nBut when Micion, with a large force of Macedonians and\nmercenaries, began to pillage the sea-coast, having made a descent\nupon Rhamnus, and overrun the neighboring country, Phocion led out\nthe Athenians to attack him.  And when sundry private persons\ncame, intermeddling with his dispositions, and telling him that he\nought to occupy such or such a hill, detach the cavalry in this or\nthat direction, engage the enemy on this point or that, \"O\nHercules,\" said he, \"how many generals have we here, and how few\nsoldiers!\"  Afterwards, having formed the battle, one who wished\nto show his bravery, advanced out of his post before the rest, but\non the enemy's approaching, lost heart, and retired back into his\nrank.  \"Young man,\" said Phocion, \"are you not ashamed twice in\none day to desert your station, first that on which I had placed\nyou, and secondly, that on which you had placed yourself?\"\nHowever, he entirely routed the enemy, killing Micion and many\nmore on the spot.  The Grecian army, also, in Thessaly, after\nLeonnatus and the Macedonians who came with him out of Asia, had\narrived and joined Antipater, fought and beat them in a battle.\nLeonnatus was killed in the fight, Antiphilus commanding the foot,\nand Menon, the Thessalian, the horse.\n\nBut not long after, Craterus crossed from Asia with numerous\nforces; a pitched battle was fought at Cranon; the Greeks were\nbeaten; though not, indeed, in a signal defeat, nor with any great\nloss of men.  But what with their want of obedience to their\ncommanders, who were young and over-indulgent with them, and what\nwith Antipater's tampering and treating with their separate\ncities, one by one, the end of it was that the army was dissolved,\nand the Greeks shamefully surrendered the liberty of their\ncountry.\n\nUpon the news of Antipater's now advancing at once against Athens\nwith all his force, Demosthenes and Hyperides deserted the city,\nand Demades, who was altogether insolvent for any part of the\nfines that had been laid upon him by the city, for he had been\ncondemned no less than seven times for introducing bills contrary\nto the laws, and who had been disfranchised, and was no longer\ncompetent to vote in the assembly, laid hold of this season of\nimpunity, to bring in a bill for sending ambassadors with\nplenipotentiary power to Antipater, to treat about a peace.  But\nthe people distrusted him, and called upon Phocion to give his\nopinion, as the person they only and entirely confided in.  He\ntold them, \"If my former counsels had been prevalent with you, we\nhad not been reduced to deliberate on the question at all.\"\nHowever, the vote passed; and a decree was made, and he with\nothers deputed to go to Antipater, who lay now encamped in the\nTheban territories, but intended to dislodge immediately, and pass\ninto Attica.  Phocion's first request was, that he would make the\ntreaty without moving his camp.  And when Craterus declared that\nit was not fair to ask them to be burdensome to the country of\ntheir friends and allies by their stay, when they might rather use\nthat of their enemies for provisions and the support of their\narmy, Antipater taking him by the hand, said, \"We must grant this\nfavor to Phocion.\"  For the rest, he bade them return to their\nprincipals, and acquaint them that he could only offer them the\nsame terms, namely, to surrender at discretion, which Leosthenes\nhad offered to him when he was shut up in Lamia.\n\nWhen Phocion had returned to the city, and acquainted them with\nthis answer, they made a virtue of necessity, and complied, since\nit would be no better.  So Phocion returned to Thebes with the\nother ambassadors, and among the rest, Xenocrates, the\nphilosopher, the reputation of whose virtue and wisdom was so\ngreat and famous everywhere, that they conceived there could not\nbe any pride, cruelty, or anger arising in the heart of man, which\nwould not at the mere sight of him be subdued into something of\nreverence and admiration.  But the result, as it happened, was the\nvery opposite, Antipater showed such a want of feeling, and such a\ndislike of goodness.  He saluted everyone else, but would not so\nmuch as notice Xenocrates.  Xenocrates, they tell us, observed\nupon it, that Antipater when meditating such cruelty to Athens,\ndid well to be ashamed of seeing him. When he began to speak, he\nwould not hear him, but broke in and rudely interrupted him, until\nat last he was obliged to he silent.  But when Phocion had\ndeclared the purport of their embassy, he replied shortly, that he\nwould make peace with the Athenians on these conditions, and no\nothers; that Demosthenes and Hyperides should be delivered up to\nhim; that they should retain their ancient form of government, the\nfranchise being determined by a property qualification; that they\nshould receive a garrison into Munychia, and pay a certain sum for\nthe cost of the war.  As things stood, these terms were judged\ntolerable by the rest of the ambassadors; Xenocrates only said,\nthat if Antipater considered the Athenians slaves, he was treating\nthem fairly, but if free, severely.  Phocion pressed him only to\nspare them the garrison, and used many arguments and entreaties.\nAntipater replied, \"Phocion, we are ready to do you any favor,\nwhich will not bring ruin both on ourselves and on you.\"  Others\nreport it differently; that Antipater asked Phocion, supposing he\nremitted the garrison to the Athenians, would he, Phocion, stand\nsurety for the city's observing the terms and attempting no\nrevolution?  And when he hesitated, and did not at once reply,\nCallimedon, the Carabus, a hot partisan and professed enemy of\nfree states, cried out, \"And if he should talk so idly, Antipater,\nwill you be so much abused as to believe him and not carry out\nyour own purpose?\"  So the Athenians received the garrison, and\nMenyllus for the governor, a fair-dealing man, and one of\nPhocion's acquaintance.\n\nBut the proceeding seemed sufficiently imperious and arbitrary,\nindeed rather a spiteful and insulting ostentation of power, than\nthat the possession of the fortress would be of any great\nimportance.  The resentment felt upon it was heightened by the\ntime it happened in, for the garrison was brought in on the\ntwentieth of the month of Boedromion, just at the time of the\ngreat festival, when they carry forth Iacchus with solemn pomp\nfrom the city to Eleusis; so that the solemnity being disturbed,\nmany began to call to mind instances, both ancient and modern, of\ndivine interventions and intimations.  For in old time, upon the\noccasions of their happiest successes, the presence of the shapes\nand voices of the mystic ceremonies had been vouchsafed to them,\nstriking terror and amazement into their enemies; but now, at the\nvery season of their celebration, the gods themselves stood\nwitnesses of the saddest oppressions of Greece, the most holy time\nbeing profaned, and their greatest jubilee made the unlucky date\nof their most extreme calamity.  Not many years before, they had a\nwarning from the oracle at Dodona, that they should carefully\nguard the summits of Diana, lest haply strangers should seize\nthem.  And about this very time, when they dyed the ribbons and\ngarlands with which they adorn the couches and cars of the\nprocession, instead of a purple they received only a faint yellow\ncolor; and to make the omen yet greater, all the things that were\ndyed for common use, took the natural color.  While a candidate\nfor initiation was washing a young pig in the haven of Cantharus,\na shark seized him, bit off all his lower parts up to the belly,\nand devoured them, by which the god gave them manifestly to\nunderstand, that having lost the lower town and the sea-coast,\nthey should keep only the upper city.\n\nMenyllus was sufficient security that the garrison should behave\nitself inoffensively.  But those who were now excluded from the\nfranchise by poverty, amounted to more than twelve thousand; so\nthat both those that remained in the city thought themselves\noppressed and shamefully used, and those who on this account left\ntheir homes and went away into Thrace, where Antipater offered\nthem a town and some territory to inhabit, regarded themselves\nonly as a colony of slaves and exiles.  And when to this was added\nthe deaths of Demosthenes at Calauria, and of Hyperides at\nCleonae, as we have elsewhere related, the citizens began to think\nwith regret of Philip and Alexander, and almost to wish the return\nof those times.  And as, after Antigonus was slain, when those\nthat had taken him off were afflicting and oppressing the people,\na countryman in Phrygia, digging in the fields, was asked what he\nwas doing, \"I am,\" said he, fetching a deep sigh, \"searching for\nAntigonus;\" so said many that remembered those days, and the\ncontests they had with those kings, whose anger, however great,\nwas yet generous and placable; whereas Antipater, with the\ncounterfeit humility of appearing like a private man, in the\nmeanness of his dress  and his homely fare, merely belied his\nreal love of that arbitrary power, which he exercised, as a cruel\nmaster and despot, to distress those under his command.  Yet\nPhocion had interest with him to recall many from banishment by\nhis intercession, and prevailed also for those who were driven\nout, that they might not, like others, be hurried beyond Taenarus,\nand the mountains of Ceraunia, but remain in Greece, and plant\nthemselves in Peloponnesus, of which number was Agnonides, the\nsycophant.  He was no less studious to manage the affairs within\nthe city with equity and moderation, preferring constantly those\nthat were men of worth and good education to the magistracies, and\nrecommending the busy and turbulent talkers, to whom it was a\nmortal blow to be excluded from office and public debating, to\nlearn to stay at home, and be content to till their land.  And\nobserving that Xenocrates paid his alien-tax as a foreigner, he\noffered him the freedom of the city, which he refused, saying he\ncould not accept a franchise which he had been sent, as an\nambassador, to deprecate.\n\nMenyllus wished to give Phocion a considerable present of money,\nwho, thanking him, said, neither was Menyllus greater than\nAlexander, nor his own occasions more urgent to receive it now,\nthan when he refused it from him..  And on his pressing him to\npermit his son Phocus to receive it, he replied, \"If my son\nreturns to a right mind, his patrimony is sufficient; if not, all\nsupplies will be insufficient.\"  But to Antipater he answered more\nsharply, who would have him engaged in something dishonorable.\n\"Antipater,\" said he, \"cannot have me both as his friend and his\nflatterer.\"  And, indeed, Antipater was wont to say, he had two\nfriends at Athens, Phocion and Demades; the one would never suffer\nhim to gratify him at all, the other would never be satisfied.\nPhocion might well think that poverty a virtue, in which, after\nhaving so often been general of the Athenians, and admitted to the\nfriendship of potentates and princes, he had now grown old.\nDemades, meantime, delighted in lavishing his wealth even in\npositive transgressions of the law.  For there having been an\norder that no foreigner should be hired to dance in any chorus on\nthe penalty of a fine of one thousand drachmas on the exhibitor,\nhe had the vanity to exhibit an entire chorus of a hundred\nforeigners, and paid down the penalty of a thousand drachmas a\nhead upon the stage itself.  Marrying his son Demeas, he told him\nwith the like vanity, \"My son, when I married your mother, it was\ndone so privately it was not known to the next neighbors, but\nkings and princes give presents at your nuptials.\"\n\nThe garrison in Munychia continued to be felt as a great\ngrievance, and the Athenians did not cease to be importunate upon\nPhocion, to prevail with Antipater for its removal; but whether he\ndespaired of effecting it, or perhaps observed the people to be\nmore orderly, and public matters more reasonably conducted by the\nawe that was thus created, he constantly declined the office, and\ncontented himself with obtaining from Antipater the postponement\nfor the present of the payment of the sum of money in which the\ncity was fined.  So the people, leaving him off, applied\nthemselves to Demades, who readily undertook the employment, and\ntook along with him his son also into Macedonia; and some superior\npower, as it seems, so ordering it, he came just at that nick of\ntime, when Antipater was already seized with his sickness, and\nCassander, taking upon himself the command, had found a letter of\nDemades's, formerly written by him to Antigonus in Asia,\nrecommending him to come and possess himself of the empire of\nGreece and Macedon, now hanging, he said, (a scoff at Antipater,)\n\"by an old and rotten thread.\"  So when Cassander saw him come, he\nseized him; and first brought out the son and killed him so close\nbefore his face, that the blood ran all over his clothes and\nperson, and then, after bitterly taunting and upbraiding him with\nhis ingratitude and treachery, dispatched him himself.\n\nAntipater being dead, after nominating Polysperchon\ngeneral-in-chief, and Cassander commander of the cavalry,\nCassander at once set up for himself and immediately dispatched\nNicanor to Menyllus, to succeed him in the command of the\ngarrison, commanding him to possess himself of Munychia before the\nnews of Antipater's death should be heard; which being done, and\nsome days after the Athenians hearing the report of it, Phocion\nwas taxed as privy to it before, and censured heavily for\ndissembling it, out of friendship for Nicanor.  But he slighted\ntheir talk, and making it his duty to visit and confer\ncontinually with Nicanor, he succeeded in procuring his good-will\nand kindness for the Athenians, and induced him even to put\nhimself to trouble and expense to seek popularity with them, by\nundertaking the office of presiding at the games.\n\nIn the meantime Polysperchon, who was entrusted with the charge\nof the king, to countermine Cassander, sent a letter to the city,\ndeclaring in the name of the king, that he restored them their\ndemocracy, and that the whole Athenian people were at liberty to\nconduct their commonwealth according to their ancient customs and\nconstitutions.  The object of these pretenses was merely the\noverthrow of Phocion's influence, as the event manifested.  For\nPolysperchon's design being to possess himself of the city, he\ndespaired altogether of bringing it to pass, whilst Phocion\nretained his credit; and the most certain way to ruin him, would\nbe again to fill the city with a crowd of disfranchised citizens,\nand let loose the tongues of the demagogues and common accusers.\n\nWith this prospect, the Athenians were all in excitement, and\nNicanor, wishing to confer with them on the subject, at a meeting\nof the Council in Piraeus, came himself, trusting for the safety\nof his person to Phocion.  And when Dercyllus, who commanded the\nguard there, made an attempt to seize him, upon notice of it\nbeforehand, he made his escape, and there was little doubt he\nwould now lose no time in righting himself upon the city for the\naffront; and when Phocion was found fault with for letting him get\noff and not securing him, he defended himself by saying that he\nhad no mistrust of Nicanor, nor the least reason to expect any\nmischief from him, but should it prove otherwise, for his part he\nwould have them all know, he would rather receive than do the\nwrong.  And so far as he spoke for himself alone, the answer was\nhonorable and high-minded enough, but he who hazards his country's\nsafety, and that, too, when he is her magistrate and chief\ncommander, can scarcely he acquitted, I fear, of transgressing a\nhigher and more sacred obligation of justice, which he owed to his\nfellow citizens.  For it will not even do to say, that he dreaded\nthe involving the city in war, by seizing Nicanor, and hoped by\nprofessions of confidence and just-dealing, to retain him in the\nobservance of the like; but it was, indeed, his credulity and\nconfidence in him, and an overweening opinion of his sincerity,\nthat imposed upon him.  So that notwithstanding the sundry\nintimations he had of his making preparations to attack Piraeus,\nsending soldiers over into Salamis, and tampering with, and\nendeavoring to corrupt various residents in Piraeus, he would,\nnotwithstanding all this evidence, never be persuaded to believe\nit.  And even when Philomedes of Lampra had got a decree passed,\nthat all the Athenians should stand to their arms, and be ready to\nfollow Phocion their general, he yet sat still and did nothing,\nuntil Nicanor actually led his troops out from Munychia, and drew\ntrenches about Piraeus; upon which, when Phocion at last would\nhave led out the Athenians, they cried out against him, and\nslighted his orders.\n\nAlexander, the son of Polysperchon, was at hand with a\nconsiderable force, and professed to come to give them succor\nagainst Nicanor, but intended nothing less, if possible, than to\nsurprise the city, whilst they were in tumult and divided among\nthemselves.  For all that had previously been expelled from the\ncity, now coming back with him, made their way into it, and were\njoined by a mixed multitude of foreigners and disfranchised\npersons, and of these a motley and irregular public assembly came\ntogether, in which they presently divested Phocion of all power,\nand chose other generals; and if, by chance Alexander had not\nbeen spied from the walls, alone in close conference with Nicanor,\nand had not this, which was often repeated, given the Athenians\ncause of suspicion, the city had not escaped the snare.  The\norator Agnonides, however, at once fell foul upon Phocion, and\nimpeached him of treason; Callimedon and Charicles, fearing the\nworst, consulted their own security by flying from the city;\nPhocion, with a few of his friends that stayed with him, went over\nto Polysperchon, and out of respect for him, Solon of Plataea,\nand Dinarchus of Corinth, who were reputed friends and confidants\nof Polysperchon, accompanied him.  But on account of Dinarchus\nfalling ill, they remained several days in Elatea, during which\ntime, upon the persuasion of Agnonides and on the motion of\nArchestratus a decree passed that the people should send delegates\nthither to accuse Phocion.  So both parties reached Polysperchon\nat the same time, who was going through the country with the king,\nand was then at a small village of Phocis, Pharygae, under the\nmountain now called Galate, but then Acrurium.\n\nThere Polysperchon, having set up the golden canopy, and seated\nthe king and his company under it, ordered Dinarchus at once to be\ntaken, and tortured, and put to death; and that done, gave\naudience to the Athenians, who filled the place with noise and\ntumult, accusing and recriminating on one another, till at last\nAgnonides came forward, and requested they might all be shut up\ntogether in one cage, and conveyed to Athens, there to decide the\ncontroversy.  At that the king could not forbear smiling, but the\ncompany that attended, for their own amusement, Macedonians and\nstrangers, were eager to hear the altercation, and made signs to\nthe delegates to go on with their case at once.  But it was no\nsort of fair hearing.  Polysperchon frequently interrupted\nPhocion, till at last Phocion struck his staff on the ground, and\ndeclined to speak further.  And when Hegemon said, Polysperchon\nhimself could bear witness to his affection for the people,\nPolysperchon called out fiercely, \"Give over slandering me to the\nking,\" and the king starting up was about to have run him through\nwith his javelin, but Polysperchon interposed and hindered him; so\nthat the assembly dissolved.\n\nPhocion, then, and those about him, were seized; those of his\nfriends that were not immediately by him, on seeing this, hid\ntheir faces, and saved themselves by flight.  The rest Clitus took\nand brought to Athens, to be submitted to trial; but, in truth, as\nmen already sentenced to die.  The manner of conveying them was\nindeed extremely moving; they were carried in chariots through the\nCeramicus, straight to the place of judicature, where Clitus\nsecured them till they had convoked an assembly of the people,\nwhich was open to all comers, neither foreigners, nor slaves, nor\nthose who had been punished with disfranchisement, being refused\nadmittance, but all alike, both men and women, being allowed to\ncome into the court, and even upon the place of speaking.  So\nhaving read the king's letters, in which he declared he was\nsatisfied himself that these men were traitors, however, they\nbeing a free city, he willingly accorded them the grace of trying\nand judging them according to their own laws, Clitus brought in\nhis prisoners.  Every respectable citizen, at the sight of\nPhocion, covered up his face, and stooped down to conceal his\ntears.  And one of them had the courage to say, that since the\nking had committed so important a cause to the judgment of the\npeople, it would be well that the strangers, and those of servile\ncondition, should withdraw.  But the populace would not endure it,\ncrying out they were oligarchs, and enemies to the liberty of the\npeople, and deserved to be stoned; after which no man durst offer\nanything further in Phocion's behalf.  He was himself with\ndifficulty heard at all, when he put the question, \"Do you wish to\nput us to death lawfully, or unlawfully?\"  Some answered,\n\"According to law.\" He replied, \"How can you, except we have a\nfair hearing?\"  But when they were deaf to all he said,\napproaching nearer, \"As to myself,\" said he, \"I admit my guilt,\nand pronounce my public conduct to have deserved sentence of\ndeath.  But why, O men of Athens, kill others who have offended in\nnothing?\"  The rabble cried out, they were his friends, that was\nenough.  Phocion therefore drew back, and said no more.\n\nThen Agnonides read the bill, in accordance with which the people\nshould decide by show of hands whether they judged them guilty,\nand if so it should be found, the penalty should be death.  When\nthis had been read out, some desired it might be added to the\nsentence, that Phocion should be tortured also, and that the rack\nshould be produced with the executioners.  But Agnonides\nperceiving even Clitus to dislike this, and himself thinking it\nhorrid and barbarous, said, \"When we catch that slave, Callimedon,\nmen of Athens, we will put him to the rack, but I shall make no\nmotion of the kind in Phocion's case.\"  Upon which one of the\nbetter citizens remarked, he was quite right; \"If we should\ntorture Phocion, what could we do to you?\"  So the form of the\nbill was approved of, and the show of hands called for; upon\nwhich, not one man retaining his seat, but all rising up, and some\nwith garlands on their heads, they condemned them all to death.\n\nThere were present with Phocion, Nicocles, Thudippus, Hegemon, and\nPythocles.  Demetrius the Phalerian, Callimedon, Charicles, and\nsome others, were included in the condemnation, being absent.\n\nAfter the assembly was dismissed, they were carried to the prison;\nthe rest with cries and lamentations, their friends and relatives\nfollowing; and clinging about them, but Phocion looking (as men\nobserved with astonishment at his calmness and magnanimity) just\nthe same as when he had been used to return to his home attended,\nas general, from the assembly.  His enemies ran along by his side,\nreviling and abusing him.  And one of them coming up to him, spat\nin his face; at which Phocion, turning to the officers, only said,\n\"You should stop this indecency.\"  Thudippus, on their reaching\nthe prison, when he observed the executioner tempering the poison\nand preparing it for them, gave way to his passion, and began to\nbemoan his condition and the hard measure he received, thus\nunjustly to suffer with Phocion.  \"You cannot be contented,\" said\nhe, \"to die with Phocion?\"  One of his friends that stood by,\nasked him if he wished to have anything said to his son.  \"Yes, by\nall means,\" said he, \"bid him bear no grudge against the\nAthenians.\"  Then Nicocles, the dearest and most faithful of his\nfriends, begged to be allowed to drink the poison first.  \"My\nfriend,\" said he, \"you ask what I am loath and sorrowful to give,\nbut as I never yet in all my life was so thankless as to refuse\nyou, I must gratify you in this also.\"  After they had all drunk\nof it, the poison ran short; and the executioner refused to\nprepare more, except they would pay him twelve drachmas, to defray\nthe cost of the quantity required.  Some delay was made, and time\nspent, when Phocion called one of his friends, and observing that\na man could not even die at Athens without paying for it,\nrequested him to give the sum.\n\nIt was the nineteenth day of the month Munychion, on which it was\nthe usage to have a solemn procession in the city, in honor of\nJupiter.  The horsemen, as they passed by, some of them threw away\ntheir garlands, others stopped, weeping, and casting sorrowful\nlooks towards the prison doors, and all the citizens whose minds\nwere not absolutely debauched by spite and passion, or who had any\nhumanity left, acknowledged it to have been most impiously done,\nnot, at least, to let that day pass, and the city so be kept pure\nfrom death and a public execution at the solemn festival.  But as\nif this triumph had been insufficient, the malice of Phocion's\nenemies went yet further; his dead body was excluded from burial\nwithin the boundaries of the country, and none of the Athenians\ncould light a funeral pile to burn the corpse; neither durst any\nof his friends venture to concern themselves about it.  A certain\nConopion, a man who used to do these offices for hire, took the\nbody and carried it beyond Eleusis, and procuring fire from over\nthe frontier of Megara, burned it.  Phocion's wife, with her\nservant-maids, being present and assisting at the solemnity,\nraised there an empty tomb, and performed the customary libations,\nand gathering up the bones in her lap, and bringing them home by\nnight, dug a place for them by the fireside in her house, saying,\n\"Blessed hearth, to your custody I commit the remains of a good\nand brave man; and, I beseech you, protect and restore them to the\nsepulcher of his fathers, when the Athenians return to their right\nminds.\"\n\nAnd, indeed, a very little time and their own sad experience soon\ninformed them what an excellent governor, and how great an example\nand guardian of justice and of temperance they had bereft\nthemselves of.  And now they decreed him a statue of brass, and\nhis bones to be buried honorably at the public charge; and for his\naccusers, Agnonides they took themselves, and caused him to be put\nto death.  Epicurus and Demophilus, who fled from the city for\nfear, his son met with, and took his revenge upon them.  This son\nof his, we are told, was in general of an indifferent character,\nand once, when enamored of a slave girl kept by a common harlot\nmerchant, happened to hear Theodorus, the atheist, arguing in the\nLyceum, that if it were a good and honorable thing to buy the\nfreedom of a friend in the masculine, why not also of a friend in\nthe feminine, if, for example, a master, why not also a mistress?\nSo putting the good argument and his passion together, he went off\nand purchased the girl's freedom.  The death which was thus\nsuffered by Phocion, revived among the Greeks the memory of that\nof Socrates, the two cases being so similar, and both equally the\nsad fault and misfortune of the city.\n\n\n\nCATO THE YOUNGER\n\nThe family of Cato derived its first luster from his\ngreat-grandfather Cato, whose virtue gained him such great\nreputation and authority among the Romans, as we have written in\nhis life.\n\nThis Cato was, by the loss of both his parents, left an orphan,\ntogether with his brother Caepio, and his sister Porcia.  He had\nalso a half-sister, Servilia, by the mother's side.  All these\nlived together, and were bred up in the house of Livius Drusus,\ntheir uncle by the mother who, at that time, had a great share in\nthe government, being a very eloquent speaker, a man of the\ngreatest temperance, and yielding in dignity to none of the\nRomans.\n\nIt is said of Cato, that even from his infancy, in his speech,\nhis countenance, and all his childish pastimes, he discovered an\ninflexible temper, unmoved by any passion, and firm in\neverything.  He was resolute in his purposes, much beyond the\nstrength of his age, to go through with whatever he undertook.\nHe was rough and ungentle toward those that flattered him, and\nstill more unyielding to those who threatened him.  It was\ndifficult to excite him to laughter; his countenance seldom\nrelaxed even into a smile; he was not quickly or easily provoked\nto anger, but if once incensed, he was no less difficult to\npacify.\n\nWhen he began to learn, he proved dull, and slow to apprehend,\nbut of what he once received, his memory was remarkably\ntenacious.  And such, in fact, we find generally to be the course\nof nature; men of fine genius are readily reminded of things, but\nthose who receive with most pains and difficulty, remember best;\nevery new thing they learn, being, as it were, burnt and branded\nin on their minds.  Cato's natural stubbornness and slowness to\nbe persuaded, may also have made it more difficult for him to be\ntaught.  For to learn, is to submit to have something done to\none; and persuasion comes soonest to those who have least\nstrength to resist it.  Hence young men are sooner persuaded than\nthose that are more in years, and sick men, than those that are\nwell in health In fine, where there is least previous doubt and\ndifficulty the new impression is most easily accepted.  Yet Cato,\nthey say, was very obedient to his preceptor, and would do\nwhatever he was commanded; but he would also ask the reason, and\ninquire the cause of everything.  And, indeed, his teacher was a\nvery well-bred man, more ready to instruct, than to beat his\nscholars.  His name was Sarpedon.\n\nWhen Cato was a child, the allies of the Romans sued to be made\nfree citizens of Rome.  Pompaedius Silo, one of their deputies, a\nbrave soldier, and a man of great repute, who had contracted a\nfriendship with Drusus, lodged at his house for several days, in\nwhich time being grown familiar with the children, \"Well,\" said\nhe to them, \"will you entreat your uncle to befriend us in our\nbusiness?\"  Caepio, smiling, assented, but Cato made no answer,\nonly he looked steadfastly and fiercely on the strangers.  Then\nsaid Pompaedius, \"And you, young sir, what say you to us? will\nnot you, as well as your brother, intercede with your uncle in\nour behalf?\"  And when Cato continued to give no answer, by his\nsilence and his countenance seeming to deny their petition,\nPompaedius snatched him up to the window as if he would throw him\nout, and told him to consent, or he would fling him down, and,\nspeaking in a harsher tone, held his body out of the window, and\nshook him several times.  When Cato had suffered this a good\nwhile, unmoved and unalarmed, Pompaedius setting him down, said\nin an under-voice to his friend, \"What a blessing for Italy,\nthat he is but a child!  If he were a man, I believe we should\nnot gain one voice among the people.\"  Another time, one of his\nrelations, on his birthday, invited Cato and some other children\nto supper, and some of the company diverted themselves in a\nseparate part of the house, and were at play, the elder and the\nyounger together, their sport being to act the pleadings before\nthe judges, accusing one another, and carrying away the condemned\nto prison.  Among these a very beautiful young child, being bound\nand carried by a bigger into prison, cried out to Cato, who\nseeing what was going on, presently ran to the door, and\nthrusting away those who stood there as guard, took out the\nchild, and went home in anger, followed by some of his\ncompanions.\n\nCato at length grew so famous among them, that when Sylla\ndesigned to exhibit the sacred game of young men riding courses\non horseback, which they called Troy, having gotten together the\nyouth of good birth, he appointed two for their leaders.  One of\nthem they accepted for his mother's sake, being the son of\nMetella, the wife of Sylla; but as for the other, Sextus, the\nnephew of Pompey, they would not be led by him, nor exercise\nunder him.  Then Sylla asking, whom they would have, they all\ncried out, Cato; and Sextus willingly yielded the honor to him,\nas the more worthy.\n\nSylla, who was a friend of their family, sent at times for Cato\nand his brother to see them and talk with them; a favor which he\nshowed to very few, after gaining his great power and authority.\nSarpedon, full of the advantage it would be, as well for the\nhonor as the safety of his scholars, would often bring Cato to\nwait upon Sylla at his house, which, for the multitude of those\nthat were being carried off in custody, and tormented there,\nlooked like a place of execution.  Cato was then in his\nfourteenth year, and seeing the heads of men said to be of great\ndistinction brought thither, and observing the secret sighs of\nthose that were present, he asked his preceptor, \"Why does nobody\nkill this man?''  \"Because,\" said he, \"they fear him, child, more\nthan they hate him.\"  \"Why, then,\" replied Cato, \"did you not\ngive me a sword, that I might stab him, and free my country from\nthis slavery?\"  Sarpedon hearing this, and at the same time\nseeing his countenance swelling with anger and determination,\ntook care thenceforward to watch him strictly, lest he should\nhazard any desperate attempt.\n\nWhile he was yet very young, to some that asked him, whom he\nloved best, he answered, his brother.  And being asked, whom\nnext, he replied, his brother, again.  So likewise the third\ntime, and still the same, till they left off to ask any further.\nAs he grew in age, this love to his brother grew yet the\nstronger.  When he was about twenty years old, he never supped,\nnever went out of town, nor into the forum, without Caepio.  But\nwhen his brother made use of precious ointments and perfumes,\nCato declined them; and he was, in all his habits, very strict\nand austere, so that when Caepio was admired for his moderation\nand temperance, he would acknowledge that indeed he might be\naccounted such, in comparison with some other men, \"but,\" said\nhe, \"when I compare myself with Cato, I find myself scarcely\ndifferent from Sippius,\" one at that time notorious for his\nluxurious and effeminate living.\n\nCato being made priest of Apollo, went to another house, took his\nportion of their paternal inheritance, amounting to a hundred and\ntwenty talents, and began to live yet more strictly than before.\nHaving gained the intimate acquaintance of Antipater the Tyrian,\nthe Stoic philosopher, he devoted himself to the study, above\neverything, of moral and political doctrine.  And though\npossessed, as it were, by a kind of inspiration for the pursuit\nof every virtue, yet what most of all virtue and excellence fixed\nhis affection, was that steady and inflexible Justice, which is\nnot to be wrought upon by favor or compassion.  He learned also\nthe art of speaking and debating in public, thinking that\npolitical philosophy, like a great city, should maintain for its\nsecurity the military and warlike element. But he would never\nrecite his exercises before company, nor was he ever heard to\ndeclaim.  And to one that told him, men blamed his silence, \"But\nI hope not my life,\" he replied, \"I will begin to speak, when I\nhave that to say which had not better be unsaid.\"\n\nThe great Porcian Hall, as it was called, had been built and\ndedicated to the public use by the old Cato, when aedile.  Here\nthe tribunes of the people used to transact their business, and\nbecause one of the pillars was thought to interfere with the\nconvenience of their seats, they deliberated whether it were\nbest to remove it to another place, or to take it away.  This\noccasion first drew Cato, much against his will, into the forum;\nfor he opposed the demand of the tribunes, and in so doing, gave\na specimen both of his courage and his powers of speaking, which\ngained him great admiration.  His speech had nothing youthful or\nrefined in it, but was straightforward, full of matter, and\nrough, at the same time that there was a certain grace about his\nrough statements which won the attention; and the speaker's\ncharacter showing itself in all he said, added to his severe\nlanguage something that excited feelings of natural pleasure and\ninterest.  His voice was full and sounding, and sufficient to be\nheard by so great a multitude, and its vigor and capacity of\nendurance quite indefatigable; for he often would speak a whole\nday, and never stop.\n\nWhen he had carried this cause, he betook himself again to study\nand retirement.  He employed himself in inuring his body to labor\nand violent exercise; and habituated himself to go bareheaded in\nthe hottest and the coldest weather, and to walk on foot at all\nseasons.  When he went on a journey with any of his friends,\nthough they were on horseback and he on foot, yet he would often\njoin now one, then another, and converse with them on the way.\nIn sickness, the patience he showed in supporting, and the\nabstinence he used for curing his distempers, were admirable.\nWhen he had an ague, he would remain alone, and suffer nobody to\nsee him, till he began to recover, and found the fit was over.\nAt supper, when he threw dice for the choice of dishes, and lost,\nand the company offered him nevertheless his choice, he declined\nto dispute, as he said, the decision of Venus. At first, he was\nwont to drink only once after supper, and then go away; but in\nprocess of time he grew to drink more, insomuch that oftentimes\nhe would continue till morning.  This his friends explained by\nsaying that state affairs and public business took him up all\nday, and being desirous of knowledge, he liked to pass the night\nat wine in the conversation of philosophers.  Hence, upon one\nMemmius saying in public, that Cato spent whole nights in\ndrinking, \"You should add,\" replied Cicero, \"that he spends whole\ndays in gambling.\"  And in general Cato esteemed the customs and\nmanners of men at that time so corrupt, and a reformation in them\nso necessary, that he thought it requisite, in many things, to go\ncontrary to the ordinary way of the world.  Seeing the lightest\nand gayest purple was then most in fashion, he would always wear\nthat which was nearest black; and he would often go out of doors,\nafter his morning meal, without either shoes or tunic; not that\nhe sought vainglory from such novelties, but he would accustom\nhimself to be ashamed only of what deserves shame, and to despise\nall other sorts of disgrace.\n\nThe estate of one Cato, his cousin, which was worth one hundred\ntalents, falling to him, he turned it all into ready money, which\nhe kept by him for any of his friends that should happen to want,\nto whom he would lend it without interest.  And for some of them,\nhe suffered his own land and his slaves to be mortgaged to the\npublic treasury.\n\nWhen he thought himself of an age fit to marry, having never\nbefore known any woman, he was contracted to Lepida, who had\nbefore been contracted to Metellus Scipio, but on Scipio's own\nwithdrawal from it, the contract had been dissolved, and she\nleft at liberty.  Yet Scipio afterward repenting himself, did all\nhe could to regain her, before the marriage with Cato was\ncompleted, and succeeded in so doing.  At which Cato was\nviolently incensed, and resolved at first to go to law about it;\nbut his friends persuaded him to the contrary.  However, he was\nso moved by the heat of youth and passion, that he wrote a\nquantity of iambic verses against Scipio, in the bitter,\nsarcastic style of Archilochus, without, however, his license and\nscurrility.  After this, he married Atilia, the daughter of\nSoranus, the first, but not the only woman he ever knew, less\nhappy thus far than Laelius, the friend of Scipio, who in the\nwhole course of so long a life never knew but the one woman to\nwhom he was united in his first and only marriage.\n\nIn the war of the slaves, which took its name from Spartacus,\ntheir ringleader, Gellius was general, and Cato went a volunteer,\nfor the sake of his brother Caepio, who was a tribune in the\narmy.  Cato could find here no opportunity to show his zeal or\nexercise his valor, on account of the ill conduct of the general.\nHowever, amidst the corruption and disorders of that army, he\nshowed such a love of discipline, so much bravery upon occasion,\nand so much courage and wisdom in everything, that it appeared\nhe was no way inferior to the old Cato.  Gellius offered him\ngreat rewards, and would have decreed him the first honors;\nwhich, however, he refused, saying, he had done nothing that\ndeserved them.  This made him be thought a man of a strange and\neccentric temper.\n\nThere was a law passed, moreover, that the candidates who stood\nfor any office should not have prompters in their canvass, to\ntell them the names of the citizens;  and Cato, when he sued to\nbe elected tribune, was the only man that obeyed this law.  He\ntook great pains to learn by his own knowledge to salute those he\nhad to speak with, and to call them by their names; yet even\nthose who praised him for this, did not do so without some envy\nand jealousy, for the more they considered the excellence of\nwhat he did, the more they were grieved at the difficulty they\nfound to do the like.\n\nBeing chosen tribune, he was sent into Macedon to join Rubrius,\nwho was general there.  It is said that his wife showing much\nconcern, and weeping at his departure, Munatius, one of Cato's\nfriends, said to her, \"Do not trouble yourself, Atilia, I will\nengage to watch over him for you.\"  \"By all means,\" replied Cato;\nand when they had gone one day's journey together, \"Now,\" said he\nto Munatius, after they had supped, \"that you may be sure to keep\nyour promise to Atilia, you must not leave me day nor night,\" and\nfrom that time, he ordered two beds to be made in his own\nchamber, that Munatius might lie there.  And so he continued to\ndo, Cato making it his jest to see that he was always there.\nThere went with him fifteen slaves, two freedmen, and four of his\nfriends; these rode on horseback, but Cato always went on foot,\nyet would he keep by them, and talk with each of them in turn, as\nthey went.\n\nWhen he came to the army, which consisted of several legions, the\ngeneral gave him the command of one; and as he looked upon it as\na small matter, and not worthy a commander, to give evidence of\nhis own single valor, he resolved to make his soldiers, as far as\nhe could, like himself, not, however, in this, relaxing the\nterrors of his office, but associating reason with his authority.\nHe persuaded and instructed every one in particular, and bestowed\nrewards or punishments according to desert; and at length his men\nwere so well disciplined, that it was hard to say, whether they\nwere more peaceable, or more warlike, more valiant, or more just;\nthey were alike formidable to their enemies and courteous to\ntheir allies, fearful to do wrong, and forward to gain honor.\nAnd Cato himself acquired in the fullest measure, what it had\nbeen his least desire to seek, glory and good repute; he was\nhighly esteemed by all men, and entirely beloved by the soldiers.\nWhatever he commanded to be done, he himself took part in the\nperforming; in his apparel, his diet and mode of traveling, he\nwas more like a common soldier than an officer; but in character,\nhigh purpose, and wisdom, he far exceeded all that had the names\nand titles of commanders, and he made himself, without knowing\nit, the object of general affection.  For the true love of virtue\nis in all men produced by the love and respect they bear to him\nthat teaches it; and those who praise good men, yet do not love\nthem, may respect their reputation, but do not really admire, and\nwill never imitate their virtue.\n\nThere dwelt at that time in Pergamus, Athenodorus, surnamed\nCordylio, a man of high repute for his knowledge of the stoic\nphilosophy, who was now grown old, and had always steadily\nrefused the friendship and acquaintance of princes and great men.\nCato understood this; so that imagining he should not be able to\nprevail with him by sending or writing, and being by the laws\nallowed two months' absence from the army, he resolved to go into\nAsia to see him in person, trusting to his own good qualities not\nto lose his labor.  And when he had conversed with him, and\nsucceeded in persuading him out of his former resolutions, he\nreturned and brought him to the camp, as joyful and as proud of\nthis victory as if he had done some heroic exploit, greater than\nany of those of Pompey or Lucullus, who, with their armies, at\nthat time were subduing so many nations and kingdoms.\n\nWhile Cato was yet in the service, his brother, on a journey\ntowards Asia, fell sick at Aenus in Thrace, letters with\nintelligence of which were immediately dispatched to him.  The\nsea was very rough, and no convenient ship of any size to be had;\nso Cato, getting into a small trading-vessel, with only two of his\nfriends and three servants, set sail from Thessalonica, and\nhaving very narrowly escaped drowning, he arrived at Aenus just\nas Caepio expired.  Upon this occasion, he was thought to have\nshowed himself more a fond brother than a philosopher, not only\nin the excess of his grief, bewailing, and embracing the dead\nbody, but also in the extravagant expenses of the funeral, the\nvast quantity of rich perfumes and costly garments which were\nburnt with the corpse, and the monument of Thasian marble, which\nhe erected, at the cost of eight talents, in the public place of\nthe town of Aenus.  For there were some who took upon them to\ncavil at all this, as not consistent with his usual calmness and\nmoderation, not discerning that though he were steadfast, firm,\nand inflexible to pleasure, fear, or foolish entreaties, yet he\nwas full of natural tenderness and brotherly affection.  Divers\nof the cities and princes of the country, sent him many presents,\nto honor the funeral of his brother; but he took none of their\nmoney, only the perfumes and ornaments he received, and paid for\nthem also.  And afterwards, when the inheritance was divided\nbetween him and Caepio's daughter, he did not require any portion\nof the funeral expenses to be discharged out of it.\nNotwithstanding this, it has been affirmed that he made his\nbrother's ashes be passed through a sieve, to find the gold that\nwas melted down when burnt with the body.  But he who made this\nstatement appears to have anticipated an exemption for his pen,\nas much as for his sword, from all question and criticism.\n\nThe time of Cato's service in the army being expired, he\nreceived, at his departure, not only the prayers and praises, but\nthe tears, and embraces of the soldiers, who spread their clothes\nat his feet, and kissed his hand as he passed, an honor which the\nRomans at that time scarcely paid even to a very few of their\ngenerals and commander-in-chief.  Having left the army, he\nresolved, before he would return home and apply himself to state\naffairs, to travel in Asia, and observe the manners, the customs,\nand the strength of every province.  He was also unwilling to\nrefuse the kindness of Deiotarus, king of Galatia, who having had\ngreat familiarity and friendship with his father, was very\ndesirous to receive a visit from him.  Cato's arrangements in his\njourney were as follows.  Early in the morning he sent out his\nbaker and his cook towards the place where he designed to stay\nthe next night; these went soberly and quietly into the town, in\nwhich, if there happened to be no friend or acquaintance of Cato\nor his family, they provided for him in an inn, and gave no\ndisturbance to anybody; but if there were no inn, then and in\nthis case only, they went to the magistrates, and desiring them\nto help them to lodgings, took without complaint whatever was\nallotted to them.  His servants thus behaving themselves towards\nthe magistrates, without noise and threatening, were often\ndiscredited, or neglected by them, so that Cato many times\narrived and found nothing provided for him.  And it was all the\nworse when he appeared himself; still less account was taken of\nhim.  When they saw him sitting, without saying anything, on his\nbaggage, they set him down at once as a person of no consequence,\nwho did not venture to make any demand.  Sometimes, on such\noccasions, he would call them to him and tell them, \"Foolish\npeople, lay aside this inhospitality.  All your visitors will not\nbe Catos.  Use your courtesy, to take off the sharp edge of\npower.  There are men enough who desire but a pretense, to take\nfrom you by force, what you give with such reluctance.\"\n\nWhile he traveled in this manner, a diverting accident befell him\nin Syria.  As he was going into Antioch, he saw a great multitude\nof people outside the gates, ranged in order on either side the\nway; here the young men with long cloaks, there the children\ndecently dressed; others wore garlands and white garments, who\nwere the priests and magistrates.  Cato, imagining all this could\nmean nothing but a display in honor of his reception, began to be\nangry with his servants who had been sent before, for suffering\nit to be done; then making his friends alight, he walked along\nwith them on foot.  As soon as he came near the gate, an elderly\nman, who seemed to be master of these ceremonies, with a wand and\na garland in his hand, came up to Cato, and without saluting him,\nasked him, where he had left Demetrius, and how soon he thought\nhe would be there.  This Demetrius was Pompey's servant, and as\nat this time the whole world, so to say, had its eyes fixed upon\nPompey, this man also was highly honored, on account of his\ninfluence with his master.  Upon this, Cato's friends fell into\nsuch violent laughter, that they could not restrain themselves\nwhile they passed through the crowd; and he himself, ashamed and\ndistressed, uttered the words, \"Unfortunate city!\" and said no\nmore.  Afterwards, however, it always made him laugh, when he\neither told the story or was otherwise reminded of it.\n\nPompey himself shortly after made the people ashamed of their\nignorance and folly in thus neglecting him, for Cato, coming in\nhis journey to Ephesus, went to pay his respects to him, who was\nthe elder man, had gained much honor, and was then general of a\ngreat army.  Yet Pompey would not receive him sitting, but as\nsoon as he saw him, rose up, and going to meet him, as the more\nhonorable person, gave him his hand, and embraced him with great\nshow of kindness.  He said much in commendation of his virtue,\nboth at that time when receiving him, and also yet more, after he\nhad withdrawn.  So that now all men began at once to display\ntheir respect for Cato, and discovered in the very same things\nfor which they despised him before, an admirable mildness of\ntemper, and greatness of spirit.  And indeed the civility that\nPompey himself showed him, appeared to come from one that rather\nrespected than loved him; and the general opinion was, that while\nCato was there, he paid him admiration, but was not sorry when he\nwas gone.  For when other young men came to see him, he usually\nurged and entreated them to continue with him.  Now he did not at\nall invite Cato to stay, but as if his own power were lessened by\nthe other's presence, he very willingly allowed him to take his\nleave.  Yet to Cato alone, of all those who went for Rome, he\nrecommended his children and his wife, who was indeed connected\nby relationship with Cato.\n\nAfter this, all the cities through which he passed, strove and\nemulated each other in showing him respect and honor.  Feasts and\nentertainments were made for his reception, so that he bade his\nfriends keep strict watch and take care of him, lest he should\nend by making good what was said by Curio, who though he were his\nfamilial friend, yet disliking the austerity of his temper, asked\nhim one day, if when he left the army, he designed to see Asia,\nand Cato answering, \"Yes, by all means,\" \"You do well,\" replied\nCurio, \"you will bring back with you a better temper and\npleasanter manners;\" pretty nearly the very words he used.\n\nDeiotarus being now an old man, had sent for Cato, to recommend\nhis children and family to his protection; and as soon as he\ncame, brought him presents of all sorts of things, which he\nbegged and entreated him to accept.  And his importunities\ndispleased Cato so much, that though he came but in the evening,\nhe stayed only that night, and went away early the next morning.\nAfter he was gone one day's journey, he found at Pessinus a yet\ngreater quantity of presents provided for him there, and also\nletters from Deiotarus, entreating him to receive them, or at\nleast to permit his friends to take them, who for his sake\ndeserved some gratification, and could not have much done for\nthem out of Cato's own means.  Yet he would not suffer it, though\nhe saw some of them very willing to receive such gifts, and ready\nto complain of his severity; but he answered, that corruption\nwould never want pretense, and his friends should share with him\nin whatever he should justly and honestly obtain, and so returned\nthe presents to Deiotarus.\n\nWhen he took ship for Brundusium, his friends would have\npersuaded him to put his brother's ashes into another vessel; but\nhe said, he would sooner part with his life than leave them, and\nso set sail.  And as it chanced, he, we are told, had a very\ndangerous passage, though others at the same time went over\nsafely enough.\n\nAfter he was returned to Rome, he spent his time for the most\npart either at home, in conversation with Athenodorus, or at the\nforum, in the service of his friends.  Though it was now the time\nthat he should become quaestor, he would not stand for the place\ntill he had studied the laws relating to it, and by inquiry from\npersons of experience, had attained a distinct understanding of\nthe duty and authority belonging to it.  With this knowledge, as\nsoon as he came into the office, he made a great reformation\namong the clerks and under-officers of the treasury, people who\nhad long practice and familiarity in all the public records and\nthe laws, and, when new magistrates came in year by year, so\nignorant and unskillful as to be in absolute need of others to\nteach them what to do, did not submit and give way, but kept the\npower in their own hands, and were in effect the treasurers\nthemselves.  Till Cato, applying himself roundly to the work,\nshowed that he possessed not only the title and honor of a\nquaestor, but the knowledge and understanding and full authority\nof his office.  So that he used the clerks and under-officers\nlike servants, as they were, exposing their corrupt practices,\nand instructing their ignorance.  Being bold impudent fellows,\nthey flattered the other quaestors, his colleagues, and by their\nmeans endeavored to maintain an opposition against him.  But he\nconvicted the chiefest of them of a breach of trust in the charge\nof an inheritance, and turned him out of his place.  A second he\nbrought to trial for dishonesty, who was defended by Lutatius\nCatulus, at that time censor, a man very considerable for his\noffice, but yet more for his character, as he was eminent above\nall the Romans of that age for his reputed wisdom and integrity.\nHe was also intimate with Cato, and much commended his way of\nliving.  So perceiving he could not bring off his client, if he\nstood a fair trial, he openly began to beg him off.  Cato\nobjected to his doing this.  And when he continued still to be\nimportunate, \"It would be shameful, Catulus,\" he said, \"that the\ncensor, the judge of all our lives, should incur the dishonor of\nremoval by our officers.\"  At this expression, Catalus looked as\nif he would have made some answer; but he said nothing, and\neither through anger or shame went away silent, and out of\ncountenance.  Nevertheless, the man was not found guilty, for the\nvoices that acquitted him were but one in number less than those\nthat condemned him, and Marcus Lollius, one of Cato's colleagues,\nwho was absent by reason of sickness, was sent for by Catalus,\nand entreated to come and save the man.  So Lollius was brought\ninto court in a chair, and gave his voice also for acquitting\nhim.  Yet Cato never after made use of that clerk, and never paid\nhim his salary, nor would he make any account of the vote given\nby Lollius.  Having thus humbled the clerks, and brought them to\nbe at command, he made use of the books and registers as he\nthought fit, and in a little while gained the treasury a higher\nname than the Senate-house itself; and all men said, Cato had\nmade the office of a quaestor equal to the dignity of a consul.\nWhen he found many indebted to the state upon old accounts, and\nthe state also in debt to many private persons, he took care that\nthe public might no longer either do or suffer wrong; he strictly\nand punctually exacted what was due to the treasury, and as\nfreely and speedily paid all those to whom it was indebted.  So\nthat the people were filled with sentiments of awe and respect,\non seeing those made to pay, who thought to have escaped with\ntheir plunder, and others receiving all their due, who despaired\nof getting anything.  And whereas usually those who brought\nfalse bills and pretended orders of the senate, could through\nfavor get them accepted, Cato would never be so imposed upon, and\nin the case of one particular order, question arising, whether it\nhad passed the senate, he would not believe a great many\nwitnesses that attested it, nor would admit of it, till the\nconsuls came and affirmed it upon oath.\n\nThere were at that time a great many whom Sylla had made use of\nas his agents in the proscription, and to whom he had for their\nservice in putting men to death, given twelve thousand drachmas\napiece.  These men everybody hated as wicked and polluted\nwretches, but nobody durst be revenged upon them.  Cato called\neveryone to account, as wrongfully possessed of the public\nmoney, and exacted it of them, and at the same time sharply\nreproved them for their unlawful and impious actions.  After\nthese proceedings, they were presently accused of murder, and\nbeing already in a manner prejudged as guilty, they were easily\nfound so, and accordingly suffered; at which the whole people\nrejoiced, and thought themselves now to see the old tyranny\nfinally abolished, and Sylla himself, so to say, brought to\npunishment.\n\nCato's assiduity also, and indefatigable diligence, won very much\nupon the people.  He always came first of any of his colleagues\nto the treasury, and went away the last.  He never missed any\nassembly of the people, or sitting of the senate; being always\nanxious and on the watch for those who lightly, or as a matter of\ninterest, passed votes in favor of this or that person, for\nremitting debts or granting away customs that were owing to the\nstate.  And at length, having kept the exchequer pure and clear\nfrom base informers, and yet having filled it with treasure, he\nmade it appear the state might be rich, without oppressing the\npeople.  At first he excited feelings of dislike and irritation\nin some of his colleagues, but after a while they were well\ncontented with him, since he was perfectly willing that they\nshould cast all the odium on him, when they declined to gratify\ntheir friends with the public money, or to give dishonest judgments\nin passing their accounts; and when hard pressed by suitors, they\ncould readily answer it was impossible to do anything, unless\nCato would consent.  On the last day of his office, he was\nhonorably attended to his house by almost all the people;\nbut on the way he was informed that several powerful friends were\nin the treasury with Marcellus, using all their interest with him\nto pass a certain debt to the public revenue, as if it had been a\ngift.  Marcellus had been one of Cato's friends from his\nchildhood, and so long as Cato was with him, was one of the best\nof his colleagues in this office, but when alone, was unable to\nresist the importunity of suitors, and prone to do anybody a\nkindness.  So Cato immediately turned back, and finding that\nMarcellus had yielded to pass the thing, he took the book, and\nwhile Marcellus silently stood by and looked on, struck it out.\nThis done, he brought Marcellus out of the treasury, and took him\nhome with him; who for all this, neither then, nor ever after,\ncomplained of him, but always continued his friendship and\nfamiliarity with him.\n\nCato after he had laid down his office, yet did not cease to keep\na watch upon the treasury.  He had his servants who continually\nwrote out the details of the expenditure, and he himself kept\nalways by him certain books, which contained the accounts of the\nrevenue from Sylla's time to his own quaestorship, which he had\nbought for five talents.\n\nHe was always first at the senate, and went out last; and often,\nwhile the others were slowly collecting, he would sit and read by\nhimself, holding his gown before his book.  He was never once out\nof town when the senate was to meet.  And when afterwards Pompey\nand his party, finding that he could never be either persuaded or\ncompelled to favor their unjust designs, endeavored to keep him\nfrom the senate, by engaging him in business for his friends, to\nplead their causes, or arbitrate in their differences, or the\nlike, he quickly discovered the trick, and to defeat it, fairly\ntold all his acquaintance that he would never meddle in any\nprivate business when the senate was assembled.  Since it was not\nin the hope of gaining honor or riches, nor out of mere impulse,\nor by chance that he engaged himself in politics, but he\nundertook the service of the state, as the proper business of an\nhonest man, and therefore he thought himself obliged to be as\nconstant to his public duty, as the bee to the honeycomb.  To\nthis end, he took care to have his friends and correspondents\neverywhere, to send him reports of the edicts, decrees,\njudgments, and all the important proceedings that passed in any\nof the provinces.  Once when Clodius, the seditious orator, to\npromote his violent and revolutionary projects, traduced to the\npeople some of the priests and priestesses, (among whom Fabia,\nsister to Cicero's wife, Terentia, ran great danger,) Cato,\nhaving boldly interfered, and having made Clodius appear so\ninfamous that he was forced to leave the town, was addressed,\nwhen it was over, by Cicero, who came to thank him for what he\nhad done.  \"You must thank the commonwealth,\" said he, for whose\nsake alone he professed to do everything.  Thus he gained a\ngreat and wonderful reputation; so that an advocate in a cause,\nwhere there was only one witness against him, told the judges\nthey ought not to rely upon a single witness, though it were Cato\nhimself.  And it was a sort of proverb with many people, if any\nvery unlikely and incredible thing were asserted, to say, they\nwould not believe it, though Cato himself should affirm it.  One\nday a debauched and sumptuous liver talking in the senate about\nfrugality and temperance, Amnaeus standing up, cried, \"Who can\nendure this, Sir, to have you feast like Crassus, build like\nLucullus and talk like Cato.\"  So likewise those who were vicious\nand dissolute in their manners, yet affected to be grave and\nsevere in their language, were in derision called Catos.\n\nAt first, when his friends would have persuaded him to stand to\nbe tribune of the people, he thought it undesirable; for that the\npower of so great an office ought to be reserved, as the\nstrongest medicines, for occasions of the last necessity.  But\nafterwards in a vacation time, as he was going, accompanied with\nhis books and philosophers, to Lucania, where he had lands with a\npleasant residence, they met by the way a great many horses,\ncarriages, and attendants, of whom they understood, that Metellus\nNepos was going to Rome, to stand to be tribune of the people.\nHereupon Cato stopped, and after a little pause, gave orders to\nreturn back immediately; at which the company seeming to wonder,\n\"Don't you know,\" said he, \"how dangerous of itself the madness\nof Metellus is? and now that he comes armed with the support of\nPompey, he will fall like lightning on the state, and bring it to\nutter disorder; therefore this is no time for idleness and\ndiversion, but we must go and prevent this man in his designs, or\nbravely die in defense of our liberty.\"  Nevertheless, by the\npersuasion of his friends, he went first to his country-house,\nwhere he stayed but a very little time, and then returned to\ntown.\n\nHe arrived in the evening, and went straight the next morning to\nthe forum, where he began to solicit for the tribuneship, in\nopposition to Metellus.  The power of this office consists rather\nin controlling, than performing any business; for though all the\nrest except any one tribune should be agreed, yet his denial or\nintercession could put a stop to the whole matter.  Cato, at\nfirst, had not many that appeared for him; but as soon as his\ndesign was known, all the good and distinguished persons of the\ncity quickly came forward to encourage and support him, looking\nupon him, not as one that desired a favor of them, but one that\nproposed to do a great favor to his country and all honest men;\nwho had many times refused the same office, when he might have\nhad it without trouble, but now sought it with danger, that he\nmight defend their liberty and their government.  It is reported\nthat so great a number flocked about him, that he was like to be\nstifled amidst the press, and could scarce get through the crowd.\nHe was declared tribune, with several others, among whom was\nMetellus.\n\nWhen Cato was chosen into this office, observing that the\nelection of consuls was become a matter of purchase, he sharply\nrebuked the people for this corruption, and in the conclusion of\nhis speech protested, he would bring to trial whomever he should\nfind giving money, making an exception only in the case of\nSilanus, on account of their near connection, he having married\nServilia, Cato's sister.  He therefore did not prosecute him, but\naccused Lucius Murena, who had been chosen consul by corrupt\nmeans with Silanus.  There was a law that the party accused might\nappoint a person to keep watch upon his accuser, that he might\nknow fairly what means he took in preparing the accusation.  He\nthat was set upon Cato by Murena, at first followed and observed\nhim strictly, yet never found him dealing any way unfairly or\ninsidiously, but always generously and candidly going on in the\njust and open methods of proceeding.  And he so admired Cato's\ngreat spirit, and so entirely trusted to his integrity, that\nmeeting him in the forum, or going to his house, he would ask\nhim, if he designed to do anything that day in order to the\naccusation, and if Cato said no, he went away, relying on his\nword.  When the cause was pleaded, Cicero, who was then consul\nand defended Murena, took occasion to be extremely witty and\njocose, in reference to Cato, upon the stoic philosophers, and\ntheir paradoxes, as they call them, and so excited great laughter\namong the judges; upon which Cato, smiling, said to the standers\nby, \"What a pleasant consul we have, my friends.\"  Murena was\nacquitted, and afterwards showed himself a man of no ill feeling\nor want of sense; for when he was consul, he always took Cato's\nadvice in the most weighty affairs, and during all the time of\nhis office, paid him much honor and respect.  Of which not only\nMurena's prudence, but also Cato's own behavior, was the cause;\nfor though he were terrible and severe as to matters of justice,\nin the senate, and at the bar, yet after the thing was over, his\nmanner to all men was perfectly friendly and humane.\n\nBefore he entered on the office of tribune, he assisted Cicero,\nat that time consul, in many contests that concerned his office,\nbut most especially in his great and noble acts at the time of\nCatiline's conspiracy, which owed their last successful issue to\nCato.  Catiline had plotted a dreadful and entire subversion of\nthe Roman state by sedition and open war, but being convicted by\nCicero, was forced to fly the city.  Yet Lentulus and Cethegus\nremained with several others, to carry on the same plot; and\nblaming Catiline, as one that wanted courage, and had been timid\nand petty in his designs, they themselves resolved to set the\nwhole town on fire, and utterly to overthrow the empire, rousing\nwhole nations to revolt and exciting foreign wars.  But the\ndesign was discovered by Cicero, (as we have written in his\nlife,) and the matter brought before the senate.  Silanus, who\nspoke first, delivered his opinion, that the conspirators ought\nto suffer the last of punishments, and was therein followed by\nall who spoke after him; till it came to Caesar, who being an\nexcellent speaker, and looking upon all changes and commotions in\nthe state as materials useful for his own purposes, desired\nrather to increase than extinguish them; and standing up, he made\na very merciful and persuasive speech, that they ought not to\nsuffer death without fair trial according to law, and moved that\nthey might be kept in prison.  Thus was the house almost wholly\nturned by Caesar, apprehending also the anger of the people;\ninsomuch that even Silanus retracted, and said he did not mean to\npropose death, but imprisonment, for that was the utmost a Roman\ncould suffer.  Upon this they were all inclined to the milder and\nmore merciful opinion, when Cato standing up, began at once with\ngreat passion and vehemence to reproach Silanus for his change of\nopinion, and to attack Caesar, who would, he said, ruin the\ncommonwealth by soft words and popular speeches, and was\nendeavoring to frighten the senate, when he himself ought to\nfear, and be thankful, if he escaped unpunished or unsuspected,\nwho thus openly and boldly dared to protect the enemies of the\nstate, and while finding no compassion for his own native\ncountry, brought, with all its glories, so near to utter ruin,\ncould yet be full of pity for those men, who had better never\nhave been born, and whose death must deliver the commonwealth\nfrom bloodshed and destruction.  This only of all Cato's\nspeeches, it is said, was preserved; for Cicero, the consul, had\ndisposed, in various parts of the senate-house, several of the\nmost expert and rapid writers, whom he had taught to make figures\ncomprising numerous words in a few short strokes; as up to that\ntime they had not used those we call short-hand writers, who\nthen, as it is said, established the first example of the art.\nThus Cato carried it, and so turned the house again, that it was\ndecreed the conspirators should be put to death.\n\nNot to omit any small matters that may serve to show Cato's\ntemper, and add something to the portraiture of his mind, it is\nreported, that while Caesar and he were in the very heat, and the\nwhole senate regarding them two, a little note was brought in to\nCaesar, which Cato declared to be suspicious, and urging that\nsome seditious act was going on, bade the letter be read.  Upon\nwhich Caesar handed the paper to Cato; who discovering it to be a\nlove-letter from his sister Servilia to Caesar, by whom she had\nbeen corrupted, threw it to him again, saying, \"Take it,\ndrunkard,\" and so went on with his discourse.  And, indeed, it\nseems Cato had but ill-fortune in women; for this lady was ill\nspoken of, for her familiarity with Caesar, and the other\nServilia, Cato's sister also, was yet more ill-conducted; for\nbeing married to Lucullus, one of the greatest men in Rome, and\nhaving brought him a son, she was afterwards divorced for\nincontinency.  But what was worst of all, Cato's own wife Atilia\nwas not free from the same fault; and after she had borne him two\nchildren, he was forced to put her away for her misconduct.\nAfter that he married Marcia, the daughter of Philippus, a woman\nof good reputation, who yet has occasioned much discourse; and\nthe life of Cato, like a dramatic piece, has this one scene or\npassage full of perplexity and doubtful meaning.\n\nIt is thus related by Thrasea, who refers to the authority of\nMunatius, Cato's friend and constant companion.  Among many that\nloved and admired Cato, some were more remarkable and conspicuous\nthan others.  Of these was Quintus Hortensius, a man of high\nrepute and approved virtue, who desired not only to live in\nfriendship and familiarity with Cato, but also to unite his whole\nhouse and family with him by some sort or other of alliance in\nmarriage.  Therefore he set himself to persuade Cato, that his\ndaughter Porcia, who was already married to Bibulus, and had\nborne him two children, might nevertheless be given to him, as a\nfair plot of land, to bear fruit also for him.  \"For,\" said he,\n\"though this in the opinion of men may seem strange, yet in\nnature it is honest, and profitable for the public, that a woman\nin the prime of her youth should not lie useless, and lose the\nfruit of her womb, nor, on the other side, should burden and\nimpoverish one man, by bringing him too many children.  Also by\nthis communication of families among worthy men, virtue would\nincrease, and be diffused through their posterity; and the\ncommonwealth would be united and cemented by their alliances.\"\nYet if Bibulus would not part with his wife altogether, he would\nrestore her as soon as she had brought him a child, whereby he\nmight be united to both their families.  Cato answered, that he\nloved Hortensius very well, and much approved of uniting their\nhouses, but he thought it strange to speak of marrying his\ndaughter, when she was already given to another.  Then\nHortensius, turning the discourse, did not hesitate to speak\nopenly and ask for Cato's own wife, for she was young and\nfruitful, and he had already children enough.  Neither can it be\nthought that Hortensius did this, as imagining Cato did not care\nfor Marcia; for, it is said, she was then with child.  Cato,\nperceiving his earnest desire, did not deny his request, but said\nthat Philippus, the father of Marcia, ought also to be consulted.\nPhilippus, therefore, being sent for, came; and finding they were\nwell agreed, gave his daughter Marcia to Hortensius in the\npresence of Cato, who himself also assisted at the marriage.\nThis was done at a later time, but since I was speaking of women,\nI thought it well to mention it now.\n\nLentulus and the rest of the conspirators were put to death, but\nCaesar, finding so much insinuated and charged against him in the\nsenate, betook himself to the people, and proceeded to stir up\nthe most corrupt and dissolute elements of the state to form a\nparty in his support.  Cato, apprehensive of what might ensue,\npersuaded the senate to win over the poor and unprovided-for\nmultitude, by a distribution of corn, the annual charge of which\namounted to twelve hundred and fifty talents.  This act of\nhumanity and kindness unquestionably dissipated the present\ndanger.  But Metellus, coming into his office of tribune, began\nto hold tumultuous assemblies, and had prepared a decree, that\nPompey the Great should presently be called into Italy, with all\nhis forces, to preserve the city from the danger of Catiline's\nconspiracy.  This was the fair pretense; but the true design was,\nto deliver all into the hands of Pompey, and give him an absolute\npower.  Upon this the senate was assembled, and Cato did not fall\nsharply upon Metellus, as he often did, but urged his advice in\nthe most reasonable and moderate tone.  At last he descended even\nto entreaty, and extolled the house of Metellus, as having always\ntaken part with the nobility.  At this Metellus grew the more\ninsolent, and despising Cato, as if he yielded and were afraid,\nlet himself proceed to the most audacious menaces, openly\nthreatening to do whatever he pleased in spite of the senate.\nUpon this Cato changed his countenance, his voice, and his\nlanguage; and after many sharp expressions, boldly concluded,\nthat while he lived, Pompey should never come armed into the\ncity.  The senate thought them both extravagant, and not well in\ntheir safe senses; for the design of Metellus seemed to be mere\nrage and frenzy, out of excess of mischief bringing all things to\nruin and confusion, and Cato's virtue looked like a kind of\necstasy of contention in the cause of what was good and just.\n\nBut when the day came for the people to give their voices for the\npassing this decree, and Metellus beforehand occupied the forum\nwith armed men, strangers, gladiators, and slaves, those that in\nhopes of change followed Pompey, were known to be no small part\nof the people, and besides, they had great assistance from\nCaesar, who was then praetor; and though the best and chiefest\nmen of the city were no less offended at these proceedings than\nCato, they seemed rather likely to suffer with him, than able to\nassist him.  In the meantime Cato's whole family were in extreme\nfear and apprehension for him; some of his friends neither ate\nnor slept all the night, passing the whole time in debating and\nperplexity; his wife and sisters also bewailed and lamented him.\nBut he himself, void of all fear, and full of assurance,\ncomforted and encouraged them by his own words and conversation\nwith them.  After supper he went to rest at his usual hour, and\nwas the next day waked out of a profound sleep by Minucius\nThermus, one of his colleagues.  So soon as he was up, they two\nwent together into the forum, accompanied by very few, but met by\na great many, who bade them have a care of themselves.  Cato,\ntherefore, when he saw the temple of Castor and Pollux\nencompassed with armed men, and the steps guarded by gladiators,\nand at the top Metellus and Caesar seated together, turning to\nhis friends, \"Behold,\" said he, \"this audacious coward, who has\nlevied a regiment of soldiers against one unarmed naked man;\"\nand so he went on with Thermus.  Those who kept the passages,\ngave way to these two only, and would not let anybody else pass.\nYet Cato taking Munatius by the hand, with much difficulty pulled\nhim through along with him.  Then going directly to Metellus and\nCaesar, he sat himself down between them, to prevent their\ntalking to one another, at which they were both amazed and\nconfounded.  And those of the honest party, observing the\ncountenance, and admiring the high spirit and boldness of Cato,\nwent nearer, and cried out to him to have courage, exhorting also\none another to stand together, and not betray their liberty, nor\nthe defender of it.\n\nThen the clerk took out the bill, but Cato forbade him to read\nit, whereupon Metellus took it, and would have read it himself,\nbut Cato snatched away the book.  Yet Metellus having the decree\nby heart, began to recite it without book; but Thermus put his\nhand to his mouth, and stopped his speech.  Metellus seeing them\nfully bent to withstand him, and the people cowed, and inclining\nto the better side, sent to his house for armed men.  And on\ntheir rushing in with great noise and terror, all the rest\ndispersed and ran away, except Cato, who alone stood still, while\nthe other party threw sticks and stones at him from above, until\nMurena, whom he had formerly accused, came up to protect him, and\nholding his gown before him, cried out to them to leave off\nthrowing; and, in fine, persuading and pulling him along, he\nforced him into the temple of Castor and Pollux.  Metellus now\nseeing the place clear, and all the adverse party fled out of the\nforum, thought he might easily carry his point; so he commanded\nthe soldiers to retire, and recommencing in an orderly manner,\nbegan to proceed to passing the decree.  But the other side\nhaving recovered themselves, returned very boldly, and with loud\nshouting, insomuch that Metellus's adherents were seized with a\npanic, supposing them to be coming with a reinforcement of armed\nmen, and fled every one out of the place.  They being thus\ndispersed, Cato came in again, and confirmed the courage, and\ncommended the resolution of the people; so that now the majority\nwere, by all means, for deposing Metellus from his office.  The\nsenate also being assembled, gave orders once more for supporting\nCato, and resisting the motion, as of a nature to excite sedition\nand perhaps civil war in the city.\n\nBut Metellus continued still very bold and resolute; and seeing\nhis party stood greatly in fear of Cato, whom they looked upon as\ninvincible, he hurried out of the senate into the forum, and\nassembled the people, to whom he made a bitter and invidious\nspeech against Cato, crying out, he was forced to fly from his\ntyranny, and this conspiracy against Pompey; that the city would\nsoon repent their having dishonored so great a man.  And from\nhence he started to go to Asia, with the intention, as would be\nsupposed, of laying before Pompey all the injuries that were done\nhim.  Cato was highly extolled for having delivered the state\nfrom this dangerous tribuneship, and having in some measure\ndefeated, in the person of Metellus, the power of Pompey; but he\nwas yet more commended when, upon the senate proceeding to\ndisgrace Metellus and depose him from his office, he altogether\nopposed and at length diverted the design.  The common people\nadmired his moderation and humanity, in not trampling wantonly on\nan enemy whom he had overthrown, and wiser men acknowledged his\nprudence and policy, in not exasperating Pompey.\n\nLucullus soon after returned from the war in Asia, the finishing\nof which, and thereby the glory of the whole, was thus, in all\nappearance, taken out of his hands by Pompey.  And he was also\nnot far from losing his triumph, for Caius Memmius traduced him\nto the people, and threatened to accuse him; rather, however, out\nof love to Pompey, than for any particular enmity to him.  But\nCato, being allied to Lucullus, who had married his sister\nServilia, and also thinking it a great injustice, opposed\nMemmius, thereby exposing himself to much slander and\nmisrepresentation, insomuch that they would have turned him out\nof his office, pretending that he used his power tyrannically.\nYet at length Cato so far prevailed against Memmius, that he was\nforced to let fall the accusations, and abandon the contest.  And\nLucullus having thus obtained his triumph, yet more sedulously\ncultivated Cato's friendship, which he looked upon as a great\nguard and defense for him against Pompey's power.\n\nAnd now Pompey also returning with glory from the war, and\nconfiding in the good-will of the people, shown in their splendid\nreception of him, thought he should be denied nothing, and sent\ntherefore to the senate to put off the assembly for the election\nof consuls, till he could be present to assist Piso, who stood\nfor that office.  To this most of the senators were disposed to\nyield; Cato, only, not so much thinking that this delay would be\nof great importance, but, desiring to cut down at once Pompey's\nhigh expectations and designs, withstood his request, and so\noverruled the senate, that it was carried against him.  And this\nnot a little disturbed Pompey, who found he should very often\nfail in his projects, unless he could bring over Cato to his\ninterest.  He sent, therefore, for Munatius, his friend; and Cato\nhaving two nieces that were marriageable, he offered to marry the\neldest himself, and take the youngest for his son.  Some say they\nwere not his nieces, but his daughters.  Munatius proposed the\nmatter to Cato, in presence of his wife and sisters; the women\nwere full of joy at the prospect of an alliance with so great and\nimportant a person.  But Cato, without delay or balancing,\nforming his decision at once, answered, \"Go, Munatius, go and\ntell Pompey, that Cato is not assailable on the side of the\nwomen's chamber; I am grateful indeed for the intended kindness,\nand so long as his actions are upright, I promise him a\nfriendship more sure than any marriage alliance, but I will not\ngive hostages to Pompey's glory, against my country's safety.\"\nThis answer was very much against the wishes of the women, and to\nall his friends it seemed somewhat harsh and haughty.  But\nafterwards, when Pompey, endeavoring to get the consulship for\none of his friends, gave pay to the people for their votes, and\nthe bribery was notorious, the money being counted out in\nPompey's own gardens, Cato then said to the women, they must\nnecessarily have been concerned in the contamination of these\nmisdeeds of Pompey, if they had been allied to his family; and\nthey acknowledged that he did best in refusing it.  Yet if we may\njudge by the event, Cato was much to blame in rejecting that\nalliance, which thereby fell to Caesar.  And then that match was\nmade, which, uniting his and Pompey's power, had well-nigh ruined\nthe Roman empire, and did destroy the commonwealth.  Nothing of\nwhich perhaps had come to pass, but that Cato was too\napprehensive of Pompey's least faults, and did not consider how\nhe forced him into conferring on another man the opportunity of\ncommitting the greatest.\n\nThese things, however, were yet to come.  Lucullus, meantime, and\nPompey, had a great dispute concerning their orders and\narrangements in Pontus, each endeavoring that his own ordinances\nmight stand.  Cato took part with Lucullus, who was manifestly\nsuffering wrong; and Pompey, finding himself the weaker in the\nsenate, had recourse to the people, and to gain votes, he\nproposed a law for dividing the lands among the soldiers.  Cato\nopposing him in this also, made the bill be rejected.  Upon this\nhe joined himself with Clodius, at that time the most violent of\nall the demagogues; and entered also into friendship with Caesar,\nupon an occasion of which also Cato was the cause.  For Caesar\nreturning from his government in Spain, at the same time sued to\nbe chosen consul, and yet desired not to lose his triumph.  Now\nthe law requiring that those who stood for any office should be\npresent, and yet that whoever expected a triumph should continue\nwithout the walls, Caesar requested the senate, that his friends\nmight be permitted to canvass for him in his absence.  Many of\nthe senators were willing to consent to it, but Cato opposed it,\nand perceiving them inclined to favor Caesar, spent the whole day\nin speaking, and so prevented the senate from coming to any\nconclusion.  Caesar, therefore, resolving to let fall his\npretensions to the triumph, came into the town, and immediately\nmade a friendship with Pompey, and stood for the consulship.  And\nso soon as he was declared consul elect, he married his daughter\nJulia to Pompey.  And having thus combined themselves together\nagainst the commonwealth, the one proposed laws for dividing the\nlands among the poor people, and the other was present to support\nthe proposals Lucullus, Cicero, and their friends, joined with\nBibulus, the other consul, to hinder their passing, and, foremost\nof them all, Cato, who already looked upon the friendship and\nalliance of Pompey and Caesar as very dangerous, and declared he\ndid not so much dislike the advantage the people should get by\nthis division of the lands, as he feared the reward these men\nwould gain, by thus courting and cozening the people.  And in\nthis he gained over the senate to his opinion, as likewise many\nwho were not senators, who were offended at Caesar's ill conduct,\nthat he, in the office of consul, should thus basely and\ndishonorably flatter the people; practicing, to win their favor,\nthe same means that were wont to be used only by the most rash\nand rebellious tribunes.  Caesar, therefore, and his party,\nfearing they should not carry it by fair dealing, fell to open\nforce.  First a basket of dung was thrown upon Bibulus as he was\ngoing to the forum; then they set upon his lictors and broke\ntheir rods; at length several darts were thrown, and many men\nwounded; so that all that were against those laws, fled out of\nthe forum, the rest with what haste they could, and Cato, last of\nall, walking out slowly, often turning back and calling down\nvengeance upon them.\n\nThus the other party not only carried their point of dividing the\nlands, but also ordained, that all the senate should swear to\nconfirm this law, and to defend it against whoever should attempt\nto alter it, indicting great penalties on those that should\nrefuse the oath.  All the senators seeing the necessity they were\nin, took the oath, remembering the example of Metellus in old\ntime, who refusing to swear upon the like occasion, was forced to\nleave Italy.  As for Cato, his wife and children with tears\nbesought him, his friends and familiars persuaded and entreated\nhim, to yield and take the oath; but he that principally\nprevailed with him was Cicero, the orator, who urged upon him\nthat it was perhaps not even right in itself, that a private man\nshould oppose what the public had decreed; that the thing being\nalready past altering, it were folly and madness to throw himself\ninto danger, without the chance of doing his country any good; it\nwould be the greatest of all evils, to embrace, as it were, the\nopportunity to abandon the commonwealth, for whose sake he did\neverything, and to let it fall into the hands of those who\ndesigned nothing but its ruin, as if he were glad to be saved\nfrom the trouble of defending it.  \"For,\" said he, \"though Cato\nhave no need of Rome, yet Rome has need of Cato, and so likewise\nhave all his friends.\"  Of whom Cicero professed he himself was\nthe chief, being; at that time aimed at by Clodius, who openly\nthreatened to fall upon him, as soon as ever he should get to be\ntribune.  Thus Cato, they say, moved by the entreaties and the\narguments of his friends, went unwillingly to take the oath,\nwhich he did the last of all, except only Favonius, one of his\nintimate acquaintance.\n\nCaesar, exalted with this success, proposed another law, for\ndividing almost all the country of Campania among the poor and\nneedy citizens.  Nobody durst speak against it but Cato, whom\nCaesar therefore pulled from the rostra, and dragged to prison:\nyet Cato did not even thus remit his freedom of speech, but as\nhe went along, continued to speak against the law, and advised\nthe people to put down all legislators who proposed the like.\nThe senate and the best of the citizens followed him with sad and\ndejected looks, showing their grief and indignation by their\nsilence, so that Caesar could not be ignorant how much they were\noffended; but for contention's sake, he still persisted,\nexpecting Cato should either supplicate him, or make an appeal.\nBut when he saw that he did not so much as think of doing either,\nashamed of what he was doing and of what people thought of it, he\nhimself privately bade one of the tribunes interpose and procure\nhis release.  However, having won the multitude by these laws and\ngratifications, they decreed that Caesar should have the\ngovernment of Illyricum, and all Gaul, with an army of four\nlegions, for the space of five years, though Cato still cried out\nthey were, by their own vote, placing a tyrant in their citadel.\nPublius Clodius, who illegally of a patrician became a plebeian,\nwas declared tribune of the people, as he had promised to do all\nthings according to their pleasure, on condition he might banish\nCicero.  And for consuls, they set up Calpurnius Piso, the father\nof Caesar's wife, and Aulus Gabinius, one of Pompey's creatures,\nas they tell us, who best knew his life and manners.\n\nYet when they had thus firmly established all things, having\nmastered one part of the city by favor, and the other by fear,\nthey themselves were still afraid of Cato, and remembered with\nvexation what pains and trouble their success over him had cost\nthem, and indeed what shame and disgrace, when at last they were\ndriven to use violence to him.  This made Clodius despair of\ndriving Cicero out of Italy while Cato stayed at home.\nTherefore, having first laid his design, as soon as he came into\nhis office, he sent for Cato, and told him, that he looked upon\nhim as the most incorrupt of all the Romans, and was ready to\nshow he did so.  \"For whereas,\" said he, \"many have applied to be\nsent to Cyprus on the commission in the case of Ptolemy, and have\nsolicited to have the appointment, I think you alone are\ndeserving of it, and I desire to give you the favor of the\nappointment.\"  Cato at once cried out, it was a mere design upon\nhim, and no favor, but an injury.  Then Clodius proudly and\nfiercely answered, \"If you will not take it as a kindness, you\nshall go, though never so unwillingly;\" and immediately going\ninto the assembly of the people, he made them pass a decree, that\nCato should be sent to Cyprus.  But they ordered him neither\nship, nor soldier, nor any attendant, except two secretaries; one\nof whom was a thief and a rascal, and the other a retainer to\nClodius.  Besides, as if Cyprus and Ptolemy were not work\nsufficient, he was ordered also to restore the refugees of\nByzantium.  For Clodius was resolved to keep him far enough off,\nwhilst himself continued tribune.\n\nCato being in this necessity of going away, advised Cicero, who\nwas next to be set upon, to make no resistance, lest he should\nthrow the state into civil war and confusion, but to give way to\nthe times, and thus become once more the preserver of his\ncountry.  He himself sent forward Canidius, one of his friends,\nto Cyprus, to persuade Ptolemy to yield, without being forced;\nwhich if he did, he should want neither riches nor honor, for the\nRomans would give him the priesthood of the goddess at Paphos.\nHe himself stayed at Rhodes, making some preparations, and\nexpecting an answer from Cyprus.  In the meantime, Ptolemy, king\nof Egypt, who had left Alexandria, upon some quarrel between him\nand his subjects, and was sailing for Rome, in hopes that Pompey\nand Caesar would send troops to restore him, in his way thither\ndesired to see Cato, to whom he sent, supposing he would come to\nhim.  Cato had taken purging medicine at the time when the\nmessenger came, and made answer, that Ptolemy had better come to\nhim, if he thought fit.  And when he came, he neither went\nforward to meet him, nor so much as rose up to him, but saluting\nhim as an ordinary person, bade him sit down.  This at once threw\nPtolemy into some confusion, who was surprised to see such stern\nand haughty manners in one who made so plain and unpretending an\nappearance; but afterwards, when he began to talk about his\naffairs, he was no less astonished at the wisdom and freedom of\nhis discourse.  For Cato blamed his conduct, and pointed out to\nhim what honor and happiness he was abandoning, and what\nhumiliations and troubles he would run himself into; what bribery\nhe must resort to and what cupidity he would have to satisfy,\nwhen he came to the leading men at Rome, whom all Egypt turned\ninto silver would scarcely content.  He therefore advised him to\nreturn home, and be reconciled to his subjects, offering to go\nalong with him, and assist him in composing the differences.  And\nby this language Ptolemy being brought to himself, as it might be\nout of a fit of madness or delirium and discerning the truth and\nwisdom of what Cato said, resolved to follow his advice; but he\nwas again over-persuaded by his friends to the contrary, and so,\naccording to his first design, went to Rome.  When he came there,\nand was forced to wait at the gate of one of the magistrates, he\nbegan to lament his folly, in having rejected, rather, as it\nseemed to him, the oracle of a god, than the advice merely of a\ngood and wise man.\n\nIn the meantime, the other Ptolemy, in Cyprus, very luckily for\nCato, poisoned himself.  It was reported he had left great\nriches; therefore Cato designing to go first to Byzantium, sent\nhis nephew Brutus to Cyprus, as he would not wholly trust\nCanidius.  Then, having reconciled the refugees and the people of\nByzantium, he left the city in peace and quietness; and so sailed\nto Cyprus, where he found a royal treasure of plate, tables,\nprecious stones and purple, all which was to be turned into ready\nmoney.  And being determined to do everything with the greatest\nexactness, and to raise the price of everything to the utmost, to\nthis end he was always present at selling the things, and went\ncarefully into all the accounts.  Nor would he trust to the usual\ncustoms of the market, but looked doubtfully upon all alike, the\nofficers, criers, purchasers, and even his own friends; and so in\nfine he himself talked with the buyers, and urged them to bid\nhigh, and conducted in this manner the greatest part of the\nsales.\n\nThis mistrustfulness offended others of his friends, and, in\nparticular, Munatius, the most intimate of them all, became\nalmost irreconcilable.  And this afforded Caesar the subject of\nhis severest censures in the book he wrote against Cato.  Yet\nMunatius himself relates, that the quarrel was not so much\noccasioned by Cato's mistrust, as by his neglect of him, and by\nhis own jealousy of Canidius.  For Munatius also wrote a book\nconcerning Cato, which is the chief authority followed by\nThrasea.  Munatius says, that coming to Cyprus after the other,\nand having a very poor lodging provided for him, he went to\nCato's house, but was not admitted, because he was engaged in\nprivate with Canidius; of which he afterwards complained in very\ngentle terms to Cato, but received a very harsh answer, that too\nmuch love, according to Theophrastus, often causes hatred; \"and\nyou,\" he said, \"because you bear me much love, think you receive\ntoo little honor, and presently grow angry.  I employ Canidius on\naccount of his industry and his fidelity; he has been with me\nfrom the first, and I have found him to be trusted.\"  These\nthings were said in private between them two; but Cato afterwards\ntold Canidius what had passed; on being informed of which,\nMunatius would no more go to sup with him, and when he was\ninvited to give his counsel, refused to come.  Then Cato\nthreatened to seize his goods, as was the custom in the case of\nthose who were disobedient; but Munatius not regarding his\nthreats, returned to Rome, and continued a long time thus\ndiscontented.  But afterwards, when Cato was come back also,\nMarcia, who as yet lived with him, contrived to have them both\ninvited to sup together at the house of one Barca; Cato came in\nlast of all, when the rest were laid down, and asked, where he\nshould be.  Barca answered him, where he pleased; then looking\nabout, he said, he would be near Munatius, and went and placed\nhimself next to him; yet he showed him no other mark of kindness,\nall the time they were at table together.  But another time, at\nthe entreaty of Marcia, Cato wrote to Munatius, that he desired\nto speak with him.  Munatius went to his house in the morning,\nand was kept by Marcia till all the company was gone; then Cato\ncame, threw both his arms about him, and embraced him very\nkindly, and they were reconciled.  I have the more fully related\nthis passage, for that I think the manners and tempers of men are\nmore clearly discovered by things of this nature, than by great\nand conspicuous actions.\n\nCato got together little less than seven thousand talents of\nsilver; but apprehensive of what might happen in so long a voyage\nby sea, he provided a great many coffers, that held two talents\nand five hundred drachmas apiece; to each of these he fastened a\nlong rope, and to the other end of the rope a piece of cork, so\nthat if the ship should miscarry, it might be discovered\nthereabout the chests lay under water.  Thus all the money,\nexcept a very little, was safely transported.  But he had made\ntwo books, in which all the accounts of his commission were\ncarefully written out, and neither of these was preserved.  For\nhis freedman Philargyrus, who had the charge of one of them,\nsetting sail from Cenchreae was lost, together with the ship and\nall her freight.  And the other Cato himself kept safe, till he\ncame to Corcyra, but there he set up his tent in the\nmarket-place, and the sailors being very cold in the night, made\na great many fires, some of which caught the tents, so that they\nwere burnt, and the book lost.  And though he had brought with\nhim several of Ptolemy's stewards, who could testify to his\nintegrity, and stop the mouths of enemies and false accusers, yet\nthe loss annoyed him, and he was vexed with himself about the\nmatter, as he had designed them not so much for a proof of his\nown fidelity, as for a pattern of exactness to others.\n\nThe news did not fail to reach Rome, that he was coming up the\nriver.  All the magistrates, the priests, and the whole senate,\nwith great part of the people, went out to meet him; both the\nbanks of the Tiber were covered with people; so that his entrance\nwas in solemnity and honor not inferior to a triumph.  But it was\nthought somewhat strange, and looked like willfulness and pride,\nthat when the consuls and praetors appeared, he did not\ndisembark, nor stay to salute them, but rowed up the stream in a\nroyal galley of six banks of oars, and stopped not till he\nbrought his vessels to the dock.  However, when the money was\ncarried through the streets, the people much wondered at the vast\nquantity of it, and the senate being assembled, decreed him in\nhonorable terms an extraordinary praetorship, and also the\nprivilege of appearing at the public spectacles in a robe faced\nwith purple.  Cato declined all these honors, but declaring what\ndiligence and fidelity he had found in Nicias, the steward of\nPtolemy, he requested the senate to give him his freedom.\n\nPhilippus, the father of Marcia, was that year consul, and the\nauthority and power of the office rested in a manner in Cato; for\nthe other consul paid him no less regard for his virtue's sake,\nthan Philippus did on account of the connection between them.\nAnd Cicero now being returned from his banishment, into which he\nwas driven by Clodius, and having again obtained great credit\namong the people, went, in the absence of Clodius, and by force\ntook away the records of his tribuneship, which had been laid up\nin the capitol.  Hereupon the senate was assembled, and Clodius\ncomplained of Cicero, who answered, that Clodius was never\nlegally tribune, and therefore whatever he had done, was void,\nand of no authority.  But Cato interrupted him while he spoke,\nand at last standing up said, that indeed he in no way justified\nor approved of Clodius's proceedings; but if they questioned the\nvalidity of what had been done in his tribuneship, they might\nalso question what himself had done at Cyprus, for the expedition\nwas unlawful, if he that sent him had no lawful authority:  for\nhimself, he thought Clodius wee legally made tribune, who, by\npermission of the law, was from a patrician adopted into a\nplebeian family; if he had done ill in his office, he ought to be\ncalled to account for it; but the authority of the magistracy\nought not to suffer for the faults of the magistrate.  Cicero\ntook this ill, and for a long time discontinued his friendship\nwith Cato; but they were afterwards reconciled.\n\nPompey and Crassus, by agreement with Caesar, who crossed the\nAlps to see them, had formed a design, that they two should stand\nto be chosen consuls a second time, and when they should be in\ntheir office, they would continue to Caesar his government for\nfive years more, and take to themselves the greatest provinces,\nwith armies and money to maintain them.  This seemed a plain\nconspiracy to subvert the constitution and parcel out the empire.\nSeveral men of high character had intended to stand to be consuls\nthat year, but upon the appearance of these great competitors,\nthey all desisted, except only Lucius Domitius, who had married\nPorcia, the sister of Cato, and was by him persuaded to stand it\nout, and not abandon such an undertaking, which, he said, was not\nmerely to gain the consulship, but to save the liberty of Rome.\nIn the meantime, it was the common topic among the more prudent\npart of the citizens, that they ought not to suffer the power of\nPompey and Crassus to be united, which would then be carried\nbeyond all bounds, and become dangerous to the state; that\ntherefore one of them must be denied.  For these reasons they\ntook part with Domitius, whom they exhorted and encouraged to go\non, assuring him, that many who feared openly to appear for him,\nwould privately assist him.  Pompey's party fearing this, laid\nwait for Domitius, and set upon him as he was going before\ndaylight, with torches, into the Field.  First he that bore the\nlight next before Domitius, was knocked down and killed; then\nseveral others being wounded, all the rest fled, except Cato and\nDomitius, whom Cato held, though himself were wounded in the arm,\nand crying out, conjured the others to stay, and not while they\nhad any breath, forsake the defense of their liberty against\nthose tyrants, who plainly showed with what moderation they were\nlikely to use the power, which they endeavored to gain by such\nviolence.  But at length Domitius also, no longer willing to face\nthe danger, fled to his own house, and so Pompey and Crassus were\ndeclared consuls.\n\nNevertheless, Cato would not give over, but resolved to stand\nhimself to be praetor that year, which he thought would be some\nhelp to him in his design of opposing them; that he might not act\nas a private man, when he was to contend with public magistrates.\nPompey and Crassus apprehended this; and fearing that the office\nof praetor in the person of Cato might be equal in authority to\nthat of consul, they assembled the senate unexpectedly, without\ngiving any notice to a great many of the senators, and made an\norder, that those who were chosen praetors, should immediately\nenter upon their office, without attending the usual time, in\nwhich, according to law, they might be accused, if they had\ncorrupted the people with gifts.  When by this order they had got\nleave to bribe freely, without being called to account, they set\nup their own friends and dependents to stand for the praetorship,\ngiving money, and watching the people as they voted.  Yet the\nvirtue and reputation of Cato was like to triumph over all these\nstratagems; for the people generally felt it to be shameful that\na price should be paid for the rejection of Cato, who ought\nrather to be paid himself to take upon him the office.  So he\ncarried it by the voices of the first tribe.  Hereupon Pompey\nimmediately framed a lie, crying out, it thundered; and straight\nbroke up the assembly; for the Romans religiously observed this\nas a bad omen, and never concluded any matter after it had\nthundered.  Before the next time, they had distributed larger\nbribes, and driving also the best men out of the Field, by these\nfoul means they procured Vatinius to be chosen praetor, instead\nof Cato.  It is said, that those who had thus corruptly and\ndishonestly given their voices, at once, when it was done,\nhurried, as if it were in flight, out of the Field.  The others\nstaying together, and exclaiming at the event, one of the\ntribunes continued the assembly, and Cato standing up, as it were\nby inspiration, foretold all the miseries that afterward befell\nthe state, exhorted them to beware of Pompey and Crassus, who\nwere guilty of such things, and had laid such designs, that they\nmight well fear to have Cato praetor.  When he had ended this\nspeech, he was followed to his house by a greater number of\npeople than were all the new praetors elect put together.\n\nCaius Trebonius now proposed the law for allotting provinces to\nthe consuls, one of whom was to have Spain and Africa, the other\nEgypt and Syria, with full power of making war, and carrying it\non both by sea and land, as they should think fit.  When this was\nproposed, all others despaired of putting any stop to it, and\nneither did nor said anything against it.  But Cato, before the\nvoting began, went up into the place of speaking, and desiring to\nbe heard, was with much difficulty allowed two hours to speak.\nHaving spent that time in informing them and reasoning with them,\nand in foretelling to them much that was to come, he was not\nsuffered to speak any longer; but as he was going on, a sergeant\ncame and pulled him down; yet when he was down, he still\ncontinued speaking in a loud voice, and finding many to listen\nto him, and join in his indignation.  Then the sergeant took him,\nand forced him out of the forum; but as soon as he got loose, he\nreturned again to the place of speaking, crying out to the people\nto stand by him.  When he had done thus several times, Trebonius\ngrew very angry, and commanded him to be carried to prison; but\nthe multitude followed him, and listened to the speech which he\nmade to them, as he went along, so that Trebonius began to be\nafraid again, and ordered him to be released.  Thus that day was\nexpended, and the business staved off by Cato.  But in the days\nsucceeding, many of the citizens being overawed by fears and\nthreats, and others won by gifts and favors, Aquillius, one of\nthe tribunes, they kept by an armed force within the\nsenate-house; Cato, who cried, it thundered, they drove out of\nthe forum; many were wounded, and some slain; and at length by\nopen force they passed the law.  At this many were so incensed,\nthat they got together, and were going to throw down the statues\nof Pompey; but Cato went, and diverted them from that design.\n\nAgain, another law was proposed, concerning the provinces and\nlegions for Caesar.  Upon this occasion Cato did not apply\nhimself to the people, but appealed to Pompey himself; and told\nhim, he did not consider now, that he was setting Caesar upon his\nown shoulders, who would shortly grow too weighty for him, and at\nlength, not able to lay down the burden, nor yet to bear it any\nlonger, he would precipitate both it and himself with it upon the\ncommonwealth; and then he would remember Cato's advice, which was\nno less advantageous to him, than just and honest in itself.\nThus was Pompey often warned, but still disregarded and slighted\nit, never mistrusting Caesar's change, and always confiding in\nhis own power and good fortune.\n\nCato was made praetor the following year; but, it seems, he did\nnot do more honor and credit to the office by his signal\nintegrity, than he disgraced and diminished it by his strange\nbehavior.  For he would often come to the court without his\nshoes, and sit upon the bench without any under garment, and in\nthis attire would give judgment in capital causes, and upon\npersons of the highest rank.  It is said, also, he used to drink\nwine after his morning meal, and then transact the business of\nhis office; but this was wrongfully reported of him.  The people\nwere at that time extremely corrupted by the gifts of those who\nsought offices, and most made a constant trade of selling their\nvoices.  Cato was eager utterly to root this corruption out of\nthe commonwealth; he therefore persuaded the senate to make an\norder, that those who were chosen into any office, though nobody\nshould accuse them, should be obliged to come into the court, and\ngive account upon oath of their proceedings in their election.\nThis was extremely obnoxious to those who stood for the offices,\nand yet more to those vast numbers who took the bribes.  Insomuch\nthat one morning, as Cato was going to the tribunal, a great\nmultitude of people flocked together, and with loud cries and\nmaledictions reviled him, and threw stones at him.  Those that\nwere about the tribunal presently fled, and Cato himself being\nforced thence, and jostled about in the throng, very narrowly\nescaped the stones that were thrown at him, and with much\ndifficulty got hold of the Rostra, where, standing up with a bold\nand undaunted countenance, he at once mastered the tumult, and\nsilenced the clamor; and addressing them in fit terms for the\noccasion, was heard with great attention, and perfectly quelled\nthe sedition.  Afterwards, on the senate commending him for this,\n\"But I,\" said he, \"do not commend you for abandoning your praetor\nin danger, and bringing him no assistance.\"\n\nIn the meantime, the candidates were in great perplexity; for\nevery one dreaded to give money himself, and yet feared lest his\ncompetitors should.  At length they agreed to lay down one\nhundred and twenty-five thousand drachmas apiece, and then all of\nthem to canvass fairly and honestly, on condition, that if any\none was found to make use of bribery, he should forfeit the\nmoney.  Being thus agreed, they chose Cato to keep the stakes,\nand arbitrate the matter; to him they brought the sum concluded\non, and before him subscribed the agreement.  The money he did\nnot choose to have paid for them, but took their securities who\nstood bound for them.  Upon the day of election, he placed\nhimself by the tribune who took the votes, and very watchfully\nobserving all that passed, he discovered one who had broken the\nagreement, and immediately ordered him to pay his money to the\nrest.  They, however, commending his justice highly, remitted the\npenalty, as thinking the discovery a sufficient punishment.  It\nraised, however, as much envy against Cato as it gained him\nreputation, and many were offended at his thus taking upon\nhimself the whole authority of the senate, the courts of\njudicature, and the magistracies.  For there is no virtue, the\nhonor and credit for which procures a man more odium than that of\njustice; and this, because more than any other, it acquires a man\npower and authority among the common people.  For they only honor\nthe valiant and admire the wise, while in addition they also love\njust men, and put entire trust and confidence in them.  They fear\nthe bold man, and mistrust the clever man, and moreover think\nthem rather beholding; to their natural complexion, than to any\ngoodness of their will, for these excellences; they look upon\nvalor as a certain natural strength of the mind, and wisdom as a\nconstitutional acuteness; whereas a man has it in his power to be\njust, if he have but the will to be so, and therefore injustice\nis thought the most dishonorable, because it is least excusable.\n\nCato upon this account was opposed by all the great men, who\nthought themselves reproved by his virtue.  Pompey especially\nlooked upon the increase of Cato's credit, as the ruin of his own\npower, and therefore continually set up men to rail against him.\nAmong these was the seditious Clodius, now again united to\nPompey; who declared openly, that Cato had conveyed away a great\ndeal of the treasure that was found in Cyprus; and that he hated\nPompey, only because he refused to marry his daughter.  Cato\nanswered, that although they had allowed him neither horse nor\nman, he had brought more treasure from Cyprus alone, than Pompey\nhad, after so many wars and triumphs, from the ransacked world;\nthat he never sought the alliance of Pompey; not that he thought\nhim unworthy of being related to him, but because he differed so\nmuch from him, in things that concerned the commonwealth.  \"For,\"\nsaid he, \"I laid down the province that was given me, when I went\nout of my praetorship; Pompey, on the contrary, retains many\nprovinces for himself; and he bestows many on others; and but now\nhe sent Caesar a force of six thousand men into Gaul, which\nCaesar never asked the people for, nor had Pompey obtained their\nconsent to give.  Men, and horse, and arms in any number, are\nbecome the mutual gifts of private men to one another; and Pompey\nkeeping the titles of commander and general, hands over the\narmies and provinces to others to govern, while he himself stays\nat home to preside at the contests of the canvass, and to stir up\ntumults at elections; out of the anarchy he thus creates amongst\nus, seeking, we see well enough, a monarchy for himself.\"  Thus\nhe retorted on Pompey.\n\nHe had an intimate friend and admirer of the name of Marcus\nFavonius, much the same to Cato as we are told Apollodorus, the\nPhalerian, was in old time to Socrates, whose words used to throw\nhim into perfect transports and ecstasies, getting into his head,\nlike strong wine, and intoxicating him to a sort of frenzy.  This\nFavonius stood to be chosen aedile, and was like to lose it; but\nCato, who was there to assist him, observed that all the votes\nwere written in one hand, and discovering the cheat, appealed to\nthe tribunes, who stopped the election.  Favonius was afterward\nchosen aedile, and Cato, who assisted him in all things that\nbelonged to his office, also undertook the care of the spectacles\nthat were exhibited in the theater; giving the actors crowns, not\nof gold, but of wild olive, such as used to be given at the\nOlympic games; and instead of the magnificent presents that were\nusually made, he offered to the Greeks beet root, lettuces,\nradishes, and pears; and to the Romans, earthen pots of wine,\npork, figs, cucumbers, and little fagots of wood.  Some ridiculed\nCato for his economy, others looked with respect on this gentle\nrelaxation of his usual rigor and austerity.  In fine, Favonius\nhimself mingled with the crowd, and sitting among the spectators,\nclapped and applauded Cato, bade him bestow rewards on those who\ndid well, and called on the people to pay their honors to him, as\nfor himself he had placed his whole authority in Cato's hands.\nAt the same time, Curio, the colleague of Favonius, gave very\nmagnificent entertainments in another theater; but the people\nleft his, and went to those of Favonius, which they much\napplauded, and joined heartily in the diversion, seeing him act\nthe private man, and Cato the master of the shows, who, in fact,\ndid all this in derision of the great expenses that others\nincurred, and to teach them that in amusements men ought to\nseek amusement only, and the display of a decent cheerfulness,\nnot great preparations and costly magnificence, demanding the\nexpenditure of endless care and trouble about things of little\nconcern.\n\nAfter this Scipio, Hypsaeus, and Milo, stood to be consuls, and\nthat not only with the usual and now recognized disorders of\nbribery and corruption, but with arms and slaughter, and every\nappearance of carrying their audacity and desperation to the\nlength of actual civil war.  Whereupon it was proposed, that\nPompey might be empowered to preside over that election.  This\nCato at first opposed, saying that the laws ought not to seek\nprotection from Pompey, but Pompey from the laws.  Yet the\nconfusion lasting a long time, the forum continually, as it were,\nbesieged with three armies, and no possibility appearing of a\nstop being put to these disorders, Cato at length agreed, that\nrather than fall into the last extremity, the senate should\nfreely confer all on Pompey, since it was necessary to make use\nof a lesser illegality as a remedy against the greatest of all,\nand better to set up a monarchy themselves, than to suffer a\nsedition to continue, that must certainly end in one.  Bibulus,\ntherefore, a friend of Cato's, moved the senate to create Pompey\nsole consul; for that either he would reestablish the lawful\ngovernment, or they should serve under the best master.  Cato\nstood up, and, contrary to all expectation, seconded this motion,\nconcluding, that any government was better than mere confusion,\nand that he did not question but Pompey would deal honorably, and\ntake care of the commonwealth, thus committed to his charge.\nPompey being hereupon declared consul, invited Cato to see him in\nthe suburbs.  When he came, he saluted and embraced him very\nkindly, acknowledged the favor he had done him, and desired his\ncounsel and assistance, in the management of this office.  Cato\nmade answer, that what he had spoken on any former occasion was\nnot out of hate to Pompey, nor what he had now done, out of love\nto him, but all for the good of the commonwealth; that in\nprivate, if he asked him, he would freely give his advice; and\nin public, though he asked him not, he would always speak his\nopinion.  And he did accordingly.  For first, when Pompey made\nsevere laws for punishing and laying great fines on those who had\ncorrupted the people with gifts, Cato advised him to let alone\nwhat was already passed, and to provide for the future; for if he\nshould look up past misdemeanors, it would be difficult to know\nwhere to stop; and if he would ordain new penalties, it would be\nunreasonable to punish men by a law, which at that time they had\nnot the opportunity of breaking.  Afterwards, when many\nconsiderable men, and some of Pompey's own relations were\naccused, and he grew remiss, and disinclined to the prosecution,\nCato sharply reproved him, and urged him to proceed.  Pompey had\nmade a law, also, to forbid the custom of making commendatory\norations in behalf of those that were accused; yet he himself\nwrote one for Munatius Plancus, and sent it while the cause was\npleading; upon which Cato, who was sitting as one of the judges,\nstopped his ears with his hands, and would not hear it read.\nWhereupon Plancus, before sentence was given, excepted against\nhim, but was condemned notwithstanding.  And indeed Cato was a\ngreat trouble and perplexity to almost all that were accused of\nanything, as they feared to have him one of their judges, yet did\nnot dare to demand his exclusion.  And many had been condemned,\nbecause by refusing him, they seemed to show that they could not\ntrust their own innocence; and it was a reproach thrown in the\nteeth of some by their enemies, that they had not accepted Cato\nfor their judge.\n\nIn the meanwhile, Caesar kept close with his forces in Gaul, and\ncontinued in arms; and at the same time employed his gifts, his\nriches, and his friends above all things, to increase his power\nin the city.  And now Cato's old admonitions began to rouse\nPompey out of the negligent security in which he lay, into a sort\nof imagination of danger at hand; but seeing him slow and\nunwilling, and timorous to undertake any measures of prevention\nagainst Caesar, Cato resolved himself to stand for the\nconsulship, and presently force Caesar either to lay down his\narms or discover his intentions.  Both Cato's competitors were\npersons of good position; Sulpicius, who was one, owed much to\nCato's credit and authority in the city, and it was thought\nunhandsome and ungratefully done, to stand against him; not that\nCato himself took it ill, \"For it is no wonder,\" said he, \"if a\nman will not yield to another, in that which he esteems the\ngreatest good.\"  He had persuaded the senate to make an order,\nthat those who stood for offices, should themselves ask the\npeople for their votes, and not solicit by others, nor take\nothers about with them, to speak for them, in their canvass.  And\nthis made the common people very hostile to him, if they were to\nlose not only the means of receiving money, but also the\nopportunity of obliging several persons, and so to become by his\nmeans both poor and less regarded.  Besides this, Cato himself\nwas by nature altogether unfit for the business of canvassing, as\nhe was more anxious to sustain the dignity of his life and\ncharacter, than to obtain the office.  Thus by following his own\nway of soliciting, and not suffering his friends to do those\nthings which take with the multitude, he was rejected, and lost\nthe consulship.\n\nBut whereas, upon such occasions, not only those who missed the\noffice, but even their friends and relations, used to feel\nthemselves disgraced and humiliated, and observed a sort of\nmourning for several days after, Cato took it so unconcernedly,\nthat he anointed himself, and played at ball in the Field, and\nafter breakfasting, went into the forum, as he used to do,\nwithout his shoes or his tunic, and there walked about with his\nacquaintance.  Cicero blames him, for that when affairs required\nsuch a consul, he would not take more pains, nor condescend to\npay some court to the people, as also because that he afterwards\nneglected to try again; whereas he had stood a second time to be\nchosen praetor.  Cato answered, that he lost the praetorship the\nfirst time, not by the voice of the people, but by the violence\nand corrupt dealing of his adversaries; whereas in the election\nof consuls, there had been no foul play.  So that he plainly saw\nthe people did not like his manners, which an honest man ought\nnot to alter for their sake; nor yet would a wise man attempt the\nsame thing again, while liable to the same prejudices.\n\nCaesar was at this time engaged with many warlike nations, and\nwas subduing them at great hazards.  Among the rest, it was\nbelieved he had set upon the Germans, in a time of truce, and had\nthus slain three hundred thousand of them.  Upon which, some of\nhis friends moved the senate for a public thanksgiving; but Cato\ndeclared, they ought to deliver Caesar into the hands of those\nwho had been thus unjustly treated, and so expiate the offense\nand not bring a curse upon the city; \"Yet we have reason,\" said\nhe, \"to thank the gods, for that they spared the commonwealth,\nand did not take vengeance upon the army, for the madness and\nfolly of the general.\"  Hereupon Caesar wrote a letter to the\nsenate, which was read openly, and was full of reproachful\nlanguage and accusations against Cato; who, standing up, seemed\nnot at all concerned, and without any heat or passion, but in a\ncalm and, as it were, premeditated discourse, made all Caesar's\ncharges against him show like mere common scolding and abuse, and\nin fact a sort of pleasantry and play on Caesar's part; and\nproceeding then to go into all Caesar's political courses, and to\nexplain and reveal (as though he had been not his constant\nopponent, but his fellow-conspirator,) his whole conduct and\npurpose from its commencement, he concluded by telling the\nsenate, it was not the sons of the Britons or the Gauls they need\nfear, but Caesar himself, if they were wise.  And this discourse\nso moved and awakened the senate, that Caesar's friends repented\nthey had had a letter read, which had given Cato an opportunity\nof saying so many reasonable things, and such severe truths\nagainst him.  However, nothing was then decided upon; it was\nmerely said, that it would be well to send him a successor.  Upon\nthat Caesar's friends required, that Pompey also should lay down\nhis arms, and resign his provinces, or else that Caesar might not\nbe obliged to either.  Then Cato cried out, what he had foretold\nwas come to pass; now it was manifest he was using his forces to\ncompel their judgment, and was turning against the state those\narmies he had got from it by imposture and trickery.  But out of\nthe Senate-house Cato could do but little, as the people were\never ready to magnify Caesar and the senate, though convinced by\nCato, were afraid of the people.\n\nBut when the news was brought that Caesar had seized Ariminum,\nand was marching with his army toward Rome, then all men, even\nPompey, and the common people too, cast their eyes on Cato, who\nhad alone foreseen and first clearly declared Caesar's\nintentions.  He, therefore, told them, \"If you had believed me,\nor regarded my advice, you would not now have been reduced to\nstand in fear of one man, or to put all your hopes in one alone.\"\nPompey acknowledged, that Cato indeed had spoken most like a\nprophet, while he himself had acted too much like a friend.  And\nCato advised the senate to put all into the hands of Pompey; \"For\nthose who can raise up great evils,\" said he, \"can best allay\nthem.\"\n\nPompey, finding he had not sufficient forces, and that those he\ncould raise, were not very resolute, forsook the city.  Cato,\nresolving to follow Pompey into exile, sent his younger son to\nMunatius, who was then in the country of Bruttium, and took his\neldest with him; but wanting somebody to keep his house and take\ncare of his daughters, he took Marcia again, who was now a rich\nwidow, Hortensius being dead, and having left her all his estate.\nCaesar afterward made use of this action also, to reproach him\nwith covetousness, and a mercenary design in his marriage.\n\"For,\" said he, \"if he had need of wife, why did he part with\nher?  And if he had not, why did he take her again?  Unless he\ngave her only as a bait to Hortensius; and lent her when she was\nyoung, to have her again when she was rich.\"  But in answer to\nthis, we might fairly apply the saying of Euripides.\n\nTo speak of mysteries -- the chief of these\nSurely were cowardice in Hercules.\n\nFor it is much the same thing to reproach Hercules for cowardice,\nand to accuse Cato of covetousness; though otherwise, whether he\ndid altogether right in this marriage, might be disputed.  As\nsoon, however, as he had again taken Marcia, he committed his\nhouse and his daughters to her, and himself followed Pompey.  And\nit is said, that from that day he never cut his hair, nor shaved\nhis beard, nor wore a garland, but was always full of sadness,\ngrief, and dejectedness for the calamities of his country, and\ncontinually showed the same feeling to the last, whatever party\nhad misfortune or success.\n\nThe government of Sicily being allotted to him, he passed over to\nSyracuse; where understanding that Asinius Pollio was arrived at\nMessena, with forces from the enemy, Cato sent to him, to know\nthe reason of his coming thither:  Pollio, on the other side,\ncalled upon him to show reason for the present convulsions.  And\nbeing at the same time informed how Pompey had quite abandoned\nItaly, and lay encamped at Dyrrhachium, he spoke of the\nstrangeness and incomprehensibility of the divine government of\nthings; \"Pompey, when he did nothing wisely nor honestly, was\nalways successful; and now that he would preserve his country,\nand defend her liberty, he is altogether unfortunate.\"  As for\nAsinius, he said, he could drive him out of Sicily, but as there\nwere larger forces coming to his assistance, he would not engage\nthe island in a war.  He therefore advised the Syracusans to join\nthe conquering party and provide for their own safety; and so set\nsail from thence.\n\nWhen he came to Pompey, he uniformly gave advice to protract the\nwar; as he always hoped to compose matters, and was by no means\ndesirous that they should come to action; for the commonwealth\nwould suffer extremely, and be the certain cause of its own ruin,\nwhoever were conqueror by the sword.  In like manner, he\npersuaded Pompey and the council to ordain, that no city should\nbe sacked that was subject to the people of Rome; and that no\nRoman should be killed, but in the heat of battle; and hereby he\ngot himself great honor, and brought over many to Pompey's party,\nwhom his moderation and humanity attracted.  Afterwards being\nsent into Asia, to assist those who were raising men, and\npreparing ships in those parts, he took with him his sister\nServilia, and a little boy whom she had by Lucullus.  For since\nher widowhood, she had lived with her brother, and much recovered\nher reputation, having put herself under his care, followed him\nin his voyages, and complied with his severe way of living.  Yet\nCaesar did not fail to asperse him upon her account also.\n\nPompey's officers in Asia, it seems, had no great need of Cato;\nbut he brought over the people of Rhodes by his persuasions, and\nleaving his sister Servilia and her child there, he returned to\nPompey, who had now collected very great forces both by sea and\nland.  And here Pompey, more than in any other act, betrayed his\nintentions.  For at first he designed to give Cato the command of\nthe navy, which consisted of no less than five hundred ships of\nwar, besides a vast number of light galleys, scouts, and open\nboats.  But presently bethinking himself, or put in mind by his\nfriends, that Cato's principal and only aim being to free his\ncountry from all usurpation, if he were master of such great\nforces, as soon as ever Caesar should be conquered, he would\ncertainly call upon Pompey, also, to lay down his arms, and be\nsubject to the laws, he changed his mind, and though he had\nalready mentioned it to Cato, nevertheless made Bibulus admiral.\nNotwithstanding this, he had no reason to suppose that Cato's\nzeal in the cause was in any way diminished.  For before one of\nthe battles at Dyrrhachium, when Pompey himself, we are told,\nmade an address to the soldiers and bade the officers do the\nlike, the men listened to them but coldly, and with silence,\nuntil Cato, last of all, came forward, and in the language of\nphilosophy, spoke to them, as the occasion required, concerning\nliberty, manly virtue, death, and a good name; upon all which he\ndelivered himself with strong natural passion, and concluded with\ncalling in the aid of the gods, to whom he directed his speech,\nas if they were present to behold them fight for their country.\nAnd at this the army gave such a shout and showed such\nexcitement, that their officers led them on full of hope and\nconfidence to the danger.  Caesar's party were routed, and put to\nflight; but his presiding fortune used the advantage of Pompey's\ncautiousness and diffidence, to render the victory incomplete.\nBut of this we have spoken in the life of Pompey.  While,\nhowever, all the rest rejoiced, and magnified their success, Cato\nalone bewailed his country, and cursed that fatal ambition, which\nmade so many brave Romans murder one another.\n\nAfter this, Pompey following Caesar into Thessaly, left at\nDyrrhachium a quantity of munitions, money, and stores, and many\nof his domestics and relations; the charge of all which he gave\nto Cato, with the command only of fifteen cohorts.  For though he\ntrusted him much, yet he was afraid of him too, knowing full\nwell, that if he had bad success, Cato would be the last to\nforsake him, but if he conquered, would never let him use his\nvictory at his pleasure.  There were, likewise, many persons of\nhigh rank that stayed with Cato at Dyrrhachium.  When they heard\nof the overthrow at Pharsalia, Cato resolved with himself, that\nif Pompey were slain, he would conduct those that were with him\ninto Italy, and then retire as far from the tyranny of Caesar as\nhe could, and live in exile; but if Pompey were safe, he would\nkeep the army together for him.  With this resolution he passed\nover to Corcyra, where the navy lay, there he would have resigned\nhis command to Cicero, because he had been consul, and himself\nonly a praetor:  but Cicero refused it, and was going for Italy.\nAt which Pompey's son being incensed, would rashly and in heat\nhave punished all those who were going away, and in the first\nplace have laid hands on Cicero; but Cato spoke with him in\nprivate, and diverted him from that design.  And thus he clearly\nsaved the life of Cicero, and rescued several others also from\nill-treatment.\n\nConjecturing that Pompey the Great was fled toward Egypt or\nAfrica, Cato resolved to hasten after him; and having taken all\nhis men aboard, he set sail; but first to those who were not\nzealous to continue the contest, he gave free liberty to depart.\nWhen they came to the coast of Africa, they met with Sextus,\nPompey's younger son, who told them of the death of his father in\nEgypt; at which they were all exceedingly grieved, and declared\nthat after Pompey they would follow no other leader but Cato.\nOut of compassion therefore to so many worthy persons, who had\ngiven such testimonies of their fidelity, and whom he could not\nfor shame leave in a desert country, amidst so many difficulties,\nhe took upon him the command, and marched toward the city of\nCyrene, which presently received him, though not long before they\nhad shut their gates against Labienus.  Here he was informed that\nScipio, Pompey's father-in-law, was received by king Juba, and\nthat Attius Varus, whom Pompey had made governor of Africa, had\njoined them with his forces.  Cato therefore resolved to march\ntoward them by land, it being now winter; and got together a\nnumber of asses to carry water, and furnished himself likewise\nwith plenty of all other provision, and a number of carriages.\nHe took also with him some of those they call Psylli, who cure\nthe biting of serpents, by sucking out the poison with their\nmouths, and have likewise certain charms, by which they stupefy\nand lay asleep the serpents.\n\nThus they marched seven days together, Cato all the time going on\nfoot at the head of his men, and never making use of any horse or\nchariot.  Ever since the battle of Pharsalia, he used to sit at\ntable, and added this to his other ways of mourning, that he\nnever lay down but to sleep.\n\nHaving passed the winter in Africa, Cato drew out his army, which\namounted to little less than ten thousand.  The affairs of Scipio\nand Varus went very ill, by reason of their dissensions and\nquarrels among themselves, and their submissions and flatteries\nto king Juba, who was insupportable for his vanity, and the pride\nhe took in his strength and riches.  The first time he came to a\nconference with Cato, he had ordered his own seat to be placed in\nthe middle, between Scipio and Cato; which Cato observing, took\nup his chair, and set himself on the other side of Scipio, to\nwhom he thus gave the honor of sitting in the middle, though he\nwere his enemy, and had formerly published some scandalous\nwriting against him.  There are people who speak as if this were\nquite an insignificant matter, and who nevertheless find fault\nwith Cato, because in Sicily, walking one day with Philostratus,\nhe gave him the middle place, to show his respect for philosophy.\nHowever, he now succeeded both in humbling the pride of Juba, who\nwas treating Scipio and Varus much like a pair of satraps under\nhis orders, and also in reconciling them to each other.  All the\ntroops desired him to be their leader; Scipio, likewise, and\nVarus gave way to it, and offered him the command; but he said,\nhe would not break those laws, which he sought to defend, and he,\nbeing, but propraetor, ought not to command in the presence of a\nproconsul, (for Scipio had been created proconsul,) besides that\npeople took it as a good omen; to see a Scipio command in Africa,\nand the very name inspired the soldiers with hopes of success.\n\nScipio, having taken upon him the command, presently resolved, at\nthe instigation of Juba, to put all the inhabitants of Utica to\nthe sword, and to raze the city, for having, as they professed,\ntaken part with Caesar.  Cato would by no means suffer this; but\ninvoking the gods, exclaiming and protesting against it in the\ncouncil of war, he with much difficulty delivered the poor people\nfrom this cruelty.  And afterwards, upon the entreaty of the\ninhabitants, and at the instance of Scipio, Cato took upon\nhimself the government of Utica, lest, one way or other, it\nshould fall into Caesar's hands; for it was a strong place, and\nvery advantageous for either party.  And it was yet better\nprovided and more strongly fortified by Cato, who brought in\ngreat store of corn, repaired the walls, erected towers, and made\ndeep trenches and palisades around the town.  The young men of\nUtica he lodged among these works, having first taken their arms\nfrom them; the rest of the inhabitants he kept within the town,\nand took the greatest care, that no injury should be done nor\naffront offered them by the Romans.  From hence he sent great\nquantity of arms, money, and provision to the camp, and made this\ncity their chief magazine.\n\nHe advised Scipio, as he had before done Pompey, by no means to\nhazard a battle against a man experienced in war, and formidable\nin the field, but to use delay; for time would gradually abate\nthe violence of the crisis, which is the strength of usurpation.\nBut Scipio out of pride rejected this counsel, and wrote a letter\nto Cato, in which he reproached him with cowardice; and that he\ncould not be content to lie secure himself within walls and\ntrenches, but he must hinder others from boldly using their own\ngood-sense to seize the right opportunity.  In answer to this,\nCato wrote word again, that he would take the horse and foot\nwhich he had brought into Africa, and go over into Italy, to make\na diversion there, and draw Caesar off from them.  But Scipio\nderided this proposition also.  Then Cato openly let it be seen\nthat he was sorry he had yielded the command to Scipio, who he\nsaw would not carry on the war with any wisdom, and if, contrary\nto all appearance, he should succeed, he would use his success as\nunjustly at home.  For Cato had then made up his mind, and so he\ntold his friends, that he could have but slender hopes in those\ngenerals that had so much boldness, and so little conduct; yet if\nanything should happen beyond expectation, and Caesar should be\noverthrown, for his part he would not stay at Rome, but would\nretire from the cruelty and inhumanity of Scipio, who had already\nuttered fierce and proud threats against many.\n\nBut what Cato had looked for, fell out sooner than he expected.\nLate in the evening came one from the army, whence he had been\nthree days coming, who brought word there had been a great battle\nnear Thapsus; that all was utterly lost; Caesar had taken the\ncamps, Scipio and Juba were fled with a few only, and all the\nrest of the army was lost.  This news arriving in time of war,\nand in the night, so alarmed the people, that they were almost\nout of their wits, and could scarce keep themselves within the\nwalls of the city.  But Cato came forward, and meeting the people\nin this hurry and clamor, did all he could to comfort and\nencourage them, and somewhat appeased the fear and amazement they\nwere in, telling them that very likely things were not so bad in\ntruth, but much exaggerated in the report.  And so he pacified\nthe tumult for the present.  The next morning, he sent for the\nthree hundred, whom he used as his council; these were Romans,\nwho were in Africa upon business, in commerce and money-lending;\nthere were also several senators and their sons.  They were\nsummoned to meet in the temple of Jupiter.  While they were\ncoming together, Cato walked about very quietly and unconcerned,\nas if nothing new had happened.  He had a book in his hand, which\nhe was reading; in this book was an account of what provision he\nhad for war, armor, corn, ammunition and soldiers.\n\nWhen they were assembled, he began his discourse; first, as\nregarded the three hundred themselves, and very much commended\nthe courage and fidelity they had shown, and their having very\nwell served their country with their persons, money, and counsel.\nThen he entreated them by no means to separate, as if each single\nman could hope for any safety in forsaking his companions; on\nthe contrary, while they kept together, Caesar would have less\nreason to despise them, if they fought against him, and be more\nforward to pardon them, if they submitted to him.  Therefore, he\nadvised them to consult among themselves, nor should he find\nfault, whichever course they adopted.  If they thought fit to\nsubmit to fortune, he would impute their change to necessity; but\nif they resolved to stand firm, and undertake the danger for the\nsake of liberty, he should not only commend, but admire their\ncourage, and would himself be their leader and companion too,\ntill they had put to the proof the utmost fortune of their\ncountry; which was not Utica or Adrumetum, but Rome, and she had\noften, by her own greatness, raised herself after worse\ndisasters.  Besides, as there were many things that would conduce\nto their safety, so chiefly this, that they were to fight against\none whose affairs urgently claimed his presence in various\nquarters.  Spain was already revolted to the younger Pompey; Rome\nwas unaccustomed to the bridle, and impatient of it, and would\ntherefore be ready to rise in insurrection upon any turn of\naffairs.  As for themselves, they ought not to shrink from the\ndanger; and in this might take example from their enemy, who so\nfreely exposes his life to effect the most unrighteous designs,\nyet never can hope for so happy a conclusion, as they may promise\nthemselves; for notwithstanding the uncertainty of war, they will\nbe sure of a most happy life, if they succeed, or a most glorious\ndeath, if they miscarry.  However, he said, they ought to\ndeliberate among themselves, and he joined with them in praying\nthe gods that in recompense of their former courage and goodwill,\nthey would prosper their present determinations.  When Cato had\nthus spoken, many were moved and encouraged by his arguments, but\nthe greatest part were so animated by the sense of his\nintrepidity, generosity, and goodness, that they forgot the\npresent danger, and as if he were the only invincible leader, and\nabove all fortune, they entreated him to employ their persons,\narms, and estates, as he thought fit; for they esteemed it far\nbetter to meet death in following his counsel, than to find their\nsafety in betraying one of so great virtue.  One of the assembly\nproposed the making a decree, to set the slaves at liberty; and\nmost of the rest approved the motion.  Cato said, that it ought\nnot to be done, for it was neither just nor lawful; but if any of\ntheir masters would willingly set them free, those that were fit\nfor service should be received.  Many promised so to do; whose\nnames he ordered to be enrolled, and then withdrew.\n\nPresently after this, he received letters from Juba and Scipio.\nJuba, with some few of his men, was retired to a mountain, where\nhe waited to hear what Cato would resolve upon; and intended to\nstay there for him, if he thought fit to leave Utica, or to come\nto his aid with his troops, if he were besieged.  Scipio was on\nshipboard, near a certain promontory, not far from Utica,\nexpecting an answer upon the same account.  But Cato thought fit\nto retain the messengers, till the three hundred should come to\nsome resolution,\n\nAs for the senators that were there, they showed great\nforwardness, and at once set free their slaves, and furnished\nthem with arms.  But the three hundred being men occupied in\nmerchandise and money-lending, much of their substance also\nconsisting in slaves, the enthusiasm that Cato's speech had\nraised in them, did not long continue.  As there are substances\nthat easily admit heat, and as suddenly lose it, when the fire is\nremoved, so these men were heated and inflamed, while Cato was\npresent; but when they began to reason among themselves, the\nfear they had of Caesar, soon overcame their reverence for Cato\nand for virtue.  \"For who are we,\" said they, \"and who is it we\nrefuse to obey?  Is it not that Caesar, who is now invested with\nall the power of Rome? and which of us is a Scipio, a Pompey, or\na Cato?  But now that all men make their honor give way to their\nfear, shall we alone engage for the liberty of Rome, and in Utica\ndeclare war against him, before whom Cato and Pompey the Great\nfled out of Italy?  Shall we set free our slaves against Caesar,\nwho have ourselves no more liberty than he is pleased to allow?\nNo, let us, poor creatures, know ourselves, submit to the victor,\nand send deputies to implore his mercy.\"  Thus said the most\nmoderate of them; but the greatest part were for seizing the\nsenators, that by securing them, they might appease Caesar's\nanger.  Cato, though he perceived the change, took no notice of\nit; but wrote to Juba and Scipio to keep away from Utica, because\nhe mistrusted the three hundred.\n\nA considerable body of horse, which had escaped from the late\nfight, riding up towards Utica, sent three men before to Cato,\nwho yet did not all bring the same message; for one party was for\ngoing to Juba, another for joining with Cato, and some again were\nafraid to go into Utica.  When Cato heard this, he ordered Marcus\nRubrius to attend upon the three hundred, and quietly take the\nnames of those who of their own accord set their slaves at\nliberty, but by no means to force anybody.  Then, taking with him\nthe senators, he went out of the town, and met the principal\nofficers of these horsemen, whom he entreated not to abandon so\nmany Roman senators, nor to prefer Juba for their commander\nbefore Cato, but consult the common safety, and to come into the\ncity, which was impregnable, and well furnished with corn and\nother provision, sufficient for many years.  The senators,\nlikewise, with tears besought them to stay.  Hereupon the\nofficers went to consult their soldiers, and Cato with the\nsenators sat down upon an embankment, expecting their resolution.\nIn the meantime comes Rubrius in great disorder, crying out, the\nthree hundred were all in commotion, and exciting revolt and\ntumult in the city.  At this all the rest fell into despair,\nlamenting and bewailing their condition.  Cato endeavored to\ncomfort them, and sent to the three hundred, desiring them to\nhave patience.  Then the officers of the horse returned with no\nvery reasonable demands.  They said, they did not desire to serve\nJuba, for his pay, nor should they fear Caesar, while they\nfollowed Cato, but they dreaded to be shut up with the Uticans,\nmen of traitorous temper, and Carthaginian blood; for though they\nwere quiet at present, yet as soon as Caesar should appear,\nwithout doubt they would conspire together, and betray the\nRomans.  Therefore, if he expected they should join with him, he\nmust drive out of the town or destroy all the Uticans, that he\nmight receive them into a place clear both of enemies and\nbarbarians.  This Cato thought utterly cruel and barbarous; but\nhe mildly answered, he would consult the three hundred.\n\nThen he returned to the city, where he found the men, not framing\nexcuses, or dissembling out of reverence to him, but openly\ndeclaring that no one should compel them to make war against\nCaesar; which, they said, they were neither able nor willing to\ndo.  And some there were who muttered words about retaining the\nsenators till Caesar's coming; but Cato seemed not to hear this,\nas indeed he had the excuse of being a little deaf.  At the same\ntime came one to him, and told him the horse were going away.\nAnd now, fearing lest the three hundred should take some\ndesperate resolution concerning the senators, he presently went\nout with some of his friends, and seeing they were gone some way,\nhe took horse, and rode after them.  They, when they saw him\ncoming, were very glad, and received him very kindly, entreating\nhim to save himself with them.  At this time, it is said, Cato\nshed tears, while entreating them on behalf of the senators, and\nstretching out his hands in supplication.  He turned some of\ntheir horses' heads, and laid hold of the men by their armor,\ntill in fine he prevailed with them, out of compassion, to stay\nonly that one day, to procure a safe retreat for the senators.\nHaving thus persuaded them to go along with him, some he placed\nat the gates of the town, and to others gave the charge of the\ncitadel.  The three hundred began to fear they should suffer for\ntheir inconstancy, and sent to Cato, entreating him by all means\nto come to them; but the senators flocking about him, would not\nsuffer him to go, and said they would not trust their guardian\nand savior to the hands of perfidious traitors.\n\nFor there had never, perhaps, been a time when Cato's virtue\nappeared more manifestly; and every class of men in Utica could\nclearly see, with sorrow and admiration, how entirely free was\neverything that he was doing from any secret motives or any\nmixture of self-regard; he, namely, who had long before resolved\non his own death, was taking such extreme pains, toil, and care,\nonly for the sake of others, that when he had secured their\nlives, he might put an end to his own.  For it was easily\nperceived, that he had determined to die, though he did not let\nit appear.\n\nTherefore, having pacified the senators, he complied with the\nrequest of the three hundred, and went to them alone without any\nattendance.  They gave him many thanks, and entreated him to\nemploy and trust them for the future; and if they were not Catos,\nand could not aspire to his greatness of mind, they begged he\nwould pity their weakness; and told him, they had determined to\nsend to Caesar and entreat him, chiefly and in the first place,\nfor Cato, and if they could not prevail for him, they would not\naccept of pardon for themselves, but as long as they had breath,\nwould fight in his defense.  Cato commended their good\nintentions, and advised them to send speedily, for their own\nsafety, but by no means to ask anything in his behalf; for those\nwho are conquered, entreat, and those who have done wrong, beg\npardon; for himself, he did not confess to any defeat in all his\nlife, but rather, so far as he had thought fit, he had got the\nvictory, and had conquered Caesar in all points of justice and\nhonesty.  It was Caesar that ought to be looked upon as one\nsurprised and vanquished; for he was now convicted and found\nguilty of those designs against his country, which he had so long\npracticed and so constantly denied.  When he had thus spoken, he\nwent out of the assembly, and being informed that Caesar was\ncoming with his whole army, \"Ah,\" said he, \"he expects to find us\nbrave men.\"  Then he went to the senators, and urged them to make\nno delay, but hasten to be gone, while the horsemen were yet in\nthe city.  So ordering all the gates to be shut, except one\ntowards the sea, he assigned their several ships to those that\nwere to depart, and gave money and provision to those that\nwanted; all which he did with great order and exactness, taking\ncare to suppress all tumults, and that no wrong should be done to\nthe people.\n\nMarcus Octavius, coming with two legions, now encamped near\nUtica, and sent to Cato, to arrange about the chief command.\nCato returned him no answer; but said to his friends, \"Can we\nwonder all has gone ill with us, when our love of office survives\neven in our very ruin?\"  In the meantime, word was brought him,\nthat the horse were going away, and were beginning to spoil and\nplunder the citizens.  Cato ran to them, and from the first he\nmet, snatched what they had taken; the rest threw down all they\nhad gotten, and went away silent, and ashamed of what they had\ndone.  Then he called together all the people of Utica, and\nrequested them upon the behalf of the three hundred, not to\nexasperate Caesar against them, but all to seek their common\nsafety together with them.  After that, he went again to the\nport, to see those who were about to embark; and there he\nembraced and dismissed those of his friends and acquaintance whom\nhe had persuaded to go.  As for his son, he did not counsel him\nto be gone, nor did he think fit to persuade him to forsake his\nfather.  But there was one Statyllius, a young man, in the flower\nof his age, of a brave spirit, and very desirous to imitate the\nconstancy of Cato.  Cato entreated him to go away, as he was a\nnoted enemy to Caesar, but without success.  Then Cato looked at\nApollonides, the stoic philosopher, and Demetrius, the\nperipatetic; \"It belongs to you,\" said he, \"to cool the fever of\nthis young man's spirit, and to make him know what is good for\nhim.\"  And thus, in setting his friends upon their way, and in\ndispatching the business of any that applied to him, he spent\nthat night, and the greatest part of the next day.\n\nLucius Caesar, a kinsman of Caesar's, being appointed to go\ndeputy for the three hundred, came to Cato, and desired he would\nassist him to prepare a persuasive speech for them; \"And as to\nyou yourself,\" said he, \"it will be an honor for me to kiss the\nhands and fall at the knees of Caesar, in your behalf.\"  But Cato\nwould by no means permit him to do any such thing; \"For as to\nmyself,\" said he, \"if I would be preserved by Caesar's favor, I\nshould myself go to him; but I would not be beholden to a tyrant,\nfor his acts of tyranny.  For it is but usurpation in him to\nsave, as their rightful lord, the lives of men over whom he has\nno title to reign.  But if you please, let us consider what you\nhad best say for the three hundred.\"  And when they had continued\nsome time together, as Lucius was going away, Cato recommended to\nhim his son, and the rest of his friends; and taking him by the\nhand, bade him farewell.\n\nThen he retired to his house again, and called together his son\nand his friends, to whom he conversed on various subjects; among\nthe rest, he forbade his son to engage himself in the affairs of\nstate.  For to act therein as became him, was now impossible; and\nto do otherwise, would be dishonorable.  Toward evening he went\ninto his bath.  As he was bathing, he remembered Statyllius, and\ncalled out aloud, \"Apollonides, have you tamed the high spirit of\nStatyllius, and is he gone without bidding us farewell?\"  \"No,\"\nsaid Apollonides, \"I have said much to him, but to little\npurpose; he is still resolute and unalterable, and declares he is\ndetermined to follow your example.\"  At this, it is said, Cato\nsmiled, and answered, \"That will soon be tried.\"\n\nAfter he had bathed, he went to supper, with a great deal of\ncompany; at which he sat up, as he had always used to do ever\nsince the battle of Pharsalia; for since that time he never lay\ndown, but when he went to sleep.  There supped with him all his\nown friends and the magistrates of Utica.\n\nAfter supper, the wine produced a great deal of lively and\nagreeable discourse, and a whole series of philosophical\nquestions was discussed.  At length they came to the strange\ndogmas of the stoics, called their Paradoxes; and to this in\nparticular, That the good man only is free, and that all wicked\nmen are slaves.  The peripatetic, as was to be expected, opposing\nthis, Cato fell upon him very warmly; and somewhat raising his\nvoice, he argued the matter at great length, and urged the point\nwith such vehemence, that it was apparent to everybody, he was\nresolved to put an end to his life, and set himself at liberty.\nAnd so, when he had done speaking, there was a great silence, and\nevident dejection.  Cato, therefore, to divert them from any\nsuspicion of his design, turned the conversation, and began again\nto talk of matters of present interest and expectation, showing\ngreat concern for those that were at sea, as also for the others,\nwho, traveling by land, were to pass through a dry and barbarous\ndesert.\n\nWhen the company was broke up, he walked with his friends, as he\nused to do after supper, gave the necessary orders to the\nofficers of the watch, and going into his chamber, he embraced\nhis son and every one of his friends with more than usual warmth,\nwhich again renewed their suspicion of his design.  Then laying\nhimself down, he took into his hand Plato's dialogue concerning\nthe soul.  Having read more than half the book, he looked up, and\nmissing his sword, which his son had taken away while he was at\nsupper, he called his servant, and asked, who had taken away his\nsword.  The servant making no answer, he fell to reading again;\nand a little after, not seeming importunate, or hasty for it, but\nas if he would only know what was become of it, he bade it be\nbrought.  But having waited some time, when he had read through\nthe book, and still nobody brought the sword, he called up all\nhis servants, and in a louder tone demanded his sword.  To one of\nthem he gave such a blow in the mouth, that he hurt his own hand;\nand now grew more angry, exclaiming that he was betrayed and\ndelivered naked to the enemy by his son and his servants.  Then\nhis son, with the rest of his friends, came running, into the\nroom, and falling at his feet, began to lament and beseech him.\nBut Cato raising up himself, and looking fiercely, \"When,\" said\nhe, \"and how did I become deranged, and out of my senses, that\nthus no one tries to persuade me by reason, or show me what is\nbetter, if I am supposed to be ill-advised?  Must I be disarmed,\nand hindered from using my own reason?  And you, young man, why\ndo not you bind your father's hands behind him, that when Caesar\ncomes, he may find me unable to defend myself?  To dispatch\nmyself I want no sword; I need but hold my breath awhile, or\nstrike my head against the wall.\"\n\nWhen he had thus spoken, his son went weeping out of the chamber,\nand with him all the rest, except Demetrius and Apollollides, to\nwhom, being left alone with him, he began to speak more calmly.