PLUTARCH'S LIVES, VOLUME I

Translated from the Greekwith Notes and a Life of Plutarch

by

AUBREY STEWART, M. A. , Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

and the late

GEORGE LONG, M. A. , Formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

IN FOUR VOLUMES. 

London

George Bell & Sons, York St. , Covent Garden, and New York

1894

Reprinted from Stereotype Plates by Wm. Clowes & Sons, Ltd. , StamfordStreet and Charing Cross

PREFACE. 

No apologies are needed for a new edition of so favourite an author asPlutarch. From the period of the revival of classical literature inEurope down to our own times, his writings have done more than those ofany other single author to familiarise us with the greatest men and thegreatest events of the ancient world. 

The great Duke of Marlborough, it is said, confessed that his onlyknowledge of English history was derived from Shakespeare's historicalplays, and it would not be too much to say that a very large proportionof educated men, in our own as well as in Marlborough's times, have owedmuch of their knowledge of classical antiquity to the study ofPlutarch's Lives. Other writers may be read with profit, withadmiration, and with interest; but few, like Plutarch, can gossippleasantly while instructing solidly; can breathe life into the dryskeleton of history, and show that the life of a Greek or Roman worthy, when rightly dealt with, can prove as entertaining as a modern novel. Noone is so well able as Plutarch to dispel the doubt which all schoolboysfeel as to whether the names about which they read ever belonged to menwho were really alive; his characters are so intensely human andlifelike in their faults and failings as well as in their virtues, thatwe begin to think of them as of people whom we have ourselves personallyknown. 

His biographies are numerous and short. By this, he avoids one of thegreatest faults of modern biographers, that namely of identifyinghimself with some one particular personage, and endeavouring to provethat all his actions were equally laudable. Light and shade are asnecessary to a character as to a picture, but a man who devotes hisenergies for years to the study of any single person's life, isinsensibly led into palliating or explaining away his faults andexaggerating his excellencies until at last he represents him as animpossible monster of virtue. Another advantage which we obtain by hismethod is that we are not given a complete chronicle of each person'slife, but only of the remarkable events in it, and such incidents aswill enable us to judge of his character. This also avoids what is thedreariest part of all modern biographies, those chapters I mean whichdescribe the slow decay of their hero's powers, his last illness, andfinally his death. This subject, which so many writers of our own timeseem to linger lovingly upon, is dismissed by Plutarch in a few lines, unless any circumstance of note attended the death of the persondescribed. 

Without denying that Plutarch is often inaccurate and often diffuse;that his anecdotes are sometimes absurd, and his metaphysicalspeculations not unfrequently ridiculous, he is nevertheless generallyadmitted to be one of the most readable authors of antiquity, while allagree that his morality is of the purest and loftiest type. 

The first edition of the Greek text of Plutarch's Lives appeared atFlorence in the year 1517, and two years afterwards it was republishedby Aldus. Before this, however, about the year 1470, a magnificent Latinversion by various hands appeared at Rome. From this, from the Greektext, and also from certain MSS. To which he had access, Amyot in theyear 1559 composed his excellent translation, of which it has been wellsaid: "Quoique en vieux Gaulois, elle a un air de fraicheur qui la faitrejeunir de jour en jour. "

Amyot's spirited French version was no less spiritedly translated by SirThomas North. His translation was much read and admired in its day; amodern reviewer even goes so far as to say that it is "still beyondcomparison the best version of Parallel Lives which the English tongueaffords. " Be this as it may, the world will ever be deeply indebted toNorth's translation, for it is to Shakespeare's perusal of that workthat we owe 'Coriolanus, ' 'Antony and Cleopatra, ' and 'Julius Caesar. '

North's translation was followed by that known as Dryden's. This work, performed by many different hands, is of unequal merit. Some Lives arerendered into a racy and idiomatic, although somewhat archaic English, while others fall far short of the standard of Sir Thomas North's work. Dryden's version has during the last few years been re-edited by A. H. Clough, Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. 

The translation by which Plutarch is best known at the present day isthat of the Langhornes. Their style is certainly dull and commonplace, and is in many instances deserving of the harsh epithets which have beenlavished upon it. We must remember, however, before unsparinglycondemning their translation, that the taste of the age for which theywrote differed materially from that of our own, and that people whocould read the 'Letters of Theodosius and Constantia' with interest, would certainly prefer Plutarch in the translation of the Langhornes tothe simpler phrases of North's or Dryden's version. All events, comic ortragic, important or commonplace, are described with the same inflatedmonotony which was mistaken by them for the dignity of History. Yettheir work is in many cases far more correct as a translation, and theauthor's meaning is sometimes much more clearly expressed, than inDryden's earlier version. Langhorne's Plutarch was re-edited byArchdeacon Wrangham in the year 1819. 

In 1844, thirteen Lives were translated by that eminent scholar the lateMr. George Long; and it is by way of complement to these Lives that thepresent version was undertaken with his consent and his approval. 

Those translated by Mr. Long were selected by him as illustrating aperiod of Roman history in which he was especially interested, and willtherefore be found to be more fully annotated than the others. It hasseemed to me unnecessary to give information in the notes which can atthe present day be obtained in a more convenient form in Dr. Smith'sClassical Dictionary and Dictionary of Antiquities, many of the articlesin which are written by Mr. Long himself. The student of classicalliterature will naturally prefer the exhaustive essays to be found inthese works to any notes appended to Plutarch's text, while to those whoread merely "for the story, " the notes prove both troublesome anduseless. 

In deciding on the spelling of the Greek proper names, I have felt greathesitation. To make a Greek speak of Juno or Minerva seems as absurd asto make a Roman swear by Herakles or Ares. Yet both Greek and Romandivinities are constantly mentioned. The only course that seemed toavoid absolute absurdity appeared to me to be that which I have adopted, namely to speak of the Greek divinities by their Greek, and the Latinones by their Latin names. In substituting a k for the more usual c, Ihave followed the example of Grote, who in his History spells all Greeknames exactly as they are written, with the exception of those withwhich we are so familiar in their Latin form as to render thispractically impossible; as for instance in the case of Cyprus orCorinth, or of a name like Thucydides, where a return to the Greek kwould be both pedantic and unmeaning. 

The text, which I have followed throughout, is that of C. Sintenis, Leipsic, 1873. 

AUBREY STEWART. 

PREFACE TO THE CIVIL WARS OF ROME. [A]

[Footnote A: It has been thought desirable to give here Mr. Long'spreface to the lives published by him, under the title of "Civil Wars ofRome. " The lives will be found in subsequent volumes. ]

Among the extant Lives of Plutarch there are thirteen Lives of Romanswhich belong to the most eventful period of Roman history. They are thelives of the brothers Tiberius and Caius Sempronius Gracchus, of CaiusMarius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Quintus Sertorius, Marcus LiciniusCrassus, Cneius Pompeius Magnus, Marcus Porcius Cato the Younger, MarcusTullius Cicero, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, Caius Julius Caesar, MarcusJunius Brutus, and Marcus Antonius. From the year of the death ofTiberius Gracchus, B. C. 133, to the death of Marcus Antonius, B. C. 30, aperiod of about one hundred years, the Roman State was convulsed byrevolutions which grew out of the contest between the People and theNobility, or rather, out of the contests between the leaders of thesetwo bodies. This period is the subject of Appian's History of the CivilWars of the Romans, in Five Books. Appian begins with the Tribunate andlegislation of Tiberius Gracchus, from which he proceeds to theDictatorship of Sulla, and then to the quarrels between Pompeius andCaesar, and Caesar's Dictatorship and assassination. He then proceeds tothe history of the Triumvirate formed after Caesar's death by his greatnephew Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, Marcus Antonius, and Lepidus, thequarrels of the Triumviri, the downfall of Lepidus, who was reduced tothe condition of a private person, and the death of Sextus Pompeius, thelast support of the party in whose cause his father, Cneius Pompeius, lost his life. The remainder of this History, which is lost, carried thenarration down to the quarrels of Octavianus and Marcus Antonius, whichended in the defeat of Antonius in the battle of Actium, B. C. 31, andhis death in Egypt, B. C. 30. The victory over Antonius placed all thepower in the hands of Octavianus, who, in the year B. C. 27, receivedfrom the Roman Senate the title of Augustus, or the Sacred, by whichname he is commonly known as the first of the long series of RomanEmperors. "He made himself, " says Appian (_Civil Wars_, i. 5), "likeCaius Julius Caesar, and still more than Caesar, governor of his countryand of all the nations under it, without needing either election or thepopular votes, or any show of such things. After his government hadsubsisted for a long time, and been maintained with vigour, fortunate inall his measures, and feared, he left behind him descendants andsuccessors who kept the power that he transmitted to them. In this way, after various civil commotions, the Roman State was restored totranquillity, and the government became a Monarchy. And how this cameabout I have explained, and brought together all the events, which arewell worth the study of those who wish to become acquainted withambition of men unbounded, love of power excessive, endurance unwearied, and forms of suffering infinite. " Thus, the historian's object was totrace the establishment of the Imperial power in Rome back to itsorigin, to show that the contests of the rival heads of parties involvedthe State in endless calamities, which resulted in a dissolution of allthe bonds that held society together, and rendered the assumption ofsupreme power by one man a healing and a necessary event. 

As already observed, it happens that thirteen of Plutarch's extant Livesare the lives of the most distinguished of the Romans who lived duringthis eventful period; and though Plutarch's Lives severally are nothistories of the times to which they respectively refer, norcollectively form a History of any given time, yet they are valuable asportraits of illustrious men, and help us to form a better judgment ofthose who make so conspicuous a figure in History. 

Plutarch was a native of the town of Chaeroneia, in Boeotia; the timesof his birth and death are not exactly known, but we learn from his ownworks that he was a young student at Delphi, in the thirteenth year ofthe reign of the Emperor Nero, A. D. 66. He visited both Italy and Rome, and probably resided at Rome for some time. He wrote his Life ofDemosthenes, at least after his return to Chaeroneia: he says (_Life ofDemosthenes_, c. 2), that he had not time to exercise himself in theLatin Language during his residence at Rome, being much occupied withpublic business, and giving lessons in philosophy. Accordingly it waslate before he began to read the Latin writers; and we may infer fromhis own words that he never acquired a very exact knowledge of thelanguage. He observes that it happened in his case, that in his study ofthe Latin writers he did not so much learn and understand the facts fromthe words, as acquire the meaning of the words from the facts, of whichhe had already some knowledge. We may perhaps conclude from this, thatPlutarch wrote all his Roman lives in Chaeroneia, after he had returnedthere from Rome. The statement that Plutarch was the preceptor of theEmperor Trajan, and was raised to the consular rank by him, is notsupported by sufficient evidence. Plutarch addressed to Trajan his Bookof Apophthegms, or Sayings of Kings and Commanders; but this is all thatis satisfactorily ascertained as to the connection between the Emperorand Philosopher. Trajan died A. D. 117. 

"The plan of Plutarch's Biographies is briefly explained by himself inthe introduction to the Life of Alexander the Great, where he makes anapology for the brevity with which he is compelled to treat of thenumerous events in the Lives of Alexander and Caesar. 'For, ' he says, 'Ido not write Histories, but Lives; nor do the most conspicuous acts ofnecessity exhibit a man's virtue or his vice, but oftentimes some slightcircumstance, a word, or a jest, shows a man's character better thanbattles with the slaughter of tens of thousands, and the greatest arraysof armies and sieges of cities. Now, as painters produce a likeness by arepresentation of the countenance and the expression of the eyes, without troubling themselves about the other parts of the body, so Imust be allowed to look rather into the signs of a man's character, andthus give a portrait of his life, leaving others to describe greatevents and battles. ' The object then of Plutarch in his Biographies wasa moral end, and the exhibition of the principal events in a man's lifewas subordinate to this his main design; and though he may not alwayshave adhered to the principle which he laid down, it cannot be deniedthat his view of what biography should be, is much more exact than thatof most persons who have attempted this style of composition. The lifeof a statesman or of a general, when written with a view of giving acomplete history of all the public events in which he was engaged, isnot biography, but history. This extract from Plutarch will also in somemeasure be an apology for the want of historical order observable inmany of his Lives. Though altogether deficient in that critical sagacitywhich discerns truth from falsehood, and distinguishes the intricaciesof confused and conflicting statements, Plutarch has preserved in hisLives a vast number of facts which would otherwise have been unknown tous. He was a great reader, and must have had access to large libraries. It is said that he quotes two hundred and fifty writers, a great part ofwhose works are now entirely lost. " (_Penny Cyclopaedia_, art. "Plutarch, " by the writer of this Preface. )

The lively portraitures of men drawn in Plutarch's Lives have made themfavourite reading in all ages. Whether Plutarch has succeeded in drawingthe portraits true, we cannot always determine, because the materialsfor such a judgment are sometimes wanting. But when we can compare hisLives with other extant authorities, we must admit, that though he is byno means free from error as to his facts, he has generally selectedthose events in a man's life which most clearly show his temper, andthat on the whole, if we judge of a man by Plutarch's measure, we shallform a just estimate of him. He generally wrote without anypredilections or any prejudices. He tells us of a man's good and badacts, of his good and bad qualities; he makes no attempt to conceal theone or the other; he both praises and blames as the occasion may arise;and the reader leaves off with a mixed opinion about Plutarch's Greeksand Romans, though the favourable or the unfavourable side alwayspredominates. The benevolent disposition of Plutarch, and his noble andelevated character, have stamped themselves on all that he has written. A man cannot read these Lives without being the better for it: hisdetestation of all that is mean and disingenuous will be increased; hisadmiration of whatever is truthful and generous will be strengthened andexalted. 

The translation of these Lives is difficult. Plutarch's text isoccasionally corrupted; and where it is not corrupted, his meaning issometimes obscure. Many of the sentences are long and ill-constructed;the metaphors often extravagant; and the just connection of the parts issometimes difficult to discover. Many single words which are or ought tobe pertinent in Plutarch, and which go towards a description ofcharacter in general or of some particular act, can hardly be renderedby any English equivalent; and a translator often searches in vain forsomething which shall convey to the reader the exact notion of theoriginal. Yet Plutarch's narrative is lively and animated; his anecdotesare appropriately introduced and well told; and if his taste issometimes not the purest, which in his age we could not expect it to be, he makes amends for this by the fulness and vigour of his expression. Heis fond of poetical words, and they are often used with striking effect. His moral reflections, which are numerous, have the merit of not beingunmeaning and tiresome, because he is always in earnest and has gotsomething to say, and does not deal in commonplaces. When the reflectionis not very profound, it is at least true; and some of his remarks showa deep insight into men's character. 

I have attempted to give Plutarch's meaning in plain language; to giveall his meaning, and neither more nor less. If I have failed in anycase, it is because I could do no better. But, though I have not alwayssucceeded in expressing exactly what I conceive to be the meaning of theoriginal, I have not intentionally added to it or detracted from it. Itmay be that there are passages in which I have mistaken the original;and those who have made the experiment of rendering from one languageinto another, know that this will sometimes happen even in an easypassage. A difficult passage attracts more than usual of a translator'sattention, and if he fails there, it is either because the difficultycannot be overcome, or because he cannot overcome it. Mere inadvertenceor sleepiness may sometimes cause a translator to blunder, when he wouldnot have blundered if any friend had been by to keep him awake. 

The best thing that a man can do to avoid these and other errors is tocompare his translation, when he has finished it, with some other. Thetranslation which I have compared with mine is the German translation ofKaltwasser, Magdeburg, 1799, which is generally correct. Kaltwasser inhis Preface speaks of the way in which he used the German translationsof two of his predecessors, J. Christopher Kind, Leipzig, 1745-1754, andH. V. Schirach, 1776-1780, and some others. He says, "These twotranslations, with the French translations above mentioned, I have dulyused, for it is the duty of a translator to compare himself with hispredecessors; but I lay my labour before the eyes of the public, withoutfearing that I shall be accused of copying or of close imitation. Firstof all, I carefully studied the text of my author and translated him aswell as I could: then, and not before, I compared the labour of mypredecessors, and where I found a more suitable expression or a happierturn, I made use of it without hesitation. In this way, every fault, every deviation of the old translators must be apparent; the moststriking of them I have remarked on in the notes, but I have morefrequently amended such things silently, as a comparison will show thereader. " The translator has not compared his version with any Englishversion. The translation of North, which has great merit in point ofexpression, is a version of Amyot's French version, from which, however, it differs in some passages, where it is decidedly wrong and Amyot'sversion is right. Indeed, it is surprising to find how correct this oldFrench translation generally is. The translation of 'Plutarch's Livesfrom the Greek by several hands, ' was published at London in 1683-86. Itwas dedicated by Dryden to James Butler, the first Duke of Ormond, in afulsome panegyric. It is said that forty-one translators laboured at thework. Dryden did not translate any of the Lives; but he wrote the Lifeof Plutarch which is prefixed to this translation. The advertisementprefixed to the translation passes under the name and character of thebookseller (Jacob Tonson), but, as Malone observes, it may from internalevidence be safely attributed to Dryden. The bookseller says, "You havehere the first volume of Plutarch's Lives turned from the Greek intoEnglish; and give me leave to say, the first attempt of doing it fromthe _originals_. " This is aimed at North's version, of which Drydenremarks in his Life of Plutarch: "As that translation was only from theFrench, so it suffered this double disadvantage; first, that it was buta copy of a copy, and that too but lamely taken from the Greek original;secondly, that the English language was then unpolished, and far fromthe perfection which it has since attained; so that the first version isnot only ungrammatical and ungraceful, but in many places almostunintelligible. " There is another English version, by the Langhornes, which has often been reprinted; there is an edition of it with notes byWrangham. I have compared my translation carefully with the German ofKaltwasser, and sometimes with the French of Amyot, and I have thusavoided some errors into which I should have fallen. There are errorsboth in the versions of Amyot and Kaltwasser which I have avoided; but Imay have fallen into others. 

The translation of Kaltwasser contains some useful notes. Those which Ihave added to this translation are intended to explain so much as needsexplanation to a person who is not much acquainted with Roman historyand Roman usages; but they will also be useful to others. The notes ofKaltwasser have often reminded me of the passages where some note wouldbe useful, and have occasionally furnished materials also. But as I havealways referred to the original authorities, I do not consider itnecessary to make more than this general acknowledgment. The notes addedto this translation are all my own, and contain my own opinions andobservations. 

This translation has been made from the edition of C. Sintenis, Leipzig, 1839, and I have compared the text of Sintenis with that of G. H. Schaefer, Leipzig, 1826, which has been severely criticized: thisedition contains, however, some useful notes. I have very seldom madeany remarks on the Greek text, as such kind of remark would not havesuited the plan and design of this version, which is not intended forverbal critics. 

I shall explain by two brief extracts what is my main design in thisversion and in the notes, which must be my apology for not affecting alearned commentary, and my excuse to those who shall not find here thekind of remarks that are suitable to a critical edition of an ancientauthor. I have had another object than to discuss the niceties of wordsand the forms of phrases, a labour which is well in its place, if it bedone well, but is not what needs to be done to such an author asPlutarch to render him useful. A man who was a great reader of Plutarch, a just and solid thinker above the measure of his age, and not surpassedin his way by any writer in our own, Montaigne, observes in his 'Essayof the Education of Children'--"Let him enquire into the manners, revenues, and alliances of princes, things in themselves very pleasantto learn, and very useful to know. In this conversing with men, I mean, and principally those who only live in the records of history, he shallby reading those books, converse with those great and heroic souls offormer and better ages. 'Tis an idle and vain study, I confess, to thosewho make it so, by doing it after a negligent manner, but to those whodo it with care and observation, 'tis a study of inestimable fruit andvalue; and the only one, as Plato reports, the Lacedaemonians reservedto themselves. What profit shall he not reap as to the business of men, by reading the Lives of Plutarch? But withal, let my governor rememberto what end his instructions are principally directed, and that he donot so much imprint in his pupil's memory the date of the ruin ofCarthage, as the manners of Hannibal and Scipio; not so much whereMarcellus died, as why it was unworthy of his duty that he died there. That he do not teach him so much the narrative part, as the business ofhistory. The reading of which, in my opinion, is a thing that of allothers we apply ourselves unto with the most differing and uncertainmeasures. "[A] North, in his address to the Reader, says: "The profit ofstories, and the praise of the Author, are sufficiently declared byAmiot, in his Epistle to the Reader: so that I shall not need to makemany words thereof. And indeed if you will supply the defects of thistranslation, with your own diligence and good understanding: you shallnot need to trust him, you may prove yourselves, that there is noprophane study better than Plutarch. All other learning is private, fitter for Universities than Cities, fuller of contemplation thanexperience, more commendable in students themselves, than profitableunto others. Whereas stories are fit for every place, reach to allpersons, serve for all times, teach the living, revive the dead, so farexcelling all other books, as it is better to see learning in Noblemen'slives, than to read it in Philosophers' writings. "

GEORGE LONG. 

[Footnote A: Cotton's Translation. ]

CONTENTS. 

LIFE OF PLUTARCH xxiii

LIFE OF THESEUS 1

LIFE OF ROMULUS 30

COMPARISON OF THESEUS AND ROMULUS 62

LIFE OF LYKURGUS 67

LIFE OF NUMA 99

COMPARISON OF NUMA WITH LYKURGUS 124

LIFE OF SOLON 130

LIFE OF POPLICOLA 161

COMPARISON OF SOLON AND POPLICOLA 181

LIFE OF THEMISTOKLES 185

LIFE OF CAMILLUS 214

LIFE OF PERIKLES 252

LIFE OF FABIUS MAXIMUS 288

COMPARISON OF PERIKLES AND FABIUS MAXIMIUS 315

LIFE OF ALKIBIADES 318

LIFE OF CAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS 357

COMPARISON BETWEEN ALKIBIADES AND CORIOLANUS 390

LIFE OF TIMOLEON 395

LIFE OF AEMILIUS 428

COMPARISON OF PAULUS AEMILIUS AND TIMOLEON 461

LIFE OF PLUTARCH. 

Plutarch was born probably between A. D. 45 and A. D. 50, at the littletown of Chaeronea in Boeotia. His family appears to have been longestablished in this place, the scene of the final destruction of theliberties of Greece, when Philip defeated the Athenians and Boeotianforces there in 338 B. C. It was here also that Sulla defeatedMithridates, and in the great civil wars of Rome we again hear, thistime from Plutarch himself, of the sufferings of the citizens ofChaeronea. Nikarchus, Plutarch's great-grandfather, was, with all theother citizens, without any exception, ordered by a lieutenant of MarcusAntonius to transport a quantity of corn from Chaeronea to the coastopposite the island of Antikyra. They were compelled to carry the cornon their shoulders, like slaves, and were threatened with the lash ifthey were remiss. After they had performed one journey, and werepreparing their burdens for a second, the welcome news arrived thatMarcus Antonius had lost the battle of Actium, whereupon both theofficers and soldiers of his party stationed in Chaeronea at once fledfor their own safety, and the provisions thus collected were dividedamong the inhabitants of the city. 

When Plutarch was born, however, no such warlike scenes as these were tobe expected. Nothing more than the traditions of war remained on theshores of the Mediterranean. Occasionally some faint echo of strifewould make itself heard from the wild tribes on the Danube, or in thefar Syrian deserts, but over nearly all the world known to the ancientswas established the Pax Romana. Battles were indeed fought, and troopswere marched upon Rome, but this was merely to decide who was to be thenominal head of the vast system of the Empire, and what had once beenindependent cities, countries, and nations submitted unhesitatingly towhoever represented that irresistible power. It might be imagined that apolitical system which destroyed all national individuality, andrendered patriotism in its highest sense scarcely possible, would havereacted unfavourably on the literary character of the age. Yet nothingof the kind can be urged against the times which produced Epictetus, DioChrysostom and Arrian; while at Rome, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, Martial, and Juvenal were reviving the memories of the Augustan age. 

From several passages in Plutarch's writings we gather that he studiedunder a master named Ammonius, at Athens. For instance, at the end ofhis Life of Themistokles, he mentions a descendant of that great man whowas his fellow-student at the house of Ammonius the philosopher. Again, he tells us that once Ammonius, observing at his afternoon lecture thatsome of his class had indulged too freely in the pleasures of the table, ordered his own son to be flogged, "because, " he said, "the younggentleman cannot eat his dinner without pickles, " casting his eye at thesame time upon the other offenders so as to make them sensible that thereproof applied to them also. 

By way of completing his education he proceeded to visit Egypt. The"wisdom of the Egyptians" always seems to have had a fascination for theGreeks, and at this period Alexandria, with its famous library and itsmemories of the Ptolemies, of Kallimachus and of Theokritus, was animportant centre of Greek intellectual activity. Plutarch's treatise onIsis and Osiris is generally supposed to be a juvenile work suggested byhis Egyptian travels. In all the Graeco-Egyptian lore he certainlybecame well skilled, although we have no evidence as to how long heremained in Egypt. He makes mention indeed of a feast given in hishonour by some of his relatives on the occasion of his return home fromAlexandria, but we can gather nothing from the passage as to his age atthat time. 

One anecdote of his early life is as follows:--"I remember, " he says, "that when I was still a young man, I was sent with another person on adeputation to the Proconsul; my colleague, as it happened, was unable toproceed, and I saw the Proconsul and performed the commission alone. When I returned I was about to lay down my office and to give a publicaccount of how I had discharged it, when my father rose in the publicassembly and enjoined me not to say _I_ went, but _we_ went, nor to saythat _I_ said, but _we_ said, throughout my story, giving my colleaguehis share. "

The most important event in the whole of Plutarch's pious and peacefullife is undoubtedly his journey to Italy and to Rome; but here again weknow little more than that he knew but little Latin when he wentthither, and was too busy when there to acquire much knowledge of thattongue. His occupation at Rome, besides antiquarian researches whichwere afterwards worked up into his Roman Lives, was the delivery oflectures on philosophical and other subjects, a common practice amongthe learned Greeks of his day. Many of these lectures, it isconjectured, were afterwards recast by him into the numerous shorttreatises on various subjects now included under the general name ofMoralia. Plutarch's visit to Rome and business there is admirablyexplained in the following passage of North's 'Life of Plutarch':--"Formy part, I think Plutarch was drawn to Rome by meanes of some friends hehad there, especially by Sossius Senecio, that had been a Consull, whowas of great estimation at that time, and namely under the Empire ofTrajan. And that which maketh me think so, is because of Plutarch's ownwords, who saith in the beginning of his first book of his discourse atthe table, that he gathered together all his reasons and discourses madehere and there, as well in Rome with Senecio, as in Greece with Plutarchand others. Not being likely that he would have taken the pains to havemade so long a voyage, and to have come to such a city where heunderstood not their vulgar tongue, if he had not been drawn thither bySenecio, and such other men; as also in acknowledgement of the goodturnes and honour he had received by such men, he dedicated diverse ofhis bookes unto them, and among others, the Lives unto Senecio, and thenine volumes of his discourse at the table, with the treaty, How a manmay know that he profiteth in vertue. Now for the time, considering whathe saith in the end of his book against curiosity, I suppose that hetaught in Rome in the time of Titus and of Domitian: for touching thispoint, he maketh mention of a nobleman called Rusticus, who being oneday at his lecture, would not open a letter which was brought him fromthe Emperor, nor interrupt Plutarch, but attended to the end of hisdeclamation, and until all the hearers were gone away; and addeth also, that Rusticus was afterwards put to death by the commandment ofDomitian. Furthermore, about the beginning of the Life of Demosthenes, Plutarch saith, that whilst he remained in Italy and at Rome, he had noleizure to study the Latine tongue; as well for that he was busied atthat time with matters he had in hand, as also to satisfie those thatwere his followers to learne philosophie of him. "[A]

[Footnote A: North's 'Plutarch, ' 1631, p. 1194. ]

A list of all Plutarch's writings would be a very long one. Besides theLives, which is the work on which his fame chiefly rests, he wrote abook of 'Table Talk, ' which may have suggested to Athenaeus the plan ofhis 'Symposium. '

The most remarkable of his minor works is that 'On the Malignity ofHerodotus. ' Grote takes this treatise as being intended seriously as anattack upon the historian, and speaks of the "honourable frankness whichPlutarch calls his malignity. " But it is probably merely a rhetoricalexercise, in which Plutarch has endeavoured to see what could be saidagainst so favourite and well-known a writer. 

He was probably known as an author before he went to Rome. Largecapitals have always had a natural attraction for literary genius, as itis in them alone that it can hope to be appreciated. And if this be thecase at the present day, how much more must it have been so before theinvention of printing, at a time when it was more usual to listen tobooks read aloud than to read them oneself? Plutarch journeyed to Romejust as Herodotus went to Athens, or as he is said to have gone to theOlympian festival, in search of an intelligent audience of educated men. Whether his object was merely praise, or whether he was influenced byideas of gain, we cannot say. No doubt his lectures were not deliveredgratis, and that they were well attended seems evident from Plutarch'sown notices of them, and from the names which have been preserved of theeminent men who used to frequent them. Moreover, strange though it mayappear to us, the demand for books seems to have been very brisk eventhough they were entirely written by hand. 

The epigrams of Martial inform us of the existence of a class of slaveswhose occupation was copying books, and innumerable allusions in Horace, Martial, &c. , to the Sosii and others prove that the trade of abookseller at Rome was both extensive and profitable. Towards the end ofthe Republic it became the fashion for Roman nobles to encourageliterature by forming a library, and this taste was given immenseencouragement by Augustus, who established a public library in theTemple of Apollo on the Mount Palatine, in imitation of that previouslyfounded by Asinius Pollio. There were other libraries besides these, themost famous of which was the Ulpian library, founded by Trajan, whocalled it so from his own name, Ulpius. Now Trajan was a contemporary ofour author, and this act of his clearly proves that there must have beenduring Plutarch's lifetime a considerable reading public, and consequentdemand for books at Rome. 

Of Plutarch's travels in Italy we know next to nothing. He mentionsincidentally that he had seen the bust or statue of Marius at Ravenna, but never gives us another hint of how far he explored the country aboutwhich he wrote so much. No doubt his ignorance of the Latin languagemust not be taken as a literal statement, and probably means that he wasnot skilled in it as a spoken tongue, for we can scarcely imagine thathe was without some acquaintance with it when he first went to Rome, andhe certainly afterwards became well read in the literature of Rome. Insome cases he has followed Livy's narrative with a closeness whichproves that he must have been acquainted with that author either in theoriginal or in a translation, and the latter alternative is, of the two, the more improbable. 

It seems to be now generally thought that his stay at Rome was a shortone. Clough, in his excellent Preface, says on this subject, "The faultwhich runs through all the earlier biographies, from that of Rualdusdownwards, is the assumption, wholly untenable, that Plutarch passedmany years, as many perhaps as forty, at Rome. The entire character ofhis life is of course altered by such an impression. " He then goes on tosay that in consequence of this mistaken idea, it is not worth while forhim to quote Dryden's 'Life of Plutarch, ' which was originally prefixedto the translations re-edited by himself. Yet I trust I may be excusedif I again quote North's 'Life of Plutarch, ' as the following passageseems to set vividly before us the quiet literary occupation of hislater days. 

"For Plutarch, though he tarried a long while in Italy, and in Rome, yetthat tooke not away the remembrance of the sweet aire of Greece, and ofthe little towne where he was borne; but being touched from time to timewith a sentence of an ancient poet, who saith that, "'In whatsoever countrey men are bred (I know not by what sweetnesse of it led), They nourish in their minds a glad desire, Unto their native homes for to retire, '

"he resolved to go back into Greece againe, there to end the rest of hisdaies in rest and honour among his citizens, of whom he was honourablywelcomed home. Some judge that he left Rome after the death of Trajan, being then of great yeares, to leade a more quiet life. So being then atrest, he earnestly took in hand that which he had long thought ofbefore, to wit, the Lives, and tooke great pains with it until he hadbrought his worke to perfection, as we have done at this present;although that some Lives, as those of Scipio African, of MetellusNumidicus, and some other are not to be found. Now himselfe confessethin some place, that when he began this worke, at the first it was but toprofit others; but that afterwards it was to profit himselfe, lookingupon those histories, as if he had looked in a glasse, and seeking toreform his life in some sort, and to forme it in the mould of thevertues of these great men; taking this fashion of searching theirmanners, and writing the Lives of these noble men, to be a familiarhaunting and frequenting of them. Also he thought, [said he himselfe]that he lodged these men one after another in his house, entering intoconsideration of their qualities, and that which was great in either ofthem, choosing and principally taking that which was to be noted, andmost worthy to be knowne in their sayings and deeds. "[A]

[Footnote A: North's 'Plutarch, ' 1631, p. 1198. ]

Of Plutarch in his domestic relations we gather much information fromhis own writings. The name of his father has not been preserved, but itwas probably Nikarchus, from the common habit of Greek families torepeat a name in alternate generations. His brothers Timon and Lampriasare frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, where Timon isspoken of in the most affectionate terms. Rualdus has ingeniouslyrecovered the name of his wife, Timoxena, from internal evidenceafforded by his writings. A touching letter is still extant, addressedby Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not give way to excessive grief atthe death of their only daughter, who was named Timoxena after hermother. The number of his sons we cannot exactly state. Autobulus andPlutarch are especially spoken of as his sons, since the treatise on theTimaeus of Plato is dedicated to them, and the marriage of his sonAutobulus is the occasion of one of the dinner-parties recorded in the'Table Talk. ' Another person, one Soklarus, is spoken of in terms whichseem to imply that he was Plutarch's son, but this is nowhere definitelystated. His treatise also on Marriage Questions, addressed to Eurydikeand Pollianus, seems to speak of her as having been recently an inmateof his house, but without enabling us to form an opinion whether she washis daughter or not. A modern writer well describes his maturer years bythe words: "Plutarch was well born, well taught, well conditioned; aself-respecting amiable man, who knew how to better a good education bytravels, by devotion to affairs private and public; a master of ancientculture, he read books with a just criticism: eminently social, he was aking in his own house, surrounded himself with select friends, and knewthe high value of good conversation; and declares in a letter written tohis wife that 'he finds scarcely an erasure, as in a book well written, in the happiness of his life. '"

He was an active member of the little community of Chaeronea, beingarchon of that town. Whether this dignity was annual or for life we donot know, but it was probably the former, and very likely he served itmore than once. He speaks of his devotion to the duties of his office ascausing him to incur the ridicule of some of his fellow-citizens, whenthey saw him engaged in the humblest duties. "But, " he says, in Clough'sversion, "the story told about Antisthenes comes to my assistance. Whensome one expressed surprise at his carrying home some pickled fish frommarket in his own hands, _It is_, he answered, _for myself_. Conversely, when I am reproached with standing by and watching while tiles aremeasured out, and stone and mortar brought up, _This service_, I say, _is not for myself_, it is for my country. "

Plutarch was for many years a priest of Apollo at Delphi. The scene ofsome of his 'Table Talk' is laid there, when he in his priestly capacitygives a dinner party in honour of the victor in the poetic contest atthe Pythian games. Probably this office was a source of considerableincome, and as the journey from Chaeronea to Delphi, across MountParnassus, is a very short one, it interfered but little with hisliterary and municipal business. In his essay on "Whether an old manshould continue to take part in public life, " he says, "You know, Euphanes, that I have for many Pythiads (that is, periods of four yearselapsing between the Pythian festivals), exercised the office of Priestof Apollo: yet I think you would not say to me, 'Plutarch, you havesacrificed enough; you have led processions and dances enough; it istime, now that you are old, to lay aside the garland from your head, andto retire as superannuated from the oracle. '"

Thus respected and loved by all, Plutarch's old age passed peacefullyaway. "Notwithstanding, " as North says, "that he was very old, yet hemade an end of the Lives. .. . Furthermore, Plutarch, having lived alwaieshonourably even to old age, he died quietly among his children andfriends in the city of Chaeronea, leaving his writings, an immortalsavour of his name, unto posterity. Besides the honour his citizens didhim, there was a statue set up for him by ordinance of the people ofRome, in memory of his virtues. Now furthermore, though time hathdevoured some part of the writings of this great man, and minished someother: neverthelesse those which remaine, being a great number, haveexcellent use to this day among us. "

PLUTARCH'S LIVES. 

LIFE OF THESEUS. 

I. As in books on geography, Sossius Senecio, the writers crowd thecountries of which they know nothing into the furthest margins of theirmaps, and write upon them legends such as, "In this direction liewaterless deserts full of wild beasts;" or, "Unexplored morasses;" or, "Here it is as cold as Scythia;" or, "A frozen sea;" so I, in mywritings on Parallel Lives, go through that period of time where historyrests on the firm basis of facts, and may truly say, "All beyond this isportentous and fabulous, inhabited by poets and mythologers, and thereis nothing true or certain. "

When I had written the lives of Lykurgus the lawgiver and Numa the king, it appeared to me natural to go back to Romulus also, as I was engagedon the history of times so close to his. So when I was reflecting, inthe words of Aeschylus, "Against this chieftain, who can best contend? Whom shall I match in fight, what trusty friend?"

it occurred to me to compare the founder of the fair and famous city ofAthens with him, and to contrast Theseus with the father of unconqueredglorious Rome. Putting aside, then, the mythological element, let usexamine his story, and wherever it obstinately defies probability, andcannot be explained by natural agency, let us beg the indulgence of ourreaders, who will kindly make allowance for tales of antiquity. 

II. Theseus appears to have several points of resemblance to Romulus. Both were unacknowledged illegitimate children, and were reputed todescend from the Gods. 

 "Both warriors, well we all do know, "

and both were wise as well as powerful. The one founded Rome, while theother was the joint founder of Athens; and these are two of the mostfamous of cities. Both carried off women by violence, and neither ofthem escaped domestic misfortune and retribution, but towards the end oftheir lives both were at variance with their countrymen, if we may putany trust in the least extravagant writings upon the subject. 

III. Theseus traced his descent on the father's side from Erechtheus andthe original Autochthones, [A] while on the mother's side he wasdescended from Pelops. For Pelops surpassed all the other princes of thePeloponnesus in the number of his children as well as in wealth; and ofthese he gave many of his daughters in marriage to the chief men of thecountry, and established many of his sons as rulers in various cities. One of these, Pittheus, the grandfather of Theseus, founded Troezen, which is indeed but a little state, though he had a greater reputationthan any man of his time for eloquence and wisdom. The nature of thiswisdom of his seems to have been much of the same kind as that whichmade the reputation of Hesiod, in the collection of maxims known as the'Works and Days. ' One of these maxims is indeed ascribed to Pittheus:

 "Let promised pay be truly paid to friends. "

At any rate, this is what Aristotle the philosopher has recorded; andalso Euripides, when he speaks of Hippolytus as "child of holyPittheus, " shows the prevailing opinion about Pittheus. Now Aegeusdesired to have children, and the Oracle at Delphi is said to have givenhim the well-known response, forbidding him to have intercourse with anywoman before he reached Athens, but not appearing to explain thisclearly. Consequently, on his way home, he went to Troezen, and askedthe advice of Pittheus about the response of the God, which ran thus:

 "Great chief, the wine-skin's foot must closed remain, Till thou to Athens art returned again. "

Pittheus clearly perceived what the oracle must mean, and persuaded orcheated Aegeus into an intrigue with Aethra. Afterwards, when hediscovered that he had conversed with the daughter of Pittheus, as heimagined that she might prove with child, he left behind him his swordand sandals hidden under a great stone, which had a hollow inside itexactly fitting them. This he told to Aethra alone, and charged her if ason of his should be born, and on growing to man's estate should be ableto lift the stone and take from under it the deposit, that she shouldsend him at once with these things to himself, in all secrecy, and asfar as possible concealing his journey from observation. For he greatlyfeared the sons of Pallas, who plotted against him, and despised him onaccount of his childlessness, they themselves being fifty brothers, allthe sons of Pallas. 

[Footnote A: Autochthones was the name by which the original citizens ofAthens called themselves, meaning that they were sprung from the soilitself, not immigrants from some other country. ]

IV. When Aethra's child was born, some writers say that he was at oncenamed Theseus, from the tokens placed under the stone; others say thathe was afterwards so named at Athens, when Aegeus acknowledged him ashis son. He was brought up by his grandfather Pittheus, and had a masterand tutor, Konnidas, to whom even to the present day, the Athenianssacrifice a ram on the day before the feast of Theseus, a mark ofrespect which is much more justly due to him, than those which they payto Silanion and Parrhasius, who have only made pictures and statues ofTheseus. 

V. As it was at that period still the custom for those who were comingto man's estate to go to Delphi and offer to the god the first-fruits oftheir hair (which was then cut for the first time), [A] Theseus went toDelphi, and they say that a place there is even to this day named afterhim. But he only cut the front part of his hair, as Homer tells us theAbantes did, and this fashion of cutting the hair was called Theseus'sfashion because of him. The Abantes first began to cut their hair inthis manner, not having, as some say, been taught to do so by theArabians, nor yet from any wish to imitate the Mysians, but because theywere a warlike race, and met their foes in close combat, and studiedabove all to come to a hand-to-hand fight with their enemy, asArchilochus bears witness in his verses:

 "They use no slings nor bows, Euboea's martial lords, But hand to hand they close And conquer with their swords. "

So they cut their hair short in front, that their enemies might notgrasp it. And they say that Alexander of Macedon for the same reasonordered his generals to have the beards of the Macedonians shaved, because they were a convenient handle for the enemy to grasp. 

[Footnote A: The first cutting of the hair was always an occasion ofsolemnity among the Greeks, the hair being dedicated to some god. Thefirst instance of this is in Homer's Iliad, where Achilles speaks ofhaving dedicated his hair to the river Spercheius. The Athenian youthoffered their hair to Herakles. The Roman emperor Nero, in later times, imitated this custom. ]

VI. Now while he was yet a child, Aethra concealed the real parentage ofTheseus, and a story was circulated by Pittheus that his father wasPoseidon. For the people of Troezen have an especial reverence forPoseidon; he is their tutelar deity; to him they offer first-fruits oftheir harvest, and they stamp their money with the trident as theirbadge. But when he was grown into a youth, and proved both strong inbody and of good sound sense, then Aethra led him to the stone, told himthe truth about his father, and bade him take the tokens from beneath itand sail to Athens with them. He easily lifted the stone, but determinednot to go to Athens by sea, though the voyage was a safe and easy one, and though his mother and his grandfather implored him to go that way. By land it was a difficult matter to reach Athens, as the whole way wasinfested with robbers and bandits. That time, it seems, produced men ofgreat and unwearied strength and swiftness, who made no good use ofthese powers, but treated all men with overbearing insolence, takingadvantage of their strength to overpower and slay all who fell intotheir hands, and disregarding justice and right and kindly feeling, which they said were only approved of by those who dared not do injuryto others, or feared to be injured themselves, while men who could getthe upper hand by force might disregard them. Of these ruffians, Herakles in his wanderings cut off a good many, but others had escapedhim by concealing themselves, or had been contemptuously spared by himon account of their insignificance. But Herakles had the misfortune tokill Iphitus, and thereupon sailed to Lydia and was for a long time aslave in that country under Omphale, which condition he had imposed uponhimself as a penance for the murder of his friend. During this periodthe country of Lydia enjoyed peace and repose; but in Greece the oldplague of brigandage broke out afresh, as there was now no one to put itdown. So that the journey overland to Athens from Peloponnesus was fullof peril; and Pittheus, by relating to Theseus who each of theseevildoers was, and how they treated strangers, tried to prevail upon himto go by sea. But it appears that Theseus had for a long time in hisheart been excited by the renown of Herakles for courage: he thoughtmore of him than of any one else, and loved above all to listen to thosewho talked of him, especially if they had seen and spoken to him. Now hecould no longer conceal that he was in the same condition asThemistokles in later times, when he said that the trophy of Miltiadeswould not let him sleep. Just so did the admiration which Theseusconceived for Herakles make him dream by night of his great exploits, and by day determine to equal them by similar achievements of his own. 

VII. As it happened, they were connected, being second cousins; forAethra was the daughter of Pittheus, and Alkmena the daughter ofLysidike, and Lysidike and Pittheus were brother and sister, being thechildren of Pelops and Hippodameia. So Theseus thought that it would bea great and unbearable disgrace to him that his cousin should goeverywhere and clear the sea and land of the brigands who infested them, and he should refuse to undertake the adventures that came in his way;throwing discredit upon his reputed father by a pusillanimous flight bysea, and upon his real father by bringing him only the sandals and anunfleshed sword, and not proving his noble birth by the evidence of somebrave deed accomplished by him. In this spirit he set out on hisjourney, with the intention of doing wrong to no one, but of avenginghimself on any one who offered wrong to him. 

VIII. And first in Epidaurus he slew Periphetes, who used a club as hisweapon, and on this account was called the club-bearer, because he laidhands upon him and forbade him to proceed farther on his way. The clubtook his fancy, and he adopted it as a weapon, and always used it, justas Herakles used his lion's skin; for the skin was a proof of how huge abeast the wearer had overcome, while the club, invincible in the handsof Theseus, had yet been worsted when used against him. At the Isthmushe destroyed Sinis the Pine-bender by the very device by which he hadslain so many people, and that too without having ever practised theart, proving that true valour is better than practice and training. Sinis had a daughter, a tall and beautiful girl, named Perigoune. Whenher father fell she ran and hid herself. Theseus sought her everywhere, but she fled into a place where wild asparagus grew thick, and with asimple child-like faith besought the plants to conceal her, as if theycould understand her words, promising that if they did so she neverwould destroy or burn them. However, when Theseus called to her, pledging himself to take care of her and do her no hurt, she came out, and afterwards bore Theseus a son, named Melanippus. She afterwards wasgiven by Theseus in marriage to Deïoneus, the son of Eurytus ofOechalia. Ioxus, a son of Melanippus, and Theseus's grandchild, tookpart in Ornytus's settlement in Caria; and for this reason thedescendants of Ioxus have a family custom not to burn the asparagusplant, but to reverence and worship it. 

IX. Now the wild sow of Krommyon, whom they called Phaia, was noordinary beast, but a fierce creature and hard to conquer. This animalhe turned out of his way to destroy, that it might not be thought thathe performed his exploits of necessity. Besides, he said, a brave manneed only punish wicked men when they came in his way, but that in thecase of wild beasts he must himself seek them out and attack them. Somesay that Phaia was a murderous and licentious woman who carried onbrigandage at Krommyon, and was called a sow from her life and habits, and that Theseus put her to death. 

X. Before coming to Megara he slew Skeiron by flinging him down aprecipice into the sea, so the story runs, because he was a robber, butsome say that from arrogance he used to hold out his feet to strangersand bid them wash them, and that then he kicked the washers into thesea. But Megarian writers, in opposition to common tradition, and, asSimonides says, "warring with all antiquity, " say that Skeiron was notan arrogant brigand, but repressed brigandage, loved those who were goodand just, and was related to them. For, they point out, Aeakus isthought to have been the most righteous of all the Greeks, and Kychreusof Salamis was worshipped as a god, and the virtue of Peleus and Telamonis known to all. Yet Skeiron was the son-in-law of Kychreus, andfather-in-law of Aeakus, and grandfather of Peleus and Telamon, who wereboth of them sons of Endeis, the daughter of Skeiron and his wifeChariklo. It is not then reasonable to suppose that these, the noblestmen of their time, would make alliances with a malefactor, and give andreceive from him what they prized most dearly. But they say that Theseusslew Skeiron, not when he first went to Athens, but that afterwards hetook the town of Eleusis which belonged to the Megarians, by dealingtreacherously with Diokles, who was the chief magistrate there, and thaton that occasion he killed Skeiron. This is what tradition says on bothsides. 

XI. At Eleusis Theseus overcame Kerkyon of Arcadia in wrestling andkilled him, and after journeying a little farther he killed Damastes, who was surnamed Prokroustes, by compelling him to fit his own body tohis bed, just as he used to fit the bodies of strangers to it. This hedid in imitation of Herakles; for he used to retort upon his aggressorsthe same treatment which they intended for him. Thus Herakles offered upBusiris as a sacrifice, and overcame Antaeus in wrestling, and Kyknus insingle combat, and killed Termerus by breaking his skull. This is, theysay, the origin of the proverb, "A Termerian mischief, " for Termerus, itseems, struck passers-by with his head, and so killed them. So also didTheseus sally forth and chastise evildoers, making them undergo the samecruelties which they practised on others, thus justly punishing them fortheir crimes in their own wicked fashion. 

XII. As he proceeded on his way, and reached the river Kephisus, men ofthe Phytalid race were the first to meet and greet him. He demanded tobe purified from the guilt of bloodshed, and they purified him, madepropitiatory offerings, and also entertained him in their houses, beingthe first persons from whom he had received any kindness on his journey. It is said to have been on the eighth day of the month Kronion, which isnow called Hekatombeion, that he came to his own city. On entering it hefound public affairs disturbed by factions, and the house of Aegeus ingreat disorder; for Medea, who had been banished from Corinth, wasliving with Aegeus, and had engaged by her drugs to enable Aegeus tohave children. She was the first to discover who Theseus was, whileAegeus, who was an old man, and feared every one because of thedisturbed state of society, did not recognise him. Consequently sheadvised Aegeus to invite him to a feast, that she might poison him. Theseus accordingly came to Aegeus's table. He did not wish to be thefirst to tell his name, but, to give his father an opportunity ofrecognising him, he drew his sword, as if he meant to cut some of themeat with it, and showed it to Aegeus. Aegeus at once recognised it, overset the cup of poison, looked closely at his son and embraced him. He then called a public meeting and made Theseus known as his son to thecitizens, with whom he was already very popular because of his bravery. It is said that when the cup was overset the poison was spilt in theplace where now there is the enclosure in the Delphinium, for thereAegeus dwelt; and the Hermes to the east of the temple there they callthe one who is "at the door of Aegeus. "

XIII. But the sons of Pallas, who had previously to this expected thatthey would inherit the kingdom on the death of Aegeus without issue, nowthat Theseus was declared the heir, were much enraged, first thatAegeus should be king, a man who was merely an adopted child of Pandion, and had no blood relationship to Erechtheus, and next that Theseus, astranger and a foreigner, should inherit the kingdom. They consequentlydeclared war. Dividing themselves into two bodies, the one proceeded tomarch openly upon the city from Sphettus, under the command of Pallastheir father, while the other lay in ambush at Gargettus, in order thatthey might fall upon their opponents on two sides at once. But there wasa herald among them named Leos, of the township of Agnus, who betrayedthe plans of the sons of Pallas to Theseus. He suddenly attacked thosewho were in ambush, and killed them all, hearing which the other bodyunder Pallas dispersed. From this time forth they say that the townshipof Pallene has never intermarried with that of Agnus, and that it is notcustomary amongst them for heralds to begin a proclamation with thewords "Acouete Leo, " (Oyez) for they hate the name of Leo[A] because ofthe treachery of that man. 

[Footnote A: The Greek word _leos_ signifies people. ]

XIV. Now Theseus, who wished for employment and also to make himselfpopular with the people, went to attack the bull of Marathon, who hadcaused no little trouble to the inhabitants of Tetrapolis. He overcamethe beast, and drove it alive through the city for all men to see, andthen sacrificed it to Apollo of Delphi. Hekale, too, and the legend ofher having entertained Theseus, does not seem altogether withoutfoundation in fact; for the people of the neighbouring townships used toassemble and perform what was called the Hekalesian sacrifice to ZeusHekalus, and they also used to honour Hekale, calling her by theaffectionate diminutive Hekaline, because she also, when feastingTheseus, who was very young, embraced him in a motherly way, and usedsuch like endearing diminutives. She also made a vow on Theseus'sbehalf, when he was going forth to battle, that if he returned safe shewould sacrifice to Zeus; but as she died before he returned, she had theabove-mentioned honours instituted by command of Theseus, as a gratefulreturn for her hospitality. This is the legend as told by Philochorus. 

XV. Shortly after this the ship from Crete arrived for the third timeto collect the customary tribute. Most writers agree that the origin ofthis was, that on the death of Androgeus, in Attica, which was ascribedto treachery, his father Minos went to war, and wrought much evil to thecountry, which at the same time was afflicted by scourges from Heaven(for the land did not bear fruit, and there was a great pestilence andthe rivers sank into the earth). So that as the oracle told theAthenians that, if they propitiated Minos and came to terms with him, the anger of Heaven would cease and they should have a respite fromtheir sufferings, they sent an embassy to Minos and prevailed on him tomake peace, on the condition that every nine years they should send hima tribute of seven youths and seven maidens. The most tragic of thelegends states these poor children when they reached Crete were throwninto the Labyrinth, and there either were devoured by the Minotaur orelse perished with hunger, being unable to find the way out. TheMinotaur, as Euripides tells us, was

 "A form commingled, and a monstrous birth, Half man, half bull, in twofold shape combined. "

XVI. Philochorus says that the Cretans do not recognise this story, butsay that the Labyrinth was merely a prison, like any other, from whichescape was impossible, and that Minos instituted gymnastic games inhonour of Androgeus, in which the prizes for the victors were thesechildren, who till then were kept in the Labyrinth. Also they say thatthe victor in the first contest was a man of great power in the state, ageneral of the name of Taurus, who was of harsh and savage temper, andill-treated the Athenian children. And Aristotle himself, in histreatise on the constitution of the Bottiaeans, evidently does notbelieve that the children were put to death by Minos, but that theylived in Crete as slaves, until extreme old age; and that one day theCretans, in performance of an ancient vow, sent first-fruits of theirpopulation to Delphi. Among those who were thus sent were thedescendants of the Athenians, and, as they could not maintain themselvesthere, they first passed over to Italy, and there settled nearIapygium, and from thence again removed to Thrace, and took the name ofBottiaeans. For this reason, the Bottiaean maidens when performing acertain sacrifice sing "Let us go to Athens. " Thus it seems to be aterrible thing to incur the hatred of a city powerful in speech andsong; for on the Attic stage Minos is always vilified and traduced, andthough he was called "Most Kingly" by Hesiod, and "Friend of Zeus" byHomer, it gained him no credit, but the playwrights overwhelmed him withabuse, styling him cruel and violent. And yet Minos is said to have beena king and a lawgiver, and Rhadamanthus to have been a judge under him, carrying out his decrees. 

XVII. So when the time of the third payment of the tribute arrived, andthose fathers who had sons not yet grown up had to submit to draw lots, the unhappy people began to revile Aegeus, complaining that he, althoughthe author of this calamity, yet took no share in their affliction, butendured to see them left childless, robbed of their own legitimateoffspring, while he made a foreigner and a bastard the heir to hiskingdom. This vexed Theseus, and determining not to hold aloof, but toshare the fortunes of the people, he came forward and offered himselfwithout being drawn by lot. The people all admired his courage andpatriotism, and Aegeus finding that his prayers and entreaties had noeffect on his unalterable resolution, proceeded to choose the rest bylot. Hellanikus says that the city did not select the youths and maidensby lot, but that Minos himself came thither and chose them, and that hepicked out Theseus first of all, upon the usual conditions, which werethat the Athenians should furnish a ship, and that the youths shouldembark in it and sail with him, not carrying with them any weapon ofwar; and that when the Minotaur was slain, the tribute should cease. Formerly, no one had any hope of safety; so they used to send out theship with a black sail, as if it were going to a certain doom; but nowTheseus so encouraged his father, and boasted that he would overcome theMinotaur, that he gave a second sail, a white one, to the steersman, andcharged him on his return, if Theseus were safe, to hoist the white one, if not, the black one as a sign of mourning. But Simonides says that itwas not a white sail which was given by Aegeus, but "a scarlet sailembrued in holm oak's juice, " and that this was agreed on by him as thesignal of safety. The ship was steered by Phereklus the son of Amarsyas, according to Simonides. 

But Philochorus says that Theseus had one Nausithous sent him fromSkirus of Salamis, to steer the ship, and Phaeax to act as look-out, asthe Athenians had not yet turned their attention to the sea. 

One of the youths chosen by lot was Menestheos the son of Skirus'sdaughter. The truth of this account is attested by the shrines ofNausithous and Phaeax, which Theseus built at Phalerum, and by the feastcalled the Kybernesia or pilot's festival, which is held in theirhonour. 

XVIII. When the lots were drawn Theseus brought the chosen youths fromthe Prytaneum, and proceeding to the temple of the Delphian Apollo, offered the suppliants' bough to Apollo on their behalf. This was abough of the sacred olive-tree bound with fillets of white wool. Andafter praying he went to sea on the sixth day of the month Munychion, onwhich day even now they send maidens as suppliants to the temple of theDelphian Apollo. And there is a legend that the Delphian oracle told himthat Aphrodite would be his guide and fellow-traveller, and that when hewas sacrificing a she-goat to her by the seaside, it became a he-goat;wherefore the goddess is called Epitragia. 

XIX. When they reached Crete, according to most historians and poets, Ariadne fell in love with him, and from her he received the clue ofstring, and was taught how to thread the mazes of the Labyrinth. He slewthe Minotaur, and, taking with him Ariadne and the youths, sailed away. Pherekydes also says that Theseus also knocked out the bottoms of theCretan ships, to prevent pursuit. But Demon says that Taurus, Minos'sgeneral, was slain in a sea-fight in the harbour, when Theseus sailedaway. But according to Philochorus, when Minos instituted his games, Taurus was expected to win every prize, and was grudged this honour; forhis great influence and his unpopular manners made him disliked, andscandal said, that he was too intimate with Pasiphae. On this account, when Theseus offered to contend with him, Minos agreed. And, as it wasthe custom in Crete for women as well as men to be spectators of thegames, Ariadne was present, and was struck with the appearance ofTheseus, and his strength, as he conquered all competitors. Minos wasespecially pleased, in the wrestling match, at Taurus's defeat andshame, and, restoring the children to Theseus, remitted the tribute forthe future. Kleidemus tells the story in his own fashion and atunnecessary length, beginning much farther back. There was, he says, adecree passed by all the Greeks, that no ship should sail from any postwith more than five hands on board, but Jason alone, the master of thegreat ship Argo, should cruise about, and keep the sea free of pirates. Now when Daedalus fled to Athens, Minos, contrary to the decree, pursuedhim in long war galleys, and being driven to Sicily by a storm, diedthere. When his son Deukalion sent a warlike message to the Athenians, bidding them give up Daedalus to him, or else threatening that he wouldput to death the children whom Minos had taken as hostages, Theseusreturned him a gentle answer, begging for the life of Daedalus, who washis own cousin and blood relation, being the son of Merope, the daughterof Erechtheus. But he busied himself with building a fleet, some of itin Attica, in the country of the Thymaitadae, far from any place ofresort of strangers, and some in Troezen, under the management ofPittheus, as he did not wish his preparations to be known. But when theships were ready to set sail, having with him as pilots, Daedalushimself and some Cretan exiles, as no one knew that he was coming, andthe Cretans thought that it was a friendly fleet that was advancing, heseized the harbour, and marched at once to Knossus before his arrivalwas known. Then he fought a battle at the gates of the Labyrinth, andslew Deukalion and his body-guard. As Ariadne now succeeded to thethrone, he made peace with her, took back the youths, and formed analliance between the Cretans and the Athenians, in which each nationswore that it would not begin a war against the other. 

XX. There are many more stories about these events, and about Ariadne, none of which agree in any particulars. Some say that she hanged herselfwhen deserted by Theseus, and some, that she was taken to Naxos by hissailors, and there dwelt with Oenarus, the priest of Dionysus, havingbeen deserted by Theseus, who was in love with another. 

 "For Aegle's love disturbed his breast. "

This line, we are told by Hereas of Megara, was struck out of Hesiod'spoems by Peisistratus; and again he says that he inserted into Homer'sdescription of the Shades, "Peirithous and Theseus, born of gods, "

to please the Athenians. Some writers say that Theseus had by Ariadnetwo sons, Staphylus and Oenopion, whom Ion of Chios follows when hespeaks of his own native city as that

 "Which erst Oenopion stablished, Theseus' son. "

The pleasantest of these legends are in nearly every one's mouth. ButPaeon of Amathus gives an account peculiar to himself, that Theseus wasdriven by a storm to Cyprus, and that Ariadne, who was pregnant, suffered much from the motion of the ship, and became so ill, that shewas set on shore, but Theseus had to return to take charge of the ship, and was blown off to sea. The women of the country took care of Ariadne, and comforted her in her bereavement, even bringing forged letters toher as if from Theseus, and rendering her assistance during herconfinement; and when she died in childbirth, they buried her. Theseus, on his return, grieved much, and left money to the people of thecountry, bidding them sacrifice to Ariadne; he also set up two littlestatues, one of silver, and the other of brass. And at this sacrifice, which takes place on the second day of the month Gorpiaeus, one of theyoung men lies down on the ground, and imitates the cries of a woman intravail; and the people of Amathus call that the grove of AriadneAphrodite, in which they show her tomb. 

But some writers of Naxos tell a different story, peculiar tothemselves, that there were two Minoses and two Ariadnes, of whom one, they say, was married to Dionysus in Naxos, and was the mother ofStaphylus and his brother, while the younger was carried off by Theseus, and came to Naxos after he deserted her; and a nurse called Korkyne camewith her, whose tomb they point out. Then Naxians also says that thisAriadne died there, and is honoured, but not so much as the elder; forat the feast in honour of the elder, there are merriment and revelry, but at that of the younger gloomy rites are mingled with mirth. 

XXI. Theseus, when he sailed away from Crete, touched at Delos; here hesacrificed to the god and offered up the statue of Aphrodite, whichAriadne had given him; and besides this, he and the youths with himdanced a measure which they say is still practised by the people ofDelos to this day, being an imitation of the turnings and windings ofthe Labyrinth expressed by complicated evolutions performed in regularorder. This kind of dance is called by the Delians "the crane dance, "according to Dikaearchus. It was danced round the altar of the Horns, which is all formed of horns from the left side. They also say that heinstituted games at Delos, and that then for the first time a palm wasgiven by him to the victor. 

XXII. As he approached Attica, both he and his steersman in theirdelight forgot to hoist the sail which was to be a signal of theirsafety to Aegeus; and he in his despair flung himself down the cliffsand perished. Theseus, as soon as he reached the harbour, performed atPhalerum the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods if he returnedsafe, and sent off a herald to the city with the news of his safereturn. This man met with many who were lamenting the death of the king, and, as was natural, with others who were delighted at the news of theirsafety, and who congratulated him and wished to crown him with garlands. These he received, but placed them on his herald's staff, and when hecame back to the seashore, finding that Theseus had not completed hislibation, he waited outside the temple, not wishing to disturb thesacrifice. When the libation was finished he announced the death ofAegeus, and then they all hurried up to the city with loud lamentations:wherefore to this day, at the Oschophoria, they say that it is not theherald that is crowned, but his staff, and that at the libations thebystanders cry out, "Eleleu, Iou, Iou;" of which cries the first is usedby men in haste, or raising the paean for battle, while the second isused by persons in surprise and trouble. 

Theseus, after burying his father, paid his vow to Apollo, on theseventh day of the month Pyanepsion; for on this day it was that therescued youths went up into the city. The boiling of pulse, which iscustomary on this anniversary, is said to be done because the rescuedyouths put what remained of their pulse together into one pot, boiled itall, and merrily feasted on it together. And on this day also, theAthenians carry about the Eiresione, a bough of the olive tree garlandedwith wool, just as Theseus had before carried the suppliants' bough, andcovered with first-fruits of all sorts of produce, because thebarrenness of the land ceased on that day; and they sing, "Eiresione, bring us figs And wheaten loaves, and oil, And wine to quaff, that we may all Host merrily from toil. "

However, some say that these ceremonies are performed in memory of theHerakleidae, who were thus entertained by the Athenians; but mostwriters tell the tale as I have told it. 

XXIII. Now the thirty-oared ship, in which Theseus sailed with theyouths, and came back safe, was kept by the Athenians up to the time ofDemetrius Phalereus. They constantly removed the decayed part of hertimbers, and renewed them with sound wood, so that the ship became anillustration to philosophers of the doctrine of growth and change, assome argued that it remained the same, and others, that it did notremain the same. The feast of the Oschophoria, or of carrying boughs, which to this day the Athenians celebrate, was instituted by Theseus. For he did not take with him all the maidens who were drawn by lot, buthe chose two youths, his intimate friends, who were feminine and fair tolook upon, but of manly spirit; these by warm baths and avoiding theheat of the sun and careful tending of their hair and skin hecompletely metamorphosed, teaching them to imitate the voice andcarriage and walk of maidens. These two were then substituted in theplace of two of the girls, and deceived every one; and when theyreturned, he and these two youths walked in procession, dressed as nowthose who carry boughs at the Oschophoria are dressed. They carry themin honour of Dionysus and Ariadne, because of the legend, or ratherbecause they returned home when the harvest was being gathered in. Andthe women called supper-carriers join in carrying them and partake ofthe sacrifice, in imitation of the mothers of those who were drawn bylot; for they used continually to bring their children food. Also, oldtales are told, because these women used to tell their children suchones, to encourage and amuse them. 

These things are related by the historian Demus. Moreover, a sacredenclosure was dedicated to Theseus, and those families out of whom thetribute of the children had been gathered were bidden to contribute tosacrifices to him. These sacrifices were presided over by thePhytalidae, which post Theseus bestowed upon them as a recompense fortheir hospitality towards him. 

XXIV. After the death of Aegeus, Theseus conceived a great and importantdesign. He gathered together all the inhabitants of Attica and made themcitizens of one city, whereas before they had lived dispersed, so as tobe hard to assemble together for the common weal, and at times evenfighting with one another. 

He visited all the villages and tribes, and won their consent; the poorand lower classes gladly accepting his proposals, while he gained overthe more powerful by promising that the new constitution should notinclude a king, but that it should be a pure commonwealth, with himselfmerely acting as general of its army and guardian of its laws, while inother respects it would allow perfect freedom and equality to every one. By these arguments he convinced some of them, and the rest knowing hispower and courage chose rather to be persuaded than forced intocompliance. He therefore destroyed the prytaneia, the senate house, andthe magistracy of each individual township, built one common prytaneumand senate house for them all on the site of the present acropolis, called the city Athens, and instituted the Panathenaic festival commonto all of them. He also instituted a festival for the resident aliens, on the sixteenth of the month, Hekatombeion, which is still kept up. Andhaving, according to his promise, laid down his sovereign power, hearranged the new constitution under the auspices of the gods; for hemade inquiry at Delphi as to how he should deal with the city, andreceived the following answer:

 "Thou son of Aegeus and of Pittheus' maid, My father hath within thy city laid The bounds of many cities; weigh not down Thy soul with thought; the bladder cannot drown. "

The same thing they say was afterwards prophesied by the Sibylconcerning the city, in these words:

 "The bladder may be dipped, but cannot drown. "

XXV. Wishing still further to increase the number of his citizens, heinvited all strangers to come and share equal privileges, and they saythat the words now used, "Come hither all ye peoples, " was theproclamation then used by Theseus, establishing as it were acommonwealth of all nations. But he did not permit his state to fallinto the disorder which this influx of all kinds of people wouldprobably have produced, but divided the people into three classes, ofEupatridae or nobles, Geomori or farmers, Demiurgi or artisans. To theEupatridae he assigned the care of religious rites, the supply ofmagistrates for the city, and the interpretation of the laws and customssacred or profane, yet he placed them on an equality with the othercitizens, thinking that the nobles would always excel in dignity, thefarmers in usefulness, and the artisans in numbers. Aristotle tells usthat he was the first who inclined to democracy, and gave up the titleof king; and Homer seems to confirm this view by speaking of the peopleof the Athenians alone of all the states mentioned in his catalogue ofships. Theseus also struck money with the figure of a bull, eitheralluding to the bull of Marathon, or Taurus, Minos' general, or else toencourage farming among the citizens. Hence they say came the words, "worth ten, " or "worth a hundred oxen. " He permanently annexed Megara toAttica, and set up the famous pillar on the Isthmus, on which he wrotethe distinction between the countries in two trimeter lines, of whichthe one looking east says, "This is not Peloponnesus, but Ionia, "

and the one looking west says, "This is Peloponnesus, not Ionia. "

And also he instituted games there, in emulation of Herakles; that, justas Herakles had ordained that the Greeks should celebrate the Olympicgames in honour of Zeus, so by Theseus's appointment they shouldcelebrate the Isthmian games in honour of Poseidon. 

The festival which was previously established there in honour ofMelikerta used to be celebrated by night, and to be more like areligious mystery than a great spectacle and gathering. Some writersassert that the Isthmian games were established in honour of Skeiron, and that Theseus wished to make them an atonement for the murder of hiskinsman; for Skeiron was the son of Kanethus and of Henioche thedaughter of Pittheus. Others say that this festival was established inhonour of Sinis, not of Skeiron. Be this as it may, Theseus establishedit, and stipulated with the Corinthians that visitors from Athens whocame to the games should have a seat of honour in as large a space ascould be covered by a sail of the public ship which carried them, whenstretched out on the ground. This we are told by Hellanikus and Andronof Halikarnassus. 

XXVI. Besides this, according to Philochorus and other writers, hesailed with Herakles to the Euxine, took part in the campaign againstthe Amazons, and received Antiope as the reward for his valour; but mosthistorians, among whom are Pherekydes, Hellanikus, and Herodorus, saythat Theseus made an expedition of his own later than that of Herakles, and that he took the Amazon captive, which is a more reasonable story. For no one of his companions is said to have captured an Amazon; whileBion relates that he caught this one by treachery and carried her off;for the Amazons, he says, were not averse to men, and did not avoidTheseus when he touched at their coast, but even offered him presents. He invited the bearer of these on board his ship; and when she hadembarked he set sail. But one, Menekrates, who has written a history ofthe town of Nikaea in Bithynia, states that Theseus spent a long time inthat country with Antiope, and that there were three young Athenians, brothers, who were his companions in arms, by name Euneon, Thoas, andSoloeis. Soloeis fell in love with Antiope, and, without telling hisbrothers, confided his passion to one of his comrades. This man laid thematter before Antiope, who firmly rejected his pretensions, but treatedhim quietly and discreetly, telling Theseus nothing about it. Soloeis, in despair at his rejection, leaped into a river and perished; andTheseus then at length learned the cause of the young man's death. Inhis sorrow he remembered and applied to himself an oracle he hadreceived from Delphi. It had been enjoined upon him by the Pythia thatwhenever he should be struck down with special sorrow in a foreign land, he should found a city in that place and leave some of his companionsthere as its chiefs. In consequence of this the city which he foundedwas called Pythopolis, in honour of the Pythian Apollo, and theneighbouring river was called Soloeis, after the youth who died in it. He left there the brothers of Soloeis as the chiefs and lawgivers of thenew city, and together, with them one Hermus, an Athenian Eupatrid. Inconsequence of this, the people of Pythopolis call a certain place intheir city the house of Hermes, by a mistaken accentuation transferringthe honour due to their founder, to their god Hermes. 

XXVII. This was the origin of the war with the Amazons; and it seems tohave been carried on in no feeble or womanish spirit, for they nevercould have encamped in the city nor have fought a battle close to thePnyx and the Museum unless they had conquered the rest of the country, so as to be able to approach the city safely. It is hard to believe, asHellanikus relates, that they crossed the Cimmerian Bosphorus on theice; but that they encamped almost in the city is borne witness to bythe local names, and by the tombs of the fallen. For a long time bothparties held aloof, unwilling to engage; but at last Theseus, aftersacrificing to Phobos (Fear), attacked them. The battle took place inthe month Boedromion, on the day on which the Athenians celebrate thefeast Boedromia. Kleidemus gives us accurate details, stating that theleft wing of the Amazons stood at the place now called the Amazoneum, while the right reached up to the Pnyx, at the place where the gildedfigure of Victory now stands. The Athenians attacked them on this side, issuing from the Museum, and the tombs of the fallen are to be seenalong the street which leads to the gate near the shrine of the heroChalkodus, which is called the Peiraeic gate. On this side the womenforced them back as far as the temple of the Eumenides, but on the otherside those who assailed them from the temple of Pallas, Ardettus, andthe Lyceum, drove their right wing in confusion back to their camp withgreat slaughter. In the fourth month of the war a peace was broughtabout by Hippolyte; for this writer names the wife of Theseus Hippolyte, not Antiope. Some relate that she was slain fighting by the side ofTheseus by a javelin hurled by one Molpadia, and that the column whichstands beside the temple of Olympian Earth is sacred to her memory. Itis not to be wondered at that history should be at fault when dealingwith such ancient events as these, for there is another story atvariance with this, to the effect that Antiope caused the woundedAmazons to be secretly transported to Chalkis, where they were takencare of, and some of them were buried there, at what is now called theAmazoneum. However, it is a proof of the war having ended in a treaty ofpeace, that the place near the temple of Theseus where they swore toobserve it, is still called Horeomosium, and that the sacrifice to theAmazons always has taken place before the festival of Theseus. Thepeople of Megara also show a burying-place of the Amazons, as one goesfrom the market-place to what they call Rhus, where the lozenge-shapedbuilding stands. It is said that some others died at Chaeronea, and wereburied by the little stream which it seems was anciently calledThermodon, but now is called Haemon, about which we have treated in thelife of Demosthenes. It would appear that the Amazons did not even getacross Thessaly without trouble, for graves of them are shown to thisday at Skotussa and Kynoskephalae. 

XXVIII. The above is all that is worthy of mention about the Amazons;for, as to the story which the author of the 'Theseid' relates aboutthis attack of the Amazons being brought about by Antiope to revengeherself upon Theseus for his marriage with Phaedra, and how she and herAmazons fought, and how Herakles slew them, all this is clearlyfabulous. After the death of Antiope, Theseus married Phaedra, having ason by Antiope named Hippolytus, or Demophoon, according to Pindar. Asfor his misfortunes with this wife and son, as the account given byhistorians does not differ from that which appears in the plays of thetragic poets, we must believe them to have happened as all these writerssay. 

XXIX. However, there are certain other legends about Theseus' marriagewhich have never appeared on the stage, which have neither a creditablebeginning nor a prosperous termination: for it is said that he carriedoff one Anaxo, a Troezenian girl, and after slaying Sinis and Kerkyon heforced their daughters, and that he married Periboea the mother of Ajaxand also Phereboea and Iope the daughter of Iphikles: and, as has beentold already, it was on account of his love for Aegle the daughter ofPanopeus that he deserted Ariadne, which was a shameful anddiscreditable action. And in addition to all this he is charged withcarrying off Helen, which brought war upon Attica, and exile anddestruction on himself; about which we shall speak presently. But, though many adventures were undertaken by the heroes of those times, Herodorus is of opinion that Theseus took no part in any of them, exceptwith the Lapithae in their fight with the Centaurs; though other writerssay that he went to Kolchis with Jason and took part with Meleager inthe hunt of the Kalydonian boar. 

From these legends arises the proverb, "Not without Theseus;" also he byhimself without any comrades performed many glorious deeds, from whichthe saying came into vogue, "This is another Herakles. "

Theseus, together with Adrastus, effected the recovery of the bodies ofthose who fell under the walls of the Cadmea at Thebes, not afterconquering the Thebans, as Euripides puts it in his play, but by a truceand convention, according to most writers. Philochorus even states thatthis was the first occasion on which a truce was made for the recoveryof those slain in battle. But we have shown in our 'Life of Herakles'that he was the first to restore the corpses of the slain to the enemy. The tombs of the rank and file are to be seen at Eleutherae, but thoseof the chiefs at Eleusis, by favour of Theseus to Adrastus. Euripides'splay of the 'Suppliants' is contradicted by that of Aeschylus, the'Eleusinians, ' in which Theseus is introduced giving orders for this tobe done. 

XXX. His friendship for Peirithous is said to have arisen in thefollowing manner: He had a great reputation for strength and courage;Peirithous, wishing to make trial of these, drove his cattle away fromthe plain of Marathon, and when he learned that Theseus was pursuingthem, armed, he did not retire, but turned and faced him. Each man thenadmiring the beauty and courage of his opponent, refrained from battle, and first Peirithous holding out his hand bade Theseus himself assessthe damages of his raid upon the cattle, saying that he himself wouldwillingly submit to whatever penalty the other might inflict. Theseusthought no more of their quarrel, and invited him to become his friendand comrade; and they ratified their compact of friendship by an oath. Hereupon, Peirithous, who was about to marry Deidameia, begged Theseusto come and visit his country and meet the Lapithae. He also had invitedthe Centaurs to the banquet; and as they in their drunken insolence laidhands upon the women, the Lapithae attacked them. Some of them theyslew, and the rest they overcame, and afterwards, with the assistance ofTheseus, banished from their country. Herodorus, however, says that thisis not how these events took place, but that the war was going on, andthat Theseus went to help the Lapithae and while on his way thitherfirst beheld Herakles, whom he made a point of visiting at Trachis, where he was resting after his labours and wanderings; and that they metwith many compliments and much good feeling on both sides. But one wouldmore incline to those writers who tell us that they often met, and thatHerakles was initiated by Theseus's desire, and was also purified beforeinitiation at his instance, which ceremony was necessary because of somereckless action. 

XXXI. Theseus was fifty years old, according to Hellanikus, when hecarried off Helen, who was a mere child. For this reason some who wishto clear him of this, the heaviest of all the charges against him, saythat it was not he who carried off Helen, but that Idas and Lynkeuscarried her off and deposited her in his keeping. Afterwards the TwinBrethren came and demanded her back, but he would not give her up; oreven it is said that Tyndareus himself handed her over to him, becausehe feared that Enarsphorus the son of Hippocoon would take her by force, she being only a child at the time. But the most probable story and thatwhich most writers agree in is the following: The two friends, Theseusand Peirithous, came to Sparta, seized the maiden, who was dancing inthe temple of Artemis Orthia, and carried her off. As the pursuersfollowed no farther than Tegea, they felt no alarm, but leisurelytravelled through Peloponnesus, and made a compact that whichever ofthem should win Helen by lot was to have her to wife, but must help theother to a marriage. They cast lots on this understanding, and Theseuswon. As the maiden was not yet ripe for marriage he took her with him toAphidnae, and there placing his mother with her gave her into the chargeof his friend Aphidnus, bidding him watch over her and keep her presencesecret. He himself in order to repay his obligation to Peirithous wenton a journey with him to Epirus to obtain the daughter of Aidoneus theking of the Molossians, who called his wife Persephone, his daughterKore, and his dog Cerberus. All the suitors of his daughter were biddenby him to fight this dog, and the victor was to receive her hand. However, as he learned that Peirithous and his friend were come, not aswooers, but as ravishers, he cast them into prison. He put an end toPeirithous at once, by means of his dog, but only guarded Theseusstrictly. 

XXXII. Now at this period Mnestheus, the son of Peteus, who was the sonof Orneus, who was the son of Erechtheus, first of all mankind they saytook to the arts of a demagogue, and to currying favour with the people. This man formed a league of the nobles, who had long borne Theseus agrudge for having destroyed the local jurisdiction and privileges ofeach of the Eupatrids by collecting them all together into the capital, where they were no more than his subjects and slaves; and he alsoexcited the common people by telling them that although they wereenjoying a fancied freedom they really had been deprived of theirancestral privileges and sacred rites, and made to endure the rule ofone foreign despot, instead of that of many good kings of their ownblood. 

While he was thus busily employed, the invasion of Attica by the sons ofTyndareus greatly assisted his revolutionary scheme; so that some saythat it was he who invited them to come. At first they abstained fromviolence, and confined themselves to asking that their sister Helenshould be given up to them; but when they were told by the citizens thatshe was not in their hands, and that they knew not where she was, theyproceeded to warlike measures. Akademus, who had by some meansdiscovered that she was concealed at Aphidnae, now told them where shewas; for which cause he was honoured by the sons of Tyndareus during hislife, and also the Lacedaemonians, though they often invaded the countryand ravaged it unsparingly, yet never touched the place called theAkademeia, for Akademus's sake. Dikaearchus says that Echemus andMarathus, two Arcadians, took part in that war with the sons ofTyndareus; and that from the first the place now called Akademeia wasthen named Echedemia, and that from the second the township of Marathontakes its names, because he in accordance with some oracle voluntarilyoffered himself as a sacrifice there in the sight of the whole army. 

However, the sons of Tyndareus came to Aphidnae, and took the placeafter a battle, in which it is said that Alykus fell, the son ofSkeiron, who then was fighting on the side of the Dioskuri. In memoryof this man it is said that the place in the territory of Megara wherehis remains lie is called Alykus. But Hereas writes that Alykus wasslain by Theseus at Aphidnae, and as evidence he quotes this verse aboutAlykus, "Him whom Theseus slew in the spacious streets of Aphidnae, Fighting for fair-haired Helen. "

But it is not likely that if Theseus had been there, his mother and thetown of Aphidnae would have been taken. 

XXXIII. After the fall of Aphidnae, the people of Athens becameterrified, and were persuaded by Mnestheus to admit the sons ofTyndareus to the city, and to treat them as friends, because, he said, they were only at war with Theseus, who had been the first to useviolence, and were the saviours and benefactors of the rest of mankind. These words of his were confirmed by their behaviour, for, victorious asthey were, they yet demanded nothing except initiation into themysteries, as they were, no less than Herakles, connected with the city. This was permitted them, and they were adopted by Aphidnus, as Herakleshad been by Pylius. They received divine honours, being addressed as"Anakes, " either because of the cessation of the war, or from the carethey took, when they had such a large army within the walls of Athens, that no one should be wronged; for those who take care of or guardanything are said to do it "anakos, " and perhaps for this reason kingsare called "Anaktes. " Some say that they were called Anakas because ofthe appearance of their stars in the heavens above, for the Atticscalled "above" "anekas. "

XXXIV. It is said that Aethra, the mother of Theseus, was carried off asa captive to Lacedaemon, and thence to Troy with Helen, and Homersupports this view, when he says that there followed Helen, "Aithra the daughter of Pittheus and large-eyed Klymene. "

Others reject this verse, and the legend about Mounychus, who is said tohave been the bastard son of Laodike, by Demophoon, and to have beenbrought up in Troy by Aithra. But Istrus, in his thirteenth book of his'History of Attica, ' tells quite a different and peculiar story aboutAithra, that he had heard that Paris was conquered by Achilles andPatroklus near the river Spercheius, in Thessaly, and that Hector tookthe city of Troezen by storm, and amongst the plunder carried offAithra, who had been left there. But this seems impossible. 

XXXV. Now Aidoneus the Molossian king chanced to be entertainingHerakles, and related to him the story of Theseus and Peirithous, whatthey had intended to do, and how they had been caught in the act andpunished. Herakles was much grieved at hearing how one had perishedingloriously, and the other was like to perish. He thought that nothingwould be gained by reproaching the king for his conduct to Peirithous, but he begged for the life of Theseus, and pointed out that the releaseof his friend was a favour which he deserved. Aidoneus agreed, andTheseus, when set free, returned to Athens, where he found that hisparty was not yet overpowered. Whatever consecrated grounds had been setapart for him by the city, he dedicated to Herakles, and called Herakleainstead of Thesea, except four, according to Philochorus. But, as he atonce wished to preside and manage the state as before, he was met byfactious opposition, for he found that those who had been his enemiesbefore, had now learned not to fear him, while the common people hadbecome corrupted, and now required to be specially flattered instead ofdoing their duty in silence. 

He endeavoured to establish his government by force, but was overpoweredby faction; and at last, despairing of success, he secretly sent hischildren to Euboea, to Elephenor, the son of Chalkodous; and he himself, after solemnly uttering curses on the Athenians at Gargettus, where nowis the place called Araterion, or the place of curses, set sail forSkyros, where he was, he imagined, on friendly terms with theinhabitants, and possessed a paternal estate in the island. At that timeLykomedes was king of Skyros; so he proceeded to demand from him hislands, in order to live there, though some say that he asked him toassist him against the Athenians. Lykomedes, either in fear of the greatreputation of Theseus, or else to gain the favour of Mnestheus, led himup to the highest mountain top in the country, on the pretext ofshowing him his estate from thence, and pushed him over a precipice. Some say that he stumbled and fell of himself, as he was walking aftersupper, according to his custom. As soon as he was dead, no one thoughtany more of him, but Mnestheus reigned over the Athenians, whileTheseus's children were brought up as private citizens by Elephenor, andfollowed him to Ilium. When Mnestheus died at Ilium, they returned homeand resumed their rightful sovereignty. In subsequent times, among manyother things which led the Athenians to honour Theseus as a hero ordemi-god, most remarkable was his appearance at the battle of Marathon, where his spirit was seen by many, clad in armour, leading the chargeagainst the barbarians. 

XXXVI. After the Persian war, in the archonship of Phaedo, the Athenianswere told by the Delphian Oracle to take home the bones of Theseus andkeep them with the greatest care and honour. There was great difficultyin obtaining them and in discovering his tomb, on account of the wildand savage habits of the natives of the island. However, Kimon took theisland, as is written in my history of his Life, and making it a pointof honour to discover his tomb, he chanced to behold an eagle peckingwith its beak and scratching with its talons at a small rising ground. Here he dug, imagining that the spot had been pointed out by a miracle. There was found the coffin of a man of great stature, and lying besideit a brazen lance-head and a sword. These relics were brought to Athensby Kimon, on board of his trireme, and the delighted Athenians receivedthem with splendid processions and sacrifices, just as if the herohimself were come to the city. He is buried in the midst of the city, near where the Gymnasium now stands, and his tomb is a place ofsanctuary for slaves, and all that are poor and oppressed, becauseTheseus, during his life, was the champion and avenger of the poor, andalways kindly hearkened to their prayers. Their greatest sacrifice inhis honour takes place on the eighth of the month of Pyanepsion, uponwhich day he and the youths came back from Crete. But besides this theyhold a service in his honour on the eighth of all the other months, either because it was on the eighth day of Hekatombeion that he firstarrived in Athens from Troezen, as is related by Diodorus thetopographer, or else thinking that number to be especially his own, because he is said to have been the son of Poseidon, and Poseidon ishonoured on the eighth day of every month. For the number eight is thefirst cube of an even number, and is double the first square, andtherefore peculiarly represents the immovable abiding power of that godwhom we address as "the steadfast, " and the "earth upholder. "

LIFE OF ROMULUS. 

Historians are not agreed upon the origin and meaning of the famous nameof Rome, which is so celebrated through all the world. Some relate thatthe Pelasgi, after wandering over the greater part of the world, andconquering most nations, settled there, and gave the city its name fromtheir own strength in battle. [A] Others tell us that after the captureof Troy some fugitives obtained ships, were carried by the winds to theTyrrhenian or Tuscan coast, and cast anchor in the Tiber. There thewomen, who had suffered much from the sea voyage, were advised by onewho was accounted chief among them for wisdom and noble birth, Roma byname, to burn the ships. At first the men were angry at this, butafterwards, being compelled to settle round about the Palatine Hill, they fared better than they expected, as they found the country fertileand the neighbours hospitable; so they paid great honour to Roma, andcalled the city after her name. From this circumstance, they say, arosethe present habit of women kissing their male relatives and connections;because those women, after they had burned the ships, thus embraced andcaressed the men, trying to pacify their rage. 

[Footnote A: The Greek [Greek: rhômê] = strength. ]

II. Some say that Roma, who gave the name to the city, was the daughterof Italus and Leucaria, or of Telephus the son of Hercules, and the wifeof Aeneas, while others say that she was the daughter of Ascanius theson of Aeneas. Others relate that Romanus, the son of Odysseus andCirce, founded the city, or that it was Romus, the son of Hemathion, whowas sent from Troy by Diomedes; or Romis the despot of the Latins, whodrove out of his kingdom the Tyrrhenians, who, starting from Thessaly, had made their way to Lydia, and thence to Italy. And even those whofollow the most reasonable of these legends, and admit that it wasRomulus who founded the city after his own name, do not agree about hisbirth; for some say that he was the son of Aeneas and Dexithea thedaughter of Phorbas, and with his brother Romus was brought to Italywhen a child, and that as the river was in flood, all the other boatswere swamped, but that in which the children were was carried to a softbank and miraculously preserved, from which the name of Rome was givento the place. Others say that Roma, the daughter of that Trojan lady, married Latinus the son of Telemachus and bore a son, Romulus; whileothers say that his mother was Aemilia the daughter of Aeneas andLavinia, by an intrigue with Mars; while others give a completelylegendary account of his birth, as follows:

In the house of Tarchetius, the king of the Albani, a cruel and lawlessman, a miracle took place. A male figure arose from the hearth, andremained there for many days. Now there was in Etruria an oracle ofTethys, which told Tarchetius that a virgin must be offered to thefigure; for there should be born of her a son surpassing all mankind instrength, valour, and good fortune. Tarchetius hereupon explained theoracle to one of his daughters, and ordered her to give herself up tothe figure; but she, not liking to do so, sent her servant-maid instead. Tarchetius, when he learned this, was greatly incensed, and cast themboth into prison, meaning to put them to death. However, in a dream, Vesta appeared to him, forbidding him to slay them. In consequence ofthis he locked them up with a loom, telling them that when they hadwoven the piece of work upon it they should be married. So they wove allday, and during the night other maidens sent by Tarchetius undid theirwork again. Now when the servant-maid was delivered of twins, Tarchetiusgave them to one Teratius, and bade him destroy them. He laid them downnear the river; and there they were suckled by a she-wolf, while allsorts of birds brought them morsels of food, until one day a cowherd sawthem. Filled with wonder he ventured to come up to the children andbear them off. Saved from death in this manner they grew up, and thenattacked and slew Tarchetius. This is the legend given by onePromathion, the compiler of a history of Italy. 

III. But the most credible story, and that has most vouchers for itstruth, is that which was first published in Greece by Diokles ofPeparethos, a writer whom Fabius Pictor has followed in most points. There are variations in this legend also; but, generally speaking, itruns as follows:

The dynasty established by Aeneas at Alba Longa, came down to twobrothers, Numitor and Amulius. Amulius offered his brother the choicebetween the sovereign power and the royal treasure, including the goldbrought from Troy. Numitor chose the sovereign power. But Amulius, possessing all the treasure, and thereby having more power than hisbrother, easily dethroned him, and, as he feared his brother's daughtermight have children who would avenge him, he made her a priestess ofVesta, sworn to celibacy for ever. This lady is named by some Ilia, byothers Rhea or Silvia. After no long time she was found to be withchild, against the law of the Vestals. Her life was saved by theentreaties of Antho, the king's daughter, but she was closelyimprisoned, that she might not be delivered without Amulius's knowledge. She bore two children of remarkable beauty and size, and Amulius, allthe more alarmed at this, bade an attendant take them and expose them. Some say that this man's name was Faustulus, while others say that thiswas not his name, but that of their rescuer. However, he placed theinfants in a cradle, and went down to the river with the intention ofthrowing them into it, but seeing it running strong and turbulently, hefeared to approach it, laid down the cradle near the bank and went away. The river, which was in flood, rose, and gently floated off the cradle, and carried it down to a soft place which is now called Cermalus, butanciently, it seems, was called Germanus, because brothers are calledgermani. 

IV. Near this place was a fig-tree, which they called Ruminalius, eitherfrom Romulus, as most persons imagine, or because cattle came toruminate in its shade, or, more probably, because of the suckling ofthe children there, for the ancients called the nipple _rouma_. Moreover, they call the goddess who appears to have watched over thechildren Roumilia, and to her they sacrifice offerings without wine, andpour milk as a libation upon her altar. 

It is said that while the infants were lying in this place, the she-wolfsuckled them, and that a woodpecker came and helped to feed and watchover them. Now these animals are sacred to the god Mars; and the Latinshave a peculiar reverence and worship for the woodpecker. Thesecircumstances, therefore, did not a little to confirm the tale of themother of the children, that their father was Mars, though some say thatshe was deceived by Amulius himself, who, after condemning her to a lifeof virginity, appeared before her dressed in armour, and ravished her. Others say that the twofold meaning of the name of their nurse gave riseto this legend, for the Latins use the word _lupa_ for she-wolves, andalso for unchaste women, as was the wife of Faustulus, who brought upthe children, Acca Laurentia by name. To her also the Romans offersacrifice, and in the month of April the priest of Mars brings libationsto her, and the feast is called Laurentia. 

V. The Romans also worship another Laurentia, for this reason: Thepriest of Hercules, weary with idleness, proposed to the god to cast thedice on the condition that, if he won, he should receive something goodfrom the god, while if he lost, he undertook to provide the god with abountiful feast and a fair woman to take his pleasure with. Upon theseconditions he cast the dice, first for the god, and then for himself, and was beaten. Wishing to settle his wager properly, and making a pointof keeping his word, he prepared a feast for the god, and hiredLaurentia, then in the pride of her beauty, though not yet famous. Hefeasted her in the temple, where he had prepared a couch, and aftersupper he locked her in, that the god might possess her. And, indeed, the god is said to have appeared to the lady, and to have bidden her goearly in the morning into the market-place, and to embrace the first manshe met, and make him her friend. There met her a citizen far advancedin years, possessing a fair income, childless, and unmarried. His namewas Tarrutius. He took Laurentia to himself, and loved her, and upon hisdeath left her heiress to a large and valuable property, the greaterpart of which she left by will to the city. It is related of her, thatafter she had become famous, and was thought to enjoy the favour ofHeaven, she vanished near the very same spot where the other Laurentialay buried. This place is now called Velabrum, because during thefrequent overflowings of the river, people used there to be ferried overto the market-place; now they call ferrying _velatura_. Some say thatthe road from the market-place to the circus, starting from this point, used to be covered with sails or awnings by those who treated the peopleto a spectacle; and in the Latin tongue a sail is called _velum_. Thisis why the second Laurentia is honoured by the Romans. 

VI. Now Faustulus, the swineherd of Amulius, kept the children concealedfrom every one, though some say that Numitor knew of it, and shared theexpense of their education. They were sent to Gabii to learn theirletters, and everything else that well-born children should know; andthey were called Romulus and Remus, because they were first seen suckingthe wolf. Their noble birth showed itself while they were yet children, in their size and beauty; and when they grew up they were manly andhigh-spirited, of invincible courage and daring. Romulus, however, wasthought the wiser and more politic of the two, and in his discussionswith the neighbours about pasture and hunting, gave them opportunitiesof noting that his disposition was one which led him to command ratherthan to obey. On account of these qualities they were beloved by theirequals and the poor, but they despised the king's officers and bailiffsas being no braver than themselves, and cared neither for their angernor their threats. They led the lives and followed the pursuits of noblyborn men, not valuing sloth and idleness, but exercise and hunting, defending the land against brigands, capturing plunderers, and avengingthose who had suffered wrong. And thus they became famous. 

VII. Now a quarrel arose between the herdsmen of Numitor and those ofAmulius, and cattle were driven off by the former. Amulius's men, enraged at this, fought and routed the others, and recovered a greatpart of the booty. They cared nothing for Numitor's anger, but collectedtogether many needy persons and slaves, and filled them with arebellious spirit. While Romulus was absent at a sacrifice (for he wasmuch addicted to sacrifices and divination), the herdsmen of Numitorfell in with Remus, accompanied by a small band, and fought with him. After many wounds had been received on both sides, Numitor's menconquered and took Remus alive. Remus was brought before Numitor, whodid not punish him, as he feared his brother's temper, but went to hisbrother and begged for justice, saying that he had suffered wrong at thehands of the king his brother's servants. As all the people of Albasympathised with Remus, and feared that he would be unjustly put todeath, or worse, Amulius, alarmed at them, handed over Remus to hisbrother Numitor, to deal with as he pleased. Numitor took him, and assoon as he reached home, after admiring the bodily strength and statureof the youth, which surpassed all the rest, perceiving in his looks hiscourageous and fiery spirit, undismayed by his present circumstances, and having heard that his deeds corresponded to his appearance, andabove all, as seems probable, some god being with him and watching overthe first beginnings of great events, he was struck by the idea ofasking him to tell the truth as to who he was, and how he was born, giving him confidence and encouragement by his kindly voice and looks. The young man boldly said, "I will conceal nothing from you, for youseem more like a king than Amulius. You hear and judge before youpunish, but he gives men up to be punished without a trial. Formerly we(for we are twins) understood that we were the sons of Faustulus andLaurentia, the king's servants; but now that we are brought before youas culprits, and are falsely accused and in danger of our lives, we haveheard great things about ourselves. Whether they be true or not, we mustnow put to the test. Our birth is said to be a secret, and our nursingand bringing up is yet stranger, for we were cast out to the beasts andthe birds, and were fed by them, suckled by a she-wolf, and fed withmorsels of food by a woodpecker as we lay in our cradle beside the greatriver. Our cradle still exists, carefully preserved, bound with brazenbands, on which is an indistinct inscription, which hereafter will serveas a means by which we may be recognised by our parents, but to nopurpose if we are dead. " Numitor, considering the young man's story, andreckoning up the time from his apparent age, willingly embraced the hopewhich was dawning on his mind, and considered how he might obtain asecret interview with his daughter and tell her of all this; for she wasstill kept a close prisoner. 

VIII. Faustulus, when he heard of Remus being captured and delivered upto Numitor, called upon Romulus to help him, and told him plainly allabout his birth; although previously he had hinted so much, that any onewho paid attention to his words might have known nearly all about it;and he himself with the cradle ran to Numitor full of hopes and fears, now that matters had come to a critical point. He was viewed withsuspicion by the guards at the king's gate, and while they were treatinghim contemptuously, and confusing him by questions, they espied thecradle under his cloak. Now it chanced that one of them had been one ofthose who had taken the children to cast them away, and had been presentwhen they were abandoned. This man, seeing the cradle and recognising itby its make and the inscription on it, suspected the truth, and at oncetold the king and brought the man in to be examined. Faustulus, in thosedire straits, did not altogether remain unshaken, and yet did not quiteallow his secret to be wrung from him. He admitted that the boys werealive, but said that they were living far away from Alba, and that hehimself was bringing the cradle to Ilia, who had often longed to see andtouch it to confirm her belief in the life of her children. Now Amuliusdid what men generally do when excited by fear or rage. He sent in agreat hurry one who was a good man and a friend of Numitor, bidding himask Numitor whether he had heard anything about the survival of thechildren. This man on arrival, finding Numitor all but embracing Remus, confirmed his belief that he was his grandson, and bade him take hismeasures quickly, remaining by him himself to offer assistance. Even hadthey wished it, there was no time for delay; for Romulus was alreadynear, and no small number of the citizens, through hatred and fear ofAmulius, were going out to join him. He himself brought no small force, arrayed in companies of a hundred each. Each of these was led by a manwho carried a bundle of sticks and straw upon a pole. The Latins calledthese _manipla_; and from this these companies are even at the presentday called _maniples_ in the Roman army. Now as Remus raised a revoltwithin, while Romulus assailed the palace without, the despot wascaptured and put to death without having been able to do anything, ortake any measures for his own safety. 

The greater part of the above story is told by Fabius Pictor and Dioklesof Peparethos, who seem to have been the first historians of thefoundation of Rome. The story is doubted by many on account of itstheatrical and artificial form, yet we ought not to disbelieve it whenwe consider what wondrous works are wrought by chance, and when, too, wereflect on the Roman Empire, which, had it not had a divine origin, never could have arrived at its present extent. 

IX. After the death of Amulius, and the reorganisation of the kingdom, the twins, who would not live in Alba as subjects, and did not wish toreign there during the life of their grandfather, gave up the sovereignpower to him, and, having made a suitable provision for their mother, determined to dwell by themselves, and to found a city in the parts inwhich they themselves had been reared; at least, this is the mostprobable of the various reasons which are given. It may also have beennecessary, as many slaves and fugitives had gathered round them, eitherthat they should disperse these men and so lose their entire power, orelse go and dwell alone amongst them. It is clear, from the rape of theSabine women, that the citizens of Alba would not admit these outcastsinto their own body, since that deed was caused, not by wantoninsolence, but by necessity, as they could not obtain wives by fairmeans; for after carrying the women off they treated them with thegreatest respect. Afterwards, when the city was once founded, they madeit a sanctuary for people in distress to take refuge in, saying that itbelonged to the god Asylus; and they received in it all sorts ofpersons, not giving up slaves to their masters, debtors to theircreditors, or murderers to their judges, but saying that, in accordancewith a Pythian oracle, the sanctuary was free to all; so that the citysoon became full of men, for they say that at first it contained no lessthan a thousand hearths. Of this more hereafter. When they wereproceeding to found the city, they at once quarrelled about its site. Romulus fixed upon what is now called Roma Quadrata, a square piece ofground, and wished the city to be built in that place; but Remuspreferred a strong position on Mount Aventino, which, in memory of him, was called the Remonium, and now is called Rignarium. 

They agreed to decide their dispute by watching the flight of birds, andhaving taken their seats apart, it is said that six vultures appeared toRemus, and afterwards twice as many to Romulus. Some say that Remusreally saw his vultures, but that Romulus only pretended to have seenthem, and when Remus came to him, then the twelve appeared to Romulus;for which reason the Romans at the present day draw their auguriesespecially from vultures. Herodorus of Pontus says that Herculesdelighted in the sight of a vulture, when about to do any great action. It is the most harmless of all creatures, for it injures neither crops, fruit, nor cattle, and lives entirely upon dead corpses. It does notkill or injure anything that has life, and even abstains from dead birdsfrom its relationship to them. Now eagles, and owls, and falcons, peckand kill other birds, in spite of Aeschylus's line, "Bird-eating bird polluted e'er must be. "

Moreover, the other birds are, so to speak, ever before our eyes, andcontinually remind us of their presence; but the vulture is seldom seen, and it is difficult to meet with its young, which has suggested to somepersons the strange idea that vultures come from some other world to payus their rare visits, which are like those occurrences which, accordingto the soothsayers, do not happen naturally or spontaneously, but by theinterposition of Heaven. 

X. When Remus discovered the deceit he was very angry, and, whileRomulus was digging a trench round where the city wall was to be built, he jeered at the works, and hindered them. At last, as he jumped overit, he was struck dead either by Romulus himself, or by Celer, one ofhis companions. In this fight, Faustulus was slain, and also Pleistinus, who is said to have been Faustulus's brother and to have helped him inrearing Romulus and his brother. Celer retired into Tyrrhenia, and fromhim the Romans call quick sharp men _Celeres_; Quintus Metellus, who, when his father died, in a very few days exhibited a show of gladiators, was surnamed Celer by the Romans in their wonder at the short time hehad spent in his preparations. 

XI. Romulus, after burying Remus and his foster-parents in the Remurium, consecrated his city, having fetched men from Etruria, who taught himhow to perform it according to sacred rites and ceremonies, as thoughthey were celebrating holy mysteries. A trench was dug in a circle roundwhat is now the Comitium, and into it were flung first-fruits of allthose things which are honourable and necessary for men. Finally eachman brought a little of the earth of the country from which he came, andflung it into one heap and mixed it all together. They call this pit bythe same name as the heavens, _Mundus_. Next, they drew the outline ofthe city in the form of a circle, with this place as its centre. Andthen the founder, having fitted a plough with a brazen ploughshare, andyoked to it a bull and a cow, himself ploughs a deep furrow round theboundaries. It is the duty of his attendants to throw the clods inwards, which the plough turns up, and to let none of them fall outwards. Bythis line they define the extent of the fortifications, and it is calledby contraction, Pomoerium, which means behind the walls or beyond thewalls (_post moenia_). Wherever they intend to place a gate they takeoff the ploughshare, and carry the plough over, leaving a space. Afterthis ceremony they consider the entire wall sacred, except the gates;but if they were sacred also, they could not without scruple bring inand out necessaries and unclean things through them. 

