if.-.: ;s ,,: ;\-r PLUTARCH; LIVES, IN SIX VOLUMES: Tranflated from the GREEK. WITH Notes, EXPLANATORY and CRITICAL, from D A c i E R and others. To which is prefix'd the LIFE of PLUTARCH, Written by D R TD E N. DUBLIN: PRINTED FOR J. WILLIAMS, IN SKINNER-ROW, ~M,DCC,LXIX. PLUTARCH's LIVES: VOLUME the FIRST. CONTAINING THESEUS, ROMULUS, LYCURGUS, N U MA, SOLON, PoPLICOLA, THEMISTOCLES. C A M i L L u s. DUBLIN: PRINTED FOR J. WILLIAMS, IN SKINNER-ROW. M,DCC,LXIX. PREFACE. THE number of perfons at firfl employed in this tranflation of Plutarch was not much leis than the number of lives. Mr. Dry den, in the dedication prefixed to the firfb edition, mentions, this circumftance as an advantage, becaufe thus, 'what would have been the labour of one man's life might by the feveral endeavours of many be accomplished in the compafs of a year. "But though, when expedition is chiefly re- garded, a tranflation executed in this manner may be bell, yet it is evident that different ftyles a*nd different ideas of the duty of a tranflator, muft always render fuch a performance irregular and unequal, and that no author's work can appear to advantage, or be diftinctly feen, when the feveial parts of it are viewed through fuch various mediums. BUT befide this neceilary imperfection, the tranfla- tion of moft of the lives was extremely faulty upon .other accounts. An edition was therefore publifhed in the year 1727, with confiderable alterations in many of the lives. But the editors taking no other guide than M. Dacier's tranflation, though they rectified many of the faults of the former edition, yet in fbme places al- tered it for the worfe, and where the expreflion was juft and unexceptionable, varied and paraphafed it in or- der to accommodate it to the turn of the French, which language is much lefs capable than 1 our own of re- prefenting the clofe and fimple manner of writing of the ancients. They tell us in their preface, that thofe who firfl undertook the tranflation bad not thofe helps and advantages with which the learned world had fine e beenfup- phed ; that the Greek editions then extant abounded with grofs errors ; but that this evil had in a great meafure been remedied by the care and accuracy of fome modern edi- tors, meaning the editors of the elegant J^ondon edition, VoL L 2056&90 whu vi PREFACE. who have indeed rectified the text of Plutarch in a great number of places. It plainly appears, however, that the Englijb editors, notwithftanding the commendation they have given of that edition, hardly ever confulted it. IT mud be allowed that the tranflation was in fome degree improved by them; but it was ftill far from doing tolerable juftice to Plutarch, and many of the , faults were fo grofs, that they were apparent even to thofe readers who were quite unacquainted with the original. The language in general was mean, and often ungrammatical ; the miftakes, omiflions, and unneceiiary additions were very numerous ; and in thole lives where the language was lefs liable to cen- fure there was frequently an exceffive liberty or great carelefsnefs in exprefling the meaning of the author. But of all the miftakes, thofe in proper names and in numbers feem to be the leaft excu table, becaufe, though of great importance, they are moft eafily avoided : yet thefe are very frequent throughout the work. THE prefent edition will be found confiderably more correct than the former ; the whole trenflation has been diligently compared with the Greek ; thofe paflages which appeared exceptionable with regard either to the fenfe or the expreflion have been altered ; and two of the lives, thofe of Pericles and Demetrius Poliorcetes, the verfion of which feemed to require more than a par- tial amendment, have been ' entirely tranflated. In a work of fuch a length it is impoflible but fome of the errors of the former edition mufl have been overlooked, and fome new ones committed -, but it is hoped there- are not many that are very important. FOUR o( Plutarcifs comparifons are loft, that of 'TbemifiQcks.... \\\\\\ Cumillus, of Pyrrhus with Marius, of Alexander with Gefar, and of Pbocion with Cato. M. Dacier has endeavoured to fupply this defect -, and as his comparifons were tranflated by the former editors, they are ftill retained ; though otherwife, being little like thofe of Plutarch, they would not have appeared in this edition. THE PREFACE. vii THE notes here are much fewer than in the edition of 1727. M. Dacier has added to his tranflation a great number of learned and ufeful notes ; but with them there are mixed fome that are apparently erroneous, many that are trifling, and many that are exceedingly prolix ; and very few of thele have been omitted by the Englijb editors. It certainly can be of no ufe to the reader, to put him continually upon his guard againft believing all the {lories of dreams and prodigies related by Plutarch, to tell him that fuch or fuch a fentiment is very true and juft, and that the reafons given for it by Plutarch make it very evident, to attempt to illuftrate what is in itfelf perfectly clear, or to make fuch reflec- tions upon fads, or objections to fbme of Plutarch's fentiments, as cannot efcape even the plaineft under- ftanding. Yet obfervations of this kind, which are rather an affront than an affiftance to the reader^ make no fmall part in M. Dacier's notes. Many of them therefore are entirely omitted, many are abridged, and fome are otherwife altered. As there appeared to be fome ufeful notes of M. Dacier which had been omitted by the former editors, or were publifhed afterwards, thefe are added to this edition ; there are alfo fome taken from other commentators, and a few of the edi- tor's own. A 2 tfhc The following account of fuch weights, meafures, and denominations of money, as are mentioned by T/utarcb, is extracted from the tables of Dr. drbutknot. Ib. oz. p.wt. gr. The Roman Libra or pound . * oo 10 18 137 The Attick Mma or pound - oo u 07 16! The Attick Talent equal to 60 Mints 56 1 1 oo 17 ? Pecks. Gal. Pints. The Roman Modus - - --- i - o - if The Attick Chcenix very nearly - o - o - if The Attick Medimnus -- 4 - o - 6 >'* Gall. Pints. The Cotyk a little more than -- o -- of - - o -- 6 A Eng. Paces. Feet Inch. The Roman Foot - oo --- o -- 1 1 } The Roman Cubit - - oo - i - 05! The Roman Pace - oo - 4 - 10 The Roman Furlong - 120 - 4 - 04! The Roman Mile - 967 - o - oo The Grecian Cubit - . oo -- 1 - 06! The Grecian Furlong - - 100 - 4 -- 04? 1. s. d. q. The Quadrant about - oo oo o o+- fhe As . - oo oo o 3-1-0- The Seftertim - - oo oo 13* The Seftcrtiwn eq ual to i ooo Sejlertii 080152 rhe Denarius oo~-oo 7 3 T he Attick Obolus oo - oo i i -* T he Drachma 00 00 7 3 Che Mina equal to 100 Drachma 03 04 7 The 'Talent equal to 60 Mince 193 150 The Stater Dane us - ' . 01 12 32 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, Adapted to PLUTARCH'S Lives, by M. DACIER. Years of the World. Years be- fore the if Olympiad. ^437 737 2547 627 2698 486 2720 454 2768 406 2847 327 2880 294 DEucations deluge,, fo called becaute it happened in his reign, viz. 15 or 16 years before the departure of the children of Ifrae/oulof Egypt. Minos\. the fon of fufiterand Enropa, reigned in Crete, lio years after the deluge. He was a juft Prince. Minos II. fon ofLycafte, grand- fon of the firft, fucceeded his father, and was a tyrant. THESEUS. THE expedition of the Ar- gonauts, towards the year of the world 2720. Jt is not to be doubted but Tbefeus was then living, for he was in company with Jajan, and his fon Demo- phoon was at the fiege of Troy, which happened 40 years after that expedition. Troy taken, Jeptha was then Judge in Ifrael. The return of the Heradid

efore hein- n, of e- 2 73 arn. 478' i- n. e- hy 274 477 he 277 282 474 469 "g ti n- 283 468 ht ie 284 467 -/'- nr 33 448 iit to- 'us us /;; if us ne ec 322 429 a r\ jn .f 3*4 3 2 5 427 426 ir r i 33S 4'3 P le ii r!> 340 411 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Years of the World 3538 3539 3545 3546 3549 3550 3553 3554 Olymp. xcn. i. xcni. 4. XCIV. I. XCV. I. XCVI. I ALCIBIADES, YOunger than Nicias, with whom he was at variance for a long time. He withdrew to Sparta the year the Athenians began the war in Sicily. But upon information that his life was in danger he fled to Tifa- phernes, Lieutenant to Darius. Dionyjius the elder makes him- felf tyrant of Sicily. LYSANDER PUts an end to the Peloponne- Jian war, which had lafted twenty-feven years, and eftab- lifhed the thirty tyrants ^Athens. Xenophon flourifhed at the fame time. He was contemporary with Thucydides, though fome- thing younger, and begins his hiftory where Tbucydides leaves off. Thus thefe three hiftorians, Herodotus, Tbucydides, and Xeno- phon, follow each other, and take in all the hiftory of Greece. Alciliades murdered by order of Phar'nabazus. ART AXERXES Mnemon, SON of Darius and brother of the younger Cyrus. He be- gan his reign when Lyfander made himfelf matter of Athens. Overthrows his brother in a great battle. The Grecians who were in the army of Cyrus made a glorious retreat, which is ad- mirably defcribed by Xenvphon. The death of Socrates. AGESILAUS WA S younger than Lyfan- der who was hisjoyer. Afcends the Spartan throne after the death of his brother Agis. Sends Lyfandqr into the Helle- ffoxt. Years of Rome. Years before thein- carn. 34' 41* 34* 409 348 403 349 402 352 399 353 398 395 357 394 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. AgefiJaus overthrows the Per - T h.Me. The death of Ly lander. The Romans overthrown Years V . Id Olymp 3555 2. 350= vii. 4 35 6t it. i. xci;-; . . 3574 4- CI. I. 3579 CII. 2. 35 8 cn. 3. 358a cm. i. 3584 3- 3585 cm. 4. 3586 CIV. I . 3587 2 3588 35 8 9 3- 4- R C A M I L L U S Lei res to Ardea. The birth of Arijlotle. The birth of Demofthenes. Cbabrias defeats the Lacedae- monians. Peace concluded between the Athenians and Lacedaemonians. The fame . year happenec the famous battle at Leuftra wherein the Lacedemonians un- der the condudt of Cleombrotus were defeated by the Thebans who were commanded by Efa- minondas. Cleomlrotus fell in the action. PELOPIDAS, THE Theban General. He commanded the facred land at LeucJra. Dionyjius the elder dies, and is "ucceeded in the tyranny by hi, c on Dionyftus the younger. Ifocrates flourilhed, beir nuch younger than Plato. T I M O L E O N. Kills his brother Timophanes, who aimed at the tyranny if Corinth. Pelopidas o verthro ws Alexander yrant of Pheerte, but is imfelf in thealion. The famous battle of Manti nea, wherein Epaminondas pre- ailed, but was flain' by t ic for: f Xenotbon the hiitorian. Camitius dies. The death of Artaxeixes dies the fame year. Years ol Rome. Years before the in- er Ly 358 carn. 393 a 364 387 x- 365 369 372 377 386 382 379 374 he ea "a 382 369 n- rw rc.t /2- he j Ie cd 383 368 lit 385 366 ip 387 364 , '.V 388 363 w in 389 362 ".- J; 39 36, J 39 1 392 360 359 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. D I Q N. HE drives Dionyfius the younger out of Sicily. The birth of Alexander the Great. Dion affaflinated by Calippus. DEMOSTHENES BEgins to declaim againft Philip. The death of Plato. Timoleon fent into Sicily to the afliltance of Syracufe. Dionyfius the younger fent to Corinth. The birth of Epicurus. Timoleon overthrows the Car- thaginians in a great battle. The famous battle at Ch3 98 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Years of the World Olyrop. 3855 CLXXI. 2. 3862 3863 cjLxxnr.i. 2. 3867 3868 CLXXIV. 2. 3- 3869 CLXXIV. 4. 3870 CLXXV. I. 387' 2. 3874 CLXXVI. I. 3877 CLXXVI.4- 3879 CLXXV1I.2. S Y L L A. SEnt \ntoCappadocia at theex- piiation of his Prastorfliip. Makes himfelf matter of Rome. Andof dtkens. Marius dies the fame year. SERTORIUS SEnt into Spain. The younger Marius over- thrown by Sylla who foon after defeats Pontius Tilefinui at the gates of Rome. He enters the city, is created Dictator, and ex- ercifes all manner of cruelties. MARCUS CRASSUS ENriches himfelf out of the eftates of thofe, who had been profcribed by Sylla. He was older than Pompey. P O M PE Y SEnt \ntoAfrick at twenty-five years ot age, and defeats Domitius, CATO of UTICA WA S younger than Pom- pey ; for he was but four- teen years old when Sylla was in the heighth of his cruelties. CICERO DEfends Rofcitts, oppreft un- der-hand by Sylla. Sylla abdicates the Didlator- fhip, and dies the year follow- ing. Pompey engages Sertorius in Spain. LUCULLUS SEnt againrt Mithridates at the expiration of his Con fulihip. Sertorius aflaflinated in Spain. Craffus Conful with Pompey. Years of Rome. 658 665 666 670 671 672 673 674 677 680 68 z CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Years of the World. 3881 3887 389, 3 8 97 3902 3903 394 3906 397 Olymp. 4- LXXIX. 2. :r,xxx. 2. clxxxi-4. LXXX1I1. 1. 2. 4 LXXXIV. i. 2. Tigranes overthrown by Lu- cullus. The death of Mitbridates. Pompey forces the temple at Jerujalem. Align flu s born. JULIUS CAESAR DEclared Conful with Bibu- lus, obtains lllyrium, and the two Gauls with four legions. Marries his daughter Julia to Pompey. Crajfiis taken, and flain by the Partbians. Ciffar defeats Pompey in the plains of Pbarfalia, Pompey flies into Egypt, where he is murdered. dffar makes himfelf mafter of Alexandria, fubdues Egypt, goes into Syria, marches againft Pbarnaces King of Pont us, and defeats him. He overthrows Juba, Scipfo, and Petrous in Africk, and ob- tains four triumphs. Cato kills himfelf a,t Utica. Cfffar defeats Pompey's fons at MunJa in Spain. Cneis falls in the action, and Sextus flies into Sicily. Co-far triumphs for the fifth time. BRUTUS. CsESAR is killed by Bru- tus and Caffius. Brutus marches into Mace- donia. M. AN TON I US OVei thrown the fame year by Auguflui at Modcna, He retires towards Lefie/us. The triumvirate of Auguftus, Antony, and Lepidus, who divide the empire between them. Years of Years Rtvis. >efore hein- carn. 684 6 7 690 6r 694 57 700 5' 705 4 6 706 45 707 44 708 43 709 43 710 4 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Years of the World, 3908 3909 3910 39^9 3920 3947 39 8i 3982 4018 4019 Olymp. 4 LXXXV. I, LXXXVII I LXXXVII 2 CXCIV. 2. ecu. 4. cent. i. ccxi. 4 ccxn. i. The battle at Pbllippi, where Brutus and CaJ/ius being over- thrown by Augujlus and Antony lay violent hands on themfelves Antony confederates with Sex- tus Pompeius againft Auguftus. Augujlus and Antony are re- conciled after the death of Ful- via the wife of Antony, who thereupon marries Oflavia, Cae- far's fifter. New grounds of war between Augujlus and Antony. The battle at Aflium, where Antony is defeated, and flies with Cleopatra into Egypt. Augujlus makes himielf mafter of Alexandria. Antony kills himfelf, and Cleopatra follows his example. G A L B A. GAlba born in the fame yeai with Jefus Chrift. The birth of Otho, * Galba Conful. The revolt of Vindex. Nero killed, and Galba declared Em- peror. OTHO REvolts againft Galla, kills him and feizes the empire. Three months after which he is overthrown by yitellius, anc and kills himfelf. Years of Years Rome. before thein- carn. 711 40 712 -39 7*3 38 721 30 722 29 723 28 Years after theb. of Ch. 750 784 785 820 34 35 70 821 7 t xiii ] The L I F E of PLUTARCH, Written by Mr. D R Y D E N. I Know not by what fate it comes to pafs, that hifto- rians, who give immortality to others, are fo il- requited by poflerity, that their actions and their fortunes are ufually forgotten ; neither themfelves en- couraged while they live, nor their memory preferved intire to future ages. It is the ingratitude of mankind to their greateft benefactors, that they, who teach us wifdom by the fureft ways, (fetting before us what we ought to fhun, or to purfue, by the examples of the mofl famous men whom they record, and by the expe- rience of their faults and virtues) fhould generally live poor and unregarded j as if they were born only for the VOL. I. B publick, xiv ne L I F E of publick, and had no intereft in their own well-being, but were to be lighted up like tapers, and to wafte themfelves for the benefit of others. But this is a com- plaint two general, and the cuftom has been too long eftablifhed to be remedied , neither does it wholly reach our author : he was born in an age, which was fenfible of his virtue ; and found a Trajan to reward him, as Ariftotle did an Alexander. But the hiftorians, who fuc- ceeded him, have either been too envious, or too care- lefs of his reputation, none of them, not eVen his own countrymen, having given us any particular account of him ; or if they have, yet their works are not tranfmit- ted to us : ib that we are forced to glean from Plutarch, what he has fcattered in his writings concerning him- felf, and his original. Which (excepting that little memorial, that Suidas, and fome few others, have left concerning him) is all we can collect, relating to this great Philofopher and Hiilorian. He was born at Qiaeronea, a fmall city of Bcetia in Greece, between Attica and Phocis, and reaching to both feas. The climate not much befriended by the hea- vens; for the air is thick and foggy; and confequently the inhabitants partaking of its influence, grofs feeders, and fat-witted ; brawny, and unthinking, juu: the con- flitution of heroes : cut out for the executive and bru- tal bufmefs of war ; but fo ftupid in the defigning part, that in all the revolutions of Greece they were never matters, but only in thofe few years, when they were led by Epaminondas, or Pelopidas. Yet this fog- gy air, this country of fat weathers, as Juvenal calls it, produced three wits, which were comparable to any three Athenians : Pindar, Epaminondas, and our Plu- tarch, to whom we may add a fourth, Sextus Chaero- nenfis, the preceptor of the learned emperor Marcus Aurelius ; and the nephew of our author. Chaeronea (if we may give credit to Paufanias, in the ninth book of his d cription of Greece) was an- ciently caMed Arne, from Arne the daughter of /Eolus ; but being fituated to the weft of Parnailiis in that low- land country, the natural imwholfomnefs of the air was PLUTARCH. xv Xva's augmented by the evening vapours cafb upon it from that mountain, which our late travellers delcribe to be full of moifture and marlhy ground inclofed in the in- equality of its aicents : and being alfo expofed to the winds which blew from that quarter, the town was perpetually unhealthful ; for which reaibn, fays my au- thor, Chaeron, the ion of Apollo and Thero, made it be rebuilt, and turned it towards the rifing fun : from whence the town became healthful, and confequently populous : in memory of which benefit, it aterwards retained his name. But as Etymologies are uncertain, and the Greeks, above all nations, given to fabulous derivations of names, efpecially when they tend to the honour of their country, I think we may be reafonably content to take the denomination of the town, from its delightful or chearful (landing ; as the word Chseron fufikiently implies; But to loie no time in thefe grammatical Etymolo- gies, which are commonly uncertain guefles, it is agreed that Plutarch was here born ; the year uncertain, but without difpute in the reign of Claudius. * Joh. Gerrard Voflius has afligned his birth in the lat- ter end of that emperor : forne other writers of his life, have left it undecided, whether then, or in the begin- ning of Nero's empire : but the moil accurate Rualdus (as I find it in the Paris edition of Plutarch's works) has manifeilly proved him to be born in the middle time of Claudius, or fbmewhat lower. For Plutarch in the infcription, at Delphos, of which more hereafter, remembers that Ammonius his mailer diiputed with him and his brother Lamprias concerning it, when Nero made his progrefs into Greece, which was in his twelfth year; and the queflion dilpi'tcd could not be ma- naged with Ib much learning as it was by mere boys ; O <-? *f J therefore he was then ilxteen, or rather eighteen years of age. Xylander has obferved, that Plutarch himfeif, in the life of Pericles, and that of Anthony, has mentioned both Nero, and Domitian, as his contemporaries. He has alfo left it on record in his Sympollaques, that his fa- B 2, mily xvi The LIFE of mily was ancient in Chaeronea ; and that for many de- fcents, they -iad borne the mod confiderable offices in that petty commonwealth, The chiefeft of which was known by the name of Archon amongft the Grecians ^ by that of Praetor Urbis among the Romans -, and the dignity and power was not much different from that of our lord mayor of London. His great grandfather Nicar- chus perhaps enjoyed that office in the divifion of the em- pire betwixt Auguftus Caefar and Mark Anthony. And when, the civil wars enfued betwixt them, Chaeronea was fo hardly ufed by Aathony's lieutenant, or commiflary there, that all the citizens without exception were fer- vilely emp'oyed to carry on their moulders a certain pro- portion of corn from Cnseronea, to the coaft over-againft the ifland of Antycira, with the fcourgeheld over them, if at any time they were remifs : which duty after once performing, being enjoined the fecond time with the fame feverity, juft as they were preparing for their journey, the welcome news arrived, that Mark Anthony had loft the battle of Aitium ; whereupon both the officers and foldiers, belonging to him in Chaeronea, immedi- ately fled for their own fafety ; and the provifions thus collected were diftributed among the inhabitants of the city. This Nicarchus, the great grandfather of Plutarch, among other fcrs, had Lamprias, a man eminent for his learning -, and a philofopher, of whom Plutarch has m.vde frequent mention in his Sympofiaques, or Table Converfations , and amongft the reft, there is this obfer- vation of him, .that he diiputed beft, and unravelled the difficulties of philoibphy with moft fuccefs when he was at {upper, and well warmed with wine. Thefe table entertainments were part of the education of thofe t : m."s, their difcourfes being commonly the canvafing and folution offome queftion, either philofophical or phi- lo op.ical, always inftructive, and ufually pleafant;for the cups we.it round with the debate ; and men were merry and wife together, according to the proverb. The fa iic:r of Plutarch is alfo mentioned in thofe difcourfes, whom our author reprelents as arguing of feveral points in PLUTARCR XVI 1 in philofophy ; but his name is no where to be found in any part of the works remaining to us. But yet he fpeaks of him, as a man not ignorant in learning and poetry, as may appear by what he lays, when He is introduced dif- puting in the S) mpofiaques ^ where al(b his prudence and humanity are commended, in this following relation. Being yet very young (fays Plutarch) I was joined in commiilion with another in an embaffy to the Proconful, and my collegue falling fick was forced to Hay behind, fo that the whole bufmefs was tranfacted by me alone. At my return, when I was to give account to ttie common- wealth of my proceedings, my father rifing from his feat, openly enjoined me not to name myfelf in the fm- gular number, " I did thus, or thus, I laid to the pro- " conful -, but thus we did, and thus we laid," always afibciating my companion with me, though abfert in the management : This was done to obfe.'ve, as I may fup- pofe. the point of good manners with his collegue, that of refpett to the government of the city, who had com- mifiioned both, to avoid envy, and perhaps more efpecial- ly to take off the forwardnefs of a pert young minifter, commonly too apt to over-value his own fervice, and to quote himfelf on every inconfiderable occafion. The fa- ther of Plutarch had many children befides him ; Timon and Lamprias, his brothers, were bred up with him, all three inflrucled in the liberal iciences, and in all parts of philofophy. It is manifeft from our author, that they lived together in great friendlinefs, and in great venera- tion to their grandfather, and father. What affedion Plutarch bore in particular to his brother Timon, may be gathered from thefe words of his, " As for myfelf, " though fortune on feveral occafions has been favoura- O " 'to me, I have no obligation fo great to her, as the " kindnefs and entire friendfhip, which my brother Ti- " mon has always borne and (till bears me : and this is " fb evident, that it cannot but be noted by every one of " our acquaintance." Lamprias, the youngeft of the three, is introduced by him in his morals, as one of a fweet and pleafent converfation, inclined to mirth and railery ; or, as we fay in Englifh, a well-humoured man, and a E 3 good xviii fhc LIFE*/ good companion. The whole family being thus ad- dicled to philofophy, it is no wonder if our author was initiated betimes in ftudy, to which he was naturally inclined. In purfuit of which he was ib happy, to fall into good hands at firft ; being recommended to the care of Ammonias an Egyptian, who, having taught philofophy with great reputation at Alexandria, and from thence travelling into Greece, fettled himfelf at lafl in Athens, where he was well received, and generally re- fpeded. At the end of Themiftccles's life, Plutarch re- lates, that being young, he was a pensioner in the houfe of this Ammonius; and in his Sympofiaques he brings him in difputing with his fcholars, and giving them in- flruclion. For the cuflom of thole times was very much different from thete of ours, where the greateft part of our youth is fpent in learning the words of dead Ian- gruages. The Grecians, who thought all Barbarians but themfelves, defpifed the ufe of foreign tongues ; that the firft elements of their breeding was the knowledge of nature, and the accommodation of that knowledge by moral precepts, to the fervice of the publick, and the private offices of virtue. The mailers employing one part of their time in reading to, and difcourfing with their fcholars -, and the reft, in appointing them their feverat exefcifes, either in oratory or philofophy, and fetting them to declaim and to difpute amcngil themfelves. By thi's liberal fort of education, ftudy was to far from being a burden to them, that in 3 fhort time it became a habit ; and philofophical que- ftions, and criticifms of humanity, were their ufual re- creations at their meals. Boys lived then as the better fort of men do now ; and their converfation was fo well-bred and manly, that they did not plunge out of their depth into the world, when they grew up j but Hid eafily into it, and found no alteration in their com- pany. Amongft the reft, the reading and quotations of poets were not forgotten at their fuppers, and in their walks , but Homer, Euripides, and Sophocles, were the entertainment of their hours of freedom. Rods and fe- rula's were npt ufed by Ammpnius, asbeing.properlythe puniftimerit PLUTARCH. xix punifhment of flaves, and not the correction of inge- nious free-born men. At lead to be only exercifed by parents, who had the power of life and death over their own children. As appears by the example of this Am- monius, thus related by our author. "Our matter (lays he) one time perceiving at his after- "noon lectures, that fome of his fcholars had eaten more " largely than became the moderation of (Indents, immedi- " ately commanded one of his free men to take his own (on, "and fcourgehim in our fight; becauie," faid the philofo- pher, " my young gentleman could not eat his dinner with- -" out poynaii t fauce, ox vinegar; and at the fame time he cad " his eye on all of us : fo that every criminal was given to un- " derftand, that he had a fhare in the reprehenfion, and that " the punifhment was as well deferved by all the red had the *' phi lofopher not known, that it exceeded his commillion " to inflidt it." Plutarch therefore having the afllttance of fuch a ma- iler, in few years advanced to admiration in knowledge: and that without firft travelling into foreign parts, or acqui- ring any foreign tongue^ though the Roman language at that time was not only vulgar in Rome itfelf, but generally through the extent of that vaft empire, and in Greece, which was a member of it, as our author has remarked towards the end of his Platonick queftions. For like a true philofc- pher, who minded things, not words, he (trove not even to cultivate his mother tongue with any great exadtnefs. And himfelf confefles in the beginning of Demofthenes life, that during his abode in Italy, and at Rome, he had neither the leifure to (lady, nor Ib much as to exercife the Roman language, (I fuppofe he means to write in it, rather than to (peak it) as well by reafon of the affairs he managed, as that he might acquit himfelf to thofe who were de- firous to be inttrucled by him in philofophy. In fo much, that till the declination of his age, he began rot robe converfant in Latin books; in reading of which it happened fomewhat oddly to him, that he learnt not the knowledge of things by words ; but by the under- ttanding and ufe he had of things, attained to the know- ledge cf words which figniHed them. Juft as Adam B 4 (fetting xx The L I F E of (retting afide divine illumination) called the creatures by their proper names, by firil underflanding their na- tures. But for the delicacies of the tongue, the turns of the expreflion, the figures and connections of words, in which confifls the beauty of that language, he plainly tells us, that though he much admired them, yet they required too great labour for a man in age, and plunged in bufmefs, to attain perfectly. Which compliment I mould be willing to believe from a philofopher, if I did not confider, that Dion Caflius, nay even Herodian and Appian after him, as well as Polybius before him, by writing the Roman hiflory in the Greek language, had fhewn as manifeft a contempt of Latin, in refpedt of the other, as French men now do of Englifh, which they dif- dain to fpeak while they live among us : but with great advantage to their trivial conceptions, drawing the difcourfe into their own language, have learnt to de- fpife our better thoughts, which muil come deformed and lame in cpnverfation to them, as being tranfmitted in a tongue of which we are not mailers. This is to arrogate a fuperiority in nature over us, as undoubtedly the Grecians did over their conquerors, by eilablilhing their language for a ilandard ; it being become fo much a mode to fpeak and write Greek in Tully's time, that with fome indignation I have read his epiilles to Atti- cus, in which he defires to have his own confulfhip written by his friend in the Grecian language, which he afterwards performed himfelf ; a vain attempt in "my opinion, for any man to endeavour to excel in a tongue which he was not born to fpeak. This, though it be digreOion, yet deferves to be confidered at more leifure ; for the honour of wit and writings, which are of a more folid make than that of our neighbours, is concerned in it. But to return to Plutarch ^ as it was his good fortune to be moulded firft by mailers the moil excel- lent in their kind, fo it was his own virtue, to luck in with an incredible defire, and earneil application of mind, their wile inilruftions ; and it was alib his prudence fo to manage his health by moderation of diet and bo- exercife, as to preferve his parts without decay to a a;reat PLUTARCH. xxj a great old age; to be lively and vigorous to the laft, and to preferve himfelf to his own enjoyments, and to the profit of mankind. Which was not difficult for him to perform, having received from nature a con- ftitution capable of labour, and from the domeflick example of his parents, a fparing fobriety of diet, a temperance in other pleafures, and above all, a habi- tude of commanding his paflions in order to his health. Thus principled and grounded, he confidered with him- felf, that a larger communication with learned men was neceflary for his accomplifhment - t and therefore, having a foul infatiable of knowledge, and being ambitious, to excel in all kinds of fcience, he took up a refolu- tion to travel. Egypt was at that time, as formerly it had been, famous for learning ; and probably the myfteri- oufnefs of their doctrine might tempt him, as it had done Pythagoras and others, to converfe with the prieft- hood of that country, which appears to have been par- ticularly his bufmefs by the treatife of Ifis and Ofyris, which he has left us : in which he (hows himfelf not meanly verfed in the ancient theology and philology of thole wife men. From Egypt returning into Greece, he vifited in. his way all the academies, .or fchools of the feveral philofophers, and gathered from them many of thofe obfervations with which he has enriched po- fterity. Befides this, he applied himfelf, with extreme dili- gence, to collect not only all books which were excel- lent in their kind ; and already publithed, but alfo alt fayings and difcourfes of wife men, which he had heard in converfation, or which he had received from others by tradition : as likewife the records and publick in- ftruments, preferved in cities, which he -had viiited in his travels ; and which he afterwards fcattered through his works. To which purpofe he took a particular journey to Sparta, to fearch the archives of that famous commonwealth, to underftand- throughly the model of their ancient government, their Legiflators, their Kings, and their Ephori, dige'lingall their memorable deedss and fayings with fo much care, that he has not omitted thole The LIFE of thofe even of their women, or their private foldiers; together with their cuftoms, their decrees, their cere- monies, and the manner of their publick and private living, both in peace and war. The fame he alfo took in divers other commonwealths, as his lives and his Greek and Roman queftions ftifficiently teftify. Without ihefe helps it had been impoflible for him to leave in writing fo many particular obfervations of men and manners, and as impoflible to have gathered them, without conversation and commerce with the learned antiquaries of his time. To thefe he added a curious collection of ancient ftatues, medals, infcriptions, and paintings, as alib of proverbial fay ings, epigrams, epi- taphs, apothegms, and other ornaments of hiftory, that he might leave nothing unfwept behind him. And as he was continually in company with men of learning in all profefTions, fo his memory was always on the flreich, to receive and lodge their difcourfes ; and his judgment perpetually employed in feparating his no- tions, and diOinguifriing which were fit to be preferved, and which to be rejected. By benefit of this, in little time he enlarged his know- ledge to a great extent in every fcience : himfelf, in the beginning of the treatife which he has compofed of " Content and Peace of Mind," makes mention of thofe collecti ons, or common-places, which he had long fmce drav/n together for his own particular occafions : and it is from this rich cabinet that he has taken ou t thofe excellent pieces which he his diftributed to posterity, and which give us occafion to deplore the lofs of the re- fidue, which either the injury of time, or the negli- gence of copiers have denied to us. On this account, though we need not doubt to give him this general commendation, that he was ignorant of no fort of learn- ing, yet we may juftly add this farther, that whoever will confider through the whole body of his works, ei- tlier the defign, the method, or the contexture of his difcourfes, whether hiftorical or moral, or queilions of natural philofophy, or folutions of problems mathema- tical ; whether he arraigns the opinions of other fedts, or PLUTARCH. or eftablifhes the dodrines of his own; in all thefe kinds there will be found, both the harmony of order, and the beauty of eafmefs ; his reafbns fb folid and con- vincing, his inductions ib pleafant and agreeable to all forts of readers, that it muft be acknowledged he was mailer of every fubjeft which he treated, and treated none but what were improveable to the benefit of in- flrudtion. For we may perceive in his writing, the de- fire he had to imprint his precepts in the fouls of his readers ; and to lodge morality in families, nay even to exalt it to the thrones of fovereign princes, and to make it the rule and meafure of their government. Finding that there were many feds of philibophers then in vogue, he fearched into the foundation of all their principles and opinions ; and not content with this difquifition, he traced them to their feveral fountains. So that the Py- thagorean, Epicurean, Stoick, and Peripatetick philofophy, vere familiar to him. And though it may be eafily obferved, that he was chiefly inclined to follow Plato (\.hofe memory he fo much reverenced, that annually he celebrated his birth-day, and aifo that of Socrates ; ) yet he modeft'y contained himfelf within the bounds of the latter academy, and was content, like Cicero, only to propound a:,d weigh opinions, leaving the judgment of his readers free, without prefuming to decide dog- matically. Yet it is to be confefied, that in the midfl of this moderation, he oppofed the two extremes of the Epicurean and Stoick fects : both of which he has judi- cioufly combated in feveral of his treatifes, and both upon the fame account, becaufe they pretend too much to certainty in their dogma's, and to impoie them with too great arrogance ; which he, who following the aca- demifts) doubted more and pretended lefs, was no way able to fupport. The Pyrrhonisms, or grofler fort (f Scepticks, who bring all certainty in queftion, and ftartle even at the notions of common fenfe, appeared as ab- furd to him on the other fide ; for there is a kind of pofitivenefs in granting nothing to be more likely oji one part than on another, which his academy avoided by inclining the balance, to that hand, \vhere the moft weighty xxiv The LIFE of weighty reafons, and probability of truth were vifible. The moral philofopher therefore was jiis chiefeft aim, becaufe the principles of it admitted . of lefs doubt ; and becaufe they were mod conducing to the benefit of human life. For, after the example of Socrates, he had found that the fpeculations of natural philofephy were rather delightful than folid and profitable^ that they were abftrufe and thorny, and had much of Sophifm in i. ; i- folution of appearances : that the mathematicks in- deed could reward his pains with many demonftrati- ons ; but though they made him wifer, they made him .not more virtuous, and therefore attained not the end of happinefs : for which reafon, though he had far advanced in that ftudy, yet he made it but his recrea- tion, not his bufmefs. Some problem of it was his ufual divertifement at fupper, which he mingled alfo with pleafant and more light difcourfes. For he was no four philofopher, but pad his time as merrily as he could, with reference to virtue : he forgot not to be pleafant while he inftrudled ', and entertained his friends with fo much chearfulnefs and good humour, that his learning was not naufeous to them ; neither were they afraid of his company another time. He was not fo auftere as to defpife riches, but being in pofieflion of a large fortune, he liyed, though not fplendidly, yet plentifully-, and fuffered not his friends to want that part of his eftate, which he thought fup'erfluous to a philoibpher. The religion he profefTed, to fpeak the word of it, was heathen. I fay the religion he protefled ; for it is no way probable, that fo great a philofopher, and fo wife a man, fhould believe the fuperftitions and fop- peries of Paganifm ; but that he accommodated himfelf to the ufe, and received cuftoms of his country. He v/as indeed a " Priell of Apollo," as himfelf acknow- ledges, but that proves him not to have been a Poly theift. I have ever thought, that the wife men in all ages have not much differed in their opinions of religion ; I mean as it is grounded on human reafon. For rea- PLUTARCH. xxv fon, as far as it is right, muft be the fame in all men : and truth being but one, they muft confequently think in the fame train. Thus it is not to be doubted, but the religion of Socrates, Plato a n .d Plutarch, was not different in the main : who doubtlefs believed the identity of one fu- preme intellectual Beiijg, which we call GOD. But becaufe they who have written the life of Plutarch, in other languages, are contented barely to alTert, that our author believed one God, without quoting thofe pailages of his which would clear the point ; I will give you two of them, amongft many in his Morals. The firft is in his book of the Ceflation of Oracles ; where arguing againft the Stoicks (in behalf of the Platoni ft s)^ who difputed againft the plurality of worlds with this argument : " That " if there were many worlds, how then could it come to " pafs, that there was one only fate, and one providence to " guide them all ? (for it was granted by the Platonifts, " that there was but one :) and why mould not many Ju- " pitersor Gods be neceflary for the government of many "worlds?" To this Plutarch anfv/ers, "That this their " capacious queftion was but trifling ; for where is the " neceility of fuppofing many Jupiters, for this 4 plurality " of worlds ? when one excellent Being, indued with " mind and reafon, fuch as he is, whom we " acknowledge to be the Father and Lord of all " things, is fufficient to direct and rule thefe worlds ; li whereas if there were more fupreme agents, their decrees " muft ftill ,be the more abfurd and contradictious to one " another." I pretend not this paflage to be tranflated word for word, but it is the fenie of the whole, though the order of the fentence be inverted. The other is more plain : it is in his comment on the word El, or thofe two letters infcribed on the gates of the temple at Delphos : where having- given the feveral opinions concerning it, as firft, that fignifies " if," becaufe all the queftions which were made to Apollo began with " if ; " as fuppofe they afked, " if " the Grecians mould overcome thePerfians " if" fuch a marriage fhould come to pafs, &c. And afterwards that might fignify " thou " art," as the fecond perfon of the prefent tenfe of f* in- timating xxvi Tie LIFE of timating thereby the Being or perpetuity of Being be- longing to Apollo, as a God ; in the fame fenfe that God expreffed himfelf to iMofes, I am hath fent thee ; Plutarch fubjoins (as inclining to this latter opinion) thefe following words : , fays he, " fignifies Thou art " One, for there are not many Deities, but only one. Con - " tinues, I mean not one in the aggregate fenfe, as we fay " one army, or one body of men, conftituted of many " individuals ; but that which Is, mufl of necellity be one ; " and to Be, implies to be one. One is that which is a fim- " pie being, uncornpounded, or free from mixture : there- " fore to be one in this fenfe, is only confiflent with a nature, " pure in itfelf, and not capable of alteration, or decay." That he was no chriflian is manifcfl : yet he is no where found to have fpoken with contumely of our re- ligion, like the other writers of his age, and thofe who fucceeded him. Theodoret fays of him " That he had " heard of our holy gofpel ; and inferted many of our fa- " cred myfleries in his works :" which w.e may eafily be- lieve, becaufe the chriflian churches \vere then fpread in Greece; and Pliny the Younger, was at the fame time converfant amongft them in Afia, though that part of our author's works is not now extant, from whence Theo- doret might gather thofe paflages. But we need not wonder, that a philofopher was not eafy to embrace the divine myfleries of our faith. A modern God, as our Saviour was to him, was ofharddigeflion to a man, who probably defpifed the vanities and fabulous relations of the old. Befides, a crucified Saviour of mankind, a doctrine attefted by illiterate difciples, the author of it a Jew, whole nation at that time was de- fpicable, and his doctrine but an innovation among that defpifed people, to which the learned of his own country, gave no credit, and which the magiflrates of his nation punifhed with an ignominious death ; the fcene of his miracles acted inanobfcure corner of the world ; his being from eternity, yet born in time, his refurrection and afcenfion, thefe and many more parti- culars might eafily choke the faith of a -philofopher, who PLUTARCH. who believed no more than what he could deduce from the principles of nature ; and that too with a doubtful academical aflent, or rather an inclination to aflent to probability : which hejudged was wanting in this new religion. Thefe circumftances confidered, though they plead not an abfolute invincible ignorance in his be- half, yet they amount at leaft to a degree of it ; for ei- ther he thought them not worth weighing, or rejected them when weighed ; . and in both cafes he mud of ne- ceffity be ignorant, becaufe he could not know with- out revelation, and the revelation was not to him. But leaving the foul of Plutarch, with our charitable wifhes, to his maker, we can only trace the reft of his opinions in religion from his philofophy : which we have faid in the general to be Platonick though it cannot alfb be denied, that there was a tincture in it of the Electick feet ; which was begun by Potamon under the empire of Auguflus, and which felected from all the other fects what feemed moft probable in their opinions, not adhering fmgularly to any of them, nor rejecting every thing. I will only touch his belief of fpirits. In his two trea- tifes of Oracles, the one concerning the reafon of their cefiation, the other enquiring why they were not given in verfe, as in former times ; he feems to aflert the Pythagorean doctrine of tranfmigration of fouls. We have formerly fhevvn, that he owned the unity of a Godhead ; whom, according to his attributes, he calls by feveral names, as Jupiter from his almighty power, Apollo from his wifdom, and fo of the reft; but under him he places thofe. Beings whom he ftiies Genii or Daemons, of a middle nature, betwixt divine and hu- man. For he thinks it abfurd, that there mould be no mean betwixt the two extremes, of an immortal and a mortal Being : that there cannot be in nature fo va.lt a flaw, without fome intermedial kind of life, partak- ing of them both ; as therefore we find the intercourfe betwixt the foul and body to be made by the animal fpirits, fo betwixt divinity and humanity thorc is the ipecies of Daemons ; who, having iirft been men, and following xxviii The t I F E have been more perfect But an " equitable judge, who takes things by the fame " handle which Plutarch did, will find there is no " injury offered to either party, though there be " forae difparity betwixt the perlbns : for he weighs 44 every circumftance by itfelf, and judges feparately *' of it i not comparing men at a lump, nor endea- " vouring to prove they were alike in all things, * but allowing for difproportion of quality or for- " tune mewing wherein they agreed or difagreed, " and wherein one was to be preferred before the " other." I thought PLUTARCR Ivii 1 thought I had anfwered all that could reafona- bly be objected againfl our author's judgment ; but cafually cafting my eye on the works of a French gentleman, defervedly famous for wit and criticifm, I wondered, amongft many commendations of Plu- tarch, to find this one reflection. " As for his com- *' parifons, they feem truly to me very great ; but I " think he might have carried them yet farther, and 4t have penetrated more deeply into human nature : '* there are folds and recefTes in our minds, which " have efcaped him ; he judges man too much in " grofs ; and thinks him not fo different, as he is " often from himfelf : the fame perfon being juft. " unjuft, merciful and cruel; \*hich qualities feem- " ing to bely each other in him, he attributes their " inconfiftences to foreign caufes : in fine, if he had " defcribed Catiline, he would have given him to "us, either prodigal or covetous; that " alieni appe- " tens, fui profufus," was above his reach. He could " never have reconciled thole contrarieties in the ** fame fubject, which Salluft has Ib well unfolded, " and which Montaign fo much better underflood." This judgment could not have proceeded, but from a man who had a nice tafte in authors ; and if it be not altogether juft, it is at leaft delicate: but I am confident, that if he pleafe to confider this following pailage taken out of the life of Sylla, he will moderate, if not retract his cenfure. " In the reft of his manners he was unequal, ir- " regular, different from himfelf: Wf*aXo T ,< W, *; " J.a>ofo?w ? o?iauTo. He took many things by ra- " pine, he gave more -, honoured men immode- ** rately, and ufed them contumehoufly : was fub- " miflive to thofe of whom he ftood in need, in- " fulting over thpfe who ftood in need of him : *' fo that it was doubtful, whether he were more " formed by nature to arrogance or flattery. As to " his uncertain way of punifhing, he would ibme- " times put men to death on the leaft occafion ; at " other Iviii n e LIFE of *' other times he would pardon the greateft crimes : a fo that judging him in the whole, you may con- " elude him to have been naturally cruel, and prone " to vengeance, but that he could remit of his feverity, " when his interefls required it." Here methinks our author feems to have fuffi- ciently under flood the folds and doubles of Sylla's difpofition ; for his character is full of variety and inconfiflences. Yet in the conclufion, it is to be confefled, that Plutarch has affigncd him a bloody nature : the clemency was but artificial and afTumed, the cruelty was inborn. But this cannot be faid of his rapine, and his prodigality ; for here the " alieni " appetens, fui profufus," is as plainly defcribed, as if Plutarch had borrowed the fenfe from Salufl : and as he was a great collector, perhaps he did. Never- thelefs he judged rightly of Sylla, that naturally he was cruel : for that quality was predominant in him ; and he was oftner revengeful than he was merciful. But this is fufficient to vindicate our author's judgment from being fuperficial ; and I de- fire not' to prefs the argument more ftrongly againfl this gentleman, who has honoured our country by his long refidence among us. It feems to me, I muft confefs, that our author has not been more hardly treated by his enemies, in his comparing other men, than he has been by his friends, in their comparing Seneca with him. And herein eve"n Montaign himfelf is fcarcely to be de- fended. For no man more efteemed Plutarch, no man was better acquainted with his excellencies, yet this notwithflanding, he has done too great an ho- nour to Seneca, by ranking him with our philofopher and hiflorian ; him, I fay, who was fo much lefs a Philofopher, and no Hiflorian. It is- a reputation to Seneca, that any one has offered at the companion : the worth of his adverfary makes his defeat advan- tageous to him; and Plutarch might cry out with ej " Qui, cum vidus erit r mecum certa0eferetur."If I had P L U T A R C R lix I had been to find out a parallel for Plutarch, I mould rather have pitched on Varro the moft learned of the Romans, if at leaft his works had yet re- mained ; or with Pomponius Atticus, if he had writ- ten. But the likenefs of Seneca is fo little, that except the one's being tutor to Nero, and the other to Trajan, both of them ftrangers to Rome, yet raifed to the higheft dignities in that city, and both philo- fophers, though of feveral feds (for Seneca was a Stoick, Plutarch a Platonift, at leaft an academick, that is, half Platonift half Sceptick :) befides fome fuch faint refemblance 'as thefe, Seneca and Plutarch feem to have as little relation to one another, as their na- tive countries, Spain and Greece. If we confider them in their inclinations or humours, Plutarch was foci- able and pleafant, Seneca morofe and melancholly : Plutarch a lover of converfation and fober feafts : Seneca referved ; uneafy to himfelf when alone, to others when iri company. Compare them in their manners, Plutarch every where appears candid, Seneca often is cenforious. Plutarch, out of his natural humanity, is frequent in commending what he can ; Seneca, out of the fournefs of his temper, is prone to fatire, and ftill fearching for fome occafion to vent his gaul. Plutarch is pleafed with an opportunity of praifmg virtue ; and Seneca (to fpeak the beft of him) is glad of a pretence to reprehend vice. Plutarch endeavours to teach others, but refufes not to be taught himfelf; for he is always doubtful and in- quifitive : Seneca is altogether for teaching others, but fo teaches them, that he impofes his opinions ^ for he was" of a feet too imperious and dogmatical, either to be taught or contradicted. And yet Plu- , tarch writes like a man of a confirmed probity, Se- neca like one of a weak and ftap-germg virtue. Plu- oo o tarch feems to have vanquished vice, and to have triumphed over it: Seneca feems only to be, combat- ing and refifting, and that too but in his own de- fence. Therefore Plutarch is eafy in his ? flying dcirt, and 'wage a diftant war ; B-I-: batid to band the tnifiy f&ords they wield Do all the dreadful lnfinefs of the field : Tbis is the ivay of fight tb' Euboeans know, Nor bow nor fling they trujl^ but fir ike them] "elves the blow. Therefore that they might not give their enemies the advantage of (sizing them by the hair, they were fhaved in this manner. It is faid alfo, that this was the reafon why things and perfons, which they tibr,^, " to put :" and that either drew from fome particular cir- from the tokens which had been cumttances or events attending put under the ftone, or becaule that which they were to name. ./Egeus had acknowledged him for For which re.ifon this young his fon, which the Greeks call Prince was called Thefeus from Thefthai Yion. T hcfis, which is derived from (3) Homer calls, them ZTTW-&* T H E S E U S. 7 why Alexander gave command to his captains, that all the beards of his Macedonians mould be fhaved, as be- ing the readied hold for an enemy. jEthra for fbme time concealed the true parentage of Thefeus ; and there was a report given out by Pit- theus, that he was begotten by Neptune. For the Trce- zenians have Neptune in the higheft veneration ; he is their tutelar God ; to him they offer ail their firfl-fruits - t and in honour to him, (lamp their money with a tri- dent. Thefeus in his youth difcovering not only a great itrength of body, but an extraordinary underftanding and magnanimity, his mother /Ethra, conducted him to the (tone, and informing him who was his true fa- ther, commanded him to take from thence the tokens that vEgeiis had left, and to fail to Athens. He raifed the flone without any difficulty but refufed to take his journey by fea, though it was much the fafer way, and though he was continually preft to it by the intreaties of his grandfather and mother, becaufe it was at that time very dangerous to go by land to Athens, no place of the country being free from robbers. For that age, it feems, produce^ a fort of men, of prodigious ftrength, fwiftnefs, and activity, laborious, indefatiga- ble, and of invincible courage ; but they ufed thele gifts of nature not to ferve mankind, but to gratify their pride, infolence, and favage difpolition, by ra- pine, violence, and every kind of outrage againft all who fell into their hands. They thought civility, juftice, equity, and humanity, (which others praiieci, either from want of courage to commit injuries, or fear of receiving them) did net at all concern thofe who had force on their fide. Some of thefe Hercules de- ftroyed x-ftfrufla?, " men letting their hair Phocis, thofe of them that inha- " g'"0\v long behind ;" intimating hitcd the town of Abas, feized on thereby that they kept it dipt be- Kubcsa, and gave the inhabitants lore. The Abantes were the in- the name of Abantes. habitants of Eubcea. Ariltotle (4) Archilochus was a Greek tells us that the Thracians hav- poet who lived about the time or* in f pbtained the pofTd!ion of Kprnulus. (5) Thofe 8 The L I F E tf ftroyed when he pafled through thefe countries , but fome for fear fled, and hid themfelves, and were fpared by him in contempt of their cowardice. But after Hercules had unfortunately killed Iphitus, he retired to Lydia ; where, for a long time he was Have to Omphale, a punifhment which he had impofed upon himfelf for the murder (5), according to the cuftom of thofe times. Then indeed the Lydians enjoyed peace and fccurity -, but in Greece, and the countries about it, the fame enormities again broke out, there being none to punifh or reflrain them. It was therefore a very hazardous journey to travel by land to Athens from Peloponnefus : and Pittlieus, giving Thefeus an exaft account of each i . ihefe ruffians, of what ftrength they were, and with what cruelty they ufed all ftrangers, advifed him to go by fea. But he, it feems, had long fince been fecretly 1 by the fame of Hercules, whom he held in the higheft efteern, and was never more delighted than in huirir.g accounts of him, elpecially from them who had feen him, converfed with him, or had been pre- fent at ar.y of his exploits. So that he was afTefted in t!ie fame manner as Themiftocles was, many ages after, v/hen lie (iiid that the trophies of Miltiades would not fuifer him to fldfe. And fo great was his admiration of the virtue of Hercules, that in the night his dreams were all of tliat hero's actions, and in the day a con- tinual emulation ftirred him up to perform the like. JSelidrs, they were nearly related, being born of cou- fin-genr.ans. I ; nr yEthra was the daughter of Pittheus, and Alcmenaof Lyfidice ; and Lyfidice and Pittheus were brother and lifter by Hippodamia and Pelops. He thought it therefore an insupportable difhonour that Hercules mould (:;) Thofe wltr> had been guilty thence to Amyclae, where he was of murder becnnie voluntary ex- expiated by Deiphnbus the fon or .and impofed on themfcires Hippol\rus;but failing very ill, and a Crrrain penar.ce which they cor.- coniulting the oracle of Apollo, tinucd till thev theieby riiiiu^bt he received for anfwer that there themfelves f-xp ; .iteJ. IiorCMl"^ v- O u!d be no end of his calami- ,- ' tirll to !';io5, arJ t'iom rits \\\\ he had pafled three years in THESEUS. 9 fhould purfue thefe villains both by land and fea till he had fubdued them, and that he himfelf fhould fhun the like adventures, when they fo fairly offered them- felves to him ; difgracing his reputed father by a mean flight ; and mowing to his true father the fhoes, and the fword yet unflained with blood, as the only proofs of his birth, inftead of manifefling it by great and worthy actions. With this difpofition, and full of thefe reflections, he fet forward, defigning to injure no one, but to repel and punifh any violence that fhould be offered to him. And firflof all, he flew Periphetes in Epidauria, who becaufe he fought with a club, was called Corynetes, or the Club-bearer, and who had attempted to flop him in his journey. Thefeus being pleafed with the club, took it, and made it his weapon ; and as Hercules wore the lion's fkm, as evidence of what a prodigious ze the monfter was that he flew ; for the fame purpofe Thefeus carried about with him this club, overpowered indeed by him, but now, in his hand, irrefiilible. Faffing on further towards the Ifthmus of Pelopon- nefus, he flew Sinnis (6), who (from the way of murder he ufed) was furnamed the Pine-bender, after the fame manner that he himfelf had deftroyed many others be- fore. And this he did, not having either pradtifed or ever learnt the art of bending thefe trees, to fhow that f-n natural ftrength is above all art. This Sinnis had a daughter of great beauty, and more than ordinary fla- ture, called Perigune, who, when her father was killed, fled, and was fought after with all diligence by Thefeus ; but fhe, flying into a place overgrown with fhrubs and rufhes, and wild afparagus, innocently made in flavery ; upou which he fold ed an arm, and a leg of his himfelf a flave to Omphale. Apol- wretched captive to each of them, lod. lib. 11. he let them loofe ; and they feve- (6) When this giant had worf- rally returned to their proper fi- ted any one, he bent down two tuations, pulling with them the pines till he had brought them to limbs that had been fattened to meet together, and having fallen- them. (7) Crora- 10 We LIFE of made her complaint to them, as if they could have a fenfe of her misfortune, and begged them to fhelter her, with vows that if fhe efcaped fhe would never cut them down or burn them : but Thefeus calling upon her, and giving her his promife, that he would ufe her with all refpect, and offer her no injury, fhe came forth. The- feus had by her a fon named Menalippus : but aftenf ards file was married to Deioneus the ion of Eurytus the Oechalian, Thefus himfelf giving her to him. Andloxus, the fon of this Menalippus who was born to Thefeus, accompanied Ornytus in the colony that he carried with him into Caria -, and from him the people called loxides have their name, who have this cuftom derived down to them from their fathers, never to burn either rufhes, or wild afparagus, but to honour and worfhip them. About this time there was a wild fow at Crommyon (7), which they called Phaea, a very fierce and for- midable creature : This Thefeus killed, going out of his way to meet and engage her, that he might not feem to perform all his great exploits out of mere neceflity ; being of opinion, that as it was the part of a brave man, to fight in his own defence againft robbers and aflaffms, fo likewife voluntarily to expofe himfelf to danger, by encountering fuch wild beads as were famous for their ftrength and fiercenefs. Others relate that this Phaea was a woman of Crommyon, who made a trade of rob- bing, was remarkable for cruelty and luft, and had the name of Sow given her from thebeaftlinefs of her life and manners, and that afterwards fhe was killed by Thefeus. He alfo flew Sciron upon the borders of Megara, calling him down from the rocks. He was, as moft report, (7) Crommyon or Cromyon name, but at four different times. was a borough in the territory of all of them poets and hifiorians. Corinth, from whence it was dif- fo that it is difficult to determine ttnt about i 20 furlongs, as wenre which of them is here quoted hy told hy ThucydkieR. There this Plutarch. Hut I imagine he wild Sow had taken up her abode; means the oldeft of them, Simoni- and Strabo tells us that fhe was des Amorgirus, who flourished ti- the mother of the Calydonian bout the thirtieth Olympiad, in boar, lib. viii. the reign of Tullus Hoftilius. -..(8) There were four of that (9) Cercyon was the firft who made THESEUS. i- 1 report a notorious robber; and, others fay, that he ufed out of infolence and wantonnefs toftretch forth his feet to ftrangers, commanding them to wafh them, and while they were fo employed, with a kick to thrufl them down the rock into the fea. But the writers of Megara, in contradiction to the received report, and as (8) Simonides exprefles it, " Fighting with all antiquity," contend, that Sciron was neither a robber nor a man of an abufive or infolent character, but a punifher of all fuch, and a friend to all good men : for, fay they, JEa- cus was ever efleemed a man of the greatefl iandtity of all the Greeks; and Cychreus the Salaminian was honour- ed at Athens with divine worfhip ; and the virtue of Pe- leus and Telamon is not unknown to any one. Now Sciron was ibn-in-law to Cychreus, and father-in-law to JEa- cus, and grandfather to Peleus and Telamon, who were both of them fons of Endeis the daughter of Sciron and Charicio: therefore it is not probable, that the befl of men mould make thefe alliance with the worfl, giving and receiving mutually what was moft valuable and dear to them. Befides, they relate that Thefeus did not flay Sciron in his firft journey to Athens, but afterwards, when he took Eleufis, a city then in polfellion of the Megarians, having circumvented Diocles the Governor. Thefe are the contradictions which are found between the writers of this flory. In Eleufis he killed Cercyon (9) the Arcadian, in a wreftlino; match. And e-oino; on a little, further, in f O C7 the city of Hermione (i), he flew Damaftes, otherwife called Procruftes (2), by force fitting his body to tin; fize of his own beds, as he himfelf was ufed to do with all made ufe of art and addrefs in near which Thefeus killed Pro- tvreftling. The place where this crufles, Erione. Some conjecture combat was fought, wets called that infteadofHermioneweftiould 'The Palaeftra (or wreftling read Heroics, as there was a town " place) of Cetcyon,"evcn in Pau- in Attica of that name-, fanias's time. (2) Hyginus has very well de- (i) There is manifeftly an er- fcribed the malicious wic!:ednefs ror here ; for Hermione was in of that grant. . He had, fays Jie Peloponnefus, which Thefeus had beds of fevcral fizes, and when he now left: Paufaniaa calls the place lit upon a traveller, if he wns a tall iz Vbe LIFE of all (hungers. This Thefeus did in imitation of Hevcule* For that hero returned always upon the aggreflbrs the fame fort of violence which they had offered to others : for inftance, he (3) facrificed Bufiris, flew (4) Antaeus in wreftling, woiiled Cycnus (5) at fmgle combat, and killed Termerus by breaking his fcull in pieces, (from whence they fay comes the proverb of a Ter- merian miichief) for it feems Termerus killed all the pafTengers that he met, by running, with all his force, his head againft theirs. Thus proceeded Thefeus in the puhifhment of thefe v/retches, who underwent the fame torments from him, which they had inflicted upon others ; juilly filtering after the manner of their own injuftice. As he went forward on his journey, he came to the river Cephifus, (6) where fome of the Phytalidae met him and fainted him : (7) and upon his defire to ufe the cuflomary purifications, they performed them with all the ufual ceremonies ; and having offered propitiatory facrifices to the Gods, they entertained him at their hcufe. This was the firft inftance of hofpitality he had received during his whole journey. 'Tis a tall man, he made h':n lodge on together with his fon Amphi- ona of his fhort beds, and cut off damas. fo much of him as exceeded tb: (4) A::tiis was King of Ly- length of the bed, whereon he dia, and the ion of the earth, was laid ; and if his gueft was a who fuppiied him with frefli fiiort man, he provided him with ftrength and vigour fo often a.3 a bed of the longeit fize, and by he touched her. For this reafon the help of his machines he drew Hercules held him up in his arms, him out to the length of it ; for and flrangled him. this reafon he was called " Pro- (5) There were two perfons of ' cruftes, fignifying one, who the name of Cycnus, and Hercu- " draws or extends in length by Jes fought with them both. The " force and violence. firfr. was fon of Mars, and Pyrene. (3) Bufiris the fon of Neptune As he and Hercules were fight- and Lyfianaffa was King of Egypt, ing, a thunderbolt foot between His cuftom was to offer up itran- them, arid parted them. The o- gers in facrifice to Jupiter. This ther waslikewife the fon of Mars, treatment he intended for Hercu- and Pelopxa, and was flain by ies, who fuffered himfeJf to be Hercules. bound, and carried to the altar, (6) Paufanias calls thefe Phyta- v.-here having burft the cords, lidse thedefcendants of Phytalu-;., he facrifked the tyrant himfe'f vrith whom Ceres had ermufted the THESEUS. 13 It is reported that on the eighth day of the month Cronius, now called Hecatombseon, [July] he arrived at Athens, where he found the city full of confuiion, and divided into parties and factions ; and the family of ./Egeus alfo in gieat diforder , for Medea, having fled from Corinth, and promifed /Egeus to make him, by her art, capable of having children, was entertained by him, and admitted to his bed. She firft difcovered Thefeus, whom as yet/Egeus did not know -, and he be- ing in years, and full of jealoiifies and fufpicions, on account of the faction that was then in the city, me eafily perfuaded him to poifon Thefeus at a banquet which was to be prepared for him as a civility to a flranger. Thefeus coming to the entertainment, thought it not fit to difcover himielf firft; but being willing to give his father the occafion of firft finding him out, the meat being on the table, (8) he drew his fword as if he defigned to carve with it, and fo (bowed it him. /Egeus immediately perceiving the token, threw down the cup of poifon, and after fome queftions embraced his fon ; then aflembling the citizens, he owned him publickly before them, and they received him with great fatisfaclion the fuperintendence of her holy from a paflage in the third book myfteries, in recomperice for the of the Iliad, where Homer fays, hofpitality with which he had received and entertained her in his 'ATpsi^; ifvo- |;pso? piyo. jsaX:c / none but common Thieves, and %.*?.>. robbers, he thought himfeh unfit 'Afr.v? IK xi . be miftaken as to the cuftotns of From the , >/^*^'' P< ** thofe times, for the heroes did curll "S ***' P P e - not cut with the fame fword with So that Thefeus did hot upon this which they fought, but with a occahon n^bc life of the Avord large knife, or cutlace, which al- which had been delivered to him ways hung near it, that they might by his father's direction-, Si:t his b"e ready upon occafion to per- cutlace, in drawing whereof it form the functions required of was neceffciry for him to caft his them in their facrifices. That this mantle backwards, and. thereby was the cuftoui manifeftly appears give his father a fight of his twoui. VOL. I. F (9) 1 i 4 ne L I F E of iatisfadion on account of his bravery. It is alfo faid, that when the cup fell, thepoifon was fpilt there, where now is the inclofure in the place called Delphinion j for in that place flood ^Egeus's houfe, and the ftatue of Mer- cury on the Eaft-fide of the temple is called the Mer- cury of ^Egeus's gate. The fons of Pallas, who before were in hopes of re- covering the kingdom, if./Egeus mould die without iflue, as foon as Thefeus appeared, and was acknowledged the fuccefibr to the crown, highly refenting, that JEgeus (g) an adopted fon only of Pandion, and not at all related to the family of Eredtheus, fhould firft obtain the king- dom, and that again after him, Thefeus a new-comer and a ftranger mould do the like, broke out into an open war ; and dividing themfelves into two companies, one part of them marched openly from Sphettus with their father againfl the city the other hiding themfelves in Gargettus, lay in ambufh with a defign to fet upon the enemy on both fides. They had with them a herald of the town of Agnus, named Leos, who difcovered to- Thefeus all the defigns of the Pallantidas : he immediate- ly fell upon them that lay in ambufcade, and cut them all off; which Pallas and his company hearing, they immediately fled. From hence they fay is derived the cuffom for the (i) Palleneans to have no marriages with the people of Agnus, nor to fuffer their criers to pronounce in their proclamations thefe words, folemnly ufed in all other parts of the country Acouete Leos, (" Hear ye people!") fa great is their hatred to the very name of Leos, on ac- count of his treachery. Thefeus longing to be in action, and withal defirous to make himfelf popular, left Athens to fight with the bull (9) It had been actually re- (i) The Pallantidz lived in ported that ^Egeus was the fon of the town of Pallene. Scyrius, and that Pandion was de- (2) ThiaPhilochoruswasan A- firous to have him pafs for his. thenian, and lived at the fame time The Pallantidx did not fail to with Ptolemy Philopater, about fpread a report fo advantageous 200 years before the birth of our to their purpofes. Saviour. He was the author of THESEUS. i$ bull of Marathon j which did no fmall mifchief to the inhabitants of Tetrapolis ; and having overcome it, he brought it alive in triumph through the city, and af- terwards facrifked it to Apollo Delphinius. As to He- cale, .and the ftory of her receiving and entertaining Thefeus in this expedition, it feems to be not altogether void of truth ; for from hence the people round about, meeting upon a certain day, offered a facrifice, which they called Hecalefium, to Jupiter Hecalus, in honour of Hecale, whom by a diminutive they called Hecalene, becaufe when me entertained Thefeus while he was but a youth, me, as the cuftom of old people is, careffed and called him by fuch tender diminitive names ; and hav- ing made a vow to Jupiter for him as he was going to the fight, that if he returned in fafety, me would offer facrinces in thanks for it, and dying before he came back, me received the forementioned return of her hof- pitality by the command of Thefeus, as (2) Philochorus relates the ftory. Not long after arrived the third time from Crete the collectors of the tribute, which the Athenians paid the Cretans upon the following occafion. (3) Androgeus hav- ing been thought to be treacheroufiy murdered in Atti- ca, not only Minos diflrefled the Athenians by war, but the Gods alfo laid wafte their country ; for they were oppreifed both by famine and peftilence, and their rivers were dried up. But being told by the oracle, that if they appeafed Minos, the anger of the Gods would ceafe, and they mould be relieved from the miferies they la- boured under ^ they, fent ambafTadors, and with much intreaty at laft obtained a peace, upon condition they mould fend to Crete every ninth year a tribute of feven young men, and as many virgins. Thus feveral valuable works, which are (3) JEgeus had caufecl him to loft, fuch as the hiftory of the be mujdered, becaufe he was in Athenians, or of Attica, in (even- the intcreft of the Pallantkisc, and teen books. A catalogue of the had promifed to affiil them. Others /vrchons. A book of facrifices. fay he was flain by the bull of The origin of Salamin. Two books Marathon, and that Minos unjuft- ofthe Olympiads, and feventeen ly accufed the Athenians as the f the battles of the Athenians. authors of his death. F a (4) K 16 ne LIFE of Thus far writers are generally agreed ; but the fabu- lous tragical account of the ilory adds, that the Mino- taur deftroyed them in the Labyrinth,, or that they were left to wander about in it, and finding no poilible means of getting out, miferably ended their lives there ; (4) and that this Minotaur was (as Euripides expreffes it) A mingled form, where two flrange jhapes combined ; And different natures, lull and man, isoere joirfd. But Philochorus writes, that the Cretans deny this, and lay, that the Labyrinth was only an ordinary prifon, that there was nothing terrible in it, except that it fe- cured the prifoners from efcaping , and that Minos hav- ing inflituted games in honour of Androgeus, gave as a reward to the victors thofe youths who till that time had been prifoners in the Labyrinth : and that the firfl that overcame in thole games, was (5) one of great power and influence in the court of Minos named Taurus, a man of a brutal favage difpofition, who behaved towards thofe Athenian youths that were made his prize, in a moft proud ing difcovered the intrigue fent the prefumptuous lover to be a fervant to his fhepherds that fed their flocks upon the mountains ; that the young gallant rebelled, and became fo formidable, that Minos endeavoured in vain to feize him, and loft all thofe whom he fent againft him ; info- much, that he thought it advi- fable to make ufe of him, to pu- nifh his offending fubjects, or fuch of his enemies as fell into his hands, and whom he was defirous to deftroy ; and that having ta- ken Theieus in a combat, be fent him to Taurus, who was killed by Thefeus, Ariadne having pri- vately provided him with a fword for that purpofe. (6) Among the works of Arif- totle, which are loft, there is one wherein he gives a description of 158 (4) It had been a cuftom with Minos tofacrifice to Neptune once every year the moft beautiful bull that could be found. One day he met with one fo extremely handfome that he was charmed with it, and inftead of facrificing it, offered another in its ftead. Neptune being provoked hereat made Fafiphae in love with this bull, and Dsedalus fo far profti- tuted his art as to make it inftru- inental in gratifying fo horrible a paflion, the fruit of which was a monfter called Minotaurus, partly a man, and partly a bull. This is what we find in the fable. (5) This is more probable than the manner wherein Palxphatus explains the fable. He fays that this Taurus was one of Minos's courtiers, that Pafiphae fell in love with him, and that Minos hav THESEUS. 