\n\"And you,\" said he, \"do you also think to keep a man of my age\nalive by force, and to sit here and silently watch me?  Or do you\nbring me some reasons to prove, that it will not be base and\nunworthy for Cato, when he can find his safety no other way, to\nseek it from his enemy?  If so, adduce your arguments, and show\ncause why we should now unlearn what we formerly were taught, in\norder that rejecting all the convictions in which we lived, we\nmay now by Caesar's help grow wiser, and be yet more obliged to\nhim, than for life only.  Not that I have determined aught\nconcerning myself, but I would have it in my power to perform\nwhat I shall think fit to resolve; and I shall not fail to take\nyou as my advisers, in holding counsel, as I shall do, with the\ndoctrines which your philosophy teaches; in the meantime, do not\ntrouble yourselves; but go tell my son, that he should not compel\nhis father to what he cannot persuade him to.\"  They made him no\nanswer, but went weeping out of the chamber.  Then the sword\nbeing brought in by a little boy, Cato took it, drew it out, and\nlooked at it; and when he saw the point was good, \"Now,\" said he,\n\"I am master of myself;\" and laying down the sword, he took his\nbook again, which, it is related, he read twice over.  After this\nhe slept so soundly, that he was heard to snore by those that\nwere without.\n\nAbout midnight, he called up two of his freedmen, Cleanthes, his\nphysician, and Butas, whom he chiefly employed in public\nbusiness.  Him he sent to the port, to see if all his friends had\nsailed; to the physician he gave his hand to be dressed, as it\nwas swollen with the blow he had struck one of his servants.  At\nthis they all rejoiced, hoping that now he designed to live.\n\nButas, after a while, returned, and brought word they were all\ngone except Crassus, who had stayed about some business, but was\njust ready to depart; he said, also, that the wind was high, and\nthe sea very rough.  Cato, on hearing this, sighed, out of\ncompassion to those who were at sea, and sent Butas again, to see\nif any of them should happen to return for anything they wanted,\nand to acquaint him therewith.\n\nNow the birds began to sing, and he again fell into a little\nslumber.  At length Butas came back, and told him, all was quiet\nin the port.  Then Cato, laying himself down, as if he would\nsleep out the rest of the night, bade him shut the door after\nhim.  But as soon as Butas was gone out, he took his sword, and\nstabbed it into his breast; yet not being able to use his hand so\nwell, on account of the swelling, he did not immediately die of\nthe wound; but struggling, fell off the bed, and throwing down a\nlittle mathematical table that stood by, made such a noise, that\nthe servants, hearing it, cried out.  And immediately his son and\nall his friends came into the chamber, where seeing him lie\nweltering in his blood, great part of his bowels out of his body,\nbut himself still alive and able to look at them, they all stood\nin horror.  The physician went to him, and would have put in his\nbowels, which were not pierced, and sewed up the wound; but Cato,\nrecovering himself, and understanding the intention, thrust away\nthe physician, plucked out his own bowels, and tearing open the\nwound, immediately expired.\n\nIn less time than one would think his own family could have known\nthis accident, all the three hundred were at the door.  And a\nlittle after, the people of Utica flocked thither, crying out\nwith one voice, he was their benefactor and their savior, the\nonly free and only undefeated man.  At the very same time, they\nhad news that Caesar was coming; yet neither fear of the present\ndanger, nor desire to flatter the conqueror, nor the commotions\nand discord among themselves, could divert them from doing honor\nto Cato.  For they sumptuously set out his body, made him a\nmagnificent funeral, and buried him by the seaside, where now\nstands his statue, holding a sword.  And only when this had been\ndone, they returned to consider of preserving themselves and\ntheir city.\n\nCaesar had been informed that Cato stayed at Utica, and did not\nseek to fly; that he had sent away the rest of the Romans, but\nhimself, with his son and a few of his friends, continued there\nvery unconcernedly, so that he could not imagine what might be\nhis design.  But having a great consideration for the man, he\nhastened thither with his army.  When he heard of his death, it\nis related he said these words, \"Cato, I grudge you your death,\nas you have grudged me the preservation of your life.\"  And,\nindeed, if Cato would have suffered himself to owe his life to\nCaesar, he would not so much have impaired his own honor, as\naugmented the other's glory.  What would have been done, of\ncourse we cannot know, but from Caesar's usual clemency, we may\nguess what was most likely.\n\nCato was forty-eight years old when he died.  His son suffered no\ninjury from Caesar; but, it is said, he grew idle, and was\nthought to be dissipated among women.  In Cappadocia, he stayed\nat the house of Marphadates, one of the royal family there, who\nhad a very handsome wife; and continuing his visit longer than\nwas suitable, he made himself the subject of various epigrams;\nsuch as, for example,\n\nTomorrow, (being the thirtieth day),\nCato, 't is thought, will go away;\n\nPorcius and Marphadates, friends so true,\nOne Soul, they say, suffices for the two,\n\nthat being the name of the woman, and so again,\n\nTo Cato's greatness every one confesses,\nA royal Soul he certainly possesses.\n\nBut all these stains were entirely wiped off by the bravery of\nhis death.  For in the battle of Philippi, where he fought for\nhis country's liberty against Caesar and Antony, when the ranks\nwere breaking, he, scorning to fly, or to escape unknown, called\nout to the enemy, showed himself to them in the front, and\nencouraged those of his party who stayed; and at length fell, and\nleft his enemies full of admiration of his valor.\n\nNor was the daughter of Cato inferior to the rest of her family,\nfor sober-living and greatness of spirit.  She was married to\nBrutus, who killed Caesar; was acquainted with the conspiracy,\nand ended her life as became one of her birth and virtue.  All\nwhich is related in the life of Brutus.\n\nStatyllius, who said he would imitate Cato, was at that time\nhindered by the philosophers, when he would have put an end to\nhis life.  He afterward followed Brutus, to whom he was very\nfaithful and very serviceable, and died in the field of Philippi.\n\n\n\nAGIS\n\nThe fable of Ixion, who, embracing a cloud instead of Juno,\nbegot the Centaurs, has been ingeniously enough supposed to have\nbeen invented to represent to us ambitious men, whose minds,\ndoting on glory, which is a mere image of virtue, produce\nnothing that is genuine or uniform, but only, as might be\nexpected of such a conjunction, misshapen and unnatural actions.\nRunning after their emulations and passions, and carried away by\nthe impulses of the moment, they may say with the herdsmen, in\nthe tragedy of Sophocles,\n\nWe follow these, though born their rightful lords,\nAnd they command us, though they speak no words.\n\nFor this is indeed the true condition of men in public life,\nwho, to gain the vain title of being the people's leaders and\ngovernors, are content to make themselves the slaves and\nfollowers of all the people's humors and caprices.  For as the\nlook-out men at the ship's prow, though they see what is ahead\nbefore the men at the helm, yet constantly look back to the\npilots there, and obey the orders they give; so these men\nsteered, as I may say, by popular applause, though they bear the\nname of governors, are in reality the mere underlings of the\nmultitude.  The man who is completely wise and virtuous, has no\nneed at all of glory, except so far as it disposes and eases his\nway to action by the greater trust that it procures him.  A\nyoung man, I grant, may be permitted, while yet eager for\ndistinction, to pride himself a little in his good deeds; for\n(as Theophrastus says) his virtues, which are yet tender and, as\nit were, in the blade, cherished and supported by praises, grow\nstronger, and take the deeper root.  But when this passion is\nexorbitant, it is dangerous in all men, and in those who govern\na commonwealth, utterly destructive.  For in the possession of\nlarge power and authority, it transports men to a degree of\nmadness; so that now they no more think what is good, glorious,\nbut will have those actions only esteemed good that are\nglorious.  As Phocion, therefore, answered king Antipater, who\nsought his approbation of some unworthy action, \"I cannot be\nyour flatterer, and your friend,\" so these men should answer the\npeople, \"I cannot govern, and obey you.\"  For it may happen to\nthe commonwealth, as to the serpent in the fable, whose tail,\nrising in rebellion against the head, complained, as of a great\ngrievance, that it was always forced to follow, and required\nthat it should be permitted by turns to lead the way.  And\ntaking the command accordingly, it soon indicted by its\nsenseless courses mischiefs in abundance upon itself, while the\nhead was torn and lacerated with following, contrary to nature,\na guide that was deaf and blind.  And such we see to have been\nthe lot of many, who, submitting to be guided by the\ninclinations of an uninformed and unreasoning multitude, could\nneither stop, nor recover themselves out of the confusion.\n\nThis is what has occurred to us to say, of that glory which\ndepends on the voice of large numbers, considering the sad\neffects of it in the misfortunes of Caius and Tiberius Gracchus,\nmen of noble nature, and whose generous natural dispositions\nwere improved by the best of educations, and who came to the\nadministration of affairs with the most laudable intentions; yet\nthey were ruined, I cannot say by an immoderate desire of glory,\nbut by a more excusable fear of disgrace.  For being excessively\nbeloved and favored by the people, they thought it a discredit\nto them not to make full repayment, endeavoring by new public\nacts to outdo the honors they had received, and again, because\nof these new kindnesses, incurring yet further distinctions;\ntill the people and they, mutually inflamed, and vieing thus\nwith each other in honors and benefits, brought things at last\nto such a pass, that they might say that to engage so far was\nindeed a folly, but to retreat would now be a shame.\n\nThis the reader will easily gather from the story.  I will now\ncompare with them two Lacedaemonian popular leaders, the kings\nAgis and Cleomenes.  For they, being desirous also to raise the\npeople, and to restore the noble and just form of government,\nnow long fallen into disuse, incurred the hatred of the rich and\npowerful, who could not endure to be deprived of the selfish\nenjoyments to which they were accustomed.  These were not indeed\nbrothers by nature, as the two Romans, but they had a kind of\nbrotherly resemblance in their actions and designs, which took a\nrise from such beginnings and occasions as I am now about to\nrelate.\n\nWhen the love of gold and silver had once gained admittance into\nthe Lacedaemonian commonwealth, it was quickly followed by\navarice and baseness of spirit in the pursuit of it, and by\nluxury, effeminacy, and prodigality in the use.  Then Sparta\nfell from almost all her former virtue and repute, and so\ncontinued till the days of Agis and Leonidas, who both together\nwere kings of the Lacedaemonians.\n\nAgis was of the royal family of Eurypon, son of Eudamidas, and\nthe sixth in descent from Agesilaus, who made the expedition\ninto Asia, and was the greatest man of his time in Greece.\nAgesilaus left behind him a son called Archidamus, the same who\nwas slain at Mandonium, in Italy, by the Messapians, and who\nwas then succeeded by his eldest son Agis.  He being killed by\nAntipater near Megalopolis, and leaving no issue, was succeeded\nby his brother Eudamidas; he, by a son called Archidamus; and\nArchidamus, by another Eudamidas, the father of this Agis of\nwhom we now treat.\n\nLeonidas, son of Cleonymus, was of the other royal house of the\nAgiadae, and the eighth in descent from Pausanias, who defeated\nMardonius in the battle of Plataea.  Pausanias was succeeded by\na son called Plistoanax; and he, by another Pausanias, who was\nbanished, and lived as a private man at Tegea; while his eldest\nson Agesipolis reigned in his place.  He, dying without issue,\nwas succeeded by a younger brother, called Cleombrotus, who left\ntwo sons; the elder was Agesipolis, who reigned but a short\ntime, and died without issue; the younger, who then became king,\nwas called Cleomenes, and had also two sons, Acrotatus and\nCleonymus.  The first died before his father, but left a son\ncalled Areus, who succeeded, and being slain at Corinth, left\nthe kingdom to his son Acrotatus.  This Acrotatus was defeated,\nand slain near Megalopolis, in a battle against the tyrant\nAristodemus; he left his wife big with child, and on her being\ndelivered of a son, Leonidas, son of the above-named Cleonymus,\nwas made his guardian, and as the young king died before\nbecoming a man, he succeeded in the kingdom.\n\nLeonidas was a king not particularly suitable to his people.\nFor though there were at that time at Sparta a general decline\nin manners, yet a greater revolt from the old habits appeared in\nhim than in others.  For having lived a long time among the\ngreat lords of Persia, and been a follower of king Seleucus, he\nunadvisedly thought to imitate, among Greek institutions and in\na lawful government, the pride and assumption usual in those\ncourts.  Agis, on the contrary, in fineness of nature and\nelevation of mind, not only far excelled Leonidas, but in a\nmanner all the kings that had reigned since the great Agesilaus.\nFor though he had been bred very tenderly, in abundance and even\nin luxury, by his mother Agesistrata and his grandmother\nArchidamia, who were the wealthiest of the Lacedaemonians, yet\nbefore the age of twenty, he renounced all indulgence in\npleasures.  Withdrawing himself as far as possible from the\ngaiety and ornament which seemed becoming to the grace of his\nperson, he made it his pride to appear in the coarse Spartan\ncoat.  In his meals, his bathings, and in all his exercises, he\nfollowed the old Laconian usage, and was often heard to say, he\nhad no desire for the place of king, if he did not hope by means\nof that authority to restore their ancient laws and discipline.\n\nThe Lacedaemonians might date the beginning of their corruption\nfrom their conquest of Athens, and the influx of gold and silver\namong them that thence ensued.  Yet, nevertheless, the number of\nhouses which Lycurgus appointed being still maintained, and the\nlaw remaining in force by which everyone was obliged to leave\nhis lot or portion of land entirely to his son, a kind of order\nand equality was thereby preserved, which still in some degree\nsustained the state amidst its errors in other respects.  But\none Epitadeus happening to be ephor, a man of great influence,\nand of a willful, violent spirit, on some occasion of a quarrel\nwith his son, proposed a decree, that all men should have\nliberty to dispose of their land by gift in their lifetime, or\nby their last will and testament.  This being promoted by him to\nsatisfy a passion of revenge, and through covetousness consented\nto by others, and thus enacted for a law, was the ruin of the\nbest state of the commonwealth.  For the rich men without\nscruple drew the estates into their own hands, excluding the\nrightful heirs from their succession; and all the wealth being\ncentered upon a few, the generality were poor and miserable.\nHonorable pursuits, for which there was no longer leisure, were\nneglected; and the state was filled with sordid business, and\nwith hatred and envy of the rich.  There did not remain above\nseven hundred of the old Spartan families, of which perhaps one\nhundred might have estates in land, the rest were destitute\nalike of wealth and of honor, were tardy and unperforming in the\ndefense of their country against its enemies abroad, and eagerly\nwatched the opportunity for change and revolution at home.\n\nAgis, therefore, believing it a glorious action, as in truth it\nwas, to equalize and repeople the state, began to sound the\ninclinations of the citizens.  He found the young men disposed\nbeyond his expectation; they were eager to enter with him upon\nthe contest in the cause of virtue, and to fling aside, for\nfreedom's sake, their old manner of life, as readily as the\nwrestler does his garment.  But the old men, habituated and more\nconfirmed in their vices, were most of them as alarmed at the\nvery name of Lycurgus, as a fugitive slave to be brought back\nbefore his offended master.  These men could not endure to hear\nAgis continually deploring the present state of Sparta, and\nwishing she might be restored to her ancient glory.  But on the\nother side, Lysander, the son of Libys, Mandroclidas, the son of\nEcphanes, together with Agesilaus, not only approved his design,\nbut assisted and confirmed him in it.  Lysander had a great\nauthority and credit with the people; Mandroclidas was esteemed\nthe ablest Greek of his time to manage an affair and put it in\ntrain, and, joined with skill and cunning, had a great degree of\nboldness.  Agesilaus was the king's uncle, by the mother's side;\nan eloquent man, but covetous and voluptuous, who was not moved\nby considerations of public good, but rather seemed to be\npersuaded to it by his son Hippomedon, whose courage and signal\nactions in war had gained him a high esteem and great influence\namong the young men of Sparta, though indeed the true motive\nwas, that he had many debts, and hoped by this means to be freed\nfrom them.\n\nAs soon as Agis had prevailed with his uncle, he endeavored by\nhis mediation to gain his mother also, who had many friends and\nfollowers, and a number of persons in her debt in the city, and\ntook a considerable part in public affairs.  At the first\nproposal, she was very averse, and strongly advised her son not\nto engage in so difficult and so unprofitable an enterprise.\nBut Agesilaus endeavored to possess her, that the thing was not\nso difficult as she imagined, and that it might, in all\nlikelihood, redound to the advantage of her family; while the\nking, her son, besought her not for money's sake to decline\nassisting his hopes of glory.  He told her, he could not pretend\nto equal other kings in riches, the very followers and menials\nof the satraps and stewards of Seleucus or Ptolemy abounding\nmore in wealth than all the Spartan kings put together; but if\nby contempt of wealth and pleasure, by simplicity and\nmagnanimity, he could surpass their luxury and abundance, if he\ncould restore their former equality to the Spartans, then he\nshould be a great king indeed.  In conclusion, the mother and\nthe grandmother also were so taken, so carried away with the\ninspiration, as it were, of the young man's noble and generous\nambition, that they not only consented, but were ready on an\noccasions to spur him on to a perseverance, and not only sent to\nspeak on his behalf with the men with whom they had an interest,\nbut addressed the other women also, knowing well that the\nLacedaemonian wives had always a great power with their\nhusbands, who used to impart to them their state affairs with\ngreater freedom than the women would communicate with the men in\nthe private business of their families.  Which was indeed one\nof the greatest obstacles to this design; for the money of\nSparta being most of it in the women's hands, it was their\ninterest to oppose it, not only as depriving them of those\nsuperfluous trifles, in which through want of better knowledge\nand experience, they placed their chief felicity, but also\nbecause they knew their riches were the main support of their\npower and credit.\n\nThose, therefore, who were of this faction, had recourse to\nLeonidas, representing to him, how it was his part, as the elder\nand more experienced, to put a stop to the ill-advised projects\nof a rash young man.  Leonidas, though of himself sufficiently\ninclined to oppose Agis, durst not openly, for fear of the\npeople, who were manifestly desirous of this change; but\nunderhand he did all he could to discredit and thwart the\nproject, and to prejudice the chief magistrates against him, and\non all occasions craftily insinuated, that it was as the price\nof letting him usurp arbitrary power, that Agis thus proposed to\ndivide the property of the rich among the poor, and that the\nobject of these measures for canceling debts, and dividing the\nlands, was, not to furnish Sparta with citizens, but purchase\nhim a tyrant's body-guard.\n\nAgis, nevertheless, little regarding these rumors, procured\nLysander's election as ephor; and then took the first occasion\nof proposing through him his Rhetra to the council, the chief\narticles of which were these: That every one should be free from\ntheir debts; all the lands to be divided into equal portions,\nthose that lay betwixt the watercourse near Pellene and Mount\nTaygetus, and as far as the cities of Malea and Sellasia, into\nfour thousand five hundred lots, the remainder into fifteen\nthousand; these last to be shared out among those of the country\npeople who were fit for service as heavy-armed soldiers, the\nfirst among the natural born Spartans; and their number also\nshould be supplied from any among the country people or\nstrangers who had received the proper breeding of freemen, and\nwere of vigorous, body and of age for military service.  All\nthese were to be divided into fifteen companies, some of four\nhundred, and some of two, with a diet and discipline agreeable\nto the laws of Lycurgus.\n\nThis decree being proposed in the council of Elders, met there\nwith opposition; so that Lysander immediately convoked the great\nassembly of the people, to whom he, Mandroclidas, and Agesilaus\nmade orations, exhorting them that they would not suffer the\nmajesty of Sparta to remain abandoned to contempt, to gratify a\nfew rich men, who lorded it over them; but that they should call\nto mind the oracles in old time which had forewarned them to\nbeware of the love of money, as the great danger and probable\nruin of Sparta, and, moreover, those recently brought from the\ntemple of Pasiphae.  This was a famous temple and oracle at\nThalamae; and this Pasiphae, some say, was one of the daughters\nof Atlas, who had by Jupiter a son called Ammon; others are of\nopinion it was Cassandra, the daughter of king Priam, who, dying\nin this place, was called Pasiphae, as the revealer of oracles\nto all men. Phylarchus says, that this was Daphne, the daughter\nof Amyclas, who, flying from Apollo, was transformed into a\nlaurel, and honored by that god with the gift of prophecy.  But\nbe it as it will, it is certain the people were made to\napprehend, that this oracle had commanded them to return to\ntheir former state of equality settled by Lycurgus.  As soon as\nthese had done speaking, Agis stood up, and after a few words,\ntold them he would make the best contribution in his power to\nthe new legislation, which was proposed for their advantage.  In\nthe first place, he would divide among them all his patrimony,\nwhich was of large extent in tillage and pasture; he would also\ngive six hundred talents in ready money, and his mother,\ngrandmother, and his other friends and relations, who were the\nrichest of the Lacedaemonians, were ready to follow his example.\n\nThe people were transported with admiration of the young man's\ngenerosity, and with joy, that after three hundred years'\ninterval, at last there had appeared a king worthy of Sparta.\nBut, on the other side, Leonidas was now more than ever averse,\nbeing sensible that he and his friends would be obliged to\ncontribute with their riches, and yet all the honor and\nobligation would redound to Agis.  He asked him then before them\nall, whether Lycurgus were not in his opinion a wise man, and a\nlover of his country.  Agis answering he was, \"And when did\nLycurgus,\" replied Leonidas, \"cancel debts, or admit strangers\nto citizenship, -- he who thought the commonwealth not secure\nunless from time to time the city was cleared of all\nstrangers?\"  To this Agis replied, \"It is no wonder that\nLeonidas, who was brought up and married abroad, and has\nchildren by a wife taken out of a Persian court, should know\nlittle of Lycurgus or his laws.  Lycurgus took away both debts\nand loans, by taking away money; and objected indeed to the\npresence of men who were foreign to the manners and customs of\nthe country, not in any case from an ill-will to their persons,\nbut lest the example of their lives and conduct should infect\nthe city with the love of riches, and of delicate and luxurious\nhabits.  For it is well known that he himself gladly kept\nTerpander, Thales, and Pherecycles, though they were strangers,\nbecause he perceived they were in their poems and in their\nphilosophy of the same mind with him.  And you that are wont to\npraise Ecprepes, who, being ephor, cut with his hatchet two of\nthe nine strings from the instrument of Phrynis, the musician,\nand to commend those who afterwards imitated him, in cutting the\nstrings of Timotheus's harp, with what face can you blame us,\nfor designing to cut off superfluity and luxury and display from\nthe commonwealth?  Do you think those men were so concerned only\nabout a lute-string, or intended anything else than to check in\nmusic that same excess and extravagance which rule in our\npresent lives and manners, and have disturbed and destroyed all\nthe harmony and order of our city?\"\n\nFrom this time forward, as the common people followed Agis, so\nthe rich men adhered to Leonidas.  They be sought him not to\nforsake their cause; and with persuasions and entreaties so far\nprevailed with the council of Elders, whose power consisted in\npreparing all laws before they were proposed to the people, that\nthe designed Rhetra was rejected, though but by only one vote.\nWhereupon Lysander, who was still ephor, resolving to be\nrevenged on Leonidas, drew up an information against him,\ngrounded on two old laws: the one forbids any of the blood of\nHercules to raise up children by a foreign woman, and the other\nmakes it capital for a Lacedaemonian to leave his country to\nsettle among foreigners.  Whilst he set others on to manage this\naccusation, he with his colleagues went to observe the sign,\nwhich was a custom they had, and performed in this manner.\nEvery ninth year, the ephors, choosing a starlight night, when\nthere is neither cloud nor moon, sit down together in quiet and\nsilence, and watch the sky.  And if they chance to see the\nshooting of a star, they presently pronounce their king guilty\nof some offense against the gods, and thereupon he is\nimmediately suspended from all exercise of regal power, till he\nis relieved by an oracle from Delphi or Olympia.\n\nLysander, therefore, assured the people, he had seen a star\nshoot, and at the same time Leonidas was cited to answer for\nhimself.  Witnesses were produced to testify he had married an\nAsian woman, bestowed on him by one of king Seleucus's\nlieutenants; that he had two children by her, but she so\ndisliked and hated him, that, against his wishes, flying from\nher, he was in a manner forced to return to Sparta, where, his\npredecessor dying without issue, he took upon him the\ngovernment.  Lysander, not content with this, persuaded also\nCleombrotus to lay claim to the kingdom.  He was of the royal\nfamily, and son-in-law to Leonidas; who, fearing now the event\nof this process, fled as a suppliant to the temple of Minerva of\nthe Brazen House, together with his daughter, the wife of\nCleombrotus; for she in this occasion resolved to leave her\nhusband, and to follow her father.  Leonidas being again cited,\nand not appearing, they pronounced a sentence of deposition\nagainst him, and made Cleombrotus king in his place.\n\nSoon after this revolution, Lysander, his year expiring, went\nout of his office, and new ephors were chosen, who gave Leonidas\nassurance of safety, and cited Lysander and Mandroclidas to\nanswer for having, contrary to law, canceled debts, and designed\na new division of lands.  They, seeing themselves in danger, had\nrecourse to the two kings, and represented to them, how\nnecessary it was for their interest and safety to act with\nunited authority and bid defiance to the ephors.  For, indeed,\nthe power of the ephors, they said, was only grounded on the\ndissensions of the kings, it being their privilege, when the\nkings differed in opinion, to add their suffrage to whichever\nthey judged to have given the best advice; but when the two\nkings were unanimous, none ought or durst resist their\nauthority, the magistrate, whose office it was to stand as\numpire when they were at variance, had no call to interfere when\nthey were of one mind.  Agis and Cleombrotus, thus persuaded,\nwent together with their friends into the market-place, where,\nremoving the ephors from their seats, they placed others in\ntheir room of whom Agesilaus was one; proceeding then to arm a\ncompany of young men, and releasing many out of prison; so that\nthose of the contrary faction began to be in great fear of their\nlives; but there was no blood spilt.  On the contrary, Agis,\nhaving notice that Agesilaus had ordered a company of soldiers\nto lie in wait for Leonidas, to kill him as he fled to Tegea,\nimmediately sent some of his followers to defend him, and to\nconvey him safely into that city.\n\nThus far all things proceeded prosperously, none daring to\noppose; but through the sordid weakness of one man these\npromising beginnings were blasted, and a most noble and truly\nSpartan purpose overthrown and ruined, by the love of money.\nAgesilaus, as we said, was much in debt, though in possession of\none of the largest and best estates in land; and while he gladly\njoined in this design to be quit of his debts, he was not at all\nwilling to part with his land.  Therefore he persuaded Agis,\nthat if both these things should be put in execution at the same\ntime, so great and so sudden an alteration might cause some\ndangerous commotion; but if debts were in the first place\ncanceled, the rich men would afterwards more easily be\nprevailed with to part with their land.  Lysander, also, was of\nthe same opinion, being deceived in like manner by the craft of\nAgesilaus; so that all men were presently commanded to bring in\ntheir bonds, or deeds of obligation, by the Lacedaemonians\ncalled Claria, into the market-place, where being laid together\nin a heap, they set fire to them.  The wealthy, money-lending\npeople, one may easily imagine, beheld it with a heavy heart;\nbut Agesilaus told them scoffingly, his eyes had never seen so\nbright and so pure a flame.\n\nAnd now the people pressed earnestly for an immediate division\nof lands; the kings also had ordered it should be done; but\nAgesilaus, sometimes pretending one difficulty, and sometimes\nanother, delayed the execution, till an occasion happened to\ncall Agis to the wars.  The Achaeans, in virtue of a defensive\ntreaty of alliance, sent to demand succors, as they expected\nevery day that the Aetolians would attempt to enter\nPeloponnesus, from the territory of Megara.  They had sent\nAratus, their general, to collect forces to hinder this\nincursion.  Aratus wrote to the ephors, who immediately gave\norder that Agis should hasten to their assistance with the\nLacedaemonian auxiliaries.  Agis was extremely pleased to see\nthe zeal and bravery of those who went with him upon this\nexpedition.  They were for the most part young men, and poor;\nand being just released from their debts and set at liberty, and\nhoping on their return to receive each man his lot of land, they\nfollowed their king with wonderful alacrity.  The cities through\nwhich they passed, were in admiration to see how they marched\nfrom one end of Peloponnesus to the other, without the least\ndisorder, and, in a manner, without being heard.  It gave the\nGreeks occasion to discourse with one another, how great might\nbe the temperance and modesty of a Laconian army in old time,\nunder their famous captains Agesilaus, Lysander, or Leonidas,\nsince they saw such discipline and exact obedience under a\nleader who perhaps was the youngest man all the army.  They saw\nalso how he was himself content to fare hardly, ready to undergo\nany labors, and not to be distinguished by pomp or richness of\nhabit or arms from the meanest of his soldiers; and to people in\ngeneral it was an object of regard and admiration.  But rich men\nviewed the innovation with dislike and alarm, lest haply the\nexample might spread, and work changes to their prejudice in\ntheir own countries as well.\n\nAgis joined Aratus near the city of Corinth, where it was still\na matter of debate whether or no it were expedient to give the\nenemy battle.  Agis, on this occasion, showed great forwardness\nand resolution, yet without temerity or presumption.  He\ndeclared it was his opinion they ought to fight, thereby to\nhinder the enemy from passing the gates of Peloponnesus, but,\nnevertheless, he would submit to the judgment of Aratus, not\nonly as the elder and more experienced captain, but as he was\ngeneral of the Achaeans, whose forces he would not pretend to\ncommand, but was only come thither to assist them.  I am not\nignorant that Baton of Sinope, relates it in another manner; he\nsays, Aratus would have fought, and that Agis was against it;\nbut it is certain he was mistaken, not having read what Aratus\nhimself wrote in his own justification, that knowing the people\nhad wellnigh got in their harvest, he thought it much better to\nlet the enemy pass, than put all to the hazard of a battle.  And\ntherefore, giving thanks to the confederates for their\nreadiness, he dismissed them.  And Agis, not without having\ngained a great deal of honor, returned to Sparta, where he found\nthe people in disorder, and a new revolution imminent, owing to\nthe ill government of Agesilaus.\n\nFor he, being now one of the ephors, and freed from the fear\nwhich formerly kept him in some restraint, forbore no kind of\noppression which might bring in gain.  Among other things, he\nexacted a thirteenth month's tax, whereas the usual cycle\nrequired at this time no such addition to the year.  For these\nand other reasons fearing those whom he injured, and knowing how\nhe was hated by the people, he thought it necessary to maintain\na guard, which always accompanied him to the magistrate's\noffice.  And presuming now on his power, he was grown so\ninsolent, that of the two kings, the one he openly contemned,\nand if he showed any respect towards Agis, would have it thought\nrather an effect of his near relationship, than any duty or\nsubmission to the royal authority.  He gave it out also, that he\nwas to continue ephor the ensuing year.\n\nHis enemies, therefore, alarmed by this report, lost no time in\nrisking an attempt against him; and openly bringing hack\nLeonidas from Tegea, reestablished him in the kingdom, to which\neven the people, highly incensed for having been defrauded in\nthe promised division of lands, willingly consented.  Agesilaus\nhimself would hardly have escaped their fury, if his son,\nHippomedon, whose manly virtues made him dear to all, had not\nsaved him out of their hands, and then privately conveyed him\nfrom the city.\n\nDuring this commotion, the two kings fled, Agis to the temple of\nthe Brazen House, and Cleombrotus to that of Neptune.  For\nLeonidas was more incensed against his son-in-law; and leaving\nAgis alone, went with his soldiers to Cleombrotus's sanctuary,\nand there with great passion reproached him for having, though\nhe was his son-in-law, conspired with his enemies, usurped his\nthrone, and forced him from his country.  Cleombrotus, having\nlittle to say for himself, sat silent.  His wife, Chilonis, the\ndaughter of Leonidas, had chosen to follow her father in his\nsufferings; for when Cleombrotus usurped the kingdom, she\nforsook him, and wholly devoted herself to comfort her father in\nhis affliction; whilst he still remained in Sparta, she remained\nalso, as a suppliant, with him, and when he fled, she fled with\nhim, bewailing his misfortune, and extremely displeased with\nCleombrotus.  But now, upon this turn of fortune, she changed in\nlike manner, and was seen sitting now, as a suppliant, with her\nhusband, embracing him with her arms, and having her two little\nchildren beside her.  All men were full of wonder at the piety\nand tender affection of the young woman, who, pointing to her\nrobes and her hair, both alike neglected and unattended to, said\nto Leonidas, \"I am not brought, my father, to this condition you\nsee me in, on account of the present misfortunes of Cleombrotus;\nmy mourning habit is long since familiar to me.  It was put on\nto condole with you in your banishment; and now you are restored\nto your country, and to your kingdom, must I still remain in\ngrief and misery?  Or would you have me attired in my royal\nornaments, that I may rejoice with you, when you have killed,\nwithin my arms, the man to whom you gave me for a wife?  Either\nCleombrotus must appease you by mine and my children's tears, or\nhe must suffer a punishment greater than you propose for his\nfaults, and shall see me, whom he loves so well, die before him.\nTo what end should I live, or how shall I appear among the\nSpartan women, when it shall so manifestly be seen, that I have\nnot been able to move to compassion either a husband or a\nfather?  I was born, it seems, to participate in the ill fortune\nand in the disgrace, both as a wife and a daughter, of those\nnearest and dearest to me.  As for Cleombrotus, I sufficiently\nsurrendered any honorable plea on his behalf, when I forsook him\nto follow you; but you yourself offer the fairest excuse for his\nproceedings, by showing to the world that for the sake of a\nkingdom, it is just to kill a son-in-law, and be regardless of a\ndaughter.\"  Chilonis, having ended this lamentation, rested her\nface on her husband's head, and looked round with her weeping\nand woebegone eyes upon those who stood be fore her.\n\nLeonidas, touched with compassion, withdrew a while to advise\nwith his friends; then returning, bade Cleombrotus leave the\nsanctuary and go into banishment; Chilonis, he said, ought to\nstay with him, it not being just she should forsake a father\nwhose affection had granted to her intercession the life of her\nhusband.  But all he could say would not prevail.  She rose up\nimmediately, and taking one of her children in her arms, gave\nthe other to her husband; and making her reverence to the altar\nof the goddess, went out and followed him.  So that, in a word,\nif Cleombrotus were not utterly blinded by ambition, he must\nsurely choose to be banished with so excellent a woman rather\nthan without her to possess a kingdom.\n\nCleombrotus thus removed, Leonidas proceeded also to displace\nthe ephors, and to choose others in their room; then he began to\nconsider how he might entrap Agis.  At first, he endeavored by\nfair means to persuade him to leave the sanctuary, and partake\nwith him in the kingdom.  The people, he said, would easily\npardon the errors of a young man, ambitious of glory, and\ndeceived by the craft of Agesilaus.  But finding Agis was\nsuspicious, and not to be prevailed with to quit his sanctuary,\nhe gave up that design; yet what could not then be effected by\nthe dissimulation of an enemy, was soon after brought to pass by\nthe treachery of friends.\n\nAmphares, Damochares, and Arcesilaus often visited Agis, and he\nwas so confident of their fidelity that after a while he was\nprevailed with to accompany them to the baths, which were not\nfar distant, they constantly returning to see him safe again in\nthe temple.  They were all three his familiars; and Amphares had\nborrowed a great deal of plate and rich household stuff from\nAgesistrata, and hoped if he could destroy her and the whole\nfamily, he might peaceably enjoy those goods.  And he, it is\nsaid, was the readiest of all to serve the purposes of Leonidas,\nand being one of the ephors, did all he could to incense the\nrest of his colleagues against Agis.  These men, therefore,\nfinding that Agis would not quit his sanctuary, but on occasion\nwould venture from it to go to the bath, resolved to seize him\non the opportunity thus given them.  And one day as he was\nreturning, they met and saluted him as formerly, conversing\npleasantly by the way, and jesting, as youthful friends might,\ntill coming to the turning of a street which led to the prison,\nAmphares, by virtue of his office, laid his hand on Agis, and\ntold him, \"You must go with me, Agis, before the other ephors,\nto answer for your misdemeanors.\"  At the same time, Damochares,\nwho was a tall, strong man, drew his cloak tight round his neck,\nand dragged him after by it, whilst the others went behind to\nthrust him on.  So that none of Agis's friends being near to\nassist him, nor anyone by, they easily got him into the prison,\nwhere Leonidas was already arrived, with a company of soldiers,\nwho strongly guarded all the avenues; the ephors also came in,\nwith as many of the Elders as they knew to be true to their\nparty, being desirous to proceed with some resemblance of\njustice.  And thus they bade him give an account of his actions.\nTo which Agis, smiling at their dissimulation, answered not a\nword.  Amphares told him, it was more seasonable to weep, for\nnow the time was come in which he should be punished for his\npresumption.  Another of the ephors, as though he would be more\nfavorable, and offering as it were an excuse, asked him whether\nhe was not forced to what he did by Agesilaus and Lysander.  But\nAgis answered, he had not been constrained by any man, nor had\nany other intent in what he did, but only to follow the example\nof Lycurgus, and to govern conformably to his laws.  The same\nephor asked him, whether now at least he did not repent his\nrashness.  To which the young man answered, that though he were\nto suffer the extremest penalty for it, yet he could never\nrepent of so just and so glorious a design.  Upon this they\npassed sentence of death on him, and bade the officers carry him\nto the Dechas, as it is called, a place in the prison where they\nstrangle malefactors.  And when the officers would not venture\nto lay hands on him, and the very mercenary soldiers declined\nit, believing it an illegal and a wicked act to lay violent\nhands on a king, Damochares, threatening and reviling them for\nit, himself thrust him into the room.\n\nFor by this time the news of his being seized had reached many\nparts of the city, and there was a concourse of people with\nlights and torches about the prison gates, and in the midst of\nthem the mother and the grandmother of Agis, crying out with a\nloud voice, that their king ought to appear, and to be heard and\njudged by the people.  But this clamor, instead of preventing,\nhastened his death; his enemies fearing, if the tumult should\nincrease, he might be rescued during the night out of their\nhands.\n\nAgis, being now at the point to die, perceived one of the\nofficers bitterly bewailing his misfortune; \"Weep not, friend,\"\nsaid he, \"for me, who die innocent, by the lawless act of wicked\nmen.  My condition is much better than theirs.\"  As soon as he\nhad spoken these words, not showing the least sign of fear, he\noffered his neck to the noose.\n\nImmediately after he was dead, Amphares went out of the prison\ngate, where he found Agesistrata, who, believing him still the\nsame friend as before, threw herself at his feet.  He gently\nraised her up, and assured her, she need not fear any further\nviolence or danger of death for her son, and that if she\npleased, she might go in and see him.  She begged her mother\nmight also have the favor to be admitted, and he replied, nobody\nshould hinder it.  When they were entered, he commanded the\ngate should again be locked, and Archidamia, the grandmother, to\nbe first introduced; she was now grown very old, and had lived\nall her days in the highest repute among her fellows.  As soon\nas Amphares thought she was dispatched, he told Agesistrata she\nmight now go in if she pleased.  She entered, and beholding her\nson's body stretched on the ground, and her mother hanging by\nthe neck, the first thing she did was, with her own hands, to\nassist the officers in taking down the body; then covering it\ndecently, she laid it out by her son's, whom then embracing, and\nkissing his cheeks, \"O my son,\" said she, \"it was thy too great\nmercy and goodness which brought thee and us to ruin.\"\nAmphares, who stood watching behind the door, on hearing this,\nbroke in, and said angrily to her, \" Since you approve so well\nof your son's actions, it is fit you should partake in his\nreward.\"  She, rising up to offer herself to the noose, said\nonly, \"I pray that it may redound to the good of Sparta.\"\n\nAnd now the three bodies being exposed to view, and the fact\ndivulged, no fear was strong enough to hinder the people from\nexpressing their abhorrence of what was done, and their\ndetestation of Leonidas and Amphares, the contrivers of it.  So\nwicked and barbarous an act had never been committed in Sparta,\nsince first the Dorians inhabited Peloponnesus; the very enemies\nin war, they said, were always cautious of spilling the blood of\na Lacedaemonian king, insomuch that in any combat they would\ndecline, and endeavor to avoid them, from feelings of respect\nand reverence for their station.  And certainly we see that in\nthe many battles fought betwixt the Lacedaemonians and the other\nGreeks, up to the time of Philip of Macedon, not one of their\nkings was ever killed, except Cleombrotus, by a javelin-wound,\nat the battle of Leuctra.  I am not ignorant that the Messenians\naffirm, Theopompus was also slain by their Aristomenes; but the\nLacedaemonians deny it, and say he was only wounded.\n\nBe it as it will, it is certain at least that Agis was the first\nking put to death in Lacedaemon by the ephors, for having\nundertaken a design noble in itself and worthy of his country,\nat a time of life when men's errors usually meet with an easy\npardon.  And if errors he did commit, his enemies certainly had\nless reason to blame him, than had his friends for that gentle\nand compassionate temper which made him save the life of\nLeonidas, and believe in other men's professions.\n\n\n\nCLEOMENES\n\nThus fell Agis.  His brother Archidamus was too quick for\nLeonidas, and saved himself by a timely retreat.  But his\nwife, then mother of a young child, he forced from her own\nhouse, and compelled Agiatis, for that was her name, to marry\nhis son Cleomenes, though at that time too young for a wife,\nbecause he was unwilling that anyone else should have her,\nbeing heiress to her father Glylippus's great estate; in\nperson the most youthful and beautiful woman in all Greece,\nand well-conducted in her habits of life.  And therefore,\nthey say, she did all she could that she might not be\ncompelled to this new marriage.  But being thus united to\nCleomenes, she indeed hated Leonidas, but to the youth showed\nherself a kind and obliging wife.  He, as soon as they came\ntogether, began to love her very much, and the constant\nkindness that she still retained for the memory of Agis,\nwrought somewhat of the like feeling in the young man for\nhim, so that he would often inquire of her concerning what\nhad passed, and attentively listen to the story of Agis's\npurpose and design.  Now Cleomenes had a generous and great\nsoul; he was as temperate and moderate in his pleasures as\nAgis, but not so scrupulous, circumspect, and gentle.  There\nwas something of heat and passion always goading him on, and\nan impetuosity and violence in his eagerness to pursue\nanything which he thought good and just.  To have men obey\nhim of their own freewill, he conceived to be the best\ndiscipline; but, likewise, to subdue resistance, and force\nthem to the better course, was, in his opinion, commendable\nand brave.\n\nThis disposition made him dislike the management of the city.\nThe citizens lay dissolved in supine idleness and pleasures;\nthe king let everything take its own way, thankful if nobody\ngave him any disturbance, nor called him away from the\nenjoyment of his wealth and luxury.  The public interest was\nneglected, and each man intent upon his private gain.  It was\ndangerous, now Agis was killed, so much as to name such a\nthing as the exercising and training of their youth; and to\nspeak of the ancient temperance, endurance, and equality, was\na sort of treason against the state.  It is said also that\nCleomenes, whilst a boy, studied philosophy under Sphaerus,\nthe Borysthenite, who crossed over to Sparta, and spent some\ntime and trouble in instructing the youth.  Sphaerus was one\nof the first of Zeno the Citiean's scholars, and it is likely\nenough that he admired the manly temper of Cleomenes and\ninflamed his generous ambition.  The ancient Leonidas, as\nstory tells, being asked what manner of poet he thought\nTyrtaeus, replied, \"Good to whet young men's courage;\" for\nbeing filled with a divine fury by his poems, they rushed\ninto any danger.  And so the stoic philosophy is a dangerous\nincentive to strong and fiery dispositions, but where it\ncombines with a grave and gentle temper, is most successful\nin leading it to its proper good.\n\nUpon the death of his father Leonidas, he succeeded, and\nobserving the citizens of all sorts to be debauched, the rich\nneglecting the public good, and intent on their private gain\nand pleasure, and the poor distressed in their own homes, and\ntherefore without either spirit for war or ambition to be\ntrained up as Spartans, that he had only the name of king,\nand the ephors all the power, he was resolved to change the\npresent posture of affairs.  He had a friend whose name was\nXenares, his lover, (such an affection the Spartans express\nby the term, being inspired, or imbreathed with); him he\nsounded, and of him he would commonly inquire what manner of\nking Agis was, by what means and by what assistance he began\nand pursued his designs.  Xenares, at first, willingly\ncompiled with his request, and told him the whole story, with\nall the particular circumstances of the actions.  But when he\nobserved Cleomenes to be extremely affected at the relation,\nand more than ordinarily taken with Agis's new model of the\ngovernment, and begging a repetition of the story, he at\nfirst severely chid him, told him he was frantic, and at last\nleft off all sort of familiarity and intercourse with him,\nyet he never told any man the cause of their disagreement,\nbut would only say, Cleomenes knew very well.  Cleomenes,\nfinding Xenares averse to his designs, and thinking all\nothers to be of the same disposition, consulted with none,\nbut contrived the whole business by himself.  And considering\nthat it would be easier to bring about an alteration when the\ncity was at war, than when in peace, he engaged the\ncommonwealth in a quarrel with the Achaeans, who had given\nthem fair occasions to complain.  For Aratus, a man of the\ngreatest power amongst all the Achaeans, designed from the\nvery beginning to bring all the Peloponnesians into one\ncommon body.  And to effect this was the one object of all\nhis many commanderships and his long political course; as he\nthought this the only means to make them a match for their\nforeign enemies.  Pretty nearly all the rest agreed to his\nproposals, only the Lacedaemonians, the Eleans, and as many\nof the Arcadians as inclined to the Spartan interest,\nremained unpersuaded.  And so as soon as Leonidas was dead,\nhe began to attack the Arcadians, and wasted those especially\nthat bordered on Achaea, by this means designing to try the\ninclinations of the Spartans, and despising Cleomenes as a\nyouth, and of no experience in affairs of state or war.  Upon\nthis, the ephors sent Cleomenes to surprise the Athenaeum,\nnear Belbina, which is a pass commanding an entrance into\nLaconia and was then the subject of litigation with the\nMegalopolitans.  Cleomenes possessed himself of the place,\nand fortified it, at which action Aratus showed no public\nresentment, but marched by night to surprise Tegea and\nOrchormenus.  The design failed, for those that were to\nbetray the cities into his hands, turned afraid; so Aratus\nretreated, imagining that his design had been undiscovered.\nBut Cleomenes wrote a sarcastic letter to him, and desired to\nknow, as from a friend, whither he intended to march at\nnight; and Aratus answering, that having heard of his design\nto fortify Belbina, he meant to march thither to oppose him,\nCleomenes rejoined, that he did not dispute it, but begged to\nbe informed, if he might be allowed to ask the question, why\nhe carried those torches and ladders with him.\n\nAratus laughing at the jest, and asking what manner of youth\nthis was, Damocrates, a Spartan exile, replied, \"If you have\nany designs upon the Lacedaemonians, begin before this young\neagle's talons are grown.\"  Presently after this, Cleomenes,\nencamping in Arcadia with a few horse and three hundred foot,\nreceived orders from the ephors, who feared to engage in the\nwar, commanding him home; but when upon his retreat Aratus\ntook Caphyae, they commissioned him again.  In this\nexpedition he took Methydrium, and overran the country of the\nArgives; and the Achaeans, to oppose him, came out with an\narmy of twenty thousand foot and one thousand horse, under\nthe command of Aristomachus.  Cleomenes faced them at\nPallantium, and offered battle, but Aratus, being cowed by\nhis bravery, would not suffer the general to engage, but\nretreated, amidst the reproaches of the Achaeans, and the\nderision and scorn of the Spartans, who were not above five\nthousand.  Cleomenes, encouraged by this success, began to\nspeak boldly among the citizens, and reminding them of a\nsentence of one of their ancient kings, said, it was in vain\nnow that the Spartans asked, not how many their enemies were,\nbut where they were. After this, marching to the assistance\nof the Eleans, whom the Achaeans were attacking, falling upon\nthe enemy in their retreat near the Lycaeum, he put their\nwhole army to flight, taking a great number of captives, and\nleaving many dead upon the place; so that it was commonly\nreported amongst the Greeks that Aratus was slain.  But\nAratus, making the best advantage of the opportunity,\nimmediately after the defeat marched to Mantinea, and before\nanybody suspected it, took the city, and put a garrison into\nit.  Upon this, the Lacedaemonians being quite discouraged,\nand opposing Cleomenes's designs of carrying on the war, he\nnow exerted himself to have Archidamus, the brother of Agis,\nsent for from Messene, as he, of the other family, had a\nright to the kingdom ; and besides, Cleomenes thought that\nthe power of the ephors would be reduced, when the kingly\nstate was thus filled up, and raised to its proper position.\nBut those that were concerned in the murder of Agis,\nperceiving the design, and fearing that upon Archidamus's\nreturn they should be called to an account, received him on\nhis coming privately into town, and joined in bringing him\nhome, and presently after murdered him.  Whether Cleomenes\nwas against it, as Phylarchus thinks, or whether he was\npersuaded by his friends, or let him fall into their hands,\nis uncertain; however, they were most blamed, as having\nforced his consent.\n\nHe, still resolving to new model the state, bribed the ephors\nto send him out to war; and won the affections of many others\nby means of his mother Cratesiclea, who spared no cost and\nwas very zealous to promote her son's ambition; and though of\nherself she had no inclination to marry, yet for his sake,\nshe accepted, as her husband, one of the chiefest citizens\nfor wealth and power.  Cleomenes, marching forth with the\narmy now under his commend, took Leuctra, a place belonging\nto Megalopolis; and the Achaeans quickly coming up to resist\nhim with a good body of men commanded by Aratus, in a battle\nunder the very walls of the city some part of his army was\nrouted.  But whereas Aratus had commanded the Achaeans not to\npass a deep watercourse, and thus put a stop to the pursuit,\nLydiadas, the Megalopolitan, fretting at the orders, and\nencouraging the horse which he led, and following the routed\nenemy, got into a place full of vines, hedges, and ditches;\nand being forced to break his ranks, began to retire in\ndisorder.  Cleomenes, observing the advantage, commanded the\nTarentines and Cretans to engage him, by whom, after a brave\ndefense, he was routed and slain.  The Lacedaemonians, thus\nencouraged, fell with a great shout upon the Achaeans, and\nrouted their whole army.  Of the slain, who were very many,\nthe rest Cleomenes delivered up, when the enemy petitioned\nfor them; but the body of Lydiadas he commanded to be brought\nto him; and then putting on it a purple robe, and a crown\nupon its head, sent a convoy with it to the gates of\nMegalopolis.  This is that Lydiadas who resigned his power as\ntyrant, restored liberty to the citizens, and joined the city\nto the Achaean interest.\n\nCleomenes, being very much elated by this success, and\npersuaded that if matters were wholly at his disposal, he\nshould soon be too hard for the Achaeans, persuaded\nMegistonus, his mother's husband, that it was expedient for\nthe state to shake off the power of the ephors, and to put\nall their wealth into one common stock for the whole body;\nthus Sparta, being restored to its old equality, might aspire\nagain to the command of all Greece.  Megistonus liked the\ndesign, and engaged two or three more of his friends.  About\nthat time, one of the ephors, sleeping in Pasiphae's temple,\ndreamed a very surprising dream; for he thought he saw the\nfour chairs removed out of the place where the ephors used to\nsit and do the business of their office, and one only set\nthere; and whilst he wondered, he heard a voice out of the\ntemple, saying, \"This is best for Sparta.\"  The person\ntelling Cleomenes this dream, he was a little troubled at\nfirst, fearing that he used this as a trick to sift him, upon\nsome suspicion of his design, but when he was satisfied that\nthe relater spoke truth, he took heart again.  And carrying\nwith him those whom he thought would be most against his\nproject, he took Heraea and Alsaea, two towns in league with\nthe Achaeans, furnished Orchomenus with provisions, encamped\nbefore Mantinea, and with long marches up and down so\nharassed the Lacedaemonians, that many of them at their own\nrequest were left behind in Arcadia, while he with the\nmercenaries went on toward Sparta, and by the way\ncommunicated his design to those whom he thought fittest for\nhis purpose, and marched slowly, that he might catch the\nephors at supper.\n\nWhen he was come near the city, he sent Euryclidas to the\npublic table, where the ephors supped, under pretense of\ncarrying some message from him from the army; Therycion,\nPhoebis, and two of those who had been bred up with\nCleomenes, whom they call mothaces, followed with a few\nsoldiers; and whilst Euryclidas was delivering his message to\nthe ephors, they ran upon them with their drawn swords, and\nslew them.  The first of them, Agylaeus, on receiving the\nblow, fell and lay as dead; but in a little time quietly\nraising himself, and drawing himself out of the room, he\ncrept, without being discovered, into a little building which\nwas dedicated to Fear, and which always used to be shut, but\nthen by chance was open; and being got in, he shut the door,\nand lay close.  The other four were killed, and above ten\nmore that came to their assistance; to those that were quiet\nthey did no harm, stopped none that fled from the city, and\nspared Agylaeus, when he came out of the temple the next day.\n\nThe Lacedaemonians have not only sacred places dedicated to\nFear, but also to Death, Laughter, and the like Passions.\nNow they worship Fear, not as they do supernatural powers\nwhich they dread, esteeming it hurtful, but thinking their\npolity is chiefly kept up by fear.  And therefore, the\nephors, Aristotle is my author, when they entered upon their\ngovernment, made proclamation to the people, that they should\nshave their mustaches, and be obedient to the laws, that the\nlaws might not be hard upon them, making, I suppose, this\ntrivial injunction, to accustom their youth to obedience even\nin the smallest matters.  And the ancients, I think, did not\nimagine bravery to be plain fearlessness, but a cautious fear\nof blame and disgrace.  For those that show most timidity\ntowards the laws, are most bold against their enemies; and\nthose are least afraid of any danger who are most afraid of a\njust reproach.  Therefore it was well said that\n\nA reverence still attends on fear;\n\nand by Homer,\n\nFeared you shall be, dear father, and revered;\n\nand again,\n\nIn silence fearing those that bore the sway;\n\nfor the generality of men are most ready to reverence those\nwhom they fear.  And, therefore, the Lacedaemonians placed\nthe temple of Fear by the Syssitium of the ephors, having\nraised that magistracy to almost royal authority.\n\nThe next day, Cleomenes proscribed eighty of the citizens,\nwhom he thought necessary to banish, and removed all the\nseats of the ephors, except one, in which he himself designed\nto sit and give audience; and calling the citizens together,\nhe made an apology for his proceedings, saying, that by\nLycurgus the council of Elders was joined to the kings, and\nthat that model of government had continued a long time, and\nno other sort of magistrates had been wanted.  But\nafterwards, in the long war with the Messenians, when the\nkings, having to command the army, found no time to\nadminister justice, they chose some of their friends, and\nleft them to determine the suits of the citizens in their\nstead.  These were called ephors, and at first behaved\nthemselves as servants to the kings; but afterwards, by\ndegrees, they appropriated the power to themselves and\nerected a distinct magistracy.  An evidence of the truth of\nthis was the custom still observed by the kings, who, when\nthe ephors send for them, refuse, upon the first and the\nsecond summons, to go, but upon the third, rise up and attend\nthem.  And Asteropus, the first that raised the ephors to\nthat height of power, lived a great many years after their\ninstitution.  So long, therefore, he continued, as they\ncontained themselves within their own proper sphere, it had\nbeen better to bear with them than to make a disturbance.\nBut that an upstart, introduced power should so far subvert\nthe ancient form of government as to banish some kings,\nmurder others, without hearing their defense, and threaten\nthose who desired to see the best and most divine\nconstitution restored in Sparta, was not to be borne.\nTherefore, if it had been possible for him, without\nbloodshed, to free Lacedaemon from those foreign plagues,\nluxury, sumptuosity, debts, and usury, and from those yet\nmore ancient evils, poverty and riches, he should have\nthought himself the happiest king in the world, to have\nsucceeded, like an expert physician, in curing the diseases\nof his country without pain.  But now, in this necessity,\nLycurgus's example favored his proceedings, who being neither\nking nor magistrate, but a private man, and aiming at the\nkingdom, came armed into the market-place, so that king\nCharillus fled in alarm to the altar.  He, being a good man,\nand a lover of his country, readily concurred in Lycurgus's\ndesigns, and admitted the revolution in the state.  But, by\nhis own actions, Lycurgus had nevertheless borne witness that\nit was difficult to change the government without force and\nfear, in the use of which he himself, he said, had been so\nmoderate as to do no more than put out of the way those who\nopposed themselves to Sparta's happiness and safety.  For the\nrest of the nation, he told them, the whole land was now\ntheir common property; debtors should be cleared of their\ndebts, and examination made of those who were not citizens,\nthat the bravest men might thus be made free Spartans, and\ngive aid in arms to save the city, and \"We\" he said, \"may no\nlonger see Laconia, for want of men to defend it, wasted by\nthe Aetolians and Illyrians.\"\n\nThen he himself first, with his step-father, Megistonus, and\nhis friends, gave up all their wealth into one public stock,\nand all the other citizens followed the example.  The land\nwas divided, and everyone that he had banished, had a share\nassigned him; for he promised to restore all, as soon as\nthings were settled and in quiet.  And completing the number\nof citizens out of the best and most promising of the\ncountry people, he raised a body of four thousand men; and\ninstead of a spear, taught them to use a surissu, with both\nhands, and to carry their shields by a band, and not by a\nhandle, as before.  After this, he began to consult about\nthe education of the youth, and the Discipline, as they call\nit; most of the particulars of which, Sphaerus, being then at\nSparta, assisted in arranging; and, in a short time, the\nschools of exercise and the common tables recovered their\nancient decency and order, a few out of necessity, but the\nmost voluntarily, returning to that generous and Laconic way\nof living.  And, that the name of monarch might give them no\njealousy, he made Euclidas, his brother, partner in the\nthrone; and that was the only time that Sparta had two kings\nof the same family.\n\nThen, understanding that the Achaeans and Aratus imagined\nthat this change had disturbed and shaken his affairs, and\nthat he would not venture out of Sparta and leave the city\nnow unsettled in the midst of so great an alteration, he\nthought it great and serviceable to his designs, to show his\nenemies the zeal and forwardness of his troops.  And,\ntherefore, making an incursion into the territories of\nMegalopolis, he wasted the country far and wide, and\ncollected a considerable booty.  And, at last, taking a\ncompany of actors, as they were traveling from Messene, and\nbuilding a theater in the enemy's country, and offering a\nprize of forty minae in value, he sat spectator a whole day;\nnot that he either desired or needed such amusement, but\nwishing to show his disregard for his enemies, and by a\ndisplay of his contempt, to prove the extent of his\nsuperiority to them.  For his alone, of all the Greek or\nroyal armies, had no stage-players, no jugglers, no dancing\nor singing women attending it, but was free from all sorts of\nlooseness, wantonness, and festivity; the young men being for\nthe most part at their exercises, and the old men giving them\nlessons, or, at leisure times, diverting themselves with\ntheir native jests, and quick Laconian answers; the good\nresults of which we have noticed in the life of Lycurgus.\n\nHe himself instructed all by his example; he was a living\npattern of temperance before every man's eyes; and his course\nof living was neither more stately, nor more expensive, nor\nin any way more pretentious, than that of any of his people.\nAnd this was a considerable advantage to him in his designs\non Greece.  For men when they waited upon other kings, did\nnot so much admire their wealth, costly furniture, and\nnumerous attendance, as they hated their pride and state,\ntheir difficulty of access, and imperious answers to their\naddresses.  But when they came to Cleomenes, who was both\nreally a king, and bore that title, and saw no purple, no\nrobes of state upon him, no couches and litters about him for\nhis ease, and that he did not receive requests and return\nanswers after a long delay and difficulty, through a number\nof messengers and doorkeepers, or by memorials, but that he\nrose and came forward in any dress he might happen to be\nwearing, to meet those that came to wait upon him, stayed,\ntalked freely and affably with all that had business, they\nwere extremely taken, and won to his service, and professed\nthat he alone was the true son of Hercules.  His common every\nday's meal was in an ordinary room, very sparing, and after\nthe Laconic manner; and when he entertained ambassadors or\nstrangers, two more couches were added, and a little better\ndinner provided by his servants, but no savoring sauces or\nsweetmeats; only the dishes were larger, and the wine more\nplentiful.  For he reproved one of his friends for\nentertaining some strangers with nothing but barley bread and\nblack broth, such diet as they usually had in their phiditia;\nsaying, that upon such occasions, and when they entertained\nstrangers, it was not well to be too exact Laconians.  After\nthe table was removed, a stand was brought in, with a brass\nvessel full of wine, two silver bowls which held about a pint\napiece, a few silver cups, of which he that pleased might\ndrink, but wine was not urged on any of the guests.  There\nwas no music, nor was any required; for he entertained the\ncompany himself, sometimes asking questions, sometimes\ntelling stories; and his conversation was neither too grave\nor disagreeably serious, nor yet in any way rude or\nungraceful in its pleasantry.  For he thought those ways of\nentrapping men by gifts and presents, which other kings use,\ndishonest and inartificial; and it seemed to him to be the\nmost noble method, and most suitable to a king, to win the\naffections of those that came near him, by personal\nintercourse and agreeable conversation, since between a\nfriend and a mercenary the only distinction is, that we gain\nthe one by one's character and conversation, the other by\none's money.\n\nThe Mantineans were the first that requested his aid; and\nwhen he entered their city by night, they aided him to expel\nthe Achaean garrison, and put themselves under his\nprotection.  He restored them their polity and laws, and the\nsame day marched to Tegea; and a little while after, fetching\na compass through Arcadia, he made a descent upon Pherae, in\nAchaea, intending to force Aratus to a battle, or bring him\ninto disrepute, for refusing to engage, and suffering him to\nwaste the country.  Hyperbatas at that time was general, but\nAratus had all the power amongst the Achaeans.  The Achaeans,\nmarching forth with their whole strength, and encamping in\nDymae, near the Hecatombaeum, Cleomenes came up, and thinking\nit not advisable to pitch between Dymae, a city of the\nenemies, and the camp of the Achaeans, he boldly dared the\nAchaeans, and forced them to a battle, and routing their\nphalanx, slew a great many in the fight, and took many\nprisoners, and thence marching to Langon, and driving out the\nAchaean garrison, he restored the city to the Eleans.\n\nThe affairs of the Achaeans being in this unfortunate\ncondition, Aratus, who was wont to take office every other\nyear, refused the command, though they entreated and urged\nhim to accept it.  And this was ill done, when the storm was\nhigh, to put the power out of his own hands, and set another\nto the helm.  Cleomenes at first proposed fair and easy\nconditions by his ambassadors to the Achaeans, but afterward\nhe sent others, and required the chief command to be settled\nupon him; in other matters offering to agree to reasonable\nterms, and to restore their captives and their country.  The\nAchaeans were willing to come to an agreement upon those\nterms, and invited Cleomenes to Lerna, where an assembly was\nto be held; but it happened that Cleomenes, hastily marching\non, and drinking water at a wrong time, brought up a quantity\nof blood, and lost his voice; therefore being unable to\ncontinue his journey, he sent the chiefest of the captives to\nthe Achaeans, and, putting off the meeting for some time,\nretired to Lacedaemon.\n\nThis ruined the affairs of Greece, which was just beginning\nin some sort to recover from its disasters, and to show some\ncapability of delivering itself from the insolence and\nrapacity of the Macedonians.  For Aratus, (whether fearing or\ndistrusting Cleomenes, or envying his unlooked-for success,\nor thinking it a disgrace for him who had commanded\nthirty-three years, to have a young man succeed to all his\nglory and his power, and be head of that government which he\nhad been raising and settling so many years,) first\nendeavored to keep the Achaeans from closing with Cleomenes;\nbut when they would not hearken to him, fearing Cleomenes's\ndaring spirit, and thinking the Lacedaemonians' proposals to\nbe very reasonable, who designed only to reduce Peloponnesus\nto its old model, upon this he took his last refuge in an\naction which was unbecoming any of the Greeks, most\ndishonorable to him, and most unworthy his former bravery and\nexploits.  For he called Antigonus into Greece, and filled\nPeloponnesus with Macedonians, whom he himself, when a youth,\nhaving beaten their garrison out of the castle of Corinth,\nhad driven from the same country.  And there had been\nconstant suspicion and variance between him and all the\nkings, and of Antigonus, in particular, he has said a\nthousand dishonorable things in the commentaries he has left\nbehind him.  And though he declares himself how he suffered\nconsiderable losses, and underwent great dangers, that he\nmight free Athens from the garrison of the Macedonians, yet,\nafterwards, he brought the very same men armed into his own\ncountry, and his own house, even to the women's apartment.\nHe would not endure that one of the family of Hercules, and\nking of Sparta, and one that had reformed the polity of his\ncountry, as it were, from a disordered harmony, and retuned\nit to the plain Doric measure and rule of life of Lycurgus,\nshould be styled head of the Tritaeans and Sicyonians; and\nwhilst he fled the barley-cake and coarse coat, and which\nwere his chief accusations against Cleomenes, the extirpation\nof wealth and reformation of poverty, he basely subjected\nhimself, together with Achaea, to the diadem and purple, to\nthe imperious commands of the Macedonians and their satraps.\nThat he might not seem to be under Cleomenes, he offered\nsacrificers, called Antigonea, in honor of Antigonus, and\nsang paeans himself, with a garland on his head, to the\npraise of a wasted, consumptive Macedonian.  I write this not\nout of any design to disgrace Aratus, for in many things he\nshowed himself a true lover of Greece, and a great man, but\nout of pity to the weakness of human nature, which in\ncharacters like this, so worthy and in so many ways disposed\nto virtue, cannot maintain its honors unblemished by some\nenvious fault.\n\nThe Achaeans meeting again in assembly at Argos, and\nCleomenes having come from Tegea, there were great hopes that\nall differences would be composed.  But Aratus, Antigonus and\nhe having already agreed upon the chief articles of their\nleague, fearing that Cleomenes would carry all before him,\nand either win or force the multitude to comply with his\ndemands, proposed, that having three hundred hostages put\ninto his hands, he should come alone into the town, or bring\nhis army to the place of exercise, called the Cyllarabium,\noutside the city, and treat there.\n\nCleomenes, hearing this, said, that he was unjustly dealt\nwith; for they ought to have told him so plainly at first,\nand not now he was come even to their doors, show their\njealousy, and deny him admission.  And writing a letter to\nthe Achaeans about the same subject, the greatest part of\nwhich was an accusation of Aratus, while Aratus, on the other\nside, spoke violently against him to the assembly, he hastily\ndislodged, and sent a trumpeter to denounce war against the\nAchaeans, not to Argos, but to Aegium, as Aratus writes, that\nhe might not give them notice enough to make provision for\ntheir defense.  There had also been a movement among the\nAchaeans themselves, and the cities were eager for revolt;\nthe common people expecting a division of the land, and a\nrelease from their debts, and the chief men being in many\nplaces ill-disposed to Aratus, and some of them angry and\nindignant with him, for having brought the Macedonians into\nPeloponnesus.  Encouraged by these misunderstandings,\nCleomenes invaded Achaea, and first took Pellene by surprise,\nand beat out the Achaean garrison, and afterwards brought\nover Pheneus and Penteleum to his side.  Now the Achaeans,\nsuspecting some treacherous designs at Corinth and Sicyon,\nsent their horse and mercenaries out of Argos, to have an eye\nupon those cities, and they themselves went to Argos, to\ncelebrate the Nemean games.  Cleomenes, advertised of this\nmarch, and hoping, as it afterward fell out, that upon an\nunexpected advance to the city, now busied in the solemnity\nof the games, and thronged with numerous spectators, he\nshould raise a considerable terror and confusion amongst\nthem, by night marched with his army to the walls, and taking\nthe quarter of the town called Aspis, which lies above the\ntheater, well fortified, and hard to be approached, he so\nterrified them that none offered to resist, but they agreed\nto accept a garrison, to give twenty citizens for hostages,\nand to assist the Lacedaemonians, and that he should have the\nchief command.\n\nThis action considerably increased his reputation and his\npower; for the ancient Spartan kings, though they many ways\nendeavored to effect it, could never bring Argos to be\npermanently theirs.  And Pyrrhus, the most experienced\ncaptain, though he entered the city by force, could not keep\npossession, but was slain himself, with a considerable part\nof his army.  Therefore they admired the dispatch and\ncontrivance of Cleomenes; and those that before derided him,\nfor imitating, as they said, Solon and Lycurgus, in releasing\nthe people from their debts, and in equalizing the property\nof the citizens, were now fain to admit that this was the\ncause of the change in the Spartans.  For before they were\nvery low in the world, and so unable to secure their own,\nthat the Aetolians, invading Laconia, brought away fifty\nthousand slaves; so that one of the elder Spartans is\nreported to have said, that they had done Laconia a kindness\nby unburdening it; and yet a little while after, by merely\nrecurring once again to their native customs, and reentering\nthe track of the ancient discipline, they were able to give,\nas though it had been under the eyes and conduct of Lycurgus\nhimself, the most signal instances of courage and obedience,\nraising Sparta to her ancient place as the commanding state\nof Greece, and recovering all Peloponnesus.\n\nWhen Argos was captured, and Cleonae and Phlius came over, as\nthey did at once, to Cleomenes, Aratus was at Corinth,\nsearching after some who were reported to favor the Spartan\ninterest.  The news, being brought to him, disturbed him very\nmuch; for he perceived the city inclining to Cleomenes, and\nwilling to be rid of the Achaeans.  Therefore he summoned the\ncitizens to meet in the Council Hall, and slipping away\nwithout being observed to the gate, he mounted his horse that\nhad been brought for him thither, and fled to Sicyon.  And\nthe Corinthians made such haste to Cleomenes at Argos, that,\nas Aratus says, striving who should be first there, they\nspoiled all their horses; he adds that Cleomenes was very\nangry with the Corinthians for letting him escape; and that\nMegistonus came from Cleomenes to him, desiring him to\ndeliver up the castle at Corinth, which was then garrisoned\nby the Achaeans, and offered him a considerable sum of money,\nand that he answered, that matters were not now in his power,\nbut he in theirs.  Thus Aratus himself writes.  But\nCleomenes, marching from Argos, and taking in the\nTroezenians, Epidaurians, and Hermioneans, came to Corinth,\nand blocked up the castle, which the Achaeans would not\nsurrender; and sending for Aratus's friends and stewards,\ncommitted his house and estate to their care and management;\nand sent Tritymallus, the Messenian, to him a second time,\ndesiring that the castle might be equally garrisoned by the\nSpartans and Achaeans, and promising to Aratus himself double\nthe pension that he received from king Ptolemy.  But Aratus,\nrefusing the conditions, and sending his own son with the\nother hostages to Antigonus, and persuading the Achaeans to\nmake a decree for delivering the castle into Antigonus's\nhands, upon this Cleomenes invaded the territory of the\nSicyonians, and by a decree of the Corinthians, accepted\nAratus's estate as a gift.\n\nIn the meantime, Antigonus, with a great army, was passing\nGeranea; and Cleomenes, thinking it more advisable to fortify\nand garrison, not the isthmus, but the mountains called Onea,\nand by a war of posts and positions to weary the Macedonians,\nrather than to venture a set battle with the highly\ndisciplined phalanx, put his design in execution, and very\nmuch distressed Antigonus.  For he had not brought victuals\nsufficient for his army; nor was it easy to force a way\nthrough, whilst Cleomenes guarded the pass.  He attempted by\nnight to pass through Lechaeum, but failed, and lost some\nmen; so that Cleomenes and his army were mightily encouraged,\nand so flushed with the victory, that they went merrily to\nsupper; and Antigonus was very much dejected, being driven,\nby the necessity he was in, to most unpromising attempts.  He\nwas proposing to march to the promontory of Heraeum, and\nthence transport his army in boats to Sicyon, which would\ntake up a great deal of time, and require much preparation\nand means.  But when it was now evening, some of Aratus's\nfriends came from Argos by sea, and invited him to return,\nfor the Argives would revolt from Cleomenes.  Aristoteles was\nthe man that wrought the revolt, and he had no hard task to\npersuade the common people; for they were all angry with\nCleomenes for not releasing them from their debts as they\nexpected.  Accordingly, obtaining fifteen hundred of\nAntigonus's soldiers, Aratus sailed to Epidaurus; but\nAristoteles, not staying for his coming, drew out the\ncitizens, and fought against the garrison of the castle; and\nTimoxenus, with the Achaeans from Sicyon, came to his\nassistance.\n\nCleomenes heard the news about the second watch of the night,\nand sending for Megistonus, angrily commanded him to go and\nset things right at Argos.  Megistonus had passed his word\nfor the Argives' loyalty, and had persuaded him not to banish\nthe suspected.  Therefore, dispatching him with two thousand\nsoldiers, he himself kept watch upon Antigonus, and\nencouraged the Corinthians, pretending that there was no\ngreat matter in the commotions at Argos, but only a little\ndisturbance raised by a few inconsiderable persons.  But when\nMegistonus, entering Argos, was slain, and the garrison could\nscarce hold out, and frequent messengers came to Cleomenes\nfor succors, he, fearing least the enemy, having taken Argos,\nshould shut up the passes, and securely waste Laconia, and\nbesiege Sparta itself, which he had left without forces,\ndislodged from Corinth, and immediately lost that city; for\nAntigonus entered it, and garrisoned the town.  He turned\naside from his direct march, and assaulting the walls of\nArgos, endeavored to carry it by a sudden attack and then,\nhaving collected his forces from their march, breaking into\nthe Aspis, he joined the garrison, which still held out\nagainst the Achaeans; some parts of the city he scaled and\ntook, and his Cretan archers cleared the streets.  But when\nhe saw Antigonus with his phalanx descending from the\nmountains into the plain, and the horse on all sides entering\nthe city, he thought it impossible to maintain his post, and,\ngathering together all his men, came safely down, and made\nhis retreat under the walls, having in so short a time\npossessed himself of great power, and in one journey, so to\nsay, having made himself master of almost all Peloponnesus,\nand now lost all again in as short a time.  For some of his\nallies at once withdrew and forsook him, and others not long\nafter put their cities under Antigonus's protection.  His\nhopes thus defeated, as he was leading back the relics of his\nforces, messengers from Lacedaemon met him in the evening at\nTegea, and brought him, news of as great a misfortune as\nthat which he had lately suffered, and this was the death of\nhis wife, to whom he was so attached, and thought so much of\nher, that even in his most successful expeditions, when he\nwas most prosperous, he could not refrain, but would ever now\nand then come home to Sparta, to visit Agiatis.\n\nThis news afflicted him extremely, and he grieved, as a young\nman would do, for the loss of a very beautiful and excellent\nwife; yet he did not let his passion disgrace him, or impair\nthe greatness of his mind, but keeping his usual voice, his\ncountenance, and his habit, he gave necessary orders to his\ncaptains, and took the precautions required for the safety of\nTegea.  Next morning he came to Sparta, and having at home\nwith his mother and children bewailed the loss, and finished\nhis mourning, he at once devoted himself to the public\naffairs of the state.\n\nNow Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, promised him assistance, but\ndemanded his mother and children for hostages.  This, for\nsome considerable time, he was ashamed to discover to his\nmother; and though he often went to her on purpose, and was\njust upon the discourse, yet he still refrained, and kept it\nto himself; so that she began to suspect, and asked his\nfriends, whether Cleomenes had something to say to her, which\nhe was afraid to speak.  At last, Cleomenes venturing to tell\nher, she laughed aloud, and said, \"Was this the thing that\nyou had so often a mind to tell me, and were afraid?  Make\nhaste and put me on shipboard, and send this carcass where it\nmay be most serviceable to Sparta, before age destroys it\nunprofitably here.\"  Therefore, all things being provided for\nthe voyage, they went by land to Taenarus, and the army\nwaited on them.  Cratesiclea, when she was ready to go on\nboard, took Cleomenes aside into Neptune's temple, and\nembracing him, who was much dejected, and extremely\ndiscomposed, she said, \"Go to, king of Sparta; when we come\nforth at the door, let none see us weep, or show any passion\nthat is unworthy of Sparta, for that alone is in our own\npower; as for success or disappointment, those wait on us as\nthe deity decrees.\"  Having thus said, and composed her\ncountenance, she went to the ship with her little grandson,\nand bade the pilot put at once out to sea.  When she came to\nEgypt, and understood that Ptolemy entertained proposals and\novertures of peace from Antigonus, and that Cleomenes, though\nthe Achaeans invited and urged him to an agreement, was\nafraid, for her sake, to come to any, without Ptolemy's\nconsent, she wrote to him, advising him to do that which was\nmost becoming and most profitable for Sparta, and not, for\nthe sake of an old woman and a little child, stand always in\nfear of Ptolemy.  This character she maintained in her\nmisfortunes.\n\nAntigonus, having taken Tegea, and plundered Orchomenus and\nMantinea, Cleomenes was shut up within the narrow bounds of\nLaconia; and making such of the helots as could pay five\nAttic pounds, free of Sparta, and, by that means, getting\ntogether five hundred talents, and arming two thousand after\nthe Macedonian fashion, that he might make a body fit to\noppose Antigonus's Leucaspides he undertook a great and\nunexpected enterprise.  Megalopolis was at that time a city\nof itself as great and as powerful as Sparta, and had the\nforces of the Achaeans and of Antigonus encamping beside it;\nand it was chiefly the Megalopolitans' doing, that Antigonus\nhad been called in to assist the Achaeans.  Cleomenes,\nresolving to snatch the city (no other word so well suits so\nrapid and so surprising an action), ordered his men to take\nfive days' provision, and marched to Sellasia, as if he\nintended to ravage the country of the Argives; but from\nthence making a descent into the territories of Megalopolis,\nand refreshing his army about Rhoeteum, he suddenly took the\nroad by Helicus, and advanced directly upon the city.  When\nhe was not far off the town, he sent Panteus, with two\nregiments, to surprise a portion of the wall between two\ntowers, which he learnt to be the most unguarded quarter of\nthe Megalopolitans' fortifications, and with the rest of his\nforces he followed leisurely.  Panteus not only succeeded at\nthat point, but finding a great part of the wall without\nguards, he at once proceeded to pull it down in some places,\nand make openings through it in others, and killed all the\ndefenders that he found.  Whilst he was thus busied,\nCleomenes came up to him, and was got with his army within\nthe city, before the Megalopolitans knew of the surprise.\nWhen, after some time, they learned their misfortune, some\nleft the town immediately, taking with them what property\nthey could; others armed, and engaged the enemy; and through\nthey were not able to beat them out, yet they gave their\ncitizens time and opportunity safely to retire, so that there\nwere not above one thousand persons taken in the town, all\nthe rest flying, with their wives and children, and escaping\nto Messene.  The greater number, also, of those that armed\nand fought the enemy, were saved, and very few taken, amongst\nwhom were Lysandridas and Thearidas, two men of great power\nand reputation amongst the Megalopolitans; and therefore the\nsoldiers, as soon as they were taken, brought them to\nCleomenes.  And Lysandridas, as soon as he saw Cleomenes afar\noff, cried out, \"Now, king of Sparta, it is in your power, by\ndoing a most kingly and a nobler action than you have\nalready performed, to purchase the greatest glory.\"  And\nCleomenes, guessing at his meaning, replied, \"What,\nLysandridas, you will not surely advise me to restore your\ncity to you again?\"  \"It is that which I mean,\" Lysandridas\nreplied, \"and I advise you not to ruin so brave a city, but\nto fill it with faithful and steadfast friends and allies, by\nrestoring their country to the Megalopolitans, and being the\nsavior of so considerable a people.\"  Cleomenes paused a\nwhile, and then said, \"It is very hard to trust so far in\nthese matters; but with us let profit always yield to glory.\"\nHaving said this, he sent the two men to Messene with a\nherald from himself, offering the Megalopolitans their city\nagain, if they would forsake the Achaean interest, and be on\nhis side.  But though Cleomenes made these generous and\nhumane proposals, Philopoemen would not suffer them to break\ntheir league with the Achaeans; and accusing Cleomenes to the\npeople, as if his design was not to restore the city, but to\ntake the citizens too, he forced Thearidas and Lysandridas to\nleave Messene.\n\nThis was that Philopoemen who was afterward chief of the\nAchaeans and a man of the greatest reputation amongst the\nGreeks, as I have refuted in his own life.  This news coming\nto Cleomenes, though he had before taken strict care that the\ncity should not be plundered, yet then, being in anger, and\nout of all patience, he despoiled the place of all the\nvaluables, and sent the statues and pictures to Sparta; and\ndemolishing a great part of the city, he marched away for\nfear of Antigonus and the Achaeans; but they never stirred,\nfor they were at Aegium, at a council of war.  There Aratus\nmounted the speaker's place, and wept a long while, holding\nhis mantle before his face; and at last, the company being\namazed, and commanding him to speak, he said, \"Megalopolis is\ndestroyed by Cleomenes.\"  The assembly instantly dissolved,\nthe Achaeans being astounded at the suddenness and greatness\nof the loss; and Antigonus, intending to send speedy succors,\nwhen he found his forces gather very slowly out of their\nwinter-quarters, sent them orders to continue there still;\nand he himself marched to Argos with a small body of men.\nAnd now the second enterprise of Cleomenes, though it had the\nlook of a desperate and frantic adventure, yet in Polybius's\nopinion, was done with mature deliberation and great\nforesight.  For knowing very well that the Macedonians were\ndispersed into their winter-quarters, and that Antigonus with\nhis friends and a few mercenaries about him wintered in\nArgos, upon these considerations he invaded the country of\nthe Argives, hoping to shame Antigonus to a battle upon\nunequal terms, or else, if he did not dare to fight, to bring\nhim into disrepute with the Achaeans.  And this accordingly\nhappened.  For Cleomenes wasting, plundering, and spoiling\nthe whole country, the Argives, in grief and anger at the\nloss, gathered in crowds at the king's gates, crying out that\nhe should either fight, or surrender his command to better\nand braver men.  But Antigonus, as became an experienced\ncaptain, accounting it rather dishonorable foolishly to\nhazard his army and quit his security, than merely to be\nrailed at by other people, would not march out against\nCleomenes, but stood firm to his convictions.  Cleomenes, in\nthe meantime, brought his army up to the very walls, and\nhaving without opposition spoiled the country, and insulted\nover his enemies, drew off again.\n\nA little while after, being informed that Antigonus designed\na new advance to Tegea, and thence to invade Laconia, he\nrapidly took his soldiers, and marching by a side road,\nappeared early in the morning before Argos, and wasted the\nfields about it.  The corn he did not cut down, as is usual,\nwith reaping hooks and knives, but beat it down with great\nwooden staves made like broadswords, as if, in mere contempt\nand wanton scorn, while traveling on his way, without any\neffort or trouble, he spoiled and destroyed their harvest.\nYet when his soldiers would have set Cyllabaris, the exercise\nground, on fire, he stopped the attempt, as if he felt, that\nthe mischief he had done at Megalopolis had been the effects\nof his passion rather than his wisdom.  And when Antigonus,\nfirst of all, came hastily back to Argos, and then occupied\nthe mountains and passes with his posts, he professed to\ndisregard and despise it all; and sent heralds to ask for the\nkeys of the temple of Juno, as though he proposed to offer\nsacrifice there and then return.  And with this scornful\npleasantry upon Antigonus, having sacrificed to the goddess\nunder the walls of the temple, which was shut, he went to\nPhlius; and from thence driving out those that garrisoned\nOligyrtus, he marched down to Orchomenus.  And these\nenterprises not only encouraged the citizens, but made him\nappear to the very enemies to be a man worthy of high\ncommand, and capable of great things.  For with the strength\nof one city, not only to fight the power of the Macedonians\nand all the Peloponnesians, supported by all the royal\ntreasures, not only to preserve Laconia from being spoiled,\nbut to waste the enemy's country, and to take so many and\nsuch considerable cities, was an argument of no common skill\nand genius for command.\n\nBut he that first said that money was the sinews of affairs,\nseems especially in that saying to refer to war.  Demades,\nwhen the Athenians had voted that their galleys should be\nlaunched and equipped for action, but could produce no money,\ntold them, \"The baker was wanted first, and the pilot after.\"\nAnd the old Archidamus, in the beginning of the Peloponnesian\nwar, when the allies desired that the amount of their\ncontributions should be determined, is reported to have\nanswered, that war cannot be fed upon so much a day.  For as\nwrestlers, who have thoroughly trained and disciplined their\nbodies, in time tire down and exhaust the most agile and most\nskillful combatant, so Antigonus, coming to the war with\ngreat resources to spend from, wore out Cleomenes, whose\npoverty made it difficult for him to provide the merest\nsufficiency of pay for the mercenaries, or of provisions for\nthe citizens.  For, in all other respects, time favored\nCleomenes; for Antigonus's affairs at home began to be\ndisturbed.  For the barbarians wasted and overran Macedonia\nwhilst he was absent, and at that particular time a vast army\nof Illyrians had entered the country; to be freed from whose\ndevastations, the Macedonians sent for Antigonus, and the\nletters had almost been brought to him before the battle was\nfought; upon the receipt of which he would at once have\nmarched away home, and left the Achaeans to look to\nthemselves.  But Fortune, that loves to determine the\ngreatest affairs by a minute, in this conjuncture showed such\nan exact niceness of time, that immediately after the battle\nin Sellasia was over, and Cleomenes had lost his army and his\ncity, the messengers came up and called for Antigonus.  And\nthis above everything made Cleomenes's misfortune to be\npitied; for if he had gone on retreating and had forborne\nfighting two days longer, there had been no need of hazarding\na battle; since upon the departure of the Macedonians, he\nmight have had what conditions he pleased from the Achaeans.\nBut now, as was said before, for want of money, being\nnecessitated to trust everything to arms, he was forced with\ntwenty thousand (such is Polybius's account) to engage thirty\nthousand.  And approving himself an admirable commander in\nthis difficulty, his citizens showing an extraordinary\ncourage, and his mercenaries bravery enough, he was overborne\nby the different way of fighting, and the weight of the\nheavy-armed phalanx.  Phylarchus also affirms, that the\ntreachery of some about him was the chief cause of\nCleomenes's ruin.\n\nFor Antigonus gave orders, that the Illyrians and Acarnanians\nshould march round by a secret way, and encompass the other\nwing, which Euclidas, Cleomenes's brother, commanded; and\nthen drew out the rest of his forces to the battle.  And\nCleomenes, from a convenient rising, viewing his order, and\nnot seeing any of the Illyrians and Acarnanians, began to\nsuspect that Antigonus had sent them upon some such design,\nand calling for Damoteles, who was at the head of those\nspecially appointed to such ambush duty, he bade him\ncarefully to look after and discover the enemy's designs upon\nhis rear.  But Damoteles, for some say Antigonus had bribed\nhim, telling him that he should not be solicitous about that\nmatter, for all was well enough, but mind and fight those\nthat met him in the front, he was satisfied, and advanced\nagainst Antigonus; and by the vigorous charge of his\nSpartans, made the Macedonian phalanx give ground, and\npressed upon them with great advantage about half a mile; but\nthen making a stand, and seeing the danger which the\nsurrounded wing, commanded by his brother Euclidas, was in,\nhe cried out, \"Thou art lost, dear brother, thou art lost,\nthou brave example to our Spartan youth, and theme of our\nmatrons' songs.\"  And Euclidas's wing being cut in pieces,\nand the conquerors from that part falling upon him, he\nperceived his soldiers to be disordered, and unable to\nmaintain the fight, and therefore provided for his own\nsafety.  There fell, we are told, in the battle, besides many\nof the mercenary soldiers, all the Spartans, six thousand in\nnumber, except two hundred.\n\nWhen Cleomenes came into the city, he advised those citizens\nthat he met to receive Antigonus; and as for himself, he\nsaid, which should appear most advantageous to Sparta,\nwhether his life or death, that he would choose.  Seeing the\nwomen running out to those that had fled with him, taking\ntheir arms, and bringing drink to them, he entered into his\nown house, and his servant, who was a freeborn woman, taken\nfrom Megalopolis after his wife's death, offering, as usual,\nto do the service he needed on returning from war, though he\nwas very thirsty, he refused to drink, and though very weary,\nto sit down; but in his corselet as he was, he laid his arm\nsideways against a pillar, and leaning his forehead upon his\nelbow, he rested his body a little while, and ran over in his\nthoughts all the courses he could take; and then with his\nfriends set on at once for Gythium; where finding ships which\nhad been got ready for this very purpose, they embarked.\nAntigonus, taking the city, treated the Lacedaemonians\ncourteously, and in no way offering any insult or offense to\nthe dignity of Sparta, but permitting them to enjoy their own\nlaws and polity, and sacrificing to the gods, dislodged the\nthird day.  For he heard that there was a great war in\nMacedonia, and that the country was devastated by the\nbarbarians.  Besides, his malady had now thoroughly settled\ninto a consumption and continual catarrh.  Yet he still kept\nup, and managed to return and deliver his country, and meet\nthere a more glorious death in a great defeat and vast\nslaughter of the barbarians.  As Phylarchus says, and as is\nprobable in itself, he broke a blood vessel by shouting in\nthe battle itself.  In the schools we used to be told, that\nafter the victory was won, he cried out for joy, \"O glorious\nday!\" and presently bringing up a quantity of blood, fell\ninto a fever, which never left him till his death.  And thus\nmuch concerning Antigonus.\n\nCleomenes, sailing from Cythera, touched at another island\ncalled Aegialia, whence as he was about to depart for Cyrene,\none of his friends, Therycion by name, a man of a noble\nspirit in all enterprises, and bold and lofty in his talk,\ncame privately to him, and said thus: \"Sir, death in battle,\nwhich is the most glorious, we have let go; though all heard\nus say that Antigonus should never tread over the king of\nSparta, unless dead.  And now that course which is next in\nhonor and virtue, is presented to us.  Whither do we madly\nsail, flying the evil which is near, to seek that which is at\na distance?  For if it is not dishonorable for the race of\nHercules to serve the successors of Philip and Alexander, we\nshall save a long voyage by delivering ourselves up to\nAntigonus, who, probably, is as much better than Ptolemy, as\nthe Macedonians are better than the Egyptians; but if we\nthink it mean to submit to those whose arms have conquered\nus, why should we choose him for our master, by whom we have\nnot yet been beaten?  Is it to acknowledge two superiors\ninstead of one, whilst we run away from Antigonus, and\nflatter Ptolemy?  Or, is it for your mother's sake that you\nretreat to Egypt?  It will indeed be a very fine and very\ndesirable sight for her, to show her son to Ptolemy's women,\nnow changed from a prince into an exile and a slave.  Are we\nnot still masters of our own swords?  And whilst we have\nLaconia in view, shall we not here free ourselves from this\ndisgraceful misery, and clear ourselves to those who at\nSellasia died for the honor and defense of Sparta?  Or, shall\nwe sit lazily in Egypt, inquiring what news from Sparta, and\nwhom Antigonus hath been pleased to make governor of\nLacedaemon?\"  Thus spoke Therycion; and this was Cleomenes's\nreply: \"By seeking death, you coward, the most easy and most\nready refuge, you fancy that you shall appear courageous and\nbrave, though this flight is baser than the former.  Better\nmen than we have given way to their enemies, having been\nbetrayed by fortune, or oppressed by multitude; but he that\ngives way under labor or distresses, under the ill opinions\nor reports of men, yields the victory to his own effeminacy.\nFor a voluntary death ought not to be chosen as a relief from\naction, but as an exemplary action itself; and it is base\neither to live or to die only to ourselves.  That death to\nwhich you now invite us, is proposed only as a release from\nour present miseries, but carries nothing of nobleness or\nprofit in it.  And I think it becomes both me and you not to\ndespair of our country; but when there are no hopes of that\nleft, those that have an inclination may quickly die.\"  To\nthis Therycion returned no answer but as soon as he had an\nopportunity of leaving Cleomenes's company, went aside on the\nsea-shore, and ran himself through.\n\nBut Cleomenes sailed from Aegialia, landed in Libya, and\nbeing honorably conducted through the king's country, came to\nAlexandria.  When he was first brought to Ptolemy, no more\nthan common civilities and usual attentions were paid him;\nbut when, upon trial, he found him a man of deep sense and\ngreat reason, and that his plain Laconic way of conversation\ncarried with it a noble and becoming grace, that he did\nnothing unbecoming his birth, nor bent under fortune, and was\nevidently a more faithful counselor than those who made it\ntheir business to please and flatter, he was ashamed, and\nrepented that he had neglected so great a man, and suffered\nAntigonus to get so much power and reputation by ruining him.\nHe now offered him many marks of respect and kindness, and\ngave him hopes that he would furnish him with ships and money\nto return to Greece, and would reinstate him in his kingdom.\nHe granted him a yearly pension of four and twenty talents; a\nlittle part of which sum supplied his and his friends'\nthrifty temperance; and the rest was employed in doing good\noffices to, and in relieving the necessities of the refugees\nthat had fled from Greece, and retired into Egypt.\n\nBut the elder Ptolemy dying before Cleomenes's affairs had\nreceived a full dispatch, and the successor being a loose,\nvoluptuous, and effeminate prince, under the power of his\npleasures and his women, his business was neglected.  For the\nking was so besotted with his women and his wine, that the\nemployments of his most busy and serious hours consisted at\nthe utmost in celebrating religious feasts in his palace,\ncarrying a timbrel, and taking part in the show; while the\ngreatest affairs of state were managed by Agathoclea, the\nking's mistress, her mother, and the pimp Oenanthes.  At the\nfirst, indeed, they seemed to stand in need of Cleomenes; for\nPtolemy, being afraid of his brother Magas, who by his\nmother's means had a great interest amongst the soldiers,\ngave Cleomenes a place in his secret councils, and acquainted\nhim with the design of taking off his brother.  He, though\nall were for it, declared his opinion to the contrary,\nsaying, \"The king, if it were possible, should have more\nbrothers for the better security and stability of his\naffairs.\"  And Sosibius, the greatest favorite, replying,\nthat they were not secure of the mercenaries whilst Magas was\nalive, Cleomenes returned, that he need not trouble himself\nabout that matter; for amongst the mercenaries there were\nabove three thousand Peloponnesians, who were his fast\nfriends, and whom he could command at any time with a nod.\nThis discourse made Cleomenes for the present to be looked\nupon as a man of great influence and assured fidelity; but\nafterwards, Ptolemy's weakness increasing his fear, and he,\nas it usually happens, where there is no judgment and wisdom,\nplacing his security in general distrust and suspicion, it\nrendered Cleomenes suspected to the courtiers, as having too\nmuch interest with the mercenaries; and many had this saying\nin their mouths, that he was a lion amidst a flock of sheep.\nFor, in fact, such he seemed to be in the court, quietly\nwatching, and keeping his eye upon all that went on.\n\nHe, therefore, gave up all thought of asking for ships and\nsoldiers from the king.  But receiving news that Antigonus\nwas dead, that the Achaeans were engaged in a war with the\nAetolians, and that the affairs of Peloponnesus, being now in\nvery great distraction and disorder, required and invited his\nassistance, he desired leave to depart only with his friends,\nbut could not obtain that, the king not so much as hearing\nhis petition, being shut up amongst his women, and wasting\nhis hours in bacchanalian rites and drinking parties.  But\nSosibius, the chief minister and counselor of state, thought\nthat Cleomenes, being detained against his will, would grow\nungovernable and dangerous, and yet that it was not safe to\nlet him go, being an aspiring, daring man, and well\nacquainted with the diseases and weakness of the kingdom.\nFor neither could presents and gifts conciliate or content\nhim; but even as Apis, while living in all possible plenty\nand apparent delight, yet desires to live as nature would\nprovide for him, to range at liberty, and bound about the\nfields, and can scarce endure to be under the priests'\nkeeping, so he could not brook their courtship and soft\nentertainment, but sat like Achilles,\n\nand languished far,\nDesiring battle and the shout of war.\n\nHis affairs standing in this condition, Nicagoras, the\nMessenian, came to Alexandria, a man that deeply hated\nCleomenes, yet pretended to be his friend; for he had\nformerly sold Cleomenes a fair estate, but never received the\nmoney, because Cleomenes was either unable, as it may be, or\nelse, by reason of his engagement in the wars and other\ndistractions, had no opportunity to pay him.  Cleomenes,\nseeing him landing, for he was then walking upon the quay,\nkindly saluted him, and asked what business brought him to\nEgypt.  Nicagoras returned his compliment, and told him, that\nhe came to bring some excellent war-horses to the king.  And\nCleomenes, with a smile, subjoined, \"I could wish you had\nrather brought young boys and music-girls; for those now are\nthe king's chief occupation.\"  Nicagoras at the moment smiled\nat the conceit; but a few days after, he put Cleomenes in\nmind of the estate that he had bought of him, and desired his\nmoney, protesting, that he would not have troubled him, if\nhis merchandise had turned out as profitable as he had\nthought it would.  Cleomenes replied, that he had nothing\nleft of all that had been given him.  At which answer,\nNicagoras, being nettled, told Sosibius Cleomenes's scoff\nupon the king.  He was delighted to receive the information;\nbut desiring to have some greater reason to excite the king\nagainst Cleomenes, persuaded Nicagoras to leave a letter\nwritten against Cleomenes, importing that he had a design, if\nhe could have gotten ships and soldiers, to surprise Cyrene.\nNicagoras wrote such a letter and left Egypt.  Four days\nafter, Sosibius brought the letter to Ptolemy, pretending it\nwas just then delivered him, and excited the young man's fear\nand anger; upon which it was agreed, that Cleomenes should be\ninvited into a large house, and treated as formerly, but not\nsuffered to go out again.\n\nThis usage was grievous to Cleomenes, and another incident\nthat occurred, made him feel his hopes to be yet more\nentirely overcast.  Ptolemy, the son of Chrysermas, a\nfavorite of the king's, had always shown civility to\nCleomenes; there was a considerable intimacy between them,\nand they had been used to talk freely together about the\nstate.  He, upon Cleomenes's desire, came to him, and spoke\nto him in fair terms, softening down his suspicions and\nexcusing the king's conduct.  But as he went out again, not\nknowing that Cleomenes followed him to the door, he severely\nreprimanded the keepers for their carelessness in looking\nafter \"so great and so furious a wild beast.\"  This Cleomenes\nhimself heard, and retiring before Ptolemy perceived it, told\nhis friends what had been said.  Upon this they cast off all\ntheir former hopes, and determined for violent proceedings,\nresolving to be revenged on Ptolemy for his base and unjust\ndealing, to have satisfaction for the affronts, to die as it\nbecame Spartans, and not stay till, like fatted sacrifices,\nthey were butchered.  For it was both grievous and\ndishonorable for Cleomenes, who had scorned to come to terms\nwith Antigonus, a brave warrior, and a man of action, to wait\nan effeminate king's leisure, till he should lay aside his\ntimbrel and end his dance, and then kill him.\n\nThese courses being resolved on, and Ptolemy happening at the\nsame time to make a progress to Canopus, they first spread\nabroad a report, that his freedom was ordered by the king,\nand, it being the custom for the king to send presents and an\nentertainment to those whom he would free, Cleomenes's\nfriends made that provision, and sent it into the prison,\nthus imposing upon the keepers, who thought it had been sent\nby the king.  For he sacrificed, and gave them large\nportions, and with a garland upon his head, feasted and made\nmerry with his friends.  It is said that he began the action\nsooner than he designed, having understood that a servant who\nwas privy to the plot, had gone out to visit a mistress that\nhe loved.  This made him afraid of a discovery; and\ntherefore, as soon as it was full noon, and all the keepers\nsleeping off their wine, he put on his coat, and opening the\nseam to bare his right shoulder, with his drawn sword in his\nhand, he issued forth, together with his friends, provided in\nthe same manner, making thirteen in all.  One of them, by\nname Hippitas, was lame, and followed the first onset very\nwell, but when he presently perceived that they were more\nslow in their advances for his sake, he desired them to run\nhim through, and not ruin their enterprise by staying for an\nuseless, unprofitable man.  By chance an Alexandrian was then\nriding by the door; him they threw off, and setting Hippitas\non horseback, ran through the streets, and proclaimed liberty\nto the people.  But they, it seems, had courage enough to\npraise and admire Cleomenes's daring, but not one had the\nheart to follow and assist him.  Three of them fell on\nPtolemy, the son of Chrysermas, as he was coming out of the\npalace, and killed him.  Another Ptolemy, the officer in\ncharge of the city, advancing against them in a chariot, they\nset upon, dispersed his guards and attendants, and pulling\nhim out of the chariot, killed him upon the place.  Then they\nmade toward the castle, designing to break open the prison,\nrelease those who were confined, and avail themselves of\ntheir numbers; but the keepers were too quick for them, and\nsecured the passages.  Being baffled in this attempt,\nCleomenes with his company roamed about the city, none\njoining with him, but all retreating from and flying his\napproach.  Therefore, despairing of success, and saying to\nhis friends, that it was no wonder that women ruled over men\nthat were afraid of liberty, he bade them all die as bravely\nas became his followers and their own past actions.  This\nsaid, Hippitas was first, as he desired, run through by one\nof the younger men, and then each of them readily and\nresolutely fell upon his own sword, except Panteus, the same\nwho first surprised Megalopolis.  This man, being; of a very\nhandsome person, and a great lover of the Spartan discipline,\nthe king had made his dearest friend; and he now bade him,\nwhen he had seen him and the rest fallen, die by their\nexample.  Panteus walked over them as they lay, and pricked\neveryone with his dagger, to try whether any was alive, when\nhe pricked Cleomenes in the ankle, and saw him turn upon his\nback, he kissed him, sat down by him, and when he was quite\ndead, covered up the body, and then killed himself over it.\n\nThus fell Cleomenes, after the life which we have narrated,\nhaving been king of Sparta sixteen years.  The news of their\nfall being noised through the city, Cratesiclea, though a\nwoman of a great spirit, could not bear up against the weight\nof this affliction; but embracing Cleomenes's children, broke\nout into lamentations.  But the eldest boy, none suspecting\nsuch a spirit in a child, threw himself headlong from the top\nof the house.  He was bruised very much, but not killed by\nthe fall, and was taken up crying, and expressing his\nresentment for not being permitted to destroy himself.\nPtolemy, as soon as an account of the action was brought him,\ngave order that Cleomenes's body should be flayed and hung\nup, and that his children, mother, and the women that were\nwith her, should be killed.  Amongst these was Panteus's\nwife, a beautiful and noble-looking woman, who had been but\nlately married, and suffered these disasters in the height of\nher love.  Her parents would not have her embark with\nPanteus, so shortly after they were married, though she\neagerly desired it, but shut her up, and kept her forcibly at\nhome.  But a few days after, she procured a horse and a\nlittle money, and escaping by night, made speed to Taenarus,\nwhere she embarked for Egypt, came to her husband, and with\nhim cheerfully endured to live in a foreign country.  She\ngave her hand to Cratesiclea, as she was going with the\nsoldiers to execution, held up her robe, and begged her to be\ncourageous; who of herself was not in the least afraid of\ndeath, and desired nothing else but only to be killed before\nthe children.  When they were come to the place of execution,\nthe children were first killed before Cratesiclea's eyes, and\nafterward she herself, with only these words in her mouth, \"O\nchildren, whither are you gone?\"  But Panteus's wife,\nfastening her dress close about her, and being a strong\nwoman, in silence and perfect composure, looked after every\none that was slain, and laid them decently out as far as\ncircumstances would permit; and after all were killed,\nrearraying her dress, and drawing her clothes close about\nher, and suffering none to come near or be an eyewitness of\nher fall, besides the executioner, she courageously submitted\nto the stroke, and wanted nobody to look after her or wind\nher up after she was dead.  Thus in her death the modesty of\nher mind appeared, and set that guard upon her body which she\nalways kept when alive.  And she, in the declining age of the\nSpartans, showed that women were no unequal rivals of the\nmen, and was an instance of a courage superior to the\naffronts of fortune.\n\nA few days after, those that watched the hanging body of\nCleomenes, saw a large snake winding about his head, and\ncovering his face, so that no bird of prey would fly at it.\nThis made the king superstitiously afraid, and set the women\nupon several expiations, as if he had been some extraordinary\nbeing, and one beloved by the gods, that had been slain.  And\nthe Alexandrians made processions to the place, and gave\nCleomenes the title of hero, and son of the gods, till the\nphilosophers satisfied them by saying, that as oxen breed\nbees, putrefying horses breed wasps, and beetles rise from\nthe carcasses of dead asses, so the humors and juices of the\nmarrow of a man's body, coagulating, produce serpents.  And\nthis the ancients observing, appropriated a serpent, rather\nthan any other creature to heroes.\n\n\n\nTIBERIUS GRACCHUS\n\nHaving completed the first two narratives, we now may proceed\nto take a view of misfortunes, not less remarkable, in the\nRoman couple, and with the lives of Agis and Cleomenes,\ncompare these of Tiberius and Caius.  They were the sons of\nTiberius Gracchus, who, though he had been once censor, twice\nconsul, and twice had triumphed, yet was more renowned and\nesteemed for his virtue than his honors.  Upon this account,\nafter the death of Scipio who overthrew Hannibal, he was\nthought worthy to match with his daughter Cornelia, though\nthere had been no friendship or familiarity between Scipio\nand him, but rather the contrary.  There is a story told,\nthat he once found in his bedchamber a couple of snakes, and\nthat the soothsayers, being consulted concerning the prodigy,\nadvised, that he should neither kill them both nor let them\nboth escape; adding, that if the male serpent was killed,\nTiberius should die, and if the female, Cornelia.  And that,\ntherefore, Tiberius, who extremely loved his wife, and\nthought, besides, that it was much more his part, who was an\nold man, to die, than it was hers, who as yet was but a young\nwoman, killed the male serpent, and let the female escape;\nand soon after himself died, leaving behind him twelve\nchildren borne to him by Cornelia.\n\nCornelia, taking upon herself all the care of the household\nand the education of her children, approved herself so\ndiscreet a matron, so affectionate a mother, and so constant\nand noble-spirited a widow, that Tiberius seemed to all men\nto have done nothing unreasonable, in choosing to die for\nsuch a woman; who, when king Ptolemy himself proffered her\nhis crown, and would have married her, refused it, and chose\nrather to live a widow.  In this state she continued, and\nlost all her children, except one daughter, who was married\nto Scipio the younger, and two sons, Tiberius and Caius,\nwhose lives we are now writing.\n\nThese she brought up with such care, that though they were\nwithout dispute in natural endowments and dispositions the\nfirst among the Romans of their time, yet they seemed to owe\ntheir virtues even more to their education than to their\nbirth.  And as, in the statues and pictures made of Castor\nand Pollux, though the brothers resemble one another, yet\nthere is a difference to be perceived in their countenances,\nbetween the one, who delighted in the cestus, and the other,\nthat was famous in the course, so between these two noble\nyouths, though there was a strong general likeness in their\ncommon love of fortitude and temperance, in their liberality,\ntheir eloquence, and their greatness of mind, yet in their\nactions and administrations of public affairs, a considerable\nvariation showed itself.  It will not be amiss, before we\nproceed, to mark the difference between them.\n\nTiberius, in the form and expression of his countenance, and\nin his gesture and motion, was gentle and composed; but\nCaius, earnest and vehement.  And so, in their public\nspeeches to the people, the one spoke in a quiet orderly\nmanner, standing throughout on the same spot; the other would\nwalk about on the hustings, and in the heat of his orations,\npull his gown off his shoulders, and was the first of all the\nRomans that used such gestures; as Cleon is said to have been\nthe first orator among the Athenians that pulled off his\ncloak and smote his thigh, when addressing the people.\nCaius's oratory was impetuous and passionate, making\neverything tell to the utmost, whereas Tiberius was gentle,\nrather, and persuasive, awakening emotions of pity.  His\ndiction was pure, and carefully correct, while that of Caius\nwas vehement and rich.  So likewise in their way of living,\nand at their tables, Tiberius was frugal and plain, Caius,\ncompared with other men temperate and even austere, but\ncontrasting with his brother in a fondness for new fashions\nand rarities, as appears in Drusus's charge against him, that\nhe had bought some silver dolphins, to the value of twelve\nhundred and fifty drachmas for every pound weight.\n\nThe same difference that appeared in their diction, was\nobservable also in their tempers.  The one was mild and\nreasonable, the other rough and passionate, and to that\ndegree, that often, in the midst of speaking, he was so\nhurried away by his passion, against his judgment, that his\nvoice lost its tone, and he began to pass into mere abusive\ntalking, spoiling his whole speech.  As a remedy to this\nexcess, he made use of an ingenious servant of his, one\nLicinius, who stood constantly behind him with a sort of\npitch-pipe, or instrument to regulate the voice by, and\nwhenever he perceived his master's tone alter, and break with\nanger, he struck a soft note with his pipe, on hearing which,\nCaius immediately checked the vehemence of his passion and\nhis voice, grew quieter, and allowed himself to be recalled\nto temper.  Such are the differences between the two\nbrothers; but their valor in war against their country's\nenemies, their justice in the government of its subjects,\ntheir care and industry in office, and their self-command in\nall that regarded their pleasures were equally remarkable in\nboth.\n\nTiberius was the elder by nine years; owing to which their\nactions as public men were divided by the difference of the\ntimes in which those of the one and those of the other were\nperformed.  And one of the principal causes of the failure of\ntheir enterprises was this interval between their careers,\nand the want of combination of their efforts.  The power they\nwould have exercised, had they flourished both together,\ncould scarcely have failed to overcome all resistance.  We\nmust therefore give an account of each of them singly, and\nfirst of the eldest.\n\nTiberius, immediately on his attaining manhood, had such a\nreputation, that he was admitted into the college of the\naugurs, and that in consideration more of his early virtue\nthan of his noble birth.  This appeared by what Appius\nClaudius did, who, though he had been consul and censor, and\nwas now the head of the Roman senate, and had the highest\nsense of his own place and merit, at a public feast of the\naugurs, addressed himself openly to Tiberius, and with great\nexpressions of kindness, offered him his daughter in\nmarriage.  And when Tiberius gladly accepted, and the\nagreement had thus been completed, Appius, returning home, no\nsooner had reached his door, but he called to his wife and\ncried out in a loud voice, \"O Antistia, I have contracted our\ndaughter Claudia to a husband.\"  She, being amazed, answered,\n\"But why so suddenly, or what means this haste? Unless you\nhave provided Tiberius Gracchus for her husband.\"  I am not\nignorant that some apply this story to Tiberius, the father\nof the Gracchi, and Scipio Africanus; but most relate it as\nwe have done.  And Polybius writes, that after the death of\nScipio Africanus, the nearest relations of Cornelia,\npreferring Tiberius to all other competitors, gave her to him\nin marriage, not having been engaged or promised to anyone\nby her father.\n\nThis young Tiberius, accordingly, serving in Africa under the\nyounger Scipio, who had married his sister, and living there\nunder the same tent with him, soon learned to estimate the\nnoble spirit of his commander, which was so fit to inspire\nstrong feelings of emulation in virtue and desire to prove\nmerit in action, and in a short time he excelled all the\nyoung men of the army in obedience and courage; and he was\nthe first that mounted the enemy's wall, as Fannius says, who\nwrites, that he himself climbed up with him, and was partaker\nin the achievement.  He was regarded, while he continued with\nthe army, with great affection; and left behind him on his\ndeparture a strong desire for his return.\n\nAfter that expedition, being chosen paymaster, it was his\nfortune to serve in the war against the Numantines, under the\ncommand of Caius Mancinus, the consul, a person of no bad\ncharacter, but the most unfortunate of all the Roman\ngenerals.  Notwithstanding, amidst the greatest misfortunes,\nand in the most unsuccessful enterprises, not only the\ndiscretion and valor of Tiberius, but also, which was still\nmore to be admired, the great respect and honor which he\nshowed for his general, were most eminently remarkable;\nthough the general himself, when reduced to straits, forgot\nhis own dignity and office.  For being beaten in various\ngreat battles, he endeavored to dislodge by night, and leave\nhis camp; which the Numantines perceiving, immediately\npossessed themselves of his camp, and pursuing that part of\nthe forces which was in flight, slew those that were in the\nrear, hedged the whole army in on every side, and forced them\ninto difficult ground, whence there could be no possibility\nof an escape.  Mancinus, despairing to make his way through\nby force, sent a messenger to desire a truce, and conditions\nof peace.  But they refused to give their confidence to any\none except Tiberius, and required that he should be sent to\ntreat with them.  This was not only in regard to the young\nman's own character, for he had a great reputation amongst\nthe soldiers, but also in remembrance of his father Tiberius,\nwho, in his command against the Spaniards, had reduced great\nnumbers of them to subjection, but granted a peace to the\nNumantines, and prevailed upon the Romans to keep it\npunctually and inviolably.\n\nTiberius was accordingly dispatched to the enemy, whom he\npersuaded to accept of several conditions, and he himself\ncomplied with others; and by this means it is beyond a\nquestion, that he saved twenty thousand of the Roman\ncitizens, besides attendants and camp followers.  However,\nthe Numantines retained possession of all the property they\nhad found and plundered in the encampment; and amongst other\nthings were Tiberius's books of accounts, containing the\nwhole transactions of his quaestorship, which he was\nextremely anxious to recover.  And therefore, when the army\nwere already upon their march, he returned to Numantia,\naccompanied with only three or four of his friends; and\nmaking his application to the officers of the Numantines, he\nentreated that they would return him his books, lest his\nenemies should have it in their power to reproach him with\nnot being able to give an account of the monies entrusted to\nhim.  The Numantines joyfully embraced this opportunity of\nobliging him, and invited him into the city; as he stood\nhesitating, they came up and took him by the hands, and\nbegged that he would no longer look upon them as enemies, but\nbelieve them to be his friends, and treat them as such.\nTiberius thought it well to consent, desirous as he was to\nhave his books returned, and was afraid lest he should\ndisoblige them by showing any distrust.  As soon as he\nentered into the city, they first offered him food, and made\nevery kind of entreaty that he would sit down and eat\nsomething in their company.  Afterwards they returned his\nbooks, and gave him the liberty to take whatever he wished\nfor in the remaining spoils.  He, on the other hand, would\naccept of nothing but some frankincense, which he used in his\npublic sacrifices, and, bidding them farewell with every\nexpression of kindness, departed.\n\nWhen he returned to Rome, he found the whole transaction\ncensured and reproached, as a proceeding that was base, and\nscandalous to the Romans.  But the relations and friends of\nthe soldiers, forming a large body among the people, came\nflocking to Tiberius, whom they acknowledged as the preserver\nof so many citizens, imputing to the general all the\nmiscarriages which had happened.  Those who cried out against\nwhat had been done, urged for imitation the example of their\nancestors, who stripped and handed over to the Samnites not\nonly the generals who had consented to the terms of release,\nbut also all the quaestors, for example, and tribunes, who\nhad in any way implicated themselves in the agreement, laying\nthe guilt of perjury and breach of conditions on their heads.\nBut, in this affair, the populace, showing an extraordinary\nkindness and affection for Tiberius, indeed voted that the\nconsul should be stripped and put in irons, and so delivered\nto the Numantines; but for the sake of Tiberius, spared all\nthe other officers.  It may be probable, also, that Scipio,\nwho at that time was the greatest and most powerful man among\nthe Romans, contributed to save him, though indeed he was\nalso censured for not protecting Mancinus too, and that he\ndid not exert himself to maintain the observance of the\narticles of peace which had been agreed upon by his kinsman\nand friend Tiberius.  But it may be presumed that the\ndifference between them was for the most part due to\nambitious feelings, and to the friends and reasoners who\nurged on Tiberius, and, as it was, it never amounted to any\nthing that might not have been remedied, or that was really\nbad.  Nor can I think that Tiberius would ever have met with\nhis misfortunes, if Scipio had been concerned in dealing with\nhis measures; but he was away fighting at Numantia, when\nTiberius, upon the following occasion, first came forward as\na legislator.\n\nOf the land which the Romans gained by conquest from their\nneighbors, part they sold publicly, and turned the remainder\ninto common; this common land they assigned to such of the\ncitizens as were poor and indigent, for which they were to\npay only a small acknowledgment into the public treasury.\nBut when the wealthy men began to offer larger rents, and\ndrive the poorer people out, it was enacted by law, that no\nperson whatever should enjoy more than five hundred acres of\nground.  This act for some time checked the avarice of the\nricher, and was of great assistance to the poorer people, who\nretained under it their respective proportions of ground, as\nthey had been formerly rented by them.  Afterwards the rich\nmen of the neighborhood contrived to get these lands again\ninto their possession, under other people's names, and at\nlast would not stick to claim most of them publicly in their\nown.  The poor, who were thus deprived of their farms, were\nno longer either ready, as they had formerly been, to serve\nin war, or careful in the education of their children;\ninsomuch that in a short time there were comparatively few\nfreemen remaining in all Italy, which swarmed with workhouses\nfull of foreign-born slaves.  These the rich men employed in\ncultivating their ground, of which they dispossessed the\ncitizens.  Caius Laelius, the intimate friend of Scipio,\nundertook to reform this abuse; but meeting with opposition\nfrom men of authority, and fearing a disturbance, he soon\ndesisted, and received the name of the Wise or the Prudent,\nboth which meanings belong to the Latin word Sapiens.\n\nBut Tiberius, being elected tribune of the people, entered\nupon that design without delay, at the instigation, as is\nmost commonly stated, of Diophanes, the rhetorician, and\nBlossius, the philosopher.  Diophanes was a refugee from\nMitylene, the other was an Italian, of the city of Cuma, and\nwas educated there under Antipater of Tarsus, who afterwards\ndid him the honor to dedicate some of his philosophical\nlectures to him.  Some have also charged Cornelia, the mother\nof Tiberius, with contributing towards it, because she\nfrequently upbraided her sons, that the Romans as yet rather\ncalled her the daughter of Scipio, than the mother of the\nGracchi.  Others again say Spurius Postumius was the chief\noccasion.  He was a man of the same age with Tiberius, and\nhis rival for reputation as a public speaker; and when\nTiberius, at his return from the campaign, found him to have\ngot far beyond him in fame and influence, and to be much\nlooked up to, he thought to outdo him, by attempting a\npopular enterprise of this difficulty, and of such great\nconsequence.  But his brother Caius has left it us in\nwriting, that when Tiberius went through Tuscany to Numantia,\nand found the country almost depopulated, there being hardly\nany free husbandmen or shepherds, but for the most part only\nbarbarian, imported slaves, he then first conceived the\ncourse of policy which in the sequel proved so fatal to his\nfamily.  Though it is also most certain that the people\nthemselves chiefly excited his zeal and determination in the\nprosecution of it, by setting up writings upon the porches,\nwalls, and monuments, calling upon him to reinstate the poor\ncitizens in their former possessions.\n\nHowever, he did not draw up his law without the advice and\nassistance of those citizens that were then most eminent for\ntheir virtue and authority; amongst whom were Crassus, the\nhigh-priest, Mucius Scaevola, the lawyer, who at that time\nwas consul, and Claudius Appius, his father-in-law.  Never\ndid any law appear more moderate and gentle, especially being\nenacted against such great oppression and avarice.  For they\nwho ought to have been severely punished for transgressing\nthe former laws, and should at least have lost all their\ntitles to such lands which they had unjustly usurped, were\nnotwithstanding to receive a price for quitting their\nunlawful claims, and giving up their lands to those fit\nowners who stood in need of help.  But though this\nreformation was managed with so much tenderness, that, all\nthe former transactions being passed over, the people were\nonly thankful to prevent abuses of the like nature for the\nfuture, yet, on the other hand, the moneyed men, and those of\ngreat estates were exasperated, through their covetous\nfeelings against the law itself, and against the law giver,\nthrough anger and party spirit.  They therefore endeavored to\nseduce the people, declaring that Tiberius was designing a\ngeneral redivision of lands, to overthrow the government, and\nput all things into confusion.\n\nBut they had no success.  For Tiberius, maintaining an\nhonorable and just cause, and possessed of eloquence\nsufficient to have made a less creditable action appear\nplausible, was no safe or easy antagonist, when, with the\npeople crowding around the hustings, he took his place, and\nspoke in behalf of the poor.  \"The savage beasts,\" said he,\n\"in Italy, have their particular dens, they have their places\nof repose and refuge; but the men who bear arms, and expose\ntheir lives for the safety of their country, enjoy in the\nmeantime nothing more in it but the air and light; and\nhaving no houses or settlements of their own, are constrained\nto wander from place to place with their wives and children.\"\nHe told them that the commanders were guilty of a ridiculous\nerror, when, at the head of their armies, they exhorted the\ncommon soldiers to fight for their sepulchres and altars;\nwhen not any amongst so many Romans is possessed of either\naltar or monument, neither have they any houses of their own,\nor hearths of their ancestors to defend.  They fought indeed,\nand were slain, but it was to maintain the luxury and the\nwealth of other men.  They were styled the masters of the\nworld, but in the meantime had not one foot of ground which\nthey could call their own.  A harangue of this nature,\nspoken to an enthusiastic and sympathizing audience, by a\nperson of commanding spirit and genuine feeling, no\nadversaries at that time were competent to oppose.\nForbearing, therefore, all discussion and debate, they\naddressed themselves to Marcus Octavius, his fellow-tribune,\nwho, being a young man of a steady, orderly character, and an\nintimate friend of Tiberius, upon this account declined at\nfirst the task of opposing him; but at length, over-persuaded\nwith the repeated importunities of numerous considerable\npersons, he was prevailed upon to do so, and hindered the\npassing of the law; it being the rule that any tribune has a\npower to hinder an act, and that all the rest can effect\nnothing, if only one of them dissents.  Tiberius, irritated\nat these proceedings, presently laid aside this milder bill,\nbut at the same time preferred another; which, as it was more\ngrateful to the common people, so it was much more severe\nagainst the wrongdoers, commanding them to make an immediate\nsurrender of all lands which, contrary to former laws, had\ncome into their possession.  Hence there arose daily\ncontentions between him and Octavius in their orations.\nHowever, though they expressed themselves with the utmost\nheat and determination, they yet were never known to descend\nto any personal reproaches, or in their passion to let slip\nany indecent expressions, so as to derogate from one another.\n\nFor not alone\n\nIn revelings and Bacchic play,\n\nbut also in contentions and political animosities, a noble\nnature and a temperate education stay and compose the mind.\nObserving, however, that Octavius himself was an offender\nagainst this law, and detained a great quantity of ground\nfrom the commonalty, Tiberius desired him to forbear opposing\nhim any further, and proffered, for the public good, though\nhe himself had but an indifferent estate, to pay a price for\nOctavius's share at his own cost and charges.  But upon the\nrefusal of this proffer by Octavius, he then interposed an\nedict, prohibiting all magistrates to exercise their\nrespective functions, till such time as the law was either\nratified or rejected by public votes.  He further sealed up\nthe gates of Saturn's temple, so that the treasurers could\nneither take any money out from thence, or put any in.  He\nthreatened to impose a severe fine upon those of the praetors\nwho presumed to disobey his commands, insomuch that all the\nofficers, for fear of this penalty, intermitted the exercise\nof their several jurisdictions.  Upon this, the rich\nproprietors put themselves into mourning, went up and down\nmelancholy and dejected; they entered also into a conspiracy\nagainst Tiberius, and procured men to murder him; so that he\nalso, with all men's knowledge, whenever he went abroad, took\nwith him a sword-staff, such as robbers use, called in Latin\na dolo.\n\nWhen the day appointed was come, and the people summoned to\ngive their votes, the rich men seized upon the voting urns,\nand carried them away by force; thus all things were in\nconfusion.  But when Tiberius's party appeared strong enough\nto oppose the contrary faction, and drew together in a body,\nwith the resolution to do so, Manlius and Fulvius, two of the\nconsular quality, threw themselves before Tiberius, took him\nby the hand, and with tears in their eyes, begged of him to\ndesist.  Tiberius, considering the mischiefs that were all\nbut now occurring, and having a great respect for two such\neminent persons, demanded of them what they would advise him\nto do.  They acknowledged themselves unfit to advise in a\nmatter of so great importance, but earnestly entreated him to\nleave it to the determination of the senate.  But when the\nsenate assembled, and could not bring the business to any\nresult, through the prevalence of the rich faction, he then\nwas driven to a course neither legal nor fair, and proposed\nto deprive Octavius of his tribuneship, it being impossible\nfor him in any other way to get the law brought to the vote.\nAt first he addressed him publicly, with entreaties couched\nin the kindest terms, and taking him by his hands, besought\nhim, that now, in the presence of all the people, he would\ntake this opportunity to oblige them, in granting only that\nrequest which was in itself so just and reasonable, being but\na small recompense in regard of those many dangers and\nhardships which they had undergone for the public safety.\nOctavius, however, would by no means be persuaded to\ncompliance; upon which Tiberius declared openly, that seeing\nthey two were united in the same office, and of equal\nauthority, it would be a difficult matter to compose their\ndifference on so weighty a matter without a civil war; and\nthat the only remedy which he knew, must be the deposing one\nof them from their office.  He desired, therefore, that\nOctavius would summon the people to pass their verdict upon\nhim first, averring that he would willingly relinquish his\nauthority if the citizens desired it.  Octavius refused; and\nTiberius then said he would himself put to the people the\nquestion of Octavius's deposition, if upon mature\ndeliberation he did not alter his mind; and after this\ndeclaration, he adjourned the assembly till the next day.\n\nWhen the people were met together again, Tiberius placed\nhimself in the rostra, and endeavored a second time to\npersuade Octavius.  But all being to no purpose, he referred\nthe whole matter to the people, calling on them to vote at\nonce, whether Octavius should be deposed or not; and when\nseventeen of the thirty-five tribes had already voted against\nhim, and there wanted only the votes of one tribe more for\nhis final deprivation, Tiberius put a short stop to the\nproceedings, and once more renewed his importunities; he\nembraced and kissed him before all the assembly, begging,\nwith all the earnestness imaginable, that he would neither\nsuffer himself to incur the dishonor, nor him to be reputed\nthe author and promoter of so odious a measure.  Octavius, we\nare told, did seem a little softened and moved with these\nentreaties; his eyes filled with tears, and he continued\nsilent for a considerable time.  But presently looking\ntowards the rich men and proprietors of estates, who stood\ngathered in a body together, partly for shame, and partly for\nfear of disgracing himself with them, he boldly bade Tiberius\nuse any severity he pleased.  The law for his deprivation\nbeing thus voted, Tiberius ordered one of his servants, whom\nhe had made a freeman, to remove Octavius from the rostra,\nemploying his own domestic freed servants in the stead of the\npublic officers.  And it made the action seem all the sadder,\nthat Octavius was dragged out in such an ignominious manner.\nThe people immediately assaulted him, whilst the rich men ran\nin to his assistance.  Octavius, with some difficulty, was\nsnatched away, and safely conveyed out of the crowd; though a\ntrusty servant of his, who had placed himself in front of his\nmaster that he might assist his escape, in keeping off the\nmultitude, had his eyes struck out, much to the displeasure\nof Tiberius, who ran with all haste, when he perceived the\ndisturbance, to appease the rioters.\n\nThis being done, the law concerning the lands was ratified\nand confirmed, and three commissioners were appointed, to\nmake a survey of the grounds and see the same equally\ndivided.  These were Tiberius himself, Claudius Appius, his\nfather-in-law, and his brother, Caius Gracchus, who at this\ntime was not at Rome, but in the army under the command of\nScipio Africanus before Numantia.  These things were\ntransacted by Tiberius without any disturbance, none daring\nto offer any resistance to him, besides which, he gave the\nappointment as tribune in Octavius's place, not to any person\nof distinction, but to a certain Mucius, one of his own\nclients.  The great men of the city were therefore utterly\noffended, and, fearing lest he should grow yet more popular,\nthey took all opportunities of affronting him publicly in the\nsenate house.  For when he requested, as was usual, to have a\ntent provided at the public charge for his use, while\ndividing the lands, though it was a favor commonly granted to\npersons employed in business of much less importance, it was\nperemptorily refused to him; and the allowance made him for\nhis daily expenses was fixed to nine obols only.  The chief\npromoter of these affronts was Publius Nasica, who openly\nabandoned himself to his feelings of hatred against Tiberius,\nbeing a large holder of the public lands, and not a little\nresenting now to be turned out of them by force.  The people,\non the other hand, were still more and more excited, insomuch\nthat a little after this, it happening that one of Tiberius's\nfriends died suddenly, and his body being marked with\nmalignant-looking spots, they ran, in tumultuous manner, to\nhis funeral, crying aloud that the man was poisoned.  They\ntook the bier upon their shoulders, and stood over it, while\nit was placed on the pile, and really seemed to have fair\ngrounds for their suspicion of foul play.  For the body burst\nopen, and such a quantity of corrupt humors issued out, that\nthe funeral fire was extinguished, and when it was again\nkindled, the wood still would not burn; insomuch that they\nwere constrained to carry the corpse to another place, where\nwith much difficulty it took fire.  Besides this, Tiberius,\nthat he might incense the people yet more, put himself into\nmourning, brought his children amongst the crowd, and\nentreated the people to provide for them and their mother, as\nif he now despaired of his own security.\n\nAbout this time, king Attalus, surnamed Philometor, died, and\nEudemus, a Pergamenian, brought his last will to Rome, by\nwhich he had made the Roman people his heirs.  Tiberius, to\nplease the people, immediately proposed making a law, that\nall the money which Attalus left, should be distributed\namongst such poor citizens as were to be sharers of the\npublic lands, for the better enabling them to proceed in\nstocking and cultivating their ground; and as for the cities\nthat were in the territories of Attalus, he declared that the\ndisposal of them did not at all belong to the senate, but to\nthe people, and that he himself would ask their pleasure\nherein.  By this he offended the senate more than ever he had\ndone before, and Pompeius stood up, and acquainted them that\nhe was the next neighbor to Tiberius, and so had the\nopportunity of knowing that Eudemus, the Pergamenian, had\npresented Tiberius with a royal diadem and a purple robe, as\nbefore long he was to be king of Rome.  Quintus Metellus also\nupbraided him, saying, that when his father was censor, the\nRomans, whenever he happened to be going home from a supper,\nused to put out all their lights, lest they should be seen to\nhave indulged themselves in feastings and drinking at\nunseasonable hours, whereas, now, the most indigent and\naudacious of the people were found with their torches at\nnight, following Tiberius home.  Titus Annius, a man of no\ngreat repute for either justice or temperance, but famous for\nhis skill in putting and answering questions, challenged\nTiberius to the proof by wager, declaring him to have deposed\na magistrate who by law was sacred and inviolable.  Loud\nclamor ensued, and Tiberius, quitting the senate hastily,\ncalled together the people, and summoning Annius to appear,\nwas proceeding to accuse him.  But Annius, being no great\nspeaker, nor of any repute compared to him, sheltered himself\nin his own particular art, and desired that he might propose\none or two questions to Tiberius, before he entered upon the\nchief argument.  This liberty being granted, and silence\nproclaimed, Annius proposed his question.  \"If you,\" said he,\n\"had a design to disgrace and defame me, and I should apply\nmyself to one of your colleagues for redress, and he should\ncome forward to my assistance, would you for that reason fall\ninto a passion, and depose him?\"  Tiberius, they say, was so\nmuch disconcerted at this question, that, though at other\ntimes his assurance as well as his readiness of speech was\nalways remarkable, yet now he was silent and made no reply.\n\nFor the present he dismissed the assembly.  But beginning to\nunderstand that the course he had taken with Octavius had\ncreated offense even among the populace as well as the\nnobility, because the dignity of the tribunes seemed to be\nviolated, which had always continued till that day sacred and\nhonorable, he made a speech to the people in justification of\nhimself; out of which it may not be improper to collect some\nparticulars, to give an impression of his force and\npersuasiveness in speaking.  \"A tribune,\" he said, \"of the\npeople, is sacred indeed, and ought to be inviolable, because\nin a manner consecrated to be the guardian and protector of\nthem; but if he degenerate so far as to oppress the people,\nabridge their powers, and take away their liberty of voting,\nhe stands deprived by his own act of his honors and\nimmunities, by the neglect of the duty, for which the honor\nwas bestowed upon him.  Otherwise we should be under the\nobligation to let a tribune do his pleasure, though he should\nproceed to destroy the capitol or set fire to the arsenal.\nHe who should make these attempts, would be a bad tribune.\nHe who assails the power of the people, is no longer a\ntribune at all.  Is it not inconceivable, that a tribune\nshould have power to imprison a consul, and the people have\nno authority to degrade him when he uses that honor which he\nreceived from them, to their detriment? For the tribunes, as\nwell as the consuls, hold office by the people's votes.  The\nkingly government, which comprehends all sorts of authority\nin itself alone, is morever elevated by the greatest and most\nreligious solemnity imaginable into a condition of sanctity.\nBut the citizens, notwithstanding this, deposed Tarquin, when\nhe acted wrongfully; and for the crime of one single man, the\nancient government under which Rome was built, was abolished\nforever.  What is there in all Rome so sacred and venerable\nas the vestal virgins, to whose care alone the preservation\nof the eternal fire is committed? yet if one of these\ntransgress, she is buried alive; the sanctity which for the\ngods' sakes is allowed them, is forfeited when they offend\nagainst the gods.  So likewise a tribune retains not his\ninviolability, which for the people's sake was accorded to\nhim, when he offends against the people, and attacks the\nfoundations of that authority from whence he derived his own.\nWe esteem him to be legally chosen tribune who is elected\nonly by the majority of votes; and is not therefore the same\nperson much more lawfully degraded, when by a general consent\nof them all, they agree to depose him?  Nothing is so sacred\nas religious offerings; yet the people were never prohibited\nto make use of them, but suffered to remove and carry them\nwherever they pleased; so likewise, as it were some sacred\npresent, they have lawful power to transfer the tribuneship\nfrom one man's hands to another's.  Nor can that authority be\nthought inviolable and irremovable which many of those who\nhave held it, have of their own act surrendered, and desired\nto be discharged from.\"\n\nThese were the principal heads of Tiberius's apology.  But\nhis friends, apprehending the dangers which seemed to\nthreaten him, and the conspiracy that was gathering head\nagainst him, were of opinion, that the safest way would be\nfor him to petition that he might be continued tribune for\nthe year ensuing.  Upon this consideration, he again\nendeavored to secure the people's good-will with fresh laws,\nmaking the years of serving in the war fewer than formerly,\ngranting liberty of appeal from the judges to the people, and\njoining to the senators, who were judges at that time, an\nequal number of citizens of the horsemen's degree,\nendeavoring as much as in him lay to lessen the power of the\nsenate, rather from passion and partisanship than from any\nrational regard to equity and the public good.  And when it\ncame to the question, whether these laws should be passed,\nand they perceived that the opposite party were strongest,\nthe people as yet being not got together in a full body, they\nbegan first of all to gain time by speeches in accusation of\nsome of their fellow-magistrates, and at length adjourned the\nassembly till the day following.\n\nTiberius then went down into the marketplace amongst the\npeople, and made his addresses to them humbly and with tears\nin his eyes; and told them, he had just reason to suspect,\nthat his adversaries would attempt in the night time to break\nopen his house, and murder him.  This worked so strongly with\nthe multitude, that several of them pitched tents round about\nhis house, and kept guard all night for the security of his\nperson.  By break of day came one of the soothsayers, who\nprognosticate good or bad success by the pecking of fowls,\nand threw them something to eat.  The soothsayer used his\nutmost endeavors to fright the fowls out of their coop; but\nnone of them except one would venture out, which fluttered\nwith its left wing, and stretched out its leg, and ran back\nagain into the coop, without eating anything.  This put\nTiberius in mind of another ill omen which had formerly\nhappened to him.  He had a very costly headpiece, which he\nmade use of when he engaged in any battle, and into this\npiece of armor two serpents crawled, laid eggs, and brought\nforth young ones.  The remembrance of which made Tiberius\nmore concerned now, than otherwise he would have been.\nHowever, he went towards the capitol, as soon as he\nunderstood that the people were assembled there; but before\nhe got out of the house, he stumbled upon the threshold with\nsuch violence, that he broke the nail of his great toe,\ninsomuch that blood gushed out of his shoe.  He was not gone\nvery far before he saw two ravens fighting on the top of a\nhouse which stood on his left hand as he passed along; and\nthough he was surrounded with a number of people, a stone,\nstruck from its place by one of the ravens, fell just at his\nfoot.  This even the boldest men about him felt as a check.\nBut Blossius of Cuma, who was present, told him, that it\nwould be a shame, and an ignominious thing, for Tiberius, who\nwas the son of Gracchus, the grandson of Scipio Africanus,\nand the protector of the Roman people, to refuse, for fear of\na silly bird, to answer, when his countrymen called to him;\nand that his adversaries would represent it not as a mere\nmatter for their ridicule, but would declaim about it to the\npeople as the mark of a tyrannical temper, which felt a pride\nin taking liberties with the people.  At the same time\nseveral messengers came also from his friends, to desire his\npresence at the capitol, saying that all things went there\naccording to expectation.  And indeed Tiberius's first\nentrance there was in every way successful; as soon as ever\nhe appeared, the people welcomed him with loud acclamations,\nand as he went up to his place, they repeated their\nexpressions of joy, and gathered in a body around him, so\nthat no one who was not well known to be his friend, might\napproach.  Mucius then began to put the business again to the\nvote; but nothing could be performed in the usual course and\norder, because of the disturbance caused by those who were on\nthe outside of the crowd, where there was a struggle going on\nwith those of the opposite party, who were pushing on and\ntrying to force their way in and establish themselves among\nthem.\n\nWhilst things were in this confusion, Flavius Flaccus, a\nsenator, standing in a place where he could be seen, but at\nsuch a distance from Tiberius that he could not make him\nhear, signified to him by motions of his hand, that he wished\nto impart something of consequence to him in private.\nTiberius ordered the multitude to make way for him, by which\nmeans, though not without some difficulty, Flavius got to\nhim, and informed him, that the rich men, in a sitting of the\nsenate, seeing they could not prevail upon the consul to\nespouse their quarrel, had come to a final determination\namongst themselves, that he should be assassinated, and to\nthat purpose had a great number of their friends and servants\nready armed to accomplish it.  Tiberius no sooner\ncommunicated this confederacy to those about him, but they\nimmediately tucked up their gowns, broke the halberts which\nthe officers used to keep the crowd off into pieces, and\ndistributed them among themselves, resolving to resist the\nattack with these.  Those who stood at a distance wondered,\nand asked what was the occasion; Tiberius, knowing that they\ncould not hear him at that distance, lifted his hand to his\nhead, wishing to intimate the great danger which he\napprehended himself to be in.  His adversaries, taking notice\nof that action, ran off at once to the senate house, and\ndeclared, that Tiberius desired the people to bestow a crown\nupon him, as if this were the meaning of his touching his\nhead.  This news created general confusion in the senators,\nand Nasica at once called upon the consul to punish this\ntyrant, and defend the government.  The consul mildly\nreplied, that he would not be the first to do any violence;\nand as he would not suffer any freeman to be put to death,\nbefore sentence had lawfully passed upon him, so neither\nwould he allow any measure to be carried into effect, if by\npersuasion or compulsion on the part of Tiberius the people\nhad been induced to pass any unlawful vote.  But Nasica,\nrising from his seat, \"Since the consul,\" said he, \"regards\nnot the safety of the commonwealth, let everyone who will\ndefend the laws, follow me.\"  He, then, casting the skirt of\nhis gown over his head, hastened to the capitol; those who\nbore him company, wrapped their gowns also about their arms.\nand forced their way after him.  And as they were persons of\nthe greatest authority in the city, the common people did not\nventure to obstruct their passing, but were rather so eager\nto clear the way for them, that they tumbled over one another\nin haste.  The attendants they brought with them, had\nfurnished themselves with clubs and staves from their houses,\nand they themselves picked up the feet and other fragments of\nstools and chairs, which were broken by the hasty flight of\nthe common people.  Thus armed, they made towards Tiberius,\nknocking down those whom they found in front of him, and\nthose were soon wholly dispersed, and many of them slain.\nTiberius tried to save himself by flight.  As he was running,\nhe was stopped by one who caught hold of him by the gown; but\nhe threw it off, and fled in his under-garments only.  And\nstumbling over those who before had been knocked down, as he\nwas endeavoring to get up again, Publius Satureius, a\ntribune, one of his colleagues, was observed to give him the\nfirst fatal stroke, by hitting him upon the head with the\nfoot of a stool.  The second blow was claimed, as though it\nhad been a deed to be proud of, by Lucius Rufus.  And of the\nrest there fell above three hundred, killed by clubs and\nstaves only, none by an iron weapon.