XII. It is agreed that the foundation of the city took place on theeleventh day before the Kalends of May (the 21st of April). And on thisday the Romans keep a festival which they call the birthday of the city. At this feast, originally, we are told, they sacrificed nothing that haslife, but thought it right to keep the anniversary of the birth of thecity pure and unpolluted by blood. However, before the foundation of thecity, they used to keep a pastoral feast called Palilia. The Romanmonths at the present day do not in any way correspond to those ofGreece; yet they (the Greeks) distinctly affirm that the day upon whichRomulus founded the city was the 30th of the month. The Greeks likewisetell us that on that day an eclipse of the sun took place, which theythink was that observed by Antimachus of Teos, the epic poet, whichoccurred in the third year of the sixth Olympiad. In the time of Varrothe philosopher, who of all the Romans was most deeply versed in Romanhistory, there was one Taroutius, a companion of his, a philosopher andmathematician, who had especially devoted himself to the art of castingnativities, and was thought to have attained great skill therein. Tothis man Varro proposed the task of finding the day and hour ofRomulus's birth, basing his calculations on the influence which thestars were said to have had upon his life, just as geometricians solvetheir problems by the analytic method; for it belongs, he argued, to thesame science to predict the life of a man from the time of his birth, and to find the date of a man's birth if the incidents of his life aregiven. Taroutius performed his task, and after considering the thingsdone and suffered by Romulus, the length of his life, the manner of hisdeath, and all such like matters, he confidently and boldly assertedthat Romulus was conceived by his mother in the first year of the secondOlympiad, at the third hour of the twenty-third day of the month whichis called in the Egyptian calendar _Choiac_, at which time there was atotal eclipse of the sun. He stated that he was born on the twenty-firstday of the month _Thouth_, about sunrise. Rome was founded by him on theninth day of the month _Pharmouthi_, between the second and third hour;for it is supposed that the fortunes of cities, as well as those of men, have their certain periods which can be discovered by the position ofthe stars at their nativities. The quaint subtlety of these speculationsmay perhaps amuse the reader more than their legendary character willweary him. 

XIII. When the city was founded, Romulus first divided all theable-bodied males into regiments, each consisting of three thousandinfantry and three hundred cavalry. These were named legions, becausethey consisted of men of military age selected from the population. Therest of the people were now organised. They were called Populus, and ahundred of the noblest were chosen from among them and formed into acouncil. These he called Patricians, and their assembly the Senate. Thisword Senate clearly means assembly of old men; and the members of itwere named Patricians, according to some, because they were the fathersof legitimate offspring; according to others, because they were able togive an account of who their own fathers were, which few of the firstcolonists were able to do. Others say that it was from their_Patrocinium_, as they then called, and do at the present day call, their patronage of their clients. There is a legend that this word arosefrom one Patron, a companion of Evander, who was kind and helpful to hisinferiors. But it is most reasonable to suppose that Romulus called themby this name because he intended the most powerful men to show kindnessto their inferiors, and to show the poorer classes that they ought notto fear the great nor grudge them their honours, but be on friendlyterms with them, thinking of them and addressing them as fathers(Patres). For, up to the present day, foreigners address the senators asLords, but the Romans call them Conscript Fathers, using the mosthonourable and least offensive of their titles. Originally they weremerely called the Fathers, but afterwards, as more were enrolled, theywere called Conscript Fathers. By this more dignified title Romulusdistinguished the Senate from the People; and he introduced anotherdistinction between the powerful and the common people by naming theformer patrons, which means defenders, and the latter clients, whichmeans dependants. By this means he implanted in them a mutual goodfeeling which was the source of great benefits, for the patrons acted asadvocates for their clients in law suits, and in all cases became theiradvisers and friends, while the clients not only respected their patronsbut even assisted them, when they were poor, to portion their daughtersor pay their creditors. No law or magistrate could compel a patron tobear witness against his client, nor a client against his patron. Moreover, in later times, although all their other rights remainedunimpaired, it was thought disgraceful for a patron to receive moneyfrom a client. So much for these matters. 

XIV. In the fourth month after the city was founded, we are told byFabius, the reckless deed of carrying off the women took place. Some saythat Romulus himself naturally loved war, and, being persuaded by someprophecies that Rome was fated to grow by wars and so reach the greatestprosperity, attacked the Sabines without provocation; for he did notcarry off many maidens, but only thirty, as though it was war that hedesired more than wives for his followers. This is not probable: Romulussaw that his city was newly-filled with colonists, few of whom hadwives, while most of them were a mixed multitude of poor or unknownorigin, who were despised by the neighouring states, and expected bythem shortly to fall to pieces. He intended his violence to lead to analliance with the Sabines, as soon as the damsels became reconciled totheir lot, and set about it as follows: First he circulated a rumourthat the altar of some god had been discovered, hidden in the earth. This god was called Census, either because he was the god of counsel(for the Romans to this day call their assembly _Concilium_, and theirchief magistrates _consuls_, as it were those who take counsel on behalfof the people), or else it was the equestrian Neptune. The altar standsin the greater hippodrome, and is kept concealed except during thehorse-races, when it is uncovered. Some say that, as the whole plot wasdark and mysterious, it was natural that the god's altar should beunderground. When it was brought out, he proclaimed a splendid sacrificein its honour, and games and shows open to all men. Many peopleassembled to see them, and Romulus sat among his nobles, dressed in apurple robe. The signal for the assault was that he should rise, unfoldhis cloak, and then again wrap it around him. Many men armed with swordsstood round him, and at the signal they drew their swords, rushedforward with a shout, and snatched up the daughters of the Sabines, butallowed the others to escape unharmed. Some say that only thirty werecarried off, from whom the thirty tribes were named, but Valerius ofAntium says five hundred and twenty-seven, and Juba six hundred andeighty-three, all maidens. This is the best apology for Romulus; forthey only carried off one married woman, Hersilia, which proved that itwas not through insolence or wickedness that they carried them off, butwith the intention of forcibly effecting a union between the two races. Some say that Hersilia married Hostilius, one of the noblest Romans, others that she married Romulus himself, and that he had children byher; one daughter, called Prima from her being the first-born, and oneson, whom his father originally named Aollius, because of the assemblingof the citizens, but whom they afterwards named Avillius. This is thestory as told by Zenodotus of Troezen, but many contradict it. 

XV. Among the ravishers they say there were some men of low conditionwho had seized a remarkably tall and beautiful maiden. When any of thenobles met them and endeavoured to take her away from them, they criedout that they were taking her to Talasius, a young man of good familyand reputation. Hearing this, all agreed and applauded, and some eventurned and accompanied them, crying out the name of Talasius throughtheir friendship for him. From this circumstance the Romans up to thepresent day call upon Talasius in their marriage-songs, as the Greeks doupon Hymen; for Talasius is said to have been fortunate in his wife. Sextius Sulla of Carthage, a man neither deficient in learning or taste, told me that this word was given by Romulus as the signal for the rape, and so that all those who carried off maidens cried "Talasio. " But mostauthors, among whom is Juba, think that it is used to encourage bridesto industry and spinning wool (talasia), as at that time Greek wordshad not been overpowered by Latin ones. But if this be true, and theRomans at that time really used this word "talasia" for wool-spinning, as we do, we might make another more plausible conjecture about it. Whenthe treaty of peace was arranged between the Romans and the Sabines, aspecial provision was made about the women, that they were to do no workfor the men except wool-spinning. And thus the custom remained for thefriends of those who were married afterwards to call upon Talasius injest, meaning to testify that the bride was to do no other work thanspinning. To the present day the custom remains in force that the bridemust not step over the threshold into her house, but be lifted over itand carried in, because the Sabine maidens were carried in forcibly, anddid not walk in. 

Some add that the parting of the bride's hair with the point of a spearis done in memory of the first Roman marriage having been effected bywar and battle; on which subject we have enlarged further in ourtreatise on Causes. 

The rape of the Sabines took place upon the eighteenth day of the monthSextilis, which is now called August, on which day the feast of theConsualia is kept. 

XVI. The Sabines were a numerous and warlike tribe, dwelling in unwalledvillages, as though it was their birthright as a Lacedaemonian colony tobe brave and fearless. Yet when they found themselves bound by suchhostages to keep the peace, and in fear for their daughters, they sentan embassy to propose equitable and moderate terms, that Romulus shouldgive back their daughters to them, and disavow the violence which hadbeen used, and that afterwards the two nations should live together inamity and concord. But when Romulus refused to deliver up the maidens, but invited the Sabines to accept his alliance, while the other tribeswere hesitating and considering what was to be done, Acron, the king ofthe Ceninetes, a man of spirit and renown in the wars, who had viewedRomulus first proceeding in founding a city with suspicion, now, afterwhat he had done in carrying off the women, declared that he wasbecoming dangerous, and would not be endurable unless he werechastised. He at once began the war, and marched with a great force; andRomulus marched to meet him. When they came in sight of each other theyeach challenged the other to fight, the soldiers on both sides lookingon. Romulus made a vow that if he should overcome and kill his enemy hewould himself carry his spoils to the temple of Jupiter and offer themto him. He overcame his adversary, and slew him, routed his army andcaptured his city. He did not harm the inhabitants, except that heordered them to demolish their houses and follow him to Rome, to becomecitizens on equal terms with the rest. This is the policy by which Romegrew so great, namely that of absorbing conquered nations into herselfon terms of equality. 

Romulus, in order to make the fulfilment of his vow as pleasing toJupiter, and as fine a spectacle for the citizens as he could, cut downa tall oak-tree at his camp, and fashioned it into a trophy, [A] uponwhich he hung or fastened all the arms of Acron, each in its properplace. Then he girded on his own clothes, placed a crown of laurel uponhis long hair, and, placing the trophy upright on his right shoulder, marched along in his armour, singing a paean of victory, with all thearmy following him. At Rome the citizens received him with admirationand delight; and this procession was the origin of all the subsequenttriumphs and the model which they imitated. The trophy itself was calledan offering to Jupiter Feretrius; for the Romans call to strike, _ferire_, and Romulus prayed that he might strike down his enemy. Thespoils were called _spolia opima_, according to Varro, because _opim_means excellence. A more plausible interpretation would be from thedeed itself, for work is called in Latin _opus_. This dedication of_spolia opima_ is reserved as a privilege for a general who has slainthe opposing general with his own hand. It has only been enjoyed bythree Roman generals, first by Romulus, who slew Acron, king of theCeninetes, second by Cornelius Cossus, who slew the TyrrhenianTolumnius, and, above all, by Claudius Marcellus, who killed Britomart, the king of the Gauls. Now Cossus and Marcellus drove into the city inchariots and four, carrying the trophies in their own hands; butDionysius is in error when he says that Romulus used a chariot and four, for the historians tell us that Tarquinius, the son of Demaratus, wasthe first of the kings who introduced this pomp into his triumphs. Others say that Poplicola was the first to triumph in a chariot. However, the statues of Romulus bearing the trophy, which are to be seenin Rome, are all on foot. 

[Footnote A: The habit of erecting trophies on a field of battle intoken of victory appears to have been originally confined to the Greeks, who usually, as in the text, lopped the branches off a tree, placed itin the ground in some conspicuous place, and hung upon it the shieldsand other spoils taken from the enemy. In later times the Romans adoptedthe habit of commemorating a victory by erecting some building on thefield of battle. Under the emperors, victory was commemorated by atriumphal arch at Rome, many of which now exist. The Greek trophies werealways formed of perishable materials, and it was contrary to theircustom to repair them, that they might not perpetuate nationalenmities. ]

XVII. After the capture of the Ceninete tribe, while the rest of theSabines were still engaged in preparation for war, the inhabitants ofFidenae and Crustumerium and Antemna attacked the Romans. A battle tookplace in which they were all alike worsted, after which they permittedRomulus to take their cities, divide their lands, and incorporate themas citizens. Romulus divided all the lands among the citizens, exceptthat which was held by the fathers of any of the maidens who had beencarried off, which he allowed them to retain. 

The remainder of the Sabines, angry at these successes, chose Tatius astheir general and marched against Rome. The city was hard to attack, asthe Capitol stood as an advanced fort to defend it. Here was placed agarrison, and Tarpeius was its commander, not the maiden Tarpeia, assome write, who make out Romulus a fool; but it was this Tarpeia, thedaughter of the captain of the garrison, who betrayed the capital to theSabines, for the sake of the golden bracelets which she saw themwearing. She asked as the price of her treachery that they should giveher what they wore on their left arms. After making an agreement withTatius, she opened a gate at night and let in the Sabines. Now itappears that Antigonus was not singular when he said that he loved menwhen they were betraying, but hated them after they had betrayed; asalso Caesar said, in the case of Rhymitalkes the Thracian, that he lovedthe treachery but hated the traitor; but this seems a common reflectionabout bad men by those who have need of them, just as we need the poisonof certain venomous beasts; for they appreciate their value while theyare making use of them, and loathe their wickedness when they have donewith them. And that was how Tarpeia was treated by Tatius. He orderedthe Sabines to remember their agreement, and not to grudge her what wason their left arms. He himself first of all took off his gold armlet, and with it flung his great oblong shield. As all the rest did the like, she perished, being pelted with the gold bracelets and crushed by thenumber and weight of the shields. Tarpeius also was convicted oftreachery by Romulus, according to Juba's version of the history ofSulpicius Galba. The other legends about Tarpeia are improbable; amongstthem that which is told by Antigonus, that she was the daughter ofTatius the Sabine leader, abducted by Romulus, and treated by her fatheras is related above. Simylus the poet talks utter nonsense when he saysthat it was not the Sabines but the Gauls to whom Tarpeia betrayed theCapitol, because she was in love with their king. His verses run asfollows:

 "And near Tarpeia, by the Capitol That dwelt, betrayer of the walls of Rome. She loved the chieftain of the Gauls too well, To guard from treachery her father's home. "

And a little afterwards he speaks of her death. 

 "Her did the Boians and the Celtic tribes Bury, but not beside the stream of Po; From off their warlike arms their shields they flung, And what the damsel longed for laid her low. "

XVIII. However, as Tarpeia was buried there, the hill was called theTarpeian hill until King Tarquinius, when he dedicated the place toJupiter, removed her remains and abolished the name of Tarpeia. But evento this day they call the rock in the Capitol the Tarpeian Rock, downwhich malefactors used to be flung. When the Sabines held the citadel, Romulus in fury challenged them to come down and fight. Tatius acceptedhis challenge with confidence, as he saw that if overpowered his menwould have a strong place of refuge to retreat to. All the intermediatespace, in which they were about to engage, was surrounded by hills, andso seemed to make a desperate battle necessary, as there were but narrowoutlets for flight or pursuit. It chanced, also, that the river had beenin flood a few days before, and had left a deep muddy pool of water uponthe level ground where the Forum now stands; so that men's footing wasnot certain, but difficult and treacherous. Here a piece of good fortunebefell the Sabines as they heedlessly pressed forward. Curtius, one oftheir chiefs, a man with a reputation for dashing courage, rode onhorseback far before the rest. His horse plunged into this morass, andhe, after trying to extricate him, at last finding it impossible, lefthim there and saved himself. This place, in memory of him, is stillcalled the Gulf of Curtius. Warned of their danger, the Sabines fought astout and indecisive battle, in which many fell, amongst them Hostilius. He is said to have been the husband of Hersilia and the grandfather ofHostilius, who became king after the reign of Numa. Many combats tookplace in that narrow space, as we may suppose; and especial mention ismade of one, which proved the last, in which Romulus was struck on thehead by a stone and like to fall, and unable to fight longer. The Romansnow gave way to the Sabines, and fled to the Palatine hill, abandoningthe level ground. Romulus, now recovered from the blow, endeavoured tostay the fugitives, and with loud shouts called upon them to stand firmand fight. But as the stream of fugitives poured on, and no one had thecourage to face round, he lifted his hands to heaven and prayed toJupiter to stay the army and not to allow the tottering state of Rome tofall, but to help it. After his prayer many were held back from flightby reverence for the king, and the fugitives suddenly resumed theirconfidence. They made their first stand where now is the temple ofJupiter Stator, which one may translate "He who makes to stand firm;"and then forming their ranks once more they drove back the Sabines asfar as what is now called the Palace, and the Temple of Vesta. 

XIX. While they were preparing to fight as though the battle was onlynow just begun, they were restrained by a strange spectacle, beyond thepower of words to express. The daughters of the Sabines who had beencarried off were seen rushing from all quarters, with loud shrieks andwailings, through the ranks and among the dead bodies, as thoughpossessed by some god. Some of them carried infant children in theirarms, and others wore their hair loose and dishevelled. All of them keptaddressing the Romans and the Sabines alternately by the most endearingnames. The hearts of both armies were melted, and they fell back so asto leave a space for the women between them. A murmur of sorrow ranthrough all the ranks, and a strong feeling of pity was excited by thesight of the women, and by their words, which began with arguments andupbraidings, but ended in entreaties and tears. "What wrong have we doneto you, " said they, "that we should have suffered and should even nowsuffer such cruel treatment at your hands? We were violently andwrongfully torn away from our friends, and after we had been carried offwe were neglected by our brothers, fathers, and relatives for so long atime, that now, bound by the closest of ties to our enemies, we tremblefor our ravishers and wrongers when they fight, and weep when they fall. Ye would not come and tear us from our ravishers while we were yetmaidens, but now ye would separate wives from their husbands, andmothers from their children, a worse piece of service to us than yourformer neglect. Even if it was not about us that you began to fight, youought to cease now that you have become fathers-in-law, andgrandfathers, and relatives one of another. But if the war is about us, then carry us off with your sons-in-law and our children, and give usour fathers and relatives, but do not take our husbands and childrenfrom us. We beseech you not to allow us to be carried off captive asecond time. " Hersilia spoke at length in this fashion, and as the otherwomen added their entreaties to hers, a truce was agreed upon, and thechiefs met in conference. Hereupon the women made their husbands andchildren known to their fathers and brothers, fetched food and drink forsuch as needed it, and took the wounded into their own houses to beattended to there. Thus they let their friends see that they weremistresses of their own houses, and that their husbands attended totheir wishes and treated them with every respect. 

In the conference it was accordingly determined that such women as choseto do so should continue to live with their husbands, free, as we havealready related, from all work and duties except that of spinning wool(_talasia_); that the Romans and the Sabines should dwell together inthe city, and that the city should be called Rome, after Romulus, butthe Romans be called Quirites after the native city of Tatius; and thatthey should both reign and command the army together. The place wherethis compact was made is even to this day called the Comitium, for theRomans call meeting _coire_. 

XX. Now that the city was doubled in numbers, a hundred more senatorswere elected from among the Sabines, and the legions were composed ofsix thousand infantry and six hundred cavalry. They also establishedthree tribes, of which they named one Rhamnenses, from Romulus, anotherTitienses from Tatius, and the third Lucerenses, after the name of agrove to which many had fled for refuge, requiring asylum, and had beenadmitted as citizens. They call a grove _lucus_. The very name of_tribe_ and tribune show that there were three tribes. Each tribe wasdivided into ten _centuries_, which some say were named after the womenwho were carried off; but this seems to be untrue, as many of them arenamed after places. However, many privileges were conferred upon thewomen, amongst which were that men should make way for them when theywalked out, to say nothing disgraceful in their presence, or appearnaked before them, on pain of being tried before the criminal court; andalso that their children should wear the _bulla_, which is so calledfrom its shape, which is like a bubble, and was worn round the neck, andalso the broad purple border of their robe (_praetexta_). 

The kings did not conduct their deliberations together, but each firsttook counsel with his own hundred senators, and then they all mettogether. Tatius dwelt where now is the temple of Juno Moneta, andRomulus by the steps of the Fair Shore, as it is called, which are atthe descent from the Palatine hill into the great Circus. Here they saythe sacred cornel-tree grew, the legend being that Romulus, to try hisstrength, threw a spear, with cornel-wood shaft, from Mount Aventine, and when the spear-head sunk into the ground, though many tried, no onewas able to pull it out. The soil, which was fertile, suited the wood, and it budded, and became the stem of a good-sized cornel-tree. Afterthe death of Romulus this was preserved and reverenced as one of theholiest objects in the city. A wall was built round it, and whenever anyone thought that it looked inclined to droop and wither he at onceraised a shout to tell the bystanders, and they, just as if they wereassisting to put out a fire, called for water, and came from allquarters carrying pots of water to the place. It is said that when GaiusCaesar repaired the steps, and the workmen were digging near it, theyunintentionally damaged the roots, and the tree died. 

XXI. The Sabines adopted the Roman system of months, and all that isremarkable about them will be found in the 'Life of Numa. ' But Romulusadopted the large oblong Sabine shield, and gave up the round Argolicshields which he and the Romans had formerly carried. The two nationsshared each other's festivals, not abolishing any which either had beenwont to celebrate, but introducing several new ones, among which are theMatronalia, instituted in honour of the women at the end of the war, andthat of the Carmentalia. It is thought by some that Carmenta is theruling destiny which presides over a man's birth, wherefore she isworshipped by mothers. Others say that she was the wife of Evander theArcadian, a prophetess who used to chant oracles in verse, and hencesurnamed Carmenta (for the Romans call verses _carmina_); whereas it isgenerally admitted that her right name was Nicostrate. Some explain thename of Carmenta more plausibly as meaning that during her propheticfrenzy she was bereft of intellect; for the Romans call to lack, _carcre_; and mind, _mentem_. 

We have spoken before of the feast of the Palilia. That of theLupercalia would seem, from the time of its celebration, to be aceremony of purification; for it is held during the ominous days ofFebruary, a month whose name one might translate by Purification; andthat particular day was originally called Febraté. The name of thisfeast in Greek signifies that of wolves, and it is thought, on thisaccount, to be very ancient, and derived from the Arcadians who came toItaly with Evander. Still this is an open question, for the name mayhave arisen from the she-wolf, as we see that the Luperci start to runtheir course from the place where Romulus is said to have been exposed. The circumstances of the ritual are such as to make it hard toconjecture their meaning. They slaughter goats, and then two youths ofgood family are brought to them. Then some with a bloody knife mark theforeheads of the youths, and others at once wipe the blood away withwool dipped in milk. The youths are expected to laugh when it is wipedaway. After this they cut the skins of the goats into strips and runabout naked, except a girdle round the middle, striking with the thongsall whom they meet. Women in the prime of life do not avoid beingstruck, as they believe that it assists them in childbirth and promotesfertility. It is also a peculiarity of this festival that the Lupercisacrifice a dog. One Bontes, who wrote an elegiac poem on the origin ofthe Roman myths, says that when Romulus and his party had killedAmulius, they ran back in their joy to the place where the she-wolfsuckled them when little, and that the feast is typical of this, andthat the young nobles run, "As, smiting all they met, that day From Alba Romulus and Remus ran. "

The bloody sword is placed upon their foreheads in token of the dangerand slaughter of that day, and the wiping with the milk is inremembrance of their nurse. Caius Acilius tells us that, before thefoundation of Rome, the cattle of Romulus and Remus were missing, andthey, after invoking Faunus, ran out to search for them, naked, thatthey might not be inconvenienced by sweat; and that this is the reasonthat the Luperci ran about naked. As for the dog, one would say that ifthe sacrifice is purificatory, it is sacrificed on behalf of those whouse it. The Greeks, in their purificatory rites, sacrifice dogs, andoften make use of what is called Periskylakismos. But if this feast bein honour of the she-wolf, in gratitude for her suckling and preservingof Romulus, then it is very natural to sacrifice a dog, for it is anenemy of wolves; unless, indeed, the beast is put to death to punish itfor hindering the Luperci when they ran their course. 

XXII. It is said also that Romulus instituted the service of the sacredfire of Vestae, and the holy virgins who keep it up, called Vestals. Others attribute this to Numa, though they say that Romulus was a veryreligious prince, and learned in divination, for which purpose he usedto carry the crooked staff called _lituus_, with which to divide theheavens into spaces for the observation of the flight of birds. This, which is preserved in the Palatium, was lost when the city was taken bythe Gauls; but afterwards, when the barbarians had been repulsed, it wasfound unharmed in a deep bed of ashes, where everything else had beenburned or spoiled. He also enacted some laws, the most arbitrary ofwhich is that a wife cannot obtain a divorce from her husband, but thata husband may put away his wife for poisoning her children, counterfeiting keys, or adultery. If any one put away his wife on othergrounds than these, he enacted that half his property should go to hiswife, and half to the temple of Ceres. A man who divorced his wife wasto make an offering to the Chthonian gods. [A] A peculiarity of hislegislation is that, while he laid down no course of procedure in caseof parricide, he speaks of all murder by the name of parricide, asthough the one were an abominable, but the other an impossible crime. And for many years it appeared that he had rightly judged, for no oneattempted anything of the kind at Rome for nearly six hundred years; butit is said that the first parricide was that of Lucius Hostilius, whichhe committed after the war with Hannibal. Enough has now been said uponthese subjects. 

[Footnote A: Chthonian gods are the gods of the world below. ]

XXIII. In the fifth year of the reign of Tatius, some of his relativesfell in with ambassadors from Laurentum, on their way to Rome, andendeavoured to rob them. As the ambassadors would not submit to this, but defended themselves, they slew them. Romulus at once gave it as hisopinion that the authors of this great and audacious crime ought to bepunished, but Tatius hushed the matter up, and enabled them to escape. This is said to have been the only occasion upon which they were openlyat variance, for in all other matters they acted with the greatestpossible unanimity. The relatives, however, of the murdered men, as theywere hindered by Tatius from receiving any satisfaction, fell upon himwhen he and Romulus were offering sacrifice at Lavinium, and slew him, but respected Romulus, and praised him as a just man. He brought homethe body of Tatius, and buried it honourably. It lies near what iscalled the _Armilustrium_, on Mount Aventine. 

But Romulus neglected altogether to exact any satisfaction for themurder. Some writers say that the city of Lavinium, in its terror, delivered up the murderers of Tatius, but that Romulus allowed them todepart, saying that blood had been atoned for by blood. This speech ofhis gave rise to some suspicion that he was not displeased at being ridof his colleague. However, it caused no disturbance in the state, anddid not move the Sabines to revolt, but partly out of regard forRomulus, and fear of his power, and belief in his divine mission, theycontinued to live under his rule with cheerfulness and respect. Manyforeign tribes also respected Romulus, and the more ancient Latin racessent him ambassadors, and made treaties of friendship and alliance. 

He took Fidenae, a city close to Rome, according to some authorities, bysending his cavalry thither on a sudden, and ordering them to cut thepivots of the city gates, and then unexpectedly appearing in person. Others say that the people of Fidenae first invaded the Roman territory, drove off plunder from it, and insulted the neighbourhood of the cityitself, and that Romulus laid an ambush for them, slew many, and tooktheir city. He did not destroy it, but made it a Roman colony, and senttwo thousand five hundred Romans thither as colonists on the Ides ofApril. 

XXIV. After this a pestilence fell upon Rome, which slew men suddenlywithout previous sickness, and afflicted the crops and cattle withbarrenness. A shower of blood also fell in the city, so that religiousterror was added to the people's sufferings. As a similar visitationbefell the citizens of Laurentum, it became evident that the wrath ofthe gods was visiting these cities because of the unavenged murders ofTatius and of the ambassadors. The guilty parties were delivered up onboth sides, and duly punished, after which the plague was sensiblymitigated. Romulus also purified the city with lustrations, which, theysay, are even now practised at the Ferentine gate. But before the plagueceased, the people of Camerium attacked the Romans, supposing that theywould be unable to defend themselves on account of their misfortune, andoverran their country. Nevertheless, Romulus instantly marched againstthem, slew six hundred of them in battle, and took their city. Half thesurvivors he transplanted to Rome, and settled twice as many Romans asthe remainder at Camerium, on the Kalends of Sextilis. So many citizenshad he to spare after he had only inhabited Rome for about sixteenyears. Among the other spoils, he carried off a brazen four-horsechariot from Camerium; this he dedicated in the temple of Vulcan, havingplaced in it a figure of himself being crowned by Victory. 

XXV. As the city was now so flourishing, the weaker of the neighbouringstates made submission, and were glad to receive assurance that theywould be unharmed; but the more powerful, fearing and envying Romulus, considered that they ought not to remain quiet, but ought to check thegrowth of Rome. First the Etruscans of Veii, a people possessed of widelands and a large city, began the war by demanding the surrender to themof Fidenae, which they claimed as belonging to them. This demand was notonly unjust, but absurd, seeing that they had not assisted the people ofFidenae when they were fighting and in danger, but permitted them to bedestroyed, and then demanded their houses and lands, when they were inthe possession of others. Receiving a haughty answer from Romulus, theydivided themselves into two bodies, with one of which they attackedFidenae, and with the other went to meet Romulus. At Fidenae theyconquered the Romans, and slew two thousand; but they were defeated byRomulus, with a loss of eight thousand men. A second battle now tookplace at Fidenae, in which all agree that Romulus took the mostimportant part, showing the greatest skill and courage, and a strengthand swiftness more than mortal. But some accounts are altogetherfabulous, such as that fourteen hundred were slain, more than half ofwhom Romulus slew with his own hand. The Messenians appear to useequally inflated language about Aristomenes, when they tell us that hethrice offered sacrifice for having slain a hundred Lacedaemonians. After the victory, Romulus did not pursue the beaten army, but marchedstraight to the city of Veii. The citizens, after so great a disaster, made no resistance, but at their own request were granted a treaty andalliance for a hundred years, giving up a large portion of theirterritory, called the Septem Pagi, or seven districts, and theirsaltworks by the river, and handing over fifty of their leading men ashostages. 

For his success at Veii, Romulus enjoyed another triumph, on the Ides ofOctober, when he led in his train many captives, amongst whom was theVeientine general, an old man, who was thought to have mismanagedmatters foolishly and like a boy. On this account to this day, when asacrifice is made for victory, they lead an old man through the Forumand up to the Capitol, dressed in a boy's robe with wide purple border, and with a child's _bulla_ hung round his neck; and the herald calls out"Sardinians for sale. " For the Tyrrhenians or Tuscans are said to be ofSardinian origin, and Veii is a Tyrrhenian city. 

XXVI. This was Romulus's last war. After it, he, like nearly all thosewho have risen to power and fame by a great and unexpected series ofsuccesses, became filled with self-confidence and arrogance, and, inplace of his former popular manners, assumed the offensive style of adespot. He wore a purple tunic, and a toga with a purple border, and didbusiness reclining instead of sitting on a throne; and was alwaysattended by the band of youths called Celeres, from their quickness inservice. Others walked before him with staves to keep off the crowd, andwere girt with thongs, with which to bind any one whom he might orderinto custody. The Latins used formerly to call to bind _ligare_, and nowcall it _alligare_; wherefore the staff-bearers are called _lictors_, and their staves are called _bacula_, [A] from the rods which they thencarried. It is probable that these officers now called _lictors_ by theinsertion of the _c_, were originally called _litors_, that is, inGreek, _leitourgoi_ (public officials). For to this day the Greeks calla town-hall _leitus_, and the people _laos_. 

[Footnote A: The Romans termed these bundles of rods _fasces_. Thederivation of _lictor_ from the Greek shows the utter ignorance ofetymology prevailing among the ancients. ]

XXVII. When Romulus' grandfather Numitor died in Alba, although he wasevidently his heir, yet through a desire for popularity he left hisclaim unsettled, and contented himself with appointing a chiefmagistrate for the people of Alba every year; thus teaching the Romannobles to desire a freer constitution, which should not be so muchencroached upon by the king. For at Rome now even the so-called Fatherstook no part in public affairs, but had merely their name and dignity, and were called into the Senate House more for form's sake than toexpress their opinions. When there, they listened in silence toRomulus's orders, and the only advantage which they possessed over thecommons was that they knew the king's mind sooner than they. Worst ofall was, that he of his own authority divided the land which wasobtained in war amongst the soldiers, and restored the hostages to theVeientines, against the will of the Senate and without consulting it, bywhich he seemed purposely to insult it. On this account the Senate wassuspected, when shortly after this he miraculously disappeared. Hisdisappearance took place on the Nones of the month now called July, butthen Quintilis, leaving nothing certain or agreed on about his endexcept the date. Even now things happen in the same fashion as then; andwe need not wonder at the uncertainty about the death of Romulus, whenthat of Scipio Africanus, in his own house after supper, proved soinexplicable, some saying that it arose from an evil habit of body, somethat he had poisoned himself, some that his enemies had suffocated himduring the night. And yet the corpse of Scipio lay openly exposed forall to see, and gave all who saw it some ground for their conjectures;whereas Romulus suddenly disappeared, and no morsel of his body or shredof his garments were ever seen again. Some supposed that the Senatorsfell upon him in the Temple of Vulcan, and, after killing him cut hisbody in pieces and each of them carried off one in the folds of hisrobe. Others think that his disappearance took place neither in theTemple of Vulcan, nor yet in the presence of the Senators alone, but saythat Romulus was holding an assembly without the city, near a placecalled the Goat's Marsh, when suddenly strange and wonderful things tookplace in the heavens, and marvellous changes; for the sun's light wasextinguished, and night fell, not calm and quiet, but with terriblethunderings, gusts of wind, and driving spray from all quarters. Hereupon the people took to flight in confusion, but the noblescollected together by themselves. When the storm was over, and the lightreturned, the people returned to the place again, and searched in vainfor Romulus, but were told by the nobles not to trouble themselves tolook for him, but to pray to Romulus and reverence him, for he had beencaught up into heaven, and now would be a propitious god for theminstead of a good king. 

The people believed this story, and went their way rejoicing, andpraying to him with good hope; but there were some who discussed thewhole question in a harsh and unfriendly spirit, and blamed the noblesfor encouraging the people to such acts of folly when they themselveswere the murderers of the king. 

XXVIII. Now Julius Proculus, one of the noblest patricians, and of goodreputation, being one of the original colonists from Alba, and a friendand companion of Romulus, came into the Forum, and there upon his oath, and touching the most sacred things, stated before all men that as hewas walking along the road Romulus appeared, meeting him, more beautifuland taller than he had ever appeared before, with bright and glitteringarms. Astonished at the vision he had spoken thus: "O king, for whatreason or with what object have you left us exposed to an unjust andhateful suspicion, and left the whole city desolate and plunged in thedeepest grief?" He answered, "It pleased the gods, Proculus, that Ishould spend thus much time among mankind, and after founding a city ofthe greatest power and glory should return to heaven whence I came. Farethee well; and tell the Romans that by courage and self-control theywill attain to the highest pitch of human power. I will ever be for youthe kindly deity Quirinus. "

This tale was believed by the Romans from the manner of Proculus inrelating it and from his oath: indeed a religious feeling almostamounting to ecstasy seems to have taken hold of all present; for no onecontradicted him, but all dismissed their suspicions entirely from theirminds and prayed to Quirinus, worshipping him as a god. 

This account resembles the Greek legends of Aristeas of Proconnesus, andthat of Kleomedes of Astypalaea. The story goes that Aristeas died in afuller's shop, and that when his friends came to fetch his body it haddisappeared; then some persons who had just returned from travel saidthat they had met Aristeas walking along the road to Kroton. Kleomedes, we are told, was a man of unusual size and strength, but stupid andhalf-crazy, who did many deeds of violence, and at last in a boy'sschool struck and broke in two the column that supported the roof, andbrought it down. As the boys were killed, Kleomedes, pursued by thepeople, got into a wooden chest, and shut down the lid, holding ininside so that many men together were not able to force it open. Theybroke open the chest, and found no man in it, dead or alive. Astonishedat this, they sent an embassy to the oracle at Delphi, to whom thePythia answered, "Last of the heroes is Kleomedes of Astypalaea. "

And it also related that the corpse of Alkmena when it was being carriedout for burial, disappeared, and a stone was found lying on the bier inits place. And many such stories are told, in which, contrary to reason, the earthly parts of our bodies are described as being deified togetherwith the spiritual parts. It is wicked and base to deny that virtue is aspiritual quality, but again it is foolish to mix earthly with heavenlythings. 

We must admit, speaking with due caution, that, as Pindar has it, thebodies of all men follow overpowering Death, but there remains a livingspirit, the image of eternity, for it alone comes from heaven. Thence itcomes, and thither it returns again, not accompanied by the body, butonly when it is most thoroughly separated and cleansed from it, andbecome pure and incorporeal. This is the pure spirit which Herakleituscalls the best, which darts through the body like lightning through acloud, whereas that which is clogged by the body is like a dull, cloudyexhalation, hard to loose and free from the bonds of the body. There isno reason, therefore, for supposing that the bodies of good men rise upinto heaven, which is contrary to nature; but we must believe that men'svirtues and their spirits most certainly, naturally and rightly proceedfrom mankind to the heroes, and from them to the genii, and from thence, if they be raised above and purified from all mortal and earthly taint, even as is done in the holy mysteries, then, not by any empty vote ofthe senate, but in very truth and likelihood they are received among thegods, and meet with the most blessed and glorious end. 

XXIX. Some say that the name Quirinus, which Romulus received, meansMars; others that it was because his people were called Quirites. Others, again, say that the spear-head or spear was called by theancients _Quiris_, and that the statue of Juno leaning on a spear iscalled Juno Quirites, and that the dart which is placed in the Regia isaddressed as Mars, and that it is customary to present with a spearthose who have distinguished themselves in war, and therefore that itwas as a warrior, or god of war, that Romulus was called Quirinus. Atemple dedicated to him is built on the Quirinal Hill which bears hisname, and the day of his translation is called the People's Flight, andthe Nonae Caprotinae, because they go out of the city to the Goat'sMarsh on that day to sacrifice, for in Latin a goat is called _Capra_. And as they go to the sacrifice they call out many of the names of thecountry, as Marcus, Lucius, Caius, with loud shouts, in imitation oftheir panic on that occasion, and their calling to each other in fearand confusion. But some say that this is not an imitation of terror, butof eagerness, and that this is the reason of it: after the Gauls hadcaptured Rome and been driven out by Camillus, and the city throughweakness did not easily recover itself, an army of Latins, under oneLivius Postumius, marched upon it. He halted his army not far from Rome, and sent a herald to say that the Latins were willing to renew their olddomestic ties, which had fallen into disuse, and to unite the races bynew intermarriage. If, therefore, the Romans would send out to them alltheir maidens and unmarried women, they would live with them on terms ofpeace and friendship, as the Romans had long before done with theSabines. The Romans, when they heard this, were afraid of going to war, yet thought that the surrender of their women was no better thancaptivity. While they were in perplexity, a female slave named Philotis, or according to some Tutola, advised them to do neither, but by astratagem to avoid both war and surrender of the women. This stratagemwas that they should dress Philotis and the best looking of the otherfemale slaves like free women, and send them to the enemy; then at nightPhilotis said she would raise a torch, and the Romans should come underarms and fall upon the sleeping enemy. This was done, and terms weremade with the Latins. Philotis raised the torch upon a certain fig-treewith leaves which spread all round and behind, in such a manner that thelight could not be seen by the enemy, but was clearly seen by theRomans. When they saw it, they immediately rushed out, callingfrequently for each other at the various gates in their eagerness. Asthey fell unexpectedly upon the enemy, they routed them, and keep theday as a feast. Therefore the Nones are called Caprotinae because of thefig-tree, which the Romans call _caprificus_, and the women are feastedout of doors, under the shade of fig-tree boughs. And the female slavesassemble and play, and afterwards beat and throw stones at each other, as they did then, when they helped the Romans to fight. These accountsare admitted by but few historians, and indeed the calling out oneanother's names in the daytime, and walking down to the Goats' Marshseems more applicable to the former story, unless, indeed, both of theseevents happened on the same day. 

Romulus is said to have been fifty-four years old, and to be in thethirty-eighth year of his reign when he disappeared from the world. 

COMPARISON OF THESEUS AND ROMULUS. 

I. The above are all the noteworthy particulars which we have been ableto collect about Theseus and Romulus. It seems, in the first place, thatTheseus of his own free will, and without any compulsion, when he mighthave reigned peacefully in Troezen, where he was heir to the kingdom, nomean one, longed to accomplish heroic deeds: whereas Romulus was anexile, and in the position of a slave; the fear of death was hangingover him if unsuccessful, and so, as Plato says, he was made brave bysheer terror, and through fear of suffering death and torture was forcedinto doing great exploits. Moreover, Romulus's greatest achievement wasthe slaying of one man, the despot of Alba, whereas Skeiron, Sinis, Prokrustes, and Korynetes were merely the accompaniments and prelude tothe greater actions of Theseus, and by slaying them he freed Greece fromterrible scourges, before those whom he saved even knew who he was. Healso might have sailed peacefully over the sea to Athens, and had notrouble with those brigands, whereas Romulus could not be free fromtrouble while Amulius lived. And it is a great argument in favour ofTheseus that he attacked those wicked men for the sake of others, havinghimself suffered no wrong at their hands; whereas the twins wereunconcerned at Amulius's tyranny so long as it did not affectthemselves. And although it may have been a great exploit to receive awound in fighting the Sabines, and to slay Acron, and to kill manyenemies in battle, yet we may compare with these, on Theseus's behalf, his battle with the Centaurs and his campaign against the Amazons. Asfor the courage which Theseus showed in the matter of the Cretantribute, when he voluntarily sailed to Crete with the youths andmaidens, whether the penalty was to be given to the Minotaur to eat, orbe sacrificed at the tomb of Androgeus, or even to be cast intodishonoured slavery under an insolent enemy, which is the leastmiserable fate mentioned by any writer, what a strength of mind, whatpublic spirit and love of fame it shows! In this instance it seems to methat philosophers have truly defined love as a "service designed by thegods for the care and preservation of the young. " For the love ofAriadne seems to have been specially intended by Heaven to save Theseus;nor need we blame her for her passion, but rather wonder that all menand women did not share it. If she alone felt it, then I say shedeserved the love of a god, because of her zeal for all that is best andnoblest. 

II. Both were born statesmen, yet neither behaved himself as a kingshould do, but, from similar motives, the one erred on the side ofdemocracy, the other on that of despotism. The first duty of a king isto preserve his crown; and this can be effected as well by refrainingfrom improperly extending his rights as by too great eagerness to keepthem. For he who either gives up or overstrains his prerogative ceasesto be a king or constitutional ruler, but becomes either a despot ordemagogue; and in the one case is feared, in the other despised by hissubjects. Still the one is the result of kindliness of disposition, andthe other that of selfishness and ferocity. 

III. If we are not to attribute their misfortunes to chance, but topeculiarities of disposition, then we cannot acquit Romulus of blame inhis treatment of his brother, nor Theseus in that of his son; but thegreatest excuse must be made for the one who acted under the greatestprovocation. One would not have thought that Romulus would have flowninto such a passion during a grave deliberation on matters of state;while Theseus was misled, in his treatment of his son, by love andjealousy and a woman's slander, influences which few men are able towithstand. And what is more, Romulus's fury resulted in actual deeds ofunfortunate result; whereas the anger of Theseus spent itself in wordsand an old man's curses, and the youth seems to have owed the rest ofhis suffering to chance; so here, at any rate, one would give one'svote for Theseus. 

IV. Romulus, however, has the credit of having started with the mostslender resources, and yet of having succeeded. The twins were calledslaves and the sons of a swineherd before they achieved their liberty;yet they freed nearly all the Latin race, and at one and the same timegained those titles which are the most glorious among men, of slayers oftheir enemies, preservers of their own house, kings of their own nation, and founders of a new city, not by transferring the population of oldones, as Theseus did, when he brought together many towns into one, anddestroyed many cities that bore the names of kings and heroes of old. Romulus did this afterwards, when he compelled his conquered enemies tocast down and obliterate their own dwellings, and become fellow-citizenswith their conquerors; yet at first he did not change the site of hiscity nor increase it, but starting with nothing to help him, he obtainedfor himself territory, patrimony, sovereignty, family, marriage, andrelatives, and he killed no one, but conferred great benefits on thosewho, instead of homeless vagrants, wished to become a people andinhabitants of a city. He slew no brigands or robbers, but he conqueredkingdoms, took cities, and triumphed over kings and princes. 

V. As for the misfortune of Remus, it seems doubtful whether Romulusslew him with his own hand, as most writers attribute the act to others. He certainly rescued his mother from death, and gloriously replaced hisgrandfather, whom he found in an ignoble and servile position, on thethrone of Aeneas. He did him many kindnesses, and never harmed him evenagainst his will. But I can scarcely imagine that Theseus'sforgetfulness and carelessness in hoisting the black sail can, by anyexcuses or before the mildest judges, come much short of parricide:indeed, an Athenian, seeing how hard it is even for his admirers toexculpate him, has made up a story that Aegeus, when the ship wasapproaching, hurriedly ran up to the acropolis to view it, and felldown, as though he were unattended, or would hurry along the road to theshore without servants. 

VI. The crimes of Theseus in carrying off women are without any decentexcuse; first, because he did it so often, for he carried off Ariadneand Antiope and Anaxo of Troezen, and above all when he was an old manhe carried off Helen, when she was not yet grown up, and a mere child, though he was past the age for even legitimate marriage. Besides, therewas no reason for it, for these Troezenian, Laconian, and Amazonianmaidens, besides their not being betrothed to him, were no worthiermothers for his children than the Athenian daughters of Erechtheus andKekrops would have been, so we must suspect that these acts were doneout of mere riotous wantonness. 

Now Romulus, though he carried off nearly eight hundred women, yet keptonly one, Hersilia, for himself, and distributed the others among theunmarried citizens; and afterwards, by the respect, love, and justicewith which he treated them, proved that his wrongful violence was themost admirable and politic contrivance for effecting the union of thetwo nations. By means of it he welded them into one, and made it thestarting-point of harmony at home and strength abroad. The dignity, love, and permanence with which he invested the institution of marriageis proved by the fact that during two hundred and thirty years no manseparated from his wife or woman from her husband; but, just as inGreece, very exact persons can mention the first instance of parricideor matricide, so all the Romans know that Spurius Carvilius was thefirst who put away his wife, upon a charge of barrenness. Events alsotestify to the superior wisdom of Romulus, for, in consequence of thatintermarriage, the two kings and the two races shared the empire, whereas, from the marriage of Theseus, the Athenians obtained noalliance or intercourse with any nation, but only hatreds and wars anddeaths of citizens and at last the destruction of Aphidnae, and theythemselves escaped from the fate which Paris brought upon Troy, only bythe mercy of their enemies and their own entreaties and supplications. The mother of Theseus, not nearly but quite, suffered the fate ofHekuba, who was abandoned and given up by her son, unless the story ofher captivity is false, as I hope it is, together with much of therest. 

Also the religious part of their histories makes a great distinctionbetween them. For Romulus's success was due to the great favour ofHeaven, whereas the oracle given to Aegeus, to refrain from all women inforeign parts, seems to argue that the birth of Theseus took placecontrary to the will of the gods. 

LIFE OF LYKURGUS. 

I. With regard to Lykurgus the lawgiver there is nothing whatever thatis undisputed; as his birth, his travels, his death, and, besides allthis, his legislation, have all been related in various ways; and alsothe dates of his birth do not in any way accord. Some say that he wascontemporary with Iphitus, and with him settled the conditions of theOlympic truce; and among these is Aristotle the philosopher, who adducesas a proof of it the quoit which is at Olympia, on which the name ofLykurgus is still preserved. Others, among them Eratosthenes andApollodorus, by computing the reigns of the kings of Sparta, [A] provethat he must have lived many years before the first Olympiad. Timaeusconjectures that there were two men of the name of Lykurgus in Sparta atdifferent times, and that the deeds of both are attributed to one ofthem, on account of his celebrity. The elder, he thinks, must have livednot far off the time of Homer; indeed some say that he came into thepresence of Homer. Xenophon gives an idea of his antiquity when hespeaks of him as living in the time of the Herakleidae. By descent ofcourse the last kings of Sparta are Herakleidae, but he appears to meanby Herakleidae the earliest of all, who were next to Herakles himself. 

[Footnote A: In the Spartan constitution there were two kings, who werebelieved to be descended from two brothers, Eurysthenes and Prokles, thetwo sons of Aristodemus. When the descendants of Herakles returned toPeloponnesus, and divided that country amongst them, Lacedaemon fell tothe lot of Aristodemus, who left his two sons joint heirs to themonarchy. The kings of Sparta had little real power, and to this nodoubt they owed the fact of their retaining their dignity when everyother Hellenic state adopted a democratic form of government. ]

However, in spite of these discrepancies, we will endeavour, byfollowing the least inconsistent accounts and the best knownauthorities, to write the history of his life. Simonides the poet tellsus that the father of Lykurgus was not Eunomus, but Prytanis. But mostwriters do not deduce his genealogy thus, but say that Soüs was the sonof Prokles, and grandson of Aristodemus, and that Soüs begat Euripus;Euripus, Prytanis, and Prytanis, Eunomus. Eunomus had two sons, Polydektes by his first wife, and Lykurgus by his second wife Dionassa, which makes him, according to Dieutychides, sixth in descent fromProkles, and eleventh from Herakles. 

II. The most remarkable of his ancestors was Soüs, in whose reign theSpartans enslaved the Helots, and annexed a large portion of Arcadia. Itis said that Soüs once was besieged by the Kleitorians, in a fort wherethere was no water, and was compelled to conclude a treaty to restorethe territory in dispute, if he and his men were permitted to drink atthe nearest spring. After this had been agreed upon, he called his mentogether, and offered his kingdom to any one who could refrain fromdrinking. But as no one could do this, but all drank, last of all hehimself came down to the spring, and in the presence of the enemy merelysprinkled his face with the water, and marched off, refusing to restorethe disputed territory, on the ground that all did not drink. But thoughhe gained great fame by this, yet it was not he but his son Eurypon whogave the name of Eurypontidae to the family, because Eurypon was thefirst to relax the despotic traditions of his family and render hisgovernment more popular with the people. But as a consequence of thisthe people were encouraged to demand more freedom, and great confusionand lawlessness prevailed in Sparta for a long time, because some of thekings opposed the people and so became odious, while others were foundto yield to them, either to preserve their popularity, or from sheerweakness of character. It was during this period of disorder that thefather of Lykurgus lost his life. He was endeavouring to part two menwho were quarrelling, and was killed by a blow from a cook's chopper, leaving the kingdom to his elder son Polydektes. 

III. He also died after a short time, and, as all thought, Lykurgusought to have been the next king. And he did indeed reign until hisbrother's wife was found to be pregnant; but as soon as he heard this, he surrendered the crown to the child, if it should be a boy, and merelyadministered the kingdom as guardian for the child. The Lacedaemonianname for the guardian of a royal orphan is _prodikus_. Now the queenmade a secret proposal to him, that she should destroy her infant andthat they should live together as king and queen. Though disgusted ather wickedness, he did not reject the proposal, but pretended to approveof it. He said that she must not risk her life and injure her health byprocuring abortion, but that he would undertake to do away with thechild. Thus he deluded her until her confinement, at which time he sentofficials and guards into her chamber with orders to hand the child overto the women if it was a girl, and to bring it to him, whatever he mightbe doing, if it was a boy. He happened to be dining with the archonswhen a male child was born, and the servants brought it to him. He issaid to have taken the child and said to those present, "A king is bornto you, O Spartans, " and to have laid him down in the royal seat andnamed him Charilaus, because all men were full of joy admiring hisspirit and justice. He was king for eight months in all; and was muchlooked up to by the citizens, who rendered a willing obedience to him, rather because of his eminent virtues than because he was regent withroyal powers. There was, nevertheless, a faction which grudged him hiselevation, and tried to oppose him, as he was a young man. 

They consisted chiefly of the relatives and friends of the queen-mother, who considered that she had been insultingly treated, and her brotherLeonidas once went so far in his abusive language as to hint to Lykurgusthat he knew that he meant to be king, throwing the suspicion uponLykurgus, if anything should happen to the child, that he would besupposed to have managed it. This sort of language was used by thequeen-mother also, and he, grieved and alarmed, decided to avoid allsuspicion by leaving the country and travelling until his nephew shouldbe grown up and have an heir born to succeed him. 

IV. With this intention he set sail, and first came to Crete, where hestudied the constitution and mixed with the leading statesmen. Some partof their laws he approved and made himself master of, with theintention of adopting them on his return home, while with others he wasdissatisfied. One of the men who had a reputation there for learning andstate-craft he made his friend, and induced him to go to Sparta. Thiswas Thales, who was thought to be merely a lyric poet, and who used thisart to conceal his graver acquirements, being in reality deeply versedin legislation. His poems were exhortations to unity and concord inverse, breathing a spirit of calm and order, which insensibly civilisedtheir hearers and by urging them to the pursuit of honourable objectsled them to lay aside the feelings of party strife so prevalent inSparta; so that he may be said in some degree to have educated thepeople and prepared them to receive the reforms of Lykurgus. 

From Crete Lykurgus sailed to Asia Minor, wishing, it is said, tocontrast the thrifty and austere mode of life of the Cretans with theextravagance and luxury of the Ionians, as a physician compares healthyand diseased bodies, and to note the points of difference in the twostates. There, it seems, he first met with the poems of Homer, whichwere preserved by the descendants of Kreophylus, and observing that theywere no less useful for politics and education than for relaxation andpleasure, he eagerly copied and compiled them, with the intention ofbringing them home with him. There was already some dim idea of theexistence of these poems among the Greeks, but few possessed anyportions of them, as they were scattered in fragments, but Lykurgusfirst made them known. The Egyptians suppose that Lykurgus visited themalso, and that he especially admired their institution of a separatecaste of warriors. This he transferred to Sparta, and, by excludingworking men and the lower classes from the government, made the city acity indeed, pure from all admixture. Some Greek writers corroborate theEgyptians in this, but as to Lykurgus having visited Libya and Iberia, or his journey to India and meeting with the Gymnosophists, or nakedphilosophers, there, no one that we know of tells this except theSpartan Aristokrates, the son of Hipparchus. 

V. During Lykurgus's absence the Lacedaemonians regretted him and sentmany embassies to ask him to return, telling him that their kings hadindeed the royal name and state, but nothing else to distinguish themfrom the common people, and that he alone had the spirit of a ruler andthe power to influence men's minds. Even the kings desired his presence, as they hoped that he would assist in establishing their authority andwould render the masses less insolent. Returning to a people in thiscondition, he at once began alterations and reforms on a sweeping scale, considering that it was useless and unprofitable to do such work byhalves, but that, as in the case of a diseased body, the original causeof the disorder must be burned out or purged away, and the patient beginan entirely new life. After reflecting on this, he made a journey toDelphi. Here he sacrificed to the god, and, on consulting the oracle, received that celebrated answer in which the Pythia speaks of him asbeloved by the gods, and a god rather than a man, and when he asked fora good system of laws, answered that the god gives him what will proveby far the best of all constitutions. Elated by this he collected theleading men and begged them to help him, first by talking privately tohis own friends, and thus little by little obtaining a hold over moremen and banding them together for the work. When the time was ripe forthe attempt, he bade thirty of the nobles go into the market-place earlyin the morning completely armed, in order to overawe the opposition. Thenames of twenty of the most distinguished of these men have beenpreserved by Hermippus, but the man who took the greatest part in allLykurgus's works, and who helped him in establishing his laws, wasArthmiades. At first King Charilaus was terrified at the confusion, imagining that a revolt had broken out against himself, and fled forrefuge to the temple of Minerva of the Brazen House; but, afterwardreassured and having received solemn pledges for his safety, returnedand took part in their proceedings. He was of a gentle nature, as isproved by the words of his colleague, King Archelaus, who, when somewere praising the youth, said, "How can Charilaus be a good man, if heis not harsh even to wicked men?"

Of Lykurgus's many reforms, the first and most important was theestablishment of the Council of Elders, which Plato says by itsadmixture cooled the high fever of royalty, and, having an equal votewith the kings on vital points, gave caution and sobriety to theirdeliberations. For the state, which had hitherto been wildly oscillatingbetween despotism on the one hand and democracy on the other, now, bythe establishment of the Council of the Elders, found a firm footingbetween these extremes, and was able to preserve a most equable balance, as the eight-and-twenty elders would lend the kings their support in thesuppression of democracy, but would use the people to suppress anytendency to despotism. Twenty-eight is the number of Elders mentioned byAristotle, because of the thirty leading men who took the part ofLykurgus two deserted their post through fear. But Sphairus says thatthose who shared his opinions were twenty-eight originally. A reason maybe found in twenty-eight being a mystic number, formed by sevenmultiplied by four, and being the first perfect number after six, forlike that, it is equal to all its parts. [A] But I think that he probablymade this number of elders, in order that with the two kings the councilmight consist of thirty members in all. 

[Footnote A: 14, 2, 7, 4, 1, make by addition 28; as 3, 2, and 1 make6. ]

VI. Lykurgus was so much interested in this council as to obtain fromDelphi an oracle about it, called the _rhetra_, which runs as follows:"After you have built a temple to Zeus of Greece and Athene of Greece, and have divided the people into _tribes_ and _obes_, you shall found acouncil of thirty, including the chiefs, and shall from season to season_apellazein_ the people between Babyka and Knakion, and there propoundmeasures and divide upon them, and the people shall have the castingvote and final decision. " In these words tribes and obes are divisionsinto which the people were to be divided; the chiefs mean the kings;_apellazein_ means to call an assembly, in allusion to Apollo, to whomthe whole scheme of the constitution is referred. Babyka and Knakionthey now call Oinous; but Aristotle says that Knakion is a river andBabyka a bridge. Between these they held their assemblies, without anyroof or building of any kind; for Lykurgus did not consider thatdeliberations were assisted by architecture, but rather hindered, asmen's heads were thereby filled with vain unprofitable fancies, whenthey assemble for debate in places where they can see statues andpaintings, or the proscenium of a theatre, or the richly ornamented roofof a council chamber. When the people were assembled, he permitted noone to express an opinion; but the people was empowered to decide uponmotions brought forward by the kings and elders. But in later times, asthe people made additions and omissions, and so altered the sense of themotions before them, the kings, Polydorus and Theopompus, added thesewords to the _rhetra_, "and if the people shall decide crookedly, thechiefs and elders shall set it right. " That is, they made the people nolonger supreme, but practically excluded them from any voice in publicaffairs, on the ground that they judged wrongly. However these kingspersuaded the city that this also was ordained by the god. This ismentioned by Tyrtaeus in the following verses:

 "They heard the god, and brought from Delphi home, Apollo's oracle, which thus did say: That over all within fair Sparta's realm The royal chiefs in council should bear sway, The elders next to them, the people last; If they the holy _rhetra_ would obey. "

VII. Though Lykurgus had thus mixed the several powers of the state, yethis successors, seeing that the powers of the oligarchy were unimpaired, and that it was, as Plato calls it, full of life and vigour, placed as acurb to it the power of the Ephors. The first Ephors, of whom Elatus wasone, were elected about a hundred and thirty years after Lykurgus, inthe reign of Theopompus. This king is said to have been blamed by hiswife because he would transmit to his children a less valuable crownthan he had received, to which he answered: "Nay, more valuable, becausemore lasting. " In truth, by losing the odium of absolute power, the Kingof Sparta escaped all danger of being dethroned, as those of Argos andMessene were by their subjects, because they would abate nothing oftheir despotic power. The wisdom of Lykurgus became clearly manifest tothose who witnessed the revolutions and miseries of the Argives andMessenians, who were neighbouring states and of the same race as theSpartans, who, originally starting on equal terms with them, and indeedseeming in the allotment of their territories to have some advantage, yet did not long live happily, but the insolent pride of the kings andthe unruly temper of the people together resulted in a revolution, whichclearly proved that the checked and balanced constitution establishedamong the Spartans was a divine blessing for them. But of this morehereafter. 

VIII. The second and the boldest of Lykurgus's reforms was theredistribution of the land. Great inequalities existed, many poor andneedy people had become a burden to the state, while wealth had got intoa very few hands. Lykurgus abolished all the mass of pride, envy, crime, and luxury which flowed from those old and more terrible evils of richesand poverty, by inducing all land-owners to offer their estates forredistribution, and prevailing upon them to live on equal terms one withanother, and with equal incomes, striving only to surpass each other incourage and virtue, there being henceforth no social inequalities amongthem except such as praise or blame can create. 

Putting his proposals immediately into practice, he divided the outlyinglands of the state among the Perioeki, in thirty thousand lots, and thatimmediately adjoining the metropolis among the native Spartans, in ninethousand lots, for to that number they then amounted. Some say thatLykurgus made six thousand lots, and that Polydorus added three thousandafterwards; others that he added half the nine thousand, and that onlyhalf was allotted by Lykurgus. 

Each man's lot was of such a size as to supply a man with seventymedimni of barley, and his wife with twelve, and oil and wine inproportion; for thus much he thought ought to suffice them, as the foodwas enough to maintain them in health, and they wanted nothing more. Itis said that, some years afterwards, as he was returning from a journeythrough the country at harvest-time, when he saw the sheaves of cornlying in equal parallel rows, he smiled, and said to his companions thatall Laconia seemed as if it had just been divided among so manybrothers. 

IX. He desired to distribute furniture also, in order completely to doaway with inequality; but, seeing that actually to take away thesethings would be a most unpopular measure, he managed by a differentmethod to put an end to all ostentation in these matters. First of allhe abolished the use of gold and silver money, and made iron money alonelegal; and this he made of great size and weight, and small value, sothat the equivalent for ten minae required a great room for its stowage, and a yoke of oxen to draw it. As soon as this was established, manysorts of crime became unknown in Lacedaemon. For who would steal or takeas a bribe or deny that he possessed or take by force a mass of ironwhich he could not conceal, which no one envied him for possessing, which he could not even break up and so make use of; for the iron whenhot was, it is said, quenched in vinegar, so as to make it useless, byrendering it brittle and hard to work?

After this, he ordered a general expulsion of the workers in uselesstrades. Indeed, without this, most of them must have left the countrywhen the ordinary currency came to an end, as they would not be able tosell their wares: for the iron money was not current among other Greeks, and had no value, being regarded as ridiculous; so that it could not beused for the purchase of foreign trumpery, and no cargo was shipped fora Laconian port, and there came into the country no sophists, novagabond soothsayers, no panders, no goldsmiths or workers in silverplate, because there was no money to pay them with. Luxury, thus cut offfrom all encouragement, gradually became extinct; and the rich were onthe same footing with other people, as they could find no means ofdisplay, but were forced to keep their money idle at home. For thisreason such things as are useful and necessary, like couches and tablesand chairs, were made there better than anywhere else, and the Laconiancup, we are told by Kritias, was especially valued for its use in thefield. Its colour prevented the drinker being disgusted by the look ofthe dirty water which it is sometimes necessary to drink, and it wascontrived that the dirt was deposited inside the cup and stuck to thebottom, so as to make the drink cleaner than it would otherwise havebeen. These things were due to the lawgiver; for the workmen, who werenot allowed to make useless things, devoted their best workmanship touseful ones. 

X. Wishing still further to put down luxury and take away the desire forriches, he introduced the third and the most admirable of his reforms, that of the common dining-table. At this the people were to meet anddine together upon a fixed allowance of food, and not to live in theirown homes, lolling on expensive couches at rich tables, fattened likebeasts in private by the hands of servants and cooks, and underminingtheir health by indulgence to excess in every bodily desire, long sleep, warm baths, and much repose, so that they required a sort of dailynursing like sick people. This was a great advantage, but it was agreater to render wealth valueless, and, as Theophrastus says, toneutralise it by their common dining-table and the simplicity of theirhabits. Wealth could not be used, nor enjoyed, nor indeed displayed atall in costly apparatus, when the poor man dined at the same table withthe rich; so that the well-known saying, that "wealth is blind and lieslike a senseless log, " was seen to be true in Sparta alone of all citiesunder heaven. Men were not even allowed to dine previously at home, andthen come to the public table, but the others, watching him who did noteat or drink with them, would reproach him as a sensual person, tooeffeminate to eat the rough common fare. 

For these reasons it is said that the rich were bitterly opposed toLykurgus on this question, and that they caused a tumult and attackedhim with shouts of rage. Pelted with stones from many hands, he wasforced to run out of the market-place, and take sanctuary in a temple. He outstripped all his pursuers except one, a hot-tempered and spiritedyouth named Alkander, who came up with him, and striking him with a clubas he turned round, knocked out his eye. Lykurgus paid no heed to thepain, but stood facing the citizens and showed them his face streamingwith blood, and his eye destroyed. All who saw him were filled withshame and remorse. They gave up Alkander to his mercy, and conducted himin procession to his own house, to show their sympathy. Lykurgus thankedthem and dismissed them, but took Alkander home with him. He did him noharm and used no reproachful words, but sent away all his servants andbade him serve him. Alkander, being of a generous nature, did as he wasordered, and, dwelling as he did with Lykurgus, watching his kindunruffled temper, his severe simplicity of life, and his unweariedlabours, he became enthusiastic in his admiration of him, and used totell his friends and acquaintances that Lykurgus, far from being harshor overbearing, was the kindest and gentlest of men. Thus was Alkandertamed and subdued, so that he who had been a wicked and insolent youthwas made into a modest and prudent man. 

As a memorial of his misfortune, Lykurgus built the temple of Athene, whom he called Optilitis, for the Dorians in that country call the eyes_optiloi_. Some writers, however, among whom is Dioskorides, who wrotean 'Account of the Spartan Constitution, ' say that Lykurgus was struckupon the eye, but not blinded, and that he built this temple as athank-offering to the goddess for his recovery. 

At any rate, it was in consequence of his mishap that the Spartansdiscontinued the habit of carrying staffs when they met in council. 

XI. The Cretans call this institution of taking meals in common_andreia_, which means _men's_ repast; but the Lacedaemonians call it_phiditia_, which can either be explained as another form of _philia_, friendship, putting a _d_ for an _l_, from the friendly feelings whichprevailed at them, or else because it accustomed them to frugality, which is called _pheido_. Possibly the first letter was an addition, andthe word may have originally been _editia_, from _edodé_, food. 

They formed themselves into messes of fifteen, more or less. Each membercontributed per month a _medimnus_ of barley, eight measures of wine, five minas' weight of cheese, and half as much of figs; and in additionto this a very small sum of money to buy fish and other luxuries for arelish to the bread. This was all, except when a man had offered asacrifice, or been hunting, and sent a portion to the public table. Forpersons were allowed to dine at home whenever they were late for dinnerin consequence of a sacrifice or a hunting expedition, but the rest ofthe company had to be present. This custom of eating in common lastedfor very many years. When King Agis returned from his victoriouscampaign against the Athenians, and wished to dine at home with hiswife, he sent for his share of the public dinner, and the polemarchsrefused to let him have it. As next day, through anger, he did not offerthe customary sacrifice, they fined him. Boys were taken to the publictables, as though they were schools of good manners; and there theylistened to discourses on politics, and saw models of gentlemanlybehaviour, and learned how to jest with one another, joking withoutvulgarity, and being made the subjects of jokes without losing theirtemper. Indeed, it was considered peculiarly Laconian to be able to takea joke; however, if the victim could not, he was entitled to ask that itshould go no farther. As they came in, the eldest present said to eachman, pointing to the door, "Through this no tale passes. "

It is said that they voted for a new member of a mess in this manner. Each man took a piece of bread crumb and threw it in silence into avessel, which a servant carried on his head. Those who voted for the newmember threw in their bread as it was, those who voted against, crushedit flat in their hands. If even one of these crushed pieces be found, they rejected the candidate, as they wished all members of the societyto be friendly. The candidate was said to be rejected by the_kaddichus_, which is their name for the bowl into which the bread isthrown. 

The "black broth" was the most esteemed of their luxuries, insomuch thatthe elder men did not care for any meat, but always handed it over tothe young, and regaled themselves on this broth. It is related that, inconsequence of the celebrity of this broth, one of the kings of Pontusobtained a Laconian cook, but when he tasted it he did not like it. Hiscook thereupon said, "O king, those who eat this broth must first bathein the Eurotas. " After drinking wine in moderation the guests separate, without any torches; for it is not permitted to walk with a light onthis or any other occasion, in order that they may accustom themselvesto walk fearlessly and safely in the dark. This then is the way in whichthe common dining-tables are managed. 

XII. Lykurgus did not establish any written laws; indeed, this isdistinctly forbidden by one of the so-called Rhetras. 

He thought that the principles of most importance for the prosperity andhonour of the state would remain most securely fixed if implanted in thecitizens by habit and training, as they would then be followed fromchoice rather than necessity; for his method of education made each ofthem into a lawgiver like himself. The trifling conventions of everydaylife were best left undefined by hard-and-fast laws, so that they mightfrom time to time receive corrections or additions from men educated inthe spirit of the Lacedaemonian system. On this education the wholescheme of Lykurgus's laws depended. One _rhetra_, as we have seen, forbade the use of written laws. Another was directed againstexpenditure, and ordered that the roof of every house should consist ofbeams worked with the axe, and that the doors should be worked with thesaw alone, and with no other tools. Lykurgus was the first to perceivethe truth which Epameinondas is said in later times to have utteredabout his own table, when he said that "such a dinner has no room fortreachery. " He saw that such a house as that has no place for luxury andexpense, and that there is no man so silly and tasteless as to bringcouches with silver feet, purple hangings, or golden goblets into asimple peasant's house, but that he would be forced to make hisfurniture match the house, and his clothes match his furniture, and soon. In consequence of this it is said that the elder Leotychides whendining in Corinth, after looking at a costly panelled ceiling, asked hishost whether the trees grew square in that country. A third _rhetra_ ofLykurgus is mentioned, which forbids the Spartans to make war frequentlywith the same people, lest by constant practice they too should becomewarlike. And this especial accusation was subsequently brought againstKing Agesilaus in later times, that, by his frequent and long-continuedinvasions of Boeotia, he made the Thebans a match for theLacedaemonians; for which cause Antalkidas, when he saw him wounded, said, "The Thebans pay you well for having taught them to fight, whichthey were neither willing nor able to do before. "

Maxims of this sort they call _rhetras_, which are supposed to have adivine origin and sanction. 

XIII. Considering education to be the most important and the noblestwork of a lawgiver, he began at the very beginning, and regulatedmarriages and the birth of children. It is not true that, as Aristotlesays, he endeavoured to regulate the lives of the women, and failed, being foiled by the liberty and habits of command which they hadacquired by the long absences of their husbands on military expeditions, during which they were necessarily left in sole charge at home, wherefore their husbands looked up to them more than was fitting, calling them Mistresses; but he made what regulations were necessary forthem also. He strengthened the bodies of the girls by exercise inrunning, wrestling, and hurling quoits or javelins, in order that theirchildren might spring from a healthy source and so grow up strong, andthat they themselves might have strength, so as easily to endure thepains of childbirth. He did away with all affectation of seclusion andretirement among the women, and ordained that the girls, no less thanthe boys, should go naked in processions, and dance and sing atfestivals in the presence of the young men. The jokes which they madeupon each man were sometimes of great value as reproofs for ill-conduct;while, on the other hand, by reciting verses written in praise of thedeserving, they kindled a wonderful emulation and thirst for distinctionin the young men: for he who had been praised by the maidens for hisvalour went away congratulated by his friends; while, on the other hand, the raillery which they used in sport and jest had as keen an edge as aserious reproof; because the kings and elders were present at thesefestivals as well as all the other citizens. This nakedness of themaidens had in it nothing disgraceful, as it was done modestly, notlicentiously, producing simplicity, and teaching the women to value goodhealth, and to love honour and courage no less than the men. This it wasthat made them speak and think as we are told Gorgo, the wife ofLeonidas, did. Some foreign lady, it seems, said to her, "You Laconianwomen are the only ones that rule men. " She answered, "Yes; for we alonebring forth men. "

XIV. These were also incentives to marriage, I mean these processions, and strippings, and exercises of the maidens in the sight of the youngmen, who, as Plato says, are more swayed by amorous than by mathematicalconsiderations; moreover, he imposed certain penalties on the unmarriedmen. They were excluded from the festival of the Gymnopaedia, in honourof Athene; and the magistrates ordered them during winter to walk nakedround the market-place, and while doing so to sing a song writtenagainst themselves, which said that they were rightly served for theirdisobedience to the laws; and also they were deprived of the respect andobservance paid by the young to the elders. 

Thus it happened that no one blamed the young man for not rising beforeDerkyllidas, famous general as he was. This youth kept his seat, saying, "You have not begotten a son to rise before me. "

Their marriage custom was for the husband to carry off his bride byforce. They did not carry off little immature girls, but grown up women, who were ripe for marriage. After the bride had been carried off thebridesmaid received her, cut her hair close to her head, dressed her ina man's cloak and shoes, and placed her upon a couch in a dark chamberalone. The bridegroom, without any feasting and revelry, but as sober asusual, after dining at his mess, comes into the room, looses her virginzone, and, after passing a short time with her, retires to pass thenight where he was wont, with the other young men. And thus hecontinued, passing his days with his companions, and visiting his wifeby stealth, feeling ashamed and afraid that any one in the house shouldhear him, she on her part plotting and contriving occasions for meetingunobserved. This went on for a long time, so that some even had childrenborn to them before they ever saw their wives by daylight. Theseconnections not only exercised their powers of self-restraint, but alsobrought them together with their bodies in full vigour and theirpassions unblunted by unchecked intercourse with each other, so thattheir passion and love for each other's society remained unextinguished. 

Having thus honoured and dignified the married state, he destroyed thevain womanish passion of jealousy, for, while carefully avoiding anydisorder or licentiousness, he nevertheless permitted men to associateworthy persons with them in the task of begetting children, and taughtthem to ridicule those who insisted on the exclusive possession of theirwives, and who were ready to fight and kill people to maintain theirright. It was permitted to an elderly husband, with a young wife, toassociate with himself any well-born youth whom he might fancy, and toadopt the offspring as his own. 

And again, it was allowable for a respectable man, if he felt anyadmiration for a virtuous mother of children, married to some one else, to induce her husband to permit him to have access to her, that he mightas it were sow seed in a fertile field, and obtain a fine son from ahealthy stock. Lykurgus did not view children as belonging to theirparents, but above all to the state; and therefore he wished hiscitizens to be born of the best possible parents; besides theinconsistency and folly which he noticed in the customs of the rest ofmankind, who are willing to pay money, or use their influence with theowners of well-bred stock, to obtain a good breed of horses or dogs, while they lock up their women in seclusion and permit them to havechildren by none but themselves, even though they be mad, decrepit, ordiseased; just as if the good or bad qualities of children did notdepend entirely upon their parents, and did not affect their parentsmore than any one else. 

But although men lent their wives in order to produce healthy and usefulcitizens, yet this was so far from the licence which was said to prevailin later times with respect to women, that adultery was regarded amongstthem as an impossible crime. A story is told of one Geradas, a very oldSpartan, who, when asked by a stranger what was done to adulterers amongthem, answered, "Stranger, there are no adulterers with us. " "And ifthere were one?" asked the stranger. "Then, " said Geradas, "he wouldhave to pay as compensation a bull big enough to stand on Mount Täygetusand drink from the river Eurotas. " The stranger, astonished, asked"Where can you find so big a bull?" "Where can you find an adulterer inSparta?" answered Geradas. This is what is said about their marriageceremonies. 

XV. A father had not the right of bringing up his offspring, but had tocarry it to a certain place called Lesché, where the elders of the tribesat in judgment upon the child. If they thought it well-built andstrong, they ordered the father to bring it up, and assigned one of thenine thousand plots of land to it; but if it was mean-looking ormisshapen, they sent it away to the place called the Exposure, a glenupon the side of Mount Täygetus; for they considered that if a child didnot start in possession of health and strength, it was better both foritself and for the state that he should not live at all. Wherefore thewomen used to wash their newborn infants with wine, not with water, tomake trial of their constitution. It was thought that epileptic ordiseased children shrank from the wine and fell into convulsions, whilehealthy ones were hardened and strengthened by it. A certain supervisionwas exercised over the nurses, making them bring up the children withoutswaddling clothes, so as to make their movements free and unconfined, and also to make them easily satisfied, not nice as to food, not afraidin the dark, not frightened at being alone, not peevish and fretful. Forthis reason, many foreigners used to obtain Lacedaemonian nurses fortheir children, and it is said that Amykla, the nurse of Alkibiades, wasa Lacedaemonian. But Plato tells us that Perikles put him under the careof one Zopyrus, who was no better than the other slaves; whereasLykurgus would not intrust the Spartan boys to any bought or hiredservants, nor was each man allowed to bring up and educate his son as hechose, but as soon as they were seven years of age he himself receivedthem from their parents, and enrolled them in companies. Here they livedand messed in common, and were associated for play and for work. However, a superintendent of the boys was appointed, one of the bestborn and bravest men of the state, and they themselves in their troopschose as leader him who was wisest, and fiercest in fight. They lookedto him for orders, obeyed his commands, and endured his punishments, sothat even in childhood they learned to obey. The elder men watched themat their play, and by instituting fights and trials of strength, carefully learned which was the bravest and most enduring. They learnedtheir letters, because they are necessary, but all the rest of theireducation was meant to teach them to obey with cheerfulness, to endurelabours, and to win battles. As they grew older their training becamemore severe; they were closely shorn, and taught to walk unshod and toplay naked. They wore no tunic after their twelfth year, but receivedone garment for all the year round. They were necessarily dirty, as theyhad no warm baths and ointments, except on certain days, as a luxury. They slept all together in troops and companies, on beds of rushes whichthey themselves had picked on the banks of the Eurotas with their hands, for they were not allowed to use a knife. In winter they mixed the herbcalled lycophon with the rushes, as it is thought to possess somewarmth. 

XVI. At this age the elder men took even greater interest in them, frequenting the gymnasia where they were, and listening to theirrepartees with each other, and that not in a languid careless manner, but just as if each thought himself the father, instructor, and captainof them all. 

Thus no time was left unemployed, and no place was left without some oneto give good advice and punish wrong-doing; although a regularsuperintendent of the boys was appointed from the leading men of thecity, and they had their own chiefs, who were the wisest and bravest ofthe Eirenes. This is a name given to those who have begun their secondyear after ceasing to be children, and the eldest of the children arecalled Melleirenes. This Eiren, who is twenty years old, commands hiscompany in their battles, and in the house uses them as his servants toprepare dinner. He orders the bigger boys to carry logs of wood, and thelittle ones to gather pot herbs. They also bring him what they steal, which they do, some from the gardens, and some from the men'sdining-tables, where they rush in very cleverly and cautiously; for ifone be taken, he is severely scourged for stealing carelessly andclumsily. They also steal what victuals they can, learning to take themfrom those who are asleep or off their guard. Whoever is caught ispunished by stripes and starvation. Their meals are purposely madescanty, in order that they may exercise their ingenuity and daring inobtaining additions to them. This is the main object of their shortcommons, but an incidental advantage is the growth of their bodies, forthey shoot up in height when not weighed down and made wide and broad byexcess of nutriment. This also is thought to produce beauty of figure;for lean and slender frames develop vigour in the limbs, whereas thosewhich are bloated and over-fed cannot attain this, from their weight. This we see in the case of women who take purgatives during pregnancy, whose children are thin, but well-shaped and slender, because from theirslight build they receive more distinctly the impress of their mother'sform. However, it may be that the cause of this phenomenon is yet to bediscovered. 

XVII. The boys steal with such earnestness that there is a story of onewho had taken a fox's cub and hidden it under his cloak, and, though hisentrails were being torn out by the claws and teeth of the beast, persevered in concealing it until he died. This may be believed fromwhat the young men in Lacedaemon do now, for at the present day I haveseen many of them perish under the scourge at the altar of DianaOrthias. 

After dinner the Eiren would recline, and bid one of the boys sing, andask another some questions which demand a thoughtful answer, such as"Who is the best among men?" or "How is such a thing done?" By thisteaching they began even in infancy to be able to judge what is right, and to be interested in politics; for not to be able to answer thequestions, "Who is a good citizen?" or "Who is a man of bad repute?" wasthought to be the sign of a stupid and unaspiring mind. The boy's answerwas required to be well reasoned, and put into a small compass; he whoanswered wrongly was punished by having his thumb bitten by the Eiren. Often when elders and magistrates were present the Eiren would punishthe boys; if only he showed that it was done deservedly and with method, he never was checked while punishing, but when the boys were gone, hewas called to account if he had done so either too cruelly or tooremissly. 

The lovers of the boys also shared their honour or disgrace; it is saidthat once when a boy in a fight let fall an unmanly word, his lover wasfined by the magistrates. Thus was love understood among them; for evenfair and honourable matrons loved young maidens, but none expected theirfeelings to be returned. Rather did those who loved the same person makeit a reason for friendship with each other, and vie with one another intrying to improve in every way the object of their love. 

XVIII. The boys were taught to use a sarcastic yet graceful style ofspeaking, and to compress much thought into few words; for Lykurgus madethe iron money have little value for its great size, but on the otherhand he made their speech short and compact, but full of meaning, teaching the young, by long periods of silent listening, to speaksententiously and to the point. For those who allow themselves muchlicence in speech seldom say anything memorable. When some Athenianjeered at the small Laconian swords, and said that jugglers on the stagecould easily swallow them, King Agis answered, "And yet with theselittle daggers we can generally reach our enemies. " I think that theLaconian speech, though it seems so short, yet shows a great grasp ofthe subject and has great power over the listeners. Lykurgus himselfseems to have been short and sententious, to judge from what has beenpreserved of his sayings; as, for instance, that remark to one whoproposed to establish a democracy in the state, "First establish ademocracy in your own household. " And when he was asked why he ordainedthe sacrifices to be so small and cheap, he answered, "It is in orderthat we may never be forced to omit them. " So too in gymnasticexercises, he discouraged all those which are not performed with thehand closed. 

The same class of answers are said to have been made by him to hisfellow-countrymen in his letters. When they asked how they should keepoff their enemies, he answered, "By remaining poor, and not each tryingto be a greater man than the other. " Again, about walls, he said, "thatcannot be called an open town which has courage, instead of brick wallsto defend it. " As to the authenticity of these letters, it is hard togive an opinion. 

XIX. --The following anecdotes show their dislike of long speeches. Whensome one was discoursing about matters useful in themselves at anunfitting time, King Leonidas said, "Stranger, you speak of what iswanted when it is not wanted. " Charilaus the cousin of Lykurgus, whenasked why they had so few laws answered, that men of few words requiredfew laws. And Archidamidas, when some blamed Hekataeus the Sophist forhaving said nothing during dinner, answered, "He who knows how to speakknows when to speak also. " The following are some of those sarcasticsayings which I before said are not ungrateful. Demaratus, when someworthless fellow pestered him with unreasonable queries, and severaltimes inquired, "Who is the best man in Sparta?" answered, "He who isleast like you. " When some were praising the magnificence and justicewith which the Eleans conducted the Olympian games, Agis said, "What isthere so very remarkable in the people of Elis acting justly on one dayin every five years?"

A stranger was vaunting his admiration of them, and was saying that inhis own city he was called a lover of Sparta. Theopompus observed, "Itwould be more to your credit to be called a lover of your own city. "Pleistoanax the son of Pausanias, when an Athenian orator reproached theLacedaemonians for ignorance, observed, "What you say is quite true, forwe are the only Greeks who have not learned some mischief from you. "

When a stranger asked Archidamidas how many Spartans there were, heanswered, "Enough to keep off bad men. "

One may also discover their peculiarities in their jokes; for they aretaught never to talk at random, nor to utter a syllable that does notcontain some thought. As, when one of them was invited to hear a manimitate the nightingale, he answered, "I have heard the original;" andthe man who read this epigram--

 "These men, to quench a tyrant's pride, Before Selinus fought and died. "

"These men, " said he, "deserved to die; for, instead of quenching it, they should have let it burn itself out. " When a young man was promiseda present of cocks that would fight till they died, he said, "I hadrather have some that will fight and kill their foes. " This was thestyle of their talk; so that some have well said that philosophy is moretruly Laconian than gymnastic exercises. 

XX. --Their education in poetry and music was no less carefully watchedover than their cleverness and purity of speech, but their songs weresuch as rouse men's blood and stir them to deeds of prowess, written inplain unaffected language, upon noble and edifying subjects. For themost part they consisted of panegyrics upon those who had been happyenough to die for their country, reproaches of cowards for living amiserable life, and encouragement to bravery suitable to those of allages. A good instance of this is that on festivals when there are threechoruses, that of the old men first sang--

 "We once were lusty youths and tall. "

Then that of the young men sang--

 "We still are stout; come, try a fall, "

and the third, that of the children, rejoined--

 "But we'll be stronger than you all. "

Indeed, if one pays any attention to such Laconian poetry as is stillextant, and to the march music which was played on the flutes when theywere going to meet their enemies, it becomes clear that Terpander andPindar were right in connecting poetry with bravery. The former speaksthus of the Lacedaemonians:

 "Where the youths are bold with the spear, And the voice of the muse is clear, And justice to all is dear. "

And Pindar says of them--

 "Where the old are wise in council, And the young are brave in fight; Where song and dance are honoured On many a festal night. "

For they represent them as being most warlike and at the same time mostpoetical. 

 "The sword with song full well combines, "

as the Laconian poet says. Even in their battles the king firstsacrificed to the Muses, to remind them, it would appear, of theireducation and their former contests, that they may be bold in danger, and do deeds worthy of record in the fight. 

XXI. --In time of war, too, they relaxed their strict rules and allowedtheir young men to dress their hair and ornament their shields andcostumes, taking a pride in them such as one does in high-mettledhorses. For this reason, although they all let their hair grow longafter the age of puberty, yet it was especially in time of danger thatthey took pains to have it smooth and evenly parted, remembering asaying of Lykurgus about the hair, that it made a well-looking man lookhandsomer, and an ugly man look more ferocious. 

During a campaign they made the young men perform less severe gymnasticexercises, and allowed them to live a freer life in other respects, sothat, for them alone of all mankind, war was felt as a relief frompreparation for war. When their array was formed and the enemy were insight, the king used to sacrifice a kid, and bid them all put ongarlands, and the pipers to play the hymn to Kastor; then he himselfbegan to sing the paean for the charge, so that it was a magnificent andterrible spectacle to see the men marching in time to the flutes, makingno gap in their lines, with no thought of fear, but quietly and steadilymoving to the sound of the music against the enemy. Such men were notlikely to be either panic-stricken or over-confident, but had a cool andcheerful confidence, believing that the gods were with them. 

With the king used to march into battle a Spartan who had won a crownin the public games of Greece. It is said that one of them was offered amighty bribe at Olympia, but refused to take it, and with great troublethrew his adversary in the wrestling-match. Some one then asked him, "Laconian, what have you gained by your victory?" The man, smiling withdelight, answered, "I shall fight in front of the king in the wars. "After they had routed their enemy and gained the victory, they were wontto pursue so far as to render their success secure, and then to drawoff, as they did not think it manly or befitting a Greek to cut down andbutcher those who could fight no longer. 

This was not merely magnanimous, but very useful to them, for theirenemies, knowing that they slew those who resisted, but spared those whogave way, often judged it better for themselves to flee than to standtheir ground. 

XXII. The sophist Hippias states that Lykurgus himself was a greatwarrior and took part in many campaigns; and Philostephanus evenattributed to Lykurgus the division of the cavalry into the troopscalled _oulamos_. This, according to him, consisted of a troop of fiftyhorsemen drawn up in a square. Demetrius Phalereus, on the other hand, says that he had no experience in war, and arranged the wholeconstitution in time of peace. Moreover the institution of the Olympictruce seems to be the idea of a man of gentle and peaceful temperament, some however say, according to Hermippus, that Lykurgus had at first nocommunication with Iphitus, but happened to be present in the crowd;that he then heard a voice as it were of a man behind him blaming himand wondering why he did not encourage his fellow-citizens to take partin the festival. As, when he turned round, there was no one who couldhave said so, he concluded that it was a divine warning, and, at oncejoining Iphitus and assisting him in regulating the festival, herendered it both more splendid and more lasting. 

XXIII. The training of the Spartan youth continued till their manhood. No one was permitted to live according to his own pleasure, but theylived in the city as if in a camp, with a fixed diet and fixed publicduties, thinking themselves to belong, not to themselves, but to theircountry. Those who had nothing else to do, either looked after theyoung, and taught them what was useful, or themselves learned suchthings from the old. For ample leisure was one of the blessings withwhich Lykurgus provided his countrymen, seeing that they were utterlyforbidden to practise any mechanical art, while money-making andbusiness were unnecessary, because wealth was disregarded and despised. The Helots tilled the ground, and produced the regular crops for them. Indeed, a Spartan who was at Athens while the courts were sitting, andwho learned that some man had been fined for idleness, and was leavingthe court in sorrow accompanied by his grieving friends, asked to beshown the man who had been punished for gentlemanly behaviour. Soslavish did they deem it to labour at trade and business. In Sparta, aswas natural, lawsuits became extinct, together with money, as the peoplehad neither excess nor deficiency, but all were equally well off, andenjoyed abundant leisure by reason of their simple habits. All theirtime was spent in dances, feasting, hunting or gymnastic exercises andconversation, when they were not engaged in war. 

XXIV. Those who were less than thirty years old never came into themarket-place at all, but made their necessary purchases through theirfriends and relations. And it was thought discreditable to the older mento be seen there much, and not to spend the greater part of the day inthe gymnasium and the _lesches_ or places for conversation. In thesethey used to collect together and pass their leisure time, making noallusions to business or the affairs of commerce, but their chief studybeing to praise what was honourable, and contemn what was base in alight satiric vein of talk which was instructive and edifying to thehearers. Nor was Lykurgus himself a man of unmixed austerity: indeed, heis said by Sosibius to have set up the little statue of the god oflaughter, and introduced merriment at proper times to enliven theirwine-parties and other gatherings. In a word, he trained his countrymenneither to wish nor to understand how to live as private men, but, likebees, to be parts of the commonwealth, and gather round their chief, forgetting themselves in their enthusiastic patriotism, and utterlydevoted to their country. This temper of theirs we can discern in manyof their sayings. Paidaretus, when not elected into the three hundred, went away rejoicing that the city possessed three hundred better menthan himself. Polykratidas, when he went with some others on a missionto the generals of the great king, was asked by them, if he and hisparty came as private persons or as ambassadors? He answered, "Asambassadors, if we succeed; as private men, if we fail. "

And when some citizens of Amphipolis came to Lacedaemon, and went to seethe mother of Brasidas, Argileonis, she asked them whether Brasidas diedbravely and worthily of Sparta. When they praised him to excess, andsaid that he had not left his like behind, she said, "Say not so, strangers; Brasidas was a noble and a gallant man, but Sparta has manybetter than he. "

XXV. Lykurgus himself composed his senate, as we have seen, of thepersons who took part in his plot; and in future be ordained thatvacancies should be filled up by those men, upwards of sixty years ofage, who were adjudged to be the most worthy. 

This seemed the greatest prize in the world, and also the most difficultto obtain; for it was not merely that a man should be adjudged swiftestof the swift, or strongest of the strong, but he had to be chosen as thebest and wisest of all good and wise men, and, as a prize, was to obtainpower to regulate the morals of the state, as he was intrusted withpowers of life and death, and disfranchisement, and with all the highestpenalties. 

The elections took place as follows: The citizens were all assembled, and certain men were placed in a building close by, where they couldneither see nor be seen, but merely hear the shouts of the generalassembly. They decided these, as indeed they did other contests, byshouts of approval, not of all at once, but lots were cast, and eachcandidate in the order denoted by his lot came forward and silentlywalked through the assembly. The men locked up in the building hadwriting materials, and noted down who was cheered most loudly, notknowing who each man was, beyond that he was first, second, third, andso on, of the candidates. They then told the number of the man for whomthere had been most voices, and he crowned himself with a garland andoffered sacrifice to the gods, followed by many of the young men, whocongratulated him, and by many women, who sang songs praising hisvirtues and his felicity. As he went from one temple to another, each ofhis relatives used to offer him food, saying, "The state honours youwith this banquet. " But he would pass by them all, and go to his usualmess-table. Here nothing uncommon took place, except that he was given asecond ration, which he took away with him; and after dinner, the womenof his own family being at the doors of the mess-room, he would call forthe one whom he wished to honour, and give her his portion, saying thathe had received it as a prize, and gave it to her as such. This causedher to be greatly envied by the other women. 

XXVI. --Moreover, he made excellent regulations about funerals. In thefirst place, he abolished all silly superstition, and raised noobjections to burial in the city, and to placing tombs near the temples, in order to accustom the young to such sights from their infancy, sothat they might not feel any horror of death, or have any notion aboutbeing defiled by touching a dead body, or walking among tombs. Next, hepermitted nothing to be buried with the dead, but they placed the bodyin the grave, wrapped in a purple cloth and covered with olive-leaves. It was not permitted to inscribe the name of the deceased upon his tomb, except in the case of men who had fallen in war, or of women who hadbeen priestesses. A short time was fixed for mourning, eleven days; onthe twelfth they were to sacrifice to Demeter (Ceres) and cease fromtheir grief. For, in Sparta, nothing was left without regulation, but, with all the necessary acts of life, Lykurgus mingled some ceremonywhich might enkindle virtue or discourage vice; indeed he filled hiscity with examples of this kind, by which the citizens were insensiblymoulded and impelled towards honourable pursuits. For this reason hewould not allow citizens to leave the country at pleasure, and to wanderin foreign lands, where they would contract outlandish habits, andlearn to imitate the untrained lives and ill-regulated institutions tobe found abroad. Also, he banished from Lacedaemon all strangers whowere there for no useful purpose; not, as Thucydides says, because hefeared they might imitate his constitution, and learn somethingserviceable for the improvement of their own countries, but rather forfear that they might teach the people some mischief. Strangers introducestrange ideas; and these lead to discussions of an unsuitable character, and political views which would jar with the established constitution, like a discord in music. Wherefore he thought that it was more importantto keep out evil habits than even to keep the plague from coming intothe city. 

XXVII. In all these acts of Lykurgus, we cannot find any traces of theinjustice and unfairness which some complain of in his laws, which theysay are excellent to produce courage, but less so for justice. And theinstitution called Krypteia, if indeed it is one of the laws ofLykurgus, as Aristotle tells us, would agree with the idea which Platoconceived about him and his system. The Krypteia was this: the leadersof the young men used at intervals to send the most discreet of theminto different parts of the country, equipped with daggers and necessaryfood; in the daytime these men used to conceal themselves inunfrequented spots, and take their rest, but at night they would comedown into the roads and murder any Helots they found. And often theywould range about the fields, and make away with the strongest andbravest Helots they could find. Also, as Thucydides mentions in hisHistory of the Peloponnesian War, those Helots who were especiallyhonoured by the Spartans for their valour were crowned as free men, andtaken to the temples with rejoicings; but in a short time they alldisappeared, to the number of more than two thousand, and in such a waythat no man, either then or afterwards, could tell how they perished. Aristotle says that the Ephors, when they first take office, declare waragainst the Helots, in order that it may be lawful to destroy them. Andmuch other harsh treatment used to be inflicted upon them; and they werecompelled to drink much unmixed wine, and then were brought into thepublic dining-halls, to show the young what drunkenness is. 

They were also forced to sing low songs, and to dance low dances, andnot to meddle with those of a higher character. It is said that when theThebans made their celebrated campaign in Lacedaemon, they ordered theHelots whom they captured to sing them the songs of Terpander, andAlkman, and Spendon the Laconian; but they begged to be excused, for, they said, "the masters do not like it. " So it seems to have been wellsaid that in Lacedaemon, the free man was more free, and the slave morea slave than anywhere else. This harsh treatment, I imagine, began inlater times, especially after the great earthquake, when they relatethat the Helots joined the Messenians, ravaged the country, and almostconquered it. I cannot impute this wicked act of the Krypteia toLykurgus, when I consider the gentleness and justice of his generalbehaviour, which also we know was inspired by Heaven. 

XXVIII. When the leading men of the city were thoroughly imbued with thespirit of his institutions, and the newly constituted state was able towalk by itself without leading-strings, and bear its own weight alone, then, as Plato says of God, that he was pleased with the world that hehad created, when it first began to live and move, so was it withLykurgus. He admired the spectacle of his laws in operation, and, as faras was possible by human prudence, he desired to leave it eternal andunchangeable. He assembled all the citizens, and told them that the citywas now fairly well provided with materials for happiness and virtue, but that he would not bestow upon them the most valuable gift of all, until he had taken counsel with Heaven. It was therefore their duty toabide by the already established laws, and to change and alter nothingtill he returned from Delphi; on his return, he would do whatever thegod commanded. They all assented, and bade him depart, and he, aftermaking first the kings and elders, and then the rest of the citizens, swear that they would keep their existing constitution till Lykurguscame back, set out for Delphi. Upon reaching the temple he sacrificed tothe god, and inquired whether his laws were good, and sufficient for theprosperity and happiness of his country. Receiving answer from theoracle that his laws were indeed good, and that the city would becomefamous if it kept the constitution of Lykurgus, he wrote down thisprophecy and sent it to Sparta. But he himself, after offering a secondsacrifice to the god, and having embraced his friends and his son, determined not to release his countrymen from their oath, but to put anend to his own life, being at an age when, though life was stillpleasant, it seemed time to go to his rest, after having excellentlyarranged all his people's affairs. He departed by starvation, as hethought that a true statesman ought to make even his death of service tothe state, and not like that of a private person, the useless end of anidle life. His death came in the fulness of time, after he had done anexcellent work, and it was left as the guardian of all the good that hehad done, because the citizens had sworn that they would abide by hisconstitution until he returned to them. Nor was he deceived in hisexpectations; for the state was by far the most celebrated in Greece, for good government at home and renown abroad, during a period of fivehundred years, under his constitution, which was kept unaltered byfourteen kings, counting from himself down to Agis the son ofArchidamus. For the institution of Ephors was not a relaxation, but astrengthening of the original scheme, and while it seemed popular itreally confirmed the power of the oligarchy. 

XXIX. But in the reign of Agis money found its way into Sparta, and, after money, selfishness and greed for gain came in, on account ofLysander, who, though himself incorruptible, yet filled his country withluxury and love of gold, as he brought back gold and silver from thewars, and disregarded the laws of Lykurgus. Before this, when those lawswere in force, Sparta was like a wise and practised warrior more than acity, or rather, she with her simple staff and cloak, like Herakles withhis lion-skin and club, ruled over a willing Greece, deposed bad kingsor factions, decided wars, and crushed revolutions; and that, too, oftenwithout moving a single soldier, but merely by sending a commissioner, who was at once obeyed, even as bees collect and rank themselves inorder when their queen appears. Sparta then had so much order andjustice as to be able to supply her neighbours; and I cannot understandthose who say that the Lacedaemonians "knew how to obey, but not how torule;" nor that story of some one who said to king Theopompus that thesafety of Sparta lay in her kings knowing how to rule. "Rather, " heanswered, "in her citizens knowing how to obey. "

They would not brook an incapable commander: their very obedience is alesson in the art of command; for a good leader makes good followers, and just as it is the object of the horse-breaker to turn out a gentleand tractable horse, so it is the object of rulers to implant in men thespirit of obedience. But the Lacedaemonians produced a desire in otherstates to be ruled by them and to obey them; for they used to sendembassies and ask not for ships or money or troops, but for one Spartanfor a leader; and when they obtained him, they respected him and fearedhim, as, for instance, the Sicilians had Gylippus as a general, thepeople of Chalkidike had Brasidas, while Lysander and Kallikratidas andAgesilaus were made use of by all the Greeks in Asia Minor. These menwere called Regulators and Pacificators in each several state, and thewhole city of Sparta was regarded as a school and example of orderlypublic life and of settled political institutions. This was alluded toby Stratonikus when he said in jest that the Athenians ought to conductmysteries and shows, the Eleans to be stewards at the games, and theLacedaemonians to be beaten if the others did not do right. This was notspoken seriously; but Antisthenes, the Sokratic philosopher, was seriouswhen he said of the Thebans, who were in high spirits after theirvictory at Leuktra, that they were as pleased as schoolboys who hadbeaten their master. 

XXXI. Not that this was Lykurgus's main object, that his country shoulddominate over as many other states as possible; but seeing that, instates as in individuals, happiness is derived from virtue andsingle-mindedness, he directed all his efforts to implant in hiscountrymen feelings of honour, self-reliance, and self-control. Thesewere also taken as the basis of their constitution by Plato, Diogenes, Zeno, and all who have written with any success upon this subject. Butthey have left mere dissertations; Lykurgus produced an inimitableconstitution, confuted those who complained of the unreality of the'Essay on the True Philosopher, ' by showing them the spectacle of anentire city acting like philosophers, and thereby obtained for himself agreater reputation than that of any other Greek legislator at anyperiod. For this reason Aristotle says that he has less honour inLacedaemon than he deserves, although his memory is greatly respected;for he has a temple, and they sacrifice to him every year as if he was agod. It is also said that after his remains were carried home, his tombwas struck by lightning. This distinction befell scarcely any other manof note except Euripides, who died long after him, and was buried atArethusa in Macedonia. It was considered a great proof and token of hisfame by the admirers of Euripides, that this should happen to him afterhis death which happened before to the especial favourite of Heaven. Some say that Lykurgus died at Kirrha, but Apollothemis says that he wastaken to Elis and died there, and Timaeus and Aristoxenus say that heended his days in Crete. Aristoxenus even says that the Cretans show histomb in what is called the Strangers' Road in Pergamia. He is said tohave left one son, Antiorus, who died childless, and so ended thefamily. His companions and relatives and their descendants kept up thepractice of meeting together for a long period; and the days when theymet were called Lykurgids. Aristokrates the son of Hipparchus says thatwhen Lykurgus died in Crete, his friends burned his body and threw theashes into the sea, at his own request, as he feared that if any remainsof him should be brought back to Lacedaemon, they would think themselvesabsolved from their oath, and change the constitution. This is the storyof Lykurgus. 

LIFE OF NUMA. 

I. There is a considerable conflict of opinion about the time of KingNuma's reign, although several pedigrees seem to be accurately traced tohim. One Clodius, in a book on the verification of dates, insists thatall these old records were destroyed during the Gaulish troubles, andthat those which are now extant were composed by interested persons, bywhose means men who had no right to such honours claimed descent fromthe noblest families. Though Numa is said to have been a friend ofPythagoras, yet some deny that he had any tincture of Greek learning, arguing that either he was born with a natural capacity for soundlearning, or that he was taught by some barbarian. [A] Others say thatPythagoras was born much later, some five generations after the times ofNuma, but that Pythagoras the Spartan, who won the Stadium race atOlympia on the thirteenth Olympiad, wandered into Italy, and theremeeting Numa, assisted him in the establishment of his constitution; andthat from this cause, the Roman constitution in many points resemblesthe Laconian. The Olympic games were instituted in the third year ofNuma's reign. Another story is that Numa was a Sabine by birth, and theSabines consider themselves to be of Lacedaemonian origin. It is hard toreconcile the dates, especially those which refer to Olympiads, thetable of which is said to have been made out by Hippias of Elis, on notrustworthy basis. However, what things I have heard about Numa that areworthy of mention I shall proceed to relate, beginning from astarting-point of my own. 

[Footnote A: That is, by some one who was not a Greek. ]

II. Rome had been founded, and Romulus had reigned, for thirty-sevenyears, when upon the fifth day of the month of July, which day is nowcalled _nonae caprotinae_, he was performing a public sacrifice outsidethe gates, at a place called the Goat's Marsh, in the presence of theSenate and most of the people. Suddenly a great commotion began in theair, thick clouds covered the earth, with violent gusts and showers. Thepeople fled in terror, and Romulus disappeared. His body could never befound, but suspicion fell upon the patricians, and a report was currentamong the populace that they had long been jealous of his power as king, and had determined to get it into their own hands. Indeed, he had dealtwith them very harshly and tyrannically. Fearing this suspicion, theygave out that he was not dead, but had been caught up into heaven; andProclus, a man of mark, swore that he saw Romulus ascend into heaven inhis armour as he was, and that he heard a voice ordering that he shouldbe called Quirinus. Another disturbance took place in Rome about theelection of the next king, because the new citizens were not yetthoroughly amalgamated with the old ones, the people were unquiet, andthe patricians suspicious of one another. Nevertheless they alldetermined that they would have a king, but they disagreed not merelyabout who, but of what race he should be. 