17 proud and infolent manner. (7) And even Ariftotle himfelf, in the account that he gives of the govern- ment of the Bottiaeans, is manifeitly of opinion, that thefe youths were not flain by Minos, but that they (pent the remainder of their days in flavery in Crete ; and that the Cr-etans once, to acquit themfelves of an ancient vow, fent an offering of their firft born to Del- phi, and that fome defcendants of thefe Athenian flaves were fent amongft them ; (8) who not being able to fubfiil there, removed firft into Italy, and fettled in A- pulia, whence they afterwards removed -to Thrace, ancj were named Bottiaeans (9) ; and that this is the reafon why in a certain facrifice, the Bottiaean girls fung a hyrnn, beginning thus, " To Athens let us go." And from this it appears how dangerous it is to incur the hatred of a city that is miftrefs of eloquence and .the feat of the mufes. For Minos was always ill fpoken of, and repre- fented as a very bad man upon the Athenian flage ; (i) nor was -it any advantage to. him to be called by Hehod, The 158 communities, which is the book here quoted by Plutarch. (8) It is certain that feveral colonies have been fent out of Crete into Italy. Strabo mentions the inhabitants of Brundufium and the Salentines as fuch. It appears moreover from a paffage in the fame author, that the Cretans who paHed into Italy, did it under the condudt of Thefeus, and that they were joined by another body of their countrymen, who had been tranfported out of Crete into Si- cily, in fhips belonging to Minos, and that the -fird band difagree- ing with the laft comers, they re- moved into that part of Thrace which is called Bottisea. (9) A great many of the Bot- riaeans always retained a tender remembrance of Athens, by reafon of their defcent from thence ; and I am of opinion that upon this is founded thatpafiageinThucydides, who reports, that when the Athe- nians carried their arms intoBot- tisca, and befieged Spartola, they had not undertaken that fiege but from the hopes they had con- ceived of the town's furrendring to them by reafon of a party among the inhabitants who were on their fide ; but the contrary party prevailed, and received fuc- cours from Olynthus. (i) Here Plutarch falls into a Miftake, as have likewife feveral other Authors, both before and after him. There were two of the name of Minos, and they both reigned in Crete. Oiie was the fon of Jupiter and Europa ; and the other his grandfon, and the fon of Lycaftes. The firft was a Prince renowned for his juftice, and for that reafon the poets made him a judge in the infernal re- F 3 i* The L I F E of " The greateft of Kings," and by Homer (2) " The "com- panion of Jupiter " for the (3) Tragedians prevailing, fpread a very ill character of him from the ftage, as a cruel and inhuman Prince -, though it be faid that really Minos was a very good King and law-giver, and that (4.) Rha- damanthus was a judge who enforced the obfervance of the laws which Minos had made. When the time of the third tribute was come, and the fathers who had any young men for their fons, were obliged to produce them, in order to take their chance by lot ; there arofe frefh di (con tents and aceufations a- gainft ./Egeus among the people, who were full of grief and indignation, that he, who was the caufe of ail their miferies, mould be the only perfon exempt from the pimiihrnent ; and that he mould fettle his kingdom upon a fort who was a baftard and a foreigner, without fhow- ing any concern for them, who were deprived of their legitimate children. Thefe things very fenfibly affected Thefeus, who thinking he ought not to neglect, but rather to who had been fo highly praifed by Homer and Hefiod, fhould be reputed a perfon of a barbarous and cruel difpofition : " Whoever, " fays he, has a concern for his " reputation, ought never to be " upon ill terms with a poet ; for " the teftimony of poets is of great " weight, whether it tends to praife " or difpraile ; and in this Minos " waswanting, for he can never be " too much condemned for thehof- " tilities he committed againft thir, city(Athens)the feat of ail forts of erudition, and where tragedy in particular reigns infull luftre ; for here it had its firft being, and was not the invention either of Phrynichus orThefpis. And tra- gedy more than any other kind of poetry delights and captivates the peopie.and there it is that we find him continually inveighed againft by the poecs in juft re- venge for the cruel tribute he " impofed gions. The "other was a tyrant. That which Homer and Hefiod have faid of the firft, Plutarch has nfcribed to the fecond, as if. there had been only one of that name. Plato has been guilty of the fame blunder twice, in his Dialogue called Minos ;but Plutarch is more to be blamed, in that he could not but have heard fomething that might have led him to make a diflin&ion between thefe two Princes, as appears from what follows, and which might have ferved to convince him of the truth, if he had attended to it ; for Diodorus Siculus has very juttly dillinguiflied them in his fixth book. (2) The pafTage to which Plu- tarch refers in this place is in the nineteenth book of the Odyfley. (3) Plutarch has taken this from the Minos of Plato, where Socra- tes replies to him, who had aflccd him how it can:e F.bout that a King THESEUS. 19 to partake of the fufferings of his fellow-citizens, freely offered to go without drawing any lot. All admired this inflance of generofity and publick fpirit, and /Egeus after all his intreaties, finding him inflexible, proceeded to the chufmg of the reft by lot. But (5) Hellamcus writes, that the Athenians did not fend the young men and virgins as they were chofen by lot ; but that (6) Minos himfelf coming thither made his own choice, and that now he pitched upon Thefeus before ail others. The conditions agreed upon were, that the (7) Athenians mould furnifh them with a fhip ; that the young men who were to fail with him mould carry no weapon of war ; and that if the Minotaur was deftroyed, this tri- bute mould ceafe. There appearing no hopes of fafety or return, at the two former payments of this tribute, they (ent out the fhip with a black fail, as to unavoidable definition. But now Thefeus encouraging his father, by his confidence of fuccefs againft the Minotaur, yEgeus gave the pilot another impofed upon us. This is the rock on which he fplit, the ha- < tred of the Athenians, which proved the fource of all the ill 4 reports that have been fpread of him fo injurious to his memory; though he was in truth a good ' man, a juft Prince, and an excel- < lent Legiflator. (4) This is like wife taken from the fame Dialogue, wherein Socra- tes,after having obferved that Ho- mer in his Odyffey makes mention only of Minos, to whom he gives a fcepter of gold, adds that Rhada- manthus alfo was a very good man, and had been the difciple of Minos, who did not indeed in- ftruct him in the fciencc proper for a King, but taught hi;n how to obey his orders in adminiftring juftice to the fubjedts and putting his Liws in execution. (}) There were two htltormns .of that name, one a native of Mi- tylene, and the other of Miletus. The firft was much more ancient than the fecond, for he lived be- fore Herodotus. He was the au- thor of feveral works which are all loft. The hiftory of Attica was one of them, of which Thucydides has given us .the fallowing cha- racter ; That it was written in a very clofe concife flyle, but was .not exact as to chronology. (6) Diodorus agrees with Hel- lanicus in this particular. He fays that Minos marched to Athens every feventh year at the head of a powerful army to exact the tribute. (7) The Athenians in refpect to their King, and for the credit of the eftate, were to furnilh the fliip on which Thefeus, with the reft of the tribute, were to em- bark, that the voyage might ap- pear voluntary, without the air of compulfion or flavery. F 4 (3) Flu- zo We LIFTS, of another fail ' which was white, commanding him as he returned, ifThefeus efcaped, tomakeufeof that; but if not, to fail with the black one, as a fignal of his mif- fortune. Simonides indeed fays, that the fail which M- geus delivered to the pilot, was not white, but purple dyed in grain with the (8) flower of a certain tree, and that this was to be a fign of their efcape. He alfo fays that Amarfyadas Phereclus was pilot of the (hip. But according to Phiiochorus Thefeus had a pilot (9) fent him byScirus, from Salami n, named Naufitheus, and another failor to manage the head of the fhip, named Phaeax j became as yet the Athenians (i) had not applied them- IJelves to navigation. Scirus, he fays, did this, becaufe one of the young men, Menefthes, was his daughter's fon and thii: is confirmed by the monuments of Naufitheus and Phaeax, built by Thefeus in Phalerum, near the temple of Scirus. He adds alfo, that the feaft named Cyberneiia (or feaft of Pilots) was inflituted in honour of them. The lot being caft, and Thefeus taking with him out of the Prytaneum thofe upon whom it fell, went to the Delphi- nian temple, and made an offering to Apollo for their fafe (S) Plutarch makes ufe In this time affairs, and confequently had place of Simonides's own words, no pilots amongft them ; for this who calls a'fSo? 7fiv the flower reafon he had one fent him from of the Holm Oak, what the an- the ifle of Salamin, where they cient called afiw xx.f7rw, Coccum had them very expert. Ilicis, the fruit, the berry of the (i) We are told the firft (hip Oak, which was of the colour of they put to fca was the Argo ; but fcarlet, and much ufed by the that cannot be, if we may credit dyers. It is faid that this Coccum Eumelus, a poet as ancient as Ho- Ilicis is full of little worms, the mer, \vhofaysthat yetes failed blood of which produces that from Corinth to Colchos with his beautiful colour, which from daughter Medea. But be that as thence is called Vermillion, a Ver- it will ; whether ./Eetes's fhip or micuiis. Coccum Ilicis celemme that of the Argonauts was the fir ft in Vermiculum fe mutans. Plin. fdilor, it make? little difference as xxiv. iv. to the time, forThefeusac^ompa- (9) Scirus, who was an Athe- nied Jafon in his expedition to nian, could not provide Thefeus Colchos, from whence he brought with a pilot from Athens, becaufe Medea back into Greece. That the Athenians, as Plutarch tells us which is moft certain is, that the in the following lines, had not as Athenians did not for a longtime yet -applied themfelves to man- apply themfelves to navigation. Thucydides THESEUS. 21 lafe return ; this offering was a bough of a confecrated olive-tree, bound about with white wool. Having thus performed his devotion, he embarked the fixth day of the month Munichion, [April] on which day, even till this time, the Athenians fend their virgins to the fame temple to make fupplication to the Gods. It is farther reported that he was commanded by the oracle at Delphi to make Venus his guide, and to invoke her as the companion and conduftrefs of his voyage ; and that as he was facrificing to her a fhe-goat by the fea- fide, it was fudd^nly changed into an he-goat , on which account that Goddefs^ had the name of Epitragia, from Tragos, which fignifies a goat. When he arrived in Crete, as moft of the ancient hif- torians as well as poets write, he had a clew of thread given him by Ariadne, who had fallen in love with him ; and being inftruded by her in the ufe of it, which was to conduit him through all the windings of the Laby- rinth, he flew the Minotaur, and failed back, taking with him Ariadne, and the young Athenian captives. Pherecydes (2) adds, that he bored holes in the keels -of the Tfiucydides tells us exprefly in his firft book that they did not begin to make any figure 'at fea till ten or twelve years after the battle of Marathon. However Homer fays that they fent fifty veffels to the fiege of Troy ; but they were tranfport fhips, or open boats, and not fhips ot war. And even that was no fmall matter, if we confi- der that having not begun to ap- ply themfelves to building (hips till Thefeus'stime, they Ihould be able Jnthefpaceof thirty or forty years to fend fo confiderable a fupply to Agamemnon. But that which is moll furprizing, is, that they fliould be fo long before they made any further progrefs ; (for there was the fpace of near 700 years between the fiege of Troy and the battle of Marathon) and that fo foon after that battle they fhould get the reputation of being the moft expert feamen in the world ; for it became a common proverb in Greece, TheAthenians for the fea. (2) There were two of that name : one of the ifle of Scyros, a great philofopher, the mafter of Pythagoras and Thales. He was the firil among them that aiTerted the immortality of the foul, and found out the caufe of eclipfes. , He flourished in the days of Ser- vius TuUius 550 yeais before the birth of our Saviour. The other was an hiilorian born in the ifle of Lena. He was not fo ancient as the firft, but was before Herodotus, who was not above eight years old when this Pherecydes flourifhed, 476 or 477 years before Chri.t. (3) He 22 T/:e LIFE of the Cretan fhips, to hinder their purfuit And Demon (3) writes, that Taurus the chief captain of Minos, was ilain in a naval combat by Thefeus in the mouth of the haven, immediately before he fet fail for Athens. But Philochorus gives us the ftory thus. At the exhibiting the gamss which Minos had caufed to be annually cele- brated in honour of his {on, it was thought that Taurus would certainly bear away the prize from all, as he had done before. But every one grudged him this honour ; for his power grew grievous and infupportable by reafon of the infolence of his manners ; and befides, he had been accufed of too near a familiarity with Pafiphae the Queen : therefore when Thefeus defired the combat, Mi- nos readily granted his requefL And as it was a cuC- torn in Crete that the women fhould be admitted to the fight of thefe games, Ariadne, being prefent, was flrange- ly iurprifed at the manly beauty of Thefeus, and ftruck with admiration at the vigour and addrefs which he mowed in the comb-at, and by which he overcame all that encountered him. Minos too being extremely pleafed, efpecialiy fince Taurus was vanquifhed and dif- g;raced, voluntarily gave up the young captives to The- leus, and remitted the tribute to the Athenians. But (4) Clidemus gives an account of thefe things peculiar to himfelf, very prolix, and beginning a great way back. He fays, that it was a decree confented to by all Greece, (5) that no veflfei from any place, containing above five perfons, mould be permitted to fail ; Jafon only who was captain of the great fhip Argo, was allowed to fail about and fcour the lea of pirates. But (6) Daedalus, having efcaped from Crete, and flying by fea to Athens, Minos, who contrary to this decree, purfued him with his great mips, (3) He was a native ofCyrene. tica, and of the unexpected re- Diogenes Laertius fays that he turn of thofe who had been long wrote a treatife concerning the abfent from their country. Meur- phiiofophers Athenseus likewife fius is of opinion that the author attributes to him another treatife quoted here by Plutarch is not concerning Byzantium. It is not Clidemus but Clitodemus, the firft known in what time he lived. of any that wrote of Attica. (4) The ancients quote him as (5) There does not appear the author of the hitlory of At- among all the remains of antiqui- ty THESEUS. 23 {hips, was forced by a florm upon Sicily, and there ended his life. After his deceafe, Deucalion his fon, being in- cenfed againft the Athenians, fent to them, commanding them to deliver up Daedalus, and threatning, upon their refufal, to put to death all the young Athenians whom his father Minosthad received as hoflages from the city. To this angry melfage, Thefeus returned a very gentle anfv/er, excufing himfelf, that he could not deliver up Daedalus, who v.as fo nearly related to him, being his coufm, for his mother was Merope, the daughter of Erec- theus. In tlie mean while he was very bufy in preparing a navy, part of it at home near the village of the Thy- mGctadae, being a place of no retort, and far from any pub- lick road ; the other part under his grandfather Pittheus's direction at Trcezene, that fo his defign might be carri- ed on with the greateft fecrccy. As foon as his fleet was in readinefs he fet fail, taking with him Daedalus and the other fugitives from Crete for his guides ; and none of the Cretans having any knowledge of his corning, but imagining, when they faw his fleet, that they were friends, he foon made himfelf mailer of the haven ; and imme- diately making a defcent, he arrived at Gnoifus before any notice of his coming could be received ; and join- ing battle before the gates of the Labyrinth, he put Deucalion and all his guards to the fword. The govern- ment by this means falling to Ariadne, he made a league with her, received the captives of her, and ratified a perpetual friendfhip between the Athenians and the Cre- tans, whom he engaged under an oath never again to make war with Athens. There are many other reports about thefe things, and as many concerning Ariadne, but none of any certainty. For ty the lead foundation for what 5s demand the fugitive. The King afTerted here by Clidemus. Per- promifed to furrer.der him, and haps this was a fort of embargo and invited Minos to his court, laid in Greece, that the Ihip de- where he caufed him to be ftifled figned forColchos might the foon- in a bath, and reftoring the corps cr have her complement. to his officers, pretended that he (6) He fled firfl. into Sicily, fell unfortunately into a caldron where Cocalus was King. Minos of hot water, which was the caufe purfued him with a gcjeat fleet, and of his death. Diodor. landing upon the ifland, fent to (7) He 24 Me LIFE of For fome relate, that fhe hanged herfelf, being deferted by Thefeus. Others, that fhe was carried away by his failors to the ifle of Naxos, -and married to Onarus, one of the priefts of Bacchus ; and that Thefeus left her, becaufe he fell in love with another : For jEgleV love bad pierc'd his manly brcaft. For this verfe, as Hereas the Megarenfian fays, was for- merly in Hefiod's works, but expunged by Pififtratus, in like manner as he added this other j/. Homer's defcrip- tion of the flate of the dead, to gratify the Athenians, Thefeus, Peirithous, loth fons of Gods. Others report, that Ariadne had two fons by Thefeus, Oenopion and Staphylus ; and among thefe is the poet Ion, of Chios, who writes thus of his own native city, Built by Oenopion the great Thefeus' TOW. What the poets have generally related concerning thefe things is in every one's mouth ; but there is a very fm- gular account of them written by Paeon (7) the Ama- thufian. He fays, that Thefeus being driven by a florm upon the ifle of Cyprus, and having aboard with him Ariadne, big with child, and extremely difcompofed with the rolling of the fea, fet her on ihore, and left her there alone while he returned to help the fhip ; and that on a fudden, by a violent wind, he was again forced out to fea ; that the vomen of the ifland re- ceived Ariadne very kindly, and endeavoured to miti- gate her grief for being left behind ; that they coun- terfeited (/) He wrote an account of former nothing was to be feen the gallantries of the city of Ama- but joy, in the latter the marks of thus in Cyprus. grief- The firft denoted that the (8) This pafTage Is remarkable, heroine was not dead, but become The feafts which were celebrated a divinity ; the other fignified in honour of the firft Ariadne, her quite contrary. It was in this whom Bacchus married were more view that Alexander was enraged honourable than thofe obferved in at Agathocles, and would have memory of the other, who had thrown him to the lions for hav- been flolen by Thefeus. In the. ing wept as he pafled by the tomb THESEUS. 25 terfeited kind letters, and delivered them to her, as fent from Thefeus, and, when me fell in labour, afforded her all neceflary afiiftance ; but that the died in child-bed be- fore (he could be delivered, and was by them honourably interred ; that Thefeus returned juft at that time, and was greatly afflicted for her lofs, and at his departure left a confiderable fum of money among the people of the ifland, ordering them to facrifice and pay divine ho- nour to Ariadne ; and that he caufed two little ftatues to be made and dedicated to her, one of filver and the other of brafs. He further adds, that on the fecond day of the month Gorpiaeus, [September] they have this among other ceremonies ; a youth lies in bed, and with his voice and gefture counterfeits all the pains of a woman in tra- vail ; and that the Amathufians call the grove in which they mow her tomb, the grove of Venus Ariadne. A different account of this is given by fome of the Naxians. They fay that there were two Minos's and two Ariadne's ; one of whom was married to Bacchus in the ifle of Naxos, and bore a ion named Staphylus ; but that the other, of a later age, was ravifhed by The- feus, and being afterwards defer ted by him, retired to Naxos with her nurfe Corcyne, whofe grave th,ey yet mow i that this Ariadne alfo died there, and was wor- fhipped by the iflanders, but in a different manner from the former : for her day is celebrated with feafts and revels (8), and univerfal joy ; but all the facrifices per- formed to the latter, are mingled with forrow and mourning. ' Thefeus, in his return from Crete, put in at (9) Delos, and having facrificed to Apollo, and dedicated in the temple tomb of HephaefHon, as if he bad objeft prefented his friend to his thought that favourite dead in- memory. deed ; but Perdiccaj faved hi.s (9) Thefeus, before he left A- lire, by affirming that the new thens, had made a vow, that the Deity had appeared to him, and Athenians ihould annually fend affured him, that Agathocles did deputies to Delos aboard the fame not in the leaft doubt or his divi- veiTel wherein he was ready to nity, but that in the infirmity of embark, having. firft crowned it human nature, he couid not lor- with fome boughs of the confe- bear fhedding a tear when that crated olive. Thefe deputies were to 26 ttt L I F E of temple the image of Venus (i) which Ariadne had given him, he danced with the young Athenians a dance, that, in memory of him, is Hill preierved among the inhabi- tants of Delos, and which by its various turnings and ia- '..ions, imitated the intricate windings of the labyrinth. And this dance, as (2) Dicaearchus writes, is called a- mong the Delians the Crane (3). This he danced round the Ceratonian (4) altar, fo called from its being built intirely with horns ; and thefe were taken only from the left fide of the head. They fay alfo, that he inftituted games in Delos, where he v/as the firft that began the cuftom of giving a palm to the victors. When they were come near the coaft of Attica, fo great was the joy for the happy fuccefs of their voyage, that neither Thefeus himfelf, nor the pilot, remembered to hang out the fail which mould have been the token of their fafety to .rEgeus ; who, knowing nothing of their fuccefs,/ for grief threw himfelf headlong from a rock, and perifhed in the fea. But Thefeus being ar- rived at the port of Phalerum, offered there the faci ifices \vhich he had vowed to the Gods at his departure, and fent a herald to the city with news of his fafe return. At his entrance into the city, he found the people for the to peiform a facrifice to Apollo ; us, that this ftatue was to be feen and this ceremony was religioufly at Delos even in his days ; that it obferved by the Athenians for was very final! j that length of many years after. This deputa- time had worn out its right hand, tion was termed Theoria, a vifit and that it ended in a fquare be- to the God ; the deputies Thecri, low. It is to be obferved, that be- and the veffel Theoris. As foon as fore Dsdalus none of the ftatues the High Pried had crowned the had feet to them : he was the firft veiTel in order for its departure, that gave them that finiiliing ; for the city was purified, and no cri- which reafon it was laid that his minal was put to death till its re- ftatues were alive, and walked. turn. But this commendation was due (i) This image, or ftatue, was only to his la ft works,- his firft per- of wood carved by Dsdalus, who formancesv/ereintheantique fhle. made a prefent of it to Ariadne. (2) Dicsarchus was of Meflene, After her death Thefeus confecra- and a ditciole of Ariilotle. He ted it to Apollo, fearing, if he took was author of a work intitled Ti;e it with him, it would continually Repubiick of Sparta. He wrote remind him of that Princefs, and alfo a defcription of the manners renew his torrov/. Paufaruas reih of the Grecians. (3) Cal- THESEUS. ay the mofl part full of grief for the lofs of their King; others, as may be well believed, as full of joy for the meflage that he brought, and eager toexprefs their kind- nefs towards him, and to crown him (5) with garlands for bringing fuch welcome nev/S; but though he accept- ed of the garlands, he would not put them on his head, but hung them upon his herald's ftaff: and thus returning to the fea-fide, before Thefeus had fimfhed his libation to the Gods, he ftaid without, for fear of difturbmg the holy rites ; but as fbon as the libation was ended, he entered, and related the whole ftory of the King's death ; upon the hearing of which, with great lamentations, and a confufed tumult of grief, they lan in all hafte to the city. And from hence they fay it comes that to this day, in the Ofchophcria, or Feaft of Boughs, the herald is not crowned, but his ftaff; and that the peo- ple then prefent ftill break out at the facrifke into this fhout, Eleleu, lou, lou, of which founds the (6) firft was wont to be ufed by men in hafte, or at a tri- umph, the other is proper to thofe who are in great confternation or trouble. Thefeus, after the funeral of his father, paid his vows to Apollo the feventh day of Pyanepfion, [Oclober] for (3) Callimachus, in bis hymn Diana had taken in hunting, for Delos, makes mention of this Plutarch fpeaking of this altar in dance without naming it. He another part of his works, fays fays it was a round c'ance ; and that the horns v/ere all taken thatThefeus, at the firft inftitution from the right fide of the head, of it, led it up himfelf I am of (5) This cuftom was brought opinion it was called the Crane, from Delphi. They who went from its figure; bccaufe he that thither to confultthe oracle, and led it was at the head, folding and received a favourable anfwer, re- unfolding the circle, in imitation turned home with a crown of of the turns and windings in the laurel on their heads, labyrinth, juft as in a flight of (6) The firfl; denotes the pre- cranes there is one always at the cipitation with which Thefeus head to conduit the reft, who fol- marched towards Athens, in a low in a circle. readinefo to force his way if he (4^ Callimachus in his hymn to was refufed entrance; the other Apollo mentions this nltar, which reprefcnts the trouble and grief he lays was built by Apollo him- with which he was ieized at the felf with the horns of ftags which news of his father's death. (7) The 28 fbe LIFE of for on that day the youth that returned with him fafs from Crete, made their entry into the city. They fay alfo, that the cuftom of boiling pulfe at this feaft is de- rived from hence, that the young men who had efcaped, taking all that was left of their proviiion, and boiling it in one common pot feafted upon it all together. Hence alfo they carry in prcceflion an olive-branch bound about with wool (fuch as they then made ufe of in their fup- plications) which they call Eirefione, crowned with all forts of fruits tofignify that fcarcity and barrennefs was ceafed, tinging in their proceffion this forg, Eirefione figs produce, And wholejbme bread and cbearfitl oil, And honey , labouring bees f we el toil ^ But above all wine's noble juice : 'Then cares we in the cup Jhall Jleep, And full of joy receive f oft fleep. But fbme are of opinion, that this ceremony is retained in memory of the (7) Heraclidae, who were entertained by the Athenians : but mofl are of the opinion which v/e have above delivered. The fhip wherein Thefeus and the youth of Athens fet out and returned fafe, had thirty oars, and was preferved by the Athenians, even down to (8) the time of DemetriusPhalereus ; for they took away the old planks as they decayed, puttrng in new timber in their place ; infcrnuch that this fhip be- came a {landing example among the philofophers, Whenever they diiputed upon that logical queflion con- cerning (7) The defcendants of Hercu- which they bore in their hands, les having been driven out of Pe- and with which they were crowp- loponncfus, and ail Greece, went ed, proved to them the fource of in the condition of fuppliants to that plenty, which they enjoyed beg relief of the Athenians, who in Athens. received them into their pro- (8) That is, near > coo years; tection. This fubjeft is treated of for Demetrius was contemporary by Euripides in his Heiaciidse. So with Ptolemy Philadeiphus, who that the verfes here mentioned by put him in prifon, where he died Plutarch may be very eafily appli- of the bite of an afpic. Now that ed to them. For it might fignify the Athenians continued to fend that the branches of fuppliants this ihip to Deios when Ptolemy was THESEUS. 29 eernirig the identity of things \vhofe parts are continual- ly changing by growth ; one fide holding, that the fhip remained the fame, and the other contending, that it was not the fame. The feaft called Ofchophoria, or feaft of Boughs, which to this day the Athenians celebrate, was then firil infli- tuted by Thefeus. For he did not take with him the full number of virgins, which by lot were to have been carried away, but felecled two youths of his acquaintance, of fair and womanifh faces, but of a bold and manly fpirit ; and having by frequent bath- ing, by avoiding the heat of the iun, by dreffing their hair, and conftantly ufing fuch ointments and walhes as render the fkin fmooth and the complexion delicate, in a manner changed them from what they were be- fore ; and having taught them further to counterfeit the very voice, carriage, and gait of virgins, fo that there could not be the lead difference perceived, he, undifcovered by any, put them among the Athenian ma'ids defigned for Crete. At his return, he with thefe two youths led up a folemn proceffion, drefied in the fame habit that is now worn by thofe who carry the branches. Thefe branches they carry in honour of Bacchus and Ariadne, on account of their ftory before related ; or rather >ecaufe they happened to return in autumn, the time of gathering ripe fruits. The women whom they call Deipnophorae, (or Supper-carriers) are taken into thefe (9) ceremonies, and ailifl at the facrifice, in imitation of the mothers of the young men and was King, appears from a paf- number of youths of the moft fage in Caliimachus, who lived in noble families in each tribe, that Prince's court As for De- whofe fathers and mothers both metrius Phalereus, he was a man were living. They bore vine bran- 6f great note: he governed Athens ches in their hands with grapes for ten years together, and had 360 upon them, and ran from the ftatues erected to his honour in temple of Bacchus to that of Mi- tbat city. He had been Theo- nerva Scirada. which was near phraftus's difciple. the Phalerean gate. He that ar- (9) This ceremony was per- rived there firft, drank ofF a cup formed in the following manner, of wine mingled with honey, They made choice of a certain cheefe, meal, and oil. They were VOL. I. G followed 30 The L I F E of and virgins upon whom the lot fell, who brought pro vilions and refreshments to their children. And becauie the women then told their fons and daughters a great many (lories, to comfort and encourage them under the danger they were going upon, it has flill continu- ed a cuflom, that at this feaft old fables and tales mould be the chief diieourfe. For all thefe particulars we are beholden to the hiftory of Demon, There was a place contec rated, and a temple erected .on it to Thefeus ; who obliged thofe families out of which the tribute of the youth, in cafe it had continued, was to have been paid, inflead thereof to pay a tax to the temple for facrifices to him. The houfe of the Phy- talidae had the management of thefe facrifices, Thefeus doing them that honour in recompence of their former hoipitality. After the death of his father ^Egeus, forming in his mind a great and wonderful defign, he gathered toge- ther all the inhabitants of Attica into one town, and made them all one people of one city, who were before difperfed, and very difficult to be afiembled upon any affair, though relating to the common benefit of them all. Nay, often fuch differences happened between them, as occafioned bloodfhed and war : thefe by his perfliafions he appeafed, and going from people to people, followed by a chores conduced one which he had compofed of a by two young men dreffed in wo- collection of all the inhabitants men's apparel, the chorus finging drawn from the feveral boroughs, a fong to the praife of thofe young and now incorporated. Long be- men. Certain women with bafkets fore this the name of Athens had on their heads attended them, and been given to the old town, and were chofen for that office from Thefcus now made it common among the moft wealthy of the CH both to the old and the new. tizens. The whole proceflion was (z) Before Thefeus's time they headed by a herald bearing a ftaff had a feaft at Athens called Athe- encircled with boughs. nsa ; but that being peculiar to (i) Plutarch's meaning without the inhabitants of Athens, The- doubt is, that Thefeus compre- feus now enlarged it, and made it Jiended under the general name of common to all the inhabitants of Athens the old town, which was Attica in general ; for which rea- cailedAfty, the city, and the new fon it was- called Panathensea. There THESEUS. 31 people, and from tribe to tribe, propofed his defign of a common agreement among them. Thofe of a more private and mean condition readily embraced fo good advice ; to thofe of greater power and intereft he pro- mifed a commonwealth, wherein monarchy being laid afide, the power mould be in the people ; and that, reierving to himfelf only to be continued their com- mander in war, and the preferver of their laws, there mould be an equal diftribution of all things elle among them. By this means, he brought many of them over to his propofal ; and the reft fearing his power, which was already grown very formidable ; and know- ing his courage and refolution, chofe rather to be per- fuaded than forced into a compliance. He then dif- folved all the diftincl; courts of juftice, and council- halls and corporations, and built one common Pryta- neum and council-hall, where it ftands to this day ; and out of the old and the new city he made one (i), which he named Athens, ordaining a common feafl and facrifice to be for ever obferved, which he called (2) Panathensea, (or the facrifice of all the united Atheni- ans.) He inftitutcd alib another facrifice called (3) Me- toecia, Tranfmigration, which is ftill celebrated on the 1 6th day of Hecatombaeon [July]. Then, as he had promifed, he laid down his regal power, and fettled a common- There were the greater, and the myfterious embroidered veil cal- lefTer Panathensea. The firft were led Pepium, on which were de- celebrat?d every fifth year on the fcribed the vitoiy of the Gods 2jd of Hecatombxon, which an- over the giants, and the mod re- fwers to our July j and the leffer markable actions of their greateil were kept annually on the 2Oth worthies of Thargelion, which is our May. (3)Thucydidescal!s itSunoscza. Thefe feafts at firft were very The fenfe of both is the fame, plain, and lalted but for a day ; Thi's facrifice was by no means but in time there was an addition intended for the ufe of Grangers, offo many games, and ctremo- who might come, and live at A- nies, that feveral days were re- thens, but for the inhabitants who quifite for the performance of had already quitted their boroughs, them. During the celebration of and held their aflemblies in the the grand feafts they carried in city. It was to preferve the me- procelfion to Minciva's .temple the rnory of that tranfmigration. U ^ (5) When 52 The L I F E of commonwealth, not without advice from the Gods. For having fent to confult the oracle of Delphi, con- cerning the fortune of his new government, he received this anfwer : Hear, Thefeus, Pittheus' daughter's fan, H^ar what Jove for thee has done. In the great city, tbou haft made, He has, as in a ftorehoufe, laid 'The fettled periods and fixt fates Of many cities, mighty Jlates. But know thou neither fear nor pain, Solicit not thyfelf in vain. For, like a bladder that does 'bide 'The fury of the angry tide, Tbou from high waves unhurt Jhalt bound, Always to/} but never drown 'd. Which (5) oracle, they fay, the Sibyl long after did in a manner repeat to the Athenians, in this verfe : The bladder may be dipt, but never drown 'd. Defigning yet further to enlarge his city, he invited all flrangers to come and enjoy equal privileges with the natives ; and fome are of opinion, that the form of proclamation fometimes ufed in Athens, " Come hither all " ye people," were the words that Thefeus caufed to be proclaimed, when he thus fet up a commonwealth, con- fifling, in a manner, of all nations. Yet he fuffered not his ftate, by the promifcuous multitude that flowed in, to be put into confufion, and left without any or- der or degree ; but was the firfl that divided the com- monwealth into three diftindt ranks, the noblemen, the hufbandmen, and artificers. To die nobility he committed (5) When Sylla had got pof- prieftefs anfwered TO.' '; ro aa-xlr feffion of Athens, where he exer- i%o*1a, " qux ad utrem pertinent, cifed all manner of cruelties, fome "That which belongs to the Athenians, who had faved them- " bladder," as Paufanias tells us; felves by flight, went to Delphi, and it is very evident that it is and a(ked the God if the laft hour this oracle which Plutarch quotes of their city was come ; the in this place. (6) It THESEUS, 33, committed the care of religion, the choice of magi- ftrates, the teaching and difpenfing of the laws, and the interpretation of all facred matters ; the whole city in other refpe&s, being as it were reduced to an exact equality, the nobles excelling the reft in honour, thehuf- bandmen in ufefulnefs to the publick, and the artificers in number. And that Thefeus was the firft, who as A- riftotle fays, out of an inclination to popular govern- ment, parted with the regal power, Homer alfo feems to prove in his Catalogue of the (hips, where he gives the name of People to the Athenians only. He likewife coined money, and ftamped it with the image of an ox, either in memory of the Marathonian Bull, or of Minos's General Taurus, or elfe to put his people in mind to follow husbandry ; and from this coin came the expreflion fo frequent among the Greeks, of a thing being worth ten or a hundred oxen. Having alfo made a fecure acquifition of the country about Megara to the territory of Athens, he (6) erected that famous pillar in the Ifthmus of Peloponnefus, and made an infcription of two verfes, mowing the bounds of the two countries that meet there. On the Eaft-fide the infcription is thus : This is not Peloponnefus, lut Ionia. And on the Weft-fide thus : This is Peloponnefus, not Ionia, He alfo firft inftituted annual games, in emulation of Hercules -, being ambitious, that as the Greeks, by that hero's appointment, celebrated the Olympian games to the honour of Jupiter, fo by his inftitution they mould celebrate the Ifthmian games to the honour of Neptune. For (6) It was a cuftom among the continued to the reign of Codrus, Athenians to mark their limits during which it was demolifhed by pillars. This was erected by by the Heraclids, who had made the common confent of the lo- themfelves matters of the territory nians and Peloponnefians, to put of Megara, which thereby patted an end to the difputes between from the lonians to the Dorians. them about their boundaries, and Strab. lib. IX. G 3 (7) In 34 The LIFE of For thofe that were before obferved there in memory of Melicerta, were performed in the night, and confifted rather of religious ceremonies, than of any open fpec- tacle or public feaft. But fome fay that Thefeus infti- uited the Ifthmian games in memory of Sciron, and to expiate his murder, upon account of the nearnefs of kindred which was between them ; Sciron being the fon of Canethus, and Heniocha the daughter of Pittheus : though others write, that Sinnis, and not Sciron, was their fon, and that to his honour, and not to the other's, thefe games were ordained by Thefeus. And Hellanicus and Andron of Halicarnaflfus write, that at the fame time he made an agreement with the Corin- thians, that they mould allow them who came from Athens to the celebration of the Ifthmian games, as much fpace to behold the fpeclac'.e in as the fail of the public (hip (7) that brought them thither, ftretcht to its fall extent, could cover ; and that in the firft and mofl honourable place. Philochorus and fome others write, that his voyage into the Euxine fea was undertaken in company with Hercules, to whom he offered his fervice in (8) the war againft the Amazons ^ and that Antiope was given him for the reward of his valour. But the greater number, among whom are Pherecydes, Hellanicus andHerodorus (9) write, that he made this voyage many years after Hercules, with a navy under his own command, and took the Amazon prifoner ; and indeed this feems to come neareil the truth, for we do not read that any other of all thofe who accompanied him in this expedition took any Amazon prifoner. Bion writes, that he ftole her away by deceit, and fled; for the Amazons, he fays, being naturally lovers of men, were to far from flying from Thefeus (7) In the original it is, the fhip (8) There is nothing more fa- called Theoris. The perfons who bulous than the hiftory of the were fent from Athens to confult Amazons. Strabo has very juftly the oracle, or to aiTIll in the per- remarked that of all Alexander's formance of certain religious cere- hiftorians, they who have had monies, at the public feftivals of the greateft regard for the truth, Greece were called Theori. and the fuch as Ariftobulus, and Ptolemy, ftip which carried them Theoris. have THESEUS. 35 The feus when he touched upon their coafls, that they entertained him with great civility, and fent him pre- fents to his (hip -, but he having invited Antiope, who brought them, to come aboard, immediately fet fail and carried her away. One Menecrates alfo, who wrote the hiftory of Nicaea in Bithynia, adds, that Thefeus h.iving Antiope aboard his vefTsl, cruifed for iome time about thole coafls and that there were in the fame fhip three young men of Athens, that accompanied him in this voyage, all brothers, whofe names were Euneus, Thoas, and Soloon. The lad of rhefe fell defperately in love with Antiope, but concealed it with all po.lible care -, o.ily to one of his mod intimate acquaintance he revealed the fecret, and employed him to difcover his paflion to Antiope; (he rejected his pretences with an abfolute denial, yet behaved to him with great civility, and very prudently made no complaint to Thefeus ; but Soloon, urged by defpair, leaped into a river and drowned himfelf. As foon as Thefeus was acquainted with his death, and his unhappy love that was the caufe of it, he was extremely concerned, and in the height of his grief, an Oracle which he had formerly received at Delphi came into his mind ; for he had been command- ed by the prieftefs of Apollo, that where-ever in his travels he was mod forrowful, and under the greater! avftidion, he mould build a city there, and leave fome of his followers to be governors of the place. Upon this account he built a city there, which he called from the name of Apollo, Pythopolis ; and in honour of the unfortunate youth, he named the river that runs by it Soloon, and left the two furviving brothers en- trufted with the care of the government and laws, joining with them Hermujs, one of the ncbility of Athens, have not fo much as touched upon them Greek names ; and how that fubjedt. We need but con- Ihould theScythians come by them? fider the names of thefe Amazons, (9) Herodorus was a native of to be afi~up.-d tliat their whole Pontus. He wrote the hiilory (lory is fiction. Hippolyra, O- of Hercules, the feventeenth book trera. Lampeto, Penthefilea, Me- of which is quoted by Athe- r.ftlippe, and Antiope are a!l of na?us. G 4 (i) Thif 3 6 Me L I F E of Athens, from whom a certain place in the city is by th inhabitants of Pythopolis called " The houfe of Her- " mus " though (i) by an error in the accent of the word, they have falfly taken it for " the houfe of Hermes, " or Mercury," and the honour that was defigned for the hero, they have transferred to the God. This was the ground of the war with the Amazons, which appears. to have been no flight or womanifh enter prize ; for it is impoffible they mould have placed their camp in the heart of the city, (2) and joined battle, clofe by the Pnyx (3), and the Mufeum (4), unlefs they had firft con- quered the country round about, and then advanced bold- ly to the city. That they took fo long a journey by land, and pafied over the Cimmerian Bofphorus when it was frozen, as Hellanicus writes, is difficult to be be- lieved. That they encamped in the city, perhaps may be fufficiently (5) confirmed by the names which the places thereabout yet retain, and the monuments of thofe who fell in the battle. Both armies being ja fight, there was a long paufe and doubt on each fide which mould give the firft on- fet ; (6) at laft, Thefeus having facrificed to Fear, in obedience to the command of an Oracle he had received, began the attack. This battle happened in the month Boedromion (1) This is not to be under- their neighbouring kingdoms, but flood but by fuch as are (killed in as far as Ionia, and even into At- the Greek. In that language tica ? they who can believe this "/* oiJtfia the word^E^a hav- muft allow that in thofe days the ing an acute accent on the firft women were changed into men.and fyllable, fignifies " the houfe of the men metamorphofed into wo- " Hermus ;" but ' E p/na iuttia, with men. However the Athenians were a circumflex on the laft, fignifies fo highly pleafed with this fable *' the houfe of Hermes, or Mer- that they employed Micon to paint " cury." this battle ofThefeus and theAma- (2) Which indeed they never zons in the porch called Poicilenm. did. Plutarch in proof of this (3) The Pnyx was a place near expedition of the Amaxons makes the citadel, in which the aflem- ufe of an inconclufive argument, blies of the people were fome- For it is more rational to fay with times held. Strabo, Is it credible that an army, (4) The Mufeum was a little or rather a nation of women hill near the citadel. It took its (hould fubfift without men ? Nay name.asPaufanias tells us, from the not only fubfift but undertake ex- poetMufeuswho was buried there, peditions, and that not only into (5) AJ THESEUS. 37 Boe'dromion [September] the day on which the Athe- nians even to this time keep the feaft called Bcedromia. Clidemus, who is very circumftantial in his account of this affair, writes, that the left wing of the Amazons moved towards the place which is yet called Amazonium, and that on the right they came as far as the Pnyx near Chryfa : that with this wing the Athenians engaged, fal- ling in upon the Amazons from the Mufeum - ; and that the graves of thofe that were flain, are to be feen in the ftreet that leads to the gate called Pirai'ca, by the chapel of Chalcodon: that here the Athenians were routed, and fled from the women as far as to the temple of the Fu- ries : but that frefh' (applies coming in from Palladium, Ardettus, and Lyceum, they charged their right-wing, and beat them back into their tents ; in which action a great number of the Amazons were flain : that at length, after four months, a peace was concluded between them by the mediation of Hippqlyta, (for fothishiflorian calls the Amazon whom Theieus married, and not Antiope) though others write that (he was flain with a dart by Molpadia, fighting by Thefeus's fide, and that the pillar which (lands by the temple of the Olympian Earth (7) was ereded to her honour. Nor is it to be wondered at that (}) As if there had been no der of beings called Daemons, of a other way to come by thofe names middle rank between the Gods but by the Amazons. and mankind, v.'hofe nature is not (6) The heathens deifitd all the fo variable as that of men, nor yet paffions, and facrificed to them to fo immutable as that of the Gods; avert the ill effects they dreaded that the fun and ftars may be con- from them. Nay further they fa- fidered as emblems of the divine crificed to every thingthey thought nature; lightning, meteors and might be hurtful, for inftance to comets of the human $ and that the fever, to the winds and rivers, the moon being neither fo per- Thefeus facrificed to Fear, that manent as the former, nor fo in- his troops might not be feized conftant and irregular as the lat- with it. Alexander performed. the ter, may reprefent the nature of fame facrifice before the battle of thofe intermediate Beings; and Arbela, as will be feen in his life, that as it thus partakes both of (7) The Olympian Earth figni- celeftial and terreftrial qualities, fies the moon. Plutarch in his it had been called by fome a treadle concerning the ccfTation of Terreftrial Star, and by others Oracles afleits that there is an or- an Olympian, or Celeftial Earth. (8) Pindar 3 S Tbe L I F E of that the hiftory of things fo very ancient, fhould be (o various and uncertain. For it is further laid, that thofe of the Amazons that were wounded, were privately fent away by Antiope to Chalcis, where many by her care re- covered, but thoie that died were buried in the place that is to this time called Amazonium. That this war was ended by a mutual league, is evident both from the name of the place adjoining to the temple of Thefeus, called from the folemn oath there taken, Horcomofmm, and alfo from the ancient facrifice which is celebrated to the Amazons, the day before the feaft of Thefeus. The people of Megara pretend .alfo to fhew among them a place in the figure of a lozenge, where the Amazons were buried, in the paflage from the market-place to the place called Rhus. It is faid likewife, that others of them were {lain about Chaeronea, and buried near a ri- vulet, formerly called Thermodon, but now Haemon, of which I have formerly wrote in the life of Demofthenes, It appears further, that the paflage of the Amazons through Theffaly was not without oppofition, for there are yet to be feen many of their fepulchres near ScotuiTsea and Cynos-Cephalse. Thefe are the moft memorable cir- cumftances concerning the Amazons. For the account which the ancient author of a poem called Thefeis, gives us, of this invafion, that Antiope, to revenge her- felf upon Thefeus, for quitting her and marrying Phse- dra, came down upon the city with her train of Amazons, and that they were (lain by Hercules, is manifefily no- thin^ elfe but fable, aud the invention of a poet. It is true indeed that Thefeus married Phaedra- but that was after the death of Antiope, by whom he had a ion called Hippolyrus, or, as Pindar writes, (8) Demophoon. As to the calamities which befel Phaedra and Hippolytus, iince none of the hiflorians have contradicted the tra- <*ic poet;; that have written of them, we muft fuppofe they (8) Pindar is miftalfen. Demo- was contemporary with Euripides, phoon was :he fon of Thefeus by though much younger than him, rhzedra, and Hippolytus his fon fays the fame thing. It is true by t!\e Atr.cxon. that in another place he fays that (9) And yet Ifocrates, who Thefeus fent amb'aliadors toEteo- cles i THESEUS. 39 they happened, as all the poets have defcribed them. There are alfo accounts of feme other marriages of Trie- feus, of which neither the beginnings were honourable, nor the events fortunate, and which were never repre- fented in the Grecian plays. For he is laid to have forced Anaxo, the Trcezenian j and after he had flain Sinnis and Cercyon, to have ravifhed their daughters -, to have mar- ried Peribcea the mother of Ajax, and then Pherebcea, and then lope the daughter of Iphicles. Further he is accufed for deferting Ariadne, as is before related, be- ing in love with ^gle the daughter cf Panopeus, an ac-* tion neither juft nor honourable : and laftly, for the rape of Helen, which filled all Attica with war and blood, and was in the end the occafion of his banimment and death, as ihall hereafter be related. Herodorus is of opinion, that though there were many famous expeditions undertaken by the bravefl men of his time, yet Thefeus never accompanied any of them, but once, when he joined with the Lapithae in their war againft the Centaurs ; though others fay that he attended Jafon to Colchos, and allifted Meleager to kill the Calydonian Boar ; and that hence came the pro- verb, " Not without Thefeus." However it is allowed that Thefeus without any affiflance, did himfelf perform many great exploits ; and that from the high efleem the world fet upon his valour, it grew into a proverb, " This is another Hercules." He was alfo very fervice- able to Adraftus, in recovering the bodies of thofe that were flain before Thebes, but not as (9) Euripides in his tragedy reprefents him, by beating the Thebans in battle, but by perfuafion, and mutual agreement, for fb the greater part of hiilorians write. Nay, Phiiochorus adds further, that this was the firft treaty that ever was made for the recovering and burying the bodies of the dead ; though the hiftory (i) of Hercules fays, that he was cles j but Lyfias, who lived at the extorted that by force, which the/ fame time, reconciles this diffc- would not grant by fair means, rence, by faying chat Thefeus in- (i) Plutarch himfelf wrote the deed at firft fent ambafludors, bur life of Hercules, and probably that obtaining nothing thai wav, he is the hiftory which be here men- tions ; 40 tte LIFE of was the firfl who ever gave leave to his enemies to carry off the bodies of their flain. The burying-places of the common foldiers are yet to be feen at Eieutherae, and thofe of the commanders at Eleufis, where Thefeus allotted them a place for their interment, to oblige Adraflus. And Afchylus in his tragedy called the Eleu- finians, where Thefeus himfelf is brought in relating the ftory as it is here told diredtly contradicts what Euripides writes on this fubject, in his play called The Suppliants. The friendfhip between Thefeus and Peirithous, is faid to have been thus begun. The fame of the flrength and valour of Thefeus was fo great, that Peirithous, was defirous to make trial himfelf of what he had heard fb much celebrated. To this end he feized a herd of oxen which belonged to Thefeus, and was driving them away from Marathon, when news was brought that Thefeus purfued him in arms : upon which he turned back to meet him. But as foon as they had viewed one another, each fo admired the other's gracefulnefs, beauty, and courage, that they laid afide all thoughts of fighting and Peirithous firfl flretching out his hand to Thefeus, bad him be judge in this cafe himfelf, and promifed to give whatever fatisfadtionhe mould demand. But Thefeus not only forgave him all the da- mages he had fuftained, but intreated him to be his friend and companion in arms ; and immediately they fworc tions ; for the exprefllons in the fication was performed in the lef- original are the fame which he fer myfteries, which werecelebrat- commonly ufes when he refers to ed in a place called Agrse near the his own works. river Iliffus. There they facrificed (2) All other writers call her to Jupiter a fow big with young ; Hippodamia, except Propertius they ftretched the fkin on the who calls her Ifchomacha. ground, and caufed the perfon (3) The Lapithas were men of that was to be purified to kneel great valour in Theffaly, and are upon it, and waflied him with fea called Heroes by Homer. They water, in which they had mingled are faid to have been the firft in- fait, laurel, and barley ; after this ventors of horfemanfhip. they made him pafs through the (4) Before any perfon was initi- fire, and crowned him with a ated in the grand myileries of the chaplet of flowers. He was to Eleufinian Ceres he was firft to be prepare himfelf for this ceremony purified in publick j and this puri- by fading, and a vow of the ftri&eft THESEUS. 41 fwore an inviolable friendfhip to each dther. After this Peirithous upon his marriage with Deidamia (2), in- vited Thefeus to come and fee his country, and (3) con- verfe with the Lapithse. He had at the fame time in- vited the Centaurs to the feaft, who growing hot with wine, began to be very infolent and lewd, and offered violence to the women ; which fo enraged the Lapithae, that they took immediate revenge, killing many of them upon the fpot : and afterwards having overcome them in battle, drove the whole race of them out of their country, with the affiftance of Thefeus. But He- rodorus gives a different relation of thefe things. He fays that Thefeus came not to the afliftance of the Lapithae till the war was already begun ; and that it was in this journey that he had the firft fight of Her- cules, having made it his bufmefs to find him out at Trachin, where he had chofen to reft himfelf after all his wandering's and labours : and that this interview !J was attended with extreme civility, refpeft and admi- ration of each other. Yet it is more credible what other hiftorians write, that there were before frequent interviews between them, and that it was by the means of Thefeus that (4) Hercules was initiated into the myfte- ries of the goddefs Ceres, having before his initiation been firft purified, upon account of feveral rafh aclions of his former life. Thefeus ftricteft chaftity, which he was to tion was an engagement to a life obferve as long as he lived. After thoroughly religious, and they this it was at lead a year before who had been thus initiated veri- he could be admitted to the grand ly believed that Ceres and Pro- myfteries, where he had read to ferpine had a particular care of him the ritual of the ceremonies to them, and were their immediate be obferved on that occafion, and directors ; that they fhould be nothing was concealed from him happy as long as they lived, and but a few things, which the priefts that when they came to die they only had a liberty of feeing, fhould have the mod eminent After his admiflion he never left places in the realms below. If off the habit he wore the day of any one has a mind to know more his initiation till it was worn to of this matter let him read Meur- rags ; then he confecrated it to fius, who has written a treatife Ceres and Proferpine,or kept it to upon this fubjeft. make baby cloatha. This initia- (5) Plutarch 4 Toe L 1 F E of Thdeus \vas now fifty years old, as Hellanicus re- ports, when he was guily of the rape of Helen ; an a&i- ion very unfui table to his age. Wherefore fome writers, to clear him from one of the greateft crimes that is laid to his charge, fay, that he did not flea) away Helen himfelf, but that Idas and Lyrxeus were the ravifhers, who committed her to his charge, and that therefore he refufed to reftore her at the demand of Caflor and Pollux. Others fay that he received her from her own father Tyndarus, who fent her to be kept by him, for fear of Enarfphorus the Ion of Hippocoon, who would have car- ried her away by force when fhe was yet a child. But the moft probable account, and that which has moil authorities on its fide, is this. Theieus and Peirithous went both together to Sparta, and having feized the young lady, as fhe was dancing in the temple of Diana Orthia, fled away with her. There were prefently men in arms fent after the ravifhers, but they purfued them no further than to Tegea ; and Thefeus and Peirithous being now out of danger, having efcaped from Pelopon- nefus, made an agreement, that he to whom the lot Ihould fall, mould have Helen to his wife, but fhould be obliged to aflift his friend in procuring another. Upon this compact the lot fell to Thefeus, who took the young lady, not being yet marriageable, and con- veyed her to AphidnaG; and placing his own mother with her, committed them to Aphidnus one of his friends, charging him to keep them fo fecretly, that none might know where they were. After this, to return the fame fervice to his friend Peirithous, he accom- panied him in his journey to Epirus, in order to (real away the daughter of Aidoneus King of the Moloflians. This King named his wife (5) Proferpina, ard his daugh- ter Core, and a great dog which he kept, Cerberus, with w r hom he ordered all that came as fuitors to his daughter to fight, and promifed her to him that fhould overcome the bead. But having been informed, that the (?) Plutarch here differs from fon,daughtcr of Aidoneus or Pluto; moft authors, who generally make and his wife, or the mother of Proferpina and Core the fame per- Proferpina, they call Ceres. 1 have- read THESEUS. 43 the defign of Peirithous and his companion was not to court his daughter, but to force her away, he caufed them both to be feized, and threw Peirithous to be torn in pieces by his dog, and put Thefeus in prifon. About this time, Meneftheus, the fon of Peteus, grand- fonof Orneus, and great grandfon of Eredheus, thefirfl man that is recorded to have affeded popularity, and ingratiated himfelf with the multitude, by publick harangues, flirred up and exafperated the mod eminent men of the city, who had long born a fecret grudge to Thefeus, becaufe they imagined that he had taken from them their feveral principalities with this view, that having pent them all up in one city, he might life them as his fubjeds and flaves. He alfo put the popu- lace into no fmall commotion, by reproaching them for fuffering themfelves to be deluded with a mere dream of liberty, while in reality they were deprived not only of their freedom, but of their countries and religious rites, and inftead of being ruled by many good kings of their own, had given themfelves up to be lorded over by a new-comer and a flranger. Whilft he was thus bufied in infecting the minds of the citizens, the war that Caftor and Pollux made upon the Athenians came very opportunely to further the fedition he had been promoting ; and fome fay that it was entirely by his perfuafion that they invaded the city. At their firft approach they committed no ads of hoftility, but peaceably demanded their filler Helen ; but the Atheni- ans anfwering, that they neither had her among them, nor knew where fhe was difpofed of, they prepared to afTault the city. But Academus, having by fome means found out the place of her refidence, difcovered to them that me was fecretly kept at Aphidnae : for which reafon he was both extremely honoured during his life by the fons of Tyndarus ; and the Lacedaemonians, when in after-times they made leveral incurfions into Attica, and deftroyed all the country round about, fpared the Academy read fomewhere that the eldeft of Spain and Portugal are called daughters of the kings of Epire infants were called Core as the daughters (6) This 44 Me L I F E of Academy for his fake. But Dicaearchus writes, that there were two Arcadians in the army of Caftor and Pollux, the one called Echedemus, .and the other Mara- thus that from the firft, the .place now called Acade- rnia, was then named Echedemia, and that the ward of Marathon had its name from the other, .who to fulfil a certain oracle willingly offered up himfelf a facrifice at the head of the army. As foon as they were arrived at Aphidnae, they firfl overcame their enemies in a fet battle, and then -aflaui ted .and took the .town. And here, they fay, Alycus, the.fon of Sciron, was flam on the party of Caller and Pollux, .from whom a place in ivlegaris, where he was buried, is called Alycus to this day. Hereas writes, that it was Thefeus himfelf that killed him, and in proof of it he cites thefe verfes con- cerning Alycus. And Alycus on fair Aphidna'j plain, By Thefeus in the caufe of Helen flam. But it is not at all probable, that Thefeus himfeif was there when both the city and his own mother were taken. The conquer! of Aphidnae threw the whole city of Athens into a great confirmation, and Meneftheus per- fuaded the people to open their gates, and received Caftor and Pollux with all manner of civility and friendfhip, telling them, that the Ions of Tyndarus had no enmity to any one but Thefeus, who had firfl injured them, that to all others they would (how themfelves kind and beneficent. And their behaviour to the conquered gave credit to what Meneftheus promifed ; for having made themfelves abfolute mafters of the place, they demanded no more than to be initiated into the cere- monies of the goddefs Ceres, fmce they were as nearly related to their city as Hercules, who had received the fame honour. This their defire they eafily obtained, and were adopted (6) by Aphidnus, as Hercules had been by (6) This adoption was neceflary they could not be initiated, all in order to their being made citi- {hangers being anciently exclud- zens of Athens, without which ed from thefe myfteries. (7) H * THESEUS. 45 by Pylius. They were honoured alfb like Gods, and called by a new name, Anaces, either from the ceila- tion of the war [Anoche] or from the fmgular care they took that none mould iiirFer any injury, though there was fo great an army within the walls of the city ; for the phrafe "Anacos echein" iignifies to keep and take care of any thing, from whence it is likely that kings were called Anactes. Others fay, that from the appearance of their ftar in the heavens, they were thus called, for in the Attic dialect Anecas and Anecathen fignify above. Some fay that ./Ethra, Thefeus's mother, was here taken prifoner, and carried to Lacedsemon, and from thence went with Helen to Troy, alledging this verfeof Homer to prove that Ihe waited upon Helen. of Pittheus born ; and Clymene the fair Others reject this verfe as none of Homer's, as they do likewife the whole fable of Miinychus, who, the flory fays, was the fon of Laodice, whom fhe bore privately to Demophoon, and who was brought up likewife by /Ethra at Troy. But Ifter (7), in the thirteenth book of his Attic Hiilory, gives us an account of /Ethra, dif- ferent from all the reft : that after the fight, wherein A- chilles and Patroclus overcame Paris in Thcfialy, near the river Sperchius, Hector took and plundered the city of the Trcezenians, and made ^Lthra prifoner, who had been left there. But this feems to be an abfurd and groundless tale. It happened that Hercules paflmg once through the country of the MololTians, was entertained in his way by Aidoneus-the King, who in difcourfe accidentally men- tioned Thefeus and Peirithous, with what defign they had come into his dominions, and in what manner he had punifhed them. Hercules was extremely concerned for the inglorious death of the one, and the miferable con- dition of the other. As for Peirithous, he thought it vain to expoilulate with the King concerning his death. But (7) He was a difciple 6f Cali,i- by Plutarch In the life of Alexan- rriachus. Befides the Attic Hil- der, as having wrote an account tdry here quoted, he is mentioned of that Prince. VOL. 1. H (i) Th* 46 ne L I F E of But Thefeus being yet kept in prifon, he begged to have him releafed for his fake, and obtained that favour from the King. Thefeus being thus fet at liberty re- turned to Athens, where his party was not yet wholly fupprefled ; and all thofe portions of land which the city had fet apart for himfelf he dedicated to Hercules, changing their names from Thefea to Heraclea, four only excepted, as Philochorus writes. And now defigning to prefide in the commonwealth, and manage the flate as before, he foon found himfelf encompaffed with fac- tion and fedition ; for he difcovered that thofe who had long hated him, now added to their hatred of his per- Ibn a contempt of his authority , and faw the minds of the people fo generally corrupted, that, inftead of obeying with filence and fubmifilon, they expected ta be flattered and foothed into their duty. He attempted to reduce them by force, but was overpowered by the prevalence of the faction. At laft defpairing of fuccefs, he fent away his children privately into Eubcea, to Ele- phenor the fon of Chalcodon ; and (8) he himfelf having folemnly curfed the people of Athens, in Gargettus, where there yet remains the place called Araterion, or the place of curfmg, failed to Seyms, where he had a pater- nal eftate, and, as he perfuaded himfelf, a great inte- reft with the people of the ifland. Lycomedes was then King of Scyrus : Thefeus therefore addrefled himfelf to him, and defired to have his lands put into his pofleifion, as defigning to fettle there ; though others fay, (S) The Pagans believed that 1068 years before the birth of our nothing could prevent the ill ef- Saviour, the Athenians thought no* fects of a curfe, which was not to perfon worthy to fucceed fo great be expiated by any victims what- a man, and therefore inftead of ever. a King they chofe out of the (9) There are fome who fay royal family a perpetual Archon. that Lycomedes had difcovered Medon the fon of Codrus was the Thefeus was forming cabals a- firft that cxercifed that office, and gainft him, and that he endeavour- gave his name to the fuc-ceeding ed to debauch his wife. archons, who were all of the fame (i ) After the death of Codrus family, and from him were called the feventeenth King of Athens, Medontidas. This officer was veft- vi'ho gave up his life for the good ed with fovereign authority, only of his country in the days of Saul, he was accountable to the people in the year of the world 2880, for his ' adminiftration. There were THESEUS. 47 Tf fay, that he came to beg his affiftance againft the Athe- nians. But Lycomedes, being (9) either jealous of the glory of ib great a man, or defirous to gratify Mineftheus, having led him up to the higheft cliff of the ifia.