\n\nThis, we are told, was the first sedition amongst the Romans,\nsince the abrogation of kingly government, that ended in the\neffusion of blood.  All former quarrels which were neither\nsmall nor about trivial matters, were always amicably\ncomposed, by mutual concessions on either side, the senate\nyielding for fear of the commons, and the commons out of\nrespect to the senate.  And it is probable indeed that\nTiberius himself might then have been easily induced, by mere\npersuasion, to give way, and certainly, if attacked at all,\nmust have yielded without any recourse to violence and\nbloodshed, as he had not at that time above three thousand\nmen to support him.  But it is evident, that this conspiracy\nwas fomented against him, more out of the hatred and malice\nwhich the rich men had to his person, than for the reasons\nwhich they commonly pretended against him.  In testimony of\nwhich, we may adduce the cruelty and unnatural insults which\nthey used to his dead body.  For they would not suffer his\nown brother, though he earnestly begged the favor, to bury\nhim in the night, but threw him, together with the other\ncorpses, into the river.  Neither did their animosity stop\nhere; for they banished some of his friends without legal\nprocess, and slew as many of the others us they could lay\ntheir hands on; amongst whom Diophanes, the orator, was\nslain, and one Caius Villius cruelly murdered by being shut\nup in a large tun with vipers and serpents.  Blossius of\nCuma, indeed, was carried before the consuls, and examined\ntouching what had happened, and freely confessed, that he\nhad done, without scruple, whatever Tiberius bade him.\n\"What,\" replied Nasica, \"then if Tiberius had bidden you burn\nthe capitol, would you have burnt it?\"  His first answer was,\nthat Tiberius never would have ordered any such thing; but\nbeing pressed with the same question by several others, he\ndeclared, \"If Tiberius had commanded it, it would have been\nright for me to do it; for he never would have commanded it,\nif it had not been for the people's good.\"  Blossius at this\ntime was pardoned, and afterwards went away to Aristonicus in\nAsia, and when Aristonicus was overthrown and ruined, killed\nhimself.\n\nThe senate, to soothe the people after these transactions,\ndid not oppose the division of the public lands, and\npermitted them to choose another commissioner in the room of\nTiberius.  So they elected Publius Crassus, who was\nGracchus's near connection, as his daughter Licinia was\nmarried to Caius Gracchus; although Cornelius Nepos says,\nthat it was not Crassus's daughter whom Caius married, but\nBrutus's, who triumphed for his victories over the\nLusitanians; but most writers state it as we have done.  The\npeople, however, showed evident marks of their anger at\nTiberius's death; and were clearly waiting only for the\nopportunity to be revenged, and Nasica was already threatened\nwith an impeachment.  The senate, therefore, fearing lest\nsome mischief should befall him, sent him ambassador into\nAsia, though there was no occasion for his going thither.\nFor the people did not conceal their indignation, even in the\nopen streets, but railed at him, whenever they met him\nabroad, calling him a murderer and a tyrant, one who had\npolluted the most holy and religious spot in Rome with the\nblood of a sacred and inviolable magistrate.  And so Nasica\nleft Italy, although be was bound, being the chief priest, to\nofficiate in all principal sacrifices.  Thus wandering\nwretchedly and ignominiously from one place to another, he\ndied in a short time after, not far from Pergamus.  It is no\nwonder that the people had such an aversion to Nasica, when\neven Scipio Africanus, though so much and so deservedly\nbeloved by the Romans, was in danger of quite losing the good\nopinion which the people had of him, only for repeating, when\nthe news of Tiberius's death was first brought to Numantia,\nthe verse out of Homer\n\nEven so perish all who do the same.\n\nAnd afterwards, being asked by Caius and Fulvius, in a great\nassembly, what he thought of Tiberius's death, he gave an\nanswer adverse to Tiberius's public actions.  Upon which\naccount, the people thenceforth used to interrupt him when he\nspoke, which, until that time, they had never done, and he,\non the other hand, was induced to speak ill of the people.\nBut of this the particulars are given in the life of Scipio.\n\n\n\nCAIUS GRACCHUS\n\nCaius Gracchus, at first, either for fear of his brother's enemies,\nor designing to render them more odious to the people, absented\nhimself from the public assemblies, and lived quietly in his own\nhouse, as if he were not only reduced for the present to live\nunambitiously, but was disposed in general to pass his life in\ninaction.  And some, indeed, went so far as to say that he\ndisliked his brother's measures, and had wholly abandoned the\ndefense of them.  However, he was now but very young, being not so\nold as Tiberius by nine years; and he was not yet thirty when he\nwas slain.\n\nIn some little time, however, he quietly let his temper appear,\nwhich was one of an utter antipathy to a lazy retirement and\neffeminacy, and not the least likely to be contented with a life\nof eating, drinking, and money getting.  He gave great pains to\nthe study of eloquence, as wings upon which he might aspire to\npublic business; and it was very apparent that he did not intend\nto pass his days in obscurity.  When Vettius, a friend of his, was\non his trial, he defended his cause, and the people were in an\necstasy, and transported with joy, finding him master of such\neloquence that the other orators seemed like children in\ncomparison, and jealousies and fears on the other hand began to be\nfelt by the powerful citizens; and it was generally spoken of\namongst them that they must hinder Caius from being made tribune.\n\nBut soon after, it happened that he was elected quaestor, and\nobliged to attend Orestes, the consul, into Sardinia.  This, as it\npleased his enemies, so it was not ungrateful to him, being\nnaturally of a warlike character, and as well trained in the art\nof war as in that of pleading.  And, besides, as yet he very much\ndreaded meddling with state affairs, and appearing publicly in the\nrostra, which, because of the importunity of the people and his\nfriends, he could no otherwise avoid, than by taking this journey.\nHe was therefore most thankful for the opportunity of absenting\nhimself.  Notwithstanding which, it is the prevailing opinion that\nCaius was a far more thorough demagogue, and more ambitious than\never Tiberius had been, of popular applause; yet it is certain\nthat he was borne rather by a sort of necessity than by any\npurpose of his own into public business.  And Cicero, the orator,\nrelates, that when he declined all such concerns, and would have\nlived privately, his brother appeared to him in a dream, and\ncalling him by his name, said, \"why do you tarry, Caius?  There is\nno escape; one life and one death is appointed for us both, to\nspend the one and to meet the other, in the service of the\npeople.\"\n\nCaius was no sooner arrived in Sardinia, but he gave exemplary\nproofs of his high merit; he not only excelled all the young men\nof his age in his actions against his enemies, in doing justice to\nhis inferiors, and in showing all obedience and respect to his\nsuperior officer; but likewise in temperance, frugality, and\nindustry, he surpassed even those who were much older than\nhimself.  It happened to be a sharp and sickly winter in Sardinia,\ninsomuch that the general was forced to lay an imposition upon\nseveral towns to supply the soldiers with necessary clothes.  The\ncities sent to Rome, petitioning to be excused from that burden;\nthe senate found their request reasonable, and ordered the general\nto find some other way of new clothing the army.  While he was at\na loss what course to take in this affair, the soldiers were\nreduced to great distress; but Caius went from one city to\nanother, and by his mere representations, he prevailed with them,\nthat of their own accord they clothed the Roman army.  This again\nbeing reported to Rome, and seeming to be only an intimation of\nwhat was to be expected of him as a popular leader hereafter,\nraised new jealousies amongst the senators.  And, besides, there\ncame ambassadors out of Africa from king Micipsa, to acquaint the\nsenate, that their master, out of respect to Caius Gracchus, had\nsent a considerable quantity of corn to the general in Sardinia;\nat which the senators were so much offended, that they turned the\nambassadors out of the senate house, and made an order that the\nsoldiers should be relieved by sending others in their room; but\nthat Orestes should continue at his post, with whom Caius, also,\nas they presumed, being his quaestor, would remain.  But he,\nfinding how things were carried, immediately in anger took ship\nfor Rome, where his unexpected appearance obtained him the censure\nnot only of his enemies, but also of the people; who thought it\nstrange that a quaestor should leave before his commander.\nNevertheless, when some accusation upon this ground was made\nagainst him to the censors, he desired leave to defend himself,\nand did it so effectually, that, when he ended, he was regarded as\none who had been very much injured.  He made it then appear, that\nhe had served twelve years in the army, whereas others are obliged\nto serve only ten; that he had continued quaestor to the general\nthree years, whereas he might by law have returned at the end of\none year; and alone of all who went on the expedition, he had\ncarried out a full, and had brought home an empty purse, while\nothers, after drinking up the wine they had carried out with them,\nbrought back the wine-jars filled again with gold and silver from\nthe war.\n\nAfter this, they brought other accusations and writs against him,\nfor exciting insurrection amongst the allies, and being engaged\nin the conspiracy that was discovered about Fregellae.  But having\ncleared himself of every suspicion, and proved his entire\ninnocence, he now at once came forward to ask for the tribuneship;\nin which, though he was universally opposed by all persons of\ndistinction, yet there came such infinite numbers of people from\nall parts of Italy to vote for Caius, that lodgings for them could\nnot be supplied in the city; and the Field being not large enough\nto contain the assembly, there were numbers who climbed upon the\nroofs and the tilings of the houses to use their voices in his\nfavor.  However, the nobility so far forced the people to their\npleasure and disappointed Caius's hope, that he was not returned\nthe first, as was expected, but the fourth tribune.  But when he\ncame to the execution of his office, it was seen presently who was\nreally first tribune, as he was a better orator than any of his\ncontemporaries, and the passion with which he still lamented his\nbrother's death, made him the bolder in speaking.  He used on all\noccasions to remind the people of what had happened in that\ntumult, and laid before them the examples of their ancestors, how\nthey declared war against the Faliscans, only for giving\nscurrilous language to one Genucius, a tribune of the people; and\nsentenced Caius Veturius to death, for refusing to give way in the\nforum to a tribune; \"Whereas,\" said he, \"these men did, in the\npresence of you all, murder Tiberius with clubs, and dragged the\nslaughtered body through the middle of the city, to be cast into\nthe river.  Even his friends, as many as could be taken, were put\nto death immediately, without any trial, notwithstanding that just\nand ancient custom, which has always been observed in our city,\nthat whenever anyone is accused of a capital crime, and does not\nmake his personal appearance in court, a trumpeter is sent in the\nmorning to his lodging, to summon him by sound of trumpet to\nappear; and before this ceremony is performed, the judges do not\nproceed to the vote; so cautious and reserved were our ancestors\nabout business of life and death.\"\n\nHaving moved the people's passion with such addresses (and his\nvoice was of the loudest and strongest), he proposed two laws.\nThe first was, that whoever was turned out of any public office by\nthe people, should be thereby rendered incapable of bearing any\noffice afterwards; the second, that if any magistrate condemn a\nRoman to be banished, without a legal trial, the people be\nauthorized to take cognizance thereof.\n\nOne of these laws was manifestly leveled at Marcus Octavius, who,\nat the instigation of Tiberius, had been deprived of his\ntribuneship.  The other touched Popilius, who, in his praetorship,\nhad banished all Tiberius's friends; whereupon Popilius, being\nunwilling to stand the hazard of a trial, fled out of Italy.  As\nfor the former law, it was withdrawn by Caius himself, who said he\nyielded in the case of Octavius, at the request of his mother\nCornelia.  This was very acceptable and pleasing to the people,\nwho had a great veneration for Cornelia, not more for the sake of\nher father than for that of her children; and they afterwards\nerected a statue of brass in honor of her, with this inscription,\nCornelia, the mother of the Gracchi.  There are several\nexpressions recorded, in which he used her name perhaps with too\nmuch rhetoric, and too little self-respect, in his attacks upon\nhis adversaries.  \"How,\" said he, \"dare you presume to reflect\nupon Cornelia, the mother of Tiberius?\"  And because the person\nwho made the redactions had been suspected of effeminate courses,\n\"With what face,\" said he, \"can you compare Cornelia with\nyourself?  Have you brought forth children as she has done?  And\nyet all Rome knows, that she has refrained from the conversation\nof men longer than you yourself have done.\"  Such was the\nbitterness he used in his language; and numerous similar\nexpressions might be adduced from his written remains.\n\nOf the laws which he now proposed, with the object of gratifying\nthe people and abridging the power of the senate, the first was\nconcerning the public lands, which were to be divided amongst the\npoor citizens; another was concerning the common soldiers, that\nthey should be clothed at the public charge, without any\ndiminution of their pay, and that none should be obliged to serve\nin the army who was not full seventeen years old; another gave the\nsame right to all the Italians in general, of voting at elections,\nas was enjoyed by the citizens of Rome; a fourth related to the\nprice of corn, which was to be sold at a lower rate than formerly\nto the poor; and a fifth regulated the courts of justice, greatly\nreducing the power of the senators.  For hitherto, in all causes\nsenators only sat as judges, and were therefore much dreaded by\nthe Roman knights and the people.  But Caius joined three hundred\nordinary citizens of equestrian rank with the senators, who were\nthree hundred likewise in number, and ordained that the judicial\nauthority should be equally invested in the six hundred.  While he\nwas arguing for the ratification of this law, his behavior was\nobserved to show in many respects unusual earnestness, and whereas\nother popular leaders had always hitherto, when speaking, turned\ntheir faces towards the senate house, and the place called the\ncomitium, he, on the contrary, was the first man that in his\nharangue to the people turned himself the other way, towards them,\nand continued after that time to do so.  An insignificant movement\nand change of posture, yet it marked no small revolution in state\naffairs, the conversion, in a manner, of the whole government from\nan aristocracy to a democracy; his action intimating that public\nspeakers should address themselves to the people, not the senate.\n\nWhen the commonalty ratified this law, and gave him power to\nselect those of the knights whom he approved of, to be judges, he\nwas invested with a sort of kingly power, and the senate itself\nsubmitted to receive his advice in matters of difficulty; nor did\nhe advise anything that might derogate from the honor of that\nbody.  As, for example, his resolution about the corn which Fabius\nthe propraetor sent from Spain, was very just and honorable; for\nhe persuaded the senate to sell the corn, and return the money to\nthe same provinces which had furnished them with it; and also that\nFabius should be censured for rendering the Roman government\nodious and insupportable.  This got him extraordinary respect and\nfavor among the provinces.  Besides all this, he proposed measures\nfor the colonization of several cities, for making roads, and for\nbuilding public granaries; of all which works he himself undertook\nthe management and superintendence, and was never wanting to give\nnecessary orders for the dispatch of all these different and great\nundertakings; and that with such wonderful expedition and\ndiligence, as if he had been but engaged upon one of them;\ninsomuch that all persons, even those who hated or feared him,\nstood amazed to see what a capacity he had for effecting and\ncompleting all he undertook.  As for the people themselves, they\nwere transported at the very sight, when they saw him surrounded\nwith a crowd of contractors, artificers, public deputies, military\nofficers, soldiers, and scholars.  All these he treated with an\neasy familiarity, yet without abandoning his dignity in his\ngentleness; and so accommodated his nature to the wants and\noccasions of everyone who addressed him, that those were looked\nupon as no better than envious detractors, who had represented him\nas a terrible, assuming, and violent character.  He was even a\ngreater master of the popular leader's art in his common talk and\nhis actions, than he was in his public addresses.\n\nHis most especial exertions were given to constructing the roads,\nwhich he was careful to make beautiful and pleasant, as well as\nconvenient.  They were drawn by his directions through the fields,\nexactly in a straight line, partly paved with hewn stone, and\npartly laid with solid masses of gravel.  When he met with any\nvalleys or deep watercourses crossing the line, he either caused\nthem to be filled up with rubbish, or bridges to be built over\nthem, so well leveled, that all being of an equal height on both\nsides, the work presented one uniform and beautiful prospect.\nBesides this, he caused the roads to be all divided into miles\n(each mile containing little less than eight furlongs, and erected\npillars of stone to signify the distance from one place to\nanother.  He likewise placed other stones at small distances from\none another, on both sides of the way, by the help of which\ntravelers might get easily on horseback without wanting a groom.\n\nFor these reasons, the people highly extolled him, and were ready\nupon all occasions to express their affection towards him.  One\nday, in an oration to them, he declared that he had only one favor\nto request, which if they granted, he should think the greatest\nobligation in the world; yet if it were denied, he would never\nblame them for the refusal.  This expression made the world\nbelieve that his ambition was to be consul; and it was generally\nexpected that he wished to be both consul and tribune at the same\ntime.  When the day for election of consuls was at hand, and all\nin great expectation, he appeared in the Field with Caius Fannius,\ncanvassing together with his friends for his election.  This was\nof great effect in Fannius's favor.  He was chosen consul, and\nCaius elected tribune the second time, without his own seeking or\npetitioning for it, but at the voluntary motion of the people.\nBut when he understood that the senators were his declared\nenemies, and that Fannius himself was none of the most zealous of\nfriends, he began again to rouse the people with other new laws.\nHe proposed that a colony of Roman citizens might be sent to\nre-people Tarentum and Capua, and that the Latins should enjoy the\nsame privileges with the citizens of Rome.  But the senate,\napprehending that he would at last grow too powerful and\ndangerous, took a new and unusual course to alienate the people's\naffections from him, by playing the demagogue in opposition to\nhim, and offering favors contrary to all good policy.  Livius\nDrusus was fellow-tribune with Caius, a person of as good a family\nand as well educated as any amongst the Romans, and noways\ninferior to those who for their eloquence and riches were the most\nhonored and most powerful men of that time.  To him, therefore,\nthe chief senators made their application, exhorting him to attack\nCaius, and join in their confederacy against him; which they\ndesigned to carry on, not by using any force, or opposing the\ncommon people, but by gratifying and obliging them with such\nunreasonable things as otherwise they would have felt it honorable\nfor them to incur the greatest unpopularity in resisting.\n\nLivius offered to serve the senate with his authority in this\nbusiness; and proceeded accordingly to bring forward such laws as\nwere in reality neither honorable nor advantageous for the public;\nhis whole design being to outdo Caius in pleasing and cajoling the\npopulace (as if it had been in some comedy), with obsequious\nflattery and every kind of gratifications; the senate thus letting\nit be seen plainly, that they were not angry with Caius's public\nmeasures, but only desirous to ruin him utterly, or at least to\nlessen his reputation.  For when Caius proposed the settlement of\nonly two colonies, and mentioned the better class of citizens for\nthat purpose, they accused him of abusing the people; and yet, on\nthe contrary, were pleased with Drusus, when he proposed the\nsending out of twelve colonies, each to consist of three thousand\npersons, and those, too, the most needy that he could find.  When\nCaius divided the public land amongst the poor citizens, and\ncharged them with a small rent, annually, to be paid into the\nexchequer, they were angry at him, as one who sought to gratify\nthe people only for his own interest; yet afterwards they\ncommended Livius, though he exempted them from paying even that\nlittle acknowledgment.  They were displeased with Caius, for\noffering the Latins an equal right with the Romans of voting at\nthe election of magistrates; but when Livius proposed that it\nmight not be lawful for a Roman captain to scourge a Latin\nsoldier, they promoted the passing of that law.  And Livius, in\nall his speeches to the people, always told them, that he proposed\nno laws but such as were agreeable to the senate, who had a\nparticular regard to the people's advantage.  And this truly was\nthe only point in all his proceedings which was of any real\nservice, as it created more kindly feelings towards the senate in\nthe people; and whereas they formerly suspected and hated the\nprincipal senators, Livius appeased and mitigated this\nperverseness and animosity, by his profession that he had done\nnothing in favor and for the benefit of the commons, without their\nadvice and approbation.\n\nBut the greatest credit which Drusus got for kindness and justice\ntowards the people was, that he never seemed to propose any law\nfor his own sake, or his own advantage; he committed the charge of\nseeing the colonies rightly settled to other commissioners;\nneither did he ever concern himself with the distribution of the\nmoneys; whereas Caius always took the principal part in any\nimportant transactions of this kind.  Rubrius, another tribune of\nthe people, had proposed to have Carthage again inhabited, which\nhad been demolished by Scipio, and it fell to Caius's lot to see\nthis performed, and for that purpose he sailed to Africa.  Drusus\ntook this opportunity of his absence to insinuate himself still\nmore into the peoples' affections, which he did chiefly by\naccusing Fulvius, who was a particular friend to Caius, and was\nappointed a commissioner with him for the division of the lands.\nFulvius was a man of a turbulent spirit, and notoriously hated by\nthe senate; and besides, he was suspected by others to have\nfomented the differences between the citizens and their\nconfederates, and underhand to be inciting the Italians to rebel;\nthough there was little other evidence of the truth of these\naccusations, than his being an unsettled character, and of a\nwell-known seditious temper.  This was one principal cause of\nCaius's ruin; for part of the envy which fell upon Fulvius, was\nextended to him.  And when Scipio Africanus died suddenly, and no\ncause of such an unexpected death could be assigned, only some\nmarks of blows upon his body seemed to intimate that he had\nsuffered violence, as is related in the history of his life, the\ngreatest part of the odium attached to Fulvius, because he was his\nenemy, and that very day had reflected upon Scipio in a public\naddress to the people.  Nor was Caius himself clear from\nsuspicion.  However, this great outrage, committed too upon the\nperson of the greatest and most considerable man in Rome, was\nnever either punished or inquired into thoroughly, for the\npopulace opposed and hindered any judicial investigation, for fear\nthat Caius should be implicated in the charge if proceedings were\ncarried on.  This, however, had happened some time before.\n\nBut in Africa, where at present Caius was engaged in the\nrepeopling of Carthage, which he named Junonia, many ominous\nappearances, which presaged mischief, are reported to have been\nsent from the gods.  For a sudden gust of wind falling upon the\nfirst standard, and the standard-bearer holding it fast, the staff\nbroke; another sudden storm blew away the sacrifices, which were\nlaid upon the altars, and carried them beyond the bounds laid out\nfor the city; and the wolves came and carried away the very marks\nthat were set up to show the boundary.  Caius, notwithstanding all\nthis, ordered and dispatched the whole business in the space of\nseventy days, and then returned to Rome, understanding how Fulvius\nwas prosecuted by Drusus, and that the present juncture of affairs\nwould not suffer him to be absent.  For Lucius Opimius, one who\nsided with the nobility, and was of no small authority in the\nsenate, who had formerly sued to be consul, but was repulsed by\nCaius's interest, at the time when Fannius was elected, was in a\nfair way now of being chosen consul, having a numerous company of\nsupporters.  And it was generally believed, if he did obtain it,\nthat he would wholly ruin Caius, whose power was already in a\ndeclining condition; and the people were not so apt to admire his\nactions as formerly, because there were so many others who every\nday contrived new ways to please them, with which the senate\nreadily complied.\n\nAfter his return to Rome, he quitted his house on the Palatine\nMount, and went to live near the market-place, endeavoring to make\nhimself more popular in those parts, where most of the humbler and\npoorer citizens lived.  He then brought forward the remainder of\nhis proposed laws, as intending to have them ratified by the\npopular vote; to support which a vast number of people collected\nfrom all quarters.  But the senate persuaded Fannius, the consul,\nto command all persons who were not born Romans, to depart the\ncity.  A new and unusual proclamation was thereupon made,\nprohibiting any of the Allies or Confederates to appear at Rome\nduring that time.  Caius, on the contrary, published an edict,\naccusing the consul for what he had done, and setting forth to the\nConfederates, that if they would continue upon the place, they\nmight be assured of his assistance and protection.  However, he\nwas not so good as his word; for though he saw one of his own\nfamiliar friends and companions dragged to prison by Fannius's\nofficers, he notwithstanding passed by, without assisting him;\neither because he was afraid to stand the test of his power, which\nwas already decreased, or because, as he himself reported, he was\nunwilling to give his enemies an opportunity, which they very much\ndesired, of coming to actual violence and fighting.  About that\ntime there happened likewise a difference between him and his\nfellow-officers upon this occasion.  A show of gladiators was to\nbe exhibited before the people in the marketplace, and most of the\nmagistrates erected scaffolds round about, with an intention of\nletting them for advantage.  Caius commanded them to take down\ntheir scaffolds, that the poor people might see the sport without\npaying anything.  But nobody obeying these orders of his, he\ngathered together a body of laborers, who worked for him, and\noverthrew all the scaffolds, the very night before the contest was\nto take place.  So that by the next morning the market-place was\ncleared, and the common people had an opportunity of seeing the\npastime.  In this, the populace thought he had acted the part of a\nman; but he much disobliged the tribunes, his colleagues, who\nregarded it as a piece of violent and presumptuous interference.\n\nThis was thought to be the chief reason that he failed of being a\nthird time elected tribune; not but that he had the most votes,\nbut because his colleagues out of revenge caused false returns to\nbe made.  But as to this matter there was a controversy.  Certain\nit is, he very much resented this repulse, and behaved with\nunusual arrogance towards some of his adversaries who were joyful\nat his defeat, telling them, that all this was but a false,\nsardonic mirth, as they little knew how much his actions threw\nthem into obscurity.\n\nAs soon as Opimius also was chosen consul, they presently canceled\nseveral of Caius's laws, and especially called in question his\nproceedings at Carthage, omitting nothing that was likely to\nirritate him, that from some effect of his passion they might find\nout a colorable pretense to put him to death.  Caius at first bore\nthese things very patiently; but afterwards, at the instigation of\nhis friends, especially Fulvius, he resolved to put himself at the\nhead of a body of supporters, to oppose the consul by force.  They\nsay also that on this occasion his mother, Cornelia, joined in the\nsedition, and assisted him by sending privately several strangers\ninto Rome, under pretense as if they came to be hired there for\nharvestmen; for that intimations of this are given in her letters\nto him.  However, it is confidently affirmed by others, that\nCornelia did not in the least approve of these actions.\n\nWhen the day came in which Opimius designed to abrogate the laws\nof Caius, both parties met very early at the capitol; and the\nconsul having performed all the rites usual in their sacrifices,\none Quintus Antyllius, an attendant on the consul, carrying out\nthe entrails of the victim, spoke to Fulvius, and his friends who\nstood about him, \"Ye factious citizens, make way for honest men.\"\nSome report, that besides this provoking language, he extended his\nnaked arm towards them, as a piece of scorn and contempt.  Upon\nthis he was presently killed with the strong stiles which are\ncommonly used in writing, though some say that on this occasion\nthey had been manufactured for this purpose only.  This murder\ncaused a sudden consternation in the whole assembly, and the heads\nof each faction had their different sentiments about it.  As for\nCaius he was much grieved, and severely reprimanded his own party,\nbecause they had given their adversaries a reasonable pretense to\nproceed against them, which they had so long hoped for.  Opimius,\nimmediately seizing the occasion thus offered, was in great\ndelight, and urged the people to revenge; but there happening a\ngreat shower of rain on a sudden, it put an end to the business of\nthat day.\n\nEarly the next morning, the consul summoned the senate, and whilst\nhe advised with the senators in the senate-house, the corpse of\nAntyllius was laid upon a bier, and brought through the\nmarket-place, being there exposed to open view, just before the\nsenate-house, with a great deal of crying and lamentation.\nOpimius was not at all ignorant that this was designed to be done;\nhowever, he seemed to be surprised, and wondered what the meaning\nof it should be; the senators, therefore, presently went out to\nknow the occasion of it and, standing about the corpse, uttered\nexclamations against the inhuman and barbarous act.  The people\nmeantime could not but feel resentment and hatred for the\nsenators, remembering how they themselves had not only\nassassinated Tiberius Gracchus, as he was executing his office in\nthe very capitol, but had also thrown his mangled body into the\nriver; yet now they could honor with their presence and their\npublic lamentations in the forum the corpse of an ordinary hired\nattendant, (who, though he might perhaps die wrongfully, was,\nhowever, in a great measure the occasion of it himself,) by these\nmeans hoping to undermine him who was the only remaining defender\nand safeguard of the people.\n\nThe senators, after some time, withdrew, and presently ordered\nthat Opimius, the consul, should be invested with extraordinary\npower to protect the commonwealth and suppress all tyrants.  This\nbeing decreed, he presently commanded the senators to arm\nthemselves, and the Roman knights to be in readiness very early\nthe next morning, and every one of them to be attended with two\nservants well armed.  Fulvius, on the other side, made his\npreparations and collected the populace.  Caius at that time\nreturning from the market-place, made a stop just before his\nfather's statue, and fixing his eyes for some time upon it,\nremained in a deep contemplation; at length he sighed, shed tears,\nand departed.  This made no small impression upon those who saw\nit, and they began to upbraid themselves, that they should desert\nand betray so worthy a man as Caius.  They therefore went\ndirectly to his house, remaining there as a guard about it all\nnight, though in a different manner from those who were a guard to\nFulvius; for they passed away the night with shouting and\ndrinking, and Fulvius himself, being the first to get drunk,\nspoke and acted many things very unbecoming a man of his age and\ncharacter.  On the other side, the party which guarded Caius, were\nquiet and diligent, relieving one another by turns, and\nforecasting, as in a public calamity, what the issue of things\nmight be.  As soon as daylight appeared, they roused Fulvius, who\nhad not yet slept off the effects of his drinking; and having\narmed themselves with the weapons hung up in his house, that were\nformerly taken from the Gauls, whom he conquered in the time of\nhis consulship, they presently, with threats and loud\nacclamations, made their way towards the Aventine Mount.\n\nCaius could not be persuaded to arm himself, but put on his gown,\nas if he had been going to the assembly of the people, only with\nthis difference, that under it he had then a short dagger by his\nside.  As he was going out, his wife came running to him at the\ngate, holding him with one hand, and with her other a young child\nof his.  She thus bespoke him: \"Alas, Caius, I do not now part\nwith you to let you address the people, either as a tribune or a\nlawgiver, nor as if you were going to some honorable war, when\nthough you might perhaps have encountered that fate which all must\nsometime or other submit to, yet you had left me this mitigation\nof my sorrow, that my mourning was respected and honored.  You go\nnow to expose your person to the murderers of Tiberius, unarmed,\nindeed, and rightly so, choosing rather to suffer the worst of\ninjuries, than do the least yourself.  But even your very death at\nthis time will not be serviceable to the public good.  Faction\nprevails; power and arms are now the only measures of justice.\nHad your brother fallen before Numantia, the enemy would have\ngiven back what then had remained of Tiberius; but such is my hard\nfate, that I probably must be an humble suppliant to the floods or\nthe waves, that they would somewhere restore to me your relics;\nfor since Tiberius was not spared, what trust can we place either\non the laws, or in the gods?\"  Licinia, thus bewailing, Caius, by\ndegrees getting loose from her embraces, silently withdrew\nhimself, being accompanied by his friends; she, endeavoring to\ncatch him by the gown, fell prostrate upon the earth, lying there\nfor some time speechless.  Her servants took her up for dead, and\nconveyed her to her brother Crassus.\n\nFulvius, when the people were gathered together in a full body, by\nthe advice of Caius, sent his youngest son into the market-place,\nwith a herald's rod in his hand.  He, being a very handsome youth,\nand modestly addressing himself, with tears in his eyes and a\nbecoming bashfulness, offered proposals of agreement to the consul\nand the whole senate.  The greatest part of the assembly were\ninclinable to accept of the proposals; but Opimius said, that it\ndid not become them to send messengers and capitulate with the\nsenate, but to surrender at discretion to the laws, like loyal\ncitizens, and endeavor to merit their pardon by submission.  He\ncommanded the youth not to return, unless they would comply with\nthese conditions.  Caius, as it is reported, was very forward to\ngo and clear himself before the senate; but none of his friends\nconsenting to it, Fulvius sent his son a second time to intercede\nfor them, as before.  But Opimius, who was resolved that a\nbattle should ensue, caused the youth to be apprehended, and\ncommitted into custody; and then, with a company of his\nfoot-soldiers and some Cretan archers, set upon the party under\nFulvius.  These archers did such execution, and inflicted so many\nwounds, that a rout and flight quickly ensued.  Fulvius fled into\nan obscure bathing-house; but shortly after being discovered, he\nand his eldest son were slain together.  Caius was not observed to\nuse any violence against anyone; but, extremely disliking all\nthese outrages, retired to Diana's temple.  There he attempted to\nkill himself, but was hindered by his faithful friends, Pomponius\nand Licinius, they took his sword away from him, and were very\nurgent that he would endeavor to make his escape.  It is reported,\nthat falling upon his knee and lifting up his hands, he prayed the\ngoddess that the Roman people, as a punishment for their\ningratitude and treachery, might always remain in slavery.  For as\nsoon as a proclamation was made of a pardon, the greater part\nopenly deserted him.\n\nCaius, therefore, endeavored now to make his escape, but was\npursued so close by his enemies, as far as the wooden bridge, that\nfrom thence he narrowly escaped.  There his two trusty friends\nbegged of him to preserve his own person by flight, whilst they in\nthe meantime would keep their post, and maintain the passage;\nneither could their enemies, until they were both slain, pass the\nbridge.  Caius had no other companion in his flight but one\nPhilocrates, a servant of his.  As he ran along, everybody\nencouraged him, and wished him success, as standers-by may do to\nthose who are engaged in a race, but nobody either lent him any\nassistance, or would furnish him with a horse, though he asked for\none; for his enemies had gained ground, and got very near him.\nHowever, he had still time enough to hide himself in a little\ngrove, consecrated to the Furies.  In that place, his servant\nPhilocrates having first slain him, presently afterwards killed\nhimself also, and fell dead upon his master.  Though some affirm\nit for a truth, that they were both taken alive by their enemies,\nand that Philocrates embraced his master so close, that they could\nnot wound Caius until his servant was slain.\n\nThey say that when Caius's head was cut off, and carried away by\none of his murderers, Septimuleius, Opimius's friend met him, and\nforced it from him; because, before the battle began, they had\nmade proclamation, that whoever should bring the head either of\nCaius or Fulvius, should, as a reward, receive its weight in gold.\nSeptimuleius, therefore, having fixed Caius's head upon the top of\nhis spear, came and presented it to Opimius.  They presently\nbrought the scales, and it was found to weigh above seventeen\npounds.  But in this affair, Septimuleius gave as great signs of\nhis knavery, as he had done before of his cruelty; for having\ntaken out the brains, he had filled the skull with lead.  There\nwere others who brought the head of Fulvius too, but, being mean,\ninconsiderable persons, were turned away without the promised\nreward.  The bodies of these two persons, as well as of the rest\nwho were slain, to the number of three thousand men, were all\nthrown into the river; their goods were confiscated, and their\nwidows forbidden to put themselves into mourning.  They dealt even\nmore severely with Licinia, Caius's wife, and deprived her even of\nher jointure; and as an addition still to all their inhumanity,\nthey barbarously murdered Fulvius's youngest son; his only crime\nbeing, not that he took up arms against them, or that he was\npresent in the battle, but merely that he had come with articles\nof agreement; for this he was first imprisoned, then slain.\n\nBut that which angered the common people beyond all these things\nwas, because at this time, in memory of his success, Opimius built\nthe temple of Concord, as if he gloried and triumphed in the\nslaughter of so many citizens.  Somebody in the night time, under\nthe inscription of the temple, added this verse:--\n\nFolly and Discord Concord's temple built.\n\nYet this Opimius, the first who, being consul, presumed to usurp\nthe power of a dictator, condemning, without any trial, with three\nthousand other citizens, Caius Gracchus and Fulvius Flaccus, one\nof whom had triumphed, and been consul, the other far excelled all\nhis contemporaries in virtue and honor, afterwards was found\nincapable of keeping his hands from thieving; and when he was sent\nambassador to Jugurtha, king of Numidia, he was there corrupted by\npresents, and at his return being shamefully convicted of it, lost\nall his honors, and grew old amidst the hatred and the insults of\nthe people, who, though humbled, and affrighted at the time, did\nnot fail before long to let everybody see what respect and\nveneration they had for the memory of the Gracchi.  They ordered\ntheir statues to be made and set up in public view; they\nconsecrated the places where they were slain, and thither brought\nthe first-fruits of everything, according to the season of the\nyear, to make their offerings.  Many came likewise thither to\ntheir devotions, and daily worshipped there, as at the temples of\nthe gods.\n\nIt is reported, that as Cornelia, their mother, bore the loss of\nher two sons with a noble and undaunted spirit, so, in reference\nto the holy places in which they were slain, she said, their dead\nbodies were well worthy of such sepulchres.  She removed\nafterwards, and dwelt near the place called Misenum, not at all\naltering her former way of living.  She had many friends, and\nhospitably received many strangers at her house; many Greeks and\nlearned men were continually about her; nor was there any foreign\nprince but received gifts from her and presented her again.  Those\nwho were conversant with her, were much interested, when she\npleased to entertain them with her recollections of her father\nScipio Africanus, and of his habits and way of living.  But it was\nmost admirable to hear her make mention of her sons, without any\ntears or sign of grief, and give the full account of all their\ndeeds and misfortunes, as if she had been relating the history of\nsome ancient heroes.  This made some imagine, that age, or the\ngreatness of her afflictions, had made her senseless and devoid of\nnatural feelings.  But they who so thought, were themselves more\ntruly insensible, not to see how much a noble nature and education\navail to conquer any affliction; and though fortune may often be\nmore successful, and may defeat the efforts of virtue to avert\nmisfortunes, it cannot, when we incur them, prevent our bearing\nthem reasonably.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF TIBERIUS AND CAIUS GRACCHUS WITH AGIS AND CLEOMENES\n\nHaving given an account severally of these persons, it remains\nonly that we should take a view of them in comparison with one\nanother.\n\nAs for the Gracchi, the greatest detractors and their worst\nenemies could not but allow, that they had a genius to virtue\nbeyond all other Romans, which was improved also by a generous\neducation.  Agis and Cleomenes may be supposed to have had\nstronger natural gifts, since, though they wanted all the\nadvantages of good education, and were bred up in those very\ncustoms, manners, and habits of living, which had for a long time\ncorrupted others, yet they were public examples of temperance and\nfrugality.  Besides, the Gracchi, happening to live when Rome had\nher greatest repute for honor and virtuous actions, might justly\nhave been ashamed, if they had not also left to the next\ngeneration the noble inheritance of the virtues of their\nancestors.  Whereas the other two had parents of different morals;\nand though they found their country in a sinking condition, and\ndebauched, yet that did not quench their forward zeal to what was\njust and honorable.\n\nThe integrity of the two Romans, and their superiority to money,\nwas chiefly remarkable in this; that in office and the\nadministration of public affairs, they kept themselves from the\nimputation of unjust gain; whereas Agis might justly be offended,\nif he had only that mean commendation given him, that he took\nnothing wrongfully from any man, seeing he distributed his own\nfortunes, which, in ready money only, amounted to the value of\nsix hundred talents, amongst his fellow-citizens.  Extortion\nwould have appeared a crime of a strange nature to him, who\nesteemed it a piece of covetousness to possess, though never so\njustly gotten, greater riches than his neighbors.\n\nTheir political actions, also, and the state revolutions they\nattempted, were very different in magnitude.  The chief things in\ngeneral that the two Romans commonly aimed at, were the settlement\nof cities and mending of highways; and, in particular, the boldest\ndesign which Tiberius is famed for, was the recovery of the public\nlands; and Caius gained his greatest reputation by the addition,\nfor the exercise of judicial powers, of three hundred of the order\nof knights to the same number of senators.  Whereas the alteration\nwhich Agis and Cleomenes made, was in a quite different kind.\nThey did not set about removing partial evils and curing petty\nincidents of disease, which would have been (as Plato says), like\ncutting off one of the Hydra's heads, the very means to increase\nthe number; but they instituted a thorough reformation, such as\nwould free the country at once from all its grievances, or rather,\nto speak more truly, they reversed that former change which had\nbeen the cause of all their calamities, and so restored their city\nto its ancient state.\n\nHowever, this must be confessed in the behalf of the Gracchi, that\ntheir undertakings were always opposed by men of the greatest\ninfluence.  On the other side, those things which were first\nattempted by Agis, and afterwards consummated by Cleomenes, were\nsupported by the great and glorious precedent of those ancient\nlaws concerning frugality and leveling which they had themselves\nreceived upon the authority of Lycurgus, and he had instituted on\nthat of Apollo.  It is also further observable, that from the\nactions of the Gracchi, Rome received no additions to her former\ngreatness; whereas, under the conduct of Cleomenes, Greece\npresently saw Sparta exert her sovereign power over all\nPeloponnesus, and contest the supreme command with the most\npowerful princes of the time; success in which would have freed\nGreece from Illyrian and Gaulish violence, and placed her once\nagain under the orderly rule of the sons of Hercules.\n\nFrom the circumstances of their deaths, also, we may infer some\ndifference in the quality of their courage.  The Gracchi, fighting\nwith their fellow-citizens, were both slain, as they endeavored to\nmake their escape; Agis willingly submitted to his fate, rather\nthan any citizen should be in danger of his life.  Cleomenes,\nbeing shamefully and unjustly treated, made an effort toward\nrevenge, but failing of that, generously fell by his own hand.\n\nOn the other side it must be said, that Agis never did a great\naction worthy a commander, being prevented by an untimely death.\nAnd as for those heroic actions of Cleomenes, we may justly\ncompare with them that of Tiberius, when he was the first who\nattempted to scale the walls of Carthage, which was no mean\nexploit.  We may add the peace which he concluded with the\nNumantines, by which he saved the lives of twenty thousand Romans,\nwho otherwise had certainly been cut off.  And Caius, not only at\nhome, but in war in Sardinia, displayed distinguished courage.  So\nthat their early actions were no small argument, that afterwards\nthey might have rivaled the best of the Roman commanders, if they\nhad not died so young.\n\nIn civil life, Agis showed a lack of determination; he let himself\nbe baffled by the craft of Agesilaus; disappointed the\nexpectations of the citizens as to the division of the lands, and\ngenerally left all the designs which he had deliberately formed\nand publicly announced, unperformed and unfulfilled, through a\nyoung man's want of resolution.  Cleomenes, on the other hand,\nproceeded to effect the revolution with only too much boldness and\nviolence, and unjustly slew the Ephors, whom he might, by\nsuperiority in arms, have gained over to his party, or else might\neasily have banished, as he did several others of the city.  For\nto use the knife, unless in the extremest necessity, is neither\ngood surgery nor wise policy, but in both cases mere\nunskillfulness; and in the latter, unjust as well as unfeeling.\nOf the Gracchi, neither the one nor the other was the first to\nshed the blood of his fellow-citizens; and Caius is reported to\nhave avoided all manner of resistance, even when his life was\naimed at, showing himself always valiant against a foreign enemy,\nbut wholly inactive in a sedition.  This was the reason that he\nwent from his own house unarmed, and withdrew when the battle\nbegan, and in all respects showed himself anxious rather not to do\nany harm to others, than not to suffer any himself.  Even the very\nflight of the Gracchi must not be looked upon as an argument of\ntheir mean spirit, but an honorable retreat from endangering of\nothers.  For if they had stayed, they must either have yielded to\nthose who assailed them, or else have fought them in their own\ndefense.\n\nThe greatest crime that can be laid to Tiberius's charge, was the\ndeposing of his fellow tribune, and seeking afterwards a second\ntribuneship for himself.  As for the death of Antyllius, it is\nfalsely and unjustly attributed to Caius, for he was slain unknown\nto him, and much to his grief.  On the contrary, Cleomenes (not to\nmention the murder of the Ephors) set all the slaves at liberty,\nand governed by himself alone in reality, having a partner only\nfor show; having made choice of his brother Euclidas, who was one\nof the same family.  He prevailed upon Archidamus, who was the\nright heir to the kingdom of the other line, to venture to return\nhome from Messene; but after his being slain, by not doing\nanything to revenge his death, confirmed the suspicion that he was\nprivy to it himself.  Lycurgus, whose example he professed to\nimitate, after he had voluntarily settled his kingdom upon\nCharillus, his brother's son, fearing lest, if the youth should\nchance to die by accident, he might be suspected for it, traveled\na long time, and would not return again to Sparta until Charillus\nhad a son, and an heir to his kingdom.  But we have indeed no\nother Grecian who is worthy to be compared with Lycurgus, and it\nis clear enough that in the public measures of Cleomenes various\nacts of considerable audacity and lawlessness may be found.\n\nThose, therefore, who incline to blame their characters, may\nobserve, that the two Grecians were disturbers even from their\nyouth, lovers of contest, and aspirants to despotic power; that\nTiberius and Caius by nature had an excessive desire after glory\nand honors.  Beyond this, their enemies could find nothing to\nbring against them; but as soon as the contention began with their\nadversaries, their heat and passions would so far prevail beyond\ntheir natural temper, that by them, as by ill winds, they were\ndriven afterwards to all their rash undertakings.  What could be\nmore just and honorable than their first design, had not the power\nand the faction of the rich, by endeavoring to abrogate that law,\nengaged them both in those fatal quarrels, the one, for his own\npreservation, the other, to revenge his brother's death, who was\nmurdered without any law or justice?\n\nFrom the account, therefore, which has been given, you yourself\nmay perceive the difference; which if it were to be pronounced of\nevery one singly, I should affirm Tiberius to have excelled them\nall in virtue; that young Agis had been guilty of the fewest\nmisdeeds; and that in action and boldness Caius came far short of\nCleomenes.\n\n\n\nDEMOSTHENES\n\nWhoever it was, Sosius, that wrote the poem in honor of\nAlcibiades, upon his winning the chariot race at the Olympian\nGames, whether it were Euripides, as is most commonly thought,\nor some other person, he tells us, that to a man's being happy\nit is in the first place requisite he should be born in \"some\nfamous city.\" But for him that would attain to true happiness,\nwhich for the most part is placed in the qualities and\ndisposition of the mind, it is, in my opinion, of no other\ndisadvantage to be of a mean, obscure country, than to be born\nof a small or plain-looking woman.  For it were ridiculous to\nthink that Iulis, a little part of Ceos, which itself is no\ngreat island, and Aegina, which an Athenian once said ought to\nbe removed, like a small eye-sore, from the port of Piraeus,\nshould breed good actors and poets, and yet should never be\nable to produce a just, temperate, wise, and high-minded man.\nOther arts, whose end it is to acquire riches or honor, are\nlikely enough to wither and decay in poor and undistinguished\ntowns; but virtue, like a strong and durable plant, may take\nroot and thrive in any place where it can lay hold of an\ningenuous nature, and a mind that is industrious.  I, for my\npart, shall desire that for any deficiency of mine in right\njudgment or action, I myself may be, as in fairness, held\naccountable, and shall not attribute it to the obscurity of my\nbirthplace.\n\nBut if any man undertake to write a history, that has to be\ncollected from materials gathered by observation and the reading\nof works not easy to be got in all places, nor written always in\nhis own language, but many of them foreign and dispersed in\nother hands, for him, undoubtedly, it is in the first place and\nabove all things most necessary, to reside in some city of good\nnote, addicted to liberal arts, and populous; where he may have\nplenty of all sorts of books, and upon inquiry may hear and\ninform himself of such particulars as, having escaped the pens\nof writers, are more faithfully preserved in the memories of\nmen, lest his work be deficient in many things, even those which\nit can least dispense with.\n\nBut for me, I live in a little town, where I am willing to\ncontinue, lest it should grow less; and having had no leisure,\nwhile I was in Rome and other parts of Italy, to exercise myself\nin the Roman language, on account of public business and of\nthose who came to be instructed by me in philosophy, it was very\nlate, and in the decline of my age, before I applied myself to\nthe reading of Latin authors.  Upon which that which happened to\nme, may seem strange, though it be true; for it was not so much\nby the knowledge of words, that I came to the understanding of\nthings, as by my experience of things I was enabled to follow\nthe meaning of words.  But to appreciate the graceful and ready\npronunciation of the Roman tongue, to understand the various\nfigures and connection of words, and such other ornaments, in\nwhich the beauty of speaking consists, is, I doubt not, an\nadmirable and delightful accomplishment; but it requires a\ndegree of practice and study, which is not easy, and will better\nsuit those who have more leisure, and time enough yet before\nthem for the occupation.\n\nAnd so in this fifth book of my Parallel Lives, in giving an\naccount of Demosthenes and Cicero, my comparison of their\nnatural dispositions and their characters will be formed upon\ntheir actions and their lives as statesmen, and I shall not\npretend to criticize their orations one against the other, to\nshow which of the two was the more charming or the more powerful\nspeaker.  For there, as Ion says,\n\nWe are but like a fish upon dry land;\n\na proverb which Caecilius perhaps forgot, when he employed his\nalways adventurous talents in so ambitious an attempt as a\ncomparison of Demosthenes and Cicero: and, possibly, if it were\na thing obvious and easy for every man to know himself, the\nprecept had not passed for an oracle.\n\nThe divine power seems originally to have designed Demosthenes\nand Cicero upon the same plan, giving them many similarities in\ntheir natural characters, as their passion for distinction and\ntheir love of liberty in civil life, and their want of courage\nin dangers and war, and at the same time also to have added many\naccidental resemblances.  I think there can hardly be found two\nother orators, who, from small and obscure beginnings, became so\ngreat and mighty; who both contested with kings and tyrants;\nboth lost their daughters, were driven out of their country, and\nreturned with honor; who, flying from thence again, were both\nseized upon by their enemies, and at last ended their lives with\nthe liberty of their countrymen.  So that if we were to suppose\nthere had been a trial of skill between nature and fortune, as\nthere is sometimes between artists, it would be hard to judge,\nwhether that succeeded best in making them alike in their\ndispositions and manners, or this, in the coincidences of their\nlives.  We will speak of the eldest first.\n\nDemosthenes, the father of Demosthenes, was a citizen of good\nrank and quality, as Theopompus informs us, surnamed the\nSword-maker, because he had a large workhouse, and kept servants\nskillful in that art at work.  But of that which Aeschines, the\norator, said of his mother, that she was descended of one Gylon,\nwho fled his country upon an accusation of treason, and of a\nbarbarian woman, I can affirm nothing, whether he spoke true, or\nslandered and maligned her.  This is certain, that Demosthenes,\nbeing as yet but seven years old, was left by his father in\naffluent circumstances, the whole value of his estate being\nlittle short of fifteen talents, and that he was wronged by his\nguardians, part of his fortune being embezzled by them, and the\nrest neglected; insomuch that even his teachers were defrauded\nof their salaries.  This was the reason that he did not obtain\nthe liberal education that he should have had; besides that on\naccount of weakness and delicate health, his mother would not\nlet him exert himself, and his teachers forbore to urge him.  He\nwas meager and sickly from the first, and hence had his nickname\nof Batalus, given him, it is said, by the boys, in derision of\nhis appearance; Batalus being, as some tell us, a certain\nenervated flute-player, in ridicule of whom Antiphanes wrote a\nplay.  Others speak of Batalus as a writer of wanton verses and\ndrinking songs.  And it would seem that some part of the body,\nnot decent to be named, was at that time called batalus by the\nAthenians.  But the name of Argas, which also they say was a\nnickname of Demosthenes, was given him for his behavior, as\nbeing savage and spiteful, argas being one of the poetical words\nfor a snake; or for his disagreeable way of speaking, Argas\nbeing the name of a poet, who composed very harshly and\ndisagreeably.  So much, as Plato says, for such matters.\n\nThe first occasion of his eager inclination to oratory they say,\nwas this.  Callistratus, the orator, being to plead in open\ncourt for Oropus, the expectation of the issue of that cause was\nvery great, as well for the ability of the orator, who was then\nat the height of his reputation, as also for the fame of the\naction itself.  Therefore, Demosthenes, having heard the tutors\nand schoolmasters agreeing among themselves to be present at\nthis trial, with much importunity persuades his tutor to take\nhim along with him to the hearing; who, having some acquaintance\nwith the doorkeepers, procured a place where the boy might sit\nunseen, and hear what was said.  Callistratus having got the\nday, and being much admired, the boy began to look upon his\nglory with a kind of emulation, observing how he was courted on\nall hands, and attended on his way by the multitude; but his\nwonder was more than all excited by the power of his eloquence,\nwhich seemed able to subdue and win over anything.  From this\ntime, therefore, bidding farewell to other sorts of learning and\nstudy, he now began to exercise himself, and to take pains in\ndeclaiming, as one that meant to be himself also an orator.  He\nmade use of Isaeus as his guide to the art of speaking, though\nIsocrates at that time was giving lessons; whether, as some say,\nbecause he was an orphan, and was not able to pay Isocrates his\nappointed fee of ten minae, or because he preferred Isaeus's\nspeaking, as being more business-like and effective in actual\nuse.  Hermippus says, that he met with certain memoirs without\nany author's name, in which it was written that Demosthenes was\na scholar to Plato, and learnt much of his eloquence from him;\nand he also mentions Ctesibius, as reporting from Callias of\nSyracuse and some others, that Demosthenes secretly obtained a\nknowledge of the systems of Isocrates and Alcidamas, and\nmastered them thoroughly.\n\nAs soon, therefore, as he was grown up to man's estate, he began\nto go to law with his guardians, and to write orations against\nthem; who, in the meantime, had recourse to various subterfuges\nand pleas for new trials, and Demosthenes, though he was thus,\nas Thucydides says, taught his business in dangers, and by his\nown exertions was successful in his suit, was yet unable for all\nthis to recover so much as a small fraction of his patrimony.\nHe only attained some degree of confidence in speaking, and some\ncompetent experience in it.  And having got a taste of the honor\nand power which are acquired by pleadings, he now ventured to\ncome forth, and to undertake public business.  And, as it is\nsaid of Laomedon, the Orchomenian, that by advice of his\nphysician, he used to run long distances to keep off some\ndisease of his spleen, and by that means having, through labor\nand exercise, framed the habit of his body, he betook himself to\nthe great garland games, and became one of the best runners at\nthe long race; so it happened to Demosthenes, who, first\nventuring upon oratory for the recovery of his own private\nproperty, by this acquired ability in speaking, and at length,\nin public business, as it were in the great games, came to have\nthe preeminence of all competitors in the assembly.  But when he\nfirst addressed himself to the people, he met with great\ndiscouragements, and was derided for his strange and uncouth\nstyle, which was cumbered with long sentences and tortured with\nformal arguments to a most harsh and disagreeable excess.\nBesides, he had, it seems, a weakness in his voice, a perplexed\nand indistinct utterance and a shortness of breath, which, by\nbreaking and disjointing his sentences much obscured the sense\nand meaning of what he spoke.  So that in the end, being quite\ndisheartened, he forsook the assembly; and as he was walking\ncarelessly and sauntering about the Piraeus, Eunomus, the\nThriasian, then a very old man, seeing him, upbraided him,\nsaying that his diction was very much like that of Pericles, and\nthat he was wanting to himself through cowardice and meanness of\nspirit, neither bearing up with courage against popular outcry,\nnor fitting his body for action, but suffering it to languish\nthrough mere sloth and negligence.\n\nAnother time, when the assembly had refused to hear him, and he\nwas going home with his head muffled up, taking it very heavily,\nthey relate that Satyrus, the actor, followed him, and being his\nfamiliar acquaintance, entered into conversation with him.  To\nwhom, when Demosthenes bemoaned himself, that having been the\nmost industrious of all the pleaders, and having almost spent\nthe whole strength and vigor of his body in that employment, he\ncould not yet find any acceptance with the people, that drunken\nsots, mariners, and illiterate fellows were heard, and had the\nhustings for their own, while he himself was despised, \"You say\ntrue, Demosthenes,\" replied Satyrus, \"but I will quickly remedy\nthe cause of all this, if you will repeat to me some passage out\nof Euripides or Sophocles.\"  Which when Demosthenes had\npronounced, Satyrus presently taking it up after him gave the\nsame passage, in his rendering of it, such a new form, by\naccompanying it with the proper mien and gesture, that to\nDemosthenes it seemed quite another thing.  By this being\nconvinced how much grace and ornament language acquires from\naction, he began to esteem it a small matter, and as good as\nnothing for a man to exercise himself in declaiming, if he\nneglected enunciation and delivery.  Hereupon he built himself a\nplace to study in underground, (which was still remaining in our\ntime,) and hither he would come constantly every day to form his\naction, and to exercise his voice; and here he would continue,\noftentimes without intermission, two or three months together,\nshaving one half of his head, that so for shame he might not go\nabroad, though he desired it ever so much.\n\nNor was this all, but he also made his conversation with people\nabroad, his common speech, and his business, subservient to his\nstudies, taking from hence occasions and arguments as matter to\nwork upon.  For as soon as he was parted from his company, down\nhe would go at once into his study, and run over everything in\norder that had passed, and the reasons that might be alleged for\nand against it.  Any speeches, also, that he was present at, he\nwould go over again with himself, and reduce into periods; and\nwhatever others spoke to him, or he to them, he would correct,\ntransform, and vary several ways.  Hence it was, that he was\nlooked upon as a person of no great natural genius, but one who\nowed all the power and ability he had in speaking to labor and\nindustry.  Of the truth of which it was thought to be no small\nsign, that he was very rarely heard to speak upon the occasion,\nbut though he were by name frequently called upon by the people,\nas he sat in the assembly, yet he would not rise unless he had\npreviously considered the subject, and came prepared for it.  So\nthat many of the popular pleaders used to make it a jest against\nhim; and Pytheas once, scoffing at him, said that his arguments\nsmelt of the lamp.  To which Demosthenes gave the sharp answer,\n\"It is true, indeed, Pytheas, that your lamp and mine are not\nconscious of the same things.\"  To others, however, he would not\nmuch deny it, but would admit frankly enough, that he neither\nentirely wrote his speeches beforehand, nor yet spoke wholly\nextempore.  And he would affirm, that it was the more truly\npopular act to use premeditation, such preparation being a kind\nof respect to the people; whereas, to slight and take no care\nhow what is said is likely to be received by the audience, shows\nsomething of an oligarchical temper, and is the course of one\nthat intends force rather than persuasion.  Of his want of\ncourage and assurance to speak off-hand, they make it also\nanother argument, that when he was at a loss, and discomposed,\nDemades would often rise up on the sudden to support him, but he\nwas never observed to do the same for Demades.\n\nWhence then, may some say, was it, that Aeschines speaks of him\nas a person so much to be wondered at for his boldness in\nspeaking?  Or, how could it be, when Python, the Byzantine,\n\"with so much confidence and such a torrent of words inveighed\nagainst\" the Athenians, that Demosthenes alone stood up to\noppose him?  Or, when Lamachus, the Myrinaean, had written a\npanegyric upon king Philip and Alexander, in which he uttered\nmany things in reproach of the Thebans and Olynthians, and at\nthe Olympic Games recited it publicly, how was it, that he,\nrising up, and recounting historically and demonstratively what\nbenefits and advantages all Greece had received from the Thebans\nand Chalcidians, and on the contrary, what mischiefs the\nflatterers of the Macedonians had brought upon it, so turned the\nminds of all that were present that the sophist, in alarm at the\noutcry against him, secretly made his way out of the assembly?\nBut Demosthenes, it should seem, regarded other points in the\ncharacter of Pericles to be unsuited to him; but his reserve and\nhis sustained manner, and his forbearing to speak on the sudden,\nor upon every occasion, as being the things to which principally\nhe owed his greatness, these he followed, and endeavored to\nimitate, neither wholly neglecting the glory which present\noccasion offered, nor yet willing too often to expose his\nfaculty to the mercy of chance.  For, in fact, the orations\nwhich were spoken by him had much more of boldness and\nconfidence in them than those that he wrote, if we may believe\nEratosthenes, Demetrius the Phalerian, and the Comedians.\nEratosthenes says that often in his speaking he would be\ntransported into a kind of ecstasy, and Demetrius, that he\nuttered the famous metrical adjuration to the people,\n\nBy the earth, the springs, the rivers, and the streams,\n\nas a man inspired, and beside himself.  One of the comedians\ncalls him a rhopoperperethras, and another scoffs at him for\nhis use of antithesis: --\n\nAnd what he took, took back; a phrase to please\nThe very fancy of Demosthenes.\n\nUnless, indeed, this also is meant by Antiphanes for a jest upon\nthe speech on Halonesus, which Demosthenes advised the Athenians\nnot to take at Philip's hands, but to take back.\n\nAll, however, used to consider Demades, in the mere use of his\nnatural gifts, an orator impossible to surpass, and that in what\nhe spoke on the sudden, he excelled all the study and\npreparation of Demosthenes.  And Ariston the Chian, has recorded\na judgment which Theophrastus passed upon the orators; for being\nasked what kind of orator he accounted Demosthenes, he answered,\n\"Worthy of the city of Athens;\" and then, what he thought of\nDemades, he answered, \"Above it.\" And the same philosopher\nreports, that Polyeuctus, the Sphettian, one of the Athenian\npoliticians about that time, was wont to say that Demosthenes\nwas the greatest orator, but Phocion the ablest, as he expressed\nthe most sense in the fewest words.  And, indeed, it is related,\nthat Demosthenes himself, as often as Phocion stood up to plead\nagainst him, would say to his acquaintance, \"Here comes the\nknife to my speech.\"  Yet it does not appear whether he had this\nfeeling for his powers of speaking, or for his life and\ncharacter, and meant to say that one word or nod from a man who\nwas really trusted, would go further than a thousand lengthy\nperiods from others.\n\nDemetrius, the Phalerian, tells us, that he was informed by\nDemosthenes himself, now grown old, that the ways he made use of\nto remedy his natural bodily infirmities and defects were such\nas these; his inarticulate and stammering pronunciation he\novercame and rendered more distinct by speaking with pebbles in\nhis mouth; his voice he disciplined by declaiming and reciting\nspeeches or verses when he was out of breath, while running or\ngoing up steep places; and that in his house he had a large\nlooking-glass, before which he would stand and go through his\nexercises.  It is told that someone once came to request his\nassistance as a pleader, and related how he had been assaulted\nand beaten.  \"Certainly,\" said Demosthenes, \"nothing of the kind\ncan have happened to you.\"  Upon which the other, raising his\nvoice, exclaimed loudly, \"What, Demosthenes, nothing has been\ndone to me?\"  \"Ah,\" replied Demosthenes, \"now I hear the voice\nof one that has been injured and beaten.\"  Of so great\nconsequence towards the gaining of belief did he esteem the tone\nand action of the speaker.  The action which he used himself was\nwonderfully pleasing to the common people; but by well-educated\npeople, as, for example, by Demetrius, the Phalerian, it was\nlooked upon as mean, humiliating, and unmanly.  And Hermippus\nsays of Aesion, that, being asked his opinion concerning the\nancient orators and those of his own time, he answered that it\nwas admirable to see with what composure and in what high style\nthey addressed themselves to the people; but that the orations\nof Demosthenes, when they are read, certainly appear to be\nsuperior in point of construction, and more effective. His\nwritten speeches, beyond all question, are characterized by\naustere tone and by their severity.  In his extempore retorts\nand rejoinders, he allowed himself the use of jest and mockery.\nWhen Demades said, \"Demosthenes teach me!  So might the sow\nteach Minerva!\" he replied, \"Was it this Minerva, that was\nlately found playing the harlot in Collytus?\"  When a thief,\nwho had the nickname of the Brazen, was attempting to upbraid\nhim for sitting up late, and writing by candlelight, \"I know\nvery well,\" said he, \"that you had rather have all lights out;\nand wonder not, O ye men of Athens, at the many robberies which\nare committed, since we have thieves of brass and walls of\nclay.\"  But on these points, though we have much more to\nmention, we will add nothing at present.  We will proceed to\ntake an estimate of his character from his actions and his life\nas a statesman.\n\nHis first entering into public business was much about the time\nof the Phocian war, as himself affirms, and may be collected\nfrom his Philippic orations.  For of these, some were made after\nthat action was over, and the earliest of them refer to its\nconcluding events.  It is certain that he engaged in the\naccusation of Midias when he was but two and thirty years old,\nhaving as yet no interest or reputation as a politician.  And\nthis it was, I consider, that induced him to withdraw the\naction, and accept a sum of money as a compromise.  For of\nhimself\n\nHe was no easy or good-natured man,\n\nbut of a determined disposition, and resolute to see himself\nrighted; however, finding it a hard matter and above his\nstrength to deal with Midias, a man so well secured on all sides\nwith money, eloquence, and friends, he yielded to the entreaties\nof those who interceded for him.  But had he seen any hopes or\npossibility of prevailing, I cannot believe that three thousand\ndrachmas could have taken off the edge of his revenge.  The\nobject which he chose for himself in the commonwealth was noble\nand just, the defense of the Grecians against Philip; and in\nthis he behaved himself so worthily that he soon grew famous,\nand excited attention everywhere for his eloquence and courage\nin speaking.  He was admired through all Greece, the king of\nPersia courted him, and by Philip himself he was more esteemed\nthan all the other orators.  His very enemies were forced to\nconfess that they had to do with a man of mark; for such a\ncharacter even Aeschines and Hyperides give him, where they\naccuse and speak against him.\n\nSo that I cannot imagine what ground Theopompus had to say, that\nDemosthenes was of a fickle, unsettled disposition, and could\nnot long continue firm either to the same men or the same\naffairs; whereas the contrary is most apparent, for the same\nparty and post in politics which he held from the beginning, to\nthese he kept constant to the end; and was so far from leaving\nthem while he lived, that he chose rather to forsake his life\nthan his purpose.  He was never heard to apologize for shifting\nsides like Demades, who would say, he often spoke against\nhimself, but never against the city; nor as Melanopus, who,\nbeing generally against Callistratus, but being often bribed off\nwith money, was wont to tell the people, \"The man indeed is my\nenemy, but we must submit for the good of our country;\" nor\nagain as Nicodemus, the Messenian, who having first appeared on\nCassander's side, and afterwards taken part with Demetrius, said\nthe two things were not in themselves contrary, it being always\nmost advisable to obey the conqueror.  We have nothing of this\nkind to say against Demosthenes, as one who would turn aside or\nprevaricate, either in word or deed.  There could not have been\nless variation in his public acts if they had all been played,\nso to say, from first to last, from the same score.  Panaetius,\nthe philosopher, said, that most of his orations are so written,\nas if they were to prove this one conclusion, that what is\nhonest and virtuous is for itself only to be chosen; as that of\nthe Crown, that against Aristocrates, that for the Immunities,\nand the Philippics; in all which he persuades his\nfellow-citizens to pursue not that which seems most pleasant,\neasy, or profitable; but declares over and over again, that they\nought in the first place to prefer that which is just and\nhonorable, before their own safety and preservation.  So that if\nhe had kept his hands clean, if his courage for the wars had\nbeen answerable to the generosity of his principles, and the\ndignity of his orations, he might deservedly have his name\nplaced, not in the number of such orators as Moerocles,\nPolyeuctus, and Hyperides, but in the highest rank with Cimon,\nThucydides, and Pericles.\n\nCertainly amongst those who were contemporary with him, Phocion,\nthough he appeared on the less commendable side in the\ncommonwealth, and was counted as one of the Macedonian party,\nnevertheless, by his courage and his honesty, procured himself a\nname not inferior to those of Ephialtes, Aristides, and Cimon.\nBut Demosthenes, being neither fit to be relied on for courage\nin arms, as Demetrius says, nor on all sides inaccessible to\nbribery (for how invincible soever he was against the gifts of\nPhilip and the Macedonians, yet elsewhere he lay open to\nassault, and was overpowered by the gold which came down from\nSusa and Ecbatana), was therefore esteemed better able to\nrecommend than to imitate the virtues of past times.  And yet\n(excepting only Phocion), even in his life and manners, he far\nsurpassed the other orators of his time.  None of them addressed\nthe people so boldly; he attacked the faults, and opposed\nhimself to the unreasonable desires of the multitude, as may be\nseen in his orations.  Theopompus writes, that the Athenians\nhaving by name selected Demosthenes, and called upon him to\naccuse a certain person, he refused to do it; upon which the\nassembly being all in an uproar, he rose up and said, \"Your\ncounselor, whether you will or no, O ye men of Athens, you shall\nalways have me; but a sycophant or false accuser, though you\nwould have me, I shall never be.\"  And his conduct in the case\nof Antiphon was perfectly aristocratical; whom, after he had\nbeen acquitted in the assembly, he took and brought before the\ncourt of Areopagus, and, setting at naught the displeasure of\nthe people, convicted him there of having promised Philip to\nburn the arsenal; whereupon the man was condemned by that\ncourt, and suffered for it.  He accused, also, Theoris, the\npriestess, amongst other misdemeanors, of having instructed and\ntaught the slaves to deceive and cheat their masters, for which\nthe sentence of death passed upon her, and she was executed.\n\nThe oration which Apollodorus made use of, and by it carried the\ncause against Timotheus, the general, in an action of debt, it\nis said was written for him by Demosthenes; as also those\nagainst Phormion and Stephanus, in which latter case he was\nthought to have acted dishonorably, for the speech which\nPhormion used against Apollodorus was also of his making; he, as\nit were, having simply furnished two adversaries out of the same\nshop with weapons to wound one another.  Of his orations\naddressed to the public assemblies, that against Androtion, and\nthose against Timocrates and Aristocrates, were written for\nothers, before he had come forward himself as a politician.\nThey were composed, it seems, when he was but seven or eight and\ntwenty years old.  That against Aristogiton, and that for the\nImmunities, he spoke himself, at the request, as he says, of\nCtesippus, the son of Chabrias, but, as some say, out of\ncourtship to the young man's mother.  Though, in fact, he did\nnot marry her, for his wife was a woman of Samos, as Demetrius,\nthe Magnesian, writes, in his book on Persons of the same Name.\nIt is not certain whether his oration against Aeschines, for\nMisconduct as Ambassador, was ever spoken; although Idomeneus\nsays that Aeschines wanted only thirty voices to condemn him.\nBut this seems not to be correct, at least so far as may be\nconjectured from both their orations concerning the Crown; for\nin these, neither of them speaks clearly or directly of it, as a\ncause that ever came to trial.  But let others decide this\ncontroversy.\n\nIt was evident, even in time of peace, what course Demosthenes\nwould steer in the commonwealth; for whatever was done by the\nMacedonian, he criticized and found fault with, and upon all\noccasions was stirring up the people of Athens, and inflaming\nthem against him.  Therefore, in the court of Philip, no man was\nso much talked of, or of so great account as he; and when he\ncame thither, one of the ten ambassadors who were sent into\nMacedonia, though all had audience given them, yet his speech\nwas answered with most care and exactness.  But in other\nrespects, Philip entertained him not so honorably as the rest,\nneither did he show him the same kindness and civility with\nwhich he applied himself to the party of Aeschines and\nPhilocrates.  So that, when the others commended Philip for his\nable speaking, his beautiful person, nay, and also for his good\ncompanionship in drinking, Demosthenes could not refrain from\ncaviling at these praises; the first, he said, was a quality\nwhich might well enough become a rhetorician, the second a\nwoman, and the last was only the property of a sponge; no one of\nthem was the proper commendation of a prince.\n\nBut when things came at last to war, Philip on the one side\nbeing not able to live in peace, and the Athenians, on the other\nside, being stirred up by Demosthenes, the first action he put\nthem upon was the reducing of Euboea, which, by the treachery of\nthe tyrants, was brought under subjection to Philip.  And on his\nproposition, the decree was voted, and they crossed over thither\nand chased the Macedonians out of the island.  The next, was the\nrelief of the Byzantines and Perinthians, whom the Macedonians\nat that time were attacking.  He persuaded the people to lay\naside their enmity against these cities, to forget the offenses\ncommitted by them in the Confederate War, and to send them such\nsuccors as eventually saved and secured them.  Not long after,\nhe undertook an embassy through the States of Greece, which he\nsolicited and so far incensed against Philip, that, a few only\nexcepted, he brought them all into a general league.  So that,\nbesides the forces composed of the citizens themselves, there\nwas an army consisting of fifteen thousand foot and two thousand\nhorse, and the money to pay these strangers was levied and\nbrought in with great cheerfulness.  On which occasion it was,\nsays Theophrastus, on the allies requesting that their\ncontributions for the war might be ascertained and stated,\nCrobylus, the orator, made use of the saying, \"War can't be fed\nat so much a day.\"  Now was all Greece up in arms, and in great\nexpectation what would be the event.  The Euboeans, the\nAchaeans, the Corinthians, the Megarians, the Leucadians, and\nCorcyraeans, their people and their cities, were all joined\ntogether in a league.  But the hardest task was yet behind, left\nfor Demosthenes, to draw the Thebans into this confederacy with\nthe rest.  Their country bordered next upon Attica, they had\ngreat forces for the war, and at that time they were accounted\nthe best soldiers of all Greece, but it was no easy matter to\nmake them break with Philip, who, by many good offices, had so\nlately obliged them in the Phocian war; especially considering\nhow the subjects of dispute and variance between the two cities\nwere continually renewed and exasperated by petty quarrels,\narising out of the proximity of their frontiers.\n\nBut after Philip, being now grown high and puffed up with his\ngood success at Amphissa, on a sudden surprised Elatea and\npossessed himself of Phocis, and the Athenians were in a great\nconsternation, none durst venture to rise up to speak, no one\nknew what to say, all were at a loss, and the whole assembly in\nsilence and perplexity, in this extremity of affairs,\nDemosthenes was the only man who appeared, his counsel to them\nbeing alliance with the Thebans.  And having in other ways\nencouraged the people, and, as his manner was, raised their\nspirits up with hopes, he, with some others, was sent ambassador\nto Thebes.  To oppose him, as Marsyas says, Philip also sent\nthither his envoys, Amyntas and Clearellus, two Macedonians,\nbesides Daochus, a Thessalian, and Thrasydaeus.  Now the\nThebans, in their consultations, were well enough aware what\nsuited best with their own interest, but everyone had before\nhis eyes the terrors of war, and their losses in the Phocian\ntroubles were still recent: but such was the force and power of\nthe orator, fanning up, as Theopompus says, their courage, and\nfiring their emulation, that casting away every thought of\nprudence, fear, or obligation, in a sort of divine possession,\nthey chose the path of honor, to which his words invited them.\nAnd this success, thus accomplished by an orator, was thought to\nbe so glorious and of such consequence, that Philip immediately\nsent heralds to treat and petition for a peace: all Greece was\naroused, and up in arms to help.  And the commanders-in-chief,\nnot only of Attica, but of Boeotia, applied themselves to\nDemosthenes, and observed his directions.  He managed all the\nassemblies of the Thebans, no less than those of the Athenians;\nhe was beloved both by the one and by the other, and exercised\nthe same supreme authority with both; and that not by unfair\nmeans, or without just cause, as Theopompus professes, but\nindeed it was no more than was due to his merit.\n\nBut there was, it should seem, some divinely-ordered fortune,\ncommissioned, in the revolution of things, to put a period at\nthis time to the liberty of Greece, which opposed and thwarted\nall their actions, and by many signs foretold what should\nhappen.  Such were the sad predictions uttered by the Pythian\npriestess, and this old oracle cited out of the Sibyl's verses,\n--\n\nThe battle on Thermodon that shall be\nSafe at a distance I desire to see,\nFar, like an eagle, watching in the air.\nConquered shall weep, and conqueror perish there.\n\nThis Thermodon, they say, is a little rivulet here in our\ncountry in Chaeronea, running into the Cephisus.  But we know of\nnone that is so called at the present time; and can only\nconjecture that the streamlet which is now called Haemon, and\nruns by the Temple of Hercules, where the Grecians were\nencamped, might perhaps in those days be called Thermodon, and\nafter the fight, being filled with blood and dead bodies, upon\nthis occasion, as we guess, might change its old name for that\nwhich it now bears.  Yet Duris says that this Thermodon was no\nriver, but that some of the soldiers, as they were pitching\ntheir tents and digging trenches about them, found a small stone\nstatue, which, by the inscription, appeared to be the figure of\nThermodon, carrying a wounded Amazon in his arms; and that there\nwas another oracle current about it, as follows: --\n\nThe battle on Thermodon that shall be,\nFail not, black raven, to attend and see;\nThe flesh of men shall there abound for thee.\n\nIn fine, it is not easy to determine what is the truth.  But of\nDemosthenes it is said, that he had such great confidence in the\nGrecian forces, and was so excited by the sight of the courage\nand resolution of so many brave men ready to engage the enemy,\nthat he would by no means endure they should give any heed to\noracles, or hearken to prophecies, but gave out that he\nsuspected even the prophetess herself, as if she had been\ntampered with to speak in favor of Philip.  The Thebans he put\nin mind of Epaminondas, the Athenians, of Pericles, who always\ntook their own measures and governed their actions by reason,\nlooking upon things of this kind as mere pretexts for cowardice.\nThus far, therefore, Demosthenes acquitted himself like a brave\nman.  But in the fight he did nothing honorable, nor was his\nperformance answerable to his speeches.  For he fled, deserting\nhis place disgracefully, and throwing away his arms, not\nashamed, as Pytheas observed, to belie the inscription written\non his shield, in letters of gold, \"With good fortune.\"\n\nIn the meantime Philip, in the first moment of victory, was so\ntransported with joy, that he grew extravagant, and going out,\nafter he had drunk largely, to visit the dead bodies, he chanted\nthe first words of the decree that had been passed on the motion\nof Demosthenes,\n\nThe motion of Demosthenes, Demosthenes's son,\n\ndividing it metrically into feet, and marking the beats.\n\nBut when he came to himself, and had well considered the danger\nhe was lately under, he could not forbear from shuddering at the\nwonderful ability and power of an orator who had made him hazard\nhis life and empire on the issue of a few brief hours.  The fame\nof it also reached even to the court of Persia, and the king\nsent letters to his lieutenants, commanding them to supply\nDemosthenes with money, and to pay every attention to him, as\nthe only man of all the Grecians who was able to give Philip\noccupation and find employment for his forces near home, in the\ntroubles of Greece.  This afterwards came to the knowledge of\nAlexander, by certain letters of Demosthenes which he found at\nSardis, and by other papers of the Persian officers, stating the\nlarge sums which had been given him.\n\nAt this time, however, upon the ill success which now happened\nto the Grecians, those of the contrary faction in the\ncommonwealth fell foul upon Demosthenes, and took the\nopportunity to frame several informations and indictments\nagainst him.  But the people not only acquitted him of these\naccusations, but continued towards him their former respect, and\nstill invited him, as a man that meant well, to take a part in\npublic affairs.  Insomuch that when the bones of those who had\nbeen slain at Chaeronea were brought home to be solemnly\ninterred, Demosthenes was the man they chose to make the funeral\noration.  They did not show, under the misfortunes which befell\nthem, a base or ignoble mind, as Theopompus writes in his\nexaggerated style, but, on the contrary, by the honor and\nrespect paid to their counselor, they made it appear that they\nwere noway dissatisfied with the counsels he had given them.\nThe speech, therefore, was spoken by Demosthenes.  But the\nsubsequent decrees he would not allow to be passed in his own\nname, but made use of those of his friends, one after another,\nlooking upon his own as unfortunate and inauspicious; till at\nlength he took courage again after the death of Philip, who did\nnot long outlive his victory at Chaeronea.  And this, it seems,\nwas that which was foretold in the last verse of the oracle,\n\nConquered shall weep, and conqueror perish there.\n\nDemosthenes had secret intelligence of the death of Philip, and\nlaying hold of this opportunity to prepossess the people with\ncourage and better hopes for the future, he came into the\nassembly with a cheerful countenance, pretending to have had a\ndream that presaged some great good fortune for Athens; and, not\nlong after, arrived the messengers who brought the news of\nPhilip's death.  No sooner had the people received it but\nimmediately they offered sacrifice to the gods, and decreed that\nPausanias should be presented with a crown.  Demosthenes\nappeared publicly in a rich dress, with a chaplet on his head,\nthough it were but the seventh day since the death of his\ndaughter, as is said by Aeschines, who upbraids him upon this\naccount, and rails at him as one void of natural affection\ntowards his children.  Whereas, indeed, he rather betrays\nhimself to be of a poor, low spirit, and effeminate mind, if he\nreally means to make wailings and lamentation the only signs of\na gentle and affectionate nature, and to condemn those who bear\nsuch accidents with more temper and less passion.  For my own\npart, I cannot say that the behavior of the Athenians on this\noccasion was wise or honorable, to crown themselves with\ngarlands and to sacrifice to the Gods for the death of a Prince\nwho, in the midst of his success and victories, when they were a\nconquered people, had used them with so much clemency and\nhumanity.  For besides provoking fortune, it was a base thing,\nand unworthy in itself, to make him a citizen of Athens, and pay\nhim honors while he lived, and yet as soon as he fell by\nanother's hand, to set no bounds to their jollity, to insult\nover him dead, and to sing triumphant songs of victory, as if by\ntheir own valor they had vanquished him.  I must at the same\ntime commend the behavior of Demosthenes, who, leaving tears and\nlamentations and domestic sorrows to the women, made it his\nbusiness to attend to the interests of the commonwealth.  And I\nthink it the duty of him who would be accounted to have a soul\ntruly valiant, and fit for government, that, standing always\nfirm to the common good, and letting private griefs and troubles\nfind their compensation in public blessings, he should maintain\nthe dignity of his character and station, much more than actors\nwho represent the persons of kings and tyrants, who, we see,\nwhen they either laugh or weep on the stage, follow, not their\nown private inclinations, but the course consistent with the\nsubject and with their position.  And if, moreover, when our\nneighbor is in misfortune, it is not our duty to forbear\noffering any consolation, but rather to say whatever may tend to\ncheer him, and to invite his attention to any agreeable objects,\njust as we tell people who are troubled with sore eyes, to\nwithdraw their sight from bright and offensive colors to green,\nand those of a softer mixture, from whence can a man seek, in\nhis own case, better arguments of consolation for afflictions in\nhis family, than from the prosperity of his country, by making\npublic and domestic chances count, so to say, together, and the\nbetter fortune of the state obscure and conceal the less happy\ncircumstances of the individual.  I have been induced to say so\nmuch, because I have known many readers melted by Aeschines's\nlanguage into a soft and unmanly tenderness.\n\nBut now to return to my narrative.  The cities of Greece were\ninspirited once more by the efforts of Demosthenes to form a\nleague together.  The Thebans, whom he had provided with arms,\nset upon their garrison, and slew many of them; the Athenians\nmade preparations to join their forces with them; Demosthenes\nruled supreme in the popular assembly, and wrote letters to the\nPersian officers who commanded under the king in Asia, inciting\nthem to make war upon the Macedonian, calling him child and\nsimpleton. But as soon as Alexander had settled matters in his\nown country, and came in person with his army into Boeotia, down\nfell the courage of the Athenians, and Demosthenes was hushed;\nthe Thebans, deserted by them, fought by themselves, and lost\ntheir city.  After which, the people of Athens, all in distress\nand great perplexity, resolved to send ambassadors to Alexander,\nand amongst others, made choice of Demosthenes for one; but his\nheart failing him for fear of the king's anger, he returned back\nfrom Cithaeron, and left the embassy.  In the meantime,\nAlexander sent to Athens, requiring ten of their orators to be\ndelivered up to him, as Idomeneus and Duris have reported, but\nas the most and best historians say, he demanded these eight\nonly: Demosthenes, Polyeuctus, Ephialtes, Lycurgus, Moerocles,\nDemon, Callisthenes, and Charidemus.  It was upon this occasion\nthat Demosthenes related to them the fable in which the sheep\nare said to deliver up their dogs to the wolves; himself and\nthose who with him contended for the people's safety, being, in\nhis comparison, the dogs that defended the flock, and Alexander\n\"the Macedonian arch wolf.\"  He further told them, \"As we see\ncorn-masters sell their whole stock by a few grains of wheat\nwhich they carry about with them in a dish, as a sample of the\nrest, so you, by delivering up us, who are but a few, do at the\nsame time unawares surrender up yourselves all together with\nus;\" so we find it related in the history of Aristobulus, the\nCassandrian.  The Athenians were deliberating, and at a loss\nwhat to do, when Demades, having agreed with the persons whom\nAlexander had demanded, for five talents, undertook to go\nambassador, and to intercede with the king for them; and,\nwhether it was that he relied on his friendship and kindness, or\nthat he hoped to find him satiated, as a lion glutted with\nslaughter, he certainly went, and prevailed with him both to\npardon the men, and to be reconciled to the city.\n\nSo he and his friends, when Alexander went away, were great men,\nand Demosthenes was quite put aside.  Yet when Agis, the\nSpartan, made his insurrection, he also for a short time\nattempted a movement in his favor; but he soon shrunk back\nagain, as the Athenians would not take any part in it, and, Agis\nbeing slain, the Lacedaemonians were vanquished.  During this\ntime it was that the indictment against Ctesiphon, concerning\nthe Crown, was brought to trial.  The action was commenced a\nlittle before the battle in Chaeronea, when Chaerondas was\narchon, but it was not proceeded with till about ten years\nafter, Aristophon being then archon.  Never was any public cause\nmore celebrated than this, alike for the fame of the orators,\nand for the generous courage of the judges, who, though at that\ntime the accusers of Demosthenes were in the height of power,\nand supported by all the favor of the Macedonians, yet would not\ngive judgment against him, but acquitted him so honorably, that\nAeschines did not obtain the fifth part of their suffrages on\nhis side, so that, immediately after, he left the city, and\nspent the rest of his life in teaching rhetoric about the island\nof Rhodes, and upon the continent in Ionia.\n\nIt was not long after that Harpalus fled from Alexander, and\ncame to Athens out of Asia; knowing himself guilty of many\nmisdeeds into which his love of luxury had led him, and fearing\nthe king, who was now grown terrible even to his best friends.\nYet this man had no sooner addressed himself to the people, and\ndelivered up his goods, his ships, and himself to their\ndisposal, but the other orators of the town had their eyes\nquickly fixed upon his money, and came in to his assistance,\npersuading the Athenians to receive and protect their suppliant.\nDemosthenes at first gave advice to chase him out of the\ncountry, and to beware lest they involved their city in a war\nupon an unnecessary and unjust occasion.  But some few days\nafter, as they were taking an account of the treasure, Harpalus,\nperceiving how much he was pleased with a cup of Persian\nmanufacture, and how curiously he surveyed the sculpture and\nfashion of it, desired him to poise it in his hand, and consider\nthe weight of the gold.  Demosthenes, being amazed to feel how\nheavy it was, asked him what weight it came to.  \"To you,\" said\nHarpalus, smiling, \"it shall come with twenty talents.\"  And\npresently after, when night drew on, he sent him the cup with so\nmany talents.  Harpalus, it seems, was a person of singular\nskill to discern a man's covetousness by the air of his\ncountenance, and the look and movements of his eyes.  For\nDemosthenes could not resist the temptation, but admitting the\npresent, like an armed garrison, into the citadel of his house,\nhe surrendered himself up to the interest of Harpalus.  The next\nday, he came into the assembly with his neck swathed about with\nwool and rollers, and when they called on him to rise up and\nspeak, he made signs as if he had lost his voice.  But the wits,\nturning the matter to ridicule, said that certainly the orator\nhad been seized that night with no other than a silver quinsy.\nAnd soon after, the people, becoming aware of the bribery, grew\nangry, and would not suffer him to speak, or make any apology\nfor himself, but ran him down with noise; and one man stood up,\nand cried out, \"What, ye men of Athens, will you not hear the\ncup-bearer?\"  So at length they banished Harpalus out of the\ncity; and fearing lest they should be called to account for the\ntreasure which the orators had purloined, they made a strict\ninquiry, going from house to house; only Callicles, the son of\nArrhenidas, who was newly married, they would not suffer to be\nsearched, out of respect, as Theopompus writes, to the bride,\nwho was within.\n\nDemosthenes resisted the inquisition, and proposed a decree to\nrefer the business to the court of Areopagus, and to punish\nthose whom that court should find guilty.  But being himself one\nof the first whom the court condemned, when he came to the bar,\nhe was fined fifty talents, and committed to prison; where, out\nof shame of the crime for which he was condemned, and through\nthe weakness of his body, growing incapable of supporting the\nconfinement, he made his escape, by the carelessness of some and\nby the connivance of others of the citizens.  We are told, at\nleast, that he had not fled far from the city, when, finding\nthat he was pursued by some of those who had been his\nadversaries, he endeavored to hide himself.  But when they\ncalled him by his name, and coming up nearer to him, desired he\nwould accept from them some money which they had brought from\nhome as a provision for his journey, and to that purpose only\nhad followed him, when they entreated him to take courage, and\nto bear up against his misfortune, he burst out into much\ngreater lamentation, saying, \"But how is it possible to support\nmyself under so heavy an affliction, since I leave a city in\nwhich I have such enemies, as in any other it is not easy to\nfind friends.\"  He did not show much fortitude in his\nbanishment, spending his time for the most part in Aegina and\nTroezen, and, with tears in his eyes, looking towards the\ncountry of Attica.  And there remain upon record some sayings of\nhis, little resembling those sentiments of generosity and\nbravery which he used to express when he had the management of\nthe commonwealth.  For, as he was departing out of the city, it\nis reported, he lifted up his hands towards the Acropolis, and\nsaid, \"O Lady Minerva, how is it that thou takest delight in\nthree such fierce untractable beast, the owl, the snake, and the\npeople?\"  The young men that came to visit and converse with\nhim, he deterred from meddling with state affairs, telling them,\nthat if at first two ways had been proposed to him, the one\nleading to the speaker's stand and the assembly, the other going\ndirect to destruction, and he could have foreseen the many evils\nwhich attend those who deal in public business, such as fears,\nenvies, calumnies, and contentions, he would certainly have\ntaken that which led straight on to his death.\n\nBut now happened the death of Alexander, while Demosthenes was\nin this banishment which we have been speaking of.  And the\nGrecians were once again up in arms, encouraged by the brave\nattempts of Leosthenes, who was then drawing a circumvallation\nabout Antipater, whom he held close besieged in Lamia.  Pytheas,\ntherefore, the orator, and Callimedon, called the Crab, fled\nfrom Athens, and taking sides with Antipater, went about with\nhis friends and ambassadors to keep the Grecians from revolting\nand taking part with the Athenians.  But, on the other side,\nDemosthenes, associating himself with the ambassadors that came\nfrom Athens, used his utmost endeavors and gave them his best\nassistance in persuading the cities to fall unanimously upon the\nMacedonians, and to drive them out of Greece.  Phylarchus says\nthat in Arcadia there happened a rencounter between Pytheas and\nDemosthenes, which came at last to downright railing, while the\none pleaded for the Macedonians, and the other for the Grecians.\nPytheas said, that as we always suppose there is some disease in\nthe family to which they bring asses' milk, so wherever there\ncomes an embassy from Athens, that city must needs be\nindisposed.  And Demosthenes answered him, retorting the\ncomparison: \"Asses' milk is brought to restore health, and the\nAthenians come for the safety and recovery of the sick.\"  With\nthis conduct the people of Athens were so well pleased, that\nthey decreed the recall of Demosthenes from banishment.  The\ndecree was brought in by Demon the Paeanian, cousin to\nDemosthenes.  So they sent him a ship to Aegina, and he landed at\nthe port of Piraeus, where he was met and joyfully received by\nall the citizens, not so much as an Archon or a priest staying\nbehind.  And Demetrius, the Magnesian, says, that he lifted up\nhis hands towards heaven, and blessed this day of his happy\nreturn, as far more honorable than that of Alcibiades; since he\nwas recalled by his countrymen, not through any force or\nconstraint put upon them, but by their own good-will and free\ninclinations.  There remained only his pecuniary fine, which,\naccording to law, could not be remitted by the people.  But they\nfound out a way to elude the law.  It was a custom with them to\nallow a certain quantity of silver to those who were to furnish\nand adorn the altar for the sacrifice of Jupiter Soter.  This\noffice, for that turn, they bestowed on Demosthenes, and for the\nperformance of it ordered him fifty talents, the very sum in\nwhich he was condemned.\n\nYet it was no long time that he enjoyed his country after his\nreturn, the attempts of the Greeks being soon all utterly\ndefeated.  For the battle at Cranon happened in Metagitnion, in\nBoedromion the garrison entered into Munychia, and in the\nPyanepsion following died Demosthenes after this manner.\n\nUpon the report that Antipater and Craterus were coming to\nAthens, Demosthenes with his party took their opportunity to\nescape privily out of the city; but sentence of death was, upon\nthe motion of Demades, passed upon them by the people.  They\ndispersed themselves, flying some to one place, some to another;\nand Antipater sent about his soldiers into all quarters to\napprehend them.  Archias was their captain, and was thence\ncalled the exile-hunter.  He was a Thurian born, and is reported\nto have been an actor of tragedies, and they say that Polus, of\nAegina, the best actor of his time, was his scholar; but\nHermippus reckons Archias among the disciples of Lacritus, the\norator, and Demetrius says, he spent some time with Anaximenes.\nThis Archias finding Hyperides the orator, Aristonicus of\nMarathon, and Himeraeus, the brother of Demetrius the Phalerian,\nin Aegina, took them by force out of the temple of Aeacus,\nwhither they were fled for safety, and sent them to Antipater,\nthen at Cleonae, where they were all put to death; and\nHyperides, they say, had his tongue cut out.\n\nDemosthenes, he heard, had taken sanctuary at the temple of\nNeptune in Calauria, and, crossing over thither in some light\nvessels, as soon as he had landed himself, and the Thracian\nspear-men that came with him, he endeavored to persuade\nDemosthenes to accompany him to Antipater, as if he should meet\nwith no hard usage from him.  But Demosthenes, in his sleep the\nnight before, had a strange dream.  It seemed to him that he was\nacting a tragedy, and contended with Archias for the victory;\nand though he acquitted himself well, and gave good satisfaction\nto the spectators, yet for want of better furniture and\nprovision for the stage, he lost the day.  And so, while Archias\nwas discoursing to him with many expressions of kindness, he\nsat still in the same posture, and looking up steadfastly upon\nhim, \"O Archias,\" said he, \"I am as little affected by your\npromises now as I used formerly to be by your acting.\"  Archias\nat this beginning to grow angry and to threaten him, \"Now,\" said\nDemosthenes, \"you speak like the genuine Macedonian oracle;\nbefore you were but acting a part.  Therefore forbear only a\nlittle, while I write a word or two home to my family.\"  Having\nthus spoken, he withdrew into the temple, and taking a scroll,\nas if he meant to write, he put the reed into his mouth, and\nbiting it, as he was wont to do when he was thoughtful or\nwriting, he held it there for some time.  Then he bowed down his\nhead and covered it.  The soldiers that stood at the door,\nsupposing all this to proceed from want of courage and fear of\ndeath, in derision called him effeminate, and faint-hearted, and\ncoward.  And Archias, drawing near, desired him to rise up, and\nrepeating the same kind things he had spoken before, he once\nmore promised him to make his peace with Antipater.  But\nDemosthenes, perceiving that now the poison had pierced and\nseized his vitals, uncovered his head, and fixing his eyes upon\nArchias, \"Now,\" said he, \"as soon as you please you may commence\nthe part of Creon in the tragedy, and cast out this body of mine\nunburied.  But, O gracious Neptune, I, for my part, while I am\nyet alive, arise up and depart out of this sacred place; though\nAntipater and the Macedonians have not left so much as thy\ntemple unpolluted.\"  After he had thus spoken and desired to be\nheld up, because already he began to tremble and stagger, as he\nwas going forward, and passing by the altar, he fell down, and\nwith a groan gave up the ghost.\n\nAriston says that he took the poison out of a reed, as we have\nshown before.  But Pappus, a certain historian whose history was\nrecovered by Hermippus, says, that as he fell near the altar,\nthere was found in his scroll this beginning only of a letter,\nand nothing more, \"Demosthenes to Antipater.\"  And that when his\nsudden death was much wondered at, the Thracians who guarded the\ndoors reported that he took the poison into his hand out of a\nrag, and put it in his mouth, and that they imagined it had been\ngold which he swallowed; but the maid that served him, being\nexamined by the followers of Archias, affirmed that he had worn\nit in a bracelet for a long time, as an amulet.  And\nEratosthenes also says that he kept the poison in a hollow ring,\nand that that ring was the bracelet which he wore about his arm.\nThere are various other statements made by the many authors who\nhave related the story, but there is no need to enter into their\ndiscrepancies; yet I must not omit what is said by Demochares,\nthe relation of Demosthenes, who is of opinion, it was not by\nthe help of poison that he met with so sudden and so easy a\ndeath, but that by the singular favor and providence of the gods\nhe was thus rescued from the cruelty of the Macedonians.  He died\non the sixteenth of Pyanepsion, the most sad and solemn day of\nthe Thesmophoria, which the women observe by fasting in the\ntemple of the goddess.\n\nSoon after his death, the people of Athens bestowed on him such\nhonors as he had deserved.  They erected his statue of brass;\nthey decreed that the eldest of his family should be maintained\nin the Prytaneum; and on the base of his statue was engraven the\nfamous inscription, --\n\nHad you for Greece been strong, as wise you were,\nThe Macedonian had not conquered her.\n\nFor it is simply ridiculous to say, as some have related, that\nDemosthenes made these verses himself in Calauria, as he was\nabout to take the poison.\n\nA little before we went to Athens, the following incident was\nsaid to have happened.  A soldier, being summoned to appear\nbefore his superior officer, and answer to an accusation brought\nagainst him, put that little gold which he had into the hands of\nDemosthenes's statue.  The fingers of this statue were folded\none within another, and near it grew a small plane-tree, from\nwhich many leaves, either accidentally blown thither by the\nwind, or placed so on purpose by the man himself falling\ntogether, and lying round about the gold, concealed it for a\nlong time.  In the end, the soldier returned, and found his\ntreasure entire, and the fame of this incident was spread\nabroad.  And many ingenious persons of the city competed with\neach other, on this occasion, to vindicate the integrity of\nDemosthenes, in several epigrams which they made on the subject.\n\nAs for Demades, he did not long enjoy the new honors he now came\nin for, divine vengeance for the death of Demosthenes pursuing\nhim into Macedonia, where he was justly put to death by those\nwhom he had basely flattered.  They were weary of him before,\nbut at this time the guilt he lay under was manifest and\nundeniable.  For some of his letters were intercepted, in which\nhe had encouraged Perdiccas to fall upon Macedonia, and to save\nthe Grecians, who, he said, hung only by an old rotten thread,\nmeaning Antipater.  Of this he was accused by Dinarchus, the\nCorinthian, and Cassander was so enraged, that he first slew his\nson in his bosom, and then gave orders to execute him; who\nmight-now at last, by his own extreme misfortunes, learn the\nlesson, that traitors, who make sale of their country, sell\nthemselves first; a truth which Demosthenes had often foretold\nhim, and he would never believe.  Thus, Sosius, you have the\nlife of Demosthenes, from such accounts as we have either read\nor heard concerning him.\n\n\n\nCICERO\n\nIt is generally said, that Helvia, the mother of Cicero, was\nboth well born and lived a fair life; but of his father nothing\nis reported but in extremes.  For whilst some would have him the\nson of a fuller, and educated in that trade, others carry back\nthe origin of his family to Tullus Attius, an illustrious king\nof the Volscians, who waged war not without honor against the\nRomans.  However, he who first of that house was surnamed Cicero\nseems to have been a person worthy to be remembered; since those\nwho succeeded him not only did not reject, but were fond of that\nname, though vulgarly made a matter of reproach.  For the Latins\ncall a vetch Cicer, and a nick or dent at the tip of his nose,\nwhich resembled the opening in a vetch, gave him the surname of\nCicero.\n\nCicero, whose story I am writing, is said to have replied with\nspirit to some of his friends, who recommended him to lay aside\nor change the name when he first stood for office and engaged in\npolitics, that he would make it his endeavor to render the name\nof Cicero more glorious than that of the Scauri and Catuli.  And\nwhen he was quaestor in Sicily, and was making an offering of\nsilver plate to the gods, and had inscribed his two names,\nMarcus and Tullius, instead of the third he jestingly told the\nartificer to engrave the figure of a vetch by them.  Thus much\nis told us about his name.\n\nOf his birth it is reported, that his mother was delivered\nwithout pain or labor, on the third of the new Calends, the\nsame day on which now the magistrates of Rome pray and sacrifice\nfor the emperor.  It is said, also, that a vision appeared to\nhis nurse, and foretold the child she then suckled should\nafterwards become a great benefit to the Roman States.  To such\npresages, which might in general be thought mere fancies and\nidle talk, he himself erelong gave the credit of true\nprophecies.  For as soon as he was of an age to begin to have\nlessons, he became so distinguished for his talent, and got such\na name and reputation amongst the boys, that their fathers would\noften visit the school, that they might see young Cicero, and\nmight be able to say that they themselves had witnessed the\nquickness and readiness in learning for which he was renowned.\nAnd the more rude among them used to be angry with their\nchildren, to see them, as they walked together, receiving Cicero\nwith respect into the middle place.  And being, as Plato would\nhave, the scholar-like and philosophical temper, eager for every\nkind of learning, and indisposed to no description of knowledge\nor instruction, he showed, however, a more peculiar propensity\nto poetry; and there is a poem now extant, made by him when a\nboy, in tetrameter verse, called Pontius Glaucus.  And\nafterwards, when he applied himself more curiously to these\naccomplishments, he had the name of being not only the best\norator, but also the best poet of Rome.  And the glory of his\nrhetoric still remains, notwithstanding the many new modes in\nspeaking since his time; but his verses are forgotten and out of\nall repute, so many ingenious poets having followed him.\n\nLeaving his juvenile studies, he became an auditor of Philo the\nAcademic, whom the Romans, above all the other scholars of\nClitomachus, admired for his eloquence and loved for his\ncharacter.  He also sought the company of the Mucii, who were\neminent statesmen and leaders in the senate, and acquired from\nthem a knowledge of the laws.  For some short time he served in\narms under Sylla, in the Marsian war.  But perceiving the\ncommonwealth running into factions, and from faction all things\ntending to an absolute monarchy, he betook himself to a retired\nand contemplative life, and conversing with the learned Greeks,\ndevoted himself to study, till Sylla had obtained the\ngovernment, and the commonwealth was in some kind of settlement.\n\nAt this time, Chrysogonus, Sylla's emancipated slave, having\nlaid an information about an estate belonging to one who was\nsaid to have been put to death by proscription, had bought it\nhimself for two thousand drachmas.  And when Roscius, the son\nand heir of the dead, complained, and demonstrated the estate to\nbe worth two hundred and fifty talents, Sylla took it angrily to\nhave his actions questioned, and preferred a process against\nRoscius for the murder of his father, Chrysogonus managing the\nevidence.  None of the advocates durst assist him, but fearing\nthe cruelty of Sylla, avoided the cause.  The young man, being\nthus deserted, came for refuge to Cicero.  Cicero's friends\nencouraged him, saying he was not likely ever to have a fairer\nand more honorable introduction to public life; he therefore\nundertook the defense, carried the cause, and got much renown\nfor it.\n\nBut fearing Sylla, he traveled into Greece, and gave it out that\nhe did so for the benefit of his health.  And indeed he was lean\nand meager, and had such a weakness in his stomach, that he\ncould take nothing but a spare and thin diet, and that not till\nlate in the evening.  His voice was loud and good, but so harsh\nand unmanaged that in vehemence and heat of speaking he always\nraised it to so high a tone, that there seemed to be reason to\nfear about his health.\n\nWhen he came to Athens, he was a hearer of Antiochus of Ascalon,\nwith whose fluency and elegance of diction he was much taken,\nalthough he did not approve of his innovations in doctrine.  For\nAntiochus had now fallen off from the New Academy, as they call\nit, and forsaken the sect of Carneades, whether that he was\nmoved by the argument of manifestness and the senses, or, as\nsome say, had been led by feelings of rivalry and opposition to\nthe followers of Clitomachus and Philo to change his opinions,\nand in most things to embrace the doctrine of the Stoics.  But\nCicero rather affected and adhered to the doctrines of the New\nAcademy; and purposed with himself, if he should be disappointed\nof any employment in the commonwealth, to retire hither from\npleading and political affairs, and to pass his life with quiet\nin the study of philosophy.\n\nBut after he had received the news of Sylla's death, and his\nbody, strengthened again by exercise, was come to a vigorous\nhabit, his voice managed and rendered sweet and full to the ear\nand pretty well brought into keeping with his general\nconstitution, his friends at Rome earnestly soliciting him by\nletters, and Antiochus also urging him to return to public\naffairs, he again prepared for use his orator's instrument of\nrhetoric, and summoned into action his political faculties,\ndiligently exercising himself in declamations, and attending the\nmost celebrated rhetoricians of the time.  He sailed from Athens\nfor Asia and Rhodes.  Amongst the Asian masters, he conversed\nwith Xenocles of Adramyttium, Dionysius of Magnesia, and\nMenippus of Caria; at Rhodes, he studied oratory with\nApollonius, the son of Molon, and philosophy with Posidonius.\nApollonius, we are told, not understanding Latin, requested\nCicero to declaim in Greek.  He complied willingly, thinking\nthat his faults would thus be better pointed out to him.  And\nafter he finished, all his other hearers were astonished, and\ncontended who should praise him most, but Apollonius, who had\nshown no signs of excitement whilst he was hearing him, so also\nnow, when it was over, sat musing for some considerable time,\nwithout any remark.  And when Cicero was discomposed at this, he\nsaid, \"You have my praise and admiration, Cicero, and Greece my\npity and commiseration, since those arts and that eloquence\nwhich are the only glories that remain to her, will now be\ntransferred by you to Rome.\"\n\nAnd now when Cicero, full of expectation, was again bent upon\npolitical affairs, a certain oracle blunted the edge of his\ninclination; for consulting the god of Delphi how he should\nattain most glory, the Pythoness answered, by making his own\ngenius and not the opinion of the people the guide of his life;\nand therefore at first he passed his time in Rome cautiously,\nand was very backward in pretending to public offices, so that\nhe was at that time in little esteem, and had got the names, so\nreadily given by low and ignorant people in Rome, of Greek and\nScholar.  But when his own desire of fame and the eagerness of\nhis father and relations had made him take in earnest to\npleading, he made no slow or gentle advance to the first place,\nbut shone out in full luster at once, and far surpassed all the\nadvocates of the bar.  At first, it is said, he, as well as\nDemosthenes, was defective in his delivery, and on that account\npaid much attention to the instructions, sometimes of Roscius\nthe comedian, and sometimes of Aesop the tragedian.  They tell\nof this Aesop, that whilst he was representing on the theater\nAtreus deliberating the revenge of Thyestes, he was so\ntransported beyond himself in the heat of action, that he struck\nwith his scepter one of the servants, who was running across the\nstage, so violently, that he laid him dead upon the place.  And\nsuch afterwards was Cicero's delivery, that it did not a little\ncontribute to render his eloquence persuasive.  He used to\nridicule loud speakers, saying that they shouted because they\ncould not speak, like lame men who get on horseback because they\ncannot walk.  And his readiness and address in sarcasm, and\ngenerally in witty sayings, was thought to suit a pleader very\nwell, and to be highly attractive, but his using it to excess\noffended many, and gave him the repute of ill nature.\n\nHe was appointed quaestor in a great scarcity of corn, and had\nSicily for his province, where, though at first he displeased\nmany, by compelling them to send in their provisions to Rome,\nyet after they had had experience of his care, justice, and\nclemency, they honored him more than ever they did any of their\ngovernors before.  It happened, also, that some young Romans of\ngood and noble families, charged with neglect of discipline and\nmisconduct in military service, were brought before the praetor\nin Sicily.  Cicero undertook their defense, which he conducted\nadmirably, and got them acquitted.  So returning to Rome with a\ngreat opinion of himself for these things, a ludicrous incident\nbefell him, as he tells us himself.  Meeting an eminent citizen\nin Campania, whom he accounted his friend, he asked him what the\nRomans said and thought of his actions, as if the whole city had\nbeen filled with the glory of what he had done.  His friend\nasked him in reply, \"Where is it you have been, Cicero?\"  This\nfor the time utterly mortified and cast him down, to perceive\nthat the report of his actions had sunk into the city of Rome as\ninto an immense ocean, without any visible effect or result in\nreputation.  And afterwards considering with himself that the\nglory he contended for was an infinite thing, and that there was\nno fixed end nor measure in its pursuit, he abated much of his\nambitious thoughts.  Nevertheless, he was always excessively\npleased with his own praise, and continued to the very last to\nbe passionately fond of glory; which often interfered with the\nprosecution of his wisest resolutions.\n\nOn beginning to apply himself more resolutely to public\nbusiness, he remarked it as an unreasonable and absurd thing\nthat artificers, using vessels and instruments inanimate, should\nknow the name, place, and use of every one of them, and yet the\nstatesman, whose instruments for carrying out public measures\nare men, should be negligent and careless in the knowledge of\npersons.  And so he not only acquainted himself with the names,\nbut also knew the particular place where every one of the more\neminent citizens dwelt, what lands he possessed, the friends he\nmade use of, and those that were of his neighborhood, and when\nhe traveled on any road in Italy, he could readily name and show\nthe estates and seats of his friends and acquaintance.  Having\nso small an estate, though a sufficient competency for his own\nexpenses, it was much wondered at that he took neither fees nor\ngifts from his clients, and more especially, that he did not do\nso when he undertook the prosecution of Verres.  This Verres,\nwho had been praetor of Sicily, and stood charged by the\nSicilians of many evil practices during his government there,\nCicero succeeded in getting condemned, not by speaking, but in a\nmanner by holding his tongue.  For the praetors, favoring\nVerres, had deferred the trial by several adjournments to the\nlast day, in which it was evident there could not be sufficient\ntime for the advocates to be heard, and the cause brought to an\nissue.  Cicero, therefore, came forward, and said there was no\nneed of speeches; and after producing and examining witnesses,\nhe required the judges to proceed to sentence.  However, many\nwitty sayings are on record, as having been used by Cicero on\nthe occasion.  When a man named Caecilius, one of the freed\nslaves, who was said to be given to Jewish practices, would have\nput by the Sicilians, and undertaken the prosecution of Verres\nhimself, Cicero asked, \"What has a Jew to do with swine?\"\nverres being the Roman word for a boar.  And when Verres began\nto reproach Cicero with effeminate living, \"You ought,\" replied\nhe, \"to use this language at home, to your sons;\" Verres having\na son who had fallen into disgraceful courses.  Hortensius the\norator, not daring directly to undertake the defense of Verres,\nwas yet persuaded to appear for him at the laying on of the\nfine, and received an ivory sphinx for his reward; and when\nCicero, in some passage of his speech, obliquely reflected on\nhim, and Hortensius told him he was not skillful in solving\nriddles, \"No,\" said Cicero, \"and yet you have the Sphinx in your\nhouse!\"\n\nVerres was thus convicted; though Cicero, who set the fine at\nseventy-five myriads, lay under the suspicion of being\ncorrupted by bribery to lessen the sum.  But the Sicilians, in\ntestimony of their gratitude, came and brought him all sorts of\npresents from the island, when he was aedile; of which he made\nno private profit himself, but used their generosity only to\nreduce the public price of provisions.\n\nHe had a very pleasant seat at Arpi, he had also a farm near\nNaples, and another about Pompeii, but neither of any great\nvalue.  The portion of his wife, Terentia, amounted to ten\nmyriads, and he had a bequest valued at nine myriads of denarii;\nupon these he lived in a liberal but temperate style, with the\nlearned Greeks and Romans that were his familiars.  He rarely,\nif at any time, sat down to meat till sunset, and that not so\nmuch on account of business, as for his health and the weakness\nof his stomach.  He was otherwise in the care of his body nice\nand delicate, appointing himself, for example, a set number of\nwalks and rubbings.  And after this manner managing the habit\nof his body, he brought it in time to be healthful, and capable\nof supporting many great fatigues and trials.  His father's\nhouse he made over to his brother, living himself near the\nPalatine hill, that he might not give the trouble of long\njourneys to those that made suit to him.  And, indeed, there\nwere not fewer daily appearing at his door, to do their court to\nhim, than there were that came to Crassus for his riches, or to\nPompey for his power amongst the soldiers, these being at that\ntime the two men of the greatest repute and influence in Rome.\nNay, even Pompey himself used to pay court to Cicero, and\nCicero's public actions did much to establish Pompey's authority\nand reputation in the state.\n\nNumerous distinguished competitors stood with him for the\npraetor's office; but he was chosen before them all, and managed\nthe decision of causes with justice and integrity.  It is\nrelated that Licinius Macer, a man himself of great power in the\ncity, and supported also by the assistance of Crassus, was\naccused before him of extortion, and that, in confidence on his\nown interest and the diligence of his friends, whilst the judges\nwere debating about the sentence, he went to his house, where\nhastily trimming his hair and putting on a clean gown, as\nalready acquitted, he was setting off again to go to the Forum;\nbut at his hall door meeting Crassus, who told him that he was\ncondemned by all the votes, he went in again, threw himself upon\nhis bed, and died immediately.  This verdict was considered very\ncreditable to Cicero, as showing his careful management of the\ncourts of justice.  On another occasion, Vatinius, a man of rude\nmanners and often insolent in court to the magistrates, who had\nlarge swellings on his neck, came before his tribunal and made\nsome request, and on Cicero's desiring further time to consider\nit, told him that he himself would have made no question about\nit, had he been praetor.  Cicero, turning quickly upon him,\nanswered, \"But I, you see, have not the neck that you have.\"\n\nWhen there were but two or three days remaining in his office,\nManilius was brought before him, and charged with peculation.\nManilius had the good opinion and favor of the common people,\nand was thought to be prosecuted only for Pompey's sake, whose\nparticular friend he was.  And therefore, when he asked a space\nof time before his trial, and Cicero allowed him but one day,\nand that the next only, the common people grew highly offended,\nbecause it had been the custom of the praetors to allow ten days\nat least to the accused: and the tribunes of the people having\ncalled him before the people, and accused him, he, desiring to\nbe heard, said, that as he had always treated the accused with\nequity and humanity, as far as the law allowed, so he thought it\nhard to deny the same to Manilius, and that he had studiously\nappointed that day of which alone, as praetor, he was master,\nand that it was not the part of those that were desirous to help\nhim, to cast the judgment of his cause upon another praetor.\nThese things being said made a wonderful change in the people,\nand, commending him much for it, they desired that he himself\nwould undertake the defense of Manilius; which he willingly\nconsented to, and that principally for the sake of Pompey, who\nwas absent.  And, accordingly, taking his place before the\npeople again, he delivered a bold invective upon the\noligarchical party and on those who were jealous of Pompey.\n\nYet he was preferred to the consulship no less by the nobles\nthan the common people, for the good of the city; and both\nparties jointly assisted his promotion, upon the following\nreasons.  The change of government made by Sylla, which at first\nseemed a senseless one, by time and usage had now come to be\nconsidered by the people no unsatisfactory settlement.  But\nthere were some that endeavored to alter and subvert the whole\npresent state of affairs not from any good motives, but for\ntheir own private gain; and Pompey being at this time employed\nin the wars with the kings of Pontus and Armenia, there was no\nsufficient force at Rome to suppress any attempts at a\nrevolution.  These people had for their head a man of bold,\ndaring, and restless character, Lucius Catiline, who was\naccused, besides other great offenses, of deflowering his virgin\ndaughter, and killing his own brother; for which latter crime,\nfearing to be prosecuted at law, he persuaded Sylla to set him\ndown, as though he were yet alive, amongst those that were to be\nput to death by proscription.  This man the profligate citizens\nchoosing for their captain, gave faith to one another, amongst\nother pledges, by sacrificing a man and eating of his flesh; and\na great part of the young men of the city were corrupted by him,\nhe providing for everyone pleasures, drink, and women, and\nprofusely supplying the expense of these debauches.  Etruria,\nmoreover, had all been excited to revolt, as well as a great\npart of Gaul within the Alps.  But Rome itself was in the most\ndangerous inclination to change, on account of the unequal\ndistribution of wealth and property, those of highest rank and\ngreatest spirit having impoverished themselves by shows,\nentertainments, ambition of offices, and sumptuous buildings,\nand the riches of the city having thus fallen into the hands of\nmean and low-born persons.  So that there wanted but a slight\nimpetus to set all in motion, it being in the power of every\ndaring man to overturn a sickly commonwealth.\n\nCatiline, however, being desirous of procuring a strong position\nto carry out his designs, stood for the consulship, and had\ngreat hopes of success, thinking he should be appointed, with\nCaius Antonius as his colleague, who was a man fit to lead\nneither in a good cause nor in a bad one, but might be a\nvaluable accession to another's power.  These things the\ngreatest part of the good and honest citizens apprehending, put\nCicero upon standing for the consulship; whom the people readily\nreceiving, Catiline was put by, so that he and Caius Antonius\nwere chosen, although amongst the competitors he was the only\nman descended from a father of the equestrian, and not of the\nsenatorial order.\n\nThough the designs of Catiline were not yet publicly known, yet\nconsiderable preliminary troubles immediately followed upon\nCicero's entrance upon the consulship.  For, on the one side,\nthose who were disqualified by the laws of Sylla from holding\nany public offices, being neither inconsiderable in power nor in\nnumber, came forward as candidates and caressed the people for\nthem; speaking many things truly and justly against the tyranny\nof Sylla, only that they disturbed the government at an improper\nand unseasonable time; on the other hand, the tribunes of the\npeople proposed laws to the same purpose, constituting a\ncommission of ten persons, with unlimited powers, in whom as\nsupreme governors should be vested the right of selling the\npublic lands of all Italy and Syria and Pompey's new conquests,\nof judging and banishing whom they pleased, of planting\ncolonies, of taking moneys out of the treasury, and of levying\nand paying what soldiers should be thought needful.  And several\nof the nobility favored this law, but especially Caius Antonius,\nCicero's colleague, in hopes of being one of the ten.  But what\ngave the greatest fear to the nobles was, that he was thought\nprivy to the conspiracy of Catiline, and not to dislike it,\nbecause of his great debts.\n\nCicero, endeavoring in the first place to provide a remedy\nagainst this danger, procured a decree assigning to him the\nprovince of Macedonia, he himself declining that of Gaul, which\nwas offered to him.  And this piece of favor so completely won\nover Antonius, that he was ready to second and respond to, like\na hired player, whatever Cicero said for the good of the\ncountry.  And now, having made his colleague thus tame and\ntractable, he could with greater courage attack the\nconspirators.  And, therefore, in the senate, making an oration\nagainst the law of the ten commissioners, he so confounded those\nwho proposed it, that they had nothing to reply.  And when they\nagain endeavored, and, having prepared things beforehand, had\ncalled the consuls before the assembly of the people, Cicero,\nfearing nothing, went first out, and commanded the senate to\nfollow him, and not only succeeded in throwing out the law, but\nso entirely overpowered the tribunes by his oratory, that they\nabandoned all thought of their other projects.\n\nFor Cicero, it may be said, was the one man, above all others,\nwho made the Romans feel how great a charm eloquence lends to\nwhat is good, and how invincible justice is, if it be well\nspoken; and that it is necessary for him who would dexterously\ngovern a commonwealth, in action, always to prefer that which\nis honest before that which is popular, and in speaking, to free\nthe right and useful measure from everything that may occasion\noffense.  An incident occurred in the theater, during his\nconsulship, which showed what his speaking could do.  For\nwhereas formerly the knights of Rome were mingled in the theater\nwith the common people, and took their places amongst them as it\nhappened, Marcus Otho, when he was praetor, was the first who\ndistinguished them from the other citizens, and appointed them a\nproper seat, which they still enjoy as their special place in\nthe theater.  This the common people took as an indignity done\nto them, and, therefore, when Otho appeared in the theater, they\nhissed him; the knights, on the contrary, received him with loud\nclapping.  The people repeated and increased their hissing; the\nknights continued their clapping.  Upon this, turning upon one\nanother, they broke out into insulting words, so that the\ntheater was in great disorder.  Cicero, being informed of it,\ncame himself to the theater, and summoning the people into the\ntemple of Bellona, he so effectually chid and chastised them for\nit, that, again returning into the theater, they received Otho\nwith loud applause, contending with the knights who should give\nhim the greatest demonstrations of honor and respect.\n\nThe conspirators with Catiline, at first cowed and disheartened,\nbegan presently to take courage again.  And assembling\nthemselves together, they exhorted one another boldly to\nundertake the design before Pompey's return, who, as it was\nsaid, was now on his march with his forces for Rome.  But the\nold soldiers of Sylla were Catiline's chief stimulus to action.\nThey had been disbanded all about Italy, but the greatest number\nand the fiercest of them lay scattered among the cities of\nEtruria, entertaining themselves with dreams of new plunder and\nrapine amongst the hoarded riches of Italy.  These, having for\ntheir leader Manlius, who had served with distinction in the\nwars under Sylla, joined themselves to Catiline, and came to\nRome to assist him with their suffrages at the election.  For he\nagain pretended to the consulship, having resolved to kill\nCicero in a tumult at the elections.  Also, the divine powers\nseemed to give intimation of the coming troubles, by\nearthquakes, thunderbolts, and strange appearances.  Nor was\nhuman evidence wanting, certain enough in itself, though not\nsufficient for the conviction of the noble and powerful\nCatiline.  Therefore Cicero, deferring the day of election,\nsummoned Catiline into the senate, and questioned him as to the\ncharges made against him.  Catiline, believing there were many\nin the senate desirous of change, and to give a specimen of\nhimself to the conspirators present, returned an audacious\nanswer, \"What harm,\" said he, \"when I see two bodies, the one\nlean and consumptive with a head, the other great and strong\nwithout one, if I put a head to that body which wants one?\"\nThis covert representation of the senate and the people excited\nyet greater apprehensions in Cicero.  He put on armor, and was\nattended from his house by the noble citizens in a body; and a\nnumber of the young men went with him into the Plain.  Here,\ndesignedly letting his tunic slip partly off from his shoulders,\nhe showed his armor underneath, and discovered his danger to the\nspectators; who, being much moved at it, gathered round about\nhim for his defense.  At length, Catiline was by a general\nsuffrage again put by, and Silanus and Murena chosen consuls.\n\nNot long after this, Catiline's soldiers got together in a body\nin Etruria, and began to form themselves into companies, the day\nappointed for the design being near at hand.  About midnight,\nsome of the principal and most powerful citizens of Rome, Marcus\nCrassus, Marcus Marcellus, and Scipio Metellus went to Cicero's\nhouse, where, knocking at the gate, and calling up the porter,\nthey commended him to awake Cicero, and tell him they were\nthere.  The business was this: Crassus's porter after supper\nhad delivered to him letters brought by an unknown person.  Some\nof them were directed to others, but one to Crassus, without a\nname; this only Crassus read, which informed him that there was\na great slaughter intended by Catiline, and advised him to leave\nthe city.  The others he did not open, but went with them\nimmediately to Cicero, being affrighted at the danger, and to\nfree himself of the suspicion he lay under for his familiarity\nwith Catiline.  Cicero, considering the matter, summoned the\nsenate at break of day.  The letters he brought with him, and\ndelivered them to those to whom they were directed, commanding\nthem to read them publicly; they all alike contained an account\nof the conspiracy.  And when Quintus Arrius, a man of praetorian\ndignity, recounted to them, how soldiers were collecting in\ncompanies in Etruria, and Manlius stated to be in motion with a\nlarge force, hovering about those cities, in expectation of\nintelligence from Rome, the senate made a decree, to place all\nin the hands of the consuls, who should undertake the conduct of\neverything, and do their best to save the state.  This was not\na common thing, but only done by the senate in case of imminent\ndanger.\n\nAfter Cicero had received this power, he committed all affairs\noutside to Quintus Metellus, but the management of the city he\nkept in his own hands.  Such a numerous attendance guarded him\nevery day when he went abroad, that the greatest part of the\nmarket-place was filled with his train when he entered it.\nCatiline, impatient of further delay, resolved himself to break\nforth and go to Manlius, but he commanded Marcius and Cethegus\nto take their swords, and go early in the morning to Cicero's\ngates, as if only intending to salute him, and then to fall upon\nhim and slay him.  This a noble lady, Fulvia, coming by night,\ndiscovered to Cicero, bidding him beware of Cethegus and\nMarcius.  They came by break of day, and being denied entrance,\nmade an outcry and disturbance at the gates, which excited all\nthe more suspicion.  But Cicero, going forth, summoned the\nsenate into the temple of Jupiter Stator, which stands at the\nend of the Sacred Street, going up to the Palatine.  And when\nCatiline with others of his party also came, as intending to\nmake his defense, none of the senators would sit by him, but all\nof them left the bench where he had placed himself.  And when he\nbegan to speak, they interrupted him with outcries.  At length\nCicero, standing up, commanded him to leave the city, for since\none governed the commonwealth with words, the other with arms,\nit was necessary there should be a wall betwixt them.  Catiline,\ntherefore, immediately left the town, with three hundred armed\nmen; and assuming, as if he had been a magistrate, the rods,\naxes, and military ensigns, he went to Manlius, and having got\ntogether a body of near twenty thousand men, with these he\nmarched to the several cities, endeavoring to persuade or force\nthem to revolt.  So it being now come to open war, Antonius was\nsent forth to fight him.\n\nThe remainder of those in the city whom he had corrupted,\nCornelius Lentulus kept together and encouraged.  He had the\nsurname Sura, and was a man of a noble family, but a dissolute\nliver, who for his debauchery was formerly turned out of the\nsenate, and was now holding the office of praetor for the second\ntime, as the custom is with those who desire to regain the\ndignity of senator.  It is said that he got the surname Sura\nupon this occasion; being quaestor in the time of Sylla, he had\nlavished away and consumed a great quantity of the public\nmoneys, at which Sylla being provoked, called him to give an\naccount in the senate; he appeared with great coolness and\ncontempt, and said he had no account to give, but they might\ntake this, holding up the calf of his leg, as boys do at ball,\nwhen they have missed.  Upon which he was surnamed Sura, sura\nbeing the Roman word for the calf of the leg.  Being at another\ntime prosecuted at law, and having bribed some of the judges, he\nescaped only by two votes, and complained of the needless\nexpense he had gone to in paying for a second, as one would have\nsufficed to acquit him.  This man, such in his own nature, and\nnow inflamed by Catiline, false prophets and fortune-tellers had\nalso corrupted with vain hopes, quoting to him fictitious verses\nand oracles, and proving from the Sibylline prophecies that\nthere were three of the name Cornelius designed by fate to be\nmonarchs of Rome; two of whom, Cinna and Sylla, had already\nfulfilled the decree, and that divine fortune was now advancing\nwith the gift of monarchy for the remaining third Cornelius; and\nthat therefore he ought by all means to accept it, and not lose\nopportunity by delay, as Catiline had done.\n\nLentulus, therefore, designed no mean or trivial matter, for he\nhad resolved to kill the whole senate, and as many other\ncitizens as he could, to fire the city, and spare nobody, except\nonly Pompey's children, intending to seize and keep them as\npledges of his reconciliation with Pompey.  For there was then a\ncommon and strong report that Pompey was on his way homeward\nfrom his great expedition.  The night appointed for the design\nwas one of the Saturnalia; swords, flax, and sulfur they carried\nand hid in the house of Cethegus; and providing one hundred men,\nand dividing the city into as many parts, they had allotted to\nevery one singly his proper place, so that in a moment many\nkindling the fire, the city might be in a flame all together.\nOthers were appointed to stop up the aqueducts, and to kill\nthose who should endeavor to carry water to put it out.  Whilst\nthese plans were preparing, it happened there were two\nambassadors from the Allobroges staying in Rome; a nation at\nthat time in a distressed condition, and very uneasy under the\nRoman government.  These Lentulus and his party judging useful\ninstruments to move and seduce Gaul to revolt, admitted into the\nconspiracy, and they gave them letters to their own magistrates,\nand letters to Catiline; in those they promised liberty, in\nthese they exhorted Catiline to set all slaves free, and to\nbring them along with him to Rome.  They sent also to accompany\nthem to Catiline, one Titus, a native of Croton, who was to\ncarry those letters to him.\n\nThese counsels of inconsidering men, who conversed together over\nwine and with women, Cicero watched with sober industry and\nforethought, and with most admirable sagacity, having several\nemissaries abroad, who observed and traced with him all that was\ndone, and keeping also a secret correspondence with many who\npretended to join in the conspiracy.  He thus knew all the\ndiscourse which passed betwixt them and the strangers; and lying\nin wait for them by night, he took the Crotonian with his\nletters, the ambassadors of the Allobroges acting secretly in\nconcert with him.\n\nBy break of day, he summoned the senate into the temple of\nConcord, where he read the letters and examined the informers.\nJunius Silanus further stated, that several persons had heard\nCethegus say, that three consuls and four praetors were to be\nslain; Piso, also, a person of consular dignity, testified other\nmatters of the like nature; and Caius Sulpicius, one of the\npraetors, being sent to Cethegus's house, found there a quantity\nof darts and of armor, and a still greater number of swords and\ndaggers, all recently whetted.  At length, the senate decreeing\nindemnity to the Crotonian upon his confession of the whole\nmatter, Lentulus was convicted, abjured his office (for he was\nthen praetor), and put off his robe edged with purple in the\nsenate, changing it for another garment more agreeable to his\npresent circumstances.  He, thereupon, with the rest of his\nconfederates present, was committed to the charge of the\npraetors in free custody.\n\nIt being evening, and the common people in crowds expecting\nwithout, Cicero went forth to them, and told them what was done,\nand then, attended by them, went to the house of a friend and\nnear neighbor; for his own was taken up by the women, who were\ncelebrating with secret rites the feast of the goddess whom the\nRomans call the Good, and the Greeks, the Women's goddess.  For\na sacrifice is annually performed to her in the consul's house,\neither by his wife or mother, in the presence of the vestal\nvirgins.  And having got into his friend's house privately, a\nfew only being present, he began to deliberate how he should\ntreat these men.  The severest, and the only punishment fit for\nsuch heinous crimes, he was somewhat shy and fearful of\ninflicting, as well from the clemency of his nature, as also\nlest he should be thought to exercise his authority too\ninsolently, and to treat too harshly men of the noblest birth\nand most powerful friendships in the city; and yet, if he should\nuse them more mildly, he had a dreadful prospect of danger from\nthem.  For there was no likelihood, if they suffered less than\ndeath, they would be reconciled, but rather, adding new rage to\ntheir former wickedness, they would rush into every kind of\naudacity, while he himself, whose character for courage already\ndid not stand very high with the multitude, would be thought\nguilty of the greatest cowardice and want of manliness.\n\nWhilst Cicero was doubting what course to take, a portent\nhappened to the women in their sacrificing.  For on the altar,\nwhere the fire seemed wholly extinguished, a great and bright\nflame issued forth from the ashes of the burnt wood; at which\nothers were affrighted, but the holy virgins called to Terentia,\nCicero's wife, and bade her haste to her husband, and command\nhim to execute what he had resolved for the good of his country,\nfor the goddess had sent a great light to the increase of his\nsafety and glory.  Terentia, therefore, as she was otherwise in\nher own nature neither tender-hearted nor timorous, but a woman\neager for distinction (who, as Cicero himself says, would rather\nthrust herself into his public affairs, than communicate her\ndomestic matters to him), told him these things, and excited him\nagainst the conspirators.  So also did Quintus his brother, and\nPublius Nigidius, one of his philosophical friends, whom he\noften made use of in his greatest and most weighty affairs of\nstate.\n\nThe next day, a debate arising in the senate about the\npunishment of the men, Silanus, being the first who was asked\nhis opinion, said, it was fit they should be all sent to the\nprison, and there suffer the utmost penalty.  To him all\nconsented in order till it came to Caius Caesar, who was\nafterwards dictator.  He was then but a young man, and only at\nthe outset of his career, but had already directed his hopes and\npolicy to that course by which he afterwards changed the Roman\nstate into a monarchy.  Of this others foresaw nothing; but\nCicero had seen reason for strong suspicion, though without\nobtaining any sufficient means of proof.  And there were some\nindeed that said that he was very near being discovered, and\nonly just escaped him; others are of opinion that Cicero\nvoluntarily overlooked and neglected the evidence against him,\nfor fear of his friends and power; for it was very evident to\neverybody, that if Caesar was to be accused with the\nconspirators, they were more likely to be saved with him, than\nhe to be punished with them.\n\nWhen, therefore, it came to Caesar's turn to give his opinion,\nhe stood up and proposed that the conspirators should not be put\nto death, but their estates confiscated, and their persons\nconfined in such cities in Italy as Cicero should approve, there\nto be kept in custody till Catiline was conquered.  To this\nsentence, as it was the most moderate, and he that delivered it\na most powerful speaker, Cicero himself gave no small weight,\nfor he stood up and, turning the scale on either side, spoke in\nfavor partly of the former, partly of Caesar's sentence.  And\nall Cicero's friends, judging Caesar's sentence most expedient\nfor Cicero, because he would incur the less blame if the\nconspirators were not put to death, chose rather the latter; so\nthat Silanus, also, changing his mind, retracted his opinion,\nand said he had not declared for capital, but only the utmost\npunishment, which to a Roman senator is imprisonment.  The first\nman who spoke against Caesar's motion was Catulus Lutatius.\nCato followed, and so vehemently urged in his speech the strong\nsuspicion about Caesar himself, and so filled the senate with\nanger and resolution, that a decree was passed for the execution\nof the conspirators.  But Caesar opposed the confiscation of\ntheir goods, not thinking it fair that those who had rejected\nthe mildest part of his sentence should avail themselves of the\nseverest.  And when many insisted upon it, he appealed to the\ntribunes, but they would do nothing; till Cicero himself\nyielding, remitted that part of the sentence.\n\nAfter this, Cicero went out with the senate to the conspirators;\nthey were not all together in one place, but the several\npraetors had them, some one, some another, in custody.  And\nfirst he took Lentulus from the Palatine, and brought him by the\nSacred Street, through the middle of the marketplace, a circle\nof the most eminent citizens encompassing and protecting him.\nThe people, affrighted at what was doing, passed along in\nsilence, especially the young men; as if, with fear and\ntrembling; they were undergoing a rite of initiation into some\nancient, sacred mysteries of aristocratic power.  Thus passing\nfrom the market-place, and coming to the gaol, he delivered\nLentulus to the officer, and commanded him to execute him; and\nafter him Cethegus, and so all the rest in order, he brought and\ndelivered up to execution.  And when he saw many of the\nconspirators in the market-place, still standing together in\ncompanies, ignorant of what was done, and waiting for the night,\nsupposing the men were still alive and in a possibility of being\nrescued, he called out in a loud voice, and said, \"They did\nlive;\" for so the Romans, to avoid inauspicious language, name\nthose that are dead.\n\nIt was now evening, when he returned from the market-place to\nhis own house, the citizens no longer attending him with\nsilence, nor in order, but receiving him, as he passed, with\nacclamations and applauses, and saluting him as the savior and\nfounder of his country.  A bright light shone through the\nstreets from the lamps and torches set up at the doors, and the\nwomen showed lights from the tops of the houses, to honor\nCicero, and to behold him returning home with a splendid train\nof the most principal citizens; amongst whom were many who had\nconducted great wars, celebrated triumphs, and added to the\npossessions of the Roman empire, both by sea and land.  These,\nas they passed along with him, acknowledged to one another, that\nthough the Roman people were indebted to several officers and\ncommanders of that age for riches, spoils, and power, yet to\nCicero alone they owed the safety and security of all these, for\ndelivering them from so great and imminent a danger.  For though\nit might seem no wonderful thing to prevent the design, and\npunish the conspirators, yet to defeat the greatest of all\nconspiracies with so little disturbance, trouble, and commotion,\nwas very extraordinary.  For the greater part of those who had\nflocked in to Catiline, as soon as they heard the fate of\nLentulus and Cethegus, left and forsook him, and he himself,\nwith his remaining forces, joining battle with Antonius, was\ndestroyed with his army.\n\nAnd yet there were some who were very ready both to speak ill of\nCicero, and to do him hurt for these actions; and they had for\ntheir leaders some of the magistrates of the ensuing year, as\nCaesar, who was one of the praetors, and Metellus and Bestia,\nthe tribunes.  These, entering upon their office some few days\nbefore Cicero's consulate expired, would not permit him to make\nany address to the people, but, throwing the benches before the\nRostra, hindered his speaking, telling him he might, if he\npleased, make the oath of withdrawal from office, and then come\ndown again.  Cicero, accordingly, accepting the conditions, came\nforward to make his withdrawal; and silence being made, he\nrecited his oath, not in the usual, but in a new and peculiar\nform, namely, that he had saved his country, and preserved the\nempire; the truth of which oath all the people confirmed with\ntheirs.  Caesar and the tribunes, all the more exasperated by\nthis, endeavored to create him further trouble, and for this\npurpose proposed a law for calling Pompey home with his army, to\nput an end to Cicero's usurpation.  But it was a very great\nadvantage for Cicero and the whole commonwealth that Cato was at\nthat time one of the tribunes.  For he, being of equal power\nwith the rest, and of greater reputation, could oppose their\ndesigns.  He easily defeated their other projects, and, in an\noration to the people, so highly extolled Cicero's consulate,\nthat the greatest honors were decreed him, and he was publicly\ndeclared the Father of his Country, which title he seems to have\nobtained, the first man who did so, when Cato gave it him in\nthis address to the people.\n\nAt this time, therefore, his authority was very great in the\ncity; but he created himself much envy, and offended very many,\nnot by any evil action, but because he was always lauding and\nmagnifying himself.  For neither senate, nor assembly of the\npeople, nor court of judicature could meet, in which he was not\nheard to talk of Catiline and Lentulus.  Indeed, he also filled\nhis books and writings with his own praises, to such an excess\nas to render a style, in itself most pleasant and delightful,\nnauseous and irksome to his hearers; this ungrateful humor, like\na disease, always cleaving to him.  Nevertheless, though he was\nintemperately fond of his own glory, he was very free from\nenvying others, and was, on the contrary, most liberally profuse\nin commending both the ancients and his contemporaries, as\nanyone may see in his writings.  And many such sayings of his are\nalso remembered; as that he called Aristotle a river of flowing\ngold, and said of Plato's Dialogues, that if Jupiter were to\nspeak, it would be in language like theirs.  He used to call\nTheophrastus his special luxury.  And being asked which of\nDemosthenes's orations he liked best, he answered, the longest.