Romulus's original colonists thought it a monstrous thing that theSabines, because they had been admitted to a share of the city and thecountry, should propose to rule over it; while the Sabines notunreasonably urged that because, after the death of Tatius, they hadacquiesced in Romulus reigning alone, now in their turn they ought tofurnish a king of their own nation. They had not, they said, beenadopted by a more powerful race than themselves, but had, by theircombination with the Romans, greatly raised the power and renown oftheir city. 

The two races were at issue on these points. The patricians, fearingthat confusion might arise if the state were left without a head, madeone of their own number every day assume the insignia of royalty, perform the usual sacrifices to the gods, and transact business for sixhours by day, and six by night. This equal division of their periods ofrule was not only just for those in office, but prevented any jealousyof them being felt by the populace, each day and night, because they sawone who had been a king become a private person. This form ofgovernment the Romans call an interregnum. 

III. But, although they appeared to manage things so smoothly, suspicions and threatenings of disturbance arose, for men said that theymeditated altering the form of government to an oligarchy, in order tokeep all political power in their own hands, and would not thereforeelect a king. Hereupon the two factions agreed that one should select aking from the ranks of the other. This, they thought, would both put anend to their quarrels for the present, and also ensure the candidate whoshould be chosen being impartial, because he would be friendly to theone party because it had chosen him, and to the other because hebelonged to it by birth. The Sabines gave the Romans their choice whichthey would do; and they decided that it would be better to choose aSabine king themselves, than to be ruled by a Roman chosen by theSabines. After deliberation amongst themselves, they chose NumaPompilius, a man who was not one of those Sabines who had settled inRome, but whose excellence was so well-known to all, that the Sabines, as soon as they heard his name, were even more eager for him than theRomans who had chosen him. When they had informed the people of theirdecision, they sent an embassy to Numa, composed of the leading men ofboth parties, to beg of him to come to Rome and assume the crown. 

Numa belonged to a celebrated Sabine city, Cures, from which the unitedRomans and Sabines called themselves Quirites. He was the son ofPomponius, an honourable citizen, and was the youngest of four brothers. By a miraculous coincidence he was born on the very day on which Romulusfounded Rome; that is, the tenth day before the Calends of May. Hisnaturally good disposition had been so educated by sorrow andphilosophic pursuits, that he rose superior not merely to commonplacevices, but even to the worship of brute force, so common amongbarbarians, and considered true courage to consist in the conquest ofhis own passions. Accordingly he banished all luxury and extravagancefrom his house, and was known as a trusty friend and counsellor, both byhis countrymen and by strangers. When at leisure, he disregarded sensualenjoyments and money-getting, but devoted himself to the service of thegods and to speculations about their nature and power, so that heobtained great celebrity. Indeed Tatius, when he was acting asjoint-king with Romulus, chose him for the husband of his only daughterTatia. But Numa was not elated by his marriage, and did not remove tothe town where his father-in-law was king, but stayed where he was inCures, among the Sabines, tending his aged father; while Tatia alsopreferred the quiet of a private citizen's life to the pomp which shemight have enjoyed in Rome. She is said to have died in the thirteenthyear after her marriage. 

IV. Now Numa was in the habit of leaving the city and passing much ofhis time in the country, wandering alone in the sacred groves anddwelling in desert places. Hence the story first arose that it was notfrom any derangement of intellect that he shunned human society, butbecause he held converse with higher beings, and had been admitted tomarriage with the gods, and that, by passing his time in converse withthe nymph Egeria, who loved him, he became blessed, and learned heavenlywisdom. It is evident that this is the same as many ancient myths; suchas that told by the Phrygians about Attis, that of the Bithynians aboutHerodotus, that of the Arcadians about Endymion, and many others. Yet itseems probable that a god, who loves man better than bird or beast, should take pleasure in conversing with those men who are remarkable forgoodness, and not despise nor disdain to hold communion with the wiseand righteous. But it is hard to believe that a god or deity could feelthe passion of love for a human form; although the Egyptians notunreasonably say, that a woman may be impregnated by the spirit of agod, but that a man can have no material union with a god. However it isvery right to believe that a god can feel friendship for a man, and fromthis may spring a love which watches over him and guides him in the pathof virtue. There is truth in the myths of Phorbas, of Hyacinthus, and ofAdmetus, who were all loved by Apollo, as was also Hippolytus of Sicyon. It is said that whenever he set sail from Sikyon to Kirrha on theopposite coast, the Pythia would recite the verse, "Now goes our dear Hippolytus to sea, "

as if the god knew that he was coming and rejoiced at it. 

There is also a legend that Pan loved Pindar and his verses; and for theMuse's sake, Hesiod and Archilochus were honoured after their deaths;while Sophokles during his life is said, by a legend which remainscurrent at the present day, to have become the friend of Aesculapius, and on his death to have had the rites of burial supplied by the care ofanother god. 

If, then, we believe the legends which are told about these persons, whyshould we doubt that Zaleukus, Minos, Zoroaster, Numa, and Lykurgus wereinspired by Heaven, when they governed their kingdoms and gave themlaws? We may suppose that the gods, when in an earnest mood, would holdconverse with such men as these, the best of their kind, to talk withand encourage them, just as they visit the poets, if they do at all, when inclined for pleasure. However, if any one thinks differently, asBacchylides says, "The way is broad. "

The other view, which some take about Lykurgus and Numa and such men, seems very plausible, that they, having to deal with an obstinate andunmanageable people when introducing great political changes, inventedthe idea of their own divine mission as a means of safety forthemselves. 

V. It was in Numa's fortieth year that the envoys came from Rome to askhim to be king. Their spokesmen were Proculus and Velesius, one of whomhad very nearly been elected king, for the Romulus people inclined muchto Proculus, and those of Tatius were equally in favour of Velesius. These men made a short speech, imagining that Numa would be delightedwith his fortune; but it appears that it took much hard pleading toinduce a man who had lived all his life in peace to take the command ofa city which owed its origin and its increase alike to war. He said, inthe presence of his father and of Marcius, one of his relations, "Everychange in a man's life is dangerous; and when a man is not in want ofanything needful, and has no cause for being dissatisfied with his lot, it is sheer madness for him to change his habits and way of life; forthese, at any rate, have the advantage of security, while in the newstate all is uncertain. Not even uncertain are the perils of royalty, judging from Romulus himself, who was suspected of having plottedagainst his partner Tatius, and whose peers were suspected of havingassassinated him. Yet these men call Romulus the child of the gods, andtell how he had a divinely sent nurse, and was preserved by a miraclewhile yet a child; while I was born of mortal parents, and brought up bypeople whom you all know: even the points which you praise in mycharacter are far from those which make a good king, being love ofleisure and of unprofitable speculation, and also a great fondness forpeace and unwarlike matters, and for men who meet together for the gloryof the gods or for cheerful converse with one another, and who at othertimes plough their fields and feed their cattle at home. But you Romanshave very likely many wars left upon your hands by Romulus, for theconduct of which the state requires a vigorous warrior in the prime oflife. The people too, from their successes, are accustomed to and eagerfor war, and are known to be longing for fresh conquests andpossessions; so that they would ridicule me when I told them to honourthe gods and act justly, and if I tried to instil a hatred of wars andof brute force into a city which wants a general more than a king. "

VI. As he refused the offered crown in such terms, the Romans used everykind of entreaty to induce him to accept it, begging him not to plungethe state again into civil war, because there was no other man whom thetwo parties would agree to receive as their king. In their absence, hisfather and Marcius begged him not to refuse so great and marvellous anoffer. "If, " they said, "you do not desire wealth, because of yoursimple life, and do not care for the glory of royalty, because youderive more glory from your own virtue, yet think that to be king is toserve God, who gives you this office and will not allow yourrighteousness to lie idle, useful only to yourself. Do not thereforeshrink from assuming this office, which gives you an opportunity toconduct the solemn ceremonials of religion with due pomp, and tocivilise the people and turn their hearts, which can be effected moreeasily by a king than by any one else. This people loved Tatius, thoughhe was a foreigner, and they respect the memory of Romulus as if he wasa god. And who knows, if the people, although victorious, may not havehad enough of wars, and, sated with triumphs and spoils, may not bedesirous of a gentle and just ruler under whom they may enjoy rest andpeace. If, however, they are madly bent upon war, is it not better thatyou should hold the reins, and direct their fury elsewhere, becomingyourself a bond of union and friendship between the Sabine nation andthis powerful and flourishing city?" Besides these arguments, it is saidthat the omens were favourable, and that the people of the city, as soonas they heard of the embassy, came and besought him to go and becomeking, and thus unite and combine the two races. 

VII. When he had made up his mind, he sacrificed to the gods, andstarted for Rome. The Senate and people met him and showed greataffection for him; the matrons also greeted him, and there weresacrifices in the temples, and every one was as joyous as if he hadreceived a kingdom instead of a king. When they came into the Forum, the_interrex_ or temporary king, Spurius Vettius, put it to the vote, andall the people voted for Numa. When they offered him the insignia ofroyalty, he bade them stop, saying that he wished to have his crownconfirmed to him by God as well as by man. Taking the prophets andpriests he ascended the Capitol, which the Romans at that time calledthe Tarpeian Hill. There the chief of the prophets made him turn towardsthe south, covered his head, and then standing behind him with his handlaid upon his head, he prayed, and looked for a sign or omen sent fromthe gods in every quarter of the heavens. A strange silence prevailedamong the people in the Forum, as they watched him eagerly, until aprosperous omen was observed. Then Numa received the royal robes andcame down from the hill among the people. They received him with cheersand congratulations, as the most pious of men, and as beloved of Heaven. When he became king, his first act was to disband the body-guard ofthree hundred men, whom Romulus always had kept about his person, whowere called _Celeres_, that is, swift; for Numa would not distrust aloyal people nor reign over a disloyal one. Next he instituted a thirdhigh priest, in addition to the existing priests of Jupiter and Mars, whom, in honour of Romulus, he called the Flamen Quirinalis. The elderpriests are called Flamens from the skull-caps which they wear, and theword is derived from the Greek word for felt; for at that time Greekwords were mingled with Latin ones more than now. For instance, the_laena_ worn by the priests is said by Juba to be the Greek _chlaina_, and the boy, whose parents must be both alive, who is servant to thepriest of Jupiter, is called _Camillus_, just as the Greeks sometimescall Hermes (Mercury) _Cadmilus_, from his being the servant of thegods. 

VIII. Numa, after confirming his popularity by these measures, proceededat once to attempt to convert the city from the practice of war and thestrong hand, to that of right and justice, just as a man tries to softenand mould a mass of iron. The city at that time was indeed what Platocalls "inflamed and angry, " for it owed its very existence to thereckless daring by which it had thrust aside the most warlike races ofthe country, and had recruited its strength by many campaigns andceaseless war, and, as carpentry becomes more fixed in its place byblows, so the city seemed to gain fresh power from its dangers. Thinkingthat it would be a very difficult task to change the habits of thisexcited and savage people, and to teach them the arts of peace, helooked to the gods for help, and by sacrifices, processions, and choraldances, which he himself organised and arranged, he awed, interested, and softened the manners of the Romans, artfully beguiling them out oftheir warlike ferocity. Sometimes he spoke of supernatural terrors, evilomens, and unpropitious voices, so as to influence them by means ofsuperstition. These measures proved his wisdom, and showed him a truedisciple of Pythagoras, for the worship of the gods was an importantpart of his state policy, as it is of Pythagoras's system of philosophy. His love of outward show and stratagem was also said to be derived fromPythagoras, for as the latter tamed an eagle and made it alight uponhim, and when walking through the crowd at Olympia showed his goldenthigh, and did all the other surprising devices which made Timon ofPhlius write the epigram--

 "Pythagoras by magic arts, And mystic talk deludes men's hearts, "

so did Numa invent the story of his amour with a wood-nymph and hissecret converse with her, and of his enjoying the society of the Muses. He referred most of his prophetic utterances to the Muses, and taughtthe Romans to worship one of them especially, whom he called Tacita, which means silent or dumb. This seems to have been done in imitation ofPythagoras, who especially revered silence. His legislation about imageswas also connected with the Pythagorean doctrine, which says that firstprinciples cannot be touched or seen, but are invisible spiritualessences; for Numa forbade the Romans to worship any likenesses of menor of beasts. Among them there was no image of a god, either carved ormoulded, in the early times. For a hundred and seventy years they builttemples, and placed shrines in them, but made no image of any livingthing, considering that it was wrong to make the worse like the better, and that God cannot be comprehended otherwise than by thought. Theirsacrifices also were connected with the Pythagorean doctrine; they werefor the most part bloodless, and performed with flour, libations ofwine, and all the commonest things. But besides these, there are otherdistinct proofs of the connection of these two men with one another. Oneof these is that the Romans enrolled Pythagoras as a citizen, as we aretold by Epicharmus the comic poet, in a letter which he wrote toAntenor. He was a man who lived in old times and underwent thePythagorean training. Another proof is that of his four sons, King Numanamed one Mamercus after the son of Pythagoras; from whom sprung theancient patrician house of the Aemilii. This name was originally givenhim in sport by the king, who used to call him _aimulos_ or wily. Imyself have heard many Romans narrate that an oracle once bade theRomans establish the wisest and the bravest of the Greeks in their owncity, and that in consequence of it they set up two brazen statues inthe Forum, one of Alkibiades and one of Pythagoras. But all this can beso easily disputed that it is not worth while to pursue it farther or toput any trust in it. 

IX. To Numa also is referred the institution of the Pontifices, or highpriests; and he himself is said to have been one of the first. ThePontifices are so called, according to some authorities, because theyworship the gods, who are powerful and almighty; for powerful in Latinis _potens_. Others say that it refers to an exception made in favour ofpossibilities, meaning that the legislator ordered the priests toperform what services lay in their power, and did not deny that thereare some which they cannot. But the most usually received and mostabsurd derivation is that the word means nothing more than bridgebuilders, and that they were so named from the sacrifices which areoffered upon the sacred bridge, which are of great sanctity andantiquity. The Latins call a bridge _pontem_. This bridge is intrustedto the care of the priests, like any other immovable holy relic; for theRomans think that the removal of the wooden bridge would call down thewrath of Heaven. It is said to be entirely composed of wood, inaccordance with some oracle, without any iron whatever. 

The stone bridge was built many years afterwards, when Aemilius wasQuaestor. However, it is said that the wooden bridge itself does notdate from the time of Numa, but that it was finished by Marcius, thegrandson of Numa, when he was king. 

The chief priest, or Pontifex Maximus, is an interpreter and prophet orrather expounder of the will of Heaven. He not only sees that the publicsacrifices are properly conducted, but even watches those who offerprivate sacrifices, opposes all departure from established custom, andpoints out to each man how to honour the gods and how to pray to them. He also presides over the holy maidens called vestals. 

The consecration of the vestal virgins, and the worship and watching ofthe eternal flame by them, are entirely attributed to Numa, andexplained either by the pure and uncorruptible essence of fire beingintrusted to the keeping of those who are stainless and undefiled, orby that which is barren and without fruit being associated with maidens. 

Indeed, in Greece, wherever an eternal fire is kept up, as at Delphi andAthens, it is not maidens, but widows, past the age to wed, that tendit. When any of these fires chance to go out, as, for instance, thesacred lamp went out at Athens when Aristion was despot, and the firewent out at Delphi when the temple was burned by the Persians, and atRome in the revolutions during the time of the wars with KingMithridates the fire, and even the altar upon which it burned, was sweptaway; then they say that it must not be lighted from another fire, butthat an entirely new fire must be made, lighted by a pure and undefiledray from the sun. They usually light it with mirrors made by hollowingthe surface of an isosceles right-angled triangle, which conducts allthe rays of light into one point. Now when it is placed opposite to thesun, so that all the rays coming from all quarters are collectedtogether into that point, the ray thus formed passes through the thinair, and at once lights the dryest and lightest of the objects againstwhich it strikes, for that ray has the strength and force of fireitself. 

Some say that the only duty of the vestal virgins is to watch thateternal fire, but others say they perform certain secret rites, aboutwhich we have written as much as it is lawful to divulge, in the Life ofCamillus. 

X. The first maidens who were consecrated by Numa were named Gegania andVerenia; and afterwards Canuleia and Tarpeia were added. Serviussubsequently added two more to their number, which has remained six eversince his reign. Numa ordained that the maidens should observe celibacyfor thirty years, during the first ten years of which they were to learntheir duties, during the next perform them, and during the last to teachothers. After this period any of them who wished might marry and ceaseto be priestesses; but it is said that very few availed themselves ofthis privilege, and that those few were not happy, but, by their regretsand sorrow for the life they had left, made the others scruple to leaveit, prefer to remain virgins till their death. They had greatprivileges, such as that of disposing of their property by will whentheir fathers were still alive, like women who have borne threechildren. When they walk abroad they are escorted by lictors with thefasces; and if they happen to meet any criminal who is being taken toexecution, he is not put to death; but the vestal must swear that shemet him accidentally, and not on purpose. When they use a litter, no onemay pass under it on pain of death. The vestals are corrected by stripesfor any faults which they commit, sometimes by the Pontifex Maximus, whoflogs the culprit without her clothes, but with a curtain drawn beforeher. She that breaks her vow of celibacy is buried alive at the CollineGate, at which there is a mound of earth which stretches some way insidethe city wall. In it they construct an underground chamber, of smallsize, which is entered from above. In it is a bed with bedding, and alamp burning; and also some small means of supporting life, such asbread, a little water in a vessel, milk, and oil, as though they wishedto avoid the pollution of one who had been consecrated with such holyceremonies dying of hunger. The guilty one is placed in a litter, covered in, and gagged with thongs so that she cannot utter a sound. Then they carry her through the Forum. All make way in silence, andaccompany her passage with downcast looks, without speaking. There is nomore fearful sight than this, nor any day when the city is plunged intodeeper mourning. When the litter reaches the appointed spot, theservants loose her bonds, and the chief priest, after private prayer andlifting his hands to Heaven before his dreadful duty, leads her out, closely veiled, places her upon a ladder which leads down into thesubterranean chamber. After this he turns away with the other priests;the ladder is drawn up after she has descended, and the site of thechamber is obliterated by masses of earth which are piled upon it, sothat the place looks like any other part of the mound. Thus are thevestals punished who lose their chastity. 

XI. Numa is said to have built the Temple of Vesta, which was to containthe sacred fire, in a circular form, imitating thereby not the shape ofthe earth, but that of the entire universe, in the midst of which thePythagoreans place the element of fire, which they call Vesta and theUnit. The earth they say is not motionless, and not in the centre of itsorbit, but revolves round the central fire, occupying by no means thefirst or the most honourable place in the system of the universe. Theseideas are said to have been entertained by Plato also in his old age;for he too thought that the earth was in a subordinate position, andthat the centre of the universe was occupied by some nobler body. 

XII. The Pontifices also explain, to those who inquire of them, theproper ceremonies at funerals. For Numa taught them not to think thatthere was any pollution in death, but that we must pay due honours tothe gods below, because they will receive all that is noblest on earth. Especially he taught them to honour the goddess Libitina, the goddesswho presides over funeral rites, whether she be Proserpine, or ratherVenus, as the most learned Romans imagine, not unnaturally referring ourbirth and our death to the same divinity. 

He also defined the periods of mourning, according to the age of thedeceased. He allowed none for a child under three years of age, and forone older the mourning was only to last as many months as he livedyears, provided those were not more than ten. The longest mourning wasnot to continue above ten months, after which space widows werepermitted to marry again; but she that took another husband before thatterm was out was obliged by his decree to sacrifice a cow with calf. 

Of Numa's many other institutions I shall only mention two, that of theSalii and of the Feciales, which especially show his love of justice. The Feciales are, as it were, guardians of peace, and in my opinionobtain their name from their office; for they were to act as mediators, and not to permit an appeal to arms before all hope of obtaining justiceby fair means had been lost. The Greeks call it peace when two statessettle their differences by negotiation and not by arms; and the RomanFeciales frequently went to states that had done wrong and begged themto think better of what they had done. If they rejected their offers, then the Feciales called the gods to witness, invoked dreadful cursesupon themselves and their country, if they were about to fight in anunjust cause, and so declared war. Against the will of the Feciales, orwithout their approval, no Roman, whether king or common soldier, wasallowed to take up arms, but the general was obliged first to have itcertified to him by the Feciales that the right was on his side, andthen to take his measures for a campaign. It is said that the greatdisaster with the Gauls befell the city in consequence of this ceremonyhaving been neglected. The barbarians were besieging Clusium; FabiusAmbustus was sent as an ambassador to their camp to make terms on behalfof the besieged. His proposals met with a harsh reply, and he, thinkingthat his mission was at an end, had the audacity to appear before theranks of the men of Clusium in arms, and to challenge the bravest of thebarbarians to single combat. He won the fight, slew his opponent andstripped his body; but the Gauls recognised him, and sent a herald toRome, complaining that Fabius had broken faith and not kept his word, and had waged war against them without its being previously declared. Hereupon the Feciales urged the Senate to deliver the man up to theGauls, but he appealed to the people, and by their favour escaped hisjust doom. Soon after the Gauls came and sacked Rome, except theCapitol. But this is treated of more at length in the 'Life ofCamillus. '

XIII. The priests called Salii are said to owe their origin to thefollowing circumstances: In the eighth year of Numa's reign an epidemicraged throughout Italy, and afflicted the city of Rome. Now amidst thegeneral distress it is related that a brazen shield fell from heaveninto the hands of Numa. Upon this the king made an inspired speech, which he had learned from Egeria and the Muses. The shield, he said, came for the salvation of the city, and they must guard it, and makeeleven more like it, so that no thief could steal the one that fell fromheaven, because he could not tell which it was. Moreover the place andthe meadows round about it, where he was wont to converse with theMuses, must be consecrated to them, and the well by which it was wateredmust be pointed out as holy water to the vestal virgins, that they mightdaily take some thence to purify and sprinkle their temple. The truthof this is said to have been proved by the immediate cessation of theplague. He bade workmen compete in imitating the shield, and, when allothers refused to attempt it, Veturius Mamurius, one of the best workmenof the time, produced so admirable an imitation, and made all theshields so exactly alike, that even Numa himself could not tell whichwas the original. He next appointed the Salii to guard and keep them. These priests were called Salii, not, as some say, after a man ofSamothrace or of Mantinea named Salius, who first taught the art ofdancing under arms, but rather from the springing dance itself, whichthey dance through the city when they carry out the shields in the monthof March, dressed in scarlet tunics, girt with brazen girdles, withbrazen helmets on their heads and little daggers with which they strikethe shields. The rest of their dance is done with their feet; they movegracefully, whirling round, swiftly and airily counter-changing theirpositions with light and vigorous motions according to rhythm andmeasure. The shields are called _ancilia_, because of their shape; forthey are not round, nor with a perfect circumference, but are cut out ofa wavy line, and curl in at the thickest part towards each other; orthey may be called _ancilia_ after the name of the elbow, _ankon_, onwhich they are carried; at least so Juba conjectures in his endeavoursto find a Greek derivation for the word. The name may be connected withthe fall of the shield _from above_ (_anekathen_), or with the healing(_akesis_) of the plague, and the cessation of that terrible calamity, if we must refer the word to a Greek root. 

It is related that, to reward Mamurius for his workmanship, his name ismentioned in the song which the Salii sing while they dance theirPyrrhic dance; others, however, say that it is not Veturium Mamuriumthat they say, but _Veterem Memoriam_, which means ancient memory. 

XIV. After he had arranged all religious ceremonies, he built, near thetemple of Vesta, the Regia, as a kind of royal palace; and there hespent most of his time, engaged in religious duties, instructing thepriests, or awaiting some divine colloquy. He had also another house onthe hill of Quirinus, the site of which is even now pointed out. 

In all religious processions through the city the heralds went first tobid the people cease their work, and attend to the ceremony; for just asthe Pythagoreans are said to forbid the worship of the gods in a cursorymanner, and to insist that men shall set out from their homes with thispurpose and none other in their minds, so Numa thought it wrong that thecitizens should see or hear any religious ceremony in a careless, half-hearted manner, and made them cease from all worldly cares andattend with all their hearts to the most important of all duties, religion; so he cleared the streets of all the hammering, and cries, andnoises which attend the practice of ordinary trades and handicrafts, before any holy ceremony. Some trace of this custom still survives inthe practice of crying out _Hoc age_ when the consul is taking theauspices or making a sacrifice. These words mean "Do this thing, " andare used to make the bystanders orderly and attentive. Many of his otherprecepts are like those of the Pythagoreans; for just as they forbid mento sit upon a quart measure, or to stir the fire with a sword, or toturn back when they set out upon a journey, and bid them sacrifice anodd number to the gods above, and an even one to those below, all ofwhich things had a mystical meaning, which was hidden from the commonmass of mankind, so also some of Numa's rites can only be explained byreference to some secret legend, such as his forbidding men to make alibation to the gods with wine made from an unpruned vine, and hisordering that no sacrifice should be made without flour, and that menshould turn round while worshipping and sit after they had worshipped. The first two of these seem to point to cultivation of the fruits of theearth, as a part of righteousness; the turning round of the worshippersis said to be in imitation of the revolution of the globe, but it seemsmore probable that, as all temples look towards the east, the worshipperwho enters with his back to the sun turns round towards this god also, and begs of them both, as he makes his circuit, to fulfil his prayer. Unless indeed there is an allusion to the symbolical wheel of theEgyptians, and the change of posture means that nothing human isconstant, and that, however God may turn about our lives, it is our dutyto be content. The act of sitting after prayer was said to portend thatsuch as were good would obtain a solid and lasting fulfilment of theirprayers. Or again, this attitude of rest marks the division betweendifferent periods of prayer; so that after the end of one prayer theyseat themselves in the presence of the gods, in order that under theirauspices they may begin the next. This fully agrees with what has beensaid above, and shows that the lawgiver intended to accustom hiscountrymen not to offer their prayers in a hurry, or in the intervals ofdoing something else, but when they were at leisure and not pressed fortime. 

XV. By this religious training the city became so easily managed byNuma, and so impressed by his power, as to believe stories of thewildest character about him, and to think nothing incredible orimpossible if he wished to do it. For instance, it is related that oncehe invited many of the citizens to dine with him, and placed before themcommon vessels and poor fare; but, as they were about to begin dinner, he suddenly said that his familiar goddess was about to visit him, andat once displayed abundance of golden cups and tables covered withcostly delicacies. The strangest story of all is that of hisconversation with Jupiter. The legend runs that Mount Aventine was notat this time enclosed within the city, but was full of fountains andshady glens, and haunted by two divinities, Picus and Faunus, who may becompared to Satyrs or to Pan, and who, in knowledge of herbs and magic, seem equal to what the Greeks call the Daktyli of Mount Ida. Thesecreatures roamed about Italy playing their tricks, but Numa caught themby filling the spring at which they drank with wine and honey. Theyturned into all kinds of shapes, and assumed strange and terrible forms, but when they found that they were unable to escape, they told Numa muchof the future, and showed him how to make a charm against thunder-bolts, which is used to this day, and is made of onions and hair and sprats. Some say that it was not these deities who told him the charm, but thatthey by magic arts brought down Jupiter from heaven, and he, in a rage, ordered Numa to make the charm of "Heads"; and when Numa added, "Ofonions, " he said "Of men's"--"Hair, " said Numa, again taking away theterrible part of the imprecation. When then Jupiter said "Withliving"--"Sprats, " said Numa, answering as Egeria had taught him. Thegod went away appeased, and the place was in consequence called Ilicius. This was how the charm was discovered. 

These ridiculous legends show the way in which the people had becomeaccustomed to regard the gods. Indeed Numa is said to have placed allhis hopes in religion, to such an extent that even when a message wasbrought him, saying, "The enemy are approaching, " he smiled and said, "And I am sacrificing. "

XVI. The first temples that he founded are said to have been those ofFides or Faith, and Terminus. Fides is said to have revealed to theRomans the greatest of all oaths, which they even now make use of; whileTerminus is the god of boundaries, to whom they sacrifice publicly, andalso privately at the divisions of men's estates; at the present timewith living victims, but in old days this was a bloodless sacrifice, forNuma argued that the god of boundaries must be a lover of peace, and awitness of righteousness, and therefore averse to bloodshed. 

Indeed Numa was the first king who defined the boundaries of thecountry, since Romulus was unwilling, by measuring what was really hisown, to show how much he had taken from other states: for boundaries, ifpreserved, are barriers against violence; if disregarded, they becomestanding proofs of lawless injustice. The city had originally but asmall territory of its own, and Romulus gained the greater part of itspossessions by the sword. All this Numa distributed among the needycitizens, thereby removing the want which urged them to deeds ofviolence, and, by turning the people's thoughts to husbandry, he madethem grow more civilised as their land grew more cultivated. Noprofession makes men such passionate lovers of peace as that of a manwho farms his own land; for he retains enough of the warlike spirit tofight fiercely in defence of his own property, but has lost all desireto despoil and wrong his neighbours. It was for this reason that Numaencouraged agriculture among the Romans, as a spell to charm away war, and loved the art more because of its influence on men's minds thanbecause of the wealth which it produced. He divided the whole countryinto districts, which he called pagi, and appointed a head man foreach, and a patrol to guard it. And sometimes he himself would inspectthem, and, forming an opinion of each man's character from the conditionof his farm, would raise some to honours and offices of trust, andblaming others for their remissness, would lead them to do better infuture. 

XVII. Of his other political measures, that which is most admired is hisdivision of the populace according to their trades. For whereas thecity, as has been said, originally consisted of two races, which stoodaloof one from the other and would not combine into one, which led toendless quarrels and rivalries, Numa, reflecting that substances whichare hard and difficult to combine together, can nevertheless be mixedand formed into one mass if they are broken up into small pieces, because then they more easily fit into each other, determined to dividethe whole mass of the people of Rome into many classes, and thus, bycreating numerous petty rivalries, to obliterate their original andgreatest cause of variance. 

His division was according to their trades, and consisted of themusicians, the goldsmiths, the builders, the dyers, the shoemakers, thecarriers, the coppersmiths, and the potters. All the other trades heunited into one guild. He assigned to each trade its special privileges, common to all the members, and arranged that each should have its owntimes of meeting, and worship its own special patron god, and by thismeans he did away with that habit, which hitherto had prevailed amongthe citizens, of some calling themselves Sabines, and some Romans; oneboasting that they were Tatius's men, and other Romulus's. So thisdivision produced a complete fusion and unity. Moreover he has been muchpraised for another of his measures, that, namely, of correcting the oldlaw which allows fathers to sell their sons for slaves. He abolishedthis power in the case of married men, who had married with theirfather's consent; for he thought it a monstrous injustice that a woman, who had married a free man, should be compelled to be the wife of aslave. 

XVIII. He also dealt with astronomical matters, not with perfectaccuracy, and yet not altogether without knowledge. During the reign ofRomulus the months had been in a state of great disorder, some notcontaining twenty days, some five-and-thirty, and some even more, because the Romans could not reconcile the discrepancies which arisefrom reckoning by the sun and the moon, and only insisted upon onething, that the year should consist of three hundred and sixty days. 

Numa reckoned the variation to consist of eleven days, as the lunar yearcontains three hundred and fifty-four days, and the solar year threehundred and sixty-five. He doubled these eleven days and introduced themevery other year, after February, as an intercalary month, twenty-twodays in duration, which was called by the Romans Mercedinus. This was aremedy for the irregularities of the calendar which itself required moreextensive remedies. 

He also altered the order of the months, putting March, which used to bethe first month, third, and making January the first, which in the timeof Romulus had been the eleventh, and February the second, which thenhad been the twelfth. There are many writers who say that these months, January and February, were added to the calendar by Numa, and thatoriginally there had only been ten months in the year, just as somebarbarians have three, and in Greece the Arcadians have four, and theAcarnanians six. The Egyptians originally had but one month in theiryear, and afterwards are said to have divided it into four mouths;wherefore, though they live in the newest of all countries, they appearto be the most ancient of all nations, and in their genealogies reckonan incredible number of years, because they count their months as years. 

XIX. One proof that the Romans used to reckon ten months and not twelvein the year is the name of the last month; for up to the present day itis called _December_, the tenth, and the order of the months shows thatMarch was the first, for the fifth month from it they called_Quintilis_, the fifth; and the sixth month Sextilis, and so on for theothers, although, by their putting January and February before March, itresulted that the month which they number fifth is really seventh inorder. Moreover, there is a legend that the month of March, being thefirst, was dedicated by Romulus to Mars, and the second, April, toAphrodité (Venus); in which month they sacrifice to this goddess, andthe women bathe on the first day of it crowned with myrtle. Some, however, say that April is not named after Aphrodité, because the wordApril does not contain the letter _h_, and that it comes from the Latinword _aperio_, and means the month in which the spring-time opens thebuds of plants; for that is what the word signifies. Of the followingmonths, May is named after Maia, the mother of Hermes or Mercury, for itis dedicated to her, and June from Juno. Some say that these namessignify old age and youth, for old men are called by the Latins majores, and young men juniores. The remaining months they named, from the orderin which they came, the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth:Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December. ThenQuintilis was called Julius after Julius Caesar, who conquered Pompeius;and Sextilis was called Augustus, after the second of the RomanEmperors. The next two months Domitian altered to his own titles, butnot for any long time, as after his death they resumed their old namesof September and October. The last two alone have preserved theiroriginal names without change. Of the months, added or altered by Numa, Februarius means the month of purification, for that is as nearly aspossible the meaning of the word, and during it they sacrifice to thedead, and hold the festival of the Lupercalia, which resembles aceremony of purification. The first month, Januarius, is named afterJanus. My opinion is, that Numa moved the month named after Mars fromits precedence, wishing the art of good government to be honoured beforethat of war. For Janus in very ancient times was either a deity or aking, who established a social polity, and made men cease from a savagelife like that of wild beasts. And for this reason his statues are madewith a double face, because he turned men's way of life from one form toanother. 

XX. There is a temple to him in Rome, which has two doors, and whichthey call the gate of war. It is the custom to open the temple in timeof war, and to close it during peace. This scarcely ever took place, asthe empire was almost always at war with some state, being by its verygreatness continually brought into collision with the neighbouringtribes. Only in the time of Caesar Augustus, after he had conqueredAntonius, it was closed; and before that, during the consulship ofMarcus Atilius and Titus Manlius, for a short time, and then was almostimmediately reopened, as a new war broke out. But during Numa's reign noone saw it open for a single day, and it remained closed for forty-threeyears continuously, so utterly had he made wars to cease on all sides. Not only was the spirit of the Romans subdued and pacified by the gentleand just character of their king, but even the neighbouring cities, asif some soothing healthful air was breathed over them from Rome, alteredtheir habits and longed to live quiet and well-governed, cultivating theearth, bringing up their families in peace, and worshipping the gods. And gay festivals and entertainments, during which the people of thevarious states fearlessly mixed with one another, prevailed throughoutItaly, for Numa's knowledge of all that was good and noble was shedabroad like water from a fountain, and the atmosphere of holy calm bywhich he was surrounded spread over all men. The very poets when theywrote of that peaceful time were unable to find adequate expressions forit, as one writes--

 "Across the shields are cobwebs laid, Rust eats the lance and keen edged blade; No more we hear the trumpets bray. And from our eyes no more is slumber chased away. "

No war, revolution, or political disturbance of any kind is recordedduring Numa's reign, neither was there any envy or hatred of him or anyattempt by others to obtain the crown; but either fear of the gods whovisibly protected him, or reverence for his virtues, or the specialgrace of Heaven, made men's lives innocent and untainted with evil, andformed a striking proof of the truth of what Plato said many yearsafterwards, that the only escape from misery for men is when by DivineProvidence philosophy is combined with royal power, and used to exaltvirtue over vice. Blessed indeed is the truly wise man, and blessed arethey who hear the words of his mouth. Indeed his people require norestraints or punishments, but seeing a plain example of virtue in thelife of their chief, they themselves of their own accord reform theirlives, and model them upon that gentle and blessed rule of love and justdealing one with another which it is the noblest work of politicians toestablish. He is most truly a king who can teach such lessons as theseto his subjects, and Numa beyond all others seems to have clearlydiscerned this truth. 

XXI. Historians differ in their accounts of his wives and children. Somesay that he married Tatia alone, and was the father of one daughteronly, named Pompilia; but others, besides her, assign to him four sons, named Pompo, Pinus, Calpus, and Mamercus, from whom descended the fournoble families of the Pomponii, Pinarii, Calphurnii, and Mamerci, whichfor this reason took the title of Rex, that is, king. Others again saythat these pedigrees were invented to flatter these families, and statethat the Pompilian family descends not from Tatia, but from Lucretia, whom he married after he became king. All, however, agree that Pompiliamarried Marcius, the son of that Marcius who encouraged Numa to acceptthe crown. This man accompanied Numa to Rome, was made a member of theSenate, and after Numa's death laid claim to the crown, but was worstedby Tullus Hostilius and made away with himself. His son Marcius, whomarried Pompilia, remained in Rome, and became the father of AncusMarcius, who was king after Tullus Hostilius, and who was only fiveyears old when Numa died. 

We are told by Piso that Numa died, not by a sudden death, but by slowdecay from sheer old age, having lived a little more than eighty years. 

XXII. He was enviable even in death, for all the friendly and alliednations assembled at his funeral with national offerings. The senatorsbore his bier, which was attended by the chief priests, while the crowdof men, women and children who were present, followed with such weepingand wailing, that one would have thought that, instead of an aged king, each man was about to bury his own dearest friend, who had died in theprime of life. At his own wish, it is said, the body was not burned, butplaced in two stone coffins and buried on the Janiculum Hill. One ofthese contained his body, and the other the sacred books which hehimself had written, as Greek legislators write their laws upon tablets. During his life he had taught the priests the contents of these books, and their meaning and spirit, and ordered them to be buried with hiscorpse, because it was right that holy mysteries should be contained, not in soulless writings, but in the minds of living men. For the samereason they say that the Pythagoreans never reduced their maxims towriting, but implanted them in the memories of worthy men; and when someof their difficult processes in geometry were divulged to some unworthymen, they said that Heaven would mark its sense of the wickedness whichhad been committed by some great public calamity; so that, as Numa'ssystem so greatly resembled that of Pythagoras, we can easily pardonthose who endeavour to establish a connection between them. 

Valerius of Antium says that twelve sacred books and twelve books ofGreek philosophy were placed in the coffin. Four hundred yearsafterwards, when Publius Cornelius and Marcus Baebius were consuls, agreat fall of rain took place, and the torrent washed away the earth andexposed the coffins. When the lids were removed, one of the coffins wasseen by all men to be empty, and without any trace of a corpse in it;the other contained the books, which were read by Petilius the praetor, who reported to the Senate that in his opinion it was not right thattheir contents should be made known to the people, and they weretherefore carried to the Comitium and burned there. 

All good and just men receive most praise after their death, becausetheir unpopularity dies with them or even before them; but Numa's glorywas enhanced by the unhappy reigns of his successors. Of five kings whosucceeded him, the last was expelled and died an exile, and of the otherfour, not one died a natural death, but three were murdered byconspirators, and Tullus Hostilius, who was king next after Numa, andwho derided and insulted his wise ordinances, especially thoseconnected with religion, as lazy and effeminate, and who urged thepeople to take up arms, was cut down in the midst of his boastings by aterrible disease, and became subject to superstitious fears in no wayresembling Numa's piety. His subjects were led to share these terrors, more especially by the manner of his death, which is said to have beenby the stroke of a thunderbolt. 

COMPARISON OF NUMA WITH LYKURGUS. 

I. Now that we have gone through the lives of Numa and Lykurgus, we mustattempt, without being daunted by difficulties, to reconcile the pointsin which they appear to differ from each other. Much they appear to havehad in common, as, for example, their self-control, their piety, andtheir political and educational ability; and while the peculiar glory ofNuma is his acceptance of the throne, that of Lykurgus is hisabdication. Numa received it without having asked for it; Lykurgus whenin full possession gave it up. Numa, though a private man and not even aRoman, was chosen by the Romans as their king; but Lykurgus from being aking reduced himself to a private station. It is honourable to obtain acrown by righteousness, but it is also honourable to preferrighteousness to a crown. Numa's virtue made him so celebrated that hewas judged worthy to be king, Lykurgus' made him so great that he didnot care to be king. 

Again, like those who tune the strings of a lyre, Lykurgus drew tighterthe relaxed and licentious Sparta, while Numa merely slackened thehighly strung and warlike Rome, so that here Lykurgus had the moredifficult task. He had to persuade his countrymen, not to take off theirarmour and lay aside their swords, but to leave off using gold andsilver, and to lay aside costly hangings and furniture; he had not tomake them exchange wars for sacrifices and gay festivals, but to ceasefrom feasts and drinking-parties, and work hard both in the field and inthe palaestra to train themselves for war. 

For this reason, Numa was able to effect his purpose without difficulty, and without any loss of popularity and respect; while Lykurgus wasstruck and pelted, and in danger of his life, and even so could scarcelycarry out his reforms. Yet the genius of Numa was kindly and gentle, and so softened and changed the reckless fiery Romans that they becamepeaceful, law-abiding citizens; and if we must reckon Lykurgus'treatment of the Helots as part of his system, it cannot be denied thatNuma was a far more civilised lawgiver, seeing that he allowed even toactual slaves some taste of liberty, by his institution of feasting themtogether with their masters at the festival of Saturn. 

For this custom of allowing the labourers to share in the harvest-feastis traced to Numa. Some say that this is in remembrance of the equalitywhich existed in the time of Saturn, when there was neither master norslave, but all were kinsmen and had equal rights. 

II. Both evidently encouraged the spirit of independence andself-control among their people, while of other virtues, Lykurgus lovedbravery, and Numa loved justice best; unless indeed we should say that, from the very different temper and habits of the two states, theyrequired to be treated in a different manner. It was not from cowardice, but because he scorned to do an injustice, that Numa did not make war;while Lykurgus made his countrymen warlike, not in order that they mightdo wrong, but that they might not be wronged. Each found that theexisting system required very important alterations to check itsexcesses and supply its defects. Numa's reforms were all in favour ofthe people, whom he classified into a mixed and motley multitude ofgoldsmiths and musicians and cobblers; while the constitution introducedby Lykurgus was severely aristocratic, driving all handicrafts into thehands of slaves and foreigners, and confining the citizens to the use ofthe spear and shield, as men whose trade was war alone, and who knewnothing but how to obey their leaders and to conquer their enemies. InSparta a free man was not permitted to make money in business, in orderthat he might be truly free. 

Each thing connected with the business of making money, like that ofpreparing food for dinner, was left in the hands of slaves and helots. Numa made no regulations of this kind, but, while he put an end tomilitary plundering, raised no objection to other methods of makingmoney, nor did he try to reduce inequalities of fortune, but allowedwealth to increase unchecked, and disregarded the influx of poor meninto the city and the increase of poverty there, whereas he ought at thevery outset, like Lykurgus, while men's fortunes were still tolerablyequal, to have raised some barrier against the encroachments of wealth, and to have restrained the terrible evils which take their rise andorigin in it. As for the division of the land among the citizens, in myopinion, Lykurgus cannot be blamed for doing it, nor yet can Numa fornot doing it. The equality thus produced was the very foundation andcorner-stone of the Lacedaemonian constitution, while Numa had no motivefor disturbing the Roman lands, which had only been recently distributedamong the citizens, or to alter the arrangements made by Romulus, whichwe may suppose were still in force throughout the country. 

III. With regard to a community of wives and children, each took a wiseand statesman-like course to prevent jealousy, although the meansemployed by each were different. A Roman who possessed a sufficientfamily of his own might be prevailed upon by a friend who had nochildren to transfer his wife to him, being fully empowered to give heraway, by divorce, for this purpose; but a Lacedaemonian was accustomedto lend his wife for intercourse with a friend, while she remainedliving in his house, and without the marriage being thereby dissolved. Many, we are told, even invited those who, they thought, would begetfine and noble children, to converse with their wives. The distinctionbetween the two customs seems to be this: the Spartans affected anunconcern and insensibility about a matter which excites most men toviolent rage and jealousy; the Romans modestly veiled it by a legalcontract which seems to admit how hard it is for a man to give up hiswife to another. Moreover Numa's regulations about young girls were of amuch more feminine and orderly nature, while those of Lykurgus were sohighflown and unbecoming to women, as to have been the subject of noticeby the poets, who call them _Phainomerides_, that is with bare thighs, as Ibykus says; and they accuse them of lust, as Euripides says--

 "They stay not, as befits a maid, at home, But with young men in shameless dresses roam. "

For in truth the sides of the maiden's tunic were not fastened togetherat the skirt, and so flew open and exposed the thigh as they walked, which is most clearly alluded to in the lines of Sophokles--

 "She that wanders nigh, With scanty skirt that shows the thigh, A Spartan maiden fair and free, Hermione. "

On this account they are said to have become bolder than they should be, and to have first shown this spirit towards their husbands, rulinguncontrolled over their households, and afterwards in public matters, where they freely expressed their opinions upon the most importantsubjects. On the other hand, Numa preserved that respect and honour duefrom men to matrons which they had met with under Romulus, who paid themthese honours to atone for having carried them off by force, but heimplanted in them habits of modesty, sobriety, and silence, forbiddingthem even to touch wine, or to speak even when necessary except in theirhusbands' presence. It is stated that once, because a woman pleaded herown cause in the Forum, the Senate sent to ask the oracle what thisstrange event might portend for the state. 

A great proof of the obedience and modesty of the most part of them isthe way in which the names of those who did any wrong is remembered. For, just as in Greece, historians record the names of those who firstmade war against their own kindred or murdered their parents, so theRomans tell us that the first man who put away his wife was SpuriusCarvilius, nothing of the kind having happened in Rome for two hundredand thirty years from its foundation; and that the wife of Pinarius, Thalaea by name, was the first to quarrel with her mother-in-law Geganiain the reign of Tarquinius Superbus--so well and orderly were marriagesarranged by this lawgiver. 

IV. The rest of their laws for the training and marriage of maidensagree with one another, although Lykurgus put off the time of marriagetill they were full-grown, in order that their intercourse, demanded asit was by nature, might produce love and friendship in the married pairrather than the dislike often experienced by an immature child towardsher husband, and also that their bodies might be better able to supportthe trials of child-bearing, which he regarded as the sole object ofmarriage; whereas the Romans gave their daughters in marriage at the ageof twelve years or even younger, thinking thus to hand over a girl toher husband pure and uncorrupt both in body and mind. It is clear thatthe former system is best for the mere production of children, and thelatter for moulding consorts for life. But by his superintendence of theyoung, his collecting them into companies, his training and drill, withthe table and exercises common to all, Lykurgus showed that he wasimmensely superior to Numa, who, like any commonplace lawgiver, left thewhole training of the young in the hands of their fathers, regulatedonly by their caprice or needs; so that whoever chose might bring up hisson as a shipwright, a coppersmith, or a musician, as though thecitizens ought not from the very outset to direct their attention to oneobject, but were like people who have embarked in the same ship forvarious causes, who only in time of danger act together for the commonadvantage of all, and at other times pursue each his own private ends. Allowance must be made for ordinary lawgivers, who fail through want ofpower or of knowledge in establishing such a system; but no such excusecan be made for Numa, who was a wise man, and who was made king of anewly-created state which would not have opposed any of his designs. What could be of greater importance than to regulate the education ofthe young and so to train them that they might all become alike in theirlives and all bear the same impress of virtue? It was to this thatLykurgus owed the permanence of his laws; for he could not have trustedto the oaths which he made them take, if he had not by education andtraining so steeped the minds of the young in the spirit of his laws, and by his method of bringing them up implanted in them such a love forthe state, that the most important of his enactments remained in forcefor more than five hundred years; for the lives of all Spartans seem tohave been coloured by these laws. That which was the aim and end ofNuma's policy, that Rome should be at peace and friendly with herneighbours, ceased immediately upon his death; at once the double-gatedtemple, which he kept closed as if he really kept war locked up in it, had both its gates thrown open and filled Italy with slaughter. Hisexcellent and righteous policy did not last for a moment, for the peoplewere not educated to support it, and therefore it could not be lasting. But, it may be asked, did not Rome flourish by her wars? It is hard toanswer such a question, in an age which values wealth, luxury, anddominion more than a gentle peaceful life that wrongs no one andsuffices for itself. Yet this fact seems to tell for Lykurgus, that theRomans gained such an enormous increase of power by departing fromNuma's policy, while the Lacedaemonians, as soon as they fell away fromthe discipline of Lykurgus, having been the haughtiest became the mostcontemptible of Greeks, and not only lost their supremacy, but had evento struggle for their bare existence. On the other hand, it was trulyglorious for Numa that he was a stranger and sent for by the Romans tobe their king; that he effected all his reforms without violence, andruled a city composed of discordant elements without any armed forcesuch as Lykurgus had to assist him, winning over all men and reducingthem to order by his wisdom and justice. 

LIFE OF SOLON. 

I. Didymus the grammarian, in the book about Solon's laws which he wrotein answer to Asklepiades, quotes a saying of one Philokles, that Solonwas the son of Euphorion, which is quite at variance with the testimonyof all other writers who have mentioned Solon: for they all say that hewas the son of Exekestides, a man whose fortune and power were onlymoderate, but whose family was of the noblest in Athens; for he wasdescended from Kodrus the last Athenian king. Herakleides of Pontusrelates that the mother of Solon was first cousin to the mother ofPeisistratus. The two boys, we are told, were friends when young, andwhen in after years they differed in politics they still neverentertained harsh or angry feelings towards one another, but kept alivethe sacred flame of their former intimate friendship. Peisistratus iseven said to have dedicated the statue of Love in the Academy wherethose who are going to run in the sacred torch-race light their torches. 

II. According to Hermippus, Solon, finding that his father had by hisgenerosity diminished his fortune, and feeling ashamed to be dependentupon others, when he himself was come of a house more accustomed to givethan to receive, embarked in trade, although his friends were eager tosupply him with all that he could wish for. Some, however, say thatSolon travelled more with a view to gaining experience and learning thanto making money. He was indeed eager to learn, as he wrote when an oldman, "Old to grow, but ever learning, "

but disregarded wealth, for he wrote that he regarded as equally richthe man who owned

 "Gold and broad acres, corn and wine; And he that hath but clothes and food, A wife, and youthful strength divine. "

Yet elsewhere he has written, but

 "I long for wealth, not by fraud obtained, For curses wait on riches basely gained. "

There is no reason for an upright statesman either to be over anxiousfor luxuries or to despise necessaries. At that period, as Hesiod tellsus, "Work was no disgrace, " nor did trade carry any reproach, while theprofession of travelling merchant was even honourable, as it civilisedbarbarous tribes, and gained the friendship of kings, and learned muchin many lands. Some merchants founded great cities, as, for example, Protis, who was beloved by the Gauls living near the Rhone, foundedMarseilles. It is also said that Thales the sage, and Hippocrates themathematician, travelled as merchants, and that Plato defrayed theexpenses of his journey to Egypt by the oil which he disposed of in thatcountry. 

III. Solon's extravagance and luxurious mode of life, and his poems, which treat of pleasure more from a worldly than a philosophic point ofview, are attributed to his mercantile training; for the great perils ofa merchant's life require to be paid in corresponding pleasures. Yet itis clear that he considered himself as belonging to the class of thepoor, rather than that of the rich, from the following verses:

 "The base are rich, the good are poor; and yet Our virtue for their gold we would not change; For that at least is ours for evermore, While wealth we see from hand to hand doth range. "

His poetry was originally written merely for his own amusement in hisleisure hours; but afterwards he introduced into it philosophicsentiments, and interwove political events with his poems, not in orderto record them historically, but in some cases to explain his ownconduct, and in others to instruct, encourage, or rebuke the Athenians. Some say that he endeavoured to throw his laws into an epic form, andtell us that the poem began--

 "To Jove I pray, great Saturn's son divine, To grant his favour to these laws of mine. "

Of ethical philosophy, he, like most of the sages of antiquity, was mostinterested in that branch which deals with political obligations. As tonatural science, his views are very crude and antiquated, as we see fromthe following verses:

 "From clouds the snow and hail descend, And thunderbolts the lightnings send; The waves run high when gales do blow, Without the wind they're still enow. "

Indeed, of all the sages of that time, Thales alone seems to have knownmore of physics than was necessary to supply man's every-day needs; allthe others having gained their reputation for political wisdom. 

IV. These wise men are said to have met at Delphi, and again at Corinth, where they were entertained by the despot Periander. Their reputationwas greatly increased by the tripod which was sent to all of them andrefused by all with a gracious rivalry. The story goes that some men ofCos were casting a net, and some strangers from Miletus bought the haulof them before it reached the surface. 

The net brought up a golden tripod, the same which, it is said, Helenthrew into the sea at that spot, in accordance with some ancient oracle, when she was sailing away from Troy. A dispute arose at first betweenthe strangers and the fishermen; afterwards it was taken up by theirrespective cities, who even came to blows about it. Finally theyconsulted the oracle at Delphi, which ordered it to be given to thewisest. Now it was first sent to Miletus, to Thales, as the men of Coswillingly gave it to that one man, although they had fought with all theMilesians together about it. Thales said that Bias was wiser thanhimself, and sent it to him; and by him it was again sent to anotherman, as being wiser yet. So it went on, being sent from one to anotheruntil it came to Thales a second time, and at last was sent from Miletusto Thebes and consecrated to Apollo Ismenius. As Theophrastus tells thestory, the tripod was first sent to Bias at Priéne, and secondly toThales at Miletus, and so on through all of the wise men until it againreached Bias, and was finally offered at Delphi. This is the more commonversion of the story, although some say that it was not a tripod but abowl sent by Croesus, others that it was a drinking-cup left behind byone Bathykles. 

V. Anacharsis is said to have met Solon, and afterwards Thales inprivate, and to have conversed with them. The story goes that Anacharsiscame to Athens, went to Solon's door, and knocked, saying that he was astranger and had come to enter into friendship with him. When Solonanswered that friendships were best made at home, Anacharsis said, "Wellthen, do you, who are at home, enter into friendship with me. " Solon, admiring the man's cleverness, received him kindly, and kept him forsome time in his house. He was at this time engaged in politics, and wascomposing his laws. Anacharsis, when he discovered this, laughed atSolon's undertaking, if he thought to restrain the crimes and greed ofthe citizens by written laws, which he said were just like spiders'webs; for, like them, they caught the weaker criminals, but were brokenthrough by the stronger and more important. 

To this Solon answered, that men keep covenants, because it is to theadvantage of neither party to break them; and that he so suited his lawsto his countrymen, that it was to the advantage of every one to abide bythem rather than to break them. Nevertheless, things turned out more asAnacharsis thought than as Solon wished. Anacharsis said too, whenpresent at an assembly of the people, that he was surprised to see thatin Greece wise men spoke upon public affairs, and ignorant men decidedthem. 

VI. When Solon went to Thales at Miletus, he expressed his wonder at hishaving never married and had a family. Thales made no answer at thetime, but a few days afterwards arranged that a man should come to himand say that he left Athens ten days before. When Solon inquired of him, whether anything new had happened at Athens, the man answered, as Thaleshad instructed him, that "there was no news, except the death of ayoung man who had been escorted to his grave by the whole city. He wasthe son, they told him, of a leading citizen of great repute for hisgoodness, but the father was not present, for they said he had beentravelling abroad for some years. " "Unhappy man, " said Solon, "what washis name?" "I heard his name, " answered the man, "but I cannot rememberit; beyond that there was much talk of his wisdom and justice. " Thus byeach of his answers he increased Solon's alarm, until he at last in hisexcitement asked the stranger whether it were not Solon's son that wasdead. The stranger said that it was. Solon was proceeding to beat hishead and show all the other marks of grief, when Thales stopped him, saying with a smile, "This, Solon, which has the power to strike down sostrong a man as you, has ever prevented my marrying and having children. But be of good courage, for this tale which you have been told isuntrue. " This story is said by Hermippus to have been told by Pataikos, he who said that he had inherited the soul of Aesop. 

VII. It is a strange and unworthy feeling that prompts a man not toclaim that to which he has a right, for fear that he may one day loseit; for by the same reasoning he might refuse wealth, reputation, orwisdom, for fear of losing them hereafter. We see even virtue, thegreatest and most dear of all possessions, can be destroyed by diseaseor evil drugs; and Thales by avoiding marriage still had just as much tofear, unless indeed he ceased to love his friends, his kinsmen, and hisnative land. But even he adopted his sister's son Kybisthus; for thesoul has a spring of affection within it, and is formed not only toperceive, to reflect, and to remember, but also to love. If it findsnothing to love at home, it will find something abroad; and whenaffection, like a desert spot, has no legitimate possessors, it isusurped by bastard children or even servants, who when they haveobtained our love, make us fear for them and be anxious about them. Sothat one may often see men, in a cynical temper, inveighing againstmarriage and children, who themselves shortly afterwards will be plungedinto unmanly excesses of grief, at the loss of their child by some slaveor concubine. Some have even shown terrible grief at the death of dogsand horses; whereas others, who have lost noble sons, made no unusual orunseemly exhibition of sorrow, but passed the remainder of their livescalmly and composedly. Indeed it is weakness, not affection, whichproduces such endless misery and dread to those who have not learned totake a rational view of the uncertainty of life, and who cannot enjoythe presence of their loved ones because of their constant agony forfear of losing them. We should not make ourselves poor for fear oflosing our property, nor should we guard ourselves against a possibleloss of friends by making none; still less ought we to avoid havingchildren for fear that our child might die. But we have already dwelttoo much upon this subject. 

VIII. After a long and harassing war with the Megarians about thepossession of the Island of Salamis, the Athenians finally gave up insheer weariness, and passed a law forbidding any one for the future, either to speak or to write in favour of the Athenian claim to Salamis, upon pain of death. Solon, grieved at this dishonour, and observing thatmany of the younger men were eager for an excuse to fight, but dared notpropose to do so because of this law, pretended to have lost his reason. His family gave out that he was insane, but he meanwhile composed apoem, and when he had learned it by heart, rushed out into themarket-place wearing a small felt cap, and having assembled a crowd, mounted the herald's stone and recited the poem which begins with thelines--

 "A herald I from Salamis am come, My verse will tell you what should there be done. "

The name of this poem is Salamis; it consists of a hundred beautifullywritten lines. After he had sung it, his friends began to commend it, and Peisistratus made a speech to the people, which caused suchenthusiasm that they abrogated the law and renewed the war, with Solonas their leader. The common version of the story runs thus: Solon sailedwith Peisistratus to Kolias, where he found all the women of the cityperforming the customary sacrifice to Demeter (Ceres). At the same time, he sent a trusty man to Salamis, who represented himself as a deserter, and bade the Megarians follow him at once to Kolias, if they wished tocapture all the women of the first Athenian families. The Megarians wereduped, and sent off a force in a ship. As soon as Solon saw this shipsail away from the island, he ordered the women out of the way, dressedup those young men who were still beardless in their clothes, headdresses, and shoes, gave them daggers, and ordered them to dance anddisport themselves near the seashore until the enemy landed, and theirship was certain to be captured. So the Megarians, imagining them to bewomen, fell upon them, struggling which should first seize them, butthey were cut off to a man by the Athenians, who at once sailed toSalamis and captured it. 

IX. Others say that the island was not taken in this way, but that firstof all Solon received the following oracular response from Apollo atDelphi:

 "Appease the land's true lords, the heroes blest, Who near Asopia's fair margin rest, And from their tombs still look towards the West. "

After this, Solon is said to have sailed by night, unnoticed by theMegarians, and to have sacrificed to the heroes Periphemus and Kychreus. His next act was to raise five hundred Athenian volunteers, who by apublic decree were to be absolute masters of the island if they couldconquer it. With these he set sail in a number of fishing-boats, with atriaconter or ship of war of thirty oars, sailing in company, andanchored off a certain cape which stretches towards Euboea. TheMegarians in Euboea heard an indistinct rumour of this, and at once ranto arms, and sent a ship to reconnoitre the enemy. This ship, when itcame near Solon's fleet, was captured and its crew taken prisoners. Onboard of it Solon placed some picked men, and ordered them to make sailfor the city of Salamis, and to conceal themselves as far as they could. Meanwhile he with the remaining Athenians attacked the Megarian forcesby land; and while the battle was at its hottest, the men in the shipsucceeded in surprising the city. 

This story appears to be borne out by the proceedings which wereinstituted in memory of the capture. In this ceremony an Athenian shipused to sail to Salamis, at first in silence, and then as they nearedthe shore with warlike shouts. Then a man completely armed used to leapout and run, shouting as he went, up to the top of the hill calledSkiradion, where he met those who came by land. Close by this placestands the temple of Ares, which Solon built; for he conquered theMegarians in the battle, and sent away the survivors with a flag oftruce. 

X. However, as the Megarians still continued the war, to the greatmisery of both sides, they agreed to make the Lacedaemonians arbitratorsand judges between them. Most writers say that Solon brought the greatauthority of Homer's 'Iliad' to his aid, by interpolating in thecatologue of ships the two verses--

 "Ajax from Salamis twelve vessels good Brought, and he placed them where the Athenians stood, "

which he had read as evidence before the court. 

The Athenians, however, say that all this is nonsense, but that Solonproved to the arbitrators that Philaeus and Eurysakes, the sons of Ajax, when they were enrolled as Athenian citizens, made over the island toAthens, and dwelt, one at Brauron, in Attica, and the other at Melité;moreover, there is an Athenian tribe which claims descent from Philaeus, to which Peisistratus belonged. Wishing, however, yet more thoroughly toprove his case against the Megarians, he based an argument on the tombsin the island, in which the corpses were buried, not in the Megarian, but in the Athenian manner. For the Megarians bury their dead lookingtowards the east, and the Athenians towards the west. But Hereas ofMegara denies this, and says that the Megarians also bury their deadlooking towards the west, and moreover, that each Athenian had a coffinto himself, while the Megarians place two or three bodies in one coffin. However, Solon supported his case by quoting certain oracles fromDelphi, in which the god addresses Salamis as Ionian. The Spartanarbitrators were five in number, their names being Kritolaidas, Amompharetus, Hypsichidas, Anaxilos, and Kleomenes. 

XI. Solon's reputation and power were greatly increased by this, but hebecame much more celebrated and well-known in Greece by his speeches onbehalf of the temple at Delphi, in which he urged the necessity ofchecking the insolent conduct of the people of Kirrha towards thetemple, and of rallying in defence of the god. The Amphiktyons, prevailed upon by his eloquence, declared war, as we learn fromAristotle, among other writers, in his book about the winners of theprize at the Pythian games, in which he attributes this decision toSolon. However, he was not made general in that war, as Hermippusrelates, quoting from Evanthes of Samos; for Aeschines the orator doesnot mention him, and, in the records of Delphi, Alkmaeon, not Solon, ismentioned as general of the Athenians on that occasion. 

XII. Athens had long been suffering from the anger of the gods, which ithad incurred by the treatment of Kylon's party. These conspirators tooksanctuary in Athene's temple, but were induced by Megakles the archon toquit it and stand their trial. They fastened a thread to the shrine ofthe goddess, and kept hold of it so as still to be under her protection. But as they were coming down from the Acropolis, just beside the templeof the Furies, the string broke, and Megakles and the other archons, thinking that the goddess rejected their appeal, seized them. Some ofthem were stoned to death outside the temple, and some who had fled forsanctuary to the altars were slain there. Only those who fell assuppliants at the feet of the archons' wives were spared. After this thearchons were called accursed, and were viewed with horror; moreover, thesurvivors of Kylon's party regained strength, and continued theirintrigues against Megakles and the archons. At the time of which we arespeaking these dissensions had reached their height, and the city wasdivided into two factions, when Solon, who was already a man of greatreputation, came forward with some of the noblest Athenians, and by hisentreaties and arguments prevailed upon those magistrates who werecalled accursed, to stand trial and be judged by a jury of three hundredcitizens selected from the best families. Myron of Phlya prosecuted, andthe archons were found guilty, and forced to leave the country. Thebodies of such of them as had died were dug up, and cast out beyond theborders of Attica. 

During these disorders the Athenians were again attacked by theMegarians, and lost Nisaea, and were again driven out of Salamis. Thecity was also a prey to superstitious terrors, and apparitions wereseen, so that the prophets, after inspecting their victims, said thatthe city was polluted and under a curse, and that it requiredpurification. Upon this they sent for Epimenides the Phaestian, ofCrete, who is reckoned among the seven wise men of Greece, by some ofthose who do not admit Periander into their number. He was thought toenjoy the favour of Heaven, and was skilled in all the lore of thesacred mysteries, and in the sources of divine inspiration; wherefore hewas commonly reported to be the child of the nymph Balte, and to be oneof the old Curetes of Crete revived. He came to Athens and was a friendto Solon, assisting him greatly in his legislation. He remodelled theirreligious rites, and made their mourning more moderate, introducingcertain sacrifices shortly after the funeral, and abolishing the harshand barbarous treatment which women were for the most part subject tobefore in times of mourning. Above all, by purifications and atoningsacrifices, and the erection of new temples, he so sanctified andhallowed the city as to make the minds of the people obedient to thelaws, and easily guided into unity and concord. It is said that he sawMunychia, and viewed it carefully for some time in silence. Then he saidto the bystanders, "How blind is man to the future. The Athenians wouldeat this place up with their teeth if they knew what misfortunes it willbring upon them?" A prophetic saying of the same kind is attributed toThales. He bade his friends bury him in a low and neglected quarter ofMiletus, telling them that one day it would be the market-place of thecity. Epimenides was greatly honoured by the Athenians, and was offeredlarge sums of money by them, and great privileges, but he refused themall, and only asked for a branch of the sacred olive-tree, which hereceived and went his way. 

XIII. When the troubles about Kylon were over, and the accursed men castout of the country, the Athenians relapsed into their old dispute aboutthe constitution. The state was divided into as many factions as therewere parts of the country, for the Diakrii, or mountaineers, favoureddemocracy; the Pedioei, oligarchy; while those who dwelt along theseashore, called Parali, preferred a constitution midway between thesetwo forms, and thus prevented either of the other parties from carryingtheir point. Moreover, the state was on the verge of revolution, becauseof the excessive poverty of some citizens, and the enormous wealth ofothers, and it appeared that the only means of putting an end to thesedisorders was by establishing an absolute despotism. The whole peoplewere in debt to a few wealthy men; they either cultivated their farms, in which case they were obliged to pay one-sixth of the profit to theircreditors, and were called Hektemori, or servants, or else they hadraised loans upon personal security, and had become the slaves of theircreditors, who either employed them at home, or sold them to foreigners. Many were even compelled to sell their own children, which was notillegal, and to leave the country because of the harshness of theircreditors. 

The greater part, and those of most spirit, combined together, andencouraged one another not to suffer such oppression any longer, but tochoose some trustworthy person to protect their interests, to set freeall enslaved debtors, redistribute the land, and, in a word, entirelyremodel the constitution. 

XIV. In this position of affairs, the most sensible men in Athensperceived that Solon was a person who shared the vices of neitherfaction, as he took no part in the oppressive conduct of the wealthy, and yet had sufficient fortune to save him from the straits to which thepoor were reduced. In consequence of this, they begged him to comeforward and end their disputes. But Phanias of Lesbos says that Solondeceived both parties, in order to save the state, promising the poor aredistribution of lands, and the rich a confirmation of theirsecurities. However, Solon himself tells us that it was with reluctancethat he interfered, as he was threatened by the avarice of the oneparty, and the desperation of the other. He was chosen archon next afterPhilombrotus, to act as an arbitrator and lawgiver at once, because therich had confidence in him as a man of easy fortune, and the poortrusted him as a good man. It is said also that a saying which he hadlet fall some time before, that "equality does not breed strife, " wasmuch circulated at the time, and pleased both parties, because the richthought it meant that property should be distributed according to meritand desert, while the poor thought it meant according to rule andmeasure. Both parties were now elate with hope, and their leaders urgedSolon to seize the supreme power in the state, of which he waspractically possessed, and make himself king. Many even of the moremoderate class of politicians, who saw how weary and difficult a task itwould be to reform the state by debates and legislative measures, werequite willing that so wise and honest a man should undertake the solemanagement of affairs. It is even said that Solon received an oracle asfollows:

 "Take thou the helm, the vessel guide, Athens will rally to thy side. "

His intimate friends were loudest in their reproaches, pointing out thatit was merely the name of despot from which he shrunk, and that in hiscase his virtues would lead men to regard him as a legitimate hereditarysovereign; instancing also Tunnondas, who in former times had beenchosen by the Euboeans, and, at the present time, Pittakus, who had beenchosen king of Mitylene. But nothing could shake Solon's determination. He told his friends that monarchy is indeed a pleasant place, but thereis no way out of it; and he inserted the following verses in answer toPhokus, in one of his poems:

 "But if I spared My country, and with dread tyrannic sway, Forbore to stain and to pollute my glory; I feel no shame at this; nay rather thus, I think that I excel mankind. "

From which it is clear that he possessed a great reputation even beforehe became the lawgiver of Athens. 

In answer to the reproaches of many of his friends at his refusal tomake himself despot, he wrote as follows:

 "Not a clever man was Solon, not a calculating mind, For he would not take the kingdom, which the gods to him inclined, In his net he caught the prey, but would not draw it forth to land, Overpowered by his terrors, feeble both of heart and hand; For a man of greater spirit would have occupied the throne, Proud to be the Lord of Athens, though 'twere for a day alone, Though the next day he and his into oblivion were thrown. "

XV. This is the way in which he says the masses, and low-minded men, spoke of him. He, however, firmly rejecting the throne, proceededquietly to administer public affairs, in laying down his laws withoutany weak yielding to the powerful, or any attempt to court popularity. Such as were good, he did not meddle with, fearing that if he

 "Disturbed and overset the state, "

he might not have sufficient power to

 "Reconstitute and organise again, "

in the best way. He carried out his measures by persuasion, and, wherehe thought he could succeed, by force; in his own words, "Combining Force and Justice both together. "

Being afterwards asked whether he had composed the best possible lawsfor the Athenians, he answered, "The best that they would endure. " Andthe habit of Athenians of later times, who soften down harsh words byusing politer equivalents, calling harlots "mistresses, " taxes"contributions, " garrisons of cities "protectors, " and the common prison"the house, " was, it seems, first invented by Solon, who devised thename of "relief from burdens" for his measure to abolish all debts. 

This was his first measure; namely, to put an end to all existing debtsand obligations, and to forbid any one in future to lend money uponsecurity of the person of the debtor. Some writers, among whom isAndrotion, say that he benefited the poor, not by the absoluteextinction of debt, but by establishing a lower rate of interest; andthat this measure was called "Relief from burdens, " and together with itthe two other measures for the enlargement of measures and of the valueof money, which were passed about the same time. For he ordered a mina, which was before constituted of seventy three drachmas, to contain ahundred, so that, though they paid the same amount, yet the value wasless; thus those who had much to pay were benefited, and still theircreditors were not cheated. But most writers say that the "Relief fromburdens" meant the extinction of all securities whatever, and thisagrees best with what we read in his poems. For Solon prides himself inthese upon having

 "Taken off the mortgages, which on the land were laid, And made the country free, which was formerly enslaved. "

While he speaks of bringing back Athenian citizens who had been soldinto slavery abroad, "In distant lands who roam, Their native tongue forgot, Or here endure at home A slave's disgraceful lot, "

and of making them free men again. 

It is said that in consequence of this measure he met with the greatesttrouble of his life. As he was meditating how he might put an end todebt, and what words and preambles were best for the introduction ofthis law, he took counsel with his most intimate friends, such as Kononand Kleinias and Hipponikus, informing them that he had no intention ofinterfering with the tenure of land, but that he intended to abolishingall existing securities. They instantly took time by the forelock, borrowed large sums from the wealthy, and bought up a great extent ofland. Presently the decree came forth, and they remained in enjoyment ofthese estates, but did not repay their loan to their creditors. Thisbrought Solon into great discredit, for the people believed that he hadbeen their accomplice. But he soon proved that this must be false, byremitting a debt of five talents which he himself had lent; and somestate the sum at fifteen talents, amongst whom is Polyzelus of Rhodes. However, his friends were for ever afterwards called "The Swindlers. "

XVI. By this measure he pleased neither party, but the rich weredissatisfied at the loss of their securities, and the poor were stillmore so because the land was not divided afresh, as they hoped it wouldbe, and because he had not, like Lykurgus, established absoluteequality. 

But Lykurgus was eleventh in direct descent from Herakles, and hadreigned in Lacedaemon for many years, and had his own great reputation, friends, and interest to assist him in carrying out his reforms: andalthough he chose to effect his purpose by violence, so that his eye wasactually knocked out, yet he succeeded in carrying that measure, sovaluable for the safety and concord of the state, by which it wasrendered impossible for any citizen to be either rich or poor. Solon'spower could not reach this height, as he was only a commoner and amoderate man; yet he did all that was in his power, relying solely uponthe confidence and goodwill of his countrymen. 

It is clear that they were disappointed, and expected more from hislegislation, from his own verses--

 "Once they speculated gaily, what good luck should them befall, Now they look upon me coldly, as a traitor to them all. "

Yet he says, if any one else had been in his position, "He ne'er would have desisted from unsettling the laws, Till he himself got all the cream. "

However, not long afterwards, they perceived the public benefits whichhe had conferred upon them, forgot their private grievances, and made apublic sacrifice in honour of the Seisachtheia, or "Relief fromburdens. " Moreover, they constituted Solon supreme reformer andlawgiver, not over some departments only, but placing everything alikein his hands; magistracies, public assemblies, senate, and law-courts. He had full powers to confirm or abolish any of these, and to fix theproper qualifications for members of them, and their numbers and timesof meeting. 

XVII. First of all, then, he repealed all the laws of Drakon, exceptthose relating to murder, because of their harshness and the excessivepunishments which they awarded. For death was the punishment for almostevery offence, so that even men convicted of idleness were executed, andthose who stole pot-herbs or fruits suffered just like sacrilegiousrobbers and murderers. So that Demades afterwards made the joke thatDrakon's laws were not written with ink, but with blood. It is saidthat Drakon himself, when asked why he had fixed the punishment of deathfor most offences, answered that he considered these lesser crimes todeserve it, and he had no greater punishment for more important ones. 

XVIII. In the next place, Solon, who wished to leave all magistracies ashe found them, in the hands of the wealthy classes, but to give thepeople a share in the rest of the constitution, from which they werethen excluded, took a census of the wealth of the citizens, and made afirst class of those who had an annual income of not less than fivehundred medimni of dry or liquid produce; these he calledPentakosiomedimni. The next class were the Hippeis, or knights, consisting of those who were able to keep a horse, or who had an incomeof three hundred medimni. The third class were the Zeugitae, whoseproperty qualification was two hundred medimni of dry or liquid produce;and the last class were the Thetes, whom Solon did not permit to bemagistrates, but whose only political privilege was the right ofattending the public assemblies and sitting as jurymen in the lawcourts. This privilege was at first insignificant, but afterwards becameof infinite importance, because most disputes were settled before ajury. Even in those cases which he allowed the magistrates to settle, heprovided a final appeal to the people. 

Solon moreover is said to have purposely worded his laws vaguely andwith several interpretations, in order to increase the powers of thesejuries, because persons who could not settle their disputes by theletter of the law were obliged to have recourse to juries of the people, and to refer all disputes to them, as being to a certain extent abovethe laws. He himself notices this in the following verses:

 "I gave the people all the strength they needed, Yet kept the power of the nobles strong; Thus each from other's violence I shielded, Not letting either do the other wrong. "

Thinking that the weakness of the populace required still furtherprotection, he permitted any man to prosecute on behalf of any other whomight be ill-treated. Thus if a man were struck or injured, any one elsewho was able and willing might prosecute on his behalf, and thelawgiver by this means endeavoured to make the whole body of citizensact together and feel as one. A saying of his is recorded which quiteagrees with the spirit of this law. Being asked, what he thought was thebest managed city? "That, " he answered, "in which those who are notwronged espouse the cause of those who are, and punish theiroppressors. "

XIX. He established the senate of the Areopagus of those who had heldthe yearly office of archon, and himself became a member of it becausehe had been archon. But in addition to this, observing that the peoplewere becoming turbulent and unruly, in consequence of their relief fromdebt, he formed a second senate, consisting of a hundred men selectedfrom each of the four tribes, to deliberate on measures in the firstinstance, and he permitted no measures to be proposed before the generalassembly, which had not been previously discussed in this senate. Theupper senate he intended to exercise a general supervision, and tomaintain the laws, and he thought that with these two senates as heranchors, the ship of the state would ride more securely, and that thepeople would be less inclined to disorder. Most writers say that Solonconstituted the senate of the Areopagus, as is related above; and thisview is supported by the fact that Drakon nowhere mentions or names theAreopagites, but in all cases of murder refers to the Ephetai. However, the eighth law on the thirteenth table of the laws of Solon runs thus:--

"All citizens who were disfranchised before the magistracy of Solonshall resume their rights, except those who have been condemned by theAreopagus, or by the Ephetai, or by the king--archons, in the prytaneum, for murder or manslaughter, or attempts to overthrow the government andwho were in exile when this law was made. "

This again proves that the senate of the Areopagus existed before thetime of Solon; for who could those persons be who were condemned by thecourt of the Areopagus, if Solon was the first who gave the senate ofthe Areopagus a criminal jurisdiction; though perhaps some words havebeen left out, or indistinctly written, and the law means "all thosewho had been condemned on the charges which now are judged by the courtof the Areopagus, the Ephetai, or the Prytanies, when this law was made, must remain disfranchised, though the others become enfranchised?" Ofthese explanations the reader himself must consider which he prefers. 

XX. The strangest of his remaining laws is that which declareddisfranchised a citizen who in a party conflict took neither side;apparently his object was to prevent any one regarding home politics ina listless, uninterested fashion, securing his own personal property, and priding himself upon exemption from the misfortunes of his country, and to encourage men boldly to attach themselves to the right party andto share all its dangers, rather than in safety to watch and see whichside would be successful. That also is a strange and even ludicrousprovision in one of his laws, which permits an heiress, whose husbandproves impotent, to avail herself of the services of the next of kin toobtain an heir to her estate. Some, however, say that this law rightlyserves men who know themselves to be unfit for marriage, and whonevertheless marry heiresses for their money, and try to make the lawsoverride nature; for, when they see their wife having intercourse withwhom she pleases, they will either break off the marriage, or live inconstant shame, and so pay the penalty of their avarice and wrong-doing. It is a good provision also, that the heiress may not converse with anyone, but only with him whom she may choose from among her husband'srelations, so that her offspring may be all in the family. This ispointed at by his ordinance that the bride and bridegroom should be shutin the same room and eat a quince together, and that the husband of anheiress should approach her at least thrice in each month. For even ifno children are born, still this is a mark of respect to a good wife, and puts an end to many misunderstandings, preventing their leading toan actual quarrel. 

In other marriages he suppressed dowries, and ordered the bride to bringto her husband three dresses and a few articles of furniture of no greatvalue; for he did not wish marriages to be treated as money bargains ormeans of gain, but that men and women should enter into marriage forlove and happiness and procreation of children. Dionysius, the despot ofSyracuse, when his mother wished to be married to a young citizen, toldher that he had indeed broken the laws of the state when he seized thethrone, but that he could not disregard the laws of nature so far as tocountenance such a monstrous union. These disproportioned matches oughtnot to be permitted in any state, nor should men be allowed to formunequal loveless alliances, which are in no sense true marriages. Amagistrate or lawgiver might well address an old man who marries a younggirl in the words of Sophokles: "Poor wretch, a hopeful bridegroom youwill be;" and if he found a young man fattening like a partridge in thehouse of a rich old woman, he ought to transfer him to some young maidenwho is without a husband. So much for this subject. 

XXI. Besides these, Solon's law which forbids men to speak evil of thedead is much praised. It is good to think of the departed as sacred, andit is only just to refrain from attacking the absent, while it ispolitic, also, to prevent hatred from being eternal. He also forbadepeople to speak evil of the living in temples, courts of justice, publicbuildings, or during the national games; and imposed a fine of threedrachmas to the person offended, and two to the state. His reason forthis was that it shows a violent and uncultivated nature not to be ableto restrain one's passion in certain places and at certain times, although it is hard to do so always, and to some persons impossible; anda legislator should frame his laws with a view to what he can reasonablyhope to effect, and rather correct a few persons usefully than punish anumber to no purpose. 

He gained credit also by his law about wills. Before his time these werenot permitted at Athens, but the money and lands of a deceased personwere inherited by his family in all cases. Solon, however, permitted anyone who had no children to leave his property to whom he would, honouring friendship more than nearness of kin, and giving a manabsolute power to dispose of his inheritance. Yet, on the other hand, hedid not permit legacies to be given without any restrictions, butdisallowed all that were obtained by the effects of disease or byadministration of drugs to the testator, or by imprisonment andviolence, or by the solicitations of his wife, as he rightly consideredthat to be persuaded by one's wife against one's better judgment is thesame as to submit to force. For Solon held that a man's reason wasperverted by deceit as much as by violence, and by pleasure no less thanby pain. 

He regulated, moreover, the journeys of the women, and their mourningsand festivals. A woman was not allowed to travel with more than threedresses, nor with more than an obolus' worth of food or drink, nor abasket more than a cubit in length; nor was she to travel at night, except in a waggon with a light carried in front of it. He abolished thehabits of tearing themselves at funerals, and of reciting set forms ofdirges, and of hiring mourners. He also forbade them to sacrifice an oxfor the funeral feast, and to bury more than three garments with thebody, and to visit other persons' graves. Most of these things areforbidden by our own laws also; with the addition, that by our lawsthose who offend thus are fined by the gynaeconomi, or regulators of thewomen, for giving way to unmanly and womanish sorrow. 

XXII. Observing that the city was filled with men who came from allcountries to take refuge in Attica, that the country was for the mostpart poor and unproductive, and that merchants also are unwilling todespatch cargoes to a country which has nothing to export, he encouragedhis countrymen to embark in trade, and made a law that a son was notobliged to support his father, if his father had not taught him a trade. As for Lykurgus, whose city was clear of strangers, and whose land was"unstinted, and with room for twice the number, " as Euripides says, andwho above all had all the Helots, throughout Lacedaemon, who were bestkept employed, in order to break their spirit by labour and hardship, itwas very well that his citizens should disdain laborious handicrafts anddevote their whole attention to the art of war. 

But Solon had not the power to change the whole life of his countrymenby his laws, but rather was forced to suit his laws to existingcircumstances, and, as he saw that the soil was so poor that it couldonly suffice for the farmers, and was unable to feed a mass of idlepeople as well, he gave great honour to trade, and gave powers to thesenate of the Areopagus to inquire what each man's source of incomemight be, and to punish the idle. A harsher measure was that of which weare told by Herakleides of Pontus, his making it unnecessary forillegitimate children to maintain their father. Yet if a man abstainsfrom an honourable marriage, and lives with a woman more for his ownpleasure in her society than with a view to producing a family, he isrightly served, and cannot upbraid his children with neglecting him, because he has made their birth their reproach. 

XXIII. Altogether Solon's laws concerning women are very strange. Hepermitted a husband to kill an adulterer taken in the act; but if anyone carried off a free woman and forced her, he assessed the penalty atone hundred drachmas. If he obtained her favours by persuasion, he wasto pay twenty drachmas, except in the case of those who openly ply forhire, alluding to harlots; for they come to those who offer them moneywithout any concealment. Moreover, he forbade men to sell their sistersand daughters, except in the case of unchastity. Now to punish the sameoffence at one time with unrelenting severity, and at another in a lightand trifling manner, by imposing so slight a fine, is unreasonable, unless the scarcity of specie in the city at that period made fineswhich were paid in money more valuable than they would now be; indeed, in the valuation of things for sacrifice, a sheep and a drachma werereckoned as each equal to a medimnus of corn. To the victor at theIsthmian games he appointed a reward of a hundred drachmas, and to thevictor in the Olympian, five hundred. He gave five drachmas for everywolf that was killed, and one drachma for every wolf's whelp; and we aretold by Demetrius of Phalerum that the first of these sums was the priceof an ox, and the second that of a sheep. The prices of choice victims, which he settled in his sixteenth tablet of laws, would naturally behigher than those of ordinary beasts, but even thus they are cheapcompared with prices at the present day. It was an ancient practiceamong the Athenians to destroy the wolves, because their country wasbetter fitted for pasture than for growing crops. Some say that theAthenian tribes derive their names, not from the sons of Ion, but fromthe different professions in which men were then divided: thus thefighting men were named Hoplites, and the tradesmen Ergadeis; the tworemaining ones being the Geleontes, or farmers, and the Aigikoreis, orgoat-herds and graziers. With regard to water, as the country is notsupplied with either rivers or lakes, but the people depend chiefly uponartificial wells, he made a law, that wherever there was a public wellwithin four furlongs, people should use it, but if it were farther off, then they must dig a private well for themselves; but if a man dug adepth of sixty feet on his own estate without finding water, then he wasto have the right of filling a six-gallon pitcher twice a day at hisneighbour's well; for Solon thought it right to help the distressed, andyet not to encourage laziness. He also made very judicious regulationsabout planting trees, ordering that they should not be planted withinfive feet of a neighbour's property, except in the case of olives andfig-trees, which were not to be planted within nine feet; for thesetrees spread out their roots farther than others, and spoil the growthof any others by taking away their nourishment and by giving off hurtfuljuices. Trenches and pits he ordered to be dug as far away from anotherman's property as they were deep; and no hive of bees was to be placedwithin three hundred feet of those already established by another man. 

XXIV. Oil was the only product of the country which he allowed to beexported, everything else being forbidden; and he ordered that if anyone broke this law the archon was to solemnly curse him, unless he paida hundred drachmas into the public treasury. This law is written on thefirst of his tablets. From this we see that the old story is notaltogether incredible, that the export of figs was forbidden, and thatthe men who informed against those who had done so were therefore calledsycophants. He also made laws about damage received from animals, one ofwhich was that a dog who had bitten a man should be delivered up to himtied to a stick three cubits long, an ingenious device for safety. 

One is astounded at his law of adopting foreigners into the state, which permits no one to become a full citizen in Athens unless he beeither exiled for life from his native city, or transfers himself withhis whole family to Athens to practise his trade there. It is said thathis object in this was not so much to exclude other classes of peoplefrom the city, as to assure these of a safe refuge there; and these hethought would be good and faithful citizens, because the former had beenbanished from their own country, and the latter had abandoned it oftheir own freewill. Another peculiarity of Solon's laws was the publicdining-table in the prytaneum. Here he did not allow the same person todine often, while he punished the man who was invited and would notcome, because the one seemed gluttonous, and the other contemptuous. 

XXV. He ordered that all his laws should remain in force for a hundredyears, and he wrote them upon triangular wooden tablets, which revolvedupon an axis in oblong recesses, some small remains of which have beenpreserved in the prytaneum down to the present day. These, we are toldby Aristotle, were called _Kurbeis_. The comic poet Kratinus also says, "By Solon and by Draco, mighty legislators once, Whose tablets light the fire now to warm a dish of pulse. "

Some say that the term _Kurbeis_ is only applied to those on which arewritten the laws which regulate religious matters. 

The senate swore by a collective oath that it would enforce Solon'slaws; and each of the Thesmothetae took an oath to the same effect atthe altar in the market-place, protesting that, if he transgressed anyof the laws, he would offer a golden statue as big as himself to thetemple at Delphi. 

Observing the irregularity of the months, and that the motions of themoon did not accord either with the rising or setting of the sun, butthat frequently she in the same day overtakes and passes by him, heordered that day to be called "the old and the new, " and that the partof it before their conjunction should belong to the old month, while therest of the day after it belonged to the new one, being, it seems, thefirst to rightly interpret the verse of Homer--

 "The old month ended and the new began. "

He called the next day that of the new moon. After the twentieth, he nolonger reckoned forwards, but backwards, as the moon decreased, untilthe thirtieth of the month. 

When Solon had passed all his laws, as people came to him every day topraise or blame, or advise him to add or take away from what he hadwritten, while innumerable people wanted to ask questions, and discusspoints, and kept bidding him explain what was the object of this or thatregulation, he, feeling that he could not do all this, and that, if hedid not, his motives would be misunderstood; wishing, moreover, toescape from troubles and the criticism and fault-finding of hiscountrymen [for, as he himself writes, it is "Hard in great measuresevery one to please"], made his private commercial business an excusefor leaving the country, and set sail after having obtained from theAthenians leave of absence for ten years. In this time he thought theywould become used to his laws. 

XXVI. He first went to Egypt, where he spent some time, as he himselfsays, "At Nilus' outlets, by Canopus' strand. "

And he also discussed points of philosophy with Psenophis of Heliopolis, and with Sonchis of Sais, the most distinguished of the Egyptianpriests. From them he heard the tale of the island Atlantis, as we aretold by Plato, and endeavoured to translate it into a poetical form forthe enjoyment of his countrymen. He next sailed to Cyprus, where he waswarmly received by Philocyprus, one of the local sovereigns, who ruledover a small city founded by Demophon, the son of Theseus, near theriver Klarius, in a position which was easily defended, butinconvenient. 

As a fair plain lay below, Solon persuaded him to remove the city to apleasanter and less contracted site, and himself personallysuperintended the building of the new city, which he arranged so wellboth for convenience and safety, that many new settlers joinedPhilocyprus, and he was envied by the neighbouring kings. For thisreason, in honour of Solon, he named the new city Soloi, the name of theold one having been Aipeia. Solon himself mentions this event, in one ofhis elegiac poems, in which he addresses Philocyprus, saying--

 "Long may'st thou reign, Ruling thy race from Soloi's throne with glory, But me may Venus of the violet crown Send safe away from Cyprus famed in story. May Heaven to these new walls propitious prove, And bear me safely to the land I love. "

XXVII. Some writers argue, on chronological grounds, that Solon'smeeting with Croesus must have been an invention. But I cannot thinkthat so famous a story, which is confirmed by so many writers, and, moreover, which so truly exhibits Solon's greatness of mind and wisdom, ought to be given up because of the so-called rules of chronology, whichhave been discussed by innumerable persons, up to the present day, without their being ever able to make their dates agree. The story goesthat Solon at Croesus's desire came to Sardis, and there felt much likea continental when he goes down to the seaside for the first time; forhe thinks each river he comes to must be the sea, and so Solon, as hewalked through the court and saw many of the courtiers richly attiredand each of them swaggering about with a train of attendants andbody-guards, thought that each one must be the king, until he wasbrought before the king himself, who, as far as precious stones, richlydyed clothes, and cunningly worked gold could adorn him, was splendidand admirable, indeed a grand and gorgeous spectacle to behold. WhenSolon was brought into his presence, he showed none of the feelings andmade none of the remarks about the sight, which Croesus expected, butevidently despised such vulgar ostentation. Croesus then ordered histreasures to be exhibited to him, and all the rest of his possessionsand valuables; not that Solon needed this, for the sight of Croesushimself was enough to show him what sort of man he was. When, afterhaving seen all this, he was again brought before the king, Croesusasked him whether he knew any man more happy than himself. Solon atonce answered that one Tellus, a fellow countryman of his own, was morehappy. He explained that Tellus was a good man, and left a family ofgood sons; that he passed his life beyond the reach of want, and diedgloriously in battle for his country. At this, Croesus began to thinkthat Solon must be a cross-grained churlish fellow, if he did notmeasure happiness by silver and gold, but preferred the life and deathof some private man of low degree to such power and empire as his. However, he asked him a second time, whether he knew any one more happythan himself, next to Tellus. Solon answered that he knew two men, Kleobis and Biton, remarkable for their love for each other and fortheir mother, who, as the oxen that drew their mother travelled slowly, put themselves under the yoke and drew the carriage with her in it tothe temple of Here. She was congratulated by all the citizens, and wasvery proud of them; and they offered sacrifice, drank some wine, andthen passed away by a painless death after so much glory. 

"Then, " asked Croesus angrily, "do you not reckon me at all among happymen?" Solon, who did not wish to flatter him, nor yet to exasperate himfarther, answered, "O King of the Lydians, we Greeks have been endowedwith moderate gifts, by Heaven, and our wisdom is of a cautious andhomely cast, not of a royal and magnificent character; so, beingmoderate itself, and seeing the manifold chances to which life isexposed, it does not permit us to take a pride in our presentpossessions, nor to admire the good fortune of any man when it is liableto change. Strange things await every man in the unknown future; and wethink that man alone happy whose life has been brought to a fortunatetermination. To congratulate a man who is yet alive and exposed to thecaprice of fortune is like proclaiming and crowning as victor one whohas not yet run his race, for his good fortune is uncertain and liableto reversal. " After speaking thus, Solon took his leave, having enragedCroesus, who could not take his good advice. 

XXVIII. Aesop, the writer of the fables, who had been sent for to Sardisby Croesus and enjoyed his favour, was vexed at the king's ungraciousreception of Solon, and advised him thus: "Solon, " said he, "one oughteither to say very little to kings or else say what they wish most tohear. " "Not so, " said Solon; "one should either say very little to them, or else say what is best for them to hear. " So at that time Croesusdespised Solon; but after he had been defeated by Cyrus, his city taken, and he himself was about to be burned alive upon a pyre erected in thepresence of all the Persians and of Cyrus himself, then he thrice criedout, "Solon, " as loud as he could. Cyrus, surprised at this, sent to askwhat man or god Solon might be, who was invoked by a man in suchextremity. Croesus, without any concealment said, "He is one of the wisemen of Greece, whom I sent for, not because I wished to listen to himand learn what I was ignorant of, but in order that he might see andtell of my wealth, which I find it is a greater misfortune to lose thanit was a blessing to possess. For, while I possessed it, all I enjoyedwas opinion and empty talk; whereas, now the loss of it has brought mein very deed into terrible and irreparable misfortunes and sufferings. Now this man, who foresaw what might befall me, bade me look to the endof my life, and not be arrogant on the strength of a fleetingprosperity. "

When this was reported to Cyrus, he being a wiser man than Croesus, andfinding Solon's words strongly borne out by the example before him, notonly released Croesus, but treated him with favour for the rest of hislife; so that Solon had the glory of having by the same words saved oneking's life and given instruction to another. 

XXIX. During Solon's absence the strife of the factions at Athens wasrenewed; Lykurgus was the chief of the party of the Pediaei, Megakles, the son of Alkmaeon, led the Parali, and Peisistratus, the Diakrii, whowere joined by the mass of the poorer classes who hated the rich. Thusthe city still obeyed Solon's laws, but was longing for change, and allmen hoped for a new revolution, in which they trusted to get not onlytheir rights, but something more, and to triumph over the oppositefaction. In this state of affairs Solon landed at Athens, and wasreceived with respect by all the citizens. Although, on account of hisage, he was no longer able to engage in politics as keenly as before, still he met the leaders of the various factions privately andendeavoured to arrange their differences and reconcile them to oneanother. Peisistratus appeared to pay more attention to him than theothers, for he was crafty and pleasant of speech, a protector of thepoor, and a man of moderation even in his quarrels. The qualities whichhe had not, he affected to possess, giving himself out to be a cautiousand law-abiding man, who loved even-handed justice and was enraged atany revolutionary proceedings. Thus he deceived the people; but Solonsoon saw through him, and detected his plans before any one else. He wasnot shocked, but endeavoured to turn him from his purpose by advice, saying to him and to others that if his desire to be first and his wishto make himself master could be removed, there would be no moreexcellent and virtuous citizen than Peisistratus. 

At this time Thespis was beginning to introduce the drama, and thenovelty of his exhibition attracted many people, although the regularcontests were not yet introduced. Solon, who was fond of seeing sightsand gaining knowledge, and whose old age was spent in leisure andamusements and good fellowship, went to see Thespis, who acted in hisown play, as the ancient custom was. After the play was over, he askedhim if he was not ashamed to tell so many lies before so many people. When Thespis answered that there was no harm in saying and doing thesethings in jest, Solon violently struck the ground with his stick, saying, "If we praise and approve of such jests as these, we shall soonfind people jesting with our business. "

XXX. When Peisistratus wounded himself and was driven into themarket-place in a cart to excite the people, whom he told that he hadbeen so treated by his enemies because he defended the constitution, andwhile he was surrounded by a noisy crowd of sympathisers, Solon camenear him and said, "Son of Hippokrates, you are dishonourably imitatingHomer's Ulysses. You are doing this to deceive your fellow citizens, while he mutilated himself to deceive the enemy. " Upon this, as thepeople were willing to take up arms on behalf of Peisistratus, theyassembled at the Pnyx, where Ariston proposed that a body-guard offifty club-bearers should be assigned to Peisistratus. Solon opposedthis, urging many arguments, like what we read in his poems:

 "You hang upon a crafty speaker's words;"

and again, "Each alone a fox in cunning, You grow stupid when you meet. "

But as he saw that the poor were eager to serve Peisistratus, while therich held back from cowardice, he went away, after saying that he waswiser than the one class, and braver than the other; wiser, namely, thanthose who did not understand what was going on, and braver than thosewho did understand, but did not dare to oppose the despotism with whichthey were threatened. 

The people carried the proposal, and would not be so mean as to make anystipulation with Peisistratus about the number of his body-guard, butpermitted him to keep as many as he pleased until he seized theAcropolis. When this took place, the city was convulsed; Megakles andthe other descendants of Alkmaeon fled, but Solon, although he was nowvery old and had no one to stand by him, nevertheless came into themarket-place and addressed the citizens, reproaching them for theirfolly and remissness, and urging them to make a final effort to retaintheir freedom. It was then that he made the memorable remark that, informer days it would have been easier for them to have preventeddespotism from appearing amongst them, but that now it would be moreglorious to cut it down, when it had arrived at its full growth. However, as no one listened to him, because of the general terror, hewent home, armed himself, and took his post in the street outside hisdoor, saying, "I have done all I could for my country and her laws. "After this he remained quiet, though his friends urged him to leaveAthens. He, however, wrote poems reproaching the Athenians--

 "Through your own cowardice you suffered wrong, Blame then yourselves and not the gods for this; 'Twas you yourselves that made the tyrant strong, And rightly do you now your freedom miss. "

XXXI. At this many of his friends told him that the despot would surelyput him to death, and when they asked him what he trusted to, that heperformed such mad freaks, he answered, "To my age. " But Peisistratus, after he became established as sovereign, showed such marked favour toSolon that he even was advised by him, and received his approval inseveral cases. For he enforced most of Solon's laws, both observing themhimself and obliging his friends to do so. Indeed, when accused ofmurder before the court of the Areopagus, he appeared in due form tostand his trial, but his accuser let the case fall through. He also madeother laws himself, one of which is that those who are maimed in warshall be kept at the public expense. Herakleides says that this was donein imitation of Solon, who had already proposed it in the case ofThersippus. But Theophrastus tells us that it was not Solon, butPeisistratus, who made the law about idleness, by means of which herendered the city more quiet, and the country better cultivated. 

Solon also attempted to write a great poem about the fable of'Atlantis, ' which he had learned from the chroniclers of Saisparticularly concerned the Athenians, but he did not finish it, not, asPlato says, for want of leisure, but rather because of his advanced age, which made him fear that the task was too great for him. His own wordstell us that he had abundance of leisure--

 "Old I grow, but ever learning, "

and, "Venus and Bacchus are all my care, And the Muses, that charm the hearts of men. "

Plato eagerly took in hand the scheme of the 'Atlantis, ' as though itwere a fine site for a palace, which had come to be his by inheritance, still unbuilt on. He placed in the beginning of it such splendidentrance-halls and vestibules as we find in no other tale or legend orpoem, but, as he began the work too late, he died before he was able tofinish it; so that the more we enjoy what he has written, the more wegrieve over what is lost. As the temple of Olympic Zeus among thetemples of Athens, so the 'Atlantis' is the only one among Plato's manynoble writings that is unfinished. 

Solon lived on into the reign of Peisistratus for a long time, according to Herakleides of Pontus, but less than two years, accordingto Phanias of Eresus. For Peisistratus became despot in the archonshipof Komius, and Phanias tells us that Solon died during the archonship ofHegesistratus, Komias' successor. The story that his ashes werescattered round the island of Salamis is legendary and improbable, yetit is confirmed by many trustworthy writers, amongst whom is thephilosopher Aristotle. 

LIFE OF POPLICOLA. 

I. As a parallel to Solon we shall take Poplicola, who was honoured withthis name by the Romans, his original name having been Publius Valerius, a supposed descendant of that Valerius who in ancient times wasespecially instrumental in making the Romans and Sabines cease to beenemies and become one people; for it was he who persuaded the two kingsto meet and make terms of peace. Valerius, a descendant of this hero, was a man of eminence in Rome, which was then ruled by the kings, because of his eloquence and wealth. He always spoke boldly on the sideof justice, and assisted the poor and needy with such kindness that itwas clear that, in case of a revolution, he would become the first manin the state. 

Tarquinius Superbus, the king, had not come to his throne justly, but bywicked and lawless violence, and as he reigned tyrannically andinsolently, the people hated him, and seized the opportunity of thedeath of Lucretia, after her dishonour, to drive him out. Lucius Brutus, who was determined to change the form of government, applied to Valeriusfirst of all, and with his vigorous assistance drove out the king. Afterthese events Valerius kept quiet, as long as it seemed likely that thepeople would choose a single general to replace their king, because hethought that it was Brutus's right to be elected, as he had been theleader of the revolution. However the people, disgusted with the idea ofmonarchy, and thinking that they could more easily endure to be ruled bytwo men, proposed that two consuls should be chosen. Valerius now becamea candidate, hoping that he and Brutus would be elected; but he was notchosen. Brutus, instead of Valerius, whom he would have preferred, hadas a colleague Tarquinius Collatinus, the husband of Lucretia, who wasnot a better man than Valerius, but was elected because the men in powerat Rome, seeing what intrigues the exiled king was setting on foot tosecure his return, wished to have for their general a man who was hissworn personal enemy. 

II. Valerius, disgusted at the idea that he was not trusted to fight forhis country because he had not suffered any personal wrong at the handsof the king, left the senate, refused to attend public meetings, andceased to take any part whatever in public affairs, so that people beganto fear that in his rage he might go over to the king's party anddestroy the tottering edifice of Roman liberty. Brutus suspected someothers besides him, and proposed on a certain day to hold a solemnsacrifice and bind the senate by an oath. Valerius, however, camecheerfully into the Forum, and was the first to swear that he wouldnever yield anything to the Tarquins, but would fight for liberty to thedeath, by which he greatly delighted the senate and encouraged theleading men of the state. His acts too, immediately confirmed his words, for ambassadors came from Tarquin with specious and seductive proposals, such as he thought would win over the people, coming from a king whoseemed to have laid aside his insolence and only to wish for his justrights. The consuls thought it right that these proposals should be laidbefore the people, but Valerius would not permit it, not wishing thatthe poorer citizens, to whom the war was a greater burden than themonarchy had been, should have any excuse for revolt. 

III. After this came other ambassadors, announcing that Tarquin wouldgive up his throne, put an end to the war, and only ask for his ownproperty and that of his relatives and friends, upon which to live inexile. Many were inclined to agree to this, and amongst them Collatinus, when Brutus, an inflexible and harsh-tempered man, rushed into theForum, calling out that his colleague was a traitor, who wished tofurnish the tyrant with the means of continuing the war and recoveringhis throne, when he ought rather to grudge him food to keep him fromstarving. The citizens assembled, and Caius Minucius, a private citizen, was the first man who addressed them, encouraging Brutus, and pointingout to the Romans how much better it was that the money should be usedto help them than to help their enemies. In spite of this, however, theRomans decided that, as they now possessed the liberty for which theyhad fought, they would not lose the additional blessing of peace for thesake of this property, but would cast it from them after the tyrant towhich it belonged. 