-d, on pretence of fhovving him from thence the lands that he defired, threw him headlong down from the rock, and killed him. According 'to others, he fell down of himfelf by a flip of his foot, ash: was v/alking there after fupper according to his cuftom. At that time there was no notice taken^ nor were any concerned for his death ; and Meneftheus quietly polTelied the kingdom of Athens. Thefeus's fons were brought up in a private condition, and accompained Elephenor to the Trojan war ; but after the deceafe of Meneftheus, who died in the lame expedition, they returned to Athens, and re- covered the kingdom. In fuccceding ages there were feveralcircumftances that induced the Athenians to ho- nour Thefeus as a demi-God. Among the reft, in the battle of Marathon many of the foldiers fancied they faw an apparition of Thefeus in arms fighting at the head of them, and rufhing upon the Barbarians. And after the conclufion of the Median wars, the year where- in Phaedon was Archon (i), the Athenians confulting the oracle at Delphi, were commanded to collect the bones of Thefeus, and laying them in fome honourable place, to keep them as facred in the city. But it was very difficult to recover thefe relicks, or even to find out the place where they lay, by reaion of the inhofpi- table were thirteen of thofe archons they cliofe nine every year. The during the fpace of 325 years, firft of thefe was called Archon by After the death of Alcnixon, way of excellence, and the year who was the laft of the perpetual was denominated from him ; the archons, this charge was not con- fecond was called King, the third tinued to the fame perfon for any Polemarcb, and the fix others longer than ten years, always Thefmot e f s.'I his alteration was however in the fame family till made the third year of the twen- the death of Eryxias, or as others ty-for.rth Olympiad, in the year fay of Tlefias, the feventh and of the woilu 3^8, and continued laft of thefe decennial maglUratea. down to the rei^n of the F.inper- For when the family of Codrus, or GalHenus, that is to the year or the MedontiJae, came to fail in of the world 42 10, 260 years fff- hi,m, the Athenians created annu- ter the biith of Chriit. si archons, and inilead of one Hz 48 The L I P E of table and favage temper of the people that inhabited the ifland. But afterwards when Cimon took the ifland, as is related in his life, having a great defire to find out the place where Thefeus was buried, he by chance fpied an eagle upon a rifing ground pecking the earth. with her beak, and tearing it up with her talons. On a fudden it came into his mind, as if by fome divine infpiration, to dig there, and fearch for the bones of Thefeus. There was found in that place a coffin of a man of more than ordinary fize, the brafs head of a lance, and a fword lying by it, all which he took aboard his galley, and brought with him to Athens. The Athe- nians greatly tranfported at this, went out to meet and receive the relicks of this great man in a fplendid and pompous procellion, and facrificed to them, as if Thefeus himfelf was returned alive to their city. He lies interred in the middle of the city, near the Gymna- fium : and his tomb is a fanftuary for fervants, and all of mean condition, who fly from the perfecution of men in power, in memory that Thefeus while he lived., was a protector of the diftrefied, and never refufed the petitions of the afflicted. The chief and moft folemn, facrifice which they celebrate to him, is kept on the eighth day of Pyanepfion [November] on which day he returned with the Athenian youths from Crete. Befides which they facrifice to him on the eighth day of every month, either becaufe he returned from Troezene the eighth day of Hecatombaeon [July] as Diodorus the geo- grapher writes, or elfe thinking that number of all others to be moft proper to him, becaufe he was re^ puted to be the fon of Neptune -, for they facrifice to Neptune on the eighth day of every month ; becaufe the number eight being the firft cube of an even number,, and the double of the firft fquare, feemed to be an em- blem of the immoveable power of this God, who has the names of Afphalius and Gaieochus, that is the Eftab- liflier, and Supporter of the earth. RO [ 49 1 ROMULUS. FROM whom, and for what reafon, the city of Rome obtained that name, Cnce fo illuftrious among all men, authors are not agreed. (3). Some are of opinion that the Pelafgians (4), after they had (3) This uncertainty is owing principally to the condition of the firft inhabitants of Rome,who were a mob of thieves, fugitive flaves, and miferable exiles, all of dif- ferent countries, r.nd of different languages, and who inftead of leaving hiftories and annals be- hind them, thought of nothing but pillaging their neighbours. There is another reafon to be af- figned for this uncertainty, and that is, that the Grecians in thofe days did not concern themfelves with the tranfa&ions of Italy. Betides, there were at that time no authors among the Grecians but in their Afiatick colonies, and thofe authors were poets, not hiftorians. No writers of hiftory appeared among them till a great while after ; and as they had been a long time accuftomed to fables, they preferved thofe fables even in their hiftories. (4) The Pelafgians were origi- H 3 tally 5Q The LIFE of had over-run the greater part of the habitable world, and fubdued many nations, fixed themfelves here, and from their own great flrength in war, called the city by the name of Rome-, this word fignifying Strength in the Greek language. Others fay that after the taking of Troy, (5) fome few that efcaped the enemy, fortunately meeting with {hipping, put to fea, and being driven upon the coafts of Tuicar.y, came to an anchor near the river Tyber ; where, their women being extremely tired and haraffed by the voyage, it was propofed by one whofe name was Roma, who on account of her noble birth had great authority among them, to burn the fhips : which being done, the men at firft were very much offended at it ; but afterwards, of necefiity, fet- tled near the Palatine hill ; where foon finding that things fucceeded better than they expected, the country being very good (6) and the people courteous (7), among other honours which they paid to Roma, they added this alfo, of calling the city they had built after her name (8). From this, they fay, came that cuilcrn at Rome for women to ialute their kinfmen and hufbands with kifles, becaufe thofe women after they had burnt the fhips, uied inch kind of endearments to pacify the anger of their hufbands. Some fay, that Roma, from whom this city was fo called, was the daugh- ter nally of Arcadia, but being e#- Italy, where he built a city, and pelled from thence they pa'fed called it Roma, which was the into ThefTaly, from whence they name of a Trojan matron, who drove out the ancient inhabitants. inftigated her companions to fet Five generations after they, them- fire to the fhips, that fo they felves were driven out of Theffaly might not be obliged to any more by the Curetes,and Lelags, that fea-voyages. It would be an end- is, by the ^Etolians, and Locrians, lefs piece of work to examine into find were difperfed into Epire, all the fables that have been col- Macedonia, Italy, Euboea, Ciete, ledted relating to the origin of and Afia. Rome, and of Romulus, it may (0 Plutarch has taken tin's out be fufficient to obferve that all of HeracHdcs furnamed Lembus, powerful ftates have had much who lived at the fame time with the fame fortune. The accounts rolybius.Thishiilorian writes that of their birth are through length ./Eneas embarked on board foine of time become rather fabulous of-UJyflTes's Ihips, and landed in than hiiloiical, men being natu- rally ROMULUS. 51 ter of Italus and Leucaria ; cithers, that me was the daughter of Telephus, the ion of Hercules ; fome fay that fhe was married to JEneas, others that (he was mar- ried to Atcanius, /Eneas's fon. According to fome, Ro- mus-, the fon of UlyfTes and Circe, built it others fay that it was built by Romus, the fon of Emathion (9), whom Diomede fent from Troy ; and others, that it was founded by Romus, King of the Latins, after he had driven out the Tufcans, who came originally from Thef- faly into Lydia, and from thence into Italy. Nay, thofe authors, who by the cleared reafons make it appear, that Romulus gave name to that city, differ concerning his birth and family. For fome write, that he was the fon of jEneas and Dexithea, daughter of Phorbas, and that in his infancy he was carried into Italy with his brother Remus ^ that all the mips were caft away by the over- flowing of the river, except that in which the children were ; that this being fafely landed on a level bank of the river, they wer,e both unexpectedly faved, and from them the place was called Rome. Some fay, that Roma, daughter of that Trojan lady who was married to Lati- nus, Telemachus's fon, was mother to Romulus -, others, that ./Emilia, daughter of /Eneas and Lavinia, had him by the God Mars. The accounts which fome others give of his original are altogether fabulous. One of them is this. Tally prone to add to the truth, caufed them to aboli/h that bar- thereby to make it look more barous cuftom, and to offer vic- marveilous, and confequendy tims that were more acceptable more agreeable. to their deities. (6) Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus (8) Antiochus Syracufanus, a tells us in exprefs terms, that Ita- very ancient author, who lived an ]y is the beft country not only in hundred years before Ariftotle, Europe, but in the whole world ; faid that even a long time before to prove which, he makes it ap- the Trojan wars there was a city pear that it produces in a greater in Italy called i'oma. abundance than any other conn- (9) Dionyfius of Chalcis, who try whatever, every thing that is wrote five books concerning the neceffary for health, wealth, or original of cities, faid that this pleafure. Romus was held by fome to have (7) They had at firft been very been the fon of Afcanius, and by fierce and cruel, offering human others the fon of Emathion. Sacrifices to Saturn ; but Hercules H 4 (i) The 52 The L I F E of this. Tarchetius, King of Alba, a wicked and cruel Prince, faw in his own houfe a ftrange vifion (i), like the figure of the God Priapus, which rofe out of a chimney- hearth, and ftaid there for many days. There was an oracle of Tethys (2) in Tufcany, which, upon being confulted, anfwered that fome young virgin mould ac- cept of the embraces of the apparition, and that fhe fhould have a fon eminent for valour, good fortune, and ftrength of body. Tarchetius told the prophecy to one of his own daughters, and commanded her to entertain the lover ; but fhe looking on this as an indignity, put her woman on the execution of the order. Tarchetius greatly incenfed at hearing this, imprifoned the offenders, purpofmg to put them both to death ; but being deterred from the murder by the Goddefs Vefta in a dream, he enjoined them for their punifhment the working a piece of cloth in their prifon, which when they finifhed, they mould be fuffered to marry ; but whatever they worked by day, Tarchetius commanded others to unravel in the night. In the mean time the woman was delivered of two boys, whom Tarchetius gave into the hands of one Teratius, with ftricl command to deflroy them ; but he expo fed them by a river fide, where a wolf conftantly came and fuckled them, and birds of all forts brought little rnorfels of food, which they put into their mouths ; till a herdfman fpying them, was at firft flrangely fur- prized, but venturing to draw nearer, took the children up in his arms. This was the manner of their preferva- tion, and thus they grew up till they fet upon Tarchetius, and overcame him. Thefe particulars Promathion tells us, in his hiflory of Italy. But the principal parts of that account which obtains moil credit, and has the mofl vouchers, were firft publifhed among the Greeks by Dio- cles of Peparethus, whom Fabius Piftor has tor the moil part followed :' not but that there are fome other dif- ferent (0 The fame ftory 1*3 told of of ignorance and Simplicity. Ocrifia ; and it is faid thatServius (2) I never met elfewhere with Tullius was the fruit of that ap- anyoracles of Tethys,which makes parition. Such fort of vifions me think that 'this paffage ha? were very frequent in thofc times been corrupted, or that Plutarch himfelf ROMULUS. 53 fJsrent relations of the matter. However this account, in fhort, is as follows. The Kings of Alba defcending lineally from ^neas, the fucceflion devolved at length upon two brothers, Numitor and Amulius. Amulius di- vided the inheritance into two fhares, reckoning the treafury and the gold which was brought from Troy, as an equivalent to the kingdom. Numitor chofe the king- dom ; but Amulius, by means of the money, being more powerful than Numitor,, he both with a great deal of eafe took his kingdom from him, and withal fearing left his daughter might have children, made her a prieftefs of Vefla, which obliged her for ever to live a fingle life. This lady fome call Ilia, others Rhea, and others Sylvia. However not long after, fhe was, con- trary to the eftablifhed laws of the veflals, discovered to be with child, and would have fufFered the moft cruel punifhment, had not Antho, the King's daughter inter- ceded with her father for her. Nevertheleis me was confined, and debarred all company, that fhe might not be delivered without Amulius's knowledge. In time fhe brought forth two boys, extraordinary both in fize and beauty : whereupon Amulius, becoming yet more fear- fill, commanded a fervant to deflroy them. This man fome call Fauftulus j others fay Fauflulus was the man who brought them up. The fervant putting the children into a fmall trough, went towards the river withadefign to cad them in ; but feeing the waters much fwelled and very rough, and being afraid to go near, he dropped the children -not far from the bank, and went away. The river overflowing, the flood at laft bore up the trough, and gently wafting it, landed them on a foft and even piece of ground ; the place is now called Cermanum, formerly Germanum, probably becaufe brothers are cal- led Germani. Near this place grew a wild fig-tree, which they called Ruminalis, either from Romulus, as it is vulgarly thought, or from Ruminating, becaufe cattle himfelf was miftaken in the name. Romans called Carmenta, by rea- The oracle meant in this place fon of the oracles fhe delivered, was Themis and not Tethys. She and was the mother of Evan- was the fame with her whom the der. (3) R- 54 n e LIFE of cattle did ufually in the heat of the day feek cover un- der it, and there chew the cud ; or rather from the fuck- ling of thefe children there ; for the ancients called the dug or teat of any creature, Ruma, and the tutelar God- defs of all young children they ftill call Rumilia, in fa- crificing to whom they ufe no wine, but their libations are made with milk. While the infants lay here, hiftory tells us, a (he- wolf fuckled them, and a wood-pecker conftantly fed and watched them. Thefe creatures are efteemed facred to the God Mars ; and as for the wood- pecker, the Latins particularly worfhip and honour it. From hence credit was more eafily given to what the mo- ther of the children pretended, that (he was with child by the God Mars ; though it is faid that me was irn- pofed upon by Amuiius himfelf, who came to her in ar- mour and ravifhed her. Others think the firft rife of this fable came from the childrens nurfe, purely upon the ambiguity of a word -, for the Latins not only called wolves Lupse, but alfo lewd women : and fuch a one was Acca Larentia the wife of Fauflulus, who nurfed thefe children. To her the Romans continue ftill to perform facrifices -, the prieil of Mars every April offering libations at her tomb ; and this feail they call Larentia (4). They honour alfo another Larentia upon the following account. The keeper of Hercules's temple having, it feems, little elfe to do, propofed to his deity a game at dice, making a bargain that if he himfelf won, he would have fomething valuable of the God, but if he was beaten, he would fpread the God a noble table, and pro- cure befides a fair lady to lie with him. Upon thefe terms reckoning firft the chances that were thrown for the God, and then for himfelf, he found plainly he had loft. Being willing to mow himfelf a fair gamefter, and thinking it honeft to ftick to the propofals he made himfelf he both provided the deity a good fup- per, (4) Rather Larentalia or La- thirtieth of April, the other on the reotinalia. There were two fefti- twenty-third of December. Ovid, vals of this name, one on the whofe teftimony in this cafe is more ROMULUS. 55 per, and hiring Larentia, who was a very beautiful wo- man, though not publickly known, treated her in the temple, where he had aifo prepared a bed, and after iupper locked her in, as if the God were really to enjoy her. It is faid, that Hercules having patted the night with the lady, commanded her in the morning to walk the ftreets, and whatever man fhe met firfr, to falute him, and make him her friend. The man fhe met was named Tarrutius ; he was far advanced in years and very rich, had no children, nor had ever been married. This man loved Larentia fo well, that at his death he left her heir to his whole eftate, mofl of which fhe afterwards bequeathed to the people. She now became famous, and was efleemed the miftrefs of a God, when on a fudden fhe difappeared near the place where the firft Larentia lay buried, which is now called Velabrum, becaufe, the river frequently overflowing, they went over in Ferry- boats at this place to the Forum, which manner of pafia^e the Latins call Velatura. Others derive the name from Velum, a Veil, becaufe the exhibiters of publick fhows, generally making their proceflion from the Forum to the Circus maximus always hung the fpace between with veils, beginning at this place. Upon thefe accounts is the fecond Larentia fo highly honoured at Rome. In the mean time Fauftulus, Amulius's herdfman edu- cated the children privately j but, as fome fay, and with the greateft likelihood, Numitor knew it from the firfl, and privately fupplied the expencesoftheirmainter.a ce. It is alfo faid that they were fent to Gabii, and well in- ftru&ed in letters, and all other accompli fhments fuir- able to their birth and quality. The reafon of r names Romulus and Remus was, as hiftorians tell us, becaufe they were feen fucking the wolf. In their very infancy, the beauty and gracefulnefs of their per- fons discovered the natural greatnefs of their minds ; and as they grew up, they both were remarkable for ftrength more to be depended on than in December was in honour of Plutarch's, fays that the feftival Romulus's nurfe. (6) Or 5;iven him on account of his flopping the army in their flight ; there they rallied their forces, and repulfed the Sabins as far as the palace now called Regia, and the Temple of Vefta where both parties preparing to renew the (2) Livy and Dionyfius relate with great gallantry repulfed the this matter otlierwife. They fay Romans, was himfelf repulfed in tkat Metius Cwtia:, after he had his turn by Romulus, and that whn ROMULUS. 77 the combat, were prevented by a fight ftrange beyond expreifion : for the daughters of the Sabins, who had been flolen by the Romans, came running in great con- fufion, on all fides, with mifsrable cries and lamenta- tions, like diftratted creatures, into the midft of the army, and among the dead bodies, to come at their hufbands, and their fathers ; fome with their children in their arms, others with their hair loofe, but all calling by turns both upon the Sabins, and the Romans, in the mod tender and endearing words. Both parties, melted into companion, and fell back, that they might make room for thtyn betwixt the armies. Now their lamentation was heard by all, and all were affected by the fight of the women, but more by their complaints, which began with upbrai'ding and expofluiation, but ended with fupplication and entreaty. " Wherein, they fay, have we injured or offended you, " that we already have fuffered fuch calamities, and " flill muft fuffer more ? We were feized unjuflly and vio- " lently by thofe to whom we now belong ; when that was " done, we were fo long neglected by our fathers, our bre- " thren, and relations, that being now by the ftricteft " bonds united to thofe whom we once mortally hated, " we cannot but fear for the danger and lament the death " of the very men who once ufed violence to us. So that " you do not now come to vindicate our honour, as vir- " gins, from them that injured us, but to force away wives " from their hufbands, and mothers from their children ; " making this your attempt to refcue us, more grievous " to us than your former neglect of us was ; fuch is their " love towards us, and fuch your compafiion. Did you " make war upon any other occafion, yet for our fakes " you ought to defift, fince you are our fathers, our " grandfathers, our relations and kindred : but if this war " be for us, take us together with your fons-in-law, and " reftore us to our parents and friends ; but do not rob us, " we befeech you, of our children and hufbands, left, we u again become captives." Herfilia having fpoken much to when he had received many was endeavouring to make good wounds, and loft much blood, he his retreat, cafually fell into the lake as he VOL. I. K (3) Thar 7 S the LIFE of to this purpofe, and others earneflly making the fame re- quefl, a truce was made, and the chief officers came to a treaty. The women, during that time, prefented their hufbands and children to their fathers and bre- thren, brought refrefhments to thofe who wanted them, and carried the wounded home to be cured ; they (hewed alfo how much they governed within doors, and how indulgent their hufbands were to them in demeaning, themfelves towards them with all imaginable kindnefs and refpecl. Upon this, conditions were agreed upon, that what women pleafed might flay with their hufbands, exempt from all drudgery and labour but fpinning ; that theRomans and Sabins,fhould inhabit the city promifcu- oufly together ^ that the city mould be called Rome from Romulus but the Romans (3) Quirites, from Cures the ca- pital of the Sabins, and the country of Tatius ; and that Ta- tius and Romulus mould both govern and eommand the army in common. The place of this ratification isflill cal- led Comitium, from Coire to meet together. The city be- ing thus doubled in number, an hundred of the Sabins were elected Senators, and the legions were increafed to 6000 foot, and 600 horfe (4) : then they divided the peo- ple into three tribes ; the firft, from Romulus, were nam- ed Rhamnenfes ; the fecond, from Tatius, Tatfenfes ; the third were called Luceres from the Lucus or Grove, where the Afylum flood, whither many fled for fandtuary, and were received into the city. And that they were jufE three, appears from the very name of Tribe and Tribune r i. e. chief of the tribe. Each Tribe contained ten Curiae or Wards, which fome fay, took their names from the Sabin women j ( 3) " That every citizen parti- fions upon Plutarch, has difcover- " cularly mentioned fnould be cal- ed two manifeft errors in this place. ' led Roman, but the whole body Plutarch affures Us that Romulus : of the people Quirites, faith Di- incorporated 600 horfe in every 4C onyfius of" Halicarnaffus j" but legion, whereas there never were this is contradicted by the form at any time fo many in any of the anciently ufed in the publication of legions. There were at firft 200 interments, where it was declared horfe in each legion ; after that Olius Quiris letho datus ell, from they rofe to 300, and at laft to whence itappears that every citi- 400, but never came up to 600. zen in particular was called Quiris. In the fecond place he tells us . Rualdus in his animadver- that Romulus made the legion to ROMULUS. 79 women ; but that feems to be falfe, becaufe many had their names from the different quarters of the city which were afligned to them. It is true, that many regulations were made in honour of the women : as that the men mould give them the way wherever they met them, mould fpeak no in- decent word in their prefence, nor appear naked before them ; that in a cafe of murder they mould not be tried by the ordinary judge (5) ; that their children mould wear an ornament about their necks called the Bulla, be- caufe it was like a Bubble, and the Praetexta, a garment edged with purple. The two Princes did not immediately join in coun- cil together, but at firft each met with his own hun- dred, afterwards all aflembled together Tatius dwelt where now the temple of (6) Moneta ftands ; and Ro- mulus clofe by the fteps, as they call them, of the plea- fant fhore, near the defcent from the Palatine Mount to the Circus Maximus. There, they fay, grew the Holy Cornel- Tree, of which they give this fabulous account; that Ro- mulus once* to try his itrength, throwing a dart from the Aventine Mount, (the ftafTof which was made of Cornel) the head of it ftruck fo deep into the ground, that no one, of many that tried, could pluck it up : and the foil, being fertile, afforded the wood ib much nourifhment that it (hot forth branches, and produced a trunk of Cornel of confiderable bignefs. This pofterity preferved and worshipped as one of the moil facred things, and therefore walled it about-, and if to anyone it appeared not green nor flourishing, &it inclining to fade and wi- ther, to confift of 6000 foot, which was afterwards to 5000, and at laft never done in his time. It is faid to 6000 by Scipio ; but this was by fome that Marius was the firft never done but upon prefllng oc- that raifed the legion to thatnum- cafions. The ftated force of a le- ber, whereas Livy gives us to un- gion was 4000 foot,and 200 horfe. der (land that that augmentation (5) If one of thefe Sabine wo- was made by Scipio Africanus men had committed a murder flic Jong before Marius. In Romu- was to be tru-d for ic by a com- lus's time a legion never mufter- mittee of the fenate. ed mote than 3-00 foot. After (6) Montiu, that is, Juno Mo- the expulfion of the kings it xvas neta, Juno the admoniflier. Ta* augmented to 4000, fome time tius was poiTeft of the Capitoiine K 2 and 80 The L I F E of ther, he prefently proclaimed it to all he met, and they calling for water^ as in a fire, ran from all parts with buckets full to the place. But, they fay, when Caius Caefar was repairing thofe ileps, fome of the labourers happened to dig too clofe about it, fo that the root was injured, and the tree withered. The Sabins agreed to ufe the Roman months. All that is of importance' on this fubjecl is mentioned in the life of Numa. Romulus on the other hand, came into the ufe of the Sabin Ihields, and made an alteration both in his own armour and that of the reft of the Romans, who before v/ore fmalt targets after the manner of the Greeks. But as to feafls and facriftces, they partook of them in common, not abolilhing any which either na- tion obferved before, and inflvtuting feveral new ones : one of which was the (7) Matronalia, inftituted in ho- nour of the women, for their putting an end to the war ; another was the (8) Carmentalia. Some think Carmenta is a Defliny who preiides over the birth of men, for which reafon (he is particularly honoured by mothers. Others fay, (he was the wife of Evander the Arcadian, and a pro- phetefs, who ufed to deliver her Oracles in verfe ; and from Carmen a verfe was called Carmenta, though her pro- per name was Nicoftrata. Others more probably derive Carmenta from Carens mente, as being bereft of her wits-, by reafon of her prophetick madneis and enthufiafm. Of the feafl of Pal ilia, we have fpoke before. The (9) Lu- percalia, by the time of its.celabration, may feem to be a feafl of purification, for if is folemnized on one of the inaufpicious days of the month February, which name fignifies purifying- and the very day of the feafl was an- ciently called Febrnata: but the name of it originally, fignifies the feail of wolves^ and it feems upon this ac count and Quirinal mounts, and Roirm- (S) This was a very folemn fe- !us of the Palatine, and Cxlian. flival kept on the nth of Janu- The'feaft ot" the Roman ary, under the capitol near the matrons celebrated on the fir it of. Carmental gate. They begged or' April, at which time they oilered tins Goddefs to render their vvo- a facrifice to Mars and Juno, and men fertile, and give them happy received prefems from their deliveries, friends.' (9) Tim ROMULUS. Si count to be of great antiquity, and brought in by the (i) Arcadians who came with Evander. This is the com- mon opinion ; but it may be derived as well from the flie-wolf that fuckled Romulus ; and we fee the Luperci [the priefts who run about the city on that day] begin their courfe from the place where they fay Romulus was expofed. But the ceremonies that are then performed, render the original of the thing more difficult to be guefTed at ; for firft there are goats killed ; then two noblemen's fons being brought, fome are to ftain their foreheads with the bloody knife, others prefently to wipe it off with wool dipt in milk; then the boys muft laugh after their foreheads are wiped ; that done, having cut the goats fkins into thongs, they run about naked, ex- cept that they have a covering about their middle, ladl- ing all they meet ; the young married women, inflead of avoiding, defireto receive their ftrokes, fancying it helps conception and child-birth. Another thing proper to this feaft, is, for the Luperci to facrifice a dog. Butas, a poet, who wrote a fabulous account of the origin of the Ro- man cufloms in elegiack verfe, fays, that Romulus and Remus, after having conquered Amulius, ran joyfully to the place where the wolf gave them fuck; that in imi- tation of that aclion this feaft was kept ; that two young noblemen ran, flriking at all that were in their way, As when with fword .in baud, their foes o\'rcotne, Joyful from Alba ran tbe fires o/Rorne ; that the bloody knife was applied to their forehead, in me- mory of the danger they were then in, and of the blood that was fpilt that day ; and that the cleanfing of them with milk, was in remembrance of their firft food and nourilhment. But Caius (2) Acilius writes, that before the (y) This feaft w.is celebrated (2) Caius Acilius Glabrio was on the i ith of February in honour tfibuue of the people in the year of the God Pan. 556. He wrote in Greek, and is quoted both by Cicero, and Livy. (i) For the Arcadians, cele- The It ft of whom fays that his bjated the fame feaft in honour annals were tranflated into Latin $f the fame deity. by Claudius. K 3 (3) Among S 2 We L I F E of the city was built, the cattle of Romulus and Remus one day going aftray, they praying to the God, FauniiSj ran about naked to feek them, that they might not be trou- bled with fweat, and that for that reafbn the Luperci run naked. If this facriftce be by way of purification it is probable that they ufed a dog for that purpofe ; for the Grsecians in their luftrations, or purifying facrifices, always make ufe of dogs, and perform the ceremony which they call Perifcylacifmos (3). But if they cele- brate this as a feftival of gratitude to the wolf for nou- rifhing and preferving Romulus, there is then alfo a good reafon for their killing a dog, as being -an enemy to wolves : but perhaps nothing more was meant by it than to puniih the creature for molefling the Luperci when they ran about. It is faid that Romulus confecrated the holy (4) fire, and inftituted the order of Veftals ethers afcribe it to Numa Pompilius ; however it is agreed, that Romulus wasotherwiie eminently religious, and well Hulled in the art of divination, and for that reafon had a Lituus al- ways in his hand, which is a crooked rod, with which the foothfayers defcribe the quarters of the heavens, when they fit to obferve the flight of birds. This Lituus was afterwards kept in the capitol, but was loft when the (3) Among other offerings of which had been the common food purification they offered little of men in the firft ages of the dogs to Proferpine, which they world. It is true that when a carried round thofe that wanted woman was found guilty of any to be purified. notorious crime, fuch as adultery (4) Plutarch means that Ro- or drunkennefs, the hulband was mulus was the author of this in- at liberty to puniih her; but it ftitution at Rome ; for before his was to be with the privity and birth a facred fire was kept at confent of her parents or relati- Alba, and there was an order of ons, who had a right to take Veftals, fmce Romulus's mother cognizance of the fat in con- was herfelf a Veftal. junction with him. The law of (5) I know not where Plutarch divorce was by no means efta- met with this law of Romulus, bliftied by Romulus, on the con- Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus fays on trary it is certain that among the the contrary, that Romulus ren- Romans the wife was intitled to ttered the married ftate holy, and the fame privileges with her huf- indiflbluble by Confarreation, that band. fc by the participation of barly, {6} It is ftrange, that at a time when ROMULUS. 83 the city was taken by the Gauls. After the barbarians were driven out, it was found in the ruins under a great heap of afhes, untouched by the lire, all things about it being confumed. He made feveral laws, one of which is fomewhat fe- vere (5), for it does not allow a wife to leave her huf- band, but grants a hufband a power to turn off his wife, either for poifoning her children (6), or counterfeiting his keys, or for adultery ^ but if the hufband upon any other occafion put her away, one moiety of his .eftate was to be given to the wife, the other to be de- voted to the Goddefs Ceres ; and whoever divorced his wife, was to make an atonement by facrifice to the in- fernal Gods. This too is obfervable, that Romulus, appointed no punifhment for real parricide, but called all murder parricide, thinking the one deteftable, but the other impoflible ; in which for a long time he feem- ed to have judged rightly, for in almoft 600 years there was no inftance of that crime in Rome ; and Lucius Oftius, after the wars of Hannibal, is recorded to have been the firft parricide. But let thus much fuffice con- cerning thefe matters. In the fifth year of the reign of Tatius, fome of his friends and kinfrnen meeting certain (7) ambafTadors coming when parricide was deemed an does not appear that a woman impoiTibility, and therefore not could have any temptation to mentioned in the Iaws,as Plutarch commit it ; for among the Ro- immediately after obferves, that mans, the keys of the houfe were it fhould be fuppofed poifible for in the wife's keeping ; it was one a mother to poifon her children ; of the ceremonies of marriage for nor is it lefs unaccountable, that the bridegroom to deliver his keys a woman convicted of fuch a to the bride as foon as (lie entered crime fliould be pyniflied only by his houfe ; and in cafe of a' di- a divorce. A difficulty alfo at- vorce (he reftored them in form vends the fecond caufe of divorce to her hufband. Some attempts here mentioned, the counterfeit- have been made by the commen- ing the hufband's keys ; not only rators to remove thefe difficulties, becaufe it is improbable that a but none of their folutions ap- fault comparatively flight fhoukl pear fatisfadtory. be joined with fo horrid a crime (7) Dionyfius of HalicarnafTus .13 the former, and that the fame fays that they were ambafladors punifhment fhould be appointed from Lavinium who bnd been at i'or both ; but likevvifc becaufe it Rome to complain of the incur- K 4 lions 84 *b* LIFE of coming from Laurentum to Rome, attempted on the road to rob them, which they not fuffering, but defend- ing themfelves, they killed them. Romulus thought that fo atrocious a crime deferved immediate punimment j but Tatius neglected and delayed the affair ; and this was the firft beginning of an open quarrel betwixt them, for before this they behaved with great refpect to each other, and adminiftred aiihirs together with perfect unanimi- ty. The relations of them that were fi in, being pre- vented by Tatius from obtaining fatisfaction, fell upon him as he was (8) facrilicing with Romulus atLavinium, and killed him, but honourably attended Romuhis back, highly commending him for a juft prince. Romulus took the body of Tatius, and buried it very fplendid- ly in the Aventine Mount, near the place called (9) Ar^ miluftrium, but altogether neglected revenging his mur- der. Some hiftorians write, that the people of Lau-, rentum, fearing the confequence, delivered up the mur-^ dsrers of Tatius ; but Romulus difmiifed them, faying, one murder was requited with another. This gave occafion to fufpect and. report that he was not dif- pleafed at the removal of his partner in the govern-, ment. None of thefe things however raifed any feud or disturbance among the Sabins ; but they all continued to live peaceably, and to fhow the profoundeft veneration and fubmifllon to Romulus, fome out of love to him, fome out of fear of his power, and others becauie they reverenced him as a God. Many foreign nations too paid great refpect to him; the ancient Latins fent am- bafladors, and entered into a league with him. Fidense a city in the neighbourhood of Rome, he took as ibme fay, by fending a party of horte, before with com- mands to cut off the hinges of the gates, and then marching thither unexpectedly in perfon. Others fay, that fions made by fome of Tatius's Rome were obliged to go once a friends upon their territories, and year to perform to the Gods of that as they were returning, the the country for the fafety of their Sabins lay in wait for them on the city. Licinius writes that Tatius road, dripped them, and killed went not thither with Romulus, feveral of them. nor on account of the facrifice, (8) This facrifice the kings of but that he went alone to per- fuadc ROMULUS. 85 that the Fidenates having firft made the invafion by plun- dering and ravaging the Roman territories, Romulus lay in ambufh for them, and after having killed many of them, took the city ; however he did not demoiifh it, but made it a Roman colony, and fent thither on the thirtieth of April 2500 inhabitants. Prefently after a plague broke out, which killed fuddenly without any previous ficknefs : it affected likewife the trees and the cattle fo as to deftroy their fertility. It rained blood too in the city, fo that the terrors of fuperflition were added to their, other calamities. But efpeciajly *when the fame mifchiefs fell upon Laurentum alib, then every one judged it was the divine vengeance that fell upon both cities for their neglecting to punilh the murder of Ta- tius and the ambaifadors. But the murderers on both fides being delivered up and put to death, the calami- ties vifibly abated, and Romulus purified the cities with luftrations, which they fay, are even to this time per,, formed at the gate called Ferentia. Before the p -igue ceafed, the Camerians invaded the Romans, and over-ran the country, thinking, that by reafon of the 'diftemper, they were unable to withftand them ; but Romulus pre^ fently made head againfl them, and gained the victory, with the Daughter of 6000 men : he then took their city, and brought half of thofe he found there, to Rome ; and on the firft of Auguft fent from Rome to Gamer i a double the number he left there. So many citizens had he to fpare, in fixteen years time from the building of Rome. Among other fpoils he took a brazen chariot from Cameria, which he placed in the temple of Vulcan fet- ting (i) thereon his own ftatue crowned by victory. The Roman caufe thus daily gathering ftrength, the weaker neighbours fubmitted, and were content to live in fecurity ; the flronger, out of fear or envy, thought they fuade the inhabitants to pardon facrifice, and the place where it the murderers. \vas performed, were all called (9) It was fo called becaufe the Armiluftrium. troops aflembled there once a (i) Dionyfius of Halicarnaffvis year under arms in order to be fays that he added his own fta- urified. The feaft, which was tue, on which was an infcription eld on the 1910, of October, the in Greek containing an account of 86 ttc LIFE of they ought not to make light of Romnlus, but to curb him, and put a flop to his growing greatnefs. Thefiril were the Veientes, a people of Tufcany, who pofTeft a large territory, and inhabited a fpacious city ; they took an occafion to commence a war, by redemanding Fi- denae, as belonging to them. But it was not only un- reafonabie, but very ridiculous, that they, who did not aflift the inhabitants of Fidenae in the greatefc extremi- ties, but permitted them to be deftroyed, mould now challenge their lands and houfes, when jn the hands of others. They accordingly received a fcornful anfwer from Romulus , upon which they divided themfelves into two bodies : one attacked the garrifon of Fidenae ; the other marched againft Romulus ; that which went againft Fidenae, got the victory, and flew 2000 Romans ; the other was worried by Romulus, with the lofs of 8000 men. They afterwards fought again near Fidenae ; and all acknowledge that the fuccefs of the day was owing to Romulus himfelf, who mowed the/ moft confummate fkill as well as courage, and feemed to exert a flrength and . fwiftnefs more than human. But what fome write, that of 14000 who fell that .day, above (2) half were ilain by Romuhis's own hand, is fabulous and abfurd, fmce even the Meflenians are thought to have been ex- travagant in their boafts of Ariftomenes, who, they fay, three times offered a facrifice of an hundred victims for having killed fo many Lacedemonians in three battles. The army of the Veientes being thus routed, Romulus, fuffer- of all his exploits, but he makes ftatue to be feen at Rome with no mention of the victory ; and I thofe long and pompous infcrip- very much queftion the infcrip- tions, which were afterwards in- tion ; for, as I had occafion to vented by the vanity of fucceed- obfei ve before, they did not, till ing generations, many years after Romulus, begin (2) The hiftorians here meant to make infcriptions on their fta- by Plutarch had literally taken tues, and when they did they what they foot. 1 in their fongs only expreft the name and dignity of triumph, where we may be of thofe in honour of whom thofe fure they were not fparing in their ftatues were erected, and I am hyperboles. Thus the IfraelitifU of opinion, that for more than women, when they came out to years together there was no meet David on his return from the ROMULUS. 87 fuffering thofe that were left to make their efcape, drew up his forces againfl their city. They, having fuf- fered fo great a defeat, did not venture to oppoie him, but humbly fuing to him, contracted a league and friendfhip for TOO years, yielding to him a large tract of land called Septempagium, which fignifies a diftrict containing feven towns ; befides this, they gave up the falt-fprings upon the river, and delivered into his hands fifty of their chief men for hoftages. He triumphed for this on the fifteenth of October, leading, among the reft of his many captives, the general of the Veientes, a man in years, but who feemed in the conduct of this affair, to have behaved imprudently, and un- becoming his age; whence even now in their facrifices for victory, they lead an old man through the market- place to the capitol, dreffed in a purple garment, with a Bulla or child's ornament tied to it, and the herald cries, (3) Sardians to be fold ; for the Tufcans are faid to be a colony of the Sardians, and Veiiis a city of Tufcany. This was the lafl war in which Romulus was engaged. After this he behaved as almoft all men do who are raifed by extraordinary turns of fortune to power and greatnete ; for being elated with his fuccefles, he grew more haughty and alTuming, and changed his former popular behaviour into the pride and ftatelinefs of an abfolute monarch. His habit was a purple veil, over which he threw a robe with a purple border ; he gave audience in a chair of ftate, having always about him fome (laughter qf the Philiftins had it in ful Tiberius Sempronlus Gracchus their fong, " Saul has flain his had conquered Sardinia, from " thoufands, and David his ten whence he brought fuch a multi- " thoufands tude of flaves, that for a long (3) Plutarch in his Roman time together no flaves were ex- Queftions gives us the fame ac- pofed to fale in the market but count of the original of this cuf- Sardians, which gave occafion to torn ; but he is miftaken, for the the proverb, Sardians to be fold, Tufcans were by no means of Ly- all rogues alike ; and this proverb dian defcent, as we have proved was afterwards applied to all forts elfewhere. SinniusCapito was bet- of prifoners that were brought to ter informed, when he faid that Rome in triumph, this cuftora began after the con* (4) He 88 The L I F E of (4.) fome young men called Celeres, from their fwiftnefs in doing bufmefs ; others went before him with ftaves to make room for him, having feveral thongs of leather in readinefs, to bind whom ever he commanded. The Latins formerly ufed ligare, in the fame fenfe as they now ufe alligare, which fignifies to bind (5), whence theie ferjeants were called Lidores, and the rods they carried were called Fafces ; though perhaps they were firft called Litores, and afterwards by putting in a C, Lidores ; for they are the fame that the Grecians call Leitourgoi (or officers for the people) and the Grecians ftill call the people in general, Leitos, and the common people Laos. When after the death of his grandfather Numitor in Alba, that kingdom devolved upon Romulus, he, to pleafe the people, left the government in their own hands, and appointed yearly a particular magiftrate to fuperintend the Sabins (6). But by this example he taught the great men of Rome likewife to feek after a free and anti-monarchical ftate, wherein all might fhare by turns in the government ; for the Patricians were not now concerned in flate-affairs, but had only the name, and title of honour left them, convening in council rather for fafhion-fake than to give advice ; for they in filencc heard the king's commands, and ib departed, exceeding the commonalty only in this, that they heard firft what was determined. But this was not the worft When he of his own authority diflributed among his fol- diers what lands were acquired by war, and reftored, the Veientes their hoflages, (7) without the confent of the fenate, (4.) He had formed three com- Queftions ; his words are thefe j panics of three hundred of the " To bind is alligare in the lan- mofl. valiant men in his army, " guage of the common people, who were his body guard, and " but thofe who fpeak with the fought always near his perfon, " greateft purity ufe ligare. fome horfe, and fome foot, like (6) Xylander and H. Stephens the life-guards of the kings of are of opinion that inftead of Sa- Sparta. bins we fhould read Albans ; and (0 Plutarch was not accurate- thus the Latin tranflator renders it. ly (killed in the Latin language, (7) To this Dionyfius of Hali- otherwife he would not have re- carnafTus adds that he likewife prefented the word Ligare as ob- rendered himfelf infupportable by folete ; and he fays the contrary his cruelty, having condemned himfelf in his book of Roman feveral of the moft confiderable among ROMULUS. 9 fenate, this was looked upon as an outrageous infult ; therefore when he fuddenly difappeared a fhort time after, the fenate fell under ftrong fufpicions. He difappeared on the feventh day of the month now called July, but then Quintilis, leaving nothing of certainty to be related of his death, only the time. (8) For, there are now upon that day many ceremonies per- formed, in reprefentation of that accident. Neither is this uncertainty to be thought ftrange, feeing the man- ner of the death of Scipio Africanus, who died a; own houfe after fupper, was never well afcertained ; for^ fome fay, he died naturally and fuddenly, as he was of a fickly conflitutior., (9) fbme that he poiibned himfelf ; and others that his enemies breaking in upon him in the night, {lifted him. Befides, Scipio when he was dead, was expofed to publick view, and indeed his body gave fome lufpicion, and means of di (covering the fad ; but when Romulus difappeared, neither the leaft part of his body, or of his clothes was to be feen : fo that fome imagined that while he was holding an ailembly of the fenate in the temple of Vulcan, the fenators fell upon him, cut his body in pieces, and each took a part away in hisbofom. Others fay, that his difappearance was neither in the temple of Vulcan, nor in the prefence of the fenators only -, but that it happened, while he was holding an a- fembly of the people without the city, near a place called the Goats-Marfh ; and that on a fudden ftrange and unaccount- able difordersarofe hi* the air ; (i) the fun was darkened, and the day was turned into a tempeftuous night, with dreadful among the Romans to be thrown to have poiibned him. However down the Tarpeian rock. it was, no inquiry was ever made (8) The Remans in their calen- into the circumftances of his dar call that day Populifugium, death, which gave occafion to " theflightofthepeople. NonsCa- this paflage in Valerius Maximus, " protins, the Caprotine Nones, & ' Raptorem Spiritus domi invenit, " feftum Ancillarum, the feaft of ' Mortis Punitorem in Foro nou " the fervant maids," which three ' reperit. He met his murderer things particularly relate to that ' in his own houfe, but found no accident, as will be obferved in ' one in the court of judicature its place. ' to profecute the murderer. (9) His wife Sempronia, fitter of (i) The ancients tells us, that the Gracchi, whole defigns were Romulus, after a reign of thirry- conflantiy, and with great zeal, feven years, died whilit the fun oppofed by him, was fufpccled was 9 o We LIFE of dreadful thunders and boifterous winds blowing from all quarters, which fcattered the populace, though the fenators kept clofe together. The tempeft being over, a-:d the light breaking out, when the people gathered again, they miffed and enquired for their King; but the fenators would not let them fearch, or bufy them- es about the matter, but commanded them to ho- nour and worfhip Romulus, as one taken up to the Gods, and who, after having been a good Prince, was now to be to them a propitious deity. The multitude hearing this, went away with great fatisfadion, woifhipping him, in hopes of his favour and Protection. But there were fome who canvailing the .matter more rigor- oufiy, accufed the Patricians of impofing on the people by ridiculous tales, when they themfelves were the murderers of the King. Things being in this dif- order, it is faid that Julius Proculus a Patrician (2) of noble family and excellent character, and an intimate friend of Romulus, who came with him from Alba, pre- fented himfelf to the people, and declared, with a mod fblemn oath, that as he was travelling on the road, Ro- mulus had met him in bright and glittering armour, and with an afpect more noble and augufl than while he was living ; and that he being terrified at the appa- rition faid, " How have we deferved, OKing, to be expofed u to fuch cruel and unj uft calumnies ? And why is your or- . phan was under a very great ecllpfe. nefs there was then in the Roman ThusTully in his fragments, lib. 6. calendar, might very well coincide deRepub." Namque ut olim defi- with the month of July. But then cere Sol, hornini'oufque extingui how are we to make this agree vifus eft, cum Romuli animus with the feaft the Romans obferved hsec ipfa Templa penetravic. annually for the death ofRomu- For as heretofore the fun was lus, which was celebrated about feen to languish, and even to be the middle of February ? It is exthguifhed whiifc Romulus's very likeiy the Romans were as foul was entering into this very much in the dark as to the time temple." The truth is, h ap- when Romulus died, as when he pears from the aftronumical ta- laid the foundation of Rome. bles that there was an eciipfe of (2) He Avas a defcendant of the fun towards the end of the Afcanius. firtt year of the fixteenth oijm- (3) This Arifleas was an hiflo- piad,on the tv/enty-fixta of May, rian, poet, and notorious cheat, .vhich confiderin? the lift He ROMULUS. 9 i " phan city left thus deflitute and diflrefied ?" Ar.d that he made anfwer : " It pleafed the Gods, O Proculus, that j- " I had remained a certain time among men, and built a " which will be hereafter the greateft in the world both in "empire and glory, I mould again return to heaven from " whence I came. Farewel, and tell the Romans that by " the exercife of temperance and fortitude, they fhall a - " rive to the higheft pitch of human power, and I the G' -.1 " Quirinus will be ever propitious to them." This feemed very credible to the Romans, both on account of the hc- nefty and oath of him that fpoke it ; and a certain en- thufiafm feizing on all of them, no one contradicted it -, but laying afide all jealoufies and cenfures, they unar ,i- moufly invoked Quirinus as a God. This is like fome of the Grecian fables related cf (3) Arifteas the Proconnefian, and Cleomedes the Ail) pa- laean : for they fay, Arifteas died in a fuller's work- houfe ; that when his friends came to look for him, his body was not to be found ; and that fome prefently after coming in from a journey, faid (4) they met him travelling on the road towards Croton. Of Cleomedes it is faid, that being (5) a man remarkably ftrong and gigantick, and withal of a wild and furious difpo- fition, he committed many defperate actions. At laft in a certain fchool, ftriking a pillar that fuftained the roof with his hand, he broke it in the middle, fo that the He wrote the hiftory of the Ari- rure of the fame Arifteas at rnafpse, or Scythians in Hexameter Metaponluui, which Herodotus verfe, if it be true that that work relates immediately after the for- 53 his, which Dionyfius much que- raer. ftions. He pretended that he (;) We find this ftory rela!e founded this wuh another ativen- fcnfes. (6) Flu- 32 The LIFE of the houfe fell and deftroyed the children in it ; betno- pursued, he fled into a great cheft, and fhutting the lid over him, held it fo faft, that many men with all their ftrength could not force it open : afterwards upon breaking the chefl to pieces, they found no man in it alive or dead, at which being aftonifhed, they fent to con ful t the Oracle at Delphi, and received from the Prophetefs this anfwer : (6) Of heroes Cleomedes is tie lafl. They fay too, the body of Alcmena, as they were car- rying it to her grave, vanifhed, and a flone was found lying on the bier ; and many fuch improbabilities do fabulous writers relate, deifying creatures naturally mortal. Indeed, altogether to deny the divine power of virtue is an impious and illiberal fentiment ; but to confound earth with heaven is, as flupidly ridiculous. Therefore we muft rejed fuch fables, being affured that according to Pindor, Our bodies Jhrink to dufl by death's decree ; I'he foul furvives^ and fills eternity. For that alone is derived from the Gods ; thence it comes, and thither it returns ; not with the body, but when it is moft free and feparated from it, and is alto- gether pure, and difengaged from flefh. For " a virtuous *' foul is, as Heraclitus exprefTes it, a pure and unmixed " light," which flies out of the body, as lightning breaks from a cloud ; but that which is immerfed in the body, is like a grofs and cloudy vapour, hard to be kindled, and mounting with difficulty. We muft not therefore, contrary to nature, fend the bodies with the fouls of good men to heaven but then we muft really believe, that both from their own nature and the divine confti- tution, (d) Plutarch only mentions the uiftinguifted thofe four natures, firft verfe in the anfwer, the prieft- '< Men, Heroes, Demi Gods, and efs added " honour him with your Gods ;''from whence the philofo- *' facrifices as one that has ceafed phers imagined this gradation,or if " to be mortal. 1'niay fo fay, this refining of fouls. (7) Hcfiod was the firft who After death they become Heroes, from ROMULUS. 93 tution, virtuous fouls are exalted from (7) men into heroes ; from heroes into Demi-Gods ; and after that, if they are perfectly purified as in the facred initiations, and refined from all the palfions which attend morta- lity, they are railed to confummate felicity, and are enrolled amongft the Gods, not by the vote of a people, but by the juft and eftablifned order of nature. Romulus's furname Quirinus, fome fay, fignifies the fame as Mars ; others fay, that he was fo called be- caufe the citizens were called Quirites ; others, becaufe the ancients called a javelin or Ipear Quiris j for the image of Juno leaning on a fpear was called the image of Juno Quiritis; and the javelin in the King's palace was called Mars : and thole that behaved themfelves valiantly in war, were ufually prefented with a fpear ; therefore Romulus being a Martial God, was called Quirinus. There is a temple built to his honour on the mount, called from him Qurinalis. The day on which he vanifhed is called " the Flight " of the People," and " Nonas Caprotina:," or the " Nones *' of the Goats," becaufe the people go then out of the city, and facrifice at the Goats-Marlh, i. e. Capreae palus, for they call a goat Caprea ; and as they go, they call out loudly upon the names of fome of their countrymen, as Marcus and Caius, reprefenting the manner in which they then fled, and called upon one another in that fright and hurry. Some fay, this was not defigned to imitate a flight, but merely to exprefs expediiion and eagernefs, and give this ac- count of it. When the Gauls, who had taken Rome, were driven out by Camillus, and the city had not as yet recovered its ftrength ; many of the Latins under the command of Livius Poflhumius, took this oppor- tunity to march againft it. This army fitting down before from Heroes after certain reTOju- felves by virtue ; and till they had tions hey became DemiGods, or attained to this tall perfe&ion Genii ; and they that had led a they were liable to be replungcd drift holy life whilft in the body, into their primitive ftare of daijc- from Genii became realGods after nefs. they had perfectly purified them- VOL. I. L (8) Ac- LIFE*/ before Rome, an herald was fent, Tignifying that the Latins were defirons to renew their former alliance and aftinity, which was now almoft decayed, by contract*- ing new marriages between both nations ; that if the Romans therefore would fend them a confiderable num- ber of their virgins and widows, this would be a means of eftablifhing between the two nations a friendfhip and connection of the fame nature with that which formerly fubfifled between the Romans and the Sabiris. The Romans hearing this, though they dreaded a war^ yet thought a furrender of their women little better than a mere captivity. Being in this doubt, a fervant- maid, called Philotis, or as feme fay, Tutola, advifed them to do neither, but rather, by a ftratagem, both' to avoid fighting, and the giving up fuch pledges, The ftratagem was this, that they mould fend her, witH a Company of handfome fervant-maids, well dref- fed to the enemy, inftead of freeborn virgins ; and fhe would in the night light up a torch, at which ths Romans mould come armed and furprize the enemy afleep. The Latins were thus deceived, and accord- ingly Philotis fet up a torch in a wild fig-tree, fcreening it behind with curtains and coverlets from the fight of the enemy : but it was vifible to the Romans. When they faw it, they ran furioufly together out of the gates, haflening one another as much as poflible, and falling unexpectedly upon the enemy, defeated them. In commemoration of this victory they made a feaft of triumph, called the Nones of the Goats, becaufe of the wild fig-tree, which the Romans call Caprificus, or the goat-fig. At this feail they entertain the women with- out the city in arbours made of fig-tree boughs ; and the fervant-maids meet and run about playing, and afterwards fight in fport, and throw flones at one another, in memory of the afliftance they gave the Romans on that occafion. But moft authors reject this account :. for the calling upon one another's names by day, and the going out to the Goats-Marfh, as to a facrifice, feems to agree more to the former relation - 9 unlefs (8) According to Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus ke died in the fifty- fifth ROMULUS. $$ wnlefs perhaps both the actions, done at feveral times, might have happened on the fame day of the year. They fay, it was in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and the thirty-eighth of his reign, that Romulus left the world (8). The Comparifon of Romulus and Thefeus. THESE are the moft material circumftances which I have met with concerning Romulus and Thefeus. The firft obfervation I mail make concerning them is this. Thefeus feemed of his own choice, and without any neceility impofed upon him (fmce he might have reigned in fecurity at Trcezene in the enjoy- ment of no inglorious empire) to have been ambitious of diftinguifhing himfelf by heroick actions. The other to efcape impending flavery and punifhment, was (to ufe Plato's exprellion) rouzed to valour merely from fear, and forced upon great enterprizes by the dread of extreme fufFerings. Again, the greatefl adion of Romulus was the killing one King of Alba ; whereas the very firft eflays of Thefeus, ,and thofe occafionally undertaken only, were the conquefts of Sciron, Sinnis, Procruftes and Corynetes ; by reducing and killing of whom, he Delivered Greece from violent pppreflbrs, be- fore any of them that were relieved knew who did it. Befides, he was at liberty to have gone to Athens by fea, by which means he would have been perfectly fecure from thofe robbers ; whereas Romulus could not help being in action whilfl Amulius lived. A great proof of this is, that Thefeus, for no wrong done to him- felf, but for the fake of others, attacked thefe villains ; but Romulus and Remus, as long as they themfelves fuf- fered no injury from the tyrant, permitted him to op- prefs others. And if it be a great thing to have been wounded in battle by the Sabms, to have killed King Acrcn, fifth year of his a?e and the thirty- fcvnth of his reign. l.z (9) Tin* 9 6 27v Compiirlfon of Acron, and to have conquered many enemies; we may oppofe to thefe actions, the battle with the Centaurs, and with the Amazons. But as to Thefeus's offering himfelf voluntarily with the other youths and virgins, as part of the Cretan tribute, whether he was to be a prey to a moniler, or a victim upon the tomb of Andro- geus, or, which, is the leaft of all the evils with which he is faid to have been threatened, to live vilely and dishonourably in flavery to infblent and cruel men -, it is not to be exprefled what courage, magnanimity, generofity, public fpirit, and love of glory and virtue were mewn by this action. So that I think the philofo- phers (9) did not ill define love to be " a remedy provided " by the Gods for the preservation of youth ^" for the love of Ariadne, feems to have been the work of fome God, who by this means defigned to preferve Thefeus : and in- deed we ought not to blame her for loving him, but rather wonder that all were not alike affected towards him ; and if me alone were fb, I dare(i) pronounce her worthy of the love of a God, who by her affection for fb brave a man (hewed herfelf fo great a lover of virtue and goodnefs. Thefeus and Romulus both had political talents-, but neither of them preferved the proper character of a King, the or.e declining to a popular government, the other degenerating into a tyrant, both committing the fame fault from contrary pailions. For a Prince's firft concern ought to be the preiervation of the government: iticlf ; and in order to this he mould neither claim more Authority than is his due, nor on the other hand give .up any part of his prerogative. Whoever gives up his right. (9) This is taken from the dif- with his own hands ? courf'eof Diotimus in Plato's ban- (2) Plutarch's reafoning is cer- quet. tainly veryjuft; it ii, not eafily to (i) Where is the virtue of that be Conceived how a man can be hur- princefs, who fell in love with a rieci into fuch an extravagance of ftranger the very firft time fne faw paffion in a council of ftate, where him, betrayed both her father the publick weal -is the fnbjedt of and her country for his fake, and their deliberations. But Plutarch rece : ved him into her arms pol- does not feem to have hit upon luted with the blood of her bro- the real motives of the conteft be- thei Deucalion, whom he had flain twixt Romultti and Remus ; for in the right, or extends his claim too far, is no more a King, but either a Have to the people or a tyrant, and fo be- comes either odious or contemptible to his fubje&s. The one feems to be the fault of eafmefs and good nature, the other of pride and feverity. If the calamities of mankind are not to be imputed entirely to fortune, but to be afcribed to the difference of their manners and pailions, both Thefeus and Romu- lus are chargeable with the effecls of that blind and furious refentrnent which one of them mowed towards Jiis brother and the other towards his fon. But if we confider the firft motives of thefe pailions, he is moft excufable who was tranfported by a ftronger caufe, like one overthrown by a more violent blow. (2) Thus Romulus having difagreed with his brother, only in their deliberations concerning publick affairs, one would think, he could not on a fudden have been fo much inflamed with pafllon ; but love, and jealoufy, and the complaints of his wife (incitements which few are able to withftand) urged Thefeus to commit that outrage upon his fon. An4 what is more, Romulus in his anger com- mitted an action of mofl unfortunate corifequence ; but the anger of Thefeus ended only in words, reproaches, and an old man's curfes ; the reft of the youth's mifery feems to have proceeded from fortune. Thus far The- feus feemg to deferve the preference. But Romulus has firft of all this great advantage, that his performances proceeded from very fmall beginnings - for both the brothers being thought fer vants, and the fons qf herdfmen, before they were freemen themfelves gave the firft place the publick was no all patience when he perceived way concerned in the debate on Remus did not oniy ridicule his which of the mounts the city works, but added infult to rail- ought to be built; their ambition Jery, leaping over theciifchby way only was interefted in it, and the of contempt, pretending thereby point contefted between them was to foretel that the enemy would which of the two fhould be maf- demolish the walls. So that it is ter of Rome. In the next place to be doubted whether Romulus we are to confider that this was had not more caufe to be emag- not the real motive of Romulus's ed at his brother) than Thefeus violent tranfport ; he was out of at his fon, L 3 (3) Thefe ^S be Comparifojt of gave liberty to almofl all the Latins, obtaining at once all the mod honourable titles, as deflroyers of their country's enemies, prefervers of their friends and kind- red, princes and founders of a new city -, whereas Thefeus only built one place of habitation out of many, demolifhing many cities which bore the names of ancient kings and heiOcs. It is true, Romulus did the fame afterwards, forcing his enemies to deftroy their own dwellings, and to live with their conquerors ; but at firfl he did not remove or increaie a city that was founded before, but built one entirely from the ground ; acquiring likewife to himfelf, lands, a country, a king- dom, wives, children, and relations. He deflroyed no one, but encouraged thofe that wanted houfes and habita- tions, if willing, to join in a tociety, and become citizens. He did not kill robbers and malefactors, but he fubdued nations, he overthrew cities, he triumphed over kings a~d princes. And as to his brother, it is doubtful by whofe hand he fell ; his death is generally imputed to others. His mother he apparently retrieved from death, and placed his grandfather, who was brought under bafe and difhonourable vaflalage, on the ancient throne of ./Eneas and he voluntarily did him many good offices, but never injured him, no not even through ignorance or inadvertency. But Thefeus, in his forgetfulnefs of the command concerning the flag, can fcarcely in my opinion by any excules, or before the mikiefl judges, avoid the imputation of parricide ; Ib that a certain Athenian, perceiving it very hard to defend him, feigns that TEgeus, at the arrival of the fhip, running haftily to a tower to take a view of it, fell down ; as if it could be fuppofed that /Egeus ran to the fea-fide without being attended or followed by any one. As to the faults committed with regard to women, they admit of no plaufible excufe in Thefeus ; Firfl, (3) Thefe numbers are (4) This he fwore before the wrong in Plutarch, for Diony- Cenfors, declaring at the fame ftus fays it was 520 after the time that he loved his wife with building of Rome, and A. Gellius.. the utmoft tendernefs, and parted 519- ' with her only in compliance with the R o M tf L u s were as fenfibly touched with it, as if they had been formally and ieverely reprimanded - y and fo much the more, becaufe the Kings and the whole Senate, as well as the reft of the city, went to fee and hear all that pafled. Now though it may feemftrange that virgins mould ap- pear thus naked in public, yet as the ftri cleft modefty was obferved and all wantonnefs excluded, there was no- thing of indecency in it ; but it accuftomed them to an innocent fimplicity, raifed in them an emulation of having a vigorous conftitution, (3) and gave even their tender (2) I am furprized to find Plu- (3) How did this courage ap~ tarch endeavouring to juftify Ly- pear, when Epaminondas, after the curgus againft the evidence of all battle at Lcutra, went to attack antiquity, whereby it appears that Sparta ? Then the women ran i*j> the licentioufnefs of the Spartan and down in the utrnoft terror, fil- women was fo great, that nothing ling the city with their (hrieks, and could reftrain it. This is con- were the caufe of more diforder fefTed even by a Lacedaemonian and confufion than the enemies in Plato's books de Legibus. tbemfdvea. (4} That- 124 tfbe LIFE/?