\nAnd yet some affected imitators of Demosthenes have complained\nof some words that occur in one of his letters, to the effect\nthat Demosthenes sometimes falls asleep in his speeches;\nforgetting the many high encomiums he continually passes upon\nhim, and the compliment he paid him when he named the most\nelaborate of all his orations, those he wrote against Antony,\nPhilippics.  And as for the eminent men of his own time, either\nin eloquence or philosophy, there was not one of them whom he\ndid not, by writing or speaking favorably of him, render more\nillustrious.  He obtained of Caesar, when in power, the Roman\ncitizenship for Cratippus, the Peripatetic, and got the court of\nAreopagus, by public decree, to request his stay at Athens, for\nthe instruction of their youth, and the honor of their city.\nThere are letters extant from Cicero to Herodes, and others to\nhis son, in which he recommends the study of philosophy under\nCratippus.  There is one in which he blames Gorgias, the\nrhetorician, for enticing his son into luxury and drinking, and,\ntherefore, forbids him his company.  And this, and one other to\nPelops, the Byzantine, are the only two of his Greek epistles\nwhich seem to be written in anger.  In the first, he justly\nreflects on Gorgias, if he were what he was thought to be, a\ndissolute and profligate character; but in the other, he rather\nmeanly expostulates and complains with Pelops, for neglecting to\nprocure him a decree of certain honors from the Byzantines.\n\nAnother illustration of his love of praise is the way in which\nsometimes, to make his orations more striking, he neglected\ndecorum and dignity.  When Munatius, who had escaped conviction\nby his advocacy, immediately prosecuted his friend Sabinus, he\nsaid in the warmth of his resentment, \"Do you suppose you were\nacquitted for your own meets, Munatius, and was it not that I so\ndarkened the case, that the court could not see your guilt?\"\nWhen from the Rostra he had made an eulogy on Marcus Crassus,\nwith much applause, and within a few days after again as\npublicly reproached him, Crassus called to him, and said, \"Did\nnot you yourself two days ago, in this same place, commend me?\"\n\"Yes,\" said Cicero, \"I exercised my eloquence in declaiming upon\na bad subject.\"  At another time, Crassus had said that no one\nof his family had ever lived beyond sixty years of age, and\nafterwards denied it, and asked, \"What should put it into my\nhead to say so?\"  \"It was to gain the people's favor,\" answered\nCicero; \"you knew how glad they would be to hear it.\"  When\nCrassus expressed admiration of the Stoic doctrine, that the\ngood man is always rich, \"Do you not mean,\" said Cicero, \"their\ndoctrine that all things belong to the wise?\"  Crassus being\ngenerally accused of covetousness.  One of Crassus's sons, who\nwas thought so exceedingly like a man of the name of Axius as to\nthrow some suspicion on his mother's honor, made a successful\nspeech in the senate.  Cicero on being asked how he liked it,\nreplied with the Greek words, Axios Crassou.\n\nWhen Crassus was about to go into Syria, he desired to leave\nCicero rather his friend than his enemy, and, therefore, one day\nsaluting him, told him he would come and sup with him, which the\nother as courteously received.  Within a few days after, on some\nof Cicero's acquaintances interceding for Vatinius, as desirous\nof reconciliation and friendship, for he was then his enemy,\n\"What,\" he replied, \"does Vatinius also wish to come and sup\nwith me?\"  Such was his way with Crassus.  When Vatinius, who\nhad swellings in his neck, was pleading a cause, he called him\nthe tumid orator; and having been told by someone that Vatinius\nwas dead, on hearing presently after that he was alive, \"May the\nrascal perish,\" said he, \"for his news not being true.\"\n\nUpon Caesar's bringing forward a law for the division of the\nlands in Campania amongst the soldiers, many in the senate\nopposed it; amongst the rest, Lucius Gellius, one of the oldest\nmen in the house, said it should never pass whilst he lived.\n\"Let us postpone it,\" said Cicero, \"Gellius does not ask us to\nwait long.\"  There was a man of the name of Octavius, suspected\nto be of African descent.  He once said, when Cicero was\npleading, that he could not hear him; \"Yet there are holes,\"\nsaid Cicero, \"in your ears.\"  When Metellus Nepos told him,\nthat he had ruined more as a witness, than he had saved as an\nadvocate, \"I admit,\" said Cicero, \"that I have more truth than\neloquence.\"  To a young man who was suspected of having given a\npoisoned cake to his father, and who talked largely of the\ninvectives he meant to deliver against Cicero, \"Better these,\"\nreplied he, \"than your cakes.\"  Publius Sextius, having amongst\nothers retained Cicero as his advocate in a certain cause, was\nyet desirous to say all for himself, and would not allow anybody\nto speak for him; when he was about to receive his acquittal\nfrom the judges, and the ballots were passing, Cicero called to\nhim, \"Make haste, Sextius, and use your time; tomorrow you will\nbe nobody.\"  He cited Publius Cotta to bear testimony in a\ncertain cause, one who affected to be thought a lawyer, though\nignorant and unlearned; to whom, when he had said, \"I know\nnothing of the matter,\" he answered, \"You think, perhaps, we ask\nyou about a point of law.\"  To Metellus Nepos, who, in a dispute\nbetween them, repeated several times, \"Who was your father,\nCicero?\"  he replied, \"Your mother has made the answer to such a\nquestion in your case more difficult;\" Nepos's mother having\nbeen of ill repute.  The son, also, was of a giddy, uncertain\ntemper.  At one time, he suddenly threw up his office of\ntribune, and sailed off into Syria to Pompey; and immediately\nafter, with as little reason, came back again.  He gave his\ntutor, Philagrus, a funeral with more than necessary attention,\nand then set up the stone figure of a crow over his tomb.\n\"This,\" said Cicero, \"is really appropriate; as he did not teach\nyou to speak, but to fly about.\"  When Marcus Appius, in the\nopening of some speech in a court of justice, said that his\nfriend had desired him to employ industry, eloquence, and\nfidelity in that cause, Cicero answered, \"And how have you had\nthe heart not to accede to any one of his requests?\"\n\nTo use this sharp raillery against opponents and antagonists in\njudicial pleading seems allowable rhetoric.  But he excited much\nill feeling by his readiness to attack anyone for the sake of a\njest.  A few anecdotes of this kind may be added.  Marcus\nAquinius, who had two sons-in-law in exile, received from him\nthe name of king Adrastus. Lucius Cotta, an intemperate lover\nof wine, was censor when Cicero stood for the consulship.\nCicero, being thirsty at the election, his friends stood round\nabout him while he was drinking.  \"You have reason to be\nafraid,\" he said, \"lest the censor should be angry with me for\ndrinking water.\"  Meeting one day Voconius with his three very\nugly daughters, he quoted the verse,\n\nHe reared a race without Apollo's leave.\n\nWhen Marcus Gellius, who was reputed the son of a slave, had\nread several letters in the senate with a very shrill, and loud\nvoice, \"Wonder not,\" said Cicero, \"he comes of the criers.\"\nWhen Faustus Sylla, the son of Sylla the dictator, who had,\nduring his dictatorship, by public bills proscribed and\ncondemned so many citizens, had so far wasted his estate, and\ngot into debt, that he was forced to publish his bills of sale,\nCicero told him that he liked these bills much better than those\nof his father.  By this habit he made himself odious with many\npeople.\n\nBut Clodius's faction conspired against him upon the following\noccasion.  Clodius was a member of a noble family, in the flower\nof his youth, and of a bold and resolute temper.  He, being in\nlove with Pompeia, Caesar's wife, got privately into his house\nin the dress and attire of a music-girl; the women being at that\ntime offering there the sacrifice which must not be seen by men,\nand there was no man present.  Clodius, being a youth and\nbeardless, hoped to get to Pompeia among the women without being\ntaken notice of.  But coming into a great house by night, he\nmissed his way in the passages, and a servant belonging to\nAurelia, Caesar's mother, spying him wandering up and down,\ninquired his name.  Thus being necessitated to speak, he told\nher he was seeking for one of Pompeia's maids, Abra by name; and\nshe, perceiving it not to be a woman's voice, shrieked out, and\ncalled in the women; who, shutting the gates, and searching\nevery place, at length found Clodius hidden in the chamber of\nthe maid with whom he had come in.  This matter being much\ntalked about, Caesar put away his wife, Pompeia, and Clodius was\nprosecuted for profaning the holy rites.\n\nCicero was at this time his friend, for he had been useful\nto him in the conspiracy of Catiline, as one of his forwardest\nassistants and protectors.  But when Clodius rested his defense\nupon this point, that he was not then at Rome, but at a distance\nin the country, Cicero testified that he had come to his house\nthat day, and conversed with him on several matters; which thing\nwas indeed true, although Cicero was thought to testify it not\nso much for the truth's sake as to preserve his quiet with\nTerentia his wife.  For she bore a grudge against Clodius on\naccount of his sister Clodia's wishing, as it was alleged, to\nmarry Cicero, and having employed for this purpose the\nintervention of Tullus, a very intimate friend of Cicero's; and\nhis frequent visits to Clodia, who lived in their neighborhood,\nand the attentions he paid to her had excited Terentia's\nsuspicions, and, being a woman of a violent temper, and having\nthe ascendant over Cicero, she urged him on to taking a part\nagainst Clodius, and delivering his testimony.  Many other good\nand honest citizens also gave evidence against him, for\nperjuries, disorders, bribing the people, and debauching women.\nLucullus proved, by his women-servants, that he had debauched\nhis youngest sister when she was Lucullus's wife; and there was\na general belief that he had done the same with his two other\nsisters, Tertia, whom Marcius Rex, and Clodia, whom Metellus\nCeler had married; the latter of whom was called Quadrantia,\nbecause one of her lovers had deceived her with a purse of small\ncopper money instead of silver, the smallest copper coin being\ncalled a quadrant.  Upon this sister's account, in particular,\nClodius's character was attacked.  Notwithstanding all this,\nwhen the common people united against the accusers and witnesses\nand the whole party, the judges were affrighted, and a guard was\nplaced about them for their defense; and most of them wrote\ntheir sentences on the tablets in such a way, that they could\nnot well be read.  It was decided, however, that there was a\nmajority for his acquittal, and bribery was reported to have\nbeen employed; in reference to which Catulus remarked, when he\nnext met the judges, \"You were very right to ask for a guard, to\nprevent your money being taken from you.\"  And when Clodius\nupbraided Cicero that the judges had not believed his testimony,\n\"Yes,\" said he, \"five and twenty of them trusted me, and\ncondemned you, and the other thirty did not trust you, for they\ndid not acquit you till they had got your money.\"\n\nCaesar, though cited, did not give his testimony against\nClodius, and declared himself not convinced of his wife's\nadultery, but that he had put her away because it was fit that\nCaesar's house should not be only free of the evil fact, but of\nthe fame too.\n\nClodius, having escaped this danger, and having got himself\nchosen one of the tribunes, immediately attacked Cicero, heaping\nup all matters and inciting all persons against him.  The common\npeople he gained over with popular laws; to each of the consuls\nhe decreed large provinces, to Piso, Macedonia, and to Gabinius,\nSyria; he made a strong party among the indigent citizens, to\nsupport him in his proceedings, and had always a body of armed\nslaves about him.  Of the three men then in greatest power,\nCrassus was Cicero's open enemy, Pompey indifferently made\nadvances to both, and Caesar was going with an army into Gaul.\nTo him, though not his friend (what had occurred in the time of\nthe conspiracy having created suspicions between them), Cicero\napplied, requesting an appointment as one of his lieutenants in\nthe province.  Caesar accepted him, and Clodius, perceiving that\nCicero would thus escape his tribunician authority, professed to\nbe inclinable to a reconciliation, laid the greatest fault upon\nTerentia, made always a favorable mention of him, and addressed\nhim with kind expressions, as one who felt no hatred or\nill-will, but who merely wished to urge his complaints in a\nmoderate and friendly way.  By these artifices, he so freed\nCicero of all his fears, that he resigned his appointment to\nCaesar, and betook himself again to political affairs.  At which\nCaesar being exasperated, joined the party of Clodius against\nhim, and wholly alienated Pompey from him; he also himself\ndeclared in a public assembly of the people, that he did not\nthink Lentulus and Cethegus, with their accomplices, were fairly\nand legally put to death without being brought to trial.  And\nthis, indeed, was the crime charged upon Cicero, and this\nimpeachment he was summoned to answer.  And so, as an accused\nman, and in danger for the result, he changes his dress, and\nwent round with his hair untrimmed, in the attire of a\nsuppliant, to beg the people's grace.  But Clodius met him in\nevery corner, having a band of abusive and daring fellows about\nhim, who derided Cicero for his change of dress and his\nhumiliation, and often, by throwing dirt and stones at him,\ninterrupted his supplication to the people.\n\nHowever, first of all, almost the whole equestrian order changed\ntheir dress with him, and no less than twenty thousand young\ngentlemen followed him with their hair untrimmed, and\nsupplicating with him to the people.  And then the senate met,\nto pass a decree that the people should change their dress as in\ntime of public sorrow.  But the consuls opposing it, and Clodius\nwith armed men besetting the senate-house, many of the senators\nran out, crying out and tearing their clothes.  But this sight\nmoved neither shame nor pity; Cicero must either fly or\ndetermine it by the sword with Clodius.  He entreated Pompey to\naid him, who was on purpose gone out of the way, and was staying\nat his country-house in the Alban hills; and first he sent his\nson-in-law Piso to intercede with him, and afterwards set out to\ngo himself.  Of which Pompey being informed, would not stay to\nsee him, being ashamed at the remembrance of the many conflicts\nin the commonwealth which Cicero had undergone in his behalf,\nand how much of his policy he had directed for his advantage.\nBut being now Caesar's son-in-law, at his instance he had set\naside all former kindness, and, slipping out at another door,\navoided the interview.  Thus being forsaken by Pompey, and left\nalone to himself, he fled to the consuls.  Gabinius was rough\nwith him, as usual, but Piso spoke more courteously, desiring\nhim to yield and give place for a while to the fury of Clodius,\nand to await a change of times, and to be now, as before, his\ncountry's savior from the peril of these troubles and commotions\nwhich Clodius was exciting.\n\nCicero, receiving this answer, consulted with his friends.\nLucullus advised him to stay, as being sure to prevail at last;\nothers to fly, because the people would soon desire him again,\nwhen they should have enough of the rage and madness of Clodius.\nThis last Cicero approved.  But first he took a statue of\nMinerva, which had been long set up and greatly honored in his\nhouse, and carrying it to the capitol, there dedicated it, with\nthe inscription, \"To Minerva, Patroness of Rome.\"  And receiving\nan escort from his friends, about the middle of the night he\nleft the city, and went by land through Lucania, intending to\nreach Sicily.\n\nBut as soon as it was publicly known that he was fled, Clodius\nproposed to the people a decree of exile, and by his own order\ninterdicted him fire and water, prohibiting any within five\nhundred miles in Italy to receive him into their houses.  Most\npeople, out of respect for Cicero, paid no regard to this edict,\noffering him every attention and escorting him on his way.  But\nat Hipponium, a city of Lucania, now called Vibo, one Vibius, a\nSicilian by birth, who, amongst many other instances of Cicero's\nfriendship, had been made head of the state engineers when he\nwas consul, would not receive him into his house, sending him\nword he would appoint a place in the country for his reception.\nCaius Vergilius, the praetor of Sicily, who had been on the most\nintimate terms with him, wrote to him to forbear coming into\nSicily.  At these things Cicero being disheartened, went to\nBrundusium, whence putting forth with a prosperous wind, a\ncontrary gale blowing from the sea carried him back to Italy-\nthe next day.  He put again to sea, and having reached\nDyrrachium, on his coming to shore there, it is reported that an\nearthquake and a convulsion in the sea happened at the same\ntime, signs which the diviners said intimated that his exile\nwould not be long, for these were prognostics of change.\nAlthough many visited him with respect, and the cities of Greece\ncontended which should honor him most, he yet continued\ndisheartened and disconsolate, like an unfortunate lover, often\ncasting his looks back upon Italy; and, indeed, he was become so\npoor-spirited, so humiliated and dejected by his misfortunes,\nas none could have expected in a man who had devoted so much of\nhis life to study and learning.  And yet he often desired his\nfriends not to call him orator, but philosopher, because he had\nmade philosophy his business, and had only used rhetoric as an\ninstrument for attaining his objects in public life.  But the\ndesire of glory has great power in washing the tinctures of\nphilosophy out of the souls of men, and in imprinting the\npassions of the common people, by custom and conversation, in\nthe minds of those that take a part in governing them, unless\nthe politician be very careful so to engage in public affairs as\nto interest himself only in the affairs themselves, but not\nparticipate in the passions that are consequent to them.\n\nClodius, having thus driven away Cicero, fell to burning his\nfarms and villas, and afterwards his city house, and built on\nthe site of it a temple to Liberty.  The rest of his property he\nexposed to sale by daily proclamation, but nobody came to buy.\nBy these courses he became formidable to the noble citizens,\nand, being followed by the commonalty, whom he had filled with\ninsolence and licentiousness, he began at last to try his\nstrength against Pompey, some of whose arrangements in the\ncountries he conquered, he attacked.  The disgrace of this made\nPompey begin to reproach himself for his cowardice in deserting\nCicero, and, changing his mind, he now wholly set himself with\nhis friends to contrive his return.  And when Clodius opposed\nit, the senate made a vote that no public measure should be\nratified or passed by them till Cicero was recalled.  But when\nLentulus was consul, the commotions grew so high upon this\nmatter, that the tribunes were wounded in the Forum, and\nQuintus, Cicero's brother, was left as dead, lying unobserved\namongst the slain.  The people began to change in their\nfeelings; and Annius Milo, one of their tribunes, was the first\nwho took confidence to summon Clodius to trial for acts of\nviolence.  Many of the common people and out of the neighboring\ncities formed a party with Pompey, and he went with them, and\ndrove Clodius out of the Forum, and summoned the people to pass\ntheir vote.  And, it is said, the people never passed any\nsuffrage more unanimously than this.  The senate, also, striving\nto outdo the people, sent letters of thanks to those cities\nwhich had received Cicero with respect in his exile, and decreed\nthat his house and his country-places, which Clodius had\ndestroyed, should be rebuilt at the public charge.\n\nThus Cicero returned sixteen months after his exile, and the\ncities were so glad, and people so zealous to meet him, that\nwhat he boasted of afterwards, that Italy had brought him on her\nshoulders home to Rome, was rather less than the truth.  And\nCrassus himself, who had been his enemy before his exile, went\nthen voluntarily to meet him, and was reconciled, to please his\nson Publius, as he said, who was Cicero's affectionate admirer.\n\nCicero had not been long at Rome, when, taking the opportunity\nof Clodius's absence, he went, with a great company, to the\ncapitol, and there tore and defaced the tribunician tables, in\nwhich were recorded the acts done in the time of Clodius.  And\non Clodius calling him in question for this, he answered, that\nhe, being of the patrician order, had obtained the office of\ntribune against law, and, therefore, nothing done by him was\nvalid.  Cato was displeased at this, and opposed Cicero, not\nthat he commended Clodius, but rather disapproved of his whole\nadministration; yet, he contended, it was an irregular and\nviolent course for the senate to vote the illegality of so many\ndecrees and acts, including those of Cato's own government in\nCyprus and at Byzantium.  This occasioned a breach between Cato\nand Cicero, which, though it came not to open enmity, yet made a\nmore reserved friendship between them.\n\nAfter this, Milo killed Clodius, and, being arraigned for the\nmurder, he procured Cicero as his advocate.  The senate, fearing\nlest the questioning of so eminent and high-spirited a citizen\nas Milo might disturb the peace of the city, committed the\nsuperintendence of this and of the other trials to Pompey, who\nshould undertake to maintain the security alike of the city and\nof the courts of justice.  Pompey, therefore, went in the night,\nand occupying the high grounds about it, surrounded the Forum\nwith soldiers.  Milo, fearing lest Cicero, being disturbed by\nsuch an unusual sight, should conduct his cause the less\nsuccessfully, persuaded him to come in a litter into the Forum,\nand there repose himself till the judges were set, and the court\nfilled.  For Cicero, it seems, not only wanted courage in arms,\nbut, in his speaking also, began with timidity, and in many\ncases scarcely left off trembling and shaking when he had got\nthoroughly into the current and the substance of his speech.\nBeing to defend Licinius Murena against the prosecution of Cato,\nand being eager to outdo Hortensius, who had made his plea with\ngreat applause, he took so little rest that night, and was so\ndisordered with thought and over-watching, that he spoke much\nworse than usual.  And so now, on quitting his litter to\ncommence the cause of Milo, at the sight of Pompey, posted, as\nit were, and encamped with his troops above, and seeing arms\nshining round about the Forum, he was so confounded, that he\ncould hardly begin his speech, for the trembling of his body,\nand hesitance of his tongue; whereas Milo, meantime, was bold\nand intrepid in his demeanor, disdaining either to let his hair\ngrow, or to put on the mourning habit.  And this, indeed, seems\nto have been one principal cause of his condemnation.  Cicero,\nhowever, was thought not so much to have shown timidity for\nhimself, as anxiety about his friend.\n\nHe was made one of the priests, whom the Romans call Augurs, in\nthe room of Crassus the younger, dead in Parthia.  Then he was\nappointed, by lot, to the province of Cilicia, and set sail\nthither with twelve thousand foot and two thousand six hundred\nhorse.  He had orders to bring back Cappadocia to its allegiance\nto Ariobarzanes, its king; which settlement he effected very\ncompletely without recourse to arms.  And perceiving the\nCilicians, by the great loss the Romans had suffered in Parthia,\nand the commotions in Syria, to have become disposed to attempt\na revolt, by a gentle course of government he soothed them back\ninto fidelity.  He would accept none of the presents that were\noffered him by the kings; he remitted the charge of public\nentertainments, but daily, at his own house, received the\ningenious and accomplished persons of the province, not\nsumptuously, but liberally.  His house had no porter, nor was he\never found in bed by any man, but early in the morning, standing\nor walking before his door, he received those who came to offer\ntheir salutations.  He is said never once to have ordered any of\nthose under his command to be beaten with rods, or to have their\ngarments rent.  He never gave contumelious language in his\nanger, nor inflicted punishment with reproach.  He detected an\nembezzlement, to a large amount, in the public money, and thus\nrelieved the cities from their burdens, at the same time that he\nallowed those who made restitution, to retain without further\npunishment their rights as citizens.  He engaged too, in war, so\nfar as to give a defeat to the banditti who infested Mount\nAmanus, for which he was saluted by his army Imperator.  To\nCaecilius, the orator, who asked him to send him some panthers\nfrom Cilicia, to be exhibited on the theater at Rome, he wrote,\nin commendation of his own actions, that there were no panthers\nin Cilicia, for they were all fled to Caria, in anger that in so\ngeneral a peace they had become the sole objects of attack.  On\nleaving his province, he touched at Rhodes, and tarried for some\nlength of time at Athens, longing much to renew his old studies.\nHe visited the eminent men of learning, and saw his former\nfriends and companions; and after receiving in Greece the honors\nthat were due to him, returned to the city, where everything\nwas now just as it were in a flame, breaking out into a civil\nwar.\n\nWhen the senate would have decreed him a triumph, he told them\nhe had rather, so differences were accommodated, follow the\ntriumphal chariot of Caesar.  In private, he gave advice to\nboth, writing many letters to Caesar, and personally entreating\nPompey; doing his best to soothe and bring to reason both the\none and the other.  But when matters became incurable, and\nCaesar was approaching Rome, and Pompey durst not abide it, but,\nwith many honest citizens, left the city, Cicero, as yet, did\nnot join in the flight, and was reputed to adhere to Caesar.\nAnd it is very evident he was in his thoughts much divided, and\nwavered painfully between both, for he writes in his epistles,\n\"To which side should I turn?  Pompey has the fair and honorable\nplea for war; and Caesar, on the other hand, has managed his\naffairs better, and is more able to secure himself and his\nfriends.  So that I know whom I should fly, not whom I should\nfly to.\"  But when Trebatius, one of Caesar's friends, by letter\nsignified to him that Caesar thought it was his most desirable\ncourse to join his party, and partake his hopes, but if he\nconsidered himself too old a man for this, then he should retire\ninto Greece, and stay quietly there, out of the way of either\nparty, Cicero, wondering that Caesar had not written himself,\ngave an angry reply, that he should not do anything unbecoming\nhis past life.  Such is the account to be collected from his\nletters.\n\nBut as soon as Caesar was marched into Spain, he immediately\nsailed away to join Pompey.  And he was welcomed by all but\nCato; who, taking him privately, chid him for coming to Pompey.\nAs for himself, he said, it had been indecent to forsake that\npart in the commonwealth which he had chosen from the beginning;\nbut Cicero might have been more useful to his country and\nfriends, if, remaining neuter, he had attended and used his\ninfluence to moderate the result, instead of coming hither to\nmake himself, without reason or necessity, an enemy to Caesar,\nand a partner in such great dangers.  By this language, partly,\nCicero's feelings were altered, and partly, also, because Pompey\nmade no great use of him.  Although, indeed, he was himself the\ncause of it, by his not denying that he was sorry he had come,\nby his depreciating Pompey's resources, finding fault underhand\nwith his counsels, and continually indulging in jests and\nsarcastic remarks on his fellow-soldiers.  Though he went about\nin the camp with a gloomy and melancholy face himself, he was\nalways trying to raise a laugh in others, whether they wished it\nor not.  It may not be amiss to mention a few instances.  To\nDomitius, on his preferring to a command one who was no soldier,\nand saying, in his defense, that he was a modest and prudent\nperson, he replied, \"Why did not you keep him for a tutor for\nyour children?\"  On hearing Theophanes, the Lesbian, who was\nmaster of the engineers in the army, praised for the admirable\nway in which he had consoled the Rhodians for the loss of their\nfleet, \"What a thing it is,\" he said, \"to have a Greek in\ncommand!\"  When Caesar had been acting successfully, and in a\nmanner blockading Pompey, Lentulus was saying it was reported\nthat Caesar's friends were out of heart; \"Because,\" said Cicero,\n\"they do not wish Caesar well.\"  To one Marcius, who had just\ncome from Italy, and told them that there was a strong report at\nRome that Pompey was blocked up, he said, \"And you sailed hither\nto see it with your own eyes.\"  To Nonius, encouraging them\nafter a defeat to be of good hope, because there were seven\neagles still left in Pompey's camp, \"Good reason for\nencouragement,\" said Cicero, \"if we were going to fight with\njack-daws.\"  Labienus insisted on some prophecies to the effect\nthat Pompey would gain the victory; \"Yes,\" said Cicero, \"and the\nfirst step in the campaign has been losing our camp.\"\n\nAfter the battle of Pharsalia was over, at which he was not\npresent for want of health, and Pompey was fled, Cato, having\nconsiderable forces and a great fleet at Dyrrachium, would have\nhad Cicero commander-in-chief, according to law, and the\nprecedence of his consular dignity.  And on his refusing the\ncommand, and wholly declining to take part in their plans for\ncontinuing the war, he was in the greatest danger of being\nkilled, young Pompey and his friends calling him traitor, and\ndrawing their swords upon him; only that Cato interposed, and\nhardly rescued and brought him out of the camp.\n\nAfterwards, arriving at Brundusium, he tarried there sometime in\nexpectation of Caesar, who was delayed by his affairs in Asia\nand Egypt.  And when it was told him that he was arrived at\nTarentum, and was coming thence by land to Brundusium, he\nhastened towards him, not altogether without hope, and yet in\nsome fear of making experiment of the temper of an enemy and\nconqueror in the presence of many witnesses.  But there was no\nnecessity for him either to speak or do anything unworthy of\nhimself; for Caesar, as soon as he saw him coming a good way\nbefore the rest of the company, came down to meet him, saluted\nhim, and, leading the way, conversed with him alone for some\nfurlongs.  And from that time forward he continued to treat him\nwith honor and respect; so that, when Cicero wrote an oration in\npraise of Cato, Caesar, in writing an answer to it, took\noccasion to commend Cicero's own life and eloquence, comparing\nhim to Pericles and Theramenes.  Cicero's oration was called\nCato; Caesar's, anti-Cato.\n\nSo also, it is related that when Quintus Ligarius was prosecuted\nfor having been in arms against Caesar, and Cicero had\nundertaken his defense, Caesar said to his friends, \"Why might\nwe not as well once more hear a speech from Cicero?  Ligarius,\nthere is no question, is a wicked man and an enemy.\"  But when\nCicero began to speak, he wonderfully moved him, and proceeded\nin his speech with such varied pathos, and such a charm of\nlanguage, that the color of Caesar's countenance often changed,\nand it was evident that all the passions of his soul were in\ncommotion.  At length, the orator touching upon the Pharsalian\nbattle, he was so affected that his body trembled, and some of\nthe papers he held dropped out of his hands.  And thus he was\noverpowered, and acquitted Ligarius.\n\nHenceforth, the commonwealth being changed into a monarchy,\nCicero withdrew himself from public affairs, and employed his\nleisure in instructing those young men that would, in\nphilosophy; and by the near intercourse he thus had with some of\nthe noblest and highest in rank, he again began to possess great\ninfluence in the city.  The work and object which he set himself\nwas to compose and translate philosophical dialogues and to\nrender logical and physical terms into the Roman idiom.  For he\nit was, as it is said, who first or principally gave Latin names\nto phantasia, syncatathesis, epokhe, catalepsis, atomon,\nameres, kenon, and other such technical terms, which, either by\nmetaphors or other means of accommodation, he succeeded in\nmaking intelligible and expressible to the Romans.  For his\nrecreation, he exercised his dexterity in poetry, and when he\nwas set to it, would make five hundred verses in a night.  He\nspent the greatest part of his time at his country-house near\nTusculum.  He wrote to his friends that he led the life of\nLaertes, either jestingly, as his custom was, or rather from a\nfeeling of ambition for public employment, which made him\nimpatient under the present state of affairs.  He rarely went to\nthe city, unless to pay his court to Caesar.  He was commonly\nthe first amongst those who voted him honors, and sought out new\nterms of praise for himself and for his actions.  As, for\nexample, what he said of the statues of Pompey, which had been\nthrown down, and were afterwards by Caesar's orders set up\nagain: that Caesar, by this act of humanity, had indeed set up\nPompey's statues, but he had fixed and established his own.\n\n\nHe had a design, it is said, of writing the history of his\ncountry, combining with it much of that of Greece, and\nincorporating in it all the stories and legends of the past that\nhe had collected.  But his purposes were interfered with by\nvarious public and various private unhappy occurrences and\nmisfortunes; for most of which he was himself in fault.  For\nfirst of all, he put away his wife Terentia, by whom he had been\nneglected in the time of the war, and sent away destitute of\nnecessaries for his journey; neither did he find her kind when\nhe returned into Italy, for she did not join him at Brundusium,\nwhere he stayed a long time, nor would allow her young daughter,\nwho undertook so long a journey, decent attendance, or the\nrequisite expenses; besides, she left him a naked and empty\nhouse, and yet had involved him in many and great debts.  These\nwere alleged as the fairest reasons for the divorce.  But\nTerentia, who denied them all, had the most unmistakable defense\nfurnished her by her husband himself, who not long after married\na young maiden for the love of her beauty, as Terentia upbraided\nhim; or as Tiro, his emancipated slave, has written, for her\nriches, to discharge his debts.  For the young woman was very\nrich, and Cicero had the custody of her estate, being left\nguardian in trust; and being indebted many myriads of money, he\nwas persuaded by his friends and relations to marry her,\nnotwithstanding his disparity of age, and to use her money to\nsatisfy his creditors.  Antony, who mentions this marriage in\nhis answer to the Philippics, reproaches him for putting away a\nwife with whom he had lived to old age; adding some happy\nstrokes of sarcasm on Cicero's domestic, inactive,\nunsoldier-like habits.  Not long after this marriage, his\ndaughter died in child-bed at Lentulus's house, to whom she had\nbeen married after the death of Piso, her former husband.  The\nphilosophers from all parts came to comfort Cicero; for his\ngrief was so excessive, that he put away his new-married wife,\nbecause she seemed to be pleased at the death of Tullia.  And\nthus stood Cicero's domestic affairs at this time.\n\nHe had no concern in the design that was now forming against\nCaesar, although, in general, he was Brutus's most principal\nconfidant, and one who was as aggrieved at the present, and as\ndesirous of the former state of public affairs, as any other\nwhatsoever.  But they feared his temper, as wanting courage, and\nhis old age, in which the most daring dispositions are apt to\nbe timorous.\n\nAs soon, therefore, as the act was committed by Brutus and\nCassius, and the friends of Caesar were got together, so that\nthere was fear the city would again be involved in a civil war,\nAntony, being consul, convened the senate, and made a short\naddress recommending concord.  And Cicero, following with\nvarious remarks such as the occasion called for, persuaded the\nsenate to imitate the Athenians, and decree an amnesty for what\nhad been done in Caesar's case, and to bestow provinces on\nBrutus and Cassius.  But neither of these things took effect.  For\nas soon as the common people, of themselves inclined to pity,\nsaw the dead body of Caesar borne through the marketplace, and\nAntony showing his clothes filled with blood, and pierced\nthrough in every part with swords, enraged to a degree of\nfrenzy, they made a search for the murderers, and with\nfirebrands in their hands ran to their houses to burn them.\nThey, however, being forewarned, avoided this danger; and\nexpecting many more and greater to come, they left the city.\n\nAntony on this was at once in exultation, and everyone was in\nalarm with the prospect that he would make himself sole ruler,\nand Cicero in more alarm than anyone.  For Antony, seeing his\ninfluence reviving in the commonwealth, and knowing how closely\nhe was connected with Brutus, was ill-pleased to have him in the\ncity.  Besides, there had been some former jealousy between\nthem, occasioned by the difference of their manners.  Cicero,\nfearing the event, was inclined to go as lieutenant with\nDolabella into Syria.  But Hirtius and Pansa, consuls elect as\nsuccessors of Antony, good men and lovers of Cicero, entreated\nhim not to leave them, undertaking to put down Antony if he\nwould stay in Rome.  And he, neither distrusting wholly, nor\ntrusting them, let Dolabella go without him, promising Hirtius\nthat he would go and spend his summer at Athens, and return\nagain when he entered upon his office.  So he set out on his\njourney; but some delay occurring in his passage, new\nintelligence, as often happens, came suddenly from Rome, that\nAntony had made an astonishing change, and was doing all things\nand managing all public affairs at the will of the senate, and\nthat there wanted nothing but his presence to bring things to a\nhappy settlement.  And therefore, blaming himself for his\ncowardice, he returned again to Rome, and was not deceived in\nhis hopes at the beginning.  For such multitudes flocked out to\nmeet him, that the compliments and civilities which were paid\nhim at the gates, and at his entrance into the city, took up\nalmost one whole day's time.\n\nOn the morrow, Antony convened the senate, and summoned Cicero\nthither.  He came not, but kept is bed, pretending to be ill\nwith his journey; but the true reason seemed the fear of some\ndesign against him, upon a suspicion and intimation given him on\nhis way to Rome.  Antony, however, showed great offense at the\naffront, and sent soldiers, commanding them to bring him or burn\nhis house; but many interceding and supplicating for him, he was\ncontented to accept sureties.  Ever after, when they met, they\npassed one another with silence, and continued on their guard,\ntill Caesar, the younger, coming from Apollonia, entered on the\nfirst Caesar's inheritance, and was engaged in a dispute with\nAntony about two thousand five hundred myriads of money, which\nAntony detained from the estate.\n\nUpon this, Philippus, who married the mother, and Marcellus, who\nmarried the sister of young Caesar, came with the young man to\nCicero, and agreed with him that Cicero should give them the aid\nof his eloquence and political influence with the senate and\npeople, and Caesar give Cicero the defense of his riches and\narms.  For the young man had already a great party of the\nsoldiers of Caesar about him.  And Cicero's readiness to join\nhim was founded, it is said, on some yet stronger motives; for\nit seems, while Pompey and Caesar were yet alive, Cicero, in his\nsleep, had fancied himself engaged in calling some of the sons\nof the senators into the capitol, Jupiter being about, according\nto the dream, to declare one of them the chief ruler of Rome.\nThe citizens, running up with curiosity, stood about the temple,\nand the youths, sitting in their purple-bordered robes, kept\nsilence.  On a sudden the doors opened, and the youths, arising\none by one in order, passed round the god, who reviewed them all,\nand, to their sorrow, dismissed them; but when this one was\npassing by, the god stretched forth his right hand and said, \"O\nye Romans, this young man, when he shall be lord of Rome, shall\nput an end to all your civil wars.\"  It is said that Cicero\nformed from his dream a distinct image of the youth, and\nretained it afterwards perfectly, but did not know who it was.\nThe next day, going down into the Campus Martius, he met the\nboys resuming from their gymnastic exercises, and the first was\nhe, just as he had appeared to him in his dream.  Being\nastonished at it, he asked him who were his parents.  And it\nproved to be this young Caesar, whose father was a man of no\ngreat eminence, Octavius, and his mother, Attia, Caesar's\nsister's daughter; for which reason, Caesar, who had no\nchildren, made him by will the heir of his house and property.\nFrom that time, it is said that Cicero studiously noticed the\nyouth whenever he met him, and he as kindly received the\ncivility; and by fortune he happened to be born when Cicero was\nconsul.\n\nThese were the reasons spoken of; but it was principally\nCicero's hatred of Antony, and a temper unable to resist honor,\nwhich fastened him to Caesar, with the purpose of getting the\nsupport of Caesar's power for his own public designs.  For the\nyoung man went so far in his court to him, that he called him\nFather; at which Brutus was so highly displeased, that, in his\nepistles to Atticus he reflected on Cicero saying, it was\nmanifest, by his courting Caesar for fear of Antony, he did not\nintend liberty to his country, but an indulgent master to\nhimself.  Notwithstanding, Brutus took Cicero's son, then\nstudying philosophy at Athens, gave him a command, and employed\nhim in various ways, with a good result.  Cicero's own power at\nthis time was at the greatest height in the city, and he did\nwhatsoever he pleased; he completely overpowered and drove out\nAntony, and sent the two consuls, Hirtius and Pansa, with an\narmy, to reduce him; and, on the other hand, persuaded the\nsenate to allow Caesar the lictors and ensigns of a praetor, as\nthough he were his country's defender.  But after Antony was\ndefeated in battle, and the two consuls slain, the armies\nunited, and ranged themselves with Caesar.  And the senate,\nfearing the young man, and his extraordinary fortune,\nendeavored, by honors and gifts, to call off the soldiers from\nhim, and to lessen his power; professing there was no further\nneed of arms, now Antony was put to flight.\n\nThis giving Caesar an affright, he privately sends some friends\nto entreat and persuade Cicero to procure the consular dignity\nfor them both together; saying he should manage the affairs as\nhe pleased, should have the supreme power, and govern the young\nman who was only desirous of name and glory.  And Caesar himself\nconfessed, that in fear of ruin, and in danger of being\ndeserted, he had seasonably made use of Cicero's ambition,\npersuading him to stand with him, and to accept the offer of his\naid and interest for the consulship.\n\nAnd now, more than at any other time, Cicero let himself be\ncarried away and deceived, though an old man, by the persuasions\nof a boy.  He joined him in soliciting votes, and procured the\ngood-will of the senate, not without blame at the time on the\npart of his friends; and he, too, soon enough after, saw that he\nhad ruined himself, and betrayed the liberty of his country.\nFor the young man, once established, and possessed of the office\nof consul, bade Cicero farewell; and, reconciling himself to\nAntony and Lepidus, joined his power with theirs, and divided\nthe government, like a piece of property, with them.  Thus\nunited, they made a schedule of above two hundred persons who\nwere to be put to death.  But the greatest contention in all\ntheir debates was on the question of Cicero's case.  Antony\nwould come to no conditions, unless he should be the first man\nto be killed.  Lepidus held with Antony, and Caesar opposed them\nboth.  They met secretly and by themselves, for three days\ntogether, near the town of Bononia.  The spot was not far from\nthe camp, with a river surrounding it.  Caesar, it is said,\ncontended earnestly for Cicero the first two days; but on the\nthird day he yielded, and gave him up.\n\nThe terms of their mutual concessions were these; that Caesar\nshould desert Cicero, Lepidus his brother Paulus, and Antony,\nLucius Caesar, his uncle by his mother's side.  Thus they let\ntheir anger and fury take from them the sense of humanity, and\ndemonstrated that no beast is more savage than man, when\npossessed with power answerable to his rage.\n\nWhilst these things were contriving, Cicero was with his brother\nat his country-house near Tusculum; whence, hearing of the\nproscriptions, they determined to pass to Astura, a villa of\nCicero's near the sea, and to take shipping from thence for\nMacedonia to Brutus, of whose strength in that province news had\nalready been heard.  They traveled together in their separate\nlitters, overwhelmed with sorrow; and often stopping on the way\ntill their litters came together, condoled with one another.\nBut Quintus was the more disheartened, when he reflected on his\nwant of means for his journey; for, as he said, he had brought\nnothing with him from home.  And even Cicero himself had but a\nslender provision.  It was judged, therefore, most expedient\nthat Cicero should make what haste he could to fly, and Quintus\nreturn home to provide necessaries, and thus resolved, they\nmutually embraced, and parted with many tears.\n\nQuintus, within a few days after, betrayed by his servants to\nthose who came to search for him, was slain, together with his\nyoung son.  But Cicero was carried to Astura, where, finding a\nvessel, he immediately went on board her, and sailed as far as\nCircaeum with a prosperous gale; but when the pilots resolved\nimmediately to set sail from thence, whether fearing the sea, or\nnot wholly distrusting the faith of Caesar, he went on shore,\nand passed by land a hundred furlongs, as if he was going for\nRome.  But losing resolution and changing his mind, he again\nreturned to the sea, and there spent the night in fearful and\nperplexed thoughts.  Sometimes he resolved to go into Caesar's\nhouse privately, and there kill himself upon the altar of his\nhousehold gods, to bring divine vengeance upon him; but the fear\nof torture put him off this course.  And after passing through a\nvariety of confused and uncertain counsels, at last he let his\nservants carry him by sea to Capitae, where he had a house, an\nagreeable place to retire to in the heat of summer, when the\nEtesian winds are so pleasant.\n\nThere was at that place a chapel of Apollo, not far from the\nsea-side, from which a flight of crows rose with a great noise,\nand made towards Cicero's vessel as it rowed to land, and\nlighting on both sides of the yard, some croaked, others pecked\nthe ends of the ropes.  This was looked upon by all as an ill\nomen; and, therefore, Cicero went again ashore, and entering his\nhouse, lay down upon his bed to compose himself to rest.  Many\nof the crows settled about the window, making a dismal cawing;\nbut one of them alighted upon the bed where Cicero lay covered\nup, and with its bill by little and little pecked off the\nclothes from his face.  His servants, seeing this, blamed\nthemselves that they should stay to be spectators of their\nmaster's murder, and do nothing in his defense, whilst the brute\ncreatures came to assist and take care of him in his undeserved\naffliction; and, therefore, partly by entreaty, partly by force,\nthey took him up, and carried him in his litter towards the\nsea-side.\n\nBut in the meantime the assassins were come with a band of\nsoldiers, Herennius, a centurion, and Popillius, a tribune, whom\nCicero had formerly defended when prosecuted for the murder of\nhis father.  Finding the doors shut, they broke them open, and\nCicero not appearing and those within saying they knew not\nwhere he was, it is stated that a youth, who had been educated\nby Cicero in the liberal arts and sciences, an emancipated slave\nof his brother Quintus, Philologus by name, informed the tribune\nthat the litter was on its way to the sea through the close and\nshady walks.  The tribune, taking a few with him, ran to the\nplace where he was to come out.  And Cicero, perceiving\nHerennius running in the walks, commanded his servants to set\ndown the litter; and stroking his chin, as he used to do, with\nhis left hand, he looked steadfastly upon his murderers, his\nperson covered with dust, his beard and hair untrimmed, and his\nface worn with his troubles.  So that the greatest part of those\nthat stood by covered their faces whilst Herennius slew him.\nAnd thus was he murdered, stretching forth his neck out of the\nlitter, being now in his sixty-fourth year.  Herennius cut off\nhis head, and, by Antony's command, his hands also, by which his\nPhilippics were written; for so Cicero styled those orations he\nwrote against Antony, and so they are called to this day.\n\nWhen these members of Cicero were brought to Rome, Antony was\nholding an assembly for the choice of public officers; and when\nhe heard it, and saw them, he cried out, \"Now let there be an\nend of our proscriptions.\"  He commanded his head and hands to\nbe fastened up over the Rostra, where the orators spoke; a sight\nwhich the Roman people shuddered to behold, and they believed\nthey saw there not the face of Cicero, but the image of Antony's\nown soul.  And yet amidst these actions he did justice in one\nthing, by delivering up Philologus to Pomponia, the wife of\nQuintus; who, having got his body into her power, besides other\ngrievous punishments, made him cut off his own flesh by pieces,\nand roast and eat it; for so some writers have related.  But\nTiro, Cicero's emancipated slave, has not so much as mentioned\nthe treachery of Philologus.\n\nSome long time after, Caesar, I have been told, visiting one of\nhis daughter's sons, found him with a book of Cicero's in his\nhand.  The boy for fear endeavored to hide it under his gown;\nwhich Caesar perceiving, took it from him, and turning over a\ngreat part of the book standing, gave it him again, and said,\n\"My child, this was a learned man, and a lover of his country.\"\nAnd immediately after he had vanquished Antony, being then\nconsul, he made Cicero's son his colleague in the office; and\nunder that consulship, the senate took down all the statues of\nAntony, and abolished all the other honors that had been given\nhim, and decreed that none of that family should thereafter bear\nthe name of Marcus; and thus the final acts of the punishment of\nAntony were, by the divine powers, devolved upon the family of\nCicero.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF DEMOSTHENES AND CICERO\n\nThese are the most memorable circumstances recorded in history\nof Demosthenes and Cicero which have come to our knowledge.  But\nomitting an exact comparison of their respective faculties in\nspeaking, yet thus much seems fit to be said; that Demosthenes,\nto make himself a master in rhetoric, applied all the faculties\nhe had, natural or acquired, wholly that way; that he far\nsurpassed in force and strength of eloquence all his\ncontemporaries in political and judicial speaking, in grandeur\nand majesty all the panegyrical orators, and in accuracy and\nscience all the logicians and rhetoricians of his day; that\nCicero was highly educated, and by his diligent study became a\nmost accomplished general scholar in all these branches, having\nleft behind him numerous philosophical treatises of his own on\nAcademic principles; as, indeed, even in his written speeches,\nboth political and judicial, we see him continually trying to\nshow his learning by the way.  And one may discover the\ndifferent temper of each of them in their speeches.  For\nDemosthenes's oratory was without all embellishment and jesting,\nwholly composed for real effect and seriousness; not smelling of\nthe lamp, as Pytheas scoffingly said, but of the temperance,\nthoughtfulness, austerity, and grave earnestness of his temper.\nWhereas Cicero's love of mockery often ran him into scurrility;\nand in his love of laughing away serious arguments in judicial\ncases by jests and facetious remarks, with a view to the\nadvantage of his clients, he paid too little regard to what was\ndecent: saying, for example, in his defense of Caelius, that he\nhad done no absurd thing in such plenty and affluence to indulge\nhimself in pleasures, it being a kind of madness not to enjoy\nthe things we possess, especially since the most eminent\nphilosophers have asserted pleasure to be the chiefest good.  So\nalso we are told, that when Cicero, being consul, undertook the\ndefense of Murena against Cato's prosecution, by way of\nbantering Cato, he made a long series of jokes upon the absurd\nparadoxes, as they are called, of the Stoic sect; so that a loud\nlaughter passing from the crowd to the judges, Cato, with a\nquiet smile, said to those that sat next him, \"My friends, what\nan amusing consul we have.\"\n\nAnd, indeed, Cicero was by natural temper very much disposed to\nmirth and pleasantry, and always appeared with a smiling and\nserene countenance.  But Demosthenes had constant care and\nthoughtfulness in his look, and a serious anxiety, which he\nseldom, if ever, laid aside; and, therefore, was accounted by\nhis enemies, as he himself confessed, morose and ill-mannered.\n\nAlso, it is very evident, out of their several writings, that\nDemosthenes never touched upon his own praises but decently and\nwithout offense when there was need of it, and for some\nweightier end; but, upon other occasions modestly and sparingly.\nBut Cicero's immeasurable boasting of himself in his orations\nargues him guilty of an uncontrollable appetite for distinction,\nhis cry being evermore that arms should give place to the gown,\nand the soldier's laurel to the tongue. And at last we find him\nextolling not only his deeds and actions, but his orations also,\nas well those that were only spoken, as those that were\npublished; as if he were engaged in a boyish trial of skill, who\nshould speak best, with the rhetoricians, Isocrates and\nAnaximenes, not as one who could claim the task to guide and\ninstruct the Roman nation, the\n\nSoldier full-armed, terrific to the foe.\n\nIt is necessary, indeed, for a political leader to be an able\nspeaker; but it is an ignoble thing for any man to admire and\nrelish the glory of his own eloquence.  And, in this matter,\nDemosthenes had a more than ordinary gravity and magnificence of\nmind, accounting his talent in speaking nothing more than a mere\naccomplishment and matter of practice, the success of which must\ndepend greatly on the good-will and candor of his hearers, and\nregarding those who pride themselves on such accounts to be men\nof a low and petty disposition.\n\nThe power of persuading and governing the people did, indeed,\nequally belong to both, so that those who had armies and camps\nat command stood in need of their assistance; as Chares,\nDiopithes, and Leosthenes of Demosthenes's, Pompey and young\nCaesar of Cicero's, as the latter himself admits in his Memoirs\naddressed to Agrippa and Maecenas.  But what are thought and\ncommonly said most to demonstrate and try the tempers of men,\nnamely, authority and place, by moving every passion, and\ndiscovering every frailty, these are things which Demosthenes\nnever received; nor was he ever in a position to give such proof\nof himself, having never obtained any eminent office, nor led\nany of those armies into the field against Philip which he\nraised by his eloquence.  Cicero, on the other hand, was sent\nquaestor into Sicily, and proconsul into Cilicia and Cappadocia,\nat a time when avarice was at the height, and the commanders and\ngovernors who were employed abroad, as though they thought it a\nmean thing to steal, set themselves to seize by open force; so\nthat it seemed no heinous matter to take bribes, but he that did\nit most moderately was in good esteem.  And yet he, at this\ntime, gave the most abundant proofs alike of his contempt of\nriches and of his humanity and good-nature.  And at Rome, when\nhe was created consul in name, but indeed received sovereign and\ndictatorial authority against Catiline and his conspirators, he\nattested the truth of Plato's prediction, that then the miseries\nof states would be at an end, when by a happy fortune supreme\npower, wisdom, and justice should be united in one.\n\nIt is said, to the reproach of Demosthenes, that his eloquence\nwas mercenary; that he privately made orations for Phormion and\nApollodorus, though adversaries in the same cause; that he was\ncharged with moneys received from the king of Persia, and\ncondemned for bribes from Harpalus.  And should we grant that\nall those (and they are not few) who have made these statements\nagainst him have spoken what is untrue, yet that Demosthenes was\nnot the character to look without desire on the presents offered\nhim out of respect and gratitude by royal persons, and that one\nwho lent money on maritime usury was likely to be thus indifferent,\nis what we cannot assert.  But that Cicero refused, from the\nSicilians when he was quaestor, from the king of Cappadocia when\nhe was proconsul, and from his friends at Rome when he was in exile,\nmany presents, though urged to receive them, has been said already.\n\nMoreover, Demosthenes's banishment was infamous, upon conviction\nfor bribery; Cicero's very honorable, for ridding his country of\na set of villains.  Therefore, when Demosthenes fled his\ncountry, no man regarded it; for Cicero's sake the senate\nchanged their habit, and put on mourning, and would not be\npersuaded to make any act before Cicero's return was decreed.\nCicero, however, passed his exile idly in Macedonia.  But the\nvery exile of Demosthenes made up a great part of the services\nhe did for his country; for he went through the cities of\nGreece, and everywhere, as we have said, joined in the conflict\non behalf of the Grecians, driving out the Macedonian\nambassadors, and approving himself a much better citizen than\nThemistocles and Alcibiades did in the like fortune.  And, after\nhis return, he again devoted himself to the same public service,\nand continued firm to his opposition to Antipater and the\nMacedonians.  Whereas Laelius reproached Cicero in the senate\nfor sitting silent when Caesar, a beardless youth, asked leave\nto come forward, contrary to the law, as a candidate for the\nconsulship; and Brutus, in his epistles, charges him with\nnursing and rearing a greater and more heavy tyranny than that\nthey had removed.\n\nFinally, Cicero's death excites our pity; for an old man to be\nmiserably carried up and down by his servants, flying and hiding\nhimself from that death which was, in the course of nature, so\nnear at hand; and yet at last to be murdered.  Demosthenes,\nthough he seemed at first a little to supplicate, yet, by his\npreparing and keeping the poison by him, demands our admiration;\nand still more admirable was his using it.  When the temple of\nthe god no longer afforded him a sanctuary, he took refuge, as\nit were, at a mightier altar, freeing himself from arms and\nsoldiers, and laughing to scorn the cruelty of Antipater.\n\n\n\nDEMETRIUS\n\nIngenious men have long observed a resemblance between the arts\nand the bodily senses.  And they were first led to do so, I\nthink, by noticing the way in which, both in the arts and with\nour senses, we examine opposites.  Judgment once obtained, the\nuse to which we put it differs in the two cases.  Our senses are\nnot meant to pick out black rather than white, to prefer sweet\nto bitter, or soft and yielding to hard and resisting objects;\nall they have to do is to receive impressions as they occur, and\nreport to the understanding the impressions as received.  The\narts, on the other hand, which reason institutes expressly to\nchoose and obtain some suitable, and to refuse and get rid of\nsome unsuitable object, have their proper concern in the\nconsideration of the former; though, in a casual and contingent\nway, they must also, for the very rejection of them, pay\nattention to the latter.  Medicine, to produce health, has to\nexamine disease, and music, to create harmony, must investigate\ndiscord; and the supreme arts, of temperance, of justice, and of\nwisdom, as they are acts of judgment and selection, exercised\nnot on good and just and expedient only, but also on wicked,\nunjust, and inexpedient objects, do not give their commendations\nto the mere innocence whose boast is its inexperience of evil,\nand whose truer name is, by their award, suppleness and\nignorance of what all men who live aright should know.  The\nancient Spartans, at their festivals, used to force their Helots\nto swallow large quantities of raw wine, and then to expose them\nat the public tables, to let the young men see what it is to be\ndrunk.  And, though I do not think it consistent with humanity\nor with civil justice to correct one man's morals by corrupting\nthose of another, yet we may, I think, avail ourselves of the\ncases of those who have fallen into indiscretions, and have, in\nhigh stations, made themselves conspicuous for misconduct; and I\nshall not do ill to introduce a pair or two of such examples\namong these biographies, not, assuredly, to amuse and divert my\nreaders, or give variety to my theme, but, as Ismenias, the\nTheban, used to show his scholars good and bad performers on the\nflute, and to tell them, \"You should play like this man,\" and\n\"You should not play like that,\" and as Antigenidas used to say,\nYoung people would take greater pleasure in hearing good\nplaying, if first they were set to hear bad, so, and in the same\nmanner, it seems to me likely enough that we shall be all the\nmore zealous and more emulous to read, observe, and imitate the\nbetter lives, if we are not left in ignorance of the blameworthy\nand the bad.\n\nFor this reason, the following book contains the lives of\nDemetrius Poliorcetes, and Antonius the Triumvir; two persons\nwho have abundantly justified the words of Plato, that great\nnatures produce great vices as well as virtues.  Both alike were\namorous and intemperate, warlike and munificent, sumptuous in\ntheir way of living, and overbearing in their manners.  And the\nlikeness of their fortunes carried out the resemblance in their\ncharacters.  Not only were their lives each a series of great\nsuccesses and great disasters, mighty acquisitions and\ntremendous losses of power, sudden overthrows, followed by\nunexpected recoveries, but they died, also, Demetrius in actual\ncaptivity to his enemies, and Antony on the verge of it.\n\nAntigonus had by his wife, Stratonice, the daughter of\nCorrhaeus, two sons; the one of whom, after the name of his\nuncle, he called Demetrius, the other had that of his\ngrandfather Philip, and died young.  This is the most general\naccount, although some have related, that Demetrius was not the\nson of Antigonus, but of his brother; and that his own father\ndying young, and his mother being afterwards married to\nAntigonus, he was accounted to be his son.\n\nDemetrius had not the height of his father Antigonus, though he\nwas a tall man.  But his countenance was one of such singular\nbeauty and expression, that no painter or sculptor ever produced\na good likeness of him.  It combined grace and strength, dignity\nwith boyish bloom, and, in the midst of youthful heat and\npassion, what was hardest of all to represent was a certain\nheroic look and air of kingly greatness.  Nor did his character\nbelie his looks, as no one was better able to render himself\nboth loved and feared.  For as he was the most easy and\nagreeable of companions, and the most luxurious and delicate of\nprinces in his drinking and banqueting and daily pleasures, so\nin action there was never anyone that showed a more vehement\npersistence, or a more passionate energy.  Bacchus, skilled in\nthe conduct of war, and after war in giving peace its pleasures\nand joys, seems to have been his pattern among the gods.\n\nHe was wonderfully fond of his father Antigonus; and the\ntenderness he had for his mother led him, for her sake, to\nredouble attentions, which it was evident were not so much owing\nto fear or duty as to the more powerful motives of inclination.\nIt is reported, that, returning one day from hunting, he went\nimmediately into the apartment of Antigonus, who was conversing\nwith some ambassadors, and after stepping up and kissing his\nfather, he sat down by him, just as he was, still holding in his\nhand the javelins which he had brought with him.  Whereupon\nAntigonus, who had just dismissed the ambassadors with their\nanswer, called out in a loud voice to them, as they were going,\n\"Mention, also, that this is the way in which we two live\ntogether;\" as if to imply to them that it was no slender mark of\nthe power and security of his government that there was so\nperfect a good understanding between himself and his son.  Such\nan unsociable, solitary thing is power, and so much of jealousy\nand distrust in it, that the first and greatest of the\nsuccessors of Alexander could make it a thing to glory in that\nhe was not so afraid of his son as to forbid his standing beside\nhim with a weapon in his hand.  And, in fact, among all the\nsuccessors of Alexander, that of Antigonus was the only house\nwhich, for many descents, was exempted from crime of this kind;\nor, to state it exactly, Philip was the only one of this family\nwho was guilty of a son's death.  All the other families, we may\nfairly say, afforded frequent examples of fathers who brought\ntheir children, husbands their wives, children their mothers, to\nuntimely ends; and that brothers should put brothers to death\nwas assumed, like the postulates of mathematicians, as the\ncommon and recognized royal first principle of safety.\n\nLet us here record an example in the early life of Demetrius,\nshowing his natural humane and kindly disposition.  It was an\nadventure which passed betwixt him and Mithridates, the son of\nAriobarzanes, who was about the same age with Demetrius, and\nlived with him, in attendance on Antigonus; and although nothing\nwas said or could be said to his reproach, he fell under\nsuspicion, in consequence of a dream which Antigonus had.\nAntigonus thought himself in a fair and spacious field, where he\nsowed golden seed, and saw presently a golden crop come up; of\nwhich, however, looking presently again, he saw nothing remain\nbut the stubble, without the ears.  And as he stood by in anger\nand vexation, he heard some voices saying, Mithridates had cut\nthe golden harvest and carried it off into Pontus.  Antigonus,\nmuch discomposed with his dream, first bound his son by an oath\nnot to speak, and then related it to him, adding, that he had\nresolved, in consequence, to lose no time in ridding himself of\nMithridates, and making away with him.  Demetrius was extremely\ndistressed; and when the young man came, as usual, to pass his\ntime with him, to keep his oath he forbore from saying a word,\nbut, drawing him aside little by little from the company, as\nsoon as they were by themselves, without opening his lips, with\nthe point of his javelin he traced before him the words, \"Fly,\nMithridates.\"  Mithridates took the hint, and fled by night into\nCappadocia, where Antigonus's dream about him was quickly\nbrought to its due fulfillment; for he got possession of a large\nand fertile territory; and from him descended the line of the\nkings of Pontus, which, in the eighth generation, was reduced by\nthe Romans.  This may serve for a specimen of the early goodness\nand love of justice that was part of Demetrius's natural\ncharacter.\n\nBut as in the elements of the world, Empedocles tells us, out of\nliking and dislike, there spring up contention and warfare, and\nall the more, the closer the contact, or the nearer the approach\nof the objects, even so the perpetual hostilities among the\nsuccessors of Alexander were aggravated and inflamed, in\nparticular cases, by juxtaposition of interests and of\nterritories; as, for example, in the case of Antigonus and\nPtolemy.  News came to Antigonus that Ptolemy had crossed from\nCyprus and invaded Syria, and was ravaging the country and\nreducing the cities.  Remaining, therefore, himself in Phrygia,\nhe sent Demetrius, now twenty-two years old, to make his first\nessay as sole commander in an important charge.  He, whose\nyouthful heat outran his experience, advancing against an\nadversary trained in Alexander's school, and practiced in many\nencounters, incurred a great defeat near the town of Gaza, in\nwhich eight thousand of his men were taken, and five thousand\nkilled.  His own tent, also, his money, and all his private\neffects and furniture, were captured.  These, however, Ptolemy\nsent back, together with his friends, accompanying them with the\nhumane and courteous message, that they were not fighting for\nanything else but honor and dominion.  Demetrius accepted the\ngift, praying only to the gods not to leave him long in\nPtolemy's debt, but to let him have an early chance of doing the\nlike to him.  He took his disaster, also, with the temper not of\na boy defeated in his attempt, but of an old and long-tried\ngeneral, familiar with reverse of fortune; he busied himself in\ncollecting his men, replenishing his magazines, watching the\nallegiance of the cities, and drilling his new recruits.\n\nAntigonus received the news of the battle with the remark, that\nPtolemy had beaten boys, and would now have to fight with men.\nBut not to humble the spirit of his son, he acceded to his\nrequest, and left him to command on the next occasion.\n\nNot long after, Cilles, Ptolemy's lieutenant, with a powerful\narmy, took the field, and, looking upon Demetrius as already\ndefeated by the previous battle, he had in his imagination\ndriven him out of Syria before he saw him.  But he quickly found\nhimself deceived; for Demetrius came so unexpectedly upon him\nthat he surprised both the general and his army, making him and\nseven thousand of the soldiers prisoners of war, and possessing\nhimself of a large amount of treasure.  But his joy in the\nvictory was not so much for the prizes he should keep, as for\nthose he could restore; and his thankfulness was less for the\nwealth and glory than for the means it gave him of requiting his\nenemy's former generosity.  He did not, however, take it into\nhis own hands, but wrote to his father.  And on receiving leave\nto do as he liked, he sent back to Ptolemy Cilles and his\nfriends, loaded with presents.  This defeat drove Ptolemy out of\nSyria, and brought Antigonus from Celaenae, to enjoy the\nvictory, and the sight of the son who had gained it.\n\nSoon after, Demetrius was sent to bring the Nabathaean Arabs\ninto obedience.  And here he got into a district without water,\nand incurred considerable danger, but by his resolute and\ncomposed demeanor he overawed the barbarians, and returned after\nreceiving from them a large amount of booty, and seven hundred\ncamels.  Not long after, Seleucus, whom Antigonus had formerly\nchased out of Babylon, but who had afterwards recovered his\ndominion by his own efforts and maintained himself in it, went\nwith large forces on an expedition to reduce the tribes on the\nconfines of India and the provinces near Mount Caucasus.  And\nDemetrius, conjecturing that he had left Mesopotamia but\nslenderly guarded in his absence, suddenly passed the Euphrates\nwith his army, and made his way into Babylonia unexpectedly;\nwhere he succeeded in capturing one of the two citadels, out of\nwhich he expelled the garrison of Seleucus, and placed in it\nseven thousand men of his own.  And after allowing his soldiers\nto enrich themselves with all the spoil they could carry with\nthem out of the country, he retired to the sea, leaving Seleucus\nmore securely master of his dominions than before, as he seemed\nby this conduct to abandon every claim to a country which he\ntreated like an enemy's.  However, by a rapid advance, he\nrescued Halicarnassus from Ptolemy, who was besieging it.  The\nglory which this act obtained them inspired both the father and\nson with a wonderful desire for freeing Greece, which Cassander\nand Ptolemy had everywhere reduced to slavery.  No nobler or\njuster war was undertaken by any of the kings; the wealth they\nhad gained while humbling, with Greek assistance, the barbarians\nbeing thus employed, for honor's sake and good repute, in\nhelping the Greeks.  When the resolution was taken to begin\ntheir attempt with Athens, one of his friends told Antigonus, if\nthey captured Athens, they must keep it safe in their own hands,\nas by this gangway they might step out from their ships into\nGreece when they pleased.  But Antigonus would not hear of it;\nhe did not want a better or a steadier gangway than people's\ngood-will; and from Athens, the beacon of the world, the news of\ntheir conduct would soon be handed on to all the world's\ninhabitants.  So Demetrius, with a sum of five thousand talents,\nand a fleet of two hundred and fifty ships, set sail for Athens,\nwhere Demetrius the Phalerian was governing the city for\nCassander, with a garrison lodged in the port of Munychia.  By\ngood fortune and skillful management he appeared before Piraeus,\non the twenty-sixth of Thargelion, before anything had been\nheard of him.  Indeed, when his ships were seen, they were taken\nfor Ptolemy's, and preparations were commenced for receiving\nthem; till at last, the generals discovering their mistake,\nhurried down, and all was alarm and confusion, and attempts to\npush forward preparations to oppose the landing of this hostile\nforce.  For Demetrius, having found the entrances of the port\nundefended, stood in directly, and was by this time safely\ninside, before the eyes of everybody, and made signals from his\nship, requesting a peaceable hearing.  And on leave being given,\nhe caused a herald with a loud voice to make proclamation that\nhe was come thither by the command of his father, with no other\ndesign than what he prayed the gods to prosper with success, to\ngive the Athenians their liberty, to expel the garrison, and to\nrestore the ancient laws and constitution of the country.\n\nThe people, hearing this, at once threw down their shields, and,\nclapping their hands, with loud acclamations entreated Demetrius\nto land, calling him their deliverer and benefactor.  And the\nPhalerian and his party, who saw that there was nothing for it\nbut to receive the conqueror, whether he should perform his\npromises or not, sent, however, messengers to beg for his\nprotection; to whom Demetrius gave a kind reception, and sent\nback with them Aristodemus of Miletus, one of his father's\nfriends.  The Phalerian, under the change of government, was\nmore afraid of his fellow-citizens than of the enemy; but\nDemetrius took precautions for him, and, out of respect for his\nreputation and character, sent him with a safe conduct to\nThebes, whither he desired to go.  For himself, he declared he\nwould not, in spite of all his curiosity, put his foot in the\ncity, till he had completed its deliverance by driving out the\ngarrison.  So, blockading Munychia with a palisade and trench,\nhe sailed off to attack Megara, where also there was one of\nCassander's garrisons.  But, hearing that Cratesipolis, the wife\nof Alexander son of Polysperchon, who was famous for her beauty,\nwas well disposed to see him, he left his troops near Megara,\nand set out with a few light-armed attendants for Patrae, where\nshe was now staying.  And, quitting these also, he pitched his\ntent apart from everybody, that the woman might pay her visit\nwithout being seen.  This some of the enemy perceived, and\nsuddenly attacked him; and, in his alarm, he was obliged to\ndisguise himself in a shabby cloak, and run for it, narrowly\nescaping the shame of being made a prisoner, in reward for his\nfoolish passion.  And as it was, his tent and money were taken.\nMegara, however, surrendered, and would have been pillaged by\nthe soldiers, but for the urgent intercession of the Athenians.\nThe garrison was driven out, and the city restored to\nindependence.  While he was occupied in this, he remembered that\nStilpo, the philosopher, famous for his choice of a life of\ntranquillity, was residing here.  He, therefore, sent for him,\nand begged to know whether anything belonging to him had been\ntaken.  \"No,\" replied Stilpo, \"I have not met with anyone to\ntake away knowledge.\"  Pretty nearly all the servants in the\ncity had been stolen away; and so, when Demetrius, renewing his\ncourtesies to Stilpo, on taking leave of him, said, \"I leave\nyour city, Stilpo, a city of freemen,\" \"certainly,\" replied\nStilpo, \"there is not one serving man left among us all.\"\n\nReturning from Megara, he sat down before the citadel of\nMunychia, which in a few days he took by assault, and caused the\nfortifications to be demolished; and thus having accomplished\nhis design, upon the request and invitation of the Athenians he\nmade his entrance into the upper city, where, causing the people\nto be summoned, he publicly announced to them that their ancient\nconstitution was restored, and that they should receive from his\nfather, Antigonus, a present of one hundred and fifty thousand\nmeasures of wheat, and such a supply of timber as would enable\nthem to build a hundred galleys.  In this manner did the\nAthenians recover their popular institutions, after the space of\nfifteen years from the time of the war of Lamia and the battle\nbefore Cranon, during which interval of time the government had\nbeen administered nominally as an oligarchy, but really by a\nsingle man, Demetrius the Phalerian being so powerful.  But the\nexcessive honors which the Athenians bestowed, for these noble\nand generous acts, upon Demetrius, created offense and disgust.\nThe Athenians were the first who gave Antigonus and Demetrius\nthe title of kings, which hitherto they had made it a point of\npiety to decline, as the one remaining royal honor still\nreserved for the lineal descendants of Philip and Alexander, in\nwhich none but they could venture to participate.  Another name\nwhich they received from no people but the Athenians was that of\nthe Tutelar Deities and Deliverers.  And to enhance this\nflattery, by a common vote it was decreed to change the style of\nthe city, and not to have the years named any longer from the\nannual archon; a priest of the two Tutelary Divinities, who was\nto be yearly chosen, was to have this honor, and all public acts\nand instruments were to bear their date by his name.  They\ndecreed, also, that the figures of Antigonus and Demetrius\nshould be woven, with those of the gods, into the pattern of the\ngreat robe. They consecrated the spot where Demetrius first\nalighted from his chariot, and built an altar there, with the\nname of the Altar of the Descent of Demetrius.  They created two\nnew tribes, calling them after the names of these princes, the\nAntigonid and the Demetriad; and to the Council, which consisted\nof five hundred persons, fifty being chosen out of every tribe,\nthey added one hundred more to represent these new tribes.  But\nthe wildest proposal was one made by Stratocles, the great\ninventor of all these ingenious and exquisite compliments,\nenacting that the members of any deputation that the city should\nsend to Demetrius or Antigonus should have the same title as\nthose sent to Delphi or Olympia for the performance of the\nnational sacrifices in behalf of the state, at the great Greek\nfestivals. This Stratocles was, in all respects, an audacious\nand abandoned character, and seemed to have made it his object\nto copy, by his buffoonery and impertinence, Cleon's old\nfamiliarity with the people.  His mistress, Phylacion, one day\nbringing him a dish of brains and neckbones for his dinner,\n\"Oh,\" said he, \"I am to dine upon the things which we statesmen\nplay at ball with.\"  At another time, when the Athenians\nreceived their naval defeat near Amorgos, he hastened home\nbefore the news could reach the city, and, having a chaplet on\nhis head, came riding through the Ceramicus, announcing that\nthey had won a victory, and moved a vote for thanksgivings to\nthe gods, and a distribution of meat among the people in their\ntribes.  Presently after came those who brought home the wrecks\nfrom the battle; and when the people exclaimed at what he had\ndone, he came boldly to face the outcry, and asked what harm\nthere had been in giving them two days' pleasure.\n\nSuch was Stratocles.  And, \"adding flame to fire,\" as\nAristophanes says, there was one who, to outdo Stratocles,\nproposed, that it should be decreed, that whensoever Demetrius\nshould honor their city with his presence, they should treat him\nwith the same show of hospitable entertainment, with which Ceres\nand Bacchus are received; and the citizen who exceeded the rest\nin the splendor and costliness of his reception should have a\nsum of money granted him from the public purse to make a sacred\noffering.  Finally, they changed the name of the month of\nMunychion, and called it Demetrion; they gave the name of the\nDemetrian to the odd day between the end of the old and the\nbeginning of the new month; and turned the feast of Bacchus, the\nDionysia, into the Demetria, or feast of Demetrius.  Most of\nthese changes were marked by the divine displeasure.  The sacred\nrobe, in which, according to their decree, the figures of\nDemetrius and Antigonus had been woven with those of Jupiter and\nMinerva, was caught by a violent gust of wind, while the\nprocession was conveying it through the Ceramicus, and was torn\nfrom the top to the bottom.  A crop of hemlock, a plant which\nscarcely grew anywhere, even in the country thereabout, sprang\nup in abundance round the altars which they had erected to these\nnew divinities.  They had to omit the solemn procession at the\nfeast of Bacchus, as upon the very day of its celebration there\nwas such a severe and rigorous frost, coming quite out of its\ntime, that not only the vines and fig-trees were killed, but\nalmost all the wheat was destroyed in the blade.  Accordingly,\nPhilippides, an enemy to Stratocles, attacked him in a comedy,\nin the following verses: --\n\nHe for whom frosts that nipped your vines were sent,\nAnd for whose sins the holy robe was rent,\nWho grants to men the gods' own honors, he,\nNot the poor stage, is now the people's enemy.\n\nPhilippides was a great favorite with king Lysimachus, from whom\nthe Athenians received, for his sake, a variety of kindnesses.\nLysimachus went so far as to think it a happy omen to meet or\nsee Philippides at the outset of any enterprise or expedition.\nAnd, in general, he was well thought of for his own character,\nas a plain, uninterfering person, with none of the officious,\nself-important habits of a court.  Once, when Lysimachus was\nsolicitous to show him kindness, and asked what he had that he\ncould make him a present of, \"Anything,\" replied Philippides,\n\"but your state secrets.\"  The stage-player, we thought,\ndeserved a place in our narrative quite as well as the public\nspeaker.\n\nBut that which exceeded all the former follies and flatteries,\nwas the proposal of Dromoclides of Sphettus; who, when there was\na debate about sending to the Delphic Oracle to inquire the\nproper course for the consecration of certain bucklers, moved in\nthe assembly that they should rather send to receive an oracle\nfrom Demetrius.  I will transcribe the very words of the order,\nwhich was in these terms: \"May it be happy and propitious.  The\npeople of Athens have decreed, that a fit person shall be\nchosen among the Athenian citizens, who shall be deputed to be\nsent to the Deliverer; and after he hath duly performed the\nsacrifices, shall inquire of the Deliverer, in what most\nreligious and decent manner he will please to direct, at the\nearliest possible time, the consecration of the bucklers; and\naccording to the answer the people shall act.\"  With this\nbefooling they completed the perversion of a mind which even\nbefore was not so strong or sound as it should have been.\n\nDuring his present leisure in Athens, he took to wife Eurydice,\na descendant of the ancient Miltiades, who had been married to\nOpheltas, the ruler of Cyrene, and after his death had come back\nto Athens.  The Athenians took the marriage as a compliment and\nfavor to the city.  But Demetrius was very free in these\nmatters, and was the husband of several wives at once; the\nhighest place and honor among all being retained by Phila, who\nwas Antipater's daughter, and had been the wife of Craterus, the\none of all the successors of Alexander who left behind him the\nstrongest feelings of attachment among the Macedonians.  And for\nthese reasons Antigonus had obliged him to marry her,\nnotwithstanding the disparity of their years, Demetrius being\nquite a youth, and she much older; and when upon that account he\nmade some difficulty in complying, Antigonus whispered in his\near the maxim from Euripides, broadly substituting a new word\nfor the original, serve, --\n\nNatural or not,\nA man must wed where profit will be got.\n\nAny respect, however, which he showed either to Phila or to his\nother wives did not go so far as to prevent him from consorting\nwith any number of mistresses, and bearing, in this respect,\nthe worst character of all the princes of his time.\n\nA summons now arrived from his father, ordering him to go and\nfight with Ptolemy in Cyprus, which he was obliged to obey,\nsorry as he was to abandon Greece.  And in quitting this nobler\nand more glorious enterprise, he sent to Cleonides, Ptolemy's\ngeneral, who was holding garrisons in Sicyon and Corinth,\noffering him money to let the cities be independent.  But on his\nrefusal, he set sail hastily, taking additional forces with him,\nand made for Cyprus; where, immediately upon his arrival, he\nfell upon Menelaus, the brother of Ptolemy, and gave him a\ndefeat.  But when Ptolemy himself came in person, with large\nforces both on land and sea, for some little time nothing took\nplace beyond an interchange of menaces and lofty talk.  Ptolemy\nbade Demetrius sail off before the whole armament came up, if he\ndid not wish to be trampled under foot; and Demetrius offered to\nlet him retire, on condition of his withdrawing his garrisons\nfrom Sicyon and Corinth.  And not they alone, but all the other\npotentates and princes of the time, were in anxiety for the\nuncertain impending issue of the conflict; as it seemed evident,\nthat the conqueror's prize would be, not Cyprus or Syria, but\nthe absolute supremacy.\n\nPtolemy had brought a hundred and fifty galleys with him, and\ngave orders to Menelaus to sally, in the heat of the battle, out\nof the harbor of Salamis, and attack with sixty ships the rear\nof Demetrius.  Demetrius, however, opposing to these sixty ten\nof his galleys, which were a sufficient number to block up the\nnarrow entrance of the harbor, and drawing out his land forces\nalong all the headlands running out into the sea, went into\naction with a hundred and eighty galleys, and, attacking with\nthe utmost boldness and impetuosity, utterly routed Ptolemy, who\nfled with eight ships, the sole remnant of his fleet, seventy\nhaving been taken with all their men, and the rest destroyed in\nthe battle; while the whole multitude of attendants, friends,\nand women, that had followed in the ships of burden, all the\narms, treasure, and military engines fell, without exception,\ninto the hands of Demetrius, and were by him collected and\nbrought into the camp.  Among the prisoners was the celebrated\nLamia, famed at one time for her skill on the flute, and\nafterwards renowned as a mistress.  And although now upon the\nwane of her youthful beauty, and though Demetrius was much her\njunior, she exercised over him so great a charm, that all other\nwomen seemed to be amorous of Demetrius, but Demetrius amorous\nonly of Lamia.  After this signal victory, Demetrius came before\nSalamis; and Menelaus, unable to make any resistance,\nsurrendered himself and all his fleet, twelve hundred horse, and\ntwelve thousand foot, together with the place.  But that which\nadded more than all to the glory and splendor of the success was\nthe humane and generous conduct of Demetrius to the vanquished.\nFor, after he had given honorable funerals to the dead, he\nbestowed liberty upon the living; and that he might not forget\nthe Athenians, he sent them, as a present, complete arms for\ntwelve hundred men.\n\nTo carry this happy news, Aristodemus of Miletus, the most\nperfect flatterer belonging to the court, was dispatched to\nAntigonus; and he, to enhance the welcome message, was resolved,\nit would appear, to make his most successful effort.  When he\ncrossed from Cyprus, he bade the galley which conveyed him come\nto anchor off the land; and, having ordered all the ship's crew\nto remain aboard, he took the boat, and was set ashore alone.\nThus he proceeded to Antigonus, who, one may well imagine, was\nin suspense enough about the issue, and suffered all the\nanxieties natural to men engaged in so perilous a struggle.  And\nwhen he heard that Aristodemus was coming alone, it put him into\nyet greater trouble; he could scarcely forbear from going out to\nmeet him himself; he sent messenger on messenger, and friend\nafter friend, to inquire what news.  But Aristodemus, walking\ngravely and with a settled countenance, without making any\nanswer, still proceeded quietly onward; until Antigonus, quite\nalarmed and no longer able to refrain, got up and met him at the\ngate, whither he came with a crowd of anxious followers now\ncollected and running after him.  As soon as he saw Antigonus\nwithin hearing, stretching out his hands, he accosted him with\nthe loud exclamation, \"Hail, king Antigonus! we have defeated\nPtolemy by sea, and have taken Cyprus and sixteen thousand eight\nhundred prisoners.\"  \"Welcome, Aristodemus,\" replied Antigonus,\n\"but, as you chose to torture us so long for your good news, you\nmay wait awhile for the reward of it.\"\n\nUpon this the people around gave Antigonus and Demetrius, for\nthe first time, the title of kings.  His friends at once set a\ndiadem on the head of Antigonus; and he sent one presently to\nhis son, with a letter addressed to him as King Demetrius.  And\nwhen this news was told in Egypt, that they might not seem to be\ndejected with the late defeat, Ptolemy's followers also took\noccasion to bestow the style of king upon him; and the rest of\nthe successors of Alexander were quick to follow the example.\nLysimachus began to wear the diadem; and Seleucus, who had\nbefore received the name in all addresses from the barbarians,\nnow also took it upon him in all business with the Greeks.\nCassander still retained his usual superscription in his\nletters, but others, both in writing and speaking, gave him the\nroyal title.  Nor was this the mere accession of a name, or\nintroduction of a new fashion.  The men's own sentiments about\nthemselves were disturbed, and their feelings elevated; a spirit\nof pomp and arrogance passed into their habits of life and\nconversation, as a tragic actor on the stage modifies, with a\nchange of dress, his step, his voice, his motions in sitting\ndown, his manner in addressing another.  The punishments they\ninflicted were more violent after they had thus laid aside that\nmodest style under which they formerly dissembled their power,\nand the influence of which had often made them gentler and less\nexacting to their subjects.  A single pattering voice effected a\nrevolution in the world.\n\nAntigonus, extremely elevated with the success of his arms in\nCyprus under the conduct of Demetrius, resolved to push on his\ngood fortune, and to lead his forces in person against Ptolemy\nby land, whilst Demetrius should coast with a great fleet along\nthe shore, to assist him by sea.  The issue of the contest was\nintimated in a dream which Medius, a friend to Antigonus, had at\nthis time in his sleep.  He thought he saw Antigonus and his\nwhole army running, as if it had been a race; that, in the first\npart of the course, he went off showing great strength and\nspeed; gradually, however, his pace slackened; and at the end he\nsaw him come lagging up, tired and almost breathless and quite\nspent.  Antigonus himself met with many difficulties by land;\nand Demetrius, encountering a great storm at sea, was driven,\nwith the loss of many or his ships, upon a dangerous coast\nwithout a harbor.  So the expedition returned without effecting\nanything.  Antigonus, now nearly eighty years old, was no\nlonger well able to go through the fatigues of a marching\ncampaign, though rather on account of his great size and\ncorpulence than from loss of strength; and for this reason he\nleft things to his son, whose fortune and experience appeared\nsufficient for all undertakings, and whose luxury and expense\nand revelry gave him no concern.  For though in peace he vented\nhimself in his pleasures, and, when there was nothing to do, ran\nheadlong into any excesses, in war he was as sober and\nabstemious as the most temperate character.  The story is told,\nthat once, after Lamia had gained open supremacy over him, the\nold man, when Demetrius coming home from abroad began to kiss\nhim with unusual warmth, asked him if he took him for Lamia.  At\nanother time, Demetrius, after spending several days in a\ndebauch, excused himself for his absence, by saying he had had a\nviolent flux.  \"So I heard,\" replied Antigonus; \"was it of\nThasian wine, or Chian?\"  Once he was told his son was ill, and\nwent to see him.  At the door he met some young beauty.  Going\nin, he sat down by the bed and took his pulse.  \"The fever,\"\nsaid Demetrius, \"has just left me.\"  \"O yes,\" replied the\nfather, \"I met it going out at the door.\"  Demetrius's great\nactions made Antigonus treat him thus easily.  The Scythians in\ntheir drinking-bouts twang their bows, to keep their courage\nawake amidst the dreams of indulgence; but he would resign his\nwhole being, now, to pleasure, and now to action; and though he\nnever let thoughts of the one intrude upon the pursuit of the\nother, yet, when the time came for preparing for war, he showed\nas much capacity as any man.\n\nAnd indeed his ability displayed itself even more in preparing\nfor, than in conducting a war.  He thought he could never be too\nwell supplied for every possible occasion, and took a pleasure,\nnot to be satiated, in great improvements in ship-building and\nmachines.  He did not waste his natural genius and power of\nmechanical research on toys and idle fancies, turning, painting,\nand playing on the flute, like some kings, Aeropus, for example,\nking of Macedon, who spent his days in making small lamps and\ntables; or Attalus Philometor, whose amusement was to cultivate\npoisons, henbane and hellebore, and even hemlock, aconite, and\ndorycnium, which he used to sow himself in the royal gardens,\nand made it his business to gather the fruits and collect the\njuices in their season.  The Parthian kings took a pride in\nwhetting and sharpening with their own hands the points of their\narrows and javelins.  But when Demetrius played the workman, it\nwas like a king, and there was magnificence in his handicraft.\nThe articles he produced bore marks upon the face of them not of\ningenuity only, but of a great mind and a lofty purpose.  They\nwere such as a king might not only design and pay for, but use\nhis own hands to make; and while friends might be terrified with\ntheir greatness, enemies could be charmed with their beauty; a\nphrase which is not so pretty to the ear as it is true to the\nfact.  The very people against whom they were to be employed\ncould not forbear running to gaze with admiration upon his\ngalleys of five and six ranges of oars, as they passed along\ntheir coasts; and the inhabitants of besieged cities came on\ntheir walls to see the spectacle of his famous City-takers.\nEven Lysimachus, of all the kings of his time the greatest enemy\nof Demetrius, coming to raise the siege of Soli in Cilicia, sent\nfirst to desire permission to see his galleys and engines, and,\nhaving had his curiosity gratified by a view of them, expressed\nhis admiration and quitted the place.  The Rhodians, also, whom\nhe long besieged, begged him, when they concluded a peace, to\nlet them have some of his engines, which they might preserve as\na memorial at once of his power and of their own brave\nresistance.\n\nThe quarrel between him and the Rhodians was on account of their\nbeing allies to Ptolemy, and in the siege the greatest of all\nthe engines was planted against their walls.  The base of it was\nexactly square, each side containing twenty-four cubits; it rose\nto a height of thirty-three cubits, growing narrower from the\nbase to the top.  Within were several apartments or chambers,\nwhich were to be filled with armed men, and in every story the\nfront towards the enemy had windows for discharging missiles of\nall sorts, the whole being filled with soldiers for every\ndescription of fighting.  And what was most wonderful was that,\nnotwithstanding its size, when it was moved it never tottered or\ninclined to one side, but went forward on its base in perfect\nequilibrium, with a loud noise and great impetus, astounding the\nminds, and yet at the same time charming the eyes of all the\nbeholders.\n\nWhilst Demetrius was at this same siege, there were brought to\nhim two iron cuirasses from Cyprus, weighing each of them no\nmore than forty pounds, and Zoilus, who had forged them, to show\nthe excellence of their temper, desired that one of them might\nbe tried with a catapult missile, shot out of one of the engines\nat no greater distance than six and twenty paces; and, upon the\nexperiment, it was found, that though the dart exactly hit the\ncuirass, yet it made no greater impression than such a slight\nscratch as might be made with the point of a style or graver.\nDemetrius took this for his own wearing, and gave the other to\nAlcimus the Epirot, the best soldier and strongest man of all\nhis captains, the only one who used to wear armor to the weight\nof two talents, one talent being the weight which others thought\nsufficient.  He fell during this siege in a battle near the\ntheater.\n\nThe Rhodians made a brave defense, insomuch that Demetrius saw\nhe was making but little progress, and only persisted out of\nobstinacy and passion; and the rather because the Rhodians,\nhaving captured a ship in which some clothes and furniture, with\nletters from herself; were coming to him from Phila his wife,\nhad sent on everything to Ptolemy, and had not copied the\nhonorable example of the Athenians, who, having surprised an\nexpress sent from king Philip, their enemy, opened all the\nletters he was charged with, excepting only those directed to\nqueen Olympias, which they returned with the seal unbroken.\nYet, although greatly provoked, Demetrius, into whose power it\nshortly after came to repay the affront, would not suffer\nhimself to retaliate.  Protogenes the Caunian had been making\nthem a painting of the story of Ialysus, which was all but\ncompleted, when it was taken by Demetrius in one of the suburbs.\nThe Rhodians sent a herald begging him to be pleased to spare\nthe work and not let it be destroyed; Demetrius's answer to\nwhich was that he would rather burn the pictures of his father\nthan a piece of art which had cost so much labor.  It is said to\nhave taken Protogenes seven years to paint, and they tell us\nthat Apelles, when he first saw it, was struck dumb with wonder,\nand called it, on recovering his speech, \"a great labor and a\nwonderful success,\" adding, however, that it had not the graces\nwhich carried his own paintings as it were up to the heavens.\nThis picture, which came with the rest in the general mass to\nRome, there perished by fire.\n\nWhile the Rhodians were thus defending their city to the\nuttermost, Demetrius, who was not sorry for an excuse to retire,\nfound one in the arrival of ambassadors from Athens, by whose\nmediation terms were made that the Rhodians should bind\nthemselves to aid Antigonus and Demetrius against all enemies,\nPtolemy excepted.\n\nThe Athenians entreated his help against Cassander, who was\nbesieging the city.  So he went thither with a fleet of three\nhundred and thirty ships, and many soldiers; and not only drove\nCassander out of Attica, but pursued him as far as Thermopylae,\nrouted him, and became master of Heraclea, which came over to\nhim voluntarily, and of a body of six thousand Macedonians,\nwhich also joined him.  Returning hence, he gave their liberty\nto all the Greeks on this side Thermopylae, and made alliance\nwith the Boeotians, took Cenchreae, and reducing the fortresses\nof Phyle and Panactum, in which were garrisons of Cassander,\nrestored them to the Athenians.  They, in requital, though they\nhad before been so profuse in bestowing honors upon him, that\none would have thought they had exhausted all the capacities of\ninvention, showed they had still new refinements of adulation to\ndevise for him.  They gave him, as his lodging, the back temple\nin the Parthenon, and here he lived, under the immediate roof,\nas they meant it to imply, of his hostess, Minerva; no reputable\nor well-conducted guest to be quartered upon a maiden goddess.\nWhen his brother Philip was once put into a house where three\nyoung women were living, Antigonus saying nothing to him, sent\nfor his quartermaster, and told him, in the young man's\npresence, to find some less crowded lodgings for him.\n\nDemetrius, however, who should, to say the least, have paid the\ngoddess the respect due to an elder sister, for that was the\npurport of the city's compliment, filled the temple with such\npollutions that the place seemed least profaned when his license\nconfined itself to common women like Chrysis, Lamia, Demo, and\nAnticyra.\n\nThe fair name of the city forbids any further plain particulars;\nlet us only record the severe virtue of the young Damocles,\nsurnamed, and by that surname pointed out to Demetrius, the\nbeautiful; who, to escape importunities, avoided every place of\nresort, and when at last followed into a private bathing room by\nDemetrius, seeing none at hand to help or deliver, seized the\nlid from the cauldron, and, plunging into the boiling water,\nsought a death untimely and unmerited, but worthy of the country\nand of the beauty that occasioned it.  Not so Cleaenetus, the\nson of Cleomedon, who, to obtain from Demetrius a letter of\nintercession to the people in behalf of his father, lately\ncondemned in a fine of fifty talents, disgraced himself, and got\nthe city into trouble.  In deference to the letter, they\nremitted the fine, yet they made an edict prohibiting any\ncitizen for the future to bring letters from Demetrius.  But\nbeing informed that Demetrius resented this as a great\nindignity, they not only rescinded in alarm the former order,\nbut put some of the proposers and advisers of it to death and\nbanished others, and furthermore enacted and decreed, that\nwhatsoever king Demetrius should in time to come ordain, should\nbe accounted right towards the gods and just towards men; and\nwhen one of the better class of citizens said Stratocles must be\nmad to use such words, Demochares of Leuconoe observed, he\nwould be a fool not to be mad.  For Stratocles was well rewarded\nfor his flatteries; and the saying was remembered against\nDemochares, who was soon after sent into banishment.  So fared\nthe Athenians, after being relieved of the foreign garrison, and\nrecovering what was called their liberty.\n\nAfter this Demetrius marched with his forces into Peloponnesus,\nwhere he met with none to oppose him, his enemies flying before\nhim, and allowing the cities to join him.  He received into\nfriendship all Acte, as it is called, and all Arcadia except\nMantinea.  He bought the liberty of Argos, Corinth, and Sicyon,\nby paying a hundred talents to their garrisons to evacuate them.\nAt Argos, during the feast of Juno, which happened at the time,\nhe presided at the games, and, joining in the festivities with\nthe multitude of the Greeks assembled there, he celebrated his\nmarriage with Deidamia, daughter of Aeacides, king of the\nMolossians, and sister of Pyrrhus.  At Sicyon he told the people\nthey had put the city just outside of the city, and, persuading\nthem to remove to where they now live, gave their town not only\na new site but a new name, Demetrias, after himself.  A general\nassembly met on the Isthmus, where he was proclaimed, by a great\nconcourse of people, the Commander of Greece, like Philip and\nAlexander of old; whose superior he, in the present height of\nhis prosperity and power, was willing enough to consider\nhimself; and, certainly, in one respect he outdid Alexander, who\nnever refused their title to other kings, or took on himself the\nstyle of king of kings, though many kings received both their\ntitle and their authority as such from him; whereas Demetrius\nused to ridicule those who gave the name of king to any except\nhimself and his father; and in his entertainments was well\npleased when his followers, after drinking to him and his father\nas kings, went on to drink the health of Seleucus, with the\ntitle of Master of the Elephants; of Ptolemy, by the name of\nHigh Admiral; of Lysimachus, with the addition of Treasurer; and\nof Agathocles, with the style of Governor of the Island of\nSicily.  The other kings merely laughed when they were told of\nthis vanity; Lysimachus alone expressed some indignation at\nbeing considered a eunuch; such being usually then selected for\nthe office of treasurer.  And, in general, there was a more\nbitter enmity between him and Lysimachus than with any of the\nothers.  Once, as a scoff at his passion for Lamia, Lysimachus\nsaid he had never before seen a courtesan act a queen's part; to\nwhich Demetrius rejoined that his mistress was quite as honest\nus Lysimachus's own Penelope.\n\nBut to proceed.  Demetrius being about to return to Athens,\nsignified by letter to the city that he desired immediate\nadmission to the rites of initiation into the Mysteries, and\nwished to go through all the stages of the\nceremony, from first to last, without delay.  This was\nabsolutely contrary to the rules, and a thing which had never\nbeen allowed before; for the lesser mysteries were celebrated in\nthe month of Anthesterion, and the great solemnity in\nBoedromion, and none of the novices were finally admitted till\nthey had completed a year after this latter.  Yet all this\nnotwithstanding, when in the public assembly these letters of\nDemetrius were produced and read, there was not one single\nperson who had the courage to oppose them, except Pythodorus,\nthe torch-bearer.  But it signified nothing, for Stratocles at\nonce proposed that the month of Munychion, then current, should\nby edict be reputed to be the month of Anthesterion; which being\nvoted and done, and Demetrius thereby admitted to the lesser\nceremonies, by another vote they turned the same month of\nMunychion into the other month of Boedromion; the celebration of\nthe greater mysteries ensued, and Demetrius was fully admitted.\nThese proceedings gave the comedian, Philippides, a new occasion\nto exercise his wit upon Stratocles,\n\nwhose flattering fear\nInto one month hath crowded all the year.\n\nAnd on the vote that Demetrius should lodge in the Parthenon,\n\nWho turns the temple to a common inn,\nAnd makes the Virgin's house a house of sin.\n\nOf all the disreputable and flagitious acts of which he was\nguilty in this visit, one that particularly hurt the feelings of\nthe Athenians was that, having given comment that they should\nforthwith raise for his service two hundred and fifty talents,\nand they to comply with his demands being forced to levy it upon\nthe people with the utmost rigor and severity, when they\npresented him with the money, which they had with such\ndifficulty raised, as if it were a trifling sum, he ordered it\nto be given to Lamia and the rest of his women, to buy soap.\nThe loss, which was bad enough, was less galling than the shame,\nand the words more intolerable than the act which they\naccompanied.  Though, indeed, the story is variously reported;\nand some say it was the Thessalians, and not the Athenians, who\nwere thus treated.  Lamia, however, exacted contributions\nherself to pay for an entertainment she gave to the king, and\nher banquet was so renowned for its sumptuosity, that a\ndescription of it was drawn up by the Samian writer, Lynceus.\nUpon this occasion, one of the comic writers gave Lamia the name\nof the real Helepolis; and Demochares of Soli called Demetrius\nMythus, because the fable always has its Lamia, and so had he.\n\nAnd, in truth, his passion for this woman and the prosperity in\nwhich she lived were such as to draw upon him not only the envy\nand jealousy of all his wives, but the animosity even of his\nfriends.  For example, on Lysimachus's showing to some\nambassadors from Demetrius the scars of the wounds which he had\nreceived upon his thighs and arms by the paws of the lion with\nwhich Alexander had shut him up, after hearing his account of\nthe combat, they smiled and answered, that their king, also, was\nnot without his scars, but could show upon his neck the marks of\na Lamia, a no less dangerous beast.  It was also matter of\nwonder that, though he had objected so much to Phila on account\nof her age, he was yet such a slave to Lamia, who was so long\npast her prime.  One evening at supper, when she played the\nflute, Demetrius asked Demo, whom the men called Madness, what\nshe thought of her.  Demo answered she thought her an old woman.\nAnd when a quantity of sweetmeats were brought in, and the king\nsaid again, \"See what presents I get from Lamia!\"  \"My old\nmother,\" answered Demo, \"will send you more, if you will make\nher your mistress.\"  Another story is told of a criticism passed\nby Lamia or the famous judgment of Bocchoris.  A young Egyptian\nhad long made suit to Thonis, the courtesan, offering a sum of\ngold for her favor.  But before it came to pass, he dreamed one\nnight that he had obtained it, and, satisfied with the shadow,\nfelt no more desire for the substance.  Thonis upon this brought\nan action for the sum.  Bocchoris, the judge, on hearing the\ncase, ordered the defendant to bring into court the full amount\nin a vessel, which he was to move to and fro in his hand, and\nthe shadow of it was to be adjudged to Thonis.  The fairness of\nthis sentence Lamia contested, saying the young man's desire\nmight have been satisfied with the dream, but Thonis's desire\nfor the money could not be relieved by the shadow.  Thus much\nfor Lamia.\n\nAnd now the story passes from the comic to the tragic stage in\npursuit of the acts and fortunes of its subject.  A general\nleague of the kings, who were now gathering and combining their\nforces to attack Antigonus, recalled Demetrius from Greece.  He\nwas encouraged by finding his father full of a spirit and\nresolution for the combat that belied his years.  Yet it would\nseem to be true, that if Antigonus could only have borne to\nmake some trifling concessions, and if he had shown any\nmoderation in his passion for empire, he might have maintained\nfor himself till his death, and left to his son behind him, the\nfirst place among the kings.  But he was of a violent and\nhaughty spirit; and the insulting words as well as actions in\nwhich he allowed himself could not be borne by young and\npowerful princes, and provoked them into combining against him.\nThough now when he was told of the confederacy, he could not\nforbear from saying that this flock of birds would soon be\nscattered by one stone and a single shout.  He took the field at\nthe head of more than seventy thousand foot, and of ten thousand\nhorse, and seventy-five elephants.  His enemies had sixty-four\nthousand foot, five hundred more horse than he, elephants to the\nnumber of four hundred, and a hundred and twenty chariots.  On\ntheir near approach to each other, an alteration began to be\nobservable, not in the purposes, but in the presentiments of\nAntigonus.  For whereas in all former campaigns he had ever\nshown himself lofty and confident, loud in voice and scornful in\nspeech, often by some joke or mockery on the eve of battle\nexpressing his contempt and displaying his composure, he was now\nremarked to be thoughtful, silent, and retired.  He presented\nDemetrius to the army, and declared him his successor; and what\neveryone thought stranger than all was that he now conferred\nalone in his tent with Demetrius, whereas in former time he had\nnever entered into any secret consultations even with him; but\nhad always followed his own advice, made his resolutions, and\nthen given out his commands.  Once when Demetrius was a boy and\nasked him how soon the army would move, he is said to have\nanswered him sharply, \"Are you afraid lest you, of all the army,\nshould not hear the trumpet?\"\n\nThere were now, however, inauspicious signs, which affected his\nspirits.  Demetrius, in a dream, had seen Alexander, completely\narmed, appear and demand of him what word they intended to give\nin the time of the battle; and Demetrius answering that he\nintended the word should be \"Jupiter and Victory.\"  \"Then,\" said\nAlexander, \"I will go to your adversaries and find my welcome\nwith them.\"  And on the morning of the combat, as the armies\nwere drawing up, Antigonus, going out of the door of his tent,\nby some accident or other, stumbled and fell flat upon the\nground, hurting himself a good deal.  And on recovering his\nfeet, lifting up his hands to heaven, he prayed the gods to\ngrant him \"either victory, or death without knowledge of\ndefeat.\"  When the armies engaged, Demetrius, who commanded the\ngreatest and best part of the cavalry, made a charge on\nAntiochus, the son of Seleucus, and, gloriously routing the\nenemy, followed the pursuit, in the pride and exultation of\nsuccess, so eagerly, and so unwisely far, that it fatally lost\nhim the day, for when, perceiving his error, he would have come\nin to the assistance of his own infantry, he was not able, the\nenemy with their elephants having cut off his retreat.  And on\nthe other hand, Seleucus, observing the main battle of Antigonus\nleft naked of their horse, did not charge, but made a show of\ncharging; and keeping them in alarm and wheeling about and still\nthreatening an attack, he gave opportunity for those who wished\nit to separate and come over to him; which a large body of them\ndid, the rest taking to flight.  But the old king Antigonus\nstill kept his post, and when a strong body of the enemies drew\nup to charge him, and one of those about him cried out to him,\n\"Sir, they are coming upon you,\" he only replied, \"What else\nshould they do? but Demetrius will come to my rescue.\"  And in\nthis hope he persisted to the last, looking out on every side\nfor his son's approach, until he was borne down by a whole\nmultitude of darts, and fell.  His other followers and friends\nfled, and Thorax of Larissa remained alone by the body.\n\nThe battle having been thus decided, the kings who had gained\nthe victory, carving up the whole vast empire that had belonged\nto Demetrius and Antigonus, like a carcass, into so many\nportions, added these new gains to their former possessions.  As\nfor Demetrius, with five thousand foot and four thousand horse,\nhe fled at his utmost speed to Ephesus, where it was the common\nopinion he would seize the treasures of the temple to relieve\nhis wants; but he, on the contrary, fearing such an attempt on\nthe part of his soldiers, hastened away, and sailed for Greece,\nhis chief remaining hopes being placed in the fidelity of the\nAthenians, with whom he had left part of his navy and of his\ntreasure and his wife Deidamia.  And in their attachment he had\nnot the least doubt but he should in this his extremity find a\nsafe resource.  Accordingly when, upon reaching the Cyclades, he\nwas met by ambassadors from Athens, requesting him not to\nproceed to the city, as the people had passed a vote to admit no\nking whatever within their walls, and had conveyed Deidamia with\nhonorable attendance to Megara, his anger and surprise\noverpowered him, and the constancy quite failed him which he had\nhitherto shown in a wonderful degree under his reverses, nothing\nhumiliating or mean-spirited having as yet been seen in him\nunder all his misfortunes.  But to be thus disappointed in the\nAthenians, and to find the friendship he had trusted prove, upon\ntrial, thus empty and unreal, was a great pang to him.  And, in\ntruth, an excessive display of outward honor would seem to be\nthe most uncertain attestation of the real affection of a people\nfor any king or potentate.  Such shows lose their whole credit\nas tokens of affection (which has its virtue in the feelings and\nmoral choice), when we reflect that they may equally proceed\nfrom fear.  The same decrees are voted upon the latter motive as\nupon the former.  And therefore judicious men do not look so\nmuch to statues, paintings, or divine honors that are paid them,\nas to their own actions and conduct, judging hence whether they\nshall trust these as a genuine, or discredit them as a forced\nhomage.  As in fact nothing is less unusual than for a people,\neven while offering compliments, to be disgusted with those who\naccept them greedily, or arrogantly, or without respect to the\nfreewill of the givers.\n\nDemetrius, shamefully used as he thought himself, was in no\ncondition to revenge the affront.  He returned a message of\ngentle expostulation, saying, however, that he expected to have\nhis galleys sent to him, among which was that of thirteen banks\nof oars.  And this being accorded him, he sailed to the Isthmus,\nand, finding his affairs in very ill condition, his garrisons\nexpelled, and a general secession going on to the enemy, he left\nPyrrhus to attend to Greece, and took his course to the\nChersonesus, where he ravaged the territories of Lysimachus,\nand, by the booty which he took, maintained and kept together\nhis troops, which were now once more beginning to recover and to\nshow some considerable front.  Nor did any of the other princes\ncare to meddle with him on that side; for Lysimachus had quite\nas little claim to be loved, and was more to be feared for his\npower.  But, not long after, Seleucus sent to treat with\nDemetrius for a marriage betwixt himself and Stratonice,\ndaughter of Demetrius by Phila.  Seleucus, indeed, had already,\nby Apama the Persian, a son named Antiochus, but he was\npossessed of territories that might well satisfy more than one\nsuccessor, and he was the rather induced to this alliance with\nDemetrius, because Lysimachus had just married himself to one\ndaughter of king Ptolemy, and his son Agathocles to another.\nDemetrius, who looked upon the offer as an unexpected piece of\ngood fortune, presently embarked with his daughter, and with his\nwhole fleet sailed for Syria.  Having during his voyage to touch\nseveral times on the coast, among other places he landed in part\nof Cilicia, which, by the apportionment of the kings after the\ndefeat of Antigonus, was allotted to Plistarchus, the brother of\nCassander.  Plistarchus, who took this descent of Demetrius upon\nhis coasts as an infraction of his rights, and was not sorry to\nhave something to complain of hastened away to expostulate in\nperson with Seleucus for entering separately into relations with\nDemetrius, the common enemy, without consulting the other kings.\n\nDemetrius, receiving information of this, seized the\nopportunity, and fell upon the city of Quinda, which he\nsurprised, and took in it twelve hundred talents, still\nremaining of the treasure.  With this prize, he hastened back to\nhis galleys, embarked, and set sail.  At Rhosus, where his wife\nPhila was now with him, he was met by Seleucus, and their\ncommunications with each other at once were put on a frank,\nunsuspecting, and kingly footing.  First, Seleucus gave a\nbanquet to Demetrius in his tent in the camp; then Demetrius\nreceived him in the ship of thirteen banks of oars.  Meetings\nfor amusements, conferences, and long visits for general\nintercourse succeeded, all without attendants or arms; until at\nlength Seleucus took his leave, and in great state conducted\nStratonice to Antioch.  Demetrius meantime possessed himself of\nCilicia, and sent Phila to her brother Cassander, to answer the\ncomplaints of Plistarchus.  And here his wife Deidamia came by\nsea out of Greece to meet him, but not long after contracted an\nillness, of which she died.  After her death, Demetrius, by the\nmediation of Seleucus, became reconciled to Ptolemy, and an\nagreement was made that he should marry his daughter Ptolemais.\nThus far all was handsomely done on the part of Seleucus.  But,\nshortly after, desiring to have the province of Cilicia from\nDemetrius for a sum of money, and being refused it, he then\nangrily demanded of him the cities of Tyre and Sidon, which\nseemed a mere piece of arbitrary dealing, and, indeed, an\noutrageous thing, that he, who was possessed of all the vast\nprovinces between India and the Syrian sea, should think himself\nso poorly off as for the sake of two cities, which he coveted,\nto disturb the peace of his near connection, already a sufferer\nunder a severe reverse of fortune.  However, he did but justify\nthe saying of Plato, that the only certain way to be truly rich\nis not to have more property, but fewer desires.  For whoever is\nalways grasping at more avows that he is still in want, and must\nbe poor in the midst of affluence.\n\nBut Demetrius, whose courage did not sink, resolutely sent him\nanswer, that, though he were to lose ten thousand battles like\nthat of Ipsus, he would pay no price for the good-will of such a\nson-in-law as Seleucus.  He reinforced these cities with\nsufficient garrisons to enable them to make a defense against\nSeleucus; and, receiving information that Lachares, taking the\nopportunity of their civil dissensions, had set up himself as an\nusurper over the Athenians, he imagined that if he made a sudden\nattempt upon the city, he might now without difficulty get\npossession of it.  He crossed the sea in safety, with a large\nfleet; but, passing along the coast of Attica, was met by a\nviolent storm, and lost the greater number of his ships, and a\nvery considerable body of men on board of them.  As for him, he\nescaped, and began to make war in a petty manner with the\nAthenians, but finding himself unable to effect his design, he\nsent back orders for raising another fleet, and, with the troops\nwhich he had, marched into Peloponnesus, and laid siege to the\ncity of Messena.  In attacking which place, he was in danger of\ndeath; for a missile from an engine struck him in the face, and\npassed through the cheek into his mouth.  He recovered, however,\nand, as soon as he was in a condition to take the field, won\nover divers cities which had revolted from him, and made an\nincursion into Attica, where he took Eleusis and Rhamnus and\nwasted the country thereabout.  And that he might straighten the\nAthenians by cutting off all manner of provision, a vessel laden\nwith corn bound thither falling into his hands, he ordered the\nmaster and the supercargo to be immediately hanged, thereby to\nstrike a terror into others, that so they might not venture to\nsupply the city with provisions.  By which means they were\nreduced to such extremities, that a bushel of salt sold for\nforty drachmas, and a peck of wheat for three hundred.  Ptolemy\nhad sent to their relief a hundred and fifty galleys, which came\nso near as to be seen off Aegina; but this brief hope was soon\nextinguished by the arrival of three hundred ships, which came\nto reinforce Demetrius from Cyprus, Peloponnesus, and other\nplaces; upon which Ptolemy's fleet took to flight, and Lachares,\nthe tyrant, ran away, leaving the city to its fate.\n\nAnd now the Athenians, who before had made it capital for any\nperson to propose a treaty or accommodation with Demetrius,\nimmediately opened the nearest gates to send ambassadors to him,\nnot so much out of hopes of obtaining any honorable conditions\nfrom his clemency as out of necessity, to avoid death by famine.\nFor among many frightful instances of the distress they were\nreduced to, it is said that a father and son were sitting in a\nroom together, having abandoned every hope, when a dead mouse\nfell from the ceiling; and for this prize they leaped up and\ncame to blows.  In this famine, it is also related, the\nphilosopher Epicurus saved his own life, and the lives of his\nscholars, by a small quantity of beans, which he distributed to\nthem daily by number.\n\nIn this condition was the city when Demetrius made his entrance\nand issued a proclamation that all the inhabitants should\nassemble in the theater; which being done, he drew up his\nsoldiers at the back of the stage, occupied the stage itself\nwith his guards, and, presently coming in himself by the actor's\npassages, when the people's consternation had risen to its\nheight, with his first words he put an end to it.  Without any\nharshness of tone or bitterness of words, he reprehended them in\na gentle and friendly way, and declared himself reconciled,\nadding a present of a hundred thousand bushels of wheat, and\nappointing as magistrates persons acceptable to the people.  So\nDromoclides the orator, seeing the people at a loss how to\nexpress their gratitude by any words or acclamations, and ready\nfor anything that would outdo the verbal encomiums of the\npublic speakers, came forward, and moved a decree for delivering\nPiraeus and Munychia into the hands of king Demetrius.  This was\npassed accordingly, and Demetrius, of his own motion, added a\nthird garrison, which he placed in the Museum, as a precaution\nagainst any new restiveness on the part of the people, which\nmight give him the trouble of quitting his other enterprises.\n\nHe had not long been master of Athens before he had formed\ndesigns against Lacedaemon; of which Archidamus, the king, being\nadvertised, came out and met him, but he was overthrown in a\nbattle near Mantinea; after which Demetrius entered Laconia,\nand, in a second battle near Sparta itself, defeated him again\nwith the loss of two hundred Lacedaemonians slain, and five\nhundred taken prisoners.  And now it was almost impossible for\nthe city, which hitherto had never been captured, to escape his\narms.  But certainly there never was any king upon whom fortune\nmade such short turns, nor any other life or story so filled\nwith her swift and surprising changes, over and over again, from\nsmall things to great, from splendor back to humiliation, and\nfrom utter weakness once more to power and might.  They say in\nhis sadder vicissitudes he used sometimes to apostrophize\nfortune in the words of Aeschylus --\n\nThou liftest up, to cast us down again.\n\nAnd so at this moment, when all things seemed to conspire\ntogether to give him his heart's desire of dominion and power,\nnews arrived that Lysimachus had taken all his cities in Asia,\nthat Ptolemy had reduced all Cyprus with the exception of\nSalamis, and that in Salamis his mother and children were shut\nup and close besieged: and yet like the woman in Archilochus,\n\nWater in one deceitful hand she shows,\nWhile burning fire within her other glows.\n\nThe same fortune that drew him off with these disastrous tidings\nfrom Sparta, in a moment after opened upon him a new and\nwonderful prospect, of the following kind.  Cassander, king of\nMacedon, dying, and his eldest son, Philip, who succeeded him,\nnot long surviving his father, the two younger brothers fell at\nvariance concerning the succession.  And Antipater having\nmurdered his mother Thessalonica, Alexander, the younger\nbrother, called in to his assistance Pyrrhus out of Epirus, and\nDemetrius out of the Peloponnese.  Pyrrhus arrived first, and,\ntaking in recompense for his succor a large slice of Macedonia,\nhad made Alexander begin to be aware that he had brought upon\nhimself a dangerous neighbor.  And, that he might not run a yet\nworse hazard from Demetrius, whose power and reputation were so\ngreat, the young man hurried away to meet him at Dium, whither\nhe, who on receiving his letter had set out on his march, was\nnow come.  And, offering his greetings and grateful\nacknowledgments, he at the same time informed him that his\naffairs no longer required the presence of his ally, and\nthereupon he invited him to supper.  There were not wanting some\nfeelings of suspicion on either side already; and when Demetrius\nwas now on his way to the banquet, someone came and told him\nthat in the midst of the drinking he would be killed.  Demetrius\nshowed little concern, but, making only a little less haste, he\nsent to the principal officers of his army, commanding them to\ndraw out the soldiers, and make them stand to their arms, and\nordered his retinue (more numerous a good deal than that of\nAlexander) to attend him into the very room of the entertainment,\nand not to stir from thence till they saw him rise from the table.\nThus Alexander's servants, finding themselves overpowered,\nhad not courage to attempt anything.  And,\nindeed, Demetrius gave them no opportunity, for he made a very\nshort visit, and, pretending to Alexander that he was not at\npresent in health for drinking wine, left early.  And the next\nday he occupied himself in preparations for departing, telling\nAlexander he had received intelligence that obliged him to\nleave, and begging him to excuse so sudden a parting; he would\nhope to see him further when his affairs allowed him leisure.\nAlexander was only too glad, not only that he was going, but\nthat he was doing so of his own motion, without any offense, and\nproposed to accompany him into Thessaly.  But when they came to\nLarissa, new invitations passed between them, new professions of\ngood-will, covering new conspiracies; by which Alexander put\nhimself into the power of Demetrius.  For as he did not like to\nuse precautions on his own part, for fear Demetrius should take\nthe hint to use them on his, the very thing he meant to do was\nfirst done to him.  He accepted an invitation, and came to\nDemetrius's quarters; and when Demetrius, while they were still\nsupping, rose from the table and went forth, the young man rose\nalso, and followed him to the door, where Demetrius, as he\npassed through, only said to the guards, \"Kill him that follows\nme,\" and went on; and Alexander was at once dispatched by them,\ntogether with such of his friends as endeavored to come to his\nrescue, one of whom, before he died, said, \"You have been one\nday too quick for us.\"\n\nThe night following was one, as may be supposed, of disorder and\nconfusion.  And with the morning, the Macedonians, still in\nalarm, and fearful of the forces of Demetrius, on finding no\nviolence offered, but only a message sent from Demetrius\ndesiring an interview and opportunity for explanation of his\nactions, at last began to feel pretty confident again, and\nprepared to receive him favorably.  And when he came, there was\nno need of much being said; their hatred of Antipater for his\nmurder of his mother, and the absence of anyone better to\ngovern them, soon decided them to proclaim Demetrius king of\nMacedon.  And into Macedonia they at once started and took him.\nAnd the Macedonians at home, who had not forgotten or forgiven\nthe wicked deeds committed by Cassander on the family of\nAlexander, were far from sorry at the change.  Any kind\nrecollections that still might subsist, of the plain and simple\nrule of the first Antipater, went also to the benefit of\nDemetrius, whose wife was Phila, his daughter, and his son by\nher, a boy already old enough to be serving in the army with his\nfather, was the natural successor to the government.\n\nTo add to this unexpected good fortune, news arrived that\nPtolemy had dismissed his mother and children, bestowing upon\nthem presents and honors; and also that his daughter Stratonice,\nwhom he had married to Seleucus, was remarried to Antiochus, the\nson of Seleucus, and proclaimed queen of Upper Asia.\n\nFor Antiochus, it appears, had fallen passionately in love with\nStratonice, the young queen, who had already made Seleucus the\nfather of a son.  He struggled very hard with the beginnings of\nthis passion, and at last, resolving with himself that his\ndesires were wholly unlawful, his malady past all cure, and his\npowers of reason too feeble to act, he determined on death, and\nthought to bring his life slowly to extinction by neglecting his\nperson and refusing nourishment, under the pretense of being\nill.  Erasistratus, the physician who attended him, quickly\nperceived that love was his distemper, but the difficulty was to\ndiscover the object.  He therefore waited continually in his\nchamber, and when any of the beauties of the court made their\nvisits to the sick prince, he observed the emotions and\nalterations in the countenance of Antiochus, and watched for the\nchanges which he knew to be indicative of the inward passions\nand inclinations of the soul.  He took notice that the presence\nof other women produced no effect upon him; but when Stratonice\ncame, as she often did, alone, or in company with Seleucus, to\nsee him, he observed in him all Sappho's famous symptoms, his\nvoice faltered, his face flushed up, his eyes glanced\nstealthily, a sudden sweat broke out on his skin, the beatings\nof his heart were irregular and violent, and, unable to support\nthe excess of his passion, he would sink into a state of\nfaintness, prostration, and pallor.\n\nErasistratus, reasoning upon these symptoms, and, upon the\nprobability of things, considering that the king's son would\nhardly, if the object of his passion had been any other, have\npersisted to death rather than reveal it, felt, however, the\ndifficulty of making a discovery of this nature to Seleucus.\nBut, trusting to the tenderness of Seleucus for the young man,\nhe put on all the assurance he could, and at last, on some\nopportunity, spoke out, and told him the malady was love, a love\nimpossible to gratify or relieve.  The king was extremely\nsurprised, and asked, \"Why impossible to relieve?\"  \"The fact\nis,\" replied Erasistratus, \"he is in love with my wife.\"\n\"How!\" said Seleucus, \"and will our friend Erasistratus refuse to\nbestow his wife upon my son and only successor, when there is no\nother way to save his life?\"  \"You,\" replied Erasistratus, \"who\nare his father, would not do so, if he were in love with\nStratonice.\"  \"Ah, my friend,\" answered Seleucus, \"would to\nheaven any means, human or divine, could but convert his present\npassion to that; it would be well for me to part not only with\nStratonice, but with my empire, to save Antiochus.\"  This he\nsaid with the greatest passion, shedding tears as he spoke; upon\nwhich Erasistratus, taking him by the hand, replied, \"In that\ncase, you have no need of Erasistratus; for you, who are the\nhusband, the father, and the king, are the proper physician for\nyour own family.\"  Seleucus, accordingly, summoning a general\nassembly of his people, declared to them, that he had resolved\nto make Antiochus king, and Stratonice queen, of all the\nprovinces of Upper Asia, uniting them in marriage; telling them,\nthat he thought he had sufficient power over the prince's will,\nthat he should find in him no repugnance to obey his commands;\nand for Stratonice, he hoped all his friends would endeavor to\nmake her sensible, if she should manifest any reluctance to such\na marriage, that she ought to esteem those things just and\nhonorable which had been determined upon by the king as\nnecessary to the general good.  In this manner, we are told, was\nbrought about the marriage of Antiochus and Stratonice.\n\nTo return to the affairs of Demetrius.  Having obtained the\ncrown of Macedon, he presently became master of Thessaly also.\nAnd, holding the greatest part of Peloponnesus, and, on this\nside the Isthmus, the cities of Megara and Athens, he now turned\nhis arms against the Boeotians.  They at first made overtures\nfor an accommodation; but Cleonymus of Sparta having ventured\nwith some troops to their assistance, and having made his way\ninto Thebes, and Pisis, the Thespian, who was their first man in\npower and reputation, animating them to make a brave resistance,\nthey broke off the treaty.  No sooner, however, had Demetrius\nbegun to approach the walls with his engines, but Cleonymus in\naffright secretly withdrew; and the Boeotians, finding\nthemselves abandoned, made their submission.  Demetrius placed a\ngarrison in charge of their towns, and, having raised a large\nsum of money from them, he placed Hieronymus, the historian, in\nthe office of governor and military commander over them, and was\nthought on the whole to have shown great clemency, more\nparticularly to Pisis, to whom he did no hurt, but spoke with\nhim courteously and kindly, and made him chief magistrate of\nThespiae.  Not long after, Lysimachus was taken prisoner by\nDromichaetes, and Demetrius went off instantly in the hopes of\npossessing himself of Thrace, thus left without a king.  Upon\nthis, the Boeotians revolted again, and news also came that\nLysimachus had regained his liberty.  So Demetrius, turning back\nquickly and in anger, found on coming up that his son Antigonus\nhad already defeated the Boeotians in battle, and therefore\nproceeded to lay siege again to Thebes.\n\nBut, understanding that Pyrrhus had made an incursion into\nThessaly, and that he was advanced as far as Thermopylae,\nleaving Antigonus to continue the siege, he marched with the\nrest of his army to oppose this enemy.  Pyrrhus, however, made a\nquick retreat.  So, leaving ten thousand foot and a thousand\nhorse for the protection of Thessaly, he returned to the siege\nof Thebes, and there brought up his famous City-taker to the\nattack, which, however, was so laboriously and so slowly moved\non account of its bulk and heaviness, that in two months it did\nnot advance two furlongs.  In the meantime the citizens made a\nstout defense, and Demetrius, out of heat and contentiousness\nvery often, more than upon any necessity, sent his soldiers into\ndanger; until at last Antigonus, observing how many men were\nlosing their lives, said to him, \"Why, my father, do we go on\nletting the men be wasted in this way, without any need of it?\"\nBut Demetrius, in a great passion, interrupted him: \"And you,\ngood sir, why do you afflict yourself for the matter? will dead\nmen come to you for rations?\"  But that the soldiers might see\nhe valued his own life at no dearer rate than theirs, he exposed\nhimself freely, and was wounded with a javelin through his neck,\nwhich put him into great hazard of his life.  But,\nnotwithstanding, he continued the siege, and in conclusion took\nthe town again.  And after his entrance, when the citizens were\nin fear and trembling, and expected all the severities which an\nincensed conqueror could indict, he only put to death thirteen,\nand banished some few others, pardoning all the rest.  Thus the\ncity of Thebes, which had not yet been ten years restored, in\nthat short space was twice besieged and taken.\n\nShortly after, the festival of the Pythian Apollo was to be\ncelebrated, and the Aetolians having blocked up all the passages\nto Delphi, Demetrius held the games and celebrated the feast at\nAthens, alleging it was great reason those honors should be paid\nin that place, Apollo being the paternal god of the Athenian\npeople, and the reputed first founder of their race.\n\nFrom thence Demetrius returned to Macedon, and as he not only\nwas of a restless temper himself, but saw also that the\nMacedonians were ever the best subjects when employed in\nmilitary expeditions, but turbulent and desirous of change in\nthe idleness of peace, he led them against the Aetolians, and,\nhaving wasted their country, he left Pantauchus with a great\npart of his army to complete the conquest, and with the rest he\nmarched in person to find out Pyrrhus, who in like manner was\nadvancing to encounter him.  But so it fell out, that by taking\ndifferent ways the two armies did not meet; but whilst Demetrius\nentered Epirus, and laid all waste before him, Pyrrhus fell upon\nPantauchus, and, in a battle in which the two commanders met in\nperson and wounded each other, he gained the victory, and took\nfive thousand prisoners, besides great numbers slain on the\nfield.  The worst thing, however, for Demetrius was that Pyrrhus\nhad excited less animosity as an enemy than admiration as a\nbrave man.  His taking so large a part with his own hand in the\nbattle had gained him the greatest name and glory among the\nMacedonians.  Many among them began to say that this was the\nonly king in whom there was any likeness to be seen of the great\nAlexander's courage; the other kings, and particularly\nDemetrius, did nothing but personate him, like actors on a\nstage, in his pomp and outward majesty.  And Demetrius truly was\na perfect play and pageant, with his robes and diadems, his\ngold-edged purple and his hats with double streamers, his very\nshoes being of the richest purple felt, embroidered over in\ngold.  One robe in particular, a most superb piece of work, was\nlong in the loom in preparation for him, in which was to be\nwrought the representation of the universe and the celestial\nbodies.  This, left unfinished when his reverses overtook him,\nnot any one of the kings of Macedon, his successors, though\ndivers of them haughty enough, ever presumed to use.\n\nBut it was not this theatric pomp alone which disgusted the\nMacedonians, but his profuse and luxurious way of living; and,\nabove all, the difficulty of speaking with him or of obtaining\naccess to his presence.  For either he would not be seen at all,\nor, if he did give audience, he was violent and overbearing.\nThus he made the envoys of the Athenians, to whom yet he was\nmore attentive than to all the other Grecians, wait two whole\nyears before they could obtain a hearing.  And when the\nLacedaemonians sent a single person on an embassy to him, he\nheld himself insulted, and asked angrily whether it was the fact\nthat the Lacedaemonians had sent but one ambassador.  \"Yes,\" was\nthe happy reply he received, \"one ambassador to one king.\"\n\nOnce when in some apparent fit of a more popular and acceptable\ntemper he was riding abroad, a number of people came up and\npresented their written petitions.  He courteously received all\nthese, and put them up in the skirt of his cloak, while the poor\npeople were overjoyed, and followed him close.  But when he came\nupon the bridge of the river Axius, shaking out his cloak, he\nthrew all into the river.  This excited very bitter resentment\namong the Macedonians, who felt themselves to be not governed,\nbut insulted.  They called to mind what some of them had seen,\nand others had heard related of King Philip's unambitious and\nopen, accessible manners.  One day when an old woman had\nassailed him several times in the road and importuned him to\nhear her, after he had told her he had no time, \"If so,\" cried\nshe, \"you have no time to be a king.\"  And this reprimand so\nstung the king that after thinking of it a while he went back\ninto the house, and, setting all other matters apart, for\nseveral days together he did nothing else but receive, beginning\nwith the old woman, the complaints of all that would come.  And\nto do justice, truly enough, might well be called a king's first\nbusiness.  \"Mars,\" as says Timotheus, \"is the tyrant;\" but Law,\nin Pindar's words, the king of all.  Homer does not say that\nkings received at the hands of Jove besieging engines or ships\nof war, but sentences of justice, to keep and observe; nor is it\nthe most warlike, unjust, and murderous, but the most righteous\nof kings, that has from him the name of Jupiter's \"familiar\nfriend\" and scholar.  Demetrius's delight was the title most\nunlike the choices of the king of gods.  The divine names were\nthose of the Defender and Keeper, his was that of the Besieger\nof Cities. The place of virtue was given by him to that which,\nhad he not been as ignorant as he was powerful, he would have\nknown to be vice, and honor by his act was associated with\ncrime.  While he lay dangerously ill at Pella, Pyrrhus pretty\nnearly overran all Macedon, and advanced as far as the city of\nEdessa.  On recovering his health, he quickly drove him out, and\ncame to terms with him, being desirous not to employ his time in\na string of petty local conflicts with a neighbor, when all his\nthoughts were fixed upon another design.  This was no less than\nto endeavor the recovery of the whole empire which his father\nhad possessed; and his preparations were suitable to his hopes,\nand the greatness of the enterprise.  He had arranged for the\nlevying of ninety-eight thousand foot, and nearly twelve\nthousand horse; and he had a fleet of five hundred galleys on\nthe stocks, some building at Athens, others at Corinth and\nChalcis, and in the neighborhood of Pella.  And he himself was\npassing evermore from one to another of these places, to give\nhis directions and his assistance to the plans, while all that\nsaw were amazed, not so much at the number, as at the magnitude\nof the works.  Hitherto, there had never been seen a galley with\nfifteen or sixteen ranges of oars.  At a later time, Ptolemy\nPhilopator built one of forty rows, which was two hundred and\neighty cubits in length, and the height of her to the top of her\nstern forty eight cubits; she had four hundred sailors and four\nthousand rowers, and afforded room besides for very near three\nthousand soldiers to fight on her decks.  But this, after all,\nwas for show, and not for service, scarcely differing from a\nfixed edifice ashore, and was not to be moved without extreme\ntoil and peril; whereas these galleys of Demetrius were meant\nquite as much for fighting as for looking at, were not the less\nserviceable for their magnificence, and were as wonderful for\ntheir speed and general performance as for their size.\n\nThese mighty preparations against Asia, the like of which had\nnot been made since Alexander first invaded it, united Seleucus,\nPtolemy, and Lysimachus in a confederacy for their defense.\nThey also dispatched ambassadors to Pyrrhus, to persuade him to\nmake a diversion by attacking Macedonia; he need not think there\nwas any validity in a treaty which Demetrius had concluded, not\nas an engagement to be at peace with him, but as a means for\nenabling himself to make war first upon the enemy of his choice.\nSo when Pyrrhus accepted their proposals, Demetrius, still in\nthe midst of his preparations, was encompassed with war on all\nsides.  Ptolemy, with a mighty navy, invaded Greece; Lysimachus\nentered Macedonia upon the side of Thrace, and Pyrrhus, from the\nEpirot border, both of them spoiling and wasting the country.\nDemetrius, leaving his son to look after Greece, marched to the\nrelief of Macedon, and first of all to oppose Lysimachus.  On\nhis way, he received the news that Pyrrhus had taken the city\nBeroea; and the report quickly getting out among the soldiers,\nall discipline at once was lost, and the camp was filled with\nlamentations and tears, anger and execrations on Demetrius; they\nwould stay no longer, they would march off, as they said, to\ntake care of their country, friends, and families; but in\nreality the intention was to revolt to Lysimachus.  Demetrius,\ntherefore, thought it his business to keep them as far away as\nhe could from Lysimachus, who was their own countryman, and for\nAlexander's sake kindly looked upon by many; they would be ready\nto fight with Pyrrhus, a new-comer and a foreigner, whom they\ncould hardly prefer to himself.  But he found himself under a\ngreat mistake in these conjectures.  For when he advanced and\npitched his camp near, the old admiration for Pyrrhus's\ngallantry in arms revived again; and as they had been used from\ntime immemorial to suppose that the best king was he that was\nthe bravest soldier, so now they were also told of his generous\nusage of his prisoners, and, in short, they were eager to have\nanyone in the place of Demetrius, and well pleased that the man\nshould be Pyrrhus.  At first, some straggling parties only\ndeserted, but in a little time the whole army broke out into an\nuniversal mutiny, insomuch that at last some of them went up,\nand told him openly that if he consulted his own safety he were\nbest to make haste to be gone, for that the Macedonians were\nresolved no longer to hazard their lives for the satisfaction of\nhis luxury and pleasure.  And this was thought fair and moderate\nlanguage, compared with the fierceness of the rest.  So,\nwithdrawing into his tent, and, like an actor rather than a real\nking, laying aside his stage-robes of royalty, he put on some\ncommon clothes and stole away.  He was no sooner gone but the\nmutinous army were fighting and quarreling for the plunder of\nhis tent, but Pyrrhus, coming immediately, took possession of\nthe camp without a blow, after which he, with Lysimachus, parted\nthe realm of Macedon betwixt them, after Demetrius had securely\nheld it just seven years.\n\nAs for Demetrius, being thus suddenly despoiled of everything,\nhe retired to Cassandrea.  His wife Phila, in the passion of her\ngrief, could not endure to see her hapless husband reduced to\nthe condition of a private and banished man.  She refused to\nentertain any further hope, and, resolving to quit a fortune\nwhich was never permanent except for calamity, took poison and\ndied.  Demetrius, determining still to hold on by the wreck,\nwent off to Greece, and collected his friends and officers\nthere.  Menelaus, in the play of Sophocles, to give an image of\nhis vicissitudes of estate, says, --\n\nFor me, my destiny, alas, is found\nWhirling upon the gods' swift wheel around,\nAnd changing still, and as the moon's fair frame\nCannot continue for two nights the same,\nBut out of shadow first a crescent shows,\nThence into beauty and perfection grows,\nAnd when the form of plenitude it wears,\nDwindles again, and wholly disappears.\n\nThe simile is yet truer of Demetrius and the phases of his\nfortunes, now on the increase, presently on the wane, now\nfilling up and now falling away.  And so, at this time of\napparent entire obscuration and extinction, his light again\nshone out, and accessions of strength, little by little, came in\nto fulfill once more the measure of his hope.  At first he\nshowed himself in the garb of a private man, and went about the\ncities without any of the badges of a king.  One who saw him\nthus at Thebes applied to him not inaptly, the lines of\nEuripides,\n\nHumbled to man, laid by the godhead's pride,\nHe comes to Dirce and Ismenus' side.\n\nBut erelong his expectations had reentered the royal track, and\nhe began once more to have about him the body and form of\nempire.  The Thebans received back, as his gift, their ancient\nconstitution.  The Athenians had deserted him.  They displaced\nDiphilus, who was that year the priest of the two Tutelar\nDeities, and restored the archons, as of old, to mark the year;\nand on hearing that Demetrius was not so weak as they had\nexpected, they sent into Macedonia to beg the protection of\nPyrrhus.  Demetrius, in anger, marched to Athens, and laid close\nsiege to the city.  In this distress, they sent out to him\nCrates the philosopher, a person of authority and reputation,\nwho succeeded so far, that what with his entreaties and the\nsolid reasons which he offered, Demetrius was persuaded to raise\nthe siege; and, collecting all his ships, he embarked a force of\neleven thousand men with cavalry, and sailed away to Asia, to\nCaria and Lydia, to take those provinces from Lysimachus.\nArriving at Miletus, he was met there by Eurydice, the sister of\nPhila, who brought along with her Ptolemais, one of her\ndaughters by king Ptolemy, who had before been affianced to\nDemetrius, and with whom he now consummated his marriage.\nImmediately after, he proceeded to carry out his project, and\nwas so fortunate in the beginning, that many cities revolted to\nhim; others, as particularly Sardis, he took by force; and some\ngenerals of Lysimachus, also, came over to him with troops and\nmoney.  But when Agathocles, the son of Lysimachus, arrived with\nan army, he retreated into Phrygia, with an intention to pass\ninto Armenia, believing that, if he could once plant his foot in\nArmenia, he might set Media in revolt, and gain a position in\nUpper Asia, where a fugitive commander might find a hundred ways\nof evasion and escape.  Agathocles pressed hard upon him, and\nmany skirmishes and conflicts occurred, in which Demetrius had\nstill the advantage; but Agathocles straitened him much in his\nforage, and his men showed a great dislike to his purpose, which\nthey suspected, of carrying them far away into Armenia and\nMedia.  Famine also pressed upon them, and some mistake occurred\nin their passage of the river Lycus, in consequence of which a\nlarge number were swept away and drowned.  Still, however, they\ncould pass their jests, and one of them fixed upon Demetrius's\ntent-door a paper with the first verse, slightly altered of the\nOedipus; --\n\nChild of the blind old man, Antigonus,\nInto what country are you bringing us?\n\nBut at last, pestilence, as is usual, when armies are driven to\nsuch necessities as to subsist upon any food they can get, began\nto assail them as well as famine.  So that, having lost eight\nthousand of his men, with the rest he retreated and came to\nTarsus, and because that city was within the dominions of\nSeleucus, he was anxious to prevent any plundering, and wished\nto give no sort of offense to Seleucus.  But when he perceived\nit was impossible to restrain the soldiers in their extreme\nnecessity, Agathocles also having blocked up all the avenues of\nMount Taurus, he wrote a letter to Seleucus, bewailing first all\nhis own sad fortunes, and proceeding with entreaties and\nsupplications for some compassion on his part towards one\nnearly connected with him, who was fallen into such calamities\nas might extort tenderness and\npity from his very enemies.\n\nThese letters so far moved Seleucus, that he gave orders to the\ngovernors of those provinces that they should furnish Demetrius\nwith all things suitable to his royal rank, and with sufficient\nprovisions for his troops.  But Patrocles, a person whose\njudgment was greatly valued, and who was a friend highly trusted\nby Seleucus, pointed out to him, that the expense of maintaining\nsuch a body of soldiers was the least important consideration,\nbut that it was contrary to all policy to let Demetrius stay in\nthe country, since he, of all the kings of his time, was the\nmost violent, and most addicted to daring enterprises; and he\nwas now in a condition which might tempt persons of the greatest\ntemper and moderation to unlawful and desperate attempts.\nSeleucus, excited by this advice, moved with a powerful army\ntowards Cilicia; and Demetrius, astonished at this sudden\nalteration, betook himself for safety to the most inaccessible\nplaces of Mount Taurus; from whence he sent envoys to Seleucus,\nto request from him that he would permit him the liberty to\nsettle with his army somewhere among the independent barbarian\ntribes, where he might be able to make himself a petty king, and\nend his life without further travel and hardship; or, if he\nrefused him this, at any rate to give his troops food during the\nwinter, and not expose him in this distressed and naked\ncondition to the fury of his enemies.\n\nBut Seleucus, whose jealousy made him put an ill construction on\nall he said, sent him answer, that he would permit him to stay\ntwo months and no longer in Cataonia, provided he presently sent\nhim the principal of his friends as hostages for his departure\nthen; and, in the meantime, he fortified all the passages into\nSyria.  So that Demetrius, who saw himself thus, like a wild\nbeast, in the way to be encompassed on all sides in the toils,\nwas driven in desperation to his defense, overran the country,\nand in several engagements in which Seleucus attacked him, had\nthe advantage of him.  Particularly, when he was once assailed\nby the scythed chariots, he successfully avoided the charge and\nrouted his assailants, and then, expelling the troops that were\nin guard of the passes, made himself master of the roads leading\ninto Syria.  And now, elated himself, and finding his soldiers\nalso animated by these successes, he was resolved to push at\nall, and to have one deciding blow for the empire with Seleucus;\nwho, indeed, was in considerable anxiety and distress, being\naverse to any assistance from Lysimachus, whom he both\nmistrusted and feared, and shrinking from a battle with\nDemetrius, whose desperation he knew, and whose fortune he had\nso often seen suddenly pass from the lowest to the highest.\n\nBut Demetrius, in the meanwhile, was taken with a violent\nsickness, from which he suffered extremely himself, and which\nruined all his prospects.  His men deserted to the enemy, or\ndispersed.  At last, after forty days, he began to be so far\nrecovered as to be able to rally his remaining forces, and\nmarched as if he directly designed for Cilicia; but in the\nnight, raising his camp without sound of trumpet, he took a\ncountermarch, and, passing the mountain Amanus, he ravaged an\nthe lower country as far as Cyrrhestica.\n\nUpon this, Seleucus advancing towards him and encamping at no\ngreat distance, Demetrius set his troops in motion to surprise\nhim by night.  And almost to the last moment Seleucus knew\nnothing, and was lying asleep.  Some deserter came with the\ntidings just so soon that he had time to leap, in great\nconsternation, out of bed, and give the alarm to his men.  And\nas he was putting on his boots to mount his horse, he bade the\nofficers about him look well to it, for they had to meet a\nfurious and terrible wild beast.  But Demetrius, by the noise he\nheard in the camp, finding they had taken the alarm, drew off\nhis troops in haste.  With the morning's return he found\nSeleucus pressing hard upon him; so, sending one of his officers\nagainst the other wing, he defeated those that were opposed to\nhimself.  But Seleucus, lighting from his horse, pulling off his\nhelmet, and taking a target, advanced to the foremost ranks of\nthe mercenary soldiers, and, showing them who he was, bade them\ncome over and join him, telling them that it was for their sakes\nonly that he had so long forborne coming to extremities.  And\nthereupon, without a blow more, they saluted Seleucus as their\nking, and passed over.\n\nDemetrius, who felt that this was his last change of fortune,\nand that he had no more vicissitudes to expect, fled to the\npasses of Amanus, where, with a very few friends and followers,\nhe threw himself into a dense forest, and there waited for the\nnight, purposing, if possible, to make his escape towards\nCaunus, where he hoped to find his shipping ready to transport\nhim.  But upon inquiry, finding that they had not provisions\neven for that one day, he began to think of some other project.\nWhilst he was yet in doubt, his friend Sosigenes arrived, who\nhad four hundred pieces of gold about him, and, with this\nrelief, he again entertained hopes of being able to reach the\ncoast, and, as soon as it began to be dark, set forward towards\nthe passes.  But, perceiving by the fires that the enemies had\noccupied them, he gave up all thought of that road, and\nretreated to his old station in the wood, but not with all his\nmen; for some had deserted, nor were those that remained as\nwilling as they had been.  One of them, in fine, ventured to\nspeak out, and say that Demetrius had better give himself up to\nSeleucus; which Demetrius overhearing, drew out his sword, and\nwould have passed it through his body, but that some of his\nfriends interposed and prevented the attempt, persuading him to\ndo as had been said.  