Tarquin really cared little for the property, and the demand was merelymade in order to sound the people and arrange a plot for the betrayal ofthe state, which was managed by the ambassadors whom he had nominallysent to look after his property. These men were selling some part of it, keeping some safe, and sending some of it away, and meanwhile intriguedso successfully that they won over two of the best families in Rome, that of the Aquillii, in which were three senators, and that of theVitellii, among whom were two. All these men were, on the mother's side, nephews of the consul Collatinus, and the Vitellii were also related toBrutus, for he had married their sister, and by her had a large family. The Vitellii, being relatives and intimate friends of the two elder sonsof Brutus, induced them to take part in the conspiracy, holding out tothem the hope that they might ally themselves to the great house ofTarquin, soon to be restored to the throne, and would rid themselves oftheir father's stupidity and harshness. By harshness, they alluded tohis inexorable punishment of bad men, and the stupidity was that whichhe himself affected for a long time, in order to conceal his realcharacter from the tyrant, which was made matter of reproach to himafterwards. 

IV. So, after they had persuaded these young men, they conferred againwith the Aquillii, and determined that all the conspirators should sweara great and terrible oath, in which a man is killed, and each personthen pours a libation of his blood, and touches his entrails. The roomin which they meant to do this was, as may be supposed, a dark andhalf-ruined one. Now a servant of the name of Vindicius happened toconceal himself in it; not that he had any designs or any knowledge ofwhat was going on, but chancing to be in the room when the conspiratorssolemnly entered, he was afraid of being detected there, and so hidhimself behind a chest, where he could see what was done and hear whatwas said by them. They agreed to assassinate both consuls, and wrote aletter to Tarquin acquainting him with their determination, which theygave to the ambassadors, who were lodging in the house of the Aquilliias their guests, and were present at this scene. After this theydispersed, and Vindicius came out from his hiding-place. He was at aloss what use to make of the discovery which Fortune had thrown in hisway, for he thought it a shocking thing, as indeed it was, for him tomake such a fearful revelation to Brutus about his sons, or toCollatinus about his nephews, and he would not trust any private citizenwith a secret of such importance. Tormented by his secret, and unable toremain quiet, he addressed himself to Valerius, chiefly moved to do soby his affable kindly temper; for his house was open all day to thosewho wished to speak with him, and he never refused an interview orrejected a poor man's petition. 

V. When, then, Vindicius came before him and told him all that he knewin the presence only of his wife and his brother Marcus, Valerius wasastounded and horrified. He would not let the man go, but locked him up, set his wife to guard the door, and bade his brother to surround theking's quarters, to seize the letter, if possible, keeping a strictwatch over all the servants there. He himself, with a large train ofclients, friends and servants, went to the house of the Aquillii, whowere not within. As no one expected him, he pushed into the house andfound the letter lying in the ambassadors' apartments. 

While he was thus employed, the Aquillii returned in haste, andassembling a force at the door endeavoured to take away the letter fromhim. His own party came to his assistance, and with their gowns twistedround their necks with much buffeting made their way to the Forum. Thesame thing happened at the king's quarters, where Marcus laid hold ofanother letter which was being taken thither concealed among somebaggage, and brought as many of the king's party as he could into theForum. 

VI. When the consuls had put a stop to the confusion, Vindicius, atValerius's command, was brought out of his prison, and a court was held. The letters were recognised, and the culprits had nothing to say forthemselves. All were silent and downcast, and a few, thinking to pleaseBrutus, hinted at banishment as the penalty of their crime. Collatinusby his tears, and Valerius by his silence gave them hopes of mercy. ButBrutus, addressing each of his sons by name, said, "Come, Titus, comeTiberius, why do you make no answer to the charges against you?" As, after being asked thrice, they made no answer, he, turning his face tothe lictors, said, "I have done my work, do yours. " They immediatelyseized upon the young men, tore off their clothes, tied their handsbehind their backs, and scourged them. Although the people had not theheart to look at so dreadful a sight, yet it is said that Brutus neverturned away his head, and showed no pity on his stern countenance, butsat savagely looking on at the execution of his sons until at last theywere laid on the ground and their heads severed with an axe. Then hehanded over the rest of the culprits to be dealt with by his colleague, rose, and left the Forum. His conduct cannot be praised, and yet it isabove censure. Either virtue in his mind overpowered every otherfeeling, or his sorrow was so great as to produce insensibility. Inneither case was there anything unworthy, or even human in his conduct, but it was either that of a god or a brute beast. It is better, however, that we should speak in praise of so great a man rather than allow ourweakness to distrust his virtue. Indeed the Romans think that even thefoundation of the city by Romulus was not so great an event as theconfirmation of its constitution by Brutus. 

VII. When he left the Forum all men were silent for a long while, shuddering at what had been done. The Aquillii took heart at themildness of Collatinus, and asked for time to prepare their defence. They also begged that Vindicius might be given up to them, because hewas their servant, and ought not to be on the side of their accusers. Collatinus was willing to allow this, but Valerius said that he was notable to give the man up, because he was surrounded by so large a crowd, and called upon the people not to disperse without punishing thetraitors. At last he laid his hands upon the two corpses, called forBrutus, and reproached Collatinus for making his colleague act againstnature by condemning his own sons to death, and then thinking to pleasethe wives of these traitors and public enemies by saving their lives. The consul, vexed at this, ordered the lictors to seize Vindicius. Theyforced their way through the crowd, tried to lay hold of him, and struckthose who defended him, but the friends of Valerius stood in front ofhim and beat them off, and the people raised a shout for Brutus. Hereturned, and when silence was restored said that he had, as a father, full power to condemn his sons to death, but that as for the otherculprits, their fate should be decided by the free vote of the citizens, and that any one might come forward and address the people. The people, however, would listen to no speeches, but voted unanimously for theirdeath, and they were all beheaded. 

Collatinus, it seems, had been viewed with suspicion before because ofhis connection with the royal family, and his second name, Tarquinius, was odious to the people. After these events, having utterly failed asconsul, he voluntarily laid down that office, and left the city. So nowthere was another election, and Valerius received the due reward of hispatriotism and was gloriously made consul. Thinking that Vindicius oughtto receive something for his services, he made him a freedman, the firstever made in Rome, and allowed him to vote in whatever tribe he chose tobe enrolled. The other freedmen were not allowed the suffrage till, longafter, it was given them by Appius to obtain popularity among them. Thewhole ceremony is up to the present day called _vindicta_, afterVindicius, we are told. 

VIII. After this they allowed the king's property to be plundered, anddestroyed the palace. Tarquinius had obtained the pleasantest part ofthe Field of Mars, and had consecrated it to that god. This field hadjust been cut, and the corn lay on the ground, for the people thoughtthat they must not thresh it or make any use of it, because of theground being consecrated, so they took the sheaves and threw them intothe river. In the same way they cut down the trees and threw them in, leaving the whole place for the god, but uncultivated and unfruitful. As there were many things of different sorts all floating together inthe river, the current did not carry them far, but when the first massessettled on a shallow place, the rest which were carried down upon themcould not get past, but became heaped up there, and the stream compactedthem securely by the mud which it deposited upon them, not onlyincreasing the size of the whole mass, but firmly cementing it together. The waves did not shake it, but gently beat it into a solid consistency. Now, from its size, it began to receive additions, as most of what theriver brought down settled upon it. It is now a sacred island close bythe city, with temples and walks, and in the Latin tongue it has a namewhich means "between two bridges. " Some state that this did not happenwhen Tarquinia's field was consecrated, but in later times whenTarquinia gave up another field next to that one, for the public use. This Tarquinia was a priestess, one of the Vestal virgins, and she wasgreatly honoured for having done so, and was allowed to appear as awitness in court, which no other woman could do; she also was permittedto marry, by a decree of the senate, but did not avail herself of it. These are the legends which they tell about this island. 

IX. Tarquin now gave up all hopes of recovering his throne by intrigue, and appealed to the Etruscans, who willingly espoused his cause andendeavoured to restore him with a great army. The consuls led out theRomans to fight against them, posting them in holy places one of whichis called the Arsian grove, and another the Aesuvian meadow. When theywere about to join battle, Aruns, the son of Tarquin, and Brutus, theRoman consul, attacked one another, not by chance, but with fell hatredand rage, the one urging his horse against the tyrant and enemy of hiscountry, the other against the man who drove him into exile. Fallingupon one another with more fury than judgment, they made no attempt todefend themselves, but only to strike, and both perished. The struggle, so terribly begun, was continued with equal ferocity on both sides, until the armies, after great losses, were separated by a tempest. Valerius was in great straits, not knowing how the battle had gone, andobserving that his soldiers were despondent when they looked at thecorpses of their comrades, and elated when they saw those of the enemy, so equal and undecided had been the slaughter. Yet each side, when itviewed its own dead close by, was more inclined to own itself defeated, than to claim the victory because of the supposed losses of the enemy. Night came on, and it was spent as may be imagined by men who had foughtso hard. When all was quiet in both camps, we are told that the grovewas shaken, and that from it proceeded a loud voice which declared thatthe Etruscans had lost one man more than the Romans. Apparently it wasthe voice of a god; for immediately the Romans raised a bold and joyousshout, and the Etruscans, panic-stricken, ran out of their camp anddispersed. The Romans attacked the camp, took prisoners all that wereleft in it, something less than five thousand, and plundered it. Thedead, when counted, proved to be eleven thousand three hundred of theenemy, and of the Romans the same number save one. This battle is saidto have been fought on the Calends of March. Valerius triumphed after itin a four-horse chariot, being the first consul that ever did so. And itwas a magnificent sight, and did not, as some say, offend thespectators; for, if so, the habit of doing it would not have been socarefully kept up for so many years. The people were also pleased withthe honours which Valerius paid to his colleague in arranging a splendidfuneral for him; he also pronounced a funeral oration over him, whichwas so much approved of by the Romans that from that day forth it becamethe custom for all good and great men at their deaths to have an orationmade over them by the leading men of the time. This is said to have beenolder even than the Greek funeral orations, unless, as Anaximenes tellsus, Solon introduced this custom. 

X. But the people were vexed and angry, because though Brutus, whom theythought the author of their liberty, would not be consul alone, but hadone colleague after another, yet "Valerius, " they said, "has got allpower into his own hands, and is not so much the heir of the consulshipof Brutus as of the tyranny of Tarquin. And what use is it for him topraise Brutus while he imitates Tarquin in his deeds, swaggering downinto the Forum with all the rods and axes before him, from a houselarger than the king's palace used to be. " Indeed, Valerius lived inrather too splendid a house on the Velian Hill, looking down into theForum, and difficult to climb up to, so that when he walked down from ithe did indeed look like a tragedy king leaving his palace. But now heproved how valuable a thing it is for a statesman engaged in importantmatters to keep his ears open to the truth, and shut against flattery. Hearing from his friends what the people thought of him, he did notargue or grieve at it, but suddenly assembled a number of workmen andduring the night destroyed his entire house down to the veryfoundations, so that on the next day the Romans collected in crowds tosee it, admiring the magnanimity of the man, but sorrowing at thedestruction of so great and noble a house, which, like many a man, hadbeen put to death undeservedly, and expressing their concern for theirconsul, who had no house to live in. Valerius, indeed, had to beentertained by his friends, until the people gave him a site and builthim a house upon it, of more moderate proportions than the other, in theplace where at the present day stands the temple of Vica Pota. Wishingto make not only himself but his office cease to be an object of terrorto his countrymen, he removed the axes from the bundles of rods carriedby the lictors, and when he entered the assembly of the people heordered his _fasces_ to be bowed and lowered before them, to showrespect to the majesty of the people. This custom the consuls observe tothis day. By these acts he did not really humble himself as he appearedto the Romans to be doing, but he so completely destroyed any illwillwhich had been felt against him that by giving up the semblance of powerhe really gained the reality, as the people were eager to serve him andobey him. For this reason they surnamed him _Poplicola_, which means"lover of the people, " and this name so took the place of his former onethat we shall use it during the remainder of this account of his life. 

XI. He permitted any one to become a candidate for the consulship; andwhile he was sole consul he used his power to effect the greatest of hisreforms, because he did not know who his new colleague might be, andwhether he would not thwart him through ignorance or illwill. First ofall he brought up the senate to its proper number, for many senators hadperished, some at Tarquin's hands in former years, and some in the latebattle. It is said that he elected no less than a hundred and sixty-fournew senators. After this, he enacted laws which greatly added to thepower of the people, the first one of which gave accused persons a powerof appeal from the decision of the consuls to the people. The secondappointed the penalty of death to those who entered upon any publicoffice without the consent of the people. The third was to assist thepoor, as it relieved them from taxes and enabled them all to applythemselves with greater assiduity to trade. The law, too, which heenacted about disobedience to the consuls is no less popular in itsspirit, and favours the people more than the great nobles. He assessedthe fine for disobedience at the price of five oxen and two sheep. Nowthe value of a sheep was ten obols, and that of an ox a hundred, for atthis period the Romans did not make much use of coined money, butpossessed abundance of cattle. For this reason at this day they callproperty _peculia_, from _pecus_, a sheep, and on their oldest coinsthey marked the figure of an ox, a sheep, or a pig. Their children, too, were distinguished by the names of Suillii, Bubulci, Caprarii andPorcii, for _capra_ means a goat, and _porcus_ a pig. 

XII. Though Poplicola favoured the people so much in these laws, andshowed such great moderation, yet in one instance he appointed aterrible penalty. One of his laws enacted that any citizen was atliberty to put to death anyone who tried to make himself king, withoutany form of trial. No penalty was to be enforced, if the man could bringforward proofs of the other's intention. His reason for this was that itwas impossible for any one to attempt to make himself king, unperceivedby some of his countrymen, but quite possible for him, althoughdetected, to become too powerful to be brought to trial. So, before hemade his attempt on the crown, any one was at liberty to exact from himthat penalty, which he would be unable to do after his success. 

His law about the treasury was also much approved. It being necessarythat the citizens should contribute taxes to carry on the war, as he didnot wish to touch the revenue himself or to allow his friends to do so, and was even unwilling that the public money should be brought into aprivate man's house, he appointed the Temple of Saturn to be used as atreasury, which it is to this day, and he appointed also two of theyounger citizens as quaestors, to manage the accounts. The firstquaestors were Publius Venturius and Marcus Minucius, and a large sum ofmoney was collected, for a hundred and thirty thousand persons weretaxed, although orphans and widows were exempted. 

When he had settled all these matters, he nominated Lucretius, thefather of Lucretia, as his colleague, and gave up the _fasces_ to him asa mark of respect, because he was the elder man. This custom, that theelder of the two consuls has the _fasces_ carried before him, remains tothis day. As Lucretius died shortly afterwards, a new election tookplace, and Marcus Horatius was elected, and acted as Poplicola'scolleague for the remainder of his year of office. 

XIII. As Tarquin was stirring up the Etruscans to a second war withRome, a great portent is said to have taken place. While he was yetking, and had all but finished the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, he, either in accordance with some prophecy or otherwise, ordered certainEtruscan workmen at Veii to make an earthenware four-horse chariot to beplaced on the top of the temple. Shortly afterwards he was driven fromthe throne, and the chariot, which had been modelled in clay, was placedin the furnace. Here it did not, as clay generally does, shrink andbecome smaller in the fire, as the wet dries out of it, but swelled toso great a size, and became so hard and strong that it could only be gotout of the furnace by taking off the roof and sides. As this was decidedby the prophets to be a sign from Heaven that those who possessed thechariot would be prosperous and fortunate, the Veientines determined notto give it up to the Romans, arguing that it belonged to Tarquin, not tothose who had cast him out. 

A few days afterwards there were horse-races there; everythingproceeded as usual, but as the driver of the winning chariot, afterreceiving his crown as victor, was driving slowly out of the circus, thehorses suddenly became excited for no apparent cause, and, either guidedby Heaven or by chance, rushed towards Rome, their driver with them, forhe finding it impossible to stop them was forced to let them whirl himalong until they reached the Capitol, where they threw him down nearwhat is called the Ratumenan Gate. The Veientines, struck with fear andwonder at this event, permitted the workmen to deliver up theearthenware chariot to the Romans. 

XIV. Tarquinius the son of Demaratus, when at war with the Sabines, vowed that he would build the temple of Jupiter Olympius, but it wasbuilt by Tarquinius Superbus, the son or grandson of him who made thevow. He had not time to dedicate it, but was dethroned just before itscompletion. Now when it was finished and thoroughly decorated, Poplicolawas eager to have the glory of dedicating it. Many of the nobles, however, grudged him this, and were more incensed at this than at allthe glory which he had won as a general and as a legislator; for _that_, they said, was his vocation, but _this_ was not. They stirred upHoratius to oppose him and urged him to claim the right to dedicate thetemple. So when Poplicola was of necessity absent on military service, the senate decreed that Horatius should dedicate it, and brought him upinto the Capitol to do so, a thing which they never could have done hadPoplicola been present. Some say that the two consuls casts lots, andthat the one, sorely against his will, drew the lot to command the armyin the field, and the other that to dedicate the temple. But we mayconjecture how this was, from the events which took place at thededication. On the Ides of September, which corresponds with the fullmoon in our month Metageitnion, all the people assembled in the Capitol, and Horatius, after silence had been enjoined upon all, performed theceremony of dedication. When, as is customary, he was about to take holdof the doors of the temple and say the prayer of dedication, Marcus, Poplicola's brother, who had long been standing near the doors watchinghis opportunity, said to him, "Consul, your son has just died ofsickness in the camp. " All who heard this were grieved, but Horatius, undisturbed, merely said, "Fling his corpse where you please, for Icannot grieve for him, " and completed the dedication service. The storywas false, invented by Marcus to confuse Horatius. His conduct is aremarkable instance of presence of mind, whether it be that he at oncesaw through the trick, or believed the story and was not disturbed byit. 

XV. The same fortune seems to have attended the second temple also. Thefirst, as we have related, was built by Tarquin, and dedicated byHoratius. This was destroyed by fire in the civil wars. The second wasbuilt by Sulla, but the name of Catulus appears as its dedicator, forSulla died before it was completed. This again was burned during thecivil tumults in the time of Vitellius, and Vespasian built a third, which had nearly the same fortune as the others, except that he saw itcompleted, and did not see it shortly afterwards destroyed, being thusmore fortunate than Tarquin in seeing the completion, and than Sulla inseeing the dedication of his work. When Vespasian died the Capitol wasburned. The fourth and present temple was built and dedicated byDomitian. It is said that Tarquin spent forty thousand pounds of silverin building the foundations; but there is no private citizen in Rome atthe present day who could bear the expense of gilding the existingtemple, which cost more than twelve thousand talents. Its columns are ofPentelic marble, exquisitely proportioned, which I myself saw at Athens;but at Rome they were again cut and polished, by which process they didnot gain so much in gloss as they lost in symmetry, for they now appeartoo slender. However, if any one who wonders at the expense of thetemple in the Capitol were to see the splendour of any one portico, hall, or chamber in the house of Domitian, he would certainly be led toparody that line of Epicharmus upon an extravagant fellow, "Not good-natured, but possessed with the disease of giving, "

and would say that Domitian was not pious or admirable, but possessedwith the disease of building, and turned everything into bricks andmortar, just as it is said Midas turned things into gold. So much forthis. 

XVI. Tarquin, after the great battle in which his son was slain byBrutus, took refuge at Clusium and begged Lars Porsena, the mostpowerful king in Italy, to assist him. He was thought to be anhonourable and ambitious man, and promised his aid. First he sent anembassy to Rome, ordering them to receive Tarquin; and when the Romansrefused to obey, he declared war against them, and telling them at whatplace and time he would attack them, marched against them with a greatarmy. At Rome, Poplicola, though absent, was chosen consul for thesecond time, and with him, Titus Lucretius. He returned to Rome, and byway of putting a slight upon Porsena, went and founded the city ofSigliuria, while his army was close at hand. He built the walls of thisplace at a vast expense, and sent away seven hundred colonists to it, asif the war with which he was menaced was a very unimportant matter. But, nevertheless, Porsena made a sharp assault upon the walls of Rome, droveaway the garrison, and very nearly entered the town. Poplicolaforestalled him by sallying from one of the gates, and fought by thebanks of the Tiber against overwhelming numbers until he was severelywounded and had to be carried out of the battle. As the same fate befellhis colleague Lucretius, the Romans lost heart and endeavoured to savethemselves by flight into the town. As the enemy also began to pushacross the wooden bridge, Rome was in danger of being taken. ButHoratius, surnamed Cocles, and with him two of the noblest citizens, named Herminius and Lartius, held the wooden bridge against them. ThisHoratius was surnamed Cocles because he had lost an eye in the wars, oras some say because of the flatness of his nose, which made his eyes andeyebrows seem to meet, having nothing to separate them, and thereforethe people meaning to call him Cyclops, by a mistake of pronunciation, named him Cocles. This man stood at the end of the bridge and kept offthe enemy until his friends behind had cut down the bridge. Then heplunged into the river in his armour and swam to the other bank, thoughwounded by an Etruscan spear in the thigh. Poplicola, in admiration ofhis valour, at once proposed and passed a decree that every Roman shouldgive him the price of one day's provisions. Moreover, he gave him asmuch land as he could plough in one day. And a brazen statue of him wasplaced in the temple of Vulcan, by which honourable allusion was made tothe lameness caused by his wound. 

XVII. As Porsena pressed the siege, the Romans suffered from famine, andanother separate army of Etruscans invaded their territory. ButPoplicola, who was now consul for the third time, though he thought ithis chief duty to remain stedfast and hold out the city against Porsena, did nevertheless sally out and attack these men, routing them with aloss of five thousand. Now as to the legend of Mucius, it is told inmany different ways, but I will relate it as it seems most probable thatit happened. He was a man of great courage, and very daring in war, who, meaning to assassinate Porsena, stole into the camp in an Etruscan dressand speaking the Etruscan language. When he arrived at the raisedplatform on which the king was sitting, he did not exactly know whichwas he, and being afraid to ask, he drew his sword and killed the manwho of all the party looked most as if he were the king. Hereupon, hewas seized and questioned. A fire was burning close by in a brazierwhich had been brought for Porsena to offer sacrifice. Mucius held hisright hand over this, and while the flesh was being consumed looked atPorsena cheerfully and calmly, until he in astonishment acquitted himand restored him his sword, which Mucius took with his left hand. Onaccount of this he is said to have been named _Scaevola_, which meansleft-handed. He then said that though he did not fear Porsena, he wasconquered by his generosity, and out of kindness would tell him whattorture would have failed to extort: "Three hundred young Romanslike-minded with myself are at present concealed in your camp. I waschosen by lot to make the first attempt, and am not grieved that Ifailed to kill a man of honour, who ought to be a friend rather than anenemy to the Romans. " Porsena, hearing this, believed it to be true, andbecame much more inclined to make peace, not, I imagine, so much forfear of the three hundred, as out of admiration for the spirit andvalour of the Romans. This Mucius is called Scaevola by all writers, butAthenodorus, the son of Sandon, in his book which is dedicated toOctavia, the sister of Caesar Augustus, says that he was also namedPosthumus. 

XVIII. Poplicola, who did not think Porsena so terrible as an enemy ashe would be valuable as a friend and ally, was willing that he shoulddecide the quarrel between the Romans and Tarquin, and often proposedthat he should do so, feeling sure that he would discover him to be awretch who had been most deservedly dethroned. But Tarquin roughlyanswered that he would submit his claims to no judge, and least of allto Porsena, who had been his ally and now seemed inclined to desert him. Porsena was angered at this, and, as his son Aruns also pleaded hard forthe Romans, put an end to the war upon condition that they should giveup the portion of Etruscan territory which they had seized, restoretheir prisoners, and receive back their deserters. Upon this, ten youthsof the noblest families were given as hostages, and as many maidens, among whom was Valeria, the daughter of Poplicola. 

XIX. While these negotiations were going on, and Porsena, through hisconfidence in the good faith of the Romans, had relaxed the disciplineof his camp, these Roman maidens came down to bathe in the river at aplace where a bank, in the form of a crescent, makes the water smoothand undisturbed. As they saw no guards, nor any one passing except inboats, they determined to swim across, although the stream was strongand deep. Some say that one of them, by name Cloelia, rode on a horseacross the river, encouraging the others as they swam. When they had gotsafe across they went to Poplicola, but he was displeased with thembecause it made him seem more faithless than Porsena, and he feared lestthis daring feat of the maidens might be suspected of being apreconcerted plot of the Romans. For these reasons he sent them back toPorsena. Now Tarquin and his party, foreseeing that this would be done, laid an ambush on the further bank and attacked those who wereescorting the girls with superior numbers. Still they made a stoutdefence, and meanwhile Valeria, the daughter of Poplicola, made her waythrough the combatants and escaped, and three slaves who also got awaytook care of her. The others were mixed up with the fight, and were inconsiderable danger, when Aruns, Porsena's son, came to the rescue, putthe enemy to the rout, and saved the Romans. When the girls were broughtbefore Porsena, he asked which it was that had conceived the attempt toescape and encouraged the others. Being told that it was Cloelia, hesmiled kindly upon her, and presented her with one of his own horses, splendidly caparisoned. This is relied upon by those who say that it wasCloelia alone who rode on horseback over the river, as proving theircase. Others say that it was not because she used a horse, but to honourher manly spirit that the Etruscan king made her this present. A statueof her, on horseback, stands in the Sacred Way as you go up to thePalatine Hill, which by some is said not to be a statue of Cloelia, butof Valeria. 

Porsena, after making peace with the Romans, among many other instancesof generosity, ordered his army to carry back nothing but their armswhen they retired, leaving the entrenched camp full of food and propertyof every kind for the Romans. For this reason, at the present day, whenever there is a sale of any public property, especially that whichis taken in war, proclamation is always made, "Porsena's goods forsale, " so that the Romans have never forgotten the kindness which theyreceived from him. A brazen statue of him used to stand near the senatehouse, of plain and oldfashioned workmanship. 

XX. After this the Sabines invaded the country. Marcus Valerius, Poplicola's brother, and Posthumius Tubertus were then consuls, andMarcus, acting by the advice of Poplicola, who was present, won twogreat battles, in the second of which he slew thirteen thousand of theenemy without the Romans losing a man. He was rewarded for this, inaddition to his triumph, by having a house built for him upon thePalatine Hill at the public expense. And whereas all other street doorsopen inwards, the doors of that house were made to open outwards, as aperpetual memorial of the honour paid him by the people, who thus madeway for him. It is said that all the doors in Greece used once to openthis way, arguing from the comedies, in which those who are coming outof a house always knock at the door, to warn those who are passing orstanding near not to be struck by the leaves of the door, as they open. 

XXI. Next year Poplicola was consul for the fourth time. There was anexpectation of a war against the Latins and Sabines combined. 

Moreover the city seemed to have displeased the gods; for all thepregnant women were delivered prematurely, and of imperfectly formedchildren. Poplicola, after appeasing the gods below according to theinjunctions of the Sibylline books, re-established certain games inaccordance with an oracle, brought the city into a more hopeful state ofmind, and began to consider what he had to fear from earthly foes, forthe enemy's army was large and formidable. There was one Appius Clausus, a Sabine, of great wealth and remarkable personal strength, and avirtuous and eloquent man, who, like all great men, was the object ofenvy and ill-will to many. He was accused by his enemies of having putan end to the war, because he wished to increase the power of Rome, inorder to enable him the more easily to triumph over the liberties of hisown country, and make himself king of it. Perceiving that the populaceeagerly listened to these tales, and that he was an object of dislike tothe war party and the army, he began to fear impeachment: so, havingnumerous followers, besides his personal friends and relatives, he wasable to divide the state into two parties. This caused great delay inthe Sabines' preparations for attacking the Romans, and Poplicola, feeling it to be his duty not merely to watch but to assist Clausus, sent envoys, who spoke to him as follows: "Poplicola feels that you area man of honour, who would be unwilling to take vengeance upon yourcountrymen, although you have been shamefully treated by them. But ifyou choose to put yourself in safety by leaving your country and apeople that hates you, he will receive you, both in his public and hisprivate capacity, in a manner worthy of your own high character and ofthe dignity of Rome. " After much deliberation, Clausus decided that hecould not do better than accept this offer, and assembled all hisfriends. They in their turn influenced many others, so that he was ableto transplant to Rome five thousand of the most peaceful and respectablefamilies of the Sabine nation. Poplicola, who had notice of theirarrival, welcomed them kindly and graciously. He made them all citizensof Rome, and gave each of them two acres of land along the river Anio. He gave Clausus twenty-five acres, and enrolled him among the Senators. Clausus afterwards became one of the first men in Rome for wisdom andpower, and his descendants, the Claudian family, was one of the mostillustrious in history. 

XXII. Though the disputes of the Sabines were settled by this migration, yet their popular orators would not let them rest, but vehemently urgedthat they ought not to let Appius, a deserter and an enemy, prevail uponthem to let the Romans go unpunished--a thing which he could notpersuade them to do when he was present among them. They proceeded toFidenae with a great army and encamped there, and laid two thousand menin ambush before Rome, in wooded and broken ground, meaning in themorning to send out a few horsemen to plunder ostentatiously. These menwere ordered to ride up close to Rome, and then to retire till theirpursuers were drawn into the snare. Poplicola heard of this plan thesame day from deserters, and quickly made all necessary arrangements. Atevening he sent Postumius Balbus, his son-in-law, with three thousandmen to occupy the tops of the hills under which the Sabine ambush wasplaced. His colleague, Lucretius, was ordered to take theswiftest-footed and noblest youth of the city, and pursue the plunderinghorsemen, while he himself with the rest of the forces made a circuitousmarch and outflanked the enemy. It chanced that a thick mist came onabout dawn, in the midst of which Postumius charged down from the hillsupon the men in ambush with a loud shout, while Lucretius sent his mento attack the cavalry, and Poplicola fell upon the enemy's camp. TheSabines were routed in every quarter, and even when fighting no longerwere cut down by the Romans, their rash confidence proving ruinous tothem. Each party thought that the others must be safe, and did not careto stay and fight where they were, but those who were in the camp ran tothose in the ambush, and those in the ambush towards the camp, each ofthem meeting those with whom they hoped to take refuge, and finding thatthose who they had hoped would help them needed help themselves. TheSabines would have been all put to the sword, had not the neighbouringcity of Fidenae afforded them a refuge, especially for the men from thecamp. Such as could not reach Fidenae were either put to death or takenprisoners. 

XXIII. The Romans, accustomed as they are to refer all great success tothe intervention of Heaven, thought that the whole glory of thisachievement was due to the general. The first thing heard was thevictorious soldiers declaring that Poplicola had delivered up the enemyto them blind and lame, and all but in chains, for them to slaughter attheir ease. The people were enriched by the plunder and the sale of theprisoners for slaves. Poplicola enjoyed a triumph, and previouslydelivering over the administration of the city to the two succeedingconsuls, died shortly afterwards, having attained to the highest pitchof glory that man can reach. The people, as if they had done nothingduring his life to honour him as he deserved, and were now for the firsttime to show their gratitude, decreed him a public funeral, and moreoverthat every person should contribute the coin called _quadrans_, to showhim respect. The women also made a common agreement to wear mourning forhim for a whole year. He was buried by a decree of the people within thecity near the place called Velia, and all his family were given theprivilege of burial there. At the present day not one of the family isactually buried there, but the corpse is carried thither, and laid down, while some one places a lighted torch under it for a moment, after whichit is carried away. By this ceremony they claim the right, although theyforego it, and bury the corpse outside the city. 

COMPARISON OF SOLON AND POPLICOLA. 

I. It is a point peculiar to this comparison, and which does not occurin any of the other Lives which I have written, that in turn oneimitates and the other bears witness to his fellow's deeds. Observe, forinstance, Solon's definition of happiness before Croesus, how muchbetter it suits Poplicola than Tellus. He says that Tellus was fortunatebecause of his good luck, his virtue, and his noble children; but yet hemakes no mention of him or of his children in his poetry, and he neverwas a man of any renown, or held any high office. 

Now Poplicola's virtues made him the most powerful and glorious of theRomans during his life, and six hundred years after his death the verynoblest families of Rome, those named Publicola and Messala andValerius, are proud to trace their descent from him, even at the presentday. Tellus, it is true, died like a brave man fighting in the ranks, but Poplicola slew his enemies, which is much better than being killedoneself, and made his country victorious by skill as a general and astatesman, and, after triumphing and enjoying honours of every kind, died the death which Solon thought so enviable. Besides, Solon, in hisanswer to Mimnermus about the time of life, has written the verses:

 "To me may favouring Heaven send, That all my friends may mourn my end, "

in which he bears witness to the good fortune of Poplicola; for he, whenhe died, was mourned not only by all his friends and relations but bythe whole city, in which thousands wept for him, while all the womenwore mourning for him as if he were a son or father of them all thatthey had lost. 

Solon says in his poems, "I long for wealth, but not procured By means unholy. "

Now Poplicola not only possessed wealth honourably acquired, but alsowas able to spend it, much to his credit, in relieving the needy. Thusif Solon was the wisest, Poplicola was certainly the most fortunate ofmen; for what Solon prayed for as the greatest blessing, Poplicolapossessed and enjoyed to the end of his days. 

II. Thus has Solon done honour to Poplicola; and he again honoured Solonby regarding him as the best model a man could follow in establishing afree constitution: for he took away the excessive power and dignity ofthe consuls and made them inoffensive to the people, and indeed made useof many of Solon's own laws; as he empowered the people to elect theirown consuls, and gave defendants a right of appeal to the people fromother courts, just as Solon had done. He did not, like Solon, make twosenates, but he increased the existing one to nearly double its number. His grounds for the appointment of quaestors was to give the consulleisure for more important matters, if he was an honest man; and if hewas a bad man, to remove the opportunity of fraud which he would havehad if he were supreme over the state and the treasury at once. Inhatred of tyrants Poplicola exceeded Solon, for he fixed the penalty fora man who might be proved to be attempting to make himself king, whereasthe Roman allowed any one to kill him without trial. And while Solonjustly prided himself upon his having been offered the opportunity tomake himself despot, with the full consent of his fellow-countrymen, andyet having refused it, Poplicola deserves even greater credit for havingbeen placed in an office of almost despotic power, and having made itmore popular, not using the privileges with which he was entrusted. Indeed Solon seems to have been the first to perceive that a people

 "Obeys its rulers best, When not too free, yet not too much opprest. "

III. The relief of debtors was a device peculiar to Solon, which, morethan anything else confirmed the liberty of the citizens. For laws toestablish equality are of no use if poor men are prevented from enjoyingit because of their debts; and in the states which appear to be the mostfree, men become mere slaves to the rich, and conduct the whole businessof the state at their dictation. It should be especially noted thatalthough an abolition of debt would naturally produce a civil war, yetthis measure of Solon's, like an unusual but powerful dose of medicine, actually put an end to the existing condition of internal strife; forthe well-known probity of Solon's character outweighed the discredit ofthe means to which he resorted. In fact Solon began his public life withgreater glory than Poplicola, for he was the leading spirit, andfollowed no man, but entirely single handed effected the most importantreforms; while Poplicola was more enviable and fortunate at the close ofhis career. 

Solon himself saw his own constitution overthrown, while that ofPoplicola preserved order in the city down to the time of the civilwars; and the reason was that Solon, as soon as he had enacted his laws, went on his travels, leaving them written on wooden tablets, defencelessagainst all assailants; whereas Poplicola remained at home, acted asconsul, and by his statesmanship ensured the success and permanence ofthe new constitution. Moreover, Solon could not stop Peisistratus, although he perceived his designs, but was forced to see a despotismestablished; while Poplicola destroyed a monarchy which had existed formany years, showing equal virtue with Solon, but greater good fortuneand power to enable him to carry out his intentions. 

IV. With regard to warlike achievements, Daimachus of Plataea will noteven admit that Solon made the campaign against the Megarians, which wehave related; but Poplicola both by strategy and personal valour wonmany great battles. As a statesman, Solon seems to have acted somewhatchildishly in pretending that he was mad, in order to make his speechabout Salamis, while Poplicola ran the very greatest risks in drivingout the tyrant and crushing the conspiracy. He was especiallyresponsible for the chief criminals being put to death, and thus notonly drove the Tarquins out of the city, but cut off and destroyedtheir hopes of return. And while he showed such vigour in enterprisesthat required spirit and courage, he was equally admirable in peacefulnegotiations and the arts of persuasion; for he skilfully won over theformidable Porsena to be the friend instead of the enemy of Rome. 

Still we may be reminded that Solon stirred up the Athenians to captureSalamis, which they had given up to the Megarians, while Poplicolawithdrew the Romans from a country which they had conquered. We must, however, consider the circumstances under which these events took place. A subtle politician deals with every thing so as to turn it to thegreatest advantage, and will often lose a part in order to save thewhole, and by sacrificing some small advantage gain another moreimportant one, as did Poplicola on that occasion; for he, by withdrawingfrom a foreign country, preserved his own, gained the enemy's camp forthe Romans, who before were only too glad to save their city from ruin, and at last, by converting his enemy into an arbitrator and winning hiscause, obtained all the fruits of victory: for Porsena put an end to thewar, and left behind him all his war material to show his respect forthe noble character of the consul. 

LIFE OF THEMISTOKLES. 

I. Themistokles came of a family too obscure to entitle him todistinction. His father, Neokles, was a middle-class Athenian citizen, of the township of Phrearri and the tribe Leontis. He was base born onhis mother's side, as the epigram tells us:

 "My name's Abrotonon from Thrace, I boast not old Athenian race; Yet, humble though my lineage be, Themistokles was born of me. "

Phanias, however, says that the mother of Themistokles was a Carian, nota Thracian, and that her name was not Abrotonon but Euterpe. Mantheseven tells us that she came from the city of Halikarnassus in Caria. Allbase-born Athenians were made to assemble at Kynosarges, a gymnasiumoutside the walls sacred to Herakles, who was regarded as base bornamong the gods because his mother was a mortal; and Themistokles inducedseveral youths of noble birth to come to Kynosarges with him and join inthe wrestling there, an ingenious device for destroying the exclusiveprivileges of birth. But, for all that, he evidently was of the blood ofLykomedes; for when the barbarians burned down the temple of theInitiation at Phlya, which belonged to the whole race of the descendantsof Lykomedes, it was restored by Themistokles, as we are told bySimonides. 

II. He is agreed by all to have been a child of vigorous impulses, naturally clever, and inclined to take an interest in important affairsand questions of statesmanship. During his holidays and times of leisurehe did not play and trifle as other children do, but was always foundarranging some speech by himself and thinking it over. The speech wasalways an attack on, or a defence of, some one of his playfellows. Hisschoolmaster was wont to say, "You will be nothing petty, my boy; youwill be either a very good or a very bad man. "

In his learning, he cared nothing for the exercises intended to form thecharacter, and mere showy accomplishments and graces, but eagerlyapplied himself to all real knowledge, trusting to his natural gifts toenable him to master what was thought to be too abstruse for his time oflife. In consequence of this, when in society he was ridiculed by thosewho thought themselves well mannered and well educated, he was obligedto make the somewhat vulgar retort that he could not tune a lute or playupon the harp, but he could make a small and obscure state great andglorious. 

In spite of all this, Stesimbrotus says that Themistokles was a pupil ofAnaxagoras, and attended the lectures of Melissus the physicist; buthere he is wrong as to dates. Melissus was the general who was opposedto Perikles, a much younger man than Themistokles, when he was besiegingSamos, and Anaxagoras was one of Perikles's friends. One is moreinclined to believe those who tell us that Themistokles was a followerand admirer of Mnesiphilus of Phrearri, who was neither an orator nor anatural philosopher, but a man who had deeply studied what went by thename of wisdom, but was really political sharp practice and expedientsof statesmanship, which he had, as it were, inherited as a legacy fromSolon. Those who in later times mixed up this science with forensicdevices, and used it, not to deal with the facts of politics, but theabstract ideas of speculative philosophy, were named Sophists. Themistokles used to converse with this man when he had already begunhis political career. In his childhood he was capricious and unsteady, his genius, as yet untempered by reason and experience, showing greatcapacities both for good and evil, and after breaking out into vice, ashe himself used afterwards to admit, saying that the colts which are thehardest to break in usually make the most valuable horses when properlytaught. But as for the stories which some have fabricated out of this, about his being disinherited by his father, and about his mothercommitting suicide through grief at her son's disgrace, they seem to beuntrue. On the other hand, some writers tell us that his father, wishingto dissuade him from taking part in politics, pointed out to him the oldtriremes lying abandoned on the beach, and told him that politicians, when the people had no farther use for them, were cast aside in likemanner. 

III. Very early in life Themistokles took a vigorous part in publicaffairs, possessed by vehement ambition. Determined from the very outsetthat he would become the leading man in the state, he eagerly enteredinto all the schemes for displacing those who where then at the head ofaffairs, especially attacking Aristeides, the son of Lysimachus, whosepolicy he opposed on every occasion. Yet his enmity with this man seemsto have had a very boyish commencement; for they both entertained apassion for the beautiful Stesilaus, who, we are told by Ariston thephilosopher, was descended from a family residing in the island of Keos. After this difference they espoused different parties in the state, andtheir different temper and habits widened the breach between them. Aristeides was of a mild and honourable nature, and as a statesman carednothing for popularity or personal glory, but did what he thought rightwith great caution and strict rectitude. He was thus often brought intocollision with Themistokles, who was trying to engage the people in manynew schemes, and to introduce startling reforms, by which he wouldhimself have gained credit, and which Aristeides steadily opposed. 

He is said to have been so recklessly ambitious and so frenziedly eagerto take part in great events, that though he was very young at the timeof the battle of Marathon, when the country rang with the praises of thegeneralship of Miltiades, he was often to be seen buried in thought, passing sleepless nights and refusing invitations to wine-parties, andthat he answered those who asked him the cause of his change of habits, that the trophies of Miltiades would not let him sleep. Other menthought that the victory of Marathon had put an end to the war, butThemistokles saw that it was but the prelude to a greater contest, inwhich he prepared himself to stand forth as the champion of Greece, and, foreseeing long before what was to come, endeavoured to make the cityof Athens ready to meet it. 

IV. First of all, he had the courage to propose that the Athenians, instead of dividing amongst themselves the revenues derived from thesilver mines at Laurium, should construct ships out of this fund for thewar with Aegina. This was then at its height, and the Aeginetans, whohad a large navy, were masters of the sea. By this means Themistokleswas more easily enabled to carry his point, not trying to terrify thepeople by alluding to Darius and the Persians, who lived a long way off, and whom few feared would ever come to attack them, but by cleverlyappealing to their feelings of patriotism against the Aeginetans, tomake them consent to the outlay. 

With that money a hundred triremes were built, which were subsequentlyused to fight against Xerxes. After this he kept gradually turning thethoughts of the Athenians in the direction of the sea, because theirland force was unable even to hold its own against the neighbouringstates, while with a powerful fleet they could both beat off thebarbarians and make themselves masters of the whole of Greece. Thus, asPlato says, instead of stationary soldiers as they were, he made themroving sailors, and gave rise to the contemptuous remark thatThemistokles took away from the citizens of Athens the shield and thespear, and reduced them to the oar and the rower's bench. This, we aretold by Stesimbrotus, he effected after quelling the opposition ofMiltiades, who spoke on the other side. Whether his proceedings at thistime were strictly constitutional or no I shall leave to others todetermine; but that the only safety of Greece lay in its fleet, and thatthose triremes were the salvation of the Athenians after their city wastaken, can be proved by the testimony, among others, of Xerxes himself;for although his land force was unbroken, he fled after his navaldefeat, as though no longer able to contend with the Greeks, and he leftMardonius behind more to prevent pursuit, in my opinion, than with anyhopes of conquest. 

V. Some writers tell us that he was a keen man of business, and explainthat his grand style of living made this necessary; for he made costlysacrifices, and entertained foreigners in a splendid manner, all ofwhich required a large expenditure; but some accuse him of meanness andavarice, and even say that he sold presents which were sent for histable. When Philides the horse-dealer refused to sell him a colt, hethreatened that he would soon make a wooden horse of the man's house;meaning that he would stir up lawsuits and claims against him from someof his relations. 

In ambition he surpassed every one. When yet a young and unknown man heprevailed upon Epikles of Hermione, the admired performer on the harp, to practise his art in his house, hoping thereby to bring many people toit to listen. And he displeased the Greeks when he went to the Olympiangames by vying with Kimon in the luxury of his table, his tents, and hisother furniture. It was thought very proper for Kimon, a young man ofnoble birth, to do so; but for a man who had not yet made himself areputation, and had not means to support the expense, such extravaganceseemed mere vulgar ostentation. In the dramatic contest, which even thenexcited great interest and rivalry, the play whose expenses he paid forwon the prize. He put up a tablet in memory of his success bearing thewords: Themistokles of Phrearri was choragus, Phrynichus wrote the play, Adeimantus was archon. Yet he was popular, for he knew every one of thecitizens by name, and gave impartial judgment in all cases referred tohim as arbitrator. Once, when Simonides of Keos asked him to strain apoint in his favour, Themistokles, who was a general at the time, answered that Simonides would be a bad poet if he sang out of tune; andhe would be a bad magistrate if he favoured men against the law. Atanother time he rallied Simonides on his folly in abusing theCorinthians, who inhabited so fine a city, and in having his own statuecarved, though he was so ugly. He continued to increase in popularity byjudiciously courting the favour of the people, and was at length able tosecure the triumph of his own party, and the banishment of his rivalAristeides. 

VI. As the Persians were now about to invade Greece, the Atheniansdeliberated as to who should be their leader. It is said that most menrefused the post of General through fear, but that Epikydes, the son ofEuphemides, a clever mob-orator, but cowardly and accessible to bribes, desired to be appointed, and seemed very likely to be elected. Themistokles, fearing that the state would be utterly ruined if itsaffairs fell into such hands, bribed him into forgetting his ambitiousdesigns, and withdrawing his candidature. 

He was much admired for his conduct when envoys came from the Persianking to demand earth and water, in token of submission. He seized theinterpreter, and by a decree of the people had him put to death, becausehe had dared to translate the commands of a barbarian into the languageof free Greeks. He acted in the same way to Arthmias of Zelea. This man, at the instance of Themistokles, was declared infamous, he and hischildren and his descendants for ever, because he brought Persian goldamong the Greeks. His greatest achievement of all, however, was, that heput an end to all the internal wars in Greece, and reconciled the stateswith one another, inducing them to defer the settlement of their feudsuntil after the Persian war. In this he is said to have been greatlyassisted by Chileon the Arcadian. 

VII. On his appointment as General, he at once endeavoured to prevailupon his countrymen to man their fleet, leave their city, and go to meetthe enemy by sea as far from Greece as possible. As this met with greatopposition, he, together with the Lacedaemonians, led a large force asfar as the Vale of Tempe, which they intended to make their first lineof defence, as Thessaly had not at that time declared for the Persians. When, however, the armies were forced to retire from thence, and allGreece, up to Boeotia, declared for the Persians, the Athenians becamemore willing to listen to Themistokles about fighting by sea, and he wassent with a fleet to guard the straits at Artemisium. Here the Greekschose the Lacedaemonians, and their general, Eurybiades, to take thecommand; but the Athenians refused to submit to any other state, becausethey alone furnished more ships than all the rest. Themistokles, at thiscrisis perceiving the danger, gave up his claims to Eurybiades, andsoothed the wounded pride of the Athenians, telling them that if theyproved themselves brave men in the war, they would find that all theother states in Greece would cheerfully recognise their supremacy. Onthis account he seems more than any one else to deserve the credit ofhaving saved Greece, and to have covered the Athenians with glory byteaching them to surpass their enemies in bravery, and their allies ingood sense. When the Persian fleet reached Aphetai, Eurybiades wasterrified at the number of ships at the mouth of the Straits, and, learning that two hundred sail more were gone round the outside ofEuboea to take him in the rear, he at once wished to retire further intoGreece, and support the fleet by the land army in Peloponnesus, for heregarded the Persian king's fleet as utterly irresistible at sea. Uponthis the Euboeans, who feared to be deserted by the Greeks, sent onePelagon with a large sum of money, to make secret proposals toThemistokles. He took the money, Herodotus tells us, and gave it toEurybiades and his party. One of those who most vehemently opposed himwas Architeles, the captain of the Sacred Trireme, who had notsufficient money to pay his crew, and therefore wished to sail back toAthens. Themistokles stirred up the anger of his men to such a pitchthat they rushed upon him and took away his supper. At this, Architeleswas much vexed, but Themistokles sent him a basket containing bread andmeat, with a talent of silver hidden underneath it, with a messagebidding him eat his supper and pay his men the next day, but that, if hedid not, Themistokles would denounce him to his countrymen as havingreceived bribes from the enemy. This we are told by Phanias of Lesbos. 

VIII. The battles which took place in the Straits with the Persianships, were indeed indecisive, but the experience gained in them was ofthe greatest value to the Greeks, as they were taught by their resultthat multitudes of ships and splendid ensigns, and the boastfulwar-cries of barbarians, avail nothing against men who dare to fighthand to hand, and that they must disregard all these and boldly grapplewith their enemies. Pindar seems to have understood this when he says, about the battle at Artemisium, that there

 "The sons of Athena laid Their freedom's grand foundation. "

for indeed confidence leads to victory. This Artemisium is a promontoryof the island of Euboea, stretching northwards beyond Hestiaea; andopposite to it is Olizon, which was once part of the dominions ofPhiloktetes. There is upon it a small temple of Artemis (Diana), whichis called the "Temple towards the East. " Round it stand trees and acircle of pillars of white stone. This stone, when rubbed in the hand, has the colour and smell of saffron. On one of these pillars werewritten the following verses:

 "The sons of Athens once o'ercame in fight All Asia's tribes, on yonder sea; They raised these pillars round Diana's shrine, To thank her for their victory. "

Even now a place is pointed out on the beach where, under a great heapof sand, there is a deep bed of black ashes where it is thought thewrecks and dead bodies were burned. 

IX. But when the news of Thermopylae was brought to the Greeks atArtemisium, that Leonidas had fallen, and Xerxes was in possession ofthe passes, they retired further into Greece, the Athenians protectingthe rear on account of their bravery, and full of pride at theirachievements. At all the harbours and landing-places along the coast, Themistokles, as he passed by, cut conspicuous inscriptions on stones, some of which he found on the spot, and others which he himself set upat all the watering-places and convenient stations for ships. In theseinscriptions he besought the Ionians, if possible, to come over to theAthenians, who were their fathers, and who were fighting for theirliberty; and if they could not do this, to throw the barbarian army intoconfusion during battle. He hoped that these writings would either bringthe Ionians over to the side of the Greeks, or make them suspected oftreason by the Persians. 

Meanwhile Xerxes invaded Greece through Doris, and came into Phokis, where he burned the city of the Phokaeans. The Greeks made noresistance, although the Athenians begged them to make a stand inBoeotia, and cover Attica, urging that they had fought in defence of thewhole of Greece at Artemisium. However, as no one would listen to them, but all the rest of the Greeks determined to defend the Peloponnesus, and were collecting all their forces within it, and building a wallacross the Isthmus from sea to sea, the Athenians were enraged at theirtreachery, and disheartened at being thus abandoned to their fate. Theyhad no thoughts of resisting so enormous an army; and the only thingthey could do under the circumstances, to abandon their city and trustto their ships, was distasteful to the people, who saw nothing to begained by victory, and no advantage in life, if they had to desert thetemples of their gods and the monuments of their fathers. 

X. At this crisis, Themistokles, despairing of influencing the populaceby human reasoning, just as a dramatist has recourse to supernaturalmachinery, produced signs and wonders and oracles. He argued that it wasa portent that the sacred snake during those days deserted his usualhaunt. The priests, who found their daily offerings to him of the firstfruits of the sacrifices left untouched, told the people, at theinstigation of Themistokles, that the goddess Athena (Minerva) had leftthe city, and was leading them to the sea. He also swayed the popularmind by the oracle, in which he argued that by "wooden walls" ships werealluded to; and that Apollo spoke of Salamis as "divine, " not terribleor sad, because Salamis would be the cause of great good fortune to theGreeks. Having thus gained his point, he proposed a decree, that thecity be left to the care of the tutelary goddess of the Athenians, thatall able-bodied men should embark in the ships of war, and that each manshould take the best measures in his power to save the women andchildren and slaves. 

When this decree was passed, most of the Athenians sent their aged folksand women over to Troezen, where they were hospitably received by theTroezenians, who decreed that they should be maintained at the publicexpense, receiving each two obols a day, that the children should beallowed to pick the fruit from any man's tree, and even that theirschool expenses should be paid. This decree was proposed by Nikagoras. 

The Athenians at this time had no public funds, yet Aristotle tells usthat the Senate of the Areopagus, by supplying each fighting man witheight drachmas, did good service in manning the fleet; and Kleidemustells us that this money was obtained by an artifice of Themistokles. When the Athenians were going down to the Peiraeus, he gave out that theGorgon's head had been lost from the statue of the goddess. Themistokles, under pretext of seeking for it, searched every man, andfound great stores of money hidden in their luggage, which heconfiscated, and thus was able to supply the crews of the ships withabundance of necessaries. When the whole city put to sea, the sightaffected some to pity, while others admired their courage in sendingtheir families out of the way that they might not be disturbed byweeping and wailing as they went over to Salamis. Yet many of the agedcitizens who were left behind at Athens afforded a piteous sight; andeven the domestic animals, as they ran howling to the sea-shore, accompanying their masters, touched men's hearts. It is said that thedog of Xanthippus, the father of Perikles, could not endure to beseparated from him, and jumping into the sea swam alongside of histrireme, reached Salamis, and then at once died. His tomb is even now tobe seen at the place called Kynossema. 

XI. Besides these great achievements, Themistokles, perceiving that hiscountrymen longed to have Aristeides back again, and fearing that hemight ally himself with the Persian, and work ruin to Greece out ofanger against his own country (for Aristeides had been banished fromAthens before the war when Themistokles came into power), proposed adecree, that any citizen who had been banished for a term of years, might return and do his best by word and deed to serve his countrytogether with the other citizens. 

Eurybiades, on account of the prestige of Sparta, held the chief commandof the fleet, but was unwilling to risk a battle, preferring to weighanchor and sail to the Isthmus where the land army of the Peloponnesianswas assembled. This project was opposed by Themistokles; and it was onthis occasion that he made use of the following well-known saying: WhenEurybiades said to him, "Themistokles, in the public games they whipthose who rise before their turn. " "True, " said Themistokles, "but theydo not crown those who lag behind. " And when Eurybiades raised hisstaff as if he would strike him, Themistokles said, "Strike, but hearme. " When Eurybiades, in wonder at his gentle temper, bade him speak, heagain urged Eurybiades to remain at Salamis. Some one then said, that aman without a city had no right to tell those who still possessed one toabandon it, but Themistokles turning upon him, answered, "Wretch, weAthenians have indeed abandoned our walls and houses, because we scornto be slaves for the sake of mere buildings, but we have the greatestcity of all Greece, our two hundred ships of war, which now are ready tohelp you if you choose to be saved by their means; but, if you betray usand leave us, some of the Greeks will soon learn to their cost that theAthenians have obtained a free city and a territory no worse than thatwhich they left behind. " When Eurybiades heard Themistokles use thislanguage, he began to fear that the Athenians might really sail away andleave him. 

When Eretrieus tried to say something to Themistokles, he answered, "Doyou too dare to say anything about war, you, who like a cuttle-fish, have a sword but no heart. "

XII. It is said by some writers that while Themistokles was talkingabout these matters upon the deck of his ship, an owl was seen to flyfrom the right-hand side of the fleet, and to perch upon his mast; whichomen encouraged all the Athenians to fight. But when the Persian hostpoured down to Phalerum, covering the whole sea-shore, and the kinghimself was seen with all his forces, coming down to the beach with theinfantry, the Greeks forgot the words of Themistokles, and began to casteager glances towards the Isthmus and to be angry with any one whoproposed to do anything else than withdraw. They determined to retire bynight, and the steersmen were given orders to prepare for a voyage. Themistokles, enraged at the idea of the Greek fleet dispersing, andlosing the advantage of the narrow waters, planned the affair ofSikinnus. This Sikinnus was a Persian who had been taken prisoner, andwho was fond of Themistokles and took charge of his children. He sentthis man secretly to Xerxes, ordering him to say that Themistokles, thegeneral of the Athenians, has determined to come over to the king of thePersians, and is the first to tell him that the Greeks are about toretreat. He bids him not to allow them to fly, but to attack them whilethey are disheartened at not being supported by a land force, anddestroy their fleet. 

Xerxes, who imagined this to be said for his advantage, was delighted, and at once gave orders to the commanders of his ships to make ready forbattle at their leisure, all but two hundred, whom he ordered to put tosea at once, surround the whole strait, and close up the passagesthrough the islands, so that no one of the enemy could escape. Whilethis was being done, Aristeides, the son of Lysimachus, who was thefirst to perceive it, came to the tent of Themistokles, although thelatter was his enemy, and had driven him into exile. When Themistoklescame to meet him, he told him they were surrounded; knowing the frankand noble character of Aristeides, Themistokles told him the whole plot, and begged him as a man in whom the Greeks could trust, to encouragethem to fight a battle in the straits. Aristeides praised Themistoklesfor what he had done, and went round to the other generals and captainsof ships, inciting them to fight. Yet they were inclined to doubt eventhe word of Aristeides, when a trireme from the island of Tenos, underthe command of Panaitios, came in, having deserted from the enemy, andbrought the news that the Greeks were really surrounded. Then, in aspirit of anger and despair, they prepared for the struggle. 

XIII. At daybreak Xerxes took his seat on a high cliff overlooking allhis host, just above the Temple of Herakles, we are told by Phanodemus, where the strait between Salamis and Attica is narrowest, but accordingto Akestodorus, close to the Megarian frontier, upon the mountainscalled Horns. Here he sat upon the golden throne, with many scribesstanding near, whose duty it was to write down the events of the battle. 

While Themistokles was sacrificing on the beach, beside the admiral'sship, three most beautiful captive boys were brought to him, splendidlyadorned with gold and fine clothes. They were said to be the children ofSandauke, the sister of Xerxes, and Artäuktes. When Euphrantides theprophet saw them, there shone at once from the victims on the altar agreat and brilliant flame, and at the same time some one was heard tosneeze on the right hand, which is a good omen. Euphrantides nowbesought Themistokles to sacrifice these young men as victims toDionysus, to whom human beings are sacrificed; so should the Greeksobtain safety and victory. Themistokles was struck with horror at thisterrible proposal; but the multitude, who, as is natural with people ingreat danger, hoped to be saved by miraculous rather than by ordinarymeans, called upon the God with one voice, and leading the captives upto the altar, compelled him to offer them up as the prophet bade him. This story rests on the authority of Phanias of Lesbos, who was a man ofeducation, and well read in history. 

XIV. As for the numbers of the Persian fleet, the poet Aeschylus, asthough he knew it clearly, writes as follows in his tragedy of thePersae:

 "And well I know a thousand sail That day did Xerxes meet, And seven and two hundred more, The fastest of his fleet. "

The Athenian ships, a hundred and eighty in number, had each eighteenmen on deck, four of whom were archers, and the rest heavy-armedsoldiers. Themistokles now chose the time for the battle as judiciouslyas he had chosen the place, and would not bring his triremes into lineof battle before the fresh wind off the sea, as is usual in the morning, raised a heavy swell in the straits. This did not damage the low flatships of the Greeks, but it caught the high-sterned Persian ships, over-weighted as they were with lofty decks, and presented theirbroadsides to the Greeks, who eagerly attacked them, watchingThemistokles because he was their best example, and also becauseAriamenes, Xerxes's admiral, and the bravest and best of the king'sbrothers, attacked him in a huge ship, from which, as if from a castle, he poured darts and arrows upon him. 

But Ameinias of Dekeleia and Sokles of Pedia, who were both sailing inthe same vessel, met him stem to stem. Each ship crashed into the otherwith its iron beak, and was torn open. Ariamenes attempted to board theGreek ship, but these two men set upon him with their spears, and drovehim into the sea. His body was noticed by Queen Artemisia floatingamongst the other wreckage, and was by her brought to Xerxes. 

XV. At this period of the battle it is said that a great light was seento shine from Eleusis, and that a great noise was heard upon theThriasian plain near the sea, as though multitudes of men were escortingthe mystic Iacchus in procession. From the place where these sounds wereheard a mist seemed to spread over the sea and envelop the ships. Othersthought that they saw spirit-forms of armed men come from Aegina, andhold their hands before the ships of the Greeks. These it was supposedwere the Aeakid heroes, to whom prayers for help had been offered justbefore the battle. The first man to capture a ship was Lykomedes, anAthenian captain, who cut off its ensign and dedicated it to Apollo withthe laurel crown at the Temple at Phlyae. 

In the narrow straits the Persians were unable to bring more than a partof their fleet into action, and their ships got into each other's way, so that the Greeks could meet them on equal terms, and, although theyresisted until evening, completely routed them, winning, as Simonidescalls it, that "glorious and famous victory, " the greatest exploit everachieved at sea, which owed its success to the bravery of the sailorsand the genius of Themistokles. 

XVI. After this naval defeat, Xerxes, enraged at his failure, endeavoured to fill up the strait with earth, and so to make a passagefor his land forces to Salamis, to attack the Greeks there. NowThemistokles, in order to try the temper of Aristeides, proposed thatthe fleet should sail to the Hellespont, and break the bridge of boatsthere, "in order, " said he, "that we may conquer Asia in Europe. " ButAristeides disapproved of this measure, saying, "Hitherto we have foughtagainst the Persian king, while he has been at his ease; but if we shuthim up in Greece, and drive the chief of so large an army to despair, hewill no longer sit quietly under a golden umbrella to look on at hisbattles, but will strain every nerve and superintend every operation inperson, and so will easily retrieve his losses and form better plans forthe future. "

"Instead of breaking down the existing bridge for him, Themistokles, "said he, "we ought rather, if possible, at once to build another, andsend the man out of Europe as quickly as possible. " "Well then, "answered Themistokles, "if you think that our interest lies in thatdirection, we ought all to consider and contrive to send him out ofGreece as fast as we can. " When this resolution was adopted, Themistokles sent one of the king's eunuchs, whom he had found among theprisoners, bidding him warn Xerxes that "the Greeks had determined aftertheir victory to sail to the Hellespont and break the bridge, but thatThemistokles, out of his regard for the king, advises him to proceed asfast as he can to his own sea, and cross over it, while he(Themistokles) gained time for him by delaying the allied fleet. "Xerxes, hearing thus, was much alarmed and retired in all haste. Andindeed the battle with Mardonius at Plataea shows us which of the twowas right; for the Greeks there could scarcely deal with a small part ofthe Persian army, and what therefore could they have done with thewhole?

XVII. Herodotus tells us that, of Greek States, Aegina received theprize of valour, and that, of the generals, it was awarded toThemistokles, though against the will of the voters. When the armiesretired to the Isthmus all the generals laid their votes on the altarthere, and each man declared himself to deserve the first prize forvalour, and Themistokles to deserve the second. However, theLacedaemonians brought him home with them to Sparta, and gave Eurybiadesthe first prize for valour, but Themistokles that for wisdom, a crown ofolive-leaves. They also gave him the best chariot in their city, andsent three hundred of their young men to escort him out of the country. It is also related that at the next Olympian games, when Themistoklesappeared upon the race-course, all the spectators took no furtherinterest in the contests, but passed the whole day in admiring andapplauding him, and in pointing him out to such as were strangers; sothat he was delighted, and said to his friends that he had now receivedhis reward for all his labours on behalf of Greece. 

XVIII. He was by nature excessively fond of admiration, as we may judgefrom the stories about him which have been preserved. Once, when he wasmade admiral of the Athenian fleet, he put off all the necessarybusiness of his office until the day appointed for sailing, in orderthat he might have a great many dealings with various people all atonce, and so appear to be a person of great influence and importance. And when he saw the corpses floating in the sea with gold bracelets andnecklaces, he himself passed them by, but pointed them out to a friendwho was following, saying, "Do you pick them up and keep them; for youare not Themistokles. " A beautiful youth, named Antiphates, regarded himcoolly at first, but eventually became submissive to him because of hisimmense reputation. "Young man, " said Themistokles, "it has taken sometime, but we have at length both regained our right minds. " He used tosay that the Athenians neither admired nor respected him, but used himlike a plane-tree under which they took shelter in storm, but which infair weather they lopped and stripped of its leaves. Once when a citizenof Seriphos said to him that he owed his glory, not to himself but tohis city, he answered, "Very true; I should not have become a great manif I had been a Seriphian, nor would you if you had been an Athenian. "When one of his fellow-generals, who thought that he had done the stategood service, was taking a haughty tone, and comparing his exploits withthose of Themistokles, he said, "The day after a feast, once upon atime, boasted that it was better than the feast-day itself, because onthat day all men are full of anxiety and trouble, while upon the nextday every one enjoys what has been prepared at his leisure. But thefeast-day answered, 'Very true, only but for me you never would havebeen at all. ' So now, " said he, "if I had not come first, where wouldyou all have been now?" His son, who was spoiled by his mother, and byhimself to please her, he said was the most powerful person in Greece;for the Athenians ruled the Greeks, he ruled the Athenians, his wiferuled him, and his son ruled his wife. Wishing to be singular in allthings, when he put up a plot of ground for sale, he ordered the crierto announce that there were good neighbours next to it. When two menpaid their addresses to his daughter, he chose the more agreeableinstead of the richer of the two, saying that he preferred a man withoutmoney to money without a man. Such was his character, as shown in histalk. 

XIX. Immediately after the great war, he began to rebuild and fortifythe city. In order to succeed in this, Theopompus says that he bribedthe Spartan ephors into laying aside opposition, but most writers saythat he outwitted them by proceeding to Sparta nominally on an embassy. Then when the Spartans complained to him that Athens was beingfortified, and when Poliarchus came expressly from Aegina to charge himwith it, he denied it, and bade them send commissioners to Athens to seewhether it was true, wishing both to obtain time for the fortificationsto be built, and also to place these commissioners in the hands of theAthenians, as hostages for his own safety. His expectations wererealised; for the Lacedaemonians, on discovering the truth, did him noharm, but dissembled their anger and sent him away. After this he builtPeiraeus, as he perceived the excellence of its harbours, and wasdesirous to turn the whole attention of the Athenians to naval pursuits. In this he pursued a policy exactly the opposite to that of the ancientkings of Attica; for they are said to have endeavoured to keep theirsubjects away from the sea, and to accustom them to till the groundinstead of going on board ships, quoting the legend that Athene andPoseidon had a contest for the possession of the land, and that shegained a decision in her favour by the production of the sacred olive. Themistokles, on the other hand, did not so much "stick Peiraeus on toAthens, " as Aristophanes the comic poet said, as make the city dependentupon Peiraeus, and the land dependent on the sea. By this means hetransferred power from the nobles to the people, because sailors andpilots became the real strength of the State. For this reason the thirtytyrants destroyed the bema, or tribune on the place of public assembly, which was built looking towards the sea, and built another which lookedinland, because they thought that the naval supremacy of Athens had beenthe origin of its democratic constitution, and that an oligarchy hadless to fear from men who cultivated the land. 

XX. Themistokles had even more extended views than these about makingthe Athenians supreme at sea. When Xerxes was gone, the whole Greekfleet was drawn up on shore for the winter at Pagasae. Themistokles thenpublicly told the Athenians that he had a plan which would save andbenefit them all, but which must not be divulged. The Athenians bade himtell Aristeides only, and to execute his designs if he approved. 

Themistokles then told Aristeides that his design was to burn the wholeGreek fleet as they lay on the beach. But Aristeides came forward andtold the people that no proposal could be more advantageous or morevillainous; so that the Athenians forbade Themistokles to proceed withit. On another occasion the Lacedaemonians proposed, in a meeting of theAmphiktyonic council, that all States that had taken no part in thePersian war should be excluded from that council; Themistokles, fearingthat if the Lacedaemonians should exclude Thessaly, Argos, and Thebes, they would have complete control over the votes, and be able to carrywhat measures they pleased, made representations to the various States, and influenced the votes of their deputies at the meeting, pointing outto them that there were only thirty-one States which took any part inthe war, and that most of these were very small ones, so that it wouldbe unreasonable for one or two powerful States to pronounce the rest ofGreece outlawed, and be supreme in the council. After this he generallyopposed the Lacedaemonians; wherefore they paid special court to Kimon, in order to establish him as a political rival to Themistokles. 

XXI. Moreover, he made himself odious to the allies by sailing about theislands and wringing money from them. A case in point is theconversation which Herodotus tells us he held with the people of Andros, when trying to get money from them. He said that he was come, bringingwith him two gods, Persuasion and Necessity; but they replied that theyalso possessed two equally powerful ones, Poverty and Helplessness, bywhom they were prevented from supplying him with money. The poet, Timokreon of Rhodes, in one of his songs, writes bitterly ofThemistokles, saying that he was prevailed upon by the bribes which hereceived from exiles to restore them to their native country, butabandoned himself, who was his guest and friend. The song runs asfollows:

 "Though ye may sing Pausanias or Xanthippus in your lays, Or Leotychides, 'tis Aristeides whom I praise, The best of men as yet produced by holy Athens' State, Since thus upon Themistokles has fall'n Latona's hate: That liar and that traitor base, who for a bribe unclean, Refused to reinstate a man who his own guest had been. His friend too, in his native Ialysus, but who took Three silver talents with him, and his friend forsook. Bad luck go with the fellow, who unjustly some restores From exile, while some others he had banished from our shores, And some he puts to death; and sits among us gorged with pelf. He kept an ample table at the Isthmian games himself, And gave to every guest that came full plenty of cold meat, The which they with a prayer did each and every of them eat, But their prayer was 'Next year be there no Themistokles to meet. '"

And after the exile and condemnation of Themistokles, Timokreon wrotemuch more abusively about him in a song which begins, "Muse, far away, Sound this my lay, For it both meet and right is. "

It is said that Timokreon was exiled from home for having dealings withthe Persians, and that Themistokles confirmed his sentence. When, then, Themistokles was charged with intriguing with the Persians, Timokreonwrote upon him, "Timokreon is not the only Greek That turned a traitor, Persian gold to seek; I'm not the only fox without a tail, But others put their honour up for sale. "

XXII. As the Athenians, through his unpopularity, eagerly listened toany story to his discredit, he was obliged to weary them by constantlyrepeating the tale of his own exploits to them. In answer to those whowere angry with him, he would ask, "Are you weary of always receivingbenefits from the same hand?" He also vexed the people by building theTemple of Artemis of Good Counsel, as he called her, hinting that he hadtaken good counsel for the Greeks. This temple he placed close to hisown house in Melite, at the place where at the present day the publicexecutioner casts out the bodies of executed criminals, and the clothesand ropes of men who have hanged themselves. Even in our own times asmall statue of Themistokles used to stand in the Temple of Artemis ofGood Counsel; and he seems to have been a hero not only in mind, but inappearance. The Athenians made use of ostracism to banish him, in orderto reduce his extravagant pretensions, as they always were wont to do inthe case of men whom they thought over powerful and unfit for living inthe equality of a democracy. For ostracism implied no censure, but wasintended as a vent for envious feelings, which were satisfied by seeingthe object of their hatred thus humbled. 

XXIII. When Themistokles was banished from Athens, he lived in Argos, during which time the proceedings of Pausanias gave a great opportunityto his enemies. He was impeached on a charge of treason by Leobotes, theson of Alkmaeon of Agraulai, and the Spartans joined in the impeachment. Pausanias, indeed, at first concealed his treacherous designs fromThemistokles, although he was his friend; but when he saw thatThemistokles was banished, and chafing at the treatment he had received, he was encouraged to ask him to share his treason, and showed him theletters which he had received from the Persian king, at the same timeinflaming his resentment against the Greeks, whom he spoke of asungrateful wretches. Themistokles refused utterly to join Pausanias, butnevertheless told no one of his treasonable practices, either because hehoped that he would desist, or that his visionary and impossibleprojects would be disclosed by other means. And thus it was that whenPausanias was put to death, certain letters and writings on this subjectwere found, which threw suspicion upon Themistokles. The Lacedaemoniansloudly condemned him, and many of his own countrymen, because of theenmity they bore him, brought charges against him. He did not appear inperson at first, but answered these attacks by letters. In these he toldhis accusers that he had always sought to rule, and was not born toobey; so that he never would sell himself and Greece to be a slave tothe Persians. But in spite of these arguments, his enemies prevailedupon the Athenians to send men with orders to seize him, and bring himto be tried by Greece. 

XXIV. He was apprised of this in time to take refuge in Korkyra, a Statewhich was under obligations to him. For once, when Korkyra was atvariance with Corinth, he had been chosen to arbitrate between them, andhad reconciled them, giving as his award that the Corinthians were topay down twenty talents, and each State to have an equal share in thecity and island of Leucas, as being a colony from both of them. Fromthence he fled to Epirus; but, being still pursued by the Athenians andLacedaemonians, he adopted a desperate resolution. Admetus, the king ofthe Molossians, had once made some request to the Athenians, whichThemistokles, who was then in the height of his power, insultinglyrefused to grant. Admetus was deeply incensed, and eager for vengeance;but now Themistokles feared the fresh fury of his countrymen more thanthis old grudge of the king's, put himself at his mercy, and became asuppliant to Admetus in a novel and strange fashion; for he lay down atthe hearth of Admetus, holding that prince's infant son, which isconsidered among the Molossians to be the most solemn manner of becominga suppliant, and one which cannot be refused. Some say that Phthia, theking's wife, suggested this posture to Themistokles, and placed herinfant on the hearth with him; while others say that Admetus, in orderto be able to allege religious reasons for his refusal to give upThemistokles to his pursuers, himself arranged the scene with him. Afterthis, Epikrates, of the township of Acharnai, managed to convey his wifeand children out of Athens to join him, for which, we are told byStesimbrotus, Kimon subsequently had him condemned and executed. But, singularly enough, afterwards Stesimbrotus either forgets his wife andchildren, or makes Themistokles forget them, when he says that he sailedto Sicily and demanded the daughter of the despot Hiero in marriage, promising that he would make all Greece obey him. As Hiero rejected hisproposals, he then went to Asia. 

XXV. Now it is not probable that this ever took place. Theophrastus, inhis treatise on monarchy, relates that when Hiero sent race-horses toOlympia and pitched a costly tent there, Themistokles said to theassembled Greeks that they ought to destroy the despot's tent, and notpermit his horses to run. Thucydides too informs us that he crossed tothe Aegean sea, and set sail from Pydna, none of his fellow-travellersknowing who he was until the ship was driven by contrary winds to Naxos, which was then being besieged by the Athenians. Then he became alarmed, and told the captain and the pilot who he was, and, partly byentreaties, partly by threats that he would denounce them to theAthenians, and say that they well knew who he was, but were carrying himout of the country for a bribe, he prevailed on them to hold on theircourse to the coast of Asia. 

Of his property, much was concealed by his friends and sent over to himin Asia; but what was confiscated to the public treasury amounted, according to Theopompus, to a hundred talents, and according toTheophrastus to eighty, albeit Themistokles, before his entrance intopolitical life, did not possess property worth three talents. 

XXVI. When he sailed to Kyme, he found that many of the inhabitants ofthe Ionic coast were watching for an opportunity to capture him, especially Ergoteles and Pythodorus (for indeed, to men who cared nothow they made their money, he would have been a rich prize, as thePersian king had offered a reward of two hundred talents for him), hefled to Aegae, a little Aeolian city, where he was known by no oneexcept his friend Nikogenes, the richest of all the Aeolians, who waswell known to the Persians of the interior. In this man's house he layconcealed for some days. Here, after the feast which followed asacrifice, Olbius, who took charge of Nikogenes's children, fell into akind of inspired frenzy, and spoke the following verse:

"Night shall speak and give thee counsel, night shall give theevictory. " After this Themistokles dreamed a dream. He thought that asnake was coiling itself upon his belly and crawling up towards histhroat. As soon as it reached his throat, it became an eagle and flappedits wings, lifted him up, and carried him a long distance, until he sawa golden herald's staff. The eagle set him down upon this securely, andhe felt free from all terror and anxiety. After this he was sent away byNikogenes, who made use of the following device. Most barbarian nations, and the Persians especially, are violently jealous in their treatment ofwomen. They guard not only their wives, but their purchased slaves andconcubines, with the greatest care, not permitting them to be seen byany one out of doors, but when they are at home they lock them up, andwhen they are on a journey they place them in waggons with curtains allround them. Such a waggon was prepared for Themistokles, and hetravelled in it, his escort telling all whom they met that they wereconveying a Greek lady from Ionia to one of the king's courtiers. 

XXVII. Thucydides and Charon of Lampsakus relate that Xerxes was nowdead, and that Themistokles gave himself up to his son; but Ephorus, Deinon, Kleitarchus, Herakleides, and many others, say that it was toXerxes himself that he came. But the narrative of Thucydides agreesbetter with the dates, although they are not thoroughly settled. 

At this perilous crisis Themistokles first applied to Artabanus, achiliarch, or officer in command of a regiment of a thousand men, whomhe told that he was a Greek, and that he wished to have an interviewwith the king about matters of the utmost importance, and in which theking was especially interested. He replied, "Stranger, the customs ofdifferent races are different, and each has its own standard of rightand wrong; yet among all men it is thought right to honour, admire, andto defend one's own customs. Now we are told that you chiefly prizefreedom and equality; we on the other hand think it the best of all ourlaws to honour the king, and to worship him as we should worship thestatue of a god that preserves us all. Wherefore if you are come withthe intention of adopting our customs, and of prostrating yourselfbefore the king, you may be permitted to see the king, and speak withhim; but if not, you must use some other person to communicate with him;for it is not the custom for the king to converse with any one who doesnot prostrate himself before him. " Themistokles, hearing this, said tohim, "Artabanus, I am come to increase the glory and power of the king, and will both myself adopt your customs, since the god that has exaltedthe Persians will have it so, and will also increase the number of thosewho prostrate themselves before the king. So let this be no impedimentto the interview with him which I desire. " "Whom of the Greeks, " askedArtabanus, "are we to tell him is come? for you do not seem to have themanners of a man of humble station. " "No one, " answered Themistokles, "must learn my name before the king himself. " This is the story which weare told by Phanias. But Eratosthenes, in his treatise on wealth, tellsus also that Themistokles was introduced to Artabanus by an Eretrianlady with whom the latter lived. 

XXVIII. When he was brought into the king's presence he prostratedhimself, and stood silent. The king then told his interpreter to ask himwho he was; and when the interpreter had asked this question, he toldhim to answer, "I am, O King, Themistokles the Athenian, an exile, a manwho has wrought much evil to the Persians, but more good than evil, inthat I stopped the pursuit when Greece was safe, and I was able to doyou a kindness as all was well at home. In my present fallen fortunes Iam prepared to be grateful for any mark of favour you may show me, or todeprecate your anger, should you bear a grudge against me. You may see, from the violence of my own countrymen against me, how great were thebenefits which I conferred upon the Persians; so now use me rather as ameans of proving your magnanimity than of glutting your wrath. Whereforesave me, your suppliant, and do not destroy one who has become the enemyof Greece. " Themistokles also introduced a supernatural element into hisspeech by relating the vision which he saw at the house of Nikogenes, and also a prophecy which he received at the shrine of Jupiter ofDodona, which bade him "go to the namesake of the god, " from which heconcluded that the god sent him to the king, because they were bothgreat, and called kings. To this speech the Persian king made no answer, although he was astonished at his bold spirit; but in conversation withhis friends he spoke as though this were the greatest possible piece ofgood fortune, and in his prayers begged Arimanios to make his enemiesever continue to banish their ablest men. He is said to have offered asacrifice to the gods and to have drunk wine at once, and during thenight in his soundest sleep he thrice cried out, "I have gotThemistokles the Athenian. "

XXIX. At daybreak he called together his friends and sent forThemistokles, who augured nothing pleasant from the insults and abusewhich he received from the people at the palace gates, when they heardhis name. Moreover Roxanes the chiliarch, as Themistokles passed by himin silence into the king's presence, whispered, "Thou subtle serpent ofGreece, the king's good genius has led thee hither. " But when he wascome before the king and had prostrated himself a second time, the kingembraced him, and said in a friendly tone that he already owed him twohundred talents: for as he had brought himself he was clearly entitledto the reward which was offered to any one else who would do so. He alsopromised him much more than this, and encouraged him to speak at lengthupon the affairs of Greece. To this Themistokles answered, that humanspeech was like embroidered tapestry, because when spread out it showsall its figures, but when wrapped up it both conceals and spoils them, wherefore he asked for time. The king was pleased with his simile, andbade him take what time he chose. He asked for a year, during which helearned the Persian language sufficiently to talk to the king without aninterpreter. This led the people to imagine that he discoursed about theaffairs of Greece; but many changes were made at that time in the greatofficers of the court, and the nobles disliked Themistokles, imaginingthat he dared to speak about them to the king. Indeed, he was honouredas no other foreigner ever was, and went hunting with the king and livedin his family circle, so that he came into the presence of the king'smother, and became her intimate friend, and at the king's command wasinstructed in the mysteries of the Magi. 

When Demaratus the Spartan was bidden to ask for a boon, he asked to beallowed to drive through Sardis wearing his tiara upright like that ofthe king. Mithropaustes, the king's cousin, took hold of Demaratus byhis tiara, saying, "You have no brains for the king's tiara to cover;do you think you would become Zeus if you were given his thunderbolt towield?" The king was very angry with Demaratus because of this request, but Themistokles by his entreaties restored him to favour. It is alsosaid that the later Persian kings, whose politics were more mixed upwith those of Greece, used to promise any Greek whom they wished todesert to them that they would treat him better than Themistokles. Weare told that Themistokles himself, after he became a great man and wascourted by many, was seated one day at a magnificent banquet, and saidto his children, "My sons, we should have been ruined if it had not beenfor our ruin. " Most writers agree that three cities, Magnesia, Lampsakus, and Myous, were allotted to him for bread, wine, and meat. Tothese Neanthes of Kyzikus and Phanias add two more, Perkote andPalaiskepsis, which were to supply bedding and clothing respectively. 

XXX. On one occasion, when he went down to the seaside on some businessconnected with Greece, a Persian named Epixyes, Satrap of Upper Phrygia, plotted his assassination. He had long kept some Pisidians who were tokill him when he passed the night in the town of Leontokophalos, whichmeans 'Lion's Head. ' It is said that the mother of the gods appeared tohim while he was sleeping at noon and said, "Themistokles, be late atLion's Head, lest you fall in with a lion. As a recompense for thiswarning, I demand Mnesiptolema for my handmaid. " Themistokles, disturbedat this, after praying to the goddess, left the highway and made acircuit by another road, avoiding that place; when it was night heencamped in the open country. As one of the sumpter cattle that carriedhis tent had fallen into a river, Themistokles's servants hung up therich hangings, which were dripping with wet, in order to dry them. ThePisidians meanwhile came up to the camp with drawn swords, and, notclearly distinguishing in the moonlight the things hung out to dry, thought that they must be the tent of Themistokles, and that they wouldfind him asleep within it. When they came close to it and raised thehangings, the servants who were on the watch fell upon them and seizedthem. Having thus escaped from danger, he built a temple to Dindymene atMagnesia to commemorate the appearance of the goddess, and appointedhis daughter Mnesiptolema to be its priestess. 

XXXI. When he came to Sardis, he leisurely examined the temples and theofferings which they contained, and in the temple of the mother of thegods, he found a bronze female figure called the Water-carrier, abouttwo cubits high, which he himself, when overseer of the water supply ofAthens, had made out of the fines imposed upon those who took waterillegally. 

Either feeling touched at the statue being a captive, or else willing toshow the Athenians how much power he possessed in Persia, he proposed tothe Satrap of Lydia to send it back to Athens. This man became angry athis demand, and said that he should write to the king, and tell him ofit. Themistokles in terror applied himself to the harem of the Satrap, and by bribing the ladies there induced them to pacify him, while hehimself took care to be more cautious in future, as he saw that he hadto fear the enmity of the native Persians. For this reason, Theopompustells us, he ceased to wander about Asia, but resided at Magnesia, where, receiving rich presents and honoured equally with the greatestPersian nobles, he lived for a long time in tranquillity; for the king'sattention was so entirely directed to the affairs of the provinces ofthe interior that he had no leisure for operations against Greece. Butwhen Egypt revolted, and the Athenians assisted it, and Greek triremessailed as far as Cyprus and Cilicia, and Kimon was master of the sea, then the king determined to attack the Greeks, and prevent theirdevelopment at his expense. Armies were put in motion, generals wereappointed, and frequent messages were sent to Themistokles from theking, bidding him attack Greece and fulfil his promises. Themistokles, unmoved by resentment against his countrymen, and uninfluenced by thethought of the splendid position which he might occupy ascommander-in-chief, possibly too, thinking that his task was animpossible one, as Greece possessed many great generals, especiallyKimon, who had a most brilliant reputation, but chiefly because he wouldnot soil his glory and disgrace the trophies which he had won, determined, as indeed was his best course, to bring his life to afitting close. He offered sacrifice to the gods, called his friendstogether, and, having taken leave of them, drank bull's blood, accordingto the most common tradition, but according to others, somequickly-operating poison, and died at Magnesia in the sixty-fifth yearof a life almost entirely spent in great political and militaryemployments. 

The King of Persia, when he heard of the manner of his death and hisreasons for dying, admired him more than ever, and continued to treathis family and friends with kindness. 

XXXII. Themistokles left five children, Neokles, Diokles, Archeptolis, Polyeuktus, Kleophantus, by his first wife Archippe, who was thedaughter of Lysander, of the township of Alopekai. Of these Kleophantusis mentioned by Plato the philosopher as being an excellent horseman, but otherwise worthless. Of the elder ones, Neokles was bitten by ahorse and died while still a child, and Diokles was adopted by hisgrandfather Lysander. He also had several daughters by his second wife, of whom Mnesiptolema married Archeptolis, her father's half-brother;Italia married Panthoides of the island of Chios, and Sybaris marriedNikomedes, an Athenian. After Themistokles's death, his nephewPhrasikles sailed to Magnesia, and with her brother's consent marriedNicomache, and also took charge of the youngest child, who was namedAsia. 

The people of Magnesia show a splendid tomb of Themistokles in theirmarket-place; but with regard to the fate of his remains we must pay noattention to Andokides, who in his address to his friends, tells us thatthe Athenians stole them and tore them to pieces, because he would tellany falsehood to excite the hatred of the nobles against the people. Phylarchus, too, writes his history in such dramatic form that he allbut resorts to the actual machinery of the stage, bringing forward oneNeokles, and Demopolis as the children of Themistokles to make atouching scene, which anyone can see is untrue. Diodorus thetopographer, in his treatise 'On Tombs' says, more as a conjecture thanas knowing it for a fact, that in the great harbour of Peiraeus a kindof elbow juts out from the promontory of Alkimus, and that when onesails past this, going inwards, where the sea is most sheltered, thereis a large foundation, and upon it the tomb of Themistokles, shaped likean altar. It is thought that the comic poet Plato alludes to this in thefollowing verses:

 "By the sea's margin, by the watery strand, Thy monument, Themistokles, shall stand; By this directed to thy native shore The merchant shall convey his freighted store; And when our fleets are summoned to the fight, Athens shall conquer with thy tomb in sight. "

The descendants of Themistokles are given certain privileges at Magnesiaeven to the present day, for I know that Themistokles, an Athenian, myfriend and fellow-student in the school of Ammonias the philosopher, enjoyed them. 

LIFE OF CAMILLUS. 

I. The strangest fact in the life of Furius Camillus is that, althoughhe was a most successful general and won great victories, though he wasfive times appointed dictator, triumphed four times, and was called thesecond founder of Rome, yet he never once was consul. The reason of thisis to be found in the political condition of Rome at that time; for thepeople, being at variance with the senate, refused to elect consuls, andchose military tribunes instead, who, although they had full consularpowers, yet on account of their number were less offensive to the peoplethan consuls. To have affairs managed by six men instead of two appearsto have been a consolation to those who had suffered from the arbitraryrule of a few. It was during this period that Camillus reached theheight of power and glory, and yet he would not become consul againstthe will of the people, although several occasions occurred when hemight have been elected, but in his various appointments he alwayscontrived, even when he had sole command, to share his power withothers, while even when he had colleagues he kept all the glory forhimself. His moderation prevented any one from grudging him power, whilehis successes were due to his genius, in which he confessedly surpassedall his countrymen. 

II. The family of the Furii was not a very illustrious one beforeCamillus gained glory in the great battle with the Aequi and Volsci, where he served under the dictator Postumius Tubertus. Riding out beforethe rest of the army, he was struck in the thigh by a dart, but tore itout, assailed the bravest of the enemy, and put them to flight. Afterthis, amongst other honours he was appointed censor, an office of greatdignity at that time. One admirable measure is recorded of hiscensorship, that by arguments and threatening them with fines hepersuaded the unmarried citizens to marry the widow women, whose numberwas very great on account of the wars. Another measure to which he wasforced was that of taxing orphans, who had hitherto been exempt fromtaxation. This was rendered necessary by the constant campaigns whichwere carried on at a great expense, and more especially by the siege ofVeii. Some call the inhabitants of this city Veientani. It was thebulwark of Etruria, possessing as many fighting men as Rome itself; thecitizens were rich, luxurious, and extravagant in their habits, andfought bravely many times for honour and for power against the Romans. At this period, having been defeated in several great battles, thepeople of Veii had given up any schemes of conquest, but had builtstrong and high walls, filled their city with arms and provisions, andall kinds of material of war, and fearlessly endured a siege, which waslong, no doubt, but which became no less irksome and difficult to thebesiegers. Accustomed as the Romans had been to make short campaigns insummer weather, and to spend their winters at home, they were now forthe first time compelled by their tribunes to establish forts andentrench their camp, and pass both summer and winter in the enemy'scountry for seven years in succession. The generals were complained of, and as they seemed to be carrying on the siege remissly, they wereremoved, and others appointed, among them Camillus, who was then tribunefor the second time. But he effected nothing in the siege at that time, because he was sent to fight the Faliscans and Capenates, who hadinsulted the Roman territory throughout the war with Veii, when theRoman army was engaged elsewhere, but were now driven by Camillus withgreat loss to the shelter of their city walls. 

III. After this, while the war was at its height, much alarm was causedby the strange phenomenon seen at the Alban lake, which could not beaccounted for on ordinary physical principles. The season was autumn, and the summer had not been remarkable for rain or for moist winds, sothat many of the streams and marshes in Italy were quite dried up, andothers held out with difficulty, while the rivers, as is usual insummer, were very low and deeply sunk in their bed. But the Alban lake, which is self-contained, lying as it does surrounded by fertile hills, began for no reason, except it may be the will of Heaven, to increase involume and to encroach upon the hillsides near it, until it reachedtheir very tops, rising quietly and without disturbance. At first theportent only amazed the shepherds and herdsmen of the neighbourhood; butwhen the lake by the weight of its waters broke through the thin isthmusof land which restrained it, and poured down in a mighty stream throughthe fertile plains below to the sea, then not only the Romans, but allthe people of Italy, thought it a portent of the gravest character. Muchtalk about it took place in the camp before Veii, so that the besiegedalso learned what was happening at the lake. 

IV. As always happens during a long siege, where there are frequentopportunities of intercourse between the two parties, one of the Romanshad become intimate with a citizen of Veii, who was learned in legendarylore, and was even thought to have supernatural sources of information. When this man heard of the overflowing of the lake, his Roman friendobserved that he was overjoyed, and laughed at the idea of the siegebeing successful. The Roman told him that these were not the onlyportents which troubled the Romans at the present time, but that therewere others stranger than this, about which he should like to consulthim, and, if possible, save himself in the common ruin of his country. The man eagerly attended to his discourse, imagining that he was aboutto hear some great secrets. The Roman thus decoyed him away farther andfarther from the city gate, when he suddenly seized him and lifted himfrom the ground. Being the stronger man, and being assisted by severalsoldiers from the camp, he overpowered him, and brought him before thegenerals. Here the man, seeing that there was no escape, and that no onecan resist his destiny, told them of the ancient oracles about his city, how it could not be taken until its enemies drove back the waters of theAlban lake, and prevented its joining the sea. When the senate heardthis they were at a loss what to do, and determined to send an embassyto Delphi to enquire of the God. The embassy consisted of men of markand importance, being Licinius Cossus, Valerius Potitus, and FabiusAmbustus. After a prosperous journey they returned with a response fromApollo, pointing out certain ceremonies which had been neglected in thefeast of the Latin games, and bidding them, if possible, force thewaters of the Alban lake away from the sea into its ancient course, or, if this could not be done, to divide the stream by canals andwatercourses, and so to expend it in the plain. When the answer wasbrought back, the priests took the necessary steps about the sacrifices, while the people turned their attention to the diversion of the water. 

V. In the tenth year of the war, the Senate recalled all the rest of thegenerals, and made Camillus Dictator. He chose Cornelius Scipio to behis Master of the Knights, and made a vow to the gods, that, if hesucceeded in bringing the war to a glorious close, he would celebrate agreat festival, and build a shrine to the goddess whom the Romans call_Mater Matuta_. This goddess, from the rites with which she isworshipped, one would imagine to be the same as the Greek Leukothea. Forthey bring a slave girl into the temple and beat her, and then drive herout; they take their brothers' children in their arms in preference totheir own, and generally their ceremonies seem to allude to the nursingof Bacchus, and to the misfortunes which befell Ino because of herhusband's concubine. After this, Camillus invaded the Faliscanterritory, and in a great battle overthrew that people, and theCapenates who came to their assistance. Next, he turned his attention tothe siege of Veii, and, perceiving that it would be a difficult matterto take the city by assault, he ordered mines to be dug, as the groundnear the walls was easily worked, and the mines could be sunk to asufficient depth to escape the notice of the besieged. As this worksucceeded to his wish, he made a demonstration above ground to call theenemy to the walls and distract their attention, while others made theirway unperceived through the mine to the Temple of Juno in the citadel, the largest and most sacred edifice in the city. Here, it is said, wasthe King of the Veientines, engaged in sacrificing. The soothsayerinspected the entrails, and cried with a loud voice, that the goddesswould give the victory to whoever offered that victim. The Romans in themine, hearing these words, quickly tore up the floor, and burst throughit with shouts and rattling arms. The enemy fled in terror, and theyseized the victims and carried them to Camillus. However, this storysounds rather fabulous. 

The city was stormed, and the Romans carried off an enormous mass ofplunder. Camillus, who viewed them from the citadel, at first stoodweeping, but when, congratulated by the bystanders, raised his hands toheaven and said, "Great Jupiter, and all ye other gods, that see allgood and evil deeds alike, ye know that it is not in unrighteousconquest, but in self-defence, that the Romans have taken this city oftheir lawless enemies. If, " he continued, "there awaits us any reverseof fortune to counterbalance this good luck, I pray that it may fall, not upon the city or army of Rome, but, as lightly as may be, upon myown head. " After these words he turned round to the right, as is theRoman habit after prayer, and while turning, stumbled and fell. Allthose present were terrified at the omen, but he recovered himself, saying that, as he had prayed, he had received a slight hurt to temperhis great good fortune. 

VI. When the city was sacked, he determined to send the statue of Junoto Rome, according to his vow. When workmen were assembled for thispurpose, he offered sacrifice, and prayed to the goddess to look kindlyon his efforts, and to graciously take up her abode among the gods ofRome. It is said that the statue answered that it wished to do so, andapproved of his proceedings. But Livy tells us that Camillus offered hisprayers while touching the statue, and that some of the bystanders said, "She consents, and is willing to come. " However, those who insist on thesupernatural form of the story have one great argument in their favour, in the marvellous fortune of Rome, which never could from such smallbeginnings have reached, such a pitch of glory and power without manydirect manifestations of the favour of Heaven. Moreover, otherappearances of the same kind are to be compared with it, such as thatstatues have often been known to sweat, have been heard to groan, andhave even turned away and shut their eyes, as has been related by manyhistorians before our own time. And I have heard of many miraculousoccurrences even at the present day, resting on evidence which cannot belightly impugned. However, the weakness of human nature makes it equallydangerous to put too much faith in such matters or to entirelydisbelieve them, as the one leads to superstition and folly, and theother to neglect and contempt of the gods. Our best course is caution, and the "golden mean. "

VII. Camillus, either because he was elated by the magnificence of hisexploit in having taken a city as large as Rome after a ten years'siege, or else because he had been so flattered by his admirers that hispride overcame his sober judgment, conducted his triumph with greatostentation, especially in driving through Rome in a chariot, drawn byfour white horses, which never was done by any general before or since, for this carriage is thought to be sacred to Jupiter, the king andfather of the gods. The citizens, unaccustomed to splendour, weredispleased with him for this, and their dislike was increased by hisopposition to the law for a redistribution of the people. The tribunesproposed that the Senate and people should be divided into two parts, one of which should stay at Rome and the other remove to the capturedcity, because they would be more powerful if they possessed two greatcities, instead of one, and held the land in common, still remaining onenation. The lower classes, which were numerous and poor, eagerly took upthe scheme, and continually clamoured round the speakers at the rostra, demanding to have it put to the vote. But the Senate and the noblesthought that it was not a redistribution, but the absolute destructionof Rome which the tribunes were demanding, and in their anger ralliedround Camillus. He, fearing to have a contest on the matter, keptputting off the people and inventing reasons for delay, so as to preventthe law being brought forward to be voted upon. This increased hisunpopularity; but the greatest and most obvious reason for the dislikewhich the people bore him arose from his demand for the tenth part ofthe spoils; very naturally, though perhaps he scarcely deserved it. Onhis way to Veii it seems he had made a vow, that if he took the city hewould dedicate the tenth part of the spoil to Apollo. But when the citywas taken and plundered, he either was unwilling to interfere with hiscountrymen, or else forgot his vow, and allowed them to enrichthemselves with the booty. Afterwards, when he had laid down hisdictatorship, he brought the matter before the Senate, and thesoothsayers declared that the victims for sacrifice showed, wheninspected, that the gods were angry and must be propitiated. 

VIII. The Senate decreed, not that the plunder should be given up, forthat would have been scarcely possible to carry out, but that those whohad taken any should be put on their oath, and contribute a tenth partof its value. This measure bore very hardly upon the soldiers, poorhard-working men, who were now compelled to repay so large a proportionof what they had earned and spent. Camillus was clamorously assailed bythem, and, having no better excuse to put forward, made theextraordinary statement that he had forgotten his vow when the city wasplundered. The people angrily said that he had vowed to offer up a titheof the enemy's property, but that he really was taking a tithe from thecitizens instead. However, all the contributions were made, and it wasdetermined that with them a golden bowl should be made and sent toApollo at Delphi. There was a scarcity of gold in the city, and whilethe government were deliberating how it was to be obtained, the matronsheld a meeting among themselves, and offered their golden ornaments tomake the offering, which came to eight talents' weight of gold. TheSenate rewarded them by permitting them to have a funeral orationpronounced over their graves the same as men; for hitherto it had notbeen customary at Rome to make any speeches at the funerals of women. They also chose three of the noblest citizens to travel with theoffering, and sent them in a well-manned ship of war, splendidlyequipped. Both storms and calms at sea are said to be dangerous, andthey chanced on this occasion to come very near destruction, andmiraculously escaped, for in a calm off the Aeolian Islands they wereassailed by Liparian triremes, who took them for pirates. At theirearnest entreaty these people forbore to run down their vessel, but tookit in tow and brought it into their harbour, where they treated it as apiratical craft, and put up the crew and the property on board for saleby public auction. With great difficulty, by the goodness and influenceof one man, Timesitheos, a general, they obtained their release, andwere allowed to proceed. Timesitheos even launched some ships of hisown, with which he escorted them to Delphi, where he also took part inthe ceremony of consecration. In return for his services, as was onlyjust, he received special honours at Rome. 

IX. The tribunes of the people again began to agitate about theredistribution of land and occupation of Veii, but a war with theFaliscans gave the leading men a seasonable opportunity to electmagistrates after their own hearts for the coming year. Camillus wasappointed military tribune, with five others, as it was thought that theState required a general of tried experience. At the decree of theSenate, Camillus raised a force and invaded the Faliscan territory. Henow besieged Falerii, a strong city well provided with all munitions ofwar, which he considered it would be a work of no small time and labourto take; but he was desirous of employing the people in a long siege, toprevent their having leisure for factious proceedings at home. This wasever the policy of the Romans, to work off the elements of internalstrife in attacks on their neighbours. 

X. The Faliscans thought so little of the siege, from the strength oftheir defences, that, except when on duty on the walls, they used towalk about their city in their ordinary dress, and their children weresent regularly to school, and used to be taken by their master to walkand take exercise outside the walls. For the Faliscans, like the Greeks, had one common school, as they wished all their children to be broughtup together. The schoolmaster determined to betray these boys to theenemy, and led them outside the walls for exercise every day, and thenled them back again. By this means he gradually accustomed them to goingout as if there was no danger, until finally he took all the boys andhanded them over to the Roman pickets, bidding them bring him toCamillus. When he was brought before him he said that he was aschoolmaster, that he preferred the favour of Camillus to his duty, andthat he came to hand over to him the city of Falerii in the persons ofthese boys. 

Camillus was very much shocked. He said that war is indeed harsh, and iscarried on by savage and unrighteous means, but yet there are laws ofwar which are observed by good men, and one ought not so much to strivefor victory, as to forego advantages gained by wicked and villainousmeans: thus a truly great general ought to succeed by his own warlikevirtues, not by the baseness of others. 

Having spoken thus, he ordered his slaves to tear the schoolmaster'sclothes, tie his hands behind his back, and give the boys sticks andscourges with which to drive him back to the city. The Faliscans hadjust discovered the treachery of their schoolmaster, and, as may beexpected, the whole city was filled with mourning at such a calamity, men and women together running in confusion to the gates and walls ofthe city, when the boys drove in their schoolmaster with blows andinsults, calling Camillus their saviour, their father, and their god. Not only those who were parents, but all the citizens were struck withadmiration at the goodness of Camillus. They at once assembled, anddespatched ambassadors, putting themselves unreservedly in his hands. These men Camillus sent on to Rome, where they stated before the Senate, that the Romans, by preferring justice to conquest, had taught them toprefer submission to freedom, although they did not think that they fellshort of the Romans in strength so much as in virtue. The Senatereferred the ambassadors to Camillus for their first answer; and he, after receiving a contribution in money, and having made a treaty ofalliance with the Faliscans, drew off his forces. 

XI. But the soldiers, who had been looking forward to plunderingFalerii, when they returned to Rome empty handed, abused Camillus to theother citizens, saying that he was a hater of the people, and grudgedpoor men a chance of enriching themselves. When the tribunesreintroduced the proposal of redistribution of the land, and removinghalf the city to Veii, Camillus openly, without caring how unpopular hebecame, opposed the measure. The people, sorely against their will, gaveup the measure, but hated Camillus so fiercely that even his domesticafflictions (for he had just lost one of his two sons by sickness) couldnot move them to pity. Being of a kind and loving nature, he wasdreadfully cast down at this misfortune, and spent all his time withindoors mourning with the women of his family, while his enemies werepreparing an impeachment against him. 