/ tender fex a tinfture of noble and manly courage, af knowing that they were alfo to fhare in the credit of valour and magnanimity. That dignity of fentiment which was produced by the fe means often appeared in their converfation. Of this we have an inftance in Gorgo, the wife of King Leonidas, who when a certain foreign lady faid to her, " You of Lacedaemon are the " only women in the world who have an empire over the " men, replied, and with good reafon, for we are the " only women that bring forth men." Befides, thefe public proceffions of the maidens, and their appearing naked in their exercifes and dancings, were provocations to allure the young men to marriage. For, as Plato fays, " no geometrical conclufion can follow from the premifes " fo neceilarily as amorous inclinations muft follow from " fuch an intercourfe." And to promote marriage more effectually, thofe who continued batchelors were made infamous by law , for they were excluded from the fight of thofe publick proceflions in which the young women danced naked ; nay the magiflrates compelled them to march naked themfelves round the market-place in the very depth of winter, finging a certain fong to their own difgrace, implying that they juflly fuffered this punifh- ment for difobeying the laws. Befides, they were de- .nied that refpedt and obfervance which the younger fort were obliged to pay to their elders ; and therefore no man found fault with what was faid to Dercyllidas, though he was an eminent commander, who coming one day into company, a young man, inftead of rifmg and making room for him, told him, " Sir, you muft " not exped that honour from me now I am young, which " cannot be returned to me by a child of yours when I hts wholly bent upon war ; fay, " He fpolce well enough Tor Mr which reafon all the fciences " a Lacedsmonian. v/'ete baniflied from Sparta. They (<;) Xenophon fays, thefe lovers r.ct fo much as a phyfician, lived with thofe who were be- >E interpreter. When they had loved by them as a father does ccafion for any ihey fent for with his children, or a brother with L Y C U R G U S. 129 they called Irens, who were ufually twenty years old ; thofe who were about eighteen were called Mellirens. This young man therefore was their Captain when they fought, and their Matter at home, ufmg them to wait upon him as his fervants, fending the oldeft among them to fetch wood, and the younger ones to gather herbs ; and thefe they dole either out of gardens, or by conveying themfelves very cautioufly and privately into the eating-houfes. If they were taken in the fad, they were feverely whipped for their negligence and want of dexterity. They flole too all other meat they could lay their hands on, watching all opportunities, when peo- ple were afleep or more carelefs than ufual. If they were caught, they were not only punifhed with whip- ping, but hunger too ; for their ordinary allowance was but very (lender ; and it was fo contrived on purpofe, that being prefTed by hunger, they might be forced to exercife their courage and addrefs. And this was the principal 4efign of their fpare diet. But there was an- other fubordinate intention which was to make them grow tall ; for the vital fpirits not being overburdened and opprefled by too great a quantity of nourishment, (which neceflarily extends itfelf into thicknefs and breadth) do by their natural lightnefs and activity mount upwards, fo that the body while it is pliable and yield- ing muft neceflarily encreafe in length. And this like- wife is thought to give a good fhape, for the lean and (lender conftitutions of body do more eafily follow the forming hand of nature, whereas thofe which are grofs (6) and over-fed are (lubborn and untraclable. This we find by experience in women who take phyfick whilfl diey are with child ; for though the children be by that means made fomething leaner, and of a lefs fize, yet are with his brethren. "Iknowhow- owing to the corruption and de- ever, adds he, there are many that pravity of other nations that they will believe nothing of this, nor will not believe the Spartans can do I wonder at it, for the unra- be touched with fuch a love, and tural love of boys is become fo at the fame time preferve theif common, that in many places it moderty and virtue, is authorized by thepubliclaws." (6) The Lacedemonians \yerefo This judicious writer fays it is caieful in hindring their youth N 3 from 130 The LIVE of are they, for the mod part, more del icately fhaped : the remaining matter, after the feparation of the grofler humours, being more fupple, and pliable, and more ealily receiving its proper form. But whether this be the true reafon or not, I lea^e to others to confider. The Lacedaemonian children were fb very cautious in their thefts and fo fearful of being difcover::d, that a youth having ftolen a young fox and hid it under his coat, fufFered it to tear out his very bowels with its teeth and claws, and ib died upon the place, rather than he would difcover it. What is pradifed to this very day by the youth of Lacedasmon is enough to gain credit to this ftory ; for I myfeif have feen feveral of them endure whipping to death at the foot of the altar of Diana, (7) {urnamed Orthia, The Iren, after fupper frequently bid one of them fing a fong : to another he put a queftion, which re- quired a judicious and deliberate anfwer for example, Who was the belt man in the city ? What he thought of fuch an action of fuc.h a man ? This accuflomed them from growing fat, tltat once in every ten days they patted naked in review before the Ephori, who chaftifed, and fined fuch whofe bodies were not pliant and eafy. (7) It was pretended that this Diana was the Diana Taurica, whofe ftatue Oreftes and Iphigenia ilole and brought to Lacedaemon. Whilft ihey were offering the firft facrifice to her, after they had found her, a quarrel arofe among the people afTembled there on that occafion, and a great deal of blood was fhed. Upon this the Oracle was confulted.and returned for anfwer, " Let the altar of the " Goddefs be fprinkled with blood,' which made them offer to her every year a man chofen by lot for that purpofe. At length this cuftom was aboliflied by Lycur- gus, who ftill to keep up to the letter of the Oracle ordained that the altar fiiould be fprinkled with the blood of fome of the youth who were to be whipt round it. A woman prefided at this facri- fice, and during the whole cere- mony held in her hands the fta- tue of the Goddefs, which was very fmall and light. And yet if they who had the whipping of the cnildren fpared any of them in refpedl of their birth, the fta- tue grew fo heavy that the prieft- efs could not fupport it. Thi& Diana was likewife called Ortho- fia, and her feaft was named - /*ariywo-c the Flagellation. (S) To the lovers they im- puted the virtues, or the vices, which were obferved in thofe they loved ; they commended them if the lads were virtuous, and fined them if they were otherwife.They likewife fined thofe, who had not made choice of any favourite. And L Y C U R G U S. 131 them early to pafs a right judgment upon perfons and things, and to inform themfelves of the abilities or de- tects of thei r countrymen. If they had not an anfwer ready to this queftion, what citizen was of good or ill reputa- tion, they were looked upon as of a dull and carelefs dif- pofition, and to have little or no fenfe of: virtue and honour : befides this, they were to give a good reafon for their anfwer, and in as few words and as comprehen- five as might be. He that failed of this, or anfwered not to the purpofe had his thumb bit by the Iren. Some- times the Iren did this in the prefence of the old men and magiftrates, that they might fee whether he punifhed them juftly and in due meafure or not : and though he did amifs, they would not reprove him while the boys were prefent, but when they were gone, he himfelf was called to an account, and underwent a correction too, if he had run far into either of the extremes of indul- gence or feverity. (8) Their lovers had a mare in the young lad's ho* nour or 4ifgrace ; and it is &id, that one of them was fined And here we may obferve Lycur- gus did not copy this inltitution from the practice obferved in Crete, thinking without doubt nich an example of too dangerous a tendency. That we may be the better able to judge of his prudence and .caution in this point, let us fee what Strabo writes concerning this cuftom of the Cre- tans in his tenth book. When any one fell in love with a youth in Crete, he acquainted the youth's friends three or four days before- hand, that at fuch a time he in- tended to run away with him. Thofe friends of his would have done a very (hameful thing had they upon this notice either con- cealed the youth, or hindered him from going abroad as ufual. This would be to difgrace him, as if they thought him unworthy ihe honour that was going to be N done to him. The day being come, if the lover was of as good or better fafhion than the youth, they only made a (how of refift- ance, purfuing him in form till he was gor to the place where he ufed to take his repatl ; but if he was of an inferior condition they forced him trom him. The ravifher after having made very rich prefents to the youth, car- ried him into the country with all his friends that had accompa- nied him j and after they hadfpent two months there in limiting anJ feafting, they all returned into the city. Among the other valu- able prefents given by the lover to his favourite, there was to be a warlike habit, a. goblet, and an ox. The youth facrinced the ox to Jupiter, and invited all thofe that had accompanied him to an entertainment, where he 4 P 1 ^- L I F E of fined by the magiftrates, becaufe the lad whom he loved cried out effeminately as he \\as fighting. This fort of love was efteemed fo decent ad honourable among them, that the moft virtuous matrons would own pub- lickly their paflion for a modefl and beautiful virgin. This affection produced no rivalfhip or jealoufy ; on the contrary thofe whofe love was fixed upon the fame per- fon were by this means united in the flridtefl friendfhip, and jointly confpired to render the beloved boy as ac- compliihed as poffible. They taught them alfo in their converfation a keen yet polite and pleafant kind of wit; with a concife and comprehenfive manner of expreflion. For Lycurgus, who ordered that a great piece of money, as we have already obferved, mould be but of an inconfiderable value, on the contrary, would allow no difcourfe to be current, which did not contain in few words a great deal of ufeful and weighty fenfe ; contrivirg that children by a habit of long filence and meditation, mould learn to be acute and fententious in their replies - t for the incon- tinence of the tongue renders the difcourfe empty and frivolous, juft as the other fort of incontinence caufes weaknefs and fterility in the bcdy. King Agis, when an Athenian laughed at their fhort fvvords, and faid *' that the. jugglers fwallowed fuch upon the ftage, an-. " fwered him, And yet ihort as they re, we can give our * c enemies a home thruft with them ;" and indeed I think there is in this concife way of fpeaking, fomething which immediately reaches the object aimed at, and forcibly ftrikes the mind of the hearer. Lycurgus himfelf was. in his difcourfe very fhort and fententious, if we may judge by what we find related of him ; as in that anfwer which he made to one who advifed him to eftablifh a popular government in Lacedasmon. " Begin friend, laid " he, and make a trial of it in thy own family. To another who publickly declared whether he Thofe who were in this manner was pleafed or difpleafed with ftolen away, were ever after held his ravifher, who, if he had mif- in the higheft efteem, had the firft behaved himfelf, was by the law places in all their aflemblies, wore to be punifhed, and forfaken. the warlike habit their lovers had given L Y C U R G U S. 133 who afked him why he allowed of fuch mean and cheap facrifices to the Gods ? he replied, "That we may always " have fomething to offer to them. Being afked, what fort of martial exercifes or combats he approved of, he an- fwered, " all forts, except that in which you ftretch out " your hands (9)." Many replies of the like force are to be found in the letters which he occafionally wrote to his countrymen. Thus, being confulted how they might bed oppofe an invafion of their enemies, he returned this anfwer, " By continuing poor, and one not coveting to " have more than another." Being confulted again, whe- ther it were requifite to enclofe the city with a wall, he fent them word, "That city is well fortified which has a wall " of men inftead of brick." But as for thefe letters, whe- ther they be counterfeit or not, I think it no eafy matter to determine i but that the Lacedaemonians were indeed ene- mies to talkativeness the following inftances are a fuffici- ent proof. King Leonidas faid to one who was talking to him fenfibly enough but unfeafonably, "Sir, you are im- " pertinent for fpeaking in this place ib much to the pur- "pofe." King Char ilaus, the nephew of Lycurgus, being afked why his uncle had made fo few laws, anfwered, "To " men of few words few laws are fufficient." One blamed Hecataeus the fophift, becaufe being invited to the pub- lick entertainment, he had not fpoke one word all fup- per-time : Archidamidas anfwered in his vindication, " He who can fpeak well knows alfo when to fpeak." I will now give an inftance or two of their fatirical re- partees, which, as I faid before, had a fort of pleafan- try with them which rendered them agreeable. Dema- ratus being aiked, by a troublefome importunate fellow, who was the beft man in Lacedaemon ? anfwered him, " He that is lean: like you. Some, in company where Agis was, much extolled the exadt juftice of the E- leans, who fat as judges at the Olympick games ; " Is " it given them, and were dignified molt valiant and modcft. with the title of Cleinoi, that is illuftrious They did not make (9) This was the form of de- choice of the moft beautiful for manding quarter in battle, the objeds of their love, but the (OHe 134 ?2* LIFE of " it fuch a great matter, fays Agis, if they can dojufticc " once in the fpace of five years ?" Theopompus anfvver- ed a ftranger, who to make his court to him faid, that he vas fo much taken notice of for his love to the Lace- daemonians, that his countrymen from thence called him Philolacon, [i. e. a lover of the Lacedaemonians] " that it " had been more for his honour if they had called him " Philopolites" [i. e. alover of his own countrymen.] And Pliilonax, the fon of Paufanias, when an orator of Athens, laid the Lacedaemonians were an illiterate and ignorant people, told him, " You fay true, for we only " of all the Graecians have learned none of your ill " qualities." One afked Archidamidas what number of men there was at Sparta ; he anfwered, " Enough to " keep our enemies at a diftance." The peculiar difpofition of this people appeared even in their moft ludicrous expreflions, For they ufed not to throw them out at random, nor ever uttered any thing which was not founded in goo&fenfe and reafon. For inftance, one being afked to hear a man who ex- actly counterfeited the voice of a nightingale, anfwered, " I have heard the nightingale itfelf." Another upon reading this epitaph, Here rejl the brave^ who quench'd tyramick -pride , Piftims of Mars, at Selinus they died. faid that they deferved to die, for inftead of quenching the tyranny they mould have let it burn out. A young man being offered fome game-cocks fo hardy that they would die upon the place, faid, that " he cared not for else, near Sparta He was be- loved by Apollo and Zephyrus, and was killed in a fit of jeaioufy by the latter, who caufed a quoit thrown by Apollo to fall upon him. He was changed into a flower which bears his own name. Admetus was the fon of Pheres, King of ThefTaly. It is faid that Apolio was liis fliepherd. (8) It is faid that Pindar once heard the God Pan finging one of his odes. (9) As for Heflod, the following hiftory of him is that to which Plutarch, without doubt, alludes. After the death of this poet, who was buried in /Ktolia, in the ter- ritory of Naupactus, at the en- trance into the gulf of Corinth, the Orchomenians, a people of Bceotia, being terribly afflicted with a plague, fent to the Oracle at Delphi for a remedy againfi; fa grievous a calamity. The prieft- efs return'd for anfwer, that tl.j peftilence was not to ceafe till they had removed the bones of the poet Hefiod into their country, and that a crow fhould conduit them to the place where they were interred j as foon as they had paid obedience to the Oracle the N U M A. 1.59 /o-i/V/Hippolytus returns once wore ; Conduct bimfafe ye winds from /bore to jhore. It is reported alfo, that Pan (8) became enamoured of Pindar and his verfes, and (9) that a Deity honoured Hefiod and Archilochus after they were dead, on account of their poetry. It is laid alfo that \vhile Sophocles lived /Efculapius was entertained by him, of which there are many proofs remaining (i) ; and that after his death, another Deity (2) procured him burial. Wherefore if any credit may be given to thefe particular iiiftances, why fhould we judge it incongruous, that a like Spirit of the Gods mould infpire Zaleucus, Minos, Zoroafter, Lycurgus, Numa, or many others who were legifla- tors, governors or founders of commonwealths ? Nay, what if we mould fuppofe that the Gods make it a ierious bufinefs to infpire fuch men with great and noble defigns, and that if they ever converfe with poeta and muficians, they do it merely to divert themfelves ? But if any man be of another opinion, (3) as Bacchylides fays, " The way is broad enough ; for there is no abfur- dity the plague ceafed. As for Archi- lochus, he was honoured after his death in the following manner. Having been (lain in fight by a fuldier of Naxus, the firft time afterwards when that foldier went to prefent himfelf in the temple of Delphi, the prieftefs forbid him the place, becaufe he had killed a man confecrated to the mufes. He would fain have jollified him- felf to the prieftefs, and appeafed the Deity by prayer ; but he was commanded by the Oracle to go immediately into the houf3ofone Tettix, near the promontory of Tznarus, and there, by his libati- ons and {acrifices, appeafe the Manes of Archilochu-;. (i) It does not appear to me what thofe proofs were, which were extant in the days of Plu- tarch ; perhaps they might be fomeinfcriptions. (2) That other Deity was Bac- chus, and this is the ftory. Whilft Lyfander was carrying on the fiege of Athens, he had pofTefTed him- felf of the fort of Ducelsea, where was the fepulchre of Sopbocles's anceftors. The poet died during the liege, and they could not bury him in that fepulchre, be- caufe it was in the hands of the enemy. Bacchus appeared in a dream to Lyfander, and command- ed him to fufFer the new Syren juft dead at Athens, to be buried in DecelcEa. At firft Lyfander flighted the apparition, where- upon Bacchus appeared to him a fecond time ; and Lyfander having learned from a deferter that So- phocles was dead, he fuffered the Athenians to bury him, and ho- noured the funeral with his pre- fence. P z (3) He i6o ne LIFE of dity in that other account which fome give of the pro- ceedings of Lycurgus and Numa, and other famous men ; that being to manage the untractable and perverfe dif- pofition of the multitude, and defigning to introduce great innovations in their political eftablimment, they pretended a divine authority for what they did, entirely from a regard to the welfare of thofe who were thus to be deceived into their own happinefs. Numa was about forty years of age when the am- bailadors came from Rome to make him an offer of the kingdom. The fpeakers were Proculus and Velefus, two perfons of fuch eminence, that it was thought, fbme time before, the people would have chofen one of them for King ; the party of Romulus being zealous for Pro- culus, and the Tatian faction for Velefus. Their fpeech was very fhort, as they fuppofed that Numa would gladly embrace the offer which was made him. But it was no eafy matter to perfuade him ; they were forced to ufe many arguments and intreaties to induce him to leave his quiet and retired life, and to accept the go- vernment of a city, which owed both its original and increafe to war. Wherefore, in prefence of his father* and Martius one of his kinfmen, he anfwered in this manner : " Every alteration of a man's life is dangerous " to him but it is madnefs for one that neither wants " the conveniences of life, nor has any difagreeablecir- " cumflances attending his condition, to change that " plan of life to which he has been long accuftomed, " which if it has no other advantage, yet as it is fure^ " and certain, muft be preferable to that which is ." doubtful and unknown. But the difficulties of this " government are even beyond an uncertainty, if we may " judge by what befel Romulus, who did not efcape the " fufpicion of having plotted againft the life of his co!- " legue Tatius ; nor was the fenate free from a like " fufpicion of having treafonably murdered Romulus. ** And yet he is efteemed by every one to have Iprung " from the Gods, and to have been nurfed and preserved " after a miraculous manner in his infancy. But as for "me (3) He was a Lyrick poet of Ceos, and nephew of SimonHes. (4) Pi- N U MA. ** me, I am only of mortal race, and have been nurfed ** and educated by perfons well known among you. " My difpofitions are thefe; an extraordinary love of re- " tirement, and of fiich ftudies as are inconfiilent with M bufmefs and action ; a ftrong deep-rooted love of " peace, which has always grown up with me ; and a " delight in the fociety of fuch men as aflemble only for " the worfhip of the Gods, or for the fake of friendly ** converfation, and employ the reft of their time in til- '" ling their ground and feeding their cattle. Thefe are " the beft parts of my character ; and they are all fuch *' as render a man very unfit to reign. Whereas Ro- " mulus, perhaps, may have left you, oh Romans \ en- " gaged in unavoidable wars; to fupport which, your " ftate requires an active and vigorous King. Befides, *' your people have been long accuftomed to arms, and *' are elated by fuccefs ; fo that their ambition of in- " creafing their power and extending their conquefts is " apparent to all. And therefore, befide other confi- " derations, that Prince would render himfelf ridiculous, *' who fhould go about to inculcate the worfhip of the " Gods, and teach an high reverence for juftice, and a " deteftation of violence and war, to a city which rather " requires a martial captain than a peaceable King. The Romans upon this refufal, were the more urgent with him, befeechi ng him that he would not fuffer them to relapfe into their former fedition and civil difcord ; there being no perfon in whom both parties could agree but himfelf. And at length his father, and Mar- tius, taking him afide, perfuaded him to accept fo no- ble and divine a gift. " Though, laid they, you neither " defire riches, as being content with your own fortune, u nor court the fplendid fame of authority and power, " as having already the more valuable fame of virtue ; *' yet you will confider that government itfelf is truly a u fervice of the Gods, who now call forth to action your " native wifdom and juftice, and will no longer fuffer *' thefe noble qualities to lie unemployed and ufelefs to 44 mankind. And therefore you ought by no means to " decline the government, which affords a wife man *' fo large a fie Id for great and honourable actions ; in P " which 162 The LIFE of ' which the worfhip of the Gods may be performed with ' more folemnity, and men's minds receive a new turn > and be rendered more fubmifiive to the rules of religion by the example and authority of their Prince. Even : ' thefe very Romans fhowed a great affection to Tatius, 4 though a foreigner ; and the memory of Romulus is fo " precious to them, that fince his deceafe, they have " voted divine honours to be paid to him. And who " knows, but that this people being victorious, may now " think they have had enough of war ; and that being " fatiated with the trophies and fpoils they have acquir- " ed, they may wifh for a juft and pacifick Prince to " eftablifh good order and tranquillity in the ftate ? But " mould their mad, impetuous defire of war (till con- " tinue, were it not better that the reins fhould be held " by fuch a moderating hand, as is able to divert the " fury another way ? and that you fhould unite both " your own native country, and the whole Sabin nation, u in the ftricteft bonds of love and friendship with fo " flourishing and powerful a city ?" Thefe perfuafions were flrengthned by feveral aufpicious omens, and by the zeal of his own citizens, who as foon as they heard the meilage that was fent from Rome, conjured him to accept the offer ; being allured that it was the only means to appeafe all civil diffenfions, and incorporate both nations into one body. As foon as Nnma was determined to go, having firft facrificed to the Gods, he fet forward towards Rome. He was met on the way by the Senate and people, who expref- fed an eager defire to receive him. The women alfb wel- comed him with joyful acclamations ^ and Sacrifices were offered in all the , temples ; and fo univerfal was the joy, that the city Seemed not to receive a King, but the addition of a new kingdom. When he came into the Forum> (4) Plutarch is here miftsken. (5) Dionyfius on the contrary Livy tells us that it was the head fays, that Numa made no altera- of the aucrur not of Numa that tion in what had been fettled by vas covered ; and it was always Romulus, only that, he conferred the cuftom for the a-jgur to have the third rank in the admini- a covering on hfs head when he ftration of holy things on the tri- niade his observations. bunes that commanded thofe companies N U M A. 263 Forum, Spurius Vettius, whofe turn it was to be interrex or governor at that time, putting it to the vote, whe- ther Numa fhould be King ; he was unanimoufly elected. Then the royal robes were brought to him ; but he re- fufed to be inverted with them, until he had firfl con- fulted and been confirmed by the Gods, Accordingly being accompanied by the priefts and Augurs, he afcended the capitol, which at that time the Romans called the Tarpeiau rock. The chief of the Augurs covered the head of Numa, (4.) and turned his face towards the South ; then, {landing behind him, he laid his right hand on his head, and prayed, calling his eyes every way, in expectation of birds, or fbme other aufpicious fignal from the Gods. The multitude, which was aflembled in the Forum, flood with wonder- ful filence expecting and longing for an happy event, which was loon determined by the appearance and flight of fuch birds as were accounted fortunate. Then Numa putting on the royal robes, defcended from the hill into the Forum, where he was received by the people with fhouts and acclamations, being efteemed by all a moll religious Prince, and mod highly beloved of the Gods. The firft thing he did at his entrance into the go- vernment (5) was to difmifs the band of^three hundred men, which Romulus conflantly kept for his life-guard, and called Celeres ; for he did not think it reafonable ei- ther to mow any diftruft of thofe who had placed fo much confidence in him, or to rule over a people that durft not trull him. He then added to the two priefts of Jupiter and Mars, a third in honour of Romulus, whomhecalled Flamen Quirinalis. The Romans before that time called their priefts Flamines, by corruption of the word Pi la- mines, from certain caps which they wore, called Piloi in Greek ; for in thofe times Greek v/ords were more mixed with the Latin, than in this age. So elfo that royal companies of guards, with an in- pie there was a youth of quality, tent, doubtlefs, to infr.il into them whofe bufinefs it was to minifter ftronger notions of juftice and to the high-pried, and perform humanity. all the offices relating to the fer- (61 Camillas is derived from the vices of the temple. It was re- Boeotick K*/*iXos to any animal whatever, which which the Latins call Patiimum he punctually obferved, and lived Matrimum. in the woods as a difciple of that (7) It is alfo faid that he philofopher. had tamed g. furious wiid bear, (8) Plutarch adds the Phlialian and that, letting him Joofe, be *odiftinguifl)him fromTimon the Athenian, NUMA. 165 from him: For religious ceremonies and occupations made a great part both of the philofophy of the one, and the policy of the other. It is faid alfo that his folemn air and oftentatious pretences were copied from Pytha- , and the re- maining ten they employed in teaching others. The whole term being compleated, fhe that pleafed was al- lowed to marry, and to betake herfelf to any other kind of life, quitting the exercifeof the facred function. But it is faid that there were but few who ever chofe to ufe this liberty, and that tliofe who did, were never "happy, but wore out the reft of their lives in continual regret and melancholy, which threw the others into fuch a fuperftitious fear of the like, that they chofe to continue ,ApolloniusPergaxusca!ledthatcQ'- equal fides: for they ciid not know .nick fec~lion which now ha? the that the fame figure would he name of perabola, " The fection produced by the fection of any *' of the redlangled cone," which cone. <:one is formed by the revolution (i) Dionyfiua of HaHcarnaiTus -of a reclangular triangle of two fay* it was Tarquir.ius Prifcus. - .(2) Plu^ 170 The LIFE tf continue till old age and the hour of death in their firi$ rules and fmgle life. Numa granted thefe women very great privileges : They had power to make a will in the life-time of their father ; they were allowed the administration of their own affairs without guardian or tutor, as women now are who are mothers of three children ; when they went abroad, (2) they had the Fafces carried before them ^ and if they happened to meet a malefactor leading to execu- tion, he was immediately freed from death, (3) provided the Veftal made oath, that their meeting was accidental and undefigned. Whofoever went under the chair on which they were carried, was punifhed with death. If thefe veftals committed any other faults they were punifhed with whipping, which punifhment was in- flicted by the high-pried only, who fometimes whipped them naked in a dark place, and under the cover of a veil or curtain ; but me that had been defloured, was buried alive near the gate called Collina ; where within the city a little mount of earth is raifed, reaching a good way in length, called in Latin, Agger : under it is a lit- tle cell, to which there is a defcent by fleps. Here they prepare a bed, and light up a lamp, and provide a fmall quantity of victuals, fuch as bread, water, milk and oil ; that fo that body, which had been devoted to- the mod facred fervices of religion, might not perifh by a death fo deteftable as that of famine. The condemned perfon is carried to execution through the Forum in a litter, covered up and bound in fuch a manner that her cries cannot be heard ; the people filently make way for the litter, and follow it without fpeaking, and with mournful and dejected looks : and indeed there is not a more dreadful fpectacle than this, nor any day on which the (2) Plutarch is miftaken in this and ceremonies of the Roman?, particular. The veftals had not who would have thought it a fort that honour conferred upon them of facrilege to have obliged the till many ages after, by the tri- veftals to take an oath. The dig- umvirs Auguftus, Lepidus, and nity of their function rendered Antony, in the year of Rome 71 2. them fo venerable that they were (3) Here again Plutarch feems believed without the folemnity of to be a ftranger to the cuftoms an oath. Nay it is an article in the N U M A. 171 the city puts on fb great an appearance of fofrow, as on this occafion. When the litter comes to the appointed place, the officers loofe the cords ; and then the high prieft, lifting up his hands to heaven, and pronouncing fome certain prayers privately juft before the fatal mi- nute, reads out the prifonev, who is Chill covered up, and places her upon the fteps which lead down to th cell ; he then retires with the reft of the priefts, and when fhe is gone down, the fteps are drawn tip, and the- cell is covered with a ^reat deal of earth thrown C? upon it, fo as to make it equal with the reft of the Agger. Such was the punimment of thofe Veftals who proved unchafte. It is faid ahb that Numa built the temple of Vefla, which was intended for a repofitory of the holy fire, in an orbicular form, not with a defign to reprefent the figure of the earth, as if that were Vefta, but the frame of the univerfe, in the centre of which the (4) Pythago- reans place the element of fire, and give it t!ie name of Vefta and Unity : but they do not hold that the earth is irrrmoveable, or that it is fituated in the middle of the world, but that it has a circular motion about the cen- tral fire. Nor do they account the earth among the chief or primary elements. And this, they fay, was "the opinion of Plato, who, in his old age, held mat the earth was placed at a diftance from the centre, for that being the principal place was referved for fome more noble and refined body. The Pontifices were to give directions, to thofe who conlulted them, concerning the rites to be obierved at funerals ; Numa having: taught them that they mould not think they contracted any impurity by fuch things, but mould perform the ufual fervice to the in- fernal the perpetual edift, that is the fore fhould have faiJ " provided edidl of the praetors, " Sacerdotem " fhc declared, &c. Veftaleni, & Flaminem Dialeni (4) That this was the opinion ' in omni mea Jurifdidtione jurare of Philolaus and o:her Pythagore- ' eon cogam. Throughout all my ans is well known ; but that i'y- ' jurifdi&ion I will not oblige a thagoras himfelf held tlie earth to ' veftal virgin or prieft of Jupiter be the centre is affirmed by Dio- ' to takeanoath," Plutarch there- sene- Laemus. (5) Venus 172 Me LIFE of fernal Gods, who then received the mod noble part of our nature, but more particularly to the Goddefs called Libitina, who prefided over the funeral folemnitiesj whether they meant hereby (5) Proferpina, or, as fomc of the moft learned Romans maintain, Venus : for they, juftly attributed both the birtri and death of men to the power of the fame Deity. Numa alib regulated the time of mourning, according to the age of the deceafed. For example, they were not to mourn at all for a child under three years old ^ nor for one older, more than fo many months as it was years old, as far as ten. But the longefr. time of mourn^ ing for any perfon whatfoever was not to exceed the term of ten months ; which alfo was the time appointed for women who had buried their hufbands to continue in the flate of widowhood. And fhe that married again before that time was over was obliged by the laws pf Numa to (6) facrifice a cow big with calf. Numa alfo was founder of feveral other orders of priefts ; two of which I (hall mention, the Salii and the (7) Fetiales ; becaufe they are ftrong proofs of the reli- gious difpofition of this Prince. Thefe Fetiales, were in my opinion a fort of prefervers of peace, or what the Greeks call Irenophylaces, and had their name from their office, which was to determine difputes by ami- cable conference : for they would not allow arms to be taken up, until all hopes of an accommodation werer cut off; for by the word Irene, or peace, the Greeks mean that ftate of affairs in which differences are ad- juftecj (5) Venus and Proferpine were mourning were expired. Their one and the fame Deity. Her mourning habit was of black with- temple was called the temple of out gold, purple, or any fort of Venus Libitina. There was like- trimming. On fome occafions wife atDelphi a Venus Epitumbia, they were allowed to quit it for i Sepulchral Venus, who prefided time, and then put it on again ; over funerals, and before whom as when a father, brother, or fon theyraifedupthefoulsof thedead. returned fromflavery j whenfome (6) By a facrifice fo fliameful, of the family were advanced to and abhorrent to nature Numa any confiderable employment ; at propofed to keep the women in the celebration of the feaft of due bounds, and hinder their Ceres ; and on a thankfgiving to Carrying again till the days of the Gods for any remarkable and fortunate N U M A. 173 jufted by reafbn or difcourfe, and not by violence or arms. Thefe Fetiales were frequently difpatched to thofe who had injured the Romans, to require fatisfac- tion: if this was denied, they then called the Gods to witnefs, and uttered many dreadful imprecations both upon memfeives and their country if their undertaking were not juft, and fo denounced war. Without the confent of the Fetiales it was not lawful for any private foldier, nor even the Roman King himfelf, to take up arms j the war was to begin from them, and when they had determined it to bejuft, the King might deli- berate concerning the conduct of it. It is faid, that the (laughter and deftrudion which the Gauls made of the Romans, was the confequence of neglecting this re- ligious proceeding. For while this barbarous nation was befieging Clufium, Fabius Ambuftus was fent to their camp with propofitions of peace in favour of the be- fieged; but receiving a rude and peremptory anfwer, and therefore imagining that his office of Ambafiador was at an end, he ramly took arms for the Clufians, and challenged the braveft of the enemy to a fingle combat. It was the fortune of Fabius to kill his adver- fary, and to take his fpoils ; but when the Gauls dif- covered who he was, they fent a herald to Rome to com- plain againft Fabius, who, contrary to faith and juftice had taken arms againft them without any declaration of war. The matter being debated in the fenate, the Fetiales were of opinion, that Fabius ought to be deli- vered into the hands of the Gauls : but he, appealing to fortunate event, whether publick tution of this order all the good or domeftick. fuccefs that attended the Romans (7) It is laid that Numa bor- in their v/ars. " For, fays he, rowed this inftitution from the old * becaufe the Romans never em- inhabitants of Latium, or from ' barked in any war without juft thofe of Ardea. It is not to be 'motives, therefore have they doubted but it wasfirft introduced ' been always favoured with the into Italy by the Pelafgi, who had divine affiftance, and been bleft always fome perfons of a facred ' with fuccefs." Thefe Fetiales character that marched at the were likewife called Oratores, head of their armies, without any which would incline one to be- other arms or weapons than a lieve they were fo called, not from Caduceus adorned with fillets, facere, to do, but from fari, t Dionyfius attributes to the infti- fpeak. VOL. I. (^ (8) There X74- ?be LIFE / to the people, by their protection and favour was fe- cured, and efcaped the fentence. And foon after this the Gauls marched to Rome, and facked the whole city, except the capitol ; as we have at large related in the life of Camillus. As to the priefts called Salii, they are faid to (8) have been inftituted upon the following occafion. In the eighth year of the reign of Numa, a terrible peftilence, which was fpread over all Italy, did likewife miferably infeft the city of Rome. During the confirmation which this calamity produced, it is reported that a brazen target fell from heaven into the hands of Numa 5 and that the King himfelf gave this wonderful account of it, which he had learnt from the nymph Egeria and the rnufes, that it was fent from heaven for the cure and fafety of the city ; and that it was to be kept with the greatefl care imaginable, which was to be done by making eleven others, fo like in dimenfions and form to the original, that in cafe there mould be a defign tofteal it away, the true one might not be diftinguifhed from thofe which were counterfeited. He further de- clared that he was commanded to confecrate to the mufes that place and the meadows about it where he had been ufed to converfe with them ; and that the fpring which watered that field mould be made facred, and appropriated to the ufe of the veftal virgins, who were daily to wafh their temple with thofe waters. It is faid that the truth of this account was confirmed by the immediate celTation of the peftilence. Numa having produced the target, and commanded the beft artifts to try their (kill, and vie with each other in making a exact likenefs ; all of them defpaired of coming up to it, except Veturi us Mamurius, an excellent workman, who fucceeded fo well, and made them all fo perfectly to refemble the true one, that Numa himfelf could not diftinguifh the original from the copy. The keeping of (8) There were only twelve of and they were chofen out of the thefe at fir ft inftituted by Numa, beft families in Rome. But after- according to the number of the wards their number was ihcreafed. ftiields which they were to carry ; In their proceflion they fung a ft I N U M A. I75 of thefe targets was committed to the care of the priefts called Salii ; who did not receive their name, as fome imagine, from one Salius, who was born at Samothrace, or at Mantinea, and who taught the way of dandng in arms ; but rather from that kind of jumping dance which the Salii themfelves ufe (9), when in the month of March they carry the facred targets through the city. At this procefllon they are habited in a purple veft, girt with a broad belt of brafs ; on their heads they wear a brazen helmet, and carry fhort fwords in their hands with which they ftrike upon the targets. The reft of the dance they perform with their feet ; and this part of it has indeed a very pleafing effect ; for it confiils of feveral intricate turnings and involutions in a quick meafure, in which they mow at once ftrength, agility, and graceful eafe. Thefe targets were called Ancylia from the form of them ; for they were not round, nor like the Peltae femilunar ; but their fides were too crooked indented lines which turned in towards each other and joined at the ends ; and from this curve figure (in greek Anculon) they had their name. Or elfe they might be fo named from Ancon, which fignifies that part of the arm which is between the wrift and the elbow, and on which the fhield is carried, Thefe are the accounts which Juba gives of them, out of his great defire to make the name Greek. But if the name is to be derived from the Greek, it may as well come from Anecathen, which exprefTes its being fent from above ; or from Akefis, which fignifies the cure of difeafes ; or from Auchmon Lufis, a deliverance from drought , or from Anafchefis, prefervation from calami- ties, whence it is that the Athenians called Caftor and Pollux Anacas. It is reported that the reward which Mamurius received for this his art, was to be comme- morated in a fong which the Salii fang as they danced through the city. But though fome are of opinion . that fet of verfes called Carmen Saliare hardly underftood them, compofed by Numa, which in (9) The word Salire fignifies Quintilian's time were grown fo to dance, obsolete that the Salii themfclves CL (0 176 The LI F E of that they fung Veturium Mamurium, others fay it was. Veterem Memoriam, which is Ancient Remembrance. After Numa had in this manner inflamed thefe feve- ral orders of priefts, he erected a Royal palace which is ftill called Regia. There he fpent moft of his time in the offices of religion, or in inftrudting the priefts, or in converfing with them on divine fubjeds. He had alfo another houfe upon the mount Quirinalis ; the place where it ftood they mow to this day. In all publick pro- cefiions, and in general in all proceflions of the priefts, heralds were fent before to give notice to the people, that they mould keep holiday, and forbear their ordi- nary labour. For as they fay that the Pythagoreans did not allow men to pay to the Gods only a flight or cafual worfhip, but obliged them to go directly from their houfes with minds prepared for the- purpofe ; fo Numa in like manner decreed, that his citizens mould not be carelefs or inattentive when they faw or heard any reli- gious fervice performed ; but laying afide all other affairs, mould apply their meditations to religion, as a bufmefs of the greateft moment ; and that the ftreets mould be clear from noife and clamour, and all fuch obftrudtions as are the ufual effects of manual labour, that no difturbance might be given to the holy folem- nity. Something of this cuftom ftill remains at Rome ; for when the Conful is employed either in taking an augury, or facrificing, they call out to the people, Hoc age, or Do this, whereby the auditors are admonifhed to recollect and compofe themfelves. And many other of () That is, them flialt not give the fame thing, for by it is meant rhyielf up to idlenefs, but labour that a man ought to die courage- daily, for he that does not work oufly and full .of hope, without ought not to live. any hankering after life. (2) That is, thou fhalt not ir- (4.) For the odd number is more ritate him who is already in a perfect, and the fymbol of con- paffion. cord, becaufe it cannot be divided (3) This fymbol is related in a into two equal parts, as the even different manner, and Plutarch number may, which is therefore himfelf gives it this turn on ano- the fymbol of divifion. And for ther occafion, " never return from the fame reafon the firft month ** the borders j" but it conies to was confecrated to the celeftial, and N U M A. 177 of his inftitutions have a great refemblance to thofe of the Pythagoreans ; for as they had fuch precepts as thefe, (i] " Thou (halt riot fit on apeck meafure : (2) Thou fhalt " not ftir the fire with a fword : (3) When thou goefl out " upon a journey, look not behind thee : When thou fa- 11 crificeft (4) to the celeftial Gods, let it be with an odd " number ; and when to the terreftrial, let it be with an "even number ; " the meaning of which they would not difclofe to the vulgar ; fo fome of Numa's inftitutions have a concealed meaning ; fuch as thefe : " Thou fhalt " not offer to the Gods wine proceeding from a vine " which was never pruned. (5) No facrifices (hall be " performed without meal. Turn round in adoration of " the Go4s, and fit down when you have worfhipped. The two firft precepts feem to recommend the cultivat- ing the earth as a part of religion , and as to the turning which the worfhippers are to ufe in divine adoration, it is faid to be in imitation of the circular motion of the world. But in my opinion, the meaning rather is, that becaufe, as the temples opened towards the Eaft, they who entered them, turned their backs upon the rifing fun j confequently they were obliged to turn half round, to face the Eaft ^ and they afterwards completed the circle fo as to fimfh their prayers with their face towards the God of the temple. Unlefs, perhaps, this change of poflure may have a, myftical meaning (6) like the Egyp- tian wheels, and fignify to us the inftability of human fortune -, and, that which way foever God fhould. change $nd turn our condition of life, we mould be pleafedand fatisfied and the fecond to the terreftrisl but cakes, or figures of victims Deities. formed in pafte. (6) Clemens Alexandrinus quotes (5) There are two reafons for a pafiage out of a grammarian this precept ; the firft is what called Dionyfius of Trace, who Plutarch mentions in this place ; writes, that the Egyptian priefts it is to recommend agriculture ; prefented to fuch as came to offer for unJefs the land' be cultivated up their prayers in their temples, no grain is to be expected. The a wheel which they turned about, fecond is to wean men from facri- and fome flowers. The wheel fices of blood, and to induce was defigned to make them reflect them to ofter to the Gods nothing on the inftability of human af- Q^3 faiis, 178 tte L I F'E of fatisfied with out lot. As to the fitting after worfhip, they lay it denoted that their prayers were effectual, and that the bleflings they had afked would be firm and durable. They fay too that as* different actions are divided by intervals of reft, therefore one bufmefs being completed they fat down in the prefence of the Gods, that from them they might begin another. But this ceremopy may perhaps refer to what we mentioned be- fore;* and the lawgiver might intend by this to teach us not to fupplicate the Gods tranfiently, or in a hurry, but when we have time and leilure from worldly bufi- nefs^ By fuch religious difcipline as this, the city be- came fo tradtable, and ftood in fuch awe and reverence of the power of Numa, that they received for truth the moft abfurd fables, and thought nothing incredible or impoifible, which he affirmed or undertook. It is faid, (7) that he once invited a great number of citizens to an entertainment, in which the veflels were mean, and the repaft itfelf plain and homely. The guefts being feated, he began to tell them, that the God- defs with whom he ufed to converfe, was then juft coming in ; when on a fudden the room was ftirnifhed with all forts of precious veflels, and the table covered with a moft magnificent entertainment. But the dia- logue which js reported to have parted between him and Jupiter, is beyond all imagination abfurd. The ftory is this. Before mount Aventine was inhabited or inclofed within the walls of the city, while it was full of fairs, and the flowers were to re- and that he led t'-ern into all the mind them of the fhortnefs of apartments of his palace where life, which fades foon like flow- nothing was to be feen but very crs. ordinary furniture, without any (7) The machines that wrought tokens of an entertainment de- this miracle muft have been (kill- figned for a great number of fully contrived, if the change had guefts. That he difmift them not been made in the prefence of all till it was very late in the day, the Romans, and whilft they were and at the fame time invited them at table; but Dionyfius.a veryju- to fup with him that evening j dicious writer, tells it after a that at their return they found more probable manner. He fays, every thing magnificently rich, that Numa ordered thefe Romans the couches exceeding coftly, the jo attend him in the morning; table fumptuoufly furnifhed, and covered N U M A. 179 of fprings and fhady groves, two Demi-Gods, Picus and Faunus, ufed to frequent it, whom on other ac- counts one might fuppofe to have been Satyrs, or of the (8) Titanian race, except only that they went about Italy mowing wonderful feats by the power of pharmacy and magick, in the fame manner as thofe (9) whom the Greeks call the Da&yli of mount Ida, (i) Numa contriving one day to furprize thefe DemLGods, mjng.- led the waters of the fountain, of which they ufually drank, with wine and honey, by which means he eafiiy enfnared and took them. As foon as they were taken they changed themfelves into many flrange and hideous forms ; but at laft finding it impoiTible to efcape, they revealed to him many future events ; and they alfo taught him a charm for thunder and lightning, competed of onions and hair, and pilchards; and this charm is ufed even to this time. But fome fay, that thefe Demi-Gods .did not diicover the fecret of this charm to Numa ; but that by the force of their magick art, they conftrained Jove himfelf to defcend from heaven to fatisfy the demands of Numa ; and that he then, in an agry man- ner anfwering his enquiries, told him, that " if he " would charm the thunder and lightning, he mufl do " it with heads. How, laid Numa, with the heads of ** onions ? No, replied Jupiter, of men." But Numa, to elude this cruel command, anfwered, " Your meaning is " the hairs of mens heads : No, replied Jupiter, with liv- w ing" Pilchards, laid Niima,interrupting him. Thefe anfwers covered with the greateft rarities had honours paid to diem as to and dainties. Demi-Gods. Their very name (8) The printed copies have was looked on as an infallible Tirakwx j but fome MSS. have prefervatiye, and was always pro- riaW, i. e. fuch Gods as Pan. nqunced in a terrible fright, or which feems a better reading. imminent danger. There -were (9) Thefe Dactyli were the fame likewife (tones called DaSylildaei, with the Curetes, with whom Rhea which were of a fovereign virtue, intruded the guardianfhip of Ju- and of which they made amulets, piter whilil he was yet in his in- and wore them on their thumbs, fancy. They were in number five (i) This whole ftory is in or as fome fay ten, and all of Ovid's Fafti, Jib. 3. where he mount Ida in Crete. As they gives an account of the Salii and were benevolent to mankind, they Ancilia. i8o The LIFE ef anfwers he was taught to make by the Goddefs Egeria, Hereupon, they fay, Jupiter went away pacified ; and from his being fo, the place was called (2) Ilicius -. and thus was this charm effected. Thefe fabulous and nd\- culous (lories ferve to fhow the religious turn of men's minds in that age which they had acquired by long habit. And Numa himfelf is faid to have been pofleffed with fuch a confidence in the Gods, that when it was once told him, the enemy was coming, he only fmiled, and faid, " And I am facrificing." He is alfo faid to have been (3) the firft that built a temple to Faith, (4) and to Terminus ; and to have taught the Romans, that to fwear by Faith was the moft folemn of all oaths ; and this oath they continue to ufe to this day. Terminus is the God of Bounds, and to him they facrifice both publicly and privately, upon the boundaries of their lands. Now, indeed, they fa- crifice living creatures ; but anciently thofe facrifices were folemnized without blood, it being the dodrine of Numa, that the God of bounds, who was a preferver of peace, and witnefs of juflice among them, ought to be kept pure and unpolluted from blood and (laugh- ter. It is very certain, that it was this King who firft prefcribed bounds to the territories of Rome ; for Ro- mulus would never go about to make fb plain a confef- fion how much he had encroached on his neighbours lands, as he muft have done by fetting limits to his own ; for as bounds are fences againft arbitrary invafi- ons, to thofe who ob ferve them, fo they are evidences of the injuflice of thofe who violate them. The truth is, the portion of lands which belonged to the city of Rome (2) i. e from I'xtw?, which fig- Nunc quojue te celebrant, Elicit- nifies propitious ; but this feeins umque vacant. to be Plutarch's miftake. For Jupiter was called Elicius, from (3) This he did that a promife the word Elicere, aaOvid informs might, without the formalities of us upon this very eccalion. Fall, writings and witnefles, be as va- lib. 3. lid and effectual as the moft fo- Jemn contracts. And Polybius Eliciunt c/flo (e, Jupiter, unde gives this honourable teftimony of the Romans,that they moft inviol- ably N U M A. 181 Rome at the beginning, was very narrow ; but Romu- lus by war greatly enlarged it. All this land Numa divided amongft the indigent part of the citizens, that by this means he might keep them from extreme want, which is the neceffary caufe of mens injuring one ano- ther, and might turn the minds of the people to huf- bandry, whereby themfelves as well as their land would become better cultivated and more tradable. For there is no way of life that either fo foon or fo powerfully produces the love of peace, as the profeflion of hui- bandry, ^whereby fo much courage is preferved as en- ables men to fight in defence of their own, but that violence and impetuofity which breaks out in acts of injuflice and encroachment upon others is checked and retrained. Wherefore Numa engaged his citizens in agriculture as the fureft means to make them in love with peace, and chofe it for them as an employment fitted rather to improve the temper, than to procure great riches. He divided all the lands into feveral par- cels, to each of which he gave the name of Pagus or borough, and over each of them he appointed governors and overfeers. And fometimes he would himfelf in perfon take a furvey of them ; and making a judg- ment of every man's inclinations and manners, by the improvements he had made, he preferred thofe to ho- nours and authority who had merited mofl ; and ex- cited to induflry by his reproofs the Hothful and indo- lent. But among all his political inflitutions, that which is moft admired is his distribution of the people in- to companies, according to their feveral arts and pro- feflions. For as the city confifted of, or rather was divided, ably kept their word without be- Terminalis.or the God of the bor- ing obliged to it by bail, witnefs, ders. That the people might be orpromife; whereas ten fecuri- brought to content themfelves ties, twenty promifes, and as ma- with their own poiTeflions, and ny witnefles would have no ef- not encroach upon their neigh- fect upon the faithlefs Greeks, bours, Numa ordained, that not whom nothing could oblige to be only every private perfon, but honeft. even the publick fhould diftinguifti (4) This Terminus was a ftone, their lands by landmarks, and that a boundary con fecrated to Jupiter whoever removed them fliould be The LIFE of divided, as we have faid, into two nations which could not by any means be united, it being impoflible to efface the ftrangenefs and difference between them, and the perpetual claming and contention of the two par* ties j having confidered that hard bodies, and fuch as are not eafily .mixed fo long as they remain in their grofs bulk, by being beaten into powder, are often united and incorporated together, he determined to diftribute the whole people into many letter divifions, and thus by cafting them into other diftinctjons, to aboliih that firft and great diftinction, which was by this means fcattered into fmaller parts. This diftribu- tion was made according to the feveral arts or trades, of muficians, goldfmiths, malbns, dyers, fhoemakers, tan- ners, brafiers, and potters 9 and fo of other artificers, who were all reduced into companies, to each of which were appointed their refpective halls, courts, and ceremo-r nies of religion proper to their feveral focieties. Thus it was, that he firft banifhed out of the city the cuftom of calling and reputing one a Sabine, another a Roman, one a Partifan of Tatius, another of Romulus ; fo that this dif- tribution became the means of uniting and mixing all of them perfectly together. Among the reft of his political inftitutions is like^ wife highly approved his amendment of that law, (5) which gives power to fathers to fell their children for he exempted fuch as were married from that fubjec- tion, upon condition that they had matched them- felves be devoted to Jupiter Terminalis, " a third time, the fon is no longer after which he might be flain with " under the power of his father.'' impunity. In Greece the father's power over (5) Romulus had allowed fa- his children was not fo abfolute, thers a greater power over their and it ceafed when they became of children, than matters had over age. Whereupon Dionyfius ob- their flaves. A mafter could fell ferves, that there were more un- Jhis flave only once; whereas a dutiful children among theGreeks father might fell his fon three than among the Romans. times, let him be of what age, or condition foerer. The law runs (6) Plutarch is the only author thus :" Si Pater Filiumter venun- who mentions the name of this ** duit, filius a patre liber efto. intercalary month. In the life of " When a father has fold his fon Julius Cafar he calls it Mercedo- NT U M A. 10-3 (elves with the confent of their parents ; for it feemed very hard and unjuft, that a woman, who had given herfelf in marriage to a man whom me judged free, fhould afterwards find herfelf bound to live with a ;flave. He attempted alfo the reformation of the calendar, which he executed though not with abfolute exadnefs, yet with confiderable (kill. For during the reign of Romulus, they made ufe of months which had no cer- tain rule or meafure ; for to fome of them they aflign- .ed lefs than twenty days, to others thirty-five, and to .others more. They had no idea of the difference be- tween the motions of the fun and moon : only they kept to this rule that the whole year contained 360 days. But Numa obferving that there was eleven days dif- ference between the lunar and the folar year ; the lunar confiding of 354 days and the folar of 365 : to re- medy this inequality, he doubled the eleven days, and .every other year after the month of February he added an intercalary month of two-and-twenty days, which the Romans called the month Mercidinus (0). But this (7) his amendment of the irregularity did in time re- quire a further amendment. He alfo changed the or- ( der of the months, for March, which was reckoned the firft, he put into the third place; January, which in the time of Romulus was the eleventh, he jinade the firft ; and February, which was the twelfth and laft, to be the fecond. Some fay, that Numa en- tirely nius. The reafon of the name is Csefar therefore ordained that the uncertain. year fhould be folar, that is, that (7) The calendar had been re- it fhould confift of 365 days, and vifed five or fix times after it had fix hours ; and that at the end of been fettled by Numa, and before every fourth year there fhould be Julius Cajfar ; but what Plutarch an intercalary day, compofed of fpeaks of here is the reformation the fix hours, which had been the made by Julius. For in fpite of excefs of each preceding year re- all former corrections, fuch a dif- fpeftively. Caefar was not die order had crept in, that the fum- inventor of this fcheme, which iner ceafed to b. the time of har- had been known iong before by yeft, the autumn of vintage, and the Greeks, and almoft all other the winter months came to be nations ; but he ordained the ob- reckoned in the furnmer fcafon. iervancc of it. (8) This i $4 The LIFE of tirely added the two months of January and February ; and that originally they ufed but ten months to the year ; as fome barbarous nations had only three ; and among the Greeks the Arcadians had only four, and the Acarnenians fix. (8) The Egyptian year, they fay, con- lifted at firft of one month, afterwards of four. And therefore (9) though they inhabit a new country, yet they feem to be a very ancient people, (i) and reckon an incredible number of years in their chronology, be- cauie they account months for years. And that the Romans at firfl comprehended the whole year within ten and not twelve months, appears from the name of that wich is laft in order ; (2) for to this day they call it December, [i. e. the tenth month ;] and that March was the firft is likewife evident, becaufe the fifth month after it was called Quintilis, and the fixth Sextilis, and fo the reft. For if January and February had in this account preceded March, the forementioned month [Quintilis] would be the fifth in name, but the feventh in order of reckoning. Andbefides, it is very probable that the month of March, which was by Romulus dedi- cated (8) This is the imagination of thofe who labour to make the vain computation of the Egyptians con- fident with the truth, for the rec- koned a fucceflion of kings for the fpace of 36000 years, and up- wards ; but the falfny of this is evident from the Holy Scripture. Herodotus fays, that the Egyptians were the firft that began to com- pute by years, and that they made the year confift of twelve months. (9) I cannot conceive where Plutarch learned that Egypt was a new country, for on the contrary it is very ancient, as we learn from Scripture. Inlfaiah, the Phar raohs kings of Egypt call them- felves fons of the ancient kings who had governed Egypt from the beginning of time. And we know that at the time when Abraham went down into Egypt it had for a long time before that been go- verned by kings. (i)This was not becaufe their year confided of but one month only, but becaufe of the fabulous reigns of their Gods and Demi- Gods, which they falfely added to the catalogue of their kings that had actually reigned. (2) This way of reafoning in Plutarch might be as fallacious when applied to that age, as it would be if applied to this. For fuppofing the year to end with a month which is called the tenth, it does not therefore follow that it had not twelve. The month of December might be fo called, not becaufe the year had no more than ten, but becaufe at firft the year commencing with the month of March, December was the tenth in order, and was followed by Ja- nuary N U M A. . 185 cated to Mars, was called the firft, and April the fecond, which has its name (3) from Aphrodite, [or Venus] (4) for in this month the women facrifice to that Goddefs, and are bathed on the kalends, or firft day of it, with myrtle garlands on their heads. But others fay, Aprilis is not from Aphrodite, but being written with p and not with ph, it is rather to be deduced from the .word Aperio, which in Latin fignifies to open, becaufe this month i in the height of fpring, when all buds and flowers open and difclofe themfelves. The next is called May, from Maia, the mother of Mercury ; for to Mercury this month was facred. June is fo called from Jur.o. But there are fome who fay, that thefe two months have their names from the two ages, Old and Young, for in Latin the older men are called Majores, and the younger Junior es. To the other months they gave denomina- tions according to their order ; thus the fifth was called Quintilis, the fixth Sextilis ; and fo the reft, September, October, November, and December. Afterwards Quintilis was called July from the name of Julius Casfar, who over- came Pompey ; and Sextilis was called Auguft from the fe- cond Caefar, who was named Auguftus. (5) Domitian ga\e the nuary and February, which were of the two Divinities, to which the eleventh and Jaft. For this the Roman empire owed its begia- reafonFeneftellaandLiciniusMa- ning. But Cincius looks on this as cer have refuted Plutarch's opi- a childifh account, and approves nion, as entirely contrary to allan- of the fecond etymology, mention- tiquity, and have maintained that ed here by Plutarch. Ovid takes the ancient year, before the foun- notice of both, but feerhs to pre- dation of Rome, confided of 354 fer the former, or 355 days, and confequently of (4) On the firft of April all the twelve months, fince their months married women facrificed to Ve- were lunar, as is manifestly proved nus, at the fame time bathing her by the ancient way of counting ftatue, and themfelves likewife ; by calends, nones, and ides, which they alfo offered incenfe to For- was in ufe before Romulus, for it tuna Virilis, defiring her to con- was practifed by the Latins. ceal from their hufbands their de- (3) Romulus having given the fefts, if they had any. name of his father Mars to the (5) He caufed himfelf to be firft month of the year, thought fit called Germanicus, and gave his to give to the fecond that of the two names to thofe two months, mother of /Eneas, which was becaufe he was born in the onr, Venus ; that the two firft months and advanced to the empire in the of the year might bear the names other. (6) This i86 Sffc LIFE of the two following months his two names, of Germanicua and Domitianus, for a little while ; but, he being (lain, they recovered their ancient denominations of September and October ; only the two lafi, November and December, have kept the names of the order in which they ftand, without alteration from the beginning. As for the months which were either added, or at leaft tranfpofed in their order, by Numa, February may be looked upon as the month of Purification, for fo the name, which comes from the word Februo fignifies ; and then it is they offer facrifice to the dead (6), and celebrate the feaft of Lupercalia, which in many ceremonies agrees with the fol enmities ufed on the days of luftration. January, the firft month, is fo called from Janus ; and it feems to me very probable that Numa removed the month of March, which is fo called from Mars, out of its precedency, with a defign to fignify his preferring political virtues before martial, in all refpe&s. For this Janus in ancient times, whether he were Demi- God or King, being a great politician, and one that ftudied the good of fociety, is faid to have reclaimed men from a barbarous and favage manner of life ; for which reafon they figure him with two faces, which reprefent the two different ftates and difpofitions of mankind; He has a temple at Rome with two gates, which they call the gates of war : for it is the cuftom for this temple to {land open in time of war, and to be fhut in time of peace - r of which latter there was very feldom an. example : for when the Roman empire was enlarged, it was fo encompafled with barbarous nati- ons (6) This feftival was called Fe- viour, in the year 750 ; though ralia, and was celebrated on the others place this laft time in 733, eleventh day of the month, when after the Parthian peace. How they ufed to carry fome little of- comes it therefore that Plutarch fering to the graves of their de- takes notice only of the firft ? In ceafed friends. all likelihood he was mifled-by a (7) It was (hut three times by paffage in Livy, who in his firft Auguftus. The firft was after the book tells us, " Bis deinde poft defeat of Anthony, in the year of " Nuuise regnum claufus fuit, fe- Rome 714; the fecond, four years " mel Tito Manlio Confule, poft after, that is in 7 1 8 ; and the third " Punicum primumconfeftum bel- little before the birth of our Sa- "lura : iterum, quod noftra zta- NUMA; 187 ons and enemies, that it was feldom or never at peace. (7) Only in the time of Auguftus Caefar, after he had o- vercome Anthony, that temple was fhut,,as likewife once before for a little time, when Cams Atilius and Titus Manlius wereconfuls; but a new war breaking out it was foon opened again. During the reign of Numa it was never feen open one day, but continued conftantly fhut for forty-three years together. So entire a ceflation of war was there on all fides. For not only the people of Rome were tamed and foftened by the juft and mild government of their Prince, but all the cities round a- bput, as if fome gentle breeze or falutary air had blown from Rome upon them, began to change their temper ; and a general inclination to peace and good go- vernment was infufed into all, fo that every one appli- ed himfelf to the management of his lands and farm, to the quiet education of his children, and the worfhip of the Gods : feftivals, focial banquets, mutual benevolence, and kind entertainment of friends vifiting and converfing freely without fear or jealoufy, Were the common prac- tice over all Italy ; while from Numa's wifHom, as from a fountain, flowed univerfal integrity and juftice, and his calm tranquillity difTufed itfelf around every way. So that the high and hyperbolical expreflions of the poets are faid to fall Ihort in defcribing the happy flateof thofe days -, Infev'nfold/bields her web thefpider weaves, And rujl tbefaukhion of its edge bereaves ; No more is beard the brazen trumpet's roar. And from our eyesfweetfleep isflol'n no more (8). For *' tidiidederuntutvideremus, poft immediately after Auguftua had * bellum A&iacum, ab Impera- flmt it the firft time, and confe- *' tore Csefare Augufto. This tern- quently between that and the fe- " pie has been (hut twice (ince the cond (hutting of it. But this is " reign of Numa : firft when Ti- not all, Plutarch is again mifta- *' tus Manlius was Conful, upon ken ; for this temple was (hut a " the conclufion of the firft Punic fixth time by Vefpafian after his " war. We have had the happi- triumph over the Jews. Nero a- f nefs to fee it (hut a fecond time lone (hut it five times ; but he did " by the Emperor Csfar Auguftus, it without any grounds, as well *' after the defeat at Adtium." in times of war as in peace. Plutarch ought to have confider- (8) Thefe verfesare part of an ed thatLivy's full book was wrote ode of Bacchylides. (9) la i88 bc LIFE of- For during the whole reign of Numa, there was neither war, nor {edition, nor any innovation defigned in the ftate nor even fo much as any envy or ill-will to the perfon of the Prince i nor was there any plot or confpiracy formed againfl him from ambitious views. But whether it pro- ceeded from the fear of the Gods who were thought to take an efpecial care of him ; or from a reverence for his vir- tue ; or whether it was only the fmgular good fortune of his time that men lived peaceable and innocent, and were aver fe to violence and mi (chief ^ his reign afforded a fir ong example and proof of what Plato ventured to deliver long after, in relation to a well-formed commonwealth, " That then only the evils of human life will be effec- " tually cured, when by fome happy conjunction of e- " vents, Royal authority and a philoibphical mind meet- " ing in the fame perfon, virtue mail be raifed to a ftate " of power and fuperiority over vice." For the wife man is himfelf truly happy j and happy alfo are they who hear and receive his excellent initrudions. Perhaps there is no need of compulfion or menaces to fubjecl the mul- titude ; but when they fee a mining example of virtue in the life of their Prince, they will of themfelves grow wife, and pafs their lives innocently and happily in mu- tual friendmip, and according to the rules of juftice and moderation. To effect this is the noblefl end of government ; and he is the befl Prince who can regulate the lives and difpofitions of his fubjeds in fucn a man- ner. Now this is what Numa feems to have had con- itantly in his view more than any other man. As to his children and wives, there are various ac- counts given by hiftorians. Some fay that he never had any other wife than Tatia, nor more children than one daughter called Pampilia. Others fay that befides her he left four fons, Pompo, Pinus, Calpus and Mamer- cus, each of whom left a fucceflion of noble families ; for from Pompo came the Pomponii, from PiausthePi- narii, (9) In the carlieft ages men I believe, were the firft who de- buried the dead, committing their patted from that primitive fimpli- bodies to the earth, making a re- city, either from a principle of ligious point of it. The Egyptians fuperftition, or pride. The Greeks followed N U . M A. 189 narii, from Calpus the Calpurnii, and from Marnercus the Mamcrcii j who for this reafon had the furname of Reges, or Kings. . But there is a third fort of authors who accufe thefe laft mentioned writers as flattering thofe great families, and affixing to them falfe pedigrees pre- tended to be deduced from Numa, and affirm that Pom- pilia was not his daughter by Tatia, but born of Lucre- tia, to whom he was married after he came to the king- dom. However all of them agree, that Pornpilia was married to jMarcius, the fon of that Marcius who per- fuaded Numa to accept of the government ; for he ac- companied him to Rome, where he was honoured with a place in the fenate, and after the death of Numa, was competitor with Tullius Hoflilius for the kingdom, and being difappointed of the election, flarved himfelf to death. His fon Marcius, who had married Pornpilia, refided at Rome, and was the father of Ancus Marcius, who fucceedcd Tullius Hoililius in the kingdom, and who was, as it is reported, but five years of age when Numa died. Numa's death was not violent nor fudden, but being gradually worn away with old age and gentle ficknefs, as Pifo relates, he at laft ended his days when he was a little above four fcore years old. That which com- pleated all the glories of his life was the honour paid to him at his- funeral, when all the people that were in alliance and amity with him met together at his in- terment, with publick prefents and garlands ; the fenators carried the bier on which his corps was laid, and the priefts accompanied the folemn proceilion ; all the reft of the train, in which was a great number even of women and children, followed with -fuch lamentable fighs and tears, not as if they aflifted at the burial of a King worn out with age, but rather as if each of them had then buried his deareft relation in the prime of life. (9) They did not burn his body, becaufe it is faid followed their example, but in a afterwards they returned to the 'different manner, for they burnt original cuftom, as is evident from their dead, and this cuftom was ancient hiftory, and particularly obferved during the heroick times; from the life of Solon. The people VOL. I. R of 190 We L I F E of laid he had given a particular command to the contrary : but they made two (tone coffins, which they buried under the hill Janiculum, one of which contained his body, and the other contained thofe books which he had written in the fame manner as fome legiflators among the Greeks wrote their tables of laws. He having in his lifetime perfectly taught the priefts all that he had written, and habituated them to the practice of every particular, commanded that thefe facred books mould be buried with his body, as if he thought fuch facred myfleries could not be kept and conveyed with fuffici- ent refped in lifelefs writing (i). For this very reafon, they fay, the Pythagoreans would not commit their pre- cepts to writing, but only imprinted them upon the memory of fuch as were worthy to receive them. (2) And when their method of folving abftrufe prob- lems in geometry, happened to be difcovered to one of the unworthy, they gave out that the Gods threat- ned to punifh fuch profanenefs by fome ftrange and terrible calamity. Upon which account we may more eafily pardon the miftake of thofe who affert that Numa and Pythagoras lived at the fame time and converfed together, fince there are fo many inftances in which they Ib nearly refemble one another. Valerius Antias writes, that the books that were buried in the coffin were twelve volumes which treated of the facred offices, in Latin, and twelve others in Greek, on philofophical fubjecls ; and that about 400 (3) years afterwards, when Publius Cornelius and Marcus Bebius of Italy, who had received from which he did for fear his dead the Greeks the cuftom of burning body fhould receive fuch treat- the dead, retained it much longer, ment as he had fhown to that of and nothing but Chriftianity was Marius. But what could induce able to abolifh it. It is true in- Numa to break an old cuftom, and deed that whilll that cuftom ge- order his body to be buried ? ncrally prevailed in Rome, there Without doubt it was owing to v/ere fome intire families who did that fpin't of fimplicity, which not obferve it..; the Cornelii for fhined in all hisacYions ; and per- inftance, who caufed all that died haps the family of the Cornelii out of their family to be interred, followed his example, from a par- Syll'.i wns the firft of them that or- ticular veneration they had for the ;d his corpfe to be burnt, memory of that excellent Prince. (0 Ac- N U M A. Bebius were confuls, there happened to fall a great rain, by which the earth that covered the coffins was broken away ; the violence of the torrent difplaced the coffins, and the covers falling offi one of them appeared empty, without the leaft remains of any human body ; in the other were the books before mentioned, which when the Pretor Petilius had read, he made oath in the fe- nate, that in his opinion, it was inconfiftent (4) both with juftice and religion, for thofe books to be made publick to the people ; whereupon all the volumes were carried to the Forum, and there burnt. Fame always follows perfons eminent for juftice and virtue, and it increafes after they are dead, becaufe the envy raifed againft them never outlives them long, and fome have the happinefs to fee it die before them. Befides this, the fortune which befel the fucceeding Kings made the glory of Numa mine the brighter. For of the five, which were all that reigned after him, the laft was depofed, and ended his old ag in banifhment : of the other four, none died a natural death, but three of them were cut offby treafon : and though Tullus Ho- ililius, who immediately fucceeded Numa in the king- dom, derided moft of his eminent virtues, but efpe- cially his devotion to the Gods, as if it were fit only to make men lazy and effeminate, and turned the minds of the people to war ; yet he did not continue always in this youthful fort of infolence, but having his mind changed by a dangerous and ftrange diflemper, he fell into fuch grievous fuperftition, as had not the leaft refemblance (i) According to Dionyfius thefe properties of a Dodecsedrum in- books remained in the hands of fcribed in a Sphere. Jamb, de vita the priefts ; for he tells us that Pythag. cap. 18. and 34. upon the death of Tullus Hof- (3)Plutarch probably wrote five tilius, the priefts delivered them hundred, for this accident happen- to Ancus Marcius, who caufed cd in the year of Rome 573. them to be copied upon tables (4) The religion of the Romans which were fet up in the Forum was certainly at this time very for general ufe. much changed fiom what it was (2) Jamblichus fays that one in Minna's time, and fo it was not Hippafus a Pythagorean perifhed thought fafe to make fuch a dif- in the fea for having difcovered cover? . the method of demonftrating the R ( 5 ) A 1 92 . 