So at last he gave way, and sent to\nSeleucus, to surrender himself at discretion.\n\nSeleucus, when he was told of it, said it was not Demetrius's\ngood fortune that had found out this means for his safety, but\nhis own, which had added to his other honors the opportunity of\nshowing his clemency and generosity.  And forthwith he gave\norder to his domestic officers to prepare a royal pavilion, and\nall things suitable to give him a splendid reception and\nentertainment.  There was in the attendance of Seleucus one\nApollonides, who formerly had been intimate with Demetrius.  He\nwas, therefore, as the fittest person, dispatched from the king\nto meet Demetrius, that he might feel himself more at his ease,\nand might come with the confidence of being received as a friend\nand relative.  No sooner was this message known, but the\ncourtiers and officers, some few at first, and afterwards almost\nthe whole of them, thinking, Demetrius would presently become\nof great power with the king, hurried off, vying who should be\nforemost to pay him their respects.  The effect of which was\nthat compassion was converted into jealousy, and ill-natured,\nmalicious people could the more easily insinuate to Seleucus\nthat he was giving way to an unwise humanity, the very first\nsight of Demetrius having been the occasion of a dangerous\nexcitement in the army.  So, whilst Apollonides, in great\ndelight, and after him many others, were relating to Demetrius\nthe kind expressions of Seleucus, and he, after so many troubles\nand calamities, if indeed he had still any sense of his\nsurrender of himself being a disgrace, had now, in confidence on\nthe good hopes held out to him, entirely forgotten all such\nthoughts, Pausanias, with a guard of a thousand horse and foot,\ncame and surrounded him; and, dispersing the rest that were with\nhim, carried him, not to the presence of Seleucus, but to the\nSyrian Chersonese, where he was committed to the safe custody\nof a strong guard.  Sufficient attendance and liberal provision\nwere here allowed him, space for riding and walking, a park with\ngame for hunting, those of his friends and companions in exile\nwho wished it had permission to see him, and messages of\nkindness, also, from time to time, were brought him from\nSeleucus, bidding him fear nothing, and intimating, that, so\nsoon as Antiochus and Stratonice should arrive, he would receive\nhis liberty.\n\nDemetrius, however, finding himself in this condition, sent\nletters to those who were with his son, and to his captains and\nfriends at Athens and Corinth, that they should give no manner\nof credit to any letters written to them in his name, though\nthey were sealed with his own signet, but that, looking upon him\nas if he were already dead, they should maintain the cities and\nwhatever was left of his power, for Antigonus, as his successor.\nAntigonus received the news of his father's captivity with great\nsorrow; he put himself into mourning, and wrote letters to the\nrest of the kings, and to Seleucus himself, making entreaties,\nand offering not only to surrender whatever they had left, but\nhimself to be a hostage for his father.  Many cities, also, and\nprinces joined in interceding for him; only Lysimachus sent and\noffered a large sum of money to Seleucus to take away his life.\nBut he, who had always shown his aversion to Lysimachus before,\nthought him only the greater barbarian and monster for it.\nNevertheless, he still protracted the time, reserving the favor,\nas he professed, for the intercession of Antiochus and\nStratonice.\n\nDemetrius, who had sustained the first stroke of his misfortune,\nin time grew so familiar with it, that, by continuance, it\nbecame easy.  At first he persevered one way or other in taking\nexercise, in hunting, so far as he had means, and in riding.\nLittle by little, however, after a while, he let himself grow\nindolent and indisposed for them, and took to dice and drinking,\nin which he passed most of his time, whether it were to escape\nthe thoughts of his present condition, with which he was haunted\nwhen sober, and to drown reflection in drunkenness, or that he\nacknowledged to himself that this was the real happy life he had\nlong desired and wished for, and had foolishly let himself be\nseduced away from it by a senseless and vain ambition, which had\nonly brought trouble to himself and others; that highest good\nwhich he had thought to obtain by arms and fleets and soldiers,\nhe had now discovered unexpectedly in idleness, leisure, and\nrepose.  As, indeed, what other end or period is there of all\nthe wars and dangers which hapless princes run into, whose\nmisery and folly it is, not merely that they make luxury and\npleasure, instead of virtue and excellence, the object of their\nlives, but that they do not so much as know where this luxury\nand pleasure are to be found?\n\nHaving thus continued three years a prisoner in Chersonesus, for\nwant of exercise, and by indulging himself in eating and\ndrinking, he fell into a disease, of which he died at the age of\nfifty-four.  Seleucus was ill-spoken of, and was himself greatly\ngrieved, that he had yielded so far to his suspicions, and had\nlet himself be so much outdone by the barbarian Dromichaetes of\nThrace, who had shown so much humanity and such a kingly temper\nin his treatment of his prisoner Lysimachus.\n\nThere was something dramatic and theatrical in the very funeral\nceremonies with which Demetrius was honored.  For his son\nAntigonus, understanding that his remains were coming over from\nSyria, went with all his fleet to the islands to meet them.\nThey were there presented to him in a golden urn, which he\nplaced in his largest admiral galley.  All the cities where they\ntouched in their passage sent chaplets to adorn the urn, and\ndeputed certain of their citizens to follow in mourning, to\nassist at the funeral solemnity.  When the fleet approached the\nharbor of Corinth, the urn, covered with purple, and a royal\ndiadem upon it, was visible upon the poop, and a troop of young\nmen attended in arms to receive it at landing Xenophantus, the\nmost famous musician of the day, played on the flute his most\nsolemn measure, to which the rowers, as the ship came in, made\nloud response, their oars, like the funeral beating of the\nbreast, keeping time with the cadences of the music.  But\nAntigonus, in tears and mourning attire, excited among the\nspectators gathered on the shore the greatest sorrow and\ncompassion.  After crowns and other honors had been offered at\nCorinth, the remains were conveyed to Demetrias, a city to which\nDemetrius had given his name, peopled from the inhabitants of\nthe small villages of Iolcus.\n\nDemetrius left no other children by his wife Phila but Antigonus\nand Stratonice, but he had two other sons, both of his own name,\none surnamed the Thin, by an Illyrian mother, and one who ruled\nin Cyrene, by Ptolemais.  He had also, by Deidamia, a son,\nAlexander, who lived and died in Egypt; and there are some who\nsay that he had a son by Eurydice, named Corrhabus.  His family\nwas continued in a succession of kings down to Perseus, the\nlast, from whom the Romans took Macedonia.\n\nAnd now, the Macedonian drama being ended, let us prepare to see\nthe Roman.\n\n\n\nANTONY\n\nThe grandfather of Antony was the famous pleader, whom Marius\nput to death for having taken part with Sylla.  His father was\nAntony, surnamed of Crete, not very famous or distinguished in\npublic life, but a worthy, good man, and particularly remarkable\nfor his liberality, as may appear from a single example.  He was\nnot very rich, and was for that reason checked in the exercise\nof his good-nature by his wife.  A friend that stood in need of\nmoney came to borrow of him.  Money he had none, but he bade a\nservant bring him water in a silver basin, with which, when it\nwas brought, he wetted his face, as if he meant to shave; and,\nsending away the servant upon another errand, gave his friend\nthe basin, desiring him to turn it to his purpose.  And when\nthere was, afterwards, a great inquiry for it in the house, and\nhis wife was in a very ill humor, and was going to put the\nservants one by one to the search, he acknowledged what he had\ndone, and begged her pardon.\n\nHis wife was Julia, of the family of the Caesars, who, for her\ndiscretion and fair behavior, was not inferior to any of her\ntime.  Under her, Antony received his education, she being,\nafter the death of his father, remarried to Cornelius Lentulus.\nwho was put to death by Cicero for having been of Catiline's\nconspiracy.  This, probably, was the first ground and occasion\nof that mortal grudge that Antony bore Cicero.  He says, even,\nthat the body of Lentulus was denied burial, till, by\napplication made to Cicero's wife, it was granted to Julia.  But\nthis seems to be a manifest error, for none of those that\nsuffered in the consulate of Cicero had the right of burial\ndenied them.  Antony grew up a very beautiful youth, but, by the\nworst of misfortunes, he fell into the acquaintance and\nfriendship of Curio, a man abandoned to his pleasures; who, to\nmake Antony's dependence upon him a matter of greater necessity,\nplunged him into a life of drinking and dissipation, and led him\nthrough a course of such extravagance, that he ran, at that\nearly age, into debt to the amount of two hundred and fifty\ntalents.  For this sum, Curio became his surety; on hearing\nwhich, the elder Curio, his father, drove Antony out of his\nhouse.  After this, for some short time, he took part with\nClodius, the most insolent and outrageous demagogue of the time,\nin his course of violence and disorder; but, getting weary,\nbefore long, of his madness, and apprehensive of the powerful\nparty forming against him, he left Italy, and traveled into\nGreece, where he spent his time in military exercises and in the\nstudy of eloquence.  He took most to what was called the Asiatic\ntaste in speaking, which was then at its height, and was, in\nmany ways, suitable to his ostentatious, vaunting temper, full\nof empty flourishes and unsteady efforts for glory.\n\nAfter some stay in Greece, he was invited by Gabinius, who had\nbeen consul, to make a campaign with him in Syria, which at\nfirst he refused, not being willing to serve in a private\ncharacter, but, receiving a commission to command the horse, he\nwent along with him.  His first service was against Aristobulus,\nwho had prevailed with the Jews to rebel.  Here he was himself\nthe first man to scale the largest of the works, and beat\nAristobulus out of all of them; after which he routed, in a\npitched battle, an army many times over the number of his,\nkilled almost all of them, and took Aristobulus and his son\nprisoners.  This war ended, Gabinius was solicited by Ptolemy to\nrestore him to his kingdom of Egypt, and a promise made of ten\nthousand talents reward.  Most of the officers were against this\nenterprise, and Gabinius himself did not much like it, though\nsorely tempted by the ten thousand talents.  But Antony,\ndesirous of brave actions, and willing to please Ptolemy, joined\nin persuading Gabinius to go.  And whereas all were of opinion\nthat the most dangerous thing before them was the march to\nPelusium, in which they would have to pass over a deep sand,\nwhere no fresh water was to be hoped for, along the Ecregma and\nthe Serbonian marsh (which the Egyptians call Typhon's\nbreathing-hole, and which is, in probability, water left behind\nby, or making its way through from, the Red Sea, which is here\ndivided from the Mediterranean by a narrow isthmus), Antony,\nbeing ordered thither with the horse, not only made himself\nmaster of the passes, but won Pelusium itself, a great city,\ntook the garrison prisoners, and, by this means, rendered the\nmarch secure to the army, and the way to victory not difficult\nfor the general to pursue.  The enemy, also, reaped some benefit\nof his eagerness for honor.  For when Ptolemy, after he had\nentered Pelusium, in his rage and spite against the Egyptians,\ndesigned to put them to the sword, Antony withstood him, and\nhindered the execution.  In all the great and frequent\nskirmishes and battles, he gave continual proofs of his\npersonal valor and military conduct; and once in particular, by\nwheeling about and attacking the rear of the enemy, he gave the\nvictory to the assailants in the front, and received for this\nservice signal marks of distinction.  Nor was his humanity\ntowards the deceased Archelaus less taken notice of.  He had\nbeen formerly his guest and acquaintance, and, as he was now\ncompelled, he fought him bravely while alive, but, on his death,\nsought out his body and buried it with royal honors.  The\nconsequence was that he left behind him a great name among the\nAlexandrians, and all who were serving in the Roman army looked\nupon him as a most gallant soldier.\n\nHe had also a very good and noble appearance; his beard was well\ngrown, his forehead large, and his nose aquiline, giving him\naltogether a bold, masculine look, that reminded people of the\nfaces of Hercules in paintings and sculptures.  It was,\nmoreover, an ancient tradition, that the Antonys were descended\nfrom Hercules, by a son of his called Anton; and this opinion he\nthought to give credit to, by the similarity of his person just\nmentioned, and also by the fashion of his dress.  For, whenever\nhe had to appear before large numbers, he wore his tunic girt\nlow about the hips, a broadsword on his side, and over all a\nlarge, coarse mantle.  What might seem to some very\ninsupportable, his vaunting, his raillery, his drinking in\npublic, sitting down by the men as they were taking their food,\nand eating, as he stood, off the common soldiers' tables, made\nhim the delight and pleasure of the army.  In love affairs,\nalso, he was very agreeable; he gained many friends by the\nassistance he gave them in theirs, and took other people's\nraillery upon his own with good-humor.  And his generous ways,\nhis open and lavish hand in gifts and favors to his friends and\nfellow-soldiers, did a great deal for him in his first advance\nto power, and, after he had become great, long maintained his\nfortunes, when a thousand follies were hastening their\noverthrow.  One instance of his liberality I must relate.  He\nhad ordered payment to one of his friends of twenty-five myriads\nof money, or decies, as the Romans call it, and his steward,\nwondering at the extravagance of the sum, laid all the silver in\na heap, as he should pass by.  Antony, seeing the heap, asked\nwhat it meant; his steward replied, \"The money you have ordered\nto be given to your friend.\"  So, perceiving the man's malice,\nsaid he, \"I thought the decies had been much more; 't is too\nlittle; let it be doubled.\"  This, however, was at a later time.\n\nWhen the Roman state finally broke up into two hostile factions,\nthe aristocratical party joining Pompey, who was in the city,\nand the popular side seeking help from Caesar, who was at the\nhead of an army in Gaul, Curio, the friend of Antony, having\nchanged his party and devoted himself to Caesar, brought over\nAntony also to his service.  And the influence which he gained\nwith the people by his eloquence and by the money which was\nsupplied by Caesar enabled him to make Antony, first, tribune of\nthe people, and then, augur.  And Antony's accession to office\nwas at once of the greatest advantage to Caesar.  In the first\nplace, he resisted the consul Marcellus, who was putting under\nPompey's orders the troops who were already collected, and was\ngiving him power to raise new levies; he, on the other hand,\nmaking an order that they should be sent into Syria to reinforce\nBibulus, who was making war with the Parthians, and that no one\nshould give in his name to serve under Pompey.  Next, when the\nsenators would not suffer Caesar's letters to be received or\nread in the senate, by virtue of his office he read them\npublicly, and succeeded so well, that many were brought to\nchange their mind; Caesar's demands, as they appeared in what he\nwrote, being but just and reasonable.  At length, two questions\nbeing put in the senate, the one, whether Pompey should dismiss\nhis army, the other, if Caesar his, some were for the former,\nfor the latter all, except some few, when Antony stood up and\nput the question, if it would be agreeable to them that both\nPompey and Caesar should dismiss their armies.  This proposal\nmet with the greatest approval, they gave him loud acclamations,\nand called for it to be put to the vote.  But when the consuls\nwould not have it so, Caesar's friends again made some new\noffers, very fair and equitable, but were strongly opposed by\nCato, and Antony himself was commanded to leave the senate by\nthe consul Lentulus.  So, leaving them with execrations, and\ndisguising himself in a servant's dress, hiring a carriage with\nQuintus Cassius, he went straight away to Caesar, declaring at\nonce, when they reached the camp, that affairs at Rome were\nconducted without any order or justice, that the privilege of\nspeaking in the senate was denied the tribunes, and that he who\nspoke for common fair dealing was driven out and in danger of\nhis life.\n\nUpon this, Caesar set his army in motion, and marched into\nItaly; and for this reason it is that Cicero writes in his\nPhilippics, that Antony was as much the cause of the civil war,\nas Helen was of the Trojan.  But this is but a calumny.  For\nCaesar was not of so slight or weak a temper as to suffer\nhimself to be carried away, by the indignation of the moment,\ninto a civil war with his country, upon the sight of Antony and\nCassius seeking refuge in his camp, meanly dressed and in a\nhired carriage, without ever having thought of it or taken any\nsuch resolution long before.  This was to him, who wanted a\npretense of declaring war, a fair and plausible occasion; but\nthe true motive that led him was the same that formerly led\nAlexander and Cyrus against all mankind, the unquenchable thirst\nof empire, and the distracted ambition of being the greatest man\nin the world, which was impracticable for him, unless Pompey\nwere put down.  So soon, then, as he had advanced and occupied\nRome, and driven Pompey out of Italy, he purposed first to go\nagainst the legions that Pompey had in Spain, and then cross\nover and follow him with the fleet that should be prepared\nduring his absence, in the meantime leaving the government of\nRome to Lepidus, as praetor, and the command of the troops and\nof Italy to Antony, as tribune of the people.  Antony was not\nlong in getting the hearts of the soldiers, joining with them in\ntheir exercises, and for the most part living amongst them, and\nmaking them presents to the utmost of his abilities; but with\nall others he was unpopular enough.  He was too lazy to pay\nattention to the complaints of persons who were injured; he\nlistened impatiently to petitions; and he had an ill name for\nfamiliarity with other people's wives.  In short, the government\nof Caesar (which, so far as he was concerned himself, had the\nappearance of anything rather than a tyranny), got a bad repute\nthrough his friends.  And of these friends, Antony, as he had\nthe largest trust, and committed the greatest errors, was\nthought the most deeply in fault.\n\nCaesar, however, at his return from Spain, overlooked the\ncharges against him, and had no reason ever to complain, in the\nemployments he gave him in the war, of any want of courage,\nenergy, or military skill.  He himself, going aboard at\nBrundusium, sailed over the Ionian Sea with a few troops, and\nsent back the vessels with orders to Antony and Gabinius to\nembark the army, and come over with all speed into Macedonia.\nGabinius, having no mind to put to sea in the rough, dangerous\nweather of the winter season, was for marching the army round by\nthe long land route; but Antony, being more afraid lest Caesar\nmight suffer from the number of his enemies, who pressed him\nhard, beat back Libo, who was watching with a fleet at the mouth\nof the haven of Brundusium, by attacking his galleys with a\nnumber of small boats, and, gaining thus an opportunity, put on\nboard twenty thousand foot and eight hundred horse, and so set\nout to sea.  And, being espied by the enemy and pursued, from\nthis danger he was rescued by a strong south wind, which sprang\nup and raised so high a sea, that the enemy's galleys could make\nlittle way.  But his own ships were driving before it upon a lee\nshore of cliffs and rocks running sheer to the water, where\nthere was no hope of escape, when all of a sudden the wind\nturned about to south-west, and blew from land to the main sea,\nwhere Antony, now sailing in security, saw the coast all covered\nwith the wreck of the enemy's fleet.  For hither the galleys in\npursuit had been carried by the gale, and not a few of them\ndashed to pieces.  Many men and much property fell into Antony's\nhands; he took also the town of Lissus, and, by the seasonable\narrival of so large a reinforcement, gave Caesar great\nencouragement.\n\nThere was not one of the many engagements that now took place\none after another in which he did not signalize himself; twice\nhe stopped the army in its full flight, led them back to a\ncharge, and gained the victory.  So that not without reason his\nreputation, next to Caesar's, was greatest in the army.  And what\nopinion Caesar himself had of him well appeared when for the\nfinal battle in Pharsalia, which was to determine everything,\nhe himself chose to lead the right wing, committing the\ncharge of the left to Antony, as to the best officer of all that\nserved under him.  After the battle, Caesar, being created\ndictator, went in pursuit of Pompey, and sent Antony to Rome,\nwith the character of Master of the Horse, who is in office and\npower next to the dictator, when present, and in his absence is\nthe first, and pretty nearly indeed the sole magistrate.  For on\nthe appointment of a dictator, with the one exception of the\ntribunes, all other magistrates cease to exercise any authority\nin Rome.\n\nDolabella, however, who was tribune, being a young man and eager\nfor change, was now for bringing in a general measure for\ncanceling debts, and wanted Antony, who was his friend, and\nforward enough to promote any popular project, to take part with\nhim in this step.  Asinius and Trebellius were of the contrary\nopinion, and it so happened, at the same time, Antony was\ncrossed by a terrible suspicion that Dolabella was too familiar\nwith his wife; and in great trouble at this, he parted with her\n(she being his cousin, and daughter to Caius Antonius, the\ncolleague of Cicero), and, taking part with Asinius, came to\nopen hostilities with Dolabella, who had seized on the forum,\nintending to pass his law by force.  Antony, backed by a vote of\nthe senate that Dolabella should be put down by force of arms,\nwent down and attacked him, killing some of his, and losing some\nof his own men; and by this action lost his favor with the\ncommonalty, while with the better class and with all well\nconducted people his general course of life made him, as Cicero\nsays, absolutely odious, utter disgust being excited by his\ndrinking bouts at all hours, his wild expenses, his gross\namours, the day spent in sleeping or walking off his debauches,\nand the night in banquets and at theaters, and in celebrating\nthe nuptials of some comedian or buffoon.  It is related that,\ndrinking all night at the wedding of Hippias, the comedian, on\nthe morning, having to harangue the people, he came forward,\novercharged as he was, and vomited before them all, one of his\nfriends holding his gown for him.  Sergius, the player, was one\nof the friends who could do most with him; also Cytheris, a\nwoman of the same trade, whom he made much of, and who, when he\nwent his progress, accompanied him in a litter, and had her\nequipage, not in anything inferior to his mother's; while every\none, moreover, was scandalized at the sight of the golden cups\nthat he took with him, fitter for the ornaments of a procession\nthan the uses of a journey, at his having pavilions set up, and\nsumptuous morning repasts laid out by river-sides and in groves,\nat his having chariots drawn by lions, and common women and\nsinging girls quartered upon the houses of serious fathers and\nmothers of families.  And it seemed very unreasonable that\nCaesar, out of Italy, should lodge in the open field, and, with\ngreat fatigue and danger, pursue the remainder of a hazardous\nwar, whilst others, by favor of his authority, should insult the\ncitizens with their impudent luxury.\n\nAll this appears to have aggravated party quarrels in Rome, and\nto have encouraged the soldiers in acts of license and rapacity.\nAnd, accordingly, when Caesar came home, he acquitted Dolabella,\nand, being created the third time consul, took, not Antony, but\nLepidus, for his colleague.  Pompey's house being offered for\nsale, Antony bought it, and, when the price was demanded of him,\nloudly complained.  This, he tells us himself, and because he\nthought his former services had not been recompensed as they\ndeserved, made him not follow Caesar with the army into Libya.\nHowever, Caesar, by dealing gently with his errors, seems to\nhave succeeded in curing him of a good deal of his folly and\nextravagance.  He gave up his former courses, and took a wife,\nFulvia, the widow of Clodius the demagogue, a woman not born for\nspinning or housewifery, nor one that could be content with\nruling a private husband, but prepared to govern a first\nmagistrate, or give orders to a commander-in-chief.  So that\nCleopatra had great obligations to her for having taught Antony\nto be so good a servant, he coming to her hands tame and broken\ninto entire obedience to the commands of a mistress.  He used to\nplay all sorts of sportive, boyish tricks, to keep Fulvia in\ngood-humor.  As, for example, when Caesar, after his victory in\nSpain, was on his return, Antony, among the rest, went out to\nmeet him; and, a rumor being spread that Caesar was killed and\nthe enemy marching into Italy, he resumed to Rome, and,\ndisguising himself, came to her by night muffled up as a servant\nthat brought letters from Antony.  She, with great impatience,\nbefore she received the letter, asks if Antony were well, and\ninstead of an answer he gives her the letter; and, as she was\nopening it, took her about the neck and kissed her.  This little\nstory of many of the same nature, I give as a specimen.\n\nThere was nobody of any rank in Rome that did not go some days'\njourney to meet Caesar on his return from Spain; but Antony was\nthe best received of any, admitted to ride the whole journey\nwith him in his carriage, while behind came Brutus Albinus, and\nOctavian, his niece's son, who afterwards bore his name and\nreigned so long over the Romans.  Caesar being created, the\nfifth time, consul, without delay chose Antony for his\ncolleague, but, designing himself to give up his own consulate\nto Dolabella, he acquainted the senate with his resolution.  But\nAntony opposed it with all his might, saying much that was bad\nagainst Dolabella, and receiving the like language in return,\ntill Caesar could bear with the indecency no longer, and\ndeferred the matter to another time.  Afterwards, when he came\nbefore the people to proclaim Dolabella, Antony cried out that\nthe auspices were unfavorable, so that at last Caesar, much to\nDolabella's vexation, yielded and gave it up.  And it is\ncredible that Caesar was about as much disgusted with the one as\nthe other.  When someone was accusing them both to him, \"It is\nnot,\" said he, \"these well fed, long-haired men that I fear, but\nthe pale and the hungry looking;\" meaning Brutus and Cassius, by\nwhose conspiracy he afterwards fell.\n\nAnd the fairest pretext for that conspiracy was furnished,\nwithout his meaning it, by Antony himself.  The Romans were\ncelebrating their festival, called the Lupercalia, when Caesar,\nin his triumphal habit, and seated above the Rostra in the\nmarket-place, was a spectator of the sports.  The custom is,\nthat many young noblemen and of the magistracy, anointed with\noil and having straps of hide in their hands, run about and\nstrike, in sport, at everyone they meet.  Antony was running\nwith the rest; but, omitting the old ceremony, twining a garland\nof bay round a diadem, he ran up to the Rostra, and, being\nlifted up by his companions, would have put it upon the head of\nCaesar, as if by that ceremony he were declared king.  Caesar\nseemingly refused, and drew aside to avoid it, and was applauded\nby the people with great shouts.  Again Antony pressed it, and\nagain he declined its acceptance.  And so the dispute between\nthem went on for some time, Antony's solicitations receiving but\nlittle encouragement from the shouts of a few friends, and\nCaesar's refusal being accompanied with the general applause of\nthe people; a curious thing enough, that they should submit with\npatience to the fact, and yet at the same time dread the name as\nthe destruction of their liberty.  Caesar, very much discomposed\nat what had past, got up from his seat, and, laying bare his\nneck, said, he was ready to receive the stroke, if any one of\nthem desired to give it.  The crown was at last put on one of\nhis statues, but was taken down by some of the tribunes, who\nwere followed home by the people with shouts of applause.\nCaesar, however, resented it, and deposed them.\n\nThese passages gave great encouragement to Brutus and Cassius,\nwho, in making choice of trusty friends for such an enterprise,\nwere thinking to engage Antony.  The rest approved, except\nTrebonius, who told them that Antony and he had lodged and\ntraveled together in the last journey they took to meet Caesar,\nand that he had\nlet fall several words, in a cautious way, on purpose to sound\nhim; that Antony very well understood him, but did not encourage\nit; however, he had said nothing of it to Caesar, but had kept\nthe secret faithfully.  The conspirators then proposed that\nAntony should die with him, which Brutus would not consent to,\ninsisting that an action undertaken in defense of right and the\nlaws must be maintained unsullied, and pure of injustice.  It\nwas settled that Antony, whose bodily strength and high office\nmade him formidable, should, at Caesar's entrance into the\nsenate, when the deed was to be done, be amused outside by some\nof the party in a conversation about some pretended business.\n\nSo when all was proceeded with, according to their plan, and\nCaesar had fallen in the senate-house, Antony, at the first\nmoment, took a servant's dress, and hid himself.  But,\nunderstanding that the conspirators had assembled in the\nCapitol, and had no further design upon anyone, he persuaded\nthem to come down, giving them his son as a hostage.  That night\nCassius supped at Antony's house, and Brutus with Lepidus.\nAntony then convened the senate, and spoke in favor of an act of\noblivion, and the appointment of Brutus and Cassius to\nprovinces.  These measures the senate passed; and resolved that\nall Caesar's acts should remain in force.  Thus Antony went out\nof the senate with the highest possible reputation and esteem;\nfor it was apparent that he had prevented a civil war, and had\ncomposed, in the wisest and most statesman-like way, questions\nof the greatest difficulty and embarrassment.  But these\ntemperate counsels were soon swept away by the tide of popular\napplause, and the prospects, if Brutus were overthrown, of being\nwithout doubt the ruler-in-chief.  As Caesar's body was\nconveying to the tomb, Antony, according to the custom, was\nmaking his funeral oration in the market; place, and, perceiving\nthe people to be infinitely affected with what he had said, he\nbegan to mingle with his praises language of commiseration, and\nhorror at what had happened, and, as he was ending his speech,\nhe took the under-clothes of the dead, and held them up,\nshowing them stains of blood and the holes of the many stabs,\ncalling those that had done this act villains and bloody\nmurderers.  All which excited the people to such indignation,\nthat they would not defer the funeral, but, making a pile of\ntables and forms in the very market-place, set fire to it; and\neveryone, taking a brand, ran to the conspirators' houses, to\nattack them.\n\nUpon this, Brutus and his whole party left the city, and\nCaesar's friends joined themselves to Antony.  Calpurnia,\nCaesar's wife, lodged with him the best part of the property, to\nthe value of four thousand talents; he got also into his hands\nall Caesar's papers, wherein were contained journals of all he\nhad done, and draughts of what he designed to do, which Antony\nmade good use of; for by this means he appointed what\nmagistrates he pleased, brought whom he would into the senate,\nrecalled some from exile, freed others out of prison, and all\nthis as ordered so by Caesar.  The Romans, in mockery, gave\nthose who were thus benefited the name of Charonites, since, if\nput to prove their patents, they must have recourse to the\npapers of the dead.  In short, Antony's behavior in Rome was\nvery absolute, he himself being consul, and his two brothers in\ngreat place; Caius, the one, being praetor, and Lucius, the\nother, tribune of the people.\n\nWhile matters went thus in Rome, the young Caesar, Caesar's\nniece's son, and by testament left his heir, arrived at Rome\nfrom Apollonia, where he was when his uncle was killed.  The\nfirst thing he did was to visit Antony, as his father's friend.\nHe spoke to him concerning the money that was in his hands, and\nreminded him of the legacy Caesar had made of seventy-five\ndrachmas to every Roman citizen.  Antony, at first, laughing at\nsuch discourse from so young a man, told him he wished he were\nin his health, and that he wanted good counsel and good friends,\nto tell him the burden of being executor to Caesar would sit\nvery uneasily upon his young shoulders.  This was no answer to\nhim; and, when he persisted in demanding the property, Antony\nwent on treating him injuriously both in word and deed, opposed\nhim when he stood for the tribune's office, and, when he was\ntaking steps for the dedication of his father's golden chair, as\nhad been enacted, he threatened to send him to prison if he did\nnot give over soliciting the people.  This made the young Caesar\napply himself to Cicero, and all those that hated Antony; by\nthem he was recommended to the senate, while he himself courted\nthe people, and drew together the soldiers from their\nsettlements, till Antony got alarmed, and gave him a meeting in\nthe Capitol, where, after some words, they came to an\naccommodation.\n\nThat night Antony had a very unlucky dream, fancying that his\nright hand was thunderstruck.  And, some few days after, he was\ninformed that Caesar was plotting to take his life.  Caesar\nexplained, but was not believed, so that the breach was now made\nas wide as ever; each of them hurried about all through Italy to\nengage, by great offers, the old soldiers that lay scattered in\ntheir settlements, and to be the first to secure the troops that\nstill remained undischarged.  Cicero was at this time the man of\ngreatest influence in Rome.  He made use of all his art to\nexasperate people against Antony, and at length persuaded the\nsenate to declare him a public enemy, to send Caesar the rods\nand axes and other marks of honor usually given to praetors, and\nto issue orders to Hirtius and Pansa, who were the consuls, to\ndrive Antony out of Italy.  The armies engaged near Modena, and\nCaesar himself was present and took part in the battle.  Antony\nwas defeated, but both the consuls were slain.  Antony, in his\nflight, was overtaken by distresses of every kind, and the worst\nof all of them was famine.  But it was his character in\ncalamities to be better than at any other time.  Antony, in\nmisfortune, was most nearly a virtuous man.  It is common enough\nfor people, when they fall into great disasters, to discern what\nis right, and what they ought to do; but there are but few who\nin such extremities have the strength to obey their judgment,\neither in doing what it approves or avoiding what it condemns;\nand a good many are so weak as to give way to their habits all\nthe more, and are incapable of using their minds.  Antony, on\nthis occasion, was a most wonderful example to his soldiers.\nHe, who had just quitted so much luxury and sumptuous living,\nmade no difficulty now of drinking foul water and feeding on\nwild fruits and roots.  Nay, it is related they ate the very\nbark of trees, and, in passing over the Alps, lived upon\ncreatures that no one before had ever been willing to touch.\n\nThe design was to join the army on the other side the Alps,\ncommanded by Lepidus, who he imagined would stand his friend, he\nhaving done him many good offices with Caesar.  On coming up and\nencamping near at hand, finding he had no sort of encouragement\noffered him, he resolved to push his fortune and venture all.\nHis hair was long and disordered, nor had he shaved his beard\nsince his defeat; in this guise, and with a dark colored cloak\nflung over him, he came into the trenches of Lepidus, and began\nto address the army.  Some were moved at his habit, others at\nhis words, so that Lepidus, not liking it, ordered the trumpets\nto sound, that he might be heard no longer.  This raised in the\nsoldiers yet a greater pity, so that they resolved to confer\nsecretly with him, and dressed Laelius and Clodius in women's\nclothes, and sent them to see him.  They advised him without\ndelay to attack Lepidus's trenches, assuring him that a strong\nparty would receive him, and, if he wished it, would kill\nLepidus.  Antony, however, had no wish for this, but next\nmorning marched his army to pass over the river that parted the\ntwo camps.  He was himself the first man that stepped in, and,\nas he went through towards the other bank, he saw Lepidus's\nsoldiers in great numbers reaching out their hands to help him,\nand beating down the works to make him way.  Being entered into\nthe camp, and finding himself absolute master, he nevertheless\ntreated Lepidus with the greatest civility, and gave him the title\nof Father, when he spoke to him, and, though he had everything\nat his own command, he left him the honor of being called\nthe general.  This fair usage brought over to him Munatius\nPlancus, who was not far off with a considerable force.  Thus in\ngreat strength he repassed the Alps, leading with him into Italy\nseventeen legions and ten thousand horse, besides six legions\nwhich he left in garrison under the command of Varius, one of\nhis familiar friends and boon companions, whom they used to call\nby the nickname of Cotylon.\n\nCaesar, perceiving that Cicero's wishes were for liberty, had\nceased to pay any further regard to him, and was now employing\nthe mediation of his friends to come to a good understanding\nwith Antony.  They both met together with Lepidus in a small\nisland, where the conference lasted three days.  The empire was\nsoon determined of, it being divided amongst them as if it had\nbeen their paternal inheritance.  That which gave them all the\ntrouble was to agree who should be put to death, each of them\ndesiring to destroy his enemies and to save his friends.  But,\nin the end, animosity to those they hated carried the day\nagainst respect for relations and affection for friends; and\nCaesar sacrificed Cicero to Antony, Antony gave up his uncle\nLucius Caesar, and Lepidus received permission to murder his\nbrother Paulus, or, as others say, yielded his brother to them.\nI do not believe anything ever took place more truly savage or\nbarbarous than this composition, for, in this exchange of blood\nfor blood, they were equally guilty of the lives they\nsurrendered and of those they took; or, indeed, more guilty in\nthe case of their friends, for whose deaths they had not even\nthe justification of hatred.  To complete the reconciliation,\nthe soldiery, coming about them, demanded that confirmation\nshould be given to it by some alliance of marriage; Caesar\nshould marry Clodia, the daughter of Fulvia, wife to Antony.\nThis also being agreed to, three hundred persons were put to\ndeath by proscription.  Antony gave orders to those that were to\nkill Cicero, to cut off his head and right hand, with which he\nhad written his invectives against him; and, when they were\nbrought before him, he regarded them joyfully, actually bursting\nout more than once into laughter, and when he had satiated\nhimself with the sight of them, ordered them to be hung up above\nthe speaker's place in the forum, thinking thus to insult the\ndead, while in fact he only exposed his own wanton arrogance,\nand his unworthiness to hold the power that fortune had given\nhim.  His uncle Lucius Caesar, being closely pursued, took\nrefuge with his sister, who, when the murderers had broken into\nher house and were pressing into her chamber, met them at the\ndoor, and, spreading out her hands, cried out several times,\n\"You shall not kill Lucius Caesar till you first dispatch me,\nwho gave your general his birth;\" and in this manner she\nsucceeded in getting her brother out of the way, and saving his\nlife.\n\nThis triumvirate was very hateful to the Romans, and Antony most\nof all bore the blame, because he was older than Caesar, and had\ngreater authority than Lepidus, and withal he was no sooner\nsettled in his affairs, but he returned to his luxurious and\ndissolute way of living.  Besides the ill reputation he gained\nby his general behavior, it was some considerable disadvantage\nto him his living in the house of Pompey the Great, who had been\nas much admired for his temperance and his sober, citizen-like\nhabits of life, as ever he was for having triumphed three times.\nThey could not without anger see the doors of that house shut\nagainst magistrates, officers, and envoys, who were shamefully\nrefused admittance, while it was filled inside with players,\njugglers, and drunken flatterers, upon whom were spent the\ngreatest part of the wealth which violence and cruelty procured.\nFor they did not limit themselves to the forfeiture of the\nestates of such as were proscribed, defrauding the widows and\nfamilies, nor were they contented with laying on every possible\nkind of tax and imposition; but, hearing that several sums of\nmoney were, as well by strangers as citizens of Rome, deposited\nin the hands of the vestal virgins, they went and took the money\naway by force.  When it was manifest that nothing would ever be\nenough for Antony, Caesar at last called for a division of\nproperty.  The army was also divided between them, upon their\nmarch into Macedonia to make war with Brutus and Cassius,\nLepidus being left with the command of the city.\n\nHowever, after they had crossed the sea and engaged in\noperations of war, encamping in front of the enemy, Antony\nopposite Cassius, and Caesar opposite Brutus, Caesar did nothing\nworth relating, and all the success and victory were Antony's.\nIn the first battle, Caesar was completely routed by Brutus, his\ncamp taken, he himself very narrowly escaping by flight.  As he\nhimself writes in his Memoirs, he retired before the battle, on\naccount of a dream which one of his friends had.  But Antony, on\nthe other hand, defeated Cassius; though some have written that\nhe was not actually present in the engagement, and only joined\nafterwards in the pursuit.  Cassius was killed, at his own\nentreaty and order, by one of his most trusted freedmen,\nPindarus, not being aware of Brutus's victory.  After a few\ndays' interval, they fought another battle, in which Brutus lost\nthe day, and slew himself; and Caesar being sick, Antony had\nalmost all the honor of the victory.  Standing over Brutus's\ndead body, he uttered a few words of reproach upon him for the\ndeath of his brother Caius, who had been executed by Brutus's\norder in Macedonia in revenge of Cicero; but, saying presently\nthat Hortensius was most to blame for it, he gave order for his\nbeing slain upon his brother's tomb, and, throwing his own\nscarlet mantle, which was of great value, upon the body of\nBrutus, he gave charge to one of his own freedmen to take care\nof his funeral.  This man, as Antony came to understand, did not\nleave the mantle with the corpse, but kept both it and a good\npart of the money that should have been spent in the funeral for\nhimself; for which he had him put to death.\n\nBut Caesar was conveyed to Rome, no one expecting that he would\nlong survive.  Antony, proposing to go to the eastern provinces\nto lay them under contribution, entered Greece with a large\nforce.  The promise had been made that every common soldier\nshould receive for his pay five thousand drachmas; so it was\nlikely there would be need of pretty severe taxing and levying\nto raise money.  However, to the Greeks he showed at first\nreason and moderation enough; he gratified his love of amusement\nby hearing the learned men dispute, by seeing the games, and\nundergoing initiation; and in judicial matters he was equitable,\ntaking pleasure in being styled a lover of Greece, but, above\nall, in being called a lover of Athens, to which city he made\nvery considerable presents.  The people of Megara wished to let\nhim know that they also had something to show him, and invited\nhim to come and see their senate-house.  So he went and examined\nit, and on their asking him how he liked it, told them it was\n\"not very large, but extremely ruinous.\"  At the same time, he\nhad a survey made of the temple of the Pythian Apollo, as if he\nhad designed to repair it, and indeed he had declared to the\nsenate his intention so to do.\n\nHowever, leaving Lucius Censorinus in Greece, he crossed over\ninto Asia, and there laid his hands on the stores of accumulated\nwealth, while kings waited at his door, and queens were rivaling\none another, who should make him the greatest presents or appear\nmost charming in his eyes.  Thus, whilst Caesar in Rome was\nwearing out his strength amidst seditions and wars, Antony, with\nnothing to do amidst the enjoyments of peace, let his passions\ncarry him easily back to the old course of life that was\nfamiliar to him.  A set of harpers and pipers, Anaxenor and\nXuthus, the dancing-man Metrodorus, and a whole Bacchic rout of\nthe like Asiatic exhibitors, far outdoing in license and\nbuffoonery the pests that had followed out of Italy, came in and\npossessed the court; the thing was past patience, wealth of all\nkinds being wasted on objects like these.  The whole of Asia was\nlike the city in Sophocles, loaded, at one time,\n\nwith incense in the air,\nJubilant songs, and outcries of despair.\n\nWhen he made his entry into Ephesus, the women met him dressed\nup like Bacchantes, and the men and boys like Satyrs and Fauns,\nand throughout the town nothing was to be seen but spears\nwreathed about with ivy, harps, flutes, and psaltries, while\nAntony in their songs was Bacchus the Giver of Joy and the\nGentle.  And so indeed he was to some, but to far more the\nDevourer and the Savage; for he would deprive persons of worth\nand quality of their fortunes to gratify villains and\nflatterers, who would sometimes beg the estates of men yet\nliving, pretending they were dead, and, obtaining a grant, take\npossession.  He gave his cook the house of a Magnesian citizen,\nas a reward for a single highly successful supper, and, at last,\nwhen he was proceeding to lay a second whole tribute on Asia,\nHybreas, speaking on behalf of the cities, took courage, and\ntold him broadly, but aptly enough for Antony's taste, \"If you\ncan take two yearly tributes, you can doubtless give us a couple\nof summers, and a double harvest time;\" and put it to him in the\nplainest and boldest way, that Asia had raised two hundred\nthousand talents for his service: \"If this has not been paid to\nyou, ask your collectors for it; if it has, and is all gone, we\nare ruined men.\"  These words touched Antony to the quick, who\nwas simply ignorant of most things that were done in his name;\nnot that he was so indolent, as he was prone to trust frankly in\nall about him.  For there was much simplicity in his character;\nhe was slow to see his faults, but, when he did see them, was\nextremely repentant, and ready to ask pardon of those he had\ninjured; prodigal in his acts of reparation, and severe in his\npunishments, but his generosity was much more extravagant than\nhis severity; his raillery was sharp and insulting, but the edge\nof it was taken off by his readiness to submit to any kind of\nrepartee; for he was as well contented to be rallied, as he was\npleased to rally others.  And this freedom of speech was,\nindeed, the cause of many of his disasters.  He never imagined\nthat those who used so much liberty in their mirth would flatter\nor deceive him in business of consequence, not knowing how\ncommon it is with parasites to mix their flattery with boldness,\nas confectioners do their sweetmeats with something biting, to\nprevent the sense of satiety.  Their freedoms and impertinences\nat table were designed expressly to give to their obsequiousness\nin council the air of being not complaisance, but conviction.\n\nSuch being his temper, the last and crowning mischief that could\nbefall him came in the love of Cleopatra, to awaken and kindle\nto fury passions that as yet lay still and dormant in his\nnature, and to stifle and finally corrupt any elements that yet\nmade resistance in him, of goodness and a sound judgment.  He\nfell into the snare thus.  When making preparation for the\nParthian war, he sent to command her to make her personal\nappearance in Cilicia, to answer an accusation, that she had\ngiven great assistance, in the late wars, to Cassius.  Dellius,\nwho was sent on this message, had no sooner seen her face, and\nremarked her adroitness and subtlety in speech, but he felt\nconvinced that Antony would not so much as think of giving any\nmolestation to a woman like this; on the contrary, she would be\nthe first in favor with him.  So he set himself at once to pay\nhis court to the Egyptian, and gave her his advice, \"to go,\" in\nthe Homeric style, to Cilicia, \"in her best attire,\" and bade\nher fear nothing from Antony, the gentlest and kindest of\nsoldiers.  She had some faith in the words of Dellius, but more\nin her own attractions, which, having formerly recommended her\nto Caesar and the young Cnaeus Pompey, she did not doubt might\nprove yet more successful with Antony.  Their acquaintance was\nwith her when a girl, young, and ignorant of the world, but she\nwas to meet Antony in the time of life when women's beauty is\nmost splendid, and their intellects are in full maturity. She\nmade great preparation for her journey, of money, gifts, and\nornaments of value, such as so wealthy a kingdom might afford,\nbut she brought with her her surest hopes in her own magic arts\nand charms.\n\nShe received several letters, both from Antony and from his\nfriends, to summon her, but she took no account of these orders;\nand at last, as if in mockery of them, she came sailing up the\nriver Cydnus, in a barge with gilded stern and outspread sails\nof purple, while oars of silver beat time to the music of flutes\nand fifes and harps.  She herself lay all along, under a canopy\nof cloth of gold, dressed as Venus in a picture, and beautiful\nyoung boys, like painted Cupids, stood on each side to fan her.\nHer maids were dressed like Sea Nymphs and Graces, some steering\nat the rudder, some working at the ropes.  The perfumes diffused\nthemselves from the vessel to the shore, which was covered with\nmultitudes, part following the galley up the river on either\nbank, part running out of the city to see the sight.  The\nmarket-place was quite emptied, and Antony at last was left\nalone sitting upon the tribunal; while the word went through all\nthe multitude, that Venus was come to feast with Bacchus, for\nthe common good of Asia.  On her arrival, Antony sent to invite\nher to supper.  She thought it fitter he should come to her; so,\nwilling to show his good-humor and courtesy, he complied, and\nwent.  He found the preparations to receive him magnificent\nbeyond expression, but nothing so admirable as the great number\nof lights; for on a sudden there was let down altogether so\ngreat a number of branches with lights in them so ingeniously\ndisposed, some in squares, and some in circles, that the whole\nthing was a spectacle that has seldom been equaled for beauty.\n\nThe next day, Antony invited her to supper, and was very\ndesirous to outdo her as well in magnificence as contrivance;\nbut he found he was altogether beaten in both, and was so well\nconvinced of it, that he was himself the first to jest and mock\nat his poverty of wit, and his rustic awkwardness.  She,\nperceiving that his raillery was broad and gross, and savored\nmore of the soldier than the courtier, rejoined in the same\ntaste, and fell into it at once, without any sort of reluctance\nor reserve.  For her actual beauty, it is said, was not in\nitself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or\nthat no one could see her without being struck by it, but the\ncontact of her presence, if you lived with her, was\nirresistible; the attraction of her person, joining with the\ncharm of her conversation, and the character that attended all\nshe said or did, was something bewitching.  It was a pleasure\nmerely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an\ninstrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to\nanother; so that there were few of the barbarian nations that\nshe answered by an interpreter; to most of them she spoke\nherself, as to the Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians,\nSyrians, Medes, Parthians, and many others, whose language she\nhad learnt; which was all the more surprising, because most of\nthe kings her predecessors scarcely gave themselves the trouble\nto acquire the Egyptian tongue, and several of them quite\nabandoned the Macedonian.\n\nAntony was so captivated by her, that, while Fulvia his wife\nmaintained his quarrels in Rome against Caesar by actual force\nof arms, and the Parthian troops, commanded by Labienus (the\nking's generals having made him commander-in-chief), were\nassembled in Mesopotamia, and ready to enter Syria, he could yet\nsuffer himself to be carried away by her to Alexandria, there to\nkeep holiday, like a boy, in play and diversion, squandering and\nfooling away in enjoyments that most costly, as Antiphon says,\nof all valuables, time.  They had a sort of company, to which\nthey gave a particular name, calling it that of the Inimitable\nLivers.  The members entertained one another daily in turn, with\nan extravagance of expenditure beyond measure or belief.\nPhilotas, a physician of Amphissa, who was at that time a\nstudent of medicine in Alexandria, used to tell my grandfather\nLamprias, that, having some acquaintance with one of the royal\ncooks, he was invited by him, being a young man, to come and see\nthe sumptuous preparations for supper.  So he was taken into the\nkitchen, where he admired the prodigious variety of all things;\nbut particularly, seeing eight wild boars roasting whole, says\nhe, \"Surely you have a great number of guests.\"  The cook\nlaughed at his simplicity, and told him there were not above\ntwelve to sup, but that every dish was to be served up just\nroasted to a turn, and if anything was but one minute ill-timed,\nit was spoiled; \"And,\" said he, \"maybe Antony will sup just now,\nmaybe not this hour, maybe he will call for wine, or begin to\ntalk, and will put it off.  So that,\" he continued, \"it is not\none, but many suppers must be had in readiness, as it is\nimpossible to guess at his hour.\"  This was Philotas's story;\nwho related besides, that he afterwards came to be one of the\nmedical attendants of Antony's eldest son by Fulvia, and used to\nbe invited pretty often, among other companions, to his table,\nwhen he was not supping with his father.  One day another\nphysician had talked loudly, and given great disturbance to the\ncompany, whose mouth Philotas stopped with this sophistical\nsyllogism: \"In some states of fever the patient should take cold\nwater; everyone who has a fever is in some state of fever;\ntherefore in a fever cold water should always be taken.\"  The\nman was quite struck dumb, and Antony's son, very much pleased,\nlaughed aloud, and said, Philotas, \"I make you a present of all\nyou see there,\" pointing to a sideboard covered with plate.\nPhilotas thanked him much, but was far enough from ever\nimagining that a boy of his age could dispose of things of that\nvalue.  Soon after, however, the plate was all brought to him,\nand he was desired to set his mark upon it; and when he put it\naway from him, and was afraid to accept the present, \"What ails\nthe man?\" said he that brought it; \"do you know that he who\ngives you this is Antony's son, who is free to give it, if it\nwere all gold? but if you will be advised by me, I would counsel\nyou to accept of the value in money from us; for there may be\namongst the rest some antique or famous piece of workmanship,\nwhich Antony would be sorry to part with.\"  These anecdotes my\ngrandfather told us Philotas used frequently to relate.\n\nTo return to Cleopatra; Plato admits four sorts of flattery,\nbut she had a thousand.  Were Antony serious or disposed to\nmirth, she had at any moment some new delight or charm to meet\nhis wishes; at every turn she was upon him, and let him escape\nher neither by day nor by night.  She played at dice with him,\ndrank with him, hunted with him; and when he exercised in arms,\nshe was there to see.  At night she would go rambling with him\nto disturb and torment people at their doors and windows,\ndressed like a servant-woman, for Antony also went in servant's\ndisguise, and from these expeditions he often came home very\nscurvily answered, and sometimes even beaten severely, though\nmost people guessed who it was.  However, the Alexandrians in\ngeneral liked it all well enough, and joined good humoredly and\nkindly in his frolic and play, saying they were much obliged to\nAntony for acting his tragic parts at Rome, and keeping his\ncomedy for them.  It would be trifling without end to be\nparticular in his follies, but his fishing must not be\nforgotten.  He went out one day to angle with Cleopatra, and,\nbeing so unfortunate as to catch nothing in the presence of his\nmistress, he gave secret orders to the fishermen to dive under\nwater, and put fishes that had been already taken upon his\nhooks; and these he drew so fast that the Egyptian perceived it.\nBut, feigning great admiration, she told everybody how dexterous\nAntony was, and invited them next day to come and see him again.\nSo, when a number of them had come on board the fishing boats,\nas soon as he had let down his hook, one of her servants was\nbeforehand with his divers, and fixed upon his hook a salted\nfish from Pontus.  Antony, feeling his line give, drew up the\nprey, and when, as may be imagined, great laughter ensued,\n\"Leave,\" said Cleopatra, \"the fishing-rod, general, to us poor\nsovereigns of Pharos and Canopus; your game is cities,\nprovinces, and kingdoms.\"\n\nWhilst he was thus diverting himself and engaged in this boys'\nplay, two dispatches arrived; one from Rome, that his brother\nLucius and his wife Fulvia, after many quarrels among\nthemselves, had joined in war against Caesar, and, having lost\nall, had fled out of Italy; the other bringing little better\nnews, that Labienus, at the head of the Parthians, was\noverrunning Asia, from Euphrates and Syria as far as Lydia and\nIonia.  So, scarcely at last rousing himself from sleep, and\nshaking off the fumes of wine, he set out to attack the\nParthians, and went as far as Phoenicia; but, upon the receipt\nof lamentable letters from Fulvia, turned his course with two\nhundred ships to Italy.  And, in his way, receiving, such of his\nfriends as fled from Italy, he was given to understand that\nFulvia was the sole cause of the war, a woman of a restless\nspirit and very bold, and withal her hopes were that commotions\nin Italy would force Antony from Cleopatra.  But it happened\nthat Fulvia, as she was coming to meet her husband, fell sick by\nthe way, and died at Sicyon, so that an accommodation was the\nmore easily made.  For when he reached Italy, and Caesar showed\nno intention of laying anything to his charge, and he on his\npart shifted the blame of everything on Fulvia, those that were\nfriends to them would not suffer that the time should be spent\nin looking narrowly into the plea, but made a reconciliation\nfirst, and then a partition of the empire between them, taking\nas their boundary the Ionian Sea, the eastern provinces falling\nto Antony, to Caesar the western, and Africa being left to\nLepidus.  And an agreement was made, that everyone in their\nturn, as he thought fit, should make their friends consuls,\nwhen they did not choose to take the offices themselves.\n\nThese terms were well approved of, but yet it was thought some\ncloser tie would be desirable; and for this, fortune offered\noccasion.  Caesar had an elder sister, not of the whole blood,\nfor Attia was his mother's name, hers Ancharia.  This sister,\nOctavia, he was extremely attached to, as, indeed, she was, it\nis said, quite a wonder of a woman.  Her husband, Caius\nMarcellus, had died not long before, and Antony was now a\nwidower by the death of Fulvia; for, though he did not disavow\nthe passion he had for Cleopatra, yet he disowned anything of\nmarriage, reason, as yet, upon this point, still maintaining the\ndebate against the charms of the Egyptian.  Everybody concurred\nin promoting this new alliance, fully expecting that with the\nbeauty, honor, and prudence of Octavia, when her company should,\nas it was certain it would, have engaged his affections, all\nwould be kept in the safe and happy course of friendship.  So,\nboth parties being agreed, they went to Rome to celebrate the\nnuptials, the senate dispensing with the law by which a widow\nwas not permitted to marry till ten months after the death of\nher husband.\n\nSextus Pompeius was in possession of Sicily, and with his ships,\nunder the command of Menas, the pirate, and Menecrates, so\ninfested the Italian coast, that no vessels durst venture into\nthose seas.  Sextus had behaved with much humanity towards\nAntony, having received his mother when she fled with Fulvia,\nand it was therefore judged fit that he also should be received\ninto the peace.  They met near the promontory of Misenum, by the\nmole of the port, Pompey having his fleet at anchor close by,\nand Antony and Caesar their troops drawn up all along the shore.\nThere it was concluded that Sextus should quietly enjoy the\ngovernment of Sicily and Sardinia, he conditioning to scour the\nseas of all pirates, and to send so much corn every year to\nRome.\n\nThis agreed on, they invited one another to supper, and by lot\nit fell to Pompey's turn to give the first entertainment, and\nAntony, asking where it was to be, \"There,\" said he, pointing to\nthe admiral-galley, a ship of six banks of oars, \"that is the\nonly house that Pompey is heir to of his father's.\"  And this\nhe said, reflecting upon Antony, who was then in possession of\nhis father's house.  Having fixed the ship on her anchors, and\nformed a bridgeway from the promontory to conduct on board of\nher, he gave them a cordial welcome.  And when they began to\ngrow warm, and jests were passing freely on Antony and\nCleopatra's loves, Menas, the pirate, whispered Pompey in the\near, \"Shall I,\" said he, \"cut the cables, and make you master\nnot of Sicily only and Sardinia, but of the whole Roman empire?\"\nPompey, having considered a little while, returned him answer,\n\"Menas, this might have been done without acquainting me; now we\nmust rest content; I do not break my word.\"  And so, having been\nentertained by the other two in their turns, he set sail for\nSicily.\n\nAfter the treaty was completed, Antony dispatched Ventidius into\nAsia, to check the advance of the Parthians, while he, as a\ncompliment to Caesar, accepted the office of priest to the\ndeceased Caesar.  And in any state affair and matter of\nconsequence, they both behaved themselves with much\nconsideration and friendliness for each other.  But it annoyed\nAntony, that in all their amusements, on any trial of skill\nor fortune, Caesar should be constantly victorious.  He had with\nhim an Egyptian diviner, one of those who calculate nativities,\nwho, either to make his court to Cleopatra, or that by the rules\nof his art he found it to be so, openly declared to him, that\nthough the fortune that attended him was bright and glorious,\nyet it was overshadowed by Caesar's; and advised him to keep\nhimself as far distant as he could from that young man; \"for\nyour Genius,\" said he, \"dreads his; when absent from him yours\nis proud and brave, but in his presence unmanly and dejected;\"\nand incidents that occurred appeared to show that the Egyptian\nspoke truth.  For whenever they cast lots for any playful\npurpose, or threw dice, Antony was still the loser; and\nrepeatedly, when they fought game-cocks or quails, Caesar's had\nthe victory.  This gave Antony a secret displeasure, and made\nhim put the more confidence in the skill of his Egyptian.  So,\nleaving the management of his home affairs to Caesar, he left\nItaly, and took Octavia, who had lately borne him a daughter,\nalong with him into Greece.\n\nHere, whilst he wintered in Athens, he received the first news\nof Ventidius's successes over the Parthians, of his having\ndefeated them in a battle, having slain Labienus and\nPharnapates, the best general their king, Hyrodes, possessed.\nFor the celebrating of which he made a public feast through\nGreece, and for the prizes which were contested at Athens he\nhimself acted as steward, and, leaving at home the ensigns that\nare carried before the general, he made his public appearance in\na gown and white shoes, with the steward's wands marching\nbefore; and he performed his duty in taking the combatants by\nthe neck, to part them, when they had fought enough.\n\nWhen the time came for him to set out for the war, he took a\ngarland from the sacred olive, and, in obedience to some oracle,\nhe filled a vessel with the water of the Clepsydra, to carry\nalong with him.  In this interval, Pacorus, the Parthian king's\nson, who was marching into Syria with a large army, was met by\nVentidius, who gave him battle in the country of Cyrrhestica,\nslew a large number of his men, and Pacorus among the first.\nThis victory was one of the most renowned achievements of the\nRomans, and fully avenged their defeats under Crassus, the\nParthians being obliged, after the loss of three battles\nsuccessively, to keep themselves within the bounds of Media and\nMesopotamia.  Ventidius was not willing to push his good fortune\nfurther, for fear of raising some jealousy in Antony, but,\nturning his arms against those that had quitted the Roman\ninterest, he reduced them to their former obedience.  Among the\nrest, he besieged Antiochus, king of Commagene, in the city of\nSamosata, who made an offer of a thousand talents for his\npardon, and a promise of submission to Antony's commands.  But\nVentidius told him that he must send to Antony, who was already\non his march, and had sent word to Ventidius to make no terms\nwith Antiochus, wishing that at any rate this one exploit might\nbe ascribed to him, and that people might not think that all his\nsuccesses were won by his lieutenants.  The siege, however, was\nlong protracted; for when those within found their offers\nrefused, they defended themselves stoutly, till, at last,\nAntony, finding he was doing nothing, in shame and regret for\nhaving refused the first offer, was glad to make an\naccommodation with Antiochus for three hundred talents.  And,\nhaving given some orders for the affairs of Syria, he returned\nto Athens; and, paying Ventidius the honors he well deserved,\ndismissed him to receive his triumph.  He is the only man that\nhas ever yet triumphed for victories obtained over the\nParthians; he was of obscure birth, but, by means of Antony's\nfriendship, obtained an opportunity of showing his capacity, and\ndoing great things; and his making such glorious use of it gave\nnew credit to the current observation about Caesar and Antony,\nthat they were more fortunate in what they did by their\nlieutenants than in their own persons.  For Sossius, also, had\ngreat success, and Canidius, whom he left in Armenia, defeated\nthe people there, and also the kings of the Albanians and\nIberians, and marched victorious as far as Caucasus, by which\nmeans the fame of Antony's arms had become great among the\nbarbarous nations.\n\nHe, however, once more, upon some unfavorable stories, taking\noffense against Caesar, set sail with three hundred ships for\nItaly, and, being refused admittance to the port of Brundusium,\nmade for Tarentum.  There his wife Octavia, who came from Greece\nwith him, obtained leave to visit her brother, she being then\ngreat with child, having already borne her husband a second\ndaughter; and as she was on her way, she met Caesar, with his\ntwo friends Agrippa and Maecenas, and, taking these two aside,\nwith great entreaties and lamentations she told them, that of\nthe most fortunate woman upon earth, she was in danger of\nbecoming the most unhappy; for as yet everyone's eyes were fixed\nupon her as the wife and sister of the two great commanders,\nbut, if rash counsels should prevail, and war ensue, \"I shall be\nmiserable,\" said she, \"without redress; for on what side soever\nvictory falls, I shall be sure to be a loser.\"  Caesar was\novercome by these entreaties, and advanced in a peaceable temper\nto Tarentum, where those that were present beheld a most stately\nspectacle; a vast army drawn up by the shore, and as great a\nfleet in the harbor, all without the occurrence of any act of\nhostility; nothing but the salutations of friends, and other\nexpressions of joy and kindness, passing from one armament to\nthe other.  Antony first entertained Caesar this also being a\nconcession on Caesar's part to his sister; and when at length an\nagreement was made between them, that Caesar should give Antony\ntwo of his legions to serve him in the Parthian war, and that\nAntony should in return leave with him a hundred armed galleys,\nOctavia further obtained of her husband, besides this, twenty\nlight ships for her brother, and of her brother, a thousand foot\nfor her husband.  So, having parted good friends, Caesar went\nimmediately to make war with Pompey to conquer Sicily.  And\nAntony, leaving in Caesar's charge his wife and children, and\nhis children by his former wife Fulvia, set sail for Asia.\n\nBut the mischief that thus long had lain still, the passion for\nCleopatra, which better thoughts had seemed to have lulled and\ncharmed into oblivion, upon his approach to Syria, gathered\nstrength again, and broke out into a flame.  And, in fine, like\nPlato's restive and rebellious horse of the human soul, flinging\noff all good and wholesome counsel, and breaking fairly loose,\nhe sends Fonteius Capito to bring Cleopatra into Syria.  To whom\nat her arrival he made no small or trifling present, Phoenicia,\nCoele-Syria, Cyprus, great part of Cilicia, that side of Judaea\nwhich produces balm, that part of Arabia where the Nabathaeans\nextend to the outer sea; profuse gifts, which much displeased\nthe Romans.  For, although he had invested several private\npersons in great governments and kingdoms, and bereaved many\nkings of theirs, as Antigonus of Judaea, whose head he caused to\nbe struck off (the first example of that punishment being\ninflicted on a king), yet nothing stung the Romans like the\nshame of these honors paid to Cleopatra.  Their dissatisfaction\nwas augmented also by his acknowledging as his own the twin\nchildren he had by her, giving them the name of Alexander and\nCleopatra, and adding, as their surnames, the titles of Sun and\nMoon.  But he, who knew how to put a good color on the most\ndishonest action, would say, that the greatness of the Roman\nempire consisted more in giving than in taking kingdoms, and\nthat the way to carry noble blood through the world was by\nbegetting in every place a new line and series of kings; his own\nancestor had thus been born of Hercules; Hercules had not\nlimited his hopes of progeny to a single womb, nor feared any\nlaw like Solon's, or any audit of procreation, but had freely\nlet nature take her will in the foundation and first\ncommencement of many families.\n\nAfter Phraates had killed his father Hyrodes, and taken\npossession of his kingdom, many of the Parthians left their\ncountry; among the rest, Monaeses, a man of great distinction\nand authority, sought refuge with Antony, who, looking on his\ncase as similar to that of Themistocles, and likening his own\nopulence and magnanimity to those of the former Persian kings,\ngave him three cities, Larissa, Arethusa, and Hierapolis, which\nwas formerly called Bambyce.  But when the king of Parthia soon\nrecalled him, giving him his word and honor for his safety,\nAntony was not unwilling to give him leave to return, hoping\nthereby to surprise Phraates, who would believe that peace would\ncontinue; for he only made the demand of him, that he should\nsend back the Roman ensigns which were taken when Crassus was\nslain, and the prisoners that remained yet alive.  This done, he\nsent Cleopatra into Egypt, and marched through Arabia and\nArmenia; and, when his forces came together, and were joined by\nthose of his confederate kings (of whom there were very many,\nand the most considerable, Artavasdes, king of Armenia, who came\nat the head of six thousand horse and seven thousand foot), he\nmade a general muster.  There appeared sixty thousand Roman\nfoot, ten thousand horse, Spaniards and Gauls, who counted as\nRomans; and, of other nations, horse and foot, thirty thousand.\nAnd these great preparations, that put the Indians beyond\nBactria into alarm, and made all Asia shake, were all, we are\ntold, rendered useless to him because of Cleopatra.  For, in\norder to pass the winter with her, the war was pushed on before\nits due time; and all he did was done without perfect\nconsideration, as by a man who had no proper control over his\nfaculties, who, under the effects of some drug or magic, was\nstill looking back elsewhere, and whose object was much more to\nhasten his return than to conquer his enemies.\n\nFor, first of all, when he should have taken up his\nwinter-quarters in Armenia, to refresh his men, who were tired\nwith long marches, having come at least eight thousand furlongs,\nand then have taken the advantage in the beginning of the spring\nto invade Media, before the Parthians were out of\nwinter-quarters, he had not patience to expect his time, but\nmarched into the province of Atropatene, leaving Armenia on the\nleft hand, and laid waste all that country.  Secondly, his haste\nwas so great, that he left behind the engines absolutely\nrequired for any siege, which followed the camp in three hundred\nwagons, and, among the rest, a ram eighty feet long; none of\nwhich was it possible, if lost or damaged, to repair or to make\nthe like, as the provinces of the upper Asia produce no trees\nlong or hard enough for such uses.  Nevertheless, he left them\nall behind, as a mere impediment to his speed, in the charge of\na detachment under the command of Statianus, the wagon-officer.\nHe himself laid siege to Phraata, a principal city of the king\nof Media, wherein were that king's wife and children.  And when\nactual need proved the greatness of his error in leaving the\nsiege train behind him, he had nothing for it but to come up and\nraise a mound against the walls, with infinite labor and great\nloss of time.  Meantime Phraates, coming down with a large army,\nand hearing that the wagons were left behind with the battering\nengines, sent a strong party of horse, by which Statianus was\nsurprised, he himself and ten thousand of his men slain, the\nengines all broken in pieces, many taken prisoners, and, among\nthe rest, king Polemon.\n\nThis great miscarriage in the opening of the campaign much\ndiscouraged Antony's army, and Artavasdes, king of Armenia,\ndeciding that the Roman prospects were bad, withdrew with all\nhis forces from the camp, although he had been the chief\npromoter of the war.  The Parthians, encouraged by their\nsuccess, came up to the Romans at the siege, and gave them many\naffronts; upon which Antony, fearing that the despondency and\nalarm of his soldiers would only grow worse if he let them lie\nidle, taking all the horse, ten legions, and three praetorian\ncohorts of heavy infantry, resolved to go out and forage,\ndesigning by this means to draw the enemy with more advantage to\na battle.  To effect this, he marched a day's journey from his\ncamp, and, finding the Parthians hovering about, in readiness to\nattack him while he was in motion, he gave orders for the signal\nof battle to be hung out in the encampment, but, at the same\ntime, pulled down the tents, as if he meant not to fight, but to\nlead his men home again; and so he proceeded to lead them past\nthe enemy, who were drawn up in a half-moon, his orders being\nthat the horse should charge as soon as the legions were come up\nnear enough to second them.  The Parthians, standing still while\nthe Romans marched by them, were in great admiration of their\narmy, and of the exact discipline it observed, rank after rank\npassing on at equal distances in perfect order and silence,\ntheir pikes all ready in their hands.  But when the signal was\ngiven, and the horse turned short upon the Parthians, and with\nloud cries charged them, they bravely received them, though they\nwere at once too near for bowshot; but the legions, coming up\nwith loud shouts and rattling of their arms, so frightened their\nhorses and indeed the men themselves, that they kept their\nground no longer.  Antony pressed them hard, in great hopes that\nthis victory should put an end to the war; the foot had them in\npursuit for fifty furlongs, and the horse for thrice that\ndistance, and yet, the advantage summed up, they had but thirty\nprisoners, and there were but fourscore slain.  So that they\nwere all filled with dejection and discouragement, to consider,\nthat when they were victorious, their advantage was so small,\nand that when they were beaten, they lost so great a number of\nmen as they had done when the carriages were taken.\n\nThe next day, having put the baggage in order, they marched back\nto the camp before Phraata, in the way meeting with some\nscattering troops of the enemy, and, as they marched further,\nwith greater parties, at length with the body of the enemy's\narmy, fresh and in good order, who called them to battle, and\ncharged them on every side, and it was not without great\ndifficulty that they reached the camp.  There Antony, finding\nthat his men had in a panic deserted the defense of the mound,\nupon a sally of the Medes, resolved to proceed against them by\ndecimation, as it is called, which is done by dividing the\nsoldiers into tens, and, out of every ten, putting one to death,\nas it happens by lot.  The rest he gave orders should have,\ninstead of wheat, their rations of corn in barley.\n\nThe war was now become grievous to both parties, and the\nprospect of its continuance yet more fearful to Antony, in\nrespect that he was threatened with famine; for he could no\nlonger forage without wounds and slaughter.  And Phraates, on\nthe other side, was full of apprehension that, if the Romans\nwere to persist in carrying on the siege, the autumnal equinox\nbeing past and the air already closing in for cold, he should be\ndeserted by his soldiers, who would suffer anything rather than\nwintering in open field.  To prevent which, he had recourse to\nthe following deceit: he gave order to those of his men who had\nmade most acquaintance among the Roman soldiers, not to pursue\ntoo close when they met them foraging, but to suffer them to\ncarry off some provision; moreover, that they should praise\ntheir valor, and declare that it was not without just reason\nthat their king looked upon the Romans as the bravest men in the\nworld.  This done, upon further opportunity they rode nearer in,\nand, drawing up their horses by the men, began to revile Antony\nfor his obstinacy; that whereas Phraates desired nothing more\nthan peace, and an occasion to show how ready he was to save the\nlives of so many brave soldiers, he, on the contrary, gave no\nopening to any friendly offers, but sat awaiting the arrival of\nthe two fiercest and worst enemies, winter and famine, from whom\nit would be hard for them to make their escape, even with all\nthe good-will of the Parthians to help them.  Antony, having\nthese reports from many hands, began to indulge the hope;\nnevertheless, he would not send any message to the Parthian till\nhe had put the question to these friendly talkers, whether what\nthey said was said by order of their king.  Receiving answer\nthat it was, together with new encouragement to believe them, he\nsent some of his friends to demand once more the standards and\nprisoners, lest, if he should ask nothing, he might be supposed\nto be too thankful to have leave to retreat in quiet.  The\nParthian king made answer, that as for the standards and\nprisoners, he need not trouble himself; but if he thought fit to\nretreat, he might do it when he pleased, in peace and safety.\nSome few days, therefore, being spent in collecting the baggage,\nhe set out upon his march.  On which occasion, though there was\nno man of his time like him for addressing a multitude, or for\ncarrying soldiers with him by the force of words, out of shame\nand sadness he could not find in his heart to speak himself, but\nemployed Domitius Aenobarbus.  And some of the soldiers resented\nit, as an undervaluing of them; but the greater number saw the\ntrue cause, and pitied it, and thought it rather a reason why\nthey on their side should treat their general with more respect\nand obedience than ordinary.\n\nAntony had resolved to return by the same way he came, which was\nthrough a level country clear of all trees, but a certain\nMardian came to him (one that was very conversant with the\nmanners of the Parthians, and whose fidelity to the Romans had\nbeen tried at the battle where the machines were lost), and\nadvised him to keep the mountains close on his right hand, and\nnot to expose his men, heavily armed, in a broad, open, riding\ncountry, to the attacks of a numerous army of light-horse and\narchers; that Phraates with fair promises had persuaded him from\nthe siege on purpose that he might with more ease cut him off in\nhis retreat; but, if so he pleased, he would conduct him by a\nnearer route, on which moreover he should find the necessaries\nfor his army in greater abundance.  Antony upon this began to\nconsider what was best to be done; he was unwilling to seem to\nhave any mistrust of the Parthians after their treaty; but,\nholding it to be really best to march his army the shorter and\nmore inhabited way, he demanded of the Mardian some assurance of\nhis faith, who offered himself to be bound until the army came\nsafe into Armenia.  Two days he conducted the army bound, and,\non the third, when Antony had given up all thought of the\nenemy, and was marching at his ease in no very good order, the\nMardian, perceiving the bank of a river broken down, and the\nwater let out and overflowing the road by which they were to\npass, saw at once that this was the handiwork of the Parthians,\ndone out of mischief, and to hinder their march; so he advised\nAntony to be upon his guard, for that the enemy was nigh at\nhand.  And no sooner had he begun to put his men in order,\ndisposing the slingers and dart men in convenient intervals for\nsallying out, but the Parthians came pouring in on all sides,\nfully expecting to encompass them, and throw the whole army into\ndisorder.  They were at once attacked by the light troops, whom\nthey galled a good deal with their arrows; but, being themselves\nas warmly entertained with the slings and darts, and many\nwounded, they made their retreat.  Soon after, rallying up\nafresh, they were beat back by a battalion of Gallic horse, and\nappeared no more that day.\n\nBy their manner of attack Antony seeing what to do, not only\nplaced the slings and darts as a rear guard, but also lined both\nflanks with them, and so marched in a square battle, giving\norder to the horse to charge and beat off the enemy, but not to\nfollow them far as they retired.  So that the Parthians, not\ndoing more mischief for the four ensuing days than they\nreceived, began to abate in their zeal, and, complaining that\nthe winter season was much advanced, pressed for returning home.\n\nBut, on the fifth day, Flavius Gallus, a brave and active\nofficer, who had a considerable command in the army, came to\nAntony, desiring of him some light-infantry out of the rear, and\nsome horse out of the front, with which he would undertake to do\nsome considerable service.  Which when he had obtained, he beat\nthe enemy back, not withdrawing, as was usual, at the same time,\nand retreating upon the mass of the heavy infantry, but\nmaintaining his own ground, and engaging boldly.  The officers\nwho commanded in the rear, perceiving how far he was getting\nfrom the body of the army, sent to warn him back, but he took no\nnotice of them.  It is said that Titius the quaestor snatched\nthe standards and turned them round, upbraiding Gallus with thus\nleading so many brave men to destruction.  But when he on the\nother side reviled him again, and commanded the men that were\nabout him to stand firm, Titius made his retreat, and Gallus,\ncharging the enemies in the front, was encompassed by a party\nthat fell upon his rear, which at length perceiving, he sent a\nmessenger to demand succor.  But the commanders of the heavy\ninfantry, Canidius amongst others, a particular favorite of\nAntony's, seem here to have committed a great oversight.  For,\ninstead of facing about with the whole body, they sent small\nparties, and, when they were defeated, they still sent out small\nparties, so that by their bad management the rout would have\nspread through the whole army, if Antony himself had not marched\nfrom the van at the head of the third legion, and, passing this\nthrough among the fugitives, faced the enemies, and hindered\nthem from any further pursuit.\n\nIn this engagement were killed three thousand, five thousand\nwere carried back to the camp wounded, amongst the rest Gallus,\nshot through the body with four arrows, of which wounds he died.\nAntony went from tent to tent to visit and comfort the rest of\nthem, and was not able to see his men without tears and a\npassion of grief.  They, however, seized his hand with joyful\nfaces, bidding him go and see to himself and not be concerned\nabout them, calling him their emperor and their general, and\nsaying that if he did well they were safe.  For in short, never\nin all these times can history make mention of a general at the\nhead of a more splendid army; whether you consider strength and\nyouth, or patience and sufferance in labors and fatigues; but as\nfor the obedience and affectionate respect they bore their\ngeneral, and the unanimous feeling amongst small and great\nalike, officers and common soldiers, to prefer his good opinion\nof them to their very lives and being, in this part of military\nexcellence it was not possible that they could have been\nsurpassed by the very Romans of old.  For this devotion, as I\nhave said before, there were many reasons, as the nobility of\nhis family, his eloquence, his frank and open manners, his\nliberal and magnificent habits, his familiarity in talking with\neverybody, and, at this time particularly, his kindness in\nassisting and pitying the sick, joining in all their pains, and\nfurnishing them with all things necessary, so that the sick and\nwounded were even more eager to serve than those that were whole\nand strong.\n\nNevertheless, this last victory had so encouraged the enemy,\nthat, instead of their former impatience and weariness, they\nbegan soon to feel contempt for the Romans, staying all night\nnear the camp, in expectation of plundering their tents and\nbaggage, which they concluded they must abandon; and in the\nmorning new forces arrived in large masses, so that their number\nwas grown to be not less, it is said, than forty thousand horse;\nand the king had sent the very guards that attended upon his own\nperson, as to a sure and unquestioned victory.  For he himself\nwas never present in any fight.  Antony, designing to harangue\nthe soldiers, called for a mourning habit, that he might move\nthem the more, but was dissuaded by his friends; so he came\nforward in the general's scarlet cloak, and addressed them,\npraising those that had gained the victory, and reproaching\nthose that had fled, the former answering him with promises of\nsuccess, and the latter excusing themselves, and telling him\nthey were ready to undergo decimation, or any other punishment\nhe should please to inflict upon them, only entreating that he\nwould forget and not discompose himself with their faults.  At\nwhich he lifted up his hands to heaven, and prayed the gods,\nthat if to balance the great favors he had received of them any\njudgment lay in store, they would pour it upon his head alone,\nand grant his soldiers victory.\n\nThe next day they took better order for their march, and the\nParthians, who thought they were marching rather to plunder than\nto fight, were much taken aback, when they came up and were\nreceived with a shower of missiles, to find the enemy not\ndisheartened, but fresh and resolute.  So that they themselves\nbegan to lose courage.  But at the descent of a hill where the\nRomans were obliged to pass, they got together, and let fly\ntheir arrows upon them as they moved slowly down.  But the\nfull-armed infantry, facing round, received the light troops\nwithin; and those in the first rank knelt on one knee, holding\ntheir shields before them, the next rank holding theirs over the\nfirst, and so again others over these, much like the tiling of a\nhouse, or the rows of seats in a theater, the whole affording\nsure defense against arrows, which glance upon them without\ndoing any harm.  The Parthians, seeing the Romans down upon\ntheir knees, could not imagine but that it must proceed from\nweariness; so that they laid down their bows, and, taking their\nspears, made a fierce onset, when the Romans, with a great cry,\nleapt upon their feet, striking hand to hand with their\njavelins, slew the foremost, and put the rest to flight.  After\nthis rate it was every day, and the trouble they gave made the\nmarches short; in addition to which famine began to be felt in\nthe camp, for they could get but little corn, and that which\nthey got they were forced to fight for; and, besides this, they\nwere in want of implements to grind it and make bread.  For they\nhad left almost all behind, the baggage horses being dead or\notherwise employed in carrying the sick and wounded.  Provision\nwas so scarce in the army that an Attic quart of wheat sold for\nfifty drachmas, and barley loaves for their weight in silver.\nAnd when they tried vegetables and roots, they found such as\nare commonly eaten very scarce, so that they were constrained to\nventure upon any they could get, and, among others, they chanced\nupon an herb that was mortal, first taking away all sense and\nunderstanding.  He that had eaten of it remembered nothing in\nthe world, and employed himself only in moving great stones from\none place to another, which he did with as much earnestness and\nindustry as if it had been a business of the greatest\nconsequence.  Through all the camp there was nothing to be seen\nbut men grubbing upon the ground at stones, which they carried\nfrom place to place.  But in the end they threw up bile and\ndied, as wine, moreover, which was the one antidote, failed.\nWhen Antony saw them die so fast, and the Parthian still in\npursuit, he was heard to exclaim several times over, \"O, the Ten\nThousand!\" as if in admiration of the retreat of the Greeks with\nXenophon, who, when they had a longer journey to make from\nBabylonia, and a more powerful enemy to deal with, nevertheless\ncame home safe.\n\nThe Parthians, finding that they could not divide the Roman\narmy, nor break the order of their battle, and that withal they\nhad been so often worsted, once more began to treat the foragers\nwith professions of humanity; they came up to them with their\nbows unbended, telling them that they were going home to their\nhouses; that this was the end of their retaliation, and that\nonly some Median troops would follow for two or three days, not\nwith any design to annoy them, but for the defense of some of\nthe villages further on.  And, saying this, they saluted them\nand embraced them with a great show of friendship.  This made\nthe Romans full of confidence again, and Antony, on hearing of\nit, was more disposed to take the road through the level\ncountry, being told that no water was to be hoped for on that\nthrough the mountains.  But while he was preparing thus to do,\nMithridates came into the camp, a cousin to Monaeses, of whom we\nrelated that he sought refuge with the Romans, and received in\ngift from Antony the three cities.  Upon his arrival, he desired\nsomebody might be brought to him that could speak Syriac or\nParthian.  One Alexander, of Antioch, a friend of Antony's, was\nbrought to him, to whom the stranger, giving his name, and\nmentioning Monaeses as the person who desired to do the\nkindness, put the question, did he see that high range of hills,\npointing at some distance.  He told him, yes.  \"It is there,\"\nsaid he, \"the whole Parthian army lie in wait for your passage;\nfor the great plains come immediately up to them, and they\nexpect that, confiding in their promises, you will leave the\nway of the mountains, and take the level route.  It is true that\nin passing over the mountains you will suffer the want of water,\nand the fatigue to which you have become familiar, but if you\npass through the plains, Antony must expect the fortune of\nCrassus.\"\n\nThis said, he departed.  Antony, in alarm, calling his friends\nin council, sent for the Mardian guide, who was of the same\nopinion.  He told them that, with or without enemies, the want\nof any certain track in the plain, and the likelihood of their\nlosing their way, were quite objection enough; the other route\nwas rough and without water, but then it was but for a day.\nAntony, therefore, changing his mind, marched away upon this\nroad that night, commanding that everyone should carry water\nsufficient for his own use; but most of them being unprovided\nwith vessels, they made shift with their helmets, and some with\nskins.  As soon as they started, the news of it was carried to\nthe Parthians, who followed them, contrary to their custom,\nthrough the night, and at sunrise attacked the rear, which was\ntired with marching and want of sleep, and not in condition to\nmake any considerable defense.  For they had got through two\nhundred and forty furlongs that night, and at the end of such a\nmarch to find the enemy at their heels, put them out of heart.\nBesides, having to fight for every step of the way increased\ntheir distress from thirst.  Those that were in the van came up\nto a river, the water of which was extremely cool and clear, but\nbrackish and medicinal, and, on being drunk, produced immediate\npains in the bowels and a renewed thirst.  Of this the Mardian\nhad forewarned them, but they could not forbear, and, beating\nback those that opposed them, they drank of it.  Antony ran from\none place to another, begging they would have a little patience,\nthat not far off there was a river of wholesome water, and that\nthe rest of the way was so difficult for the horse, that the\nenemy could pursue them no further; and, saying this, he ordered\nto sound a retreat to call those back that were engaged, and\ncommanded the tents should be set up, that the soldiers might at\nany rate refresh themselves in the shade.\n\nBut the tents were scarce well put up, and the Parthians\nbeginning, according to their custom, to withdraw, when\nMithridates came again to them, and informed Alexander, with\nwhom he had before spoken, that he would do well to advise\nAntony to stay where he was no longer than needs he must, that,\nafter having refreshed his troops, he should endeavor with all\ndiligence to gain the next river, that the Parthians would not\ncross it, but so far they were resolved to follow them.\nAlexander made his report to Antony, who ordered a quantity of\ngold plate to be carried to Mithridates, who, taking as much as\nbe could well hide under his clothes, went his way.  And, upon\nthis advice, Antony, while it was yet day, broke up his camp,\nand the whole army marched forward without receiving any\nmolestation from the Parthians, though that night by their own\ndoing was in effect the most wretched and terrible that they\npassed.  For some of the men began to kill and plunder those\nwhom they suspected to have any money, ransacked the baggage,\nand seized the money there.  In the end, they laid hands on\nAntony's own equipage, and broke all his rich tables and cups,\ndividing the fragments amongst them.  Antony, hearing such a\nnoise and such a stirring to and fro all through the army, the\nbelief prevailing that the enemy had routed and cut off a\nportion of the troops, called for one of his freedmen, then\nserving as one of his guards, Rhamnus by name, and made him take\nan oath that, whenever he should give him orders, he would run\nhis sword through his body and cut off his head, that he might\nnot fall alive into the hands of the Parthians, nor, when dead,\nbe recognized as the general.  While he was in this\nconsternation, and all his friends about him in tears, the\nMardian came up, and gave them all new life.  He convinced\nthem, by the coolness and humidity of the air, which they could\nfeel in breathing it, that the river which he had spoken of was\nnow not far off, and the calculation of the time that had been\nrequired to reach it came, he said, to the same result, for the\nnight was almost spent.  And, at the same time, others came with\ninformation that all the confusion in the camp proceeded only\nfrom their own violence and robbery among themselves.  To\ncompose this tumult, and bring them again into some order after\ntheir distraction, he commanded the signal to be given for a\nhalt.\n\nDay began to break, and quiet and regularity were just\nreappearing, when the Parthian arrows began to fly among the\nrear, and the light armed troops were ordered out to battle.\nAnd, being seconded by the heavy infantry, who covered one\nanother as before described with their shields, they bravely\nreceived the enemy, who did not think convenient to advance any\nfurther, while the van of the army, marching forward leisurely\nin this manner came in sight of the river, and Antony, drawing\nup the cavalry on the banks to confront the enemy, first passed\nover the sick and wounded.  And, by this time, even those who\nwere engaged with the enemy had opportunity to drink at their\nease; for the Parthians, on seeing the river, unbent their bows,\nand told the Romans they might pass over freely, and made them\ngreat compliments in praise of their valor.  Having crossed\nwithout molestation, they rested themselves awhile, and\npresently went forward, not giving perfect credit to the fair\nwords of their enemies.  Six days after this last battle, they\narrived at the river Araxes, which divides Media and Armenia,\nand seemed, both by its deepness and the violence of the\ncurrent, to be very dangerous to pass.  A report, also, had\ncrept in amongst them, that the enemy was in ambush, ready to\nset upon them as soon as they should be occupied with their\npassage.  But when they were got over on the other side, and\nfound themselves in Armenia, just as if land was now sighted\nafter a storm at sea, they kissed the ground for joy, shedding\ntears and embracing each other in their delight.  But taking\ntheir journey through a land that abounded in all sorts of\nplenty, they ate, after their long want, with that excess of\neverything they met with, that they suffered from dropsies and\ndysenteries.\n\nHere Antony, making a review of his army, found that he had lost\ntwenty thousand foot and four thousand horse, of which the\nbetter half perished, not by the enemy, but by diseases.  Their\nmarch was of twenty-seven days from Phraata, during which they\nhad beaten the Parthians in eighteen battles, though with little\neffect or lasting result, because of their being so unable to\npursue.  By which it is manifest that it was Artavasdes who lost\nAntony the benefit of the expedition.  For had the sixteen\nthousand horsemen whom he led away out of Media, armed in the\nsame style as the Parthians and accustomed to their manner of\nfight, been there to follow the pursuit when the Romans put them\nto flight, it is impossible they could have rallied so often\nafter their defeats, and reappeared again as they did to renew\ntheir attacks.  For this reason, the whole army was very earnest\nwith Antony to march into Armenia to take revenge.  But he, with\nmore reflection, forbore to notice the desertion, and continued\nall his former courtesies, feeling that the army was wearied\nout, and in want of all manner of necessaries.  Afterwards,\nhowever, entering Armenia, with invitations and fair promises he\nprevailed upon Artavasdes to meet him, when he seized him, bound\nhim, and carried him to Alexandria, and there led him in a\ntriumph; one of the things which most offended the Romans, who\nfelt as if all the honors and solemn observances of their\ncountry were, for Cleopatra's sake, handed over to the\nEgyptians.\n\nThis, however, was at an after time.  For the present, marching\nhis army in great haste in the depth of winter through continual\nstorms of snow, he lost eight thousand of his men, and came with\nmuch diminished numbers to a place called the White Village,\nbetween Sidon and Berytus, on the seacoast, where he waited for\nthe arrival of Cleopatra.  And, being impatient of the delay she\nmade, he bethought himself of shortening the time in wine and\ndrunkenness, and yet could not endure the tediousness of a meal,\nbut would start from table and run to see if she were coming.\nTill at last she came into port, and brought with her clothes\nand money for the soldiers.  Though some say that Antony only\nreceived the clothes from her, and distributed his own money in\nher name.\n\nA quarrel presently happened between the king of Media and\nPhraates of Parthia, beginning, it is said, about the division\nof the booty that was taken from the Romans, and creating great\napprehension in the Median lest he should lose his kingdom.  He\nsent, therefore, ambassadors to Antony, with offers of entering\ninto a confederate war against Phraates.  And Antony, full of\nhopes at being thus asked, as a favor, to accept that one thing,\nhorse and archers, the want of which had hindered his beating\nthe Parthians before, began at once to prepare for a return to\nArmenia, there to join the Medes on the Araxes, and begin the\nwar afresh.  But Octavia, in Rome, being desirous to see Antony,\nasked Caesar's leave to go to him; which he gave her, not so\nmuch, say most authors, to gratify his sister, as to obtain a\nfair pretense to begin the war upon her dishonorable reception.\nShe no sooner arrived at Athens, but by letters from Antony she\nwas informed of his new expedition, and his will that she should\nawait him there.  And, though she were much displeased, not\nbeing ignorant of the real reason of this usage, yet she wrote\nto him to know to what place he would be pleased she should send\nthe things she had brought with her for his use; for she had\nbrought clothes for his soldiers, baggage, cattle, money, and\npresents for his friends and officers, and two thousand chosen\nsoldiers sumptuously armed, to form praetorian cohorts.  This\nmessage was brought from Octavia to Antony by Niger, one of his\nfriends, who added to it the praises she deserved so well.\nCleopatra, feeling her rival already, as it were, at hand, was\nseized with fear, lest if to her noble life and her high\nalliance, she once could add the charm of daily habit and\naffectionate intercourse, she should become irresistible, and be\nhis absolute mistress for ever.  So she feigned to be dying for\nlove of Antony, bringing her body down by slender diet; when he\nentered the room, she fixed her eyes upon him in a rapture, and\nwhen he left, seemed to languish and half faint away.  She took\ngreat pains that he should see her in tears, and, as soon as he\nnoticed it, hastily dried them up and turned away, as if it were\nher wish that he should know nothing of it.  All this was acting\nwhile he prepared for Media; and Cleopatra's creatures were not\nslow to forward the design, upbraiding Antony with his\nunfeeling, hard-hearted temper, thus letting a woman perish\nwhose soul depended upon him and him alone.  Octavia, it was\ntrue, was his wife, and had been married to him because it was\nfound convenient for the affairs of her brother that it should\nbe so, and she had the honor of the title; but Cleopatra, the\nsovereign queen of many nations, had been contented with the\nname of his mistress, nor did she shun or despise the character\nwhilst she might see him, might live with him, and enjoy him; if\nshe were bereaved of this, she would not survive the loss.  In\nfine, they so melted and unmanned him, that, fully believing she\nwould die if he forsook her, he put off the war and returned to\nAlexandria, deferring his Median expedition until next summer,\nthough news came of the Parthians being all in confusion with\nintestine disputes.  Nevertheless, he did some time after go\ninto that country, and made an alliance with the king of Media,\nby marriage of a son of his by Cleopatra to the king's daughter,\nwho was yet very young; and so returned, with his thoughts taken\nup about the civil war.\n\nWhen Octavia returned from Athens, Caesar, who considered she\nhad been injuriously treated, commanded her to live in a\nseparate house; but she refused to leave the house of her\nhusband, and entreated him, unless he had already resolved, upon\nother motives, to make war with Antony, that he would on her\naccount let it alone; it would be intolerable to have it said of\nthe two greatest commanders in the world, that they had\ninvolved the Roman people in a civil war, the one out of passion\nfor; the other out of resentment about, a woman.  And her\nbehavior proved her words to be sincere.  She remained in\nAntony's house as if he were at home in it, and took the noblest\nand most generous care, not only of his children by her, but of\nthose by Fulvia also.  She received all the friends of Antony\nthat came to Rome to seek office or upon any business, and did\nher utmost to prefer their requests to Caesar; yet this her\nhonorable deportment did but, without her meaning it, damage the\nreputation of Antony; the wrong he did to such a woman made him\nhated.  Nor was the division he made among his sons at\nAlexandria less unpopular; it seemed a theatrical piece of\ninsolence and contempt of his country.  For, assembling the\npeople in the exercise ground, and causing two golden thrones to\nbe placed on a platform of silver, the one for him and the other\nfor Cleopatra, and at their feet lower thrones for their\nchildren, he proclaimed Cleopatra queen of Egypt, Cyprus, Libya,\nand Coele-Syria, and with her conjointly Caesarion, the reputed\nson of the former Caesar, who left Cleopatra with child.  His\nown sons by Cleopatra were to have the style of kings of kings;\nto Alexander he gave Armenia and Media, with Parthia, so soon as\nit should be overcome; to Ptolemy, Phoenicia, Syria, and\nCilicia.  Alexander was brought out before the people in the\nMedian costume, the tiara and upright peak, and Ptolemy, in\nboots and mantle and Macedonian cap done about with the diadem;\nfor this was the habit of the successors of Alexander, as the\nother was of the Medes and Armenians.  And, as soon as they had\nsaluted their parents, the one was received by a guard of\nMacedonians, the other by one of Armenians.  Cleopatra was then,\nas at other times when she appeared in public, dressed in the\nhabit of the goddess Isis, and gave audience to the people under\nthe name of the New Isis.\n\nCaesar, relating these things in the senate, and often\ncomplaining to the people, excited men's minds against Antony.\nAnd Antony also sent messages of accusation against Caesar.  The\nprincipal of his charges were these: first, that he had not made\nany division with him of Sicily, which was lately taken from\nPompey; secondly, that he had retained the ships he had lent him\nfor the war; thirdly, that after deposing Lepidus, their\ncolleague, he had taken for himself the army, governments, and\nrevenues formerly appropriated to him; and, lastly, that he had\nparceled out almost all Italy amongst his own soldiers, and left\nnothing for his.  Caesar's answer was as follows: that he had\nput Lepidus out of government because of his own misconduct;\nthat what he had got in war he would divide with Antony, so soon\nas Antony gave him a share of Armenia; that Antony's soldiers\nhad no claims in Italy, being in possession of Media and\nParthia, the acquisitions which their brave actions under their\ngeneral had added to the Roman empire.\n\nAntony was in Armenia when this answer came to him, and\nimmediately sent Canidius with sixteen legions towards the sea;\nbut he, in the company of Cleopatra, went to Ephesus, whither\nships were coming in from all quarters to form the navy,\nconsisting, vessels of burden included, of eight hundred\nvessels, of which Cleopatra furnished two hundred, together with\ntwenty thousand talents, and provision for the whole army during\nthe war.  Antony, on the advice of Domitius and some others,\nbade Cleopatra return into Egypt, there to expect the event of\nthe war; but she, dreading some new reconciliation by Octavia's\nmeans, prevailed with Canidius, by a large sum of money, to\nspeak in her favor with Antony, pointing out to him that it was\nnot just that one that bore so great a part in the charge of the\nwar should be robbed of her share of glory in the carrying it\non: nor would it be politic to disoblige the Egyptians, who were\nso considerable a part of his naval forces; nor did he see how\nshe was inferior in prudence to any one of the kings that were\nserving with him; she had long governed a great kingdom by\nherself alone, and long lived with him, and gained experience in\npublic affairs.  These arguments (so the fate that destined all\nto Caesar would have it), prevailed; and when all their forces\nhad met, they sailed together to Samos, and held high\nfestivities.  For, as it was ordered that all kings, princes,\nand governors, all nations and cities within the limits of\nSyria, the Maeotid Lake, Armenia, and Illyria, should bring or\ncause to be brought all munitions necessary for war, so was it\nalso proclaimed that all stage-players should make their\nappearance at Samos; so that, while pretty nearly the whole\nworld was filled with groans and lamentations, this one island\nfor some days resounded with piping and harping, theaters\nfilling, and choruses playing.  Every city sent an ox as its\ncontribution to the sacrifice, and the kings that accompanied\nAntony competed who should make the most magnificent feasts and\nthe greatest presents; and men began to ask themselves, what\nwould be done to celebrate the victory, when they went to such\nan expense of festivity at the opening of the war.\n\nThis over, he gave Priene to his players for a habitation, and\nset sail for Athens, where fresh sports and play-acting employed\nhim.  Cleopatra, jealous of the honors Octavia had received at\nAthens (for Octavia was much beloved by the Athenians), courted\nthe favor of the people with all sorts of attentions.  The\nAthenians, in requital, having decreed her public honors,\ndeputed several of the citizens to wait upon her at her house;\namongst whom went Antony as one, he being an Athenian citizen,\nand he it was that made the speech.  He sent orders to Rome to\nhave Octavia removed out of his house.  She left it, we are\ntold, accompanied by all his children, except the eldest by\nFulvia, who was then with his father, weeping and grieving that\nshe must be looked upon as one of the causes of the war.  But\nthe Romans pitied, not so much her, as Antony himself, and more\nparticularly those who had seen Cleopatra, whom they could\nreport to have no way the advantage of Octavia either in youth\nor in beauty.\n\nThe speed and extent of Antony's preparations alarmed Caesar,\nwho feared he might be forced to fight the decisive battle that\nsummer.  For he wanted many necessaries, and the people grudged\nvery much to pay the taxes; freemen being called upon to pay a\nfourth part of their incomes, and freed slaves an eighth of\ntheir property, so that there were loud outcries against him,\nand disturbances throughout all Italy.  And this is looked upon\nas one of the greatest of Antony's oversights, that he did not\nthen press the war.  For he allowed time at once for Caesar to\nmake his preparations, and for the commotions to pass over.  For\nwhile people were having their money called for, they were\nmutinous and violent; but, having paid it, they held their\npeace.  Titius and Plancus, men of consular dignity and friends\nto Antony, having been ill used by Cleopatra, whom they had most\nresisted in her design of being present in the war, came over to\nCaesar, and gave information of the contents of Antony's will,\nwith which they were acquainted.  It was deposited in the hands\nof the vestal virgins, who refused to deliver it up, and sent\nCaesar word, if he pleased, he should come and seize it himself,\nwhich he did.  And, reading it over to himself, he noted those\nplaces that were most for his purpose, and, having summoned the\nsenate, read them publicly.  Many were scandalized at the\nproceeding, thinking it out of reason and equity to call a man\nto account for what was not to be until after his death.  Caesar\nspecially pressed what Antony said in his will about his burial;\nfor he had ordered that even if he died in the city of Rome, his\nbody, after being carried in state through the forum, should be\nsent to Cleopatra at Alexandria.  Calvisius, a dependent of\nCaesar's, urged other charges in connection with Cleopatra\nagainst Antony; that he had given her the library of Pergamus,\ncontaining two hundred thousand distinct volumes; that at a\ngreat banquet, in the presence of many guests, he had risen up\nand rubbed her feet, to fulfill some wager or promise; that he\nhad suffered the Ephesians to salute her as their queen; that he\nhad frequently at the public audience of kings and princes\nreceived amorous messages written in tablets made of onyx and\ncrystal, and read them openly on the tribunal; that when\nFurnius, a man of great authority and eloquence among the\nRomans, was pleading, Cleopatra happening to pass by in her\nchair, Antony started up and left them in the middle of their\ncause, to follow at her side and attend her home.\n\nCalvisius, however, was looked upon as the inventor of most of\nthese stories.  Antony's friends went up and down the city to\ngain him credit, and sent one of themselves, Geminius, to him,\nto beg him to take heed and not allow himself to be deprived by\nvote of his authority, and proclaimed a public enemy to the\nRoman state.  But Geminius no sooner arrived in Greece but he\nwas looked upon as one of Octavia's spies; at their suppers he\nwas made a continual butt for mockery, and was put to sit in the\nleast honorable places; all which he bore very well, seeking\nonly an occasion of speaking with Antony.  So, at supper, being\ntold to say what business he came about, he answered he would\nkeep the rest for a soberer hour, but one thing he had to say,\nwhether full or fasting, that all would go well if Cleopatra\nwould return to Egypt.  And on Antony showing his anger at it,\n\"You have done well, Geminius,\" said Cleopatra, \"to tell your\nsecret without being put to the rack.\" So Geminius, after a few\ndays, took occasion to make his escape and go to Rome.  Many\nmore of Antony's friends were driven from him by the insolent\nusage they had from Cleopatra's flatterers, amongst whom were\nMarcus Silanus and Dellius the historian.  And Dellius says he\nwas afraid of his life, and that Glaucus, the physician,\ninformed him of Cleopatra's design against him.  She was angry\nwith him for having said that Antony's friends were served with\nsour wine, while at Rome Sarmentus, Caesar's little page (his\ndelicia, as the Romans call it), drank Falernian.\n\nAs soon as Caesar had completed his preparations, he had a\ndecree made, declaring war on Cleopatra, and depriving Antony of\nthe authority which he had let a woman exercise in his place.\nCaesar added that he had drunk potions that had bereaved him of\nhis senses, and that the generals they would have to fight with\nwould be Mardion the eunuch, Pothinus, Iras, Cleopatra's\nhairdressing girl, and Charmion, who were Antony's chief\nstate-councillors.\n\nThese prodigies are said to have announced the war.  Pisaurum,\nwhere Antony had settled a colony, on the Adriatic sea, was\nswallowed up by an earthquake; sweat ran from one of the marble\nstatues of Antony at Alba for many days together, and, though\nfrequently wiped off, did not stop.  When he himself was in the\ncity of Patrae, the temple of Hercules was struck by lightning,\nand, at Athens, the figure of Bacchus was torn by a violent wind\nout of the Battle of the Giants, and laid flat upon the\ntheater; with both which deities Antony claimed connection,\nprofessing to be descended from Hercules, and from his imitating\nBacchus in his way of living having received the name of Young\nBacchus.  The same whirlwind at Athens also brought down, from\namongst many others which were not disturbed, the colossal\nstatues of Eumenes and Attalus, which were inscribed with\nAntony's name.  And in Cleopatra's admiral-galley, which was\ncalled the Antonias, a most inauspicious omen occurred.  Some\nswallows had built in the stern of the galley, but other\nswallows came, beat the first away, and destroyed their nests.\n\nWhen the armaments gathered for the war, Antony had no less than\nfive hundred ships of war, including numerous galleys of eight\nand ten banks of oars, as richly ornamented as if they were\nmeant for a triumph.  He had a hundred thousand foot and twelve\nthousand horse.  He had vassal kings attending, Bocchus of\nLibya, Tarcondemus of the Upper Cilicia, Archelaus of\nCappadocia, Philadelphus of Paphlagonia, Mithridates of\nCommagene, and Sadalas of Thrace; all these were with him in\nperson.  Out of Pontus Polemon sent him considerable forces, as\ndid also Malchus from Arabia, Herod the Jew, and Amyntas, king\nof Lycaonia and Galatia; also the Median king sent some troops\nto join him.  Caesar had two hundred and fifty galleys of war,\neighty thousand foot, and horse about equal to the enemy.\nAntony's empire extended from Euphrates and Armenia to the\nIonian sea and the Illyrians; Caesar's, from Illyria to the\nwestward ocean, and from the ocean all along the Tuscan and\nSicilian sea.  Of Africa, Caesar had all the coast opposite to\nItaly, Gaul, and Spain, as far as the Pillars of Hercules, and\nAntony the provinces from Cyrene to Ethiopia.\n\nBut so wholly was he now the mere appendage to the person of\nCleopatra, that, although he was much superior to the enemy in\nland-forces, yet, out of complaisance to his mistress, he wished\nthe victory to be gained by sea, and that, too, when he could\nnot but see how, for want of sailors, his captains, all through\nunhappy Greece, were pressing every description of men, common\ntravelers and ass-drivers, harvest laborers and boys, and for\nall this the vessels had not their complements, but remained,\nmost of them, ill-manned and badly rowed.  Caesar, on the other\nside, had ships that were built not for size or show, but for\nservice, not pompous galleys, but light, swift, and perfectly\nmanned; and from his head-quarters at Tarentum and Brundusium he\nsent messages to Antony not to protract the war, but come out\nwith his forces; he would give him secure roadsteads and ports\nfor his fleet, and, for his land army to disembark and pitch\ntheir camp, he would leave him as much ground in Italy, inland\nfrom the sea, as a horse could traverse in a single course.\nAntony, on the other side, with the like bold language,\nchallenged him to a single combat, though he were much the\nolder; and, that being refused, proposed to meet him in the\nPharsalian fields, where Caesar and Pompey had fought before.\nBut whilst Antony lay with his fleet near Actium, where now\nstands Nicopolis, Caesar seized his opportunity, and crossed the\nIonian sea, securing himself at a place in Epirus called the\nLadle. And when those about Antony were much disturbed, their\nland-forces being a good way off, \"Indeed,\" said Cleopatra, in\nmockery, \"we may well be frightened if Caesar has got hold of\nthe Ladle!\"\n\nOn the morrow, Antony, seeing the enemy sailing up, and fearing\nlest his ships might be taken for want of the soldiers to go on\nboard of them, armed all the rowers, and made a show upon the\ndecks of being in readiness to fight; the oars were mounted as\nif waiting to be put in motion, and the vessels themselves drawn\nup to face the enemy on either side of the channel of Actium, as\nthough they were properly manned, and ready for an engagement\nAnd Caesar, deceived by this stratagem, retired.  He was also\nthought to have shown considerable skill in cutting off the\nwater from the enemy by some lines of trenches and forts, water\nnot being plentiful anywhere else, nor very good.  And again,\nhis conduct to Domitius was generous, much against the will of\nCleopatra.  For when he had made his escape in a little boat to\nCaesar, having then a fever upon him, although Antony could not\nbut resent it highly, yet he sent after him his whole equipage,\nwith his friends and servants; and Domitius, as if he would give\na testimony to the world how repentant he had become on his\ndesertion and treachery being thus manifest, died soon after.\nAmong the kings, also, Amyntas and Deiotarus went over to\nCaesar.  And the fleet was so unfortunate in everything that\nwas undertaken, and so unready on every occasion, that Antony\nwas driven again to put his confidence in the land-forces.\nCanidius, too, who commanded the legions, when he saw how things\nstood, changed his opinion, and now was of advice that Cleopatra\nshould be sent back, and that, retiring into Thrace or\nMacedonia, the quarrel should be decided in a land fight.  For\nDicomes, also, the king of the Getae, promised to come and join\nhim with a great army, and it would not be any kind of\ndisparagement to him to yield the sea to Caesar, who, in the\nSicilian wars, had had such long practice in ship-fighting; on\nthe contrary, it would be simply ridiculous for Antony, who was\nby land the most experienced commander living, to make no use of\nhis well-disciplined and numerous infantry, scattering and\nwasting his forces by parceling them out in the ships.  But for\nall this, Cleopatra prevailed that a sea-fight should determine\nall, having already an eye to flight, and ordering all her\naffairs, not so as to assist in gaining a victory, but to escape\nwith the greatest safety from the first commencement of a\ndefeat.\n\nThere were two long walls, extending from the camp to the\nstation of the ships, between which Antony used to pass to and\nfro without suspecting any danger.  But Caesar, upon the\nsuggestion of a servant that it would not be difficult to\nsurprise him, laid an ambush, which, rising up somewhat too\nhastily, seized the man that came just before him, he himself\nescaping narrowly by flight.\n\nWhen it was resolved to stand to a fight at sea, they set fire\nto all the Egyptian ships except sixty; and of these the best\nand largest, from ten banks down to three, he manned with twenty\nthousand full-armed men, and two thousand archers.  Here it is\nrelated that a foot captain, one that had fought often under\nAntony, and had his body all mangled with wounds, exclaimed, \"O,\nmy general, what have our wounds and swords done to displease\nyou, that you should give your confidence to rotten timbers?\nLet Egyptians and Phoenicians contend at sea, give us the land,\nwhere we know well how to die upon the spot or gain the\nvictory.\"  To which he answered nothing, but, by his look and\nmotion of his hand seeming to bid him be of good courage, passed\nforwards, having already, it would seem, no very sure hopes,\nsince when the masters proposed leaving the sails behind them,\nhe commanded they should be put aboard, \"For we must not,\" said\nhe, \"let one enemy escape.\"\n\nThat day and the three following the sea was so rough they could\nnot engage.  But on the fifth there was a calm, and they fought;\nAntony commanding with Publicola the right, and Coelius the left\nsquadron, Marcus Octavius and Marcus Insteius the center.\nCaesar gave the charge of the left to Agrippa, commanding in\nperson on the right.  As for the land-forces, Canidius was\ngeneral for Antony, Taurus for Caesar; both armies remaining\ndrawn up in order along the shore.  Antony in a small boat went\nfrom one ship to another, encouraging his soldiers, and bidding\nthem stand firm, and fight as steadily on their large ships as\nif they were on land.  The masters he ordered that they should\nreceive the enemy lying still as if they were at anchor, and\nmaintain the entrance of the port, which was a narrow and\ndifficult passage.  Of Caesar they relate, that, leaving his\ntent and going round, while it was yet dark, to visit the ships,\nhe met a man driving an ass, and asked him his name.  He\nanswered him that his own name was \"Fortunate, and my ass,\" says\nhe, \"is called Conqueror.\"  And afterwards, when he disposed\nthe beaks of the ships in that place in token of his victory,\nthe statue of this man and his ass in bronze were placed amongst\nthem.  After examining the rest of his fleet, he went in a boat\nto the right wing, and looked with much admiration at the enemy\nlying perfectly still in the straits, in all appearance as if\nthey had been at anchor.  For some considerable length of time\nhe actually thought they were so, and kept his own ships at\nrest, at a distance of about eight furlongs from them.  But\nabout noon a breeze sprang up from the sea, and Antony's men,\nweary of expecting the enemy so long, and trusting to their\nlarge tall vessels, as if they had been invincible, began to\nadvance the left squadron.  Caesar was overjoyed to see them\nmove, and ordered his own right squadron to retire, that he\nmight entice them out to sea as far as he could, his design\nbeing to sail round and round, and so with his light and\nwell-manned galleys to attack these huge vessels, which their\nsize and their want of men made slow to move and difficult to\nmanage.\n\nWhen they engaged, there was no charging or striking of one ship\nby another, because Antony's, by reason of their great bulk,\nwere incapable of the rapidity required to make the stroke\neffectual, and, on the other side, Caesar's durst not charge\nhead to head on Antony's, which were all armed with solid masses\nand spikes of brass; nor did they like even to run in on their\nsides, which were so strongly built with great squared pieces of\ntimber, fastened together with iron bolts, that their vessels'\nbeaks would easily have been shattered upon them.  So that the\nengagement resembled a land fight, or, to speak yet more\nproperly, the attack and defense of a fortified place; for there\nwere always three or four vessels of Caesar's about one of\nAntony's, pressing them with spears, javelins, poles, and\nseveral inventions of fire, which they flung among them,\nAntony's men using catapults also, to pour down missiles from\nwooden towers.  Agrippa drawing out the squadron under his\ncommand to outflank the enemy, Publicola was obliged to observe\nhis motions, and gradually to break off from the middle\nsquadron, where some confusion and alarm ensued, while\nArruntius engaged them.  But the fortune of the day was still\nundecided, and the battle equal, when on a sudden Cleopatra's\nsixty ships were seen hoisting sail and making out to sea in\nfull flight, right through the ships that were engaged.  For\nthey were placed behind the great ships, which, in breaking\nthrough, they put into disorder.  The enemy was astonished to\nsee them sailing off with a fair wind towards Peloponnesus.\nHere it was that Antony showed to all the world that he was no\nlonger actuated by the thoughts and motives of a commander or a\nman, or indeed by his own judgment at all, and what was once\nsaid as a jest, that the soul of a lover lives in some one\nelse's body, he proved to be a serious truth.  For, as if he had\nbeen born part of her, and must move with her wheresoever she\nwent, as soon as he saw her ship sailing away, he abandoned all\nthat were fighting and spending their lives for him, and put\nhimself aboard a galley of five ranks of oars, taking with him\nonly Alexander of Syria and Scellias, to follow her that had so\nwell begun his ruin and would hereafter accomplish it.\n\nShe, perceiving him to follow, gave the signal to come aboard.\nSo, as soon as he came up with them, he was taken into the ship.\nBut without seeing her or letting himself be seen by her, he\nwent forward by himself, and sat alone, without a word, in the\nship's prow, covering his face with his two hands.  In the\nmeanwhile, some of Caesar's light Liburnian ships, that were in\npursuit, came in sight.  But on Antony's commanding to face\nabout, they all gave back except Eurycles the Laconian, who\npressed on, shaking a lance from the deck, as if he meant to\nhurl it at him.  Antony, standing at the prow, demanded of him,\n\"Who is this that pursues Antony?\"  \"I am,\" said he, \"Eurycles,\nthe son of Lachares, armed with Caesar's fortune to revenge my\nfather's death.\"  Lachares had been condemned for a robbery, and\nbeheaded by Antony's orders.  However, Eurycles did not attack\nAntony, but ran with his full force upon the other\nadmiral-galley (for there were two of them), and with the blow\nturned her round, and took both her and another ship, in which\nwas a quantity of rich plate and furniture.  So soon as Eurycles\nwas gone, Antony returned to his posture, and sat silent, and\nthus he remained for three days, either in anger with Cleopatra,\nor wishing not to upbraid her, at the end of which they touched\nat Taenarus.  Here the women of their company succeeded first in\nbringing them to speak, and afterwards to eat and sleep\ntogether.  And, by this time, several of the ships of burden and\nsome of his friends began to come in to him from the rout,\nbringing news of his fleet's being quite destroyed, but that the\nland-forces, they thought, still stood firm.  So that he sent\nmessengers to Canidius to march the army with all speed through\nMacedonia into Asia.  And, designing himself to go from Taenarus\ninto Africa, he gave one of the merchant ships, laden with a\nlarge sum of money, and vessels of silver and gold of great\nvalue, belonging to the royal collections, to his friends,\ndesiring them to share it amongst them, and provide for their\nown safety.  They refusing his kindness with tears in their\neyes, he comforted them with all the goodness and humanity\nimaginable, entreating them to leave him, and wrote letters in\ntheir behalf to Theophilus, his steward, at Corinth, that he\nwould provide for their security, and keep them concealed till\nsuch time as they could make their peace with Caesar.  This\nTheophilus was the father of Hipparchus, who had such interest\nwith Antony, who was the first of all his freedmen that went\nover to Caesar, and who settled afterwards at Corinth.  In this\nposture were affairs with Antony.\n\nBut at Actium, his fleet, after a long resistance to Caesar, and\nsuffering the most damage from a heavy sea that set in right\nahead, scarcely, at four in the afternoon, gave up the contest,\nwith the loss of not more than five thousand men killed, but of\nthree hundred ships taken, as Caesar himself has recorded.  Only\nfew had known of Antony's flight; and those who were told of it\ncould not at first give any belief to so incredible a thing, as\nthat a general who had nineteen entire legions and twelve\nthousand horse upon the sea-shore, could abandon all and fly\naway; and he, above all, who had so often experienced both good\nand evil fortune, and had in a thousand wars and battles been\ninured to changes.  His soldiers, howsoever would not give up\ntheir desires and expectations, still fancying he would appear\nfrom some part or other, and showed such a generous fidelity to\nhis service, that, when they were thoroughly assured that he was\nfled in earnest, they kept themselves in a body seven days,\nmaking no account of the messages that Caesar sent to them.  But\nat last, seeing that Canidius himself, who commanded them, was\nfled from the camp by night, and that all their officers had\nquite abandoned them, they gave way, and made their submission\nto the conqueror.  After this, Caesar set sail for Athens, where\nhe made a settlement with Greece, and distributed what remained\nof the provision of corn that Antony had made for his army among\nthe cities, which were in a miserable condition, despoiled of\ntheir money, their slaves, their horses, and beasts of service.\nMy great-grandfather Nicarchus used to relate, that the whole\nbody of the people of our city were put in requisition to carry\neach one a certain measure of corn upon their shoulders to the\nsea-side near Anticyra, men standing by to quicken them with the\nlash.  They had made one journey of the kind, but when they had\njust measured out the corn and were putting it on their backs\nfor a second, news came of Antony's defeat, and so saved\nChaeronea, for all Antony's purveyors and soldiers fled upon the\nnews, and left them to divide the corn among themselves.\n\nWhen Antony came into Africa, he sent on Cleopatra from\nParaetonium into Egypt, and stayed himself in the most entire\nsolitude that he could desire, roaming and wandering about with\nonly two friends, one a Greek, Aristocrates, a rhetorician, and\nthe other a Roman, Lucilius, of whom we have elsewhere spoken,\nhow, at Philippi, to give Brutus time to escape, he suffered\nhimself to be taken by the pursuers, pretending he was Brutus.\nAntony gave him his life, and on this account he remained true\nand faithful to him to the last.\n\nBut when also the officer who commanded for him in Africa, to\nwhose care he had committed all his forces there, took them over\nto Caesar, he resolved to kill himself, but was hindered by his\nfriends.  And coming to Alexandria, he found Cleopatra busied in\na most bold and wonderful enterprise.  Over the small space of\nland which divides the Red Sea from the sea near Egypt, which\nmay be considered also the boundary between Asia and Africa, and\nin the narrowest place is not much above three hundred furlongs\nacross, over this neck of land Cleopatra had formed a project of\ndragging her fleet, and setting it afloat in the Arabian Gulf,\nthus with her soldiers and her treasure to secure herself a home\non the other side, where she might live in peace, far away from\nwar and slavery.  But the first galleys which were carried over\nbeing burnt by the Arabians of Petra, and Antony not knowing but\nthat the army before Actium still held together, she desisted\nfrom her enterprise, and gave orders for the fortifying all the\napproaches to Egypt.  But Antony, leaving the city and the\nconversation of his friends, built him a dwelling-place in the\nwater, near Pharos, upon a little mole which he cast up in the\nsea, and there, secluding himself from the company of mankind,\nsaid he desired nothing but to live the life of Timon; as,\nindeed, his case was the same, and the ingratitude and injuries\nwhich he suffered from those he had esteemed his friends, made\nhim hate and mistrust all mankind.\n\nThis Timon was a citizen of Athens, and lived much about the\nPeloponnesian war, as may be seen by the comedies of\nAristophanes and Plato, in which he is ridiculed as the hater\nand enemy of mankind.  He avoided and repelled the approaches of\neveryone, but embraced with kisses and the greatest show of\naffection Alcibiades, then in his hot youth.  And when Apemantus\nwas astonished, and demanded the reason, he replied that he knew\nthis young man would one day do infinite mischief to the\nAthenians.  He never admitted anyone into his company, except\nat times this Apemantus, who was of the same sort of temper, and\nwas an imitator of his way of life.  At the celebration of the\nfestival of flagons, these two kept the feast together, and\nApemantus saying to him, \"What a pleasant party, Timon!\"  \"It\nwould be,\" he answered, \"if you were away.\"  One day he got up\nin a full assembly on the speaker's place, and when there was a\ndead silence and great wonder at so unusual a sight, he said,\n\"Ye men of Athens, I have a little plot of ground, and in it\ngrows a fig-tree, on which many citizens have been pleased to\nhang themselves; and now, having resolved to build in that\nplace, I wished to announce it publicly that any of you who may\nbe desirous may go and hang yourselves before I cut it down.\"\nHe died and was buried at Halae, near the sea, where it so\nhappened that, after his burial, a land-slip took place on the\npoint of the shore, and the sea, flowing in, surrounded his\ntomb, and made it inaccessible to the foot of man.  It bore this\ninscription: --\n\nHere am I laid, my life of misery done.\nAsk not my name, I curse you every one.\n\nAnd this epitaph was made by himself while yet alive; that which\nis more generally known is by Callimachus: --\n\nTimon, the misanthrope, am I below.\nGo, and revile me, traveler, only go.\n\nThus much of Timon, of whom much more might be said.  Canidius\nnow came, bringing word in person of the loss of the army before\nActium.  Then he received news that Herod of Judaea was gone\nover to Caesar with some legions and cohorts, and that the other\nkings and princes were in like manner deserting him, and that,\nout of Egypt, nothing stood by him.  All this, however, seemed\nnot to disturb him, but, as if he were glad to put away all\nhope, that with it he might be rid of all care, and leaving his\nhabitation by the sea, which he called the Timoneum, he was\nreceived by Cleopatra in the palace, and set the whole city into\na course of feasting, drinking, and presents.  The son of Caesar\nand Cleopatra was registered among the youths, and Antyllus, his\nown son by Fulvia, received the gown without the purple border,\ngiven to those that are come of age; in honor of which the\ncitizens of Alexandria did nothing but feast and revel for many\ndays.  They themselves broke up the Order of the Inimitable\nLivers, and constituted another in its place, not inferior in\nsplendor, luxury, and sumptuosity, calling it that of the Diers\ntogether. For all those that said they would die with Antony\nand Cleopatra gave in their names, for the present passing their\ntime in all manner of pleasures and a regular succession of\nbanquets.  But Cleopatra was busied in making a collection of\nall varieties of poisonous drugs, and, in order to see which of\nthem were the least painful in the operation, she had them tried\nupon prisoners condemned to die.  But, finding that the quick\npoisons always worked with sharp pains, and that the less\npainful were slow, she next tried venomous animals, and watched\nwith her own eyes whilst they were applied, one creature to the\nbody of another.  This was her daily practice, and she pretty\nwell satisfied herself that nothing was comparable to the bite\nof the asp, which, without convulsion or groaning, brought on a\nheavy drowsiness and lethargy, with a gentle sweat on the face,\nthe senses being stupefied by degrees; the patient, in\nappearance, being sensible of no pain, but rather troubled to be\ndisturbed or awakened, like those that are in a profound natural\nsleep.\n\nAt the same time, they sent ambassadors to Caesar into Asia,\nCleopatra asking for the kingdom of Egypt for her children, and\nAntony, that he might have leave to live as a private man in\nEgypt, or, if that were thought too much, that he might retire\nto Athens.  In lack of friends, so many having deserted, and\nothers not being trusted, Euphronius, his son's tutor, was sent\non this embassy.  For Alexas of Laodicea, who, by the\nrecommendation of Timagenes, became acquainted with Antony at\nRome, and had been more powerful with him than any Greek, and\nwas, of all the instruments which Cleopatra made use of to\npersuade Antony, the most violent, and the chief subverter of\nany good thoughts that, from time to time, might rise in his\nmind in Octavia's favor, had been sent before to dissuade Herod\nfrom desertion; but, betraying his master, stayed with him, and,\nconfiding in Herod's interest, had the boldness to come into\nCaesar's presence.  Herod, however, was not able to help him,\nfor he was immediately put in chains, and sent into his own\ncountry, where, by Caesar's order, he was put to death.  This\nreward of his treason Alexas received while Antony was yet\nalive.\n\nCaesar would not listen to any proposals for Antony, but he made\nanswer to Cleopatra, that there was no reasonable favor which\nshe might not expect, if she put Antony to death, or expelled\nhim from Egypt.  He sent back with the ambassadors his own\nfreedman Thyrsus, a man of understanding, and not at all\nill-qualified for conveying the messages of a youthful general\nto a woman so proud of her charms and possessed with the opinion\nof the power of her beauty.  But by the long audiences he\nreceived from her, and the special honors which she paid him,\nAntony's jealousy began to be awakened; he had him seized,\nwhipped, and sent back; writing Caesar word that the man's busy,\nimpertinent ways had provoked him; in his circumstances he could\nnot be expected to be very patient: \"But if it offend you,\" he\nadded, \"you have got my freedman, Hipparchus, with you; hang him\nup and scourge him to make us even.\"  But Cleopatra, after this,\nto clear herself, and to allay his jealousies, paid him all the\nattentions imaginable.  When her own birthday came, she kept it\nas was suitable to their fallen fortunes; but his was observed\nwith the utmost prodigality of splendor and magnificence, so\nthat many of the guests sat down in want, and went home wealthy\nmen.  Meantime, continual letters came to Caesar from Agrippa,\ntelling him his presence was extremely required at Rome.\n\nAnd so the war was deferred for a season.  But, the winter being\nover, he began his march; he himself by Syria, and his captains\nthrough Africa.  Pelusium being taken, there went a report as if\nit had been delivered up to Caesar by Seleucus not without the\nconsent of Cleopatra; but she, to justify herself, gave up into\nAntony's hands the wife and children of Seleucus to be put to\ndeath.  She had caused to be built, joining to the temple of Isis,\nseveral tombs and monuments of wonderful height, and very\nremarkable for the workmanship; thither she removed her\ntreasure, her gold, silver, emeralds, pearls, ebony, ivory,\ncinnamon, and, after all, a great quantity of torchwood and tow.\nUpon which Caesar began to fear lest she should, in a desperate\nfit, set all these riches on fire; and, therefore, while he was\nmarching towards the city with his army, he omitted no occasion\nof giving her new assurances of his good intentions.  He took up\nhis position in the Hippodrome, where Antony made a fierce sally\nupon him, routed the horse, and beat them back into their\ntrenches, and so returned with great satisfaction to the palace,\nwhere, meeting Cleopatra, armed as he was, he kissed her, and\ncommended to her favor one of his men, who had most signalized\nhimself in the fight, to whom she made a present of a\nbreastplate and helmet of gold; which he having received, went\nthat very night and deserted to Caesar.\n\nAfter this, Antony sent a new challenge to Caesar, to fight him\nhand to hand; who made him answer that he might find several\nother ways to end his life; and he, considering with himself\nthat he could not die more honorably than in battle, resolved to\nmake an effort both by land and sea.  At supper, it is said, he\nbade his servants help him freely, and pour him out wine\nplentifully, since tomorrow, perhaps, they should not do the\nsame, but be servants to a new master, whilst he should lie on\nthe ground, a dead corpse, and nothing.  His friends that were\nabout him wept to hear him talk so; which he perceiving, told\nthem he would not lead them to a battle in which he expected\nrather an honorable death than either safety or victory.  That\nnight, it is related, about the middle of it, when the whole\ncity was in a deep silence and general sadness, expecting the\nevent of the next day, on a sudden was heard the sound of all\nsorts of instruments, and voices singing in tune, and the cry of\na crowd of people shouting and dancing, like a troop of\nbacchanals on its way.  This tumultuous procession seemed to\ntake its course right through the middle of the city to the gate\nnearest the enemy; here it became loudest, and suddenly passed\nout.  People who reflected considered this to signify that\nBacchus, the god whom Antony had always made it his study to\ncopy and imitate, had now forsaken him.\n\nAs soon as it was light, he marched his infantry out of the\ncity, and posted them upon a rising ground, from whence he saw\nhis fleet make up to the enemy.  There he stood in expectation\nof the event; but, as soon as the fleets came near to one\nanother, his men saluted Caesar's with their oars; and, on their\nresponding, the whole body of the ships, forming into a single\nfleet, rowed up direct to the city.  Antony had no sooner seen\nthis, but the horse deserted him, and went over to Caesar; and\nhis foot being defeated, he retired into the city, crying out\nthat Cleopatra had betrayed him to the enemies he had made for\nher sake.  She, being afraid lest in his fury and despair he\nmight do her a mischief, fled to her monument, and letting down\nthe falling doors, which were strong with bars and bolts, she\nsent messengers who should tell Antony she was dead.  He,\nbelieving it, cried out, \"Now, Antony, why delay longer?  Fate\nhas snatched away the only pretext for which you could say you\ndesired yet to live.\"  Going into his chamber, and there\nloosening and opening his coat of armor, \"I am not,\" said he,\n\"troubled, Cleopatra, to be at present bereaved of you, for I\nshall soon be with you; but it distresses me that so great a\ngeneral should be found of a tardier courage than a woman.\"  He\nhad a faithful servant, whose name was Eros; he had engaged him\nformerly to kill him when he should think it necessary, and now\nhe put him to his promise.  Eros drew his sword, as designing to\nkill him, but, suddenly turning round, he slew himself.  And as\nhe fell dead at his feet, \"It is well done, Eros,\" said Antony;\n\"you show your master how to do what you had not the heart to do\nyourself;\" and so he ran himself into the belly, and laid\nhimself upon the couch.  The wound, however, was not immediately\nmortal; and the flow of blood ceasing when he lay down,\npresently he came to himself, and entreated those that were\nabout him to put him out of his pain; but they all fled out of\nthe chamber, and left him crying out and struggling, until\nDiomede, Cleopatra's secretary, came to him, having orders from\nher to bring him into the monument.\n\nWhen he understood she was alive, he eagerly gave order to the\nservants to take him up, and in their arms was carried to the\ndoor of the building.  Cleopatra would not open the door, but,\nlooking from a sort of window, she let down ropes and cords, to\nwhich Antony was fastened; and she and her two women, the only\npersons she had allowed to enter the monument, drew him up.\nThose that were present say that nothing was ever more sad than\nthis spectacle, to see Antony, covered all over with blood and\njust expiring, thus drawn up, still holding up his hands to her,\nand lifting up his body with the little force he had left.  As,\nindeed, it was no easy task for the women; and Cleopatra, with\nall her force, clinging to the rope, and straining with her head\nto the ground, with difficulty pulled him up, while those below\nencouraged her with their cries, and joined in all her effort\nand anxiety.  When she had got him up, she laid him on the bed,\ntearing all her clothes, which she spread upon him; and, beating\nher breasts with her hands, lacerating herself, and disfiguring\nher own face with the blood from his wounds, she called him her\nlord, her husband, her emperor, and seemed to have pretty nearly\nforgotten all her own evils, she was so intent upon his\nmisfortunes.  Antony, stopping her lamentations as well as he\ncould, called for wine to drink, either that he was thirsty; or\nthat he imagined that it might put him the sooner out of pain.\nWhen he had drunk, he advised her to bring her own affairs, so\nfar as might be honorably done, to a safe conclusion, and that,\namong all the friends of Caesar, she should rely on Proculeius;\nthat she should not pity him in this last turn of fate, but\nrather rejoice for him in remembrance of his past happiness, who\nhad been of all men the most illustrious and powerful, and, in\nthe end, had fallen not ignobly, a Roman by a Roman overcome.\n\nJust as he breathed his last, Proculeius arrived from Caesar;\nfor when Antony gave himself his wound, and was carried in to\nCleopatra, one of his guards, Dercetaeus, took up Antony's sword\nand hid it; and, when he saw his opportunity, stole away to\nCaesar, and brought him the first news of Antony's death, and\nwithal showed him the bloody sword.  Caesar, upon this, retired\ninto the inner part of his tent, and, giving some tears to the\ndeath of one that had been nearly allied to him in marriage, his\ncolleague in empire, and companion in so many wars and dangers,\nhe came out to his friends, and, bringing with him many letters,\nhe read to them with how much reason and moderation he had\nalways addressed himself to Antony, and in return what\noverbearing and arrogant answers he received.  Then he sent\nProculeius to use his utmost endeavors to get Cleopatra alive\ninto his power; for he was afraid of losing a great treasure,\nand, besides, she would be no small addition to the glory of his\ntriumph.  She, however, was careful not to put herself in\nProculeius's power; but from within her monument, he standing on\nthe outside of a door, on the level of the ground, which was\nstrongly barred, but so that they might well enough hear one\nanother's voice, she held a conference with him; she demanding\nthat her kingdom might be given to her children, and he bidding\nher be of good courage, and trust Caesar for everything.\n\nHaving taken particular notice of the place, he returned to\nCaesar, and Gallus was sent to parley with her the second time;\nwho, being come to the door, on purpose prolonged the\nconference, while Proculeius fixed his scaling-ladders in the\nwindow through which the women had pulled up Antony.  And so\nentering, with two men to follow him, he went straight down to\nthe door where Cleopatra was discoursing with Gallus.  One of\nthe two women who were shut up in the monument with her cried\nout, \"Miserable Cleopatra, you are taken prisoner!\"  Upon which\nshe turned quick, and, looking at Proculeius, drew out her\ndagger, which she had with her to stab herself.  But Proculeius\nran up quickly, and, seizing her with both his hands, \"For\nshame,\" said he, \"Cleopatra; you wrong yourself and Caesar much,\nwho would rob him of so fair an occasion of showing his\nclemency, and would make the world believe the most gentle of\ncommanders to be a faithless and implacable enemy.\"  And so,\ntaking the dagger out of her hand, he also shook her dress to\nsee if there were any poison hid in it.  After this, Caesar sent\nEpaphroditus, one of his freedmen, with orders to treat her with\nall the gentleness and civility possible, but to take the\nstrictest precautions to keep her alive.\n\nIn the meanwhile, Caesar made his entry into Alexandria, with\nAreius the philosopher at his side, holding him by the hand and\ntalking with him; desiring that all his fellow-citizens should\nsee what honor was paid to him, and should look up to him\naccordingly from the very first moment.  Then, entering the\nexercise-ground, he mounted a platform erected for the purpose,\nand from thence commanded the citizens (who, in great fear and\nconsternation, fell prostrate at his feet) to stand up, and told\nthem, that he freely acquitted the people of all blame, first,\nfor the sake of Alexander, who built their city; then, for the\ncity's sake itself, which was so large and beautiful; and,\nthirdly, to gratify his friend Areius.\n\nSuch great honor did Areius receive from Caesar; and by his\nintercession many lives were saved, amongst the rest that of\nPhilostratus, a man, of all the professors of logic that ever\nwere, the most ready in extempore speaking, but quite destitute\nof any right to call himself one of the philosophers of the\nAcademy.  Caesar, out of disgust at his character, refused all\nattention to his entreaties.  So, growing a long, white beard,\nand dressing himself in black, he followed behind Areius,\nshouting out the verse,\n\nThe wise, if they are wise, will save the wise.\n\nWhich Caesar hearing, gave him his pardon, to prevent rather any\nodium that might attach to Areius, than any harm that\nPhilostratus might suffer.\n\nOf Antony's children, Antyllus, his son by Fulvia, being\nbetrayed by his tutor, Theodorus, was put to death; and while\nthe soldiers were cutting off his head, his tutor contrived to\nsteal a precious jewel which he wore about his neck, and put it\ninto his pocket, and afterwards denied the fact, but was\nconvicted and crucified.  Cleopatra's children, with their\nattendants, had a guard set on them, and were treated very\nhonorably.  Caesarion, who was reputed to be the son of Caesar\nthe Dictator, was sent by his mother, with a great sum of money,\nthrough Ethiopia, to pass into India; but his tutor, a man named\nRhodon, about as honest as Theodorus, persuaded him to turn\nback, for that Caesar designed to make him king.  Caesar\nconsulting what was best to be done with him, Areius, we are\ntold, said,\n\nToo many Caesars are not well.\n\nSo, afterwards, when Cleopatra was dead, he was killed.\n\nMany kings and great commanders made petition to Caesar for the\nbody of Antony, to give him his funeral rites; but he would not\ntake away his corpse from Cleopatra, by whose hands he was\nburied with royal splendor and magnificence, it being granted to\nher to employ what she pleased on his funeral.  In this\nextremity of grief and sorrow, and having inflamed and ulcerated\nher breasts with beating them, she fell into a high fever, and\nwas very glad of the occasion, hoping, under this pretext, to\nabstain from food, and so to die in quiet without interference.\nShe had her own physician, Olympus, to whom she told the truth,\nand asked his advice and help to put an end to herself, as\nOlympus himself has told us, in a narrative which he wrote of\nthese events.  But Caesar, suspecting her purpose, took to\nmenacing language about her children, and excited her fears for\nthem, before which engines her purpose shook and gave way, so\nthat she suffered those about her to give her what meat or\nmedicine they pleased.\n\nSome few days after, Caesar himself came to make her a visit and\ncomfort her.  She lay then upon her pallet-bed in undress,\nand, on his entering in, sprang up from off her bed, having\nnothing on but the one garment next her body, and flung herself\nat his feet, her hair and face looking wild and disfigured, her\nvoice quivering, and her eyes sunk in her head.  The marks of\nthe blows she had given herself were visible about her bosom,\nand altogether her whole person seemed no less afflicted than\nher soul.  But, for all this, her old charm, and the boldness of\nher youthful beauty had not wholly left her, and, in spite of\nher present condition, still sparkled from within, and let\nitself appear in all the movements of her countenance.  Caesar,\ndesiring her to repose herself, sat down by her; and, on this\nopportunity, she said something to justify her actions,\nattributing what she had done to the necessity she was under,\nand to her fear of Antony; and when Caesar, on each point, made\nhis objections, and she found herself confuted, she broke off at\nonce into language of entreaty and deprecation, as if she\ndesired nothing more than to prolong her life.  And at last,\nhaving by her a list of her treasure, she gave it into his\nhands; and when Seleucus, one of her stewards, who was by,\npointed out that various articles were omitted, and charged her\nwith secreting them, she flew up and caught him by the hair, and\nstruck him several blows on the face.  Caesar smiling and\nwithholding her, \"Is it not very hard, Caesar,\" said she, \"when\nyou do me the honor to visit me in this condition I am in, that\nI should be accused by one of my own servants of laying by some\nwomen's toys, not meant to adorn, be sure, my unhappy self, but\nthat I might have some little present by me to make your Octavia\nand your Livia, that by their intercession I might hope to find\nyou in some measure disposed to mercy?\"  Caesar was pleased to\nhear her talk thus, being now assured that she was desirous to\nlive.  And, therefore, letting her know that the things she had\nlaid by she might dispose of as she pleased, and his usage of\nher should be honorable above her expectation, he went away,\nwell satisfied that he had overreached her, but, in fact, was\nhimself deceived.\n\nThere was a young man of distinction among Caesar's companions,\nnamed Cornelius Dolabella.  He was not without a certain\ntenderness for Cleopatra, and sent her word privately, as she\nhad besought him to do, that Caesar was about to return through\nSyria, and that she and her children were to be sent on within\nthree days.  When she understood this, she made her request to\nCaesar that he would be pleased to permit her to make oblations\nto the departed Antony; which being granted, she ordered herself\nto be carried to the place where he was buried, and there,\naccompanied by her women, she embraced his tomb with tears in\nher eyes, and spoke in this manner: \"O, dearest Antony,\" said\nshe, \"it is not long since that with these hands I buried you;\nthen they were free, now I am a captive, and pay these last\nduties to you with a guard upon me, for fear that my just griefs\nand sorrows should impair my servile body, and make it less fit\nto appear in their triumph over you.  No further offerings or\nlibations expect from me; these are the last honors that\nCleopatra can pay your memory, for she is to be hurried away far\nfrom you.  Nothing could part us whilst we lived, but death\nseems to threaten to divide us.  You, a Roman born, have found a\ngrave in Egypt; I, an Egyptian, am to seek that favor, and none\nbut that, in your country.  But if the gods below, with whom\nyou now are, either can or will do anything (since those above\nhave betrayed us), suffer not your living wife to be abandoned;\nlet me not be led in triumph to your shame, but hide me and bury\nme here with you, since, amongst all my bitter misfortunes,\nnothing has afflicted me like this brief time that I have lived\naway from you.\"\n\nHaving made these lamentations, crowning the tomb with garlands\nand kissing it, she gave orders to prepare her a bath, and,\ncoming out of the bath, she lay down and made a sumptuous meal.\nAnd a country fellow brought her a little basket, which the\nguards intercepting and asking what it was, the fellow put the\nleaves which lay uppermost aside, and showed them it was full of\nfigs; and on their admiring the largeness and beauty of the\nfigs, he laughed, and invited them to take some, which they\nrefused, and, suspecting nothing, bade him carry them in.  