XII. His accuser was Lucius Apuleius, and the charge brought against himwas embezzlement of the spoils of Etruria. He was even said to have inhis possession some brazen gates which were taken in that country. Thepeople were much excited against him, and it was clear that, whateverthe charge against him might be, they would condemn him. Consequently heassembled his friends and comrades, who were a great number in all, andbegged them not to permit him to be ruined by false accusations, andmade a laughing-stock to his enemies. But when his friends, afterconsulting together, answered that they did not think that they couldprevent his being condemned, but that they would assist him to pay anyfine that might be imposed, he, unable to bear such treatment, determined in a rage to leave Rome and go into exile. He embraced hiswife and son, and walked from his house silently as far as the gate ofthe city. There he turned back, and, stretching out his hands towardsthe Capitol, prayed to the gods that, if he was driven out of Romeunjustly by the insolence and hatred of the people, the Romans mightsoon repent of their conduct to him, and appear before the world begginghim to return, and longing for their Camillus back again. 

XIII. Like Achilles, he thus cursed his countrymen and left them. Hiscause was undefended, and in his absence he was condemned to pay a fineof fifteen thousand _ases_, which in Greek money is fifteen hundred_drachmas_, for the _as_ was the Roman coin at that time, andconsequently ten copper _ases_ were called a _denarius_. 

Every Roman believes that the prayers of Camillus were quickly heard byJustice, and that a terrible retribution was exacted for his wrongs, which filled all men's mouths at that time; so terrible a fate befellRome, with such destruction, danger, and disgrace, whether it arose frommere chance, or whether it be the office of some god to punish those whorequite virtue with ingratitude. 

XIV. The first omen of impending evil was the death of Julius theCensor; for the Romans reverence the office of censor, and account itsacred. Another omen was that, a short time before Camillus went intoexile, one Marcus Caedicius, a man of no particular note, and not even asenator, but a thoroughly respectable man, communicated a matter of someimportance to the tribunes of the people. He said that the night beforehe had been walking along what is called the New Road, when some onecalled him by name. He turned round and could see no one, but heard avoice louder than man's say, "Go, Marcus Caedicius, tell the governmentearly in the morning that in a short time they may expect the Gauls. "When the tribunes of the people heard this they laughed him to scorn, and shortly afterwards Camillus left the city. 

XV. The Gauls are a people of the Celtic race, and are said to havebecome too numerous for their own country, and consequently to have leftit to search for some other land to dwell in. As they consisted of alarge multitude of young warriors, they started in two bodies, one ofwhich, went towards the northern ocean, and, passing the Rhipaeanmountains, settled in the most distant part of Europe. The other bodyestablished themselves between the Pyrenees and the Alps, and for a longtime dwelt near the Senones and Celtorii. At last they tasted wine, which was then for the first time brought thither out of Italy. In anecstasy of delight at the drink they wildly snatched up their arms, tooktheir families with them, and rushed to the Alps in search of thecountry which produced such fruits as this, considering all othercountries to be savage and uncultivated. The man who first introducedwine among them and encouraged them to proceed to Italy was said to beone Aruns, an Etruscan of some note, who, though a well-meaning man, hadmet with the following misfortune. He had been left guardian to anorphan named Lucumo, one of the richest and handsomest of hiscountrymen. This boy lived in the house of Aruns from his childhood, andwhen he grew up he would not leave it, but pretended to delight in hissociety. It was long before Aruns discovered that Lucumo had debauchedhis wife, and that their passion was mutual; but at length they wereunable any longer to conceal their intrigue, and the youth openlyattempted to carry off the woman from her husband. He went to law, butwas unable to contend with the numerous friends and great wealth ofLucumo, and so left the country. Hearing about the Gauls, he went tothem and incited them to invade Italy. 

XVI. They immediately made themselves masters of the country, whichreaches from the Alps down to the sea on both sides of Italy, which inancient times belonged to the Etruscans, as we see by the names, for theupper sea is called the Adriatic from Adria, an Etruscan city, and thelower is called the Etruscan Sea. It is a thickly wooded country, withplenty of pasturage, and well watered. At that period it containedeighteen fair and large cities, with a thriving commercial population. The Gauls took these cities, drove out their inhabitants, and occupiedthem themselves. This, however, took place some time previously to ourstory. 

XVII. The Gauls at this time marched against the Etruscan city ofClusium and besieged it. The inhabitants appealed to the Romans to sendambassadors and letters to the barbarians, and they sent three of theFabian family, men of the first importance in Rome. They were wellreceived, because of the name of Rome, by the Gauls, who desisted fromtheir siege and held a conference with them. The Romans inquired whatwrong the Gauls had suffered from the people of Clusium that they shouldattack their city. To this Brennus, the king of the Gauls, answered witha laugh, "The people of Clusium wrong us by holding a large territory, although they can only inhabit and cultivate a small one, while theywill not give a share of it to us, who are numerous and poor. You Romanswere wronged in just the same way in old times by the people of Alba, and Fidenae, and Ardea, and at the present day by the Veientines andCapenates, and by many of the Faliscans and Volscians. You makecampaigns against these people if they will not share their good thingswith you, you sell them for slaves and plunder their territory, anddestroy their cities; and in this you do nothing wrong, but merely obeythe most ancient of all laws, that the property of the weak belongs tothe strong, a law which prevails among the gods on the one hand, andeven among wild beasts, amongst whom the stronger always encroach uponthe weaker ones. So now cease to pity the besieged men of Clusium, forfear you should teach the Gauls to become good-natured and pitifultowards the nations that have been wronged by the Romans. "

This speech showed the Romans that Brennus had no thought of coming toterms, and they in consequence went into Clusium and encouraged theinhabitants to attack the barbarians under their guidance, eitherbecause they wished to make trial of the valour of the Gauls, or to makea display of their own. The people of Clusium made a sally, and a battletook place near their wall. In this one of the Fabii, Quintus Ambustusby name, was on horseback, and rode to attack a fine powerful Gaul whowas riding far in advance of the rest. At first the Roman was notrecognised because the fight was sharp, and the flashing of his armsprevented his face being clearly seen. But when he slew his antagonistand jumped down from his horse to strip his body of its spoils, Brennusrecognised him, and called the gods to witness his violation of thecommon law of all nations, in coming to them as an ambassador andfighting against them as an enemy. He immediately put a stop to thebattle and took no further heed of the people of Clusium, but directedhis army against Rome. However, as he did not wish it to be thought thatthe bad conduct of the Romans pleased the Gauls, who only wanted apretext for hostilities, he sent and demanded that Fabius should bedelivered up to him to be punished, and at the same time led his armyslowly forwards. 

XVIII. At Rome the Senate was called together, and many blamed Fabius, while those priests who are called Feciales urged the Senate in thename of religion to throw the whole blame of what had happened upon oneguilty head, and, by delivering him up, to clear the rest of the cityfrom sharing his guilt. These Feciales were instituted by the mildestand justest of the kings of Rome, Numa Pompilius, to be guardians ofpeace, and examiners of the reasons which justify a nation in going towar. However the Senate referred the matter to the people, and when thepriests repeated their charges against Fabius before them, the people sodespised and slighted religion as to appoint Fabius and his brothersmilitary tribunes. The Gauls, when they heard this, were enraged, andhurried on, disregarding everything but speed. The nations through whichthey passed, terrified at their glancing arms and their strength andcourage, thought that their land was indeed lost and that their citieswould at once be taken, but to their wonder and delight the Gauls didthem no hurt, and took nothing from their fields, but marched close bytheir cities, calling out that they were marching against Rome, and wereat war with the Romans only, and held all other men to be their friends. To meet this impetuous rush, the military tribunes led out the Romans, who, in numbers indeed were quite a match for the Gauls, for theyamounted to no less than forty thousand heavy-armed men, but for themost part untrained and serving for the first time. 

Besides this disadvantage, they neglected the duties of religion, forthey neither made the usual sacrifices nor consulted the soothsayers. Confusion also was produced by the number of commanders, thoughfrequently before this, in much less important campaigns, they hadchosen single generals, whom they called dictators, as they knew thatnothing is so important at a dangerous crisis as that all shouldunanimously and in good order obey the commands of one irresponsiblechief. And the unfair treatment which Camillus had received now boredisastrous fruits, for no man dared to use authority except to flatterand gain the favour of the people. 

They proceeded about eleven miles from the city, and halted for thenight on the banks of the river Allia, which joins the Tiber not farfrom where their camp was pitched. Here the barbarians appeared, and, after an unskilfully managed battle, the want of discipline of theRomans caused their ruin. The Gauls drove the left wing into the riverand destroyed it, but the right of the army, which took refuge in thehills to avoid the enemy's charge on level ground, suffered less, andmost of them reached the city safely. The rest, who survived after theenemy were weary of slaughter, took refuge at Veii, imagining that allwas over with Rome. 

XIX. This battle took place about the summer solstice at the time offull moon, on the very day on which in former times the great disasterbefel the Fabii, when three hundred of that race were slain by theEtruscans. But this defeat wiped out the memory of the former one, andthe day was always afterwards called that of the Allia, from the riverof that name. 

It is a vexed question whether we ought to consider some days unlucky, or whether Herakleitus was right in rebuking Hesiod for calling somedays good and some bad, because he knew not that the nature of all daysis the same. However the mention of a few remarkable instances isgermane to the matter of which we are treating. It happened that on thefifth day of the Boeotian month Hippodromios, which the Athenians callHekatombeion, [A] two signal victories were won by the Boeotians, both ofwhich restored liberty to Greece; one, when they conquered the Spartansat Leuktra, and the other, when, more than two hundred years beforethis, they conquered the Thessalians under Lattamyas at Kerêssus. 

[Footnote A: Plutarch himself was a Boeotian. ]

Again, the Persians were beaten by the Greeks on the sixth of Boedromionat Marathon, and on the third they were beaten both at Plataea and atMykale, and at Arbela on the twenty-fifth of the same month. TheAthenians too won their naval victory under Chabrias at Naxos on thefull moon of Boedromion, and that of Salamis on the twentieth of thatmonth, as I have explained in my treatise 'On Days. '

The month of Thargelion evidently brings misfortune to the barbarians, for Alexander defeated the Persian king's generals on the Granicus inThargelion, and the Carthaginians were defeated by Timoleon in Sicilyon the twenty-seventh of Thargelion, at which same time Troy is believedto have been taken, according to Ephorus, Kallisthenes, Damastes andPhylarchus. 

On the other hand, the month Metageitnion, which the Boeotians callPanemos, is unfavourable to the Greeks, for on the seventh of that monththey were defeated by Antipater at Kranon and utterly ruined; and beforethat, were defeated during that month by Philip at Chaeronea. And onthat same day and month and year Archidamus and his troops, who hadcrossed over into Italy, were cut to pieces by the natives. Thetwenty-first day of that month is also observed by the Carthaginians asthat which has always brought the heaviest misfortunes upon them. And Iam well aware that at the time of the celebration of the mysteriesThebes was destroyed for the second time by Alexander, and that afterthis Athens was garrisoned by Macedonian soldiers on the twentieth ofBoedromion, on which day they bring out the mystic Iacchus inprocession. And similarly the Romans, under the command of Caepio, onthat same day lost their camp to the Gauls, and afterwards, underLucullus, defeated Tigranes and the Armenians. King Attalus and Pompeiusthe Great died on their own birthdays. And I could mention many others, who have had both good and evil fortune on the same anniversaries. Butthe Romans regard that day as especially unlucky, and on account of it, two other days in every month are thought so, as superstitious feelingis increased by misfortune. This subject I have treated at greaterlength in my treatise on 'Roman Questions. '

XX. If, after the battle, the Gauls had at once followed up thefugitives, nothing could have prevented their taking Rome and destroyingevery one who was left in it; such terror did the beaten troops producewhen they reached home, and such panic fear seized upon every one. However the barbarians scarcely believed in the completeness of theirvictory, and betook themselves to making merry over their success and todividing the spoils taken in the Roman camp, so that they afforded thosewho left the city time to effect their escape, and those who remained init time to recover their courage and make preparations for standing asiege. They abandoned all but the Capitol to the enemy, and fortified itwith additional ramparts and stores of missiles. One of their first actswas to convey most of their holy things into the Capitol, while theVestal virgins took the sacred fire and their other sacred objects andfled with them from the city. Some indeed say that nothing is entrustedto them except the eternal fire, which King Numa appointed to beworshiped as the origin of all things. For fire has the liveliest motionof anything in nature; and everything is produced by motion or with somekind of motion. All other parts of matter when heat is absent lieuseless and apparently dead, requiring the power of fire as the breathof life, to call them into existence and make them capable of action. 

Numa therefore, being a learned man and commonly supposed on account ofhis wisdom to hold communion with the Muses, consecrated fire, andordered it to be kept unquenched for ever as an emblem of the eternalpower that orders all things. Others say that, as among the Greeks, apurificatory fire burns before the temple, but that within are otherholy things which no man may see, except only the virgins, who are namedVestals; and a very wide-spread notion is, that the famous TrojanPalladium, which was brought to Italy by Aeneas, is kept there. Otherssay that the Samothracian gods are there, whom Dardanus brought to Troyafter he had founded it, and caused to be worshipped there, which, afterthe fall of Troy, Aeneas carried off and kept until he settled in Italy. But those who pretend to know most about such matters say that there aretwo jars of no great size in the temple, one open and empty, and theother full and sealed, and that these may be seen only by the holyvirgins. Others think that this is a mistake, arising from the factthat, at the time of which we are treating, the Vestal virgins placedmost of their sacred things in two jars and concealed them in the earthunder the Temple of Quirinus, which place even to the present day iscalled the _Doliola_, or place of the jars. 

XXI. However this may be, the Vestals took the most important of theirholy things and betook themselves to flight along the Tiber. Here LuciusAlbinus, a plebian, was journeying among the fugitives, with his wifeand infant children and their few necessaries in a waggon. When he sawthe Vestal virgins, without any attendants, journeying on foot and indistress, carrying in their bosoms the sacred images of the gods, he atonce removed his wife, children, and property from the waggon and handedit over to them, to escape into one of the Greek cities in Italy. Thepiety of Albinus and his care for the duties of religion at so terriblea crisis deserve to be recorded. 

The rest of the priests and the old men who had been consuls, and beenhonoured with triumphs, could not bear to leave the city. At theinstance of Fabius, the Pontifex Maximus, they put on their sacredvestments and robes of state, and after offering prayer to the gods, asif they were consecrating themselves as victims to be offered on behalfof their country, they sat down in their ivory chairs in the Forum infull senatorial costume, and waited what fortune might befal them. 

XXII. On the third day after the battle Brennus appeared, leading hisarmy to attack the city. At first, seeing the gates open and no guardson the walls, he feared some ambuscade, as he could not believe that theRomans had so utterly despaired of themselves. When he discovered thetruth, he marched through the Colline Gate, and captured Rome, a littlemore than three hundred and sixty years after its foundation, if we canbelieve that any accurate record has been kept of those periods whoseconfusion has produced such difficulties in the chronology of latertimes. However, an indistinct rumour of the fall of Rome seems at onceto have reached Greece: for Herakleides of Pontus, who lived about thattime, speaks in his book 'On the Spirit, ' of a rumour from the west thatan army had come from the Hyperboreans and had sacked a Greek colonycalled Rome, which stood somewhere in that direction, near the greatocean. Now, as Herakleides was fond of strange legends, I should not besurprised if he adorned the original true tale of the capture of thecity with these accessories of "the Hyperboreans" and "the great ocean. "Aristotle, the philosopher, had evidently heard quite accurately thatthe city was taken by the Gauls, but he says that it was saved by oneLucius: now Camillus's name was Marcus, not Lucius. All this, however, was pure conjecture. 

Brennus, after taking possession of Rome, posted a force to watch theCapitol, and himself went down to the Forum, and wondered at the men whosat there silent, with all their ornaments, how they neither rose fromtheir seats at the approach of the enemy, nor changed colour, but satleaning on their staffs with fearless confidence, quietly looking at oneanother. The Gauls were astonished at so strange a sight, and for a longtime they forbore to approach and touch them, as if they were superiorbeings. But when one of them ventured to draw near to Marcus Papiriusand gently stroke his long beard, Papirius struck him on the head withhis staff, at which the barbarian drew his sword and slew him. Upon thisthey fell upon the rest and killed them, with any other Romans whom theyfound, and spent many days in plundering the houses, after which theyburned them and pulled them down in their rage at the men in theCapitol, because they would not surrender, but drove them back when theyassaulted it. For this reason they wreaked their vengeance on the city, and put to death all their captives, men and women, old and young alike. 

XXIII. As the siege was a long one, the Gauls began to want forprovisions. They divided themselves into two bodies, one of whichremained with the king and carried on the siege, while the othersscoured the country, plundering and destroying the villages, not goingall together in a body, but scattered in small detachments in variousdirections, as their elation at their success caused them to have nofear about separating their forces. Their largest and best disciplinedbody marched towards Ardea, where Camillus, since his banishment, hadlived as a private person. All his thoughts, however, were bent not uponavoiding or fleeing from the Gauls, but upon defeating them if possible. And so, seeing that the people of Ardea were sufficient in numbers, butwanting in confidence because of the want of experience and remissnessof their leaders, he first began to tell the younger men that they oughtnot to ascribe the misfortunes of the Romans to the bravery of theGauls, for the misconduct of the former had given them a triumph whichthey did not deserve. It would, he urged, be a glorious thing, even atthe risk of some danger, to drive away a tribe of savage barbarians, whoif they were victorious always exterminated the vanquished: while, ifthey only showed bravery and confidence, he could, by watching hisopportunity, lead them to certain victory. As the younger men eagerlylistened to these words, Camillus proceeded to confer with the chiefmagistrates of the Ardeates. After obtaining their consent also, hearmed all those who were capable of service, but kept them within thewalls, as he wished to conceal their presence from the enemy who werenow close at hand. But when the Gauls after scouring the countryreturned laden with plunder and carelessly encamped in the plain, andwhen at night by the influence of wine and sleep all was quiet in theircamp, Camillus, who had learned the state of the case from spies, ledout the men of Ardea, and marching over the intervening ground insilence, about midnight attacked their entrenched camp with loud shoutsand blasts of his trumpet, which threw the Gauls, half-drunk and heavywith sleep as they were, into great confusion. Few recovered theirsenses so far as to attempt to resist Camillus, and those few fell wherethey stood; but most of them were slain as they lay helpless with wineand sleep. Such as escaped from the camp and wandered about the fieldswere despatched by cavalry the next day. 

XXIV. The fame of this action, when noised among the neighbouringcities, called many men to arms, especially those Romans who had escapedto Veii after the battle of the Allia. These men lamented their fate, saying, "What a general has Providence removed from Rome in Camillus, whose successes now bring glory to Ardea, while the city that producedand brought up so great a man has utterly perished. And now we, for wantof a general to lead us, are sitting still inside the walls of a citynot our own, and giving up Italy to the enemy. Come, let us send to themen of Ardea, and beg their general of them, or else ourselves take upour arms and march to him. He is no longer an exile, nor are we anylonger his countrymen, for our country is ours no more, but is in thehands of the enemy. "

This was agreed, and they sent to beg Camillus to become their general. But he refused, saying that he would not do so without a decree from thecitizens in the Capitol; for they as long as they survived, representedthe city of Rome, and therefore although he would gladly obey theircommands, he would not be so officious as to interfere against theirwill. The soldiers admired the honourable scruples of Camillus, butthere was a great difficulty in representing them to the garrison of theCapitol; indeed, it seemed altogether impossible for a messenger toreach the citadel while the city was in the possession of the enemy. 

XXV. One of the younger Romans, Pontius Cominius, of the middle class ofcitizens, but with an honourable ambition to distinguish himself, undertook the adventure. He would not take any writing to the garrison, for fear that if he were taken the enemy might discover Camillus'splans. He dressed himself in poor clothes, with corks concealed underthem, and performed most of the journey fearlessly by daylight, but whenhe came near the city he went by night. As it was impossible to crossthe river by the bridge, which was held by the Gauls, he wrapped whatfew clothes he had round his head, and trusted to his corks to float himover to the city. After he had landed, he walked round, observing by thelights and the noise where the Gauls were most wakeful, until he reachedthe Carmentan Gate, where all was quiet. At this place the CapitolianHill forms a steep and precipitous crag, up which he climbed by a hollowin the cliff, and joined the garrison. After greeting them and makingknown his name, he proceeded to an interview with the leading men. Ameeting of the Senate was called, at which he recounted Camillus'svictory, which they had not heard of, and explained the determination ofthe soldiers. He then begged them to confirm Camillus's appointment asgeneral, because the citizens without the walls would obey no other. 

When the Senate heard this, they deliberated, and finally appointedCamillus dictator, and sent back Pontius by the same way that he came, which he was able to accomplish as fortunately as before. He eluded theGauls, and brought the decree of the senate to the Romans outside thewalls. 

XXVI. They heard the news with enthusiasm, so that Camillus when hecame, found that they already numbered twenty thousand, while he drewmany additional troops from the neighbouring friendly cities. Thus wasCamillus a second time appointed dictator, and, proceeding to Veii, joined the soldiers there, to whom he added many others from the allies, and prepared to attack the enemy. But meanwhile at Rome, some of theGauls happening to pass by the place where Pontius climbed up theCapitol, noticed in many places the marks of where he had clutched atthe rock with his hands and feet, torn off the plants which grew uponit, and thrown down the mould. They brought the news to the king, whocame and viewed the place. He said nothing at the time, but in theevening he called together those Gauls who were lightest and mostaccustomed to climb mountains, and thus addressed them: "The road up therock, which we by ourselves could not discover, has been proved by ourenemies not to be impassable to men, and it would be disgraceful for usafter having begun so well to leave our enterprise incomplete, and togive up the place as impregnable after the enemy themselves have shownus how it may be taken. Where it is easy for one man to climb, it cannotbe hard for many to climb one by one, as their numbers will give themconfidence and mutual support. Suitable honours and presents will begiven to those who distinguish themselves. "

XXVII. After this speech of their king, the Gauls eagerly volunteeredfor the assault, and about midnight many of them climbed silently up therock, which although rough and precipitous was easier of ascent thanthey had imagined, so that the first of them reached the top, and wereon the point of preparing to attack the rampart and its sleepinggarrison, for neither men nor dogs noticed them. But there were sacredgeese kept in the temple of Juno, which in other times were fed withoutstint, but which then, as there was scarcely food enough for the men, were somewhat neglected. These birds are naturally quick of hearing andtimid, and now being rendered wakeful and wild by hunger, quicklyperceived the Gauls climbing up, and rushing noisily to the place wokethe garrison, while the Gauls feeling that they were discovered nolonger preserved silence, but violently assaulted the place. The Romans, snatching up whatever arms came first to hand, ran to repulse them: andfirst of all Manlius, a man of consular rank, strong of body and full ofcourage, fell in with two of the enemy. As one of them lifted up hisbattleaxe, Manlius cut off his right hand with his sword, while hedashed his shield into the other's face, and threw him backwards downthe cliff. After this he stood upon the wall, and with the help of thosewho assembled round him, beat off the rest, for not many had reached thetop, or effected anything commensurate with the boldness of the attempt. Having thus escaped the danger, the Romans threw their sentinel down therock; while on Manlius they conferred by vote a reward for his bravery, intended more for honour than advantage; for each man gave him a day'srations, which consisted of half a Roman pound of meal, and the fourthpart of a Greek cotyle of wine. 

XXVIII. This affair disheartened the Gauls, who were also in want ofprovisions, for they could not forage as before for fear of Camillus, while disease also crept in among them, encamped as they were in theruins of Rome among heaps of dead bodies, while the deep layer of ashesbecame blown by the wind into the air, making it dry and harsh, and thevapours of the conflagrations were injurious to breathe. They wereespecially distressed by the change from a cloudy country where thereare plenty of shady retreats, to the flat burning plains of Rome inautumn, and their siege of the Capitol became wearisome, for they hadnow beleaguered it for seven months; so that there was much sickness intheir camp, and so many died that they no longer buried the dead. Yetfor all this the besieged fared no better. Hunger pressed them, andtheir ignorance of what Camillus was doing disheartened them; for no onecould reach them with news, because the city was strictly watched byGauls. As both parties were in these straits, proposals for acapitulation took place; at first among the outposts on both sides;afterwards the chief men on each side. Brennus, the Gaulish king, andSulpicius the Roman tribune, met, and it was agreed that the Romansshould pay a thousand pounds of gold, and that the Gauls should, onreceiving it, at once leave the country. Both parties swore to observethese conditions, but when the gold was being weighed, the Gauls atfirst tampered with the scales unperceived, and then openly pulled thebeam, so that the Romans became angry. But at this Brennus insolentlytook off his sword and belt, and flung them into the scale; and whenSulpicius asked, "What is this?" "What should it be, " replied the Gaul;"but woe to the vanquished!" At this some of the Romans were angry andthought that they ought to take back their gold into the Capitol, andagain endure the siege; while others said that they must put up withinsults, provided they were not too outrageous, and not think that therewas any additional disgrace in paying more than they had agreed, becausein paying any ransom at all, they were acting from sheer necessityrather than feelings of honour. 

XXIX. While the Romans were thus disputing with the Gauls, and with oneanother, Camillus with his army was at the gates. Learning what wasbeing done, he ordered the mass of his soldiers to follow him quietlyand in good order, and himself pushed on with the picked troops to jointhe Romans, who all made way for him, and received him as dictator withsilence and respect. He then took the gold from the scales and gave itto his victors, and ordered the Gauls to take the scales and the beam, and depart, "for, " said he, "it is the custom of the Romans to defendtheir country not with gold but with iron. " At this Brennus becameangry, and said that he was being wronged by the treaty being broken;and Camillus answered that the negotiations were illegal, because whenthey began he was already dictator, and therefore, as no one else hadany authority, the treaty had been made by the Gauls with persons whowere not authorized to treat. But now, if they wished, they might makefresh proposals, for he was come with full legal powers to pardon suchas made their submission, and to punish unrepentant evil-doers. Enragedat this, Brennus began to skirmish, and the two parties, mixed up asthey were, in houses and lands where no military formation waspossible, did go so far as to draw their swords and push one anotherabout; but Brennus soon recovered his temper, and drew off the Gauls, with but little loss, in their camp. 

During the night he got them all under arms, left the city, and, after amarch of about eight miles, encamped by the side of the Gabinian Road. But at daybreak, Camillus was upon him, in glittering armour, leading onthe Romans who had now recovered their courage. After a long andfiercely contested battle they routed the Gauls and took their camp. Some of the fugitives were at once pursued and slain, but most of themstraggled about the country, and were put to death by the people of theneighbouring towns and villages who sallied out upon them. 

XXX. Thus was Rome strangely taken, and yet more strangely preserved, after having been for seven months in the possession of the Gauls, forthey entered it a few days after the Ides of Quintilis, and left itabout the Ides of February. Camillus, as we may easily imagine, enteredthe city in a triumph, as the saviour of his lost country, and therestorer of Rome to itself; for as he drove into the city he wasaccompanied by those who had before left it, with their wives andchildren, while those who had been besieged in the Capitol, and all butstarved there, came out to meet him embracing one another, weeping, andscarcely believing in their present happiness. The priests and servantsof the gods also appeared with such of the sacred things as they hadsaved, either by burying them on the spot, or by carrying them away, andnow displayed these images, which had not been seen for so long a time, to the citizens, who greeted them with joy, as if the gods themselveswere again returning to Rome. Camillus performed a sacrifice to thegods, and purified the city in the manner recommended by experts, andthen proceeded to restore all the previously existing temples, while hehimself added another to _Aius Loquutius_, or Rumour, having carefullysought out the place at which the voice in the night miraculouslyforetold the coming of the Gaulish host to Marcus Caedicius. 

XXXI. With great difficulty the sites of the temples were cleared ofrubbish by the zeal of Camillus and the labour of the priests; but asthe city was utterly destroyed, and required to be entirely rebuilt, thepeople became disheartened at so great an undertaking. Men who had losttheir all were inclined to wait, and indeed required rest after theirmisfortunes, rather than labours and toils, which neither their bodiesnor their purses were able to endure. And thus it came to pass that theyturned their thoughts a second time towards Veii, a city which stoodquite ready to be inhabited. This gave opportunities to their moborators to make speeches, as usual, which they knew would be pleasing tothe people, in which Camillus was disrespectfully spoken of as deprivingthem of a city which stood ready to receive them, for his own prviateambition, and was said to be compelling them to live encamped in themidst of ruins, and re-erect their houses in that vast heap of ashes, all in order that he might be called, not merely the leader and generalof Rome, but might usurp the place of Romulus and be called her founder. Fearing disturbances, the Senate would not permit Camillus to lay downhis dictatorship for a year, although he wished to do so, and althoughno dictator before this had ever remained in office for more than sixmonths. In the meantime the senators themselves encouraged and consoledthe people by personal appeals, pointing to the tombs and monuments oftheir ancestors, and recalling to their minds the temples and holyplaces which Romulus and Numa and the other kings had consecrated andleft in charge to them. More especially they dwelt upon the omen of thenewly severed head which had been found when the foundations of theCapitol were dug, by which it was proved that that spot was fated tobecome the head of Italy, and the fire of Vesta which the virgins hadrelighted after the war, and which it would be a disgrace for them toextinguish, and to abandon the city, whether they were to see itinhabited by foreigners or turned into fields for cattle to feed in. While persistently urging these considerations both in public speechesand in private interviews with the people, they were much affected bythe lamentations of the poor over their helpless condition. The peoplebegged that, as they had, like people after a shipwreck, saved theirlives and nothing else, they might not, in addition to this misfortune, be compelled to put together the ruins of a city which had been utterlydestroyed, while another was standing ready to receive them. 

XXXII. Under these circumstances, Camillus determined to debate thequestion publicly. He himself made a long appeal on behalf of his nativeplace, and many other speeches were delivered. Finally he rose, and badeLucius Lucretius, whose privilege it was, to vote first, and then afterhim the rest in order. Silence was enforced, and Lucretius was just onthe point of voting when a centurion in command of a detachment of theguard of the day marched by, and in a loud voice called to thestandard-bearer: "Pitch the standard here: here it is best for us tostay. " When these words were heard so opportunely in the midst of theirdeliberations about the future, Lucretius reverently said that heaccepted the omen, and gave his vote in accordance with it, and hisexample was followed by all the rest. The people now showed a strangerevulsion of feeling, for they encouraged one another to begin the workof rebuilding, not on any regular plan, but just as each man happened tofind a convenient place for his work. Consequently they quickly rebuiltthe city, for within a year it is said that both the city walls and theprivate houses were completed; but it was full of intricate, narrowlanes and inconveniently placed houses. 

The priests, who had been ordered by Camillus to mark out the boundarieswhere the temples had stood among the general wreck, when in theircircuit of the Palatine Hill they came upon the chapel of Mars, foundit, like every other building, destroyed and levelled to the ground bythe Gauls, but while thoroughly examining the place they found theaugur's staff of Romulus hidden under a deep heap of ashes. This staffis curved at one end, and is called _lituus_. They use it to divide theheavens into squares when taking the auspices, just as Romulus himselfdid, as he was deeply skilled in divination. When he vanished from amongmankind, the priests kept his staff just like any other sacred object. That at such a time, when all the other holy things perished, thisshould have been preserved, gave them good hopes of Rome, which thatomen seemed to presage would be eternal. 

XXXIII. Before they had finished rebuilding the city they becameinvolved in a war, for the Aequians, Volscians, and Latins combinedtheir forces and invaded the country, while the Etruscans besiegedSutrium, a city in alliance with Rome. The tribunes in command of theRoman forces encamped near the Marcian heights, and were there besiegedby the Latins and in danger of having their camp taken. They sent toRome for assistance, and the Romans appointed Camillus dictator for thethird time. About this war there are two different accounts, of which Iwill mention the legendary one first:--It is said that the Latins, either merely as a pretext, or really wishing to amalgamate the tworaces as before, sent a demand to Rome for free unmarried women to bedelivered up for them to marry. As the Romans were at their wits' endswhat to do, because they feared to go to war, being scarcely recoveredfrom their late mishap, while they suspected that the women would beused as hostages if they gave them up, and that the proposal ofintermarriage was merely a feint, a slave girl named Tutula, or, as somesay, Philotis, advised the magistrates to send her and the best-lookingof the female slaves, dressed like brides of noble birth, and that shewould manage the rest. The magistrates approved of her proposal, chosesuch girls as she thought suitable, and having dressed them in fineclothes and jewellery, handed them over to the Latins, who were encampedat no great distance from the city. At night the girls stole the daggersof the enemies, and Tutula or Philotis climbed up a wild fig-tree, stretched out her cloak behind her, and raised a torch as a signal, which had been agreed upon between her and the magistrates, though noother citizen knew of it. Wherefore, the soldiers rushed out of thegates with a great clamour and disturbance, calling to one another andscarcely able to keep their ranks as their chiefs hurried them along. When they reached the enemy's camp, they found them asleep and notexpecting an attack, so that they took their camp and slew most ofthem. This took place on the nones of the month Quintilis, now calledJuly, and the festival which then takes place is in memory of the eventsof that day. First they march out of the gates in a mass, calling outthe common names of the country, such as Caius, Marcus, or Lucius, inimitation of their hurried calling for each other on that occasion. Next, female slaves splendidly dressed walk round laughing and rompingwith all whom they meet. These girls also perform a sort of fight amongthemselves, like those who on that day took their share in the fightwith the Latins: and afterwards they sit down to a feast, under theshade of fig-tree boughs. They call this day the _nonae caprotinae_, probably from the wild fig-tree from which the slave girl waved thetorch; for in Latin a wild fig-tree is called _caprificus_. Others saythat most of these things were said and done when Romulus disappeared, for on this very day he was snatched away, outside the city gates, in asudden storm and darkness, or as some think during an eclipse of thesun: and they say that the day is called _nonae caprotiae_ from theplace, because Romulus was carried off while holding a meeting of theentire people at the place called the Goat's Marsh, as is written in hislife. 

XXXIV. The other story is approved by most writers, who relate it asfollows:--Camillus, after being appointed dictator for the third time, and learning that the army under the command of the military tribuneswas being besieged by the Latins and Volscians, was compelled to armeven those citizens who were past the age for service in the field. Hemarched by a long circuit to the Marcian heights unnoticed by the enemy, and established his army behind them. By lighting fires he announced hisarrival to the Romans in the camp, who took courage, and began tomeditate sallying out of their camp and attacking the enemy. But theLatins and Volscians kept close within the rampart of their camp, whichthey fortified with many additional palisades, on all sides, for theynow were between two hostile armies, and intended to await succour fromhome, while they also expected a force from Etruria to come to theiraid. Camillus, perceiving this, and fearing that he might be surroundedin his turn, vigorously used his opportunity. The rampart of the allieswas formed of wood, and as a strong wind blew down from the mountains atdaybreak, he prepared combustibles, and early in the morning got hisforces under arms. One division he sent to attack the enemy's camp withdarts, and missile weapons, and loud shouts, while he himself, withthose who were in charge of the fire, waited for his opportunity on thatside towards which the wind usually blew. When the other troops wereengaged with the enemy, the sun rose, and a strong wind got up. At thisCamillus gave the signal for attack, and at once enveloped the palisadeswith lighted missiles. As the flames quickly spread in the thick woodenpalisades, the Latins, finding their camp girt with flames, were driveninto a small compass, and finally obliged to sally out of theirentrenchments, outside of which the Romans stood ready to receive them. Few of those who broke out escaped, while all who remained in the campperished in the flames, until the Romans extinguished them and began toplunder. 

XXXV. After this exploit, Camillus left his son Lucius in charge of thecamp, to guard the prisoners and the booty, and himself invaded theenemy's country. He took the capital of the Aequi, reduced the Volsci tosubjection, and marched at once upon Sutrium to relieve that city, whoseinhabitants had not heard of his successes, but were still besieged bythe Etruscans. The Sutrians had just surrendered, and had been turnedout of their city by the enemy with nothing but the clothes they had on. Camillus met them on the road with their wives and children, weepingover their misfortune. He was greatly moved at so piteous a sight, and, perceiving that the Romans were touched by the despairing entreaties ofthe people of Sutrium, who clung to them with tears in their eyes, determined that he would at once avenge their wrongs, and march uponSutrium that very day, arguing that men who were merry with success, having just captured a wealthy city, with no enemy either left withinits walls or expected from without, would be found in careless disorder. In this conjecture he was right; for he not only marched through thecountry, but even obtained possession of the walls and gates unperceivedby the enemy, who had posted no guards, but were carousing in thevarious private houses. Indeed when they learned that the Romans were inpossession of the town, they were in such a condition of intoxicationthat most of them could not even attempt to escape, but shamefullywaited in the houses where they were until they were either killed ortaken prisoners. Thus was the city of Sutrium twice taken in one day, and thus did the victors lose their prize, and the dispossessedinhabitants regain their homes by Camillus's means. 

XXXVI. The triumph which he enjoyed after these campaigns added to hispopularity and glory as much as either of the former; for even those whodisliked him most, and who had insisted that all his successes were dueto good fortune more than to skill, were now forced to admit thebrilliancy of his generalship, and to give his genius its due. The chiefof his enemies and detractors was Marcus Manlius, he who had been thefirst man to fling the Gauls down the cliff in the night attack on theCapitol, and who in remembrance of this was surnamed Capitolinus. Thisman, endeavouring to make himself the first man in Rome, and not beingable to surpass the fame of Camillus by fair means, made the accusationagainst him usual in such cases, that he was intending to make himselfking. This falsehood he repeated in his addresses to the people, withwhom he was making himself popular, especially with those who were indebt; some of whom he defended, and assisted in coming to terms withtheir creditors, while others he forcibly rescued from the officers ofthe law, so that many needy persons were attracted to him, and becamethe terror of all respectable citizens by their riotous disturbances inthe Forum. To put an end to these disorders, Quintus Capitolinus wascreated dictator, and he put Manlius in prison; but the people upon thiswent into mourning, a thing only done on the occasion of some greatpublic disaster, and the Senate, terrified at this, ordered Manlius tobe acquitted. Manlius was not improved by his captivity, but was moreturbulent and disorderly in his conduct than he had been before. Camillus was now again elected military tribune, and Manlius wasimpeached: but the place in which he was tried told greatly against hisaccusers. For the very spot on the Capitol on which Manlius fought withthe Gauls on that night was visible from the Forum, and the sight of itraised a strong feeling in his favour; while he himself pointed to it, and, with tears in his eyes, reminded them of how he had fought forthem, so that his judges were at their wits' end, and often adjournedthe trial, for they could not acquit him of a crime which was clearlyproved against him, and yet they could not bring themselves to let thelaw take its course, when the scene before them reminded them constantlyof his great exploit. Camillus, perceiving this, removed the court tothe Petelian Grove outside the city gates, where, as the Capitol was notvisible, the prosecutor was able to press home his charges againstManlius, while the judges were not prevented from punishing him for hisrecent crimes by their remembrance of what he had done in former times. He was convicted, led to the Capitol, and thrown down the cliff, whichthus witnessed both the most glorious deed of his life, and hismiserable end. The Romans destroyed his house, on the site of which theybuilt the Temple of Juno Moneta, and decreed that for the future nopatrician might dwell upon the Capitol. 

XXXVII. Camillus, when appointed military tribune for the sixth time, begged to be excused, as he was growing old, and perhaps feared thatsuch unbroken success and glory would call down upon him the wrath ofthe gods. [A] His most obvious reason for declining the appointment wasthe state of his health, for at this time he was sick. However, thepeople would not permit him to retire, but loudly urged that they didnot want him to ride on horseback or fight in the ranks, but merely toadvise and superintend. Thus they compelled him to accept the office, and with one of his colleagues, Lucius Furius, at once to lead an armyagainst the enemy. He left the city and encamped near the enemy, wherehe wished to remain inactive, in order that, if a battle should benecessary, he might recover his health sufficiently to take part in it. But as his colleague Lucius, who longed to distinguish himself, was soeager for action that he could not be restrained, and excited thesubordinate officers, Camillus, fearing that it might be supposed thathe grudged younger men an opportunity of gaining laurels, agreed, sorelyagainst his will, to allow his colleague to lead out the army and offerbattle, while he with a few troops remained behind in the camp. But whenhe heard that Lucius had rashly engaged and that the Romans weredefeated, he could not restrain himself, but leaping from his couch metthem with his followers at the gate of the camp. Here he forced his waythrough the fugitives and attacked the pursuing force, so that thoseRomans whom he had passed at once turned and followed him, while thosewho were still outside the camp rallied round him, calling upon oneanother not to desert their general. The enemy's pursuit was thuschecked, and on the following day Camillus marched out with his entireforce, entirely defeated them, and entering their camp together with thefugitives, put most of them to the sword. After this, hearing thatSatria had been captured by the Etruscans, and all the Roman coloniststhere put to death, he sent the greater part of his force back to Rome, reserving only the youngest and most vigorous of the soldiers, with whomhe assaulted the Etruscans who held the city, and conquered them, killing many, and putting the rest to flight. 

[Footnote A: The punishment of excessive and unbroken prosperity wasassigned by the Greeks to the goddess Nemesis. The idea of too great acareer of success exciting the anger of the gods is common throughoutthe whole of ancient literature. A well-known instance is the story ofPolykrates of Samos, as told by Herodotus. Amasis the king of Egypt, observing the unbroken good fortune of Polykrates, advised himvoluntarily to sacrifice some of his treasures. Polykrates, followinghis friend's advice, cast his signet-ring into the sea. But the ring wasswallowed by a fish, and the fish was caught and presented to the king, who thus recovered his ring. When Amasis heard of this, he refused toally himself with Polykrates, thinking that such good fortune presaged aterrible disaster. Polykrates was put to death shortly afterwards by thePersians, who conquered his kingdom. ]

XXXVIII. By his return to Rome with great spoils, he proved that thosemen were right who had not feared that weakness or old age would impairthe faculties of a general of daring and experience, but who had chosenhim, ill and unwilling to act as he was, rather than men in the primeof life, who were eager to hold military commands. For this reason, whenthe people of Tusculum were reported to be in insurrection, they badeCamillus take one of the other five tribunes as his colleague, and marchagainst them. Camillus, in spite of all that the rest of the tribunescould urge, for they all wished to be taken, chose Lucius Furius, whomno one could have supposed he would have chosen; for he it was who hadbeen so eager to fight, against the better judgment of Camillus, and sohad brought about the defeat in the late war; however, Camillus chosehim rather than any other, wishing, it would appear, to conceal hismisfortune and wipe out his disgrace. 

The people of Tusculum cleverly repaired their fault. When Camillusmarched to attack them they filled the country with men working in thefields and tending cattle just as in time of peace; the city gates wereopen, the boys at school, the lower classes plying various trades, andthe richer citizens walking in the market-place in peaceful dress. Themagistrates bustled about the city, pointing out where the Romans wereto be quartered, as if the thought of treachery had never entered theirminds. Camillus, though this conduct did not shake his belief in theirguilt, was moved to pity by their repentance. He ordered them to go toRome and beg the Senate to pardon them; and when they appeared, hehimself used his influence to procure their forgiveness, and theadmission of Tusculum to the Roman franchise. These were the mostremarkable events of his sixth tribuneship. 

XXXIX. After this, Licinius Stolo put himself at the head of theplebeians in their great quarrel with the Senate. They demanded thatconsuls should be re-established, one of whom should always be aplebeian, and that they should never both be patricians. Tribunes of thepeople were appointed, but the people would not suffer any election ofconsuls to be held. As this want of chief magistrates seemed likely tolead to still greater disorders, the Senate, much against the will ofthe people, appointed Camillus dictator for the fourth time. He himselfdid not wish for the post, for he was loth to oppose men who had beenhis comrades in many hard-fought campaigns, as indeed he had spent muchmore of his life in the camp with his soldiers than with the patricianparty in political intrigues, by one of which he was now appointed, asthat party hoped that if successful he would crush the power of theplebeians, while in case of failure he would be ruined. However, he madean effort to deal with the present difficulty. Knowing the day on whichthe tribunes intended to bring forward their law, he published amuster-roll of men for military service, and charged the people to leavethe Forum and meet him on the Field of Mars, threatening those whodisobeyed with a heavy fine. But when the tribunes answered his threatsby vowing that they would fine him fifty thousand _drachmas_ unless heceased his interference with the people's right of voting, he retired tohis own house, and after a few days laid down his office on pretence ofsickness. This he did, either because he feared a second condemnationand banishment, which would be a disgrace to an old man and one who haddone such great deeds, or else because he saw that the people were toostrong to be overpowered, and he did not wish to make the attempt. 

The Senate appointed another dictator, but he made that very LiciniusStolo, the leader of the popular party, his master of the horse, andthus enabled him to pass a law which was especially distasteful to thepatricians, for it forbade any one to possess more than five hundred_jugera_ of land. Stolo, after this success, became an importantpersonage; but, a short time afterwards, he was convicted of possessingmore land than his own law permitted, and was punished according to itsprovisions. 

XL. There still remained the difficulty about the consular elections, the most important point at issue between the two parties, and theSenate was greatly disturbed at it, when news arrived that the Gauls, starting from the Adriatic Sea, were a second time marching in greatforce upon Rome. At the same time evident traces of their approach couldbe seen, as the country was being plundered, and such of the inhabitantsas could not easily reach Rome were taking refuge in the mountains. 

This terrible tidings put an end to all internal disputes. The Senateand people formed themselves into one assembly, and with one voiceappointed Camillus dictator for the fifth time. He was now a very oldman, being near his eightieth year; but at this pressing crisis he madenone of his former excuses, but at once took the chief command andlevied an army for the war. As he knew that the chief power of the Gaulslay in their swords, with which they dealt heavy blows on the heads andshoulders of their enemy, without any skill in fence, he prepared formost of his soldiers helmets made entirely of smooth iron, so that theswords would either break or glance off them, while he also had brassrims fitted to their shields, because the wood by itself could notendure a blow. He also instructed the soldiers to use long pikes, and tothrust them forward to receive the sword-cuts of the enemy. 

XLI. When the Gauls were encamped on the banks of the Anio, near thecity, loaded with masses of plunder, Camillus led out his troops andposted them in a glen from which many valleys branched out, so that thegreater part of the force was concealed, and that which was seenappeared to be clinging in terror to the hilly ground. Camillus, wishingto confirm the enemy in this idea, would not move to prevent the countrybeing plundered before his eyes, but palisaded his camp and remainedquiet within it, until he saw that the foraging parties of the Gaulsstraggled in careless disorder, while those in the camp did nothing buteat and drink. Then, sending forward his light troops before daybreak tobe ready to harass the Gauls and prevent their forming their ranksproperly as they came out of their camp, he marched the heavy-armed mendown into the plain at sunrise, a numerous and confident body, and not, as the Gauls fancied, a few disheartened men. 

The very fact of his commencing the attack dashed the courage of theGauls; next, the attacks of the light troops, before they had got intotheir wonted array and divided themselves into regiments, produceddisorder. When at last Camillus led on the heavy-armed troops, the Gaulsran to meet them brandishing their swords, but the Romans with theirpikes advanced and met them, receiving their sword-cuts on their armour, which soon made the Gaulish swords bend double, as they were made ofsoft iron hammered out thin, while the shields of the Gauls werepierced and weighed down by the pikes that stuck in them. They thereforedropped their own arms, and endeavoured to seize the pikes and turn themagainst their enemies. But the Romans, seeing them now defenceless, began to use their swords, and slew many of the first ranks, while therest took to flight all over the flat country; for Camillus had takencare to guard the hills and rough ground, while the Gauls knew thatthey, in their over-confidence, had been at no pains to fortify theircamp, and that the Romans could easily take it. 

This battle is said to have been fought thirteen years after the captureof Rome, and in consequence of it the Romans conceived a contempt forthese barbarians, whom they had before greatly dreaded, and evenbelieved that their former victories over the Gauls were due to theirbeing weakened by pestilence, and to fortunate circumstances, ratherthan to their own valour. This raised so great a terror of them, that alaw was passed which relieved the priests from military service exceptin case of a Gaulish invasion. 

XLII. This was the last of Camillus's military exploits, though duringthis campaign he took the city of Velitrae, which yielded to him withouta battle. But his greatest political struggle was yet to come, for itwas harder to deal with the people now that they were elated withvictory. They insisted that the existing constitution should beannulled, and that one of the two consuls should be chosen from amongthem. They were opposed by the Senate, which would not permit Camillusto lay down his office, as the patricians imagined that with the help ofhis great power they could more easily defend their privileges. One day, however, as Camillus was sitting publicly doing business in the Forum, aviator or servant sent by the tribunes of the people bade him followhim, and even laid his hand upon him as if to arrest him. At this such adisturbance arose as had never been known before, as Camillus's partyendeavoured to push the officer down from the tribunal, while the peopleclamoured to him to drag the dictator from his seat. Camillus himself, not knowing what to do, would not lay down his office, but called theSenate to meet. Before entering the Senate house, he turned round tothe Capitol and prayed that the gods would bring affairs to a happytermination, vowing that when the present disorders were at an end hewould build a Temple of Concord. After a violent debate, the Senateagreed to adopt the milder course of yielding to the popular demand, andpermitting one of the two consuls to be chosen from the people. When thedictator announced this decision of the Senate to the people, they atonce, as was natural, were delighted with the Senate, and escortedCamillus home with applause and shouts. On the next day they met anddecreed that the Temple of Concord which Camillus had vowed should beerected on a spot facing the Forum, where these events had taken place;moreover, that the Latin games should continue for four days instead ofthree, and that all citizens of Rome should at once offer sacrifice andcrown themselves with garlands. 

In the assembly for the election of consuls, over which Camilluspresided there were elected Marcus Aemilius, a patrician, and LuciusSextius, the first plebeian ever elected consul. This was the result ofCamillus's administration. 

XLIII. In the following year a pestilence broke out in Rome whichdestroyed enormous numbers of people, and among them most of the leadingmen. And in this year died Camillus, at a ripe old age, full of yearsand honours, more regretted by the Romans than all those who died of theplague. 

LIFE OF PERIKLES. 

I. One day in Rome, Caesar, seeing some rich foreigners nursing andpetting young lapdogs and monkeys, enquired whether in their parts ofthe world the women bore no children: a truly imperial reproof to thosewho waste on animals the affection which they ought to bestow uponmankind. May we not equally blame those who waste the curiosity and loveof knowledge which belongs to human nature, by directing it toworthless, not to useful objects? It is indeed unavoidable that externalobjects, whether good or bad, should produce some effect upon oursenses; but every man is able, if he chooses, to concentrate his mindupon any subject he may please. For this reason we ought to seek virtue, not merely in order to contemplate it, but that we may ourselves derivesome benefit from so doing. Just as those colours whose blooming andpleasant hues refresh our sight are grateful to the eyes, so we ought byour studies to delight in that which is useful for our own lives; andthis is to be found in the acts of good men, which when narrated inciteus to imitate them. The effect does not take place in other cases, forwe frequently admire what we do not wish to produce; indeed we often arecharmed with the work, but despise the workman, as in the case of dyesand perfumery which we take pleasure in, although we regard dyers andperfumers as vulgar artizans. That was a clever saying of Antisthenes, who answered, when he heard that Ismenias was a capital flute-player, "But he must be a worthless man, for if he were not, he would not besuch a capital flute-player!" and King Philip of Macedon, when his sonplayed brilliantly and agreeably on the harp at an entertainment, saidto him, "Are you not ashamed, to play so well?"

It is enough for a king, if he sometimes employs his leisure inlistening to musicians, and it is quite a sufficient tribute from him tothe Muses, if he is present at the performances of other persons. 

II. If a man devotes himself to these trifling arts, the time which hewastes upon them proves that he is incapable of higher things. No wellnurtured youth, on seeing the statue of Jupiter Olympius at Pisa, wishesthat he were a Pheidias, or that he were a Polykleitus on seeing thestatue of Juno at Argos, nor yet while he takes pleasure in poetry, doeshe wish that he were an Anakreon, a Philetas, or an Archilochus; for itdoes not necessarily follow that we esteem the workman because we arepleased with the work. For this reason men are not benefited by anyspectacle which does not encourage them to imitation, and wherereflection upon what they have observed does not make them also wish todo likewise; whereas we both admire the deeds to which virtue incites, and long to emulate the doers of them. 

We enjoy the good things which we owe to fortune, but we admire virtuousactions; and while we wish to receive the former, we wish ourselves tobenefit others by the latter. That which is in itself admirable kindlesin us a desire of emulation, whether we see noble deeds presented beforeus, or read of them in history. It was with this purpose that I haveengaged in writing biography, and have arranged this tenth book tocontain the lives of Perikles and of Fabius Maximus, who fought againstHannibal, men who especially resembled one another in the gentleness andjustice of their disposition, and who were both of the greatest serviceto their native countries, because they were able to endure withpatience the follies of their governments and colleagues. Of my success, the reader of the following pages will be able to judge for themself. 

III. Perikles was of the tribe Akamantis, and of the township ofCholargos, and was descended from the noblest families in Athens, onboth his father's and mother's side. His father, Xanthippus, defeatedthe Persian generals at Mykalé, while his mother, Agariste, was adescendant of Kleisthenes, who drove the sons of Peisistratus out ofAthens, put an end to their despotic rule, and established a newconstitution admirably calculated to reconcile all parties and save thecountry. She dreamed that she had brought forth a lion, and a few daysafterwards was delivered of Perikles. His body was symmetrical, but hishead was long out of all proportion; for which reason in nearly all hisstatues he is represented wearing a helmet, as the sculptors did notwish, I suppose, to reproach him with this blemish. The Attic poetscalled him squill-head, and the comic poet, Kratinus, in his play'Cheirones, ' says, "From Kronos old and faction, Is sprung a tyrant dread, And all Olympus calls him, The man-compelling head. "

And again in the play of 'Nemesis'

 "Come, hospitable Zeus, with lofty head. "

Telekleides, too, speaks of him as sitting

 "Bowed down With a dreadful frown, Because matters of state have gone wrong, Until at last, From his head so vast, His ideas burst forth in a throng. "

And Eupolis, in his play of 'Demoi, ' asking questions about each of thegreat orators as they come up from the other world one after the other, when at last Perikles ascends, says, "The great headpiece of those below. "

IV. Most writers tell us that his tutor in music was Damon, whose namethey say should be pronounced with the first syllable short. Aristotle, however, says that he studied under Pythokleides. This Damon, it seems, was a sophist of the highest order, who used the name of music toconceal this accomplishment from the world, but who really trainedPerikles for his political contests just as a trainer prepares anathlete for the games. However, Damon's use of music as a pretext didnot impose upon the Athenians, who banished him by ostracism, as abusybody and lover of despotism. He was ridiculed by the comic poets;thus Plato represents some one as addressing him, "Answer me this, I humbly do beseech, For thou, like Cheiron, Perikles did'st teach. "

Perikles also attended the lectures of Zeno, of Elea, on naturalphilosophy, in which that philosopher followed the method of Parmenides. Zeno moreover had made an especial study of how to reduce any man tosilence who questioned him, and how to enclose him between the horns ofa dilemma, which is alluded to by Timon of Phlius in the followingverses:

 "Nor weak the strength of him of two-edged tongue, Zeno that carps at all. "

But it was Anaxagoras of Klazomenae who had most to do with formingPerikles's style, teaching him an elevation and sublimity of expressionbeyond that of ordinary popular speakers, and altogether purifying andennobling his mind. This Anaxagoras was called Nous, or Intelligence, bythe men of that day, either because they admired his own intellect, orbecause he taught that an abstract intelligence is to be traced in allthe concrete forms of matter, and that to this, and not to chance, theuniverse owes its origin. 

V. Perikles greatly admired Anaxagoras, and became deeply interested inthese grand speculations, which gave him a haughty spirit and a loftystyle of oratory far removed from vulgarity and low buffoonery, and alsoan imperturbable gravity of countenance, and a calmness of demeanour andappearance which no incident could disturb as he was speaking, while thetone of his voice never showed that he heeded any interruption. Theseadvantages greatly impressed the people. Once he sat quietly all day inthe market-place despatching some pressing business, reviled in thefoulest terms all the while by some low worthless fellow. Towardsevening he walked home, the man following him and heaping abuse uponhim. When about to enter his own door, as it was dark, he ordered one ofhis servants to take a torch and light the man home. The poet Ion, however, says that Perikles was overbearing and insolent inconversation, and that his pride had in it a great deal of contempt forothers; while he praises Kimon's civil, sensible, and polished address. But we may disregard Ion, as a mere dramatic poet who always sees ingreat men something upon which to exercise his satiric vein; whereasZeno used to invite those who called the haughtiness of Perikles a merecourting of popularity and affectation of grandeur, to court popularitythemselves in the same fashion, since the acting of such a part mightinsensibly mould their dispositions until they resembled that of theirmodel. 

VI. These were not the only advantages which Perikles gained from hisintimacy with Anaxagoras, but he seems to have learned to despise thosesuperstitious fears which the common phenomena of the heavens produce inthose who, ignorant of their cause, and knowing nothing about them, refer them all to the immediate action of the gods. Knowledge ofphysical science, while it puts an end to superstitious terrors, replaces them by a sound basis of piety. It is said that once a ram withone horn was sent from the country as a present to Perikles, and thatLampon the prophet, as soon as he saw this strong horn growing out ofthe middle of the creature's forehead, said that as there were twoparties in the state, that of Thucydides and that of Perikles, he whopossessed this mystic animal would unite the two into one. Anaxagorascut open the beast's skull, and pointed out that its brain did not fillthe whole space, but was sunken into the shape of an egg, and allcollected at that part from which the horn grew. At the time all menlooked with admiration on Anaxagoras, but afterwards, when Thucydideshad fallen, and all the state had become united under Perikles, theyadmired Lampon equally. 

There is, I imagine, no reason why both the prophet and the naturalphilosopher should not have been right, the one discovering the cause, and the other the meaning. The one considered why the horn grew so, andfor what reason; the other declared what it _meant_ by growing so, andfor what _end_ it took place. Those who say that when the cause of aportent is found out the portent is explained away, do not reflect thatthe same reasoning which explains away heavenly portents would also putan end to the meaning of the conventional signals used by mankind. Theringing of bells, the blaze of beacon fires, and the shadows on a dialare all of them produced by natural causes, but have a further meaning. But perhaps all this belongs to another subject. 

VII. Perikles when young greatly feared the people. He had a certainpersonal likeness to the despot Peisistratus; and as his own voice wassweet, and he was ready and fluent in speech, old men who had knownPeisistratus were struck by his resemblance to him. He was also rich, ofnoble birth, and had powerful friends, so that he feared he might bebanished by ostracism, and consequently held aloof from politics, butproved himself a brave and daring soldier in the wars. But whenAristeides was dead, Themistokles banished, and Kimon generally absenton distant campaigns, Perikles engaged in public affairs, taking thepopular side, that of the poor and many against that of the rich andfew, quite contrary to his own feelings, which were entirelyaristocratic. He feared, it seems, that he might be suspected of adesign to make himself despot, and seeing that Kimon took the side ofthe nobility, and was much beloved by them, he betook himself to thepeople, as a means of obtaining safety for himself, and a strong partyto combat that of Kimon. He immediately altered his mode of life; wasnever seen in any street except that which led to the market-place andthe national assembly, and declined all invitations to dinner and suchlike social gatherings, so utterly that during the whole of his longpolitical life he never dined with one of his friends, except when hisfirst cousin, Euryptolemus, was married. On this occasion he sat attable till the libations were poured, upon which he at once got up andwent away. For solemnity is wont to unbend at festive gatherings, and amajestic demeanour is hard to keep up when one is in familiarintercourse with others. True virtue, indeed, appears more glorious themore it is seen, and a really good man's life is never so much admiredby the outside world as by his own intimate friends. But Perikles fearedto make himself too common even with the people, and only addressedthem after long intervals--not speaking upon every subject, and, notconstantly addressing them, but, as Kritolaus says, keeping himself likethe Salaminian trireme for great crises, and allowing his friends andthe other orators to manage matters of less moment. One of these friendsis said to have been Ephialtes, who destroyed the power of the Councilof the Areopagus, "pouring out, " as Plato, the comic poet, said, "a fulland unmixed draught of liberty for the citizens, " under the influence ofwhich the poets of the time said that the Athenian people

 "Nibbled at Euboea, like a horse that spurns the rein, And wantonly would leap upon the islands in the main. "

VIII. Wishing to adopt a style of speaking consonant with his haughtymanner and lofty spirit, Perikles made free use of the instrument whichAnaxagoras as it were put into his hand, and often tinged his oratorywith natural philosophy. He far surpassed all others by using this"lofty intelligence and power of universal consummation, " as the divinePlato calls it;[A] in addition to his natural advantages, adorning hisoratory with apt illustrations drawn from physical science. 

[Footnote A: Plato, Phaedrus. ]

For this reason some think that he was nicknamed the Olympian; thoughsome refer this to his improvement of the city by new and beautifulbuildings, and others from his power both as a politician and a general. It is not by any means unlikely that these causes all combined toproduce the name. Yet the comedies of that time, when they allude tohim, either in jest or earnest, always appear to think that this namewas given him because of his manner of speaking, as they speak of him as"thundering and lightening, " and "rolling fateful thunders from histongue. " A saying of Thucydides, the son of Melesias, has beenpreserved, which jestingly testifies to the power of Perikles'seloquence. Thucydides was the leader of the conservative party, and fora long time struggled to hold his own against Perikles in debate. Oneday Archidamus, the King of Sparta, asked him whether he or Perikles wasthe best wrestler. "When I throw him in wrestling, " Thucydides answered, "he beats me by proving that he never was down, and making thespectators believe him. " For all this Perikles was very cautious abouthis words, and whenever he ascended the tribune to speak, used first topray to the gods that nothing unfitted for the present occasion mightfall from his lips. He left no writings, except the measures which hebrought forward, and very few of his sayings are recorded. One of thesewas, that he called Aegina "the eyesore of the Peiraeus, " and that "hesaw war coming upon Athens from Peloponnesus. " Stesimbrotus tells usthat when he was pronouncing a public funeral oration over those whofell in Samos, he said that they had become immortal, even as the gods:for we do not see the gods, but we conceive them to be immortal by therespect which we pay them, and the blessings which we receive from them;and the same is the case with those who die for their country. 

IX. Thucydides represents the constitution under Perikles as a democracyin name, but really an aristocracy, because the government was all inthe hands of one leading citizen. But as many other writers tell us thatduring his administration the people received grants of land abroad, andwere indulged with dramatic entertainments, and payments for theirservices, in consequence of which they fell into bad habits, and becameextravagant and licentious, instead of sober hard-working people as theyhad been before, let us consider the history of this change, viewing itby the light of the facts themselves. First of all, as we have alreadysaid, Perikles had to measure himself with Kimon, and to transfer theaffections of the people from Kimon to himself. As he was not so rich aman as Kimon, who used from his own ample means to give a dinner dailyto any poor Athenian who required it, clothe aged persons, and take awaythe fences round his property, so that any one might gather the fruit, Perikles, unable to vie with him in this, turned his attention to adistribution of the public funds among the people, at the suggestion, weare told by Aristotle, of Damonides of Oia. By the money paid for publicspectacles, for citizens acting as jurymen and other paid offices, andlargesses, he soon won over the people to his side, so that he was ableto use them in his attack upon the Senate of the Areopagus, of which hehimself was not a member, never having been chosen Archon, orThesmothete, or King Archon, or Polemarch. These offices had fromancient times been obtained by lot, and it was only through them thatthose who had approved themselves in the discharge of them were advancedto the Areopagus. For this reason it was that Perikles, when he gainedstrength with the populace, destroyed this Senate, making Ephialtesbring forward a bill which restricted its judicial powers, while hehimself succeeded in getting Kimon banished by ostracism, as a friend ofSparta and a hater of the people, although he was second to no Athenianin birth or fortune, had won most brilliant victories over the Persians, and had filled Athens with plunder and spoils of war, as will be foundrelated in his life. So great was the power of Perikles with the commonpeople. 

X. One of the provisions of ostracism was that the person banishedshould remain in exile for ten years. But during this period theLacedaemonians with a great force invaded the territory of Tanagra, and, as the Athenians at once marched out to attack them, Kimon came backfrom exile, took his place in full armour among the ranks of his owntribe, and hoped by distinguishing himself in the battle amongst hisfellow citizens to prove the falsehood of the Laconian sympathies withwhich he had been charged. However, the friends of Perikles drove himaway, as an exile. On the other hand, Perikles fought more bravely inthat battle than he had ever fought before, and surpassed every one inreckless daring. The friends of Kimon also, whom Perikles had accused ofLaconian leanings, fell, all together, in their ranks; and the Atheniansfelt great sorrow for their treatment of Kimon, and a great longing forhis restoration, now that they had lost a great battle on the frontier, and expected to be hard pressed during the summer by the Lacedaemonians. Perikles, perceiving this, lost no time in gratifying the popular wish, but himself proposed the decree for his recall; and Kimon on his returnreconciled the two States, for he was on familiar terms with theSpartans, who were hated by Perikles and the other leaders of the commonpeople. Some say that, before Kimon's recall by Perikles, a secretcompact was made with him by Elpinike, Kimon's sister, that Kimon wasto proceed on foreign service against the Persians with a fleet of twohundred ships, while Perikles was to retain his power in the city. It isalso said that, when Kimon was being tried for his life, Elpinikesoftened the resentment of Perikles, who was one of those appointed toimpeach him. When Elpinike came to beg her brother's life of him, heanswered with a smile, "Elpinike, you are too old to meddle in affairsof this sort. " But, for all that, he spoke only once, for form's sake, and pressed Kimon less than any of his other prosecutors. How, then, canone put any faith in Idomeneus, when he accuses Perikles of procuringthe assassination of his friend and colleague Ephialtes, because he wasjealous of his reputation? This seems an ignoble calumny, whichIdomeneus has drawn from some obscure source to fling at a man who, nodoubt, was not faultless, but of a generous spirit and noble mind, incapable of entertaining so savage and brutal a design. Ephialtes wasdisliked and feared by the nobles, and was inexorable in punishing thosewho wronged the people; wherefore his enemies had him assassinated bymeans of Aristodikus of Tanagra. This we are told by Aristotle. Kimondied in Cyprus, while in command of the Athenian forces. 

XI. The nobles now perceived that Perikles was the most important man inthe State, and far more powerful than any other citizen; wherefore, asthey still hoped to check his authority, and not allow him to beomnipotent, they set up Thucydides, of the township of Alopekae, as hisrival, a man of good sense, and a relative of Kimon, but less of awarrior and more of a politician, who, by watching his opportunities, and opposing Perikles in debate, soon brought about a balance of power. He did not allow the nobles to mix themselves up with the people in thepublic assembly, as they had been wont to do, so that their dignity waslost among the masses; but he collected them into a separate body, andby thus concentrating their strength was able to use it tocounterbalance that of the other party. From the beginning these twofactions had been but imperfectly welded together, because theirtendencies were different; but now the struggle for power betweenPerikles and Thucydides drew a sharp line of demarcation between them, and one was called the party of the Many, the other that of the Few. Perikles now courted the people in every way, constantly arrangingpublic spectacles, festivals, and processions in the city, by which heeducated the Athenians to take pleasure in refined amusements; and alsohe sent out sixty triremes to cruise every year, in which many of thepeople served for hire for eight months, learning and practisingseamanship. Besides this he sent a thousand settlers to the Chersonese, five hundred to Naxos, half as many to Andros, a thousand to dwell amongthe Thracian tribe of the Bisaltae, and others to the new colony inItaly founded by the city of Sybaris, which was named Thurii. By thismeans he relieved the state of numerous idle agitators, assisted thenecessitous, and overawed the allies of Athens by placing his colonistsnear them to watch their behaviour. 

XII. The building of the temples, by which Athens was adorned, thepeople delighted, and the rest of the world astonished, and which nowalone prove that the tales of the ancient power and glory of Greece areno fables, was what particularly excited the spleen of the oppositefaction, who inveighed against him in the public assembly, declaringthat the Athenians had disgraced themselves by transferring the commontreasury of the Greeks from the island of Delos to their own custody. "Perikles himself, " they urged, "has taken away the only possible excusefor such an act--the fear that it might be exposed to the attacks of thePersians when at Delos, whereas it would be safe at Athens. Greece hasbeen outraged, and feels itself openly tyrannised over, when it sees ususing the funds which we extorted from it for the war against thePersians, for gilding and beautifying our city, as if it were a vainwoman, and adorning it with precious marbles, and statues, and temples, worth a thousand talents. " To this Perikles replied, that the allies hadno right to consider how their money was spent, so long as Athensdefended them from the Persians; while they supplied neither horses, ships, nor men, but merely money, which the Athenians had a right tospend as they pleased, provided they afforded them that security whichit purchased. It was right, he argued, that, after the city had providedall that was necessary for war, it should devote its surplus money tothe erection of buildings which would be a glory to it for all ages, while these works would create plenty by leaving no man unemployed, andencouraging all sorts of handicraft, so that nearly the whole city wouldearn wages, and thus derive both its beauty and its profit from itself. For those who were in the flower of their age, military service offereda means of earning money from the common stock; while, as he did notwish the mechanics and lower classes to be without their share, nor yetto see them receive it without doing work for it, he had laid thefoundations of great edifices which would require industries of everykind to complete them; and he had done this in the interests of thelower classes, who thus, although they remained at home, would have justas good a claim to their share of the public funds as those who wereserving at sea, in garrison, or in the field. The different materialsused, such as stone, brass, ivory, gold, ebony, cypress-wood, and soforth, would require special artizans for each, such as carpenters, modellers, smiths, stone masons, dyers, melters and moulders of gold, and ivory painters, embroiderers, workers in relief; and also men tobring them to the city, such as sailors and captains of ships and pilotsfor such as came by sea; and, for those who came by land, carriagebuilders, horse breeders, drivers, rope makers, linen manufacturers, shoemakers, road menders, and miners. Each trade, moreover, employed anumber of unskilled labourers, so that, in a word, there would be workfor persons of every age and every class, and general prosperity wouldbe the result. 

XIII. These buildings were of immense size, and unequalled in beauty andgrace, as the workmen endeavoured to make the execution surpass thedesign in beauty; but what was most remarkable was the speed with whichthey were built. All these edifices, each of which one would havethought, it would have taken many generations to complete, were allfinished during the most brilliant period of one man's administration. We are told that Zeuxis, hearing Agatharchus, the painter, boasting howeasily and rapidly he could produce a picture, said, "I paint veryslowly. " Ease, and speed of execution, seldom produces work of anypermanent value or delicacy. It is the time which is spent in laboriousproduction for which we are repaid by the durable character of theresult. And this makes Perikles's work all the more wonderful, becauseit was built in a short time, and yet has lasted for ages. In beautyeach of them at once appeared venerable as soon as it was built; buteven at the present day the work looks as fresh as ever, for they bloomwith an eternal freshness which defies time, and seems to make the workinstinct with an unfading spirit of youth. 

The overseer and manager of the whole was Pheidias, although there wereother excellent architects and workmen, such as Kallikrates and Iktinus, who built the Parthenon on the site of the old Hekatompedon, which hadbeen destroyed by the Persians, and Koroebus, who began to build theTemple of Initiation at Eleusis, but who only lived to see the columnserected and the architraves placed upon them. On his death, Metagenes, of Xypete, added the frieze and the upper row of columns, and Xenokles, of Cholargos, crowned it with the domed roof over the shrine. As to thelong wall, about which Sokrates says that he heard Perikles bringforward a motion, Kallikrates undertook to build it. Kratinus satirisesthe work for being slowly accomplished, saying

 "He builds in speeches, but he does no work. "

The Odeum, which internally consisted of many rows of seats and manycolumns, and externally of a roof sloping on all sides from a centralpoint, was said to have been built in imitation of the king of Persia'stent, and was built under Perikles's direction. For this reason Kratinusalludes to him in his play of the 'Thracian Woman'--

 "Our Jove with lofty skull appears; The Odeum on his head he bears, Because he fears the oyster-shell no more. "

Perikles at that period used his influence to pass a decree forestablishing a musical competition at the Panathenaic festival; and, being himself chosen judge, he laid down rules as to how the candidateswere to sing, and play the flute or the harp. At that period, and everafterwards, all musical contests took place in the Odeum. 

The Propylaea, before the Acropolis, were finished in five years, byMnesikles the architect; and a miraculous incident during the workseemed to show that the goddess did not disapprove, but ratherencouraged and assisted the building. The most energetic and active ofthe workmen fell from a great height, and lay in a dangerous condition, given over by his doctors. Perikles grieved much for him; but thegoddess appeared to him in a dream, and suggested a course of treatmentby which Perikles quickly healed the workman. In consequence of this, heset up the brazen statue of Athene the Healer, near the old altar in theAcropolis. The golden statue of the goddess was made by Pheidias, andhis name appears upon the basement in the inscription. Almost everythingwas in his hands, and he gave his orders to all the workmen--as we havesaid before--because of his friendship with Perikles. This led to theirboth being envied and belied; for it was said that Perikles, with theconnivance of Pheidias, carried on intrigues with Athenian ladies, whocame ostensibly to see the works. This accusation was taken up by thecomic poets, who charged him with great profligacy, hinting that he hadan improper passion for the wife of Menippus, his friend, and alieutenant-general in the army. Even the bird-fancying of Pyrilampes, because he was a friend of Perikles, was misrepresented, and he was saidto give peacocks to the ladies who granted their favours to Perikles. But, indeed, how can we wonder at satirists bringing foul accusationsagainst their betters, and offering them up as victims to the spite ofthe populace, when we find Stesimbrotus, of Thasos, actually inventingthat unnatural and abominable falsehood of Perikles's intrigue with hisown daughter-in-law. So hard is it to discover the truth, because thehistory of past ages is rendered difficult by the lapse of time; whilein contemporary history the truth is always obscured, either by privatespite and hatred, or by a desire to curry favour with the chief men ofthe time. 

XIV. When the speakers of Thucydides's party complained that Perikleshad wasted the public money, and destroyed the revenue, he asked thepeople in the assembly whether they thought he had spent much. When theyanswered "Very much indeed, " he said in reply, "Do not, then, put itdown to the public account, but to mine; and I will inscribe my nameupon all the public buildings. " When Perikles said this, the people, either in admiration of his magnificence of manner, or being eager tobear their share in the glory of the new buildings, shouted to him withone accord to take what money he pleased from the treasury, and spend itas he pleased, without stint. And finally, he underwent the trial ofostracism with Thucydides, and not only succeeded in driving him intoexile, but broke up his party. 

XV. As now there was no opposition to encounter in the city, and allparties had been blended into one, Perikles undertook the soleadministration of the home and foreign affairs of Athens, dealing withthe public revenue, the army, the navy, the islands and maritimeaffairs, and the great sources of strength which Athens derived from heralliances, as well with Greek as with foreign princes and states. Henceforth he became quite a different man: he no longer gave way to thepeople, and ceased to watch the breath of popular favour; but he changedthe loose and licentious democracy, which had hitherto existed, into astricter aristocratic, or rather monarchical, form of government. Thishe used honourably and unswervingly for the public benefit, finding thepeople, as a rule, willing to second the measures which he explained tothem to be necessary, and to which he asked their consent, butoccasionally having to use violence, and to force them, much againsttheir will, to do what was expedient; like a physician dealing with somecomplicated disorder, who at one time allows his patient innocentrecreation, and at another inflicts upon him sharp pains and bitter, though salutary, draughts. Every possible kind of disorder was to befound among a people possessing so great an empire as the Athenians; andhe alone was able to bring them into harmony, by playing alternatelyupon their hopes and fears, checking them when over-confident, andraising their spirits when they were cast down and disheartened. Thus, as Plato says, he was able to prove that oratory is the art ofinfluencing men's minds, and to use it in its highest application, whenit deals with men's passions and characters, which, like certain stringsof a musical instrument, require a skilful and delicate touch. Thesecret of his power is to be found, however, as Thucydides says, not somuch in his mere oratory, as in his pure and blameless life, because hewas so well known to be incorruptible, and indifferent to money; forthough he made the city, which was a great one, into the greatest andrichest city of Greece, and though he himself became more powerful thanmany independent sovereigns, who were able to leave their kingdoms totheir sons, yet Perikles did not increase by one single drachma theestate which he received from his father. 

XVI. This is the clear account of his power which is given by Thucydidesthe historian; though the comic poets misrepresent him atrociously, calling his immediate followers the New Peisistratidae, and calling uponhim to swear that he never would make himself despot, as though hispre-eminence was not to be borne in a free state. And Telekleides says, that the Athenians delivered up into his hands

 "The tribute from the towns, the towns themselves, The city walls, to build or to destroy, The right of making either peace or war, And all the wealth and produce of the land. "

And all this was not on any special occasion, or when his administrationwas especially popular, but for forty years he held the first placeamong such men as Ephialtes, Leokrates, Myronides, Kimon, Tolmides, andThucydides; and, after the fall and banishment of Thucydides byostracism, he united in himself for five-and-twenty years all thevarious offices of state, which were supposed to last only for one year;and yet during the whole of that period proved himself incorruptible bybribes. As to his paternal estate, he was loth to lose it, and stillmore to be troubled with the management of it; consequently, he adoptedwhat seemed to him the simplest and most exact method of dealing withit. Every year's produce was sold all together, and with the money thusobtained, he would buy what was necessary for his household in themarket, and thus regulate his expenditure. This did not make himpopular with his sons when they grew up; nor yet did the women of hisfamily think him a liberal manager, but blamed his exact regulation ofhis daily expenses, which allowed none of the superfluities common ingreat and wealthy households, but which made the debit and creditexactly balance each other. One servant, Euangelos, kept all hisaccounts, as no one else had either capacity or education enough to beable to do so. These proceedings differed greatly from those ofAnaxagoras the philosopher, who left his house, and let his estate go toruin, while he pursued his lofty speculations. I conceive, however, thatthe life of a philosopher and that of a practical politician are not thesame, as the one directs his thoughts to abstract ideas, while the otherdevotes his genius to supplying the real wants of mankind, and in somecases finds wealth not only necessary, but most valuable to him, asindeed it was to Perikles, who assisted many of the poorer citizens. Itis said that, as Perikles was engaged in public affairs, Anaxagoras, whowas now an old man and in want, covered his head with his robe, anddetermined to starve himself to death; but when Perikles heard of this, he at once ran to him, and besought him to live, lamenting, notAnaxagoras's fate, but his own, if he should lose so valuable apolitical adviser. Then Anaxagoras uncovered his head, and said to him, "Perikles, those who want to use a lamp supply it with oil. "

XVII. As the Lacedaemonians began to be jealous of the prosperity of theAthenians, Perikles, wishing to raise the spirit of the people and tomake them feel capable of immense operations, passed a decree, invitingall the Greeks, whether inhabiting Europe or Asia, whether living inlarge cities or small ones, to send representatives to a meeting atAthens to deliberate about the restoration of the Greek temples whichhad been burned by the barbarians, about the sacrifices which were duein consequence of the vows which they had made to the gods on behalf ofGreece before joining battle, and about the sea, that all men might beable to sail upon it in peace and without fear. To carry out this decreetwenty men, selected from the citizens over fifty years of age, weresent out, five of whom invited the Ionian and Dorian Greeks in Asia andthe islands as far as Lesbos and Rhodes, five went to the inhabitants ofthe Hellespont and Thrace as far as Byzantium, and five more proceededto Boeotia, Phokis, and Peloponnesus, passing from thence through Lokristo the neighbouring continent as far as Akarnania and Ambrakia; whilethe remainder journeyed through Euboea to the Oetaeans and the Maliangulf, and to the Achaeans of Phthia and the Thessalians, urging them tojoin the assembly and take part in the deliberations concerning thepeace and well-being of Greece. However, nothing was effected, and thecities never assembled, in consequence it is said of the coverthostility of the Lacedaemonians, and because the attempt was first madein Peloponnesus and failed there: yet I have inserted an account of itin order to show the lofty spirit and the magnificent designs ofPerikles. 

XVIII. In his campaigns he was chiefly remarkable for caution, for hewould not, if he could help it, begin a battle of which the issue wasdoubtful; nor did he wish to emulate those generals who have wonthemselves a great reputation by running risks, and trusting to goodluck. But he ever used to say to his countrymen, that none of themshould come by their deaths through any act of his. Observing thatTolmides, the son of Tolmaeus, elated by previous successes and by thecredit which he had gained as a general, was about to invade Boeotia ina reckless manner, and had persuaded a thousand young men to follow himwithout any support whatever, he endeavoured to stop him, and made thatmemorable saying in the public assembly, that if Tolmides would not takethe advice of Perikles, he would at any rate do well to consult thatbest of advisers, Time. This speech had but little success at the time;but when, a few days afterwards, the news came that Tolmides had fallenin action at Koronea, and many noble citizens with him, Perikles wasgreatly respected and admired as a wise and patriotic man. 

XIX. His most successful campaign was that in the Chersonesus, whichproved the salvation of the Greeks residing there: for he not onlysettled a thousand colonists there, and thus increased the availableforce of the cities, but built a continuous line of fortificationsreaching across the isthmus from one sea to the other, by which he shutoff the Thracians, who had previously ravaged the peninsula, and put anend to a constant and harassing border warfare to which the settlerswere exposed, as they had for neighbours tribes of wild plunderingbarbarians. 

But that by which he obtained most glory and renown was when he startedfrom Pegae, in the Megarian territory, and sailed round the Peloponnesuswith a fleet of a hundred triremes; for he not only laid waste much ofthe country near the coast, as Tolmides had previously done, but heproceeded far inland, away from his ships, leading the troops who wereon board, and terrified the inhabitants so much that they shutthemselves up in their strongholds. The men of Sikyon alone ventured tomeet him at Nemea, and them he overthrew in a pitched battle, anderected a trophy. Next he took on board troops from the friendlydistrict of Achaia, and, crossing over to the opposite side of theCorinthian Gulf, coasted along past the mouth of the river Achelous, overran Akarnania, drove the people of Oeneadae to the shelter of theircity walls, and after ravaging the country returned home, having madehimself a terror to his enemies, and done good service to Athens; fornot the least casualty, even by accident, befel the troops under hiscommand. 

XX. When he sailed into the Black Sea with a great and splendidlyequipped fleet, he assisted the Greek cities there, and treated themwith consideration; and showed the neighbouring savage tribes and theirchiefs the greatness of his force, and his confidence in his power, bysailing where he pleased, and taking complete control over that sea. Heleft at Sinope thirteen ships, and a land force under the command ofLamachus, to act against Timesileon, who had made himself despot of thatcity. When he and his party were driven out, Perikles passed a decreethat six hundred Athenian volunteers should sail to Sinope, and becomecitizens there, receiving the houses and lands which had formerly beenin the possession of the despot and his party. But in other cases hewould not agree to the impulsive proposals of the Athenians, and heopposed them when, elated by their power and good fortune, they talkedof recovering Egypt and attacking the seaboard of the Persian empire. Many, too, were inflamed with that ill-starred notion of an attempt onSicily, which was afterwards blown into a flame by Alkibiades and otherorators. Some even dreamed of the conquest of Etruria and Carthage, inconsequence of the greatness which the Athenian empire had alreadyreached, and the full tide of success which seemed to attend it. 

XXI. Perikles, however, restrained these outbursts, and would not allowthe people to meddle with foreign states, but used the power of Athenschiefly to preserve and guard her already existing empire, thinking itto be of paramount importance to oppose the Lacedaemonians, a task towhich he bent all his energies, as is proved by many of his acts, especially in connection with the Sacred War. In this war theLacedaemonians sent a force to Delphi, and made the Phokaeans, who heldit, give it up to the people of Delphi: but as soon as they were gonePerikles made an expedition into the country, and restored the temple tothe Phokaeans; and as the Lacedaemonians had scratched the oracle whichthe Delphians had given them, on the forehead of the brazen wolf there, Perikles got a response from the oracle for the Athenians, and carved iton the right side of the same wolf. 

XXII. Events proved that Perikles was right in confining the Athenianempire to Greece. First of all Euboea revolted, and he was obliged tolead an army to subdue that island. Shortly after this, news came thatthe Megarians had become hostile, and that an army, under the command ofPleistoanax, king of the Lacedaemonians, was menacing the frontier ofAttica. Perikles now in all haste withdrew his troops from Euboea, tomeet the invader. He did not venture on an engagement with the numerousand warlike forces of the enemy, although repeatedly invited by them tofight: but, observing that Pleistoanax was a very young man, andentirely under the influence of Kleandrides, whom the Ephors had sent toact as his tutor and counsellor because of his tender years, he openedsecret negotiations with the latter, who at once, for a bribe, agreed towithdraw the Peloponnesians from Attica. When their army returned anddispersed, the Lacedaemonians were so incensed that they imposed a fineon their king, and condemned Kleandrides, who fled the country, to beput to death. This Kleandrides was the father of Gylippus, who causedthe ruin of the Athenian expedition in Sicily. Avarice seems to havebeen hereditary in the family, for Gylippus himself, after brilliantexploits in war, was convicted of taking bribes, and banished fromSparta in disgrace. This is more fully set forth in the Life ofLysander. 

XXIII. When Perikles submitted the accounts of the campaign to thepeople, there was an item of ten talents, "for a necessary purpose, "which the people passed without any questioning, or any curiosity tolearn the secret. Some historians, amongst whom is Theophrastus thephilosopher, say that Perikles sent ten talents annually to Sparta, bymeans of which he bribed the chief magistrates to defer the war, thusnot buying peace, but time to make preparations for a better defence. Heimmediately turned his attention to the insurgents in Euboea, andproceeding thither with a fleet of fifty sail, and five thousand heavyarmed troops, he reduced their cities to submission. He banished fromChalkis the "equestrian order, " as it was called, consisting of men ofwealth and station; and he drove all the inhabitants of Hestiaea out oftheir country, replacing them by Athenian settlers. 

He treated these people with this pitiless severity, because they hadcaptured an Athenian ship, and put its crew to the sword. 

XXIV. After this, as the Athenians and Lacedaemonians made a truce forthirty years, Perikles decreed the expedition against Samos, on thepretext that they had disregarded the commands of the Athenians, tocease from their war with the Milesians. It was thought that he beganthis war with the Samians to please Aspasia, and this is, therefore, agood opportunity to discuss that person's character, and how shepossessed so great influence and ability that the leading politicians ofthe day were at her feet, while philosophers discussed and admired herdiscourse. It is agreed that she was of Milesian origin, and that herfather's name was Axiochus; and she is said to have reserved her favoursfor the most powerful personages in Greece, in imitation of Thargelia, an Ionian lady of ancient times, of great beauty, ability, andattractions, who had many lovers among the Greeks, and brought them allover to the Persian interest, by which means the seeds of the Persianfaction were sown in many cities of Greece, as they were all men ofgreat influence and position. 

Now some writers say that Perikles valued Aspasia only for her wisdomand political ability. Indeed Sokrates and his friends used to frequenther society; and those who listened to her discourse used to bring theirwives with them, that they too might profit by it, although herprofession was far from being honourable or decent, for she keptcourtesans in her house. Aeschines says that Lysikles, the sheep dealer, a low-born and low-minded man, became one of the first men in Athens, because he lived with Aspasia after Perikles's death. In Plato'sdialogue too, called 'Menexenus, ' though the first part is written in ahumorous style, yet there is in it thus much of serious truth, that shewas thought to discuss questions of rhetoric with many Athenians. ButPerikles seems to have been more enamoured of Aspasia's person than herintellect. He was married to a woman who was nearly related to him, whohad previously been the wife of Hipponikus, by whom she became themother of Kallias the rich. By her Perikles had two sons, Xanthippus andParalus; but afterwards, as they could not live comfortably together, he, at his wife's wish, handed her over to another husband, and himselflived with Aspasia, of whom he was passionately fond. It is said that henever went in or out of his house during the day without kissing her. Inthe comedies of the time, she is spoken of as the new Omphale and asDeianeira, and sometimes as Hera (Juno). Kratinus plainly speaks of heras a harlot in the following lines:

 "To him Vice bore a Juno new, Aspasia, shameless harlot. "

He is thought to have had a bastard son by her, who is mentioned byEupolis in his play of 'The Townships, ' where Perikles is introduced, asking, "Lives then my son?" to which Myronides answers:

 "He lives, and long had claimed a manly name, But that he feared his harlot mother's shame. "

It is said that Aspasia became so illustrious and well known that theCyrus who fought with his brother for the empire of Persia, called hisfavourite concubine Aspasia, though she had before been named Milto. Shewas a Phokaean by birth, the daughter of Hermotimus. After the death ofCyrus in battle, she was taken into the king's harem, and acquired greatinfluence with him. These particulars about Aspasia occurred to mymemory, and I thought that perhaps I might please my readers by relatingthem. 

XXV. Perikles is accused of going to war with Samos to save theMilesians, at the request of Aspasia. These States were at war about thepossession of the city of Priéne, and the Samians, who were victorious, would not lay down their arms and allow the Athenians to settle thematter by arbitration, as they ordered them to do. For this reasonPerikles proceeded to Samos, put an end to the oligarchical form ofgovernment there, and sent fifty hostages and as many children toLemnos, to ensure the good behaviour of the leading men. It is said thateach of these hostages offered him a talent for his own freedom, andthat much more was offered by that party which was loth to see ademocracy established in the city. Besides all this, Pissuthnes thePersian, who had a liking for the Samians, sent and offered him tenthousand pieces of gold if he would spare the city. Perikles, however, took none of these bribes, but dealt with Samos as he had previouslydetermined, and returned to Athens. The Samians now at once revolted, asPissuthnes managed to get them back their hostages, and furnished themwith the means of carrying on the war. Perikles now made a secondexpedition against them, and found them in no mind to submit quietly, but determined to dispute the empire of the seas with the Athenians. Perikles gained a signal victory over them in a sea-fight off the Goats'Island, beating a fleet of seventy ships with only forty-four, twenty ofwhich were transports. 

XXVI. Simultaneously with his victory and the flight of the enemy heobtained command of the harbour of Samos, and besieged the Samians intheir city. They, in spite of their defeat, still possessed courageenough to sally out and fight a battle under the walls; but soon alarger force arrived from Athens, and the Samians were completelyblockaded. 

Perikles now with sixty ships sailed out of the Archipelago into theMediterranean, according to the most current report intending to meetthe Phoenician fleet which was coming to help the Samians, but, according to Stesimbrotus, with the intention of attacking Cyprus, whichseems improbable. Whatever his intention may have been, his expeditionwas a failure, for Melissus, the son of Ithagenes, a man of culture, whowas then in command of the Samian forces, conceiving a contempt for thesmall force of the Athenians and the want of experience of their leadersafter Perikles's departure, persuaded his countrymen to attack them. Inthe battle the Samians proved victorious, taking many Atheniansprisoners, and destroying many of their ships. By this victory theyobtained command of the sea, and were able to supply themselves withmore warlike stores than they had possessed before. Aristotle even saysthat Perikles himself was before this beaten by Melissus in a sea-fight. The Samians branded the figure of an owl on the foreheads of theirAthenian prisoners, to revenge themselves for the branding of their ownprisoners by the Athenians with the figure of a _samaina_. This is aship having a beak turned up like a swine's snout, but with a roomyhull, so as both to carry a large cargo and sail fast. This class ofvessel is called _samaina_ because it was first built at Samos byPolykrates, the despot of that island. It is said that the verse ofAristophanes, "The Samians are a deeply lettered race, "

alludes to this branding. 

XXVII. When Perikles heard of the disaster which had befallen his army, he returned in all haste to assist them. He beat Melissus, who came outto meet him, and, after putting the enemy to rout, at once built a wallround their city, preferring to reduce it by blockade to risking thelives of his countrymen in an assault. As time went on the Atheniansbecame impatient and eager to fight, and it was hard to restrain theirardour. Perikles divided the whole force into eight divisions, and madethem all draw lots. The division which drew the white bean he permittedto feast and take their ease, while the rest did their duty. For thisreason those who are enjoying themselves call it a "white day, " inallusion to the white bean. Ephorus tells us that Perikles made use ofbattering engines in this siege, being attracted by their novelty, andthat Artemon the mechanician was present, who was surnamed Periphoretusbecause he was lame, and carried in a litter to see such of the works asrequired his superintendence. This story is proved to be false byHerakleides of Pontus, he quoting Anakreon's poems, in which ArtemonPeriphoretus is mentioned many generations before the revolt and siegeof Samos. He tells us that Artemon was an effeminate coward who spentmost of his time indoors, with two slaves holding a brazen shield overhis head for fear that anything should fall upon it, and if he wasobliged to go out, used to be carried in a hammock slung so low asalmost to touch the ground, from which he received the name ofPeriphoretus. 

XXVIII. In the ninth month of the siege the Samians surrendered. Perikles demolished their walls, confiscated their fleet, and imposed aheavy fine upon them, some part of which was paid at once by theSamians, who gave hostages for the payment of the remainder at fixedperiods. Douris, of Samos, makes a lamentable story of this, accusingPerikles and the Athenians of great cruelty, no mention of which is tobe found in Thucydides, Ephorus, or Aristotle. He obviously does nottell the truth when he says that Perikles took the captains and marinesoldiers of each ship to the market-place at Miletus, bound them toplanks, and after they had been so for ten days and were in a miserablestate, knocked them on the head with clubs and cast out their bodieswithout burial. But Douris, even in cases where he has no personal bias, prefers writing an exciting story to keeping to the exact truth, and inthis instance probably exaggerated the sufferings of his countrymen inorder to gratify his dislike of the Athenians. 

Perikles, after the reduction of Samos, returned to Athens, where heburied those who had fallen in the war in a magnificent manner, and wasmuch admired for the funeral oration which, as is customary, was spokenby him over the graves of his countrymen. When he descended from therostrum the women greeted him, crowning him with garlands and ribbonslike a victorious athlete, and Elpinike drawing near to him said, "Afine exploit, truly, Perikles, and well worthy of a crown, to lose manyof our brave fellow-citizens, not fighting with Persians or Phoenicians, as my brother Kimon did, but in ruining a city of men of our own bloodand our own allies. " At these words of Elpinike, Perikles merely smiledand repeated the verse of Archilochus--

 "Too old thou art for rich perfumes. "

Ion says that his victory over the Samians wonderfully flattered hisvanity. Agamemnon, he was wont to say, took ten years to take abarbarian city, but he in nine months had made himself master of thefirst and most powerful city in Ionia. And the comparison was not anunjust one, for truly the war was a very great undertaking, and itsissue quite uncertain, since, as Thucydides tells us, the Samians camevery near to wresting the empire of the sea from the Athenians. 

XXIX. After these events, as the clouds were gathering for thePeloponnesian war, Perikles persuaded the Athenians to send assistanceto the people of Korkyra, who were at war with the Corinthians, and thusto attach to their own side an island with a powerful naval force, at amoment when the Peloponnesians had all but declared war against them. 

When the people passed this decree, Perikles sent only ten ships underthe command of Lacedaemonius, the son of Kimon, as if he designed adeliberate insult; for the house of Kimon was on peculiarly friendlyterms with the Lacedaemonians. His design in sending Lacedaemonius out, against his will, and with so few ships, was that if he performednothing brilliant he might be accused, even more than he was already, ofleaning to the side of the Spartans. Indeed, by all means in his power, he always threw obstacles in the way of the advancement of Kimon'sfamily, representing that by their very names they were aliens, one sonbeing named Lacedaemonius, another Thessalus, another Eleius. Moreover, the mother of all three was an Arcadian. 

Now Perikles was much reproached for sending these ten ships, whichwere of little value to the Korkyreans, and gave a great handle to hisenemies to use against him, and in consequence sent a larger force afterthem to Korkyra, which arrived there after the battle. The Corinthians, enraged at this, complained in the congress of Sparta of the conduct ofthe Athenians, as did also the Megarians, who said that they wereexcluded from every market and every harbour which was in Athenianhands, contrary to the ancient rights and common privileges of theHellenic race. The people of Aegina also considered themselves to beoppressed and ill-treated, and secretly bemoaned their grievances in theears of the Spartans, for they dared not openly bring any chargesagainst the Athenians. At this time, too, Potidaea, a city subject toAthens, but a colony of Corinth, revolted, and its siege materiallyhastened the outbreak of the war. Archidamus, indeed, the king of theLacedaemonians, sent ambassadors to Athens, was willing to submit alldisputed points to arbitration, and endeavoured to moderate theexcitement of his allies, so that war probably would not have broken outif the Athenians could have been persuaded to rescind their decree ofexclusion against the Megarians, and to come to terms with them. And, for this reason, Perikles, who was particularly opposed to this, andurged the people not to give way to the Megarians, alone bore the blameof having begun the war. 

XXX. It is said, that when an embassy arrived at Athens from Lacedaemonto treat upon these matters, Perikles argued that there was a law whichforbade the tablet, on which the decree against the Megarians waswritten, to be taken down. "Then, " said Polyalkes, one of theambassadors, "do not take it down, but turn it with its face to thewall; for there is no law against that!"

Clever as this retort was, it had no effect on Perikles. He had, itseems, some private spite at the Megarians, though the ground of quarrelwhich he put publicly forward was that the Megarians had applied totheir own use some of the sacred ground; and he passed a decree for aherald to be sent to the Megarians, and then to go on to theLacedaemonians to complain of their conduct. This decree of Perikles isworded in a candid and reasonable manner; but the herald, Anthemokritus, was thought to have met his death at the hands of theMegarians, and Charinus passed a decree to the effect that Athens shouldwage war against them to the death, without truce or armistice; that anyMegarian found in Attica should be punished with death, and that thegenerals, when taking the usual oath for each year, should swear inaddition that they would invade the Megarian territory twice every year;and that Anthemokritus should be buried near the city gate leading intothe Thriasian plain, which is now called the Double Gate. 

Now, the Megarians say that they were not to blame for the murder ofAnthemokritus, and lay it upon Perikles and Aspasia, quoting thehackneyed rhymes from the 'Acharnians, ' of Aristophanes:

 "Some young Athenians in their drunken play, From Megara Simaetha stole away, The men of Megara next, with angered soul, Two of Aspasia's choicest harlots stole. "

XXXI. How the dispute originated it is hard to say, but all writersagree in throwing on Perikles the blame of refusing to reverse thedecree. Some attribute his firmness to a wise calculation, saying thatthe demand was merely made in order to try him, and that any concessionswould have been regarded as a sign of weakness; while others say that hetreated the Lacedaemonians so cavalierly through pride and a desire toshow his own strength. But the worst motive of all, and that to whichmost men attribute his conduct, was as follows: Pheidias, the sculptor, was, as we have related, entrusted with the task of producing the statueof the tutelary goddess of Athens. His intimacy with Perikles, with whomhe had great influence, gained for him many enemies, who, wishing toexperiment on the temper of the people towards Perikles himself, bribedMenon, one of Pheidias's fellow-workmen, to seat himself in themarket-place as a suppliant who begged that he might receive protectionwhile he denounced and prosecuted Pheidias. The people took this manunder its protection, and Pheidias was prosecuted before the Senate. Thealleged charges of theft were not proved, for Pheidias, by the advice ofPerikles, had originally fashioned the golden part of the statue insuch a manner that it could all be taken off and weighed, and thisPerikles bade the prosecutor do on this occasion. But the glory whichPheidias obtained by the reality of his work made him an object of envyand hatred, especially when in his sculpture of the battle with theAmazons on the shield of the goddess he introduced his own portrait as abald-headed old man lifting a great stone with both hands, and also avery fine representation of Perikles, fighting with an Amazon. Theposition of the hand, which was holding a spear before the face ofPerikles, was ingeniously devised as if to conceal the portrait, which, nevertheless, could plainly be seen on either side of it. For this, Pheidias was imprisoned, and there fell sick and died, though some saythat his enemies poisoned him in order to cast suspicion upon Perikles. At the instance of Glykon, the people voted to Menon, the informer, animmunity from public burdens, and ordered the generals of the State toprovide for the wretch's safety. 

XXXII. About the same time Aspasia was prosecuted for impiety, at thesuit of Hermippus, the comic playwright, who moreover accused her ofharbouring free-born Athenian ladies, with whom Perikles carried onintrigues. Also Diopeithes proposed a decree, that prosecutions shouldbe instituted against all persons who disbelieved in religion, and heldtheories of their own about heavenly phenomena. This was aimed atPerikles through the philosopher Anaxagoras. As the people adopted thisdecree, and eagerly listened to these slanderous accusations, anotherdecree was carried by Drakontides, that Perikles should lay the accountsof his dealings with the public revenue before the Prytanes, and thatthe judges should carry their suffrage from the altar in the Acropolis, and go and determine the cause in the city. At the motion of Hagnon thispart of the decree was reversed, but he succeeded in having the actionconducted before fifteen hundred judges, in a form of trial which onemight call either one for theft, or taking of bribes, or for publicwrong-doing. Aspasia was acquitted, quite contrary to justice, accordingto Aeschines, because Perikles shed tears and made a personal appeal tothe judges on her behalf. He feared that Anaxagoras would be convicted, and sent him out of the city before his trial commenced. And now, as hehad become unpopular by means of Pheidias, he at once blew the war intoa flame, hoping to put an end to these prosecutions, and to restore hisown personal ascendancy by involving the State in important anddangerous crises, in which it would have to rely for guidance uponhimself alone. 

These are the causes which are assigned for his refusal to permit theAthenians to make any concession to the Lacedaemonians, but the realhistory of the transaction will never be known. 

XXXIII. Now, as the Lacedaemonians knew that if he could be removed frompower they would find the Athenians much more easy to deal with, theybade them, "drive forth the accursed thing, " alluding to Perikles'sdescent from the Alkmaeonidae by his mother's side, as we are told byThucydides the historian. But this attempt had just the contrary effectto that which they intended; for, instead of suspicion and dislike, Perikles met with much greater honour and respect from his countrymenthan before, because they saw that he was an object of especial disliketo the enemy. For this reason, before the Peloponnesians, underArchidamus, invaded Attica, he warned the Athenians that if Archidamus, when he laid waste everything else, spared his own private estatebecause of the friendly private relations existing between them, or inorder to give his personal enemies a ground for impeaching him, that heshould give both the land and the farm buildings upon it to the State. 