'The Comparifon of refemblance to the true piety and religion of and befides he was the occafion of ftrengthning this iiiperftitious paffion in others .by the manner of his death, (5) he being deftroyed by a thunder-bolt. 'The Comparifon of Numa with Lycurgus. 3 '. , - T 1 T A.VING thus fmifhed the lives of Numa and jTjL Lycurgus, we muft now (though the work be difficult) collect the points of difference between the two thus expofed to view ; for as to the qualities com- mon to both, fuch as, for inftance, their prudence and moderation, their piety,' their political virtues, their ability to inftruct others, their deriving the original of - their laws and constitutions from the Gods ; thefe all j appear fufficiently from their actions. But as to the peculiar excellencies of each, the firft thing obfervable is Numa's acceptance of a kingdom, and Lycurgus's re- fignation of it ; the one took it without being defirous - of" it ; the other gave it up when he had it in pofleflion. The one, from a private perfon and a ftranger, was by others freely made their fbvereign ; 'the other, from the ftate of a Prince, voluntarily made himfelf a private perfon. It was glorious in one to acquire a kingdom by his juftice ; and more glorious in the other to prefer juftice before a kingdom. The virtue which raifed the reputation of the one fo high as to be thought worthy to wear a crown, made the other fo great as to defpife a crown. The fecond point of difference is this : As muficians raife (5) A flafh of lightning fet fire fius reje&s that account, "what to his palace, and burnt it to " likelihood is there, fays he, that athes, he, his wife, his children " Ancus Marcius Ihould commit fo and all his family perifliing in the " enormus a crime, when he could flames. There are however fome " not be fure to reap the fruits of authors who fay that Ancus Mar- " it ? What likelihood is there that cius taking his advantage of that " the Romans would advance to itorm, aflalfinated the King, and " the thrown a perfon fo defperate, let fire to his palace, but Diony- "with his hands dipt in royal blood? " And N U M A With L Y C U R G U S. raife or fink the tone of an inftrument, in order to bring it to a juft pitch ; fo Lycurgus by the feverity of his laws, may be' faid to have braced, and given firm- nefs to the relaxed and diflblute manners of the Spar- tans ; whereas the Roman lawgiver flackened and cooled the ftubborn fiery temper of his people. The great difficulty was indeed on Lycurgus's fide ; for he did not go about to perfuade his citizens to put off their ar mour, and lay by their fwords, but to difmifs their gold and filver, and to throw away their coftly furniture and rich tables ; not to ceafe from war in order to keep feflival days, and facrifice to the Gods, but to leave off their feafting and revelling, and to employ themfelves in laborious and martial exercifes. Therefore Numa effected every thing by perfuafion only, and by the love andrefpect which he acquired from his people; but Ly- curgus, after running great danger, and expofmg his perfon to a grievous attack, could not without great difficulty compafs his defign. The mufe of Numa was more mild and good-natured for he gently turned, and as it were foothed his people out of their untractable and fiery difpofition into the practice of peace and juftice. And if that cruel and unjuft order concerning the He- lots is neceilarily to be afcribed to the politicks of Ly- curgus, we muft own that Numa was by far the more kind and humane lesdflator, fmce he gave even fuch as s> ^^ ^^ were confefTedly flaves, a tatle of fuch refpect as belongs to freemen, by introducing the cuftom for them to (it at the table in company with their maflers in the time of the Saturnalia. (6) ; For this they fay was one of Numa's institutions, who thought it reasonable to admit thofe to a fhare in the enjoyment of the annual fruits of the earth, whomared in the labour of cultivating them. But there ' And though the fal might po- " murderer ?" ' flbly be concealed from the Ro-< (6) I do not remember to have ' mans, and they be deceived in read any where elfe that the Sa- ' their choice, would the Gods, turnalian feafts were inftituted by ' have approved that choice by Numa. Some place the inftitu- ' thofe happy prefages which they tion under the reign of Tullus ' gave in confirmation of it ? Hoftilius, and others under that ' Would they have accepted the of the younger Tarquin " facrihces of fo execrable a K 3 (7) Plu- 194- fbc Compart/on of there are fome who give a fabulous account of the ori- gin of this cuftom, and fay that it is' preferved as a monument of that equality which fubfifted in the age of Saturn ; when there was no diftinftion ofmafter andfer- vant, but the condition of all was equal like that of re- lations and brothers. It may hu^ ever be faid in general that both Numa ai:d Lycurgus appear to have had the famedefign, which was to bring their people to a contented frugality and fbbriety of living; and as to the other virtues, onefeems to have had the greateft regard for fortitude, the other for iuftice; unlefs they were really forced to take fuch different methods, bccaufe the nature and cuftoms of the two political conftitutions which they were ieverally to model were io exceedingly unlike. For it was not from cowardice, that Numa difcouraged war, but to prevent acts of injuftice ; nor did Lycurgus train up his people to arms, that they mould do injury to others, but that they mould not be expofed to injuries them- felves. Thus, while each of them attempted to cut off what was exceilive, and to fupply what was defective in the ftate of their people, they were under a neceflity of making great alterations. If we confider the difpofition and diftribution of the parts of their refpedive governments ; that of Numa was exceeding popular, and fitted to pleafe the commonalty ; for out of goldfmiths, muficians, fhoe- makers, and the reft of the companies, he made one compounded populace of all the different profellions mixt together. But that of Lycurgus was more fevere and ariftocratical, for it allowed no trade or manual art to be exercifed by any except flaves and foreigners, and confined fuch as were citizens to the management of the fpear and buckler, as being only artifans of war, and fervants of Mars, who neither underftood nor endea- voured to underftand any other art but how to obey their commanders and conquer their enemies :* neither were (7) Plutarch feems here to have "vided the land among the indigent forgotten what he had advanced "part of the citizens ;" to falve in another place, " that Numa di- which contradiction it may be faid that __^^ NUMA with LYCURGUS. 195 were freemen permitted to pradtife any of the ways of growing rich : but that they might in every refpecl be free, the bufmefs of getting money was left to their Haves and the Helots, like other fervile offices fuch as drefling their meat and attending at their tables. But Numa made no fuch diftin&ion ; he only took care to check the rapacioufnefs of the foldiers, but prohibited no other methods of growing rich : he did not endea- vour to reduce mens eftates to an equality, but gave every one a liberty to amafs wealth, and grow as rich as he was able : neither did he endeavour to provide againft poverty, which increafed daily in the city ; whereas in the very beginning (while there was no great difparity in mens eftates, but all were pretty much upon a level) he ought vigoroufly to have retrained the inordinate defire of wealth, as Lycurgus did, and fo to have pre- vented the inconveniences arifing from thence, which were not inconfiderable, but fuch as gave birth to thofe many and grievous troubles which frequently happened in the Roman ftate. But as to an equal partition of lands, neither is Lycurgus to be blamed for making it, (7) nor Numa for not making it. For this equality was the very foundation of the Spartan commonwealth : but an allotment of lands having been fo lately made at Rome, there could be no urgent neceflity for making a new partition, nor for altering that firft diftribution of- pro- perty, which, very probably, continued ftill in the fame ftate as it was at firft. As to that community in refpect to marriage and the propagation of children, which both of them with very good policy appointed to prevent jealoufy, they did not entirely take the fame method. (&) For a Roman huf- band having children enough, might part with his wife at the requefl of another who wanted children ; having full power both to divorce her, and to take her again, if he pleafed. But the Lacedaemonian huiband allowed the that Plutarch regarded that divi- Keen made before, fion only as a circumftance that (8) It was long after Nuroa's attended the divifion which had time before there was any in- R 4 ftance 196 The- Comparifon of the free life of his wife to any other that defired to have children by her, and yet ftill kept her in his houfe, the marriage obligation fubfifting as at firft : nay many huf- bands, as we have faid, would often invite fuch men to their houfes by whom they might hope to have healthy and well-made children. What then is the dif- ference between thefe two- cuftoms ? only this ; that in the Lacedaemonian way there is an abfolute unconcerned- nefs about their conforts, as to thofe things which give moft other men fo much difturbance, and fill them with fuch jealoufy and difquiet all their lives : in the Roman way there was a fort of modeft fimplicity which leflened the indelicacy of the practice by changing the marriage-contract, thereby mowing how uneafy it was to endure any community in wedlock. The conftiuu tions of Numa, as to virgins were more ftrift, and obli- ged them to maintain a becoming modefly and referve \ but the orders ofLycurgus were in that point more diflb- lute, giving an indecent liberty to maids and fingle women ; which afforded matter of raillery to the poets, who (as particularly Ibycus) (9) gave them the epithet of Phaenomerides (i. e. fuch as mow their thighs,) andi Andromaneis (i. e. mad for the love of men ;) thus Eu- ripides fays, Maids in pr&mifcuoils crouds with youths are fowtd y 'Their legs uncovered and their robes unbound-. For indeed the (kirts of the habit which the maidena- wore fiance of this liberty among the opened the door to adultery. Romans, as may appear from what Pliny writes that a certain Ro- Plutaich himfelf lays a little af- man, called Egnatius Mecenius, ter, concerning the firft divorce killed his wife for having drunk that happened in Rome. fome wine, and that he was ac- (9) A lyrick poet who lived quitted by Romulus. And Fabiua in the time of Croefus. Piftor in his annals relates a fat (0 Romulus ordained the fame that is ftill more extraordinary ; penalty, for thofe women who he fays a certain vroman having had drank wine as for thofe who ftolen the keys of the cellar, her had been taken in adultery ; for relations ftarved her to death for he faid adultery opened the door it. The feverity of this itiw was to all other crimes, stnd rhat wine Ibftened ia ?be fucctcdins; vifijes ; the N u M A with LYCURGUS. 1 0,7 v/ore were not clofed below, but flew open on both fides, fo that as they walked their thighs appeared bare. Sophocles has plainly defcribed this in the following paf- fage, where fpeaking of Hermione, he fays, Still like a 'wanton girl attir'djJje goes ; Her foort loofe robes her naked thighs etcpofe. Upon this account it is faid that the women were very bold, and fhowed their courage more efpecially in their behaviour to their hufbands ; becaufe they not only bore an abfolute fway at home, but alfo fpoke in pub- lick, and gave their opinions freely in matters of the highefl moment. But Numa though he preferved entire to the matrons all marks of honour and refpeft from their hufbands, which they had in the reign of Romulus, when they were ufed with fuch great kindnefs to com- penfate for their rape j yet at the fame time he put them under a guard of great modefty, and obliged them to. forbear all meddling curiofity. He taught them fo- briety, and accuftomed them to filence ; for they were (i) prohibited the ufe of wine inti rely, and not allowed the freedom of difcourfe even in the mofl necefiary matters, unlefs in the prefence of their hulbands. So that once (they lay) when a woman had the confidence to plead her own caufe in a court of judicature, it feemed fo ftrange and monflrous a thing, that the (2) fenate fent to enquire of the Oracle, what fuch a prodigy might portend to the commonwealth. And one great argument the women were not condemned (2) What in tbofe days paft, to forfeit their lives on that occa- for a prodigy became afterwards fion, but their fortunes, of which very common. One Amafia Sen- PJiny gives us the following ex- fia being accufed of a capital ample. Cneius Domitius being crime pleaded her own caufe be- juage in a caufe of that nature fore the prsetor, and was acquit- Between the hufband and his ted. Afrania, the wife of a fena- wire, declared that it appeared tor, ufed to bufy herfelf fo much to him that the wife, unknown in courts of judicature, that all to the hufband, had drunk more meddling troublefome women wine than was confident with her went by her name. The triuni- health, and decreed that /he. virs having fined the women in a fiiould forfeit her dowry. great fum of money, Hortenfia the 198 fbe Coniparifon of argument to prove the complying temper and obliging meek behaviour of thefe Roman matrons is the notice which is taken of fuch as were deficient in thefe virtues. For as our Greek hiftorians record in their annals the names of thofe who firfl were the authors of civil war, or fought with their brothers, or murdered their fathers or mothers ; fo the Roman writers have recorded Spurius Carvilius as the firft who divorced his wife -, being a cafe that never before happened in the fpace of (3) 230 years from the foundation of the city ^ and Thalasa, the wife of Pinarius, as the firft that had any quarrel with her mother-in-law Gegania, in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus. So excellently, well framed for the preferva- tion of decency and modefly, were the constitutions which this lawgiver made in relation to marriages. Correfpondent to the manner of educating the vir- gins in other refpeCts, was their method of beftowing them in marriage. For Lycurgus was for marrying them when they were full grown and defirous of marriage, that this converfation with men, when nature required it, might be a principle of kindnefs and love, rather than of hatred and fear towards thofe who forced them againft the inclinations of nature -, and that their bodies might have fufficient ftrength to undergo the trouble of breeding and pains of childbirth ; for he efteemed the propagation of children to be the only end of marriage. But the Romans married their daughters at twelve years of age, or under, as fuppofing that by this means not only their perfons but their humours and difpofitions would come pure and untainted into the management of the hufband. Now it is plain that the firft method is more agreeable to the defires of nature, which only refpefts the procreation of children -, but the ether is better adapted for moral purpofes and to make the conjugal life comfortable. However it mud be owned V- daughter of Hortenfius the o- that flic got a confiderable part pleaded their caufe with To of it to be remitted. ..uch eloquence, and fuccefs, (3) Plutarch N u M A with LYCURGUS. 199 owned that Lycurgus, by the care which he took for in- fpeding the education of children, for collecting them in companies, for their publick difcipline aud common a- femblies, and their regular and orderly management at their publick fuppers, exercifes and paftimes, gave fuch a plain inftance of his fuperior Ikill, as fhows that com- pared to him Numa was no better than one in the ordi- nary rank of legiflators. For Numa left the education of the youth intirely to the parents, to be managed accord- ing to their ownpleafure, or as their intereft required ; fo that any one was at liberty, if he pleafed to make his {on a hufbandman, or to teach him the trade of a carpenter, or a brafier, or a mufician ; as if it had been of no importance that children mould be trained at firft to one and the fame end ; but as if they were all like paiTengers in a fhip, where every one comes upon a dif- tinct intereft and defign of his own, and only in time of danger from their private fears were to unite for the publick fafety, but at all other times to confider no- thing but their own particular concerns. It is not indeed reafonable that we Ihould blame the generality of legiflators, who happen to be deficient in this point, either for want of fkill or power. But when fo wife a man as Numa undertook the government of a people which had been fo lately collected into one body, and which made not the lead oppofition to any thing that he propofed ; what could more properly em- ploy his firft and principal care than the education of children and the difcipline of youth, that fo they might not grow up to be men of difagreeing and turbulent tempers, but being immediately from the very cradle formed to one common rule of publick virtue, might mutually agree to profecute the fame good end ? The care which Lycurgus took in this matter, (befides its ferving many other good purpofes) was of exceeding great (3) Plutarch fays the fame in taken there as well as here, for the comparifon of Romulus and it Ihould be 520. Thefeus -, but the number is mif- (4) He 2oo The Companion of great advantage towards preferving his laws inviolate. For the obligation of the oaths which he rriade the people" take to preferve the conftitution would have fignified but little, if he had not by difcipline and education in- fufed, as it were, his laws into the manners of the chil- dren, and made them fuck in a zeal for his political infti- tutions with their very milk. So that for above 500 years together the fundamental and principal points of his legal eftablifhment continued unaltered, like a deep and flrong tincture which could not eafily be effaced. But when Numa expired, the great end and aim of his government, which was that Rome mould continue in peace and tranquillity, immediately vanifhed with him. For no fooner was he dead, but the temple of Janus, which he had conftantly kept fhut, (as if he had indeed kept war itfelf tamed and clofe pent up in it,) was pre- fently thrown wide open, and all Italy was rilled with blood and {laughter. And thus this excellent and juft con- ftitution was of no continuance, becaufe it wanted that cement which mould have kept all firm together ; I mean the good education of youth. What then, will fome fay, Hath not Rome advanced itfelf to a better condition by the practice of war? A quef- tion this which requires a long anfwer, if we are to fa- tisfy fuch men as fuppofe this better condition to confift in riches, and luxury, and dominion over others, rather than in fecurity, moderation of mind, and a contented enjoyment of our own, with juflice toothers. However even this will afford an argument in favour of Lycurgus, that the Romans advanced their ftate to fo high a pitch after they had changed the conftitution from what it? was in Tshima's days : But the Lacedaemonians, on the con- trary, asibonas ever they departed from the inftitu- tiohs of Lycurgus, from being a very great ftate became a mod defpicable people ; and after lofing the command of the reft of Greece, were in danger of being themfelves intirely deftroyed. But after all it muft be allowed that thus much of Numa was truly great and god-like, that though an alien, NUMA w/V^ v LYc URGUS. 201 alien, he was thought worthy to be courted to come and take the crown ; that he altered the whole frame of the government by mere perfuafion ; and that he kept the abfolute rule over a city confifting of two parties not yet well compacted, which he did without the ufe of arms, or any fort of force (fuch as Lycurgus ufed when he headed the nobility againft the commons -,) but by mere dint of wifdom and juftice brought every one to concur intirely with him, and fettled a perfect har- mony among them. SOLON. s o O N. DIDYMUS (i) the Grammarian, in his anfwer to Afclepiades (2) concerning Solon's laws, mentions apaflage of one Philocles, wherein he afierts that Solon's father's name was Euphorion, contrary to the opi- nion of all others who have made any mention of Solon : for (1) He was a native of Alex- andria, and a difciple of Ariftar- chus. He lived in the time of Auguftus, and is faid to have written 4000 volumes. (2) There were feveral authors of this name ; but Plutarch pro- bably means Afclepiades the Grammarian who lived not long before Didymus. (3) If ever the excellent quali- ties of a tyrant could change a tyranny into a Itgal monarchy, thofe of Pififtratus might have wrought that miracle: for he was of all men by nature the moft in- clined to virtue, the moft humane, and willing to relieve the neceffi- ties of the diftreffed, as we fhall fee hereafter ; hiftory affords us many inftances of his clementy. And as for his parts, learning, and. SOLON. 203 for they univerfally agree that he was the ion of Exe- ceftides, a man of moderate wealth and power, but of the nobleft family in Athens, being defcended from Co- drus. His mother, as Heraclides Ponticus affirms, was coufin to Pififlratus's mother : and there was at firft a great friendfhip between Solon" and Pififtratus, which was owing partly to this relation, and partly to the excellent qualities and beauty of (3) Pififtratus, \;hich, as fome fay, made Solon much in love with him. Ad for this reafon, I fuppofe, when afterwards they dif- fered about the government, their enmity never pro- duced any harfh and violent pafTion ; but they ftiil preferved fome remains of their former affection and friendfhip, Like glowing embers of once fcorcbing fire. For that Solon was not proof againfl beauty, nor had courage enough, Like a brave champion grappling with his foe, to refift the force of love, we may conjecture by his poems, and by a law which he made forbidding flaves to anoint (4) themfelves, or love boys ; making that an honourable action, and only fit for gentlemen, and as it were inviting the worthy to the practice of that which he commanded the unworthy to forbear. Pifi- ftratus likewife is reported to have loved one Charmus, and to have conlecrated a ftatue of love in the academy, where thofe light their torches (5) who run in the facred Torch-race. Solon, as Hermippus writes, when his fa- ther and eloqunce, we need only con- free men ; for before engaging in fult the Panegyricks of the anci- thefe exercifes the body was a(- ents. It is to his care we are in- ways rubbed with oil. debted for Homer's poems in the (5) Three times a year there condition they are at prefent. He was a race in Athens, called the was the firft that founded a libra- Torch-Race ; the firft was dining ry in Athens, and gave it for the the Panathensa in honour of Mi- ll fe of the publick. nerva j the fecond during the feaft (4) The meaning is, that he of Vulcan, in honour of that Cod; forbad them to ufe thofe gymnaf- and the other in honour of Pro- tick exercifes which were ufcd by metheus, during the celebration of hii 204 The L I F E of ther had ruined his eftate by his liberality, though he had friends enough who were willing to contribute to his relief, yet was afhamed to be beholden to others, iince he was defcended from a family who were accuf- tomed to beftow kindnefles rather than receive them. He therefore applied himfelf to merchandize in his younger years ; though others afTure us that Solon tra- velled rather to get learning and experience than to raife an eflate. It is certain that he was a lover of wif- dom, for when he was old he would fay, 'Tbtotgb aged grown ^ yet much I daily learn. But he did not very highly efleem riches, thinking equally wealthy, Him who has heaps of gold, andfteeds, and fields, And him whofe toil plain food and raiment yields. If to plain food and raimentfate Jhouldjoin What love defires, his joy is half divine. And in another place he fays, I 'would be rich, if not unjuft my gain ; A curf eat tends what guilt and fraud obtain. It is very poffible that a virtuous man and a good ftatefman may neither be too felicitous in procuring fuperfluities, nor quite unconcerned about what is ne- ceflary and convenient. In thofe days, according to Hefiod, it was no fhame for a man to work, nor did a trade make any difference of quality -, but merchan- dize was efteemed a very honourable profefiion, as it brought home the ufeful produces of barbarous coun- tries, occafioned friendly connections between different nations, his feftlval. The firft of thefe was torch happened to go out whilft performed at the haven of Pirseus, he was running, delivered it to and the other two in the Cerami- him that was to follow, and Ib of cus, that is the park of the aca- the reft; and he only wss (iechred demy. The youth one after ano- conqueror who performed his ther, ran a certain courfe as faft courie with his flambeau unextin- as they could, with lighted torch- guifiied. In the race at the Pa- es in their hands. He whofe natbenaea, the lighted torch was thrown SOLON. 205 nations, furnifhed frefh objects of knowledge, ar.d gave rife to many ingenious arts. Some merchants have built great cities, as Protus the founder of Mallilia, that man fo much efleemed by the Gauls that live about the Rhone. Some alfo report, that Thales and Hippo- crates the mathematician traded, (6) and that Plato defrayed the charges of his travels by felling oil in Egypt. Some fuppofe that Solon's luxury and profufe- neis, and the licentious turn of his poems, which are indeed too loofe for a philofopher, were occafioned by his trading life ; for as that expoied him to many dan- gers, it was fit they mould be recompensed with ibme pleafures and enjoyments. But that he accounted him- felf rather poor than rich, is evident from thefe lines -, Tes, wealth may court the bad, the good may fly j Tet with my virtue gold I'd never buy. Virtue Jh all Lift though Nature's /elf decay ; But gold though bright, is tranjient as the day. He feems at firft to have ufed his poetry not for any ferious purpofe, but by way of diverfion in his hours of leifure. But afterwards he inferted fentences of moral philofophy, and intermixed many things re- lating to publick affairs, not with a dellgn to record events as an hiftorian, but to apologize Tor his own condudt, or to advife, reprove, or animate the Atheni- ans. Some report, that he defigned to put his laws into a poem, and they quote this as the beginning of it: Firft rife ourpray'rs, that fav' ring Jove would blefs Our new-made laws with honour andfuccefs. (7) of thrown from the top of a tower ; had been eredled by the fame and in the others, he that was to Charmus with whom Pifilhatus lun went and lighted his torch at was enamoured. Prometheus's altar, neai the Itatue (6) It was ufual to trade into of love, which had been con fc- /E^ypt with the oji of Greece and cratfti by Pifiibatus. At the en- Juiica. It is laid in the prophet try into the academy there was Holea, " that Ephraim carried likewife an altar of love which " oil into Egypt." Cap. it. v. i. Vot. 1. S (7) Moral 206 The L I F E of (7) Of all the parts of moral philofophy, like moil of the wife men of that time, he chiefly efteemed poli- ticks ; in phyficks he was very rude and illiterate, (8) as appears by this pailage, From wintry clouds ourfnows and hail proceed/. And lucid lightnings the loud thunder breed. 'Tempeftuous winds deform the furling deep ; But nought fo peaceful when the tempefts Jleep. A n d indeed it is probable, that at that time it was only Thales's wifdom. which had gone any further in fpecu- lation than was of abfolute ufe in pradiee ; and the other fix were called wife men from their great ikill in political affairs. It is reported that they had an inter- view at Delphi, and another at Corinth, which was pro- cured by Periander, who made provifion for their enter- tainment. But their reputation was chiefly raifed by their modefty and civility in fucceiTively refufing the tri- pod, which by this means went round through the whole number. The (lory is this. When fome Coans once were drawing a net, and fome ftrangers from Miletus had bought the draught at a venture, there chanced to come up a golden tripod, which,, they fay, Helen, at her return from Troy, upon the remembrance of an old prophecy, threw in there. The flrangers at firft con- teftmg with the Timers about the tripod, and the cities efpoufing the quarrel fb far as to engage themfelves in a war, both parties were advifed by the Oracle to pre- fent it to the wifeft man. And firft it was fent to Thales at Miletus, the Coans freely prefenting this-one man with that, for which they fought all the Milefians together*. But Thales declaring Bias a wifer perfon than himfelf, it was lent to him - y from him to another, as yet wifer ;, and (7) Moral philofophy among of the feveral members of a fami- tfie ancients was not confined to ly, and the laws and rights of ci- what is more ftri&'y called EtHics, vil focieties. which teaches the nature of vir- tue and the government of the (8) The reafon of this cenfure paflions j ir likewife considered does not appear evident ; it is un- the rights of men in a uaie o: na- reafonable to expeft the fame full- tural liberty, the laws sod rights nefs and precifion in a poem. which SOLON. 207 find fo going round them all, it came to Thales a fecond time ; at laft, being carried from Miletus to Thebes, it was there dedicated to Apollo Ifmenius. Theophraftus writes, that it was firft prefented to Bias at Priene, and next to Thales, at Miletus, and ib through all it returned to Bias, and was at laft lent to Delphi. 1 his is the gene- ral report ; only fome, inftead of a tripod, fay this prefent was a bowl fent by Crcefus ; others, a cup which one Bathycles had left. There are fome who give an ac- count of a (9) particular converfation which Solon had with Anachavfis, and of another which he had with Thales the former is related thus. A.*:acharfis coming to Athens, knocked at Solon's door, and told him, *' That " being a ftrangerhe was come to be his gueft, and contract " a friendfhip with him : and Solon reply ing, It is better to " make friends at home ; A.'.acharfis anfwered, Then you " that are at home make me your friend, and take me for " yourgueft." Solon furprized at this ingenious fubtilty of the man, received him kindly, and kept him fome time with him, whilft he was managing the common- wealth, and contriving his laws. When Auacharfis underflood how Solon was employed, he laught at his undertaking, and at the abfurdity of imagining he could reflrain the injuftice and covetoufnefs of his citizens by written laws 4< which were no better than fpiders webs, and would, like " them, hold only the weak and poor when they were " caught, but would be eafily broken through by the rich ft mameful and defperate grief. And yet others upon the death of virtuous children, have not been affected with an extravagant or unmanly forrow, but have pafled the reft of their lives with calmnefs and compofure. For it is not benevolence, but weaknefs, that brings thofe endlefs griefs and fears upon fuch men as are not armed by reafon againft the ftrokes of for- tune, and who have not even the prefent enjoyment of what they doat fo much upon, while the fear of lofing it gives them fuch pain, vexation and torment. There- fore we muft not provide againft the lofs of wealth, by poverty -, or the lofs of friends, by refufing all acquaint- ance ; or the death of children, by getting none ; but by reafon and reflection prepare our minds for every accident. But of this too much at prefent. When the Athenians were tired with a tedious and unfuccefsful war which they carried on againft the Megarenfians for the ifland of Salami;:, and made a law that it mould be d;:ath for any man, by writing -or fpeaking, to aflert that the city ought to endeavour to recover it : Solon, vexed at the di'/grace, and perceiving thoufands of the youth wifhed to begin the war again, but did not dare to propole it for fear of the law, coun- S 3 terfcited 210 The LIFE of terfeited a diffraction ; and by his own family it was given out in the city that he was mad ; but he fecretly compofed an elegy, and getting it by heart, ran out into the market-place (i) with a cap upon his head and wnilft the people gathered about him, got upon the ftone where the publick cryer ufed to ftand, and fang that elegy which begins thus : From fertile Salamin I took my way, An herald fent with tbis melodius lay. That poem is ca'led Salamin, it contains a hundred ver- ies, very elegantly written. When he had done fing- ing, his friends began to commend it, efpecially Pififtra-r tus, who exhorted the citizens to obey his directions ; they accordingly repealed the law, and renewed the war under Solon's conduit. The common report is, that with Pififtratus he failed to Colias ; and finding the women, according to the cuflom of the country there, facri- ficing to Ceres, he lent a trufty friend to Salamin, who pretending to be adeferter fhouid advife the Megarenfi- ans, if they defired to feize the chief Athenian women, to fail immediately with him to Colias. The Megaren- fiai'S taking the ftory for truth, prefently manned a fhip , and Solon defcrying this (hip jufl as it put off from the iiland, fent away the women, and ordered fome beardlefs youths drefled in thofe women's cloaths, fhoes and caps, and privately armed with daggers, to dance near the more, till the enemies had landed, and the fhip was in their power. Things being thus ordered, the Megarenfians were allured with the appearance, and, coming near the more ftrove who mould leap out firfl, as (i) That is, he went out in all courage that Demofthenes exerted appearance as if he had been fick, a long time after on the like occa- for none but fuch wore caps at fion. The Athenians after the Athens ; and " to wear a cap"was death of Epaminondas, which re- one of their prefcriptions in phy- moved out of their way an enemy fick, as we find in Plato. Thus that kept them always upon their Tuflin freaking of this ation of guard, wafted in (hows and plays Solon fays," Deformishahitu more the mopey that had been affigned " Vecoicium in publicum evolat." for the pay of the army, and the Scion had not that luruinefs and neceffary occafions of the publick, and SOLON. 211 as it were only to feize-the women ; but they were fb warmly received, that not one of them e leaped , and the Athenians prefently fet fail for the ifland, and took it. Others fay that it was not takeh in this manner ; but that Apollo, at Delphi, firft delivered this Oracle to Solon : Go kt your incenfe to thofe be roes rife ff^ho rul'd your fiate, the mighty and the ivife ; 'Turri'd to the Weft each facred corfe remains, And refts for ever in Afopia'j plains. Upon this Solon failing by night to the ifland, facrificed to the heroes (2) Periphemus and Cychris ; and then tak- ing 500 Athenian volunteers, who had a law palled in their favour, that if they took the ifland they mould have the government of it, and fetting fail with a good num- ber of fifhing-veflels, together with a galley of thirty oars, he anchored in a bay of Salamin that looks to- wards Euboea. The Megarenfians who were then in the ifland being alarmed by an uncertain report, in great diforder betook themfelves to their arms, and fent a (hip to difcover the enemies. This fhip coming too near, Solon took it, and fecuring the Megarenfians, man- ned it with the flouteft of the Athenians, and gave them orders to fail to the ifland with as much privacy as pof- fible-, in the mean time he with the other foldiers marched againft the Megarenfians by land ; and whilft rhefe were engaged in fight, thofe from the fhip look the city. This relation feems to be confirmed by a cuf- tom afterwards praitifed ; for an Athenian fhip ufed firft to fail filently to the ifland, then while the people come down and at the fame time paiTed a law (2} Periphermis is a perfon un- which made it capita! for any one known. Cychris was Kingor Sa- lo much as to mention a refornui- lamin, where he hnd a temple, tion. Demofthenes had not re- Paufanias relates that the Atheni- courfe on that occafion to a feign- ans in an engagement at Tea with ed frenzy, or indifpofuion, but Xerxes, beheld a prodigious fer- fpoke to the people with that li- pent upon one of rheir fnips, and berty and courage which became were told by the Oracle, which an honeft man, who had the wel- they confulted on that occafion, fare of his country at heart. that it was ;bc hero Cychris. S 4 (3) Solon n>e LIFE of down with a great noife and fhoutine, a man in armour leaps out, and with a loud cry runs to the promontory Sciradium, to meet thofe that approach upon the land. Near that place viands a temple, which Solon dedicated to Mars, becaufe he there defeated the Megarenfians. As many as were not killed in the battle he difmified upon certain conditions. But the Megarenfians dill contending, and both fides having received confider- able loffes, they chofe the Spartans for arbitrators. Many affirm that Homer's authority did Solon a confi- devable fervice ; for he inferted a line into the catalogue of mips, which he read when the matter was to be de- termined ; after this verfe, Ajax/rcw Salamin twelve Jbips commands, Adding, (3) And ranks bis men amidfl /// Athenian lands. But the Athenians account this an idle flory, and report, that Solon made it appear to the judges, that Philaeus and Euryfaces, the fons of Ajax, being made free of Athens, gave up the ifland to" the Athenians ; and that one of them dwelt at Brauron in Attica, the other at Melite ; and they have a ward of the Philaidae, to which Pififtratus belonged, and which took its name from Philaeus. , And for a further argument againft the Megarenfians, he in- fifled (3^ Solon pretended to prove three or four bodies in one fe- by this fpurious verle, that the puichre. Salaminians looked on trie Athe- nians as their matters ; but the (0 The inhabitants of Cirrha falfity of this evidence is manifeft ; made an incurfion into the territo- for tfere are many paiTages in ry of Delphi, conquered part of it, Homer which prove that Ajax's and would have laid fiege to the fhips took a quite different ftation place itfelf for the fake of pillag- and were pofted near the Thef- ing the temple.if the Amphi&yons fa! ; ans. Vid. the ninth book of had not prevented it, by fending Strabo. Solon and Clyfthenes tyrant of Si- (4) The reafon of this was be- cyon, to relieve it. Thefe two cap- caufethe Athenian territories vveie tains firft befieged Cirrha; and of large extent, but that thofe of having confulted the Oracle upon Salaaiin and Megara being very the event of the fiege, they receiv- ftrait, they were forced to put ed for anfwer, that they fhould not be SOLON. 213 fitted on the manner of burying the dead at Salamin, they not being buried after the Megarenfian fafhion, but according to the Athenian : for the Mcgarenfians turn the face of the cor pie, in burial, to the Kaft, the Athe- nians to the Weft. But Hereas the Megarenfian denies this, and affirms that they likewife turn the body to the Weft. He has befides a ftronger argument than this, which is, (4) that the Athenians put each body into a feparate tomb, but the Megarenfians put three or four into one. However, fome Oracles of Apollo, in which the place is called Ionian Salamin, were of great advan- tage to Solon's caufe. This matter was determined by five Spartans, Critolaidas, Amompharetus, Hypfechidas, Anaxilas and Cleomenes. From this fuccefs Solon foon acquired great fame and authority. But that which made him mod admired, and got him the moft repu- tation among the Greeks, was what he faid in behalf of the temple at Delphi, to excite them to vindicate the Oracle from the intuit and violer-ce of the Cirrhaeans (5). For upon his perfuafion, (6) the Amphictyons undertook the war, as, among others, Ariftotie affirms in his trea- tife of the victors at the Pythian gam-^s, where he makes Solon the author of this counfel. Solon was not General in that expedition, as Hermippus tells us from Evanthes the Samian : for /Efchines the orator fays no fuch thing -, and in the regifters of Delphi, Alcmason, not Solon, is recorded as General of the Athenians. The be able to reduce the place till Cirrha became the arfenal of the waves of the Tea, near Cirrha, Delphi. \vafhed the territorries of Delphi. (6) They were what we may Whilft they were at a lofs for the call the States-general of Greece, meaning of this anfwer, Solon de- for the twelve nations that dwelt clared that the way to fulfil theO- round Delphi, fent each their de- lacle was to confecrate to Apollo puties to allilt in this grand coun- all the land belonging to Cirrha ; cil, which was held twice in the for by that means the territories of year, at Thermoplyse, where they Delphi would extend to the bay, had under their deliberation every and fo would be wafhed by the thing that concerned the tranquil- waves of the Tea. This being lity of Greece, but more efpecial- performed the town was taken, ly fuch things as were of a reii- and the inhabitants punifhed for gious nature. They were the pro- thcir impiety. From that time tectors of the temple of Delphi. (7) Cylon 214 The LIFE of The guilt of that execrable proceeding (7) againfl the accomplices of Cyion, had long given great disturbance to the commonwealth, from the time when Megacles, who was then Archon, perfuaded thefe confpirators, who had taken fanctuary in Minerva's temple, to come down and Hand a trial -j but when they had tied a thread to the image of the Goddefs, and kept hold of one end of it, in token of their being dill under fanftuary, juft as they came down by the temple of the Furies, the thread happening to break of itfelf, Megacles and his collegia s rufhed upon and feized them, as if the God- defs had now refufed them her protection. As many as were without the temple were (loned ; thofe who fled to the altars for fandtuary were murdered there ; and only thofe efcaped who made their application to the wives of the magiftrates. But from that time thefe magiftrates were called Execrable, and heid in great de- teftation. Such of the Cylonian faction as happened to outlive this blow, afterwards recovered ftrength, and had continual quarrels with the relations and defcen- dants of Megacles. The contention being at this time come to its height, and the people divided, Solon, who was now in great reputation, taking to his ailiftance the beft men of Athens, interpofed, and partly by in^ treaty, and partly by authority, perfuaded the Exe- crable perfons, as they were then called, to fubmit to a trial, and be judged by 300 perfons chofen from among (7) Cylon was an Athenian of coniidcring, that the Athenians a very ancient and noble family, obferved a very folenin feaft cai- and having married the daughter led Diafia, which they cele- of Theagenes, tyrant of Megara, brated in honour of Jupiter, and feized on the citadel of Athens which pofiibly might be the feaft whilft they were celebrating the meant by the Oracle. However oiympick games : this he did in it was, this ambiguity ferved to obedience to an Oracle of Apollo, juftify the Oracle. Cylon was who had directed him to under- clofely befieged in the citadel, and talce it during the ce'ebration of fo reduced through hunger and thegreateft feaft that was inftiru- thirft, that he was forced to reire ted in honour of Jupiter. He with his brother, leaving his fol- thought Jupiter had no greater diers to fliift for themfelves. Some feaft dedicated to him than the of them periled miferably ; and games before mentioned, without the reft flying for refuge into the temple SOLON. 215 among the chief men of the city. One Myron, of the Phlyenfian ward, managed the charge againfl them. They were all condemned , and as many as were then alive were banifhed, and the carcafes of the dead were dug up, and fcattered beyond the confines of the coun- try. In the midfl ofthefe diftraclions, the Megarenfians failing upon them, the Athenians loft both Niisea, and Salamin. Befides, the city was diflurbed with fuperfti- tious fears and ftrarge appearances ; and the priefts de- clared that the facririces intimated fome execrable crimes and pollutions that were to be expiated. Upon this they Cent for Epimenides the Phaeftian, from Crete, who is counted the feventh wife man, by thofe who will not admit Periander into the number. He was reputed a man of great piety, beloved by the Gods, and one that had great fkili i:i matters of religion, as to what con- cerned infpirations and the myfteries of initiation ; and therefore the men of that age called him (8) the fbn of the nymph Baite, and the new Cures, or prieftofCybele. When he came to Athens, and grew intimately acquaint- ed with Solon, he aflifted him privately in many inftances, and made way for the better reception of his laws : for he taught the Athenians to be more frugal in their reli- gious worfhip, and more moderate in their mourning, by ordering fome facrifices to be joined with their fune- ral folemnities, and abolifhing thofe fevere and barba- rous ceremonies which mofl of the women had formerly pradlifed. temple of Minerva, were ufed as ^98 years before the birth of is here related by Plutarch The Chrift ; for it is certain that Me- Gods incenfed at this facrilegious gacles was Archon the firft year outrage, poured down their ven- of that Olympiad. v geance upon the heads of the A- (8) It is not known who this thenians, who, by way of attone- nymph Balte was. Diogenes nient, execrated and excommuni- Laertius writes that Epimenides rated in a publick manner both was fo beloved by the nymphs, the authors of it,and their defcen- that they gave him a certain drug, dants, and drove their families in- which he kept in bullock's horns, to exile ; and this was the fource a fingle drop of which preferved of many diforders for a long time him a long time healthy and vi- after. This enterprize of Cyion gorous, without any other fort happened even in Solon's time, of nourilhment. about the forty-fifth Olympiad, (9) h 216 tte L I F E of praftifed. But the greateft thing of all was 1 his cleanfing and purifying the city, (9) by certain propitiatory and expiatory luftrations, and building of chapels ; by which means he rendered the people more obedient, morejufl and more peaceable. It is reported that looking up- on (i) Munychia, and conlidering a while, he laid to thofe thatftood by, " How blind is man to futurity! (2) " For did the Athenians foreiee what mifchief this will " do to their city, they would even eat it with their own " teeth, to get rid of it," It is laid that Thaies made a like conjecture ; for he commanded his friends to bury him in an obfcureand negledted quarter of Mileiia, lay- ing, that very fpot would in time be the Forum of the Niilefians. Epimenides being much admired, and pre- fented by the city with rich gifts, and conliderable ho- nours, requested and accepted only a branch of the fa- cred olive ; and then returned home. The Athenians, now the Cy Ionian fedition was quelled, and the authors of it bammed, as above related, fell immediately into their old quarrels about the govern- ment, there being as many different parties as there were different fit uat ions of country within the bounds of the commonwealth; for thofe upon the hills were moft for democracy, thole in the flat country for oligarchy ; and thofe that lived towards the lea, prefer- red a mixt fort of government, and fo hindered either of the other parties from prevailing. At the fame time alfo (9) In thefe propitiatory facri- place where any of them had been fices of Epimenides one may find lacrificed, an altar was creeled ; fome footsteps of the expiation of from whence it came to pafs that the Hebrews, as it is dcfcribed in many altars were found in the fe- the futeenth chapter of Leviticus, veral burghs of Attica without any For it is faid that he chofe fome name infcribed, which were fo deep that were all white, and o many authentick monuments of thers all black, which he led into that ceremony. He iikewife cauf- the Areopagus, and letting them ed many temples and chapels to be loofe from thence, he commanded erected, and among others, ' Con- thofe that were to follow them, tumeliae Fanum, & Impudenriae." wherever they found them couch, (i) A port and citadel belong- to facrifice them upon the fpot, ing to Athens, which gave them to the local Deity ; which was great trouble, when in the hands done accordingly, and in every of their enemies. (2) This SOLON. 217 alfo the difcord arifmg from inequality of eftates be- tween the poor and the rich being come to a great height, the city was in a moil defperate condition, and a mo.iarchical government feemed the only thing that could iettle it, and fiv:e it from thefe disturbances. For all the poor were ii debted to the rich ; a::d either they paid them the fixth part of the produce of their lands, and were therefore called (3) Hedemorii and Thetes ; (4) or elfe they engaged their bodies for the debt, and might be leized by their creditors : fo that fome of them were made flaves at home, others fold to ftrangers -, fo Ti , for no law foibad it, were forced to fell their c'.;; dren, or leave their country to avoid the cruelty of their creditors. But the greateft number and the moft re- foiute of the people rofe, and encouraged one another not to fuller this oppreffion any longer, but to chufe fome one rran in whom they could confide as a leader, to fet free thofe who had been feized for failing in the time of pay- ment, to make a new divifion of iands, and entirely to change the government. Then the wifeft of the Athe- nians confidering Solon as the only perfon who had kept himfelf free from blame, that he neither had any (hare in thefe unjuft exactions of the rich, nor was involved in the diftreffes of the poor, preft him to aiTift the com- monwealth, a^d compofe the differences. (5) Phanias the Lefbiaa affirms that Solon, to lave his country, put a trick upon both parties, and privately promifed the poor a divifion '(2) This predi&ion was verifi- they thought fit. Nay the law ed in the i >4tri Olympiad, that is went further, it allowed them to near 270 years after it was erect- tear him in pieces, and divide his ed, at which time Antipater con- flefh among them. But no one {trained the Athenians to receive was ever known to make ufe of a garrifon into the place. a right fo barbarous and contrary (}) i.e. Sixth part men, and to humanity. Vaffals. (s) He was of ErefTa, a city of (4) This cuftom was in ufe Lefbos, contemporary with Theo- among the Romans for a long phraltus and Aiiltotle's difciple. time ; for by one of the laws of He is quoted as the author of fc- the twelve tables, the infolvent veral writings ; as, a treatife on debtor's perfon was forfeited to plants ; on the death of tyrants; his creditors, who either detain- on the tyrants of the age i on the ed him in prifon, or fold him, as magiftiates of Erefla -, on the So- cratick L I F E of a divifion of the lands, and the rich fecurity for their debts. But he fa^s that Solon was unwilling to en- gage in the affair at firft, being afraid of the avarice of one party and the arrogance of the other. He was however chofen Archon after Philombrotus, and im- powered to be an arbitrator, and fettle laws the rich readily confenting becaufe he was wealthy, the poor be- caufe he was honefl. It is reported that a faying of his which went currently about beforehand, that Equality never breeds war, mightily pieafed both parties, the wealthy and the poor ; the one expecting this equa'ity in dignity and power, the other in their number. Thus there being great hopes on both fides, the chief men were very urgent with Solon, offering him the ab- folute power, and endeavouring to perfuade him that he might, when he v/as once fettled, manage the bufi- nefs according to his pleafure : and many of the citi- zens who were indifferent between both parties, per- ceiving it would be a change difficult to be effeded by law and reafon, were not againfl having one wife and juft man fet at the head of affairs. And fome fay that Solon had this Oracle from Apollo : Seize , feize the helm ; the bark as pilot fleer j And powerful aid Jhall banijb ev'ry fear. But his acquaintance efpecially accufed him of mean- nefs, for fcrupling to take the monarchy only for its name ; as if tyranny would not by degrees become a legal fovereignty by the virtue of the poflefibr, as it had formerly done among the Euboeans who chofe Ty- nondas ; and did at prefent amongft the Mitylenians, who chofe (6) Pittacus for their Prince. Yet nothing of all this could fhake Solon's refolution, but as they fay, he replied to his friend, " It is true, tyranny is a very cratlck philofophers ; on the dif- mafter of Mitylene ; for which fertations of Pofidonius. reafon Alczeus, who was of the fame town, and contemporary (6) Pittacus, one of the feven with Pittacus, wrote again ll him, wife men of Greece, made himfelf and lafhed hioj in his verfes, as he SOLON. 219 " very fair fpot, but it hath no cutlet." And in a copy of verfes to Phocus he writes : That all the fair domains Irul'd, I bleft, Nor roWd the wealthy, nor the poor oppreft, I boaft the blamelefs honour of my name ; And fcorn the tyrant's fangumary fame. From which it is manifeft that he was a man of great reputation before he gave his laws. As to the ridicule he was expofed to for refufmg arbitrary power, he de- fcnbes it in thefe words : Nor fenfe nor fpirit, Solon, Jure, poffefl, By offered blejfings, 'who 'would not be blefl. Thefifh "were caught ; 'with anguijh envy J aw The net fur round them, which he would not draw. Te Gods, t9 makefuch wealth a certain prey, To reign the Lord of Athens but a day, Jflfho but the morrow would with pride defy, Though doom'd himfelf and all his race to die ? Thus he reprefents the cenfures pall upon him by the multitude, and by men of low minds. Yet though he refufed an arbitrary power, he was not remifs in the management of publick affairs : he did not appear mean and crouching to the powerful ; nor made his laws to pleafure thofe that chofe him. In what was tolerably conflituted before he made no alteration, fear- ing left if he mould quite imfettle the commonwealth, he mould not have power fufficient to frame and mo- del it anew in the mod perfect manner. But what he thought he could effect by perfuafion upon the pliable, and by force upon the ftubborn, that he did, as him- felf fays, By making force andjuftice both confpire. And therefore being afterwards aiked, " if he had " left he did the other tyrants. Pittacus zens, and eftabliftied peace and read his fatires with contempt, harmony among them, he volun- and after having by liis authority tarily quitted his power, and re- compofed the diforders, and ftored his country to its liberty, quelled the (editions of his citi- (7) Others 220 The L I F of " left the Athenians the befl laws that could be giv- " en :" he replied, " I have eftablifhed the befl they " could receive." The way in v/hich modern authors (ay the Athenians ufed to take off from the harfhnefs of things, by giving them polite and honourable names, calling, for inftance, a whore, a friend, taxes, contribu- tions, garrifbns, guards, prifons, houies, feems at firfl to have been Solon's contrivance, who named the taking off the peoples debts a difcharge. For the firft thing he fettled in the commonwealth was, that the debts in being mould be forgiven, and no man for the future mould engage the body of his debtor for fecurity. Though fome, and among the reft Androtion, affirm, that the poor people were eafed, not by cancelling the debts, but by lowering the intereft, which pleafed them fo that they gave the name of difcharge to this kind- nefs, and to that which accompanied it, the enlarging their meafures, and raifmg the value of their money ; for he made a Mina, which before went for but (7) feventy-three Drachmas, to go for a hundred ; fo that paying as much in tale as before, but lets in weight, thofe that paid off a debt had great advantage, and thofe that received it had no lofs (8). But moft au- thors fay that this difcharge was an entire clearing of all debts at once, and with this account what he lays in his poems belt agrees : for in them Solon values himfelf " That he had removed all (9) marks of mort- " gaged land, fixt up almoft in every place before, fo that u what was bound before, was now free -, and of fuch citi- " zens as had been feized by their creditors for debt, fome " he had brought back from other countries, where by the " length of their exile they had forgotten their mother " tongue ; and fome he had fet at liberty, who were in cruel " flavery at home." It is faid that upon this occafion there happened an unlucky affair, which gave him great un- eafmefs ; (7) Others fay feventy-five. quarters of his debt ? Is a fmall (8) Rualdus juftly reckons this piece of money made equal in among Phitarch s miftakes. How value to a bigger, by giving it is it poffible that a creditor ihould the fame name ? not lofe, who is paid only three (9) 'Og, which were, as Har- pocration SOLON. 221 feafmefs ; for when he had refolved to take off the debts, and was contriving fuitabie fpeeches, and a proper way of beginning the bufmefs, he told fome of his friends, Conon, Glinias and Hipponicus, in whom he had the areateft confidence, and with whom he often advifed, that he would not meddle with the lands, but only free the people from their debts. But they immediately ta- king the advantage, borrowed vafl fums of money be- forehand from rich men, and purchafed fome large farms ; and when the law was enacted, they kept the poifeiTions, but would not return the money to their cre- ditors ; which brought Solon under great cenfure and reproach, as if he himfelf had not been abufed by them, but concerned with them in this act of injuftice. But this calumny was prefently confuted by his complying with the law firft of all, and remitting the debts due to him, which amounted to five talents. Some, and a- mong the reft Polyzelus of Rhodes, fa~ it was fifteen ta- lents. But however they called his friends Chreccopidae fi. e. Debt-finkers] ever after. In making this law he pleafed neither party, fcr he difobliged the rich in cancelling their bores, and the poor ftill more in not making a divificn of Sand as they expected, nor making all equal in eflate, as Lycurgus had done. But then it muft be confidered that Lycurgus being the eleventh from Hercules, a; d having reigned many years in Lacedaemon, had got great reputation, power and friends, which he could uie in modelling his flate. He applied force more than periuafion, info- much that he loft is eye in the tumult ; and by this means eftabiifhed that regulation which is the mcft ef- fectual to preferve and unite a flate, not permitting any to be poor or rich in the commonwealth. But Solon could not effect fo great an alteration, being only (i) a commoner, and of a moderate eftate ; yet he acted to the pocration tells us, certain billets was of one of the bed families nxt up upon any houfe or land in Athens, being defcended from that was mortgaged. Codrus. How comes it about that (i) ArjfAOTix;;?. Plutarch in the in this place he calls him a corn- beginning of this life faith, Solon moner ? He rnuft mean that So- VOL. I. T lon' 222 5ft* L I F E of the height of his power, having nothing but his own pru- dence and the good opinion of his citizens to rely on. And that he offended the generality, who looked for an- other poflure of affairs, he declares in thefe words: Once prats' d by all, now all with jealous leer Eye me ajkance, their envy or their fear. Tet who but /, -without aftronger rein. Could by mere art the beadjlrong croud rejlraln. But in a little time being fenfible of their own advan- tage, they defifted from their complaints, made a pub- lick facrifice, calling it Seifaclhia, (or The difcharge) and made Solon fuperintendant of the laws, and of the com- mon-wealth. They gave him power not in fome par- ticulars only, but in every thing, over all their magi- ftracies their alfembiies, courts, and fenates ; and au- thorized him to appoint what eftate each man muft have to qualify him for any of thefe, what fhould be their number and the time of their meeting, and to diflolve or continue any of the prefent confbtutions according to his pleafure. (2) Firft then he repealed all Draco's laws, (except thofe concerning murder,) becaufe they were too fevere, and their punimmenfs too great ; for death was appointed for almofl all offences, infomuch that thofe that were convicted of idlenefs were to die ; and thofe that flole a cabbage, or an apple, were liable to the fame punifhment with thofe who committed fa- crilege or murder. And this cccafioned that celebrated remark of Demades, " that Draco's laws were not written " with ink but blood." And he himfelf being once afked^ " Why he made death the punifhment of mofl offences ?" replied, " Small ones deferve that, and I have no higher for " the greateft crimes." In the next place Solon being wil- ling Ion's family by degrees fell into with death ; and that he might decay, and that their fortune be- imprint in the people a horror for in unable to fupport their no- murder, he ordained that profe- biiity, they funk into a ftate of cution fhould be carried on even mediocrity. againft inanimate things if they had accidentally caufed the death (2) Draco was the firft among of any one. For inftance, a fta- the Greeks that punifhed adultery tue that had unfortunately fallen on SOLON. 223 ling to continue all offices of magiftracy in the hands of the rich men, as they had been, and yet to bring a mix- ture of the people into other parts of the government, of \vhich they had no fhare before, took an account of the citizens eftatcs, and thou-,- whole eftates produced five hundred Medimni both in dry and liquid'friiits he placed in the firfl rank, calling them Pentacofiomedimni ; thofe of the fecor.d clafs, who were fuch as could keep ahorfe, or were worth annually three hundred Medimni, were, named Hippcidatelountes ; the third clafs confided of iiich whole revenue amounted to but two hundred Medimni, and they were called (3) Zeugitae ; all the others were called Thetes; thefe were not admitted to any office, but might come to the great aOcmbly and give their votes : this at firfl fcerned nothing, but afterwards appeared a confiderable privilege ; for mofl of the controversies came at laft to thefe popular judges ; becaufe in all mat- ters which he put under the cognizance of the magi- ftrates, he gave fuch as pleated liberty to appeal to the popular court. Befides, it is faid that he was ob- fcure and ambiguous in the wording of his laws, on pur- pofe to encreafe tne power of thefe popular courts ; for fmce their differences could not be adjufted by the let- ter of the law, they flood in continual need of judges, and brought all controverfies before them, who by this means were in a manner (4) Tuperior to the laws. And of this equality he himfelf makes mention in this manner : Fit poiv'r in ev'ry rank my laws maintained - 9 tfhe poor fupported, and the rich reftranid ; Each again/1 each fecur'd ; myfelf their Jhield, Nor thefe nor thofe opprej/ion taught to yield. And on a perfon was baniflied, it be- the rowers in the middle bank ing made criminal for any one to were called Zeugitse, bein^ be- keep it in Attica. tween the Fhalamites, and Thra- (3) Perhaps they were fo called nites , becaufe they were in the middle (4) This fome b : amed in Solon, rank between the Hippadateloun- as fetting the people above the tes, or the knights, and the The- law, as Ariftotle obferves, Polit. tes, or vafials. So in their gallies lib. 2. cap. jo. T 2 (4) The 224 *be LIFE of And for the greater fecurity of the common people he gave any man liberty to enter an adion in behalf of one who had been injured ; fo that if any one was beaten, maimed, or fuftered violence from another, any man that was willing and able might profecute the offender ; very wifely intending by this to accuftom the citizens, like members of the fame body, to refent and be fenfi- ble of one another's injuries. And there is a faying of his agreeable to this law ; for being aiked what city was beft modelled ? " That, fays he, where thofe who " are not injured are no lefs ready to profecute and pu " nifh the offenders than thofe who are." He conftituted the court of the (5) Areopagus, which was compofed of iiich as had borne the office of Archon (6), and of which he himfelf having been Archon, was confequently a member. But ftill obferving that the people, now free from their debts, grew proud and imperious ; he fettled another court of four hundred, a hundred out of each of the (7) four tribes, 'who were to infpect all matters before they were to be propounded to the people, and to take care (5) This was a hill near the ciridal of Athens, on which was apiece of ground inclofed, but uncovered, where the judges met to hear and judge in all criminal taufes, and had all matters of importance, whether of a religi- ous, or civil nature, brought be- fore them. There were In this court two filver feats, or (tools, one of which was called the ftool of impudence, and the other of in- jury. The accuf r fat on the laft, and the accufed on the firft. This court was not primarily erected by Solon, it -was a tribunal a thou- fand years before him, even in the days of Cecrops, who called it Areopagus, or Mars's-hill, be- caufe Mars had been condemn- ed here for the murder of Halir- rothius the fon of Neptune; Be- fore Solon's time the men of the beft reputation in the whole city were judges in this court. Solon was the firft who thought it expe- dient that for the future only fuch as had discharged the office of arch- on fliould be advanced to that dig- nity ; and as he added very much to the authority of the court, he was ever after confidered as the founder. There was nothing more noble nor auguft than that fenate, nothing equal to the glory of the fenators : they were honoured as Gods. (6) The Archons were Tnine in nuipber. The chief of them was called Archon by way of emi- nence ; from him the year had its denomination ; for which reafon he is fcmetimes ftiled Eponymus. The fecond was called Bafileus or King; his authority was principal- ly exerted in religious affairs. The third was called Polemarch or Ge- neral ; and the other fix by the common SOLON. 225 care that nothing but what had been diligently examined,, fhould be brought before the general aiTembly. The up- per council he made infpectors and keepers of the laws ; fuppofing that the comronwealth being held by thefe two councils, as by firm anchors, would Be lefs liable to be toft by tumults, and the people more at quiet. Thus mod writers agree, that Solon inftjtutecj the Areo- pagus, as we have faid, which feems to be confirmed, be- caufe Draco makes no mention of the Areopagites, but in all capital caufes applies himfelf to the Ephet.se (8) : Yet Solon's thirteenth table has a law (which is the eighth) fet down in thefe very words : " Whoever before Solon's e daughters of the contrary to the opinion of Hero- " Athenians drew clear water out dotus and Euripides, who fay that "of the river Eridanus," when the Ion the fon of Xuthus had four bealts themfelves could not fons, Teleon, Argicores, Ergades, quench their thirft in it. and Oplites, from whom the four (T,) Strabo tells us there was a firft tribes had their names refpec- fp r 'ng of frefh water near the Ly- fively. cxum, which afforded a fupply ot" extraordinary 232 Me LIFE of no other water but what they drew out of wells which they had dug for that purpofe, there was a law made, that where there was a publick well within the diftance of four furlongs, all fhould draw at that ; but when it was further off they might provide a private well ; and if they had dug ten fathom deep in their own ground, and could find no water, they had liberty to fetch a vef- fel of fix gallons twice a-day from their neighbours : for he thought it .prudent to make provifion agaiml want, but not to encourage lazinefs. His regulations about planting were very judicious ^ no one was allowed to plant a tree within five feet of his neighbour's field ; and if it was a fig or an olive, not within nine : for their roots fpread further than others, nor can they be planted near all forts of trees without damage, for from fome -they, draw away the nourifhment, and fome they hurt by their effluvia. He that would dig a pit or a (4) ditch, *was to dig it as far diflant from his neighbour's ground ,as it was deep ; and he that would raife flocks of bees, was to raife them at three hundred feet diflance from thofe which another had already raifed. (5) He permit- ted only oil to be exported ; and thofe that exported any other of the produces of the earth, the Archon was .-folemnly to curfe, or elfe himfeif to pay a hundred drachmas. This law was written in his firft table -, and therefore it is not abfolutely incredible what fome affirm, that the exportation of figs was anciently forbidden, and the informer againfl the delinquents called a Syco- phant. He made a law concerning hurts and injuries from beads, in which he commands the mailer of any dog that bit a man to deliver h-im up chained to a log of extraordinary good water. But and there it Is ra.$ on, a grave, and in general Attica was a very dry not TO.??. foil; for which reafon the inha- ($) There was great abundance bitants in their daily prayers be- of oil in Attica, and but a little of fought " Jupiter to pour dowa other fruits in proportion. Sp *' rain upon the lands and fields that thofe fr.uits were necefTary " of the Athenians." for the nouriflimeat of the people, (4) Tappac, fo the printed co- and in fome meafure fupplied the pies have it, i. e. ditches ; but this want of grain, law is ftill prefer ved in the Roman (6} In the firft ages the name Pandet. lib. 10. tit. i. leg. 13. cfParaftte was venerable, and fa- cred, SOLON. 233 of timber four cubits long ; a fmgular contrivance to fecure men from dogs. The law concerning naturalizing ftrangers admits of fome doubt, for he permitted only thofe to be made free of Athens, who were -in perpetual exile from their own country, or came with their whole family to exercife fome trade there ^ and this he did (they fay) not to difcourage ftrangers, but rather invite them, by making them fecure of the privileges of the government : and befides, he thought both thefe forts of men would prove more faithful citizens than other ftran- gers, the former out of neceflity, becaufe they had been forced from their own country, the latter out of choice, becaufe they had voluntarily forfaken it. Another of Solon's peculiar laws was that concerning eating at the publick charge -(which he called (6) Para- fitein) for he allowed not the fame perfon to come often, and punifhed him who refufed to come when invited, thinking that the one mowed a covetous difpofition and the other a contempt of the publick. All his laws he eflablifhed for 100 years, and wrote them on wooden ta- bles named Axones, which might, be turned round in oblong cafes ; fome fmall relicks of them are preferved even to our time in the common-hall at Athens. Thefe, as Ariflotle affirms, were called Cyrbes ; and Cratmus the comick poet fomewhere fays, Ifwear by Solon'j and by DracoV name, Wbofe Cyrbes now beneath our kettles flame. But fome fay thofe are properly (7) Cyrbes, which con- tain the laws concerning facrifices and the rites of reli- gion, and all the others Axones. The fenate all jointly fwore cred, for it properly fignified one tertainment, at which all who that was " a commoner or mefs- were of that tribe Ihould be ob- " mate at the table of facrifices." liged to aflift by turns. They There were in Greece feveral per- who were named to that office, fons particularly honoured with when it came to be their turn, this title, and v.