After\nher repast, Cleopatra sent to Caesar a letter which she had\nwritten and sealed; and, putting everybody out of the monument\nbut her two women, she shut the doors.  Caesar, opening her\nletter, and finding pathetic prayers and entreaties that she\nmight be buried in the same tomb with Antony, soon guessed what\nwas doing.  At first he was going himself in all haste, but,\nchanging his mind, he sent others to see.  The thing had been\nquickly done.  The messengers came at full speed, and found the\nguards apprehensive of nothing; but on opening the doors, they\nsaw her stone-dead, lying upon a bed of gold, set out in all her\nroyal ornaments.  Iras, one of her women, lay dying at her feet,\nand Charmion, just ready to fall, scarce able to hold up her\nhead, was adjusting her mistress's diadem.  And when one that\ncame in said angrily, \"Was this well done of your lady,\nCharmion?\"  \"Extremely well,\" she answered, \"and as became the\ndescendant of so many kings\"; and as she said this, she fell\ndown dead by the bedside.\n\nSome relate that an asp was brought in amongst those figs and\ncovered with the leaves, and that Cleopatra had arranged that it\nmight settle on her before she knew, but, when she took away\nsome of the figs and saw it, she said, \"So here it is,\" and held\nout her bare arm to be bitten.  Others say that it was kept in a\nvase, and that she vexed and pricked it with a golden spindle\ntill it seized her arm.  But what really took place is known to\nno one.  Since it was also said that she carried poison in a\nhollow bodkin, about which she wound her hair; yet there was not\nso much as a spot found, or any symptom of poison upon her body,\nnor was the asp seen within the monument; only something like\nthe trail of it was said to have been noticed on the sand by the\nsea, on the part towards which the building faced and where the\nwindows were.  Some relate that two faint puncture-marks were\nfound on Cleopatra's arm, and to this account Caesar seems to\nhave given credit; for in his triumph there was carried a figure\nof Cleopatra, with an asp clinging to her.  Such are the various\naccounts.  But Caesar, though much disappointed by her death,\nyet could not but admire the greatness of her spirit, and gave\norder that her body should he buried by Antony with royal\nsplendor and magnificence.  Her women, also, received honorable\nburial by his directions.  Cleopatra had lived nine and thirty\nyears, during twenty-two of which she had reigned as queen, and\nfor fourteen had been Antony's partner in his empire.  Antony,\naccording to some authorities, was fifty-three, according to\nothers, fifty-six years old.  His statues were all thrown down,\nbut those of Cleopatra were left untouched; for Archibius, one\nof her friends, gave Caesar two thousand talents to save them\nfrom the fate of Antony's.\n\nAntony left by his three wives seven children, of whom only\nAntyllus, the eldest, was put to death by Caesar; Octavia took\nthe rest, and brought them up with her own.  Cleopatra, his\ndaughter by Cleopatra, was given in marriage to Juba, the most\naccomplished of kings; and Antony, his son by Fulvia, attained\nsuch high favor, that whereas Agrippa was considered to hold the\nfirst place with Caesar, and the sons of Livia the second, the\nthird, without dispute, was possessed by Antony.  Octavia, also,\nhaving had by her first husband, Marcellus, two daughters, and\none son named Marcellus, this son Caesar adopted, and gave him\nhis daughter in marriage; as did Octavia one of the daughters to\nAgrippa.  But Marcellus dying almost immediately after his\nmarriage, she, perceiving that her brother was at a loss to find\nelsewhere any sure friend to be his son-in-law, was the first to\nrecommend that Agrippa should put away her daughter and marry\nJulia.  To this Caesar first, and then Agrippa himself, gave\nassent; so Agrippa married Julia, and Octavia, receiving her\ndaughter, married her to the young Antony.  Of the two daughters\nwhom Octavia had borne to Antony, the one was married to\nDomitius Ahenobarbus; and the other, Antonia, famous for her\nbeauty and discretion, was married to Drusus, the son of Livia,\nand step-son to Caesar.  Of these parents were born Germanicus\nand Claudius.  Claudius reigned later; and of the children of\nGermanicus, Caius, after a reign of distinction, was killed with\nhis wife and child; Agrippina, after bearing a son, Lucius\nDomitius, to Ahenobarbus, was married to Claudius Caesar, who\nadopted Domitius, giving him the name of Nero Germanicus.  He\nwas emperor in our time, and put his mother to death, and with\nhis madness and folly came not far from ruining the Roman\nempire, being Antony's descendant in the fifth generation.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF DEMETRIUS AND ANTONY\n\nAs both are great examples of the vicissitudes of fortune, let\nus first consider in what way they attained their power and\nglory.  Demetrius heired a kingdom already won for him by\nAntigonus, the most powerful of the Successors, who, before\nDemetrius grew to be a man, traversed with his armies and\nsubdued the greater part of Asia.  Antony's father was well\nenough in other respects, but was no warrior, and could bequeath\nno great legacy of reputation to his son, who had the boldness,\nnevertheless, to take upon him the government, to which birth\ngave him no claim, which had been held by Caesar, and became the\ninheritor of his great labors.  And such power did he attain,\nwith only himself to thank for it, that, in a division of the\nwhole empire into two portions, he took and received the nobler\none; and, absent himself, by his mere subalterns and lieutenants\noften defeated the Parthians, and drove the barbarous nations of\nthe Caucasus back to the Caspian Sea.  Those very things that\nprocured him ill-repute bear witness to his greatness.\nAntigonus considered Antipater's daughter Phila, in spite of the\ndisparity of her years, an advantageous match for Demetrius.\nAntony was thought disgraced by his marriage with Cleopatra, a\nqueen superior in power and glory to all, except Arsaces, who\nwere kings in her time.  Antony was so great as to be thought by\nothers worthy of higher things than his own desires.\n\nAs regards the right and justice of their aims at empire,\nDemetrius need not be blamed for seeking to rule a people that\nhad always had a king to rule them.  Antony, who enslaved the\nRoman people, just liberated from the rule of Caesar, followed a\ncruel and tyrannical object.  His greatest and most illustrious\nwork, his successful war with Brutus and Cassius, was done to\ncrush the liberties of his country and of his fellow-citizens.\nDemetrius, till he was driven to extremity, went on, without\nintermission, maintaining liberty in Greece, and expelling the\nforeign garrisons from the cities; not like Antony, whose boast\nwas to have slain in Macedonia those who had set up liberty in\nRome.  As for the profusion and magnificence of his gifts,\none point for which Antony is lauded, Demetrius so far outdid\nthem, that what he gave to his enemies was far more than Antony\never gave to his friends.  Antony was renowned for giving Brutus\nhonorable burial; Demetrius did so to all the enemy's dead, and\nsent the prisoners back to Ptolemy with money and presents.\n\nBoth were insolent in prosperity, and abandoned themselves to\nluxuries and enjoyments.  Yet it cannot be said that Demetrius,\nin his revelings and dissipations, ever let slip the time for\naction; pleasures with him attended only the superabundance of\nhis ease, and his Lamia, like that of the fable, belonged only\nto his playful, half-waking, half-sleeping hours.  When war\ndemanded his attention, his spear was not wreathed with ivy, nor\nhis helmet redolent of unguents; he did not come out to battle\nfrom the women's chamber, but, hushing the bacchanal shouts and\nputting an end to the orgies, he became at once, as Euripides\ncalls it, \"the minister of the unpriestly Mars;\" and, in short,\nhe never once incurred disaster through indolence or\nself-indulgence.  Whereas Antony, like Hercules in the picture\nwhere Omphale is seen removing his club and stripping him of his\nlion's skin, was over and over again disarmed by Cleopatra, and\nbeguiled away, while great actions and enterprises of the first\nnecessity fell, as it were, from his hands, to go with her to\nthe seashore of Canopus and Taphosiris, and play about.  And in\nthe end, like another Paris, he left the battle to fly to her\narms; or rather, to say the truth, Paris fled when he was\nalready beaten; Antony fled first, and, to follow Cleopatra,\nabandoned his victory.\n\nThere was no law to prevent Demetrius from marrying several\nwives; from the time of Philip and Alexander, it had become\nusual with Macedonian kings, and he did no more than was done by\nLysimachus and Ptolemy.  And those he married he treated\nhonorably.  But Antony, first of all, in marrying two wives at\nonce, did a thing which no Roman had ever allowed himself; and\nthen he drove away his lawful Roman wife to please the foreign\nand unlawful woman.  And so Demetrius incurred no harm at all;\nAntony procured his ruin by his marriage.  On the other hand, no\nlicentious act of Antony's can be charged with that impiety\nwhich marks those of Demetrius.  Historical writers tell us that\nthe very dogs are excluded from the whole Acropolis, because of\ntheir gross, uncleanly habits.  The very Parthenon itself saw\nDemetrius consorting with harlots and debauching free women of\nAthens.  The vice of cruelty, also, remote as it seems from the\nindulgence of voluptuous desires, must be attributed to him,\nwho, in the pursuit of his pleasures, allowed, or to say more\ntruly, compelled the death of the most beautiful and most chaste\nof the Athenians, who found no way but this to escape his\nviolence.  In one word, Antony himself suffered by his excesses,\nand other people by those of Demetrius.\n\nIn his conduct to his parents, Demetrius was irreproachable.\nAntony gave up his mother's brother, in order that he might have\nleave to kill Cicero, this itself being so cruel and shocking an\nact, that Antony would hardly be forgiven if Cicero's death had\nbeen the price of this uncle's safety.  In respect of breaches\nof oaths and treaties, the seizure of Artabazes, and the\nassassination of Alexander, Antony may urge the plea which no\none denies to be true, that Artabazes first abandoned and\nbetrayed him in Media; Demetrius is alleged by many to have\ninvented false pretexts for his act, and not to have retaliated\nfor injuries, but to have accused one whom he injured himself.\n\nThe achievements of Demetrius are all his own work.  Antony's\nnoblest and greatest victories were won in his absence by his\nlieutenants.  For their final disasters they have both only to\nthank themselves; not, however, in an equal degree.  Demetrius\nwas deserted, the Macedonians revolted from him: Antony deserted\nothers, and ran away while men were fighting for him at the risk\nof their lives.  The fault to be found with the one is that he\nhad thus entirely alienated the affections of his soldiers; the\nother's condemnation is that he abandoned so much love and faith\nas he still possessed.  We cannot admire the death of either,\nbut that of Demetrius excites our greater contempt.  He let\nhimself become a prisoner, and was thankful to gain a three\nyears' accession of life in captivity.  He was tamed like a wild\nbeast by his belly, and by wine; Antony took himself out of the\nworld in a cowardly, pitiful, and ignoble manner, but, still in\ntime to prevent the enemy having his person in their power.\n\n\n\nDION\n\nIf it be true, Sosius Senecio, that, as Simonides tells us,\n\n\"Of the Corinthians Troy does not complain\"\n\nfor having taken part with the Achaeans in the siege, because\nthe Trojans also had Corinthians (Glaucus, who sprang from\nCorinth,) fighting bravely on their side, so also it may be\nfairly said that neither Romans nor Greeks can quarrel with the\nAcademy, each nation being equally represented in the following\npair of lives, which will give an account of Brutus and of Dion,\n-- Dion, who was Plato's own hearer, and Brutus, who was brought\nup in his philosophy.  They came from one and the selfsame\nschool, where they had been trained alike, to run the race of\nhonor; nor need we wonder that in the performance of actions\noften most nearly allied and akin, they both bore evidence to\nthe truth of what their guide and teacher had said, that,\nwithout the concurrence of power and success with justice and\nprudence, public actions do not attain their proper, great, and\nnoble character.  For as Hippomachus the wrestling-master\naffirmed, he could distinguish his scholars at a distance.\nthough they were but carrying meat from the shambles, so it is\nvery probable that the principles of those who have had the same\ngood education should appear with a resemblance in all their\nactions, creating in them a certain harmony and proportion, at\nonce agreeable and becoming.\n\nWe may also draw a close parallel of the lives of the two men\nfrom their fortunes, wherein chance, even more than their own\ndesigns, made them nearly alike.  For they were both cut off by\nan untimely death, not being able to accomplish those ends which\nthrough many risks and difficulties they aimed at.  But, above\nall, this is most wonderful; that by preternatural interposition\nboth of them had notice given of their approaching death by an\nunpropitious form, which visibly appeared to them.  Although\nthere are people who utterly deny any such thing, and say that\nno man in his right senses ever yet saw any supernatural phantom\nor apparition, but that children only, and silly women, or men\ndisordered by sickness, in some aberration of the mind or\ndistemperature of the body, have had empty and extravagant\nimaginations, whilst the real evil genius, superstition, was in\nthemselves.  Yet if Dion and Brutus, men of solid understanding,\nand philosophers, not to be easily deluded by fancy or\ndiscomposed by any sudden apprehension, were thus affected by\nvisions, that they forthwith declared to their friends what they\nhad seen, I know not how we can avoid admitting again the\nutterly exploded opinion of the oldest times, that evil and\nbeguiling spirits, out of an envy to good men, and a desire of\nimpeding their good deeds, make efforts to excite in them\nfeelings of terror and distraction, to make them shake and\ntotter in their virtue, lest by a steady and unbiased\nperseverance they should obtain a happier condition than these\nbeings after death.  But I shall leave these things for another\nopportunity, and, in this twelfth book of the lives of great men\ncompared one with another, begin with his who was the elder.\n\nDionysius the First, having possessed himself of the government,\nat once took to wife the daughter of Hermocrates, the Syracusan.\nShe, in an outbreak which the citizens made before the new power\nwas well settled, was abused in such a barbarous and outrageous\nmanner, that for shame she put an end to her own life.  But\nDionysius, when he was reestablished and confirmed in his\nsupremacy, married two wives together, one named Doris, of\nLocri, the other, Aristomache, a native of Sicily, and daughter\nof Hipparinus, a man of the first quality in Syracuse, and\ncolleague with Dionysius when he was first chosen general with\nunlimited powers for the war.  It is said he married them both\nin one day, and no one ever knew which of the two he first made\nhis wife; and ever after he divided his kindness equally between\nthem, both accompanying him together at his table, and in his\nbed by turns.  Indeed, the Syracusans were urgent that their own\ncountrywoman might be preferred before the stranger; but Doris,\nto compensate for her foreign extraction; had the good fortune\nto be the mother of the son and heir of the family, whilst\nAristomache continued a long time without issue, though\nDionysius was very desirous to have children by her, and,\nindeed, caused Doris's mother to be put to death, laying to her\ncharge that she had given drugs to Aristomache, to prevent her\nbeing with child.\n\nDion, Aristomache's brother, at first found an honorable\nreception for his sister's sake; but his own worth and parts\nsoon procured him a nearer place in his brother-in-law's\naffection, who, among other favors, gave special command to his\ntreasurers to furnish Dion with whatever money he demanded, only\ntelling him on the same day what they had delivered out.  Now,\nthough Dion was before reputed a person of lofty character; of a\nnoble mind, and daring courage, yet these excellent\nqualifications all received a great development from the happy\nchance which conducted Plato into Sicily; not assuredly by any\nhuman device or calculation, but some supernatural power,\ndesigning that this remote cause should hereafter occasion the\nrecovery of the Sicilians' lost liberty and the subversion of\nthe tyrannical government, brought the philosopher out of Italy\nto Syracuse, and made acquaintance between him and Dion.  Dion\nwas, indeed, at this time extremely young in years, but of all\nthe scholars that attended Plato he was the quickest and aptest\nto learn, and the most prompt and eager to practice, the lessons\nof virtue, as Plato himself reports of him, and his own actions\nsufficiently testify.  For though he had been bred up under a\ntyrant in habits of submission, accustomed to a life, on the one\nhand of servility and intimidation, and yet on the other of\nvulgar display and luxury, the mistaken happiness of people that\nknew no better thing than pleasure and self-indulgence, yet, at\nthe first taste of reason and a philosophy that demands\nobedience to virtue, his soul was set in a flame, and in the\nsimple innocence of youth, concluding, from his own disposition,\nthat the same reasons would work the same effects upon\nDionysius, he made it his business, and at length obtained the\nfavor of him, at a leisure hour, to hear Plato.\n\nAt this their meeting, the subject-matter of their discourse in\ngeneral was human virtue, but, more particularly, they disputed\nconcerning fortitude, which Plato proved tyrants, of all men,\nhad the least pretense to; and thence proceeding to treat of\njustice, asserted the happy estate of the just, and the\nmiserable condition of the unjust; arguments which Dionysius\nwould not hear out, but, feeling himself, as it were, convicted\nby his words, and much displeased to see the rest of the\nauditors full of admiration for the speaker and captivated with\nhis doctrine, at last, exceedingly exasperated, he asked the\nphilosopher in a rage, what business he had in Sicily.  To which\nPlato answered, \"I came to seek a virtuous man.\"  \"It seems\nthen,\" replied Dionysius, \"you have lost your labor.\"  Dion,\nsupposing, that this was all, and that nothing further could\ncome of his anger, at Plato's request, conveyed him aboard a\ngalley, which was conveying Pollis, the Spartan, into Greece.\nBut Dionysius privately dealt with Pollis, by all means to kill\nPlato in the voyage; if not, to be sure to sell him for a slave:\nhe would, of course, take no harm of it, being the same just man\nas before; he would enjoy that happiness, though he lost his\nliberty.  Pollis, therefore, it is stated, carried Plato to\nAegina, and there sold him; the Aeginetans, then at war with\nAthens, having made a decree that whatever Athenian was taken on\ntheir coasts should forthwith be exposed to sale.\nNotwithstanding, Dion was not in less favor and credit with\nDionysius than formerly, but was entrusted with the most\nconsiderable employments, and sent on important embassies to\nCarthage, in the management of which he gained very great\nreputation.  Besides, the usurper bore with the liberty he took\nto speak his mind freely, he being the only man who upon any\noccasion durst boldly say what he thought, as, for example, in\nthe rebuke he gave him about Gelon.  Dionysius was ridiculing\nGelon's government, and, alluding to his name, said, he had been\nthe laughing-stock of Sicily.  While others seemed to admire\nand applaud the quibble, Dion very warmly replied,\n\"Nevertheless, it is certain that you are sole governor here,\nbecause you were trusted for Gelon's sake; but for your sake no\nman will ever hereafter be trusted again.\"  For, indeed, Gelon\nhad made a monarchy appear the best, whereas Dionysius had\nconvinced men that it was the worst, of governments.\n\nDionysius had three children by Doris, and by Aristomache four,\ntwo of which were daughters, Sophrosyne and Arete.  Sophrosyne\nwas married to his son Dionysius; Arete, to his brother\nThearides, after whose death, Dion received his niece Arete to\nwife.  Now when Dionysius was sick and like to die, Dion\nendeavored to speak with him in behalf of the children he had by\nAristomache, but was still prevented by the physicians, who\nwanted to ingratiate themselves with the next successor, who\nalso, as Timaeus reports, gave him a sleeping potion which he\nasked for, which produced an insensibility only followed by his\ndeath.\n\nNevertheless, at the first council which the young Dionysius\nheld with his friends, Dion discoursed so well of the present\nstate of affairs, that he made all the rest appear in their\npolitics but children, and in their votes rather slaves than\ncounselors, who timorously and disingenuously advised what would\nplease the young man, rather than what would advance his\ninterest.  But that which startled them most was the proposal he\nmade to avert the imminent danger they feared of a war with the\nCarthaginians, undertaking, if Dionysius wanted peace, to sail\nimmediately over into Africa, and conclude it there upon\nhonorable terms; but, if he rather preferred war, then he would\nfit out and maintain at his own cost and charges fifty galleys\nready for the service.\n\nDionysius wondered much at his greatness of mind, and received\nhis offer with satisfaction.  But the other courtiers, thinking\nhis generosity reflected upon them, and jealous of being\nlessened by his greatness, from hence took all occasions by\nprivate slanders to render him obnoxious to the young man's\ndispleasure; as if he designed by his power at sea to surprise\nthe government, and by the help of those naval forces confer the\nsupreme authority upon his sister Aristomache's children.  But,\nindeed, the most apparent and the strongest grounds for dislike\nand hostility existed already in the difference of his habits,\nand his reserved and separate way of living.  For they, who,\nfrom the beginning, by flatteries and all unworthy artifices,\ncourted the favor and familiarity of the prince, youthful and\nvoluptuously bred, ministered to his pleasures, and sought how\nto find him daily some new amours and occupy him in vain\namusements, with wine or with women, and in other dissipations;\nby which means, the tyranny, like iron softened in the fire,\nseemed, indeed, to the subject to be more moderate and gentle,\nand to abate somewhat of its extreme severity; the edge of it\nbeing blunted, not by the clemency, but rather the sloth and\ndegeneracy of the sovereign, whose dissoluteness, gaining ground\ndaily, and growing upon him, soon weakened and broke those\n\"adamantine chains,\" with which his father, Dionysius, said he\nhad left the monarchy fastened and secured.  It is reported of\nhim, that, having begun a drunken debauch, he continued it\nninety days without intermission; in all which time no person\non business was allowed to appear, nor was any serious\nconversation heard at court, but drinking, singing, dancing.\nand buffoonery reigned there without control.\n\nIt is likely then they had little kindness for Dion, who never\nindulged himself in any youthful pleasure or diversion.  And so\nhis very virtues were the matter of their calumnies, and were\nrepresented under one or other plausible name as vices; they\ncalled his gravity pride, his plain-dealing self-will, the good\nadvice he gave was all construed into reprimand, and he was\ncensured for neglecting and scorning those in whose misdemeanors\nhe declined to participate.  And to say the truth, there was in\nhis natural character something stately, austere, reserved, and\nunsociable in conversation, which made his company unpleasant\nand disagreeable not only to the young tyrant, whose ears had\nbeen corrupted by flatteries; many also of Dion's own intimate\nfriends, though they loved the integrity and generosity of his\ntemper, yet blamed his manner, and thought he treated those with\nwhom he had to do, less courteously and affably than became a\nman engaged in civil business.  Of which Plato also afterwards\nwrote to him; and, as it were, prophetically advised him\ncarefully to avoid an arbitrary temper, whose proper helpmate\nwas a solitary life.  And, indeed, at this very time, though\ncircumstances made him so important, and, in the danger of the\ntottering government, he was recognized as the only or the\nablest support of it, yet he well understood that he owed not\nhis high position to any good-will or kindness, but to the mere\nnecessities of the usurper.\n\nAnd, supposing the cause of this to be ignorance and want of\neducation, he endeavored to induce the young man into a course\nof liberal studies, and to give him some knowledge of moral\ntruths and reasonings, hoping he might thus lose his fear of\nvirtuous living, and learn to take pleasure in laudable actions.\nDionysius, in his own nature, was not one of the worst kind of\ntyrants, but his father, fearing that if he should come to\nunderstand himself better, and converse with wise and reasonable\nmen, he might enter into some design against him, and dispossess\nhim of his power, kept him closely shut up at home; where, for\nwant of other company, and ignorant how to spend his time\nbetter, he busied himself in making little chariots,\ncandlesticks, stools, tables, and other things of wood.  For the\nelder Dionysius was so diffident and suspicious, and so\ncontinually on his guard against all men, that he would not so\nmuch as let his hair be trimmed with any barber's or\nhair-cutter's instruments, but made one of his artificers singe\nhim with a live coal.  Neither were his brother or his son\nallowed to come into his apartment in the dress they wore, but\nthey, as all others, were stripped to their skins by some of the\nguard, and, after being seen naked, put on other clothes before\nthey were admitted into the presence.  When his brother Leptines\nwas once describing the situation of a place, and took a javelin\nfrom one of the guard to draw the plan of it, he was extremely\nangry with him, and had the soldier who gave him the weapon put\nto death.  He declared, the more judicious his friends were, the\nmore he suspected them; because he knew, that were it in their\nchoice, they would rather be tyrants themselves than the\nsubjects of a tyrant.  He slew Marsyas, one of his captains whom\nhe had preferred to a considerable command, for dreaming that he\nkilled him: without some previous waking thought and purpose of\nthe kind, he could not, he supposed, have had that fancy in\nhis sleep.  So timorous was he, and so miserable a slave to his\nfears, yet very angry with Plato, because he would not allow him\nto be the valiantest man alive.\n\nDion, as we said before, seeing the son thus deformed and spoilt\nin character for want of teaching, exhorted him to study, and to\nuse all his entreaties to persuade Plato, the first of\nphilosophers, to visit him in Sicily, and; when he came, to\nsubmit himself to his direction and advice: by whose\ninstructions he might conform his nature to the truths of\nvirtue, and, living after the likeness of the Divine and\nglorious Model of Being, out of obedience to whose control the\ngeneral confusion is changed into the beautiful order of the\nuniverse, so he in like manner might be the cause of great\nhappiness to himself and to all his subjects, who, obliged by\nhis justice and moderation, would then willingly pay him\nobedience as their father, which now grudgingly, and upon\nnecessity, they are forced to yield him as their master.  Their\nusurping tyrant he would then no longer be, but their lawful\nking.  For fear and force, a great navy and standing army of ten\nthousand hired barbarians are not, as his father had said, the\nadamantine chains which secure the regal power, but the love,\nzeal, and affection inspired by clemency and justice; which,\nthough they seem more pliant than the stiff and hard bonds of\nseverity, are nevertheless the strongest and most durable ties\nto sustain a lasting government.  Moreover, it is mean and\ndishonorable that a ruler, while careful to be splendid in his\ndress, and luxurious and magnificent in his habitation, should,\nin reason and power of speech, make no better show than the\ncommonest of his subjects, nor have the princely palace of his\nmind adorned according to his royal dignity.\n\nDion frequently entertaining the king upon this subject, and, as\noccasion offered, repeating some of the philosopher's sayings,\nDionysius grew impatiently desirous to have Plato's company, and\nto hear him discourse.  Forthwith, therefore, he sent letter\nupon letter to him to Athens, to which Dion added his\nentreaties; also several philosophers of the Pythagorean sect\nfrom Italy sent their recommendations, urging him to come and\nobtain a hold upon this pliant, youthful soul, which his solid\nand weighty reasonings might steady, as it were, upon the seas\nof absolute power and authority.  Plato, as he tells us himself,\nout of shame more than any other feeling, lest it should seem\nthat he was all mere theory, and that of his own good-will he\nwould never venture into action, hoping withal, that if he could\nwork a cure upon one man, the head and guide of the rest, he\nmight remedy the distempers of the whole island of Sicily,\nyielded to their requests.\n\nBut Dion's enemies, fearing an alteration in Dionysius,\npersuaded him to recall from banishment Philistus, a man of\nlearned education, and at the same time of great experience in\nthe ways of tyrants, and who might serve as a counterpoise to\nPlato and his philosophy.  For Philistus from the beginning had\nbeen a great instrument in establishing the tyranny, and for a\nlong time had held the office of captain of the citadel.  There\nwas a report, that he had been intimate with the mother of\nDionysius the first, and not without his privity.  And when\nLeptines, having two daughters by a married woman whom he had\ndebauched, gave one of them in marriage to Philistus, without\nacquainting Dionysius, he, in great anger, put Leptines's\nmistress in prison, and banished Philistus from Sicily.\nWhereupon, he fled to some of his friends on the Adriatic coast,\nin which retirement and leisure it is probable he wrote the\ngreatest part of his history; for he returned not into his\ncountry during the reign of that Dionysius.\n\nBut after his death, as is just related, Dion's enemies\noccasioned him to be recalled home, as fitter for their purpose,\nand a firm friend to the arbitrary government.  And this,\nindeed, immediately upon his return he set himself to maintain;\nand at the same time various calumnies and accusations against\nDion were by others brought to the king: as that he held\ncorrespondence with Theodotes and Heraclides, to subvert the\ngovernment; as, doubtless, it is likely enough, that Dion had\nentertained hopes, by the coming of Plato, to mitigate the rigid\nand despotic severity of the tyranny, and to give Dionysius the\ncharacter of a fair and lawful governor; and had determined, if\nhe should continue averse to that, and were not to be reclaimed,\nto depose him, and restore the commonwealth to the Syracusans;\nnot that he approved a democratic government, but thought it\naltogether preferable to a tyranny, when a sound and good\naristocracy could not be procured.\n\nThis was the state of affairs when Plato came into Sicily, who,\nat his first arrival, was received with wonderful demonstration\nof kindness and respect.  For one of the royal chariots, richly\nornamented, was in attendance to receive him when he came on\nshore; Dionysius himself sacrificed to the gods in thankful\nacknowledgment for the great happiness which had befallen his\ngovernment.  The citizens, also, began to entertain marvelous\nhopes of a speedy reformation, when they observed the modesty\nwhich now ruled in the banquets, and the general decorum which\nprevailed in all the court, their tyrant himself also behaving\nwith gentleness and humanity in all their matters of business\nthat came before him.  There was a general passion for\nreasoning: and philosophy, insomuch that the very palace, it is\nreported, was filled with dust by the concourse of the students\nin mathematics who were working their problems there. Some few\ndays after, it was the time of one of the Syracusan sacrifices,\nand when the priest, as he was wont, prayed for the long and\nsafe continuance of the tyranny, Dionysius, it is said, as he\nstood by, cried out, \"Leave off praying for evil upon us.\"  This\nsensibly vexed Philistus and his party, who conjectured, that if\nPlato, upon such brief acquaintance, had so far transformed and\naltered the young man's mind, longer converse and greater\nintimacy would give him such influence and authority, that it\nwould he impossible to withstand him.\n\nTherefore, no longer privately and apart, but jointly and in\npublic, all of them, they began to slander Dion, noising it\nabout that he had charmed and bewitched Dionysius by Plato's\nsophistry, to the end that when he was persuaded voluntarily to\npart with his power, and lay down his authority, Dion might take\nit up, and settle it upon his sister Aristomache's children.\nOthers professed to be indignant that the Athenians, who\nformerly had come to Sicily with a great fleet and a numerous\nland-army, and perished miserably without being able to take the\ncity of Syracuse, should now, by means of one sophister,\noverturn the sovereignty of Dionysius; inveigling him to\ncashier his guard of ten thousand lances, dismiss a navy of four\nhundred galleys, disband an army of ten thousand horse and many\ntimes over that number of foot, and go seek in the schools an\nunknown and imaginary bliss, and learn by the mathematics how to\nbe happy; while, in the meantime, the substantial enjoyments of\nabsolute power, riches, and pleasure would be handed over to\nDion and his sister's children.\n\nBy these means, Dion began to incur at first suspicion, and by\ndegrees more apparent displeasure and hostility.  A letter,\nalso, was intercepted and brought to the young prince, which\nDion had written to the Carthaginian agents, advising them,\nthat, when they treated with Dionysius concerning the peace,\nthey should not come to their audience without communicating\nwith him: they would not fail to obtain by this means all that\nthey wanted.  When Dionysius had shown this to Philistus, and\nconsulted with him, as Timaeus relates, about it, he overreached\nDion by a feigned reconciliation, professing, after some fair\nand reasonable expression of his feelings, that he was at\nfriends with him, and thus, leading him alone to the sea-side,\nunder the castle wall, he showed him the letter, and taxed him\nwith conspiring with the Carthaginians against him.  And when\nDion essayed to speak in his own defense, Dionysius suffered him\nnot; but immediately forced him aboard a boat, which lay there\nfor that purpose, and commanded the sailors to set him ashore on\nthe coast of Italy.\n\nWhen this was publicly known, and was thought very hard usage,\nthere was much lamentation in the tyrant's own household on\naccount of the women, but the citizens of Syracuse encouraged\nthemselves, expecting that for his sake some disturbance would\nensue; which, together with the mistrust others would now feel,\nmight occasion a general change and revolution in the state.\nDionysius, seeing this, took alarm, and endeavored to pacify the\nwomen and others of Dion's kindred and friends; assuring them\nthat he had not banished, but only sent him out of the way for a\ntime, for fear of his own passion, which might be provoked some\nday by Dion's self-will into some act which he should be sorry\nfor.  He gave also two ships to his relations, with liberty to\nsend into Peloponnesus for him whatever of his property or\nservants they thought fit.\n\nDion was very rich, and had his house furnished with little less\nthan royal splendor and magnificence.  These valuables his\nfriends packed up and conveyed to him, besides many rich\npresents which were sent him by the women and his adherents.  So\nthat, so far as wealth and riches went, he made a noble\nappearance among the Greeks, and they might judge, by the\naffluence of the exile, what was the power of the tyrant.\n\nDionysius immediately removed Plato into the castle, designing,\nunder color of an honorable and kind reception, to set a guard\nupon him, lest he should follow Dion, and declare to the world\nin his behalf, how injuriously he had been dealt with.  And,\nmoreover, time and conversation (as wild beasts by use grow tame\nand tractable) had brought Dionysius to endure Plato's company\nand discourse, so that he began to love the philosopher, but\nwith such an affection as had something of the tyrant in it,\nrequiring of Plato that he should, in return of his kindness,\nlove him only, and attend to him above all other men; being\nready to permit to his care the chief management of affairs, and\neven the government, too, upon condition that he would not\nprefer Dion's friendship before his.  This extravagant\naffection was a great trouble to Plato, for it was accompanied\nwith petulant and jealous humors, like the fond passions of\nthose that are desperately in love; frequently he was angry and\nfell out with him, and presently begged and entreated to be\nfriends again.  He was beyond measure desirous to be Plato's\nscholar, and to proceed in the study of philosophy, and yet he\nwas ashamed of it with those who spoke against it and professed\nto think it would ruin him.\n\nBut a war about this time breaking out, he sent Plato away,\npromising him in the summer to recall Dion, though in this he\nbroke his word at once; nevertheless, he remitted to him his\nrevenues, desiring Plato to excuse him as to the time appointed,\nbecause of the war, but, as soon as he had settled a peace, he\nwould immediately send for Dion, requiring him in the interim to\nbe quiet, and not raise any disturbance, nor speak ill of him\namong the Grecians.  This Plato endeavored to effect, by keeping\nDion with him in the Academy, and busying him in philosophical\nstudies.\n\nDion sojourned in the Upper Town of Athens, with Callippus, one\nof his acquaintance; but for his pleasure he bought a seat in\nthe country, which afterwards, when he went into Sicily, he gave\nto Speusippus, who had been his most frequent companion while\nhe was at Athens, Plato so arranging it, with the hope that\nDion's austere temper might be softened by agreeable company,\nwith an occasional mixture of seasonable mirth.  For Speusippus\nwas of the character to afford him this; we find him spoken of\nin Timon's Silli, as \"good at a jest.\"  And Plato himself, as\nit happened, being called upon to furnish a chorus of boys, Dion\ntook upon him the ordering and management of it, and defrayed\nthe whole expense, Plato giving him this opportunity to oblige\nthe Athenians, which was likely to procure his friend more\nkindness than himself credit.  Dion went also to see several\nother cities, visiting the noblest and most statemanlike persons\nin Greece, and joining in their recreations and entertainments\nin their times of festival.  In all which, no sort of vulgar\nignorance, or tyrannic assumption, or luxuriousness was remarked\nin him; but, on the contrary, a great deal of temperance,\ngenerosity, and courage, and a well-becoming taste for reasoning\nand philosophic discourses.  By which means he gained the love\nand admiration of all men, and in many cities had public honors\ndecreed him; the Lacedaemonians making him a citizen of Sparta,\nwithout regard to the displeasure of Dionysius, though at that\ntime he was aiding them in their wars against the Thebans.\n\nIt is related that once, upon invitation, he went to pay a visit\nto Ptoeodorus the Megarian, a man, it would seem, of wealth and\nimportance; and when, on account of the concourse of people\nabout his doors, and the press of business, it was very\ntroublesome and difficult to get access to him, turning about to\nhis friends who seemed concerned and angry at it, \"What reason,\"\nsaid he, \"have we to blame Ptoeodorus, when we ourselves used to\ndo no better when we were at Syracuse?\"\n\nAfter some little time, Dionysius, envying Dion, and jealous of\nthe favor and interest he had among the Grecians, put a stop\nupon his incomes, and no longer sent him his revenues, making\nhis own commissioners trustees of the estate.  But, endeavoring\nto obviate the ill-will and discredit which, upon Plato's\naccount, might accrue to him among the philosophers, he\ncollected in his court many reputed learned men; and,\nambitiously desiring to surpass them in their debates he was\nforced to make use, often incorrectly, of arguments he had\npicked up from Plato.  And now he wished for his company again,\nrepenting he had not made better use of it when he had it, and\nhad given no greater heed to his admirable lessons.  Like a\ntyrant, therefore, inconsiderate in his desires, headstrong and\nviolent in whatever he took a will to, on a sudden he was\neagerly set on the design of recalling him, and left no stone\nunturned, but addressed himself to Archytas the Pythagorean (his\nacquaintance and friendly relations with whom owed their origin\nto Plato), and persuaded him to stand as surety for his\nengagements, and to request Plato to revisit Sicily.\n\nArchytas therefore sent Archedemus, and Dionysius some galleys,\nwith divers friends, to entreat his return; moreover, he wrote\nto him himself expressly and in plain terms, that Dion must\nnever look for any favor or kindness, if Plato would not be\nprevailed with to come into Sicily; but if Plato did come, Dion\nshould be assured of whatever he desired.  Dion also received\nletters full of solicitations from his sister and his wife,\nurging him to beg Plato to gratify Dionysius in this request,\nand not give him an excuse for further ill-doing.  So that, as\nPlato says of himself, the third time he set sail for the Strait\nof Scylla,\n\n\"Venturing again Charybdis's dangerous gulf.\"\n\nThis arrival brought great joy to Dionysius, and no less hopes\nto the Sicilians, who were earnest in their prayers and good\nwishes that Plato might get the better of Philistus, and\nphilosophy triumph over tyranny.  Neither was he unbefriended by\nthe women, who studied to oblige him; and he had with Dionysius\nthat peculiar credit which no man else ever obtained, namely,\nliberty to come into his presence without being examined or\nsearched.  When he would have given him a considerable sum of\nmoney, and, on several repeated occasions, made fresh offers,\nwhich Plato as often declined, Aristippus the Cyrenaean, then\npresent, said that Dionysius was very safe in his munificence,\nhe gave little to those who were ready to take all they could\nget, and a great deal to Plato, who would accept of nothing.\n\nAfter the first compliments of kindness were over, when Plato\nbegan to discourse of Dion, he was at first diverted by excuses\nfor delay, followed soon after by complaints and disgusts,\nthough not as yet observable to others, Dionysius endeavoring to\nconceal them, and, by other civilities and honorable usage, to\ndraw him off from his affection to Dion.  And for some time\nPlato himself was careful not to let anything of this dishonesty\nand breach of promise appear, but bore with it, and dissembled\nhis annoyance.  While matters stood thus between them, and, as\nthey thought, they were unobserved and undiscovered, Helicon the\nCyzicenian, one of Plato's followers, foretold an eclipse of the\nsun, which happened according to his prediction; for which he\nwas much admired by the tyrant, and rewarded with a talent of\nsilver; whereupon Aristippus, jesting with some others of the\nphilosophers, told them, he also could predict something\nextraordinary; and on their entreating him to declare it, \"I\nforetell,\" said he, \"that before long there will be a quarrel\nbetween Dionysius and Plato.\"\n\nAt length, Dionysius made sale of Dion's estate, and converted\nthe money to his own use, and removed Plato from an apartment he\nhad in the gardens of the palace to lodgings among the guards he\nkept in pay, who from the first had hated Plato, and sought\nopportunity to make away with him, supposing he advised\nDionysius to lay down the government and disband his soldiers.\n\nWhen Archytas understood the danger he was in, he immediately\nsent a galley with messengers to demand him of Dionysius;\nalleging that he stood engaged for his safety, upon the\nconfidence of which Plato had come to Sicily.  Dionysius, to\npalliate his secret hatred, before Plato came away, treated him\nwith great entertainments and all seeming demonstrations of\nkindness, but could not forbear breaking out one day into the\nexpression, \"No doubt, Plato, when you are at home among the\nphilosophers, your companions, you will complain of me, and\nreckon up a great many of my faults.\"  To which Plato answered\nwith a smile, \"The Academy will never, I trust, be at such a\nloss for subjects to discuss as to seek one in you.\"  Thus, they\nsay, Plato was dismissed; but his own writings do not altogether\nagree with this account.\n\nDion was angry at all this, and not long after declared open\nenmity to Dionysius, on hearing what had been done with his\nwife; on which matter Plato, also, had had some confidential\ncorrespondence with Dionysius.  Thus it was.  After Dion's\nbanishment, Dionysius, when he sent Plato back, had desired him\nto ask Dion privately, if he would be averse to his wife's\nmarrying another man, For there went a report, whether true, or\nraised by Dion's enemies, that his marriage was not pleasing to\nhim, and that he lived with his wife on uneasy terms.  When\nPlato therefore came to Athens, and had mentioned the subject to\nDion, he wrote a letter to Dionysius, speaking of other matters\nopenly, but on this in language expressly designed to be\nunderstood by him alone, to the effect that he had talked with\nDion about the business, and that it was evident he would highly\nresent the affront, if it should be put into execution.  At that\ntime, therefore, while there were yet great hopes of an\naccommodation, he took no new steps with his sister, suffering\nher to live with Dion's child.  But when things were come to\nthat pass, that no reconciliation could be expected, and Plato,\nafter his second visit, was again sent away in displeasure, he\nthen forced Arete, against her will, to marry Timocrates, one of\nhis favorites; in this action coming short even of his father's\njustice and lenity; for he, when Polyxenus, the husband of his\nsister, Theste, became his enemy, and fled in alarm out of\nSicily, sent for his sister, and taxed her, that, being privy to\nher husband's flight, she had not declared it to him.  But the\nlady, confident and fearless, made him this reply: \"Do you\nbelieve me, brother, so bad a wife, or so timorous a woman,\nthat, having known my husband's flight, I would not have borne\nhim company, and shared his fortunes?  I knew nothing of it;\nsince otherwise it had been my better lot to be called the wife\nof the exile Polyxenus, than the sister of the tyrant\nDionysius.\"  It is said, he admired her free and ready answer,\nas did the Syracusans, also, her courage and virtue, insomuch\nthat she retained her dignity and princely retinue after the\ndissolution of the tyranny, and, when she died, the citizens, by\npublic decree, attended the solemnity of her funeral.  And the\nstory, though a digression from the present purpose, was well\nworth the telling.\n\nFrom this time, Dion set his mind upon warlike measures; with\nwhich Plato, out of respect for past hospitalities, and because\nof his age, would have nothing to do.  But Speusippus and the\nrest of his friends assisted and encouraged him, bidding him\ndeliver Sicily, which with lift-up hands implored his help, and\nwith open arms was ready to receive him.  For when Plato was\nstaying at Syracuse, Speusippus, being oftener than he in\ncompany with the citizens, had more thoroughly made out how\nthey were inclined; and though at first they had been on their\nguard, suspecting his bold language, as though he had been set\non by the tyrant to trepan them, yet at length they trusted him.\nThere was but one mind and one wish or prayer among them all,\nthat Dion would undertake the design, and come, though without\neither navy, men, horse, or arms; that he would simply put\nhimself aboard any ship, and lend the Sicilians his person and\nname against Dionysius.  This information from Speusippus\nencouraged Dion, who, concealing his real purpose, employed his\nfriends privately to raise what men they could; and many\nstatesmen and philosophers were assisting to him, as, for\ninstance, Eudemus the Cyprian, on whose death Aristotle wrote\nhis Dialogue of the Soul, and Timonides the Leucadian.  They\nalso engaged on his side Miltas the Thessalian, who was a\nprophet, and had studied in the Academy.  But of all that were\nbanished by Dionysius, who were not fewer than a thousand, five\nand twenty only joined in the enterprise; the rest were afraid,\nand abandoned it.  The rendezvous was in the island Zacynthus,\nwhere a small force of not quite eight hundred men came\ntogether, all of them, however, persons already distinguished in\nplenty of previous hard service, their bodies well trained and\npracticed, and their experience and courage amply sufficient to\nanimate and embolden to action the numbers whom Dion expected to\njoin him in Sicily.\n\nYet these men, when they first understood the expedition was\nagainst Dionysius, were troubled and disheartened, blaming Dion,\nthat, hurried on like a madman by mere passion and despair, he\nrashly threw both himself and them into certain ruin.  Nor were\nthey less angry with their commanders and muster-masters, that\nthey had not in the beginning let them know the design.  But\nwhen Dion in his address to them had set forth the unsafe and\nweak condition of arbitrary government, and declared that he\ncarried them rather for commanders than soldiers, the citizens\nof Syracuse and the rest of the Sicilians having been long ready\nfor a revolt, and when, after him, Alcimenes, an Achaean of the\nhighest birth and reputation, who accompanied the expedition,\nharangued them to the same effect, they were contented.\n\nIt was now the middle of summer, and the Etesian winds blowing\nsteadily on the seas, the moon was at the full, when Dion\nprepared a magnificent sacrifice to Apollo; and with great\nsolemnity marched his soldiers to the temple in all their arms\nand accouterments.  And after the sacrifice, he feasted them all\nin the race-course of the Zacynthians, where he had made\nprovision for their entertainment.  And when here they beheld\nwith wonder the quantity and the richness of the gold and silver\nplate, and the tables laid to entertain them, all far exceeding\nthe fortunes of a private man, they concluded with themselves,\nthat a man now past the prime of life, who was master of so much\ntreasure, would not engage himself in so hazardous an enterprise\nwithout good reason of hope, and certain and sufficient\nassurances of aid from friends over there.  Just after the\nlibations were made, and the accompanying prayers offered, the\nmoon was eclipsed; which was no wonder to Dion, who understood\nthe revolutions of eclipses, and the way in which the moon is\novershadowed and the earth interposed between her and the sun.\nBut because it was necessary that the soldiers, who were\nsurprised and troubled at it, should be satisfied and\nencouraged, Miltas the diviner, standing up in the midst of the\nassembly, bade them be of good cheer, and expect all happy\nsuccess, for that the divine powers foreshowed that something at\npresent glorious and resplendent should be eclipsed and\nobscured; nothing at this time being more splendid than the\nsovereignty of Dionysius, their arrival in Sicily should dim\nthis glory, and extinguish this brightness.  Thus Miltas, in\npublic, descanted upon the incident.  But concerning a swarm of\nbees which settled on the poop of Dion's ship, he privately told\nhim and his friends, that he feared the great actions they were\nlike to perform, though for a time they should thrive and\nflourish, would be of short continuance, and soon suffer a\ndecay.  It is reported, also, that many prodigies happened to\nDionysius at that time.  An eagle, snatching a javelin from one\nof the guard, carried it aloft, and from thence let it fall into\nthe sea.  The water of the sea that washed the castle walls was\nfor a whole day sweet and potable, as many that tasted it\nexperienced.  Pigs were farrowed perfect in all their other\nparts, but without ears.  This the diviners declared to portend\nrevolt and rebellion, for that the subjects would no longer give\near to the commands of their superiors.  They expounded the\nsweetness of the water to signify to the Syracusans a change\nfrom hard and grievous times into easier and more happy\ncircumstances.  The eagle being the bird of Jupiter, and the\nspear an emblem of power and command, this prodigy was to denote\nthat the chief of the gods designed the end and dissolution of\nthe present government.  These things Theopompus relates in his\nhistory.\n\nTwo ships of burden carried all Dion's men; a third vessel, of\nno great size, and two galleys of thirty oars attended them.  In\naddition to his soldiers' own arms, he carried two thousand\nshields, a very great number of darts and lances, and abundant\nstores of all manner of provisions, that there might be no want\nof anything in their voyage; their purpose being to keep out at\nsea during the whole voyage, and use the winds, since all the\nland was hostile to them, and Philistus, they had been told, was\nin Iapygia with a fleet, looking out for them.  Twelve days they\nsailed with a fresh and gentle breeze; on the thirteenth, they\nmade Pachynus, the Sicilian cape.  There Protus, the chief\npilot, advised them to land at once and without delay, for if\nthey were forced again from the shore, and did not take\nadvantage of the headland, they might ride out at sea many\nnights and days, waiting for a southerly wind in the summer\nseason.  But Dion, fearing a descent too near his enemies, and\ndesirous to begin at a greater distance, and further on in the\ncountry, sailed on past Pachynus.  They had not gone far, before\nstress of weather, the wind blowing hard at north, drove the\nfleet from the coast; and it being now about the time that\nArcturus rises, a violent storm of wind and rain came on, with\nthunder and lightning, the mariners were at their wits' end, and\nignorant what course they ran, until on a sudden they found they\nwere driving with the sea on Cercina, the island on the coast of\nAfrica, just where it is most craggy and dangerous to run upon.\nUpon the cliffs there they escaped narrowly of being forced and\nstaved to pieces; but, laboring hard at their oars, with much\ndifficulty they kept clear until the storm ceased.  Then,\nlighting by chance upon a vessel, they understood they were upon\nthe Heads, as it is called, of the Great Syrtis; and when they\nwere now again disheartened by a sudden calm, and beating to and\nfro without making any way, a soft air began to blow from the\nland, when they expected anything rather than wind from the\nsouth and scarce believed the happy change of their fortune.\nThe gale gradually increasing, and beginning to blow fresh, they\nclapped on all their sails, and, praying to the gods, put out\nagain into the open sea, steering right from Africa for Sicily.\nAnd, running steady before the wind, the fifth day they arrived\nat Minoa, a little town of Sicily, in the dominion of the\nCarthaginians, of which Synalus, an acquaintance and friend of\nDion's, happened at that time to be governor; who, not knowing\nit was Dion and his fleet, endeavored to hinder his men from\nlanding; but they rushed on shore with their swords in their\nhands, not slaying any of their opponents (for this Dion had\nforbidden, because of his friendship with the Carthaginians),\nbut forced them to retreat, and, following close, pressed in a\nbody with them into the place, and took it.  As soon as the two\ncommanders met, they mutually saluted each other; Dion delivered\nup the place again to Synalus, without the least damage done to\nanyone therein, and Synalus quartered and entertained the\nsoldiers, and supplied Dion with what he wanted.\n\nThey were most of all encouraged by the happy accident of\nDionysius's absence at this nick of time; for it appeared that\nhe was lately gone with eighty sail of ships to Italy.\nTherefore, when Dion was desirous that the soldiers should\nrefresh themselves there, after their tedious and troublesome\nvoyage, they would not be prevailed with, but, earnest to make\nthe best use of that opportunity, they urged Dion to lead them\nstraight on to Syracuse.  Leaving therefore their baggage, and\nthe arms they did not use, Dion desired Synalus to convey them\nto him as he had occasion, and marched directly to Syracuse.\n\nThe first that came in to him upon his march were two hundred\nhorse of the Agrigentines who were settled near Ecnomum, and,\nafter them, the Geloans.  But the news soon flying to Syracuse,\nTimocrates, who had married Dion's wife, the sister of\nDionysius, and was the principal man among his friends now\nremaining in the city, immediately dispatched a courier to\nDionysius with letters announcing Dion's arrival; while he\nhimself took all possible care to prevent any stir or tumult in\nthe city, where all were in great excitement, but as yet\ncontinued quiet, fearing to give too much credit to what was\nreported.  A very strange accident happened to the messenger who\nwas sent with the letters; for being arrived in Italy, as he\ntraveled through the land of Rhegium, hastening to Dionysius at\nCaulonia, he met one of his acquaintance, who was carrying home\npart of a sacrifice.  He accepted a piece of the flesh, which\nhis friend offered him, and proceeded on his journey with all\nspeed; having traveled a good part of the night, and being\nthrough\nweariness forced to take a little rest, he laid himself down in\nthe next convenient place he came to, which was in a wood near\nthe road.  A wolf, scenting the flesh, came and seized it as it\nlay fastened to the letter-bag, and with the flesh carried away\nthe bag also, in which were the letters to Dionysius.  The man,\nawaking and missing his bag, sought for it up and down a great\nwhile, and, not finding it, resolved not to go to the king\nwithout his letters, but to conceal himself, and keep out of the\nway.\n\nDionysius, therefore, came to hear of the war in Sicily from\nother hands, and that a good while after.  In the meantime, as\nDion proceeded in his march, the Camarineans joined his forces,\nand the country people in the territory of Syracuse rose and\njoined him in a large body.  The Leontines and Campanians, who,\nwith Timocrates, guarded the Epipolae, receiving a false alarm\nwhich was spread on purpose by Dion, as if he intended to attack\ntheir cities first, left Timocrates, and hastened off to carry\nsuccor to their own homes.  News of which being brought to Dion,\nwhere he lay near Macrae, he raised his camp by night, and came\nto the river Anapus, which is distant from the city about ten\nfurlongs; there he made a halt, and sacrificed by the river,\noffering vows to the rising sun.  The soothsayers declared that\nthe gods promised him victory; and they that were present,\nseeing him assisting at the sacrifice with a garland on his\nhead, one and all crowned themselves with garlands.  There were\nabout five thousand that had joined his forces in their march;\nwho, though but ill-provided, with such weapons as came next to\nhand, made up by zeal and courage for the want of better arms;\nand when once they were told to advance, as if Dion were already\nconqueror, they ran forward with shouts and acclamations,\nencouraging each other with the hopes of liberty.\n\nThe most considerable men and better sort of the citizens of\nSyracuse, clad all in white, met him at the gates.  The populace\nset upon all that were of Dionysius's party, and principally\nsearched for those they called setters or informers, a number\nof wicked and hateful wretches, who made it their business to go\nup and down the city, thrusting themselves into all companies,\nthat they might inform Dionysius what men said, and how they\nstood affected.  These were the first that suffered, being\nbeaten to death by the crowd.  Timocrates, not being able to\nforce his way to the garrison that kept the castle, took horse,\nand fled out of the city, filling all the places where he came\nwith fear and confusion, magnifying the amount of Dion's forces,\nthat he might not be supposed to have deserted his charge\nwithout good reason for it.  By this time, Dion was come up, and\nappeared in the sight of the people; he marched first in a rich\nsuit of arms, and by him on one hand his brother, Megacles, on\nthe other, Callippus the Athenian, crowned with garlands.  Of\nthe foreign soldiers, a hundred followed as his guard, and their\nseveral officers led the rest in good order; the Syracusans\nlooking on and welcoming them, as if they believed the whole to\nbe a sacred and religious procession, to celebrate the solemn\nentrance, after an absence of forty-eight years, of liberty and\npopular government.\n\nDion entered by the Menitid gate, and, having by sound of\ntrumpet quieted the noise of the people, he caused proclamation\nto be made, that Dion and Megacles, who were come to overthrow\nthe tyrannical government, did declare the Syracusans and all\nother Sicilians to be free from the tyrant.  But, being desirous\nto harangue the people himself, he went up through the\nAchradina.  The citizens on each side the way brought victims\nfor sacrifice, set out their tables and goblets, and as he\npassed by each door threw flowers and ornaments upon him, with\nvows and acclamations, honoring him as a god.  There was under\nthe castle and the Pentapyla a lofty and conspicuous sundial,\nwhich Dionysius had set up.  Getting up upon the top of that, he\nmade an oration to the people, calling upon them to maintain and\ndefend their liberty; who, with great expressions of joy and\nacknowledgment, created Dion and Megacles generals, with plenary\npowers, joining in commission with them, at their desire and\nentreaty, twenty colleagues, of whom half were of those that had\nreturned with them out of banishment.  It seemed also to the\ndiviners a most happy omen, that Dion, when he made his address\nto the people, had under his feet the stately monument which\nDionysius had been at such pains to erect; but because it was a\nsundial on which he stood when he was made general, they\nexpressed some fears that the great actions he had performed\nmight be subject to change, and admit some rapid turn and\ndeclination of fortune.\n\nAfter this, Dion, taking the Epipolae, released the citizens who\nwere imprisoned there, and then raised a wall to invest the\ncastle.  Seven days after, Dionysus arrived by sea, and got into\nthe citadel, and about the same time came carriages bringing the\narms and ammunition which Dion had left with Synalus.  These he\ndistributed among the citizens; and the rest that wanted\nfurnished themselves as well as they could, and put themselves\nin the condition of zealous and serviceable men-at-arms.\n\nDionysius sent agents, at first privately, to Dion, to try what\nterms they could make with him.  But he declaring that any\novertures they had to make must be made in public to the\nSyracusans as a free people, envoys now went and came between\nthe tyrant and the people, with fair proposals, and assurances\nthat they should have abatements of their tributes and taxes,\nand freedom from the burdens of military expeditions, all which\nshould be made according to their own approbation and consent\nwith him.  The Syracusans laughed at these offers, and Dion\nreturned answer to the envoys that Dionysius must not think to\ntreat with them upon any other terms but resigning the\ngovernment; which if he would actually do, he would not forget\nhow nearly he was related to him, or be wanting to assist him in\nprocuring oblivion for the past, and whatever else was\nreasonable and just.  Dionysius seemed to consent to this, and\nsent his agents again, desiring some of the Syracusans to come\ninto the citadel and discuss with him in person the terms to\nwhich on each side they might be willing, after fair debate, to\nconsent.  There were therefore some deputed, such as Dion\napproved of; and the general rumor from the castle was, that\nDionysius would voluntarily resign his authority, and rather do\nit himself as his own good deed, than let it be the act of Dion.\nBut this profession was a mere trick to amuse the Syracusans.\nFor he put the deputies that were sent to him in custody, and by\nbreak of day, having first, to encourage his men, made them\ndrink plentifully of raw wine, he sent the garrison of\nmercenaries out to make a sudden sally against Dion's works.\nThe attack was quite unexpected, and the barbarians set to work\nboldly with loud cries to pull down the cross-wall, and assailed\nthe Syracusans so furiously that they were not able to maintain\ntheir post.  Only a party of Dion's hired soldiers, on first\ntaking the alarm, advanced to the rescue; neither did they at\nfirst know what to do, or how to employ the aid they brought,\nnot being able to hear the commands of their officers, amidst\nthe noise and confusion of the Syracusans, who fled from the\nenemy and ran in among them, breaking through their ranks, until\nDion, seeing none of his orders could be heard, resolved to let\nthem see by example what they ought to do, and charged into the\nthickest of the enemy.  The fight about him was fierce and\nbloody, he being as well known by the enemy as by his own party,\nand all running with loud cries to the quarter where he fought.\nThough his time of life was no longer that of the bodily\nstrength and agility for such a combat, still his determination\nand courage were sufficient to maintain him against all that\nattacked him; but, while bravely driving them back, he was\nwounded in the hand with a lance, his body armor also had been\nmuch battered, and was scarcely any longer serviceable to\nprotect him, either against missiles or blows hand to hand.\nMany spears and javelins had passed into it through the shield,\nand, on these being broken back, he fell to the ground, but was\nimmediately rescued, and carried off by his soldiers.  The\ncommand-in-chief he left to Timonides, and, mounting a horse,\nrode about the city, rallying the Syracusans that fled; and,\nordering up a detachment of the foreign soldiers out of\nAchradina, where they were posted on guard, he brought them as a\nfresh reserve, eager for battle, upon the tired and failing\nenemy, who were already well inclined to give up their design.\nFor having hopes at their first sally to retake the whole city,\nwhen beyond their expectation they found themselves engaged with\nbold and practiced fighters, they fell back towards the castle.\nAs soon as they gave ground, the Greek soldiers pressed the\nharder upon them, till they turned and fled within the walls.\nThere were lost in this action seventy-four of Dion's men, and a\nvery great number of the enemy.  This being a signal victory,\nand principally obtained by the valor of the foreign soldiers,\nthe Syracusans rewarded them in honor of it with a hundred\nminae, and the soldiers on their part presented Dion with a\ncrown of gold.\n\nSoon after, there came heralds from Dionysius, bringing Dion\nletters from the women of his family, and one addressed outside,\n\"To his father, from Hipparinus;\" this was the name of Dion's\nson, though Timaeus says, he was, from his mother Arete's name,\ncalled Aretaeus; but I think credit is rather to be given to\nTimonides's report, who was his father's fellow-soldier and\nconfidant.  The rest of the letters were read publicly,\ncontaining many solicitations and humble requests of the women;\nthat professing to be from his son, the heralds would not have\nthem open publicly, but Dion, putting force upon them, broke the\nseal.  It was from Dionysius, written in the terms of it to\nDion, but in effect to the Syracusans, and so worded that, under\na plausible justification of himself and entreaty to him, means\nwere taken for rendering him suspected by the people.  It\nreminded him of the good service he had formerly done the\nusurping government, it added threats to his dearest relations,\nhis sister, son, and wife, if he did not comply with the\ncontents, also passionate demands mingled with lamentations,\nand, most to the purpose of all, urgent recommendations to him\nnot to destroy the government, and put the power into the hands\nof men who always hated him, and would never forget their old\npiques and quarrels; let him take the sovereignty himself, and\nso secure the safety of his family and his friends.\n\nWhen this letter was read, the Syracusans were not, as they\nshould have been, transported with admiration at the unmovable\nconstancy and magnanimity of Dion, who withstood all his dearest\ninterests to be true to virtue and justice, but, on the\ncontrary, they saw in this their reason for fearing and\nsuspecting that he lay under an invincible necessity to be\nfavorable to Dionysius; and they began therefore to look out for\nother leaders, and the rather, because to their great joy they\nreceived the news that Heraclides was on his way.  This\nHeraclides was one of those whom Dionysius had banished, very\ngood soldier, and well known for the commands he had formerly\nhad under the tyrant; yet a man of no constant purpose, of a\nfickle temper, and least of all to be relied upon when he had to\nact with a colleague in any honorable command.  He had had a\ndifference formerly with Dion in Peloponnesus, and had resolved,\nupon his own means, with what ships and soldiers he had, to make\nan attack upon Dionysius.  When he arrived at Syracuse, with\nseven galleys and three small vessels, he found Dionysius\nalready close besieged, and the Syracusans high and proud of\ntheir victories.  Forthwith, therefore, he endeavored by all\nways to make himself popular; and, indeed, he had in him\nnaturally something that was very insinuating and taking with a\npopulace that loves to be courted.  He gained his end, also, the\neasier, and drew the people over to his side, because of the\ndislike they had taken to Dion's grave and stately manner, which\nthey thought overbearing and assuming; their successes having\nmade them so careless and confident, that they expected popular\narts and flatteries from their leaders, before they had in\nreality secured a popular government.\n\nGetting therefore together in an irregular assembly, they chose\nHeraclides their admiral; but when Dion came forward, and told\nthem, that conferring this trust upon Heraclides was in effect\nto withdraw that which they had granted him, for he was no\nlonger their generalissimo if another had the command of the\nnavy, they repealed their order, and, though much against their\nwills, canceled the new appointment.  When this business was\nover, Dion invited Heraclides to his house, and pointed out to\nhim, in gentle terms, that he had not acted wisely or well to\nquarrel with him upon a punctilio of honor, at a time when the\nleast false step might be the ruin of all; and then, calling a\nfresh assembly of the people, he there named Heraclides admiral,\nand prevailed with the citizens to allow him a life-guard, as he\nhimself had.\n\nHeraclides openly professed the highest respect for Dion, and\nmade him great acknowledgments for this favor, attending him\nwith all deference, as ready to receive his commands; but\nunderhand he kept up his dealings with the populace and the\nunrulier citizens, unsettling their minds and disturbing them\nwith his complaints, and putting Dion into the utmost perplexity\nand disquiet.  For if he advised to give Dionysius leave to quit\nthe castle, he would be exposed to the imputation of sparing and\nprotecting him; if, to avoid giving offense or suspicion, he\nsimply continued the siege, they would say he protracted the\nwar, to keep his office of general the longer, and overawe the\ncitizens.\n\nThere was one Sosis, notorious in the city for his bad conduct\nand his impudence, yet a favorite with the people, for the very\nreason that they liked to see it made a part of popular\nprivileges to carry free speech to this excess of license.  This\nman, out of a design against Dion, stood up one day in an\nassembly, and, having sufficiently railed at the citizens as a\nset of fools, that could not see how they had made an exchange\nof a dissolute and drunken for a sober and watchful despotism,\nand thus having publicly declared himself Dion's enemy, took his\nleave.  The next day, he was seen running through the streets,\nas if he fled from some that pursued him, almost naked, wounded\nin the head, and bloody all over.  In this condition, getting\npeople about him in the marketplace, he told them that he had\nbeen assaulted by Dion's men; and, to confirm what he said,\nshowed them the wounds he had received in his head.  And a good\nmany took his part, exclaiming loudly against Dion for his cruel\nand tyrannical conduct, stopping the mouths of the people by\nbloodshed and peril of life.  Just as an assembly was gathering\nin this unsettled and tumultuous state of mind, Dion came before\nthem, and made it appear how this Sosis was brother to one of\nDionysius's guard, and that he was set on by him to embroil the\ncity in tumult and confusion; Dionysius having now no way left\nfor his security but to make his advantage of their dissensions\nand distractions.  The surgeons, also, having searched the\nwound, found it was rather razed, than cut with a downright\nblow; for the wounds made with a sword are, from their mere\nweight, most commonly deepest in the middle, but this was very\nslight, and all along of an equal depth; and it was not one\ncontinued wound, as if cut at once, but several incisions, in\nall probability made at several times, as he was able to endure\nthe pain.  There were credible persons, also, who brought a\nrazor, and showed it in the assembly, stating that they met\nSosis running in the street, all bloody, who told them that he\nwas flying from Dion's soldiers, who had just attacked and\nwounded him; they ran at once to look after them, and met no\none, but spied this razor lying under a hollow stone near the\nplace from which they observed he came.\n\nSosis was now likely to come by the worst of it.  But when, to\nback all this, his own servants came in, and gave evidence that\nhe had left his house alone before break of day, with the razor\nin his hand, Dion's accusers withdrew themselves, and the people\nby a general vote condemned Sosis to die, being once again well\nsatisfied with Dion and his proceedings.\n\nYet they were still as jealous as before of his soldiers, and\nthe rather, because the war was now carried on principally by\nsea; Philistus being come from Iapygia with a great fleet to\nDionysius's assistance.  They supposed, therefore, that there\nwould be no longer need of the soldiers, who were all landsmen\nand armed accordingly: these were rather, indeed, they thought,\nin a condition to be protected by themselves, who were seamen,\nand had their power in their shipping.  Their good opinion of\nthemselves was also much enhanced by an advantage they got in an\nengagement by sea, in which they took Philistus prisoner, and\nused him in a barbarous and cruel manner.  Ephorus relates that\nwhen he saw his ship was taken he slew himself.  But Timonides,\nwho was with Dion from the very first, and was present at all\nthe events as they occurred, writing to Speusippus the\nphilosopher, relates the story thus: that Philistus's galley\nrunning aground, he was taken prisoner alive, and first\ndisarmed, then stripped of his corslet, and exposed naked, being\nnow an old man, to every kind of contumely; after which they cut\noff his head, and gave his body to the boys of the town, bidding\nthem drag it through the Achradina, and then throw it into the\nQuarries.  Timaeus, to increase the mockery, adds further, that\nthe boys tied him by his lame leg, and so drew him through the\nstreets, while the Syracusans stood by laughing and jesting at\nthe sight of that very man thus tied and dragged about by the\nleg, who had told Dionysius, that, so far from flying on\nhorseback from Syracuse, he ought to wait till he should be\ndragged out by the heels.  Philistus, however, has stated, that\nthis was said to Dionysius by another, and not by himself.\n\nTimaeus avails himself of this advantage, which Philistus truly\nenough affords against himself in his zealous and constant\nadherence to the tyranny, to vent his own spleen and malice\nagainst him.  They, indeed, who were injured by him at the time\nare perhaps excusable, if they carried their resentment to the\nlength of indignities to his dead body; but they who write\nhistory afterwards, and were noway wronged by him in his\nlifetime, and have received assistance from his writings, in\nhonor should not with opprobrious and scurrilous language\nupbraid him for those misfortunes, which may well enough befall\neven the best of men.  On the other side, Ephorus is as much out\nof the way in his encomiums.  For, however ingenious he is in\nsupplying unjust acts and wicked conduct with fair and worthy\nmotives, and in selecting decorous and honorable terms, yet when\nhe does his best, he does not himself stand clear of the charge\nof being the greatest lover of tyrants, and the fondest admirer\nof luxury and power and rich estates and alliances of marriage\nwith absolute princes.  He that neither praises Philistus for\nhis conduct, nor insults over his misfortunes, seems to me to\ntake the fittest course.\n\nAfter Philistus's death, Dionysius sent to Dion, offering to\nsurrender the castle, all the arms, provisions, and\ngarrison-soldiers, with full pay for them for five months,\ndemanding in return that he might have safe conduct to go\nunmolested into Italy, and there to continue, and also to enjoy\nthe revenues of Gyarta, a large and fruitful territory belonging\nto Syracuse, reaching from the sea-side to the middle of the\ncountry.  Dion rejected these proposals, and referred him to the\nSyracusans.  They, hoping in a short time to take Dionysius\nalive, dismissed his ambassadors summarily.  But he, leaving his\neldest son, Apollocrates, to defend the castle, and putting on\nboard his ships the persons and the property that he set most\nvalue upon, took the opportunity of a fair wind, and made his\nescape, undiscovered by the admiral Heraclides and his fleet.\n\nThe citizens loudly exclaimed against Heraclides for this\nneglect; but he got one of their public speakers, Hippo by name,\nto go among them, and make proposals to the assembly for a\nredivision of lands, alleging that the first beginning of\nliberty was equality, and that poverty and slavery were\ninseparable companions.  In support of this, Heraclides spoke,\nand used the faction in favor of it to overpower Dion, who\nopposed it; and, in fine, he persuaded the people to ratify it\nby their vote, and further to decree, that the foreign soldiers\nshould receive no pay, and that they would elect new commanders,\nand so be rid of Dion's oppression.  The people, attempting, as\nit were, after their long sickness of despotism, all at once to\nstand on their legs, and to do the part, for which they were yet\nunfit, of freemen, stumbled in all their actions; and yet hated\nDion, who, like a good physician, endeavored to keep the city to\na strict and temperate regimen.\n\nWhen they met in the assembly to choose their commanders, about\nthe middle of summer, unusual and terrible thunders, with other\ninauspicious appearances, for fifteen days together, dispersed\nthe people, deterring them, on grounds of religious fear, from\ncreating new generals.  But, at last, the popular leaders,\nhaving found a fair and clear day, and having got their party\ntogether, were proceeding to an election, when a draught-ox, who\nwas used to the crowd and noise of the streets, but for some\nreason or other grew unruly to his driver, breaking from his\nyoke, ran furiously into the theater where they were assembled,\nand set the people flying and running in all directions before\nhim in the greatest disorder and confusion; and from thence went\non, leaping and rushing about, over all that part of the city\nwhich the enemies afterwards made themselves masters of.\nHowever, the Syracusans, not regarding all this, elected five\nand twenty captains, and, among the rest, Heraclides; and\nunderhand tampered with Dion's men, promising, if they would\ndesert him, and enlist themselves in their service, to make them\ncitizens of Syracuse, with all the privileges of natives.  But\nthey would not hear the proposals, but, to show their fidelity\nand courage, with their swords in their hands, placing Dion for\nhis security in the midst of their battalion, conveyed him out\nof the city, not offering violence to anyone, but upbraiding\nthose they met with their baseness and ingratitude.  The\ncitizens, seeing they were but few, and did not offer any\nviolence, despised them; and, supposing that with their large\nnumbers they might with ease overpower and cut them off before\nthey got out of the city, fell upon them in the rear.\n\nHere Dion was in a great strait, being necessitated either to\nfight against his own countrymen, or tamely suffer himself and\nhis faithful soldiers to be cut in pieces.  He used many\nentreaties to the Syracusans, stretching out his hands towards\nthe castle, that was full of their enemies, and showing them the\nsoldiers, who in great numbers appeared on the walls and watched\nwhat was doing.  But when no persuasions could divert the\nimpulse of the multitude, and the whole mass, like the sea in a\nstorm, seemed to be driven before the breath of the demagogues,\nhe commanded his men, not to charge them, but to advance with\nshouts and clashing of their arms; which being done, not a man\nof them stood his ground; all fled at once through the streets,\nthough none pursued them.  For Dion immediately commanded his\nmen to face about, and led them towards the city of the\nLeontines.\n\nThe very women laughed at the new captains for this retreat; so\nto redeem their credit, they bid the citizens arm themselves\nagain, and followed after Dion, and came up with him as he was\npassing a river.  Some of the light-horse rode up and began to\nskirmish.  But when they saw Dion no more tame and calm, and no\nsigns in his face of any fatherly tenderness towards his\ncountrymen, but with an angry countenance, as resolved not to\nsuffer their indignities any longer, bidding his men face round\nand form in their ranks for the onset, they presently turned\ntheir backs more basely than before, and fled to the city, with\nthe loss of some few of their men.\n\nThe Leontines received Dion very honorably, gave money to his\nmen, and made them free of their city; sending envoys to the\nSyracusans, to require them to do the soldiers justice, who, in\nreturn, sent back other agents to accuse Dion.  But when a\ngeneral meeting of the confederates met in the town of the\nLeontines, and the matter was heard and debated, the Syracusans\nwere held to be in fault.  They, however, refused to stand to\nthe award of their allies, following their own conceit, and\nmaking it their pride to listen to no one, and not to have any\ncommanders but those who would fear and obey the people.\n\nAbout this time, Dionysius sent in a fleet, under the command of\nNypsius the Neapolitan, with provisions and pay for the\ngarrison.  The Syracusans fought him, had the better, and took\nfour of his ships; but they made very ill use of their good\nsuccess, and, for want of good discipline, fell in their joy to\ndrinking and feasting in an extravagant manner, with so little\nregard to their main interest, that, when they thought\nthemselves sure of taking the castle, they actually lost their\ncity.  Nypsius, seeing the citizens in this general disorder,\nspending day and night in their drunken singing and reveling,\nand their commanders well pleased with the frolic, or at least\nnot daring to try and give any orders to men in their drink,\ntook advantage of this opportunity, made a sally, and stormed\ntheir works; and, having made his way through these, let his\nbarbarians loose upon the city, giving up it and all that were\nin it to their pleasure.\n\nThe Syracusans quickly saw their folly and misfortune, but could\nnot, in the distraction they were in, so soon redress it.  The\ncity was in actual process of being sacked, the enemy putting\nthe men to the sword, demolishing the fortifications, and\ndragging the women and children with lamentable shrieks and\ncries prisoners into the castle.  The commanders, giving all for\nlost, were not able to put the citizens in any tolerable posture\nof defense, finding them confusedly mixed up and scattered among\nthe enemy.  While they were in this condition, and the Achradina\nin danger to be taken, everyone was sensible who he was in whom\nall their remaining hopes rested, but no man for shame durst\nname Dion, whom they had so ungratefully and foolishly dealt\nwith.  Necessity at last forcing them, some of the auxiliary\ntroops and horsemen cried out, \"Send for Dion and his\nPeloponnesians from the Leontines.\"  No sooner was the venture\nmade and the name heard among the people, but they gave a shout\nfor joy, and, with tears in their eyes, wished him there, that\nthey might once again see that leader at the head of them, whose\ncourage and bravery in the worst of dangers they well\nremembered, calling to mind not only with what an undaunted\nspirit he always behaved himself, but also with what courage and\nconfidence he inspired them when he led them against the enemy.\nThey immediately, therefore, dispatched Archonides and Telesides\nof the confederate troops, and of the horsemen Hellanicus and\nfour others.  These, traversing the road between at their\nhorses' full speed, reached the town of the Leontines in the\nevening.  The first thing they did was to leap from their horses\nand fall at Dion's feet, relating with tears the sad condition\nthe Syracusans were in.  Many of the Leontines and\nPeloponnesians began to throng about them, guessing by their\nspeed and the manner of their address that something\nextraordinary had occurred.\n\nDion at once led the way to the assembly, and, the people being\ngathered together in a very little time, Archonides and\nHellanicus and the others came in among them, and in short\ndeclared the misery and distress of the Syracusans, begging the\nforeign soldiers to forget the injuries they had received, and\nassist the afflicted, who had suffered more for the wrong they\nhad done, than they themselves who received it would (had it\nbeen in their power) have inflicted upon them.  When they had\nmade an end, there was a profound silence in the theater; Dion\nthen stood up, and began to speak, but tears stopped his words;\nhis soldiers were troubled at his grief, but bade him take good\ncourage and proceed.  When he had recovered himself a little,\ntherefore, \"Men of Peloponnesus,\" he said, \"and of the\nconfederacy, I asked for your presence here, that you might\nconsider your own interests.  For myself, I have no interests to\nconsult while Syracuse is perishing, and, though I may not save\nit from destruction, I will nevertheless hasten thither, and be\nburied in the ruins of my country.  Yet if you can find in your\nhearts to assist us, the most inconsiderate and unfortunate of\nmen, you may to your eternal honor again retrieve this unhappy\ncity.  But if the Syracusans can obtain no more pity nor relief\nfrom you, may the gods reward you for what you have formerly\nvaliantly done for them, and for your kindness to Dion, of whom\nspeak hereafter as one who deserted you not when you were\ninjured and abused, nor afterwards forsook his fellow-citizens\nin their afflictions and misfortunes.\"\n\nBefore he had yet ended his speech, the soldiers leapt up, and\nwith a great shout testified their readiness for the service,\ncrying out, to march immediately to the relief of the city.  The\nSyracusan messengers hugged and embraced them, praying the Gods\nto send down blessings upon Dion and the Peloponnesians.  When\nthe noise was pretty well over, Dion gave orders that all should\ngo to their quarters to prepare for their march, and, having\nrefreshed themselves, come ready armed to their rendezvous in\nthe place where they now were, resolving that very night to\nattempt the rescue.\n\nNow at Syracuse, Dionysius's soldiers, as long as day continued,\nransacked the city, and did all the mischief they could; but\nwhen night came on, they retired into the castle, having lost\nsome few of their number.  At which the factious ringleaders\ntaking heart, and hoping the enemy would rest content with what\nthey had done and make no further attempt upon them, persuaded\nthe people again to reject Dion, and, if he came with the\nforeign soldiers, not to admit him; advising them not to yield,\nas inferior to them in point of honor and courage, but to save\ntheir city and defend their liberties and properties themselves.\nThe populace, therefore, and their leaders sent messengers to\nDion to forbid him to advance, while the noble citizens and the\nhorse sent others to him to desire him to hasten his march; for\nwhich reason he slacked his pace, yet did not remit his advance.\nAnd in the course of the night, the faction that was against him\nset a guard upon the gates of the city to hinder him from coming\nin.  But Nypsius made another sally out of the castle with a far\ngreater number of men, and those far more bold and eager than\nbefore, who quite ruined what of the rampart was left standing,\nand fell in, pell-mell, to sack and ravage the city.  The\nslaughter was now very great, not only of the men, but of the\nwomen also and children; for they regarded not so much the\nplunder, as to destroy and kill all they met.  For Dionysius,\ndespairing to regain the kingdom, and mortally hating the\nSyracusans, resolved to bury his lost sovereignty in the ruin\nand desolation of Syracuse.  The soldiers, therefore, to\nanticipate Dion's succors, resolved upon the most complete and\nready way of destruction, to lay the city in ashes, firing all\nat hand with torches and lamps, and at distance with flaming\narrows, shot from their bows.  The citizens fled every way\nbefore them; they who, to avoid the fire, forsook their houses\nwere taken in the streets and put to the sword; they who betook\nthemselves for refuge into the houses were forced out again by\nthe flames, many buildings being now in a blaze, and many\nfalling in ruins upon them as they fled past.\n\nThis fresh misfortune by general consent opened the gates for\nDion.  He had given up his rapid advance, when he received\nadvice that the enemies were retreated into the castle; but, in\nthe morning, some horse brought him the news of another assault,\nand, soon after, some of those who before opposed his coming\nfled now to him, to entreat him he would hasten his relief.  The\npressure increasing, Heraclides sent his brother, and after him\nhis uncle, Theodotes, to beg him to help them: for that now they\nwere not able to resist any longer; he himself was wounded, and\nthe greatest part of the city either in ruins or in flames.\nWhen Dion met this sad news, he was about sixty furlongs distant\nfrom the city.  When he had acquainted the soldiers with the\nexigency, and exhorted them to behave themselves like men, the\narmy no longer marched but ran forwards, and by the way were met\nby messengers upon messengers entreating them to make haste.  By\nthe wonderful eagerness of the soldiers and their extraordinary\nspeed, Dion quickly came to the city and entered what is called\nthe Hecatompedon, sending his light-armed men at once to charge\nthe enemy, that, seeing them, the Syracusans might take courage.\nIn the meantime, he drew up in good order his full-armed men\nand all the citizens that came in and joined him; forming his\nbattalions deep, and distributing his officers in many separate\ncommands, that he might, be able to attack from many quarters at\nonce, and so he more alarming to the enemy.\n\nSo, having made his arrangements and offered vows to the gods,\nwhen he was seen in the streets advancing at the head of his men\nto engage the enemy, a confused noise of shouts,\ncongratulations, vows, and prayers was raised by the Syracusans,\nwho now called Dion their deliverer and tutelar deity, and his\nsoldiers their friends, brethren, and fellow-citizens.  And,\nindeed, at that moment, none seemed to regard themselves, or\nvalue their safeties, but to be concerned more for Dion's life\nthan for all their own together, as he marched at the head of\nthem to meet the danger, through blood and fire and over heaps\nof dead bodies that lay in his way.\n\nAnd indeed the posture of the enemy was in appearance terrible;\nfor they were flushed and ferocious with victory, and had posted\nthemselves very advantageously along the demolished works, which\nmade the access to them very hazardous and difficult.  Yet that\nwhich disturbed Dion's soldiers most was the apprehension they\nwere in of the fire, which made their march very trouble some\nand difficult; for the houses being in flames on al] sides, they\nwere met everywhere with the blaze, and, treading upon burning\nruins and every minute in danger of being overwhelmed with\nfalling houses, through clouds of ashes and smoke they labored\nhard to keep their order and maintain their ranks.  When they\ncame near to the enemy, the approach was so narrow and uneven\nthat but few of them could engage at a time; but at length, with\nloud cheers and much zeal on the part of the Syracusans,\nencouraging them and joining with them, they beat off Nypsius's\nmen, and put them to flight.  Most of them escaped into the\ncastle, which was near at hand; all that could not get in were\npursued and picked up here and there by the soldiers, and put to\nthe sword.  The present exigency, however, did not suffer the\ncitizens to take immediate benefit of their victory in such\nmutual congratulations and embraces as became so great a\nsuccess; for now all were busily employed to save what houses\nwere left standing, laboring hard all night, and scarcely so\ncould master the fire.\n\nThe next day, not one of the popular haranguers durst stay in\nthe city, but all of them, knowing their own guilt, by their\nflight confessed it, and secured their lives.  Only Heraclides\nand Theodotes went voluntarily and surrendered themselves to\nDion, acknowledging that they had wronged him, and begging he\nwould be kinder to them than they had been just to him; adding,\nhow much it would become him who was master of so many excellent\naccomplishments, to moderate his anger and be generously\ncompassionate to ungrateful men, who were here before him,\nmaking their confession, that, in all the matter of their former\nenmity and rivalry against him, they were now absolutely\novercome by his virtue.  Though they thus humbly addressed him,\nhis friends advised him not to pardon these turbulent and\nill-conditioned men, but to yield them to the desires of his\nsoldiers, and utterly root out of the commonwealth the ambitious\naffectation of popularity, a disease as pestilent and pernicious\nas the passion for tyranny itself.  Dion endeavored to satisfy\nthem, telling them that other generals exercised and trained\nthemselves for the most part in the practices of war and arms;\nbut that he had long studied in the Academy how to conquer\nanger, and not let emulation and envy conquer him; that to do\nthis it is not sufficient that a man be obliging and kind to his\nfriends, and those that have deserved well of him, but rather,\ngentle and ready to forgive in the case of those who do wrong;\nthat he wished to let the world see that he valued not himself\nso much upon excelling Heraclides in ability and conduct, as he\ndid in outdoing him in justice and clemency; herein to have the\nadvantage is to excel indeed; whereas the honor of success in\nwar is never entire; fortune will be sure to dispute it, though\nno man should pretend to have a claim.  What if Heraclides be\nperfidious, malicious, and base, must Dion therefore sully or\ninjure his virtue by passionate concern for it?  For, though the\nlaws determine it juster to revenge an injury than to do an\ninjury, yet it is evident that both, in the nature of things,\noriginally proceed from the same deficiency and weakness.  The\nmalicious humor of men, though perverse and refractory, is not\nso savage and invincible but it may be wrought upon by kindness,\nand altered by repeated obligations.  Dion, making use of these\narguments, pardoned and dismissed Heraclides and Theodotes.\n\nAnd now, resolving to repair the blockade about the castle, he\ncommanded all the Syracusans to cut each man a stake and bring\nit to the works; and then, dismissing them to refresh\nthemselves, and take their rest, he employed his own men all\nnight, and by morning had finished his line of palisade; so that\nboth the enemy and the citizens wondered, when day returned, to\nsee the work so far advanced in so short a time.  Burying\ntherefore the dead, and redeeming the prisoners, who were near\ntwo thousand, he called a public assembly, where Heraclides made\na motion that Dion should be declared general with full powers\nat land and sea.  The better citizens approved well of it, and\ncalled on the people to vote it so.  But the mob of sailors and\nhandicraftsmen would not yield that Heraclides should lose his\ncommand of the navy; believing him, if otherwise an ill man, at\nany rate to be more citizenlike than Dion, and readier to comply\nwith the people.  Dion therefore submitted to them in this, and\nconsented Heraclides should continue admiral.  But when they\nbegan to press the project of the redistribution of lands and\nhouses, he not only opposed it, but repealed all the votes they\nhad formerly made upon that account, which sensibly vexed them.\nHeraclides, therefore, took a new advantage of him, and, being\nat Messene, harangued the soldiers and ships' crews that sailed\nwith him, accusing Dion that he had a design to make himself\nabsolute.  And yet at the same time he held private\ncorrespondence for a treaty with Dionysius by means of Pharax\nthe Spartan.  Which when the noble citizens of Syracuse had\nintimation of, there arose a sedition in the army, and the city\nwas in great distress and want of provisions; and Dion now knew\nnot what course to take, being also blamed by all his friends\nfor having thus fortified against himself such a perverse and\njealous and utterly corrupted man as Heraclides was.\n\nPharax at this time lay encamped at Neapolis, in the territory\nof Agrigentum.  Dion, therefore, led out the Syracusans, but\nwith an intent not to engage him till he saw a fit opportunity.\nBut Heraclides and his seamen exclaimed against him, that he\ndelayed fighting on purpose that he might the longer continue\nhis command; so that, much against his will, he was forced to an\nengagement and was beaten, his loss however being\ninconsiderable, and that occasioned chiefly by the dissension\nthat was in the army.  He rallied his men, and, having put them\nin good order and encouraged them to redeem their credit,\nresolved upon a second battle.  But, in the evening, he received\nadvice that Heraclides with his fleet was on his way to\nSyracuse, with the purpose to possess himself of the city and\nkeep him and his army out.  Instantly, therefore, taking with\nhim some of the strongest and most active of his men, he rode\noff in the dark, and about nine the next morning was at the\ngates, having ridden seven hundred furlongs that night.\nHeraclides, though he strove to make all the speed he could,\nyet, coming too late, tacked and stood out again to sea; and,\nbeing unresolved what course to steer, accidentally he met\nGaesylus the Spartan, who told him he was come from Lacedaemon\nto head the Sicilians, as Gylippus had formerly done.\nHeraclides was only too glad to get hold of him, and fastening\nhim as it might be a sort of amulet to himself, he showed him to\nthe confederates, and sent a herald to Syracuse to summon them\nto accept the Spartan general.  Dion returned answer that they\nhad generals enough, and, if they wanted a Spartan to command\nthem, he could supply that office, being himself a citizen of\nSparta.  When Gaesylus saw this, he gave up all pretensions, and\nsailed in to Dion, and reconciled Heraclides to him, making\nHeraclides swear the most solemn oaths to perform what he\nengaged, Gaesylus himself also undertaking to maintain Dion's\nright, and inflict chastisement on Heraclides if he broke his\nfaith.\n\nThe Syracusans then laid up their navy, which was at present a\ngreat charge and of little use to them, but an occasion of\ndifferences and dissensions among the generals, and pressed on\nthe siege, finishing the wall of blockade with which they\ninvested the castle.  The besieged, seeing no hopes of succors\nand their provisions failing, began to mutiny; so that the son\nof Dionysius, in despair of holding out longer for his father,\ncapitulated, and articled with Dion to deliver up the castle\nwith all the garrison soldiers and ammunition; and so, taking\nhis mother and sisters and manning five galleys, he set out to\ngo to his father, Dion seeing him safely out, and scarce a man\nin all the city not being there to behold the sight, as indeed\nthey called even on those that were not present, out of pity\nthat they could not be there, to see this happy day and the sun\nshining on a free Syracuse.  And as this expulsion of Dionysius\nis even now always cited as one of the greatest and most\nremarkable examples of fortune's vicissitudes, how extraordinary\nmay we imagine their joy to have been, and how entire their\nsatisfaction, who had totally subverted the most potent tyranny\nthat ever was by very slight and inconsiderable means!\n\nWhen Apollocrates was gone, and Dion coming to take possession\nof the castle, the women could not stay while he made his entry,\nbut ran to meet him at the gate.  Aristomache led Dion's son,\nand Arete followed after weeping, fearful and dubious how to\nsalute or address her husband, after living with another man.\nDion first embraced his sister, then his son; when Aristomache\nbringing Arete to him, \"O Dion,\" said she, \"your banishment made\nus all equally miserable; your return and victory has canceled\nall sorrows, excepting this poor sufferer's, whom I, unhappy,\nsaw compelled to be another's, while you were yet alive.\nFortune has now given you the sole disposal of us; how will you\ndetermine concerning her hard fate?  In what relation must she\nsalute you as her uncle, or as her husband?\"  This speech of\nAristomache's brought tears from Dion, who with great affection\nembraced his wife, gave her his son, and desired her to retire\nto his own house, where he continued to reside when he had\ndelivered up the castle to the Syracusans.\n\nFor though all things had now succeeded to his wish, yet he\ndesired not to enjoy any present advantage of his good fortune,\nexcept to gratify his friends, reward his allies, and bestow\nupon his companions of former time in Athens and the soldiers\nthat had served him some special mark of kindness and honor,\nstriving herein to outdo his very means in his generosity.  As\nfor himself, he was content with a very frugal and moderate\ncompetency, and was indeed the wonder of all men, that when not\nonly Sicily and Carthage, but all Greece looked to him as in the\nheight of prosperity, and no man living greater than he, no\ngeneral more renowned for valor and success, yet in his garb,\nhis attendance, his table, he seemed as if he rather commoned\nwith Plato in the Academy than lived among hired captains and\npaid soldiers, whose solace of their toils and dangers it is to\neat and drink their fill, and enjoy themselves plentifully every\nday.  Plato indeed wrote to him that the eyes of all the world\nwere now upon him; but it is evident that he himself had fixed\nhis eye upon one place in one city, the Academy, and considered\nthat the spectators and judges there regarded not great actions,\ncourage, or fortune, but watched to see how temperately and\nwisely he could use his prosperity, how evenly he could behave\nhimself in the high condition he now was in.  Neither did he\nremit anything of his wonted stateliness in conversation or\nserious carriage to the people; he made it rather a point to\nmaintain it, notwithstanding that a little condescension and\nobliging civility were very necessary for his present affairs;\nand Plato, as we said before, rebuked him, and wrote to tell him\nthat self-will keeps house with solitude.  But certainly his\nnatural temperament was one that could not bend to complaisance;\nand, besides, he wished to work the Syracusans back the other\nway, out of their present excess of license and caprice.\n\nHeraclides began again to set up against him, and, being invited\nby Dion to make one of the Council, refused to come, saying he\nwould give his opinion as a private citizen in the public\nassembly.  Next he complained of Dion because he had not\ndemolished the citadel, and because he had hindered the people\nfrom throwing down Dionysius's tomb and doing despite to the\ndead; moreover he accused him for sending to Corinth for\ncounselors and assistants in the government, thereby neglecting\nand slighting his fellow-citizens.  And indeed he had sent\nmessages for some Corinthians to come to him, hoping by their\nmeans and presence the better to settle that constitution he\nintended; for he designed to suppress the unlimited democratic\ngovernment, which indeed is not a government, but, as Plato\ncalls it, a marketplace of governments, and to introduce and\nestablish a mixed polity, on the Spartan and Cretan model,\nbetween a commonwealth and a monarchy, wherein an aristocratic\nbody should preside, and determine all matters of greatest\nconsequence; for he saw also that the Corinthians were chiefly\ngoverned by something like an oligarchy, and the people but\nlittle concerned in public business.\n\nNow knowing that Heraclides would be his most considerable\nadversary, and that in all ways he was a turbulent, fickle, and\nfactious man, he gave way to some whom formerly he hindered when\nthey designed to kill him, who, breaking in, murdered Heraclides\nin his own house.  His death was much resented by the citizens.\nNevertheless, when Dion made him a splendid funeral, followed\nthe dead body with all his soldiers, and then addressed them,\nthey understood that it would have been impossible to have kept\nthe city quiet, as long as Dion and Heraclides were competitors\nin the government.\n\nDion had a friend called Callippus, an Athenian, who, Plato\nsays, first made acquaintance and afterwards obtained\nfamiliarity with him, not from any connection with his\nphilosophic studies, but on occasion afforded by the celebration\nof the mysteries, and in the way of ordinary society.  This man\nwent with him in all his military service, and was in great\nhonor and esteem; being the first of his friends who marched by\nhis side into Syracuse, wearing a garland upon his head, having\nbehaved himself very well in all the battles, and made himself\nremarkable for his gallantry.  He, finding that Dion's principal\nand most considerable friends were cut off in the war,\nHeraclides now dead, and the people without a leader, and that\nthe soldiers had a great kindness for him, like a perfidious and\nwicked villain, in hopes to get the chief command of Sicily as\nhis reward for the ruin of his friend and benefactor, and, as\nsome say, being also bribed by the enemy with twenty talents to\ndestroy Dion, inveigled and engaged several of the soldiers in a\nconspiracy against him, taking this cunning and wicked occasion\nfor his plot.  He daily informed Dion of what he heard or what\nhe feigned the soldiers said against him; whereby he gained that\ncredit and confidence, that he was allowed by Dion to consort\nprivately with whom he would, and talk freely against him in any\ncompany, that he might discover who were his secret and factious\nmaligners.  By this means, Callippus in a short time got\ntogether a cabal of all the seditious malcontents in the city;\nand if anyone who would not be drawn in advised Dion that he\nwas tampered with, he was not troubled or concerned at it,\nbelieving Callippus did it in compliance with his directions.\n\nWhile this conspiracy was afoot, a strange and dreadful\napparition was seen by Dion.  As he sat one evening in a gallery\nin his house alone and thoughtful, hearing a sudden noise he\nturned about, and saw at the end of the colonnade, by clear\ndaylight, a tall woman, in her countenance and garb like one of\nthe tragical Furies, with a broom in her hand, sweeping the\nfloor.  Being amazed and extremely affrighted, he sent for some\nof his friends, and told them what he had seen, entreating them\nto stay with him and keep him company all night; for he was\nexcessively discomposed and alarmed, fearing that if he were\nleft alone the specter would again appear to him.  He saw it no\nmore.  But a few days after, his only son, being almost grown up\nto man's estate, upon some displeasure and pet he had taken upon\na childish and frivolous occasion, threw himself headlong from\nthe top of the house and broke his neck.\n\nWhile Dion was under this affliction, Callippus drove on his\nconspiracy, and spread a rumor among the Syracusans, that Dion,\nbeing now childless, was resolved to send for Dionysius's son,\nApollocrates, who was his wife's nephew and sister's grandson,\nand make him his heir and successor. By this time, Dion and his\nwife and sister began to suspect what was doing, and from all\nhands information came to them of the plot.  Dion, being\ntroubled, it is probable, for Heraclides's murder, which was\nlike to be a blot and stain upon his life and actions, in\ncontinual weariness and vexation, declared he had rather die a\nthousand times, and open his breast himself to the assassin,\nthan live not only in fear of his enemies but suspicion of his\nfriends.  But Callippus, seeing the women very inquisitive to\nsearch to the bottom of the business, took alarm, and came to\nthem, utterly denying it with tears in his eyes, and offering to\ngive them whatever assurances of his fidelity they desired.\nThey required that he should take the Great Oath, which was\nafter this manner.  The juror went into the sanctuary of Ceres\nand Proserpine, where, after the performance of some ceremonies,\nhe was clad in the purple vestment of the goddess, and, holding\na lighted torch in his hand, took his oath.  Callippus did as\nthey required, and forswore the fact.  And indeed he so little\nvalued the goddesses, that he stayed but till the very festival\nof Proserpine, by whom he had sworn, and on that very day\ncommitted his intended murder; as truly he might well enough\ndisregard the day, since he must at any other time as impiously\noffend her, when he who had acted as her initiating priest\nshould shed the blood of her worshiper.\n\nThere were a great many in the conspiracy; and as Dion was at\nhome with several of his friends in a room with tables for\nentertainment in it, some of the conspirators beset the house\naround, others secured the doors and windows.  The actual\nintended murderers were some Zacynthians, who went inside in\ntheir under-dresses without swords.  Those outside shut the\ndoors upon them and kept them fast.  The murderers fell on Dion,\nendeavoring to stifle and crush him; then, finding they were\ndoing nothing, they called for a sword, but none durst open the\ndoor.  There were a great many within with Dion, but everyone\nwas for securing himself, supposing that by letting him lose his\nlife he should save his own, and therefore no man ventured to\nassist him.  When they had waited a good while, at length Lycon\nthe Syracusan reached a short sword in at the window to one of\nthe Zacynthians, and thus, like a victim at a sacrifice, this\nlong time in their power, and trembling for the blow, they\nkilled him.  His sister, and wife big with child, they hurried\nto prison, who poor lady, in her unfortunate condition was there\nbrought to bed of a son, which, by the consent of the keepers,\nthey intended to bring up, the rather because Callippus began\nalready to be embroiled in troubles.\n\nAfter the murder of Dion, he was in great glory, and had the\nsole government of Syracuse in his hands; and to that effect\nwrote to Athens, a place which, next the immortal gods, being\nguilty of such an abominable crime, he ought to have regarded\nwith shame and fear.  But true it is, what is said of that city,\nthat the good men she breeds are the most excellent, and the bad\nthe most notorious; as their country also produces the most\ndelicious honey and the most deadly hemlock.  Callippus,\nhowever, did not long continue to scandalize fortune and upbraid\nthe gods with his prosperity, as though they connived at and\nbore with the wretched man, while he purchased riches and power\nby heinous impieties, but he quickly received the punishment he\ndeserved.  For, going to take Catana, he lost Syracuse;\nwhereupon they report he said, he had lost a city and got a\nbauble.  Then, attempting Messena, he had most of his men cut\noff, and, among the rest, Dion's murderers.  When no city in\nSicily would admit him, but all hated and abhorred him, he went\ninto Italy and took Rhegium; and there, being in distress and\nnot able to maintain his soldiers, he was killed by Leptines and\nPolysperchon, and, as fortune would have it with the same sword\nby which Dion was murdered, which was known by the size, being\nbut short, as the Spartan swords, and the workmanship of it very\ncurious and artificial.  Thus Callippus received the reward of\nhis villanies.\n\nWhen Aristomache and Arete were released out of prison, Hicetes,\none of Dion's friends, took them to his house, and seemed to\nintend to entertain them well and like a faithful friend.\nAfterwards, being persuaded by Dion's enemies, he provided a\nship and pretended to send them into Peloponnesus, but commanded\nthe sailors, when they came out to sea, to kill them and throw\nthem overboard.  Others say that they and the little boy were\nthrown alive into the sea.  This man also escaped not the due\nrecompense of his wickedness, for he was taken by Timoleon and\nput to death, and the Syracusans, to revenge Dion, slew his two\ndaughters; of all which I have given a more particular account\nin the life of Timoleon.\n\n\n\nMARCUS BRUTUS\n\nMarcus Brutus was descended from that Junius Brutus to whom the\nancient Romans erected a statue of brass in the capitol among\nthe images of their kings with a drawn sword in his hand, in\nremembrance of his courage and resolution in expelling the\nTarquins and destroying the monarchy.  But that ancient Brutus\nwas of a severe and inflexible nature, like steel of too hard a\ntemper, and having never had his character softened by study and\nthought, he let himself be so far transported with his rage and\nhatred against tyrants, that, for conspiring with them, he\nproceeded to the execution even of his own sons.  But this\nBrutus, whose life we now write, having to the goodness of his\ndisposition added the improvements of learning and the study of\nphilosophy, and having stirred up his natural parts, of\nthemselves grave and gentle, by applying himself to business and\npublic affairs, seems to have been of a temper exactly framed\nfor virtue; insomuch that they who were most his enemies upon\naccount of his conspiracy against Caesar, if in that whole\naffair there was any honorable or generous part, referred it\nwholly to Brutus, and laid whatever was barbarous and cruel to\nthe charge of Cassius, Brutus's connection and familiar friend,\nbut not his equal in honesty and pureness of purpose.  His\nmother, Servilia, was of the family of Servilius Ahala, who,\nwhen Spurius Maelius worked the people into a rebellion and\ndesigned to make himself king, taking a dagger under his arm,\nwent forth into the marketplace, and, upon presence of having\nsome private business with him, came up close to him, and, as he\nbent his head to hear what he had to say, struck him with his\ndagger and slew him.  And thus much, as concerns his descent by\nthe mother's side, is confessed by all; but as for his father's\nfamily, they who for Caesar's murder bore any hatred or ill-will\nto Brutus say that he came not from that Brutus who expelled the\nTarquins, there being none of his race left after the execution\nof his two sons; but that his ancestor was a plebeian, son of\none Brutus, a steward, and only rose in the latest times to\noffice or dignity in the commonwealth.  But Posidonius the\nphilosopher writes that it is true indeed what the history\nrelates, that two of the sons of Brutus who were of men's estate\nwere put to death, but that a third, yet an infant, was left\nalive, from whom the family was propagated down to Marcus\nBrutus; and further, that there were several famous persons of\nthis house in his time whose looks very much resembled the\nstatue of Junius Brutus.  But of this subject enough.\n\nCato the philosopher was brother to Servilia, the mother of\nBrutus, and he it was whom of all the Romans his nephew most\nadmired and studied to imitate, and he afterwards married his\ndaughter Porcia.  Of all the sects of the Greek philosophers,\nthough there was none of which he had not been a hearer and in\nwhich he had not made some proficiency, yet he chiefly esteemed\nthe Platonists; and, not much approving of the modern and middle\nAcademy, as it is called, he applied himself to the study of the\nancient.  He was all his lifetime a great admirer of Antiochus\nof the city of Ascalon, and took his brother Aristus into his\nown house for his friend and companion, a man for his learning\ninferior indeed to many of the philosophers, but for the\nevenness of his temper and steadiness of his conduct equal to\nthe best.  As for Empylus, of whom he himself and his friends\noften make mention in their epistles, as one that lived with\nBrutus, he was a rhetorician, and has left behind him a short\nbut well-written history of the death of Caesar, entitled Brutus.\n\nIn Latin, he had by exercise attained a sufficient skill to be\nable to make public addresses and to plead a cause; but in\nGreek, he must be noted for affecting the sententious and short\nLaconic way of speaking in sundry passages of his epistles; as\nwhen, in the beginning of the war, he wrote thus to the\nPergamenians: \"I hear you have given Dolabella money; if\nwillingly, you must own you have injured me; if unwillingly,\nshow it by giving willingly to me.\"  And another time to the\nSamians: \"Your counsels are remiss and your performances slow:\nwhat think ye will be the end?\"  And of the Patareans thus: \"The\nXanthians, suspecting my kindness, have made their country the\ngrave of their despair; the Patareans, trusting themselves to\nme, enjoy in all points their former liberty; it is in your\npower to choose the judgment of the Patareans or the fortune of\nthe Xanthians.\"  And this is the style for which some of his\nletters are to be noted.\n\nWhen he was but a very young man, he accompanied his uncle Cato,\nto Cyprus, when he was sent there against Ptolemy.  But when\nPtolemy killed himself, Cato, being by some necessary business\ndetained in the isle of Rhodes, had already sent one of his\nfriends, named Canidius, to take into his care and keeping the\ntreasure of the king; but presently, not feeling sure of his\nhonesty, he wrote to Brutus to sail immediately for Cyprus out\nof Pamphylia, where he then was staying to refresh himself,\nbeing but just recovered of a fit of sickness.  He obeyed his\norders, but with a great deal of unwillingness, as well out of\nrespect to Canidius, who was thrown out of this employment by\nCato with so much disgrace, as also because he esteemed such a\ncommission mean, and unsuitable to him, who was in the prime of\nhis youth, and given to books and study.  Nevertheless, applying\nhimself to the business, he behaved himself so well in it that\nhe was highly commended by Cato, and, having turned all the\ngoods of Ptolemy into ready money, he sailed with the greatest\npart of it in his own ship to Rome.\n\nBut upon the general separation into two factions, when, Pompey\nand Caesar taking up arms against one another, the whole empire\nwas turned into confusion, it was commonly believed that he\nwould take Caesar's side; for his father in past time had been\nput to death by Pompey.  But he, thinking it his duty to prefer\nthe interest of the public to his own private feelings, and\njudging Pompey's to be the better cause, took part with him;\nthough formerly he used not so much as to salute or take any\nnotice of Pompey, if he happened to meet him, esteeming it a\npollution to have the least conversation with the murderer of\nhis father.  But now, looking upon him as the general of his\ncountry, he placed himself under his command, and set sail for\nCilicia in quality of lieutenant to Sestius, who had the\ngovernment of that province.  But finding no opportunity there\nof doing any great service, and hearing that Pompey and Caesar\nwere now near one another and preparing for the battle upon\nwhich all depended, he came of his own accord to Macedonia to\npartake in the danger.  At his coming it is said that Pompey was\nso surprised and so pleased, that, rising from his chair in the\nsight of all who were about him, he saluted and embraced him, as\none of the chiefest of his party.  All the time that he was in\nthe camp, excepting that which he spent in Pompey's company, he\nemployed in reading and in study, which he did not neglect even\nthe day before the great battle.  It was the middle of summer,\nand the heat was very great, the camp having been pitched near\nsome marshy ground, and the people that carried Brutus's tent\nwere a long while before they came.  Yet though upon these\naccounts he was extremely harassed and out of order, having\nscarcely by the middle of the day anointed himself and eaten a\nsparing meal, whilst most others were either laid to sleep or\ntaken up with the thoughts and apprehensions of what would be\nthe issue of the fight, he spent his time until the evening in\nwriting an epitome of Polybius.\n\nIt is said that Caesar had so great a regard for him that he\nordered his commanders by no means to kill Brutus in the battle,\nbut to spare him, if possible, and bring him safe to him, if he\nwould willingly surrender himself; but if he made any\nresistance, to suffer him to escape rather than do him any\nviolence.  And this he is believed to have done out of a\ntenderness to Servilia, the mother of Brutus; for Caesar had, it\nseems, in his youth been very intimate with her, and she\npassionately in love with him; and, considering that Brutus was\nborn about that time in which their loves were at the highest,\nCaesar had a belief that he was his own child.  The story is\ntold, that when the great question of the conspiracy of\nCatiline, which had like to have been the destruction of the\ncommonwealth, was debated in the senate, Cato and Caesar were\nboth standing up, contending together on the decision to be come\nto; at which time a little note was delivered to Caesar from\nwithout, which he took and read silently to himself.  Upon this,\nCato cried out aloud, and accused Caesar of holding\ncorrespondence with and receiving letters from the enemies of\nthe commonwealth; and when many other senators exclaimed against\nit, Caesar delivered the note as he had received it to Cato, who\nreading it found it to be a love-letter from his own sister\nServilia, and threw it back again to Caesar with the words,\n\"Keep it, you drunkard,\" and returned to the subject of the\ndebate.  So public and notorious was Servilia's love to Caesar.\n\nAfter the great overthrow at Pharsalia, Pompey himself having\nmade his escape to the sea, and Caesar's army storming the camp,\nBrutus stole privately out by one of the gates leading to marshy\nground full of water and covered with reeds, and, traveling\nthrough the night, got safe to Larissa.  From Larissa he wrote\nto Caesar, who expressed a great deal of joy to hear that he was\nsafe, and, bidding him come, not only forgave him freely, but\nhonored and esteemed him among his chiefest friends.  Now when\nnobody could give any certain account which way Pompey had fled,\nCaesar took a little journey alone with Brutus, and tried what\nwas his opinion herein, and after some discussion which passed\nbetween them, believing that Brutus's conjecture was the right\none, laying aside all other thoughts, he set out directly to\npursue him towards Egypt.  But Pompey, having reached Egypt, as\nBrutus guessed his design was to do, there met his fate.\n\nBrutus in the meantime gained Caesar's forgiveness for his\nfriend Cassius; and pleading also in defense of the king of the\nLybians, though he was overwhelmed with the greatness of the\ncrimes alleged against him, yet by his entreaties and\ndeprecations to Caesar in his behalf, he preserved to him a\ngreat part of his kingdom.  It is reported that Caesar, when he\nfirst heard Brutus speak in public, said to his friends, \"I know\nnot what this young man intends, but, whatever he intends, he\nintends vehemently.\"  For his natural firmness of mind, not\neasily yielding, or complying in favor of everyone that\nentreated his kindness, once set into action upon motives of\nright reason and deliberate moral choice, whatever direction it\nthus took, it was pretty sure to take effectively, and to work\nin such a way as not to fail in its object.  No flattery could\never prevail with him to listen to unjust petitions; and he held\nthat to be overcome by the importunities of shameless and\nfawning entreaties, though some compliment it with the name of\nmodesty and bashfulness, was the worst disgrace a great man\ncould suffer.  And he used to say, that he always felt as if\nthey who could deny nothing could not have behaved well in the\nflower of their youth.\n\nCaesar, being about to make his expedition into Africa against\nCato and Scipio, committed to Brutus the government of Cisalpine\nGaul, to the great happiness and advantage of that province.\nFor while people in other provinces were in distress with the\nviolence and avarice of their governors, and suffered as much\noppression as if they had been slaves and captives of war,\nBrutus, by his easy government, actually made them amends for\ntheir calamities under former rulers, directing moreover all\ntheir gratitude for his good deeds to Caesar himself; insomuch\nthat it was a most welcome and pleasant spectacle to Caesar,\nwhen in his return he passed through Italy, to see the cities\nthat were under Brutus's command and Brutus himself increasing\nhis honor and joining agreeably in his progress.\n\nNow several praetorships being vacant, it was all men's opinion,\nthat that of the chiefest dignity, which is called the\npraetorship of the city, would be conferred either upon Brutus\nor Cassius; and some say that, there having been some little\ndifference upon former accounts between them, this competition\nset them much more at variance, though they were connected in\ntheir families, Cassius having married Junia, the sister of\nBrutus.  Others say that the contention was raised between them\nby Caesar's doing, who had privately given each of them such\nhopes of his favor as led them on, and provoked them at last\ninto this open competition and trial of their interest.  Brutus\nhad only the reputation of his honor and virtue to oppose to the\nmany and gallant actions performed by Cassius against the\nParthians.  But Caesar, having heard each side, and deliberating\nabout the matter among his friends, said, \"Cassius has the\nstronger plea, but we must let Brutus be first praetor.\"  So\nanother praetorship was given to Cassius; the gaining of which\ncould not so much oblige him, as he was incensed for the loss of\nthe other.  And in all other things Brutus was partaker of\nCaesar's power as much as he desired; for he might, if he had\npleased, have been the chief of all his friends, and had\nauthority and command beyond them all, but Cassius and the\ncompany he met with him drew him off from Caesar.  Indeed, he\nwas not yet wholly reconciled to Cassius, since that competition\nwhich was between them; but yet he gave ear to Cassius's\nfriends, who were perpetually advising him not to be so blind as\nto suffer himself to be softened and won upon by Caesar, but to\nshun the kindness and favors of a tyrant, which they intimated\nthat Caesar showed him, not to express any honor to his merit or\nvirtue, but to unbend his strength, and undermine his vigor of\npurpose.\n\nNeither was Caesar wholly without suspicion of him nor wanted\ninformers that accused Brutus to him; but he feared, indeed, the\nhigh spirit and the great character and the friends that he had,\nbut thought himself secure in his moral disposition.  When it\nwas told him that Antony and Dolabella designed some\ndisturbance, \"It is not,\" said he, \"the fat and the long-haired\nmen that I fear, but the pale and the lean,\" meaning Brutus and\nCassius.  And when some maligned Brutus to him, and advised him\nto beware of him, taking hold of his flesh with his hand,\n\"What,\" he said, \"do you think that Brutus will not wait out the\ntime of this little body?\"  as if he thought none so fit to\nsucceed him in his power as Brutus.  And indeed it seems to be\nwithout doubt that Brutus might have been the first man in the\ncommonwealth, if he had had patience but a little time to be\nsecond to Caesar, and would have suffered his power to decline\nafter it was come to its highest pitch, and the fame of his\ngreat actions to die away by degrees.  But Cassius, a man of a\nfierce disposition, and one that out of private malice, rather\nthan love of the public, hated Caesar, not the tyrant,\ncontinually fired and stirred him up.  Brutus felt the rule an\noppression, but Cassius hated the ruler; and, among other\nreasons on which he grounded his quarrel against Caesar, the\nloss of his lions which he had procured when he was aedile elect\nwas one: for Caesar, finding these in Megara, when that city was\ntaken by Calenus, seized them to himself.  These beasts, they\nsay, were a great calamity to the Megarians; for, when their\ncity was just taken, they broke open the lions' dens, and pulled\noff their chains and let them loose, that they might run upon\nthe enemy that was entering the city; but the lions turned upon\nthem themselves, and tore to pieces a great many unarmed persons\nrunning about, so that it was a miserable spectacle even to\ntheir enemies to behold.\n\nAnd this, some say, was the chief provocation that stirred up\nCassius to conspire against Caesar; but they are much in the\nwrong.  For Cassius had from his youth a natural hatred and\nrancor against the whole race of tyrants, which he showed when\nhe was but a boy, and went to the same school with Faustus, the\nson of Sylla; for, on his boasting himself amongst the boys, and\nextolling the sovereign power of his father, Cassius rose up and\nstruck him two or three boxes on the ear; which when the\nguardians and relations of Faustus designed to inquire into and\nto prosecute, Pompey forbade them, and, sending for both the\nboys together, examined the matter himself.  And Cassius then is\nreported to have said thus, \"Come, then, Faustus, dare to speak\nhere those words that provoked me, that I may strike you again\nas I did before.\"  Such was the disposition of Cassius.\n\nBut Brutus was roused up and pushed on to the undertaking by\nmany persuasions of his familiar friends, and letters and\ninvitations from unknown citizens.  For under the statue of his\nancestor Brutus, that overthrew the kingly government, they\nwrote the words, \"O that we had a Brutus now!\"  and, \"O that\nBrutus were alive!\"  And Brutus's own tribunal, on which he sat\nas praetor, was filled each morning with writings such as these:\n\"You are asleep, Brutus,\" and, \"You are not a true Brutus.\"  Now\nthe flatterers of Caesar were the occasion of all this, who,\namong other invidious honors which they strove to fasten upon\nCaesar, crowned his statues by night with diadems, wishing to\nincite the people to salute him king instead of dictator.  But\nquite the contrary came to pass, as I have more particularly\nrelated in the life of Caesar.\n\nWhen Cassius went about soliciting friends to engage in this\ndesign against Caesar, all whom he tried readily consented, if\nBrutus would be head of it; for their opinion was that the\nenterprise wanted not hands or resolution, but the reputation\nand authority of a man such as he was, to give as it were the\nfirst religious sanction, and by his presence, if by nothing\nelse, to justify the undertaking; that without him they should\ngo about this action with less heart, and should lie under\ngreater suspicions when they had done it, for, if their cause\nhad been just and honorable, people would be sure that Brutus\nwould not have refused it.  Cassius, having considered these\nthings with himself, went to Brutus, and made him the first\nvisit after their falling out; and after the compliments of\nreconciliation had passed, and former kindnesses were renewed\nbetween them, he asked him if he designed to be present in the\nsenate on the Calends of March, for it was discoursed, he said,\nthat Caesar's friends intended then to move that he might be\nmade king.  When Brutus answered, that he would not be there,\n\"But what,\" says Cassius, \"if they should send for us?\"  \"It\nwill be my business then,\" replied Brutus, \"not to hold my\npeace, but to stand up boldly, and die for the liberty of my\ncountry.\"  To which Cassius with some emotion answered, \"But\nwhat Roman will suffer you to die?  What, do you not know\nyourself, Brutus?  Or do you think that those writings that you\nfind upon your praetor's seat were put there by weavers and\nshopkeepers, and not by the first and most powerful men of Rome?\nFrom other praetors, indeed, they expect largesses and shows and\ngladiators, but from you they claim, as an hereditary debt, the\nextirpation of tyranny; they are all ready to suffer anything\non your account, if you will but show yourself such as they\nthink you are and expect you should be.\"  Which said, he fell\nupon Brutus, and embraced him; and after this, they parted each\nto try their several friends.\n\nAmong the friends of Pompey there was one Caius Ligarius, whom\nCaesar had pardoned, though accused for having been in arms\nagainst him.  This man, not feeling so thankful for having been\nforgiven as he felt oppressed by that power which made him need\na pardon, hated Caesar, and was one of Brutus's most intimate\nfriends.  Him Brutus visited, and, finding him sick, \"O\nLigarius,\" says he, \"what a time have you found out to be sick\nin!\"  At which words Ligarius, raising himself and leaning on\nhis elbow, took Brutus by the hand, and said, \"But, O Brutus, if\nyou are on any design worthy of yourself, I am well.\"\n\nFrom this time, they tried the inclinations of all their\nacquaintance that they durst trust, and communicated the secret\nto them, and took into the design not only their familiar\nfriends, but as many as they believed bold and brave and\ndespisers of death.  For which reason they concealed the plot\nfrom Cicero, though he was very much trusted and as well beloved\nby them all, lest, to his own disposition, which was naturally\ntimorous, adding now the wariness and caution of old age, by his\nweighing, as he would do, every particular, that he might not\nmake one step without the greatest security, he should blunt the\nedge of their forwardness and resolution in a business which\nrequired all the dispatch imaginable.  As indeed there were also\ntwo others that were companions of Brutus, Statilius the\nEpicurean, and Favonius the admirer of Cato, whom he left out\nfor this reason: as he was conversing one day with them, trying\nthem at a distance, and proposing some such question to be\ndisputed of as among philosophers, to see what opinion they were\nof, Favonius declared his judgment to be that a civil war was\nworse than the most illegal monarchy; and Statilius held, that,\nto bring himself into troubles and danger upon the account of\nevil or foolish men, did not become a man that had any wisdom or\ndiscretion.  But Labeo, who was present, contradicted them both;\nand Brutus, as if it had been an intricate dispute, and\ndifficult to be decided, held his peace for that time, but\nafterwards discovered the whole design to Labeo, who readily\nundertook it.  The next thing that was thought convenient, was to\ngain the other Brutus, surnamed Albinus, a man of himself of no\ngreat bravery or courage, but considerable for the number of\ngladiators that he was maintaining for a public show, and the\ngreat confidence that Caesar put in him.  When Cassius and Labeo\nspoke with him concerning the matter, he gave them no answer;\nbut, seeking an interview with Brutus himself alone, and finding\nthat he was their captain, he readily consented to partake in\nthe action.  And among the others, also, the most and best were\ngained by the name of Brutus.  And, though they neither gave nor\ntook any oath of secrecy, nor used any other sacred rite to\nassure their fidelity to each other, yet all kept their design\nso close, were so wary, and held it so silently among\nthemselves, that, though by prophecies and apparitions and signs\nin the sacrifices the gods gave warning of it, yet could it not\nbe believed.\n\nNow Brutus, feeling that the noblest spirits of Rome for virtue,\nbirth, or courage were depending upon him, and surveying with\nhimself all the circumstances of the dangers they were to\nencounter, strove indeed as much as possible, when abroad, to\nkeep his uneasiness of mind to himself, and to compose his\nthoughts; but at home, and especially at night, he was not the\nsame man, but sometimes against his will his working care would\nmake him start out of his sleep, and other times he was taken up\nwith further reflection and consideration of his difficulties,\nso that his wife that lay with him could not choose but take\nnotice that he was full of unusual trouble, and had in agitation\nsome dangerous and perplexing question.  Porcia, as was said\nbefore, was the daughter of Cato, and Brutus, her cousin-german,\nhad married her very young, though not a maid, but after the\ndeath of her former husband, by whom she had one son, that was\nnamed Bibulus; and there is a little book, called Memoirs of\nBrutus, written by him, yet extant.  This Porcia, being addicted\nto philosophy, a great lover of her husband, and full of an\nunderstanding courage, resolved not to inquire into Brutus's\nsecrets before she had made this trial of herself.  She turned\nall her attendants out of her chamber, and, taking a little\nknife, such as they use to cut nails with, she gave herself a\ndeep gash in the thigh; upon which followed a great flow of\nblood, and, soon after, violent pains and a shivering fever,\noccasioned by the wound.  Now when Brutus was extremely anxious\nand afflicted for her, she, in the height of all her pain, spoke\nthus to him: \"I, Brutus, being the daughter of Cato, was given\nto you in marriage, not like a concubine, to partake only in the\ncommon intercourse of bed and board, but to bear a part in all\nyour good and all your evil fortunes; and for your part, as\nregards your care for me, I find no reason to complain; but from\nme, what evidence of my love, what satisfaction can you receive,\nif I may not share with you in bearing your hidden griefs, nor\nbe admitted to any of your counsels that require secrecy and\ntrust?  I know very well that women seem to be of too weak a\nnature to be trusted with secrets; but certainly, Brutus, a\nvirtuous birth and education, and the company of the good and\nhonorable, are of some force to the forming our manners; and I\ncan boast that I am the daughter of Cato and the wife of Brutus,\nin which two titles though before I put less confidence, yet now\nI have tried myself, and find that I can bid defiance to pain.\"\nWhich words having spoken, she showed him her wound, and related\nto him the trial that she had made of her constancy; at which he\nbeing astonished, lifted up his hands to heaven, and begged the\nassistance of the gods in his enterprise, that he might show\nhimself a husband worthy of such a wife as Porcia.  So then he\ncomforted his wife.\n\nBut a meeting of the senate being appointed, at which it was\nbelieved that Caesar would be present, they agreed to make use\nof that opportunity: for then they might appear all together\nwithout suspicion; and, besides, they hoped that all the noblest\nand leading men of the commonwealth, being then assembled, as\nsoon as the great deed was done, would immediately stand\nforward, and assert the common liberty.  The very place, too,\nwhere the senate was to meet, seemed to be by divine appointment\nfavorable to their purpose.  It was a portico, one of those\njoining the theater, with a large recess, in which there stood\na statue of Pompey, erected to him by the commonwealth, when he\nadorned that part of the city with the porticos and the theater.\nTo this place it was that the senate was summoned for the middle\nof March (the Ides of March is the Roman name for the day); as\nif some more than human power were leading the man thither,\nthere to meet his punishment for the death of Pompey.\n\nAs soon as it was day, Brutus, taking with him a dagger, which\nnone but his wife knew of, went out.  The rest met together at\nCassius's house, and brought forth his son, that was that day to\nput on the manly gown, as it is called, into the forum; and from\nthence, going all to Pompey's porch, stayed there, expecting\nCaesar to come without delay to the senate.  Here it was chiefly\nthat anyone who had known what they had purposed, would have\nadmired the unconcerned temper and the steady resolution of\nthese men in their most dangerous undertaking; for many of them,\nbeing praetors, and called upon by their office to judge and\ndetermine causes, did not only hear calmly all that made\napplication to them and pleaded against each other before them,\nas if they were free from all other thoughts, but decided causes\nwith as much accuracy and judgment as they had heard them with\nattention and patience.  And when one person refused to stand to\nthe award of Brutus, and with great clamor and many attestations\nappealed to Caesar, Brutus, looking round about him upon those\nthat were present, said, \"Caesar does not hinder me, nor will he\nhinder me, from doing according to the laws.\"\n\nYet there were many unusual accidents that disturbed them and by\nmere chance were thrown in their way.  The first and chiefest\nwas the long stay of Caesar, though the day was far spent, and\nhis being detained at home by his wife, and forbidden by the\nsoothsayers to go forth, upon some defect that appeared in his\nsacrifice.  Another was this: There came a man up to Casca, one\nof the company, and, taking him by the hand, \"You concealed,\"\nsaid he, \"the secret from us, but Brutus has told me all.\"  At\nwhich words when Casca was surprised, the other said laughing,\n\"How come you to be so rich of a sudden, that you should stand\nto be chosen aedile?\"  So near was Casca to let out the secret,\nupon the mere ambiguity of the other's expression.  Then\nPopilius Laenas, a senator, having saluted Brutus and Cassius\nmore earnestly than usual, whispered them softly in the ear and\nsaid, \"My wishes are with you, that you may accomplish what you\ndesign, and I advise you to make no delay, for the thing is now\nno secret.\"  This said, he departed, and left them in great\nsuspicion that the design had taken wind.  In the meanwhile,\nthere came one in all haste from Brutus's house, and brought him\nnews that his wife was dying.  For Porcia, being extremely\ndisturbed with expectation of the event, and not able to bear\nthe greatness of her anxiety, could scarce keep herself within\ndoors; and at every little noise or voice she heard, starting up\nsuddenly, like those possessed with the bacchic frenzy, she\nasked everyone that came in from the forum what Brutus was\ndoing, and sent one messenger after another to inquire.  At\nlast, after long expectation, the strength of her body could\nhold out no longer; her mind was overcome with her doubts and\nfears, and she lost the control of herself, and began to faint\naway.  She had not time to betake herself to her chamber, but,\nsitting as she was amongst her women, a sudden swoon and a great\nstupor seized her, and her color changed, and her speech was\nquite lost.  At this sight, her women made a loud cry, and many\nof the neighbors running to Brutus's door to know what was the\nmatter, the report was soon spread abroad that Porcia was dead;\nthough with her women's help she recovered in a little while,\nand came to herself again.  When Brutus received this news, he\nwas extremely troubled, nor without reason, yet was not so\ncarried away by his private grief as to quit his public purpose.\n\nFor now news was brought that Caesar was coming, carried in a\nlitter.  For, being discouraged by the ill omens that attended\nhis sacrifice, he had determined to undertake no affairs of any\ngreat importance that day, but to defer them till another time,\nexcusing himself that he was sick.  As soon as he came out of\nhis litter, Popilius Laenas, he who but a little before had\nwished Brutus good success in his undertaking, coming up to him,\nconversed a great while with him, Caesar standing still all the\nwhile, and seeming to be very attentive.  The conspirators, (to\ngive them this name,) not being able to hear what he said, but\nguessing by what themselves were conscious of that this\nconference was the discovery of their treason, were again\ndisheartened, and, looking upon one another, agreed from each\nother's countenances that they should not stay to be taken, but\nshould all kill themselves.  And now when Cassius and some\nothers were laying hands upon their daggers under their robes,\nand were drawing them out, Brutus, viewing narrowly the looks\nand gesture of Laenas, and finding that he was earnestly\npetitioning and not accusing, said nothing, because there were\nmany strangers to the conspiracy mingled amongst them, but by a\ncheerful countenance encouraged Cassius.  And after a little\nwhile, Laenas, having kissed Caesar's hand, went away, showing\nplainly that all his discourse was about some particular\nbusiness relating to himself.\n\nNow when the senate was gone in before to the chamber where they\nwere to sit, the rest of the company placed themselves close\nabout Caesar's chair, as if they had some suit to make to him,\nand Cassius, turning his face to Pompey's statue, is said to\nhave invoked it, as if it had been sensible of his prayers.\nTrebonius, in the meanwhile, engaged Antony's attention at the\ndoor, and kept him in talk outside.  When Caesar entered, the\nwhole senate rose up to him.  As soon as he was set down, the\nmen all crowded round about him, and set Tillius Cimber, one of\ntheir own number, to intercede in behalf of his brother, that\nwas banished; they all joined their prayers with his, and took\nCaesar by the hand, and kissed his head and his breast.  But he\nputting aside at first their supplications, and afterwards, when\nhe saw they would not desist, violently rising up, Tillius with\nboth hands caught hold of his robe and pulled it off from his\nshoulders, and Casca, that stood behind him, drawing his dagger,\ngave him the first, but a slight wound, about the shoulder.\nCaesar snatching hold of the handle of the dagger, and crying\nout aloud in Latin, \"Villain Casca, what do you?\"  he, calling\nin Greek to his brother, bade him come and help.  And by this\ntime, finding himself struck by a great many hands, and looking\nround about him to see if he could force his way out, when he\nsaw Brutus with his dagger drawn against him, he let go Casca's\nhand, that he had hold of, and, covering his head with his robe,\ngave up his body to their blows.  And they so eagerly pressed\ntowards the body, and so many daggers were hacking together,\nthat they cut one another; Brutus, particularly, received a\nwound in his hand, and all of them were besmeared with the\nblood.\n\nCaesar being thus slain, Brutus, stepping forth into the midst,\nintended to have made a speech, and called back and encouraged\nthe senators to stay; but they all affrighted ran away in great\ndisorder, and there was a great confusion and press at the door,\nthough none pursued or followed.  For they had come to an\nexpress resolution to kill nobody besides Caesar, but to call\nand invite all the rest to liberty.  It was indeed the opinion\nof all the others, when they consulted about the execution of\ntheir design, that it was necessary to cut off Antony with\nCaesar, looking upon him as an insolent man, an affecter of\nmonarchy, and one that, by his familiar intercourse, had gained\na powerful interest with the soldiers.  And this they urged the\nrather, because at that time to the natural loftiness and\nambition of his temper there was added the dignity of being\nconsul and colleague to Caesar.  But Brutus opposed this\ncounsel, insisting first upon the injustice of it, and\nafterwards giving them hopes that a change might be worked in\nAntony.  For he did not despair but that so highly gifted and\nhonorable a man, and such a lover of glory as Antony, stirred up\nwith emulation of their great attempt, might, if Caesar were\nonce removed, lay hold of the occasion to be joint restorer with\nthem of the liberty of his country.  Thus did Brutus save\nAntony's life.  But he, in the general consternation, put\nhimself into a plebeian habit, and fled.  But Brutus and his\nparty marched up to the capitol, in their way showing their\nhands all bloody, and their naked swords, and proclaiming\nliberty to the people.  At first all places were filled with\ncries and shouts; and the wild running to and fro, occasioned by\nthe sudden surprise and passion that everyone was in, increased\nthe tumult in the city.  But no other bloodshed following, and\nno plundering of the goods in the streets, the senators and many\nof the people took courage and went up to the men in the\ncapitol; and, a multitude being gathered together, Brutus made\nan oration to them, very popular, and proper for the state that\naffairs were then in.  Therefore, when they applauded his\nspeech, and cried out to him to come down, they all took\nconfidence and descended into the forum; the rest promiscuously\nmingled with one another, but many of the most eminent persons,\nattending Brutus, conducted him in the midst of them with great\nhonor from the capitol, and placed him in the rostra.  At the\nsight of Brutus, the crowd, though consisting of a confused\nmixture and all disposed to make a tumult, were struck with\nreverence, and expected what he would say with order and with\nsilence, and, when he began to speak, heard him with quiet and\nattention.  But that all were not pleased with this action they\nplainly showed when, Cinna beginning to speak and accuse Caesar,\nthey broke out into a sudden rage, and railed at him in such\nlanguage, that the whole party thought fit again to withdraw to\nthe capitol.  And there Brutus, expecting to be besieged,\ndismissed the most eminent of those that had accompanied them\nthither, not thinking it just that they who were not partakers\nof the fact should share in the danger.\n\nBut the next day, the senate being assembled in the temple of\nthe Earth, and Antony and Plancus and Cicero having made\norations recommending concord in general and an act of oblivion,\nit was decreed, that the men should not only be put out of all\nfear or danger, but that the consuls should see what honors and\ndignities were proper to be conferred upon them.  After which\ndone, the senate broke up; and, Antony having sent his son as an\nhostage to the capitol, Brutus and his company came down, and\nmutual salutes and invitations passed amongst them, the whole of\nthem being gathered together.  Antony invited and entertained\nCassius, Lepidus did the same to Brutus, and the rest were\ninvited and entertained by others, as each of them had\nacquaintance or friends.  And as soon as it was day, the senate\nmet again and voted thanks to Antony for having stifled the\nbeginning of a civil war; afterwards Brutus and his associates\nthat were present received encomiums, and had provinces assigned\nand distributed among them.  Crete was allotted to Brutus,\nAfrica to Cassius, Asia to Trebonius, Bithynia to Cimber, and to\nthe other Brutus Gaul about the Po.\n\nAfter these things, they began to consider of Caesar's will, and\nthe ordering of his funeral.  Antony desired that the will might\nbe read, and that the body should not have a private or\ndishonorable interment, lest that should further exasperate the\npeople.  This Cassius violently opposed, but Brutus yielded to\nit, and gave leave; in which he seems to have a second time\ncommitted a fault.  For as before in sparing the life of Antony\nhe could not be without some blame from his party, as thereby\nsetting up against the conspiracy a dangerous and difficult\nenemy, so now, in suffering him to have the ordering of the\nfuneral, he fell into a total and irrecoverable error.  For\nfirst, it appearing by the will that Caesar had bequeathed to\nthe Roman people seventy-five drachmas a man, and given to the\npublic his gardens beyond Tiber (where now the temple of Fortune\nstands), the whole city was fired with a wonderful affection for\nhim, and a passionate sense of the loss of him.  And when the\nbody was brought forth into the forum, Antony, as the custom\nwas, making a funeral oration in the praise of Caesar, and\nfinding the multitude moved with his speech, passing into the\npathetic tone, unfolded the bloody garment of Caesar, showed\nthem in how many places it was pierced, and the number of his\nwounds.  Now there was nothing to be seen but confusion; some\ncried out to kill the murderers, others (as was formerly done\nwhen Clodius led the people) tore away the benches and tables\nout of the shops round about, and, heaping them all together,\nbuilt a great funeral pile, and, having put the body of Caesar\nupon it, set it on fire, the spot where this was done being\nmoreover surrounded with a great many temples and other\nconsecrated places, so that they seemed to burn the body in a\nkind of sacred solemnity.  As soon as the fire flamed out, the\nmultitude, flocking in some from one part and some from another,\nsnatched the brands that were half burnt out of the pile, and\nran about the city to fire the houses of the murderers of\nCaesar.  But they, having beforehand well fortified themselves,\nrepelled this danger.\n\nThere was however a kind of poet, one Cinna, not at all\nconcerned in the guilt of the conspiracy, but on the contrary\none of Caesar's friends.  This man dreamed that he was invited\nto supper by Caesar, and that he declined to go, but that Caesar\nentreated and pressed him to it very earnestly; and at last,\ntaking him by the hand, led him into a very deep and dark place,\nwhither he was forced against his will to follow in great\nconsternation and amazement.  After this vision, he had a fever\nthe most part of the night; nevertheless in the morning, hearing\nthat the body of Caesar was to be carried forth to be interred,\nhe was ashamed not to be present at the solemnity, and came\nabroad and joined the people, when they were already infuriated\nby the speech of Antony.  And perceiving him, and taking him not\nfor that Cinna who indeed he was, but for him that a little\nbefore in a speech to the people had reproached and inveighed\nagainst Caesar, they fell upon him and tore him to pieces.\n\nThis action chiefly, and the alteration that Antony had wrought,\nso alarmed Brutus and his party, that for their safety they\nretired from the city.  The first stay they made was at Antium,\nwith a design to return again as soon as the fury of the people\nhad spent itself and was abated, which they expected would soon\nand easily come to pass in an unsettled multitude, apt to be\ncarried away with any sudden and impetuous passion, especially\nsince they had the senate favorable to them; which, though it\ntook no notice of those that had torn Cinna to pieces, yet made\na strict search and apprehended in order to punishment those\nthat had assaulted the houses of the friends of Brutus and\nCassius.  By this time, also, the people began to be\ndissatisfied with Antony, who they perceived was setting up a\nkind of monarchy for himself; they longed for the return of\nBrutus, whose presence they expected and hoped for at the games\nand spectacles which he, as praetor, was to exhibit to the\npublic.  But he, having intelligence that many of the old\nsoldiers that had borne arms under Caesar, by whom they had had\nlands and cities given them, lay in wait for him, and by small\nparties at a time had stolen into the city, would not venture to\ncome himself; however, in his absence there were most\nmagnificent and costly shows exhibited to the people; for,\nhaving bought up a great number of all sorts of wild beasts, he\ngave order that not any of them should be returned or saved, but\nthat all should be spent freely at the public spectacles.  He\nhimself made a journey to Naples to procure a considerable\nnumber of players, and hearing of one Canutius, that was very\nmuch praised for his acting upon the stage, he wrote to his\nfriends to use all their entreaties to bring him to Rome (for,\nbeing a Grecian, he could not be compelled); he wrote also to\nCicero, begging him by no means to omit being present at the\nshows.\n\nThis was the posture of affairs when another sudden alteration\nwas made upon the young Caesar's coming to Rome.  He was son to\nthe niece of Caesar, who adopted him, and left him his heir by\nhis will.  At the time when Caesar was killed, he was following\nhis studies at Apollonia, where he was expecting also to meet\nCaesar on his way to the expedition which he had determined on\nagainst the Parthians; but, hearing of his death, he immediately\ncame to Rome, and, to ingratiate himself with the people, taking\nupon himself the name of Caesar, and punctually distributing\namong the citizens the money that was left them by the will, he\nsoon got the better of Antony; and by money and largesses, which\nhe liberally dispersed amongst the soldiers, he gathered\ntogether and brought over to his party a great number of those\nthat had served under Caesar.  Cicero himself, out of the hatred\nwhich he bore to Antony, sided with young Caesar; which Brutus\ntook so ill that he treated with him very sharply in his\nletters, telling him, that he perceived Cicero could well enough\nendure a tyrant, but was afraid that he who hated him should be\nthe man; that in writing and speaking so well of Caesar, he\nshowed that his aim was to have an easy slavery.  \"But our\nforefathers,\" said Brutus, \"could not brook even gentle\nmasters.\"  Further he added, that for his own part he had not as\nyet fully resolved whether he should make war or peace; but that\nas to one point he was fixed and settled, which was, never to be\na slave; that he wondered Cicero should fear the dangers of a\ncivil war, and not be much more afraid of a dishonorable and\ninfamous peace; that the very reward that was to be given him\nfor subverting Antony's tyranny was the privilege of\nestablishing Caesar as tyrant in his place.  This is the tone of\nBrutus's first letters to Cicero.\n\nThe city being now divided into two factions, some betaking\nthemselves to Caesar and others to Antony, the soldiers selling\nthemselves, as it were, by public outcry, and going over to him\nthat would give them most, Brutus began to despair of any good\nevent of such proceedings, and, resolving to leave Italy, passed\nby land through Lucania and came to Elea by the seaside.  