The Lacedaemonians invaded Attica with a great host of their own troopsand those of their allies, led by Archidamus, their king. Theyproceeded, ravaging the country as they went, as far as Acharnae (closeto Athens), where they encamped, imagining that the Athenians wouldnever endure to see them there, but would be driven by pride and shameto come out and fight them. However, Perikles thought that it would be avery serious matter to fight for the very existence of Athens againstsixty thousand Peloponnesian and Boeotian[A] heavy-armed troops, and sohe pacified those who were dissatisfied at his inactivity by pointingout that trees when cut down quickly grow again, but that when the menof a State are lost, it is hard to raise up others to take their place. He would not call an assembly of the people, because he feared that theywould force him to act against his better judgment, but, just as thecaptain of a ship, when a storm comes on at sea, places everything inthe best trim to meet it, and trusting to his own skill and seamanship, disregarding the tears and entreaties of the sea-sick and terrifiedpassengers; so did Perikles shut the gates of Athens, place sufficientforces to ensure the safety of the city at all points, and calmly carryout his own policy, taking little heed of the noisy grumblings of thediscontented. Many of his friends besought him to attack, many of hisenemies threatened him and abused him, and many songs and offensivejests were written about him, speaking of him as a coward, and one whowas betraying the city to its enemies. Kleon too attacked him, using theanger which the citizens felt against him to advance his own personalpopularity, as we see from the following lines of Hermippus:

 "King of Satyrs, wherefore fear you Spear to wield, and only dare to Talk in swelling phrase, while yet you Cower, Teles like, And when goaded on, past bearing, By our Kleon's tongue so daring, Only gnash your teeth despairing, Still afraid to strike. "

[Footnote A: The Dorians of Boeotia and Peloponnesus were accounted thebest infantry soldiers of Greece. ]

XXXIV. Perikles was unmoved by any of these attacks, but quietly enduredall this storm of obloquy. He sent a fleet of a hundred ships to attackPeloponnesus, but did not sail with it himself, remaining at home tokeep a tight hand over Athens until the Peloponnesians drew off theirforces. He regained his popularity with the common people, who sufferedmuch from the war, by giving them allowances of money from the publicrevenue, and grants of land; for he drove out the entire population ofthe island of Aegina, and divided the land by lot among the Athenians. Acertain amount of relief also was experienced by reflecting upon theinjuries which they were inflicting on the enemy; for the fleet as itsailed round Peloponnesus destroyed many small villages and cities, andravaged a great extent of country, while Perikles himself led anexpedition into the territory of Megara and laid it all waste. By thisit is clear that the allies, although they did much damage to theAthenians, yet suffered equally themselves, and never could haveprotracted the war for such a length of time as it really lasted, but, as Perikles foretold, must soon have desisted had not Providenceinterfered and confounded human counsels. For now the pestilence fellamong the Athenians, and cut off the flower of their youth. Sufferingboth in body and mind they raved against Perikles, just as people whendelirious with disease attack their fathers or their physicians. Theyendeavoured to ruin him, urged on by his personal enemies, who assuredthem that he was the author of the plague, because he had brought allthe country people into the city, where they were compelled to liveduring the heat of summer, crowded together in small rooms and stiflingtents, living an idle life too, and breathing foul air instead of thepure country breezes to which they were accustomed. The cause of this, they said, was the man who, when the war began, admitted the masses ofthe country people into the city, and then made no use of them, butallowed them to be penned up together like cattle, and transmit thecontagion from one to another, without devising any remedy oralleviation of their sufferings. 

XXXV. Hoping to relieve them somewhat, and also to annoy the enemy, Perikles manned a hundred and fifty ships, placed on board, besides thesailors, many brave infantry and cavalry soldiers, and was about to putto sea. The Athenians conceived great hopes, and the enemy no lessterror from so large an armament. When all was ready, and Perikleshimself had just embarked in his own trireme, an eclipse of the sun tookplace, producing total darkness, and all men were terrified at so greata portent. Perikles, observing that his helmsman was alarmed and knewnot what to do, held his cloak over the man's eyes and asked him if hethought that a terrible portent. As he answered that he did not, Perikles said: "What is the difference, then, between it and an eclipseof the sun, except that the eclipse is caused by something larger thanmy cloak?" This subject is discussed by the philosophers in theirschools. 

Perikles sailed with the fleet, but did nothing worthy of so great aforce. He besieged the sacred city of Epidaurus, but, although he hadgreat hopes of taking it, he failed on account of the plague, whichdestroyed not only his own men, but every one who came in contact withthem. After this he again endeavoured to encourage the Athenians, towhom he had become an object of dislike. However, he did not succeed inpacifying them, but they condemned him by a public vote to be general nomore, and to pay a fine which is stated at the lowest estimate to havebeen fifteen talents, and at the highest fifty. This was carried, according to Idomeneus, by Kleon, but according to Theophrastus bySimmias; whilst Herakleides of Pontus says that it was effected byLakrateides. 

XXXVI. He soon regained his public position, for the people's outburstof anger was quenched by the blow they had dealt him, just as a beeleaves its sting in the wound; but his private affairs were in greatdistress and disorder, as he had lost many of his relatives during theplague, while others were estranged from him on political grounds. Xanthippus too, the eldest of his legitimate sons, who was a spendthriftby nature and married to a woman of expensive habits, a daughter ofTisander, the son of Epilykus, could not bear with his father's stingyways and the small amount of money which he allowed him. He consequentlysent to one of his friends and borrowed money from him as if Perikleshad authorised him to do so. When the friend asked for his money backagain, Perikles prosecuted him, at which proceeding young Xanthippus wasenraged and abused his father, sneering at his way of life and hisdiscussions with the sophists. When some athlete accidentally killedEpitimus of Pharsalus with a javelin, he said that Perikles spent thewhole day arguing with Protagoras whether in strict accuracy thejavelin, or the man who threw it, or the stewards of the games, ought tobe considered the authors of the mishap. And, besides this, Stesimbrotustells us that Xanthippus put about that scandal about his father and hisown wife, so that the father and son remained irreconcilable enemiesuntil Xanthippus's death, which happened during the plague, by anattack of that disorder. At the same time Perikles lost his sister andmost of his relations, especially those who supported his policy. Yet hewould not yield, nor abate his firmness and constancy of spirit becauseof these afflictions, but was not observed to weep or mourn, or attendthe funeral of any of his relations, until he lost Paralus, the last ofhis legitimate offspring. Crushed by this blow, he tried in vain to keepup his grand air of indifference, and when carrying a garland to layupon the corpse he was overpowered by his feelings, so as to burst intoa passion of tears and sobs, which he had never done before in his wholelife. 

XXXVII. Athens made trial of her other generals and public men toconduct her affairs, but none appeared to be of sufficient weight orreputation to have such a charge entrusted to him. The city longed forPerikles, and invited him again to lead its counsels and direct itsarmies; and he, although dejected in spirits and living in seclusion inhis own house, was yet persuaded by Alkibiades and his other friends toresume the direction of affairs. The people apologised for theirungrateful treatment of him, and when he was again in office and electedas general, he begged of them to be released from the operations of thelaw of bastardy, which he himself had originally introduced, in orderthat his name and race might not altogether become extinct for want ofan heir. The provisions of the law were as follows:--Perikles many yearsbefore, when he was at the height of his power and had children born tohim, as we have related, of legitimate birth, proposed a law that onlythose born of an Athenian father and mother should be reckoned Atheniancitizens. But when the king of Egypt sent a present of forty thousand_medimni_ of wheat to be divided among the citizens, many lawsuits aroseabout the citizenship of men whose birth had never been questionedbefore that law came into force, and many vexatious informations werelaid. Nearly five thousand men were convicted of illegitimacy of birthand sold for slaves, while those who retained their citizenship andproved themselves to be genuine Athenians amounted to fourteen thousandand forty. It was indeed an unreasonable request that a law which hadbeen enforced in so many instances should now be broken in the person ofits own author, but Perikles's domestic misfortunes, in which he seemedto have paid the penalty for his former haughtiness and pride, touchedthe hearts of the Athenians so much that they thought his sorrowsdeserving of their pity, and his request such as he was entitled to makeand they to grant in common charity, and they consented to hisillegitimate son being enrolled in his own tribe and bearing his ownname. This man was subsequently put to death by the people, togetherwith all his colleagues, for their conduct after the sea-fight atArginusae. 

XXXVIII. After this it appears that Perikles was attacked by the plague, not acutely or continuously, as in most cases, but in a slow wastingfashion, exhibiting many varieties of symptoms, and graduallyundermining his strength. Theophrastus, in his treatise on Ethics, discusses whether a man's character can be changed by disease, andwhether virtue depends upon bodily health. As an example, he quotes astory that Perikles, when one of his friends came to visit him duringhis sickness, showed him a charm hung round his neck, as a proof that hemust be indeed ill to submit to such a piece of folly. As he was now onhis deathbed, the most distinguished of the citizens and his survivingfriends collected round him and spoke admiringly of his nobleness andimmense power, enumerating also the number of his exploits, and thetrophies which he had set up for victories gained; for while in chiefcommand he had won no less than nine victories for Athens. They weretalking thus to one another in his presence, imagining that he could nolonger understand them, but had lost his power of attending to them. He, however, was following all that they said, and suddenly broke silence, saying that he was surprised at their remembering and praising him forthe exploits which depended entirely upon fortune for their success, andwhich many other generals had done as well as himself, while they didnot mention his greatest and most glorious title to fame. "No Athenian, "said he, "ever wore black because of me. "

XXXIX. Perikles was to be admired, not only for his gentleness andmildness of spirit, which he preserved through the most violentpolitical crises and outbreaks of personal hatred to himself, but alsofor his lofty disposition. He himself accounted it his greatest virtuethat he never gave way to feelings of envy or hatred, but from his ownexalted pinnacle of greatness never regarded any man as so much hisenemy that he could never be his friend. This alone, in my opinion, justifies that outrageous nickname of his, and gives it a certainpropriety; for so serene and impartial a man, utterly uncorrupt thoughpossessed of great power, might naturally be called Olympian. Thus it isthat we believe that the gods, who are the authors of all good and of noevil to men, rule over us and over all created things, not as the poetsdescribe them in their bewildering fashion, which their own poems proveto be untrue. The poets describe the abode of the gods as a safe anduntroubled place where no wind or clouds are, always enjoying a mild airand clear light, thinking such a place to be fittest for a life ofimmortal blessedness; while they represent the gods themselves as fullof disorder and anger and spite and other passions, which are notbecoming even to mortal men of common sense. Those reflections, however, perhaps belong to another subject. 

Events soon made the loss of Perikles felt and regretted by theAthenians. Those who during his lifetime had complained that his powercompletely threw them into the shade, when after his death they had madetrial of other orators and statesmen, were obliged to confess that withall his arrogance no man ever was really more moderate, and that hisreal mildness in dealing with men was as remarkable as his apparentpride and assumption. His power, which had been so grudged and envied, and called monarchy and despotism, now was proved to have been thesaving of the State; such an amount of corrupt dealing and wickednesssuddenly broke out in public affairs, which he before had crushed andforced to hide itself, and so prevented its becoming incurable throughimpunity and licence. 

LIFE OF FABIUS MAXIMUS. 

I. Such a man did Perikles show himself to be in his most memorableacts, as far as they are extant. 

Let us now turn our attention to Fabius. 

The first of the family is said to descend from one of the nymphs, according to some writers, according to others from an Italian lady whobecame the mother of Fabius by Hercules near the river Tiber. From himdescended the family of the Fabii, one of the largest and most renownedin Rome. Some say that the men of this race were the first to usepitfalls in hunting, and were anciently named Fodii in consequence; forup to the present day ditches are called _fossae_, and to dig is called_fodere_ in Latin: and thus in time the two sounds became confused, andthey obtained the name of Fabii. The family produced many distinguishedmen, the greatest of whom was Rullus, who was for that reason namedMaximus by the Romans. From him Fabius Maximus, of whom I am nowwriting, was fourth in descent. His own personal nickname wasVerrucosus, because he had a little wart growing on his upper lip. Thename of Ovicula, signifying sheep, was also given him while yet a child, because of his slow and gentle disposition. He was quiet and silent, very cautious in taking part in children's games, and learned hislessons slowly and with difficulty, which, combined with his easyobliging ways with his comrades, made those who did not know him thinkthat he was dull and stupid. Few there were who could discern, hidden inthe depths of his soul, his glorious and lion-like character. Soon, however, as time went on, and he began to take part in public affairs, he proved that his apparent want of energy was really due to serenity ofintellect, that he was cautious because he weighed matters wellbeforehand, and that while he was never eager or easily moved, yet hewas always steady and trustworthy. Observing the immense extent of theempire, and the numerous wars in which it was engaged, he exercised hisbody in warlike exercises, regarding it as his natural means of defence, while he also studied oratory as the means by which to influence thepeople, in a style suited to his own life and character. In his speechesthere were no flowery passages, no empty graces of style, but there wasa plain common sense peculiar to himself, and a depth of sententiousmaxims which is said to have resembled Thucydides. One of his speechesis extant, a funeral oration which he made in public over his son whodied after he had been consul. 

II. He was consul five times, and in his first consulship obtained atriumph over the Ligurians. They were defeated by him and driven withgreat loss to take refuge in the Alps, and thus were prevented fromravaging the neighbouring parts of Italy as they had been wont to do. When Hannibal invaded Italy, won his first battle at the Trebia, andmarched through Etruria, laying everything waste as he went, the Romanswere terribly disheartened and cast down, and terrible prodigies tookplace, some of the usual kind, that is, by lightning, and others of anentirely new and strange character. It was said that shields of theirown accord became drenched with blood: that at Antium standing corn bledwhen it was cut by the reapers; that red-hot stones fell from heaven, and that the sky above Falerii was seen to open and tablets to fall, onone of which was written the words "Mars is shaking his arms. "

None of these omens had any effect upon Caius Flaminius, the consul, for, besides his naturally spirited and ambitious nature, he was excitedby the successes which he had previously won, contrary to all reasonableprobability. Once, against the express command of the Senate, and inspite of the opposition of his colleague, he engaged with the Gauls andwon a victory over them. Fabius also was but little disturbed by theomens, because of their strange and unintelligible character, thoughmany were alarmed at them. Knowing how few the enemy were in numbers, and their great want of money and supplies, he advised the Romans notto offer battle to a man who had at his disposal an army trained by manyprevious encounters to a rare pitch of perfection, but rather to sendreinforcements to their allies, keep a tight hand over their subjectcities, and allow Hannibal's brilliant little force to die away like alamp which flares up brightly with but little oil to sustain it. 

III. This reasoning had no effect upon Flaminius, who said that he wouldnot endure to see an enemy marching upon Rome, and would not, likeCamillus of old, fight in the streets of Rome herself. He ordered themilitary tribunes to put the army in motion, and himself leaped upon hishorse's back. The horse for no visible reason shied in violent terror, and Flaminius was thrown headlong to the ground. He did not, however, alter his determination, but marched to meet Hannibal, and drew up hisforces for battle near the lake Thrasymenus, in Etruria. When the armiesmet, an earthquake took place which destroyed cities, changed thecourses of rivers, and cast down the crests of precipices; but in spiteof its violence, no one of the combatants perceived it. Flaminiushimself, after many feats of strength and courage, fell dead, and aroundhim lay the bravest Romans. The rest fled, and the slaughter was sogreat that fifteen thousand were killed, and as many more takenprisoners. Hannibal generously desired to bury the body of Flaminiuswith military honours, to show his esteem for the consul's bravery; butit could not be found among the slain, and no one knew how itdisappeared. 

The defeat at the Trebia had not been clearly explained either by thegeneral who wrote the despatch, or by the messenger who carried it, asthey falsely represented it to have been a drawn battle; but as soon asthe praetor Pomponius heard the news of this second misfortune, heassembled the people in the Forum, and said, without any roundaboutapologies whatever, "Romans, we have lost a great battle, the army isdestroyed, and the consul Flaminius has fallen. Now, therefore, takecounsel for your own safety. " These words produced the same impressionon the people that a gust of wind does upon the sea. No one could calmlyreflect after such a sudden downfall of their hopes. All, however, agreed that the State required one irresponsible ruler, which the Romanscall a dictatorship, and a man who would fulfil this office withfearless energy. Such a man, they felt, was Fabius Maximus, who wassufficiently qualified for the office by his abilities and the respectwhich his countrymen bore him, and was moreover at that time of lifewhen the strength of the body is fully capable of carrying out the ideasof the mind, but when courage is somewhat tempered by discretion. 

IV. As soon as the people had passed their decree, Fabius was appointeddictator, [A] and appointed Marcus Minucius his master of the horse. First, however, he begged of the Senate to allow him the use of a horseduring his campaigns. There was an ancient law forbidding this practice, either because the main strength of the army was thought to lie in thecolumns of infantry, and for that reason the dictator ought to remainalways with them, or else because, while in all other respects thedictator's power is equal to that of a king, it was thought well that inthis one point he should have to ask leave of the people. Next, however, Fabius, wishing at once to show the greatness and splendour of hisoffice, and so make the citizens more ready to obey him, appeared inpublic with all his twenty-four lictors at once; and when the survivingconsul met him, he sent an officer to bid him dismiss his lictors, layaside his insignia of office, and come before him as a mere privatecitizen. After this he began in the best possible way, that is, by areligious ceremony, and assured the people that it was in consequence ofthe impiety and carelessness of their late general, not by any fault ofthe army, that they had been defeated. Thus he encouraged them not tofear their enemies, but to respect the gods and render them propitious, not that he implanted any superstitious observances among them, but heconfirmed their valour by piety, and took away from them all fear of theenemy by the hopes which he held out to them of divine protection. Atthis time many of the holy and mysterious books, which contain secretsof great value to the State, were inspected. These are called theSibylline books. One of the sentences preserved in these was said tohave an evident bearing on contemporary events; what it was can only beguessed at by what was done. The dictator appeared before the people andpublicly vowed to the gods a _ver sacrum_, that is, all the young whichthe next spring should produce, from the goats, the sheep, and the kineon every mountain, and plain, and river, and pasture within the boundsof Italy. All these he swore that he would sacrifice, and moreover thathe would exhibit musical and dramatic shows, and expend upon them thesum of three hundred and thirty-three _sestertia_, and three hundred andthirty-three _denarii_, and one-third of a _denarius_. The sum total ofthis in our Greek money is eighty-three thousand five hundred andeighty-three drachmas and two obols. What the particular virtue of thisexact number may be it is hard to determine, unless it be on account ofthe value of the number three, which is by nature perfect, and the firstof odd numbers, the first also of plurals, and containing within itselfall the elements of the qualities of number. 

[Footnote A: Liv. , xxii. 8, _sq. _]

V. Fabius, by teaching the people to rest their hopes on religion, madethem view the future with a more cheerful heart. For his own part, hetrusted entirely to himself to win the victory, believing that Heavengrants men success according to the valour and conduct which theydisplay. He marched against Hannibal, not with any design of fightinghim, but of wearing out his army by long delays, until he could, by hissuperior numbers and resources, deal with him easily. With this objectin view he always took care to secure himself from Hannibal's cavalry, by occupying the mountains overhanging the Carthaginian camp, where heremained quiet as long as the enemy did, but when they moved he used toaccompany them, showing himself at intervals upon the heights at such adistance as not to be forced to fight against his will, and yet, fromthe very slowness of his movements, making the enemy fear that at everymoment he was about to attack. By these dilatory manoeuvres he incurredgeneral contempt, and was looked upon with disgust by his own soldiers, while the enemy, with the exception of one man, thought him utterlywithout warlike enterprise. That man was Hannibal himself. He aloneperceived Fabius's true generalship and thorough comprehension of thewar, and saw that either he must by some means be brought to fight abattle, or else the Carthaginians were lost, if they could not make useof their superiority in arms, but were to be worn away and reduced innumber and resources, in which they were already deficient. He put inforce every conceivable military stratagem and device, like a skilfulwrestler when he tries to lay hold of his antagonist, and kept attackingFabius, skirmishing round him, and drawing him from place to place, inhis endeavours to make him quit his policy of caution. But Fabius wasconvinced that he was right, and steadily declined battle. His master ofthe horse, Minucius, who longed for action, gave him much trouble. Thisman made unseemly boasts, and harangued the army, filling it with wildexcitement and self-confidence. The soldiers in derision used to callFabius Hannibal's lacquey, because he followed him wherever he went, andthought Minucius a really great general, and worthy of the name ofRoman. Minucius, encouraged in his arrogant vauntings, began to ridiculethe habit of encamping on the mountain-tops, saying that the dictatoralways took care to provide them with good seats from which to beholdthe spectacle of the burning and plundering of Italy, and used to askthe friends of Fabius whether he took his army up so near the skybecause he had ceased to take any interest in what went on on the earthbelow, or whether it was in order to conceal it from the enemy among theclouds and mists. When Fabius was informed of these insults by hisfriends, who begged him to wipe away this disgrace by risking a battle, he answered, "If I did so, I should be more cowardly than I am nowthought to be, in abandoning the policy which I have determined onbecause of men's slanders and sneers. It is no shame to fear for one'scountry, but to regard the opinions and spiteful criticisms of thepeople would be unworthy of the high office which I hold, and would showme the slave of those whom I ought to govern and restrain when theywould fain do wrong. "

VI. After this, Hannibal made a blunder. Wishing to move his armyfurther from that of Fabius, and to gain an open part of the countrywhere he could obtain forage, he ordered his guides one night aftersupper to lead the way at once to Casinatum. They, misunderstanding himbecause of his foreign pronunciation, led his forces to the borders ofCampania, near the city of Casilinum, through the midst of which flowsthe river Lothronus, which the Romans call Vulturnus. This country isfull of mountains, except one valley that runs towards the sea-coast, where the river at the end of its course overflows into extensivemarshes, with deep beds of sand. The beach itself is rough andimpracticable for shipping. 

When Hannibal was marching down this valley, Fabius, by his superiorknowledge of the country, came up with him, placed four thousand men toguard the narrow outlet, established the main body in a safe position inthe mountains, and with the light-armed troops fell upon and harassedthe rear of Hannibal's army, throwing it all into disorder, and killingabout eight hundred men. Upon this, Hannibal determined to retrace hissteps. Perceiving the mistake which he had made, and the danger he wasin, he crucified his guides, but still could not tell how to force hisway out through the Roman army which was in possession of the mountainpasses. While all were terrified and disheartened, believing themselvesto be beset on all sides by dangers from which there was no escape, Hannibal decided on extricating himself by stratagem. Taking about twothousand captured oxen, he ordered his soldiers to bind a torch orfaggot of dry wood to their horns, and at night at a given signal to setthem on fire, and drive the animals towards the narrow outlet near theenemy's camp. While this was being done, he got the remainder of thetroops under arms and led them slowly forward. The cattle, while theflame was moderate, and burned only the wood, walked steadily forwardtowards the mountain side, astonishing the shepherds on the mountain, who thought that it must be an army, marching in one great column, carrying torches. But when their horns were burned to the quick, causingthem considerable pain, the beasts, now scorched by the fire from oneanother as they shook their heads, set off in wild career over themountains, with their foreheads and tails blazing, setting fire to agreat part of the wood through which they passed. The Romans watchingthe pass were terribly scared at the sight; for the flames looked liketorches carried by men running, and they fell into great confusion andalarm, thinking that they were surrounded, and about to be attacked onall sides by the enemy. They dared not remain at their post, butabandoned the pass, and made for the main body. At that momentHannibal's light troops took possession of the heights commanding theoutlet, and the main army marched safely through, loaded with plunder. 

VII. It happened that while it was yet night Fabius perceived the trick;for some of the oxen in their flight had fallen into the hands of theRomans; but, fearing to fall into an ambuscade in the darkness, he kepthis men quiet under arms. When day broke he pursued and attacked therearguard, which led to many confused skirmishes in the rough ground, and produced great confusion, till Hannibal sent back his practisedSpanish mountaineers from the head of his column. These men, being lightand active, attacked the heavily-armed Roman infantry and beat offFabius' attack with very considerable loss. Now Fabius's unpopularityreached its highest pitch, and he was regarded with scorn and contempt. He had, they said, determined to refrain from a pitched battle, meaningto overcome Hannibal by superior generalship, and he had been defeatedin that too. And Hannibal himself, wishing to increase the dislike whichthe Romans felt for him, though he burned and ravaged every other partof Italy, forbade his men to touch Fabius's own estates, and even placeda guard to see that no damage was done to them. This was reported atRome, greatly to his discredit; and the tribunes of the people broughtall kinds of false accusations against him in public harangues, instigated chiefly by Metilius, who was not Fabius's personal enemy, butbeing a relative of Minucius, the Master of the Horse, thought that hewas pressing the interests of the latter by giving currency to all thesescandalous reports about Fabius. He was also disliked by the Senatebecause of the terms which he had arranged with Hannibal about theexchange of prisoners. The two commanders agreed that the prisonersshould be exchanged man for man, and that if either party had more thanthe other, he should redeem for two hundred and fifty drachmas per man. When, then, this exchange took place, two hundred and forty Romans werefound remaining in Hannibal's hands. The Senate determined not to sendthese men's ransom, and blamed Fabius for having acted improperly andagainst the interests of the State in taking back men whose cowardicehad made them fall into the hands of the enemy. Fabius, on hearing this, was not moved at the discontent of the citizens, but having no money, ashe could not bear to deceive Hannibal and give up his countrymen, senthis son to Rome with orders to sell part of his estate, and bring himthe money at once to the camp. The young man soon sold the land, andquickly returned. Fabius now sent the ransom to Hannibal and recoveredthe prisoners, many of whom afterwards offered to repay him; but hewould take nothing, and forgave their debt to them all. 

VIII. After this the priests recalled him to Rome to perform certainsacrifices. He now transferred the command to Minucius, and not merelyordered him as dictator not to fight or entangle himself with the enemy, but even gave him much advice and besought him not to do so, all ofwhich Minucius set at nought, and at once attacked the enemy. Once heobserved that Hannibal had sent the greater part of his army out toforage for provisions, and, attacking the remaining troops, he drovethem into their intrenched camp, slew many, and terrified the rest, whofeared that he might carry the camp by assault. When Hannibal's forcescollected again, Minucius effected his retreat with safety, havingexcited both himself and the army with his success, and filled them witha spirit of reckless daring. Soon an inflated report of the actionreached Rome. Fabius, when he heard of it, said that with Minucius hefeared success more than failure; but the populace were delighted, andjoyfully collected in the Forum, where Metilius the tribune ascended therostra, and made a speech glorifying Minucius, and accusing Fabius notmerely of remissness or cowardice, but of actual treachery, accusingalso the other leading men of the city of having brought on the war fromthe very beginning in order to destroy the constitution; and he alsocharged them with having placed the city in the hands of one man asdictator, who by his dilatory proceedings would give Hannibal time toestablish himself firmly and to obtain reinforcements from Africa toenable him to conquer Italy. 

IX. When Fabius addressed the people, he did not deign to make anydefence against the accusations of the tribune, but said that he shouldaccomplish his sacrifices and sacred duties as quickly as possible, inorder to return to the army and punish Minucius for having fought abattle against his orders. At this a great clamour was raised by thepeople, who feared for their favourite Minucius, for a dictator haspower to imprison any man, and even to put him to death; and theythought that Fabius, a mild-tempered man now at last stirred up towrath, would be harsh and inexorable. All refrained from speaking, butMetilius, having nothing to fear because of the privileges of his officeof tribune (for that is the only office which does not lose itsprerogatives on the election of a dictator, but remains untouched thoughall the rest are annulled), made a violent appeal to the people, beggingthem not to give up Minucius, nor allow him to be treated as ManliusTorquatus treated his son, who had him beheaded, although he had foughtmost bravely and gained a crown of laurel for his victory. He asked themto remove Fabius from his dictatorship, and to bestow it upon one whowas able and willing to save the country. Excited as they were by thesewords, they yet did not venture upon removing Fabius from his post, inspite of their feeling against him, but they decreed that Minuciusshould conduct the war, having equal powers with the dictator, a thingnever before done in Rome, but which occurred shortly afterwards, afterthe disaster at Cannae, when Marcus Junius was dictator in the camp, and, as many members of the Senate had perished in the battle, theychose another dictator, Fabius Buteo. However, he, after enrolling thenew senators, on the same day dismissed his lictors, got rid of thecrowd which escorted him, and mixed with the people in the Forum, transacting some business of his own as a private man. 

X. Now the people, by placing Minucius on the same footing with thedictator, thought to humble Fabius, but they formed a very falseestimate of his character. He did not reckon their ignorance to be hismisfortune, but as Diogenes the philosopher, when some one said "Theyare deriding you, " answered "But I am not derided, " thinking that thosealone are derided who are affected and disturbed by it, so Fabiusquietly and unconcernedly endured all that was done, hereby affording anexample of the truth of that philosophic maxim that a good and honestman can suffer no disgrace. Yet he grieved over the folly of the peopleon public grounds, because they had given a man of reckless ambition anopportunity for indulging his desire for battle; and, fearing thatMinucius would be altogether beside himself with pride and vain glory, and would soon do some irreparable mischief, he left Rome unperceived byany one. On reaching the camp, he found Minucius no longer endurable, but insolent and overbearing, and demanding to have the sole commandevery other day. To this Fabius would not agree, but divided his forceswith him, thinking it better to command a part than partly to commandthe whole of the army. He took the first and fourth legion, and left thesecond and third to Minucius, dividing the auxiliary troops equally withhim. 

As Minucius gave himself great airs, and was gratified at the thoughtthat the greatest officer in the State had been humbled and brought lowby his means, Fabius reminded him that if he judged aright, he wouldregard Hannibal, not Fabius, as his enemy; but that if he persisted inhis rivalry with his colleagues, he must beware lest he, the honouredvictor, should appear more careless of the safety and success of hiscountrymen, than he who had been overcome and ill-treated by them. 

XI. Minucius thought all this to be merely the expression of the oldman's jealousy. He took his allotted troops, and encamped apart fromhim. Hannibal was not ignorant of what was passing, and watched alltheir movements narrowly. 

There was a hill between the two armies, which it was not difficult totake, which when taken would afford an army a safe position, and onewell supplied with necessaries. The plain by which it was surroundedappeared to be perfectly smooth, but was nevertheless intersected withditches and other hollow depressions. On this account Hannibal would nottake the hill, although he could easily have done so, but preferred toleave it untouched, in order to draw the enemy into fighting for itspossession. But as soon as he saw Fabius separated from Minucius, heplaced during the night some troops in the depressions and hollows whichwe have mentioned, and at daybreak sent a few men to take the hill, inorder to draw Minucius into fighting for it, in which he succeeded. Minucius first sent out his light troops, then his cavalry, and finally, seeing that Hannibal was reinforcing the troops on the hill, he camedown with his entire force. He fought stoutly, and held his own againstthe soldiers on the hill, who shot their missiles at him; when Hannibal, seeing him thoroughly deceived, and offering an unprotected flank to thetroops in the ambush, gave them the signal to charge. Upon this theyattacked the Romans from all sides, rushing upon them with loud shouts, cutting off the rearmost men, and throwing the whole army into confusionand panic. Minucius himself lost heart and kept glancing first at oneand then at another of his officers, none of whom ventured to standtheir ground, but betook themselves in a confused mass to running away, a proceeding which brought them no safety, for the Numidian horsemen, asthe day was now theirs, scoured the plain, encompassing the fugitives, and cut off all stragglers. 

XII. Fabius had carefully watched the Romans, and saw in what dangerthey were. Conscious, it would seem, of what was going to happen, he hadkept his troops under arms, and gained his information of what was goingon, not from the reports of scouts, but from his own eyesight, from aconvenient height outside of his camp. As soon as he saw the armysurrounded and panic-stricken, and heard the cries of the Romans, who nolonger fought, but were overcome by terror, and betaking themselves toflight, he smote his thigh and with a deep sigh, said to his friends, "By Hercules, now Minucius has ruined himself, quicker than I expected, and yet slower than his manoeuvres warranted. " Having given orders tocarry out the standards as quickly as possible, and for the whole armyto follow, he said aloud, "My men, hurry on your march: think of MarcusMinucius; he is a brave man and loves his country. If he has made anymistake in his haste to drive out the enemy, we will blame him for thatat another time. " The appearance of Fabius scared and drove back theNumidians, who were slaughtering the fugitives in the plain; next hebore against those who were attacking the Roman rear, slaying all hemet, though most of them, before they were cut off and treated as theyhad treated the Romans, betook themselves to flight. Hannibal seeingthat the fortune of the battle was changed, and how Fabius himself, witha strength beyond his years, was forcing his way through the thickestbattle up the hill to reach Minucius, withdrew his troops, and, soundinga retreat, led them back into his entrenched camp, affording a mostseasonable relief to the Romans. It is said that Hannibal as he retired, spoke jokingly about Fabius to his friends in the words, "Did I notoften warn you that the dark cloud which has so long brooded on themountain tops, would at last break upon us with blasts of hail andstorm?"

XIII. After the battle Fabius collected the spoils of such of the enemyas were slain, and drew off his forces without letting fall a singleboastful or offensive expression about his colleague. But Minuciusassembled his own troops, and thus addressed them, "My fellow-soldiers, it is beyond human skill to make no mistakes in matters of importance, but it is the part of a man of courage and sense to use his mistakes aswarnings for the future. I myself confess that I have little fault tofind with Fortune, and great reason to thank her; for in the space ofone day I have learned what I never knew in all my previous life: thatis, that I am not able to command others, but myself require acommander, and I have no ambition to conquer a man by whom it is moreglorious to be defeated. The dictator is your leader in everythingexcept in this, that I will lead you to express your thankfulness tohim, by being the first to offer myself to him as an example ofobedience and willingness to carry out his orders. " After these wordshe ordered the eagles to be raised aloft and all the soldiers to followthem to the camp of Fabius. On entering it, he proceeded to theGeneral's tent, to the surprise and wonderment of all. When Fabius wascome out, he placed his standards in the ground before him, and himselfaddressed him as father in a loud voice, while his soldiers greetedthose of Fabius by the name of their Patrons, which is the name by whichfreed men address those who have set them free. Silence being enforced, Minucius said: "Dictator, you have won two victories to-day, for youhave conquered Hannibal by your bravery, and your colleague by yourkindness and your generalship. By the one you have saved our lives, andby the other you have taught us our duty, for we have been disgracefullydefeated by Hannibal, but beneficially and honourably by you. I call youmy excellent father, having no more honourable appellation to bestow, since I owe a greater debt of gratitude to you than to him who begot me. To him I merely owe my single life, but to you I owe not only that butthe lives of all my men. " After these words he embraced Fabius, and thesoldiers followed his example, embracing and kissing one another, sothat the camp was full of joy and of most blessed tears. 

XIV. After this, Fabius laid down his office, and consuls were againelected. Those who were first elected followed the defensive policy ofFabius, avoiding pitched battles with Hannibal, but reinforcing theallies and preventing defections. But when Terentius Varro was madeconsul, a man of low birth, but notorious for his rash temper and hispopularity with the people, he made no secret, in his inexperience andself-confidence, of his intention of risking everything on one cast. Hewas always reiterating in his public speeches that under such generalsas Fabius the war made no progress, whereas he would conquer the enemythe first day he saw him. By means of these boastful speeches heenrolled as soldiers such a multitude as the Romans had never before hadat their disposal in any war, for there collected for the battleeighty-eight thousand men. This caused great disquietude to Fabius andother sensible Romans, who feared that if so many of the youth of Romewere cut off, the city would never recover from the blow. They addressedthemselves therefore to the other consul, Paulus Aemilius, a man ofgreat experience in war, but disagreeable to the people and afraid ofthem because he had once been fined by them. Fabius encouraged him toattempt to hold the other consul's rashness in check, pointing out thathe would have to fight for his country's safety with Terentius Varro noless than with Hannibal. Varro, he said, will hasten to engage becausehe does not know his own strength, and Hannibal will do so because heknows his own weakness. "I myself, Paulus, " said he, "am more to bebelieved than Varro as to the condition of Hannibal's affairs, and I amsure that if no battle takes place with him for a year, he will eitherperish in this country or be compelled to quit it; because even now, when he seems to be victorious and carrying all before him, not one ofhis enemies have come over to his side, while scarcely a third of theforce which he brought from home is now surviving. " It is said thatPaulus answered as follows: "For my own part, Fabius, it is better forme to fall by the spears of the enemy than be again condemned by thevotes of my own countrymen; but if public affairs are indeed in thiscritical situation, I will endeavour rather to approve myself a goodgeneral to you than to all those who are urging me to the oppositecourse. " With this determination Paulus began the campaign. 

XV. Varro induced his colleague to adopt the system of each consulholding the chief command on alternate days. He proceeded to encamp nearHannibal on the banks of the river Aufidus, close to the village ofCannae. At daybreak he showed the signal of battle (a red tunicdisplayed over the General's tent), so that the Carthaginians were atfirst disheartened at the daring of the consul and the great number ofhis troops, more than twice that of their own army. Hannibal ordered hissoldiers to get under arms, and himself rode with a few others to arising ground, from which he viewed the enemy, who were already formingtheir ranks. When one Gisco, a man of his own rank, said to him that thenumbers of the enemy were wonderful, Hannibal with a serious airreplied, "Another circumstance much more wonderful than this has escapedyour notice, Gisco. " When Gisco asked what it might be, Hannibalanswered, "It is, that among all those men before you there is not onenamed Gisco. " At this unexpected answer they all began to laugh, and asthey came down the hill they kept telling this joke to all whom theymet, so that the laugh became universal, and Hannibal's staff was quiteoverpowered with merriment. The Carthaginian soldiers seeing this tookcourage, thinking that their General must be in a position to despisehis enemy if he could thus laugh and jest in the presence of danger. 

XVI. In the battle Hannibal employed several stratagems: first, insecuring the advantage of position, by getting the wind at his back, forit blew a hurricane, raising a harsh dust from the sandy plains, whichrose over the Carthaginians and blew in the faces of the Romans, throwing them into confusion. Secondly, in his disposition of his forceshe showed great skill. The best troops were placed on the wings, and thecentre, which was composed of the worst, was made to project far beyondthe rest of the line. The troops on each wing were told that when theRomans had driven in this part of the line and were so become partlyenclosed, that each wing must turn inwards, and attack them in the flankand rear and endeavour to surround them. This was the cause of thegreatest slaughter; for when the centre gave way, and made room for thepursuing Romans, Hannibal's line assumed a crescent form, and thecommanders of the select battalions charging from the right and left ofthe Romans attacked them in flank, destroying every man except such asescaped being surrounded. It is related that a similar disaster befelthe Roman cavalry. The horse of Paulus was wounded, and threw its rider, upon which man after man of his staff dismounted and came to help theconsul on foot. The cavalry, seeing this, took it for a general order todismount, and at once attacked the enemy on foot. Hannibal, seeing this, said, "I am better pleased at this than if he had handed them over to mebound hand and foot. " This anecdote is found in those writers who havedescribed the incidents of the battle in detail. Of the consuls, Varroescaped with a few followers to Venusia. Paulus, in the whirling eddiesof the rout, covered with darts which still stuck in his wounds, andoverwhelmed with sorrow at the defeat, sat down on a stone to await hisdeath at the hands of the enemy. The blood with which his face and headwere covered made it hard for any one to recognise him; but even his ownfriends and servants passed him by, taking no heed of him. OnlyCornelius Lentulus, a young patrician, saw and recognised him. Dismounting from his horse and leading it up to him he begged him totake it and preserve his life, at a time when the State especiallyneeded a wise ruler. But he refused, and forced the youth, in spite ofhis tears, to remount his horse. He then took him by the hand, saying, "Lentulus, tell Fabius Maximus, and bear witness yourself, that PaulusAemilius followed his instructions to the last, and departed fromnothing of what was agreed upon between us; but he was vanquished firstby Varro, and secondly by Hannibal. " Having given Lentulus theseinstructions he sent him away, and flinging himself on to the enemy'sswords perished. In that battle it is reckoned that fifty thousandRomans fell, and four thousand were taken prisoners, besides not lessthan ten thousand who were taken after the battle in the camps of thetwo consuls. 

XVII. After this immense success, Hannibal was urged by his friends tofollow up his victory and enter Rome with the fugitives, promising thatfive days thereafter he should sup in the Capitol. It is not easy to saywhat reasons could have deterred him from doing so, and it seems ratheras if some divinity prevented his march, and inspired him with thedilatory and timid policy which he followed. It is said that theCarthaginian, Barca, said to him, "You know how to win a victory, but donot know how to use one. " Yet so great a change was effected by thisvictory that he, who before it had not possessed a single city, market, or harbour in Italy, and had to obtain his provisions with the utmostdifficulty by plunder, having no regular base of operations, but merelywandering about with his army as though carrying on brigandage on alarge scale, now saw nearly the whole of Italy at his feet. Some of thelargest and most powerful States came over to him of their own accord, and he attacked and took Capua, the most important city next to Romeitself. 

It would appear that the saying of Euripides, that "adversity tries ourfriends, " applies also to good generals. That which before this battlewas called Fabius's cowardice and remissness, was now regarded as morethan human sagacity, and a foresight so wonderful as to be beyondbelief. Rome at once centred her last hopes upon Fabius, taking refugein his wisdom as men take sanctuary at an altar, believing hisdiscretion to be the chief cause of her surviving this present crisis, even as in the old Gaulish troubles. For though he had been so cautiousand backward at a time when there seemed to be no imminent danger, yetnow when every one was giving way to useless grief and lamentation, healone walked through the streets at a calm pace, with a composedcountenance and kindly voice, stopped all womanish wailings andassemblies in public to lament their losses, persuaded the Senate tomeet, and gave fresh courage to the magistrates, being really himselfthe moving spirit and strength of the State, which looked to him aloneto command it. 

XVIII. He placed guards at the gates to prevent the mob from quittingthe city, and regulated the period of mourning, bidding every man mournfor thirty days in his own house, after which all signs of mourning wereto be put away. As the feast of Ceres fell during those days, it wasthought better to omit both the sacrifices and the processions than tohave them marred by the consciousness of their misfortune, which wouldbe painfully evident in the small number of worshippers and theirdowncast looks. However, everything that the soothsayers commanded toappease the anger of the gods and to expiate prodigies was carried out. Fabius Pictor, a relative of the great Fabius, was sent to Delphi, andof two of the Vestal virgins who were found to have been seduced, onewas buried alive, as is the usual custom, while the other died by herown hand. Especially admirable was the spirit and the calm composure ofthe city when the consul Varro returned after his flight. He camehumbled to the dust, as a man would who had been the cause of aterrible disaster, but at the gate the Senate and all the people wentout to greet him. The chief men and the magistrates, amongst whom wasFabius, having obtained silence, spoke in praise of him "because he hadnot despaired of the State after such a calamity, but had come back toundertake the conduct of affairs and do what he could for his countrymenas one who thought they might yet be saved. "

XIX. When they learned that Hannibal after the battle had turned awayfrom Rome to other parts of Italy, the Romans again took courage andsent out armies and generals. Of those the most remarkable were FabiusMaximus and Claudius Marcellus, both equally admirable, but from anentirely different point of view. Marcellus, as has been related in hisLife, was a man of activity and high spirit, rejoicing in a hand-to-handfight, and just like the lordly warriors of Homer. With a trulyventuresome audacity, he in his first battles outdid in boldness eventhe bold Hannibal himself; while Fabius, on the other hand, wasconvinced that his former reasoning was true, and believed that withoutany one fighting or even meddling with Hannibal, his army would wearitself out and consume away, just as the body of an athlete whenoverstrained and exerted soon loses its fine condition. For this reasonPoseidonius calls Fabius the shield, and Marcellus the sword of Rome, because the steadiness of Fabius, combined with the warlike ardour ofMarcellus, proved the saving of the state. Hannibal, frequently meetingMarcellus, who was like a raging torrent, had his forces shaken andweakened; while Fabius, like a deep quiet river kept constantlyundermining them and wasting them away unperceived. Hannibal was atlength reduced to such extremities that he was weary of fightingMarcellus, and feared Fabius even though he did not fight: for thesewere the persons whom he generally had to deal with, as praetors, consuls, or pro-consuls, for each of them was five times consul. He drewMarcellus, when consul for the fifth time, into an ambuscade; butalthough he tried every art and stratagem upon Fabius he could effectnothing, except once, when he very nearly succeeded in ruining him. Heforged letters from the leading citizens of Metapontum, and then sentthem to Fabius. These letters were to the effect that the city wouldsurrender if he appeared before it, and that the conspirators were onlywaiting for his approach. Fabius was so much moved by these letters asto take a part of his army and commence a night march thither; butmeeting with unfavourable omens on the way he turned back, and soonafterwards learned that the letters were a stratagem of Hannibal's, whowas waiting for him under the city walls. This escape one may attributeto the favour of Heaven. 

XX. In the case of revolts and insurrections among the subject citiesand allies, Fabius thought it best to restrain them and discountenancetheir proceedings in a gentle manner, not treating every suspectedperson with harshness, or inquiring too strictly into every case ofsuspected disloyalty. It is said that a Marsian soldier, one of thechief men of the allies for bravery and nobility of birth, wasdiscovered by Fabius to be engaged in organizing a revolt. Fabius showedno sign of anger, but admitted that he had not been treated with thedistinction he deserved, and said that in the present instance he shouldblame his officers for distributing rewards more by favour than bymerit; but that in future he should be vexed with him if he did notapply directly to himself when he had any request to make. Saying this, he presented him with a war horse and other marks of honour, so thatthenceforth the man always served him with the utmost zeal and fidelity. He thought it a shame that trainers of horses and dogs should be able totame the savage spirit of those animals by careful attention andeducation rather than by whips and clogs, and yet that a commander ofmen should not rely chiefly on mild and conciliatory measures, but treatthem more harshly than gardeners treat the wild fig-trees, wild pears, and wild olives, which they by careful cultivation turn into treesbearing good fruit. His captains informed him that a certain soldier, aLucanian by birth, was irregular and often absent from his duty. He madeinquiries as to what his general conduct was. All agreed that it wouldbe difficult to find a better soldier, and related some of his exploits. Fabius at length discovered that the cause of his absence was that hewas in love with a certain girl, and that he continually ran the risk ofmaking long journeys from the camp to meet her. Without the knowledge ofthe soldier, he sent and apprehended this girl, whom he concealed in hisown tent. Then he invited the Lucanian to a private interview, andaddressed him as follows:--"You have been observed frequently to passthe night outside of the camp, contrary to the ancient practice anddiscipline of the Roman army: but also, you have been observed to be abrave man. Your crime is atoned for by your valiant deeds, but for thefuture I shall commit you to the custody of another person. " Then, tothe astonishment of the soldier, he led the girl forward, joined theirhands, and said: "This lady pledges her word that you will remain in thecamp with us. You must prove by your conduct that it was not from anyunworthy motive, for which she was the pretext, but solely through lovefor her that you used to desert your post. " This is the story which isrelated about him. 

XXI. Fabius obtained possession of Tarentum by treachery in thefollowing manner. In his army was a young man of Tarentum whose sisterwas devotedly attached to him. Her lover was a Bruttian, and one of theofficers of Hannibal's garrison there. This gave the Tarentine hopes ofeffecting his purpose, and with the consent of Fabius he went into thecity, being commonly supposed to have run away to see his sister. Forthe first few days the Bruttian remained in his quarters, as she wishedher amour with him not to be known to her brother. He then, however, said: "There was a rumour in the army that you were intimate with one ofthe chiefs of the garrison. Who is he? for if he is as they say, a manof courage and distinction--war, which throws everything into confusion, will care little what countryman he may be. Nothing is disgraceful whichwe cannot avoid; but it is a blessing, at a time when justice has nopower, that we should yield to a not disagreeable necessity. " Upon thisthe lady sent for her Bruttian admirer and introduced him to herbrother. He, by encouraging the stranger in his passion, and assuringhim that he would induce his sister to look favourably on it, had nodifficulty in inducing the man, who was a mercenary soldier, to breakhis faith in expectation of the great rewards which he was promised byFabius. This is the account given of the transaction by most writers, though some say that the lady by whose means the Bruttian was seducedfrom his allegiance was not a Tarentine, but a Bruttian by race, who wason intimate terms with Fabius; and that as soon as she discovered that afellow-countryman and acquaintance of hers was in command of theBruttian garrison, told Fabius of it, and by interviews which she hadwith the officer outside the walls gradually won him over to the Romaninterests. 

XXII. While these negotiations were in progress, Fabius, wishing tocontrive something to draw Hannibal away, sent orders to the troops atRhegium to ravage the Bruttian country and take Caulonia by storm. Thetroops at Rhegium were a body of eight thousand men, mostly deserters:and the most worthless of those disgraced soldiers whom Marcellusbrought from Sicily, so that their loss would not cause any sorrow orharm to Rome; while he hoped that by throwing them out as a bait toHannibal he might draw him away from Tarentum, as indeed he did. Hannibal at once started with his army to attack them, and meanwhile, onthe sixth day after Fabius arrived before Tarentum, the young man havingpreviously concerted measures with the Bruttian and his sister, came tohim by night and told him that all was ready; knowing accurately andhaving well inspected the place where the Bruttian would be ready toopen the gate and let in the besiegers. Fabius would not depend entirelyupon the chance of treachery; but though he himself went quietly to theappointed place, the rest of the army attacked the town both by sea andland, with great clamour and disturbance, until, when most of theTarentines had run to repel the assault, the Bruttian gave the word toFabius, and, mounting his scaling ladders, he took the place. On thisoccasion Fabius seems to have acted unworthily of his reputation, for heordered the chief Bruttian officers to be put to the sword, that itmight not be said that he gained the place by treachery. However, hedid not obtain this glory, and gained a reputation for faithlessness andcruelty. Many of the Tarentines were put to death, thirty thousand weresold for slaves, and the city was sacked by the soldiers. Three thousandtalents were brought into the public treasury. 

While everything else was being carried off, it is said that the clerkwho was taking the inventory asked Fabius what his pleasure was withregard to the gods, meaning the statues and pictures. Fabius replied, "Let us leave the Tarentines their angry gods. " However, he took thestatue of Hercules from Tarentum and placed it in the Capitol, and nearto it he placed a brazen statue of himself on horseback, acting in thisrespect much worse than Marcellus, or rather proving that Marcellus wasa man of extraordinary mildness and generosity of temper, as is shown inhis Life. 

XXIII. Hannibal is said to have been hastening to relieve Tarentum, andto have been within five miles of it when it was taken. He said aloud:"So then, the Romans also have a Hannibal; we have lost Tarentum just aswe gained it. " Moreover in private he acknowledged to his friends thathe had long seen that it was very difficult, and now thought itimpossible for them to conquer Italy under existing circumstances. 

Fabius enjoyed a second triumph for this success, which was moreglorious than his first. He had contended with Hannibal and easilybaffled all his attempts just as a good wrestler disengages himself withease from the clutches of an antagonist whose strength is beginning tofail him; for Hannibal's army was no longer what it had been, beingpartly corrupted by luxury and plunder, and partly also worn out byunremitting toils and battles. 

One Marcus Livius had been in command of Tarentum when Hannibal obtainedpossession of it. In spite of this, he held the citadel, from which hecould not be dislodged, until Tarentum was recaptured by the Romans. This man was vexed at the honours paid to Fabius, and once, in atransport of envy and vain glory, he said before the Senate that he, notFabius, was the real author of the recapture of the town. Fabius with asmile answered: "Very true; for if you had not lost the place, I couldnever have recaptured it. "

XXIV. The Romans, among many other marks of respect for Fabius, electedhis son consul. When he had entered on this office and was making somearrangements for the conduct of the war, his father, either because ofhis age and infirmities or else intending to try his son, mounted onhorseback and rode towards him through the crowd of bystanders. Theyoung man seeing him at a distance would not endure this slight, butsent a lictor to bid his father dismount and come on foot, if he wantedanything of the consul. Those present were vexed at this order, andlooked on Fabius in silence, as if they thought that he was unworthilytreated, considering his great reputation: but he himself instantlyalighted, ran to his son, and embracing him, said: "You both think andact rightly, my son; for you know whom you command, and how great anoffice you hold. Thus it was that we and our ancestors made Rome great, by thinking less of our parents and of our children than of the glory ofour country. " It is even said to be true that the great grandfather ofFabius, although he had been consul five times, had finished severalcampaigns with splendid triumphs, and was one of the most illustriousmen in Rome, yet acted as lieutenant to his son when consul in thefield, and that in the subsequent triumph the son drove into Rome in achariot and four, while he with the other officers followed him onhorseback, glorying in the fact that although he was his son's master, and although he was and was accounted the first citizen in Rome, yet hesubmitted himself to the laws and the chief magistrate. Nor did hedeserve admiration for this alone. 

Fabius had the misfortune to lose his son, and this he bore withfortitude, as became a man of sense and an excellent parent. He himselfpronounced the funeral oration which is always spoken by some relativeon the deaths of illustrious men, and afterwards he wrote a copy of hisspeech and distributed it to his friends. 

XXV. Cornelius Scipio meanwhile had been sent to Spain, where he haddefeated the Carthaginians in many battles and driven them out of thecountry, and had also overcome many tribes, taken many cities, and doneglorious deeds for Rome. On his return he was received with great honourand respect, and, feeling that the people expected some extraordinaryexploit from him, he decided that it was too tame a proceeding to fightHannibal in Italy, and determined to pour troops into Africa, attackCarthage, and transfer the theatre of war from Italy to that country. Hebent all his energies to persuade the people to approve of this project, but was violently opposed by Fabius, who spread great alarm through thecity, pointing out that it was being exposed to great danger by areckless young man, and endeavouring by every means in his power toprevent the Romans from adopting Scipio's plan. He carried his pointwith the Senate, but the people believed that he was envious of Scipio'sprosperity and desired to check him, because he feared that if he didgain some signal success, and either put an end to the war altogether orremove it from Italy, he himself might be thought a feeble and dilatorygeneral for not having finished the war in so many campaigns. 

It appears that at first Fabius opposed him on grounds of prudence andcaution, really fearing the dangers of his project, but that the contestgradually became a personal one, and he was moved by feelings ofjealousy to hinder the rise of Scipio; for he tried to induce Crassus, Scipio's colleague, not to give up the province of Africa to Scipio, butif the expedition were determined on, to go thither himself, and heprevented his being supplied with funds for the campaign. Scipio beingthus compelled to raise funds himself, obtained them from the cities inEtruria which were devoted to his interests. Crassus likewise was notinclined to quarrel with him, and was also obliged to remain in Italy byhis office of Pontifex Maximus. 

XXVI. Fabius now tried another method to oppose Scipio. He dissuaded theyouth of the city from taking service with him by continuallyvociferating in all public meetings that Scipio not only was himselfrunning away from Hannibal, but also was about to take all the remainingforces of Italy out of the country with him, deluding the young menwith vain hopes, and so persuading them to leave their parents andwives, and their city too, while a victorious and invincible enemy wasat its very gates. By these representations he alarmed the Romans, whodecreed that Scipio should only use the troops in Sicily, and threehundred of the best men of his Spanish army. In this transaction Fabiusseems to have acted according to the dictates of his own cautiousdisposition. 

However, when Scipio crossed over into Africa, news came to Rome at onceof great and glorious exploits performed and great battles won. Assubstantial proof of these there came many trophies of war, and the kingof Numidia as a captive. Two camps were burned and destroyed, with greatslaughter of men, and loss of horses and war material in the flames. Embassies also were sent to Hannibal from Carthage, begging him inpiteous terms to abandon his fruitless hopes in Italy and come home tohelp them, while in Rome the name of Scipio was in every man's mouthbecause of his successes. At this period Fabius proposed that asuccessor to Scipio should be sent out, without having any reason toallege for it except the old proverb that it is dangerous to entrustsuch important operations to the luck of one man, because it is hard forthe same man always to be lucky. This proposal of his offended most ofhis countrymen, who thought him a peevish and malignant old man, or elsethat he was timid and spiritless from old age, and excessively terrifiedat Hannibal; for, even when Hannibal quitted Italy and withdrew hisforces, Fabius would not permit the joy of his countrymen to be unmixedwith alarm, as he informed them that now the fortunes of Rome were in amore critical situation than ever, because Hannibal would be much moreto be dreaded in Africa under the walls of Carthage itself, where hewould lead an army, yet reeking with the blood of many Roman dictators, consuls and generals, to attack Scipio. By these words the city wasagain filled with terror, and although the war had been removed toAfrica yet its alarms seemed to have come nearer to Rome. 

XXVII. However Scipio, after no long time, defeated Hannibal in apitched battle and crushed the pride of Carthage under foot. He gavethe Romans the enjoyment of a success beyond their hopes, and truly

 "Restored the city, shaken by the storm. "

Fabius Maximus did not survive till the end of the war, nor did he liveto hear of Hannibal's defeat, or see the glorious and lasting prosperityof his country, for about the time when Hannibal left Italy he fell sickand died. 

The Thebans, we are told, buried Epameinondas at the public expense, because he died so poor that they say nothing was found in his houseexcept an iron spit. Fabius was not honoured by the Romans with afuneral at the public expense, yet every citizen contributed thesmallest Roman coin towards the expenses, not that he needed the money, but because they buried him as the father of the people, so that in hisdeath he received the honourable respect which he had deserved in hislife. 

COMPARISON OF PERIKLES AND FABIUS MAXIMUS. 

I. Such is the story of these men's lives. As they both gave many proofsof ability in war and politics, let us first turn our attention to theirwarlike exploits. And here we must notice that Perikles found theAthenian people at the height of their power and prosperity, so thatfrom the flourishing condition of the State it could scarcely meet withany great disaster, whereas Fabius performed his great services to Romewhen it was in the last extremity of danger, and did not merely, likePerikles, confirm the prosperity of his country, but greatly improvedit, having found it in a lamentable condition. Moreover, the successesof Kimon, the victories of Myronides and Leokrates, and the manyachievements of Tolmides rather gave Perikles when in chief command anoccasion for public rejoicing and festivity, than any opportunity foreither conquests abroad or defensive wars at home. Fabius, on the otherhand, had before his eyes the spectacle of many defeats and routs ofRoman armies, of many consuls and generals fallen in battle, of lakes, plains and forests filled with the bodies of the slain, and of riversrunning with blood. Yet with his mature and unbending intellect heundertook to extricate Rome from these dangers, and as it were by hisown strength alone supported the State, so that it was not utterlyoverwhelmed by these terrible disasters. Nevertheless it would appearnot to be so hard a task to manage a State in adversity, when it ishumble and is compelled by its misfortunes to obey wise counsellors, asit is to check and bridle a people excited and arrogant with goodfortune, which was especially the case with Perikles and the Athenians. On the other hand, considering the terrible nature of the blows whichhad fallen on the Romans, Fabius must have been a great andstrong-minded man not to be disconcerted by them, but still to be ableto carry out the policy upon which he had determined. 

II. We may set the capture of Samos by Perikles against the retaking ofTarentum by Fabius, and also the conquest of Euboea by the one againstthat of the Campanian cities by the other, though Capua itself wasrecovered by the consuls, Fulvius and Appius. Fabius seems never to havefought a pitched battle, except that one which gained him his firsttriumph, while Perikles set up nine trophies for victories by sea andland. But again, there is no action of Perikles which can be compared tothat of Fabius when he snatched away Minucius from the grasp ofHannibal, and saved an entire Roman army from destruction. That was anexploit glorious for the courage, generalship, and kindness of heartdisplayed by Fabius; but, on the other hand Perikles, made no suchblunder as did Fabius, when out-generalled by Hannibal with the cattle. Here, although Fabius caught his enemy in a defile which he had enteredby chance, yet he let him escape by night, and next day found his tardymovements outstripped, and himself defeated by the man whom he had justbefore so completely cut off. If it be the part of a good general, notmerely to deal with the present, but to make conjectures about thefuture, we may remark that the Peloponnesian war ended just as Perikleshad foretold, for the Athenians frittered away their strength; whereasthe Romans, contrary to the expectation of Fabius, by sending Scipio toattack Carthage gained a complete victory, not by chance, but by theskill of their general and the courage of their troops, who overthrewthe enemy in a pitched battle. Thus the one was proved to be right bythe misfortunes of his country, and the other proved to be wrong by itssuccess, indeed it is just as much a fault in a general to receive acheck from want of foresight as to let slip an opportunity throughdiffidence; and both these failings, excess of confidence and want ofconfidence, are common to all except the most consummate generals. Thusmuch for their military talents. 

III. In political matters, the Peloponnesian war is a great blot uponthe fame of Perikles; for it is said to have been caused by his refusalto yield the least point to the Lacedaemonians. I do not imagine, however, that Fabius Maximus would have yielded anything to theCarthaginians, but would have bravely risked any danger in defence ofthe Roman Empire. The kind treatment of Minucius by Fabius and hismildness of character contrast very favourably with the bitter partyfeud of Perikles with Kimon and Thucydides, who were men of good birth, and belonging to the conservative party, and whom Perikles drove intoexile by the ostracism. Then, too, the power of Perikles was muchgreater than that of Fabius. Perikles would not permit the State tosuffer disaster because of the bad management of her generals. One ofthem alone, Tolmides, succeeded in having his own way, against thewishes of Perikles, and perished in an attack on the Boeotians, whileall the rest, because of his immense influence and power, submittedthemselves to his authority and regulated their proceedings by hisideas. Whereas Fabius, although he could avoid any error in managing hisown army, was thwarted by his being powerless to control the movementsof other generals. 

For the Romans would not have suffered so many defeats if Fabius hadenjoyed the same power that Perikles did in Athens. As to theirgenerosity with regard to money, the one was remarkable for neverreceiving bribes, while the other spent much on ransoming prisoners athis own expense; although this was not much above six talents, while itis hard for any one to tell the amount of money which Perikles mighthave taken from foreign princes and Greek allied states, all of which herefused and kept his hands clean. As to the great public works, theconstruction of the temples, and of the public buildings with whichPerikles adorned Athens, the whole of the edifices in Rome together, before the time of the emperors, are not worthy to be compared to them, for they far surpassed them both in largeness of scale and in beauty ofdesign. 

LIFE OF ALKIBIADES. 

I. The pedigree of Alkibiades is said to begin with Eurysakes the son ofAjax, while on the mother's side he descended from Alkmaeon, being theson of Deinomache, the daughter of Megakles. His father Kleinias foughtbravely at Artemisium in a trireme fitted out at his own expense, andsubsequently fell fighting the Boeotians, in the battle of Koronea. Alkibiades after this was entrusted to Perikles and Ariphron, the twosons of Xanthippus, who acted as his guardians because they were thenext of kin. It has been well remarked that the friendship of Sokratesfor him did not a little to increase his fame, seeing that Nikias, Demosthenes, Lamakus, Phormio, Thrasybulus, and Theramenes, were all menof mark in his lifetime, and yet we do not know the name of the motherof any one of them, while we know the name even of the nurse ofAlkibiades, who was a Laconian, named Amykla, and that of Zopyrus, his_paedagogus_, one of which pieces of information we owe to Antisthenes, and the other to Plato. As to the beauty of Alkibiades, it is notnecessary to say anything except that it was equally fascinating when hewas a boy, a youth, and a man. The saying of Euripides, that allbeauties have a beautiful autumn of their charms, is not universallytrue, but it was so in the case of Alkibiades and of a few other personsbecause of the symmetry and vigour of their frames. Even his lisp issaid to have added a charm to his speech, and to have made his talk morepersuasive. His lisp is mentioned by Aristophanes in the verses in whichhe satirises Theorus, in which Alkibiades calls him Theolus, for hepronounced the letter _r_ like _l_. Archippus also gives a sneeringaccount of the son of Alkibiades, who, he said, swaggered in his walk, trailing his cloak, that he might look as like his father as possible, and

 "Bends his affected neck, and lisping speaks. "

II. His character, in the course of his varied and brilliant career, developed many strange inconsistencies and contradictions. Emulation andlove of distinction were the most prominent of his many violentpassions, as is clear from the anecdotes of his childhood. Once whenhard pressed in wrestling, rather than fall, he began to bite hisopponent's hands. The other let go his hold, and said, "You bite, Alkibiades, like a woman. " "No, " said he, "like a lion. " While yet achild, he was playing at knucklebones with other boys in a narrowstreet, and when his turn came to throw, a loaded waggon was passing. Heat first ordered the driver to stop his team because his throw was totake place directly in the path of the waggon. Then as the boor who wasdriving would not stop, the other children made way; but Alkibiadesflung himself down on his face directly in front of the horses, and badehim drive on at his peril. The man, in alarm, now stopped his horses, and the others were terrified and ran up to him. 

In learning he was fairly obedient to all his teachers, except inplaying the flute, which he refused to do, declaring that it was unfitfor a gentleman. He said that playing on the harp or lyre did notdisfigure the face, but that when a man was blowing at a flute, his ownfriends could scarcely recognise him. Besides, the lyre accompanies thevoice of the performer, while the flute takes all the breath of theplayer and prevents him even from speaking. "Let the children of theThebans, " he used to say, "learn to play the flute, for they know nothow to speak; but we Athenians according to tradition have the goddessAthene (Minerva) for our patroness, and Apollo for our tutelarydivinity; and of these the first threw away the flute in disgust, andthe other actually flayed the flute player Marsyas. " With such talk asthis, between jest and earnest, Alkibiades gave up flute-playinghimself, and induced his friends to do so, for all the youth of Athenssoon heard and approved of Alkibiades's derision of the flute and thosewho learned it. In consequence of this the flute went entirely out offashion, and was regarded with contempt. 

III. In Antiphon's scandalous chronicle, we read that Alkibiades onceran away from home to the house of one of his admirers. 

Ariphron, his other guardian, proposed to have him cried; but Periklesforbade it, saying that, if he was dead, he would only be found one daysooner because of it, while if he was safe, he would be disgraced forlife. Antiphon also tells us that he killed one of his servants bystriking him with a club, at the gymnasium of Sibyrtus. But perhaps weought not to believe these stories, which were written by an enemy withthe avowed purpose of defaming his character. 

IV. His youthful beauty soon caused him to be surrounded with nobleadmirers, but the regard of Sokrates for him is a great proof of hisnatural goodness of disposition, which that philosopher could discern inhim, but which he feared would wither away like a faded flower beforethe temptations of wealth and position, and the mass of sycophants bywhom he was soon beset. For no one ever was so enclosed and enveloped inthe good things of this life as Alkibiades, so that no breath ofcriticism or free speech could ever reach him. Yet, with all theseflatterers about him, trying to prevent his ever hearing a word ofwholesome advice or reproof, he was led by his own goodness of heart topay special attention to Sokrates, to whom he attached himself inpreference to all his rich and fashionable admirers. 

He soon became intimate with Sokrates, and when he discovered that thisman did not wish to caress and admire him, but to expose his ignorance, search out his faults, and bring down his vain unreasoning conceit, hethen

 "Let fall his feathers like a craven cock. "

He considered that the conversation of Sokrates was really a divineinstrument for the discipline and education of youth; and thus learningto despise himself, and to admire his friend, charmed with his goodnature, and full of reverence for his virtues, he became insensibly inlove with him, though not as the world loveth; so that all men wereastonished to see him dining with Sokrates, wrestling with him, andsharing his tent, while he treated all his other admirers with harshnessand some even with insolence, as in the case of Anytus the son ofAnthemion. This man, who was an admirer of Alkibiades, was entertaininga party of friends, and asked him to come. Alkibiades refused theinvitation, but got drunk that night at a riotous party at his ownhouse, in which state he proceeded in a disorderly procession to Anytus. Here he looked into the room where the guests were, and seeing thetables covered with gold and silver drinking-cups, ordered his slaves tocarry away half of them, and then, without deigning to enter the room, went home again. Anytus' guests were vexed at this, and complained ofhis being so arrogantly and outrageously treated. "Say rather, considerately, " answered Anytus, "for although he might have taken themall, yet he has left us the half of them. "

V. In this same way he used to treat his other admirers, with theexception, it is said, of one of the resident aliens, [A] a man of smallmeans who sold all that he had and carried the money, amounting to abouta hundred _staters_, to Alkibiades, begging him to accept it. Alkibiadeslaughed at him, and invited him to dinner. After dinner he gave him backhis money, and ordered him next day to go and overbid those who wereabout to bid for the office of farmer of the taxes. The poor man beggedto be excused, because the price was several talents, but Alkibiadesthreatened to have him beaten if he did not do so, for he had someprivate grudge of his own against the farmers of the taxes. Accordinglythe alien went next morning early into the market-place and bid atalent. The tax farmers now clustered round him angrily, bidding himname some one as security, imagining that he would not be able to findone. The poor man was now in great trouble and was about to steal away, when Alkibiades, who was at some distance, called out to the presidingmagistrates, "Write down my name. I am his friend, and I will be suretyfor him. " On hearing this, the tax farmers were greatly embarrassed, fortheir habit was to pay the rent of each year with the proceeds of thenext, and they saw no way of doing so in this instance. Consequentlythey begged the man to desist from bidding, and offered him money. Alkibiades would not permit him to take less than a talent, and whenthis was given him he let him go. This was the way in which he did him akindness. 

[Footnote A: [Greek: metoikikhon]. ]

VI. The love of Sokrates, though he had many rivals, yet overpoweredthem all, for his words touched the heart of Alkibiades and moved him totears. Sometimes his flatterers would bribe him by the offer of somepleasure, to which he would yield and slip away from Sokrates, but hewas then pursued like a fugitive slave by the latter, of whom he stoodin awe, though he treated every one else with insolence and contempt. Kleanthes used to say that Sokrates's only hold upon him was through hisears, while he scorned to meddle with the rest of his body. And indeedAlkibiades was very prone to pleasure, as one would gather from whatThucydides says on the subject. Those too who played on his vanity andlove of distinction induced him to embark on vast projects before he wasripe for them, assuring him that as soon as he began to take a leadingpart in politics, he would not only eclipse all the rest of the generalsand orators, but would even surpass Perikles in power and renown. Butjust as iron which has been softened in the fire is again hardened bycold, and under its influence contracts its expanded particles, so didSokrates, when he found Alkibiades puffed up by vain and empty conceit, bring him down to his proper level by his conversation, rendering himhumble minded by pointing out to him his many deficiencies. 

VII. After he had finished his education, he went into a school, andasked the master for a volume of Homer. When the master said that hepossessed none of Homer's writings, he struck him with his fist, andleft him. Another schoolmaster told him that he had a copy of Homercorrected by himself. "Do you, " asked he, "you who are able to correctHomer, teach boys to read! One would think that you could instruct men. "

One day he wished to speak to Perikles, and came to his house. Hearingthat he was not at leisure, but was engaged in considering how he was togive in his accounts to the Athenians, Alkibiades, as he went away, said, "It would be better if he considered how to avoid giving in anyaccounts at all to the Athenians. "

While yet a lad he served in the campaign of Potidaea, where he sharedthe tent of Sokrates, and took his place next him in the ranks. In anobstinate engagement they both showed great courage, and when Alkibiadeswas wounded and fell to the ground, Sokrates stood in front of him, defending him, and so saved his life and arms from the enemy. Properly, therefore, the prize for valour belonged to Sokrates; but when thegenerals appeared anxious to bestow it upon Alkibiades because of hisgreat reputation, Sokrates, who wished to encourage his love for glory, was the first to give his testimony in his favour, and to call upon themto crown him as victor and to give him the suit of armour which was theprize. And also at the battle of Delium, when the Athenians were routed, Alkibiades, who was on horseback, when he saw Sokrates retreating onfoot with a few others, would not ride on, but stayed by him anddefended him, though the enemy were pressing them and cutting off manyof them. These things, however, happened afterwards. 

VIII. He once struck Hipponikus, the father of Kallias, a man of greatwealth and noble birth, a blow with his fist, not being moved to it byanger, or any dispute, but having agreed previously with his friends todo so for a joke. When every one in the city cried out at his indecentand arrogant conduct, Alkibiades next morning at daybreak came to thehouse of Hipponikus, knocked, and came to him. Here he threw off hiscloak, and offered him his body, bidding him flog him and punish him forwhat he had done. Hipponikus, however, pardoned him, and they becamefriends, so much so that Hipponikus chose him for the husband of hisdaughter Hipparete. Some writers say that not Hipponikus but Kallias hisson gave Hipparete to Alkibiades to wife, with a dowry of ten talents, and that when her first child was born Alkibiades demanded and receivedten more talents, as if he had made a previous agreement to that effect. Upon this Kallias, fearing that Alkibiades might plot against his life, gave public notice in the assembly that if he died childless, he wouldleave his house and all his property to the State. 

Hipparete was a quiet and loving wife, but was so constantly insulted byher husband's amours with foreign and Athenian courtesans, that she atlength left his house and went to her brother's. Alkibiades took no heedof this, but continued in his debauchery. 

It was necessary for her to deliver her petition for separation to themagistrate with her own hand, and when she came to do so, Alkibiadeslaid hold of her, and took her home with him through the market-place, no one daring to oppose him and take her from him. She lived with himuntil her death, which took place not long after Alkibiades sailed forEphesus. In this instance his violence does not seem to have beenaltogether lawless or without excuse, for the object of the law inmaking a wife appear in person in public seems to be that she may havean opportunity of meeting her husband and making up her quarrel withhim. 

IX. He had a dog of remarkable size and beauty, for which he had paidseventy minae. It had a very fine tail, which he cut off. When hisfriends blamed him, and said that every one was sorry for the dog andangry with him for what he had done, he laughed and said, "Then I havesucceeded; for I wish the Athenians to gossip about this, for fear theyshould say something worse about me. "

X. It is said that his first public act was on the occasion of avoluntary subscription for the State. He did not intend doing anythingof the sort, but as he was passing he heard a great noise, and findingthat voluntary subscriptions were being made, went and subscribed. Thepeople cheered and applauded him, at which he was so much delighted asto forget a quail which he had in his cloak. When it escaped and ranabout bewildered, the Athenians applauded all the more, and many roseand chased it. It was caught by the pilot Antiochus, who restored it, and became one of Alkibiades's greatest friends. Starting with greatadvantages from his noble birth, his wealth, his recognised bravery inbattle, and his many friends and relatives, he relied upon nothing somuch as on his eloquence for making himself popular and influential. Hisrhetorical powers are borne witness to by the comic dramatists; and thegreatest of orators, Demosthenes, in his speech against Meidias, speaksof Alkibiades as being most eloquent, besides his other charms. If weare to believe Theophrastus, who has inquired more diligently into thesevarious tales than any one else, Alkibiades excelled all men of his timein readiness of invention and resource. However, as he wished not merelyto speak to the purpose, but also to clothe his thoughts in the mostappropriate language, he did not always succeed in combining the two, and often hesitated and stopped, seeking for the right word, and notcontinuing his speech until it occurred to him. 

XI. He was renowned for his stud, and for the number of his racingchariots. No other person, king or commoner, ever entered sevenfour-horse chariots for the race at Olympia except Alkibiades. Hiswinning the first, second, and fourth prizes with these, as Thucydidestells us, though Euripides says that he won the third also, excels inglory any other successes by other persons in these races. The poem ofEuripides runs as follows:

 "Son of Kleinias, thee I sing, In truth it is a noble thing, First, second, and third place To win in chariot race, To hear the herald thrice thy name proclaim, And thrice to bear away the olive crown of fame. "

XII. His success was rendered all the more conspicuous by the manner inwhich the various States vied with one another in showing him honour. Ephesus pitched a magnificent tent for his accommodation, Chiosfurnished his horses with provender, and himself with animals forsacrifice; and Lesbos supplied him with wine, and every thing elsenecessary for giving great entertainments. Yet even at this brilliantperiod of his life he incurred discredit, either by his own fault orthrough the spite of his enemies. The story is that an Athenian namedDiomedes, a respectable man and a friend of Alkibiades, was desirous ofwinning a victory at Olympia. Hearing that there was a chariot and fourwhich belonged to the city of Argos, and knowing that Alkibiades hadgreat influence and many friends in that place, he persuaded him to buythe chariot for him. Alkibiades, however, bought the chariot and enteredit for the race as his own, leaving Diomedes to call upon heaven andearth to witness his ill-treatment. It appears that a trial took placeabout this matter, and Isokrates wrote a speech about this chariot indefence of the son of Alkibiades, in which Tisias, not Diomedes, ismentioned as the prosecutor. 

XIII. When, as a mere boy, Alkibiades plunged into political life, he atonce surpassed most of the statesmen of the age. His chief rivals werePhaeax, the son of Erasistratus, and Nikias, the son of Nikeratus, thelatter a man advanced in life, and bearing the reputation of being anexcellent general, while the former, like Alkibiades himself, was ayoung man of good family, just rising into notice, but inferior to himin many respects, particularly in oratory. Though affable and persuasivein private circles, he could not speak equally well in public, for hewas, as Eupolis says, "At conversation best of men, at public speaking worst. "

In a certain attack on Alkibiades and Phaeax, we find, among othercharges, Alkibiades accused of using the gold and silver plate of thecity of Athens as his own for his daily use. 

There was at Athens one Hyperbolus, of the township of Peirithois, whomThucydides mentions as a worthless man, and one who was constantlyridiculed by the comic dramatists. From his utter disregard of what wassaid of him, and his carelessness for his honour, which, though it wasmere shameless impudence and apathy, was thought by some to showfirmness and true courage, he was pleasing to no party, but frequentlymade use of by the people when they wished to have a scurrilous attackmade upon those in power. At this time he was about to resort to theproceeding called ostracism, by which from time to time the Atheniansforce into exile those citizens who are remarkable for influence andpower, rather because they envy them than because they fear them. 

But as it was clear that one of the three, Nikias, Phaeax, andAlkibiades, would be ostracised, Alkibiades combined their severalparties, arranged matters with Nikias, and turned the ostracism againstHyperbolus himself. Some say that it was not Nikias but Phaeax with whomAlkibiades joined interest, and that with the assistance of hispolitical party he managed to expel Hyperbolus, who never expected anysuch treatment; for before that time this punishment had never beenextended to low persons of no reputation, as Plato, the comic dramatist, says in the lines where he mentions Hyperbolus:

 "Full worthy to be punished though he be, Yet ostracism's not for such as he. "

We have elsewhere given a fuller account of this affair. 

XIV. Alkibiades was dissatisfied at the respect shown for Nikias, bothby enemies of the State and by the citizens of Athens. Alkibiades wasthe proxenus[A] of the Lacedaemonians at Athens, and paid especial courtto those Spartans who had been captured at Pylos; yet, when theLacedaemonians discovered that it was chiefly by Nikias's means thatthey obtained peace, and recovered their prisoners, they were lavish oftheir attentions to him. The common phrase among the Greeks of that timewas that Perikles had begun the war, and Nikias had finished it; and thepeace was usually called the peace of Nikias. Alkibiades, irritatedbeyond measure at his rival's success, began to meditate how he coulddestroy the existing treaty. He perceived that the Argives, hating andfearing Sparta, wished to break off from it, and he encouraged them bysecret assurances of an Athenian alliance, and also both by his agentsand in person he urged the leading men not to give way to theLacedaemonians, or yield any points to them, but to turn to Athens, andawait their co-operation, for the Athenians, he said, already began toregret that they had made peace at all, and would soon break it. 

[Footnote A: An office resembling that of a modern consul for a foreignnation. ]

When the Lacedaemonians made an alliance with the Boeotians, anddelivered up Panaktus to the Athenians in a dismantled condition, notwith its walls standing, as they ought to have done, Alkibiadesexasperated the rage of the Athenians by his speeches, and raised aclamour against Nikias by the plausible accusation that he, whengeneral, had hung back from capturing the enemy's forces which were cutoff in the island of Sphakteria, and that when they had been captured byanother, he had released them and restored them to their homes, in orderto gain the favour of the Lacedaemonians. And for all that, although hewas such a friend of the Lacedaemonians, he had not dissuaded them fromforming alliances with Corinth and with the Boeotians, while heprevented the Athenians from becoming allies of any Greek State whichmight wish it, if the step did not happen to please the Lacedaemonians. 

Upon this, while Nikias was smarting under these accusations, ambassadors arrived from Lacedaemon with instructions to proposereasonable terms, and announcing that they came with full powers toconclude the negotiations for peace on an equitable basis. The Senatereceived them willingly, and next day they were to appear before thepeople. Fearing that they would succeed, Alkibiades contrived to obtaina private interview with them, in which he addressed them as follows:"What is this that you do, men of Sparta! Do you not know that theSenate always treats those who appear before it in a kindly andreasonable manner, but the people are always full of pride and ambition?If you say that you have plenary powers, they will bewilder you by theirviolence and force great concessions from you. So come, cease thisfolly, if you wish to negotiate with the Athenians in a moderate way, and not to be forced into conceding points against your will. Discussall the points at issue, but do not say that you have full power todecide them. I will do my best to assist you, as a friend toLacedaemon. " After these words he confirmed his promise by an oath, andthus completely detached them from Nikias and left them trusting himonly, and admiring him as a man of remarkable sense and intelligence. Onthe following day the people assembled, and the ambassadors appearedbefore them. When they were politely asked by Alkibiades in whatcapacity they came, they said that they were not plenipotentiaries. Immediately upon this Alkibiades assailed them with furious invective, as though they, not he, were in the wrong, calling them faithlessequivocators, who had not come either to speak or to do anything honest. The Senate was vexed at its treatment, and the people were excessivelyenraged, while Nikias, who knew nothing of the trick, was astounded andcovered with confusion at the conduct of the ambassadors. 

XV. The Lacedaemonian alliance being put an end to by this means, Alkibiades, who was now elected one of the generals of Athens, at onceformed an alliance with Argos, Elis and Mantinea. No one approved of theway in which he effected this, but still the result was very important, as it agitated all the States in Peloponnesus, and set them against oneanother, brought so many men into line to fight the Lacedaemonians atthe battle of Mantinea, and removed the scene of conflict so far fromAthens, that the Lacedaemonians could gain no great advantage byvictory, whereas if they failed, they would have to struggle for theirvery existence. After this battle the select regiment at Argos, calledthe "Thousand, " endeavoured to overthrow the government and establishthemselves as masters of the city; and with the assistance of theLacedaemonians they destroyed the constitution. But the people took uparms again, and defeated the usurpers; and Alkibiades coming to theiraid, made the victory of the popular side more complete. He persuadedthe citizens to build long walls down to the sea, and to trust entirelyto the Athenian naval forces for support. He even sent them carpentersand stonemasons from Athens, and showed great zeal on their behalf, which tended to increase his personal interest and power no less thanthat of his country. He advised the people of Patrae also to join theircity to the sea by long walls; and when some one said to the people ofPatrae, that the Athenians would swallow them up, he answered, "Perhapsthey may, but it will be by degrees and beginning with the feet, whereas the Lacedaemonians will seize them by the head and do it atonce. "

However, Alkibiades ever pressed the Athenians to establish their empireby land as well as by sea, reminding them of the oath which the youngmen take in the Temple of Agraulos, and which it was their duty toconfirm by their deeds. This oath is, that they will regard wheat, barley, vines and olives as the boundaries of Attica, by which it ishinted that they ought to make all cultivated and fruitful lands theirown. 

XVI. In the midst of all this display of political ability, eloquence, and statesmanlike prudence, he lived a life of great luxury, debauchery, and profuse expenditure, swaggering through the market-place with hislong effeminate mantle trailing on the ground. He had the deck of histrireme cut away, that he might sleep more comfortably, having his bedslung on girths instead of resting on the planks; and he carried ashield not emblazoned with the ancestral bearings of his family, butwith a Cupid wielding a thunderbolt. The leading men of Athens viewedhis conduct with disgust and apprehension, fearing his scornful andoverbearing manner, as being nearly allied to the demeanour of a despot, while Aristophanes has expressed the feeling of the people towards himin the line, "They love, they hate, they cannot live without him. "

And again he alludes to him in a bitterer spirit in the verse:

 "A lion's cub 'tis best you should not rear, For if you do, your master he'll appear. "

His voluntary contributions of money to the State, his publicexhibitions and services, and displays of munificence, which could notbe equalled in splendour, his noble birth, his persuasive speech, hisstrength, beauty, and bravery, and all his other shining qualities, combined to make the Athenians endure him, and always give his errorsthe mildest names, calling them youthful escapades and honourableemulation. For example, he locked up Agatharchus the painter, and whenhe had painted his house let him go with a present. He boxed Taurea'sears because he was exhibiting shows in rivalry with him, andcontending with him for the prize. And he even took one of the captiveMelian women for his mistress, and brought up a child which he had byher. This was thought to show his good nature; but this term cannot beapplied to the slaughter of all the males above puberty in the island ofMelos, which was done in accordance with a decree promoted byAlkibiades. 

When Aristophon painted the courtesan Nemea embracing Alkibiades, allmen eagerly crowded to see it; but older men were vexed at these thingstoo, thinking them only fit for despots, and considering them to be openviolations of the laws. Indeed Archestratus spoke very much to thepurpose when he said that Greece could not bear more than oneAlkibiades. Once, when Alkibiades had made a successful speech in thepublic assembly, and was being conducted home in triumph by his friends, Timon the misanthrope met him, and did not get out of his way, as he didto every one else, but came up to him and took him by the hand, saying, "Go on, my boy, increase in glory; for your increase will bring ruin toall this crowd. " Some laughed, some cursed him, but others took hiswords to heart. So various were the opinions formed about Alkibiades, because of the inconsistency of his character. 

XVII. Even during the lifetime of Perikles, the Athenians had ahankering after Sicily, and after his death they endeavoured to obtainpossession of it, by sending troops to the assistance of those citieswhich were oppressed by the Syracusans, and thus paving the way for agreater armament. It was, however, Alkibiades who fanned their desiresinto a flame, and who persuaded them to abandon these half-heartedattempts, to proceed with a great force to the island, and to endeavourto subdue it. He raised great expectations among the people, but his ownaspirations were far more entensive; for he regarded the conquest ofSicily not merely as an end, but as a stepping-stone to greater things. While Nikias was dissuading the people from the attempt, on the groundthat it would be a difficult matter to capture the city of Syracuse, Alkibiades was dreaming of Carthage and Libya; and after these weregained, he meditated the conquest of Italy and of Peloponnesus, regarding Sicily as little more than a convenient magazine and place ofarms. He greatly excited the younger Athenians by his vast designs, andthey listened eagerly to the marvellous stories of the old who hadserved in that country; so that many of them would spend their timesitting in the gymnasia and public seats, drawing sketches of the shapeof the island of Sicily, and of the position of Libya and Carthage. Itis said that Sokrates the philosopher, and Meton the astronomer, did notexpect that the state would gain any advantage from this expedition; theformer probably receiving a presentiment of disaster, as was his wont, from his familiar spirit. Meton either made calculations which led himto fear what was about to happen, or else gathered it from the art ofprophecy. He feigned madness, and seizing a torch, attempted to set hishouse on fire. Some say that Meton made no pretence of madness, but thathe burned down his house one night, and next morning came and besoughtthe Athenians, after such a misfortune, to exempt his son from servingwith the expedition. Thus he deceived his fellow citizens and carriedhis point. 

XVIII. Nikias, much against his will, was chosen to lead the expedition. His unwillingness was in a great measure due to the fact that Alkibiadeswas to act as his colleague; for the Athenians thought that the warwould be conducted better if the rashness of Alkibiades was tempered bythe prudence of Nikias, because the third general, Lamachus, althoughadvanced in years, yet had the reputation of being no less daring andreckless a soldier than Alkibiades himself. 

When the public assembly were debating about the number of the troopsand the preparation for the armament, Nikias made another attempt tooppose the whole measure and to put a stop to the war. Alkibiades, however, took the other side and carried all before him. The oratorDemostratus moved, that the generals should be empowered to demandwhatever stores and war material they pleased, and have absolute powerto carry on the war at their own discretion. This was agreed to by thepeople, and all was ready for setting sail, when unlucky omens occurred. The festival of Adonis took place at that very time, and during it thewomen carry about in many parts of the city figures dressed like corpsesgoing to be buried, and imitate the ceremony of a funeral by tearingtheir hair and singing dirges. And besides this, the mutilation of theHermae in one night, when all of them had their faces disfigured, disturbed many even of those who, as a rule, despised such things. Astory was put about that the Corinthians, of whom the Syracusans were acolony, had done it, hoping that such an evil omen might make theAthenians either postpone or give up their expedition. But the peoplepaid no heed to this insinuation, and still less to those who arguedthat there was no omen in the matter at all, but that it was the work ofextravagant young men after their wine. They regarded the incident withfeelings of rage and fear, imagining that it proved the existence of anorganised plot aimed at greater matters. Both the Senate and the GeneralAssembly met several times during the next few days, and inquiredsharply into every thing that could throw any light upon it. 

XIX. During this time, Androkles, a popular speaker, brought forwardseveral slaves and resident aliens, who charged Alkibiades and hisfriends with mutilating certain other statues, and with parodying theceremonies of initiation to the sacred mysteries when in their cups. They said that the part of the Herald was taken by Theodorus, that ofthe Torch-bearer by Polytion, and that of Hierophant by Alkibiadeshimself, while the rest of the company were present and were initiated, and were addressed by them as Mysts, which means persons who have beeninitiated into the mysteries. These are the charges which we findspecified in the indictment drawn against Alkibiades by Thessalus theson of Kimon, in which he accuses Alkibiades of sacrilege against thetwo goddesses, Demeter (Ceres) and Proserpine. The people now becamevery much enraged with Alkibiades, and were still more exasperated byhis personal enemy Androkles. Alkibiades was at first alarmed, but soonperceived that all the sailors of the fleet about to sail to Sicilywere on his side, as were also the soldiers. A body of a thousandArgives and Mantineans also were heard to say that they were going tocross the seas and fight in a distant land all for the sake ofAlkibiades, and that if he did not meet with fair play, they would atonce desert. Encouraged by this, he appeared at the appointed time todefend himself, which disconcerted and disheartened his enemies, whofeared that the people might deal leniently with him because theyrequired his services. Matters being in this posture, they prevailedupon some of the orators who were not known to be enemies to Alkibiades, but who hated him nevertheless, to move before the people that it was anabsurd proceeding for the irresponsible general of so great a force ofAthenians and their allies to waste his time while the court was drawinglots for the jury, and filling water-clocks with water. "Let him sail, and may good luck attend him, and when the war is finished let himreturn and speak in his defence, for the laws will be the same then asnow. " Alkibiades saw clearly their malicious object in postponing histrial, and said publicly that it was very hard to leave such accusationsand slanders behind him, and to be sent out in command of a greatexpedition with such a terrible fate hanging over him. If he could notprove his innocence, he ought to be put to death; and if he could clearhimself of these charges, it was only just that he should be enabled toattack the enemy with a light heart, without having to fear falseaccusers at home. 

XX. He did not, however, succeed in this, but was ordered to sail, andput to sea with his colleagues, having under their orders a fleet ofnearly one hundred and forty triremes, five thousand one hundredheavy-armed troops, archers, slingers, and light-armed troops to thenumber of about thirteen hundred, and all other stores and provisions inproportion. After reaching Italy and capturing Rhegium, he gave hisopinion as to the manner in which the war ought to be conducted; but asNikias opposed him and was joined by Lamachus, he sailed over to Sicilyand induced the city of Catana to join them, but did nothing further, because he was sent for at once to return and stand his trial at Athens. At first, as we have stated, Alkibiades was only vaguely suspected, andonly the testimony of slaves and resident aliens could be obtainedagainst him; but afterwards, during his absence, his enemies had workedhard to get up a case against him, and connected his sacrilegiousconduct about the mysteries with the mutilation of the Hermae, whichthey argued were all the work of one body of conspirators, bent uponrevolution and the destruction of the existing form of government. Allthose who were in any degree implicated were cast into prison without atrial, and they were much vexed they had not immediately broughtAlkibiades to trial and obtained judgment against him on such gravecharges as these. Any of his friends, relations, or acquaintances whofell into their hands received very harsh treatment. 

Thucydides has omitted the names of those who impeached him, but othersgive their names as Diokleides and Teukrus, among whom is Phrynichus thecomic dramatist, who writes as follows:--

 "And, dearest Hermes, do not fall And break your head; and, worst of all, To some new Diokleides show the way, By slander base to swear men's lives away. "

And again Hermes says:

 "I will not fall. I will not for my pains Let Teukrus fatten on informers' gains. "

Though really the informers brought no decided evidence forward for anyimportant charge, one of them, when asked how he recognised the faces ofthe statue-breakers, answered that he saw them by the light of the moon:a signal falsehood, because it was done on the night of the new moon. This answer made the more thoughtful citizens unwilling to press thecharge, but had no effect whatever on the people, who were as eager asever, and continued to cast into prison any man who might be informedagainst. 

XXI. One of those who was imprisoned was the orator Andokides, whomHellanikus, the historian, reckons as a descendant of Odysseus(Ulysses). Andokides was thought to be a man of aristocratic andantipopular sentiments, and what made him particularly suspected ofhaving taken part in the statue-breaking, was that the large statue ofHermes, near his house, the gift of the tribe Aegeis, was one of thevery few which remained unbroken. Wherefore even at the present day itis called the Hermes of Andokides, and everyone speaks of it by thatname in spite of the inscription on it. 

It happened that Andokides, while in custody, formed an acquaintance andfriendship for one of the other persons who were imprisoned on the samecharge, a man of the name of Timaeus, of inferior birth and position tohimself, but much cleverer and more courageous. This man persuadedAndokides to inform against himself and some few others, because, by adecree of the people, any one who acted as informer was to be given afree pardon, whereas no one could count upon the results of a trial, which the more prominent citizens had especial reasons for dreading. Hepointed out that it was better to save his life by a lie than to be putto death with infamy as if he was really guilty; moreover, looking atthe whole affair, it was best to sacrifice a few persons of doubtfulcharacter to the fury of the people, and thereby to save many good menfrom becoming its victims. Andokides was convinced by these arguments ofTimaeus, and by informing against himself and some others obtained apardon for himself, while all those whose names he mentioned were put todeath, except such as had fled the country. 

To procure greater credit to his information, Andokides even accused hisown servants. However, the people did not abate their rage, but, ceasingto take any further interest in the statue-breakers, they turnedsavagely against Alkibiades. Finally, they despatched the Salaminiantrireme after him, ingeniously ordering its officers not to use anypersonal violence, but to speak him fair and bid him return to stand histrial and set himself right with the people. 

They were afraid of an outbreak, or even of a mutiny in the army inSicily, which Alkibiades could have raised with the greatest ease, if hehad wished to do so. Indeed, the soldiers became disheartened when heleft them, and looked forward to long delays and periods of dullinaction under Nikias's command, now that he who used to spur matterson was gone. Lamachus, indeed, was a brave and skilful soldier, but hispoverty prevented his opinions from carrying their due weight. 

XXII. Alkibiades the moment he sailed away lost Messina for theAthenians. There was a party in that city ready to deliver it up, whichhe knew well, and by disclosing their intentions to the Syracusan partyhe effectually ruined the plot. At Thurii he landed, and concealedhimself so that he could not be found. When one of his friends said tohim, "Alkibiades, do you not trust your native country?" He answered, "Yes, in other matters; but when my life is at stake I would not trustmy own mother, for fear that she might mistake a black bean for a whiteone. " Afterwards hearing that the Athenians had condemned him to death, he said, "I will show them that I am still alive. "

The indictment against him is framed thus:

"Thessalus, the son of Kimon, of the township of Lakia, accusesAlkibiades, the son of Kleinias, of the township of the Skambonidae, ofsacrilege against the two goddesses, Demeter and Kora, by parodying thesacred mysteries and giving a representation of them in his own house, wearing himself such a robe as the Hierophant does when he shows theholy things, and calling himself the Hierophant, Poulytion, theTorch-bearer, Theodorus, of the township of Phegaea, the Herald, andaddressing the rest of the company as Mysts and Epopts (Initiates andNovices), contrary to the rules and ceremonies established by theEumolpidae, and Kerykes, and the priests of Eleusis. " As he did notappear, they condemned him, forfeited his goods, and even caused all thepriests and priestesses to curse him publicly. It is said that Theano, the daughter of Menon, the priestess of the temple of Agraulos, was theonly one who refused to carry out this decree, alleging that it was topray and not to curse that she had become a priestess. 

XXIII. While these terrible decrees and sentences were being passedagainst Alkibiades, he was living at Argos; for as soon as he leftThurii, he fled to the Peloponnesus, where, terrified at the violence ofhis enemies, he determined to abandon his country, and sent to Spartademanding a safe asylum, on the strength of a promise that he would dothe Spartans more good than he had in time past done them harm. TheSpartans agreed to his request, and invited him to come. On his arrival, he at once effected one important matter, by stirring up the dilatorySpartans to send Gylippus at once to Syracuse with reinforcements forthat city, to destroy the Athenian army in Sicily. Next, he brought themto declare war against the Athenians themselves; while his third andmost terrible blow to Athens was his causing the Lacedaemonians to seizeand fortify Dekeleia, which did more to ruin Athens than any othermeasure throughout the war. With his great public reputation, Alkibiadeswas no less popular in private life, and he deluded the people bypretending to adopt the Laconian habits. When they saw him closelyshaved, bathing in cold water, eating dry bread and black broth, theywondered, and began to doubt whether this man ever had kept a professedcook, used perfumes, or endured to wear a Milesian mantle. ForAlkibiades, among his other extraordinary qualities, had this especialart of captivating men by assimilating his own manners and habits totheirs, being able to change, more quickly than the chameleon, from onemode of life to another. The chameleon, indeed, cannot turn itselfwhite; but Alkibiades never found anything, good or bad, which he couldnot imitate to the life. Thus at Sparta he was fond of exercise, frugaland severe; in Ionia, luxurious, frivolous, and lazy; in Thrace, hedrank deep; in Thessaly he proved himself a good horseman; while, whenhe was consorting with the satrap Tissaphernes, he outdid even thePersian splendour and pomp. It was not his real character that he sooften and so easily changed, but as he knew that if he appeared in histrue colours, he would be universally disliked, he concealed his realself under an apparent adoption of the ways and fashions of whateverplace he was in. In Lacedaemon you would say, looking at his appearance, "'Tis not Achilles' son, 'tis he himself. "

He was just such a man as Lykurgus himself would have trained; but ifyou examined his habits and actions more closely, you would say:

 "'Tis the same woman still. "

For while King Agis was away in the wars, Alkibiades seduced his wifeTimaea, so that she became pregnant by him, and did not even deny thefact. When her child was born it was called Leotychides in public, butin her own house she whispered to her friends and attendants that hisname was Alkibiades, so greatly was she enamoured of him. He himselfused to say in jest that he had not acted thus out of wanton passion, but in order that his race might one day rule in Lacedaemon. King Agisheard of all this from many informants, but was most convinced of itstruth by a computation of the time before the birth of the child. Terrified at an earthquake, he had once quitted his wife's chamber, andfor ten months afterwards had never conversed with her. As it was at theend of this period that Leotychides was born, he declared that the childwas not his; and for this reason he never succeeded to the throne. 

XXIV. After the Athenian disaster in Sicily, ambassadors came to Spartafrom Chios, Lesbos, and Kyzikus. The claims of the Lesbians werefavoured by the Boeotians, and those of the people of Kyzikus byPharnabazus; but, at the recommendation of Alkibiades, theLacedaemonians decided to give the preference to the Chians. He himselfsailed to that island, caused nearly the whole of the cities of Ionia torevolt from Athens, and injured the Athenian cause much by constantlyassisting the Lacedaemonian generals. King Agis, however, was alreadyhis personal enemy, because of Alkibiades's intrigue with his wife, andnow was enraged at his successes; for it was said that scarcely anythingwas done without Alkibiades. The other leading men in Sparta also hatedAlkibiades, because he had thrown them into the shade; and they hadsufficient influence with the home government to obtain an order for hisexecution, to be sent to the generals in Ionia. 

Alkibiades received warning of this in good time. Alarmed at the news, he still continued to co-operate with the Lacedaemonians, but utterlyrefused to trust his person among them. To ensure his safety, he betookhimself to Tissaphernes, the satrap or viceroy for the king of Persia inthat province, and at once became the most important personage amongsthis followers. The barbarian being himself a lover of deceit and ofcrooked ways, admired his cleverness and versatility; while no man'snature could resist the fascinations and charms of the society ofAlkibiades, which Tissaphernes now enjoyed daily. Although he hated theGreeks as much as any Persian, yet he was so overpowered by theflatteries of Alkibiades, that he in his turn repaid him withcompliments even more excessive. He decreed that the pleasantest of hisparks, a place charmingly wooded and watered, with delightful walks andsummer-houses, should be called "the Alkibiades;" and all men from thattime forth spoke of it by that name. 

XXV. Now that Alkibiades had determined that the Spartans were not to betrusted, and that he was in fear of Agis, their king, he began to speakevil of them to Tissaphernes, withholding him from assisting themthoroughly, and enabling them to conquer the Athenians, but advising himrather to starve the Lacedaemonians forces by insufficient supplies, soas to play one side off against the other, and thus encourage them towear each other out, in order that in the end both might be so weakenedas to fall an easy prey to the Persians. 

Tissaphernes at once adopted this policy, and made no secret of hisregard and admiration for Alkibiades, who was now looked up to by theGreeks on both sides, while the Athenians repented of their decreesagainst him. He also began to fear that if their city were to be utterlydestroyed he would necessarily fall into the hands of his enemies, theLacedaemonians. 

The most important post in the Athenian empire at this time was theisland of Samos. Here lay the greater part of their fleet, and it wasfrom this headquarters that they sent out expeditions to recover therevolted cities of Ionia, and guarded those which they still retained, as, in spite of their great losses, they still possessed a fleet capableof holding its own against the Lacedaemonians. They were in great fearof Tissaphernes and the Phoenician fleet of a hundred and fifty sail oftriremes, which was said to be on the point of arriving, because if itreally came all would be over with Athens. Alkibiades, knowing this, sent a secret message to the Athenian leaders at Samos, holding outhopes of bringing Tissaphernes over to the Athenian side. He would not, he said, do this to please the populace of Athens, because he could nottrust them, but he would effect it if the nobility would, like bravegentlemen, put an end to the insolent behaviour of the lower orders, andwould themselves undertake to save the city and empire of Athens. 

All were eager to adopt the proposal of Alkibiades, except Phrynichus ofthe _demos_ or township of Deirades, who suspected the real truth, thatAlkibiades cared nothing about the form of government which might beestablished at Athens, but was seeking for some excuse for beingrestored to his native country, and thought, by his harsh language aboutthe people, to ingratiate himself with the nobles. He was, however, overruled; and, being now clearly marked as the personal enemy ofAlkibiades, sent a secret message to Astyochus, the admiral of theLacedaemonian fleet, bidding him beware of Alkibiades, who was playing adouble game. However, he met his match in perfidy. Astyochus, desirousof gaining the favour of Tissaphernes, and seeing that Alkibiades hadgreat influence with him, betrayed Phrynichus's letter to them. Alkibiades upon this at once sent persons to Samos to charge Phrynichuswith this act of treason, and he, seeing that all men were shocked atwhat he had done, and were indignant with him, and being at his wit'send, endeavoured to heal one mischief by another. He sent a secondletter to Astyochus, reproaching him for his betrayal of confidence, andpromising that he would enable him to capture the fleet and camp of theAthenians. However, the treachery of Phrynichus did no harm to theAthenians, because of the counter treachery of Astyochus, whocommunicated this letter also to Alkibiades. Now Phrynichus, expecting asecond charge of treason from Alkibiades, was beforehand with him, inannouncing to the Athenians that the enemy were about to attack them, and advising them to keep near their ships, and to fortify theircamp. [A] This they proceeded to do, when there came a second letter fromAlkibiades, warning them against Phrynichus, who meditated betraying theharbour to the enemy. This letter was not believed at the time, for menimagined that Alkibiades, who knew perfectly well all the movements andintentions of the enemy, was making use of that knowledge to destroy hispersonal enemy Phrynichus, by exciting an undeserved suspicion againsthim. Yet, when afterwards Hermon, one of the Athenian horse-patrol, stabbed Phrynichus with his dagger in the market-place, the Athenians, after trying the case, decided that the deceased was guilty of treason, and crowned Hermon and his comrades with garlands. 

[Footnote A: The ancient trireme was not habitable, like a modern shipof war. The crew always, if possible, landed for their meals, and whenstationed at any place, drew the ship up on the beach and lived entirelyon shore. ]

XXVI. The friends of Alkibiades being in a majority at Samos, nowdespatched Peisander to Athens to attempt the subversion of therepublic, and to encourage the nobles to seize the government, and putan end to the democratic constitution. If this was done, they conceivedthat Alkibiades would make Tissaphernes their friend and ally, and thiswas the pretext and excuse put forward by those who established theoligarchy. When, however, the so-called Five Thousand, who really werethe Four Hundred, were at the head of affairs, they paid but littleattention to Alkibiades, and were very remiss in carrying on the war, partly because they distrusted the citizens, who were not yet accustomedto the new constitution, and partly because they thought that theLacedaemonians, who were always favourable to oligarchical governments, would deal more tenderly with them on that account. The Athenianpopulace remained quiet, though sorely against its will, because of theterror inspired by the oligarchs, for no small number of citizens whohad opposed the Four Hundred had been put to death; but the men ofSamos, as soon as they heard the news, were indignant, and wished atonce to sail to Peiraeus. They sent at once for Alkibiades, elected himtheir general, and bade him lead them on to crush this new despotism. Alkibiades on this occasion acted like a really great commander, and notat all as one would expect of a man who had suddenly been raised topower by popular favour. 