-cre much like anddid not attend, were returned thofe whom the Romans called to the council, and obliged to Epulones. Solon ordained that give an account of their conduct, every tribe fhouki offer a facrifice (~) The Cyrbes according to once a month, and at the end of fome, were triangular, and made the facrifice make a publick en- of ftone, and the Axones quadran- gular - 234 LIFE of fwore to confirm the laws, and every one of the (#) Thefmothetae made a peculiar vow at the flone in the market-place, that if he broke any of the laws, he would dedicate (9) a golden ftatue, at Delphi, that mould weigh as much as himfeif. Obferving the irregularity of the months, and that the moon did not always rife and fet with the fun, but often upon the fame day happened to overtake and go before .him ; he ordered that day to be named " Hene kai " nea, the old and the new ;" attributing that part of it which was before the conjunction to the old month, and gular ; and though they are here laid to have been of wood, yet others fay they were ftone pillars at firft, and afterwards wood xvhitened. But in time Cyrbes and Axones were general names for all publick monuments of this kind. See Harpocration and Sui- das, and the fcholiaft upon Apollonius, lib. 4. v. 280. (8) It has been obferved before that they were fix in number ; they had particular charge of the laws, from whence they v/ere call- ed Thefmothetas : their bufmefs was to explain the fenfe, and re- concile the feeming contrarities of the law ; to inquire into fuch as had been negledted, and re- ftore them to their primitive vi- gour. ; and to fee if there were not many upon the fame fubjeft. They were alfo judges of cri- minals, and had the pewer oflife and death. (9) It is probable there was not gold enough in all Greece to make fuch a llatue. After the Phocians had plundered the temple at Delphi, (which was 200 years af- ter this time) and efpecially after Alexander's conqueii in Afia, gold became more common ; but in Solon's time it was fo fcarce, that when the Spartans were com- manded by the Oracle to gild the face of Apollo's ftatue, they en- quired in vain for gold all over Greece, and were directed by the Oracle to buy fome of Crcefus King of Lydia. Vid. Benttey's Differt. on Phalaris. This vow mult therefore be underftood hy- perbolically and as containing ta- citly a curfej for whoever fhould incur the penalty and was not able to perform the vow was to be banifhed, and to have his goods conntcated. (1) This line is the i6zd verfe of the i 4th book of the Odyffey, where UlyfTes himfeif fpeaking of his return fays, " BeafTured of the " truth of what I fay. Ulyfles " (hall return hither this very ye^ar. " Yes, he fhall return into his own " palace at the end, and beginning " of the month " Solon knew very well that Homer could not fpeak but of one, and the fame ctay for how could a man come home two days together ? He therefore found that the poet in this man- ner explained the day cf the con-., junction, wherein the moon is at the fame time both old and new, clcfing up one month and opening' that which follows. (2) He divided the month into three tens or tithings. The fide, was called " of the month begin- " ning irf&;a fwsj j the fecond " the SOLON. 235 and the reft to the new : being the firfl it feems who ur.derftood that verfe of Homer, (i) tte end and the beginning c,f the month. The following day he called the New Moon ; (2) after the twentieth he counted not by adding, but fubib act- ing and reckoned backward, according to the decreaf- ir.g phafes of the moon, to the thirtieth. After (3) thefe laws were enacted, many perfons came continually to Solon, either to commend or dif- praife them, and advife him to make fuch additions as fuited " the month middling, pic-y?h; pr.'A; ; and the Iaft of the month " finifhing, ^SiniJ-'W MV.C,- ;" the firft was numbered in order, viz. " The firft, fecond, third of the " month beginning " The feccnd \vas numbered in the fame man- ner, " the firft, fecond, third of " the month middling, or elfe the " firft after ten. the fecond after " ten," &c. till they came to twenty. When they came to the iaft ten, then they reckoned by fubftra&ion, for initead of laying " One after twenty, two after " twenty, they call it the tenth of 4< the month finifhing, that is the "2iftj the ninth of the month "finilhing," that is the 2-.d ; and fo of the reft. Sometimes they left out the words " of the month fi- " nifhing," when they counted fe- veial days one after another, for in that cafe it was impoliibletobe miftaken. Thus Strepfiades in one of Ariftophanes's plays called the clouds, inftead of reckoning " fix " after twenty, feven after twen- " ty, &c. fays five, four, three, " two, and the moft abominable " of all days that of the old, and " new moon,' 1 that is the joth The PvOinans imitated them in this Iaft way of fubftrafting, and it is allonifhing to conceive how nati- ons fo knowing and polite could follow dates fo unnatural av.el extravagant. T,} i'lUtarchhasonlymentioned thofe laws of Solon which he thought the moft ungular and re.- matkable ; Diogenes Laertms has related fome others that ought not to be forgotten, " Let not the ' Guardian live in thefame houfe ' with the mother of his pupils. ' Let not the tuition of minors be committed to him who is next after them in the inheritance. Let not a filverfmith keep the impreffion of a feal which he has fold. Let him that puts out the eye of a man that has but one lole both his. If an Archon gets drunk let him be put to death. Let him, who refufeth to nourifit his father and mother be in!a- mous : and fo let him that has confumed his patrimony. A de- '* bauchee fhall not be allowed to " fpeak in theaffemblies orrhepeo- " pie. 1 ' There are two other laws of Solon very remarkable, 01 which Plutarch has taken no norke : One of them is againft lewd women, and the other againft procurers. " A woman ought in aouitery " ftiall no't be fuffered to deck her- " felf, and aflift at the pubiick fa- " crifices, for fear her comnvrce " fhould corrupt others, in cafe " flie fhould appear there, or be " decked 236 The LIFE of fuited each man's fancy, or to omit fuch things as any of them happened to diflike ; and many defired him to explain the meaning and defign of particular paflages. He being fenfible that a refufal would difoblige them, and that if he complied with their importunity, hiji anfwers might give offence, in order to extricate him- felf from thefe difficulties, and to leave no room for cavils and exceptions, (for as he himfelf fays, "Tis rare tbat flat ef men can all parties pleafe^) That he might have an exciife for travelling, he pur- chafed a fnip, and having obtained leave for ten years abfence, he departed ; for he hoped by that time his laws would become cuflomary and familiar. His firft voyage was to Egypt, and he lived, as he himfelf fays, Near Nilus' mouth, by fair Canopus' Jbore. He fpentfome time in ftudy withPfenophis of Heliopo- lis and Sonchis the Sake, the moft learned of all the priefts ; from whom, as Plato fays, getting an account of the Atlantick iiland, (4) he put it into a poem, and endeavoured to bring it into credit among the Grecians. From thence he failed to Cyprus, where he was received with great friendfhip by Philocyprus one of the kings there, who had a fmall city built by Demophoon, the fon of Thefeus, near the river Clarius, in a ftrong place indeed, but on a hard and barren foil. Solon perfuaded him, fmce there lay a fair plain below, to remove the city ' decked out, it fiiall be lawful for that it was drowned in one day ' the firft that fees her to ftrip and night. Diodorus Siculus fays, ' her, and take her ornaments; he that the Carthagenians, who dif- ' may likewife beat her as much covered it, made it capital for any as he pleafes, provided he does one to inhabit it. It has been in- ' not kill nor lame her." As for ferred from hence that in thofe procurers, he ordained that they days the Africans had fome know- ihould be purfued, and put to ledge of America, upon which the death if taken. Greeks build the fable which (4) Plato finilhed this hiftory Plato has preferved in his Critias. from Solon's memoirs, as is to be (5) Solon, they fay, was Archon feen in his Timseus, and Critias. the third year of the 46th Olym- He pretends that this Atlantick piad, and Crsfus was overthrown ifland, fituated in the ocean, was by Cyrus the fecond year of the bigger than Afia and Africk, and 58th, which makes it impcfiible for SOLON. 237 city thither/ and make it both larger and more pleafant; and while he ftaid there he took care of its building and peopling, and ailifted in fitting it both lor defence and convenience of living : infbmuch that many new in- habitants flocked to Philocyprus, and the other kings grew jealous ^ and therefore to honour Solon, he called the city Soli, which was formerly named Apeia, that is High : and Solon himfelf in his elegies fpeaking to Phi- locyprus, mentions this foundation in thefe words , Long may you live, and Jill the Solian throne, Succeededjiill by children of your own ! And whiljl from your bkjj d ifle 1 gently fail \ Let Venus fend a kind and profp'rous gale : Let her enlarge the bounds of your command, And raifeyour town, andfendmefafe to land. There are fome who think the (lory of (5) Solon's interview with Crcefus a fidion, as not being agreeable to chronology ; but I cannot reject fo famous a rela- tion, and fo well attefled, and (what is more) fo agree- able to Solon's temper, fo worthy his wifdom and great- nefs of mind, becaufe it happens not to agree with fbme chronological canons, which thoufands have endea- voured to regulate, and yet to this day could never bring the different accounts to any agreement. It is faid (6) that Solon when he came toSardis attherequeft of Crcefus, was in the fame condition, as a native of an inland country when firil he goes to fee the ocean : for as he for Solon to be living at that time, according to Plutarch, this voyage that is to fay, forty-feven years was performed even before the after his Archonfhip. This they tyranny of Pififtratus. This is fo prove more ftrongly by making it full of difficulties, and contrarie- appear that Solon died when He- ties, that it is impoffible to recon- geftratus was Archon in the fe- cile them, unlefs we agree with cond year of the 51 ft Olympiad. Plutarch that the ancient chrono- iS'ow Crcefus was not King till the logical tables are by no means firft year of the 56th Olympiad, exact, not'.vithftanding the great which was twenty-two years after labour and pains feveral perfons the death of Solon. How then have been at to regulate them, are we to make this voyage of (6) This ftory is told at large Solon into Lydia fall in with the in the firft book of Herodotus. - rei^n of Crcefus ? Efpeciallv if, VOL. I. U He 238 . ?be L I F E of he fancies every river he meets with to be the fea, fcr Solon, as he pafTed through the couit, and faw a great many nobles richly drefled, and proudly ftrutting among a crowd of attendants and guards, thought every one had been Crcefus, till at laft he was brought to his prefence, and found hirrr decked with all the ornaments of jewels purple and embroidery, all that could flrike the behold- ers with admiration of his grandeur and magnificence. When Solon came before him, and feemed not at all fur- prized, nor paid Crcefus thofe compliments he expected, but mowed himfelf, to all difcerning eyes, to be a man that defpifed fuch vain orientation and empty pomp y he commanded them to open his treafury to him, and to carry him about and (how him his rich furniture, though he did not defire to fee it : for Solon needed only to look upon him, to give a judgment of the man. When he returned from viewing all this, Crcefus alkedhim"if " ever he had feen a happier man than he was ?" And when Solon anfwered " he knew one Tellus a fellow-citi- " zen of his, and told him that this Tellus was an honeft " man, had good children, a competent eftate all his life, " which he ended bravely fighting for his country ^" Crcefus looked upon him as a man void of all tafte and judgment, for not meafuring happinefs by the abundance of gold and filver ; and for preferring the life and death of a mean and private man, before fo much power and fuch an empire. However he afked him again,, if befide Tellus, he knew any other man more happy ? Solon re- plied, " yes, Cleobis andBito,. who were very loving bro- " thers and very dutiful to their mother ; for when the " oxen were too long before they came, they put them- " felves to the waggon, and drew their rrother to Juno's " temple, who was extremely pleafed with their action, and "called happy by her neighbours; and then after they had "facrificed and feafted they went to reft, and never roie " again, but died without pain or trouble immediately after " they had acquired fuch great reputation. How, fays " Crcefus difpleafed, doftnot thou reckon us then amongfl "the number of happy men ?" Solon, unwilling either to flatter him. or to exafperate him more, replied, " King of Lydia, SOLON. 239 ic Lydia,as God has given us Greeks a moderate propor- " tion of other things, fo likewife of a kind of free and ofen from a- nour, 145 y^ars after the occur- mong the Patricians, rences of which Plutarch is 260 Tbe LIFE of been put to death by Tarquin, and many flain in the late battle. Thofe who were regiftered, it is faid, amounted to one hundred and fixty-four. Afterwards he made ieveral laws, which added much to the people's power ; one, granting offenders the liberty of appealing to the people from the judgment of the confuls ; a fe- cond, that made it death for any one to accept the magiftracy without the people's content ; a third for the relief of poor citizens, which taking off their taxes en- couraged them to labour i another againft difobedience to the confuls, which was no lefs popular than the reft, and rather to the advantage of the commonalty, than of the nobles ; for it impofed upon the offender the penalty of five oxen and two fheep ; the price of a fheep being ten Oboli, of an ox an hundred. For money was thenfcarce amongft the Romans, their wealth confiding in a plenty of cattle ; fo that even to this time eftates are 'called Peculia from Pecus, i. e. Cattle; and they had upon their ancient money engraved an ox, a fheep, or an hog ; and hence alfo they furnamed their fons Suilli, Bubulci, Caprarii, and Porcii, from the names of the different kinds of cattle. Though thefe laws were fo equitable and popular, yet amidft this moderation he inflituted one exceflive punifhment, for he made it lawful without accufation to take away any man's life that afpired to tyranny, and acquitted the murderer, if he produced evidences of the crime, For though it was not poffible that one who had fuch great defigns mould efcape all notice, yet it was pok fible that though fufpecled he might accomplifh his ambitious views before he could be brought to a trial, and his ufurped power would then protect him from punifhment ^ therefore this law allowed any one to punifh him before the crime was legally proved. He was honoured likewife for the law concerning the trea- fary ; for as the citizens were obliged to contribute out of their eftates to the wars, he determined that neither himfelf, nor any of his friends fhould be employed in the difpofal of the publick money, nor would he per- mit it ever to fall into any private hands j he therefore allotted POPLICOLA. 261 allotted the temple of Saturn for the treafury, in which to this day they repofit the tribute-money, and granted the people the liberty of chufing two young men as Queftors, i. e. Treafurers. The firft were Publius Vetu- rius and Marcus Minutius ; and a great fum was collect- ed ; for they afleiTed one hundred and thirty thoufand perfbns, excufing orphans and widows from the pay- ment. After he had made thefe -regulations, he ad- mitted Lucretius, the father of Lucretia, as his collegue, and gave him the precedence in the government, by refigning up the Faices, or Rods to him, as due to his years -, which mark of refpect to age was ever after continued. But within a few days Lucretius died, and Marcus Horatius fucceeded in that honour for the re-. maining Part of the year. Whilft Tarquin was making preparations in Tufcany for a fecond war againft the Romans, it is faid a por- tentous accident happened. During the time that he was upon the throne, having almoft fmifhed the temple of Jupiter Capjtolinus, and defigning (whether it was his own thought, or the direction of fome Oracle) to place an earthen chariot on the top, he employed fome TuC can artificers of Veii to make it, but foon after was expelled from his kingdom. The work when model- led was fet in a furnace, but tha clay mowed not thofe qualities which ufually attend its nature, to fubfide and be condenfed upon the exhalation of the moifture, but rofe up and fwelled to fuch a bulk, that being confoli- dated and firm, notwimftanding the removal of the head and breaking down the walls of the furnace, it could not be taken out without much difficulty. The diviners looked upon this as a prognoflick of fuccefs and power to thofe whofhould have it in their pofleffion ; the Veientes therefore refolved not to deliver it to the Romans, who demanded it ; but anfwered, that it ra- ther belonged to Tarquin than to thofe who forced him into exile. A few days after, whilft they were cele- brating the races at Veii, with the ufual (hows and (b- lemnities ; the charioteer who had gained the prize, the crown, on his head, and foftly driving his victorius LIFE of victorious chariot out of the ring, the horfes, without any apparent caufe, flarted on a fudden, and either by a divine inftigation, or mere accident, hurried away their driver full fpeed to Rome ; he tried in vain to flop them by pulling the reins and fpeaking gently to them ; they continued to run on furioufly, till coming" near the capitol, they overturned the chariot, (2) by the gate called Ratumena. This occurrence fo furprized and ter- rified the Veientes, that they immediately permitted the chariot to be delivered up. Tarquin, the fon of Demaratus, when he was at war with the Sabins, had made a vow to build a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus, and this was the temple which Tar- quin the Proud, {he fon or grandfon of him that had made this vow, began, but could not dedicate, becauie he loft his kingdom before it was fmifhed. When it was compleated and furnifhed (3) with all its ornaments, Poplicola had a great ambition to dedicate it. But many of the nobility, though they envied not the honours due to his great fer vices in peace and war, yet could not bear that he mould ufurp that, which, they faid, belonged to another : therefore they importuned Hora- tius to fue for the dedication and whilft Poplicola was abfent, being obliged to lead the army into the field, they voted it to Horatius, and accordingly conducted him to the capitol, well knowing that were Popiicola prefent they mould not have prevailed. Yet fome write, that Poplicola was by lot deftined againft hi swill to the army, and Horatius to the dedication. (4) But it (2) It was fo called from this (4) Plutarch means that it is accident, for the driver's name plain from what happened at the was Ratumenas. dedication that the confuls had (3) Which was not till Popii- not been deftined by lot, one to cola's third confulfhip. This tern- the war, and the other to the de- pie was 200 feet long, and 185 dication j for fuch a decifion or fomething more deep. The would have been looked upon as front was adorned with three a mark of the will of the Gods; rows of columns, and the fides and Poplicola's brother would not with two. In the nave were three Jiave prefumed to interrupt Hora- cells, or chapels, one of Jupiter, tius in the folemnity, nor would another of Juno, and the third-*- the people have fuffered it, if he of Minerva. had been fo minded. Plutarch here P O P L I C O L A. 263 it is eafy to judge of what paft between them on this affair, from what happened on the day of the dedica- tion : for upon the thirteenth of September, which hap- pens about the full moon of the month Metagitnion, the people flocking to the capitol, and filence beincr enjoined, Horatius, after the performance of other ceremonies, holding the door, according to cuflom, pronounced the words of dedication ; then Marcus, brother of Poplicola, who had flood for fome time at the door, obferving his opportunity, cried, " O Conful " thy fonlies dead in the camp." This made a great im- preflion upon the auditory, yet did not at all difcompofe Horatius, who only replied, " Then caft the dead out " whither you pleafe, for I mall not admit of forrow ;" and ib went on with the dedication. This news was not true, but Marcus thought the lie might divert him from proceeding in the ceremony. Horatius appears by this inftance to have been a man of admirable conflancy, whether he prefently faw through the cheat, or believed it to be true without mowing any emotion. The fame fuccefs attended the dedication of the fecond temple. The firft, which was built by Tarquin, and dedicated by Horatius, (5) was burnt in the civil wars. (6) The fecond Sylla built, and dying before the dedication, that honour was given to Catulus ; but when this was demolifhed in the Vitelhan fedition, Vefpafian (whofe good fortune likewife attended him in this) began a third, and faw it fmifhed, but lived not to fee the ruin of it, which happened loon after. He was more for- tunate here manifeftly contradi&s Livy. with columns of marble, which (5) In the wars between Sylla he had taken out of the temple and Marius. It wasconfecrated in of Jupiter Olympius at Athens, the third year of the 68th Olym- and tranfported to Rome. Catu- pvu' per ira. Solon's unbecoming a wife man, Virum. he prefers to it that of the poet Whene'er I die let not a tear be Ennius, who wiflies quite the Jbed, contrary. Nor mourn my friends around my gloomy bed. Nemo me (acrymis decoret, nee Fa- Hotv can I 'want a being, ivbiift nerajlettu my name It POPLICOLA with SOLON. 277 otherwife to attend to greater matters ; or if bad, fhould have any temptation to injuftice, having the government and treafury both in his hands. The averfion to tyranny was greater in Poplicola : for whofoever endeavoured an ufurpation, was punifhed by Solon's lav/ only upon conviction ; but Poplicola made it death without the formality of a trial. And though So- lon juflly gloried, that when he might eafily have obtain- ed the fupreme power, and that even with the con fen t of the citizens, he refufed to accept it ; yet Poplicola me- rited not lefs, who finding the confular power too abfb- lute, made it more popular by not ufmg the authority he might. But we mufl allow, that Soion knev/ the pro- priety of fuch conduct before Poplicola : for he lays, The giddy multitude will left obey. If ftsady yet not rig'rous is thy f way. But the remiflion of debts was peculiar to Solon ; and this much ftrengthened the citizen's liberty for no law whatever could fecure an equality, if the debts of the poor prevented that equality; becaufe where they feemed chiefly to exercife their liberty, as in debates, elections, and adminiflrations of offices, they would be mod enflaved, being directed and controuled by the rich. But it is more extraordinary, that although fedi- tion ufually attends the remiflion of debts, yet he ap- plied it as a cure for fedition : the remedy was hazard- ous indeed, but effectual -, his virtue and credit being fo great as to filence the clamour which naturally arifes upon fuch occafions. The beginning of his govern- ment was more glorious . for he was himfelf an origi- t? * (j nal, and followed no example, and without any allb- ciate did great things by his own conduct ; but Popli- cola's Is lorne Immortal o'er the realms of cero is of the fame opinion with Jame? Plutarch, for he tells us in his firft book of Offices, that theAthenians (5)' Plutarch attributes to Solon did not owe fo much to Themi- the institution of the Areopagus, ftocles for the viftory he obtained which however was more ancient over the Medes at Salatnin, as than that lawgiver, as has been they did to Solon for his conftitu- already observed in his lire. Ci- tion of that couit. (6) He 2*78 The Comparifon of ola''s government was more happy in the end ; for Solos faw the diflblution of his own commonwealth, but Pop- licola's was preferved inviolable till the civil wars. Solon leaving his laws engraven in wood, but deftitute of a defender,. departed from Athens ; whilft Poplicola by con- tinuing in the magiftracy .thoroughly fettled the go- vernment. And though Solon was fenfible of Pififtratus's ambition, yet he was not able to fupprefs it, but funk under the new eftablifhed tyranny; whereas Poplicola .utterly fubverted and difTblved a potent monarchy, ftrongly fettled by long continuance; being nothing inferior to Solon in virtue and difpofition, and withal fa- vourably aflifled with power and fortune to accomplifh his virtuous defigns. As for martial exploits, (6) Deimachus Plataeenfis does not attribute even the wars .againft the Megarenfes to Solon as we have done : but Poplicola in great encounters, in which he performed the part both of a private foldier and a commander, obtained the victory. As to the management of civil affairs, Solon in a fportful way, and -by a counterfeit mow of madnefs folicited the enterprife of Salamin ; whereas Pop- licola in the very beginning, nothing daunted at the greateft enterprifes, oppofed Tarquin, and detected the -confpiracy -, and being principally concerned both in fecuring and afterwards punifhing the traitors, he not only excluded the tyrants from the city, but fruftrated iikewife all their expectations from thence. And though where open refinance, force, and manly courage were required, he always behaved with undaunted refolution and fteadinefs, yet he excelled more in peaceable tranf- aclions, where perfuafion and condefcenfion were necef- &ry -, Porfenna, a terrible and invincible enemy, by fuch means (6) He means that Deimachus, fed with fo many faifities and fa- who after the death of Alexander bles, that Strabo affures us that of the Great, and under the reign of all the hiftorians who have writ- Ptolemy the fon of Lagus, was fent ten upon that fubjett, there are ambafTador to an Indian King cat- none of fo little credit, as Deima- led Allitrochades the fon of San- chus, and Megafthenes. And yet droehottus. This ambaffy gave Pliny has in his hiftory borrowed him a pretence for writing a hif- many relations from thofe faith- lory of the Indies, which he ftuf- ful hiftorians. .(i)This POPLICOLA with SOL ON". 279 * means being reconciled and made a friend. Some may perhaps object, that Solon recovered Salaminfor the Athe- nians, when they had loft it ; whereas Poplicola receded from part of what the Romans were poflefled of : but judgment is to be made of actions according to the times in which they were performed. The conduct of a wife politician is ever fuited to the prefent pcfture of affairs, for often by foregoing a part he faves the whole, and by yielding in a fmall matter fecures a greater ; as Poplicola, who by reftoring what the Romans had lately ufurped, faved what was truly their own ; and when they were fcarce able to preferve their city, he put them in poileflion of the camp of thofe that befieged it. Per- mitting alto the decifion of the controverfy between Tarquin and him to his adverfary, and being favoured by the judge in the decifion, he obtained as good terms as a victory could have procured -, Porfenna putting an end to the war, and leaving them all the provifion of his camp, through a perfuafion of the virtue and gal- lant dilpofition of the Romans, which the conful hat the trophies of Miltiades wou'd not let him fleep. And when others v/ere of opinion that the battle of Marathon would put an end to the war, The- miftocles thought that it was but (4) the beginning of far greater conflicts, for which he prepared himfelf conti- nually, for the good of all Greece, and exercifed the city, as one foreieeing at a great di fiance what was likely to come to pafs. And firft of all, the Athenians being accuftomed to diflribute the revenue proceeding from the filver mine at Laurion amongft themfelves, he was the only man that durft propofe to the people, that this diftribution fhould ceafe, and that with the money mips mould be built to make war againft the /Eginetes who were the moil flourifhing people in Greece, and by, the number of their fhips held the fovereignty of the fea. And to this Themiilocles eafily perfuaded them, (5) not by alarming them with apprehenfions of danger from Darius or the Perfians ; for they were at a great diflance, and their coming feemed very uncertain ; but by feafbnably employing the emulation, hatred and anger of the Athenians againft the JEginetes, he induced them to rrake preparations. With this money an hundred fhips were built, with which they afterwards fought againft Xerxes ; and from this beginning he by degrees perfuaded the Athenians to increafe their naval power more and more, making it evident to them, that thofe who on land were not a match for their neigh- bours, Plato, in his third book de legibus threw them into a great confterna- fays exprefl/ that every day there tion. It is very natural therefore to was news at Athens of Darius's think that Themiftocles made ufe formidable preparations ; and the of this terror to perfuade them to fame accounts that brought ad- apply themfelves to maritime af- vice of Darius's death, afTured fairs, that fo they might be in a con- them likewife that his fon Xerxes dttion to appofe a Piince who was inherited his father's refentments, corning againft them with a fleet and was preparing to put his de- of more than a thouland fail. figns into execution -, all which Plutarch chofe rather to follow VOL. I. Z Herodotus, 2?6 ne L I F E of bours, with their (hips might be able not only to op- pofe the Perfians, but to become the rulers of Greece. So that, as Plato fays, of valiant land foldiers, he made them mere mariners and feamen, that gave occafion for this reproach againft him, and he took awjy from the Athenians the Ipear and the f hi eld, and bound them ta the bench and the oar. Thefe things he performed, notwithstanding he was oppofed by Miltiades, as Stefim- brotus relates. Whether he did not by this means cor- rupt the pubiick manners may be matter of enquiry for philofophers. But that the deliverance of Greece came at that time from the fea, and that thofe gallies eftablifhed the city of Athens again after it had been deftroyed (ta omit other proofs) Xerxes himfelf is a fufficient witnefs ; who though his land force's were ftill entire, after he had been worfted at fea, fled away, and thought him- felf unable to encounter the Athenians. And it feems to me, that he left Mardonius behind him, not out of any hopes he had of bringing them into fubjedion, but to hinder the Greeks from puriuing him. Themiftocles is faid by fome to have been very intent upon heaping up riches, that he might be the more libe- ral ; for loving to facrifice often, and to be fplendid in his entertainment of ftrangers, he ftood in need of a plenti- ful revenue. Yet he is accufed by others of being na- turally parfimonious, and fordid to that degree, that he would fell the provilion which was prefented him. He defired Philides, who was a breeder of horfes, to give him a colt ; and when he refufed it, threatned him " that " in a fhort time lie would make his houfe like the Trojan horfe j Herodotus, who only tells us that tain the people, they could not Themiftocles obliged the Athe- do it more effectually than by ex- nians to build two hundred gal- hibitingto them the beft trage- lies in order to carry on the war dies with the utmoft magnificence, againit the /Eginetet* This was the ground of great e- mulatioi', whilft every oneendea- (6) Tragedy was juft then ar- voured to outvy his rival, notonly rived at its perfection, and the A- in the coftlinefs of the habits, and thenians had fo great a fade for the magnificence of the decorati- it, that whenever the magiftrates ons, but in the beauty of the piece, or wealthy citizens were to enter- and the merit and reputation of the THEMISTOCLES. 287 horfe ; " intimating thereby that he would raife conten- tions between him and fbme of his own family. He exceeded all men in ambition and defire of ho- nour ; and when he was but young and not known in the world, he defired Epicles of Hermiona, who was an excellent performer on the harp, and much efteemed by the Athenians, to come and pradiie at his houfe, hoping that the defire of hearing him would draw many per- fons thither. When he came to the Olympian games, and endeavoured to rival Cimon in the pomp of his equipage and entertainments, ar.d in his rich tents and furniture, he difpleafed the Greeks, who thought that fuch magnificence might be allowed of in a young man of a noble family ; but that it was great infolence ir* one of mean extraction, and who was as yet but little known, to affect a fplendor fo unfuitable to his birth and - fortune. He exhibited a tragedy at his own experce, and won the prize with his tragedians, at a time (6) when thofe entertainments were purfued with great eager- nefs and ambition, and in memory of his vidory fet up a table with this infcription ; " Themiftocles the Phrea- " rian was at the charge of it, (7) Phrynicus made it, A- " dimantusprefided." He was beloved by the common people, becaufe he would falute every particular citizen by his own name, and becaufe he always mowed himfelf ' a juft judge of controverfies between private men. He faid to (8) Simonides, a poet of Ceos, who defired fomething of him, when he was commander of the army, that was not realbnable, Simonides, " you would be no " good poet if you mould violate the meafures and rules "of the poet of whom they bought odes, and elegies. He was much it. in the favour of Pnufanias King (7) He was a tragick poet, the of Sparta, and of Hiero King of difcipleofThefpis,andcontempo- Sicily. Plato had fo high an opi- raryof^Efchylus. Hevvasthefirft nion of his merit, that he gave who brought women aftors on the him the epithet of Divine. He ftage. His chief plays were Ada:- died in the firft year of the 78th on, Alceftes, and the Danaides. Olympiad, at almoft ninety yea: 3 (8) He wrote two poems on the of age ; fo that he was very near battle of Marathon and Salaiuin ; fourfcore when jhe defcribed thj and was the author of feveral battle of Salamin. Z 2 '' v ;-^ 288 The LIFE of " of poetry, nor fhould I beagood magiftrate, if to oblige " you I mould violate the law." And at another time laughing at Simonides he told him, " That he was a man " of little judgment, to rail at the Corinthians, who were " inhabitants of fo great a city, and to have his own pic- " ture drawn fo often, having fuch an ill-favoured face.'* When he came into power, and had won the favour of the people, he ftirred up a party againft Ariftides, who was at length overpowered and banifhed by the oftracilm. When the Perfians were coming down into Greece, and the Athenians were in eonfultation who mould be their General, many declined it, being terri- fied with the greatnefs of the danger , but there was one Epicydes an orator,, fon to Euphemides, a man of great eloquence, but of a cowardly and avaricious difpofition, who was defirous of the command, and would proba- bly 'have teen eledled, had not Themiftoeles, fearing that if the government mould fall into fuch a man's hands all would be loft, by a fum of money prevailed on him to defift from his pretenfions. When the King of Perfia lent mefTengers into Greece, with an interpreter, to demand (9) water and earth, Themiftoeles, by the con fen t of the people, feized upon the interpreter, and put him to death, for prefuming to deliver the mevTage of a barbarian in the Grecian lan- guage. For this he was highly honoured by the Greeks ^ as allb for what he did to Arthmius of Zela, who for bringing gold from the Perftans to corrupt the Grecians, was by the perfuafion of Themiftoeles degraded and made infamous, together with his- children, and his pofte- rity. But that which moft of all redounded to his ho- nour, was, that he put an end to all the civil wars of Greece, (9) When the kings of Perfia tothe Athenians ; the ambafTadors required any ftate or people to of his father Darius having been fubmit to them, their cuftom was treated with great indignity when to tiema y Chileus the Arcadian. Having taken upon himfelf the command of the A- -thenian forces, he immediately endeavoured to prevail upon the citizens to leave the city, to embark on board their gallies, and to meet the Perfian fleet at a great t before it remained untouched, told the people, by the direction of Themiftocles, that the God- defshad left the city, and taken her flight before them towards the fea. He often repeated to them the Oracle which bid them thruft to walls of wood, mowing them that Avails of wood could fignify nothing elfe but fhips ; (i) and that the ifland of Salami n was not termed miferable or unfortunate by Apollo, but divine, intimat- ing thereby, that it mould one day be very fortu- nate to the Greeks (2). At length (3) his opinion prevailed, and "Divine Salamin,thou wilt deftroy unfortunate; that the menace "the children of women." Thefe contained in the prediction i elated two verfes confounded thofe who to their enemies, and that confe- fo underftood the Oracle, as to in- quently r'-xva. ywouxun, the chiU terpret wooden walls by (hips ; dren of women, meant the Per- for they thought it was meant by fians, being fo termed by the Om- it, they fliould be defeated near cle to denote their cowardice and Salamin. Themiftocles was the effeminacy, only perfon who difcovered the abfiirdity of that explication, and (3) Themifrocle's opinion fo made it appear, that if Apollo far prevailed, that the Athenians meant that the Athenians were to ftoned Cyrfilus, who maintained perifli near Salamin, he would not the contrary. Nay, their animofi- bave called it divine, but rather ty went fo far, that the women ftoned The L I F E of and he propofed a decree, that the city mould be re- commended to the protection of Minerva, the tutelary Goddefs of the Athenians , that they who were of age to bear arms, fhould embark ; and that every one mould provide as well as he could for the fafety of his wife his children and bis Haves. This decree being parted, mod of the Athenians removed their families toTrsfezen, \vhere they were received very hofpitably, and the Trae- zenians made an order that they mould be maintained at thepublick charge, by diftributiag daily two Oboli to every one ; that the children mould have leave to ga- ther fruit where they pleafed, and their fchool-ma- fler be paid at the publick charge for inftructing them. Nicagoras was the author of this decree. There being no money in the treafury at that time, the Tenate of Areopagus (as Ariftotle fays) diflributed to every foldier eight drachmas ; which contributed very much to the well manning of the fleet. But Clidemus afcribes this to a ftratagem of Themiftocles ; who when the Athenians went down to the haven of Piraeus, faid, that the Aegis was taken away from the ftatue of Mi- nerva, and while he pretended to fearch for it, and was ranfacking all places, he found among the baggage great fums of money, which he feized for the ufe of the publick ; and with this the foldiers and feamen were well provided for their voyage. The embarkation of the people of Athens afforded a fpeclacle, which in fome excited pity, in others admira^ tion of the firmnefs and conftarcy of thofe who fending away their parents to a diftant place, unmoved by their cries, tears and embraces, palled over into the iiland. But that which moved companion mod of all, was, that many old men, by reafon of their great age, were left behind ; and even the tame domeflick animals railed fome tender emotions, while by their mournful cries and bowlings they mowed their affedion for their matters, and their regret at being forfaken by thofe who had fed them. In particular it is reported, that Xan- thippua ftoned the wife of that unfortunate declairaer. THEMISTOCLES. 295 thippus the father of Pericles had a dog that would not endure to ftay behind, but leaped into the fea", and fwam along by the fide of the galley till he came to the ifland of Salamin, where he immediately expired ; and he is faid to have been buried in that part of the ifland which is flill called The Dog's Grave. Among the great actions of Themiftocles, the recall- ing Ariflides was not the lead ; for before the war he was opprelTed by a faction ftirred up by Themiftocles, and fuffered banimment. But Themiftocles now per- ceiving thnt the people regreted the abfence of this great man, and feared that he might go over to the Perfians to revenge himfelf and thereby ruin the Affairs of Greece, propofed a decree that thofe who were banifhed for a time, might return again, to give what afliftance they could to the Grecians, both by their counfel and valour, with the reft of the Athenians. Eurybiades, by reafon of the great authority of Sparta, was made chief commander of the Grecian fleet, although he was a man of little courage. He was willing to weigh anchor and fet fail towards the Ifthmus where the Peloponnefian army lay encamped; but Themiftocles vio- lently oppofed him, and on this occafion made thofe well-known replies. When Eurybiades faid to him, " At " the Olympic games they that rife up before their turn are " puniihed: "Themiftocles replied," and they that are left " behind are never crowned. 1 ' Eurybiades lifting up his ftaff as if he were going to ftrike him, Themiftocles cried, " Strike, but hear me." Eurybiades admiring his modera- tion, deiired him to fpeak, and Themiftocles then brought him over to his opinion. One who ftood near him faid, that " it did not become thdfe who had no city to perliiade others " to-relinquifh their habitations, and forfake their country." To this Themiftocles replied, "Wretch, that thou art, we *' have indeed left our houfes and our walls not thinking " it fit to become flaves for the fake of thofe things that " have no life ; and yet our city is now the greateft of all * 4 Greece, for it confifts of two hundred (4) galleys, which are " here (4) la fome manufcripts it is three hundred. (S) L I F E of * c here ready to defend you if you pleafe : but if you run " arway and betray us a fecond time, the Greeks fhall foon " perceive that the Athenians will poffefs as fair a country, " and (5) as large and free a city as that which they have " quitted. "Thefe expreiTions ofThermftocles made Euri- biades fufpeft, that if he retreated, the Athenians would fall off from him. When one of Eretria began to oppofe him, he faid, " Have you any thing to fay of war who are Ci like that fifh (6) which has a fvvord but no heart." Some fay, that while Therriiftocles was difcourfrg of thefe things upon the deck, there was an owl feen flying to the rioiit hand of the fleet, which came and fat upon the top of the maft. This happy omen fo far difpoied the Greeks to follow his advice, that they prcfently prepared to fight. Yet when the enemy's fleet was arrived at the haven of Phalerus upon the coaft of Attica, and with the number of their mips covered all the fhore; and when the Greeks faw the King himfelf come down with his land army to the fea fide, and all his forces united ; then the good counfel of Themiftocles was immediately forgotten, and the Peloponnefianscaft their eyes again towards the Ifth- mus, and could not bear with patience that any one fhould fpeak againft their returning home ; and refblv- ing to der-ii*: that night, the pilots had orders what courfe to fleer. Themiilocles being greatly concerned that the Grecians mould retire, and iofe the advantage of the narrow feas and ftrait paiiages, and flip home every one to his own city, contrived that ftratagem, which was carried on by Sicinus. (7) This Sicinus was a Perfian captive, but had a great (5) For the Athenians, having (7) I know not upon what au- a fleet of ?.oo fail were in a con- thority Plutarch fays that Sicinus dition of making confiderable was a Perfian Can it be imagin- conquefts. Befides, this reply in- ed, that Themiftocles would com- cluded a menace thai they would mit the education of his children pafs into Italy, and poffefs them- to a Barbarian ? Plato would cer- felves of the city of Siris, which tainly have reproached him for it, )iad been promifed them by the as he did Pericles for having cauf- Oracle. ed Alcibiades to be brought up by (6) The Greek name is Teu- a Thracian flave. It is not impro- this ; but it is uncertain what fi(h bable that be was mifled by 9 is meant. falfe reading of this paffage in He- lodotus. THEMISTOCLES. 297 a great affection for Themiftocles, and was tutor to },i$ children : upon this cccafion Themiftocles fent him pri- vately to Xerxes, with orders to tell the King that the commander of the Athenians having efpoufed his intereft, had fent early to inform him, that the Greeks were ready to make their eicape, but that he advifed him to hinder their flight, and to fail upon them while they were in this confuiion, and at a diilance from their land army ; by which means he might deftroy all their naval forces. Xerxes was highly pleafed at this mefiage, and received it as from a friend ; and immediately ordered the commanders of his (hips to fend out two hundred fail, to encompafs all the iflands, and enclofe all the ftraits and paflages, that none of the Greeks might efcape ; and to follow with the reft of the fleet at leifure. This motion of the enemy was firft perceived by Ariflides the fon ofLyfimachus, who, though he was not in friend- fhip with Themiftocles (for he had been formerly banifhed by his means, as has been related) went immediately to him and informed him that they were encompaffed by their enemies. (8) Themiftocles knowing the gene- rofity of Ariftides, and being much pleafed with his vifit at that time, imparted to him all that he had tranfadted by Sicinus, and intreated him that having great autho- rity among the Greeks, he would now make ufe of it in joining with him to induce them to ftay, and fight their enemies in thofe narrow feas. Ariftides applauded The- miftocles, and went to the other commanders and cap- tains of the galleys, and encouraged them to engage j yet they did not perfectly believe what he had reported, till rodotus. nl,M7m I; TO rparoTrih* "Greek from the army of the TO Mwi *& wXoiw " Mifit ad " Athenians, told Xerxes, &c. v. "Claflem MedorumVirum." Per- 355. haps inftead of TO he read rut and made TOJ MrJwv relate to av^pa, and (8) Plutarch here fpeaks as If fo tranflated," he fent to the fleet Ariftides was then in the fleet; " a man of the Medes," whereas but he was in the ifland of Aegi- Herodotus means, " he fent a man na, from whence he failed by " to the fleet of the Medes " This night, ^ with great hazard, and is the more likely, becaufe ./Efchy- paffing through the Perfian fleet, lus, who was in this action, fpeak- brought this intelligence to The- iag of Sicinus, fays, " A certain miftocles. (9) Moil 298 The LIFE f till a galley of (9) Tenos which revolted from the Per- iians, whereof Panaetius was commander, came into their fleet, and confirmed the news that all the flraits and pafiages were beiet and then rage and fury, as well as neceflity, provoked them all to fight. As foon as it was day, Xerxes placed himfelf on high to view his fleet, and to be a fpectator of the battle, (i) Phanodemus fays, he fat upon an eminence above the temple of Hercules, where the channel which feparates the coaft of Attica from the ifland is narroweft ; but (2) Aceftodorus writes, that it was in the (3) confines of Me- gara, upon thofe hills which are called " the Horns," where he fat on a (4) golden feat, with many fecretaries about him to write down all that mould pafs in the fight. While Themiflocles was facrificing upon the admiral galley, there were three very beautiful captives brought to him, richly d reded and adorned with gold, laid to be the children of Autardus and Sandace, fifter to Xerxes. As (9) Mod of the iflands had de- clared for the Perfians. This Pa- naetius the fon of Socimenes came over to the Greeks with the (hip under his command ; and the Gre- cians were fo fenfible of his fer- vice, that on a Tripos, which they confecrated in the temple of Del- phi, the Tenians were infcribed among the names of thofe who had contributed to the obtaining that vidlory over the Barbarians. (1) An ancient author, who wrote the hiftory of Attica, per- haps the fame with that quoted by Dionyfius of Halicarnaifus under the title of 'AT!IX)? f^an.X8>5, *' of the antiquities of Attica. (2) An hiltorian, author of an hiftory of Greece. We are not to confound him with Aceftorides, who wrote a treatife " of the fa- bulous accounts of cities. (5) " On the coalt over- againft " Salamin are two mountains ' which feparate Attica from the " territories of Megara; they are " called Cerata the Horns. Sfrab. " lib. ix." (4) It was not of gold, butfil- ver, and was confecrated in the temple of Minerva, with the gol- den fabre of Mardonius which was taken afterwards in the battle of Platsea. Demofthenes, who had feen it, often calls it, ciOpo dpi-v- (ciroSa,. "(A chair with filver feet." (5) This was always taken for a fortunate prefage, as was the flame that (hone round the head ofServiusTullius, of whichFlorus fays, " quem clarum fore vifa cir- cum Caput Flamma promiferat. (6) Sneezing was always look- ed on as a happy omen, and is a fuperftition of a very ancient date, there being a remarkable inftance of lit in the XVII th book or Ho- mer's OdyfTey, without any dii- tin&ion either of the right or lef[ j but afterwards freezings to the right only were looked upon as fortunate THEMISTOCLES. 299 As foon as the foothfayer Euphratides faw them/ and obferved that at the fame time the (5) fire blazed out from the offerings with extraordinary brightnefs, and that one (6) fneezed to the right, which portended feme fortunate event, he took Themiflocles by the hand, and ordered that the three youths fhould be confecrated and facrificed (7) to Bacchus Omeftes, or ' c the devourer ; for hereby the Greeks would not only fave themfelves, but alfo obtain victory, Themiftocles was ftartled at a pro- phecy that carried fo much cruelty and inhumanity in it ; but the populace, according to their manner in all prefiing difficulties, fruiting more to any abfurd and extravagant means of fafety, than to fuch as are rea- fonable, with one voice invoked Bacchus, and bringing the captives to the altar compelled Themiftocles to per- form the facrifice, as the foothfayer had commanded. This is reported by Phanias the Lefbian, a philofbpher and a good hiftorian. As to the number of the enemy's mips, fortunate prognofticks. This fu- perftition patted from Greece to Rome, which gave Catullus occa- fion to fay, Amor ftnifter ante Dextram Jlernuit Apprabationem. (7) I no where find that Bac- chus was ever worfhipped at A- thens under that name; much lefs that the Athenians offered to him human facrifices. He was on the contrary too merciful and be- nign a deity to receive them. The Grecians report of him, that one day as fome young people were facrificing to him near the river Afopus in Bceotia, they drank to fuch excefs, that in their cups they killed the prieft; for which offence the country was immediately pu- nifhed with a peftilential difeale. Hereupon they had recourfe to the Oracle, and were ordered by way ot atonement to facriftce a beauti- ful youth to Bacchus ; but Bac- chus abhorring fuch a vi&im, fent a goat in the place of the youth in memory of which they built him a temple on the very Ipot, which they confecrated to Bacchus, Ai- gobolos, that is, "The Goat-fend- " er.'' If I am not miftaken, the greateft cruelty that ever was al- lowed in his rites, .was what was praftifed in a town of Arcadia, where in one of his feftivals they ufed to whip the women, as they did the young men round Diana' 3 altarat Sparta. Butas the Inlanders were always more cruel than the inhabitants of the continent, it cannot be denied but that they did offer human facrifices to Bacchus in the iflands. Evelpis Caryftius fays, that at Chios and Tenedos they facrificed to him under the name of Omadius j and Docides fays they did the fame thing at Lefbos. 5 oo ?bt LIFE of (hips, the poet ^Lfchylus writes in his tragedy called The Perfians, " That to his own knowledge Xerxes had a thou- " fand (hips, of which two hundred and feven were of ex- " traordinary fwiftnefs." The Athenians had an hundred " and eighty ; in every (hip eighteen men fought upon the deck, four of whom were archers, and the reft well armed. As Themiftocles had taken pofleflion of the moft ad- vantageous place, fo he fhowed no lefs judgment in chufmg the beft time of fighting ; for he would not be- gin the engagement, till the time of day was come when there conftantly rifes a bluftering wind from the fea, which makes a rough water in the channel. This was no inconvenience to the Grecian fhips, which were low built and ftrong ; but was very hurtful to the Per- fian veflels, which had high fterns and lofty decks, and were heavy and unwieldy, fo that their fides were con- tinually expofed to the Grecians, who fiercely aflaulted them, ftri&ly obeying the orders of Themiftocles, who well underftood what was moft for their advantage. When Ariamenes, admiral to Xerxes, a good man, and by far the braveft and worthieft of the King's Brothers, made towards Themiftocles, and having a great (hip, threw darts and (hot forth arrows, as from the walls of a caftle ; Amenias the Decelian, and Soficles the Pedian, who failed in the fame veflel, bore in and attacked him, and both (hips meeting, their (harp fterns armed with brais pierced through each other, fo that they were fattened together ; when Ariamenes attempting to board them, Aminiasand Socicles ran at him with their pikes, and thruft him into the fea : his body as it floated a- mongft others v/as known by (8) Artemifia, and carried to (8) Artemifia, daughter of Lyg- of Maufoius King of Caria, and damis and Queen of Halicarnaf- lived above ninety years after this fus. She armed five (tout fhips, in engagement, aid to Xerxes. Herodotus highly (9) Herodotus mentions the commends her for her courage, fame thing, but fays that the vifion and prudence, and afTures us, that appeared fome days before the fte gave Xerxes the beft advice of battle, while Xerxes's land forces any of his allies. We are not were ravaging the territories of to confound this Princefs with Attica, and were firft difcovered that Artemifia, who was the wife by an Athenian exile, much ef- teemed THEMISTOCLES. 301 to Xerxes. It is reported that in the midft of the com- bat a great flame fhined bright in the air above the city of Eleufis, and that (9) founds and voices were heard through all the. plain of Thriafia as far as the fea, like thofe of a number of men that were going to celebrate the myfleries of Bacchus ; and that a cloud ieemed to rife from the place from whence this found came, and pafling forward fell upon the gallies. Others affirmed that they faw apparitions in the fhape of armed men, which reached out their hands from the iila'nd of /Eg-jra O towards the Grecian galiies, and were conjectured to be the (i) /Eacides, whole aiiiitance they had implored in their prayers before the fight. The firft man that took a fhip was Lycomedes the Athenian, captain of a galley, who cut down the enfigns which were in the prow of the fhip, and dedicated them to " the laurelled Apollo." As the battle was fought in a narrow channel, the Perfians could bring up only a part of their fleet, and many of their fhips ran foul of one another the Greeks hereby equalling them in ftrength, fought with them till the evening when they put them to flight, and obtained fo compleat and fignal a victory, that as Simor.ides obferves, neither the Greeks nor any other nation ever by fca per- formed fuch glorious fervice, whether we confider the bravery of the common feamen, or the conduct of the admiral. After the battle, Xerxes being enraged at his ill for- tune, attempted to flop up the channel and to make a dam, upon which he might (2) lead his land forces over into the ifland of Salamin. Themiftocles being defirous to know the opm-ion cf Ariftides, teemed by Xerxes, called Diczus prayers had often proved very ad the fon of Theocides. vantageous to the Grecians. Af- (i) For a veftal had been fent ter his death it was given out that to ^sjina, in order to offer up Jupiter had made him one of the prayers to .^Encu^aad his defcen- judges in the infernal regions, dants. 'I h s /cacus was the fon of Jupiter, arc 4 had been King of (2) According to Herodotus, he -rE^ina. He -var tea -for attempted this pn purpoftr to con - his ju-lic'j and p-e-y, whilft her ceal his true defign, which waa lived and it is prttenJ: I to recover the Hefiefpont. V 7 OL I. A a (3) 302 The L I F E of Ariftides, told him, that he intended to fet fail for theHel- lefpont, (3) to break the bridge of mips, whereby he might hinder the retreat of Xerxes, and become matter ofAfia, without ftirring out of Europe. But Ariftides difapproving hjsdefign, made (4) this reply : " We have " hitherto had to do with an enemy diiTolved in luxury - y " but if we (hut him up within Greece, and drive him " to neceility, he that is matter of fuch great forces,will " no longer fit quietly with a canopy of gold over his head, " looking upon the fight for his pleafure, but in fuchaftrait " will attempt every thing ; he will be refolute and appear " himfelf in perfon upon all occafions, he will foon correct his " errors, and fupply what he has formerly omitted through " remiiTnefs , therefore inftead of removing the bridge that is " already made, we mould rather build another if it were " pofiible, that he might make his retreat with die more ex- " pedition." To which Themiftocles anfwered, "If this be " requifite, we mutt by all means unite in contriving fome " method to rid ourfelves of him as foon as may be." This being determined, he found out among the captives (5) oneo' the King of Per fia's eunuchs named Arnaces-, whom he fent to the King, to inform him, " tha't the Greeks being " now victorious by fea, had refblved to fail to the Hel- " lefpont, and deftroy the bridge, but that Themiftocles " being concerned for the King's prefervation revealed " this to him, that he might hatten towards theAfiatick " feas, and pafs over into his own dominions ; and in the " mean time he would caufe delays, and hinder the eon- " federates from purfuinghim." Xerxes no fooner heard this, but bdng very much terrified, he retreated out of Greece with all fpeed. The prudent conduct of Themiftocles (3) Xerxes had laid a bridge of es with a town of the fame name 'oats over the Hellefpont for the on the Euphrates, where Alexar- palfage of his army at a place der afterwards did the fame thing which from thence was called that had been done here by Zeugma, that is, " the Jun&ion," Xerxes. becaufe by means of this bridge (4) Herodotus fays it was not A- the two fnores were in a manner riftides butEurybgades, who made joined together. We ought not, that reply to Themiftocles; and in- as fome geographers have done, deed that is more probable. The- to confound this Zeugma of Xerx- miftocleshad no occafion to confer with THEMISTOCLES. 303 Themiftocles and Ariftidcs in this affair ; was afterwards more fully underftood at the battle of Platsea ; where Mardonius with averyfmall part of the forces of Xerxes put the Greeks in danger of lofmg all. Herodotus writes, that of all the cities of Greece, ^Egina performed the bed fervice in the war ; in which alfo all men yielded to Themiftocles, though fbme, out of envy, did it unwillingly ; and when the Greeks re- turned to the IiTnmus, where the officers delivered their fuffrages infcribed on billets, taken from the altar, to determine who was mod worthy, every one gave the firft vote for himfelf, and the fecocd for Themiftocles. The Lacedaemonians carried him with them to Sparta ; where giving the rewards of valour to Eurvbiades, and of wifdom" and conduct to Themiftocles, they crowned him with olive, prefented him with the richeft chariot in the city, and fent (6) three hundred young men to accompany him to the confines of their country. At the next Olympian games, when Themiftocles entered the place where thofe exercifes were performed, the fpecta- tors took no further notice of the combatants, but fpent the whole day m looking upon him, fhewing him to the ftrangers, admiring him, and applauding him by clapping their hands, and all other expreilions of refpect ; which fo delighted him that he confefTed to his friends, that he then reaped the fruit of all his la- bours for the Greeks. He was naturally very fond of applaufe, as is evident from thofe things which are re- corded of him. When he was chofen Admiral by the Athenians, he ended no bufmefs full} 7 , publick nor pri- vate, but deferred all till the day they wer? to fail, that with Ariftides on that fubjeft, but that Themiftocles did it with a there was a necefilty for him to view of fecuring the protection of communicate it toEurybiades who the Perfians, in cafe he Ihould, was General. afterwards be ill ufed by the (0 This account is more pro- Athenians. battle than that given by Herodo- (6) They v/ere 300 horfe. He- tus, who tells us that he who had rodotus fays that Themiftocles been employed before, was made was the only perfon who had ever ufeofagain bvTiiemiftocleson this been fo honoured by the Lacedse- occafioi). Bcfides Herodotus feems monians. to fully this attion, by intimating A a 2 (7) He 304 Tbi LIFE of that by dilpatching much bufmefs together, and having to do with all forts of men, his power and influence might appear more extraordinary. Viewing the dead bodies caft up by the fea, he perceived collars and chains of "gold about them ; yet he paffed on, only mowing them to a friend that followed him, faying, " Take ye thefe " things for you are notThemiftocles." Hefaid to Anti- phates, a perfon of remarkable beauty, who had formerly behaved himfelf haughtily towards him, but now in his glory obfequioufly waited on him, " Young man, we " have both of us found our miftake at the fame time " though a little too late." He ufed to fay " that the " Athenians did not honour him, or admire him, but when " they were in danger they flickered themfelves under him, " as men do in ftormy weather under a plane-tree ; and " when they have fair weather again, they pull offits leaved, "and cut down its faireft branches." A Seriphiantellinghim " that he had not obtained this honour by himfelf r bm by the "greatnefs and fplendor of his city," he replied, " You " fpeak truth, for I mould never have been efteemed if I had " been of Seraphius ; nor you though you had been of " Athens." A commander of the army who thought he had performed coniiderable fervice for the Athenians, boafting of his actions, and comparing them with thofe of Themiftc- cles, he told him this fable ^ " The day after the fefti val once " reproached the fefti val, that (he was perpetually wearied * with bufmefs and toil, whereas the feftival day was pafied " in idlenefsand luxury : to which the feftival replied ; that " is true , yet if I had not been before you, you had not been " at all ; fo if Themiftocles had not been before you, where "had you been now ? Laughing at his own fon, who v?a"s fomewhat too bold through the indulgence and fondnefs of his mother, he told him " that he had the moft power " of any one in Greece," for faid he, "the Athenians conv u mand the reft of Greece, I command the Athenians, your " mother commands me, and you command your mother.^ Loving to be fingular in ail things, when he had lands to fell, he ordered the cryer to give notice that there were good (-) He was a difciple of Ifo- Greeks and Barbarians in fifty- crates, and wrote a hiitoryofthe eight books. (8) Thar THEMISTOCLES. 305 good neighbours near it. Of two who made love to his daughter he preferred the virtuous before the rich faying, " he defired a man without riches, rather than " riches without a man." Thefe things I have mention- ed as fpecimens of his wit and pleafantry. He now began to rebuild and fortify the city of A- thens, having with money corrupted the Lacedaemonian Ephori, and perfuaded them not to oppofe it, as Theo- pompus (7) reports ; but as mofl relate it, by over- reaching and deceiving them. For being chofen by the Athenians to go on an embafly to Sparta, he went thi- ther ; where the Lacedaemonians accufmg him of fortify,- ing the city of Athens, and Poliarchus being fent on pur- pole from /Egina to plead againfl him, he denied the iac\ advifing them to fend to Athens to fee whether it were foor no- by which delay he got time for the build- ing of the wall, and perfuaded the Athenians to feize upon thofe who were fent, and keep them as hoftages for him. When the Lacedaemonians knew the truth, they did him no hurt 3 but hiding their anger for the prefent, fent him away. After this, he fortified the Piraeus, (having obferved the goodnefs of that harbour), and joined the whole city to the fea ; which was directly contrary to the po- licy of the old kings of Athens ; who endeavouring to withdraw their fubjecls from the fea and the care of maritime affairs, and to accuftom them to live by agri- culture, invented the fable of the contention between Minerva and Neptune for the patronage of the Athenians, when Minerva by mowing to the judges an olive-tree, v/as declared to be .their tutelary Goddefs. But The- miftocles did not join the haven of Piraeus to the city, as the poet Ariflophanes obferves, (8) but he joined the city to the haven, and the land to the fea, which in- creafed the power of the people againfl the nobility, the authority coming into the hands of watermen, mariners and matters of (hips. Reordered^ that the pulpit built in the Pnvx, for publick orations, mould be (8) That is, he did not make is generally a place of licentiouf- rhe whole city a harbour., \vhich nefs, but provided that the city A a 3 mijht 306" n L I F E cf be placed towards the fea ; (9) but the thirty tyrants afterwards turned it towards the land, fuppofing that great power by Tea would give life and encouragement to a popular government, but that hufbandmen would be lefs offended at the greatnefs of the nobility. But Themiflocles had ftill greater defigns for augmenting their naval flrength ; for after the departure of Xerxes, when the Grecian fleet was arrived at Pagafae, where they wintered, Themiftocles, in a publick oration to the people of Athens, told them, that he had a defign to perform fomething that would be very advantageous to the Athenians, but that it was of fuch a nature, that it could not be communicated to the people in general. The Athenians therefore ordered him to impart it to Ariftides only, and if he approved of it, to put it in practice. When Themiftocles had difcovered to him that his defign was to burn the Grecian fleet in the ha- ven of Pagafe, Ariftides coming out to the people, gave this report of the ftratagem contrived by Themiftocies, " that there was nothing more advantageous, but at the " fame time nothing was more unjuft." Upon this the Athenians commanded Themiftocles to defift from his intention. When the Lacedaemonians propofed in the council of the Amphictyons, that thofe cities which had not taken arms againft the Perfians, mould be excluded from that aflfembly ; Themiftocles fearing that if the Theflalians, with thofe of Thebes, Argos and others, were thrown out of the council, the Lacedaerrionians would become wholly mafters of the votes, and aft as they pleafed, fpoke in behalf of thofe cities, and prevailed with the members then fitting to alter their opinions, remon- ftrating to them that there were but one and thirty cities might on occafion, be affifted by fpefts of a publick place where the Piraeus, and the, Piraeus be the people are accuftomed to af- fuccoured by the city; in which, femble, would be a means of however, be caufed an exadt dif- changing their fentiments and dif- cipline to be obferved. pofitions ; yet it is certain, that lometimes a mere trifle is able to (9) It may feem a ftrange fup- av/ake in the minds of the people pofition that changing the pro- ideas capable of producing very furprizing THEMISTOCLES. 307 cities which joined in the war, and that moft of thefe alfo were very fmall, and how intolerable it would be, if the reft of Greece fhould be excluded, and that this auguft council fhould come to be ruled by two or three great cities. By this he chiefly incurred the difpleafure and hatred of the Lacedaemonians, who afterwards ufed all their intereft for the advancement of Cimon, that he might be a rival to Themiftocles in all affairs of flate. He alfo much offended the confederates, by failing about the iflands, and collecting money from them. He- rodotus fays, that requiring money of thofe of die ifland of Andros, he told them, " that he had brought with him " two Goddeffes, Perfuafion and Force .;" and they an- fwered him, " that they had alfo two great Goddefles " which prohibited them from giving him any money, Po- tc verty and ImpolTibility."" Timocreon.the ;Rhodian poet reprehends him ibmewhat bitterly, for being wrought up- on by money, to let thofe that were banifhed return, and for betraying him who had been his gueft .and friend, The verfes are thefe : PaufaniasV fame kt others raife, Leutychidas or bold Xanthippus praife., 'The TO popular government. For the oftracifm was inflituted not fo much to punifh the offender, as to mitigate and pacify the fury of the envious, who de- lighted to humble thofe who were remarkably eminent; and by fixing this difgrace upon them, they exhaled part of their hatred and refentment. Themiftocles being banifhed from Athens, while he (laid at Argos the trial of Paufanias happened, which gave great advantage to the enemies of Themiftocles. Leobotes of Agraula fon of Alcmseon accufed Paufanias of treafon -, the Spartans joining with him in the accu- fation, When Paufanias firft engaged in this treafonable de- iign, he concealed it from Themiftocles, though he was his intimate friend : but when he faw him expelled the commonwealth, and how impatiently he bore his ba- nilhment, he ventured to communicate it to him, and defired his afliftance, mowing him the King of Perfia's letters, and exafperating him againft the Greeks, as a bafe and ungrateful people. Themiftocles however re- jected the propofals of Paufanias, and wholly refufed to be a party in the enterprize, though he never re- vealed this correfpondence, nor difcovered the con- fpiracy to any man ; either expecting that it would be difcovered by other means, or hoping that Paufanias would of his own accord defift from thofe extravagant and impracticable defigns in which he had inconfide- rately engaged. (i) After Paufanias was put to death, letters and writings being found concerning this matter, which rendered temple, his own mother laying feized on him, and by that time the firft (lone. When they had they had got him ou: of the tem- almoft ftarvcd him to dea;h, they pie he expired. CO The 5 io Me LIFE of rendered Themiftocles fufpedted, the Lacedaemonians were clamorous againfl him, and the envious Athenians accufed him. As he was abfent from Athens, he made his defence by letters, efpecially againfl the chief accu- iations -, and in anfwer to the malicious detractions of his enemies, urged the improbability that one who was always known to be defirous of governing, and not formed by nature for flavery, fhould deliver up himfelf and his country into the hands of enemies and barba- rians. Notwithflanding this, the people being per- iuaded by his accufers, fent officers to take him, and bring him a\vay to be tried before the great council of the Greeks; but having timely notice of it; he paffed over into the iiland of Corcyra, the chief city of the ifiarci having received great obligations from him ; for being made judge of a difference between them and the Corinthians, he determined the controverfy, ordering the Corinthians to pay twenty talents, and that the ifland of Leucas fhould be equally inhabited by a colony fent from both cities (2)- From thence he fled into Epyrus, and the Athenians and Lacedaemonians dill pur- fuing him, he tried a very hazardous and uncertain re- Source, by flying for refuge to Admetus King of the Molofiians, who having formerly made a requeft to the Athenians, when Themiftocles was in the height of his authority, had met with fo rude aud difdainful a denial from him, that the King had openly declared that he only waited for an opportunity of being revenged. Yet in this misfortune, Themiftocles fearing the frefh hatred of his neighbours and fellow-citizens, more than the difpleafure of the King, which time might have abated, chofe to riik the latter, and bdcame an humble fuppli- ant to Admetus. The manner in which he made his requeft was very fingular ; for holding the young Prince, who was then a child, in his arms, he pro- ftrated himfelf before the King's houfhold Gods ; this be- (z) The fcholiaft upon 1 hucy- Grecians were difpofed to lav dides mentions a fervice ftiil more fiege to Corcyra, and punifh the confiderahle. But' he fays that inhabitants lor not joining in the after the defeat of Xerxes, the league cgainil Xerxes, but that Themiitocles ing the moft facred manner of fupplication among the Moloflians, and which rarely met with a denial. Some fay thatPnthia the Queen informed Themiftocles of this way of petitioning, and placed her young fon near to him, before the figures of their domeftick deities. O thers fay that King Admetus, that he might be under a religious obligation not to deliver him up to thofe who perfected him, contrived this fcene and helped him to at his part. At that time Epicrates of Acarna- nia privately conveyed the wife and children of Themi- ftocles out of Athens, and fent them to him, for which afterwards Cimon condemned him, and put him to death. This account is given by Stefimbrotus ; yet either for- getting this,! or reprefenting Themiftocles as forgetting it, he afterwards fays that he failed into Sicily, and de- fircd in marriage the daughter of Hierothe tyrant, pro- miiing to bring the Greeks under his power ; and that upon Hiero's refufal, he departed from thence into Afia. But this is not probable ^ for Theophraftus writes in his treatife on monarchy, that when Hiero fent race -horfcs to the Olympian games, and erected a Royal tent richly furnifhed, Themiftocles made an oration to the Greeks, inciting them to pull down the . tyrant's tent, and not to fuffer his horfes to run. Thucydides fays, that he embarked at Pydna, not being known to any one in the ("hip ; till being terrified to fee the veflel driven by the winds near to Naxus, which was then befieged by the Athenians, he made himfelf known to the mafter and pilot ; and by fometimes intreating them and at other times threatning them, that if they went on fhore, he would accufe them, and make the Athenians believe, that they did not take him in from ignorance, but that he had corrupted them with money from the be- ginning, he compelled them to ftand out to fea, and fail forward towards the coafts of Afia. A great part of his eftate was privately conveyed away Themiftocles diffuaded them from not joined in that I?r.ue, they if, alleclging, that if they were in would bring greater calamities that manner to revenge them- upon Greece than it hail fuf- felves upon all the cities that had fered from the barbarians. (9) Charoij -jo The L 1 F E of away by his friends, and fent after him by fea into Afia \ befides which, there was difcovered and confif- eated to the value of fourfcore talents, as Theophraftus writes ; Theopompus fays an hundred : whereas he was never worth three talents before he was concerned in the government. "When he arrived at Cuma, and underflood that all along the coafl there were many laid wait for him, and particularly Ergoteles and Py thodorus (for the game was \yorth the hunting after by fuch as purfued gain every \vhere, the King of Perfia having offered by publick proclamation two hundred talents to him that fliould .take him), he fled to ^Egaea fmall city of the ./Eolians, where no one knew him but only his hofl Nicogenes, who was the ri.chefl man in TEolia, and well known in the court of Perfia. Whilfl Themiftocles lay hid for fbrne days in his houfe, one night after a facrifical fea|l r Olb.ius tutor to Nicogenes's children, in a prophetick rapture uttered this verfe : Ciunfel, nighty and viflary are thint. , After this, Themiflocles dreamed that a dragon coiled itfelf round his belly, and creeping up to his neck, as foon as it touched his face, was turned into an eagle, which fpread its wings over him, and took him up, and ftew av/ay with him to adiftant place, where a golden fcepter appeared to him, upon which he refted himfelf fecurely, freed from all fear and trouble. Nicogenes hearing this made ufe of the following invention to convey him from his houfe in fafety. The barbarous nations, and arnongft them the Per- iians efpecially, ai e naturally jealous, clownifh, and STfiorofe towards their women; fo that Lot only their wives, (3) Charon wrote the hiftory of firft year of Artaxtrxes's reign, Perfia in two books, and was They who affirm he came thither Xttore ancient than Herodotus. vvhiltt Xerxes was living, make it (4) Themiftocles therefore am- earlier by (even years. But, as vedatthePerfiancourtJn the firft Plutarch fays, the firft opinion, yeflf of the feventy-ninth Olym- which is that of Thucydides, is, piad, 462 yearr before the birth nioft conformable to the exaclnefs exf our Saviour, for that was the of chronology j and it is that which Plutarch T H E M I S T O C L E S. 313 \vives, but alfo their female flaves and concubines, are kept with fuch ftrictnefs, and fo confrantly confined si home, that they are never feen by any but their own family ; and when they take a journey, they are put into a carriage fhut clofe on all iides. In fuch a tra- velling carriage they conveyed Themiftccles, and told thole whom they met or diicourfed with upon the road, that they were carrying a young Grecian lady out of Ionia to a nobleman at court, Thucydides and (3) Qiaron of Lampfacus report, that after the death of Xerxes, Themiitocles came to con:-: (4.) when Artaxerxes his Ion was upon the throne : but Ephorus, Dinon, Clitarchus, (5) Heraclides, and mp. -, others write, that Xerxes was then alive. The opinion of Thucidides agrees beft with the chronological tables; however thy cannot always be relied upon, Themiftocles, fenfible of the extreme difficulties in- to which he had thrown himfelf, applied firft to (6) Ar- tabanus, commander of a thouland men, telling him, that he was a Grecian, and defired to fpeak with the King about fbme important affairs, which the King had mucn. at heart. Artabanus anfwered him, " Stranger, the laws " of men are different, and fome eftetm one thing honou- " rable andfome another; but it is honourable for all men " to oblerve and commend the laws of their own country, "It is allowable for youGrecianstoadmire liberty ardequa- " lity,butamongft our many excellent laws we account this :: ' he moft'glorious, to honour the King,and to worfhip him, ** as the image of that great Deity who preferves and fup- " ports the univerfe , and if you can comply with our laws, " and fall down before the King, and worfbip him, " may both fee him and fpeak to him ; if not, you mini make " ufe of others to intercede for you : for it is not the cuftom " here for the King to give audience to any one that doth not Plutarch always follows, as may Dinon, he lived in the time of A- be obferved in the life of Alci- iexander, accompanied him in his blades. And it appears even from expedition, and wrote his hiltory. the fpeech o: Themiftocles to the (6; The fon of that Artabanus, King in his frrtt audience that i: Captain of the guards, who flew was addreflxd to Artaxerxes, and Xerxes, and persuaded Artaxei xes not to his father. to/ cut off his elder brother Darius. (5) Clitarchus Wiu the fon of (7) 3 i 4 The LIFE of 4< not fall down before him." Themiftocles hearing this, replied, Artabanus, " I that come hither to encreafe the " power and glory of theKing, will not only fubmit myielf " to his laws,fmce this is thejwillof God who has raifed the "Perllan empire to this greatnefs, but will alfo caufemany " more to be worihippers of the King ; let not this there- " fore hinder my communicating to him what I have to "impart." Artabanus afking him, "Who mud we tell him " that you are.