From\nhence it was thought convenient that Porcia should return to\nRome.  She was overcome with grief to part from Brutus, but\nstrove as much as was possible to conceal it; but, in spite of\nall her constancy, a picture which she found there accidentally\nbetrayed it.  It was a Greek subject, Hector parting from\nAndromache when he went to engage the Greeks, giving his young\nson Astyanax into her arms, and she fixing her eyes upon him.\nWhen she looked at this piece, the resemblance it bore to her\nown condition made her burst into tears, and several times a day\nshe went to see the picture, and wept before it.  Upon this\noccasion, when Acilius, one of Brutus's friends, repeated out of\nHomer the verses, where Andromache speaks to Hector: --\n\nBut Hector, you\nTo me are father and are mother too,\nMy brother, and my loving husband true.\n\nBrutus, smiling, replied, \"But I must not answer Porcia, as\nHector did Andromache,\n\n'Mind you your loom, and to your maids give law.'\n\nFor though the natural weakness of her body hinders her from\ndoing what only the strength of men can perform, yet she has a\nmind as valiant and as active for the good of her country as the\nbest of us.\"  This narrative is in the memoirs of Brutus written\nby Bibulus, Porcia's son.\n\nBrutus took ship from hence, and sailed to Athens where he was\nreceived by the people with great demonstrations of kindness,\nexpressed in their acclamations and the honors that were decreed\nhim.  He lived there with a private friend, and was a constant\nauditor of Theomnestus the Academic and Cratippus the\nPeripatetic, with whom he so engaged in philosophical pursuits,\nthat he seemed to have laid aside all thoughts of public\nbusiness, and to be wholly at leisure for study.  But all this\nwhile, being unsuspected, he was secretly making preparation for\nwar; in order to which he sent Herostratus into Macedonia to\nsecure the commanders there to his side, and he himself won over\nand kept at his disposal all the young Romans that were then\nstudents at Athens.  Of this number was Cicero's son, whom he\neverywhere highly extols, and says that whether sleeping or\nwaking he could not choose but admire a young man of so great a\nspirit and such a hater of tyranny.\n\nAt length he began to act openly, and to appear in public\nbusiness, and, being informed that there were several Roman\nships full of treasure that in their course from Asia were to\ncome that way, and that they were commanded by one of his\nfriends, he went to meet him about Carystus.  Finding him there,\nand having persuaded him to deliver up the ships, he made a more\nthan usually splendid entertainment, for it happened also to be\nhis birthday.  Now when they came to drink, and were filling\ntheir cups with hopes for victory to Brutus and liberty to Rome,\nBrutus, to animate them the more, called for a larger bowl, and\nholding it in his hand, on a sudden upon no occasion or\nforethought pronounced aloud this verse: --\n\nBut fate my death and Leto's son have wrought.\n\nAnd some writers add that in the last battle which he fought at\nPhilippi the word that he gave to his soldiers was Apollo, and\nfrom thence conclude that this sudden unaccountable exclamation\nof his was a presage of the overthrow that he suffered there.\n\nAntistius, the commander of these ships, at his parting gave him\nfifty thousand myriads of the money that he was conveying to\nItaly; and all the soldiers yet remaining of Pompey's army, who\nafter their general's defeat wandered about Thessaly, readily\nand joyfully flocked together to join him.  Besides this, he\ntook from Cinna five hundred horse that he was carrying to\nDolabella into Asia.  After that, he sailed to Demetrias, and\nthere seized a great quantity of arms, that had been provided by\nthe command of the deceased Caesar for the Parthian war, and\nwere now to be sent to Antony.  Then Macedonia was put into his\nhands and delivered up by Hortensius the praetor, and all the\nkings and potentates round about came and offered their\nservices.  So when news was brought that Caius, the brother of\nAntony, having passed over from Italy, was marching on directly\nto join the forces that Vatinius commanded in Dyrrhachium and\nApollonia, Brutus resolved to anticipate him, and to seize them\nfirst, and in all haste moved forwards with those that he had\nabout him.  His march was very difficult, through rugged places\nand in a great snow, but so swift that he left those that were\nto bring his provisions for the morning meal a great way behind.\nAnd now, being very near to Dyrrhachium, with fatigue and cold\nhe fell into the distemper called Bulimia.  This is a disease\nthat seizes both men and cattle after much labor, and especially\nin a great snow; whether it is caused by the natural heat, when\nthe body is seized with cold, being forced all inwards, and\nconsuming at once all the nourishment laid in, or whether the\nsharp and subtle vapor which comes from the snow as it\ndissolves, cuts the body, as it were, and destroys the heat\nwhich issues through the pores; for the sweatings seem to arise\nfrom the heat meeting with the cold, and being quenched by it on\nthe surface of the body.  But this I have in another place\ndiscussed more at large.\n\nBrutus growing very faint, and there being none in the whole\narmy that had anything for him to eat, his servants were forced\nto have recourse to the enemy, and, going as far as to the gates\nof the city, begged bread of the sentinels that were upon duty.\nAs soon as they heard of the condition of Brutus, they came\nthemselves, and brought both meat and drink along with them; in\nreturn for which, Brutus, when he took the city, showed the\ngreatest kindness, not to them only, but to all the inhabitants,\nfor their sakes.  Caius Antonius, in the meantime, coming to\nApollonia, summoned all the soldiers that were near that city to\njoin him there; but finding that they nevertheless went all to\nBrutus, and suspecting that even those of Apollonia were\ninclined to the same party, he quitted that city, and came to\nButhrotum, having first lost three cohorts of his men, that in\ntheir march thither were cut to pieces by Brutus.  After this,\nattempting to make himself master of some strong places about\nByllis which the enemy had first seized, he was overcome in a\nset battle by young Cicero, to whom Brutus gave the command, and\nwhose conduct he made use of often and with much success.  Caius\nhimself was surprised in a marshy place, at a distance from his\nsupports; and Brutus, having him in his power, would not suffer\nhis soldiers to attack, but maneuvering about the enemy with his\nhorse, gave command that none of them should be killed, for that\nin a little time they would all be of his side; which\naccordingly came to pass, for they surrendered both themselves\nand their general.  So that Brutus had by this time a very great\nand considerable army.  He showed all marks of honor and esteem\nto Caius for a long time, and left him the use of the ensigns of\nhis office, though, as some report, he had several letters from\nRome, and particularly from Cicero, advising him to put him to\ndeath.  But at last, perceiving that he began to corrupt his\nofficers, and was trying to raise a mutiny amongst the soldiers,\nhe put him aboard a ship and kept him close prisoner.  In the\nmeantime the soldiers that had been corrupted by Caius retired\nto Apollonia, and sent word to Brutus, desiring him to come to\nthem thither.  He answered that this was not the custom of the\nRomans, but that it became those who had offended to come\nthemselves to their general and beg forgiveness of their\noffences; which they did, and accordingly received their pardon.\n\nAs he was preparing to pass into Asia, tidings reached him of\nthe alteration that had happened at Rome; where the young\nCaesar, assisted by the senate, in opposition to Antony, and\nhaving driven his competitor out of Italy, had begun himself to\nbe very formidable, suing for the consulship contrary to law,\nand maintaining large bodies of troops of which the commonwealth\nhad no manner of need.  And then, perceiving that the senate,\ndissatisfied with his proceedings, began to cast their eyes\nabroad upon Brutus, and decreed and confirmed the government of\nseveral provinces to him, he had taken the alarm.  Therefore\ndispatching messengers to Antony, he desired that there might be\na reconciliation, and a friendship between them.  Then, drawing\nall his forces about the city, he made himself be chosen consul,\nthough he was but a boy, being scarce twenty years old, as he\nhimself writes in his memoirs.  At his first entry upon the\nconsulship he immediately ordered a judicial process to be\nissued out against Brutus and his accomplices for having\nmurdered a principal man of the city, holding the highest\nmagistracies of Rome, without being heard or condemned; and\nappointed Lucius Cornificius to accuse Brutus, and Marcus\nAgrippa to accuse Cassius.  None appearing to the accusation,\nthe judges were forced to pass sentence and condemn them both.\nIt is reported, that when the crier from the tribunal, as the\ncustom was, with a loud voice cited Brutus to appear, the people\ngroaned audibly, and the noble citizens hung down their heads\nfor grief.  Publius Silicius was seen to burst out into tears,\nwhich was the cause that not long after he was put down in the\nlist of those that were proscribed.  After this, the three men,\nCaesar, Antony, and Lepidus, being perfectly reconciled, shared\nthe provinces among themselves, and made up the catalogue of\nproscription, wherein were set those that were designed for\nslaughter, amounting to two hundred men, in which number Cicero\nwas slain.\n\nThis news being brought to Brutus in Macedonia, he was under a\ncompulsion, and sent orders to Hortensius that he should kill\nCaius Antonius in revenge of the death of Cicero his friend, and\nBrutus his kinsman, who also was proscribed and slain.  Upon\nthis account it was that Antony, having afterwards taken\nHortensius in the battle of Philippi, slew him upon his\nbrother's tomb.  But Brutus expresses himself as more ashamed\nfor the cause of Cicero's death than grieved for the misfortune\nof it, and says he cannot help accusing his friends at Rome,\nthat they were slaves more through their own doing than that of\nthose who now were their tyrants; they could be present and see\nand yet suffer those things which even to hear related ought to\nthem to have been insufferable.\n\nHaving made his army, that was already very considerable, pass\ninto Asia, he ordered a fleet to be prepared in Bithynia and\nabout Cyzicus.  But going himself through the country by land,\nhe made it his business to settle and confirm all the cities,\nand gave audience to the princes of the parts through which he\npassed.  And he sent orders into Syria to Cassius to come to\nhim, and leave his intended journey into Egypt; letting him\nunderstand, that it was not to gain an empire for themselves,\nbut to free their country, that they went thus wandering about\nand had got an army together whose business it was to destroy\nthe tyrants; that therefore, if they remembered and resolved to\npersevere in their first purpose, they ought not to be too far\nfrom Italy, but make what haste they could thither, and endeavor\nto relieve their fellow-citizens from oppression.\n\nCassius obeyed his summons, and returned, and Brutus went to\nmeet him; and at Smyrna they met, which was the first time they\nhad seen one another since they parted at the Piraeus in Athens,\none for Syria, and the other for Macedonia.  They were both\nextremely joyful and had great confidence of their success at\nthe sight of the forces that each of them had got together,\nsince they who had fled from Italy, like the most despicable\nexiles, without money, without arms, without a ship or a soldier\nor a city to rely on, in a little time after had met together so\nwell furnished with shipping and money, and an army both of\nhorse and foot, that they were in a condition to contend for the\nempire of Rome.\n\nCassius was desirous to show no less respect and honor to Brutus\nthan Brutus did to him; but Brutus was still beforehand with\nhim, coming for the most part to him, both because he was the\nelder man, and of a weaker constitution than himself.  Men\ngenerally reckoned Cassius a very expert soldier, but of a harsh\nand angry nature, and one that desired to command rather by fear\nthan love; though, on the other side, among his familiar\nacquaintance he would easily give way to jesting, and play the\nbuffoon.  But Brutus, for his virtue, was esteemed by the\npeople, beloved by his friends, admired by the best men, and\nhated not by his enemies themselves.  For he was a man of a\nsingularly gentle nature, of a great spirit, insensible of the\npassions of anger or pleasure or covetousness; steady and\ninflexible to maintain his purpose for what he thought right and\nhonest.  And that which gained him the greatest affection and\nreputation was the entire faith in his intentions.  For it had\nnot ever been supposed that Pompey the Great himself, if he had\novercome Caesar, would have submitted his power to the laws,\ninstead of taking the management of the state upon himself,\nsoothing the people with the specious name of consul or\ndictator, or some other milder title than king.  And they were\nwell persuaded that Cassius, being a man governed by anger and\npassion and carried often, for his interest's sake, beyond the\nbounce of justice, endured all these hardships of war and travel\nand danger most assuredly to obtain dominion to himself, and not\nliberty to the people.  And as for the former disturbers of the\npeace of Rome, whether a Cinna, a Marius, or a Carbo, it is\nmanifest that they, having set their country as a stake for him\nthat should win, did almost own in express terms that they\nfought for empire.  But even the enemies of Brutus did not, they\ntell us, lay this accusation to his charge; nay, many heard\nAntony himself say that Brutus was the only man that conspired\nagainst Caesar out of a sense of the glory and the apparent\njustice of the action, but that all the rest rose up against the\nman himself, from private envy and malice of their own.  And it\nis plain by what he writes himself, that Brutus did not so\nmuch rely upon his forces, as upon his own virtue.  For thus he\nspeaks in a letter to Atticus, shortly before he was to engage\nwith the enemy: that his affairs were in the best state of\nfortune that he could wish; for that either he should overcome,\nand restore liberty to the people of Rome, or die, and be\nhimself out of the reach of slavery; that other things being\ncertain and beyond all hazard, one thing was yet in doubt,\nwhether they should live or die free men.  He adds further, that\nMark Antony had received a just punishment for his folly, who,\nwhen he might have been numbered with Brutus and Cassius and\nCato, would join himself to Octavius; that though they should\nnot now be both overcome, they soon would fight between them\nselves.  And in this he seems to have been no ill prophet.\n\nNow when they were at Smyrna, Brutus desired of Cassius that he\nmight have part of the great treasure that he had heaped up,\nbecause all his own was expended in furnishing out such a fleet\nof ships as was sufficient to keep the whole interior sea in\ntheir power.  But Cassius's friends dissuaded him from this;\n\"for,\" said they, \"it is not just that the money which you with\nso much parsimony keep and with so much envy have got, should be\ngiven to him to be disposed of in making himself popular, and\ngaining the favor of the soldiers.\"  Notwithstanding this,\nCassius gave him a third part of all that he had; and then they\nparted each to their several commands.  Cassius, having taken\nRhodes, behaved himself there with no clemency; though at his\nfirst entry, when some had called him lord and king, he\nanswered, that he was neither king nor lord, but the destroyer\nand punisher of a king and lord.  Brutus, on the other part,\nsent to the Lycians to demand from them a supply of money and\nmen; but Naucrates, their popular leader, persuaded the cities\nto resist, and they occupied several little mountains and hills,\nwith a design to hinder Brutus's passage.  Brutus at first sent\nout a party of horse, which, surprising them as they were\neating, killed six hundred of them; and afterwards, having taken\nall their small towns and villages round about, he set all his\nprisoners free without ransom, hoping to win the whole nation by\ngood-will.  But they continued obstinate, taking in anger what\nthey had suffered, and despising his goodness and humanity;\nuntil, having forced the most warlike of them into the city of\nXanthus, he besieged them there.  They endeavored to make their\nescape by swimming and diving through the river that flows by\nthe town, but were taken by nets let down for that purpose in\nthe channel, which had little bells at the top, which gave\npresent notice of any that were taken in them.  After that, they\nmade a sally in the night, and seizing several of the battering\nengines, set them on fire; but being perceived by the Romans,\nwere beaten back to their walls, and, there being a strong wind,\nit carried the flames to the battlements of the city with such\nfierceness, that several of the adjoining houses took fire.\nBrutus, fearing lest the whole city should be destroyed,\ncommanded his own soldiers to assist, and quench the fire.\n\nBut the Lycians were on a sudden possessed with a strange and\nincredible desperation; such a frenzy as cannot be better\nexpressed than by calling it a violent appetite to die, for both\nwomen and children, the bondmen and the free, those of all ages\nand of all conditions strove to force away the soldiers that\ncame in to their assistance, from the walls; and themselves\ngathering together reeds and wood, and whatever combustible\nmatter they found, spread the fire over the whole city, feeding\nit with whatever fuel they could, and by all possible means\nexciting its fury, so that the flame, having dispersed itself\nand encircled the whole city, blazed out in so terrible a\nmanner, that Brutus, being extremely afflicted at their\ncalamity, got on horseback and rode round the walls, earnestly\ndesirous to preserve the city, and, stretching forth his hands\nto the Xanthians, begged of them that they would spare\nthemselves and save their town.  Yet none regarded his\nentreaties, but by all manner of ways strove to destroy\nthemselves; not only men and women, but even boys and little\nchildren, with a hideous outcry, leaped, some into the fire,\nothers from the walls, others fell upon their parents' swords,\nbaring their throats and desiring to be struck.  After the\ndestruction of the city, there was found a woman who had hanged\nherself with her young child hanging from her neck, and the\ntorch in her hand, with which she had fired her own house.  It\nwas so tragical a sight, that Brutus could not endure to see it,\nbut wept at the very relation of it, and proclaimed a reward to\nany soldier that could save a Xanthian.  And it is said that one\nhundred and fifty only were found, to have their lives saved\nagainst their wills.  Thus the Xanthians, after a long space of\nyears, the fated period of their destruction having, as it were,\nrun its course, repeated by their desperate deed the former\ncalamity of their forefathers, who after the very same manner in\nthe Persian war had fired their city and destroyed themselves.\n\nBrutus, after this, finding the Patareans resolved to make\nresistance and hold out their city against him, was very\nunwilling to besiege it, and was in great perplexity lest the\nsame frenzy might seize them too.  But having in his power some\nof their women, who were his prisoners, he dismissed them all\nwithout any ransom; who, returning and giving an account to\ntheir husbands and fathers, who were of the greatest rank, what\nan excellent man Brutus was how temperate and how just,\npersuaded them to yield themselves and put their city into his\nhands.  From this time all the cities round about came into his\npower, submitting themselves to him, and found him good and\nmerciful even beyond their hopes.  For though Cassius at the\nsame time had compelled the Rhodians to bring in all the silver\nand gold that each of them privately was possessed of, by which\nhe raised a sum of eight thousand talents, and besides this had\ncondemned the public to pay the sum of five hundred talents\nmore, Brutus, not having taken above a hundred and fifty talents\nfrom the Lycians, and having done them no other manner of\ninjury, parted from thence with his army to go into Ionia.\n\nThrough the whole course of this expedition, Brutus did many\nmemorable acts of justice in dispensing rewards and punishments\nto such as had deserved either; but one in particular I will\nrelate, because he himself, and all the noblest Romans, were\ngratified with it above all the rest.  When Pompey the Great,\nbeing overthrown from his great power by Caesar, had fled to\nEgypt, and landed near Pelusium, the protectors of the young\nking consulted among themselves what was fit to be done on that\noccasion, nor could they all agree in the same opinion, some\nbeing for receiving him, others for driving him from Egypt.  But\nTheodotus, a Chian by birth, and then attending upon the king as\na paid teacher of rhetoric, and for want of better men admitted\ninto the council, undertook to prove to them, that both parties\nwere in the wrong, those that counseled to receive Pompey, and\nthose that advised to send him away; that in their present case\none thing only was truly expedient, to seize him and to kill\nhim; and ended his argument with the proverb, that \"dead men\ndon't bite.\"  The council agreed to his opinion, and Pompey the\nGreat (an example of incredible and unforeseen events) was\nslain, as the sophister himself had the impudence to boast,\nthrough the rhetoric and cleverness of Theodotus.  Not long\nafter, when Caesar came to Egypt, some of the murderers received\ntheir just reward and suffered the evil death they deserved.\nBut Theodotus, though he had borrowed on from fortune a little\nfurther time for a poor despicable and wandering life, yet did\nnot lie hid from Brutus as he passed through Asia; but being\nseized by him and executed, had his death made more memorable\nthan was his life.\n\nAbout this time, Brutus sent to Cassius to come to him at the\ncity of Sardis, and, when he was on his journey, went forth with\nhis friends to meet him; and the whole army in array saluted\neach of them with the name of Imperator.  Now (as it usually\nhappens in business of great concern and where many friends and\nmany commanders are engaged), several jealousies of each other\nand matters of private accusation having passed between Brutus\nand Cassius, they resolved, before they entered upon any other\nbusiness, immediately to withdraw into some apartment; where,\nthe door being shut and they two alone, they began first to\nexpostulate, then to dispute hotly, and accuse each other; and\nfinally were so transported into passion as to fall to hard\nwords, and at last burst out into tears.  Their friends who\nstood without were amazed, hearing them loud and angry, and\nfeared lest some mischief might follow, but yet durst not\ninterrupt them, being commanded not to enter the room.  However,\nMarcus Favonius, who had been an ardent admirer of Cato, and,\nnot so much by his learning or wisdom as by his wild, vehement\nmanner, maintained the character of a philosopher, was rushing\nin upon them, but was hindered by the attendants.  But it was a\nhard matter to stop Favonius, wherever his wildness hurried him;\nfor he was fierce in all his behavior, and ready to do anything\nto get his will.  And though he was a senator, yet, thinking\nthat one of the least of his excellences, he valued himself more\nupon a sort of cynical liberty of speaking what he pleased,\nwhich sometimes, indeed, did away with the rudeness and\nunseasonableness of his addresses with those that would\ninterpret it in jest.  This Favonius, breaking by force through\nthose that kept the doors, entered into the chamber, and with a\nset voice declaimed the verses that Homer makes Nestor use, --\n\nBe ruled, for I am older than ye both.\n\nAt this Cassius laughed; but Brutus thrust him our, calling him\nimpudent dog and counterfeit Cynic; but yet for the present they\nlet it put an end to their dispute, and parted.  Cassius made a\nsupper that night, and Brutus invited the guests; and when they\nwere set down, Favonius, having bathed, came in among them.\nBrutus called out aloud and told him he was not invited, and\nbade him go to the upper couch; but he violently thrust himself\nin, and lay down on the middle one; and the entertainment\npassed in sportive talk, not wanting either wit or philosophy.\n\nThe next day after, upon the accusation of the Sardians, Brutus\npublicly disgraced and condemned Lucius Pella, one that had been\ncensor of Rome, and employed in offices of trust by himself, for\nhaving embezzled the public money.  This action did not a little\nvex Cassius; for but a few days before, two of his own friends\nbeing accused of the same crime, he only admonished them in\nprivate, but in public absolved them, and continued them in his\nservice; and upon this occasion he accused Brutus of too much\nrigor and severity of justice in a time which required them to\nuse more policy and favor.  But Brutus bade him remember the\nIdes of March, the day when they killed Caesar, who himself\nneither plundered nor pillaged mankind, but was only the support\nand strength of those that did; and bade him consider, that if\nthere was any color for justice to be neglected, it had been\nbetter to suffer the injustice of Caesar's friends than to give\nimpunity to their own; \"for then,\" said he, \"we could have been\naccused of cowardice only; whereas now we are liable to the\naccusation of injustice, after all our pain and dangers which we\nendure.\"  By which we may perceive what was Brutus's purpose,\nand the rule of his actions.\n\nAbout the time that they were going to pass out of Asia into\nEurope, it is said that a wonderful sign was seen by Brutus.  He\nwas naturally given to much watching, and by practice and\nmoderation in his diet had reduced his allowance of sleep to a\nvery small amount of time.  He never slept in the daytime, and\nin the night then only when all his business was finished, and\nwhen, everyone else being gone to rest, he had nobody to\ndiscourse with him.  But at this time, the war being begun,\nhaving the whole state of it to consider and being solicitous of\nthe event, after his first sleep, which he let himself take\nafter his supper, he spent all the rest of the night in settling\nhis most urgent affairs; which if he could dispatch early and so\nmake a saving of any leisure, he employed himself in reading\nuntil the third watch, at which time the centurions and tribunes\nwere used to come to him for orders.  Thus one night before he\npassed out of Asia, he was very late all alone in his tent, with\na dim light burning by him, all the rest of the camp being\nhushed and silent; and reasoning about something with himself\nand very thoughtful, he fancied someone came in, and, looking\nup towards the door, he saw a terrible and strange appearance of\nan unnatural and frightful body standing by him without\nspeaking.  Brutus boldly asked it, \"What are you, of men or\ngods, and upon what business come to me?\"  The figure answered,\n\"I am your evil genius, Brutus; you shall see me at Philippi.\"\nTo which Brutus, not at all disturbed, replied, \"Then I shall\nsee you.\"\n\nAs soon as the apparition vanished, he called his servants to\nhim, who all told him that they had neither heard any voice nor\nseen any vision.  So then he continued watching till the\nmorning, when he went to Cassius, and told him of what he had\nseen.  He, who followed the principles of Epicurus's philosophy,\nand often used to dispute with Brutus concerning matters of this\nnature, spoke to him thus upon this occasion: \"It is the opinion\nof our sect, Brutus, that not all that we feel or see is real\nand true; but that the sense is a most slippery and deceitful\nthing, and the mind yet more quick and subtle to put the sense\nin motion and affect it with every kind of change upon no real\noccasion of fact; just as an impression is made upon wax; and\nthe soul of man, which has in itself both what imprints and what\nis imprinted on, may most easily, by its own operations, produce\nand assume every variety of shape and figure.  This is evident\nfrom the sudden changes of our dreams; in which the imaginative\nprinciple, once started by anything matter, goes through a\nwhole series of most diverse emotions and appearances.  It is\nits nature to be ever in motion, and its motion is fantasy or\nconception.  But besides all this, in your case, the body, being\ntired and distressed with continual toil, naturally works upon\nthe mind, and keeps it in an excited and unusual condition.  But\nthat there should be any such thing as supernatural beings, or,\nif there were, that they should have human shape or voice or\npower that can reach to us, there is no reason for believing;\nthough I confess I could wish that there were such beings, that\nwe might not rely upon our arms only, and our horses and our\nnavy, all which are so numerous and powerful, but might be\nconfident of the assistance of gods also, in this our most\nsacred and honorable attempt.\"  With such discourses as these\nCassius soothed the mind of Brutus.  But just as the troops were\ngoing on board, two eagles flew and lighted on the first two\nensigns, and crossed over the water with them, and never ceased\nfollowing the soldiers and being fed by them till they came to\nPhilippi, and there, but one day before the fight, they both\nflew away.\n\nBrutus had already reduced most of the places and people of\nthese parts; but they now marched on as far as to the coast\nopposite Thasos, and, if there were any city or man of power\nthat yet stood out, brought them all to subjection.  At this\npoint Norbanus was encamped, in a place called the Straits, near\nSymbolum.  Him they surrounded in such sort that they forced him\nto dislodge and quit the place; and Norbanus narrowly escaped\nlosing his whole army, Caesar by reason of sickness being too\nfar behind; only Antony came to his relief with such wonderful\nswiftness that Brutus and those with him did not believe when\nthey heard he was come.  Caesar came up ten days after, and\nencamped over against Brutus, and Antony over against Cassius.\n\nThe space between the two armies is called by the Romans the\nCampi Philippi.  Never had two such large Roman armies come\ntogether to engage each other.  That of Brutus was somewhat less\nin number than that of Caesar, but in the splendidness of the\nmen's arms and richness of their equipage it wonderfully\nexceeded; for most of their arms were of gold and silver, which\nBrutus had lavishly bestowed among them.  For though in other\nthings he had accustomed his commanders to use all frugality and\nself-control, yet he thought that the riches which soldiers\ncarried about them in their hands and on their bodies would add\nsomething of spirit to those that were desirous of glory, and\nwould make those that were covetous and lovers of gain fight the\nmore valiantly to preserve the arms which were their estate.\n\nCaesar made a view and lustration of his army within his\ntrenches, and distributed only a little corn and but five\ndrachmas to each soldier for the sacrifice they were to make.\nBut Brutus, either pitying this poverty, or disdaining this\nmeanness of spirit in Caesar, first, as the custom was, made a\ngeneral muster and lustration of the army in the open field, and\nthen distributed a great number of beasts for sacrifice to every\nregiment, and fifty drachmas to every soldier; so that in the\nlove of his soldiers and their readiness to fight for him Brutus\nhad much the advantage.  But at the time of lustration it is\nreported that an unlucky omen happened to Cassius; for his\nlictor, presenting him with a garland that he was to wear at\nsacrifice, gave it him the wrong way up.  Further, it is said\nthat some time before, at a certain solemn procession, a golden\nimage of Victory, which was carried before Cassius, fell down by\na slip of him that carried it.  Besides this there appeared many\nbirds of prey daily about the camp, and swarms of bees were seen\nin a place within the trenches, which place the soothsayers\nordered to be shut out from the camp, to remove the superstition\nwhich insensibly began to infect even Cassius himself and shake\nhim in his Epicurean philosophy, and had wholly seized and\nsubdued the soldiers; from whence it was that Cassius was\nreluctant to put all to the hazard of a present battle, but\nadvised rather to draw out the war until further time,\nconsidering that they were stronger in money and provisions, but\nin numbers of men and arms inferior.  But Brutus, on the\ncontrary, was still, as formerly, desirous to come with all\nspeed to the decision of a battle; that so he might either\nrestore his country to her liberty, or else deliver from their\nmisery all those numbers of people whom they harassed with the\nexpenses and the service and exactions of the war.  And finding\nalso his light-horse in several skirmishes still to have had the\nbetter, he was the more encouraged and resolved; and some of the\nsoldiers having deserted and gone to the enemy, and others\nbeginning to accuse and suspect one another, many of Cassius's\nfriends in the council changed their opinions to that of Brutus.\nBut there was one of Brutus's party, named Atellius, who opposed\nhis resolution, advising rather that they should tarry over the\nwinter.  And when Brutus asked him in how much better a\ncondition he hoped to be a year after, his answer was, \"If I\ngain nothing else, yet I shall live so much the longer.\"\nCassius was much displeased at this answer; and among the rest,\nAtellius was had in much disesteem for it.  And so it was\npresently resolved to give battle the next day.\n\nBrutus that night at supper showed himself very cheerful and\nfull of hope, and reasoned on subjects of philosophy with his\nfriends, and afterwards went to his rest.  But Messala says that\nCassius supped privately with a few of his nearest acquaintance,\nand appeared thoughtful and silent, contrary to his temper and\ncustom; that after supper he took him earnestly by the hand, and\nspeaking to him, as his manner was when he wished to show\naffection, in Greek, said, \"Bear witness for me, Messala, that I\nam brought into the same necessity as Pompey the Great was\nbefore me, of hazarding the liberty of my country upon one\nbattle; yet ought we to be of courage, relying on our good\nfortune, which it were unfair to mistrust, though we take evil\ncounsels.\"  These, Messala says, were the last words that\nCassius spoke before he bade him farewell; and that he was\ninvited to sup with him the next night, being his birthday.\n\nAs soon as it was morning, the signal of battle, the scarlet\ncoat, was set out in Brutus's and Cassius's camps, and they\nthemselves met in the middle space between their two armies.\nThere Cassius spoke thus to Brutus: \"Be it as we hope, O Brutus,\nthat this day we may overcome, and all the rest of our time may\nlive a happy life together; but since the greatest of human\nconcerns are the most uncertain, and since it may be difficult\nfor us ever to see one another again, if the battle should go\nagainst us, tell me, what is your resolution concerning flight\nand death?\"  Brutus answered, \"When I was young, Cassius, and\nunskillful in affairs, I was led, I know not how, into uttering\na bold sentence in philosophy, and blamed Cato for killing\nhimself, as thinking it an irreligious act, and not a valiant\none among men, to try to evade the divine course of things, and\nnot fearlessly to receive and undergo the evil that shall\nhappen, but run away from it.  But now in my own fortunes I am\nof another mind; for if Providence shall not dispose what we now\nundertake according to our wishes, I resolve to put no further\nhopes or warlike preparations to the proof, but will die\ncontented with my fortune.  For I already have given up my life\nto my country on the Ides of March; and have lived since then a\nsecond life for her sake, with liberty and honor.\"  Cassius at\nthese words smiled, and, embracing Brutus said, \"With these\nresolutions let us go on upon the enemy; for either we ourselves\nshall conquer, or have no cause to fear those that do.\"  After\nthis they discoursed among their friends about the ordering of\nthe battle; and Brutus desired of Cassius that he might command\nthe right wing, though it was thought that this was more fit for\nCassius, in regard both of his age and his experience.  Yet even\nin this Cassius complied with Brutus, and placed Messala with\nthe valiantest of all his legions in the same wing, so Brutus\nimmediately drew out his horse, excellently well equipped, and\nwas not long in bringing up his foot after them.\n\nAntony's soldiers were casting trenches from the marsh by which\nthey were encamped, across the plain, to cut off Cassius's\ncommunications with the sea.  Caesar was to be at hand with his\ntroops to support them, but he was not able to be present\nhimself, by reason of his sickness; and his soldiers, not much\nexpecting that the enemy would come to a set battle, but only\nmake some excursions with their darts and light arms to disturb\nthe men at work in the trenches, and not taking notice of the\nboons drawn up against them ready to give battle, were amazed\nwhen they heard the confused and great outcry that came from the\ntrenches.  In the meanwhile Brutus had sent his tickets, in\nwhich was the word of battle, to the officers; and himself\nriding about to all the troops, encouraged the soldiers; but\nthere were but few of them that understood the word before they\nengaged; the most of them, not staying to have it delivered to\nthem, with one impulse and cry ran upon the enemy.  This\ndisorder caused an unevenness in the line, and the legions got\nsevered and divided one from another; that of Messala first, and\nafterwards the other adjoining, went beyond the left wing of\nCaesar; and having just touched the extremity, without\nslaughtering any great number, passing round that wing, fell\ndirectly into Caesar's camp.  Caesar himself, as his own memoirs\ntell us, had but just before been conveyed away, Marcus\nArtorius, one of his friends, having had a dream bidding Caesar\nbe carried out of the camp.  And it was believed that he was\nslain; for the soldiers had pierced his litter, which was left\nempty, in many places with their darts and pikes.  There was a\ngreat slaughter in the camp that was taken, and two thousand\nLacedaemonians that were newly come to the assistance of Caesar\nwere all cut off together.\n\nThe rest of the army, that had not gone round but had engaged\nthe front, easily overthrew them, finding them in great\ndisorder, and slew upon the place three legions; and being\ncarried on with the stream of victory, pursuing those that fled,\nfell into the camp with them, Brutus himself being there.  But\nthey that were conquered took the advantage in their extremity\nof what the conquerors did not consider.  For they fell upon\nthat part of the main body which had been left exposed and\nseparated, where the right wing had broke off from them and\nhurried away in the pursuit; yet they could not break into the\nmidst of their battle, but were received with strong resistance\nand obstinacy.  Yet they put to flight the left wing, where\nCassius commanded, being in great disorder, and ignorant of what\nhad passed on the other wing; and, pursuing them to their camp,\nthey pillaged and destroyed it, neither of their generals being\npresent; for Antony, they say, to avoid the fury of the first\nonset, had retired into the marsh that was hard by; and Caesar\nwas nowhere to be found after his being conveyed out of the\ntents; though some of the soldiers showed Brutus their swords\nbloody, and declared that they had killed him, describing his\nperson and his age.  By this time also the center of Brutus's\nbattle had driven back their opponents with great slaughter; and\nBrutus was everywhere plainly conqueror, as on the other side\nCassius was conquered.  And this one mistake was the ruin of\ntheir affairs, that Brutus did not come to the relief of\nCassius, thinking that he, as well as himself, was conqueror;\nand that Cassius did not expect the relief of Brutus, thinking\nthat he too was overcome.  For as a proof that the victory was\non Brutus's side, Messala urges his taking three eagles and many\nensigns of the enemy without losing any of his own.  But now,\nreturning from the pursuit after having plundered Caesar's camp,\nBrutus wondered that he could not see Cassius's tent standing\nhigh, as it was wont, and appearing above the rest, nor other\nthings appearing as they had been; for they had been immediately\npulled down and pillaged by the enemy upon their first falling\ninto the camp.  But some that had a quicker and longer sight\nthan the rest acquainted Brutus that they saw a great deal of\nshining armor and silver targets moving to and fro in Cassius's\ncamp, and that they thought, by their number and the fashion of\ntheir armor, they could not be those that they left to guard the\ncamp; but yet that there did not appear so great a number of\ndead bodies thereabouts as it was probable there would have been\nafter the actual defeat of so many legions.  This first made\nBrutus suspect Cassius's misfortune, and, leaving a guard in the\nenemy's camp, he called back those that were in the pursuit, and\nrallied them together to lead them to the relief of Cassius,\nwhose fortune had been as follows.\n\nFirst, he had been angry at the onset that Brutus's soldiers\nmade, without the word of battle or command to charge.  Then,\nafter they had overcome, he was as much displeased to see them\nrush on to the plunder and spoil, and neglect to surround and\nencompass the rest of the enemy.  Besides this, letting himself\nact by delay and expectation, rather than command boldly and\nwith a clear purpose, he got hemmed in by the right wing of the\nenemy, and, his horse making with all haste their escape and\nflying towards the sea, the foot also began to give way, which\nhe perceiving labored as much as ever he could to hinder their\nflight and bring them back; and, snatching an ensign out of the\nhand of one that fled, he stuck it at his feet, though he could\nhardly keep even his own personal guard together.  So that at\nlast he was forced to fly with a few about him to a little hill\nthat overlooked the plain.  But he himself, being weak-sighted,\ndiscovered nothing, only the destruction of his camp, and that\nwith difficulty.  But they that were with him saw a great body\nof horse moving towards him, the same whom Brutus had sent.\nCassius believed these were enemies, and in pursuit of him;\nhowever, he sent away Titinius, one of those that were with him,\nto learn what they were.  As soon as Brutus's horse saw him\ncoming, and knew him to be a friend and a faithful servant of\nCassius, those of them that were his more familiar acquaintance,\nshouting out for joy and alighting from their horses, shook\nhands and embraced him, and the rest rode round about him\nsinging and shouting, through their excess of gladness at the\nsight of him.  But this was the occasion of the greatest\nmischief that could be.  For Cassius really thought that\nTitinius had been taken by the enemy, and cried out, \"Through\ntoo much fondness of life, I have lived to endure the sight of\nmy friend taken by the enemy before my face.\"  After which words\nhe retired into an empty tent, taking along with him only\nPindarus, one of his freedmen, whom he had reserved for such an\noccasion ever since the disasters in the expedition against the\nParthians, when Crassus was slain.  From the Parthians he came\naway in safety; but now, pulling up his mantle over his head, he\nmade his neck bare, and held it forth to Pindarus, commanding\nhim to strike.  The head was certainly found lying severed from\nthe body.  But no man ever saw Pindarus after, from which some\nsuspected that he had killed his master without his command.\nSoon after they perceived who the horsemen were, and saw\nTitinius, crowned with garlands, making what haste he could\ntowards Cassius.  But as soon as he understood by the cries and\nlamentations of his afflicted friends the unfortunate error and\ndeath of his general, he drew his sword, and having very much\naccused and upbraided his own long stay, that had caused it, he\nslew himself.\n\nBrutus, as soon as he was assured of the defeat of Cassius, made\nhaste to him; but heard nothing of his death till he came near\nhis camp.  Then having lamented over his body, calling him \"the\nlast of the Romans,\" it being impossible that the city should\never produce another man of so great a spirit, he sent away the\nbody to be buried at Thasos, lest celebrating his funeral within\nthe camp might breed some disorder.  He then gathered the\nsoldiers together and comforted them; and, seeing them destitute\nof all things necessary, he promised to every man two thousand\ndrachmas in recompense of what he had lost.  They at these words\ntook courage, and were astonished at the magnificence of the\ngift; and waited upon him at his parting with shouts and\npraises, magnifying him for the only general of all the four who\nwas not overcome in the battle.  And indeed the action itself\ntestified that it was not without reason he believed he should\nconquer; for with a few legions he overthrew all that resisted\nhim; and if all his soldiers had fought, and the most of them\nhad not passed beyond the enemy in pursuit of the plunder, it is\nvery likely that he had utterly defeated every part of them.\n\nThere fell of his side eight thousand men, reckoning the\nservants of the army, whom Brutus calls Briges; and on the other\nside, Messala says his opinion is that there were slain above\ntwice that number.  For which reason they were more out of heart\nthan Brutus, until a servant of Cassius, named Demetrius, came\nin the evening to Antony, and brought to him the garment which\nhe had taken from the dead body, and his sword; at the sight of\nwhich they were so encouraged, that, as soon as it was morning,\nthey drew out their whole force into the field, and stood in\nbattle array.  But Brutus found both his camps wavering and in\ndisorder; for his own, being filled with prisoners, required a\nguard more strict than ordinary over them; and that of Cassius\nwas uneasy at the change of general, besides some envy and\nrancor, which those that were conquered bore to that part of the\narmy which had been conquerors.  Wherefore he thought it\nconvenient to put his army in array, but to abstain from\nfighting.  All the slaves that were taken prisoners, of whom\nthere was a great number that were mixed up, not without\nsuspicion, among the soldiers, he commanded to be slain; but of\nthe freemen and citizens, some he dismissed, saying that among\nthe enemy they were rather prisoners than with him, for with\nthem they were captives and slaves, but with him freemen and\ncitizens of Rome.  But he was forced to hide and help them to\nescape privately, perceiving that his friends and officers were\nbent upon revenge against them.  Among the captives there was\none Volumnius, a player, and Sacculio, a buffoon; of these\nBrutus took no manner of notice, but his friends brought them\nbefore him, and accused them that even then in that condition\nthey did not refrain from their jests and scurrilous language.\nBrutus, having his mind taken up with other affairs, said\nnothing to their accusation; but the judgment of Messala\nCorvinus was, that they should be whipped publicly upon a stage,\nand so sent naked to the captains of the enemy, to show them\nwhat sort of fellow drinkers and companions they took with them\non their campaigns.  At this some that were present laughed; and\nPublius Casca, he that gave the first wound to Caesar, said, \"We\ndo ill to jest and make merry at the funeral of Cassius.  But\nyou, O Brutus,\" he added, \"will show what esteem you have for\nthe memory of that general, according as you punish or preserve\nalive those who will scoff and speak shamefully of him.\"  To\nthis Brutus, in great discomposure replied, \"Why then, Casca, do\nyou ask me about it, and not do yourselves what you think\nfitting?\"  This answer of Brutus was taken for his consent to\nthe death of these wretched men; so they were carried away and\nslain.\n\nAfter this he gave the soldiers the reward that he had promised\nthem; and having slightly reproved them for having fallen upon\nthe enemy in disorder without the word of battle or command, he\npromised them, that if they behaved themselves bravely in the\nnext engagement, he would give them up two cities to spoil and\nplunder, Thessalonica and Lacedaemon.  This is the one\nindefensible thing of all that is found fault with in the life\nof Brutus; though true it may be that Antony and Caesar were\nmuch more cruel in the rewards that they gave their soldiers\nafter victory; for they drove out, one might almost say, all the\nold inhabitants of Italy, to put their soldiers in possession of\nother men's lands and cities.  But indeed their only design and\nend in undertaking the war was to obtain dominion and empire,\nwhereas Brutus, for the reputation of his virtue, could not be\npermitted either to overcome or save himself but with justice\nand honor, especially after the death of Cassius, who was\ngenerally accused of having been his adviser to some things that\nhe had done with less clemency.  But now, as in a ship, when the\nrudder is broken by a storm, the mariners fit and nail on some\nother piece of wood instead of it, striving against the danger\nnot well, but as well as in that necessity they can, so Brutus,\nbeing at the head of so great an army, in a time of such\nuncertainty, having no commander equal to his need, was forced\nto make use of those that he had, and to do and to say many\nthings according to their advice; which was, in effect, whatever\nmight conduce to the bringing of Cassius's soldiers into better\norder.  For they were very headstrong and intractable, bold and\ninsolent in the camp for want of their general, but in the field\ncowardly and fearful, remembering that they had been beaten.\n\nNeither were the affairs of Caesar and Antony in any better\nposture; for they were straitened for provision, and, the camp\nbeing in a low ground, they expected to pass a very hard winter.\nFor being driven close upon the marshes, and a great quantity of\nrain, as is usual in autumn, having fallen after the battle,\ntheir tents were all filled with mire and water, which through\nthe coldness of the weather immediately froze.  And while they\nwere in this condition, there was news brought to them of their\nloss at sea.  For Brutus's fleet fell upon their ships, which\nwere bringing a great supply of soldiers out of Italy, and so\nentirely defeated them, that but very few of the men escaped\nbeing slain, and they too were forced by famine to feed upon the\nsails and tackle of the ship.  As soon as they heard this, they\nmade what haste they could to come to the decision of a battle,\nbefore Brutus should have notice of his good success.  For it\nhad so happened that the fight both by sea and land was on the\nsame day, but by some misfortune, rather than the fault of his\ncommanders, Brutus knew not of his victory twenty days after.\nFor had he been informed of this, he would not have been brought\nto a second battle, since he had sufficient provisions for his\narmy for a long time, and was very advantageously posted, his\ncamp being well sheltered from the cold weather, and almost\ninaccessible to the enemy, and his being absolute master of the\nsea, and having at land overcome on that side wherein he himself\nwas engaged, would have made him full of hope and confidence.\nBut it seems, the state of Rome not enduring any longer to be\ngoverned by many, but necessarily requiring a monarchy, the\ndivine power, that it might remove out of the way the only man\nthat was able to resist him that could control the empire, cut\noff his good fortune from coming to the ears of Brutus; though\nit came but a very little too late, for the very evening before\nthe fight, Clodius, a deserter from the enemy, came and\nannounced that Caesar had received advice of the loss of his\nfleet, and for that reason was in such haste to come to a\nbattle.  But his story met with no credit, nor was he so much as\nseen by Brutus, being simply set down as one that had had no\ngood information, or invented lies to bring himself into favor.\n\nThe same night, they say, the vision appeared again to Brutus,\nin the same shape that it did before, but vanished without\nspeaking.  But Publius Volumnius, a philosopher, and one that\nhad from the beginning borne arms with Brutus, makes no mention\nof this apparition, but says that the first eagle was covered\nwith a swarm of bees, and that there was one of the captains\nwhose arm of itself sweated oil of roses, and, though they often\ndried and wiped it, yet it would not cease; and that immediately\nbefore the battle, two eagles falling upon each other fought in\nthe space between the two armies, that the whole field kept\nincredible silence and all were intent upon the spectacle, until\nat last that which was on Brutus's side yielded and fled.  But\nthe story of the Ethiopian is very famous, who meeting the\nstandard-bearer at the opening the gate of the camp, was cut to\npieces by the soldiers, that took it for an ill omen.\n\nBrutus, having brought his army into the field and set them in\narray against the enemy, paused a long while before he would\nfight; for, as he was reviewing the troops, suspicions were\nexcited, and informations laid against some of them.  Besides,\nhe saw his horse not very eager to begin the action, and waiting\nto see what the foot would do.  Then suddenly Camulatus, a very\ngood soldier, and one whom for his valor he highly esteemed,\nriding hard by Brutus himself, went over to the enemy, the sight\nof which grieved Brutus exceedingly.  So that partly out of\nanger, and partly out of fear of some greater treason and\ndesertion, he immediately drew on his forces upon the enemy, the\nsun now declining, about three of the clock in the afternoon.\nBrutus on his side had the better, and pressed hard on the left\nwing, which gave way and retreated; and the horse too fell in\ntogether with the foot, when they saw the enemy in disorder.\nBut the other wing, when the officers extended the line to avoid\nits being encompassed, the numbers being inferior, got drawn out\ntoo thin in the center, and was so weak here that they could not\nwithstand the charge, but at the first onset fled.  After\ndefeating these, the enemy at once took Brutus in the rear, who\nall the while performed all that was possible for an expert\ngeneral and valiant soldier, doing everything in the peril, by\ncounsel and by hand, that might recover the victory.  But that\nwhich had been his superiority in the former fight was to his\nprejudice in this second.  For in the first fight, that part of\nthe enemy which was beaten was killed on the spot; but of\nCassius's soldiers that fled few had been slain, and those that\nescaped, daunted with their defeat, infected the other and\nlarger part of the army with their want of spirit and their\ndisorder.  Here Marcus, the son of Cato, was slain, fighting and\nbehaving himself with great bravery in the midst of the youth of\nthe highest rank and greatest valor.  He would neither fly nor\ngive the least ground, but, still fighting and declaring who he\nwas and naming his father's name, he fell upon a heap of dead\nbodies of the enemy.  And of the rest, the bravest were slain in\ndefending Brutus.\n\nThere was in the field one Lucilius, an excellent man and a\nfriend of Brutus, who, seeing some barbarian horse taking no\nnotice of any other in the pursuit, but galloping at full speed\nafter Brutus, resolved to stop them, though with the hazard of\nhis life; and, letting himself fall a little behind, he told\nthem that he was Brutus.  They believed him the rather, because\nhe prayed to be carried to Antony, as if he feared Caesar, but\ndurst trust him.  They, overjoyed with their prey, and thinking\nthemselves wonderfully fortunate, carried him along with them in\nthe night, having first sent messengers to Antony of their\ncoming.  He was much pleased, and came to meet them; and all the\nrest that heard that Brutus was taken and brought alive, flocked\ntogether to see him, some pitying his fortune, others accusing;\nhim of a meanness unbecoming his former glory, that out of too\nmuch love of life he would be a prey to barbarians.  When they\ncame near together, Antony stood still, considering with himself\nin what manner he should receive Brutus.  But Lucilius, being\nbrought up to him, with great confidence said: \"Be assured,\nAntony, that no enemy either has taken or ever shall take Marcus\nBrutus alive (forbid it, heaven, that fortune should ever so\nmuch prevail above virtue), but he shall be found, alive or\ndead, as becomes himself.  As for me, I am come hither by a\ncheat that I put upon your soldiers, and am ready, upon this\noccasion, to suffer any severities you will inflict.\"  All were\namazed to hear Lucilius speak these words.  But Antony, turning\nhimself to those that brought him, said: \"I perceive, my\nfellow-soldiers, that you are concerned and take it ill that you\nhave been thus deceived, and think yourselves abused and injured\nby it; but know that you have met with a booty better than that\nyou sought.  For you were in search of an enemy, but you have\nbrought me here a friend.  For indeed I am uncertain how I\nshould have used Brutus, if you had brought him alive; but of\nthis I am sure, that it is better to have such men as Lucilius\nour friends than our enemies.\"  Having said this, he embraced\nLucilius, and for the present commended him to the care of one\nof his friends, and ever after found him a steady and a faithful\nfriend.\n\nBrutus had now passed a little brook, running among trees and\nunder steep rocks, and, it being night, would go no further, but\nsat down in a hollow place with a great rock projecting before\nit, with a few of his officers and friends about him.  At first,\nlooking up to heaven, that was then full of stars, he repeated\ntwo verses, one of which, Volumnius writes, was this: --\n\nPunish, great Jove, the author of these ills.\n\nThe other he says he has forgot.  Soon after, naming severally\nall his friends that had been slain before his face in the\nbattle, he groaned heavily, especially at the mentioning of\nFlavius and Labeo, the latter his lieutenant, and the other\nchief officer of his engineers.  In the meantime, one of his\ncompanions, that was very thirsty and saw Brutus in the same\ncondition, took his helmet and ran to the brook for water, when,\na noise being heard from the other side of the river, Volumnius,\ntaking Dardanus, Brutus's armor-bearer, with him, went out to\nsee what it was.  They returned in a short space, and inquired\nabout the water.  Brutus, smiling with much meaning, said to\nVolumnius, \"It is all drunk; but you shall have some more\nfetched.\"  But he that had brought the first water, being sent\nagain, was in great danger of being taken by the enemy, and,\nhaving received a wound, with much difficulty escaped.\n\nNow Brutus guessing that not many of his men were slain in the\nfight, Statyllius undertook to dash through the enemy (for there\nwas no other way), and to see what was become of their camp; and\npromised, if he found all things there safe, to hold up a torch\nfor a signal, and then return.  The torch was held up, for\nStatyllius got safe to the camp; but when after a long time he\ndid not return, Brutus said, \"If Statyllius be alive, he will\ncome back.\"  But it happened that in his return he fell into the\nenemy's hands, and was slain.\n\nThe night now being far spent, Brutus, as he was sitting, leaned\nhis head towards his servant Clitus and spoke to him; he\nanswered him not, but fell a weeping.  After that, he drew\naside his armor-bearer, Dardanus, and had some discourse with\nhim in private.  At last, speaking to Volumnius in Greek, he\nreminded him of their common studies and former discipline, and\nbegged that he would take hold of his sword with him, and help\nhim to thrust it through him.  Volumnius put away his request,\nand several others did the like; and someone saying, that there\nwas no staying there, but they needs must fly, Brutus, rising\nup, said, \"Yes, indeed, we must fly, but not with our feet, but\nwith our hands.\"  Then giving each of them his right hand, with\na countenance full of pleasure, he said, that he found an\ninfinite satisfaction in this, that none of his friends had been\nfalse to him; that as for fortune, he was angry with that only\nfor his country's sake; as for himself, he thought himself much\nmore happy than they who had overcome, not only as he had been a\nlittle time ago, but even now in his present condition; since he\nwas leaving behind him such a reputation of his virtue as none\nof the conquerors with all their arms and riches should ever be\nable to acquire, no more than they could hinder posterity from\nbelieving and saying, that, being unjust and wicked men, they\nhad destroyed the just and the good, and usurped a power to\nwhich they had no right.  After this, having exhorted and\nentreated all about him to provide for their own safety, he\nwithdrew from them with two or three only of his peculiar\nfriends; Strato was one of these, with whom he had contracted an\nacquaintance when they studied rhetoric together.  Him he placed\nnext to himself, and, taking hold of the hilt of his sword and\ndirecting it with both his hands, he fell upon it, and killed\nhimself.  But others say, that not he himself, but Strato, at\nthe earnest entreaty of Brutus, turning aside his head, held the\nsword, upon which he violently throwing himself, it pierced his\nbreast, and he immediately died.  This same Strato, Messala, a\nfriend of Brutus, being, after reconciled to Caesar, brought to\nhim once at his leisure, and with tears in his eyes said, \"This,\nO Caesar, is the man that did the last friendly office to my\nbeloved Brutus.\"  Upon which Caesar received him kindly; and had\ngood use of him in his labors and his battles at Actium, being\none of the Greeks that proved their bravery in his service.  It\nis reported of Messala himself, that, when Caesar once gave him\nthis commendation, that though he was his fiercest enemy at\nPhilippi in the cause of Brutus, yet he had shown himself his\nmost entire friend in the fight of Actium, he answered, \"You\nhave always found me, Caesar, on the best and justest side.\"\n\nBrutus's dead body was found by Antony, who commanded the\nrichest purple mantle that he had to be thrown over it, and\nafterwards the mantle being stolen, he found the thief, and had\nhim put to death.  He sent the ashes of Brutus to his mother\nServilia.  As for Porcia his wife, Nicolaus the philosopher and\nValerius Maximus write, that, being desirous to die, but being\nhindered by her friends, who continually watched her, she\nsnatched some burning charcoal out of the fire, and, shutting it\nclose in her mouth, stifled herself, and died.  Though there is\na letter current from Brutus to his friends, in which he laments\nthe death of Porcia, and accuses them for neglecting her so that\nshe desired to die rather than languish with her disease.  So\nthat it seems Nicolaus was mistaken in the time; for this\nepistle (if it indeed is authentic, and truly Brutus's) gives us\nto understand the malady and love of Porcia, and the way in\nwhich her death occurred.\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON OF DION AND BRUTUS\n\nThere are noble points in abundance in the characters of these\ntwo men, and one to be first mentioned is their attaining such a\nheight of greatness upon such inconsiderable means; and on this\nscore Dion has by far the advantage.  For he had no partner to\ncontest his glory, as Brutus had in Cassius, who was not,\nindeed, his equal in proved virtue and honor, yet contributed\nquite as much to the service of the war by his boldness, skill,\nand activity; and some there be who impute to him the rise and\nbeginning of the whole enterprise, saying that it was he who\nroused Brutus, till then indisposed to stir, into action against\nCaesar.  Whereas Dion seems of himself to have provided not only\narms, ships, and soldiers, but likewise friends and partners for\nthe enterprise.  Neither did he, as Brutus, collect money and\nforces from the war itself, but, on the contrary, laid out of\nhis own substance, and employed the very means of his private\nsustenance in exile for the liberty of his country.  Besides\nthis, Brutus and Cassius, when they fled from Rome, could not\nlive safe or quiet, being condemned to death and pursued, and\nwere thus of necessity forced to take arms and hazard their\nlives in their own defense, to save themselves, rather than\ntheir country.  On the other hand, Dion enjoyed more ease, was\nmore safe, and his life more pleasant in his banishment, than\nwas the tyrant's who had banished him, when he flew to action,\nand ran the risk of all to save Sicily.\n\nTake notice, too, that it was not the same thing for the\nSicilians to be freed from Dionysius, and for the Romans to be\nfreed from Caesar.  The former owned himself a tyrant, and vexed\nSicily with a thousand oppressions; whereas Caesar's supremacy,\ncertainly, in the process for attaining it, had inflicted no\nlittle trouble on its opponents, but, once established and\nvictorious, it had indeed the name and appearance, but fact that\nwas cruel or tyrannical there was none.  On the contrary, in the\nmalady of the times and the need of a monarchical government, he\nmight be thought to have been sent, as the gentlest physician,\nby no other than a divine intervention.  And thus the common\npeople instantly regretted Caesar, and grew enraged and\nimplacable against those that killed him.  Whereas Dion's chief\noffense in the eyes of his fellow-citizens was his having let\nDionysius escape, and not having demolished the former tyrant's\ntomb.\n\nIn the actual conduct of war, Dion was a commander without\nfault, improving to the utmost those counsels which he himself\ngave, and, where others led him into disaster, correcting and\nturning everything to the best.  But Brutus seems to have shown\nlittle wisdom in engaging in the final battle, which was to\ndecide everything, and, when he failed, not to have done his\nbusiness in seeking a remedy ; he gave all up, and abandoned his\nhopes, not venturing against fortune even as far as Pompey did,\nwhen he had still means enough to rely on in his troops, and was\nclearly master of all the seas with his ships.\n\nThe greatest thing charged on Brutus is, that he, being saved by\nCaesar's kindness, having saved all the friends whom he chose to\nask for, he moreover accounted a friend, and preferred above\nmany, did yet lay violent hands upon his preserver.  Nothing\nlike this could be objected against Dion; quite the contrary,\nwhilst he was of Dionysius's family and his friend, he did good\nservice, and was useful to him; but driven from his country,\nwronged in his wife, and his estate lost, he openly entered upon\na war just and lawful.  Does not, however, the matter turn the\nother way?  For the chief glory of both was their hatred of\ntyranny, and abhorrence of wickedness.  This was unmixed and\nsincere in Brutus; for he had no private quarrel with Caesar,\nbut went into the risk singly for the liberty of his country.\nThe other, had he not been privately injured, had not fought.\nThis is plain from Plato's epistles, where it is shown that he\nwas turned out, and did not forsake the court to wage war upon\nDionysius.  Moreover, the public good made Brutus Pompey's\nfriend (instead of his enemy as he had been) and Caesar's enemy;\nsince he proposed for his hatred and his friendship no other end\nand standard but justice.  Dion was very serviceable to\nDionysius whilst in favor; when no longer trusted, he grew angry\nand fell to arms.  And, for this reason, not even were his own\nfriends all of them satisfied with his undertaking, or quite\nassured that, having overcome Dionysius, he might not settle the\ngovernment on himself, deceiving his fellow-citizens by some\nless obnoxious name than tyranny.  But the very enemies of\nBrutus would say that he had no other end or aim, from first to\nlast, save only to restore to the Roman people their ancient\ngovernment.\n\nAnd apart from what has just been said, the adventure against\nDionysius was nothing equal with that against Caesar.  For none\nthat was familiarly conversant with Dionysius but scorned him\nfor his life of idle amusement with wine, women, and dice;\nwhereas it required an heroic soul and a truly intrepid and\nunquailing spirit so much as to entertain the thought of\ncrushing Caesar so formidable for his ability, his power, and\nhis fortune, whose very name disturbed the slumbers of the\nParthian and Indian kings.  Dion was no sooner seen in Sicily\nbut thousands ran in to him and joined him against Dionysius;\nwhereas the renown of Caesar, even when dead, gave strength to\nhis friends; and his very name so heightened the person that\ntook it, that from a simple boy he presently became the chief of\nthe Romans; and he could use it for a spell against the enmity\nand power of Antony.  If any object that it cost Dion great\ntrouble and difficulties to overcome the tyrant, whereas Brutus\nslew Caesar naked and unprovided, yet this itself was the result\nof the most consummate policy and conduct, to bring it about\nthat a man so guarded around, and so fortified at all points,\nshould be taken naked and unprovided.  For it was not on the\nsudden, nor alone, nor with a few, that he fell upon and killed\nCaesar; but after long concerting the plot, and placing\nconfidence in a great many men, not one of whom deceived him.\nFor he either at once discerned the best men, or by confiding in\nthem made them good.  But Dion, either making a wrong judgment,\ntrusted himself with ill men, or else by his employing them made\nill men of good; either of the two would be a reflection on a\nwise man.  Plato also is severe upon him, for choosing such for\nfriends as betrayed him.\n\nBesides, when Dion was killed, none appeared to revenge his\ndeath.  Whereas Brutus, even amongst his enemies, had Antony\nthat buried him splendidly; and Caesar also took care his honors\nshould be preserved.  There stood at Milan in Gaul, within the\nAlps, a brazen statue, which Caesar in after-times noticed\n(being a real likeness, and a fine work of art), and passing by\nit, presently stopped short, and in the hearing of many\ncommended the magistrates to come before him.  He told them\ntheir town had broken their league, harboring an enemy.  The\nmagistrates at first simply denied the thing, and, not knowing\nwhat he meant, looked one upon another, when Caesar, turning\ntowards the statue and gathering his brows, said, \"Pray, is not\nthat our enemy who stands there?\"  They were all in confusion,\nand had nothing to answer; but he, smiling, much commended the\nGauls, as who had been firm to their friends, though in\nadversity, and ordered that the statue should remain standing as\nhe found it.\n\n\n\nARATUS\n\nThe philosopher Chrysippus, O Polycrates, quotes an ancient\nproverb, not as really it should be, apprehending, I suppose,\nthat it sounded too harshly, but so as he thought it would run\nbest, in these words,\n\nWho praise their father but the generous sons?\n\nBut Dionysodorus the Troezenian proves him to be wrong, and\nrestores the true reading, which is this, --\n\nWho praise their fathers but degenerate sons?\n\ntelling us that the proverb is meant to stop the mouth of those\nwho, having no merit of their own, take refuge in the virtues of\ntheir ancestors, and make their advantage of praising them.\nBut, as Pindar hath it,\n\nHe that by nature doth inherit\nFrom ancestors a noble spirit,\n\nas you do, who make your life the copy of the fairest originals\nof your family, -- such, I say, may take great satisfaction in\nbeing reminded, both by hearing others speak and speaking\nthemselves, of the best of their progenitors.  For they assume\nnot the glory of praises earned by others out of any want of\nworth of their own, but, affiliating their own deeds to those of\ntheir ancestor, give them honor as the authors both of their\ndescent and manners.\n\nTherefore I have sent to you the life which I have written of\nyour fellow-citizen and forefather Aratus, to whom you are no\ndiscredit in point either of reputation or of authority, not as\nthough you had not been most diligently careful to inform\nyourself from the beginning concerning his actions, but that\nyour sons, Polycrates and Pythocles, may both by hearing and\nreading become familiar with those family examples which it\nbehooves them to follow and imitate.  It is a piece of\nself-love, and not of the love of virtue, to imagine one has\nalready attained to what is best.\n\nThe city of Sicyon, from the time that it first fell off from\nthe pure and Doric aristocracy (its harmony being destroyed, and\na mere series of seditions and personal contests of popular\nleaders ensuing), continued to be distempered and unsettled,\nchanging from one tyrant to another, until, Cleon being slain,\nTimoclides and Clinias, men of the most repute and power amongst\nthe citizens, were chosen to the magistracy.  And the\ncommonwealth now seeming to be in a pretty settled condition,\nTimoclides died, and Abantidas, the son of Paseas, to possess\nhimself of the tyranny, killed Clinias, and, of his kindred and\nfriends, slew some and banished others.  He sought also to kill\nhis son Aratus, whom he left behind him, being but seven years\nold.  This boy in the general disorder getting out of the house\nwith those that fled, and wandering about the city helpless and\nin great fear, by chance got undiscovered into the house of a\nwoman who was Abantidas's sister, but married to Prophantus, the\nbrother of Clinias, her name being Soso.  She, being of a\ngenerous temper, and believing the boy had by some supernatural\nguidance fled to her for shelter, hid him in the house, and at\nnight sent him away to Argos.\n\nAratus, being thus delivered and secured from this danger,\nconceived from the first and ever after nourished a vehement and\nburning hatred against tyrants, which strengthened with his\nyears.  Being therefore bred up amongst his father's\nacquaintance and friends at Argos with a liberal education, and\nperceiving his body to promise good health and stature, he\naddicted himself to the exercises of the palaestra, to that\ndegree that he competed in the five games, and gained some\ncrowns; and indeed in his statues one may observe a certain kind\nof athletic cast, and the sagacity and majesty of his\ncountenance does not dissemble his full diet and the use of the\nhoe. Whence it came to pass that he less studied eloquence than\nperhaps became a statesman, and yet he was more accomplished in\nspeaking than many believe, judging by the commentaries which he\nleft behind him, written carelessly and by the way, as fast as\nhe could do it, and in such words as first came to his mind.\n\nIn the course of time, Dinias and Aristoteles the logician\nkilled Abantidas, who used to be present in the marketplace at\ntheir discussions, and to make one in them; till they, taking\nthe occasion, insensibly accustomed him to the practice, and so\nhad opportunity to contrive and execute a plot against him.\nAfter him Paseas, the father of Abantidas, taking upon him the\ngovernment, was assassinated by Nicocles, who himself set up for\ntyrant.  Of him it is related that he was strikingly like\nPeriander the son of Cypselus, just as it is said that Orontes\nthe Persian bore a great resemblance to Alcmaeon the son of\nAmphiaraus, and that Lacedaemonian youth, whom Myrsilus relates\nto have been trodden to pieces by the crowd of those that came\nto see him upon that report, to Hector.\n\nThis Nicocles governed four months, in which, after he had done\nall kinds of mischief to the city, he very nearly let it fall\ninto the hands of the Aetolians.  By this time Aratus, being\ngrown a youth, was in much esteem, both for his noble birth and\nhis spirit and disposition, which, while neither insignificant\nnor wanting in energy, were solid, and tempered with a\nsteadiness of judgment beyond his years.  For which reason the\nexiles had their eyes most upon him, nor did Nicocles less\nobserve his motions, but secretly spied and watched him, not out\nof apprehension of any such considerable or utterly audacious\nattempt, but suspecting he held correspondence with the kings,\nwho were his father's friends and acquaintance.  And, indeed,\nAratus first attempted this way; but finding that Antigonus, who\nhad promised fair, neglected him and delayed the time, and that\nhis hopes from Egypt and Ptolemy were long to wait for, he\ndetermined to cut off the tyrant by himself.\n\nAnd first he broke his mind to Aristomachus and Ecdelus, the one\nan exile of Sicyon, the other, Ecdelus, an Arcadian of\nMegalopolis, a philosopher, and a man of action, having been the\nfamiliar friend of Arcesilaus the Academic at Athens.  These\nreadily consenting, he communicated with the other exiles,\nwhereof some few, being ashamed to seem to despair of success,\nengaged in the design; but most of them endeavored to divert him\nfrom his purpose, as one that for want of experience was too\nrash and daring.\n\nWhilst he was consulting to seize upon some post in Sicyonia,\nfrom whence he might make war upon the tyrant, there came to\nArgos a certain Sicyonian, newly escaped out of prison, brother\nto Xenocles, one of the exiles, who being by him presented to\nAratus informed him, that that part of the wall over which he\nescaped was, inside, almost level with the ground, adjoining a\nrocky and elevated place, and that from the outside it might be\nscaled with ladders.  Aratus, hearing this, dispatches away\nXenocles with two of his own servants, Seuthas and Technon, to\nview the wall, resolving, if possible, secretly and with one\nrisk to hazard all on a single trial, rather than carry on a\ncontest as a private man against a tyrant by long war and open\nforce.  Xenocles, therefore, with his companions, returning\nhaving taken the height of the wall, and declaring the place not\nto be impossible or indeed difficult to get over, but that it\nwas not easy to approach it undiscovered, by reason of some\nsmall but uncommonly savage and noisy dogs belonging to a\ngardener hard by, he immediately undertook the business.\n\nNow the preparation of arms gave no jealousy, because robberies\nand petty forays were at that time common everywhere between one\nset of people and another; and for the ladders, Euphranor, the\nmachine-maker, made them openly, his trade rendering him\nunsuspected, though one of the exiles.  As for men, each of his\nfriends in Argos furnished him with ten apiece out of those few\nthey had, and he armed thirty of his own servants, and hired\nsome few soldiers of Xenophilus, the chief of the robber\ncaptains, to whom it was given out that they were to march into\nthe territory of Sicyon to seize the king's stud; most of them\nwere sent before, in small parties, to the tower of Polygnotus,\nwith orders to wait there; Caphisias also was dispatched\nbeforehand lightly armed, with four others, who were, as soon as\nit was dark, to come to the gardener's house, pretending to be\ntravelers, and, procuring their lodging there, to shut up him\nand his dogs; for there was no other way of getting past.  And\nfor the ladders, they had been made to take in pieces, and were\nput into chests, and sent before hidden upon wagons.  In the\nmeantime, some of the spies of Nicocles appearing in Argos, and\nbeing said to go privately about watching Aratus, he came early\nin the morning into the market-place, showing him self openly\nand conversing with his friends; then he anointed himself in the\nexercise ground, and, taking with him thence some of the young\nmen that used to drink and spend their time with him, he went\nhome; and presently after several of his servants were seen\nabout the marketplace, one carrying garlands, another buying\nflambeaus, and a third speaking to the women that used to sing\nand play at banquets, all which things the spies observing were\ndeceived, and said laughing to one another, \"Certainly nothing\ncan be more timorous than a tyrant, if Nicocles, being master of\nso great a city and so numerous a force, stands in fear of a\nyouth that spends what he has to subsist upon in his banishment\nin pleasures and day-debauches;\" and, being thus imposed upon,\nthey returned home.\n\nBut Aratus, departing immediately after his morning meal, and\ncoming to his soldiers at Polygnotus's tower, led them to Nemea;\nwhere he disclosed, to most of them for the first time; his true\ndesign, making them large promises and fair speeches, and\nmarched towards the city, giving for the word Apollo victorious,\nproportioning his march to the motion of the moon, so as to have\nthe benefit of her light upon the way, and to be in the garden,\nwhich was close to the wall, just as she was setting.  Here\nCaphisias came to him, who had not secured the dogs, which had\nrun away before he could catch them, but had only made sure of\nthe gardener.  Upon which most of the company being out of heart\nand desiring to retreat, Aratus encouraged them to go on,\npromising to retire in case the dogs were too troublesome;\nand at the same time sending forward those that carried the\nladders, conducted by Ecdelus and Mnasitheus, he followed them\nhimself leisurely, the dogs already barking very loud and\nfollowing, the steps of Ecdelus and his companions.  However,\nthey got to the wall, and reared the ladders with safety.  But\nas the foremost men were mounting them, the captain of the watch\nthat was to be relieved by the morning guard passed on his way\nwith the bell, and there were many lights, and a noise of people\ncoming up.  Hearing which, they clapped themselves close to the\nladders, and so were unobserved; but as the other watch also was\ncoming up to meet this, they were in extreme danger of being\ndiscovered.  But when this also went by without observing them,\nimmediately Mnasitheus and Ecdelus got upon the wall, and,\npossessing themselves of the approaches inside and out, sent\naway Technon to Aratus, desiring him to make all the haste he\ncould.\n\nNow there was no great distance from the garden to the wall and\nto the tower, in which latter a large hound was kept.  The hound\ndid not hear their steps of himself, whether that he were\nnaturally drowsy, or overwearied the day before, but, the\ngardener's curs awaking him, he first began to growl and grumble\nin response, and then as they passed by to bark out aloud.  And\nthe barking was now so great, that the sentinel opposite shouted\nout to the dog's keeper to know why the dog kept such a barking,\nand whether anything was the matter; who answered, that it was\nnothing, but only that his dog had been set barking by the\nlights of the watch and the noise of the bell.  This reply much\nencouraged Aratus's soldiers, who thought the dog's keeper was\nprivy to their design, and wished to conceal what was passing,\nand that many others in the city were of the conspiracy.  But\nwhen they came to scale the wall, the attempt then appeared both\nto require time and to be full of danger, for the ladders shook\nand tottered extremely unless they mounted them leisurely and\none by one, and time pressed, for the cocks began to crow, and\nthe country people that used to bring things to the market would\nbe coming to the town directly.  Therefore Aratus made haste to\nget up himself, forty only of the company being already upon the\nwall, and, staying but for a few more of those that were below,\nhe made straight to the tyrant's house and the general's office,\nwhere the mercenary soldiers passed the night, and, coming\nsuddenly upon them, and taking them prisoners without killing\nany one of them, he immediately sent to all his friends in their\nhouses to desire them to come to him, which they did from all\nquarters.  By this time the day began to break, and the theater\nwas filled with a multitude that were held in suspense by\nuncertain reports and knew nothing distinctly of what had\nhappened, until a public crier came forward and proclaimed that\nAratus, the son of Clinias, invited the citizens to recover\ntheir liberty.\n\nThen at last assured that what they so long looked for was come\nto pass, they pressed in throngs to the tyrant's gates to set\nthem on fire.  And such a flame was kindled, the whole house\ncatching fire, that it was seen as far as Corinth; so that the\nCorinthians, wondering what the matter could be, were upon the\npoint of coming to their assistance.  Nicocles fled away\nsecretly out of the city by means of certain underground\npassages, and the soldiers, helping the Sicyonians to quench the\nfire, plundered the house.  This Aratus hindered not, but\ndivided also the rest of the riches of the tyrants amongst the\ncitizens.  In this exploit, not one of those engaged in it was\nslain, nor any of the contrary party, fortune so ordering the\naction as to be clear and free from civil bloodshed.  He\nrestored eighty exiles who had been expelled by Nicocles, and no\nless than five hundred who had been driven out by former tyrants\nand had endured a long banishment, pretty nearly, by this time,\nof fifty years' duration.  These returning, most of them very\npoor, were impatient to enter upon their former possessions,\nand, proceeding to their several farms and houses, gave great\nperplexity to Aratus, who considered that the city without was\nenvied for its liberty and aimed at by Antigonus, and within was\nfull of disorder and sedition.  Wherefore, as things stood, he\nthought it best to associate it to the Achaean community, and\nso, although Dorians, they of their own will took upon them the\nname and citizenship of the Achaeans, who at that time had\nneither great repute nor much power.  For the most of them lived\nin small towns, and their territory was neither large nor\nfruitful, and the neighboring sea was almost wholly without a\nharbor, breaking direct upon a rocky shore.  But yet these above\nothers made it appear that the Grecian courage was invincible,\nwhensoever it could only have order and concord within itself\nand a prudent general to direct it.  For though they had\nscarcely been counted as any part of the ancient Grecian power,\nand at this time did not equal the strength of one ordinary\ncity, yet by prudence and unanimity, and because they knew how\nnot to envy and malign, but to obey and follow him amongst them\nthat was most eminent for virtue, they not only preserved their\nown liberty in the midst of so many great cities, military\npowers, and monarchies, but went on steadily saving and\ndelivering from slavery great numbers of the Greeks.\n\nAs for Aratus, he was in his behavior a true statesman,\nhigh-minded, and more intent upon the public than his private\nconcerns, a bitter hater of tyrants, making the common good the\nrule and law of his friendships and enmities.  So that indeed he\nseems not to have been so faithful a friend, as he was a\nreasonable and gentle enemy, ready, according to the needs of\nthe state, to suit himself on occasion to either side; concord\nbetween nations, brotherhood between cities, the council and the\nassembly unanimous in their votes, being the objects above all\nother blessings to which he was passionately devoted; backward,\nindeed, and diffident in the use of arms and open force, but in\neffecting a purpose underhand, and outwitting cities and\npotentates without observation, most politic and dexterous.\nTherefore, though he succeeded beyond hope in many enterprises\nwhich he undertook, yet he seems to have left quite as many\nunattempted, though feasible enough, for want of assurance.  For\nit should seem, that, as the sight of certain beasts is strong\nin the night but dim by day, the tenderness of the humors of\ntheir eyes not bearing the contact of the light, so there is\nalso one kind of human skill and sagacity which is easily\ndaunted and disturbed in actions done in the open day and before\nthe world, and recovers all its self-possession in secret and\ncovert enterprises; which inequality is occasioned in noble\nminds for want of philosophy, a mere wild and uncultivated fruit\nof a virtue without true knowledge coming up; as might be made\nout by examples.\n\nAratus, therefore, having associated himself and his city to the\nAchaeans, served in the cavalry, and made himself much beloved\nby his commanding officers for his exact obedience; for though\nhe had made so large an addition to the common strength as that\nof his own credit and the power of his country, yet he was as\nready as the most ordinary person to be commanded by the Achaean\ngeneral of the time being, whether he were a man of Dymae, or of\nTritaea, or any yet meaner town than these.  Having also a\npresent of five and twenty talents sent him from the king, he\ntook them, but gave them all to his fellow-citizens, who wanted\nmoney, amongst other purposes, for the redemption of those who\nhad been taken prisoners.\n\nBut the exiles being by no means to be satisfied, disturbing\ncontinually those that were in possession of their estates,\nSicyon was in great danger of falling into perfect desolation;\nso that, having no hope left but in the kindness of Ptolemy, he\nresolved to sail to him, and to beg so much money of him as\nmight reconcile all parties.  So he set sail from Mothone beyond\nMalea, designing to make the direct passage.  But the pilot not\nbeing able to keep the vessel up against a strong wind and high\nwaves that came in from the open sea, he was driven from his\ncourse, and with much ado got to shore in Andros, an enemy's\nland, possessed by Antigonus, who had a garrison there.  To\navoid which he immediately landed, and, leaving the ship, went\nup into the country a good way from the sea, having along with\nhim only one friend, called Timanthes; and throwing themselves\ninto some ground thickly covered with wood, they had but an ill\nnight's rest of it.  Not long after, the commander of the troops\ncame, and, inquiring for Aratus, was deceived by his servants,\nwho had been instructed to say that he had fled at once over\ninto the island of Euboea.  However, he declared the chip, the\nproperty on board of her, and the servants, to be lawful prize,\nand detained them accordingly.  As for Aratus, after some few\ndays, in his extremity by good fortune a Roman ship happened to\nput in just at the spot in which he made his abode, sometimes\npeeping out to seek his opportunity, sometimes keeping close.\nShe was bound for Syria; but going aboard, he agreed with the\nmaster to land him in Caria.  In which voyage he met with no\nless danger on the sea than before.  From Caria being after much\ntime arrived in Egypt, he immediately went to the king, who had\na great kindness for him, and had received from him many\npresents of drawings and paintings out of Greece.  Aratus had a\nvery good judgment in them, and always took care to collect and\nsend him the most curious and finished works, especially those\nof Pamphilus and Melanthus.\n\nFor the Sicyonian pieces were still in the height of their\nreputation, as being the only ones whose colors were lasting; so\nthat Apelles himself, even after he had become well known and\nadmired, went thither, and gave a talent to be admitted into the\nsociety of the painters there, not so much to partake of their\nskill, which he wanted not, but of their credit.  And\naccordingly Aratus, when he freed the city, immediately took\ndown the representations of the rest of the tyrants, but\ndemurred a long time about that of Aristratus, who flourished in\nthe time of Philip.  For this Aristratus was painted by\nMelanthus and his scholars, standing by a chariot, in which a\nfigure of Victory was carried, Apelles himself having had a\nhand in it, as Polemon the geographer reports.  It was an\nextraordinary piece, and therefore Aratus was fain to spare it\nfor the workmanship, and yet, instigated by the hatred he bore\nthe tyrants, commanded it to be taken down.  But Nealces the\npainter, one of Aratus's friends, entreated him, it is said,\nwith tears in his eyes, to spare it, and, finding he did not\nprevail with him, told him at last he should carry on his war\nwith the tyrants, but with the tyrants alone: \"Let therefore the\nchariot and the Victory stand, and I will take means for the\nremoval of Aristratus;\" to which Aratus consenting, Nealces\nblotted out Aristratus, and in his place painted a palm-tree,\nnot daring to add anything else of his own invention.  The feet\nof the defaced figure of Aristratus are said to have escaped\nnotice, and to be hid under the chariot.  By these means Aratus\ngot favor with the king, who, after he was more fully acquainted\nwith him, loved him so much the more, and gave him for the\nrelief of his city one hundred and fifty talents; forty of which\nhe immediately carried away with him, when he sailed to\nPeloponnesus, but the rest the king divided into installments,\nand sent them to him afterwards at different times.\n\nAssuredly it was a great thing to procure for his\nfellow-citizens a sum of money, a small portion of which had\nbeen sufficient, when presented by a king to other captains and\npopular leaders, to induce them to turn dishonest, and betray\nand give away their native countries to him.  But it was a much\ngreater, that by means of this money he effected a\nreconciliation and good understanding between the rich and poor,\nand created quiet and security for the whole people.  His\nmoderation, also, amidst so great power was very admirable.  For\nbeing declared sole arbitrator and plenipotentiary for settling\nthe questions of property in the case of the exiles, he would\nnot accept the commission alone, but, associating with himself\nfifteen of the citizens, with great pains and trouble he\nsucceeded in adjusting matters, and established peace and\ngood-will in the city, for which good service, not only all the\ncitizens in general bestowed extraordinary honors upon him, but\nthe exiles, apart by themselves, erecting his statue in brass,\ninscribed on it these elegiac verses: --\n\nYour counsels, deeds, and skill for Greece in war\nKnown beyond Hercules's pillars are;\nBut we this image, O Aratus, gave\nOf you who saved us, to the gods who save,\nBy you from exile to our homes restored,\nThat virtue and that justice to record,\nTo which the blessing Sicyon owes this day\nOf wealth that's shared alike, and laws that all obey.\n\nBy his success in effecting these things, Aratus secured himself\nfrom the envy of his fellow-citizens, on account of the benefits\nthey felt he had done them; but king Antigonus being troubled in\nhis mind about him, and designing either wholly to bring him\nover to his party, or else to make him suspected by Ptolemy,\nbesides other marks of his favor shown to him, who had little\nmind to receive them, added this too, that, sacrificing to the\ngods in Corinth, he sent portions to Aratus at Sicyon, and at\nthe feast, where were many guests, he said openly, \"I thought\nthis Sicyonian youth had been only a lover of liberty and of his\nfellow-citizens, but now I look upon him as a good judge of the\nmanners and actions of kings.  For formerly he despised us, and,\nplacing his hopes further off, admired the Egyptian riches,\nhearing so much of their elephants, fleets, and palaces.  But\nafter seeing all these at a nearer distance, perceiving them to\nbe but mere stage show and pageantry, he is now come over to us.\nAnd for my part I willingly receive him, and, resolving to make\ngreat use of him myself, command you to look upon him as a\nfriend.\"  These words were soon taken hold of by those that\nenvied and maligned him, who strove which of them should, in\ntheir letters to Ptolemy, attack him with the worst calumnies,\nso that Ptolemy sent to expostulate the matter with him; so much\nenvy and ill-will did there always attend the so much contended\nfor, and so ardently and passionately aspired to, friendships of\nprinces and great men.\n\nBut Aratus, being now for the first time chosen general of the\nAchaeans, ravaged the country of Locris and Calydon, just over\nagainst Achaea, and then went to assist the Boeotians with ten\nthousand soldiers, but came not up to them until after the\nbattle near Chaeronea had been fought, in which they were beaten\nby the Aetolians, with the loss of Aboeocritus the Boeotarch,\nand a thousand men besides.  A year after, being again elected\ngeneral, he resolved to attempt the capture of the\nAcro-Corinthus, not so much for the advantage of the Sicyonians\nor Achaeans, as considering that by expelling the Macedonian\ngarrison he should free all Greece alike from a tyranny which\noppressed every part of her.  Chares the Athenian, having the\ngood fortune to get the better, in a certain battle, of the\nking's generals, wrote to the people of Athens that this victory\nwas \"sister to that at Marathon.\"  And so may this action be\nvery safely termed sister to those of Pelopidas the Theban and\nThrasybulus the Athenian, in which they slew the tyrants;\nexcept, perhaps, it exceed them upon this account, that it was\nnot against natural Grecians, but against a foreign and stranger\ndomination.  The Isthmus, rising like a bank between the seas,\ncollects into a single spot and compresses together the whole\ncontinent of Greece; and Acro-Corinthus, being a high mountain\nspringing up out of the very middle of what here is Greece,\nwhensoever it is held with a garrison, stands in the way and\ncuts off all Peloponnesus from intercourse of every kind, free\npassage of men and arms, and all traffic by sea and land, and\nmakes him lord of all, that is master of it.  Wherefore the\nyounger Philip did not jest, but said very true, when he called\nthe city of Corinth \"the fetters of Greece.\"  So that this post\nwas always much contended for, especially by the kings and\ntyrants; and so vehemently was it longed for by Antigonus, that\nhis passion for it came little short of that of frantic love; he\nwas continually occupied with devising how to take it by\nsurprise from those that were then masters of it, since he\ndespaired to do it by open force.\n\nTherefore Alexander, who held the place, being dead, poisoned by\nhim, as is reported, and his wife Nicaea succeeding in the\ngovernment and the possession of Acro-Corinthus, he immediately\nmade use of his son, Demetrius, and, giving her pleasing hopes\nof a royal marriage and of a happy life with a youth, whom a\nwoman now growing old might well find agreeable, with this lure\nof his son he succeeded in taking her; but the place itself she\ndid not deliver up, but continued to hold it with a very strong\ngarrison, of which he seeming to take no notice, celebrated the\nwedding in Corinth, entertaining them with shows and banquets\neveryday, as one that has nothing else in his mind but to give\nhimself up for awhile to indulgence in pleasure and mirth.  But\nwhen the moment came, and Amoebeus began to sing in the theater,\nhe waited himself upon Nicaea to the play, she being carried in\na royally-decorated chair, extremely pleased with her new honor,\nnot dreaming of what was intended.  As soon, therefore, as they\nwere come to the turning which led up to the citadel, he desired\nher to go on before him to the theater, but for himself, bidding\nfarewell to the music, farewell to the wedding, he went on\nfaster than one would have thought his age would have admitted\nto the Acro-Corinthus, and, finding the gate shut, knocked with\nhis staff, commanding them to open, which they within, being\namazed, did.  And having thus made himself master of the place,\nhe could not contain himself for joy; but, though an old man,\nand one that had seen so many turns of fortune, he must needs\nrevel it in the open streets and the midst of the market-place,\ncrowned with garlands and attended with flute-women, inviting\neverybody he met to partake in his festivity.  So much more does\njoy without discretion transport and agitate the mind than\neither fear or sorrow.  Antigonus, therefore, having in this\nmanner possessed himself of Acro-Corinthus, put a garrison into\nit of those he trusted most, making Persaeus the philosopher\ngovernor.\n\nNow Aratus, even in the lifetime of Alexander, had made an\nattempt, but, a confederacy being made between Alexander and the\nAchaeans, he desisted.  But now he started afresh, with a new\nplan of effecting the thing, which was this: there were in\nCorinth four brothers, Syrians born, one of whom, called\nDiocles, served as a soldier in the garrison, but the three\nothers, having stolen some gold of the king's, came to Sicyon,\nto one Aegias, a banker, whom Aratus made use of in his\nbusiness.  To him they immediately sold part of their gold, and\nthe rest one of them, called Erginus, coming often thither,\nexchanged by parcels.  Becoming, by this means, familiarly\nacquainted with Aegias, and being by him led into discourses\nconcerning the fortress, he told him that in going up to his\nbrother he had observed, in the face of the rock, a side-cleft,\nleading to that part of the wall of the castle which was lower\nthan the rest.  At which Aegias joking with him and saying, \"So,\nyou wise man, for the sake of a little gold you have broken into\nthe king's treasure; when you might, if you chose, get money in\nabundance for a single hour's work, burglary, you know, and\ntreason being punished with the same death,\" Erginus laughed and\ntold him then, he would break the thing to Diocles (for he did\nnot altogether trust his other brothers), and, returning within\na few days, he bargained to conduct Aratus to that part of the\nwall where it was no more than fifteen feet high, and to do what\nelse should be necessary, together with his brother Diocles.\n\nAratus, therefore, agreed to give them sixty talents if he\nsucceeded, but if he failed in his enterprise, and yet he and\nthey came off safe, then he would give each of them a house and\na talent.  Now the threescore talents being to be deposited in\nthe hands of Aegias for Erginus and his partners, and Aratus\nneither having so much by him, nor willing, by borrowing it from\nothers, to give anyone a suspicion of his design, he pawned his\nplate and his wife's golden ornaments to Aegias for the money.\nFor so high was his temper, and so strong his passion for noble\nactions, that, even as he had heard that Phocion and Epaminondas\nwere the best and justest of the Greeks, because they refused\nthe greatest presents and would not surrender their duty for\nmoney, so he now chose to be at the expense of this enterprise\nprivately, and to advance all the cost out of his own property,\ntaking the whole hazard on himself for the sake of the rest that\ndid not so much as know what was doing.  And who indeed can\nwithhold, even now, his admiration for and his sympathy with the\ngenerous mind of one, who paid so largely to purchase so great a\nrisk, and lent out his richest possessions to have an\nopportunity to expose his own life, by entering among his\nenemies in the dead of the night, without desiring any other\nsecurity for them than the hope of a noble success.\n\nNow the enterprise, though dangerous enough in itself, was made\nmuch more so by an error happening through mistake in the very\nbeginning.  For Technon, one of Aratus's servants, was sent away\nto Diocles, that they might together view the wall.  Now he had\nnever seen Diocles, but made no question of knowing him by the\nmarks Erginus had given him of him; namely, that he had curly\nhair, a swarthy complexion, and no beard.  Being come,\ntherefore, to the appointed place, he stayed waiting for Erginus\nand Diocles outside the town, in front of the place called\nOrnis.  In the meantime, Dionysius, elder brother to Erginus and\nDiocles, who knew nothing at all of the matter, but much\nresembled Diocles, happened to pass by.  Technon, upon this\nlikeness, all being in accordance with what he had been told,\nasked him if he knew Erginus; and on his replying that he was\nhis brother, taking it for granted that he was speaking with\nDiocles, not so much as asking his name or staying for any other\ntoken, he gave him his hand, and began to discourse with him and\nask him questions about matters agreed upon with Erginus.\nDionysius, cunningly taking the advantage of his mistake, seemed\nto understand him very well, and returning towards the city, led\nhim on, still talking, without any suspicion.  And being now\nnear the gate, he was just about to seize on him, when by chance\nagain Erginus met them, and, apprehending the cheat and the\ndanger, beckoned to Technon to make his escape, and immediately\nboth of them, betaking themselves to their heels, ran away as\nfast as they could to Aratus, who for all this despaired not,\nbut immediately sent away Erginus to Dionysius to bribe him to\nhold his tongue.  And he not only effected that, but also\nbrought him along with him to Aratus.  But, when they had him,\nthey no longer left him at liberty, but binding him, they kept\nhim close shut up in a room, whilst they prepared for executing\ntheir design.\n\nAll things being now ready, he commanded the rest of his forces\nto pass the night by their arms, and taking with him four\nhundred chosen men, few of whom knew what they were going about,\nhe led them to the gates by the temple of Juno.  It was the\nmidst of summer, and the moon was at full, and the night so\nclear without any clouds, that there was danger lest the arms\nglistening in the moonlight should discover them.  But as the\nforemost of them came near the city, a mist came off from the\nsea, and darkened the city itself and the outskirts about it.\nThen the rest of them, sitting down, put off their shoes,\nbecause men both make less noise and also climb surer, if they\ngo up ladders barefooted, but Erginus, taking with him seven\nyoung men dressed like travelers, got unobserved to the gate,\nand killed the sentry with the other guards.  And at the same\ntime the ladders were clapped to the walls, and Aratus, having\nin great haste got up a hundred men, commended the rest to\nfollow as they could, and immediately drawing up his ladders\nafter him, he marched through the city with his hundred men\ntowards the castle, being already overjoyed that he was\nundiscovered, and not doubting of the success.  But while still\nthey were some way off, a watch of four men came with a light,\nwho did not see them, because they were still in the shade of\nthe moon, but were seen plainly enough themselves as they came\non directly towards them.  So withdrawing a little way amongst\nsome walls and plots for houses, they lay in wait for them; and\nthree of them they killed.  But the fourth, being wounded in the\nhead with a sword, fled, crying out that the enemy was in the\ncity.  And immediately the trumpets sounded, and all the city\nwas in an uproar at what had happened, and the streets were full\nof people running up and down, and many lights were seen shining\nboth below in the town, and above in the castle, and a confused\nnoise was to be heard in all parts.\n\nIn the meantime, Aratus was hard at work struggling to get up\nthe rocks, at first slowly and with much difficulty, straying\ncontinually from the path, which lay deep, and was overshadowed\nwith the crags, leading to the wall with many windings and\nturnings; but the moon immediately and as if by miracle, it is\nsaid, dispersing the clouds, shone out and gave light to the\nmost difficult part of the way, until he got to that part of the\nwall he desired, and there she overshadowed and hid him, the\nclouds coming together again.  Those soldiers whom Aratus had\nleft outside the gate, near Juno's temple, to the number of\nthree hundred, entering the town, now full of tumult and lights,\nand not knowing the way by which the former had gone, and\nfinding no track of them, slunk aside, and crowded together in\none body under a flank of the cliff that cast a strong shadow,\nand there stood and waited in great distress and perplexity.\nFor, by this time, those that had gone with Aratus were attacked\nwith missiles from the citadel, and were busy fighting, and a\nsound of cries of battle came down from above, and a loud noise,\nechoed back and back from the mountain sides, and therefore\nconfused and uncertain whence it proceeded, was heard on all\nsides.  They being thus in doubt which way to turn themselves,\nArchelaus, the commander of Antigonus's troops, having a great\nnumber of soldiers with him, made up towards the castle with\ngreat shouts and noise of trumpets to fall upon Aratus's people,\nand passed by the three hundred, who, as if they had risen out\nof an ambush, immediately charged him, killing the first they\nencountered, and so affrighted the rest, together with\nArchelaus, that they put them to flight and pursued them until\nthey had quite broke and dispersed them about the city.  No\nsooner were these defeated, but Erginus came to them from those\nthat were fighting above, to acquaint them that Aratus was\nengaged with the enemy, who defended themselves very stoutly,\nand there was a fierce conflict at the very wall, and need of\nspeedy help.  They therefore desired him to lead them on without\ndelay, and, marching up, they by their shouts made their friends\nunderstand who they were, and encouraged them; and the full\nmoon, shining on their arms, made them, in the long line by\nwhich they advanced, appear more in number to the enemy than\nthey were; and the echo of the night multiplied their shouts.\nIn short, falling on with the rest, they made the enemy give\nway, and were masters of the castle and garrison, day now\nbeginning to be bright, and the rising sun shining out upon\ntheir success.  By this time, also, the rest of his army came up\nto Aratus from Sicyon, the Corinthians joyfully receiving them\nat the gates and helping them to secure the king's party.\n\nAnd now, having put all things into a safe posture, he came down\nfrom the castle to the theater, an infinite number of people\ncrowding thither to see him and to hear what he would say to the\nCorinthians.  Therefore drawing up the Achaeans on each side of\nthe stage-passages, he came forward himself upon the stage, with\nhis corslet still on, and his face showing the effects of all\nhis hard work and want of sleep, so that his natural exultation\nand joyfulness of mind were overborne by the weariness of his\nbody.  The people, as soon as he came forth, breaking out into\ngreat applauses and congratulations, he took his spear in his\nright hand, and, resting his body upon it with his knee a little\nbent, stood a good while in that posture, silently receiving\ntheir shouts and acclamations, while they extolled his valor and\nwondered at his fortune; which being over, standing up, he\nbegan an oration in the name of the Achaeans, suitable to the\nlate action, persuading the Corinthians to associate themselves\nto the Achaeans, and withal delivered up to them the keys of\ntheir gates, which had never been in their power since the time\nof king Philip.  Of the captains of Antigonus, he dismissed\nArchelaus, whom he had taken prisoner, and Theophrastus, who\nrefused to quit his post, he put to death.  As for Persaeus,\nwhen he saw the castle was lost, he had got away to Cenchreae,\nwhere, some time after, discoursing with one that said to him\nthat the wise man only is a true general, \"Indeed,\" he replied,\n\"none of Zeno's maxims once pleased me better than this, but I\nhave been converted to another opinion by the young man of\nSicyon.\"  This is told by many of Persaeus.  Aratus, immediately\nafter, made himself master of the temple of Juno and haven of\nLechaeum, seized upon five and twenty of the king's ships,\ntogether with five hundred horses and four hundred Syrians;\nthese he sold.  The Achaeans kept guard in the Acro-Corinthus\nwith a body of four hundred soldiers, and fifty dogs with as\nmany keepers.\n\nThe Romans, extolling Philopoemen, called him the last of the\nGrecians, as if no great man had ever since his time been bred\namongst them.  But I should call this capture of the\nAcro-Corinthus the last of the Grecian exploits, being\ncomparable to the best of them, both for the daringness of it,\nand the success, as was presently seen by the consequences.  For\nthe Megarians, revolting from Antigonus, joined Aratus, and the\nTroezenians and Epidaurians enrolled themselves in the Achaean\ncommunity, and issuing forth for the first time, he entered\nAttica, and passing over into Salamis, he plundered the island,\nturning the Achaean force every way, as if it were just let\nloose out of prison and set at liberty.  All freemen whom he\ntook he sent back to the Athenians without ransom, as a sort of\nfirst invitation to them to come over to the league.  He made\nPtolemy become a confederate of the Achaeans, with the privilege\nof command both by sea and land.  And so great was his power\nwith them, that since he could not by law be chosen their\ngeneral every year, yet every other year he was, and by his\ncounsels and actions was in effect always so.  For they\nperceived that neither riches nor reputation, nor the friendship\nof kings, nor the private interest of his own country, nor\nanything else was so dear to him as the increase of the Achaean\npower and greatness.  For he believed that the cities, weak\nindividually, could be preserved by nothing else but a mutual\nassistance under the closest bond of the common interest; and,\nas the members of the body live and breathe by the union of all\nin a single natural growth, and on the dissolution of this, when\nonce they separate, pine away and putrefy, in the same manner\nare cities ruined by being dissevered, as well as preserved\nwhen, as the members of one great body they enjoy the benefit of\nthat providence and counsel that govern the whole.\n\nNow being distressed to see that, whereas the chief neighboring\ncities enjoyed their own laws and liberties, the Argives were in\nbondage, he took counsel for destroying their tyrant\nAristomachus, being very desirous both to pay his debt of\ngratitude to the city where he had been bred up, by restoring it\nits liberty, and to add so considerable a town to the Achaeans.\nNor were there some wanting who had the courage to undertake the\nthing, of whom Aeschylus and Charimenes the soothsayer were the\nchief.  But they wanted swords; for the tyrant had prohibited\nthe keeping of any under a great penalty.  Therefore Aratus,\nhaving provided some small daggers at Corinth and hidden them in\nthe pack-saddles of some pack-horses that carried ordinary ware,\nsent them to Argos.  But Charimenes letting another person into\nthe design, Aeschylus and his partners were angry at it, and\nhenceforth would have no more to do with him, and took their\nmeasures by themselves, and Charimenes, on finding this, went,\nout of anger, and informed against them, just as they were on\ntheir way to attack the tyrant; however, the most of them made a\nshift to escape out of the marketplace, and fled to Corinth.\nNot long after, Aristomachus was slain by some slaves, and\nAristippus, a worse tyrant than he, seized the government.\nUpon this, Aratus, mustering all the Achaeans present that were\nof age, hurried away to the aid of the city, believing that he\nshould find the people ready to join with him.  But the greater\nnumber being by this time habituated to slavery and content to\nsubmit, and no one coming to join him, he was obliged to retire,\nhaving moreover exposed the Achaeans to the charge of committing\nacts of hostility in the midst of peace; upon which account they\nwere sued before the Mantineans, and, Aratus not making his\nappearance, Aristippus gained the cause, and had damages allowed\nhim to the value of thirty minae.  And now hating and fearing\nAratus, he sought means to kill him, having the assistance\nherein of king Antigonus; so that Aratus was perpetually dogged\nand watched by those that waited for an opportunity to do this\nservice.  But there is no such safeguard of a ruler as the\nsincere and steady good-will of his subjects, for, where both\nthe common people and the principal citizens have their fears\nnot of but for their governor, he sees with many eyes and hears\nwith many ears whatsoever is doing.  Therefore I cannot but here\nstop short a little in the course of my narrative, to describe\nthe manner of life which the so much envied arbitrary power and\nthe so much celebrated and admired pomp and pride of absolute\ngovernment obliged Aristippus to lead.\n\nFor though Antigonus was his friend and ally, and though he\nmaintained numerous soldiers to act as his body-guard, and had\nnot left one enemy of his alive in the city, yet he was forced\nto make his guards encamp in the colonnade about his house; and\nfor his servants, he turned them all out immediately after\nsupper, and then shutting the doors upon them, he crept up into\na small upper chamber, together with his mistress, through a\ntrapdoor, upon which he placed his bed, and there slept after:\nsuch a fashion, as one in his condition can be supposed to\nsleep, that is, interruptedly and in fear.  The ladder was taken\naway by the woman's mother, and locked up in another room; in\nthe morning she brought it again, and putting it to, called up\nthis brave and wonderful tyrant, who came crawling out like some\ncreeping thing out of its hole.  Whereas Aratus, not by force of\narms, but lawfully and by his virtue, lived in possession of a\nfirmly settled command, wearing the ordinary coat and cloak,\nbeing the common and declared enemy of all tyrants, and has left\nbehind him a noble race of descendants surviving among the\nGrecians to this day; while those occupiers of citadels and\nmaintainers of bodyguards, who made all this use of arms and\ngates and bolts to protect their lives, in some few cases\nperhaps escaped, like the hare from the hunters; but in no\ninstance have we either house or family, or so much as a tomb to\nwhich any respect is shown, remaining to preserve the memory of\nany one of them.\n\nAgainst this Aristippus, therefore, Aratus made many open and\nmany secret attempts, whilst he endeavored to take Argos, though\nwithout success; once, particularly, clapping scaling ladders in\nthe night to the wall, he desperately got up upon it with a few\nof his soldiers, and killed the guards that opposed him.  But\nthe day appearing, the tyrant set upon him on all hands, whilst\nthe Argives, as if it had not been their liberty that was\ncontended for, but some Nemean game going on for which it was\ntheir privilege to assign the prize, like fair and impartial\njudges, sat looking on in great quietness.  Aratus, fighting\nbravely, was run through the thigh with a lance, yet he\nmaintained his ground against the enemy till night, and, had he\nbeen able to go on and hold out that night also, he had gained\nhis point; for the tyrant thought of nothing but flying, and had\nalready shipped most of his goods.  But Aratus, having no\nintelligence of this, and wanting water, being disabled himself\nby his wound, retreated with his soldiers.\n\nDespairing henceforth to do any good this way, he fell openly\nwith his army into Argolis, and plundered it, and, in a fierce\nbattle with Aristippus near the river Chares, he was accused of\nhaving withdrawn out of the fight, and thereby abandoned the\nvictory.  For whereas one part of his army had unmistakably got\nthe better, and was pursuing the enemy at a good distance from\nhim, he yet retreated in confusion into his camp, not so much\nbecause he was overpressed by those with whom he was engaged, as\nout of mistrust of success and through a panic fear.  But when the\nother wing, returning from the pursuit, showed themselves\nextremely vexed, that though they had put the enemy to flight\nand killed many more of his men than they had lost, yet those\nthat were in a manner conquered should erect a trophy as\nconquerors, being much ashamed he resolved to fight them again\nabout the trophy, and the next day but one drew up his army to\ngive them battle.  But, perceiving that they were reinforced\nwith fresh troops, and came on with better courage than before,\nhe durst not hazard a fight, but retired, and sent to request a\ntruce to bury his dead.  However, by his dexterity in dealing\npersonally with men and managing political affairs, and by his\ngeneral favor, he excused and obliterated this fault, and\nbrought in Cleonae to the Achaean association, and celebrated\nthe Nemean games at Cleonae, as the proper and more ancient\nplace for them.  The games were also celebrated by the Argives at\nthe same time, which gave the first occasion to the violation of\nthe privilege of safe conduct and immunity always granted to\nthose that came to compete for the prizes, the Achaeans at that\ntime selling as enemies all those they caught going through\ntheir country after joining in the games at Argos.  So vehement\nand implacable a hater was he of the tyrants.\n\nNot long after, having notice that Aristippus had a design upon\nCleonae, but was afraid of him, because he then was staying in\nCorinth, he assembled an army by public proclamation, and,\ncommanding them to take along with them provision for several\ndays, he marched to Cenchreae, hoping by this stratagem to\nentice Aristippus to fall upon Cleonae, when he supposed him far\nenough off.  And so it happened, for he immediately brought his\nforces against it from Argos.  But Aratus, returning from\nCenchreae to Corinth in the dusk of the evening, and setting\nposts of his troops in all the roads, led on the Achaeans, who\nfollowed him in such good order and with so much speed and\nalacrity, that they were undiscovered by Aristippus, not only\nwhilst upon their march, but even when they got, still in the\nnight, into Cleonae, and drew up in order of battle.  As soon as\nit was morning, the gates being opened and the trumpets\nsounding, he fell upon the enemy with great cries and fury,\nrouted them at once, and kept close in pursuit, following the\ncourse which he most imagined Aristippus would choose, there\nbeing many turns that might be taken.  And so the chase lasted\nas far as Mycenae, where the tyrant was slain by a certain\nCretan called Tragiscus, as Dinias reports.  Of the common\nsoldiers, there fell above fifteen hundred.  Yet though Aratus\nhad obtained so great a victory, and that too without the loss\nof a man, he could not make himself master of Argos nor set it\nat liberty, because Agias and the younger Aristomachus got into\nthe town with some of the king's forces, and seized upon the\ngovernment.  However, by this exploit he spoiled the scoffs and\njests of those that flattered the tyrants, and in their raillery\nwould say that the Achaean general was usually troubled with a\nlooseness when he was to fight a battle, that the sound of a\ntrumpet struck him with a drowsiness and a giddiness, and that,\nwhen he had drawn up his army and given the word, he used to ask\nhis lieutenants and officers whether there was any further need\nof his presence now the die was cast, and then went aloof, to\nawait the result at a distance.  For indeed these stories were\nso generally listened to, that, when the philosophers disputed\nwhether to have one's heart beat and to change color upon any\napparent danger be an argument of fear, or rather of some\ndistemperature and chilliness of bodily constitution, Aratus was\nalways quoted as a good general, who was always thus affected\nill time of battle.\n\nHaving thus dispatched Aristippus, he advised with himself how\nto overthrow Lydiades, the Megalopolitan, who held usurped power\nover his country.  This person was naturally of a generous\ntemper, and not insensible of true honor, and had been led into\nthis wickedness, not by the ordinary motives of other tyrants,\nlicentiousness and rapacity, but being young, and stimulated\nwith the desire of glory, he had let his mind be unwarily\nprepossessed with the vain and false applauses given to tyranny,\nas some happy and glorious thing.  But he no sooner seized the\ngovernment, than he grew weary of the pomp and burden of it.\nAnd at once emulating the tranquillity and fearing the policy of\nAratus, he took the best of resolutions, first, to free himself\nfrom hatred and fear, from soldiers and guards, and, secondly,\nto be the public benefactor of his country.  And sending for\nAratus, he resigned the government, and incorporated his city\ninto the Achaean community.  The Achaeans, applauding this\ngenerous action, chose him their general; upon which, desiring\nto outdo Aratus in glory, amongst many other uncalled-for\nthings, he declared war against the Lacedaemonians; which Aratus\nopposing was thought to do it out of envy; and Lydiades was the\nsecond time chosen general, though Aratus acted openly against\nhim, and labored to have the office conferred upon another.  For\nAratus himself had the command every other year, as has been\nsaid.  Lydiades, however, succeeded so well in his pretensions,\nthat he was thrice chosen general, governing alternately, as did\nAratus; but at last, declaring himself his professed enemy, and\naccusing him frequently to the Achaeans, he was rejected, and\nfell into contempt, people now seeing that it was a contest\nbetween a counterfeit and a true, unadulterated virtue, and, as\nAesop tells us that the cuckoo once, asking the little birds why\nthey flew away from her, was answered, because they feared she\nwould one day prove a hawk, so Lydiades's former tyranny still\ncast a doubt upon the reality of his change.\n\nBut Aratus gained new honor in the Aetolian war.  For the\nAchaeans resolving to fall upon the Aetolians on the Megarian\nconfines, and Agis also, the Lacedaemonian king, who came to\ntheir assistance with an army, encouraging them to fight, Aratus\nopposed this determination.  And patiently enduring many\nreproaches, many scoffs and jeerings at his soft and cowardly\ntemper, he would not, for any appearance of disgrace, abandon\nwhat he judged to be the true common advantage, and suffered the\nenemy to pass over Geranea into Peloponnesus without a battle.\nBut when, after they had passed by, news came that they had\nsuddenly captured Pellene, he was no longer the same man, nor\nwould he hear of any delay, or wait to draw together his whole\nforce, but marched towards the enemy with such as he had about\nhim to fall upon them, as they were indeed now much less\nformidable through the intemperances and disorders committed in\ntheir success.  For as soon as they entered the city, the common\nsoldiers dispersed and went hither and thither into the houses,\nquarreling and fighting with one another about the plunder; and\nthe officers and commanders were running about after the wives\nand daughters of the Pellenians, on whose heads they put their\nown helmets, to mark each man his prize, and prevent another\nfrom seizing it.  And in this posture were they when news came\nthat Aratus was ready to fall upon them.  And in the midst of\nthe consternation likely to ensue in the confusion they were in,\nbefore all of them heard of the danger, the outmost of them,\nengaging at the gates and in the suburbs with the Achaeans, were\nalready beaten and put to flight, and, as they came headlong\nback, filled with their panic those who were collecting and\nadvancing to their assistance.\n\nIn this confusion, one of the captives, daughter of Epigethes, a\ncitizen of repute, being extremely handsome and tall, happened\nto be sitting in the temple of Diana, placed there by the\ncommander of the band of chosen men, who had taken her and put\nhis crested helmet upon her.  She, hearing the noise, and\nrunning out to see what was the matter, stood in the temple\ngates, looking down from above upon those that fought, having\nthe helmet upon her head; in which posture she seemed to the\ncitizens to be something more than human, and struck fear and\ndread into the enemy, who believed it to be a divine apparition;\nso that they lost all courage to defend themselves.  But the\nPellenians tell us that the image of Diana stands usually\nuntouched, and when the priestess happens at any time to remove\nit to some other place, nobody dares look upon it, but all turn\ntheir faces from it; for not only is the sight of it terrible\nand hurtful to mankind, but it makes even the trees, by which it\nhappens to be carried, become barren and cast their fruit.  This\nimage, therefore, they say, the priestess produced at that time,\nand, holding it directly in the faces of the Aetolians, made\nthem lose their reason and judgment.  But Aratus mentions no\nsuch thing in his commentaries, but says, that, having put to\nflight the Aetolians, and falling in pell-mell with them into\nthe city, he drove them out by main force, and killed seven\nhundred of them.  And the action was extolled as one of the most\nfamous exploits, and Timanthes the painter made a picture of the\nbattle, giving by his composition a most lively representation\nof it.\n\nBut many great nations and potentates combining against the\nAchaeans, Aratus immediately treated for friendly arrangements\nwith the Aetolians, and, making use of the assistance of\nPantaleon, the most powerful man amongst them, he not only made\na peace, but an alliance between them and the Achaeans.  But\nbeing desirous to free the Athenians, he got into disgrace and\nill-repute among the Achaeans, because, notwithstanding the\ntruce and suspension of arms made between them and the\nMacedonians, he had attempted to take the Piraeus.  He denies\nthis fact in his commentaries, and lays the blame on Erginus, by\nwhose assistance he took Acro-Corinthus, alleging that he upon\nhis own private account attacked the Piraeus, and, his ladders\nhappening to break, being hotly pursued, he called out upon\nAratus as if present, by which means deceiving the enemy, he got\nsafely off.  This excuse, however, sounds very improbable; for it\nis not in any way likely that Erginus, a private man and a\nSyrian stranger, should conceive in his mind so great an\nattempt, without Aratus at his back, to tell him how and when to\nmake it, and to supply him with the means.  Nor was it twice or\nthrice, but very often, that, like an obstinate lover, he\nrepeated his attempts on the Piraeus, and was so far from being\ndiscouraged by his disappointments, that his missing his hopes\nbut narrowly was an incentive to him to proceed the more boldly\nin a new trial.  One time amongst the rest, in making his escape\nthrough the Thriasian plain, he put his leg out of joint, and\nwas forced to submit to many operations with the knife before he\nwas cured, so that for a long time he was carried in a litter to\nthe wars.\n\nAnd when Antigonus was dead, and Demetrius succeeded him in the\nkingdom, he was more bent than ever upon Athens, and in general\nquite despised the Macedonians.  And so, being overthrown in\nbattle near Phylacia by Bithys, Demetrius's general, and there\nbeing a very strong report that he was either taken or slain,\nDiogenes, the governor of the Piraeus, sent letters to Corinth,\ncommanding the Achaeans to quit that city, seeing Aratus was\ndead.  When these letters came to Corinth, Aratus happened to be\nthere in person, so that Diogenes's messengers, being\nsufficiently mocked and derided, were forced to return to their\nmaster.  King Demetrius himself also sent a ship, wherein\nAratus was to be brought to him in chains.  And the Athenians,\nexceeding all possible fickleness of flattery to the\nMacedonians, crowned themselves with garlands upon the first\nnews of his death.  And so in anger he went at once and invaded\nAttica, and penetrated as far as the Academy, but then suffering\nhimself to be pacified, he did no further act of hostility.  And\nthe Athenians afterwards, coming to a due sense of his virtue,\nwhen upon the death of Demetrius they attempted to recover their\nliberty, called him in to their assistance; and although at that\ntime another person was general of the Achaeans, and he himself\nhad long kept his bed with a sickness, yet, rather than fail the\ncity in a time of need, he was carried thither in a litter, and\nhelped to persuade Diogenes the governor to deliver up the\nPiraeus, Munychia, Salamis, and Sunium to the Athenians in\nconsideration of a hundred and fifty talents, of which Aratus\nhimself contributed twenty to the city.  Upon this, the\nAeginetans and the Hermionians immediately joined the Achaeans,\nand the greatest part of Arcadia entered their confederacy; and\nthe Macedonians being occupied with various wars upon their own\nconfines and with their neighbors, the Achaean power, the\nAetolians also being in alliance with them, rose to great\nheight.\n\nBut Aratus, still bent on effecting his old project, and\nimpatient that tyranny should maintain itself in so near a city\nas Argos, sent to Aristomachus to persuade him to restore\nliberty to that city, and to associate it to the Achaeans, and\nthat, following Lydiades's example, he should rather choose to\nbe the general of a great nation, with esteem and honor, than\nthe tyrant of one city, with continual hatred and danger.\nAristomachus slighted not the message, but desired Aratus to\nsend him fifty talents, with which he might pay off the\nsoldiers.  In the meantime, whilst the money was providing,\nLydiades, being then general, and extremely ambitious that this\nadvantage might seem to be of his procuring for the Achaeans,\naccused Aratus to Aristomachus, as one that bore an\nirreconcilable hatred to the tyrants, and, persuading him to\ncommit the affair to his management, he presented him to the\nAchaeans.  But there the Achaean council gave a manifest proof\nof the great credit Aratus had with them and the good-will they\nbore him.  For when he, in anger, spoke against Aristomachus's\nbeing admitted into the association, they rejected the proposal,\nbut when he was afterwards pacified and came himself and spoke\nin its favor, they voted everything cheerfully and readily, and\ndecreed that the Argives and Phliasians should be incorporated\ninto their commonwealth, and the next year they chose\nAristomachus general.  He, being in good credit with the\nAchaeans, was very desirous to invade Laconia, and for that\npurpose sent for Aratus from Athens.  Aratus wrote to him to\ndissuade him as far as he could from that expedition, being very\nunwilling the Achaeans should be engaged in a quarrel with\nCleomenes, who was a daring man, and making extraordinary\nadvances to power.  But Aristomachus resolving to go on, he\nobeyed and served in person, on which occasion he hindered\nAristomachus from fighting a battle, when Cleomenes came upon\nthem at Pallantium; and for this act was accused by Lydiades,\nand, coming to an open conflict with him in a contest for the\noffice of general, he carried it by the show of hands, and was\nchosen general the twelfth time.\n\nThis year, being routed by Cleomenes near the Lycaeum, he fled,\nand, wandering out of the way in the night, was believed to be\nslain; and once more it was confidently reported so throughout\nall Greece.  He, however, having escaped this danger and rallied\nhis forces, was not content to march off in safety, but, making\na happy use of the present conjuncture, when nobody dreamed any\nsuch thing, he fell suddenly upon the Mantineans, allies of\nCleomenes, and, taking the city, put a garrison into it, and\nmade the stranger inhabitants free of the city; procuring, by\nthis means, those advantages for the beaten Achaeans, which,\nbeing conquerors, they would not easily have obtained.  The\nLacedaemonians again invading the Megalopolitan territories, he\nmarched to the assistance of the city, but refused to give\nCleomenes, who did all he could to provoke him to it, any\nopportunity of engaging him in a battle, nor could be prevailed\nupon by the Megalopolitans, who urged him to it extremely.  For\nbesides that by nature he was ill-suited for set battles, he was\nthen much inferior in numbers, and was to deal with a daring\nleader, still in the heat of youth, while he himself, now past\nthe prime of courage and come to a chastised ambition, felt it\nhis business to maintain by prudence the glory, which he had\nobtained, and the other was only aspiring to by forwardness and\ndaring.\n\nSo that though the light-armed soldiers had sallied out and\ndriven the Lacedaemonians as far as their camp, and had come\neven to their tents, yet would not Aratus lead his men forward,\nbut, posting himself in a hollow watercourse in the way thither,\nstopped and prevented the citizens from crossing this.\nLydiades, extremely vexed at what was going on, and loading\nAratus with reproaches, entreated the horse that together with\nhim they would second them that had the enemy in chase, and not\nlet a certain victory slip out of their hands, nor forsake him\nthat was going to venture his life for his country.  And being\nreinforced with many brave men that turned after him, he charged\nthe enemy's right wing, and routing it, followed the pursuit\nwithout measure or discretion, letting his eagerness and hopes\nof glory tempt him on into broken ground, full of planted fruit\ntrees and cut up with broad ditches, where, being engaged by\nCleomenes, he fell, fighting gallantly the noblest of battles,\nat the gate of his country.  The rest, flying back to their main\nbody and troubling the ranks of the full-armed infantry, put the\nwhole army to the rout.  Aratus was extremely blamed, being\nsuspected to have betrayed Lydiades, and was constrained by the\nAchaeans, who withdrew in great anger, to accompany them to\nAegium, where they called a council, and decreed that he should\nno longer be furnished with money, nor have any more soldiers\nhired for him, but that, if he would make war, he should pay\nthem himself.\n\nThis affront he resented so far as to resolve to give up the\nseal and lay down the office of general; but upon second\nthoughts he found it best to have patience, and presently\nmarched with the Achaeans to Orchomenus and fought a battle with\nMegistonus, the step-father of Cleomenes, where he got the\nvictory, killing three hundred men and taking Megistonus\nprisoner.  But whereas he used to be chosen general every other\nyear, when his turn came and he was called to take upon him that\ncharge, he declined it, and Timoxenus was chosen in his stead.\nThe true cause of which was not the pique he was alleged to have\ntaken at the people, but the ill circumstances of the Achaean\naffairs.  For Cleomenes did not now invade them gently and\ntenderly as hitherto, as one controlled by the civil\nauthorities, but having killed the Ephors, divided the lands,\nand made many of the stranger residents free of the city, he was\nresponsible to no one in his government; and therefore fell in\ngood earnest upon the Achaeans, and put forward his claim to the\nsupreme military command.  Wherefore Aratus is much blamed, that\nin a stormy and tempestuous time, like a cowardly pilot, he\nshould forsake the helm, when it was even perhaps his duty to\nhave insisted, whether they would or no, on saving them; or if\nhe thought the Achaean affairs desperate, to have yielded all up\nto Cleomenes, and not to have let Peloponnesus fall once again\ninto barbarism with Macedonian garrisons, and Acro-Corinthus be\noccupied with Illyric and Gaulish soldiers, and, under the\nspecious name of Confederates, to have made those masters of the\ncities whom he had held it his business by arms and by policy to\nbaffle and defeat, and, in the memoirs he left behind him,\nloaded with reproaches and insults.  And say that Cleomenes was\narbitrary and tyrannical, yet was he descended from the\nHeraclidae, and Sparta was his country, the obscurest citizen of\nwhich deserved to be preferred to the generalship before the\nbest of the Macedonians by those that had any regard to the\nhonor of Grecian birth.  Besides, Cleomenes sued for that\ncommand over the Achaeans as one that would return the honor of\nthat title with real kindnesses to the cities; whereas\nAntigonus, being declared absolute general by sea and land,\nwould not accept the office unless Acro-Corinthus were by\nspecial agreement put into his hands, following the example of\nAesop's hunter; for he would not get up and ride the Achaeans,\nwho desired him so to do, and offered their backs to him by\nembassies and popular decrees, till, by a garrison and hostages,\nthey had allowed him to bit and bridle them.  Aratus exhausts\nall his powers of speech to show the necessity that was upon\nhim.  But Polybius writes, that long before this, and before\nthere was any necessity, apprehending the daring temper of\nCleomenes, he communicated secretly with Antigonus, and that he\nhad beforehand prevailed with the Megalopolitans to press the\nAchaeans to crave aid from Antigonus.  For they were the most\nharassed by the war, Cleomenes continually plundering and\nransacking their country.  And so writes also Phylarchus, who,\nunless seconded by the testimony of Polybius, would not be\naltogether credited; for he is seized with enthusiasm when he so\nmuch as speaks a word of Cleomenes, and as if he were pleading,\nnot writing a history, goes on throughout defending the one and\naccusing the other.\n\nThe Achaeans, therefore, lost Mantinea, which was recovered by\nCleomenes, and being beaten in a great fight near Hecatombaeum,\nso general was the consternation, that they immediately sent to\nCleomenes to desire him to come to Argos and take the command\nupon him.  But Aratus, as soon as he understood that he was\ncoming, and was got as far as Lerna with his troops, fearing\nthe result, sent ambassadors to him, to request him to come\naccompanied with three hundred only, as to friends and\nconfederates, and, if he mistrusted anything, he should receive\nhostages.  Upon which Cleomenes, saying this was mere mockery\nand affront, went away, sending a letter to the Achaeans full of\nreproaches and accusation against Aratus.  And Aratus also wrote\nletters against Cleomenes; and bitter revilings and railleries\nwere current on both hands, not sparing even their marriages and\nwives.  Hereupon Cleomenes sent a herald to declare war against\nthe Achaeans, and in the meantime missed very narrowly of\ntaking Sicyon by treachery.  Turning off at a little distance,\nhe attacked and took Pellene, which the Achaean general\nabandoned, and not long after took also Pheneus and Penteleum.\nThen immediately the Argives voluntarily joined with him, and\nthe Phliasians received a garrison, and in short nothing among\nall their new acquisitions held firm to the Achaeans.  Aratus\nwas encompassed on every side with clamor and confusion; he saw\nthe whole of Peloponnesus shaking around him, and the cities\neverywhere set in revolt by men desirous of innovations.\n\nFor indeed no place remained quiet or satisfied with the present\ncondition; even amongst the Sicyonians and Corinthians\nthemselves, many were well known to have had private conferences\nwith Cleomenes, who long since, out of desire to make themselves\nmasters of their several cities, had been discontented with the\npresent order of things.  Aratus, having absolute power given\nhim to bring these to condign punishment, executed as many of\nthem as he could find at Sicyon, but going about to find them\nout and punish them at Corinth also, he irritated the people,\nalready unsound in feeling and weary of the Achaean government.\nSo collecting tumultuously in the temple of Apollo, they sent\nfor Aratus, having determined to take or kill him before they\nbroke out into open revolt.  He came accordingly, leading his\nhorse in his hand, as if he suspected nothing.  Then several\nleaping up and accusing and reproaching him, with mild words and\na settled countenance he bade them sit down, and not stand\ncrying out upon him in a disorderly manner, desiring, also, that\nthose that were about the door might be let in, and saying so,\nhe stepped out quietly, as if he would give his horse to\nsomebody.  Clearing himself thus of the crowd, and speaking\nwithout discomposure to the Corinthians that he met, commanding\nthem to go to Apollo's temple, and being now, before they were\naware, got near to the citadel, he leaped upon his horse, and\ncommanding Cleopater, the governor of the garrison, to have a\nspecial care of his charge, he galloped to Sicyon, followed by\nthirty of his soldiers, the rest leaving him and shifting for\nthemselves.  And not long after, it being known that he was\nfled, the Corinthians pursued him, but not overtaking him, they\nimmediately sent for Cleomenes and delivered up the city to him,\nwho, however, thought nothing they could give was so great a\ngain, as was the loss of their having let Aratus get away.\nNevertheless, being strengthened by the accession of the people\nof the Acte, as it is called, who put their towns into his\nhands, he proceeded to carry a palisade and lines of\ncircumvallation around the Acro-Corinthus.\n\nBut Aratus being arrived at Sicyon, the body of the Achaeans\nthere flocked to him, and, in an assembly there held, he was\nchosen general with absolute power, and he took about him a\nguard of his own citizens, it being now three and thirty years\nsince he first took a part in public affairs among the Achaeans,\nhaving in that time been the chief man in credit and power of\nall Greece; but he was now deserted on all hands, helpless and\noverpowered, drifting about amidst the waves and danger on the\nshattered hulk of his native city.  For the Aetolians, affected\nwhom he applied to, declined to assist him in his distress, and\nthe Athenians, who were well affected to him, were diverted from\nlending him any succor by the authority of Euclides and Micion.\nNow whereas he had a house and property in Corinth, Cleomenes\nmeddled not with it, nor suffered anybody else to do so, but\ncalling for his friends and agents, he bade them hold themselves\nresponsible to Aratus for everything, as to him they would have\nto render their account; and privately he sent to him Tripylus,\nand afterwards Megistonus, his own stepfather, to offer him,\nbesides several other things, a yearly pension of twelve\ntalents, which was twice as much as Ptolemy allowed him, for he\ngave him six; and all that he demanded was to be declared\ncommander of the Achaeans, and together with them to have the\nkeeping of the citadel of Corinth.  To which Aratus returning\nanswer that affairs were not so properly in his power as he was\nin the power of them, Cleomenes, believing this a mere evasion,\nimmediately entered the country of Sicyon, destroying all with\nfire and sword, and besieged the city three months, whilst\nAratus held firm, and was in dispute with himself whether he\nshould call in Antigonus upon condition of delivering up the\ncitadel of Corinth to him; for he would not lend him assistance\nupon any other terms.\n\nIn the meantime the Achaeans assembled at Aegium, and called for\nAratus; but it was very hazardous for him to pass thither, while\nCleomenes was encamped before Sicyon; besides, the citizens\nendeavored to stop him by their entreaties, protesting that they\nwould not suffer him to expose himself to so evident danger, the\nenemy being so near; the women, also, and children hung about\nhim, weeping and embracing him as their common father and\ndefender.  But he, having comforted and encouraged them as well\nas he could, got on horseback, and being accompanied with ten\nof his friends and his son, then a youth, got away to the\nsea-side, and finding vessels there waiting off the shore, went\non board of them and sailed to Aegium to the assembly; in which\nit was decreed that Antigonus should be called in to their aid,\nand should have the Acro-Corinthus delivered to him.  Aratus\nalso sent his son to him with the other hostages.  The\nCorinthians, extremely angry at this proceeding, now plundered\nhis property, and gave his house as a present to Cleomenes.\n\nAntigonus being now near at hand with his army, consisting of\ntwenty thousand Macedonian foot and one thousand three hundred\nhorse, Aratus, with the Members of Council, went to meet him by\nsea, and got, unobserved by the enemy, to Pegae, having no great\nconfidence either in Antigonus or the Macedonians.  For he was\nvery sensible that his own greatness had been made out of the\nlosses he had caused them, and that the first great principle of\nhis public conduct had been hostility to the former Antigonus.\nBut perceiving the necessity that was now upon him, and the\npressure of the time, that lord and master of those we call\nrulers, to be inexorable, he resolved to put all to the venture.\nSo soon, therefore, as Antigonus was told that Aratus was coming\nup to him, he saluted the rest of the company after the ordinary\nmanner, but him he received at the very first approach with\nespecial honor, and finding him afterwards to be both good and\nwise, admitted him to his nearer familiarity.  For Aratus was\nnot only useful to him in the management of great affairs, but\nsingularly agreeable also as the private companion of a king in\nhis recreations.  And therefore, though Antigonus was young,\nyet as soon as he observed the temper of the man to be proper\nfor a prince's friendship, he made more use of him than of any\nother, not only of the Achaeans, but also of the Macedonians\nthat were about him.  So that the thing fell out to him just as\nthe god had foreshown in a sacrifice.  For it is related that,\nas Aratus was not long before offering sacrifice, there were\nfound in the liver two gall-bags enclosed in the same caul of\nfat; whereupon the soothsayer told him that there should very\nsoon be the strictest friendship imaginable between him and his\ngreatest and most mortal enemies; which prediction he at that\ntime slighted, having in general no great faith in soothsayings\nand prognostications, but depending most upon rational\ndeliberation.  At an after time, however, when, things\nsucceeding well in the war, Antigonus made a great feast at\nCorinth, to which he invited a great number of guests, and\nplaced Aratus next above himself, and presently calling for a\ncoverlet, asked him if he did not find it cold, and on Aratus's\nanswering \"Yes, extremely cold,\" bade him come nearer, so that\nwhen the servants brought the coverlet, they threw it over them\nboth, then Aratus remembering the sacrifice, fell a laughing,\nand told the king the sign which had happened to him, and the\ninterpretation of it.  But this fell out a good while after.\n\nSo Aratus and the king, plighting their faith to each other at\nPegae, immediately marched towards the enemy, with whom they had\nfrequent engagements near the city, Cleomenes maintaining a\nstrong position, and the Corinthians making a very brisk\ndefense.  In the meantime, Aristoteles the Argive, Aratus's\nfriend, sent privately to him to let him know, that he would\ncause Argos to revolt, if he would come thither in person with\nsome soldiers.  Aratus acquainted Antigonus, and, taking fifteen\nhundred men with him, sailed in boats along the shore as quickly\nas he could from the Isthmus to Epidaurus.  But the Argives had\nnot patience till he could arrive, but, making a sudden\ninsurrection, fell upon Cleomenes's soldiers, and drove them\ninto the citadel.  Cleomenes having news of this, and fearing\nlest, if the enemy should possess themselves of Argos, they\nmight cut off his retreat home, leaves the Acro-Corinthus and\nmarches away by night to help his men.  He got thither first,\nand beat off the enemy, but Aratus appearing not long after, and\nthe king approaching with his forces, he retreated to Mantinea,\nupon which all the cities again came over to the Achaeans, and\nAntigonus took possession of the Acro-Corinthus.  Aratus, being\nchosen general by the Argives, persuaded them to make a present\nto Antigonus of the property of the tyrants and the traitors.\nAs for Aristomachus, after having put him to the rack in the\ntown of Cenchreae, they drowned him in the sea; for which, more\nthan anything else, Aratus was reproached, that he could suffer\na man to be so lawlessly put to death, who was no bad man, had\nbeen one of his long acquaintance, and at his persuasion had\nabdicated his power, and annexed the city to the Achaeans.\n\nAnd already the blame of the other things that were done began\nto be laid to his account; as that they so lightly gave up\nCorinth to Antigonus, as if it had been an inconsiderable\nvillage; that they had suffered him, after first sacking\nOrchomenus, then to put into it a Macedonian garrison; that they\nmade a decree that no letters nor embassy should be sent to any\nother king without the consent of Antigonus, that they were\nforced to furnish pay and provision for the Macedonian soldiers,\nand celebrated sacrifices, processions, and games in honor of\nAntigonus, Aratus's citizens setting the example and receiving\nAntigonus, who was lodged and entertained at Aratus's house.\nAll these things they treated as his fault, not knowing that\nhaving once put the reins into Antigonus's hands, and let\nhimself be borne by the impetus of regal power, he was no longer\nmaster of anything but one single voice, the liberty of which\nit was not so very safe for him to use.  For it was very plain\nthat Aratus was much troubled at several things, as appeared by\nthe business about the statues.  For Antigonus replaced the\nstatues of the tyrants of Argos that had been thrown down, and\non the contrary threw down the statues of all those that had\ntaken the Acro-Corinthus, except that of Aratus, nor could\nAratus, by all his entreaties, dissuade him.  Also, the usage of\nthe Mantineans by the Achaeans seemed not in accordance with the\nGrecian feelings and manners.  For being masters of their city\nby the help of Antigonus, they put to death the chief and most\nnoted men amongst them; and of the rest, some they sold, others\nthey sent, bound in fetters, into Macedonia, and made slaves of\ntheir wives and children; and of the money thus raised, a third\npart they divided among themselves, and the other two thirds\nwere distributed among the Macedonians.  And this might seem to\nhave been justified by the law of retaliation; for although it\nbe a barbarous thing for men of the same nation and blood thus\nto deal with one another in their fury, yet necessity makes it,\nas Simonides says, sweet and something excusable, being the\nproper thing, in the mind's painful and inflamed condition, to\ngive alleviation and relief.  But for what was afterwards done\nto that city, Aratus cannot be defended on any ground either of\nreason or necessity.  For the Argives having had the city\nbestowed on them by Antigonus, and resolving to people it, he\nbeing then chosen as the new founder, and being general at that\ntime, decreed that it should no longer be called Mantinea, but\nAntigonea, which name it still bears.  So that he may be said to\nhave been the cause that the old memory of the \"beautiful\nMantinea\" has been wholly extinguished, and the city to this\nday has the name of the destroyer and slayer of its citizens.\n\nAfter this, Cleomenes, being overthrown in a great battle near\nSellasia, forsook Sparta and fled into Egypt, and Antigonus,\nhaving shown all manner of kindness and fair-dealing to Aratus,\nretired into Macedonia.  There, falling sick, he sent Philip,\nthe heir of the kingdom, into Peloponnesus, being yet scarce a\nyouth, commanding him to follow above all the counsel of Aratus,\nto communicate with the cities through him, and through him to\nmake acquaintance with the Achaeans; and Aratus, receiving him\naccordingly, so managed him as to send him back to Macedon both\nwell affected to himself and full of desire and ambition to take\nan honorable part in the affairs of Greece.\n\nWhen Antigonus was dead, the Aetolians, despising the sloth and\nnegligence of the Achaeans, who, having learned to be defended by\nother men's valor and to shelter themselves under the Macedonian\narms, lived in ease and without any discipline, now attempted to\ninterfere in Peloponnesus.  And plundering the land of Patrae\nand Dyme in their way, they invaded Messene and ravaged it; at\nwhich Aratus being indignant, and finding that Timoxenus, then\ngeneral, was hesitating and letting the time go by, being now on\nthe point of laying down his office, in which he himself was\nchosen to succeed him, he anticipated the proper term by five\ndays, that he might bring relief to the Messenians.  And\nmustering the Achaeans, who were both in their persons\nunexercised in arms and in their minds relaxed and averse to\nwar, he met with a defeat at Caphyae.  Having thus begun the\nwar, as it seemed, with too much heat and passion, he then ran\ninto the other extreme, cooling again and desponding so much,\nthat he let pass and overlooked many fair opportunities of\nadvantage given by the Aetolians, and allowed them to run riot,\nas it were, throughout all Peloponnesus, with all manner of\ninsolence and licentiousness.  Wherefore, holding forth their\nhands once more to the Macedonians, they invited and drew in\nPhilip to intermeddle in the affairs of Greece, chiefly hoping,\nbecause of his affection and trust that he felt for Aratus, they\nshould find him easy-tempered, and ready to be managed as they\npleased.\n\nBut the king, being now persuaded by Apelles, Megaleas, and\nother courtiers, that endeavored to ruin the credit Aratus had\nwith him, took the side of the contrary faction, and joined them\nin canvassing to have Eperatus chosen general by the Achaeans.\nBut he being altogether scorned by the Achaeans, and, for the\nwant of Aratus to help, all things going wrong, Philip saw he\nhad quite mistaken his part, and, turning about and reconciling\nhimself to Aratus, he was wholly his; and his affairs now going\non favorably both for his power and reputation, he depended upon\nhim altogether as the author of all his gains in both respects;\nAratus hereby giving a proof to the world that he was as good a\nnursing father of a kingdom as he had been of a democracy, for\nthe actions of the king had in them the touch and color of his\njudgment and character.  The moderation which the young man\nshowed to the Lacedaemonians, who had incurred his displeasure,\nand his affability to the Cretans, by which in a few days he\nbrought over the whole island to his obedience, and his\nexpedition against the Aetolians, so wonderfully successful,\nbrought Philip reputation for hearkening to good advice, and to\nAratus for giving it; for which things the king's followers\nenvying him more than ever and finding they could not prevail\nagainst him by their secret practices, began openly to abuse and\naffront him at the banquets and over their wine, with every kind\nof petulance and impudence; so that once they threw stones at\nhim as he was going back from supper to his tent.  At which\nPhilip being much offended, immediately fined them twenty\ntalents; and finding afterwards that they still went on\ndisturbing matters and doing mischief in his affairs, he put\nthem to death.\n\nBut with his run of good success, prosperity began to puff him\nup, and various extravagant desires began to spring and show\nthemselves in his mind; and his natural bad inclinations,\nbreaking through the artificial restraints he had put upon them,\nin a little time laid open and discovered his true and proper\ncharacter.  And in the first place, he privately injured the\nyounger Aratus in his wife, which was not known of a good while,\nbecause he was lodged and entertained at their house; then he\nbegan to be more rough and untractable in the domestic politics\nof Greece, and showed plainly that he was wishing to shake\nhimself loose of Aratus.  This the Messenian affairs first gave\noccasion to suspect.  