He refused to curry favour with the soldiery by carrying out theirwishes, regardless of their having found him a homeless exile, andhaving made him the commander of so many ships and so many men; but heresisted their impulse, and by preventing their committing so great anerror, without doubt saved the Athenian empire. For if the fleet hadleft Samos, the enemy could without a battle have made themselvesmasters of the whole of Ionia, the Hellespont, and the islands in theAegean while Athenians would have fought with Athenians in their owncity. All this was prevented by Alkibiades alone, who not only persuadedthe populace, and pointed out the folly of such proceedings in publicspeeches, but even entreated and commanded each individual man to remainat Samos. He was assisted in this by Thrasybulus, of the township ofSteiria, who was present, and spoke in his loud voice, which was said tobe the loudest of any Athenian of his time. This was a noble achievementof Alkibiades, and so, too, was his undertaking that the Phoenicianfleet, which the Lacedaemonians expected would be sent by the Persianking to help them, should either be won over to the Athenian side, or atany rate prevented from joining the Lacedaemonians. In order to effectthis, he sailed away in great haste, and, although the Phoenician fleetwas at Aspendus, yet Tissaphernes brought it no further, and deceivedthe Lacedaemonians. Both parties gave Alkibiades the credit of havingdetained it, and more especially the Lacedaemonians, who imagined thathe was teaching the Persians to allow the Greeks to destroy one another, for it was perfectly clear that such a force, if added to either of thecontending parties, must have made them complete masters of the sea. 

XXVII. After this the government of the Four Hundred was dissolved, asthe friends of Alkibiades eagerly took the side of the popular party. Although the Athenians now wished and even commanded Alkibiades toreturn to his native city, yet he felt that he ought not to come homeemptyhanded, and owing his restoration to the good nature of thepeople, but rather to return after some glorious achievement. With thisintention he at first left Samos with a few ships and cruised in theseas near Knidus and Kôs; then, hearing that Mindarus, the Spartanadmiral, had gone to the Hellespont with all his fleet, and that theAthenian fleet had followed him, he hurried to the assistance of theAthenian commanders. 

Sailing northwards with eighteen triremes he chanced to arrive towardsevening, at the end of a sea-fight off Abydos, in which neither partyhad won any decided advantage. The appearance of his squadron causedvery different feelings among the combatants, for the Athenians werealarmed, and the enemy encouraged. However, he soon hoisted an Athenianflag, and bore down upon that part of the Peloponnesian fleet which hadbeen hitherto victorious. He put them to flight, compelled them to runtheir ships ashore, and then attacking them, disabled their ships, andbroke them to pieces, forcing the crews to swim ashore, wherePharnabazus the satrap led a force to the water's edge to fight for thepreservation of the vessels. In the end the Athenians took thirty ships, recovered those of their own which had been captured, and erected atrophy, as victors. 

Alkibiades gained great glory by this splendid piece of good fortune, and at once went off with rich presents and a gorgeous military retinue, to display his fresh laurels to Tissaphernes. He met, however, with avery different reception to that which he expected, for Tissaphernes, whose mind had been poisoned against him by the Lacedaemonians, and whofeared that the king might be displeased with his own dealings withAlkibiades, considered that he had arrived at a very opportune moment, and at once seized him and imprisoned him at Sardis; thinking that thisarbitrary act would prove to the world that the other suspicions of anunderstanding between them were unfounded. 

XXVIII. Thirty days afterwards, Alkibiades by some means obtained ahorse, eluded his guards, and fled for refuge to Klazomenae. He gave outthat he had been privately released by Tissaphernes himself, in order todisgrace that satrap, and at once sailed to the Athenian fleet in theHellespont. Learning that Mindarus and Pharnabazus were both in the cityof Kyzikus, he encouraged his soldiers by a speech, in which he toldthem that they would have to fight at sea, on land, and against the townwalls too, for that if they were not completely victorious they couldget no pay. He manned his ships and proceeded to Prokonessus, orderingall small vessels which they met to be seized and detained in theinterior of the fleet, in order that the enemy might not learn hismovements. It happened also that a heavy thunderstorm with rain anddarkness assisted his design, as he not only was unseen by the enemy, but was never suspected of any intention of attack by the Atheniansthemselves, who had given up any idea of going to sea when he orderedthem on board. Little by little the clouds cleared away, and disclosedthe Peloponnesian fleet cruising off the harbour of Kyzikus. Alkibiades, fearing that if the enemy saw how numerous his own fleet was, they wouldtake refuge on shore, ordered the other commanders to remain behindunder easy sail, and himself with forty ships went on ahead to enticethem to an engagement. The Peloponnesians, deceived by this manoeuvre, at once attacked these few ships, despising their small numbers. But thelittle squadron engaged them until the rest came up, when they fledashore in terror. Alkibiades with twenty of the fastest sailing shipsbroke through the enemy's line, ran his ships ashore, landed theircrews, and attacked the fugitives from the enemy's fleet with terribleslaughter. Mindarus and Pharnabazus now came to the rescue, but theywere beaten back; Mindarus died fighting bravely, and Pharnabazus onlysaved himself by flight. By this battle the Athenians obtainedpossession of many dead bodies of their enemies, [A] many stand of arms, the whole of the hostile fleet, and the town of Kyzikus, which they tookby storm, putting its Peloponnesian garrison to the sword, as soon asPharnabazus withdrew his troops. They now not merely obtained a firmhold on the Hellespont, but were able to drive the Lacedaemonians fromthe sea in all quarters. A despatch was captured, written in theLaconian fashion, informing the Ephors of the disaster. "Our ships aregone; Mindarus is slain; the men are starving; we know not what to do. "

[Footnote A: The Greeks attached great importance to the burial of thedead. The usual test of which party had won a battle was, which sideafter it demanded a truce for the burial of the dead. Here thepossession of the dead bodies of the enemy is enumerated as one of theproofs of victory. ]

XXIX. The men who had served under Alkibiades were so elated by thisvictory that they disdained to mix with the rest of the army, allegingthat the others had often been defeated, and that they were invincible. Indeed, not long before, Thrasyllus had received a defeat near Ephesus, upon which the Ephesians erected the brazen trophy to the disgrace ofthe Athenians; so that the soldiers of Alkibiades reproached those ofThrasyllus with this, glorifying themselves and their commander, andrefusing to allow the others to make use of their places of exercise ortheir quarters in camp. However, when Pharnabazus with a large force ofinfantry and calvary attacked them while they were invading theterritory of Abydos, Alkibiades led them out to fight him, defeated him, and, together with Thrasyllus, pursued him till nightfall. After thisthe soldiers fraternised with each other and returned to their camprejoicing together. On the following day Alkibiades erected a trophy andravaged the country of Pharnabazus, no one daring to oppose him. He eventook priests and priestesses prisoners, but released them withoutransom. 

The city of Chalkedon had revolted from Athens, and received aLacedaemonian harmost[A] and garrison. Alkibiades was eager to attackthem, but, hearing that they had collected all the property[B] in theircountry and placed it in the hands of the Bithynians, a friendly tribe, he led his whole army to the Bithynian frontier and sent a herald tothat people reproaching them for what they had done. In terror, theBithynians gave up the property to him, and entered into an alliancewith him. 

[Footnote A: A "harmost, " [Greek: harmostês], was an officer sent fromSparta to administer a subject city. See p. 97. ]

[Footnote B: Probably consisting of corn and cattle, as Cloughtranslates it. ]

XXX. He now completely invested Chalkedon, by building a wall reachingfrom sea to sea. Pharnabazus came down to raise the siege, andHippokrates, the harmost of the city, led out his forces and attackedthe Athenians at the same time. Alkibiades arranged his army so as to beable to fight them both at once, forced Pharnabazus to retreat withdisgrace, killed Hippokrates, and put his force to flight with severeloss. He now took a cruise round the Hellespont, to raise contributionsfrom the towns on the coast, during which he took Selymbria, where he, very unnecessarily, was exposed to great personal risk. The party whointended to betray the city had arranged to show a torch as a signal atmidnight, but were compelled to do so before the appointed time, fearingone of the conspirators, who suddenly changed his mind. When then thetorch was raised, the army was not ready for the assault, butAlkibiades, taking some thirty men with him, ran at full speed up to thewalls, giving orders to the rest to follow. The city gate was opened forhim, and, twenty peltasts[A] having joined his thirty soldiers, heentered, when he perceived the men of Selymbria under arms marching downthe street to meet him. To await their onset would have been ruin, whilepride forbade a hitherto invincible general to retire. Ordering histrumpet to sound, he bade one of those present proclaim aloud that theSelymbrians ought not to appear in arms against the Athenians. Thisspeech made some of the townspeople less eager to fight, as theyimagined that their enemies were all within the walls, while itencouraged others who hoped to arrange matters peaceably. While theywere standing opposite to one another and parleying, Alkibiades's armycame up, and he, truly conjecturing that the Selymbrians were reallydisposed to be friendly, began to fear that his Thracian troops mightsack the city; for many of these barbarians were serving in his army asvolunteers, from a particular attachment they had to his person. Hetherefore sent them all out of the city, and did not permit theterrified people of Selymbria to suffer any violence, but, havingexacted a contribution of money and placed a garrison in the town, hesailed away. 

[Footnote A: Peltasts were light-armed troops, so called because theycarried light round shields instead of the large unwieldy oblong shieldof the Hoplite, or heavy-armed infantry soldier. These light troops camegradually into favour with the Greeks during the Peloponnesian war, andafterward became very extensively used. ]

XXXI. Meanwhile the generals who were besieging Chalkedon made anagreement with Pharnabazus, on these conditions. They were to receive asum of money; the people of Chalkedon were to become subjects of Athensas before; Pharnabazus was not to lay waste the province; and he was toprovide an escort and a safe-conduct for an Athenian embassy to thePersian king. On the return of Alkibiades, Pharnabazus desired him toswear to observe these conditions, but Alkibiades refused to do sounless Pharnabazus swore first. After this capitulation he proceeded toByzantium, which had revolted from Athens, and built a wall round thatcity. Anaxilaus and Lykurgus, with some others, now offered to betraythe city if the lives and property of the inhabitants were spared. Uponthis Alkibiades put about a report that his presence was urgentlyrequired on the Ionian coast, and sailed away by daylight with all hisfleet. The same night he landed with all his soldiers, and marched up tothe walls in silence, while the fleet, with a great clamour anddisturbance, forced its way into the harbour. The suddenness of thisassault, entirely unexpected as it was, terrified the people ofByzantium, and gave those of them who inclined to the Athenian side anopportunity of admitting Alkibiades quietly, while the attention ofevery one was directed to the ships in the harbour. The town did not, however, surrender altogether without fighting; for the Peloponnesians, Megarians, and Boeotians who were in it drove the Athenians back intotheir ships with loss, and when they heard that the land forces hadentered the town they formed in line and engaged them. A severe battletook place, but Alkibiades on the right wing, and Theramenes on theleft, were at length victorious, and took prisoners the survivors, somethree hundred in number. After this battle no citizen of Byzantium waseither put to death or banished, those being the terms on which theconspirators had delivered up the city, namely, that they should sufferno loss of life or property. 

Anaxilaus was afterwards tried at Sparta for having betrayed the city, and justified what he had done, saying that he was not a Lacedaemonian, but a Byzantine, and that he saw Byzantium, not Sparta, in danger, asthe city was surrounded by the enemy's siege works, no provisions beingbrought in to it, and what there was in it being consumed by thePeloponnesians and Boeotians, while the people of Byzantium with theirwives and children were starving. He did not, he said, betray the cityto the enemy, but relieved it from the miseries of war, imitatingtherein the noblest Lacedaemonians, whose only idea of what was nobleand just was what would serve their own country. The Lacedaemonians, onhearing this speech, were ashamed to press the charge, and acquittedhim. 

XXXII. Now, at length, Alkibiades began to wish to see his nativecountry again, and still more to be seen and admired by his countrymenafter his splendid series of victories. He proceeded home with theAthenian fleet, which was magnificently adorned with shields andtrophies, and had many prizes in tow, and the flags of many more whichhe had captured and destroyed--all of them together amounting to notless than two hundred. But we cannot believe the additions which Douristhe Samian, who says that he is a descendant of Alkibiades, makes tothis story, to the effect that Chrysogonus, the victor at the Pythiangames, played on the flute to mark the time for the rowers, whileKallipides the tragedian, attired in his buskins, purple robe, and othertheatrical properties, gave them orders, and that the admiral's shipcame into harbour with purple sails, as if returning from a party ofpleasure. Neither Theopompus, nor Ephorus, nor Xenophon mentions thesecircumstances, nor was it likely that he should present himself beforethe Athenians in such a swaggering fashion, when he was returning homefrom exile, after having suffered such a variety of misfortunes. Thetruth is, he sailed to Athens with considerable misgivings, and on hisarrival would not leave his ship until from her deck he saw Euryptolemushis cousin, with many of his friends and relatives, assembled to welcomehim. 

When he landed, the people seemed to have no eyes for the othergenerals, but all rushed towards him, and escorted him on his way, cheering him, embracing him, and crowning him with flowers. Those whocould not get near him gazed upon him from a distance, and the older menpointed him out to the younger ones. Yet the joy of the citizens wasmingled with tears in the midst of their rejoicings, when they thoughtof their past disasters, for they reflected that they would not havefailed in Sicily, or met with any of their other terribledisappointments, if they had not parted with Alkibiades when in the fulltide of prosperity. He had found Athens barely able to hold her own atsea, by land mistress of little more than the ground on which the citystood, and torn by internal strife; from which miserable and forlorncondition he had restored her so completely, that she was again not onlyomnipotent at sea, but also victorious everywhere on land. 

XXXIII. Before his return a decree had been passed authorising him to doso, at the instance of Kritias, the son of Kallaeschrus, who himselfalludes to it in his poems, mentioning the service which he performedfor Alkibiades in the following verse:

 "I moved your restoration by decree, And that you're home again you owe to me. "

Immediately on the return of Alkibiades, the people assembled in thePnyx, where he addressed them. He spoke with tears of his misfortunes, for which he partly reproached his countrymen, though he attributed themchiefly to his own unlucky fortune, and he greatly raised their hopes byspeaking encouragingly about their probable successes in the future. Hewas honoured with golden crowns, and elected sole general with absolutepower both by sea and land. A decree was also passed by which hisproperty was restored to him, and the Eumolpidae and Kerykes wereordered to retract the curses which they had invoked upon him at theinstance of the people. When all the rest obeyed, Theodorus thehierophant excused himself, saying, If he has done the State no wrong, Inever cursed him. 

XXXIV. While Alkibiades was in this glorious career of prosperity, somepersons in spite of his success foreboded evil from the day which he hadchosen for his return home; for on the day on which he sailed into theharbour the statue of Athene on the Acropolis is stripped of itsgarments and ornaments, which are cleaned, while it in the meanwhile iscovered up to conceal it from human eyes. This ceremony takes place onthe 25th of the month Thargelion, which day is considered by theAthenians to be the unluckiest of all. Moreover, the goddess did notappear to receive Alkibiades with a kindly welcome, but to turn away herface from him and drive him from her presence. Be this as it may, allwent well and just as Alkibiades wished. A fleet of a hundred triremeswas manned, and placed at his disposal, but he with creditable priderefused to set sail until after the celebration of the Eleusinianmysteries. Since the permanent occupation of Dekeleia and of the passescommanding the road to Eleusis by the enemy, the procession had beennecessarily shorn of many of its distinctive features, as it had to besent by sea. All the customary sacrifices, dances, and other rites whichused to be practised on the road, when Iacchus is carried along insolemn procession, were of necessity omitted. It seemed therefore toAlkibiades that it would both honour the gods and increase his ownreputation among men, if he restored the ancient form of this ceremony, escorting the procession with his troops and protecting it from theenemy; for he argued that Agis would lose prestige if he did not attack, but allowed the procession to pass unmolested, whereas if he did attack, Alkibiades would be able to fight in a holy cause, in defence of themost sacred institutions of his country, with all his countrymen presentas witnesses of his own valour. When he determined to do this, afterconcerting measures with the Eumolpidae and Kerykes, he placed vedetteson the mountains and sent an advanced guard off at day-break, followingwith the priests, novices, and initiators marching in the midst of hisarmy, in great good order and perfect silence. It was an august andsolemn procession, and all who did not envy him said that he hadperformed the office of a high priest in addition of that of a general. The enemy made no attack, and he led his troops safely back to Athens, full of pride himself, and making his army proud to think itselfinvincible while under his command. He had so won the affections of thepoor and the lower orders, that they were strangely desirous of livingunder his rule. Many even besought him to put down the malignity of hispersonal enemies, sweep away laws, decrees, and other perniciousnonsense, and carry on the government without fear of a factiousopposition. 

XXXV. What his own views about making himself despot of Athens may havebeen we cannot tell; but the leading citizens took alarm at this, andhurried him away as quickly as possible to sea, voting whatever measureshe pleased, and allowing him to choose his own colleagues. He set sailwith his hundred ships, reached Andros, and defeated the inhabitants ofthat island, and the Lacedaemonian garrison there. He did not, however, capture the city, and this afterwards became one of the points urgedagainst him by his enemies. Indeed, if there ever was a man destroyed byhis reputation, it was Alkibiades. Being supposed to be such a prodigyof daring and subtlety, his failures were regarded with suspicion, as ifhe could have succeeded had he been in earnest; for his countrymen wouldnot believe that he could really fail in anything which he seriouslyattempted. They expected to hear of the capture of Chios, and of thewhole Ionian coast, and were vexed at not at once receiving the news ofa complete success. They did not take into account the want of moneywhich Alkibiades felt, while warring against men who had the king ofPersia for their paymaster, and which made frequent absences from hiscamp necessary to provide subsistence for his troops. It was one ofthese expeditions, indeed, which exposed him to the last and mostimportant of the many charges brought against him. Lysander had beensent by the Lacedaemonians to take the command of their fleet. On hisarrival, by means of the money paid by Cyrus, he raised the pay of hissailors from three obols a day to four. Alkibiades, who could withdifficulty pay his men even three obols, went to Caria to levycontributions, leaving in command of the fleet one Antiochus, a goodseaman, but a thoughtless and silly man. He had distinct orders fromAlkibiades not to fight even if the enemy attacked him, but such was hisinsolent disregard of these instructions that he manned his own triremeand one other, sailed to Ephesus, and there passed along the line of theenemy's ships, as they lay on the beach, using the most scurrilous andinsulting language and gestures. At first Lysander put to sea with a fewships to pursue him, but as the Athenians came out to assist him, theaction became general. The entire fleets engaged and Lysander wasvictorious. He killed Antiochus, captured many ships and men, and set upa trophy. When Alkibiades on his return to Samos heard of this, he putto sea with all his ships, and offered battle to Lysander; but he wassatisfied with his previous victory, and refused the offer. 

XXXVI. Thrasybulus, the son of Thrason, a bitter personal enemy ofAlkibiades, now set sail for Athens to accuse him, and to exasperate hisenemies in the city against him. He made a speech to the people, representing that Alkibiades had ruined their affairs and lost theirships by insolently abusing his authority and entrusting the command, during his own absence, to men who owed their influence with him to deepdrinking and cracking seamen's jokes, and that he securely traversed theprovinces to raise money, indulging in drunken debauches with Ioniancourtezans, while the enemy's fleet was riding close to his own. He wasalso blamed for the construction of certain forts in Thrace, nearBisanthe, which he destined as a place of refuge for himself, as if hecould not or would not live in his native city. 

The Athenians were so wrought upon by these charges against Alkibiades, that they elected other generals to supersede him, thus showing theiranger and dislike for him. Alkibiades, on learning this, left theAthenian camp altogether, got together a force of foreign troops, andmade war on the irregular Thracian tribes on his own account, thusobtaining much plunder and freeing the neighbouring Greek cities fromthe dread of the barbarians. Now when the generals Tydeus, Menander, andAdeimantus came with the entire Athenian fleet to Aegospotamoi, theyused early every morning to go to Lampsakus to challenge the fleet ofLysander, which lay there, to a sea-fight. After this ceremony theywould return and spend the whole day in careless indolence, as ifdespising their enemy. Alkibiades, who lived close by, did not disregardtheir danger, but even rode over on horseback and pointed out to thegenerals that they were very badly quartered in a place where there wasno harbour and no city, having to obtain all their provisions fromSestos, and, when the ships were once hauled up on shore, allowing themen to leave them unguarded and straggle where they pleased, althoughthey were in the presence of a fleet which was trained to act in silenceand good order at the command of one man. 

XXXVII. Though Alkibiades gave this advice, and urged the generals toremove to Sestos, they would not listen to him. Tydeus indeed rudelybade him begone, for they, not he, were now generals. Alkibiades, too, suspected that there was some treachery in the case, and retired, telling his personal friends, who escorted him out of the camp, that ifhe had not been so outrageously insulted by the generals, he could in afew days have compelled the Lacedaemonians either to fight a battle atsea against their will, or abandon their ships. To some this seemed mereboasting, while others thought that he could very possibly effect it bybringing many Thracian light-armed troops and cavalry to assault thecamp on the land side. However, the result soon proved that he hadrightly seen the fault of the Athenian position. Lysander suddenly andunexpectedly assailed it, and except eight triremes which escaped underKonon, took all the rest, nearly two hundred in number. Lysander alsoput three thousand prisoners to the sword. He shortly afterwardscaptured Athens, burned her ships, and pulled down her Long Walls. Alkibiades, terrified at seeing the Lacedaemonians omnipotent by sea andland, shifted his quarters to Bithynia, sending thither a great amountof treasure, and taking much with him, but leaving much more in hisThracian fortresses. In Bithynia, however, he suffered much loss at thehands of the natives, and determined to proceed to the court ofArtaxerxes, thinking that the Persian king, if he would make trial ofhim, would find that he was not inferior to Themistokles in ability, while he sought him in a much more honourable way; for it was not torevenge himself on his fellow-citizens, as Themistokles did, but toassist his own country against its enemy that he meant to solicit theking's aid. Imagining that Pharnabazus would be able to grant him a safepassage to the Persian court, he went into Phrygia to meet him, andremained there for some time, paying his court to the satrap, andreceiving from him marks of respect. 

XXXVIII. The Athenians were terribly cast down at the loss of theirempire; but when Lysander robbed them of their liberty as well, byestablishing the government of the Thirty Tyrants, they began toentertain thoughts which never had occurred to them before, while it wasyet possible that the State might be saved from ruin. They bewailedtheir past blunders and mistakes, and of these they considered theirsecond fit of passion with Alkibiades to have been the greatest. Theyhad cast him off for no fault of his own, but merely because they wereangry with his follower for having lost a few ships disgracefully; theyhad much more disgraced themselves by losing the services of the ablestand bravest general whom they possessed. Even in their present abasementa vague hope prevailed among them that Athens could not be utterly lostwhile Alkibiades was alive; for he had not during his former exile beensatisfied with a quiet life, and surely now, however prosperous hisprivate circumstances might be, he would not endure to see the triumphof the Lacedaemonians, and the arrogant tyranny of the Thirty. Indeedthis was proved to be no vain dream by the care which the Thirty took towatch all the motions of Alkibiades. At last, Kritias informed Lysander, that while Athens was governed by a democracy, the Lacedaemonian empirein Greece could never be safe; and if the Athenians were ever so muchinclined to an oligarchical form of government, Alkibiades, if he lived, would not long suffer them to submit to it. However, Lysander was notprevailed upon by these arguments until a despatch came from Spartabidding him make away with Alkibiades, either because the homegovernment feared his ability and enterprise, or because they wished toplease his enemy, King Agis. 

XXXIX. Lysander now sent orders for his death to Pharnabazus, whoentrusted their execution to his brother Magaeus and his uncleSusamithres. Alkibiades was at this time dwelling in a village inPhrygia, with Timandra the courtezan, and one night he dreamed that hewas dressed in his mistress's clothes, and that she, holding his head inher arms, was painting his face and adorning him like a woman. Otherssay that he saw Magaeus in his dream cutting off his head, and his bodyall in flames. All, however, agree that the dream took place shortlybefore his death. His murderers did not dare to enter the house, butstood round it in a circle and set it on fire. Alkibiades, ondiscovering them, flung most of the bedding and clothes on to the fire, wrapped his cloak round his left arm, and with his dagger in his rightdashed through the flames unhurt, not giving his clothes time to catchfire. None of the barbarians dared to await his onset, but as soon asthey saw him they scattered, and from a distance shot at him with dartsand arrows. After he had fallen and the barbarians were gone, Timandratook up his corpse, covered it with her own clothes, and, as far as wasin her power, showed it every mark of honour and respect. 

This Timandra is said to have been the mother of Lais, commonly calledthe Corinthian, who really was brought as a captive from Hykkara, asmall town in Sicily. Some writers, although they agree in their accountof the manner of his death, differ as to its cause, alleging that it wasneither due to Pharnabazus nor to Lysander nor the Lacedaemonians, butthat Alkibiades had debauched a girl of noble birth and was living withher, and that her relatives, enraged at this insult, during the nightset fire to the house in which Alkibiades was living, and, as has beenrelated, shot him as he leaped out through the flames. 

LIFE OF CAIUS MARCIUS CORIOLANUS. 

I. The patrician family of the Marcii at Rome produced many illustriousmen, amongst whom was Ancus Marcius, the grandson of Numa, who becameking after the death of Tullus Hostilius. To this family also belongedPublius and Quintus Marcius, who supplied Rome with abundance ofexcellent water, and Censorinus, twice appointed censor by the Romanpeople, who afterwards passed a law that no one should hold that officetwice. 

Caius Marcius, the subject of this memoir, was an orphan, and brought upby a widowed mother. He proved that, hard though the lot of an orphanmay be, yet it does not prevent a man's becoming great anddistinguished, and that the bad alone allege it as an excuse for anintemperate life. He also proves to us that a naturally noble nature, ifit be not properly disciplined, will produce many good and bad qualitiestogether, just as a rich field, if not properly tilled, will produceboth weeds and good fruit. The immense energy and courage of his mindused to urge him to attempt and to perform great exploits, but his harshand ambitious temper made it difficult for him to live on friendly termswith his companions. They used to admire his indifference to pleasureand pain, and his contempt for bribes, but in politics they were angeredby his morose and haughty manner, too proud for a citizen of a republic. Indeed there is no advantage to be gained from a liberal education sogreat as that of softening and disciplining the natural ferocity of ourdisposition, by teaching it moderation, and how to avoid all extremes. However, at that period warlike virtues were valued above all others atRome, which is proved by the Romans possessing only one word for virtueand for bravery, so that virtue, a general term, is applied by them tothe particular form, courage. 

II. Marcius, having an especial passion for war, was familiar fromchildhood with the use of arms. Reflecting that artificial weapons areof little use without a body capable of wielding them, he so trainedhimself for all possible emergencies that he was both able to runswiftly and also to grapple with his foe so strongly that few couldescape from him. Those who entered into any contest with him, whenbeaten, used to ascribe their defeat to his immense bodily strength, which no exertions could tire out. 

III. He served his first campaign while yet a youth, when Tarquin, theexiled King of Rome, after many battles and defeats, staked all upon onelast throw, and assembled an army to attack Rome. His force consistedchiefly of Latins, but many other Italian states took his part in thewar, not from any attachment to his person, but through fear and dislikeof the growing power of Rome. In the battle which ensued, in whichvarious turns of fortune took place, Marcius, while fighting bravelyunder the eye of the dictator himself, saw a Roman fallen and helplessnear him. He at once made for this man, stood in front of him, andkilled his assailant. After the victory, Marcius was among the first whoreceived the oak-leaf crown. This crown is given to him who has savedthe life of a citizen in battle, and is composed of oak-leaves, eitherout of compliment to the Arcadians, whom the oracle calls 'acorneaters, ' or because in any campaign in any country it is easy to obtainoak-boughs, or it may be that the oak, sacred to Jupiter the protectorof cities, forms a suitable crown for one who has saved the life of acitizen. The oak is the most beautiful of all wild trees, and thestrongest of those which are artificially cultivated. It afforded men inearly times both food and drink, by its acorns and the honey found init, while by the bird-lime which it produces, it enables them to catchmost kinds of birds and other creatures, as additional dainties. 

This was the battle in which they say that the Dioscuri, Castor andPollux, appeared, and immediately after the battle were soon in theForum at Rome announcing the victory, with their horses dripping withsweat, at the spot where now there is a temple built in their honourbeside the fountain. In memory of this, the day of the victory, the 15thof July, is kept sacred to the Dioscuri. 

IV. To win distinction early in life is said to quench and satisfy theeagerness of some men whose desire for glory is not keen; but for thosewith whom it is the ruling passion of their lives, the gaining ofhonours only urges them on, as a ship is urged by a gale, to freshachievements. They do not regard themselves as having received a reward, but as having given a pledge for the future, and they feel it their dutynot to disgrace the reputation which they have acquired, but to eclipsetheir former fame by some new deed of prowess. Marcius, feeling this, was ever trying to surpass himself in valour, and gained such prizes andtrophies that the later generals under whom he served were alwaysstriving to outdo the former ones in their expressions of esteem forhim, and their testimony to his merits. Many as were the wars in whichRome was then engaged, Marcius never returned from any without a prizefor valour or some especial mark of distinction. Other men were brave inorder to win glory, but Marcius won glory in order to please his mother. That she should hear him praised, see him crowned, and embrace himweeping for joy, was the greatest honour and happiness of his life. Epameinondas is said to have had the same feelings, and to haveconsidered it to be his greatest good-fortune that his father and motherwere both alive to witness his triumphant success at the battle ofLeuktra. He, however, enjoyed the sympathy and applause of both parents, but Marcius, being fatherless, lavished on his mother all that affectionwhich should have belonged to his father, besides her own share. Soboundless was his love for Volumnia that at her earnest desire he evenmarried a wife, but still continued to live in the house of his mother. 

V. At this time, when his reputation and influence were veryconsiderable because of his prowess, there was a party-quarrel going onin Rome between the patricians, who wished to defend the privileges ofmen of property, and the people, who were suffering terribleill-treatment at the hands of their creditors. Those who possessed asmall property were forced either to pledge or to sell it, while thosewho were absolutely destitute were carried off and imprisoned, thoughthey might be scarred and enfeebled from the wars in which they hadserved in defence of their country. The last campaign was that againstthe Sabines, after which their rich creditors promised to treat themwith less harshness. In pursuance of a decree of the Senate, MarcusValerius the consul was the guarantee of this promise. But when, afterserving manfully in this campaign and conquering the enemy, they metwith no better treatment from their creditors, and the Senate seemedunmindful of its engagements, allowing them to be imprisoned anddistresses to be levied upon their property as before, there wereviolent outbreaks and riots in the city. This disturbed condition of thecommonwealth was taken advantage of by the enemy, who invaded thecountry and plundered it. When the consuls called all men of militaryage to arms, no one obeyed, and then at last the patricians hesitated. Some thought that they ought to yield to the lower classes, and makesome concessions instead of enforcing the strict letter of the lawagainst them; while others, among whom was Marcius, opposed this idea, not because he thought the money of great consequence, but because heconsidered this to be the beginning of an outburst of democraticinsolence which a wise government would take timely measures to suppressbefore it gathered strength. 

VI. As the Senate, although it frequently met, came to no decision onthis matter, the plebeians suddenly assembled in a body, left the city, and established themselves on what was afterwards called the Mons Sacer, or Sacred Hill, near the river Anio. They abstained from all factiousproceedings, and merely stated that they had been driven from the cityby the wealthy classes. Air and water and a place in which to be buried, they said, could be obtained anywhere in Italy, and they could getnothing more than this in Rome, except the privilege of being wounded orslain in fighting battles on behalf of the rich. At this demonstration, the Senate became alarmed, and sent the most moderate and popular of itsmembers to treat with the people. The spokesman of this embassy wasMenenius Agrippa, who, after begging the plebeians to come to terms, andpleading the cause of the Senate with them, wound up his speech by thefollowing fable: Once upon a time, said he, all the members revoltedagainst the belly, reproaching it with lying idle in the body, andmaking all the other members work in order to provide it with food; butthe belly laughed them to scorn, saying that it was quite true that ittook all the food which the body obtained, but that it afterwardsdistributed it among all the members. "This, " he said, "is the partplayed by the Senate in the body politic. It digests and arranges allthe affairs of the State, and provides all of you with wholesome anduseful measures. "

VII. Upon this they came to terms, after stipulating that five menshould be chosen to defend the cause of the people, who are now known astribunes of the people. They chose for the first tribunes the leaders ofthe revolt, the chief of whom were Junius Brutus and Sicinius Vellutus. As soon as the State was one again, the people assembled under arms, andzealously offered their services for war to their rulers. Marcius, though but little pleased with these concessions which the plebeians hadwrung from the patricians, yet, noticing that many patricians were ofhis mind, called upon them not to be outdone in patriotism by theplebeians, but to prove themselves their superiors in valour rather thanin political strength. 

VIII. Corioli was the most important city of the Volscian nation, withwhich Rome then was at war. The consul Cominius was besieging it, andthe Volscians, fearing it might be taken, gathered from all quarters, meaning to fight a battle under the city walls, and so place the Romansbetween two fires. Cominius divided his army, and led one part of it tofight the relieving force, leaving Titus Lartius, a man of the noblestbirth in Rome, to continue the siege with the rest of his troops. Thegarrison of Corioli, despising the small numbers of their besiegers, attacked them and forced them to take shelter within their camp. Butthere Marcius with a few followers checked their onset, slew theforemost, and with a loud voice called on the Romans to rally. He was, as Cato said a soldier should be, not merely able to deal weighty blows, but struck terror into his enemies by the loud tones of his voice andhis martial appearance, so that few dared to stand their ground beforehim. Many soldiers rallied round him and forced the enemy to retreat;but he, not satisfied with this, followed them close and drove them inheadlong flight back to the city. On arriving there, although he sawthat the Romans were slackening their pursuit as many missiles wereaimed at them from the city walls, and none of them thought of daring toenter together with the fugitives into a city full of armed men, yet hestood and cheered them on, loudly telling them that fortune had openedthe city gates as much to the pursuers as to the pursued. Few cared tofollow him, but he, forcing his way through the crowd of fugitives, entered the city with them, none daring at first to withstand him. Soon, when the enemy saw how few of the Romans were within the gates, theyrallied and attacked them. Marcius, in the confused mass of friends andfoes, fought with incredible strength, swiftness, and courage, overthrowing all whom he attacked, driving some to the further parts ofthe town, and forcing others to lay down their arms, so that Lartius wasable to march the rest of the Roman army into the gates unmolested. 

IX. When the city was taken, the greater part of the soldiers fell toplundering it, which greatly vexed Marcius. He loudly exclaimed that itwas a disgraceful thing, when the consul was on the point of engagingwith the enemy, that they should be plundering, or, on the pretext ofplunder, keeping themselves safe out of harm's way. Few paid anyattention to him, but with those few he marched on the track of the mainbody, frequently encouraging his followers to greater speed, and not togive way to fatigue, and frequently praying to Heaven that he might notcome too late for the battle, but arrive in time to share the laboursand perils of his countrymen. There was at that time a custom among theRomans, when they were drawn up in order of battle, ready to take theirshields in their hands, and to gird themselves with the trabea, to maketheir will verbally, naming their heir in the presence of three or fourwitnesses. The Roman army was found by Marcius in the act of performingthis ceremony. At first some were alarmed at seeing him appear with onlya few followers, covered with blood and sweat; but when he ran joyouslyup to the consul and told him that Corioli was taken, Cominius embracedhim, and all the ranks took fresh courage, some because they heard, andothers because they guessed the glorious news. They eagerly demanded tobe led to battle. Marcius now enquired of Cominius how the enemy's lineof battle was arranged, and where it was strongest. When the consulanswered that he believed that the men of Antium, the proudest andbravest troops of the Volscians, were posted in the centre, he answered, "I beg of you, place us opposite to those men. " The consul, filled withadmiration for his spirit, placed him there. As soon as the armies met, Marcius charged before the rest, and the Volscians gave way before hisonset. The centre, where he attacked, was quite broken, but the ranks oneither side wheeled round and surrounded him, so that the consul fearedfor his safety, and despatched the choicest of his own troops to hisaid. They found a hot battle raging round Marcius, and many slain, butby the shock of their charge they drove off the enemy in confusion. Asthey began to pursue them, they begged Marcius, now weary with toil andwounds, to retire to the camp, but he, saying that "it was not forvictors to be weary, " joined in the pursuit. The rest of the Volscianarmy was defeated, many were slain, and many taken. 

X. On the next day Lartius and the rest joined the consul. He ascended arostrum, and after returning suitable thanks to Heaven for suchunexampled successes, turned to Marcius. First he praised his conduct inthe highest terms, having himself witnessed some part of it, and havinglearned the rest from Lartius. Next, as there were many prisoners, horses, and other spoil, he bade him, before it was divided, choose atenth part for himself. He also presented him with a horse andtrappings, as a reward for his bravery. As all the Romans murmured theirapproval, Marcius coming forward said that he gladly accepted the horse, and was thankful for the praise which he had received from the consul. As for the rest, he considered that to be mere pay, not a prize, andrefused it, preferring to take his share with the rest. "One especialfavour, " said he, "I do beg of you. I had a friend among the Volscians, who now is a captive, and from having been a rich and free man hasfallen to the condition of a slave. I wish to relieve him from one ofhis many misfortunes--that of losing his liberty and being sold for aslave. " After these words, Marcius was cheered more than he had beenbefore, and men admired his disinterestedness more than they had admiredhis bravery. Even those who grudged him his extraordinary honours nowthought that by his unselfishness he had shown himself worthy of them, and admired his courage in refusing such presents more than the courageby which he had won the right to them. Indeed, the right use of richesis more glorious than that of arms, but not to desire them at all isbetter even than using them well. 

XI. When the cheering caused by Marcius's speech had subsided, Cominiussaid: "Fellow soldiers, we cannot force a man against his will toreceive these presents; but, unless his achievements have already won itfor him, let us give him the title of Coriolanus, which he cannotrefuse, seeing for what it is bestowed, and let us confirm it by ageneral vote. "

Hence he obtained the third name of Coriolanus. From this we may clearlysee that his own personal name was Caius, and that Marcius was thecommon name of his family, while the third name was added afterwards tomark some particular exploit, peculiarity, or virtue in the bearer. Soalso did the Greeks in former ages give men names derived from theiractions, such as Kallinikus (the Victor), or Soter (the Preserver); orfrom their appearance, as Fusco (the Fat), or Gripus (the Hook-nosed);or from their virtues, as Euergetes (the Benefactor), or Philadelphus(the Lover of his Brethren), which were names of the Ptolemies: or fromtheir success, as Eudaemon (the Fortunate), a name given to the secondking of the race of Battus. Some princes have even had names given themin jest, as Antigonus was called Doson (the Promiser), and PtolemyLathyrus (the Vetch). 

The Romans used this sort of name much more commonly, as for instancethey named one of the Metelli Diadematus, or wearer of the diadem, because he walked about for a long time with his head bound up becauseof a wound in the forehead. 

Another of the same family was named Celer (the Swift), because of thewonderful quickness with which he provided a show of gladiators on theoccasion of his father's funeral. Some even to the present day derivetheir names from the circumstances of their birth, as for instance achild is named Proculus if his father be abroad when he is born, andPostumus if he be dead. If one of twins survive, he is named Vopiscus. Of names taken from bodily peculiarities they use not only Sulla (thePimply), Niger (the Swarthy), Rufus (the Red-haired), but even such asCaecus (the Blind), and Claudus (the Lame), wisely endeavouring toaccustom men to consider neither blindness nor any other bodily defectto be any disgrace or matter of reproach, but to answer to these namesas if they were their own. However, this belongs to a different branchof study. 

XII. When the war was over, the popular orators renewed theparty-quarrels, not that they had any new cause of complaint or any justgrievance to proceed upon; but the evil result which had necessarilybeen produced by their former riotous contests were now made the groundof attacks on the patricians. A great part of the country was leftunsown and untilled, while the war gave no opportunities for importationfrom other countries. The demagogues, therefore, seeing that there wasno corn in the market, and that even if there had been any, the peoplewere not able to buy it, spread malicious accusations against the rich, saying that they had purposely produced this famine in order to pay offan old grudge against the people. At this juncture ambassadors arrivedfrom the town of Velitrae, who delivered up their city to the Romans, desiring that they would send some new inhabitants to people it, as apestilence had made such havoc among the citizens that there wasscarcely a tenth part of them remaining alive. 

The wiser Romans thought that this demand of the people of Velitraewould confer a most seasonable relief on themselves, and would put anend to their domestic troubles, if they could only transfer the moreviolent partizans of the popular party thither, and so purge the Stateof its more disorderly elements. The consuls accordingly chose out allthese men and sent them to colonize Velitrae, and enrolled the rest fora campaign against the Volsci, that they might not have leisure forrevolutionary plottings, but that when they were all gathered together, rich and poor, patrician and plebeian alike, to share in the commondangers of a camp, they might learn to regard one another with lesshatred and illwill. 

XIII. But Sicinnius and Brutus, the tribunes of the people, nowinterposed, crying aloud that the consuls were veiling a most barbarousaction under the specious name of sending out colonists. They weredespatching many poor men to certain destruction by transporting them toa city whose air was full of pestilence and the stench from unburiedcorpses, where they were to dwell under the auspices of a god who wasnot only not their own, but angry with them. And after that, as if itwas not sufficient for them that some of the citizens should be starved, and others be exposed to the plague, they must needs plunge wantonlyinto war, in order that the city might suffer every conceivable miseryat once, because it had refused any longer to remain in slavery to therich. Excited by these speeches, the people would not enrol themselvesas soldiers for the war, and looked with suspicion on the proposal forthe new colony. The Senate was greatly perplexed, but Marcius, now aperson of great importance and very highly thought of in the State, began to place himself in direct opposition to the popular leaders, andto support the patrician cause. In spite of the efforts of thedemagogues, a colony was sent out to Velitrae, those whose names weredrawn by lot being compelled by heavy penalties to go thither; but asthe people utterly refused to serve in the campaign against theVolscians, Marcius made up a troop of his own clients, with which andwhat others he could persuade to join him he made an inroad into theterritory of Antium. Here he found much corn, and captured manyprisoners and much cattle. He kept none of it for himself, but returnedto Rome with his troops loaded with plunder. This caused the others torepent of their determination, when they saw the wealth which these menhad obtained, but it embittered their hatred of Marcius, whom theyregarded as gaining glory for himself at the expense of the people. 

XIV. Shortly after this, however, Marcius stood for the consulship, andthen the people relented and felt ashamed to affront such a man, firstin arms as in place, and the author of so many benefits to the State. Itwas the custom at Rome for those who were candidates for any office toaddress and ingratiate themselves with the people, going about the Forumin a toga without any tunic underneath it, either in order to show theirhumility by such a dress, or else in order to display the wounds whichthey had received, in token of their valour. At that early period therecould be no suspicion of bribery, and it was not for that reason thatthe citizens wished their candidates to come down among them ungirt andwithout a tunic. It was not till long afterwards that votes were boughtand sold, and that a candidature became an affair of money. This habitof receiving bribes, when once introduced, spread to the courts ofjustice and to the armies of the commonwealth, and finally brought thecity under the despotic rule of the emperors, as the power of arms wasnot equal to that of money. For it was well said that he who firstintroduced the habit of feasting and bribing voters ruined theconstitution. This plague crept secretly and silently into Rome, and wasfor a long time undiscovered. We cannot tell who was the first to bribethe people or the courts of law at Rome. At Athens it is said that thefirst man who gave money to the judges for his acquittal was Anytus theson of Anthemion, when he was tried for treachery at Pylos towards theend of the Peloponnesian War, a period when men of uncorruptedsimplicity and virtue were still to be found in the Forum at Rome. 

XV. Marcius displayed many scars, gained in the numerous battles inwhich for seventeen years in succession he had always taken a prominentpart. The people were abashed at these evidences of his valour, andagreed among themselves that they would return him as consul. But when, on the day of election, he appeared in the Forum, escorted by a splendidprocession of the entire Senate, and all the patricians were seencollected round him evidently intent upon obtaining his election, manyof the people lost their feeling of goodwill towards him, and regardedhim with indignation and envy; which passions were assisted by theirfear lest, if a man of such aristocratic tendencies and such influencewith the patricians should obtain power, he might altogether destroy theliberties of the people. For these reasons they did not elect Marcius. When two persons had been elected consuls, the Senate was muchirritated, considering that it, rather than its candidate Marcius, hadbeen insulted, while he was much enraged, and could not bear hisdisgrace with any temper or patience, being accustomed always to yieldto the more violent and ferocious emotions as being the more spiritedcourse, without any mixture of gravity and self-restraint, virtues sonecessary for political life. He had never learned how essential it isfor one who undertakes to deal with men, and engage in public business, to avoid above all things that self-will which, as Plato says, is of thefamily of solitude, and to become longsuffering and patient, qualitieswhich some foolish people hold very cheap. Marcius, plain andstraightforward, thinking it to be the duty of a brave man to bear downall opposition, and not reflecting that it is rather a sign of weaknessand feebleness of mind to be unable to restrain one's passion, flungaway in a rage, bitterly irritated against the people. The youngaristocracy of Rome, who had ever been his fast friends, now did him anill service by encouraging and exasperating his anger by theirexpressions of sympathy; for he was their favourite leader and a mostkind instructor in the art of war when on a campaign, as he taught themto delight in deeds of prowess without envying and grudging one anothertheir proper meed of praise. 

XVI. While this was the state of affairs at Rome, a large amount of cornarrived there, some of which had been bought in Italy, but most of itsent as a present from Sicily by Gelon the despot; which gave most menhopes that the famine would come to an end, and that the quarrel betweenthe patricians and plebeians would, under these improved circumstances, be made up. The Senate at once assembled, and the people eagerly waitedoutside the doors of the senate house, expecting and hoping that priceswould be lowered, and that the present of corn would be distributedgratis among them; and indeed some of the senators advised the adoptionof that course. Marcius, however, rose and bitterly inveighed againstthose who favoured the people, calling them demagogues and betrayers oftheir own order, alleging that by such gratification they did butcherish that spirit of boldness and arrogance which had been spreadamong the people against the patricians, which they would have done wellto crush upon its first appearance, and not suffer the plebeians to growso strong by giving so much power to the tribunes of the people. Now, heurged, they had become formidable because every demand they made hadbeen agreed to, and nothing done against their wishes; they contemnedthe authority of the consuls, and lived in defiance of the constitution, governed only by their own seditious ringleaders, to whom they gave thetitle of tribunes. For the Senate to sit and decree largesses of corn tothe populace, as is done in the most democratic States in Greece, wouldmerely be to pay them for their disobedience, to the common ruin of allclasses. "They cannot, " he went on to say, "consider this largess ofcorn to be a reward for the campaign in which they have refused toserve, or for the secession by which they betrayed their country, or thescandals which they have been so willing to believe against the Senate. As they cannot be said to deserve this bounty, they will imagine that ithas been bestowed upon them by you because you fear them, and wish topay your court to them. In this case there will be no bounds to theirinsubordination, and they never will cease from riots and disorders. Togive it them is clearly an insane proceeding; nay, we ought rather, ifwe are wise, to take away from them this privilege of the tribuneship, which is a distinct subversion of the consulate, and a cause ofdissension in the city, which now is no longer one, as before, but isrent asunder in such a manner that there is no prospect of our everbeing reunited, and ceasing to be divided into two hostile factions. "

XVII. With much talk to this effect Marcius excited the young men, withwhom he was influential, and nearly all the richer classes, who loudlydeclared that he was the only man in the State who was insensible bothto force and to flattery. Some of the elders, however, opposed him, foreseeing what would be the result of his policy. Indeed, no goodresulted from it. The tribunes of the people, as soon as they heard thatMarcius had carried his point, rushed down into the forum and calledloudly upon the people to assemble and stand by them. A disorderlyassembly took place, and on a report being made of Marcius's speech, thefury of the people was so great that it was proposed to break into thesenate house; but the tribunes turned all the blame upon Marcius alone, and sent for him to come and speak in his own defence. As this demandwas insolently refused, the tribunes themselves, together with theaediles, went to bring him by force, and actually laid hands upon him. However, the patricians rallied round him, thrust away the tribunes ofthe people, and even beat the aediles, their assistants in this quarrel. Night put an end to the conflict, but at daybreak the consuls, seeingthe people terribly excited, and gathering in the forum from allquarters, began to fear the consequences of their fury. They assembledthe senators and bade them endeavour, by mild language and healingmeasures, to pacify the multitude, as it was no season for pride or forstanding upon their dignity, but if they were wise they would perceivethat so dangerous and critical a posture of affairs required a temperateand popular policy. The majority of the senators yielded, and theconsuls proceeded to soothe the people in the best way they could, answering gently such charges as had been brought against them, evenspeaking with the utmost caution when blaming the people for their lateoutrageous conduct, and declaring that there should be no difference ofopinion between them about the way in which corn should be supplied, andabout the price of provisions. 

XVIII. As the people now for the most part had cooled down, and fromtheir attentive and orderly demeanour were evidently much wrought uponby the words of the consuls, the tribunes came forward and addressedthem. They said that now that the Senate had come to a better frame ofmind, the people would willingly make concessions in their turn; butthey insisted that Marcius should apologise for his conduct, or deny ifhe could that he had excited the Senate to destroy the constitution, that when summoned to appear he had disobeyed, and that finally he had, by beating and insulting the aediles in the market-place, done all thatlay in his power to raise a civil war and make the citizens shed oneanother's blood. Their object in saying this was either to humbleMarcius, by making him entreat the clemency of the people, which wasmuch against his haughty temper, or else expecting that he would yieldto his fiery nature and make the breach between himself and the peopleincurable. The latter was what they hoped for from their knowledge ofhis character. 

Marcius came forward to speak in his defence, and the people stoodlistening in dead silence. But when, instead of the apologetic speechwhich they expected, he began to speak with a freedom which seemed morelike accusing them than defending himself, while the tones of his voiceand the expression of his countenance showed a fearless contempt for hisaudience, the people became angry, and plainly showed theirdisapprobation of what he said. Upon this, Sicinnius, the boldest of thetribunes, after a short consultation with his colleagues, came forwardand said that the tribunes had condemned Marcius to suffer the penaltyof death, and ordered the aediles to lead him at once to the Capitol, and cast him down the Tarpeian rock. When the aediles laid hold of him, many of the people themselves seemed struck with horror and remorse, andthe patricians in the wildest excitement, called upon one another torescue him, and by main force tore him from his assailants and placedhim in the midst of themselves. Some of them held out their hands andbesought the populace by signs, as no voice could be heard in such anuproar. At last the friends and relations of the tribunes, seeing thatit was impossible to carry out their sentence on Marcius without muchbloodshed, persuaded them to alter the cruel and unprecedented part ofthe sentence, and not to put him to death by violence, or without atrial, but to refer the matter to the people, to be voted upon by them. Upon this Sicinnius, turning to the patricians, demanded what they meantby rescuing Marcius from the people when they intended to punish him. They at once retorted, "Nay, what do you mean by dragging one of thebravest and best men in Rome to a cruel and illegal death?" "You shallnot, " answered Sicinnius, "make that a ground of quarrel with thepeople, for we allow you what you demand, that this man be put on histrial. You, Marcius, we summon to appear in the forum on the thirdmarket-day ensuing, and prove your innocence if you can, as the votes ofyour countrymen will be then taken about your conduct. "

XIX. The patricians were glad enough to terminate the affair in thisway, and retired rejoicing, bearing Marcius with them. During the timewhich was to elapse before the third market-day (which the Romans holdon every ninth day, and therefore call them nundinae), they had somehope that a campaign against the people of Antium would enable them toput off the trial until the people's anger had abated through length oftime and warlike occupations; afterwards, as they came to terms at oncewith the Antiates, the patricians held frequent meetings, in which theyexpressed their fear of the people, and considered by what means theycould avoid delivering Marcius up to them, and prevent their mob oratorsfrom exciting them. Appius Claudius, who had the reputation of being thebitterest enemy of the people in Rome, gave it as his opinion that theSenate would destroy itself and ruin the State utterly if it permittedthe people to assume the power of trying patricians and voting on theirtrials; while the older men, and those who were more inclined to thepopular side, thought that this power would render the people gentle andtemperate, and not savage and cruel. The people, they said, did notdespise the Senate, but imagined that they were despised by it, so thatthis privilege of holding the trial would agreeably salve their woundedvanity, and, as they exercised their franchise, they would lay asidetheir anger. 

XX. Marcius, perceiving that the Senate, divided between their regardfor himself and their fear of the people, knew not what to do, himselfasked the tribunes of the people what it was that he was charged with, and what indictment they intended to bring against him at his trial. When they answered that the charge against him was one of treason, because he had attempted to make himself absolute despot in Rome, andthat they would prove it, he at once rose, saying that he would at oncedefend himself before the people on that score, and that if he wereconvicted, he would not refuse to undergo any punishment whatever;"Only, " said he, "do not bring forward some other charge against me, anddeceive the Senate. " When they had agreed upon these conditions, thetrial took place. 

The tribunes, however, when the people assembled, made them vote bytribes, and not by centuries;[A] by which device the votes of richrespectable men who had served the State in the wars would be swamped bythose of the needy rabble who cared nothing for truth or honour. In thenext place, they passed by the charge of treason, as being impossible toprove, and repeated what Marcius had originally said before the Senate, when he dissuaded them from lowering the price of corn, and advised theabolition of the office of tribune. A new count in the indictment wasthat he had not paid over the money raised by the sale of the plunderafter his expedition against Antium, but had divided it among his ownfollowers. This last accusation is said to have disturbed Marcius morethan all the rest, as he had never expected it, and was not preparedwith any answer that would satisfy the people, so that the praises whichhe bestowed on those who had made that campaign with him only angeredthe far greater number who had not done so. At last the people voted. Marcius was condemned by a majority of the tribes, and was sentenced toperpetual banishment. After sentence was passed, the people displayedgreater joy than if they had won a pitched battle, while the Senate wasdowncast and filled with regret at not having run any risks rather thanallow the people to obtain so much power, and use it so insolently. Norwas there any need for distinctions of dress or anything else todistinguish the two parties, because a plebeian might be told at once byhis delight, a patrician by his sorrow. 

[Footnote A: See the article "Comitia" in Dr. Smith's Dictionary ofAntiquities. ]

XXI. Marcius himself, however, remained unmoved. Proud and haughty asever, he appeared not to be sorry for himself, and to be the only one ofthe patricians who was not. This calmness, however, was not due to anyevenness of temper or any intention of bearing his wrongs meekly. Itarose from concentrated rage and fury, which many do not know to be anexpression of great grief. When the mind is inflamed with this passion, it casts out all ideas of submission or of quiet. Hence an angry man iscourageous, just as a fever patient is hot, because of the inflamedthrobbing excitement of his mind. And Marcius soon showed that this washis own condition. He went home, embraced his weeping wife and mother, bade them bear this calamity with patience, and at once proceeded to thecity gates, escorted by the patricians in a body. Thence, taking nothingwith him, and asking no man for any thing, he went off, accompanied bythree or four of his clients. He remained for a few days at some farmsnear the city, agitated deeply by conflicting passions. His angersuggested no scheme by which he might benefit himself, but only how torevenge himself on the Romans. At length he decided that he would raiseup a cruel war against them, and proceeded at once to make applicationto the neighbouring nation of the Volscians, whom he knew to be rich andpowerful, and only to have suffered sufficiently by their late defeatsto make them desirous of renewing their quarrel with Rome. 

XXII. There was a certain citizen of Antium named Tullus Aufidius, who, from his wealth, courage, and noble birth, was regarded as the mostimportant man in the whole Volscian nation. Marcius knew that this manhated him more than any other Roman; for in battle they had often met, and by challenging and defying one another, as young warriors are wontto do, they had, in addition to their national antipathy, gained aviolent personal hatred for one another. In spite of this, however, knowing the generous nature of Tullus, and longing more than anyVolscian to requite the Romans for their treatment, he justified theverses, "'Tis hard to strive with rage, which aye, Though life's the forfeit, gains its way. "

He disguised himself as completely as he could, and, like Ulysses, "Into the city of his foes he came. "

XXIII. It was evening when he entered Antium, and although many met him, no one recognised him. He went to Tullus's house, and entering, sat downby the hearth in silence, with his head wrapped in his cloak. Thedomestics, astonished at his behaviour, did not dare to disturb him, asthere was a certain dignity about his appearance and his silence, butwent and told Tullus, who was at supper, of this strange incident. Tullus rose, went to him, and inquired who he was and what he wanted. Then at length Marcius uncovered his face, and, after a short pause, said, "If you do not recognise me, Tullus, or if you do not believe youreyes, I must myself tell you who I am. I am Caius Marcius, who haswrought you and the Volscians more mischief than any one else, and who, lest I should deny this, have received the additional title ofCoriolanus. This I cannot lose: every thing else has been taken from meby the envious spite of the people, and the treacherous remissness ofthe upper classes. I am an exile, and I now sit as a suppliant on yourhearth, begging you, not for safety or protection, for should I havecome hither if I feared to die, but for vengeance against those whodrove me forth, which I am already beginning to receive by puttingmyself in your hands. If then, my brave Tullus, you wish to attack yourfoes, make use of my misfortunes, and let my disgrace be the commonhappiness of all the Volscians. I shall fight for you much better than Ihave fought against you, because I have the advantage of knowing exactlythe strength and weakness of the enemy. If, however, you are tired ofwar, I have no wish for life, nor is it to your credit to save the lifeof one who once was your personal enemy, and who now is worn out anduseless. " Tullus was greatly delighted with this speech, and giving himhis right hand, answered, "Rise, Marcius, and be of good courage. Youhave brought us a noble present, yourself; rest assured that theVolscians will not be ungrateful. " He then feasted Marcius with greathospitality, and for some days they conferred together as to the bestmethod of carrying on the war. 

XXIV. Rome meanwhile was disturbed by the anger of the patricianstowards the plebeians, especially on account of the banishment ofMarcius, and by many portents which were observed both by the priestsand by private persons, one of which was as follows. There was one TitusLatinus, a man of no great note, but a respectable citizen and by nomeans addicted to superstition. He dreamed that he saw Jupiter face toface, and that the god bade him tell the Senate that "they had sent abad dancer before his procession, and one who was very displeasing tohim. "

On first seeing this vision he said that he disregarded it; but after ithad occurred a second and a third time he had the unhappiness to see hisson sicken and die, while he himself suddenly lost the use of his limbs. 

He told this story in the senate house, to which he had been carried ona litter; and as soon as he had told it, he found his bodily strengthreturn, rose, and walked home. 

The senators, greatly astonished, inquired into the matter. It was foundthat a slave, convicted of some crime, had been ordered by his master tobe flogged through the market-place, and then put to death. While thiswas being done, and the wretch was twisting his body in every kind ofcontortion as he writhed under the blows, the procession by chance wasfollowing after him. Many of those who walked in it were shocked at theunseemliness of the spectacle, and disgusted at its inhumanity, but noone did anything more than reproach and execrate a man who treated hisslaves with so much cruelty. 

At that period men treated their slaves with great kindness, becausethe master himself worked and ate in their company, and so couldsympathise more with them. The great punishment for a slave who had donewrong was to make him carry round the neighbourhood the piece of wood onwhich the pole of a waggon is rested. The slave who has done this andbeen seen by the neighbours and friends, lost his credit, and was called_furcifer_, for the Romans call that piece of timber _furca_, "a fork, "which the Greeks call _hypostates_, "a supporter. "

XXV. So when Latinus related his dream to the senators, and they werewondering who the bad and unacceptable dancer could be who had led theprocession, some of them remembered the slave who had been floggedthrough the market-place and there put to death. At the instance of thepriests, the master of the slave was punished for his cruelty, and theprocession and ceremonies were performed anew in honour of the gods. Hence we may see how wisely Numa arranged this, among other matters ofceremonial. Whenever the magistrates or priests were engaged in anyreligious rite, a herald walked before them crying in a loud voice "_Hocage_. " The meaning of the phrase is, "Do this, " meaning to tell thepeople to apply their minds entirely to the religious ceremony, and notto allow any thought of worldly things to distract their attention, because men as a rule only attend to such matters by putting a certainconstraint on their thoughts. 

It is the custom in Rome to begin a sacrifice, a procession, or aspectacle, over again, not only when anything of this kind happens, butfor any trifling reason. Thus, if one of the horses drawing the sacredcar called Thensa stumbles, or the charioteer takes the reins in hisleft hand, they have decreed that the procession must begin again. Inlater times they have been known to perform one sacrifice thirty times, because every time some slight omission or mistake took place. 

XXVI. Meanwhile Marcius and Tullus in Antium held private conferenceswith the chief men of the Volscians, and advised them to begin the warwhile Rome was divided by its domestic quarrels. They discountenancedthis proposal, because a truce and cessation of hostilities for twoyears had been agreed upon: but the Romans themselves gave them apretext for breaking the truce, by a proclamation which was made at thepublic games, that all Volscians should quit the city before sunset. Some say this was effected by a stratagem of Marcius, who sent a falseaccusation against the Volscians to the magistrates at Rome, saying thatduring the public games they meant to attack the Romans and burn thecity. This proclamation made them yet bitterer enemies to the Romansthan before; and Tullus, wishing to bring the business to a climax, induced his countrymen to send ambassadors to Rome to demand back thecities and territory which the Romans had taken from the Volscians inthe late war. The Romans were very indignant when they heard thesedemands, and made answer, that the Volscians might be the first to takeup arms, but that the Romans would be the last to lay them down. Uponthis, Tullus convoked a general assembly, in which, after determiningupon war, he advised them to summon Marcius to their aid, not owing himany grudge for what they had suffered at his hands, but believing thathe would be more valuable to them as a friend than he had been dangerousas an enemy. 

XXVII. Marcius was called before the assembly, and having addressed thepeople, was thought by them to know how to speak as well as how tofight, and was considered to be a man of great ability and courage. He, together with Tullus, was nominated general with unlimited powers. As hefeared the Volscians would take a long time to prepare for the war, andthat meanwhile the opportunity for attack might pass away, he orderedthe leading men in the city to make all necessary preparations, andhimself taking the boldest and most forward as volunteers, withoutlevying any troops by compulsory conscription, made a sudden andunexpected inroad into the Roman territory. Here he obtained so muchplunder that the Volscians were wearied with carrying it off andconsuming it in their camp. However, his least object was to obtainplunder and lay waste the country; his main desire was to render thepatricians suspected by the people. While all else was ravaged anddestroyed, he carefully protected their farms, and would not allow anydamage to be done or anything to be carried off from them. Thisincreased the disorders at Rome, the patricians reproaching the peoplefor having unjustly banished so able a man, while the plebeians accusedthem of having invited Marcius to attack in order to obtain theirrevenge, and said that, while others fought, they sat as idlespectators, having in the war itself a sure safeguard of their wealthand estates. Having produced this new quarrel among the Romans, and, besides loading the Volscians with plunder, having taught them todespise their enemy, Marcius led his troops back in safety. 

XXVIII. By great and zealous exertions the entire Volscian nation wassoon assembled under arms. The force thus raised was very large; partwas left to garrison the cities, as a measure of precaution, while therest was to be used in the campaign against Rome. Marcius now leftTullus to determine which corps he would command. Tullus, in answer, said that as Marcius, he knew, was as brave a man as himself, and hadalways enjoyed better fortune in all his battles, he had better commandthe army in the field. He himself, he added, would remain behind, watchover the safety of the Volscian cities, and supply the troops withnecessaries. Marcius, strengthened by this division of the command, marched to the town of Circeii, a Roman colony. As it surrendered, hedid it no harm, but laid waste the country of Latium, where he expectedthe Romans would fight a battle in defence of their allies the Latins, who frequently sent to entreat their protection. But at Rome the peoplewere unwilling to fight, and the consuls were just at the expiry oftheir term of office, so that they did not care to run any risks, andtherefore rejected the appeals of the Latins. Marcius now led his troopsagainst the Latian cities, Tolerium, Labici, Pedum, and Bola, all ofwhich he took by storm, sold the inhabitants for slaves, and plunderedthe houses. Those cities, however, which voluntarily came to his side hetreated with the utmost consideration, even pitching his camp at adistance, for fear they might be injured by the soldiery against hiswill, and never plundering their territory. 

XXIX. When at last he took Bollae, a town not more than twelve milesfrom Rome, obtaining immense booty and putting nearly all the adultinhabitants to the sword, then not even those Volscians who had beenappointed to garrison the cities would any longer remain at their posts, but seized their arms and joined the army of Marcius, declaring that hewas their only general, and that they would recognise no other leader. His renown and glory spread throughout all Italy, and all men wereastonished that one man by changing sides should have produced so greata change. The affairs of Rome were in the last disorder, the peoplerefusing to fight, while internal quarrels and seditious speeches tookplace daily, until news came that Lavinium was being invested by theenemy. This town contains the most ancient images and sacred things ofthe tutelary deities of Rome, and is the origin of the Roman people, being the first town founded by Aeneas. 

Upon this a very singular change of opinions befel both the people andthe Senate. The people were eager to annul their sentence againstMarcius, and to beg him to return, but the Senate, after meeting andconsidering this proposal, finally rejected it, either out of a merespirit of opposition to anything proposed by the people, or because theydid not wish him to return by favour of the people; or it may be becausethey themselves were now angry with him for having shown himself theenemy of all classes alike, although he had only been injured by one, and for having become the avowed enemy of his country, in which he knewthat the best and noblest all sympathised with him, and had sufferedalong with him. When this resolution was made known to the people, theywere unable to proceed to vote or to pass any bill on the subject, without a previous decree of the Senate. 

XXX. Marcius when he heard of this was more exasperated than ever. Heraised his siege of Lavinium, marched straight upon Rome, and pitchedhis camp five miles from the city, at the place called _FossaeCluiliae_. The appearance of his army caused much terror anddisturbance, but nevertheless put an end to sedition, for no magistrateor patrician dared any longer oppose the people's desire to recall him. When they beheld the women running distractedly through the city, theold men weeping and praying at the altars, and no one able to takecourage and form any plan of defence, it was agreed that the people hadbeen right in wishing to come to terms with Marcius, and that the Senatehad committed a fatal error in inflicting a new outrage upon him, justat the time when all unkindness might have been buried. It wasdetermined, therefore, by the whole city that an embassy should bedespatched to Marcius, to offer him restoration to his own country, andto beg of him to make peace. Those of the Senate who were sent wererelations of Marcius, and expected to be warmly welcomed by a man whowas their near relation and personal friend. Nothing of the kind, however, happened. They were conducted through the enemy's camp, andfound him seated, and displaying insufferable pride and arrogance, withthe chiefs of the Volscians standing round him. He bade the ambassadorsdeliver their message; and after they had, in a supplicatory fashion, pronounced a conciliatory oration, he answered them, dwelling withbitterness on his own unjust treatment; and then in his capacity ofgeneral-in-chief of the Volscians, he bade them restore the cities andterritory which they had conquered in the late war, and to grant thefranchise to the Volscians on the same terms as enjoyed by the Latins. These, he said, were the only conditions on which a just and lastingpeace could be made. He allowed them a space of thirty days fordeliberation, and on the departure of the ambassadors immediately drewoff his forces. 

XXXI. This affair gave an opportunity to several of the Volscians, whohad long envied and disliked his reputation, and the influence which hehad with the people. Among these was Tullus himself, who had not beenpersonally wronged by Marcius, but who, as it is natural he should, feltvexed at being totally eclipsed and thrown into the shade, for theVolscians now thought Marcius the greatest man in their whole nation, and considered that any one else ought to be thankful for any measure ofauthority that he might think fit to bestow. Hence secret hints wereexchanged, and private meetings held, in which his enemies expressedtheir dissatisfaction, calling the retreat from Rome an act of treason, not indeed that he had betrayed any cities or armies to the enemy, buthe had granted them time, by which all other things are won and lost. Hehad given the enemy a breathing time, they said, of thirty days, beingno less than they required to put themselves in a posture of defence. 

Marcius during this time was not idle, for he attacked and defeated theallies of the Romans, and captured seven large and populous towns. TheRomans did not venture to come to help their allies, but hung back fromtaking the field, and seemed as if paralysed and benumbed. When the termhad expired, Marcius presented himself a second time before Rome, withhis entire army. The Romans now sent a second embassy, begging him tolay aside his anger, withdraw the Volscians from the country, and thento make such terms as would be for the advantage of both nations. TheRomans, they said, would yield nothing to fear; but if he thought thatspecial concessions ought to be made to the Volscians, they would beduly considered if they laid down their arms. To this Marcius answeredthat, as general of the Volscians, he could give them no answer; butthat as one who was still a citizen of Rome he would advise them toadopt a humbler frame of mind, and come to him in three days with aratification of his proposals. If they should come to any otherdetermination, he warned them that it would not be safe for them to cometo his camp again with empty words. 

XXXII. When the ambassadors returned, and the Senate heard their report, they determined in this dreadful extremity to let go their sheet anchor. They ordered all the priests, ministers, and guardians of the sacredmysteries, and all the hereditary prophets who watched the omens givenby the flight of birds, to go in procession to Marcius, dressed in theirsacred vestments, and beseech him to desist from the war, and then tonegotiate conditions of peace between his countrymen and the Volscians. Marcius received the priests in his camp, but relaxed nothing of hisformer harshness, bidding the Romans either accept his proposals orcontinue the war. 

When the priests returned, the Romans resolved in future to remainwithin the city, repulse any assault which might be made on the walls, and trust to time and fortune, as it was evident that they could not besaved by anything that they could do. The city was full of confusion, excitement, and panic terror, until there happened something like whatis mentioned in Homer, but which men as a rule are unwilling to believe. He observes that on great and important occasions

 "Athene placed a thought within his mind;"

and again--

 "But some one of th' immortals changed my mind, And made me think of what the folk would say;"

and--

 "Because he thought it, or because the god Commanded him to do so. "

Men despise the poet, as if, in order to carry out his absurdmythological scheme, he denied each man his liberty of will. Now Homerdoes nothing of this kind, for whatever is reasonable and likely heascribes to the exercise of our own powers, as we see in the commonphrase--

 "But I reflected in my mighty soul;"

and--

 "Thus spoke he, but the son of Peleus raged, Divided was his soul within his breast;"

and again--

 "But she persuaded not The wise Bellerophon, of noble mind. "

But in strange and unlikely actions, where the actors must have beenunder the influence of some supernatural impulse, he does speak of thegod not as destroying, but as directing the human will; nor does the goddirectly produce any decision, but suggests ideas which influence thatdecision. Thus the act is not an involuntary one, but opportunity isgiven for a voluntary act, with confidence and good hope superadded. Foreither we must admit that the gods have no dealings and influence at allwith men, or else it must be in this way that they act when they assistand strengthen us, not of course by moving our hands and feet, but byfilling our minds with thoughts and ideas which either encourage us todo what is right, or restrain us from what is wrong. 

XXXIII. At Rome at this time the women were praying in all the temples, especially in that of Jupiter in the Capitol, where the noblest ladiesin Rome were assembled. Among them was Valeria, the sister of the greatPoplicola, who had done such great services to the State both in peaceand war. Poplicola died some time before, as has been related in hisLife, but his sister was held in great honour and esteem in Rome, as herlife did credit to her noble birth. She now experienced one of thedivine impulses of which I have spoken, and, inspired by Heaven to dowhat was best for her country, rose and called on the other ladies toaccompany her to the house of Volumnia, the mother of Marcius. Onentering, and finding her sitting with her daughter-in-law, nursing thechildren of Marcius, Valeria placed her companions in a circle roundthem, and spoke as follows: "Volumnia, and you, Virgilia, we have cometo you, as women to women, without any decree of the Senate orinstructions from a magistrate; but Heaven, it would appear, has heardour prayers, and has inspired us with the idea of coming hither to begof you to save our countrymen, and to gain for yourselves greater glorythan that of the Sabine women when they reconciled their husbands andtheir fathers. Come with us to Marcius, join us in supplicating him formercy, and bear an honourable testimony to your country, that it neverhas thought of hurting you, however terribly it has been injured byMarcius, but that it restores you to him uninjured, although possibly itwill gain no better terms by so doing. " When Valeria had spoken thus, the other women applauded, and Volumnia answered in the following words:"My friends, besides those sufferings which all are now undergoing, weare especially to be pitied. We have lost the glory and goodness of ourMarcius, and now see him more imprisoned in than protected by the armyof the enemy. But the greatest misfortune of all is that our countryshould have become so weak as to be obliged to rest its hopes of safetyon us. I cannot tell if he will pay any attention to us, seeing that hehas treated his native country with scorn, although he used to love itbetter than his mother, his wife, and his children. However, take us, and make what use of us you can. Lead us into his presence, and there, if we can do nothing else, we can die at his feet supplicating forRome. "

XXXIV. Having spoken thus, she took Virgilia and her children, andproceeded, in company with the other women, to the Volscian camp. Theirpiteous appearance produced, even in their enemies, a silent respect. Marcius himself was seated on his tribunal with the chief officers; andwhen he saw the procession of women was at first filled with amazement;but when he recognised his mother walking first, although he tried tosupport his usual stern composure, he was overcome by his emotion. Hecould not bear to receive her sitting, but descended and ran to meether. He embraced his mother first, and longest of all; and then his wifeand children, no longer restraining his tears and caresses, butcompletely carried away by his feelings. 

XXXV. When he had taken his fill of embraces, perceiving that his motherdesired to address him, he called the chiefs of the Volscians together, and listened to Volumnia, who addressed him as follows:

"You may judge, my son, by our dress and appearance, even though we keepsilence, to what a miserable condition your exile has reduced us athome. Think now, how unhappy we must be, beyond all other women, whenfortune has made the sight which ought to be most pleasing to us, mostterrible, when I see my son, and your wife here sees her husband, besieging his native city. Even that which consoles people under allother misfortunes, prayer to the gods, has become impossible for us. Wecannot beg of heaven to give us the victory and to save you, but ourprayers for you must always resemble the imprecations of our enemiesagainst Rome. Your wife and children are in such a position, that theymust either lose you or lose their native country. For my own part, Icannot bear to live until fortune decides the event of this war. If Icannot now persuade you to make a lasting peace, and so become thebenefactor instead of the scourge of the two nations, be well assuredthat you shall never assail Rome without first passing over the corpseof your mother. I cannot wait for that day on which I shall either seemy countrymen triumphing over my son, or my son triumphing over hiscountry. If indeed I were to ask you to betray the Volscians and saveyour country, this would be a hard request for you to grant; for thoughit is base to destroy one's own fellow citizens, it is equally wrong tobetray those who have trusted you. But we merely ask for a respite fromour sufferings, which will save both nations alike from ruin, and whichwill be all the more glorious for the Volscians because theirsuperiority in the field has put them in a position to grant us thegreatest of blessings, peace and concord, in which they also will sharealike with us. You will be chiefly to be thanked for these blessings, ifwe obtain them, and chiefly to be blamed if we do not. For though theissue of war is always doubtful, this much is evident, that if yousucceed, you will become your country's evil genius, and if you fail, you will have inflicted the greatest miseries on men who are yourfriends and benefactors, merely in order to gratify your own privatespite. "

XXXVI. While Volumnia spoke thus, Marcius listened to her in silence. After she had ceased, he stood for a long while without speaking, untilshe again addressed him. "Why art thou silent, my son? Is it honourableto make everything give way to your rancorous hatred, and is it adisgrace to yield to your mother, when she pleads for such importantmatters? Does it become a great man to remember that he has been illtreated, and does it not rather become him to recollect the debt whichchildren owe to their parents. And yet no one ought to be more gratefulthan you yourself, who punish ingratitude so bitterly: in spite ofwhich, though you have already taken a deep revenge on your country forits ill treatment of you, you have not made your mother any return forher kindness. It would have been right for me to gain my point withoutany pressure, when pleading in such a just and honourable cause; but ifI cannot prevail by words, this resource alone is left me. " Saying this, she fell at his feet, together with his wife and children. Marcius, crying out, "What have you done to me, mother?" raised her from theground, and pressing her hand violently, exclaimed, "You have conquered;your victory is a blessed one for Rome, but ruinous to me, for I shallretreat conquered by you alone. " After speaking thus, and conferring fora short time in private with his mother and his wife, he at their ownrequest sent them back to Rome, and the following night led away theVolscian army. Various opinions were current among the Volscians aboutwhat had taken place. Some blamed him severely, while others approved, because they wished for peace. Others again, though they disliked whathe had done, yet did not regard him as a traitor, but as a soft-heartedman who had yielded to overwhelming pressure. However, no one disobeyedhim, but all followed him in his retreat, though more out of regard forhis noble character than for his authority. 

XXXVII. The Roman people, when the war was at an end, showed even moreplainly than before what terror and despair they had been in. As soon asthey saw the Volscians retreating from their walls, all the temples wereopened, and filled with worshippers crowned with garlands andsacrificing as if for a victory. The joy of the senate and people wasmost conspicuously shown in their gratitude to the women, whom theyspoke of as having beyond all doubt saved Rome. The senate decreed thatthe magistrates should grant to the women any mark of respect and esteemwhich they themselves might choose. The women decided on the building ofthe temple of Female Fortune, the expenses of which they themselvesoffered to subscribe, only asking the state to undertake the maintenanceof the services in it. The senate praised their public spirit, butordered the temple and shrine to be built at the public expense. Nevertheless, the women with their own money provided a second image ofthe goddess, which the Romans say, when it was placed in the temple washeard to say, "A pleasing gift have women placed me here. "

XXXVIII. The legend says that this voice was twice heard, which seemsimpossible and hard for us to believe. It is not impossible for statuesto sweat, to shed tears, or to be covered with spots of blood, becausewood and stone often when mouldering or decaying, collect moisturewithin them, and not only send it forth with many colours derived fromtheir own substance, but also receive other colours from the air; andthere is nothing that forbids us to believe that by such appearances asthese heaven may foreshadow the future. It is also possible that statuesshould make sounds like moaning or sighing, by the tearing asunder ofthe particles of which they are composed; but that articulate humanspeech should come from inanimate things is altogether impossible, forneither the human soul, nor even a god can utter words without a bodyfitted with the organs of speech. Whenever therefore we find manycredible witnesses who force us to believe something of this kind, wemust suppose that the imagination was influenced by some sensation whichappeared to resemble a real one, just as in dreams we seem to hear whenwe hear not, and to see when we see not. Those persons, however, who arefull of religious fervour and love of the gods, and who refuse todisbelieve or reject anything of this kind, find in its miraculouscharacter, and in the fact that the ways of God are not as our ways, agreat support to their faith. For He resembles mankind in nothing, neither in nature, nor movement, nor learning, nor power, and so it isnot to be wondered at if He does what seems to us impossible. Nay, though He differs from us in every respect, it is in his works that Heis most unlike us. But, as Herakleitus says, our knowledge of thingsdivine mostly fails for want of faith. 

XXXIX. When Marcius returned to Antium, Tullus, who had long hated himand envied his superiority, determined to put him to death, thinkingthat if he let slip the present opportunity he should not obtainanother. Having suborned many to bear witness against him, he calledupon him publicly to render an account to the Volscians of what he haddone as their general. Marcius, fearing to be reduced to a privatestation while his enemy Tullus, who had great influence with hiscountrymen, was general, answered that he had been given his office ofcommander-in-chief by the Volscian nation, and to them alone would hesurrender it, but that as to an account of what he had done, he wasready at that moment, if they chose, to render it to the people ofAntium. Accordingly the people assembled, and the popular oratorsendeavoured by their speeches to excite the lower classes againstMarcius. When, however, he rose to speak, the mob were awed to silence, while the nobility, and those who had gained by the peace, made nosecret of their good will towards him, and of their intention to vote inhis favour. Under these circumstances, Tullus was unwilling to let himspeak, for he was a brilliant orator, and his former services faroutweighed his last offence. Indeed, the whole indictment was a proof ofhow much they owed him, for they never could have thought themselveswronged by not taking Rome, if Marcius had not brought them so near totaking it. Tullus, therefore, thought that it would not do to wait, orto trust to the mob, but he and the boldest of his accomplices, cryingout that the Volscians could not listen to the traitor, nor endure himto play the despot over them by not laying down his command, rushed uponhim in a body and killed him, without any of the bystanders interferingin his behalf. However, the most part of the nation was displeased atthis act, as was soon proved by the numbers who came from every city tosee his dead body, by the splendid funeral with which he was honoured, and by the arms and trophies which were hung over his tomb, as that of abrave man and a consummate general. 

The Romans, when they heard of his death, made no sign of either honouror anger towards him, except that they gave permission to the women, attheir request, to wear mourning for him for ten months, as if they wereeach mourning for her father, her brother, or her son. This was theextreme limit of the period of mourning, which was fixed by NumaPompilius, as has been related in his Life. 

The loss of Marcius was at once felt by the Volscians. First of all, they quarrelled with the Aequi, their friends and allies, and even cameto blows with them; next, they were defeated by the Romans in a battlein which Tullus was slain, and the flower of the Volscian army perished. After this disaster they were glad to surrender at discretion, andbecome the subjects of Rome. 

COMPARISON OF ALKIBIADES AND CORIOLANUS. 

I. As all the most memorable achievements of both Alkibiades andCoriolanus are now before us, we may begin our comparison by observingthat as to military exploits, the balance is nearly even; for both alikegave proofs of great personal bravery and great skill in generalship, unless it be thought that Alkibiades proved himself the more perfectgeneral because of his many victories both by sea and land. Both alikeobtained great success for their native countries while they remained incommand of their countrymen, and both succeeded even more remarkablywhen fighting against them. As to their respective policy, that ofAlkibiades was disliked by the more respectable citizens, because of hispersonal arrogance, and the arts to which he stooped to gain the favourof the lower classes; while the proud ungracious haughtiness ofCoriolanus caused him to be hated by the people of Rome. In this respectneither of them can be praised; yet he who tries to gain the favour ofthe people is less to blame than he who insults them for fear he shouldbe thought to court them. Although it is wrong to flatter the people inorder to gain power, yet to owe one's power only to terror, and to illtreat and keep down the masses is disgraceful as well as wrong. 

II. It is not difficult to see why Marcius is considered to have been asimple-minded and straightforward character, while Alkibiades has thereputation of a false and tricky politician. The latter has beenespecially blamed for the manner in which he deceived and outwitted theLacedaemonian ambassadors, by which, as we learn from Thucydides, hebrought the truce between the two nations to an end. Yet that stroke ofpolicy, though it again involved Athens in war, rendered her strong andformidable, through the alliance with Argos and Mantinea, which she owedto Alkibiades. Marcius also, we are told by Dionysius, produced aquarrel between the Romans and the Volscians by bringing a falseaccusation against those Volscians who came to see the festival at Rome;and in this case the wickedness of his object increased his guilt, because he did not act from a desire of personal aggrandisement, or frompolitical rivalry, as did Alkibiades, but merely yielding to what Dioncalls the unprofitable passion of anger, he threw a large part of Italyinto confusion, and in his rage against his native country destroyedmany innocent cities. On the other hand, the anger of Alkibiades causedgreat misfortune to his countrymen; yet as soon as he found that theyhad relented towards him he returned cheerfully to his allegiance, andafter being banished for the second time, did not take any delight inseeing their generals defeated, and could not sit still and let themmake mistakes and uselessly expose themselves to danger. He did justwhat Aristeides is so much praised for doing to Themistokles; he went tothe generals, although they were not his friends, and pointed out tothem what ought to be done. 

Marcius, again, is to be blamed for having made the whole of Rome sufferfor what only a part of it had done, while the best and most importantclass of citizens had been wronged equally with himself, and warmlysympathised with him. Afterwards, although his countrymen sent him manyembassies, beseeching his forgiveness for their one act of ignorance andpassion, he would not listen to them, but showed that it was with theintention of utterly destroying Rome, not of obtaining his ownrestoration to it, that he had begun that terrible and savage waragainst it. This, then, may be noted as the difference between theirrespective positions: Alkibiades went back to the Athenian side when theSpartans began to plot against him, because he both feared them andhated them; but Marcius, who was in every respect well treated by theVolscians, could not honourably desert their cause. He had been electedtheir commander-in-chief, and besides this great power enjoyed theirentire confidence; while Alkibiades, though his assistance was founduseful by the Lacedaemonians, was never trusted by them, but remainedwithout any recognised position, first in Sparta and then in the camp inAsia Minor, till he finally threw himself into the arms of Tissaphernes, unless, indeed, he took this step to save Athens, hoping some day to berestored to her. 

III. As to money, Alkibiades has been blamed for receiving itdiscreditably in bribes, and for spending it in luxurious extravagance;while the generals who offered Marcius money as an honourable reward forhis valour could not prevail upon him to accept it. This, however, madehim especially unpopular in the debates about freeing the people fromdebt, because it was said that he pressed so hardly on the poor, notbecause he wished to make money by them, but purely through arroganceand pride. Antipater, in a letter to a friend on the death of Aristotlethe philosopher, observes, "Besides his other abilities, the man had theart of persuasion. " Now Marcius had not this art; and its absence madeall his exploits and all his virtues unpleasant even to those whobenefited by them, as they could not endure his pride and haughtiness, which brooked no compeer. Alkibiades, on the other hand, knew how todeal on friendly terms with every one, and we need not therefore besurprised at the pleasure which men took in his successes, while evensome of his failures had a charm of their own for his friends. Hence itwas that Alkibiades, even after inflicting many grievous losses upon hiscountrymen, was chosen by them as commander-in-chief, whereas Marcius, when after a splendid display of courage and conduct he tried for theconsulship which he deserved, failed to obtain it. The one could not behated by his countrymen, even when they were ill treated by him; whilethe other, though admired by all, was loved by none. 

IV. Marcius, indeed, effected nothing great when in command of his owncountrymen, but only when fighting against them, whereas the Atheniansfrequently benefited by the successes of Alkibiades, when he was actingas their commander-in-chief. Alkibiades when present easily triumphedover his enemies, whereas Marcius, although present, was condemned bythe Romans, and put to death by the Volscians. Moreover, though he waswrongfully slain, yet he himself furnished his enemies with a pretextfor his murder, by refusing the public offer of peace made by theRomans, and then yielding to the private entreaties of his mother andwife, so that he did not put an end to the enmity between the twonations, but left them at war, and yet lost a favourable opportunity forthe Volscians. 

If he was influenced by a feeling of duty towards the Volscians, heought to have obtained their consent before withdrawing their forcesfrom before Rome; but if he cared nothing for them, or for anythingexcept the gratification of his own passion, and with this feeling madewar upon his country, and only paused in the moment of victory, it wasnot creditable to him to spare his country for his mother's sake, butrather he should have spared his country and his mother with it; for hismother and his wife were but a part of Rome, which he was besieging. That he should have treated the public supplications of ambassadors andthe prayers of priests with contempt, and afterwards have drawn off hisforces to please his mother, is not so much a credit to her as adisgrace to his country, which was saved by the tears and entreaties ofone woman, as though it did not deserve to survive on its own merits. The mercy which he showed the Romans was so harshly and offensivelygranted that it pleased neither party; he withdrew his forces withouthaving either having come to an understanding with his friends or hisfoes. All this must be attributed to his haughty, unbending temper, which is in all cases odious, but which in an ambitious man renders himsavage and inexorable. Such men will not seek for popularity, thinkingthemselves already sufficiently distinguished, and then are angry atfinding themselves unpopular. 

Indeed, neither Metellus, nor Aristeides, nor Epameinondas would stoopto court the favour of the people, and had a thorough contempt for allthat the people can either give or take away; yet although they wereoften ostracised, convicted, and condemned to pay fines, they were notangry with their fellow countrymen for their folly, but came back andbecame reconciled to them as soon as they repented. The man who will notcourt the people, ought least of all to bear malice against them, reflecting that anger at not being elected to an office in the state, must spring from an excessive desire to obtain it. 

V. Alkibiades made no secret of his delight in being honoured and hisvexation when slighted, and in consequence endeavoured to make himselfacceptable to all with whom he had to do. Marcius was prevented by hispride from courting those who could have bestowed honour and advancementupon him, while his ambition tortured him if these were withheld. 

These are the points which we find to blame in his character, which inall other respects was a noble one. With regard to temperance, andcontempt for money, he may be compared with the greatest and purest menof Greece, not merely with Alkibiades, who cared only too little forsuch things, and paid no regard to his reputation. 

LIFE OF TIMOLEON. 

It was for the sake of others that I first undertook to writebiographies, but I soon began to dwell upon and delight in them formyself, endeavouring to the best of my ability to regulate my own life, and to make it like that of those who were reflected in their history asit were in a mirror before me. By the study of their biographies, wereceive each man as a guest into our minds, and we seem to understandtheir character as the result of a personal acquaintance, because wehave obtained from their acts the best and most important means offorming an opinion about them. "What greater pleasure could'st thou gainthan this?" What more valuable for the elevation of our own character?Demokritus says, that we ought to pray that we may meet with propitiousphantasms, and that from the infinite space which surrounds us good andcongenial phantasms, rather than base and sinister ones, may be broughtinto contact with us. He degrades philosophy by foisting into it atheory which is untrue, and which leads to unbounded superstition;whereas we, by our familiarity with history, and habit of writing it, sotrain ourselves by constantly receiving into our minds the memorials ofthe great and good, that should anything base or vicious be placed inour way by the society into which we are necessarily thrown, we rejectit and expel it from our thoughts, by fixing them calmly and severely onsome of these great examples. Of these, I have chosen for you in thispresent instance, the life of Timoleon the Corinthian, and that ofAemilius Paulus, men who both laid their plans with skill, and carriedthem out with good fortune, so as to raise a question whether it wasmore by good luck or by good sense that they succeeded in their mostimportant achievements. 

I. The state of affairs at Syracuse, before the mission of Timoleon toSicily, was this. Dion had driven out the despot[A] Dionysius, but wasimmediately afterwards slain by treachery, and those who, under Dion, had freed the Syracusans, quarrelled amongst themselves. The city, whichreceived a constant succession of despots, was almost forsaken becauseof its many troubles. Of the rest of Sicily, one part was rendered quiteruined and uninhabited by the wars, and most of the cities were held bybarbarians of various nations, and soldiers who were under no paymaster. As these men willingly lent their aid to effect changes of dynasty, Dionysius, in the twelfth year of his exile, collected a body of foreigntroops, drove out Nysaeus, the then ruler of Syracuse, again restoredhis empire, and was re-established as despot. He had strangely lost thegreatest known empire at the hands of a few men, and more strangelystill became again the lord of those who had driven him out, afterhaving been an exile and a beggar. Those then of the Syracusans whoremained in the city were the subjects of a despot not naturally humane, and whose heart now had been embittered by misfortune:[B] but the betterclass of citizens and the men of note fled to Hiketes, the ruler ofLeontini, swore allegiance to him, and chose him as their general forthe war. This man was nowise better than the avowed despots, but theyhad no other resource, and they trusted him because he was a Syracusanby birth, and had a force capable of encountering that of their owndespot. 

[Footnote A: [Greek: tyrannos], here and elsewhere translated _despot_, means a man who had obtained irresponsible power by unconstitutionalmeans. ]

[Footnote B: Compare Tacitus, "eo immitior quia toleraverat. "]

II. Meanwhile the Carthaginians came to Sicily with a great fleet, andwere hovering off the island watching their opportunity. The Siciliansin terror wished to send an embassy to Greece, and ask for help from theCorinthians, not merely on account of their kinship with them, and ofthe many kindnesses which they had received from them, but also becausethey saw that the whole city loved freedom, and hated despots, and thatit had waged its greatest and most important wars, not for supremacy andgreed of power, but on behalf of the liberty of Greece. But Hiketes whohad obtained his post of commander-in-chief with a view, not to theliberation of Syracuse, but the establishment of himself as despotthere, had already had secret negotiations with the Carthaginians, though in public he commended the Syracusans, and sent ambassadors ofhis own with the rest to Peloponnesus: not that he wished that anyassistance should come thence, but, in case the Corinthians, as wasprobable, should refuse their help because of the disturbed state ofGreece, he hoped that he should more easily be able to bring mattersround to suit the Carthaginian interest, and to use them as allieseither against the Syracusan citizens, or against their despot. Of thistreacherous design he was shortly afterwards convicted. 

III. When the ambassadors arrived, the Corinthians, who had always beenin the habit of watching over the interests of their colonies, especially Syracuse, and who were not at war with any of the GreekStates at that time, but living in peace and leisure, eagerly voted tohelp them. A General was now sought for, and while the government wasnominating and proposing those who were eager for an opportunity ofdistinguishing themselves, a man of the people stood up and namedTimoleon, the son of Timodemus, one who no longer took any part inpolitics, and who had no hope or thought of obtaining the post: but somegod, it seems, put it into the man's mind to name him, such a kindfortune was at once shown at his election, and such success attended hisactions, illustrating his noble character. He was of a good family, bothhis father Timodemus, and his mother Demariste being of rank in thecity. He was a lover of his country, and of a mild temper, except onlythat he had a violent hatred for despotism and all that is base. Hisnature was so happily constituted, that in his campaigns he showed muchjudgment when young, and no less daring when old. He had an elderbrother, Timophanes, who was in no respect like him, but rash, andinflamed with a passion for monarchy by worthless friends and foreignsoldiers, with whom he spent all his time: he was reckless in acampaign, and loved danger for its own sake, and by this he won thehearts of his fellow-citizens, and was given commands, as being a man ofcourage and of action. Timoleon assisted him in obtaining thesecommands, by concealing his faults or making them appear small, and bymagnifying the clever things which he did. 

IV. Now in the battle which the Corinthians fought against the Argivesand Kleoneans, Timoleon was ranked among the hoplites, [A] and hisbrother Timophanes, who was in command of the cavalry, fell into greatdanger. His horse received a wound, and threw him off among the enemy. Of his companions, some at once dispersed in panic, while those whoremained by him, being a few against many, with difficulty held theirown. When Timoleon saw what had happened, he ran to the rescue, and heldhis shield in front of Timophanes as he lay, and, after receiving manyblows, both from missiles and in hand-to-hand fight, on his arms andbody, with difficulty drove back the enemy and saved his brother. 

[Footnote A: Heavy armed foot-soldiers, carrying a spear and shield. ]

When the Corinthians, fearing lest they might again suffer what they didonce before when their own allies took their city, decreed that theywould keep four hundred mercenary soldiers, they made Timophanes theircommander. 

But he, disdaining truth and honour, immediately took measures to getthe city into his own power, and showed his tyrannical disposition byputting to death many of the leading citizens without a trial. Timoleonwas grieved at this, and, treating the other's crime as his ownmisfortune, endeavoured to argue with him, and begged him to abandon hisfoolish and wicked design, and to seek for some means of making amendsto his fellow-citizens. However, as he rejected his brother's advice, and treated him with contempt, Timoleon took Aeschylus, his kinsman, brother of the wife of Timophanes, and his friend the seer, whomTheopompus calls Satyrus, but Ephorus and Timaeus call Orthagoras, and, after an interval of a few days, again went to his brother. The threemen now stood round him, and besought him even now to listen to reason, and repent of his ambition; but as Timophanes at first laughed at them, and then became angry and indignant, Timoleon stepped a little aside, and covering his face, stood weeping, while the other two drew theirswords and quickly despatched him. 

V. When this deed was noised abroad, the more generous of theCorinthians praised Timoleon for his abhorrence of wickedness and hisgreatness of soul, because, though of a kindly disposition, and fond ofhis own family, he had nevertheless preferred his country to his family, and truth and justice to his own advantage. He had distinguished himselfin his country's cause both by saving his brother's life, and by puttinghim to death when he plotted to reduce her to slavery. However, thosewho could not endure to live in a democracy, and who were accustomed tolook up to those in power, pretended to rejoice in the death of thetyrant, but by their abuse of Timoleon for having done an unholy andimpious deed, reduced him to a state of great melancholy. Hearing thathis mother took it greatly to heart, and that she used harsh words andinvoked terrible curses upon him, he went to her to try to bring her toanother state of mind, but she would not endure the sight of him, butshut the door against him. Then indeed he became very dejected, anddisordered in his mind, so as to form an intention of destroying himselfby starvation; but this his friends would not permit, but prevailed onhim by force and entreaty so that he determined to live, but alone byhimself. He gave up all interest in public affairs, and at first did noteven enter the city, but passed his time wandering in the wildest partof the country in an agony of mind. 

VI. Thus our judgments, if they do not borrow from reason and philosophya fixity and steadiness of purpose in their acts, are easily swayed andinfluenced by the praise or blame of others, which make us distrust ourown opinions. 

For not only, it seems, must the deed itself be noble and just, but alsothe principle from which we do it must be stable and unchangeable, sothat we may make up our minds and then act from conviction. If we donot, then like those epicures who most eagerly seize upon the daintiestfood and soonest become satiated and nauseate it, so we become filledwith sorrow and remorse when the deed is done, because the splendidideas of virtue and honour which led us to do it fade away in our mindson account of our own moral weakness. A remorseful change of mindrenders even a noble action base, whereas the determination which isgrounded on knowledge and reason cannot change even if its actions fail. Wherefore Phokion the Athenian, who opposed the measures of Leosthenes, when Leosthenes seemed to have succeeded, and he saw the Athenianssacrificing and priding themselves on their victory, said that he shouldhave wished that he had himself done what had been done, but he shouldwish to have given the same counsel that he did give. Aristeides theLokrian, one of the companions of Plato, put this even more stronglywhen Dionysius the elder asked for one of his daughters in marriage. "Ihad rather, " he said, "see the girl a corpse, than the consort of adespot. " A short time afterwards when Dionysius put his sons to deathand insultingly asked him whether he were still of the same mind aboutthe disposal of his daughter, he answered, that he was grieved at whathad happened, but had not changed his mind about what he had said. Andthese words perhaps show a greater and more perfect virtue thanPhokion's. 

VII. Now Timoleon's misery, after the deed was done, whether it wascaused by pity for the dead or filial reverence for his mother, so brokedown and humbled his spirit that for nearly twenty years he took no partin any important public affair. So when he was nominated as General, andwhen the people gladly received his name and elected him, Telekleides, who at that time was the first man in the city for power and reputation, stood up and spoke encouragingly to Timoleon, bidding him prove himselfbrave and noble in the campaign. [A] "If, " said he, "you fight well, weshall think that we slew a tyrant, but if badly, that we murdered yourbrother. "

[Footnote A: From these words, Grote conjectures that Telekleides wasalso present at the death of Timophanes. ]

While Timoleon was preparing for his voyage and collecting his soldiers, letters were brought to the Corinthians from Hiketes plainly showingthat he had changed sides and betrayed them. 

For as soon as he had sent off his ambassadors to Corinth, he openlyjoined the Carthaginians, and in concert with them attempted to driveout Dionysius and establish himself as despot of Syracuse. 

Fearing that the opportunity would escape him if an army and generalcame from Corinth before he had succeeded, he sent a letter to theCorinthians to say that they need not incur the trouble and expense ofsending an expedition to Sicily and risking their lives, especially asthe Carthaginians would dispute their passage, and were now watching fortheir expedition with a numerous fleet; and that, as they had been soslow, he should be obliged to make these Carthaginians his allies toattack the despot. 

When these letters were read, even if any of the Corinthians had beenlukewarm about the expedition, now their anger against Hiketes stirredthem up to co-operate vigorously with Timoleon and assist him inequipping his force. 

VIII. When the ships were ready, and everything had been provided forthe soldiers, the priestesses of Proserpine had a dream that the twogoddesses appeared dressed for a journey, and said that they were goingto accompany Timoleon on his voyage to Sicily. 

Hereupon the Corinthians equipped a sacred trireme, and named it afterthe two goddesses. Timoleon himself proceeded to Delphi and sacrificedto the god, and when he came into the place where oracles weredelivered, a portent occurred to him. From among the various offeringssuspended there, a victor's wreath, embroidered with crowns and symbolsof victory slipped down and was carried by the air so as to alight uponthe head of Timoleon; so that it appeared that the god sent him forth tohis campaign already crowned with success. He started with only sevenships from Corinth, two from Korkyra, and one from Leukadia; and as heput to sea at night and was sailing with a fair wind, he suddenly sawthe heavens open above his ship and pour down a flood of brilliantlight. After this a torch like that used at the mysteries rose up beforethem, and, proceeding on the same course, alighted on that part of Italyfor which the pilots were steering. The seers explained that thisappearance corroborated the dream of the priestesses, and that the lightfrom heaven showed that the two goddesses were joining the expedition;for Sicily is sacred to Proserpine, as the myth tells us that she wascarried off there, and that the island itself was given her as a weddingpresent. 

The fleet, encouraged by these proofs of divine favour, crossed the opensea, and proceeded along the Italian coast. But the news from Sicilygave Timoleon much concern, and dispirited his soldiers. For Hiketes hadconquered Dionysius, and taken the greater part of Syracuse; he haddriven him into the citadel and what is called the island, and wasbesieging and blockading him there, and urging the Carthaginians to takemeasures to prevent Timoleon from landing in Sicily, in order that, whenthe Greeks were driven off, he and his new allies might partition theisland between themselves. 

IX. The Carthaginians sent twenty triremes to Rhegium, having on boardambassadors from Hiketes to Timoleon charged with instructions as bad ashis deeds. For their proposals were plausible, though their plan wasbase, being that Timoleon, if he chose, should come as an adviser toHiketes and partake of his conquests; but that he should send his shipsand soldiers back to Corinth, as the war was within a little of beingfinished, and as the Carthaginians were determined to oppose his passageby force if he attempted it. So the Corinthians, when they reachedRhegium, found these ambassadors, and saw the Carthaginian fleetcruising to intercept them. They were enraged at this treatment, and allwere filled with anger against Hiketes, and with fear for the people ofSicily, who, they clearly saw, were to be the prize of the treachery ofHiketes and the ambition of the Carthaginians. Yet it seemed impossiblethat they should overcome both the fleet of the barbarians which wasriding there, double their own in number, and also the forces underHiketes at Syracuse, of which they had expected to be put in command. 

X. Nevertheless Timoleon met the ambassadors and the Carthaginianadmirals, and mildly informed them that "he would accede to theirproposals, for what could he do if he refused them? but that he wished, before they parted, to listen to them, and to answer them publiclybefore the people of Rhegium, a city of Greek origin and friendly toboth parties; as this would conduce to his own safety, and they alsowould be the more bound to stand by their proposal about the Syracusansif they took the people of Rhegium as their witnesses. " He made thisoverture to help a plot which he had of stealing a march upon them, andthe leading men of the Rhegines assisted him in it, as they wished theCorinthian influence to prevail in Sicily, and feared to have thebarbarians for neighbours. Accordingly they called together an assemblyand shut the city gates, that the citizens might not attend to anythingelse, and then, coming forward, they made speeches of great length, oneman treating the subject after another without coming to any conclusion, but merely wasting the time, until the Corinthian triremes had put tosea. The Carthaginians were kept at the assembly without suspectinganything, because Timoleon himself was present and gave them tounderstand that he was just upon the point of rising and making them aspeech. But when news was secretly conveyed to him that the fleet wasunder way, and that his ship alone was left behind waiting for him, heslipped through the crowd, the Rhegines who stood round the bema[A]helping to conceal him, and, gaining the seashore, sailed off with allhaste. 