- 5 for by your difcourfeyou feem to be no " ordinary perfon ;" Themiftocles anfwered, " No man "muft be informed of this before theKing himfelf."Thus Phanias relates it; to which Eratoflhenes in his treatifeof riches, adds, that it was by the means of a woman of Ere- tria, who was kept by Artabanus, that Themiftocles was brought acquainted with him, and obtained this favour from him. When he was introduced to the King and had paid his due reverence to him, he flood filent, till Xerxes com- manding the interpreter to afk him who he was, he re- plied, I am Themiftocles the Athenian, " banifhed and " perfecuted by the Greeks ; the mifchief I have done to " the Perfians is lefs than the fervice I render them in pre- fer ving them from the purfuit of the Greeks; for when I "had delivered Greece and faved my own country, I " thought myfelf at liberty to mew my good-will to the " Perfians. My fentiments are fuited to my prefent for- " tune ; and I come prepared to receive your favours grate- l ' fully if you are reconciled to me ; if not, toappeafeyour " refentment by my fubmiflion. My enemies themfelves "are witnefles of the fervices I have done for Perfia; and " and let my misfortunes rather afibrd you an occafion of "difplaying your virtue, than of gratifying your anger. " hereby you will preferve an humble fuppliant ; other- " wife, you will deftroyan enemy of the Greeks." He then in more elevated language, as if he had been infpired by fome Deity, related the vifion which he faw at Nicogenes's houfe, and the direction given him by the Oracle of Dodo- na, where Jupiter commanded him to go to him that had a name like his; by which he underftood, that lie Cent (7) Themiftocles foon knew how to accommodate himfelf to the T H E M I S T O C L E S. 315 (ent from Jupiter to the King of Perfia, fince he as well as Jupiter was juftiy fliled " The Great King." Artaxerxes heard him attentively, and though he" admired his underftanding and courage, gave' him no anfwer at that time , but when he was with his inti- mate friends, lie congratulated himlelf on this fortu- nate event, and prayed to his God Arimanius,that all his enemies might be ever of the fame mind with the Greeks, to baniih the braveft men amongil them. Then he facrificed to the Gods, and made a it-ail ; and was to well pleafed, that in the night, while he was fail a-fleep, he cried out for joy three times, I have The- miftocles the Athenian. In the morning Xerxes calling together the chief of his court, hadThemiftocies brought before him, who ex- pected no favourable treatment, the guards looking on him with threatning countenances and loading him with reproaches, as loon as they heard his name. As he came forward towards the King, who was fitting, the reft keeping filence, he paffed by Roxanes a commander of a thouland men, whom he heard figh and whifper ibftly to him,, "Thou fubtle Greek ferpent, the King's good " genius hath brought thee hither." Yet when he came be- fore the King and proftrated himfelf, the King ialuted him, and fpoke to him kindty, telling him, he was now indebted to him two hundred talents ; for it was jufl that lie fhould receive the reward which was propofed to who- tbever fhould bring Themiilocles : and promifing much more, and encouraging him, he commanded him to fpeak freely what he had to fay concerning the affairs of Greece. .Themiftocles replied, " that (7) a man's difcourfe was like " a rich piece of tapeftry, which when fpread open dif- " plays the various figures wrought upon it; but when " it is folded up thefe are hidden and loft ; and therefore " he defired time to learn the language perfectly, in which "he was toexprefshis mind." The King being pleafed with the compari ion, and bidding him take what timehe^ would, manners of the orientals, whofe way of fpeaking was always fyin- kolical and figurative. (9) This 316 The LIFE of \vould, he defired a year ; in which time having learnt the Perfian language fufficiently, he fpoke with the King by himfelf without the help of an interpreter : and thofe who were at a diftance, thought that he difcourfed only about the affairs of Greece. But there happening at the fame time great alterations at court, and removals of the King's favourites, he drew upon himfelf the envy of the great, who imagined, that he who had this great liberty might ufe it in fpeaking concerning them. For the favours mown to other ftrangers were nothing in comparifon of the honours conferred on him ; the King inviting him to partake of his own diverfions both at home and abroad, carrying him with him a hunting, and making him his intimate fo far, as to permit him not only to come into the prefence of the Queen Mo- ther, but alfo to converfe familiarly with her: and be- fides this, by the King's command, he was inftrufted in the philofophy of the Magi. When Demaratus the Lacedaemonian, being ordered by the King to afk whatibever he pleafed, (8) defired the royal diadem, and that being lifted up on high he might be carried in Hate through the city of Sardis af- ter the manner of the Perfian Kings ; Mithropaufles, cou- fm to Xerxes, taking him by the hand, told him " that he " had no brains for the royal diadem to cover ; and if Ju- " piter mould give him his thunder, he would not be the " more Jupiter for that." The King alfo repulfed him with fcorn and anger, refolving never to be reconciled to him, yet Themiflocles pacified his refentment, and prevailed with (8) This was the higheft mark be conducted on horfeback thro* of dirtinftion the Perfian Kings the ftreets of the city, could confer on thofe they had a (9) It was cuftomary with mind to honour. The hiilory of the Eaftern monarchs, inftead of Mordecni was at that time frefhin penfions, to aflign particular ci- mens memory. Ahafuerus, the lies and provinces for the main- fame with Xerxes the father of tenance of their favourites. A Artaxerxes, had not long before certain Queen had all fc'gypt for ordained that Mordecai fhould be her cloathing. Even the rnxcs arrayed in the royal apparel, that raifed by the Kings on the cirit-s the imperial crown fhould be fee and provinces were under pai ti- upon his head, and that he fhould cuiar aflignmcnt3. One province furnifhed THEMISTOCLES. 317 with him to forgive Demaratius. And it is reported that the fucceeding Kings, in whofe reigns there was a great- er communication between the Greeks and Perfians than formerly, when they invited any confiderable Grecian into their fervice, would promife him, that he fhould be in higher favour with them than Themiftocles was with Artaxerxes. It is faid that Themiftocles when he v/as in great profperity, and courted by many, feeing himfelf fplendidly ferved at his table, turned to hischildren and faid, " Children, we had been undone, if we had not " been undone." Moft writers fay, that he had three cities given him, (9) Magnefia, Myits, and Lampfacus, to maintain him in bread, meat and wine. Neanthes of Cyzicus and Phanias add two more, the cities of Percotes and Palaefcepfis to provide him with cloaths, and furni- ture for his bed. As he went down towards the fea-fide to provide againft the attempts of the Greeks, aPerfian whofe name was Epixyes, governor of the upper Phrygia, lay in wait to kill him ; having for that purpofe provided a long time before a crew of Pifidian murderers, who were to fet upon him while he lodged in a city that is called Leontocephalus or Lyon's-head. But as Themiftocles was fleeping in the middle of the day, the mother of the Gods appeared to him in a dream, and faid to him, The- piiftocles, avoid the Lyon's-head, " left you fall into the 4< lion's jaws for this advice I expect, that your daughter ** Mnefiptolema fhould be my fervant." Themiftocles was irrach aftonifhed, and when he had paid his adorations to the furnifhed fo much for wine, ano- Themiftocles Magnefia for his ther for victuals, a third for the bread, for lyingon thebanks of the privy purfe, and a fourth for the Mseander, it was the foil the mod wardrobe. In Plato's fnft Alci- fruitful in corn of any in all Alia, biades we read that many of the Thucydides fays Themittocles re- provinces were appropriated for a ceivedfromit a revenue of fifty ta- fupply to the Queen's wardrobe, lents. Lampfacus, which was fa- One was for her wafte, another mous forits vineyardo, was tofup- for fbr head, and fo of the reft ; ply himv.-ith wine, and Myus with and each province bore the name provifions, in which it abounded, of that part of the drefs it was to particularly in filh, as it lay neat furnifh. Artaxerxes affigned to to the fea. VOL. I. B b (i) Thucy- fie L I F E of the Goddefs, he left the great road, and taking a compafs went another way, changing his intended ftation to avoid that place, and at night took- up his lodging beyond it. But one of the fumpter-horfes which carried his tent, having fallen that day into a river, his fervants fpread out the tapeftry which was wet, and hung it up to dry. In the 1 mean time the Pifidians made towards them with their fwords drawn, and not difcerning cx- adly by the moon what it was that was ftretched out to be dried, they thought it was the tent of Themiftocles, and that they mould find him repofing within it -, but when they came nigh, and lifted up the hangings ; thole who watched there fell upon them and took them. Themiftocles having efcaped this great danger, admired, the goodnefs of the Goddefs that appeared to him - y and in memory of it he built a temple in the city of Magne- fia, which he dedicated to Cybele Dyadimene, and ap- pointed his daughter Mnefiptolema to be the prieftefs. When he came to Sardis, he vifited the temples of the Gods _ and obferving at his leifure their buildings, C7 Zj 7 ornaments, and the number of their offerings, he fatv in the temple of the mother of the Gods the ftatue of a virgin in brafs two cubits high, called " the Water- u bringer." Themiftocles had caufed this ftatue to be made and fet up when he was furveyor of the aquedutls at Athens, out of the fines paid by thofe, whom he had di (covered to have taken away the water, or to have turned it out of its due courie ; and whether he had fome regret to fee this image in captivity ; or whether he was defirous to (how the Athenians in what great credit he was with the King, he entred into difcourfe with the governor of Lydia, to perfuade him to fend this ftatue back to Athens ; which fo enraged the Per- fian officer, that he told him, he would write the King word ( i ) Thucy dides, who was con- " felf, defpairing to perform what temporary with Themiftocles, is " he had promiled to the King." not clear in this point He fays no Notwithftanding the uncertainty more than this ; " Themiftocles of this report, Plutarch chofe to fol- " died of a diftemper. There are low it, that he might givea tragical " foms who fay he poifoned him- turn to his hiftory. It is very likely that THEMISTOCLES. word of it. Themiftocles being affrighted at this, got accefs to his wives and concubines, whom he gained with money, and by their means mitigated the fury of the governor. He afterwards behaved more refervedly and circumfpe&ly, fearing the envy of the Perfians, and (as Theopompus writes) no longer travelled about Afia, but lived quietly in his own houfe in Magnefia, where for a long time he pafled his days in great fecurity, courted by all, prefented with rich gifts, and honoured equally with the greateft men in the Perfian empire ; the King at that time not minding his concerns with Greece, being inceilantly bufied about the affairs of the upper provinces. But upon advice that Egypt, affifted by the Athenians, had revolted, and that the Grecian gallies failed up as far as Cyprus and Cilicia, and that Cimon had made himfelf mafter of the feas, the King refolved to oppofe the Grecians, and put a (top to the growth of their pov/er ; he therefore raifed forces, fent out commanders, and dif- patched meifengers to Themiftocles at Magnefia, to put him in mind of his promife, to aififl him againft the Greeks. But Themiftocles was not fo much exafperated againft the Athenians, nor fo much elated with the thoughts of the honour and command he was to have in this war as to accept of the King's propofals ; but either imagining this undertaking would not be attend- ed with fuccefs, the Greeks having at that time great commanders, and amongft them Cimon, who had been remarkably fortunate in war ; or chiefly being afhamed to fully the glory of his former great actions, and of his many victories, (i) he generoufly determined to con- clude' his days in a manner fuitable to the whole courfe of his life. He facrificed to the Gods, and invited his friends ; and having embraced them, (2) he drank bulls blood, that her died a natural death, and (2) Whilft they were facrifice- that the conjuncture of affairs fa- ing the bull, he caufed the blood voured the notion of his having to be received in a cup, and drank poifoned himfelf, to get out of it whilfl it was hot, which is mor- the difficult/ under which he tal becaufe it coagulates, or th ; ck- lay. ens ia an. inftant. Plin, lib. xi. B b z cap. 320 The LIVE of blood, as is generally reported ; but fome fay that he fwallowed a quick poifon. He ended his days in the city of Magnefia, having lived fixty-five years, moft of which he had fpent in political and military employ- ments. The King being informed of the caufe and man- ner of his death, admired him more than ever, and con- tinued to mow kindnefs to his friends and relations. Themiftocles left three fons by Archippa daughter to Lyfander of Alopece, Archeptolis, Polyeudus, and Cled- phantus. Plato the philofopher mentions the laft as an excellent horfeman, but worthlefs in all other refpeds. Of his eldeft fons Neocles and Diodes, the former died when he was young by the bite of a horfe, and Diodes was adopted by his grandfather Lyfander. He had many daughters ; of thefe Mnefiptolema, whom he had by a fecond marriage, married Archeptolis, her half bro- ther -, Italia was married to Panthides of the ifland of Scio ; Sybaris to Nicomedes the Athenian. After the death of Themiftocles, his nephew Phraficles fet fail for Magnefia, and married his daughter Nicomacha, re- ceiving her from the hands of her brothers ; and brought up her fifter Afia, the youngefl of all the children. A fplendid fepulchre was erected to him and ftill re- mains in the market-place of Magnefia. No credit is to be given to what Andocides (3) writes to his friends, concerning the relicks of Themiftocles, that the Athe- nians robbed his tomb, and threw his afhes into the air ; for he feigns this to exafperate the nobility againft the people. And when Phylarchus more like a writer of tragedy than an hiftorian, introduces two fons of The- miftocles by the names of Neocles and Demopolis, every- one muft fee this to be a mere fiction defigned to make his ftory more interefting and pathetick. Yet Diodorus the geographer writes in his book of fepulchres, but by conjecture rather than of his certain knowledge, that cap. 38. " Taurorum fanguis ce- lived a little later than Themitto- lerrime coit, atque durefcit. Ideo cles. There are extant four of peftlfer potu maxima. his orations. (3) He was an orator who (9) Thucydides THEMISTOCLESL 321 that near to the haven of Piraeus, the land runs out like an elbow from the promontory of Alcimus, and that when you have doubled the cape, and palled inward where the fea is always calm, there is a vaft foundation, and upon this (9) the tomb of Themiftocles in the fhape of an altar ; and Plato the comedian feems to confirm this in thefe verfes. The merchant, as be ploughs the watry way, Shall to thy relicks, here his homage pay -, A witnefs thefe of rv'ry hojlik feat, IV hen rival navies mar this coafl jball meet f Various honours and privileges were granted to the defcendants of Themiftocles at Magnefia, which are pre- ferved down -to our times. There was one of his name, an Athenian, who enjoyed them in my time, with whom I had a particular acquaintance and frjendfhip in the houfe of Ammonius the philolbpher. (9) Thucydides fays that the bones of Themiftocles were re- moved from Magnefia by his own appointment, and buried privately in Attica, unknown to the Athe- nians. For they did not fuffer a man that died under the accufa- tion of having betrayed his coun- try to have a public interment. And without doubt this averfion remained upon them a confiderable time. But Paufanias extremely favours the opinion of Diodorus the geographer ; for he fays that the Athenians repented of their fe- v.erity towards Themiftocles ; that they fuffered his bones to be re- moved from Magnefia by his re- lations ; that his children confe.- crated in the Parthenon a piece of painting reprefenting this hiftory, in which Themiftocles was drawn to the life, and that his monu- ment was to be feen even in his days near the haven of Piraeus. \ Bb 3 F. CAM1L f 5*2 ] F. CAMILLUS. A MONG the many remarkable things that are related of Furius Camillus, this feems moft ex- traordinary that he who was fo often in the higheft commands, and had performed the greateft adtions, was five times chofen dictator, triumphed four times, and was ftyled a Second Founder of Rome, yet never was once Conful. The reafon of this was the {late and temper of the commonwealth at that time ; for (1) Henjeans theComitiaCen- turiata, in which the principal ma- giftrates were always appointed. (2) Furius was the family name. Camillus was a furname ufually given to children of quality, who load jniniftred for fome time in the temple. Camillus was the firft who retained that name. 3) In the year of Rome 324* the laft year of the eighty-feventh Olympiad. Camillus muft have been at leaft fourteen or fifteen years of age at that time. (4) That C A M I L L U S. 323 for the people being at diiTention with the fenate, rc- fufed to elect confuls, and in their ftead chofe other magiflrates called Military Tribunes ^ \vhofe power though equal to that of the confuls, was yet lefs griev- ous to the people, becaufe they were more in number : for to have the management of affairs intrufted to fix perfons rather than two, was fome eafe and fatisfaction to thofe who could not endure the dominion of a few. This was the condition of the times when Camillus flourifhed in the height of his glory and fuccefs ; and although the government in the mean time had often held aflemblies wherein they might have (j) proceeded to confular elections, yet he was not willing to be made Conful, againfl the inclination of the people. In all his other adminiflrations, which were many and various, he behaved in fuch a manner, that when he was intruded with the fble power he fhared the authority with others, but the glory was all his own even when others were joined in the command with him : the for- mer was owing to his moderation, in commanding without pride or iniblence ; the latter, to his great judgment and wifdom, wherein without queftion he had no equal. The family of the Furii (2) was not at that time very confiderabie ; he was the firfi that raifed him- felf to honour, when he ierved under (3) Pofthumius Tubertus the Dictator, in the great battle againft the TEqui and Volfci. For riding out before the reft of the army, and in the charge receiving a wound in his thigh, he notwithstanding did not give over the fight, but plucking out the dart that (luck in the wound, and engaging with the braveft of the enemy, he put them to flight. For this action, among other rewards be- ftowed on him, (4) he was created Cenfor, an office in (5) thofe days of great honour and authority. During his (4) That is, this aftion ferved was Cenfor with Marcus Poftliu- in time to get him advanced to mius the firft year of the ninety- that onice ; for it is not to be fifth Olympiad, in the year of imagined that the Romans would Rome 353, twenty-nine years af- intruft an office of that importance ter this action againil the /Ecjui to a youth of his age. And it and Volfci. accordingly appears that Camillas (3) PUitarch fays it was In thofe B b 4 days 324. ^ t I F E of his cenforfhip one very good aft of his is recorded ; the wars having made many widows, (6) he obliged fuch as had no wives, fome by perfuafion, others by threatning to fet fines on their heads, to take them in marriage. Another neceflary action, was caufing or- phans to be rated, who before were exempted from taxes ; the continual wars requiring more than ordinary cxpences to maintain them. But that which prefied the Romans moft was the fiege of Veii, the inhabi- tants of which are by fome called Venetani. This was the chief city of Tufcany, and not inferior to Rome, either for the quantity of arms or number of foldiers it could furnifh ^ proud of her wealth, magnificence, and lux- ury, (he had fought many great battles with the Ro- mans, contending for glory and empire. But now fhe had quitted her former ambition, having been weak- ened by many confidcrable defeats ; and the inhabitants having fortified thcmfelves with high and ftrorg walls, and furnifhed the city with arms ofFenfive and defen- five, as likewife with corn and all manner of provifi- ons, they chearfully endured the fiege, which though tedious to them, was no lefs troublefome and vexatious to the befiegers. For the Romans having never been accuftomed to keep the field long even in fummer time, and ufed conftantly to winter at home, were then firft compelled by the tribunes to build forts in the ene- my's country ^ and raifing flrong works about their camp, to join winter and /fummer together. And now the.feventh year of the war drawing to an end, the commanders began to be fufpefted of remiflhefs in car- rying on the fiege, fo that, they were difcharged, and others chofen for the war, among whom was Camillus, then for the fecond time tribune (7). But at prefent he had no concern in the fiege, his lot being to make war upon' days of great honour and autho- was fo confioerable that it had rity ; becaufe it declined much greater privileges annexed to it under the admimflration of the than the confulate. The cenfors fir# emperors, who in the end were the guardians of the Rornan funk it quite, by making them- manners and difcipline, and a feJves mailers of it. This poft fort of vifuors of the order of the knights, C A M I L L U S. 325 upon the Falifci and Capenates - t who taking the advaru tage while the Romans were engaged with other ene- mies, had ravaged their country and harafled them du- ring all the Tufcan war ; but they were now reduced by Camillus, and after fuffering great loffes fhut up within their walls. During the heat of the war an accident happened to the Alban lake, which may be reckoned among the moft ftrange and unaccountable prodigies ; and as no common ar.d natural cauie could be alligned for it, it occafioned great confirmation. It was the beginning of autumn, and the fummer before had neither been very rainy, nor remarkably infefted with fouthern winds ; and of the many lakes, brooks, and fprings of all forts with which Italy abounds, fome were whotty dried up, others retained very little water, and all the rivers, as they conftantly ufed in fummer, ran in a very ' low and hollow channel. But the Alban lake, which has no communication with any other water, being intirely furrounded with mountains, began with- out any caufe (unlets it were a fupernatural one) to rife and fwell in a very remarkable manner, increafirg to the feet of the mountains, and by degrees reaching to the very tops of them, and all this without any violent agitation of its waves. At firft it was the wonder of fhepherds and herdfmen only ; but when the earth, which like a great dam held up the lake from falling into the lower grounds, by the quantity and weight of water was broken down, and the torrent ran through the plowed fields and plantations to difcharge itfelf in r to the fea, it not only ftruck terror into the Romans, but was thought by all the inhabitants of Italy to por- tend fome extraordinary event. But the greatefl talk of it was in the camp before Veii, fo that at laft it came to be knights, and of the fenate, and were batchelors. " Coelibes efl in fliort, had the fortune of the prohibento." Cicer. whole city at their difpofal. (7) The firft year of the nine- ty-fixth Olympiad ; the year of (6) For the cenfor had a power Rome 337. to conftrain thofe to marry that 526 The L I F E of be known likewife to the befieged. As in long fieges it is ufual for perfons of both fides to meet and converfe with one another, it happened that a Roman had contrac- ted an acquaintance with one of the citizens, a man well veried in ancient learning, and who was reputed (8) to have a more than ordinary fkill in divination. The Ro- man obferving that he was overjoyed at the flory of the lake, and laughed at the fiege, told him " this was not *' the only prodigy that of late had happened to the Ro^ '* mans, but that there had been 'others more wonderful " than this, which he, was willing to communicate to him, .at he might the better provide for his private affairs "amidil the publick confufion." Theman greedily embra- ced the motion, expecting to hear fbme wonderful fecrets but the Roman when by degrees he had engaged his atten- tion, and infenfibly drawn him a good way from the gates of the city, fnatched him up in his arms, being ftronger than he, and by the afliflance of others that came running from the camp, fecured, him (9) and delivered him to the commanders. The man reduced to this neceflity, and knowing that deftiny is not to be avoided, difcovered to them what the Oracles had declared concerning the fate of his country ; " that it was not poflible the city mould a be taken, until the Alban lake, which now broke * forth and had found new pafjages, was drawn back ^ from that courfe, and fo diverted, that it could not " mingle (8) Ht was a profeft foothfay- ing his proportion to the gene- r. Tufcany abounded with fuch ral contribution. The Romans fort of people, which was owing prefided at the facrifice, wherein to the extreme fuperflition of the a bull was offered to Jupiter La- (country. Cicero in his firfl book tialis, and all the people eat of it. .de Divinatione fays, that this If every one had not his fhare man was a perfon of quality, in the bull, or if the leaft cir- hominem nobilem. cumftance in the ritual was omit- (9) He carried him to the Ge- ted, the whole was void, and they peral, and the General fent him were to begin the facrifice anew, to Rome, there to be interrogated Thefe feafts were fo important, before the fenate. that it was not lawful for the con- (i) Thefe feafts, eftablifhed by fuls to fet out upon any ex- Tarquin the proud, were celebra- pedition before they had cele- ted by all the people of Latium, brated them. At fir ft they held who affembled for that purpofe on only one day, then two, af- the Aiban mount, every one carry* terwards C A M I L L U S. 317 *' mingle with thefea." The fenate having heard and deli- berated of the matter decreed to fend to Delphi to afk counfel of Apollo. The meflengers were pertbns of the greatefl quality, CoiTus Licinius, Valerius Potitus, and Fabius Ambuftus ; who having performed their voyage, and confulted the God, returned with this among other anfwers, " that there had been a neglect of fome of their " country rites (i) relating to the Latin feafts." As for the Alban water, the Oracle commanded, " that, if it was " poflible, they mould bring it back from the fea, and "mut it up in its ancient bounds ; but if that was not to " be done, they mould draw it ofFinto canals and trenches " in the lower ground, and fo dry it up." Which mef- fage being delivered, the priefts performed what related to the facriflces, and the people went to work, and turn- ed the courfe of the water. And now the fenate in the tenth year of the war, tak- ing away all other commands, (2) created Camillus Dictator, who chofe Cornelius Scipio for his General of horfe ; and in the firft place he made vows to the Gods, that if they would grant a happy conclufion of the war, he would celebrate to their honour the (3) " great fports," and rebuild the temple of the goddefs whom the Ro- mans call (4.) " Matuta the mother ;" the fame with Leu- cothoe, if a judgment may be made of it from the cere- monies ufed in her facrifices j for leading (5) a female flave terwards three, and at lad they nerva. They were celebrated on came to be continued for four the fourth of September, and held days together. for nine days together. (2) This happened in the third (4) This temple was originally year of the ninety-fixth Olympiad, built by Servius Tullius. Matuta in the year of Rome 359. Camil- was the fame with Leucothoe, or lus might then be about fifty years Ino, the fitter of Semele, Bacchus's of age. mother. (3) That is the Roman games, (5) Ino became fo implacably which, properly fpeaking, were a jealous of one of her female flaves, fort of tournament performed in with whom (he perceived her huf- the circus, for which reafon they band was in love, that (he hated were likewife called Magni Cir- all the reft for her fake. For cenfes. They were eftablilhed ori- which reafon the Romans, when ginally by Tarquinius Prifcus, in they had deified her, thought they honour of Jupiter. Juno, and Mi~ could not worlhip her more ac- ceptably The L I F E of flave into the fecret part of the temple, they there buf- fet her, and then drive her out again : (6) they carry in their arms their brother's children, not their own, and offer them to the Goddefs ; and reprefent in the facri- 'fices the ftory of Bacchus's nurfes, and what Ino fuffered from the jealoufy of Juno, who was incenfed againft her, for having nurfed the fon of her rival. Camillus having made thefe vows, marched into the country of the Falifci, and in a great battle overthrew them and the Capenates their confederates. Afterwards he turned to the fiege of Veii, and finding that to take it by affault would prove a difficult and hazardous attempt, he dug mines under ground, (the earth ^bout the city be- ing eafy to break up) allowing as much depth as would be fufficient for carrying on the works, without being difcovered by the enemy. This defign going on wkh a good profped of fucceis, he ordered a general afiault to be made upon the city, in order to draw the be- fieged to the walls, whilft a certain number of the fol- diers pafling under ground without being perceived, got within the caftle, under the temple of Juno, which -was the greateft and moft celebrated in all the city. It is reported, that the Prince of the Tufcans was at that very time facrificing, and that the prieft, after he had looked into the entrails of the beaft, cried out with a loud voice, " that the Gods would give the victory to them who " mould fmifh thofe facrifices ^ and that the Romans who were ceptably than by efpoufing her been a more fortunate aunt, for icfentments ; therefore in their (he had preferved Bacchus, the fon facrifices to her they forbid all of her fitter Semele ; for which /laves admi.ilion into her temple, reafon the Roman matrons offered only they fuffered one to enter, to her their brother's, or their fif- whoreprefented Athama'smiftrefs, ter's children, and not their own. and when they had foundly buffet- (7) Livy, who has inferted this ed her they turned her out again. prayer in his hiftory, has not qua- lified it with that modification fo (6) Ino had been a very unhap- unworthy of Camillus, rAxra> cy mother, for fhe had feen her fon K.O.KU, " with as little hurt as may Learchus (lain by her hulband " be ." It is no furprizing proof of Atharoas, and had thrown herfelf our virtue to requeft of the Gods to headlong into the fea with her throw on us fome flight misfbr- other fon Melicert.es. But ihe had tune in order to avert the great- eft C A M I L L U S. were in v the mines hearing thefe words, immediately broke open the floor, and alcending with noifeand clafh- ing of weapons, frighted away the enemy, and fnafching up the entrails carried them to Camillus. But this may perhaps be thought a fable. The city being taken by ftorm, and the Ibldiers bufy in pillaging and carrying off a vaft quantity of rich plunder, Camillus from the cattle viewing what was done, at firlt wept for pity ; and when they who flood near him congratulated him on his fuccefs, he lifted up his hands to heaven, and broke out into this prayer. " Mod mighty Jupiter, and ye Gods " who are judges of good and evil actions ; ye know that " not without juft caufe, but conftrained by neceflity, we " have revenged ourielves on the city of our unjufr and " implacable enemies. But if in the viciflitude of things, " there be any calamity due, to countervail this great feli- " city, I pray that it may be diverted from the city and ar- " my of the Romans, (7) and with as little hurt as may be, " fall upon my own head." Having faid thefe words, and juft turning about (as the cuflom of the Romans is to turn to the right when they worfhip or pray) he fell down. While thofe who were prefent were furprized and con- cerned at the accident, he recovering himfelf from the fail, told them, that according to his prayer, (8) a fmall milchance had happened to him to counterbalance the greateft good fortune. Having facked the city, he refolved, agreeably to his eft calamities from our country. Camillus'syearsand gravity would A man with a moderate fhare of venture to expofe himfelf in fuch patriotifm may do as much. Plu- a manne'r before fo many people, tarch not being well (killed in the who, fuperftitious as they were, Roman language, probably mif- could not have forborn ridiculing took the fenfe of Livy. fo trifling a circumftance. This (8) This was a fmall misfor- ftory is a continuation of the pre- tane inceed, and a very eafy com- ceding miftake. It is furprizing pofition. It is certain that the that Piutarch fhould chufe rather heathens were very careful either to father fo childifh a fenthnent to accomplish or evade the Oracles upon Camillus, than to follow Li- and menaces of their Gods by fa- vy, who tells us, that in time the vourable, though generally far- event made it conjectured that this fetched applications. However fall of Camillus was a prefage of it is very unlikely that a man of his condemna ion and banifhment (9) The 330 The LIFE / his vow, to carry Juno's image to Rome ; and the work- men being ready for that purpofe, he facrificed to the Goddefs, and made his fupplications, that me would be pleafed to approve of their devotion toward her, and gracioufly accept of a place among the Gods who pre- fided at Rome : they fay, that the ftatue anfwered in a low voice, " that me was ready and willing to go." Livy writes, that in praying, Camillus touched the Goddefs, and invited her ; and that fome of the flanders-by cried out, " that fhe was willing." The opinion of thole who contend molt for the truth of this miracle, is not a little confirmed by the wonderful fortune of that city, which from a fmall and contemptible beginning attained to fuch greatnefs and power as it could never have done, without thofe many remarkable interpofitions of heaven which on all occafions appeared in its behalf. Befides, they produce other wonders of the like nature, as the frequent fweating of flatues ; fome it is faid, have been heard to groan ; fome have fhown their difpleafure by turning their faces afide, others their approbation by a kind look, as many writers before our times have re- lated ; and we ourfelves could mention many wonder- ful things which we have heard from men of our own time, which are not lightly to be rejected. To give too eafy credit to fuch things, or wholly to disbelieve them, is equally dangerous, on account of the infir- mity of human nature; for from the want of felf- government, and the difficulty of fixing juft bounds to ' the affections, fome fall into the moft abject fuperflition, while others defpife and neglect all religion: but it is befl to ufe caution, and avoid extremes. Camillus being elated either by the glory of having taken a city that was competitor with Rome, and had held out a ten years fiege, or by the flattery of thofe that were about him, affumed to himielf more than became a civil and legal magiftrate. Among other things was the pride and haughtinefs of his triumph ; he was carried through Rome in a chariot drawn with four white horfes, no General either before or fince having done the like ; for 1 the Romans eftcem that car- riage C A M I L L U S. 331 riage to be facred, and peculiar to the King and father of the Gods. This alienated the hearts of the citizens from him, who were not accuflomed to fuch an appear- ance of pride and grandeur. Another occafion of di- guft, was his oppoiing the law by which the city was to be divided j for the tribunes of the people propofed a law, that the people and fenate fhould each be divided into two parts, one of which mould remain at home, the other, as the lot mould determine it, remove to the new taken city ; by which means they would not only have much more room, but by being in poileuion of two confiderable cities, be better able to maintain their territories, and fecure the reft of their fortunes from any attempts of their enemies. The people therefore,* who were now grown rich and numerous, greedily cm- braced this propofal, and afTembling continually in the Forum in a tumultuous manner demanded to have it put to the vote. But. die fenate and the men: confider- able of the citizens faw with great uneafmefs the pro- ceedings of the tribunes, which tended, as they thought, rather to the deftrudion than the divifion of Rome; and they applied to Camillus for afliflance ; who fearing the event if the affair mould be fubmitted to the votes of the people, contrived to delay the pafling of the law by continually inventing new objections and difficulties. By thefe things he became unpopular. But the greateft and moft apparent caufe of the people's hatred againfl him, arofe from the tenths of the fpoil, the multitude having herein, if not a juft, yet a plaufible pretence againft him. For it feems, as he went to the fiege of Veii, he had vowed to Apollo, that if he took the city, he woiOd dedicate to him the tenth of the fpoil. The city being taken and facked, whether he was loth to difoblige the foldiers at that time, or whether through multitude of bufinefs he had forgotten his vow, he furTered them to enjoy that part of the fpoils alfo. Some time afterwards, when his authority was laid down, he brought the matter before the fenate ; and the priefts at the fame time reported from the facrifices, that the anger of the Gods was portended, and that they were not 332 Me L I FE of not to be appeafed without expiation and offerings. The fenate decreed the obligation to be in force. But as it was difficult for every one to produce the very fame things he had taken, to be divided anew, they ordained that every one upon oath fhould bring into the publick, the tenth part of his gain. This feemed very fevere and opprellive, that the ibldiers, who were poor men, and had endured fo much labour in the war, mould be forced, out of what they had gained and fpent, to bring in fo great a proportion. Camil- lus being diftreffed by their clamour and tumults, for want of a better excufe, betook himfelf to the meanefl of defences, by confeiTmg he had forgotten his vow ; but they complained that he who then vowed the tenth of the enemy, now levied it out of the tenth of the citizens. Neverthelefs, every one having brought in his proportion, it was decreed, that out of it a bowl of mafly.gold mould be made and fent to Delphi. But there was great fcarcity of gold in the city ; and when the magiftrates were confidering where to get it, the Roman ladies meeting together, and confulting among themfelves, out of the golden ornaments they wore, contributed as much as was neceflary for the offering, which weighed eight talents. The fenate, to give them the honour they had deferved, ordained that funeral orations fhould be ufed at the interment of women, as well as of men ; it having never before been a cuftom that any woman after death fhould be publicly praifed. Chufing out therefore three of the chief of the nobi- lity for ambafladors, they fent them in a large vefTel, well manned, and fumptuoufly adorned. In this voy- age they were equally endangered by a dorm and a calm ; but when they were at the very brink of de- ftruction, they efcaped beyond all expectation. For near the ^Eolian iflands, the wind flackning, the gal- lies of the Lipareans came upon them, taking them for pirates. But when they held up their hands in a f up- pliant manner, the Lipareans forbore violence, and only towed (9) The fenale decreed, that the right of hofpitality fhould be eftab- C A M I L L U S. towed their fhip into the harbour, where they expofed to fale their goods and perfons, adjudging them to be lawful prize. But by the virtue and intereft of one man, Timafithius by name, who was Governor of that place, and tifed his utmoft perfuafion, they were with difficulty difmiiled. Befides, he himfelf joined fome of his own veflels with them, to accompany them in their voyage, and afiift them at the dedication : (9) for which fui table honours were paid him at Rome. And no\Y the tribunes of the people again refuming the law about the divifion of the city, the war agair.ft the Falifci luckily broke out, which enabled the nobi- lity to manage the election of magiflrates according to their own pleafure ; they therefore nominated Carr.illus military tribune, with five other aflociates ^ affairs then requiring a commander of authority and reputation, and one well experienced in war. When the people had confirmed this nomination by their votes, Camil- lus marched with his forces into the territories of the Falifci, and befieged Falerii a well fortified city, and plentifully ftored with all necelTaries for war. And though he perceived it would require no fmall labour and time to make himfelf mafter of it, yet he was will- ing to exercife the citizens, and keep them in action abroad, that they might have no leifure to raife fediti- ons at home. This remedy the Romans conflantly ufed, like good phyficians, throwing out thofe violent hu- mours that would other wife diforder the common- wealth. The Falerians, trufling to the flrength of their city, which was well fortified on ail fides, made ib lit- tle account of the fiege, that except thofe who guarded the walls, the reft, as in times of peace, walked the flreets in their common habits. The boys went to fchool, and were led by their mafter to walk and exer- cife about the town-walls ; for the Falerians, like the Grecians, ufed one publick fchool, that their children being brought up together, might betimes learn to con- verfe and be familiar with one another. VOL. I. Cc This lifted between him and the Romans, and made him prefents at the publick charge. (<) It 334 * LIFE rf This fchool-mafter deigning to betray the Faleriaris by means of their children, led them out every day under the town-wall ; at firft but a little way, and when they had exercifed brought them home again. Afterwards by degrees he drew them further and further, till by practice he had made them bold and fearlefs, as if no danger was near them. At laft, having got them all together, he brought them to the out-guard of the Romans, and deliver- ed them up, demanding to be led to Camillus. When he was brought before him he (aid, " That he was the maf- " ter and teacher of thole children, but preferring his fa- " vour before all other obligations, he was come to deliver " up his charge to him, and in that the whole city." When Camillus had heard him out, he was {truck with horror at fo treacherous an ad and turning to the (landers-by, he faid, " How terrible a thing is war, which is the caiife " of fo much injuftice and violence ! Biu to good men " there are certain laws even in war itfelf ; and victory 4t is not fo eagerly to be purfued as to incur the reproach " of having gained it by bafe and unworthy actions ; for " it becomes a good general to rely on his own virtue, and " not on the treachery of others." He then commanded his officers to tear off the traitor's clothes, to bind his bauds behind him, and give the boys rods and fcourges, to punili him, and drive him back to the city. By this time the Falerians were acquainted with the treach- ery of the fchool-mafter ; and the city, as was natural in fuch a calamity, was filled with lamentations and cries, the principal inhabitants both men .and women running difr.rad, (2) whofe office it is to take care that ingratitude f .11 not opprefs virtue with impunity. The firfl token that feerned to threaten fome mifchief to enfue, was (3) the death of Julius the cenfor ; for the Romans have a religious reverence for the office of a cenfor, and efleem it (1) This was four years after and ingratitude. the reduction of Falerii, the firft (3) Upon the death of Julius year of the ninety-eighth Glym- they named Marcus Cornelius to piad, and of Rome 36 q. fucceed him ; but ever after when (2) It was the Goddefs Neme- a cenfor happened to die in his fis, to whom the ancients afcribed office they reiigioufly forbore the care or office of punilhing naming another in his place, be- evil aftions, particular!/ pride caufe icon after this the city was taken, C A M I L L U S. 337 it facred. The fecond was, that juft before Camillus went into exile, Marcus Cedicius, a perfonof no great quality, nor of fenatorial rank, but efteemed a man of probity and veracity, reported to the military tribunes a thing worthy their confideration. He laid that walking the night before in that ftreet called the New Way, he was called upon by a loud voice ; that upon turning about he Caw no owe, but heard a voice more than human uttering thefe words : u Go, Marcus Cedicius, and early in the " morning tell the, military tribunes that fuddenly they " are to expect the Gauls." But the tribunes -laughed at the ftory ; and Camillus's difgiace followed loon after. The Gauls are defcended originally from the (4)Cel- tae, and are reported by reafo:] of their vaft numbers to have left their country, which was not able to main- tain them all, and to have gone in fearch of other more fertile places. And being many thouiands of them young men and able to bear arms, and carrying with them a greater number of women aud young children, fome of them palling the Riphaean mountains, went towards the Northern ocean, and polfeiTed themfelves of the extreme parts of Europe ; others fettling between the Pyrenasan mountains and the Alps, for a loi.g time lived near the (5) Senones and Celtorii. But afterwards tailing of the wine which was then firft brought them out of Italy, they were all fo much delighted with the liquor, and tranfported with this new pleafure, that {hatching up their arms, and taking their parents along with them, they marched directly to the Alps to find out that coun- try which yielded fuch fruit, efteeming all others barren and unpleafant. He that firfl brought wine among them, and chiefly infligated them to invade Italy, is faid to have been one Arron a Tufcan, a man of no- ble taken. Nay, they were fo fcru- as far as Scythia, by the common pulous in that particular, that name of Celta:. Strab. lib. t. they obliged the other cenfor to ( ] The country of the Senones quit his dignity upon the death contained Sens, Auxerre, and of his collegue, whenever that Troyes, as far up as Pav : s. It is happened. not known who ttaCel tori r o. (4) The ancients called all the Ortdius thinks there is an ervo: ; n habitants of th? well and north, the text. Vid. Liv. l|b. 5. c. 3 :, 55. Ccj COT'lv* 338 Tfo L I F of ble extraction, by nature not ill-difpcfed, but who had received this fignal provocation. He was guardian to an orphan, one of the richeft of that country, and much ad- mired for his beauty, named Lucumo- from his child- hood he had been bred up with Arron in his family, and being now grown up, he ftill continued in the houfe pretending to take great delight in his converfation. This gave him an opportunity of debauching the wife of Arron ; and for a confiderable time they kept fecret the criminal intercourfe which fubfifted between them. But when the paflion of both was grown fo violent, that they could neither reftrain their lull nor conceal it, the young man attempted to carry her off by force, intending to live with her publickly. The huihand endeavoured to obtain a legal fatisfadlion ; but being over-powered by the interefl and wealth of Lucumo, left his own country ; and having heard fome account of the Gauls, went to them, and was the conductor of that expedition into Italy. At their firfl coming they poflefied themfelves of all that country which reaches from the Alps to both the feas. That this was anciently inhabited by the Tu. cans appears from the names themfelves , for the Adria- tic fea which lies to the North, is fo called from the Ttii- can city Adria ; and that which lies on the other fide to the South is called the Tufcan fea. All the country is well planted with trees, has pleafant and rich paftures, and is well watered with rivers. It contained eighteen large cities well fituated for trade, and for obtaining ail the accommodations and pleafures of life. The Gauls driving out the Tufcans took pofleflion of them ; but thefe things were done long before. The Gauls at this time were befieging Clufmm a Tuf- can city. The Clufians applied to the Romans for fuc- cour, defiring them to fend letters and ambafladors to the Barbarians. There were fent three of the family of the Fabii, who were among the moft illuflrious in the city. The Gauls received them courteoufly from refpecl to the name of Rome ; and defifting from the afiault which was then making upon the walls, came to a con- ference with them. When the ambafladors afked what C A M I L L U S. 339 injury they had received of the Clufians, that they thus in yaded their city ; Brennus, Kingof the Gauls, fmih<..g made anfwer, " The Clufians do us injury, iri that, being abL- to " till only a fmall parcel of ground, they poilefs a great ter- " ritory, and will not communicate any part to us, who are " Grangers, many in number, and poor. In the fame man- *' ner, O Romans, formerly the A!bans,Fidenatcs and Ar- *' deates, and now lately the Veians and Capenates., and " many of the Falifci and Volfci did you injury; upon " whom you make war if they do r.ot yield you part of " what they poilefs, you make Haves of them, wa.fte ai;d " fpoil their country, and ruin their cities : neither in fo *' doing are you cruel or unjuft, but follow that moft an- " cient of all laws, which gives the pofleffions of the feeble " to the flrong ; for fo it is from God himfelf down to the *' beads ; nature teaching all theie that the ftronger is to " takeadvantage of the weaker. Ceafe therefore to pity the " Clufians whom we befiege, left you teach the Gauls to be " kind and compafiionate to thofe that are oppreHed by " you." The Romans perceiving by this anfwer that Bren- nus was not to be treated with, went into Ciufium, and en- couraged the inhabitants to makes, fally with them upon the Barbarians which they did either to try the ftrer.gth of .the Clufians, or to (how their own. The fally being made, and the fight growing hot about the walls, one of the Fabii, Quint us Ambuftus, letting fpurs to his horfe, rode full ag^ainft a Gaul of huge bulk andftature, whom vl? C-? ( ' ' he faw advanced a great diftance frorp the reft. At firft he was not known, through the iharpnefs of the encoun- ter, and the glittering of his armour, which hindered the fight of him; but when he had killed the Gaul, and was going to ftrip him of his arms, Brennus knew him, and invoking the Gods to be witneffes, that contrary to the known and common law of nations, which is religiouily obferved by all mankind, he who came as an ambaflador had committed acts of hoftility, he drew oft his men, and bidding the Clufians farewel, led his army directly to Rome. But not being willing it mould appear that he took advantage of an injury done by a particular perfon, and \vas ready to embrace any flight occafion. of quarrel, he C c 4 fent tyc LIFE of fent an herald to demand the offender in order to pu- nifh him ; and in the mean time marched- leifurely on. The herald being arrived at Rome, and the fenate a- fembled, among many others that fpoke againft the Fa- bii, the priells called Feciales were the moft violent pro- fecutors ^ who reprefenting the acYion as an offence z- gainfl religion, advifedthe fenate to lay the whole guilt and expiation of it upon him that committed it, as the befl means of averting the anger of the Gods from the reft of the city. Thefe Feciales, Numa Pompilius, the mildeft and jufteft of Kings, conftituted the confer- vators of peace, and the judges and determiners of all caufes for which war might justifiably be made. The fenate referring the whole matter to the people, the priefls there as well as in the fen ate pleaded againft Fabius ; but the multitude paid fo little regard to their religious fcruples, that in contempt of them they chofe Fabius and the reft of his brethren military tribunes. The Gauls hearing this, v/ere greatly enraged, and would no longer delay their march, but haftened on with all fpeed. Their fury and impetuofity, their prodigious numbers and vaft preparations, fo terrified the inhabi- tants of the places through which they -marched, that they began to look upon their lai cis as already loft, not doubting. but their cities would quickly follow ; but con- trary to expectation the Gauls did no injury in their march, nor committed any ads of hcftility in the coun- tries they palled through ; and when they went by any city 'they crj:d out, " that they were going to Rome ; ' that the Romans only were their enemies, and that '* they took all ethers for their friends." Whilft the Barbarians were rufhing on with fuch violence, the military tribunes brought the Romans into the field, who were not inferior to the Gauls in number, (for they were no lefs than forty thoufand foot) but moft of them raw foldiers, and fuch as had never handled a weapon before ; befides they had neglecled to offer facrifice and to confult the Gods, as they "ought and ufed to do upon all difficulties, efpecilly in war. No lefs did the multitude of commanders diftratt C A M I L L U S. 341 diftraft and confound their proceedings ; for before upon lefs occafions they chofe a fingle perfon called Dilator, being fenfible of what great importance it is in times of danger, to have the ibldiers united under one General, whofe authority is abiblute. Add to all this, that the injurious treatment Camillus had received was no fmall hindrance to their affairs, it being grown a dangerous thing to command, without humouring .and courting the ibldiers. In this condition they left the city, and encamped about eleven miles from Rome, near the river Allia, and not far from the place where it falls into the T)ber ; there the Gauls coming upon them, they fhamefully engaging without order or difl cipline, were defeated. The left wing was immediately .driven into the river, and there utterly deflroyed : the right received lefs damage, by declining the fhcck, and from the low grounds getting to the tops of the hills, from whence many of them afterwards fled into the city ; the reft of the army, as many as efcaped, (the enemy being weary of the fla lighter) ' ftole by night to Veii, thinking Rome was loft and all its inhabitants de- ftroyed. This battle was fought about the fummer Ibl- ftice, the moon being at full, the very fame day on which formerly happened the (laughter of the Fabii, when three hundred of that name and family were at once cut off by the Tufcans. But from this fecond lofs and defeat, the day got the name of Allienfis, from the ri- ver Allia, and ftill retains it. As to unlucky days, whether we mould efteem any fuch or no, or whe- ther Heraclitus juftly cenfured Heficd for di fling nidi ing them into fortunate and unfortunate, as one ignorant that the nature of every day is the fame, I have confi- dered this in another place. But upon this occafion ! think it will not be ami Is to annex a few examples of this kind. The Boeotians on the fifth day of the month which they callHippodromius and the Athenians Hecatombaeon [July] obtained two fignal victories, by both of which they reftored liberty to the Grecians; the one atLeudtra, the other at Geraftus above two hundred years before, when 342 The LIFE of when (6) they overcame Lattamyas and the Theflalians. Again, on the fixth of Boedromion [September] the Per- fiaas were worfled by the Grecians at Marathon ; on the third at Platsese, as alfo at Mycale ; on the twenty-fixth at Arbeli. The Athenians about the full moon of the lame month obtained a victory by fea near Naxus, un- der the conduct of Chabrias ^ about the twentieth at Sa- lamin, as we have fhewn in our book of days. Thar-r gelion [May] was very unfortunate to the Barbarians, for in that month Alexander overcame Darius's general at Granicus, and the Carthaginians on the twenty-fourth were beaten by Timoleon in Sicily; on which fame day and month T/oy ieems to have been taken, as (7) Epho- ms Califthenes, Damaftes and Phylarchus have related. On the other hand, the month Metagitnion [Auguft] which the Boeotians call Panemus was very unlucky to the Grecians ; for on the feventh day of that month they were defeated by Antipater, in the battle of Cra- non, and utterly ruined ; and before that in Chasronea they were defeated by Philip ; and on the very fame day of the fame month, and the fame year, they that went with Archidamus into Italy were there cut off by the Barbarians. The Carthaginians obferve the twenty- fecond of the fame month as bringing with it the moft and greateft of their lolles. I am not ignorant on the other fide, that at the time of celebrating the Myfteries, Thebes was deftroyed by Alexander, and after that, upon the fame twentieth of Boedromion [September] on which day they celebrated the myfteries of Bacchus, the Athe- nians received a Macedonian garrilbn. In like manner the Romans on" the fame day loft their camp under Coe- pio, by the Cimbrians, and afterwards under the conduct of Luculius overcame the Armenians and Tigranes. King Attains (6) This defeat of the ThefTali- CerefTus ; the former was a pro- am under Lattamyashappened not montory in Euboea; the latter was long before the battle of Thermo- a fort in Boeotia, near which this pylse, and little more than one hun- battle was fought. dred years before the battle of (7) Ephorus was ifocrates's di- Leu&ra. There i? alfo an error fciple, and wrote the hiftory of Cere in the name of the place. In- 750 years, in which he included (lead of Geiaftus we fhculd read all the tranfkQions both of the Greeks C A M I L L U S. 343 Attalus and Pompey died both on their birth-days. I could reckon up ieveral that have had variety of for- tune on the fame day. However it be, the Romans reckon the day whereon they received this defeat at Al lia as unfortunate -, and as fear and fuperflition uiually encreafe upon any misfortune, they do not only diflin- guifh that as fuch in their Kalendar, but the two next that follow it in order in every month throughout trie year. But I have difcourfed of this more accurately in. my book of Roman Queftions. If after the battle the Gauls had immediately purfued thofe that fled, nothing could have prevented the total deftiiiction of Rome and of all who^remalned in it; fuch was the terror that thofe who efcaped from the battle had ftruck into the city at their return, and fo great was their own diftraclion and confufion. But the Gauls, not imagining their victory to be fo confiderable, and giving a loofe to their joy, fell to feafling and dividing the fpoil, by which means they gave leifure to fuch as were for leaving the city to make their efcape, and to thofe who remained to prepare for their coming. For they who refolved to flay at Rome, quitting the reft of the city, betook themfelves to the capitol, which they fortified with ftrong ramparts, and furnifhed with all forts of arms. But their firft and principal care was of their holy things, moft of which they conveyed into the capitol. But as for the confecrated fire, the veflal virgins took it up and fled away with it, as likewife with other holy relicks ; though fome fay that no other thing was committed to their cuftody but that ever- living fire, which Numa had ordained to be worfhipped as the principle of all things ; for fire is the mofl ac- tive thing in nature, and all generation js motion, or at Greeks and Barbarians, from the death, though innocent of the return of the Heraclidx. accufation Callifthenes was Ariftotle's Damaftes, one of Hellanicus's fcholar and relation. Among o- fcholars, was of Sigeum a pro- ther of his works there was one montory in Troas. He wrote a that treated of the Trojan war. Greek hiftory, and a treatiie of Being accufed ofconfpiringagainft the anceftors of thofe who had Alexander, he was tortured to been at the fiege of Troy. 8 The 3-H ^ LIFE of at leaft, with motion ; all other parts of matter without warmth lie iluggifh and dead, ard crave the influence of heat as their life, and when that comes upon them, they immediately acquire fome attive or pallive qualities. Wherefore Numa, who was a man of great learning, and on account of his wifdom was thought to converfe with the mufes, confecrated fire, and ordained it to be kept ever burning, in refemblance of that eternal power which preferves and actuates all things. Others fay, that according to the ufage of the Greeks, the fire al- ways burns before holy places as an emblem of puri- ty } but that there were other things hid in the moil fe- cret part of the t mpie, which were kept from the view of all except thofe virgins whom they call veftals. It is commonly believed, that the image of Pallas, brought into Italy by -/Eneas, was laid up there. Others fay, that the Samothracian Gods lay there ; and tell us, (8) " that Dardanus carried them to Troy, and when he had ** built that city, dedicated them there ; that after Troy " was taken, TEneas conveyed them away, and kept them " till his coming into Italy." But they who pretend to underftand more of thefe things, affirm, that there are two barrels, not of any great fize, one of which ftands open, and is empty, the other is full and fealed up ; but that neither of them is to be feen but by the veftals, Others think, that this is a miftake arifing from hence, that on this occafion the virgins put rnofl of their holy things into two barrels, and hid them under ground in (8)The poet Aretinus a difciple pie to thofe Gods, and appointed of Homer, and after himCalliftia- in what manner they fhould be tns, who wrote a hillory of Sa- worshipped, but concealed their mothrace, gave an account that names from every one; that CBryfa the daughter of Pallas mar- afterwaids he carried them with lying Dardanus, brought him in him into Afia ; that his defcen- dowry feveral prefents re hao re- dant, confecrated to them, a tem- ceived from Minerva, confining o: pie in the citadel of Ilium, where two ftatues of that Goddefs, and they were kept with great care ; (bane others of the Gods called and that when the lower town Cabrri, i. e. Great, or Powerful ; was taken by the Greeks, and that when the Arcadians, to avoid /Eneas had made himfelf matter the deluge, had retired into Sa- of the citadel, he removed thcfe aaotbrace > Daidanus built a tern- Gods, and carried them with him C A M 1 L L U S. 345 in the temple of Quirinus, and that upon this account that place even ftiii keeps the name of DclioJa or " The " Barrels." However this be, taking the choiceil and mod venerable things they had, they fled away with them, (hapiii-g their ccurfe along the river fide, where Lucius Albir.us, a plebeian, v.ho among others was making his t-icape, overtook them, having his -wife, children and goods in a cart; he feeing the virgins in a helplefs and weary condition, carrying in their arms the lacred relicks, caufed his wife and children to de- fcend ; and taking out his goods, put the virgins in the cart, that they might make their efcape to fome of the Grecian cities. This devotion of Albinus, and refpedt to the gods in fucli an exigence, is too remarkable to be paffed over in lilerce. But the priefts that belonged to other Gods, and the moil ancient of the fern tors who had been honoured with confulihips and triumphs, could not think of leaving the city but putting on their holy veftures and robes of ftate, and Fabius the high-prielt, directing the ceremony, they made their prayers to the Gods, and devoting themfelves for their country, fat down in their (9) ivory chairs in the Forum, and in that pofture waited for the event. On the third day after the battle Brennns appeared with his army be- fore the city ; and finding the gates wide open, and no guards upon the walls, he firft fufpecled fome ambuC- cade or ftratagem, not imagining that the Romans were in fo low and defparate a condition. But when he found it him into Italy. Dionyfius of Ha- thofe Gods were, fmce the very licarnafTus feems to be of opinion, people that worfnipped them ne- that the Penates, or houfliold ver knew their names, fo that the Gods were among thefe Trojan beft will be but uncertain con- deities, which he had feen in an je&ure. old temple at Rome. They re- prefented two young men fitting, (9) Thefe ivory orCurule chairs and holding each a lance in his wereufed only by thofe who had hand, they were of antique work- borne the moil honourable offices manfhip, and had this infcription in the ftate, which were dirtin- DENAS, infteadofPENAS, with guifhed by the name of Curule which that verfe in Virgil' agrees, dignities ; fuch as the Dictator- '* Cum Penatibus, & magnis Diis. fhtp, Confulfii'p, &c. . I think it necdlefs to enquire who (OLivy 346 The L I F E of it to be fo in reality, he entered at the Colline gate, and took Rome in the three hundred and fixtieth year, or a little more, after it was built ; if it be likely that (i) an exact account has been prefer ved of thofe times, the confufion of which has occafioned fo much obfcurity in things of a later date. Some uncertain rumours of the city's being taken, prefently flew into Greece ; for Hera- elides of Pontus, (2) who lived not long after thefe times, in his book " of the Soul," relates that a report came from the Weil, that an army proceeding from the Hyberbo- reans had taken a Greek city called Rome, feated fome- where upon the great fea. But I do not wonder that (3) fuch a fabulous author as 'Heraclides mould embellifh his account of the taking of Rome with fuch pompous words as Hyperborean and " Great Sea." Ariftotle the phi- lofopher appears to have heard of the taking of the city by the Gauls ; but he calls him who recovered itLucius, whereas Camillus was not called Lucius, but Marcus. Brennus having thus got poffellion of Rome, fet a flrong guard about the capitol ; and going himfelf into the Forum, he was flruck with amazement at the fight of fb many men fitting in that order and filence, who neither role at the approach of their enemies, or fo much as changed colour or countenance, but without fear or concern leaned upon their flaves, and fat look- ing one upon the other. The Gauls for a great while Hood wondering at the ftrangenefs of the object, not daring fo much as to approach or touch them, being feized with awe at the majefty of their appearance. But (i) Livy tells us in the begin- (2) He lived at the fame time; N ning of his fixth book, that they for he was at firft Plato's fcholar, had no authentick account of the and afterwards Ariftotle's ; and tranfadtions of thofe or of the Plato was but forty-one years old preceding times, both becaufe the when Rome was taken. Romans did not then much apply (3) Plutarch's cenfure of Hera- themfelves to writing, and be- elides in this place is not well caufe the commentaries of their founded. He reproves him for pontifs, and their other monu- embellilhing his account, and giv- inents, both publick and private, ine it- the air of a fable, by in- \verc deftroyed when the city \vas trodutinj; fuch pompous words aa burnt by the Gauls. the Hyperboreans and Great Sea; but C A M I L L U S. 347 But when one, bolder than the reft, drew near to Ma- nius Papirius, and flretching out his hand, gently touched his chin, and ftroked his long beard, Papirius with his ftaff ftruck him on the head, and wounded him, at which, the Barbarian being enraged, drew out his fword, and flew him. This was the introduction to the flaughter ; for the reft of his fellows following this example, fet upon them all and killed them, and con- tinuing their rage, difpatched all others that came in their way. Then they pillaged the houfes for many days together, carrying away every thing they found in them : afterwards they fet fire to them, and de- molifhed what the fire had left {landing, being incenied a thofe who kept the capitol, becaufe they would not yield to their fumrrjons, but on the contrary, vigor- oufly defended themfelves, and repuifed the attacks of the befiegers. This provoked them to deftroy the whole city, and put to the fword all that fell into their hands, young and old, men and women. After the fiege of the capitol had lafted a good while, the Gauls began to be in want of provifion: wherefore dividing their forces, part of them {laid with the King at the fiege, whilft the reft went to forage in the country, deftroying the towns and villages where they came yet not altogether in a body, but in diffe- rent troops and parties. And to fuch a confidence had fuccefs raifed them, that they carelefly rambled about, without the leaft apprehenfion of danger. But the greateft and beft difciplined body of their forces went to hut the term Hyperboreans is no northerly." However it is not to more fabulous than his own term be denied that Heraclkies wasave- tht Celtas; and the " Great Sea" is ry fabulous author. It was a vice an expreflion as allowable, as the common with the ancient philo- Hetrurian, orTufcan Sea." Plu- fophers as weil as hiftorians to tarch forgets here that the ancients mingle fables with hiftory. where called the Mediterraneanthe"Gi eat the wonderful produced theagree- Sea," in oppofition to the Euxine ; able ; notwithstanding which thejr and that they called all the in- fometimes told the truth, as ap- habitacrs of the North by the pears in Herodotus, who in the general name of Hyperboreans, main was as fabulous a writer as which fignifiei no more than" very Heiac . .. (.0 Ttert 348 'fbc L I F E ' of to the city of Ardea, where Camillus then was. He had ever fmce his leaving Rome fequeftred himfelf from all hufmefs, and lived a private life : but now his fpirit was again rouzed, and his mind was employed in con- triving, not how he might avoid the enemy and keep himfelf concealed, but how he might beft attack and fubdue them. And perceiving that the Ardeans wanted not men, but courage, which was owing to the cow- ardice and unlkilfulnefs of their officers ; he atfirft began to talk with the young men, telling them, " that they ought not to afcribethe misfortune of the Romans to the " courage of their enemy, or attribute the lofles they fuftain- " ed by their own imprudence, to the condud of thofe who " couM not claim the merit of the victory, but were only an " evidence of the power of fortune^ that it was glorious, even " with danger to repel a foreign and barbarous enemy, whofe e< end in conquering, was like fire to lay wafte and deflroy ; " but if they would be courageous and refolute, he would " give them an opportunity to conquer without any ha- " zard at all." When he found the young men were pleafed with this difcourfe, he went to the chief officers and go- vernors of the city ; and having perfuaded them alib, he muttered all that could bear arms, and drew them up within the walls, that they might not be perceived by the enemy who was near. The Gauls having fcoured the country, and returned loaded with plunder, lay encamp- ed in the plains in a carelefs and negligent pofture ; af- terwards the night coming on, and they being intoxi- cated with wine, there was great filence through all the camp. When Camillus underftood this by his fpies, he drew out the Ardeans, and in the dead of night, palling in filence the ground that lay between the enemy and the town, he arrived at their camf> ; and then commanded his trumpets to found, and his men to fhout. But the Gauls were fo overcharged with wine, that all the noife of the aflailants could hardly awaken them: a few, whom fear made fober, getting into fome order, for a while refitted, and fo died with their wea- pons in their hands. But the greateft part of them, buried in wine and deep, were lurprized without their arms, C A M I L L U S. 349 arms, and difpatched. A fmall number, that by the ad- vantage of the night got out of the camp, were the next day found wandering in the fields, and were picked up by the horfe that purfued them. The fame of this action pre- fently flew through the neighbouring cities, and flirred up the youth of all parts to come and join themfelves with Camillus. But none were fb much concerned as thole Romans who had efcaped in the battle of Allia, and were now at Veii, thus lamenting with themfelves : " What a " commander has Providence bereaved Rome of, to ho- " nour Ardea with his actions! while that city, which " brought forth and nurfed fo great a man, is now no more ; " and wedeflitute of a leader, and living within flrange " walls, fit idle, and fee Italy ruined before our eyes. Come, " let us fend to the Ardeans to demand back our General, " orelfe, with weapons in our hands, let us go thither to " him ; for lie is no longer an exile, nor we citizens, having " no country, but what is in the poifellion of the enemy." This being agreed upon, they fent to Camillus, to defire him to take the command; but he anfwered, that he would not, until they that were in the capitol fhould le- gally chute him; for he efleemed them, as long as they were in being, to be his country ; that if they fhould com- mand him, he would readily obey ; but againft their confent he would not interpofe. When this anfwer was returned, they admired the modefly and virtue of Camillus, but they were at a lofs for a rneflenger to carry an account of thefe things to the capitol ; and what was more, it feemed altogether impoflible for any- one to get thither, whilft the enemy was in full poflefiion of the city. But among the young men, there was one Pontius Commius, a man not of high birth, but ambiti- ous of honour, who offered to run the hazard. He took no letters with him to thofe in the capitol, left be- ing intercepted, the enemy might learn by them the intentions of Camillus. But putting on a poor garment, and carrying corks under it, the greateft part of the way he boldly travelled by day, and came to the city when it was dark. The bridge he could not pafs, it being guarded by the Barbarians ^ fo that faking his VOL. L D d cloath? 