For they falling into sedition, and Aratus\nbeing just too late with his succors, Philip, who got into the\ncity one day before him, at once blew up the flame of contention\namongst them, asking privately, on the one hand, the Messenian\ngenerals, if they had not laws whereby to suppress the insolence\nof the common people, and on the other, the leaders of the\npeople, whether they had not hands to help themselves against\ntheir oppressors.  Upon which gathering courage, the officers\nattempted to lay hands on the heads of the people, and they on\nthe other side, coming upon the officers with the multitude,\nkilled them, and very near two hundred persons with them.\n\nPhilip having committed this wickedness, and doing his best to\nset the Messenians by the ears together more than before, Aratus\narrived there, and both showed plainly that he took it ill\nhimself, and also he suffered his son bitterly to reproach and\nrevile him.  It should seem that the young man had an attachment\nfor Philip, and so at this time one of his expressions to him\nwas, that he no longer appeared to him the handsomest, but the\nmost deformed of all men, after so foul an action.  To all which\nPhilip gave him no answer, though he seemed so angry as to make\nit expected he would, and though several times he cried out\naloud, while the young man was speaking.  But as for the elder\nAratus, seeming to take all that he said in good part, and as if\nhe were by nature a politic character and had a good command of\nhimself, he gave him his hand and led him out of the theater,\nand carried him with him to the Ithomatas, to sacrifice there\nto Jupiter, and take a view of the place, for it is a post as\nfortifiable as the Acro-Corinthus, and, with a garrison in it,\nquite as strong and as impregnable to the attacks of all around\nit.  Philip therefore went up hither, and having offered\nsacrifice, receiving the entrails of the ox with both his hands\nfrom the priest, he showed them to Aratus and Demetrius the\nPharian, presenting them sometimes to the one and sometimes to\nthe other, asking them what they judged, by the tokens in the\nsacrifice, was to be done with the fort; was he to keep it for\nhimself, or restore it to the Messenians.  Demetrius laughed and\nanswered, \"If you have in you the soul of soothsayer, you will\nrestore it, but if of a prince, you will hold the ox by both the\nhorns,\" meaning to refer to Peloponnesus, which would be wholly\nin his power and at his disposal if he added the Ithomatas to\nthe Acro-Corinthus.  Aratus said not a word for a good while;\nbut Philip entreating him to declare his opinion, he said \"Many\nand great hills are there in Crete, and many rocks in Boeotia\nand Phocis, and many remarkable strong-holds both near the sea\nand in the midland in Acarnania, and yet all these people obey\nyour orders, though you have not possessed yourself of any one\nof those places.  Robbers nest themselves in rocks and\nprecipices; but the strongest fort a king can have is confidence\nand affection.  These have opened to you the Cretan sea; these\nmake you master of Peloponnesus, and by the help of these, young\nas you are, are you become captain of the one, and lord of the\nother.\"  While he was still speaking, Philip returned the\nentrails to the priest, and drawing Aratus to him by the hand,\n\"Come, then,\" said he, \"let us follow the same course;\" as if he\nfelt himself forced by him, and obliged to give up the town.\n\nFrom this time Aratus began to withdraw from court, and retired\nby degrees from Philip's company; when he was preparing to march\ninto Epirus, and desired him that he would accompany him\nthither, he excused himself and stayed at home, apprehending\nthat he should get nothing but discredit by having anything to\ndo with his actions.  But when, afterwards, having shamefully\nlost his fleet against the Romans and miscarried in all his\ndesigns, he returned into Peloponnesus, where he tried once more\nto beguile the Messenians by his artifices, and failing in this,\nbegan openly to attack them and to ravage their country, then\nAratus fell out with him downright, and utterly renounced his\nfriendship; for he had begun then to be fully aware of the\ninjuries done to his son in his wife, which vexed him greatly,\nthough he concealed them from his son, as he could but know he\nhad been abused, without having any means to revenge himself.\nFor, indeed, Philip seems to have been an instance of the\ngreatest and strangest alteration of character; after being a\nmild king and modest and chaste youth, he became a lascivious\nman and most cruel tyrant; though in reality this was not a\nchange of his nature, but a bold unmasking, when safe\nopportunity came, of the evil inclinations which his fear had\nfor a long time made him dissemble.\n\nFor that the respect he at the beginning bore to Aratus had a\ngreat alloy of fear and awe appears evidently from what he did\nto him at last.  For being desirous to put him to death, not\nthinking himself, whilst he was alive, to be properly free as a\nman, much less at liberty to do his pleasure as a king or\ntyrant, he durst not attempt to do it by open force, but\ncommanded Taurion, one of his captains and familiars, to make\nhim away secretly by poison, if possible, in his absence.\nTaurion, therefore, made himself intimate with Aratus, and gave\nhim a dose, not of your strong and violent poisons, but such as\ncause gentle, feverish heats at first, and a dull cough, and so\nby degrees bring on certain death.  Aratus perceived what was\ndone to him, but, knowing that it was in vain to make any words\nof it, bore it patiently and with silence, as if it had been\nsome common and usual distemper.  Only once, a friend of his\nbeing with him in his chamber, he spat some blood, which his\nfriend observing and wondering at, \"These, O Cephalon,\" said he,\n\"are the wages of a king's love.\"\n\nThus died he in Aegium, in his seventeenth generalship.  The\nAchaeans were very desirous that he should be buried there with\na funeral and monument suitable to his life, but the Sicyonians\ntreated it as a calamity to them if he were interred anywhere\nbut in their city, and prevailed with the Achaeans to grant them\nthe disposal of the body.\n\nBut there being an ancient law that no person should be buried\nwithin the walls of their city, and besides the law also a\nstrong religious feeling about it, they sent to Delphi to ask\ncounsel of the Pythoness, who returned this answer: --\n\nSicyon, whom oft he rescued, \"Where,\" you say,\n\"Shall we the relics of Aratus lay?\"\nThe soil that would not lightly o'er him rest,\nOr to be under him would feel oppressed,\nWere in the sight of earth and seas and skies unblest.\n\nThis oracle being brought, all the Achaeans were well pleased at\nit, but especially the Sicyonians, who, changing their mourning\ninto public joy, immediately fetched the body from Aegium, and\nin a kind of solemn procession brought it into the city, being\ncrowned with garlands, and arrayed in white garments, with\nsinging and dancing, and, choosing a conspicuous place, they\nburied him there, as the founder and savior of their city.  The\nplace is to this day called Aratium, and there they yearly make\ntwo solemn sacrifices to him, the one on the day he delivered\nthe city from tyranny, being the fifth of the month Daesius,\nwhich the Athenians call Anthesterion, and this sacrifice they\ncall Soteria; the other in the month of his birth, which is\nstill remembered.  Now the first of these was performed by the\npriest of Jupiter Soter, the second by the priest of Aratus,\nwearing a band around his head, not pure white, but mingled with\npurple.  Hymns were sung to the harp by the singers of the\nfeasts of Bacchus; the procession was led up by the president of\nthe public exercises, with the boys and young men; these were\nfollowed by the councilors wearing garlands, and other citizens\nsuch as pleased.  Of these observances, some small traces, it is\nstill made a point of religion not to omit, on the appointed\ndays; but the greatest part of the ceremonies have through time\nand other intervening accidents been disused.\n\nAnd such, as history tells us, was the life and manners of the\nelder Aratus.  And for the younger, his son, Philip, abominably\nwicked by nature and a savage abuser of his power, gave him such\npoisonous medicines, as though they did not kill him indeed, yet\nmade him lose his senses, and run into wild and absurd attempts\nand desire to do actions and satisfy appetites that were\nridiculous and shameful.  So that his death, which happened to\nhim while he was yet young and in the flower of his age, cannot\nbe so much esteemed a misfortune as a deliverance and end of his\nmisery.  However, Philip paid dearly, all through the rest of\nhis life, for these impious violations of friendship and\nhospitality.  For, being overcome by the Romans, he was forced\nto put himself wholly into their hands, and, being deprived of\nhis other dominions and surrendering all his ships except five,\nhe had also to pay a fine of a thousand talents, and to give his\nson for hostage, and only out of mere pity he was suffered to\nkeep Macedonia and its dependences; where continually putting to\ndeath the noblest of his subjects and the nearest relations he\nhad, he filled the whole kingdom with horror and hatred of him.\nAnd whereas amidst so many misfortunes he had but one good\nchance, which was the having a son of great virtue and merit,\nhim, through jealousy and envy at the honor the Romans had for\nhim, he caused to be murdered, and left his kingdom to Perseus,\nwho, as some say, was not his own child, but supposititious,\nborn of a seamstress called Gnathaenion.  This was he whom\nPaulus Aemilius led in triumph, and in whom ended the succession\nof Antigonus's line and kingdom.  But the posterity of Aratus\ncontinued still in our days at Sicyon and Pellene.\n\n\n\nARTAXERXES\n\nThe first Artaxerxes, among all the kings of Persia the most\nremarkable for a gentle and noble spirit, was surnamed the\nLong-handed, his right hand being longer than his left, and was\nthe son of Xerxes.  The second, whose story I am now writing,\nwho had the surname of the Mindful, was the grandson of the\nformer, by his daughter Parysatis, who brought Darius four sons,\nthe eldest Artaxerxes, the next Cyrus, and two younger than\nthese, Ostanes and Oxathres.  Cyrus took his name of the ancient\nCyrus, as he, they say, had his from the sun, which, in the\nPersian language, is called Cyrus.  Artaxerxes was at first\ncalled Arsicas; Dinon says Oarses; but it is utterly improbable\nthat Ctesias (however otherwise he may have filled his books\nwith a perfect farrago of incredible and senseless fables)\nshould be ignorant of the name of the king with whom he lived as\nhis physician, attending upon himself, his wife, his mother, and\nhis children.\n\nCyrus, from his earliest youth, showed something of a headstrong\nand vehement character; Artaxerxes, on the other side, was\ngentler in everything, and of a nature more yielding and soft\nin its action.  He married a beautiful and virtuous wife, at the\ndesire of his parents, but kept her as expressly against their\nwishes.  For king Darius, having put her brother to death, was\npurposing likewise to destroy her.  But Arsicas, throwing\nhimself at his mother's feet, by many tears, at last, with much\nado, persuaded her that they should neither put her to death nor\ndivorce her from him.  However, Cyrus was his mother's favorite,\nand the son whom she most desired to settle in the throne.  And\ntherefore, his father Darius now lying ill, he, being sent for\nfrom the sea to the court, set out thence with full hopes that\nby her means he was to be declared the successor to the kingdom.\nFor Parysatis had the specious plea in his behalf, which Xerxes\non the advice of Demaratus had of old made use of, that she had\nborne him Arsicas when he was a subject, but Cyrus when a king.\nNotwithstanding, she prevailed not with Darius, but the eldest\nson Arsicas was proclaimed king, his name being changed into\nArtaxerxes; and Cyrus remained satrap of Lydia, and commander in\nthe maritime provinces.\n\nIt was not long after the decease of Darius that the king, his\nsuccessor, went to Pasargadae, to have the ceremony of his\ninauguration consummated by the Persian priests.  There is a\ntemple dedicated to a warlike goddess, whom one might liken to\nMinerva; into which when the royal person to be initiated has\npassed, he must strip himself of his own robe, and put on that\nwhich Cyrus the first wore before he was king; then, having\ndevoured a frail of figs, he must eat turpentine, and drink a\ncup of sour milk.  To which if they superadd any other rites, it\nis unknown to any but those that are present at them.  Now\nArtaxerxes being about to address himself to this solemnity,\nTisaphernes came to him, bringing a certain priest, who, having\ntrained up Cyrus in his youth in the established discipline of\nPersia, and having taught him the Magian philosophy, was likely\nto be as much disappointed as any man that his pupil did not\nsucceed to the throne.  And for that reason his veracity was the\nless questioned when he charged Cyrus as though he had been\nabout to lie in wait for the king in the temple, and to assault\nand assassinate him as he was putting off his garment.  Some\naffirm that he was apprehended upon this impeachment, others\nthat he had entered the temple and was pointed out there, as he\nlay lurking, by the priest.  But as he was on the point of being\nput to death, his mother clasped him in her arms, and, entwining\nhim with the tresses of her hair, joined his neck close to her\nown, and by her bitter lamentation and intercession to\nArtaxerxes for him, succeeded in saving his life; and sent him\naway again to the sea and to his former province.  This,\nhowever, could no longer content him; nor did he so well\nremember his delivery as his arrest, his resentment for which\nmade him more eagerly desirous of the kingdom than before.\n\nSome say that he revolted from his brother, because he had not a\nrevenue allowed him sufficient for his daily meals; but this is\non the face of it absurd.  For had he had nothing else, yet he\nhad a mother ready to supply him with whatever he could desire\nout of her own means.  But the great number of soldiers who were\nhired from all quarters and maintained, as Xenophon informs us,\nfor his service, by his friends and connections, is in itself a\nsufficient proof of his riches.  He did not assemble them\ntogether in a body, desiring as yet to conceal his enterprise;\nbut he had agents everywhere, enlisting foreign soldiers upon\nvarious pretenses; and, in the meantime, Parysatis, who was\nwith the king, did her best to put aside all suspicions, and\nCyrus himself always wrote in a humble and dutiful manner to\nhim, sometimes soliciting favor, sometimes making countercharges\nagainst Tisaphernes, as if his jealousy and contest had been\nwholly with him.  Moreover, there was a certain natural\ndilatoriness in the king, which was taken by many for clemency.\nAnd, indeed, in the beginning of his reign, he did seem really\nto emulate the gentleness of the first Artaxerxes, being very\naccessible in his person, and liberal to a fault in the\ndistribution of honors and favors.  Even in his punishments, no\ncontumely or vindictive pleasure could be seen; and those who\noffered him presents were as much pleased with his manner of\naccepting, as were those who received gifts from him with his\ngraciousness and amiability in giving them.  Nor truly was there\nanything, however inconsiderable, given him, which he did not\ndeign kindly to accept of; insomuch that when one Omises had\npresented him with a very large pomegranate, \"By Mithras,\" said\nhe, \"this man, were he entrusted with it, would turn a small\ncity into a great one.\"\n\nOnce when some were offering him one thing, some another, as he\nwas on a progress, a certain poor laborer, having got nothing at\nhand to bring him, ran to the river side, and, taking up water\nin his hands, offered it to him; with which Artaxerxes was so\nwell pleased that he sent him a goblet of gold and a thousand\ndarics.  To Euclidas, the Lacedaemonian, who had made a number\nof bold and arrogant speeches to him, he sent word by one of his\nofficers, \"You have leave to say what you please to me, and I,\nyou should remember, may both say and do what I please to you.\"\nTeribazus once, when they were hunting, came up and pointed out\nto the king that his royal robe was torn; the king asked him\nwhat he wished him to do; and when Teribazus replied \"May it\nplease you to put on another and give me that,\" the king did so,\nsaying withal, \"I give it you, Teribazus, but I charge you not\nto wear it.\"  He, little regarding the injunction, being not a\nbad, but a light-headed, thoughtless man, immediately the king\ntook it off, put it on, and bedecked himself further with royal\ngolden necklaces and women's ornaments, to the great scandal of\neverybody, the thing being quite unlawful.  But the king laughed\nand told him, \"You have my leave to wear the trinkets as a\nwoman, and the robe of state as a fool.\"  And whereas none\nusually sat down to eat with the king besides his mother and his\nwedded wife, the former being placed above, the other below him,\nArtaxerxes invited also to his table his two younger brothers,\nOstanes and Oxathres.  But what was the most popular thing of\nall among the Persians was the sight of his wife Statira's\nchariot, which always appeared with its curtains down, allowing\nher countrywomen to salute and approach her, which made the\nqueen a great favorite with the people.\n\nYet busy, factious men, that delighted in change, professed it\nto be their opinion that the times needed Cyrus, a man of a\ngreat spirit, an excellent warrior, and a lover of his friends,\nand that the largeness of their empire absolutely required a\nbold and enterprising prince.  Cyrus, then; not only relying\nupon those of his own province near the sea, but upon many of\nthose in the upper countries near the king, commenced the war\nagainst him.  He wrote to the Lacedaemonians, bidding them come\nto his assistance and supply him with men, assuring them that to\nthose who came to him on foot he would give horses, and to the\nhorsemen chariots; that upon those who had farms he would bestow\nvillages, and those who were lords of villages he would make so\nof cities; and that those who would be his soldiers should\nreceive their pay, not by count, but by weight.  And among many\nother high praises of himself, he said he had the stronger soul;\nwas more a philosopher and a better Magian; and could drink and\nbear more wine than his brother, who, as he averred, was such a\ncoward and so little like a man, that he could neither sit his\nhorse in hunting nor his throne in time of danger.  The\nLacedaemonians, his letter being read, sent a staff to\nClearchus, commanding him to obey Cyrus in all things.  So Cyrus\nmarched towards the king, having under his conduct a numerous\nhost of barbarians, and but little less than thirteen thousand\nstipendiary Grecians; alleging first one cause, then another,\nfor his expedition.  Yet the true reason lay not long concealed,\nbut Tisaphernes went to the king in person to declare it.\nThereupon, the court was all in an uproar and tumult, the\nqueen-mother bearing almost the whole blame of the enterprise,\nand her retainers being suspected and accused.  Above all,\nStatira angered her by bewailing the war and passionately\ndemanding where were now the pledges and the intercessions which\nsaved the life of him that conspired against his brother; \"to\nthe end,\" she said, \"that he might plunge us all into war and\ntrouble.\"  For which words Parysatis hating Statira, and being\nnaturally implacable and savage in her anger and revenge,\nconsulted how she might destroy her.  But since Dinon tells us\nthat her purpose took effect in the time of the war, and Ctesias\nsays it was after it, I shall keep the story for the place to\nwhich the latter assigns it, as it is very unlikely that he, who\nwas actually present, should not know the time when it happened,\nand there was no motive to induce him designedly to misplace its\ndate in his narrative of it, though it is not infrequent with\nhim in his history to make excursions from truth into mere\nfiction and romance.\n\nAs Cyrus was upon the march, rumors and reports were brought\nhim, as though the king still deliberated, and were not minded\nto fight and presently to join battle with him; but to wait in\nthe heart of his kingdom until his forces should have come in\nthither from all parts of his dominions.  He had cut a trench\nthrough the plain ten fathoms in breadth, and as many in depth,\nthe length of it being no less than four hundred furlongs.  Yet\nhe allowed Cyrus to pass across it, and to advance almost to the\ncity of Babylon.  Then Teribazus, as the report goes, was the\nfirst that had the boldness to tell the king that he ought not\nto avoid the conflict, nor to abandon Media, Babylon, and even\nSusa, and hide himself in Persis, when all the while he had an\narmy many times over more numerous than his enemies, and an\ninfinite company of governors and captains that were better\nsoldiers and politicians than Cyrus.  So at last he resolved to\nfight, as soon as it was possible for him.  Making, therefore,\nhis first appearance, all on a sudden, at the head of nine\nhundred thousand well-marshaled men, he so startled and\nsurprised the enemy, who with the confidence of contempt were\nmarching on their way in no order, and with their arms not ready\nfor use, that Cyrus, in the midst of much noise and tumult, was\nscarce able to form them for battle.  Moreover, the very manner\nin which he led on his men, silently and slowly, made the\nGrecians stand amazed at his good discipline; who had expected\nirregular shouting and leaping, much confusion and separation\nbetween one body of men and another, in so vast a multitude of\ntroops.  He also placed the choicest of his armed chariots in\nthe front of his own phalanx over against the Grecian troops,\nthat a violent charge with these might cut open their ranks\nbefore they closed with them.\n\nBut as this battle is described by many historians, and Xenophon\nin particular as good as shows it us by eyesight, not as a past\nevent, but as a present action, and by his vivid account makes\nhis hearers feel all the passions and join in all the dangers of\nit, it would be folly in me to give any larger account of it\nthan barely to mention any things omitted by him which yet\ndeserve to be recorded.  The place, then, in which the two\narmies were drawn out is called Cunaxa, being about five hundred\nfurlongs distant from Babylon.  And here Clearchus beseeching\nCyrus before the fight to retire behind the combatants, and not\nexpose himself to hazard, they say he replied, \"What is this,\nClearchus?  Would you have me, who aspire to empire, show myself\nunworthy of it?\"  But if Cyrus committed a great fault in\nentering headlong into the midst of danger, and not paying any\nregard to his own safety, Clearchus was as much to blame, if not\nmore, in refusing to lead the Greeks against the main body of\nthe enemy, where the king stood, and in keeping his right wing\nclose to the river, for fear of being surrounded.  For if he\nwanted, above all other things, to be safe, and considered it\nhis first object to sleep in whole skin, it had been his best\nway not to have stirred from home.  But, after marching in arms\nten thousand furlongs from the sea-coast, simply on his own\nchoosing, for the purpose of placing Cyrus on the throne, to\nlook about and select a position which would enable him, not to\npreserve him under whose pay and conduct he was, but himself to\nengage with more ease and security seemed much like one that\nthrough fear of present dangers had abandoned the purpose of his\nactions, and been false to the design of his expedition.  For it\nis evident from the very event of the battle that none of those\nwho were in array around the king's person could have stood the\nshock of the Grecian charge; and had they been beaten out of the\nfield, and Artaxerxes either fled or fallen, Cyrus would have\ngained by the victory, not only safety, but a crown.  And,\ntherefore, Clearchus, by his caution, must be considered more\nto blame for the result in the destruction of the life and\nfortune of Cyrus, than he by his heat and rashness.  For had the\nking made it his business to discover a place, where having\nposted the Grecians, he might encounter them with the least\nhazard, he would never have found out any other but that which\nwas most remote from himself and those near him; of his defeat\nin which he was insensible, and, though Clearchus had the\nvictory, yet Cyrus could not know of it, and could take no\nadvantage of it before his fall.  Cyrus knew well enough what\nwas expedient to be done, and commanded Clearchus with his men\nto take their place in the center.  Clearchus replied that he\nwould take care to have all arranged as was best, and then\nspoiled all.\n\nFor the Grecians, where they were, defeated the barbarians till\nthey were weary, and chased them successfully a very great way.\nBut Cyrus being mounted upon a noble but a headstrong and\nhard-mouthed horse, bearing the name, as Ctesias tells us, of\nPasacas, Artagerses, the leader of the Cadusians, galloped up to\nhim, crying aloud, \"O most unjust and senseless of men, who are\nthe disgrace of the honored name of Cyrus, are you come here\nleading the wicked Greeks on a wicked journey, to plunder the\ngood things of the Persians, and this with the intent of slaying\nyour lord and brother, the master of ten thousand times ten\nthousand servants that are better men than you?  as you shall\nsee this instant; for you shall lose your head here, before you\nlook upon the face of the king.\"  Which when he had said, he\ncast his javelin at him.  But the coat of mail stoutly repelled\nit, and Cyrus was not wounded; yet the stroke falling heavy upon\nhim, he reeled under it.  Then Artagerses turning his horse,\nCyrus threw his weapon, and sent the head of it through his neck\nnear the shoulder bone.  So that it is almost universally agreed\nto by all the author that Artagerses was slain by him.  But as\nto the death of Cyrus, since Xenophon, as being himself no\neye-witness of it, has stated it simply and in few words, it may\nnot be amiss perhaps to run over on the one hand what Dinon, and\non the other, what Ctesias has said of it.\n\nDinon then affirms, that, after the death of Artagerses, Cyrus,\nfuriously attacking the guard of Artaxerxes, wounded the king's\nhorse, and so dismounted him, and when Teribazus had quickly\nlifted him up upon another, and said to him, \"O king, remember\nthis day, which is not one to be forgotten,\" Cyrus, again\nspurring up his horse, struck down Artaxerxes.  But at the third\nassault the king being enraged, and saying to those near him\nthat death was more eligible, made up to Cyrus, who furiously\nand blindly rushed in the face of the weapons opposed to him.\nSo the king struck him with a javelin, as likewise did those\nthat were about him.  And thus Cyrus falls, as some say, by the\nhand of the king; as others, by the dart of a Carian, to whom\nArtaxerxes, for a reward of his achievement, gave the privilege\nof carrying ever after a golden cock upon his spear before the\nfirst ranks of the army in all expeditions.  For the Persians\ncall the men of Caria cocks, because of the crests with which\nthey adorn their helmets.\n\nBut the account of Ctesias, to put it shortly, omitting many\ndetails, is as follows: Cyrus, after the death of Artagerses,\nrode up against the king, as he did against him, neither\nexchanging a word with the other.  But Ariaeus, Cyrus's friend,\nwas beforehand with him, and darted first at the king, yet\nwounded him not.  Then the king cast his lance at his brother,\nbut missed him, though he both hit and slew Satiphernes, a noble\nman and a faithful friend to Cyrus.  Then Cyrus directed his\nlance against the king, and pierced his breast with it quite\nthrough his armor, two inches deep, so that he fell from his\nhorse with the stroke.  At which those that attended him being\nput to flight and disorder, he, rising with a few, among whom\nwas Ctesias, and making his way to a little hill not far off,\nrested himself.  But Cyrus, who was in the thick of the enemy,\nwas carried off a great way by the wildness of his horse, the\ndarkness which was now coming on making it hard for them to know\nhim, and for his followers to find him.  However, being made\nelate with victory, and full of confidence and force, he passed\nthrough them, crying out, and that more than once, in the\nPersian language, \"Clear the way, villains, clear the way;\"\nwhich they indeed did, throwing themselves down at his feet.\nBut his tiara dropped off his head, and a young Persian, by name\nMithridates, running by, struck a dart into one of his temples\nnear his eye, not knowing who he was, out of which wound much\nblood gushed, so that Cyrus, swooning and senseless, fell off\nhis horse.  The horse escaped, and ran about the field; but the\ncompanion of Mithridates took the trappings, which fell off,\nsoaked with blood.  And as Cyrus slowly began to come to\nhimself, some eunuchs who were there tried to put him on another\nhorse, and so convey him safe away.  And when he was not able to\nride, and desired to walk on his feet, they led and supported\nhim, being indeed dizzy in the head and reeling, but convinced\nof his being victorious, hearing, as he went, the fugitives\nsaluting Cyrus as king, and praying for grace and mercy.  In the\nmeantime, some wretched, poverty-stricken Caunians, who in some\npitiful employment as camp-followers had accompanied the king's\narmy, by chance joined these attendants of Cyrus, supposing them\nto be of their own party.  But when, after a while, they made\nout that their coats over their breastplates were red, whereas\nall the king's people wore white ones, they knew that they were\nenemies.  One of them, therefore, not dreaming that it was\nCyrus, ventured to strike him behind with a dart.  The vein\nunder the knee was cut open, and Cyrus fell, and at the same\ntime struck his wounded temple against a stone, and so died.\nThus runs Ctesias's account, tardily, with the slowness of a\nblunt weapon, effecting the victim's death.\n\nWhen he was now dead, Artasyras, the king's eye, passed by on\nhorseback, and, having observed the eunuchs lamenting, he asked\nthe most trusty of them, \"Who is this, Pariscas, whom you sit\nhere deploring?\"  He replied, \"Do not you see, O Artasyras, that\nit is my master, Cyrus?\"  Then Artasyras wondering, bade the\neunuch be of good cheer, and keep the dead body safe.  And going\nin all haste to Artaxerxes, who had now given up all hope of his\naffairs, and was in great suffering also with his thirst and his\nwound, he with much joy assured him that he had seen Cyrus dead.\nUpon this, at first, he set out to go in person to the place,\nand commanded Artasyras to conduct him where he lay.  But when\nthere was a great noise made about the Greeks, who were said to\nbe in full pursuit, conquering and carrying all before them, he\nthought it best to send a number of persons to see; and\naccordingly thirty men went with torches in their hands.\nMeantime, as he seemed to be almost at the point of dying from\nthirst, his eunuch Satibarzanes ran about seeking drink for him;\nfor the place had no water in it, and he was at a good distance\nfrom his camp.  After a long search he at last luckily met with\none of those poor Caunian camp-followers, who had in a wretched\nskin about four pints of foul and stinking water, which he took\nand gave to the king; and when he had drunk all off, he asked\nhim if he did not dislike the water; but he declared by all the\ngods, that he never so much relished either wine, or water out\nof the lightest or purest stream.  \"And therefore,\" said he, \"if\nI fail myself to discover and reward him who gave it to you, I\nbeg of heaven to make him rich and prosperous.\"\n\nJust after this, came back the thirty messengers, with joy and\ntriumph in their looks, bringing him the tidings of his\nunexpected fortune.  And now he was also encouraged by the\nnumber of soldiers that again began to flock in and gather about\nhim; so that he presently descended into the plain with many\nlights and flambeaus round about him.  And when he had come near\nthe dead body, and, according to a certain law of the Persians,\nthe right hand and head had been lopped off from the trunk, he\ngave orders that the latter should be brought to him, and,\ngrasping the hair of it, which was long and bushy, he showed it\nto those who were still uncertain and disposed to fly.  They\nwere amazed at it, and did him homage; so that there were\npresently seventy thousand of them got about him, and entered\nthe camp again with him.  He had led out to the fight, as\nCtesias affirms, four hundred thousand men.  But Dinon and\nXenophon aver that there were many more than forty myriads\nactually engaged.  As to the number of the slain, as the\ncatalogue of them was given up to Artaxerxes, Ctesias says, they\nwere nine thousand, but that they appeared to him no fewer than\ntwenty thousand.  Thus far there is something to be said on both\nsides.  But it is a flagrant untruth on the part of Ctesias to\nsay that he was sent along with Phalinus the Zacynthian and some\nothers to the Grecians.  For Xenophon knew well enough that\nCtesias was resident at court; for he makes mention of him, and\nhad evidently met with his writings.  And, therefore, had he\ncome, and been deputed the interpreter of such momentous words,\nXenophon surely would not have struck his name out of the\nembassy to mention only Phalinus.  But Ctesias, as is evident,\nbeing excessively vain-glorious, and no less a favorer of the\nLacedaemonians and Clearchus, never fails to assume to himself\nsome province in his narrative, taking opportunity, in these\nsituations, to introduce abundant high praise of Clearchus and\nSparta.\n\nWhen the battle was over, Artaxerxes sent goodly and magnificent\ngifts to the son of Artagerses, whom Cyrus slew.  He conferred\nlikewise high honors upon Ctesias and others, and, having found\nout the Caunian who gave him the bottle of water, he made him,\nof a poor, obscure man, a rich and an honorable person.  As for\nthe punishments he indicted upon delinquents, there was a kind\nof harmony betwixt them and the crimes.  He gave order that one\nArbaces, a Mede, that had fled in the fight to Cyrus, and again\nat his fall had come back, should, as a mark that he was\nconsidered a dastardly and effeminate, not a dangerous or\ntreasonable man, have a common harlot set upon his back, and\ncarry her about for a whole day in the marketplace.  Another,\nbesides that he had deserted to them, having falsely vaunted\nthat he had killed two of the rebels, he decreed that three\nneedles should be struck through his tongue.  And both supposing\nthat with his own hand he had cut off Cyrus, and being willing\nthat all men should think and say so, he sent rich presents to\nMithridates, who first wounded him, and charged those by whom he\nconveyed the gifts to him to tell him, that \"the king has\nhonored you with these his favors, because you found and brought\nhim the horse-trappings of Cyrus.\"  The Carian, also, from whose\nwound in the ham Cyrus died, suing for his reward, he commanded\nthose that brought it him to say that \"the king presents you\nwith this as a second remuneration for the good news told him;\nfor first Artasyras, and, next to him, you assured him of the\ndecease of Cyrus.\"  Mithridates retired without complaint,\nthough not without resentment.  But the unfortunate Carian was\nfool enough to give way to a natural infirmity.  For being\nravished with the sight of the princely gifts that were before\nhim, and being tempted thereupon to challenge and aspire to\nthings above him, he deigned not to accept the king's present as\na reward for good news, but indignantly crying out and appealing\nto witnesses, he protested that he, and none but he, had killed\nCyrus, and that he was unjustly deprived of the glory.  These\nwords, when they came to his ear, much offended the king, so\nthat forthwith he sentenced him to be beheaded.  But the queen\nmother, being in the king's presence, said, \"Let not the king so\nlightly discharge this pernicious Carian; let him receive from\nme the fitting punishment of what he dares to say.\"  So when the\nking had consigned him over to Parysatis, she charged the\nexecutioners to take up the man, and stretch him upon the rack\nfor ten days, then, tearing out his eyes, to drop molten brass\ninto his ears till he expired.\n\nMithridates, also, within a short time after, miserably perished\nby the like folly; for being invited to a feast where were the\neunuchs both of the king and of the queen mother, he came\narrayed in the dress and the golden ornaments which he had\nreceived from the king.  After they began to drink, the eunuch\nthat was the greatest in power with Parysatis thus speaks to\nhim: A magnificent dress, indeed, O Mithridates, is this which\nthe king has given you; the chains and bracelets are glorious,\nand your scimitar of invaluable worth; how happy has he made\nyou, the object of every eye!\"  To whom he, being a little\novercome with the wine replied, \"What are these things,\nSparamizes?  Sure I am, I showed myself to the king in that day\nof trial to be one deserving greater and costlier gifts than\nthese.\"  At which Sparamizes smiling, said, \"I do not grudge\nthem to you, Mithridates; but since the Grecians tell us that\nwine and truth go together, let me hear now, my friend, what\nglorious or mighty matter was it to find some trappings that had\nslipped off a horse, and to bring them to the king?\"  And this\nhe spoke, not as ignorant of the truth, but desiring to unbosom\nhim to the company, irritating the vanity of the man, whom drink\nhad now made eager to talk and incapable of controlling himself.\nSo he forbore nothing, but said out, \"Talk you what you please\nof horse-trappings, and such trifles; I tell you plainly, that\nthis hand was the death of Cyrus.  For I threw not my dart as\nArtagerses did, in vain and to no purpose, but only just missing\nhis eye, and hitting him right on the temple, and piercing him\nthrough, I brought him to the ground; and of that wound he\ndied.\"  The rest of the company, who saw the end and the hapless\nfate of Mithridates as if it were already completed, bowed their\nheads to the ground; and he who entertained them said,\n\"Mithridates, my friend, let us eat and drink now, revering the\nfortune of our prince, and let us waive discourse which is too\nweighty for us.\"\n\nPresently after, Sparamizes told Parysatis what he said, and she\ntold the king, who was greatly enraged at it, as having the lie\ngiven him, and being in danger to forfeit the most glorious and\nmost pleasant circumstance of his victory.  For it was his\ndesire that everyone, whether Greek or barbarian, should\nbelieve that in the mutual assaults and conflicts between him\nand his brother, he, giving and receiving a blow, was himself\nindeed wounded, but that the other lost his life.  And,\ntherefore, he decreed that Mithridates should be put to death in\nboats; which execution is after the following manner: Taking two\nboats framed exactly to fit and answer each other, they lay down\nin one of them the malefactor that suffers, upon his back; then,\ncovering it with the other, and so setting them together that\nthe head, hands, and feet of him are left outside, and the rest\nof his body lies shut up within, they offer him food, and if he\nrefuse to eat it, they force him to do it by pricking his eyes;\nthen, after he has eaten, they drench him with a mixture of\nmilk and honey, pouring it not only into his mouth, but all over\nhis face.  They then keep his face continually turned towards\nthe sun; and it becomes completely covered up and hidden by the\nmultitude of flies that settle on it.  And as within the boats\nhe does what those that eat and drink must needs do, creeping\nthings and vermin spring out of the corruption and rottenness of\nthe excrement, and these entering into the bowels of him, his\nbody is consumed.  When the man is manifestly dead, the\nuppermost boat being taken off, they find his flesh devoured,\nand swarms of such noisome creatures preying upon and, as it\nwere, growing to his inwards.  In this way Mithridates, after\nsuffering for seventeen days, at last expired.\n\nMasabates, the king's eunuch, who had cut off the hand and head\nof Cyrus, remained still as a mark for Parysatis's vengeance.\nWhereas, therefore, he was so circumspect, that he gave her no\nadvantage against him, she framed this kind of snare for him.\nShe was a very ingenious woman in other ways, and was an\nexcellent player at dice, and, before the war, had often played\nwith the king.  After the war, too, when she had been reconciled\nto him, she joined readily in all amusements with him, played\nat dice with him, was his confidant in his love matters, and in\nevery way did her best to leave him as little as possible in the\ncompany of Statira, both because she hated her more than any\nother person, and because she wished to have no one so powerful\nas herself.  And so once when Artaxerxes was at leisure, and\ninclined to divert himself, she challenged him to play at dice\nwith her for a thousand Darics, and purposely let him win them,\nand paid him down in gold.  Yet, pretending to be concerned for\nher loss, and that she would gladly have her revenge for it, she\npressed him to begin a new game for a eunuch; to which he\nconsented.  But first they agreed that each of them might except\nfive of their most trusty eunuchs, and that out of the rest of\nthem the loser should yield up any the winner should make choice\nof.  Upon these conditions they played.  Thus being bent upon\nher design, and thoroughly in earnest with her game, and the\ndice also running luckily for her, when she had got the game,\nshe demanded Masabates, who was not in the number of the five\nexcepted.  And before the king could suspect the matter, having\ndelivered him up to the tormentors, she enjoined them to flay\nhim alive, to set his body upon three stakes, and to stretch his\nskin upon stakes separately from it.\n\nThese things being done, and the king taking them ill, and being\nincensed against her, she with raillery and laughter told him,\n\"You are a comfortable and happy man indeed, if you are so much\ndisturbed for the sake of an old rascally eunuch, when I, though\nI have thrown away a thousand Darics, hold my peace and\nacquiesce in my fortune.\"  So the king, vexed with himself for\nhaving been thus deluded, hushed up all.  But Statira both in\nother matters openly opposed her, and was angry with her for\nthus, against all law and humanity, sacrificing to the memory of\nCyrus the king's faithful friends and eunuchs.\n\nNow after that Tisaphernes had circumvented and by a false oath\nhad betrayed Clearchus and the other commanders, and, taking\nthem, had sent them bound in chains to the king, Ctesias says\nthat he was asked by Clearchus to supply him with a comb; and\nthat when he had it, and had combed his head with it, he was\nmuch pleased with this good office, and gave him a ring, which\nmight be a token of the obligation to his relatives and friends\nin Sparta; and that the engraving upon this signet was a set of\nCaryatides dancing.  He tells us that the soldiers, his fellow\ncaptives, used to purloin a part of the allowance of food sent\nto Clearchus, giving him but little of it; which thing Ctesias\nsays he rectified, causing a better allowance to be conveyed to\nhim, and that a separate share should be distributed to the\nsoldiers by themselves; adding that he ministered to and\nsupplied him thus by the interest and at the instance of\nParysatis.  And there being a portion of ham sent daily with his\nother food to Clearchus, she, he says, advised and instructed\nhim, that he ought to bury a small knife in the meat, and thus\nsend it to his friend, and not leave his fate to be determined\nby the king's cruelty; which he, however, he says, was afraid to\ndo.  However, Artaxerxes consented to the entreaties of his\nmother, and promised her with an oath that he would spare\nClearchus; but afterwards, at the instigation of Statira, he put\nevery one of them to death except Menon.  And thenceforward, he\nsays, Parysatis watched her advantage against Statira, and made\nup poison for her; not a very probable story, or a very likely\nmotive to account for her conduct, if indeed he means that out\nof respect to Clearchus she dared to attempt the life of the\nlawful queen, that was mother of those who were heirs of the\nempire.  But it is evident enough, that this part of his history\nis a sort of funeral exhibition in honor of Clearchus.  For he\nwould have us believe, that, when the generals were executed,\nthe rest of them were torn in pieces by dogs and birds; but as\nfor the remains of Clearchus, that a violent gust of wind,\nbearing before it a vast heap of earth, raised a mound to cover\nhis body, upon which, after a short time, some dates having\nfallen there, a beautiful grove of trees grew up and\novershadowed the place, so that the king himself declared his\nsorrow, concluding that in Clearchus he put to death a man\nbeloved of the gods.\n\nParysatis, therefore, having from the first entertained a secret\nhatred and jealousy against Statira, seeing that the power she\nherself had with Artaxerxes was founded upon feelings of honor\nand respect for her, but that Statira's influence was firmly and\nstrongly based upon love and confidence, was resolved to\ncontrive her ruin, playing at hazard, as she thought, for the\ngreatest stake in the world.  Among her attendant women there\nwas one that was trusty and in the highest esteem with her,\nwhose name was Gigis; who, as Dinon avers, assisted in making up\nthe poison.  Ctesias allows her only to have been conscious of\nit, and that against her will; charging Belitaras with actually\ngiving the drug, whereas Dinon says it was Melantas.  The two\nwomen had begun again to visit each other and to eat together;\nbut though they had thus far relaxed their former habits of\njealousy and variance, still, out of fear and as a matter of\ncaution, they always ate of the same dishes and of the same\nparts of them.  Now there is a small Persian bird, in the inside\nof which no excrement is found, only a mass of fat, so that they\nsuppose the little creature lives upon air and dew.  It is\ncalled rhyntaces.  Ctesias affirms, that Parysatis, cutting a\nbird of this kind into two pieces with a knife, one side of\nwhich had been smeared with the drug, the other side being clear\nof it, ate the untouched and wholesome part herself, and gave\nStatira that which was thus infected; but Dinon will not have it\nto be Parysatis, but Melantas, that cut up the bird and\npresented the envenomed part of it to Statira; who, dying with\ndreadful agonies and convulsions, was herself sensible of what\nhad happened to her, and aroused in the king's mind suspicion of\nhis mother, whose savage and implacable temper he knew.  And\ntherefore proceeding instantly to an inquest, he seized upon his\nmother's domestic servants that attended at her table, and put\nthem upon the rack.  Parysatis kept Gigis at home with her a\nlong time, and, though the king commanded her, she would not\nproduce her.  But she, at last, herself desiring that she might\nbe dismissed to her own home by night, Artaxerxes had intimation\nof it, and, lying in wait for her, hurried her away, and\nadjudged her to death.  Now poisoners in Persia suffer thus by\nlaw.  There is a broad stone, on which they place the head of\nthe culprit, and then with another stone beat and press it,\nuntil the face and the head itself are all pounded to pieces;\nwhich was the punishment Gigis lost her life by.  But to his\nmother, Artaxerxes neither said nor did any other hurt, save\nthat he banished and confined her, not much against her will, to\nBabylon, protesting that while she lived he would not come near\nthat city.  Such was the condition of the king's affairs in his\nown house.\n\nBut when all his attempts to capture the Greeks that had come up\nwith Cyrus, though he desired to do so no less than he had\ndesired to overcome Cyrus and maintain his throne, proved\nunsuccessful, and they, though they had lost both Cyrus and\ntheir own generals, nevertheless escaped, as it were, out of his\nvery palace, making it plain to all men that the Persian king\nand his empire were mighty indeed in gold and luxury and women,\nbut otherwise were a mere show and vain display, upon this, all\nGreece took courage, and despised the barbarians; and\nespecially the Lacedaemonians thought it strange if they should\nnot now deliver their countrymen that dwelt in Asia from their\nsubjection to the Persians, nor put an end to the contumelious\nusage of them.  And first having an army under the conduct of\nThimbron, then under Dercyllidas, but doing nothing memorable,\nthey at last committed the war to the management of their king\nAgesilaus, who, when he had arrived with his men in Asia, as\nsoon as he had landed them, fell actively to work, and got\nhimself great renown.  He defeated Tisaphernes in a pitched\nbattle, and set many cities in revolt.  Upon this, Artaxerxes,\nperceiving what was his wisest way of waging the war, sent\nTimocrates the Rhodian into Greece, with large sums of gold,\ncommanding him by a free distribution of it to corrupt the\nleading men in the cities, and to excite a Greek war against\nSparta.  So Timocrates following his instructions, the most\nconsiderable cities conspiring together, and Peloponnesus being\nin disorder, the ephors remanded Agesilaus from Asia.  At which\ntime, they say, as he was upon his return, he told his friends\nthat Artaxerxes had driven him out of Asia with thirty thousand\narchers; the Persian coin having an archer stamped upon it.\n\nArtaxerxes scoured the seas, too, of the Lacedaemonians, Conon\nthe Athenian and Pharnabazus being his admirals.  For Conon,\nafter the battle of Aegospotami, resided in Cyprus; not that he\nconsulted his own mere security, but looking for a vicissitude\nof affairs with no less hope than men wait for a change of wind\nat sea.  And perceiving that his skill wanted power, and that\nthe king's power wanted a wise man to guide it, he sent him an\naccount by letter of his projects, and charged the bearer to\nhand it to the king, if possible, by the mediation of Zeno the\nCretan or Polycritus the Mendaean (the former being a\ndancing-master, the latter a physician), or, in the absence of\nthem both, by Ctesias; who is said to have taken Conon's letter,\nand foisted into the contents of it a request; that the king\nwould also be pleased to send over Ctesias to him, who was\nlikely to be of use on the sea-coast.  Ctesias, however,\ndeclares that the king, of his own accord, deputed him to this\nservice.  Artaxerxes, however, defeating the Lacedaemonians in a\nsea-fight at Cnidos, under the conduct of Pharnabazus and Conon,\nafter he had stripped them of their sovereignty by sea, at the\nsame time, brought, so to say, the whole of Greece over to him,\nso that upon his own terms he dictated the celebrated peace\namong them, styled the peace of Antalcidas.  This Antalcidas was\na Spartan, the son of one Leon, who, acting for the king's\ninterest, induced the Lacedaemonians to covenant to let all the\nGreek cities in Asia and the islands adjacent to it become\nsubject and tributary to him, peace being upon these conditions\nestablished among the Greeks, if indeed the honorable name of\npeace can fairly be given to what was in fact the disgrace and\nbetrayal of Greece, a treaty more inglorious than had ever been\nthe result of any war to those defeated in it.\n\nAnd therefore Artaxerxes, though always abominating other\nSpartans, and looking upon them, as Dinon says, to be the most\nimpudent men living, gave wonderful honor to Antalcidas when he\ncame to him into Persia; so much so that one day, taking a\ngarland of flowers and dipping it in the most precious ointment,\nhe sent it to him after supper, a favor which all were amazed\nat.  Indeed he was a person fit to be thus delicately treated,\nand to have such a crown, who had among the Persians thus made\nfools of Leonidas and Callicratidas.  Agesilaus, it seems, on\nsomeone having said, \"O the deplorable fate of Greece, now that\nthe Spartans turn Medes!\" replied, \"Nay, rather it is the Medes\nwho become Spartans.\"  But the subtlety of the repartee did not\nwipe off the infamy of the action.  The Lacedaemonians soon\nafter lost their sovereignty in Greece by their defeat at\nLeuctra; but they had already lost their honor by this treaty.\nSo long then as Sparta continued to be the first state in\nGreece, Artaxerxes continued to Antalcidas the honor of being\ncalled his friend and his guest; but when, routed and humbled at\nthe battle of Leuctra, being under great distress for money,\nthey had dispatched Agesilaus into Egypt, and Antalcidas went up\nto Artaxerxes, beseeching him to supply their necessities, he so\ndespised, slighted, and rejected him, that finding himself, on\nhis return, mocked and insulted by his enemies, and fearing also\nthe ephors, he starved himself to death.  Ismenias, also, the\nTheban, and Pelopidas, who had already gained the victory at\nLeuctra, arrived at the Persian court; where the latter did\nnothing unworthy of himself.  But Ismenias, being commanded to\ndo obeisance to the king, dropped his ring before him upon the\nground, and so, stooping to take it up, made a show of doing him\nhomage.  He was so gratified with some secret intelligence which\nTimagoras the Athenian sent in to him by the hand of his\nsecretary, Beluris, that he bestowed upon him ten thousand\ndarics, and because he was ordered, on account of some sickness,\nto drink cow's milk, there were fourscore milch kine driven\nafter him; also, he sent him a bed, furniture, and servants for\nit, the Grecians not having skill enough to make it, as also\nchairmen to carry him, being infirm in body, to the seaside.\nNot to mention the feast made for him at court, which was so\nprincely and splendid that Ostanes, the king's brother, said to\nhim, \"O, Timagoras, do not forget the sumptuous table you have\nsat at here; it was not put before you for nothing;\" which was\nindeed rather a reflection upon his treason than to remind him\nof the king's bounty.  And indeed the Athenians condemned\nTimagoras to death for taking bribes.\n\nBut Artaxerxes gratified the Grecians in one thing in lieu of\nthe many wherewith he plagued them, and that was by taking off\nTisaphernes, their most hated and malicious enemy, whom he put\nto death; Parysatis adding her influence to the charges made\nagainst him.  For the king did not persist long in his wrath\nwith his mother, but was reconciled to her, and sent for her,\nbeing assured that she had wisdom and courage fit for royal\npower, and there being now no cause discernible but that they\nmight converse together without suspicion or offense.  And from\nthenceforward humoring the king in all things according to his\nheart's desire, and finding fault with nothing that he did, she\nobtained great power with him, and was gratified in all her\nrequests.  She perceived he was desperately in love with Atossa,\none of his own two daughters, and that he concealed and checked\nhis passion chiefly for fear of herself, though, if we may\nbelieve some writers, he had privately given way to it with the\nyoung girl already.  As soon as Parysatis suspected it, she\ndisplayed a greater fondness for the young girl than before, and\nextolled both her virtue and beauty to him, as being truly\nimperial and majestic.  In fine, she persuaded him to marry her\nand declare her to be his lawful wife, overriding all the\nprinciples and the laws by which the Greeks hold themselves\nbound, and regarding himself as divinely appointed for a law to\nthe Persians, and the supreme arbitrator of good and evil.  Some\nhistorians further affirm, in which number is Heraclides of\nCuma, that Artaxerxes married not only this one, but a second\ndaughter also, Amestris, of whom we shall speak by and by.  But\nhe so loved Atossa when she became his consort, that when\nleprosy had run through her whole body, he was not in the least\noffended at it; but putting up his prayers to Juno for her, to\nthis one alone of all the deities he made obeisance, by laying\nhis hands upon the earth; and his satraps and favorites made\nsuch offerings to the goddess by his direction, that all along\nfor sixteen furlongs, betwixt the court and her temple, the road\nwas filled up with gold and silver, purple and horses, devoted\nto her.\n\nHe waged war out of his own kingdom with the Egyptians, under\nthe conduct of Pharnabazus and Iphicrates, but was unsuccessful\nby reason of their dissensions.  In his expedition against the\nCadusians, he went himself in person with three hundred thousand\nfootmen and ten thousand horse.  And making an incursion into\ntheir country, which was so mountainous as scarcely to be\npassable, and withal very misty, producing no sort of harvest of\ncorn or the like, but with pears, apples, and other tree-fruits\nfeeding a warlike and valiant breed of men, he unawares fell\ninto great distresses and dangers.  For there was nothing to be\ngot fit for his men to eat, of the growth of that place, nor\ncould anything be imported from any other.  All they could do\nwas to kill their beasts of burden, and thus an ass's head could\nscarcely be bought for sixty drachmas.  In short, the king's own\ntable failed; and there were but few horses left; the rest they\nhad spent for food.  Then Teribazus, a man often in great favor\nwith his prince for his valor, and as often out of it for his\nbuffoonery, and particularly at that time in humble estate and\nneglected, was the deliverer of the king and his army.  There\nbeing two kings amongst the Cadusians, and each of them\nencamping separately, Teribazus, after he had made his\napplication to Artaxerxes and imparted his design to him, went\nto one of the princes, and sent away his son privately to the\nother.  So each of them deceived his man, assuring him that the\nother prince had deputed an ambassador to Artaxerxes, suing for\nfriendship and alliance for himself alone; and, therefore, if he\nwere wise, he told him, he must apply himself to his master\nbefore he had decreed anything, and he, he said, would lend him\nhis assistance in all things.  Both of them gave credit to these\nwords, and because they supposed they were each intrigued\nagainst by the other, they both sent their envoys, one along\nwith Teribazus, and the other with his son.  All this taking\nsome time to transact, fresh surmises and suspicions of\nTeribazus were expressed to the king, who began to be out of\nheart, sorry that he had confided in him, and ready to give ear\nto his rivals who impeached him.  But at last he came, and so\ndid his son, bringing the Cadusian agents along with them, and\nso there was a cessation of arms and a peace signed with both\nthe princes.  And Teribazus, in great honor and distinction, set\nout homewards in the company of the king; who, indeed, upon this\njourney made it appear plainly that cowardice and effeminacy are\nthe effects, not of delicate and sumptuous living, as many\nsuppose, but of a base and vicious nature, actuated by false and\nbad opinions.  For notwithstanding his golden ornaments, his\nrobe of state, and the rest of that costly attire, worth no less\nthan twelve thousand talents, with which the royal person was\nconstantly clad, his labors and toils were not a whit inferior\nto those of the meanest persons in his army.  With his quiver by\nhis side and his shield on his arm, he led them on foot,\nquitting his horse, through craggy and steep ways, insomuch that\nthe sight of his cheerfulness and unwearied strength gave wings\nto the soldiers, and so lightened the journey, that they made\ndaily marches of above two hundred furlongs.\n\nAfter they had arrived at one of his own mansions, which had\nbeautiful ornamented parks in the midst of a region naked and\nwithout trees, the weather being very cold, he gave full\ncommission to his soldiers to provide themselves with wood by\ncutting down any, without exception, even the pine and cypress.\nAnd when they hesitated and were for sparing them, being large\nand goodly trees, he, taking up an ax himself, felled the\ngreatest and most beautiful of them.  After which his men used\ntheir hatchets, and piling up many fires, passed away the night\nat their ease.  Nevertheless, he returned not without the loss\nof many and valiant subjects, and of almost all his horses.  And\nsupposing that his misfortunes and the ill success of his\nexpedition made him despised in the eyes of his people, he\nlooked jealously on his nobles, many of whom he slew in anger,\nand yet more out of fear.  As, indeed, fear is the bloodiest\npassion in princes; confidence, on the other hand, being\nmerciful, gentle, and unsuspicious.  So we see among wild\nbeasts, the intractable and least tamable are the most timorous\nand most easily startled; the nobler creatures, whose courage\nmakes them trustful, are ready to respond to the advances of\nmen.\n\nArtaxerxes, now being an old man, perceived that his sons were\nin controversy about his kingdom, and that they made parties\namong his favorites and peers.  Those that were equitable among\nthem thought it fit, that as he had received it, so he should\nbequeath it, by right of age, to Darius.  The younger brother,\nOchus, who was hot and violent, had indeed a considerable number\nof the courtiers that espoused his interest, but his chief hope\nwas that by Atossa's means he should win his father.  For he\nflattered her with the thoughts of being his wife and partner in\nthe kingdom after the death of Artaxerxes.  And truly it was\nrumored that already Ochus maintained a too intimate\ncorrespondence with her.  This, however, was quite unknown to\nthe king; who, being willing to put down in good time his son\nOchus's hopes, lest, by his attempting the same things his uncle\nCyrus did, wars and contentions might again afflict his kingdom,\nproclaimed Darius, then twenty-five years old, his successor,\nand gave him leave to wear the upright hat, as they call it.  It\nwas a rule and usage of Persia, that the heir apparent to the\ncrown should beg a boon, and that he that declared him so should\ngive whatever he asked, provided it were within the sphere of\nhis power.  Darius therefore requested Aspasia, in former time\nthe most prized of the concubines of Cyrus, and now belonging to\nthe king.  She was by birth a Phocaean, of Ionia, born of free\nparents, and well educated.  Once when Cyrus was at supper, she\nwas led in to him with other women, who, when they were sat down\nby him, and he began to sport and dally and talk jestingly with\nthem, gave way freely to his advances.  But she stood by in\nsilence, refusing to come when Cyrus called her, and when his\nchamberlains were going to force her towards him, said,\n\"Whosoever lays hands on me shall rue it;\" so that she seemed to\nthe company a sullen and rude-mannered person.  However, Cyrus\nwas well pleased, and laughed, saying to the man that brought\nthe women, \"Do you not see of a certainty that this woman alone\nof all that came with you is truly noble and pure in character?\"\nAfter which time he began to regard her, and loved her above all\nof her sex, and called her the Wise.  But Cyrus being slain in\nthe fight, she was taken among the spoils of his camp.\n\nDarius, in demanding her, no doubt much offended his father, for\nthe barbarian people keep a very jealous and watchful eye over\ntheir carnal pleasures, so that it is death for a man not only\nto come near and touch any concubine of his prince, but likewise\non a journey to ride forward and pass by the carriages in which\nthey are conveyed.  And though, to gratify his passion, he had\nagainst all law married his daughter Atossa, and had besides her\nno less than three hundred and sixty concubines selected for\ntheir beauty, yet being importuned for that one by Darius, he\nurged that she was a free-woman, and allowed him to take her, if\nshe had an inclination to go with him, but by no means to force\nher away against it.  Aspasia, therefore, being sent for, and,\ncontrary to the king's expectation, making choice of Darius, he\ngave him her indeed, being constrained by law, but when he had\ndone so, a little after he took her from him.  For he\nconsecrated her priestess to Diana of Ecbatana, whom they name\nAnaitis, that she might spend the remainder of her days in\nstrict chastity, thinking thus to punish his son, not\nrigorously, but with moderation, by a revenge checkered with\njest and earnest.  But he took it heinously, either that he was\npassionately fond of Aspasia, or because he looked upon himself\nas affronted and scorned by his father.  Teribazus, perceiving\nhim thus minded, did his best to exasperate him yet further,\nseeing in his injuries a representation of his own, of which the\nfollowing is the account: Artaxerxes, having many daughters,\npromised to give Apama to Pharnabazus to wife, Rhodogune to\nOrontes, and Amestris to Teribazus; whom alone of the three he\ndisappointed, by marrying Amestris himself.  However, to make\nhim amends, he betrothed his youngest daughter Atossa to him.\nBut after he had, being enamored of her too, as has been said,\nmarried her, Teribazus entertained an irreconcilable enmity\nagainst him.  As indeed he was seldom at any other time steady\nin his temper, but uneven and inconsiderate; so that whether he\nwere in the number of the choicest favorites of his prince, or\nwhether he were offensive and odious to him, he demeaned himself\nin neither condition with moderation; but if he was advanced he\nwas intolerably insolent, and in his degradation not submissive\nand peaceable in his deportment, but fierce and haughty.\n\nAnd therefore Teribazus was to the young prince flame added upon\nflame, ever urging him, and saying, that in vain those wear\ntheir hats upright who consult not the real success of their\naffairs, and that he was ill befriended of reason if he\nimagined, whilst he had a brother, who, through the women's\napartments, was seeking a way to the supremacy, and a father of\nso rash and fickle a humor, that he should by succession\ninfallibly step up into the throne.  For he that out of fondness\nto an Ionian girl has eluded a law sacred and inviolable among\nthe Persians is not likely to be faithful in the performance of\nthe most important promises.  He added, too, that it was not all\none for Ochus not to attain to, and for him to be put by his\ncrown; since Ochus as a subject might live happily, and nobody\ncould hinder him; but he, being proclaimed king, must either\ntake up his scepter or lay down his life.  These words presently\ninflamed Darius: what Sophocles says being indeed generally\ntrue: --\n\nQuick travels the persuasion to what's wrong.\n\nFor the path is smooth, and upon an easy descent, that leads us\nto our own will; and the most part of us desire what is evil\nthrough our strangeness to and ignorance of good.  And in this\ncase, no doubt, the greatness of the empire and the jealousy\nDarius had of Ochus furnished Teribazus with material for his\npersuasions.  Nor was Venus wholly unconcerned in the matter, in\nregard, namely, of his loss of Aspasia.\n\nDarius, therefore, resigned himself up to the dictates of\nTeribazus; and many now conspiring with them, a eunuch gave\ninformation to the king of their plot and the way how it was to\nbe managed, having discovered the certainty of it, that they had\nresolved to break into his bed-chamber by night, and there to\nkill him as he lay.  After Artaxerxes had been thus advertised,\nhe did not think fit, by disregarding the discovery, to despise\nso great a danger, nor to believe it when there was little or no\nproof of it.  Thus then he did: he charged the eunuch constantly\nto attend and accompany the conspirators wherever they were; in\nthe meanwhile, he broke down the party-wall of the chamber\nbehind his bed, and placed a door in it to open and shut, which\ncovered up with tapestry; so the hour approaching, and the\neunuch having told him the precise time in which the traitors\ndesigned to assassinate him, he waited for them in his bed, and\nrose not up till he had seen the faces of his assailants and\nrecognized every man of them.  But as soon as he saw them with\ntheir swords drawn and coming up to him, throwing up the\nhanging, he made his retreat into the inner chamber, and,\nbolting to the door, raised a cry.  Thus when the murderers had\nbeen seen by him, and had attempted him in vain, they with speed\nwent back through the same doors they came in by, enjoining\nTeribazus and his friends to fly, as their plot had been\ncertainly detected.  They, therefore, made their escape\ndifferent ways; but Teribazus was seized by the king's guards,\nand after slaying many, while they were laying hold on him, at\nlength being struck through with a dart at a distance, fell.  As\nfor Darius, who was brought to trial with his children, the king\nappointed the royal judges to sit over him, and because he was\nnot himself present, but accused Darius by proxy, he commanded\nhis scribes to write down the opinion of every one of the\njudges, and show it to him.  And after they had given their\nsentences, all as one man, and condemned Darius to death, the\nofficers seized on him and hurried him to a chamber not far off.\nTo which place the executioner, when summoned, came with a razor\nin his hand, with which men of his employment cut off' the heads\nof offenders.  But when he saw that Darius was the person thus\nto be punished, he was appalled and started back, offering to go\nout, as one that had neither power nor courage enough to behead\na king; yet at the threats and commands of the judges, who stood\nat the prison door, he returned, and grasping the hair of his\nhead and bringing his face to the ground with one hand, he cut\nthrough his neck with the razor he had in the other.  Some\naffirm that sentence was passed in the presence of Artaxerxes;\nthat Darius, after he had been convicted by clear evidence,\nfalling prostrate before him, did humbly beg his pardon; that\ninstead of giving it, he, rising up in rage and drawing his\nscimitar, smote him till he had killed him; that then, going\nforth into the court, he worshipped the sun, and said, \"Depart\nin peace, ye Persians, and declare to your fellow-subjects how\nthe mighty Oromasdes hath dealt out vengeance to the contrivers\nof unjust and unlawful things.\"\n\nSuch, then, was the issue of this conspiracy.  And now Ochus was\nhigh in his hopes, being confident in the influence of Atossa;\nbut yet was afraid of Ariaspes, the only male surviving, besides\nhimself, of the legitimate off-spring of his father, and of\nArsames, one of his natural sons.  For indeed Ariaspes was\nalready claimed as their prince by the wishes of the Persians,\nnot because he was the elder brother, but because he excelled\nOchus in gentleness, plain-dealing, and good-nature; and on the\nother hand Arsames appeared, by his wisdom, fitted for the\nthrone, and that he was dear to his father, Ochus well knew.  So\nhe laid snares for them both, and being no less treacherous than\nbloody, he made use of the cruelty of his nature against\nArsames, and of his craft and wiliness against Ariaspes.  For he\nsuborned the king's eunuchs and favorites to convey to him\nmenacing and harsh expressions from his father, as though he had\ndecreed to put him to a cruel and ignominious death.  When they\ndaily communicated these things as secrets, and told him at one\ntime that the king would do so to him ere long, and at another,\nthat the blow was actually close impending, they so alarmed the\nyoung man, struck; such a terror into him, and cast such a\nconfusion and anxiety upon his thoughts, that, having prepared\nsome poisonous drugs, he drank them, that he might be delivered\nfrom his life.  The king, on hearing what kind of death he died,\nheartily lamented him, and was not without a suspicion of the\ncause of it.  But being disabled by his age to search into and\nprove it, he was, after the loss of this son, more affectionate\nthan before to Arsames, did manifestly place his greatest\nconfidence in him, and made him privy to his counsels.\nWhereupon Ochus had no longer patience to defer the execution of\nhis purpose, but having procured Arpates, Teribazus's son, for\nthe undertaking, he killed Arsames by his hand.  Artaxerxes at\nthat time had but a little hold on life, by reason of his\nextreme age, and so, when he heard of the fate of Arsames, he\ncould not sustain it at all, but sinking at once under the\nweight of his grief and distress, expired, after a life of\nninety-four years, and a reign of sixty-two.  And then he seemed\na moderate and gracious governor, more especially as compared to\nhis son Ochus, who outdid all his predecessors in\nblood-thirstiness and cruelty.\n\n\n\nGALBA\n\nIphicrates the Athenian used to say that it is best to have a\nmercenary soldier fond of money and of pleasures, for thus he\nwill fight the more boldly, to procure the means to gratify his\ndesires.  But most have been of opinion, that the body of an\narmy, as well as the natural one, when in its healthy condition,\nshould make no efforts apart, but in compliance with its head.\nWherefore they tell us that Paulus Aemilius, on taking command\nof the forces in Macedonia, and finding them talkative and\nimpertinently busy, as though they were all commanders, issued\nout his orders that they should have only ready hands and keen\nswords, and leave the rest to him.  And Plato, who can discern\nno use of a good ruler or general, if his men are not on their\npart obedient and conformable (the virtue of obeying, as of\nruling, being in his opinion one that does not exist without\nfirst a noble nature, and then a philosophic education, where\nthe eager and active powers are allayed with the gentler and\nhumaner sentiments), may claim in confirmation of his doctrines\nsundry mournful instances elsewhere, and, in particular, the\nevents that followed among the Romans upon the death of Nero, in\nwhich plain proofs were given that nothing is more terrible than\na military force moving about in an empire upon uninstructed and\nunreasoning impulses.  Demades, after the death of Alexander,\ncompared the Macedonian army to the Cyclops after his eye was\nout, seeing their many disorderly and unsteady motions.  But the\ncalamities of the Roman government might be likened to the\nmotions of the giants that assailed heaven, convulsed as it was,\nand distracted, and from every side recoiling, as it were, upon\nitself, not so much by the ambition of those who were proclaimed\nemperors, as by the covetousness and license of the soldiery,\nwho drove commander after commander out, like nails one upon\nanother.\n\nDionysius, in raillery, said of the Pheraean who enjoyed the\ngovernment of Thessaly only ten months, that he had been a\ntragedy-king, but the Caesars' house in Rome, the Palatium,\nreceived in a shorter space of time no less than four emperors,\npassing, as it were, across the stage, and one making room for\nanother to enter.\n\nThis was the only satisfaction of the distressed, that they\nneeded not require any other justice on their oppressors, seeing\nthem thus murder each other, and first of all, and that most\njustly, the one that ensnared them first, and taught them to\nexpect such happy results from a change of emperors, sullying a\ngood work by the pay he gave for its being done, and turning\nrevolt against Nero into nothing better than treason.\n\nFor, as already related, Nymphidius Sabinus, captain of the\nguards, together with Tigellinus, after Nero's circumstances\nwere now desperate, and it was perceived that he designed to fly\ninto Egypt, persuaded the troops to declare Galba emperor, as if\nNero had been already gone, promising to all the court and\npraetorian soldiers, as they are called, seven thousand five\nhundred drachmas apiece, and to those in service abroad twelve\nhundred and fifty drachmas each; so vast a sum for a largess as\nit was impossible anyone could raise, but he must be infinitely\nmore exacting and oppressive than ever Nero was.  This quickly\nbrought Nero to his grave, and soon after Galba too; they\nmurdered the first in expectation of the promised gift, and not\nlong after the other because they did not obtain it from him;\nand then, seeking about to find someone who would purchase at\nsuch a rate, they consumed themselves in a succession of\ntreacheries and rebellions before they obtained their demands.\nBut to give a particular relation of all that passed would\nrequire a history in full form; I have only to notice what is\nproperly to my purpose, namely, what the Caesars did and\nsuffered.\n\nSulpicius Galba is owned by all to have been the richest private\nperson that ever came to the imperial seat.  And besides the\nadditional honor of being of the family of the Servii, he valued\nhimself more especially for his relationship to Catulus, the\nmost eminent citizen of his time both for virtue and renown,\nhowever he may have voluntarily yielded to others as regards\npower and authority.  Galba was also akin to Livia, the wife of\nAugustus, by whose interest he was preferred to the consulship\nby the emperor. It is said of him that he commanded the troops\nwell in Germany, and, being made proconsul in Libya, gained a\nreputation that few ever had.  But his quiet manner of living\nand his sparingness in expenses and his disregard of appearance\ngave him, when he became emperor, an ill-name for meanness,\nbeing, in fact, his worn-out credit for regularity and\nmoderation.  He was entrusted by Nero with the government of\nSpain, before Nero had yet learned to be apprehensive of men of\ngreat repute.  To the opinion, moreover, entertained of his mild\nnatural temper, his old age added a belief that he would never\nact incautiously.\n\nThere while Nero's iniquitous agents savagely and cruelly\nharassed the provinces under Nero's authority, he could afford\nno succor, but merely offer this only ease and consolation, that\nhe seemed plainly to sympathize, as a fellow-sufferer, with\nthose who were condemned upon suits and sold.  And when lampoons\nwere made upon Nero and circulated and sung everywhere about, he\nneither prohibited them, nor showed any indignation on behalf of\nthe emperor's agents, and for this was the more beloved; as also\nthat he was now well acquainted with them, having been in chief\npower there eight years at the time when Junius Vindex, general\nof the forces in Gaul, began his insurrection against Nero.  And\nit is reported that letters came to Galba before it fully broke\nout into an open rebellion, which he neither seemed to give\ncredit to, nor on the other hand to take means to let Nero know,\nas other officers did, sending to him the letters which came to\nthem, and so spoiled the design, as much as in them lay, who yet\nafterwards shared in the conspiracy, and confessed they had been\ntreacherous to themselves as well as him.  At last Vindex,\nplainly declaring war, wrote to Galba, encouraging him to take\nthe government upon him, and give a head to this strong body,\nthe Gaulish provinces, which could already count a hundred\nthousand men in arms, and were able to arm a yet greater number\nif occasion were.  Galba laid the matter before his friends,\nsome of whom thought it fit to wait, and see what movement there\nmight be and what inclinations displayed at Rome for the\nrevolution.  But Titus Vinius, captain of his praetorian guard,\nspoke thus: \"Galba, what means this inquiry?  To question\nwhether we shall continue faithful to Nero is, in itself, to\ncease to be faithful.  Nero is our enemy, and we must by no\nmeans decline the help of Vindex: or else we must at once\ndenounce him, and march to attack him, because he wishes you to\nbe the governor of the Romans, rather than Nero their tyrant.\"\nThereupon Galba, by an edict, appointed a day when he would\nreceive manumissions, and general rumor and talk beforehand\nabout his purpose brought together a great crowd of men so ready\nfor a change, that he scarcely appeared, stepping up to the\ntribunal, but they with one consent saluted him emperor.  That\ntitle he refused at present to take upon him; but after he had a\nwhile inveighed against Nero, and bemoaned the loss of the more\nconspicuous of those that had been destroyed by him, he offered\nhimself and service to his country, not by the titles of Caesar\nor emperor, but as the lieutenant of the Roman senate and\npeople.\n\nNow that Vindex did wisely in inviting Galba to the empire, Nero\nhimself bore testimony; who, though he seemed to despise Vindex\nand altogether to slight the Gauls and their concerns, yet when\nhe heard of Galba (as by chance he had just bathed and sat down\nto his morning meal), at this news he overturned the table.  But\nthe senate having voted Galba an enemy, presently, to make his\njest, and likewise to personate a confidence among his friends,\n\"This is a very happy opportunity,\" he said, \"for me, who sadly\nwant such a booty as that of the Gauls, which must all fall in\nas lawful prize; and Galba's estate I can use or sell at once,\nhe being now an open enemy.\"  And accordingly he had Galba's\nproperty exposed to sale, which when Galba heard of; he\nsequestered all that was Nero's in Spain, and found far readier\nbidders.\n\nMany now began to revolt from Nero, and pretty nearly all\nadhered to Galba; only Clodius Macer in Africa, and Virginius\nRufus, commander of the German forces in Gaul, followed counsel\nof their own; yet these two were not of one and the same advice,\nfor Clodius, being sensible of the rapines and murders to which\nhe had been led by cruelty and covetousness, was in perplexity,\nand felt it was not safe for him either to retain or quit his\ncommand.  But Virginius, who had the command of the strongest\nlegions, by whom he was many repeated times saluted emperor and\npressed to take the title upon him, declared that he neither\nwould assume that honor himself, nor see it given to any other\nthan whom the senate should elect.\n\nThese things at first did not a little disturb Galba, but when\npresently Virginius and Vindex were in a manner forced by their\narmies, having got the reins, as it were, out of their hands, to\na great encounter and battle, in which Vindex, having seen\ntwenty thousand of the Gauls destroyed, died by his own hand,\nand when the report straight spread abroad, that all desired\nVirginius, after this great victory, to take the empire upon\nhim, or else they would return to Nero again, Galba, in great\nalarm at this, wrote to Virginius, exhorting him to join with\nhim for the preservation of the empire and the liberty of the\nRomans, and so retiring with his friends into Clunia, a town in\nSpain, he passed away his time, rather repenting his former\nrashness, and wishing for his wonted ease and privacy, than\nsetting about what was fit to be done.\n\nIt was now summer, when on a sudden, a little before dusk, comes\na freedman, Icelus by name, having arrived in seven days from\nRome; and being informed where Galba was reposing himself in\nprivate, he went straight on, and pushing by the servants of the\nchamber, opened the door and entered the room, and told him,\nthat Nero being yet alive but not appearing, first the army, and\nthen the people and senate, declared Galba emperor; not long\nafter, it was reported that Nero was dead; \"but I,\" said he,\n\"not giving credit to common fame, went myself to the body and\nsaw him lying dead, and only then set out to bring you word.\"\nThis news at once made Galba great again, and a crowd of people\ncame hastening to the door, all very confident of the truth of\nhis tidings, though the speed of the man was almost incredible.\nTwo days after came Titus Vinius with sundry others from the\ncamp, who gave an account in detail of the orders of the senate,\nand for this service was considerably advanced.  On the\nfreedman, Galba conferred the honor of the gold ring, and\nIcelus, as he had been before, now taking the name of Marcianus,\nheld the first place of the freedmen.\n\nBut at Rome, Nymphidius Sabinus, not gently and little by\nlittle, but at once, and without exception, engrossed all power\nto himself; Galba, being an old man (seventy-three years of\nage), would scarcely, he thought, live long enough to be carried\nin a litter to Rome; and the troops in the city were from old\ntime attached to him, and now bound by the vastness of the\npromised gift, for which they regarded him as their benefactor,\nand Galba as their debtor.  Thus presuming on his interest, he\nstraightway commanded Tigellinus, who was in joint commission\nwith himself, to lay down his sword; and giving entertainments,\nhe invited the former consuls and commanders, making use of\nGalba's name for the invitation; but at the same time prepared\nmany in the camp to propose that a request should be sent to\nGalba that he should appoint Nymphidius sole prefect for life\nwithout a colleague.  And the modes which the senate took to\nshow him honor and increase his power, styling him their\nbenefactor, and attending daily at his gates, and giving him the\ncompliment of heading with his own name and confirming all their\nacts, carried him on to a yet greater degree of arrogance, so\nthat in a short time he became an object, not only of dislike,\nbut of terror, to those that sought his favor.  When the consuls\nthemselves had dispatched their couriers with the decrees of the\nsenate to the emperor, together with the sealed diplomas, which\nthe authorities in all the towns where horses or carriages are\nchanged, look at and on that certificate hasten the couriers\nforward with all their means, he was highly displeased that his\nseal had not been used, and none of his soldiers employed on the\nerrand.  Nay, he even deliberated what course to take with the\nconsuls themselves, but upon their submission and apology he was\nat last pacified.  To gratify the people, he did not interfere\nwith their beating to death any that fell into their hands of\nNero's party.  Amongst others, Spiclus, the gladiator, was\nkilled in the forum by being thrown under Nero's statues, which\nthey dragged about the place over his body.  Aponius, one of\nthose who had been concerned in accusations, they knocked to the\nground, and drove carts loaded with stones over him.  And many\nothers they tore in pieces, some of them no way guilty, insomuch\nthat Mauriscus, a person of great account and character, told\nthe senate that he feared, in a short time, they might wish for\nNero again.\n\nNymphidius, now advancing towards the consummation of his hopes,\ndid not refuse to let it be said that he was the son of Caius\nCaesar, Tiberius's successor; who, it is told, was well\nacquainted with his mother in his early youth, a woman indeed\nhandsome enough, the off-spring of Callistus, one of Caesar's\nfreedmen, and a certain seamstress.  But it is plain that\nCaius's familiarity with his mother was of too late date to give\nhim any pretensions, and it was suspected he might, if he\npleased, claim a father in Martianus, the gladiator, whom his\nmother, Nymphidia, took a passion for, being a famous man in his\nway, whom also he much more resembled.  However, though he\ncertainly owned Nymphidia for his mother, he ascribed meantime\nthe downfall of Nero to himself alone, and thought he was not\nsufficiently rewarded with the honors and riches he enjoyed,\n(nay, though to all was added the company of Sporus, whom he\nimmediately sent for while Nero's body was yet burning on the\npile, and treated as his consort, with the name of Poppaea,) but\nhe must also aspire to the empire.  And at Rome he had friends\nwho took measures for him secretly, as well as some women and\nsome members of the senate also, who worked underhand to assist\nhim.  And into Spain he dispatched one of his friends, named\nGellianus, to view the posture of affairs.\n\nBut all things succeeded well with Galba after Nero's death;\nonly Virginius Rufus, still standing doubtful, gave him some\nanxiety, lest he should listen to the suggestions of some who\nencouraged him to take the government upon him, having, at\npresent, besides the command of a large and warlike army, the\nnew honors of the defeat of Vindex and the subjugation of one\nconsiderable part of the Roman empire, namely, the entire Gaul,\nwhich had seemed shaking about upon the verge of open revolt.\nNor had any man indeed a greater name and reputation than\nVirginius, who had taken a part of so much consequence in the\ndeliverance of the empire at once from a cruel tyranny and a\nGallic war.  But he, standing to his first resolves, reserved to\nthe senate the power of electing an emperor.  Yet when it was\nnow manifest that Nero was dead, the soldiers pressed him hard\nto it, and one of the tribunes, entering his tent with his drawn\nsword, bade him either take the government or that.  But after\nFabius Valens, having the command of one legion, had first sworn\nfealty to Galba, and letters from Rome came with tidings of the\nresolves of the senate, at last with much ado he persuaded the\narmy to declare Galba emperor.  And when Flaccus Hordeonius came\nby Galba's commission as his successor, he handed over to him\nhis forces, and went himself to meet Galba on his way, and\nhaving met him, turned back to attend him; in all which no\napparent displeasure nor yet honor was shown him.  Galba's\nfeelings of respect for him prevented the former; the latter was\nchecked by the envy of his friends, and particularly of Titus\nVinius, who, acting in the desire of hindering Virginius's\npromotion, unwittingly aided his happy genius in rescuing him\nfrom those hazards and hardships which other commanders were\ninvolved in, and securing him the safe enjoyment of a quiet life\nand peaceable old age.\n\nNear Narbo, a city in Gaul, the deputation of the senate met\nGalba, and, after they had delivered their compliments, begged\nhim to make what haste he could to appear to the people, that\nimpatiently expected him.  He discoursed with them courteously\nand unassumingly, and in his entertainment, though Nymphidius\nhad sent him royal furniture and attendance of Nero's, he put\nall aside, and made use of nothing but his own, for which he\nwas well spoken of, as one who had a great mind, and was\nsuperior to little vanities.  But in a short time, Vinius, by\ndeclaring to him that these noble, unpompous, citizen-like ways\nwere a mere affectation of popularity and a petty bashfulness at\nassuming his proper greatness, induced him to make use of Nero's\nsupplies, and in his entertainments not to be afraid of a regal\nsumptuosity.  And in more than one way the old man let it\ngradually appear that he had put himself under Vinius's\ndisposal.\n\nVinius was a person of an excessive covetousness, and not quite\nfree from blame in respect to women.  For being a young man,\nnewly entered into the service under Calvisius Sabinus, upon his\nfirst campaign, he brought his commander's wife, a licentious\nwoman, in a soldier's dress, by night into the camp, and was\nfound with her in the very general's quarters, the principia, as\nthe Romans call them.  For which insolence Caius Caesar cast him\ninto prison, from whence he was fortunately delivered by Caius's\ndeath.  Afterwards, being invited by Claudius Caesar to supper,\nhe privily conveyed away a silver cup, which Caesar hearing of,\ninvited him again the next day, and gave order to his servants\nto set before him no silver plate, but only earthen ware.  And\nthis offense, through the comic mildness of Caesar's reprimand,\nwas treated rather as a subject of jest than as a crime.  But\nthe acts to which now, when Galba was in his hands and his power\nwas so extensive, his covetous temper led him were the causes,\nin part, and in part the provocation, of tragical and fatal\nmischiefs.\n\nNymphidius became very uneasy upon the return out of Spain of\nGellianus, whom he had sent to pry into Galba's actions,\nunderstanding that Cornelius Laco was appointed commander of the\ncourt guards, and that Vinius was the great favorite, and that\nGellianus had not been able so much as to come nigh, much less\nhave any opportunity to offer any words in private, so narrowly\nhad he been watched and observed.  Nymphidius, therefore, called\ntogether the officers of the troops, and declared to them that\nGalba of himself was a good, well-meaning old man, but did not\nact by his own counsel, and was ill-guided by Vinius and Laco;\nand lest, before they were aware, they should engross the\nauthority Tigellinus had with the troops, he proposed to them to\nsend deputies from the camp, acquainting him that if he pleased\nto remove only these two from his counsel and presence, he would\nbe much more welcome to all at his arrival.  Wherein when he saw\nhe did not prevail (it seeming absurd and unmannerly to give\nrules to an old commander what friends to retain or displace, as\nif he had been a youth newly taking the reins of authority into\nhis hands), adopting another course, he wrote himself to Galba\nletters in alarming terms, one while as if the city were\nunsettled, and had not yet recovered its tranquillity; then that\nClodius Macer withheld the corn-ships from Africa; that the\nlegions in Germany began to be mutinous, and that he heard the\nlike of those in Syria and Judaea.  But Galba not minding him\nmuch nor giving credit to his stories, he resolved to make his\nattempt beforehand, though Clodius Celsus, a native of Antioch,\na person of sense, and friendly and faithful to Nymphidius, told\nhim he was wrong, saying he did not believe one single street in\nRome would ever give him the title of Caesar.  Nevertheless many\nalso derided Galba, amongst the rest Mithridates of Pontus,\nsaying, that as soon as this wrinkled, bald-headed man should be\nseen publicly at Rome, they would think it an utter disgrace\never to have had such a Caesar.\n\nAt last it was resolved, about midnight, to bring Nymphidius\ninto the camp, and declare him emperor.  But Antonius Honoratus,\nwho was first among the tribunes, summoning together in the\nevening those under his command, charged himself and them\nseverely with their many and unreasonable turns and alterations,\nmade without any purpose or regard to merit, simply as if some\nevil genius hurried them from one treason to another.  \"What\nthough Nero's miscarriages,\" said he, \"gave some color to your\nformer acts, can you say you have any plea for betraying Galba\nin the death of a mother, the blood of a wife, or the\ndegradation of the imperial power upon the stage and amongst\nplayers?  Neither did we desert Nero for all this, until\nNymphidius had persuaded us that he had first left us and fled\ninto Egypt.  Shall we, therefore, send Galba after, to appease\nNero's shade, and, for the sake of making the son of Nymphidia\nemperor, take off one of Livia's family, as we have already the\nson of Agrippina?  Rather, doing justice on him, let us revenge\nNero's death, and show ourselves true and faithful by preserving\nGalba.\"\n\nThe tribune having ended his harangue, the soldiers assented,\nand encouraged all they met with to persist in their fidelity to\nthe emperor, and, indeed, brought over the greatest part.  But\npresently hearing a great shout, Nymphidius, imagining, as some\nsay, that the soldiers called for him, or hastening to be in\ntime to check any opposition and gain the doubtful, came on with\nmany lights, carrying in his hand a speech in writing, made by\nCingonius Varro, which he had got by heart, to deliver to the\nsoldiers.  But seeing the gates of the camp shut up, and large\nnumbers standing armed about the walls, he began to be afraid.\nYet drawing nearer, he demanded what they meant, and by whose\norders they were then in arms; but hearing a general\nacclamation, all with one consent crying out that Galba was\ntheir emperor, advancing towards them, he joined in the cry, and\nlikewise commanded those that followed him to do the same.  The\nguard notwithstanding permitted him to enter the camp only with\na few, where he was presently struck with a dart, which\nSeptimius, being before him, received on his shield; others,\nhowever, assaulted him with their naked swords, and on his\nflying, pursued him into a soldier's cabin, where they slew him.\nAnd dragging his body thence, they placed a railing about it,\nand exposed it next day to public view.  When Galba heard of\nthe end which Nymphidius had thus come to, he commanded that all\nhis confederates who had not at once killed themselves should\nimmediately be dispatched; amongst whom were Cingonius, who made\nhis oration, and Mithridates, formerly mentioned.  It was,\nhowever, regarded as arbitrary and illegal, and though it might\nbe just, yet by no means popular, to take off men of their rank\nand quality without a hearing.  For everyone expected another\nscheme of government, being deceived, as is usual, by the first\nplausible pretenses; and the death of Petronius Turpilianus, who\nwas of consular dignity, and had remained faithful to Nero, was\nyet more keenly resented.  Indeed, the taking off of Macer in\nAfrica by Trebonius, and Fonteius by Valens in Germany, had a\nfair pretense, they being dreaded as armed commanders, having\ntheir soldiers at their bidding; but why refuse Turpilianus, an\nold man and unarmed, permission to try to clear himself, if any\npart of the moderation and equity at first promised were really\nto come to a performance?  Such were the comments to which these\nactions exposed him.  When he came within five and twenty\nfurlongs or thereabouts of the city, he happened to light on a\ndisorderly rabble of the seamen, who beset him as he passed.\nThese were they whom Nero made soldiers, forming them into a\nlegion.  They so rudely crowded to have their commission\nconfirmed, that they did not let Galba either be seen or heard\nby those that had come out to meet their new emperor; but\ntumultuously pressed on with loud shouts to have colors to their\nlegion, and quarters assigned them.  Galba put them off until\nanother time, which they interpreting as a denial, grew more\ninsolent and mutinous, following and crying out, some of them\nwith their drawn swords in their hands.  Upon seeing which,\nGalba commanded the horse to ride over them, when they were soon\nrouted, not a man standing his ground, and many of them were\nslain, both there and in the pursuit; an ill omen, that Galba\nshould make his first entry through so much blood and among dead\nbodies.  And now he was looked upon with terror and alarm by any\nwho had entertained contempt of him at the sight of his age and\napparent infirmities.\n\nBut when he desired presently to let it appear what change would\nbe made from Nero's profuseness and sumptuosity in giving\npresents, he much missed his aim, and fell so short of\nmagnificence, that he scarcely came within the limits of\ndecency.  When Canus, who was a famous musician, played at\nsupper for him, he expressed his approbation, and bade the bag\nbe brought to him; and taking a few gold pieces, put them in\nwith this remark, that it was out of his own purse, and not on\nthe public account.  He ordered the largesses which Nero had\nmade to actors and wrestlers and such like to be strictly\nrequired again, allowing only the tenth part to be retained;\nthough it turned to very small account, most of those persons\nexpending their daily income as fast as they received it, being\nrude, improvident livers; upon which he had further inquiry made\nas to those who had bought or received from them, and called\nupon these people to refund.  The trouble was infinite, the\nexactions being prosecuted far, touching a great number of\npersons, bringing disrepute on Galba, and general hatred on\nVinius, who made the emperor appear base-minded and mean to the\nworld, whilst he himself was spending profusely, taking whatever\nhe could get, and selling to any buyer.  Hesiod tells us to\ndrink without stinting of\n\nThe end and the beginning of the cask.\n\nAnd Vinius, seeing his patron old and decaying, made the most of\nwhat he considered to be at once the first of his fortune and\nthe last of it.\n\nThus the aged man suffered in two ways: first, through the evil\ndeeds which Vinius did himself, and, next, by his preventing or\nbringing into disgrace those just acts which he himself\ndesigned.  Such was the punishing Nero's adherents.  When he\ndestroyed the bad, amongst whom were Helius, Polycletus,\nPetinus, and Patrobius, the people mightily applauded the act,\ncrying out, as they were dragged through the forum, that it was\na goodly sight, grateful to the gods themselves, adding,\nhowever, that the gods and men alike demanded justice on\nTigellinus, the very tutor and prompter of all the tyranny.\nThis good man, however, had taken his measures beforehand, in\nthe shape of a present and a promise to Vinius.  Turpilianus\ncould not be allowed to escape with life, though his one and\nonly crime had been that he had not betrayed or shown hatred to\nsuch a ruler as Nero.  But he who had made Nero what he became,\nand afterwards deserted and betrayed him whom he had so\ncorrupted, was allowed to survive as an instance that Vinius\ncould do anything, and an advertisement that those that had\nmoney to give him need despair of nothing.  The people, however,\nwere so possessed with the desire of seeing Tigellinus dragged\nto execution, that they never ceased to require it at the\ntheater and in the race-course, till they were checked by an\nedict from the emperor himself, announcing that Tigellinus could\nnot live long, being wasted with a consumption, and requesting\nthem not to seek to make his government appear cruel and\ntyrannical.  So the dissatisfied populace were laughed at, and\nTigellinus made a splendid feast, and sacrificed in thanksgiving\nfor his deliverance: and after supper, Vinius, rising from the\nemperor's table, went to revel with Tigellinus, taking his\ndaughter, a widow, with him; to whom Tigellinus presented his\ncompliments, with a gift of twenty-five myriads of money, and\nbade the superintendent of his concubines take off a rich\nnecklace from her own neck and tie it about hers, the value of\nit being estimated at fifteen myriads.\n\nAfter this, even reasonable acts were censured; as, for example,\nthe treatment of the Gauls who had been in the conspiracy with\nVindex.  For people looked upon their abatement of tribute and\nadmission to citizenship as a piece, not of clemency on the part\nof Galba, but of money-making on that of Vinius.  And thus the\nmass of the people began to look with dislike upon the\ngovernment.  The soldiers were kept on a while in expectation of\nthe promised donative, supposing that if they did not receive\nthe full, yet they should have at least as much as Nero gave\nthem.  But when Galba, on hearing they began to complain,\ndeclared greatly, and like a general, that he was used to enlist\nand not to buy his soldiers, when they heard of this, they\nconceived an implacable hatred against him; for he did not seem\nto defraud them merely himself in their present expectations,\nbut to give an ill precedent, and instruct his successors to do\nthe like.  This heart-burning, however, was as yet at Rome a\nthing undeclared, and a certain respect for Galba's personal\npresence somewhat retarded their motions, and took off their\nedge, and their having no obvious occasion for beginning a\nrevolution curbed and kept under, more or less, their\nresentments.  But those forces that had been formerly under\nVirginius, and now were under Flaccus in Germany, valuing\nthemselves much upon the battle they had fought with Vindex, and\nfinding now no advantage of it, grew very refractory and\nintractable towards their officers: and Flaccus they wholly\ndisregarded, being incapacitated in body by unintermitted gout,\nand, besides, a man of little experience in affairs.  So at one\nof their festivals, when it was customary for the officers of\nthe army to wish all health and happiness to the emperor, the\ncommon soldiers began to murmur loudly, and on their officers\npersisting in the ceremony, responded with the words, \"If he\ndeserves it.\"\n\nWhen some similar insolence was committed by the legions under\nVitellius, frequent letters with the information came to Galba\nfrom his agents; and taking alarm at this, and fearing that he\nmight be despised not only for his old age, but also for want of\nissue, he determined to adopt some young man of distinction, and\ndeclare him his successor.  There was at this time in the city\nMarcus Otho, a person of fair extraction, but from his childhood\none of the few most debauched, voluptuous, and luxurious livers\nin Rome.  And as Homer gives Paris in several places the title\nof \"fair Helen's love,\" making a woman's name the glory and\naddition to his, as if he had nothing else to distinguish him,\nso Otho was renowned in Rome for nothing more than his marriage\nwith Poppaea, whom Nero had a passion for when she was\nCrispinus's wife.  But being as yet respectful to his own wife,\nand standing in awe of his mother, he engaged Otho underhand to\nsolicit her.  For Nero lived familiarly with Otho, whose\nprodigality won his favor, and he was well pleased when he took\nthe freedom to jest upon him as mean and penurious.  Thus when\nNero one day perfumed himself with some rich essence and favored\nOtho with a sprinkle of it, he, entertaining Nero next day,\nordered gold and silver pipes to disperse the like on a sudden\nfreely, like water, throughout the room.  As to Poppaea, he was\nbeforehand with Nero, and first seducing her himself, then, with\nthe hope of Nero's favor, he prevailed with her to part with her\nhusband, and brought her to his own house as his wife, and was\nnot content afterwards to have a share in her, but grudged to\nhave Nero for a claimant, Poppaea herself, they say, being\nrather pleased than otherwise with this jealousy; she sometimes\nexcluded Nero, even when Otho was not present, either to prevent\nhis getting tired with her, or, as some say, not liking the\nprospect of an imperial marriage, though willing enough to have\nthe emperor as her lover.  So that Otho ran the risk of his\nlife, and strange it was he escaped, when Nero, for this very\nmarriage, killed his wife and sister.  But he was beholden to\nSeneca's friendship, by whose persuasions and entreaty Nero was\nprevailed with to dispatch him as praetor into Lusitania, on the\nshores of the Ocean; where he behaved himself very agreeably and\nindulgently to those he had to govern, well knowing this command\nwas but to color and disguise his banishment.\n\nWhen Galba revolted from Nero, Otho was the first governor of\nany of the provinces that came over to him, bringing all the\ngold and silver he possessed in the shape of cups and tables, to\nbe coined into money, and also what servants he had fitly\nqualified to wait upon a prince.  In all other points, too, he\nwas faithful to him, and gave him sufficient proof that he was\ninferior to none in managing public business.  And he so far\ningratiated himself, that he rode in the same carriage with him\nduring the whole journey, several days together.  And in this\njourney and familiar companionship, he won over Vinius also,\nboth by his conversation and presents, but especially by\nconceding to him the first place, securing the second, by his\ninterest, for himself.  And he had the advantage of him in\navoiding all odium and jealousy, assisting all petitioners,\nwithout asking for any reward, and appearing courteous and of\neasy access towards all, especially to the military men, for\nmany of whom he obtained commands, some immediately from the\nemperor, others by Vinius's means, and by the assistance of the\ntwo favorite freedmen, Icelus and Asiaticus, these being the\nmen in chief power in the court.  As often as he entertained\nGalba, he gave the cohort on duty, in addition to their pay, a\npiece of gold for every man there, upon pretense of respect to\nthe emperor, while really he undermined him, and stole away his\npopularity with the soldiers.\n\nSo Galba consulting about a successor, Vinius introduced Otho,\nyet not even this gratis, but upon promise that he would marry\nhis daughter, if Galba should make him his adopted son and\nsuccessor to the empire.  But Galba, in all his actions, showed\nclearly that he preferred the public good before his own private\ninterest, not aiming so much to pleasure himself as to advantage\nthe Romans by his selection.  Indeed he does not seem to have\nbeen so much as inclined to make choice of Otho, had it been but\nto inherit his own private fortune, knowing his extravagant and\nluxurious character, and that he was already plunged in debt\nfive thousand myriads deep.  So he listened to Vinius, and made\nno reply, but mildly suspended his determination.  Only he\nappointed himself consul, and Vinius his colleague, and it was\nthe general expectation that he would declare his successor at\nthe beginning of the new year.  And the soldiers desired nothing\nmore than that Otho should be the person.\n\nBut the forces in Germany broke out into their mutiny whilst he\nwas yet deliberating, and anticipated his design.  All the\nsoldiers in general felt much resentment against Galba for not\nhaving given them their expected largess but these troops made a\npretense of a more particular concern, that Virginius Rufus was\ncast off dishonorably, and that the Gauls who had fought with\nthem were well rewarded, while those who had refused to take\npart with Vindex were punished; and Galba's thanks seemed all to\nbe for him, to whose memory he had done honor after his death\nwith public solemnities as though he had been made emperor by\nhis means only.  Whilst these discourses passed openly\nthroughout the army, on the first day of the first month of the\nyear, the Calends, as they call it, of January, Flaccus\nsummoning them to take the usual anniversary oath of fealty to\nthe emperor, they overturned and pulled down Galba's statues,\nand having sworn in the name of the senate and people of Rome,\ndeparted.  But the officers now feared anarchy and confusion, as\nmuch as rebellion; and one of them came forward and said: \"What\nwill become of us, my fellow-soldiers, if we neither set up\nanother general, nor retain the present one?  This will be not\nso much to desert from Galba as to decline all subjection and\ncommand.  It is useless to try and maintain Flaccus Hordeonius,\nwho is but a mere shadow and image of Galba.  But Vitellius,\ncommander of the other Germany, is but one day's march distant,\nwhose father was censor and thrice consul, and in a manner\nco-emperor with Claudius Caesar; and he himself has the best\nproof to show of his bounty and largeness of mind, in the\npoverty with which some reproach him.  Him let us make choice\nof, that all may see we know how to choose an emperor better\nthan either Spaniards or Lusitanians.\"  Which motion whilst some\nassented to, and others gainsaid, a certain standard-bearer\nslipped out and carried the news to Vitellius, who was\nentertaining much company by night.  This, taking air, soon\npassed through the troops, and Fabius Valens, who commanded one\nlegion, riding up next day with a large body of horse, saluted\nVitellius emperor.  He had hitherto seemed to decline it,\nprofessing a dread he had to undertake the weight of the\ngovernment; but on this day, being fortified, they say, by wine\nand a plentiful noonday repast, he began to yield, and submitted\nto take on him the title of Germanicus they gave him, but\ndesired to be excused as to that of Caesar.  And immediately the\narmy under Flaccus also, putting away their fine and popular\noaths in the name of the senate, swore obedience to Vitellius as\nemperor, to observe whatever he commanded.\n\nThus Vitellius was publicly proclaimed emperor in Germany; which\nnews coming to Galba's ear, he no longer deferred his adoption;\nyet knowing that some of his friends were using their interest\nfor Dolabella, and the greatest number of them for Otho, neither\nof whom he approved of, on a sudden, without anyone's privity,\nhe sent for Piso, the son of Crassus and Scribonia, whom Nero\nslew, a young man in general of excellent dispositions for\nvirtue, but his most eminent qualities those of steadiness and\naustere gravity.  And so he set out to go to the camp to declare\nhim Caesar and successor to the empire.  But at his very first\ngoing forth, many signs appeared in the heavens, and when he\nbegan to make a speech to the soldiers, partly extempore, and\npartly reading it, the frequent claps of thunder and flashes of\nlightning and the violent storm of rain that burst on both the\ncamp and the city were plain discoveries that the divine powers\ndid not look with favor or satisfaction on this act of adoption,\nthat would come to no good result.  The soldiers, also, showed\nsymptoms of hidden discontent, and wore sullen looks, no\ndistribution of money being even now made to them.  However,\nthose that were present and observed Piso's countenance and\nvoice could not but feel admiration to see him so little\novercome by so great a favor, of the magnitude of which at the\nsame time he seemed not at all insensible.  Otho's aspect, on\nthe other hand, did not fail to let many marks appear of his\nbitterness and anger at his disappointment; since to have been\nthe first man thought of for it, and to have come to the very\npoint of being chosen, and now to be put by, was in his feelings\na sign of the displeasure and ill-will of Galba towards him.\nThis filled him with fears and apprehensions, and sent him home\nwith a mind full of various passions, whilst he dreaded Piso,\nhated Galba, and was full of wrath and indignation against\nVinius.  And the Chaldeans and soothsayers about him would not\npermit him to lay aside his hopes or quit his design, chiefly\nPtolemaeus, insisting much on a prediction he had made, that\nNero should not murder Otho, but he himself should die first,\nand Otho succeed as emperor; for the first proving true, he\nthought he could not distrust the rest.  But none perhaps\nstimulated him more than those that professed privately to pity\nhis hard fate and compassionate him for being thus ungratefully\ndealt with by Galba; especially Nymphidius's and Tigellinus's\ncreatures, who, being now cast off and reduced to low estate,\nwere eager to put themselves upon him, exclaiming at the\nindignity he had suffered, and provoking him to revenge himself.\n\nAmongst these were Veturius and Barbius, the one an optio, the\nother a tesserarius (these are men who have the duties of\nmessengers and scouts), with whom Onomastus, one of Otho's\nfreedmen, went to the camp, to tamper with the army, and brought\nover some with money, others with fair promises, which was no\nhard matter, they being already corrupted, and only wanting a\nfair pretense.  It had been otherwise more than the work of four\ndays (which elapsed between the adoption and murder) so\ncompletely to infect them as to cause a general revolt.  On the\nsixth day ensuing, the eighteenth, as the Romans call it,\nbefore the Calends of February, the murder was done.  On that\nday, in the morning, Galba sacrificed in the Palatium, in the\npresence of his friends, when Umbricius, the priest, taking up\nthe entrails, and speaking not ambiguously, but in plain words,\nsaid that there were signs of great troubles ensuing, and\ndangerous snares laid for the life of the emperor.  Thus Otho\nhad even been discovered by the finger of the god; being there\njust behind Galba, hearing all that was said, and seeing what\nwas pointed out to them by Umbricius.  His countenance changed\nto every color in his fear, and he was betraying no small\ndiscomposure, when Onomastus, his freedman, came up and\nacquainted him that the master-builders had come, and were\nwaiting for him at home.  Now that was the signal for Otho to\nmeet the soldiers.  Pretending then that he had purchased an old\nhouse, and was going to show the defects to those that had sold\nit to him, he departed; and passing through what is called\nTiberius's house, he went on into the forum, near the spot\nwhere a golden pillar stands, at which all the several roads\nthrough Italy terminate.\n\nHere, it is related, no more than twenty-three received and\nsaluted him emperor; so that, although he was not in mind as in\nbody enervated with soft living and effeminacy, being in his\nnature bold and fearless enough in danger, nevertheless, he was\nafraid to go on.  But the soldiers that were present would not\nsuffer him to recede, but came with their drawn swords about his\nchair, commanding the bearers to take him up, whom he hastened\non, saying several times over to himself, \"I am a lost man.\"\nSeveral persons overheard the words, who stood by wondering,\nrather than alarmed, because of the small number that attempted\nsuch an enterprise.  But as they marched on through the forum,\nabout as many more met him, and here and there three or four at\na time joined in.  Thus returning towards the camp, with their\nbare swords in their hands, they saluted him as Caesar;\nwhereupon Martialis, the tribune in charge of the watch, who\nwas, they say, noways privy to it, but was simply surprised at\nthe unexpectedness of the thing, and afraid to refuse, permitted\nhim entrance.  And after this, no man made any resistance; for\nthey that knew nothing of the design, being purposely\nencompassed by the conspirators, as they were straggling here\nand there, first submitted for fear, and afterwards were\npersuaded into compliance.  Tidings came immediately to Galba in\nthe Palatium, whilst the priest was still present and the\nsacrifices at hand, so that persons who were most entirely\nincredulous about such things, and most positive in their\nneglect of them, were astonished, and began to marvel at the\ndivine event.  A multitude of all sorts of people now began to\nrun together out of the forum; Vinius and Laco and some of\nGalba's freedmen drew their swords and placed themselves beside\nhim; Piso went forth and addressed himself to the guards on duty\nin the court; and Marius Celsus, a brave man, was dispatched to\nthe Illyrian legion, stationed in what is called the Vipsanian\nchamber, to secure them.\n\nGalba now consulting whether he should go out, Vinius dissuaded\nhim, but Celsus and Laco encouraged him by all means to do so,\nand sharply reprimanded Vinius.  But on a sudden a rumor came\nhot that Otho was slain in the camp; and presently appeared one\nJulius Atticus, a man of some distinction in the guards, running\nup with his drawn sword, crying out that he had slain Caesar's\nenemy; and pressing through the crowd that stood in his way, he\npresented himself before Galba with his bloody weapon, who,\nlooking on him, demanded, \"Who gave you your orders?\"  And on\nhis answering that it had been his duty and the obligation of\nthe oath he had taken, the people applauded, giving loud\nacclamations, and Galba got into his chair and was carried out\nto sacrifice to Jupiter, and so to show himself publicly.  But\ncoming into the forum, there met him there, like a turn of wind,\nthe opposite story, that Otho had made himself master of the\ncamp.  And as usual in a crowd of such a size, some called to\nhim to return back, others to move forward; some encouraged him\nto be bold and fear nothing, others bade him be cautious and\ndistrust.  And thus whilst his chair was tossed to and fro, as\nit were on the waves, often tottering, there appeared first\nhorse, and straightaway heavy-armed foot, coming through\nPaulus's court, and all with one accord crying out, \"Down with\nthis private man.\"  Upon this, the crowd of people set off\nrunning, not to fly and disperse, but to possess themselves of\nthe colonnades and elevated places of the forum, as it might be\nto get places to see a spectacle.  And as soon as Atillius\nVergilio knocked down one of Galba's statues, this was taken as\nthe declaration of war, and they sent a discharge of darts upon\nGalba's litter, and, missing their aim, came up and attacked him\nnearer hand with their naked swords.  No man resisted or offered\nto stand up in his defense, save one only, a centurion,\nSempronius Densus, the single man among so many thousands that\nthe sun beheld that day act worthily of the Roman empire, who,\nthough he had never received any favor from Galba, yet out of\nbravery and allegiance endeavored to defend the litter.  First,\nlifting up his switch of vine, with which the centurions correct\nthe soldiers when disorderly, he called aloud to the aggressors,\ncharging them not to touch their emperor.  And when they came\nupon him hand to hand, he drew his sword, and made a defense for\na long time, until at last he was cut under the knees and\nbrought to the ground.\n\nGalba's chair was upset at the spot called the Lacus Curtius,\nwhere they ran up and struck at him as he lay in his corslet.\nHe, however, offered his throat, bidding them \"Strike, if it be\nfor the Romans' good.\"  He received several wounds on his legs\nand arms, and at last was struck in the throat, as most say, by\none Camurius, a soldier of the fifteenth legion.  Some name\nTerentius, others Lecanius; and there are others that say it was\nFabius Falulus, who, it is reported, cut off the head and\ncarried it away in the skirt of his coat, the baldness making it\na difficult thing to take hold of.  But those that were with him\nwould not allow him to keep it covered up, but bade him let\neveryone see the brave deed he had done; so that after a while\nhe stuck upon the lance the head of the aged man that had been\ntheir grave and temperate ruler, their supreme priest and\nconsul, and, tossing it up in the air, ran like a bacchanal,\ntwirling and flourishing with it, while the blood ran down the\nspear.  But when they brought the head to Otho,\n\"Fellow-soldiers,\" he cried out, \"this is nothing, unless you\nshow me Piso's too,\" which was presented him not long after.\nThe young man, retreating upon a wound received, was pursued by\none Murcus, and slain at the temple of Vesta.  Titus Vinius was\nalso dispatched, avowing himself to have been privy to the\nconspiracy against Galba by calling out that they were killing\nhim contrary to Otho's pleasure.  However, they cut off his\nhead, and Laco's too, and brought them to Otho, requesting a\nboon.\n\nAnd as Archilochus says --\n\nWhen six or seven lie breathless on the ground,\n'Twas I, 'twas I, say thousands, gave the wound.\n\nThus many that had no share in the murder wetted their hands and\nswords in blood, and came and showed them to Otho, presenting\nmemorials suing for a gratuity.  Not less than one hundred and\ntwenty were identified afterwards from their written petitions;\nall of whom Vitellius sought out and put to death.  There came\nalso into the camp Marius Celsus, and was accused by many voices\nof encouraging the soldiers to assist Galba, and was demanded to\ndeath by the multitude.  Otho had no desire for this, yet,\nfearing an absolute denial, he professed that he did not wish to\ntake him off so soon, having many matters yet to learn from him;\nand so committed him safe to the custody of those he most\nconfided in.\n\nForthwith a senate was convened, and as if they were not the\nsame men, or had other gods to swear by, they took that oath in\nOtho's name which he himself had taken in Galba's and had\nbroken; and withal conferred on him the titles of Caesar and\nAugustus; whilst the dead carcasses of the slain lay yet in\ntheir consular robes in the marketplace.  As for their heads,\nwhen they could make no other use of them, Vinius's they sold to\nhis daughter for two thousand five hundred drachmas; Piso's was\nbegged by his wife Verania; Galba's they gave to Patrobius's\nservants; who when they had it, after all sorts of abuse and\nindignities, tumbled it into the place where those that suffer\ndeath by the emperor's orders are usually cast, called\nSessorium.  Galba's body was conveyed away by Priscus Helvidius\nby Otho's permission, and buried in the night by Argius, his\nfreedman.\n\nThus you have the history of Galba, a person inferior to few\nRomans, either for birth or riches, rather exceeding all of his\ntime in both, having lived in great honor and reputation in the\nreigns of five emperors, insomuch that he overthrew Nero rather\nby his fame and repute in the world than by actual force and\npower.  Of all the others that joined in Nero's deposition, some\nwere by general consent regarded as unworthy, others had only\nthemselves to vote them deserving of the empire.  To him the\ntitle was offered, and by him it was accepted; and simply\nlending his name to Vindex's attempt, he gave to what had been\ncalled rebellion before, the name of a civil war, by the\npresence of one that was accounted fit to govern.  And,\ntherefore, as he considered that he had not so much sought the\nposition as the position had sought him, he proposed to command\nthose whom Nymphidius and Tigellinus had wheedled into\nobedience, no otherwise than Scipio formerly and Fabricius and\nCamillus had commanded the Romans of their times.  But being now\novercome with age, he was indeed among the troops and legions an\nupright ruler upon the antique model; but for the rest, giving\nhimself up to Vinius, Laco, and his freedmen, who made their\ngain of all things, no otherwise than Nero had done to his\ninsatiate favorites, he left none behind him to wish him still\nin power, though many to compassionate his death.\n\n\n\nOTHO\n\nThe new emperor went early in the morning to the capitol, and\nsacrificed; and, having commanded Marius Celsus to be brought,\nhe saluted him, and with obliging language desired him rather to\nforget his accusation than remember his acquittal; to which\nCelsus answered neither meanly nor ungratefully, that his very\ncrime ought to recommend his integrity, since his guilt had been\nhis fidelity to Galba, from whom he had never received any\npersonal obligations.  Upon which they were both of them admired\nby those that were present, and applauded by the soldiers.\n\nIn the senate, Otho said much in a gentle and popular strain.\nHe was to have been consul for part of that year himself, but he\ngave the office to Virginius Rufus, and displaced none that had\nbeen named for the consulship by either Nero or Galba.  Those\nthat were remarkable for their age and dignity he promoted to\nthe priest-hoods; and restored the remains of their fortunes,\nthat had not yet been sold, to all those senators that were\nbanished by Nero and recalled by Galba.  So that the nobility\nand chief of the people, who were at first apprehensive that no\nhuman creature, but some supernatural penal, or vindictive power\nhad seized the empire, began now to flatter themselves with\nhopes of a government that smiled upon them thus early.\n\nBesides, nothing gratified or gained the whole Roman people more\nthan his justice in relation to Tigellinus.  It was not seen how\nhe was in fact already suffering punishment, not only by the\nvery terror of retribution which he saw the whole city requiring\nas a just debt, but with several incurable diseases also; not to\nmention those unhallowed frightful excesses among impure and\nprostituted women, to which, at the very close of life, his lewd\nnature clung, and in them gasped out, as it were, its last;\nthese, in the opinion of all reasonable men, being themselves\nthe extremest punishment, and equal to many deaths.  But it was\nfelt like a grievance by people in general that he continued yet\nto see the light of day, who had been the occasion of the loss\nof it to so many persons, and such persons, as had died by his\nmeans.  Wherefore Otho ordered him to be sent for, just as he\nwas contriving his escape by means of some vessels that lay\nready for him on the coast near where he lived, in the\nneighborhood of Sinuessa.  At first he endeavored to corrupt the\nmessenger, by a large sum of money, to favor his design; but\nwhen he found this was to no purpose, he made him as\nconsiderable a present, as if he had really connived at it, only\nentreating him to stay till he had shaved; and so took that\nopportunity, and with his razor dispatched himself.\n\nAnd while giving the people this most righteous satisfaction of\ntheir desires, for himself he seemed to have no sort of regard\nfor any private injuries of his own.  And at first, to please\nthe populace, he did not refuse to be called Nero in the\ntheater, and did not interfere when some persons displayed\nNero's statues to public view.  And Cluvius Rufus says,\nimperial letters, such as are sent with couriers, went into\nSpain with the name of Nero affixed adoptively to that of Otho;\nbut as soon as he perceived this gave offense to the chief and\nmost distinguished citizens, it was omitted.\n\nAfter he had begun to model the government in this manner, the\npaid soldiers began to murmur, and endeavored to make him\nsuspect and chastise the nobility, either really out of a\nconcern for his safety, or wishing, upon this pretense, to stir\nup trouble and warfare.  Thus, whilst Crispinus, whom he had\nordered to bring him the seventeenth cohort from Ostia, began to\ncollect what he wanted after it was dark, and was putting the\narms upon the wagons, some of the most turbulent cried out that\nCrispinus was disaffected, that the senate was practicing\nsomething against the emperor, and that those arms were to be\nemployed against Caesar, and not for him.  When this report was\nonce set afoot, it got the belief and excited the passions of\nmany; they broke out into violence; some seized the wagons, and\nothers slew Crispinus and two centurions that opposed them; and\nthe whole number of them, arraying themselves in their arms, and\nencouraging one another to stand by Caesar, marched to Rome.\nAnd hearing there that eighty of the senators were at supper\nwith Otho, they flew to the palace, and declared it was a fair\nopportunity to take off Caesar's enemies at one stroke.  A\ngeneral alarm ensued of an immediate coming sack of the city.\nAll were in confusion about the palace, and Otho himself in no\nsmall consternation, being not only concerned for the senators\n(some of whom had brought their wives to supper thither), but\nalso feeling himself to be an object of alarm and suspicion to\nthem, whose eyes he saw fixed on him in silence and terror.\nTherefore he gave orders to the prefects to address the soldiers\nand do their best to pacify them, while he bade the guests rise,\nand leave by another door.  They had only just made their way\nout, when the soldiers rushed into the room, and called out,\n\"Where are Caesar's enemies?\"  Then Otho, standing up on his\ncouch, made use both of arguments and entreaties, and by actual\ntears at last, with great difficulty, persuaded them to desist.\nThe next day he went to the camp, and distributed a bounty of\ntwelve hundred and fifty drachmas a man amongst them; then\ncommended them for the regard and zeal they had for his safety,\nbut told them, that there were some who were intriguing among\nthem, who not only accused his own clemency, but had also\nmisrepresented their loyalty; and, therefore, he desired their\nassistance in doing justice upon them.  To which when they all\nconsented, he was satisfied with the execution of two only,\nwhose deaths he knew would be regretted by no one man in the\nwhole army.\n\nSuch conduct, so little expected from him, was rewarded by some\nwith gratitude and confidence; others looked upon his behavior\nas a course to which necessity drove him, to gain the people to\nthe support of the war.  For now there were certain tidings that\nVitellius had assumed the sovereign title and authority, and\nfrequent expresses brought accounts of new accessions to him;\nothers, however, came, announcing that the Pannonian, Dalmatian,\nand Moesian legions, with their officers, adhered to Otho.\nErelong also came favorable letters from Mucianus and Vespasian,\ngenerals of two formidable armies, the one in Syria, the other\nin Judaea, to assure him of their firmness to his interest: in\nconfidence whereof he was so exalted, that he wrote to Vitellius\nnot to attempt anything beyond his post; and offered him large\nsums of money and a city, where he might live his time out in\npleasure and ease.  These overtures at first were responded to\nby Vitellius with equivocating civilities; which soon, however,\nturned into an interchange of angry words; and letters passed\nbetween the two, conveying bitter and shameful terms of\nreproach, which were not false indeed, for that matter, only it\nwas senseless and ridiculous for each to assail the other with\naccusations to which both alike must plead guilty.  For it were\nhard to determine which of the two had been most profuse, most\neffeminate, which was most a novice in military affairs, and\nmost involved in debt through previous want of means.\n\nAs to the prodigies and apparitions that happened about this\ntime, there were many reported which none could answer for, or\nwhich were told in different ways, but one which everybody\nactually saw with their eyes was the statue in the capitol, of\nVictory carried in a chariot, with the reins dropped out of her\nhands, as if she were grown too weak to hold them any longer;\nand a second, that Caius Caesar's  statue in the island of\nTiber, without any earthquake or wind to account for it, turned\nround from west to east; and this they say, happened about the\ntime when Vespasian and his party first openly began to put\nthemselves forward.  Another incident, which the people in\ngeneral thought an evil sign, was the inundation of the Tiber;\nfor though it happened at a time when rivers are usually at\ntheir fullest, yet such height of water and so tremendous a\nflood had never been known before, nor such a destruction of\nproperty, great part of the city being under water, and\nespecially the corn market, so that it occasioned a great dearth\nfor several days.\n\nBut when news was now brought that Caecina and Valens,\ncommanding for Vitellius, had possessed themselves of the Alps,\nOtho sent Dolabella (a patrician, who was suspected by the\nsoldiery of some ill design), for whatever reason, whether it\nwere fear of him or of anyone else, to the town of Aquinum, to\ngive encouragement there; and proceeding then to choose which of\nthe magistrates should go with him to the war, he named amongst\nthe rest Lucius, Vitellius's brother, without distinguishing him\nby any new marks either of his favor or displeasure.  He also\ntook the greatest precautions for Vitellius's wife and mother,\nthat they might be safe, and free from all apprehension for\nthemselves.  He made Flavius Sabinus, Vespasian's brother,\ngovernor of Rome, either in honor to the memory of Nero, who had\nadvanced him formerly to that command, which Galba had taken\naway, or else to show his confidence in Vespasian by his favor\nto his brother.\n\nAfter he came to Brixillum, a town of Italy near the Po, he\nstayed behind himself, and ordered the army to march under the\nconduct of Marius Celsus, Suetonius Paulinus, Gallus, and\nSpurina, all men of experience and reputation, but unable to\ncarry their own plans and purposes into effect, by reason of the\nungovernable temper of the army, which would take orders from\nnone but the emperor whom they themselves had made their master.\nNor was the enemy under much better discipline, the soldiers\nthere also being haughty and disobedient upon the same account,\nbut they were more experienced and used to hard work; whereas\nOtho's men were soft from their long easy living and lack of\nservice, having spent most of their time in theaters and at\nstate-shows and on the stage; while moreover they tried to cover\ntheir deficiencies by arrogance and vain display, pretending to\ndecline their duty not because they were unable to do the thing\ncommanded but because they thought themselves above it.  So that\nSpurina had like to have been cut in pieces for attempting to\nforce them to their work; they assailed him with insolent\nlanguage, accusing him of a design to betray and ruin Caesar's\ninterest; nay, some of them that were in drink forced his tent\nin the night, and demanded money for the expenses of their\njourney, which they must at once take, they said, to the\nemperor, to complain of him.\n\nHowever, the contemptuous treatment they met with at Placentia\ndid for the present good service to Spurina, and to the cause of\nOtho.  For Vitellius's men marched up to the walls, and\nupbraided Otho's upon the ramparts, calling them players,\ndancers, idle spectators of Pythian and Olympic games, but\nnovices in the art of war, who never so much as looked on at a\nbattle; mean souls, that triumphed in the beheading of Galba, an\nold man unarmed, but had no desire to look real enemies in the\nface.  Which reproaches so inflamed them, that they kneeled at\nSpurina's feet, entreated him to give his orders, and assured\nhim no danger or toil should be too great or too difficult for\nthem.  Whereupon when Vitellius's forces made a vigorous attack\non the town, and brought up numerous engines against the walls,\nthe besieged bravely repulsed them, and, repelling the enemy\nwith great slaughter, secured the safety of a noble city, one of\nthe most flourishing places in Italy.\n\nBesides, it was observed that Otho's officers were much more\ninoffensive, both towards the public and to private men, than\nthose of Vitellius; among whom was Caecina, who used neither the\nlanguage nor the apparel of a citizen; an overbearing,\nforeign-seeming man, of gigantic stature and always dressed in\ntrews and sleeves, after the manner of the Gauls, whilst he\nconversed with Roman officials and magistrates.  His wife, too,\ntraveled along with him, riding in splendid attire on horseback,\nwith a chosen body of cavalry to escort her.  And Fabius Valens,\nthe other general, was so rapacious, that neither what he\nplundered from enemies nor what he stole or got as gifts and\nbribes from his friends and allies could satisfy his wishes.\nAnd it was said that it was in order to have time to raise money\nthat he had marched so slowly that he was not present at the\nformer attack.  But some lay the blame on Caecina, saying, that\nout of a desire to gain the victory by himself before Fabius\njoined him, he committed sundry other errors of lesser\nconsequence, and by engaging unseasonably and when he could not\ndo so thoroughly, he very nearly brought all to ruin.\n\nWhen he found himself beat off at Placentia, he set off to\nattack Cremona, another large and rich city.  In the meantime,\nAnnius Gallus marched to join Spurina at Placentia; but having\nintelligence that the siege was raised, and that Cremona was in\ndanger, he turned to its relief, and encamped just by the enemy,\nwhere he was daily reinforced by other officers.  Caecina placed\na strong ambush of heavy infantry in some rough and woody\ncountry, and gave orders to his horse to advance, and if the\nenemy should charge them, then to make a slow retreat, and draw\nthem into the snare.  But his stratagem was discovered by some\ndeserters to Celsus, who attacked with a good body of horse, but\nfollowed the pursuit cautiously, and succeeded in surrounding\nand routing the troops in the ambuscade; and if the infantry\nwhich he ordered up from the camp had come soon enough to\nsustain the horse, Caecina's whole army, in all appearance, had\nbeen totally routed.  But Paulinus, moving too slowly, was\naccused of acting with a degree of needless caution not to have\nbeen expected from one of his reputation.  So that the soldiers\nincensed Otho against him, accused him of treachery, and boasted\nloudly that the victory had been in their power, and that if it\nwas not complete, it was owing to the mismanagement of their\ngenerals; all which Otho did not so much believe as he was\nwilling to appear not to disbelieve.  He therefore sent his\nbrother Titianus, with Proculus, the prefect of the guards, to\nthe army, where the latter was general in reality, and the\nformer in appearance.  Celsus and Paulinus had the title of\nfriends and counselors, but not the least authority or power.\nAt the same time, there was nothing but quarrel and disturbance\namongst the enemy, especially where Valens commanded; for the\nsoldiers here, being informed of what had happened at the\nambuscade, were enraged because they had not been permitted to\nbe present to strike a blow in defense of the lives of so many\nmen that had died in that action.  Valens, with much difficulty,\nquieted their fury, after they had now begun to throw missiles\nat him, and quitting his camp, joined Caecina.\n\nAbout this time, Otho came to Bedriacum, a little town near\nCremona, to the camp, and called a council of war; where\nProculus and Titianus declared for giving battle, while the\nsoldiers were flushed with their late success, saying they ought\nnot to lose their time and opportunity and present height of\nstrength, and wait for Vitellius to arrive out of Gaul.  But\nPaulinus told them that the enemy's whole force was present, and\nthat there was no body of reserve behind; but that Otho, if he\nwould not be too precipitate, and choose the enemy's time,\ninstead of his own, for the battle, might expect reinforcements\nout of Moesia and Pannonia, not inferior in numbers to the\ntroops that were already present.  He thought it probable, too,\nthat the soldiers, who were then in heart before they were\njoined, would not be less so when the forces were all come up.\nBesides, the deferring battle could not be inconvenient to them\nthat were sufficiently provided with all necessaries; but the\nothers, being in an enemy's country, must needs be exceedingly\nstraitened in a little time.  Marius Celsus was of Paulinus's\nopinion; Annius Gallus, being absent and under the surgeon's\nhands through a fall from his horse, was consulted by letter,\nand advised Otho to stay for those legions that were marching\nfrom Moesia.  But after all he did not follow the advice; and\nthe opinion of those that declared for a battle prevailed.\n\nThere are several reasons given for this determination, but the\nmost apparent is this; that the praetorian soldiers, as they are\ncalled, who serve as guards, not relishing the military\ndiscipline which they now had begun a little more to experience,\nand longing for their amusements and unwarlike life among the\nshows of Rome, would not be commanded, but were eager for a\nbattle, imagining that upon the first onset they should carry\nall before them.  Otho also himself seems not to have shown the\nproper fortitude in bearing up against the uncertainty, and, out\nof effeminacy and want of use, had not patience for the\ncalculations of danger, and was so uneasy at the apprehension of\nit, that he shut his eyes, and like one going to leap from a\nprecipice, left everything to fortune.  This is the account\nSecundus the rhetorician, who was his secretary, gave of the\nmatter.  But others would tell you that there were many\nmovements in both armies for acting in concert; and if it were\npossible for them to agree, then they should proceed to choose\none of their most experienced officers that were present; if\nnot, they should convene the senate, and invest it with the\npower of election.  And it is not improbable that, neither of\nthe emperors then bearing the title having really any\nreputation, such purposes were really entertained among the\ngenuine, serviceable, and sober-minded part of the soldiers.\nFor what could be more odious and unreasonable than that the\nevils which the Roman citizens had formerly thought it so\nlamentable to inflict upon each other for the sake of a Sylla or\na Marius, a Caesar or a Pompey, should now be undergone anew,\nfor the object of letting the empire pay the expenses of the\ngluttony and intemperance of Vitellius, or the looseness and\neffeminacy of Otho?  It is thought that Celsus, upon such\nreflections, protracted the time in order to a possible\naccommodation; and that Otho pushed on things to an extremity to\nprevent it.\n\nHe himself returned to Brixillum, which was another false step,\nboth because he withdrew from the combatants all the motives of\nrespect and desire to gain his favor, which his presence would\nhave supplied, and because he weakened the army by detaching\nsome of his best and most faithful troops for his horse and foot\nguards.\n\nAbout the same time also happened a skirmish on the Po.  As\nCaecina was laying a bridge over it, Otho's men attacked him,\nand tried to prevent it.  And when they did not succeed, on\ntheir putting into their boats torchwood with a quantity of\nsulphur and pitch, the wind on the river suddenly caught their\nmaterial that they had prepared against the enemy, and blew it\ninto a light.  First came smoke, and then a clear flame, and the\nmen, getting into great confusion and jumping overboard, upset\nthe boats, and put themselves ludicrously at the mercy of their\nenemies.  Also the Germans attacked Otho's gladiators upon a\nsmall island in the river, routed them, and killed a good many.\n\nAll which made the soldiers at Bedriacum full of anger, and\neagerness to be led to battle.  So Proculus led them out of\nBedriacum to a place fifty furlongs off, where he pitched his\ncamp so ignorantly and with such a ridiculous want of foresight,\nthat the soldiers suffered extremely for want of water, though\nit was the spring time, and the plains all around were full of\nrunning streams and rivers that never dried up.  The next day he\nproposed to attack the enemy, first making a march of not less\nthan a hundred furlongs; but to this Paulinus objected, saying\nthey ought to wait, and not immediately after a journey engage\nmen who would have been standing in their arms and arranging\nthemselves for battle at their leisure, whilst they were making\na long march with all their beasts of burden and their camp\nfollowers to encumber them.  As the generals were arguing about\nthis matter, a Numidian courier came from Otho with orders to\nlose no time, but give battle.  Accordingly they consented, and\nmoved.  As soon as Caecina had notice, he was much surprised,\nand quitted his post on the river to hasten to the camp.  In the\nmeantime, the men had armed themselves mostly, and were\nreceiving the word from Valens; so while the legions took up\ntheir position, they sent out the best of their horse in\nadvance.\n\nOtho's foremost troops, upon some groundless rumor, took up the\nnotion that the commanders on the other side would come over;\nand accordingly, upon their first approach, they saluted them\nwith the friendly title of fellow-soldiers.  But the others\nreturned the compliment with anger and disdainful words; which\nnot only disheartened those that had given the salutation, but\nexcited suspicions of their fidelity amongst the others on their\nside, who had not.  This caused a confusion at the very first\nonset.  And nothing else that followed was done upon any plan;\nthe baggage-carriers, mingling up with the fighting men, created\ngreat disorder and division, as well as the nature of the\nground; the ditches and pits in which were so many, that they\nwere forced to break their ranks to avoid and go round them, and\nso to fight without order and in small parties.  There were but\ntwo legions, one of Vitellius's, called The Ravenous, and\nanother of Otho's, called The Assistant, that got out into the\nopen outspread level and engaged in proper form, fighting, one\nmain body against the other, for some length of time.  Otho's\nmen were strong and bold, but had never been in battle before;\nVitellius's had seen many wars, but were old and past their\nstrength.  So Otho's legion charged boldly, drove back their\nopponents, and took the eagle, killing pretty nearly every man\nin the first rank, till the others, full of rage and shame,\nreturned the charge, slew Orfidius, the commander of the legion,\nand took several standards.  Varus Alfenus, with his Batavians,\nwho are the natives of an island of the Rhine, and are esteemed\nthe best of the German horse, fell upon the gladiators, who had\na reputation both for valor and skill in fighting.  Some few of\nthese did their duty, but the greatest part of them made towards\nthe river, and, falling in with some cohorts stationed there,\nwere cut off.  But none behaved so ill as the praetorians, who,\nwithout ever so much as meeting the enemy, ran away, broke\nthrough their own body that stood, and put them into disorder.\nNotwithstanding this, many of Otho's men routed those that were\nopposed to them, broke right into them, and forced their way to\nthe camp through the very middle of their conquerors.\n\nAs for their commanders, neither Proculus nor Paulinus ventured\nto reenter with the troops; they turned aside, and avoided the\nsoldiers, who had already charged the miscarriage upon their\nofficers.  Annius Gallus received into the town and rallied the\nscattered parties, and encouraged them with an assurance that\nthe battle was a drawn one and the victory had in many parts\nbeen theirs.  Marius Celsus, collecting the officers, urged the\npublic interest; Otho himself, if he were a brave man, would\nnot, after such an expense of Roman blood, attempt anything\nfurther; especially since even Cato and Scipio, though the\nliberty of Rome was then at stake, had been accused of being too\nprodigal of so many brave men's lives as were lost in Africa,\nrather than submit to Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia had\ngone against them.  For though all persons are equally subject\nto the caprice of fortune, yet all good men have one advantage\nshe cannot deny, which is this, to act reasonably under\nmisfortunes.\n\nThis language was well accepted amongst the officers, who\nsounded the private soldiers, and found them desirous of peace;\nand Titianus also gave directions that envoys should be sent in\norder to a treaty.  And accordingly it was agreed that the\nconference should be between Celsus and Gallus on one part, and\nValens with Caecina on the other.  As the two first were upon\ntheir journey, they met some centurions, who told them the\ntroops were already in motion, marching for Bedriacum, but that\nthey themselves were deputed by their generals to carry\nproposals for an accommodation.  Celsus and Gallus expressed\ntheir approval, and requested them to turn back and carry them\nto Caecina.  However, Celsus, upon his approach, was in danger\nfrom the vanguard, who happened to be some of the horse that had\nsuffered at the ambush.  For as soon as they saw him, they\nhallooed, and were coming down upon him; but the centurions came\nforward to protect him, and the other officers crying out and\nbidding them desist, Caecina came up to inform himself of the\ntumult, which he quieted, and, giving a friendly greeting to\nCelsus, took him in his company and proceeded towards Bedriacum.\nTitianus, meantime, had repented of having sent the messengers;\nand placed those of the soldiers who were more confident upon\nthe walls once again, bidding the others also go and support\nthem.  But when Caecina rode up on his horse and held out his\nhand, no one did or said to the contrary; those on the walls\ngreeted his men with salutations, others opened the gates and\nwent out, and mingled freely with those they met; and instead of\nacts of hostility, there was nothing but mutual shaking of hands\nand congratulations, everyone taking the oaths and submitting\nto Vitellius.\n\nThis is the account which the most of those that were present at\nthe battle give of it, yet own that the disorder they were in,\nand the absence of any unity of action would not give them leave\nto be certain as to particulars.  And when I myself traveled\nafterwards over the field of battle, Mestrius Florus, a man of\nconsular degree, one of those who had been, not willingly, but\nby command, in attendance on Otho at the time, pointed out to me\nan ancient temple, and told me, that as he went that way after\nthe battle, he observed a heap of bodies piled up there to such\na height, that those on the top of it touched the pinnacles of\nthe roof.  How it came to be so, he could neither discover\nhimself nor learn from any other person; as indeed, he said, in\ncivil wars it generally happens that greater numbers are killed\nwhen an army is routed, quarter not being given, because\ncaptives are of no advantage to the conquerors; but why the\ncarcasses should be heaped up after that manner is not easy to\ndetermine.\n\nOtho, at first, as it frequently happens, received some\nuncertain rumors of the issue of the battle.  But when some of\nthe wounded that returned from the field informed him rightly of\nit, it is not, indeed, so much to be wondered at that his\nfriends should bid him not give all up as lost or let his\ncourage sink; but the feeling shown by the soldiers is something\nthat exceeds all belief.  There was not one of them would either\ngo over to the conqueror or show any disposition to make terms\nfor himself, as if their leader's cause was desperate; on the\ncontrary, they crowded his gates, called out to him with the\ntitle of emperor, and as soon as he appeared, cried out and\nentreated him, catching hold of his hand, and throwing\nthemselves upon the ground, and with all the moving language of\ntears and persuasion, besought him to stand by them, not abandon\nthem to their enemies, but employ in his service their lives and\npersons, which would not cease to be his so long as they had\nbreath; so urgent was their zealous and universal importunity.\nAnd one obscure and private soldier, after he had drawn his\nsword, addressed himself to Otho: \"By this, Caesar, judge our\nfidelity; there is not a man amongst us but would strike thus to\nserve you;\" and so stabbed himself.  Notwithstanding this, Otho\nstood serene and unshaken, and, with a face full of constancy\nand composure, turned himself about and looked at them, replying\nthus: \"This day, my fellow-soldiers, which gives me such proofs\nof your affection, is preferable even to that on which you\nsaluted me emperor; deny me not, therefore, the yet higher\nsatisfaction of laying down my life for the preservation of so\nmany brave men; in this, at least, let me be worthy of the\nempire, that is, to die for it.  I am of opinion the enemy has\nneither gained an entire nor a decisive victory; I have advice\nthat the Moesian army is not many days' journey distant, on its\nmarch to the Adriatic; Asia, Syria, and Egypt, and the legions\nthat are serving against the Jews, declare for us; the senate is\nalso with us, and the wives and children of our opponents are in\nour power; but alas, it is not in defense of Italy against\nHannibal or Pyrrhus or the Cimbri that we fight; Romans combat\nhere against Romans, and, whether we conquer or are defeated,\nour country suffers and we commit a crime: victory, to whichever\nit fall, is gained at her expense.  Believe it many times over,\nI can die with more honor than I can reign.  For I cannot see at\nall, how I should do any such great good to my country by\ngaining the victory, as I shall by dying to establish peace and\nunanimity and to save Italy from such another unhappy day.\"\n\nAs soon as he had done, he was resolute against all manner of\nargument or persuasion, and taking leave of his friends and the\nsenators that were present, he bade them depart, and wrote to\nthose that were absent, and sent letters to the towns, that they\nmight have every honor and facility in their journey.  Then he\nsent for Cocceius, his brother's son, who was yet a boy, and\nbade him be in no apprehension of Vitellius, whose mother and\nwife and family he had treated with the same tenderness as his\nown; and also told him that this had been his reason for\ndelaying to adopt him, which he had meant to do, as his son; he\nhad desired that he might share his power, if he conquered, but\nnot be involved in his ruin, if he failed.  \"Take notice,\" he\nadded, \"my boy, of these my last words, that you neither too\nnegligently forget, nor too zealously remember, that Caesar was\nyour uncle.\"  By and by he heard a tumult amongst the soldiers\nat the door, who were treating the senators with menaces for\npreparing to withdraw; upon which, out of regard to their\nsafety, he showed himself once more in public, but not with a\ngentle aspect and in a persuading manner as before; on the\ncontrary, with a countenance that discovered indignation and\nauthority, he commanded such as were disorderly to leave the\nplace, and was not disobeyed.\n\nIt was now evening, and feeling thirsty, he drank some water,\nand then took two daggers that belonged to him, and when he had\ncarefully examined their edges, he laid one of them down, and\nput the other in his robe, under his arm, then called his\nservants, and distributed some money amongst them, but not\ninconsiderately, nor like one too lavish of what was not his\nown; for to some he gave more, to others less, all strictly in\nmoderation, and distinguishing every one's particular merit.\nWhen this was done, he dismissed them, and passed the rest of\nthe night in so sound a sleep, that the officers of his\nbedchamber heard him snore.  In the morning, he called for one\nof his freedmen, who had assisted him in arranging about the\nsenators, and bade him bring him an account if they were safe.\nBeing informed they were all well and wanted nothing, \"Go then,\"\nsaid he, \"and show yourself to the soldiers, lest they should\ncut you to pieces for being accessory to my death.\"  As soon as\nhe was gone, he held his sword upright under him with both his\nhands, and falling upon it, expired with no more than one single\ngroan, to express his sense of the pang, or to inform those that\nwaited without.  When his servants therefore raised their\nexclamations of grief, the whole camp and city were at once\nfilled with lamentation; the soldiers immediately broke in at\nthe doors with a loud cry, in passionate distress, and accusing\nthemselves that they had been so negligent in looking after that\nlife which was laid down to preserve theirs.  Nor would a man of\nthem quit the body to secure his own safety with the approaching\nenemy; but having raised a funeral pile, and attired the body,\nthey bore it thither, arrayed in their arms, those among them\ngreatly exulting, who succeeded in getting first under the bier\nand becoming its bearers.  Of the others, some threw themselves\ndown before the body and kissed his wound, others grasped his\nhand, and others that were at a distance knelt down to do him\nobeisance.  There were some who, after putting their torches to\nthe pile, slew themselves, though they had not, so far as\nappeared, either any particular obligations to the dead, or\nreason to apprehend ill usage from the victor.  Simply it would\nseem, no king, legal or illegal, had ever been possessed with so\nextreme and vehement a passion to command others, as was that\nof these men to obey Otho.  Nor did their love of him cease with\nhis death; it survived and changed erelong into a mortal hatred\nto his successor, as will be shown in its proper place.\n\nThey placed the remains of Otho in the earth, and raised over\nthem a monument which neither by its size nor the pomp of its\ninscription might excite hostility.  I myself have seen it, at\nBrixillum; a plain structure, and the epitaph only this: To the\nmemory of Marcus Otho.  He died in his thirty-eighth year, after\na short reign of about three months, his death being as much\napplauded as his life was censured; for if he lived not better\nthan Nero, he died more nobly.  The soldiers were displeased\nwith Pollio, one of their two prefects, who bade them\nimmediately swear allegiance to Vitellius; and when they\nunderstood that some of the senators were still upon the spot,\nthey made no opposition to the departure of the rest, but only\ndisturbed the tranquillity of Virginius Rufus with an offer of\nthe government, and moving in one body to his house in arms,\nthey first entreated him, and then demanded of him to accept of\nthe empire, or at least to be their mediator.  But he, that\nrefused to command them when conquerors, thought it ridiculous\nto pretend to it now they were beat, and was unwilling to go as\ntheir envoy to the Germans, whom in past time he had compelled\nto do various things that they had not liked; and for these\nreasons he slipped away through a private door.  As soon as the\nsoldiers perceived this, they owned Vitellius, and so got their\npardon, and served under Caecina.","title":"Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":740514}