[Footnote A: Bema, the tribune from which the orators spoke. ]

They reached Tauromenium in Sicily, where they were hospitably receivedby Andromachus, the ruler and lord of that city, who had long beforeinvited them thither. This Andromachus was the father of Timaeus, thehistorian, and being as he was by far the most powerful of thelegitimate princes of Sicily, ruled his subjects according to law andjustice, and never concealed his dislike and hatred of the despots. Forthis reason he permitted Timoleon to make his city his headquarters, andprevailed on the citizens to cast in their lot with the Syracusans andfree their native land. 

XI. At Rhegium meanwhile, the Carthaginians, when the assembly broke upand Timoleon was gone, were infuriated at being outwitted, and became astanding joke to the people of Rhegium, because they, although they werePhoenicians, yet did not seem to enjoy a piece of deceit when it was attheir own expense. They then sent an ambassador in a trireme toTauromenium, who made a long speech to Andromachus, threatening him in abombastic and barbarian style with their vengeance if he did not at onceturn the Corinthians out of his city. At last he pointed to hisoutstretched hand, and turning it over threatened that he would so dealwith the city. Andromachus laughed, and made no other answer than tohold out his own hand in the same way, now with one side up, and nowwith the other, and bade him sail away unless he wished to have his shipso dealt with. 

Hiketes, when he heard of Timoleon's arrival, in his terror sent formany of the Carthaginian ships of war; and now the Syracusans beganutterly to despair of their safety, seeing the Carthaginians inpossession of the harbour, Hiketes holding the city, and Dionysius stillmaster of the promontory, while Timoleon was as it were hanging on theoutskirts of Sicily in that little fortress of Tauromenium, with butlittle hope and a weak force, for he had no more than one thousandsoldiers and the necessary supplies for them. Nor had the cities ofSicily any trust in him, as they were in great distress, and greatlyexasperated against those who pretended to lead armies to their succour, on account of the treachery of Kallippus and Pharax; who, one anAthenian and the other a Lacedaemonian, but both giving out that theywere come to fight for freedom and to put down despotism, did sotyrannise themselves, that the reign of the despots in Sicily seemed tohave been a golden age, and those who died in slavery were thought morehappy than those who lived to see liberty. 

XII. So thinking that the Corinthian would be no better than these men, and that the same plausible and specious baits would be held out to lurethem with hopes and pleasant promises under the yoke of a new master, they all viewed the proposals of the Corinthians with suspicion andshrank back from them except the Adranites. These were the inhabitantsof a small city, sacred to Adranus, a god whose worship extendsespecially throughout Sicily. They were at feud with one another, as oneparty invited Hiketes and the Carthaginians, while the other sent forTimoleon to help them. And by some chance it happened that as each partystrove to get there first, they both arrived at the same time; Hiketeswith five thousand soldiers, whereas Timoleon altogether had no morethan twelve hundred. 

Starting with these men from Tauromenium, which is forty-two miles fromAdranum, he made but a short march on the first day, and then encamped. On the next day he marched steadily forward, passed some difficultcountry, and late in the day heard that Hiketas had just reached thelittle fortress and was encamping before it. On this the officers haltedthe van of the army, thinking that the men would be fresher after takingfood and rest; but Timoleon went to them and begged them not to do so, but to lead them on as fast as they could, and fall upon the enemy whilethey were in disorder, as it was probable they would be, having justcome off their march, and being busy about pitching their tents, andcooking their supper. Saying this he seized his shield, [A] and led theway himself as to an assured victory; and the rest, reassured, followedhim confidently. They were distant only about thirty furlongs. Thesewere soon passed, and they fell headlong upon the enemy, who were inconfusion, and fled as soon as they discovered their attack. For thisreason no more than three hundred of them were slain, but twice as manywere taken prisoners, and their camp was captured. The people of Adranumnow opened their gates, and made their submission to Timoleon, relatingwith awe and wonder how, at the outset of the battle, the sacred doorsof the temple flew open of their own accord, and the spear of the godwas seen to quiver at the point, while his face was covered with a thicksweat. 

[Footnote A: The shield of a General was habitually carried for him byan orderly. ]

XIII. These portents, it seems, did not merely presage the victory, butalso the subsequent events, of which this was the prosperous beginning. Immediately several cities sent ambassadors and joined Timoleon, as didalso Mamercus the despot of Katana, a man of warlike tastes and greatwealth, who made an alliance with him. But the most important thing ofall was that Dionysius himself, who had now lost all hope of success, and was on the point of being starved out, despising Hiketes for beingso shamefully beaten, but admiring Timoleon, sent to him and offered todeliver up both himself and the citadel to the Corinthians. 

Timoleon, accepting this unexpected piece of good fortune, sentEukleides and Telemachus, Corinthian officers, into the citadel, andfour hundred men besides, not all together nor openly, for that wasimpossible in the face of the enemy, who were blockading it, but bystealth, and in small bodies. So these soldiers took possession of thecitadel, and the palace with all its furniture, and all the militarystores. There were a good many horses, and every species of artilleryand missile weapon. Also there were arms and armour for seventy thousandmen, which had been stored up there for a long time, and Dionysius alsohad two thousand soldiers, all of whom he handed over to Timoleon withthe rest of the fortress, and then, with his money and a few of hisfriends, he put to sea, and passed unnoticed through Hiketes's cruisers. He proceeded to the camp of Timoleon, appearing for the first time as aprivate person in great humility, and was sent to Corinth in one ship, and with a small allowance of money. He had been born and bred in themost splendid and greatest of empires, and had reigned over it for tenyears, but for twelve more, since the time that Dion attacked him, hehad constantly been in troubles and wars, during which all the crueltieswhich he had exercised on others, were more than avenged upon himself, by the miserable death of his wife and family, which are moreparticularly dwelt upon in the life of Dion. 

XIV. Now when Dionysius reached Corinth, there was no one in Greece whodid not wish to see him and speak to him. Some, who rejoiced in hismisfortunes, came to see him out of hatred, in order to trample on himnow that he was down, while others sympathised with him in his change offortune, reflecting on the inscrutable ways of the gods, and theuncertainty of human affairs. For that age produced nothing in nature orart so remarkable as that change of fortune which showed the man, whonot long before had been supreme ruler of Sicily, now dining at Corinthat the cook's shop, lounging at the perfumer's, drinking at the taverns, instructing female singers, and carefully arguing with them about theirsongs in the theatre, and about the laws of music. Some thought thatDionysius acted thus from folly, and indolent love of pleasure, butothers considered that it was in order that he might be looked downupon, and not be an object of terror or suspicion to the Corinthians, ashe would have been if they thought that he ill brooked his reverse offortune, and still nourished ambitious designs, and that his foolish andlicentious mode of life was thus to be accounted for. 

XV. But for all that, certain of his sayings are remembered, whichsufficiently prove that he showed real greatness of mind in adaptinghimself to his altered circumstances. When he arrived at Leukas, which, like Syracuse, was a Corinthian colony, he said that he was like a youngman who has got into disgrace. They associate gaily with their brothers, but are ashamed to meet their fathers, and avoid them: and so he wasashamed to go to the parent city, but would gladly live there with them. Another time in Corinth, when some stranger coarsely jeered at thephilosophic studies in which he used to delight when in power, and atlast asked him what good he had obtained from the wisdom of Plato, "Doyou think, " answered he, "that I have gained nothing from Plato, when Ibear my reverse of fortune as I do. " When Aristoxenus, the musician, andsome others asked him what fault he had found with Plato, and why, heanswered that absolute power, amongst its many evils, was especiallyunfortunate in this, that none of a despot's so-called friends dare tospeak their mind openly. And he himself, he said, had been by such mendeprived of the friendship of Plato. A man, who thought himself witty, once tried to make a joke of Dionysius by shaking out his cloak, when hecame into his presence, as is the custom before despots, to show thatone has no concealed weapons; but he repaid the jest by begging him todo it when he left him, that he might be sure that he had not stolen anyof his property. 

Philip of Macedon once, when they were drinking together, made somesneering remark about the poetry and tragedies which Dionysius the elderhad written, pretending to be at a loss to know how he found time forsuch pursuits; but Dionysius cleverly answered, "He wrote them duringthe time which you and I, and all who are thought such lucky fellows, spend over our wine. "

Plato never saw Dionysius at Corinth, for he was dead at that time; butDiogenes of Sinope, when he first met him, said, "How unworthily youlive, Dionysius. " Dionysius answered him, "Thank you, Diogenes, forsympathising with my misfortunes. " "Why, " said Diogenes; "do you supposethat I sympathise with you, and am not rather grieved that a slave likeyou, a man fit, like your father, to grow old and die on a miserablethrone, should be living in luxury and enjoyment amongst us?" So, when Icompare with these sayings of his the lamentations which Philistiuspours forth over the daughters of Leptines, that they had fallen fromthe glories of sovereign power into a humble station, they seem to melike the complainings of a woman who has lost her perfumes, her purpledresses, or her jewels. 

These details, I think, for readers who are at leisure, are not foreignto the design of biography, and not without value. 

XVI. If the fall of Dionysius seems strange, the good fortune ofTimoleon was no less wonderful. Within fifty days of his landing inSicily, he was master of the citadel of Syracuse, and sent backDionysius to Peloponnesus. Encouraged by his success, the Corinthianssent him a reinforcement of two thousand hoplites and two hundred horse. These men reached Thurii, but there found it impossible to cross overinto Sicily, as the Carthaginians held the sea with a great fleet. As itwas necessary for them to remain there for a time, they made use oftheir leisure to perform a most excellent action. For the Thurians madean expedition against the Bruttii, [A] and meanwhile these men tookcharge of their city, and guarded it carefully and trustily as if it hadbeen their own. 

[Footnote A: The natives of Southern Italy. ]

Hiketes meanwhile was besieging the citadel of Syracuse, and preventingcorn from being brought by sea to the Corinthians. He also obtained twostrangers, whom he sent to assassinate Timoleon, who, trusting in thefavour shown him by the gods, was living carelessly and unsuspectinglyamong the people of Adranum. These men, hearing that he was about tooffer sacrifice, came into the temple with daggers under their cloaks, and mingling with the crowd round the altar, kept edging towards him. They were just on the point of arranging their attack, when a man struckone of them on the head with his sword, and he fell. Neither theassailant nor the accomplice of the fallen man stood his ground, but theone with his sword still in his hand ran and took refuge on a high rock, while the other laid hold of the altar, and begged for pardon atTimoleon's hands if he revealed the whole plot. When assured of hissafety he confessed that he and the man who had been killed had beensent thither to assassinate Timoleon. Meanwhile others brought back theman from the rock, who loudly declared that he had done no wrong, buthad justly slain him in vengeance for his father, whom this wretch hadkilled at Leontini. Several of those present bore witness to the truthof his story, and they marvelled much at the ways of Fortune, how shemakes the most incongruous elements work together to accomplish herpurposes. The Corinthians honoured the man with a present of ten minae, because he had co-operated with the guardian angel of Timoleon, and hadput off the satisfaction of his private wrong until a time when it savedthe life of the general. This good fortune excited men's feelings sothat they guarded and reverenced Timoleon as a sacred person sent byheaven to restore the liberties of Sicily. 

XVII. When Hiketes failed in this attempt on Timoleon, and saw that manywere joining him, he began to blame himself for only using the greatCarthaginian force that was present by stealth, and as if he was ashamedof it, concealing his alliance and using them clandestinely, and he sentfor Mago, their General, to come with all the force at his disposal. Hesailed in with a formidable fleet of a hundred and fifty ships, and tookpossession of the harbour, disembarked sixty thousand troops, andencamped with them in the city of Syracuse, so that all men thought thatthe long-talked-of and expected subjugation of Sicily to the barbarianwas imminent. For the Carthaginians during their endless wars in Sicilyhad never before taken Syracuse, but now, by the invitation of thetraitor Hiketes, the city was turned into a barbarian camp. TheCorinthians in the citadel were in a position of great danger anddifficulty, as they no longer had sufficient provisions, because theharbours were blockaded, and they perpetually had to divide their forcesfor skirmishes and battles at the walls, and to repel every device andmethod of attack known in sieges. 

XVIII. Timoleon, however, relieved them by sending corn from Katana insmall fishing-smacks and boats, which, chiefly in stormy weather, stolein through the triremes of the barbarians when they were scattered bythe roughness of the sea. Mago and Hiketes, perceiving this, determinedto take Katana, from which place the besieged drew their supplies, andthey sailed from Syracuse with the best of their troops. The CorinthianNeon, the General in command of the besieged force, observing from thecitadel that those of the enemy who were left behind kept carelessguard, suddenly fell upon them, and, slaying some and routing the resthe made himself master of Achradina, which is the strongest and leastassailable part of the city of Syracuse, which, as it were, consists ofseveral towns. 

Being now in possession of abundance of provisions and money, he did notleave the place, and go back to the citadel on the promontory, butfortified the circuit of Achradina and held it conjointly with theAcropolis, with which he connected its fortifications. A horseman fromSyracuse brought the news of the capture of Achradina to Mago andHiketes when they were close to Katana. Alarmed at the news theyreturned with all speed, having neither taken the city they went totake, nor kept the one which they had taken. 

XIX. It may be doubted whether these actions owe more to fortune than tocourage and conduct; but the next event can only be ascribed to fortune. The Corinthian troops at Thurii were in fear of the Carthaginiantriremes under Hanno which were watching them, and as the sea had formany days been excessively rough, in consequence of a gale, determinedto march on foot through the Bruttii. Partly by persuasion and partlyby force they made their way to Rhegium, while the sea was still verystormy. The Carthaginian Admiral, who no longer expected theCorinthians, and thought that he was waiting there to no purpose, persuaded himself that he had invented a masterpiece of deceit. Heordered his sailors to crown themselves with garlands, decked out histriremes with Greek shields and wreaths of palm, and set out forSyracuse. As he passed the citadel they cheered loudly, and withuproarious merriment called out to the garrison that they had come backafter a complete victory over the Corinthians, hoping by this means todispirit the besieged. But while he was playing these silly tricks theCorinthians had reached Rhegium, and as no one disputed their passage, and the cessation of the gale had made the straits singularly smooth andcalm, they embarked in the passage boats and what fishing-smacks were tobe found, and crossed over into Sicily, so easily and in such calmweather that they were able to make their horses swim alongside of thevessels and tow them by their halters. 

XX. As soon as they had crossed, Timoleon met them, and at once obtainedpossession of Messina, and, after reviewing them, marched on Syracuse atonce, confiding more in his good fortune and his former successes thanin the number of his troops, which amounted to no more than fourthousand. When Mago heard of this march, he was much disquieted, and hissuspicions of his allies were increased by the following circumstance. In the marshes round the city, into which runs much fresh water fromsprings and rivers which find their way into the sea, there was a greatquantity of eels, which afforded plenty of sport for those who cared tofish for them; and the mercenary soldiers on both sides used to meet andfish whenever there was a cessation of hostilities. As they were allGreeks, and had no private grounds for hatred, they would cheerfullyrisk their lives in battle against each other, but during times of trucethey conversed freely. So then, while engaged in fishing, they talked toone another, and admired the beauty of the sea, and the fine situationof the city. Then one of the Corinthian garrison said, "Can it be thatyou, Greeks as you are, should be endeavouring to betray to thebarbarian so great and beautiful a city as this, and that you should betrying to establish these base and cruel Carthaginians nearer to ourcountry? Rather ought you to wish that there were more Sicilies to actas bulwarks of Greece. Do you suppose that these men have gatheredtogether their host from the pillars of Herakles and the Atlantic coast, and risked their lives at sea, merely to support the dynasty of Hiketes?He, if he had the spirit of a real prince, never would have turned outhis brethren, and invited the enemy into his native land, but would havemade terms with Timoleon and the Corinthians, and been honouredaccordingly. " These words were noised abroad in the camp by themercenaries, and gave Mago the pretext which he had long been waitingfor, to abandon their cause on the plea of suspecting their fidelity. Wherefore, although Hiketes begged him to remain, and pointed out howfar superior he was to the enemy, yet he, thinking that Timoleon's armysurpassed his in courage and good fortune as much as his did in numbers, weighed anchor at once and sailed to Africa, letting Sicily slip throughhis fingers, to his great disgrace, for no assignable reason. 

XXI. On the next day appeared Timoleon with his troops in battle array. As soon as they learned their departure, and saw the harbour, theyproceeded to mock at the cowardice of Mago, and they sent a crier roundthe city offering a reward to any one who would tell them to what placethe Carthaginian force had run away. Nevertheless, Hiketes still showeda bold front, and did not relax his hold on the city, and, as the partwhich was in his possession was strong and hard of access, Timoleondivided his army, and himself led the assault on the most difficult sideof the position, by the river Anapus, ordering another body, under Isiasthe Corinthian, to attack from Achradina. A third corps, consisting ofthe newly arrived reinforcement under Deinarchus and Demaretus were toattack Epipolae. The assault took place simultaneously on all sides. Thespeedy rout of Hiketes and capture of the city may be justly ascribed tothe skill of the General; but the fact that not one of the Corinthianswas killed or wounded is due to Timoleon's good fortune, which seemed tovie with his courage and try to make those who read of his exploitswonder at their good luck more than their merit. 

In a few days not only was all Sicily and Italy ringing with his fame, but throughout Greece his great successes were known, and the city ofCorinth, which scarcely thought that the expedition had reached Sicily, heard at the same time that the troops were safe and victorious, soprosperously did affairs turn out, and with such speed did fortunepublish the glory of his deeds. 

XXII. Timoleon, having thus gained possession of the fortified citadelon the promontory, did not fall into the same snare as Dion, and was notmoved to spare the place for the sake of its beautiful and costlyarchitecture. Dion's jealousy of the people led him to distrust them, and proved his ruin; but Timoleon took a very different course. He madeproclamation that any Syracusan who chose might come with a crowbar andtake part in the destruction of the despot's castle. When they had allassembled, in order to mark that day and that proclamation as the realbeginning of liberty, they not only destroyed and subverted the castle, but also the houses and tombs of the despots. Timoleon at once had theplace levelled, and built upon it courts of justice, delighting thecitizens by substituting a republic for a tyranny. 

Having taken the city, he was now at a loss for citizens, for some hadbeen killed in the wars and revolutions, and some had gone into exile toavoid the despots, so that the market-place of Syracuse was overrun withherbage so deep and thick that horses were pastured on it, while thegrooms lay on the grass near them. The other cities, except a very few, had become the haunts of deer and wild boars, and persons at leisureused to hunt them with dogs in the suburbs and round the walls. None ofthose who had taken refuge in the various forts and castles would returnto the city, as they all felt a dread and hatred of public assembliesand politics, which had produced the greater part of the tyrants underwhom they had suffered. In this difficulty it occurred to Timoleon andthe Syracusans to apply to the Corinthians, and ask them to send outfresh colonists from Greece. Otherwise, they said, the land must lieuncultivated, and, above all, they were looking forward to a great warwith Africa, as they heard that on Mago's return the Carthaginians wereso enraged at his failure, that, though he committed suicide to avoid aworse fate, they had crucified his dead body, and were collecting agreat force, meaning next summer to invade Sicily. 

XXIII. When these letters from Timoleon reached them, together withambassadors from the Syracusans, who besought them to take upon them thecare of this their poor city, and once again become the founders of it, the Corinthians were not tempted by greed to take unfair advantages andseize the city for themselves, but first sent heralds to all the gamesheld in honour of the gods throughout Greece, and to all places wherepeople assembled, to proclaim that the Corinthians, having abolisheddespotism at Syracuse and driven out the despot, invite all Syracusansand other Sicilian Greeks who choose to go and dwell in the city underfree institutions, receiving an equal and just share of the land. Nextthey sent messengers to Asia Minor and the islands, wherever they heardthat most of the scattered bands of exiles had settled, and invited themall to come to Corinth, as the Corinthians would at their own expensefurnish them with vessels and commanders and a safe convoy to Syracuse. 

By these proclamations Corinth gained great and well-deserved renown, seeing that she had forced Syracuse from its tyrants, saved it from thebarbarians, and given back the country to its own citizens. The exiles, however, when assembled at Corinth found their numbers too small, andbegged to be allowed to receive among them others from Corinth and therest of Greece. When by this means they had raised their numbers to notless than ten thousand, they sailed to Syracuse. Many citizens fromItaly and Sicily had already joined Timoleon, who, when he found theirnumbers (according to Athanis) amount to sixty thousand, divided thecountry among them, and sold the houses for a thousand talents, affording the original citizens the option of purchasing their ownhouses. At the same time, to relieve the financial distress of theState, with a view to the approaching war, he even sold all thestatues. A vote of the assembly was taken about each one, and he wascondemned, like a criminal on his trial. On this occasion they say thatthe Syracusans, though they condemned all the rest, decided on keepingthat of the ancient prince Gelo, because they admired and respected himfor his victory over the Carthaginians at Himera. 

XXIV. The life of Syracuse being rekindled by this influx of citizensfrom all quarters, Timoleon determined to set free the other citiesalso, and to exterminate the despots in Sicily. In the course of hiscampaigns against them he compelled Hiketes to renounce his alliancewith the Carthaginians, to demolish his castle, and to live in Leontinias a private citizen. Leptines, the despot of Apollonia and of severalsmaller towns, fearing to be taken by him, surrendered. Timoleon sparedhis life, and sent him to Corinth, as he thought that it reflectedcredit upon his native city, that the despots of Sicily should be seenby all Greece living there as humble exiles. As for the soldiers whom hehad in his pay, he determined not to keep them idle, but to support themby the plunder of an enemy's country. So while he himself returned toSyracuse, to superintend the reconstruction of the constitution, and toassist the lawgivers Kephalus and Dionysius in framing the best form ofpolity, he sent the troops under Deinarchus and Demaretus to subdue thewestern portion of the island, which had fallen into the hands of theCarthaginians. Here they induced several cities to revolt from thebarbarians, and not only gained abundant pay and plunder for themselvesfrom their conquests, but were able to furnish funds for the approachingwar. 

XXV. During this time the Carthaginian forces sailed to Lilybaeum withseventy thousand men, two hundred ships of war, and a thousandtransports carrying engines of war, four horse chariots, provisions, andother war material, as they meant no longer to use half measures, but atone swoop to drive the Greeks out of Sicily. Their force indeed wassufficient for the conquest of the Sikeliot Greeks even if they had notbeen weakened by their internal strife. 

Hearing that their own part of the island was being ravaged, they atonce in great anger marched to attack the Corinthians, under the commandof Hasdrubal and Hamilcar. News of this quickly reached Syracuse, andthe great numbers of the enemy caused such panic among the citizens, that, numerous as they were, Timoleon could only induce three thousandto get under arms and follow him. Besides these, there was the paidforce, four thousand in number; and of these again about a thousand wereovercome by their fears on the march, and went back, declaring thatTimoleon could not be in his right senses, but must be insane to marchwith five thousand foot and a thousand horse to attack seventy thousandmen, and to separate his force eight days' journey from Syracuse, in aplace where there was no hope of shelter for the fugitives or ofhonourable burial for the dead. Timoleon treated it as an advantage thatthese men disclosed their cowardice before the day of battle. Heencouraged the rest, and led them with all haste to the river Krimesus, where he heard that the Carthaginians were concentrating. 

XXVI. As he was mounting a hill, beyond which he expected to see thecamp and army of the enemy, there met him some mules loaded withparsley. It occurred to the soldiers that this was a bad omen, for wegenerally use parsley for wreathing tombs; indeed from this practicearises the proverb, when a man is dangerously ill, that he is ready forhis parsley. Wishing to rid them from this superstition and to stoptheir fears, Timoleon halted them, and made a suitable speech, pointingout that their crown of victory had come of its own accord into theirhands before the battle, for this is the herb with which the Corinthianscrown the victors at the Isthmian games, accounting it sacred andpeculiar to their own country. For then parsley was used for the crownat the Isthmian games, as it is even to this day at those of Nemea, andthe pine has only been lately introduced. So Timoleon, having addressedhis soldiers, as has been said, first crowned himself with the parsley, and then his officers and men did so likewise. But the prophetsperceiving two eagles flying towards them, one of whom carried a snakein its talons, while the other flew along with loud and inspiritingcries, pointed them out to the soldiers, who all began to pray andinvoke the gods. 

XXVII. The time of year was the beginning of summer, near the solsticeat the end of the month Thargelion. [A] A thick mist rose from the river, and all the plain was concealed in fog, so that nothing could be seen ofthe enemy, but only a confused murmur from the movement of that greathost reached the hill. The Corinthians, when they had reached thesummit, paused and piled their arms. Now the sun shone out, and the mistrose from the valley. Gathering together, it hung in clouds about thehill-tops, while below, the river Krimesus appeared, with the enemycrossing it. 

[Footnote A: About May. ]

First went the four-horse chariots in terrible pomp, all drawn up inbattle array, while next to them followed ten thousand hoplites withwhite shields. These they conjectured to be native Carthaginians by thesplendour of their equipments and their slow and orderly march. Following these came the other nations, turbulently and confusedlystruggling across. Timoleon, seeing that the river kept off the mass ofthe enemy, and allowed them to fight with just so many as they chose, pointed out to his soldiers how the enemy's array was broken by thestream, some having crossed, and some being still crossing. He orderedDemaretus to take the cavalry and charge the Carthaginians, to preventtheir having time to form in order of battle. But he himself marcheddown to the plain, having drawn up his force with the other SicilianGreeks and a few strangers on each of the wings, but with his Syracusansand the best of the paid force under his own command in the centre. 

For a short time he held back, watching the effect of the cavalrycharge; but seeing that they were unable to come to blows with theCarthaginians because of the chariots which careered about in front oftheir ranks, and that they constantly had to fall back to avoid theirarray being broken, and then to make short rushes as occasion served, hehimself took his shield, and called to the infantry to follow him and beof good cheer. It seemed to them that his voice was more than man's, and louder than was his wont, either from their faculties being strainedby the excitement of the contest, or else because, as most of thembelieved, some god shouted with him. Quickly they raised their war-cryin answer, and begged him to lead them on and wait no longer. Orderingthe cavalry to ride round the line of chariots and attack the infantryin flank, he closed up the foremost ranks, and with the trumpet soundingthe charge, attacked the Carthaginians. 

XXVIII. They manfully encountered his first assault, and being armedwith iron cuirasses and brass helmets, and protected with large shields, they were able to withstand the thrust of the Greek spears. But when thestruggle came to be decided with swords, where skill as well as strengthwas employed, there suddenly broke upon them from the mountains aterrible storm of thunder with vivid flashes of lightning. The mist, which had hitherto hung about the mountain peaks, now rolled down on tothe field of battle, with violent gusts, hail, and rain. The Greeksreceived it on their backs, while the rain beat into the faces of thebarbarians, and the lightning dazzled their eyes, as the storm sweptviolently along with frequent flashes from the clouds. These were greatdisadvantages, especially to inexperienced men, as the thunder and thepattering of the rain and hail on their armour prevented their hearingthe commands of their officers. The Carthaginians, not being lightlyequipped, but, as has been narrated, in complete armour, slipped on themuddy ground and were encumbered by the wet folds of their dress, whichrendered them less active in the fight, and easily overcome by theGreeks, since when they fell in the slippery mud they could not riseagain with their shields. The river Krimesus, which had been held up bythe multitudes that were crossing it, was now swollen to a torrent bythe rain, and the plain through which it runs, lying as it does undermany steep glens and ravines, was now covered with streams not runningin the ordinary channels, in which the Carthaginians stumbled and werehard bested. 

At last, from the violence of the storm, and the Greeks having cut topieces their front rank, a chosen body of four hundred men, the greatmass turned and fled. Many were overtaken and slain on the plain, andmany more perished in the river, while the light-armed troops preventedmost of them from gaining the shelter of the mountains. It was said thatamong the myriads of slain there were three thousand citizens ofCarthage--a great loss and grief to that city, for they belonged to thenoblest and richest classes; nor do we ever hear of so many nativeCarthaginians having perished in any one battle before this, as theygenerally make use of Libyan, Spanish and Numidian troops, so that incase of defeat the loss falls upon other nations. 

XXIX. The Greeks discovered the rank of the dead by the richness oftheir spoil; for when they collected the booty no account was taken ofiron or brass, such an abundance was there of silver and gold; for theycrossed the river and captured the enemy's camp. Of the captives, thegreater part were stolen by the soldiers, and sold privately, but a bodyof five thousand was brought into the common stock. Two hundred chariotsalso were taken. The most glorious and magnificent spectacle of all wasthe tent of Timoleon, round which booty of every kind was piled up inheaps, among which were a thousand corslets of exquisite workmanship, and ten thousand shields. As they were but few to gather the plunder ofso many, and as they fell in with such riches, it was only on the thirdday that they managed to erect a trophy of their victory. Together withthe despatch announcing his success, Timoleon sent home to Corinth thefinest of the arms and armour, desiring to make his country envied byall men, when they should see, in that alone of all Greek cities, thatthe most important shrines were not adorned with Grecian spoils, norwith offerings obtained by the slaughter of men of their own race andblood, dismal memorials at best, but with spoils of the barbarian, whoseinscriptions bore noble testimony to the justice, as well as the courageof the victors, telling how the Corinthians and their general, Timoleon, having freed the Greeks who dwell in Sicily from the yoke of Carthage, set up these thank-offerings to the gods. 

XXX. After the victory he left the paid force in the enemy's country, toravage and plunder the Carthaginian dominions, and himself proceeded toSyracuse. He now ordered out of the island those mercenary troops bywhom he had been deserted before the battle; and even forced them toquit Sicily before sunset. These men crossed into Italy and perishedthere at the hands of the Bruttians, who broke their word to them andbetrayed them. This was the penalty which Heaven imposed on them fortheir desertion. But Mamercus, the despot of Catana, and Hiketes, eitherthrough disgust at Timoleon's successes, or else fearing him as a mannot likely to keep faith with despots, made an alliance with Carthage, as they said that the Carthaginians, unless they wished to be utterlydriven out of Sicily, must send a competent force and a general. Giscothe son of Hanno sailed thither with seventy ships, and also with aforce of Greek mercenary soldiers, whom the Carthaginians had never usedbefore; but now they were full of admiration for the Greeks, as beingthe most warlike and invincible of men. Having effected a junction oftheir forces in the territory of Messina, they cut to pieces a body offour hundred foreign soldiers whom Timoleon sent against them; and inthe Carthaginian dominion they laid an ambush near the place calledHietae, and cut off the hired troops of Euthymus the Leukadian. Boththese circumstances made the good fortune of Timoleon more renowned. Forthese were some of the men who under Philomelus of Phokis and Onomarchussacrilegiously took Delphi, and shared in the plunder of the temple. Asall men loathed them and shrank from them as from men under a curse, they wandered about Peloponnesus until Timoleon, being unable to get anyother soldiers, enlisted them in his service. When they reached Sicily, they were victorious in every battle which they fought where he waspresent. After the most important struggles of the war were over, theywere sent to reinforce others, and so perished and came to nought; andnot all at once, but piecemeal, as if their avenging fate had given wayto Timoleon's good fortune for a season, lest the good should sufferfrom the punishment of the wicked. Thus the kindness of the gods towardsTimoleon was no less seen and wondered at in his failures than in hissuccesses. 

XXXI. The people of Syracuse were much nettled by the insulting jestspassed upon them by the despots. Mamercus, who plumed himself on hispoems and tragedies, gave himself great airs after conquering themercenaries, and when he hung up their shields as offerings to the gods, he inscribed this insolent elegiac couplet upon them. 

 "These, with purple wrought, and ivory, gold, and amber, We with our simple shields conquered and laid in the dust. "

After these events, while Timoleon was on a campaign in the direction ofKalauria, Hiketes invaded the Syracusan territory, did much damage andinsult, and retired loaded with spoil, past the very walls of Kalauria, despising Timoleon, who had but a small force with him. He, however, lethim pass, but then pursued with his cavalry and light troops. Hiketes, perceiving this, halted after crossing the river Damyrias, and drew uphis troops along the farther bank to dispute the passage, encouraged todo so by the different nature of the ford, and the steepness of thehills on either hand. Now a strange rivalry and contest arose amongTimoleon's captains, which delayed their onset. No one chose to let anyone else lead the way against the enemy, but each man wished to befirst; so that their crossing was conducted in a disorderly fashion, each man trying to push by and outstrip the rest. Hereupon Timoleon, wishing to choose the leaders by lot, took a ring from each. These hethrew into his own cloak, mixed them up, and showed the first which hedrew out, which happened to be engraved with the figure of a trophy ofvictory. When the young men saw this they raised a shout of joy, andwould not wait for the rest to be drawn, but each man, as fast as hecould, rode through the river and set upon the enemy. Their assault wasirresistible; the enemy fled, all of them throwing away their shields, and with the loss of a hundred men. 

XXXII. Soon after this, while Timoleon was campaigning in the Leontinecountry, he took Hiketes alive, with his son Eupolemus, and Euthymus, the commander of his cavalry. The soldiers seized and bound them, andled them into Timoleon's presence. Hiketes and his son were put to deathas despots and traitors; nor did Euthymus meet with compassion, thoughhe was a man of renown in athletic contest, and of great personalbravery, because of a scoffing speech of which he was accused againstthe Corinthians. The story goes that he was addressing the people ofLeontini on the subject of the Corinthian invasion, and told them thatthere was nothing to be alarmed at if

 "Corinthian ladies have come out from home. "[A]

Thus it is that most people seem to suffer more from hard words thanhard deeds, and are more excited by insult than by actual hurt. What wedo to our enemies in war is done of necessity, but the evil we say ofthem seems to spring from an excess of spite. 

[Footnote A: A line in the Medea of Euripides. The point of the jokedepends on the punctuation, but cannot be kept in translation. ]

XXXIII. On Timoleon's return the Syracusans brought the family anddaughters of Hiketes before the public assembly for trial, and condemnedthem to death. And this, methinks, is the most heartless of Timoleon'sactions, that for want of a word from him these poor creatures shouldhave perished. He seems not to have interfered, and to have let thepeople give full vent to their desire to avenge Dion, who dethronedDionysius. For Hiketes was the man who threw Dion's wife Arete aliveinto the sea, with her sister Aristomache and her little son, as is toldin the Life of Dion. 

XXXIV. After this he marched against Mamercus at Catana. He beat him ina pitched battle near the river Abolus, routing him with a loss of twothousand men, no small part of whom belonged to the Phoeniciancontingent under Gisco. Hereupon, at the request of the Carthaginians, he made peace, stipulating that they should hold the country beyond theriver Lykus, and that those who wished should be allowed to have it andgo to reside at Syracuse, with their families and property, and alsothat they should give up their alliance with the despots. In despair atthis Mamercus sailed to Italy, to try to bring the Lucanians againstTimoleon and the Syracusans; but he was deserted by his followers, whoturned their ships back, sailed to Syracuse, and surrendered Catana toTimoleon. Mamercus now was forced to take refuge in Messina with Hippo, the despot there. But Timoleon came and besieged it both by sea andland. Hippo endeavoured to escape on a ship, and was taken. The peopleof Messina, to whom he was delivered up, brought every one, even theboys from school, into the theatre, to witness that most salutaryspectacle, a tyrant meeting with his deserts. He was put to death withtorture; but Mamercus surrendered himself to Timoleon on condition thathe should have a fair trial before the people of Syracuse, and thatTimoleon should say nothing against him. When he was brought to Syracusehe was brought before the people, and tried to deliver a longpremeditated speech to them, but meeting with interruptions and seeingthat the assembly was inexorable he flung away his cloak and rushedacross the theatre, striking his head against a stone step with theintention of killing himself. However he failed, and paid the penalty ofhis crimes by suffering the death of a pirate. 

XXXV. In this fashion the despotisms were put down by Timoleon, and thewars finished. The whole island, which had become a mere wildernessthrough the constant wars, and was grown hateful to the very natives, under his administration became so civilized and desirable a countrythat colonists sailed to it from those very places to which its owncitizens had formerly betaken themselves to escape from it. For Akragasand Gela, large cities, which after the war with Athens had beendestroyed by the Carthaginians, were now repeopled; the former colonistsled by Megellus and Pheristus, from Elea on the south coast of Italy, and the latter by a party led by Gorgus, who sailed from Keos andcollected together the former citizens. 

When these cities were being reorganised Timoleon not only afforded thempeace and safety, but also gave them great assistance, and showed sogreat an interest in them as to be loved and respected by them as theirreal Founder. The other cities also all of them looked upon him with thesame feelings, so that no peace could be made by them, no lawsestablished, no country divided among settlers, no constitutionalchanges made that seemed satisfactory, unless he had a hand in them, and arranged them just as an architect, when a building is finished, gives some graceful touches which adorn the whole. 

XXXVI. There were many Greeks, in his lifetime, who became great, anddid great things, such as Timotheus, and Agesilaus, and Pelopidas, andTimoleon's great model, Epameinondas. But these men's actions produced aglory which was involved in much strain and toil, and some of theirdeeds have incurred censure, and even been repented of. Whereas those ofTimoleon, if we except the terrible affair of his brother, have nothingin them to which we cannot apply, like Timaeus, that verse ofSophocles--

 "Ye gods, what Venus or what grace divine Took part in this. "

For as in the poetry of Antimachus, and the paintings of Dionysius, theKolophonians, we find a certain vigour and power, yet think them forcedin expression, and produced with much labour, while the paintings ofNikomachus and the verses of Homer, besides their other graces andmerits, have the charm of seeming to have been composed easily andwithout effort, so also the campaigns of Timoleon, when compared withthe laborious and hardly contested ones of Epameinondas or Agesilaus, seem to have, besides their glory, a wonderful ease, which property isnot so much to be attributed to good luck as to prosperous valour. He, however, ascribed all his successes to Fortune, for in writing to hisfriends at home, and in his public speeches to the Syracusans, hefrequently expressed his thankfulness to this goddess, who, havingdetermined to save Sicily, had chosen to ascribe to him the credit ofdoing it. In his house he built a chapel to Automatia, --the goddessunder whose auspices blessings and glory came as it were of themselves. To her he offered sacrifices, and consecrated his house to her. He livedin a house which the Syracusans had bestowed upon him as a special prizefor his successes as general, and also the most beautiful and pleasantcountry seat, where indeed he spent most of his leisure time with hiswife and children, whom he had sent for from Corinth. For he neverreturned to Corinth, nor mixed himself up in the troubles of Greece, nordid he expose himself to the hatred of political faction, which is therock upon which great generals commonly split, in their insatiate thirstfor honour and power; but he remained in Sicily, enjoying the blessingsof which he was the author; the greatest of which was to see so manycities, and so many tens of thousands, all made happy and prosperous byhis means. 

XXXVII. But since, as Simonides says, all larks must have crests, andall republics sycophants, so two of the popular leaders, Laphystius andDemaenetus, attacked Timoleon. When Laphystius was insisting on hisgiving bail for some lawsuit, he would not permit the people to hoot athim or stop him; for he said that all his labours and dangers had beenendured to obtain for every Syracusan the right of appealing to thelaws. Demaenetus made many attacks in the public assembly on hisgeneralship; but he made him no answer except to declare histhankfulness to the gods for having granted his prayer that he might seeall Syracusans in possession of liberty of speech. 

Though he confessedly had performed the greatest and most gloriousactions of any Greek of his time, and though he had gained the glory ofhaving alone done that which the orators in their speeches at greatpublic meetings used to urge the entire nation to attempt, he wasfortunately removed from the troubles which fell upon ancient Greece, and saved from defiling his hands with the blood of his countrymen. Hiscourage and conduct were shown at the expense of barbarians and despots;his mildness of temper was experienced by Greeks; he was able to erectthe trophies for most of his victories, without causing tears andmourning to the citizens; but nevertheless, within eight years, herestored Sicily to its native inhabitants, freed from the scourges whichhad afflicted it for so long a time and seemed so ineradicable. Whenadvanced in years he suffered from a dimness of sight, which soon becametotal blindness. He had done nothing to cause it, and had met with noaccident, but the disease was congenital, and in time produced acataract. Many of his relatives are said in a similar fashion to havelost their sight when advanced in years. But Athanis tells us thatduring the war with Hippo and Mamercus, at the camp at Mylae, hiseyesight became affected, and that this was noticed by all, but that hedid not on that account desist from the siege, but persevered in thewar, till he captured the two despots; but as soon as he returned toSyracuse he resigned his post of commander-in-chief, begging thecitizens to allow him to do so, as the war had been brought to a happyconclusion. 

XXXVIII. That he endured his misfortune without repining is not to bewondered at; but one must admire the respect and love shown him whenblind by the people of Syracuse. They constantly visited him, andbrought with them any strangers that might be staying with them, both tohis town and country house, to show them their benefactor, glorying inthe fact that he had chosen to spend his life amongst them, and hadscorned the magnificent reception which his exploits would have ensuredhim, had he returned to Greece. Of the many important tributes to hisworth none was greater than the decree of the Syracusans that wheneverthey should be engaged in war with foreign tribes, they would have aCorinthian for their general. Great honour was also reflected upon himby their conduct in the public assembly; for, though they managedordinary business by themselves, on the occasion of any important debatethey used to call him in. Then he would drive through the market-placeinto the theatre; and when the carriage in which he sat was brought in, the people would rise and salute him with one voice. Having returnedtheir greeting, and allowed a short time for their cheers and blessings, he would hear the disputed point debated, and then give his opinion. When this had been voted upon his servants would lead his carriage outof the theatre, while the citizens, cheering and applauding him as hewent, proceeded to despatch their other business without him. 

XXXIX. Cherished in his old age with such respect and honour, as thecommon father of his country, Timoleon at length, after a slightillness, died. Some time was given for the Syracusans to prepare hisfuneral, and for neighbours and foreigners to assemble, so that theceremony was performed with great splendour. The bier, magnificentlyadorned, and carried by young men chosen by lot, passed over the placewhere once the castle of Dionysius had been pulled down. The processionwas joined by tens of thousands of men and women, whose appearance wasgay enough for a festival, for they all wore garlands and white robes. Their lamentations and tears mingled with their praises of the deceasedshowed that they were not performing this as a matter of mere outwardrespect and compliance with a decree, but that they expressed realsorrow and loving gratitude. At last, when the bier was placed upon thepyre, Demetrius, the loudest voiced of the heralds at that time, readaloud the following:--

"The Syracusan people solemnise, at the cost of two hundred minae, thefuneral of this man, the Corinthian Timoleon, son of Timodemus. Theyhave passed a vote to honour him for all future time with festivalmatches in music, horse and chariot races, and gymnastics, because, after having put down the despots, subdued the foreign enemy, andrecolonized the greatest among the ruined cities, he restored to theSicilian Greeks their constitution and laws. "[A]

[Footnote A: Grote. ]

They buried him in the market-place, and afterwards surrounded the spotwith a colonnade, and built a palastra in it for the young men topractise in, and called it the Timoleonteum; and, living under theconstitution and laws which he established, they passed many years inprosperity. 

LIFE OF AEMILIUS. 

II. [A] Most writers agree that the Aemilian was one of the most nobleand ancient of the patrician families of Rome. Those who tell us thatKing Numa was a pupil of Pythagoras, narrate also that Mamercus, thefounder of this family, was a son of that philosopher, who for hissingular grace and subtlety of speech was surnamed Aemilius. Most of themembers of the family who gained distinction by their valour, were alsofortunate, and even the mishap of Lucius Paullus at Cannae bore ampletestimony to his prudence and valour. For since he could not prevailupon his colleague to refrain from battle, he, though against his betterjudgment, took part in it, and disdained to fly; but when he who hadbegun the contest fled from it, he stood firm, and died fighting theenemy. This Aemilius had a daughter, who married Scipio the Great, and ason who is the subject of this memoir. Born in an age which was renderedillustrious by the valour and wisdom of many distinguished men, heeclipsed them all, though he followed none of the studies by which youngmen were then gaining themselves a reputation, but chose a differentpath. He did not practise at the bar, nor could he bring himself tocourt the favour of the people by the greetings, embraces, andprofessions of friendship to which most men used to stoop to obtainpopularity. Not that he was by nature unfitted for such pursuits; but heconsidered it better to gain a reputation for courage, justice, andtruth, in which he soon outshone his contemporaries. 

[Footnote A: In Sintenis's text the chapter with which this life usuallybegins is prefixed to the Life of Timoleon. ]

III. The first honourable office for which he was a candidate was thatof aedile, for which he was elected against twelve others, who, theysay, all afterwards became consuls. When chosen a priest of the collegeof Augurs, whom the Romans appoint to watch and register the omensderived from the flight of birds, or the signs of the heavens, he socarefully applied himself to learning the ancient customs and religionof his ancestors, that the priesthood, hitherto merely considered as anempty title of honour and sought after for that reason only, becameregarded as the sublimest craft of all, confirming the saying of thephilosophers, that holiness consists in a knowledge of how to serve thegods. Under him everything was done with both zeal and skill. Heneglected all other duties, when engaged upon these, neither omittingany part nor adding any, arguing with his companions, when they blamedhim for his care about trifles, that though a man might think thatheaven was merciful and forgiving of negligences, yet that habitualdisregard and overlooking of such points was dangerous for the state, seeing that no one ever begins till some flagrant breach of the law todisturb the constitution, but those who are careless of accuracy insmall things soon begin to neglect the most important. He was no lesssevere in exacting and maintaining military discipline than withreligious observances, never forgetting the general in the demagogue, nor, as many then did, endeavouring to make his first command lead to asecond by indulgence and affability to his troops, but, like a priestexpounding mysteries, he carefully taught them everything requisite fora campaign, and, by his severity to the careless and disobedient, restored the former glory to his country; for he seemed to think victoryover the enemy was merely a subordinate incident in the great work ofdisciplining his fellow-citizens. 

IV. When the Romans were at war with Antiochus the Great, and all theirmost experienced generals were employed against him, there arose anotherwar in the west of Europe, in consequence of revolutionary movements inSpain. Aemilius was appointed commander to conduct this war, not withsix lictors only, like ordinary generals, but twelve, so as to give himconsular authority. He defeated the barbarians in two pitched battles, with a loss of nearly thirty thousand. The credit of this exploitbelongs peculiarly to the general, who made such use of the advantage ofthe ground, and the ford over a certain river, as to render victory aneasy matter for his soldiers. He also took two hundred and fifty cities, which opened their gates to him. Having established a lasting peace inhis province he returned to Rome, not having gained a penny by hiscommand. For he was careless of money-making, though he spent hisfortune without stint; and it was so small, that after his death ithardly sufficed to make up the dower of his wife. 

V. He married Papiria, the daughter of Papirius Maso, a consular; andafter living with her for a considerable time, divorced her, though hehad by her an illustrious family, for she was the mother of the renownedScipio, and of Fabius Maximus. No reason for their separation has comedown to us, but there is much truth in that other story about a divorce, that some Roman put away his wife; and his friends then blamed him, saying, "Is she not chaste? is she not beautiful? is she not fruitful?"He, stretching out his shoe, said, "Is it not beautiful? is it not new?But none of you can tell where it pinches me. In fact, some men divorcetheir wives for great and manifest faults, yet the little but constantirritation which proceeds from incompatible tempers and habits, thoughunnoticed by the world at large, does gradually produce between marriedpeople breaches which cannot be healed. "

So Aemilius put away Papiria, and married again. By his second marriagehe had two sons, whom he kept at home, but those by the former marriagehe had adopted into the greatest and noblest families of Rome, the elderinto that of Fabius Maximus, who had five times been consul, while theyounger was treated by Scipio Africanus as his cousin, and took the nameof Scipio. 

Of his two daughters, one married a son of Cato, the other AeliusTubero, an excellent man, who supported his poverty more gloriously thanany other Roman. There were sixteen in the family, all Aelii; and onesmall house and estate sufficed for them all, with their numerousoffspring and their wives, among whom was the daughter of our Aemilius, who, though her father had twice been consul and twice triumphed, wasnot ashamed of the poverty of her husband, but was proud of the virtuethat kept him poor. But nowadays brothers and kinsmen, unless theirinheritances be divided by mountain ranges, rivers, and walls likefortifications, with plenty of space between them, quarrel withoutceasing. These are the materials for reflection which history affords tothose who choose to make use of them. 

VI. Aemilius, when elected consul, marched against the sub-AlpineLigurians, called by some Ligustines, a brave and spirited nation, andfrom their nearness to Rome, skilled in the arts of war. Mixed with theGauls, and the Iberians of the sea coast, they inhabit the extremity ofItaly where it dies away into the Alps, and also that part of the Alpswhich is washed by the Tuscan Sea, opposite the Libyan coast. At thistime they took also to seafaring, and, sailing forth in small piraticalships, they plundered and preyed upon commerce as far as the columns ofHeracles. On Aemilius's approach they opposed him, forty thousandstrong; but he, with only eight thousand, attacked five-fold his ownnumbers, put them to rout, and having chased them into their fastnesses, offered them reasonable and moderate terms; for it was not the Romanpolicy utterly to exterminate the Ligurian race, but to leave them as anoutwork to protect Italy against the constant movements of the Gaulishtribes. 

Trusting in Aemilius they surrendered all their ships and their citiesinto his hands. He did the cities no hurt, or at most destroyed thewalls, and restored them to the owners, but he carried off all theships, leaving them nothing larger than a six-oared boat; while he setfree the numerous captives which they had taken both by sea and land, among whom were some Roman citizens. These were his glorious exploits inthat consulship. Afterwards he frequently let his desire for re-electionbe seen, and once became a candidate, but as he failed and was passedover, he thenceforth remained in retirement, occupying himself withreligious matters, and teaching his children not only the Romaneducation in which he himself had been brought up, but also the Greek, and that more carefully. For not only were the grammarians, philosophers, and orators Greek, but also the sculptors and painters, and the young men kept Greeks to manage their horses and hounds, andinstruct them in hunting. Aemilius, unless hindered by public business, always was present at the exercises and studies of his sons, and was thekindest father in Rome. 

VII. This was the period during which the Romans, who were at war withPerseus, King of Macedon, complained of their generals, whose ignoranceand cowardice had led to the most disgraceful and ridiculous failure, and to the sustaining of much more loss than they inflicted. They, whohad just driven Antiochus, called the Great, out of Asia Minor, beyondTaurus, and restricted him to Syria, making him glad to purchase peaceat the price of fifteen thousand talents; who, a little before, hadcrushed Philip in Thessaly, and set free the Greeks from the power ofMacedon; and who had also utterly subdued Hannibal himself, a man whosedaring and immense resources rendered him far more dangerous an opponentthan any king, thought that it was not to be borne that Perseus shouldwage war as if he were on equal terms with the Roman people, and that, too, with only the remnants of his father's routed forces; for they didnot know that Philip, after his defeat, had greatly increased the powerand efficiency of the Macedonian army. To explain which, I shall brieflyrelate the story from the beginning. 

VIII. Antigonus, who was the most powerful of the generals andsuccessors of Alexander, and who obtained for himself and his family thetitle of king, had a son named Demetrius, whose son was Antigonus, called Gonatas. His son again was named Demetrius, who, after reigningsome short time, died, leaving a son Philip, a mere boy in years. Fearing disturbance during his minority, the Macedonian nobles madeAntigonus, a cousin of the deceased, Regent and commander-in-chief, associating with him in this office the mother of Philip. Finding him amoderate and useful ruler, they soon gave him the title of king. He hadthe soubriquet of Doson, as though he were only a promiser, not aperformer of his engagements. After this man, Philip came to the throne, and, while yet a boy, distinguished himself in all that becomes a king, so as to raise men's hopes that he might restore the empire of Macedonto its ancient glory, and be alone able to check the power of Rome, which now menaced the whole world. Defeated in a great battle atScotussa by Titus Flamininus, he bent to the storm, surrendered all thathe had to the Romans, and was thankful for mild treatment. Afterwards, chafing at his subordinate position, and thinking that to reigndependent on the pleasure of the Romans was more worthy of a slave whocares only for sensual pleasure, than of a man of spirit, he gave hiswhole mind up to preparations for war, and secretly and unscrupulouslycollected materials for it. Of the cities in his kingdom, he allowedthose on the sea-coast and the main roads to fall into partial decay, sothat his power might be despised, while he collected great forces in theinterior. Here he filled all the outposts, fortresses, and cities witharms, money, and men fit for service, and thus trained the nation forwar, yet kept his preparations secret. In his arsenals were arms forthirty thousand men; eight million medimni of corn were stored in hisfortresses, and such a mass of treasure as would pay an army of tenthousand men for ten years. But before he could put all these forces inmotion and begin the great struggle, he died of grief and remorse, forhe had, as he admitted, unjustly put his other son Demetrius to death onthe calumnies of one far worse than he was. Perseus, the survivor, inherited his father's hatred of the Romans with his kingdom, but wasnot of a calibre to carry out his designs, as his small and degradedmind was chiefly possessed by avarice. He is said not even to have beenlegitimate, but that Philip's wife obtained him when a baby from hisreal mother, a midwife of Argos, named Gnathaina, and palmed him offupon her husband. And this seems to have been one reason for her puttingDemetrius to death, for fear that if the family had a legitimate heir, this one's bastardy would be discovered. 

IX. However, low-born and low-minded though he was, yet having by theforce of circumstances drifted into war, he held his own and maintainedhimself for a long time against the Romans, defeating generals ofconsular rank with great armies, and even capturing some of them. Publius Licinius, who first invaded Macedonia, was defeated in a cavalryengagement, with a loss of two thousand five hundred brave men killed, and six hundred prisoners. Perseus next by a sudden attack made himselfmaster of the Roman naval station at Oreus, took twenty store ships, sunk the rest, which were loaded with grain, and took also fourquinqueremes. [A] He fought also a second battle, in which he drove backthe consular general Hostilius, who was trying to invade Macedonia nearElimiae; and when he tried to steal in through Thessaly, he againoffered battle, which the Roman declined. As an accessory to the war henow made a campaign against the Dardans, as if affecting to despise theRomans and to be at leisure. Here he cut to pieces ten thousand of thebarbarians, and carried off much plunder. He also had secretnegotiations with the Gauls who dwell near the Ister, called Basternae, a nation of warlike horsemen, and by means of Genthius their king heendeavoured to induce the Illyrians to take part in the war. There waseven a report that the barbarians had been induced by his bribes tomarch through the southern part of Gaul beside the Adriatic, and soinvade Italy. 

[Footnote A: Ships of war with five banks of oars. ]

X. The Romans, when they learnt all this, determined that they woulddisregard political influence in their choice of a general, and choosesome man of sense and capable of undertaking great operations. Such aone was Paulus Aemilius, a man of advanced age, being about sixty yearsold, but still in full vigour of body, and surrounded by kinsmen, grown-up sons, and friends, who all urged him to listen to the appeal ofhis country and be consul. He at first treated the people with littlerespect, and shunned their eager professions of zeal, on the plea thathe did not wish for the command; but as they waited on him daily, andcalled for him to come into the forum and shouted his name, he was atlength prevailed upon. When a candidate, he seemed to enter the fieldnot with a view to getting office, but to giving victory and strength inbattle to his fellow-citizens; with such zeal and confidence did theyunanimously elect him consul for the second time, not permitting lotsto be cast for provinces by the two consuls, as is usual, but at oncedecreeing to him the management of the Macedonian war. It is said thatwhen he was named general against Perseus, he was escorted home intriumph by the people _en masse_, and found his daughter Tertia, who wasquite a little child, in tears. He embraced her, and asked her why shewas crying; and she, throwing her arms round him and kissing him, said, "Do you not know, father, that our Perseus is dead?" meaning a littledog which she had brought up, which was so named. Aemilius said, "Maythis bring good luck, my daughter: I accept the omen. " This story Cicerothe orator tells in his book on Divination. 

XI. It being the custom that the consuls-elect should return thanks, andmake a gracious speech to the people from the rostrum, Aemilius calledtogether the people and said that he had sought for his formerconsulship because he wanted office, but for this one because theywanted a general: wherefore he felt no gratitude towards them, but wouldlay down his consulship if they thought that they would succeed betterin the war under some one else; but if they felt confidence in him, heasked them not to interfere with his acts as general, nor to gossipabout him, but to furnish quietly what was wanted for the war; for ifthey tried to command their commander they would afford even a moresorry spectacle than they had already done. By these words he made thecitizens stand greatly in awe of him, and gave them great expectationsof what he would effect, while all rejoiced that they had passed overthose who used to flatter them, and had chosen a general of independenceand spirit. So much did the Roman people respect bravery and honour, because it led to conquests, and to making them masters of the world. 

XII. I consider it to have been by divine favour that Aemilius Paulus onstarting for his campaign met with such a fortunate and calm voyage, andso speedily and safely arrived at the camp; but as to the war itself, and his conduct of it, accomplished as it was partly by swift daring, partly by wise dispositions, by the valour of friends, confidence in themidst of dangers, and reliance on sound plans, I cannot tell of anyglorious and distinguished exploit, which, as in the case of othergenerals, owed its success to his good fortune; unless, indeed, any oneshould count as good fortune for Aemilius the avarice of Perseus, whichdestroyed the great and well-founded hopes of the Macedonians in thewar, and brought them to ruin by the meanness of their chief. At hisrequest there came a force of Basternae, a thousand horse and tenthousand light troops who fought with them, all mercenary soldiers--menwho knew nothing of tilling the soil, or of sailing the sea, who did notlive from the produce of their flocks, but who studied one art andbusiness solely, ever to fight and overcome their antagonists. So, whenin the camp at Maedike, these men mixed with the king's troops, tall intheir person, admirable in their drill, boastful and haughty in theirdefiance of the foe, they gave confidence to the Macedonians, and madethem think that the Romans never could withstand their attack, but wouldbe terrified at their appearance and march, outlandish and ferocious asit was. But Perseus, now that he had got such auxiliaries as these, andput his men into such heart, because he was asked for a thousand statersfor each officer, became bewildered at the amount of the sum which hewould have to pay, and his meanness prevailing over his reason, refusedtheir offers, and broke off the alliance, as if he had been steward ofhis kingdom for the Romans rather than fighting against them, and had togive an exact account of his expenses in the war to his enemies; thoughhe might have been taught by them, who had besides other war materials, a hundred thousand soldiers collected together ready for use. Yet he, when engaged in war with such a power as this, where such great forceswere kept on foot to contend with him, kept doling out and sparing hismoney as if it were not his own. And still he was not a Lydian orPhoenician, but a man who from his descent ought to have had a share ofthe spirit of Philip and Alexander, who made all their conquests by theprinciple that empire may be gained by gold, not gold by empire. Itused, indeed, to be a proverb that "It is not Philip, but Philip's goldthat takes the cities of Greece. " Alexander, too, when beginning hisIndian campaign, seeing the Macedonians laboriously dragging along therich and unwieldy plunder of the Persians, first burned all the royalcarriages, and then persuaded the soldiers to do the like with theirown, and start for the war as light as if they had shaken off a burden. But Perseus, when spending his own money to defend himself, hischildren, and his kingdom, rather than sacrifice a little and win, preferred to be taken to Rome with many others, a rich captive, and showthe Romans how much he had saved for them. 

XIII. For not only did he dismiss the Gauls and break his word to them, but after inducing Genthius the Illyrian to take part in the war for abribe of three hundred talents, he lodged the money with that prince'senvoys, all counted, and let them put their seals upon it. Genthius thenthinking that he had got what he asked, did a wicked and impious deed inseizing and throwing into prison some Roman ambassadors who were sent tohim. Perseus, thinking that Genthius no longer needed money to make himhostile to Rome, since he had given him such a pledge of his hatred ofit, and had involved himself in war with it by such a crime, deprivedthe poor man of his three hundred talents, and shortly afterwards lookedcalmly on while he and his family were plucked out of their kingdom, like birds out of a nest, by Lucius Anicius, who was sent with an armyagainst him. Aemilius, when he came to contend with such a rival asthis, despised him as a man, but was surprised at the force which he hadat his disposal. These were four thousand cavalry, and of infantrysoldiers of the Macedonian phalanx nearly forty thousand. Encamped bythe sea-shore, near the skirts of Mount Olympus, on ground nowhereaccessible, and strongly fortified by himself with outworks and defencesof wood, Perseus lived in careless security, thinking that by time andexpense he should wear out Aemilius's attack. But he, while he busiedhis mind with every possible mode of assault, perceiving that his armyin consequence of its past want of discipline was impatient, and usurpedthe general's province by proposing all sorts of wild schemes, severelyreprimanded the soldiers, and ordered them not to meddle with what wasnot their concern, but only take care that they and their arms wereready, and to use their swords as Romans should when their generalshould give the word. He ordered the night sentries to go on guardwithout their spears, that they might be more attentive and lessinclined to sleep, having no arms to defend themselves against theenemy. 

XIV. The army was chiefly troubled by want of water; for only a verylittle bad water ran or rather dripped out of a spring near the sea. Aemilius perceiving that Olympus, immediately above him, was a large andwell-wooded mountain, and guessing from the greenness of the foliagethat it must contain some springs which had their courses underground, dug many pits and wells along the skirts of the mountain, whichimmediately were filled with pure water, which by the pressure above wasdriven into these vacant spaces. Yet some say that there are no hiddenfountains of water, lying ready in such places as these, and say that itis not because they are dug out or broken into that they flow, but thatthey have their origin and cause in the saturation of the surroundingearth which becomes saturated by its close texture and coldness, actingupon the moist vapours, which when pressed together low down turn intowater. For just as women's breasts are not receptacles full of milkready to flow, but change the nutriment which is in them into milk, andso supply it, so also the cold places which are full of springs have nowater concealed in them, nor any such reservoirs as would be needed tosend out deep rivers from any fixed point, but by their pressure theyconvert the air and vapour which is in them into water. At any rate, those places which are dug over break more into springs and run morewith water, in answer to this treatment of their surface, just aswomen's breasts respond to sucking, for it moistens and softens thevapour; whereas land which is not worked is incapable of producingwater, not having the motion by which moisture is obtained. Those whoargue thus have given sceptics the opportunity of saying, that if it betrue, there can be no blood in animals, but that it gathers aboutwounds, and that the flow of blood is produced by the air, or somechange which takes place in the flesh. They are proved to be wrong bythose who sink shafts for mines, and meet with rivers in the depths ofthe earth, which have not collected themselves by degrees, as would bethe case if they derived their origin from the sudden movements of theearth, but flow with a full stream. Also, when mountains and rocks arefissured by a blow, there springs out a gush of water, which afterwardsceases. But enough of this. 

XV. Aemilius remained quiet for some days, and it is said two such greathosts never were so near together and so quiet. After exploring andtrying every place he discovered that there was still one passunguarded, that, namely, through Perrhaebae by Pythium and Petra. Hecalled a council of war to consider this, being himself more hopeful ofsuccess that way, as the place was not watched, than alarmed at theprecipices on account of which the enemy neglected it. First of thosepresent, Scipio, surnamed Nasica, son-in-law to Scipio Africanus, afterwards a leading man in the Senate, volunteered to lead the partywhich was to make this circuitous attack. And next Fabius Maximus, theeldest of the sons of Aemilius, though still only a youth, rose andspiritedly offered his services. Aemilius, delighted, placed under theircommand not so many troops as Polybius says in his history, but so manyas Nasica himself tells us that he had, in a letter which he wrote toone of the princes of that region about this affair. He had threethousand Italians, besides his main body, and five thousand who composedthe left wing. Besides these, Nasica took a hundred and twenty horse, and two hundred of Harpalus's light troops, Thracians and Cretans mixed. He began his march along the road towards the sea, and encamped near thetemple of Herakles, as though he intended to sail round to the otherside of the enemy's camp, and so surround him: but when the soldiers hadsupped, and it was dark, he explained his real plan to his officers, marched all night away from the sea, and halted his men for rest nearthe temple of Apollo. At this place Olympus is more than ten furlongshigh: and this is proved by the epigram which the measurer wrote asfollows:

 "The height of Olympus' crest at the temple of Pythian Apollo consists of (measured by the plumb line) ten stades, and besides a hundred feet all but four. It was Xenagoras, the son of Eumelus, who discovered its height. King Apollo, hail to thee; be thou propitious to us. "

And yet geometricians say that neither the height of any mountain northe depth of any sea is above ten stades (furlongs). However, Xenophanesdid not take its altitude conjecturally, but by a proper method withinstruments. 

XVI. Here then Nasica halted. Perseus in the morning saw Aemilius's armyquiet in its place, and would have had no idea of what was going on hadnot a Cretan deserter come and told him of the flank march of theRomans. Then he became alarmed, but still did not disturb his camp, but, placing ten thousand foreign mercenaries and two thousand Macedoniansunder the command of Milo, ordered him to march swiftly and occupy thepasses. Now Polybius says that the Romans fell upon these men when theywere in their beds, but Nasica tells us that a sharp and dangerousconflict took place upon the heights. He himself was assailed by aThracian, but struck him through the breast with his spear. However, theenemy were forced back; Milo most shamefully fled in his shirt, withouthis arms, and Scipio was able to follow, and at the same time lead hisforces on to level ground. Perseus, terrified and despairing when he sawthem, at once broke up his camp and retreated. But still he was obligedeither to give battle before Pydna, or else to disperse his army amongthe various cities of the kingdom, and so to await the Romans, who, being once entered into his country, could not be driven out withoutmuch slaughter and bloodshed. It was urged by his friends that he had agreat numerical superiority, and that the troops would fight desperatelyin defence of their wives and families, especially if their king tookthe command and shared their danger. He pitched his camp and preparedfor battle, viewed the ground, and arranged the commands, intending toset upon the Romans as soon as they appeared. Now the position bothpossessed a flat plain for the manoeuvres of the phalanx, which requireslevel ground, and also hills rising one above another offered refugesand means for outflanking the enemy to his light troops. Also tworivers, the Aeson and Leukus, which ran across as it, though not verydeep at that season (late autumn), were expected to give some trouble tothe Romans. 

XVII. Aemilius, on effecting a junction with Nasica, marched in battlearray against the enemy. When, however, he saw their position and theirnumbers, he halted in surprise, considering within himself what heshould do. His young officers, eager for battle, rode up to him andbegged him not to delay. Conspicuous among these was Nasica, excited byhis successful flank march round Olympus. Aemilius smiled at them andanswered, "I would do so if I were of your age, but many victories haveshown me the mistakes of the vanquished, and prevent my attacking a bodyof men drawn up in a chosen position with troops on the march andundeployed. " He gave orders that those troops who were in front shouldgather together and appear to be forming in battle array, while thosewho were behind pitched their palisades and fortified a camp. Then bywheeling off men by degrees from the front line, he gradually broke uphis line of battle, and quietly drew all his forces within the rampartsof his camp. When night fell, and after supper the army had betakenitself to sleep and rest, suddenly the moon, which was full and high inthe heavens, became obscured, changed colour, and became totallyeclipsed. The Romans, after their custom, called for her to shine againby clattering with brass vessels, and uplifting blazing faggots andtorches. The Macedonians did nothing of the sort, but dismay spread overtheir camp, and they muttered under their breath that this portended theeclipse of their king. Now Aemilius was not unacquainted with thephenomena of eclipses, which result from the moon being at fixed periodsbrought into the shadow of the earth and darkened, until it passes theobscured tract and is again enlightened by the sun, yet being verydevout and learned in divination, he offered to her a sacrifice ofeleven calves. At daybreak he sacrificed twenty oxen to Herakles withoutobtaining a favourable response; but with the one-and-twentiethfavourable signs appeared and portents of victory for them, providedthey did not attack. He then vowed a hecatomb and sacred games inhonour of the god, and ordered his officers to arrange the men in lineof battle. But he waited till the sun declined and drew towards thewest, that his troops might not fight with the morning sun in theireyes. He passed away the day sitting in his tent, which was pitchedlooking towards the flat country and the camp of the enemy. 

XVIII. Some writers tell us, that about evening, by a device ofAemilius, the battle was begun by the enemy, the Romans having driven ahorse without a bridle out of their camp and then tried to catch it, from which pursuit the battle began; but others say that Roman soldierswho were carrying fodder for the cattle were set upon by the Thraciansunder Alexander, and that to repel them a vigorous sortie was made withseven hundred Ligurians; that many on both sides came up to help theircomrades, and so the battle began. Aemilius, like a pilot, seeing by themotion and disturbance of his camp that a storm was at hand, came out ofhis tent, and going along the lines of the infantry spoke encouragingwords to them, while Nasica, riding up to the skirmishers, saw the wholearmy of the enemy just on the point of attacking. First marched theThracians, whose aspect they saw was most terrible, as they were tallmen, dressed in dark tunics, with large oblong shields and greaves ofglittering white, brandishing aloft long heavy swords over their rightshoulders. Next to the Thracians were the mercenaries, variously armed, and mixed with Paeonians. After these came a third corps, ofMacedonians, picked men of proved courage, and in the flower of theirage, glittering with gilded arms and new purple dresses. Behind themagain came the phalanxes from the camp with their brazen shields, filling all the plain with the glittering of their armour, and makingthe hills ring with their shouts. So swiftly and boldly did they advancethat those who were first slain fell two furlongs only from the Romancamp. 

XIX. When the battle began, Aemilius came up, and found the front ranksof the Macedonians had struck their spear-heads into the Roman shields, so that they could not reach them with their swords. When also the otherMacedonians took their shields off their shoulders and placed them infront, and then at the word of command all brought down their pikes, he, viewing the great strength of that serried mass of shields, and themenacing look of the spears that bristled before them, was amazed andterrified, having never seen a more imposing spectacle--and oftenafterwards he used to speak of that sight, and of his own feelings atit. At the time, however, he put on a cheerful and hopeful look, androde along the ranks showing himself to the men without helmet orcuirass. But the Macedonian king, according to Polybius, having joinedbattle, was seized with a fit of cowardice, and rode off to the city onthe pretext that he was going to sacrifice to Herakles, a god unlikelyto receive the base offerings of cowards or to fulfil their unreasonableprayers; for it is not reasonable that he who does not shoot should hitthe mark, nor that he who does not stand fast at his post should win theday, or that the helpless man should succeed or the coward prosper. Butthe god heard the prayers of Aemilius, for he prayed for victory whilstfighting, sword in hand, and invited the god into the battle to aid him. Not but what one Poseidonius, who says that he took part in thesetransactions, and wrote a history of Perseus in many volumes, says thatit was not from cowardice, or on the pretext of offering sacrifice thathe left the field, but that on the day before the battle he was kickedon the leg by a horse; that in the battle, though in great pain, andentreated by his friends to desist, he ordered a horse to be brought, and without armour rode up to the phalanx. Here as many missiles wereflying about from both sides, an iron javelin struck him, not fairlywith its point, but it ran obliquely down his left side, tearing histunic, and causing a dark bruise on his flesh, the scar of which waslong visible. This is what Poseidonius urges in defence of Perseus. 

XX. Now as the Romans when they met the phalanx could make no impressionupon it, Salovius, the leader of the Pelignians, seized the standard ofhis regiment and threw it among the enemy. The Pelignians, as the lossof a standard is thought to be a crime and an impiety by all Italians, rushed to the place, and a fierce conflict began there with terribleslaughter. The one party tried to dash aside the long spears with theirswords, and to push them with their shields, and to seize them away withtheir very hands, while the Macedonians, wielding their spears with bothhands, drove them through their opponents, armour and all: for no shieldor corslet could resist their thrust. They then cast over their ownheads the bodies of these Pelignians and Marrucini, who pressed madlylike wild creatures up to the line of spears and certain death. When thefirst rank fell in this manner, those behind gave way: it cannot be saidthat they fled, but they retreated to a mountain called Olokrus. Poseidonius tells us that Aemilius tore his clothes in despair at seeingthese men give ground, while the other Romans were confounded at thephalanx, which could not be assailed, but with its close line of spears, like a palisade, offered no point for attack. But when he saw that, fromthe inequalities of the ground, and the length of their line, theMacedonian phalanx did not preserve its alignment, and was breaking intogaps and breaches, as is natural should happen in a great army, according to the different attacks of the combatants, who made it bulgeinwards in one place, and outward in another, then he came swiftly up, and dividing his men into companies, ordered them to force their wayinto the spaces and intervals of the enemy's line, and to make theirattack, not in any one place all together, but in several, as they werebroken up into several bodies. As soon as Aemilius had given theseinstructions to the officers, who communicated them to the men, theycharged into the spaces, and at once some attacked the now helplessMacedonians in flank, while others got into their rear and cut them off. The phalanx dissolved immediately, and with it was lost all the powerand mutual assistance which it gave. Fighting in single combats or smallgroups, the Macedonians struck in vain with their little daggers at thestrong shields reaching to their feet carried by the Romans. Their lighttargets could ill ward off the blows of the Roman sword, which cut rightthrough all their defensive armour. After a useless resistance theyturned and fled. 

XXI. But the fight was a sharp one. Here Marcus, the son of Cato, Aemilius's son-in-law, whilst fighting with great valour let fall hissword. Educated as he had been in the strictest principles of honour, and owing it to such a father to give extraordinary proofs of courage, he thought that life would be intolerable for him if he allowed an enemyto carry off such a trophy from him, and ran about calling upon everyfriend or acquaintance whom he saw to help him to recover it. Many bravemen thus assembled, and with one accord left the rest of the army andfollowed him. After a sharp conflict and much slaughter, they succeededin driving the enemy from the ground, and having thus chased it, theybetook themselves to searching for the sword. When at last after muchtrouble it was found among the heaps of arms and corpses, they wereoverjoyed, and with a shout assailed those of the enemy who stillresisted. At length the three thousand picked men were all slainfighting in their ranks. A great slaughter took place among the othersas they fled, so that the plain and the skirts of the hills were coveredwith corpses, and the stream of the river Leukus ran red with blood evenon the day after the battle; for, indeed, it is said that more thantwenty-five thousand men perished. Of the Romans there fell a hundred, according to Poseidonius, but Nasica says only eighty. 

XXII. This battle, fraught with such important issues, was decided in aremarkably short time; beginning to fight at the ninth hour, the Romanswere victorious before the tenth. The remainder of the day was occupiedin pursuit, which being pressed for some fifteen (English) miles, it waslate before they returned to their camp. All the officers on theirreturn were met by their servants with torches, and conducted with songsof triumph to their tents, which were illuminated and wreathed with ivyand laurel; but the general himself was deeply dejected. The youngest ofthe two sons who were serving under him--his own favourite, the noblestof all his children in character--was nowhere to be found; and it wasfeared that, being high-spirited and generous, though but a boy inyears, he must have become mixed up with the enemy, and so perished. Thewhole army learned the cause of his sorrow and perplexity, and quittingtheir suppers, ran about with torches, some to the tent of Aemilius, andsome outside the camp to look for him among the corpses. The whole campwas filled with sorrow, and all the plain with noise, covered as it waswith men shouting for Scipio--for he had won all hearts from the verybeginning, having beyond all his kinsfolk the power of commanding theaffections of men. Very late at night, after he had been all but givenup for lost, he came in with two or three comrades, covered with theblood of the enemies he had slain, having, like a well-bred hound, beenthoughtlessly carried along by the joy of the chase. This was thatScipio who afterwards took by storm Carthage and Numantia, and became byfar the most famous and powerful of all the Romans of his time. Sofortune, deferring to another season the expression of her jealousy athis success, now permitted Aemilius to take an unalloyed pleasure in hisvictory. 

XXIII. Perseus fled from Pydna to Pella, his cavalry having, as onewould expect, all got safe out of the action. But when the infantry metthem, they abused them as cowards and traitors, and began to push themfrom their horses and deal them blows, and so Perseus, terrified at thedisturbance, forsook the main road, and to avoid detection took off hispurple robe and laid it before him, and carried his crown in his hand;and, that he might talk to his friends as he walked, he got off hishorse, and led him. But one of them made excuse that he must tie hisshoes, another that he must water his horse, another that he must gethimself a drink, and so they gradually fell off from him and left him, not fearing the rage of the enemy so much as his cruelty: for, exasperated by his defeat, he tried to fasten the blame of it uponothers instead of himself. When he came to Pella, his treasurers Euktusand Eulaeus met him and blamed him for what had happened, and in anoutspoken and unseasonable way gave him advice: at which he was so muchenraged that he stabbed them both dead with his dagger. After this noone stayed with him except Evander a Cretan, Archedamus an Aetolian, andNeon a Boeotian. Of the common soldiers the Cretans followed him, notfrom any love they bore him, but being as eager for his riches as beesare for honey. For he carried great store of wealth with him, and out ofit distributed among the Cretans cups and bowls and other gold andsilver plate to the amount of fifty talents. But when he reached firstAmphipolis, and then Galepsus, and had got a little the better of hisfears, his old malady of meanness attacked him, and he would complain tohis friends that he had flung some of the drinking cups of Alexander theGreat to the Cretans by mistake, and entreated with tears those who hadthem to give back and take the value in money. Those who understood hischaracter were not taken in by this attempt to play the Cretan with menof Crete, but some believed him and lost their cups for nothing. For henever paid the money, but having swindled his friends out of thirtytalents, which soon fell into the hands of the enemy, he sailed with themoney to Samothrace, and took sanctuary in the temple of the Dioskuri asa suppliant. 

XXIV. The people of Macedon have always been thought to love theirkings, but now, as if some main prop had broken, and the whole edificeof government fallen to the ground, they gave themselves up to Aemilius, and in two days constituted him master of the entire kingdom. This seemsto confirm the opinion of those who say that these successes were owingto especial good fortune: and the incident of the sacrifice also wasclearly sent from Heaven. For when Aemilius was offering sacrifice atAmphipolis, when the sacred rites had been performed, lightning camedown upon the altar, and burned up the offering. But in its miraculouscharacter and good luck the swiftness with which the news spreadsurpasses all these; for on the fourth day after Perseus had beenvanquished at Pydna, while the people at Rome were assembled at a horserace, suddenly there arose amongst them a rumour that Aemilius haddefeated Perseus in a great battle and had subdued all Macedonia. Thisreport soon spread among the populace, who expressed their joy byapplause and shouts throughout the city all that day. Afterwards, as thereport could be traced to no trustworthy source, but was merely repeatedamong them vaguely, it was disbelieved and came to nothing; but in a fewdays they learned the real story, and wondered at the rumour which hadpreceded it, combining truth with falsehood. 

XXV. There is a legend that the news of the battle on the river Sagra inItaly against the natives was carried the same day into Peloponnesus, and that of the battle of Mykale against the Medes was so carried toPlataea. The victory of the Romans over the Latins under the exiledTarquins was reported at Rome a little after it took place, by two men, tall and fair, who came from the army. These men they conjectured tohave been the Dioskuri (Castor and Pollux). The first man who fell inwith them as they stood in the forum, near the fountain, found themwashing their horses, which were covered with sweat. He marvelled muchat their tale of the victory; and then they are said to have smiledserenely and stroked his beard, which instantly changed from black toyellow, thus causing his story to be believed, besides winning for himthe soubriquet of Ahenobarbus, which means 'brazen beard. ' But thatwhich happened in our own time will make all these credible. WhenAntonius rebelled against Domitian, and a great war in Germany wasexpected, Rome was greatly disturbed till suddenly there arose among thepeople a rumour of victory, and a story ran through Rome that Antoniushimself was killed, and that the army under him had been utterlyexterminated. And this report was so clear and forcible, that many ofthe magistrates offered sacrifice for the victory. When the originatorof it was sought for, as he could not be found, but the story whentraced from one man to another was lost in the vast crowd as if in thesea, and appeared to have no solid foundation, all belief in it diedaway: but when Domitian set out with his forces to the war, he was meton the way by messengers with despatches describing the victory. The dayof this success was the same as that stated by the rumours, though theplaces were more than two thousand five hundred (English) miles distant. All men of our own time know this to be true. 

XXVI. Cnaeus Octavius, the admiral under Aemilius's orders, now cruisedround Samothrace. He did not, from religious motives, violate Perseus'sright of sanctuary, but prevented his leaving the island and escaping. But nevertheless Perseus somehow outwitted him so far as to bribe oneOroandes, a Cretan, who possessed a small vessel, to take him on board. But this man like a true Cretan took the money away by night, andbidding him come the next night with his family and attendants to theharbour near the temple of Demeter, as soon as evening fell, set sail. Now Perseus suffered pitiably in forcing himself, and his wife andchildren, who were unused to hardships, through a narrow window in thewall, and set up a most pititul wailing when some one who met himwandering on the beach showed him the ship of Oroandes under sail faraway at sea. Day was now breaking, and having lost his last hope, hemade a hasty retreat to the town wall, and got into it with his wife, before the Romans, though they saw him, could prevent him. But hischildren he had entrusted to a man named Ion, who once had been afavourite of his, but now betrayed him, and delivered them up to theRomans, thus providing the chief means to compel him, like a wildanimal, to come and surrender himself into the hands of those who hadhis children. He felt most confidence in Nasica, and inquired for him, but as he was not present, after lamenting his fate, and reflecting onthe impossibility of acting otherwise, he surrendered himself to Cnaeus. 

Now he was able to prove that he had a vice yet more sordid thanavarice, namely, base love of life; by which he lost even his title topity, the only consolation of which fortune does not deprive the fallen. He begged to be brought into the presence of Aemilius, who, to showrespect to a great man who had met with a terrible misfortune, rose, andwalked to meet him with his friends, with tears in his eyes. But Perseusoffered a degrading spectacle by flinging himself down upon his face andembracing his knees, with unmanly cries and entreaties, which Aemiliuscould not endure to listen to; but looking on him with a pained and sadexpression, said, "Wretched man: why do you by this conduct deprivefortune of all blame, by making yourself seem to deserve your mishaps, and to have been unworthy of your former prosperity, but worthy of yourpresent misery? And why do you depreciate the value of my victory, andmake my success a small one, by proving degenerate and an unworthyantagonist for Romans? Valour, however unfortunate, commands greatrespect even from enemies: but the Romans despise cowardice, even thoughit be prosperous. "

XXVII. However, he raised him from the ground, and, having given him hishand, he entrusted him to Tubero, and then taking into his own tent hissons, sons-in-law, and most of the younger officers, he sat silent, wrapt in thought for some time, to their astonishment. Then he said, "Ought a man to be confident that he deserves his good fortune, andthink much of himself when he has overcome a nation, or city, or empire;or does fortune give this as an example to the victor also of theuncertainty of human affairs, which never continue in one stay? For whattime can there be for us mortals to feel confident, when our victoriesover others especially compel us to dread fortune, and while we areexulting, the reflection that the fatal day comes now to one, now toanother, in regular succession, dashes our joy. Can we, who in less thanan hour have trampled under our feet the successor of Alexander theGreat, who was so powerful and mighty, and who see these kings who butlately were guarded by their tens of thousands of foot and thousands ofhorse, now receiving their daily bread from the hands of their foes, canwe suppose that our present prosperity is likely to endure for all time?You, young men, be sure that you lay aside your haughty looks andvainglory in your victory, and await with humility what the future maybring forth, ever considering what form of retribution Heaven may havein store for us to set off against our present good fortune. " They saythat Aemilius spoke long in this strain, and sent away his youngofficers with their pride and boastfulness well curbed and restrained byhis words, as though with a bridle. 

XXVIII. After these events he sent the army into cantonments, to rest, and he himself set out to visit Greece, making a progress which was bothglorious and beneficent; for in the cities to which he came he restoredthe popular constitutions, and bestowed on them presents, from theking's treasury, of corn and oil. For so much, they say, was foundstored up, that all those who received it and asked for it, weresatisfied before the mass could be exhausted. At Delphi, seeing a largesquare column of white marble, on which a golden statue of Perseus wasto have been placed, he ordered his own to be placed there, as thevanquished ought to give place to the victors. At Olympia, as the storygoes, he uttered that well-known saying, that Pheidias had carved thevery Zeus of Homer. 

When ten commissioners arrived from Rome, he restored to the Macedonianstheir country to dwell in, and their cities free and independent, imposing upon them a tribute of a hundred talents, only half what theyused to pay to their kings. He exhibited gymnastic spectacles of everykind, and gave splendid sacrifices and feasts in honour of the gods, having boundless resources for the purpose in the king's treasury; andin ordering and arranging each man's place at table, and saluting himaccording to his merit and degree, he showed such a delicate perceptionof propriety, that the Greeks were astonished that he should carry hisadministrative talent even into his amusements, and be so business-likein trifles. But he was always delighted that though many splendid thingswere prepared, he himself was the chief object of interest to hisguests, and when they expressed their surprise at his taking such pains, he would answer that the same mind can array an army for battle in themost terrific fashion, or a feast in the most acceptable one. All menpraised to the skies his generous magnanimity, because, when a greatmass of gold and silver was collected from the king's treasury, he wouldnot so much as look at it, but handed it over to the quaestors to be putinto the public treasury. Of all the spoil, he only allowed his sons, who were fond of reading, to take the king's books; and whendistributing prizes for distinguished bravery in action, he gave AeliusTubero, his son-in-law, a silver cup of five pounds' weight. This Tuberois he whom we said lived with fifteen other kinsfolk on a small farm, which supported them all. And that, they say, was the first piece ofplate that ever was seen in the Aelian household, brought there byhonourable valour; for before that neither they nor their wives usedeither gold or silver plate. 

XXIX. When he had settled all things properly he took leave of theGreeks, and reminding the Macedonians to keep by orderly and unanimousconduct the liberty which the Romans had bestowed upon them, he startedfor Epirus, as the Senate had passed a decree that the soldiers who hadbeen present in the battle against Perseus should be gratified with thespoil of the cities of Epirus. Desiring therefore to fall upon them allat once and unexpectedly, he sent for ten of the chief men from eachcity, and ordered them to bring together, on a fixed day, all the goldand silver which they had in their houses and temples. With each partyhe sent, as if for this purpose, a guard of soldiers and a captain, whowas to pretend that he came to seek for and receive the money. But whenday broke, they all at the same time fell to sacking and plundering thecities, so that, in one hour, a hundred and fifty thousand people werereduced to slavery, and seventy cities plundered; yet from such ruin anddestruction as this, there resulted no more than eleven drachmae foreach soldier, while all mankind shuddered at this termination of thewar, that a whole nation should be cut to pieces to produce such apitiful present. 

XXX. Aemilius, having performed this work, greatly against his realnature, which was kind and gentle, proceeded to Oricum, and thencecrossed to Italy with his army. He himself sailed up the river Tiber inthe king's own ship of sixteen banks of oars, adorned with the arms ofthe vanquished, and crowns of victory and crimson flags, so that all thepeople of Rome came out in a body as if to a foretaste of the spectacleof his triumphal entry, and walked beside his ship as she was gentlyrowed up the river. But the soldiery, casting longing glances at theking's treasure, like men who had not met with their deserts, were angryand dissatisfied with Aemilius; for this reason really, though thecharge they openly put forward was that he was a harsh and tyrannicalruler: so they showed no eagerness for the triumph. 

Servius Galba, [A] an enemy of Aemilius, who had once commanded a legionunder him, hearing this, plucked up spirit to propose openly that heshould not be allowed a triumph. He disseminated among the soldiers manycalumnies against their general, and so still more exasperately theirpresent temper; next he asked the tribunes of the plebs for another day, as that day would not suffice for his speech, only four hours remainingof it. However, the tribunes bade him speak, and he, beginning a longand abusive speech, consumed all the time. At nightfall the tribunesdismissed the assembly. But the soldiers, now grown bolder, assembledround Galba, and, forming themselves into an organized body, again atdaybreak occupied the capitol; for it was thither that the tribunes hadsummoned the people. 

[Footnote A: He had been military tribune of the second legion inMacedonia. Liv. Xlv. 35. ]

XXXI. The voting began as soon as it was day, and the first tribe votedagainst the triumph. Soon the rumour of this spread to the rest of thepeople and to the Senate. Though the masses were grieved at the shamefultreatment of Aemilius, they exhausted themselves in useless clamour, butthe leading men of the Senate crying out one to another that what wasgoing on was scandalous, encouraged each other to resist the licentiousviolence of the soldiers, who, if not restrained, were ready to use anykind of lawless violence to prevent Paulus Aemilius enjoying the rewardof his victory. These men pushed the mob aside, and mounting to thecapitol in a body, bade the tribunes stop the voting until they had saidwhat they wished to the people. When voting ceased and silence wasobtained, Marcus Servilius, a man of consular rank, who had challengedand slain twenty-three enemies in single combat, spoke asfollows:--"What a commander Aemilius Paulus must be, you are now bestable to judge, seeing with what a disobedient and worthless army he hassucceeded in such great exploits; but I am surprised at the people'sbeing proud of the triumphs over the Illyrians and Ligurians, andbegrudging itself the sight of the king of Macedon brought alive, andall the glories of Philip and Alexander carried captive to the arms ofRome. Is it not a strange thing that on the unfounded rumour of thisvictory being circulated, you sacrificed to the gods, praying that yousoon might behold this spectacle, yet now that the army has returnedafter a real victory, you refuse the gods the honour and yourself thepleasure of it, as if you feared to see the extent of your successes, orwished to spare the feelings of your captive enemy; though it would showa nobler feeling than pity for him, not to deprive your general of histriumph for a mean grudge. Your baseness has reached such a pitch that aman without a scar, with his body delicately nurtured in the shade, dares to speak about generalship and triumphs before us who have learnedby so many wounds to judge of a general's vice and virtues. " As hespoke, he opened his clothes, and showed his breast with an incrediblenumber of scars upon it; then turning to Galba, who had made someremarks not very decent "You laugh, " said he, "at these other marks: butI glory in them before my countrymen, for I got them by riding, nightand day, in their service. But come, bring them to vote; I will goamongst them and follow them all to the poll, that I may know those whoare cowardly and ungrateful, and like rather to be ruled by a demagoguethan by a true general. "

XXXII. These words are said to have caused such remorse and repentanceamong the soldiers, that all the tribes voted Aemilius his triumph. Itis said to have been celebrated thus. The people, dressed in whiterobes, looked on from platforms erected in the horse course, which theycall the Circus, and round the Forum, and in all other places which gavethem a view of the procession. Every temple was open, and full offlowers and incense, and many officials with staves drove off people whoformed disorderly mobs, and kept the way clear. The procession wasdivided into three days. The first scarcely sufficed for the display ofthe captured statues, sculptures, and paintings, which were carried ontwo hundred and fifty carriages. On the following day the finest andmost costly of the Macedonian arms and armour were borne along in manywaggons, glittering with newly burnished brass and iron, and arranged ina carefully studied disorder, helmets upon shields, and corslets upongreaves, with Cretan targets, Thracian wicker shields and quivers mixedwith horses' bits, naked swords rising out of these, and the long spearsof the phalanx ranged in order above them, making a harmonious clash ofarms, as they were arranged to clatter when they were driven along, witha harsh and menacing sound, so that the sight of them even after victorywas not without terror. After the waggons which bore the arms walkedthree thousand men, carrying the silver coin in seven hundred and fiftyearthen vessels, each carrying three talents, and borne by four men. Others carried the silver drinking horns, and goblets and chalices, eachof them disposed so that it could be well seen, and all remarkable fortheir size and the boldness of their carving. 

XXXIII. On the third day, at earliest dawn, marched the trumpeters, notplaying the music of a march, but sounding the notes which animate theRomans for a charge. After them were led along a hundred and twenty fatoxen with gilded horns, adorned with crowns and wreaths. They were ledby youths clad in finely-fringed waistcloths in which to do thesacrifice, while boys carried the wine for the libations in gold andsilver vessels. After these came men carrying the gold coin, dividedinto vessels of three talents each like the silver. The number of thesevessels was eighty all but three. Then came those who carried theconsecrated bowl which Aemilius had made of ten talents of gold adornedwith jewels, and men carrying the plate of Antigonus and Seleukus, andcups of Therikles-ware, [A] and all Perseus's own service of gold plate. 

[Footnote A: This was a particular kind of pottery, originally made atCorinth. ]

Next came the chariot of Perseus with his armour; and his crown set uponthe top of his armour: and then after a little interval came the captivechildren of the king, and with them a tearful band of nurses andteachers, who held out their hands in supplication to the spectators, and taught the children to beg them for mercy. There were two boys andone girl, all too young to comprehend the extent of their misfortune. This carelessness made their fallen state all the more pitiable, so thatPerseus himself walked almost unnoticed; for the Romans in their pityhad eyes only for the children, and many shed tears, while all felt thatthe sight was more painful than pleasing till the children were gone by. 

XXXIV. Behind the children and their attendants walked Perseus himself, dressed in a dark-coloured cloak with country boots, seeming to be dazedand stupefied by the greatness of his fall. A band of his friends andassociates followed him with grief-laden countenances, and, by theirconstantly looking at Perseus, and weeping, gave the spectators the ideathat they bewailed his fate without taking any thought about their own. However, Perseus had sent to Aemilius asking to be excused the walkingin procession; but he, as it seems in mockery of his cowardice and loveof life, answered, "That was formerly in his own hands, and is now if hepleases. " Meaning that death was preferable to dishonour; but thedastard had not spirit enough for that, but buoyed up by some hope, became a part of his own spoils. 

After these were borne golden crowns, four hundred in number, which thecities of Greece had sent to Aemilius with deputations, in recognitionof his success. Next he came himself, sitting in a splendid chariot, aman worth looking upon even without his present grandeur, dressed in apurple robe sprinkled with gold, and holding a branch of laurel in hisright hand. All the army was crowned with laurel and followed the car ofthe general in military array, at one time singing and laughing over oldcountry songs, then raising in chorus the paean of victory and recitalof their deeds, to the glory of Aemilius, who was gazed upon and enviedby all, disliked by no good man. Yet it seems that some deity is chargedwith tempering these great and excessive pieces of good fortune, andskimming as it were the cream off human life, so that none may beabsolutely without his ills in this life; but as Homer says, they mayseem to fare best whose fortune partakes equally of good and evil. 

XXXV. For he had four sons, two, as has been already related, adoptedinto other families, Scipio and Fabius; and two others who were stillchildren, by his second wife, who lived in his own house. Of these, onedied five days before Aemilius's triumph, at the age of fourteen, andthe other, twelve years old, died three days after it; so that there wasno Roman that did not grieve for him, and all trembled at the cruelty offortune, which had burst into a house filled with joy and gladness, andmingled tears and funeral dirges with the triumphal paeans and songs ofvictory. 

XXXVI. Yet Aemilius, rightly thinking that courage is as valuable insupporting misfortunes as it is against the Macedonian phalanx, soarranged matters as to show that for him the evil was overshadowed bythe good, and that his private sorrows were eclipsed by the successes ofthe state, lest he should detract from the importance and glory of thevictory. He buried the first child, and immediately afterwardstriumphed, as we have said: and when the second died after the triumph, he assembled the people and addressed them, not so much in the words ofone who needs consolation, as of one who would console his countrymen, who were grieved at his misfortunes. He said, that he never had fearedwhat man could do to him, but always had feared Fortune, the most fickleand variable of all deities; and in the late war she had been soconstantly present with him, like a favouring gale, that he expected nowto meet with some reverse by way of retribution. "In one day, " said he, "I crossed the Ionian sea from Brundisium to Corcyra; on the fifth day Isacrificed at Delphi; in five more I entered upon my command inMacedonia, performed the usual lustration of the army; and, at oncebeginning active operations, in fifteen days more I brought the war to amost glorious end. I did not trust in my good fortune as lasting, because every thing favoured me, and there was no danger to be fearedfrom the enemy, but it was during my voyage that I especially fearedthat the change of fortune would befall me, after I had conquered sogreat a host, and was bearing with me such spoils and even kings as mycaptives. However, I reached you safe, and saw the city full of gladnessand admiration and thanksgiving, but still I had my suspicions aboutFortune, knowing that she never bestows any great kindness unalloyed andwithout exacting retribution for it. And no sooner had I dismissed thisforeboding about some misfortune being about to happen to the state, than I met with this calamity in my own household, having during theseholydays had to bury my noble sons, one after the other, who, had theylived, would alone have borne my name. 

"Now therefore I fear no further great mischance, and am of good cheer;for a sufficient retribution has been exacted from me for my successes, and the triumpher has been made as notable an example of the uncertaintyof human life as the victim; except that Perseus, though conquered, still has his children, while Aemilius, his conqueror, has lost his. "

XXXVII. Such was the noble discourse which they say Aemilius from hissimple and true heart pronounced before the people. As to Perseus, though he pitied his fallen fortunes and was most anxious to help him, all he could do was to get him removed from the common prison, calledCarcer by the Romans, to a clean and habitable lodging, where, inconfinement, according to most authors, he starved himself to death; butsome give a strange and extraordinary account of how he died, sayingthat the soldiers who guarded him became angry with him, and not beingable to vex him by any other means, they prevented his going to sleep, watching him by turns, and so carefully keeping him from rest by allmanner of devices, that at last he was worn out and died. Two of hischildren died also; but the third, Alexander, they say becameaccomplished in repoussé work and other arts. He learned to speak andwrite the Roman language well, and was employed by the magistrates as aclerk, in which profession he was much esteemed. 

XXXVIII. The most popular thing which Aemilius did in connection withMacedonia was that he brought back so much money that the people werenot obliged to pay any taxes till the consulship of Hirtius and Pausa, during the first war between Antony and Augustus Caesar. This wasremarkable about Aemilius, that he was peculiarly respected and loved bythe people, though of the aristocratical party; and though he never saidor did anything to make himself popular, but always in politics actedwith the party of the nobles. Scipio Africanus was afterwards reproachedwith this by Appius. These were the leading men in the city, and werecandidates for the office of Censor: the one with the Senate and noblesto support him, that being the hereditary party of the Appii; the otherbeing a man of mark in himself, and one who ever enjoyed the greatestlove and favour with the people. So when Appius saw Scipio coming intothe forum surrounded by men of low birth and freed men, yet men who knewthe forum, and who could collect a mob and by their influence and noisecould get any measure passed, he called out, "O Paulus Aemilius, groanin your grave, at your son being brought into the Censorship by Aemiliusthe crier and Licinius Philonicus. " But Scipio kept the people in goodhumour by constantly augmenting their privileges, whereas Aemilius, though of the aristocratic party, was no less loved by the people thanthose who courted their favour and caressed them. They showed this byelecting him, amongst other dignities, to the Censorship; which officeis most sacred, and confers great power, especially in examining men'slives; for the Censor can expel a senator of evil life from his place, and elect the President of the Senate, and punish licentious young menby taking away their horses. They also register the value of property, and the census of the people. In his time they amounted to three hundredand thirty-seven thousand four hundred and fifty-two. He appointedMarcus Aemilius Lepidus President of the Senate, who four times alreadyhad enjoyed that dignity, and he expelled three senators, not men ofmark. With regard to the Equites, he and his colleague Marcius Philippusshowed equal moderation. 

XXXIX. After most of the labours of his life were accomplished, he fellsick of a disorder which at first seemed dangerous, but as time went onappeared not to be mortal, but wearisome and hard to cure. 

At length he followed the advice of his physicians, and sailed toPaestum, in Italy. There he passed his time chiefly in the peacefulmeadows near the sea-shore; but the people of Rome regretted hisabsence, and in the public theatre often would pray for his return, andspeak of their longing to see him. When the time for some religiousceremony at which he had to be present approached, and he alsoconsidered himself sufficiently strong, he returned to Rome. Heperformed the sacrifice, with the other priests, the people surroundinghim with congratulations. On the next day he again officiated, offeringa thank-offering to the gods for his recovery. When this sacrifice wasfinished, he went home and lay down, and before any one noticed howchanged he was, he fell into a delirious trance, and died in three days, having in his life wanted none of those things which are thought torender men happy. Even his funeral procession was admirable andenviable, and a noble tribute to his valour and goodness. I do not meangold, ivory, and other expensive and vain-glorious apparatus, but love, honour, and respect, not only shown by his own countrymen, but also byforeigners. For of the Iberians, Ligurians, and Macedonians who happenedto be in Rome, the strongest carried the bier, while the elder menfollowed after, praising Aemilius as the saviour and benefactor of theircountries. For he not only during his period of conquest had treatedthem mildly and humanely, but throughout the rest of his life was alwaysbestowing benefits upon them as persons peculiarly connected withhimself. His estate, they say, scarcely amounted to three hundred andseventy thousand sesterces, [A] which he left to be shared between histwo sons; but Scipio, the younger, consented to give up his share to hisbrother, as he was a member of a rich family, that of Africanus. Such issaid to have been the life and character of Aemilius Paulus. 

[Footnote A: Little more than £3000. ]

COMPARISON OF PAULUS AEMILIUS AND TIMOLEON. 

I. The characters of these men being such as is shown in theirhistories, it is evident that in comparing them we shall find fewdifferences and points of variance. Even their wars were in both caseswaged against notable antagonists, the one with the Macedonians, theother with the Carthaginians: while their conquests were glorious, asthe one took Macedonia, and crushed the dynasty of Antigonus in theperson of its seventh king, while the other drove all the despots fromSicily and set the island free. Unless indeed any one should insinuatethat Aemilius attacked Perseus when he was in great strength and hadconquered the Romans before, whereas Timoleon fell upon Dionysius whenhe was quite worn out and helpless: though again it might be urged onbehalf of Timoleon that he overcame many despots and the great power ofCarthage, with an army hastily collected from all sources, not, likeAemilius, commanding men who were inured to war and knew how to obey, but making use of disorderly mercenary soldiers who only fought when itpleased them to do so. An equal success, gained with such unequal means, reflects the greater credit on the general. 

II. Both were just and incorruptible in their conduct: but Aemiliusseems to have had the advantage of the customs and state of feelingamong his countrymen, by which he was trained to integrity, whileTimoleon without any such encouragement acted virtuously, from his ownnature. This is proved by the fact that the Romans of that period wereall submissive to authority, and carried out the traditions of thestate, respecting the laws and the opinions of their countrymen:whereas, except Dion, no Greek leader or general of that time hadanything to do with Sicilian affairs who did not take bribes: thoughmany suspected than Dion was meditating making himself king, and that hehad dreams of an empire like that of Sparta. 

Timaeus tells us that the Syracusans sent away Gylippus in disgrace forhis insatiable covetousness, and the bribes which they discovered thathe received when in command. And many writers had dwelt upon the wickedand treacherous acts which Pharax the Spartan and Kallippus the Atheniancommitted, when they were endeavouring to make themselves masters ofSicily. Yet, what were they, and what resources had they, that theyconceived such great designs: the one being only a follower of Dionysiuswhen he was banished from Syracuse, the other a captain of mercenariesunder Dion? But Timoleon, who was sent to the Syracusans asgeneralissimo at their own request and prayer, did not seek for command, but had a right to it. Yet when he received his power as general andruler from them of their own free will, he voluntarily decided to holdit only till he should have expelled from Sicily all those who werereigning despotically. In Aemilius again we must admire this, that hesubdued so great an empire and yet did not enrich himself by onedrachma, and never even saw or touched the king's treasures, although hedistributed much of them in presents to others. And still, I do not saythat Timoleon is to be blamed for having received a fine house andestate; for there is no disgrace in receiving it by such means, thoughnot to take it is better, and shows almost superhuman virtue, whichcares not to take what is lawfully within its reach. Yet, as thestrongest bodies are those which can equally well support the extremesof heat and cold, so the noblest minds are those which prosperity doesnot render insolent and overbearing, nor ill fortune depress: and hereAemilius appears more nearly to approach absolute perfection, as, whenin great misfortune and grief for his children, he showed the samedignity and firmness as after the greatest success. Whereas Timoleon, though he acted towards his brother as became a noble nature, yet couldnot support himself against his sorrow by reason, but was so crushed byremorse and grief that for twenty years he could not appear or speak inthe public assembly. We ought indeed to shrink from and feel shame atwhat is base; but the nature which is over-cautious to avoid blame maybe gentle and kindly, but cannot be great. 

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