35 o The LIFE of cloaths, which were neither many nor heavy, and bind- ing them about his head, he laid his body upon the corks, and fwimming on them, got over to the city. And avoiding thofe quarters where he perceived the enemy was awake, which he guefled at by the lights and noife, he went to the Carmental gate where there was the greatefl filence, and where the hill of the capi- tol is mofl fteep and craggy. By this way he got up unperceived, though with much difficulty, and prefent- ed himfelf to the guards , and having fainted them, and told them his name, he 'was taken in, and carried to the commanders. A fenate being immediately called, he related to them the victory of Camillus, which they had not heard of before, and told them the proceedings of the foldiers, advifing them to confirm the command to Camillus, on whofe conduct: alone the whole army re- lied. Having heard his report and confulted of the mat- ter, the fenate declared Camillus Dictator, and fent back Pontius the fame way that he came ; who, with the fame fuccefs, patted through the enemy, without being difco- vered, and delivered to the Romans the decree of the fenate-, they received it with great acclamations of joy, and Camillus coming to them, found 20,000 of them ready in arms ; with which forces, and thofe confede- rates he brought along with him, which were more in number, he prepared to attack the enemy. But at Rome fome of the Barbarians pafling by chance that way by which Pontius by night had got into thecapitol, obferved in feveral places the print of his feet and hands, where he had made his way up the rock, and the mofs that grew to the rock torn off and broken -, this they reported to the King - y who coming in peribn and viewing it, for the prefer.t faid nothing ; but in the even- ing, picking out fuch of the Gauls as were nimbleft of body, and by living in the mountains were accuflomed to climb, he thus addrefled them : " The enemy themfelves " have (hewn us a way how to come at them, which we " knew not of before; and have proved to us that this " rock isnotinacceflible. It is (hameful for thofe who have " begun well, to fail in the end, and to quit a place as im- G A M I L L U S. 351 tc pregnable, when the enemy himfelf points out the way " by which it may be taken : for in the fame place where " it was eafy for one man to get up, it will not be hard for " many, one after another; nay, when Many fhail undertake " it, they will naturally ailift each other. Rewards and ho- *' noursfhall be beftowed on every man according as he " (hall acquit himfelf in the action." When the King had thus fpoken, the Gauls chearfully undertook to perform the thing : and, in the dead of night, a large party of them with great filence began to climb the rock, which though very deep and craggy, yet" upon trial did not prove fo difficult of afcent as they had expected. So that the foremoft of them having gained the top of all, and put themfelves into order, werejuft ready to take pofleflion of the wall, and to fall upon the guards, who were faftafleep, for neither man nor dog perceived their coming. But there were facred geefe kept near the tem- ple of Juno, which at other times were plentifully fed; but at this time, as corn and all other provifions were grown fcarce, their allowance was fliortened, and they themfelves in a poor and lean condition. This creature is by nature of quick fenfe, and apprehenfive of the ieaft noife; fb that being befides watchful through hunger, and reftlefs, they immediately difcovered the coming of the Gauls ; and running up and down, with their noife and cackling they raifed the whole camp. The Barbarians on the other fide perceiving themfelves di covered, no longer kept filer.ce, but with great (hout- ing and violence fet themfelves to the aflault. The Romans every one in hafte (hatching Up the next weapon that came to hand, did what they could on this Hid- den occafion. Manlius, a man of confular dignity, of great ftrength and extraordinary courage, was the firft that made head againft them, ar.d engaging with two of the enemy at once, with his fword cut off the right 'arm of one juft as he was lifting up his polc-ax to ftrike ; and running his target full in the face of the other, tumbled him headlong down the fteep rock : then mourning the rampart, and there Handing with others that came immediately to his afiiftance, he drove D d 2, down L I F E of down the reft of them, there having not many got up and thofe that had, having done nothing iiii table to the boldneis of the attempt. The Romans having thus elcaped this danger, early in the morning took the Cap- tain of the watch, and flung him down the rock upon the head of their enemies ; and to Manlius for h s vic- tory, they voted a regard which carried more honour than advantage w id} it j it was this; they contributed to him as mucn as every man had for his daily allow- ance, which aii i'-aif a pound of bread, and about half a pint ci wine, nom this time the affairs of the Gauls were daily in a worie condition; they wanted provifi- 6ns, being pieveiited f;om foraging through fear of Carniiius ; befidis that (icknels came upon them, occ.i- iioi.ed by the number of carcafles that lay unburied in heaps, Moreover, being lodged among the ruins, the allies, which were very deep, being blown about with the wind, and heated by the fun, cauied a dry and pdliient air, extremely pernicious to thofe who br-eathed in it. But the chief caufe was the change of their natural climate ; for coming out of fiiady and hilly countries, which affoided pleafant retirements and fhel- ter from the heat, they found they were now got into low grounds, naturally unheaithful in the autumn fea- On. Another thing which broke their fpirits, was the length and tedioufnefs of the fiege (for they had novy fat fix entire months before the capitol) infomuch that there was vaft defolation among them ; and the number of the dead was grown fo great, that they quite left off burying them. Neither were things any better with the beiieged, for famine increafed upon them ; and not knowing what Camillus did, they remained in a languifh- irg and defponding condition ; for it was impoffible to fend any mefTenger to him, the city was fo narrowly guarded by the Barbarians. Things being in this con- dition on both fides, mention was firft made of an eccommodation by fome of the centinels, as they hap- pened to difcourfe with one another ; and afterwards by tl e confent of the chief men among the Romans, Sulpi- , one of the military tribunes, came to parley with Brennus i C A M I L L U S. 353 Erennus-, where it was agreed, that the Romans laying down a thoufand pounds weight of gold, the Gauls upon the receipt of it fhould immediately quit the city and its territories. The agreement being confirmed by oath on both fides and the gold being brought, the Gauls ufed faife dealing in the weights, firft fecretly, afterwards openly, pulling back the balance and violently turn- ing it : which the Romans refenting, Brennus in an in- fulting manner, pulled off his fwordand belt, and threw them both into the Icales ; and when Surpicius afked, what that meant, " What mould it mean," lays he, " but the Speaker or Caller] chufmg the very fame place in which that voice from heaven came by night to Marcus Cedicius, foretelling the coming of the Barba- rian army. It was a work of great difficulty, to difco- ver the places of the ancient temples ; but by the zeal of Camillus, and theinceflant labour of the priefts, it was at laft accomplimed. But when they came to the rebuild- ing of the city, which was wholly demolifhed, an heart- lefs defpondency feized the multitude, and a backward- nefs to the work, becaufe they wanted all neceflary ma- terials, and had more need of fome refrefhment and reft from their labours, than of new toil and fatigue, after their health was broken and their fortunes ruined. Thus they infenfibly turned their thoughts again towards Veii, a city ready built, and well provided with all things ; which gave occafion to many who fought to be popular, by taking advantage of this difpofition to raife new tumults : and many feditio-us words were thrown " out againft Camillus ; " that out of ambition and vain glory *' he with-held them from a city fit to receive them, " forcing them to live" in the midft of ruins, and to raife " a city from fuch rubbifh, that he might be efteemed " not the chief magiftrate only and General of Rome, but 14 (ufurping the title of Romulus) the founder alfo." The fenate therefore, fearing a fedition, would not fuffer Camillus, though defirous, to lay down his authority within the year, though no other Dictator had ever held it above fix months. Befides, they endeavoured by kind perfuafions and familiar addrefles to chear and footh the minds of the people. Sometimes they would lead them ing in fafety to their own coun- himfelf in another part of his try ; and this is confirmed by Juf- hiftory, x. 16. tin, Suetonius, and even bv Livy D d 4 (5) This 35 6 ne LIFE of them to the monuments and jtombs of their anceftors, and often put them in mind of the temples and holy places which Romulus and Numa, or any other of their kings, had confecrated and left to them ; but among the chief of their holy relicks, they fet before them that bloody (5) head which was found in laying the founda- tion of the capitol, and which portended that that place was deftined by fate to be the head of all Italy. They ur^ed what a fhame it would be to them, by forfakiiyg the citv, to lofe and extinguim that holy fire, which, fmcethe war, was rekindled by the Veftal virgins-, and to fee the city itfelf either inhabited by ftrangers, or left a wild pafture for cattle to graze on. Such rea- fons as thefe, mixt with complaints and entreaties, they ufed with the people, fometimes in private, and feme- times in their publick affemblies. But ftill they were afrefli aiTaulted by the outcries of the multitude, proteft- ing and bewailing their prefent wants and inability, be- ieeching them, that feeing they were juft faved, as from a fhipwreck, naked and definite, they would not con- ftrain them to patch up the pieces of a ruined and mat- tered city, when they had another at hand ready built. Camillus thought beft to refer it to the fenate ; and he himfelf difcourfed largely and earneftly againft aban- doning their country, as likewife did many others. At laft, calling to Lucius Lucretius, whofe place it was to vote firft, he commanded him to give his opinion, and the reft as they followed in order. Silence being made, and Lucretius juft about to begin, by chance a cap- tain without, palling by the fenate-hou(e, and leading his company off the day-guard, called out with a loud voice to the enfign bearer, " to ftay and fix his ftandard ; " for that was the beft place to ftay in. This voice com- ing juft at that time, and in the midft of their anxiety and uncertainty, Lucretius embracing the omen, and adoring the Gods, gave his opinion for flaying, as likewife did all the reft that followed. Even among the (c;) This prodigy happened in a human head warm and bleed- the reign of Taiquin the Proud, ing, asifjutt fevered from the As they were digging, they found body ; upon which they fent to confult C A M I L L U S. 357 the common people it wrought a wonderful change of inclination, every one heartening and encouraging his neighbour, and fetting himfelf chearfully to the work.. They did not proceed upon any regular plan, but every- one pitched upon that plot of ground which came next to hand, or belt pleafed his fancy ; by which hurry the city when built confided of narrow and intricate lanes, and houfes crouded together without any order. For it is faid, that within the compafs of a year, the whole city was compleated, both in its publick walls, and private buildings. The perfons appointed by .Camillus to recover and mark out the confecrated places, in that great confufion of all things, fearching about the Palatium, and coming to that place which is called Mars's chapel, they found it like the reft, entirely de- ilroyed by the Barbarians -, but whilft they were clear- ing the place, and carrying away the rubbifh, they lit upon Romulus's augural ftafi^ buried under a great heap of afhes. This ftaffis crooked at one end, and is called Lituus. They make ufe of this in quartering out the regions of the heavens, when they are employed in that fort of divination which is made by the flight of birds } and Romulus himfelf alfo made ufe of it, beino- deeply fkilled in augury. But when he difappeared from among men, the priefts took the flaff^ and kept it as other holy things, not to be touched or defiled. Now when they found that this flaff was not in the leaft injured by the flames, though all other things were confumed, they began to conceive joyful hopes, that this token portended the everlafling fafety and profperU ty of Rome. The city was fcarce rebuilt before they were engaged in a new war. The ^qui, Volfci, and Latins all at once invaded their territories ; and the Tufcans laid fiege to Sutrium a confederate city of the Romans. The mi- litary tribunes, who commanded the army, and were encamped about the hill Marcius, being clofely bettered by 'confult the Tufcan foothfayers, wowld be the head of all who anfwered that the place Italy. where that head was found (6) Either 358 Me LIFE of by the Latins, and the camp in danger of being loft, fent to Rome, and Camillus was a third time chofen Dictator. Concerning this war there are two different relations -, I (hall begin with the fabulous. They fay that the Latins (either out of pretence or real defign to reftore the ancient affinity between both nations) fent to defire of the Romans fome of their free virgins in mar- riage. The Romans were at a lofs what to determine ; for on one hand they dreaded a war, having fcarce fettled and recovered themfelves -, on the other fide, they fufpefted that this afking of wives was in reality nothing elfe but a demand of hoflages, though covered with the fpeci- ous name of marriage and alliance. But a certain female Have, byname Tutula, or as fome call her, Philotis, perfuaded the magiftrates to fend with her fome of the youngeft and moft beautiful Haves in the garb' and drefs of noble virgins, and leave the reft to her care and management : the magiftrates, approving her defign, chofe out as many as me thought neceffary for her pur- pofe, and adorning them with gold ar.d rich cloaths, delivered them to the Latins, who were encamped near the city. At night, when the other fiaves had ftolen away the enemies fwords, Tutula or I hilotis, climbing to the top of a wild fig-tree, and fpreaaing out a thick garment behind her, to conceal the defign from the Latins, held out a torch towards Rome, which was, the fignal agreed on between her and the magiftrates, none of the other citizens knowing the meaning of it ; this was the reafon that the foldiers ran out in a very tumul- tuous manner, the officers pufhing their men on, and they calling to their fellow-foldiers ; and it was with much difficulty that they were brought into any order - y but falling upon the enemies works, who expecting no fuch attempt were all afleep, they took the camp, and deftroyed moft of them. This was done on the Nones of July, which was then called Quintilis ; and the feaft obterved on that day, is in remembrance of this action: for firft running out of the city in great crouds, they pronounce aioud the moft familiar and ufual names, as Caius, Marcus, Lucius, and the like imitating thereby the C A M I L L U S. 359 the foldiers calling to one another when they ifliied out ir .ich hafte. In the next place the maid-fervants rich- ly adorned run about playing and jefting with all tn< y meet, and amongft themfelves ufe a kind of fkir- r . :iir,g, to fhow the alliftance they gave in this engage- ment with the Latins. At this feaft, they fit fhaded over* with boughs of wild fig-tree ^ and the day they cali Nonas Capratinae, as fome think, from that wild fig- tree, on which the flave held out her torch; for the Romans call a wild fig-tree Caprificus. Others refer moft of w'^at is faid or done at this feaft, to what happened to Romulus ; for on this day, without the gate of the city, he vanifhed out of fight, a fudden darknefs then arifmg together with a tempeft ; (fome think there was an eclipfe of the fun) and it is fuppofed that the day was called Nonas Capratinae, becauie Romulus difap- peared at a place called Palus Caprae, or Goats-Marlh, whiift he was holding there an aflembly of the people, as we have mentioned in his life. But moft writers prefer the other account of this war, which they thus relate. Camiilus being the third time chofen Dictator, and learning that the army under the Tribunes was be- lieged by the Latins and Volfci, was conftrained to arm, not only the youth, but even fuch as age had exempted from fervice ; and taking a large compafs, round the mount Martins, undi (covered by the enemy, he encamped behind them, and then by many' fires gave notice of his arrival. The befieged encouraged herewith, prepared to fall on and join battle ; but the Latins and Volfci, being thus encompafied by the enemy, kept within their works, which they fortified on all fides, bv driving ftakes into the ground ; refolving to* 7 J O ' wait for more fupplies from home, and for the ailift- ance which they expected from the Tufcans their confe- derates. Camiilus perceiving their, drift, and fearing that he might be reduced to the fame ftraits that they were, and be befieged himfelf, refblved to lofe no time -, and finding their rampart was all of timber, and ob- ferving that a ftrong wind conftantly at fun-rifing blew from the mountains, he prepared much combuftible "matter, L I F E of matter, and about break of day drew out his forces ; fome of which he commanded to take their darts, and with noife and fhouting afiault the enemy on the oppofite quarter, whilft he with thofe who were to fling in the fire, went to that fide of the enemy's camp on which the wind lay directly, and there waited his opportu- nity. When the fkirmim was begun, and the fun rifen, and a violent wind blew from the mountains, he gave the fignal of onfet ; and pouring in an infinite quantity of fiery matter, he filled all their rampart with it, fo that the flame being fed in the clofe timber and wooden pallifadoes, increaied and difperfed itfelf into all quarters. The Latins having nothing ready to keep it off or extinguifh it, the camp being almoft full of fire, were reduced to a very fmall compafs, and at laft forced to fall into their enemies hands, who flood drawn up in arms before the works ; of thefe very few efcaped, but thofe who {laid in the camp were all con- fumed by the fire ; and then the Romans, to gain the pillage, extinguifhed it. After this, Camillus, leaving his fon Lucius in the camp to guard the prifoners and fecure the booty, pafled into the enemies country ; where having taken the city of the TEqui, and reduced the Volfci, he immediately led his army to Sutrium ; for he had not heard what had befallen the Sutrians, but made haile to aHiftthem, as if they were flill in danger, and befieged by the Tufcans. But they had already fur- rendered their city to their enemies ; and in a deftitute condition, with their garments only about them, lead- ing their wives and children, and bewailing their mif- fortune, met Camillus on the way. Camillus himfelf was' flruck with the object, and perceiving that the Romans wept for pity at the affecting entreaties of the Sutrians, refolved not to defer revenge, but that very day to lead his army to Sutrium, conjecturing that as the Tufcans had jufl taken a rich and plentiful city, ard not left an enemy within it, nor expected any from without, he mould find them negligent and unguarded. And (6) Either Plutarch is miftaken betheychofeCorneliusCoffusDic- or the text is defeftive. It Ihould tator, who named Quintus Capito- iinus C A M I L L U S. 361 And in this he judged right, for he not only pafled through their country without difcovery, but came up to their very gates, and pofiefled himfelf of the walls ; for there was not a man left to guard them, they being all got into houfes in different parts of the town, drink- ing and making merry upon the oceafion : nay, when, at laft they perceived that the enemy had feized the city, they were fo overcharged with meat and wine, that few were able fo much as to endeavour an efcape ; but ignominioufly waiting in the houfes, either were killed, or furrendered themfelves to the will of the con- queror. Thus the city of the Sutrians was twice taken in one day ; they who were in pofleflion, having loft it, and after lofing it recovering it again, by the means of Camillus ; for all which actions -he received a triumph, which brought him no lefs honour and reputation than both the former : for thofe very citizens, who before moft envied and detracted from his merit, afcribing his fuccefles to a certain lucky turn of fortune rather than to his virtue, were now compelled by thefe laft actions to attribute them to his great abilities and indefatigable application. Of all his adverfaries, and the enviers of his glory, Marcus Manlius was the moft confiderable ; he who firft repulfed the Gauls from the capitol, when they attacked it in the night, for which he was furnamed Capitolinus. This man affecting the firft place in the commonwealth, and not being able by honourable ways to furpafs Ca- millus in reputation, took the ufual methods of fuch as aim at a tyrannical government, by pradifing upon the weakneis of the populace, efpecially of fuch as were in debt ; fbme he would defend againft their creditors by pleading their caufes, others he would refcue by force, not fufFering the law to proceed againft them : infomuch that in a mort time he had gotten great num- bers of indigent people about him$ who making tumults and uproars in the Forum, ftruck great terror into the principal citizens. In this exigence they created (6) Quintus linus mafter of the horfe. Liv. lib. year of the ninety-ninth Olympiad 6, cap, 12. This was in the third and in the year of Rome 371. " 362 Hre L I F E of Quintus Capitolinus Dictator, who committed Manilas to prifon, upon which the people put themfelves into mourning -, a thing never done but in great and publick calamities. The fenate fearing ibme tumult, ordered him to be relafed ; but when fet at liberty, he was not the better, but rather more infolent in his practices, filling the whole city with fedition. Wherefore they chofeCamillus again military tribune ; and a day being fet for Manlius to anfwer to his charge, the profpect of the place was a great hindrance to his accufers : for the very place where Manlius by night fought with the Gauls, over- looked the Forum from thecapitol ; fo that ftretching forth his hands that way, and weeping, he called to their remembrance his paft actions, railing companion in all that beheld him. The judges were therefore at a lofs what to do, and werefeveral times forced to adjourn the trial, not being willing to acquit him of a crime proved by fuch manifefl circumftances, and yet being unable to execute the law in that place where the view of the capitol perpetually reminded the people how nobly he had defended it. Camillus confidering this, removed the judgment- feat without the gate to the Peteline grove, from whence there is no profpect of the capitol. Here his accufer went on with his charge, and the difficulty which arofe from the recollection of his former fer vices being removed, he received the juft re- ward of his late offences; for being found guilty, he was carried to the capitol, and (7) thrown headlong from the rock ; the fame place being a monument both of his glory and of his unfortunate end. The Romans befides razed his houfe, and built there a temple to the Goddefs Moneta ; and ordained for the future that none of '?) This is a molt remarkable illultrious than Manlius. He pro- example whereby we are taught, duced thirty fpoils of enemies, that an irregular ambition is cap- whom lie had (lain with his own able nofonlyof finking in oblivion hands; forty honorary rewards, a long courfe of great actions and which had been conferred on him fervices, but even of rendering by his generals, among which them unacceptable, and odious, were two mural and eight civil There was not perhaps at that crowns. He produced feveral ci- time in all Rouie 3 a petfon more tizens whom he had faved from the C A M I L L U S. 363 of the Patrician order fhould ever dwell in the capi- tol (8). And now Camillus being called the fixth time to the tribunefhip, chofe to decline the office on account of his age ; perhaps too fearing the malice of fortune, and the envy which ufually attends great and prosperous actions. But his chief excufe was the bad rfate of his health, for he happened at that time to be fick , the people however would admit of no excufes, faying that they did not require him to fight either on foot or on horfeback, but only wanted his counfel and conduct. This prevailed upon him to undertake the command, and with one of his fellow tribunes, Lucius Furius, to lead the army immediately againft the enemy. Thefe were the Praeneftines and Volfci, who with a great army laid wafte the countries of the Roman allies. Having marched out his army, he encamped near the enemy, defigning to protract the war that he might have time to recover his health, and be able to acl: in perfon if it mould afterwards be neceilary to come to an engage- ment. But Lucius his collegue, caaried away with the defire of glory, was impatient to give battle, and in- fpired the other officers of the army with the fame eager- nefs ; fb that Camillus fearing he might feem out of envy to rob the young officers of the glory of a vic- tory, confented, though unwillingly, that Lucius mould draw out the forces, whilft him/elf, by reatbn of weak- nefs, (laid behind with a few in the camp. Lucius en- gaging ramly, was foon defeated. When Camillus, per- ceived that the Romans were put to flight, he could not contain himfelf, but leaping from his bed, with the 'fervants and retinue he had about him, ran to meet them the hands of the enemy, and a people lefs jealous of their li- among them C. Servilius, mailer berty than the Romans, of the horfe. All thefe meritori- ous actions were crowned with (8) Livy adds to this, that it that figntl fervice to his country, was decreed by all his family, that the preservation of the capitol, none of their defcendants fhould which alone might have obtained ever after be called Marcus Man- liis pardon for a greater crime lius, than that laid to his charge, from () Th! 364. Tbc LIFE of them at the gates of the camp -, and making his way through them that fled, he drove furioufly to oppoie the purfuers ; infomuch that thofe who were got with- in the camp prefently turned back and followed him, and thofc who were running towards it, made head again, and gathered about him, exhorting one another not to forfake their General. Thus the enemy for that time was flopped in the purfuit. But the next day Ca- millus dravv-ing out his forces, and joining battle with them, routed them, and following clofe upon them as they fled, he entered together with them into their camp, and killed the greateft part of them. Afterwards having heard that Satricum was taken by the Tufcans, and the inhabitants (who were all Romany) put to the fword, he fent home to Rome the main body of his forces, and the heavier!: armed, and taking with him the moft vigorous and refolute of his fblcliers, he fuddenly fell upon the Tufcans, v/ho were in poffeffion of the city, and having maftered them, fome he drove out, others he flew. He then returned to Rome with great fpoils, having given a fignal evidence of the good fenfe of the Roman people, who not miftrufting the weaknefs and age of a commander endued with courage and condudt, had rather chofen him who was fickly, and defirous to be excufed, than younger men who were forward and ambitious to command. Wherefore when news was brought of the revolt of the Tufculans, they gave Camil- lus the charge of reducing them, and the liberty of chufmg which of his five collegues he pleafed to go with him. And now when every one of them fued eagerly for the place, contrary to the expectation of all, he pafTed by the reft, and chofe Lucius Furius, the very fame man, who but juft before had been de- feated, by rafhly hazarding a battle againfl the judg- ment of Camillus -, being willing probably by this pre- ference, to relieve him from his difgrace. The Tufcu- lans hearing that Camillus was coming againft them, fought (9) This confufion lafted five fuh or military tribunes were cho- years, during which time IN? con- fen; the tribunes of the people onftanrly C A M I L L U S, 365 fought cunningly to take off the fufpicion of their re- volt. Their fields, as in times of profound peace, were full of hufbandmen and fhepherds ; their gates flood wide open, and their children went publickly to fchool ; fuch of the people, as were tradefinen, he found in their (hops, bufied about their feveral employ- ments ; and the better fort of citizens walking in the pub-lick places, in their ufual drefs. The magiilrates were diligent and officious in providing quarters for the Romans, as if they ftood in no fear, and had committed no fault. Thefe arts, though they could not alter the opinion Camillus had of their treachery, yet wrought in him fuch a compaffion for them as penitents, that he commanded them to go to the fenate and appeafe their anger, and himfelf became interceflbr in their behalf: fo that their city was acquitted of all offences, and ad- mitted to the freedom and privileges of Rome. Thefe were the moft memorable actions of his fixth tribune- fhip. After this Licinius Stolo raifed a great fedition in the city, and the people had a violent contention with the fenate, demanding that of two confuls one fhould be chofen out of the commons, and not both out of the nobility. Tribunes of the people were chofen, but the multitude violently oppofed the election of confuls (9). Things through this diffention running into great dif- order, Camillus was a fourth time created Dictator by the fenate, much againfl the will of the people ; neither was he himfelf very forward to accept it, being unwill- ing to oppofe his authority to thofe, who might alledge many great battles to prove that he had done more with them in military affairs than ever he had tranfacted with the nobility in civil ; knowing too that he was now pitched upon out of envy, that if he prevailed he might ruin the people ; or if he failed, be ruined himfelf. However, to provide as good a remedy as he could for the prefent, knowing the day on which- the tribunes of the conftantiy preventing thofe aflem- neceflary for the ele&ion of fuch bliesfroin being heid which were magistrates. VOL. I. EC (0 There 366 The LIFE of- the people intended to propofe the law, he at the farns time proclaimed a general mutter, and called the people from the Forum into the field, threatning to fet heavy fines upon fuch as mould not obey. On the other fide, the tribunes of the people oppofed themfelves to his threats, folemnly protefting to fine him in 50,000 drachmas of filver, if he periifted to hinder the people from giving their fuffrages for the law. Wherefore, eitner fearr g another banimment and condemnation, which he looked upon as an indignity highly unbecom- ing his age and the great actions he had performed, or finding himfelf not able to refill the violence and fury of the multitude, he ictired to his . houfe, and fome da\s after under pretence of indifpofition laid down his Dictator ilii p. The fenate created another Didator, who chafing Stolo leader of this fedition, to be General of the horfe, fuffered that law to take place, which was very difagreeable to the nobility, that no perfbn \vhat- foever mould poflefs ajove 500 acres of land. Stolo exceedingly triumphed in' the conqueft he had gained, till not long after he was found himfelf to poffeis more than he allowed to others, and fo fuffered the penalties of his own law. And now the contention about elec- tion of con fuls coming on, which was the chief fubjed and original cau(e of thefe diflentions between the fenate and the people, certain intelligence arrived, that the Gauls again proceeding from the Adriatick fea, were matching directly towards Rome, and the report 'was confirmed by the effects which immediately appeared ; for the country through which they marched was all laid waile, and fuch as by flight could not make their efcape to Rome, weredifperfed and fcattered among the mountains. The terror of this war quieted the fedition, fo that the nobility conferring with the commons, and both joining couniels unanimoufly, chofe Camillus the fifth time Dictator, who, though very old, as not want- ing much of fouifcore years, yet confidering the danger and neceflity of his country, did not, as before pretend iicknefs or any other excufe,. but readily undertook the charge, and lifted his foldiers. Knowing that the force of C A M I L L U S. 367 of the Barbarians lay chiefly in their fwords, which they managed in a rude and unfkillful manner, (Inking chiefly the head and moulders, he caufed iron helmets to be made for moil of his men, polifhed on the out- fide, that the enemies fwords lighting upon them, might either flide off, or be broken ^ and round their (hields he drew a little rim of brafs, the wood itfelf being not fufficient to relifl the blows. Befides he taught his fbl- diers in clofe engagement to ufe long javelins, which being held under their enemies fwords, would receive the force and violence of them. When the Gauls drew near, and were arrived at the river Anio, dragging a heavy camp after them, and loaden with infinite fpoi], Camillus drew out his forces, and encamped upon a hill of eafy afcent, and which had many hollow places in it, that the greateft part of his army might be concealed, and thofe few which appeared might be thought through fear to have taken themfelves to thofe upper grounds. And the more to increafe this opinion in the enemy, he fuffered them without any diflurbance to fpoil and pillage even to his very trenches, keeping himfelf quiet within his camp; which was well fortified on all fides. At lafl, perceiving that part of the enemy were fcatter- ed about the country in queft of forage, and having advice that thofe who were in the camp fpent their time in drinking and revelling, he before day-break fent out bis light-armed foldiers, that they might prevent the enemy from drawing up in order, and might harrafs and" difcompofe them when they fhould firft iffue out of their trenches and early in the morning he brought down the main body of his army, and drew them up in order of battle in the lower grounds. They now ap- peared to be a numerous and refolute body of men, and not as the Barbarians imagined, few in number and void of courage. The firft thing that abated the confidence of the Gauls, was, that their enemies were the aggref- fors. In the next place, the light-armed men begin- ning the attack before* they could get into their ufual order, or range themfelves in diftind troops, fb prefled upon them, that they were obliged to fight confufedly E e 2 at 3 6S Me LIFE of at random, without any difcipline at all. But at laff, when Camillus brought on his heavy-armed foldiers, the Barbarians with their (words drawn, went vigoroufly to engage them ; but the Romans holding out their jave- lins and receiving the force of the blows upon that part of them which was guarded with iron, the enemies iwords, the blades of which were thin and made of a foft metal, were immediately turned back and bent double in their hands.. As for their bucklers, they were pierced through and through, and grown fo heavy with the javelins that {luck in them, that forced to quit their own weapons, they endeavoured to feize thofe of their enemies, and towreft the javelins out of the hands of the Romans, But the Romans perceiving them naked and unarmed, prefently betook themfelves to their fwords, with which in a little time great {laughter was made in the formoft ranks, and the reft fled, difperfing themlelves all over the plain , for as for the hills and upper grounds, Camillus had before-hand poflefTed him- fell of them, and they would not fly towards their camp, becaufe they knew there would be no great dif- ficulty in taking it, they having through confidence of victory neglected to fortify it. They fay this fight happened thirteen (i) years after the facking of Rome, and that from this, time the Romans took courage, and laid afide thofe difmal apprehenfions they had conceived of the Barbarians-, thinking now that their firft defeat was rather the effect of ficknefs, and the ftrange con- currence of unfortunate accidents, than of the courage or force of their enemy. And indeed this fear had been formerly fo great, that they made a law, " That priefts " mould be excuied from military fervice, unlefs in an " invalion from the Gauls. This was the lad of Camillus's martial exploits ; for the acquisition of the city of Velitrae was a direct confe- quence of th's victory, it being immediately after fur- rendered to him without any refiflance. But there re- mained Hill a hard conteft as to civil affairs, to be managed (i) There is an error here in the, rramber, for this battle was fought t\v en ty-thre years after the taking of Rome. CAMILLUS. 369 managed with the people ; for returning home elated with victory they infilled with great vehemence, that contrary to the ancient cuftom, one of the confuls mould be chofen out of their own body. The ferate ftrongly oppofed it, and would not fufter Camillus to lay down his Dictatorship, thinking that under the fhel- ter of- his great name and authority they might with more probability of fuccefs defend the rights of the Pa- tricians. But when Camillus was fitting upon the tribu- nal, difpatching publick affairs, an officer fent by the tribunes of the people commanded him to rife and fol- low him, laying his hand upon him, as if he would feize and carry him away ; upon which fuch a noife and tumult followed in the aflembly, as was never known before ; fome that were about Camillus thrufting the officer from the tribunal, and the multitude below calling out to him to feize the Dictator. Being at a lofs what to do in this exigency of affairs, Camillus would not lay down his authority, but taking the fena r tors with him, he went to the fenate-houfe, and before he entered, turning towards the ca.pitol, he befought the Gods that they would bring thefe troubles to a happy conclufion, folemnly vowing, when the tumult was ended, to build a temple to Concord. A great con- led arifmg in the fenate, by realbn of contrary opinions, at laft the moil moderate and mod agreeable to the people prevailed, which was, that of two confuls, cnc mould be chofen out of the commonalty. When the Dictator had proclaimed this determination of the fe- nate to the people, they were immediately (as it is na- tural to fuppofe) pleafed and reconciled with the fenate, and accompanied Camillus home, with loud acclamati- ons : and the next day being aficmbled together, they voted that in memory of this reconciliation, and agree- able to Camillus's vow, a temple mould be built to Con- cord in view of the Forum where their aflemblies were held -, and to thofe feafts which are called Latin, they added one day more, fo that they were to continue in all four days ; and for the prefent they ordained, that the whole people of Rome fhould facrifke with garlands E e 3 oi? 370 The Comparifon of on their heads. Camillus then held an aiTembly for the election of confuls, when Marcus ^milius was chofen out of the nobility, and Lucius Sextius the firfl of the commonalty ; and this was the lafl of Camillus's publick tranfactions. The year following a peflilential fick- nefs infected Rome, which, befides an infinite number of the common fort, fwept away mofl of the magiftrates, among whom was Camillus ; whofe death cannot be cal- led immature, if we confider his great age, or greater actions ^ yet was he more lamented [than all the reft to- gether, who then died of that diflemper. Comparifon of THEMISTOCLES with CAMILLUS, by Mr. DACIER. IT will be eafy to difcover, from what has been fai4 relating to the lives of Themiflocles and Camillus, that there is a flrong refemblance between thofe two great men in many particulars. They were both de- fcended from families unknown before, or at lead not rendered illuftrious by any noble exploits, till they rlrft raifed them out of their original obfcurity, and by their own perfonal merit and virtue tranfmitted to their pof- terity that honour and diftinction, which they never derived from their anceflors. They were engaged in many important difputes with ftrangers, and in many more with their fellow-citizens. They both fuffered from the ingratitude of thofe very citizens, whom they had fo fignally ferved ; and both the one and the other wrefted their country out of the hands of Barbarians. The times in which they lived fo nearly refembled each other, that as they were equally remarkable for publick diiTentions and tumults, fo they produced men of a like genius and character to reftore tranquillity, and preferve the people committed to their care. To this confor- mity of the times, wherein they lived, was owing that conformity which appeared in their exploits and for- tunes : Themiftocles ivith Camillus. 371 tunes ; for the circumftances of both required that their courage and reiblution fhould be directed by prudence. And yet notwithftandirjg this general refemblance, a near view will diicover many things, wherein they re- markably differ. We are therefore to collect all thefe circumftances, that the whole object being reduced into a narrow compals, we may at once difcern the difference, and agreement, that may be found between them. In the firft place, Camillus feems to have the advan- tage of Themiftccles in the number of his exploits. He gained many victories, conquered many towns, recover- ed fome from the enemies, relieved an army that was befieged, preferved his coliegue who had ei gaged the .enemy unieafonably, and put a glorious end to many dangerous wars. There is nothing in the life .of Therni- flocles to be fet againfl thefe noble actions, but his having put an end to the wars in Greece, his victories over the Perfians in the feveral engagements at Artemifmm, and the total defeat of them in the ftraits of Salamin. As for the firft of thefe exploits^ Camillas did not do more fervice to the Romans by his courage in germi- nating fo many wars, and triumphing fu often over the enemies of his country, than Thcmiftoclcs did to Greece by his wifdom in fuppreiling her interline divifions, re- conciling her cities, and uniting the citizens in the fame intereft. For though nothing may be thought more eafy than to put a flop to domeflick difputes at the approach of a common enemy, which will force the contending parties to unite ; yet what Themiftccles did on this occalion may be faid to be the effect of con- fummate prudence, when he prevented thofe cities, whit'h were the rivals of Athens, from taking the benefit of the King of Perfia's afliftance towards the reducing Athens and with her all Greece into a ftate of fubjedion. And indeed the importance of the fervice, and the immincn- cy of the danger, appeared foon after the death of Thc- miftocles. Themiftocles's actions at Artemifium, will bear no com- panion, with Carnillus's encounters \viih the /Equi, the E e 4. Voiici, 272 &bc Comparifon of Volfci, and the Latins ^ for in all of them Camilius ob- tained a compleat vidtory, whereas what Themiftocles did at Artemifium ferved only to fhow the Grecians that the Barbarians might be conquered, notwithstanding the formidable number of their mips ; and thofe adtions. properly fpeaking were no more than the preludes of a future victory. But if we are to form a judgment of mens actions, rather from their importance than numbers, the fmgle battle at Salamin was more confiderable than all the exploits of Camillus put together, whether we confider the fituation the Athenians were in at that time, or the amazing power of the enemy, who whilil he covered the ocean with his (hips, had a moft formidable army at land ; or if we judge from the greater numbers who owed their fafety to that vidtory. Camillus, it is true, preferved Rome, but Themiftocles, in faving Athens, was the preferver of all Greece, which without him mutt have funk into a deplorable fervitude. And certainly that action, which is ufeful to many, .muft be more glorious than that which is advantageous only to a few. It may be faid that Camillus owed all his fucefs to himfelf alone, whereas Themiftocles fhared the honour of his victory with the general of the Lacedaemonians. It is true, Eurybiades fought in the ftraits of Salamin with great courage and refolution ^ but without the interven- tion of Themiftocles's prudence, that courage would have been ufelefs, nay probably it would not have been put to the tryal. So far is that General from lefiening the glory of Themiftocles, that he rather ferves to illuftrate it ; for at the fame time that Themiftocles faved Greece, he faved that General likewife, and all his forces. If on that occcafion Themiftocles gave manifeft proofs of a , , C> i conlummate prudence, either in bringing the Greeks under a neceflity of fighting in the ftraits, or in chufing the moft favourable time for the attack ; he at the fame time gave amazing inftances of an invincible patience, the fure fign of a great mind, and of a moderation, which proves he had nothing in view but the good of die Themiftocles with Camillas. 3*3 the publick. He refigned the ccmrnard to Eurybiades at a very critical conjuncture, when emulation and ob- ftinacy, \vhich might have pafled with the vulgar for .courage and magnanimity, would undoubtedly have ruined the affairs of the Grecians. For it is certain he would never have overthrown his enemies by his cou- rage, if he had not firft got the better of his allies by his condefcenfion. And I queftion if Camillus can fljow any thing of this fort equal to it, or to that greatnefs of mind which Themiftocles fliowed in bearing patiently the infult of Eurybiades, that he might have time to lay- before him coolly his fentiments and advice. That man muft be well acquainted with the way to true glory who ,could purfue it by a conduct in appearance fo ill adapted to obtain it, as was the tamely enduring provocations and affronts. If it be in the actions of men as it is in tragedies, where the fhorteft moments artfully managed produce the moft furprifmg events, and raife our admiration to the higheft pitch by the terror and compaflion they in- fpire us with, there is nothing in the life of Themi- ftocles comparable to the miraculous incidents which, abound in that of Camillus. They are not adventures governed and conducted by human force or reafbn, but inextricable difficulties unravelled, as it were, by the intervention of a Deity. It is certain that in Themi- ftocles, the intricate part of the plot is well prepared. Xerxes like a torrent fweeps away the inhabitants and ci- ties of Greece ; the Oracle commands the Athenians to in- clofe themfelves within walls of wood ; upon this they em- bark, having firft fent away their wives and children, with the old men, into the neighbouring iflands ^ and now the Barbarian is mafter of Athens ; from whence is their deliverer to come ? who (hall defend a people al- ready vanquifhed, and whofe laft hopes are placed in their fleet, which confifts of no more than one hundred and eighty gallies, with which they are to encounter a navy of twelve hundred (hips ? Themiftocles's courage, refolution, and prudence give a new life to the Athe- nians, and the event is fortunate ; but this cataftrophe has 4 4., 3-74. The Comparifon of has nothing in it of the marvellous ; a 1 ! is fimple, all is uniform : whereas in Camillas every thi )^!s equally mi- raculous ; Rome in afhes the victorious Gaul mafter of it ; he encamps amidft its ruins ; lays clofe fiege to the capitol, which is defended only by a handful of men ; and they, reduced to the lafl extremity, ready to ran- fom their country, the fad remains of hoftile flames, and Rome is weighing in the balance againft a fum of gold. At this inftant Camillus arrives, and effects her deliverance not with gold but by the fword. This air of the marvellous appears in almoft every one of his actions, whether he is relieving an army befieged on a mountain ; defeating an enemy the moment after their victory , leading citizens back into the city the very day in which they had been driven out of it ; or re- ducing to obedience a town that had revolted. But as thefe moments of furprize are the effects of chance, or the fports of fortune, and feem fitter to entertain a reader fond of wonderful events, than to form in us a right judgment of actions, and teach us wherein one man excels another, let us leave thefe things to the painters, and the poets, to be by them difplayed on the ilage, and in their paintings ; whilft we confine our confideration to thofe peculiarities of Themiftocles and Camillus, which they owe only to themfelves , that we may thereby be enabled to make an exact eflimate of their virtues, and their vices. They had both the fame thirft after glory ; and both exerted the fame courage and conduct when put to the trial. But it is neither courage, conduct, or cunning by which men are to be judged of; becaufe they arc qualities which they may be laid to have in common wi'th many other animals. That which infinitely dignifies human nature, and raifes it in fome degree to a re- femblance of the fupreme being, is that provident fore- fight, in which Themiftocles had exceedingly the advan- tage over Camillus. He cou'd fee no further than juft before him ; whereas Themiftocles faw afar off, and had an eye that could penetrate into future and diftant events. At the time when the Perfians, overthrown at Marathon, Themiflocles wiilo Camillus. 375 Marathon, were frighted back into the very heart of Afia, he foretold their return, and prepared his fellow- citizens for new conflicts with thofe Barbarians. It is true, -as Cicero has obferved, that this forefight failed him upon fome of the rnofl important occafions in his whole life; for he neither could forefee what he had to expect from the Lacedaemonians, what would befal him from his own countrymen, nor the confeqences of his promifes to Artaxerxes. But what man is there that is infallible ? It may be faid of Camillus that he like wife forefaw that the divifion of the Romans, and the fuffering a part of them to go and dwell at Veii would infallibly prove the ruin of the (late, for which reafon he oppofed it with great firmnefs and refolution ; but in this impor- tant fervice of Camillus to his country we fee indeed a proof of wifdom and prudence, but nothing of that forefight which looks like fomething prophetical. This action of Camillus moft refembles that of Themiftpcles when he prevented thofe cities which had not appeared in arms againfl Xerxes from being expelled out of the council of the Amphictyons, as was infilled on by the Lacedaemonians, who would by that means have engroC. fed all the authority, and made themfelves mailers of Greece. But if Themiflocles was preferable to Camillus in fore- fight, Camillus no lefs excelled Themiflocles in juflice, a quality infinitely fuperior to the former. In all the ex- ploits of Themiflocles onemay difcover that his courage is joined with cunning ; whereas every thing in Camil- lus is fimple and great. Themiflocles never performed any thing that deferves to be compared with the taking of Falerii, of which Camillus made himfelf mafler by the high veneration the befieged had conceived of him for his juflice in fending back to them the fchool-mafler, who had betrayed their children into his hands ; for to have given fuch a proof that even in war itfelf there are fome laws which no good man will violate, and that j-uflice ought to be preferred to victory, is an action more "heroick than the conquefl of the univerfe. As The Comparifon of As ibr their conduct in time of peace, we fhall find there was no imall difference between, them in that re- fpecl. Themiftocleswas a great patron of the people, and every thing he did during his adminiftration tended to fecurc the populace againft the incroachments and ambition of the nobility ; whereas Camillus though he behaved with moderation to the people, yet was in- clined to favour the fenate and patricians. Themiftocles oppreffed all thofe who were mod capa- ble of ferving the republick, and procured the banifh- rnent of Ariftides, though he was the moft virtuous man of the age ; whereas Camillus was fo much a ftranger to that fpirit of envy and intrigue, that he always chofe the beft of the citizens to be his collegues, and fuch as he knew would be mod ferviceable to their country ^ thus making it appear that a man may communicate his authority to others, without giving them a mare in his glory. The Athenians had been accuftomed to lay out in games and mows all the revenue arifing from their mines in Attica. Themiftocles had the courage to abolifh this improvident cuflom, and caufed. the money to be employed in building of fnips, which proved afterwards the prefervation of the ftate. There is nothing in the life of Camillus that will ftand in competition with that important fervice, unlefs we put into the balance his prudent regulations during his cenformip, by which he obliged the young men to efpoufe the widows of thofe who had been (lain in the wars, and made orphans lia- ble to taxes. But thefe laws feem to have been the ne- ceffory effects of war-, whereas Therniftocles's decree prcv ceeded folely from his prudence. The feverity with which Camillus treated Manlius, who was thrown headlong from the capitol was very jufl and commendable, if it was merely the effect of his love of liberty and regard to the conftitution ; and if the indignation he had conceived againft that criminal was not aggravated by an inward jealoufy of a rival renowned for many noble actions, who could produce thirty fpoils taken from enemies flain by his own hands, forty Themiftocles iioith Camillus. forty honorary rewards conferred on him by the gene- rals under whom he had ferved, among which were two mural and eight civic crowns, and who, having re- pulfed the Gauls- when they were (baling the capitol, had acquired by that important fervice the glorious rame of Capitolinus. But Themiftocles gave as high an inftance of his zeal for liberty when he condemned a Greek to death for having explained to the Athenians the dilhonouiable terms the King of Perfia offered to them by his ambafladors, and for having the impudence to make the language of the Greeks ierve to interpret to them the imperious will of a Barbarian. Nor is he ieis to be commended for his feverity to Arthmius of Zele, who by means of Themiftocles was declared an enemy of the Gre- cians and their allies, and himfelf and pofterity were branded with infamy for having imported the gold of the Medes, not into Athens, but into Peloponnefus. I know not if this example of feverity againft corrup- tion was not more necefiary and ufeful to Greece in that conjuncture, than the punifhment of Manlius was to Rome for the Perfians were in thofe days more to be feared for their gold than their courage ; for which rea- fon Demofthenes affirmed that this fmgle action made the Grecians more formidable to the Barbarians, than the Barbarians had ever been to the Grecians. There is another circumftance which rendered The- miftocles's adminiftration very remarkable ; for when the Barbarians had laid Athens in ames, he did not only re- build it, as Camillus did Rome, but he fortified it, and joined it by a wall to the Piraeus. But there are two things to be confidered in this undertaking, the effect it produced, and the manner wherein it was executed. The effect was only the creating in their allies a jea- loufy of their power, and prompting the populace to be more ftubborn and mutinous by Itrengthening them againft the nobility ; and the manner in which it was executed could contribute but little to his honour, fmce it was aocomplifhed by fraud, fubtilty and inju- ftice ; and no actions with thefe marks upon it can be laudable, though it may be profitable. For this reafon DemQfthencs, ^Fbe Comparifon of Demofthenes, in comparing thefe walls of Themiftocles with tholebuilt afterwards by Conon, gives the'preference to the laft ; for as much as an action performed openly is preferable to one effected clandeflinely and by fraud, and victory more glorious than circumvention and fur- prize, fo much are the walls of Conon to be preferred to thole of Themiftocles. For Conon erected his after he had quelled his enemies and all thofe who could have ob- ftructed him in his defign, whereas Themiftocles built his by impofmg upon his allies. No reproach like this ever fullied one of the actions of Camillus, where open- nefs and fimplicity, the eilential marks of a truly great and noble mind, conftantly fhone in full luftre. We cannot excufe either in Themiftocles or Camillus the pride and pomp wherewith both the one and the other infulted their fellow-citizens, though it may be more excufable in Camillus than Themiftocles ; for it did not appear in him till his many exploits and fignal fer- vices had given him fome fort of pretence to it ; whereas that of Themiftocles broke out at a time when he had not performed any thing confiderable that could give him the leaft colour for it. Befides, Camillus gave a proof of a modefty never fufficiently to be admired, when af- ter he had defeated a party of the Gauls near Ardea, he refufed to take the office of General upon him, which had been offered him by the Romans then at Veii ; and in obedience to the laws of a city, which was not then in being, and was no better than a heap of afhes, waited till that choice was confirmed by the handful of Romans who were defending the capitol, whom he confidered as the only citizens, who had a right of conferring that office upon him ^ a moderation almoft without example, far. unlike that ambition which was daily vifible in Themiftocles. If in order to judge rightly of men we are to confi- der them not only in their profperity, but to view them likewife when fortune is at variance with them, we (hall in that cafe find a very great difference between Themiftocles and Camillus. One of them was banimed without any apparent reafbn - y unlefs it was a judgment of her. upon Themiftocles with Camillus. 579 upon him for having done the fame thing b.y Ariftides, whom h ; drove into exile purely out of jealoufy of his extraordinary vcrth. The other was banifhed for vi~ goroufi oppofir.g a defign which tended to the abfolute ruin of his country. Themiftocles was banifhed after he had faved his country, and Camillus preferred his after he had been ba.iifbed. Themiftocles's exile was his reward for having expelled the Barbarians, and the arrival of Barbarians was a punimrnent for the exile of Camiilus. If thefe cauies and conjunctures are very different, fb was the manner in which both the one and the other fupported his difgrace. Camiilus atfirft vented his paf- fion in imprecations, which mowed too violent a re- fentment againft the Roma-is ; but one may at the fame time difcover fome tokens of the affection he ftiil retained for them even in the height of his indignation : .fot he wifhes to fee them diftreffed only that he may have an opportunity of delivering them, and thereby of fe- curing to himielf a glorious revenge for their mjuftice towards him, which is the only revenge worthy of a hero. We meet with nothing of this in Themiftocles. He does not indeed curfe his country, but he goes and proftitutes himfelf to her enemies, Themiftocles in his exile fullies the glory of his former exploits ; he pays adoration to a Barbarian, and begs his pardon for the damage he had done him in the fervice of his country ; whereas Camiilus adds frefh laurels to thofe he had ob- tained before, " and continues to the end of his days to figralize himielf with new victories. He excels all other Romans before his exile, and after it he excels himielf. The imprudent promifes of Themiftocles to the King of Perfia put him at laft under a neceflity of kil- ling hirnielf-, and there appears fomething fb heroick in this feritiment of preferring death to the fatal necef- fity either of revenging himielf upon his country, or of being ungrateful to his benefactor, that I have in fome fort applauded that refolution, though I know very well that all wife men will upon an impartial judgment condemn it. This violence committed on himfeif will without doubt be confidered by fuch not onlv 380 'The Comparifnn of only as an undeniable mark of weaknefs, but a certairt figa that he knew not what fcope to give to his re- lentment againil his country, nor how much he was bound in gratitude to his benefactor ^ fo that for fear of being wanting to either he was equally wanting to both; for by this action he deprived each of them of the fervice he owed both the one and the other, as a fubject and a friend. And no good man, efpecially one concerned in the management of public affairs, ought to die merely for his own fake, but for the fake of his friends, or his country. Gamillus's behaviour was of a quite different nature; he had no occafion to pafs the feas in fearch of enemies to Rome ; he had them round about him he went not to humble hi mfelf before them, and folicit them to take the benefit of his difgrace, and employ his head and hand againil his ungrateful country ; he put in prac- tice that excellent doctrine, which Plato was at that time recommending in the fchools at Athens, that a good man, however ill ufed by his country, preferves always in his own heart a mediator in her behalf, and fecks all opportunities of relieving her, and doing her fervice. Accordingly this exalted piety in Camillus was rewarded with a felicity, which no mortal ever obtained before. He was no fooner reflored to his country but he reftored his country with himfelf, and brought Rome back to Rome, which gave him a right to fhare with Ro- mulus in the title of her founder; and when he had thus preferved and reflored Rome, he hindered her from falling again into the fame calamities out of which he had raifed her ; for when he was fourlcore and three years old he once more defeated the Gauls, who returned with an army much more formidable than the firil. But all thole glorious exploits had been loft, if HkeThemiilocles he had given way to his refentment ; fo true is it that anger is an imperious ungrateful miflrefs, making an ungenerous return for the fervices (he receives, and fel- ling her pernicious counfels at a very dear rate. Having thus drawn a parallel between thefe two great men with regard to their, conduct in peace and war, and their Themiftocles with Camillas. 381 their behaviour under misfortune, there remains no- thing more but to confider them with relation to their fentiments of religion, in which there feems to be no great difference between them. Themiftocles implores the afliftance of the Gods in all his undertakings. When he had obtained the victory at Artemifium he con- fecrated a trophy to Diana, under whofe infpection he had performed this firft exploit ; and after that, as an acknowledgment that prudent counfels are fo many in- fpirations fent from the Gods, he erected at Salamin a temple to the fame Goddefs in return for the good coun- fel he received from her. In this article Camillus comes not in the leaft behind Themiftocles. After the conquefl of Veii he rebuilt the temple of the Goddefs Matuta. He tranfported the fta- tue of Juno to Rome, and took care to have that fervice performed with the moft religious ceremonies. He with much labour and perfeverance difcovered the founda- tions of thofe temples that had been deftroyed by the fire, and built a new one to that God, who had fore- told the coming of the Gauls. In fhort, he clofed his life with an act of religion, confecrating a temple to Concord, out of gratitude to the Gods for the reunion of the people with the fenate. He will without doubt be reproached for having in contempt of the Gods caufed four white horfes to be harnefTed to the chariot in which he entered Rome on the day of his firft triumph, and for neglecting the folemn vow he had made of confe- crating to Apollo the tenth of the fpoils taken at Veii. Themiftocles alfo is to be condemned for making religi- on a cloak to his political defigns, when by the aid of fic- titious prodigies and miracles he brought the people into his meafures ; but it appears to me equally unjufl to accufe, or defend two perfons, whom the Gods them- felves feem to have juftified. For thofe all-powerful beings gave both the one and the other fignal marks of their favour; they fupported their courage, and ani- mated their prudence on every occafion, and crowned all their enterprizes with fuccefs and glory ; and what is ftill a ftronger and more extraordinary mark of their VOL. I. F f protection, 382 be Comparifon, &c. protection, they revenged the wrongs done to Camillus by finking Rome under a deluge of calamities ; and by infpirations, dreams and Oracles they twice preferved Themiftocles from the fnares of his enemies. Now though we cannot pafs any certain, judgment upon men from the favours they receive from heaven, fmce the nature of the Gods is goodnefs itfelf, and they be- ing ready to forgive, and flow to punifh, do not al- ways manifeft their judgments in this life ; yet it may very juftly be presumed that they would never have fhown fuch diftinguifhing marks of their favour to two perfons, who had openly defied them by their ingra- titude and impiety. End of tie FIRST VOLUME. B O OK S Lately Publifti'dby JAMES WILLIAMS in Skinner- Row jicar Fifhamble-Street, DUBLIN. A New and Complete Law Di&ionary : or, General A- bridgment of the Law ; on a more extenfive Plan, than any Law Di&ionary hitherto publifhed. Containing not only the explanation of the Terms, but alfo the Law itfelf ; both with regard to Theory and Pra&ice. Very ufeful to Barrifters, Juftices of the Peace, Attornies, Solicitors, Sec. By T. Cun- ningham, Efq; in two Volumes. Price 2!. 145. 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The Hiftory and Antiquities of the City of Dublin, from the earlieft Accounts : Compiled from authentic Memoirs, Offices of Record, Manufcript Colle&iohs, and other unex- ceptionable Vouchers, by the late WALTER HARRIS, Efq; with an Appendix, containing an Hiftory of the Cathedrals of Chrift Church and St. Patrick, the Univerfity, the Hofpitals and other Publick Buildings. Alfo, two Plans, one of the City .as it was in the Year 1610, being the earlieft extant; the other as it is at Prefent, from the accurate Survey of the late Mr. ROCQUE j with feveral other Embellifhments. Price bound, Cs, 6d. Juft Publifhed by JAMES WILLIAMS, Bookfeller, in Skinner-Row, beautifully printed on fine Paper. In Two Volumes 8 vo. Price 95. pd. bour.d, being only one Third of the Price of the London Edition. THE H IS T O R Y O F T H K Rebellion and Civil-War I N IRELAND- B Y FERD. WARNER, L. L. D. EXTRACT from the PREFACE of this Work. IT will be difficult perhaps to find, in any Age, and in any Na- tion, a Hiftory which abounds with fcenes of more variety and intrigue, or with events that are more interefting than are to be met with here. But of the Work itfelf I mall fay no more, than it is full of fuch enterprifes, as will afford an in- ftru&ive, and a much unheeded Leflbn to Mankind. It will inftrut PRINCES, to confult the Intereft and inclinations of their Subjects, and not to govern by illegal and defpotic Pow- er. It will inftrut the MINISTERS of Princes that their own Paflions, Faftion, and Ill-humour, will produce as much Mil- chief to the Public Peace, and the Security of their Matter as the moft open Villainy. It will inftrut the People, not to fuf- fer and aflift the Folly, the Forwardnefs, the Pride, and Am- bition of particular perfons, to govern the Public Underftand-' ing, and the venom of Private Intereft to be mingled with the Public Gcod. Thefe will appear to have been the means which Providence permitted, to infatuate a people ripe and pre- pared for their definition : and by fuffering the weak to contri- bute to the ill defigns of the Wicked, .and the Wicked to be more wicked than they firft intended, fuch a Scene "of hor- ror and defolation followed, as is fcarcely to be equalled in any Country. THE fi UNIVEKSm OK CALIFORNIA LOS A.NGELES A 000 039 848 7 . "